《World Keeper》


 Chapter 0: Prologue

    <h4>Chapter 0: Prologue</h4>


    Author¡¯s Corner: Hey everyone! This is a copy of my story on RoyalRoad. I''ll be trying to post at least five chapters over a day from there until it is fully caught up.


    ****


    Well¡­ where should I start? Introductions, I guess. My name is Dale Mitchell. I¡¯m twenty-eight years old, single, and working as a truck driver for a cateringpany. Well, that¡¯s what it used to be like anyways. I should probably catch you up on what happened.


    So, guess I can¡¯t put this off anymore. As I was driving back to thepany to return the truck after a sessful event, I felt myself growing tired. I wasn¡¯t really surprised, mind you. I had been pulling extra hours with my other job, working as a morous pizza delivery guy. Naturally, I did a lot of driving.


    Anyways, although I was getting tired, I made sure to stay focused on the road. It wouldn¡¯t be hard to close my eyes for a few minutes once I returned the truck, but I absolutely couldn¡¯t get into a crash. Aside from the heavy fine they¡¯d p me with, I¡¯d lose my job, maybe even both of them if word got out!


    However, as I was turning the corner, my world came crashing down. It ended not with a bang, or a whisper, but with a rickroll. What? Don¡¯t judge, it¡¯s my cellphone¡¯s ringtone. I fumbled in my pocket trying to quickly fish it out, when suddenly there was a loud scream from outside. Looking up, I saw a balding man with dirty blonde hair, sses, and arge gut standing in the road, staring with wide eyes as my truck smashed into him. He seemed to be trying to make some gestures with his hands, likely signalling me to stop, but the truck didn¡¯t slow down in time.


    There was a very loud crash, and I watched as his body bounced away,nding against the pavement with a sickening crunch. His neck and one of his legs were twisted the wrong way. By the time the truck had finally stopped, I was gripping the steering wheel hard enough that my fingers were turning white. I stared in shock as I knew, even without getting out to check, that the man was dead.


    I killed him¡­ No matter how you looked at it, I had just killed a man with my truck. Forget just a fine and losing my job, I would even go to jail from this! Beads of sweat were quickly rolling down my face as I panicked, not sure what to do.


    It was at that point I noticed something. Nobody seemed to be moving. Not in a ¡®frozen in shock¡¯ kind of way. They were actually not moving at all. Some were paused in mid-step, others with their mouth open in a silent scream, even a bird flying through the sky had stopped in its ce.


    Next, the color seemed to be fading away. Blues, reds, the entire world gradually became varying shades of grey. Somehow, I was still able to move, so I lifted my hand up to my face and watched as the color drained from it. Am I dying? Did I have a heart attack or something?


    Next were shapes, which gradually became blurry and indistinct. This one, I was not even immune to, and I felt as though my body were dissolving into water. Looking around, I saw giant buildings swaying before they seemed to explode outwards in messy blobs, which then faded away into nothing.


    Finally, when even the shapes were no more, I was left in a greyndscape. Not a single feature could be made out, not of myself, the man I had just killed, or anything. Even my truck had gone away. Well, I guess I can¡¯t take my truck with me when I go. I began to close my eyes and ept my fate, when a strange light appeared in front of me.


    World Reset finalized. Wee to the ranks of World Keeper. Please begin designing your new world with which you will participate. For options, simply think ¡®Options¡¯


    Uhm¡­ what? Options


    Options - Additional Options will be avable as you progress.


    Body Designer


    System Companion Designer


    World Designer


    Current Statistics


    Since I didn¡¯t have hands, I couldn¡¯t exactly press buttons, so I simply focused on Body Designer.


    Please imagine the body you wish to create for your personal use. This body may be changed at any time through the Options menu.


    Well¡­ that was straightforward enough. I closed my eyes, or tried to before realizing I didn¡¯t have eyelids. Instead, I simply did my best to picture my old body. Okay, so I may have embellished a bit. Wouldn¡¯t you want to fix your receding hairline, or give yourself a bit of extra muscle if you had the chance? Let a guy try to save some self-esteem here. Besides, if this is purgatory, then at least I¡¯m getting a pretty good deal out of it.


    Anyways, after imagining the body, I waited for several seconds, with nothing happening. Then, just as I was about to get up, there was a ding, the blue window changing.


    Body data epted. Please wait while your new body is constructed.


    At that point, I could only stare as I was built from the ground up, literally. The grey light making up this world seemed to gather at my feet, and I actually had feet now! Then it started moving up, revealing legs, hips, my chest, everything. In a matter of only a few moments, my entire body had been created. To test it out, I blinked a few times, and I could manage to close my eyes.


    Okay¡­ that¡¯s cool¡­ but now what? I looked at the options again, and decided to try out the System Companion thing. Maybe whatever that was would give me some clues on what I could do here?


    Please choose an option below.


    -Custom Companion: For experienced Keepers who just want an extrapanion to keep thempany. Allows a modifiable body and mind, but does not contain system knowledge.


    -Default Companion: Rmended for new Keepers, contains extensive system knowledge, and allows a modifiable body. Mind is randomized, but can be altered through natural growth.


    Well, that¡¯s not really a choice at all, is it? I asked myself, immediately choosing the Default Companion option. I mean, I have no idea what I¡¯m doing. Even if this is purgatory, that doesn¡¯t mean I just want to sit around and do nothing for thousands of years when there is what seems to be some kind of game avable.


    Input epted. Please visualize a body for thepanion.


    Hmm¡­ This one took me a while to decide. I mean, obviously I want a girl, alright? Wouldn¡¯t you want to spend an eternity with a beautiful woman? What, you think I should be more upset that I died, that I¡¯ll never see my loved ones again? Sorry, but my parents died a long time ago. And if I had a girlfriend or anything like that, why do you think I would be working two minimum wage jobs instead of aiming for something higher? If anything, dying means I don¡¯t have to go to jail for vehicr manughter, and I don¡¯t have to listen to my bosses nag at me.


    Wait, getting sidetracked. Closing my eyes, I began working on my ideal woman. It never said it had to be a human woman, right? I pictured a five foot ten woman, with abundant breasts, nice curves, and cute cat ears. Of course, I included the tail to go with it. Her hair was red, matching the color of her ears and tail, and her eyes were green. Hopefully, she didn¡¯t have a bad personality.


    Body data epted. Mind profile determined. Please wait while thepanion is constructed.


    Again, I watched the grey lighte together, and it gradually formed into the shape I had imagined. Just like with myself, it worked from the ground up. And¡­ just like myself, clothes were not part of the deal. I was notining, nor was my lower half, which was standing proudly once the body was finished. A momentter, her green eyes opened, and she smiled at me.


    ¡°Hello, Master!¡± She spoke while bowing, which only served to give me an even better view. ¡°Do you have a name for me?¡±


    Okay¡­ I am man enough to admit that I was stunned for a long moment before I responded. ¡°Uhmm¡­ Terra? Does that work?¡±


    Her smile grew wider, and she nodded her head energetically. ¡°Thank you, it works perfectly!¡± She stood up and gave a small jump in excitement. Oh yes¡­ I definitely hit the jackpot with this kind of afterlife.


    And that was how I became a god. I think, anyways.

 Chapter 1: A Whole New World

    <h4>Chapter 1: A Whole New World</h4>


    Looking at the beautiful catgirl I had created, I did my best to suppress the drool that was subconsciously released. Business first, funter! Lots and lots of funter! ¡°So, Terra, what can you tell me about all of this? The option said you would have the information¡­?¡± Right, Dale, get your head together, gotta figure out the rules first. Don¡¯t want to do anything that would end this heavenly afterlife early.


    ¡°Hmm? Oh, you mean the World Keepers, Master?¡± She looked to me inquisitively.


    ¡°Err, right. But just call me Dale, okay?¡± While being called Master was certainly appealing in its own way, it was way too distracting!


    ¡°Uh, alright Dale! And I have all of the necessary information that the system deemed important, as well as archived files regarding thest three iterations of Earth.¡± Terra said with a broad smile.


    Huh, what was that? ¡°Wait,st three?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right! Every time the Keeper is killed, the killer will inherit his position. Since each world is bound to a Keeper, the loss of the Keeper means the end of that instance.¡± She then furrowed her brows slightly. ¡°The records show that you killed thest Keeper, due to a car ident, so you are Earth¡¯s new Keeper.¡±


    Ahh¡­ so that¡¯s what happened. Wait, what?! ¡°You mean to tell me that because I hit some random guy with my truck, the entire world ended?!¡± You¡¯ve got to be kidding me!


    ¡°That¡¯s right, Dale! Uh, is everything okay? Wah, don¡¯t be depressed!¡± Terra rushed over to me when I crouched down on the floor, patting me on the back. ¡°Thest Keeper¡¯spanion noted him as a zy otaku, better off dead¡¯, so don¡¯t me yourself too much, okay!?¡±


    Somehow¡­ I feel sorry for thest Keeper all of a sudden¡­ he probably didn¡¯t luck out as well as I did when it came topanion personalities. Still, the whole world, just gone. All because of one insignificant car ident. What would happen if a Keeper had a heart attack then, or killed himself? Would it just go to some random person, or would the world truly be destroyed?


    ¡°Dale? Dale! If you keep this up, I¡¯ll get angry, okay!?¡± Terra was still trying to console me, and I looked up to see her worried expression.


    ¡°I¡­I¡¯ll be fine. Go ahead with the exnations, please.¡± Distractions are good right now, and Terra was definitely the best distraction.


    ¡°Uhm, okay? Well, I guess I should start with the abilities and duties of a Keeper. Keepers create and oversee a world of their design, and guide it to prosperity. Once a world reaches a proper level of power, it is entered in the World Keeper games. In these games, you send your forces to fight against other worlds, or defend against such invasions yourself. The goal of the attacking team is to defeat the supreme existence of the other world, the Keeper.¡±


    ¡°If a Keeper dies during the game, any worlds they control are given to the Keeper managing the winning army, and they are able to bolster their forces by creating and managing these new worlds. During the invasion, a Keeper is forced to descend, and can only use the powers or technologies which exist within the world. For instance, thest instance of Earth had the potential for instant-disintegration weapons. However, the technology level had not reached the required amount yet. So, if the world was invaded, the Keeper would not have ess to that technology.¡±


    I felt my brows knit together as I tried to absorb this new information. ¡°But, I don¡¯t remember anything in history that would suggest Earth being invaded before.¡±


    It was at that point that Terra frowned again. ¡°No, Earth hadn¡¯t reached the level to be part of the World Keeper games yet. The previous Keeper only advanced the world enough to provide his own entertainment, and then chose to live life on the surface. At the rate that Earth was going, the previouspanion estimated it would take another hundred years before the first invasion.¡±


    ¡°Ahh¡­ I see.¡± I nodded my head marginally at that.


    ¡°Now, as long as you are in the Administration Room, which is where you reside by default, you are functionally immortal. You will neither age nor get sick, and nothing will be capable of hurting you. However, once you descend, your body bes more normal. While you still cannot age, you can be killed normally by other means.¡± Terra exined calmly, sitting down cross-legged in front of me and assuming an almost teacher-like attitude.


    ¡°In the Administration Room, you can change almost any aspects of your worlds, as long as you can afford the points to do so. You could even entirely reset your world to start from scratch, if you decided that you did not like how it was developing.¡±


    When she mentioned points, I raised my eyebrows curiously, which she apparently noticed. With a smile, she continued her speech. ¡°Points can be gained through benchmark achievements, or participating in the games. You can also choose to descend to your world and work for points as well. To start with, you have five hundred points to spend to start your world.¡±


    ¡°What kind of world could I make?¡± I decided I better find this out early on, otherwise I might be in for an even bigger surprise.


    Hearing my question, Terra grinned broadly. ¡°Theoretically, you could make any kind of world you wanted. The first iteration of Earth was one in which the Keeper tried a random-mutation path. After humans evolved, they began developing random powers. While the Keeper wasn¡¯t able to determine what powers would appear, this was still a valid strategy. After all, when he descended, he would gain all of those powers at once. His record in the game was three sessful invasions defended, before a power mutated that killed him. One of the humans was born with the unfortunate ability to be a living bomb¡­¡±


    ¡°The second Earth was created as a futuristic one,plete with space travel and alien civilizations. Although the Keeper never won an invasion, he was able to create additional worlds thanks to the theme he chose. Sadly, he ran out of points trying to enhance his extras, and had to descend to try to earn more. It was at that time that the ship he was on was drawn into arge war, and he was killed.¡±


    ¡°As for the third, and most recent Earth, you know all about it. The Keeper simply installed additional AI assistants as local deities to manage the world while he waited for the entertainment industry to advance far enough, then spent the rest of his days as a shut-in.¡± Compared to the first two Keepers, who she seemed to speak about with admiration, she used a much harsher tone for the third.


    ¡°Ah¡­ what about magic?¡± She didn¡¯t mention anything about a fantasy world in that. Surely, such a thing would be possible, right?


    Terra nodded with a delighted smile. ¡°Of course, magic is possible! You could choose to create a fantasy world fueled by mana, or even a world in which the inhabitants are able to increase their lifespans through martial training. Would you like me to pull up the basic packages for you to look at?¡±


    I thought about it, and then nodded to ept her proposal. She seemed rather happy that I was over my brief bout of depression, and almost instantly a window appeared describing different options avable to me.


    Technological World World Size 5 - 40 points


    Technology Affinity- 20 points


    Education - 10 points Package - 70 points


    Cultivation World World Size 7 - 60 points


    Martial Affinity- 10 points


    Pseudomagic Affinity- 10 points


    Longevity- 30 points Package - 110 points


    Fantasy World World Size 6 - 50 points


    Magic Affinity- 20 points


    Extra Sapient Races- 30 points Package - 100 points


    Mutant World World Size 4 - 30 points


    Randomized Mutation - 100 points Package - 130 points


    Custom World World Size 1 - 0 points Package - 0 points


    These packages don¡¯t seem very extensive¡­ I looked suspiciously at Terra, who simply smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, there are way more options to choose from after you pick a starting package. These are just here to help you get started.¡±


    I nodded slightly, and selected the Fantasy World package. Magic has always fascinated me, and watching a real world evolve with magic would be really cool. Suddenly, the scenery around us changed. No longer were we in a greyndscape, but instead we seemed to be standing miles above the surface of a lush, green. Down below, I could faintly make out trees,kes, and mountains in the distance.


    ¡°Alright, that¡¯s step one!¡± Terra called out happily, raising her arms in triumph. Must not look at those glorious, bouncing hills. Must focus! ¡°Now, since this package included ¡®Extra Sapient Races¡¯, you can design up to ten species to ce as the sapient races of this world. Each one starts with base human abilities, which can be increased or lowered to effect their point total. If the total is a positive amount after adjustments, then you will need to pay additional points to finalize the race.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, because you don¡¯t need to create all ten right away. Any race slots that you don¡¯t use will be saved forter.¡± Terra exined with a quick nod, so I got to work on another window that appeared in front of me.


    Race Name _______________


    Comprehension 7


    Agility 5


    Strength 5


    Lifespan 75


    Luck 5


    Awareness 4


    Male:Female ratio 1.06


    Example Adult Male Example Adult Female


    Racial Abilities


    For the first one, I decided to just leave it at default, filling the race name as ¡®Human¡¯. No matter what world you go to, humans are definitely the staple race, right? As for the second one¡­ naturally it had to be elf, right? I tried to fine-tune it for the elves, and had to adjust some things.


    Of course, an elf¡¯s lifespan can¡¯t be as low as 75 years, so I increased that to 600. This brought the point cost of the race to 10, so I reduced their Comprehension to 5, and raised their Agility to 6. This should, hopefully, make them learn more at the pace that their bodies develop, while also making them faster than humans. Next, I gave them the second level of Magic Affinity for another 20 points.


    I made a few more adjustments, until finally I came up with this.


    Race Name Elf


    Comprehension 5


    Agility 6


    Strength 5


    Lifespan 600


    Luck 5


    Awareness 6


    Male:Female ratio 0.89


    Example Adult Male Example Adult Female


    Racial Abilities


    - Magical Affinity 2


    Okay, that should be good for that race. I nodded to myself, before I got to work on the other races. Aside from the elves, most of them bnced out fairly well when I tweaked their stats. In total, I made dwarves, halflings, and beastkin(cats, dogs, bears, and foxes). That left me with two extra race slots, which I decided to save forter. Maybe I¡¯d make demons and dragons once the world developed more?


    ¡°Ready now, Dale?¡± Terra asked curiously, to which I nodded without fully understanding what she meant. ¡°Okay! Now, we¡¯re going to fast-forward the by a few millennia until your world has a poption of about eighty-thousand. That will be a good time to start developing culture, and choosing your magic system!¡±


    Before I had a chance to react to that, the scenery below us began rapidly moving. The tiny figures that dotted the ground ran about at high speeds, with day and night passing in the blink of an eye. ¡°Wh-what? What do you mean magic system?¡± I asked after I managed topose myself. The shock of the world suddenly going at high speeds had startled me for a moment.


    ¡°Hmm? Oh, there are various types of magic you can ¡®install¡¯ on the. For instance, you could go with a runenguage that rewrites the fabric of reality. You could install gods that manage certain aspects of the world, and grant their followers power rted to their domains. You could even choose to have the magic work either through imagination or geometric forms!¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­¡± Wow¡­ there were way more options here than I had expected. Then again, I didn¡¯t really know what to expect in the first ce. ¡°What about culture?¡±


    ¡°Same thing.¡± She replied with a shrug. ¡°Though, with culture, you can just choose to leave it at default and let them develop naturally. If you wish to guide them down a specific path, that will cost additional points.¡±


    I nodded my head slightly, and took a look at my remaining points. 350 left¡­ I could probably afford some pretty cool things with that? Though, judging by how expensive some things have been, I should probably spend sparingly.

 Chapter 2: Feminine Wiles

    <h4>Chapter 2: Feminine Wiles</h4>


    ¡°Okay¡­ show me all of the options for magic systems, Terra.¡± I waited patiently for the options to appear.


    ¡°Right, Dale!¡± She said with a happy grin, before a blue panel manifested in front of me.


    Imagination System Magic is limited only by the user''s imagination. As long as they have the energy and the willpower, they can create any effect they desire. 80 points


    Geometric System Magic is bound by a strict rule of mathematic forms. Greatly restricts the flexibility of magic, but effects can be used at a much lower cost to the caster. 50 points


    Limited System Choose one of the other magic systems, and apply specific limitations. For instance, the Imagination system may be limited by bloodline. Dependant on Limitations


    Runic System There is anguage of magic that permeates your world. Any who know the proper words can bend the fabric of reality to their whim. This magices at practically no cost to the user, but they must use their own efforts to learn each individual rune. 75 points


    Custom System You may self-define a system of magic if none of these options are suitable to your world. If the system acknowledges your design, it will be assigned a price, and ced on the list for future worlds. You may also earn a small ie of points whenever your system is chosen by another Keeper. ???


    Game System This is not directly a system for magic, but can greatly influence the magic system. After choosing this option, you may begin development of a game system for your world. This system will contain sses, stats, and levels, and may aid or restrict the learning of magic, ording to your design. 150 points


    I looked over the options for a moment, and did a double take when I saw the one at the bottom. The ¡®game system¡¯ was nearly twice as expensive as the next biggest choice! I mean, I could understand that, as this system would influence far more than just magic, and could potentially even make magic easier to use as well.


    Taking a look at my remaining points, I grit my teeth and chose the ¡®Game System¡¯ option. This was a bit of a gamble, but in the worst case scenario I could just reset my world to get the points back. I¡¯m not very far in right now, so it¡¯s not like I will lose much work.


    Wee to the World Keeper Game Design interface. This tutorial will help guide you through the step-by-step process of integrating your very own World System into your world. Be warned, additional features may cost extra points, so bnce carefully.


    The next¡­ I am not really sure how long I spent, but it felt like a day or two at least. Anyways, during that time I was going through drop-down menus, selecting things like what sses were avable, how monsters were treated, and so on. Once I got to the Mage ss, I ended up having to choose the magic system all over again! Though this time, the options were a bit different. I could either let the game automatically assign spells based on Mage levels, or choose one of the previous systems¡­ But I had to pay half the price for the ¡®other system¡¯ option.


    I ended up choosing the Geometric System option this time, costing me another 25 points. At the same time, I added some basic spells to automatically be acquired with levels, to serve as a starting point for the Mage¡¯s research. Just things like fireball, wind wall, and the like.


    As for what sses were avable¡­ I decided to select all of the ones that were relevant to a fantasy world. Simply making a ss avable didn¡¯t have a cost value associated with it, but some required conditions to be set for gaining the ss. For instance, the Hero ss, the lowest requirement I could set for it for free was single-handedly defeating a monster twenty levels above themselves. I didn¡¯t foresee that ss being verymon in the future.


    Now¡­ the only other part that actually cost me more points was the holy magic system. Since I included Priests, Clerics, and Bards in the mix, I had to define the holy magic system. For this, I needed at least three ¡®gods¡¯ from which the divine sses could draw their power from. I could assign Terra and myself as one of the gods if I wanted, but I really didn¡¯t want to have to listen to things like prayers and divinations all the time.


    So, instead I bought three AI gods at the cheapest price. For 25 points each, they could grant magic rted to their domain to their followers, but would offer very minimal interference in the world. I decided to name the first one Ryone, Goddess of Wealth. The second was Bihena, Goddess of Battle. And finally, I had Udona, Goddess of Life.


    Why are they all goddesses, you ask? Now that is a silly question. I am making a heavenly host, and you think I WON¡¯T make it full of people I find physically attractive? I mean, really? I will fully admit that I am a pervert, and be proud of it.


    As for the goddesses, I decided to assign them the races of Elf, Human, and Kitsune(the name given to the fox beast-kin) respectively. Sadly, since I bought them so cheap, they would not have personalities until I spent points to upgrade them. Anyways, with that taken care of, I was finally done with the core of the game system. And the grand total came to¡­ 250 points¡­


    It¡¯s okay¡­ this will take care of most of your future needs as well¡­ it¡¯s an investment, Dale, and investment. I mentally reassured myself, before clicking the ¡®buy¡¯ button. Just like that¡­ half of my starting points vanished all at once.


    Congrattions! You have earned two achievements.


    For spending over 200 points, you earned the Basic Keeper achievement. +20 points.


    For spending at least 250 points in a single purchase, you earned the Spendthrift achievement. +20 points.


    Well¡­ at least that is a small constion. I spent over two hundred points, but got forty back. So now my total is¡­ 165. I¡¯m really going to have to budget myself at this rate. ¡°So, what do you want to do for culture?¡± Terra asked with a smile, having waited patiently until I was done before speaking up.


    ¡°Uh¡­ can I hold off on that for now?¡± I asked with another sad nce to my remaining bnce.


    ¡°Sure, Dale.¡± Terra nodded her head in response. ¡°Right now, they are at what you would consider the ¡®Stone Age¡¯, so there is still a great deal of time to see what direction their culture develops before we get involved.¡±


    That was a pretty good point. ¡°Then¡­ what is the point of buying culture so early? Wouldn¡¯t it always make more sense to just wait and see how things go?¡±


    Hearing my question, Terra once again assumed her ¡®teacher¡¯ attitude, quickly sitting up straight. I¡¯m sorry, I definitely was not looking at your naked chest just now. ¡°Well, the difference is in development speed and history. For instance, in the second iteration of Earth, when the Keeper decided to pursue an advanced technology route, he selected a technology culture from the very beginning. This led to several people being born ¡®ahead of their time¡¯, which caused rapid innovation. Technology advanced at least twice as fast as in the Earth you grew up, because all of the major influences in history were designed to advance the culture in that direction.¡±


    I furrowed my brows together, thinking about it, before nodding my head. ¡°So, if I leave it how it is, then the world could develop in apletely random direction. One race could rise to power and enve all the others, or they could coexist peacefully.¡±


    Terra nodded her head happily as she heard that. ¡°That¡¯s right! Also¡­¡± She suddenly frowned, leaning forward with her hands on the artificial ground below us, arms inadvertently pressing her chest together. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you let me be one of your goddesses?¡± She was sporting a real pouting face, and it was at this point I discovered that my newpanion knew exactly how to get me to agree to whatever she wanted.


    ¡°U-uhm¡­ well¡­ I thought that you wouldn¡¯t like to handle all of the annoying prayers and everything associated with it.¡± I did my best to maintain eye contact, because looking anywhere else would be dangerous right now.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care about any of that!¡± She quickly said, shaking her head. ¡°I can¡¯t actually do anything if you don¡¯t make me a goddess, you know? I¡¯ll just be stuck up here all the time, twiddling my thumbs whenever you go down to the world.¡±


    ¡°Huh? Is that how it is?¡± I asked in genuine confusion. I figured she could do stuff through the system like I could.


    ¡°Yeah! If I¡¯m just a systempanion, all I can do is advise you. If you make me a goddess, then I¡¯ll be able to influence things in the world rted to my domain.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­ I think I get it¡­ well, what would you like to be a goddess of?¡± I asked, cautiously. I was really hoping she wasn¡¯t going to pick something like ¡®Goddess of love¡¯. I mean, maybe I wasn¡¯tpletely okay with sharing my dream girl with everyone in the world, alright?


    ¡°Hmm¡­ How about the Goddess of Fate? That way, I could do a lot of little interactions to change the world, without making too big of a mess?¡± She had a beaming smile as she asked that, and I just really couldn¡¯t say no. So, before she had the time to change her mind and pick something more lewd, I opened the interface for the game system and assigned her as the fourth goddess, Goddess Terra of Fate. The change only cost me five points, since I was not creating a new AI, but instead simply assigning deity rights to one that already existed.


    ¡°Yay!¡± She called out, hopping to her feet and doing a quick dance when she felt the changes taking ce. ¡°I won¡¯t make you regret that, Dale!¡± She said happily, before jumping at me and wrapping me in her arms. As for what happened next¡­ well, I¡¯m sure everyone can guess without me saying it, right? Let¡¯s just say she was very thankful for her new job.


    After we had finished having our fun, Terra stretched outzily on the ground with a content smile. Holding her with one arm, I looked around the open area. We could still see everything below, so this was not exactly a nice home. Maybe some people with a godplex would like it, but I didn¡¯t really care that much for it. ¡°Is there some way we can change the Admin Room, or would that cost points?¡±


    Terra shook her head, still smiling happily. ¡°The Administration Room can be changed freely, without worrying about expenses. After all, this room in no way affects the power of the world below. Would you like to change it to something specific?¡± She let out a long purr as she felt my hand rubbing her back when she asked.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ could we change it to look like a modern house? With enough room for all of the goddesses?¡±


    She thought about that for a moment, and then nodded. ¡°Alright, we can do that. How about¡­ something like this?¡± By the time she finished speaking, we were resting on arge, red bed in the center of a big room. Looking around, the floor was soft carpet, and there was even aputer desk in the corner.


    ¡°So¡­ if you can do all this¡­ why did thest Keeper descend to Earth, instead of getting all of his entertainment up here?¡± I asked, in honest confusion. I mean, from the looks of it, he could get everything he needed here, without needing to risk his neck on the surface.


    Terra simply giggled in response, scooting over closer to me on the bed. ¡°Because thepanion he got kept nagging him to advance his world and join the games. Since he didn¡¯t give her a god status, he could run away to the surface without her being able to reach him. From what thepanion noted, he sold all of his other god AIs a few years before he died, to prevent her from using them to contact him.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­¡± I couldn¡¯t help butugh when hearing that. Apparently, thest Keeper¡¯spanion really wanted to take part in the games, so she kept pushing him to advance. But, being the person he was, he just wanted to live life casually. ¡°I really hit the jackpot, then.¡± I grinned, leaning over to kiss Terra, whose smile became even brighter at that.


    Later, after resting a bit, I learned some of the changes to the Admin Room. Although each goddess had their own room, they were as nd and featureless as the personalities of the goddesses themselves. Further, there was no actual door leading out of the Admin Room. That was because there was really nothing else to see out there. Instead, the link to view the world had been moved to two ces. One in the living room, by watching the TV and navigating with the remote, and the other in my bedroom with theputer, navigating the world and its information like I was ying a video game.


    Content with the changes so far, I decided to fast forward the game to the next ¡®era¡¯, and see how it progressed on its own. Since eras were marked by cultural and technological advancements, as well as important decisions, I didn¡¯t have to worry that I¡¯d miss too much. ording to Terra, even a major war breaking out would be enough to count as a new ¡®era¡¯, so it was safe to leave it alone for a while. Besides, I had more fun things to do now.

 Chapter 3: Thy Kingdom Come

    <h4>Chapter 3: Thy Kingdom Come</h4>


    When I woke up the next day, well, it was probably the next day at least. We really needed some way to determine time for the Admin Room. Anyways, when I got up, I noticed that theputer was shing an indication, showing that the fast forward had stopped. Terra didn¡¯t seem to be paying much attention to it, as she was curled up happily at the foot of my bed.


    Giving a mild chuckle at her state, I got up and moved over to theputer, d that I did not have to worry about certain biological needs anymore. I mean, I basically don¡¯t have to worry about any of it if I don¡¯t want to. I can still sleep, but it¡¯s not like I need it, you know?


    Back on topic, when I got to theputer, I gave a quick look at the map of the world. This was actually more information than I had received when I was simply looking at the world from above, as it clearly marked the locations of the various racial settlements. Furthermore, it also included things such as poption.


    The first race of Earth has entered the Civilization Era. Elves have begun joining together to found a country, naming it Gandor.


    Elves - Poption: 12,000. Average level: 5


    Humans - Poption: 25,000. Average level: 7


    Felyn - Poption: 15,000. Average level: 7


    Lycan - Poption: 12,000. Average level: 6


    Ursa - Poption: 13,000. Average level: 8


    Kitsune - Poption: 18,000. Average level: 7


    Dwarf - Poption: 20,000. Average level: 6


    Halfling- Poption: 25,000. Average level: 4


    Current kingdoms established - Gandor


    Well, that was interesting, at least. And, looking at the map, the various beast tribes were starting toe together as well, just a little bit behind the elves. Or, at least, they were moving to the same area, and not showing signs of fighting. As for the humans, halflings, and dwarves¡­ they were still little more than scattered tribes.


    On the bright side, the different races spawned on vastly different parts of the, meaning that there would still be a long time before they encountered each other. That should give each race enough of a start to build up their own empires before worrying about any sort of invasion. Well, I¡¯d let that y out a little more. As such, I decided to have it fast forward until the next kingdom was established, and check on the progress then.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Eldwynn Ryon was the elected leader of the elven people. Following her mother¡¯s death centuries ago, she had chosen to devote herself to the elves, to help them understand this strange new world that they lived in. Lesser races may not remember, but the long-lived elves knew clearly that things had changed. It was Eldwynn¡¯s grandmother who was one of the first to be introduced to the ¡®World System¡¯, which has since be amon part of their lives.


    With the System, came certain knowledge and abilities. Abilities far beyond their knowledge. Suddenly, certain elves had gained the ability to create fire by drawing strange symbols in the ground. These were recognized as Mages by the System, and for some years they were seen as a disease. It couldn¡¯t be helped, the elves were still yet to properly develop.


    But Eldwynn sought to change that. She herself was a Mage, and had unlocked the second of these strange ¡®spells¡¯. This second spell was onepletely different from the first, as it would conjure ice that could trap a foe. Disying her power to the other elves, as well as her apparent rtion to the elven goddess, Ryone, it did not take long for people to rally behind her.


    With her guidance, she led the elves to settle on the ins of her birth, where she began ordering them to construct shelters. This would be their first true home. No more would they wander, no more would they be afraid of the barghests and the grue. Now, they would be the ones in control of theirnd. To honor her ancestors, Eldwynn named this new settlement Gandor, after her grandmother.


    Although the density of the poption invited attacks from the braver monsters, it did not take long before they learned how to set up patrols, to guard the city day and night. And in this manner, the guards gradually became more powerful as well. They received things known as Skills, some even obtained new sses. But they all remembered that this was brought to them by Eldwynn, who they now revered as being close to the Goddess.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Off in the far ins to the east, on an entirely different continent from the elves, a muscr woman was running on all fours. She had fiery red hair, and fur-covered ears and a tail. Those around would know her as a Felyn, one of the cat beastkin. But more importantly, she was Ardra, a Priestess in service to the great Goddess Terra.


    For years she had wished to be given a sign from her goddess, who had chosen her at birth. She had been lost, confused. Her people scattered across the hills and ins. Wandering tribes with no true home, living off thend and moving when danger neared. However, she finally had her prayers answered. The Goddess had given her a message.


    Go forth, my child, and gather the tribes. Though you may be weak alone, together you will thrive. Deliver my message to the leaders of every family. A new dawn is approaching for your people, and under the leadership of the Felyn, the beastkin shall see power they have never known before.


    At first, Ardra had doubted her sanity, thinking that the voice in her mind had been a mere dream. However, it came again the next day, and the day after. Finally, she told the leader of her own family, and a light from the heavens descended down upon her as she spoke. From that point, none doubted her words, least of all herself. She ran day and night, sleeping and eating only when necessary. She did not even think about where she was going, letting her Goddess guide her steps.


    Yet somehow, she would always find her way to another wandering family. And, upon delivering the message, the light would again shine upon her from above, as if reassuring her of her mission. She lost count of the number of families she had already spoken with, how many she had convinced to join the gathering. But, the voice once again whispered in Ardra¡¯s mind.


    Soon, my child. Soon, your mission will be over. Soon, you will see the reward for your work, for you have done well in my name.


    When Ardra heard the voice again, her tired limbs seemed to gain new life, her speed increasing further. Whether this was some divine intervention or her own body oveing its limits out of excitement, she knew not. Nor did she care, for she was doing the Goddess¡¯s work.


    _______________________________________________________________


    While I was waiting for the world to progress, I decided to go wake Terra up. This was a surprisingly easy task, considering how soundly she seemed to be sleeping. Once I rubbed her back and called her name a couple of times, she let out a loud purr and turned over to smile at me. ¡°Yes, Dale? Is there something I can help you with?¡±


    I nodded my head, saying something I was probably going to regret forever. ¡°Yeah. Do you think that you could put in a wardrobe or something in the Admin Room? Not that I don¡¯t love to look at you naked or anything, but it¡¯d be nice to be able to wear clothes again.¡± She snickered slightly when she heard my question, before nodding.


    ¡°Sure thing. Anything else?¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ could you help me research magic? You said that I have ess to any of the powers that are present in my world, but I don¡¯t really know how to make them work yet.¡± This time, her eyes seemed to brighten, waking up considerably as she nodded, sitting up on the bed.


    ¡°Alright, I can help with that. Although I can¡¯t directly teach you anything that hasn¡¯t been discovered yet, I can show you all of the known diagrams, and give you the information behind them. That way, you should be able toe up with some of the information yourself, once you have enough to piece things together.¡±


    ¡°That sounds¡­ pretty neat, actually. So, how do we get started? You said that I can¡¯t be hurt in the Admin room, but I don¡¯t want to take the chance of hurting you if I mess up during the practice.¡±


    When I said that, she grinned happily, before wrapping me up in a warm hug. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry about that. Unless you purposely choose to delete or injure us through the system, the AIs in the Admin Room are also functionally immortal.¡± She winked yfully at me. ¡°You could abuse me all day and night and it wouldn¡¯t leave a single mark when you were done.¡±


    Well, can¡¯t really say I¡¯d want to abuse her, but there were other physically exhausting things that could be done. I¡¯ll just file that away forter. ¡°That¡¯s good. So, how many spells are actually known so far?¡±


    Terra tilted her head in thought, before nodding slightly. ¡°Looks like there are five. One for the Priest ss, two for Mage, one for Spirit Tamer, and one for Druid. Hadn¡¯t expected anyone to get the Spirit Tamer ss so soon, but it looks like the elves managed to stumble on it. For right now, we¡¯ll be going over the Mage spells. The other sses all use a different casting method, so it wouldn¡¯t be too good to try to train them all at once.¡±


    That sounded pretty reasonable, so I agreed. Terra focused on something for a moment, before the area around us shifted. We were now in a wide open, stone room, with torches lining the walls. ¡°This can be our testing ground. I put it in the basement of the Admin Room, if you ever decide toe down here without me.¡± She smiled slightly when she said that. ¡°Now, I¡¯ll show you the basic spell diagram for the ¡®Fire¡¯ spell.¡±


    Terra knelt down, and began tracing various shapes with her hand. Whenever her finger touched the ground, it seemed to light up, leaving the image of what she was drawing clear to see. ¡°In order to cast the spell, you can either draw this on something and channel your energy through it, or visualize it in your mind. Naturally, the first method uses a lot less energy, but has less freedom. Specifically¡­¡± She moved her finger to point at the center of the formation.


    ¡°Whatever you draw here will be the path your fire takes. Leaving it nk will simply create a stationary fire, while drawing a line will make the fire shoot out, or drawing a circle will make the fire fly in a circle. If you draw this on an object, you¡¯ll generally have to carry that object with you, and not have enough time to alter it for different scenarios. You give it a shot. Since this is the Admin Room, you should have unlimited energy reserves to work with, once you can get the control right.¡±


    Well, that didn¡¯t seem too hard. I stared at the pattern she had drawn on the ground, burning it into my mind. Once I was confident I had fully copied it, I closed my eyes and tried to feel inside of myself for the energy that Terra had mentioned. I didn¡¯t know if this was supposed to be chi, or mana, or whatever, but I soon felt several different energies.


    Furrowing my brow, I tried to sort through them. One felt chaotic, like it could erupt at any moment. One felt peaceful, like a flowing ocean. Yet another felt as if it was a gas, evading my grip every time I thought I had it. Finally, I settled on one that felt like a warm, blue light inside of myself. That seemed like the closest thing to magic, but I would need to ask Terra what the other energies were once I was done with this.


    Grasping what I assumed was my magical energy, I once again conjured the image of the Fire spell diagram into my mind, guiding my magic into it. I could feel as the diagram lit up with the same warm blue light. But¡­ nothing happened. Opening my eyes, I confirmed that there was nothing different about my surroundings.


    ¡°Well, it seems like you found your magic¡­ You probably just forgot part of the diagram.¡± She shook her head with a small smile, giving me time to stare at the diagram again. This time, I already had my magic ready, so once I closed my eyes, I focused on the diagram. I wouldn¡¯t allow myself time to forget, and before I knew it, I felt something warm in front of me. Very warm. Hot!


    I quickly opened my eyes, and discovered¡­ that my hand was on fire. I knew I should be screaming from pain right now, but it really didn¡¯t hurt that bad. I felt hot, as if my hand was hovering above a burning fire, rather than as if my hand was ON fire. I like Admin Room cheats¡­ I really do.


    Congrattions! You have earned a new achievement!


    For learning your first ability from your world, you earned the Copycat achievement. +10 points.


    ¡°You did it, Dale!¡± Terra called out happily, though maybe it would have been more of a triumph if I didn¡¯t light myself on fire. Nheless, she seemed excited since it worked, and moved on to show me the rest of the known magic. This was going to be a pretty busy day.

 Chapter 4: Magic? Magic!

    <h4>Chapter 4: Magic? Magic!</h4>


    After my little study session to grasp the two known spells, Terra sat down a distance away from me while I practiced them. ording to her, I would not have the auto-cast benefit that people of my world would have for the spells acquired at different levels. The exception to this was if I went down to the world and manually trained the sses. Even then, the auto-cast feature would only work for the basic spells that the casting sses automatically received. With that in mind, I decided that it would be better to get used to doing the work myself.


    I¡¯d like to say I mastered it all in just a few hours, but I actually got bored after a couple dozen times casting the same spell, and decided to sit down on the ground for a bit to rx. Looking over to Terra, I went ahead and asked something that had been on my mind for a bit. ¡°Are there any other energy types, other than magic? I felt something different when I focused earlier.¡±


    I exined to her about the three other energies that seemed to be contained in my body, and she nodded with a satisfied smile. ¡°That¡¯s right, Dale. Right now, your world has four kinds of energy that can be wielded, though that might growter on depending on how you develop. These are Mana, Ki, Spiritual Energy, and Natural Energy. The first two are internal energies, while thetter are external ones.¡±


    ¡°If we weren¡¯t in the Admin Room, you probably would not be able to feel Spiritual or Natural Energy in yourself, but this is a ce where you are meant to be able to test whatever you want. So, I¡¯ll go over them in order. The energy you described as a peaceful ocean was probably your Ki. That is an energy wielded primarily by the Monk ss, but other fighting sses will eventually get some ess to it.¡±


    Terra then closed her eyes and seemed lost in thought. ¡°Right now, it looks like there are almost twenty monks in your world, but none of them have gone beyond level three in that ss. So, they have only really gotten one ability that I can help you learn, and that is the Ki Fist. If you want to try it, simply channel your Ki to your hand, and push it out with a punch.¡±


    I nodded, deciding that I would try that after her exnation was over. ¡°Next, the chaotic energy. That is Natural Energy, which exists everywhere. Druids, Shamans, and other nature-rted sses use this to perform their magic, in a different way than the sses that use Mana. They send their will into the Natural Energy around them, and issuemands. If their will is strong enough to tame the energy, then their magic will work. But, the moreplicated themand, the more difficult it is to create.¡±


    ¡°I told you that there is one spell avable for Druids right now, and that is the ¡®Burn¡¯ spell. Unlike the Mage¡¯s Fire spell, Burn directly ignites the target, dealing damage over time. As you can imagine, that is done by connecting with the Natural Energy surrounding the target, andmanding it to burn.¡±


    Finallying to thest type of energy, Terra took a deep breath. ¡°Really, why did you need to add all of the sses¡­ Thest energy, Spiritual Energy, is found wherever the dead are gathered. This energy is built upon the souls of man and beast. By weaving the energy together, you can tame spirits to be yourpanions, or even create entirely new ones by taking fragmented souls.¡±


    ¡°Nobody has gone past level two for Spirit Tamer yet, so they only have the basic spell to see spirit essence. This is actually done with Mana, not Spiritual Energy. However, it is a raw application of mana, not a diagram. Simply focus the mana in your eyes while concentrating on finding spirits, and it will work. You shouldn¡¯t bother to try it here, because naturally nothing dies in the Admin Room.¡±


    I nodded my head at that. ¡°I see¡­ So, the spells of the Mage ss are actually the hardest to learn and use, huh?¡± I gave a bitter smile as I realized that.


    Terra simply giggled, nodding her head. ¡°That¡¯s right. However, they are also generally the most powerful, with the system you¡¯ve designed. One druid might be able to do five times the variety of magic as a mage, but a single mage can cast magic for twice as long, and at double the strength. That¡¯s due to the diagram system that was put in ce. With it, magic spells are more difficult to cast, but use less energy for more power.¡±


    I thought about that, and it did seem like a good bncing mechanic. ¡°Alright¡­ Well, let¡¯s get back to this.¡± Sighing, I stood up and resumed the practice of the two spells. ¡°I don¡¯t suppose it would be possible to get a spellbook that has these spells for easy reference, would it?¡± I asked with a wry smile.


    Terra grinned, ¡°Yup, you could. But, the people of your world haven¡¯t discovered how to make paper yet, so you won¡¯t be able to take it with you if you descend. You could use it as a study guide, though.¡± As she spoke, a book appeared in my hand, thick with hundreds of pages. In surprise, I opened it, only to be disappointed that just the first two pages had been filled. ¡°Didn¡¯t think I was allowed to make it that easy for you, did you?¡± She asked with a small smile.


    ¡°I could hope, right?¡± I shook my head, and got on with the other training. Setting my book down, I once again focused on my internal energies. This time, I concentrated primarily on the flowing Ki, sensing it through my body. I could easily tell that it moved along certain paths, weaving around and through my blood vessels. I guess these are probably meridians or something, then?


    Furrowing my brows, I tried to direct the flow of boundless energy into my right hand. This was easier said than done, as it resisted me for several minutes before following my instructions. Once the energy was in my hand, I balled it up into a fist and punched down at the ground. There was a small shockwave, and when I opened my eyes I saw that there was a one-inch deep crater where I had punched. Pretty neat, if I do say so myself.


    Next, I decided to go ahead and try thest spell avable to me, with the Druid magic system. Again I closed my eyes, focusing on the Natural Energy hidden in my body. From how Terra described it, I would need to move it out into the room before giving it amand, if I didn¡¯t want to set myself on fire again¡­ Surprisingly, that step went by fairly easy, the energy immediately epting the transfer. Host privileges, I guess? Anyways, after the energy was outside of my body, I focused intently on it. Burn.


    I heard a small explosion in front of me, followed by a quick ¡°Hey!¡± that made me open my eyes. Terra was on her hands and knees about twenty feet away, her tail sticking straight up. ¡°Watch it, okay? That was too close!¡± She said in an angry pout, and I looked towards where she had been. The air just a few feet from her previous location was literally on fire, burning with no apparent fuel or target.


    ¡°Ah¡­ sorry.¡± I smiled apologetically. From my earlier experiments, I knew that even if there was no real pain, that does not mean fire wasn¡¯t ufortably hot. However, she was still pouting after my apology, only rxing slightly as her tail lowered back down. ¡°Anyways, I think we¡¯re done here for now, ready to go back up?¡±


    She thought about it for a moment, before nodding. ¡°Yeah¡­ I need a cat nap.¡±


    A momentter, the room around us vanished, and we were back in our bedroom. Thankfully, the book came with us, and was now sitting on myputer desk. ¡°Before you do, anything else I should know?¡±


    Terra simply shrugged nomittally. ¡°Should be all on theputer.¡± After saying that, she hopped on the bed, and rolled around a few times before gettingfortable. Guess she¡¯s still annoyed about the fire thing. Not entirely my fault, but understandable. Will see if I can cheer her upter.


    Before investigating what was new on theputer, I decided to check on the status of my people. Not surprisingly, the second kingdom had been set up, though it had a rather suspicious name.


    Beast Kingdom, Terraria


    ncing back at the bed, I had the feeling that someone wanted to give the beastmen a little boost. The fact that the Felyn were apparently the ruling ss of this kingdom only served to reinforce that thought. Not like it really mattered, though. I did give her the right to do stuff like that as the Goddess of Fate, and I could make sure that she wouldn¡¯t take it too far.


    Out of curiosity, I checked out the elven kingdom of Gandor, to see how they were doing. ording to the timeline, it had only been roughly twenty years since Gandor was founded. From 12,000 elves, it seems that they have begun expanding a bit. Maybe there was some celebration, or festival, or something else, but they now had nearly fifteen thousand total poption.


    As for the other races¡­ they were still little more than nomadic families. It probably wouldn¡¯t be too much longer before they began setting up their own homnds, but for now they were just doing good not to die from the monsters. Thankfully, the monsters on Earth were set up to follow a fairly simple rule. Monsters would not be born that were more than twice as strong as any one sapient. Though, since I had only bought the basic monster package for now(the others are a bit expensive, so sue me), the monsters will cap out at level 100.


    Now, before I go check out other things, let¡¯s see what kind of options are avable for culture. Since it seemed like Terra wanted to manage the beastmen for now, I went back to the elves. Naturally, their current culture was set to ¡®unaltered¡¯, but there were various options for how I could direct it, if I wanted. And, some of these options were¡­ unique.


    Such as ¡®Sexual Paradise¡¯, an option that is described as ¡®turns the culture more towards physical pleasure, where ecstasy is both a service and a currency.¡¯ Yeah, no way am I selecting that option. I may be a total pervert, but that does not mean that I want to lose the first game I get in because my is full of hedonists.


    Looking at the other options, I note that there is one that actually does not cost any points. And that is ¡®Manual Advice¡¯. ording to its description, if I choose this option, I will be able to either have one of my goddessesmunicate directly with one of their followers, or speak to someone myself and deliver a message. This message would be transmitted directly into the mind of the target, but the effects are uncertain.


    I debated on whether or not to use that option. I mean, if used properly you could guide the entire path of civilization by whispering to the right people. On the other hand, the person might be seen as insane for saying that there was a voice in their head telling them to do things. The trick would be figuring out who to speak with, and deciding what to have the message be.


    I¡¯ll get back to thatter, still plenty of time. I went ahead and closed the map of the world, seeing if there was anything else on thisputer. Terra did say that everything I needed was here, after all. And I could hope that she was telling the truth, and not just pouting because I almost singed her tail.


    As it turns out, she was! There was actually a second program on theputer, one that I was very familiar with. Though the name was a bit off, I quickly clicked on the buttonbeled ¡®Keepe Explorer¡¯, wondering what kinds of things they would have on the inter-world inte.


    First, the homepage appeared to be a forum for Keepers, with various topics such as ¡®User-Submitted Content¡¯, ¡®Known Keeper Worlds¡¯, and ¡®Guild Recruitment¡¯. I noticed that I already seemed to be logged in, under the username ¡®EarthForceOne¡¯.


    Chat request has been received from Alkahest. Do you wish to ept?


    Blinking in surprise, I decided to ept the message. I hadn¡¯t been on the Keepe for more than five minutes, but someone was already trying to contact me?


    Alkahest: Hey, man! Long time no see. What happened, you went dark for a while?


    I shook my head in resignation when I saw that message. They were probably friends with one of the previous Keepers.


    EarthForceOne: Think you have the wrong person. Just started this whole Keeper thing a couple days ago.


    Alkahest: Seriously? Damn, though that does exin a few things. d to see that Earth wasn¡¯t lost to another keeper or anything, at least. Ah, well, bound to happen sooner orter. Since you¡¯re still new, need any help? Or do you have it taken care of?


    I considered that. I mean, I didn¡¯t really have any reason to trust this guy, but at the same time I didn¡¯t have that much reason not to at least hear him out. In the end, I decided to ept his offer.


    EarthForceOne: Why not.


    Alkahest: That¡¯s the spirit. Now, since you inherited his world, I¡¯ll help you out a bit. First thing you need to keep in mind, try to stay involved. It¡¯s real easy to forget that we were once like the people we¡¯re managing, you know?


    EarthForceOne: I¡­ guess? Not really a lot to get involved with at this point, is there?


    Alkahest: Ah, that¡¯s where you¡¯re wrong! I don¡¯t know what kind of setting you made this Earth, but there¡¯s always something you can do. Whisper a theory to a talented mind, spawn a treasure for a group to find, or a monster that pushes their limits. Some people even go the Merlin route, and find a strong soul that they stay with for years, in order to make him a grand ruler.


    EarthForceOne: That makes sense, I think?


    EarthForceOne: Why are you helping me, anyways? Aren¡¯t all Keepers enemies, or something?


    Alkahest: Wow, you really are a rookie. I mean, I guess you could look at it like that? But everyone needs some friends. And no matter how real the peopleside are, it¡¯s just not the same when you know that you basically control every aspect of their life. Well, since I got ahold of you, how about you join my guild?


    That one didn¡¯t really take much thought. While he did raise some good points, this was still way too early for me to get involved with another group. For all I knew, he was trying to mislead me and none of his advice was really good. And even if it was, he might be using me for some other purpose.


    EarthForceOne: Sorry, but don¡¯t think I¡¯m ready for anything like that yet.


    Alkahest: No worries, option is there anytime.


    With that, I decided to go ahead and search more through the forums. Who knew, maybe there was some other useful information that could be gained from them.

 Chapter 5: Market Value

    <h4>Chapter 5: Market Value</h4>


    While looking through the forums, my mind naturally drifted towards the ¡®User-Submitted Content¡¯. From what the description had said earlier on when I was assigning the magic system for Earth, this was an easy way to earn an ie of points, though I doubted how useful it would be. For instance, how many people would assign their worlds an entirely new magic system if their own world had already progressed considerably? Most likely, the point ie woulde from either new Keepers, or Keepers that are starting new worlds.


    However, there should be other types of content that Keepers can create and submit, such as special minerals or unique technology. This kind of content could be purchased by any Keeper, regardless of how long their world has been running. It would be an easy thing to ce a formerly unknown element in a world and have it naturally discovered, or have a new technology created.


    As such, I decided to look at what kinds of content was already there. To my surprise, there really was a lot. Elements like mithril, orichalcum, and a few others I¡¯ve never heard of were present, as were many different systems. The Game System that my world was using was even listed in the User-Submitted Content, as well as several of the sses I was currently using in my world.


    Well, it makes sense that was created by a Keeper. Maybe they wanted to make their world more like the Admin Room, with its video game theme. I nodded my head slightly, and continued looking. Each piece of content had its own price, as well as the ¡®royalty¡¯ which the original creator would receive. The royalty generally seemed to be 10% of the content¡¯s actual price.


    Now, what really surprised me was something else altogether. There were actually two pieces of custom content listed as being created by EarthForceOne, the username I was assigned. The first, ¡®Random Power Mutation¡¯, was listed as being worth 150 points, and caused people in the world to randomly mutate to gain special powers. However, from thements on the thread, it did not seem like a popr choice, because of the very w that caused the death of the person who submitted it.


    The second piece of content was ¡®Warp Drive Connection¡¯, a technology tree which allowed tech-themed worlds to connect to each other by means of faster than light travel. This one actually seemed more popr, even though it cost a whole 300 points. The price on that confused me, until I thought about it more deeply. The destination when using warp technology in scifi stories was not always fixed. More often than not, you would emerge at uninhabited worlds, or evenpletely empty space.


    So, the high cost is actually an investment to get potentially unlimited extra worlds to start with. There was even a level of the tech tree which allowed you to choose whether or not discovered worlds were inhabited, and if so to assign them races. It didn¡¯t say anything about what level of technology the new world would have, so I didn¡¯t bother looking too deep. Even if I assume that I get 10% off as being technically the ¡®creator¡¯ of the content, which would normally be the royalty I receive when it is purchased, I am nowhere near able to afford that system.


    Well, at least I¡¯ll be able to get some ie every now and then from people buying this. Though, maybe I should create my own content. It¡¯s been long enough that anyone that wanted to buy the Warp Drive Connection could have done so during the previous Keeper¡¯s reign. So again, I would probably need to wait a while before getting anything back for it.


    Tilting my head back in thought, I first decided to check what other content had been published. If I see what isn¡¯t an option for me to create, I can get hints on what would be. To my surprise, I found multiple systems that looked like they should have been considered magic systems. The first, and most obvious example, was a ritual system. By offering up certain items during a ceremony, it was possible to receive magical effects. How is that not a magic system!?


    As I was wondering that, I caught sight of a tag at the bottom. It actually was a magic system, but was tagged as ¡®Advanced¡¯, whatever that meant. Maybe only magic systems that can be used quickly were listed at the start when you create a world?


    There was another system that was somewhat simr to that, listed by a LordSlow. This system was a skill-based system which awarded magical effects based on how well you performed certain skills, such as sculpting or music. I shuddered as I imagined how terrifying it would be to go to a death metal concert, and have that system suddenly activate.


    Though¡­ there was another piece of content submitted by the same person that caught my eye. This was a race temte, meant to guide people to create races that would not destroy the bnce of their world. This particr race was known as the Demon race. They had the unique trait of ¡®Meritocracy Evolution¡¯, meaning that they would evolve into different forms based on their own work. Their starting form was simply an imp with the lowest level of stats, but if that imp worked hard enough, and continued evolving, it could eventually be a demon king.


    The Demon race content had a note attached to it, suggesting for users with already-developed worlds to wait until they received a new world in order to ce the demons in. Then, connect the worlds through whatever means the Keeper wanted. That way, the demons would be able to develop without dying out as their weakest form.


    I was tempted to buy that race immediately, as my world was still undeveloped for the most part. However, their cost was 50 points, and I couldn¡¯t justify that kind of expense just yet. I¡¯d wait until I had enough points, and if need be I would simply add them to the next world I received. That made me chuckle, as I nned for the next world to be a tech world. High tech demons would certainly be fun to y with.


    For now, I at least had an idea of some things I could create. Fortunately, thest Keeper of Earth was azy slob, but he focused on cultural development so that he could get his entertainment. And that same entertainment industry, from books to television shows, could serve as the starting point for my new content.


    The first thing that I submitted was a race of my own, named ¡®The Forgotten¡¯. They had a high intelligence andprehension rating, though low physical abilities. Where they really shined were there unique traits. First was ¡®Automated Memory Deletion¡¯, a trait I defined as ¡®Any living creature, the moment they look away from the possessor of this trait,pletely forgets their existence¡¯. Then came ¡®Post-Hypnotic Suggestion¡¯, an ability that already existed in the system to imnt ideas in targets, and ¡®Bioelectric Field¡¯ to give them the power to generate and manipte electric currents.


    All hail the Doctor. I thought with a small grin, as I submitted the race. Not only would the Forgotten be a good race to develop in a new world alongside another race, it would also be very useful for invasions. If you throw in a few dozen, or even a few hundred, of them during an invasion, you could potentially make the Keeper¡¯s own people assassinate him.


    I wasn¡¯t surprised when the race had the starting cost of 75 points, being a fairly expensive sapient species. What did surprise me, was that someone almost instantly bought it. Within five minutes, I was notified of the sale, and saw that I had two notifications waiting for me on theputer.


    Congrattions, you have earned two new achievements!


    For submitting your own custom content, you earned the Creator achievement. +20 points.


    For selling your first custom content, you earned the Salesman achievement. +15 points.


    Well, that was an easy 35¡­ no, make that 42 points. It seemed that the system rounded down the royalties, though maybe that would mean it would give me 8 points the next time someone bought the Forgotten. I¡¯d find out eventually. As for the other message¡­


    Drillot has purchased the Forgotten! You earned 7 points in royalties.


    To be honest, I had expected it to take a few weeks for someone to buy the new race, but maybe I got lucky and that guy was browsing just as I posted it? Either way, that brought my total up to 212 points. And, looking back at the bed, I saw that Terra was finally starting to wake up from her nap.


    With a small smile, I turned to her and asked. ¡°Still mad at me?¡±


    There was a low purr to answer me, before she spoke up a long momentter. ¡°Yup¡­¡±


    Hmm¡­ how to bribe a cat. ¡°What about if I suggest fish for dinner tonight?¡± I swear, I¡¯ve never seen anyone move so fast. I couldn¡¯t even see her get up from the bed before she was sitting on the floor beside me, looking up with wide eyes.


    ¡°Really? Nyaa, that would be good!¡± I chuckled at the sudden change in attitude, d that she was given most of a cat¡¯s likes as well as their bad points. ¡°What? Even if I don¡¯t get hungry, that doesn¡¯t mean I don¡¯t want yummy food!¡± She looked at me and said with a smile.


    ¡°Alright, alright. Wasn¡¯t going to say anything. Besides, I had a question for you.¡± When I said that, she tilted her head in confusion. ¡°First, I wanted to ask if there are any benefits to this achievement system, aside from the extra points.¡±


    She thought about that for a moment, and then gave a firm nod. ¡°Any achievements you earn get added to your total starting points if you reset a world, so you don¡¯t lose them. Though, achievements are divided into three different categories. First, you have System achievements, like what you¡¯ve been earning so far. These can only be earned once, no matter how many worlds you start up.¡±


    ¡°Next are World achievements. These can be earned once per world instance. So, if you raise a world up to get an achievement and then reset it, you will still have the points from that achievement. Some Keepers use this method to farm for points, by raising a world until right before it is able to participate in the Keeper Games, and then resetting it. But, World achievements are assigned to the world rather than the Keeper, so you only get the extra starting points the next time you reset. The second reset after the achievement won¡¯t get them. Also¡­ as you probably guessed, World achievements don¡¯t carry over when a new Keeper is assigned.¡±


    ¡°Finally, there are Personal achievements. These achievements can only be earned while you are descended, and will give you certain buffs along with the points. For example, you could do a lot of manualbor to get an achievement that gives a small boost to strength. Like with System achievements, these can only be earned once per Keeper. However, the buff that you gain is permanent, so it is good to have them for defensive battles.¡±


    I listened to her exnation, and nodded. ¡°That makes sense¡­ Now, next question¡­ and I¡¯m probably going to regret asking this. Do you have a record of how many people bought the Warp Drive Connection content submitted by one of the previous Earth Keepers? Specifically¡­ during thest Keeper¡¯s rule.¡±


    Hearing that, Terra gave a bitter, knowing smile. ¡°Over a thousand¡­ That was one of the reasons why thestpanion hated him so much. He had tens of thousands of points, but wasn¡¯t willing to spend them because it would push Earth into the level where it could battle in the games.¡±


    I gave a sad sigh when I heard her answer. Though, that did answer one of my other questions. There were over a thousand people using tech-based worlds. That meant that there should be at least two thousand Keepers in total, counting the ones that simply decided not to buy it. ¡°Oh, right. Someone contacted me and mentioned a Merlin route for raising civilizations, so I had another question. Is it possible to create an identity in the world, and have it be my body when I descend, but be on autopilot when I¡¯m not using it?¡±


    Terra blinked in confusion at that, before a wide grin began showing on her face. ¡°Why, no Dale, it¡¯s not. Not yet, at least.¡± She added thatst bit with a yful wink, and I was really surprised. I mean, why wouldn¡¯t someone have thought of that before? Were they too concerned with the possibility of their ¡®Auto-Merlin¡¯ destabilizing the world in their absence? Or did it just not ur to anyone?


    Either way, before anyone else had the chance to get to it first, I submitted the idea to the system, defining it a bit more. The race had to be selected from among the races that the world already had, and it had a normal lifespan for that race. And rather than a ¡®feature¡¯, this was an ¡®entity¡¯ purchase. Meaning that, each time the host body died, the Keeper would need to buy it again if they wanted to use it.


    Though¡­ Auto-Merlin was a terrible name, so instead I referred to it as ¡®World Host¡¯. After submitting it, I saw that the cost was listed as 30 points. Not too bad for a single entity purchase. And people will need to buy it repeatedly if they want to use it with a developing world. Though, naturally, it came with a note from the system that Achievements and points could not be earned by the Host unless the Keeper was inhabiting it, and the Host could not be added to an invasion force. Lastly, there could only be one Host on the world at a time.


    Seeing that I had sessfully submitted it, Terra let out a happyugh. ¡°That should earn us quite a few points, in the long run. And it looks like you already submitted a custom race as well. nning ahead?¡±


    I shook my head with a light smile. ¡°No, just not wanting to be poor. By the way, you said achievement points are carried over for starting points if a world resets. Does that not also count for points earned from the royalties?¡±


    Terra nodded her head slightly. ¡°It does. They are treated like System achievements in that they carry over regardless of how many resets you go through. Consider it that you are refunded all of the points you spent on that world, aside from World achievements. So, if you spend 500 points on a world, but 100 of those were from achievements that your world doesn¡¯t have this instance, you only get 400 back.¡±


    I nodded at that, it was easy enough to remember. ¡°Alright. Guess it¡¯s time to get back to guiding the world.¡± I said with a small sigh as I tabbed back to the map of Earth.

 Chapter 6: Mistakes Were Made, and Fixed!

    <h4>Chapter 6: Mistakes Were Made, and Fixed!</h4>


    In the ins of Beginning, a red-haired felyn was currently instructing other people of various beastkin races. Their goals were obvious, as they carriedrge logs from one point to another. They were making homes, actual wooden shelters. Ardra Firebrand, the leader of thismunity, led her people ording to the instructions which had been whispered to her. It had taken her many seasons to contact all of the families and have them move here, but it was worth it.


    The beastkin were not incredibly adept at using the strange power which would asionally appear, a power she herself had faintly grasped. After gathering the various families, she received her ¡®reward¡¯. This reward appeared to strengthen her body and mind, allowing her to have thoughts and ideas that were previously unknown. And with that intelligence, she became something called a Mage, though she had yet to delve into what that meant.


    What she did know, was that she now had the power to lead her people. Yes, her people. Because once the families had gathered, one of the more brutish leaders of the ursa attempted to take control through force. However, Ardra had been able to deal with this using her newfound strength. She almost felt unstoppable as she clutched the ursa¡¯s throat in her ws, making him beg her to spare his life.


    And she did. Not because she felt he deserved to live, but because that same voice which had given her so much had told her to. Let him live, child. Show me that I chose correctly.


    Although the words carried no threat, no mention of punishment, Ardra had still felt a chill run down her spine at the thought of offending her Goddess. This Goddess which whispered to her, gave her the power to stand at the top of the beastkin races and unify them, and gave her the wisdom to lead them. In her mind, she apologized for what she had almost done, but there was no response.


    At first, Ardra thought that her Goddess was displeased that she had not obeyed sooner, but she quickly discovered that the rest of the beastkin were looking at her with gazes of shock and awe. The ursa was the most physically powerful of the beast ns, and the felyn were the fastest. They thought she would fight him in speed to make him submit, but instead shepletely overpowered him. That truly cemented her position in their minds, and they were willing to join her.


    Still, Ardra worried for theck of contact with her Goddess for hours, before she was given another message. She nearly cried tears of joy when the gentle voice again spoke to her, telling her how to have her people cut down the great trees of the nearby forests and stack them in such a way as to provide shelter. She knew that she had not been abandoned by her Goddess at that point, and again swore to herself to do whatever she could for this mysterious being.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ncing at the screen, I was curious regarding the level of the current leader of Terraria, the one called Ardra Firebrand. ¡°Hey, Terra, what¡¯s going on with this?¡± I called out to the catgirl who was on her way to lounging on the bed again.


    ¡°Hmm? What¡¯s wrong?¡± She askedzily, not bothering to turn around.


    ¡°This felyn, isn¡¯t she a bit too abnormal? She¡¯s five levels higher than the next strongest person in the world right now.¡± I nced again at the information, and sure enough, she was listed as being level 15, with the next highest being a level 10 human.


    ¡°Ah, Ardra you mean? She did a pretty big quest, and that was the reward that the system gave for it.¡± Terra shrugged her shoulders as sheid down on the bed. ¡°I sent her to unify the beast ns, and that was a quest that affected her entire race¡¯s fate. I wouldn¡¯t have been surprised if she got a special title or ss from that.¡± Suddenly, she furrowed her brows as if thinking of something.


    ¡°Though, this will make stronger monsters start appearing ahead of schedule. They should still be limited to the same general area as Ardra, so it won¡¯t be too much of a disaster. Moreso because she¡¯ll probably die in a few years from getting sick or something. I figure, there will probably be a new beast king by the time you stop the next fast forward cycle.¡± She shrugged indifferently as she said that, as if it didn¡¯t really matter to her.


    That kind of attitude made me frown for some reason. I thought back to what Alkahest said, about being involved as much as possible. I knew that there was no way around the felyn dying at the end of their lifespan, because they didn¡¯t have any kind of longevity. Still, talking about death so casually was disturbing. And, even if I wanted to interfere, the world was still too primitive for me to really affect it yet.


    Still, I wanted to help out somehow, so I pulled up the menu for the system. Maybe there was something I could give them, so that they would have an easier time? I still had 212 points, so it¡¯s not like I had no options. It was at this point that I noticed a ratherrge problem, something I overlooked when I was creating the races.


    This is totally unbnced! I pped my forehead as I noticed the mistake. Out of all the races, only the elves had a real advantage, and that was their increased magical affinity. As for the other races, they were just given tweaked stats to bnce things out so that they wouldn¡¯t cost anything extra.


    Shaking my head, I looked at the options, and began assigning them different perks to bnce things out, make life a bit easier for those that didn¡¯t have such buffs. Since the elves had the second level of Magical Affinity for 20 points, I set that number as my goal for the other seven races. 140 points in total, this will put a big dent in my wallet¡­


    For the beast races, there was one easy option to pick, ¡®Enhanced Senses¡¯ for five points. For the wolf tribe, I even gave them the second level of it for an extra 10 points. These were obvious things that the races should have had from the start, but I just didn¡¯t consider them. I mean, it¡¯smon sense that a beastman has enhanced senses, so why even think about it normally?


    After I was done with the beast races, I went to the others and gave them simrly obvious traits. For instance, giving the dwarves a ¡®Craft Affinity¡¯, or the halflings ¡®Stealth Affinity¡¯. With humans¡­ I wasn¡¯t really sure what I could give them without breaking the ¡®normal human¡¯ mold¡­ in the end, I assigned them two levels of ¡®Weapon Affinity¡¯.


    72 points left¡­ I should save them for now, in case I need somethingter. I nodded my head, before looking back to Terra again. ¡°How long will it take for these changes to kick in? I imagine it won¡¯t happen overnight, right?¡±


    She smiled lightly from the bed, without opening her eyes much. ¡°It¡¯ll take a few generations, depending on the amount changed. Most of them might not even notice the changes ever happened. I mean, dwarves aren¡¯t really crafting anything yet, and the humans aren¡¯t using any weapons aside from sticks and stones.¡±


    I nodded slightly at that, understanding what she meant. ¡°Makes sense. Could potentially change a race entirely like that, and wouldn¡¯t be good for the entire race to mutate all at once.¡±


    Terra nodded her head in response to that, agreeing. ¡°Right, right. So, what now? Fish?¡± As she asked thatst part, her ears perked up, tail raising slightly to show her interest.


    I could onlyugh at that. ¡°Fine, we can have fish now.¡± I got up and moved towards the kitchen, with Terra prancing happily behind me. It did feel a bit weird eating now, because I wasn¡¯t actually hungry, but I did enjoy the taste of fish. Apparently, since Terra still had the records of the previous Earth, she could create whatever delicacies she wanted. When I asked why she didn¡¯t do this without me needing to suggest it, she just pouted cutely and said that it was more fun to eat together.


    There really wasn¡¯t any reason to argue that, so we just ate together for a bit, before heading back to the room. This time, I decided to let Terra enjoy her nap while I took another look at the forums. I was looking for things that would prove helpful to my developing world. In short, I wanted a strategy guide. And¡­ there were a surprising amount.


    ¡¯How to use the Monster Mayhem¡¯ tactic, ¡®Breeding a better creature race¡¯, ¡®Cheap alternatives for big benefit¡¯, and even ¡®Merlin¡¯s Rulebook¡¯¡­ These were all thread names in the ¡®Guides¡¯ section of the forums, and when I looked through them I saw that they were left just vague enough to make the Keepers work on their own.


    For example, the Monster Mayhem tactic simply suggested sending powerful monsters as your invasion force in the games, instead of a group of heroes, but did not suggest what kind of monsters. Likewise, ¡®Breeding a better creature race¡¯ suggested a starting creature with the ¡®Adaptive Breeder¡¯ perk and how it worked, but did not specify any suggested powers to give to it through the breeding process.


    By the way, Adaptive Breeder was just as it sounded. It made it so that a creature could mate with any other kind of creature, and the offspring would have traits of both parents. That was obviously a way to build a master race if used right, but at the same time weaknesses could also be inherited.


    The thread I was interested in was ¡®Merlin¡¯s Rulebook¡¯. This was a simple strategy guide on how to run the ¡®Merlin strategy¡¯, which was basically the story of King Arthur.


    This strategy consists of a few important steps. First, there is you, the Keeper. Now, naturally there won¡¯t be any single individual in your world that can stand up to you, but you shouldn¡¯t let them know that. If they do, then it would be them trying to put you in charge of the kingdom, not the other way around.


    Next, is the talented individual. As a Keeper, if you focus on any specific being in your world, you will be able to roughly gauge their innate talent. This talent does not consider gender, location, or social status, and merely suggests how far that person can go with their own effort. In almost every world, people with high innate talents are rare, so you will need to find one in a suitable position. The time period for this should be no earlier than roughly 50 million world inhabitants, and they should have a fairly stable culture.


    Now, once you have the individual, you should prepare multiple dangerous quests for them. The best option is to create relics ahead of time, and make sure that they are lost, ensuring that there is a record of what the quest is about in the culture¡¯s history.


    The purpose of the Merlin strategy is to make this young hero fight these quests to the most of his ability, forcing out histent talent and building his fame. In the meantime, you will stay in the background, and only interfere if he is about to die. The less impact you have on his quests, the greater the results will be.


    This was a fairly short guide, but I felt like it had a great amount of information in it. For instance, the bit about measuring talent, I had never observed one of the inhabitants of my world closely enough to notice. Pulling up the map, I zoomed in on Ardra again. This time, I squinted my eyes in focus while concentrating on her. Sure enough, a hazy green cloud appeared around her, stretching out nearly ten feet.


    When I did the same thing with another felyn passing by carrying a wooden log, the cloud appeared again, but was much smaller. This felyn¡¯s cloud extended out maybe one foot, and had a hazy red color to it. Great¡­ now I just need to learn what these mean¡­ I¡¯ll ask Terra about that when she wakes up.


    Out of curiosity, I went to the elven kingdom and focused on the current queen. Her aura extended out about eight feet, but was golden in color. Really wish I knew what that meant! On the bright side¡­ I had a message notification pop up at the corner of the screen.


    You have sold 2 units of World Host, earning 6 points.


    Good start¡­ now sell a few thousand more, and I¡¯ll be happy.

 Chapter 7: Keeper’s Descent

    <h4>Chapter 7: Keeper¡¯s Descent</h4>


    For now, I had less than a hundred points to spend, so there wasn¡¯t much I could do in the Admin Room. Instead, I had a different idea, one which would only be possible while the development of this world is still early. I began making preparations by looking over my map, and searching for the perfect area. What I wanted was a wide space with only low level monsters.


    The stronger monsters were all being centered around the budding civilizations, so it wasn¡¯t a very hard request. After all, the was basically the size of Jupiter, by my best guess. And, with only a few small colonies on the, the vast majority was uninhabited. Once I had the perfect area picked out, I decided to wait for a while, at least until Terra woke up.


    Roughly an hourter, Terra began stirring, rolling around in the bed before slowly rising with a yawn. Thankfully, I didn¡¯t have to wait too long for her nap to finish, because I wanted to ask her some questions. ¡°Terra, mind if I ask you a few things real quick, again?¡±


    She looked over to me with sleepy eyes, but gave a small smile and a nod. ¡°Sure, what is it Dale?¡±


    ¡°Well, first of all, I learned how to see the ¡®innate talent¡¯ of someone, but I don¡¯t know what the aura size and colors mean. Could you clear that up?¡±


    She gave a long yawn while stretching her arms, followed by a light shrug. ¡°The color represents their greatest talent, and the size is how good they are at it.¡± Closing her eyes for a few moments, she gave a small smile. ¡°Looks like you looked at Ardra and Riyon, so let¡¯s use those two as an example. Ardra¡¯s aura is a dense green, meaning that her talent lies with nature. That could mean hunting, agriculture, anything like that.¡±


    ¡°Now, on the other hand, Riyon¡¯s aura is a brilliant gold. That means that she is a natural born leader. You could say she was born to be a queen. Red auras mark battle ability, blue auras mark magic, yellow auras mark crafting or creativity, and so on. If youe across er that you don¡¯t understand, just ask me and I¡¯ll let you know.¡± She says with a happy smile, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and moving over to walk to me.


    ¡°I see¡­ what is my aura like?¡± I asked, curious. I doubted that I had any special auras like Ardra or the elf queen.


    Terra tilted her head curiously, before shrugging her shoulders and stepping back. Next, she seemed to squint in my direction, before looking off to either side. ¡°Hmm, yellow aura, about five feet thick? You could be a really good idea man if you tried.¡± She finished with a satisfied nod. Well, that definitely wasn¡¯t the worst evaluation, I suppose. At least it wasn¡¯t only a small battle aura or something.


    ¡°Well, anyways. Next question, after descending, how long does it take toe back to the Admin Room?¡± This was the question that I really needed an answer to. Thest Keeper died because he couldn¡¯t ascend fast enough, so I needed to know how long it took.


    Terra blinked a bit in surprise, before smiling. ¡°It doesn¡¯t take long. You just have to pull up the system menu and select the ¡®Return to Administration Room¡¯ option. Most people can do that in just a couple of seconds, so there isn¡¯t much of a problem.¡±


    That surprised me, I was expecting it to be a bit longer of a process than that. Was the previous Keeper just panicking and unable to find the button, then? Well¡­ no use really worrying about it. ¡°Alright. Well, I n to go down to the world so that I can get a feel for thebat and properly earn the sses. Wanted to wait until you were awake, so that you could watch out for me.¡± Never hurts to have a goddess watching over your shoulder.


    Terra froze for a long moment, furrowing her brows. Eventually, she nodded her head slowly, but her body was visibly more stiff now. ¡°Just¡­ be careful. I¡¯ll keep an eye on things from up here, and if things get too bad, I can go down and buy you some time to ascend.¡±


    I nodded with a smile, reaching out to gently grab her hand and ced my lips against it tofort her. ¡°I¡¯ll be careful. I chose an area with only weak monsters, so I should be able to farm a few levels without worry. If I understand the system right, I can unlock sses and spells that my people don¡¯t know, as long as I properly earn them through the system.¡± She nodded her head at my assumption, confirming it. And, since I assigned the conditions for unlocking the sses, I naturally knew what they were. Even the ones that hadn¡¯t been unlocked yet. Well, granted I forgot a few, but there were really a lot!


    ¡°Okay¡­ but really, be careful. The world is too new, there isn¡¯t anyone capable of crafting weapons yet, so we can¡¯t give you any equipment. You¡¯ll only be able to equip yourself with rags. If you want anything better, you¡¯ll have to make it yourself after you descend.¡±


    I nodded again, having already taken that into ount. ¡°I know. That¡¯s why I wanted to wait until you were up.¡± I gave a light chuckle, before turning to the screen. There, I right clicked on the bookmarked location.


    Edit Location


    Spawn


    Kill


    Trigger Event


    Descend


    I moved my mouse over the bottom option, and chose it.


    Please visualize the body you would like to descend as. Note: Only species avable to your world may be used.


    Naturally, I just chose the body I was already using, though maybe with a little more muscle mass. I was going to be fighting, so I didn¡¯t want to be unfit, after all. Also, like Terra said, I did give myself some rags to cover up with.


    Body verified. Human race selected. Beginning descent. May you work for the betterment of your world, Keeper.


    I felt my body being bathed in a warm blue light, before I felt the warm breeze on my skin. Opening my eyes, I saw that I was standing on a wide grasnd. In the distance to the east and north, I could see a long mountain range, while to the west there was argeke just beyond the horizon. Everything in between was grasnd, with the asional tall tree. Giving a small nod, I opened up my character window. Status.


    Name


    Dale Mitchell


    Race


    Human(Keeper)


    Health


    10/10(180/180)


    Mana


    10/10(64/64)


    Strength


    5(10)


    Ki


    10/10(34/34)


    Stamina


    5(10)


    Intelligence


    7(9)


    Dexterity


    5(7)


    Wisdom


    4(8)


    Luck


    5(5)


    Charm


    4(4)


    ss List


    Druid 0(3)


    Farmer 0(1)


    Hunter 0(4)


    Leader 0(2)


    Mage 0(5)


    Monk 0(3)


    Priest 0(3)


    Schr 0(1)


    Scout 0(2)


    Shaman 0(1)


    Spirit Tamer 0(2)


    Warrior 0(12)


    I furrowed my brow as I looked at the information, particrly the bits in parenthesis. It was at this time that I heard a soft voice whispering into my mind, one that I was very familiar with. Your personal stats are marked normally. Everything in parenthesis is what you get as a Keeper. If you want to get stronger than your Keeper status, you¡¯ll need to raise your levels beyond the rest of the world.


    I gave a small smile hearing Terra¡¯s voice again. Since she was a goddess, it was an easy matter for her to speak to me like she could any other citizen. So¡­ first mission. I got down on one knee and closed my eyes. ¡°Oh Terra, Goddess of Fate, I seek guidance to learn your ways.¡± This was one of the requirements for the Priest ss, tomune with a deity and receive a quest.


    I heard a small giggle in my ear, followed by the same voice as before. Very well, traveller. ce my image into the world, so that others may know it. Do this, and be rewarded.


    Quest Received!


    ss Quest - Priest ss Quest


    The Goddess of Fate has asked that you ce her image in the world, so that others may gaze upon it. How you choose to do this is your decision, but the quality of the work will determine the strength of the reward.


    Reward: Priest ss


    Bonus Reward: Please Terra with your efforts for extra experience in the Priest ss


    I nodded my head to ept the quest. At the same time, a vivid image appeared in my mind of Terra standing proudly among the clouds. Her usually nude frame wrapped in a white toga, the sun directly behind her to make her red hair and furry ears appear as if they are glowing. I¡¯d need to work on this questter, once I had the ability to create something in her image.


    Next up, the easiest ss to get, the Mage ss. For this one, all I needed to do was detect my mana. I had already done this once before in the Admin Room, so I was familiar with the process. Closing my eyes, I directed my senses inward, searching for that warm energy. It took me a considerable amount of time to actually find it, because what was once a bright glow of blue light within me had be little more than a spark. This is likely because of me no longer having therge mana pools of the Admin Room. However, I was eventually able to detect it.


    Mage ss unlocked!


    Fire spell unlocked!


    Smiling slightly, I opened my character window, and saw that both my mana and health had improved. For my mana, it went from 10 to 17 when I unlocked the ss. And for health, it went up to 15. The calctions for the stats were a bit¡­ differentpared to most game systems. With this one, health, mana, and ki were based on relevant sses.


    For example, health is based on your ss levels and your Stamina stat. Ki and mana each require certain sses to unlock and advance, so they are naturally harder to do so. Furthermore, stats are awarded based on ss levels, but you don¡¯t get to choose what stats you earn. The strongest ss, the Hero, gains one point in everything every five levels. On the other hand, the Mage ss only gains one point in Intelligence every two levels, and one in Wisdom every five levels. Of course, stats could also be raised manually, by training them.


    Now, I could probably tackle a monster way above my level and earn the Hero ss, thanks to my Keeper powers. However¡­ I wasn¡¯t quite ready to take on the stronger monsters yet, when I hadn¡¯t even tested myself against the small fry. And besides¡­ leveling up the Hero ss is way more trouble than it¡¯s worth, since you have to constantly fight enemies higher level than yourself.


    Anyways, the next ss I want to get for myself is Warrior, which just requires me to defeat something in melee. For this reason, I looked around the grasnd I deposited myself into. There shouldn¡¯t be any monsters higher than level three within a few miles, so I wasn¡¯t worried about my own safety.


    After roughly ten minutes of searching, I found a small, white, adorable ball of fluffness. This was, no matter how you looked at it, a rabbit. The only thing different about this rabbit was that it had a small, sharp horn on its forehead. This was the lowest level monster on the, a level 1 Horned Rabbit. Their only specialty was speed, and using their horn as a spear to charge at people.


    Seeing that this was the perfect chance for me to get the Warrior ss, I walked towards the rabbit carefully. Unlike normal rabbits, the Horned Rabbit is aggressive. It won¡¯t hesitate to attack anyone that approaches it, and will only flee if it feels its life is in danger. As such, as soon as it heard me walking over, it turned and red at me.


    Now, with my Keeper levels, there is no way that the Horned Rabbit would willingly challenge me. However, the only thing that could be sensed from my body was my normal level. Otherwise, forget this rabbit, there wouldn¡¯t be a single monster on the right now that would let me fight it. So, it did what it naturally would¡­ it charged at me.


    With its head lowered, its spear-like horn was aimed directly towards me. Although I knew it was moving fast, it did not seem to be a speed I was incapable of following. Again, this was most likely because of my Keeper boost to Dexterity, however small it was. That did not mean I was able to get out of the way in time, though.


    -2


    I felt a sharp sting in my leg as the red number appeared over my head, followed by arge red bar disying my overall health. Yeowch! I winced when I looked down, seeing a shallow gash where the rabbit had scraped me. I had managed to turn my body slightly, but not enough to fully evade.


    Looking behind me, the rabbit was already turning back towards me for a second run, apparently oblivious to the health bar over my head that would have showed it I was far stronger than it could sense. Thankfully, it did not possess that level of intelligence. Instead of dodging this time, I shot my hand down lower, aiming to grab at the rabbit¡¯s horn before it could pierce me.


    -4


    Another damage number appeared over my head as Itched onto something. Unfortunately, my hand had been just a bit slow, and what I grabbed was the rabbit¡¯s neck instead of its horn. This meant that its horn managed to cleanly pierce into my leg. I tried my best to keep my pain off my face while the red bar above my head shrank slightly. Instead, I strengthened my grip, taking advantage of my Keeper Strength to crush the rabbit¡¯s spine.


    -15


    This time, the red number appeared over the rabbit, and the health bar that appeared depleted itself almost instantly. Knowing what was about to happen, I quickly pulled the dead rabbit¡¯s horn out of my leg just in time for the wound to close.


    Warrior ss unlocked!


    Punch ability unlocked!

 Chapter 8: When Spirits Walk the Land

    <h4>Chapter 8: When Spirits Walk the Land</h4>


    Okay¡­ got that taken care of¡­ Should I keep grinding for a bit, or work on more sses? I thought curiously to myself. If I unlock more sses, my stats will slowly rise and I will get more varied abilities. However, grinding one ss will mean that I will get a sharp increase of stats, but fewer powers.


    For now¡­ let¡¯s take care of the Spirit Tamer, since I have a dead monster at my feet. Out of curiosity, I decided to ask Terra a question. ¡°Oh great Goddess of Fate, I beseech you for advice.¡±


    There was another light giggle in my ear before the voice of the catgirl goddess spoke. Yes, go ahead.


    ¡°How long do the spirits of the dead remain behind? Important knowledge, I¡¯d say.¡±


    After a brief pause, she answered. Currently, there is no afterlife system in ce. So, the spirits will forever remain after death. They may thin over time, or manifest as undead, but they are currently unable to depart from the world.


    ¡°That seems¡­ kind of sad.¡± I furrowed my brows as I thought about the implications of that. Sure, I might not have believed in much of an afterlife before this whole Keeper thing started, but actually knowing that there is a higher power at work changes things. Especially when I am that higher power. ¡°How much do afterlife systems cost?¡±


    The response this time was much faster. They can be anywhere from fifty to two hundred points, depending on the system chosen.


    I nodded my head at that. Once I get some more ie, I¡¯ll look into that system. For now, there¡¯s not enough to really worry about it yet. And besides, the ones I could afford right now would likely not be very good.


    Anyways, back to business. Guiding the mana into my eyes, I looked down at the rabbit beneath me. As I did so, I saw a faint white smoke clinging to the dead form. Looking around the grasnd, I saw the same kind of smoke rising from various parts of the ground, likely indicating the more recent past deaths that urred here.


    Spirit Tamer ss unlocked!


    See Spirits ability unlocked!


    Well, that was easy. Let¡¯s see if I can take this a step further¡­ I took a deep breath, and tried to will the spirit out of the rabbit. If I could sessfully extract a spirit, I should be able to gain a considerable amount of experience for this ss.


    Unfortunately, no matter how I focused, the spirit would not budge. And, I knew it was no use asking Terra, since she wasn¡¯t allowed to tell me game mechanics that hadn¡¯t been unlocked by the people yet. So, I could only experiment randomly until I figured it out on my own.


    Since mana in the eyes lets me see spirits, maybe mana in the hands lets me grab them? I mused silently to myself, before trying it. Just like how I used it to see the spirit of the rabbit, I guided the mana to my hand and reached down. Sure enough, I managed to grab a bit of the white smoke, which seemed to be struggling to escape my grip.


    When I pulled the spirit up, a translucent image of a horned rabbit gradually floated up from the corpse. As soon as it was fully separated from its body, the spirit began struggling more violently, even seeming to fade away slightly. Out of curiosity, I let go of the spirit and watched it move back to the body,tching onto it as if it were afraid to leave.


    Spirit Tamer has leveled up!


    Okay, well, that¡¯s a start, but I won¡¯t be able to get the next ss ability until level four or five, so I had to keep going! Thankfully, mana regenerated fairly quickly outside ofbat. There was no passivebat regen, but otherwise mana could recover rapidly. Health, on the other hand¡­ You needed to get healed with magic, level up, or wait for natural recovery.


    Once again, I pulled the rabbit up from its body. Hoping to follow the same pattern as before, I drew a strand of mana to my mouth in an attempt tomunicate with the spirit. ¡°Stop struggling.¡± I said in a gentle tone. However, much to my surprise, the rabbit let out an almost audible screech, its astral body ripped to shreds in my hand.


    I was left there, blinking, and looking at my now empty hand. ¡°Uhm¡­ the fuck? Seriously, what?¡± Since mana in the hands let me grab it, did mana in the voice count as an attack instead ofmunication? Then, how was I supposed to tame these spirits?!


    Spirit Tamer has leveled up!


    I felt my eye twitch slightly, not having wanted to level up this way. I want a spirit beast, and by Terra I will have one! Standing up, I looked for another creature, and a few minutester found one. This was a level two razor boar. Unlike the rabbit, it was slow, but with thick skin and strong, sharp tusks.


    Toozy to bother with fighting it in melee, I decided to test out my magic. Now, this is where the ss abilitiese into y. I hadn¡¯t really experimented with them before, but it was easy to use once I tried. As soon as I focused on the fire spell, the diagram appeared in my mind. It was a strong, unshakeable image, and I wasn¡¯t able to alter the foundation of it if I tried. All I could do was fill in the center, design the shape that the spell would take.


    Holding out my hand towards the boar, who now noticed my presence, I drew a straight line in my mind. Once that was done, my mana surged beyond my control, filling the pattern and triggering the spell. A small fire burned in front of my hand before shooting off like a bullet to collide with the boar.


    -10


    A red bar appeared above the boar¡¯s head, which seemed roughly half full after the spell¡¯s effect ended. The boar let out a mad roar, its eyes seeming to glow as it charged at me. I tried to fire the spell again, but discovered something rather unexpected.


    Cooldown remaining: 0.52


    The countdown quickly ended, and half a secondter I activated the spell again. While jumping back, I formed another straight line in the center of the diagram that appeared in my mind, just as the boar arrived at my previous location. When the fire struck it this time, thest of its health faded away, and it fell to the ground in a smoking heap.


    So, system abilities have a cooldown associated with them? I furrowed my brows again, and punched at the air two times in rapid session. Then, I activated the Warrior ability Punch, and found my body adopting a more natural form, punching out with more power than I normally could muster. However, as soon as I was done, I tried to do it again¡­


    Cooldown remaining: 0.31


    So¡­ half a second cooldown between punches, and maybe a one or two second cooldown for the fire spell¡­ However, there was a preset form for system abilities, which was the equivalent of having been trained to do so manually. So, as someone that never got into any real fights before, the Punch ability was stronger than my normal punches.


    Once I was done sidetracking myself, I manually guided the mana to my eyes again, so that I could look at this boar¡¯s spirit. It was notably thicker than that of the rabbit, and I was able to pull it out of its body just the same. However, when it was outside of its body, the boar¡¯s spirit seemed to enter some sort of rage, struggling until it broke free of my hand and then dropping to the ground.


    I watched as the spirit began running in random directions, letting out silent roars at anything that it could, and apparently oblivious to my own presence. So¡­ it probably hates me for killing it? Only natural, right? But, it can¡¯t see me, so it just charges recklessly? Then¡­


    At this point, I tried a different method to connect with the spirit, closer to the path of using Natural Energy. Rather than using mana, I tried to send my will out directly to the rampaging ghost. This was¡­ easier said than done. For about five minutes, I focused on it as it ran back and forth, before suddenly it seemed to freeze in ce. Afterwards, it slowly turned to face me, that same anger in its eyes.


    Okay¡­ I guess I made the connection¡­ now to tame it? How do?! I shouted in my mind, as the boar spirit began to charge directly at me. Well, it definitely knows where I am now. I focused on it again, and faintly felt as if there was a wall blocking my mind from touching the boar. And what do we do when we run into a wall? Go around it? Screw that, st right through!


    Relying on my enhanced Keeper stats, I put all my focus on smashing that barrier that stopped my mind from connecting with the boar. I heard a small cracking sound in my head, and right as its charge reached me, it felt like something shattered. The boar leapt into the air as if to tackle my chest, but simply phased into me. When I spun around to keep an eye on it, the boar had seemingly vanished.


    Sessfully contracted level 2 Razor Boar - Stage 1


    Oh¡­ well¡­ now what? I looked around myself curiously, before a thought urred to me. Closing my eyes, I sent my senses inward. If I¡¯m right¡­ there it is! I spotted a faint wisp of ethereal energy inside my body, the same energy that had been identified as Spiritual Energy by Terra. And when I focused on it more, it seemed to take the shape of a boar.


    Though¡­ havinge this far, I waspletely incapable of doing anything with it. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn¡¯t call that boar spirit back out of me. And¡­ since there was not a cooldown timer or anything appearing, it didn¡¯t seem to be a system restriction. I¡¯ll have to figure that outter¡­


    Name Dale Mitchell Race Human(Keeper)


    Health 28/28(184/184) Mana 34/34(64/64)


    Strength 5(10) Ki 0/0(33/33)


    Stamina 5(10) Intelligence 7(9)


    Dexterity 5(7) Wisdom 8(11)


    Luck 5 Charm 4


    ss List


    Druid 0(3) Farmer 0(1) Hunter 0(4) Leader 0(2) Mage 1(5) Monk 0(3) Priest 0(3) Schr 0(1)


    Scout 0(2) Shaman 0(1) Spirit Tamer 3(3) Warrior 1(12)


    I nodded my head happily at the changes. Although it wasn¡¯t much, I now had more health, mana, and it seemed that my Wisdom had increased by a point as well. Still¡­pared to my Keeper abilities, my power hadn¡¯t changed at all. But, that was only natural, as I had just barely been grinding for an hour. For most people currently, they would rarely encounter an enemy, and will probably use the system abilities when they do to defeat it. Seeing as I didn¡¯t level up my Mage ss when I defeated the boar, you probably don¡¯t gain much experience when you fight with the system powers.


    Well, anything else I should get before I head back? I thought about it for a few minutes, and decided I might as well go back to the Admin Room now. I coulde down and train any time I wanted, but as it stands there are no creatures here strong enough to really test myself. Not that being safe is a bad thing, of course.


    Opening up the system menu with a thought, I navigated to the exit button, and let myself be enveloped by the blue light again. I had definitely learned some things after descending this time.

 Chapter 9: The 72

    <h4>Chapter 9: The 72</h4>


    As I returned to the Admin Room, I felt a warm feeling surround my body, and two fleshy lumps pressing against my chest. ¡°Wee back, Dale.¡± The catgirl goddess spoke in a happy voice, obviously relieved to see me back.


    I smiled to her, opening my eyes and reaching up to pet her hair. ¡°I¡¯ll probably go back to train moreter. I still have a quest I need to finish, right?¡± I chuckled lightly as she gave me a small nod.


    ¡°Alright, but you still have to be careful. Not just for your own sake¡­¡± Terra said something rather ominous there, didn¡¯t she?


    ¡°Uhm¡­ what?¡± I looked at her confused. I mean, I could understand if me being in danger would be bad for the world, since it would mean a full reset with a new Keeper.


    ¡°Well¡­ your real level. If it gets higher than the current strongest person, stronger monsters will begin to spawn. You don¡¯t have to worry about that if it¡¯s just your Keeper level, but once you actually train yourself that high, it will be a problem.¡±


    Ahh¡­ I hadn¡¯t considered that possibility. ¡°I see¡­ I¡¯ll have to take things in moderation, then.¡± Currently, my real level was only five or so, so there was no risk of upsetting the bnce of the world quite yet. ¡°By the way, did anything happen while I was gone?¡±


    Terra thought about that for a moment before giving a small nod. ¡°There were five more purchases of the World Host. Alkahest also sent a message asking to meet up whenever it was convenient for you. Aside from that¡­ there weren¡¯t any developments on Earth.¡±


    Cool, so five more hosts sold¡­ that should be another fifteen points, then. I nodded my head at that. ¡°Alright. Before we get started on anything else, can you help me find a few of the afterlife systems? Even if I can¡¯t afford them, I¡¯d like to make a n for the future.¡± Terra nods with a small smile on her face when I ask that, and a blue window appears in front of me.


    Heaven and Hell This system establishes two small storage areas for deceased souls within the metaphysical realm. Whenever a soul is ready to move on, the Keeper or an appointed god will judge their events in life, to determine their cement. Those deemed virtuous souls will be granted a blissful afterlife as their reward, and those deemed sinful will be condemned to eternal torture. This reward or punishment can end at any time, when the Keeper or relevant god determines that a soul is fit to be given another chance at life, and at that point the Keeper or relevant god can determine the circumstances surrounding the birth of this new life. 50 Points


    Cycle of Reincarnation This system enters your world in the great Cycle of Reincarnation, shared through many Keeper worlds. Whenever a soul with a strong innate talent dies, there is a chance for it to be reborn, either in your world or another in this cycle. It will retain fragmented memories of its past life, and if those memories are sufficient the soul will be able to regain its former power, should the new life''s world bepatible with those powers. 60 points


    Hall of Champions A defensive system put in ce to offer an emergency fighting force in the event of impending disaster. With this system, every soul above a sufficient level of strength is entered into the Hall of Champions, where they may feast, fight, and celebrate for an eternity, or until they are called for one final battle. Each soul can only be called this way once, but there is no limit to the number of souls that can be called at a time. Souls not qualified to enter the Hall of Champions will be consumed as fuel to maintain the dimension. 150 points


    Astral ne This system creates a second, spiritual world within your domain. Whenever a soul dies in the Material ne, it may be transferred to the Astral ne to live a new life. Likewise, when a soul dies in the Astral ne, it may be reborn in the Material ne with its memories erased. 200 points


    Soul Disposal A quick and easy system, which disposes of souls after a set amount of time has passed since their death. 50 Points


    ¡°While these aren¡¯t the only systems avable, they are the ones that are more popr.¡± Terra exined as I read through the list.


    ¡°Why is Heaven and Hell so cheap? It sound like something that should cost at least a hundred points¡­¡± I asked curiously, unable to figure that part out.


    ¡°Ah¡­ that¡¯s because of the need for a dedicated ¡®Judge¡¯ role. If a Keeper personally takes that task, and has to oversee every death for his entire world, he would have no time to develop the world. Otherwise, he would need to spend points to acquire a separate Judge to do the work for him.¡±


    ¡°That makes sense, I suppose.¡± Personally, I was torn between the Heaven and Hell system, and the Hall of Champions. The Cycle of Reincarnation sounds good, but really seems more like a trap. If a malicious Keeper raised their world¡¯s talents right, they could probably make it so that the reincarnated individuals hold absolute loyalty to their original world, and cause chaos after being reincarnated.


    So, next I looked through a list of options for the ¡®Judge¡¯ role. There were actually a lot of choices, including preset gods, devils, and even a court of souls. However, there was one option which caught my eye the most.


    Lemegeton and Shemhamphorasch This is a system of 72 angels and 72 demons, each with their own specialty, who oversee the realms of Heaven and Hell. It is their task to judge the souls of those who pass away in the world, and then carry out the punishment or reward. They will also make suggestions to the Keeper or assigned god whenever a powerful soul is ready to be given another life. Although these angels and demons have no physical form, it is possible for those that have passed through their care tomune with them. In doing so, they may establish the angels or demons as a source of divine power, should such be possible in your world. The Keeper may limit the influence that the 72 angels and demons have on the living through the system settings. 100 points


    While I hadn¡¯t heard the name Shemhamphorasch before, I was at least somewhat familiar with the Lemegeton. Also known as the Lesser Key of Solomon, it was a fairly well known book, supposedly associated with demonology in the Earth I was raised in. Though, I can¡¯t say I know the details of it too well.


    Anyways¡­ I ended up choosing to go for that option. Not because of nostalgia or anything, but because of cost effectiveness. Any of the other preset options would require at least fifty points, and have only one or two entities. This may be a one hundred point system, but contains nearly a hundred and fifty entities. Furthermore, it offers a new kind of power to the world.


    I nodded my head after having made my decision, and closed the system interface. I would need a hundred and fifty points in order to purchase that, and I was not ready for that, yet. There were still a few achievements I would need to earn before I could afford it. Turning towards Terra, I brought up a different subject. ¡°Did Alkahest happen to mention what he wanted?¡±


    Before, he had offered to let me join his guild, so I figured it probably had something to do with that. However, Terra gave me a different answer than I was expecting. ¡°He said that there is a meeting of Keepers happening in a few weeks, and wanted to let you join in. Earth hasn¡¯t been represented in a long time, so he offered to go over the rules and benefits of joining before the meeting itself.¡±


    I raised my eyebrows in surprise upon hearing that. ¡°A meeting of Keepers? Is that something official?¡±


    Terra simply gave a smile, shaking her head. ¡°No, this is something they probably set up for themselves. While there is an official gathering time for Keepers, it only applies to those that are advanced enough to participate in the games. We likely won¡¯t be ready for the next one, so I didn¡¯t bother to tell you about it.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­ is it important?¡±


    She shrugged lightly in response. ¡°Not particrly. You could consider it like the forums, a way for Keepers to meet and exchange ideas face to face in a peaceful environment. There are games that you can enter, either with yourself or with champions from your world, andpete to earn points. However, attendance is definitely not mandatory, and there is no real penalty for being absent.¡±


    I nodded in understanding at that, then made a bitter smile. ¡°Put us at each other¡¯s throats with the Keeper games, and then have us all meet for a festival peacefully? This system really can¡¯t make up its mind.¡±


    Terra simply gave me a knowing smile at that, not saying anything. Well, no use worrying over it right now. Like she said, I was still a long ways away from being able to take part in any of that. Right now, my own world was just getting started. I gave another look to theputer before speaking. ¡°I¡¯ll do a bit more training before I visit Alkahest, then. I want to figure out how this Spirit Tamer ss works, and maybe unlock another ss.¡±


    She nodded, patting me on the shoulder as she let out a slight sigh. ¡°Alright. I can¡¯t give you any advice about that, but I can tell you something.¡± She leaned forward, giving me a quick peck on the cheek. ¡°If you can¡¯t figure it out yourself, the system unlocks the ability you want at level five of Spirit Tamer. That¡¯s the most I can do for you with that.¡±


    I grin knowingly, epting that answer. Was still more than I was hoping for. ¡°Alright. Then, while I¡¯m gone, can you let Alkahest know that we¡¯ll be meeting in a couple of days? I shouldn¡¯t take long to get a couple more levels down on the surface, at most a couple hours, but that will give me plenty of time to rx after I get back.¡± Terra easily epted that, and I went back down to the world again.


    For now, I want to use only system abilities, except for the Spirit Tamer ss. That way, I don¡¯t carelessly level other sses. I nodded to myself while looking around for more targets. Since I spawned in the same location as before, it was still a pretty sparsely popted area. It took me a full five minutes to find something that was not treated as a level zero lifeform.


    And¡­ this was another horned rabbit. Well, let¡¯s just get this over with? I aimed my hand at the rabbit from a distance, and chose to use the Fire spell in my mind. When the diagram appeared in my head, I drew a cone shape. Horned rabbits were fast, so a straight shot or a punch would most likely miss, and improvising would get me more levels than I wanted for now.


    -8


    There was a high pitched scream from the rabbit as it was suddenly engulfed in mes, before it turned and charged at me. Unfortunately for the rabbit¡­ fire is not just an instant attack, at least not when something catches on fire. And, since this was a cone attack¡­ arge area had caught on fire.


    -3


    I watched the health bar slowly draining as the horned rabbit ran through the mes to try to reach me. Was it thinking that it should at least make me join it in death? Well¡­ that wasn¡¯t likely to happen, if I had any say. By the time the rabbit reached me, it had only a sliver of health remaining, and its speed had been greatly lessened due to its pain. Killing it at this point was as easy as taking a step back and letting the fire damage finish its work.


    -2


    Just like that, the horned rabbit let out a pitiful cry, and copsed on the ground in front of me. As I had expected, I did not receive any notification of an increase in level, so I knelt down and began the process of extracting the rabbits spirit again. This time, the rabbit spirit did not seem to want to return to its body, but rather desperately struggled to break free so that it could run away from me.


    But, would I really let it get away so easily? Keeping a firm grasp on its neck, I prevented its escape, while sending my will to meet it. Unlike the boar, this frightened rabbit offered almost no resistance before its mental wall crumbled. Once that happened, its terrified eyes grew lifeless, and it slowly began to dissipate, turning into a formless mass of white smoke that merged with the hand holding it.


    Sessfully contracted level 1 Horned Rabbit - Stage 1


    I could only give a sigh as the rabbit merged with me. Searching my energies, I found that it now existed alongside the boar, the two spirits motionless within me. Maybe I can feed one to the other?


    When the idea urred to me, I naturally had to try it. Although I couldn¡¯t coax the boar out of me, I might be able to make it interact with another spirit. As such, I connected my mind to the spirit of the boar, and ordered it to consume the rabbit spirit. That¡¯s¡­ when things got weird.


    The boar spirit¡¯s eyes seemed to glow red, as it turned to look at the motionless rabbit. Its body broke down into smoke, which spread out in all directions within the area I was watching, and then converged on the rabbit. Even as parts of it broke off and faded into nothing, the rabbit made neither a sound nor a movement, right up until the end.


    With the job done, the boar spirit reformed, just as motionless as it was before. However¡­ it seemed slightly different. Its legs looked like they had gotten thicker, while its tusks had be sharper.


    Level 2 Razor Boar consumed Level 1 Horned Rabbit. Dexterity +0.5


    Spirit Tamer has leveled up!


    Okay¡­ that is probably not what I wanted to do. Is that a way to evolve spirits by making them feed on each other? Still¡­ interesting.

 Chapter 10: Tame the Beast Within

    <h4>Chapter 10: Tame the Beast Within</h4>


    Now that I had the possibly mutated boar spirit, I still had to figure out how to bring it out and fight for me. This was probably the most important feature for me out of all of the different sses. Just think, with my Keeper stats, I will be able topete with even the strongest creatures in the world. Then, if I defeat those creatures, I could even add them to my own personal army to use as a fighting force in an invasion!


    So again, I looked around, but instead of finding a new monster to subdue, I was aiming for something different. With the warm glow of mana flooding my eyes, I once more looked at the white smoke rising up from the ground, the spirits of the creatures that already died. I had no way to immediately tell what the spirits had once been without looking more closely, but there was no reason it should be anything stronger than what I encountered previously.


    Walking over to the nearest column of smoke, I found myself standing under one of therger trees in the area. No doubt whatever had died here properly became fertilizer for this tree, but now I have another use for it. Once again wrapping my hands in mana, I grasped onto the smoke and pulled. What appeared was a very vague form of arge quadruped,ing up roughly to my hips with its fat body.


    A boar, maybe? I thought to myself, as the spirit was far too misshapen to properly identify it. No matter, I once again underwent the process of ¡®contracting¡¯ the spirit. This one did not seem to possess any rage or lingering emotions, and the mental wall between us was breached in but a moment. With that done, the spirit dispersed into gas, which slowly drifted into my body. Naturally, I looked inside of myself when this process was over, and found a second boar spirit. Though, this one was far more blurred and indistinct than the one I have been ¡®raising¡¯.


    Sessfully contracted Level 2 Razor Boar - Stage 1


    As such, there was only one thing to do. Devour, Imanded the stronger spirit, which once again assaulted its ¡®neighbor¡¯. This time, rather than bing smoke to surround and consume it, the boar spirit directly charged over and started ripping chunks out of its victim with its horns. Once the chunks were separated, they merged with the boar, until there was only one spirit remaining inside of me.


    Level 2 Razor Boar consumed Level 2 Razor Boar. Stamina +0.2


    Unfortunately, there was no notification of leveling up, but I couldn¡¯t really expect to get a level every time I did something rted to the ss. Also, the bonus this time was smaller than what I had gotten from the rabbit, despite it being a higher level spirit¡­ was that because it was a much older one?


    I couldn¡¯t be sure, so I decided to go to the next closest column of smoke, and repeat this process. The spirit this time was even more vague, appearing as an amorphous blob that came up to my knees. From its size and width, I could only assume it used to be a rabbit. Either way¡­ as they say, Get in my belly!


    Focusing my will on the misshapen ghost, I shattered what little defense it had while it sat there unmoving. As happened before, this spirit turned into a vacant white smoke which slowly flew into my body. And again, I ordered the boar spirit to consume it.


    Sessfully contracted Level 0 Normal Rabbit - Stage 1


    Level 2 Razor Boar consumed Level 0 Normal Rabbit. No growth


    Spirit Tamer has leveled up!


    Contract Spirit ability has been unlocked!


    Feed Spirit ability has been unlocked!


    Absorb Spirit ability has been unlocked!


    Summon Spirit ability has been unlocked!


    I was suddenly assaulted by a barrage of blue windows after feeding the rabbit to the boar this time. From the looks of things, I finally hit level 5 as a Spirit Tamer, and unlocked the basic abilities to capture and raise a spirit beast. Though¡­ now I had to figure out how to use them.


    Summon Spirit, I thought in my mind, activating the skill. Or, attempting to at least.


    Contracted spirit Razor Boar has insufficient Spiritual Energy to be summoned!


    Well¡­ what am I supposed to do about that?! Feed Spirit! I practically shouted in my mind.


    Only one spirit possessed currently. No food source avable.


    Gritting my teeth, I moved to the next column of smoke and practically ripped it out of the ground. With my frustration, the pitiful rabbit spirit was instantly absorbed into my body. Feed Spirit!


    Sessfully contracted Level 1 Horned Rabbit - Stage 1.


    Please select the spirit to feed.


    Level 2 Razor Boar: +0.5 Dexterity, +0.2 Stamina


    Level 1 Horned Rabbit


    I mentally selected the Razor Boar, and then when it asked which spirit to use as food, I chose the rabbit. Once again¡­ I watched the Razor Boar devour the helpless and motionless rabbit spirit. Guess that¡¯s not the right ability¡­


    Level 2 Razor Boar consumed Level 1 Horned Rabbit. Dexterity +0.2


    Sighing in frustration, I mentally activated Absorb Spirit, hoping to see any information it could provide. I really didn¡¯t want to keep going at this with no results whatsoever.


    No Spiritual Energy within range to absorb.


    Oh¡­ well, that¡¯s something. That implies I don¡¯t have to contract the spirit, just be near it. With a light nod of my head, I moved to yet another column of white smoke. This one seems to have been from multiple creatures, as the smoke rose from various areas around me. Absorb Spirit.


    My next action was¡­ not what I expected. Like when I wanted to speak with the frightened rabbit spirit, I felt my mana being channeled into my mouth. However, I did not dissipate the spirits with my voice this time. Rather, I took a deep breath, and¡­ well, I breathed them in. At first, the white smoke showed signs of resisting, but I watched as it visibly struggled to fight against some invisible force, before flying directly into my mouth.


    Out of curiosity, I directed my senses inward, and found a simple cloud of white gas near the boar. This cloud had no definite shape, no matter how I looked at it. It was simply a pure mass of Spiritual Energy. Feed Spirit?


    Once again, I was given the prompt for which spirit to select to feed, but there was only one option. And, when it got to the next screen¡­


    Please choose what food source you wish to give the Razor Boar.


    Spiritual Energy 12 units.


    As it was the only option, I chose the Spiritual Energy. Simrly to how I inhaled the smoke just moments ago, I watched as the boar turned towards the cloud and took a deep breath, inhaling it as well. Once it was done, it no longer looked like a gaseous boar, but seemed to have a solid, white shape.


    Level 2 Razor Boar has advanced to Stage 2, and may now be summoned.


    Finally! I gave a sigh of relief as the boar showed actual improvement, before giving themand to summon it. Carefully, I observed the movements my body made, and the flow of energy that urred within me. I could clearly feel the boar starting to charge, as if it was a stampede throughout my entire body. In the next moment, it leapt into the air, and there was a white light shining from my chest.


    This light seemed to act as a door, because the boar flew out of it a momentter to stand in front of me. Its eyes did not look at me with hostility, but with a vacantness, as if awaiting amand. ¡°Uhm¡­ roll over?¡± I spoke, unsure of what to do. However, once it heard that, the boar properly rolled over.


    Or, it tried to at least. Fun fact, boars don¡¯t roll very well. Once it got onto its side, it was aedic scene of watching the boar kicking at the air and the ground to try to get onto its back andplete the roll. ¡°Alright, alright, enough. Return?¡±


    When I said that, the boar rolled itself back to its feet, and charged at me. Having an idea where this was going, I simply let it happen, and watched as the boar opened up another hole of light in my chest to dive into. When the light faded, the boar was nowhere to be seen. ¡°Okay, well that¡¯s cool.¡±


    Finally, my work training my Spirit Tamer ss wasplete! Now, I could finally work on my next ss. Given the training I did previously in the Admin Room, I decided to get the Monk ss next. The requirement for this ss was actually really easy, it¡¯s just training it beyond that point is more difficult.


    Finding an empty patch of grass and flowers, I sat down on the ground cross legged. In order to acquire the Monk ss, I simply had to meditate. Clear my mind, sense the world around and within. Breathe in, let the air flow through me. Breathe out, expel my worries.


    I kept this up for roughly an hour, breathing in and out, doing my best to keep my mind clear. Having been a truck driver in my past life, it was actually very easy to think about nothing at all. Every job has at least some perks, right?


    Monk ss unlocked!


    Ki pool unlocked!


    Ki Fist ability unlocked!


    I abruptly opened my eyes when I heard the dinging of the messages appearing, and let out a wide smile. About time! I quickly stood up, stretching a bit as I looked over my updated character sheet.


    Name Dale Mitchell Race Human(Keeper)


    Health 38/38(184/184) Mana 48/48(64/64)


    Strength 5(10) Ki 9/9(27/27)


    Stamina 5(10) Intelligence 7(9)


    Dexterity 5(7) Wisdom 9(11)


    Luck 5 Charm 4


    ss List


    Druid 0(3) Farmer 0(1) Hunter 0(4) Leader 0(2) Mage 1(5) Monk 1(3) Priest 1(3) Schr 0(1)


    Scout 0(2) Shaman 0(1) Spirit Tamer 5(5) Warrior 1(12)


    I nodded my head in satisfaction at the increases, and again navigated the window to exit to the Admin Room. This time, I probably wouldn¡¯t be descending again for quite a while, at least for a few hundred years by the world¡¯s time.

 Chapter 11: Plans for Tomorrow

    <h4>Chapter 11: ns for Tomorrow</h4>


    Once I had ascended, Terra again greeted me. This time, her greeting wasn¡¯t as exaggerated as before, since she knew I would have been able to easily handle whatever happened. ¡°Wee back, Dale.¡± She said with a nod and a smile. For once, she seemed to be wearing clothes, which came across as a surprise. Though I had to say, they looked good on her.


    For her top, Terra chose to wear a tight white sleeveless shirt, which perfectly emphasized her chest. As for pants, she was wearing blue jeans with slightly frayed legs, and a tiny hole in the back for her tail toe out from. When she saw me admiring her, she struck a pose, cing one hand on her hip while her other arm was t against her side. ¡°Like what you see?¡±


    Well¡­ if we¡¯re being honest. ¡°Very much so. What¡¯s the asion?¡± Given howfortable she had been walking around nakedtely, I didn¡¯t expect to suddenly find her in clothes, no matter how attractive.


    ¡°Figured I¡¯d try out a few outfits between now and the meeting. Would be a bit rude if we showed up naked, right?¡± She asked with a light giggle, bringing a hand to cover her mouth.


    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s true¡­ Though, we still have quite a bit of time before that. Hopefully, I can get the world to advance a bit more before we are ready. Don¡¯t want to seem like aplete newbie, you know?¡±


    At that, she gave me a knowing smile. ¡°Even though you are one?¡±


    ¡°Exactly¡­¡± I replied with a nod. ¡°Now, I had an idea I wanted to talk to you about, because I¡¯m not sure how it would work with the system.¡±


    Hearing that, Terra gave a happy nod and hopped back tond on the bed, sitting down with her legs crossed. ¡°Go ahead, I¡¯m all cat ears!¡± She smiled, her ears twitching to emphasize her point.


    ¡°Well¡­ I was thinking about having one of my civilizations using their culture to master magic, while having another work on technology. Then maybe, when the two cultures meet, the two could blend? Technology amplifying magic, and vice versa?¡±


    After voicing my idea, Terra sat in thought for a while. This was the longest she had debated on something since I had created her. After maybe ten minutes of furrowing her brows and looking like she was debating something with herself, she spoke up. ¡°It is possible¡­ But I wouldn¡¯t suggest doing it with this world. The greatest candidates for a tech society are the humans, and the dwarves, whereas the elves are the obvious choice for a magic society.¡±


    ¡°However, in your current world, the shing of two drastically different cultures at that stage of their development could lead to an all out war of domination. Even with Keeper guidance, that might be unavoidable. We could minimize damage with careful oversight, but two drastically different cultures shing before being fully developed almost always leads to war.¡±


    Saying up to this point, Terra continued. ¡°However, the magic system you chose has roots in science. If you give it time to properly develop before the two cultures meet, there would be a higher chance of coexistence. But, this level of development wouldn¡¯t happen before two cultures of the same meet. So, while the n is possible, I can¡¯t suggest it. I can only suggest that you try to develop the magic for this world, and use your next world to develop technology. Then, when the two cultures are fully developed, purchase a method for people to cross between them.¡±


    ¡°That seems like the best option to me. There is even the chance that technology could be minorly developed in this world¡¯s culture due to the study of thews governing magic. Likewise, as long as you don¡¯t put a particr restriction on magic in your second world, there could be some people that discover it while studying technology.¡±


    I listened to her, moving to sit in theputer chair as I thought it over. ¡°So¡­ it wouldn¡¯t be a good move to do in this world? But, getting another world isn¡¯t exactly an easy matter¡­ Wouldn¡¯t I have to win an invasion to do that? That means, killing another Keeper¡­¡±


    Terra showed me a soft smile at that point. ¡°Dale, this is why you need to go to that meeting with Alkahest. There are things you don¡¯t know about the games yet, and can only be exined by people who have experienced it themselves. I can point you in the right direction, but that¡¯s it. Wouldn¡¯t it be too much of a cheat if I was able to know and tell you the business of other Keepers?¡±


    I thought about that, and gave a slight nod. ¡°Okay¡­¡± I then turned to theputer, and set it to fast forward the world again. This time, the condition for ending the fast forward was for when someone reached level 10 as a Mage. That would give me a good starting point to learn magic. At the same time, I opened up the elves¡¯ culture screen.


    Gandor Cultural Management


    Current Commands N/A Current Ruler Eldwynn Ryon


    Current Security 5% Current Wealth N/A


    Current Focus Defense Additional Options


    Opening up the Additional Options menu, I saw a list of things that I could choose to edit with the system. For instance, I could give the current monarch the idea to have a royal pce constructed. Or, more importantly, I could focus their culture development on a specific aspect for a certain period of time.


    That was what I was looking for. I naturally chose Magic Research as a secondary field of development. ording to the information provided by the system, that meant that any capable people would devote their free time to studying magic, and people born during that period had a higher chance to be suited for the task. The difference between a secondary field of development and a primary one was exactly that, the amount of manpower devoted.


    Given the world¡¯s primal state, where attacks cane at any time, I wanted to leave their current Defense focus as it was. Switching that to a secondary field would probably make it much easier for monsters to slip in undetected. Now¡­ for the duration. It would cost me one point for every five years I wanted to implement this, or one hundred points to make it a permanent option.


    Naturally, I didn¡¯t have a hundred points right now, so I spent ten points. This way, they will spend the next fifty years developing magic. Once I had more points to spend, I could set periods of advancement for other cultures as well, but for now I had to prioritize the elves. Once the purchase was confirmed, I checked their culture window again.


    Gandor Cultural Management


    Current Commands N/A Primary, Magic Research Secondary Current Ruler Eldwynn Ryon


    Current Security 5% Current Wealth N/A


    Current Focus Defense Additional Options


    I nodded my head at that, and checked on the other races. Due to the current state of fast forwarding, movements went by in a blur. Days ticked by as seconds, and I could see a definite improvement in some of the races.


    The beastkin, with their greater numbers and cooperation, erected primitive defensive structures such as spiked walls and guard patrols within the first two years. The humans, still untouched by either Terra or myself, started to band together in small tribes to fight against the growing monsters. The dwarves seemed to develop a bit as well. As I watched, they gathered into five small tribes, each in vastly different areas.


    Perhaps, the only race that did not show much advancement was the halflings. They remained as they had always been, a merry wandering race. But, something seemed different. Oftentimes, they would wander through monster dens, or past dangerous herds, and not be sighted. It wasn¡¯t that the monsters were careless, but the halfings had developed a knack for stealth.


    This development continued for roughly an hour, at which point it abruptly slowed to a normal pace. Off to the side, Terra couldn¡¯t help but giggle. ¡°You know, if you had stopped watching for a bit, it would have been able to progress faster, right? You could have grabbed a snack, and it would have been done by the time you got back.¡±


    I smiled bitterly, shaking my head. ¡°It was nice to watch them progress. Besides, if an emergency had happened, I might not have been able to do anything to stop it if I wasn¡¯t watching.¡± Terra nodded, conceding that point to me. ¡°Now, what kinds of spells are avable to the Mages that advanced to level 10?¡±


    Yes, I know that I assigned the spells myself. But really, do you expect me to keep track of every ability and spell that I assigned for around fifty different sses, all the way to the high hundreds in level? That is just ridiculous! I was mostly idling through that and going by system suggestions in order to speed up the process, anyways.


    ¡°Hmm, well, they have gotten three new spells since youst practiced. A light spell, a spark spell, and a shield spell.¡± Terra answered, seemingly not even having to think about it. ¡°This should be enough for you to start making some small spells of your own, if you study them enough.¡± She said with a smile, which meant that there were most likely aspects of the spells that were simr enough to draw connections.


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get to work.¡± I said with a nod, and we moved down towards the training area so that I could try the new spells out.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Eldwynn Ryon sat at her chair, five different drawings in front of her. Each was a symbol of power to her people, as each had been provided by the world itself to those that sought to further the art of ¡®magic¡¯. The Mages, as they were called, hadmitted themselves to understanding and improving this strange power. And, as they did so, these symbols continued to appear in her mind.


    Three of them were images that Eldwynn herself could not be more familiar with. They were the spells designated Fire, Ice, and Light which she had personally acquired. However, the other two were ones which she had yet to grasp. ording to the Mages that delivered them, they were known as Spark and Shield. One capable of paralyzing a nearby target with a st of light, and the other capable of defending.


    How many more of these symbols of power are there, she wondered to herself. She had personally tested Spark and Shield, and discovered that they worked even if she had not unlocked them. She merely needed to imagine them, and fill them with her inner power in the same way she did when casting her own powers. Further testing showed that anyone who was a ¡®Mage¡¯ could do the same thing. Even people without that title could with proper guidance, and doing so granted it to them.


    Seeing the power offered by these strange patterns, Eldwynn issued an order for all Mages in her realm to devote themselves to the discovery of these powers, these spells. As the seasons passed, the monsters at their walls only continued to grow stronger. They needed these symbols to be their symbol of hope, or these creatures may grow to an extent that they can no longer contend with.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Back in the ins of Beginning, there was an elderly Felyn lying on a bed of straw. Her beautiful face had wrinkled with age, her fiery red hair turning a dull grey. Across her body was the pelt of a mighty beast, which she had personally in in her youth. Standing near her were representatives of each of the tribes which she led, those who she had gathered and had ruled over until she came to her current state.


    ¡°What would you have of us, Ardra?¡± One asked, an aged wolf with a missing eye. It may have caused his appearance to lessen, but he was proud of it. It was a mark gained in the service to his people.


    The elderly Felyn, Ardra Firebrand, gave a light, weak smile. ¡°It is almost time for my passing. Before I go, I want to choose who will take my ce¡­¡± She brought her hand to her mouth, coughing into it. Blood could be seen on her hand as she pulled it back. ¡°My daughter is not ready for the task, but there is another. I want you all to guide her in my stead, old friends.¡±


    The Ursa, Lycan, and Kitsune leaders all dropped to one knee. The Kitsune, a younger man with ck hair and fur, was the first to speak. ¡°If it is your wish, we will do our best. But, if not Kyra, then who?¡±


    Truthfully, Ardra had always wanted her daughter, Kyra Firebrand, to rece her when it was her time. However, the Goddess had told her that Kyra was not suited to rule. This was one of the few decisions that Ardra had initially wanted to debate with her Goddess, but she was given a vision. She was shown her daughter excelling, but not as a leader. She would lead her people, yes, but in the ways of securing food.


    Instead, there was another, a local Kitsune girl that had been unknown to Ardra before. Ardra was given another vision of this Kitsune leading their tribe to prosper and expand, to fight back the growing threat of the monsters. Following the Goddess¡¯s wish, she had not revered her openly, and did not tell anyone that various decisions over her rule were aided by the Goddess. This, she could only tell to her sessor.


    ¡°The person who will lead us, is¡­ Mara Eversong.¡± Ardra spoke in a weak voice, to the surprise of the three representatives. ¡°Please, send her to me. I wish to speak with her alone¡­¡±


    Although unwilling, the beastmen representatives left Ardra¡¯s hut, finding the girl that had been named and instructing her to meet the Grand Elder. This was possibly her final day, so none wished to dy Ardra¡¯s orders. She had personally transformed them from scattered families to a great force. With her inmand, food had never been a problem. She had always fought at the forefront of any battle against the monster threat. In the hearts of the beastkin, there was only respect for Ardra, respect and loyalty.


    ¡°Wh-what do you wish of me, Grand Elder?¡± A shaky voice could be heard as a silver-haired Kitsune, no more than a dozen years of age, entered. Her body was undeveloped, and her ears ttened against her head in nervousness. Never before had she personally met the Grand Elder, but suddenly she was called on the eve of her passing.


    ¡°Do not worry, dear child.¡± Ardra spoke softly, turning her head to look at the person chosen to rece her. ¡°I have many things to tell you, things that you must know, and things that can¡¯t be said to others.¡±


    Still worried, Mara nodded her head, listening quietly as Ardra spoke. She was told of the Goddess, how it had been her decision to gather the races, and how important she had been to Ardra¡¯s rule. Then, she spoke of how the Goddess had personally decided for Mara to rece her. Mara was surprised by this sudden deration, and immediately tried to deny this suggestion, but a voice spoke into her mind.


    Calm, my child. This is what must be. This was the first time that Mara had ever heard the voice of the Goddess, and she immediately froze in her attempts to speak. Seeing this, Ardra knew what had happened, and gave a gentle smile. Slowly, she closed her eyes, having finally fulfilled herst mission.


    On that night, no monsters attacked, no storms raged. A gentle wind blew through the ins, as if the world itself was mourning.

 Chapter 12: Revelations

    <h4>Chapter 12: Revtions</h4>


    During my training with Terra, I had managed to develop two new spells, the Elemental Shield and the Force Bolt. These spells were created thanks to Terra helping me identify some key structures of the magic diagram. In particr, the st spells all shared manymon properties, with only a few of the major shapes being different. After some testing, I discovered that those parts of the diagram were rted to the element being used in the spell.


    From there, I began experimenting with the Shield spell, until I found a way to include those elements in the spell itself. This changed it from being a shield of pure force, to a shield of fire, ice, or lightning. Likewise, this helped me identify the ¡®force¡¯ element, which I was able to transnt into the st spells, creating the Force Bolt spell.


    To my surprise, I had actually earned another 10 points, for discovering a secret to magic and developing abilities that had not been known to my people yet. I was slowly getting closer to being able to implement an afterlife for my world, though there were also other ideas I had been thinking of. Primarily, I had thought about creating a new race, though I wasn¡¯t sure what one I wanted to put in at this time.


    When Terra heard this, she gave me some news that surprised me. ¡°It¡¯s actually possible to create a new race for your world whenever you want, as long as you either have a free race slot, or buy a new one. As long as your world has not been entirely explored yet, you can also iste a section of your world, and have it run at a different timeframe. For instance, if you ce a new race right now, you could choose one of the empty areas of your.¡±


    ¡°From there, you could choose to ¡®rewind¡¯ that area of the, and ce that race there. Then, they will begin developing under your supervision, until they either reached a level you werefortable with, or began exploring into ¡®known territory¡¯ on your world. This is how news are typically handled in technological worlds, by having the races develop when the world itself is found, and then reintroducing them to the timeline.¡±


    That was certainly an interesting thought, but I couldn¡¯t help but ask. ¡°Can¡¯t I do the same thing with the races I already have? Like, if I wanted to give the humans more time to develop, could I iste them and pause the rest of the world?¡±


    Terra gave me a small nod, watching me stare at the various diagrams. ¡°That¡¯s right. It would cost a few points, but you could use that as an easy way to bnce the races, if one got too far behind the others. Or, if one got too far ahead, you could just freeze that race until the others caught up. Of course, this is only possible as long as the races have had absolutely no contact with each other, and have therefore not influenced the other races in any way.¡±


    I nodded to that, thinking that it would be interesting. I still had a vast majority of my world unexplored, so fitting in a new race would be pretty easy. It was just a matter of not knowing what kind of race to put in. Well, I still had time to think about that. Maybe I could get an idea from Alkahest after our meeting.


    After I was done training in the basement with Terra, we once again headed back up to the bedroom, and I decided to check up on the world. I hadn¡¯t expected many changes, since thest fast forward had only been roughly ten years or so. In the great timeline of the world, ten years is really not a lot of time for change, especially in this age. However, there were a couple of things that surprised me


    First of all, I noticed that the leader of Terraria was no longer Ardra, and was in fact no longer a Felyn at all. I sent a curious nce to Terra, who asked what was the matter. ¡°I almost thought that you wanted to keep your own race in power with the beastkin. Didn¡¯t expect to see a Kitsune in charge.¡±


    Terra gave me a wry smile, and shrugged her shoulders. ¡°I do want the Felyn to be important, but wouldn¡¯t it be more fun if the races took turns leading? And, Mara really did have the best talent for being a leader out of everyone. So it only makes sense to put her in charge.¡± Saying that, she turned back to the bed and crawled up on it, turning around to give me a small grin.


    ¡°Ahh, that¡¯s true.¡± I nodded slightly, before checking out the other thing which caught my eye, a shing prompt in the corner of the screen.


    You have 2 messages waiting.


    After I opened them up, two windows appeared in front of me.


    Congrattions, you have earned an achievement!


    Your world has begun to explore the basics of science of their own volition! You have earned the Free Thinker achievement. +20 points.


    You have sold 5 units of World Host


    I nodded my head slightly, appreciating the extra 35 points to my bnce. Though, I was curious who had begun exploring science. Naturally, my first thought was the elves, since they were without a doubt the furthest along out of any of the races. But, that thought was refuted when I checked the Science window, which seemed to disy the progress of science in my world. This window had never been avable before, likely because my world had yet to begin any research.


    To put it simply¡­ it was not the elves who had begun working on science, but the dwarves. And, it was a rather obvious science as well. ording to the window, the dwarves had begun working on crafting technology, though I wasn¡¯t sure what had prompted such a sudden interest. ording to what Terra had said, the bonus for them that I purchased shouldn¡¯t have kicked in yet.


    Investigating a bit, I found what could possibly be the cause¡­ and what could also possibly be quite dangerous. One of the dwarven tribes had settled on top of a mountain. But, this was not just any mountain¡­ this was an active volcano. Did they see how rocks melt when they fall intova, and get a sudden inspiration or something?


    I considered intervening to stop the volcano from erupting¡­ But doing so would cost points, as it is preventing a natural phenomena. I¡¯m sorry, but I wish for the best for you guys. I gave them a silent prayer. I couldn¡¯t just delete every disaster that could befall my world. Some disasters are needed in order to help them grow. Now¡­ if this volcano was big enough to wipe out the entire dwarven race, I would probably interfere. But just one tribe is an eptable loss right now.


    Turning away from theputer, I set it to fast forward again, to the next era or until a disaster urred. Afterwords, I began discarding my clothes, and joined my very attractive catgirlpanion in bed. Even God took a break one day a week, right!?


    _______________________________________________________________


    In the ins of Beginning, a change was happening to the people of Terraria. The eptance of their new Grand Elder was not an easy one, but few were willing to deny the dying wish of Ardra Firebrand. Now, with Mara Eversong in control, she was being taught how to rule by her three aides. First, the Kitsune elder, a middle aged fox with ck hair and fur, taught her about the strange powers the people possessed, that which was known as magic. Ardra had always believed this to be an important power, but had never truly been able to study it.


    Next, the Lycan elder, an aged wolf with a missing eye, taught her to hunt. Although Mara did not seem especially powerful, she would always do her utmost to fulfill the expectations ced on her. However, she seemed to be learning in a different direction than the Lycan elder was teaching. Where he taught her to track and stalk a prey, she began to develop ideas on how to capture that prey through the use of sticks or covered holes.


    Finally, the Ursa elder, a strong man with brown fur and ears, taught her what Ardra had taught them of building. Here again, Mara seemed to think of things that others had not. Where they haphazardly stacked logs together to make their ramshackle huts, she would disappear into the woods, finding thick vines to wrap around the logs, holding them together.


    By the time Mara had finished growing, she had fully taken to her role as a leader. With Ardra¡¯s daughter, Kyra, as the new representative for the Felyn, they began to discover new abilities, new methods of helping their people. Kyra had found small, bulbous nts hanging from the trees, and had decided to bury themter. Although this was mostly in an attempt to save them for herself forter, this led to a remarkable discovery.


    Later, after Kyra had forgotten where she buried those fruits, weeks passed, and a small nt could be seen growing in the ins. Few thought this nt was worth notice, but Kyra recalled having buried something in the area. As such, she continued to watch the growth of this new life, out of curiosity.


    Seasons passed, and soon that small nt had turned into another tree, bearing fruits simr to those which she had harvested from originally. The growth may have been too slow for others to pay attention to it, but Kyra excitedly told Mara all about it. How she had buried the mysterious fruit in the ground, and now this tree had appeared.


    Mara had initially nned to pay no heed to this news, as there were more pressing matters. However, a voice spoke in her head, one which she had only heard three or four times since Ardra¡¯s passing. And, each time it had spoken, it had given her very simple instructions, instructions that could ultimately lead to a great change.


    This time, the voice had told her to listen to Kyra. So, Mara did exactly that. They gathered more of the edible nts which grew from both the ground and the trees, and set aside small tracts ofnd to nt them in. After that, they returned to their normal work, and weeks passed again. Mara had all but forgotten the matter, but Kyra had diligently watched the nts growing day after day.


    When the first one had finished, she once again approached Mara, telling her the news. This time, Mara had indeed been influenced by Kyra¡¯s ideas. If they could grow food from the ground, however slowly, then it would help them through the harsh winters, where it is difficult to hunt for prey.


    Mara gathered arge group of beastkin from the varying races, and had them establish a second vige some distance away from the first. The beastkin were stunned, thinking that they were being exiled, but Mara dispelled their fears. She assured them that they could return at any time, and that the purpose of this second vige was to help their people grow, while also providing additional food through this new method of harvesting.


    Several were still reluctant about this, but ultimately agreed to her decision. And, as she said, they would often return to speak with their families or friends, or when they needed to request aid from the first vige. Furthermore, the first vige would frequently send meats to help them, because they had moved away from the ideal hunting ground.


    Like this, Terraria was the first of the kingdoms to develop agriculture. And soon after, a basic system of trade.


    _______________________________________________________________


    The rest of the day passed by pretty slowly, with me only checking theputer every now and then in order to check the development of the world, or look for new achievements. Most of the time, I spent lounging with Terra, watching archived movies from the past Earth. That night, I decided to check the forums, and found that there were several replies to both my World Host and The Forgotten submissions in the custom content section.


    The Forgotten


    Drillot: Very interesting race, and useful for aiding in the development of other races. But, be sure to take precautions before descending in their territory! I lost a few hours worth of memory when I went down, and had to get mypanion to tell me what happened. On a side note, the post hypnotic suggestion stops taking effect after ascending.


    Brakion: What is up with this race? People forget them as soon as they look away? That doesn¡¯t seem like a really useful power.


    Drillot: Really? It seems great to me! What better spies could there be than a race nobody could remember?


    World Host


    Alkahest: Very nice! Good addition for those wanting to run the Merlin strategy. Only issue is that you don¡¯t know everything that happens to your Host while you aren¡¯t in it. Makes for an awkward situation when you find your Host married, and don¡¯t know your wife¡¯s name! ;)


    I gave a small sigh as I read thatst post. Naturally, I had not been thinking of romantic situations or things like that when I made the World Host! Though, from the post he made, I could guess some more of his personality, which would help in ouring meeting.

 Chapter 13: Alkahest

    <h4>Chapter 13: Alkahest</h4>


    Finally, the time hade for our meeting with Alkahest. Although the actual meeting between Keepers was still some time away, it was good to get this over with. This was the first time that I had been to another Keeper¡¯s domain¡­ And speaking of which¡­ ¡°Hey, Terra?¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡± She asked, slipping into a leopard spotted dress that clung tightly to her figure. ¡°Something the matter?¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­ yeah. How are we supposed to get to Alkahest? I don¡¯t remember seeing any options for traveling to another Keeper¡¯s world.¡± I hadn¡¯t really looked that closely, but something like that would have stuck out.


    ¡°Oh! That¡¯s easy! He just has to invite us. Anyone that has been in the Keeper games can freely invite other people to their worlds, whereas new Keepers have to pay for that privilege. Think of it as a way to keep a new Keeper from getting free help with their world until they have gotten a bit of experience themselves.¡± She exined, though really I wish the option was there from the start.


    ¡°Alright¡­¡± I nodded my head nheless, and got myself a ck tuxedo from the wardrobe. I have never actually worn one of these before, but thankfully it seems to fit me perfectly. No doubt with help from a certain administrative catgirl. ¡°Ah! Right, before we leave¡­¡± I walked over to theputer, and clicked on the button to pause the world. ¡°Don¡¯t want anything happening while we¡¯re gone.¡±


    Terra nodded with a small smile on her lips. ¡°Good idea. Now, shall we?¡± She held out a hand, which I epted. After closing her eyes for a few moments, a blue screen appeared in front of me.


    Alkahest has invited you to his Administration Room with Guest privileges.


    Do you wish to ept? Y/N


    Mentally, I hit the ept button, and things started getting weird. Aside from myself and Terra, the area around us began looking like an oil painting. The colors began to drip down along the walls, the bed, everything fading into a prismatic liquid at our feet.


    ¡°Gah, I hate this one¡­¡± Terra said with a tone of mild disgust as the world around us reduced to sludge. Finally, the goo at our feet surged up around us, enveloping our bodies for a few long moments.


    ¡°Wee, wee¡­ ick¡­ got the water color transition¡­¡± A gruff male voice spoke out from near us. ¡°Here, let me help with that.¡± I felt a hot wind blow over me, before the goo seemed to evaporate from my body.


    Looking around, I saw Terra still standing next to me, shaking slightly with a look of mild nausea on her face. The two of us seemed to be standing on arge, white marble floor that spread out for dozens of meters in every direction. At the edges of the circr floor were twisting and spiraling columns rising up in a circle, with clouds extending beyond them allowing in golden rays of light. The columns continued upwards, disappearing into another set of clouds which hovered over our heads.


    Our host stood near one of the borders of the floor, a giant that seemed ten meters tall. He had three eyes on his head, as well as two horns. His skin was a deep brown, with an overly muscr build. If you saw him in other circumstances, you might think he was a boss monster or something.


    ¡°Ah, Earth is still running humans as the default race, huh?¡± The giant spoke. ¡°Since you¡¯re new to this, I¡¯ll try to make you morefortable.¡± After closing his three eyes, I waited speechless for a long moment, before a golden light shined from his body, forcing me to look away. ¡°Alright, I¡¯m decent now.¡±


    Confused, I turned to look at him again, only to see what looked like a normal african man. Dark skin, short ck hair, and twopletely normal eyes. Although he still wore what seemed to be a white toga, he definitely did not look like a fantasy monster anymore. ¡°So, you¡¯re the new EarthForceOne, huh? d to meet you.¡± He stepped forward, extending a hand.


    Letting go of Terra¡¯s hand, I extended my own to shake his, although a bit hesitantly. I still wasn¡¯t entirely trusting of other Keepers, especially since I didn¡¯t know if he had any powers over me or anything while I was here. ¡°Nice to meet you. So¡­ this is your world¡­?¡±


    He seemed to misinterpret my silence as a request for an introduction. ¡°Ah, you can call me Grimor. Keeper titles are more of a formal thing, so not a lot of people use them outside of initial meetings or official business.¡±


    I¡­ did not know that. ¡°I¡¯m Dale, and this is Terra.¡± I took another nce around, verifying that there was nobody else here. ¡°You don¡¯t have apanion?¡±


    He looked at me with slight confusion, before his eyes widened. ¡°Ah, you thought this was the whole ce? No, this is just the reception area. I have a different space I use for living.¡±


    I nodded my head at that. I would probably do something simr as well. ¡°I see¡­ so, what was it you wanted to talk about?¡±


    Grimor nced at Terra, almost questioningly. She simply raised her hands defensively with a bitter smile. ¡°You should know I¡¯m not allowed to tell him that kind of thing.¡±


    He simply sighs, epting that. ¡°True¡­ it has been some time since I was new to the game. It is easy to forget the restrictions you face.¡± Again, clueless newbie Keeper here? ¡°Anyways, I wanted to go over some basic stuff with you. Maybe shatter some illusions you might have had about the ¡®game¡¯ or the world that you manage.¡±


    Seeing me nod in agreement, he began. ¡°First, let me ask you a question. In your opinion, what is the difference between you yourself and the people you manage?¡±


    Eh? ¡°Uhm¡­ well, I guess I¡¯m¡­ sort of a guide to them?¡± I wasn¡¯t really sure how to answer that. Philosophy was never my strong point¡­ And that seemed like a very philosophic question.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ well, I suppose you aren¡¯t wrong. But I meant in a more literal sense. In truth, you are no different from them at all. Even if they are of a different race than you, or more primitive.¡± Grimor had a serious look on his face as he said that.


    ¡°Huh?¡± Wasn¡¯t that obvious? Or am I missing something?


    ¡°Think about it. You yourself came from the Earth before you. That meant that, before whatever incident led to your new life, you were just one of the countless people the former Keeper was managing--¡±


    ¡°Not managing.¡± Terra interrupted with a wry look, getting a confused nce from Grimor, before he regained hisposure and continued.


    ¡°Either way, every Keeper was once one of those ¡®countless individuals¡¯. Right now, there is not a single exception. There is no ¡®Alpha Keeper¡¯, none that was around since the very beginning. If there used to be, they have all been ¡®retired¡¯.¡± I took in a sharp breath as the meaning of thatst word was abundantly made clear to me.


    ¡°Now, any one of your countless individuals could end up being the one that reces you. No matter what, you can¡¯t think of them like a program in some machine, or mindless and nameless spirits just passing through time. That is the number one problem with most new Keepers. They always fail to grasp the seriousness of the situation.¡±


    Saying that far, Grimor took a deep breath, shaking his head. ¡°Those that don¡¯t figure it out fast, sometimes never do. There¡¯s a whole guild of people that treat this like some online game, using their people as game pieces. Even when one of them dies, the others just treat it like that person experienced a ¡®game over¡¯, and go on with their lives.¡±


    I nodded my head in understand, thinking I saw where he was going with it. ¡°I admit, at first I thought this whole Keeper thing was just my own little afterlife. Part of me still does, I think.¡±


    Grimor and Terra both seemed to share a knowing look and a small smile, before the host Keeper spoke again. ¡°Good, that¡¯s usually the first step. Now, your lovely littledy here is probably a defaultpanion, right? Most new Keepers aren¡¯t bold enough to make their own custom ones.¡± When Terra gave a nod, he continued. ¡°Good. So, she probably already told you about the games, then?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± I answered, looking between the two of them.


    ¡°Even better. That means that there is less that I need to exin. Still quite a lot mind you, but every little bit helps. Now, Keepers in the games can be separated into several different types. Many of them are fairly peaceful, and only fight when provoked, but there are a few that you need to watch out for. These kinds of Keepers can be divided into three types.¡±


    Grimor held up his hand, lifting fingers as he began counting off and exining the different Keepers I would need to keep an eye out for. ¡°First, the ¡®Game¡¯ types that I mentioned before. The ones that see this as nothing more than a game. They won¡¯t hesitate to throw everything they have at your world, even the entire poption in order to win a game. Because afterwards, either they win your worlds, or they have to quickly reset their own and build it up before they are called again.¡±


    As he lifted another finger, he named the second type. ¡°Next are the ¡®Tyrant¡¯ types. They are simr to the Game type Keepers, except they are fully aware the seriousness of this. However, they tend to think along the lines of ¡®I should be the only one with this power¡¯. Out of the three types, they are likely the least threatening, if only because they rarely work together.¡±


    With a deep sigh, he lifted the third finger. ¡°And finally, the ¡®Monster¡¯ types. These are truly the most terrifying enemies to face for any Keeper, and they specialize in the games. Monster Keepers don¡¯t raise civilizations, they don¡¯t guide their people. They spend their time and points building the deadliest, most powerful monster race they can. Think of them like¡­ Ah, mind helping me out with this one, miss?¡± He looked over to Terra, who nodded.


    ¡°You know the Alien movies, right? Where just a tiny number of aliens, sometimes even just one, can spread fast enough to quickly destroy a world? From the records, that monster race was inspired by one of the races in the Keeper games.¡±


    ¡°Gah, his world had that kind of thing as entertainment?¡± Grimor grimaced. ¡°Anyways, she¡¯s probably right. Companions like her know everything from a set number of Keepers of their world¡¯s history, as well as knowledge of system mechanics. They just can¡¯t directly tell you a lot of stuff, and have to let you figure it out for yourself. Sometimes, they¡¯ll go out of their way to guide you to find it out, and other times they¡¯ll just let you fend for yourself.¡±


    Terra smirked slightly, crossing her arms under her chest ¡°It¡¯s good for him to struggle now and then.¡± She then cast an apologetic look my way. ¡°Sorry¡­ but it¡¯s true. Plus, you¡¯re cute when you¡¯re confused.¡±


    Grimorughed loudly at that, shaking his head. ¡°Anyways, no matter what, you should always know whether the Keeper you are fighting belongs to one of those three types. When possible, use the forums or contacts to look up their information, because it could be the difference between life and death. At the same time¡­ against those three types of people, there is no reason to hold back.¡±


    ¡°Uhm¡­ you mean, killing their Keeper?¡± I asked, a bit hesitant on the matter.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Those kinds of Keepers are the types that this whole system are better off without, yet they are inevitable products of it. I¡¯ve personally killed five of those Keepers in my time in the games, and the number of worlds I have gotten from those kills are eighteen. That alone should tell you how they operate.¡±


    I gave a slight nod. I might be willing to let a small portion of my people die to a natural disaster, but killing a Keeper meant killing every world that they control. Which reminds me¡­ ¡°If this has been going on so long, how is it that there isn¡¯t just one Keeper ruling all of the worlds by now?¡±


    Grimor blinked in surprise at my question, before giving a small grin. ¡°People usually don¡¯t question that so quickly. Actually, there has always been the exact same number of Keepers, with even the same usernames. Most likely, in the past someone had defeated EarthForceOne as well, maybe even multiple people.¡±


    ¡°Every time a Keeper dies in the game, their world goes to the victor. However, unlike their beginning world, the Keeper can rename this new world. That is because the original world is still out there, being reborn with a nk te Keeper. These nk tes start off like custompanions, with no knowledge of the system, and only a random personality to dictate their actions until they die and a different person steps into their shoes.¡±


    ¡°But either way, there have always been exactly nine thousand, nine hundred, and ny-nine Keepers in the system. And you have no idea how many peoplein about there needing to be just one more.¡± He let himself grin again at that. ¡°Now, tell me a bit about your Earth, I might be able to offer some suggestions.¡±

 Chapter 14: Exposition, and New Systems

    <h4>Chapter 14: Exposition, and New Systems</h4>


    After Grimor¡¯s brief exnation, I spent the next hour or so roughly outlining what I had done with my world. I still didn¡¯t entirely trust him, but with how new my world was there wasn¡¯t any benefit for him knowing. I mean, he seemed to know the Keeper two generations before me. Even if I assume that the previous Keeper only made the various pantheons, and then fast forwarded until the entertainment industry was booming, that still means he has been in this for years, maybe even decades or centuries. The actions of one fresh Keeper aren¡¯t going to mean a whole lot to him.


    That, and I was keeping an eye on Terra¡¯s expressions the whole time. I couldn¡¯t be sure, but I had the feeling that if he gave me bad information, she would let me know. Even if she couldn¡¯t say it directly, there would be a change in her expression.


    ¡°Ahh, so you went with a game setting. Not an unpopr choice, really.¡± He nodded slightly when I finished, having manifested three wooden chairs for us to sit in. ¡°It is an easy way for people to measure and acquire power, at least. But, depending on what system you use, it also limits you. For instance, if someone chose a system where each person only gets one ss, and it is determined at birth. They might never be able to learn the abilities of other sses, even if that is where their passions lie.¡±


    ¡°Your system, on the other hand, was the exact opposite of that, from what you told me. Anyone can get any ss they want, as long as they perform the necessary actions. But, there is a downside to this as well, which is growing too fast. Although it might not be obvious right now, but once your world reaches a certain stage, levels will be rising rapidly. Like how yours did when you personally trained.¡±


    I was about to speak up, before he raised a hand to stop me. ¡°Now, this is not entirely a bad thing. It does mean your world will get more powerful, but it might get powerful too quickly. People might gain powers faster than they learn how to control them, while the monsters continue spawning stronger and stronger with full control of their abilities. Also, if people upset the bnce of the world by growing too quickly, your world might be put into the games before you are ready.¡±


    ¡°Would that really be a bad thing?¡± I asked, slightly confused. ¡°I mean, if I had the strength to enter the games, then that would mean I¡¯m ready?¡±


    Grimor simply gave me a patient look, before sighing and shaking his head. ¡°Not at all. Imagine that one person with incredible talent reaches¡­ let¡¯s say level eight hundred. The bnce of power is tilted so much that you are instantly put into the games. However, as a Keeper, you have not trained with that level of power. Furthermore, aside from that one person, the rest of your poption is weak. Even a peaceful Keeper might identally send in too many of their casual forces and wipe everything out.¡±


    I furrowed my brows, understanding that. It did make a certain amount of sense. ¡°Then, what would you suggest?¡± Terra nced over at me questioningly, as this was the first time I had actually asked for his advice.


    Our host, however, just let out a smile. ¡°Easy, set a level cap for your world. As time goes on, you can raise this limit, until your people are ready for that final step. There are also other additions to the game system that you could consider adding, like the Achievement system.¡±


    ¡°Eh? Isn¡¯t that one already implemented by default?¡±


    He shook his head, ¡°Not the Keeper achievement system, though it is simr. This one causes the system to generate achievements specific to your world setting. So, imagine that you put a dragon into your world, and someone killed it. They might get a ¡®Dragon yer¡¯ achievement, granting them specific bonuses.¡±


    After saying that, he seemed to get an idea. ¡°You could even go a step further with your new World Host system. Maybe you spawn a Host into the world, and designate it as a boss monster. Then, after leaving the Host, you order it to perform certain actions while limiting its level of power. Doing that might grant achievements for both yourself and the heroes that defeat it.¡±


    Okay, now that confused me. ¡°Would that even work? I mean, you don¡¯t control the Host after you ascend, do you?¡± I hadn¡¯t personally tried it yet, because it was too expensive, but Grimor seemed pretty sure about this.


    ¡°It should work. After you ascend, the Host bes the same as any other inhabitant of your world. That means that you should be able tomunicate with it like anyone else to issue orders.¡±


    That didn¡¯t really sound wrong, but I¡¯d need to test it myself before I tried something like that. Worst case scenario, I¡¯d just drop the Host into a deep hole and fast forward until it died of natural causes. But, there was still one thing bugging me. ¡°Why are you helping me, anyways? I mean, it doesn¡¯t really seem like the level ofmitment you¡¯d give just because you knew one of the old Keepers of Earth.¡±


    Grimor chuckled lightly, nodding his head. ¡°That¡¯s right. You could consider this as part of my job. I told you I¡¯m part of a guild, right? My guild is an information guild. Typically, we are the type that peoplee to when they want to give or buy information about other Keepers. Since the system itself is easy to ess, the only information worth anything is thepetition. We also sometimes do consultations like this for new Keepers, in order to build rtionships.¡±


    I raised a curious eyebrow at that. ¡°How do you even buy things from other Keepers like that? Is there a way to trade points?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. It¡¯s possible to trade points, and some even do point gambling. For instance¡­ let¡¯s see¡­¡± Grimor raised a hand, a blue screen appearing in front of it. ¡°Tomorrow, there is a match between a Monster Keeper, and a Keeper named Helth, with Helth as the defending party. Both are rather experiencedbatants, so some Keepers have ced bets on which side would win. Naturally, the defending side has a huge advantage, so it is a safer, albeit cheaper to bet for them.¡±


    Well that sounded¡­ wrong. ¡°Aren¡¯t you betting on life and death matches? You said Monster Keepers are no joke, so isn¡¯t there some real danger there?¡±


    ¡°No, you¡¯re right, this is life and death for Helth. If he loses, he will die, as will the billions of people on his. But this is also part of the system. When a hostile Keeper is put in a match, the opponent has to consider that they will be fighting with their life on the line.¡± Grimor suddenly gave me a serious look. ¡°Everyone has epted that fact, and they are doing their best to live with it. Some do it for themselves, some do it for their friends, and some do it for the many lives under their care.¡±


    I nodded my head lightly, not saying a word. Terra, on the other hand, leveled a fierce re at Grimor. He, however, simply shrugged. ¡°Those are the facts. Now, until your world joins the games, you can continue requesting help from me and my guild. But otherwise, I think you came here to talk about the meeting happening soon?¡±


    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s right¡­ You said that there were rules and benefits for it?¡± This part I had been curious on since Terra had initially told me.


    Grimor¡¯s head inclined a bit as he spoke. ¡°That¡¯s right. This meeting is also hosted by the guild I¡¯m in, since we are an epted neutral territory. As such, every Keeper has to apply with us in order to join, so that we know who to invite. While in the meeting, any hostilities are strictly forbidden, and will result in the offender being cklisted.¡±


    ¡°The meeting itself is mostly a casual get-together, with some games that we host. Not ¡®the games¡¯, just normal games so don¡¯t worry about that. Given that our abilities are so high, they are typically skill-based games or tactical simtors. The winners of the games earn a small prize in points, depending on which games they win.¡± This sounded pretty simr to the official meeting that Terra had mentioned¡­ but, it would make sense that they modeled it off of that.


    Seeing that he appeared to be done, I figured it was my turn to say something. ¡°Are there any other requirements for participation? A cost or anything like that?¡±


    Grimor shook his head, denying that. ¡°No, participants don¡¯t have to pay to attend the meeting. As for the prizes, they are paid out by my guild.¡± A grin briefly appeared on his face. ¡°We published several often-used systems and pieces of content, so we are notcking in points.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­¡± I nced to Terra, and she only smiled back at me. It didn¡¯t seem like he had been leading me down a wrong path. ¡°Is there anything else?¡±


    Grimor shook his head again. ¡°No, that¡¯s everything. Unless you have any specific questions, you are free to go.¡±


    I thought about it for a little while, and decided to ask something. ¡°You said that Earth used the humans as a default race? Does that mean that the default can be changed? Wouldn¡¯t that alter the bnce of points?¡±


    Grimor chuckled lightly at that question. ¡°The default can indeed be changed. However, humans were created by trying to make a race that was properly bnced and contained the highest level of power that could be used without expenditure. If you wanted to start making a different race as the default, you would naturally have to spend their associated amount of points.¡±


    Ahh, so it was just a matter of preferred race, not anything that would offer a discount. I nodded my head in understanding, and bid Grimor farewell. After that, he dismissed us from his world, and I experienced another ¡®transition scene¡¯. This time, our bodies seemed to explode in particles of light, before mixing together back in my own Admin Room. Thankfully, the process was painless, or I might have to yell at someone to fix it.


    Terra shivered slightly after reforming, moving to sit back down on the bed. ¡°Hate that one too¡­¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but grin slightly. ¡°Are there any that you do like?¡±


    She looked at me thoughtfully for a moment. ¡°Well, some aren¡¯t that bad, and I haven¡¯t really experienced them myself¡­ just know the ideas of them. Like, in one you are turned inside out momentarily, while another simply has a door open in front of you.¡±


    I nodded my head at that. ¡°I see¡­ Well, do you want to take a look at some of those systems that Grimor mentioned?¡± There wasn¡¯t really a harm in looking, and we weren¡¯t able to afford anything yet anyways. Would have been nice if he gave us some points, but I guess that would have been too much to ask¡­


    Terra nodded, furrowing her brow and focusing before a window appeared in front of me. Here, many systems were listed, some adding or limiting the power of the game world. In particr, there were a few that I found interesting.


    Loot System This system was built specifically to work in conjunction with the worlds using the Game setting. After a monster dies, the person who defeated the monster may offer its body to a designated deity. The body is then disposed of, and randomly assigned loot is granted. The items dropped in this manner are not always items directly rted to the defeated enemy. For instance, in most cases some coins may drop, or a weapon. However, the drops will always be an item obtainable within the current world, and on a level simr to the level of effort required to defeat the enemy from which it dropped. Game setting required


    50 points


    Guild System This system was built specifically to work in conjunction with the worlds using the Game setting. Individuals in our world may choose to establish a Guild, a ce of work for simrly minded people. Through the Guild system, they may assign tasks to individuals, easilymunicate with one another, or designate a fortified Guild Base, which will have certain defenses granted by the system. Game setting required


    75 points


    Level Limit This system was built specifically to work in conjunction with the worlds using the Game setting. In order to prevent levels from rising too rapidly, it is possible for a Keeper to use this system to limit the overall level of a world''s inhabitants. This limit may be adjusted at any time for no additional cost. Game setting required


    25 points


    Achievement System This system was built specifically to work in conjunction with the worlds using the Game setting. After this system has been installed, any important or arduous actions taken by your world''s inhabitants may grant them special bonuses. These achievements are dynamically generated, with no set list. The method for determining the achievement is based on the amount of effort required to perform an action. It is possible for an action to be worthy of an achievement at first, and thenter that activity bes easier, and thus the achievement will no longer be granted. Game setting required


    100 points


    Title System This system was built specifically to work in conjunction with the worlds using the Game setting. This system likewise requires the Achievement System to be installed in your world. With this system, individuals may choose to disy one of their achievements above their head, earning them a 50% increase in that particr achievement''s boost. Only one such title may be equipped at a time. Game setting required


    Achievement System required


    50 points


    Messaging System This system was built specifically to work in conjunction with the worlds using the Game setting. After individuals meet and interact, they can choose to share contact information. Afterwards, the system will allow them to converse at any time, whether through text or speech. Game system required


    50 points


    Fast Travel System This system was built specifically to work in conjunction with the worlds using the Game setting. Travel times too long? Want to hurry on to your destination? This system allows your inhabitants to skip painful journeys, and directly arrive at any destination they had previously traveled to. If traveling in a group, each participant must have been to the selected area. Game system required


    125 points


    Now, while I might not even get most of those systems, they definitely stood out. Each one seemed to make the world more and more like a video game, so I had no doubt that several of them came from the so-called ¡®Game Keeper¡¯ faction. Still¡­ some might be useful. Imagine killing a wolf, and getting a cool sword? Though, personally, I think it would be more rewarding to make the inhabitants get the equipment through their own methods.

 Chapter 15: Life Beyond Life

    <h4>Chapter 15: Life Beyond Life</h4>


    Looking over the various systems, I thought that some of them seemed pretty valuable. However, at the same time, I thought that there were a few missing. The biggest, and most obvious one being an inventory system. Something like that couldpletely change the way the world worked. Merchant caravans, military supply lines, everything would change with an inventory system.


    As I thought about submitting the system myself for the huge potential ie, I hesitated. I definitely couldn¡¯t afford something that powerful right now. And, if I still didn¡¯t have it by the time Earth entered the games, that could be a disaster. After all, if the invading force could use the inventory system before me, and stocked up on arge number of powerful weapons or materials, there would be little that I could do against them.


    So, I decided to make a mental note of the inventory system, so that I could submit it when I was closer to being able to afford it. At the same time, this gave me a while to define the rules for the system, and customize it more than just giving a brief summary. Though, that might drive the price up a bit as well.


    Anyways, now that I was done with everything, I resumed the time for Earth. I needed to advance the world by quite a lot before I could do any major changes to it. As such, I took a look at the races again, seeing if anything had changed during thest fast forward. To my surprise, there was actually not much change at all.


    The dwarves had yet to discover more crafting knowledge, though at the same time the volcano had yet to erupt. Some families, seeing theva, had apparently taken the initiative to leave the mountain on their own for safety. The others continued to remain behind.


    The humans had established a ruler for their little kingdom, but were still very slow in progressing it. I¡¯d probably need to give them a nudgeter on to help them catch up to the other races at this rate. Though, they were still ahead of the halflings.


    While most were still content to wander the fields and forests, some halflings had finally begun to settle down, making the first vige. It could not be considered a kingdom yet, but at least they were starting to make progress. Maybe I should have moved them a bit closer to other races, so that they could interact¡­ or would that cause even more problems?


    The elves were slowly beginning to expand their territory, though from what I could see there was still a heavy focus on studying magic. Sadly, they had yet to learn any of the different spells on their own, rather than relying on the ss system. The biggest downside to their longevity was definitely a slower development speedpared to other races of the same level. Most likely, if the others had all gotten their buffs early on, the elves would not be as far ahead as they are now. And now that the ying field is even, the elves will begin to fall behind. I guess that¡¯s why they are always portrayed as ancient races, to give them more of a head start.


    Now, for the beastkin. They had definitely made the most advancement, with two new viges set up near their original base. These viges appeared to all follow the same chain ofmand, with local leaders that reported to the current matriarch of the beastkin. It wasn¡¯t really a surprise that they were advancing so quickly. Unlike the other races, they had a major advantage in terms of numbers.


    After reviewing the different races, I began making a mental checklist for things that they needed to advance. Elves need to start learning to make their own magic. Halflings need to band together more. Dwarves need to finish discovering how to craft. Humans should be fine for now, should see how they develop without the fighting. And the beastkin¡­ they are already on the right track.


    I began going through that list a few times, seeing what I could do to help. The elves were an easy one to help, but the others¡­ not so much. I didn¡¯t know the first thing about crafting, and there was currently not a halfling god to use to gather those.


    For now, I decided to do what I could, and navigated to the elven kingdom on the screen. I had two choices for how I wanted to do this. I could either descend, and manually give someone the spell diagram, or I couldmunicate it to them mentally. Of course, just like with the beastkin, it was better to do this through a goddess that the elves already knew.


    ¡°Hmm? Where are you going?¡± Terra askedzily from the bed, rolling over onto her back and looking at me with her head upside down.


    ¡°Need to go see Ryone.¡± I answered briefly. ¡°Got something for her to do for me.¡± I noticed something flicker slightly in Terra¡¯s eyes, before she simply shrugged and rolled back over. With that out of the way, I made my way to the spacious room down the hall, where the other goddesses were currently being stored.


    Since they had no personalities of their own, they simply stood in ce. I was really hoping that they would still be able to act if they were ordered. Well, time to find out. I opened the door, finding all three of the goddesses standing against the far wall, fully clothed.


    Bihena, the human Goddess of Battle, stood wearing a purple dress that clung to her curves. On her back was a crude wooden spear, the highest level of weapon technology avable to the humans. Her blonde hair fell down to the middle of her back, and her hazel eyes showed a vacant look.


    Udona, the kitsune Goddess of Life, stood next to her. She wore animal furs, granting her a more primal look, while her pose remained elegant. Her golden hair stopped just below her shoulders, and she had the same vacant look as Bihena.


    Finally, there was Ryone, who stoodst in the line. As the elven Goddess of Wealth, she was dressed in a white toga. Her petite chest barely showed through the loose fitting clothes, while on her head she sported a rough crown of wood.


    Walking up to her, I decided to ask as bluntly as possible. ¡°Ryone, are you able to speak with your people?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Keeper.¡± She answered in a monotone voice. Good, that will make things easier.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Abrigor was a hard working mage of the kingdom of Gandor. One of the first to be appointed by Eldwynn in order to understand this strange power known as magic. In fact, he was currently the highest level Mage, with a full twelve levels in the ss. It had been he that discovered the ability to cast spells without relying on the strange power guiding them, and he who discovered that carving the symbols of power in wood or stone allowed their spells to be cast more quickly.


    And now, it was he who heard a voice whispering to him in his dreams. One that had never before spoken to any elf. Learn. The voice spoke a single word, in a low whisper. Abrigor almost thought that he had imagined it, but then images appeared in his mind.


    First, two images he was very familiar with appeared. They were the symbols of power associated with the spells Shield and Fire. He did not know what he was supposed to learn, at first, but then the images began changing. A portion from the Fire symbol faded away, while the majority of the Shield symbol had done the same.


    What was left of the two symbols began to ovep in his mind, before they formed an entirely new symbol of power. He wasn¡¯t sure how, but he knew that this new symbol also contained a power of its own. Again, the voice repeated that same word. Learn


    In a rush of excitement, Abrigor channeled his internal energy through that new symbol in his head, eager to find its purpose. The result, an invisible st of pure force extending from his hand, punching against a nearby tree with a dull sound. Afterwards, another voice appeared in his head. This one was one that he was all too familiar with, which announced whenever he had advanced in power.


    You have obtained the Archmage ss. Abrigor was stunned as he heard that, and immediately went to share his findings with Eldwynn.


    _______________________________________________________________


    You have used the power of your Goddess to bring enlightenment to your people. +20 points


    I was stunned when I saw the reward notification appear in front of me. I mean, this was definitely not the first time that one of the Goddesses influenced the growth of the races, but this was the first time that I got rewarded for it. Walking back to the room, I found Terra still lounging in the bed, her eyes closed.


    ¡°How¡¯d it go?¡± She asked,zily.


    ¡°Good¡­ I got some points awarded for helping them. But, why haven¡¯t I gotten any points from all the times that you helped the beastkin? I mean, I definitely know that you had a hand in their development.¡±


    Terra opened her eyes, a small grin forming on her head. ¡°It¡¯s because you didn¡¯t order that interference. You¡¯ll only get the rewards when youe up with the idea to help. That¡¯s why gods are so cheap. We can influence the races based on our free will, but unless we are acting on your orders, you won¡¯t get rewarded for it. Think of it as a ¡®bad investment discount¡¯.¡± She giggled lightly at her little joke, rolling onto her stomach and propping her head up to look at me, with her tail swishing above her.


    I smiled bitterly when I heard that news. ¡°I don¡¯t suppose general orders would work, right?¡± She shook her head slowly. ¡°So I have to order specifically what I want done? Why couldn¡¯t you tell me that before?¡±


    She smirked slightly. ¡°Rules are rules. Until you discovered the rewards yourself, I couldn¡¯t say anything about it.¡±


    I sighed, shaking my head. ¡°Well, at least we have almost enough to buy the afterlife systems now.¡± Though, I had been considering making my own system for that. I wasn¡¯t sure what, but a new afterlife system would be nice. Something to break the mold. Besides, the 72 angels and demons thing kind of went against my current system of deities.


    Terra nodded her head. ¡°That¡¯s true. Which is good, because once poptions start increasing, so will deaths. If it goes too much longer, I think undead might start rising up near the beastkin.¡±


    Well, no pressure then, right? I sat down on the chair and began thinking of what I could do for my own personal afterlife. Respawn system? No, that would cause more problems than it is worth. Just imagine nobody dying of unnatural causes in modern earth. Wars would go on forever without either side really losing soldiers. Hmmm¡­


    I pulled up a basic notepad program on theputer, after asking Terra to make one, and began jotting down ideas. The best case scenario would be for the dead to continue to be useful, to y an active role in the development and protection of the world. But at the same time, without being a physical presence. It would only take a couple generations for the dead to outnumber the living, and by that point overpoption would be a real risk.


    So, first stage was an area to house the dead, like most afterlife systems offered. But, with portals connected to Earth. They¡¯d have to be two-way portals, but intangible ones. Likewise, the spirits using those portals would have to be intangible as well. Couldn¡¯t have living people crossing into the spirit world, right?


    I felt as this idea began to take shape. Simr to the Astral ne, there would be a closed reincarnation cycle. People in this new world would be able to live a second life, and when they died, they started anew in the living world. However¡­ I needed to add restrictions to this, as well. I wasn¡¯t aiming to simply copy the Astral ne, but to create my own afterlife. So, I began adding my own rules.


    I looked over my rules for this new system, thinking if there was any way I could improve it. Naturally, I would need to get a new goddess to act as a Judge for this system, but I had an idea on how to handle that. If everything went well, this would be my second Goddess with a personality. And yes, I was going to make it a Goddess, because it is still more fun to hang out with a bunch of attractive women.


    First, I looked over my system onest time, before submitting it. When prompted to name the system, I chose to call it ¡®Community Afterlife¡¯.


    Community Afterlife A world beyond the world, where spiritse together in order to help advance both their world and the living world. Those who die in this afterlife are reborn on Earth, though they do not retain their previous memories. Those who choose to help the worlds around them may receive benefits that carry over, as determined by the Judge. Likewise, the Judge may deem spirits as evil, bestowing penalties in the next life that must be worked off, lest they be born disadvantaged. 150 points


    I nodded my head in satisfaction, though the price was a bit lower than I expected. Most likely, that was due to the world itself not having any resources. The Astral ne was probably a full world, whereas this was a bit different. Life would be harder for the spirits like this, but also more rewarding once they advanced enough.


    Now, with the normal cost being 150 points, my discounted price should be 135. With that in mind, I went ahead and bought the system, pausing my world as I did so. Didn¡¯t want things to get too crazy just yet.


    Please designate a Judge for your afterlife.


    I closed that window for now, deciding to get back to that once I was done with my changes. Worst case scenario, I could temporarily have one of the other three step in to fill the role for a little while.


    Congrattions! Earth has earned an achievement!


    Forpleting the cycle of life, death, and rebirth, your world has earned the Circle of Life achievement. +20 points


    Good, was hoping that would be the case. I still wasn¡¯t sure how the achievement system worked, but I was fairly sure that solving the problem of gathering souls would some kind of achievement. Though, I couldn¡¯t help noticing that the wording was a bit different. This must be a World achievement, rather than a Keeper one.


    Either way, this gave me enough points to do what I wanted. I would be using one of myst two races here, as a way to give the afterlife permanent residents. A culture would more easily form if the inhabitants weren¡¯t all temporary guests, right? And a culture was needed in order to let the afterlife world develop.


    Navigating the menu, I opened up the Race Creator window, using one of the slots to design this new race.


    Race Name Daeva


    Comprehension 8


    Agility 3


    Strength 3


    Lifespan 60


    Luck 4


    Awareness 5


    Male:Female ratio 1


    Example Adult Male Example Adult Female


    Racial Abilities


    -Spiritual Awareness


    In terms of physical abilities, they were far behind the other races. But, that was okay. There shouldn¡¯t be too much fighting going on in the afterlife, meaning that their mental abilities would be much more useful. Their special ability, Spiritual Awareness, would give them a further advantage with manipting the spiritual energies of the afterlife, as well as a kind of instinct towards the spirits that appeared there.


    Due to lowering their physical abilities so much, the Spiritual Awareness did not increase their cost. Although the race would not interact with the living world directly, they would be able to perform behind the scenes, managing the afterlife. In terms of appearance, I wasn¡¯t quite sure what to settle with. In the end, I went for a mix of angel and demon.


    Both man and woman had slim bodies, representing their poor physical attributes. I chose the hair color for the male example to be ck, while the woman¡¯s hair was white. On the other hand, I gave each a pair ofrge bird-like angel wings of the opposite color. So, the woman¡¯s wings were ck, while the male¡¯s wings were white. On either head, I gave them small horns poking through their hair. And, to top it off, I altered their eyes, turning the sclera ck.


    With that done, I ced this new race in the afterlife, and got to work on thest change. I had thirty eight points left, and nned to use most of that to create and designate my ¡®Judge¡¯. Purchasing the NPC goddess for 25 points, I designed her body to match the female form of the Daeva. The only difference I made was her wings, making them a gradient of white to ck, starting from the top.


    Now, I wanted to give her a personality as well¡­ but a personality would cost twenty points. Seeing as I only had thirteen left, that became a problem. Though, maybe I could take advantage of the recently discovered system of ¡®God rewards¡¯ to fix that.


    Pulling the window back up from before, I selected this new Goddess, Irena. Her domain was the Underworld, epassing death and rebirth. Then, I had her appear before me, with Terra¡¯s help.


    Irena was currently dressed in a ck business suit with white lines going down it, clinging to her ample curves. Her hair was tied in a bun, and she was wearing round spectacles to give her a look that mixed librarian and secretary. I cast a nce at Terra, knowing that she probably designed the outfit. She simply shrugged with a grin before looking away, leaving me to issue orders to Irena.


    ¡°Irena, I want you to go to Earth and gather all of the willing spirits that have already died.¡± I told her, figuring that this new system would not retroactively gather them. Actually, I didn¡¯t specify a condition for them to be gathered at all¡­ well, now I can fix that before it bes a problem. That might also have contributed to the price being lowered.


    ¡°After that, you will take them to your new domain, and judge them based on their deeds in their past lives.¡± I began exining the details of her job to her, not wanting to assume that she would know it simply by assigning it to her. When I was done, I ended with another order. ¡°I want you to manage the growth of the Daeva race as well, have them learn and advance. Their primary job will be to guide dead spirits to the afterlife. Is this understood?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Keeper.¡± Irena answered in a monotone voice. Afterwards, she vanished from the Admin Room. Though, sadly I didn¡¯t get any points right away. Well, she¡¯ll be getting her personality soon. That¡¯s a priority, since without a will of her own, she won¡¯t be able to exert much power over the spirit world.

 Chapter 16: Death Walks Among Us

    <h4>Chapter 16: Death Walks Among Us</h4>


    Before unpausing my world, I had onest thing to do. This was pretty important, because of the setting for my world being one of a game. I had to make sses for the Daeva. Due to them not having corporeal bodies, they couldn¡¯t use normal sses like Warrior, Rogue, or so on. I wasn¡¯t even entirely sure whether they could use the magic sses, so I definitely needed to make something special for them!


    Opening up the options window, I navigated to the ss selection. In it, I narrowed my search only for sses applicable to incorporeal beings. There were¡­ surprisingly few results.


    Reaper Those who walk through the boundaries between life and death, wielding the strength of their own soul as a weapon. The Reaper''s abilities focus primarily on severing spirits of the dead from corporeal attachments, andbating them in their ethereal form.


    Spirit Hunter For when the spirits have gone rogue, call in the Spirit Hunters! Both the living and the spirits themselves are capable of taking this job, though thetter is typically more effective with it. Spirit Hunters construct weapons out of their spirit, and use those tobat incorporeal creatures.


    Chimera Soul Some spirits just don''t want to let go. They just don''t want to move on. If these spirits feel terrible anger, they may consume other spirits, taking on their aspects to strengthen themselves.


    Empty Self When a spirit is filled with regret, and refuses to enter the afterlife, it may gain the power to possess the living, slowly consuming them from within. Once this process isplete, the Empty Self can gain new powers from its host, and start the process again.


    Poltergeist Malevolent spirits often find ways of making mischief. Moving objects when you''re not looking¡­ whispering into the ears of children¡­ turning sane adults into murderous demons. These are all the works of the Poltergeist.


    Looking at the five sses, I immediately dismissed thest three. I knew what kind of trouble those sses could cause, and I wanted no part of it in my world. As for the other two¡­ They seemed pretty reasonable, like a sort of spiritual police force.


    Selecting those sses, I looked at the various requirement options for them. For Reaper, there was one simple requirement: to be a spirit. With only that, the ss became free, although it was generally more powerful than the Spirit Hunter from what I was seeing. In terms of versatility, at least.


    For the Spirit Hunter, there were far more options to choose from. And given my budget, I had to choose one that made the ss free. So, in the end, I selected two requirements. ¡®Ability to control Spiritual Energy¡¯ and ¡®Being a spirit or encountering a near death experience¡¯. With these two requirements, the ss became free, and I was able to go through and modify the abilities that were automatically awarded per levels. This gave me a much better look at the sses themselves, and how they functioned.


    Spirit Hunters were your typical fighting force for spirits. Whether ranged attacks or melee, they would shape their spirit into weapons for battle. At higher levels, they could contract to a powerful spirit, merging with it to increase their fighting potential. Naturally, this reminded me of a certain anime, but no! This was not the same, as the contracted spirit could be chosen freely, and was not automatically avable. I swear, the previous Earth Keeper did not just steal this idea to nt the seed for that anime¡­ I hope.


    As for Reapers, they took a more magical approach. They learned how to wield Spiritual Energy to create different types of spell effects, such as exorcisms, banishments, and¡­ spiritual fireballs? What the heck? They also had the ability to tap into the spirits of the living, using their will to erase or alter short term memory. The main weakness of this ss seemed to be that it had no ability to actually influence the corporeal world. Whereas a high level Spirit Hunter can condense their weapon¡¯s energy enough to cause it to have a physical impact.


    Each of the sses also had a new energy type listed, Spiritual Energy, or SE. Their SE functioned as both their health and mana, and would only recover when they were either back in the spirit world or absorbed the Spiritual Energy of others. There was no natural recovery, and it actually seemed to automatically deplete itself over time¡­


    Done with checking these sses out, I finalized the selection, and imported them to my world. From what I could tell, every Daeva or spirit should automatically get the first level of both Spirit Hunter and Reaper, so I didn¡¯t have to worry about them not finding out about the sses. Though, I did begin to think about whether I should eventually add more advanced sses to the world.


    I¡¯ll save that forter. Right now, they haven¡¯t even discovered half of the basic sses avable. I nodded to myself, finally hitting the ¡®resume¡¯ button for the world. Now, Irena should be running around and quickly gathering up all the dead spirits she can. If she had a personality already, I¡¯d feel kind of sorry for her.


    _______________________________________________________________


    In the ins of Beginning, people were busily preparing for winter. Food was stockpiled, shelters constructed, and all the while, nobody noticed an invisible entity walking in their midst. With an elderly body, a certain catgirl was looking at the progress made by her people.


    Every now and then, Ardra would try to call out to anyone that looked in her direction, hoping that they might have seen her. However, she would soon discover that they were merely looking at something behind her. Why? She asked herself. Hadn¡¯t she alreadypleted her final mission?


    She watched her daughter growing into a beautiful woman, and had felt pride at her achievements. That had been exactly as the Goddess had promised. So where was her rest, her release from this world?


    Just as Ardra was thinking that, a ck rift opened behind her. Such rifts were opening all across the, out of sight from the eyes of the living. Before she even knew what had happened, a handshed out like lightning, grabbing her neck and dragging her back through the rift. Ardra let out a silent scream, eyes going wide as she felt the hand grab onto her, powerless to resist.


    By the time she was able to react, the world around her had changed. Now, she stood in a vast meadow of grey mist, watching as it swirled in meaningless patterns. The void above and beneath her feet was ck, and all around there was nothing to be seen. Is this the end? She thought to herself, before other beings began appearing alongside her. Or rather¡­ on top of her.


    As if she was standing at a dumping ground, one grey mass after another fell onto her head. Some she recognized as formerrades, others as beasts or monsters. Still more belonged to races that she had never seen, strange, furless people. They continued to rain down from the empty sky, the mist spreading out to wee them.


    Finally getting control of herself, she squirmed out from under the pile of spirits, finding it surprisingly easy before leaping away to watch. Other spirits followed her example, and some of them slowly began to change. From a grey mass, their skin started to gain color, density. Their empty eyes became livened. Looking down, she saw her own body had gone through the same changes. Not only that, but her greyed fur and wrinkled skin seemed to have returned to its youth.


    The grey bodies rained for over an hour, piling up higher than Ardra would have thought possible, before suddenly it stopped. At the same time, one final rift opened up next to Ardra, a beautiful woman stepping through. Like the others, she belonged to a species that Ardra didn¡¯t recognize. With the wings of a bird, the horns of a young bull, and eyes as ck as her new sky. She seemed to be wearing some strange ck furs that clung tightly to her body, giving her an intimidating appearance.


    Gradually, Ardra realized as others of the same species began to appear around the mountain of grey mist that had been formed. They looked around, as confused as Ardra herself, until the well-dressed stranger spoke. Her voice was monotonous, as if she was extremely bored, andcked any proper motivation to be here.


    ¡°I am Irena, the Goddess of the Underworld. This is my realm, and your new home. Live in it well, and you will be rewarded. Otherwise, you will be punished.¡± Her words were simple, but thepleteck of emotion sent a shiver down Ardra¡¯s spine, the same as many of the people gathered here. They had no time to wonder what sort of punishment would be issued, before they were forced to find out.


    No sooner had Irena finished speaking than the mountain of grey bodies erupted. From it, hundreds of different monsters charged out, letting loose angry roars as they did. Ardra knew of these monsters, the ones that had kept her up at night when she was but a kitten. The fear that had been instilled in her, which she had fought her entire life to surpass.


    However, Irena showed no emotion on her face, even as they charged her. ¡°Disobedience, rioting, mass violence. Punishment.¡± One hand stretched off to her side, aiming at the iing horde. Suddenly, the mist seemed to convulse, as if fleeing from this powerful woman. It was at this point that Ardra truly came to understand the power that a Goddess could wield. The hundreds of monsters, enough to wipe out entire viges, froze in terror.


    Had they been aware of their crimes, they would have prostrated themselves in forgiveness, but they were given no chance to do so. Their bodies exploded, shrill screams issued from their ghostly mouths before they faded away, joining the empty mist around them. After that, nobody dared to question Irena¡¯s orders. She had shown clearly that she was more powerful than any of them, maybe even more powerful than all of them together.


    Still with that same emotionless face, she turned around and began walking. In front of her appeared a wooden wall, which she grabbed onto and pushed forward. It swung open under her touch, and she walked beyond, letting it fade behind her.


    _______________________________________________________________


    After Irena was done with her work, I heard the door to the bedroom close. Turning, I saw her standing there, staring nkly at the wall. Seeing that, Terraughed lightly from the bed. ¡°You never ordered her to go to one of the other rooms when she was done, so she came right back here.¡±


    I paused, starting to say something then stopping. I thought she would just stay in the spirit world to manage things, but I guess that was too much to ask right now. And, I had not received any points from her actions, either. Did it not count because it was part of her assigned job?


    MindScape has purchased The Forgotten! You earned 8 points in royalties.


    Convenient timing is convenient! Without further waiting, I immediately opened up the options menu again, to buy Irena a personality. Hopefully after this she¡¯ll be able to do her job better.


    Please define the desired personality. Undefined traits will be assigned randomly.


    Hmm? Well, that¡¯s easy enough, I guess. I thought about what kind of personality I wanted Irena to have. Given her appearance, I couldn¡¯t help but think of her as a cool beauty, an ice queen. Strict with her work, unwavering in hermitments. But, at the same time, I did not want to run the risk that her personality would be assigned as one that hated me, her creator. So, I put in that she had a deep love for me. That way, even if she was an ice queen, she wouldn¡¯t do anything bad, right?


    There was a cracking sound from behind me, and I nced over to see Terra, her eyes twitching in apparent annoyance. ¡°Dale¡­ Would you mind exining that?¡±


    Uhm¡­ she couldn¡¯t read my mind, right? ¡°Exin what¡­?¡± I asked, doing my best to feign innocence.


    ¡°Making this new goddess love you¡­ Are you trying to build a harem or something?¡± Since when did she have ws, and why are they digging into the bedsheets?!


    ¡°Uhm¡­ it¡¯s not like that? I mean, I needed to make sure that she will listen to me, right? If I don¡¯t make her like me, then she might go wild!¡± Terra seemed to calm slightly at my words, but then she looked up at me with wide, watery eyes.


    ¡°Am I not enough for you anymore?¡± She asked, pitifully. Her ws retracted, and she curled up at the foot of the bed, watching. ¡°It¡¯s only been a few days, and you¡¯re already making another goddess love you. Do you dislike me that much?¡±


    Gah! Find the right answer, find the right answer¡­ I got up, and walked over to the bed, sitting down on it next to her. She leaned away from me, but I reached over and pet her head. ¡°It¡¯s not like that at all, Terra. I just need to make sure that she will listen. We don¡¯t want one of the gods going and doing something crazy because they hate us, right?¡±


    Terra looked at me, her ears t against her head. ¡°¡­Promise?¡± When I nodded, she slowly scooted over to lean against me. ¡°Okay, but I¡¯m the only one that gets your bed. I¡¯mying im to you.¡± Well¡­ this was awkward. To be honest, I really did hope to have a goddess harem, eventually. Maybe I could get her to open up to it, slowly?


    ¡°Alright, we¡¯ll see how this goes. But you have to remember, Terra. You¡¯re literally my dream girl.¡± I stroked a hand down her back, and felt her purr in response. ¡°Even if other womene along, that won¡¯t change. So no attacking the goddesses if I make them like me, deal?¡±


    She nced up at me, and lightly nodded. ¡°Okay¡­ but you have to make her like me, too. If I can¡¯t deal with her, I need her to listen to me as well, okay?¡±


    I didn¡¯t entirely like the way she said ¡®deal with her¡¯, but I did agree. I didn¡¯t want Terra to get bullied one-sidedly because I forbid her from acting out against one of the goddesses. So, I made a quick edit to what I had established, making it so that she loved both me and Terra. The catgirl goddess¡¯s ears twitched cutely at that, which I guess meant that she approved of it. Though, I feel like I fell into one of her schemes again.


    Finalizing the personality, I watched as a warm glow surrounded Irena. Her eyes, previously dull and lifeless, began shining. Her motionless wings stretched out, as if she was flexing as she looked around the room. When her eyesnded on me and Terra at the bed, a ghost of a smile appeared on her face. ¡°Dale, Terra.¡± She nodded in greeting.


    ¡°Irena.¡± Terra responded, her voice much calmer than previously. I guess she still doesn¡¯t really like her, huh?


    Irena, however, did not seem to mind the somewhat cold greeting, taking it in stride. ¡°If the two of you need anything, please call for me. Given the current state of affairs, I believe I will be quite busy for a while.¡± She brought her hand up to adjust her sses, abruptly turning around and leaving the room.


    Death Goddess secretary, get!

 Chapter 17: The Knowledge of the Ages

    <h4>Chapter 17: The Knowledge of the Ages</h4>


    ¡°Well¡­ now that the afterlife thing is taken care of¡­ Not really a lot I can do at this point?¡± I nced to my point bnce, where I saw to my dismay, I had only a single point left currently.


    Terra still leaned into my hand petting her back, shrugging her shoulders. ¡°You could go down and make achievements, though there probably won¡¯t be many you can earn right now. Their construction methods are still in the most primitive stage, and they don¡¯t have proper tools yet.¡±


    I smiled bitterly at that. ¡°Yeah¡­ but I don¡¯t know how to make those tools myself. I mean, ¡®Stone Age Crafting¡¯ is not a required ss in school these days. Or, well, wasn¡¯t when I was in school.¡±


    ¡°Well, I could teach you?¡± She offered, making me look at her in surprise. ¡°Remember, knowledge of three Earths in my head? Pretty easy toe up with some simple crafting basics. Though, it¡¯ll have to be dumbed down pretty far to be applicable here. Let¡¯s start with the dwarves, shall we?¡±


    I nodded my head, and the room around us began to twist and distort. The walls darkened, expanding outwards, the furniture fading into the ground. Soon, we were sitting on a wide stone floor, the basement that we had used for training before.


    Terra slowly stood up, dusting off the jeans she was wearing and walked around. ¡°Now, until this point your inhabitants have been taking the shortcuts of using magic or brute force, where previous Earths have used tools. Thanks to this, they can just barely be considered as having entered the Stone Age in terms of technology.¡±


    ¡°On the other hand, they are in thete Archaic Age for magic, thanks to you helping the elves learn how to create their own spells.¡± Seeing the confused look on my face, Terra smiled and exined. ¡°Technology has its own specific ages, so why can¡¯t magic? For Technology, it is divided into the Stone, Metal, Industry, Exploration, Information, and Ster ages. Each one can be further divided, depending on the world in question. For instance, thest Earth had the Copper, Bronze, and Iron ages.¡±


    ¡°Now, with magic, there is the Archaic age, where magic is first discovered. When it is expanded, and people begin to explore its possibilities, you enter the Arcanum Age. After thates the Enhancement, Exploration, Development, and nar ages. Though, keep in mind that these are general terms. It¡¯s possible to go in different orders, depending on the world.¡± Terra nodded as she finished the exnation of the ages.


    ¡°Back on track. The dwarves are the closest to developing proper stone tools, and then we can focus on sharing the information with the other races. But, if you want points rewarded, you had to understand it yourself.¡±


    I nodded in response, and the scenery around us shifted. From an underground basement, we now stood atop arge mountain. Grassy ins could be seen in the distance, and the sounds of animals filled my ears. ¡°This is a recreation of the area surrounding the dwarven mountain. We¡¯ll start here.¡±


    After that began my lessons of how to create rope, use it to bind tools together, and various techniques to create stone axes, hammers, spears, even bows and arrows. I imagine that, if I had been descended during these lessons, I probably would have earned a new ss or two. Instead, I spent two full days in thatndscape, learning everything I needed to.


    When I was finally done, I felt as if I had lost all of my energy. Terra had kept me there until I proved that I could make each item she wanted with whatever materials were at my disposal. Why do I feel like I was just punished for something? Iined internally while going towards the room with the goddesses.


    Although we had agreed that the dwarves needed this the most¡­ I first sent the information to the human goddess Bihena, earning me another 20 points. Then, I did the same thing to Ryone, the elven goddess, and Udona the kitsune goddess. Those two each earned me 10 and 5 points respectively. Guess it would be a bit much to hope for the full value with each one?


    Finally, with my 36 points¡­ time to buy a new god! This time, I wanted to make a dwarven god, so that I could send the information to the dwarves. So, another 25 points when down the drain, and I began picturing the dwarven god I wanted to make.


    Now, you may be wondering. Dale, why are you making a god? Isn¡¯t your dream to have a harem of sexy goddesses?! Yes, yes it is. But¡­ I just can¡¯t find dwarves that appealing. Nothing against short people, but dwarves¡­ just aren¡¯t my cup of tea. So, I would rather make a male dwarf that can eventually be a friend I can share my troubles with!


    As such, I made a robust, muscr dwarf, with a long and thick beard. Most of his body weight had to have been muscle, and I had no doubt he could easily lift me with one arm. Once I was done, and satisfied with his appearance, I granted him the name Tubrock, God of the Forge. To be honest, I almost mistyped and made him God of the Force¡­ but thankfully I caught myself.


    Once that was taken care of, I sadly watched the points fade away to bring him to life, and then once again had him transmit the information to the dwarves. Each tribe received the knowledge of tools, ropes, and basic weapons. However, this had only given me four points¡­ I had been hoping that with seven tribes, I would get seven rewards, but that was not the case. So now, I was down to 15 points¡­ not enough to make the next goddess to enlighten the halflings.


    Before I left, I instructed Tubrock to try to lead the dwarves away from the volcano, warning them of the impending dangers. To my surprise, that actuallyted me another three points. I guess that it is possible to earn points by avoiding disasters, as well? Either way, I made my way back up to the bedroom, and fell down into the bed, not even bothering to see if Terra was in it at the time or not.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Across the globe, the various sapient tribes all received a revtion. Whether it was the humans, the dwarves, the elves, or the beastkin, members began speaking up about new knowledge entering their minds. Perhaps, the only ones excluded from this were the halflings. But they had no reason to despair. They werepletely unaware of the happenings on the other parts of the.


    _______________________________________________________________


    When I woke up, I checked the time on theputer, cursing inwardly when I found that only two hours had passed. I mean, I know that I don¡¯t really need sleep, but it¡¯s still nice to be able to! Well¡­ no use just sitting around, might as well keep myself busy.


    Due to my constant shortage of points thus far, I again opened up the forums. This time, my goal was to find a listing of early achievements. I mean, there had to be some kind of list, right? Even if it wasn¡¯t a detailed one, or had stuff I couldn¡¯t do right now, knowing was better than not knowing.


    And, sure enough, I did find a list ofmon beginner achievements, as well as a guide on how to acquire them. There were¡­ actually, quite a lot. And some, I never expected to be an achievement. I mean, one of the achievements was ¡®Demigod¡¯s Descent¡¯. Toplete it, you had to be a god, and have sex with one of your world¡¯s inhabitants. ording to the exnation, that was an almost guaranteed way to create a child with powerful talents. It may even have extra powers, depending on the domain you possess.


    I dismissed that one for two reasons. First, because I was not a god of this world, and had no desire to appoint myself as one. Second¡­ Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Especially two goddesses, one of which is in charge of Hell itself¡­ Sorry, but I think I¡¯ll avoid that achievement for now. Maybe I¡¯ll have Tubrock go down and procreate, after I give him a personality.


    Anyways¡­ let¡¯s see¡­ achievements that I can do at this time¡­ Already did the enlightenment one. Can¡¯t do the Kingmaker ones. Let¡¯s narrow this down to ones that I can actually do through the system.


    Aha! Found one. This one is actually very easy, and I am almost at the level of being able to get it. ¡®Submit 5 pieces of custom content¡¯. Let¡¯s see¡­ Daeva, Forgotten, Community Afterlife, and World Host¡­ I only need to submit one more thing, and it will be good. Well, that¡¯s easy enough, and exins why there are so many random things in the User-Submitted Content section.


    Thinking about it for a while, I couldn¡¯t reallye up with anything unique. I mean, everything has been done before. It just hasn¡¯t necessarily been done by the Keepers. Yes, they have had a lot more time to create things than Earth had, but they had less than ten thousand people working on it. There¡¯s bound to be a difference! As such, I started wracking my head for more ideas I could ¡®borrow¡¯ from the culture of the previous Earth.


    After about a half hour of referencing random ideas with items that already existed, I finally found one that would work! Although a different version of it existed in the system already, it would be an inferior one to the one I was about to create. Again, I opened up the notepad program on theputer and began listing out the details of this item.


    Looking over those six rules, I nodded happily. The current grimoire in the system was simply a magic book for writing down spell instructions. Although it would never run out of pages, it could not bepared to this one. When asked to name this crafting item, I thought about it for a long moment, before typing in the first thing that came to mind.


    Trinity¡¯s Sin has been submitted to the system as a craftable item.


    Congrattions! You have earned an achievement!


    For submitting 5 pieces of custom content, you have earned the System Designer achievement. +20 points


    Finally! I sighed deeply, smiling as I watched my point total go up. Though, it was about to go right back down again¡­


    Shaking my head, I once again pulled up the options window to create another goddess! The halflings desperately needed someone to lead them, or they just might go extinct before the other races even discover them. This cannot be allowed! Loli is justice!


    What? You thought I was only into big breasted figures like Terra and Irena? No, lolis have their own appeal. Rather than the sexual charm of an adult form like Terra, a loli has a cute appearance that makes you want to protect them. And the best are the adult lolis, those who just never grew into an adult body, even though they are fully grown. Those are definitely the best, if only because they are fun to tease.


    Anyways, back on track. Height¡­ average height for adult halflings seems to be just under five feet. Weight¡­ she¡¯s slim. Hair, let¡¯s give her a unique hair color. Bright pink! Why? Because it adds to her cuteness. Hair length down to just above her shoulders. Finally, a name¡­ Why do I nk at the most important parts?


    ¡°Call her Aurivy.¡± I heard a voice speak up beside me. Turning, I saw Terra looking at me with a wide smile. ¡°What? I want to help, and she looks adorable! You better not mistreat her, okay?¡±


    I haven¡¯t even made her yet, though¡­ ¡°Are you able to read my mind?¡±


    ¡°Hmm? Nope. I can just read what you¡¯re putting into the system. Now go on!¡± She urged, and I typed in the name. Because I thought it¡¯d be even more cute, I made her the Goddess of Love. This earned a small giggle from Terra, who I imagined had the same kind of thoughts as I did.


    Finally, after spending the points to create her, I watched as she materialized in front of me. This one, Terra had equipped with a small dress, which was two thin straps that cross over her chest, just barely hiding her almost nonexistent breasts, anding down to hold up a frilly skirt at her waist. I swear, I never heard a higher pitched squee than when Terra saw Aurivy appear. Even though her eyes were still lifeless, Terra immediately ran forward and pulled her into a hug.


    Naturally, once they were done, I had Aurivy send the same message of crafting knowledge down to the halflings. Just three points from this one¡­


    _______________________________________________________________


    Author¡¯s Basement: Author-sama does not condone the spreading of lolicon syndrome. If you are suffering from this mental illness, please proceed to your nearest loli for mental relief. It is the only true treatment.

 Chapter 18: The Great Leap Forward

    <h4>Chapter 18: The Great Leap Forward</h4>


    I decided to ¡®take a break¡¯ for the next few days, not fast forwarding my world or making any big changes. There was, however, a reason for this! I now had several systems uploaded to the Keeper¡¯s custom content, and only needed to wait for them to be sold. Whether it was the World Host, Community Afterlife, or the Trinity¡¯s Sin, I expected each would be fairly popr in worlds that qualified for them.


    To prove this point, after waiting for just a day, I had sold enough World Hosts to bring my point total back up to 25. After that, Trinity¡¯s Sin started selling slowly. So, by the end of the second day, my point total was now 50.


    As for what I was doing during these two days? Mostly, I was just sitting on the couch with Terra, in the living room for our Admin Room. We were conducting ¡®research¡¯ on systems that could potentially be invented for the Keeper system. That¡¯s right, we were watching TV shows and movies from the previous Earth incarnation. Terra had them archived in her head, so recreating them like this wasn¡¯t a problem for her.


    For thest couple days, Terra had kept Aurivy close, ignoring the fact that the halfling goddess had no personality yet. To Terra, she still seemed adorable, and she refused to simply stick her in the same room with all the other deities. I made a mental note to have Aurivy be the next goddess to get a personality, if for no other reason than to give Terra someone to y with. I mean, eventually they¡¯ll all get one, so it¡¯s just a matter of the order.


    I could probably wait for a week or two and get enough points to buy thest two goddesses I needed, and personalities for all of them. But first, there was something else I needed to do. After two days of ¡®research¡¯, I bought the Level Limit system for 25 points. There were a few options within the system itself, which let me limit either individual ss levels, cumtive levels, or somebination of the two.


    For now, I set a cumtive level limit at 30. That should be plenty of room for them to grow, while also keeping the monsters a challenge to help develop them. As for when I¡¯ll increase the level cap? I don¡¯t know, it depends on how far they get with this. I also still need to save up points for the next tier of monsters before then, but that didn¡¯t look like it would be too much of a problem.


    Anyways, after the level limit was put in ce, I didn¡¯t have to worry so much about the world spiralling out of control. At this point¡­ it should be fine to do my first big fast forward. Well, first one since the elves established their kingdom. But first, I decided to consult Terra on the matter. I mean, she¡¯d know more than me whether it would be a horrible idea, given past experiences.


    ¡°Terra?¡± I asked, finding her on the couch nuzzling against the vacant Aurivy.


    ¡°Hmm?¡± She looked up to me, only half paying attention.


    ¡°Wanted your opinion on something real quick.¡± I sat down on the couch beside her. This was a red leather couch, which was almost asfortable as the bed that Terra had created in our room. So, it was no real surprise to find her here.


    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± She asked, closing her eyes for a moment, probably to see if anything had happened with the system. When she found nothing unusual, she looked at me more curiously.


    ¡°I was thinking about doing another fast forward. This one by a thousand years or so. Wanted your input on the matter.¡±


    When she heard what I had said, she nodded her head slightly. It seemed like a small smile appeared on her face a moment. ¡°Ah, is that it? Well, let¡¯s see¡­ most of your races would be just fine with a thousand year advancement, or even ten thousand years. But, the halflings¡­ They haven¡¯t made nearly as much progress, or established a clear sanctuary.¡±


    ¡°Without supervision, forget a thousand years, they might notst a hundred. So¡­ if you¡¯re going to do it, I¡¯d suggest making an ¡®emergency¡¯ rm. That way, if their poption falls by a certain amount, it will alert you and pause the world.¡±


    Her suggestion was reasonable, and entirely valid. Aside from the halflings, nobody else was in immediate danger of extinction. ¡°Could Aurivy start directing some halflings to gather together and form amunity?¡±


    Terra thought about it for a moment. ¡°She could, but at the moment it¡¯s unlikely that most of them would listen. They have a strong spirit of exploration, and if a voice appeared in their heads telling them to go back, they would probably shrug it off. Right now, two small poptions, averaging a thousand halflings each, havee together to make viges. Most of those are children or elderly, so the vast majority is still exploring.¡±


    I nodded my head at that. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll go set it to fast forward, then. Hopefully, more viges form, or the current ones grow.¡± I got up to head to the room, but Terra grabbed my hand to stop me, pulling me back down on the couch. I yelped in surprise, nearly falling onto her, before looking at her curiously.


    ¡°Why not just do it from here?¡± She asked as she lifted Aurivy to put her between us, then leaned over. ¡°Morefortable.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± I couldn¡¯t help voicing my confusion. ¡°I thought I had to use theputer now?¡±


    Terra shook her head, closing her eyes as she cuddled up against Aurivy and I. ¡°Nope, can do it wherever.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that just something you can do as a systempanion?¡±


    Her answer was simply to shake her head again. ¡°Nope. You¡¯ve got the same power. You just never bothered trying to test it. Only a few thingspanions can do that Keepers can¡¯t.¡±


    Seeing that she might doze off using Aurivy as a hugpillow if I didn¡¯t say something, I prompted her for an exnation. ¡°Like what? This is something rather important to know.¡±


    Terra let out a grudging sigh, looking up at me with half-lidded eyes. ¡°Obviously, you don¡¯t have all of the system information in your head like I do. The others don¡¯t have that either, since they are custompanions. Keepers also can¡¯t interact with the world while it is fast forwarding like we can, because your minds aren¡¯t made to handle that. Aside from that, you can do anything I can do.¡±


    Finishing her exnation, she closed her eyes andid her head back against Aurivy¡¯s. Although I was still tempted to go do this on theputer, I wanted to see if what she said was correct. So¡­ how do I do this. System Menu, open! World Map! ¡­ Options? I tried going through variousmands in my head, all of which proved futile.


    Next, I tried to be more vague. Maybe the windows didn¡¯t open by thoughtmands, but by some other means. This proved correct, because I tried imagining what the Map of my world should look like, but kept the image of my world nk. Sure enough, it was quickly filled in. I saw the eight massive continents, the thousands of inds, and could even make out the shapes of the mountain ranges.


    Focusing on one area, I found my mental view of the map zooming in, further and further until I stopped focusing. What I ended up looking at was¡­ a single leaf, atop a tall tree in the center of the forest on one of the uninhabited continents. Okay, maybe I zoomed in a little too far there.


    Next, I ¡®closed¡¯ the map by mentally moving it out of view, and tried something else. This time, I tried to imagine what the options menu would look like, though as before I left the details out. Like with the map, the different choices filled themselves in without me even really trying. Huh¡­ that¡¯s handy. Though, this level of control was likely only avable in the Admin Room. Otherwise, thest Keeper wouldn¡¯t have been hit by a truck before he could think about logging out.


    Anyways, I focused on the option to fast forward, and chose the conditions to stop. If the halfling poption ever fell below ten thousand, or if a thousand years passed. Whichever came first. With that done, I decided to take a moment to rx against Terra, since I apparently didn¡¯t need to get up after all.


    _______________________________________________________________


    In the ins of Beginning, the reign of Mara proved a prosperous one. On her deathbed, she had elected a Lycan girl named Thalia to take her ce. In secret, she informed the girl about how the goddess Terra had chosen her, and how she must always listen for the words of the goddess. Thalia didn¡¯t have time to question, before the gentle voice floated into her mind. That was one of only two times that Terra ever spoke to Thalia.


    The second time was when Thalia herself was about to pass away, telling her to appoint an Ursa girl. Unlike the previous generations, Terra did not specify who among the race to put in power, only what race to choose. In the end, it was a young warrior named Gre.


    With each generation, Terra¡¯s influence grew less and less, simply ensuring that the beastkin maintained the cycle of leadership. Felyn, Kitsune, Lycan, Ursa, this cycle repeated again and again, until the tradition was all but set in stone. Within a thousand years, the people prospered with this system. No race felt excluded, or underprivileged. And at the same time, the territory of the beastkin continued to expand. From two cities came five, from five came ten.


    By the end of the thousand year cycle, there were fifteen cities of beastkin. Each one possessed both strong warriors to hunt, and wide fields from which they would harvest crops. And, thanks to the goddesses providing them information all those years ago, their technology had further improved.


    Now, the Felyn and Kitsune, less suited for frontal assaults than the Ursa and Lycan, carried bows on their backs, as well as leather quivers full of arrows. The vanguards wore thick hides, taken from their prey and sewn together with ivory needles. Like this, they were able to hunt even the strongest of foes that appeared.


    _______________________________________________________________


    It had been a thousand years since the discovery of stone tools, and the people of Gandor had made great strides in their development. Aside from the spells granted with the increase in ss levels, they had even developed nearly a dozen of their own spells. Using stone knives, they began carving out small medallions for spells onto wood that people would carry with them. This made defense easy to maintain, and their city began expanding outwards.


    Although Gandor was still only a single city, it seemed to have grown massively during thest generation of elves. Some elves had even begun to develop a writtennguage, although it consisted merely of vague images at this point. Julian and Therna, Eldwynn Ryon¡¯s daughter and granddaughter respectively, led the kingdom to prosperity. Although the strength of the monsters continued to increase, so did the power and knowledge of the elves.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Among the Seven Tribes of the dwarves, the former Mountain Tribe suffered the most. When their god made himself known by warning them of the dangers in their mountain, they were forced to flee their home. Barely five yearster, they watched in horror as liquid fire spewed forth from their mountain, ending the lives of the few dozen dwarves that stubbornly stayed behind.


    However, there was a silver lining to this, as they saw the liquid fire harden into stone. The thoughts they had before about melting stone proved to have some truth. They saw the stone melt in the liquid fire, and now they saw the liquid fire return to stone. For them, this was amazing, something that they had never even been willing to believe to be true.


    But now, they had seen it. And, after moving to a new mountain, they began their new mission, a way to reproduce this. Liquid fire could melt stone, so why not normal fire? With that thought in mind, they erected stone pits, carved with the simplest of Mage spells. One dwarf fed in stones, while ten others channeled their energy to maintain the me.


    This experiment was unsessful for many years, to an extent where the other tribes allughed at their foolishness. However, nearly fifty yearster, their first sess was achieved. With ten people standing around a wide stone pit, carved into the earth with their own blood, sweat and tears, they saw as one of the stones began to melt. Then another, and another, until the liquid rock had seeped into the carved lines of the spell, obscuring it enough to forcefully cancel it.


    But, nheless, this was a sess. They had melted stone, watched as it once more hardened. There were many dwarves that did not know what to do next, now that they had achieved their mission. The answer the tribe came up with? Do it better! Their mountains were safe, as few monsters were willing to climb it. That gave them the security to continue their experiments happily.


    And so, the years went by, the dwarves rejoicing at each sess. They found that certain rocks melted more easily than others, and began to use those in their experiments. Six hundred yearster, the first cksmith ss was awarded. This happened when one dwarf carved a stone mold, shaping it to look like a long block. Then, he drilled a hole in the bottom of his fire pit, and put those same special rocks in the center to melt and drip into the hole. By the time he was done, and his mold was full, he emptied the block to find that the contents did not ssh out. They stuck together, harder and stronger than the mold itself.


    Sadly, his work was hard to reproduce, and it was another hundred years before the birth of another cksmith.


    _______________________________________________________________


    The Bihendor n of the humans had long since established themselves as the rulers of the human ns. This was not from diplomacy or trade, but from conquest. Their family was one of strong warriors, and they used that strength to subdue the others. When the knowledge of weapons was granted to their people, they were the first to fully utilize it.


    With stone spears, bows, and knives, they increased their control of the other families, expanding their territory. Unlike the dwarves, they had no interest in melting stones. They watched as other families created bowls out of water and spoiled fruits. The process was fascinating, but not something the Bihendor family took part in.


    They had their sights set on the distant horizons, wanting to control all that fell within their grasp.


    _______________________________________________________________


    The beasts grew, the dwarves smithed, the elves learned, and the humans fought. But what of the halflings? How could they, with the greatest poption of the races, not evolve with the passing of time? Although their nature made this process slower, it did not halt.


    While the other races built viges and kingdoms, the halflings wandered. While the other races fought to survive, the halflings stayed out of sight. They explored more of theirnd than all of the other racesbined. They formed families that traveled the ins and hills, the mountains and rivers.


    With the knowledge of stone tools, their safety grew. They would leave behind carved images in stones or trees, telling those that cameter what they had seen or where they were going. Rather than the elves, it was the halflings with no kingdom that advanced the furthest withnguage.


    The halflings had another remarkable field of advancement as well. While the other races hunted the animals and monsters of the world, the halflings saw no need to. With their stealth abilities, avoiding monsters was easy. They would often climb trees or pick berries to serve as their meals, only rarely eating meat.


    Instead, they would often y with beasts, purposely letting one notice them and then letting it chase them around. Though a risky game that imed the life of more than a few halflings, this yielded unforeseen benefits. Some of the monsters and beasts that encountered halflings in this way more than once would seem to enjoy the chase. Even if they caught their ¡®prey¡¯, they would not attack. And, when those halflings began feeding them, they earned new sses.


    With the Hunter ss, they could befriend animals, follow tracks, and learn things about the terrain. With the Monster Tamer ss, they could simrly befriend monsters, turning them into fighting and travelingpanions. These two sses were almost exclusive to the halflings during this period, showing that they prospered more when given the freedom to make their own way.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Now, there is still onest area left to discuss. After Irena returned to the afterlife, it underwent a shocking change. Wooden buildings began springing up out of the misty ground, solidified from the grey vapors of the world. Between them, grassy fields and dirt roads manifested, leaving the various daeva and spirits amazed.


    What Irena had created was the first city of the underworld, with her seat of power ced directly in the center. Although she had to leave once every day to retrieve new spirits, she kept the area of her city small enough that she could maintain easily. If she truly exerted herself, she could reshape the entire afterlife to suit her designs, that would require her to focus fully on that every day. It was much easier to just create a single city to serve as an importantndmark for the spirits.


    Doing this, the spirits and daeva discovered the ability to manipte the mist around them. They earned the unique sses avable to them, ying with the mist to make it form various shapes. Although ironic, it was only after death that the spirits truly felt that they could live safely.

 Chapter 19: The Windfall

    <h4>Chapter 19: The Windfall</h4>


    By the time I was done leaning against Terra and Aurivy--I didn¡¯t fall asleep, I swear. They are just toofortable. Anyways, by the time I was done, and went back to theputer in the bedroom, I found a string of notifications waiting for me. Yes, I was using theputer again. Even if I could ess this stuff in my head, aputer just felt better. More like what I was used to. But nevermind that, it looked like the fast forward was a sess, so I opened up the notifications to see what happened.


    You have sold 2 units of World Host. You earned 6 points in royalties.


    Your civilizations have advanced naturally, and discovered new technologies!


    Smithing 1 - 15 points


    Language 1 - 15 points * 3


    Pottery - 15 points


    Domestication 1 - 15 points


    Agriculture 1 - 15 points


    Agriculture 2 - 15 points


    Trade 1 - 15 points


    Construction 1 - 15 points * 4


    Your civilizations have advanced naturally, and discovered new magic techniques!


    Inscribing - 15 points


    Spell Theory 1 - 15 points


    Ward 1 - 15 points


    Congrattions! You have earned a new achievement!


    For allowing your civilizations to make 10 natural advancements, you earned the Watcher achievement. +20 points


    ¡­I froze as I read over all of that. While the first line was something normal, the rest that followed surprised me greatly. In disbelief, I looked over to my point bnce, just to confirm if it was real. And indeed, I had a total of 276 points avable to spend now.


    Perhaps the most important thing I noticed was how the points were awarded. When I personally enlightened the races about a technology, I received twenty points at first, and then diminishing returns. But, letting them discover it themselves, I earned a t fifteen points reward. And, from the looks of things, that reward was based on each civilization. So, since four civilization learned basic construction techniques after being taught how to make stone tools, I received fifteen points from each one.


    However, I noticed that I didn¡¯t get anything from the Daeva. Does it not count if a goddess or a member of another civilization teaches them? Since Irena had been staying in the afterlife, the Daeva probably learned any of their notable advancements by seeing how she did things. Still, over two hundred points, was quite the advancement. Out of curiosity, I opened up a window to disy the racial poptions.


    Elves - Poption: 15,000. Average level: 24


    Humans - Poption: 90,000. Average level: 17


    Felyn - Poption: 80,000. Average level: 14


    Lycan - Poption: 100,000. Average level: 15


    Ursa - Poption: 95,000. Average level: 16


    Kitsune - Poption: 80,000. Average level: 13


    Dwarf - Poption: 70,000. Average level: 13


    Halfling- Poption: 70,000. Average level: 19


    Daeva - Poption: 9,000. Average level: 10


    The area with the most growth was undoubtedly the beastkin. After forming a civilization built on four races working together, they were able to drastically limit their natural predators, letting their numbers flourish. On the other hand, the halflings that originally had the highest and fastest growing poption alongside humans, had grown far less.


    Though, the levels of the halflings were second only to the elves, who had the advantage of centuries to train. With these numbers, if there were really an all out war between elves and halflings, the halflings would most likely win. And again, because of the civilization building that led to them having less predators, the levels of the beastkin had dropped below other races.


    Another race that surprised me a bit was the Daeva. They had gone from merely a few hundred, to nine thousand in just a short thousand years. That kind of explosive growth was unheard of, even in the previous Earth¡¯s recent history. Something to question Irena about, I think.


    The one race that confused me was the dwarves. They had the same type of growth as the beastkin, despite not having a strong civilization. I¡¯d have to ask Terra about thatter. For now, I had a good number of points to spend, and I needed to figure out how to do so wisely.


    The first expense was obvious. I still had two goddesses that I needed to buy before I finished aplete set for my races. The first, the lycan goddess. Hmm¡­ lycans are built to be experts at hunting, so I¡¯ll give her that domain.


    For her appearance, I closed my eyes and pictured a five foot eight girl, with tanned skin and a slim body. ck hairing down just past her shoulders, and a pair of dog earsing up from the side of her head to match. For her chest, let¡¯s go with modest. Still decently sized, but not something that would get in the way of her movement. She is the Goddess of the Hunt, after all. And finally, a dog tail extending from the base of her back.


    Nodding at myself, I gave her a name¡­ I suck at names, did I ever mention that? Let¡¯s go with¡­ alia. And like that, twenty-five points were invested to give birth to alia, the goddess of the hunt. A ray of golden light shined down in my room, focusing on one spot. Slowly, from the ground up, the image I built materialized in the form of a cute dog girl.


    When she was done being made, a suit of tight-fitting leather armor faded into being on her body, emphasizing her curves. However, at the same time, an almost desperate plea came from outside the room. ¡°Daaale!¡± Terra cried out as she ran into the room, carrying Aurivy in her arms like a stuffed toy.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ yes?¡± I asked in confusion. Did something big happen when I wasn¡¯t looking?


    ¡°Her next!¡± She said, holding up the short goddess with her arms outstretched. Ahh¡­ she was notified that I was buying something, I guess.


    ¡°You mean, a personality for her?¡± I raised an eyebrow as I looked at the dull expression on Aurivy¡¯s face.


    ¡°Right!¡± Terra answered with a decisive nod. ¡°She needs one, totally needs one!¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ I have to get a couple of major features first. After that, I should have some points left to get her one, alright?¡±


    Hearing that, Terra pouted slightly, looking down. ¡°Can¡¯t you just do her first? Give her a cute personality, and liven up the ce around here?¡±


    I sighed, shaking my head. ¡°Need to make sure that I get the major systems put into the world first.¡± If it weren¡¯t for the afterlife needing a proper ruler, I probably wouldn¡¯t have even given Irena a personality before I had made all nine deities. It didn¡¯t seem like the races were at a stage where they¡¯d be able to fully benefit from the deities yet. ¡°Speaking of, I had a question for you.¡±


    Terra perked up her ears at that, but kept her pouting expression, so I went ahead and asked. ¡°The dwarves, they don¡¯t seem to have as much problem growing as the other races. Do you know why?¡±


    Terra thought about it for a moment, and then nodded. ¡°Yeah¡­ but you have to promise. Aurivy gets a personality before the end of the day!¡± She again looked at me, holding Aurivy up a bit higher to make me look at her instead of Terra.


    Well¡­ I nned to give her one anyways. Still, do you have to make it so obvious, Terra? I sighed, slowly nodding my head. ¡°Fine, fine, I¡¯ll give her one as soon as I¡¯m done buying the important systems. Agreed?¡±


    Terra let out a bright smile, lowering the halfling goddess and pulling her back into a standing embrace. ¡°It¡¯s because of theiryout. The rules you set for monster spawning requires the ¡®first generation¡¯ monsters to appear a set distance away from sapient beings. But, they are close enough together that the three inner tribes don¡¯t see any monsters unless they slip past the four outer ones.¡±


    Ahh¡­ so only four of the viges have to worry about monsters. Meaning the inner three viges are able to more easily reproduce, and theirck of training brings down the average level of the race. I nodded in understanding. I hadn¡¯t expected a situation like that to ur, and would probably need toe up with a solution to it eventually.


    Anyways, on to thest goddess. This would be the goddess of the ursa, who emphasized strength. Immediately, I imagined a particr amazonian figure from popr Earth culture. Roughly six feet tall, with a slim, yet well toned build. Not bulging muscles, but enough to give off a feeling of subtle strength.


    Unlike the lycan goddess, this one had an ample chest, with flowing ck hair that reached down the middle of her back. On top of her head were two furry, circr ears that stood out cutely, while at the base of her back was a very short ck tail. For the name, I decided to go with Keliope, the Goddess of Strength.


    Again, a golden pir of light appeared next to alia. Terra looked over with interest as the new goddess materialized. After which, she was adorned with simr leather armor to alia, although much more revealing. The style reminded me of the same character I pulled the inspiration for Keliope from, though it was uncolored.


    Nodding my head in satisfaction, I sent both of the new goddesses to the ¡®storage room¡¯. I really need to get them personalities eventually, so that they can have their own rooms¡­ Now, on to the next purchase.


    This one is a system I¡¯ve been wanting to get since I saw it listed. Opening up the market, I navigated through the various game system options, and purchased the achievement system. With this, the people¡¯s strengths should be able to advance, even with the level limit in ce.


    Speaking of which, I went ahead and increased the level limit from 30 to 50. At the same time, I bought the next tier of monsters for 50 points. This gave me creatures up to level one hundred, including the first few sea monsters. The strongest monster at this tier were listed as orcs, a race that had the potential to develop sapience over long periods of time.


    With this, I had spent a total of two hundred points today, leaving me with just 76. Before I could even ask myself if there was anything else I should get next, I noticed Terra standing beside me with a determined look on her face. She was again holding Aurivy in her outstretched arms, the loli goddess just a few inches from me.


    ¡°Her turn!¡± She said, a smile slowly appearing on her face.


    Sighing, I nodded, opening up the interface again. I did promise that I would get her a personality, and if I bought anything else, I might not be able to afford to keep that promise. So, I guess it was her turn.

 Chapter 20: Cuteness Shall Triumph

    <h4>Chapter 20: Cuteness Shall Triumph</h4>


    Looking at the loli goddess that Terra was so eagerly presenting me, I furrowed my brows in thought about what kind of personality to give her. But, first of all, I wanted to make sure that everyone was present. ¡°Is there any way to call Irena back? Want everyone to be here for the ¡®birth¡¯ of a new goddess.¡±


    Terra nodded her head quickly. ¡°Just go to the Underworld map and send her a message like you would anyone else.¡±


    Well, that was easy enough. Doing as she said, I sent a message to Irena, asking her toe back. No sooner had I sent the message than a circr wooden doorway appeared in the room. Splitting at the center, it opened inwards, with the Daeva librarian goddess walking in. ¡°You called for me, Dale?¡± She asked, adjusting her sses to fit better.


    I nodded at that. ¡°Yes, I wanted you to be here for this.¡± I inclined my head towards Aurivy, who Terra was still holding up. However, now she was holding her more protectively, as if to hide her from Irena.


    Irena simply nodded, not seeming to overly care about the matter. ¡°Very well, you may begin, then.¡± Maybe I made her a bit too businesslike? Either way, it was time to get started on the personality.


    Given her appearance, I did not want her to really act like an adult. Lolis are fun to tease, but you can¡¯t do anything to them. So, I wanted her to be a shy girl, seeing me as a big brother figure, and the other goddesses as big sisters. That way, they can spoil her and have fun together by ying with her.


    Naturally, I didn¡¯t want her to be TOO immature. She was still a goddess of an entire race, after all. So, she still had some pretty heavy responsibilities. As such, I wanted to make herpetent enough to handle her people and her domain. For the rest of it¡­ I let the system decide it.


    A pink light fell from the ceiling, wrapping around Aurivy¡¯s body. We could see as it seeped into her eyes and mouth, giving her a strange glow for a few moments before receding. When the light had faded away, Aurivy blinked herrge eyes, looking around the room. Turning her head back, she saw Terra grinning broadly at her.


    Suddenly Aurivy began wiggling her body, trying to escape therge catgirl goddess. ¡°Muu, lemme go!¡± She gave a distressed cry, iling her arms helplessly. Terraughed brightly, setting the girl down on the ground. ¡°Big sis is a bully!¡± She puffed up her cheeks, turning around to scold Terra.


    ¡°Ohh?¡± Terra asked, a predatory gleam in her eyes. ¡°Does little Rivy not like being picked up?¡± She extended her hands threateningly to the halfling goddess, who yelped and ran to hide behind me. Terra giggled at that, while Irena just kept watching. Though, I swear that I saw a slight twitch in the businesslike goddess¡¯s lips. The cute shall overpower all defenses!


    Aurivy kept her cheeks puffed out as she looked at Terra from behind me. ¡°It¡¯s Aurivy! Aur-iv-y!¡± She stubbornly said, which made me chuckle. Reaching back, I ced my hand on the crown of her head. Unexpectedly, her eyes seemed to half-close, and her entire body rxed. Weak point, spotted?


    Terra grinned wider when she saw that, likely making a note for the future. However, a few momentster Aurivy jumped back, bringing both hands up to her head defensively to guard the same spot I had patted. ¡°Big bro, no! You can¡¯t touch me there! That¡¯s bad, definitely bad!¡±


    I smiled as I saw that reaction. Really, just like I thought, lolis are too easy to tease. ¡°That¡¯s alright. Anyways, don¡¯t you have some work to do?¡± I nced towards theputer. ¡°The halflings haven¡¯t had anyone to guide them all this time, so you¡¯ve got your work cut out for you.¡±


    When I said it like that, Aurivy¡¯s eyes widened slightly. ¡°That¡¯s right! I need to take care of them!¡± She turned towards Terra and gave a small bow. ¡°Sorry, big sis! We can y moreter, okay?¡± She asked with a dazzling smile, and I swear that I saw Terra melt a little upon seeing it.


    ¡°Okay!¡± She replied eagerly. ¡°But don¡¯t keep big sis waiting!¡±


    After nodding, Aurivy skipped out the door, humming something quietly. Irena, seeing that the excitement had ended, opened up another doorway to return to the afterlife. As for me, I turned back to theputer, getting ready to send a big message. I could spend a single point to send a single message throughout the entire world, or have each of the deities ry it for free. For this one, I decided to spend the point, since Aurivy had just be busy.


    _______________________________________________________________


    All throughout the world, a major change wasing. Every race was born with the knowledge of their god¡¯s name, but they knew little about them aside from that. The only exceptions to this were the beings of the underworld, and those who the Goddess of Fate directly spoke to. For others, they knew naught but a name. And now, a voice, belonging to a being they had never heard whisper of, spoke in their ear. For every race, it came to them in their ownnguage, and every race knew on an instinctive level that this was not the deity they knew.


    Introducing the first major world update! With this update, two new systems have been introduced. The first system is the Achievements system, which allows people to gain power based on the great feats they disy! The second, the Title system, allows people to show others their key achievements, and gain further effect from those achievements! Everyone is encouraged to do their best to obtain greater power, and contribute to the advance of theirmunities! At this time, the level limit has also been raised, to allow people to grow further.


    For five minutes, the entire world seemed frozen. Nobody knew how to respond to this sudden voice, and they could see it on the faces of anyone nearby that they had also heard it. To the people of Earth, a new legend was born that day, a legend of a nameless god that stood above all others. One who could change the veryws of the world on a whim.


    At the same time, another shocking event urred. Though, this one was limited to only the halflings. No matter who, everyone among the halflings heard a yful voice wishing them well. Unlike the unknown voice that they had heard previously, this one seemed to carry with it a sense of familiarity. All among the halflings knew that this voice belonged to their goddess, their Aurivy.


    _______________________________________________________________


    With the message typed up and sent, I sat back in the chair and considered what else could be done. It was still far too early for ying Merlin, but maybe there were other things I could do? I mean, I hadn¡¯t even left a single item of power in the world to be discovered. In the future, I wanted to ce one item for every culture to discover as a symbol of power. But, in order to do that, I had to learn more about magic and crafting.


    Turning towards Terra, I saw her looking out the door with a happy smile. I knew I was going to regret asking this¡­ ¡°Terra, could you teach me some smithing techniques? You should know plenty with the archived knowledge.¡±


    Hearing my question, Terra looked back at me with an almost sinister smile. ¡°Oh? You want more lessons, huh? Well, naturally I¡¯d be happy to oblige~.¡± I felt a chill run down my spine, knowing I had just signed myself up for another few days, or maybe even weeks of hell training.


    _______________________________________________________________


    In the underworld, a change was slowly urring. They too had heard the announcement that spread throughout Earth, but they were far more excited than their living counterparts. For the living, levels meant more power, but it was different for them. To the spirits, and the Daeva, levels were their life. If they could train and level up, their lifespan would increase.


    Currently, the oldest living being in the underworld aside from Irena herself was a Daeva. This Daeva, Belial, had lived for six hundred years, and was nearing the end of its lifespan. Belial could only helplessly watch as his Spirit Energy slowly ran out, day by day. But now, he had a chance.


    With this new announcement, he earnestly began training his abilities once more. Although he had reached a bottleneck in levels, his abilities had only improved. With twenty levels as a Reaper, and ten as a Spirit Hunter, he had long since learned to manifest his spirit as a method to attack. However, he had never had the reason to use it.


    The underworld had been so peaceful so far, with their duties few and far between. Long ago, Irena had asked them to train, for they would one day be the police force of both worlds. However, Belial himself had never seen the living world once, yet. Irena merely told them that the time had not yete.


    But now, before him stood the goddess he served. Irena had called for the oldest and strongest of the Daeva. Once they were gathered, she spoke in a businesslike tone. ¡°The time hase for the first wave of teams. I have called one hundred of you here today, and each of you will choose fifty people to join you. These members may be of the Daeva, or the spirits. However, without exception, everyone must find fifty members.¡±


    ¡°Once your members are gathered, report to me again. You have twenty-four hours to gather your men.¡± After saying that, Irena¡¯s body vanished into grey mist, seeping into the floor.


    The one hundred Daeva all looked at each other in excitement. Together they only made up one percent of their race¡¯s poption, but they were still the elite. And now, they were finally going to receive their first real mission.


    Belial immediately flew off, eager to find fifty people to join him. Although he had a few names in mind already, there were not enough to fill all the slots in his team. However, at the same time, he could not just gather fifty random beings, or else he would be betraying the trust his goddess had ced in him.


    Exactly twenty-four hourster, five thousand people were mobilized in front of Irena¡¯s court. This was the only known residence of the god, and the ce where she judged the spirits. This was also the exact center of the city she had personally established.


    As she looked out over the gathered troops, Irena nodded her head solemnly. ¡°Good, it seems that everyone managed to find suitable people. Now, I shall assign everyone their missions.¡±


    Above Irena¡¯s head, the grey mist formed together into a massive sphere, slowly rotating to give everyone a clear view. While the sphere was primarily blue, there were sshes of green and yellow, white and orange. ¡°This is Earth. Those of you who once lived here might recognize some key areas, but for the most part this is unexplored.¡±


    The eightrgest masses of green and yellow began glowing. ¡°These are the continents, to which I will assign forty-three teams. The remaining seven teams will be in charge of the remainder of the. During the next two Earth days, you are to gather as many souls as you can. Consider this a test, to see if you are ready to truly perform your duty yet. At the same time, this is training. Each team will be ced in an uninhabited area, and some monster souls may be violent.¡±


    Irena¡¯s cold re sent chills throughout the crowd. ¡°Only those that prove themselves by surviving these two days will be returning. I will not save you if you are in danger. But, do not forget your mission. The team with the highest amount of souls upon their return will be rewarded. Likewise, the individual that has the most souls out of all five thousand will get an additional reward.¡±


    The giant globe above Irena¡¯s head began forming cracks along its surface, before it shattered in an explosion of mist. This mist converged into fifty streams, each one gathering in front of a team to form a circr portal. The teams could not see whaty beyond the portals, but they knew their missions. ¡°Now, depart. I will call everyone back in two days.¡±


    Belial, eager to prove himself, stepped forth first, entering the misty portal. Among the residents of the underworld, he was the first to return to thend of the living. And with that achievement, a sense of power flowed up through him.

 Chapter 21: Believe It!

    <h4>Chapter 21: Believe It!</h4>


    Over the course of thest week, I had the basics for metalworking drilled into my head. With Terra¡¯s assistance in the admin room, we had an unlimited supply of ores to work with, so it was just a matter of making sure I absorbed all of the information. Though, I did learn some interesting things during these lessons that are worthy of note.


    Materials made in the Admin Room cannot be taken down to the without paying a point cost. For a simple sword, Terra exined that it would only be one point per hundred swords. However, other powerful items would haverger costs. On the other hand, if the materials for the item are brought up from the, they can be forged in the Admin Room and sent back down.


    What this means, is that once I learn how to do enchanting, I could forge a sword made of minerals from Earth, and then enchant it in the Admin Room. The benefit of this is very simple. In the Admin Room, my magic power is unlimited, meaning that I could put an extremely powerful enchantment on an item to turn it into a strong artifact beyond the scope of what mortals could normally create. Of course, this all requires me to first learn how to enchant. And that is not something Terra can teach me, since it is not knowledge from my previous Earth.


    Next, Terra showed me a map detailing the mineral deposits on Earth. I had expected the same basic materials as my own world had, but there were a few changes. Maybe it was because of the size of the, or the presence of magic, but there were a few ores that she said would channel magic extremely well. More importantly, there was the presence of ¡®mana stones¡¯, rocks able to absorb and store mana.


    The generic version would only absorb raw mana, which could then be used to power a spellter. However, at certain locations, there existed elemental stones. These were in the more extreme environments, such as the mouth of a volcano or the bottom of the ocean. Anywhere that a particr element held absolute dominance, the stone for that element would emerge.


    Once I was done with my lesson, I went to see if there had been any major developments in the world. Though, I honestly wasn¡¯t expecting much, since I did not set it to fast forward. There was only so much that I could expect to happen in a week.


    I was surprised to find Irena sitting on my bed when I made my way to the room to look at theputer. As I entered, she gave me a soft smile, inclining her head. ¡°You are back. I was beginning to wonder how long she would keep you.¡±


    ¡°Is something the matter with the afterlife?¡± This was the first time that I had ever found Irena looking for me, so I was confused as to what it meant. I doubted that Terra would let anything ¡®good¡¯ happen with her in the bed like that, so I could only expect it meant business.


    Irena shook her head slightly. ¡°No, I am here to deliver a report. When you went in to train, I sent a mission of several thousand daeva and spirits to the living world. This was a test operation to see how many spirits these numbers could harvest, and how many would be needed to create full-time coverage.¡±


    Well¡­ that sounded a little intriguing. ¡°And, what were your results?¡±


    cing both hands in herp, Irena assumed a businesslike pose as she delivered the report. ¡°On average, each operative collected eighty souls over a twenty-four hour period. Out of five thousand individuals sent, only two died. Unexpectedly, they squandered so much of their spiritual energy that they were unable to fight off the weak spirits that targeted them.¡±


    Her words caught me by surprise. ¡°There are already spirits strong enough to fight back against your people?¡±


    Irena cracked a small smile, shaking her head again. ¡°Normally, no. However, After they used so much of their own spiritual energy, the weak spirits were able to defeat them. With this, I have determined how many people I will need before I can fully cover the Earth with a collection patrol.¡±


    ¡°So? How many do you need?¡±


    Irena took a deep breath before telling me the numbers. ¡°Each continent will need to be divided into ten districts, with each district being under the control of a district leader. Within each district, there will need to be one hundred sectors. Each sector should have a ten man team present at all times. Even with this, I estimate that the souls will often build up for weeks before the team manages to collect them.¡±


    ¡°For a best case scenario, each sector would then be divided into ten thousand neighborhoods. Then, each neighborhood could have between one and five people present at any time. With this, there is a minimum need for eighty thousand dedicated patrolmen working around the clock, and a preferred amount of four hundred million.¡±


    ¡°Now, for the oceans and misceneous inds. These are more troubling. Out of the roughly hundred thousand inds with life, each one will need their own Daeva or spirit monitoring it. Therger inds may need up to a ten man team on patrol. The oceans themselves¡­ they are far toorge. I estimate that we will need at least a million reapers and spirit hunters on constant patrol in order to clear up the spirits before they be a problem.¡±


    Irena let out a soft sigh as she finished. ¡°If it is just the inhabited areas of the continents, I already possess enough subordinates, and can handle the rest myself. At the current rate of poption growth, I imagine that it will take another thousand years before we have sufficient numbers for global coverage, and that is only if we include the deceased spirits as well.¡±


    I thought about her report for a while, before I nodded. ¡°Focus on building up your forces and advancing the afterlife culture for now. Your people might be able toe up with advancements that would make the job easier to manage. Until then, send out the asional training group to get experience on Earth.¡±


    Irena inclined her head, standing up from the bed and smoothing out her skirt. ¡°Very well. I¡¯ll do what I can on my end. If anythinges up, I wille to deliver another report.¡±


    With that, she lightly tapped the ground with her shoe, a light shining behind her. The light formed into a wide circr door, which opened into a path of grey mist.Giving onest nod, she turned and left Since nobody else was around to disturb me, I sat at theputer, pulling up the notifications in order to see if there had been any advancement.


    Unsurprisingly, none of the cultures had advanced enough in this week to give me a reward. However, I did get points from elsewhere. With a full week of my creations on the market, I had sold quite a few.


    First, the Forgotten. I had managed to sell one more set of that race. Next, the World Host, my most popr item. Over thest week, I had sold thirty more copies of that. Finally, Trinity¡¯s Sin, which I did not have as much hope for. I had managed to sell five copies, but that was all. With this, my point bnce went up to 177.


    I could buy more systems for the world if I wanted, but I¡¯d rather save up for now, so that I could get some of the more expensive prizes. For instance, there was one option I was thinking of making avable for my world, but I was sure that I¡¯d need more points to make it happen. Which reminds me of another important discovery that Terra informed me about, secret inventions.


    Although such systems as Level Limits, Achievements, and so on can only be created through the system(to my knowledge, at least), it is possible to create items and races without registering them. However, doing so is not easy. Rather than creating it through the system, you have to do so manually.


    So, for instance, if I had manually crafted the Trinity¡¯s Sin rather than submitting it to the system, I would be the sole owner of that item. For most things, that is unimportant, but powerful items can tip the bnce of power in the Games. With every Keeper having ess to the same systems and crafting recipes, the owner of a unique power gains an extra card to y.


    Now, I had no expectations of being able to personally craft incredibly powerful artifacts easily, but one day it could happen! Until then, though¡­ I decided that it was time to go back down to the world. I needed to train some more, in preparation for my world advancing. Also, I needed to get used to descending as a race different from humans.


    As such, this time when I selected to descend, I gave myself the body of a slim Kitsune. With golden hair, ears, and a tail, I thought it looked rather fitting for a ¡®divine¡¯ body. Finally, I selected the button to confirm my choice and descend.


    Body verified. Kitsune race selected. Beginning descent. May you work for the betterment of your world, Keeper.


    I was again bathed in a warm blue light, and before I even opened my eyes I could tell that things had changed. The smell of the ocean was heavy in the air, I could hear the waves crashing on the shore all around me. The location I chose to descend to this time was a deserted ind, one that I felt had a rather good view.


    Looking out to the ocean, I gave a small smile before I opened my character information.


    Name


    Dale Mitchell


    Race


    Kitsune(Keeper)


    Health


    38/38(2841/2841)


    Mana


    43/43(970/970)


    Strength


    5(29)


    Ki


    8/8(1026/1026)


    Stamina


    5(33)


    Intelligence


    6(24)


    Dexterity


    6(36)


    Wisdom


    8(57)


    Luck


    5


    Charm


    5(23)


    ss List


    Alchemist 0(3)


    Archer 0(18)


    Architect 0(2)


    Archmage 0(5)


    cksmith 0(2)


    Carpenter 0(2)


    Chef 0(6)


    Druid 0(24)


    Farmer 0(8)


    Guard 0(7)


    Herbalist 0(4)


    Hunter 0(25)


    Leader 0(21)


    Leatherworker 0(4)


    Mage 1(21)


    Miner 0(7)


    Monk 1(18)


    Monster Tamer 0(22)


    Priest 0(12)


    Scout 0(28)


    Schr 0(13)


    Shaman 0(12)


    Spirit Tamer 5(20)


    Warrior 1(29)


    Looking at the numbers in parenthesis, I felt so¡­ weak. Well, weakpared to my ¡®Keeper¡¯ level. My normal level of power was absolutely pitiful whenpared with it. Evenpared to the average level of the current world, my normal level was severelycking. And that was something I needed to take care of.


    I resolved myself to train until my ¡®true level¡¯ reached fifteen, and only then would I make my first journey to an inhabited area. The question was just, what ss did I want to train? As for the answer¡­ if you had seen the ss list I originally made, there could only be one real answer.


    Unfortunately, the ss I wanted was not discovered yet, or else this training would be much easier. However, I had a rough idea on how to unlock it. I just wasn¡¯t sure which method to use. Closing my eyes, I let my awareness slip into my body, finding those streams of energy.


    I had long since learned to identify the energies in my body, and that made it much easier to find them. First, the Ki, the tranquil energy that flowed through me. Next, the warm blue light that I had identified as my Mana. Each of these energies looked the same as thest time I had used them, maybe even a little weaker. However, behind them, as if hiding in the shadows, was a mighty ocean or a zing sun. I identified those as my Keeper reserves.


    For what I was doing, I would be drawing from those reserves. The energy I had avable to me otherwise was simply too small. Focusing, I began pulling the warm flow of mana into my left hand, and the gentle ki into my right.


    From my understanding of the ss while I was choosing the settings, both of these energies are required. Furthermore, they have to be merged in order to be properly applied. As such, I began moving my hands closer together, keeping my mind focused on those two energies.


    As my hands came closer together, I felt the ki and mana starting to repel each other. Furrowing my brow, I tried forcing them together. The results¡­


    -55


    In a violent explosion of energy, I was tossed back nearly a dozen meters before I slid to a stop in the sand. Seeing the damage number floating above the spot I had previously stood, a cold sweat covered my back. If I didn¡¯t have my Keeper reserves for health, that ident would have immediately killed me.


    Even now, I could feel the soreness from the st. And, looking at my body, there were cuts and bruises all over, to the point where it would be amazing if I didn¡¯t die. However, I didn¡¯t really feel as bad as I appeared. At most, I felt like I had taken a strong punch to the face.


    I decided that the difference between appearance and reality was likely a result of my Keeper status, and got up to try again. There was one main reason that I was not doing this in the safety of the Admin Room. Any advancements made there regarding sses would not carry over to when I descend. Otherwise¡­ I¡¯d probably have several levels in cksmith by now.


    Nheless, I tried again. This time, I did not try to force the energies together, and instead simply brought my hands closer while letting them mutually repel each other. The moment my hands touched, I felt as the two energies exploded outwards, before being drawn together within my body.


    Ki represents the training of the physical body. Mana represents the training of the mind. These two energies, when brought together, can form something new. Something capable of things neither one can easily do alone.


    Ninja ss unlocked!


    Charge Chakra ability unlocked!


    You are the first person in history to discover the Ninja ss through the fusion of Mana and Ki! This is a remarkable event, earning you the Ninja of Origin achievement! With this achievement, you earn 10% more Mana and Ki.


    Schr ss unlocked!


    Fast Reading ability unlocked!


    I grinned, looking down to the energy resting in my hands. This was Chakra, thebination of Mana and Ki, the physical and mental aspects of training. I wasn¡¯t entirely sure the differences between this new energy and itsponent pieces yet, but I had a few days of training ahead of me to find out! Taking onest look at my character window before moving to train, I had to say that I was happy with what I saw.


    Name


    Dale Mitchell


    Race


    Kitsune(Keeper)


    Health


    38/38(2848/2848)


    Mana


    50/50(1080/1080)


    Strength


    5(29)


    Ki


    13/13(1157/1157)


    Stamina


    5(33)


    Intelligence


    6(24)


    Dexterity


    6(36)


    Wisdom


    8(57)


    Luck


    5


    Charm


    5(23)


    ss List


    Alchemist 0(3)


    Archer 0(18)


    Architect 0(2)


    Archmage 0(5)


    cksmith 0(2)


    Carpenter 0(2)


    Chef 0(6)


    Druid 0(24)


    Farmer 0(8)


    Guard 0(7)


    Herbalist 0(4)


    Hunter 0(25)


    Leader 0(21)


    Leatherworker 0(4)


    Mage 1(21)


    Miner 0(7)


    Monk 1(18)


    Monster Tamer 0(22)


    Priest 0(12)


    Scout 0(28)


    Schr 1(13)


    Shaman 0(12)


    Spirit Tamer 5(20)


    Warrior 1(29)


    Ninja 1(1)

 Chapter 22: The Power of Chakra

    <h4>Chapter 22: The Power of Chakra</h4>


    Author¡¯s Corner: Yes, there is chakra. No, this is not Naruto, nor will it ever be Naruto! I am not going to milk this for 700 chapters, just toter release a sequel series that is almost identical! ].]


    *****


    To start my training, I first activated my new Charge Chakra ability through the game system. Although I managed to perform the basic fusion of energies on my own, the system method would give me a better insight on how to do so more efficiently. And indeed, once I let the system take over, I found that my Ki and Mana were merging together along my skin.


    Rather than pushing them together physically to let them fuse, this ability directs them along the surface of the skin to meet at key points. The result is an almost gaseous blue energy radiating an inch out from my skin. Thankfully, I found that I could still control this new energy, simr to how I would control its individualponents.


    The first main difference I noticed between Chakra and both Ki and Mana was that I had no natural storage. Just like how there was no mention of Chakra in my status window, I can¡¯t naturally store it in my body. The moment I tried, I felt it starting to break up into itsponent energies. Within ten seconds, it had fully turned back into Ki and Mana.


    Now, although I could not store it internally, I was able to hold it externally, as long as I focused on it. Once that focus was lost, it would begin spreading out into the air around me, outside of my control. This made Chakra a rather inconvenient energy to use for now, though I had yet to explore its applications.


    For this training I was about to do, I decided that it was important to understand both the applications of Chakra, and the differences it possesses with Ki and Mana. Since I already had Chakra formed, I conducted my first test. Moving the energy to the soles of my feet, I wanted to see if it had the same property to enhance physical aspects that Ki had.


    When I took a step after charging my foot with Chakra, I felt the world around me blur for a brief instant. The next moment, I was roughly ten meters away from my starting position, without a single sound betraying the boost in speed. My eyes went wide at the implication of that, this movement ability exceeding my expectations.


    As a test, I repeated the action, this time using Ki instead of Chakra. After experiencing the power of the Ki Fist, I had no doubt that this would produce another movement ability. And sure enough, there was a small explosion beneath my foot when I stepped forward, and I felt my body rocketing through the air.


    -3


    Unable to catch myself in time, I slid face first along the ground for nearly twenty meters. Thankfully, the damage was reduced drastically due to my Keeper body. However, I had been able to gather some useful data from this.


    With Chakra, I was able to perform a short-range ¡®sh Step¡¯, carrying me ten meters. I felt no sensation of instant eleration or deceleration, almost as if it were a teleport power. When I applied the same amount of Ki instead, what I got was an ¡®Explosive Charge¡¯, carrying me fifteen meters before I lost my bnce and slid another twenty. This time, I was clearly able to feel the eleration, and my face certainly felt the ground slowing me down.


    Groaning, I decided to repeat the test, this time with Mana. Two out of three granted tricks for movement techniques, so it was worth a shot. Closing my eyes, I guided the mana to the soles of my feet, and took a step forward.


    Upon opening my eyes, I found that I had moved forward exactly one step¡­ So, I tried again, and again, until I noticed something strange. My foot felt¡­ heavy, just before I took the step. Don¡¯t tell me¡­ Ki enhances the physical aspects, Mana defies physics¡­


    Looking around, I ran towards a nearby tree, maintaining the constant stream of Mana to my feet. In order to test my theory, I lifted my foot up and ced it vertically along the trunk of the tree. d that nobody was around to see me make a fool of myself, I lifted my other foot off the ground, half expecting tond on my ass.


    One moment passed, and then another, and I did not crash into the ground like I had expected. I still felt the pull of gravity drawing me downwards, but my foot was firmly rooted in ce. So, Mana really does let you walk on walls¡­ Wonder if it works for water¡­? I turned to cast my eyes at the ocean, a mischievous glint shining in my eyes.


    Pushing off from the tree, I ran back towards the shore. At thest moment, I channeled Ki into my feet to leap high into the air. Confident in my theory, I began channeling mana into my feet at the apex of my jump, preparing tond on the water.


    However¡­ things don¡¯t always go the way we want. Rather than sticking to the water¡¯s surface like I had to the tree, I simply fell through the water, causing arge ssh to erupt around me. Once I had reached the bottom, my feet became stuck to the ground, prevent me from rising up.


    Frustrated, I cancelled the Mana going to my feet, and allowed myself to swim back to the shore. No Jesus imagery today, I guess. I couldn¡¯t help but let out a sigh at that, before going back to my training. Though, as soon as I arrived back at the ind, I found a series of messages waiting for me.


    Ninja has leveled up!


    Monk has leveled up!


    Well, two levels out of that experiment was still pretty good. Though, since I wanted to focus on ninja levels, I should probably stick to Chakra training now. This test gave me the information I needed, anyways.


    Like I had suspected, Ki seems to amplify physical aspects, such as impact, strength, and possibly defense. Mana defies nature, allowing magic to take ce. Chakra, as abination, has aspects of both. That ¡®sh Step¡¯ possesses the speed boost of Ki, while also taking aspects of Mana to make the movement instantaneous, without any sensation of actually moving.


    With that knowledge, I was able to imagine some other abilities I should be capable of performing with Chakra. Letting a small grin break out over my face, I stood up and got to work. My next ability that I wanted to test required a tool, so I picked a random rock from the ground. If I wanted to go back to the Admin Room, I could get some daggers that Terra made me craft while training, but this rock should do for now. A rock is also less likely to stab me if I mess up.


    Slowly, I followed the method I had learned to charge my hand with chakra. I watched as the blue mist appeared around my hand, and the rock contained within it. Focusing, I wrapped the chakra around that rock, leaving only a thin trace of it on my hand. Finally, I flipped my hand over and released the rock.


    I didn¡¯t just watch as the rock fell from my hand, I felt it. It was as if the rock had be an extension of myself, and the moment I willed it to stop, the chakra surrounding it seemed to tighten. The rock sat there, roughly five inches below my hand, suspended in midair by an almost invisible strand of blue mist. This was the second ability that I imagined to be possible after briefly studying Chakra, the ability to control items with my Chakra.


    For my next trick¡­ I was going to do something far more advanced, and I was not even sure it would work. I had a theory, though. A theory that I would be able to use more than just pure mana to make chakra. A theory that I could use a halfpleted spell for it, as well.


    Bringing my hands up in front of my face, I joined my thumbs and index fingers together to make arge circle. Next, I imagined a spell diagram in my mind, but only part of one. I focused on a single element, excluding the rest of the spell, and passed my mana through that image before joining it with the ki in my hands.


    The result of this was a hazy red mist, different from the blue Chakra I had previously created. Knowing that I was on the right track, I took a deep breath and blew into that circle formed by my hands. A roar sounded out through the surroundings, belonging to no man or beast. A cone of me shot out from in front of my mouth, scorching everything in front of me for thirty meters.


    This ¡®Fire Breath¡¯sted for nearly five seconds, before I ran out of air in my lungs to support it. The moment I stopped blowing into the red Chakra, the mes stopped spewing forth. I let my grin grow wider as I saw the effect this ability had. Though, that joy I felt faded when I saw the amount of energy that had been used. Out of roughly a thousand Mana and Ki, that one attack had burned through well over half of each. Of course, that was only a temporary loss, because both bars were again quickly filled.


    Ninja has leveled up!


    Camouge ability unlocked!


    Hmm? An ability at level three? My curiosity sessfully piqued, I went ahead and activated the ability. Immediately, I felt the image of a shape forming in my mind, acting as a filter for the mana to pass through before it formed into Chakra along my skin. However, after the Chakra was formed, nothing seemed to happen.


    Unsure of what was going on, I looked down, seeing a hazy outline of my hand. Surprised, I cancelled the ability, watching as a yellow mist gradually dispersed from the air around me. At the same time, my hand became visible. Activating the ability again, I focused on the image that I saw formed in my mind.


    That is¡­ the Light element, if I recall. So¡­ light chakra around the body forms a basic stealth ability. Blowing into fire chakra creates a me attack. My excitement for the possibilities of this ss only continued to grow with each new ability.


    If I had to give this ss a weakness, it would be that it is impossible to train by itself. In order to form Chakra, you need both Mana and Ki. So, you need to train both as a Mage and a Monk before you can unlock the Ninja ss. For normal people, that severely limits the amount of levels they can gain in the ss. Especially since the Ninja ss does not enhance any of the base attributes that amplify those two energies.


    Though, I soon thought of another weakness, and that was the inability to use multiple types of energy at the same time. I wasn¡¯t sure if this was a skill that could be trained, or a set limitation. However, it did not seem likely that I would be able to use multiple Ninja abilities at the same time, such as the ¡®sh Step¡¯ and Camouge.


    Shaking my head, I dispelled those thoughts in order to focus on my training. There was still one more ability I wanted to test. This was the Chakra counterpart to the Ki Fist. If the Ki Fist amplified the impact, I wanted to see what the ¡®Chakra Fist¡¯ would do.


    In order to conduct this test, I moved back to the same tree I had previously stood on earlier for my ¡®foot test¡¯. Feeling excited for what I was about to do, I flexed my fingers while charging my hand with Chakra. I knew that my physical abilities far exceeded what anyone else in the world right now should be capable of, aside from maybe the strongest monsters. If I went all out, punching through this tree should be entirely possible, even easy if I used the Ki Fist.


    However, what I wanted was to test a new ability. If there was nothing left of the tree when I was done, I could not urately gauge its strength. So, I nned to hold back a little. Balling up my fist, I pulled it back, taking a basic stance with one palm out in front of me.


    When I threw my fist forward, I felt as if something changed in the Chakra I was holding. And, when my fistnded against the tree, there was no crash of an impact, no pain from punching wood. On my end, it instead felt as if I had lightly tapped the tree with my fist, and the Chakra had moved into the tree.


    I could still feel the existence of the Chakra at the center of the tree, and even was able to move it around within the tree itself. However, I was not able to figure out what this ability was supposed to be until I had given up. At the moment I decided that this ability was only good for transferring Chakra harmlessly, and loosened my hold over the energy in the tree, the thick wooden trunk exploded outwards from the very point that the Chakra had been stored.


    -1


    -1


    -1


    I felt tiny stings as splinters crashed against my body, staring dumbfoundedly at the tree. The area where the Chakra had previously been held was no more, and the top of the tree crashed into the ground at the side, sending tremors throughout the ground. This was definitely on the same level as a Ki Fist, but with the added property of internal damage and a dyed response.


    Ninja has leveled up!

 Chapter 23: The Birth of Power

    <h4>Chapter 23: The Birth of Power</h4>


    Wild shrieks rang through the woods, startling the group of five Felyn that had been hiding in the shelter of a hollowed tree. This was a small family, one not lucky enough to have stumbled upon the many cities of the Beastkin yet. Among the family was a mother, father, two sons, and youngest being a small girl. When they heard the sounds of the wild beasts, they knew a disaster wasing.


    Until a few suns ago, they had been safe. The beasts of thend had not been strong enough to offer too much of a fight for them. At that time, they had been travelling with ten members of their family. But, ever since they had been permitted to gain more power, apparently the beasts had as well. The next day, they lost two of their eldest against a pack of giant wolves with spikes of glittering stoneing from their back.


    By now, these five people were all that were left of their family, and once again they heard the call of those ferocious wolves. There was no longer anyone left in the family that had reached the previous apex of power, even the two adults had barely made it halfway before the ¡®update¡¯. As such, they knew that this could very well be the end of their family. In a desperate attempt to survive, the five of them ran madly through the forest, jumping between trees and bushes, making sure none of their own fell behind.


    But the more they ran, the closer they heard the howls of the wolves, the cracking of branches as they were hunted. The father, Braksol, gritted his teeth and jumped back away from the family. ¡°Go!¡± He shouted to the rest of them, moving to ce himself between the wolves and the only people he cared for in this world.


    His mate looked back with watery eyes, unwilling to let Braksol sacrifice himself. But, she knew that she had to live on, to care for their two sons, and the daughter she carried in her arms. Closing her eyes tight, she turned to run, apologizing to her mate in her heart for having to leave him.


    Braksol, seeing that his family had obeyed him and left, smiled gently. This was the only way they could survive another day, the only way they could hope to escape the territory of these vicious beasts. As the strongest of them, it was his duty to protect them to hisst breath. As his brother had done for them, and their father before him.


    Gathering up his inner energy, Braksol wrapped it around his fists, waiting for the wolves to be visible. Although he was not as powerful as his elder brother or their father, he had learned the Monk ss from them. This was his greatest weapon in a fight, and he swore to himself that he would take at least one of those wolves down with him.


    Another series of howls rang through his ears, and he saw as a dozenrge wolves jumped from behind a thick tree. These were the beasts he had prepared for. Each one had three glittering spikes of polished stone on their backs, and cold, unfeeling eyes. The moment they saw him, they hesitated. These monsters, the ironback wolves, had met simr encounters during their hunts previously. Each time, they suffered losses, and so they were unwilling to divert their attention.


    Seeing that they had really stopped, Braksol gave a small grin. ¡°Come at me, then!¡± He yelled, charging towards the nearest wolf. His foot mmed heavily into the ground, carrying him towards his target immediately. Bringing his fist forward, he smashed it into the head of the lead wolf.


    An explosion echoed from his punch, and the wolf fell off to the side. Braksol didn¡¯t know if he had killed the beast, or merely stunned it, but he did not have any time to think about it. Two more of the wolves had charged at him in a fury, and he saw his death quickly approaching. While he might be able to take one on with a surprise attack, he could never have the strength to defeat two at once.


    ¡°Oh, seems I made it just in time.¡± A familiar voice echoed through the trees. This was a voice Braksol had heard before, but he could not ce its origin. He was about to call for the owner of the voice to run before he felt a sudden rush of wind behind him. If not for the fact that the person had bumped his tail, Braksol would not even be entirely sure that someone was there.


    The next moment, the two wolves that had attacked him were sent flying. There was no skill employed that he could see, only raw strength. This mysterious neer, a Kitsune with golden hair, calmly stood in front of him, looking at Braksol without any regards for the beasts encircling them.


    ¡°You¡¯ll do.¡± He said, a slight smile on his face. ¡°But first, let¡¯s take care of the cleanup.¡± He cast his eyes around him, and Braksol felt a cold sweat forming on his back, an invisible pressure sweeping over him. He watched as a blue mist seemed to pour out of this man¡¯s skin, before he again vanished into thin air.


    Braksol had no time to consider whether the man¡¯s presence had been an illusion or not, because he reappeared nine times. Each time, it was as if he had taken just a single step, and with each step he ced his palm against one of the beasts before vanishing again. Nine steps, nine wolves, and then he was again standing before Braksol, looking at him calmly while the wolves just stared with vacant eyes.


    ¡°Do you want power?¡± He asked, as the wolves surrounding them suddenly copsed to the ground. This strength¡­ Braksol had been prepared to sacrifice his life to buy his family just one more day to live, and yet this man had appeared to deal with the wolves in practically the time it takes to blink. Even without the man showing hostility to Braksol, he felt fear. Fear that originated from the very depths of his being, as if he was facing an opponent he could never hope to match.


    ¡°Y-yes.¡± He heard himself saying, before he could fully think about it, and then hastily spoke up. ¡°But my mate! My kits!¡± Suddenly, Braksol snapped himself out of his stupor, turning in the direction that his family had run.


    ¡°Ah, they went that way, then?¡± The Felyn felt a hand grab his shoulder, and then his surroundings began to warp and shift. He saw different trees appearing in front and beside him, and then immediately vanish. A few secondster, he saw his family, his mate still frantically running while tears flowed down her face. Never before had he been so happy to see her, and he couldn¡¯t help but call out to her.


    ¡°Britta!¡± Without even worrying about the powerful stranger, he leapt forward. Britta, having heard that, turned back and looked at him with wide, silver eyes. Naturally, she had no idea that the wolves had been defeated, and could only think that he had found a chance to escape back to them.


    ¡°Braksol!¡± She cried out, tears still streaming from her eyes as she went into his embrace. She rubbed her head against his chin for a moment beforeing to her senses. ¡°Hurry, we need to leave! They¡¯ll find us again soon.¡± She turned to run again, grabbing Braksol¡¯s wrist with her free hand while the other carried their daughter. However, she found that he was not running with her. She tried to pull him, but found him unmoving. ¡°Braksol, what¡­?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay, they¡¯re dead. They¡¯re all dead.¡± She stared vacantly at him, neither one of them able to fully believe the words he had said. It was only at this time that she noticed the golden haired Kitsune standing behind Braksol.


    ¡°Who is he?¡± She asked, defensively. She unconsciously hid herself behind Braksol¡¯s back, feeling a strange sensation of strength from the neer. It was hard to put it to words, like he had been blessed as the holder of some new power.


    However, her mate only smiled, patting her shoulder. ¡°He saved me.¡±


    It was at this time that the man stepped forward, looking at them all. Braksol¡¯s two sons moved to stand protectively at either side of their mother. It was not umon for people of other families to try to force themselves on women they encountered in the wild, and some had attempted to do the same to Britta, before they lost the protection of theirrger family.


    ¡°I offered him power. And I make that same offer now. Do you all want power?¡± His golden eyes looked as if they could see right through them, prating to the depths of their soul. ¡°Do you want the power to never fear these monsters?¡±


    The Felyn couldn¡¯t help but tense at his words, having been told that this man indeed had the power to kill what their entire family could not. However, he continued speaking. ¡°If you ept, I will teach you a new ss. One that nobody else in thisnd has seen before.¡±


    Britta wasn¡¯t sure why, but she found herself lowering to her knees, her head bowed in submission. To either side of her, her two sons were performing the same movement. Only Braksol seemed to resist this unconscious desire to submit to the stranger.


    Looking back at his family, Braksol turned his gaze towards the golden haired stranger. ¡°We ept.¡±


    When the two words left his mouth, they felt a greater pressure rise up from this man than before, and their bodies began to tremble. His mouth curved into an almost vicious looking smile, his sharp canines poking out between his lips. ¡°Good. Let¡¯s get started, then.¡±


    For the rest of the day, this stranger--Dayl, he called himself-- instructed the Felyn family on the use of internal energy to teach them the Monk ss. He called this energy Ki, and said that they needed to remember that. Once they all had that ss, he taught them another. Again, this was a ss they had witnessed before, the Mage ss.


    At first, they were concerned if he was really going to teach them something new, but too afraid to speak up against him. All they could do was silently lower their heads and ept the ideas he gave them. First, to not rely on the ¡®system¡¯ toplete their spells and abilities, and to strive to do so themselves. Dayl told them that this was of utmost importance, otherwise they would never raise in strength.


    It was only three dayster, after he had made sure they each knew how to perform as both a Mage and a Monk, before he taught them the promised new ss. And it was at this time that they understood why they had been taught as they had. They watched as he gathered Ki in one hand, and Mana in the other, then brought the two together to form a strange blue mist. Dayl called this new energy Chakra, and said that it was the basis for the new ss he was teaching them.


    Having been trained specifically for this, it did not take the family of Felyn very long to grasp this new power. Although one of the sons had a bacsh from trying to force the energies together, Dayl simply vanished for a brief period, returning with some green slime that he rubbed on the boy¡¯s wounds. The family members watched as the red bar which signified his life, the bar that had almost been emptied in that explosion, slowly refilled itself.


    By the end of the fourth day, all four of the family members had earned the Ninja ss. During this time, they had met with no hardship. Any time a monster approached, Dayl would swiftly dispatch it with a single palm strike. But now, he was telling them that it was his time to go. Four days ago, they might wish for nothing more than this monster of a man to leave their family alone, but now they were afraid of what would happen if he did.


    He could only reassure them that they would be fine, as long as they followed his teachings. They had also been instructed to gather other families to share this knowledge with, to ensure that it is passed down. Dayl seemed almost pleased with himself as he gave them onest look, before vanishing from their sight a final time.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Phew, finally done with that. I sighed in relief, reviewing the messages that had appeared before I left. These four days of training were¡­ well, I guess I would say stressful. I had to be awake at all hours of the day, in order to make sure that no monsters or wild beasts had attacked. Thankfully, this family caught on pretty quick, and I was able to make it in time.


    rm notification! Keeper meeting in 1 hour!


    Leader ss unlocked!


    Inspiring Voice ability unlocked!


    Congrattions! You have earned a personal achievement!


    For establishing the foundation for a ninja n in your world, you have earned the Ninja Way achievement. +15 points


    For performing your first act of descended service to your world, you have earned the Good Samaritan achievement. +20 points


    You have performed a service to your world!


    Saving a family from certain death, and granting them the power to start a strong organization in the wilderness. +1 Charm, +1 Wisdom. Trainer¡¯s Talent acquired!

 Chapter 24: New Meetings

    <h4>Chapter 24: New Meetings</h4>


    Terra and Aurivy were waiting for me back in the Admin Room when I arrived. Well, Terra was waiting for me while having a iling Aurivy in her arms. ¡°Put me down~!¡± She cried out pitifully as she struggled, though Terra only grinned broadly and held her even closer.


    Seeing that I had arrived, she turned her attention to me with that same smile. ¡°So, how¡¯d it go?¡±


    ¡°Pretty good, I think. I got a reward for setting them up like that, and the balm worked perfectly.¡± When I saw that Alchemist was in my list of sses that the world had already unlocked, I had decided to get a quick lesson from Terra on how to unlock it. She was only too happy to teach me how to create a healing balm that could potentially save my life. Although it only healed a maximum of 50 health, that was still enough topletely save anyone in the current world.


    I had also learned during my training that the distance for Blink Step, the actual name of the ability I learned at 5th level, was dependant on the amount of Chakra used for it. I could only hope that those Felyn I left the Ninja ss with would be able to figure out some of its secrets. However, Terra seemed to be interested in something else that I said.


    Closing her eyes, she made a brief sound of exmation. ¡°Oh, nice. You got the Trainer¡¯s Talent? That shoulde in handy in the future for you.¡±


    ¡°Uhm¡­ exnation please?¡± I asked, doing my best not to mind the pleading expression of Aurivy, who was reaching her arms out as if begging me to save her.


    ¡°It¡¯s a basic Keeper reward. Any time you try to train someone from now on, your words will carry extra weight to your ¡®students¡¯, to help them absorb the knowledge more easily. Most Keepers get it after training a few people in their world.¡± Terra exined, moving over to sit down on the bed, cing the halfling goddess in herp.


    ¡°I see. I don¡¯t suppose you could help guide me towards other good buffs?¡± I asked with a knowing smile.


    Terra just giggled lightly, shaking her head. ¡°Sorry, rules are rules. There should be a few listed on the forums, or you can ask the Keepers in the meeting for advice.¡±


    I nodded, having already known that she wouldn¡¯t be able to help me with that. ¡°Alright, I guess I should get ready. I should pause my world, though, before I go.¡± Not wanting toe back to any unexpected disasters, I walked over to theputer, quickly finding the button to pause the world at its current time. Then, looking back, I asked Terra, ¡°You going to being with me?¡±


    Again, she shook her head. ¡°I¡¯ll stay here and y with little Rivy for a while.¡± She grinned mischievously at me, before continuing. ¡°Give you a chance to meet some people when I¡¯m not looking over your shoulder. Just be careful not to get distracted~.¡±


    With a sigh, I could only nod my head in response. Really, this was the first time that I would be without Terra since I started this whole Keeper business. I mean, even when I descend to the world, she¡¯s only a prayer away. ¡°Just to confirm, these meetings arepletely safe, right?¡±


    Terra nodded, smiling gently to me. ¡°They¡¯re safe, Dale. From what I know, they are always held in the Admin Room of the host Keeper, where no harm cane to any of the participants. Even if you duel someone for one of the games, there will not be any real damage.¡±


    That reassured me, a little at least. Walking over to the wardrobe, I opened it to look for something nice to wear. Inside, I found a ck tuxedo with a white undershirt, and matching ck pants. To be more urate, those were currently the only things in the wardrobe. In front of it were well-polished ck dress shoes. Seemed like Terra had already picked out my outfit for the asion.


    While I was getting dressed, I heard Aurivy let out a light gasp, and turned to see her cover her eyes. I chuckled lightly, earning another giggle from Terra as I finished changing into the outfit she had chosen for me. ¡°Try not to break her while I¡¯m gone.¡± I said as I moved over to theputer, sending the message to Alkahest that I was ready for the meeting.


    ¡°No promises~!¡± Terra called out, at the same time that I received a message from the system.


    Durandor has invited you to her Administration Room with Guest privileges.


    Do you wish to ept? Y/N


    Figuring that this must be the host for the meeting, I quickly epted the invitation, closing my eyes and waiting for some terrible mode of transition. However, nothing happened. Ten secondster, I opened my eyes, looking around to make sure that no magical door had silently appeared for me to step through. ¡°Well, that¡¯s not ri-¡±


    Suddenly, a pitch ck hole opened up on the floor beneath my feet, and I let out a somewhat girlish scream as I fell into it. I felt the wind rushing against my face, my nice suit fluttering in the wind. And I just kept falling through the ck abyss. And falling¡­ and falling.


    I lost track of just how long it had been, but eventually, I saw a speck of light below me. Thankfully, by that time I had regained control over my vocal chords, and I was no longer screaming my lungs out. Though, the sight of ground rapidly approaching did not inspire me with much confidence.


    Raising my arms protectively to shield my head, I found myself suddenly stopping in mid air, just above that circle of light. Beneath me, I could hear several indistinct voices chatting casually. I hovered there for just a brief moment, before dropping through the circle andnding on a rough wooden floor with a gasp being forced out of my mouth.


    A few of the people around me looked with pitying gazes, while others chuckled yfully. It seemed like most of them knew all about this travel method I had been subjected to, and some even found entertainment in watching. However, I quickly saw a familiar face walking towards me. Alkahest, no¡­ Grimor was walking towards me, in a scaled down version of his normal three-eyed, two horned body.


    ¡°Ah, d to see that you made it on time! Was worried when you didn¡¯t show up right away, but I guess it made sense if you got that one.¡± Heughed loudly, shaking his head. ¡°Anyways, wee to your first Keeper gathering. We¡¯ll be starting the formal event in a few moments, since it seems like everyone has arrived now.¡±


    Really¡­ I had tried to get here early¡­ I thought to myself, looking down at my disheveled suit. ¡°Well, is there somewhere I should go for this?¡± I asked as I looked around.


    The Administration room I had been brought to this time was truly massive. I could not see any of the walls beyond the horizon, and the ceiling was a full thirty meters above us. Decorating it was a mix of red and gold artwork depicting various mythical creatures, some of which were present in the room.


    For the Keepers themselves, almost half of the ones I saw appeared to be human, while the others were a variety of other races. Some had two arms, or three arms, or even ten arms, while others had a horse body, a spider body, or snake body. There was even one Keeper I could see that looked like a dragon!


    Did he eat the previous Keeper to get the job? I mused inwardly, before noticing that Grimor was shaking his head.


    ¡°No, just stand wherever. We can¡¯t exactly make seating arrangements for such varied body types, can we?¡± He asked with a bitter smile, before another voice reverberated through the crowd.


    ¡°Attention, everyone. The 271st semi-annual Keeper meeting, hosted by the Gilded Branch guild. For those of you unfamiliar with these meetings, I am Seraphine, owner of the title Durandor. I will be your host for the day.¡± Craning my neck, I managed to make out an absolute angel of a woman standing on a high altar, so that she could see and be seen by everyone. No really, she was an angel. Complete with the white wings, a radiant aura, and a glowing halo above her head.


    ¡°Now, as the first order of business, I would like to extend greetings to the new Keepers among us, those who have been discovered since thest meeting.¡± She waved her hand, and six pirs of light descended from the ceiling,nding on six individuals. Naturally, one of these was myself.


    With the lights shining on them, pirs also rose beneath their feet, ensuring that all of the Keepers present were able to identify the new people. Taking the chance, I decided to look at the other new Keepers as well. They really were quite varied in appearance.


    First of all, the dragon that I had noticed earlier was on the pir closest to myself. He assumed a proud stance, lifting his head into the air. His scales were a deep red, his wings nearly touching the ceiling after being raised on the pir.


    The next two closest to me appeared human, though on a second nce one was actually an elf. They were a man and a woman. The man, a ck male dressed in a long red robe. And the woman, an elven beauty with red hair going down to the small of her back. She wore a loose fitting toga with golden decorations, and a crown of leaves on her head.


    Next, there was what appeared to be a centaur. With the body of a horse covered in ck fur, turning into the body of a man wearing a white shirt. It was easy to see his muscles through the shirt, even at this distance, and he waved sheepishly to the crowd.


    Finally, at a distance I could barely make out, there was another woman. Though this one¡­ I¡¯d rather not get to know too well. It¡¯s not that she looked mean or anything. Quite the contrary, she was happily waving at the crowd as if she was excited to be here. But¡­ she was an Arachne, a woman with the body of a giant spider. Her lower, spider body was as big as a horse, pitch ck with red markings. Meanwhile, her upper body was wearing a brown dress that clung tightly to the curves of her chest.


    Giving everyone plenty of time to see the new Keepers, Seraphine again called out. ¡°These six have joined ourmunity, and have shown no ill will towards us. As such, I ask that everyone be courteous towards them. Anyone found breaking the rules of this gathering will be punished to the full extent of thews set forth by the Gilded Branch.¡±


    ¡°These rules are simple. Do not try to extort points from other Keepers. Do not try to bully others, or force yourselves on the Companions brought by fellow Keepers. When ites time for the games, do not cheat using whatever extraordinary powers you may possess, because we will be watching. If you feel that you have an unfair advantage in a particr game, due to an ability you can¡¯t disable, it is suggested that you find a different game.¡±


    ¡°And finally¡­¡± A small smile broke onto Seraphine¡¯s face before she finished. ¡°Do try to enjoy yourselves, everyone.¡± After she said that, she allowed the pirs and light to recede, lowering the new Keepers to the ground. However, of the veterans, none made a move yet, still watching Seraphine.


    ¡°At this time, I would like to call Grimor to the stand, to deliver his regr report.¡± Looking to my side, I saw as Grimor nodded, before using a single jump to cover the distance between us and Seraphine, cleanlynding on her tform.


    Turning around, he gave a polite bow to the woman that was presumably the leader of his guild, before he faced the crowd. ¡°Recently, there have been several Keepers lost to us. Some were removed by the Dread Eye, others by the Virtuous Virtual, and still more by independent Keepers. These men and women are no longer with us, and their worlds have been returned to the system.¡±


    At that point, Grimor began listing off Keeper titles, none of which I had previously heard of. However, there was one that caught my attention. Not because it was familiar to me, but because it caused the dragon to abruptly raise its head in shock. Most likely, it had been the Keeper that he reced which had just been mentioned.


    After listing roughly thirty names, Grimor finally finished. ¡°In honor of those that have fallen, we carry on. To beat the system, and find the True Keeper!¡± He raised his hand as he said thatst part, causing many of the veterans to mimic his motion and shout out in unison.


    ¡°¡°For the True Keeper!¡±¡±


    The hell is the True Keeper? I asked myself, confused. I guess that would be added to the questions I would ask once the ¡®official¡¯ part of this meeting was over.

 Chapter 25: Keepers Everywhere!

    <h4>Chapter 25: Keepers Everywhere!</h4>


    After Grimor jumped down from the stand, Seraphine once again stood on it, to call another Keeper up. This one was a blue-skinned man with a very thin body. He was dressed in a simple green suit, and hisrge, ck eyes scanned the crowd as he spoke.


    ¡°I havepiled results from the testing of several systems submitted over this period, and will now share these results.¡± The man spoke monotonously, reviewing several systems that had apparently been submitted since thest meeting took ce. To my surprise, the World Host was among the ones he reviewed, albeit near the end of his speech.


    Still, the advertisement of the World Host here would likely cause more people to buy it. ording to him, it was a good alternative for long term ns, with minimal risks. Though admittedly, he had not had the time to properly study the system, since it had been released so close to the meeting time.


    Out of the other systems he listed, there were not many that caught my attention. Many of them were for advanced technological worlds, so there was not much use for me to look into them just yet. Others were for ¡®profound arts¡¯ worlds, which seemed to be his name for your standard cultivation setting. I wasn¡¯t sure if I would ever make one of those worlds, since it seemed like it would take too long to get anything done.


    After he stepped down, Seraphine again took the stand. ¡°With that, you are all dismissed tomune amongst yourselves. The games for this evening will be starting in ten standard minutes.¡± Saying so, she lowered her stand down to the ground, and was lost in the crowd of Keepers.


    All of a sudden, the Keepers began moving, some finding neighbors to chat with, while others walked off into the distance. Thankfully, Grimor made his way back towards me. ¡°So, what do you think?¡± He asked with a smile.


    ¡°Questions. So many questions¡­¡± I said, shaking my head. Getting the nod to continue, I asked the most pressing one. ¡°What is the ¡®True Keeper¡¯ you talked about, and why didn¡¯t you mention it when we met before?¡±


    Hearing my question, Grimor chuckled slightly. ¡°It¡¯s really nothing more than a legend. One I am not too fond of, personally. Many Keepers are under the impression that the reason there are 9,999 users registered in the Keeper forums rather than an even ten thousand, is because one Keeper is the admin for the forums. That Keeper could be said to be the game master for the entire Keeper System. Thus, earning him the title of the True Keeper.¡±


    ¡°However, I have a different theory. Maybe the number is just a coincidence? Maybe the system did not use a base ten system of math like most worlds when it was first conceived. Maybe it used a base nine system, instead? Or, maybe it actually originally measured in a base 9,999 system of math? To me, there has never been evidence of the True Keeper¡¯s existence, outside of that number.¡±


    Going that far, Grimor gave a bitter grin. ¡°As an experiment, I made a world where there was only one sentient race, but that race only had four fingers on each hand, and four toes on each foot. What they developed was a base eight numbering system. So, I did not mention the True Keeper because I do not believe in it.¡±


    I could only nod at his exnation. Really, I didn¡¯t me him, but I still wanted to know more. ¡°Then, why are so many other Keepers sure about it? And what do they hope to achieve by finding the ¡®True Keeper¡¯?¡±


    ¡°They just need something to believe in, I think.¡± He exined with a solemn face. ¡°Most of them came from worlds with some kind of religion, and they still cling to the idea of a higher power than themselves. To them, the True Keeper fills that role. As for what they want to achieve, answers maybe? Why are we here, why do we have to fight each other, and why do we have to live on after everything we know and love is erased?¡±


    I¡­ couldn¡¯t say anything for several long moments, unable to wrap my head around those thoughts. To me, the loss of the Earth did not mean much, because I did not have anyone I really cared for. Rather, it would mean more to me if I lost what I had now, because I actually have people close to me. Right now, my life has meaning where it didn¡¯t before.


    ¡°Any other questions?¡± Grimor asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.


    ¡°Uhm, what is a ¡®standard minute¡¯?¡± I figured it would probably be simr to the amount of time for a normal minute, but if movies have taught me anything, a ¡®standard¡¯ week could be as short as an hour.


    ¡°Oh? Well, I guess you haven¡¯t been introduced to the ¡®standard time¡¯ used by the system. Really, it¡¯s more of a convention the Keepers implemented to keep track of time, that got approved by the system. Basically, one hundred seconds in a minute, one hundred minutes in an hour, and ten hours make a day.¡±


    I am really d I asked that. Doing some math in my head, it seemed like it would take about fifteen or sixteen minutes for that ¡®ten minutes¡¯ to pass. ¡°And, how many ¡®standard¡¯ days are in a year?¡±


    ¡°Five hundred.¡± He answered without needing to give it a moment of thought. My head hurt trying to work out that math. So, one standard year was nearly double the Earth years that I was used to?


    ¡°And¡­ how often are these meetings held?¡± I needed to get some kind of calendar set up. Maybe there was a cheap one in the system that could be of help.


    ¡°Every month, or one hundred days. Though, the first meeting of every year is the ¡®official¡¯ one set forth by the system itself. The other four are all handled by the guild.¡±


    And this was the 271st¡­ ¡°So, you guys have been doing this for almost seventy standard years?¡±


    Grimor nodded at that, smiling slightly. ¡°Little longer, actually. At first, we only held the meetings once a year, but the demand for them grew over time. Before that, the only chance Keepers had to interact with each other on a scale like this was the yearly meeting. Some of us like to socialize with others in the same situation, so these events are a wee relief.¡±


    Saying that much, he looked around me as if noticing something for the first time. ¡°Did you not bring yourpanion with you? I had expected to see both of you here today.¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°No, she wanted to stay at the Admin Room today to y with one of the gods.¡±


    ¡°Ahh, I see. Well, no harm in that.¡± Heughed, tilting his head back. ¡°No matter what personality settings the system assigns thepanions, there has never been a case of apanion being hostile towards their Keeper. At most, frustration, even if thepanion themselves think it would be better if the Keeper died. Yours seemed to like you quite a bit, though.¡±


    I felt the corners of my lips turn up in a small smile. ¡°She¡¯s pretty cool, yeah. Anyways, should probably get to know some of the other Keepers here, huh?¡± I looked off to the side, and there were actually a few different Keepers watching us, though there wasn¡¯t the expected hostility in their expressions. Rather, they just seemed to be waiting for their turn to introduce themselves.


    Grimor only grinned in response, turning and walking off. As if that was the signal, five Keepers rushed over to me. Of them, four were human, and one was a bird-man, whose entire body was covered in feathers.


    ¡°Hey!¡± One of the human Keepers, a man with blonde hair, spoke first. ¡°You¡¯re one of the new guys, right? Nice to meet you, I¡¯m Dr.¡± He extended his hand in greeting, and I shook it. Seeing that the greeting was epted, he gave a relieved sigh. ¡°These are Sarah, Talon, Mapan, and Jare.¡± He pointed to the other four as he introduced them. Surprisingly, the bird-man was the one introduced as Jare, rather than Talon, who was a young woman.


    ¡°We¡¯re a small guild, and were hoping to have a few words with you.¡± Again, it was Dr that spoke. Either because he was the leader, or just the one with the biggest mouth.


    ¡°Uhm, alright. But I¡¯m not really looking to join a guild at the moment.¡± I was still too new to this whole thing to even know what the benefits for being in a Keeper guild was.


    ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡± This time, it was Sarah, a brte woman who barely came up to my shoulders, that spoke. ¡°It¡¯s enough just to get to know the new people, and help them get to know us. Our guild is a small group of friends, really. We¡¯re not looking to meet the True Keeper, or defeat the Dread Eye, or anything like that. We just want to have a group of people we can talk to when we need to, and keep in touch when we need advice.¡±


    Okay, so maybe Dr didn¡¯t have the biggest mouth. ¡°I see. I¡¯ll keep that in mind.¡± I looked to the five of them, and thought of something. ¡°Any advice you can give to a new Keeper, then?¡±


    They looked at each other, trying to figure out what to say, but it was Sarah that spoke again. Do only those two ever speak in front of strangers? ¡°Diversity, and participation. Those are two really important points, I think. When you participate in your world, you are helping to steer it on the right path, and earning some nice rewards along the way. And, if the residents of your world are diverse, they will be inspired to create more as a culture.¡±


    Talon suddenly started talking, nodding her head as she did. ¡°I have three races on my world. Arachne, humans, and avians. Although it took a while for them to get along, because of their differences, once they did their culture really boomed.¡±


    Puffing out her cheeks at the interruption, Sarah hastily continued. ¡°Culture is really important for Keepers. An advanced culture means that your residents mighte up with ideas for things you never thought of. You can then turn those ideas into systems or items to sell on the Keeper market. I¡¯ve heard that some of the advanced Keepers have worlds dedicated purely to raising culture, so that they can harvest those ideas for systems.¡±


    Okay, so culture good. Though, looking at the races on my world, there really wasn¡¯t that much diversity. They all looked pretty human, but with different traits. For instance, halflings were midget humans, the beastkin looked like humans with animal traits. Maybe myst race should be something that isn¡¯t a standard humanoid? Closest to that I have right now is the Daeva, and that is purely because of their wings.


    ¡°Oh, one other thing!¡± Sarah said, her face breaking into a grin. ¡°If you like crafting, try to make whatever you can without the system¡¯s help. Most of the things easily crafted are already on the market, but having a secret or two is sure to help.¡± Well, I already figured that out recently, but thanks.


    I thanked them for their help, and got their Keeper titles to exchange contact information. It would be good to have another source of information than just Grimor, just in case. After I broke off from them, I walked into the crowd. There were still people introducing themselves to me, but nobody actually tried to hold a conversation. It was more on the level of just greeting the new guy.


    I saw one Keeper that seemed to be trembling, looking left and right with nervous eyes. The other Keepers seemed like they were avoiding him, giving a wide berth as they walked around. Curious, I was about to approach him when Seraphine¡¯s voice rang through the room.


    ¡°The evening¡¯s games will be starting soon. Any Keeper wishing to participate, please proceed to the designated area.¡± Not knowing where the designated area was, I saw golden arrows forming on the ceiling, pointing all in one direction. Well¡­ might as well. I gave onest look to the nervous Keeper, before making my way to the game area.

 Chapter 26: Let the Games Begin!

    <h4>Chapter 26: Let the Games Begin!</h4>


    Following the flow of traffic, and the arrows painted into the ceiling to guide us, I made my way towards the game area. The journey felt like it took nearly an hour, before I finally saw the nearest walls. When I arrived, I found a hall filled with doors, each door bearing its ownbel. One was ¡®Gambling Room¡¯, another was ¡®Race Field¡¯, and others were things like ¡®Talent Show¡¯.


    As I walked down the hallway, I saw Keepers casually entering through each of the doors. Through each door, there appeared to be arge room, something that should not have been possible, given that the doors were ced immediately next to each other. Keeper logic¡­


    Looking back at the entrance to the hall, there were five people that seemed hesitant to enter. Naturally, these were the other five new Keepers, who didn¡¯t seem to know which door to go through. Slowly, four of them began walking forward, taking a peek into the various doors in the same manner that I had. However, there was one that waspletely incapable of taking a step forward, the dragon with the title of Jugrnaut.


    The dragon looked through the hall, its eyes half closed and wings drooping. Its body was simply toorge to fit through the hallway. I saw Seraphine approach from the side, attracting the dragon¡¯s attention. Due to the mor of the crowd, I could not make out the conversation they were having. However, he did not seem pleased with the ideas.


    After turning his head up and pretending to ignore the angel woman, Seraphine crossed her arms and spoke in what must have been a harsh tone. Something that she said must have worked, because he slowly looked back to her, before nodding. A few momentster, and his body began to shrink down. Once it was done, he looked like an eight foot tall, scaled humanoid. Although he still had his wings, he was at least able to enter the hallway.


    By this time, the other four new people had gotten halfway down the hall, around the same spot I was at. The centaur barely took a look around before entering through the door marked ¡®Race Field¡¯. The elf likewise went straight for the ¡®Talent Show¡¯ door. The human walked a bit further down, before entering through the door marked ¡®Treasure Hunt¡¯.


    Finally, the arachne and myself, having no idea which doors were best. She seemed to notice me standing a few feet away from herself, and waved happily. ¡°Hi, there! You¡¯re one of the new Keepers too, right?¡± She asked with a smile, her eight legs practically shaking in excitement.


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right¡­¡± I said hesitantly. I know that there was no danger here, and that this woman actually seemed really friendly. Still, spider body, not exactly a widely epted beauty aspect where I grew up. More likely to find spiders the subject of a horror movie.


    ¡°Nice to meet you.¡± She nodded her head quickly. ¡°I¡¯m Kathy.¡± She introduced herself, leaning down and extending a hand in greeting. I hadn¡¯t been able to urately get a sense of her height before, but she really was tall. Nearly nine feet from the top of her head to her spider legs. After shaking my hand, she stood back up and looked at the nearby doors. ¡°Guess you¡¯re not too sure about where to go either, huh?¡±


    ¡°Pretty much¡­¡± I looked a bit deeper into the hall, and found one door that wasbeled ¡®Simtion¡¯. Seeing that, I began walking towards it out of curiosity. There was a very distinct clicking along the floor behind me, letting me know that Kathy was heading in the same direction.


    ncing back, I saw her smile and wave as she continued following behind me, and soon we both entered the Simtion room. This room seemed almost as vast as the original lobby we met in, with me just barely being able to see the far wall from my present position. Scattered around the room were twenty wide tforms, each with two stands, one on either side. I saw two people take positions at one of the tforms, and after exchanging a few words, they activated the ¡®game¡¯.


    The moment their game activated, the stone floor of the tform seemed to shift, a translucent blue sky appearing in a dome above it. The tform itself seemed to shift like sand, forming mountains and ditches, which then began to fill with water to form rivers. Looking closely, I could see tiny figures begin to appear one by one on the tform.


    At the far wall, a figure stood on a lone pir. His form seemed barely discernable, but definitely appeared humanoid. As he spoke, his voice echoed throughout the room, easily heard by everyone. ¡°Today¡¯s first Simtion tournament will begin in one hour. Anyone that wants to participate may take this time to practice and familiarize themselves with the rules. For those unfamiliar, each arena has a copy of the rules for viewing.¡±


    ¡°Oooh¡­¡± I heard Kathy say from behind me, then suddenly felt one of my arms grabbed. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s go y!¡± She said as she practically dragged me to the nearest unupied tform. Not that it was hard for her, she was surprisingly strong. Though, I wasn¡¯t really resisting that much. Honestly, I was curious about this game as well.


    When we arrived at the tform, she quickly scurried over to one end, while I stood at the other. Once we were both in position, a window appeared in front of me. Judging by the gasp of surprise from Kathy, the same thing had happened for her.


    You have chosen to y the Keeper Sim. Do you wish for an exnation of the rules before you begin?


    Almost simultaneously, Kathy and I both said ¡®Yes¡¯. Looking at each other, there was an awkward silence before she giggled yfully, looking back down to her own window.


    Keeper Sim is a game designed and implemented by the Gilded Branch, in which Keepers can test their ability tomand a world against one another. Each game takes ce in a Size 2 world, totally 600,000km2. Each yer may select from one of the avable races to y as, and start a kingdom based on that race. Each character in the game is a soul from Hell, who volunteers to participate in the game to earn credit towards freedom into the cycle of reincarnation. Credit is earned based on contribution, so they are always on their best behavior.


    There are multiple game modes for Keeper Sim: Battle, Culture, Tech Race, and Exploration.


    In Battle mode, the objective is to build up your forces, and wipe out the opponent¡¯s base. In order to purchase units, you must harvest gems from near your base. Gems may also be spent to purchase buildings which your units can quickly construct, and upgrades for your technology. To harvest gems, you must assign units to the task. Each yer starts with a set number of basic units, depending on their race.


    In Culture mode, the objective is to create a powerful civilization. In this mode, the two yers are ced on opposite ends of the world, and must establish a strong culture. Points are awarded based on citizen happiness. While in Culture mode, time within the game is permanently set to 27 million times normal. Every minute of real time, a report wille in giving details of the progress made since thest report. The Culture mode gamests for 30 minutes, and Keepers can slow down their civilization¡¯s time in order to send messages to key figures, in order to direct advancement.


    In Tech Race mode, a randomly assigned piece of technology is the goal. The winner is whoever is the first to create that piece of technology within their civilization. As with Culture mode, the two civilizations are divided during this time, and time within the world is 54 million times normal. However, yers may not choose to slow time. Instead, they are given tech trees to purchase from. Purchases are made with ¡®Science Points¡¯, a currency generated every time a yer¡¯s civilization gains a new understanding of a piece of technology. By purchasing options in the tech tree, yers can slowly make their way towards the desired technology. However, some technologies have multiple prerequisites, and yers are not able to see what advancements lie beyond their current options.


    Finally, in Exploration mode, the goal is to be the first to map the entire world. This mode is most simr to Battle mode, where gems are used to purchase units and upgrades. Units may also engage in battle upon meeting each other in this mode, but the winner will be whichever yer gets 100% mappletion.


    After finishing my review of the rules, I looked over and saw that Kathy was still furrowing her brows as she went through them. A few momentster, she gave a content nod, looking up at me with a smile. ¡°Which mode do you want to y? This is my first time ying any games like this, so I¡¯ll let you choose.¡±


    Honestly, Culture and Tech Race seemed the most interesting to me. However, given that my own experience as a Keeper wascking, I probably would not know where to start to get whatever technology ended up assigned to us. Likewise, with Culture mode, I¡¯m still not really that good at directing civilizations yet. And, since Exploration mode functioned like Battle mode anyways, there was really only one choice. ¡°Let¡¯s go with Battle mode for this game.¡±


    Kathy nodded rapidly when she heard that, instantly agreeing. Immediately, the tform between us began to change. A blue sky appeared in a dome above it,plete with clouds. Mountains and rivers began molding themselves into ce, and soon we were given another window.


    Please select your race from the listings below.


    Following that was a truly massive list of races. I had to guess that there were around a hundred in total, ranging from everything between demons, beasts, humans, elves, and many different monster races. For this test, I decided to go with the centaur race. Their mobility should be able to give them an advantage, and each one is practically a mounted unit.


    On the tform in front of me, a screen appeared. In it, I saw arge wooden hut in the center of a grassy in. Behind the hut were five pirs of blue gems, and surrounding it were three people. Each one of them had the lower body of a horse, and the upper body of a human. Of the three, two were male and one was a woman, though none of them were clothes.


    As they appeared, one of the men looked towards the sky, speaking out in a voice that I was sure Kathy didn¡¯t hear. ¡°How may we serve, supreme one?¡±


    I had no idea how to direct the units, so I tried to y it like I would any simr game in my previous life. Using my fingers, I drew a circle around the three units, after which they lit up with a yellow aura. Guess that means they are selected¡­ I then poked the area on the screen where the crystals were, and the three centaurs immediately turned and ran for them.


    Although they were not armed with tools, that did not seem to stop them. Merely cing their hands on the pirs of gems was enough that they were able to draw out a small stone. Once each one had taken a stone, they ran it back to the hut, and I saw a number appear above the building.


    +3


    After depositing the gems, they ran back and repeated the cycle. Each time, the centaurs deposited one gem each. Once I had ten gems saved up, I took a look at the avable units and buildings that I could purchase. The most basic borer¡¯ unit cost five gems each, and seemed to be a requirement for any of theter units. In order to speed up production, I immediately bought twoborers, and watched as my ie started increasing.


    Roughly a minuteter, I bought a ¡®Cartography Hut¡¯, which required a full twenty gems to purchase. However, doing so would allow me to train scouts that could map the terrain. After my purchase, wood and stones suddenly appeared on the ground. The five centaurs looked at the site, and then up into the sky as if waiting as they continued running back and forth between the central hut and the gem pirs.


    Having an idea of what I was supposed to do, I selected two of the male centaurs, and had them move to the construction site. Once there, the stones and wooden boards began flying into the air, performing the construction automatically. Did I simply need to assign units to trigger the construction?


    Ten secondster, and the hut wasplete. I chose to put one of theborers that had ¡®built¡¯ the new building into it, upgrading that unit to a scout. The other one was sent back to work collecting gems.


    With my one scout, I now needed to figure out how to make him explore. I couldn¡¯t manually direct him the entire time. Of course, there weren¡¯t any obvious buttons I could choose from. Instead, I decided that the option must be there, so I went with the only thing I could think of. Poking the scout on the screen with one finger, his body began glowing with the aura of a selected unit. ¡°Explore.¡± I spoke simply, and the centaur nodded, running off and out of my screen.


    I really hope I can find himter, or that there is some way for me to know when he finds something. I thought to myself, before continuing my base expansion. Given the size of the map, it should still be quite a while before Kathy¡¯s units find my base, but I couldn¡¯t bet on that.


    Seeing that I had another twenty-three gems waiting, I immediately bought four moreborers. Not counting the one I sent out to scout, this gave me eight people farming gems. Though, I soon found that only one centaur could harvest from a pir at a time. This left the remaining three to harvest while the first batch were running back and forth to deposit them.


    Once I had enough, I purchased two finalborers to make a constant cycle of harvesting gems, and maximize my profits. From here, I should be able to slowly purchase what I need. For instance, the next thing I bought was an archery range, which would let me train my centaurs into archers.


    Following this pattern, I soon had a dozen archers ready, and a knight academy in progress that would let me train melee units. However, at the same time, the tform in between myself and Kathy gave a drastic shift. From thendscape of mountains and rivers, it suddenly shifted to a wide grassy field. In that field was the centaur I had sent out to scout, but he was not alone.


    Charging at him from above were two winged humanoids. If I remembered their listing right, they were known as harpies. Their wings were a part of their arms, ending in three-fingered hands with sharp talons. On their feet were simr talons, proving to be deadly natural weapons. As they swooped down on the lone centaur, he let out a pitiful cry, the talons tearing through his body.


    Once dead, his body seemed to evaporate into mist, and the scene once again became that of mountains and rivers. ¡°Oooh¡­¡± Kathy said from across the tform, then grinned sheepishly at me. ¡°I just picked the scariest looking thing on the list. Don¡¯t worry, there¡¯s still more to go yet!¡± She called out, as if trying to cheer me up.


    Shaking my head with a bitter smile, I looked back to my screen. At least now I knew that we weren¡¯t too far apart. And, I was right in training archers first, as they were the best counters for her airborne race. Selecting the main hut, I looked at the ¡®technology upgrade¡¯ option. In its description, it would allow me to advance the level of technology my units were equipped with. Such things as changing bows into crossbows, or creatingputers.


    I chose the first upgrade, which let me advance my people into the ¡®metal age¡¯. As I did so, clothes began to appear on my people. For the men, they would get leather tunics, while the women received dresses that went down to the bottom of their human body. Now, in the archery range, there was the option to upgrade my bows to using iron arrowheads. Naturally, I chose that, since they would deal much more damage than normal arrows. At the same time, looking closely, I saw that the bows in the hands of the centaurs seemed to shift slightly, bing more durable andrger.


    I could have upgraded to crossbows, but I felt that normal bows fit centaurs better for now. Back at the central hut, I chose to buy another upgrade, this one for myborers. It was an obvious upgrade, and one that was sorely needed. After buying it with thest of my gems, pickaxes suddenly appeared in the hands of myborers. Now, they were able to each mine two gems at a time, doubling my ie.


    For every fifteen points I got, I bought one more centaur and upgraded them to be an archer, then worked on having my archers create an encirclement around my base. Each of those options cost me five points, leaving me one third of my ie to save for new buildings and upgrades. Once I got to fifty points, I again upgraded my technology, this time to the industry age. This caused the most drastic shift yet for my buildings.


    The original wooden and stone buildings seemed to shift and contort, turning more steady, made primarily of stone with a touch of metal. There were even ss windows along the walls. And, at this point, I received a very wee option. Instead of borers¡¯, I had the option to buy ¡®citizens¡¯ or ¡®mining units¡¯.


    Unlike theborers, these mining units were specialized engines that would automatically mine gems. I only needed one citizen promoted to an engineer assigned to all five units. The one I chose to promote was that first female centaur that had been there since the beginning. When I chose to promote her, a blue work suit appeared on her body, recing the previous dress.


    After buying the five mining units, I now had a steady stream of ie. More importantly, I could upgrade my archery range into a firing range. Doing so would promote all of my archers to musketeers. Though, at the time, I still did not have the gems for it.


    Just before I had the points to afford that upgrade, the tform ahead of me shifted. This time, it created a perfect depiction of my base. ¡°Found you~.¡± Kathy said confidently, as the same two harpies as before descended from the skies in an automated attack pattern. ¡°Wait, no, turn back!¡± She called out, flustered. However, it was toote. The archers guarding the base had already taken aim and shot into the sky.


    Although one harpy had been able to turn back in time, the other was shot through the chest, and began falling to the ground. Before hended, his body turned into grey mist. Kathy looked down at her screen, pressing against it with one finger and saying something. Although I saw her lips moving, no sound seemed to be transmitted to where I was standing. I saw as the harpy on the screen flew up out of range of the archers on the ground, but still close enough for the tform to continue disying the situation of the vige.


    ¡°My game, it looks like~.¡± She spoke proudly, likely working on sending other units over. However, by this time I had enough to upgrade my archery range. As I did so, the bows and quivers vanished from my archers, leaving Kathy surprised before the centaurs then lifted up long metal shafts, aiming at the sky. ¡°Oh, not fair!¡± She called out, as puffs of smoke were shot out from each rifle, sniping the lone avian out of the sky. ¡°I¡¯m stilling, you know.¡± She puffed up her cheeks in a pout.


    I could only grin wryly, buying more archers and scouts. This time, I also bought an upgrade to the scouts that gave them binocrs, increasing their vision range. Meanwhile, I began counting the seconds in my head, timing how long it took for Kathy¡¯s units to arrive.


    Thirty secondster, three dozen harpies appeared in the sky above my base. This time, my people were well prepared. The scouts were able to spot them early, and the musketeers were easily able to take aim at those numbers. By the time the harpies finished their first round of attacks, their three dozen members were trimmed down to an even ten, and I had only lost two centaurs.


    They never had the chance tounch their second attack, as my musketeers quickly finished reloading their weapons and fired a second wave of attacks. The ten harpies all fell to the ground and became clouds of mist. I smiled as I watched the tform return to the scene of mountains and rivers. ¡°My turn, I guess.¡±


    Given the time and direction of their approach, I roughly knew where Kathy¡¯s base was. As such, I mobilized half of my musketeers and half of my scouts and sent them in that direction. Meanwhile, at my base, I purchased another upgrade to my technology to put my people in the exploration age, and one from my firing range to decrease the reload time of my weapons.


    Kathy appeared to be panicking slightly, her eight legs frantically tapping at the ground as she issued silentmands. However, by the time my units arrived, she had only managed to create another ten harpies. Maybe eight, if the two mining gems had been there from the start. Unlike my base, hers seemed to be arge nest. I doubted that she had bought any upgrades, and simply sent the harpies in to act as natural attackers.


    Her n failed, though, when the tform showed her base being destroyed, her harpies killed and the nest trampled. She crossed her arms under her chest and let out a frustrated ¡®hmph!¡¯. Looking at me for a long moment, she let out a soft sigh. ¡°Good game, alright?¡± She didn¡¯t really seem that upset by her loss, more that it happened so quickly after thinking she was winning.

 Chapter 27 The Tournament

    <h4>Chapter 27 The Tournament</h4>


    ¡°So¡­ how did you win so easily?¡± Kathy asked from across the tform, still confused by her loss. ¡°My harpies seemed to have had an advantage at the start, right?¡±


    I nodded, and then began exining. ¡°You never upgraded them, so my centaurs were able to overpower them. Games like this were pretty popr in my world, and upgrading your units is typically a basic strategy.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± She said, dejectedly, looking down. ¡°My world never got that far, I guess. This is my first time ever seeing a game like this.¡± Suddenly, she looked up, pping her cheeks with both hands. ¡°No, I won¡¯t give up that easily! Let¡¯s y another game, I can do better this time!¡±


    We yed a second game, and again I chose the centaur race. It¡¯s not like they are overpowered or anything, but I am already getting familiar with them. Maybe next game, I¡¯ll try something new.


    Anyways, the second gamested over twice as long as the first. On my end, I again decided to stock up on archers quickly, building a defensive fort. However, I managed to get all the way to the exploration age with technology before my scouts found her base. Or, I guess you could call it a hive, instead.


    This time, Kathy had chosen to go with her own people, the arachne. Maybe she had more confidence with ying them, but either way it turned into a big disadvantage for me. The base for her arachne was a cave system in a tall mountain. Given the centaur¡¯s size and body types, they were not really suitable for climbs like that.


    I almost thought that I would have to either concede the match, or wait until I got a big gun to level the entire mountain. And, it really did almoste to that. Being forced into a defensive strategy once again, I concentrated on advancing my people further and further. When I reached the information age, I got exactly what I was needing.


    Centaurs, being unable to properly traverse certain terrains, had equipment and technology avable in the information age that solved that issue. Specifically, they possessed flying drones. After setting up an automated drone factory, I built up my future invasion force, when something truly terrifying happened.


    I had set up a sentry tower near Kathy¡¯s mountain, so that the main disy would let me keep an eye on it. And, on thatrge disy at the center of the tform, I saw a flood of ck oozing out of the mountain. There had to be thousands of arachne, enough that when they had fully exited the cave system, the mountain itself had turned ck.


    I could only watch as that flood of enemies made its way to the sentry tower, immediately engulfing it. Just barely, I saw a few puffs of smoke rise up from the defeated centaur, before the screen returned to the standard view of mountains and ins. ¡°Here Ie~.¡± Kathy called out with a smile, obviously pleased with herself.


    I wasn¡¯t sure if she had spent everything on new units, just to flood me in thete game, but whatever it was definitely worked in her favor. I deployed my few dozen drones to meet her army, having them attack from a safe distance. The automated weapons mowed down wide paths of enemies, but soon they too were destroyed. About a third of the way into her army, the arache seemed to be carrying weapons. These were rifles, of a sort. Rather than destructive ammunition, they fired stickys.


    Theses wrapped around my turrets, jamming the propellers and causing them to crash into the ground. From there, it was a simple matter for her army to advance to my base. Fun fact, building walls will not stop spider people from invading¡­


    The end result, although I managed to take quite a few with me, my forces were ultimately crushed. Across from me, Kathy¡¯s legs were skittering along the podium happily, while she raised her hands into the air. ¡°Yay! I did it!¡± She eximed happily.


    At that time, I was just about to ask for another game, when the same voice we heard before echoed out through the room. ¡°The tournament is about to begin. Non-participants, please vacate the gaming tforms. Anyone still remaining on a tform at the end of the count will be considered a participant.¡±


    ¡°The first prize for this tournament is one thousand points. Second ce will earn three hundred, and third ce will earn one hundred. In each match, the contestants may decide amongst themselves which game mode they wish to y. Each contestant will be required to face every other contestant before the tournament is concluded, and the amount of wins will determine the final cings.¡±


    ¡°In the event of a tie, both parties will face each other to settle the final victor.¡± There was a brief pause before the voice began speaking again. ¡°The tournament will begin in thirty seconds. Thirty, twenty-nine¡­¡± He slowly counted down, and I looked around to see several people climb up to the tforms, until all of them were upied. Looking across from myself, I saw that Kathy was excited to participate in this tournament, and showed no signs of moving.


    As for myself, I might as well. The other rooms were likely starting their first tournaments about now, so I didn¡¯t have any time to learn another game before it began. Even if I have no hope of winning, it should be fun.


    ¡°Three, two, one. Let the games, begin!¡± There was a brief sh of white throughout the room, and I realized that the positions of the participants had all changed. Across from me was no longer Kathy, but a tall, blue man with four arms.


    He gave me an indifferent nod as he saw me. ¡°New guy, right. Battle mode, then?¡±


    I hadn¡¯t yed with any of the other modes yet, so battle mode was the only one I even stood a remote chance in. Naturally, I agreed, and the first round began. For this round, I chose to y as demons, the same race I had taken note of on the market a while back.


    My starting creatures were five imps, and from my map, I appeared to be in an underground cave. This will probably work to my advantage, geographically. I smiled, setting all five to work on mining the gem pirs embedded in the walls. ¡°As you say.¡± One of the imps spoke out as they pped their tiny wings to quickly reach the gems.


    Unlike the centaurs, each imp only cost me a single point to buy. However, I had to get special buildings in order to unlock their evolutions. They very much reminded me of another race in a game I had yed in the past, which made it somewhat easier.


    Within ten minutes, I had upgraded my starting five imps to earth demons, allowing them to dig and mine with increased efficiency. I was also breeding hellhounds, and expanding my cave system to create arger base. Finally, I had advanced my technology to the exploration age, allowing for even more abilities for my demons.


    I didn¡¯t actually see my opponent¡¯s forces until nearly half an hour in, when I was at the information age of technology. Doing this allowed me to create some interesting units, specifically the demon lords. Each demon lord required a vast quantity of gems, but also possessed an incredible fighting strength.


    When I saw them, I couldn¡¯t help but click my tongue in annoyance. He had chosen to y the humans, and I stumbled upon one of his mines. Although it was idental, it gave him an easy way to find me, giving up my element of surprise. However, it also let me know where to find him, so I tested the waters by sending out one of my demon lords, while setting up contingency bases throughout my tunnels.


    The demon lord quickly emerged from the mine, spitting out ck mes that destroyed his miners and the few troops he had gathered to defend the mine itself. From there, it stepped out and began attacking the town he had made near the mine. With the loss of troops, he wasn¡¯t able to defend that town, and it was quickly lost.


    ¡°So, that¡¯s how you want it, huh?¡± He shook his head, and watched as his city burned. He had already created roads to use for trade routes, so I ordered my demon lord to follow those roads, while my earth demons dug out a tunnel underground to follow. Honestly, it felt like I was using an epic unit as a simple scout, but in this case it worked.


    My demon lord found the next base soon enough, arge fort city. At this one, there was a party of five people waiting at the gate, each one equipped with a weapon. For one, it was a glowing, golden sword. The other four had what seemed to berge rifles, and all were ready for the demon¡¯s arrival.


    Enchanted weapons? I looked at the golden sword curiously. I hadn¡¯t seen any options yet to buy magic-rted items. I couldn¡¯t help but look to my opponent and ask. ¡°How did you get a sword like that?¡±


    He nced up at me,rgely uninterested. ¡°You need to find mana stone veins, if you want to unlock the magic development route.¡± As if that exnation was enough, he looked back to the battle that was about to take ce.


    My demon lord didn¡¯t seem to fear the enchanted weapon, and charged forward. Under suppressing fire by the four riflemen, he suffered minor injuries before appearing before the swordsman. However, with a single swipe of his sword, he managed to inflict a fatal wound on the demon lord.


    I watched, stunned as the scene returned to the default one, marking the battle as over. I had been preparing my tunneling crew tounch an attack from below, but after that disy I had second thoughts. In my mind, five demon lords should have been enough to take out anything short of a nuke, yet he was countered in a single blow.


    I knew that I had probably already lost this round, but still proceeded to expand underground. And¡­ that was probably a bad decision, on my part. Later, I knew that I should have left my tunnels and established surface bases as soon as he knew how to find me, but the thought did not cross my mind until it was toote.


    As if viewing a cinematic scene, the central tform shifted to show a view of argeke, five men standing along its borders carrying staves. I was confused, because as far as I could tell, I had no units in the area to trigger abat event. Soon though, my confusion was reced by shock when those mages began casting their spell.


    Five mages, working in concert, opened a hole beneath theke. I watched as the water funneled down, through the new drain created, and knew what was happening. Quickly looking at my map, I found a flood washing through the tunnels faster than I could stop it. In an effort to halt the tide, I had earth demons copse the tunnels, only for the rubble to get washed away.


    Although this tactic did notpletely destroy all of my bases, over ny percent of my forces had died in that one attack, including all of my demon lords. With a sigh, I shook my head and looked at the other party. ¡°I lost.¡±


    The tform immediately shifted to its inactive state, and the man gave a nod. Soon, he vanished in a sh of light, only to be reced a momentter by a more energetic, short humanoid. I could only guess that the new man was a halfling by his stature, and he excitedly greeted me. He apparently recognized me as one of the new Keepers, as well, and we had another battle round.


    This time, I again chose the demon race, for their geographical advantage. Starting underground was a big plus, as long as you kept an eye out for the dangers. But, again, this time I managed to lose. The cause of my defeat this time was actually that my opponent simply advanced too quickly while I was trying to find the mana stones that I had been told about. The sight of dozens of halflings wearing storm trooper armor and firingser rifles was¡­ not what I had expected.


    In the third round, I actually managed to find the mana stones, and started making magic demons. This time, I managed to pull in a win, albeit a close one. My opponent had been using a heavily defensive strategy, so I was able to tunnel into the center of their base and overwhelm them.


    The matches continued like this. Out of the thirty-nine rounds, all of them were in the battle mode. However, I did not stick with demons the entire time. Every few rounds, I would change the race I was using, as a way to understand their strengths and weaknesses. I tried out humans, demons, centaurs, angels, even slime people at one point. That was an interesting round.


    I knew my chances of winning lowered every time I changed to a new race, but that didn¡¯t really matter to me. I was doing this as a learning experience, and I knew that I wasn¡¯t going to win even if I chose one race for all of the games. What I was doing was testing the waters, learning as much as I could about the physical abilities of each race, for future knowledge.


    In the end, I had only gotten eight wins out of all thirty-nine matches. To my surprise, Kathy actually managed to get third ce. And she was crying tears of joy when she was up on the stand, waving to everyone. Most likely, she used the same flood strategy that she used against me in herter games.


    Smiling for her sess, I slowly slipped out of the room to see what else this ce had to offer. I wanted to at least get one more game in, before I went back to my own world. I had to admit, these were kind of fun.

 Chapter 28: Designer’s Choice Awards

    <h4>Chapter 28: Designer¡¯s Choice Awards</h4>


    Once back out in the hall, I took another look at the various rooms, now that there weren¡¯t very many people in the hallway. I wanted to find a game that sounded interesting, but not impossible for me at my current stage. I mean, a lot of these games would probably be far easier for someone that had experience as a Keeper.


    In the hall, I saw two notable figures. One was Seraphine, standing about halfway into the hall, with her hand on the shoulder of the twitchy Keeper I had noticed before. Seeing as this was her event, I wanted to go over and thank her. However, as soon as I started to approach, the other Keeper looked straight at me, and hurriedly walked off.


    Confused, Seraphine turned to face me, before showing a face of understanding. ¡°Ah, you are one of the new ones. EarthForceOne, as I recall?¡± She nodded her head, as if confirming it to herself. ¡°Grimor mentioned you.¡±


    ¡°Ah, hi¡­ Sorry, was I interrupting something?¡± I nced back in the direction that the other Keeper had run off to.


    Seraphine only gave a bitter smile, shaking her head. ¡°Don¡¯t mind him. He¡¯s always like that around people he doesn¡¯t know. I think, these days he only shows up because hispanion makes him, for the interaction.¡±


    I nodded my head slightly at that. ¡°Is everything okay with him?¡±


    ¡°Hmm? Yeah, for the most part. Everyone around here calls him the Meta, though I don¡¯t really like that nickname. However fitting it might be, it is still better to refer to Xanos by his real name.¡± Seraphine exined.


    ¡°Why do they call him the Meta?¡± I felt like I was being set up for that question, so might as well ask it.


    The angel Keeper gave a small smile before answering. ¡°It¡¯s his methods. He tries to reach the truth by reproducing everything within his own worlds. He is the Meta, because he created his own Keeper games, with 9,999 participants. Although he couldn¡¯t perfectly replicate the system, since we do not entirely know it ourselves, he seems to have gotten the vast majority of it.¡± She gave a small chuckle, before shaking her head. ¡°ording to him, there is even a version of myself that appeared in his experiment.¡±


    I raised a curious eyebrow. ¡°And, the twitchiness?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s paranoid. To him, his system is the most perfect replica, proven by the appearance of a few very simr Keepers. So, he is paranoid of any Keeper that doesn¡¯t exist within the worlds he created.¡±


    ¡°Ahh¡­¡± I think I understood that. ¡°So, he thinks that any Keeper that isn¡¯t generated naturally in those experiments could be a factor connected to the origins of this system or something?¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± Seraphine nodded, crossing her arms over her chest. ¡°Now, was there anything you needed me for, EarthForceOne?¡±


    ¡°Uhm, Dale please¡­¡± I said, trying my best to smile. ¡°And, I wanted to thank you for inviting me to the event, as well as maybe get some advice on a game. Wanted to try one more out before I head back.¡±


    She nodded again, looking at me. ¡°Well, do you have anything to narrow it down?¡±


    ¡°Ah! Uh, well, maybe something exciting? But, preferably something that doesn¡¯t require too much experience as a Keeper, since I only got the job a little while ago.¡±


    She thought about that for a few moments. ¡°Have you tried the simtion games, yet?¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle. ¡°I just got back from that one.¡±


    ¡°Ahh¡­ Well, if you are new, you probably don¡¯t have a champion yet. Or the powers for a personal duel. How about a race? That does not require any particr experience as a Keeper, and I believe it to be quite exciting.¡± Seraphine nodded to herself as she said this.


    Okay, maybe the conditions I gave were a bit strict, but¡­ I guess I could give the races a try. ¡°What are the rules for the races?¡±


    Seraphine gave a small grin when I asked that. ¡°It¡¯s simple. You can either bring a vehicle in from your own world, or use one of the preset ones, or even run on your own if you have the speed for it. The restrictions are that no vehicle can exceed five times the speed of sound. No teleportation or weapons. The vehicle cannot exceed fifteen meters in any direction. Once everyone chooses a vehicle, the contestants will be ced on a small obstacle course that is generated for the race. The winner is whoever passes all the checkpoints first.¡±


    As soon as she started exining, I knew that I had no hope of winning this race. ¡°Uhm¡­ anything else? I don¡¯t think I have nearly the reaction time to handle a vehicle moving that fast.¡± I smiled wryly. Mach 5, that¡¯s faster than anything that even existed on Earth when I inherited this job.


    Seraphine gave a disappointed sigh. ¡°Well¡­ you could try the Designer games? It¡¯s not really that exciting, but it would be a good exercise for a new Keeper like yourself.¡±


    ¡°Uhm¡­ exnation, please?¡±


    She smiled, nodding her head before exining. ¡°Basically, it is just where a group of Keepers gather together to see who cane up with the most interesting creatures. Whether they are sapient species, monster races, even items or systems. After everyone has submitted their entry, they vote on the most popr. The winner gets their submission paid for by the guild, as long as the cost is cheaper than five hundred points.¡±


    ¡°So, the only requirement is that it be something that isn¡¯t already on the Keeper store, right?¡± Seraphine nodded when I asked that, and I definitely felt like this would be a much better game for me. ¡°Could you show me where that room is?¡± I asked, looking around. I didn¡¯t see a ¡®Design¡¯ door anywhere nearby.


    ¡°Ah, it¡¯s at the very end of the hallway. You probably won¡¯t make it in time for the next round if you move at a normal speed, so I¡¯ll help you out a bit.¡± Seraphine grinned wickedly, snapping her fingers. Immediately, the floor beneath my feet twisted, chains reaching up and grabbing my feet, moreing to secure my arms. ¡°Have fun.¡± She said, before the section of floor beneath me began sliding down the hall slowly.


    Well, this isn¡¯t so bad. Aside from the restraints¡­ I thought to myself, as the floor began picking up speed. My opinion changed when I suddenly began rocketing forward, only able to remain standing thanks to the chains holding me firmly in ce. I passed a countless number of doors, before finally mming to a stop at the very end of the hall. I was certain that, if this weren¡¯t an Admin Room, the g forces from that would have been enough to kill me. At least here, it only felt incredibly ufortable.


    After remaining dizzy for a few moments, I looked up to see a single doorway, the word ¡®Design¡¯ written above it. Shrugging, I walked inside, seeing only ten other Keepers in this room. None of them looked familiar, so I moved off to a side. There were no chairs, desks, or any kind of furnishings for this room. Only the single door from which we entered.


    ¡°Ah, someone came to join us.¡± One of the Keepers, likely the judge, nodded to me as he saw me enter. ¡°Not many people participate in this game. I don¡¯t suppose you saw anyone else on your way, did you?¡±


    When I shook my head, he let out a disappointed sigh. ¡°Pity. Well¡­ I guess this is all we are getting for today. Does everyone here know the rules?¡± The other Keepers all nodded their heads, as did I. I had just had the rules exined to me, so no need to go over them a second time. ¡°Alright, then everyone can begin. Remember to not submit your idea to the system until the judging period is over.¡± He cast a nce to one of the other Keepers, amia man who shrunk back timidly under his gaze.


    At his words, a blue window appeared in front of me, a single blinking line at the top. ¡°I¡¯m going to take this one.¡± One of the Keepers said, confidently. I wasn¡¯t really paying attention to tell which one had spoken, as I was thinking about what I should submit. There was one idea I had considered, but I wasn¡¯t sure if it was creative enough for a contest like this. Either way, I decided to go with that, to save myself the trouble of trying toe up with an entirely new idea on the spot. Even if I didn¡¯t win, I¡¯d probably be buying this myself when I got back home. Slowly, I began thinking to the blue screen, my thoughts transcribed into words.


    Race, Centaurs. Comprehension, five. Agility, six. Strength, eight. Lifespan, seventy years. Luck, six. Awareness, seven. Male to female ratio, 1. I listed the basic qualities of the race, before moving on to the advanced portion. What I had so far was most likely already in the store, but I was confidant that what I was including next would make them unique. After going through the process, a series of screens appeared in front of me.


    Race Name Centaur


    Comprehension 5


    Agility 6


    Strength 8


    Lifespan 70


    Luck 6


    Awareness 7


    Male:Female ratio 1


    Example Adult Male Example Adult Female


    Racial Abilities


    - Magical Inept


    - Rare Variants: Unicorn(0.01%), Pegasus(0.1%), Qilin(0.001%)


    Race Name Unicorn Centaur


    Comprehension 7


    Agility 6


    Strength 6


    Lifespan 70


    Luck 6


    Awareness 7


    Male:Female ratio 1


    Example Adult Male Example Adult Female


    Racial Abilities


    - Magical Affinity 3


    - Rare Variants: Horned Pegasus(0.1%), Horned Qilin(0.1%)


    Race Name Pegasus Centaur


    Comprehension 5


    Agility 7


    Strength 7


    Lifespan 70


    Luck 8


    Awareness 7


    Male:Female ratio 1


    Example Adult Male Example Adult Female


    Racial Abilities


    - Magical Inept


    - Rare Variants: Horned Pegasus(0.1%), Dragon(0.1%)


    Race Name Qilin Centaur


    Comprehension 8


    Agility 5


    Strength 8


    Lifespan 80


    Luck 7


    Awareness 6


    Male:Female ratio 1


    Example Adult Male Example Adult Female


    Racial Abilities


    - Magical Affinity 3


    - Fire Control


    - Rare Variants: Horned Qilin(0.1%), Dragon(0.1%)


    Race Name Horned Qilin Centaur


    Comprehension 9


    Agility 5


    Strength 5


    Lifespan 100


    Luck 8


    Awareness 5


    Male:Female ratio 1


    Example Adult Male Example Adult Female


    Racial Abilities


    - Magical Affinity 4


    - Fire Control


    Race Name Horned Pegasus Centaur


    Comprehension 6


    Agility 7


    Strength 5


    Lifespan 70


    Luck 8


    Awareness 7


    Male:Female ratio 1


    Example Adult Male Example Adult Female


    Racial Abilities


    - Magical Affinity 2


    Race Name Dragon Centaur


    Comprehension 7


    Agility 6


    Strength 8


    Lifespan 150


    Luck 7


    Awareness 7


    Male:Female ratio 1


    Example Adult Male Example Adult Female


    Racial Abilities


    - Magical Affinity 3


    - Fire Control


    - Magic Resistance 1


    Although this could technically be considered seven races, it was all one submission as a greatly expanded centaur race. For the unicorn centaurs, they would have spiral horns jutting out of their foreheads like the mythical unicorns. For pegasus centaurs, they would have giant wings on their horse bodies to enable them to fly. And for the qilin centaurs, they would have a scaled armored body.


    For the second tier of variants, a qilin and unicorn centaur had the rare chance of producing the horned qilin, carrying aspects of both the qilin and unicorn variants. The same was true for the unicorn and pegasus hybrid. The truly unique one, the mix of pegasus and qilin centaurs, was the one I liked the most. With the scaled body of a qilin, and leathery wings rather than the normal feathered ones, the dragon centaur was a true powerhouse waiting to be born.


    Of course, the odds of actually getting one were insane. A qilin centaur itself was only one in every hundred thousand, unless two qilins began mating and making more. Then, the pegasus centaur was again one in a thousand. Finally, for every mating pair of qilin and pegasus centaur, there was only a one in a thousand chance of making a dragon centaur.


    Nodding in satisfaction at my entry, I waited for the others to be done. Of them, only three were still working. I wasn¡¯t entirely confident in the creativity of this species, but I was sure that I had made the variants rare enough to not drive up the price much, especially given that I made the standard centaurs magically inept, practically depriving them of mana.

 Chapter 29: No Naming Sense Here

    <h4>Chapter 29: No Naming Sense Here</h4>


    Of the three Keepers that were still working on their submission, the first finished roughly five minutester, sporting a satisfied smile. The second followed just a hairter, breathing out a sigh of relief. However, the final one showed no signs of stopping. Every now and then, he would pause to think it over, as if lost in thought, and then get back to his work.


    It wasn¡¯t until nearly a full hourter that he had finalized his entry for this contest. ¡°Got it¡­¡± He breathed out a heavy sigh of relief, nodding towards the judge to let him know he was ready. Looking around, he gave a slightly awkwardugh. ¡°Oh, was I thest one this time? Sorry, but like I said before, I think I¡¯ve got this one.¡±


    I shook my head at his seemingly extreme confidence, but soon the Keeper in charge announced that it was time to review everyone¡¯s submissions. For fairness, he would take charge of all submissions, and disy them anonymously for the rest of us to vote on. I had to admit, there were some pretty interesting submissions.


    Aside from my own improved centaur race, two of the other submissions were also races. One was a psychic race, where every person would have a randomized psychic power, while the other was a shapeshifter race with the ability to copy memories from the people they mimic. Both were interesting, but neither of those got my vote.


    Next, there were three item submissions as well. The first was a ¡®dimension door¡¯, which allowed people to step into parallel worlds simr to their own, with only minor differences based on a few distinct choices. Another was a status crystal, designed to disy the abilities of the person who uses it as a numerical value. I would definitely be buying that er on, when my world became more advanced. Finally, thest item submitted was a scroll designed for cultivation worlds. With it, one could sacrifice their life force and leave it as a legacy to help boost their sessor.


    Finally, the remaining four submissions were all systems. One was a quest function for game worlds, to allow people to issue official requests of each other, or post them in public ces. I¡¯d probably be getting that one, too. The next was a new type of afterlife, though the description made it seem almost identical to my Community Afterlife. To my surprise, there was a big, red ¡®X¡¯ on the top of the submission, likely to show that it was an invalid one.


    The third system was actually a new system of magic, one that seemed simr to the theory of ley lines. With it, there would be rivers of magic running around the world, determining what spells could be cast where, and how easily they could be cast. And, proximity to a ley line would be required to cast a spell at all. I didn¡¯t see this one bing too popr.


    Finally, thest system I looked at was also a magic system, though this one more flexible. The author had named it ¡®Spell Weaving¡¯, due to it being the ability to look at mana as a spool of thread, and spells being the shape you give it. Different knots for different elements or characteristics, with advanced spells looking like grand tapestries.


    Although some of the others seemed interesting, and I would be personally getting them for Earthter, the Spell Weaving had definitely earned my vote. I¡¯d honestly be surprised if it didn¡¯t win. And, sure enough, after all ten Keepers had voted, a blue screen appeared in the center of the room to disy the results.


    Designer¡¯s Game Poll Results


    Dreyfus - Spell Weaving: 5 votes


    EarthForceOne - Centaur+: 3 votes


    Japsem - Status Orb: 1 vote


    Krill - Parallel World Travel Door: 1 vote


    NoMore - Quest System: 0 votes


    ImaginaryFriend - Ley Lakes: 0 votes


    Indiscriminate - Legacy Scroll: 0 votes


    HiredHelper - Mind Mimic: 0 votes


    Drillot - Psycher: 0 votes


    MissBehave - Afterservice: X


    Looking over the names on the list, I felt my eye twitch slightly. Who came up with these Keeper titles?


    Nheless, after about thirty seconds of time for people to view the results, the judge Keeper called out. ¡°And the winner is Dreyfus, with his Spell Weaving concept. You may all now submit your entries to the system.¡±


    The ten of us nodded at him, doing so. To my surprise, I actually received a prompt immediately after I chose to submit it.


    Congrattions! You have earned an achievement!


    For creating a race with multiple distinct variations, you earned the Diversified achievement. +20 points


    After everyone was done submitting their entries to the system, they turned to face the judge again. Well, aside from MissBehave, who was actually a man. A four armed, grey skinned man, but he seemed like a man nheless. He was just sulking because he realized that his submission had already been taken. Sorry~.


    ¡°Hmm, 130 points. This is within the eptable limits of the contest, and as such, here is your prize.¡± The judge Keeper made a few hand motions, and the winner, the same overconfident man from before, let out a relieved smile.


    ¡°Sorry, guys. Been saving that idea for a few days for this contest. No hard feelings?¡± He looked at us, giving a small smile. The people present didn¡¯t seem to really care that much, and simply shrugged it off before walking out the door. However, at the next moment, Dreyfus began glowing in a golden light for a few seconds, before confetti shot out from his body.


    I could only blink in surprise, and I wasn¡¯t the only one. Even Dreyfus himself was surprised. ¡°Sweet, a special achievement!¡± He called out, seeming to look at a window that appeared for him.


    Nodding to him to congratte him, I also turned to leave the room. I guess some achievements give special effects, if they are unique enough? I wasn¡¯t really sure, but either way I was done here. After the tournament for the Keeper Sim games, and this one, I had been gone for most of a day already. I wasn¡¯t sure how long these things normallysted, but I had had my fill for this one.


    Besides, I wanted to get back and implement this new race. I foresaw some rather interesting characteristics from it. It would likely require quite a bit of work to stabilize their cultureter on, but it should definitely be worth it.


    Looking around, I had wanted to say goodbye to Grimor, but he was not anywhere in the hallway that I could see. And, given therge number of games, it was impossible to tell where he was. As such, I decided to just head on home.


    To my surprise, and gratitude, the departure method this time was simply a glowing golden door opening in front of me. When I walked through, I heard the distressed cries of a certain loli. ¡°Noo~! Stop it!¡±


    Although I had appeared in the bedroom, Terra and Aurivy were nowhere to be found. Instead, I followed the source of the noise to the next room over. Before, this had been apletely unused room, to the point I had never even bothered looking in a second time. But now, the entire room had changed.


    The walls were covered in pink wallpaper, and in the back of the room there was arge white canopy bed with red heart-shaped pillows. Currently, the two goddesses were standing near the bed, in front of a tall, wooden wardrobe. From what I could see, Terra was currently ying dress-up with the halfling goddess. Right now, she was wearing a frilly pink and white dress, with a hooked staff that made her look like a Little Bo Peep cosy.


    Seeing that, I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle, getting the attention of both women. ¡°Looks like I really missed something, huh?¡±


    Aurivy looked at me with watery eyes, and dived to grab my legs in a tight hug. ¡°Big bro, you meanie! Next time, take me with you!¡± She looked up at me, and I had to avert my gaze. Must not meet a crying loli¡¯s eyes, or you will never be able to win.


    ¡°Did you have fun, Dale?¡± Terra asked with a small smile, sitting down on Aurivy¡¯s bed.


    ¡°It was¡­ interesting. I¡¯m d to be back, though.¡± I nodded, reaching down and petting Aurivy¡¯s weak spot, getting a long, content sigh from the smaller goddess.


    ¡°Good. I saw that you submitted something to the system while you were gone. A new race you had an idea for, and wanted to try out?¡± She asked with a grin, seemingly happy at the idea to try out something new.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. I figured this could be the tenth race for Earth. Though, I think we should give them that head start you taught me about, given that the other races have a thousand years of history under their belts already.¡±


    Terra nodded at that. ¡°Alright, I see your point. Well, do you want to get started, then?¡±


    I nodded again. Since I had already submitted the species to the system, I knew what the price was for it. Although it was slightly more expensive than the other races, with a twenty-five point cost, it was not enough to drastically unbnce the race. Especially given their physical limitations, I was curious to see how they¡¯d ovee it.


    Terra stood up from the bed, and we walked over to our own room, causing Aurivy to let out a sigh of relief. On the way, Terra sniffed the air a couple times. ¡°You made a new friend while you were gone?¡± She asked, ncing over to me.


    ¡°Hmm? Well, I guess so? There was a very friendly spider-girl, but I¡¯m hoping that I don¡¯t end up seeing too much of her¡­¡± I shuddered slightly. While notpletely revolting, spiders were still creepy. Combining that with the personality of an over excited teenage girl, just feels wrong.


    Terra giggled slightly at my response. ¡°Ah, is that it? Well, no matter. I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll callter, if she wants to chat.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­ speaking of which, I had a question that¡¯s been bugging me for a while, and I figured only someone like you would be able to answer.¡±


    Terra nced over at me curiously as I moved to stand in front of myputer desk. ¡°Hmm? What is it?¡±


    ¡°The Keeper titles. They¡¯re inherited, like the worlds, right? But¡­ they just totally don¡¯t make sense. You¡¯ve got things like Krill, or EarthForceOne, andpletely random words or names. I was wondering how they were decided, that¡¯s all.¡±


    ¡°Ohh¡­ is that it?¡± Terra giggled lightly, covering her mouth. ¡°Actually, Keepers didn¡¯t always have those titles. Originally, Keepers were given numbers. For instance, Earth¡¯s Keeper had previously been Keeper #2897. Two generations of Keepers ago, there was a message broadcast through the system, asking for a vote on if Keepers should get their own titles. The majority voted yes, so every Keeper was given a single chance to pick a title for themselves.¡±


    My eye twitched slightly at that. ¡°You mean, all of these Keepers with unfortunate names¡­¡±


    Terra nodded with a grin. ¡°That¡¯s right¡­ they just inherited the titles from a predecessor that chose poorly.¡±


    ¡°That¡­ I don¡¯t even. The excitement to find out, it just died.¡± I gave a heavy sigh as I sat down at myputer desk and prepared to get to work building up my new race of centaurs. Honestly, if the system had assigned those names randomly, that would have been interesting. I could have questioned what being came up with all the names, and how they were chosen.


    But just to find out that, rather than some higher power naming us, it was the terrible naming sense of our predecessors¡­ The hype is no longer real.

 Chapter 30: A Race Across the Plains

    <h4>Chapter 30: A Race Across the ins</h4>


    For now, I did not want to ce the centaurs on a continent inhabited by another sapient race. While they might be able to get along with them eventually, I want to first have them develop in istion, just like everyone else. To me, this is really more to see how the races develop a culture of their own without outside influence.


    Anyways, I¡¯m just procrastinating this. For their continent, I chose arge one to the south of the halfling¡¯s continent, connected by a thinndmass. If there are any two races that could get along eventually, it¡¯d be the two nomadic ones. Then, I opened up the options menu, and began searching through the settings.


    Terra had told me that it was possible to freeze time for the rest of the world, and only rewind a certain area to have them catch up. But¡­ she never told me where to find that option. As such, it took me a few minutes of searching before I found a reference to ¡®time zones¡¯.


    Each time zone would cost me 25 points, and using it would allow me to separate the flow of time within that zone from the rest of the world. The only restriction was that such a thing had to be done in a way that the sapient races of the world did not notice. For instance, I couldn¡¯t just freeze one city, because people could see that.


    That didn¡¯t matter much to me, though. I happily bought the 25 point time zone, and used it to iste the centaurs¡¯ continent from the rest of the world. Then, I used another option of the time zone to rewind that area by roughly eleven hundred years. Finally, I paid another 25 points to buy the centaur race itself.


    Do you wish to rewind the Time Zone so that the purchased race reaches a particr level of development at the currently selected time? Y/N


    I blinked as the message appeared in front of me, having forgotten that when I first purchased the original races, Terra had to fast forward until there was an average of ten thousand members of each race. This time, I opted to do the same thing, and could see on the map how that one continent continuously brightened and darkened, possessing its own cycle of day and night moving in rapid motion.


    I tried to pay attention, just in case some emergency cropped up that would prevent the centaurs from raising their poption. However, a knock on the door to the room distracted me. Turning around, I saw Irena standing in the doorway, watching me. ¡°Is now a bad time?¡± She asked in a somewhat cold manner that caught me off guard.


    ¡°No, not really¡­ why?¡±


    Straightening her shirt, she took a few steps forward, tucking her wings in so that they wouldn¡¯t get caught on the door. ¡°I am here to ask for a report on what is going on. I feel the presence of new souls being born, but the world seems to be stopped at the moment.¡±


    Ahh, I guess it makes sense that she would be able to sense that kind of stuff, being the goddess of the underworld. I nodded my head, and began exining to her about my n to introduce the centaur race into the world. When I was done, her brows furrowed and she looked at the screen.


    ¡°Is that an idea you got at the meeting you went to by yourself?¡± She asked, in that same tone of voice as before.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Is something the matter?¡±


    ¡°No, sir, nothing is the matter.¡± She said abruptly, then turned and left the room, leaving me extremely confused. Even when I design the women myself, I shall never understand them!


    Shaking my head, I turned back to myputer, only to find that the continent had stopped fast forwarding. Looking at the poption, I saw that there were exactly ten thousand centaurs. Huh, guess it can be pretty urate when it wants to be.


    Out of curiosity, I ran a search through the system to look at the poption more closely, that way I could see how many of each type of variant there were. Unsurprisingly, there were no qilin centaurs, and only two unicorn centaurs. However, there was not a single pegasus centaur either, which surprised me.


    Don¡¯t tell me¡­ I gave a slight sigh, and navigated the map to find the two unicorn centaurs. To my surprise, they were a pair of young girls, twins from the looks of things. With their long hair covering their foreheads, it was almost impossible to even see the small nub of a horn starting to poke out.


    They either exile or kill the unique ones out of fear? I was hoping that wouldn¡¯t start until muchter. I lowered my head in thought, trying toe up with ideas. Unicorn centaurs were already very rare, just one in ten thousand, and these two were born as twins. If my theory about the treatment of the unique centaurs was right, then as soon as their horns were discovered, they could very well be killed. Or at the very least, thrown out to fend for themselves.


    If one of the unicorns had been a male, I could arrange for the two of them to meet, and maybe even start an isted family. I wasn¡¯t too familiar on how their mating habits worked, but at least they¡¯d have a chance. The main thing was that, if I wanted to resolve this issue of the variants being outcast, I would have to do so right from the start.


    First thing, I needed to create a god for the centaurs. Not a lifeless doll like the current ones, aside from Irena, Aurivy, and Terra. A true, influential god that could help guide the race. Closing my eyes, I paid the full 45 points for apanion with a personality. First, I needed to design his body.


    Arge centaur, the normal breed, with pitch ck hair. Since the vast majority of the poption is the normal breed, it makes sense for the god to be, as well. Also, having him as the normal breed of centaur should help prevent superiorityplexes from the variants thinking themselves as the chosen ones. Anyways, pitch ck hair covering his muscr horse body. A muscled human torso connecting to it, with a little bit of stubble and a head of short, ck hair.


    For his personality, I wanted to make him caring of his people. His goal should be for all centaurs to be treated equally, with neither the variants or the normal breed suppressing each other. A thought ran through me, and I suddenly imagined him hitting on the goddesses in the Admin Room. Nuh uh, no way. I added in a note that he is disinterested in two-legged women, just to prevent any problems. This Earth doesn¡¯t need a new Zeus.


    Finally, I made sure that he was obedient towards me. Not as a rtive or anything like with Aurivy, or a love interest like Terra, but more as an employee. The Keeper is the boss in this rtionship, and that fact should never be excluded, lest you get rebellious deities. Lastly, I needed a name for him¡­ And since I was making him a god, I needed a domain for him to rule.


    Focusing on thest few details, I submitted the entry to the system. Golden light shone from above, gradually building a body from the ground up. As soon as the body was done, I was expecting to have to give him some kind of job, but I didn¡¯t even have the time to open my mouth before he vanished from the room, the space he was in suddenly empty.


    And that,dies and gentlemen, was Tryval, God of the ins¡­ I sighed, moving to look at the screen again when I suddenly heard a sound from outside my room.


    ¡°Huh? Where you going, sis?¡± The high pitched voice of Aurivy caught my attention, and I couldn¡¯t help but grin slightly when I noticed a slightly disappointed tone to her voice. A momentter, Terra walked into the room, looking around.


    ¡°He already left?¡± She asked, obviously surprised. Had she wanted toe here and see him, since he was the first male god I had granted a personality to?


    ¡°Yeah. As soon as I finished making him.¡± I said, shaking my head with a bitter smile. Terra shared the same expression, before closing her eyes. A few momentster, I swear I saw her cheeks redden.


    ¡°Oh¡­ there he is.¡± She said in a somewhat embarrassed tone, before the screen of myputer shifted. Since it had already been locked onto the twin unicorn centaurs, it did not have to go far, only zooming out a little bit to show a new figure entering the screen.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Come on, Thessa. We have to hurry.¡± A girl could be seen amidst the ins, urging her sister to continue. Both were obviously inhuman, with the lower body of a pure white horse. Even though they had the upper body of a lovely young woman, it was impossible to confuse them with a normal human. Both of them also had silky smooth hair trailing down their backs all the way to the bottom of their human half.


    ¡°I know, Kara, I¡¯ming.¡± The second centaur called out, only a short distance behind the first. The two were on the run, having abandoned their families, but this was not a decision made out of spite. Rather, it was one of desperation. They had heard rumors passed through the families of foals born with wings. The stories never ended well, as each one had abandoned their foal as soon as the mother was able to move. Sometimes, the father would actively trample the young body, mercilessly crippling it to ensure that it couldn¡¯t follow.


    These sisters had a miraculous birth, being the only known case of twins among the centaur families they had encountered. However, their mother had paid the price for an extra life by giving her own. They had lived with the rest of their herd, always on the move, and never once thinking they were anything other than beautiful specimens of their own race.


    At least, until recently, that is. Roughly a year ago, they had each noticed a strange growth appearing on their foreheads, a hard white spike. Its appearance was apanied by a powerful headache that left their entire herd thinking that they had fallen ill. Only the two of them knew the terrifying truth, however.


    With the appearance of their horns, they had started using their hair to cover their face whenever possible, hiding their foreheads from their herd. They had hoped that this new addition would stop growing, or go away entirely, but reality proved differently. Every day, it grew further and further, and now they could no longer fully conceal it.


    Telling their herd that they were going for a drink, the twins finally nned to make their escape. It wasn¡¯t umon for herd to split apart, so they hoped that they wouldn¡¯t be followed, that the herd would assume they had perished. So now, the two twins, Thessa and Kara, cantered across the ins, tears in their eyes as they put as much distance between themselves and everything they knew as they possibly could.


    That is, until a golden light shined down from the skies, and a muscr figure appeared some distance away from them. The girls felt their hearts jump as they saw the man, with his hair as ck as night. More amazing than his appearance, the moment they saw him, a name echoed through their minds. It was a name that they had never heard before, yet felt like they knew it all their life.


    The sisters slowed to a trot, then stopped entirely before the figure before them. Unable to help themselves, they maintained a distance from this man, their heads lowered in submission. That was, until he called their names.


    ¡°Thessa, Kara.¡± The man said, his voice strong, yet gentle. The girls couldn¡¯t help their heads jerking up to look at him in shock. They had never seen this man in their lives, and yet he felt so familiar. They had never spoken, yet knew each other¡¯s names. What they saw was a smile on his face, and his eyes which seemed to look straight through them.


    This man¡­ no, Tryval walked up towards them slowly. The twins barely even registered that their hair had been pushed to the side during their canter, and their horns were clearly visible. Yet, Tryval was still smiling at them, as if they were the most beautiful creatures in existence. For the first time since their horns began to grow, they did not feel like freaks. They didn¡¯t feel hopeless.


    If it was with this man, maybe they could be happy.

 Chapter 31: The Road to Perfection

    <h4>Chapter 31: The Road to Perfection</h4>


    So¡­ the centaur god is a yboy¡­ I¡¯m d that I took those precautions. I shook my head and sighed, before turning my attention to the screen again. The other races were all paused right now, so there was not much point to giving the other deities a personality yet. Instead, it would be more beneficial to focus on the centaurs.


    But first¡­ I looked at Terra, who was getting ready to vacate the room. ¡°So, what happens if a god has a kid with a mortal?¡±


    Terra froze as she was turning around, then looked over towards me. ¡°That child will have an exceptional innate talent, such that they could earn a ss like Hero far more easily than others. They will also typically have a small starting buff to one attribute, determined randomly.¡±


    I raised a curious eyebrow at her as she listed the effects. ¡°And the drawbacks?¡±


    ¡°Sometimes, the offspring will have an innate weakness in a field as well, and their strength can make them arrogant. The child of a god is not always good, and could plunge a world into chaos in the extreme scenarios.¡±


    ¡°Ahh¡­¡± I nodded my head at that, understanding. ¡°Hopefully, he doesn¡¯t cause any trouble, then.¡±


    Terra gave a small smile. ¡°What about you? Any ns for what you¡¯re doing now that he is ¡®taking care¡¯ of the centaurs?¡±


    I thought about that for a long moment, but did eventuallye up with something. ¡°There is something I want to work on, but I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯s already avable.¡±


    When Terra gave me a curious look, I continued. ¡°Mana and Ki make Chakra with an even amount of each. Mana represents training the mind, while Ki represents training the body. But, what about otherbinations? Could youbine Mana and Spiritual Energy, or Ki with Natural Energy?¡±


    Terra¡¯s smile grew a bit wider. ¡°I can¡¯t answer that question, but you know someone who should be able to.¡±


    I looked at her for a long moment before understanding her meaning. Turning back to myputer, I heard her giggle before walking out of the room, only to hear the distressed cry of Aurivy when she realized that Terra was back. I didn¡¯t worry much about that at the moment, though, as I was working on sending a message.


    EarthForceOne: You free right now? Got a question for you.


    I had to wait for a few minutes before a reply came in, but thankfully he did not seem too preupied.


    Alkahest: Still at the meeting. Guessing you took off early?


    EarthForceOne: Yeah, had some things to take care of.


    Alkahest: Alright. What¡¯s on your mind?


    I repeated the same question I had asked Terra previously to Grimor. Since he has been in this for a long time, he should be able to provide me with some answers. At least, that¡¯s what I was hoping.


    Alkahest: Hmmm¡­ There are somebinations, yes. Though, Chakra is the easiest since it is an even ratio. You¡¯re using the Game System for your world, if I remember right, yeah? Look up the Advanced sses for the next set of mixtures, and the Legend sses for the highest one.


    EarthForceOne: What¡¯s the difference between an Advanced ss and a Legend ss?


    Alkahest: An Advanced ss is essible to anyone that meets the prerequisite, like a basic ss. However, the sses tend to be considerably more powerful. Even the weakest advanced ss would be on par with the Hero ss. As for Legend sses, they are unique to an individual. There can only be one of a particr legend ss in existence at a time, even if others qualify. Other people can still diligently train the special abilities of the ss by studying it, but they won¡¯t get the ss itself.


    EarthForceOne: So, an advanced ss is just a higher form of a normal ss, and a legend ss is the strongest, then?


    Alkahest: Right. All of the basic sses are avable to any world, no matter what other systems they have in ce. However, some advanced and legend sses have requirements that you¡¯ll need to meet first. It¡¯ll be easier to understand when you see it for yourself.


    EarthForceOne: Alright, thanks.


    With that, I let him get back to what he was doing, and went to check the market for the advanced sses that he mentioned. The results I found were¡­ numerous, to say the least. They even had packages avable, to help narrow things down. However, there were a few that caught my eye, the ones thatbined the different energies.


    Elemental Monk Combining the energy of the body with the energy of the world, the Elemental Monk gains the ability to imbue their physical form with aspects of nature. 10 points


    Martial Spirit Combining the energies of the body and soul together, the Martial Spirit is capable of existing as both a living being and a spirit, and gains special powers associated with such. 10 points


    Elementalist By merging Natural Energy into their spells, a mage may greatly enhance the efficiency and power of a spell, and learn new applications for such elemental energy. 10 points


    Summoner Using the spirit as a base, and the mana to shape it, a Summoner is able to create powerful entities to fight for them. 15 points


    World Spirit By merging the spirit of a soul with the spirit of the world, it is possible to create a spirit born of nature. 15 points


    Looking a bit further, there was even one other ss listed, and this one actually amazed me.


    Perfect Self By unifying the body, mind, and soul, one may find perfection. With this power, they will be the true masters of themselves. 50 points


    If I were to buy all six sses, they are included in a single packagebeled ¡®Basic Energy Masters¡¯ for a full hundred points. However, first I wanted to look at the Legend ss that Grimor mentioned. If the advanced ones already reached that level of power, I was curious to see what the pinnacle was.


    False Divinity Only one who has reached the pinnacle of perfection, and learned how to merge their energy with the world around them may step into this realm. A False Divinity will never age, and fears none below the true gods, able to establish themselves as the height of power. Those with this ss are granted a powerful domain, and can use their domain to bestow power on their followers, generating their own priests. 100 points


    Wow¡­ just, wow. That definitely qualifies as a legendary ss. The ss name had me curious, so I searched a bit more, finding something else. Surprisingly, this wasn¡¯t listed as a legendary ss, but in a different ¡®Special ss¡¯ section.


    True Divinity This ss may be granted, but never sought. Only the gods themselves may grant it, and only with the approval of the Keeper. Once a mortal has risen to True Divinity, they will be treated as a Companion, with all the rules and restrictions that entails. A True Divinity will be granted a domain, and retain all of the powers they had in life. 45 points per True Divinity


    Looking through the Special ss list, it seemed that all of them were cases that had to be approved by either a Keeper or a god, and typically all of them were paid per unit, rather than just paying once to unlock the ss in the system. I suppose that made sense, though. With the False Divinity ss, only one could exist within the world¡¯s system at a time. Though, from what Grimor said, it might be possible for other people to train themselves to that level.


    Anyways, with this I had an answer to my question about the energy types. The differentbinations do possess their own results¡­ But with Ninja being the only basic ss, the others must all be either incredibly difficult to achieve, or else incredibly powerful.


    I was tempted to buy up the advanced sses with what points I had remaining, but managed to restrain myself. The world was not yet ready for the stronger powers to be known. They hadn¡¯t even finished discovering all of the current sses, yet.


    ¡­I forgot to ask how to do enchanting! I had wanted to ask that at the Keeper meeting, but the games distracted me! I even forgot to ask about other achievements! I hurriedly opened up the message window to consult Grimor about that again. While I didn¡¯t want to rely on him too much, the only other option was to go back to the meeting and find random Keepers to ask. Even then, I¡¯d have to rely on Grimor to get me an invitation back.


    Now, onto the things he told me, because this was pretty helpful. Enchanting wasn¡¯t possible yet with the level of magic unlocked in my world, because none of the known spells had the ¡®bestowal¡¯ponent. I could manually carve a spell into an item and ¡®technically¡¯ it would be a magic item, but rather than an enchanted item, it would merely serve as a container for the spell.


    For achievements, he did manage to tell me about a few that I could unlock early on, but he wasn¡¯t of as much help here. After all, it had been a long time since he himself was at the stage to unlock these personal achievements. He could help with the world achievements, but that was it. Nheless, it was good information.


    I doubted that I would be earning some of those achievements, like the one for me to ¡®breed¡¯ a hero, by knocking up mortal women like Tryval is doing. I mean, the only reward for that one he mentioned is higher potential for any of my own offspring, so that¡¯s not major. Sorry, Earth girls, but I have Terra. She¡¯s much more attractive than anyone in the present age of Earth.


    Now, achievements that I can do. If I personally unlock all of the basic sses for the world, then that will be an achievement. Apparently, the reward for that one differs based on the number of sses. Likewise, I can make my presence known to the world, and be an ¡®unofficial¡¯ King of the Gods. The reward there is actually pretty good, as it allows me to grant each god a second domain for free. However, ording to Grimor, it makes interfering in the world harder, because perceptive people will be able to see through to my true nature and know who I am.


    Maybe I can do that er¡­ I thought to myself. An achievement that I could do now¡­ There is one, but I wasn¡¯t sure if the reward was worth going out of my way for it. Shrugging, because I didn¡¯t have much else needing done at the immediate time, I went ahead and decided to go through with it.


    Opening the menu, I chose to remodel my current Keeper body. This achievement required me to get used to a body considerably different from my own. Unsurprisingly, simply adding fox ears and a tail didn¡¯t cut it, so I had to do some more drastic changes.


    As the only race different enough from humans for me to interact with were centaurs, I based my new body off of that. Unlike Tryval, I gave myself brown hair, and kept the features of my upper body the way they normally are. Once I confirmed the changes, I closed my eyes and waiting for the light to descend and change my body.


    The first change I noticed was a crashing sound, reminding me both that I had been sitting in myputer chair at the time, and that horses don¡¯t tend to fit in those. Whoops¡­ Next, I felt extreme difort from my lower body. I could feel that I was standing, but my legs felt as if they had fallen asleep.


    I knew what I would see when I opened my eyes, but that still didn¡¯t stop me from being surprised by myrge, equine half. ncing back, I saw my chair had sted itself back to the far wall to make room for me. Startled by the noise, Terra and Aurivy soon threw the door open and ran into the room, looking at me in wide eyes.


    ¡°Big bro got bigger¡­¡± Aurivy said, looking up at me in amazement.


    ¡°Yes¡­ he did.¡± Terra grinned, though she wasn¡¯t exactly looking up. No, bad catgirl! This form isn¡¯t for that!

 Chapter 32: Horsing Around

    <h4>Chapter 32: Horsing Around</h4>


    After shooing the two of them out of the room, I nced around our bedroom with mild dissatisfaction. This wasn¡¯t nearly enough room for me to practice moving as a centaur. Closing my eyes, I tried to do what I had seen Terra do several times before. She was able to rearrange the entire Admin Room with but a thought, and had told me that I possess the same power as well. So, focusing, I tried to imagine the current room as a wide open field.


    When I opened my eyes, I was surprised to find that my little experiment had worked. No more were the walls of the bedroom blocking me in. Gone was the giant, soft bed that I enjoyed lying in whenever the opportunity arose. Now, thend around me was filled with tall grass, gently swaying in the breeze.


    ¡°Great¡­ Now, let¡¯s get started.¡± I said to myself, before trying to take a step forward with my front right leg, then back left leg. Oh god, no! My leg doesn¡¯t bend like that! I thought as pain erupted in my hind legs, and I tumbled to the side.


    As I had been used to walking with a certain type of leg my whole life, suddenly changing that was¡­ difficult. While a horse¡¯s front legs may be simr enough to what I was used to that I could control them, the back legs were the exact opposite. Bending my back legs, it felt like I was trying to twist my knees in a direction they were never meant to go.


    Well¡­ now I was on the ground, so walking was out of the question. And, since I had fallen onto my side, I had enough room to practice stretching out and bending all of my horse legs. Really, though, the front legs felt almost like arms, with how they moved.


    After a few minutes of adjusting to how my new legs worked, I felt confident enough to stand up. Using one of my arms to push up, I rolled my lower body onto my stomach. Next, I extended my front two legs out to serve as a brace, while pushing my hind legs up.


    Slowly but surely, I found my way to my feet. I still felt unsteady, but at least I knew that I could get back up if I fell down. Now, let¡¯s try this again. Front right leg, back left leg, front left leg, back right leg¡­ repeat. Although each movement was shaky, with both my arms spread out to try and bnce myself, I managed to slowly walk forward.


    ¡°Okay¡­ next, let¡¯s try to pick up the speed a bit.¡± I said with a sigh, once I managed to start walking at a steady pace. I gradually picked up speed, walking faster and faster until either both my back left and front right legs, or my back right and front left legs were off the ground at the same time. This should be what is known as a trot, right?


    My knees still felt uneasy bending in this way, but it was nowhere near as unpleasant as that first step had been. Finally, I did my best to speed up further, moving to a full gallop. For this, my back right leg touched down first, pushing off while both my back left and front right legs touched down to bnce me, finishing with my front left leging down and pushing off again.


    After a minute of running like this, and feeling the wind through my hair, I almost tripped again when a message window appeared in front of me.


    You have earned a personal achievement!


    For familiarizing yourself with a body type sufficiently different from your own, you have earned the Flexible achievement. Body Familiarity unlocked.


    I smiled slightly, slowing down to a walk as I read the message. ording to Grimor, this achievement would make it so that I could easily be familiar with various body types in the future. While not supremely useful now, such a quality could be a great deal of help in the future.


    With that taken care of, I focused on returning the area around me to the bedroom I had previously been using, before changing my body back to normal as well. I felt unsteady on my feet for a brief moment when I returned to just two legs, but that feeling quickly passed. With a sigh of relief, I went to see how the others were doing.


    In the next room, I found Terra and Aurivy ying dress-up again. This time, the smaller goddess was wearing a cute schoolgirl uniform, with a blue skirt that went down just above her knees and a white long sleeved shirt. ¡°Muuu¡­ big sis!¡± Sheined as she looked at herself in the mirror.


    ¡°Oh,e on. Just a few more.¡± Terra said with arge grin. Noticing me in the mirror, she turned and gave me a yful wink. ¡°Done horsing around now, and ready to get back to work?¡±


    I chuckled lightly at the pun, but shook my head. ¡°Nothing incredibly major happening right now that needs my attention. Probably going to talk with Tryval for a moment, and then fast forward. That should give the centaurs some time to get oriented before we make more drastic changes.¡± I then thought to myself. Depending on Tryval¡¯s ability as a leader, I might not even need to particrly interfere for the thousand year period. I¡¯ll need to figure out his ns for the centaurs when I call him up.


    Terra, listening to my words, nodded her head. ¡°That sounds like a good idea. You still have a long way to go before the world can be brought together, and the races united. Until then, it will either be a case of waiting for the world to eventually advance on its own, or ying an active role to bnce things out.¡±


    Well, from what all the other Keepers had told me, thetter was definitely the most beneficial. Even if I drastically raised the level limit and simply fast forwarded far enough, I could enter the games within a week. However, I would not be able to freely control the amount of power I¡¯d have as a Keeper, and would be severely under-trained. Speaking of¡­ ¡°There is one more thing I was wanting to ask you about.¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡± Terra nced over to me, about to move to Aurivy¡¯s wardrobe, likely to find her another outfit.


    ¡°How can I hide my Keeper powers a bit better? The family I met before seemed¡­ almost like they could feel it. I certainly never expected them to behave that obediently.¡±


    Terra gave a small smile, pulling one outfit out of the wardrobe. This one looked like a uniform for a small witch, consisting of tiny ck robes and a matching pointed hat. ¡°That, huh? Well, it certainly would be a problemter, once people are able to piece together what it means.¡±


    Giving a small nod, sheid the outfit on Aurivy¡¯s bed, before pulling the small girl up into herp to hug while she spoke. ¡°The matter of training yourself to hide your Keeper status is fairly simple. You just have to be able to determine what powerse from yourself, and what onese from being a Keeper. After that, imagine a wall between the two. Now, that wall won¡¯t do you any good if you start pulling from your Keeper powers, so you¡¯ll need to be careful to only use your personal abilities.¡±


    ¡°Put me down~!¡± Aurivy cried out pitifully in Terra¡¯sp, iling her short arms to try to get free while the older goddess exined.


    ¡°Of course, this doesn¡¯t apply to your health, so that one will simply take a bit of acting. You¡¯ll need to pretend that injuries are as bad as they appear, and maybe even y dead when your health would normally be depleted.¡± Terra continued,pletely ignoring Aurivy¡¯s attempt to free herself.


    ¡°That¡­ sounds pretty simple, actually.¡± Honestly, I had been expecting to go through another set of hellish training with Terra when I brought it up. But, I much prefer this answer! ¡°Well, can you call up Tryval? I¡¯m about to go pause the world so I can talk with him without his unicorndies noticing he¡¯s missing.¡±


    Terra nodded in response, so I turned and went back to my room, quickly finding the option to pause that Time Zone. Almost as soon as I did, I heard hooves hitting the floor behind me. ¡°What do you require, my liege?¡± Turning around, I saw Tryval in all his glory, standing in front of me with his arms crossed at his chest.


    ¡°Let¡¯s talk for a bit. Some things I need you to understand, and other things I need to hear from you.¡± He gave a passive nod to what I said, so I started.


    ¡°First, what is your n for the centaurs? This is something I need to know, so that there won¡¯t be conflicts, and can either aid you or correct you if needed.¡± Tryval wasn¡¯t born with system knowledge like Terra was, so he only has what he has seen, or what thoughts I put in him when I made him.


    There was another brief nod before Tryval began speaking. ¡°First, I will raise a family with the two women I have epted as my priestesses. Once the family isrge enough, I intend to showcase their power to the wandering herds as they fall to danger. At the same time, I will keep on the lookout for other variants born that I may take into the family, if their parents would not have them.¡±


    I nodded my head as I listened to his words. ¡°And what are you going to do about the parents who would rather kill their variant offspring?¡± Although I had not witnessed such actions firsthand, the fact that not a single pegasus centaur was alive was a strong indicator that it happened.


    Tryval¡¯s face darkened. ¡°They will be warned beforehand. If they do not heed that warning, and a parent still dares to harm their foal, I will not be merciful. No parent should do such a thing to a child, simply for being born.¡±


    Well, I liked his logic, but not how far he was preparing to go. ¡°How about this? Send the warning to every centaur of the world, and then do so again in another fifty years. At first, they will fear your wrath, especially if a herd or two disobey you. But, once a few variants begin appearing, things might get better for them. After that, you can showcase your unicorn family.¡±


    Tryval considered my words for a few moments. ¡°Very well, my liege. I will follow your words. I will strive to raise my herd high enough in that period.¡±


    I nodded, and then a thought urred to me. ¡°What are you going to do about the offspring for the twins? I mean, they¡¯ll need breeding partners, too, won¡¯t they?¡±


    Tryval didn¡¯t even hesitate before giving his answer. ¡°Naturally, if there are no suitable stallions for the task, I shall take care of it myself. It is important to continue the lineage.¡±


    ¡°Wait, wait, wait, no!¡± I violently shook my head, waving my arms in front of me. ¡°Denied, not allowed. New rule, the father shall not breed the daughter. This rule must be kept!¡± It might sound wrong of me to want to enforce modern day morals onto an archaic society, but I can¡¯t help it! Fathers can¡¯t do that!


    ¡°Pardon, my liege?¡± Tryval looked at me in confusion. ¡°Then, what is it I am supposed to do? As you said, I need to raise the herd. If I am not an active breeding partner beyond the first generation, there is a chance that there might not be any males born.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ find someone! Use a son from the other twin if you have to, at least that way they¡¯re only half-siblings. Or, find a willing male centaur. But, fathers can¡¯t mate with their daughters! Completely not allowed!¡±


    Tryval had a troubled look on his face as he listened. ¡°Very well, my liege. I shall do my best to uphold your words. You said there were things you needed to tell me, as well?¡±


    Distraction sighted, and epted! ¡°That¡¯s right. I need to show you some things.¡± Reaching down to myputer desk, I grabbed my book of spells to hand to Tryval. ¡°Unicorn variants, and the so far unseen qilin variants, are both extremely talented in magic. Memorize these spells, and begin training the twins. When their children are born and ready to train, have their mothers teach them. Assuming, of course, that they are born as the same variant.¡±


    Tryval epted the book, slowly looking through it. After a few long minutes ofmitting the patterns within to memory, he handed it back. ¡°My thanks. I shall follow your words in this matter, as well. Is there anything else you require of me?¡±


    I thought about it, but shook my head. ¡°That should be all. I¡¯ll be speeding up the world after I send you back, and see how things look in a few years.¡± He gave me a brief nod, before again vanishing into thin air. With a shrug, I turned around and resumed the Time Zone. Let¡¯s see how this ends up, then.

 Chapter 33: Like Herding Centaurs

    <h4>Chapter 33: Like Herding Centaurs</h4>


    Fifty years passed in the blink of an eye. For the majority of the centaurs, that fifty years did not amount to much. However, I checked the poption statistics for the variant races, and discovered something. First, the pegasus centaurs. There were actually two that had been born and were still alive. Looking into it, they were each still treated as outcasts within their herd, but they had not been trampled.


    Now, for the unicorn centaurs¡­ Tryval has been busy¡­ I let out a small sigh as I looked at the numbers. There were a total of fifty-seven unicorn centaurs now, and all of them were in his herd. One of the variants that I had been worried about not having the ability to establish a stable poption had started to do so thanks to divine intervention.


    Of the unicorn centaurs, all were at least a level five Mage, while some even climbed to level ten. In this age, that gave them a considerable advantage. Sadly, there had still not been a qilin centaur born yet, and aside from the unicorns that Tryval was personally raising, there hadn¡¯t been any more of those yet, either.


    Finding Tryval, I sent another message for him toe up to meet me, and paused the world again. This time, I shared with him the knowledge of stone age tools, and instructed him to tell the centaurs about it. He could treat it as a reward for them following his orders thus far. With the benefits of actual weapons, centaurs should be able to better defend themselves if attacked.


    Tryval seemed to appreciate the information I gave him, and immediately spread it out as ordered. For now, let¡¯s just watch how things go. It should be almost time for his grand reveal of the variants to a few herds.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Tristan was racing through the fields, his herd following behind him. Behind them, a series of growls echoed out. ¡°Hurry, just a little more!¡±


    The group of centaurs had been running for nearly an hour to escape their pursuers. ck creaturesing just above their waists, with needle-like spikesing from their backs. The grue, terrifying creatures to the centaurs. Too tall to trample, to short to punch, and too fast to kick. Their only hope was to run, run until the grue were tired out, and then turn around to attack.


    However, at this time, a barrage of fire and ice sailed towards the grue from the distance. Tristan and his herd skidded to a stop, eyes wide as they looked at the source of this mysterious power. They could hear the sounds of explosions behind them, and the pitiful cries of the grue as they sumbed.


    At the horizon, there stood five men, all with pure white hair. Their hands were extended to point towards the grue, watching the red bars that represented their life falling to nothing. However, that wasn¡¯t what truly caught their eyes. Rather, it was that each of the men had a shining, spiral horn protruding from their head. The lengths of these horns varied, with the shortest being just over a foot long, and the longest being nearly three feet. However, it was enough to confirm one thing for the centaur herd.


    The outcast¡­ That thought rang through the minds of each centaur, and many felt a sense of disgust rise up with it. It did not matter that they had been saved by an unknown power. The mere existence of that power confirmed for some that the outcast would never belong in a herd.


    However, their next action surprised the herd. Rather than staying to celebrate their kills, they lowered their hands and backed up. Then, a pitch ck centaur, one who struck an innate awe in everyone present, walked in front of them. ¡°We¡¯re done here.¡± He said calmly, looking to the herd that had recently been fleeing.


    Together with the five outcast, this new centaur ran back into the distance. With that, mixed feelings were spread throughout the rescued herd. Some still viewed the outcast with disdain, while others were silently thankful. Still more were thankful that the outcast did not turn their hands towards the herd.


    This scene repeated itself dozens of times. If a herd was about to be in mortal peril, a barrage of fire and ice would arrive from the distance. Among two of those herds, there were outcasts within the herd, as well. These outcasts did not possess horns, but rather wings.


    When the horned outcasts arrived to save these herds, they did not immediately leave as they did with the others. Rather, that ck-haired centaur strode forth, straight towards the winged outcast. Aside from the outcast, everyone else felt an invisible pressure forcing them to back up several paces.


    ¡°My child.¡± He spoke in a soft voice. ¡°Among your own herd, you are unwanted. You are not treated as their equal. If you wish, you maye with us.¡±


    Among the two winged outcast, one chose to remain with his herd. Whether or not they treated him fairly, they were family, and all he has ever known. However, the other had been scorned all his life. Seeing the chance for happiness, he easily epted the offer.


    When the winged outcast left the herd, some felt remorseful. Either for disappointing this powerful figure in front of them, or being so unkind to a member of their own herd that that person willingly chose to leave it at the first opportunity. Others, felt joy. Joy that they would no longer be ¡®held back¡¯ by the outcast.


    Which side was right, and which was wrong, they would learn soon enough.


    _______________________________________________________________


    I nodded my head in satisfaction, watching Tryval deal with the various herds. Although he was tantly using his god powers to transport people, it still got the job done, and left a heavy impact in their hearts. I sent another message to Tryval when he was done with the final herd, though this time I was not summoning him.


    You can stay with them for another hundred years. After that, you should only get involved if things be dire. Let them rely on themselves for a while. After sending the message, I saw that Tryval looked towards the sky, but did not send any direct replies. He could watch over his people as long as he wanted, but leading them directly like this and putting so many empowered unicorns in the ranks will only unbnce things even further.


    With that taken care of, I nced to the underworld, to see how Irena was handling things. I had to admit that this would be an extra burden on her, due to so many souls appearing from various times all at once. Ultimately, I was unsure what she would do about it.


    What I found was thousands of centaurs, spread out around the outermost areas of the underworld. Each one seemed to gradually be moved closer to the center, likely meaning that once the Time Zone caught up with the rest of the world, they would be appearing alongside the rest of the spirits.


    As if sensing that I was looking at her domain, a voice suddenly appeared from behind me. ¡°Can I help you with something, Dale?¡± Turning around, I found Irena standing there, her wings tucked in behind her back, arms down at her sides.


    ¡°Ah, sorry¡­ I was just wanting to make sure everything was going alright on your end.¡± I looked over to her, and saw her furrowing her eyebrows. ¡°You are okay, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    She hesitated for a long moment before nodding. ¡°The extra work is not a problem. As long as I ce the older souls further away from the center, they can be seen as having wandered in over time, rather than every generation appearing at once.¡± Her voice was softer when she spoke this time,pared to our previous encounter.


    And now, it was time for me to make the most amateur mistake a man can ever make. ¡°So, what was the matter earlier? You were acting different before¡­¡±


    Irena¡¯s eyes shed with a cold light, but she restrained herself, taking a deep breath. ¡°It is¡­ not your fault, Dale. You are¡­ not used to speaking to us, I believe.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Okay, now I was confused!


    ¡°The meeting.¡± She said, her bottom lip curling into a cute pout. ¡°You paused the world, so I didn¡¯t have anything to do while you were gone, andter found out you went to some Keeper meeting by yourself.¡± After saying that, her expression quickly returned to normal. ¡°I would have appreciated an invitation, is all.¡±


    ¡°Ahh¡­¡± Wait, that was it? Well¡­ true, I didn¡¯t think to invite her. Or Aurivy, for that matter. Out of all the gods and goddesses, Terra is definitely the one I am mostfortable with. At some point, I should take the time to improve my rtionships with Irena and Aurivy, and maybe even Tryval. So far, Terra is the one that Aurivy has spent all her time with since she was created, so she has barely talked to me outside of asking me to save her from Terra.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± I shook my head, epting that I was wrong this time. ¡°Like you said, I¡¯m not used to talking to you guys. How about this¡­ once the centaurs are caught up with the rest of the world, I¡¯ll go spend a little while in the underworld.¡±


    Irena¡¯s eyes lit up, her wings shaking slightly as she looked at me. ¡°A-are you sure, sir?¡± Her voice was trembling, her lips curving upwards.


    I smiled, nodding my head. ¡°I need to learn the spirit sses at some point, and can you think of any better trainer for me than you yourself?¡± I asked with a small grin. ¡°Besides, I want to see what you¡¯ve done with the ce firsthand.¡±


    Irena immediately shook her head. ¡°No, of course not! I¡¯d be happy to help, sir! I¡¯ll make sure everything is ready for you when you arrive!¡±


    After saying that, she turned around and happily skipped out of the room. I smiled wryly as I watched her, before turning my attention back towards the centaurs. I was tempted to buy more systems, but I wanted to wait until the world was moving along the same timeline. As the level restriction was in ce, and only set to level thirty, I knew that the world was working to synchronize.


    Another fifty years, and I checked their progress again. Another unicorn centaur had been born to one of the herds, but this one was epted, even after the horn began to show. Five more pegasus had been born, but they were not so lucky. Maybe it was because the pegasus were so much more different, but the ones born to normal herds were still prejudiced.


    Finally, something that seemed to be even more important happened. Among the normal herds, a qilin centaur had finally been born. A lone male, with antlers on his human head, and scales along his horse body. He was even more of an outcast than the pegasus, but I could already see Tryval heading to greet him. Truly, among the centaur, the qilin were the rarest. And, in this early stage, they could easily be considered the most powerful.


    I wasn¡¯t sure what the results would be if a qilin centaur bred with a unicorn centaur, aside from the one in a thousand chance for the horned qilin to appear. It could be that the unicorn blood would be dominant, as it is the moremon variation, or that the qilin blood is dominant. It might even turn out that the mixed variants can¡¯t sessfully breed, except for that one in a thousand chance.


    I flipped forward another fifty years, to the time that I had given Tryval that he would have to leave that herd. By now, they had actually split into four smaller herds, each one following his lead. The original unicorn twins had long since passed from age, and all that was left was the descendants that Tryval had granted them.


    Today, what I assumed to be the leaders from the four herds were all gathered in one ce, meeting with Tryval.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Do not fear, my children. Though I will not be guiding you in body, my eyes will always be watching you.¡± The god of the centaurs spoke to his people, the four horsemen he had appointed to lead his people in his stead. Of the four, two were unicorns, one was a pegasus, and thest was the sole qilin.


    ¡°If ever therees a time when my people face true danger, I will be there. But, until then, it has been decided that I shall leave.¡± His choice of words caused confusion to appear on the faces of the centaurs. If it was not his decision, then who? Though, none could voice this question. ¡°For you to grow on your own, and be strong as a group, it is best to do so on your own.¡±


    Tryval took a deep breath, looking at each of the centaurs. ¡°I have done what I could for you, as a father and as a leader. But, from now on, I can only give simple guidance to those who call for me within their minds. There will be hardships, and you will lose family. These trials may harden your heart, but I ask that you keep my teachings in mind. The other herds, those who may have earned your ire in the past, you must not harm them. Avoid them if you must, but do not let them see your rage. For the sake of all our people, you must always follow this rule.¡±


    Taking a step forward, Tryval addressed the lone qilin centaur. ¡°Kryon, I will ce you as the leader of these herds, to care for and protect them. Remember, I am always watching.¡± He said with a gentle smile. ¡°Do not disappoint me, my child.¡±


    The four leaders all bowed their heads at his words, feeling a gentle breeze sweep over them. After several long moments of silence, they lifted their heads, only to find that their ruler, their god, had vanished without a trace. Again, their heads lowered, and the four of them decided that they would cherish the memories of their time together with Tryval. Their god had spoken, and they would obey. But, deep in the backs of their minds, they still questioned his choice of words.

 Chapter 34: Catching Up

    <h4>Chapter 34: Catching Up</h4>


    Nodding my head slightly, I watched where Tryval left to after vanishing from the sight of the centaurs. In truth, he was actually still standing right in front of them, he had simply made them unable to see him. I really need to get a list of what all gods can do like that.


    Once again, I fast forwarded in another fifty year increment, not quitefortable yet with a big leap like I had done for the other races. It would get there eventually, but first I wanted to make sure that they wouldn¡¯t end up killing themselves in the process. Otherwise, wouldn¡¯t sending Tryval down in the first ce be pointless?


    Looking at the poption statistics, there had been one more qilin centaur born, but the old one had also died. Going by the fact that the new qilin was also with the herd of unicorn centaurs, it was likely a child of the former qilin. Over the fifty year jump, the poption for the variant herds remained somewhat stable, only gaining a few members overall.


    However, for the general herds, there had been arger increase. This was likely due to onerge factor, and that was Tryval pushing for the eptance of the variants. By now, several members of the variant herds had already reached the level 30 cap, with most of their levels in magic. For the three living pegasus centaurs, they had high levels in Scout, meaning that they were most likely being actively utilized by their herds.


    I doubted that they had reached a level of eptance where they were allowed to mate with the general poption, but this was already a good step forward. As such, I began increasing the jumps to one hundred years each. Every time, I would briefly look over the statistics such as poption numbers and levels, and look for new advances in culture.


    I wasn¡¯t until four hundred yearster where the first major change took ce. When I stopped at this interval, I found a few of the centaurs carrying bundles on their backs. I did not know what purpose those bundles served at the time, so I fast forwarded a few hours, keeping an eye on that herd.


    Later that evening, when the sun was just beginning to set, several centaurs came over to remove the bundles from the backs of those carrying them. They then proceeded to spread out, showing that the true form of the bundles were primitive copsible tents. When spread to their full size, each tent had enough space for five centaurs to climb under it, though the true form of the tent was little more than a leather tarp held in ce by multiple posts. There were no walls, so it only served for protection against rain.


    In the corner, I saw a notification at that time that I had been awarded points for the centaurs learning construction techniques. I wasn¡¯t going to turn down the fifteen points for them learning technology innovations on their own. However, my curiosity had been sated, so I resumed leaping forward in time.


    After the next hundred year leap, I saw almost every herd, aside from the variant herds, carrying those same tent bundles. As for the variants, I had the feeling that they did not need them so badly. They had lost their only qilin, but they still had the magic of fire, which was not a power the general centaurs had fully mastered yet. However, there was one thing that surprised me.


    Six hundred years after Tryval¡¯s disappearance, there was what looked to be a city cropping up at a particr area of the ins. Its inhabitants, almost exclusively variants. At the center of the city was a statue depicting what I assumed to be Tryval, standing nearly thirty feet tall, the tallest structure in the entire city. Aside from that statue, the tallest structure was only fifteen feet tall.


    This city, named Try¡¯s Hold from the information in the system, spanned dozens of miles in diameter. Now, that does not mean it was densely popted, quite the opposite really. There were less than eight hundred residents of Try¡¯s Hold, but they were so spread out that the city seemedrger than it was. Well, I guess it makes sense, if their horse bodies required a lot of regr exercise, they¡¯d want to build things further apart.


    Still, this was the first permanent settlement of centaurs, and from what I saw they had even nted a grove of fruit trees within the city. The leadership in the city seemed to be divided between four individuals, who held equal voting power. If I had to guess, they were the sessors to the original herd leaders that Tryval had appointed, though that was only a guess.


    At this point, I was only a few skips away from the Time Zone finally catching up with the rest of the world. It was almost time to focus on buying the new systems I wanted. I also managed to earn another 75 points from advancements within the centaur race, though none of them were ones I had not seen before.


    Even after thosest few skips, the centaurs were still behind the other races in terms of settlements. However, I had a feeling that in terms of power, the centaurs should be able to rival the other races. They had settled an additional two cities over the course of the years, though neither of the two were asrge as Try¡¯s Hold, which had continued to grow.


    Additionally, in terms of the amount ofnd they explored, the centaurs were rivaled only by the halflings. If not for the fact that they cannot easily move through rough terrain, they likely would have overtaken the halflings by arge margin instead. By now, the centaurs, which had grown to nearly a hundred thousand, upied roughly one percent of their continent. Compared to the elves, that was already more than ten times greater, since elves did not travel very far in their lives after settling down. Anyways, I¡¯m getting off track, once the centaurs caught up in terms of the time I had given them, the following notification was disyed.


    The currently active Time Zone has finished its designated period of activity, and synchronized with the rest of the world. This Time Zone will now be rendered inactive, and can be activated again by selecting it through the options menu. Note that doing so will not incur an extra fee.


    Well, at least it is good to know that Time Zones are reusable, I guess. I shrugged my shoulders, moving to the system market. After unpausing the world, I wanted to buy the systems I had been waiting on. Specifically, this time I wanted the Quest system that had been created at the Keeper meeting.


    Quest System Using this system, it is possible to issue official request contracts to interested parties. This request may be verbal or written, but once epted it is binding. If there is a reward item promised for the quest, it is removed from the issuer when the quest is given. In the event of questpletion, the item is delivered to the recipient. In the event of failure, it is returned to the issuer. If the reward is a service, the issuer ispelled toplete the reward as specified, regardless of intention. Game setting required


    50 points


    I nodded in satisfaction, immediately buying the system. As I did so, a thought urred to me. This is going to require another update announcement¡­ If it were something as simple as an increased level limit, or even extra sses, I could forget the announcement. Arguably, even the achievement and title systems didn¡¯t need one if I didn¡¯t want to. However, the quest system makes it so words can be a binding contract that the world itself enforces. That¡¯s a little bit of a major update.


    Reluctantly, I spent another point to broadcast the message.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Mere weeks had passed since the message had been transmitted to every man, woman, and child. Regardless of race, everyone was still discussing the appearance of the achievement and title systems, as well as what they might mean. More importantly, they were curious about the owner of the mysterious voice that had informed them of these changes, the imperious voice that spoke casually about thews which ran their world.


    And now, that voice spoke again, to the surprise of every sapient creature. Introducing the second major world update! With this update, a quest system has been implemented to the world! Anyone is capable of issuing or receiving quests, and such quests are binding. Rewards and conditions may be attached to a quest, allowing people to ensure their time well spent. Everyone is again encouraged to do their best to obtain greater power, and contribute to the advance of theirmunities!


    For a full minute, the only sapient creatures that were able to make themselves move were those in dire straits. For the rest, they were like frozen statues, paralyzed by the knowledge they had been given, and the fact that the voice had again spoken. This time, what it spoke of was even more outrageous than before, as if it was telling the entire world that its words werew.


    Soon, the first quests were issued, and they truly did discover the meaning behind those words that had been spoken. Anyone who carelessly promised a reward for a favor, and ignored the ringing in their ears, found their body moving outside of their control. The worst off were those that spoke too harshly to others, believing themselves to be above the world.


    One such human male had scolded a young man, saying that if he managed to find a wife for himself, he would run through the city naked. By some twist of fate, the shy man managed to meet a girl the next day, one with whom he shared romantic feelings. A few dayster, when they spoke of their intent to wed, the one who had spoken harshly wept as his body moved despite himself, as if he was a puppet on strings. He disrobed entirely, and ran from one corner of the city to the other. Due to his shame, he did not stop running when he found the wall of the city. As soon as his body was back within his control, he fled into the wilderness, never to return.


    After the first few such quests were issued, nobody dared to speak carelessly, for fear of invoking the wrath of the voice that spoke from the heavens. There were only three exceptions for this, those who had developed writing systemsplete enough for written messages to appear before them. This was the first time such messages had appeared for these races, so they took it to be a sign from above.


    Do you wish to officially issue this quest? Yes/No


    Among the halflings, the elves, and the dwarves, there were many that saw this message appear in front of them after they spoke. Those that knew its meaning rarely agreed, while those that didn¡¯t would soon discover it. But, no matter who it was, nobody would forget the power disyed by the mysterious voice that spoke of change, which seemed to hold power above the gods themselves.


    Several names were bestowed to this voice in theing days, merely as a way to remember it. These names were sources of fear for many inhabitants, fearing that angering this being would bring shame and ruin for the fortunate, and a swift end for those with true crimes.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Nodding to myself in satisfaction after sending the message out, I quickly sent another one to Irena, telling her that I was ready to meet up in the afterlife. All that was left was to get into the body I would be using there. But, this was a fairly simple matter.


    Within a few moments, I had created for myself a Daeva body, with ck hair and white wings. Two small horns protruded from my forehead, and as Irena appeared in the room I suddenly felt my body getting weaker. My weight felt as if it had doubled, and I nearly stumbled to the ground in surprise.


    This must be the penalty for having a race with naturally lower strength. I thought to myself, smiling to Irena. ¡°Ready to go, then?¡± She simply nodded, a smile on her face as she extended her hand to me.

 Chapter 35: Tonight, We Dine in Hell

    <h4>Chapter 35: Tonight, We Dine in Hell</h4>


    Spirit Hunter ss unlocked!


    Spirit Knuckle ability unlocked!


    Reaper ss unlocked!


    Spirit Bolt ability unlocked!


    The moment that I touched Irena¡¯s hand, the scenery around us changed. This was not an unfamiliar sensation, as I experienced it every time I descended. However, I was somewhat surprised by the grey mist swirling around me. Although I had looked at the afterlife a few times, I had never been here myself.


    After a moment, the grey mist flew away, as if retreating from an explosion of force. Instead, what I found was a wooden floor, simr to the architecture of the Admin Room. In fact, there was even the same red bed in the corner. If I didn¡¯t know better, I would have simply thought that someone rearranged the furniture of the Admin Room, rather than transferring to the afterlife.


    That was, until I saw the window. Through the window, I saw andscape of small houses, a ck sky, and a veil of grey fog in the distance. ¡°Wee to my home.¡± Irena said with a small smile. ¡°I did not have much to base it on¡­ as you can tell.¡±


    I nodded slightly at that. Really, that was to be expected. Unless Irena asked Terra for information on Earth architecture, she would only have what existed currently on Earth or in the Admin Room. ¡°That¡¯s fine. So, this is the afterlife, huh?¡±


    Every time I moved my body, it felt like I was trudging through quicksand. Furrowing my brows, I called up my character sheet to see what I was working with at the moment.


    Name


    Dale Mitchell


    Race


    Daeva(Keeper)


    Strength


    3


    Spirit Energy


    69/69(1275/1275)+15/15


    Stamina


    3


    Intelligence


    8(21)


    Dexterity


    3(30)


    Wisdom


    9(22)


    Luck


    4


    Charm


    6


    ss List


    Reaper 1(39)


    Spirit Hunter 1(42)


    I could only let out a reluctant sigh, epting my fate. I¡¯d need to look through the advanced ssester, see if I could find any focusing on strength or stamina. However, there was one entry in the sheet that confused me. ¡°Irena, mind clearing something up?¡±


    She nodded her head quickly. ¡°Of course, what is it?¡±


    ¡°This sheet¡­ it has an extra number for my Spirit Energy. I¡¯m not really sure why, though.¡± After I said that, Irena furrowed her brows, before closing her eyes and focusing.


    ¡°Hmm, it seems that you have a second spirit bound to your body?¡± Oh¡­ right, I forgot about that boar. ¡°Do you want me to exorcise it?¡±


    ¡°Huh? No, sorry, I just forgot it was there. So, how has everything been for you here, Irena?¡±


    Her smile grew slightly when she heard my question. ¡°It¡¯s been good. I am working to migrate the centaur spirits to this city, so that they can be introduced to the poption.¡±


    I nodded my head slightly at that. It wouldn¡¯t be good to leave them all alone out there, but bringing them all back in at the same time would be just as bad, if not worse. ¡°Okay¡­ so, how do I do this whole spirit shaping thing? And, any information I should know?¡±


    I mean, I could just figure out how the basic powers work by studying them, but I had the perfect teacher here. Might as well use what she knows.


    Irena nodded at the question. She immediately resumed her businesslike appearance, cing both arms at her side, only lifting one to briefly adjust her sses. ¡°First of all, aging. This is a non-issue for you as a Keeper, but it is relevant to other information. Those in the afterlife are essentially immortal, so long as their age never exceeds their maximum Spirit Energy.¡±


    ¡°If that happens, their usable Spirit Energy will begin declining day by day, and when it is fully extinguished, so are they. For a daeva, you can see that the starting limit is just over sixty units of Spirit Energy. For spirits, their starting Spirit Energy values are determined by their ss levels in life. The lower their levels, the less time they have.¡±


    I furrowed my brow in thought at that. ¡°So, a child who did not have time to experience much in life¡­¡±


    Irena simply nodded in response. ¡°Unless they train quickly when they reach the Underworld, they will find themselves reborn within a few years. Now, for either of the two avable sses for this realm, you need to learn how to manipte your Spirit Energy. As a daeva or a spirit, Spirit Energy represents your entire being. We are but masses of Spirit Energy with wills.¡±


    To demonstrate, Irena extended her hand, which dissolved into grey mist for just a moment. When it reformed, it resembled ance three feet long. ¡°You try. Remember to be conservative with your Spirit energy, because you do not have much to waste at these levels.¡±


    I nodded my head, holding my arm out in front of me. What did I actually want to make? If it was a question of a ranged or melee weapon, obviously I want melee. Although a ranged weapon could keep me out of directbat, I¡¯d be making up for that by spending my own life force with every shot. So, what kind of melee weapon do I want?


    Closing my eyes, I felt an energy stirring within me. This wasn¡¯t mana, I was all too familiar with that. No, this was Spirit Energy, something I¡¯ve only felt from my own body in the Admin Room. Focusing, I pulled a bit of that energy from my arm, gathering it in front of me. Thanks to Terra¡¯s instructions on smithing, I was all too familiar with how to make simple swords.


    Shaping the hilt, the de, the guard, everything felt so fluent. It wasn¡¯t until the end when something unexpected happened. The boar spirit, which had been silently lurking in my body since I had acquired it, suddenly began to rampage. I was startled, almost jumping from the sensation, feeling that presence run along my arm and jump out through my hand. Directly into the sword I had just made.


    Spirit Hunter has leveled up!


    Spirit Hunter has leveled up!


    Spirit Hunter has leveled up!


    Three levels all at once, the messages greeting me as I opened my eyes. What I saw in front of me was¡­ definitely not the sword I had wanted to make. What had started as a short sword grew by a dozen centimeters, putting it just shy of being a longsword.


    Additionally, the cross-guard had changed drastically. Previously, it had been a normal line of metal extending from either side, but now it had curved, resembling tusks as they edged towards the de. At the center of the guard, there was an engraving of a boar head, with two ruby eyes staring down the length of the sword.


    ¡°This is¡­ interesting.¡± Irena said with wide eyes. ¡°I have not seen this effect before.¡± She then held out her hands, both of which returned to being normal hands, as if to take the sword from me. ¡°May I?¡±


    I nodded, handing it over to her. She held the de for a long moment, examining the changes that had been made. ¡°Very interesting. It feels like the soul of the boar has merged with the sword.¡±


    Well¡­ I certainly knew that there was an ability like this for higher level Spirit Hunters, but I did not imagine that the basic Spirit Tamer ability would work for the same purpose. ¡°Does it have any special effects?¡± I asked, somewhat hopefully.


    Irena looked taken aback by the question, but nheless examined the sword again. ¡°Aside from carrying extra weight and a little more striking power, I do not think you will find any special abilities with this weapon.¡± After that, she handed the sword back to me. ¡°Try to take it back into yourself.¡±


    I nodded, epting the weapon. I could still feel a connection with it, and as soon as I tried to recall it, it felt as if the sword shattered in my grasp. Strands of grey mist flew into my arm, and I felt the presence of the boar spirit slowly walking back to its resting ce. ¡°Very interesting¡­¡± For some reason, I didn¡¯t like the way that Irena was looking at me with wide, excited eyes, as if she had found a subject for research.


    The next few hours were spent with me making various different types of items out of Spirit Energy. Each time I made abat oriented item, such as a dagger, sword, or even a shield or armor, the boar spirit would merge with it. Even when I made a helmet, it ended up looking like the boar¡¯s skull thanks to the spirit¡¯s influence.


    On the bright side, this allowed me to get a lot of experience with the Spirit Hunter ss. Even without fighting, it seemed that simply making new types of items was enough to level up a good bit. It wasn¡¯t until nearly three hourster that I had to say enough. There were other things I wanted to do here, aside from just training this one ss. Though¡­ I did like the improvements I made to it.


    Name


    Dale Mitchell


    Race


    Daeva(Keeper)


    Strength


    3


    Spirit Energy


    172/172(1275/1275)+15/15


    Stamina


    3


    Intelligence


    8(21)


    Dexterity


    8(30)


    Wisdom


    14(23)


    Luck


    4


    Charm


    7


    ss List


    Reaper 1(39)


    Spirit Hunter 15(42)


    ¡°Okay, okay, enough.¡± I raised my hands in surrender, not wanting to train this ss anymore.


    Irena smiled at me, crossing her arms under her chest. ¡°Then, what would you like to do next, sir?¡±


    I thought about that for a moment, and then decided to ask a question. ¡°ording to the information, this ss should be usable by living people, as well. Do you have any idea how to go about that?¡±


    Her smile quickly faded, reced by a thoughtful expression as she stared into nothingness. ¡°Well¡­ living creatures can¡¯t manipte their own Spirit Energy, as doing so would permanently damage their own health. So, most likely they need to get an alternate source of raw Spirit Energy, which they can manipte as their own. It probably won¡¯t recover naturally, meaning that they will need to harvest the energy every time they want to replenish.¡±


    Well, that seemed easy enough, I guess? Basically, Spirit Tamers would be able to be Spirit Hunters if they tried to create items out of the raw Spirit Energy they absorb from damaged souls. Would have to be something I¡¯d tryter, maybe give it to another race as a signature ss.


    ¡°Ah, one more thing. Spirit Energy, and anything made from it, is invisible to the living. I¡¯m not sure if there is some way around that, but to my knowledge, no normal spirit constructs can be seen by or interact with the living world.¡± Irena decided to share onest tidbit of information with me on the subject, which made me question the usefulness of the ss in normal situations for the living.

 Chapter 36: The Hidden God

    <h4>Chapter 36: The Hidden God</h4>


    After calling it quits with training the Spirit Hunter ss, I asked Irena about how the Reaper ss worked. Or, well, I nned to. Before I could get the question out, a knock sounded throughout the building we were in. I was somewhat curious how the sound had reached the room, but seeing Irena¡¯s face growing colder, I figured there were other things to worry about. ¡°I¡¯ll be right back.¡± She said abruptly, before turning to leave the room.


    ¡°Can Ie with?¡± I asked curiously. ¡°Want to see how you manage things around here. I mean, it¡¯s got to be a lot of work to do on your own.¡±


    Irena¡¯s footsteps paused after I asked that, and she seemed to be struggling to decide. After a moment, however, she nodded her head slightly. Following that, the two of us proceeded to move out of the bedroom and into a long hall, at the end of which was a single door. The hall had a simple wooden floor with white painted walls and ceiling, so there was not exactly a lot to look at.


    However, when we made it to the next room, I saw a throne in the center of arge room. The throne was seated atop a raised pir, which Irena flew up to. Since I was here to simply observe, I didn¡¯t go up there to join her. I would likely only be getting in the way if I did so.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°You may enter.¡± A cold voice rang out beyond the door to the pce of the Goddess of the Underworld. This caused the figure standing there to shake uncontrobly. It was not that she normally had a caring personality, but the Goddess seemed worse than usual right now.


    ¡°Y-yes.¡± He said, hurriedly opening the doors and stepping through. As usual, he found the Goddess upon her throne, but this time there was something different. At the back of the room, next to a door that nobody ever uses, was a daeva that the man had never seen before. He just stood there calmly, looking between Irena and the man, as if watching a performance.


    ¡°You have something to report?¡± Before the human spirit could think about this new character for too long, the Goddess¡¯s cold voice snapped his attention back to her. He could see barely restrained fury within her eyes, and knew that dying would be¡­ unhealthy.


    ¡°Y-yes. This one has been tasked with providing a report to your majesty.¡± The spirit bowed down low, as if breaking eye contact would direct the fury he had seen to go elsewhere.


    ¡°Get on with it, then.¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± Even with his body being already dead, he could feel a cold sweat gathering. ¡°Today, arge number of an unidentified race has appeared at the borders of the city, and we felt that this matter should be brought to your attention.¡±


    ¡°I am aware of the matter already.¡± She spoke briefly. ¡°Is there anything else.¡±


    ¡°A-ah. Yes¡­ this¡­¡± The man tried to figure out how to ask what he needed to ask, the second reason he had been elected to talk to the Goddess. As a member of the governing council, he had the chance to converse with the Goddess, and the obligation to do so in emergencies. ¡°This voice that everyone is hearing-¡±


    He did not even finish his words when a heavy pressure forced him to his knees. Looking up, he knew it was from her. ¡°You do not need to know of these things.¡± He could feel the venom in her voice, and knew that if he tried to press the subject, he might not live to regret it.


    ¡°U-understood, Goddess.¡± His entire body shook, trying to force himself to his feet, but simply being unable to.


    ¡°Is there anything else?¡± He barely managed to lift his head to look at her, seeing that her patience had almost reached its limit. There had been other matters he had been sent here to discuss, but he knew that he had no chance of going over them at this time.


    ¡°N-no. That is all.¡± As soon as the words left his lips, the pressure on him changed. From pushing him to the floor, it wrapped around him and flung him out the door before he could even make a sound. By the time he noticed he had even moved, he was mming against a wall over a hundred meters away from the pce.


    After he recovered, he couldn¡¯t help but think about the figure that had calmly stood at the side, in a ce none had dared to stand before. How that figure had simply watched Irena, as if measuring her. He felt an all new series of chills running down his spine at that.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°That seemed a bit extreme.¡± I spoke after the elf spirit had been abruptly tossed from the room. It was obvious that he was afraid of Irena, and that she seemed a bit upset. Most likely, she hadn¡¯t nned on anyone interrupting us.


    ¡°Sorry.¡± She said, turning her head away. Though, her voice had lost its coldness, bing a bit more gentle. ¡°Really, though, you do seem to enjoy making things difficult.¡± She uttered thatst bit with a sigh, just barely loud enough for me to hear.


    ¡°Huh? Did something bad happen?¡± I was confused by that statement, not knowing what she meant.


    ¡°Those announcements, of course. Though, I guess you probably didn¡¯t have another way to do it easily, did you?¡± Ahh¡­ well, I could have had the pantheon pass down the information, but this seemed more efficient? ¡°Wait, you did?¡± She saw the guilty look on my face, and performed the underworld¡¯s first facepalm.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ maybe? But it was either that, or repeat it to every god and goddess, and have them do it. Seemed like a better idea to just do it myself.¡±


    Irena let out another sigh. ¡°Well, looks like you¡¯re stuck doing that now. Two announcements like that in a single generation, the image has already been set.¡±


    Oh¡­ ¡°Didn¡¯t really think that far ahead¡­ Any other crucial mistakes I should be aware of?¡±


    Irena seemed to think about it far longer than I wasfortable with. ¡°Not that I can think of right now.¡± She shook her head and stood from the throne. ¡°Now, where were we?¡±


    ¡°You were just about to exin how the Reaper ss powers worked.¡±


    Smiling, Irena nodded her head once. ¡°Aha, that¡¯s right. Well¡­ actually, the Reaper ss is prettyplicated. For a soul spell to trigger, you don¡¯t simply need an image of the spell. You need aplex image, and you need to pour your will into that image. From what I¡¯ve seen, there are some ways to identify patterns between the images, but I have only managed to take it so far.¡±


    ¡°Would you mind giving me a demonstration?¡±


    She nodded her head again, flying down tond in front of me. ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s start with a simple one, a spell I made myself after analyzing what other Reapers were able to produce. This is the image needed for that spell.¡± Irena held one hand out, and above it was a floating golden wheel with six spokes.


    ¡°And the spell it produces¡­ Don¡¯t worry, this doesn¡¯t hurt.¡± Uh oh, I didn¡¯t really like the sound of that. As the image above her hand faded away, six golden rods of light mmed into me from all sides, pinning my body in ce. Surprisingly, they held no physical presence, but simply having them in contact with my body seemed to paralyze me, even the parts that were not touching them.


    I had to wait for her to cancel the spell before I was even able to talk. ¡°W-what was that?¡±


    ¡°I call it the Binding Wheel. You can already guess what it does, so I won¡¯t bother with that exnation. Essentially, the image you produce in your mind will have an impact on the spell. I picture a wheel with six rods, and six rods hold you in ce.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ I see.¡± This is not how I expected the Reaper magic to work. I thought that it might use spell diagrams like the living magic, or work purely based on imagination, but not¡­ whatever this was. ¡°I think it might be better to stick with the Spirit Hunter ss¡­¡± At least that one I was able to use whether I was in the afterlife or the living world, and it seemed considerably easier to manage.


    Irena nodded her head softly. ¡°That¡¯s understandable. Is there anything else you want to do while you are here?¡± Her voice seemed to hold some hope, as if she wasn¡¯t ready for me to leave just yet. It¡¯s understandable, really. I mean, when making her personality I made it so that she loved me, and this was the first time we had ever spent an extended period together. I¡¯d be surprised if she was ready for it to end so quickly.


    However, a thought did ur to me. ¡°Well¡­ there is one thing I want to do, but I need to get an answer from you, first.¡±


    ¡°Of course, anything you need.¡± She seemed happy that I was not leaving yet, but I doubt she would do anything more than secretly pout if I had.


    ¡°When a Spirit Hunter makes an item, is there any way to recover the Spirit Energy they use in it, aside from absorbing the item back into themselves?¡±


    Irena thought about that for a short moment, but then nodded her head. ¡°Yes, as long as you are within the underworld, your Spirit Energy will recover at a natural rate. If you are in the mortal world, you would have to acquire the energy from other sources.¡±


    I nodded my head slightly, and then considered the total SE I had at my disposal. ¡°Alright, then I¡¯d like to make something. Think of it as a decoration for your house.¡± Irena¡¯s smile brightened when she heard that, but her jaw dropped when she saw me moving to the door.


    ¡°Y-you mean outside?¡± She asked, her voice seeming to indicate she was practically panicking.


    ¡°Yeah, is that a problem?¡± I asked curiously.


    ¡°No¡­¡± She said after a long moment. ¡°But, we should take steps to make sure that you aren¡¯t seen. Or, do you want your reputation to climb even higher?¡±


    I¡­ hadn¡¯t thought about that. ¡°Okay¡­ do what you have to do.¡± I gave her my approval as I began walking to the door again. I had barely taken a step outside when arge ck wall rose up around the courtyard,pletely sealing off the pce. Sheesh¡­ a little overboard?


    _______________________________________________________________


    A strange sight urred that day in the underworld, in the vicinity of the Goddess¡¯s Pce. First, one of the leading members of the council had been forcibly thrown out. Then, not ten minutester, a man had emerged from the pce, one nobody had ever seen before. As soon as he emerged, as if to hide his identity a massive wall was raised around him. None could see through the wall to know what was going on, and they could not tell whether it was the man himself who created the wall, or their Goddess.


    All they knew was that a wall had been formed as soon as anyone could see his face, and that when the wall was gone, a work of art appeared in front of the pce that astounded everyone. Arge, stone pir over five meters wide and ten tall stood at the center, with ten figures surrounding it. The pir itself was unimportant, but the figures left everyone speechless.


    Standing facing away from the pce was the Goddess Irena, whom everyone recognized. Among the other nine, many people were able to ce names to them, despite having never seen them before. They were all the gods and goddesses, who were known to each of their races the moment they were born. Each one facing away from the pir, as if protecting it.


    What, then, did the pir signify? Was it the world, with the gods and goddesses protecting it from harm? Some thought that might be the case, but many had a different opinion. Many believed that the pir was someone whom even the gods must obey. They stood, not to protect the pir, but to simply stand with it. People began imagining that an eleventh figure stood atop the pir, standing above the gods themselves. However, no such figure had been created with this work of art, leaving them confused for its true purpose.

 Chapter 37: A World Divided

    <h4>Chapter 37: A World Divided</h4>


    ¡°Dale¡­ did you have to make something so showy?¡± Irena asked me with an almost pained sight after I went back into her home. What? I¡¯m rather proud of it! Thankfully, this worked to finish my old quest to put Terra¡¯s image into the world, though I currently didn¡¯t qualify for the priest ss, due to it not being avable for the daeva and spirits.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter with it?¡± I asked curiously, watching as she lowered the giant ck wall around the building.


    ¡°Nothing, really¡­ But why did you arrange them like that? Doesn¡¯t it look a bit¡­ I don¡¯t know what to call it¡­¡± Irena had her eyes directed outside still, and I knew she was looking in the direction of the new monument.


    ¡°Hmm? I thought it made the most sense. I mean, all of the gods should have an equal standing, in order for nobody to be prejudiced. And with them arranged in a circle around the pir, it shows that they can watch over the entire world.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡± She merely sighed, reluctantly epting my exnation. I wasn¡¯t sure why, but she still had a somewhat conflicted look on her face. ¡°Is there anything else you wanted to do while you were here?¡±


    I thought about that for a few moments, and then nodded. ¡°There¡¯s not much I want to do while here, but I¡¯d like to ask you a few questions, make sure I understand how the afterlife is being run.¡±


    Irena nodded, leading me back towards the bedroom. ¡°Ask away, then.¡±


    ¡°Alright¡­ First, I guess this has been bothering me a little bit, but how do you handle families here? I mean, often only one or two members of a family die at a time, so it¡¯d be easy for them to get separated here.¡±


    Irena nced at me for a moment before providing her answer. ¡°That is a¡­plicated subject, and one I am not entirely equipped to handle. My powers do not currently extend to being able to read everyone¡¯s family ties. If they don¡¯t die together, I imagine that many families are separated upon arrival. In the case where a family is strictly needed, such as for a child waiting for their rebirth, I have a council that puts them with families that will care for them.¡±


    I nodded my head at that. With the number of children dying every day, it¡¯d be hard for Irena to personally find homes for every one of them. ¡°Then, what about monsters? Surely they are still a problem aftering here?¡±


    Her brows furrowed a bit at that question, as it seemed to be a touchy subject. ¡°Yes, they are. Many of them try to attack as soon as they are brought to the afterlife. I have considered splitting the afterlife to allow and for the monsters to exclusively roam, that way the sapient beings do not have to fear them.¡±


    ¡°Are¡­ you able to do that?¡± I looked to the goddess in mild surprise. Something like splitting the entire afterlife, which was essentially a whole world, seemed like something that only a Keeper should be able to do.


    ¡°I¡­ think it¡¯s possible. You made this entire realm my domain, so I feel as if I am able to do anything here. Though, I do believe that I have limits. For instance, I can¡¯t look into the minds of any of the daeva or spirits. I can look into what they were doing immediately before death, but aside from that I am left to my own devices. Upon arriving, they have a mark on their soul that shows how evil or good they had been in life, but I believe that is a feature you put into the afterlife itself, not one of my powers.¡±


    I nodded my head slightly. That did fit with what I had described this afterlife as to the system. Maybe I should add in more systems to support it? Something like a karma or alignment system. Stuff like that should already be readily avable on the market,


    ¡°Is there anything else you wanted to ask?¡± Irena¡¯s question snapped me out of my thoughts.


    ¡°Huh? Oh, well. I guess there¡¯s one thing. Is there anything you¡¯d like me to do to make the management of the afterlife a bit easier for you?¡±


    Irena looked at me in shock at that, and then sank deep into thought as we arrived at the bedroom. ¡°I think most of my problems will be solved after society advances a bit more. However, do I have your permission to iste the monster spirits in a separate section of the underworld?¡±


    I blinked rapidly, turning my head to look at her. ¡°Why are you asking me for permission? This is your domain, as you said.¡±


    The daeva goddess smiled slightly. ¡°True, but this is a decision that will affect the course of history. It is not something I can arbitrarily decide on my own.¡±


    What, so only I am allowed to make arbitrary decisions like that? I sighed inwardly. ¡°Sure, go ahead. It should make things easier for you here.¡± I nodded my head, and Irena smiled, closing her eyes.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Throughout the underworld, several viges had been set up. Though none rivaled the size and poption of the capital city, where the Goddess herself resided, they were by no means unpopted. However, they were also more prone to attacks from the monster spirits who held no regard for the Goddess¡¯s rule.


    Every vige raised people of great fighting ability in order to defend their vige. This was because, if a monster spirit got ahold of you, they would eat that spirit, consuming its life force to be stronger. Although the Goddess would personally intervene if a particr monster became too powerful, many viges were left to themselves.


    That was, until one day, when many of the viges had been attacked by the standard hordes. However, this time, before any real damage had been done, the monsters seemed to vanish from existence, fading into the mists surrounding the vige. Momentster, some of the furthest viges from the capital noticed a truly remarkable sight.


    A giant palm came down, turned to the side as if chopping through the air. Where it passed, the grey mist ripped apart. When that hand struck the ground, thend shook. Afterwards, when the hand faded away, it seemed as if there was no longer anything beyond where it had struck. No monsters, no grey mist, nothing. The afterlife was safe, or so it would seem.


    On the other side of the fence, the monsters scurried back away from that hand, which had cut them off from their primary food source. Some who had devoured various spirits had gained a semnce of intelligence, and then turned their hunger towards other monsters. Seeing this, more of the lesser monsters followed this example, and the monster¡¯s side of the afterlife became a hellish pit of constant fighting.


    _______________________________________________________________


    After a moment, Irena opened her eyes. ¡°Alright, it¡¯s done now. I¡¯ll still encourage training for the future missions, though hopefully it won¡¯t be such an issue of safety anymore.¡±


    I nodded, smiling to her. ¡°Good, that should make things easier for you, I hope. If you need anything else, just let me know.¡±


    Irena nodded her head. ¡°So, I take it that you are going to head back to the Admin Room now?¡± When I confirmed that I was, she let out a sigh, but moved to stand in front of me. ¡°Alright, just remember, if you ever want to visit¡­¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯lle visit now and then. I want to see how things are going around here, and I think maybe I haven¡¯t been doing enough of thattely.¡±


    The goddess smiled, leaning forward to give me a kiss on the lips before quickly stepped back. ¡°See you around, Dale.¡± I was caught off-guard momentarily by the kiss, having not expected one, but by the time I recovered I was already back in the Admin Room.


    I let out a helpless sigh, thinking about what had just happened. Okay¡­ time to talk with Aurivy. I thought, moving through the Admin Room to find her. I didn¡¯t both changing back to my human body yet, but it¡¯s not like nobody here would recognize me. I mean, there are only three men with ess to the Admin Room. One is a lifeless doll, one is a yboy centaur, and the other is me, who can take any form I want.


    After a bit of searching, I found Aurivy and Terra on the couch in the living room, the former sitting in thetter¡¯sp while they watched TV. ¡°Big bro!¡± Aurivy called out, squirming out of Terra¡¯s grip and running over to give me a hug.


    ¡°Hey there, Rivy. How¡¯re you doing?¡± She puffed out her cheeks poutingly as I used the nickname, but nodded her head.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine. We were just watching some shows from the old Earth. Do you want to join us?¡± She looked up at me to ask with hopeful eyes.


    I could only smile, patting her head. ¡°Maybe in a bit. I was hoping to actually talk with you for a little while before anything else. Would that be alright?¡± At first, she began to pout again, but quickly opened her eyes wide and smiled, nodding her head rapidly. Looking over to Terra, I chuckled. ¡°Mind if I steal her for a bit?¡±


    Terra gave a knowing look, and a warm smile. ¡°Go ahead. This is also something you should be doing. Just make sure to return her when you¡¯re done.¡±


    I nodded, taking her by the hand and moving to Aurivy¡¯s room. ¡°What did big bro want to talk about?¡± She asked cutely, hopping up on her bed andying back to rx. She was currently wearing a slim blue dress that outline her childish figure, and seemed to enjoy it more than she had the clothes I had seen Terra making her try on.


    ¡°Well, you mostly. I wanted to see how you were handling things around here, and being a goddess.¡±


    She tilted her head over to look at me, watching as I sat down on a nearby chair. ¡°Hmm¡­ well, big sis is lots of fun, but she makes me try on a lot of weird clothes. As for the goddess stuff¡­ I¡¯ve been doing what I can, but there¡¯s not much for me to do, you know?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m supposed to be the Goddess of Love. From what Terra said, that means I can influence rtionships. But people are able to do that on their own just fine, right? I mean, I make it easier for halflings to get along with monsters, because it is too sad to watch them fighting all the time. Other than that¡­ I guess I bless a few couples now and then, because they have really sweet stories.¡± Aurivy¡¯s smile became much happier at that point, and I could tell that she liked being able to view the world as a romance novel.


    ¡°Hmm, is there anything you have troubles with? Aside from Terra using you like a dress-up doll, I mean.¡± I added with a grin, seeing that Aurivy was just about to mention that. She puffed up her cheeks again as she thought about it.


    ¡°Well¡­ maybe if you give Bihena her personality, things would be a bit easier? Terra manages the beastmen, I do the halflings, and Tryval does the centaurs. The dwarves are doing alright on their own and are mostly getting along. But, the humans keep fighting and killing each other fornd and power. I¡¯ve been trying to help things along, but it¡¯s like they enjoy it too much!¡± Her arms and legs struck out at the air above her, iling cutely. ¡°If big sis Bihena could manage things, maybe they¡¯d behave themselves better.¡±


    I nodded my head. I had been thinking about who I should give a personality to next, and Bihena did make the most sense. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll see what I can do about that. How are the halflings doing, anyways?¡±


    ¡°Hmm? They¡¯re mostly fine. They are expanding a lot right now, though some of them set up a few empty cities for people to stay at while they are nearby. It¡¯s better to stay in a bed than a hollowed out tree, don¡¯t you think?¡± I had to agree with that, though the idea of an empty city for wanderers struck me as odd. Whatever works, I guess.

 Chapter 38: Systems Update

    <h4>Chapter 38: Systems Update</h4>


    I talked a little while more with Aurivy before I let her go back to watching shows with Terra. When I tried to call Terra to talk with her, she just smiled knowingly to me. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Dale. I¡¯ll let you know if I want anything from the system, trust me. Worry about what the others want first.¡±


    I could only smile, nodding my head to her as I went to talk with the only god left. Though, I had only talked to Tryval recently, so I didn¡¯t expect there to be much he¡¯d want to discuss. Nheless, I sent him a message toe to the Admin Room to chat.


    Momentster, I heard hooves falling onto the floor of the bedroom behind me. Turning around, I saw Tryval standing there, his face a calm mask while his arms were crossed in front of his chest. ¡°My liege. You requested to see me?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. I had something I wanted to ask you.¡± He gave a slow nod for me to continue. ¡°Is there anything you think would help with the system to manage the centaurs, or things that need to be changed?¡±


    Tryval¡¯s eye twitched, but a slight smile appeared on his face for a moment. ¡°Yes, yes there is. This quest system you¡¯ve created, seems to be causing more chaos in the day it has existed than anything else.¡±


    My eyes went wide as I heard that. ¡°What? What¡¯s been going on?¡±


    ¡°People promising absurd things as insults, and then being forced to carry them out against their will, without even a chance to deny issuing the quest that caused it.¡± This seemed amusing to him, but to me this was big news! I mean, having a purely verbal contract is one thing, but having that contract formed from everything you say is entirely different!


    ¡°I-I see. I¡¯ll have to take a look at that, then. Anything else?¡±


    Tryval nodded again, making me worry that even more upsetting news wasing. However, his request seemed to be something else entirely. ¡°I would like permission to interact with my people again, on some scale at least.¡±


    ¡°Tryval¡­ you do know why I stopped you from doing that before, right?¡± He gave another slight nod. ¡°We can¡¯t have you radically advancing the centaurs¡¯ level of power like that. It was fine when they really needed it, but now they have to be left to fend for themselves.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure you entirely understand, my liege.¡± Tryval spoke calmly. ¡°We are a social people by nature. A lone centaur is nothing without the herd. Even if I do not interact with many, it is still best that I am allowed to meet some of them.¡±


    ¡°You just miss having sex with them, don¡¯t you?¡± I asked bluntly, watching as Tryval twitched slightly from that statement, then looked away guiltily. ¡°I¡¯ll make you a deal. You can have one concubine at a time, but you have to follow certain rules.¡± He quickly looked back at me, both interested and concerned with where this was going.


    ¡°First, you can¡¯t have children with them, without permission. It will probably happenter on, but there have been enough demigod centaurs for a while. Next, either your concubine will be away from the other herds, or you will restrain your power to prevent anyone from identifying you as a god. See the previous reasons, they need their own chance to grow. Now, aside from that, you can visit the afterlife as much as you¡¯d like, with Irena¡¯s permission, and meet with the women you used to know.¡±


    Tryval seemed a bit despondent that he could no longer freely have kids, but this was ultimately for the good of the world. And, it would save me headachester on. ¡°Very well, my liege. I will follow yourmand.¡±


    Without waiting for me to dismiss him, Tryval vanished from the room. Well¡­ at least he was thest one. I gave a slight sigh, but furrowing my brows and sitting at theputer. I now had a new mission, before I could even give Bihena a personality, or the karma system. I had to fix the quest system! Why did it have to be broken that badly?


    Opening up the notepad program on myputer, I thought back to theints that Tryval had mentioned regarding this system, and ways that I could counter them. I wanted to allow some freedom for creativity with the inhabitants, while also creating a fair system. In the end, I listed a few bullet points for the rules that I wanted to use for the new quest system.


    I looked through the list once, then twice, making sure that there wasn¡¯t anything too obvious I was missing. I already knew that this system could be abused, but this was as strict as I could make it, while still allowing the inhabitants freedom to be creative with it. Satisfied with this, I submitted it as a system to the market.


    Quest Contracts


    Using this system, it is possible to create a binding contract. This contract holds the details of the quest, as issued by the quest giver, as well as the potential rewards. Uponpletion of the quest, the quest taker receives the reward directly from the contract, whereas the quest giver is refunded the reward upon a failure. The reward may be anything the quest giver describes, so long as it is within their power to provide.


    Game Setting required


    125 points


    I was a bit shocked by the drastically increased price of the system, but it was also reasonable. The mistakes from the original system likely dropped the price down, while this was a moreplete version. I was annoyed at how the market never fully describes the rules of the systems listed, but there wasn¡¯t really much I could do to change that.


    Now, the next problem¡­ Furrowing my brows, I got up to consult Terra again, who was sitting on the couch with Aurivy still. ¡°Got a second?¡±


    She looked over to me, nodding, and patted the seat next to her. Aurivy was sitting on herp, eyes glued to the screen. They seemed to be watching some anime that I was unfamiliar with. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ I wanted to know if it was possible to delete or refund a current system?¡±


    She smiled knowingly. ¡°Wanting to upgrade the quest system?¡± When I nodded my head, she answered. ¡°You can refund a system at any time, but only for half price. The only way to get all of your points back would be to do a full reset. Otherwise, people could just constantly buy and refund the same system to give free royalty points to the inventing Keeper.¡±


    I gave a sigh of relief when she said that, smiling slightly. ¡°Good. Was afraid I might be stuck with this.¡± She giggled lightly when I said that, and I closed my eyes to refund the old system, before buying the new one. ¡°Guess I¡¯ll have to write up another announcement to let people know how this works, now¡­¡±


    Terra grinned wickedly at that. ¡°Well, you could just be vague, and let them figure it out themselves.¡±


    ¡°No¡­ Well, I¡¯m not going to tell them everything, but I won¡¯t just say something like ¡®hey, there¡¯s a new quest menu, have fun¡¯. That would be a bad idea, even to me.¡± I shook my head, standing up from the couch. ¡°I¡¯ll be back to join you two after I finish this.¡± Terra nodded as I left, and I had the feeling Aurivy never even noticed I had entered the room.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Introducing the third major update, providing an overhaul of the previous quest system. Now, anyone can ess a new quest menu to create quests. The specifics of the quests themselves are simr to what was previously allowed, though there is now more freedom for both parties. Everyone is again encouraged to do their best to obtain greater power, and contribute to the advance of theirmunities!


    The voice, it came again. No more than a day had passed since the world stood still for itsst announcement, and now people were already reminded of it. Those who had experienced firsthand the horrors of the previous quest system felt a new sense of terror ovee them.


    Those who already had quests issued to them, either knowingly or not, found a strange bundle of pale leather in their possession covered in unknown scribbles. It was only when they tried to figure out what it was that their own voices appeared in their minds, reminding them of their previously issued quests. Many of these people tried in vain to destroy the leather bundles, either with strength, or fire, or even cutting it. Some even tried to hide it away, or give them to others to escape their inevitable punishment.


    All of it was in vain, as the quest contracts would always find their way back to the one who issued it. The lucky ones were released from their burdens when the person who held the matching contract destroyed their own, but many found themselves still bound by their prior words. For such people, the previous day became a nightmare, the first dark holiday. To them, it would forever be the Day of Promises.


    Many more people were concerned with this voice¡¯s increasinglymon appearance. Until recently, it had never before spoken to the world. Would this voice continue to gue them with its shows of power?


    In the underworld, people began to gather around the courtyard of the Goddess¡¯s pce. However, they were not here to see her. Rather, they would stare at the monument that had appeared between announcements. Without exception, each person was looking at the pir between the deities. To them, that faceless pir was the true master of the heavens, the one who passes down thews of the world.


    _______________________________________________________________


    You have earned a personal achievement!


    For solidifying your position in the eyes of your people as an almighty being, you have earned the Godking achievement. +15 points and Aura of the Almighty


    ¡°What the hell?!¡±

 Chapter 39: To Anger the Gods

    <h4>Chapter 39: To Anger the Gods</h4>


    I stared at the window in front of me, announcing the achievement. What¡­ why¡­ Fuck. As soon as I really thought about it, I realized that my announcements had an effect on the poption I had been hoping to avoid. They now saw the announcements as something all powerful, which honestly wasn¡¯t far from the truth. Still, I had been wanting to avoid this achievement, because the aura it provided would make interacting with my inhabitants more difficult.


    Guess that¡¯s something else I¡¯ll need to ask Terra how to block. I gave a mental sigh as I thought about that. Well, either way, there was still one more thing that I wanted to take care of before I went to rx with Terra and Aurivy. Opening up the Keeper forums, I navigated to the entry for the previous quest system, and began typing in a review.


    EarthForceOne: System needs an update, especially for worlds of low technology levels. Defaults to issuing quests unless rejected, even during casual conversations.


    Naturally, I wasn¡¯t doing this to advertise my own quest system, just to make sure others were aware of the issues before buying. Though, with that taken care of, I set my world to fast forward another fifty years before going to rx with the others. I didn¡¯t want to raise my own status even higher by doing more to mess with the world within such a short period of time.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Days passed, and people lived in fear of the all-powerful voice. With the appearancesing sooner and sooner, they naturally expected another announcement to arrive before too long. However, such a thing never came. The voice seemed to disappear just as quickly as it had arrived, and people were allowed to return to their normal lives.


    But none would forget the power disyed, or what it had caused. Over theing months, at least half the poption experimented with the new ¡®menu¡¯. Once they focused on the word ¡®quest¡¯, that voice again appeared in their ears. Many trembled in fear, thinking another announcement was here, but the voice simply asked for the details of the quest.


    Like this, many learned how to create the leather scrolls with seemingly random scribbles. Perhaps, the group that used this the most were the humans. Among them, the Bihendor n found a rather unique use.


    Roughly thirty years after the first passing of the voice, there was a new system in ce for the human empire. Thiana Bihendor, the current leader of the Bihendor n, stood before a group of fifty men and women, d in leather armor. Each was holding a weapon, either a wooden spear or a bow. In their other hand, they held a rolled up scroll of leather.


    ¡°Do all of you swear to fight for me, for the good of the n?¡± Thiana scanned the crowd with a firm gaze. In her hand, she held not one leather scroll, but a full stack of them.


    ¡°We swear!¡± The fifty people gathered shouted in unison. They were Thiana¡¯s most trusted elites, those from families that served for generations.


    ¡°Then, in the name of Thiana Bihendor, in the name of the empire of Thuul, I ept you all into my service!¡± As she spoke, the stack of leather scrolls began glowing. Those held by the soldiers showed simr effects, before that glow covered their bodies as well. When Thiana¡¯s scrolls shattered into fragments of light, the glows all faded away. Now, the fifty men stood there, no longer holding any scrolls.


    They had chosen to give their lives for their people, and willingly created quest scrolls that ced themselves in Thuul¡¯s army, so long as they were epted. When the idea had been brought to Thiana, she was shocked by it, and had first tested it out on the one who suggested it. Even when he had been ordered to inflict an injury on himself, he did so without hesitation. This was a contract of absolute loyalty, but only when the orders were given in the name of the empire.


    Others found uses for this new system as well, the next most creative likely being the dwarves. When mining, they found that they were no longer restricted in the amount they could carry as they had been. Once arge pile of ores had been arranged, one miner simply issued a quest to another to walk to a storage area, with the ores themselves as the reward.


    Like this, therge pile of stones vanished, transforming into a pair of scrolls. Now, all the miners had to do was continue in this manner until they were loaded down with leather scrolls. Once done, they simply walked to the designated location, and the ores again appeared around them.


    Another innovator in the use of quest scrolls was the halfling race. Like the dwarves, they set their quests to store items. But, they held both copies of the quest scroll, with the reward being a small shelter they made. When they were ready to rest, they tore one of the scrolls, and their shelter appeared in front of them.


    _______________________________________________________________


    I spent the rest of the day in the living room, watching TV with Aurivy and Terra. Once she noticed I had joined them, Aurivy squirmed out of Terra¡¯sp to sit between us. It felt good to rx like this, when I wasn¡¯t trying to figure out what I was going to do with the fate of the world¡­


    The next day, I decided that I would be giving Bihena her personality. I still had just over a hundred points left after getting that achievement, so I could easily afford this. After Bihena, the only civilizationscking a god or goddess with a personality would be the elves and the dwarves. I just had to think about what type of personality I wanted to give Bihena.


    Naturally, I wanted her to love Terra and myself, that way she¡¯d stay loyal, and viewing Aurivy as a little sister. However, I also needed her to control her people. As the Goddess of Battle, she should value strength, but also wisdom. A battle is won by more than just brute force, after all. She needs a good tactical mind, while also valuing peace.


    Do not fight a battle for the sake of fighting, but to end the fighting. When you must fight, fight with wisdom and strength. I nodded my head at that, and focused to summon Bihena to the bedroom. She appeared in a sh of light, standing as still as a statue, her eyes still as lifeless as ever.


    Once I verified my choice with the system, a golden glow surrounded Bihena, as it had the other deities before her. I watched as her lifeless eyes gained a spark of wisdom, looking slowly around the room beforending on me. ¡°Yes?¡± She asked, crossing her arms under her chest, sending me a re.


    I was taken aback by her attitude, thinking I must have gotten something wrong. Seeing me staring nkly at her like that, Bihena¡¯s face reddened, and she turned her head to the side to break eye contact. ¡°S-stop looking at me like that, okay?!¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­ Sorry. Anyways, would you mind looking after your people? Aurivy said they were getting a bit too battle-hungry.¡±


    When she heard what I said, Bihena looked at me and raised an eyebrow, before rolling her eyes. ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll see what I can do. But I¡¯m not going back in that room with the others!¡± She red more fiercely at me. ¡°I want my own room, got it?¡±


    I could only nod my head slightly in response. I wasn¡¯t really good with this kind of woman. Well, if how easily Terra maniptes me is any indicator, I¡¯m not really good with any kind of woman. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll set it up.¡±


    Bihena gave a firm nod, turning around and walking out of the room quickly, muttering something under her breath about punishment. I had a bad feeling about what was going to happen. Just in case, I turned to theputer screen to make sure that nothing too major happened.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Among the hills, a fight raged. rissa Bihena, heiress to the n, stood behind her line of soldiers. Ahead of them was a vige which had repeatedly refused to submit to their rule. While the Thuul army fought with full leather armor and weapons made of wood and stone, the vigers wore cloth rags, fighting only with their bare fists. It was obvious who was going to win this battle.


    At least, that¡¯s what everyone thought. ¡°Enough!¡± A booming voice rang out among the two forces, the ground shaking as if the earth itself feared that voice. rissa and the other humans instinctively knew who the voice belonged to, but did not know why she was finally speaking after generations of silence.


    From the heavens fell the figure of arge woman, her body covered in ck leather armor. Atop her head she wore a helmet fashioned from the skull of a great beast. In her hand, she held a spear, made not of wood and stone, but of a strangely reflective material. When shended on one knee, her fist striking the ground, those gathered could truly take in her stature.


    Bihena stood tall, at least five times the size of any man on the field. Her fierce gaze swept across the battle, before she turned towards rissa. ¡°What is the meaning of this fight?¡±


    With her appearance, not a single soldier dared to advance towards the vige, everyone motionless as they stared at their goddess. rissa was no exception, and only managed to regain her senses after a short while. ¡°M-my Goddess. These filthy vigers refused to ept our rule, so we set out in your name--¡±


    Bihena¡¯s eyes narrowed, causing rissa¡¯s words to pause in midsentence. ¡°In my name? You say this battle is being fought in my name?!¡± She took a single step forward, arriving before rissa. ¡°These people have offered you no offense,cking any ability to properly resist, yet you say this battle is fought in my name? If you wish to continue iming my name, then go back where you came from. If I see another battle being fought in my name that I do not approve of, I will be back.¡± Her eyes turned to scan over the battlefield. ¡°And you do not want me toe back angry.¡±


    Before the human heiress could say anything, Bihena jumped into the sky, vanishing into the heavens above. ¡°P-pull back.¡± She ordered weakly, unwilling to anger Bihena further by prolonging this battle.


    The vigers, who had themselves been sure of their impending deaths, stood and stared at the spot the goddess had recently vanished from. They dropped their stones, sping their hands together and praising the goddess that spared their lives. They knew, Bihena had never before appeared in the world, and her first action was to save them.


    As for rissa, she soon reported this to her mother, who stood in shock. For generations, they fought to unite the humans under one rule, having believed that it was the will of Bihena. However, Bihena had never truly spoken her will, with Thiana and her ancestors believing that she was giving silent approval. But now, she had not only appeared before her daughter, but had openly reprimanded and threatened her.


    In an attempt to appease their goddess, Thiana told rissa to gather any craftsmen she could find. As someone who had personally seen Bihena, she was going to direct them in building a monument to her. rissa epted this task, truly feeling as if her life was on the line. If she failed to get the forgiveness of her goddess, then she may in fact be struck down the next time she set out to battle.


    _______________________________________________________________


    I sat with wide eyes as I watched Bihena appear on one battlefield after another, reprimanding themanders before leaving. Although the human poption was small, they had spread out over a wide area. There was no longer just the Thuul empire, as other nations were beginning to rise up as well. And with each nation that rose, blood would be spilled.


    When she was done quelling the various fights, Bihena walked into my room again, back in her white toga. She again crossed her arms under her chest and leveled a gaze at me. ¡°There, that should keep them friendly for a little while. Happy?¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­ yeah. Thanks.¡± I nodded slightly, at which Bihena again walked out of the room without saying a single thing. I guess I need to set her up a room now. Great, the goddess of battles has a temper¡­

 Chapter 40: Dual Domains

    <h4>Chapter 40: Dual Domains</h4>


    Setting up a room for Bihena was a simple matter, though it allowed me to practice altering the Admin Room. In the end, I created a room which I felt fit her. A wide room,rger than mine and Terra¡¯s, but also more simply decorated. The bed was not asrge or extravagant. There was a wardrobe, but I did not fill it, allowing her to do so herself. I put arge, circr rug in the center of the room.


    Once the decorations were set, I attached it to the hallway outside my own room, cing it next to Aurivy¡¯s. I was a bit concerned that Irena and Tryval didn¡¯t have their own rooms, but I doubted that Tryval would want to stay in the Admin Room either way. As for Irena, I needed to find something out before I did anything about that.


    Thankfully, the answer was easy to discover. With just a quick run down to Terra to ask, I found out that I could connect Irena¡¯s room in the afterlife to the Admin Room. However, only those with ess to the Admin Room can use the door. For anyone else, the door would simply seem to open to a solid wall.


    Next¡­ I guess I should take advantage of this Godking thing, huh? I sighed mentally, remembering the secondary benefit that Grimor had told me about that achievement. Although it was not directly listed on the achievement prompt, it also gave me the ability to assign each deity a second domain for free. Which is nice, because normally extra domains would cost twenty points each.


    I had to take some time to think about what I wanted to give each deity. I wanted to make it something which would help their people, while also being something that would fit their personality. This was naturally easier for the few that did not have a personality yet. First, I fast-forwarded the world by a couple of weeks, that way the humans wouldn¡¯t get too suspicious about this change happening the same day the Bihena descended.


    Let¡¯s make Ryone the Goddess of Magic, then. Even if Terra naturally knows all of the spells and the different meanings behind the formations, the rules prevent her from teaching me. However, if I assign a goddess to the domain of magic, then that goddess can research and put things together herself without facing any such restrictions.


    Hmm¡­ Aurivy can get Travel as a second domain. Judging from her love of anime, she is not opposed to discovering new things, and travel is something that will be a great benefit to the halflings. With how much they move around, it fits them perfectly.


    Bihena¡­ I want to give her something like Patience, but that really doesn¡¯t seem to fit her personality much. How about¡­ Peace. Giving Bihena two opposing attributes seems like it may cause conflict, but really the twopliment each other more than anything. She is a goddess who can be a powerful assault, while making sure that the battles are fought for the proper reasons. And, this won¡¯t be limited to only the humans, as she is the goddess of all battles.


    Tryval, I kind of want to make the God of Sex¡­ but that is just going to leave a massive scar on history. Imagine the other races finding out that a horse is the god of sex. Please, spare me from that kind of culture. So¡­ I thought about the way that Tryval had acted, and the things he had done until now. I could think of two domains that fit him. Either nobility, for how he acts, or fellowship, for the goal of bringing centaurs together. Ultimately, I chose thetter, hoping to use that to stop discrimination between the centaurs.


    Tubrock¡­ the dwarves are without a doubt the most scientifically minded so far, so I should focus on that. Let¡¯s give him Innovation. Out of all the races, only the dwarves had discovered smelting, and were actively researching it. It only made sense to have them as the inventors.


    For Irena¡­ well, there aren¡¯t a whole lot of things that will directly help her in the afterlife. If anything, Justice would fit her the most. Hopefully, with it, she will be able to see into a person¡¯s past. That should be able to help her govern the daeva and the dead souls.


    Aside from Terra, I had given all of the currently sentient gods their new domains, and I wanted to save her for thest. All that was left at this point was to give the beastkin goddesses their domains. They are a more unitedmunity, so I could give them domains to help each other out, rather than focusing on their own traits.


    For Udona, the kitsune Goddess of Life, let¡¯s give her Entertainment as a second domain. That should help their cultural growth a bit, I think. Keliope, the ursa Goddess of Strength has the feel of an Amazon, so let¡¯s give her fortitude to help her people be the warriors of the beastkin. alia, the lycan Goddess of the Hunt¡­ hunting will probably be outdated eventually, once the world develops enough, so let¡¯s give her something that will get stronger when that happens. I decided to grant her the Wisdom domain as her second.


    Now, finally, for Terra. She was the Goddess of Fate, and the only currently sentient goddess for the beastkin. Naturally, I couldn¡¯t give her something half-assed as a domain. However, the beastkin already had most everything they would need to grow as a people between the other goddesses.


    Ultimately, I decided to give her a domain which I felt mostplimented her current abilities, without overly stepping on the toes of any of the others. So, I assigned her the Stories domain. While it might seem simr to Entertainment, I felt that it was sufficiently different. Especially at this stage, where the only stories that exist are the legends that peoplee up with.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Everyone felt a small chill going down their spines, all at once. They weren¡¯t sure why, and had mostly cast it aside for a while. However, eventually everyone noticed that the deity that appeared in their minds seemed more powerful than before, more grand.


    Among the elves, they noticed that Magic had been added to their goddess¡¯s domains. Naturally, they believed that this was the heavens recognizing their efforts to further the study of magic. This belief caused them to fully immerse themselves in the magical arts, going so far as to replicate the leather scrolls issued by the quest system, in order to leave behind notes. With that, even their writtennguage advanced by leaps and bounds, practically overnight.


    Halflings had a fairly casual reaction. Perhaps, the greatest change for them was that many seemed to identally acquire the Priest ss, simply by roaming the wilderness as they always had, while following the directions of their Goddess. Of course, how could the heavens always answer the call of man? While many were overjoyed from simply being able to converse with the Goddess of Love and Travel, others felt more calmly about it, understanding her position and not wanting to waste her time with idle chatter.


    Perhaps the ones who took the change the most severely were the humans. Their goddess had just descended a dozen days before, forcing all ongoing battles to a halt. Now, everyone had had time to go back to their respective homes and report this fact, when suddenly the image of their goddess changed. No longer was she solely a force for battle, but also a force to maintain peace.


    Many minds felt this to be contradicting, that one person cannot represent both aspects. You cannot call for peace while walking amidst a field of blood. However, they were forced to ept this, for now. None had forgotten the words she had left behind, and none doubted that she would truly be willing to carry out her threats.


    For the centaurs, there were mixed feelings regarding the new power which Tryval held. Those of the variant city immediately began proiming their willingness to follow this new direction, while the standard herds hesitated. They had not truly grown ustomed to the existence of their unfamiliar kin, and could not entirely ept fellowship with them yet. However, they knew from stories of old what would happen to those that angered the God of the ins, and could only hide their unwillingness in their hearts.


    Next were the dwarves, whose reaction was among the least between the different races. They had no word to describe the new realm of power their deity held, but they knew its meaning. However, this did not change their daily life. They still mined their mountains and lit their forges, finding new and interesting shapes that they could bend their metal towards.


    For those in the afterlife, given that they were a conglomeration of every race, they naturally understood that it wasn¡¯t just their own god or goddess that had obtained new power. Every deity had been enhanced, and it made them look at the statue standing in the Temple Square with even more reverence.


    Among the spirits, many began working to build around the statue, with permission from Irena. They were going to create the first true temple, a ce to worship all gods, as well as the mysterious figure that was shrouded in mystery. Many didn¡¯t understand why Irena would look at their work with aplicated gaze, but many stories began to spread.


    Some said that the sculptor that made the work was a secret lover to their goddess, and that she was reminded of both him and the man who held power over her whenever she looked at the statue. The cold image of the goddess was reced with the figure of a troubled girl whose heart was torn between two men for those who believed this story. Others, suspected that the man who sculpted the statue may have been an emissary from the hidden king of the gods, and that Irena was not sure if he would approve of a temple surrounding his work. Yet, she never moved to stop them, for whatever reason.


    Finally came the beastkin. Like in the afterlife, the presence of four races gave them the knowledge of four gods expanding in power. And, simr to the afterlife, they began to have the desire to erect shrines for their goddesses. Although there was no memory of their goddesses directly interfering with the course of history, they would forever know of their power.


    Among the beastkin cities, more than half began gathering as many as they could find with even the most primitive crafting abilities. Even if it was a statue of sticks and rough stones, they would ce it in a seat of power within their walls. Doing so caused them to feel a strange warmth, and made many receive such sses as Priest or Sculptor.


    _______________________________________________________________


    I gave a small nod after I confirmed the changes, but when I looked up, I found four women looking at me in a slightly irritated manner. All four of the sentient goddesses, even little Aurivy was among them. ¡°Big brother, why¡¯d you suddenly give us all a new domain?¡± She asked, a small amount of frustration in her voice.


    ¡°Well¡­ I mean, isn¡¯t it a good thing?¡± I was a bit confused, not understanding why they seemed upset. Having a second domain would only increase their power, right?


    ¡°Muuu¡­¡± Aurivy puffed her cheeks up, pouting slightly as she looked to Terra. However, it was the newest goddess that spoke next.


    ¡°You idiot, now we have twice as much work to do!¡± Bihena shouted out, throwing her arms into the air. ¡°Especially me, now I have to manage both war and peace! You made me the fucking god of politics!¡±


    Terra nodded her head lightly. ¡°I¡¯ve got it easy, at least my new domain isn¡¯t widely used yet.¡± She gave a light sigh, shaking her head. ¡°Really, Dale, you know how to give us more work.¡± She looked at me, smirking lightly. ¡°Though, I do approve of the domain, just not the suddenness of it.¡±


    Next came Irena, who had her arms at her side, looking conflicted. ¡°I suppose you had the best intentions, but this is going to y havoc with the underworld, you know?¡± Aurivy leaned over and hugged Irena¡¯s waist as she said that, causing the daeva goddess to rx slightly, petting her head.


    ¡°Gah, I can already hear all of their voices!¡± Aurivyined, shaking her head and burying it in Irena¡¯s side.


    Terra looked at the halfling goddess, kneeling down and patting her back. ¡°It¡¯s okay, Rivy, I¡¯ll teach you how to block out the prayers. That should help some.¡± She offered a gentle smile, and Aurivy turned around to cling to Terra instead, as if the hug was her way of thanking her. Of course, by the silly grin on Terra¡¯s face, she was more than happy to ept this reward.


    ¡°Anyways, Dale!¡± Bihena shook her head, as if trying to bring back the tense atmosphere that began to fade away. ¡°You need to consult us when you¡¯re doing sh*t like this! It¡¯s bad enough that we didn¡¯t get a say in what domains you gave us, but we didn¡¯t even see iting until it was toote! How the fuck are we supposed to react to that?!¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­ sorry about that. Didn¡¯t think that there would be that side to it.¡± Honestly, I was still unclear on exactly what responsibilities the goddesses had. I mean, the ones still waiting for their personalities naturally weren¡¯t doing anything. Yet, life did not end with Udona¡¯s inactivity, people still hunted without alia¡¯s guidance. All that I really knew was that they could influence those domains, and that they would receive the prayers of people following their domains.


    ¡°As long as you understand.¡± Bihena huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. Without waiting for the atmosphere to lighten again, she immediately stormed out of the room. ¡°Now I¡¯ve got to manage all the fucking empires¡­¡± She muttered quietly under her breath as she left, drawing a giggle from Terra, who was still happily holding a pouting Aurivy.

 Chapter 41: Questionably Enchanting

    <h4>Chapter 41: Questionably Enchanting</h4>


    After Bihena left, the other girls began calming down. Aurivy was still pouting,ining about all the new voices in her head, so Terra picked her up and carried her away to teach her how to block them. I hadn¡¯t even known that was possible, or I might have actually made myself a god. Then again, it¡¯s still not a good decision. I mean, Terra already mentioned that thepanions from the system can mentally keep track of the world even while it¡¯s fast forwarding.


    Irena, being thest in the room, sighed and shook her head, ncing over to me. ¡°Just, let us know next time, alright?¡± I nodded my head in apology, and she smiled slightly before leaving. ¡°And thanks for the door.¡± I heard her add thatst line as she walked off.


    Okay, now what¡­ I looked to theputer screen, wanting to check on some things before I decided on my next move. First¡­ the ninja family. After thisst fast forward, it should have been about fifty years since they saw me. Assuming nothing strange happened, that should mean that the original ones I met had already died, and there should be a new generation.


    Even though I did not know their exact location, finding them was not a difficult matter. I opened up the search function on the map, and chose to look for everyone with the ninja ss. Given the requirements for it, I did not believe that anyone else should have been able to discover it yet, and my assumptions proved urate.


    There was a small cluster of dots on the beastkin ind, showing a total of¡­ Thirty ninjas? I wasn¡¯t sure if I should be surprised that there were already that many, or concerned that there weren¡¯t more. Zooming in, I saw that they were steadily moving deeper and deeper into the giant forest. Some of them were running normally, while others appeared to teleport between steps.


    If I had topare this forest by Earth standards¡­ wait, let me zoom out. Hmm¡­ this forest should be roughly the size of Europe, if I was doing my measurements right. Anyways, they were still a considerable distance from the center of the forest, but they were moving directly in that direction. Naturally, this made me curious.


    Zooming in further, I saw that several members of the group were carrying leather bundles, and the man in the front was looking at one in his hand. On it, there were¡­ surprisingly, english letters. Thanks to that, I was able to figure out what was going on, simply by reading the contents.


    Establish the Hidden Vige


    Arrive in the deepest region of the forest, construct one permanent home for every family. You must have at least twenty Ninjas present in order toplete this quest.


    Reward: 5 levels in the Ninja ss for every Ninja present.


    I let out a sigh when I saw the contents of the quest. It was obvious that a god had issued it, since the reward was something that only a god could hand out. Speaking of which¡­ shouldn¡¯t I be able to do that, too? It might be limited to quest rewards.


    Below the quest description, there was a map of the forest, with two dots. One showed their current position, while the other showed the position they needed to reach toplete the quest. That part surprised me a bit more, as I hadn¡¯t remembered putting a map function into the quest system.


    Well, there was really only one goddess that could have done this. I¡¯ll ask Terra how she did the mapter, after she¡¯s done calming Aurivy down. Should also find out why she sent them to the deepest part of the forest, where they likely aren¡¯t going to see another soul for at least a century, and why she used this quest system instead of the normal god-bestowed quests.


    Taking a look at the group, there were actually around fifty people traveling. However, only thirty had the ninja ss. Among the others, there were scouts, mages, monks, and alchemists. I could only guess that the others hadn¡¯t received the training to get the ss yet, and they were steadily training as they moved.


    Shaking my head, I left the scene of them running through the forest, and turned towards the elves. Aside from the first kingdom, other groups of elves that had initially traveled further away had starteding together, forming their own viges. Though they did not share the mindset of uniting the race that Gandor held, it was clear that they were working in their own way to establish civilization.


    Gandor itself was prospering, having slowly reced their buildings with those made of worked stone and y. Out of curiosity, I checked the levels of what appeared to be the key figures of the kingdom, namely those that were speaking with the current queen at the time. Aside from their levels, there was something else that shocked me.


    One man who stood off to the side, speaking only when spoken to, had a strange aura. Unlike those of the others I¡¯ve seen, his was not just one color, but looked like a rainbow of light shining off his body. Even though the aura only extended out six inches, it was still a curiosity, and something I would have to file away to ask Terra aboutter.


    Now, back to their levels, which was also important. One of them, who held the title ¡®Chief Mage of Gandor¡¯, had thirty levels in the Mage ss. While this might not seem like much to celebrate, it opened a door I have been waiting for.


    At level 25, a Mage gains the spell Strengthen Other. This is a simple spell, which only has the purpose of increasing the strength stat of the target by 10. However, one of the aspects of the spell was the ¡®imbue¡¯ property, which I needed in order to begin enchanting. Leaning over to the side, I grabbed the spellbook that Terra made me, which had been updating with all of the spells unlocked in the world. Turning through the pages, I found that the Strengthen Other spell was indeed present.


    A grin slowly formed over my mouth as I studied the spell, memorizing the new aspect. With this, I can finally start making some magic items. I thought back to all of the various swords and daggers that Terra made me create when she was teaching me how to smith, and how I could do something with them now, rather than keeping them as just pieces of sharp metal.


    With a thought, I was in the training room, transitioning more naturally than I had any time before. I summoned out ten swords, and ten daggers, which appeared out of thin air from the room I had stored them. After scattering them around, I ced one directly in front of me, and began drawing the diagram to enchant. I knew the basic process for it, so this wasn¡¯t hard.


    Enchanting came in two main vors, general enchants and ability enchants. The former merely amplified the natural attributes of the enchanted item, and was much simpler to perform, while thetter was moreplicated, but allowed you to give items special properties. What I was doing right now was a general enchant on one of my swords.


    General enchants were easy, with the only special requirement being that you needed to know the ¡®imbue¡¯ property. This came in the form of a single eight-sided star, with the points curved to form circles. Then, inside that eight-sided star, you needed to draw a circle that connected the eight innermost lines. Finally, ce the item inside that circle.


    I wasn¡¯t going to risk my first time enchanting on doing this mentally, because I could easily get it wrong and ruin the whole spell. So, I simply drew out the diagram on the ground, and ced the sword over it. To finish it off, I began pouring mana into the diagram, which lit up with a brilliant white light.


    Honestly, I was wasting this sword right now, and I knew it. Each material should have a limit for the amount of mana it can hold, and by constantly pouring mana into the enchantment diagram, I was seeing where that limit was. I had to make sure to regte my mana, in order to steadily use one hundred every second.


    About five seconds in, the de began glowing with the same white light of the diagram, with cracks spreading out along its length. Almost immediately afterwards, it shattered in an explosion of light, the shrapnel spreading all throughout the room. And this is why I wanted to do this in the Admin Room. I thought to myself with a smile, as the fragments harmlessly bounced off my body.


    So, normal iron swords can¡¯t handle more than five hundred mana. So¡­ a dagger should only be able to hold up to a little less than two hundred, then? I nodded inwardly, waving my hand for the next sword to fly up from the ground to appear above the circle.


    This time, I directly enchanted it with three hundred mana before cutting off the supply. Once I stopped fueling the diagram, the sword began glowing with a gentle light, as if absorbing the diagram itself into it. When that was over, I brought the sword to my hand, grabbing it by the hilt. Focusing on it, a small window appeared in front of me.


    Do you wish to name this item?


    I shook my head to decline, after which a second window appeared, showing the item¡¯s stats.


    Enchanted Longsword


    Sharpness: 8(+24)


    Weight: 1kg


    Durability: 100/100(+300)


    I smiled slightly when I saw it¡¯s abilities, and decided that I would try it out myself once I descended again. If its sharpness represented how well it could normally cut, then it should now be four times as effective. While that might not seem like a lot to me, who is used to more modern weapons, this would surely be one of the most powerful weapons on Earth right now.


    Next, I decided to try doing ability enchantments. The reason this one was so much harder was because of the addedplexity in the diagram. Inside each of the circles at the end of the eight sided star, I needed to draw the spell diagrams that I would be imbuing into the weapon. This gave a limit of eight abilities per enchant, but at the same time additional enchants should be possibleter.


    For triggered abilities, such as wrapping the weapon in fire onmand, the center circle would be where the trigger is defined. However, I hadn¡¯t unlocked any of the trigger diagrams yet, so I had to do a permanent enchantment. Out of the spells I knew that could be used to create permanent enchantments without harming the user¡­ Light, Barrier, Heal, and Strengthen should be it.


    Putting the first enchanted weapon to the side, I started drawing a Strengthen Other diagram inside each of the circles. Then, once that was done, I once again put another sword into the center, and used another three hundred mana to power it up. This time, aside from the simple glow of the enchanting diagram, the eight spell circles began rising up into the air, slowly spinning as they revolved around the sword, steadily drawing closer. When they all came into contact with the de, they would fade into it, causing a pulsating light to appear along its length.


    Eager to inspect the sword, I brought it over to me to identify once again, and once again chose not to personally name it.


    Sword of Strength


    Sharpness: 8(+5)


    Weight: 1kg


    Durability: 100/100(+60/60)


    Special: +24 Strength


    Now, this one really had me excited. The strength might not seem like enough, since most games use ten as the basic average. However, five is the normal human average in this system, meaning that this sword grants nearly five times an adult human¡¯s strength. It¡¯s enough that just wielding this sword would bring my normal stats up to the level my Keeper stats were, thest time I descended.


    I wanted to learn the rest of the diagrams for different attributes, so that I could make items that would strengthen my entire body up to my Keeper level. But, at the same time, this brought me to a serious realization. From now on, I would have to be wary of people with enchanted items, because enough enchantments would allow them to bridge the gap of power. Once items like this becamemon, I wouldn¡¯t be quite so invincible anymore.


    Of course, by that time people¡¯s levels should have increased enough that I would have an evenrger gap, but it is still something to keep in mind. I nced over towards the rest of the items, and felt a smile form as I imagined what would happen once I started leveling that ss. However, first I needed to go talk to Terra, because there were things that needed to be discussed! Questions that needed to be answered! And, if she was in a good mood now, beds that needed to be broken!

 Chapter 42: The Answer to ALL the Questions

    <h4>Chapter 42: The Answer to ALL the Questions</h4>


    When I found Terra, she was just leaving Aurivy¡¯s room, walking quietly and slowly closing the door. Her actions looked like a mother that had justid her daughter in bed. Did Aurivy decide to take a nap? While it was possible for the girls, and myself for that matter, to sleep, it was not something we needed to do. In fact, it raised even more questions in me, so I walked up to Terra quietly.


    Noticing my presence, she raised a finger to her lips to signal that I should be quiet. Seeing my questioning look, she smiled slightly, and nodded towards our bedroom. Following behind her, neither of us said a word until we were back in the room, at which point she let out a sigh. ¡°Sorry, this is her first actual nap since you created her. Didn¡¯t want you to wake her by mistake.¡±


    I nodded my head in understanding, though was still confused. ¡°Does that have something to do with the whole god thing?¡±


    Terra chuckled lightly. ¡°That¡¯s right. She hasn¡¯t been able to take a break and sleep, because she¡¯s always hearing those voices. After she divides her mind, she can devote one part to the godly duties, and the other to resting.¡± She looked at me and raised an eyebrow, grinning mischievously. ¡°What, did you think that I left my people all alone every time I took a cat nap?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ hadn¡¯t really considered it, to be honest. But, that raises another question.¡± She nodded for me to continue, so I did. ¡°Why is it that each of you seem limited to your own race? I mean, fate exists for everyone, as does battle and every other domain. So, shouldn¡¯t each race have knowledge of the full pantheon?¡±


    Terra shook her head lightly, walking over to sit on the bed. ¡°Right now, the races don¡¯t even know the existence of other sapient life beyond their own. Once that changes, we will be able to interact with the races that be aware of us. For instance, I canmunicate with any of the four gathered beastkin races, because they have all interacted with the Felyn.¡±


    I was about to say something else, but she continued to talk before I had the chance. ¡°Once all of the ¡®favored¡¯ races, those purchased with the system, have interacted with the race that represents a particr deity, that deity will gain ess to one free domain. Irena should be able to get that right away, since everyone meets in the afterlife.¡±


    That piece of news shocked me, and I immediately checked to verify it. The windows don¡¯t give something as convenient as a pop-up saying ¡®free domain token¡¯, so you can¡¯t actually tell whether one will be free or not until you try to get it. And sure enough, when I went to look at a new domain for Irena, the price was listed as ¡®0 points¡¯.


    I decided to put off on that for a while, however. Right now, every god had two domains, so giving a third one to Irena would tip the scales a bit. Besides, I wanted to try taking their advice and actually talking with her about what kind of domain she would want first. ¡°Alright, I think I get it. Now, I saw that you gave out a quest for the ninja n?¡±


    This time, it was my turn to raise a questioning brow, and her turn to look away awkwardly. ¡°I wanted it to be a present for Rivy, okay? Setting up a proper ninja nation, like I¡¯ve been showing her on those cartoons.¡±


    ¡°Alright¡­ but that¡¯s not what I was curious about. How did you get a functioning map to appear on the quest scroll? I never put anything like that into the settings.¡±


    When I rified my question, Terra looked at me with a proud smile, sticking her chest out and crossing her arms. ¡°A simple matter! Your quest system lets the quest giver store information for the quest. I just put the information as a map instead. This would only be possible for someone that knew theyout of thend, and I added in a variable to disy the location of the quest scroll, that way they wouldn¡¯t get lost so easily.¡±


    I nodded my head in thought at that. Her idea really did open things up a bit more for the system. At the same time, it made sense as well. Once the technology bes more modern, and the quest scrolls go from leather bindings to paper, or evenputer tablets, disying maps would be an expected feature. Even more, you could modify what she did slightly to add a variable to track quest progress.


    Still, something else bothered me. ¡°But, why did the writing on the scroll appear to be in english?¡±


    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s just because that is the ¡®default¡¯nguage for me. Both you, as well as thest Keeper, spoke english as your mainnguage. As such, for me who was created with the knowledge from the system, your mainnguage became mine. If it was any othernguage, you would still be able to read it as the Keeper. It wouldn¡¯t look like english, but it would trante in your mind.¡±


    ¡°Ahh¡­¡± I said, simply. ¡°Well, such a small writing sample isn¡¯t likely to cause any major changes to their development, anyways. Now, I had another question for you.¡±


    She seemed to be interested, and amused that I had so many questions for her this time. After I exined the issue of the man with the multicolored aura, her eyes widened in surprise. ¡°Huh, I didn¡¯t think you¡¯d actually be able to find one so soon. Those guys are pretty rare, you know?¡±


    ¡°Exnation first, please?¡±


    ¡°Oh, right. That kind of aura means that the person has a natural talent that is equal in all areas. If the aura goes beyond two feet, many Keepers call it the ¡®Protagonist Aura¡¯, because it signifies that the person is extremely talented with anything they do, and could easily change the world. Likewise, if the aura is extremely small, it means that the person has no real talent at all. The one you saw, six inches would be roughly average talent with something. So, you could say that his talent is ¡®perfectly average¡¯ for everything.¡±


    Hearing Terra¡¯s exnation, my eyes widened slightly. ¡°So, someone with a protagonist aura, that would be a good person to raise as a hero or a king?¡±


    She nodded her head lightly, agreeing with me. ¡°That¡¯s right. Though, in truth, people like that don¡¯t tend to need the help. As long as they aren¡¯tpletely stifled, they will rise to great heights on their own. In your world, what would be a good example¡­¡± She closed her eyes in thought, likely going through the records of the previous Earth¡¯s history. ¡°Ah! Found one. Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci. He had a protagonist aura, but thest Keeper didn¡¯t really nurture him. Completely skipped over his time period, even. Still, he was a major historical figure that changed the world.¡±


    Hearing this, I naturally had to voice a question. ¡°Has there ever been a Keeper that had that kind of aura?¡± I mean, a normal human with the protagonist aura can change the world. Imagine what they could do if they had the kind of power a Keeper has.


    However, Terra stuck out her tongue at me yfully. ¡°Can¡¯t tell you that, Dale. That would be giving away confidential information about other Keepers.¡±


    I reluctantly epted her response, and went to sit by her on the bed. On the bright side, she seemed to be in a much better mood now. Or, at least I imagined so, until she held out one hand to stop me. ¡°Nuh-uh~. You¡¯re being punished. No fun kitty cat times until you go down to the world. It¡¯s about time that you walked through one of the actual cities, don¡¯t you think?¡±


    I saw her mischievous grin, and could only let out a sigh. ¡°Alright, but first, you need to teach me how to suppress that Godking aura. It¡¯s gotta be harder than the normal Keeper one, right?¡±


    She smiled slightly, and did indeed begin teaching me how to restrain that aura. ording to her, it was the same principal as the Keeper aura, it simply required far more in the way of actual imaging. To the degree where, if I wasn¡¯t constantly focusing on it to some degree, it would begin to leak out. At least the normal Keeper aura could be easily restrained by just building the mental wall.


    After I was done learning, and then practicing to make sure I got it right, I went back to myputer to pick out an area I would descend to this time. Terra did have a point, and it was long overdue for me to actually wander around some of the cities. I just had to decide which civilization I visited first.


    I¡¯m not sure if it was because of familiarity, or just a random decision, but I ultimately chose the human civilization. From there, I chose the oldest city of the entire continent, the capital of what has be the Thuul Kingdom. After that, it was just a matter of setting my body up. Sadly, I had to watch as my clothes faded away to tattered leathers and furs.


    Body verified. Human race selected. Beginning descent. May you work for the betterment of your world, Keeper.


    When the familiar blue light faded, I was standing between two wooden buildings, which looked like they would fall apart from a strong breeze. I really hope they don¡¯t get a hurricane season around here¡­


    Shaking my head, I walked out towards the dirt path that passed as a road, and nced around. Simrly designed buildings were set up all around, with only a few being made of stone. Humans walked by, carrying various tools, or stones, or leather scrolls. There did not seem to be a set direction for traffic, as everyone was simply going their own way.


    If I had to judge the quality of the humans here by their looks¡­ it¡¯d be fairly poor. It¡¯s understandable, because hygiene has not really been discovered yet, but still. The strongest thing about this city wasn¡¯t its army, but its smell. I could only grimace as I continued walking, heading towards what should be the center of town. As I did so, I decided to check my status.


    Name


    Dale Mitchell


    Race


    Human(Keeper)


    Health


    100/100(16160/16160)


    Mana


    66/66(4091/4091)


    Strength


    6(70)


    Ki


    70/70(5818/5818)


    Stamina


    5(85)


    Intelligence


    7(53)


    Dexterity


    11(76)


    Wisdom


    12(121)


    Luck


    6(16)


    Charm


    5(34)


    ss List


    Alchemist 1(12)


    Archer 0(27)


    Architect 0(16)


    Archmage 0(12)


    Assassin 0(8)


    Berserker 0(34)


    cksmith 0(15)


    Carpenter 0(19)


    Chef 0(21)


    Druid 0(41)


    Farmer 0(23)


    Guard 0(28)


    Herbalist 2(16)


    Hero 0(5)


    Hunter 0(39)


    Leader 1(35)


    Leatherworker 0(19)


    Mage 1(43)


    Miner 0(41)


    Monk 1(37)


    Monster Tamer 0(29)


    Ninja 5(18)


    Noble 0(10)


    Painter 0(10)


    Priest 1(29)


    Rogue 0(22)


    Schr 1(17)


    Scout 0(39)


    Sculptor 0(7)


    Shaman 0(20)


    Spirit Hunter 15(15)


    Spirit Tamer 5(33)


    Warrior 1(38)


    For the most part, it was within expectations. I was a bit surprised about the Hero ss getting unlocked already, but there were two other areas that surprised me even more. First of all, the fact that my Spirit Hunter levels carried over from my daeva body. Second, and even more surprisingly, was my health value as a Keeper. I mean seriously¡­ it¡¯s over a hundred times my normal value!


    Although my stats were fairly low,pared to what I suspected many people had, that was only my normal power. If I threw in my Keeper strength, and went all out, I could probably level a civilization on my own. That at least gave me some confidence in walking around, though I was still determined to finish training at some point. Since my Spirit Hunter levels crossed over, I¡¯m just fifteen levels short of the current cap.


    After I was done looking over my stats, I looked up to find myself standing before the target of my visit. This was possibly thergest manmade stone structure in the world at the present time. Thick pirs rose up from the ground to support a domed ceiling, all of it resting on a wide stone tform. In the middle of the tform, a tall statue of a woman was disyed. In one hand, she held a spear as long as she was tall. In the other, she held a rolled up scroll.

 Chapter 43: The Keeper’s Visit

    <h4>Chapter 43: The Keeper¡¯s Visit</h4>


    After turning away from the temple, I decided to walk through the city, exploring it from the perspective of an inhabitant. I had to say, doing so gave a much different impressionpared to the overhead view I normally used at theputer. Mostly¡­ it was less impressive. From the map, it seemed as if they were creating the makings for a great city, the first of its kind. In person, it smelled like a farm. Not even a well-kept farm, either!


    Well, I had to hand it to them that they seemed fairly organized for the amount of time they had been at this. There were two-men patrols walking outside the walls of the city, which were little more than sharpened sticks nted in the ground. Each guard carried a stone spear, and had a leather shield.


    A short distance away from the temple was arge wooden hut, with stitched leathers draped all along the walls and ceiling like an odd wallpaper. The size of the hut was almost asrge as the temple, so I took it to be the home of the leader. Do they not have any kind of weather proofing at all?


    I almost wanted to interfere with their development then and there, to teach them how to build things that would withstand storms and earthquakes. Problem was¡­ I am not exactly an expert on that subject myself. I may know what obviously doesn¡¯t work, but that doesn¡¯t mean I know how to fix it!


    Now, if I was carrying my sword with me, they would likely take notice of that, but then I¡¯d probably be attacked for it. I considered teaching them how to smith, but their positioning didn¡¯t make that easy. While there were mountains in the distance, they were not close enough for the current civilization to use for mining.


    Maybe once they explore a bit more, if they don¡¯t discover it on their own¡­ I nodded my head to myself, as I walked towards the city¡¯s exterior. I kept a casual watch for everyone¡¯s auras as I passed, just in case I found someone exceptional that I wanted to train. However, aside from those with the aura for fighting, there were not many strong auras present.


    Surprisingly, nobody even stopped me to talk, and everyone seemed busy with their own thing. Soldiers were constantly running back and forth through the streets, seemingly in training. Craftsmen were directing people to carry stones for building. At the construction site, which was just outside the wall, there was even a pair of men wearing fur cloaks.


    From what I could tell, they were working on a new wall. Every time someone ced a stone down on what was already present, they used their magic to merge the stone with the current construction. A quick examination told me that both men were low level druids, so this kind of work isn¡¯t that difficult for them. If they tried, they might even be able to create the wall themselves, though that would probably use more mana than they had avable.


    Again, I thought about interfering, but what would it look like if a random man suddenly created a wall surrounding the entire city by himself? No, Dale! You¡¯ve got to start ying this smarter. I started to think of how I could make a difference, without drastically altering the course of history.


    Honestly, I could just help carry rocks. But¡­ that doesn¡¯t sound like something someone would willingly volunteer to do, so it may look suspicious. Maybe going out to hunt and bring some meat back? That way, I can even get some training in while I¡¯m at it. I nodded my head at that, and kept walking past the wall, nning to exit the city.


    ¡°Halt!¡± A voice called out to me from behind, and I turned to see one of the two guards that had been stationed at this exit. He was walking up to me with his spear in hand. ¡°Why are you leaving the city empty-handed?¡±


    Really? Leaving the city qualifies as suspicious activity? I raised my hands to cate the man, which didn¡¯t seem to help much. ¡°I¡¯m going out to hunt.¡±


    ¡°The hunting party already left in the early sun.¡± His eyes narrowed as he continued his questioning.


    ¡°I¡¯m hunting on my own, so that I can train myself. Is that a problem?¡± I asked, worrying about whether or not he was even going to let me out of the city. For some reason, he suddenly shrunk back at my words, tightening his grip on his spear.


    ¡°No¡­ not a problem. Just be back byst light.¡± He backed up towards his post, not looking away from me.


    Raising my eyebrows, I realized I had rxed my control over the mental barrier keeping in my Godking aura. Crap¡­ did I really just frighten a trained soldier into submission because I got distracted? Well¡­ at least he won¡¯t stop me now.


    I sighed, turning around and moving out. Since he already recognizes me as a strong being, I might as well capitalize on that. Channeling some ki into my feet, I shot away from the city with an explosive burst of speed. In under five minutes, the city was just a blurred speck on the horizon. By that time, I knew that I could do whatever I wanted at this distance without being disturbed, so long as the actual hunting party never stumbled upon me.


    Now¡­ I guess I should grab the enchantment ss while I have a free moment? I nodded at that n, and then looked up to the sky. ¡°Oh great Goddess of Fate and Stories. Mind sending me one of my swords down here real quick?¡±


    I stood there, waiting, wondering if Terra had heard my ¡®prayer¡¯. Just as I was about to call out to her again, I saw something in the sky, a reflective glint as light bounced off of what appeared to be¡­ one of my swords. It was falling straight towards the ground, just a short distance in front of me. ¡°Oh please don¡¯t break¡­¡± This time, I earnestly prayed, because each of those swords had been forged with blood, sweat, and an ample supply of tears.


    Thankfully, the sword seemed to abruptly stop just above the ground, hovering there for a few moments as I watched. Then, it simply fell down to the side. Heaving a sigh of relief, I walked over to pick it up, and began using the sword to draw out the enchantment diagram on the ground. For this enchantment, I decided to fill in the eight circles with alternating Strength and Heal spells.


    Once again, I poured a full three hundred mana into the enchantment. I was hoping that this would create a regenerative effect, along with the strengthening. As such, once it was done, I examined the weapon.


    Healing Sword of Strength


    Sharpness: 7(+4)


    Weight: 1kg


    Durability: 97/97(+58/58)


    Special: Strength +12, Heal 10 to target on hit


    ¡­Fuck! I had made a healing sword alright, but it healed whoever was cut with it, instead of me!


    Enchanter ss unlocked!


    Basic Enchantment recipe unlocked!


    I grumbled, and stomped out the few circles that had the healing diagram in them. ¡°Terra¡­ Mind sending down the rest, too?¡± I had hoped to just make one good sword to hunt with, but now I needed to get Enchanter a couple levels, and hope that there was a disenchant ability I could learn. Otherwise, this would be a thoroughly useless sword.


    Just like before, I had to wait a little bit before the rest of the swords and daggers came down, but they all appeared around me. Thus, the enchanting process began anew. I made one sword that was given a normal enchant, and one that had a full strength enchant. Each time, I leveled up my Enchanter ss, until it hit level 5.


    Strength Enchantment recipe unlocked!


    I wanted to go back in time and smack myself in the head right about then, because I was getting enchantment recipes I already knew. Think¡­ did I put in a disenchant ability¡­? I am pretty sure I saw the option¡­ what level was that¡­


    Thankfully, my mana was refilled every time I leveled up, so I still had a lot to spare. However, after that point, I went and enchanted all of my remaining weapons, only getting one level before I was done. Either I needed to do new things, or the Enchanter ss was always meant to be a grind fest.


    Anyways, once I was done, I picked up two of the weapons I had enchanted. One was a dagger with a full general enchant, and the other was a sword with a fully strength enchant. With it like this, the dagger actually had a higher damage output than the sword, but I still held it in my off hand. It would feel too unbnced if I held the lighter weapon in my right hand, after all.


    Now, it was time to hunt!


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter, Jorm?¡± One guard called to another after seeing him cautiously backing away from a strange, unarmed man. He had never seen that kind of behavior from the other guard before.


    ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t know. I just felt like I shouldn¡¯t make things difficult for him.¡± Although he said that, the guard had a cold sweat covering his body. Moments ago, he felt as if one wrong move might result in him being crushed.


    ¡°Think he¡¯s one of the ¡®nobles¡¯ of the Bihendor n?¡± The current queen of Thuul had discovered that she had the ability to confer the Noble ss onto people. Doing so would give them a measure of influence over the people they were assigned to govern. It was rumored that some nobles had an intimidating presence, able to get what they wanted of people with ease.


    ¡°It didn¡¯t feel like that¡­ I don¡¯t know.¡± The man shook his head, returning to his guard duty.


    It was about fifteen minutester when amotion arose. Suddenly, the druids that had been assigned to constructing a stone wall around the city stopped their work, their heads turning to the east. As casters that are naturally more sensitive to the energies around them, they could easily feel a giant surge of power from that direction, stronger than anything they had felt before.


    Even some of the guards and artisans turned their heads to look in that direction, though they could not feel as clearly what was happening. All they felt was that some strange pressure seemed to being from that direction. The guard who had spoken to Dale when he left paled, remembering that the stranger had run in that direction. But, the feeling was from too far away, so it couldn¡¯t have been him. Instead, it was more likely that the stranger he had met was running directly towards the source of that energy.


    However, a momentter, an elderly woman burst out of the queen¡¯s hut, looking to the east. She felt the pressure as well, and it reminded her all too well of the feeling she felt in the presence of the goddess. A warm feeling rose in her heart, as if this was a sign.


    ¡°Soldiers!¡± rissa yelled, gathering the attention of the various men that had been running through the dirt streets to train. ¡°Gather the men, anyone you can, and head for the rising sun! Our goddess has descended again!¡±


    The soldiers raised their fists to the sky, shouting an affirmative. Every able soldier, as well as the two druids who could more clearly sense the energy, immediately began traveling east. Although the energy onlysted half an hour before it faded, they still moved.


    Almost two hours into their journey, Jorm saw the man he had seen running in this direction. He was returning to the town, carrying a full boar over his shoulder. Jorm called out to him from his position near the front of the expedition force. ¡°You there!¡±


    The man looked side to side, before realizing that Jorm was talking to him. ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°Did you see anything in this direction?¡±


    The man shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t believe so. I was just on my way back from hunting. Why, did something happen?¡±


    ¡°Drop the boar and join the group. All forces are required to march! The Goddess has descended!¡± Jorm wasn¡¯t sure why, but the man¡¯s face had a momentary look of panic, before he nodded and joined the group. Another boar could be huntedter, but they were moving on the orders of the queen!


    They walked until the sun was setting at their backs, before the druids told them they had arrived at their destination. There were no traces of the goddess, but they could still feel that overwhelming energy in the air. The two druids knew, without a doubt, that this was the spot that they had sensed the energy from.


    Some of the guards searched the ground around them, before finally finding something. ¡°Over here! The dirt seems to have been disturbed!¡± One of the guards called the others over. They found arge patch of dirt which seemed to have been overturned recently. Expecting that something may have been buried, they ordered the men to dig.


    And so, the men dug. Without rest, throughout the night, they scraped at the ground with their stone tools. When their tools broke, they scooped the ground up with their hands. It wasn¡¯t until the sun rose in the morning when they were allowed to stop. By that time, the hole they had dug was deeper than a grown man was tall, but they had yet to find any trace of anything the Goddess may have left behind.


    After letting the men who had been digging rest for an hour, they began their walk home. This took another eight hours, but when they arrived they reported that there had been nothing unusual, aside from some upturned soil. rissa, who had been eagerly awaiting their arrival, nodded to herself.


    ¡°I see, I see¡­ this must be a sign from Bihena¡­ she wishes for us to take notice of that area. We will construct a new city at that location, men! It is a ce blessed by the Goddess of Battle and Peace, and we shall treat it as such!¡±


    Nobody noticed the statue of the very goddess they spoke of in the temple changing slightly, one eyelid starting to twitch in annoyance. Nor did anyone notice a single man among the group lumbering out and into an alley, where he promptly vanished.

 Chapter 44: My Goddess

    <h4>Chapter 44: My Goddess</h4>


    ¡°O¡­¡± Iined, copsing on the bed as soon as I got back into the Admin Room. ¡°Never¡­ again.¡± I didn¡¯t have any tools with me while I was down in the world, so I ended up having to dig with my hands the entire time. Even worse, I had to do it with my normal body stats, not even able to tap into my Keeper abilities due to all the witnesses.


    On the bright side, I did have some gains during my hunt. I managed to get a couple more levels in the Ninja ss while fighting somerge boars. And, after killing them, I absorbed and refined their spirits. I was tempted to also refine the boar spirit I had contracted with, but I wanted to wait to do that until I found something suitable to rece it.


    Since I was lost in thought, I didn¡¯t even notice Terra sitting next to me with a wide grin on her face until she spoke. ¡°Aww, there there, Dale. Are you ready for fun kitty time~?¡± She teased, bending down to give me a seductive show of her cleavage.


    As much as that sounded nice¡­ ¡°Too sore¡­ can¡¯t fun. Words. Oww.¡±


    When I said that, she tilted her head back andughed uproariously, holding her stomach with one hand. ¡°Really, Dale. You do have to be more careful at times. I mean, yes you went several hours away from the city before you did your work, and I apud the foresight that took. But, was it enough?¡± She asked me with a grin.


    ¡°No¡­ How¡­ found out?¡± Words were not currently my strong suit, as I was physically and mentally fatigued. I needed a nap, desperately. Like, for a century.


    ¡°Dale, you have mana that is roughly fifty times that of the next most powerful being, and you were using that energy constantly while enchanting. At that distance, anyone would be able to feel the presence of your power, thanks to your auras. Once the world gets stronger, you can mitigate that, but what did you learn today?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re¡­ mean. Knew?¡±


    It took Terra a moment to decipher my half-speech. When she did, her grin grew a bit wider. ¡°I knew that you¡¯d probably want to do your enchanting, now that you found out that the ss was avable to you, yes. But, I figured you would have gone far enough away that only the druids would have had any idea of what was going on. Instead, you stayed just close enough that even normal people with just a little sensitivity could feel it. Congrattions, you just inspired a Holy City for Bihena.¡±


    ¡°Not cool¡­¡± I closed my eyes, grabbing one corner of the nket and wrapping it around myself. I could vaguely hear Bihena burst into the room a short whileter, before her and Terra spoke to each other, and they then left. Finally, sleep.


    I wasn¡¯t sure how long I slept, but when I woke up I was feeling refreshed. All the soreness from the activities down on the world had faded, and I felt like I could actually form a coherent thought. Sitting up, I stretched, yawning as I let out thest bit of tiredness that I felt. When I was about to get up, I saw the human goddess sitting in myputer chair, watching me. Her arms were crossed over her chest, and she did not look entirely happy.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ how long were you sitting there?¡± I asked, cautiously.


    ¡°Too long.¡± She immediately replied. ¡°I didn¡¯t want to take the chance that you¡¯d run away the moment you woke up.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­¡± I couldn¡¯t help but gulp slightly. ¡°Can I help you with something?¡±


    ¡°Yes, you can.¡± She showed a wicked smile on her face. ¡°The next time you go down, you¡¯re going to do a quest for me. And then one for Aurivy, and Irena, and Tryval. We had a talk about this, and this is the only way to curb your bad habit of rewriting history identally.¡±


    I must have shown my confusion on my face, because she took a deep breath and exined. ¡°If you do quests for us, we can be added to your patrons for your Priest ss. Terra¡¯s idea. Anyways, there are limits to how much we can talk to you if you aren¡¯t our Priest. If you be our Priest, we can warn you whenever you are about to do something colossally stupid. Like, say, announcing your presence to a major city, and having them establish a holy site?¡±


    Ouch¡­ true, but ouch. ¡°Okay, okay, I get your point. I suppose I¡¯ll have to do this for all the new gods, too?¡± When I asked that, Bihena nodded her head. ¡°Okay, well, can you go tell the others that I was nning on giving the elf goddess her personality now?¡±


    Giving Ryone a personality has two big benefits, thanks to her domain. With her Magic domain, she can start researching new kinds of spells more easily than I can. With her Wealth domain, she can help me manage my points, so that I don¡¯t spend more than I need to. At least, that¡¯s what I¡¯m hoping for.


    Bihena grumbles under her breath before standing up. ¡°This time. But, I¡¯m not a messenger, so don¡¯t get used to it.¡± Saying that, she turned and walked out of the room. While she was letting the others know, I focused my mind. Reaching out, I changed the Admin Room just slightly, moving Ryone from her position in the ¡®god storage locker¡¯ to my room.


    Appearing before me was the elven goddess, her lithe body covered with a green dress that went down to her knees. Her golden eyes looked lifeless, staring at the wall. Her ruby-colored hair swept down half of her back, pointed ears just visible on either side of her head.


    While I was waiting for the others to show up, I went ahead and decided to skip ahead ten more years in the world.


    _______________________________________________________________


    After traveling for over a year, the beastkin finally reached the center of the Great Forest, the positionbeled on the quest scroll. Now, there was only one step left before they were done, and that was to construct permanent houses. Due to the dangers of the travel, they had lost five people before finally arriving, bringing their total members down just below fifty. Thankfully, they still met the requirements of twenty ninjas toplete the quest.


    Constructing houses did not take too long. One man, a felyn who had joined just after they left, was a Priest to the Goddess of Fate. Through his prayer, they were given the knowledge of how to make a home for themselves. These homes came in two types. For the Ninjas, they were given designs to build their houses among the tallest of trees, using the thickest branches for support. For everyone else, they had homes along the bases of those trees.


    This was not an attempt to discriminate against those who did not hold the aptitude to be a ninja. Rather, it was simply because it was dangerous for them to live so high without that ss. At the same time, having houses up in the trees made it possible for their residents to have a safe ce to retreat to if a monster attacked.


    This was clearly exined to the Priest, who in turn exined it to everyone else. While the main focus of their fighting force consisted of their Ninjas, they could not oppress those unable to use chakra. It was said that one day, the limit of power would rise again, and those who had trained to their fullest would be able to break their previous limits. Those who had been unable to train as a ninja would likewise be able to do so.


    Like this, the group spent weeks getting their homes made. The Priest of Terra promised them that, after the quest was over, there would be more people joining them. Lost souls in need of their own homes. Although many in the group were skeptical, they had no reason to doubt the man¡¯s words. Even after they had finished all of the houses on the ground, they continued making more, all in good faith that they would indeed gain new members.


    Over a monthter, they had finallypleted their quest. Along the trees and ground, dozens of homes had been built. At this time, a gentle voice spoke within the wind, heard by all in the vige. ¡°Thank you, my children. You have done a great deed, and will be rewarded.¡±


    The leather scroll, which had always been held in the hands of their leader, suddenly changed. Spiderweb cracks of light formed along its rough surface, and it exploded in a st of energy. This energy then poured out in streams, which targeted each and every Ninja among the group. Aside from those who had long since hit the limit of power, all Ninjas received an immediate five levels.


    _______________________________________________________________


    It took a few minutes, but eventually Terra and Aurivy came back to the room. From the others, including Bihena, I received messages saying that they weren¡¯t really interested in watching this event, and that they¡¯d meet Ryer. Only Aurivy seemed truly excited, because it meant that she¡¯d get another big sister to y with.


    ¡°After this, mind if we have a chat?¡± Terra asked me, to which I nodded. ¡°You too, Rivy. You¡¯ll wanna hear this too.¡± She smiled. Aurivy¡¯s eyes widened, and she nodded her head repeatedly.


    Seeing that she had something to talk about with both of us, I went ahead and asked. ¡°Would it be better to go ahead and talk about it, then give Ryone her personality when we¡¯re done?¡±


    Terra thought about it for a few moments, and agreed. ¡°Alright. It won¡¯t take long, I just wanted to ask your permission for something.¡±


    Okay, now I was surprised. ¡°Since when do you ask for my permission for things?¡±


    Terra had a small grin on her face when she answered. ¡°Since it involved using divine powers for certain reasons. Anyways, you¡¯ll see if you check the map, but the ninja vige was established during the recent skip. If it¡¯s just the people I sent originally, they¡¯ll die out fromck of numbers before they have any room to grow. So, I wanted to get permission to have little Rivy here,¡± She pet Aurivy¡¯s head, causing the smaller goddess to squirm, ¡°use her Travel domain to send people in the forest who are lost to the vige.¡±


    Aurivy stopped her ufortable squirming when she heard that, and her head snapped up. ¡°Really, sis?! I can help make the ninja vige, too?!¡± Her eyes were wide and practically sparkling, and when she turned that gaze to look at me, I couldn¡¯t really deny it.


    ¡°Okay¡­ But only within reason. Only people who have actually lost their way, and only from that same forest. I don¡¯t want you to identally split up families because someone got lost going for a walk in the woods, okay?¡± Aurivy¡¯s head nodded rapidly to these conditions, excited by the idea of the ninja vige.


    ¡°Thank you thank you thank you!¡± She called out happily, pulling me over and giving both Terra and I a tight hug. ¡°Oh I love you both, thank you! This is so cool!¡±


    Terra had a silly grin on her face as Aurivy thanked her, and I could only chuckle helplessly. It seemed that Terra really was weak to the cuteness of the little goddess. ¡°Okay, now, I think we had other ns to do first?¡± Aurivy seemed to remember why she was here in the first ce when I said that, backing up to look at the still motionless Ryone.


    Closing my eyes, I began taking notes for what I wanted from Ryone¡¯s personality. First, I wanted her to enjoy magical research, so that she would help advance magic for the world. Secondly, I wanted her to be good with money, for various reasons. And finally, like with the others, I wanted to bind her to me and Terra with love, while making her see Aurivy as a cute little sister.


    Once those choices were set, and I spent the twenty points to buy the personality, the familiar golden light descended. As it wrapped around Ryone, infusing itself into her body and mind, I saw her muscles seem to rx. Her chest started to rise and fall in steady breaths, and her eyes became more focused as she looked at me.


    When the light faded, she gave a quick nce around the room, blinking rapidly. After a few moments, she smiled and walked over towards me without a word. Not knowing what to expect, I was certainly caught off guard when she suddenly grabbed my head, pulling me in for a kiss. Her tongue danced around my mouth, and she pressed her body against mine. My eyes were wide in surprise, and I could see Terra¡¯s anger rising behind Ryone.


    However, just as she was about to charge over and rip the elven goddess off of me, Ryone broke the kiss with a wide smile. Turning around, Terra was just about to say something when she too was pulled into a kiss by the goddess. She let out a muffled shout at first, but soon her eyeszily closed, and I could hear a soft purringing from her throat. Meanwhile, Aurivy had both of her hands covering her eyes, as if she was afraid to see what was going on.


    I¡­ think the love setting may have been a bit too strong on this one.

 Chapter 45: Promises Kept

    <h4>Chapter 45: Promises Kept</h4>


    After Ryone spent enough time making out with Terra that thetter had brought her hand up to caress her back, the two finally broke their kiss. The catgirl goddess had a happy smile on her face as she took deep, heated breaths. Although she seemed resistant at first to the kiss, she had fully given herself over to it. Did I identally make a sex fiend goddess?!


    ¡°Okay, now that that¡¯s out of the way, is there something for me to do?¡± She asked as she looked around the room with a small smile, reaching down and gently patting Aurivy¡¯s head.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ that was?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but try to ask. I mean, she suddenly made out with both myself and Terra, and then shrugged it off as if it was nothing!


    ¡°Hmm?¡± She asked as she looked at me, and then to the panting catgirl. ¡°Oh, that? It seemed like a fun idea, so I wanted to give it a shot. Why, did you not like it?¡± She had the fakest pout I had ever seen when she asked that.


    ¡°N-no, it was great!¡± Surprisingly, it wasn¡¯t me that answered, but Terra. After a moment, she seemed to realize what she had blurted out, and her cheeks tinted red. ¡°I-I mean. It was just a big surprise. We didn¡¯t really expect you to do anything like that right after you got your personality.¡±


    Ryone brought a hand up to cover her mouth while she giggled lightly. ¡°Oh? Did you expect me to be some bookworm because of my domains?¡± When Terra nodded dumbly, she stuck her tongue out yfully at the catgirl. ¡°Sorry, dear. Not all lessons in life can be learned in the pages of a book.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ but¡­ okay, you have a point.¡± Terra sighed reluctantly, nodding her head.


    Ryone grinned, bringing a hand up under Terra¡¯s chin and scratching it gently. Terra¡¯s eyes rolled back in her head, her tail swaying side to side gently as a throaty purr emerged from her lips. ¡°Now, mind showing me the ropes to this whole goddess deal? Our dear lord and maker wasn¡¯t kind enough to give me a manual when I was made.¡±


    Terra nodded her head slightly, still enjoying the physical attention that the elf goddess was giving her. ¡°Mmmm¡­ okay.¡± She slowly opened her eyes to look at me. ¡°I like this one. We can keep her.¡±


    Ryone simply smiled, and walked out of the room, Terra following quickly behind. Once they were gone, it was just Aurivy and I left behind. The little girl finally brought her hands down from her eyes, looking around to make sure they were gone. ¡°What¡­ what just happened?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t know.¡± I shook my head, looking at the door where the two girls had gone. After letting out a long sigh, I turned to look at Aurivy. ¡°Anyways, you were going to work on the ninja vige?¡±


    When I said that, Aurivy suddenly looked up, as if the previous scene had made her forget something very important. ¡°Ah! That¡¯s right! I need to get to work!¡± With that, she turned around and quickly ran out of the room, charging into her own room just down the hall.


    Smiling slightly, I turned and started up theputer. Immediately, I saw a stream of notifications, most of which were to list sales. Four Keepers had bought the Centaur+ race, ten had bought the Trinity¡¯s Sin, and a staggering thirty had bought the Quest Contracts system. Given the price of that system, that really surprised me. After going through the purchase records, there were still a few more notifications.


    You have earned a Keeper bonus through physicalbor! +1 Strength


    You have earned an achievement!


    For helping your citizens designate a holy site, you have earned the City nner achievement. +20 points


    Between the achievement and the sales, my total points had risen to just over five hundred! If I wanted to, I could even set up a second now. However¡­ I had no real desire to do that. At least, not until my first one was running smoothly, and I had all the systems in ce that I wanted. In the best case scenario, every system would be installed from the very beginning, so there wouldn¡¯t be the issue of repeated updates like Earth is having.


    However, this did mean that I was able to look through for some more things to buy for Earth. To start, I made two purchases. One was for the next tier of monsters, which go up to level two hundred. I think this is also the first tier that has monsters that utilize magic, as well. The other purchase was for a new race, something I had nned to get eventually anyways. This was the Dungeon Core race, which had some very interesting abilities.


    Race Name Dungeon Core


    Comprehension 4


    Agility 0


    Strength 0


    Lifespan ¡Þ


    Luck 6


    Awareness 8


    Male:Female ratio Genderless


    Racial Abilities-Infinite Lifespan-Unnatural Biology-Spontaneous Birth(Keeper/Deity Assigned or Mana Density)-Monster Trap-Inhabitant Control-Terrain Control-Treasure Generation


    This seemed like a race that would be useful to haveter on, even though it would never directly socialize with the other races. But, for the purpose of being a dungeon to train adventurers, it works perfectly. Which is nice, because this race cost a full hundred and fifty points on its own.


    For the options thate with it, I decided to set the dungeon spawns to assigned only, that way the world does not end up flooded with dungeons and unable to fight them. I also made sure not to ce any dungeons yet, as I wanted to discuss it with the gods first. I¡¯m learning, I swear!


    _______________________________________________________________


    Within the Great Forest, a dense fog surrounded the vige of ninjas. This fog appeared in the middle of the day, and caused many of the inhabitants to be rmed. Such a fog had never appeared so suddenly, and they could clearly hear footsteps moving towards them. The words that the priest had spoken years ago echoed in their minds, yet they did not rx their guard.


    Stepping through the mist, and into their line of sight, was a young lycan boy. He did not appear to be older than ten, but he was looking around with a tearful expression. From the blood stained on his skin, it was clear that he had suffered a great tragedy. However, the only wound on his body was a single set of w marks on his back.


    ¡°W-where¡¯s my mommy?¡± He asked in a pained voice, looking around at the strange men. Elsewhere, near the edge of the forest, an angry howl echoed through the trees. Arge wolf with metal spikes on its back had lost its prey amidst a dense fog. Although it had sessfully hunted the female, the child had managed to escape it.


    After the boy arrived, more people seemed to emerge from the fog, one by one. At times, it would be just a lone man or woman. Other times, it would be a small family. But, no matter who it was, their stories were the same. A strange fog descended upon the forest, and they found themselves walking into the vige.


    The original inhabitants were in awe at this. It had been years since the priest had promised that more people woulde, and they had nearly given up hope. Half of the extra houses they had built had copsed due to rain, with them simply not having the desire to fix them again. But now, for every house, inhabitants had arrived. Surprisingly, once there were enough people to fill all of the spare houses, the mist dispersed, as if it had never been there in the first ce.


    This told the ninjas of the vige even more that the priest had been right. The gods had truly provided for them, offering them people to fill their ranks. Of course, they would not squander this blessing, and immediately set themselves to tending to their newest recruits.


    _______________________________________________________________


    After doing my shopping, I was left with a little over two hundred and fifty points. Still more than enough to get new systems, if I decide I want them, but I will save them for now. Stepping up from theputer, I left the room to see what the others were doing.


    When I opened Aurivy¡¯s door, she wasying on the bed on her stomach, legs bent and idly kicking at the air as she had her eyes closed. I could hear that she was humming softly, and guessed that she must still be doing the work with the ninja vige, so I didn¡¯t disturb her.


    The next door was Irena¡¯s, and opening it only confirmed that she wasn¡¯t currently in her room at the moment. After that was Bihena¡¯s room, and I hesitated for a moment before knocking on it. I may have just opened the other doors, but Aurivy and Irena are not as hostile as Bihena.


    ¡°Busy right now! Will go yell at you in a little while, Dale!¡± Well, at least she knew it was me at the door.


    Shaking my head, I moved to the next door, one which had never existed before today. Knowing that Ryone had asked for goddess lessons, I decided to knock on this door as well, rather than immediately intruding. ¡°Come in~.¡± I heard the elf¡¯s light voice calling from within.


    When I opened the door, I saw Terra lying naked on the bed, a happy smile on her face as she curled into a ball. Sitting over at a nearby desk, Ryone had a thick book propped open that she appeared to be reading. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about her, we just had a bit of quick fun to thank her for teaching me.¡± Ryone winked yfully to me, before turning back to her book. ¡°She¡¯s really weak to certain treatment, you know?¡±


    ¡°Ahh¡­ I guess.¡± I looked over her shoulder and saw the book she was reading. The contents of it were very familiar to me, as I had an identical book of my own. ¡°Book of spells?¡±


    The elven goddess gave an absent nod. ¡°That¡¯s right. My domain gives me instant knowledge of known spells, but seeing them drawn out for me helps.¡± She then gave me a small smile. ¡°I¡¯m allowed to enjoy both books and people, you know?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t say anything.¡± I hurriedly shook my head. Out loud¡­ Really, so she isn¡¯t a total sex fiend¡­


    ¡°Yeah, yeah. Oh, and Terra told me to give you a message if she was still napping next time I saw you.¡± I saw the corners of her mouth twist into a grin as she looked back to the book again. ¡°She said that you could y with me, as long as you share~.¡±


    Okay, nevermind, she is still a sex fiend.

 Chapter 46: Meeting of the Gods

    <h4>Chapter 46: Meeting of the Gods</h4>


    ¡°Well, once Terra wakes up, can you gather everyone together? Feel like it¡¯s about time for us to have a proper meeting.¡± Ryone nodded absently after I said that, so I walked out of the room. Looking down the hall, I thought about what I wanted to do until the meeting. Ultimately, there was one question that still needed answered, but I wasn¡¯t sure how to go about finding out.


    In the end, the only real choice was the direct approach. Walking over to Bihena¡¯s door, I knocked on it and called inside. ¡°Can Ie in? Would like to talk.¡±


    ¡°Alright, whatever.¡± Came the somewhat hurried voice from within the room. When I opened the door, I found that the decorations for this room had been slightly changed. The bed had turned a deep blue, and there were mounted weapons such as spears and axes along the walls. Bihena was sitting at a desk in the far corner of her room, the chair turned to face the door. ¡°So, what is it?¡±


    I shook my head as I walked in, closing the door behind me. ¡°Just wanted to know something. Why are you so hostile to me? I mean, I don¡¯t want this to be a problem or anything, and I don¡¯t understand why you were so angry at me as soon as you saw me.¡±


    Bihena raised her eyebrows as she watched me, chuckling slightly. ¡°Was wondering when you were going to ask, or if you¡¯d already figured it out. Guess not.¡± I only continued looking at her, waiting for her exnation. ¡°Keep your pants on, I¡¯m getting to it.¡±


    She took a deep breath, before looking me square in the eyes. ¡°Do you know what the single most infuriating trait about someone is?¡± I shook my head. ¡°It¡¯s when you aren¡¯t able to control your feelings towards them. Yes, I admit it, I like you just like the other girls do. But, unlike them, I don¡¯t appreciate my feelings being forced into me. So yes, I like you, but at the same time, seeing you reminds me that I have no real control over my own emotions.¡±


    I nodded my head slightly. ¡°Sorry about that. I didn¡¯t really think that would turn into a problem.¡±


    She scoffed lightly, smirking at me. ¡°That¡¯s another thing, you don¡¯t really think too hard about these things. Yeah, sure, you do your best. And not all of your mistakes can really be med on you, but maybe think about things a bit more from now on.¡±


    I could only nod again, before doing my best to show my good intentions. ¡°If you¡¯d rather, I can change that setting--¡±


    I didn¡¯t even get to finish my offer before Bihena sent a vicious re at me. ¡°Touch those settings once, and I swear I will rip apart your world. I¡¯m not joking here, Dale.¡± I felt a cold sweat flowing down my back as she spoke. ¡°I can get over the initial problem of being made to like you, but if you mess with my mind anymore than that¡­¡±


    ¡°I get it, I get it. Forget I said anything.¡± Her eyes calmed down as I said that, and she nodded her head. ¡°Still, it¡¯d be best if we were able to get along? This hostility won¡¯t be good for anyone.¡±


    Bihena nodded again at that. ¡°We can get along. But, don¡¯t expect me to go crawling around for your affection. If you want me to ever act on these feelings you put in me, then you¡¯re going to have to show that you are worth it.¡±


    I smiled bitterly, but agreed. ¡°That¡¯s fine. Anyways, we¡¯re going to have a meeting in a little bit. It¡¯d be best if everyone shows up.¡±


    At that, Bihena seemed to smile slightly. ¡°It seems he can be taught, after all. Now, go ahead and get out of here. I still have some stuff to take care of.¡±


    After that, I left the room, moving to the living room to wait for everyone. To my surprise, it only took about a half hour before Terra woke up and everyone was called together. Looking around and seeing everyone, I couldn¡¯t help but acknowledge that this was the first time that they were all in the same room.


    Terrazily stretched out, waving a hand to dismiss the current living room furniture, instead summoning a long table. Around it were six chairs, as well as what looked like a small cloud of fluff. The girls and I all sat in the chairs, while Tryval navigated his way onto the fluff cloud. Terra sat on my right, between myself and Ryone. Across from her was Aurivy, nked by Irena and Bihena. Finally, Tryval sat at the end of the table, as he needed more room.


    ¡°So.¡± Tryval spoke first, looking towards me. ¡°What is it that you called us all here for?¡±


    At his words, everyone else also nodded, looking for me to answer. ¡°Well, we¡¯ve never really had a meeting like this, and I thought that it would be good to start doing them on a semi-regr basis. As you all have probably noticed¡­ I¡¯m not too good at the whole nning aspect.¡± There were a few discreet snickers from around the table at that, mostly from my side of the table¡­


    ¡°Anyways, I wanted to get together with everyone and decide on a general n. To help develop the world eventually, I went ahead and bought a new race for us to use.¡± Focusing my mind, I created a set of papers in front of me with the information about the dungeon core race. I even checked one of the papers to make sure that it didn¡¯te out blurry or anything.


    Everyone grabbed one of the papers when they were slid to them, and looked it over. Ryone was the first one to speak up, a small smile on her face. ¡°I want one.¡±


    I tried not to imagine this as a request for a sex dungeon, and looked at her. ¡°For?¡±


    Her smile spread a bit wider as she saw the questioning look on my face. ¡°Where am I going to find a better field to practice new magic? It¡¯s hard to properly gauge power in the admin room, so a dungeon down in the world would be the perfect solution. Maybe I could even take it as a student eventually.¡±


    I had to nod at her reasoning. It made sense. And, it got me to stop imagining her with a sex dungeon. ¡°Alright. You can ce one down in the world, as long as it¡¯s not somewhere that it will be easily found in the future.¡± She nodded her head quickly at that, and I looked to the rest of them. ¡°For the dungeons, I want all of us to share this job, rather than creating a single ¡®dungeon god¡¯. It¡¯s too easy for dungeons to be seen as evil creations, so making them into a domain for any of you would only make it easier for people to see you like that as well.¡±


    Terra nodded her head slightly, a small smile on her face as she heard that. ¡°That sounds cool. We should ce a few down as experiments first, see how they work.¡± I was a bit surprised by her sudden suggestion, but the confident look in her eyes made me think that there might be some defect with the dungeon that I don¡¯t know about.


    ¡°Alright. We¡¯ll do it that way. Next, I wanted to make an announcement.¡± Everyone looked at me seriously, even Aurivy. It¡¯s weird to see her looking serious. ¡°With one of Ryone¡¯s domains being Wealth, I wanted to put her in charge of managing the points, so that we don¡¯t run into any bad situations.¡±


    Irena nced at Ryone, nodding her head slightly. ¡°It does make sense. Can she even buy things from the market with your permission, though?


    Terra shook her head in response. ¡°Only the Keeper can make purchases. But, anypanion can browse the market. So, she can find systems that we need, and list them out for Dale to review.¡±


    Ryone¡¯s smile grew even wider when she heard about her new job. ¡°Very nice. I take it that means you won¡¯t be aimlessly spending points anymore?¡± She pointedly looked at me with thatstment.


    ¡°Well¡­ I might make small purchases. But, I¡¯ll try to keep any spending in the triple digits on hold until I verify it with you first.¡± I didn¡¯t really trust myself enough to say that I would entirely let her handle the budget, because sometimes there were things I wanted to get without really thinking too much into it. ¡°Anyways, on this subject, there is a system that I wanted to introduce. I¡¯ve been working on it in my spare time for a while, so it is a bit more detailed than what I usuallye up with.¡±


    Once again, they looked at me seriously. This time, I manifested seven folders, each one holding a few papers. Then, I slid the folders over to them, keeping one for myself. Opening up the folder, I spread out the papers in front of me to make sure that I had urately copied down the system I had saved on the notepad in myputer.


    Spoiler


    div]


    Inventory System


    How is the inventory aplished?


    - Through the game system menu(Game setting required)


    - A spatial magic spell


    - A special ore that can be shaped into an inventory artifact like a ring


    - A special thread from certain monsters or nts that can be reshaped into an inventory artifact or bag. Note: keeper must either choose already created monster or nt in system that has trait to make this kind of thread, or create a new one from scratch.


    - A special wood from certain monsters and trees that once sessfully prepared and formed into an inventory artifact or container Note: keeper must either choose already created monster or tree in system that has trait to make this kind of wood, or create a new one from scratch.


    - Stomachs of certain monsters have special property/trait of slightly bending space, once prepared correctly, their stomachs can be transformed into an inventory artifact/bag. Note: keeper must either choose already created monster in system that has trait to have this kind of stomach, or create a new one from scratch.


    - A machine that creates a pocket dimension


    - A machine and/or ray that digitizes items into code


    - Enchantment, can be ced on a wide range of items to make it act as an inventory item/artifact


    - Custom/other


    What is maximum storage capacity?


    - Unlimited


    - X inventory slots


    - X cubic feet


    - X pounds


    - Dependent on ss


    - Dependent on level


    - Dependent on magic power, ki, spiritual energy, or other energy source


    - Dependent on quality and quantity of inventory artifact material


    - Combination of above options


    - Other/Custom


    What happens to item weight in inventory?


    - Completely negated


    - Partially negates x% of item weight


    - Partially negates up to x pounds


    - Does not negate weight (note: Unavable for digitization)


    - Amplifies weight of item by x%


    - Amplifies weight of item by x pounds


    - Custom/Other


    To what degree are items preserved?


    - Once ced in inventory, items are frozen in time,pletely preserved


    - Items are partially preserved as time moves x times slower in inventory


    - Items are not preserved as time in inventory matches outside world


    - Items actually degrade faster as inventory is x times faster than outside world


    - Custom/other


    What happens to the items after the inventory owner dies?


    - The deceased continues to have ess to their inventory items in their respective afterlife(note: Unavable for object-based inventories)


    - The items automatically go to a storage area in the admin room


    - Items are destroyed


    - The appear right next to the corpse of the deceased


    - They stay in the inventory where others can ess them if they retrieve the inventory artifact


    - Items in inventory are dispersed to random locations. Dispersal range decided by keeper before implementation. Can be potentially as small as a five foot radius or asrge as to epass the entire world.


    - Inventory is transferred into the killer¡¯s inventory. Keeper must choose another option in cases where where killer¡¯s inventory is full or bes full in midst of transfer. Keepers must also decide the factor in determining the priority of items transferred to killer if all of deceased inventory can not be transferred over. Examples include most valuable, least valuable, oldest items, newest items, and random.


    - Deceased inventory is transferred to killer¡¯s saved home point. Home point must be a location the killer has personally visited. Home point can be changed and deleted. Keeper must determine method of setting home point. Examples include setting it through game world menu, praying to personal deity, and saying ¡°save as home point¡±. If no home point is specifically set,st ce the killer slept will act as the default.


    - Items in inventory spout from the deceased body like a fountain until all items are removed from the inventory. Keeper must set the height of these ¡°item fountains¡± though random height is also an option.


    - A portal appears by deceased body from which people can pull out the inventory items of the deceased. Portal remains until all items are removed.


    - Temporary Portal, basically the same as option 10, however the portal is not permanent. Instead, the keeper sets a time the portal remains by corpse. If the time eclipses and not all the items are pulled out, portal disappears and items go through choosen secondary inventory dispersal option from this list.


    - If person is killed in a dungeon, items are transferred to the dungeon master where the items can be either converted into magical power or preserved for personal use. Note: While this option takes priority in dungeons, it is only applicable if a person is killed in a dungeon. Keepers must choose another option for cases if a person is killed outside of dungeons.


    - Custom/Other


    Inventory Activation Options


    - Open through personal menu


    - Voice Activation. Note: Keeper must set activation code with an example being ¡°Open Inventory¡±


    - Hand Gesture. Note: Keeper must set specific hand gesture that activates inventory


    - Recast inventory spell. Note: Only applicable for spatial magic spell inventory option


    - Infusing inventory artifact with energy (mana, ki, spiritual energy, ect.)


    - Open inventory container lid


    - Determined by inventory owner. Inventory owner can set whatever gesture or code word to activate their personal inventory. They are also free to change inventory activation process anytime they wish. Note: Keeper must determine how a person sets inventory activation process. Examples include praying to personal deity to describe process or saying ¡°Set Inventory Activation as followed¡­¡±. In addition, if this option is chosen, person will not have ess to their inventory until they set activation process.


    - Pressing on button for inventory machines.


    - Custom/other


    How to ce items in inventory


    - Push item through inventory menu slot(note: requires Game System inventory)


    - Physically ce in special inventory container (bag, chest, ect.)


    - Push or carry item through a portal summoned by inventory. This portal opens up to a separate dimensional space where item will be stored. Note: Portal will remain open while there are living beings in inventory space.


    - After activating inventory lift item off of ground for set amount of time determined(x seconds) by keeper.


    - After activating inventory touch object for x amount of seconds determined by keeper.


    - After activating inventory, state name of object or description of object that want to ce in inventory. Note: Keeper must set maximum distance(x meters) that person can be from object in order to ce in inventory.


    - After activating inventory, envelop item that want to ce in inventory with a thin coating of person¡¯s energy (mana, ki, spiritual energy, ect.)


    - ce on a special tform connected to inventory system


    - Shoot a ray at item that want to ce in inventory. Note: keeper must set maximum length(x meters) of ray to ce item in inventory and how long ray must be in contact with item(y seconds).


    - A special hand gesture that indicates the item that person wants to ce in inventory. An example is pointing at item with a finger. Note: Keeper must set a hand gesture that clearly indicates what item person wants to ce in inventory and Keeper must set maximum distance(x meters) that person can be from object in order to ce in inventory.


    - ce item in an incorporeal chestposed of a special energy summoned by inventory system


    - Think of/Imagine item that want to ce in inventory. Note: Keeper must set maximum distance(x meters) that person can be from object in order to ce in inventory.


    - Custom/Other


    How to remove items from inventory


    - Pull item from inventory menu slot(note: requires Game System inventory)


    - Tap inventory slot of item that wish to remove from inventory


    - Push, pull, carry item of inventory space through summoned portal


    - After activating inventory, state name or description of item that wish to remove from inventory


    - Click image of item disyed onputer screen that wish to remove fromputer screen(note: requires Game System or tech-based inventory)


    - Pull item out of inventory container (bag, chest, ect.)


    - After summoning incorporeal inventory chest, remove/pull item out of chest


    - Think of/Imagine item that wish to remove from inventory


    - Custom/Other


    Restrictions on Inventory (Note: More than one restriction can be chosen)


    - None


    - Will not have ess to inventory till x age


    - Will not have ess to inventory till earn a ss


    - Will not not have ess to inventory till x level


    - Only certain sses(x number) designated by the keeper will have ess to an inventory


    - Cannot ce an item into you inventory unless you are considered to be the item¡¯s ¡°owner¡±. Whether or not you are the item¡¯s owner will be judged by the inventory system itself. Note: While having a firm grasp on item and carrying it might raise possibility of being considered the new or temporary owner, it is not definitive that it will work immediately or at all for some items.


    - For digitalization inventory system, x number of times an item¡¯s code can be copied will be determined by Keeper. If exceed this number in order to make multiple copies of item, will cause code to degrade and make it impossible for item to materialize.


    - Can not open inventory in midst of battle


    - Custom/Other


    Inventory Slot Options (inventory slot option required)


    - Objectsrger than x cubic feet will upy multiple inventory slots


    - Objects heavier than x pounds will upy multiple inventory spots


    - Regardless of item¡¯s weight or size will upy only one inventory spot


    - Container with multiple items inside will be treated as a single object and can potentially upy only a single inventory spot


    - Container with multiple items inside will not be treated as a single object and can not be ced into inventory


    - Container will multiple items inside will not be treated as a single object. Container will be emptied and items inside will upy other inventory slots. If not enough room, will not be able to ce entire container inside inventory.


    - If have identical items of equitable size, quality, and appearance, can have them upy the same inventory slot(s) regardless of the weight and size limits of the inventory slot. Maximum amount of times this can be done on an inventory slot determined by Keeper(X).


    - Stacked inventory slots will have the weight of only one object. (Stackable inventory slot option required).


    - Stacked inventory slots will have total weight of all items in stacked slot


    - Stacked inventory slots will weigh x% of total weight all objects in stacked inventory slot


    - Items that take up multiple inventory slots can not be stacked


    - Items that take up multiple inventory slots can be stacked


    - Custom/Other


    What happens to items if inventory device/artifact is destroyed?


    - Stored items are permanently destroyed


    - Items stored inside are transported to a storage room in the admin room


    - Items are scattered around remains of inventory device


    - Items are transported to random locations. Keeper must determine dispersal range. Could be extremely short or big enough to cover entire world


    - Items in inventory spout from inventory device remains like a fountain until all items are removed from the inventory. Keeper must set the height of these ¡°item fountains¡± though random height is also an option.


    - One of the above options(Y), but there is an x% chance for each item being damaged in some way, shape, or form.


    - Custom/Other


    [copse]


    It took a few minutes for everyone to finish looking over the papers. Terra let out a low whistle when she finished. ¡°Really wanted to make a flexible system, didn¡¯t you?¡± I nodded my head. ¡°Well, it¡¯s good. There are some storage devices already, like bags of holding, but nothing thisplex. It should be able to earn a fair amount of points.¡±


    After Aurivy was done, she decided to speak up. ¡°Oooh, can we get this? It¡¯d really help everyone down below!¡± As she spoke, she highlighted a few lines with her fingers, causing those lines to light up. Words floated up off the page, showing everyone what she chose. In essence, she chose a basic game inventory system, with one hundred slots.


    However, Terra only let out a knowing smile. ¡°Well, how about we find out?¡± She looked towards me. ¡°Go ahead and submit it. Then, we can see what kind of price tag the market would put on what she wants.¡±


    I nodded my head, mentally submitting this system to the market. As soon as I did, Ryone began working as well, waving her fingers around. Like with Aurivy, words floated in front of her, the same ones that Aurivy herself had chosen. However, once the options were all set, she made a small gasp of astonishment. Finally, a number rose up below the words. 2205.


    ¡°That¡¯s how much it would cost, Aurivy.¡± She said with a regretful tone. ¡°We won¡¯t be able to afford that for a long time, unless this sells particrly well. However, if I may make a suggestion¡­¡±


    Once again, Ryone fiddled with the system, causing words to fly up. Unlike Aurivy¡¯s game system menu, what Ryone was going for was the enchantment option. Along with it, she chose the cheapest choices for slowing time, size, and weight. At the end, the number 320 appeared below the list of options.


    ¡°With this, it is an enchantment that we can apply to items, rather than a new system. Am I understanding that right?¡± She looked to Terra, who nodded her head. ¡°Then, am I correct in assuming that the system would make it so that this is possible?¡±


    Terra smiled slightly, nodding again. ¡°As long as it does notpletely contradict the world. For instance, we couldn¡¯t get the digitization options, becauseputer code would be apletely foreign concept to the current Earth. As long as it is even remotely possible, the system will adjust the naturalws to make any purchase applicable.¡±


    Ryone¡¯s smile grew again. ¡°Then, am I correct in assuming that, once those changes are made, it will be possible to improve upon them?¡±


    Terra couldn¡¯t help butugh at that, reaching over and putting a hand on Ryone¡¯s shoulder gently. ¡°Within reason. But, for what I think you¡¯re wanting, yes. It should be possible.¡±


    ¡°Alright!¡± She made a victorious fist bump into the air, then turned to look at the rest of us. ¡°So, I want to get this. With the options I chose, we can use it as a starting point to develop better ones. Using the time aspects, we can evolve it to frozen time, with the weight aspects, we can evolve it to weightless. And naturally, we can expand the capacity as well. We can¡¯t afford it quite yet, but that should be taken care of once word of this system spreads.¡±


    The others all nodded, though Aurivy still looked upset that her suggestion wasn¡¯t chosen. Bihena smiled down to the little goddess, patting her back. Aurivy quickly looked up in surprise to Bihena, and leaned over to give her a hug, surprising her.


    Tryval watched the scene, and then turned over to look at me. ¡°My liege, since we are in this meeting¡­¡± A grin slowly spread over his face. ¡°I would officially like to ask for permission to mingle with my people again.¡±


    ¡°Uhm¡­ why?¡± I asked, confused. It hadn¡¯t been very long since I ced those restrictions on him, and he was already asking for them to be removed?


    ¡°You see, you gave me the Fellowship domain. However, I am still forbidden from being with my own race. Is that not contrary to the power I was given?¡± He exined confidently, crossing his arms in front of his chest.


    ¡°I¡­ guess so? But, there will still have to be rules.¡± He clicked his tongue when he heard that. ¡°We can¡¯t have you going around spreading half-gods everywhere. It¡¯d be best if they didn¡¯t know it was you. At times, you can reveal your identity in order to act. However¡­¡± I gave him a stern look as I spoke, wanting to make this clear. ¡°Each time you do so, you will have to remove yourself from the public for fifty years, to allow the news to die down. When youe back in, it will be with a new face and a new identity. And you are not allowed to leave behind heirs.¡±


    I got an approving nod from Terra, but only a grumble from Tryval. ¡°Fine. I will ept these terms. It is still better from being forced to remain in the shadows.¡±


    I nodded at that, then turned to look at the others. ¡°Does anyone have anything that they want to bring up?¡± The girls all shook their heads, so I let out a sigh. ¡°Then, the first meeting is adjourned. Let¡¯s go see how these dungeons work.¡±

 Chapter 47: Hungry Soul

    <h4>Chapter 47: Hungry Soul</h4>


    Soon, all seven of us found our way to the basement area, where I would normally go to train my magic. However this was not so that we could train, but so that we could ce down a dungeon core. And no, we aren¡¯t cing it in this basement. My bedroom just felt like it¡¯d be too cramped with all of us in there, so we decided to convert the floor of the basement into arger ¡®map¡¯ of the world below.


    Of course, this was provided by Terra, who was smiling as we all tried to dance around the map without stepping on any mountains or trees. It¡¯s like walking through a little kid¡¯s room and trying to avoid all the toys. There¡¯s always that one that manages to find its way into the bottom of your foot.


    Anyways, back on topic. Since we didn¡¯t know what to expect with this dungeon, we were going to ce it on an uninhabited ind. Worst case scenario, we wind up with a flying ind dungeon, which would be kind of cool.


    ¡°Alright¡­ this one should work.¡± Ryone says with a nod as she points to an ind about as big as my toe, standing ankle deep in the ocean. I was really d that we wouldn¡¯t actually be leaving giant footprints throughout the world or anything, because that would not be good.


    I nodded, looking to Terra. However, the catgirl goddess was giving Aurivy a piggyback ride while watching us. With a shrug, I focused on that ind, and attempted to spawn a dungeon.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Among the thousands of inds of Earth, one sat alone in its own little corner of the world. This ind was inhabited by nothing but a few birds and a pair of thin trees. However, at that moment, the ground shook. A red gem, roughly ten centimeters in diameter, appeared on the ground as if dropped from the sky.


    This red gem shined faintly, and then slowly sank into the sandy surface. It was trembling slightly, its light flickering. The gem was afraid. It had appeared in a strange area, not knowing who or what it was. It could only see up to a meter around it. Above was a sky whose limits it could not reach, while below was a safe andforting earth. Naturally, it burrowed its way deeper, using the unfamiliar ground to shield itself from its surroundings.


    After a few minutes, it seemed to calm down. The flickering light stabilized into a steady glow, and it began to examine what little it could of its surroundings. It was at that time that a voice spoke in its mind, thoughts not of its own.


    Hello? Are you okay? The voice held a high pitch, distinctly different from the way the gem sounded in its own mind.


    ¡®What is this?¡¯ It thought to itself, only to be surprised when the voice answered.


    I am Aurivy, Goddess of Love and Travel. The gem trembled again slightly. It did not understand the concept of a goddess, but the voice suddenly held a sense of pressure for it. It no longer wanted tomunicate with the voice, afraid that it might be from the boundless sky above, afraid that it might damage its fragile existence.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°It¡¯s no use, it won¡¯t talk to me anymore.¡± Aurivy said with a frown, still held up on Terra¡¯s back.


    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Rivy.¡± Terra smiled back to her. ¡°It¡¯s still young. Give it a bit of time, and I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll get lonely. Then it¡¯ll want to talk to you some more. But Dale, do you notice anything?¡± She looked at me as she asked thatst part.


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± I looked down at the dungeon and focused on it. ¡°There¡¯s a strange flow of mana around the core, but it doesn¡¯t extend very far, and isn¡¯t particrly strong.¡± I felt a frown cover my face. ¡°I suppose this is normal for new dungeons?¡±


    Terra nodded her head slightly. ¡°If you watch closely, it is very slowly expanding. But, if you don¡¯t fast forward, you¡¯d have to zoom in extremely close to see it.¡± She smiled bitterly. ¡°So¡­ if you aren¡¯t nning on buying time zones for every dungeon you get¡­ it¡¯d probably be a good idea to nt some around in advance.¡±


    ¡°Ahh¡­¡± Well, I guess that doesn¡¯t ruin my ns too much. I mean, if I desperately want a dungeon right away, I can always buy a time zone to go with it to speed up its growth. ncing over, I looked at a sullen Ryone, who was realizing that this meant that her dungeon experiment chamber would have to wait. ¡°Want to nt one down somewhere, and then fast forward? There is nothing happening immediately that we need to focus on.¡±


    Ryone looked up, smiling slightly. ¡°I¡¯d like that, sure. Anyways, there are some things I need to take care of first, since I haven¡¯t made any changes to my society yet.¡± The other gods all frowned when they heard that. ¡°What? You all did it!¡±


    ¡°¡­Fair enough.¡± It was Irena who answered, surprisingly, sighing and shaking her head. ¡°I must also return to my people before the fast forward, lest they think I am absent.¡± I nodded at her words, and let her go. Soon, the others also began leaving one by one, either to go y or to attend to other business.


    I decided to give Ryone a couple of hours to get her nsid out before starting the fast forward.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Back on the deserted ind, days passed by overhead in silence. The scared gem had yet to make any attempts tomunicate with the voice that had previously spoken with it. It wasn¡¯t until over a month passed that it began to feel regret, that it considered whether that voice was the onlyfort that it would be able to find.


    ¡®Are you still there?¡¯ It thought to itself, hoping that the voice would respond once again. Sure enough, the voice once again responded, speaking as if it had only been moments since theyst talked.


    Meanwhile, in the depths of the Underworld, monsters continued devouring each other. These were no longer simply the goblins and the grue. No, they had changed, be something different. Towering monsters hundreds of meters long, looking like amorphous blobs covered in hungry maws. They devoured everything in their path, be it friend or foe alike.


    They knew nothing except their insatiable hunger, having long since lost any other reason they may have had. Anything they ate simply added to their own power, letting them be bigger, stronger. Until one day, something changed.


    One of these devourer spirits felt as if a great weight was pressing down on it. Like with all things, it decided to devour that pressure. ck light began to shine from the body of the devourer, before visible cracks spread out in the space around it. When the monstrous spirit roared, those cracks shattered like a broken mirror, revealing a gaping ck hole.


    Feeling as if there would be more food beyond this hole, it slipped through quietly, unnoticed by any around it. What it found on the other side of the doorway was arge mountain, with its body resting along its side. The spirit could not feel any way to return to its home, and found that the food on this side of the door seemed to be far more scarce.


    Angered by this discovery, it felt as if it was suddenly starving, so it dived down the mountain with an impossible speed, literally sshing across the ground when it made contact. Any of the lingering souls of the wildlife were instantly devoured the moment they came into contact with this creature. But this wasn¡¯t enough, this was nowhere near enough for the ravenous monster.


    Picking a direction at random, it charged forward, slowly spreading out across thend in order to gather more food. Although this reduced its strength, the spirits here offered little resistance to its feasting.


    _______________________________________________________________


    An rm red in my head just a minute after I set the world to fast forward. This has never happened¡­ In a rush to see what was going on, I tried to ess that rm with my mind, focusing on it to figure out the cause.


    Emergency detected! ss 3 Spirit detected. Immediate action required to preserve the safety of the inhabitants!


    ¡°Uhm¡­ what?¡± I did not have the slightest idea what that meant, so I turned towards the map, while sending messages to both Irena and Terra. One of those two should know about this situation.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Dale?¡± Irena¡¯s reply came back a momentter, as she appeared in the room behind me. She looked as calm as ever, so it seemed as if she did not know what was going on.


    ¡°There¡¯s a--¡± I started to exin, before the door mmed open, Terra running into the room.


    ¡°Where did that thinge from?!¡± She yelled, and the map instantly changed from its normal colored view to monochromatic. It was only at this point that I really saw what was happening. Across one of the continents, a giant ck mass was slowly spreading. Worst yet, this was not an uninhabited continent, and was instead the same one that held the beastkin.


    Thankfully, the emergency rm kicked in before the mass was able to spread to their territory, but it was only days away. Seeing this, Irena furrowed her brows, focusing on something before her face paled slightly. ¡°No¡­ One of them got out?¡±


    ¡°Okay, can someone tell me what is going on, and what we can do to fix it?¡± I felt like the only one in the dark, and this situation wasn¡¯t going to fix itself.


    ¡°I¡¯ll exin. Irena, you go and get rid of that thing.¡± She looked to the other goddess, who nodded her head, immediately vanishing from the room. ¡°Dale, do you remember the spirit sses you looked up a while back? The ones for monsters?¡±


    I nodded my head slowly, and she exined further. ¡°Most sses don¡¯t actually introduce anything new. Anyone can throw a punch, even if they aren¡¯t a Warrior. The sses simply guide the users along their paths, helping to educate them as they learn their powers. The only exceptions are sses that introduce new systems or energies.¡±


    I was about to ask what this had to do with what was happening, but she stopped me before I could say anything. ¡°This thing¡­ You couldpare it to the Chimera Soul ss. And, its level would be over two hundred. It must have eaten thousands of other spirits to get this far¡­¡±


    I paused for a moment as I considered that. ¡°If I officially bought the ss, would that slow the growth of these things in the future? Force them to stay at the level limit?¡±


    Terra shook her head to deny that. ¡°No. They¡¯d still grow to this point eventually. If anything, it may speed up the progress by enhancing their intelligence. These things¡­ this problem can¡¯t be ¡®fixed¡¯ without going to the afterlife and destroying all of the chimera. Even then, the cycle already began. As long as monster souls go to the afterlife, they will feed on each other.¡±


    My brows knit together, and I asked in a worried tone. ¡°Can Irena deal with these? They are so far above the level limit, right?¡±


    Terra let out a small smile. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. She¡¯s the Goddess in charge of the Underworld. As long as it¡¯s a creature thates from the Underworld, she has absolute power over it. It¡¯ll just use up a bit of her energy.¡±


    ¡°¡­That sounds ominous. She can get that energy back, right?¡±


    Terra giggled slightly, nodding her head. ¡°As long as she stays in the Underworld for a few months after this to recharge, she¡¯ll be fine. But that means that she can¡¯t handle this too often. It¡¯d be a good idea to have her take care of the others that are close to breaking through in the Underworld before she rests, and we can start working on some countermeasures.¡±


    I nodded my head slightly, watching the screen as the ck mass started to recede.


    _______________________________________________________________


    In a particr corner of the Great Forest, life was beginning to die out. There was no apparent cause to this, it simply seemed as if all life in the area became ill at once. The nts started to lose their color, the animals moving sluggishly. But none of them could tell what was happening.


    If one were to observe the area from above, through the eyes of a spirit, they would see a pool of ck slime covering a vast area of the forest. Giant mouths opened and closed at random intervals, as if trying to eat the trees. However, not a single mark was left behind on the living world.


    It was at this time that another figure appeared above the ck mass. Arge, radiant figure with two wings, starting white at the top and darkening as they went down. Her eyes shined with a fierce light as she gazed down at the monster that seemed to want to devour all life.


    Raising one slim hand, she mmed it down towards the ground, clenching her fist as if grabbing something. A loud scream echoed out that only this woman could hear. Her fist tightened, and the entire ck mass trembled.


    ¡°Punishment. Extermination.¡± When she released her hand, an invisible pressure crashed into the monster. As with all things, it wanted to devour this pressure, but soon learned otherwise. Its entire body was being ripped apart at the seams, torn smaller and smaller as indescribable pain surged through its body.


    The winged woman looked out to the horizon, not dropping the pressure in the slightest as she continued to apply it to every part of the giant monster. Only when there was not a single scrap of its existence remaining did she let out a tired sigh of relief. She knew that this was her fault. She had seen the monsters growing like this in the Underworld, but had not stopped them. She had believed that, no matter how much they ate and grew, they could never trespass on their own into thend of the living.


    She was wrong.

 Chapter 48: Lions and Spirits and Planning, Oh My!

    <h4>Chapter 48: Lions and Spirits and nning, Oh My!</h4>


    A short whileter, Irena returned to the Admin Room, breathing heavily as she copsed onto the bed. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ taken care of.¡± She spoke to Terra and I, before closing her eyes. It seemed that destroying such arge monster really had taken a heavy toll on her energy.


    Terra nodded to me, and motioned for me to leave the bedroom with her so that we could continue talking without disturbing Irena. Just to be safe, I froze the time of the world, so that more of those things wouldn¡¯t get out before Irena was awake to deal with them in the afterlife. ¡°Okay¡­ so, countermeasures. Got any bright ideas?¡± She asked me once we were outside the room.


    I looked nkly at her. ¡°Isn¡¯t that what you are supposed to tell me. I mean, you know how these things work, and what can beat them.¡±


    Terra nodded her head again. ¡°I do, but I can¡¯t outright tell you. At most, I can guide you on the right path, and drop little hints. I can¡¯t actually give you the full exnation unless you witness something yourself. Like how I could tell you about that monster.¡±


    I let out a long sigh, leaning back against the wall. ¡°Well¡­ There is one thing that might work, but I¡¯ll need to raise the level cap again to make it reliable.¡± Terra smiled, motioning for me to continue. ¡°The Spirit Hunter ss. I mean, doesn¡¯t it sound like it was created expressly for this kind of thing? It¡¯s even in the name. But, you said that thing¡¯s level was over two hundred, so even if I trained someone to the max level as a Spirit Hunter, then they would need a massive group just to take out one of those.¡±


    ¡°That sounds like a good n. Now, how are you going to implement it? Remember, this is something that you have to n for, so think carefully.¡± Terra reminded me, crossing her arms under her bust and watching me.


    ¡°Well¡­ I don¡¯t want to spread the ss out too much. Isn¡¯t this ss, and the requisite Spirit Tamer ss, the epitome of growing stronger through killing people? If the knowledge of it was spread out too much, I feel like people would use it for evil more than good.¡± Terra nodded silently as I spoke. ¡°So¡­ It¡¯d be better to make a small group, and have them sworn to secrecy.¡±


    ¡°That could work. Now, how are you going to do it for everyone? This isn¡¯t just a threat to one or two races, but for all of them. Don¡¯t you think they¡¯d notice eventually if every race had a secret society formed with the same basic principles?¡± She grinned wryly as she asked that.


    I thought about what she was asking, and could only let out a sigh after several long moments. ¡°We could pass it off as a group formed originally by the gods. If that was the case, it wouldn¡¯t be so weird for every race with a god to have the same sect. That seems like the most believable method to me, at least.¡±


    ¡°Alright, I can ept that. We can even work it into our little deal we had for you to do quests for us when you go back down. We just need to make it so that our quest is for you to establish that group within each of our races.¡±


    ¡°What about Irena?¡± I asked, looking back to the bedroom. ¡°I don¡¯t have any reason to teach the Spirit Hunter ss to the afterlife, they already have it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s easy. Spreading her domain in itself could be enough to issue a quest, so her quest could be to teach all of our races.¡± Terra shrugged her shoulders in response. ¡°You¡¯ll just have to spend a bit of time at each race to train a small group before moving on to the next. But, you should be done in¡­ a month or two, at thetest?¡±


    I smiled bitterly as she said that. I had barely been in this position for a month or two, and now I was going to be spending that amount of time on this single task. ¡°I suppose it would be a bit too much to expect you guys to be able to directly create the sect within your races, huh?¡±


    Terraughed lightly, nodding again. ¡°That¡¯s right. While we could exin the core aspects, and can take over that once they are given basic training, it is easier to teach through example. If you left it all to us, then they wouldn¡¯t get a full education.¡±


    ¡°Alright, alright. Go tell the others the n. I¡¯ve got to find a new monster to kill.¡± If I was going to do this, then I wanted to do it right. Using the spirit of a low level boar would certainly not convey the meaning of strength that I wanted. Thankfully, I had recently purchased monsters that were able to use basic magic, and those should be far more effective for what I wanted.


    Seeing as Irena was currently upying my bedroom, and that I didn¡¯t want to disturb her, I ¡®summoned¡¯ myputer to the living room after relocating there. I could probably do this without theputer, but searches like this were better left to a method that I was confident in. I was still getting used to using my own mind to connect to the world.


    I did a basic search, monsters able to use magic, searching from the highest level on the to the lowest. There¡­ really weren¡¯t that many types of monsters that could use magic so far, as the ones in this tier only had the most simply types of magic. From what I could tell, rather than the tiers representing power, they representedplexity. That¡¯s why monsters from the first tier didn¡¯t have the ability to eventually develop sapience, because they were too simple.


    Out of the list, I found a couple that seemed interesting. The first was a bird capable of using some wind magic to elerate. I imagined myself with armored wings if I used that monster with the Spirit Hunter ss. The other, though, seemed far more battle-oriented.


    This was a lion, roughly fifty percentrger than the natural breed. However, all of the members looked more simr to a lioness,cking the signature mane on the males. This was only in their passive state, though, as when a male of this species was angered, a mane of fire would sprout from their head. They could also use this fire to wrap around their ws and fangs, without it harming themselves.


    While the bird was interesting, and would certainly provide a good aesthetic, it didn¡¯t provide the same image of strength that a ming lion offered. As such, I set my target to the rather uncreatively named Firemane Lions. I¡¯d have to hunt down a few of them to be able to properly utilize it, but lions were not solitary creatures in the first ce.


    After sending myputer back to my room, I waited in the living room for Irena to awaken. I had paused the world until she woke up to prevent any other spirits from crossing over until she was ready, so it would defeat the purpose if I unpaused it so that I could go hunting. Thankfully, she only kept me waiting for a little over an hour before she groggily walked out of my bedroom and towards the living room.


    ¡°Evening, Dale.¡± She said, trying her best to maintain her calm demeanor, but the tired look in her eyes betrayed her.


    ¡°Morning, Irena. Sleep well?¡± I asked with a grin, receiving a small blush in response as the winged goddess averted her eyes. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we didn¡¯t mind. But, I¡¯ll have to trouble you to take care of the ones still in the afterlife that might break through soon. After that, you can rest for a while.¡± I exined to her the n that Terra and I hade up with while she was sleeping.


    ¡°I see¡­ that could work. I apologize, I should have seen thising ahead of time. I¡¯ll need to strengthen the barrier holding them in their part of the underworld, so that they don¡¯t eat through it and attack the general inhabitants.¡±


    Thinking about that, an idea suddenly crossed my mind. ¡°Could you adjust the barrier, so that the repelling force is adjusted by how strong the spirit is? So, weak monster spirits could still cross through to give your people something to train against, but the stronger ones would have a much harder time piercing the wall.¡±


    Irena thought about that for a long moment, before nodding her head. ¡°I could try it, after I take care of the major threats. I don¡¯t want to tamper with the barrier before knowing that it would be safe to do so.¡±


    That was entirely understandable on her part. ¡°Alright. Well, I¡¯ll go ahead and unpause the world, so you can get started on that. I¡¯ve got to go hunting.¡±


    Irena smiled weakly, waiting for me to resume time before vanishing. As for me, I went ahead and sent a message to Terra that I was descending. This time, since I was going down to fight, I chose to stay as a human, the form that I was most familiar with. I was going to have to ascend every time I changed which race I was teaching in the future, so one extra trip wasn¡¯t much. Thankfully, one of the areas ruled by the firemane lions was located in a vast savannah on the beastmen continent. Though they were on the same continent, this was far removed from any of the settlements. Even though they could sense my energy from a day¡¯s walk away, the closest sapient to where I was going this time had to be at least a month¡¯s journey out.


    When I descended, I did not forget to take my favorite magical sword, one which added the maximum value to my strength. Since what I was hunting was likely the most powerful creature currently in existence on the, there was no way that I was holding myself back to ¡®normal¡¯ levels of power.


    Closing my eyes, I let the blue light surround me, and quickly felt the tropical breeze blowing against my back. When I opened my eyes, I was looking out at a wide grasnd with scattered shrubs. Every so often, there would be a lone tree, but those were few and far between.


    In the distance, I could clearly see my targets. A group of ten lions, with nearly a dozen small cubs ying around them. I felt a bit guilty about the cubs, but I had a n for them as well.


    Preparing for the uing battle, I let my ki surge through my body. An almost visible pulse of energy was released from my skin, which the lions seemed to detect from over two miles away. The adults quickly moved to stand between myself and the cubs, with one standing at the very front.


    Nodding in satisfaction, I determined that the one in the front was likely the male of the pride, and lunged forward. With my Keeper stats bolstering my abilities, every step carried me dozens of meters. Whenever my foot hit the ground, a small explosion rang out, propelling me even faster.


    By the time I was in front of the lions, less than a minute had passed. The females of the pride kept herding their kids back, while the male stepped forward. I was finally able to confirm his status when he let out an enraged roar in my direction. Like a peacock, its ming mane erupted around its head.


    If I hadn¡¯t known what to expect, that might have actually scared me off. Instead, I let out a cold smile, continuing my charge. Once I was about to sh with the lion, it raised its ws, wrapping them in mes as it sliced down towards me.


    Sadly, its attack only struck empty air, as I had already begun channeling chakra into my feet to bypass the male. Male lions were notorious for defending their pride, and I couldn¡¯t risk the others running off while he was distracting me. As such, I stepped past the lion during its attack and appeared just behind the lionesses.


    Although these were female lions, they were no less fierce. When I appeared, three of them broke off from guarding the cubs to lunge at me. Their own ws likewise sprouted fire as they shed towards me.


    This action naturally enraged the male lion behind me, but before he could even turn around, my arm shed by. Carrying the strength enchantment from the sword, and with ki enhancing my body even further, I only felt a small resistance as my sword cut through the outstretched legs of the lionesses. With another swing, I severed the three heads of the lionesses, and my body vanished again. Damage numbers appeared above their heads faster than I could watch, and their health plummeted in an instant.


    This time, I appeared next to the remaining six female lions, who protectively stood in a circle around their cubs. The three facing me let out roars to deter me, fire sprouting from their mouths to wrap around their fangs. However, they had just seen how easily the other three had been killed, so none of them were so willing to extend their neck for me.


    Before I could consider whether to charge them or circle around, I felt a heavy impact on my back knocking me forward. The male lion had finally caught up with me, and used its full strength to tackle me to the ground. I didn¡¯t even have to turn around to know that its mouth was descending towards my head, its powerful jaws open and ready to snap my neck.


    Unfortunately for it, my abilities were not just for show. As soon as Inded, my free hand pped the ground, propelling both myself and the lion into the air. When I felt the lion lifting slightly off my back, I spun around, my sword slicing through its ming neck. Although I had taken some damage from its initial attack, it was not to the degree that it would seriously harm me.


    The lion let out a weak whine as its throat was cut, unable to muster the strength to roar. However, this left me stuck in the air, with six angry lionesses down below. And, neither my ki or chakra movement method could be used without something to kick off of. I briefly considered kicking off of the lion¡¯s body to descend faster, but I wanted to keep it as close as possible.


    Seeing the females preparing to pounce at me when I got low enough, I took the initiative and threw my sword at the nearest one. Almost immediately, I felt the loss of strength from the enchanted weapon leaving my grip, but it was worth it. The sword urately flew down and pierced the spine of the female next to the one I was aiming at. I won¡¯t argue with results!


    With only five left, I decided that I would use my ninja abilities for the rest of this battle, and used the remaining time I was descending to channel chakra through my body. Although it was not as useful for defense as ki, its more mysterious properties would help me here.


    Sure enough, as soon as I was just a couple meters above them, one of the lionesses reached up with theirrge paws, swatting me from the sky. Even bracing myself for the impact, I clearly felt the pain surging through the arm that was struck. With my body shooting down even faster, I barely had enough time tond on my feet before the remaining lionesses were surrounding me.


    Once again, I vanished using my chakra, appearing behind the lioness in front of me. However, to my surprise, that lioness immediately sent a kick flying back at me. I only had enough time to take another step, putting some more distance between myself and the lioness to avoid her attack. Wow, they learned fast. I felt a chill run down my spine as I changed my n.


    Initially, I had wanted to take advantage of my ninja movement to attack them before they could respond. But now, that n seemed to have gone right out the window. So, what¡¯s a Keeper to do when n A doesn¡¯t work? I appeared next to the lioness I had killed with the thrown sword to retrieve my bloodied weapon, and returned to purely using ki for this fight.


    With ki, I was able to charge and kill the closest one before the others could react, though that left me with four angry paws smacking me one after another. More red damage numbers appeared over my head, slowly dragging my health down. They weren¡¯t giving me room to counterattack anymore, forcing me to focus my full attention on defending against their attacks.


    Annoyed by my inability to fight back, I decided to try a rather risky maneuver. I gathered ki in my throat, then jumped back as one of the paws smacked my chest. Once Inded, I opened my mouth to give my loudest shout, powered by over a thousand ki.


    To call the result satisfactory was¡­ a bit of an understatement. Ripples formed in front of me in waves as my shout echoed out through the air. Three of the remaining four lionesses were tossed up and back, sent flying by the force behind the unorthodox attack. The remaining one, which was the furthest one away, merely slid back a few feet, shaking its head. However, the mes on its paws had vanished, meaning it had likely been dazed.


    Not one to miss such an opportunity, I charged forward, separating the necks of all four lionesses before they could regain their senses. I HAVE to remember that forter. With all of the adults of the pride dead, I turned to look back at the cubs. Of them, thergest was the size of arge dog, and was standing protectively in front of the rest.


    Though the cub would likely fight me if I went close, it was not a threat. Even the lionesses¡¯ prolonged assault had only taken off two thousand of my health, leaving me with more than enough to handle whatever these little guys could do. However, I needed them to calm down.


    ¡°Enough.¡± I said, ring at the cubs, taking advantage of my aura and raising both my ki and mana to the peak. There was an invisible pressure that the cubs seemed to fight against, before they whined pitifully, lowering their heads.


    With that taken care of, I turned to the corpses of the lions. Channeling some of my mana into my eyes, I could see the white clouds that represented their souls still clinging to their bodies. The one I wanted was the male, and I focused my mind on that particr body, imposing my will on its own. I felt a powerful struggle, a primal force trying to drive back my mind. However, after a few long moments, it gave way. The lion spirit stood up from its own corpse and walked towards me.


    After waiting for a short while to confirm that the spirit wasn¡¯t going to attack me, I turned to the nine females. I only required the male, so I directly refined the others into raw spiritual energy. Next, I did the same thing to the boar spirit already inhabiting my body, letting the new lion take its ce. Finally, I fed the lion spirit energy until it reached the level that I was able to physically summon it.


    With all of that out of the way, I took a look at the windows that I had been previously ignoring.


    Warrior has leveled up!


    Hero ss unlocked!


    Sword of Light ability unlocked!


    Monk has leveled up!


    Monk has leveled up!


    Monk has leveled up!


    Monster Tamer ss unlocked!


    Tame Monster ability unlocked!


    Monster Tamer leveled up!


    Spirit Tamer leveled up!


    Sessfully contracted level 97 Firemane Lion - Stage 1


    Level 97 Firemane Lion has advanced to Stage 2, and may now be summoned.


    One thing left to try¡­ I closed my eyes, and focused on gathering and directing the spirit energy within my body. I was directing it to my arms, my legs, my chest, and my head, creating a full suit of metal armor. Previously, I didn¡¯t have enough energy to do this, but now I had hunted several more powerful spirits.


    A soft glow spread out over my body, a near translucent barrier forming above my skin. Those looking with the ability to see spirits would see a glowing metal armor, akin to that a knight would wear, appearing on my body. And, when the lion spirit inside of me surged, the armor shifted. Lion mouths became visible on my chest and shoulders, and my helmet began to look like the head of a lion. The fingers of my gauntlets grew small points at the end that resembled ws, and my legs had a me pattern engraved into them.


    More importantly, when the lion spirit merged with the armor I had created, I became able to see it clearly even without channeling the mana into my eyes. It had be a physical existence. This caused me to grin widely, and try something new. The lion could use magic to create fire, and the entire reason I had chosen a monster with magic was because I suspected that I would be able to do the same thing if I did so.


    The answer was simple. As soon as I channeled some of my mana into my armor, my entire body lit up like a ming god of war. Fire harmlessly wrapped around my hands and feet. The eyes of the lions on my shoulders let off mes as if they were small torches. Finally, I could see from the shadows that arger me had erupted around the back of my head, likely resembling the lion¡¯s namesake.


    This will do. This will definitely do.

 Chapter 49: The Wraiths

    <h4>Chapter 49: The Wraiths</h4>


    Within one of the great forests of the world, a fog was slowly rolling in. Through these woods, small figures could be seen running alongside various monsters. Some appeared as wolves, some as giant spiders, and others as bears. However, they all paused at the appearance of the unexpected fog.


    This scene urred in front of eleven halflings, and when the fog cleared there was the sorrowful whining of a young lion cub. These halflings, chosen for their ability andpassion, adopted the young cubs to raise. In theing months, they would appear riding their newpanions through the forests, the mightiest beasts they had ever seen.


    Meanwhile, another fog arose within the walls of Try¡¯s Hold. Few paid attention to this fog, as such things weremon among the ins. However, in this particr fog, twenty isted unicorn centaurs vanished from where they stood.


    When they reappeared, they were standing in a strangely even line. All twenty were facing another unicorn centaur, with a slim athletic build and ck hair. ¡°Hello.¡± He spoke, as if he had been expecting them to arrive in such a manner. ¡°We have some things to discuss.¡±


    The native centaurs were on guard against this figure, yet could not muster the courage to attack. None of them were particrly powerful, having mostly managed matters within the cities. Only two of the twenty had ever been out to hunt personally, while the others had only left the safety of the city¡¯s walls for brief runs. As such, they could do little but listen as the figure spoke.


    ¡°You have been chosen to be the founders of a new group, one that will protect thesends for ages toe.¡± The figure spoke of strange beasts, unseen by many. One of the chosen seemed to understand what he talked about, calling them the spirits of the fallen. Between the two of them, they taught the rest how to see these spirits.


    ¡°These creatures have always lived alongside you, and you have never noticed their presence. However, times are slowly changing. There are stronger, more violent spirits emerging. Nobody is ready for these, yet, and in fact nobody is even equipped to threaten them. A special kind of power is needed for that.¡± As he spoke, the figure casually waved his hand. A roar rang out through the ins, and a white beast asrge as the body of the centaurs appeared from thin air. As the native centaurs looked at this beast, they could feel the primal strength hidden in its ghostly frame.


    ¡°This is only part of the power you need, the power to tame the fallen spirits. And this, this is the other part.¡± After speaking, a strange mist seemed to surround the speaking centaur. At the same time, the ghostly lion turned and charged at him. The native centaurs gasped, expecting him to be torn to shreds by this ferocious beast. However, instead the lion simply merged into his body, causing the mist surrounding him to solidify.


    What was left afterwards was a full set of leather armor, moreplete than anything the centaurs had created before. Leather tes covered the entirety of his lower body, as well as the upper sections of his front legs. Extra leather hung off the sides, protecting his underbelly from attacks. For his upper body, his torso, arms, and head had been simrly covered in armor.


    On his chest piece, there was a clear image of a lion¡¯s head stitched into the armor, while his helmet resembled a lion¡¯s skull, wrapped perfectly to fit around his head. Finally, in his right arm he wielded ance, and in his left a shield. Thence seemed as if it was carved from bone, or a giant fang. The shield was one of leather and bone, in the shape of a giant paw.


    ¡°This is the power to create weapons and armor by using the power of the spirits. For any of you that agree to join this cause, I will teach you how to achieve this power.¡± Saying so, his spear rested at his side as the stranger looked at each and every centaur gathered.


    Surprisingly, not a single one rejected the offer, but before they began they were made to take an oath. This was not any simple oath, but one enforced through the leather scrolls that could bind a person¡¯s actions. This oath consisted of a set of rules which must be followed and passed down to all future generations with simr methods.


    First, the group known as the Wraith Enforcers, or simply Wraith for short, will not allow themselves to purposefully be known by others. Whether their organization or abilities, they would keep all of these things secret. This was to prevent the possibility of others seeing that it was possible to obtain power from the fallen spirits. The only ones to be taught of the organization are new recruits, who will submit this same Quest Oath.


    Next, Wraith would not openly participate in any political feud or war. Their purpose was to defend the world of the living from the creatures that don¡¯t belong there, not to fight against other living beings. When ites to matters of politics and military, they would officially remain neutral.


    Third, there could be no fewer than twenty members of Wraith at any given time. This was to prevent the group from dying out over time due to ack of numbers. Furthermore, one elected member would live away from the public, holding quest scrolls from the other members to ensure their survival. With this, the group could survive even if specifically targeted.


    Fourth, in the event where a powerful spirit appears that can threaten the living world, all nearby members of Wraith would participate in order to subjugate it. This was the true purpose of the Wraith Enforcers, so hiding from these enemies would serve no purpose. In the event where the nearby members are not enough to subdue the spirit, they are permitted to prioritize their own lives.


    Fifth, the members of Wraith will train in the following sses to prepare for the day when they are needed. Spirit Tamer, tomunicate with and secure spirit partners to fight with. Spirit Hunter, to create armor and weapons capable of harming powerful spirits. Warrior, in order to hone their abilities with their chosen weapon types. Aside from these three sses, members are permitted to train in their own sses as well, to disy their individual ability. However, the abilities from Spirit Tamer and Spirit Hunter are not to be used in front of those not from Wraith, unless it is in battle against a spirit capable of threatening the living.


    Finally, members of Wraith are forbidden from forcefully taming spirits of intelligent races or creatures. If the spirit willingly agrees to the partnership, it is permitted. However, force shall be used under no circumstances to coerce those spirits.


    While these rules did not directly restrict the freedom of the centaurs, they were still wary of it. They had seen the power that they could achieve after witnessing this nameless figure, but realized that they could not show that same power in front of others. On the other hand, they understood the attraction power like this possessed. If many people knew that they could be stronger by capturing the fallen spirits, there might be those who would even kill their fellows to obtain that power.


    After some consideration, they chose to give the oath. As each one created a pair of leather scrolls, the figure was handed one from each centaur. When he did, the contracts glowed in a bright light, and shattered.


    Once all of the scrolls had been handed in, the figure nodded to himself. Then, he looked up into the sky, and spoke to the heavens. ¡°Find us somewhere good to hunt.¡± As soon as his words fell, another mist rose in the surroundings, carrying them away once again. This time, their travel was a more mysterious one. Although it had been the middle of the day when they left, it was early in the morning when they arrived. The sun was just rising over the horizon, so many thought they had been sent through time.


    This caused the air of mystery surrounding the figure to rise even more. But, he did exactly what he had promised. He took the twenty of them hunting, teaching them how to kill various weaker monsters. Although they were clearly weaker than the lion that the man possessed, he assured them that they would reach that level one day.


    By the time their hunt ended, each of them had contracted a monster or beast suitable to their level. They then went around, no longer fighting, but instead harvesting the raw energy of the spirits to feed their contracted spirits. It was only after all twenty were capable of summoning ghostly figures of their own that the hunt neared its end. Each centaur was given a few additional spirits to refine, told to keep the raw energy separated from their spirit.


    When they had finished, he spoke to the sky again, and once more they had traveled through time and space. Half of a day seemed to go by in a sh, and it went from high noon to dusk in moments. Looking around, the centaurs vaguely recognized this at the ce that they had initially met the strange figure.


    The rest of the day was spent teaching the centaurs how to manifest armor and weapons from the raw energy they had refined. This was probably the most difficult task they had faced, and took them until the moon was high in the sky toplete. However, by the end, they had each managed to create their own weapons and armor. Sadly, none of them were able to make it physical as the strange figure had, but he assured them again that that wouldeter.


    With their training at an end, the figure spoke to the sky again, asking to leave, before bidding farewell to the group. Onest time, the fog rolled in and they all moved again. This time, they each appeared exactly where they had been before they had met this stranger, before they had gained this new power, and this new purpose.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Whew¡­¡± I let out a sigh as I returned to the admin room, returning to a human body and copsing on the bed. ¡°One race down¡­ too many to go.¡±


    I had chosen to start with the centaurs first, because they were the ones that would require the most care in their handling. There was always the chance that there would be a rebellion, and that the unicorn centaurs would be hunted. As such, it was important to get their foundations set early, to prevent the group from going extinct before they even really got started.


    ¡°Doing good so far, Dale.¡± Terra said as she walked into the room and sat down beside me. ¡°But, I don¡¯t really think that¡¯s enough to prepare them, do you?¡± She asked curiously, looking down and watching me.


    ¡°I know¡­¡± I shook my head, reaching out and gently grabbing her hand. ¡°I¡¯m just waiting¡­ After I teach the basics to all of the races, I¡¯ll fast forward a little bit and go back down. By then, they should be ready to learn the rest.¡±


    Terra nodded with a smile when she heard that, though she had a knowing look, as if she had suspected something like that all along. ¡°That¡¯ll probably be for the best. Just think, Dale, you¡¯re actually nning something for the long term.¡± She said with a mischievous grin.


    I bitterly chuckled, thinking back. ¡°I¡¯ve nned things before¡­ There just always seems to be something that makes the ns fail. Guess I just need more practice, huh?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. But you¡¯ll get the hang of it. Now, you go ahead and rest for a bit, you¡¯ve got a big day ahead of you tomorrow.¡± She reached over, patting my chest before getting up and walking out of the room.


    Taking her advice, I decided to sleep for a little while, before repeating my previous actions at another race. Maybe the beastmen this time. I thought back to the lessons I had given, and the rewards that came with them. Three levels of Leader, two Spirit Tamer, and an achievement for founding a secret society. More importantly, there was something special about this achievement.


    Congrattions! You have earned a personal achievement!


    For establishing a secret society within your world, you have earned the Secretive achievement. +20 points, Hidden Aura Talent acquired.


    I¡¯d have to ask Terra to confirmter, but that should at least somewhat counter my Godking aura, right? Right?!


    _______________________________________________________________


    In theing days, every race was set upon by the strange fog that secreted away twenty people. Never more, never less, and these twenty were always chosen from those with low personal power, but had the desire to protect others. These twenty people would all disappear for between one and two days, before returning in the same manner as they left before.


    However, those who knew them began to notice certain changes in the people that the fog had chosen. They seemed¡­ happier, as if they had found their reason for living. Those who had no interest in the art of fighting suddenly sought out instruction, quickly improving their skills.


    In secret, they continued training their spirits, refining the energy from the beasts they killed in their hunts. Over time, they steadily grew more and more powerful in their usage of these spirits. However, the skills they showed on the surface remained those that anyone could learn.


    It was a full fifty yearster when the fog once again made its path through the world. This time, it chose every single member of this new Wraith Enforcer group, including those that had joined in thest half century. Once again, the original members saw the youthful face of the man who had trained them. Unlike themselves, he seemed to have not aged a single day.


    Once again, they were subjected to his training. One civilization at a time, they grew to understand the more advanced aspects of their powers. Specifically, they learned how to manifest their equipment in a more physical manner, and how to use the power of magical beasts to copy their effects.


    When he left this time, he told them that this would be thest time any of them saw him during their lifetimes. It was at this time that he had confirmed what they all suspected, that he had been sent by the gods above to teach them. The threat he was preparing them for was very real. To demonstrate, he took each group to a particr forest. In this forest, it looked as if all life had been sucked dry. The towering trees had copsed under their own weight, their wood rotting away. The nts had shriveled up and wilted, and there was barely a sound from nearby animals.


    He spoke of how this was a ce that had been attacked by one of the powerful spirits that they were being prepared for. This forest was still recovering from the aftermath, and would one day be restored to its former glory. Until then, however, it was a scar upon the world that clearly illustrated the threat these spirits posed.

 Chapter 50: A Wealth of Knowledge

    <h4>Chapter 50: A Wealth of Knowledge</h4>


    To say that I was exhausted after the training was an understatement. It wasn¡¯t even because of how long I spent training the different races, or how difficult it was. It was the sheer repetition that wore me out. Thankfully, I didn¡¯t have to do anything for the afterlife portion of the world, or else I might have lost it.


    On the bright side, I managed to learn what the Hidden Aura thing is¡­ But unfortunately, it was not what I expected. Rather than allowing me to hide my own aura, it instead points out when someone around me is hiding theirs¡¯. Couldn¡¯t they at least name it in a way that would imply a detection power?


    Anyways, after I took a couple days to rest and receive spiritual healing by ying with Aurivy, I finally went to theputer to check all the notifications that had been piling up while I was busy. I hadn¡¯t checked it at all in-between trips, for fear of getting distracted if something shiny popped up. And, as I did, I saw a flood of notifications which almost caused me to jump back in fright.


    Out of them, most were sales notifications. For the new Inventory system, I had actually made five hundred and seventeen points. A rather odd number, for sure, but I wasn¡¯tining about such an influx of wealth! I made another sixty three points from the quest system, and eighteen points from other options. In total¡­ that brought my point bnce just under nine hundred.


    You have earned an achievement!


    For creating a popr system with various options, you have earned the Modr Creationist achievement. +25 points


    Correction, make that just over nine hundred.


    Your civilizations have advanced naturally, and discovered new technologies!


    Smithing 1 - 15 points


    Language 1 - 15 points *4


    Language 2 - 15 points


    Pottery - 15 points *5


    Agriculture 1 - 15 points *4


    Trade 1 - 15 points *2


    Navigation 1 - 15 points


    Culture 1 - 15 points*5


    Art 1 - 15 points*2


    Domestication 1 - 15 points*3


    Your civilizations have advanced naturally, and discovered new magic techniques!


    Inscribing - 15 points*3


    Spell Theory 1 - 15 points*2


    Spell Theory 2 - 15 points


    Enchanting 1 - 15 points


    It was at that moment that I gave up trying to calcte the points myself, and just looked at the total bnce. 1437?! I could make this Earth twice over with that amount of points! Wait, Dale¡­ calm down. Remember, you have people to take care of this now.


    I sent a message to Ryone, asking her to meet me as soon as was convenient. I wasn¡¯t sure what she had been up to while I was busy, but I decided I¡¯d ask if she made any progress in researching new spells after she got here. To my surprise, she actually arrived only a couple minutes after I sent the message, so I couldn¡¯t imagine that she had been too busy.


    ¡°Hey, Dale.¡± She greeted me with a smile, crossing her hands behind her back. ¡°What can I help you with?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ we¡¯ve made a few points, so I wanted to see first if you had any rmendations for purchases.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ We should really save some, you know? It wouldn¡¯t be good to spend it all at once every time we get the points.¡± She furrowed her brow, shaking her head. ¡°How much do we have saved up?¡±


    I showed her the number on the screen, and her narrow eyes widened to the point that I started to fear they would fall out of her head. ¡°W-wow¡­ Okay, bit more than I was expecting. Well, there have been a few interesting things put on the market while you were ying around on the surface. Let me pull some up.¡±


    I wanted to retort that I wasn¡¯t ying around, but that would just be falling into more teasing. Instead, I silently sat, waiting for the list to appear. A few momentster, a hazy panel appeared in front of Ryone. It was distinctly different from what the system created, so I assumed that it was something she was making to show me the options that she had selected.


    Fluffy Animal Package


    Built for use with the Spellweaving magic system, these animals and monsters all have excessive, soft fur.


    80 points


    Ster Magic


    This magic system allows inhabitants to wield the power of the stars. Celestial bodies are randomly generated and granted properties, which determine the possible magic effects.


    300 points


    Kingdom System


    This system allows the management of a Kingdom to be performed on arge scale. Orders may be issued, which are sent to relevant parties. Territories may be divided and given to others to act as local fiefdoms.


    120 points


    Game System required


    Inventory Interference System


    This countermeasure is specifically designed to prevent any method of storing items through the Game System. However, the Game System itself is not required to activate it. The price for this system varies by the size of the affected area, and may be purchased repeatedly for multiple areas.


    ??? points


    I looked over the five options that Ryone pulled up, going through the details of each one. ¡°Huh¡­ people are already making countermeasures for the inventory system?¡± I asked in a surprised tone. I had expected that it would happen eventually, but I figured that the system would have to be more popr before people took note of it as a big enough threat to create specific countermeasures.


    As for the other options, I wasn¡¯t too interested in the magic systems, except for the fact that new magic systems were being created. That just left two things. ¡°So¡­ tell me about the fluffy package, and the kingdom system. Why did you choose those two?¡±


    I could understand the allure of the kingdom system, as it could be a good idea to implement into the world. However, the fluffy animal one¡­ ¡°I thought Aurivy would appreciate the fluffy animals, is all.¡± Ryone dismissed my question with a casual shrug. ¡°There are other options springing up every day. Some look like they are just restructured versions of previous systems, and others are created to either support a new system or to create an entirely new one.¡±


    I nodded my head lightly at that. ¡°And the kingdom system?¡±


    Ryone smiled slightly when I asked, ncing at theputer screen. ¡°Given the current level of Earth, I figured that it was not toote to add a system like this in. It would be easy for us to y it off by telling people that their kingdoms are just now qualifying for this system, rather than perpetuate the ¡®Godking¡¯ legend by having another announcement. Now, from what Terra has exined to me about how these worlds advance, if we were to wait a few hundred or a thousand years, the kingdom system might do more harm than good.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s best to set a foundation for it early. I¡¯d also suggest buying the Guild System as well at ater date, once organizations start bing more stable.¡± Ryone finished her exnation, looking to me for a response.


    ¡°I see¡­ It makes sense. By the way, what have you been up to while I was ¡®ying around¡¯?¡± I asked with a raised eyebrow.


    Ryone simply grinned, bring her arms out from behind her back. ¡°It¡¯d be easier to show you, I think.¡± She held a hand out, which I grabbed and used to pull myself up. ¡°Terra¡¯s been showing me how to y with the Admin Room.¡±


    As she spoke, our surroundings distorted into a myriad of colors warping around us. A momentter, they all snapped into ce, and we were standing in the basement where I would oftene to practice. However, the walls had been stretched farther than I had ever felt the need to.


    Along the floor, every few feet was a spell diagram with seemingly random shapes mixed in. Ryone walked up to the nearest one, waving her hand towards it to make sure I noticed them. ¡°The spells unlocked on the right now are just too few, so there were only so many ways I could think to mix the aspects together. Instead, I went with a different approach. Atst count, I have¡­ six thousand, seven hundred, and twenty three circles spread out in this room.¡±


    As I took a small gasp at the amount listed, she continued. ¡°Each one is slightly different, or incorporates a new random shape. My goal is to try to stumble upon a new aspect that I can use for spells, while waiting for the spellbook to be updated if the inhabitants discover anything.¡±


    I had to admit, she was giving this some serious work. ¡°Have you had any sesses so far?¡±


    She gave a mild shrug. ¡°So-so, I guess? I found a few spell circles that activated when I put mana into them. But, most of those caused effects I couldn¡¯t perceive, or didn¡¯t have a proper target. I could feel the magic activating, but couldn¡¯t tell what it did. I did manage to discover what seems to be the gravity element for spells, as well as water.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ that is definitely impressive how much you aremitting to this.¡± I had honestly expected her to spend most of the time I was gone ying with Terra, but it seemed that she took her work seriously. ¡°By the way, you said that you were going to interfere with your people before. What did you do?¡±


    I hadn¡¯t had the chance to properly review any changes made to the races yet, so I couldn¡¯t be sure what she had done. Her brow scrunched up in annoyance, and she crossed her arms in front of her. ¡°Well¡­ I had been wanting to teach them how to do enchanting. But, Terra told me how us teaching them things won¡¯t award points, and they have to discover it themselves.¡±


    ¡°Instead, I sent a few random dreams to mages in the elves to give vague hints, trying to make sure that they still had to figure it out themselves. Can you believe it actually took twenty years of that before they managed to figure out how to do the basic enchanting?¡±


    Ahh, so it was the elves that were the reason I got those points. ¡°Well, it is something new. I probably would have taken a little while to understand it myself. Anyways, is there anything else to report, before we move on to the next order of business?¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± She lowered her head in thought for a few moments. ¡°Well, I ced my dungeon down in the world. It started growing recently. From the looks of things, the more creatures are trapped in the dungeon, the faster it expands. Mine was near the surface on arge ind, so there were a lot of smaller monsters that wandered into its territory.¡±


    I nodded slightly at that. ¡°I see, I¡¯llpare its growth to the other dungeonter. Anyways, could you go let the others know that I¡¯ll be ¡®waking up¡¯ the next god now?¡±


    ¡°The dwarf guy, right?¡± Ryone asked curiously, and I nodded again. The dwarves were the only civilization left without an awakened god. Once I got him, I could start waking up the other beastmen goddesses. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll go let them know.¡±


    With that, Ryone turned around, and her body distorted into a mass of spiraling colors. When the colors faded into nothing, I was left alone in the basement. Show off¡­ I thought to myself, before willing my surroundings to change into the living room. Call me picky, but I didn¡¯t particrly feel like inviting the male dwarf into my bedroom. I hadn¡¯t really thought about it with Tryval, or else I might have done the same thing when I gave him his personality.

 Chapter 51: Tubrock’s Birth

    <h4>Chapter 51: Tubrock¡¯s Birth</h4>


    With a thought, the furniture of the living room was cleared away, and the stocky male dwarf from the ¡®storage room¡¯. He was clearly muscr, arms bulging as if he was ready to strike a forge at any time. His brown beard fell halfway down his rounded chest, his mustache flowing with it and at some point merging seamlessly into it. His hair likewise fell down his back in a tangled mess, likely to need some grooming after he had a personality of his own.


    Courtesy of what I could only assume was Terra, he was wearing a thick furred vest over a white cotton shirt. His lower body was covered by ck furred leggings, and on his back was a steel hammer, easily as big as his entire body. The head of the hammer was a foot wide and tall, and perfectly t on its surface. Likely, Terra intended for that to be his forging hammer, but did she have to make it so big? It seemed more suited for battle than forging.


    To my surprise, it was only Bihena that appeared roughly five minutester. She came walking into the room from the hallway, yawning with a hand covering her mouth. ¡°Finally getting to this guy, huh?¡± She askszily, moving to a corner of the room. Her brows furrowed in concentration, and I watched as the floor started to warp, rising up and forming a small chair for her to sit in.


    ¡°d you¡¯re here.¡± I let out a sigh, nodding my head. ¡°Wanted your opinion, since you are probably the most unbiased for stuff like this.¡± She raised her eyebrows in slight confusion, so I exined. ¡°No clue what to give this guy for a personality. I need him to be loyal, for obvious reasons. But aside from that I¡¯m drawing a nk.¡±


    Bihena curled her lips into a small smirk. ¡°And you want my help, to make sure you don¡¯t give him a personality he could end up regretting?¡± When I nodded again, she sank into thought for a long moment. ¡°Well¡­ how does the whole thing work, from your end?¡±


    ¡°Basically, I just write down what I want on a mental notepad, and submit it. Anything I don¡¯t specify, the system chooses.¡± She blinked in surprise at that for some reason, but ended up nodding. After a couple of minutes of silence, she finally spoke.


    ¡°His first domain is the forge, and second was¡­ innovation, if I remember. Just write in that he is loyal to you, that he likes crafting, and is creative. As for the rest, why not leave it up to the system? If he doesn¡¯t get a great personality, you can always work with him over time.¡± She gave a satisfied nod as she came up with that idea. ¡°It¡¯s better than him realizing that his thoughts are artificial, and wanting to rebel, right?¡±


    I looked curiously at her after thatst addition, and she shrugged her shoulders. ¡°Hey, it¡¯s not easy when you know that your thoughts aren¡¯t your own. Took me a bit of thinking to get over that little detail myself. I stand by what I said before, as long as you show me you are deserving of my respect, you¡¯ll have it.¡±


    I shook my head at that, but didn¡¯t argue. As long as she doesn¡¯t cause any big problems, it should work out. Besides, it was nice to have someone to ask opinions who didn¡¯t have an urge to be a yes man just to make me happy. I know that Terra is likely the furthest thing from a yes man I could want, but she has her own quirks.


    As Bihena suggested, I kept the listing short and simple for his personality. Inwardly, I was just hoping that he wouldn¡¯t have a personality that was difficult to work with. If that was the case, it would be for the best. Especially if I could leave the production of the artifacts to Tubrock and Ryone, because that would save me a lot of time.


    Loyal, likes to craft, and is creative. Well¡­ time for the lottery. I closed my eyes, and submitted what was likely the most simple personality request I had done so far. Twenty points dropped off my bnce, and I watched the tell-tale golden light surround the dwarven god. Bihena, having not seen this before, raised her hand to cover her eyes while she let out a short sound of surprise.


    A long momentter, and Tubrock was still just standing there. Even after the light faded away, he did not show any signs of moving. For an instant, I thought that I may have somehow gotten a failure, and that a personality had not been assigned at all. However, just as I was about to look for a way to lodge aint, a low rumbling noise seemed to shake the living room.


    I cast a quick look over to Bihena, who was looking down at her own stomach in confusion, and then looked at me to shake her head. ¡°It wasn¡¯t me.¡± As she spoke, the noise once again roared out.


    ¡°Gah, what da ya gotta do to get some grub around here?¡± A gruff, male voice spoke out from the center of the living room. Turning my head, I saw the dwarf lifting one hand and patting his stomach. How he was actually hungry, I wasn¡¯t sure. Was it just because he had spent so long ¡®empty¡¯, and now that he had a personality it felt like he needed to eat? Questions without answers! Seeing that the two of us were watching him, Tubrock eyed us for a long moment. ¡°What¡¯s ¡®da matter? Ya got somethin¡¯ to eat here, don¡¯tcha?¡±


    ¡°Uhm¡­ sure¡­ Check the kitchen?¡± There should still be some fish leftover from when Terra and Ist ate together. And I had no reason to believe that food would go bad in the Admin Room, or even that anything bad could happen if it did.


    Hearing my answer, the stocky dwarf gave a strong nod, before walking off towards the hall. However, as soon as he left the room, he appeared back at the entrance. ¡°Uhm¡­ where be that, again?¡±


    Bihena gave a tired sigh as she stood up from her makeshift chair in the corner. ¡°I¡¯ll show him. You probably have other stuff to take care of, so I¡¯ll handle the briefing.¡± She shook her head as she walked out, Tubrock giving a quick nod and following behind her.


    Thankfully, Bihena was right. I had to go and find Ryone for more information on the market!


    _______________________________________________________________


    In the midst of night, several of the self-proimed dwarven ¡®cksmiths¡¯ were noisily pounding away at their forge. Their strikes held little skill, yet still slowly molded the metal into simple shapes. Their mana burned constantly as they kept the fire lit with the drawn formation.


    Among these cksmiths, one of them suddenly had a strange idea. He wasn¡¯t sure where it hade from, as it was not something he had ever considered before. However, he immediately called for his assistant, who was barely asleep in the nearby room.


    ¡°Huh--what is it, sir?¡± The short boy said as he stumbled out of his bed and into the forge, the heat waking him fully as soon as he opened the door.


    ¡°Bring me some fire-rock!¡± The man shouted, an eager look on his face. Fire-rock was themon name for a dangerous ck stone that the miners often found while digging through the mountain. Naturally, the cksmiths had tried to melt it down, same as they had every other type of rock that came from the mountain.


    Sadly, the fire-rock did not melt into anything usable like they wanted. In fact, it did not melt at all. Instead, it simply broke apart, releasing a dark smoke. They named it fire-rock due to its only special quality, the fact that it held a bit of me even after the formation was disabled.


    The assistant did not know why his master wanted fire-rock, but the look in his eyes offered no room for argument. Hesitantly, he left the forge to retrieve some from the vige¡¯s storage. Naturally, the ones managing the warehouse were more than happy to be rid of this rock which did little more than take up space.


    Carrying a leather pack over his back, filled to the brim with fire-rock, the assistant returned to the forge. ¡°¡®Ere it is, sir.¡± He said, setting the entire pack on the floor next to the cksmith. He still had no idea what was going on, but he was surprised when his master suddenly picked up the sack and dumped half of its contents into the forge at once,pletely obscuring the bottom.


    ¡°Good, good.¡± The cksmith said with a mad gleam in his eyes. Suddenly, he activated the formation in the forge again, letting the fire roar to life. He let out a crazedugh as he saw the fire-rock burning, causing his assistant to take several steps back. The sight of the cksmithughing like a man possessed, his figure obscured by a pir of ck smoke, scared the young man.


    It was onlyter that he learned that the cksmith had only activated the formation for less than a minute, and that the fire had been sustained by that previously useless piece of debris.


    _______________________________________________________________


    It didn¡¯t take me very long to find Ryone, as she had gone back to the basement to resume her testing. I had been a bit surprised to not find her ying with Terra, but this was better for me. ¡°Before you get too into it again.¡± I spoke up, watching her tracing a new spell diagram. She looked up briefly, waiting for me to continue. ¡°Mind helping me with the rest of the purchases? Would like to know if there is anything else I should take note of.¡±


    ¡°Ah, right.¡± Ryone nodded, standing up from her kneeling position. ¡°Well, there are a few things that I¡¯ve noticed cropping up on the market. Also, I forgot about it before, because I was surprised with how many points we had. But, Irena wanted me to remind you about the karma system, if you got the chance to buy it.¡±


    ¡°Right, right.¡± I nodded my head. ¡°So, the new things I should take note of?¡±


    ¡°Well, since I¡¯ve started looking, I¡¯ve noticed a couple of trends in new systems. First, systems are being expanded to add new possibilities. One example is the kingdom system I showed you before. These are systems that Keepers are taking and adding new functionality to, or expanding them to work on arger scale.¡±


    ¡°Another trend is new types of magic. Like with the ster magic, a few other new systems havee out. Along with each type of magic, there are items or systems designed to apany them.¡±


    Ryone took a deep breath before continuing. ¡°Another one, which I think is the most directly relevant to you, is a trend concerning the inventory system. Some people have released ¡®smaller¡¯ versions of it, based on specific possibilities. A bag of holding already existed on the market, but now new ones are being added with different options such as slowing time. There are also countermeasures being invented on the market, and even countermeasures to those countermeasures.¡±


    She shook her head slightly, as if the whole thing had given her a headache to look through. ¡°Those are the primary trends that I¡¯ve noticed so far, and I¡¯m sure that they won¡¯tst forever. Now, as for the things that I rmend you buy¡­ The karma system costs one hundred and fifty points, and would be good for Irena to have. Aside from that, I¡¯ll keep my suggestion to buy the kingdom system and the blueprint for the inventory system. Why, was there something else you wanted to get?¡±


    I looked down, thinking about the many options avable on the market. Most of them weren¡¯t too important to use right now, because the world was too young for the item or spell blueprints. ¡°Hmm¡­ there is one thing that would be good to get, I think.¡±


    Ryone smiled slightly, waiting to hear what I had to say. ¡°An enchantment or spell that obscures the properties of an item. That way, people won¡¯t just be able to reproduce any artifacts that we make too easily.¡±


    When she heard my suggestion, she tilted her head in thought. ¡°I can see how that would help. Give me just a minute to look through the market and see if there is anything like that.¡± The elven goddess closed her eyes, furrowing her brows as she focused. It was a good whileter when she finally spoke.


    ¡°I managed to find two versions of that. One is a spell, and the other is an enchantmentponent.¡± As she said that, she made a hazy blue screen appear in front of me, showing the options that she found.


    Indiscernible Enchantment This enchantmentponent can be added on top of normal enchantments to add in the function of hiding the properties of the enchanted item.


    40 points


    Magic system required


    Masked Properties This spell can be cast on any item or person, and will temporarily mask its aura. The duration of the spell is directly dependant on the amount of mana used when it is cast.


    70 points


    Magic system required


    My eyes went wide when I saw the two entries, particrly thest one. ¡°The Masked Properties option¡­ Would we be able to cast that with the infinite mana of the admin room, and have it be permanent?¡±


    Ryone blinked in surprise, thinking about it. ¡°On an item, maybe. But, if you wanted to cast it on one of us, or yourself, I don¡¯t think that¡¯d work. From what Terra told me, every time you descend, a body is custom built for your use. That should mean that any magic affecting you is wiped clean each time you travel between here and Earth.¡±


    I clicked my tongue in annoyance, having thought that I had found a permanent answer to my Godking aura. ¡°Well, either way, I think it¡¯d probably be best to buy both of those. The spell will definitelye in handy at some point, but the enchantment will be useful more often.¡±


    Ryone nodded her head at that. ¡°That¡¯s right. And, we have plenty of points for both, in addition to what I already suggested.¡±


    With that settled, I went ahead and found both of those items on the market, buying them along with the systems Ryone had suggested. In an instant, exactly seven hundred points vanished from my bnce. At the same time, three blue orbs of light appeared in front of me, streams of strange characters flying around them.


    When I put my hand on one of the orbs, I felt my mind surging with information. This was information about the new enchantmentponent I had purchased. So, that¡¯s how the system delivers that information¡­ I quickly transferred the information from the three orbs into three books, and made copies of each to give to Ryone. She seemed excited to have new information to study.

 Chapter 52: Kingdoms United

    <h4>Chapter 52: Kingdoms United</h4>


    The nearby residents have recognized you as their rightful leader. Please choose a name for your kingdom.


    This message appeared before the face of Cynthia Ryon, ruling queen of Gandor. It was not the first time such messages appeared, and many had even be a part of daily life. However, this was the first time that the contents of the message had anything to do with her kingdom.


    ¡°Gandor¡­¡± She spoke, hesitantly, drawing the attention of the two men standing in front of her. A pair of mages had arrived to deliver reports about their research, when she suddenly spoke to interrupt them.


    ¡°Your Highness?¡± The man on the right, an elderly elf wrapped in pitch ck robes, asked questioningly. However, she seemed to be looking at something else. Not only that, but a feminine voice spoke out in her mind, one she had never heard before. Yet, she somehow identified it instantly, causing a feeling of excitement to well up inside of her.


    The time hase, my child. Your efforts have been recognized, and we have bestowed this system to better help your rule. With every word that her goddess spoke, Cynthia¡¯s face lit up more and more.


    Kingdom name set to Gandor. Please specify the method of governing, and method of session.


    Just as the elf queen looked confused at the new window that appeared, Ryone¡¯s voice once again spoke to her, guiding her through the process to set up the kingdom in the system in the same manner that it was already functioning. When it was done, another screen appeared in front of her, this one farrger than the others which had asked for simple information.


    Kingdom of Gandor M??a????n???a????g?????e????m??e???n????t??? Window


    Finances


    3,230?


    M????i?????l????i???t?????a?????r????y???/???S?e???c??u????r????i????t??y????


    3


    Art


    2


    Religion


    4


    Science


    2


    Magic


    3


    Poption


    4,239


    Territory


    4 Cities


    ?Appoint Official?


    ?Issue Decree?


    ?Dere W????a???r?????


    Although she did not understand the meaning behind the rating system used in this window, and some of the text was unreadable, she was able to discover a few things. It seemed that not all of the cities had been ounted for, as Cynthia knew of six cities that should be included in her domain. When she focused on that part of the disy, more information appeared, telling her that two of the cities had not recognized her rule.


    Cynthia was shocked with this discovery, and turned towards the two mages that had been waiting for several long minutes. ¡°Send messengers to Errelor and Krendel, asking for an exnation.¡± When the mages only looked at her in a confused manner, she took a deep breath and exined the situation.


    Such scenes were not umon at the moment, though only the elves had developed a writing systemplex enough for the windows to appear. For the other races, they could only rely on voices speaking into their minds to ry much simpler versions. Still, every civilization faced an upheaval that day of various degrees. It was bound to happen that not every city would recognize the same ruler in this age where travel is a long and difficult process.


    Thankfully, for most of these civilizations, this conflict was brief. For the elves and the beastkin, they managed to painlessly absorb the territories that had not immediately recognized their authority. For the centaurs and the dwarves, they established separate kingdoms. However, the humans took this in a much more violent way.


    Perhaps it was because their culture was one in which the word ¡®War¡¯ would not be unknown. Even with the previous warnings from Bihena, several rulers went into a fit of rage at the knowledge that their outlying cities did not submit to them. War was dered immediately, and several armies had their troops mobilized.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Dammit all¡­ Are these guys looking to die?!¡± I heard Bihena call out from the other room, before she walked in with heavy steps. For once, her anger did not seem to be directed at me, which was nice.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± I asked, looking to the human goddess as she searched the still-empty living room for somewhere to sit. I had just gotten back from the basement, where I had bought the new systems and information.


    Bihena¡¯s re turned to face me for a moment, before she took a deep breath to calm herself. ¡°The humans are being idiots, naturally. As soon as that kingdom system went live, they started to dere war. Fuck, I even warned them that I¡¯d be back if they went through with stuff like this.¡±


    I was¡­ honestly surprised that she wasn¡¯t mad at me this time, given the circumstances that caused her anger. Seeing my apparent confusion, she shook her head with a bitter smile. ¡°Not your fault this time. Ryone gave me a heads up earlier that this system woulde in, so I had plenty of warning. Not opposed to the system or anything, just wish they weren¡¯t so battle-hungry.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡± I nodded my head slightly, giving a mental thanks to the absent elf goddess. ¡°Well, if you can¡¯t get them to stop fighting, why not try to set down rules on how they can fight?¡±


    Bihena¡¯s head snapped up to look at me as I said that. ¡°Exin, quickly.¡±


    ¡°W-well¡­¡± Her suddenly urgent tone caught me off guard, but I suppose she likely wanted to take care of this before the situation became irreparable. ¡°For instance, passing down rules such as not wantonly killing innocent bystanders. Fighting the enemy army is one thing, but killing people that aren¡¯t fighting is something else entirely.¡±


    Bihena listened closely to my idea, nodding her head heavily when I was done. ¡°I think I get it. If they have to fight, fight in a way that minimizes losses.¡± With that said, she closed her eyes, focusing on something.


    _______________________________________________________________


    In almost every human city, a statue of Bihena had been erected. These statues became something that the people deemed as necessary, as if not having one would incur the wrath of the goddess of battle. Even though it had been some time since she descended upon the world, few dared to think what would happen if they truly angered her.


    And now, at the same time, every statue of Bihena among the human cities seemed toe alive all at once. Each one spoke with moving lips, no matter how crude their design. ¡°Listen well, for I shall speak this only once.¡±


    The moment the booming voice called out from the statue, it seemed to cover every corner of the city, as well as a considerable distance outside the walls. Men cowered in fear at the angry tone their goddess used. Kings and Queens alike tensed up, remembering the orders for war that they had sent mere moments earlier. But no matter which city you looked at, none dared to ignore Bihena¡¯s words.


    ¡°These are the doctrines of war, and shall be the rules by which you engage in battles. Any army found to break these rules will be treated as if they wish to defy my orders.¡± The statue then began to spout several rules which must be followed. These rules were generally along the lines of preventing people from attacking the innocent in times of war. Although no rules were set to monitor the acts of individual soldiers, it was clear that any army openlymitting heinous acts would have to personally answer to Bihena.


    Those who were able to were quickly writing down any notes that they could take from Bihena¡¯s words, unwilling to allow their people to identally break these doctrines in the future. It was at this point that a familiar voice rang out in their ears, notifying them that they had unlocked a new ss.


    _______________________________________________________________


    While Bihena was busy doing¡­ whatever it was she was doing, I started to put the living room back to how it was before I gave Tubrock his personality. Thankfully, she had positioned herself out of the way, so there was no need to disturb her while I ced the furniture and the TV back down. By the time I was done, Bihena still had note out of the trance that she seemed to have ced herself in.


    It was only roughly ten minutester when she finally opened her eyes, letting out a long sigh of relief. Looking around the room, she blinked in surprise, before moving to sit down on the couch. ¡°Okay¡­ that is taken care of. Hopefully, they¡¯ll manage themselves well enough that I won¡¯t have to take action any time soon.¡±


    I nodded my head, sitting atop a chair next to the couch. ¡°Would be nice. So, how did it go with Tubrock?¡±


    Bihena looked at me questioningly for several long moments, before something seemed to register. ¡°Oh sh*t, I left him alone in the kitchen.¡± Forgetting her earlier tension, the human goddess bolted to her feet and rushed out of the room, as if she were running to prevent a disaster.


    I could only let out a briefugh, shaking my head back and forth as I watched her run out in a panic. ¡°Okay¡­ what¡¯s left.¡± I thought on it for a bit, and decided to finally get the calendar from the market. It was only five points, and would help me keep track of time better. Considering that I don¡¯t need to sleep anymore, it is very difficult to properly track days.


    Following that, I went ahead and started making a forge area for Tubrock. Thanks to Terra¡¯s ¡®teaching¡¯ earlier on, I was familiar with the basic construction of a forge, and could easily implement it into a new room. As for his own personal room¡­ I¡¯ll let him create that himself. I¡¯m not being less considerate because he¡¯s a guy, okay? I made him the forge, after all! I¡¯m not, okay?!


    Anyways, with that taken care of, I started heading back up to my room again, so that I could take a look at theputer. It seemed like a good time to fast forward again, now that all the civilizations had a deity to watch over them. Not only that, but I was running out of systems that seemed like they would be good to add to the world. At this point, it was just a matter of watching their civilizations grow for a while.


    Hmm¡­ I looked at the culture options again, considering whether or not I should do something with them now that I had a surplus of points. This was not something to do with the market, so I wouldn¡¯t be breaking my own rules to let Ryone handle that stuff! It was just a matter of if I thought that it would help.


    Now, I admit that it would be fun to do something erotic with some of the cultures, but that was not really what I wanted with this. I mean, if I build their culture around sex, then what are they supposed to do when the games start? They aren¡¯t demons that get stronger through sex or anything like that, so it¡¯d just be for the entertainment value.


    I could focus some of them on developing science, or magic, or building a stronger culture¡­ After thinking about it, I decided to assign a few civilizations a fifty year secondary priority, like I had initially done with the elven kingdom. This way, it would help bnce things out a bit more.


    For the dwarves, I gave the mountain kingdom me¡¯s Peak a fifty year priority on crafting sciences. For the humans, I gave them a fifty year priority on internal security, so that they can better protect themselves from monsters. Halflings had only barely established what could be called a kingdom, with the mayor of one of the vagrant cities being appointed the ruler of the area around it. For them, I gave them the priority of developingnguage andmunication.


    I didn¡¯t assign anything to the Daeva, as they were basically getting the leftovers of all the other racesbined, which would likely help them grow faster than any one race. But, for the centaurs, I had them work on construction techniques for fifty years. That seemed like it would be the biggest hurdle for them, given their unconventional body type.


    And finally, I assigned the kingdom of Terraria fifty years of developing their own culture. As they already had the advantage in numbers, and a significant lead in multiple fields of research, I figured that this was the best direction for them to proceed in. Nodding to myself, Imitted the changes, and spent the necessary fifty points to confirm them.


    And now¡­ let¡¯s do a fifty year fast-forward, to see the results of those choices.

 Chapter 53: The Sky Danced

    <h4>Chapter 53: The Sky Danced</h4>


    I watched the map as time quickly passed, notifications popping up one after another. Each race was diving into their own specialties more and more after the points had been spent. In under a minute, fifty years had passed already. Looking at each race¡¯s abilities now, I found that there had been several advancements.


    For example, the citizens of the halfling city seemed to have reached the next level of the Language technology, meaning that they had given birth to a more flexible writing system than what they had before. However, most importantly, there was another technology that appeared throughout the world, which every race seemed to have learned over thest fifty years.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Jarl Waterspoutid back on a tall hill, the grass around him soaked in his blood. On either side of him, the bodies of beasts could be seen. To his right, a tiger with spines running down its back. And to his left, a bird as big as a man. Both of these creaturesid unmoving, wounds covering their bodies.


    Having finally managed to flee one beast, the other had ambushed him, leading to a three-way fight to the death. And death is all that came of such a fight. Now, he could only stare at the night sky, praying to the gods that some miracle would save him. His right eye had been wed out, his canine tail bitten off. His side had a hole in itrge enough that he had to hold his insides in.


    Please¡­ anyone¡­ He looked up at the sky, wishing for the gods to answer. However, no matter how hard he prayed, no matter how much he wished, no miracle would save him. He held on for several long minutes, before his faith turned into despair. He knew that the gods existed, such knowledge is given to every man and woman at their birth. But, at this moment, he had to wonder if they were really watching from that sky littered with shining dots.


    If those shining lights weren¡¯t the eyes of the goddesses watching over them, then what were they? Did they exist purely to taunt those people who existed beneath the heavens? As these thoughts urred to him, a strange scene took ce, one which had never urred throughout all of history.


    The sky moved. The stars danced within the night, shooting to and fro under some unknown power. Lines of light littered the sky, painting a picture none had ever seen. Some lights flickered out of existence, while others fell, and still more appeared from nowhere.


    What¡­ is¡­ This was thest sight that Jarl ever saw, as the lights of his eyes faded away while he watched the night sky dance. Throughout the world, people noticed the changing of the sky, and for the first time, people questioned what the heavens truly held. For seven days, the nights danced. And seven nightster, the sky fell.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Kra sat beneath the trees, her tiny body watching the ever-slowing dance of the stars above. To her left sat her belovedpanion, the wolf which had apanied her through most of her adult life. Ever since the changing of the sky, she had been fascinated with watching how the mysterious lights moved about.


    Sadly, it seemed that the performance was nearly over. For thest two nights, the lights above had moved less and less, and now they were barely moving at all. The halfling girl was just about to turn in for the night, when a strange whistling noise caught her attention. Quickly looking up, she saw the lights dancing again!


    However, this dance was not the same as what had been urring for thest week. The lights drew a path along the horizon, upon which a bright light momentarily lit up. Several momentster, she could feel the ground shaking, as if the world itself was angered with this performance.


    Kra didn¡¯t know what to do. How could she soothe the anger of the entire world? She looked up at the sky, and quietly pleaded for it to go back to its former dance. Her words seemed to have some effect, but not at all what she was hoping for. Her wolfpanion jolted itself awake, letting out a miserable howl as it tugged on her leather shirt.


    The halfling girl could sense the fear in the wolf, but did not know what was so wrong. Was she not supposed to ask the sky to stop angering the world? When she looked back up to plead once again, she saw one particr light growing brighter and brighter. A dreadful roar, louder than any beast shook the area.


    Finally, when the light could go no brighter, the earth shook once again. Sadly, Kra was no longer able to plead with the sky.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Cosmic Knowledge 1 has been unlocked on your world. The cosmos is now expanding beyond the world itself, and news may be automatically unlocked. Theses will contain all installed systems, but will be beyond the direct control of the Keeper, unless they pay the appropriate cost. From now on, random cosmic effects may ur within the unlocked cosmos.


    Current Cosmic Scale: Singleary System


    One has been created in your cosmos that has been deemed capable of supporting life. The price to purchase control over this will be calcted based on the¡¯s size, inhabitants, and civilization levels.


    I couldn¡¯t help but be surprised when I saw those notifications appear. Given that none of the options I selected had anything to do with watching the sky, I wasn¡¯t really expecting anything like this. More importantly, the map of the world had expanded dramatically. To be precise, I could now view the entire sr system when I zoomed the map out.


    Unlike what I had always been taught in science ss, there were actually thirteens in this sr system. Among them, Earth was the sixth from the sun. I couldn¡¯t be sure if the gravity of this sun was especially powerful, or if thews of physics had simply been tweaked to amodate a of the size I chose for Earth.


    Either way, I naturally checked the dozen others in the system, looking for the one that the system had said was able to support life. What I found was that the seventh from the sun, one that seemed far smaller than the current Earth, was locked out of time. It rotated extremely rapidly, and I could only zoom in to watch the deste world slowly covering in blue and green.


    ¡°Ah, looks like you got lucky.¡± I suddenly heard Terra¡¯s voice behind me, so I silently turned back to her for an exnation. ¡°It¡¯s pretty rare to get multiples in a starting system that can support life. You could say it¡¯s both good and bad, in a way.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± I could see the potential good in it, but why was it bad?


    ¡°Well, it can end up pretty bad if you don¡¯t actually buy the. But, if you do, then you have to manage a second world. At this stage, few Keepers arefortable enough to actually get a second, which is entirely understandable.¡± She walked over to sit on the bed, lounging back and stretching herself out.


    ¡°What happens if I don¡¯t buy the?¡±


    She offered me a small, patient smile. ¡°If you don¡¯t control the, then naturally you can¡¯t determine how they advance. They could be wiped out by natural disasters, kill themselves, or any number of things. The gods you elect also have no power over a that you do not control, so we couldn¡¯t interfere if we wanted.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­¡± That seemed somewhat reasonable. So, there was the chance that this could even develop to eventually be antagonistic with Earth. ¡°What¡¯s with the sudden eleration of time on the, then?¡±


    This time, she let out a small sigh before answering. ¡°The world is going to fast forward until some species evolves and develops sapience. However, none of these species are protected by the system, so it is entirely possible that they could simply be driven extinct before that happens. That¡¯s what happened to your Mars. A race on the verge of sapience was killed off by a natural disaster, and the world just continued to move on until the had no hope of developing new lifeforms anymore.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­¡± Well, that sucks.


    ¡°But that¡¯s not the most important part.¡± Terra said with a small grin. ¡°You haven¡¯t finished going through your notifications yet.¡±


    I blinked briefly, looking back to theputer. She was right, but could you me me? The whole cosmos thing was kind of distracting. Once again, I opened up the notifications to see what was left.


    Some of your species have undergone a natural evolution, and will have their base stats permanently changed for all sessive generations.


    Humans: Strength +1


    Halflings: Awareness +1


    Okay, now that caught me off-guard. ¡°They can do that? I mean, they can really do that?¡± Nobody had ever mentioned anything about my races evolving past the point I set them at!


    Terra let out a small giggle as she heard me. ¡°It¡¯s only natural, isn¡¯t it? With every generation growing more and more powerful before they pass on their genes, it¡¯s bound to happen where a bit of that power is left behind. Of course, it won¡¯t show a notification like that until the extra power has had time to spread through the gene pool, to show an effect on the entire poption, rather than just a select few.¡±


    I nodded my head slightly, still looking at the notification window. ¡°Why only those two races, though? I mean, I can understand why it would take longer for the elves with their long lives, but why not the beastkin, dwarves, or centaurs?¡±


    Terra thought about it for a moment, before offering her opinion. ¡°The beastkin have a muchrger poption than most, so it will probably take them longer to show an evolution. The centaurs are probably not too far off from one themselves. As for the dwarves, they don¡¯t improve their power as quickly as the other races, so they are probably a bit behind on that.¡±


    ¡°But you don¡¯t know for sure?¡± I asked her curiously. I mean, her answer didn¡¯t sound very confident, and usually she would know stuff like this instantly. Hearing my question, Terra smiled slightly.


    ¡°If you want, I could do an in-depth investigation? But, that would take quite a bit of time, and I don¡¯t really feel like volunteering for that kind of work. I mean, does it really matter? If they are going to evolve like that, they will. If not, then no amount of investigation would change it. Any actions you take would still have the same result as if you did them without that knowledge.¡± After saying that, she once againid back on the bed, letting her slender legs stretch out on it. ¡°Now, pardon me while I take a cat nap~.¡± She spoke in a happy voice, before curling her legs up to her chest.


    I just sat there, staring at where she was lying down. She did have a point, looking up that kind of information wouldn¡¯t really help all that much. I was more surprised by the realization that she would actually have to expend some kind of effort in order to find it out. I had always been under the assumption that she just knew what was going on, like how she knew that the cosmos had expanded.


    Maybe she is just paying close attention to the major events of the system, rather than knowing everything that happens at all times? I shook my head, unable to really figure out what was going on inside her mind. When someone contained all the secrets of the Keeper-verse, and yes that¡¯s what I¡¯m calling it, how do they actually perceive things?


    In my own mind, I thought back to how she behaved immediately after I got her from the system. Then, Ipared her to how she was behaving now. At first, she seemed more like an obedient maid than anything else, to the point where her first form of address was calling me master. Now, there was hardly a trace of that left in her at all. To say that she matured would be an understatement.


    Is that because of all the knowledge she possesses, that it just made it hard for her to keep that original personality? I tried to mull it over in my mind, but ultimately couldn¡¯t make sense of it.

 Chapter 54: A Guided Path

    <h4>Chapter 54: A Guided Path</h4>


    After thinking for a little while, I turned back to theputer screen. Looking at the levels gained over thest fifty years, it seemed like people were struggling to reach the level cap now. This was a good thing, since it meant that I had finally found some kind of bnce that would let them grow without being too restricted.


    However, now I was not left with much to personally do, except for watching them grow. The world was still not advanced to a degree where it would greatly benefit from me going down myself to interfere beyond what I had already done. Aside from that, there also weren¡¯t many systems left for me to buy.


    In some ways, it might be better to just buy the second when it¡¯s done with the time eleration, assuming that a species manages to evolve enough to keep it. But, at the same time, I really was still new to this whole Keeper ordeal. Getting a second already may be a bit too much for me to deal with. Hell, I was already having some trouble managing all of the different races on Earth.


    My next thought was whether I should just fast forward more, letting the world develop on its own while I trained myself. Aside from my training as a Spirit Tamer and Spirit Hunter, I was not very familiar with the rest of the abilities at my disposal. Even the sses that had originally been my favorite, the Mage and Ninja, I was sorelycking in training.


    As such, I decided to go through with that n for now. Raising my level wasn¡¯t so much of an issue as my actual ability. Since my level could very easily surpass my ability with my Keeper powers, I needed to find the proper bnce. And, for training magic, there was obviously only one person I could really go to.


    First, though, I set several rms on the world. This way, if any natural events were going to happen that would cause arge number of deaths, the world could be immediately frozen in time. Then, when I was done training, it would only be a matter of reviewing the alert and figuring out how to deal with it.


    After I was done with that, I found myself heading to the basement, wanting to see if Ryone had made any progress on her research. Of course, I was also going to ask her for help training. Hopefully, she¡¯d be able to offer more help than Terra, since she wasn¡¯t restricted by any of the system¡¯s rules that would prevent the sharing of information.


    As expected, I found her diligently working in the basement, carving out new formations one after another. When she heard me walk in, her head snapped up to look at me, a wide grin forming on her face. ¡°There you are, Dale! I was hoping you¡¯de down and visit before too long.¡±


    ¡°Uhm¡­ okay?¡±


    ¡°I need you to help me with something real quick. It¡¯s about that enchantment concealing form you bought before.¡± Her voice were eager, eyes wide as if she was talking about her favorite toy.


    ¡°Okay¡­ what can I do to help?¡±


    ¡°I need you to gather a couple of things for me. This enchantment doesn¡¯t actually have any new spellponents, just materialponents that are used to mask the enchantments.¡± Before I even had time to ask what she needed me to get, she was already listing the ingredients. ¡°I need the bones of a creature at least level fifty, which has been dead for a hundred years. I also need water from the depths of the ocean, at least ten thousand meters down. Oh, you can¡¯t let the water touch any air when you gather it.¡±


    ¡°Aside from that, I need a fist sized gem from each of the seven colors of the rainbow, and a simr sized chunk of obsidian and diamond. The closer in size the gems and obsidian are to each other, the better. Oh, and do we have fairies yet? Wait, no¡­ hmm. Since we can¡¯t use ground fairy wings, powdered slime residue was a rmended alternative.¡±


    I could only stare nkly at Ryone as she listed off one ingredient after the other. ¡°And¡­ I¡¯m guessing that simply making the items wouldn¡¯t work, right?¡± She nodded her head quickly, agreeing with that statement. ¡°Do you need them right now, or¡­?¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ well, I guess not?¡± She answered, somewhat sheepishly. ¡°But it¡¯d be really cool to try it out. Maybe when we actually have an artifact worth making?¡±


    I nodded my head at herpromise. Honestly, most of what she asked for wouldn¡¯t be that hard to pull out of the world. The only things that might be troublesome would be the powdered residue and the bones. ¡°Did you make any new progress with your research?¡±


    ¡°Oh, right! Actually, I did, kind of. Well, maybe?¡± She was back to being excited again. ¡°I found out that we only just touched the tip of the iceberg, when ites to enchanting. What we¡¯re doing now has a limit of eight options, all of them being passive abilities. But, ording to the book about how to make the inventory bag, there should be ways of adding several times that, as well as triggering mechanisms for each option.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t suppose you happened to figure out how to do any of that?¡± I asked with a curious expression, not wanting to get my hopes up.


    ¡°Well, no, but just knowing it is possible is sure to help. I was just getting back to trying out new formbinations again when you came down. By the way, was there something you needed?¡± She finally seemed to notice that I hade down of my own will, rather than being summoned by her.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. I want you to help train me. I haven¡¯t learned much magic beyond the basic few spells, and I figured it would be helpful to fix that. Given that you are the Goddess of Magic and all, I figured you would be the best person to ask.¡±


    Hearing what I wanted, Ryone let a grin emerge on her face. Not her usual coy smile, as if she was wanting to tease someone, but a true grin. ¡°Okay¡­ but if I help you, can you help me with my shopping list?¡±


    I thought about it for a moment, before nodding. ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be too hard. But, you don¡¯t have to get fresh ingredients each time, right? If we go through a fist-sized chunk of diamond every time we do this, eventually that would cause a problem.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t think so? The gems are listed as foci, rather than ingredients. But, we will need to get new water, slime, and bones each time. I won¡¯t know for sure until we actually test it out. And, we won¡¯t have anything worthy of ¡®holy artifact¡¯ levels of enchantment until I figure out how to attach conditions to enchantments, and some higher level spells.¡±


    I nodded my head again. As long as we weren¡¯t constantly going through that many ores, it wouldn¡¯t be a problem. Speaking of which, ¡°Just had a thought, but I should go ahead and buy some of the more magical ores from the market, right? Forgot to do that before, but it will probably make things easier to do it now than in the future.¡±


    Ryone chuckled lightly at that. ¡°Probably best. You want me to look through the market for some suggestions, or you want to take care of this one?¡±


    I furrowed my brows for a few moments before answering. ¡°I¡¯ll handle this one. I think that I¡¯ll get a hundred points worth of new minerals after we¡¯re done training. That should be enough for now. If anything else is needed, I can always buy itter, and have it ced on the undiscovered continents.¡±


    Finally, Ryone seemed to regain a bit of her original flirtatiousness. Is that even a word? ¡°All work huh? No time for any fun?¡± She brought her hands behind her back, leaning forward slightly as she looked at me.


    I let out a low cough, turning my head to the side to avoid any distracting sights. ¡°We can have some funter. But, this training is pretty important, wouldn¡¯t you say?¡±


    I heard a giggle from in front of me, and when I turned to look Ryone was already leaning back in her original position. ¡°Almost got you~. Alright then, Dale, let¡¯s see what you-¡± Ryone suddenly stopped talking mid sentence, her eyes widening slightly in surprise. I turned around to see if there was anyone that snuck in behind me, but the basement was empty, save for the two of us.


    ¡°Uhm, anything wrong, Ryone?¡± I asked, waving a hand in front of her face. It was only when I started snapping my fingers that she seemed toe out of whatever trance she was in.


    ¡°Sorry. Someone just unlocked a very interesting spell. Mind giving me a moment to try it out before we begin training?¡±


    I nodded my head slightly, slightly confused what was going on. With a happy smile, Ryone leaned in to give me a quick kiss on the lips, before turning around and walking a few steps away from me. ¡°Thanks, Dale!¡±


    In the direction that she was facing, the basement suddenly shifted, forming a dozen wooden targets. Each one was vaguely humanoid, carrying a wooden shield in one hand and a sword in the other. They were not packed closely together, with each dummy being roughly three meters from either of its neighbors.


    Ryone confidently walked forwards, until she stood fifty meters from the line of targets. Then, Ryone lifted up both of her hands, palms facing forward. The two hands were aligned vertically, one with the fingers pointed up while the other had them pointed down. Blue light radiated off her fingers, and I could feel a dense mana gathering in her hands.


    When she rotated her hands, blue light trailed behind in a line, forming aplete circle. Then, that circle began to fill in with various patterns, turning into what was obviously a spell diagram. However, it didn¡¯t stop there. After the initial diagram was done, three more diagrams appeared surrounding it, hovering in ce.


    This was the first time I¡¯d seen a spell use more than one diagram, and also the first time that I had seen the diagram itself appear as a result of casting the spell. But, even taking that into consideration, the effects of the spell left me rather disappointed. A red me shot out from the original diagram in front of her palms, flying towards the targets.


    As it flew, the fireball split into three. Then, each of the three split into two, and those six again split to form twelve fireballs. Each fireball urately struck one of the dozen wooden targets, catching them on fire. Although there did not seem to be any explosive force behind this spell, it appeared to be a multi-target spell. Sadly, every time the fire split, it became weaker, dividing its power evenly among its parts.


    Nodding to herself with a serious expression, she then turned back to face me. As she did, a smile appeared once again. ¡°It worked a little better than what I had nned. The system called that spell ¡®Guided me¡¯. It uses a few newponents that we haven¡¯t seen yet, so we should be able to create some interesting spells out of it.¡±


    Seeing that I was interested, Ryone went on to exin the uniqueness of the spell. Compared to the basic me spell, this one had a slightly stronger fire element to it. More importantly, it also had three new patterns. Those were the diagrams that appeared alongside it when it was cast, diagrams that would allow for guided control, splitting, andbining. However, there was another point that I was interested about.


    ¡°Why did the diagram appear in front of you when you cast it? That wasn¡¯t just to show me, was it?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask after she finished exining.


    ¡°Ah, that. Actually, from my understanding, once spells hit the second tier of their element, the diagrams be visible during casting. If I had cast that spell with only the basic fire element, you probably wouldn¡¯t have seen it. But, at the same time, it wouldn¡¯t have had hardly any strength after dividing so many times unless I poured a lot of extra mana into it.¡±


    I could only nod at that exnation, though I wasn¡¯t sure what the cause of that phenomena was. It was likely that even Ryone herself didn¡¯t know. After all, just because she¡¯s the Goddess of Magic does not mean she knows everything about magic. It just means that she knows everything that is known about magic. I think. This whole god business gets confusing at times.


    Either way, it was time for some rather extensive magical training. I wonder how many of these spells I¡¯ll actually be able to memorize.

 Chapter 55: Doom? Doom.

    <h4>Chapter 55: Doom? Doom.</h4>


    As I moved deeper into the basement following Ryone, the scene rapidly shifted. The floor marked with countless diagrams smoothed out into stone tiles, and a wooden table with two chairs rose from the ground ahead. Compared to Bihena, who seemed to have trouble making a basic stool, Ryone seemed much more adept at controlling the Admin Room. With a slight motion, the elven goddess turned and sat at the seat on the far side of the table, leaving the other one to me.


    ¡°Okay, there¡¯s not a lot that I can teach you about the magic system, aside from the spells already discovered. But, with this new fire spell, I might be able to uncover a bit more of the secrets.¡± She made a satisfied smile, waving a hand to create several sheets of paper on the table. Each one had a detailed spell diagram drawn on them in glowing red ink.


    ¡°These are some of the more important spells I¡¯ve identified, as each one has unique aspects. First, starting with the basics. Terra said she wasn¡¯t able to teach you much at the time, due to her restrictions, so let¡¯s start with what I¡¯ve learned.¡± As she spoke, she lightly tapped the table with her slender hand, causing one of the papers to rise into the air. With the diagram facing me, I could instantly identify it as the basic me spell.


    Seeing that I recognized it, she continued her lecture. ¡°Every spell discovered so far is contained within a circle. Why, though? The circles themselves aren¡¯t needed to form the basis of magic, as we saw with the enchantment diagram. While that does have circles, it does not have a single circle that epasses the entire diagram.¡±


    I hadn¡¯t actually thought about that, so I lowered my head in thought for a minute. However, I couldn¡¯te up with a proper answer. What significance did the circles themselves y in the magic? When I looked up, Ryone saw my questioning gaze and smiled.


    ¡°My conjecture is that circles represent a ¡®variable field¡¯. Patterns stored inside of a circle are subject to change, while those not in a circle have to stay in a constant, fixed form. That¡¯s why you can draw custom shapes in the center of a me spell to direct it.¡±


    I nodded my head slightly as I considered that. ¡°Then¡­ why are circles needed for all of these spells?¡± I motioned to the other papers present on the table.


    ¡°Hmm. Well, this is just my suspicion, but I think that part of the circle¡¯s functions are to help solidify the patterns you put into it, and help them conform to the proper shapes. People rarely have a perfect mental image, so the circle helps to correct things. But, this means that there are also spells that could work with pieces outside the circle, or without a circle at all.¡±


    With Ryone¡¯s excited hypothesis, another piece of paper appeared in midair, this one holding an unfamiliar design. It looked in many ways simr to the basic shield spell, but there were four triangles along the outside of the spell¡¯s outer circle. ¡°This is something I found that the elves had discovered a few decades ago. The spell itself isn¡¯t important, but this extra addition on the outside gives it a new purpose. When this shield spell is cast, the spell itself does not activate immediately, but imbues itself onto the target surface. Then, whenever that particr area is given a strong enough shock, the spell automatically activates. I¡¯m calling this design feature the ¡®rm trigger¡¯. From a brief experiment, the length of the individual triangles determines the amount of force needed to activate it, as long as all four are the same size.¡±


    I could only nod as I looked at the different diagrams she hadid out. Before she got carried away with her exnations, however, I wanted to cut in and ask something. ¡°Then, how do you use multiple patterns for a single spell, like you did with that new fire spell earlier?¡±


    Hearing my question, Ryone¡¯s smile only grew wider. As the two pieces of paper floating in the air fell down, three more rose up. These seemed to make up the same spell she had recently disyed for me. ¡°That¡¯s actually really easy. I¡¯m not sure if it will stay trueter on, but for this level of spell all you need to do is picture all three diagrams in your mind. Then, ce them in any order you wish, as long as the ¡®primary¡¯ spell is cedst. From there, run your mana through each diagram in turn, before settling it on the final one.¡±


    ¡°And¡­ the controlling aspect? How does that work?¡± I nced at the two unfamiliar diagrams.


    ¡°Well¡­ I haven¡¯t had time to study the specifics on what makes them do what they do yet. But, from a practical standpoint, you are able to ¡®feel¡¯ the spell with your mind, as well as the options you have to work with.¡± After that, Ryone helplessly shrugged her shoulders. ¡°That¡¯s really the best that I can do to exin it. I¡¯ll need more time to study and experiment in order to get detailed information.¡±


    I nodded my head again. From there, Ryone began to give me a much more detailed lesson on the various aspects of magic she had discovered. However, unlike Terra who had given me the spells directly, Ryone only gave me the individual pieces. Though, she did exin in as great of detail as she could what each piece meant, and how it could change depending on where it was ced in a diagram.


    Topare the two, Terra was having me dissect aplete puzzle to figure out where the pieces fit, whereas Ryone was giving me the pieces of the puzzle and exining what to do with them. The two of them were teaching me in pretty much opposite directions, but I honestly found it easier to understand Ryone¡¯s methods. Maybe that was because she was able to give me more direct help than Terra was, but it was easier to remember.


    I lost track of just how long I spent down there, but after we were done studying, we naturally spent some time ¡®ying¡¯. What? I hadn¡¯t been able to have any fun with her or Terra since before we even gave Ryone her personality! Anyways, after that was done, I got what she had asked for to make the special enchantment.


    All in all, it was roughly a day or so before I was ready to get back to check on how the world was faring after the time skip. Judging by the information window, it had been roughly a hundred and fifty years since thest time I looked, and had only stopped because one of the rms had triggered. Which, of course, meant that someone was about to get the short end of a very big stick.


    Tsunami detected, traveling towards inhabited continent.


    Sapients within path of tsunami: 1,390


    Yikes. Why did it have to be the elves¡­ I wasn¡¯t really ying favorites with my concern, but the elves were really the worst ones to get hit by a natural disaster. After all, they had the lowest poption of any race. The problem was¡­ how am I supposed to save them from a giant wave of death?


    Opening up the map, I saw that the aforementioned wave was only a couple miles out from the continent at the moment, but its scale was simply massive. In length, it had to be thousands of miles long, and at least five miles tall. If not for the fact that the southern tip of it was striking the northernmost area of the elves¡¯ explored continent, it might still be bearable. But as things were, they had an hour at most before the wave breaks through the coast and reaches them.


    I was thankful that the elves hadn¡¯t yet explored all the way to the coasts, otherwise the people in danger would be much greater. Still, I couldn¡¯t help but send a mental page to Ryone, which likely came across more like a ring rm. At least, if her wincing appearance a momentter was any indication.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on, Dale? Also, you really need to practice thought transmitting. Oww¡­¡± She reached up and rubbed her head, as if it was hurting.


    ¡°Sorry, but we¡¯ve got an issue.¡± I moved my chair aside to let Ryone have a look at the screen, letting her see the situation with the tsunami.


    ¡°Oh¡­ wow¡­ uhm¡­ okay.¡± Her eyes went wide as she saw the massive wave frozen in time, heading towards her own people. ¡°So, is there some special Keeper option you can use to make that go away? ¡®Disaster be gone¡¯ or something like that?¡±


    ¡°Maybe? But, I was hoping we could do something different. Something less cheat-y?¡± For the first time, Ryone sent a rather fierce re at me. Obviously, she didn¡¯t like the idea of not sparing her people from an imminent disaster. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m not suggesting we simply abandon them. Maybe warn the people that you can to get out of the way, first. After that¡­ do you feel like showing off?¡±


    Ryone stared nkly at my question, before turning back to the screen. ¡°You mean¡­?¡±


    ¡°Well, you are the Goddess of Magic, after all. Do you have any spells that you could use to slow the tsunami down, just long enough for it to wear its energy out before it has the chance to reach them?¡±


    Ryone took a step back, and crossed her arms in front of her, lowering her head in thought. ¡°Hmm¡­ maybe. From what was exined to me, each god or goddess should have ¡®near limitless¡¯ ability in their domains. For Irena, that means she can do pretty much whatever she wants in the underworld. For me, that should mean that my mana pool should be practically unlimited if I descend. But, I haven¡¯t really tested it out much, yet.¡±


    She seemed to be running a few different scenarios in her mind, before she looked at me and resolutely nodded her head. ¡°Okay, I think I¡¯ve got an idea. Give me a couple of minutes to prepare, and then you can restart the world.¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    In the city of Hyren, several hundred elves came together to enjoy a fairly peaceful life. Monster attacks were few, and the air had a certain quality to it that couldn¡¯t be enjoyed in other cities. Due to this, Hyren was one of the most popted elven cities, but it had also been one that hadn¡¯t immediately recognized Gandor¡¯s rule. This could not be entirely med on them, however, as they were several month¡¯s travel away from the capital city.


    This seemed to be a normal day, when suddenly birds could be seen taking to the sky en masse. Animals and monsters alike panicked, going so far as to ignore the hunters to run in a particr direction. Many residents saw this as a bad omen, and were preparing to follow when a voice appeared in their minds.


    Do not flee. You will be safe within your walls. Though they had never heard this voice before, everyone knew who it belonged to. With the assurance of their goddess, nobody dared to leave the city.


    Soon, people could be seen scrambling towards Hyren¡¯s walls, hoping to make it inside as quickly as possible. Anyone that had been out of the city for hunting, or farming, or even people that the residents had never seen before. Amidst the chaos, few people noticed a lone woman standing atop the walls, wearing a pure white dress.


    However, soon they noticed. Everyone in the city had their gaze drawn to that woman, as torrents of magical energy surged around her. Those particrly sensitive felt as if they were suffocating under the pressure of this power, while others questioned if such a level of power were even possible.


    As if in response to her power, the very ground itself shook in defiance. In the distance, a massive shadow covered the horizon, slowly growingrger as it approached them. At this time, a soft-spoken voice echoed mysteriously through the city, its origins clearly the same as the one that spoke into their minds a moment ago. ¡°Stand behind me.¡±


    As the power surrounding the woman--no, the goddess, grew even stronger by the moment, so too did the impending shadow of destruction. Within moments, it had grown to a size that everyone could clearly make out what was causing the shadow. Water, on a scale that none of them had ever known.


    Raising a hand that seemed as if it would break from the slightest touch with that ever-growing wall of water, Ryone released the power she had been storing. Part of it surrounded the city, forming into a translucent shield of light, while the rest shot towards the wave in scattered sts. Explosions could be heard within the wave as her spells impacted, blowing sections of it back. Still, more and more could be seen as it drew closer.


    ¡°Raw power won¡¯t work, huh?¡± Barely anyone could hear the voice that sounded from the woman on the wall. ¡°Guess we¡¯re going to have to do this all at once.¡± Again, unimaginable power erupted from Ryone, far quicker than the previous spells.


    This time, when she released her spell, there was no explosion. There was only silence, as the encroaching wave had stopped in its tracks. As far as the eye could see, the towering wall of water had been frozen into a solid sheet of ice. However, that ice was still crashing towards them, albeit without much of the driving force it had before.


    As if to relieve their fears of being crushed to death by the wall of ice, it exploded into shrapnel a momentter. As the shards of ice rained down from above, they crashed into the shield of light protecting the city, shattering harmlessly and falling off to the side. Some people thought that the crisis might be over with this, but the shield remained standing.


    Minutes passed before they had their answer, more waves crashing towards them from every direction. Although these waves were far smaller, and carried far less force than the one that had terrified them previously, it was still enough to strike fear into their hearts. Thankfully, Ryone simply remained on the city wall, pouring more and more power into the shield to prevent it from copsing.


    Soon, it seemed as if the entire city was underwater, the domed shield being the only thing between them and a quick death. This continued for several long minutes, before finally the water started to lower. When the waters around the city barely reached the elves¡¯ ankles, the barrier disappeared, and some of that water poured in.


    Still, getting their feet wet was nothingpared to what would have happened had their goddess not appeared to protect them. Looking to the walls, people soon discovered that she had vanished without a single trace. Though she may have left quietly, her actions would be remembered forever.

 Chapter 56: A Fox’s Fright

    <h4>Chapter 56: A Fox¡¯s Fright</h4>


    I let out a deep breath when I saw that the wave had been stopped. Although Ryone wasn¡¯t able to save everyone, she still reduced the casualties by a lot. The rest were people that had been too far away from the city to get back in time, or those that did not listen to the warning. All in all, from over a thousand potential casualties, it had been reduced to just under a hundred.


    Just as I was internally celebrating getting through this without losing arge number of the elves, Ryone appeared back in the room, rubbing her head in annoyance. ¡°Okay, that was harder than I thought. Was the result worth the headache?¡±


    I nodded my head to the goddess as she sat down on the nearby bed. ¡°Aside from a few, you managed to protect everyone. But¡­ do you guys even get headaches?¡± Companion physiology is not my strong suit, okay?


    Ryone raised an eyebrow at me when she heard my question. ¡°That¡¯s right. Though, I wasn¡¯t sure either until just now. Maybe it¡¯s something that only happens when we descend? Or it just needs me to push myself more to get one. Don¡¯t know, don¡¯t care, going to hide in a dark hole for the next hour or so. If there¡¯s nothing major, don¡¯t have anyone bother me.¡±


    ¡°Alright¡­ Oh, by the way, was going to have the next goddess awakened. Want to attend, or no?¡± I didn¡¯t even get an answer as Ryone simply faded from view. Guess that¡¯s a no, then.


    Well, at least this way nobody can im I didn¡¯t invite her. Next, I began sending out a page to the other gods, letting them all know what was going to happen. Or, I at least hoped that was what I was doing. Given Ryone¡¯s previous interpretation of my attempt to page someone, I might just be setting off firecrackers in their mind. Either way, at least I¡¯ll be getting their attention?


    Sure enough, a few momentster, a piece of paper appeared in front of me. It seemed to just materialize from thin air andnd in my hand without a sound, and there were several words written on it. Given theplexity of what happened, and that Ryone was excluded from the group page, I figured that Terra had sent this.


    ¡®Until you learn how to do the mental messaging properly, use this. Just write what you want to tell us, and who you want it sent to.¡¯ I wasn¡¯t sure if I should be happy or upset at this. On the bright side, this did make my job easier, but it was also just short of tantly telling me that I was still a mental rm.


    Nheless, I did write on the paper. ¡®Send to all gods but Ryone.¡¯ Did not want to take the risk that this paper could also work as a broadcast to the. That would be a fuck up of epic proportions. ¡®About to give Udona her personality. Anyone that wants to attend can meet in the living room.¡¯


    I waited for several long moments, unsure if the message had gone through. However, soon the ink seemed to seep down through the paper, forming more words on a separate line. ¡®Udona? Which one is that? The fox, wolf, or the bear?¡¯ Unfortunately, there was no real way for me to identify which one sent that message. So, I once again sent the message to all of them, letting them know that Udona was the Kitsune Goddess of Life and Entertainment.


    Now that I think about it, that might be a rather strangebination of domains. On the one hand, it implies that life is all about having fun. On the other, it encourages people to live life to the fullest, I guess? Either way, I folded up the piece of paper and put it in my pocket, then went to the living room.


    By the time I arrived, there were already a few people present. Once again, Bihena was there to watch the ceremony, as was Aurivy. To my surprise, Tubrock was also present. I had almost forgotten that we had already ¡®woken¡¯ him up after spending time with Ryone.


    Looking around, I gave the three a small smile. ¡°Okay¡­ So, going to do things a little differently with this one. I want everyone here to help mee up with the personality to give her. The only thing that I would insist on is some form of loyalty, so that there isn¡¯t a bunch of drama that could divide the or anything like that. Agreed?¡±


    Bihena gave a small nod, sitting on the couch. Aurivy ran over to sit next to her, leaning against the taller woman. Given their appearances, it was almost possible to see the two of them as actual sisters, though there was quite the age gap for appearances. Surprisingly, Tubrock was the first to speak up. ¡°Personality, ya say? What sorts of things can be used?¡± Given his honestly curious tone, it was likely that he either didn¡¯t suspect or didn¡¯t bother with the implication that his own personality would have been granted in the same way.


    Bihena nced over to the dwarf in the corner, one hand reaching up to rest on Aurivy¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Anything within reason. As for my suggestion, why not use a filial bond? Although the rest of us may be a bit too different, but if she has the setting of Terra¡¯s younger sister, it would make things easier without putting unwanted thoughts in her head.¡±


    After her came Aurivy, whose hand shot up quickly. ¡°Ooh, ooh! Why don¡¯t we make all the beastkin goddesses sisters? That could make things really interesting for their culture, if they know that their goddesses are all one family, right?!¡±


    Bihena looked at Aurivy, taken aback by the suggestion, but ultimately nodded her head in agreement. Turning to look at Tubrock, I saw him crossing his arms, seeming to give this some serious thought. ¡°Aye, that could work, maybe? But as for the other stuff, no clue what should be given to this one. Ya said in your note that this one was the goddess of Life and Entertainment, yeah?¡±


    I nodded my head, waiting for him to continue. However, after a few moments, he simply shrugged his shoulders in defeat. ¡°Got nothing to help ya with, then.¡± I¡¯m not sure why I was expecting anything different. Tubrock was literally born yesterday, so he naturally wouldn¡¯t have many opinions to offer on this.


    Letting out an exaggerated sigh, Bihena took the lead. ¡°Why not just let the system decide, aside from the family bit?¡±


    I nodded my head lightly, pulling the paper back out. Summoning a pencil to write with, I sent a message to Terra. ¡®We decided to use the setting of the beastkin goddesses all being your sisters. That okay with you?¡¯ This was a rather major decision, and I didn¡¯t want to go through with it without getting her approval.


    A few momentster, I got a message from Terra, verifying that she was alright with having more sisters. ¡°Alright then, let¡¯s bring her in.¡± Closing my eyes, I focused on moving Udona from the storage room to the living room.


    Her arrival was apanied by a small popping noise, and when I opened my eyes I could see the golden haired kitsune standing in front of me. Like thest time I saw her, she was still wearing a dress of animal furs, her eyes still carrying that same vacant look. Her delicate features appeared very attractive,bined with her hourss curves. Although her chest was smaller than Terra¡¯s, it would still be the envy of many women back in the Earth I came from.


    After looking into her jade green eyes, I closed my own and focused on the personality that I wanted to give her. This would be the first of the girls I made that did not have an instant love towards me of one sort or another. In a way, this was a test to see how things went without that added in. If Udona caused trouble for everyone and wouldn¡¯t listen to reason, then I would reset her. It¡¯s regrettable, but it was something I had to be ready to do.


    Once again, the golden light descended, making Udona¡¯s hair seem to glow brilliantly as it set about its work of breathing life into the Goddess of Life herself. Tubrock seemed especially attentive to this process, eyes shining as he watched from beginning to end. Only when the light began to fade away did it even register to him that he should be blinking.


    Bihena was also staring intently, but her gaze seemed less focused on the light, and more on the person within it. When Udona stepped out from the pir of light and looked around, it was Bihena that was most focused on her. However, her first words were¡­ not what I was expecting.


    ¡°Where am I?¡± She asked, looking around, her eyes wide and showing fear. Bihena leaned forward in surprise, bringing both her hands down into herp. She quickly shot a look over to me, and I was already writing in the paper to call Terra. If the system really did make Udona see her as a sister, that should calm things down before she freaks out.


    Sure enough, Terra arrived a couple of minutester, only to find all of us looking at Udona, who was crouched down in a corner with her arms around herself. Her body was visibly shaking, as if she was barely restraining herself from running away. However, when Terra arrived, Udona happened to look up and see here in. ¡°Terra!¡± She cried out, running quickly over to the catgirl goddess and hugging her tightly.


    Taken aback by the sudden charge, Terra was stunned for a moment. It was only a short whileter, after her eyes unfocused for a split second, that she wrapped one arm around to pat Udona¡¯s back. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ where are we?¡± The kitsune goddess asked, looking up into Terra¡¯s eyes. Even though I was off to the side, I could see the wetness on her cheeks.


    ¡°We¡¯re home, Udona. Where else would we be?¡± Terra seemed slightly confused by the question. At least that meant she didn¡¯t know about whatever memories or personality quirks the system gave Udona.


    ¡°H-home?¡± She looked back towards the rest of us in the room, then to Terra again. ¡°T-this is home? But then¡­ who are they? Why are they in our h-home?¡±


    Terra simply sighed, shaking her head. ¡°Of course, it¡¯s because this is their home, too.¡± The fox girl seemed confused by that, looking at us again. Terra nced in my direction as she continued to hold Udona with one hand. ¡°Mind if I go exin things to her for a bit? She¡¯s not going to be much good to you in this condition for anything, anyways.¡±


    I nodded my head, and Terra smiled, turning to lead Udona out of the room. From how they were walking, the kitsune goddess was constantly doing her best to walk in front of Terra, standing on the opposite side of her from all of us. When they were no longer here, there was a period of silence from everyone left, until an awkward cough came from Tubrock.


    ¡°Well, I think it¡¯s safe to say that doesn¡¯t normally happen, aye?¡± He nced at the rest of us, who shook our heads in unison. ¡°Well, that¡¯s good at least. d I didn¡¯t end up like that one.¡± With that, he shook his head and left the room.


    ¡°Uhm¡­¡± Aurivy nced between Bihena and myself. ¡°Is Udona going to be alright?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯ll be fine.¡± Bihena assured her, patting Aurivy¡¯s shoulder again. ¡°She just had a bit of a shock, is all. After Terra¡¯s done exining things and getting her adjusted, she should be fine. She¡¯s the Goddess of Entertainment, so maybe she¡¯ll be able toe up with some fun games for you to y together?¡±


    Aurivy¡¯s eyes practically glowed at that moment, and she nodded her head vigorously. ¡°Right! I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll be lots of funter on! I just hope she gets better soon. And¡­ it¡¯d be best if neither of the other two had reactions like that. Maybe we should make them a little familiar with us when setting their personalitiester, so that that can¡¯t happen?¡±


    Bihena blinked in surprise, but soon nodded her head. ¡°That sounds like a good idea.¡± She then put on a sarcastic grin as she reached up and pinched one of Aurivy¡¯s cheeks. ¡°You know, you¡¯re smarter than you look.¡±


    ¡°Nuuuu!!¡± Aurivy iled her arms pitifully as her cheek was pinched. ¡°Stopf it!¡± Bihena justughed, releasing the girl¡¯s cheek and standing up to leave the room. Aurivy sat there, rubbing her cheek with her head lowered. As for me¡­ I was thinking about what I should do next. Things were definitely starting to get interesting in the Admin Room.


    And also, I had to ask myself why Irena wasn¡¯t present. I had expected her to be here for this event, but instead she was absent. I made up my mind that my next course of action would be to visit the Underworld again to meet her, and see what was going on.

 Chapter 57: Underworld Woes

    <h4>Chapter 57: Underworld Woes</h4>


    It didn¡¯t take me long to find the door I had created that lead to Irena¡¯s room in the Underworld. In fact, I wasn¡¯t even entirely sure how this door worked myself. Whenever I normally descend to the world, I have to have a body created for me. However, when walking through the door that is not the case. Perhaps, a body is automatically created based on whatever form I possess at the time?


    What I see on the other side of the door is the normal scene of Irena¡¯s bedroom¡­ which still almost perfectly mirrors mine and Terra¡¯s room in the Admin room. Disregarding that, I turned down the hall to quickly make my way towards the throne room where Irena handles most of her business. Of course, I pressed my ear to the door to listen for a moment, in order to ensure that I wouldn¡¯t be interrupting anything by entering.


    ¡°Come on in, Dale.¡± A tired, yet pleasantly surprised voice called out to me from the other side of the door. Nodding to myself, I pushed it open and walked in. Thankfully, there really wasn¡¯t anyone else here aside from myself and Irena, who was sitting atop her throne with a weary expression.


    ¡°Everything alright?¡± I took the initiative to ask, seeing her current state. From the looks of things, she has been quite busy. Her shoulders are sagging slightly, and her expression seems as if it were a normal person that hadn¡¯t slept in days.


    ¡°Yes¡­ yes. Sorry, but things have been pretty hectic here. I got your message, but couldn¡¯t afford to leave at the time.¡±


    Well, that didn¡¯t sound good. ¡°What¡¯s the matter? Surely, it shouldn¡¯t be something too bad, given your status here and all.¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡± She looked at me, slightly surprised. ¡°No, not really ¡®bad¡¯. It¡¯s just been busy. Some of the spiritsing in are trying to form their own factions and avoid mingling with the others, and our total poption is nearing what we need to start sending out regr squads to the living world.¡±


    I blinked in surprise, my mouth hanging open for a moment before I came to my senses. ¡°I thought it was going to be a while yet before that was ready?¡±


    The goddess on the throne smiled in a tired manner. ¡°It was, originally. I failed to take into ount the centaurs¡¯ appearance, and the poption increase of the living world. Either way, the poption is nearing the point that we need, but the standards of the spirits and daeva are still far from what I would befortable sending.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­ I think I get it. Do you have a n for that?¡± I had to assume that this was the main reason why Irena was so busy, having needed any time she could get to set up this n she was working on.


    ¡°Yes, I have something, but it¡¯s not quite ready yet. I had nned to slowly build up to it for another hundred years, but my n had to be elerated.¡± With a slow wave of her hand, the floor of the throne room exploded in a grey mist, slowly reforming into a new shape.


    What appeared was a scale model of a wide building with many floors. At a nce, it reminded me of a pagoda, though one dimension had been considerably widened. ¡°This is my Spirit Academy, where I am setting up the foundations for the future patrol squads. Right now, each floor represents a different difficulty.¡±


    As she spoke, the first floor of the academy seemed to glow green. ¡°On the bottom floor, I have pulled in the weakest monsters that would be encountered.¡± From there, the second floor began to glow as the light from the first floor faded, and the light continued to climb to the highest floor. ¡°All the way at the thirteenth floor, I have one of the ¡®Chimera Souls¡¯ trapped.¡±


    That set off rms in my mind, and I quickly turned to look at her in shock. ¡°Isn¡¯t there a chance of it getting out, and destroying the nearby area?¡±


    However, Irena simply shook her head. ¡°No. That is one of the things that has kept me busytely. I have anchored it to that location, and am preventing it from leaving. Originally, I had wanted to assign instructors to the academy, and turn the floors into ssrooms and training areas. Perhaps, in time, I can do that.¡±


    Saying that much, Irena let out a sigh. ¡°However, it seems I don¡¯t have that long to wait. Disregarding the need to send patrols to the living world, we have need of our own police force. The racial factions are causing unrest to spread throughout the Underworld. Already, some have split off to form their own kingdoms. Although they will bow their heads to me, and will associate reluctantly with the daeva, those kingdoms will not work together with the other spirit races.¡±


    Irena nced over at me, seeming to understand what I was thinking. ¡°Yes, I could simply eliminate them if I wanted to. But doing so would set a bad precedent of me abusing my power. At the same time, if I do nothing then I will seem to be silently agreeing to the formation of those kingdoms. Instead, my answer is to build a police force formed from all the different races. Not only will they patrol the living world, but they will also keep the peace in this realm.¡±


    I nodded my head, understanding her reasoning. ¡°So, the higher level someone reaches in the academy, the higher their position within the spirit army?¡±


    At that, Irena smiled bitterly and shook her head. ¡°If it were that simple, perhaps I could have been there to see Udona. The academy merely acts as a starting point. It tests someone¡¯s rawbat ability. However, there is still more to consider when assigning ranks. Most importantly, their loyalty and ability tomand troops. For the former, I am working with a merit system. The more missions they aplish of varying difficulties, the more merits they umte and the faster they qualify for a promotion examination.¡±


    Taking a deep breath, Irena continued. ¡°The promotion examination requires three things. First, they have to be able to challenge a particr floor in the academy. For the first rank, which everyone starts at, they must be able to defeat the simplest monsters on the first floor. The second aspect of the examination measures their umted merits. The third is a test ofmand. I am still working out the details for this one, but so far I am setting up tests for each rank that offers questions to prove their ability.¡±


    I had to admit that I was impressed by how she was handling this. ¡°I get it, I think. How far has anyone gotten in the academy?¡±


    ¡°Right now, the sixthyer is the highest anyone has managed to go on their own. Those monsters should be around level eighty or so, so it is no surprise. Once the standards are raised a little more, and we have some suitable teachers, I will set up a proper learning facility. I¡¯ve spoken at length with Terra about the types of ¡®schools¡¯ and ¡®colleges¡¯ that your world had, and think that we could benefit from something simr here.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡± Well, at least the situation was mostly under control, it looked like. ¡°If you need any help with anything, just ask, okay?¡±


    Irena smiled gently, nodding her head. ¡°I know, Dale. This is just a matter of time at this point. Once our army is set up, I can begin working to integrate the various kingdoms back into the fold. Thankfully, the arrival point for the spirits is still this city, so it isn¡¯t so easy for them to recruit.¡±


    ¡°Alright. I¡¯ve got some things I need to check on back at the Admin Room, so I¡¯ll head back now. Depending on how things go, there might be another world under your jurisdiction soon.¡± When I said that, Irena¡¯s expression froze, looking at me questioningly. ¡°Another world appeared in orbit around the sun that is capable of supporting life. I¡¯ve got to go check on it when I return and see if anything became of it.¡±


    Irena slowly nodded her head. ¡°I see¡­ Please, keep me informed about that world. If we suddenly have another set of area to govern, and more spirit races to manage, things will be more difficult on this side.¡±


    ¡°Will do.¡± I smiled to her, walking back towards the door at the back of the throne room. Honestly, I was d that the issues keeping Irena from visiting the Admin Room weren¡¯t more severe, but it was still quite a lot for her to handle on her own. Next time I see Terra, I should see if there¡¯s anything she can think of for me to help with.


    Nodding to myself, I returned to the Admin Room and sat down at theputer. Given that time was flowing normally in the Underworld, it stands to reason that the weird flow of time because of the new should have ended. Pulling up the map, I found that that was indeed the case. However, the notification that appeared dampened whatever hopes I may have held towards this.


    Extinction Level Event(Supervolcano) has eradicated life on this. deemed no longer suitable for the development of sapient life forms. may be purchased at any time for 160 points.


    Why would I even bother spending the points to buy the now? Unless it¡¯s possible to have events altered afterwards to make it habitable again. Still, right now it isn¡¯t worth it, at least. Shaking my head, I closed out of the notifications and moved towards the ¡®training¡¯ area in the basement. Terra should still be talking with Udona now, so there was no real point in trying to find her. Instead, I might as well see if I coulde up with anything in my magic training.


    To my surprise, Ryone was not in the basement this time. Most likely, she was either in her own room, or she had descended to the world to try out a new spell. From experience, I could say that it was hard to measure exactly how much mana you were using, and how much power a spell had, when you had unlimited energy. At most, I could limit myself to a small trickle of mana being released at a time, and measure the amount used by how long it takes.


    Regardless, I found a corner of the training room that had not been covered with her spell diagrams, and created a small chair to sit in. Closing my eyes, I focused on one of the moreplicated spell diagrams I had learned. This particr spell was a variant of the homing fireballs, except that it used the first tier lightning element instead of fire.


    Just when I was going to pull the mana to test the spell for errors, I noticed something strange. Not with the spell itself, but rather with my own energies. ording to what I had learned, in the Admin Room I should possess three energies. Ki, representing the training of the body. Spiritual Energy, representing the training of the soul. And Mana, representing the training of the mind.


    However, what I currently felt was not three, but five energies lurking within my bodies. Three of them I could easily identify as the ones I was already proficient with. Thest two, though, were far more mysterious. One felt like an all-epassing glow that permeated my entire being, but seemed difficult to grasp. The other seemed to well up from inside my body, yet felt foreign. As if I was simply a conduit for arger power.


    Great¡­ more questions. Likely, these two energies were somehow rted to new sses that had been unlocked in the world below. However, I could not think of two sses that would use new energies. Perhaps the Cleric ss might, if one of those energies was divine. If so, it would probably be the energy that made me feel like I was simply channeling it from elsewhere. But, out of all the sses I could remember selecting, there did not seem to be another that would use a different source of energy.


    Mentally, I opened up a notepad window in front of me, and began writing down my questions. They were starting to pile up, and I felt like I would surely forget something if I did not take such measures to prevent that. Hopefully, Terra is able to take care of Udona soon, and I can figure out what is going on.

 Chapter 58: Ore Really?

    <h4>Chapter 58: Ore Really?</h4>


    After practicing morebinations of the various spellponents that Ryone had shown me, I got up and left the basement, still curious on those two new energies and their uses. However, since the information fairy known as Terra was still busy, I had to wait before getting my answers. Instead, I went to the most unlikely of ces.


    The sharp sound of metal striking metal rang in my ears long before I actually reached the isted area where I had established Tubrock¡¯s forge. The dwarven god was bent over an anvil, striking what looked to be a long b of ck metal into shape with a wide, silver hammer. I wasn¡¯t sure why he was doing this, aside from maybe practicing with the materials. After all, I knew for certain that he had not used actual ores from the world below.


    While it is possible for him to go down and mine ores himself, it would use quite a lot of energy to do so, given that he¡¯d be operating outside of his field. Judging by Irena¡¯s condition after fighting the spirit in the living worldst time, it uses far too much energy to act outside of a god¡¯s domain. And for him to gather ores, he would have to go down and actually mine them out by hand.


    Sure enough, Tubrock stopped hammering at the sheet of metal not long after I appeared. Once he had stopped, it seemed to have vanished into nothingness, as if it was never there to begin with. ¡°Aye, what can I do for ya?¡± He asked, looking at me. He seemed surprised by my visit, almost as much as I was myself foring here.


    ¡°Well, a question and a favor really.¡± I thought my answer over carefully. There was something I actually wanted him to do, I just wasn¡¯t sure if now would be the time for it or not. ¡°First, how is everything working out for you? Anything you can think of that you particrly need?¡±


    Tubrock¡¯s thick eyebrow shot up, and he looked at me for a long moment before answering. ¡°Not off the top of my head. Maybe something to actually do, but I can entertain myself well enough.¡± He pointed his thumb back at the forge, where the fire was still zing.


    ¡°I can see that. Which brings me to the favor.¡± I cleared my throat, an old habit from before this whole mess started. ¡°Would you be able to make weapons and armor for each of the gods and goddesses? Stuff that would serve to be iconic to them. I can ask Ryone to help with the enchanting, if need be.¡±


    The dwarf thought about this again, but his answer came much quicker this time. ¡°I¡¯d need to consult with each of them to figure out what kind¡¯a stuff they¡¯d want made, but I don¡¯t see why not. Though, I¡¯ll need proper metals if ya want them to be more than just props for around the house.¡± As he finished saying that, he waved one thick hand around to indicate the Admin Room as ¡®the house¡¯.


    ¡°Yes, I was nning to get some new metals through the system soon. Once I¡¯ve done that, I¡¯ll see about delivering some to you to use for your forge. While you¡¯re at it, I¡¯d like a weapon of my own, as well. Something that wouldn¡¯t stand out too much. Once swords be moremon, that is. Right now, anything made of metal would grab everyone¡¯s attention.¡±


    After hearing my additional request, Tubrock sank into thought. This time, his answer did note, at least not verbally. After nearly a minute of waiting, he gave me a gruff nod, and waved me out of the forge. Apparently, he had some kind of idea or something he wanted to try, and didn¡¯t want to wait for the inspiration to pass him by. At least, that¡¯s what it looked like to me.


    Shrugging my shoulders, I exited the forge, thinking if there was anything else that I needed to take care of at the moment. I could probably head down to the world, see exactly what new sses had been unlocked recently. That could help me understand what the two new energies I felt were. I didn¡¯t really want to try testing them out until I actually understood how they are used. Just because I can¡¯t die in the Admin Room doesn¡¯t mean I can¡¯t get hit with bad statuses¡­ right? I should probably confirm thatter.


    As I was walking back to the main area of the Admin Room, I bumped into Bihena. Literally, she came out of nowhere, and I stumbled over her, falling t on my face! ¡°Whoops, sorry about that.¡± She spoke, seeming genuine in her concern. ¡°Still getting used to moving like that.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ I can see that.¡± I groaned lightly from the floor, working myself up to my feet. ¡°I take it you were looking for me for something?¡±


    ¡°Ah! Right. I wanted to get some help with something. I was looking at the system settings for the world, and I saw the ¡®Martial Artist¡¯ ss. Normally, I wouldn¡¯t have thought much about it¡­ But something in my mind told me it was important for me.¡± As she said that, I could see a somewhat troubled look on her face, as if she herself didn¡¯t entirely understand what she was talking about.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ mind exining a bit more?¡± I knew what the Martial Artist ss was, but I couldn¡¯t understand why her mind would have an instinctive connection to it.


    ¡°Ah¡­ Well, this is kind of difficult to exin, but I¡¯ll try.¡± Bihena took a deep breath, and began. ¡°At first, it¡¯s hard to realize, but after seeing the other gods and goddesses being born, I¡¯ve discovered a few things. Each of us have a set of very vague memories and ideals, based on whatever information you put into the system when you by the personality. Like with Udona, she probably had memories of Terra, and the idea that she was family.¡±


    ¡°Sometimes, these ideals and memories will conflict, like how I realized the feelings you put in some of us were fake. I was able to tell that I should not have felt that way about you, given our history. Other times, the memories are¡­ hard to confirm. Like this, with the Martial Artist ss. My mind feels strongly attached to it, but the only information I can put with it from what I know is ¡®peaceful fighting¡¯.¡± As she finished, she grimaced, looking like she said something that made no sense at all.


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± I scratched my cheek slightly, thinking about it. I really didn¡¯t know enough about how thepanions were created. But, the way she described it did make sense for how to bestow a personality into something that was essentially a living doll. ¡°Well, that is kind of how martial arts are. I was never an expert on the subject by any means, and didn¡¯t learn any martial arts myself. But, from what I understand, several different martial arts were created to help the weak defend themselves and stand on even ground with the strong.¡±


    Bihena¡¯s eyes practically glowed as I exined what I knew. ¡°Can you teach me anything about it? Anything at all could help.¡±


    ¡°Sorry¡­ All I know is that martial arts are special types of fighting that let you use more of your body¡¯s strength. Terra would be able to tell you more than I could about it.¡± When I said that, Bihena¡¯s face fell, and she looked at the ground.


    ¡°And she¡¯s busy helping Udona adjust still.¡± She said, shaking her head slowly.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ I¡¯ve got plenty of things I want to ask her myself, when she is free.¡±


    When Bihena heard that, she looked at me curiously. ¡°Anything I might be able to help with?¡±


    I thought about it, and decided that there really wasn¡¯t any harm in asking. ¡°Well, the first thing is about Irena.¡± I slowly exined what I had heard from Irena about the situation in the Underworld.


    ¡°Ouch. Didn¡¯t know she had problems like that. I¡¯d go there to help if I could, but we can¡¯t exist outside our domains for too long when we aren¡¯t here.¡± The human goddess exined sadly. ¡°Aside from what she¡¯s doing, I can¡¯t think of a better way for you to help, really. If it were me, I¡¯d probably just trash those factions, but I can see why she wouldn¡¯t want to do that.¡±


    ¡°You can be really violent at times, you know?¡± I asked, raising an eyebrow.


    ¡°Who was it that made me the Goddess of Battle?¡± She smirked, looking up at me. ¡°Anyways, what else did you need help with?¡±


    ¡°Right. I found two new energy types when I was practicing my magic in the basement. I wanted to see if she could identify them.¡± When I exined what the energy types felt like, Bihena had a strange expression on her face.


    ¡°I, uhm¡­ I think I can help you with one of those. I¡¯m just surprised you have it. You didn¡¯t set yourself as a god without telling anyone, did you?¡± Bihena looked at me with an usatory gaze.


    I could only shake my head in response. ¡°Too much work, I really don¡¯t want that kind of responsibility. But, I take it that one of them was divine energy after all?¡±


    When she heard that, she chuckled, nodding slightly. ¡°True. Anyways, yes. All of us gods are constantly generating divine energy. It¡¯s the energy we live on, and the reason we can¡¯t act much outside of our domains. The way Terra exined it to me was that each of us have our divine energy attuned to a domain, so using it for anything else spends it far faster than we can produce it. Why you were suddenly able to feel divine energy, and what it means, I¡¯m not sure.¡±


    Well, I had a thought about that part. ¡°I think someone unlocked the cleric job. It is supposed to work directly with divine energy, but I¡¯m not sure how it does so.¡±


    Bihena¡¯s eyes seemed to frown when she heard that. ¡°It wasn¡¯t a human. None of my people have unlocked that ss yet. You could ask Ryone, since she deals with all the mystical stuff. Maybe it was an elf that got it.¡±


    ¡°I was looking for her earlier, but she wasn¡¯t in the basement practicing.¡±


    ¡°Ah.¡± The human goddess nodded. ¡°She said something about going to her dungeon while you were out earlier. She seemed really excited at the time, but I wasn¡¯t paying much attention.¡±


    She probably discovered a breakthrough in some aspect of magic if she was excited. ¡°I see. Well, thanks for the help. By the way, Tubrock is going to be making everyone special weapons here in a little while. Something to serve as an icon for your people.¡± She seemed surprised when I told her that, but then sank into thought.


    ¡°Really? I guess I¡¯ll need to go through my catalogue againter to get ideas.¡± As she mumbled that to herself, she slowly faded out of view. I kind of wanted to ask what catalogue she meant, but I figured that Terra probably made her a book showing off different kinds of weapons.


    Either way, there was still something that I could do while I waited for Terra to get done counseling Udona. I hadn¡¯t yet bought the more magical minerals that could be used to make those iconic weapons! All of this nning would be for naught if I didn¡¯t at least do that.


    Making my way back to the bedroom, I sat down at theputer and looked through the market for the various minerals listed. Honestly, there were too many to count, and I had to narrow it down considerably before I could even browse through it with any hopes of finding what I wanted. Even then, there were several options.


    Orichalcum


    Often found intertwined with copper ore, this ore is able to hold roughly thirty times the amount of mana as silver, while being five times as durable as steel.


    6 points


    Mithral


    Easily mistaken for the purest silver, when forged this metal is able to hold arge amount of mana. However, its natural strength oftencks much to be desired without enchantments.


    9 points


    Holy Silver


    Only found in locations where a god or goddess has personally descended and stayed for an extended period. Holy Silver will naturally retain a trace of divine energy even after being forged, allowing it to channel the wills of the gods.


    18 points


    Magnartum


    When an ore vein of this mineral appears in a sufficient size, it will often cause the ground above it to rise into the air, bing a floating ind. Once forged, the metal will have a natural maic field, making it a great choice for shields!


    15 points


    God¡¯s Iron


    Grown only in the deepest regions of a¡¯s crust, where the magical energies of the world converge. Once forged, this metal is all but indestructible, and can hold immense amounts of mana. However, only a single vein of it exists in every world.


    20 points


    Worldstone


    Found only at the heart of mountains, the Worldstone is the very essence of the mountain itself. One cubic meter of Worldstone weighs roughly 100,000kg. When forged into an item, that item will in turn weigh one hundred times normal.


    5 points


    Lightning Ore


    This ore can only be found in areas frequently visited by lightning storms. After the electrical energy seeps into the earth, and forms this ore, the Lightning Ore itself will summon the storms. Lightning Ore possesses its own natural mana, which can slowly recharge over time.


    12 points


    Numbasic


    This crystal forms in dark caves, and gives off an eerie chill. Useful for storingrge quantities of mana, but will be more fragile as more mana is stored.


    13 points


    The way minerals were priced confused me. Other systems would be priced by some multiple of five, but most of these just seemed like random prices. They were also some of the cheapest prices I had seen so far. Did it not change much in the system to add a new natural resource? Either way, some of them looked interesting.


    I immediately dismissed God¡¯s Iron as a possibility, because there could only be one vein per, near the¡¯s core. Maybe if my people were traveling through space already, and they could mine outs easily, it would be different. But right now, that would just be a useless ore. Holy Silver looked interesting¡­ but I had to dismiss it for fairness. If I really did buy Holy Silver, I could almost guarantee that the only pocket of it would be in the centaur continent.


    A lot of the different resources seemed to just be there so that people could get their name on the market, and didn¡¯t offer much in the way of usefulness. Out of all of them, the only three that I was considering at the moment were orichalcum, mithral, and magnartum. Thest one was a name I had never heard before, but the first two weremon tropes with fantasy genres. Though, I was surprised that this mithral was listed as naturally weak. However, given that it is more expensive than orichalcum, it likely has properties to make up for it.


    I went ahead and bought both mithral and orichalcum, but decided to hold off on magnartum for now. Floating inds are cool and all¡­ but it would be a bit sudden to have them appear out of nowhere. Maybe I¡¯ll add them as an ore for my second.


    After buying the two new ores, I was given the option of how to distribute them. I could either do so manually, choosing the exact coordinates for each vein, or choose to let the system ce them automatically in suitable locations. Given the size of the new Earth, and my desire to not sit here for weeks finding ces to put an ore vein, I chose to let the system take care of that.

 Chapter 59: Sad Truths

    <h4>Chapter 59: Sad Truths</h4>


    Roughly ten minutes after I had bought the pair of ores, Ryone suddenly appeared in my room. In the manner that she loves to manipte the Admin Room, she simply appeared from thin air. Her face seemed somewhat tired, making me think that she had just returned from having descended down to the world. ¡°Dale! I found it!¡±


    Judging by the wide grin on her face, I knew ¡®it¡¯ was something important. ¡°Found¡­ what?¡± That still didn¡¯t stop me from asking what it meant, though! The pronoun game shall not be yed today!


    Ryone blinked in confusion, but then seemed to realize that I had no way to read her mind, and that I hadn¡¯t been spying on her to figure out what she was up to. ¡°I found the next level of enchanting. It¡¯s one of the key requirements to build the inventory system we bought.¡±


    ¡°Ohh.¡± I nodded, understanding why she was so excited. For Ryone, this must seem like a major breakthrough indeed. ¡°So, what is it?¡±


    The elven goddess took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down before she began to exin. ¡°It¡¯s three dimensions. I figured out two different ways to do it, though they have different results. The first is to make a sphere, and carve the enchantment diagram on the bottom, with the pattern mirrored at the top so that they meet in the middle. Then you put the enchanting object inside.¡±


    ¡°This seems to work best to slightly increase the efficiency of enchantments, but the increase isn¡¯t by much. The main method is a shape with hard sides, like a pyramid or cube. Then, carve an enchantment pattern into each side. Doing it this way lets you vastly increase the number of enchantments you can apply to the same item. Though, naturally that makes each enchantment weaker.¡±


    I let her finish exining before I gave a nod. I was much calmer about this discovery than she seemed to be. ¡°Okay¡­ What about how to make enchantments triggered? For instance, voice activation or specific actions?¡±


    Ryone raised a finger as if she was about to give a further exnation, and then paused for a long moment, slowly lowering that same finger. ¡°I¡­ haven¡¯t figured that part out yet. But this is still a major discovery! It¡¯s a big step towards getting advanced enchantments!¡± She dered, as if pleading her case.


    I gave a slight chuckle, again nodding my head. ¡°I know, I know. Listen, Tubrock is going to be working on making godly items for everyone. I¡¯d like you to help him with the enchanting side of it. You might even be able to learn something by working with him on this. For instance, what happens if you enchant the raw ore before it is refined? Or the bars before they are made into items?¡±


    As I gave these suggestions, Ryone¡¯s eyes seemed to light up. She seemed like she was going to leave immediately, but before she could I stopped her. ¡°Don¡¯t go just yet, I have a question for her.¡± I could see an impatient look on her face right away, as if urging me to get on with it so that she could go conduct more research. ¡°How much do you know about the use of divine energy?¡±


    Ryone¡¯s face went nk for a moment in confusion, seeming surprised that I had asked that. ¡°You mean, how we send it to our priests?¡±


    ¡°No, I mean the raw use of divine energy. I think someone unlocked the cleric ss, because I can suddenly use that energy myself.¡±


    When I said that, Ryone furrowed her brows together. ¡°I can¡¯t help you there. A god¡¯s divine energy is naturally attuned to a specific set of domains, which limit their powers. I¡¯ve never gone out of my way to force my divine energy to do something it shouldn¡¯t, because of the implied cost.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ You can go meet Tubrock now. Be sure to let me know if either of you need anything.¡± As soon as I said that, Ryone gave an eager nod, vanishing into a ck mist that dispersed into the air. The mist was a new touch to her transportation¡­


    _______________________________________________________________


    In the ins surrounding Try¡¯s Hold, arge herd of centaurs were gathering. Among them, there were only the normal breed, not a single variant. This was not unusual, as the variants were still much lessmon than a normal centaur. This particr herd wasposed of nearly fifty, all of whom were armed with stone spears or wooden bows.


    One among the crowd seemed to be arguing with the rest. A young centaur who had just turned of age a few moons ago. ¡°Please, there must be another way.¡± He begged, looking to the older members of the herd for assistance. ¡°This can¡¯t be the answer.¡±


    ¡°This is the only answer.¡± The eldest says, his hair starting to gray. He walked unsteadily on his four legs, clearly showing his age. A scar crossed the right side of his chest, a wound from an earlier battle. ¡°They are an abomination to our people and our god.¡±


    ¡°Greymane.¡± The youngling pleaded, looking to the elder that spoke. Greymane was not the man¡¯s name, but a title he earned for living as long as he had. ¡°How can they be an abomination to our god? You¡¯ve heard the stories! Tryval once stood with the ¡®cursed¡¯, sheltering them.¡±


    ¡°Silence, boy!¡± The elder snarled out, reaching for his bow. ¡°You don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about. Those are just stories made up by them to buy eptance.¡± As he spoke, he grabbed a single arrow from the quiver on his back. ¡°They preach of following Tryval¡¯s teachings, to ept one another, yet they hide in their walls to disguise their shame.¡±


    The boy wanted to continue talking, but he saw that the greymane was nocking the arrow on the bow, clearly intent on attacking him if he did not stand down. ¡°I can¡¯t agree to this.¡± He said simply, turning his body away. ¡°I will follow the teachings. The ins are my home, and its people are my people.¡± As he spoke, he began to trot away. Not in the direction of the nearby city, but out into the open ins. He refused to look back, to choose either side in theing battle.


    ¡°At least one knows.¡± A quiet voice seemed to be carried on the wind. The remaining centaurs all quickly turned to find a new person standing only a dozen meters from them. His blonde hair flowed down his back, his muscr body untainted by scar or dirt.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± The greymane asked, his hands still holding the bow and arrow. He hade too far and prepared too much for this attack to let it be ruined by an outsider.


    ¡°Nobody important.¡± The man spoke in a solemn voice, his steps slowly advancing. In his eyes could be found a trace of sorrow, and reluctance.


    Seeing that the neer had no intention of identifying themselves or leaving, the greymane pulled his bowstring back, aiming at the man¡¯s human heart. ¡°Forgive me, Tryval, for what I must do for your people.¡± As he finished his prayer, he let the arrow loose from the bow, watching as it flew straight towards its target.


    However, it was doomed to never hit. Just before the arrow arrived, he seemed to disappear, crossing the entire distance in a moment. ¡°No.¡± He looked to the greymane, his hands covered in blood. Suddenly, two of the closest centaurs fell sideways to the ground, their heavy bodies crashing down. Each of them had two gaping wounds in their bodies. One was located at the left side of their human torso, while the other was at the front of their horse underbelly. The locations of the two hearts of a centaur.


    ¡°Kill him!¡± The greymane shouted, causing the others to all rush towards him. Men, women, even some smaller ones like the centaur that left earlier charged to the man. Arrows flew, spears were thrust, but the man simply stood there.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± He said in a small voice, his figure once again vanishing to appear in front of the greymane. This time, the blood covered all the way to his shoulders, and one of his hands were sticking through the greymane¡¯s chest. ¡°I can¡¯t let you start a war. If they did it, I would do the same.¡±


    As his voice fell, nothing answered him but the crashing of bodies. Every centaur that had gathered for this raid, regardless of age or gender, now littered the field. Like before, each had a pair of identical wounds on their bodies. For a centaur, losing one heart was crippling, but not lethal. They still had a chance to maintain their bodily functions to a degree. Losing both hearts or the head guaranteed an instant death. Instant, and painless.


    Faint tears trickled down the man¡¯s face as he released the greymane, who simrly crashed into the ground. For seemingly no reason, he turned his head to look at the sky. ¡°I guess I have to leave for a while, now.¡±


    Without removing the gore from his arms, he turned to walk off into the distance, nobody left to see his departure. Some hourster, a herd would pass over the area, concerned by the bloodstains littering the ground. By then, the bodies would have long since been lost, moved to a ce where they could not cause trouble for either side. But, this was not a true solution. Whether it was the variants in Tryval¡¯s Hold, or the centaurs that wandered the ins, tensions were rising.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Hey Dale.¡± I turned and saw Terra greeting me as I sat on the couch in the living room of the Admin Room, not feeling the desire to do¡­ well, anything really.


    ¡°Hey. Finally got Udona settled in?¡± I asked, only to see a trace of guilt crossing her face.


    ¡°Not¡­ quite. I had to tell her a harsh truth, and she¡¯ll probably need a couple days before she is ready to see anyone. But, Bihena said you were looking for me?¡± She smiled sadly, moving to sit next to me on the couch, leaning her body against me and holding me close.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ Is there something you need to talk about?¡± Right now, she looked like someone desperate for a friend. My curiosity could wait until that was taken care of.


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ The system can be a real jerk at times, you know?¡± She looked up to me, her eyes slightly watering. ¡°You wanted her to be our sister, so that¡¯s what it gave her. Memories of me, her, Keliope, and alia growing up together. Always alone, depending on each other. She had never known anyone besides the three of us, and in her mind the other two were already awoken.¡±


    Terra gave a slight sniff, bringing a hand up to wipe her eyes. ¡°And I had to tell her that none of that was real. That it was just something the system gave her to set a personality. That I had never spoken with her before today, and that her other two sisters had never said a word to anyone since their birth.¡±


    I reached up, gently rubbing her back as I listened to her. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­ I didn¡¯t know that it would do something like that when I asked your permission. I thought it¡¯d end up like any of the other gods.¡±


    Terra nodded her head slightly. ¡°I know, Dale. I don¡¯t me you. If I knew, I wouldn¡¯t have agreed to it. But¡­ I had to tell her. Otherwise, she would have hated all of us once she found the truth out herself. At least this way, there¡¯s something left to salvage.¡±


    I gave another nod, still rubbing her back. ¡°Do you need to talk about it more?¡± It was obvious that doing this hurt her, and the fact that she might have to do the same thing two more times didn¡¯t make it better.


    ¡°Just¡­ let me stay like this for now.¡± She buried her head in my shoulder, speaking with a weaker voice than I had ever heard from her. In this kind of circumstance, I really couldn¡¯t deny her this, so I let her silently cry against me for as long as she wanted. My questions could wait a little while longer.

 Chapter 60: The Pantheon United

    <h4>Chapter 60: The Pantheon United</h4>


    Terra and I stayed like that for over an hour, before she calmed down enough to talk to me. From there, she was happy to answer my questions about divine energy. She had just needed some time to get over what had happened with Udona.


    Apparently, divine energy such that I can feel is not the same divine energy that the gods and goddesses wield. Rather, it is the raw power from which they draw strength. Likewise, divine energy can¡¯t be obtained from worshipping any single god. From what she said, it is only possible to unlock the Cleric ss, which uses this energy, by equally praying to and drawing energy from multiple gods.


    To no surprise to anyone, it was actually a beastkin that earned this ss first. Though, not a felyn like I had been expecting, but a kitsune. ording to Terra¡¯s search, only two clerics had been born into the world, and of those only one was still alive.


    As for the other energy, which I had no clue about at all, Terra identified it as Karma. When I bought the karma system to help Irena before, I had caused the world to begin creating karmic energies. But, this was a rather strange energy, from what she said.


    ¡°For a mortal, karma is not something that can be controlled. Even for those that feel it, it is simply an omnipresent force at work in the background of the world. Even for gods, it is difficult to directly affect karma. I might be able to do it with my Fate domain, but none of our others would.¡±


    After saying it like that, Terra seemed to sink into thought. ¡°For this game system¡­ think of karma as an invisible multiplier to luck. Someone with terrible karma, such as a mass murdering viin, will eventually have terrible things happen to them even if they have a high luck stat. On the other hand, someone who goes out of their way to help anyone in need, at no regard for their own safety, might be incredibly fortunate even without a high luck stat.¡±


    Before I could ask what I wanted to, she gave me a small smile, nodding her head knowingly. ¡°Yes, as the Keeper you are able to directly change a person¡¯s karma through the system. But why would you? What could one tiny mortal do that would merit that attention?¡±


    ¡°True¡­¡± I nodded in response. ¡°Still, it¡¯s good to know exactly what these energies are. Though, I have to ask. If divine energy is gained by drawing power from multiple gods, then why don¡¯t I have the cleric job already? I mean, I did quests to be a priest for all of you.¡±


    Terra¡¯s smile faded slightly, shaking her head. ¡°Because you¡¯ve never actually drawn power from us. You never had to. With your own power, you have never been in a really difficult situation that made you ask us for help. Thanks to that¡­ it¡¯s unlikely if you would have ever gotten that job without someone else appearing to show you how.¡±


    She did seem to have a point, and I had to agree. The most difficult situation I¡¯ve been in was my fight against the pride of lions. And even then, I had massively outssed them in levels. Had it not been for the fact that my Keeper levels are all over the ce, I would have been able to take care of them all without getting injured at all.


    ¡°I see¡­¡± I was just about to continue asking when I heard slow steps approaching the room. Turning out of curiosity I saw Udona, still holding her arms close to her chest as if to protect them.


    When she saw who had entered the room, Terra immediately jumped up off the couch with a worried expression. ¡°Udona, are you alright?¡± She had already said that she did not expect the kitsune goddess toe out of her room for a while, yet here she was in front of her.


    Udona gave a bitter smile to Terra, but did not shy away from her when she approached. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ okay. No, I¡¯m not, but still. I wanted to ask for something, if that¡¯s alright.¡±


    The catgirl goddess nodded her head quickly. ¡°Of course, anything you need. Just ask.¡±


    Udona giggled slightly, her face rxing momentarily. ¡°No, sis¡­ Terra. Not from you.¡± Then, she turned her head to look at me, her body tensing up slightly. ¡°Him. I want to ask him for something.¡±


    This surprised both myself and Terra, but the catgirl quickly looked to me with pleading eyes, so I nodded my head. ¡°What do you want?¡± I asked, honestly curious what could get her out of her room so quickly.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ I want, I want you to awaken alia and Keliope. You should be able to do that, right?¡± As she asked, she saw Terra¡¯s worried expression, smiling slightly to her. Bringing one arm away from herself, she pulled Terra in for a gentle hug. ¡°I know that we¡¯re not really sisters. Still, I can¡¯t help but be sad if I know that the two of them are standing there like mindless puppets. Besides, this is all I really know. So, for now at least, can I keep treating you as my big sister?¡±


    Terra looked at her in surprise, her eyes watering slightly. However, she soon gave a brief nod, smiling happily. ¡°Of course you can. I¡¯d love to have you as my sister, Udona. But¡­ we need to be careful with the other two. I don¡¯t want to have to make them go through what you did¡­ I don¡¯t want to go through having to exin it all again like that.¡±


    Udona seemed to understand this, pulling Terra in for a closer hug. ¡°I know, sis. I wouldn¡¯t want that either. Do you know how to make it so that it won¡¯t be a problem?¡±


    Terra thought about it for a long moment. ¡°There might be a way. They won¡¯t have any memories of a past together like you do, but they¡¯d still see the two of us as family.¡±


    Her words made Udona¡¯s expression falter, though she quickly recovered. ¡°I see. It¡¯s probably for the best, isn¡¯t it?¡± I couldn¡¯t imagine just what she was going through in her mind right now. But, I could at least agree to this request.


    The only reason that I had been awakening one god or goddess at a time was to give each a chance to adjust to the situation before bringing in another. With Keliope and alia being the only two remaining, and their setting being that of sisters, it made sense to awaken them together. Though, seeing how Udona had initially reacted, I was d that I did not awaken them all at the same time.


    Terra squirmed her way out of Udona¡¯s arm, albeit reluctantly, and moved over to me again. ¡°Okay¡­ I¡¯m going to write down some instructions to use as a personality framework. In order to not give the system any chance of imnting false memories to create the personality we want, we have to be as specific as possible, and not leave any room for interpretation.¡±


    Compared to when she was talking to Udona, or even me before she showed up, Terra¡¯s voice right now was serious. A clipboard appeared in her hands, on which she began rapidly writing with a pen she materialized. Only when she was finished did she hand it to me to read.


    Going through what she had written, I honestly did not understand most of it. If I had topare it to anything, it would be the notes of a psychiatrist regarding a detailed study on their patient. Rather than an outline for a personality to create, this read more like a description of someone that had already been interacted with. Though, strangely any reference to a past was cut off. Their physical age was listed as ¡®one month¡¯, while their mental and emotional ages were twenty years for alia, and eighteen for Keliope.


    Still, I continued to do my best to read through it, wanting to at least partly understand what I would be putting into the system. There were repeated references in both of their ¡®reviews¡¯ that mentioned a strong familial connection to both Udona and Terra, as well as each other, yet no mention of memories or past experiences with them. Perhaps, most surprising to me, each one also had an entry where they held a high degree of trust towards myself.


    ncing up to Terra, I saw that she nodded with a confident smile. ¡°The system decides things too randomly to be a hundred percent sure, but this should eliminate the options for it to add in troublesome memories. I included basic information into each one that they would need in order to manage their domains.¡±


    I had noticed that, and it seemed well written. ¡°Okay¡­ go call everyone here. This is thest time we¡¯ll awaken a god for the foreseeable future, so it¡¯s a special asion.¡± Meanwhile, I closed my eyes to focus on the world menu, so that I could pause the world as a whole. That way, Irena would be able to attend as well.


    Once that was done, I began expanding the living room, so that I could amodate everyone easily. This would be the first time that everyone was truly in the same ce at the same time, after all. The closest until now would be when we had our meeting the other day, but now we had even more gods, some of whom wouldn¡¯t even have met each other.


    I created a small, wooden stage in the center of the room, watching it rise from the floor. Around it were several sets of stairs leading up, with plenty of illumination both on the stage and around it. I thought about making chairs, but given Tryval¡¯s appearance I decided against it. Having only one person unable to sit down would seem a tad unfair, in my mind.


    As I finished setting the stage, the ¡®guests¡¯ began arriving. To my surprise, the first to appear was Tryval, though his hair had changed from ck to blonde, going down the middle of his back. His eyes seemed to cast a dark shadow over his face, showing that something had happened to him while he was descended. I¡¯d have to look into thatter, see if there was anything major. He didn¡¯t say anything to me as he silently moved to stand next to the stage.


    Next was Aurivy, no real surprise there. She came skipping in with a smile on her face, and practically tackled Terra with a hug. ¡°Hey, sis! How¡¯s it--oh, sorry!¡± She quickly backed away with her hands over her mouth when she noticed Udona standing next to her, the kitsune having flinched from the halfling¡¯s sudden approach. ¡°Uhm¡­ are you feeling better, miss?¡±


    Udona did her best to rx after Aurivy calmed down and addressed her, nodding her head somewhat. ¡°A bit¡­ I just want my sisters to be together.¡±


    When she heard that, Aurivy had a rather sad look on her face, ncing between Terra and Udona. Then, she approached Udona with her hands held together in front of her legs. ¡°Uhm¡­ Udona? If you¡¯d like¡­ would you let me be your sister too?¡±


    The kitsune goddess was surprised by the sudden question, and didn¡¯t seem to know who to go to for advice. She alternated between looking at Aurivy, Terra, even more or Tryval. Though, I could see why Aurivy was doing this. For this entire time, Terra¡¯s been her unofficial sister. Now, a real sister for Terra showed up. And not just one, but three of them! Even if she herself had been one of the ones to suggest it, I¡¯m sure that Aurivy couldn¡¯t avoid being afraid that she would be abandoned from the little family they were creating.


    After a little while, Udona let out a soft sigh, seemingly able to read the mood from looking at Terra. Kneeling down, she put herself at eye level with Aurivy, and did her best to give a soft smile. ¡°Okay¡­ we can be sisters, too. But¡­ give me some time, okay? This is all just so much.¡±


    Aurivy nodded, a smile breaking out on her face as well. Without saying anything, she walked over to my right side, grabbing my hand and holding it gently. The next to arrive was Bihena, who looked around the gathered audience. Her gaze stopped on the kitsune goddess with some surprise, but she chose not to say anything that might frighten her. Instead, she gave a simple greeting as she went to stand between Tryval and Terra.


    After Bihena, Irena appeared, stepping through the doorway. Her expression seemed to have improved slightly since I saw her, and she gave me a slight smile and a nod. While Aurivy was on my right, Irena went to stand at my left. Although she didn¡¯t grab my hand like the halfling goddess, her wing flexed slightly, the lower feathers rubbing my back. Honestly, the feeling sent shivers down my spine. Not bad shivers¡­ just the kind of shivers you normally get one someone runs a finger down your spine.


    Finally, thest two arrived. Ryone and Tubrock walked in together, excitedly talking. I wasn¡¯t able to make out the exact topic of their discussion because they stopped talking as soon as they noticed they had arrived. But, if I had to guess, they were talking about enchanted weapons and artifacts.


    ¡°Finally thest one, huh?¡± Ryone asked with a grin. She looked at Terra and Udona standing together, and her smile faltered for a moment. Then, she moved to stand next to Aurivy. ¡°Is she alright to be out here?¡± Ryone asked me in a voice barely above a whisper.


    I could only nod in response. ¡°This was her request.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Tubrock spoke up, moving to stand between Ryone and Tryval. ¡°Lass didn¡¯t strike me as the type to be making requests of people so quickly. Maybe Terra had an impact on her after all.¡± He nodded to himself, obviously deciding on his own that his assumption was correct.


    ¡°Can we begin now?¡± Udona asked, looking at me hesitantly.


    ¡°Right.¡± I closed my eyes, focusing as I called up both alia and Keliope from the ¡®storage room¡¯. I guess from now on, we¡¯ll be able to use that room to store artifacts or something. Anyways, soon the two of them appeared in front of us, standing like motionless puppets on the stage.


    Udona covered her mouth with a gasp as she saw them, and I could see her eyes watering. Rather than being happy to see them, she appeared hurt by their current state. alia was slim, just a few inches under six foot. Her hair was ck and unkempt, going all the way down to the small of her back. Her chest was modest, small enough that it would not interfere with her movements. Just below the bottom of her hair was a bushy tail that came out from her lower back, hanging limply behind her legs. Finally, atop her head were a pair of long, floppy ears that hung off of either side of her skull. For her outfit, she was dressed in a ck shirt that hung over her body loosely, and matching pants that seemed to be held up by magic and fairy dust.


    Keliope, on the other hand, was practically a toned amazon! Her body was firm, yet slim, standing even a bit taller than me. Her chest was muchrger than alia¡¯s, and contained within a tight leather armor. Like the lycan goddess, her hair was ck, but it was much shorter, only going to her shoulders. The only obvious characteristic that Keliope had to distinguish her from a human were the small, semi-circr ears atop her head. I knew that she also had a tiny ck tail at the base of her back, but with her armor on that was almost impossible to determine.


    Holding my hand out, I called the notes Terra had made to myself. Carefully, I entered the information from the pages into the system for how to grant these two their personalities. Afraid that I¡¯d mess something up, I made sure to include every detail, repeatedly going back and making sure that I didn¡¯t miss anything.


    The entire process took over ten minutes toplete, by which point Udona had her head buried in Terra¡¯s shoulder, unable to watch her sisters standing on the stage. Once I confirmed the purchase of the two personalities, forty points vanished from the bnce. At this point, the familiar golden light descended from the ceiling, seeming to mix with the ambient lighting I had set up to make the entire stage appear to glow.


    This glow easily attracted Udona¡¯s attention. Looking up, she watched as her sisters slowly opened their eyes for the first time. alia¡¯s hazel eyes and Keliope¡¯s deep blue eyes shook slightly as they looked around the room. For some reason, the light that normally took a while to finish on a single goddess only took a moment topletely awaken the two of them.


    I was worried that something had gone wrong, that they might freak out. Or that how their ages were set would cause them to regress to being children. Thankfully, none of that happened. Once they had looked around to see everyone gathered, their eyesnded on Udona and Terra.


    Keliope was the first to act, jumping down from the stage in a single motion to appear before the other beastkin goddesses. ¡°Udona? Are you okay?¡± She saw the teary-eyed kitsune, and asked in a worried voice. ¡°Are you hurt somewhere?¡±


    alia saw what was going on and quickly ran down the stairs to stand next to the ursa goddess, inspecting Udona. However, before she could say anything, Udona spoke up with a somewhat broken voice. ¡°N-no. I¡¯m just¡­ really happy. I finally get to be with everyone.¡±


    Saying that, she threw open her arms, wrapping one around each of the girls, and finally broke down. Her sobs loudly echoed through therge room, making the rest of the audience feel awkward for seeing this moment. alia began patting Udona on the back gently, trying tofort her. ¡°It¡¯s okay, Udona. We¡¯re here. We¡¯re all here together now. But, uhm¡­ could we maybe do this somewhere else? I think we¡¯re attracting a bit of attention.¡± She smiled bitterly, looking around at the different people trying their hardest not to pay attention to the reunion.


    Udona sniffled, nodding her head. ¡°O-okay¡­ can we go to my room? I just¡­ want to stay with you guys for a little bit. Is that alright?¡± The two new goddesses quickly nodded their heads, as if looking for some excuse to get out of the room. Seeing that, Udona¡¯s lips curled up in a slight smile. Looking back, she asked Terra. ¡°Can you join uster? I¡¯d¡­ like us to all be together for a little while. I understand if you can¡¯t right away¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be there soon, sis.¡± Terra said, a warm, gentle smile on her face as she looked to the kitsune goddess.


    There was a coughing noise, and I turned to see a rather embarrassed looking Tryval slowly backing up to the door. As soon as he saw me, as if afraid I would ask him to stay behind after that touching scene, he vanished into thin air. This caused a smallugh to rise up through the rest of the gods, even Udona finding it amusing. The three beastkin sisters walked out the door, sharing a small smile as Keliope and alia each held one of Udona¡¯s hands.


    ¡°Well, I think the show¡¯s over.¡± Ryone said with a knowing smile. ¡°Time for us to get back to work. Though, it is nice to know that we are all awake now.¡± After she said that, she walked to the doorway, Tubrock following shortly behind her.


    ¡°Ah,ss! Wait for me!¡± He called out desperately, not wanting to be left behind.


    Bihena simply shook her head with a small smile. Looking to Terra, she spoke up before excusing herself. ¡°If you get the time, I¡¯d like you to show me some of those martial arts. I¡¯ll probably be in my room if you need me.¡± And with that, she too left, leaving only myself, Aurivy, Terra, and Irena.


    Terra gave a nod to Bihena, before turning to Irena. ¡°You should talk with him.¡± She gave a nce towards me, obviously pointing out who she needed to chat with. ¡°You don¡¯t have to spend all of your time in the Underworld, you know?¡± After saying that, she walked off, heading towards the same direction that the other beastkin goddesses left in.


    Irena smiled bitterly, noticing my gaze had shifted to her. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ Okay, let me exin. It¡¯s not as bad as you think.¡± Well, that certainly made me think it was even worse. I was a bit unsure of what she needed to talk to me about so much that she didn¡¯t feel like she could say when I visited her, but I guess I was about to find out.

 Chapter 61: Irena’s Revelations

    <h4>Chapter 61: Irena¡¯s Revtions</h4>


    ¡°Listen, it really isn¡¯t as bad as you are thinking.¡± Irena said with an awkward smile while I quickly set the living room back to the way it used to be. ¡°It¡¯s honestly a little embarrassing that Terra brought it up. But, well, I can¡¯t think of anything else she could be talking about.¡± It was honestly refreshing to see the normally businesslike Irena flustered like this.


    Once a couch existed in the room, she immediately went over to sit on it, and I sat down next to her, causing her to direct a soft smile at me. Naturally, Aurivy decided to sit in myp, leaning her back against me and closing her eyes. I wasn¡¯t sure how, but she managed to fall asleep like that almost immediately.¡°You know how most of the gods live in the Admin Room, but I don¡¯t, right?¡±


    I gave a brief nod at Irena¡¯s question. ¡°Yeah, because you need to be in the afterlife in order to properly manage things, right?¡±


    ¡°Right¡­¡± Irena agreed. ¡°However, there are certain problems thate up with doing so. Problems that the people in the Admin Room don¡¯t really need to face.¡± Seeing the confused expression on my face, she continued exining. ¡°Primarily, the passage of time. From my understanding, the gods here split a portion of their consciousness in order to track the prayers and events of the world in real time, so that they aren¡¯t strained too much when you fast forward. But me¡­¡±


    Suddenly, it hit me. ¡°You¡¯re not in the Admin Room¡­ So you don¡¯t fast forward with the rest of us¡­?¡±


    Irena nodded her head. ¡°Right¡­ I¡¯ve been going by the world¡¯s time since the Underworld was created. Don¡¯t get me wrong, it¡¯s not bad or anything!¡± She waved her hand quickly, as if to dismiss that notion. ¡°It¡¯s a bit lonely at times, but I¡¯m kept pretty busy, you know?¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but sigh when I heard that, reaching over and patting her hand on the couch gently. ¡°You know, you could have told me sooner. We can work out a way for you to stay in the Admin Room without causing the work to stop in the Underworld¡­ can¡¯t we?¡±


    Irena gave a bitter smile when I asked that. ¡°I¡¯ve thought about it a bunch, believe me. I was actually nning to tell you all about thister, after I settled the faction issue. I¡¯ve got a n, I think.¡±


    I raised an eyebrow at that ¡®I think¡¯¡­ ¡°Exin, please.¡±


    She nodded obediently, and began telling me the n. ¡°I want to create an illusion. A great castle in the sky of the Underworld, where I will ¡®live¡¯. At least, that¡¯s what everyone will think. At the same time, I¡¯ll set up a system for someone to take over the day to day jobs in the Underworld, so I cane live here. But, there are some requirements before this n can be put in ce.¡±


    Irena took a deep breath, returning to her typical business mode. ¡°First, the Underworld has to be united. We can¡¯t be on the brink of a civil war when I install what is essentially a new system of government. Second, we need to have enough patrols to regrly monitor the living world and prevent an overflow. If I am staying in the Admin Room, then I can¡¯t hop down to the world every day to collect souls during a fast forward.¡±


    ¡°The second part of that we have just about covered, as long as we y it right. By my estimation, a soul should have no problem staying a week or so in the living world before it is brought over. Even a newborn¡¯s soul couldst that long. So, after the civil disputes are settled, I am going to set up a program to patrol the world in shifts. Every day, one of two groups will patrol a section of the world, and then spend the next day resting while the other group patrols the other section. Like this, it¡¯ll be pretty thin coverage for the first few years, but will steadily grow as the poption increases.¡±


    Hearing that Irena already had a n to address the issue, my worries were relieved, for the most part. ¡°Well, now I kinda feel like a jerk for only visiting you twice in over all those years.¡± I said with a self-deprecating smile.


    ¡°No, not at all.¡± Irena shook her head. ¡°You had a lot on your own te, and were realistically unable to visit me more than you had. Due to the advancement of the world, there was a need for skipping ahead. Honestly, I believe we are due for another one. It would help greatly if the world was able to advance further than it already had.¡±


    I gave a nod to that. I had been nning to do a fast forward for a little bit now, but I wanted to get these things out of the way first. ¡°By the way, on the topic of putting someone in charge of the Underworld¡­ Why aren¡¯t the spirits able to be Priests?¡± It was something that I had noticed back when I first became a daeva, that my ss levels for that ss had not transferred. I could understand most of the other sses, but that one didn¡¯t make so much sense.


    Irena pursed her lips when I asked that. ¡°It took me a little while to understand it as well. From what I believe, almost none of the sses gained in the living world can be taken to the afterlife directly. This is because the bodies and energies used in the afterlife arepletely different than what they would when alive. Everything is handled with spiritual energy, rather than mana, or even their muscles.¡±


    ¡°When their entire body is essentially made of mist, they can¡¯t apply the same muscle control techniques they had in the living world. Naturally, if they don¡¯t have mana, then they can¡¯t use that either. The same thing applies to Priests, and I am guessing Clerics. Priests use mana in order to channel the divine energy of a god. For Clerics¡­ maybe spiritual energy isn¡¯tpatible with raw divine energy. As for purely mental sses like Leader or Schr¡­ I¡¯m not entirely sure what stops those from transferring. Maybe something about the brain itself?¡±


    It did make sense to a degree. Ever since I made chakra, I knew that the base energies would often repel each other unless they were mixed in the proper amount. It would only be reasonable then, if raw divine energy and raw spiritual energy couldn¡¯t coexist in the same body. Though, that made me wonder if there might be a mix that would allow that.


    ¡°I see. How long do you think that it will take to finish dealing with the factions?¡± I asked, believing it would be best if I set my fast forward to match her predictions. That way, she could move right into the Admin Room as soon as she was done getting stuff ready.


    Irena sank into thought at my question, going silent for quite a while. ¡°Thirty¡­ no, give me fifty years. That should give me time to train the army, deal with the factions to a satisfactory degree, and then appoint an intermediary leader.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but wince when I imagined her living another fifty years alone. However, this fifty years was nothingpared to what she had already been through. And from what I could tell, just the talk of being able to live with the rest of us has brightened her mood, bringing her out of ¡®business¡¯ mode for a little while.


    ¡°Okay. You go take care of your business. I¡¯ll set a room up for you so that you can move in once everything is taken care of. If you get done while the fast forward is still going through, feel free to go ahead ande in.¡± After I said that, Irena gave a small nod, slowly fading into mist. With her smile thest thing to disappear, it reminded me of a certain cat from a certain fairy tail.


    ¡°Well¡­¡± I spoke to Aurivy, still leaning back against my chest while sitting on myp. ¡°Are you actually asleep, or are you just having fun.¡± I couldn¡¯t be sure, but I thought I saw her lips twitching when I asked that. Reaching up, I pinched her cheeks, causing her to immediately start iling her arms. ¡°Nobody sleeps that peacefully while people talk around them.¡±


    ¡°Heeey!¡± She cried out, tried to pull her head away from my hand. ¡°That¡¯s cheating, you know! You¡¯re supposed to wake me up nice, right? Like gently shaking my shoulders, or telling me dinner is ready. Or even just carrying me back to bed. Why¡¯d you have to go and ruin it like that?¡±


    ¡°What¡­ are you even talking about?¡± In my confusion, my fingers loosened their hold of her cheek, letting her pull away from me. Quickly, she jumped forward to her feet in front of me, spinning around on one ankle before pointing a finger at me.


    ¡°It¡¯s in the rules, the rules, you know!?¡± She held up her other hand, and a thick blue book materialized in it. On its cover, in big red letters, ¡®Big Brother Rules¡¯ was written. Quickly, she opened it up to the first page, which had a crudely drawn Aurivy sitting in an equally crudely drawn me¡¯sp.


    Next to the picture was the words ¡®Thou shalt not pinch the sleeping sister. Absolutely never, ever!¡¯ As if this proved everything, she pointed at the line, and looked at me. ¡°See, the rules!¡± Her head nodded heavily as she closed the book, causing it to vanish again.


    ¡°You¡¯ve been spending a bit too much time watching anime, I think¡­ Maybe I should have Terra cut you off for a while¡­¡± Although I said it under my breath, Aurivy¡¯s eyes went wide in pure terror. She immediately lowered herself to her knees, wrapping her arms around my legs while looking up at me with watery eyes.


    ¡°No, please! Not that! I¡¯ll be good! You don¡¯t have any idea how boring it is with nothing to do but listen to prayers all the time. I need my anime, and my manga, and my movies, and my stuffed toys, and my tea set, and¡­¡± She began listing off, well¡­ basically everything she had, and then some. I¡¯m pretty sure some of the items she made up purely to list as things that she needed.


    ¡°You¡­ are pretty spoiled, aren¡¯t you?¡± I asked with a raised eyebrow, to which she pulled back, having a look of mock insult on her face.


    ¡°Me? Spoiled?¡± She asked, making a dramatic gesture of pointing at her chest. ¡°Absolutely not!¡± Honestly, I couldn¡¯t understand what Aurivy was thinking sometimes. ¡°But I finally got big sis to agree to making a big library of shows and movies for me to watch when I get bored.¡±


    I could only give a helpless sigh, shaking my head. ¡°Anyways. You heard what Irena and I were talking about, right? What do you think.¡± From her input back when we were creating Udona¡¯s personality, I knew that Aurivy was a bit smarter than she let on. Even if the n didn¡¯t work out exactly as we intended, it wasn¡¯t her fault.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ Well, I think Irena¡¯s handling it, right? Is there anything you can even do to help?¡± She asked, looking at me in genuine curiosity.


    I thought about it, but honestly, I could note up with anything to help with either. In terms of raw power, my Keeper levels give me enough strength to tten most resistance. But personally, I haven¡¯t trained in any sses enough to make me truly strong. My highest level was still fifteen, only a fraction of what other spirits or daeva would have.


    And in terms of politics or army management, I was even more clueless. The most I¡¯d evermanded people was a boy scout group when I was a kid. Even then, I managed to get us lost for hours, and they had to send people to find us. ¡°Okay, I get it. I¡¯m not really that useful for things like this.¡±


    Aurivy grinned mischievously when I said that. ¡°It¡¯s okay, Dale. You¡¯re still good at a lot of things. You¡¯re a thinker, not a doer. And, from what big sis says, being a thinker is perfect for being a Keeper. Just don¡¯t forget to do when the doing needs done.¡± She nodded her head to herself, as if thatst line made any real sense.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah¡­ Well, go on. You¡¯ve got shows to watch, don¡¯t you?¡± I smirked down to the halfling goddess, and she smiled back. Aurivy hopped to her feet, waving to me once before running off in the direction of the bedrooms.


    Seeing as I was now the only one left in the room, I went ahead and headed for the bedroom. I checked a few things with the world map, seeing if there were any issues that needed cleared up. Once that was over with, I set the world to fast forward for fifty years. Hopefully, Irena¡¯s little rebellion will be taken care of by the time this is over.

 Chapter 62: The Fallen Shall Rise

    <h4>Chapter 62: The Fallen Shall Rise</h4>


    By the time the brief fast forward was ended, I had already set up Irena¡¯s room in the Admin Room. It was really just a copy of mine and Terra¡¯s room honestly, since that was how her room looking like in the Underworld. The only difference was that her room did not have theputer I had in my own room.


    As soon as the fast forward ended, a figure appeared next to me. To my surprise, it was not Irena, but Ryone that appeared. ¡°Hey, Dale!¡± She called out happily, causing me to look over at her.


    ¡°Hey. Thought you¡¯d still be messing around with Tubrock. What brings you here?¡± I was honestly curious, since I figured that they¡¯d be working on the enchanted items for the next few days.


    ¡°Ah, well, actually two things. First of all, you asked me to send you a message.¡± Well, if that wasn¡¯t one of the most confusing sentences ever, I¡¯m not sure what would be. ¡°The World Host you, I mean.¡±


    Now, that made more sense. When I saw the state of the centaurs aftering back to my room, I had sent a World Host down, briefly taking control of it to meet a young centaur with the hopes of salvaging the situation with the variants. Although, I didn¡¯t spend much time down there, as I wanted to quicklye back and take care of things. ¡°What did he have to say?¡± I took a quick nce at the map, and noticed that my World Host had died some time over the fifty years.


    ¡°Well, he wanted me to report that the person he was watching over found a rather interesting way to use ki.¡± Ryone exined, crossing her arms in front of her chest. ¡°From what I understand, it¡¯s something that you would want to know about immediately.¡±


    That certainly caught my attention. ¡°By all means, don¡¯t stop there.¡±


    Ryone gave a knowing smile, before continuing her exnation. ¡°Anyways, ording to the method that was discovered, it is possible to tune your ki to an element. The method that they used was to spread all of their ki out into the surroundings, and let it begin to disperse. As the ki fades, natural energy moves in to take its ce. Then, while the two are connected, pull the ki back into the body.¡±


    At this point, Ryone furrowed her brow. ¡°The method had to be repeated over a hundred times before it finished transforming, but in the end, that¡¯s what happened. And, apparently each person only has a single element that they are attuned to, from what your Host saw. He managed to unlock water ki, so there¡¯s a good chance that your own ki would show the same transformation.¡±


    While she was going over this all, I felt something nagging away at the back of my thoughts. It took me a moment to realize what it was, but soon I pulled up the market window on theputer, going back to a listing in the advanced ss section that I had seen a while back.


    Elemental Monk


    Combining the energy of the body with the energy of the world, the Elemental Monk gains the ability to imbue their physical form with aspects of nature.


    10 points


    From Ryone¡¯s description, it seemed like my World Host, and the person he was watching over, had managed to find the secret to using the powers of an advanced ss. At the same time, I noticed a blinking message in the top corner of the screen, showing I had notifications waiting. Most of them were just the generic ¡®technology unlocked¡¯ or royalty notifications, but there was one that caught my eye.


    Congrattions! You have earned a world achievement!


    For manually unlocking the abilities of an advanced ss, Earth has earned the Advancement achievement. +15 points, Education trait unlocked.


    So, world achievements can give that kind of reward. I remembered the Education trait from back when I originally created this world at the very beginning. It had been attached as a trait to the technology world. From my understanding, it affects the understanding of the inhabitants to help them grasp more difficult concepts. Which will be immensely helpful for any world.


    When I looked back to Ryone, I saw her smiling patiently at me, waiting for me to finish looking over what I had found. ¡°Yeah, I made the connection to the advanced ss too. Though, the ss probably has some more efficient training methods and unique techniques, but those will probably be discovered eventually whether or not you buy the ss.¡±


    I nodded my head, agreeing with her. Just the fact that they had managed to unlock the abilities of the Elemental Monk ss meant that there was hope for other advanced, or even the legend or special sses to be unlocked naturally. Though, I imagine anyone capable of unlocking a legend ss would truly be a legendary figure. I was starting to imagine what kind of person might eventually unlock the False Divinity¡¯s powers, bing a figure with powers just short of the gods.


    ¡°What was the other thing that you wanted to talk about?¡± I was honestly a bit worried, given that Irena had not arrived yet. I¡¯m sure that nothing bad could happen to her in the Underworld, but there is the possibility that her ns had been dyed.


    ¡°There¡¯s a new system that I discovered on the market, and was going to run it by you to see about getting. I think that it would be a big benefit for us in the short term, as well as the long term.¡± As she spoke, she waved her hand, causing a blue screen to appear in front of me. ¡°The person that submitted it chose two versions. Personally, I lean more towards the second one, for obvious reasons.¡±


    Heavenly Incarnation


    By cing the mind of a god into the soul of a fetus, you can have them experience life as a normal mortal. They will have no particr benefits, aside from the godly knowledge that they retain, and possiblemunication with their true self.


    30 Points per incarnation.


    Heavenly Game


    This system grants a special option to all upants of the Admin Room. This option is the ability to ¡®log in¡¯ to any world they manage as an incarnation born to mortal parents. This causes their mind to temporarily split, one section remaining with the true body while the other lives among mortals. The incarnation will have no benefits outside of knowledge andmunication with the true self. As this is a system purchased to alter the Admin Room itself, it does not need to be purchased multiple times for different worlds.


    300 Points


    Reading over this, I opened my eyes wide. In a way, this seemed like an expanded version of the World Host system, marketed towards the gods and otherpanions. ¡°I get why you might like this, but what did you mean about benefits?¡± I asked, curiously. Honestly, I nned to get it no matter what the benefits were, once I saw what the details were. The ability to have the gods living mortal lives down in the world would essentially give me ¡®agents¡¯ that I could use to affect history.


    ¡°Well, the biggest benefit can only be seen in the early stages of the world, like we are at now.¡± Ryone began. ¡°Right now, the thing that we arecking most is knowledge. As an example, if I created an incarnation of an elf, I could gain at least eighty levels in either Mage, Archmage, or Enchanter. Doing this would let me have a much deeper understanding of thews of magic.¡±


    ¡°Likewise, if it were someone like Bihena, they could gain practical fighting experience that she simply can¡¯t gain in the Admin Room. The new beastkin sisters could be born as an actual family. Any one of the gods could use this system as a way to stealthily interact with their people.¡±


    To finish it off, Ryone grinned knowingly. ¡°And, one more reason that I know you would like. Here in the Admin Room, it is impossible for you to have kids, even with the goddesses like myself. The only way would be to buy a babypanion, and slowly alter their body as they grow. But with this, you could descend to the world while we are ¡®logged in¡¯, and have a rtionship with one of us. Like that, you could actually give one of the goddesses a child, and live with them as a family.¡±


    I had to admit, most of that was appealing. Honestly, I didn¡¯t feel like I was ready to have kids yet, but I could definitely see myself doing something like that in the future. There really didn¡¯t seem to be any reason not to get the system, unless you were the kind of Keeper that didn¡¯t want to let your gods descend, like the previous Earth Keeper had been. From what I had heard, at least.


    I took a look at the point bnce. After the royalties and new technologies had been taken into consideration, we were sitting at almost a thousand points again. Maybe this is why Grimor¡¯s guild is able to host so many regr events were they hand out point-based prizes. As long as you don¡¯t mess up too much, it¡¯s easy to keep a steady amount of points.


    Of course, I hadn¡¯t seen the price tags that went with some of the truly powerful systems, so I couldn¡¯t say for sure that things wouldn¡¯t get more expensive in thete game. But, for right now, this seemed like a good investment. I nodded my head, making the purchase for the system. Using this, even if a time came when Irena couldn¡¯t find a suitable ruler for the Underworld after one passed away, she could have an incarnation handle the job until someone better came along.


    _______________________________________________________________


    In the Underworld, there was a massive gathering, the likes of which had never been seen in history. Anyone with the ability had made an appearance, and those without had tried to get help arriving. Even the former faction leaders, who now held their heads in shame, appeared with the rest of the spirits and daeva.


    Their factions had been taken apart. Not by force, but from within. With the introduction of the Underworld Alliance, the only way for them to gain any real influence over the afterlife had been to submit. Yet, such was impossible without first disbanding their factions. Naturally, none of the faction leaders had been willing to do that. They had long since gotten used to their power, and were reluctant to give it up.


    Yet, when the members of their own faction began leaving to join this army, they were left alone in their empty pces. No longer were they faction leaders, instead being nothing more than vagrants. In the face of a true god, they held no power, politically or personally. If the Goddess had wished it, she could have wiped them away with a thought.


    In thest half of a century, things had changed. With the founding of the Underworld Alliance, there was no room for people to stick to their racial supremacy. The best training, the best services, they could only be received by those that joined the Alliance and received a suitable rank. Not all in the Alliance were part of the army, as there were many craftsmen and schrs as well. Yet, they all served a single purpose, the unification of the Underworld.


    And now, on the day of unification, the Goddess Irena had called for a mass gathering. This was a ceremony, both to celebrate and indoctrinate. As she stood there, she gazed out to the crowd. Her voice, when spoken, amplified to epass the entire Underworld. Even those that had been unable to attend could hear her. In death, there was only onenguage, and in the afterlife the same held true. No matter who they were, they could understand the words of Irena, and even each other as if it were only natural.


    ¡°I thank you all for gathering today. And to those who were unable to make it, I apologize. This is the dawn of a new age for the Underworld. An age of justice, of unity. An age of exploration, and providence. No longer are we bound by the ties we had to the world of the living. By my right as Goddess of the Underworld, I dere this a new age!¡±


    Irena swiftly raised one hand, pointing it towards the sky. Everyone gathered felt a massive surge of power, and could not help but look up. In the misty skies of the Underworld, a shape had taken form. A giant floating castle, one beyond the reach of any spirit. ¡°In this age, I shall watch the world from my new home. Show me that you are truly ready. Show me that you are not children, still clinging to the youth of your past. Show me that you are worthy for the trust I now ce in you. For no more shall I appear in my pce. Instead, you will lead yourselves.¡±


    As she spoke those words, an uneasiness fell over the crowd. Many wondered why Irena had made this sudden deration. It did not seem like she was abandoning the Underworld, as she would still be watching from above, and yet at the same time she would no longer be a part of normal affairs. It was at this point that her voice rang out again.


    ¡°Dalin Watermane,e forth!¡± When she called the name, the crowd nced around curiously. This was not a name that they had heard before, yet now they were being asked to appear before the Goddess, in front of everyone?


    The figure that flew up from the crowd was that of a centaur. One with golden fur, and a horn stretching out over two feet from his head. It glided over the crowd tond in front of Irena, lowering its horse body to bow deeply. ¡°You called, my Goddess.¡±


    Irena¡¯s gaze softened slightly as she looked at Dalin, a fact that only few managed to catch. However, she hardened herself once more as she spoke. ¡°From this day forth, I appoint you Governor of the Fallen. You shall be the greatest authority of the Underworld, beneath only myself. Before you fade into the mist, you shall find a sessor to pass along this title.¡±


    She then turned once again to watch the crowd. ¡°The Governor of the Fallen shall have final control over all matters in the Underworld, unless I myself appear. The Council shall remain intact, to serve as advisors as they have always been. In a matter of grave need, the Governor and the Council each possess the exclusive right to call for my aid. But be warned, this right is not to be used lightly. If I am summoned for matters of no import, a punishment shall be imparted on the one that called me.¡±


    ¡°Now¡­¡± The Goddess raised her head to look with longing towards her new home, her body floating higher above the ground. ¡°Let this be an age to remember. Let this be an age that we can proudly show those that fall and join us. Let this be an age¡­ that will never be forgotten.¡±


    As her final words rang out, the figure of the Goddess vanished into the mist, presumably to appear in her pce above. Few could properly ept what she had said, yet none could reject her words. She had ced this Dalin in charge, to be treated as she would be treated. The Governor of the Fallen was now a position that none could afford to offend, whether they had heard of the man before or not.


    And in truth, there were many who knew of Dalin, and they all had a good impression of him. Even though he had only recently fallen, he had great powers from the moment he appeared. He had quickly risen through the ranks, going so far as to be one of the highest ranking officers in the Underworld Alliance in a short five years.


    To those that knew him, it was only fitting that Irena left this position to him. Yet, none knew just why her gaze had softened so the first time she saw him.

 Chapter 63: Like Fish in a Barrel

    <h4>Chapter 63: Like Fish in a Barrel</h4>


    Not long after Ryone left, Irena appeared in the room. On her face was a small smile, her wings pulled back slightly. ¡°Good evening, Dale.¡± She gave a polite nod to me as she appeared. ¡°Has everything been prepared on your end?¡±


    I nodded my head in return. ¡°Hey, Irena. Yeah, everything¡¯s ready. Your room is just down the hall. It should look just like the one you had in your castle. How did everything go on your end?¡±


    When I asked that, Irena¡¯s smile grew a bit wider. ¡°It went very well. I have to thank you for sending your Host to the Underworld. Without Dalin, it would have been far more difficult to choose an intermediate ruler to rece me.¡±


    ¡°Pardon me?¡± I asked, surprised by the sudden thanks. Sent the Host? I¡¯ve only ever used it once, so it could only mean the one I sent down to the centaurs.


    Irena blinked in surprise as well, tilting her head slightly. ¡°The World Host. That was the system you created, and an entity you sent down to the world just before fast forwarding, right? I assumed you had sent it to help me take care of matters, as it arrived with the highest Spirit Hunter level any new spirit has had so far. It made it considerably easier for him to climb the rankings.¡±


    ¡°Ahh¡­¡± I wanted to pretend that I had sent it on purpose, to help her as she had guessed. ¡°Tryval¡¯s people were on the verge of a civil war that could wipe out the poption, so I had to send a Host down to handle that. Though, I am d that he was of help to you after he died.¡± As much as I wanted to look good for the people under me, that didn¡¯t mean I wanted to lie and pass of an ident as intentional.


    However, Irena seemed unphased by the admission. ¡°Is that so? Still, it was much appreciated. Now, if you¡¯ll excuse me, I need to visit the other gods. Due to my past circumstances, I have not received some of the same education as they have, which is now necessary.¡±


    After she said that, Irena bowed deeply, giving me onest smile before leaving. Once she left, I went ahead and turned to the map, taking a look at the situation in the Underworld. To my surprise, there were already hundreds of small cities scattered around, though they gradually became bigger as they neared the center where the capital was. And at the capital, there seemed to be a great many people singing and dancing, with representatives from all the different races.


    There were even a few people who began flying up into the sky, heading towards the castle that Irena had constructed above. Of course, there was an invisible barrier to stop anyone from approaching. It wouldn¡¯t be too good for people to enter the flying castle and find that she wasn¡¯t even there, would it?


    Thinking back to what Ryone had exined to me, I decided that it was time to pay another visit to the world below. Though, there was no pressing matter that would require my intervention, and no plot that needed to be set in motion. Rather, I wanted to enhance my ki. If it were possible to do this in the Admin Room, I would happily do so. Sadly, ording to her exnation, it required you to expel your entire ki pool into the surroundings. How was that even possible in a situation where all of the energies came in an unlimited amount?


    Grabbing the piece of paper that Terra had sent me tomunicate with the others, I wrote a simply message saying that I was going to descend for a little while. I wasn¡¯t sure how long it would take, but I would probably need to stay down there the entire time until the process wasplete. After all, if I came back up to the Admin Room, the unlimited raw ki might wash away the partially refined energy. It would only be stable once my body began to naturally produce elemental ki on its own.


    Considering myst experience releasingrge amounts of energy down in the mortal world, I decided to set myself somewhere far away from civilization. I did not want there to be another incident where I identally created a holy site. As such, I chose one of the uninhabited continents, the one directly west of the centaur continent.


    For my race, I left it as a default human. Humans were well suited for training as a monk, and it took less effort for me to simply select my normal body to descend in, rather than create a new one. Once I was ready, I received the normal messages prior to descent.


    Body verified. Human race selected. Beginning descent. May you work for the betterment of your world, Keeper.


    When the blue light faded, I could hear the sounds of various insects and birds, as well as the sound of running water. The area I chose to ce myself was at the edge of a forest, next to argeke. I wanted to make sure I chose an area that would be easy to live in, just in case I ended up staying here for a while. With this spot, I would have easy ess to food, fresh water, and some easily constructed shelter.


    ¡°Well¡­¡± I said to nobody in particr. ¡°Might as well get started.¡± Ryone said the method needed to be repeated over a hundred times before it could work. Even if I managed to speed up the process by using my Keeper mana, I couldn¡¯t see me being done before I needed to eat.


    At the same time, though, I did not know how to clean and cook any of the animals I could find in the forest. I could pray and discover if fruits were edible, but I had a different idea. Tilting my head up to the sky, I sent a silent prayer. Terra, mind sending one of my swords down?


    No sooner had I finished wishing for it, then a sh of light appeared beside me, my sword appearing stabbed into the ground. One look at it confirmed that it was one of the swords that was enchanted to increase both sharpness and strength. That was good, considering what I nned to do. Though, before I got started, I wanted to take a look at my stats, seeing just what I had to work with now that I didn¡¯t need to hold back.


    Name


    Dale Mitchell


    Race


    Human(Keeper)


    Health


    130/130(36250/36250)


    Mana


    99/99(11449/11449)


    Strength


    7(108)


    Ki


    125/125(10630/10630)


    Stamina


    6(120)


    Intelligence


    8(93)


    Dexterity


    12(118)


    Wisdom


    13(177)


    Luck


    6(29)


    Charm


    5(43)


    ss List


    Alchemist 1(25)


    Archer 0(52)


    Architect 0(23)


    Archmage 0(26)


    Armorer 0(3)


    Artisan 0(10)


    Assassin 0(20)


    Bard 0(13)


    Berserker 0(29)


    cksmith 0(19)


    Carpenter 0(29)


    Chef 0(32)


    Cleric 0(5)


    Druid 0(73)


    Enchanter 5(20)


    Engineer 0(2)


    Farmer 0(39)


    Guard 0(47)


    Herbalist 2(32)


    Hero 1(5)


    Hunter 0(48)


    Jeweler 0(3)


    Knight 0(13)


    Leader 1(40)


    Leatherworker 0(36)


    Mage 2(60)


    Merchant 0(5)


    Miner 0(38)


    Monk 5(40)


    Monster Tamer 2(33)


    Ninja 5(35)


    Noble 0(15)


    Painter 0(12)


    Priest 1(35)


    Rogue 0(39)


    Schr 0(24)


    Scouter 0(40)


    Sculptor 0(16)


    Shaman 0(25)


    Spirit Hunter 15(23)


    Spirit Tamer 6(40)


    Swordsman 0(5)


    Tailor 0(16)


    Warrior 2(60)


    Weaponmaster 0(14)


    I was surprised by how many more sses had been unlocked since thest time I came down, but that just showed how quickly the world was beginning to discover them. By my estimate, almost all of the sses had been acquired by now. Most of the ones that were left required special conditions to receive, like the ck Knight and Temr. Still, it was only a matter of time.


    Picking up the sword, I gave a brief swing to confirm the effects it had on my strength. Without tapping into my Keeper reserves, it caused my normal strength to triple. If I did tap into those reserves, the increase was far less notable. Still, what I wanted right now wasn¡¯t really a weapon of great power¡­ I just didn¡¯t have an axe or a spear.


    Walking over to a nearby tree, I studied it for a long moment. Like many other trees around the forest, it stood tall, almost a hundred meters by my guess. The lowest branches were about five meters above me, so I crouched down slightly. Using only my normal level of ki, I jumped into the air, a small explosion erupting from where I stood.


    In only a moment I had reached one of the thicker branches, and with a full powered swing of my sword it was easily chopped off. A bit overkill to cut down a single branch, but I didn¡¯t have much that was less powerful. If I used my Spirit Hunter powers to create a spear with the lion spirit, I doubted I¡¯d ever get what I wanted.


    Instead, Inded on the ground, and picked up the branch that was thicker than my arm and longer than my body. Okay, so it was heavy, but I managed to lift it without too much trouble thanks to the enchantment on the sword. After which I carried it back out of the forest, setting it on the ground and began carving with a knife I had delivered via prayer-mail. Thanks to the training I went through with Terra, I was well versed on how to make a wooden spear, though this was my first time doing so outside of the Admin Room.


    The carving of the spear itself took roughly ten minutes, likely shortened due to the high quality carving tools, and when it was done I had a passable wooden spear with a sharp tip. I gave the work a quick appraisal, making sure that it wasn¡¯t too fragile. Though, at the same time I also received an annoying message pop up in front of me.


    Carpenter ss Unlocked!


    Wooden Spear Recipe Acquired!


    I had not wanted to get any levels in this ss, given that I had a very limited supply of levels. In fact, I would prefer not to get any levels at all until there was someone suitable to train me in the sses. Even if the levels carried the same statistical value now as they would in the future, the knowledge on how to use the sses was indispensable. Just imagine if I already had a proper monk to teach me how to use that ss. I wouldn¡¯t have to blindly stumble through the abilities.


    Regardless, I could only ept the level. I wonder if there is a way to remove levels¡­ I¡¯ll have Ryone check the market for something like thatter. If there was, it would be a big help. I¡¯d also probably need to raise the level limit again soon, since people seemed to be approaching it.


    Shaking my head, I stopped distracting myself, and stabbed both the sword and dagger into the ground. Beforeing down, I had confirmed that there were no giant monsters or anything like that hiding in theke or the nearby forest, so I didn¡¯t have to worry too much about self-defense. Rather, it was more important to take the spear with me so that I had a chance to catch the fish. This is also the same reason I couldn¡¯t use the lion spirit for this job, as I had no doubt that it would scare away any fish I might catch.


    Channeling ki into my eyes, my vision increased drastically. I was able to see deep beneath the surface of the water, watching the movements of the fish as well as the different smaller monsters that inhabited theke. Steadying my breath, I held the spear at the ready, making sure to keep my Keeper powers fully locked down. If I could make normal people nervous with my aura, it was likely that sensitive creatures like fish would get as far away as possible.


    I stood there, waiting for a fish to swim near me. I didn¡¯t bother keeping track of how much time passed. To my surprise, my ki did not seem to deplete when I used it in this manner, so I was able to maintain my state of super-sight all the way until one ratherrge fish swam near me. Finally, I thought to myself. Adjusting slightly, I watched the direction the fish was swimming. There were norger predators near it, so I didn¡¯t have to worry about my dinner being stolen.


    Just before I threw the spear, I fully released my Keeper abilities, enhancing my speed and strength to the very limit. I knew that there was arge chance of me missing the fish if I used my normal stats, due to me not being very experienced fishing like this. But, like this, the wooden spear flew from my hands and instantly stabbed straight through the fish. The tip of the spear even continued to stab into theke¡¯s floor.


    Although the strike had not hit the fish in a vital location, evident by the health bar above its head only emptying halfway and it iling around madly, it was thoroughly pinned on the spear, unable to escape. With a simple hop, I was standing before the fish, reaching down to grab onto it. Together with the spear, I lifted it up and threw it ontond. ¡°Okay. Dinner¡¯s taken care of.¡±

 Chapter 64: Dale’s Camping Trip

    <h4>Chapter 64: Dale¡¯s Camping Trip</h4>


    Taking a deep breath, I crossed my legs, focusing on my ki. There was a good chance that this process would get me a level or two in Monk, but that was alright in this instance. This was experience gained through study, so at least I am gaining information while I level up, instead of just gaining the experience in battle. This method would at least help build my foundations a little bit, though I will likely need a refresher course once monk techniques develop more.


    Anyways, back to focusing. I could clearly feel the ki flowing through my body. ording to what Ryone said, in order to convert my ki I would need to expel it from my body. From what I¡¯ve learned through practice, ki does not drain as you use it inside of your body, like how I used it to enhance my sight. It only drains when you bring it out of your body. Though, when using ki to enhance a throw or a jump, it¡¯s natural that you will leave some of it behind on the object you are throwing or leaping from.


    If this is true, then ki can be considered a valuable resource. Until it mixes with another energy, it won¡¯t disperse on its own, but that probably also means that it takes longer to recover. Then again, I¡¯ve never taken long enough to experiment with how long it takes ki or mana to recover, because I¡¯d always level up before that happened.


    Well, with this thought in mind, I began pushing my ki outside of my body, keeping it close to the outeryer of my skin. I could feel that pushing it much farther than that would push it outside the range I could draw it back in, so I wanted to be careful. Keeping an eye on my status bars, I saw a yellow bar representing ki rapidly depleting. Once the depletion hit the halfway mark, I pulled all of the ki back into my body, stopping the process.


    With my ki back inside my body, I closed my eyes to carefully examine it. I wanted to find any irregrities that would show the progress of converting my ki. As I worked my way through my own energies, I spotted a tiny portion, likely only one or two units which had a different feeling. Still, those one or two units of ki showed a clear change, and I was rather eager to see where it would lead me if I continued!


    Of course, that would have to wait a little while, as I needed to give time for my ki to recover. Keeping my pose, I waited patiently for my body to produce more ki. The process took¡­ a lot longer than I had nned. After what felt like half an hour of waiting, I had only recovered five ki. If it continued like this, wouldn¡¯t I only be able to use this method once a day?!


    Groaning in frustration, I decided to go ahead and prepare the fish that I had caught, using my knife to clean it. Once it was ready to be cooked, I carved a basic fire spell diagram into the ground. Skewering the fish on the spear I had used, I stuck one end into the ground and had the other end leaning over the formation.


    From then, I just used a bit of mana to trigger the formation, letting it slowly cook the fish. Of course, before I did this I had confirmed that the fish wasn¡¯t poisonous or anything by ¡®praying for guidance¡¯. Though, even if it was poisoned, my Keeper health would help mest long enough to make it to the Admin Room before I could take any serious damage.


    I waited patiently for the meal to cook, and as I did there was some movement out of the corner of my eye. Turning to look, I saw a¡­ blob, slowly rolling towards me. Its size only came up to my shins, and inside I could see two tiny balls, looking almost like eyes. It felt strange seeing a slime with two cores, but I easily confirmed that that was what it was by checking its name. Moreover, it was only a level two slime, so it did not pose any danger to me.


    I thought about simply wiping it out, keeping the area clear for me to train in. However¡­ if this was going to take as long as I was fearing, having a weak monster around to entertain me wouldn¡¯t be all bad. Just to be safe, I sent a prayer up to the Admin Room. For anyone listening, there anything I should be concerned about with this slime, or is it fine to just let it hang out around me while I train?


    The response that came back was, surprisingly, alia, the lycan Goddess of the Hunt. There shouldn¡¯t be a problem. Slimes at that level can only burn through weaker substances. Although your clothes might melt if it hugs you long enough, it won¡¯t be able to melt through the skin of someone at your level. If your skin starts to burn while it is touching you, just go ahead and smash it. Also, it seems like that one is getting ready to split, so it is probably looking for nutrients.


    The detailed answer from the new goddess surprised me. Though, she did have Hunt as her domain, so maybe information regarding monsters was a part of that? However, a momentter, Aurivy spoke up into my mind, the childlike voice a stark contrast for the more adult lycan. It¡¯s pretty weak right now. If you feed it, it¡¯ll probably be a good pet to keep youpany!


    I considered her words while waiting for my fish to cook, but ultimately the slime took matters into its own hands. Even though it moved at a snail¡¯s pace, it eventually made its way to the discarded waste materials from the fish, things such as the head or guts that I had removed before cooking it. Its small body slowly moved to epass the pile of trash.


    The small body of the slime gave off a little shake as I could watch the materials inside it slowly dissolving, one little piece at a time. Just like alia said, the slime really had been preparing to split, as by the time it had finished there were two slimes sitting there. Each of them had a separate core in their small bodies, and they slowly moved in my direction.


    Part of me thought they might be seeing me as just arger meal, but that thought disappeared when they stopped a couple feet behind me. I wasn¡¯t sure what was going on until I saw a message appearing in front of me.


    You have tamed two Green Slimes - Level 1


    ¡­Okay, so apparently they are now my pets? I had gained the Monster Tamer ss back when I fought the pack of lion monsters, but I still didn¡¯t really know how it worked. Aurivy, alia? What am I supposed to do with two slime pets?


    Again, it was the lycan goddess that spoke first. Slimes are simple-minded creatures. However, their key aspect is mimicry. If they watch something long enough, they will start to replicate it as best they can with their bodies.


    And once again, Aurivy chimed in with some extra info. Some halflings have tamed slimes before, and it doesn¡¯t really go well. They are really dumb, and won¡¯t follow any orders. They act like they¡¯re driven entirely by their instincts. How about, once you leave this time, you send the slimes over to my dungeon? It hasn¡¯t been able to attract many monsters, so I¡¯m sure it¡¯d enjoy thepany!


    I had almost forgotten about the first dungeon, which Aurivy had volunteered to take care of. I¡¯d need to check in with themter to see if they had ced any other notable dungeons in the area. Alright, that sounds like a good idea. Better than just killing them when I¡¯m done here, at least.


    With how close the slimes were staying to my body, I couldn¡¯t say that they would be entirely unaffected by me pouring my ki into the area around me. The worst case scenario is that it triggers an evolution down the line, but still. Slimes able to use ki would probably be pretty scary.


    Once the fish was done, I grabbed the makeshift skewer and ate my meal. Honestly, I did not like the taste of it at all. me-cooked fish with no seasoning or anything would not be my first choice of a meal under normal circumstances, but right now I needed to endure long enough to finish this.


    After eating the fish, I tossed the leftovers behind me for the two slimes to finish off what was left. They happily consumed the cooked fish while I began to get back into my training. To my surprise, my ki had actuallypletely refilled by the time I checked. By my estimation, it should have been at least another ten hours before my ki had entirely returned.


    A quick prayer call to Ryone and Bihena confirmed that ki recovered like stamina. While resting would bring it back slowly, the best ways to recover it were to eat, drink, and sleep. Bihena also added in a rather interesting piece of information that I had not known about before.


    Among the humans, some have found ways to increase their ki recovery. They set up a path within their bodies, and make the ki follow that path in a regr motion. Doing that makes it a bit harder to use the ki once it has adapted to the flow, because it is already moving in a set pattern, but it increases the recovery speed by a lot.


    I considered her words, and debated doing something like that for my own ki while I was down here. However, I decided against it, because I already had enough on my te dealing with this. If the ki became harder to control, then shortening the recovery time would be pointless. I could just wait, and in the future they will likely develop more advanced ki methods to use, ones that weren¡¯t as restrictive.


    Since my ki had recovered, and I confirmed that the small portion which changed had remained intact, I went ahead and repeated the process of sending my ki out to mix with natural energy. Once again, when I pulled it back in, I found that a few more units of ki had been changed. However, this time I decided to try my own method of recovery.


    Briefly tapping into my Keeper abilities, I channeled a very small portion of that ki over to my normal ki pool, causing it to instantly refill. Immediately afterwards, I once again locked my Keeper powers, and checked the status of my ki. I hadn¡¯t done this earlier because I was worried that the quick recharge of ki would destroy the portions which were already changed. However, that worry vanished when my ki was fine after having been refilled while eating.


    Like this, I was able to repeat the process again and again. Each time, I would add between one and three units of ki to my ¡®altered¡¯ pool, setting it aside while I let the rest of it repeat the cycle. And every time, the two slimes behind me would shake their bodies excitedly, letting out strange warbling sounds. By the time that the sun was setting, I had converted eighty of my ki. However, at the same time I was also getting tired, finding it too hard to focus on continuing my training.


    Giving a wary nce at the two slimes, I used the spell forms that Ryone had taught me toy a trap on my campsite. If anyone stepped too heavily into the area, it would set the whole ce on fire. Though it would be a weak me, giving me plenty of time to wake up and take care of it before it caused any problems.


    To my surprise, I managed to actually sleep through the night without a problem. When I awoke, I felt the two slimes sitting down on my chest. The simple wool shirt that I had descended with now had two circr holes in it where they had chosen to make their camp, but otherwise I could not feel any difort.


    As I sat up, they harmlessly rolled off, falling to the floor and squishing against each other before returning to their previous positions. With skewer in hand, I once more set out to repeat the cycle of fishing, training, eating, and then more training. And again, the slimes all too happily ate up any of my scraps.

 Chapter 65: Waterfall

    <h4>Chapter 65: Waterfall</h4>


    To my surprise, it took the entirety of the second day before I had been able to finish converting all of my ki to elemental ki. This was because the process slowed down the further I went. Since I was only sending out the unconverted ki, the amount that actually did convert became less every time. When it came down to thest ten points, I had to spend multiple attempts just to progress a little bit.


    Next, came the part I had been most unsure about. ording to Ryone, the method my Host mentioned ended with this. Yet, would my body just immediately adjust to the new ki? That didn¡¯t really feel right. As an experiment I knew I¡¯d regret, I sent about ten points worth of elemental ki into my surroundings, letting it fade away. Then, I waited patiently for it to return. At the time, I wasn¡¯t hungry, so eating wouldn¡¯t help me.


    Sure enough, half an hourter, I had regained ten points of normal, unmodified ki. This led me to thinking about what my Host might not have mentioned. Something that would seem obvious to someone figuring the process out themselves, yet might get lost when giving instructions. Of course, this was while I was working on getting those ten points converted again.


    Ultimately, I was able toe up with one answer. I had used the world to refine my ki, yet every time I had kept the changed ki inside my body to prevent it being wasted. This meant that I had not really done anything with it at all. I had refined my ki with the world, but now I needed to refine my body with the ki.


    For a moment, I thought about how I would refine my body in a way that would make it automatically produce elemental ki. My Host had mentioned that the only step for the entire process was to channel the ki out of the body, and then pulling it back in. If that was the case, the important step should be to have the elemental energy flood my body in a repeated fashion.


    I thought back to what Bihena had said about the humans creating ¡®ki paths¡¯ in their bodies to increase the recovery. Doing that would certainly aplish my goal, but I was not sure how high the cost would beter. Bihena. I prayed in my mind, calling the human goddess.


    Yeah? Was the response I got, her voice seeming somewhat distracted.


    Is it possible to undo the creation of a ki path? If they can be made, it should be possible to unmake them, right? This was my main concern. If that was not possible, then I¡¯d have to do this the hard way, which might take several more days before it waspleted. Don¡¯t give me wrong, I loved hanging out with slime one and slime two. Okay, maybe that was a lie, but still. I miss theforts of a modern home!


    It is, though it requires the same amount of effort as creating the path in the first ce.


    With that reassuring answer, I could get on with my n. Okay, walk me through the process of setting up a ki path.


    As she spoke into my mind, I focused myself, making sure to listen to her instructions. First, I pulled back all of my ki, hiding it all within my heart. ording to her, this was where ki originally came from. I considered simply letting the ki rest there, and have it change naturally, but doing this should make it much faster.


    The second step was to design my ki path. ording to her, the easiest ki path to design was one that was kept entirely in the chest, since limbs move around frequently and would need extra focus. For my path, I opted for a figure eight which passed through both sides of my chest, with the heart at the center point.


    Next, I had to carefully guide a single strand of ki along the path I imagined, preventing it from wandering outside the area I designate. This was the only hard part of the process, as controlling one individual strand of energy so precisely was something I hadn¡¯t done much. In fact, I failed repeatedly because of that, having to start from the beginning.


    I forgot how many times I actually tried, but by the time I finished making oneplete cycle, the sun had already fallen. The problem was, I didn¡¯t just need one cycle, I needed ten. Each cycle would bring with it a little bit more of my energy, and also flow more easily. Although I still had to restart from the beginning a couple times, I did eventually get to the third cycle. After that, it seemed to be more natural, my ki following it even without my control.


    Yet still, I continued to control it for the remaining seven cycles, until my full ki pool was constantly circting in that figure eight. And that¡¯s how you do it. Good work, Dale. Bihena said with a proud voice. Now, when you want to stop it, you¡¯ll have to do much the same thing. But, instead of making it follow a new path, you will want to stop it a little bit at a time. If you try to force it all to stop at once after a ki path has been created, it could cause internal damage.


    I mentally thanked her for the warning, d that I asked in advance. My Keeper health likely would have been able to save me from dying like it had when I blew myself up experimenting with chakra, but I had no doubt it¡¯d hurt like a bitch. Seeing that there was not much for me to do but wait, I decided to go ahead and sleep, allowing the ki path to work overnight at it while I slept.


    Once again, I set up the fire trap spell I had used to safeguard my area the night before. Though this time, I made sure to remember about it when I woke up in the morning. Almost roasted the two slimes before I managed to throw them out of the area. Surprisingly, they did not st onnding, and were able to recover just fine. More surprisingly, they did not run away after being burned, and slimed their way back to me.


    After making sure to throw the slimes out of the spell area BEFORE I set it off, I once again inspected my ki. As nned, it was still following the same pattern as before, flowing through the path as if nothing had changed. So, to test it out, I forced some of my ki away from the path to send it out of my body. Bihena wasn¡¯t lying when she said that it became harder to ess the ki, since it felt like I was trying to pull a boat upriver.


    Nevertheless, I did manage to send that ki out of my body, letting it disperse naturally into the air. Then, I waited for my ki to recover to see whether it had changed or not. My Host had said that this process would take hundreds of attempts before it worked, but he didn¡¯t know about the ki path methods of the humans. If he did, it might have only taken two or three attempts, and then letting the converted ki follow a path like this to stimte the production. Of course, that was only a theory.


    Sure enough, just a minute or twoter, my ki was back at full, and it was still entirely converted. Now, it was time to see just what it meant to have elemental ki. I assumed that it brought changes to the normal applications of the energy, but I wasn¡¯t sure how big the changes were. First, I once again pulled up my status window, to see what changes had taken ce. While I had been converting my mana, I had managed to gain a total of two Monk levels.


    Name


    Dale Mitchell


    Race


    Human(Keeper)


    Health


    157/157(36250/36250)


    Mana


    99/99(11449/11449)


    Strength


    7(108)


    Ki


    153/153(10630/10630)


    Stamina


    7(120)


    Intelligence


    8(93)


    Dexterity


    13(118)


    Wisdom


    13(177)


    Luck


    6(29)


    Charm


    5(43)


    ss List


    Alchemist 1(25)


    Archer 0(52)


    Architect 0(23)


    Archmage 0(26)


    Armorer 0(3)


    Artisan 0(10)


    Assassin 0(20)


    Bard 0(13)


    Berserker 0(29)


    cksmith 0(19)


    Carpenter 0(29)


    Chef 0(32)


    Cleric 0(5)


    Druid 0(73)


    Enchanter 5(20)


    Engineer 0(2)


    Farmer 0(39)


    Guard 0(47)


    Herbalist 2(32)


    Hero 1(5)


    Hunter 0(48)


    Jeweler 0(3)


    Knight 0(13)


    Leader 1(40)


    Leatherworker 0(36)


    Mage 2(60)


    Merchant 0(5)


    Miner 0(38)


    Monk 7(40)


    Monster Tamer 2(33)


    Ninja 5(35)


    Noble 0(15)


    Painter 0(12)


    Priest 1(35)


    Rogue 0(39)


    Schr 0(24)


    Scouter 0(40)


    Sculptor 0(16)


    Shaman 0(25)


    Spirit Hunter 15(23)


    Spirit Tamer 6(40)


    Swordsman 0(5)


    Tailor 0(16)


    Warrior 2(60)


    Weaponmaster 0(14)


    Overall, not much changed, so I was not expecting too much. Especially since the status window still read the energy as ki, rather than elemental ki or something like that. Maybe it just doesn¡¯t recognize it on the status windows since I didn¡¯t buy the ss. I briefly considered that, nodding my head. It was definitely a possible answer.


    Before I could begin my experiments, I had to take apart my ki path. Following the instructions Bihena had left previously, I grabbed a little bit of my ki at a time, slowly making it stop at my heart with each passing cycle. Doing it this way took roughly ten or so minutes, and then I was done. Honestly, I think that I may have rushed it a bit, for two main reasons. One was the slight chest pain I was feeling after I was done¡­


    -10


    -10


    The other was the fact that my health began slowly ticking down whenever I grabbed a slightlyrger cluster of ki¡­ Thankfully, it onlysted for a brief moment, but even that had caused enough ticks of damage to remove half my health. Anyways, now I can get on with it.


    For my first test of elemental ki, I decided to go with one of the most basic ki techniques I knew¡­ walking. Normally, channeling ki into my feet would cause a literal explosive burst of speed, propelling me through the air for a distance dependant on the amount of energy I used. Logically, I did not expect this to be much different.


    However, once the energy was channeled to my feet and I took a single step, my entire perception of the world changed¡­ As if everything I knew was turned upside down.


    -5


    Mostly because I fell back and hit my head on the ground. The moment my foot touched the ground, it began sliding forward as if I was walking on ice, causing me to lose my bnce. I felt my brows knit together as I worked my way back to my feet. This time, I channeled ki into both of my feet, that way I wouldn¡¯t lose my bnce so easily as I had before.


    And indeed, I began sliding forward as soon as I made the slightest movement. It truly felt as if I was skating on ice, my speed increasing or decreasing with the amount of movement and the amount of ki I put into it. My only concern was that my initial direction had been facing the forest, which at the time was thergest straight shot avable to me. Now, however, those trees were looking awfully close.


    My second discovery about moving with elemental ki, or at least what I assumed was water element ki, was that directions could change far too easily. The moment I tried to adjust my legs to turn slightly and avoid one tree, my body rapidly changed directions, my movement instead propelling me into another tree that I should have passed right by. A momentter, I was once again seeing stars as I looked up to the morning sky.


    -15


    Note to self, water ki requires very fine control when moving. I was suddenly very d that I would be able to go to the Admin Room soon, where pain was practically nonexistent. The only test I had left to make was the ki punch, another basic technique for monks. If I could understand the changes to these two techniques, I might be able to use that to understand the overall change of water ki. Before I could get on with that, though, a window appeared in front of me.


    Congrattions, you have earned a personal achievement!


    For training in the ways of the Elemental Monk, you have earned the Advanced Training achievement! +1 Wisdom, Advanced Trainer''s Talent


    Well, that''s something. I''ll have to take a look at thatter, probably just an upgrade to the basic Trainer''s Talent. Releasing a short breath, I mmed my open palm into the bark of the tree, using the full force of my normal body to propel the energy from my hand into it. I waited, and waited, but nothing seemed to happen to the tree¡­ I could clearly feel my ki entering it, and even flooding all throughout arge section of the tree. I had honestly been anticipating an explosion of some form, but nothing happened. Thankfully, I also didn¡¯t feel any bacsh from hitting the tree as hard as I had, or I might be seeing another damage value appearing over my head.Choosing the tree that decided to get in my way before while I was walking as my target, I brought myself back to my feet, bring a single hand back. Since this was my only opportunity to test this attack right now, I decided to put the entirety of my remaining elemental ki into my palm. With this, I should easily see what the difference between the two techniques would be.


    Knitting my brows together once again, I decided to ask Tryvalter if he had noticed anything in regards to the uses for water ki. Although it had only been a few years since its discovery, he should have been able to see how my Host used it, and some of the effects that it had. In the meantime, I went ahead and selected the option to head up to the Admin Room, letting Aurivy know that she could take the slimes to her dungeon.


    _______________________________________________________________


    On a deserted continent, between a vastke and a massive forest, one man and two slimes seemed to disappear with the wind. Shortly after, though, the wind caused another change. One of the shorter trees in the area, standing only thirty feet high, started emitting cracking sounds near its base. Birds flew from the tree and all others nearby, noticing the change.

 Chapter 66: No Rest for the Weary

    <h4>Chapter 66: No Rest for the Weary</h4>


    After returning to the Admin Room, I first went to check in with Terra. I had been gone for almost three full days, so there should be an update on the situation with the beastkin goddesses. Unsurprisingly, I found her sitting with Aurivy in the living room, watching another animated show. Well, this makes it easier, since there was also something that I wanted to ask Aurivy.


    When she saw me enter the room, Terra smiled towards me. ¡°Hey Dale. Heard about your training n from the others. Learn anything useful?¡±


    I nodded my head slightly in response. ¡°I managed to convert my ki to elemental ki. Though, I have to ask, is it possible for me to still use normal ki in the future? There might be times that I want to make people believe I don¡¯t have it converted.¡±


    She thought for a moment, and nodded with a wider smile. ¡°You can set it any time you create a body now. Your base element will vary with each body though, as it is different with every person. The important thing was that you were able to first feel how the enhanced ki felt. Otherwise, you wouldn¡¯t know what changes you needed to make to your mortal body to allow it.¡±


    That did reassure me slightly, though it also raised another question. ¡°My base element? Does that mean I could use more than one?¡±


    She chuckled slightly at that. ¡°Did you forget, Dale? You are able to use every power that exists in your world. It¡¯s the perk of being a Keeper. If you use the Keeper ki, you can choose which element you want to use, as long as it is one that someone in your world is currently able to use as well.¡±


    That¡¯s right¡­ I had forgotten that basic fact, given that I still needed to train to use most of the techniques of the world. Although I could use the energies themselves in the same way, it took skill to use them properly. ¡°I see. By the way, I wanted to ask, are you able to tell me what water ki does for its ki punch? I tried it earlier, but I didn¡¯t see any results.¡±


    Terra frowned for a moment, closing her eyes and focusing. ¡°Hmm, you punched a tree with it. With water ki,rger targets will show a reduced effect. It invades the target, spreading out through them. Typically, it tries to cover the skin of the target, and when it¡¯s done it will attack inward from all directions. Kind of like a submarine that goes too deep in the ocean, it gets crushed under the pressure of the water.¡±


    I knit my brows together when I heard that. If that was the case, then it would make sense that I didn¡¯t see anything happen when I hit a tree. ¡°Thanks, that had been bothering me. Also, how is Udona doing? Better now, I hope?¡±


    Not only Terra, even Aurivy had an awkward look when I asked that. However, the halfling goddess was the one to answer. ¡°Big sis Udona is taking a unique approach to her domains.¡± Judging by her careful expression, she had been looking for the right way to word that without sounding insulting. Terra, on the other hand¡­


    ¡°She¡¯s decided to be a shut-in. She¡¯s still managing all of her godly duties just fine, and I even check on her periodically. To the mortals, there is nothing unusual about her. But¡­ I kind of regret using your Earth¡¯s culture as a way to help her cope with the whole family trauma.¡±


    Hearing her say that, my eyes widened slightly. ¡°On a scale of one to ten, how bad we talking?¡±


    Terra briefly closed her eyes, and then smirked bitterly. ¡°She¡¯s currently hiding inside a pillow fort, munching on potato chips and watching a detective show.¡±


    Aurivy blinked her eyes in surprise. ¡°It was dragonsst time you checked, wasn¡¯t it?¡± Terra chuckled again, nodding her head.


    ¡°Okay¡­ Well, this¡¯ll be interesting. She does know that she still has to show up for any important meetings and stuff, right?¡±


    Terra nodded her head, a relieved smile on her face. ¡°She said we can call her whenever we need, and she¡¯ll join in the meetings. Even said you can go to her room if you need her for something, since I exined you¡¯re still getting used to using the mentalmunication in the Admin Room.¡± Thatst part sounded as if Terra herself found that to be a surprise.


    ¡°Alright, what about the other two? Are they getting along okay?¡± I had spoken briefly with alia through the prayers when I was down on the, so I could guess that she wasn¡¯t doing too bad. But, I wanted to be sure.


    ¡°Yeah, they¡¯re doing great.¡± This time, the smile Terra wore when she spoke seemed happier. ¡°alia wanted to test out the Heavenly Game system you purchased. But, unless you feel like waiting a while her incarnation won¡¯t be born until you fast forward. As for her main self, she¡¯s checking out the library I set up for everyone. Keliope,st I checked she was sparring with Bihena.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re sparring? Martial arts training, or just because they both have more violent domains, and wanted to test each other?¡± You can¡¯t me me for being curious there.


    ¡°Martial arts. The two of them each wanted a different martial art, so I made some manuals for them. Bihena wanted something to promote peace, so I gave her the basic teachings of Qigong. Keliope wanted something that would take advantage of her people¡¯s inherent strength, so I gave her a manual from the Earth before yours. It has a lot of simrities with kickboxing, but also incorporates throws.¡±


    Well, that did sound useful for a race asrge and strong as the ursa. ¡°Okay, but they can¡¯t have made any real progress in it yet. I wasn¡¯t gone that long.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Terra agreed with a nod. ¡°They¡¯re just practicing the basic movements right now. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if the two of them n to use the Heavenly Game to speed up their training.¡±


    Again, that made sense. ¡°Qigong, does that have anything to do with monks?¡± Judging by the name, the two did not seem unrted, even though monks did not exist in quite the same way for my Earth as they do here.


    ¡°Not directly.¡± Terra grinned. ¡°But the teachings from it do benefit that ss as well. I chose it because it was the calmest, most peaceful martial art I coulde up with, which still held just enough fighting ability that her people would be interested. If I used one that was purely peaceful, then her people would not bother with it even if Bihena herselfmanded it.¡±


    I had to nod at that. The current stage of humans in the world seemed very warlike. ¡°Alright. Hey, Aurivy, got a minute?¡± I asked as I looked to the loli goddess, who nodded her head with a wide smile. ¡°I wanted to see how that dungeon¡¯s been going, maybe see if you guys ced any more since the meeting.¡±


    Aurivy¡¯s smile turned into a full blown grin when I brought up the dungeon. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s growing really well! It still is pretty small, because there aren¡¯t any monsters that regrly appear on its ind, but its intelligence has improved a lot! I managed to teach it the current writtennguage of the halflings, though sometimes it gets a few words mixed up. I¡¯m hoping that it grows faster now, since we moved those two slimes in there. Of course, none of the people will discover it for a really long time yet.¡±


    That was true, too. I remembered seeing aquatic travel mentioned in one of the technology updates that I skimmed throughtely, but it was only the lowest tier. My guess is that they are just learning about rafts and canoes. Getting to an ind far removed from any continent is still a long ways off. Even in modern times, there could still bergely unexplored inds like that. Though, if it goes too long without anyone finding it, we could always arrange for something to guide them there.


    As if she saw that I was distracted with my thoughts, Aurivy was patiently waiting for my attention to shift back to her before continuing. ¡°As far as other dungeons go¡­ I think everyone¡¯s ced one in their area but Tryval. Not sure why he never took the chance, but oh well.¡± After saying that, she shrugged her shoulders, indicating it wasn¡¯t really her responsibility.


    I could understand why the centaurs might not be that fond of dungeons that typically grew underground. ¡°Alright¡­ If either of you two need anything, I¡¯ll be in the room. There¡¯s a new system I¡¯ve been wanting to make for a while, and I think the world finally made it far enough to use it.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but notice Terra¡¯s ears twitch when I mentioned that, and a small smile form on her lips. I hadn¡¯t told her what kind of system this was that I was making, so most likely she was just happy to see me taking an active part in developing systems.


    Leaving the two of them to continue watching their show, I walked back towards my room. When I passed the series of doors belong to the other gods and goddesses, I was tempted to take a peek in to see how Udona was doing. However, given that Terra had just given me an update on her, there really didn¡¯t seem to be much point in that. Instead, I continued on my original path until I was sitting down at myputer.


    Pulling up the notepad, I began writing down the details of this system. The system itself was fairly simple, a new type of expanded ss system. My name for it was ¡®Legacy sses¡¯. With the Legacy ss system, people couldbine their understandings of different techniques, sometimes ranging from entirely different sses, andbine it all into one ss.


    Although it would not create an actual ss within the system, it would act as a training manual. For instance, say a Mage who has trained as a Warrior wants to pass on a way to fight using close ranged magic, they create a Muscle Wizard Legacy ss. Then, for that ss, they write down their teachings for someone to learn from, and that person follows along in the Legacy.


    The only real restrictions on this system are that you can only pass on techniques you actually understand and can use, you need to pass them on via a writing of some kind, and the medium used to pass the Legacy is consumed upon use. With this, there should be some interestingbinations that appear in the world, as mixed sses are more encouraged. Of course, with how the system is written, a Legacy can¡¯t advance beyond what the former generation had. But, that just means that they need tobine it with more teachings to keep the Legacy strong.


    After I chose to confirm the system I wanted to design, I took a look at it in the market. The total cost of the system was a hundred and fifty points. Given my promise to leave the bigger purchases to Ryone, as she was my ountant, I wrote a quick message to her to look the system over. It didn¡¯t take her long to write back to me, though the reply was simply a drawing of a thumbs up.


    Like that, I went ahead and spent the points to buy the Legacy ss system, enjoying the ten percent discount thates with having designed the system myself. I considered making another announcement to the world to let everyone know about the new system, but decided against it. Writtennguages were still new enough that the change shouldn¡¯t be too obvious. Compared to that, I¡¯d rather not increase my reputation as a Godking any further than it currently was.


    _______________________________________________________________


    The mountains had been a rough journey, some going higher than the skies themselves. Yet, journey was the very reason that halflings lived. One family,posed of just under twenty small halflings, had made the journey. With them were severalrge birds, bears, and even a creature with three long spider-like legs and a tiny body. Its mouth was a narrow tube extending forward, half a dozen sharp teeth lining the edge. This was a Pookajook, the name that the halflings had given the odd species.


    With their small horde of animals, they continued south, past the knownnds. Far in the distance to the east and the west, their birds had reported oceans on both sides. This was the first time any halfling had ever ventured so far south, but even further still was andmass that stretched as far as the eye could see. A whole newnd, untouched by halfling hands.


    One of the halflings smiled at the news, wanting to share it with others. ¡°Kria.¡± He called, his high pitched voice summoning one of the birds. This particr bird was yellow, with onerger pair of wings and one smaller. Kria was often used to send messages to nearby towns, but this time it would be going further than it had ever gone before.


    The yellow birdnded on his shoulder, rubbing his head against the halfling affectionately. At the same time, a gentle voice entered into the halfling¡¯s head. What is it?


    The halfling was not at all surprised by the voice. He pulled a small strip of leather from his pouch, and began writing crude symbols on it. It was a message, the best he could write with his ability, about a newnd to the south. ¡°Can you send this back to the Rest for me?¡±


    The bird chirped sadly. A Rest was the halfling¡¯s name for their cities, often left uninhabited unless a wandering soul wishes to stay for shelter and¡­ well, rest. The reason that Kria was sad, though, was because thest Rest they passed was over a week¡¯s flight away. He simply didn¡¯t wish to be away from his Hunter for so long. Still, it nevertheless agreed to the request, its eptance registering in the mind of the halfling.


    The halfling Hunter rolled up the leather scrap, giving it to Kria who clutched it in one of its ws. ¡°Fly well and true. You can find us when you return.¡± And with that, Kria flew into the sky, moving to the north to faithfully deliver the message. Even without the parchment, it was possible to convey the message, as long as a strong enough Hunter was staying in the vige at the time.


    With Kria having left, the family resumed their journey to the south, eager to explore the newnds.

 Chapter 67: Bloody Gathering

    <h4>Chapter 67: Bloody Gathering</h4>


    After my previous excursion to the world below, and my look at my status sheet, it was pretty obvious that people were already hitting the level cap. A quick check with the system confirmed that, and I was even able to get a chart. ording to theputer, roughly thirty percent of people that lived longer than forty years managed to hit level one hundred. For people over fifty, the number improved to fifty percent.


    As such, it was time to raise the cap again. I was considering doubling it to two hundred, but that would probably be a bit much for all at once. Instead, I simply increased it by another fifty. Maybe in the future, when the levels are higher, a one hundred level increase wouldn¡¯t be so major.


    Next, I went ahead and checked the maps, seeing how much territory each race had covered thus far. Most of them, like the humans, elves, and dwarves, had expanded to explore roughly five percent of their total continent. Beastkin were a bit better at ten percent, while centaurs had stayed mainly in onerge ins. From what I could tell, they had never even really tried to move beyond it very far.


    As for the halflings, they had explored over half of their continent. Not only that, but ording to the map they were working on crossing the thin strip ofnd to the centaur continent. I was curious to see how their interaction would work, so I set an rm for my next fast forward. This time, it would stop if the halflings and centaurs ever met in the living world.


    Giving everything one final check, I looked to see if there was anything that I was missing. This was a significant step, the first meeting between two living species. I was excited to see how it would y out, even though I knew that there were only a few possibilities. Deep down, I was hoping that they would be able to get along, but I knew that the odds of that were low. Especially given the level of advancement in the world, and the fact that the centaurs just got done with a civil war of their own.


    Either way, I wrote a message to everyone to tell them that I was about to fast forward, and that the halflings and the centaurs woulde into contact soon. After that, I went ahead and chose to fast forward by one hundred years. Surely, within that time the halflings would be able to cross through the forest to meet them.


    _______________________________________________________________


    The news of a newnd to the south spread quickly through the Rests of the halflings. Over half of the poption in the southern area had begun to grow bored, no newnds left to see. But, with this information, it was as if their prayers had been answered. Any that could immediately began to pack up their belongings and set out.


    Within six months, there was already a steady influx of halflings passing through the mountains between the seas. Some chose to scale the mountains, while others chose to go around them. However, the end result was the same, as more and more arrived in thend beyond. What awaited them was a vast forest, crawling with new monsters and beasts that they hadn¡¯t seen before.


    Within a year, there was a Rest built as a forward camp at the edge of the forest, which would guide arriving halflings on where to go for adventure. Creatures small andrge, flying and walking alike would often be seen running in and out of the Rest. These creatures were messengers sent by the Hunters and the Monster Tamers, sending back news of new creatures, newnds, or even a new fruit.


    The halflings were eager to explore this new area, and within two years they had discovered yet another new area beyond. And of vast fields, rolling hills of grass. Naturally, they sent news of this discovery to the Rest as well, but they didn¡¯t stop there.


    Five years after the discovery of thend to the south, one group of halflings made a startling discovery that would change history. As they were walking through the ins, they saw a distant group of strange creatures. Their upper bodies were that of a giant person, while their lower bodies resembled creatures often used as mounts in the north.


    The leader of the family group, a wizened old halfling named Sjorn Tanglefoot, saw these strange creatures and immediately knelt down. He had pulled a fresh piece of leather, and drew a rough image of them. Then, he handed the leather to his eldest son, who passed it to arge, eight-legged insect that they had befriended in the forest. Since their encounter with it, the insect had be their default messenger due to its quick running speed. More importantly, few creatures in the forest seemed eager to attack it, making it their safest means ofmunication with the Rest.


    After sending the messenger off, the group decided to approach these creatures. Having a body simr to theirs, butrger, meant that they should be able to see reason. Furthermore, Sjorn could make out leather satchels hung over their shoulders, simr to the packs the halflings themselves wore.


    Intent on starting a peaceful dialogue, Sjorn himself went forward. If, by some chance, these creatures were not intelligent, then they could at least befriend them as they did with many other monsters and beasts. ¡°Greetings, friends!¡± He called out in a high pitched voice, drawing the attention of the creatures to himself. ¡°I am Sjorn of the farnds! I have traveled many suns to find this ce.¡±


    When the creatures saw him, he thought that he saw a look of surprise on their face. Due to his Hunter levels, he was able to clearly hear them making strange noises to one another, as if they had gone mad. One of them pulled an item familiar to Sjorn from his back, a bow simr to what he himself used. However, the one wielded by this creature was several timesrger than his own.


    The bow-wielding creature came forth withrge strides. Pulling an arrow from the satchel on its back, it nocked it on the bow and called out loudly with that strange tongue. Sjorn could only frown, unable to understand the creature. Thinking it might be a matter of not being close enough, he hurriedly walked forward, much to the surprise of the party he was addressing.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, can you repea-¡± His words were cut off when an arrow pierced through the wind, and into his skull. This drew a gasp from the five halflings behind him. Very rarely would a halfling ever harm another halfling intentionally, and these five had never seen such an event. The idea of an intelligent creature willingly killing another was unheard of to them!


    There was one, however, who was not caught unaware. Sjorn¡¯s ownpanion, a feralic named Caborn, roared in anger. It stood back on its two hind legs, four thick arms raised up in hatred. Its body was covered in a golden fur, making it stand out among the growing grass.


    When Caborn fell back down to its hind legs, it began charging towards the creatures that had murdered its friend. This caused them to all pull out bows simr to the first one, all nocking arrows that flew towards the feralic. Yet, it continued its mad charge. Even when one of the arrows flew into its eye, it did not stop. Blood calls for blood, and so it arrived in front of the first enemy.


    Just as it was swiping one of its forearms out to sh its long ws at its enemy, the creature nimbly stepped back. It pulled out a leather scroll from its satchel and ripped it in half, causing a spear to appear in its ce. Only when the spear had struck directly into the feralic¡¯s remaining eye did it fall.


    By now, the first of the halflings were starting to snap out of their daze. One of them pulled a small leather scrap from their pack and ran, hoping to get far enough away to send a warning to the Rest. A warning to stay away, one which was never delivered.


    The hostile creatures easily caught sight of the fleeing halfling, their faces twisted in scorn. Before the scared halfling could escape to the next hill, a dozen arrows rained down upon his body. Unlike Caborn, this halfling did not possess the vitality of a feralic. The red line of his health almost entirely vanished in a single moment, and he fell to the ground.


    From the distance, the creatures could not see that final sliver of red that was slowly fading away, so they turned their attention to the remaining halflings. Seeing as they had started to recover, they likewise began fleeing, running in different directions. This caused their opponents tough, suddenly treating this like a hunt.


    Meanwhile, while his friends and family were being hunted down, Salvin, the one who tried to send the warning, slowly opened his eyes. He could feel his breath weakening, and knew that he had no time left. With hisst breaths, he drew the symbol for danger on the leather scrap, and grasped it in his bloody hand. ¡°M-Makin¡­¡± He called in a weak voice, causing the thin shirt on his chest to rustle. A furred creature, almost two feet long with four paws and a long bushy tail, crawled its way out of his outfit. This was Makin, Salvin¡¯s lifelongpanion, who had been hiding itself inside of his shirt when the arrows struck his back. Makin looked up at him with watery eyes, knowing that his friend was dying.


    ¡°Makin¡­ please¡­ send this.¡± He held the leather scrap out to Makin. ¡°Send it to the Rest. Please¡­¡± With that, the light in his eyes faded, his body finally going limp. The small, furred creature let out a sorrowful cry as it pried the scrap of leather from his dead hands. On it, the symbol for danger had been all but erased. All that remained on it now was a single, bloody handprint.


    Still, Salvin had asked him to deliver it with his dying breath. And he was going to do just that. Unbeknownst to the creatures hunting the rest of the halflings and theirrgerpanions, a small figure fled away within the grass, quickly disappearing from their field of view. All that was left was theughter of the ¡®hunting party¡¯.


    _______________________________________________________________


    As part of their regr pattern, Elter Greymane was leading his herd to hunt near the tall woods. Traveling beyond the woods was forbidden, as that meant leaving the domain of their god. Yet, being this close often proved to be a suitable hunting ground,rge creatures sometimes leaving the tall woods to be hunted by them.


    Yet, this particr hunt had an unexpected oue. While they were seeking out new game to bring back for the rest of the herd, they heard a shrill noise that caught their attention. One of the youngest, a buck with ck hair, turned to the Greymane and respectfully asked. ¡°Greymane, what are those things?¡±


    As for Elter, he turned to look at what the young buck had pointed out. Immediately, his eyes widened in surprise. What he saw was only half a man, barely half a child. While the upper body was that of a centaur, its lower body had been reced by two small legs. ¡°Is that a new type of cursed?¡±


    ¡°Greymane, apologies, but that name has been forbidden.¡± The young buck advised, ncing to the herd. With the reign of the first king, Ashur, the variants were no longer allowed to be called the cursed. Instead, they were given their proper names, the ¡®unicorns¡¯, ¡®pegasus¡¯, and even the rare ¡®qilin¡¯. However, Elter was from an older time, and had grown up with the old names.


    Even though the king had passed into Tryval¡¯s embrace, thews left behind remained. ¡°You¡¯re right, old habits. Still, what are they? They carry none of Tryval¡¯s grace, and if their path is true, theye from the tall woods. Do they not fear His wrath?¡±


    After asking that, Elter pulled his bow out, as well as one arrow. ¡°Leave this ce!¡± He shouted back to the tiny thing, slowly walking closer. ¡°Remove your blight from Hisnd, or be cast in blood!¡± As he spoke, he nocked his arrow, ready to fire if the thing did not heed his warning. While it did not have Tryval¡¯s grace, it had the head of a man, so it should speak as one.


    Yet, what surprised Elter most was that this thing did not heed his warning at all. Rather, he ran forward, shouting some shrill cry. Thinking it a charge, Elter naturally fired his arrow. He had trained for many years, and had broken past the old limits of power. With his strongest Powers being those of the Archer and the Warrior, his aim was true. The arrow pierced through the thing¡¯s skull before it could finish its cry.


    However, still more surprises came. It was only at this point that Elter noticed a small horde of beasts gathered a distance behind where the tiny one came. Among it were five other tiny ones, seeming even smaller than the one he had just killed. Yet, a roar caught their attention, a six-legged golden bear charging towards them.


    ¡°Kill it!¡± Elter said, no longer able to see this as anything other than an attack from outsiders. He pulled more arrows from his satchel, each one striking true on the bear. One even managed to im its right eye, yet it refused to fall.


    When the bear approached, Elter wasted no time in hurrying backwards. Discarding his bow, he grabbed one of the promise scrolls in his satchel, tearing it to retrieve his spear. Calling on his Power of the Warrior, Elter pierced his spear into the bear¡¯s remaining eye as it stretched itsrge paw out towards him. Thankfully, the spear¡¯s reach was longer than the paw of the bear, allowing the Greymane to stay out of its range.


    When he looked up, he saw one of the tiny ones running back towards the tall woods. ¡°Shoot the running one! He will call for aid!¡± After he spoke, he bent his knees to reach down and retrieve his bow. He could hear twang of the bowstrings as arrows were fired one after another. Like the first, this small creature also fell. ¡°Now the rest, let none escape! For the glory of Tryval!¡±


    ¡°For Tryval!¡± The hunting party gave a cheer, splitting off to chase the rest of the small ones as they ran in different directions. They would paint the grass in their blood, and remove them from Hisnd.

 Chapter 68: The Bloodied Hand

    <h4>Chapter 68: The Bloodied Hand</h4>


    ¡°Well¡­ that went worse than I imagined.¡± I said with a dull groan as I stood up from myputer, having watched the first meeting between the halflings and the centaurs y out on the screen. When I walked out from my room, I was surprised to find that the entire pantheon had gathered in the living room, their eyes glued to the television. Even the self-proimed shut in Udona was there, though she was tucked away in the corner.


    On the screen was the same scene that I had just been watching, and the gods had different reactions to it. Most of them were simply disappointed that the first meeting had gone so poorly, but there were two with different responses. One was Aurivy, who was leaning against Terra on the couch with watering eyes.


    The other was Tryval, who stood behind the couch, his fists balled up in anger. When he saw me, he immediately made his way past the other gods to stand in front of me. ¡°Milord, please let me go down and put an end to this conflict before it can proceed any further.¡± As he spoke, Aurivy looked up with hopeful eyes, and I could only sigh reluctantly.


    ¡°No.¡± I said, surprising most of the gods present. Only Terra seemed to have expected that answer, smiling approvingly.


    ¡°What? But, why?¡± Tryval took a step back, shocked by my denial. ¡°Surely, you do not support this fight between the races?¡±


    Even Aurivy¡¯s eyes seemed to turn cold when he said that, but I shook my head. ¡°It is nothing like that. Really, I wish that they¡¯d stop fighting as well. But, we can¡¯t have the gods interfere in this battle. If you want to get involved, you can only do so by using the Heavenly Game.¡±


    Tryval still seemed not to understand, his brows furrowing in confusion. ¡°I request an exnation, milord. I simply cannot understand why you would not allow us to end such a bloody battle.¡±


    Rather than answering him, I turned to look at Terra. ¡°Correct me if I¡¯m wrong, but the gods can¡¯t interfere with the invasions, correct?¡± She nodded her head in confirmation, so I turned back to look at Tryval. ¡°You¡¯ve spent all of your time on the world below, so it is normal for you not to know about this. But, once this world bes powerful enough, it will be invaded by others. These invaders will be seeking nothing less than theplete destruction of the world itself.¡±


    Seeing the surprised gazes once appearing on several faces, I came to the conclusion that Terra had not told a few people about this matter. ¡°During these invasions, the gods cannot interfere with the fighting. But, if we start using you guys to prevent wars now, they will be dependant on that. Most of the races will never figure out how to fight for themselves. And when the timees that the world is invaded, they won¡¯t be able to fight back, thinking that you all abandoned them.¡±


    Hearing my exnation, Tryval took another step back, nodding his head. ¡°I understand, sire.¡± After that, he turned towards Aurivy, his gaze softening. ¡°I am truly sorry for the actions of my people, little one.¡±


    Aurivy didn¡¯t immediately respond to Tryval, just looking pleadingly at me for a moment, before nodding. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ alright, Tryval. But, can I make a suggestion while everyone is here?¡± When Aurivy said that, everyone turned their attention from me to her. ¡°This is¡­ hard to say. But, no matter what happens, or what wars go on, can we all make a promise now that we won¡¯t let ite between us?¡±


    As she asked that, she looked between every god and goddess in the room. ¡°I don¡¯t want our family to get hurt because of what is happening below. And maybe, just maybe, if we spread the word after these battles are over that we see each other as friends and family to our people, they won¡¯t want to fight each other as much.¡±


    Seeing as she was the first victim of such a conflict, her words carried even more weight. One by one, the gods and goddesses began to nod in agreement. Terra even spoke up, reaching up to ruffle Aurivy¡¯s hair. ¡°Since when did you be so wise, huh?¡± Of course, this caused the halfling goddess to il her arms about pitifully, raising a round ofughter from those in the room.


    ¡°Anyways¡­¡± Terra said as she looked to me. ¡°You should fast forward a bit again. Not by much, just a week or two. We¡¯ll need to see whether the halflings choose to fight or to flee.¡± After saying that, she looked towards Aurivy. ¡°And don¡¯t interfere with their decision this time, okay Rivy? Like Dale said, they¡¯re going to need to get used to fighting like this eventually, so let them decide for themselves this time.¡±


    Although Aurivy looked like she wanted to protest, she nodded her head slowly. ¡°Okay¡­ I don¡¯t like it, but okay.¡±


    With that taken care of, Terra pped her hands. ¡°Okay, then! Everyone who hasn¡¯t already started the Heavenly Game, feel free to pick a side to contribute to this battle. Remember, we want to minimize damage, not help one side win over the other.¡± Hearing that, the others all looked away awkwardly. ¡°Wait¡­ did all of you already create an incarnation?¡± Terra asked in surprise, closing her eyes and focusing on something.


    ¡°Aye,ss.¡± Tubrock spoke up first. ¡°It seemed too interesting a thing not to do.¡± Several people nodded at his words, showing that they shared a simr believe.


    ¡°I needed to begin practicing and spreading martial arts.¡± Bihena continued, giving her own reason.


    ¡°I only suggested the system in the first ce so that I could learn more about magic.¡± Ryone admitted with a nonchnt shrug. ¡°How about you, Terra?¡± She asked mischievously to the catgirl goddess, whose ears ttened against her head.


    ¡°Well¡­ I wanted to see what it was like to be mortal.¡± She spoke in a quiet voice, causing the others tough. Surprisingly, Irena was the one to nod in agreement this time.


    Smiling at their reaction, I couldn¡¯t help but ask a couple questions. ¡°Is there a reason why you guys can only have one incarnation at a time? I didn¡¯t remember seeing that as a restriction for this system. Also, are you even able to make one that¡¯s not from your own race?¡±


    Unsurprisingly, it was Terra that answered. ¡°We could make more than one, but even we can only split our minds so many times before we start slowing down mentally. Especially when most of those fragments have to move at a faster speed than what we have here. I might be able to support an extra incarnation because of my system knowledge being a substitute for training, but I doubt the rest of them can.¡±


    I nodded my head, understanding that issue. If it were me, I might not even be able to split my mind once, with both moving at a normal speed. Let alone with one moving tens of thousands of times faster.


    _______________________________________________________________


    For two days, Makin ran as if his life had depended on it. It took him less than an hour to overtake therge spider that had been leisurely crawling along to deliver its own message, not even stopping to exin. He did not stop to sleep, or to eat or drink, using his own power and will to push through the journey.


    By the time he arrived at the Rest, his own red bar of life had begun to gradually deplete. Seeing this, Savir quickly ran up to greet Makin. ¡°Little one, are you alright?¡± Savir was the Hunter living in the Rest, and thus would often take the messages from the beasts and monsters that delivered them.


    Seeing that Makin was near death, Savir took out some food and water, slowly feeding them to him. At the same time, he epted the message that Makin was desperately trying to push into his hand, opening it up to see only the red handprint, the blood having long since dried. Unable to understand the meaning of the message, he continued to nurse Makin back to health for a full day and night.


    Only when his health had recovered did Savir connect his mind with Makin. ¡°Tell me, little one. What became of your friend.¡± After saying that, a blurred scene reyed within Savir¡¯s mind. Makin often slept in his friend¡¯s shirt, finding it morefortable, so his first real sight of the creatures that attacked them came only after Salvin had been felled. All he saw were the strange creaturesughing as they shot down the halfling, and the expression of despair on Salvin¡¯s face as he handed the scrap to Makin with his dying breath.


    Seeing this, Salvin felt as if his mind had been struck by lightning. His blood began to boil with a rage he had never known. Unlike the young ones that were with Sjorn, he had heard of halflings killing each other before. Each time he received a message of such an act, he would send word to every Rest within his reach, letting them know that person was not to be given shelter. As a people blessed by the goddess, to y one another was the greatest betrayal. And yet, these creatures did so with such pride and joy.


    ¡°Do not worry, little one¡­¡± He said as he looked to Makin, who was curled up on the floor, resting to recover his health. ¡°I have received your message.¡±


    For the rest of the day, Savir began writing messages to every Rest, sending back replies with every beast or monster that entered his Rest. Blood had been spilled, so he sought to gather every halfling in the area. Any who would heed his call. And with every message, he would cut open his own palm, cing a bloody handprint on the back of the message. This would serve to remind them of the urgency, so that none would dy.


    Within two weeks, Savir¡¯s Rest had more people within it than any Rest had ever held at once. In the center of the Rest, the buildings had been uprooted and moved to allow everyone to gather at once. There was a tense atmosphere as everyone waited for Savir to speak. When he stepped forward, they noticed that he had a bloody handprint across his face, causing many to be shocked.


    ¡°Thank you all foring in this time of need.¡± Savir spoke in a heavy voice, turning to address his audience. ¡°The blood of our brethren has been spilled, but not by beast or monster, but by the hands of another. Creatures with the bodies of man and beast in one, savage and untamed. They killed a family without cause or provocation.¡±


    Several people in the audience gripped their fists at this news, beasts growling in anger. ¡°I have prayed to the Goddess for advice in this matter. And She is saddened by this loss. She spoke to me, saying that only we could resolve it. She will not turn her back on us, but neither will She aid us in the shedding of blood. Yet, this is indeed a debt of blood.¡±


    This time, his words caused those around him to be nervous, as if they could tell what he was going to say next. ¡°If a man kills another man, he shall be barred from all Rests, given no help from his fellows. Then, what do we do about these creatures? They care not for our aid or our Rests. How are we to seek justice for this blood debt, I ask you!?¡±


    Nobody among the crowd would answer, so he continued. ¡°I speak not for you all, but for myself. A debt of blood must be repaid. If we can not shun them to repay it, then we must do so through other means. As of this day, I cast myself from this Rest. I will shoulder the price for the blood I seek to spill.¡± Again, shocked cries could be heard through the crowd. Savir was willingly banishing himself from his home and his people in order to seek justice for his fallen kin.


    ¡°I do not ask for forgiveness, as I do this knowingly. If others seek justice, I invite you to join me. Know that this is an action that can not be taken back. Although you would be my brother in this, we would have no home to return to. So I ask of you, who will stand with me?¡±


    There was a long moment of silence before one of the halflings pulled a stone dagger from his back. Gripping the sharpened edge with his hand, he then pped his chest, leaving behind a red handprint. Afterwards, he walked up to stand next to Savir, dering his allegiance.


    One by one, daggers or arrows were pulled out, and bloody prints were pped onto the bodies of the halflings gathered. By the end, over half of those in the audience had sided with Savir. Seeing this, a warm smile was brought to the hunter¡¯s face. Finally, he turned towards one of the ones among the crowd who had not dered his allegiance. ¡°Jatun, brother, I ask that you take my ce in leading this Rest. It is selfish of me to ask you to end your life¡¯s journey, but I am no longer suitable for this task.¡±


    Jatun, a younger hunter who had known Savir since they were young, smiled at the other man. ¡°I had a feeling you would choose me, brother. I ept this task, but know this. Even if you shed the blood of those beasts, this Rest will not shun you. You will always have a home here.¡±


    And so, the first army of the halflings were created. To remember those that fell at the hands of their enemy, they named their party the Bloodied Hand.

 Chapter 69: The First Battle

    <h4>Chapter 69: The First Battle</h4>


    Savir stood, his back facing one of thest trees before he and his party would arrive at thends of the crazed creatures. Before him stood halflings beyond measure. Whether it was the beasts or the men, he simply could not count them all. ¡°Remember, brothers. We are not here to create a blood debt, only to repay one. If we see any of the creatures aside from our targets, we will not attack first.¡±


    Those gathered nodded solemnly at his words. The arrangement had already been made long in advance, as they had made a trek for over a week through the forest to get to this point. Yet, this was something he had said to them every day. Not to remind them of their hatred, but to remind them of their mercy. While they were avenging their people, they were still followers of the Goddess, and would not spill blood needlessly.


    ¡°However.¡± Savir said, a coldness shing in his eyes that caught some unaware. He had never added anything to the end of the warning before. ¡°If they attack us, we will not withdraw. Some of us may not return from this, but on my blood I promise that before this is over, all debts will be paid.¡±


    ¡°I will need to ask therger ones to stay here for now.¡± He said, looking around at some of the bigger animals, the feralics and tigrex. ¡°We are wandering into a den of beasts, and we cannot journey around. I would ask one of my brothers to stay and watch over them, so that we may know that they are safe.¡±


    At his words, one halfling stepped forward. A female, judging by the small lumps on her chest and her long, scraggly hair that had leaves and twigs sticking out of it. Like many here, there was a dried bloody handprint on her chest. ¡°If you would ept a sister, sir.¡±


    Savir simply nodded, smiling slightly. ¡°Hedra, this task shall be yours. We will send word when we can, but our leather is scarce. Hopefully, there will not be the opportunity to make more.¡±


    The female halfling nodded her head, her hand pping her chest open palmed. Since the gathering, this had be an unofficial show of respect and loyalty between the halfling army. As such, Savir returned the gesture. ¡°Take care, sister. Now, we are off!¡± He called out to the others. ¡°Let us walk through thisir of beasts and hunt those who would hunt us.¡±


    At his words, there was a chorus of pping sounds, as well as pained groans from the more eager. However, he simply smirked, before looking down at the furry creature that had been lurking in his shirt for thest few days. ¡°My friend, this is your chance. Help us find those that wronged you.¡±


    The long, furry beast bobbed its head up as it looked at Savir, then quickly climbed out of his shirt. Looking back at the others, it gave a small squeak before running out of the forest. The hunt was on.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Watching the scene unfold on theputer, I shook my head helplessly. I had been keeping watch on both sides as they had progressed to this point, fast forwarding ahead days at a time. Yet, the two races treated the situation entirely different.


    For the halflings, this was a blood feud which would not end until the offenders had been in. And, with the small army they gathered, they could easily take out one small herd of centaurs. That¡¯s not even taking into their various animals that they were taking with them. However, for the centaurs themselves¡­


    They had entirely forgotten about the event from several weeks prior. Not once had they mentioned it to another herd, even in passing. While the halflings were dealt a heavy attack, they simply saw it as an unusual event during a hunt. When I consulted with Tryval, he said that they talked among themselves, and decided that it was best not to tell anyone else.


    In the minds of that herd, the halflings were likely just another new type of variant. As such, if they told people what happened, they would be branded as killers. Although, they still considered it right to hunt them because they did not have ¡®Tryval¡¯s grace¡¯. When I asked what exactly that meant, he motioned to his horse body.


    ¡°All centaurs, whether they are normal, unicorn, pegasus, even the qilin, have the same basic body shape. Yet, not only do the halflings have a drastically smaller lower body, even smaller than some foals, their lower bodies are entirely different. Thus, they consider them to be ¡®truly¡¯ cursed, and believe it is their duty to purge them.¡±


    Those were his words, and hearing them made my head ache. Apparently, this was the unifying aspect that the first King used to rally the centaurs together and stop discrimination. If I had known at the time that the halflings were anywhere near ready to explore the centaur continent, I would have made sure to tell my Host not to let him use such an ideal. While effective at helping the centaurs reach amon ground, it was counter productive right now.


    I nced back down at the screen, fast forwarding it again to the next sh between the two races. I intended to watch as much of this as I could, so that I could act as soon as possible should the need arise.


    _______________________________________________________________


    As the halflings traveled through the tall grass, they utilized a walking method that had been ingrained in every child since birth. With their hands and feet on the ground, spread out to keep their bodies as low as possible, they used their innate agility to quickly advance. From above, little could be seen aside from the rustling of grass, and the asional beast sticking its head up.


    Like this, they had moved for three days. With five different birds flying in the skies at different times to scout around them, and Makin leading the way, they went unseen. Whenever a herd was spotted, Makin would slowly get closer to see if it was the right one. When they weren¡¯t, it would flee back to the others so that they could change their course.


    There was only one time that they were spotted before they reached their goal. Once when one of the tallest beasts they had allowed to join them poked its head just above the grass.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Do you smell something?¡± Alfur Greymane asked, his head tilted back slightly as he sniffed the air. There was a peculiar scent, one which he could swear he had known before. Yet, he could not ce it. Even among the greymanes, he was one of the oldest. His own herd had insisted many times that he take up rest in the Holds, yet he refused. To him, the ins were his home, not a town of wood and stone. He was born on the ins, and he would die on them.


    His eldest son, Adrian Firehoof, furrowed his brow as he also sniffed. However, his face soon darkened. ¡°Bows.¡± He called out the word, causing the rest of the herd to still their steps. Of the dozen, all but Alfur pulled their bow off their back, nocking an arrow in preparation.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Alfur asked as he looked to his son. Although he was the greymane of the herd, he had left most matters of leadership to Adrian. It was the onlypromise he was willing to give, as he himself knew that his thoughts often left him.


    However, his son did not speak. With his bow in hand, he ascended the nearest hill. He could tell that the smell wasing from just beyond, and so he had prepared himself to attack if he saw any signs of an enemy.


    What he saw, however, left him speechless. His body shuddered, his hand releasing the arrow that had been pulled less than halfway on the bow, causing it to strike the ground beside him. When the other members of the herd arrived at the top of the hill, they had simr reactions. One among them even turned to the side, bending his body forward as he heaved, unable to ept the sight before him.


    This was a savage time, but never this savage. Fifteen spears had their bases stabbed into the ground in a row. Stuck to the top of each was a severed head, gaze stuck in either anger or hunger. Already birds had descended and were plucking at the softer tissues, the cheeks, the ears, the eyes. On the forehead of each was a small, red handprint, looking like that of a newborn child.


    The scene around them was no less gruesome, a field of blood and gore. Arms and legs were scattered about, bodies torn apart. It looked like a swarm of beasts had descended upon a herd, yet no beast would disy the heads like that.


    Due to his shock, he didn¡¯t even notice the mound of soft, upturned dirt beneath his hooves, or the six identical ones next to it. Yet, when he did, he found that each pile had arge stone ced at one end, with the same bloody print as the heads. ¡°What happened here¡­¡± Alfur couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    _______________________________________________________________


    It was the tiniest mistake, yet it cost them so dearly. One of their scalers, two legged reptiles that looked like wide halflings, had stood up in surprise when it identally kicked a stone. This happened to be while Savir and his party were circling around one of therger herds that they had seen.


    There was a cry of rm from the herd as they noticed the scaler, and arrows soon arrived at their position. One of the arrows cleanly pierced the creature¡¯s head, while another went wide andnded on the thigh of a young halfling, causing him to cry out in pain. This only made the strange creatures more alert, as they nocked more arrows.


    Savir tried to get them to stop. In his haste, he jumped to his feet and raised his hands up facing the creatures, trying to show them that he was not attacking them. After thinking about it, he hade to a few conclusions. One, these creatures were fairly intelligent, enough to craft bows and spears, and use the questing scrolls. Yet, they obviously could not speak, at least, not in a way that could be understood.


    However, his action only caused more arrows to be fired at him and his group. Savir, having experienced his share of fights with the wildlife in his life¡¯s travel, deftly rolled to the side to dodge. But, in doing so, the wounded halfling he had been trying to save had taken an arrow to the chest.


    Savir felt his blood boil. Again, these creatures attacked without cause, and again it cost him the life of his kin! ¡°There is a blood debt between us now.¡± He spoke, his words seeming to spread out through the hill.


    Angered growls could be heard from the grass, though they were not from the beasts, as even they shrank back at the sudden ferocity of their friends. No, this was the angered growl of the halflings, which shook the very souls of the sixteen creatures before them. When the first one sprang out, his feet moved like lightning, his body a blur. Yet, it was only the beginning.


    Among the halfling army, a total of three hundred and seventeen had been gathered. Counting the one left in the forest, and the one that had just been in, those were the only two losses that they had suffered since they left the Rest. Armed with bows and knives, they fought. The Rogues among them moved mysteriously, their footwork always seeming to bring them closer to their target despite only appearing to move from side to side. The Hunters and Archers shot their small arrows, while the Monster Tamers called upon their friends.


    The sixteen creatures had beenpletely unprepared for the attack. Even the first blurred figure managed to slice open the stomach of the leading enemy with his knife, though he had been promptly kicked back by its hooves. Yet, even those hooves were not safe, as a second Rogue had appeared next to him, swinging his bone knife with all the force his body could muster.


    Although its leg had not been directly cut off, it was still cut deeply, causing it to reflexively stomp down. However, that action only served as the final straw that snapped the bottom half of its leg, causing it to fall to the side in a scream of pain and terror. By now, the rest of the herd was beginning to act.


    Savir noticed that one among them knew how to use ki, the strange power that a few halflings had managed to grasp. However, that only made him a more dangerous target. ¡°Kill the monk.¡± Savir called out, and his men obeyed.


    Although the monk had reared back and struck out with a kick that shattered the head of one of his assants, he found himself the target of every knife and every arrow. His ki allowed him to defend for a few breaths of time, in which he grabbed one halfling of his back and tossed her to the ground, smashing her back under his hooves, he was quickly taken down.


    Beasts tore into the spear wielding creatures, ripping limb from limb. Some shot out balls of fire or ice that sted them, while others used their sharp teeth or ws. Even Makin showed his anger, pouncing on the head of the first dead and using its little paws to p its head repeatedly.


    Of the fourteen other creatures, only two managed to take someone out with them before they fell. One had not even tried to fight, instead running away as soon as the ferocity began. Some wanted to give chase after the rest of the herd had been in, but Savir stopped them. Of the halflings, he had been fairly lucky, only having his cheek scraped by a missed arrow. Some of the others had arrows or spearheads sticking out of their bodies, the red bar of life slowly dwindling.


    ¡°He did not fight or harm us, so we have no debt with him. For this herd, our debt has been paid. If there are any alchemists among us, I ask of you to help the wounded. For the rest, let us care for the dead.¡±

 Chapter 70: The Final Debt

    <h4>Chapter 70: The Final Debt</h4>


    I sat there, staring at the screen in surprise. It wasn¡¯t anything too great that they had managed to defeat a herd with only so few losses, given the difference in numbers. What surprised me was their viciousness. When they decided to attack, they were like a swarm of rabid animals that had been unleashed. They even severed the heads of the centaurs to stick them on their own spears. ording to Savir, that was to show the others that they brought this on themselves.


    Even more surprising was how they let thest centaur go, just because he hadn¡¯t attacked them. I had never expected the halflings to be so united when they had always been so spread out, to be so honorable after being so vicious. Then again, I could see how this could happen. They follow the goddess of love, so their connections with one another can¡¯t be underestimated.


    However, how much could this one band of halflings really do? Without reinforcements, they¡¯ll never really make any significant impact. As a band of barely three hundred, it¡¯s a bit illogical to expect this to turn into a full blown war between the races. To confirm that, I once again checked the map for the halfling poption. Most of them were too far north to have even gotten the message that the southern continent existed. At most, a third of them had gotten that message.


    Of that third, less than half actually made the journey, or were in the middle of making it. So, at most, the halflings had ess to a sixth of their poption if this did escte further. However, their full poption was quite a bit higher than the centaurs, but I couldn¡¯t see it being enough to make up the difference.


    In the best case scenario, they would find their target herd and take them out, then disappear into the woods. Unless the one that got away informed others and started a full scale war, this should be able to end with just that. Of course, I had no doubt that he was going to do just that, as he was even deliriously saying as much while he ran.


    I was tempted to just have Tryval go down there and get rid of him to indirectly prevent the war from getting too far, but I saw another herd already moving towards the site of the battle. The halflings had just finished burying their dead, and were once again on the move, so there was little risk of them being discovered.


    As such, I could only shake my head helplessly. Even if I were to have Tryval dispose of the bodies of the herd, and then also kill the centaur that fled the battle, there was no guarantee that the halflings wouldn¡¯t encounter another herd and cause more problems. At this point, there was little we could do but watch, as any kind of direct interference would cause ripples that negatively affects both races in the long run.


    Pulling out the piece of paper Terra had given me, and began writing. Terra, did you make another incarnation yet? Recalling how she said she could probably handle one more, I had to go ahead and ask. However, even if she did, there was no guarantee that this conflict wouldst long enough for the incarnation to grow up.


    After a few moments, the words I wrote on the paper were reced, showing that Terra had replied. Yes. I decided to make a halfling, since they are at the disadvantage here. I¡¯ll try to raise myself up to be a leader eventually to stop the fighting, if itsts that long.


    I nodded my head, seeing that Terra had the same line of reasoning as I did. Even if the battle didn¡¯tst that long, then Terra would still be able to help with the recovery. As far as the halflings go, there is no real threat of extinction no matter how big the war gets. After all, they are spread out so far that the centaurs would need several centuries of active searching just to find them.


    _______________________________________________________________


    The halfling party had searched for weeks, following the tracks that Makin had found until the rain washed it away. After that, they spread out more, relying heavily on their flyingpanions to assist with their tracking. Yet, over a monthter, they had found the herd that they were looking for.


    It was hard for them to tell just how far into the ins that they had gone, but they knew that it would take several days of traveling in a straight line to make it back to the forest. They had done their best to stick to the areas with taller grass, making use of it to hide from the passing herds. There were some among the party that wished to make their presence known, but Savir would not allow it.


    Savir knew that the creatures were a bloodthirsty species. If they appeared before a herd, then the only possible oue would be another battle. He had seen it in the ways that they hunted, so different from how the halflings did so. Although halflings did eat meat, they never actively hunted for it. If they came across a monster or a beast, they would attempt to calm it, either make it their friend or simply allow them to pass unharmed. It was only when the other party struck first that they would have meat that night.


    Yet, these savage creatures he was watching would actively seek out and hunt defenseless creatures. Even when they turned to run, their arrows would find them. If they tried to fight back, they would be met with spears. Such a manner truly reflected how the race had acted during their few meetings so far. Still, even though he knew this, he did not wish to kill them. He was here for a specific task, and would see it through to the end. After they returned, he would send word through the Rests that this field was a forbiddennd.


    It was only after they found the herd that they were looking for did he feel his blood begin to boil again. The young creature that had aided them so long in their tracking let out a tiny growl, his hair standing on end as it faced in the direction of the enemy herd. Savir hushed him with a quiet tone, cing his hand on Makin¡¯s back. ¡°It is not the time.¡± He said, shaking his head.


    He had found the herd, yet it was bigger than the information Makin had sent originally. Perhaps they were split up when they found Makin¡¯s friends, or they had joined arger herdter. Either way, it did not matter. Now, he counted roughly twenty of the creatures, all travelling together as one group.


    Savir controlled his voice, using the skills he had learned as a Scout and a Hunter, projecting it only towards those around him. ¡°We will attack when night falls. Remember our targets. Let them sleep, and then let them never wake again. Try not to wake the others if possible, but if it can¡¯t be helped, then so be it.¡±


    Savir pulled out a bone knife that he had retrieved from one of the dead halflings after their first run in with the creatures. ¡°The final debt is about to be repaid.¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    Elter Greymaneid sleeping among his hard. While his lower half sat down on all fours, his upper body was bent forward, propped atop a contraption which had been introduced in recent years. Apparently, it had been invented by the first King, and he called it a bed. It was rather difficult to put together, but once one did they could use the promise scrolls to move them around. A frame of sticks, atop which was a soft hide toy the body against while one slept. Admittedly, it was far morefortable to sleep like this then it had been before, with their backs straight up throughout the night.


    Long after he fell asleep, he thought he heard a sound in the back of his mind, slowly rousing him from his dreams. Then, as he heard the screams of his sons, his eyes shot open. An attack! He thought to himself, shooting up to his feet. Before he even had a chance to register what was happening, his hand was already reaching for his bow.


    Soon, he saw the assants. The same little abominations his hunting party had killed weeks ago had apparently returned with greater numbers. By the time he awoke, he saw that two of his sons had already fallen, knives stuck into their throats while they slept. If not for him being awoken by the startled cry of another, he would have joined them.


    Standing atop his bed was one of the little things, a bone dagger in his hand and a bloody handprint across his face. ¡°Everyone, awake!¡± Elter shouted while he backed up, quickly pulling out a handful of arrows from his satchel. He had still yet to notice just how many enemies he was facing, or he would have perhaps chosen to run away.


    As he nocked his arrow, there were the startled gasps of the rest of the herd awoken by his call. Some grabbed for bows, others spears, but all quickly readied themselves for battle. The thing that had been standing on his bed called out in a shrill voice, and lunged towards Elter with dagger in hand. More and more emerged from the darkness, joining him and causing the herd to pale in terror.


    Yet, Elter showed his prowess with his bow. Pulling the arrow back, he quickly shot it and nocked another, firing it immediately. This was his Power of the Archer, the ability to fire multiple arrows and have them allnd at the same time. For this, he fired three arrows, one directly at the lunging creature and one to either side. He had seen his share of agile beasts, and was used to firing arrows to prepare for their dodge.


    What he had not prepared for, however, was one of the birds circling overhead to swoop down even faster than the arrow he had released. At first, he had thought that it was diving at himself, but soon found himself proven wrong. Instead, it intercepted the arrow which had been aimed at the thing attacking him.


    With this technique, the first arrow fired was always the slowest. But to dive down and catch it in mid-flight, when there were only a few lengths between him and his target, this was truly the first creature he had ever seen with such speed. However, a shrill scream brought him back to his senses, as the thing that had been attacking him looked down to the fallen bird. Elter had thought that it merely caught the arrow with its beak or talons, yet it had actually used its own body to take the attack. Just what kind of loyalty was that?


    Still, he was not about to offer his enemy time to mourn. He kept nocking more and more arrows, each one flying along a slightly different path as Elter continued backing up. By the time that the thing had looked away from the dead bird, the arrows had already arrived in front of him.


    The night grew silent as four arrows pierced into the body of the small creature, causing its knife to fall from its hands. The rest of its fellows momentarily paused in their attacks as they looked over and saw the red bar of its life to rapidly dwindle. Soon, it had faded away entirely, and the thing fell to the ground dead.


    One cry after another emerged from the darkness, and an ominous feeling arose in Elter¡¯s heart. He continued backing away, even though he knew that he had already killed the enemy. His hand trembled as he saw the light of the moon reflecting off of eyes that emerged from the grass. They dotted the field like the stars above, their numbers beyond measure. He had known that there were plenty of enemies when they had first been attacked, yet he had not known that most chose to stay behind, not wishing to get in the way of the more skilled fighters.


    Now, however, they emerged. Each one wore a red print somewhere upon their body. Some carried weapons, smaller versions of what the centaurs themselves wielded, while others walked alongside beasts. Yet all of them had a single, murderous look in their eyes that struck fear into the greymane¡¯s heart.


    When the first one ran forward, it was as if the ground began to shake, a signal for all of them to charge at once. Elter hurriedly fired his arrows into the crowd, ying two more of their number before they arrived at him. He cried out in pain as he felt daggers, spears, and ws tearing into his body faster than he could have imagined. His feet bucked wildly as he tried to kick them away, to earn some space to run.


    Yet one of them had clung to his chest, slowly climbing up it until the two were face to tiny face. Elter trembled as he looked into the cold eyes of this creature as it said something in that same shrill voice, its hands on either side of his head. However, he could not understand its words, and would never have the chance to do so. He felt a strange energy flowing into the hands of the thing, before his vision faded. His head had been crushed between those tiny, frail looking hands.

 Chapter 71: Make Him Proud

    <h4>Chapter 71: Make Him Proud</h4>


    After the battle, the halflings were left to mourn their fallen brothers. First was Havir, Savir¡¯spanion. He was a swift-wind sparrow, able to manipte the winds to fly at extreme speeds. Havir had been with him through most of his life, and had chosen to block that fatal arrow for him. Then, while Savir was mourning the loss, he too was shot down.


    When Savir fell, the halflings couldn¡¯t help but turn their heads in shock. Savir was the eldest among the halflings, and as such he had chosen his target to be the eldest of the enemy creatures. Thankfully, they shared simr physical signs of age. However, one of the younger members of the party had not managed to cleanly kill their target, allowing them to wake up and scream for help.


    Perhaps luckily, the one that had made that mistake had also fallen in the battle, crushed under hooves as he was distracted with Savir¡¯s death. Otherwise, there is no telling if the ones remaining would truly me him for the deaths of their kin. Yet, the majority of the deaths did note from their momentary distraction. Rather, it came from the rage that followed.


    In their anger, the entire halfling group had charged the herd. More than a dozen of them were killed by either bows, spears, or hooves. Still a dozen more of their animal and monsterpanions were in in that same reckless charge. This time, there was no mercy, no escape for those that sought to flee. The halflings washed over them like a wave of death.


    Savir had held them together, had held them back from their desires to simply attack. And now, he was gone. After the battle, one of the younger halflings stepped forward. He had been the first to join Savir at the Rest during the gathering. ¡°We need to head back to the forest. Whether we want to continue fighting or not, we have to go back.¡±


    Several of the halflings turned to look at him as he spoke. ¡°They roam this field in greater numbers. Right now, we don¡¯t have enough people with us to fight back if more herds joined.¡±


    ¡°Why would we continue fighting?¡± Another halfling asked curiously. ¡°We have settled the blood debt. We can leave the ins forever, let them wander alone, without Her blessing.¡±


    The first halfling shook his head with a bitter smile. ¡°Why would they stay in the ins? This herd was small when they first attack near the forest, and then they met with arger group. We may be known by many of them by now. If they wanted to seek us out, could they not simply enter the forest?¡±


    This caused the confused halfling to fall silent. He had seen many creatures with simr lower bodies as these wandering the forests in his lifetime. Yet, before he could offer up another reason, the man continued to speak. ¡°We have already chosen exile from the Rests when we followed Savir. If that is to be so, then let it not go to waste.¡±


    Now, another halfling stepped forward, a younger girl. On her shoulder rested a white bird, simr to the one that had saved Savir. On her dirty face was a trail of tears, her eyes red. This was Savir¡¯s own daughter, who had chosen to apany her father in his exile. ¡°You mean¡­?¡± She asked in a quiet voice, unsure of what this man truly wanted.


    ¡°We will create our own Rest, at the border of the forest. Since we can no longer take shelter with the rest of our kin, then let us do this for them. Shara, I am sorry about your father, but he would not want to leave our people open for their attacks. You knew him better than us, what would he have done now?¡±


    At his words, the halfling girl lowered her head, thinking back on all the times she shared with her father. She was one of the reasons that he had chosen to remain in the Rest, and ended his journey. Her mother had been killed by a wild beast, and Savir did not want to travel again until she had grown up. ¡°He¡­ He would want to keep everyone safe. My dad wouldn¡¯t want to see anyone else hurt.¡±


    The halfling man nodded his head. ¡°Then it is decided. We will form a permanent home, one where we can defend our kin.¡± He turned to look at the fallen bodies, pping his chest with his open palm. ¡°No more blood debts.¡± He spoke, barely a whisper.


    _______________________________________________________________


    That battle was¡­ intense. Short, but intense. I thought I had seen how vicious the halflings could get when they met the first herd, yet they still surprised me again. However, I couldn¡¯t help but let out a sigh of relief when I heard the words of the halfling that stepped forward. If it was just at the level of creating a city to serve as a first line of defense, that would not be bad for them at all. In fact, it may even give rise to the first halfling territory recognized by the system as a kingdom.


    I resumed my n of fast forwarding a bit at a time to watch their encounters, and quickly began to notice a pattern. Something had changed with the halfling party since they killed that herd. They seemed to be moving less stealthily, yet none of them seemed to notice. It was not about their movements or their tactics. Rather, they did not avoid crossing paths with a herd anymore.


    Their first encounter was only the day after the battle. After Danar, the new ¡®leader¡¯ of the group, received word from one of the scouting animals about an approaching herd, he actually had the group adjust slightly so that they would encounter each other. Naturally, this led to the centaurs starting another ¡®blood debt¡¯ by attacking the halflings, though thankfully this time they only injured them. However, that was enough to make Danar call for the attack, causing another herd to be in.


    This pattern repeated itself again and again, with them encountering herds only to have to fight. When I focused on the group, I noticed that some seemed to question to themselves if Danar was doing this on purpose. However, most were more angry with the centaurs for always starting the fights. Even if Danar himself was leading them into the conflicts, never once had they attacked first. At least, not at first.


    As I watched the battles progress more and more, the number of halflings slowly dropping after each fight, I saw that the halflings started to take the initiative. Near the end of their journey back to the woods, when they found a herd, it was the halflings that struck first.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Danar smiled inwardly as he watched the herd approaching. His n so far had been going better than he had hoped. With Savir dead, the halflings wanted vengeance, but he was a bit different. Even before Savir had died, he was among the people that believed the world would be a better ce without these creatures. So, he came up with a n.


    First, after taking control of the group, he started to lead them into confrontations with the various herds that they passed. While they hid nearby as the herd passed, he would simply wait. He wanted to show his kin how bloodthirsty these creatures were. Sure enough, any time they were noticed, a fight began.


    Unlike most halflings, Danar had led a harsher journey. He did not travel with his family, having always been alone. And because he was by himself, beasts and monsters were more willing to attack him. Aside from the smaller creatures, which now served as useful scouts, none had wanted to befriend him. This caused him to see a darker side of nature that most halflings didn¡¯t see.


    But now, things were changing. This group he was leading was starting to see those darker sides. They were being made to understand that not every creature could be reasoned with. And after every confrontation, they became stronger. Danar was saddened by the losses that were suffered in this lesson, but he knew that it was for the best. If they didn¡¯t understand the brutality of these creatures, they would only be endangering their entire race.


    Now, they were less than a day¡¯s walk from the forest, but the change in the demeanor of the group was obvious. The moment that Danar announced he had seen another herd, he could practically feel the anger and bloodthirst. Over thest two weeks of slow movement, they had lost almost a third of their number, yet the ones remaining were all far stronger than they had been before. It was to the degree that not a single halfling had died in theirst exchange.


    Still, Danar had to be cautious. ¡°What is it everyone wants to do? If we avoid them, we can surely make it to the forest without seeing another herd.¡± This was their choice. He had shown them the darker side of nature, and now wanted to let them decide whether they wanted to hide or to fight. With this, he would be able to fully support their decision.


    Surprisingly, it was Shara who spoke up first. She had perhaps shown the greatest growth over these travels, as she had been fairly weak before leaving the Rest. It was only due to her own luck and Savir¡¯s protection that she had survived this long. When she spoke, her eyes were practically red as she gripped her bone dagger, the same one she had taken off of her father¡¯s body. ¡°If they saw us, they would fight without hesitation. Towards these creatures, a blood debt has already been formed. Not just one herd, this is the fault of their entire people. So, I say fight!¡±


    When she finished, there was a chorus behind her as others shouted to fight as well. Danar nodded his head heavily, having expected this kind of response. ¡°Okay, then we will take the fight to them. After this, we can build a home to defend our people.¡±


    Shara nodded to his words, bringing her fingers up to her lips and letting out a quiet whistle. One of the scouting birds from above, Shara¡¯s sparrow, flew down to her andnded on her shoulder. ¡°Lara, head back to Hedra. Let her know what¡¯s happened.¡± The bird bobbed its head a few times rapidly, as if to nod in understanding. Afterwards, it flew up into the air, and moved to the north with a sudden burst of speed.


    With that taken care of, the halflings moved low to the ground, approaching thest herd. Since they were the ones attacking first, they had time to properly prepare their attacks. The archers of the group took their time to ready their shot, while the rogues and warriors stood with their weapons at the ready. A good portion of them had even managed to unlock the Assassin ss, granting them more powerful abilities to quickly kill a target.


    Danar waited until he saw that everyone was ready. This was a fairly small herdpared to what they had seen so far, numbering only nine creatures. He had no doubt that this would be an easy victory, yet it was important to their group. This was the first time that they had ever begun the fight themselves.


    ¡°Attack.¡± He spoke to the group, and arrows were released by the dozen. The herd barely had time to cry out in rm before they were pelted with arrows. Though, only four fell from these shots, as the arrows that halflings used were still quite a bit smaller than what the enemy creatures wielded.


    Nheless, even the five who survived the attack were shaken for a moment. By the time that they had been able to pull out their own weapons to fight back, the assassins had already made their move. With how thick skinned the creatures were and their surprise from the sudden attack, they didn¡¯t even notice that each of them had an unfamiliar weight on their lower backs. With a quick, clean strike, thest five fell to the ground, bloody holes in the side of their necks.


    Danar nodded his head in satisfaction at the effectiveness of the ambush. With a herd that small, there was not much need to have anyone but the archers attack. Only when their arrows did not prove entirely effective would the assassins make their move. And, if there were too many in the herd for that, the normal rogues, warriors, and monster tamers could join the fight.


    Walking up to the herd, Danar greeted one of the assassins as she jumped off the back of her kill. ¡°Good work, Shara. Your father would be proud.¡±

 Chapter 72: The Cycle of Pain

    <h4>Chapter 72: The Cycle of Pain</h4>


    After fighting the final herd, the halfling troops-- for now they could truly be called that-- made their way back to the forest. What greeted them was a worried looking Hedra, who ran out of the forest to meet them as soon as they were within sight. Even she could tell at a nce that they had lost many people throughout their journey. ¡°Is everyone okay?¡± She asked hurriedly.


    She had received news that they had suffered repeated attacks while fighting the creatures, and had even lost Savir when they finally found the herd that they were looking for. Naturally, the one that she sought answers from was not Danar who had led the group back, but Shara who lost the most in this journey.


    Shara gently nodded her head, a calming smile on her face. ¡°We¡¯re okay now¡­ But, we have changed so much. We can¡¯t go back to the Rest.¡± Even she herself knew that they had changed from the repeated attacks of the foreign creatures.


    She knew that Danar had led them to the herds, but truly that was all he had done. He had not made them take any actions at all that would look provoking, and had even gone to measures to ensure that they would always have greater hiding spots each time. Yet, every time they saw a herd, and the herds saw them, those creatures would open fire. Even though she knew that Danar led them to the herds, she had to ept the fact that it was the herds that chose to battle.


    What was even more worrisome was that it was not merely one or two herds. If that was the case, then she could dismiss it as individual hatred, like they had originally done for the herd that they had entered the ins to hunt. This was not simply a matter of one small family being hateful towards the halflings, but rather the entire race.


    Seeing Shara¡¯s thoughtful look, Hedra hesitantly asked. ¡°Are¡­ are you sure?¡± Truthfully, she had note to terms with the mission that they set out to do in the first ce. That was why she so quickly offered to stay behind when a volunteer was called for. She hated the fact that one intelligent being would willingly hurt another, and she let that hatred fuel her decision to join the Bloodied Hand.


    Shara saw Hedra¡¯s look, and nodded her head slightly. ¡°I¡¯m sure. We may have strayed from Aurivy¡¯s teachings, but let us still be of use to our people. We will not fault you for wanting to return to the Rest. But if you do, I ask that you pass along a message for us.¡±


    Taking a deep breath, Shara spoke with conviction, cing her hand gently against her chest. ¡°We have seen the darkness that lies within the ins. They are creatures of both intelligence and hatred. We gave them every opportunity to pass us by, and yet they chose to attack every time. In our defense, we have shed blood. In our hatred, we struck first against an enemy that we knew would see us dead.¡±


    Hedra let out a small gasp, covering her mouth with her hands as her eyes shook, but Shara only continued speaking. ¡°These creatures are great in number, greater than what we possess in these woods. There is no guarantee that they will keep to their ins, and they may one day journey here in search of us. So¡­ the Bloodied Hand will build a Rest here, at the very edge of the forest.¡±


    ¡°We will take in those who would help to defend our people, but like the other Rests we offer no shelter to kinyers.¡± At this point, Shara¡¯s resolute gaze softened, and she looked gently at Hedra. ¡°Go, and tell them that we are here. And until we are all safe, this is where we will stay. If you want to return, you will always be weed here.¡±


    Even though Shara said that, it was clear from her face that she did not believe that Hedra would return. They had simply strayed too far from the teachings, and had even spilled first blood. Hedra was too pure, much like Shara herself had been before they first left the Rest.


    Hedra hesitated again, yet eventually nodded her head. ¡°I, I will tell them. And I will pray for you. May Mother watch over you all.¡± She said as she lowered her head, closing her eyes. During the few days that they had traveled to the edge of the woods from the Rest, she had truly developed a good impression of Shara. To know that the sweet girl from before, who had onlye along on this endeavor because she was following her father, was now talking about spilling blood as if it were water¡­ She really couldn¡¯t imagine what they had been through.


    Like that, she walked with them back to the forest, and allowed the beasts and monsters she had been watching over to return to their halflingpanions. Those that were still alive, at least. For those that had passed away on the journey, they were either taken in by another halfling, or allowed to wander freely.


    Once that was taken care of, Hedra departed alone, taking with her only her ownpanion. Herpanion was different than most, as it had a rather strange body. Due to itsck of legs, she would often let it rest on its head, its green translucent blob of a body jiggling with every step she took. Although slimes were notorious for being weak and unintelligent, she had be good friends with this one, and had been caring for him for a while.


    Back with the Bloodied Hand, Shara let out a relieved sigh as she saw Hedra go. It was just too dangerous for anyone to stay here without being able to fight. Next, she turned towards Danar and the others, a warm smile floating onto her face. ¡°Well, Danar, shall we begin building?¡±


    Danar chuckled slightly, shaking his head. ¡°Why are you asking me?¡± He asked with a simr smile, which only caught Shara by surprise. With how he had led them back, and even taught them the darker nature of those creatures, she and many others had suspected that he would ¡®take it upon himself¡¯ to lead them when they settled down. Truthfully, they would not have even had any objections if he did so.


    ¡°Well¡­ aren¡¯t you¡­?¡± She asked, confused, unable to finish her question.


    Again, he shook his head, ncing back to the ins. ¡°My work is done. Although it was not my goal to do so, I led many of our kin to Mother¡¯s embrace. If I had tried to lead us back without fighting, perhaps we would not have lost any more people. Yet, I felt that you all needed to see how cruel they were.¡±


    Turning his gaze back towards Shara, he held a gentle smile. ¡°I am no better than a kinyer right now, though it was not my hand that killed them. This Rest has no ce for me anymore, it¡¯s in your hands now. I only ask that you stay true to your words. Protect the others, and do not allow these creatures to harm any more of our kin.¡±


    After saying that, he let out a sharp whistle, calling his bird back to his shoulder, and began walking off. The thought of staying and leading them had crossed his mind, yet Shara¡¯s words when she spoke to Hedra had hit him in ways he did not expect. He realized that she was right, the Bloodied Hand¡¯s Rest had no room for kinyers, and that was exactly what he was now. So, like Savir had done before him when he gathered the group, he cast himself into exile, leaving behind a confused party.


    Shara stood motionless for several seconds as she processed what he had said. His words were true, and yet she did not want to ept them. There were only two people in her life that had ever taught her truly valuable lessons. One was her father, and the other was Danar. And now, both were gone. Her mind was spinning, trying to find the words that would make him stay, yet she found none.


    Danar¡¯s figure had nearly faded into the foliage when she suddenly stepped forward and yelled. ¡°We will call for you! Your work is not done yet! When battlees, we will call! And you will answer!¡± She shouted, her eyes red. ¡°You don¡¯t get to just leave after all of that!¡±


    There were a few among the Bloodied Hand who nodded their heads slightly at her words. Danar had caused nearly a hundred halfling deaths, more than any single kinyer, all to teach them about the cruelty of these creatures. To them, he had lost the right to give up now, it was his duty to pay back each of those blood debts. Not with his own blood, but with that of their enemies.


    In response to her words, there was a somewhat happyugh ringing out from the direction that Danar had walked. She was right, he had no intention of just ending things there. He would join them when called, when it was time to fight, but he could not live among them. He had caused too many deaths to allow himself that.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Finally, his hooves had carried him to the city of King¡¯s Hope. Ryard had been traveling almost nonstop since his herd had been attacked. Though his pace had been slowed due to having to hunt and rest lightly, he had still made it here as quickly as possible. Therge stone walls, at least a dozen heights tall, showed the remarkable craftsmanship of the city. It had not been crafted by the hands of man, but by nature itself when one of the Knights of the Round ran the city¡¯s perimeter.


    Standing guard at the gate were two centaurs, each of whom wore leather armor and carried a wooden spear. On the left was a normal centaur, while the one on the right had white wings attached to their lower body. This was a mark of the capital, a ce where all centaurs were treated equally. Never would only one race hold dominance in any area, save one.


    ¡°What troubles you?¡± Asked the pegasus centaur, his face showing concern as he looked to Ryard. The man¡¯s body was full of untended cuts, most of which had begun to heal. He was not an Alchemist, and had no knowledge of how to heal his body through anything but time.


    ¡°My herd¡­ they were killed.¡± Ryard said, panting for breath as he approached. He hade all this way to deliver this message, and even the bar of life above his head showed the severity of his journey.


    This time, it was the left guard that spoke. ¡°Oh? And what manner of beast killed an entire herd, but let one foal escape?¡± He asked with a sardonic smile. In this man¡¯s eyes, Ryard had simply been a coward that ran away from a fight while his herd was fighting some monster. And he had no idea how true his suspicions were.


    ¡°Please, I must speak with the King.¡± Ryard insisted. ¡°These were no normal monsters. They possessed weapons like our own, and a viciousness that would put any beast to shame. I could not tell how many there were among them in the group that attack me, but it was bigger than any herd I had ever seen.¡±


    The guards¡¯ faces darkened as they listened to his words, the genuine fear in Ryard¡¯s voice enough proof that he was not lying to them. The two of them looked to each other and nodded. The pegasus reached into his leather satchel, searching among the promise scrolls that all guards carried on their shifts. When he found the one that he was looking for, he tore it, much to the relief of Ryard.


    It was foolish for the guards to leave their posts, so every pair of guards was given a promise scroll, with an impossible promise. Upon tearing it, their captain would be notified and send people to investigate. As expected, two more guards approached the gates from within before five minutes had passed. This time, it was a normal centaur and a unicorn acting in unison.


    When they approached, the neer guards asked the pegasus that tore the scroll. ¡°What¡¯s the matter here?¡± Obviously, this centaur had something to do with their summons.


    ¡°This man needs to be taken to the Knight¡¯s Court. He has news that must reach the King¡¯s ears.¡± The pegasus answered, nodding towards Ryard. This was the best that they could do, as only the Knights of the Round had the authority to demand an immediate audience with the King at any time.


    The faces of the new guards showed surprise as they again examined Ryard more carefully, before nodding their heads. ¡°Very well.¡± One of them said. ¡°We will guide him there.¡± The two of them parted slightly, turning to the side to allow Ryard to walk between them. Naturally, as this was the reason he hade, Ryard did not hesitate to follow along.


    As they walked through the city, he could not help but marvel at his surroundings. As one of the herd, he had never been to the city itself. He had only heard rumors of it and its location from passing herds. Wide buildings made of wood and stone lined a dirt road, and centaurs of all types could be seen interacting pleasantly with each other. There was barely any hint of the tension that had once existed between the ¡®cursed¡¯ and the ¡®blessed¡¯. Now, they were all one people. And those that did not agree with this view were free to wander the ins to seek Tryval¡¯s guidance.


    Soon, he was led to the tallest building within King¡¯s Hope. Located at the very center of the city, it was likely built as one smooth, circr wall of stone. There was only a single gate in or out, though there were many windows to see into the outer halls of the building. And just like the gate to the city, there was another pair of guards stationed here, who nced curiously to Ryard as they approached.


    ¡°What is going on?¡± One of the guards, another pegasus, asked. Although one of the duties of the Knights of the Round was to be forever ready in case of an emergency summons, such things were very rare.


    ¡°There is need to convene the court. Call the Knights, there is urgent news that must be delivered.¡± The normal centaur among Ryard¡¯s guards spoke in a heavy voice, catching the other two by surprise. They had expected Ryard to at most be some criminal needing tried, not thinking he had some dire news.


    The two centaur guards hurriedly nodded their heads, pushing open the wooden gates to the court. Inside were three halls, one to either side and one directly ahead. With the two guards from the entrance to the court recing those that had guided him there, Ryard proceeded down the direct path towards the center of the court.


    Soon, they arrived at anotherrge wooden door, which took both centaurs working together to push it open. Ryard had to wonder where they managed to get the wood for these doors. Did they send people beyond Tryval¡¯snds to harvest the tall woods? Or did they simply harvest from every tree within a day¡¯s gallop?


    When they entered the court, the pegasus cleared his throat and shouted loudly. ¡°Knights of the Round, there is need of your presence in the court!¡± His voice carried through several holes in the wall, instantly echoing throughout the entire building.


    The court itself was circr, with twelve elevated stone windows evenly spaced along the single wall. Though, these windows did not lead outside, as was evident when one of them disyed the form of a wizened old unicorn. Beneath his window was an engraving of a horn. Likewise, every other window had an engraving beneath it as well. One was a dagger, one was a crown, one was a face, and so on.


    Each window marked the seating area for one of the Knights of the Round Stable, and soon they appeared in their windows one by one. Thest to appear was the one within the window marked with a crown, a normal centaur. This was the one area where variants and normal centaurs were not equal, for there could only be one sessor to the crown, the Knight of Leadership personally chosen by the King himself.


    ¡°The Knights are gathered, the Court may begin.¡± The Knight of Leadership spoke with a heavy voice. Each of the Knights here represented a voice. Twelve voices for twelve different aspects of their culture. Among them, six were normal centaurs, while four were pegasus, and two were unicorns.


    ¡°What brings you here today, young buck?¡± Asked the Knight of Fellowship, marked by two intertwined lines.


    ¡°My herd was attacked, Knights.¡± Ryard exined. ¡°By beasts I have never seen.¡± He then went on to exin how his herd had been trotting about when they saw a weird, scaled beast among the tall grass. Finding it simr to various deadly snakes, their Greymane immediately acted and shot the beast for the safety of the herd. The Knights all nodded at this, believing that action to have been wise.


    However, after this, they heard how a shrill cry was heard from that same grass. Preparing to shoot again to finish the beast, what they saw was the body of a man sticking out. Though, it seemed to be a man smaller than any centaur, as his entire body did not even reach their waist. Unlike what they had just shot, this ¡®man thing¡¯ had no scales covering its body, and even wore clothes.


    Again, however, the Greymane shot his arrow, causing the man thing to dodge. Among the Knights, several frowned when they heard about the second shot, while others nodded as if it made sense for the safety of the herd. But the words that came next were what truly startled them, making them doubt the truth of the story.


    ¡°After the second shot, there was another cry, this one of pain. And then, it was as if they poured out of the grass. I could not even count their number, but my greymane was in within seconds. Still more wereing out, and I knew that we could not win the fight. So yes, I was a coward, I ran.¡± Ryard admitted, lowering his head in shame.


    ¡°I ran to King¡¯s Hope, praying to Tryval that those here could help. I have no doubt that it is toote for my herd, but my herd is not the only one that wandered Hisnds.¡± He said, ncing around to each of the knights, his eyes pleading. ¡°I beg of you, send help. Do what you want with me, but do not let my herd have died in vain.¡±

 Chapter 73: Dire Decisions

    <h4>Chapter 73: Dire Decisions</h4>


    Shortly after Ryard pleaded his case, he was dismissed from the court so that the Knights of the Round could discuss among themselves and reach a conclusion. ¡°Well, then.¡± The Knight of Leadership looked around at the eleven other windows. ¡°What say you all?¡±


    The first to speak was the Knight of Strength. ¡°We must strike back. These creatures bear none of Tryval¡¯s grace, and have invaded our ins. They have killed our people with greater numbers. Who knows how many other herds they have killed without us finding out until now!¡±


    The Knight of Tradition shook her head at that. ¡°By the man¡¯s own words, they were defending themselves. They did not provoke the attack, they merely responded to one. We can¡¯t simply judge them by their appearance, as we did in the old times.¡± Her words caused the Knight of Strength to flinch back slightly. His grandfather had been one of the advocates for fighting and killing the ¡®cursed¡¯ when the herds were on the brink of war. The fact that he was even allowed on this council showed how much he had been trying to redeem the mistakes of his family.


    ¡°We must know more.¡± The Knight of Wisdom, a fairly young unicorn said. ¡°Ryard¡¯s journey was long, and this is the only report that we have heard of these creatures. Either they are hiding peacefully, and do not wish to disturb us, or he is the only survivor from their battles.¡±


    Several of the others nodded their head, agreeing with that. The Knight of Wisdom was the only son of the first King¡¯s aid, the one that originally held that position until he went to Tryval¡¯s embrace. In the years he has held his position, his insight had again and again surprised them.


    ¡°It is decided, then.¡± The Knight of Leadership spoke. ¡°We will assemble a team to investigate. Let the pegasus and those blessed by the wind hurry forth. This matter requires both speed and care, but we cannot afford to dy. Tryst, you will be in charge of forming this team.¡±


    The one that had been addressed, the Knight of Fellowship, nodded his head. ¡°Very well. I will get to the bottom of this. Whether these beings can live alongside us or seek death, we will soon see.¡±


    The Knight of Leadership nodded his head in agreement to that. ¡°If they wish to coexist, we shall strive to do so. But, if they have been spreading death across the ins, then let there be war. Are we in agreement?¡±


    ¡°Agreed!¡± Eleven voices echoed out, before the knights took their leave, walking down the ramps outside their stables to go down to the ground level. Tryst immediately assembled a team of ten, five pegasi and five centaurs blessed with wind ki. Wind ki was known as the fastest among the four known elements, and was the only one that would allow them to keep pace with the flying variants.


    With the team assembled, they were given the promise scroll of death. In the event of their death, the promise of the scroll will bepleted, and Tryst will know immediately that something went wrong. Due to the lingering friction between the wandering herds and the variants, he created two of these scrolls. One he gave to the leader of the pegasus troop, and the other he gave to the leader of the normal centaurs.


    With the pegasi flying overhead, they quickly made their way in the direction that Ryard hade from. Asking for detailed directions was meaningless at this point, because Ryard confirmed that he had run in a near straight direction the entire way. And, they were not only looking for Ryard¡¯s herd either, as they needed to check the entire area as well.


    Although it had taken weeks for Ryard to make his way to King¡¯s Hope, it only took the group of ten a single week to make their way back to where his herd had been killed. Along the way, they stopped and questioned every herd they passed if they had seen anything unusual. Most herds knew at a nce after looking at the organized party of variants and normal centaurs that these were the soldiers of King¡¯s Hope, so they answered the questions as best as they could.


    What the group learned disturbed them. Roughly a day before they arrived at the location of Ryard¡¯s herd, they began to hear reports from the herds that they passed. Several herds had found locations of battles, where spears had been stabbed into the ground in the midst of a field of gore. Atop each spike was a severed head, and on the forehead of each was a tiny bloody handprint.


    By the time that they reached Ryard¡¯s herd, or what was left, they had heard reports of three such encounters. Three different herds that had been attacked and mutted by the tiny creatures. As such, they did not stop after finding the site where Ryard¡¯s herd had been buried, but continued flying in that direction, towards the tall woods to the north.


    This journey took several more days, as they kept hearing more and more about those gruesome scenes from almost every herd that they passed. As soon as they reached the tall woods, they immediately turned around and traveled back towards King¡¯s Hope at their top speed. They needed to deliver this information, information that showed that the creatures had indeed been killing more and more herds.


    They even knew the general location of the creature¡¯s base, due to something that they had seen when they reached the tall woods. Along a row of trees, spanning an hour¡¯s gallop, each was marked at the base with a red handprint. It looked like a warning, a sign left by those that hunted the herds to mark their territory.


    When the Knights of the Round Stable heard these reports after the group returned to King¡¯s Hope, their faces darkened. Even the normally calm Knight of Wisdom felt his anger rising. Looking around and seeing the faces of hispanions, the Knight of Leadership spoke.


    ¡°This is not the result I was hoping for. But, since it hase to this, then let there be war. Let those with their objections speak, for this may be thest chance before more blood has been spilled.¡± His voice echoed out throughout the halls, causing the other eleven knights to look at him. The Knight of Leadership was the one who had the King¡¯s ear, and was the one most suited to call for war or peace. It was only the traditions set down by the first generation of the Knights of the Round that required him to first ask for objections.


    ¡°Wait, Lordrin.¡± The Knight of Faith spoke in a rushed tone, worry on his face. ¡°The little things are within the tall woods, outside of Tryval¡¯s domain. None of our kind have ventured there, because doing so would mean leaving Tryval behind.¡± This had been a belief set down since the very first centaurs, to never leave thend governed by their god. And this belief caused the Knight of Leadership to hesitate, uncertain of his decision.


    ¡°Then¡­ I ask of you to speak with Him. Pray, and seek permission to leave Hisnds. Else, the best we can do is to build another city near the tall woods, one where we can keep watch and limit the damage these creatures can bring to us.¡± Lordrin spoke, nodding to the Knight of Faith. If Lordrin himself had the King¡¯s ear, than that man instead held Tryval¡¯s ear. None other was more qualified to speak to Him, or on behalf of Him.


    The Knight of Faith heavily nodded his head, closing his eyes and crossing his arms in front of his chest. Tryval, I seek your counsel. There is a gue lying beyond yournds, spreading death among the herds. To fight it, we must leave your ins. This has never before been done, and we seek your permission to journey beyond thisnd.


    There was a long pause, during which the eleven knights were staring at the Knight of Faith. What he said next would ultimately determine theing weeks. And, soon enough, Tryval¡¯s voice entered the knight¡¯s mind with an old, tired sigh. I have never forbidden my children from journeying beyond the ins. Wherever you go, I will be there. My only wish is that you carry my teachings in your heart. Never forget what Fellowship truly means.


    After hearing Tryval¡¯s voice, the knight spoke quietly. ¡°I understand.¡± He then opened his eyes, an awkward expression on his face for a brief moment before he calmed himself. It was true that nobody had ever actually asked Him if they could leave the ins. It had always simply been assumed that this was Tryval¡¯s realm, and that they were not meant to leave.


    ¡°What did He say?¡± The Knight of Leadership asked, looking directly at him.


    ¡°He said¡­ He said that we have permission. Centaurs are not bound to the ins, and He will go with us wherever our hearts take us. He only asks that we never forget His teachings.¡± In truth, unknown to them, Tryval himself had a hard time deciding what to tell them. He could easily have asked that they keep to the ins, and none of them would question his decision.


    However, in doing so, he would be forever confirming that they were not to travel beyond this one tiny corner of the. Taking that into consideration, he had no choice but to grant them permission to leave. The most he could do was ask that they keep to his teachings, to keep the idea of fellowship in their hearts. If they did, maybe they could find a way to end this war without the need for the gods themselves to act.


    ¡°Very well then.¡± Lordrin¡¯s voice rang out once again. ¡°Knights, gather your people. When everything is ready, we leave for the tall woods. With Him guiding us, we shall ensure the safety of our people. I must speak with the King about this matter to request his consent. Once I have it, I will notify you all so we can make preparations.¡± The other knights all nodded their heads, and once again dismissed themselves from the court. This was the dawn of war, and there were many things to take care of before the day was done.


    _______________________________________________________________


    After Hedra returned to the Rest, she delivered Shara¡¯s message. Many halflings had chosen to stay behind at the Rest, pausing their journeys to hear the oue of this situation, yet what they heard startled them. Halflings had willingly chosen to spill the first blood? If the fallen was another halfling, they would have written off the entire Bloodied Hand as kinyers.


    Yet, the rest of the message caused them to hesitate. From what Shara had said, they faced the herds time and again, doing their best not to fight. It was only when they had been backed into a corner, when they had truly believed that every herd had the same murderous mindset, that they struck first. And if what Hedra said was true, they had every reason to believe that to be the case.


    Ultimately, it was Jatun that spoke about this matter, deciding the fate of the Bloodied Hand. ¡°Although they havemitted dire sins, I believe it was not without reason. I knew Shara for most of her life, and she would not have done such things lightly. For her, and for her fallen father, I cannot simply turn my back on them.¡±


    There was a murmur among the crowd as he spoke, but he quickly continued. ¡°However, I also cannot easily ept their decisions. If anyone wishes to join them, I will not stop you. Nor will I announce you or them as kinyers without cause. I will make myself known, I will not support the Bloodied Hand any further.¡±


    Jatun nced around at the others, shaking his head. ¡°If the creatures from the ins truly attack, truly seek to spill blood, I may reconsider. But I can not offer aid to those that calmly take first blood. With Savir gone, I will do my duty as Hunter of the Rest, but as things are right now I will not interfere with the Bloodied Hand, either to help or hinder.¡±


    His words seemed to cool the minds of those gathered. There were some who detested the Bloodied Hand for what they did. Others, who arrived after Savir left, admired them for their actions. Those few left the Rest after Jatun dered his decision. They would join the Bloodied Hand, even if it meant being left behind by the other Rests. After all, like Shara had said, they were defending the people in this forest. This was not a cause to shun or hate them, but one that deserved praise.


    By the time that they arrived near the edge of the forest, they found several small buildings already erected. Normally, a single Rest was built by barely a dozen people over the course of months, but the Bloodied Hand had ess to over two hundred. Even though this Rest wasrger than normal, it was still well under way.


    When Shara saw the people arriving, she couldn¡¯t help but smile, realising that Hedra had indeed delivered the message as she was asked. She was surprised that more people came to join them, but she would not turn down the extra hands. As they came, they were put to work cutting down branches, creating small houses around the trees, or even just sent to gather food and water.


    Looking at it from the outside, it hardly seemed as if they were preparing for war. Instead they looked like a happy family working together to build a new home.

 Chapter 74: A Mother’s Hope

    <h4>Chapter 74: A Mother¡¯s Hope</h4>


    Rubbing my face, I looked away from the screen and stood up. As things were going now, it really was going to turn into an all out war. There was no longer any hope of the situation being avoided without our intervention, so it was only a matter of how much there was left to salvage after the fighting was over. At least the odds were against the centaurs leading a campaign to exterminate the halflings on their original continent, so this wouldn¡¯t turn into a mass genocide.


    Wanting to distract myself, I pulled up the poption window for all of the races, realizing that I hadn¡¯t looked at all of them recently. At least not in a few hundred years by the world standards. Although I had looked at the halflings and centaurs, they were only two of the races avable.


    Elves - Poption: 25,000. Average level: 105


    Humans - Poption: 190,000. Average level: 69


    Felyn - Poption: 170,000. Average level: 74


    Lycan - Poption: 230,000. Average level: 63


    Ursa - Poption: 215,000. Average level: 71


    Kitsune - Poption: 170,000. Average level: 70


    Dwarf - Poption: 150,000. Average level: 81


    Halfling- Poption: 210,000. Average level: 85


    Daeva - Poption: 403,000. Average level: 110


    Centaur - Poption: 96,000. Average level: 64


    Looking at the numbers, I was pleasantly surprised. Especially when I saw the average level, and the poption of the daeva. Considering that level took into consideration the entire poption, it meant that most of the daeva had likely already reached the new level limit. As for the other races, they also gave me a pleasant surprise, when I considered how much their poption had grown over thest three hundred or so years.


    Maybe Irena set poption increases as one of her goals when she was originally nning to change the government in the afterlife. Perhaps the only race that hadn¡¯t shown much of a growth in numbers were the elves, but that could be understood. After all, three hundred years is barely half of their lifespan. The fact that their average level was so high was enough to show that they made up for numbers with power.


    Still, the poption of the world had finally hit one and a half million. And with their individual strength, their own security would have been far higher than what my Earth was like in that age. Though¡­ that made me think of something. Quickly pulling out my paper, I wrote a message to Terra, asking her toe to the room to talk.


    Soon after, I heard azy yawn from the door, as it opened to reveal my favorite redheaded catgirl. Once she was in the room, she closed the door and sent a small smile my way. ¡°What did you need, Dale?¡± She asked, looking like I had woken her up from a nap.


    ¡°I have a rather important question, and you¡¯re the only one that I can ask about it.¡± I said, motioning for her to sit down on the bed. Hearing that, she seemed to immediately wake up, focusing as she sat down. ¡°The Games are based on the overall strength of the world and its inhabitants, correct? Not their level of technology or anything like that?¡±


    When I asked that, Terra revealed a calm smile. ¡°That¡¯s right. You¡¯re worried that the game mechanics of your world will throw them into the Keeper Games long before they be as advanced as your world was, right?¡±


    With a startled expression, I nodded my head. ¡°Right. It doesn¡¯t take them very long to catch up whenever I raise the level cap, so I was wondering if it would be best to keep it low for a while. Right now, people at max level could already easily defeat a small group of trained soldiers from my world, assuming they had the same equipment.¡±


    However, contrary to my expectations, Terra shook her head. ¡°That¡¯s fine for now. They won¡¯t be able to keep that level of growth for too long. Right now, they are simply discovering the mechanics of the world, and their levelse from their life experiences. When the level limit is raised to¡­ let¡¯s say three hundred, then they will have to struggle to reach it in one lifetime.¡±


    Tilting her head in thought, Terra crossed her arms in front of her chest as she continued. ¡°Once the world hits an age equivalent to what your world had, the average level should be somewhere around two-eighty. And it is only that high because of the sheer number of sses each person has ess to. For the truly strong that focus on just a few sses, it would be rare to exceed five hundred.¡±


    Thinking about that, it did make sense. Even if they were able to catch up to the level limit now, that wasrgely because it was still fairly low, and there were a lot of sses that they could identally train. Later on, there just wouldn¡¯t be enough time in a single lifespan to do everything. But, that also made me think of something else.


    ¡°What about people who train in the energies? I imagine that a ki cultivator of sufficient strength could prolong their life, couldn¡¯t they?¡± When I asked that, Terra¡¯s smile seemed to grow even more.


    ¡°That¡¯s right, Dale. But, there¡¯s more to it than that. Actually, everybat ss will eventually touch on the different energy types. That¡¯s because there is a limit to how far skill can take you.¡± To emphasize her point, Terra gave an example. ¡°For instance, imagine a level one thousand Archer who is unable to tap into ki, mana, or natural energy. They rely purely on their skills. Even if they have godly equipment, they would lose to a level five hundred monk. This is because the monk¡¯s ki would simply let them move faster than any arrows fired by the bow. Their fists would hit harder, and the fight would be over before it began.¡±


    Taking a deep breath, she continued. ¡°At a certain point, that archer will instead learn how to enhance their arrows with different energies. Their arrows will be able to track the monk, divide into hundreds, or even jump across great distances in an instant. That is the path of strength that your world is currently on, the path of energy growth.¡±


    I nodded my head slowly, epting that. ¡°What other paths are there¡­?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t go into too much detail, because it would vite the rules. But¡­¡± She began lifting up her fingers to give examples. ¡°There is the path of technology growth, where a world ignores the energies and uses their own technology to be powerful. There is the path of magical growth, where the world ignores the other energies, and even often technology. The path of monsters would have someone breed the ultimate race of monsters. Finally, there is the path of gods, where a Keeper creates a race of godlike beings from birth on their world. Each one has its own advantages and disadvantages.¡±


    I thought about that, and considered the different paths. It could be said that my Earth had been on the technology path, though the Keeper had never intended to enter the games in the first ce. He probably chose that method because it had the longest amount of ¡®safe¡¯ time, then. The path of gods did interest me a bit, but I didn¡¯t give it too much thought before I found the disadvantages. If they were gods from birth, their civilization would have practically no advancement time before entering the Games. They might not even be fully able to control their own power.


    ¡°I see¡­ Thanks, Terra. Would rather not have to limit things any more at this point if I could help it.¡± I smiled slightly. I knew that I could purchase systems that would guide the growth of the people, but I honestly did not want to do that. To me, the freedom for them to choose themselves was more important. Maybe after I had done this a couple times, I would begin guiding new worlds, but not for this one.


    ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡± She said, once again returning to her sleepy expression. ¡°Now, if you don¡¯t mind¡­ I need to get back to my nap. It¡¯s a bit harder than I expected to maintain two incarnations at once, even when they aren¡¯t born yet.¡± As she said that, she turned around and crawled onto the bed, curling up into a ball on top of the nkets.


    Shaking my head with a small sigh, I decided to check on the world again. It would probably take a few months before the next confrontation, so at least that was something.


    _______________________________________________________________


    The nearby residents have recognized you as their rightful ruler. Please choose a name for your kingdom.


    When Shara saw the message appear in front of her, she had been truly surprised. She had never heard of this kingdom message before, and why would she have? Across the entire southern half of the halfling territory, this was the first time that arge group hade together to form a singlemunity with a recognized leader. Knitting her brows together, she thought about what this would mean.


    Mother, please hear me. I wish to know, what does this mean? She closed her eyes in prayer after not being able toe to an answer on her own. She had never directly spoken to Aurivy before, and she was almost afraid that She would not answer her prayers. Especially after what Shara had done recently.


    However, her expectations were proven wrong, a look of excitement appearing on Shara¡¯s face as a wise voice spoke into her mind. This is the first kingdom to ever rise up among thesends for my people. It shows that everyone here has chosen to follow you with their heart, and are willing to let you guide them down the path you deem correct.


    But, Mother, is my path truly correct? Shara could not help but ask. She had been worried over this ever since Danar had left them. Her path was one of violence, one where she would be shedding the blood of others to defend her people. A noble ideal, but did it not go against everything Aurivy stood for?


    A gentleugh filled her mind as she was answered once again. Look into your heart and ask yourself that. I will not forsake you for your decision, for it was one you made when thinking of those you love. Shara lowered her head to consider those words, but before she coulde up with an answer, she found her goddess speaking into her mind of her own choice. Ask yourself this, Shara. Do you love your people enough to live for them, to show them what it means to lead? And do you love them enough to die for them, if that is what it takes to keep them safe?


    Shara¡¯s face was filled with astonishment, her eyes opening wide as she heard Aurivy¡¯s words. Her goddess did not hate her, even though she had spilled first blood, even though she was leading others to end their journeys to prepare for a bloody violence with those strange creatures. From what Aurivy had said, it seemed as if she truly had been forgiven, and was even encouraged to follow her path.


    And in truth, following her path was exactly what Aurivy wanted. She did not approve of this war, or the misunderstanding that had caused it. She even held a bit of a grudge against the centaurs for being so violent, but she would not let that affect her view of Tryval. No, what she approved of here was how one of her people was willing to put aside everything, to travel down a lonely road for the sake of her people.


    She wanted Shara to be an example, to be a legend among the halflings. The one who stood up to impossible odds to be the shield that would defend them from harm. The one that rallied the people for amon goal, leading them to new heights.


    Aurivy knew that Shara¡¯s kingdom was doomed to be short lived. But, the candle that burns brightest is always the first one out. Rather than make Shara conflicted about her choice, make her hesitate when the timees, she chose to make her burn even brighter. Deep down, she wanted Shara to be the me that would light a new path for the halflings, a path where they worked together in harmony, as opposed to the scattered union that they currently held.


    And her encouragement did exactly that. With her eyes watering, Shara chose the name for her kingdom. A name that would take its ce in history for every halfling to remember.


    Kingdom of Savir Management Window


    F????i????n????a??n???c???e????s????


    N/A


    Military Security


    7


    Art


    1


    Religion


    4


    Science


    3


    Magic


    2


    Poption


    412


    Territory


    1 Rest


    ?Appoint Official?


    ?Issue Decree?


    ?Dere War?

 Chapter 75: War is Coming

    <h4>Chapter 75: War is Coming</h4>


    After the founding of Savir, the first halfling kingdom, the situation was fairly casual for a while. The halflings did not see any signs of the strange creatures approaching their borders, aside from a few random herds that their scouts spotted passing by. None of them even seemed remotely interested in invading the forest.


    Shara, still filled with confidence after having spoken with her goddess, personally joined the scouting forces every day. She had received Her blessing, and would see this through to the end. Because that was her decision, that she loved her people enough to live and die for them. She was just curious when it seemed like none of the strange creatures would arrive even after a month of waiting.


    At least, that¡¯s how it looked to them. Some distance away, beyond the horizon, the centaurs were marching. Unlike the wild herds, or the patrolling forces, these had to move at a slow trot due to their numbers. This was thergest force that the centaurs had ever fielded at one point, a full five thousand man cavalry.


    It had taken nearly a month to gather the soldiers and equip them, but now each one carried a bow and a spear. Their chests were covered with thick leather armor. And leading the charge were the Knights of Valor, Justice, and Leadership.


    Due to their slowed pace, and the fact that it took them a month to fully equip everyone, it was expected that it would take them an extra two months before they reached the tall woods. Of course, this took into consideration the tens of centaurs that were constantly running back and forth from Tryval¡¯s Hold and King¡¯s Hope to make supply runs. Otherwise, they would surely starve long before they arrived at the tall woods.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Well, this is going to end poorly. I thought as I looked at the map. Before, the halflings had managed to dominate the herds by outnumbering them twenty to one. Now, the centaurs wereing in towards the forest outnumbering them ten to one. The result of this battle¡­ well, it wasn¡¯t like I really had to think too hard about it.


    Shaking my head, I couldn¡¯t help but feel sorry for them. The world was too early for the halflings to have the proper fortifications to fight off an invasion of greater numbers without using magic to build their city like the centaurs seemed to do for King¡¯s Hope. On the other hand, halflings also seemed to be quite a bit weaker in defensive battles than they were attacking. Most of their abilities tended towards either stealth or controlling other creatures.


    I was rather curious how the battle would actually y out, though, since the centaurs have no experience fighting in a forest. On the other hand, the halflings are always adjusting to new terrain. I furrowed my brows as I thought about that, but still determined that the numbers advantage wouldn¡¯t be ovee that easily.


    Guess we better just see how this goes. I thought, before deciding to fast forward again to the next battle. There was no use in simply sitting there thinking about the fight, and nothing I could do to change the oue without direct intervention.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Shara stood alone atop the highest tree on the border for her kingdom. It had been a full season since Savir had been established. The leaves were already changing, the air growing colder. Since they had been waiting for so long, with no signs of an attacking, their scouts had rxed. Some started to believe that they were not needed, that the creatures would never leave their ins.


    As such, even though more people hade to join the kingdom named to honor her father, very little had actually happened. At most, the original members of the Bloodied Hand would train the neers in various techniques that they learned through their sses. Only Shara continued to keep watch every day, feeling that things had not quite ended yet for her.


    And sure enough, as the clouds gathered overhead, the sky darkening with an impending storm, Shara saw something in the distance. At first, she wasn¡¯t sure what it was because it was too far away, but once she activated her Scout abilities, that changed.


    So many¡­ Shara could see a line of creatures looming just over the horizon. Most of them looked like those that they were waiting for, while some showed subtle differences. Some had wings on either side of their animalistic bodies, while others had a single horn atop their heads.


    She had simply never seen so many living beings in one ce, and trying to count them was impossible. With their slow, even pace, it reminded her about how they had moved when invading the ins. They were not trying to hide, though, and instead just making sure that they moved at a pace where none would fall behind.


    ¡°Oh no¡­¡± She muttered under her breath, knowing that there were far, far more of them than they could handle. Closing her eyes, she leaned backwards off the branch, allowing herself to enter free-fall towards the ground. Her body twisted, hands and feet gently striking branches to maneuver her through the air until she was only ten meters up.


    Then, reaching her hand out, she grabbed onto a loose vine, dislodging one end of it from its tree. With that, she borrowed the vine to safely swing onto the ground,nding heavily in front of the Rest. ¡°Emergency!¡± She shouted, gathering the attention of those who had been rxing or training within the wooden structures.


    One by one, halflings began to emerge, startled by Shara¡¯s sudden cry. When they saw her worried expression, they couldn¡¯t help but be affected by her anxiety. And it only grew worse when she spoke. ¡°They¡¯reing. Numbers beyond measure. If the weather does not stop them, they will arrive within one day.¡±


    There were gasps from among the crowd, some believing her while others sent off their own flyingpanions to confirm the situations for themselves. Seeing that, Shara calmly nodded her head. ¡°This is what we¡¯ve been waiting for. I would ask that someone sends a message for us.¡± Her hands balled up into fists as she lowered her head, trying to find the words to motivate them.


    When she spoke, a strange presence rose up from her. As she repeated the words that her goddess had told her, some felt as if Aurivy herself had descended. ¡°Do you love your people enough to live for them? Do you love them enough to die for them? Aurivy asked me this question when we formed this kingdom, and I will ask you now.¡±


    ¡°My answer, I love my people, more than I can ever express.¡± As she spoke, Shara brought her hands up above her chest, holding them together. ¡°If my death serves to defend them for even a day, to let them know what ising, then I will happily fight. I will not me anyone for leaving, but I will stay. I will fight, I will earn them time. And¡­ I will die.¡±


    Her eyes grey red, tearing up as she spoke. She was not sad over knowing what was going to happen. Rather, she was thankful. Her father was the most important person in the world to her, and he had been taken away. Seeking her own death would have been an insult to his memory, yet she had so much wanted to see him again. Now, her goddess was offering her the chance to do just that, to help protect her people and see her father again.


    ¡°I will not lie to anyone here. If you stay, you will probably die in this battle. There are just too many of them. But for every one we take with us, for every moment we dy them, we can save more of our people. So, I ask of you now. Who will join me? Who will be my brother in this battle?¡± Her voice grew to nearly a shout as she finished talking, the birds that were sent off before alreadying back and transmitting the information to their partners.


    The small gasps that could be heard from those who had a more clear view of the situation only seemed to confirm Shara¡¯s words. There was no hope of winning this battle. Fear began to swell up inside many of the halflings, as most were unwilling to throw their lives away so easily in a fight they knew that they couldn¡¯t win.


    Some began backing away, showing that they could not participate here, that they wanted to return to their families. Yet, every member of the original Bloodied Hand instead stepped forward. Their hands heavily pped against their chests one after another. Shara was saddened to see those who wished to leave, but overjoyed when she saw herpanions stepping forward.


    ¡°For our families.¡± One of the Bloodied Hand members shouted out, before more joined in. Each one shouted a different reason to fight.


    ¡°For our friends.¡±


    ¡°For our people.¡±


    ¡°For our hopes.¡±


    ¡°For those who came before.¡±


    ¡°For those who wille after.¡±


    And then, all at once, as if they had rehearsed it beforehand, they shouted in unison. ¡°We will fight!¡± Seeing that, Shara¡¯s couldn¡¯t stop her tears from falling. She too pped her own chest as she looked out at them. The chorus of the Bloodied Hand served to call several of the retreating halflings to stop in their steps.


    Some returned to the group, gently cing their palm against their chest. To them, this salute meant something different. It was not a reminder of the blood that had been spilled, or the mark which had started this all. No, it was a reminder of what they were protecting, those that they held dear.


    Seeing that, Shara nodded, and then addressed those that were still walking away. ¡°Tell the Rest¡­ let them know what happened. Let them know how we died.¡± That was thest thing she said to them as they left the Rest, taking a deep breath to calm herself.


    ¡°Okay, we need to get ready for this. Does anyone have any ideas?¡± She asked nervously, looking at the crowd. They did not have much time, and now that the situation had truly dawned on them all, many of them did not know what to do.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Hold!¡± Lordrin called out at the top of his voice as he looked just beyond the horizon. He could already see the tops of the trees, and knew that it wouldn¡¯t take too much longer for them to arrive. Yet, the dark clouds overhead worried him. The storms this time of year could get very dangerous. That¡¯s why they made King¡¯s Hope out of stone, so that it would be able to survive such storms, whereas Tryval¡¯s Hold would often have to rebuild their walls and homes.


    Turning to his people, Lordrin briefly analyzed the crowd. Behind him were thirty captains, each in charge of a hundred soldiers. The other two knights he brought with him each had ten captains under theirmand.


    ¡°We will rest here for today, and wait for the weather to calm.¡± He spoke, his voice amplified by his ki. Trying to fight in an unfamiliar terrain was bad enough, but having to fight against the weather as well would only make things worse. Nothing hurt a traveling centaur worse than muddy ins.


    ¡°Remember, men, we fight for our people. Cowardice will not be tolerated! In theing battle, we will purge these creatures from the tall woods, punish them for ughtering our herds. Let this serve as an example, we are not to be trifled with!¡± He shouted, raising his spear above his head.


    ¡°Let us soak the tall woods with their blood. Only then will those who have fallen find peace.¡± As he spoke, he reared up on his hind legs, kicking at the air. ¡°For now, all of you prepare your shelters. We camp here until the time to battle.¡±

 Chapter 76: The Battle of Savir

    <h4>Chapter 76: The Battle of Savir</h4>


    Shara was once again atop the tall branch, looking out to the camps that had been established along the hills. Seeing how they used their request scrolls to carry their camps with them, it almost made Shara feel as if they had somemon ground. If not for their more violent tendencies, she truly believed that they might have been able to understand one another. But now, things had gone too far.


    She had already sent word for Danar through the forest, scattering the smaller animalpanions of the halflings to serve as messengers, since they would not be able to y an active role in the battle. Looking down from her branch, she saw the halflings already at work, setting up anything that they thought might help them in this battle. They all knew that there was noing back from this, yet they still worked harder than ever. That alone made Shara proud to be who she was, to lead such a loyal group.


    With her eyes closed, Shara ced one hand on her chest, the other supporting her on the base of the tree. ¡°Aurivy, I speak to you now in my final day.¡± She began, her voice quickly drowned out as rain began hitting therge leaves of the tree canopy directly over her head.


    ¡°May you guide my hand and my heart. Although we may not live to see another dawn, I pray that our efforts here are not wasted. May others look upon my actions not with scorn, but hope. Hope that our people can truly stand up for themselves. Against these creatures who know of only violence and hate, I will meet them in battle. For the lives of those behind me, I will do my best to keep them at bay.¡±


    As she finished her prayer, she opened her eyes, determination filling them. She hade up to this branch to watch the creatures, expecting them to charge in at first light. Yet, they had remained in their positions, looming just over the horizon. Unless they were gathering more forces, there was only one thing that she could think of that would cause them to still their charge. And for that, she had to thank the heavens.


    Now, they truly had the time needed to prepare for their fight.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Lordrin looked out to the clear skies, sighing with relief. For three days and nights, the storm had raged, causing his army to be halted. Yet now, it had finally passed. Although the ground was still too soft for a proper charge, they were still a day¡¯s march from the forest. Plenty of time for the ground to harden, to allow them a more favorable field of battle.


    ¡°Alright, men. Gather your camps, and advance!¡± He shouted out, issuing a promise scroll to return his own wooden camp to a more portable state. Though, after the constant storm, many of the makeshift buildings had been toppled, a few did still survive. Mostly those of the higher ranking centaurs, who had more experience setting them up.


    Their advance was a slow one, yet was no less terrifying to behold. They kept their men evenly spaced apart, the archers and mages at the back of the formation. Although Lordrin had never had the need to lead a force like this before, he was able to determine where to ce the troops to use them to their fullest.


    There was no sign of the small creatures they were seeking until long after they entered the forest. Although Lordrin told his men to be careful, and they stabbed their spears into every bush they passed, it seemed as if nobody was there. Could they have all run away? Lordrin thought to himself. If so, it would mean that they didn¡¯t have to fight, which was a good thing. However, it would also meant that he had marched five thousand centaurs out of the ins for nothing.


    Almost two full hours after they entered the forest, they came across a scene of broken wooden buildings, simr in design to what the centaurs themselves used. Only, these were obviously made for creatures far smaller than themselves. ¡°Alright!¡± Lordrin said, his voice echoing out among the forest.


    ¡°This is their camp. Scouts, spread out and find them!¡± He shouted out, causing a few centaurs to break off from the group. However, it was at this time that Lordrin began to realize that they made a terrible mistake.


    A giant crash, like the roar of a mighty beast, was heard from behind them. Several centaurs abruptly turned around, seeing that a pair of thick trees had copsed. Beneath them were the shattered bodies of a few centaur mages or archers that had been staying at the rear of the formation. They didn¡¯t even have time to scream before they had been crushed to death.


    ¡°It¡¯s an attack!¡± Lordrin called out, readying his spear. Still, their conditioning of having always fought on the ins prevented them from correcting their fatal mistake. They forgot to look up.


    Centaurs had bodies incapable of climbing trees, so naturally it was not in their nature to look up when looking for a creature that they recognized as being even remotely simr to themselves. As such, they failed to see their enemies peering down at them from the branches above. It wasn¡¯t until a high pitched whistle echoed through the trees that Lordrin truly acknowledged his error, but by that time it was toote.


    As he looked up, he saw arrows raining down from above. ¡°Above us!¡± He shouted, raising one arm to protect his head. He felt the sting of an arrow piercing into his arm, but had no time to pay it any mind, for he could already hear screams from his forces.


    All around him, centaurs were being ughtered. Not by the arrows above, for those seemed to be little more than a distraction. No, what was truly killing them were dangers below. But, Lordrin was never able to see that for himself.


    Behind him, a wide patch of ground lifted up like a hatch, and a giant insect body lunged out, almost as big as Lordrin¡¯s lower body. With a chittering screech, its front legs wrapped around his torso, and he felt two fangs piercing into his neck. Those near him could only watch as his body was quickly dragged back into the trap door that had appeared in the ground.


    Elsewhere, creatures of every variety had begun to appear out of nowhere. For some, like the spider that had taken Lordrin in the opening moments of the battle, they appeared from underground. Others burst out of the trees, where hollows had apparently been hastily carved and covered up for them.


    With Lordrin gone, it was up to the other two knights and the captains to rally the army, which had grown chaotic from the ambush. Yet, that led to another problem. Every time one of the soldiers stepped up to lead, whether it was one of the captains or a Knight of the Round, they immediately became the focus for a group of attacks.


    It was only after the first captain of Lordrin¡¯s forces died that the small creatures descended from the trees. Arrows had begun to be fired up, as well as several spells that had set the trees themselves aze. Had it not been for that, their enemies would have preferred to stay in the branches longer, biding their time while their forces dwindled away.


    Yet, when they descended, the battlefield only became even worse. The archers and mages were unable to properly cast their spells in a chaotic battlefield, for fear of friendly fire. Only those with the Power of the Archer at a sufficient strength could urately target enemies, yet those were few and far between.


    Thus, despite the centaurs having an overwhelming advantage in numbers, the battle was not going well for them. That is not to say it was going any better for their enemies, as they repeatedly crushed or stabbed anything that attacked them. Yet, the losses were far from even, and the loss of leadership even caused several centaurs to flee the field of battle.


    However, how could it be that simple to get away? The path that they came in was blocked by a pair of thick trees that had fallen down, so they had no choice but to run around. What they encountered on either side sent chills down their spine.


    On one side of the trees was a lone enemy, standing with a pair of bone knives in his hands. Seeing that, the centaurs had the idea to trample him and escape this hell of a battle. But, as they approached, he let out a cry in a shrill voice, calling various snakes and birds to appear. All manner of small critters swarmed at the centaurs, ignoring what would normally be their natural food chain. Even if their favorite meal was standing beside them, they treated the centaurs as their mortal enemies.


    On the other side of the trees were a total of five enemies. Each one had a bloody hand print on their chest their faces covered in dry mud to offer them some light camouge. As with the others, the centaurs that fled this way had the thought of charging through the few enemies here to escape outside of the forest. Yet, when they approached, their targets seemed to vanish into the shadows, their bodies moving in strange ways that caused the centaurs to be unable to track them.


    Some began to il their spears or daggers wildly as they charged, and even managed to pierce through one of the assassins as they had been about to strike. The one who had made that strike managed to open up a gap that he could charge through, not looking back for a single moment as he left the forest at a full gallop.


    As for those that had not been so lucky, their bodies littered the ground. With every death the enemy took, they fought even more viciously. Their rage only grew, abandoning any thoughts of defending their own bodies as they focused purely on their attacks. For every one of them that died, they took at least three centaurs with them. When their numbers dwindled further, until there were not even a hundred left, they began taking out ten centaurs for every one of them that died.


    Yet, even with that being the case, the centaurs did not stop fighting. No, to be more urate, they couldn¡¯t stop. They had heard the terrified screams from those that had fled the battle, and knew that escape was not an option. They knew that they still vastly outnumbered the enemy, and so they continued in their single-minded attacks. Where originally rage and righteousness had fueled their actions, now it was only terror and the will to live.


    The battle raged for nearly two full hours before thest of the little creatures had fallen, as well as thest of their monsters that they could find. When the sounds of battle had begun to die down, those few who had blocked the path of retreat swarmed in, throwing away their own lives as they showed the centaurs what true fear was. Yet even they eventually fell.


    When thest of them had died, and the forest finally became silent, those who were left looked around the forest in terror. They hade here with an overwhelming army, fiftypanies of a hundred men each. And now, they could not begin to count the number of bodiesid out in the forest. Nor did they want to try. Their knights had fallen in the first minutes of the battle, their captains following soon after.


    At this moment, the centaurs wanted nothing more than to flee the forest, and that is exactly what they did. With nothing left to stop them, they ran. They ran as if the shadow of death was chasing them, they ran in any direction they could manage as long as it took them out of the forest. Where they hade here with five thousand men, they now had less than a tenth of that number, and what those remaining had seen would be burned in their hearts forever.


    The truly unfortunate ones were not those that died. It was not those that ran away. No, it was the injured, those who had been abandoned. The ones with a broken leg, unable to move. They could onlyy among the corpses, screaming in agony. Some chose to end their own lives, while others pitifully wailed, hoping for the slightest chance of rescue. Yet, what would await them was only the harshest of truth.


    They were in a newnd now, with newws. Now, they had to abide by thews of the wild, where the weak were devoured. And as the carrion beasts emerged from the forest, descended from the trees or crawled out from the ground, they realized something. They were the weak ones now.

 Chapter 77: A Glimpse Beyond the Veil

    <h4>Chapter 77: A Glimpse Beyond the Veil</h4>


    Shara stood as the leader of the group of assassins, those chosen to block the path of retreat for the invading creatures. Among the five selected for this task, she had undoubtedly mastered the ss the most. If not for the suggestions of her people, Shara would have been part of the main ambush where she thought she belonged, instead of away from the front lines. She did not even really have confidence that they would retreat until they killed all of the halflings, and even if they did they might not choose her path.


    Yet, her people insisted that she stay there. Even if it was only the smallest chance, this gave her a chance to survive the fight without going against her ideals. Her people truly wanted her to live, even if she was the only one among them. Yet, nobody really gets what they want in this age.


    It was not long after the battle began that she saw fires emerging from the trees, a sign that the enemy force had a number of mages. Yet, for some reason, the first only burned off the firstyer of bark from the trees before going out. She wasn¡¯t sure what that meant, and would have liked to study that for future ns, but she heard hooves rapidly approaching her.


    At first, it was only three of the creatures that had chosen to run in this direction, but Shara would show no mercy. With a subtle nod of her head, her and the four others sprang into action. The power of her mind guided her feet, allowing them to slide soundlessly across the forest floor, while the power of her body caused her to lean left and right in a swaying motion, making her form indistinct.


    This was the movement technique of the Assassin ss, the shadowless step. With it, they rapidly approached alongside the three creatures. Though one of them got in a lucky stab to kill one of her people, Shara focused on her task. Although she wanted to chase the one that got through, there were moreing, and so she sprang into action again.


    After the first few groups, there did not seem to be anyone else that sought to retreat the way that Shara was guarding, causing her to purse her lips slightly. Yet, she remained at her post, right until the sounds of battle began to die down. At that point, she knew that her time hade. ¡°Now, let us meet our end.¡± She said under her breath, leading the other remaining assassins to finish their final task.


    When they arrived, there were still arge number of enemies left, though it was nothingpared to what had originally charged into their forest. The thought of that made Shara proud, knowing that her people had fought such great numbers and still dealt that much damage. Quickly, she targeted her prey, one of the horned creatures which was erecting magical shields around those still engaged inbat.


    Though her target looked exhausted, he was still doing his best to shield his fellows. But right now, that was not something that she could allow. Shara moved like a ghost, sliding across the hellishndscape to leap up onto the creature¡¯s bestial back. It shuddered slightly, seeming to notice her presence as she stabbed her bone knife into the side of its neck, jumping off to find her next target.


    After her group was noticed, the battlefield quickly became chaotic once again, though this onlysted a short time before the four of them had been in. Shara herself had been shot through the shoulder, still struggling to fight with one arm before her head was caved in by a powerful kick.


    Yet, that wasn¡¯t the end. The world seemed to turn grey at that moment. As her body fell backwards, Shara was able to look back and watch it hit the ground. All around her, confused people stood. Well¡­ people might be a bit much. Some of them looked vaguely like those she had known before, those whom she had lived with for months. Yet, their forms were grey and blurry.


    Others were the forms of those that they had been fighting, the creatures that had killed their kin and attacked their woods. Right now, they all looked as if they wanted to fight, but were unable to. Ethereal vines bound their bodies to the ground, vines which rapidly emerged to restrain Shara as well, before she had time to properly react.


    ¡°You are thest one, huh?¡± A voice spoke from above. Looking up, Shara sawrge, winged people. With pure white wings, and pure ck hair, the male figure that had spoken to her descended to the ground.


    Along with the winged figures, there were also some more solid forms without wings, those that looked like halflings, and those that looked like the creatures they had been fighting. Shara wanted to ask what was going on, but when she opened her mouth, she could not hear any sounding out. Yet, the man nced over to her, as if he had heard her nheless.


    ¡°You died.¡± He said simply. His eyes were an eerie ck, yet somehow she could not look away from him. ¡°We are envoys of the afterlife. The Governor of the Fallen heard that there was going to be a battle here today, and dispatched us to convey you to the other side after everything was done. Now, just wait there for a moment, and things will be exined shortly.¡±


    After saying up to there, the man turned back to look at the others. Somehow, Shara felt like she could hear a number of mixed voicesing from the bound figures, yet she was unable to properly understand them. ¡°Okay, everyone. We¡¯ll begin the transfer in a few minutes. Once we¡¯re on the other side, there will be no fighting. Anyone that attempts to attack someone will be ced in istion. If you have family on the other side, we will attempt to help you locate them in a timely manner.¡±


    Before anyone could respond, he let out a long sigh. ¡°Okay, everyone, get ready!¡± He called out loudly, causing the various unbound figures from above to descend. All in all, there were over a hundred of them, and they spread out in a circr formation around the group of bound souls.


    When the various figuresnded, they sped their hands together in front of themselves, and Shara saw a sudden change in the surrounding environment. All around her, thendscape turned more and more blurry, thest remnants of color being leached from the very air itself. After that, the shapes grew distorted and cloudy, until they appeared as nothing but wisps of smoke that scattered with an invisible wind.


    At this point, the only thing left in the world that she could see were herself, the bound souls from the battle, and the unbound ones who were doing the ¡®transfer¡¯. ¡°And, synchronize!¡± The apparent leader of the winged men shouted out, causing the faces of the unbound souls to stiffen in focus.


    Now, the smoke surrounding them began to take a new form. Colors once again returned to the world as Shara felt a stone floor beneath her feet, as if she was standing atop a mountain. Looking down, she saw the stone was ck, and stretched out several meters in any direction. Outside of their circle of souls, she saw stone pirs rising up like great trees, supporting a buildingrger than she had ever seen.


    ncing behind her, she saw the stones taking shape into the form of people. Ten of them, standing in a circle. One such shape was immediately recognizable to Shara, and made her bring a hand to cover her mouth in shock. She saw the statue of Aurivy, the goddess whose form she had never seen before, yet knew instinctively.


    At some point, she realized that the vines tying them down had disappeared, and she was able to again move her body. This realization came when she heard a sudden shout from behind, and turned to see one of her people charging at one of the strange creatures that they had fought. However, before he could even cover half the distance, a ck box formed around him, holding him in ce.


    Shara heard a sigh from somewhere off to the side of her, and turned to see the same winged man from before looking at the now trapped halfling. ¡°I did warn you.¡± He said, shaking his head, before signalling to some of the others. ¡°Haul that one off to containment. For attempting to attack another civilian upon entry to the Underworld, one week of istion. Try to arrange for someone he used to know to go exin things to him when the time is up.¡±


    Another winged person nodded, snapping their fingers as a rope materialized around the ck box, one end leading to their hands. After that, she flew off into the air, the ck box dragging behind her. It was at this point that Shara actually noticed the sky, orck thereof.


    No matter where she looked above her, there was only a boundless, grey horizon of shifting smoke. Far above, she could faintly see an object floating amidst the smoke, but was unable to tell just what it was. ¡°Shara!¡± It was at this moment that she heard a loud call off to her side, causing her to turn and see something that took her breath away. If she still had breath, at least.


    Running towards her was a young halfling, one that she barely recognized, yet could never forget. Her father, who had died months ago, looking younger than she had ever seen him. ¡°D-daddy!¡± She cried out, her voice echoing out without meaning to. Startled, she raised her hands to her mouth again, surprised to hear her own voice.


    Hearing that, Savirughed, running up and picking Shara up in his arms, spinning her around once before pulling her in for a tight embrace. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I left you like that.¡± He said gently, and Shara suddenly felt like she was a kid again, before any of this fighting had happened.


    ¡°She one of yours?¡± The winged man asked, looking indifferently towards Savir, who only nodded happily.


    ¡°She¡¯s my daughter, sir. I¡¯d like to take custody while everything gets settled.¡± He answered, never releasing his firm grip on Shara.


    The man looked to Shara for a moment, but seeing her happy smile, he realized that he was telling the truth. With a small smile of his own, he nodded his head. ¡°Alright. From what we¡¯ve heard, the instigators behind the war have already been tried. There shouldn¡¯t be any issues if you take custody of her, just be sure to have her avable if we need her for something.¡±


    Savir quickly nodded his head again at that. ¡°Of course, sir.¡± He said, before smiling down at Shara. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s go home.¡± He said with augh, setting Shara down and holding her hand to guide her.


    Home? She thought to herself, confused. Did her father have a home built here? She had assumed after seeing this ce that he would want to explore again. And, seeing the variety of people, and the different characteristics of their races, she couldn¡¯t help but wonder. ¡°Dad¡­ what is this ce? Who are all these people?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­¡± He smiled awkwardly at that, ncing around. ¡°This is the Underworld, Shara. The ce where the dead¡­ live. Ever sinceing here, I feel like I¡¯ve learned so much more about the world that we never imagined. But, that¡¯s not the best part.¡±


    She tried to get him to borate on that, but he only grinned, looking to her and telling her that it was a secret. Even when they reached the edge of the city, and found an expanse of empty greyness waiting for him, Savir just continued walking ahead. And Shara followed, leaving the capital behind them, only to notice that their speed had somehow increased drastically after leaving the city.


    Soon, they found themselves at another, smaller city. Although the buildings here were also made of stone, they were far smaller than what she had seen before, and some looked ready to fall apart. It was in front of one such building that Savir finally stopped, standing in front of a wide door. With a gentle pat on her back, he urged her forward. ¡°Wee home, Shara.¡± He said with a wide smile.


    Shara nodded, walking up and slowly pushing the door open. She heard a female voice call out from within as she stepped into the house. ¡°Savir, is that you?¡± Shara felt her heart stop when she heard the voice, her feet frozen at the door. Somehow, she knew who the voice was, or she was able to quickly figure it out.


    When she saw a young halfling woman step out of a nearby doorway, Shara couldn¡¯t help but feel her eyes begin to water. Intellectually, she knew that she should not be able to cry. She was not even alive anymore, and yet the tears came.


    ¡°Shara?¡± The woman asked, briefly stunned.


    ¡°Mom!¡± She shouted, running forward and embracing the woman, burying her head in her mother¡¯s shoulder and crying. She had wanted to see her mother again for so long. And while she felt that she would be able to find her father after dying, she had never considered that there would be someone else waiting for her here too. Silently, she thanked Aurivy for giving her this chance, for letting her be with her family again.

 Chapter 78: A Call to Arms

    <h4>Chapter 78: A Call to Arms</h4>


    I let out a sad sigh when I watched the scene of Shara being reunited with her family. Although it was a happy ending for her, to be able to see them all once again, a lot of people did not share her luck. In fact, Shara herself had been truly fortunate. From what I could tell, Aurivy sent a message to her father, letting her know when and where to find her.


    After speaking a bit with Irena, I had learned that most families did not get reunited for weeks, or even months after any given member died. There were just too many souls to process, so it was no wonder. Only on rare asions when the dead had family members present when they crossed over did they get the chance to reunite quickly.


    Of course, that also got me thinking, and I asked the death goddess that I had summoned to my room. ¡°How did they do the transfer to the afterlife? I thought only you could create those portals?¡±


    Irena smiled slightly, bent over at the waist as she watched the screen. Unlike myself, she only seemed to be happy that the halfling family was quickly reunited. ¡°It¡¯s a technique that we worked on for decades, and one of the things that were absolutely necessary in order to prepare for my ¡®ascension.¡¯¡± She exined.


    ¡°It needs to use a total of twenty thousand spirit energy to activate, more if you wanted to make a bigger transfer. Even with all of those people, they will need to rest for a couple days before they can do that again. However, when it activates, it allows the transfer of souls within the area from the living world to the Underworld. The technique can also be used in reverse, but doing so that way is far easier, as they can draw upon the energy of the Underworld itself.¡±


    Hearing her exnation, I nodded my head slightly. ¡°So you are still unable to form a stable portal, and can just open up gaps to brute force it? Kind of like what that chimera soul did when it forced its way into the living world.¡±


    Irena grimaced slightly at theparison, but nodded nheless. ¡°Exactly. However, that creature did not know how to wield the energy of the Underworld, so it had relied on its own energy to forcefully ¡®break¡¯ the barrier between the worlds. Unfortunately, I am still the only one able to create an actual portal, though they are researching how to solve that problem.¡±


    That did make sense. I¡¯m sure eventually they would be able to create devices that would allow them to quickly travel from the afterlife to the living world whenever they wanted. But for now, such things were only distant dreams. ¡°I see, thanks for clearing all of that up for me.¡± I said with a smile.


    With that, Irena stood up and stretched lightly, before turning to leave the room. ¡°I¡¯ve got to go make sure everything is ready. This war is probably going to have effects in the Underworld as well, and I need to let the governor prepare.¡±


    After saying that, she left the room, and simply vanished in the hall. If you¡¯re just going to disappear dramatically like that, why bother walking out the door? I couldn¡¯t help but ask myself that question as I turned back to look at the monitor again, fast forwarding once more.


    _______________________________________________________________


    After the battle at Savir, those halflings who had originally chosen to leave before the fight eventually made it to the Rest. Along the way, many began to feel ashamed of themselves for abandoning their kin to die in a hopeless battle. Yet, at the same time, they werepletely aware of the fact that their presence would not have changed the oue of the battle. And even if they did, there would only be another one just beyond the horizon.


    As such, they did the only thing they could. They passed along Shara¡¯s message, her dying will. They told anyone who would listen at the Rest about the army that had invaded the forest. They spoke of how Shara and her Bloodied Hand stood there to defend every halfling in the forest, even when they were outnumbered beyond belief.


    And they spoke of how she died. Some sought to embellish the story, putting in details as if they themselves were there. In some stories, Shara stood atop a pile of corpses, fending off attacks from every angle. In others, she was dashing from foe to foe, leaving death and destruction in her wake.


    Yet, every story had something inmon. Shara led the people of Savir to fight a hopeless battle. All for the sake of her kin, those who they had sworn to protect. She did not die in shame, and not one of those who had left Savir tried to mock her for what she did. They had seen the army, that is the reason that they chose to flee in the first ce.


    To any that heard the story, Shara was a hero. Probably the first true hero among the halflings, regardless of those who had earned the ss named such. Shara was an example, she showed that it was possible for them to fight, to defend against such odds for her people. And, after sending scouts to Savir only to find it a wastnd of death, they knew that she had seeded.


    The enemies that she fought against did not quickly return to the forest, and the sheer number of bodies being feasted upon by the scavenger beasts told them that the stories were not in the least exaggerated. If anything, those scouts that had investigated Savir felt that the stories werecking. What they found was a sea of flesh and blood, mangled bodies scattered as far as they could see.


    By that time, Shara¡¯s body had long since been dragged away by some nameless beast, and they could not even gather enough of the remains to identify people. So, there was no way for them to receive a proper burial, to be put at rest beneath the ground, as was tradition. Instead, they brought dozens of halflings to the ruins of Savir, all armed with bone daggers.


    These halflings got to work, each one picking a tree and carving a name, before moving on to another. The Bloodied Hand had died to protect those who live in the forest, so they decided for the trees to mark their graves. In this manner, over a hundred trees were marked, each one carved with a name and a symbol of a palm print.


    Yet, no matter how they tried, not all of the members of the Bloodied Hand had people who remembered their names. Many were known only to the other members. For those, they did something special. They gathered in front of thergest tree, which Savir itself had been built around, and carved onst memorial.


    In these woods, Shara stood with her brothers and sisters, who joined her cause. She fought for what she believed to be right, to defend all of us. With this, we let you return to Mother¡¯s embrace. May she be more fair to you than we were. But know, we will never forget.


    For Shara, and the Bloodied Hand.


    This message was carved deep into the tree, causing many daggers to break as they wanted to ensure that this memorial wouldst until the tree itself was no more. This was the best that they could do for her, to show her wherever she was that they had not forsaken her. Rather, her actions were causing a change that she had never expected, one that no mortal being could have.


    After leaving the memorial, the halflings of the forest gathered to retrieve the dead. Yet the ones being retrieved were not the halflings, but their enemies. As they had the skin of beasts, they were treated as such. Their lower bodies were skinned and used for leather, while the few halfling bodies they found were buried.


    Once they had gathered as much leather as they could from those creatures, they used them to send messages. One message to every Rest within reach, and a request to spread the word. The message was simple, a tale worthy of being known to all.


    It was the story of a little girl who did the unthinkable. The story of how she grew up with her father, journeyed with him to repay a blood debt, and lost him in that same journey. A story of how she saw the cruelty hidden within these intelligent beasts, and formed a group of her own to fight. Yet, she did not lead them to ughter as her enemy would have. Instead, she used her group to defend against the fiercest of odds, to fight back an unimaginable army. And she won, dying for those she loved.


    These messages were extremely significant, for two entirely different reasons. First of all, though this fact wasrgely unknown to the halflings, this would be the first full book in history. Although there existed scrolls of leather, those were but a single page. Only the elves and beastkin had begun to learn how to create papyrus, so a full book of this size was unheard of.


    Secondly, and this was far more significant to the halflings in the immediate future, this was a call to arms. With this book, everyone would know exactly what happened. The word would spread, and people woulde south. Because this was not just the story of one heroic girl, it was a warning. To the south, there exist creatures who would act to hunt down every man, woman, and child.


    Faced with this warning, the halflings only had two options. One, they could flee to the north, move as far away from the threat as they could. Doing so would guarantee that they would live the rest of their lives in peace, but would perhaps condemn their children to suffer this fate in their ce.


    Or the other option, to follow Shara¡¯s way. And many chose this, heading south towards the forest. Although this meant that they themselves would have to spill blood, it meant that their children would be able to be free. Their future generations would not have to suffer under the threat of these beasts.


    _______________________________________________________________


    It was months before the first centaur reported back to King¡¯s Hope. Not because the journey was long, or that they lost their way, but because they had been utterly terrified by what had happened. Of those who managed to escape, not a single one had dared to walk any path that took him through tall grass. Some had even avoided the watering holes, afraid that there might be lurking hidden dangers beneath the surface.


    So, when the first man came back, it was clear to see that he had not had food or drink for days. He was on the verge of copse, and almost jumped right out of his skin when one of the guards called out to him. It wasn¡¯t until he had been nursed for several days when they learned that he was part of the army that had left the ins.


    Although anyone could tell by looking at him that he had experienced a living nightmare, there were still those who secretly mocked him for running from the battle. Some asked about the condition of the Knights of the Round who had led the charge, and then refused to believe that they had fallen within the first moments of battle. Many of them ended up believing that he had simply ran away as soon as the fight began, his fear taking control of him.


    Yet, there were those who did not question this in the least. The remaining Knights of the Round had soon heard this report, and it was as if their fears hade true. Before the army had left, each of the Knights had been given a promise scroll, which would only beplete upon the death of the carrier. This was a token measure to see whether or not the one holding the scroll lived.


    When the Knights of the Round died, the original scroll that was kept in King¡¯s Hope shattered into light, showing one of two results. Either the scrolls that had been taken with them were torn in the battle, or the three Knights of the Round had died. Naturally, those remaining wished to believe the former. After all, the Knight of Leadership had been chosen to be the next King.


    It was only when the story was again verified by more peopleing into the city that the knights went to deliver the news to the King.

 Chapter 79: Spelled Correctly

    <h4>Chapter 79: Spelled Correctly</h4>


    After some time, I pried my head away from the screen, shaking it side to side. Although I hadrgely fast forwarded through the aftermath of that war, I was still fully aware of what had happened. After all, I had been keeping a close watch, and slowed things down when something interesting looked like it was about to happen.


    At least, now it will be a while before anything else takes ce. I thought to myself with a light sigh. For the halflings, it would take time for their people to get the message and make the journey south. As for the centaurs, I doubted that they would be able to gather another army of that size for several years.


    After all, that was almost five thousand casualties! Not only from King¡¯s Hope, but even counting the entire centaur poption that was a big dent. On the other hand, the halflings lost only a few hundred. Granted, they had the advantage in terms of preparation and location, but it would still be a huge blow to the centaurs.


    As such, I once again began fast forwarding through the world¡¯s time. This time, I was not moving only a week or a month at a time, but rather in leaps of five years. With the initial confrontation out of the way, it felt like they had at least that long before anything major happened again.


    Sure enough, after the first skip, only a few things had changed. For the halflings, they had three extra towns set up along the northern border of the woods, and the poption for that area had grown explosively. Looking at the map, I could still see more and more groups heading south to join that area.


    As for the centaurs, they had apparently set up their third city. This one was located directly outside of the forest where they had first fought with the halflings. Going by the map, the city had been named ¡®Sorrow¡¯s Shield¡¯. A rather¡­ unique name for a city, but it¡¯s structure appeared to be identical to that of King¡¯s Hope. Everything from the circr wall to the interior buildings had been replicated.


    While I was looking at that--¡±Dale, Dale, Dale, Dale, Dale!¡± A very energetic voice broke me out of my concentration. Looking up, I saw a certain elf goddess panting for breath, her chest rising and falling as she bent over with her hands on her knees. It looked as if she had just run a marathon, but¡­


    ¡°You are doing that on purpose!¡± I shouted at her, shaking my head to remove the purposely seductive image she painted with her body.


    ¡°Am not!¡± She retorted. ¡°Okay, maybe a bit. But still! We figured out something important, you¡¯ve got toe take a look!¡± Ryone reached down, tugging on my arm to pull me to my feet.


    While I did get up, I did not immediately follow her out of the room. Given her excitement, it was obvious that she had discovered something rted to magic. As for the ¡®we¡¯ she mentioned, that had to be her and Tubrock. The two of them should have still been looking into making the god items. ¡°Slow breaths, and speak.¡±


    Seeing that I did not intend to follow her without a reason, Ryone puffed her cheeks out in a pout. ¡°Muuuuu¡­ Fine!¡± She took a deep, exagerrated breath. ¡°Tubrock and I discovered a new crafting technique that could change everything!¡±


    Listening to that, I nodded my head slightly. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go then.¡± No sooner had the words passed my lips than our surroundings had changed. Before I could even think, I realized that we had moved to Tubrock¡¯s forge.


    ¡°Oh? Ye managed ta get him down here, after all? Good on ye,ss.¡± The dwarf said, a massive steel hammer draped over his shoulder, held by one hand on its lower shaft. ¡°How much did ye have ta tell him?¡±


    Ryone kicked the ground in a sulk, lowering her head. ¡°About half of it.¡± She admitted, causing Tubrock tough, his gut shaking.


    ¡°Hahah! Looks like I won the bet, don¡¯t it?¡± He asked with a strange smirk, Ryone nodding slightly in agreement.


    ¡°Okay, okay, slow down. First, what is this bet. Second, why am I down here?¡± I asked, looking between the two of them.


    ¡°Ah, right.¡± Tubrock cleared his throat, lifting his hammer up over his head so that he could set it down on the ground beside himself. ¡°Thess and I had a tiny bet, ya see? If she managed ta get ya down here without exining nothing, her godly weapon would be a trident. She had this borate diagram with each prong representing a different side of a scale, and I wasn¡¯t having none of it!¡± He shook his head strongly. ¡°Ya have any idea how hard it is to carve those patterns in this stuff? Well, no, I guess ya wouldn¡¯t yet¡­¡±


    ¡°Still, since she lost, she¡¯s gettin¡¯ a staff. It¡¯ll be a fancy staff, for sure, but a staff nheless.¡± He concluded, nodding his head. ¡°Anyways, for what we brought ya here for. Take a look at these.¡±


    Tubrock waved his hand, causing two identical tables to form above the ground, nking me with them on either side. Each one had identical objects on it, a single long rectangle of metal, and a sword. Just going by their appearances, they seemed to be using the same materials, so I wasn¡¯t sure what was supposed to be special about them. Maybe they have enchantments?


    Thinking that, I picked up the first sword, the one on my left. Focusing on it, I activated my ability to appraise the weapon. Keeper cheats, go!


    Iron Longsword


    Sharpness: 9


    Weight: 0.9kg


    Durability: 100/100


    And¡­ it was a regr sword. Maybe a bit better than what I myself could make, but not enough to really get excited about. Focusing on the ingot, I found that it was also extremely normal. Shaking my head, I set it down and turned to the table that was now behind me. However, this time, as soon as I picked up the sword I felt something strange, which was immediately confirmed by my appraisal.


    Spell-Iron Longsword


    Sharpness: 36


    Weight: 1.2kg


    Durability: 400/400


    The difference in the stats between the two was enormous. Although the appearance of the window seemed a bit off, I couldn¡¯t help but look at the two of them and ask dubiously. ¡°Is this one enchanted?¡± I could clearly feel the presence of mana in the sword, so I couldn¡¯t help but ask. Yet, the window looked distinctly different than the results gained from a normal enchantment.


    ¡°Not at all!¡± Ryone shouts out, waving her hands and shaking her head back and forth. ¡°That¡¯s the beauty of it! Spell-ores!¡± She seemed so excited, unable to speak properly, so she looked to Tubrock for assistance, who simply sighed.


    ¡°Thess is right. Here¡­¡± He caused a second sword to appear on the table that had the Spell-Iron Longsword. Once I picked it up, I confirmed that what he said had been the truth. After all¡­


    Enchanted Spell-Iron Longsword


    Sharpness: 32(+320)


    Weight: 1.1kg


    Durability: 400/400(+4000/4000)


    This sword seemed to defy all logic, given what I understood about weapon statistics. ¡°That¡¯s an enchanted spell-iron sword.¡± Tubrock said, though I had seen the results myself. ¡°That¡¯s also the strongest possible sword that ya can make using only iron. However, with that ya won¡¯t have to worry about resistance unless ya were cutting through ironbark or simr materials.¡±


    Very gently, I put the weapon back down on the table. ¡°Okay¡­ exin.¡± I said in a quiet voice, thoroughly impressed. ¡°How did you two create a sword ten times better than what I thought was the most you could enchant a weapon like that?¡±


    Tubrock was just about to continue the exnation when Ryone cut in. ¡°We enchanted the materials!¡± She said excitedly, practically bouncing in her spot. ¡°It¡¯s one of the things we were researching, whether enchanted materials would have an impact on the final product. When we only enchanted an ingot, all we got was a lump of metal that was harder to shape into a weapon, and it turned into a normal enchanted sword when it was done.¡±


    ¡°But! When we enchanted the ore itself, before putting it through any refinement process, something happened! The mana and the natural energy within the raw ore seemed tobine and cause a strange mutation in the ore. Most of the results ended up shattering immediately, but eventually we found the rightbination!¡± She took a brief moment to pause, taking a deep breath before continuing.


    ¡°When the proper amount of mana was applied to the enchantment, the ore mutated into what we are calling a spell-ore. In this case, spell-iron. Spell-ores have two distinct properties¡­ The first is that they are ridiculously hard to forge due to the durability increase of an enchanted item. In fact, from start to finish they hold the attributes of a fully enchanted equivalent of its non-spell variety.¡±


    ¡°The second, and more important property is what you just saw! An item made from spell-ore can be enchanted a second time! Due to the mutation in the base ore, a spell-ore item isn¡¯t considered enchanted, and in fact can hold mana far better than a normal item of its type!¡±


    Okay, now I could see how this could be exploited. And in fact, it scared me a little bit to consider whether or not the dwarves in the world below were approaching this level of craftsmanship. Just imagining an army fitted with weapons like this would let them strike down almost anyone that got in their way. ¡°Tubrock¡­¡± I said, looking to the dwarf.


    He nodded his head slightly to acknowledge me before I asked. ¡°What is the level of difficulty in making that?¡± I pointed directly to the overpowered sword he had shown me.


    ¡°For me? I can do it, as long as I¡¯m up here. For a mortal?¡± Tubrock lowered his head, chubby fingers stroking through his beard. ¡°I¡¯d say¡­ ten expert cksmiths, and thirty enchanters might be able to pull off one sword, if they all work together and know what they are doing?¡± He shrugged his shoulder at the vague guess. ¡°If not for me being able ta create any kind¡¯a forging tool I can think of, and having unlimited energy to work with, I might not¡¯ve been able to create it. Ya¡¯d have to ask the catss for a timeframe on when mortals would be able to manufacture these. She¡¯d know more about that than us.¡±


    His words did reassure me a little. While the dwarves were the only race in the world right now that possessed cksmiths, they were quitecking in terms of enchanters. That ss was dominated primarily by the elves, and a few of the unicorn centaur variants. At least the scene of ungodly equipment appearing in the world was still a long ways away.


    Thinking that, I let out a sigh of relief, before turning to address the two of them again. ¡°Is there anything else to report while you have me here?¡±


    Tubrock gave that another moment of thought before he answered. ¡°I¡¯m about ta get started on the various god weapons in a bit. Now that we know about spell-ores, we can create some powerful artifacts without having to wait for better enchantments.¡±


    After that, Ryone shook her head. ¡°Nothing new from me, aside from this.¡± She said, dejectedly.


    Nodding my head at that, I smiled slightly. ¡°Good. Okay, I¡¯ll be heading back now before something inevitably happens with that war while I¡¯m away. As for this¡­¡± I reached down to grab the sword of ungodly sharpness. ¡°Imma taking this.¡± Personal sword, get!


    Thest thing I saw before I shifted myself back to my room was Tubrock giving a knowing smile,ughing aloud as Ryone continued sulking. Setting the sword down with the hilt propped up against the desk, I quickly checked on the status of the world. To my great surprise, nothing at all had happened while I was away. No interspecies fights had sprung up, and neither side had even moved any closer to the other. Imagined crisis averted.


    ¡­Hey, the one time you don¡¯t think something like that will happen is when it catches you by surprise. Safer to always expect it. Anyways, time for another skip¡­

 Chapter 80: Reputable Names

    <h4>Chapter 80: Reputable Names</h4>


    The next several years of the war between the halflings and the centaurs wasrgely uninteresting. It wasn¡¯t until almost a full twenty years after the first conflict when the two sides met again. Though, like the first time with Savir, this was not a full-scale attack, but rather arge group splitting up from the main force to explore.


    By now, roughly a third of the halfling poption had managed to travel to the centaur continent. This already gave them numbers simr to the centaur poption, though this time it was the centaurs that had the home field advantage. Anyways, I decided to speed things up a bit, curious what the actions of the halfling group would cause.


    Watching with time moving forward at a little over a thousand times normal speed, things actually looked like a real-time strategy game. I could see them doing their best to avoid any and all confrontations, taking paths that would guarantee that they would not run into any herds. Though, while I was d that they weren¡¯t getting into any fights, I was a bit surprised by what I found out when I focused on them.


    To be specific, their mission was not to attack the centaurs at all. While they were members of the halflings¡¯ army, which apparently had been named the Bloodied Hand, none of them were particrly strong fighters. Whether it was their hunter ss, or their monster tamer ss, none of them had gone above twenty.


    However, when it came to their scout ss, things were entirely different. Each one of them had a minimum of fifty levels as a scout. That, coupled with the thoughts and conversations I could pick up by focusing on the group, and it was pretty obvious what their goal was. They were mapping out the centaur¡¯s terrain.


    I had to admit that I was a bit impressed that they were able toe up with that strategy, but it was not too surprising, given that most halflings never stop traveling. The ability to know thend around you is practically a required skill to have if you want to survive that life. Though, i was not sure to what extent they nned on scouting.


    After spending roughly an hour watching them, nearly two months had passed within the world. And yet, by that time, they had showed no signs of turning back. They had not even made it all the way to Tryval¡¯s Hold yet, let alone King¡¯s Hope. Does this group of three hundred halflings seriously n to map out the entire ins before they go back to the forest? I couldn¡¯t help but question.


    Thinking to that, I couldn¡¯t help but remember that Terra and Aurivy both made incarnations in the halfling race. Pulling out my handymunication paper, I wrote a message to each of them, asking to meet in my room. No sooner had I put down the pencil I manifested to write said message, than my door burst open and a tiny ball of cuteness jumped up onto myp.


    ¡°What do you need, bro?!¡± Aurivy asked in an excited voice, leaning over and hugging me with her small arms.


    ¡°Well¡­ Someone has been a bit bored.¡± I said with a smirk, causing the halfling to pout slightly.


    ¡°Everyone¡¯s just been so busytely!¡± Sheined, crossing her arms in front of herself. ¡°Big sis has been so tiredtely because of managing two mortals, and the other sisters have all been busy either training or getting used to being here.¡± She said with a huff.


    ¡°That¡¯s actually part of why I asked you here. You created an incarnation when everyone else did, right?¡± When she nodded her head I smiled, continuing. ¡°What¡¯s yours up to down there?¡± I needed to find out whether she was actually involved in the war right now or not before anything else. Though, simply being the halfling goddess would let her help me figure out what their ns were faster than looking for the key figures myself.


    Hearing that, Aurivy¡¯s pout only became heavier. ¡°My family was too far north when the message went out. It took a whole five years to even reach them, and when it did they decided to avoid the conflict altogether, and kept heading north.¡± She shook her head dejectedly, looking down at the floor. ¡°Even if I had left by the time I finished growing up, I¡¯d probably not make it there until the war was over, unless I used my god powers to cheat. But even then, I don¡¯t have a build that would be useful for the war, for either side.¡±


    It was at around this time that Terra slowly made her way into the room. Judging by how she was still dragging her feet when she walked, she was obviously as lethargic as she had been before. ¡°Hey, Dale¡­ you called?¡± She asked, yawning loudly as she leaned against the doorway, smiling slightly when she saw Aurivy sitting in myp. ¡°Hey, Rivy.¡±


    ¡°Hey sis.¡± Aurivy replied with a warm smile. ¡°Bro was just asking about our mortals.¡±


    Terra gave a slow nod, not waiting for me to ask her directly before speaking. ¡°Probably the halfling one¡­ Mine is in the Rest at the forest. Though¡­ I¡¯m doing my best not to get involved with the fighting.¡± Terra brought her hand up to her mouth to muffle another yawn, before continuing. ¡°With these numbers, I can tell that the halflings have an overwhelming advantage now. So, I¡¯m just waiting for the right time to advocate peace. You know, when my opinion isn¡¯t outnumbered fifty thousand to one¡­¡± She finished with a tired chuckle.


    ¡°Wow¡­ that bad, huh?¡± I asked, and both of the goddesses nodded in response. ¡°So, we¡¯re probably going to need to take steps to make sure that the centaurs aren¡¯t wiped out either.¡± I mused quietly, one hand subconsciously reaching up and patting the top of Aurivy¡¯s head, making the little goddess squirm in myp.


    I was fine with the centaurs being knocked down a peg. It would be good for their personalities in the long run if they were on the losing end of a war. More importantly, this could serve to bring the variants and the normal centaurs closer together, fighting against amon enemy. Still, with the centaurs not yet unified, this could hardly be considered a fight at this point. I knew that i would have to step in and save them, but how to do so was still an issue. Looking up, I nced at Terra curiously.


    ¡°It¡¯s not possible to possess a mortal temporarily, is it?¡± I asked, and she shook her head. ¡°Figured. Would probably need to buy a new system for that. Either that, or ce a World Host down in advance.¡±


    Hearing that, Terra gave a small smile. ¡°Worried about having enough influence to step in when the time is right?¡± When I nodded my head, she slowly stepped forward, practically copsing onto the bed when she reached it. I could hear her talking into the mattress, but it wasn¡¯t until she turned her head that I was able to understand her. ¡°That¡¯s a normal problem with Keepers. That¡¯s why they act through others, giving orders to manipte events. And when possible, going down themselves to build a reputation for when they are needed.¡±


    I was just about to retort when she lifted a hand, signalling me to wait. It took her a long moment to resume talking, and I half suspected that she had briefly dozed off. ¡°Possessing a body is an easy solution if you buy the system, but it sucks.¡± She waved her wrist slightly, and a window opened in front of me, showing the ¡®Possession System¡¯ listing on the Keeper forums, rather than the market entry. Of note was one ranter whoined about the system.


    MissBehave: Seriously need to list the biggest w of this system. After possessing a mortal, the Keeper is NOT restricted to their level of power, and can at any moment bring out their Keeper abilities. However, doing so is a massive drain on the body. While there are no immediate symptoms, as soon as I left a body I had been possessing for a little over a week, she copsed from multiple organ failure! I thought at first this was just a coincidence, but then the next one I possessed did so as well! I mean really, why would you want to possess someone to make them influential, just to have them die after a few days?! Wish I had known about that before wasting the hundred points, would have gotten the Easy Reputation system instead.


    Aside from the name seeming a bit familiar, I was able to easily see why buying this system would lead to problems in the long run. When I looked up at her, Terra was already preparing to exin, though first she turned on her side and held open her arms. Aurivy quickly jumped out of myp to goy down with Terra, willingly letting herself be used as a body pillow.


    ¡°Keeper powers are a huge drain on a body, forcing it to go beyond its normal limits. Its one thing for a descended Keeper, as their bodies are built to handle the sudden surge of power. But¡­ for a normal body, they can¡¯t stand the extra stress. And even if you don¡¯t use your Keeper powers, the act of possessing them can lead to mental trauma.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­¡± I agreed with a nod of my head, understanding why this system was bad. ¡°What about this Easy Reputation system?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but notice how it was mentioned at the end of that post as a possible alternative for possession.


    Hearing my question, Terra¡¯s smile widened slightly. Again she waved her hand, and another blue window appeared in front of me. This one looked like a market entry, rather than a forum post.


    Easy Reputation


    This convenience system allows a Keeper to create a reputation for themselves prior to descending. By slightly altering the memories and documentation of the inhabitants, the Keeper can insert themselves into almost any role, designed as an extra step when creating a body to descend in. Only unique roles, such as kings, presidents, or religious leaders cannot be assumed unless they are currently vacant at the time of descending. Likewise, it is impossible to insert yourself as a parent of a mortal unless that mortal never knew the parent you are attempting to rece.


    160 points


    I felt my eyes widening in surprise as I read the description of this system. I mean, yes it had its limits, but they were not really that heavy. As long as I didn¡¯t try to do anything obviously stupid, I could theoretically insert myself as whatever kind of figure I wanted. Of course, this raises questions of its own. ¡°Just how heavy are the effects of the memory alteration?¡±


    Rather than answering me directly, Terra showed me the forum post for this system, where it was discussed in more detail. ording to the various posts summarizing it, it held certain simrities with the process of granting a personality to a god or goddess. The Keeper in question designed the life that they wanted to be known to have lived, in as much or as little detail as they wished. They could include family, friends, love interests, whatever.


    Once they were done with that, the system would do its best to adjust the memories of the affected mortals to seamlessly ce the Keeper within that life, without changing the current structure of society by toorge a degree. For instance, the system wouldn¡¯t recognize someone as having invented a spaceship in the bronze age, or creating world peace in their history, and would make them redo the reputation.


    Finally, there was one post that suggested that a Keeper be prepared to fake their own death when they were done with the identity that they had created, so that their ¡®friends and family¡¯ did not think they just went missing. That was what I was concerned about, and faking a death did sound like a very usible method of going about it. Especially if I were to use the World Host and kill that.


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll have to remember that.¡± I thought, saving that to bring up with Ryone next time. Again, promised to let her manage finances, and can¡¯t be going back on my word THIS quickly. ¡°Anyways, I wanted to ask the two of you what the halflings were up to. That¡¯s why I called you both here in the first ce. Right now, they just seem to be scouting out the territory, but the group they sent seems way too big for just a scouting mission.¡±


    Unsurprisingly, it was Aurivy who spoke up, gently holding onto Terra¡¯s arms as they wrapped around her body. ¡°That¡¯s really all it is, bro. Well, they¡¯re nning to make it moreter, but that won¡¯t happen until the scouting group finishes mapping the centaur-upied territory and returns.¡±


    ¡°After that, they n to create actual fighting teams. They haven¡¯t specified how big each team would be, because it depends on how many people they have willing to join them, and how many of the scouts survive the full trip. But, the n is for each fighting team to have at least one high level scout that has fully explored the ¡®enemy territory¡¯.¡±


    That¡­ ¡°That is surprisingly advanced¡­¡± Thank you, Terra, for beating me to that. However, the sudden blush in Aurivy¡¯s face made me think there was a bit more to it then that.


    ¡°Well¡­¡± She said guiltily after seeing my expression. ¡°They call it the ¡®Probing Fingers¡¯ n.¡±

 Chapter 81: Shameless

    <h4>Chapter 81: Shameless</h4>


    I nked out for a moment when Aurivy said the name of the n, then looked at her incredulously. ¡°Who¡¯s been teaching our little sister naughty things?¡± I asked, causing her eyes to widen. Terra also looked down at her, her eyes suddenly seeming awake.


    ¡°Yes¡­¡± She said. ¡°Who corrupted my little angel?¡± Unlike when I asked out of curiosity, Terra¡¯s words caused a chill to go down my spine, and I could practically feel the killing intent from her.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ uhm¡­ We don¡¯t have angels!¡± Aurivy suddenly spoke up, looking side to side as she tried to change the subject, before she let out a long breath. ¡°Guys, goddess of love here? You didn¡¯t think I¡¯d stay innocent and naive forever, right?¡± She asked, looking between myself and Terra.


    However, Terra simply shook her head, squeezing her arms around Aurivy to bring her more into her embrace. ¡°Not allowed. You are the little sister.¡± As she spoke now, her eyes seemed to haze over slightly, showing that she had gone back to focusing on her incarnations. ¡°Rivy¡­ cute and innocent little sister.¡±


    Hearing that, Aurivy smiled gently, nodding her head. ¡°Okay, okay.¡± She reached her hand up to pat Terra¡¯s arm. ¡°I¡¯ll be the cute and innocent sister. I liked doing that, anyways.¡± As she said that, she looked over to me, her smile widening. ¡°That okay with you, bro?¡±


    I nodded my head, signalling that it was fine. Honestly, I don¡¯t think my heart would be able to take it if Aurivy showed off her more adult knowledge more often. Of course, I knew that she did have that knowledge now, but to see it was something entirely different. No matter how old she was really, or how grown up, she was still a halfling, and that meant that she still looked like a preteen girl.


    ¡°Yay!¡± She cheered for herself, stretching her arms out as much as she could within Terra¡¯s embrace. ¡°So, what are you working on now, bro?¡± She asked as she looked over to me curiously.


    ¡°Well¡­ Right now, I am trying to figure out how to go about this war so that the centaurs won¡¯t get totally wiped out. No offense, but your people get pretty vicious when they are mad like this.¡± I nced towards the screen as I exined that to her.


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± I heard a somewhat mncholic voice from the bed behind me. ¡°I¡¯d help, but we all agreed not to use our godly powers to get directly involved. Maybe Tryval¡¯s incarnation will be able to do something about the war on his end?¡±


    I nodded my head slightly at that, though I didn¡¯t really have much hope. Among the gods, Tryval was likely the least informed about the various sses and systems, as he had spent all of his time in the ins below instead of speaking with the others. At most, he would be able to be a decent monk or mage, depending on whether he incarnated as a variant. He wouldn¡¯t be able to pioneer new territory like the others so easily.


    Suddenly, Terra began speaking, her voice barely above a whisper. ¡°The problem¡­ isn¡¯t how to end the war. That¡­ that will be pretty easy.¡± After letting out a low yawn, she continued. ¡°The problem is whates after. The hatred¡­ hatred that canst for centuries. That¡¯s going to be the hard part.¡±


    I raised my brows at her words, but nodded nheless. Even in the history of my world, a single war could createsting conflict. And, this was after the world had advanced, and modern morals had set in. I could only imagine the kind of hatred that would spring up from an archaic civilization having these kinds of conflicts.


    Still, I could only put that out of my mind for now. Even if I began making preparations for that right now, nothing woulde of it for a while. It would ultimately be better to wait and see how things y out, so that I cane up with a more effective response. In other words, so that I know who to ask for help.


    ¡­What? I¡¯m new to this, okay? Stopping a blood feud this deep is NOT an easy thing to aplish. But at the same time, I can¡¯t just stand by and let it continue on until a second war breaks out. While I won¡¯t use my powers to tell them not to go to war, I can still do my best to prevent unnecessary wars from starting in the first ce.


    Suddenly, Terra¡¯s ears perked up, her eyes widening. ¡°Dale. Interesting thing just happened.¡± She spoke, her voice still groggy. I quickly turned back to look at the screen, but I could not see anything happening of importance, whether it was with the scouting team or the main forces of either side. ¡°No¡­ Not them.¡±


    ¡°Details would be appreciated.¡± I said with a sigh, figuring that it had something to do with her other incarnation, then. Aside from knowing that she had chosen to incarnate as a beastkin, likely a felyn like herself, I didn¡¯t know exactly where she was. And doing a search to find out would take far longer than her just telling me where she was and what happened.


    ¡°Ninja vige¡­ New discovery.¡± She spoke with another drawn out yawn. Why was I not surprised that she chose to be born in that vige? With a sigh, I changed my view on the map to cover the ninja vige instead. Well, I haven¡¯t checked them out in a while, so I guess it¡¯s a good way to take a break from the war?


    _______________________________________________________________


    The Vige of the Hidden Fog, the name given to the ninja vige since long ago. Not because of any recurring weather patterns, but instead the fog that had rolled through near its creation, seeming to deposit people at random. Nobody could exin what had happened, so they had simply taken it to be divine providence.


    Ever since the founding of the vige, those living in it had been training diligently in the ninja arts. And of course, that means that they were stumbling around blindly, trying to adjust to this unfathomable power. Not only did they have to slowly discover the key aspects of chakra itself, but in order to truly understand it, they had to understand the features of itsponent energies, ki and mana.


    As such, this is what they spent their focus on. Not on exploring, or fighting, or even developing their culture. They were led here by the gods, so why would they want to leave? The mastery of not one, but two energies gave them aplete advantage over the surrounding monsters, so what did they have to fear in a fight? As for their culture, it could be said that the ninja way was their culture.


    With this in mind, they advanced. Farther and faster in the field of researching the energies than any other species. Although they did not strive to figure out the symbols that governed magic, they were ahead in terms of understand exactly what magic was, and what ki was. Inevitably, this led to some rather unusual leaps.


    It was a widely known fact among the vige that it was impossible to store either ki or mana outside of the body. One came from within the body itself, while the other was a manifestation of thought. But at the same time, chakra was both simr and different. Unlike either of its parent energies, it was not created within the mind or the body, but outside of it. So, many people began experimenting, trying to find ways to store chakra.


    This research carried on for over a hundred years before any kind of breakthrough urred, and what sprouted was a mere theory. If ki and mana can be stored in the body and mind, than could not chakra be stored in something with aspects from both? However, to get something that had the aspects of the body and mind was still a very difficult task.


    At least, until they discovered enchanting. This branch of magic opened up a whole new world for them, one which they had been striving for all their lives. Solving the aspect of the body was easy, as it simply required blood from a creature capable of using ki. Some would use their own blood for this, while others would use the blood of monsters.


    However, the aspect of the mind was something that they had no clues for until now. This was their first real test of the theory, to determine whether chakra could be stored forter use. For theponents, they used the blood of a monster, and a length of vellum that had been enchanted.


    The vige leader, Hanbe, stood in the center of a circle of beastkin. Standing before him was a statue of a golden kitsune, painted with various dyes that they had found throughout the forest. At the statue¡¯s feet was a stone bowl of blood, a single feather, and the vellum.


    Hanbe walked forward, and grabbed the feather, dipping the sharpened tip of it in the monster blood, and began writing on the vellum. It was determined that the contents of what he wrote did not matter much, as long as the blood came to rest on the vellum. Some had even considered simply dipping the entire length in blood, but Hanbe had a different idea.


    ¡®Dayl, may you watch over us now and guide my hand. Bring us the wisdom toplete this trial, as you brought wisdom to our ancestors.¡¯ Hanbe wrote these lines on the vellum, and sped his hands in prayer to the statue. Although most races had allowed the legend of the unknown god to fall into darkness, the ninjas were different. They found it no mere coincidence that a stranger appeared before them, teaching them the powers of the ninja, and then the gods sent them to live together and grow with this new power. To those in the Vige of the Hidden Fog, Dayl was the hidden god, and many even believed he was the one responsible for the fog itself.


    After he was done writing the message, he ced his hands on the corner of the vellum, and began generating chakra to send into it. He was not seeking to activate any hidden ability, or any secret power, merely storing his energy within. Those witnessing could see the vellum sheet beginning to glow blue, the words shining brightly. There were many who wanted to cheer, but held themselves back so as not to break Hanbe¡¯s concentration.


    However, that glow soon faded, and with it the hopes of the audience. All but one, as Hanbe opened his eyes wide to stare at the vellum. The others were too far to notice, but he could still clearly feel the power of chakra resting in the object before him. To be sure, he pulled his hands off of it, while keeping his senses focused.


    Although the sensation was dulled slightly when he wasn¡¯t directly touching the vellum, he could still feel the presence of his chakra. It was not breaking up or fading away, but instead resting peacefully inside its new container. For the final test, he ced one hand back on the vellum again, and attempting to connect with that energy to draw it back to himself. Once again, there was a slight glow to it, before he felt his chakra returning.


    Although the process was slower than he would like, it proved that they were right! Chakra could be stored. It was at that time that one of the lycan men nearby came up and put his hand on Hanbe¡¯s shoulder in a consoling matter. ¡°It¡¯s alright, you don¡¯t have to keep trying.¡± He said in a somewhat disappointed tone. To everyone else, the second glow simply looked like he had tried to put more chakra into the vellum.


    ¡°Huh?¡± Hanbe looked at him curiously. ¡°No, you misunderstood! It worked! Try it yourself!¡± As he said that, he stepped back to allow the lycan male to step up to the statue.


    And he did so, skeptically. While he was hopeful that their experiment had seeded, he also did not want to doubt his own eyes. So, as Hanbe did, he generated chakra and sent it into the vellum. And, like Hanbe, he could feel its presence remaining in the parchment. His eyes widened as he stared at it, reaching down and picking it up as if it were a precious artifact. ¡°This¡­ this is it!¡± He let out a sharp cry. ¡°By Dayl, this is what we have been working for!¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°So?¡± Terra asked, and I could detect a grin in her tired voice. ¡°What do you think?¡±


    ¡°Why¡­¡± I asked, my head buried in a pillow. I wanted to just hide from the world right now. Of course, I had already been hidden from the world for a long time, but that¡¯s not the point! Why was there an entire vige that worshipped me?! I could easily recognize that statue that they were gathered around, and the words that they had written.


    ¡°Advancement¡­ Energy storage. It¡¯s important, right?¡± She asked slyly. ¡°Now, they can make things¡­ like talismans. Very important for their development.¡±


    I had long since left theputer, hiding in the bed under the covers as if worried that the people in the screen would be able to look up and see me watching them. However, that allowed a certain excitable goddess to wander over to it. ¡°Oh? What¡¯s going on?¡± She asked curiously, looking at the screen. Although the goddesses could not use any of the Keeper functions on theputer, they could still easily read the disy.


    ¡°Waaa, bro, you have a cult!¡± And thus, the halfling delivered the final blow. Can I go back to watching midgets and horsemen killing each other now? That sounds really funpared to this.

 Chapter 82: The End is Neigh… Nigh?

    <h4>Chapter 82: The End is Neigh¡­ Nigh?</h4>


    Distracting myself from the fact that I did indeed have a cult of ninjas worshipping me, I once again returned my attention to the war, curious to see how things were progressing. And again, I had time speed up drastically, watching them scurry around the ins like a long montage. Even after another five years passed, they had not returned to the forest.


    However, by the end of that five years, they had apparently scouted as much as they had hoped to. Perhaps if they had split up and all gone off on their own, that period of time would have been enough to scout out the entirety of the ins, but they had to stop before even getting halfway done. As for the reason why¡­


    ¡°They got homesick.¡± Aurivy spoke up, once again acting as Terra¡¯s hug pillow, though she sported a wry smile on her face. I couldn¡¯t help but notice a faint giggle as she seemed to think about it. ¡°Even if they are a traveling people, they¡¯ve gone five years without any contact, trapped in hostile territory. I guess the stress was just too much for them.¡±


    I could only nod my head slightly at that. I really did not know how much the halflings had nned to scope out. Simply telling them to investigate the entire area that the centaurs upied without knowing howrge of an area that was would be an assignment that could easilyst for generations. Looking at Aurivy, I expressed that concern, earning me anotherugh from the young goddess.


    ¡°They were simply told to map as much as they could before returning. They weren¡¯t really given a time limit, though¡­ Anyways, if they took too much longer, then it is possible that their mission would be entirely forgotten by the people that sent them there in the first ce.¡± She exined, shrugging her shoulders.


    I nodded my head slightly at that, before turning to Terra. ¡°By the way, there was something that I wanted to ask you before.¡± I saw the catgirl¡¯s ears twitch, though she kept her eyes closed. ¡°With your incarnations, what are you able to do? I imagine that there must be rules or something, right? Surely, you wouldn¡¯t be unable to tell me information, but could still act on it with your incarnation.¡±


    There was a small whining purr from Terra as she heard that, before one of her eyes opened up. ¡°Yeah¡­ that¡¯s why I can only handle two at once¡­¡± She admitted. ¡°I have to devote extra effort to sealing a portion of my mind that handles the advanced information in the incarnations¡­ I can¡¯t even do as much with that system as the others can.¡±


    Seeing me look at her curiously, she cuddled up to Aurivy a bit closer, nuzzling her head into the top of the halfling goddess¡¯s. ¡°I can¡¯t act on any information unknown to the world and its inhabitants, unless you give me specific directions to do so. Of course, that means you would also have to know that information to give me those directions. That¡¯s why my incarnation is able to y a part in the war, because you are directing it through me.¡±


    Saying that much, her lips pouted cutely. ¡°The others can all use their own knowledge to advance various fields, but me who knows all of the necessary information can only do so much.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help myself but chuckle at that thought. ¡°And let me guess, the first thing you taught the ninja vige was about elemental ki, and ki paths?¡±


    Terra¡¯s eyes opened wide for a brief moment, before slowly closing again. ¡°Nuh uh¡­ they actually started to figure out elemental ki before I was old enough to reasonably help, but abandoned the research for it because it interfered with their ability to create chakra. As for ki paths¡­ I considered it. Maybe after they advance a bit further in their chakra research, so I don¡¯t distract them. I like the direction they are going in.¡± She spoke with a content smile, her eyes fully closing.


    Now, that was a small tidbit of information I found interesting, and very relevant for me. ¡°You can¡¯t make chakra with elemental ki?¡± I asked doubtfully. It should be possible, right?


    Terra smiled a bit more, her eyes still closed. ¡°Not the same kind of chakra, at least. Once you add elemental energy to ki, the bnce bes wrong. It¡¯s like trying to make the same dish with a big extra ingredient. For you personally, it won¡¯t be much of an issue. You can rely on your Keeper abilities to either give yourself a body with normal ki, or take normal ki from your Keeper reserves when needed. But for a normal person, once they be an elemental monk, they can¡¯t easily be a ninja.¡±


    I nodded my head slightly as I considered that. It did make sense. ¡°Is it possible to have both normal ki and elemental ki, without having to manually replenish it? For a normal person, I mean.¡±


    When I asked that, Terra¡¯s face became¡­ unusual. She knit her brows together, as if she was deep in thought, and frowned slightly. She opened her mouth to speak, but then abruptly closed it before speaking in a somewhat bitter tone. ¡°I¡­ can¡¯t tell you how. I¡¯m able to tell you that it is possible, because even saying that I can¡¯t tell you confirms that. But, your world hasn¡¯t gotten close enough to that answer for me to help you with it.¡± She exined reluctantly, an apologetic smile on her face.


    I let out a relieved sigh hearing that it was possible. Eventually, I would want to be able to use my ninja ss without relying on my Keeper reserves. After all, essing those reserves causes a rather unpleasant situation where everyone immediately feels my power. I¡¯d rather not have that happen when it is possible to avoid. ¡°Thanks.¡±


    I turned my head back to theputer screen, and saw that the halflings were still slowly making their way back towards the forest. Although they had spent over five years exploring, they had been exploring in various directions, and were now able to travel in a straight line back to the forest. By my estimate, it would only take them another six months to reach the rest of the halflings again, as long as they were careful not to meet any herds.


    My mind briefly shed back to the little experiment that I just saw with the ninja n, and I once again turned to look at Aurivy. The little goddess looked at me curiously, noticing my gaze on her. ¡°Yes, bro?¡±


    ¡°How¡¯s your dungeon doing? Those slimes probably died a long time ago, right?¡± A thought had urred to me when I remembered those slimes.


    Aurivy suddenly grinned broadly at my question. ¡°With the dungeon expanding slowly, they were able to get quite a lot of insects and stuff to eat. Although the original two died, it wasn¡¯t before they left descendants. Right now, there are already over a hundred slimes in Danny.¡±


    ¡°Danny¡­?¡±


    ¡°Yup! Danny the Dungeon! It¡¯s the name I gave him. Though, with how many slimes there are, they¡¯ve pretty much be the only monster in the dungeon, and will even eat anything else that tries to enter¡­¡± She exined proudly.


    ¡°Did they ever show any signs of having ki?¡± The blood of a monster capable of using ki was the keyponent to chakra storage, so if those slimes could produce ki by now¡­


    ¡°Yup!¡± She dered again. ¡°About three generations after you dropped them off, I noticed their acidic properties had gotten stronger. Worried that it might have been a mutation, I did a bit of checking, but found that it was because they had ki flowing through their bodies. It was enhancing their slime coating, and thus their acid. That¡¯s how they¡¯ve been able to eat other creatures that wander into the dungeon.¡±


    Note to self, do not underestimate ki-slimes, got it. ¡°Okay¡­ I might need to take one or two of them for testing myself, eventually.¡± If I could get rid of the acid, then those slimes would make the perfect ink for chakra talismans and things like that in the future. There might even be other uses for them.


    Aurivy nodded happily at my request, and I turned back to once again look at the screen. Since things were going a bit too slow still, I increased the speed further. Now, it was only a few more minutes until they reached the edge of the forest, and I reduced it to the normal elerated rate.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Within Shara¡¯s Forest, as the halflings came to call it, sat the first true halfling city of Sharak. Although Savir had been a kingdom, but it had still been built mostly in the style of a Rest. With Sharak, they made it bigger, safer, and able to hold vastly more people. But even so, an unusuallyrge crowd was beginning to gather within the dirt paths of the city.


    Earlier in the day, the scouts reported arge group of halflings had entered the forest from the enemy territory. Deciding to give them a name, the halflings called them the charun, named after a vaguely simr creature to the north. The charune was arge scaled lizard that ran around on four legs, but had the upper body of a scaler. Take away the scales, and rece the lower body with that of a horse, and the charun strongly resembled the charune.


    Habak, the vige chief, was the first to greet the scouts as they entered the vige. ¡°Wee, wee. It has been many seasons since westid eyes on you.¡± He spoke warmly to the Probing Fingers. In all truth, some had even thought that these scouts had long since perished within the charun territory. Habak himself had been concerned, and often wondered if that had been the case.


    ¡°Many thanks, brother.¡± The appointed leader of the Probing Fingers, Jalvak, answered. ¡°It was a long journey, but we kept our wits about us.¡± From the appearance of the scouts, there were almost no injuries. And those that were injured had only been so by monsters.


    Habak nodded his head repeatedly. ¡°Yes, very good. Tell me, how was your mission?¡± When the vige chief asked this, everyone in the vicinity stopped what they were doing to listen. There was a mix of opinions on the next step of this n, but the vast majority of the halflings had still not forgiven the charun for the events that led to Shara¡¯s Forest receiving its name.


    Jalvak smiled in response. ¡°We have scouted arge amount of the charun territory. In it, we managed to find a total of three cities. However, there did not seem to be signs of further settlements south, so we returned. Apart from the cities, there are only the wandering herds.¡±


    The smile on Habak¡¯s face grew three sizes that moment, obviously pleased with the report. ¡°Very good indeed. I¡¯ll send word to the other cities and Rests. Now that you have returned, we can begin our ns for the next step.¡± After saying that, he ordered one of the nearby halflings to bring him something to write with.


    Meanwhile, Jalvak nced around the surrounding wooden buildings, taking in the scenery. ¡°This ce has changed so much since we left.¡± He said under his breath, catching Habak¡¯s attention, who only smiled slightly.


    ¡°No, my friend. I think you have just been away too long.¡± He joked, shaking his head. ¡°Now, let us spread news of your return.¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Yep, they are still going through with it.¡± I said with a sigh, having not really expected anything else. I at least had an idea for what to do, once the situation became grave for the centaurs. However, if I acted too early, then it would have some rather bad results. As such, I could only wait, knowing that the wandering herds would be easy pickings for the organized halflings.


    Seeming to understand my thoughts, Aurivy spoke up from the bed behind me. ¡°I tried getting Tryval to move the herds into cities, but most of them didn¡¯t listen when his priests spread the message. ording to him, they are the ones who are still set in the ¡®old ways¡¯, and saw that message as an attempt for the variants to control them.¡±


    Okay, so the ones in the cities are the ones we actually like. Though, there are probably also those herds that just haven¡¯t happened upon one of the cities to hear that message as well¡­


    ¡°Well, either way, this war isn¡¯t going tost much longer.¡± I was thankful to that, at least. The centaurs likely considered the war over twenty-five years ago when there was no further signs of activity from the halflings. Little did they know, they provoked some fierce midgets that knew how to hold a grudge.

 Chapter 83: Advancement

    <h4>Chapter 83: Advancement</h4>


    It was roughly a month after the return of the halfling scouts that the leaders of the various cities had all convened in the city of Sharak. The various representatives had all agreed to use this as the staging point for the uing war, as it was the closest city to the southern edge of the forest.


    Although I didn¡¯t pay too much attention towards the contents of the meeting, I knew I wouldn¡¯t have to wait very long. After all, from the viewpoint of the elerated time, the entire meeting took less than a second, and within minutes the various representatives had all gone back to their own respective cities. From there, I watched as a swarm of halflings began to converge in the center of the forest.


    Each halfling scout was apanied by a group of fifty battle-hands, the name that they had given their soldiers. The battle-hands themselves could be warriors, monster tamers, archers, rogues, anybat ss. But, with over three hundred scouts, that meant that there was over fifteen thousand battle-hands in all. Even looking at the force that the centaurs invaded the forest with, I could only see this as stronger. Especially since almost every halfling had with them some form of monster or animalpanion, further bolstering their numbers.


    I half expected them to pour out of the forest like a tide, wiping out everything in their path. However, that is strangely not what happened. Instead, they scattered, with each unit leaving the forest at different points guided by their scouts. In this manner, they were entirely undetected by the centaurs as they did not allow themselves to be spotted.


    And, perhaps they knew that they were unable to take out the cities. Or maybe, they just wanted to target the easier prey first. Either way, not a single unit moved towards the cities, instead carving a wide path around them, ensuring that they never so much as saw a city on the horizon.


    However, doing that also got them to their targets much faster, because the wandering herds also tended to take paths that led them far away from the cities. If they wanted to be close to them, they would simply join the cities themselves, after all. Thus, the first battle was only two days after the first group of halflings left the forest.


    I could see as the halflings stealthily hunted the first herd they came across, waiting until it was deep in the night before they attacked. Even then, they did not get away without losses, despite the herd not being toorge. One of their assassins did not kill the person keeping watch in a single strike, and it resulted in the rest of the herd waking up.


    Ultimately, two halflings had died in the ambush, and the group immediately returned to the forest. However, by that time five other groups had already left, scouring the ins to search for their own targets. Little by little, more of the wandering herds fell in silence, taken out by the halflings.


    However, at the same time, the halfling units only stayed in the ins until they had someone suffer a serious injury or death. As soon as that happened, they returned to the forest like the first group. While they wished to kill the centaurs, they were not seeking to simply throw their lives away.


    Still, no matter how one looks at it, the halflings were simply killing too many centaurs to go unnoticed. With them not knowing how to hide the bodies, it quickly led to other herds finding the remains of the battles. Those that did made their way to the nearest city to beg for shelter, warning them of the impending threats.


    Like this, the news that the war had not truly ended had once again spread throughout the ins.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Hran Earthshaker stood atop the round court. As the king of the centaurs, naturally there was information he was able to see that nobody else could. And this very knowledge made him question himself for the first time in his reign.


    Back when the previous battle urred, and he had sent his armies to wipe out the forest folk, the system had acknowledged it. First, at the start of the battle, it told him that he had officially dered war on an unknown kingdom. However, mere hourster he also received news that he had won that war.


    There were several things that he could learn from this. First of all, there was no such thing as a secret war. He had no idea when the fighting was about to begin, yet received the report immediately. He could only assume that the enemy king had also received that information. Thus, he assumed that any hostile attack from an army on a different kingdom would have the world dere a war.


    Then, why was he receiving no such message now? It was clear that his people were being ughtered. More and more centaurs ran to the cities, seeking shelter from the forest folk. They spoke of mangled corpses, and some even found the limbs of the smaller race at the site to prove that it was them.


    So why was he not receiving the deration of war? Was it possible that this group was not associated with a kingdom? If that was the case, then how could they assemble an army able to wipe out so many so quickly.


    Still, whether or not this was an official war, there were steps that needed to be taken. The ins were no longer safe to roam. Thus, Hran spoke from atop the court, his ki spreading his voice far across the city. While he was not a variant, he was still one of the most powerful monks known to the centaurs.


    ¡°Heed my words. Assemble the defenses. Archers, mages, and druids, man the walls. Shamans, conduct regr scrying. I want ten pegasus variants to deliver message to the other cities. We must protect our people. Protect our cities, and do not allow the forest folk to enter. Grant shelter to any of Tryval¡¯s children, and keep a watchful eye. I fear that this is far from over.¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle as I noticed the king atop his ¡®castle¡¯. I observed his thoughts, and saw his worries. From what I could tell, there was actually a very simple reason why the system didn¡¯t notify him of any war. Not a single one of his citizens have been killed yet. While he may consider himself the king of all centaurs, and many others do as well, it is not really the case.


    Using the map, I could clearly see that his kingdom only covered the three cities. The wandering centaurs were doing so mainly because they did not ept his rule, and were thus not included in his kingdom. So really, it was only natural that there was no war deration yet. Though, this did show something interesting.


    ¡°Terra?¡± I called back to her, rousing the catgirl goddess from her state of half-slumber.


    ¡°Hmm?¡±


    ¡°Is it possible to do a covert war?¡± I asked curiously, rather keen on finding that out. There have been many wars in history that were conducted without the knowledge of the general public. Sometimes, even without the knowledge of the leading powers themselves. All it took was one influential person.


    ¡°Kinda¡­¡± She said with a yawn. ¡°If the leader of a kingdom orders any directly hostile action on another kingdom, then the war will be dered when those orders are carried out. However, if¡­ say, a general of the army sent his troops to attack of his own initiative, then it would not be a war. Likewise, if other people of influence gave the orders without the king¡¯s knowledge, then there would be no deration. Though, I imagine that any ruler who found their people trying to incite war without their approval would not take kindly to that knowledge once it was discovered.¡±


    I paused for a moment to consider that. It left quite a lot open to be misused, but at the same time this was a system designed by another Keeper. I didn¡¯t expect it to bepletely perfect. As such, I could only nod my head.


    Once I looked back to theputer, I decided to take a look at some of the other races. I hadn¡¯t been able to pay as much attention to themtely as I would have liked, due to this war. However, now that things were pretty much decided, I could spare a few minutes to check up on them.


    The first target of my observation was the dwarves. To my surprise, they had actually spread out to cover a considerably distance. The original seven cities had now be nearly a hundred, though most of them were positioned either near mountains or ore veins.


    Judging by their positioning, I had to assume that they used a shaman to find an ore vein. Though, I was still not entirely clear on how shaman magic worked. All I knew for certain was that they were not abat or crafting ss. Rather, like scouts, they focused on getting information. The only difference was that they gained their information from nature itself.


    Either way, closer observation showed me that the nearly one hundred cities of the dwarves had all be three kingdoms. The first was the Iron Dwarf Kingdom, the ones who lived near the mountains and devoted themselves to the forge. Their king was currently the highest level cksmith in the entire world.


    The next was the Hill Dwarf Kingdom. As the name suggests, these dwarves made their home among various tall hills, using the height advantage to keep watch for monster threats. Among the three kingdoms, they were the mostbat oriented, with many of their soldiers armed with metal hammers or maces. Well¡­ I call them hammers and maces, but they are basically just misshapen lumps of metal on a metal stick.


    The third kingdom was called Finra¡­ And I honestly wasn¡¯t sure what to make of that. To be fair to them, they were quite a distance away from either of the other two kingdoms, and only had a dozen cities under their rule. As for their specialty, they didn¡¯t really seem to have one. They were weaker than the Iron Dwarf Kingdom in the forge, and weaker than the Hill Dwarf Kingdom in battle. If anything, I could praise their culture. So far, they were the only dwarf kingdom that had actually built facilities for public entertainment.


    Shaking my head, I went to look at the next race, one I was actually rather interested in checking up on. The humans had expanded almost half as much as the halflings, which was already quite an achievement. They had various cities spread out throughout their explored territory, numbering almost three hundred.


    However, unlike the dwarves, there were far too many human kingdoms to take the time to explore the specialties of each one. At least, I couldn¡¯t take the time to do so without pausing the world, or else the war might be over when I was done. However, I could tell that there were nearly thirty kingdoms, with each one controlling an average of ten cities. This number went up and down depending on the kingdom, but it mostly stayed the same.


    One thing that I was surprised to see was that there was only really one war going on between any of these kingdoms. I had expected almost every kingdom to be in some kind of war, but after taking a look at the kingdoms involved, I began to understand why.


    The two warring kingdoms of the humans were known as Hanbei and Kri. While Kri seemed to be a very ordinary human kingdom, though one highly focused on its fighting force, Hanbei was a different matter. Hanbei did not have many archers, mages, or druids. But, what it did have was monks.


    From what I could tell, over half of Hanbei¡¯s poption had gained ess to ki. Not only that, but many of them had gained another ss, one almost exclusive to their kingdom. The martial artist ss, something that did not even exist yet thest time I had descended. And naturally, the highest level martial artist was their queen, one who had the same name as the kingdom itself.


    ¡­Okay¡­ I reached over, and grabbed the piece of paper, writing a message to Bihena. ¡®Did you just rearrange the letters of your name when you made your incarnation?¡¯ When I looked at the name of the kingdom and its queen, I couldn¡¯t help but immediately assume that it was Bihena, especially since she should be the best martial artist among the humans.


    A reply quickly came back to me through the paper. ¡®It¡¯s not like that! I didn¡¯t get to choose the name, they picked it for me!¡¯ I could tell by the handwriting that she was giving a rushed response. That, or she really needs to practice her handwriting. ¡®Apparently, Hanbei is supposed to be a lucky name to them, so my mortal parents called me that.¡¯


    ¡®And your kingdom?¡¯ I felt my lips tugging up into a smile as I wrote that down, nning to tease her a bit.


    ¡®Okay, that one is also really not my fault. Thest king tried to push himself on me when he saw how strong I was. After I took care of that old man, everyone just made me queen¡­ They even changed the kingdom¡¯s name! That¡¯s fucked up, right!?¡¯


    ¡®Uh huh¡­¡¯ I wrote, nodding my head silently. ¡®So, why is the goddess of peace currently waging a war in the mortal world?¡¯ This was the main part I was curious about. The rest of it was just me wanting to tease her.


    ¡®Ah¡­ you found out about that, huh?¡¯ That response came rather quickly, before more words began to appear below it. ¡®First, I¡¯d like to say that they attacked first. They wanted to enve my people to learn how we got so strong. That¡¯s why that war was dered, but I¡¯m keeping on the defensive. From what I can tell, the other kingdoms seem to be pretty interested in it too, and are just waiting to see what happens.¡¯


    Just what happens when I¡¯m not looking? I thought to myself incredulously. Apparently, Bihena had managed to not only be a queen, but gathered the attention of the other kingdoms on her and made herself a target. ¡®I thought you were nning to spread your martial arts teachings through your priests?¡¯ I couldn¡¯t help but ask that after giving it some thought.


    ¡®I tried¡­ most of them couldn¡¯t understand my exnations. Right now, once I finish this war, I¡¯m nning to send envoys from the kingdom to spread the teachings. I think that they will ept and understand it if I use both the priests and the envoys.¡¯


    She¡¯s totally going to go down in human history as a demigod of Bihena or something¡­ I shook my head with a sigh. Thinking about it, Tubrock might even be an official of the Iron Dwarf Kingdom. The only reason that I didn¡¯t think he was king was because the current king looked way too old to be him.


    ¡®Well, let me know if you need any help.¡¯ I wrote a final message to Bihena, before turning my attention away from the humans. Next up on my world tour was the elves, though for this I really didn¡¯t expect there to be any progress at all from Ryone. Her incarnation should still just be a kid, after all.


    What I found was¡­ pretty much the same as thest time I looked. Although they had added a few more cities, the elves had done very little in the way of exploring their territory. They appeared to be even less nomadic than the dwarves, which made me briefly consider that there may never be the appearance of things like wood elves or dark elves in this world.


    Still, the specialty of the elves had remained magic, and they had the strongest of almost every ss dealing with either mana or natural energy. Although they did not have the same understanding of those energies as the ninja cul--vige, the ninja vige¡­ Anyways, though their knowledge about the nature of the energies was a bitcking, their research into the various symbols that make up spells had gone far ahead.


    The elves, like the centaurs and halflings, only had one kingdom, the same one that had existed since the dawn of their civilization. Although the royal family of Gandor had been reced at some point, they had never lost the name, nor their focus. There were wide buildings devoted to the practice and study of magic, and within those I could see a few higher ss spells being used.


    Although I did not know the spells themselves, their quality was easy to recognize by the fact that the spell formations appeared in the air around them. ording to Ryone, that was a unique phenomenon that only happened when an element of a spell passed a certain quality. And going by the variety of spells being shown, they had discovered a few new patterns that I need to talk to Ryone about next time I see her.


    Finally, I turned my attention towards the beastkin. Their change was perhaps the most drastic since myst look at their civilization. They had over five hundred cities, with a total of four kingdoms. However, these kingdoms did not seem to have any sort of aggression towards each other, and would freely trade between them.


    To my surprise, the kingdoms were not separated by race, but by distance. Each kingdom spanned a wide distance, before another kingdom appeared. However, there was something strange about this.


    Each kingdom had an identical structure for government. All four of them were theocracies, worshipping the Faith of the Sister Goddesses¡¯, or simply the Sisters¡¯ Faith. The temples for this religion appeared in almost every beastkin city. From what I could tell, every kingdom¡¯s ruler was chosen by this religion as well. This made me wonder something¡­ ¡°Okay, Terra. Question time again.¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡± She once again asked in a groggy voice. Looking back, I saw that Aurivy seemed to have dozed off in Terra¡¯s arms. Though, I wasn¡¯t sure if she was just pretending this time.


    ¡°Howe all of the beastkin kingdoms follow your religion, and the religion basically controls everything? Wouldn¡¯t that really make it just one kingdom, not four?¡± I asked, my brows knit together.


    ¡°Ahh¡­ They decided to do it like that.¡± She spoke with a tired smile. ¡°The kingdoms were starting to get too big for one ruler to manage it, so they came up with that idea. So, they split it into four. Terraria, Udonia, al, and Kelios. Each country worships all four of us, but focuses specifically on one of the goddesses for its main teachings.¡±


    I nodded my head slightly as I heard that, easily able to guess which country worshipped which goddess. ¡°Do you have something like a pope to oversee the four kingdoms?¡±


    When I asked that, Terra shook her head. ¡°They haven¡¯t really thought of anything like that, or asked us for any help in structuring their organization. Right now, the four queens are treated as equal representatives of us four goddesses, and so far that has led to a friendly rtion between the countries.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ and the reason why Terraria is the closest one to the ninja vige¡¯s forest?¡± I asked, a wry smile on my face.


    ¡°Heh¡­ I don¡¯t want them getting found too fast. It would ruin the whole secret vige thing. Give them a few more generations, and they¡¯ll be old enough to take care of themselves.¡± She finished with a slow, confident nod before closing her eyes again.


    Well, I could understand her reasoning for that. Anyways, the four kingdoms really did have their specialties, though they seemed to be connected in pairs. al and Kelios were the fighters and the hunters, defending their own kingdom and their neighbors from monsters. They worked to train their bodies to the limits. And, like with Hanbei, martial artists had begun to appear among the two kingdoms, though they were mostly limited to the ursa for now.


    For Terraria and Udonia, they focused more on culture and entertainment, while each also held a specialty of their own. Terraria had the most shamans, and Udonia had the most alchemists. Udonia also had the only three clerics that currently existed in the world. Throughout these two kingdoms, there were many small theaters built to entertain the masses with regr performances.


    Altogether, the four kingdoms of the beastkin held a special kind of bnce where each supported the others. Honestly, if they really dide up with all of that on their own, I was impressed.


    Now, we return to our regrly scheduled viewing of midgets and horsemen killing each other¡­

 Chapter 84: The Jerks in the Circle

    <h4>Chapter 84: The Jerks in the Circle</h4>


    Atop the city walls of Sorrow¡¯s Shield, a line of centaurs stood watching the ins. They could see the many short figures on the distant horizon, with numbers uncountable. They were like a gue that had washed over their fields. The Kathar, or ¡®Night Killers¡¯, as the centaurs called them. Out of any beast or monster seen to date, they were the most fierce.


    Few people truly knew at this point how the fighting began. All they knew was that the kathar had been hunting their people for months, wiping out any herd that dared wander beyond the walls of safety. Even the flying pegasus variants were sometimes brought down from the skies when they attempted to convey messages to the other cities.


    Sadly, none of the Knights of the Round Stable had been stationed at Sorrow¡¯s Shield, as they were always kept in the capital of King¡¯s Hope unless dispatched. And by this point, it was far toote to expect them to be dispatched. The guards along the walls had the feeling that merely the kathar that they could see on the horizon numbered more than the entire poption of Sorrow¡¯s Shield. Yet still, they did not despair. Although they may have hid within their stone walls, they had hope, and that hope was precisely those guards.


    The tales of the kathar in the ¡®Battle of First Blood¡¯, as the centaurs hade to call it, told many things about the abilities of the kathar. They possessed great stealth and strategy, and the ability to control the creatures of the wild. Yet, the stories spoke very little of any magical use.


    Using this information, the guards of Sorrow¡¯s Shield formed a special defense, a defense of unicorns, stationed regrly along the walls. As the first Knights of the Round had done in the Battle of King¡¯s Hope so many years ago, they fought numbers with strength. They took the high ground, andunched their spells and arrows at any who dared to approach.


    Like this, the kathar had not dared to approach the city walls, for every time they did, fire and ice rained mercilessly upon them. But at the same time, the centaurs were unable to leave the safety of their cities. The kathar were able to camp safely beyond the range of the spells, making their presence known along the horizon, a clear warning to any who would approach.


    Unknown to them, a simr situation had arisen around both Tryval¡¯s Hold and King¡¯s Hope, though thetter had a slightly better result. With the presence of the king and his knights, they were able to extend the range of safety by a good degree, forcing the kathar to recognize their power and make their camps further away. However, even the Knights of the Round Stable dared not leave their walls.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Well, that went about as well as I had expected. I said with a sigh, shaking my head as I finished fast forwarding through the lesser skirmishes of the war between the halflings and the centaurs. By now, the forest had been almost emptied of halflings, leaving only a few behind to manage the Rests. As for every else, they had begun to construct new cities just outside of the centaur towns.


    They called these cities Battle-Holds, for obvious reasons. Each one was hastily constructed, and had to be remade whenever the weather turned fierce. Yet, it housed a poption of halflings that could easily wipe out any centaurs that left their cities. But at the same time, they were unable to attack, for two reasons. First, they had no method to scale therge stone walls around the cities. But more importantly, the centaurs carried a major advantage over the halflings whenever they brought out the unicorn variants.


    Although the halflings had no innate properties that made magic hard to learn, the way that they established their society led to that result. After all, magic is grown through shared knowledge and research, but they spend so much time apart that they do not have the luxury to share such information. Even those that do end up getting the mage ss don¡¯t take it very far, often favoring the sses rting to exploration or monsters.


    This led to a stalemate that couldst forever, or until the centaurs starved within their cities. Although they had learned how to tend fields, that would onlyst for so long without the proper techniques, techniques that they have simply not had the time to discover. Which meant that now was the time to move.


    ¡°Terra.¡± I called out to her, looking back to find her stillying groggily on the bed. ¡°Which city is your incarnation near?¡±


    It took her a moment to open her eyes and register my question. ¡°Hmm¡­ I was taken to Tryval¡¯s Hold.¡± She answered with a yawn. At some point, it seemed that Aurivy had squirmed her way out of Terra¡¯s arms, to be reced by an actual body pillow.


    I nodded my head, writing a message to Ryone. I sent her the information about the reputation system, and let her know that I intended to buy it. There was currently a rather pressing need for it, so I didn¡¯t wait for her approval. I knew that she would ultimately agree to me buying the system, as it would be a great help in the long run as well.


    After buying the Easy Repuation system, I was left with exactly 607 points, though I was sure that number would increase if I checked my notifications to receive any royalties or rewards. Instead, I hit the great pause button of the world, turning back to Terra. With the world paused, it seemed as if someone had suddenly sshed water all over her. She was instantly awakened, looking at me with bright eyes.


    ¡°Are you getting ready to intervene?¡± She asked hopefully, and I nodded my head. ¡°Okay. Since you paused the world, I take it you want my help with something?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I nodded again. ¡°I want you to look over my idea for a backstory to use for when I descend this time.¡± As I said that, I created a pencil and a paper, and began writing. Though, what do I really write? ¡°Okay, first¡­ Is there a way to check the history of people? I know you¡¯ve mentioned having the worlds¡¯ histories archived in your memory, and being able to review what has happened after the fact.¡±


    Terra nodded her head with a smile. ¡°It¡¯s actually pretty easy, once you get the hang of it.¡± She exined. ¡°Just focus on someone like you would when you want to read their thoughts or check their aura. Then, imagine a little clock over their head, and rewind it. You¡¯ll be able to see the situation surrounding that person for the time period you view. Oh, and you can use it on locations too, if you want.¡±


    Well, that definitely makes this easier. After thanking her for that information, I went through the important people in Tryval¡¯s Hold, reviewing their past for important details that I could use to seamlessly appear. Thankfully, the faking my death part is really easy for me. All I have to do is use the World Host, and there will be no question that I actually died.


    After I spent a few hours reviewing personal histories, I began writing out the details of what I wanted for the reputation. To summarize, I was the elder brother of the city¡¯s guard captain, a unicorn who had specialized in magical research. Although I spent most of my time alone, in order to create less issues with the new system, I never acted without confidence. This eventually led the guard captain to have a great deal of trust in me.


    Once I was done writing the entire story down, I had Terra review it. She nced at it a few times before nodding her head. ¡°You won¡¯t be able to use any of your powers besides the mage ss if you do it like this, you know?¡± She asked, looking at me.


    ¡°I know.¡± I replied with a smile. ¡°I¡¯m not going to be working alone. I¡¯ll get others to help on my end. On your end¡­¡± I had chosen Tryval¡¯s Hold because it was the city where Terra was stationed. ¡°This is a difficult request, but I need to create as much fear as possible in the halflings. I¡¯m going to lead the centaurs out of the city, and ughter the halflings stationed there. I need you to make sure you are among the ones that get away. Once I¡¯m done, I¡¯ll need you to spin the story and try to warn the others outside King¡¯s Hope, and finally Sorrow¡¯s Shield.¡±


    Taking a deep breath, I shook my head regretfully. I did not like the idea of what I was about to do, and I¡¯m sure I would like doing it even less. ¡°We¡¯re going to turn the situation around, and put the halflings back in the forest.¡±


    Terra looked at me doubtfully, before raising a question. ¡°Won¡¯t that just lead back to this situation all over again? This won¡¯t end the war, you know¡­¡±


    ¡°I know. This is only the first step.¡± I smiled slightly. ¡°This is just to make sure that they see each other on equal footing, rather than as monsters or beasts. After that, we¡¯re going to start opening up a dialog between them, let them graduallye to understand each other¡¯snguages.¡±


    Terra made a soft sound of understanding, seeming to follow my thoughts. ¡°Okay¡­ that can work. It won¡¯t lead to extinction for either race, at least. Even though they won¡¯t really be friends for a very long time, it is a good start.¡±


    Thankfully, we had the perfect system already in ce that would allownguages to be learned easily with enough time and effort. Though, that also wasn¡¯t the end of my n yet. However, before I could move on to the final step, I would have to wait and watch how things develop after implementing this much.


    Now, on to creating a body for myself. I thought as I turned back towards theputer. By the time I noticed, I saw that I had a reply from Ryone, giving me the approval I had expected for the new system.


    For this trip, I immediately purchased a World Host, dropping my total by another thirty. That way, I could get out of the body whenever I wanted, and there would be no problems. After that, I began working on the body myself, though even I considered the body to be strange this time.


    The main oddity of the body was its coloring. While most centaurs had a rather normal mix of colors that could almost bepared to horses of the previous Earth, unicorns were different. In almost all unicorns, their fur and hair were only a single color, but that color was not limited to the normal spectrum for their breeds. There could be unicorn centaurs with bright red fur, pitch ck, or even a light blue.


    The fur that I chose for my Host this time was a vibrant pink. Why? Because this was another reason why he hid himself away in seclusion, not interacting much with even the people of his own city. At the same time, it caused others to somewhat mock him for his coloring, but at the same time they recognized his abilities as a mage and a schr.


    When I looked at the body I had created, I shivered ufortably. The image of a muscr male frame attached to a bright pink horse body¡­ I hope I never have a reason to use something like this again. Even Terra was shaking inughter on the bed, though that stopped when I unpaused the world.


    ¡°No fair¡­¡± She yawned, immediately tired again. ¡°It was¡­ just getting good.¡± Shaking my head, I fast forwarded the world again, looking for the proper timing to introduce my ¡®character¡¯ into the world.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Guard Captain Cak Hardback stood atop the walls, gazing out at the distant kathar camps. He had been trying toe up with some way to defeat this encirclement for months, but to no avail. Anyone he had sent out would be lucky to return alive. But he knew that they could not simply sit here and wait forever.


    ¡°Captain.¡± One of his guards trotted up the stone ramp to meet him, getting his attention.


    ¡°What is it Havak?¡± He asked, ncing over to the guard. Suddenly, he felt a strange energy washing over him for the briefest of moments, but afterwards continued as if nothing had happened.


    ¡°I have a message from your brother, Dayul.¡± The captain nodded when he heard that, a sudden hopeful look in his eyes. ¡°He said he knows a way to push back the kathar.¡±

 Chapter 85: Watch the World Burn

    <h4>Chapter 85: Watch the World Burn</h4>


    Cack hastened down to his brother¡¯s stable as soon as he heard the news, pulling the leather p open to enter. ¡°Is it true, Dayul?¡± He asked hastily, much to the surprise of the pink-haired centaur residing within. ¡°You have truly found an end to our plight?¡±


    Dayul seemed to hesitate for a few moments before nodding his head. ¡°I have, but I¡¯ll need some people to help me, first.¡± He spoke, seeming a bit reluctant to actually use whatever method he had thought up. However, Cack barely noticed that, only focusing on the fact that there was a way out.


    ¡°Of course. Tell me, what do you need? I¡¯ll put the guards at your disposal if you can get us out of this.¡± Cack had already tried any tactic he could think of, whether it was to drop stones on the kathar from above, or to disturb the ground beneath their feet. But everything only resulted in further loss of life, so the idea that his brother had a way to get through this was like a sign from Tryval himself.


    ¡°I need as many mages and druids as you can spare.¡± Dayul spoke, seeming deep in thought. This was originally the city of variants, so it was only natural that there were an abundance of unicorns proficient in magic. Even if some had already been lost in the previous attempts, there was still more in reserve.


    ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll go gather as many as I can.¡± Cack said with a nod, turning and rushing out of the stable. It was only a few hourster when a message arrived for Dayul, saying that his volunteers had been gathered in the guard stable.


    When he arrived, the originally noisy room immediately quieted down. There were many who were against the idea of putting the lives of the entire city in the hands of someone sometimes seen as an outcast. However, the general consensus was that they would listen to his idea, and see how it sounded.


    Dayul looked nervously around the stable, though that was not unexpected. The guard stable was a stone structure built along the base of the wall, and was currently packed with over a hundred unicorn centaurs, as well as the only qilin born in this generation. Dayul seemed slight relieved when he saw the qilin¡¯s presence, but soon controlled himself and began to exin his n.


    In order to prepare, he had all of the mages memorize a single spell, while all of the druids would practice a particr ability of their own. Like this, they prepared for three full days before acting. On the third day, the sky was clear, with not a cloud to be seen. ording to Dayul, this weather was required for his n to work, and also why it had taken so long for him to tell everyone about it.


    When the gate of the wall opened, there was movement from the enemy camp. Several dozen kathar emerged from their tents, gathering their weapons and bestialpanions. It was clear that they were ready for another fight, but this time would be different.


    As the distance between the two parties lessened, the kathar remained patiently in their camps. Time had proven that the centaurs posed no real threat to an army of their size, so they were in no rush to greet such a small group, and allowed them to approach. Even when the front line of the centaurs began conjuring shields to protect those around them, there was no hostile action taken, aside from the beasts and monsters to prepare for the fight.


    However, even when the centaurs were less than a fifty lengths away from the kathar, all they did was draw their bows and prepare to battle. It was at that point that they seemed to consider taking things seriously, but at that point it was already toote. Although most centaurs wouldn¡¯t notice it, but the kathar who were sensitive to their surroundings noticed a strange shift in the wind.


    At the same time as the wind shifted, over fifty centaurs simultaneously fired their magic, sending orbs of fire into the kathar camp. The target was not the kathar themselves, but the dry grass at their feet, which slowly spread out to their surroundings. Among the kathar, several panicked shouts were let out as they moved away from the burning patches of grass, sending their beasts and monsters to attacked while their bows fired their arrows.


    The arrows harmlessly struck the magical barriers, while the monsters and beasts were unable to react in time before something happened, which would be remembered for generations toe. The fire did not only spread outwards, but seemed to be carried upon the wind, spiraling into the sky to form a thin column of me.


    This alone might not have been too bad, but it was more than just the fire. The winds that had caught the me also picked up many kathar, throwing them into the growing inferno. Back with the centaurs, almost forty druids were deep in focus, urging the tornado of fire to grow. Smoke rose into the air like a ck cloud, yet this was still not the end.


    Several kathar sought to charge the centaurs, ending this attack from the source. Yet, every time they did, the lone qilin would wave his arms, causing a stream of fire to separate from the tornado, striking out like a whip at the attacker. This gave the tornado the appearance of having arms of me as it washed over the kathar camp.


    At that point, the gathered kathar realised that they had little choice but to retreat. While they could kill centaurs, there was nothing that they could do to kill wind and fire. But how could escape be so easy? The further the centaurs advanced with their menacing weapon, therger it grew. The screams of the kathar filled the ins, the smell of smoldering flesh carried upon the winds. Blood and bone scattered among the burning grass, while figures could be seen in agony flying within the towering inferno.


    It was only when there were no more kathar to be seen did the druids finally have their respite. While the mages offered the spark to ignite the field, it was the druids who had to maintain and control the tornado. Even with so many of them, holding it for so long had drained them. Enough that, had the kathar noticed, they could have returned and fought without fear.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Terrak ran through the ins, an unusually calm expression on her childlike face. With the rest of her halfling family dead, she imagined that she should be feeling some emotional turmoil, however none of that came. And if it did, she quickly suppressed it. She knew that these were not her true family, and she had been given a job to do. So, she ran, as fast and as far as her legs would carry her.


    It was over a weekter when Terrak arrived at the halfling camp outside of King¡¯s Hope, stopping and panting for breath. While she had appeared calm before, now her face seemed to hold unprecedented terror. ¡°Please, I need to speak with the elder!¡± She shouted at the camp, her voice shaking.


    Parts of Terrak¡¯s clothes had been charred ck, the result of being too close to the initial burn. However, she had ran away and swiftly treated her injuries, leaving naught but dirt and soot to show the ordeal she had previously been through. Still, her appearance was quite shocking to behold for the halflings gathered around.


    Soon, a small man with wrinkled features walked out of one of the tents, before moving to approach Terrak. ¡°What is it, child?¡± He asked in a tender voice, looking at the damage done to Terrak¡¯s clothing. Although he couldn¡¯t recognize this particr halfling, it was clearly not someone from his own camp.


    ¡°The camp at the second city was destroyed.¡± Terrak spoke in a shaking voice, pulling her arms up to hold herself. Anyone who looked would see her eyes beginning to water. Without knowing the names of the cities themselves, they had onlybeled them the first, second, and third cities based on how far away from the forest they were.


    ¡°What?!¡± The elder asked in shock, reeling back as the news hit him. ¡°How could that be?¡± From the reports their scouts had found, the third city where they were camped was supposedly the strongest. For the second city to have wiped out the camp outside their walls while the third city still hid inside was unthinkable.


    ¡°It¡¯s true¡­ the charun emerged from their walls as they had many times before¡­ but this time, they summoned fire that rose to the sky.¡± Terrak began to exin in a broken voice. ¡°The screaming¡­ there was nothing we could do to stop them. I don¡¯t know how many people managed to escape¡­¡±


    The halfling elder nodded his head, a grim expression on his face. ¡°Why did youe here to warn us? You could have made it back to the forest, back to safety.¡± He asked, trying tofort her. His tone was not one of usation, but concern.


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t¡­ I had toe and warn you.¡± Terrak confessed softly, tears starting to streak down her cheeks. ¡°I didn¡¯t want to be alone¡­ My family was at that camp.¡±


    The elder flinched when he heard that, feeling a pain in his heart. He nodded his head faintly, his voice turning soft. ¡°You can rest here, child. We won¡¯t let any harme to you. When we return to the forest, you cane with us.¡± Terrak nodded her head gently as she heard that, following him back to the camp.


    It was in this camp where Terrak lived out her next few weeks. Every now and then, people could find her gazing longingly at the sky. Most assumed that she was remembering those that she had lost in the camp, though none brought the subject up with her again after the first day. As far as they were concerned after that, she was one of their own.


    Even though they heard the report from Terrak, they did not pack up and leave. Rather, they began considering every appearance of the charun to be serious, not making the same mistake as her camp did. They even doubled the night watch, ensuring that there was no chance that the charun would be capable of approaching them in the cover of darkness.


    However, their worries onlysted for those two weeks, before a group of charun could be seen along the horizon, slowly marching towards them. Their numbers were almost as big as the entire halfling camp, each one armed with some type of weapon. When the charun were just barely able to see the walls of the third city, ivory horns were lifted into the air and blown into, a loud sound echoing through the ins.


    Looking back at the city, they could almost see the confusion in the actions of the charun, yet at the same time there was hope. As one group approached from the horizon, the gates of the city gradually opened, a second group approaching from the city. ¡°Not good¡­¡± The elder cursed under his breath.


    If it was just one group of even numbers, the halflings were confident in being able to achieve victory on the open ins. But when they were outnumbered as they were, being approached from both sides, he began to feel an invisible pressure. This only increased even more when he noticed Terrak not far away, looking at the charun that had approached from the horizon. Her face was white, her entire body shaking as she muttered under her breath. ¡°It¡¯s them¡­ they¡¯re here¡­¡±


    Her words immediately alerted the elder, causing him to look out to that group. She had told him before of the pink charun that led the charge that destroyed their camp. And now, that same unmistakably pink figure was leading the very group that now approached them. This gave him no choice but to admit that things were bad. The tale of fires reaching up to the sky, of entire families burning as they tumbled through the air, he did not wish for that to happen here.


    And so, he gave the order to retreat.

 Chapter 86: The True Language

    <h4>Chapter 86: The True Language</h4>


    I gave a slight sigh as I watched the scene unfold below. After having rescued Tryval¡¯s Hold, the entire city¡¯s morale was higher than ever. Using the authority of the local guard captain, I had the entire city mobilize to rescue the other two. After that, I left things on ¡®autopilot¡¯ and returned to the Admin Room.


    Now, I could see as the halflings charged the centaurs blocking their escape. However, from the looks of things, they were not aiming to fight, but trying to break through to run away. Using their smaller size, they ducked between narrow legs, keeping out of reach of most weapons.


    Although a few unlucky halflings managed to get pinned down under hoof, spear, or arrow, the majority still managed to break through. After that, they disregarded everything and began running at full sprint. Still, I had not doubt that the centaurs could catch up with them if they chose to do so, being more suitably built for long distance running.


    However, my Host stopped them from doing so, choosing to first meet up with the king and knights of King¡¯s Hope. Fast forwarding, I watched as he summarized the events that had happened in the other city, and was praised by several of the knights for getting them out of this situation. This part of the events I wasn¡¯t particrly interested in, so I simply began skipping ahead until they made another move.


    After resting for a few hours, the entire force of King¡¯s Hope moved out, creating a massive herd that equalled thebined poption of both cities. This centaur army was undoubtedly even bigger than the one that had invaded the halfling forest before, and began moving to save the third city, the rest of their kind. However, it was no longer my Host that was at the lead of the herd, but rather the centaur king, along with his dozen knights.


    Like before, there was little suspense with what came next. Terra¡¯s incarnation once again approached the camp resting outside of Sorrow¡¯s Shield, though this time with several other halflings apanying her, and exined theing danger. This time, they seemed to listen to the lesson from the previous camps, and immediately began moving towards the forest, much to the confusion of those within the city.


    Once the army arrived at the border of the forest, I could clearly see a line of armed halflings just behind the trees. However, at that point, it was time for the second part of my n. Having my Host convince the centaur king was the easy part, surprisingly. Getting it all to work, on the other hand, was different.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Unlike most of the halflings who stood within the branches, dreadfully awaiting the arrival of an army, one was strangely eager for what was toe. What¡¯s he going to do now? Terrak wondered to herself, her lips tugged up slightly as she gripped her spear. She had been given instructions for what to do from her main self, but had no idea what was toe now. Either her main self just didn¡¯t want to tell her, or didn¡¯t want to use her abilities to spoil the surprise.


    However, soon a single figure could be seen walking into the forest. To Terrak¡¯s surprise, as well as the surprise of many halflings, it was the figure of a pink charun. One Terrak undoubtedly recognized as Dayul, the Host with the most, so to speak. In his hands, he tightly gripped a single spear, which had a scroll of leather bound tightly around its shaft.


    Seeing the scroll, Terrak let out a noise of exmation, having figured out what the n was. Her smile widened, even more so when the figure pulled his arm back and threw the spear into the forest, letting the tip dig into the ground at the base of a tree. Afterwards, Dayul immediately turned and retreated back to the ins.


    Several sets of eyes were watching the spear, as if waiting for it to burst into mes. Only one figured leapt down from the branch she was on, steadily approaching the spear and taking the scroll off of it. Several people called out in rm as Terrak read over the contents. Although no other halfling could understand the physical words, the message would engrave itself into their minds as they read.


    Your mission, should you chose to ept it, is to read this writing in order to create an understanding of thisnguage. After reading, please take the time to study these words, and send a reply with a promise scroll. The reward forpleting this mission, ultimately, is the shared knowledge of both charon and night killernguages.


    Terrak almost let out augh as she read the words contained within the scroll, her body shaking once again. Another figurended near her, the elder that had met her outside of King¡¯s Hope, although he had lost an arm in the escape. He stared at her with concern, as if worrying that the contents of the scroll were some kind of attack. ¡°What is it, Terrak?¡± He asked. As far as the halflings were concerned, the centaurs had shown no understanding ofnguage as they knew it.


    Of course, Terrak knew that this was just because their concept ofnguage was too primitive, so they weren¡¯t able to recognize anguage that wasn¡¯t their own as anything other than the jabberings of a beast. Instead of answering, she passed the scroll to the elder, who held it up with his one remaining hand to read it. As he saw the unfamiliar characters, confusion entered his gaze, soon reced by shock as the scroll tranted itself within his mind.


    ¡°What¡­ what power is this?¡± He asked, unable to understand what was happening.


    Terrak simplyughed, almost sounding broken inside. ¡°Have you never seen the request scrolls of children? Even if they can¡¯t read and write, we can still understand what it says. I think¡­ I think this is the same.¡±


    It took the elder a while to process that information. Only after that did he seem to understand something. His gaze looked out at the charun beyond the trees, as he clutched the scroll in his hand. ¡°I¡¯ll need to take this to the others¡­¡± He said as he walked off, deeper into the trees.


    _______________________________________________________________


    I shook my head slightly, ignoring theughs that wereing from behind me. ¡°Really¡­ you used the quest system¡­ as a universal trantor. Not bad, Dale.¡± Terra spoke, almost in tears fromughing. With how awake she was, I imagined that her ninja incarnation must be either asleep oratose right now.


    ¡°It seemed appropriate.¡± I said, shrugging my shoulders. ¡°Since I included the trantion function for people that couldn¡¯t read, I figured it might help teach peoplenguages.¡±


    ¡°No, no it¡¯s good.¡± She confessed, sitting up to look at me with a smile. ¡°I hadn¡¯t considered that approach. Though, this will still not get rid of the hatred between the two races, only make them able to understand each other.¡±


    I nodded my head slightly. ¡°I know¡­ Right now, I just need to make my Host seen as an icon for the two races. Let him be important for a while before I move to the next step.¡±


    As I said that, I began to fast forward the world again, this time much faster than I had done previously. The world became a blur of motion as quest scrolls were gradually exchanged back and forth between the centaurs and halflings. Although, none of them ever exchanged the scrolls face to face, choosing to throw them with a spear or shoot them on an arrow.


    Still, only two figures really performed the exchanges. From the centaur¡¯s side, the task was given to Dayul, as it was his idea. The king and his knights decided that he would handle it from now on, though they also read over the scrolls themselves to be careful. From the halfling¡¯s side, it was Terra¡¯s incarnation, who had volunteered for the job. Although some people initially opposed it, or questioned why she would do so, she simply told them that she had nothing left to lose.


    This back and forthsted for many seasons, during which most of the centaurs and halflings returned to their respective cities. The king and his knights took up residence in Sorrow¡¯s Shield, while Terrak and some halfling elders remained in the halfling city closest to the ins. Every few days, one of them would journey to the border between the two areas, and leave a request scroll containing a new bit ofnguage, and then the other would take it back to study.


    Aside from Terrak and Dayul, most of the people involved still viewed the other side with hostility. Almost everyone had lost friends or family in this war, so the grudge was not something easily set down. Nheless, I had Dayul continue with the n, steadily monitoring how much of eachnguage the two races learned. Once it got to around the halfway mark, I nodded in satisfaction, opening up the Keepe for the first time in a while on theputer. Finding the message feature, I asked for help from the only person I could consider that would both know and be able to tell me the answer to my question.


    EarthForceOne: Are you free for a bit? Got a question for you.


    It was only a short whileter before the chat request was epted, and the conversation could begin.


    Alkahest: Good to hear from you again. What¡¯s going on?


    EarthForceOne: It¡¯s possible to purchase entities from the market, I saw. Like my World Host. But, how does it work with other cases? Are they always loyal to the Keeper that purchases them?


    This was something incredibly important for me to know. However, since I had no real experience with the subject, it was unlikely that Terra would be able to give me the information yet, so I had to ask him. Better than me going in blindly, and buying a creature able and eager to destroy my world.


    Alkahest: Aha, good thing you asked first. Actually, that is not at all the case. Sometimes, the entities listed on the market are hostile towards the Keepers that buy them. If you check their forum entries, experienced buyers will give them a loyalty rating for other people to reference. Typically, an entity is just someone a Keeper chose from their world to make a copy of for the market, like a signature fighter and such.


    EarthForceOne: I see¡­ I¡¯m looking for one that is incredibly loyal, but also powerful. Can you think of any like that, or would it be easier to just search through them?


    I could probably look through the forums myself if I wanted to, but doing so could take a very long time. If I had learned anything from looking at the keeper market, there were a lot of entries. Too many for me to easily navigate and find one that meets my criteria.


    Alkahest: Strong and loyal, huh? Well, there is one popr entity that a lot of Keepers choose to use at some point. He¡¯s nicknamed ¡®The Fixer¡¯, because Keepers tend to buy him to fix random mistakes they created on their world.


    EarthForceOne: I see¡­ That should be good for what I have in mind. There¡¯s not a problem with loyalty or anything?


    While I wasn¡¯t sure exactly how powerful he was, if other Keepers use him to clean up their mistakes, then this Fixer should be more than capable of helping me with my issue. The only concern was whether or not he would simply do what he was told, and not run wild when he was done.


    Alkahest: Never been a problem before. I¡¯ve used him myself a couple times, and he tends to go into aa after he¡¯s done with whatever task he¡¯s given. Though, if his body is ever found and killed, he makes for remarkable crafting materials.


    That information may have slightly disturbed me, but nheless I had him direct me to the market entry for this fixer.

 Chapter 87: To End a War

    <h4>Chapter 87: To End a War</h4>


    Alkazar Fireborn


    A dragon born in the core of a dying star. A being of great power, and great wisdom. Trained in most forms of magic, he has sworn loyalty to the Keepers, recognizing them as a higher power. Alkazar possesses the power to destroy worlds, and the wisdom to save them.


    100 points


    I was surprised when I saw the price on this fixer. I had imagined that the World Host would be a fairly expensive entity, given that it was a ¡®get out of jail free¡¯ card for Keepers. Yet, to this dragon, that was apparently nothing. Once again, I sent a message to Ryone, informing her of my intent to buy this entity, before spending the hundred points to get it.


    As a safety precaution, when I spawned Alkazar on the, I put him on one of the uninhabited continents. If his description was to be believed, then his starting point wouldn¡¯t matter, but it would give me more time to act if he went out of control. It was only when he spawned that I saw his appearance.


    Standing over a hundred meters tall, with two pairs of crimson wings, it was truly the form of a giant dragon. And when I measured its power, I found that its raw power alone was over fifty times stronger than my Keeper stats thest time I went down. Of course, from the description, I could assume that its greatest power was with its skill, rather than its raw power.


    EarthForceOne: Is this the standard for fighters in the Games¡­?


    Alkahest: Huh? No, Alkazar is a monster, even among advanced worlds. Only the really old Keepers would be able to easily produce people like him. He was found as a stroke of dumb luck from an advanced Keeper, who decided to shelter him and train him.


    I see, so that¡¯s why he was loyal to Keepers¡­ When I looked back at the screen, I saw the dragon looking with a strangely expectant gaze towards the sky. After focusing on him, I managed to hear his thoughts. Have I been summoned, Keeper? His thoughts were asking in a calm tone, as if entirely used to this situation.


    Yes. I sent a reply back to him, speaking into his mind. Hisrge figure shook slightly at that, but he quickly regained hisposure.


    Very well. What is it you ask of me? His thoughts were calm, and I could feel that he was prepared to sacrifice whatever was asked to repay some debt he felt towards Keepers.


    I want you to help me end a war. This world is still too young, so it will need to be handled carefully¡­


    _______________________________________________________________


    Thenguage sharing was going smoothly, and there were several key figures of both the centaurs and the halflings that could roughly understand thenguage of the other race. Still, they could only see the other side as the enemy, their weapons ready to defend themselves at a moment¡¯s notice.


    They could only scoff when they learned that the other races worshipped a god like they did. For the halflings, they could see nothing of fellowship from the beasts that mercilessly struck down their kind. And for the centaurs, they could not find love from the beings that stalked them through the night. Still, with the urging of those in power, they allowed the process to continue.


    It was almost a yearter, when nearly the entirety of bothnguages had been shared, that a fresh disaster struck. This one came not from either party who were beginning to set about a grudging peace, but from the skies. As if the heavens themselves wished to wipe them out from existence, fire spilled down upon the forest.


    A massive shadow loomed overhead, a winged creature the size of which nobody had ever seen before. The time it had chosen to strike was just when Dayul and Terrak were meeting face to face for the first time in their endeavors to stop the war. The halfling and pink centaur stood alone at the border of the forest, staring in shock as the massive beast dove out of the sky, its front limbs outstretched.


    With practiced ease, it grasped Dayul in one of its talons, eliciting a terrified scream from the halfling next to him. She pulled out her bow, and began firing arrow after arrow at the rapidly ascending creature. Yet, each arrow bounced harmlessly off of its scales. She could only watch on, horrified as the centaur who she was starting to empathise with was tossed up from the creature¡¯s w.


    A single burst of yellow me surged from its mouth, enveloping the frightened centaur, moments before he was devoured in a single bite. Whether it was the halflings in the forest, or the centaurs in the cities, they were all clearly able to see what had happened. Everyone felt their chests tighten as they watched this beast circling the skies.


    After spreading a bit further away, it began breathing its terrible me down upon the ground again, regardless of who was in its path. It drew a wide circle, the mes stretching out beyond the horizon in every direction. Roughly half of the circle included the forest, while the other half included the ins, coincidentally including one city from each side before the edge of the circle.


    Following that, the beastnded far away from either city, lying down and hungrily eyeing the halflings and centaurs that entered its view. To those who watched, it seemed to treat their screams as music, a wide grin forming on its face.


    _______________________________________________________________


    I couldn¡¯t help but shudder as I watched the scene unfold, before letting out a long sigh of relief. Not because everything went to n, but because the Host was finally dead. It felt like a great shame had atst been erased from the world. Still, though, I couldn¡¯t help but look at Terra. ¡°Okay, exin.¡± I said in a calm tone, catching the groggy catgirl off guard.


    ¡°Exin what¡­? He did what you said, right?¡± She asked in a confused tone, tilting her head to the side.


    ¡°Not that¡­¡± I shook my head, turning back to the screen and pointing. ¡°That!¡± What I was pointing at was the trees that Alkazar had released his me on. Naturally, there should be a forest fire starting up from something like that. However, not only was the fire not spreading, but the trees weren¡¯t even burning! I knew that this was not because of any kind of illusion, because the grass beneath the trees had been charred ck.


    ¡°Huh¡­¡± Terra said with some surprise as she realised what I was talking about. ¡°I didn¡¯t think they were that tough.¡± She admitted, her eyes widening slightly.


    ¡°Oh?¡± I asked, looking over at her, and she nodded her head.


    ¡°It¡¯s not umon for worlds with supernatural energies to evolve fire-proof trees. Even your own world had some that were highly resistant to fire, evenpletely without any magical energies. But, for these trees to even resist dragon fire, it probably means that their resistance is bordering on immunity.¡± She exined, her eyes drooping slightly as she yawned.


    ¡°But¡­ then how do halflings make campfires without any firewood?¡± With the halflings not having any real advancement in magic, it was obvious that they didn¡¯t just use a me spell or something, so they had to use this fireproof wood.


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Terra thought about that for a long moment, almost looking like she was about to nod off before she spoke again. ¡°The wood probably loses that special property when it dies. Let me check¡­ Huh, it contains just a little bit of spiritual energy.¡± She spoke, seemingly surprised by that revtion. ¡°It must have absorbed some of the spirits from the many years before you created Irena, eventually evolving into this species of tree.¡±


    I nodded my head slightly, before returning my focus to the screen. I had given Alkazar just a few simple instructions. He was to kill my Host, and then trap a city of each race together with him. Every now and then, he would go in and snack on one or two of each race, while they were unable to escape the circle of fire that he set up. ording to him, he could keep those fires burning for as long as he wished, so there was no need to worry about them escaping. As for the pegasus variants flying above the mes, that was also not an issue, as he could easily snatch them from the skies.


    This was tost until the races realised that they had no choice but to work together to defeat thismon enemy that had appeared. Of course, Terra¡¯s incarnation would be heavily pushing that from the halfling side, so I wasn¡¯t too worried there. This would leave to a ¡®brutal and bitter struggle¡¯ that brings the two races together, with bonds literally forged under fire. Only when they began to truly work together and cooperate would Alkazar pretend to be mortally wounded, flying off to retreat to some distantnd.


    While this sounds like a cheesy story on paper, it is actually the most effective method I could think of for such an archaic pair of races to ovee their differences. With a Romeo and Juliet romance, the pair would only be scorned. Not to mention, the size differences made that wholly unpractical. However, giving them amon enemy, and forcing them to work together made them truly begin to understand one another.


    In truth, the halflings and centaurs are not all that different. They just needed a catalyst to understand that. Now that they can speak with one another, Alkazar is just the catalyst they need.


    Rather than watching the entire event unfold like a dramatic novel, I decided to fast forward the world once again. Months passed before the two races even began to consider cooperation. It was years before they actually put it to good use. Finally, twenty years after Alkazar appeared, they began getting along enough that he was ready to carry out the final stage of the act. This part, I was actually interested in watching.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Cinder Ashfoot stood alongside his men, gazing out at the towering wall of fire that he had witnessed there for all his life. As thest son of the previous king, he was born shortly after the great beast descended. Now, he had worked his way into being the Knight of Leadership, next in line to the throne. And atop his back sat the strongest halfling warrior this generation had produced.


    The two were among the first to consider the idea of friendship between the races, unburdened by the old hatreds. They grew up in a time where the enemy was not the one that spilled blood in the past, but the one who watches over the world as if seeing insignificant ants. However, that did not mean that he was alone. Standing before him were twenty other centaurs, and twenty other halflings atop their backs.


    This was the formation that they hade up with in their training. Using the centaurs as steeds, the halflings would hide behind their upper bodies, jumping out to attack as they passed the enemy. This required an absolute trust on both sides, as either one could easily endanger the other. It was this very reason why the total number of troops for this operation numbered only forty-two.


    Originally, there had been over a hundred of them, but they had already fought many battles with the great beast, and had lost many of theirrades. ¡°Fellows, let this be our final battle.¡± Cinder spoke softly, a spear held firmly in his hand. ¡°We have lost friends, brothers, families to the great beast. This can go on no longer.¡±


    ¡°We shall not allow this great beast to continue devouring our people, our homes. Today, it stops.¡± As he said that, he mmed the butt of the spear into the ground. ¡°Each of you have been provided weapons enchanted by our finest mages. Their powers are well beyond that of normal wood and stone. With this, we can finally y the beast. For our families, and our people!¡±


    ¡°For love and fellowship!¡± The others called out. When people finally began to ept one another, they began to consider the simrities between not only their races, but their gods as well. With the help of their priests, they actually soon discovered that their gods were now friends, able to stand alongside one another.


    After saying that, the twenty one centaurs turned and charged towards the form of the seemingly sleeping dragon. At the same time, the glistening red head of the beast rose up, looking arrogantly at the centaurs charging towards them. A small snort sent a plume of yellow me gushing out, bathing the grass before it in fire.


    Yet, the charge continued. Even as the centaurs knew that the mes before them had consumed so many others, they threw themselves into the fire. Even as their bodies burned, they charged forward those extra steps. At the front, Cinder yelled out the moment he passed through the mes, his voice hoarse from the pain. ¡°Now!¡±


    This was the reason he took the name Ashfoot, as had the rest of those that joined him on this mission. This was why this was theirst battle. As he heard the call, the halfling on his back jumped off, eyes watering as his stone daggers were gripped firmly in his hands. His body had been protected from the mes thanks to Cinder, and now it was his turn.


    While Cinder struggled to charge forward as far as it could, making room for the rest of the Ashfoot soldiers, the halflings began jumping off one by one. Theynded on therge body of the beast, scaling it with practiced ease faster than it could react. Each one sorrowfully scratched at the scales of the beast as they climbed, scattering around its body to try to bring it down.


    Blood began spraying out from under the scales of the beast as it roared in pain, shaking its head to try to shake off the halflings. Yet they held firm. It wasn¡¯t only the Ashfoots that were prepared to die in this mission. As members of the Bloodied Hand, these soldiers were also prepared to die for their cause.


    Even as the great beast took flight, they continued stabbing their daggers into its hide, growing progressively closer to its head with each passing moment. In indignation, the beast flew above the clouds, trying to force the halflings off as it flew into the horizon. A long whileter, they felt a loud crash in the distance, and for the first time in twenty years, the wall of mes surrounding their cities finally vanished.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Finally. Can I focus on other races now?

 Chapter 88: Turning Point

    <h4>Chapter 88: Turning Point</h4>


    As I turned to look at the other races, I suppressed a shiver that ran down my spine. I did not enjoy what I had done with the halflings and centaurs, or how I had personally been involved with that massacre¡­ However, I knew that I had to do it, or else one of the races would have gonepletely extinct.


    While I was thinking about that, I felt a hand being ced on my shoulder, Terra looking at me with a warm smile. ¡°It¡¯s alright. You did what you needed to do.¡± She spoke in a gentle voice.


    I nodded my head slightly, looking to her expression. ¡°One of your incarnations died?¡± I asked, noticing how lucid she was. Though, it made sense after all that time that her incarnation among the halflings would have passed away. If anything, it¡¯d be impressive for the one in the ninja vige to still be around.


    She responded with a small nod. ¡°I was in the first wave of attackers against Alkazar. Though, I¡¯d prefer to stick to just one incarnation for a while again, until we really need me to help with something.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡± I agreed. She had earned a break after helping me resolve the situation with the war. ¡°Now, let¡¯s see what else is going on in the world.¡± I nodded. While I did not enjoy the fact that I had personally led the ughter of thousands, I found it¡­ hard to truly sympathize with them. Maybe it was because they seemed like such fleeting existences to me now.


    Is this what it means to develop a God Complex?


    _______________________________________________________________


    At the third peak of the Crown Range, a mountain range formed naturally in the shape of a king¡¯s crown, there was a rather unexpected event urring with the dwarves of the Iron Kingdom who lived there. Specifically, one dwarf in particr.


    Horshaft was the appointed quartermaster, in charge of maintaining the stores of food and drink within the mountain. Each colony had at least one such person, so this was not a particrly special position. However, it was important, as it required him to ensure that the food and drink stored within the caves did not rot.


    For the food, this could often be taken care of by simply smelling or looking at them, as the signs would typically be obvious. However, for the drink, things became difficult, as he had to personally taste it to determine its quality from time to time. Yet, Horshaft was a clever dwarf. He knew that they often used salt to treat the food that they preserved, in order to purify it of disease and allow it to keep for longer periods of time.


    As such, it was only natural that he tried to save his own health by using the same tactics to purify the liquids they had stored. An assortment of juices, in a variety of colors were all stored within wooden barrels, hollowed out trees with crafted tops and bottoms. Horshaft personally saw to ¡®purifying¡¯ each of these barrels, nodding proudly to himself when he was done. Salt was a fairly precious resource, but he saw it as well worth the expenditure if it could keep the drink good for longer.


    After that, he continued his work. It wasn¡¯t until over two weekster that he was due to check those barrels again, so he did not worry about them going bad yet. These juices were not the typical drink used on a regr basis after all, and were mostly handed out as a reward for good service, or to celebrate the crafting of a particrly impressive item.


    Thus, two weeks passed before Horshaft cracked open the top of one of the barrels again, finding it bubbling strangely. He naturally began to fear that his ¡®innovative¡¯ idea had ruined the entire batch, something which would easily cost him his job. However, he had to be sure before reporting such a failure to the wardens of the mountain.


    Taking his bronze cup from nearby, he dipped it into a yellow liquid that was the squeezed juices of the alpa berry. This particr beverage was mostmonly enjoyed during the winter, for the warmth it caused to spread through the body. As winter was still months away, it would be unsuitable for any other than the quartermaster to consume it.


    Yet, when he sipped at the drink experimentally, the taste seemed different than what he was used to from alpa juice. There was still that warmth that spread throughout him, but it seemed strange. The sensation didn¡¯t stop at his body, and soon he felt it touching at his mind as well. Horshaft found himself light headed and giddy. The pains from running up and down the mountain seemed to fade away.


    Unable to help himself, he took a second, much bigger drink of the juice, and the sensation only seemed to grow stronger. Not one to forget his ¡®duties¡¯, he moved on to the next barrel, cracking it open as well. When he saw this one bubbling slightly, it only made himugh in response, the previous worries disappearing. Once again, he dipped his chalice into this purple liquid, and took a big gulp of it.


    ¡°Horshaft!¡± A booming voice echoed into his cave, causing him to jump in fright, stumbling and nearly spilling his drink. He recognized the voice as one of the wardens, and feared that his secret may have been discovered. Soon, a figure walked through the mouth of the cave, d in shining bronze armor.


    ¡°W-warden Joff, I can-hic-exin!¡± He spoke, finding his voice to be slurred slightly.


    ¡°Exin?¡± The warden asked in a suspicious tone. ¡°What can you exin?¡± In truth, the warden was here to inform Horshaft that a new type of weapon had been smithed, and that they wanted the barrel of j juice that now stood open next to Horshaft. However, hearing the other party¡¯s guilty tone, he couldn¡¯t help but question.


    ¡°E-exin?¡± Horshaft stuttered, looking around nervously. Hearing the warden¡¯s question, it was clear his secret was safe. ¡°I uhm¡­ I thought you were going to reprimand me for beingte¡­ for¡­ checking the foods?¡± He asked.


    Joff was no fool, but he truly did not have any reason to continue question Horshaft. ¡°Damned fool. I came to tell you that there is a new weapon from Olsen¡¯s forge. Cap off the j juice and bring it with you. The entire peak has been invited to celebrate.¡±


    Horshaft¡¯s eyes widened in fear as he heard what Joff said. There were a thousand dwarves on this peak alone, and only two barrels of j juice. Still, there was enough for all of them to at least have a single ss. However, he still wasn¡¯t sure why the juices were acting as they were. But¡­ he couldn¡¯t refuse the warden and tell him that all of the juices had gone bad. Otherwise, not just the warden, but the entire peak would be against him. He¡¯d be lucky if he was able to keep his life.


    ¡°U-understood.¡± He nodded his head, moving to put the wooden cap back on therge barrel of juice, while the warden went to collect the other one. He began to notice that as he walked, his steps were unsteady, and he had some difficulty going in a straight line. Thankfully, there were paths carved into the side of the mountain that made their trip short, otherwise it was very likely that he would have stumbled and wasted an entire barrel of wine.


    When the two of them arrived to Olsen¡¯s forge, they found him proudly holding up a long sheet of bronze with sharpened edges. This weapon, which wouldter be known as a sword, was still very crude. However, it was undoubtedly the first metal weapon that had been crafted with an edge. While it was still crude, the edge was sharper than any stone dagger.


    Horshaft watched with a pale expression as the two barrels were set out on the stone table. Cups were passed around as people began to fill it with the j juice. He wanted to speak up as he saw them drinking, but couldn¡¯t find the words.


    The first to show an effect was the cksmiths, who looked at the barrels in surprise as they felt the pain starting to fade from their muscles. Then came the miners, and finally the guards. None of them had quite as much to drink as Horshaft had, so they didn¡¯t feel much more than a slight dizziness after a few minutes, but they couldn¡¯t help but marvel at how different the drink tasted and acted.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Did¡­ did they just¡­?¡±


    ¡°Yup.¡± Terra said with a small grin, still looking over my shoulder. ¡°They just discovered wine. They¡¯re not really the first though. Humans and beastkin have been making beer for around fifty years now. Though it will be interesting to see how the dwarves react to it.¡±


    I could only nod my head slightly at that. I was interested in checking out how the other races were doing, but part of me wanted to see how this developed as well. In any stories that I would hear in my previous world, dwarves were notorious drunkards. I had to wonder how introducing alcohol into this would influence their culture from now on.


    I decided to take it a step at a time. Navigating through the options, I put what could be considered a waypoint on the mountain where the wine was discovered. I figured that I coulde back and look at them againter after letting a bit more time pass. After that, I turned to look at the humans.


    Even more than the dwarves, I was worried about the situation with the humans. It had been decades now since Bihena¡¯s incarnation was at war with a neighboring country, so I wanted to see how that had been resolved. What I found¡­ surprised me.


    Originally, there were more kingdoms in the human continent than I could be bothered to count. Hanbei was just one small country that had begun developing martial arts, but now things had changed. Now, at the very center of the upied territory, the massive country of Hanbei had taken root. The first human kingdom, Thuul, was nowhere to be seen. The same could be said for most of the countries that had previously surrounded Hanbei.


    Pulling up the information, I found that Hanbei had continued to develop the martial arts Bihena was passing down. What¡¯s more, there was a sharp increase in the number of herbalists, alchemists, and monks aside from simply martial artists. Seeing this, I couldn¡¯t help myself but take a closer look, only to find a rather sad scene unfolding before me.


    _______________________________________________________________


    The first queen of Hanbei, the woman who the kingdom was named after, sat upon her wooden throne. Although the years had been kind to her, those close to the queen knew the truth. The red bar of her life hovering above her head had all but emptied. She was dying, falling to a sickness that had been ravaging her for years. Despite her seemingly divine wisdom, there were some things that the hands of mortals could not touch.


    Hanbei herself naturally knew this as well, but it seemed that she never gave the illness much thought. It was as if she did not mind her passing, for she had done all she wanted to do in life. ¡°Ryu, my son,e forward.¡± She spoke in a weary voice. Her face was unblemished, her hair still an almost perfect ck. Anyone who saw her could easily mistake her for a young woman barely of age.


    Right now, she was sitting before her court, rows of assembled monks sitting on the ground. One of them, a man in his early adulthood, stood up. His head was shaven, his build slim. He wore a golden robe with a red sash, and slowly approached his mother. His own father had passed years ago, from the very disease that now afflicted his mother.


    To those of the kingdom, this made Ryu¡¯s father the greatest of sinners. His illness caused the death of their queen, who in a single lifetime gave them so much. This inevitably caused their anger to shift to Ryu himself, who was shielded by his mother. ¡°Yes, your highness.¡± Even with his status as her son, Ryu always maintained a formal stance, not wishing to draw the anger of those around him.


    However, Hanbei simplyughed, a touch of sadness in her sweet voice. ¡°For once in your life, call me your mother.¡± She said, her eyes closing. ¡°I can feel my time is near. Let me hear it once before I go and meet the goddess.¡±


    There was a suddenmotion of voices whispering amongst one another at this. Not because she asked to be called as Ryu¡¯s mother, but because she said her death was near. This was the first time that their queen had acknowledged her illness so openly, and it worried them.


    However, her son simply stood there, his eyes red as he clenched his fists tightly. ¡°Yes¡­ mother.¡± He said gently, lowering his head. How could he not know that it was essentially his own father who was now killing his mother?


    ¡°Thank you, Ryu. Now, I have taught you all everything that I could in my lifetime. I have led you on the path of peace, shown you a way to grow and flourish without the need to spill blood. I have given you medicine and calm, peace within and without. I only ask of one thing from you, my most trusted aides.¡± As she said that, she opened her eyes slightly, looking at the other monks seated on the hard floor.


    ¡°You may ask anything of us, your highness.¡± One of the monks near the front sped his hands together and spoke. He was without a doubt the one with the highest seniority, a childhood friend of Hanbei.


    ¡°I ask of you to treat my son well.¡± She spoke slowly, pushing herself to her feet. ¡°I am going on onest journey, and I wish for my son to inherit my kingdom. Let me leave him one good thing in his life.¡± Her words greatly surprised all of those present, but none more than Ryu himself.


    ¡°Your highness! You are in no condition to go anywhere.¡± That same monk spoke, an anxious expression on his face. He had no desire for the throne, for he knew that he did not have the wisdom to match this friend that he has followed all his life.


    However, the queen weakly chuckled. ¡°It is precisely because of my condition that I must take this journey.¡± She said as she walked towards the monks. All of them shot to their feet in an instant, moving to let her pass unobstructed. ¡°My life¡¯s wish was not to establish a kingdom. That only happened because all of you made it so, and I chose to stay in this position to better this kingdom.¡±


    ¡°No¡­ what I have really wanted, for all my life, was to see the sea.¡± She said as she reached the wooden door to the temple that served as her pce. She looked far in the distance, beyond the horizon, as if she could see something nobody else could. ¡°We have had traders speak of the sea that lies at the end of the world, and I have always wished to see it with my own eyes. I have always wondered¡­ If I go out beyond the end of the world, will I meet the goddess? Will she wee me into her arms?¡±


    Those around her fell silent at her words, so she simply continued to talk. ¡°I know I won¡¯t make it to the sea anymore¡­ Even if I ran with all my might, I simply don¡¯t have the time. However, I want to make the journey. Let it be thest thing I do.¡±


    She did not say anything else as she left the temple, walking down the stone steps. Her kingdom was one where very had been prohibited, where anyone could live in harmony with anyone else. In the entire human realm, it could be considered to be the happiest kingdom, and also the strongest. For she did not simply give them the wisdom to maintain peace, but the strength to prevent war.


    As Hanbei walked down the streets, people exited their homes to greet her, though none thought to stop her. It was rare for Hanbei to leave her temple in recent times, but she seemed to have somewhere to go. They simply watched as she walked out of the city, out past the horizon.


    _______________________________________________________________


    I watched the scene of Bihena¡¯s incarnation leaving the city, where she walked for three days and nights before finally copsing. Ultimately, she didn¡¯t even make it past the borders of her kingdom before meeting her death. At almost the same time, I heard a relieved shout from down the halls. ¡°Finally dead!¡± Bihena shouted, seeming happy to be free from her burdens as queen.

 Chapter 89: Life Story

    <h4>Chapter 89: Life Story</h4>


    I couldn¡¯t help but nce over to the door after I heard Bihena¡¯s shout. Shaking my head, I stood up and went out of the room, leaving a confused Terra behind me. However, she didn¡¯t follow me, and simplyid back down on the bed for a nap. After leaving the room, I made my way to Bihena¡¯s door, and knocked on it once.


    ¡°Huh? Dale, that you?¡± A surprised voice called out from within, moments before the door opened up to reveal a smiling human woman. ¡°Sorry, didn¡¯t mean to disturb you.¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s alright.¡± I shook my head. ¡°I was going toe by and talk to you once you were free either way.¡± When I said that, she blinked in confusion, before taking a step back to let me in.


    ¡°Sure thing. What¡¯s on your mind?¡± She asked, closing the door after I had entered.


    In Bihena¡¯s room, the only real furniture was the bed, so I simply leaned against the wall and watched her, my arms crossed in front of me. ¡°I wanted to talk to you about your life as a mortal, see if you had learned anything.¡± I couldn¡¯t really ask Terra if she discovered anything new, since she wasn¡¯t really able to do that. Bihena, however, I could.


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± She looked down, crossing her arms as well as she sank into thought. ¡°I guess I learned a bit more about ki paths, if you want to hear that? Other than that, there wasn¡¯t really much new that I learned. I wasn¡¯t exactly able to move around how I wanted.¡± She said with a bitter smile.


    ¡°Yeah, I saw that.¡± I chuckled. ¡°So, what did you learn about ki paths?¡±


    Seeing my interest, Bihena smiled a bit more happily, moving over to sit cross-legged on her bed. ¡°Since my country specialized in monks and martial artists, we did quite a bit of experimenting with ki paths. Most people weren¡¯t satisfied with the simple ¡®circle path¡¯ that was initially invented.¡±


    ¡°As our research continued, we discovered a few things. If you have a ki path moving through a certain part of your body, that body part will get a passive buff. For instance, someone who has it in their arms will be stronger as long as their ki isn¡¯t depleted.¡± As she said that, Bihena closed her eyes, seeming to focus heavily on something.


    Next to her, a yellow liquid seemed to rise up from the bed, moving in spiraling lines as it began to create a shape. It did not take me too long to realize that the shape looked almost like a poorly drawn stick-figure skeleton of Bihena herself. ¡°This is the kind of ki path we eventually created, one that moves through the entire body. The effects are less noticeable like this, until the person using it gets enough ki to make a difference. For a normal person, they might experience a very small increase in strength and durability.¡±


    ¡°However, for a trained monk, their strength could double, or even triple depending on their ki.¡± She seemed a bit excited as she said that, causing me to nod my head in appreciation. My own ki couldn¡¯t be considered much unless I used my Keeper levels, but if I did then this would be a big help to me.


    Though, I couldn¡¯t help but tease her slightly. ¡°And your son?¡± I asked with a smirk, causing her face to flush for a moment.


    ¡°Please, don¡¯t joke about that.¡± She replied with a dramatic sigh. ¡°I needed a way out. One of the perks of these ki paths is that it nourishes the body. I might have been able to live for another century before dying of old age. So I found someone with an incurable disease, and had a kid with him.¡± She looked away, almost shyly as she said that.


    ¡°Thankfully, I managed to get the disease myself, so I was able to arrange my incarnation¡¯s death. All I had to do was avoid leveling up for long enough that the disease could take root, and it was only a matter of time.¡± She let out a breath of relief at the end of that, before looking up with a smile. ¡°I¡¯ve got to thank that kid for letting me finally get out of being a queen.¡±


    ¡°So that¡¯s why you made him king when you left.¡± I nodded my head in understanding. However, a small question was nagging at me. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t leveling up remove the disease from you or your ¡®husband¡¯, though?¡± As far as I knew, leveling up was a miracle cure for pretty much anything.


    Hearing that, Bihena shook her head. ¡°That¡¯s what I used to think too. You¡¯d have to ask Terra to be sure, but from what I can tell that¡¯s not how it works. I identally leveled up a few weeks after getting the disease, and was fully healed. However, my health soon began to drop again as the symptoms came back.¡±


    ¡°I can exin that.¡± A voice came from the door, which I was surprised to find had suddenly opened. Ryone was standing there with a wide grin as she walked into the room. ¡°I¡¯ve been paying a bit more attention to that, so I¡¯ve gotten a few answers about how leveling up works.¡±


    Bihena and I both blinked in surprise, though the human goddess seemed a bit annoyed that Ryone had suddenly barged into her room. The elf didn¡¯t seem to pay much mind, sitting on the bed next to Bihena¡¯s ki path model. ¡°So, you want to hear it or not?¡±


    Bihena let out a long sigh, waving her hand for Ryone to continue. ¡°Sweet. Love you too sis.¡± Followed by a grumble ofint from Bihena. ¡°Anyways, a few things have caught my attention with the elves as they leveled up. Sometimes, when they received stats for Wisdom, Intelligence, or Charm, their ways of thinking will subtly change. Well, I did a bit of a test myself, and found out what was happening.¡±


    Seeing that we had no intention of interrupting her, Ryone continued with a smile. ¡°Whenever someone gets a point in a physical stat, the ¡®world energies¡¯ as mortals call them remodel the body. If it¡¯s in strength, their muscles might be slightly denser. If dexterity, their muscles and joints will be more flexible. Stamina increases the toughness of the skin and internal organs, as well as their immune systems. For mental stats, it¡¯s the brain that is changed.¡±


    At that point, Ryone ced her hands down on the bed behind her, huffing slightly. ¡°I don¡¯t know enough about the brain to say exactly what is being done, but I can tell the end results. Intelligence increases their ability to remember things, wisdom helps them think more rationally, and charm helps them sympathize with the emotions of others.¡±


    ¡°What about luck?¡± I asked, since it was the only stat that she hadn¡¯t listed in her exnation. However, the answer that I got was a shake of her head.


    ¡°I can¡¯t really tell what luck does yet. There aren¡¯t many elves that train in sses that improve luck, only the merchants. That one you really will have to ask Terra to help you with.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­ Surely, you didn¡¯te here just to barge into my room and give us an exnation of stats?¡± Bihena asked, her brows knit together as she looked at the nearby goddess, who giggled in response.


    ¡°Of course not. I¡¯ve got some rather important news for our dear Keeper.¡± She said with a grin, turning to look at me. ¡°I think I¡¯ve found it. Everything we need for our bag of holding.¡± Not only myself, even Bihena looked at her in shock when Ryone said that. ¡°Ever since my incarnation¡¯s parents let me start practicing magic, I¡¯ve been quickly leveling up as a mage and enchanter. If I¡¯m right, I should have all of the spellponents needed for the bag.¡±


    Thinking back to the spell-iron de that was still propped against my desk, I was obviously excited at the idea of being able to carry it with me whenever I descend. A weapon like that was more than enough for the current world to call a holy relic, something that would let anyone destroy an entire country on their own. ¡°Do you need any materialponents?¡±


    Ryone nodded her head at that question. ¡°I can get Tubrock¡¯s help with most of theponents. The only one that I¡¯ll need your help with is a stone from beyond the stars. One of the meteorites that fell to earth. They contain the essence of space, and are one of the keyponents for enchantments involving space.¡±


    A piece of meteorite? Well, that wouldn¡¯t be too hard for me to find. ¡°Alright. When will you be ready to make the prototype?¡±


    Ryone closed her eyes in thought at that. ¡°Give me¡­ two hours? That should be enough time to break down Tubrock¡¯s spares and get the essence I need. That should also be plenty of time for you to find the rock.¡± After saying that, her eyes suddenly lit up. ¡°Oh! While we¡¯re at it, do you think we should practice that ¡®concealed enchantment¡¯ technique we bought before? You already got all of the materials for thatst time, so it¡¯s ready to go whenever.¡±


    I nodded my head at that. ¡°It¡¯d probably be for the best.¡± I nned to use this bag personally, so having people unable to sense the magic on it would be a big help.


    ¡°Hey, uh¡­ can I watch, too?¡± Bihena spoke up, raising her hand from where she sat on her bed. ¡°This seems kind of interesting, you know?¡±


    Naturally, we had no reason to refuse her. ¡°Alright. You can be in charge of getting us a suitable bag to use. Something inconspicuous. While you do that, I¡¯ll get the rock she needs, and she can get whatever essence she was talking about.¡±


    After saying that, the two girls nodded their heads and began moving. My destination was naturally myputer, where I ran a quick search for meteorite fragments. Even after all this time since they first started falling, it shouldn¡¯t be too hard to get one. And sure enough, there were a number of results from all over the world. At random, I plucked one out and brought it to the admin room, having a fist-sized ck rocknd on my desk after a brief sh of light.


    To my surprise, this actually didn¡¯t disturb Terra at all, and she continued her little nap on my bed as if nothing had happened. Grabbing both the rock and the sword, I made my way towards Tubrock¡¯s forge, where I was sure to find Ryone. I was actually pretty interested in the essences she was talking about.


    What I found when I arrived were two people. One was a somewhat grumpy looking dwarf working his forge, while the other was the elven goddess I was looking for. She was currently holding up a silver spear, her eyes closed in focus. There was the sound of something cracking, and then a shining blue and white dust began to fall off of the spear,nding at Ryone¡¯s feet.


    This continued for roughly ten second, until a handful of the dust had pooled into a small pile. At that time, the spear seemed to shatter into pieces, Ryone opening her eyes with a somewhat sad look. ¡°Pity, I was hoping for a bit more out of this one.¡± It was at that time that she noticed my presence, and grinned mischievously at me. ¡°Curious?¡±


    When, I nodded, she began exining. What she was doing now was a trick that she learned as an enchanter, one that was essential for any high-level enchants. By taking an already magical item, an enchanter could extract the magical essence in a type of powdered mana. This powder, simply called ¡®essence of magic¡¯, was amon ingredient for enchantments beyond the second tier.


    ¡°Wait¡­ just what level did you manage to get as an enchanter?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask, looking at her. She had told me about how the second tier of spells began to unlock at level fifty for mages, so she had to at least be that high¡­


    ¡°Level one hundred enchanter, level twenty schr, level thirty mage.¡± She said proudly, sticking out her chest as she moved to grab the next item from Tubrock¡¯s shelves ofpleted weapons. There were various spears, swords, shields, even some armors. ¡°I just hit the level limit before I came to find you, or else I¡¯d keep trying to learn more. I think next time, I¡¯ll focus purely on the mage ss instead of enchanter.¡±


    How did she manage to control her sses so well? Is it just because she had a single-minded devotion? I couldn¡¯t help but question it mentally, but otherwise watched as she ¡®disenchanted¡¯ the next object. ¡°How did you solve the problems of the space and timeponents?¡±


    When she heard that, Ryone chuckled slightly. ¡°Another elf managed to solve the timeponent by ident, though all he noticed was that his spell was dyed. As for space, I found it when I was randomly testing out patterns. The real trick was figuring out the triggers for different functions, such as storing or retrieving items bymand. Thankfully, I managed to get those when I got myst enchanter level.¡±


    I had no doubt that Ryone was the highest level enchanter currently on the, so it made sense for her to be the first one to discover that. I decided to patiently create a chair to sit and watch as she disenchanted one piece of equipment after another. When Bihena arrived in the forge, I went ahead and created one for her as well, and we simply waited for Ryone to finish.

 Chapter 90: Bag of Holding

    <h4>Chapter 90: Bag of Holding</h4>


    As I watched Ryone ¡®disenchanting¡¯ the various weapons, a thought urred to me. ¡°Ryone, how does this process actually work? Exin it to me.¡± I had an idea for how this could be used, but I needed to confirm my thoughts on the process itself, and there was nobody better to ask.


    Surprised by my sudden question, Ryone nced around back at me and smiled, holding a ck dagger in her hands. ¡°It¡¯s actually fairly simple. There is no diagram to go with this, it is a raw application of mana. By using mana that at least doubles the amount originally used in the enchantment, you force the magic within an item to shift around, taking the pieces carrying the enchantment and expelling them.¡±


    ¡°Doing so causes the material of the item to degrade is tiny specks of it are removed, inevitably leading to its copse. Those tiny specks are the remnants of the enchanted item that contain the mana of the enchantment. But since the item is now broken, the enchantment is as well, making the mana lose its function.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but nod my head, before turning to look at Tubrock. ¡°If you had enough of this dust, would you be able to melt it down and forge another weapon?¡± This was a technique far beyond what my world was currently capable of, but if it was here in the Admin Room, such things should be possible.


    Tubrock was even more surprised by me suddenly addressing him than Ryone had been, but quickly gave the idea some serious thought. ¡°Aye, maybe. It could potentially give a result simr to spell-metal, but I¡¯d have to check to be sure. Though, the amount of weapons needed would be astronomical if I wanted to make something usable.¡±


    I gave a silent nod as I heard that, before motioning for Ryone to continue. I wanted them to try this process at least once, to see if there was a noticeable improvement over normal spell-metal weapons. If so, it could be another good way to produce godly weapons. If not, all that would be wasted was time.


    After my little question, I allowed Ryone to finish gathering all of the magic dust that she needed which ended up using almost all of Tubrock¡¯s spare weapons and created a pile of dust that nearly reached up to her knees. Finally, however, she pped her hands happily while tossing to the side the crumpled remains of the golden shield that she had used as herst ¡®sacrifice¡¯. Thankfully, every now and then I would move away the pile of discarded items to a storage area, otherwise there would be a mountain of broken armors and weapons.


    ¡°Alright, finally done.¡± She said, turning around to grin at us. ¡°So, Bihena, did you get a suitable bag?¡± She asked the human goddess, who nodded her head. What she retrieved was a leather satchel which looked vaguely like a coinpurse, a small leather bag with a thick string tying the top.


    ¡°This should be inconspicuous enough, right?¡± She asked, tossing the bag towards Ryone, who caught it gently and inspected it.


    Ryone furrowed her brows slightly, eventually nodded. ¡°It should be¡­ the only question is whether or not it will be able to hold the mana for the enchantment. The powder makes that a bit easier, but we¡¯ll just have to see for ourselves.¡±


    After saying that, she tossed the bag onto the floor a short distance away, and then had a look of intense focus on her face. Immediately, I could see lines carving themselves into the ground around the bag, forming into the standard enchantment diagram. However, things didn¡¯t end there.


    Next, several items began appearing one after the other atop the enchantment pattern. First, in each of the eight outer circles and the one inner circle appear arge gem, which I was able to recognize as the gems that I helped her acquire for the enchantment concealment feature that we bought before. After that, green powder began to sprinkle itself along the various lines, followed by a white powder. Finally, a metal container appeared just above the diagram, the bottom of it opening up to let the water spill along the carved lines. It seemed to mix with the green and white powders, creating a light glow that spread through the enchantment diagram.


    When this glow hit the nine gathered stones, it began changing colors, going throughout the entire spectrum before the light seemed to fade entirely. Yet, I could tell that the energy was still there, forming a barrier around the enchantment pattern. Now, she began using her actual powers rather than the Admin Room itself, and the magic powder at her feet flew into motion.


    Glittering trails of silver, gold, and bronze ascended into the air above the enchantment diagram, spinning inplex patterns before forming over a dozen glowing patterns. Each one seemed to be its own spell diagram, given shape by the magical powder. Rather than hovering in ce, they seemed to idly spin and float above the bag, as if their positions didn¡¯t matter. And soon, I found out why.


    When Ryone finished her preparations, the enchantment pattern along the ground lit up with a blue light, following the normal process of enchanting an item. However, when that light touched one of the floating spell diagrams, it magnified its intensity. At the same time, the dust making the spell diagram seemed to copse, floating down in thin streams towards the bag at the center of the formation. The light seemed to be contained within a small dome, yet it was growing brighter and brighter, soon looking like a small sun. ¡°Hold¡­ hold¡­¡± I could hear Ryone muttering under her breath as I closed my eyes to avoid the bright light.


    When I opened my eyes again to look at the result of the enchantment, I saw the bag still resting there in the middle of the circle. Scattered around it was what seemed like a pile of ash, and the single sulfur lump that had been ced next to it. And, standing in front of the circle, with a nervous expression on her face, was Ryone who reached down to pick the bag up.


    After picking up the bag, she carefully examined it, before running over to the pile of discarded items that I had yet to move away. With an anxious look, she focused on the pile, and a faint light emitted from one of the broken fragments, before it seemed to vanish from view. Narrowing my eyes in focus, I examined the details of the bag that Ryone was now staring at with an excited gaze.


    Leather Bag of Holding


    Enchantments Hidden


    Size: (?1.75 m)


    Weight Limit: 500 lb


    Insert/Removal Range: 1m


    Weight Negated: 20%


    Time Within: 0.5x


    Contents:


    Broken Shield Shard


    Well, that was certainly an interesting item window. I suppose the areas struck through are what would not appear in a normal identification. Still, even with it being that limited, it offered a great deal of possibility. Looking back at the diagram, I saw that the nine stones were still in tact, and only the murky water mixture had disappeared. It seemed that this process was still repeatable as long as we gathered the powdered slime, old bones, and deep water again.


    By the time I finished my little examination, Ryone jumped in front of me, extending the bag to me with both hands, a beaming smile on her face. ¡°It works!¡± She shouted, dropping the leather pouch into my hand. I was a bit surprised by its weight, as the bag itself appeared visibly empty. Yet, it felt like it weighed a couple pounds more than it should. I suppose that is from the partial weight negation?


    As I thought about that, I focused on the bag, and decided to try using it. Concentrating on emptying it, I heard the thud of something falling at my feet. Looking down, the same shield shard that Ryone had used to test whether or not the bag worked appeared in front of me.


    Nodding my head in satisfaction, I then looked to Ryone. She was grinning from ear to ear, until she felt something strange tugging at her presence. ¡°Dale?¡± She asked in concern, noticing that I had tried pulling her into the bag.


    ¡°I need someone to check out the interior.¡± I spoke simply. ¡°I need to know if there is a restriction on cing sharp objects inside, for fear of cutting the bag open from within.¡± I had hoped to y a little prank on her and just send her into the bag without warning, but I guess that the pull was weaker on living creatures.


    ¡°Ahh¡­¡± She said, nodding her head, allowing the bag to capture her and send her inside of it. Now its weight definitely increased, to the point where I probably wouldn¡¯t have been able to hold it with one hand back before I became a Keeper. I was sure that she had to be ufortably crouched down, seeing as she was taller than size limit, but it was also true that we needed to make sure of the properties within the bag.


    As such, I gave her about a minute in there before using the bag to pull her back out. As I had expected, when she came out she was crouched down with her knees almost touching the floor. Standing up, she stretched her arms and legs out with a groan. ¡°Well, the inside isn¡¯t cloth, at least not in the space the magic created. It¡¯s just empty ckness with a smooth barrier. There shouldn¡¯t be any problems storing swords or shields, but long weapons like spears probably won¡¯t fit.¡±


    I nodded my head at that. ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll be keeping this one. Your next job is to create two more for an experiment to see what happens when you put one bag inside the other.¡± I needed to make sure that there wouldn¡¯t be any ck holes or spatial tears forming before I actually took this bag down to the mortal world.


    Ryone¡¯s eyes seemed to shine as she heard that. ¡°Alright, that should be fun.¡± After which, she looked over to Tubrock, who seemed to shudder beneath the gaze despite not being looking this way to see it. No doubt, she was thinking of all the items she¡¯d have him make so that she could disenchant them.


    Shaking my head, I turned to leave the forge with my new bag of holding, before noticing Bihena staring intently at it. ¡°Is there something wrong?¡± I asked her curiously, making her look up at me from the bag.


    ¡°When do you think we¡¯d be able to let the mortals have those?¡± She asked, ncing down at the bag again.


    Hearing that, I gave it a bit of thought, though kept walking. She hurriedly got up and followed me in order to hear my answer. ¡°Right now they aren¡¯t really ready for things of this level, even if it would be convenient. It¡¯d be best to wait for them to discover it themselves, but that will probably take them quite a while. And until then, they already have the quest system which acts as storage.¡± Thinking about it that way, I could potentially fill up the bag of holding with a ton of leather scrolls for various items. Doing it that way might weigh me down, but if I tap into my Keeper strength then I will easily be able to handle the weight.


    Hearing my exnation, Bihena nodded her head. ¡°Okay¡­ I think it will really change the world once it is released, though. Especially if Ryone is able to improve it by that time.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but smile at that thought. No doubt Ryone was going to do her best to find the upgraded versions of the various spellponents in able to plete¡¯ the bag of holding. She likely wouldn¡¯t be satisfied until the contents were weightless and did not age.


    ¡°I agree. That¡¯s why we need to wait.¡± I said with a chuckle. ¡°Until then, this will just be a rather convenient way for me to smuggle items down to the world without people noticing.¡± I should have Tubrock design some armor for me to go with my spell-iron sword.

 Chapter 91: Spirits Be With Us

    <h4>Chapter 91: Spirits Be With Us</h4>


    After I returned to my room, I found that Terra was absent, likely visiting with either Aurivy or Udona. This left the room empty, so I moved over to myputer desk. Propped up against it was my personal sword, which I immediately deposited into the bag of holding, before moving to check on the world.


    When I checked the time of the world, I saw that roughly twenty more years had passed since Ist left it, due to setting the time to elerate. As such, I decided to check and see how the dwarves had been doing since the discovery of alcohol. I had a feeling that it would be quite an interesting sight to see, so I used the trick Terra taught me to view the events leading up to it more quickly.


    _______________________________________________________________


    After the discovery of the ¡®elixir¡¯, as the dwarves had taken to calling it, Crown Range underwent a shocking change. No longer was cksmithing the only highly respected ss. Instead, in a rather unusual development, the chef ss began to gather more and more attention. That was because they were able to more easily identify and replicate the effects of the elixir.


    In fact, with Horshaft¡¯s ims of how he created the initial product, they already had a steady supply of elixir on hand. The problem was, the effects of the elixir did not target everyone equally. Those with specific sses- the warriors, miners, guards, leatherworkers, and berserkers- found themselves unable to enjoy these effects to the same degree as others. This was a particrly important problem because the ones who could be said to have the greatest need of its ability to relieve pain were just those people.


    This is where the chefs came in. After studying the initial concoction, they began working with herbalists and alchemists to try to create something stronger. Something that would be able to relieve the pain of even the greatest miners. They tried repeated experiments, but could never quite get anything good enough, not until nearly two yearster.


    After two years of study, they created a tonic that was able to give the same level of relief to even the guards and the miners that the normal citizens enjoyed. Theybeled this creation ¡®firespit¡¯, due to the fact that a stray spark caused the liquid to ignite when it was introduced to a cksmith¡¯s workshop.


    However, the creation of firespit brought with it another problem. While it allowed those unaffected by the elixir to enjoy its benefits, those with weaker constitutions were hit with something far stronger. When a chef took a ss of firespit for his experiments, heter heard that he was standing naked outside of his cave shouting the glory of his creation.


    Later study showed that firespit¡¯s ability to relieve pain and worry may have been too impactful, causing weaker dwarves to lose themselves to it. Those under its influence would act in ways that they normally would never dream. Some turned violent, some seemed to enter a depression, but the majority experienced a joy that they had never known after drinking firespit.


    This pure joy kept bringing those people back to it again and again, eventually consuming the drink faster than the chefs could produce it. However, this only brought out another problem. Now, those guards and miners who had to wait so long to enjoy the simpler benefits of the elixir could only watch in envy at the dwarves who lost themselves to the pleasure of firespit.


    So, the chefs got to work once again. This time, they even went so far as to trade with the two other dwarven kingdoms, giving them the weaker elixir in exchange for herbs that they suspected would give rise to something even greater. And because of this trade, the three kingdoms of the dwarves were all introduced to the elixir.


    The search for a drink more powerful than firespitsted nearly ten more years, leading to the depression of many miners and guards, before a suitable product was created. By then, even firespit had been introduced to the kingdoms of the hills and ins. This new brew was simply known as ckout, due to the effects of almost immediately knocking out those with weaker constitutions.


    ckout spread through Crown Range, and through the entire Iron Dwarf Kingdom in under a fortnight. Finally, the various guards and miners were able to enjoy the benefits brought by firespit, and were able to join them in their regr celebrations. As for the effects that ckout had on a normal dwarf¡­ they were honestly not interested in that. While some were curious about it, it was not to the degree of waiting however long the production of a new brew would take.


    At least, that was the case for those of the Iron Dwarf Kingdom. For the Hill Dwarves, they had a different issue. Most of their seasoned warriors, who also acted as guards for the major cities and fought against various monsters, were barely affected by this new ckout drink. While they were a much smaller portion of the poption, they were no less important as they were responsible for everyone¡¯s safety.


    And so, research began yet again, this time in the kingdom of the Hill Dwarves. They sought the perfect brew, one that would knock out even the hardiest dwarf.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Wait, so that¡¯s how they be tant alcoholics? Some never-ending spiral of booze?¡± I asked myself incredulously. Out of curiosity, I went to check the human and beastkin cities. Terra had mentioned to me that they were already producing alcohol long before the dwarves, so I was interested in seeing if they had simr issues.


    What I found, was that the obsession really only urred with the dwarves. While the humans and beastkin did also mass produce the alcohol, it was not nearly with the same passion. The humans used it as merely amon drink, while the beastkin enjoyed it at festivals. Compared to them, the dwarves who had almost made a religion out of creating alcohol were lightweights.


    Maybe I should go ahead and fast forward a bit further. I mused to myself. However, there was another matter that I wanted to take care of before I allowed the time to fast forward any further.


    Pulling out my handy messaging paper, I wrote to Ryone. Think we¡¯ve got the budget for the next tier or two of monsters? We had only been using three tiers for a while now, and I recall seeing there be as many as ten tiers.


    Soon, I saw a reply writing itself into the paper. What¡¯s our bnce at now? That reminded me that I hadn¡¯t checked for any new achievements or royalties in a while. I could see the blinking light at the corner of the screen, alerting my to new notifications. Part of me was actually dreading opening it, due to the imminent flood of pop-ups that came with it. Still, I must persevere!


    Reaching up, I clicked on the icon and found my screen shing repeatedly with pop-up after pop-up. Some were letting me know about royalties for the items I listed, and others were achievements or technology advancements. I hurriedly closed any of the less interesting windows, the ones that just said stuff like ¡®so and so bought such and such, your royalties are this much¡¯. I really didn¡¯t need to see every individual window like that.


    In the end, I was left with a series of achievements, and the technology upgrades. Most of the achievements awarded nothing but points, so I dismissed those readily. There was one, however, that caught my eye.


    Congrattions! Earth has earned an achievement!


    For having a civilization reach the Metal Age, your world has earned the Forged from Fire achievement. +15 points


    Guess the dwarves finally managed to qualify for an advancement. That, or this message has been waiting for me for quite a while. I thought to myself, before noticing another simr message.


    Congrattions! Earth has earned an achievement!


    For having a civilization reach the Arcanum Age, your world has earned the Spellforge achievement. +15 points


    I¡¯m going to guess elves for this one. I thought to myself with a nod, before opening up the technology advancement window. This time, the list was far toorge for me to pay attention to everything, as it seemed that the different civilizations hit a sudden boom for technology growth. A few notable advancements were two races that seemed to get the second level of boats, as well as several ounts of ¡®History Documentation 1¡¯.


    Putting all of that aside, I let the points tally up with what I already had in my bnce, before writing the number back to Ryone. 2283. How was a Keeper supposed to actually run out of points, unless they kept buying more and more worlds?


    Well, that was probably exactly what happened. After all, more worlds meant more fighting power, and more chances to survive the Keeper Games. Of course, to a newer Keeper like myself, the points just seemed to add up quicker than I could spend them.


    We should be good for two more tiers, then. Ryone replied after a little while. So, taking that into consideration, I spent a total of six hundred points to buy the next two monster tiers, while at the same time finally understanding what monsters really were. Originally, I had suspected that monsters were just the more hostile creatures, while animals were considered the rest.


    However, through the monster tiers I was able to learn the true difference. Animals were creatures that had no ability to wield any type of energy, such as ki or mana. Monsters, on the other hand, had at least some potential to do so. This gave them an obvious advantage over animals of the same level as them.


    Likewise, aster tiers increased theplexity of monsters, it also increased their abilities. Although the third tier was the first in which they were born able to use magic, there were various monsters from both the first and second tiers which could be trained to either use ki or mana. This is probably why the price didn¡¯t change between the second and third tiers. However, from the third to fourth, and fourth to fifth, the prices doubled.


    In the fourth tier, it lists monsters able to use more developed abilities, such as casting actual spells. For the fifth tier, monsters be able to use multiple types of energies, and some may even appear that use mixed energies. This caused me to look forward to seeing what types of creatures might appear in my world from now on.


    After buying the two tiers for monsters, I decided to do another great leap forward. This time¡­ two hundred years should give plenty of time for various advancements. Of course, I put all of the normal rms in ce to warn me of an impending disaster, so I didn¡¯t have to worry about that.


    With this fast forward¡­ everyone¡¯s incarnations should be over with, aside from Ryone¡¯s. At the same time, given their rate of advancement, I should be able to spend some more time down in the mortal world. I closed my eyes and looked forward to that, before turning back and looking at my bed.


    How long has it been since I actually slept? I wondered silently, thinking back. Recalling it, I hadn¡¯t had a proper sleep since before the centaur and halfling war. That¡¯s already several days where I hadn¡¯t slept once. And that sudden realization seemed to make all that time awake crash into me at once.


    Okay¡­ I can sleep for a little while, while the world fast forwards. Then, maybe I¡¯ll descend for a bit, see how the world is working up close.

 Chapter 92: The Race of Heroes

    <h4>Chapter 92: The Race of Heroes</h4>


    After sleeping for an unknown amount of time, roughly five hours ording to the clock on theputer, I managed to get myself up and moved over to the screen again. I wanted to go ahead and prepare to descend again so that I could take a closer look at the world, but first I wanted to make sure that there weren¡¯t any major developments over the two hundred years that had passed. So, my first action was to open the notifications again.


    Some of your species have undergone an evolution, and will have their base stats permanently changed for all sessive generations.


    Centaurs: Agility +1


    Dwarves: Strength +1


    Lycan: Awareness +1


    Ursa: Strength +1


    Okay¡­ guess they were due for an evolution sooner orter. The felyn and kitsune will probably follow soon after. Elves will probably still take a while yet, because of their long lives¡­ I mused as I looked at the information, though it was the next window that surprised me the most.


    Congrattions! Earth has earned an achievement!


    For having a race evolve into sentience outside of the system¡¯s guidance, your world has earned the Evolver achievement. +10 points, Evolving Trait unlocked.


    When I read that, I couldn¡¯t help but stop and blink for several seconds before grabbing the piece of paper we used tomunicate. Evolving trait. Exin. I quickly wrote to Terra, not wanting to have a trait attached to the world that I did not know about at least somewhat.


    Eh? You got one already? That¡¯s pretty fast! Came the reply soon after. It makes it easier for natural evolution to take ce, and generally uses the first creature to evolve as a base temte for sess. Later sapient creatures will typically have at least something inmon with the first race to evolve like that, even if it is just certain organs or bone structures. Things like one brain and one heart, or walking upright.


    That was¡­ a surprisingly detailed exnation,pared to what she normally gave. And as I looked through the notifications, I saw that there was still one window remaining. Opening it up, I hoped for a bit more good news.


    An unidentified race has ascended to sapience. At any point, you may purchase them into the system of your world. Until such time, they will be treated as typical monsters, and will be unable to ess various systems of the world restricted to registered life forms.


    Unable to ess the systems¡­ So they won¡¯t be able to level up, or issue quests, or things like that? They probably won¡¯t even be able to see the interface. The ramifications of this were quite great. After all, without being able to level up, it would be almost impossible for any sapient race to survive for long against the ever-growing monsters of the world. Even the fact that they evolved to sapience was likely due to luck, with them not living near the more powerful monsters.


    Nheless, I went to look through the world, doing a search for this new species. What I found was a race surviving on one of the uninhabited continents of the world. From the looks of things, they had just barely began using stone tools and building shelters.


    The race itself was tall, over three meters for a grown adult, with thick green skin and bulging muscles. On their heads were three vertical eyes. They seemed tock any hair, and they only had three fingers and a thumb on theirrge hands. When I looked at their stats, I began to understand why they were able to survive as long as they had.


    Race Name


    Unssified


    Comprehension


    4


    Agility


    12


    Strength


    23


    Lifespan


    95


    Luck


    8


    Awareness


    17


    Male:Female ratio


    3


    Example Adult Male


    Example Adult Female


    To put it simply, their base statistics were through the roof! They could likely pick up and carry a centaur with one arm, and not even break a sweat. At first, I thought that they looked like orcs or ogres, but their eyes ruined that image for me. The only thing that they were reallycking was theirprehension, which was still almost on the same level as the elves and centaurs.


    Curious, I checked to see how much it would cost to bring this new race into the system, to let them have sses and quests and all that. To my surprise, such an unbnced race would actually cost a hundred and seventy five points. Even more than the dungeon cores, with all of their added abilities.


    Grabbing the paper once again, I wrote a quick message to everyone. Meeting, now. Living room. After saying that and letting the message send, I quickly got up and moved to the other room to wait for the others. This was a rather big decision, and it deserved to be spoken of with all of the gods and goddesses.


    When I arrived to the living room, I found Udona, Irena, and Keliope all standing there already, talking with one another and looking confused. ¡°What¡¯s going on, Dale?¡± Irena asked as she noticed my arrival, drawing the attention of the kitsune and ursa goddesses.


    ¡°Ah, sorry, but could you wait until everyone gets here?¡± I asked patiently. Soon, Bihena arrived, and I had to say the same thing once again. After that, the others all seemed to arrive at the same time, though from different directions. Only Terra seemed to understand what was going on, and had a pleased smile on her face as she arrived with Aurivy and alia.


    Just like during the previous god meeting, I created arge table, with plenty of chairs for everyone and arge cushion for Tryval. ¡°Sorry for calling everyone here on short notice. However, there was a recent development in the world that requires our attention.¡±


    When I said that, everyone¡¯s curious expressions vanished, and they instantly became more serious. ¡°A new race has evolved in the world, and grown to the level where the system recognizes them.¡± There were a few surprised gasps and murmurs after that revtion, but I kept speaking. ¡°Normally, I wouldn¡¯t mind simply buying them into the system, but given the race in question¡­ I wanted to consult everyone, as well as the potential steps we might take to wee them, if we do so.¡±


    After saying that, I created a screen behind me for everyone to see, disying the racial statistics for this new race. Then, Terra cleared her throat slightly, motioning for me to take a look¡­ And I realized that the information was written backwards, so I quickly flipped it around. ¡°As you can see¡­ their abilities far surpass the base levels of any other race, with the exception of their intelligence.¡±


    Aurivy furrowed her brows, crossing her small arms in front of her chest. ¡°So, what¡¯s the problem? Can¡¯t we just buy them like normal, just a bit more expensive?¡±


    However, Bihena quickly shook her head to dismiss that. ¡°Their strength itself can be an issueter. Especially if they are able to adjust to magic, their awareness would probably lend to the ability to control the energies well. They would be a powerful force that could overwhelm any of our races with the same numbers and levels. I imagine that, after inviting them to the system, the Hero ss will bemon with them, given their monstrous stats.¡±


    I nodded my head towards Bihena. ¡°That was one of my concerns as well. Another was whether or not we should get a new god or goddess for this race, should we buy them. If they don¡¯t have one, then there will likely be discrimination against them in the future. However, if they do, then that will only be more power for them. With their strength, even though they are behind in terms of technology, they could pose a very real threat to the other races when they meet.¡±


    To my surprise, the next to speak wasn¡¯t either Aurivy or Bihena, who had taken up the two sides of the argument¡­ Instead, it was Irena. ¡°I think we should buy them. Otherwise, they are doomed to extinction.¡± She said simply, her face remaining impassive. ¡°While they can survive now with their abilities, more powerful monsters will begin to appear around them, and it won¡¯t take long before they are wiped out without the system to support them.¡±


    Udona nodded her head at that, agreeing. ¡°I think any race deserves a chance at life¡­ I do not support giving them a god, though¡­¡± She shuddered slightly as she said that, likely remembering her own ¡®birth¡¯. I didn¡¯t know if her suggestion was for the sake of the world, or for the unborn deity.


    Bihena smiled slightly as she heard that. ¡°Without the guidance of a deity, they will not be as united as our races. This will reduce their overall strength, and bring it more towards the level where our races could potentially interact with them in the future without it bing too dangerous for either side.¡±


    Tubrock was the next to speak, crossing his hands on the table as he leaned forward. ¡°How ¡®bout we take a vote? ¡®Dat way, it¡¯s fair and ¡®der won¡¯t be nointster.¡± As the others heard him, they couldn¡¯t help but nod their heads. With the information already out there, there wasn¡¯t much more left to talk about but the final verdict.


    And after the votes, the decision was made. With only Aurivy, Keliope, and Tryval opposing, the vote was eight to three, in favor of purchasing the new race. However, when the vote turned to getting a new god or goddess, it was unanimous. Nobody wanted a new god in the Admin Room, at least not yet.


    I nodded my head after counting all the votes. ¡°Alright, then it¡¯s settled. Now, since we are buying them, what should we call them?¡±


    Terra almost instantly raised her hand to speak up when I asked that. ¡°Since they are the race of heroes resembling orcs, why not call them Heroc?¡± I swear, I heard at least three groans from around the table when she suggested that name.


    I never thought I would meet someone with a naming sense worse than me¡­ and that it would be Terra. As I thought that, I looked around, almost hopeful for someone else to have a better suggestion. However, whether it was Tryval, Aurivy, Udona, or any of the others, nobody chimed in. So, I could only sigh helplessly. ¡°Alright, then. We¡¯ll buy the Heroc race.¡± As I said that, I entered their name into the racial window, and opted to purchase them immediately. ¡°And with this, I dere the second godly meeting official concluded. You may all go back to whatever it is you were doing.¡±


    After I dismissed them, there were various sighs throughout the room as the gods dispersed, most going back to their own rooms while two or three stuck around to chat. Terra actually walked up to me with Aurivy holding her hand and smiled. ¡°Well, that was productive. What are you nning to do now?¡±


    Looking at their hopeful expressions, I could guess that they wanted to spend a bit of time with me. Sadly, I shook my head. I already had ns. ¡°I nned to descend for a bit. See how the elven society is doing before maybe moving on to one of the other races.¡± I exined. Out of all of the races, the one whose society I know the least about was actually the elves. So, I felt it necessary to get a closer look at how they worked.


    And indeed, Aurivy frowned slightly when she heard that. ¡°Aww¡­ Well¡­ when you are done with all of that, how about ying for a little bit? Big sis and I made a pair of sisters in the mortal world for our new incarnations. Once you¡¯re done with checking up on everything, why not going down to visit us?¡± She asked with an honest smile, and I could only nod my head in agreement before turning around and heading for my room.


    Okay, NOW can I finally descend? I asked myself as I immediately began preparing the body that I nned to descend in.

 Chapter 93: Cowabunga, Dude!

    <h4>Chapter 93: Cowabunga, Dude!</h4>


    I let out a deep breath after I descended. The body that I chose was that of a fairly normal elf with pitch ck hair going down just below my shoulders. Taking in a deep breath, I felt a small smile tug at my lips as I smelled the salty air. The area that I chose to descend at wasn¡¯t the capital but a site which had be even more busy over the years.


    As I had descended a short distance away from the nearest town, I began walking at a brisk ce as I checked my surroundings. Behind meid a wide meadow which continued as far as the eye could see, while in front of me I could see a dirt path leading towards a beach. Among the beach were severalrge rocks that had been uprooted and reshaped, turning into a statue of Ryone.


    I could even see the distant town, just at the edge of the grassyndscape and overlooking the beach. It seemed far more developed than I had expected, with several tall buildings made of white stone, and almost seemed to glitter with the ocean behind it. Just beyond the statue, there was an archway made of stone standing above the dirt path. Even though the writing seemingly scribbled on it was far from english, I could still clearly read it.


    ¡®Cau Buhnga¡¯, ording to the trantion that the system provided, it loosely meant ¡®Shielded by the Goddess¡¯. This was the very city that Ryone had stepped forward to protect all those years ago from a tidal wave, and her efforts did not go unrewarded. Aside from the statue, they had even renamed the city itself after that event it seemed.


    The one thing that confused me was thepleteck of foot traffic. It was already well into the day, so I had expected there to be quite a lot of people moving about. In fact, when I had casually looked at this ce on the map in the past, it had indeed been even more busy than even the capital city of the elven kingdom.


    Curious about what was going on, I increased my pace slightly, taking a moment to assess my character sheet, as it had been quite a while since I had descended to look at it.


    Name


    Dale Mitchell


    Race


    Elf(Keeper)


    Health


    157/157(128260/128260)


    Mana


    77/77(40596/40596)


    Strength


    6(248)


    Ki


    176/176(55140/55140)


    Stamina


    7(225)


    Intelligence


    6(182)


    Dexterity


    14(255)


    Wisdom


    15(298)


    Luck


    6(69)


    Charm


    7(69)


    ss List


    Alchemist 1(38)


    Archer 0(93)


    Architect 0(78)


    Archmage 0(23)


    Armorer 0(49)


    Artisan 0(34)


    Assassin 0(52)


    Bard 0(73)


    Berserker 0(55)


    cksmith 0(82)


    Carpenter 1(79)


    Chef 0(60)


    Cleric 0(30)


    Druid 0(81)


    Enchanter 5(100)


    Engineer 0(5)


    Farmer 0(43)


    Gambler 0(6)


    Guard 0(63)


    Herbalist 2(50)


    Hero 1(3)


    Hunter 0(91)


    Jeweler 0(12)


    Knight 0(58)


    Leader 1(35)


    Leatherworker 0(64)


    Mage 2(87)


    Martial Artist 0(96)


    Merchant 0(34)


    Miner 0(68)


    Monk 7(99)


    Monster Tamer 2(64)


    Ninja 5(73)


    Noble 0(20)


    Painter 0(30)


    Pirate 0 (13)


    Priest 1(54)


    Rogue 0(59)


    Schr 1(34)


    Scout 0(51)


    Sculptor 0(32)


    Shaman 0(43)


    Spirit Hunter 15(42)


    Spirit Tamer 6(60)


    Swordsman 0(35)


    Tailor 0(26)


    Warrior 2(70)


    Weaponmaster 0(3)


    Note to self, children, level fifty stats are a FAR cry from level two thousand five hundred¡­ I thought to myself when I nearly tripped over my own feet after seeing my Keeper stats. Of course, if Terra¡¯s words are true, then I won¡¯t grow too much past this for a while. Though there may still be some powerful existences in the future that are at the peak of their sses, so I may get a buff there.


    Still, that made me definitely decide to keep as low of a profile as I could, and not reveal my Keeper abilities. ncing around, I decided to perform a quick test, moving over behind the statue so that those in the city wouldn¡¯t be able to see me, even if they were outside. Reaching into my bag of holding, I pulled out the sword that Tubrock had ¡®given¡¯ me.


    Using only my normal strength, I ced my finger on the edge of the sword, hissing lightly in pain as a small trail of blood flowed from an open wound. Okay, so that really is sharp. I hadn¡¯t even pressed down when it had already cut into me, and I had no doubt it could have chopped off my finger like it was nothing if I had done so. I even lost a single point of health from that!


    Next, I focused, drawing on my Keeper abilities, though I kept my mana and ki sealed to avoid detection. This time, I obviously used a different finger and pressed it on the de of the sword again. To my surprise, I felt the cold edge of the de pressing against my finger, but there was no feeling of pain. Pressing harder, and I felt only mild difort. Curious to see just how far this went, I actually gripped the de in my hand and squeezed, finally managing to draw a bit of blood.


    However, even then it barely hurt, and as soon as I let go of the de, the wound healed quickly. Okay¡­ so my skin really became tougher with the boost in stats. Quite a bit so. I mused to myself as I stored the de away once again, returning myself to a normal level of power. If it was like this, I could be considered to be wearing heavy armor at all times when in Keeper mode.


    When I stepped away to begin moving towards the city again, I winced slightly as I noticed two deep footprints where I had previously been standing. Okay¡­ so I get heavier too. That is good to know.


    Shaking my head, I finally made my way towards the city. Quickly dismissing the notification that I had gained a Scout level as I did so. This was my first Scout level, so it simrly came with an ability. Though, this ability was just a mentalpass, which apparently let me identify north.


    There were two guards standing at the wall surrounding the city near the gate. Though, instead of on the ground in front of the gate, they stood atop the six meter high wall, with one watching outside the city and the other watching inside. ¡°Who goes there!?¡± The guard watching outside called to me in an almost panicked tone, and I could definitely tell something was wrong by now.


    ¡°I am Jayl, a traveler. What is going on here?¡± I called up to the guard, the other one still not turning around even though he knew there was an outside at the gate.


    ¡°You haven¡¯t heard? Get inside somewhere, quick! The ninja turtles areing!¡± The guard let out a panicked warning, causing me to stop dead in my tracks. Ninja¡­ turtles? Now that I could see inside the gate of the city, I saw that all of the doors for the buildings were closed. Some even had gone so far as to mold the marble stone of the building to cover part of the door to truly lock it.


    ¡°Where am I to get inside?¡± I called up. ¡°All the buildings have shut themselves.¡± While a ninja turtle sounded rather amusing, I didn¡¯t want to underestimate anything that would throw a town like this into a panic.


    The guard stared for a few moments, before realizing that the city had already gone into lockdown. ¡°Uhm¡­ The wall! Here!¡± He mmed his hand down onto the surface of the wall in front of him, and multiple protrusions emerged to serve as handholds to climb up. ¡°If you don¡¯t want to die, climb!¡±


    Well, faced with that choice, there really was not any reason for me to refuse. Hastily, I grabbed onto the first protrusion, and quickly climbed my way up. Even though I was still fairly low leveled, I was able to climb to the top of the wall within a minute. And after getting to the top, I finally saw what the guards were so worried about. ¡°They¡¯re here.¡± The one watching towards the ocean muttered as I stood up.


    I could barely make them out from this distance, but I could see arge number of shapes moving out of the water. Each one seemed to be moving at roughly a walking pace, so they did not seem too frightening. At least, not until I looked closely to inspect the information on them.


    Level 59 Ninja Turtle


    Okay, so they really are ninja turtles. That, or the system called them that because it is what the locals identify them as. I was wondering why this was, until I saw the one I was focusing on abruptly vanish, moving over a dozen meters forward with a single step. Oh¡­ fuck, they have chakra. That means that they can use ki and mana, too¡­


    I was suddenly very d that the guard had been kind enough to bring me up here. ¡°I don¡¯t suppose that they can climb the wall, can they?¡± I asked, looking over to him. He was wearing leather armor, with a bow and quiver on his back. His hair was golden, and his features sharp.


    ¡°No, thankfully. Else, we wouldn¡¯t be able to keep watch during their tide.¡± He answered, letting out a sigh of relief.


    ¡°This happens often¡­?¡± That was a disturbing thought. I might be able to survive if I went down there, but only if I activated my Keeper abilities. Even then, there were at least a few hundred of them.


    ¡°Once every year.¡± The guard says, turning back around to once again look towards the meadows. ¡°The ninja turtles surface from the seas and move into the town to look for food, staying for three days and nights, before finally leaving into the seas once more. The first time, we lost nearly half our men and women to them, so we don¡¯t allow anyone outside during their ¡®visit¡¯.¡± He says the final word with an ugly expression.


    ¡°Have you guys considered moving the town?¡± I had to ask, though I did feel somewhat guilty. I knew that these turtles had to be a result of buying the fifth tier of monsters, due to their abilities.


    The guard turned to look at me as if I had considered sphemy. And, in truth, maybe I had. ¡°You really don¡¯t know where this is, do you?¡± He asked, doing his best to keep his expression calm. ¡°This is the city of Cau Buhnga, thend where the goddess herself appeared to protect her people. We cannot forsake that favor by moving the town after the danger has passed.¡±


    ¡°They made it to the feeding ground.¡± The other guard interrupted, reporting the progress of the turtles. When I turned back, I found that they hadpletely vanished from the beach already, and were instead well inside the city. They had begun surrounding a circr building with an open roof, inside of which was a pile of animal corpses. I could see some that looked like boars, or giant lizards, all haphazardly piled up.


    There seemed to be a few ditches dug into the ground beneath the wall, allowing the turtles to gradually move into the ¡®feeding ground¡¯ to get at the dead animals. ¡°This is why we don¡¯t leave.¡± The guard that had been talking to me said. ¡°We are able to deal with them¡­ we just have to give them what they want.¡±


    Okay, so the ninja turtles are carnivores¡­ I can understand why they can be seen as a natural disaster now. ¡°So¡­ do the two of you just stay up here for three days and wait for them to leave?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask. While this was certainly one way to see the elven culture, it is not quite what I had in mind.


    ¡°Someone will send us rations once a day, by means of a flying animal.¡± He said, pointing to a nearby building with arge open window near the top. ¡°Though, I suppose they¡¯ll need to send another portion now. If they see anything moving along the ground, they swarm at it. So, you can¡¯t exactly leave until they are gone, unless you want to try to outrun them¡­¡±


    And it was unlikely that outrunning them would even be a possibility for a normal elf, given their ninja abilities. ¡°No, I¡¯m fine staying up here for a while. Mind if we talk a bit, though? It doesn¡¯t seem like any of us are going anywhere¡­¡± Why can¡¯t I just descend and find a normal city?

 Chapter 94: The Turn of the Tide

    <h4>Chapter 94: The Turn of the Tide</h4>


    For the next three days, the three of us atop the wall truly did not dare to leave it for any reason. That was because we saw firsthand what would happen to anyone the turtles caught. With the gates wide open, and nobody there to stop it, a wandering tiger walked into the city, following the stench of blood in the air. However, the moment the turtles saw it, over fifty of them disappeared. In the next instant, the tiger had already been ripped to shreds, blood and gore sttering everywhere. It had not even had a chance to react as the turtles appeared around and overtop it.


    When I asked why the gate had to remain opened, Thal-- the guard that had weed me when I first arrived-- exined that it was necessary. Sometimes, they would leave the gate closed to prevent the turtles from spreading out of the city. However, when that happened, the turtles actually destroyed a section of the wall and several buildings in order to find food when they ran out of their ¡®offerings¡¯.


    So, for those three days, I simply continued talking to them about what could be seen asmon matters, using the excuse that I had been wandering the wilderness for a hundred years. There were several things that simply didn¡¯t make sense to me. For one, I saw the makings of a smallnding for boats along the beach, yet not a single boat or its remains could be found.


    When I asked Thal about this, he looked out to the waters, and said that it wasn¡¯t safe to venture out. Unsure what he meant, I also looked into the water, using ki to amplify my sight. It was only then when I saw something lurking beneath the surface, less than two hundred meters from the shore. A massive creature, at least thirty meters long, looking like a giant fish. I couldn¡¯t make out many details from this distance, but it was enough for me to appraise the creature.


    Level 269 Shallows King


    I subconsciously gulped when I read that information. In the current period, that was almost the strongest creature that could exist in the entire world. Thal, seeming to understand that I saw something, nodded his head. He told me that he thinks that was why the turtlese tond in search of food, because the waters are too dangerous.


    Part of me considered finding a way to secretly kill the monster, but doing so wouldn¡¯t really solve anything. The locals would still be afraid to set out in the waters, and there was every chance that the giant fish didn¡¯t really have anything to do with the turtlesing ashore. It might simply be a migratory habit.


    1-800-GOD-DESS Hotline, is Ryone avable? I closed my eyes and prayed when our period of solitude atop the wall was nearing the end of the third day.


    Dale! Hey, what¡¯s up? I didn¡¯t expect a prayer from you. Came the hurried response. You still stuck on the wall?


    Oh¡­ so she knew about that. Yeah. I had something to ask you. Is your incarnation anywhere near Cau Buhnga?


    Look straight ahead, third house on the left. No, sorry, other left. Second floor window. Surprised, I let her voice guide my eyes, and saw a young woman waving at me through an opening in the wall that vaguely resembled a window. Her hair was silver, flowing down past where I could see, and she was dressed in white and gold robes. So, what did you need me for?


    Well¡­ that certainly made things more embarrassing. Thankfully, they did have some rudimentary plumbing for us atop the wall¡­ in the form of a hole going straight down. Not my proudest moment. Is there anything you can do to help this town? As the goddess of magic, surely she had to have some ideas.


    Well¡­ I mean, there¡¯s not nothing I can do? She answered vaguely, and I could see a troubled look on her incarnation. My mage level is really too low for it to make sense that this incarnation coulde up with it. I¡¯ve been staying here for a few years to study those turtles, and try to figure out how I could make a magic item that stopped them, but nothing hase to mind. We would need a strong ward, but that is in archmage territory.


    Could you whisper the idea to one of the stronger mages? Maybe get them toe here and help?


    Maybe, I¡¯ve been trying with this one local guy, but he¡¯s been stubborn. That¡¯s another reason my incarnation is here in person. My levels were already made public, so I hoped to convince him one way or the other. But¡­ maybe¡­ I saw her incarnation looking up at me with a gleam in her eye.


    I¡¯m not going to like this, am I? I asked, shaking my head and sighing. Thal looked at me in confusion, while the other guard maintained his endless duty of watching the activity of the turtles.


    Oh,e on¡­~! It¡¯ll only take a week or two. She pleaded, leaning against the window. You can stay here with me in the meantime! Nobody knows your levels, so we can just tell them that you are strong enough to set up the wards!


    While honestly, the idea of staying down here for weeks was not appealing to me, I did have to admit that it would save countless lives if it worked. Not to mention, it would give me more chance to learn about the fundamental nature of magic. Alright, I¡¯ll do it. What do you have in mind?


    It¡¯s simple, really! If anyone asks, just tell them that you have high levels as a mage and archmage. I¡¯ll guide you through the specifics. She promised, smiling happily and nodding from the window, before moving away from it.


    I had the feeling that I didn¡¯t know what I just got myself into. But either way, our stay upon the wall onlysted for a few more hours. A jet ck bird, simr to arge crow or raven, was sent out onest time carrying fruits for the three of us to eat. This has been our regr diet for thest three days¡­


    Anyways, soon we could see the turtles all beginning to wander back to the shore, leaving trails of blood and gore all throughout the city. Seeing that, the two guards let out sighs of relief, thankful that no elves had died this year. With Thal and Idris¡¯s powers, they were able to create a set of stairs leading down the wall, which looked like they had always been there. Most likely, the stairs were only taken away during times like this.


    ¡°So, what brings you to Cau Buhnga, Jayl?¡± Thal finally asked once the situation calmed down. I could see doors opening in the various building, and elves walking out. Some began grabbing tools to clean up the mess on the streets as if it were only natural, while other smaller elves ran about and yed.


    ¡°He¡¯s with me~!¡± A female voice called out, and I could see Ryone¡¯s incarnation running towards us quickly, waving her arms to get our attention. ¡°I asked him toe here, we¡¯re friends from the capital, before he started traveling.¡± She exined after she arrived in front of us, leaning over and panting for breath. I could understand her exhaustion, as the sses she told me she had would do nothing for her stamina.


    ¡°Rinon¡­¡± Thal said with a bemused smile. ¡°Could you not have called him here when the turtle tide was due? The poor man almost lost his life if he hade just a few momentster.¡±


    ¡°Sorry¡­¡± She smiled to him, before reaching out and taking my hand. Now that I was able to see her, I could appreciate that she had a pretty good figure, even for an elf. Aside from her hair and face, she looked almost identical to the Ryone up in the Admin Room. ¡°I hoped he would show up a few days ago, so that he could see it first-hand. Anyways, with his help this should be thest time we have to deal with the tide!¡±


    Thal was taken aback by Rinon¡¯s confident deration, before turning to look at me, and back to her. ¡°And just how is he going to do that?¡± He asked suspiciously.


    Before I could answer for myself, Rinon jumped in. ¡°He¡¯s a ward specialist, and told me that he had found a way to stop monsters from entering the city. That¡¯s why I invited him over here so urgently.¡±


    Thal thought about that, but simply let out a sigh, seeming to ept the situation. ¡°Alright, fine. Hopefully this time, your n actually works.¡± He didn¡¯t seem to have much faith in Rinon¡¯s ns, which seemed ironic considering her true nature.


    ¡°It will! You¡¯ll see, next year they won¡¯t even be able to enter the town.¡± She repeated before dragging me back towards the house. ¡°Come on, Jayl, we¡¯ve got a lot to prepare.¡± I saw Thal smiling knowingly at me as I left, as if watching an unfortunate victim being lured away.


    Once we got back to her ce, she closed the door, which automatically sealed itself behind us. ¡°Finally.¡± She muttered to herself. ¡°Okay, what do you need to know for this to work?¡± She asked, looking up at me. Ryone¡¯s connection with her incarnation seemed much stronger than that of Terra, likely due to those restraints that thetter had to deal with.


    ¡°First, what are wards. Second, how do I even do what you are wanting me to?¡± I asked, finding a chair in the next room and sitting down. I was rather surprised to find that there was only one chair in the room, but Rinon didn¡¯t seem to mind. She simply walked forward and sat on myp sideways, as if it was natural.


    ¡°Wards are basicallyrge-scale enchantments. However, the ss governing them is the archmage instead of the enchanter, and the setup process is quite different than enchanting items. With enough power and materials, I could ward the entire city to turn invisible if I wanted. Monster barriers are considerably more simple than that, thankfully.¡± She answered casually, smiling at me as she talked.


    ¡°Okay, that¡¯s the what. Now, the how?¡±


    ¡°Fine, fine. It¡¯ll take a few days for me to drill the basics of wards into you, and then I¡¯ll teach you the specific ward that will keep monsters away. Once you¡¯ve set up the ward here, and we prove it works next year, I can share the information with the other cities, saying that I learned it from you.¡±


    I nodded to her exnation, though found a few things weird. ¡°I thought that the elves already discovered wards? If I remembered right, they had advanced to the second or third tier of the magic, so they should be able to do something like this on their own?¡±


    At that, Rinon let out a long sigh. ¡°Well, it¡¯s¡­ not that easy, Dale. Sorry, Jayl. The wards that they¡¯ve learned until now werergely idental, either the one or two granted by the archmage ss, or them experimenting and finding something by luck. Very few have devoted themselves to actually studying wards, because they go againstmonly understood principles of magic.¡±


    Without waiting for me to ask for an exnation, she simply continued talking. ¡°It ismonly believed that only a creature capable of thought can produce mana. Monsters are already a controversial subject for many elves, because they don¡¯t want to admit that there might be other ways to do it, or that monsters are as intelligent as people. They can understand enchantments, because the mana usedes from either the enchanter, or the one wielding the enchanted item. A ward, however, is different. They don¡¯t seem to need refueling, and canst without an apparent power source.¡±


    ¡°And that¡¯s just not possible, even for magic.¡± I interrupted.


    ¡°Right? It¡¯s really not. They just don¡¯t understand the logic behind it. In reality, all wards have amon basic principle which people have failed to properly grasp yet. And that is to serve as a mana collector. With the materials and designs for wards, all of the known ones include a particr diagram that saps very small amounts of mana from all nearby creatures constantly. Such an insignificant amount that it is not even noticed. But multiply that by every elf, every monster. It adds up fast. I suspect there are other ways to power wards, but that is the only currently known method.¡± She finally took a deep breath, ending her exnation.


    ¡°Would that really be enough to fend off the turtles for three days, then?¡± Even if the ward built up strength for a full year, those turtles weren¡¯t exactly weak.


    ¡°Well¡­ Not exactly. What we are going to do isn¡¯t a ¡®barrier to prevent ess¡¯, but a ¡®field to prevent approach¡¯. If it works, the turtles should simply move on to a different feeding ground once they appear here, as if thend had be barren. A barrier would be easier, but also less likely to work.¡±


    ¡°Great.¡± I muttered. ¡°So the future of the city relies on my ability to create an advanced ward with no real practical knowledge, under the watchful eye of hundreds of elves. No pressure.¡±


    ¡°I know, right?¡± She said with a giggle. ¡°I¡¯m hoping that this will create a trend for researching into wards once it works. There are so many possibilities that haven¡¯t been explored! Maybe next time, I¡¯ll incarnate as an archmage.¡±

 Chapter 95: The First True Ward

    <h4>Chapter 95: The First True Ward</h4>


    After making Rinon get off myp, the two of us went right to work. And by work, I mean she began lecturing. ¡°Alright, so! The basics of wards are actually pretty simple.¡± She promised, though simple for her could mean a variety of different things by now. ¡°For instance, the very easiest ward is a simple shield.¡±


    Saying so, she grabbed a nearby scroll and unfurled it, showing a diagram that looked considerably different than what I recognized for spells. For one, it was not a single circle on the outeryer, but there were what appeared to be separate partiallypleted diagrams tacked on to the side of it. Yet, the very interior of the diagram was still recognizable as the basic shield spell that I had learned long ago.


    ¡°All wards consist of at least fourponents. The link, the spell, the trigger, and the source. The first three are easy to understand, but the source is what really gets people confused all the time, because they can¡¯t understand the principle behind it. ording to current schrs, it shouldn¡¯t work.¡± As said that, she pointed to one of the semicircle diagrams along the outer edge of the pattern.


    ¡°As I exined before, the main point behind this is that it siphons mana from any nearby source. When I tried to exin that to people, they denied it because they could not measure the mana being taken. That¡¯s because the siphon regtes the intake to not be more than the individual¡¯s natural recovery, so it doesn¡¯t damage the people it is made to protect.¡±


    When I heard that, I couldn¡¯t help but interrupt. ¡°But wait, what natural recovery? I¡¯ve never noticed any passive regen for mana. Ki, sure, just sit around and wait for a while and it¡¯lle back slowly. But I¡¯ve never seen anything like that for mana.¡±


    Rinon blinked, but then let out a long sigh. ¡°Let me start from the beginning, then. Some of this is theoretical information, but most of it has been proven. Now, mana is the energy to exert your will onto the world around you, in the form of various spells and abilities, correct?¡± I nodded my head at that. ¡°Then, where does ite from?¡±


    ¡°The head, right? Or, the brain specifically?¡±


    She smiled slightly at my answer. ¡°That¡¯s right. Mana is simply a thought given energy. When you expend too much of it, your head begins to hurt, like amon headache. Eventually, when youpletely run out of mana, your head will hurt so bad that you can¡¯t form a coherent thought. However, like all headaches, it will gradually go away over time. This is the same rate that you recover your mana. Likewise, some healing spells will alleviate the symptoms, and give someone suffering mana exhaustion headaches a brief period where they can use mana again.¡±


    ¡°Now, when your mana is at full capacity, that recovery process is practically nonexistent, because there is nothing to recover. This is where the wardes in. It saps the mana away in such small amounts that your natural healing abilities make up for it in an instant. If there were just one or two people, that wouldn¡¯t be enough to power a ward. But, with over a thousand elves in the city, plus whatever monsters they bring in, that is more than enough.¡±


    ¡°Imagine that for every one hundred elves, the ward acquires one mana per second. At a thousand elves, that bes ten per second. Over a hundred thousand mana every day. And that is only for as long as it takes for the ward to fully charge its energy. Once the mana limit is reached, even that little drain won¡¯t be there anymore, until the ward is used.¡±


    I considered her words for a little while, before raising another question. ¡°Doesn¡¯t that make wards too overpowered? I mean, even if it only raises a hundred thousand mana a day, how much could the usage of its effect actually cost?¡±


    At this, Rinon¡¯s smile turned a bit bitter. ¡°Well, that¡¯s where things getplicated. The cost of the spell is directly rted to howrge it is. For example, say a normal shield spell costs ten mana per minute topletely surround you, but the cost increases when you are hit. To cover an entire city the size of Cau Buhnga, it would cost at least ten thousand times that, just to hold the shield in ce. The actual act of defending attacks would also be a major drain. Depending on the storage limit of the ward, it could be entirely drained in under an hour, and need weeks to recharge to its full potential.¡±


    Okay, I had to admit that made it less overwhelming. ¡°But¡­ to store that much mana, it can¡¯t be as simple as drawing the diagram, right?¡± After all, even an iron sword could only hold a few hundred mana before shattering.


    ¡°You¡¯re right, and that¡¯s where things get tricky. At the center of every ward, you need to ce a control device that connects to the trigger. This device also has to have an object ced in it that stores the mana for the entire ward. The only thing I¡¯ve found so far that can store that kind of energy without breaking is a pure crystal.¡± It was at that point that her shoulders began to slump down. ¡°I managed to get one as a reward from the queen for gifting them various items, but that¡¯s just enough for one ward. I won¡¯t be able to do anything for all the other towns.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but reach a hand out, patting her shoulder gently as I smiled to her. ¡°Let¡¯s start here. If the ward works, maybe the queen will consider reinforcing the other cities that are in danger as well.¡±


    Her head nodded faintly when she heard that, before her hands came up and lightly pped her cheeks. ¡°Okay, you¡¯re right. Anyways, we need to make sure that this works first. So, there are two more things that I need to exin to you about wards. The area they cover, and the trigger mechanism.¡±


    Saying that, she took a deep breath before continuing. ¡°For the area, it¡¯s really easy. It is defined by where you ce the wards. To create a warded area, you need a minimum of three separate ward markers. The more markers you have, therger the area and more detailed you can make it. To create a perimeter around the entire city¡­ I imagine we¡¯ll need at least fifty. Each ward marker is simply an item upon which the pattern for the ward is drawn. It can be facing in any direction, but must be within a certain range of its neighbor markers. We can use the city¡¯s walls for this.¡±


    ¡°Finally, the triggering mechanism. After the area of the ward isid out, you have to define its control point with one final marker ced inside the area. This marker will be different.¡± To demonstrate, she ran up to her room, grabbed another scroll, and came down. It seemed to depict a different diagram on it than before, though there were many simrities. ¡°In the triggering mechanism, the trigger diagram takes the primary position, while the main function is outlined on the side.¡± She pointed out the two big changes, before rolling the scroll up. ¡°We just need to have the crystal embedded within the mechanism, and we can activate it at will.¡±


    Now that she had apparently finished exining everything, she let out a long sigh of relief, before lifting her head back up. ¡°Now, any questions?¡±


    ¡°Yes, just one¡­ You said that it would take a few days to finish exining everything to me¡­ that was less than an hour.¡± I nced outside, seeing that the sun hadn¡¯t even set yet.


    ¡°Oh, that, I was hoping to spend the rest of the time humping like linocs in heat.¡± She admitted quite readily, causing my mouth to gape open just slightly. ¡°What? You can¡¯t say it wouldn¡¯t be fun. Besides, I really want to know if there would be anything special about a child born from the descended bodies of a Keeper and a Goddess. You have to admit, you are at least a little curious, right?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know which to retort about¡­ that you want to keep me here for sex, or that you want a baby purely for research purposes¡­¡± Ryone, you are the Goddess of Magic and Wealth, not Wisdom. Stop taking alia¡¯s job.


    ¡°Technically, you just retorted about both of them. Besides, we still need to have you practice the diagram a few times to make sure you can get it right while everyone is watching. Knowing you, that should only take a couple days, but then we have to actually carve it into the stone walls thirty times. Unless you feel like training the druid ss for a while first so you can do it more easily. The city stopped devoting resources to me when I tried to assert my ¡®theories¡¯.¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    Thal Highborn couldn¡¯t help but smile wryly as he watched the traveler Jayl being dragged away by the Mad Enchanter Rinon. His partner Curihon walked up to him, dark circles under his eyes from the three day duty. ¡°He¡¯s a friend of hers, huh?¡± He asked skeptically, ncing in the direction that the two had left in.


    ¡°Seems that way.¡± Thal nodded. ¡°I just hope she doesn¡¯t do anything too crazy this time.¡± He didn¡¯t want another repeat of the ¡®city of lights¡¯ incident, where one of her wards managed to identally make the entire city, and everyone inside of it glow brightly for over an hour.


    ¡°Eh, leave them to what they want to do. We¡¯ve got some time off now.¡± Curihon said with a faint smile, followed by a yawn. ¡°I could sleep for a week.¡± Although standing watch alone on the wall for three days was a dangerous job, it was not without its rewards. Specifically, a seven day period after the shift in which they can rx, unless an emergency urs.


    ¡°Right. Say thanks to Levy for me.¡± Thal said, remembering his partner¡¯s wife waiting for him at home. She was the one who had sent them their rations for the days that they were stuck on the wall, so he wanted to make sure she knew he appreciated it.


    ¡°Will do. Try to keep out of trouble.¡± Thal¡¯s partner said, waving to him wearily as he began moving back towards his home. As for Thal himself, he grabbed a nearby broom and began helping the residents sweep up the mess left by the turtle tide.


    It took nearly a week before he saw the wanderer Jayl again, having nearly forgotten about him. When he did see him again, he had a tired expression on his face, as if he had gone through several sleepless nights in order to prepare himself. Meanwhile, the Mad Rinon stood next to him with a beaming smile, practically glowing as the two walked towards the outer walls.


    This was her sixth attempt at creating a protective ward for the city, and the residents had long since grown tired of her antics. While they wouldn¡¯t actively stop her, they would also not give her any help, and she would be strictly punished for any mishaps that urred. She was still working off her debt from herst ward.


    Yet, this time it was not Rinon who was carving the wards into the walls, but Jayl. Despite his apparent tired state, he took his time carving one ward after another, evenly spaced along the walls. When each one was done, he would take a few steps back and look at it, before nodding to himself and moving onto the next.


    The entire process took him two days, even when he made himself work through the night. Thal had to admit that his dedication and perseverance were worthy of praise, but also lowered his impression of Rinon another level. After all, if not for her standing behind him, watching the entire time with that smile, would Jayl have really put himself through that?


    It waste into the second day when he finished thest ward, and anyone could tell that he was barely able to keep himself on his feet by that point. Several of the residents had offered him food and drink as they saw him stumbling down the road, yet he ignored them all. Nobody seemed to mind, not because they felt he was doing it on purpose, but most simply thought he was too tired to even notice the people around him.


    Thest that Thal saw of Jayl was when he returned to Rinon¡¯s house. No doubt, he had left the city early the next day, after he had some proper sleep. It must have simply been before Thal returned to duty. Though, even though it was widely epted that he left early in the day, nobody could actually remember seeing him leave. Thal had ¡®invited¡¯ himself over to Rinon¡¯s home in order to check her ward, and confirmed that he had left, so he decided to believe the rumor that had been epted. Nobody would really know what became of Jayl, the researcher who would soon be known to the entire kingdom.

 Chapter 96: Universally Bad Naming Sense

    <h4>Chapter 96: Universally Bad Naming Sense</h4>


    After returning to the Admin Room, I copsed in bed and slept for¡­ I don¡¯t even know how long. Although I could technically go without sleep, and my mind was adjusting to that, that only applied to the Admin Room. When ites to being a mortal, my body still definitely needed rest¡­ which was something I had learned the hard way.


    After waking up, I dragged myself over to theputer, and saw a blinking message, showing that someone had tried to send me a conversation request. Likely, it was while I was ¡®unavable¡¯. Shaking my head, I opened the message to see what they wanted. There was really only one person that would message me out of the blue like that.


    Alkahest: Hey, Dale! Just wanted to send you a tip to let you know that there won¡¯t be a meeting this month. It¡¯s the official annual meeting, and Earth hasn¡¯t been listed in the games yet.


    I had¡­ almost forgotten about the Keeper meetings, but either way this didn¡¯t bother me. This gave me plenty of time to figure out what I was doing on my own world before worrying about somebody else¡¯s. Speaking of my world¡­ Terra? I thought inwardly, too tired to try to figure out where I had left themunication paper. Hopefully, my mind was too worn out to send the loud messages that they had been worried about before.


    Dale? A reply came shortly after, though not from Terra. Bihena¡¯s questioning tone told me everything I needed to know. Wrong number, but I¡¯ll send her your way.


    Thanks. It was probably easier to talk in person than over the thought-chat radio or whatever we were calling it now. So, I turned to face the door, slouched over and propping myself up by my elbows until Terra came into the room.


    ¡°Hey, Dale. See you finally decided to wake up.¡± She said with a toothy grin, her tail wrapped around her waist like a belt. Currently, she seemed to be wearing a dress woven out of golden silk. ¡°So, what¡¯s up?¡±


    ¡°Not going to ask how long I was out.¡± I began, not even wanting to know. ¡°But, I¡¯ve got a question, and it is semi-urgent. What would a child be like if their parents were a descended Keeper and a god¡¯s avatar?¡±


    Terra had a knowing smile on her face as she listened to that. ¡°You mean you and Ryone? She wouldn¡¯t stop talking about it while you were asleep. And¡­ normally, there might not be that much difference. Maybe a slight increase in talent. However, things are a bit different for you, since you have the Godking achievement.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t mean¡­¡± I turned my head to look at theputer, and opened up the notifications.


    Congrattions! You have earned a new achievement!


    For bestowing the bloodline of the gods upon the mortal world, you have received the Demigod¡¯s Descent achievement. +20 Points


    ¡°I created a demigod?¡± I asked, cing my face into my palm. ¡°Okay¡­ what¡¯s going to happen now with it?¡±


    ¡°Well, Tryval¡¯s demigods didn¡¯t really do anything special. He was mating with the variant centaurs enough to almost single-handedly run their entire species. However, really things are a bit random. Most likely, they will be born with the protagonist aura, and will be sessful at whatever they seek to aplish in life. There is a very rare chance that the divinity in their blood grants them an extra power, but so far that hasn¡¯t happened yet in your world.¡± She exined patiently.


    It was only at this moment that I realized that Tryval had indeed made plenty of holy babies. And yet I had never received this achievement before. So I had to do it myself, huh? ¡°Well, what about normal children between your incarnations and mortals?¡±


    ¡°Bihena¡¯s son didn¡¯t show any special talents, so I would say that the connection is weak enough for it not to affect the child.¡± She said with a shrug, walking over to sit down at the bed. ¡°However, as the Godking, you are a different story. In order to not create a demigod, you would need topletely cut yourself off from your Keeper powers while you are in the act¡­ Andtely, you¡¯ve been keeping your Keeper health and stamina active. Not at all a bad decision, and it¡¯ll probably save your lifeter, but it also means you make god babies.¡±


    She sounded just a bit too amused with thatst part. I couldn¡¯t help but lift my head up to look at her curiously. ¡°You seem oddly okay with this. I thought you would be a bit more upset that I made Ryone pregnant.¡± After all, she had been fairly hesitant towards my initial goal of a heavenly harem¡­ not that I really see them like that anymore.


    ¡°I¡¯ve said it before. Ryone¡¯s fine. Most of the girls up here are. If I had to list two girls as off limits¡­ Aurivy, and Udona.¡± She nodded her head confidently. ¡°Aurivy, because the whole sister dynamic. And Udona, because of her memories. Like you¡¯ve learned yourself, the memories and personalities of the gods and goddesses you create aren¡¯t always how you would imagine. It¡¯d create a giant mess if you just went around sleeping with them before even confirming what kind of person they were, right?¡±


    I still can¡¯t help but think that there is something else going on with this. ¡°You already gave Ryone a punishment, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°First of all, you forgot to turn off the mentalmunication.¡± She said with a bitter smile. ¡°And¡­ I may have paid her a visit. But I didn¡¯t do anything drastic.¡±


    Called it. ¡°Okay¡­ well, you can tell Aurivy that I¡¯ll head down to visit you two next.¡± Though, not to make more demigods. ¡°I just need a bit of time to check up on the world, and get over my previous descent.¡± It hadsted quite a bit longer than I had originally nned.


    Terra nodded her head with a grin, not even waiting before she turned around and headed out the door, no doubt seeking out Aurivy to let her know what I just said. Shaking my head with a sigh, I turned myself back around to face theputer, checking to see if anything interesting was happening in the mortal world.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Deep within the Vige of the Hidden Fog, one particr beastkin was attempting a new technique he had been working on. Before him sat several bars of precious copper. This was a metal that the vige had found hidden deposits of this material within the forest. After a few years of study, it was found possibly to melt a certain part of the metal from the ore and separate it through the use of various techniques.


    After that, naturally people had begun reshaping the metal into more deadly shapes, such as arrowheads or daggers. However, Fi had another idea. An idea to create a weapon more deadly than the dagger, more urate than an arrow, and perfectly suited to their abilities.


    His hands quickly came together, forming various shapes as he channeled his chakra into them. Each sign seemed to resonate with his chakra, until he held the final sign as a circle with is thumbs and index fingers connecting, his other fingers all spread out. Under his breath, he recited the name of the technique in order to help him focus his chakra further. ¡°Metal Melting.¡±


    As his chakra poured into the copper bars in front of him, they gradually turned red, showing signs of melting. In order to prevent an ident, he willed his chakra to lift the metal into the air before him, watching as it gradually formed into a single blob of amorphous copper. pping his hands together, the blob trembled as it waspressed slightly.


    Lifting his hands, he once again made a circle with his fingers, before pulling his hands apart. In response, the copper formed into the shape of a small circle and began expanding, leaving a wide hole in the middle. Already, he could see the effects from his previous technique wearing off, the metal starting to cool and harden again. However, he wasn¡¯t done yet.


    He pped his hands together again, this time with both palms facing him, one hand pping the other. Again, the metalpressed. And again, he pped. With every p, it was as if the metal was being struck by a hammer, suspended in midair and gradually cooling. One p after another seemed to strike at the circle of metal, until the outer edge resembled a thin de.


    Satisfied with this result, he lifted his hands back up, forming another circle facing the metal, and moved his hands over to the side, lowering them down. The circle of metal followed the movement, lowering itself into a pot of fresh red blood. This was the blood of the shadow wolf, a beast the vige had discovered over a century ago to be capable of using chakra. And it was also the key ingredient in this forging, used to temper the weapon that Fi wanted to make.


    He watched the steam rising from the pot of blood, bubbles rising up as it began to boil. When he lifted his hands back up, he caused the circle of metal to fly into the air andnd on the table, right where the original bars had been located. By now, his ki and mana were almost exhausted, leaving him unable to continue to the final step.


    Thankfully, he had been expecting that, and grabbed two ss potion bottles from nearby, one blue and the other green. One after the other, he chugged them down without hesitation, allowing his energy to refill slightly. The vige¡¯s alchemists had not found a way topletely restore someone¡¯s mana and ki, but their potions would restore a significant portion.


    Taking a moment to let the potions take effect, he once again began the hand signs. At first, they seemed to be identical to the ones he had performed before, except for the veryst one. This time, his final hand sign was a one-handed circle with his thumb and index finger, his other fingers extended together. ¡°Metal Engraving.¡±


    After saying that, he lowered his fingers down towards the cooling metal, keeping them several inches from its surface. Once a few seconds had passed, a red dot formed in the metal, which followed the movements of his fingers as he began to etch inplicated symbols, those which they had found most useful in storing ki. At a nce, they looked like theponents in spell diagrams, except that their shapes were less rigid, more natural.


    When Fi hadpletely engraved both sides with those symbols, he let out a deep breath, sending the disc of metal to cool in the blood once again. Afterwards, he carefully wiped it down with a cloth, smiling at his creation. Apletely circr de, made to be wielded either by hand or thrown. But, more importantly, if Fi¡¯s theory was right, it should easily be able to hold chakra, allowing it to be controlled remotely.


    After pouring a bit of chakra into the de, he caused it to rise into the air with more ease than he had its previous raw form. With a thought, it began spinning rapidly, the sound of it cutting the air almost audible. Fi nced down to his stone table and flicked his finger, causing the weapon to fly down at it, piercing halfway into the stone before stopping.


    With a satisfied nod, he spoke as if talking to his new creation. ¡°I will call you¡­ chakram. The weapon made for chakra.¡± He knew that, once he shared this weapon and its forging process with the rest of the vige, it would usher in a new age for them. Although they would need to learn how to properly wield this weapon, it should drastically increase the fighting potential of any single ninja.


    Still, Fi had no idea how happy his actions were making a certain pair of ninja-loving goddesses, who had chosen to watch over his actions with high hopes in their heart. They had not influenced him in any way, and yet he had created a weapon that they had been looking forward to for quite a while.

 Chapter 97: Watching the Worlds Turn

    <h4>Chapter 97: Watching the Worlds Turn</h4>


    Huh¡­ I never figured refining could be done like that. I thought to myself as I watched the scene of the felyn man creating a chakram. Though, I inevitably facepalmed when I realized the rtionship between the name and its purpose. At least I¡¯m not the only one with a bad naming sense around here.


    From what I could see, the Legacy ss system was starting to be put to good use. As evidence of that, the felyn ninja that had invented the chakram actually possessed a ss known as Ninja Craftsman. When I looked at the ss details, I actually discovered something rather interesting¡­


    It seemed that the system had added an unintentional hidden feature in the legacy sses, or maybe it was just how it was worded, but as the Keeper I was able to see the list of skills recorded for the ss. For this particr ss, the skills were¡­ Metal Melting Seal, Metal Engraving Seal, Talisman Script and Talisman Bind?


    Three of these skills I had just witnessed the man using personally, assuming that the talisman script exined the symbols he engraved on the chakram. As for thest one¡­? I focused on the binding skill, and a short written description appeared, likely written by the progenitor of the ss. ¡®This skill enables one to bind a halfpleted chakra technique into a talisman, to be activated when given the proper signal.¡¯


    Okay, the Legacy ss system ended up being way more useful for me than I expected. If I¡¯m reading this right, I will have ess to the written logs of any legacy ss I identify. I¡¯ll still need to train the skills myself, but this changes things from blind study to giving me a brief guide. And, having that little bit of a guide could bring quite a lot of help in the future.


    I made a mental note to start looking for interesting legacy ssester on, once the system became more widespread. For now, it seemed to still be a fairly rarely used system. Once more people discover it, and it besmon knowledge, it¡¯ll probably be used a lot.


    Nodding my head, I moved on to the next order of business. Which was¡­ Uhm¡­ Do I really have anything that needs my immediate attention? I nced through the world again, and aside from a couple of mundane wars fought over territory, or people catching up to the Metal Age, there actually didn¡¯t seem to be much new going on. It was at that moment that I remembered the existence of the herocs, and went in to check on them.


    ¡­They¡¯re still living in caves? At least they seemed to have fire, but there honestly wasn¡¯t much more to their civilization yet beyond that. I wonder how far behind in terms of civilization the absence of a god will leave them. Then again, they also had a muchter start to begin with. I gave it some thought, and decided to check in on them again after my next major fast forward.


    Ah, I hadn¡¯t checked on the Underworld in a while!


    _______________________________________________________________


    Within the Underworld, a significant change had spread throughout thest several hundred years. This all started when the Governor of the Fallen stepped down, choosing to hand his position over to a high ranking Daeva official. Before that, many people had still stubbornly refused to follow the rules left behind by the Goddess, saying that there was no reason to follow a creature that was more beast than man.


    Even with the various restrictions ced on those that did not follow the system, their stubborn pride had made them unrelenting. There were examples of this in almost all races, aside from the centaurs themselves. However, seeing this, the previous Governor could only resign himself to handing the position over to a native of the realm.


    Now, Janum Tatar led the Underworld. And things were¡­ different than they had been. Although some people still stubbornly resisted the system, demanding that their own races be in charge, they were by far the minority. At the same time, several new systems had been put in ce under the new Governor¡¯s orders.


    The previous Spirit Academy was now divided in two. On one side, there was the School of Thought, an academy designed to educate various students about the history of both the living world and the Underworld, as well as training those who would be the Reapers. The other side was the School of War, which contained the previous pagoda of trials, as well as taking the liberty to train future Spirit Hunters.


    In order to be recognized as a full citizen of the Underworld, it was necessary to pass the first tests of both the School of Thought and the School of War, showing that someone had the basic aptitude to survive in the Underworld. In order to qualify for the Army of Souls, one must pass the third test of at least one school.


    Most people chose not to join the army, as it was possible to live a long and simple life even without doing so. Given the very nature of the world, currency posed very little value, so they would not be forced to work for a living. However, if they wanted anything extravagant, they would need to barter. And in order to have anything worth bartering, having either more power or a higher education was needed.


    Yet, the highest level anyone had ever reached in the School of War was the twelfth floor. Within the twelfth floor, truly terrifying monsters resided. Some were almost big enough to swallow up an entire city, while others possessed slim and nimble bodies.


    At this time, someone was challenging that very floor. From his outer appearance, he seemed to be a human, but right now his eyes were pitch ck. His body was covered with an ornate golden armor, while in his hands a pair of glistening swords were held.


    This man was once known as Noss Flem, a member of the order Wraith which watched over the safety of the human continent. With his former talent as a Spirit Tamer and Spirit Hunter, it was easy for him to move up in the ranks, gathering stronger and stronger powers. He had even returned to Earth in the regr patrols, all for the sake of his desire to grow.


    After dying over a hundred years ago, Noss had long since hit the apex of power, but was never satisfied. In his mind, there was always something greater. This very building he was in served as proof of that.


    ¡°Bene, Chara, let¡¯s go.¡± He spoke aloud, and his two swords hummed in approval. The true form of these des werepanions that Noss had known in life, as they too had been Wraiths with him. Yet, due to the constant warring of the humans, their lives had been cut short.


    Before their spirits could pass on, they met Noss, and asked him to bind them to him. In their minds, their duties were not yet done. Not so long as the spirits still threatened thend.


    Like this, Noss realized the greatest power of the Spirit Hunter, a power which could be achieved only when one received the soul of a powerful person. While his armor was formed from a simple lion, his two swords were able to release immense power.


    It did not take long for Noss to find his enemy for this floor. The one he encountered was of the giant type, which suited him fine. It was a towering behemoth, likely to be evenrger than the pagoda itself if ced outside. And though it had a vaguely human shape, its skin squirmed with every movement. Aside from a giant mouth in ce of where its stomach should have been, there were no real identifying features to it.


    Yet still, the moment Noss found it, the creature seemed to react as if it had seen him. Slowly, its hulking legs moved forward, bringing it closer and closer to Noss with every step. Seeing this, Noss chose to simply remain where he was, the grip on his swords tightening further.


    When the creature was just before him, it decided to go with the tried and true method of killing anything smaller than one¡¯s foot¡­ by stepping on him. Noss watched as the giant squirming blob of a leg descended towards him, and two faint figures appeared behind him. These were the true forms of his swords, which could only appear when he used their powers.


    A sh of light struck through the skies, cleaving through the leg that had been descending. Noss¡¯s two swords were now respectively coated in light and shadow. While the de of light severed all spirits in his path, the de of darkness shed out. Where it passed, the other leg of the giant monster seemed to be erased, causing it to fall back with a shout that echoed through the pagoda.


    Not missing his chance, Noss ran forward, shing out with light and darkness together. Though this consumed a great deal of spiritual energy, this was a benefit of a Spirit Tamer, as their contracted spirits could pay the price for them.


    While he cut his way towards the belly of the beast, the hulking creature seemed to explode into scattered shards of flesh, which quickly reformed in the distance. This time, he was much smaller than his previous appearance, but the mouth looked more vicious. When the mouth opened, a jet-ck beam of energy shot out, and Noss thought for a moment that he heard the screams of fallen souls within the attack.


    This was an attack which most spiritual monsters could use, to a varying degree. Even so, it was rarely seen, as it required them to spend the souls of those they had devoured tounch it. ¡°Five hundred¡­ Maybe six?¡± Noss thought out loud as he watched the beaming towards him, estimating how many souls the creature had just consumed. He knew that he had no chance of blocking such a st, even with his manifested armor. After shing out once each with the swords of light and darkness, he ran to the side, avoiding the st altogether while circling closer to his opponent.


    When the creature saw that its attack had been dyed by the sts of light and shadow, it hesitated tounch another. The toll of the first st was already starting to show, its size beginning to decrease again. In the end, it decided to end the battle with its overwhelming strength, charging in to meet Noss head on.


    Did it forget that I already cut off its legs once? Noss thought to himself, recalling just how dumb these spirits tended to be. Only the smaller ones showed any real intelligence, so he was happy to face a brute.


    When the two met again, the victor was already determined as Noss carved his way through the creature¡¯s core. This made him the first person in history toplete the twelfth level. Yet, he was not arrogant enough to immediately charge into the thirteenth. His swords had used up most of their energy, and would need to recharge for several days before he could fight like that again.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Okay, I guess that counts as interesting.¡± I muttered to myself, watching the scene between the human and the spirit monster. ¡°Considering that the one he fought was just over level two hundred, that¡¯s a pretty good result.¡± Even at max level, that left him over fifty levels below his enemy. Still¡­ I doubted he¡¯d be able tost long against the Chimera souls on the thirteenth floor.


    Looking around the rest of the Underworld, I found that it had undergone another expansion. Cities were now closer together, and more abundant than they had been before. This was likely a result of various powerful spirits setting up their own territories within the Underworld, and inhabitants naturally gathering around them. Not everyone had the willpower to create an entire home out of smoke, after all.


    ¡°Is there anything else¡­?¡± I thought as I looked around the various areas of the world, before deciding I was done for now. ¡°I guess I can go let Terra and Aurivy know that I¡¯ll be down soon.¡± I could feel a small smile on my lips as I thought about visiting the two of them.

 Chapter 98: Need More?

    <h4>Chapter 98: Need More?</h4>


    I was just getting ready to set up my body for descending to the ¡®mortal world¡¯ again, when the door burst open, and a tiny missile came flying in my direction. ¡°Daaaaaaale!¡± Aurivy shouted out as she wrapped her arms around my neck. ¡°Big sis said you were finally ready toe down and visit us!¡±


    I chuckled as I heard that, nodding my head. ¡°That¡¯s right. I was just setting everything up right now to do that.¡±


    Aurivy smiled happily as she heard that, her eyes bing upturned crescents. ¡°Finally~! But¡­ could you fast forward by about two days, first?¡± She asked, and I really didn¡¯t see a reason to refuse, although I was curious.


    ¡°Is something happening in two days?¡± I felt my eyebrow quirking up as I asked that.


    ¡°It¡¯s a surprise!¡± She let out a small giggle as she said that, finally pulling her arms off of me. ¡°The two of us are staying in the city of Hel¡¯dar in the kingdom Udonia. Once you head down, we¡¯ll meet you in front of the southern gate.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­ anything else I should know, or should I make a reputation for myself before I head down?¡± I questioned, seeing as how they seemed to have a fairly specific n for how we were going to spend our time.


    Aurivy tilted her head, seeming to consider the question seriously, before closing her eyes and shaking her head rapidly. ¡°Nope! nk te should be just fine.¡± She assured me.


    Nodding my head, I turned back to theputer, and fast forwarded two days as I had been requested. It was such a small leap that it barely even counted for anything, so I didn¡¯t mind at all. As for the city that she requested¡­ I did a brief search, and found that it was the capital of Udonia. Guessing there is something fairly big happening today.


    Seeing as I knew where I was going now, I went ahead and returned to working on the body I would use to descend. Since I was going to Udonia, a kitsune should do just fine. For hair color¡­ let¡¯s go with a dark red. Otherwise, I kept most of my features in line with my normal body.


    Now, a name¡­ I¡¯m not really going down there to do anything major this time, so just calling myself Mitchell would work just fine. I nodded my head, before finalizing the decision.


    Body verified. Kitsune race selected. Beginning descent. May you work for the betterment of your world, Keeper.


    I felt the blue lights envelop me, causing me to close my eyes as I descended into the world. Naturally, I didn¡¯t forget to grab my storage bag, as I never go anywhere anymore without it. When I arrived, I was in a small forest just off the dirt path leading to the city. I wanted to give myself a good bit of distance from anyone else that might spot my arrival, and thankfully this area was clear of any beastkin.


    Moving onto the dirt road, I set my destination for the nearby city. From this distance, I could see a rough outline of the architecture involved. The city¡¯s outer walls, like so many others, appeared to have been created by a group of druids. This caused it to appear as a single, smooth surface rather than a pile of stone bricks.


    One thing I noticed that was different from Cau Buhnga¡¯s walls was the addition of parapets small sections of raised stone ced regrly along the top of the wall. This actually confused me for a moment, as that was typically used as a defense in times of war. While they didn¡¯t exactly go away during peace times, part of me questioned why they were even there in the first ce.


    Perhaps it is for the guards to better shoot down attacking monsters. I briefly considered that idea, nodding my head. Unsurprisingly, the wall did not appear to have any kind of ward that I could make out from this distance. Ryone said that wards were a rtively uncharted field of magic, so I wasn¡¯t really expecting to find themmonly on cities for at least a few hundred years.


    Contrary to the stone wall, there was arge wooden gate that stood wide open where the dirt path met the wall. Beyond the gate, I saw several small buildings. Unlike the elven city I had recently visited, the buildings of Hel¡¯dar appeared to be constructed of wood instead of stone. I could see several window holes in the sides of buildings, but there was no ss being used in this region.


    No guard attempted to stop me as I entered the city, although there was one posted just outside the gate, and another atop the walls. The one on the ground, an ursa man with strong features, even greeted me with a smile and a nod. Within the city, I could hear a multitude of voices talking merrily.


    From the information I saw about the city before descending, roughly ten thousand beastkin lived here. Judging by the size of the ce, that seemed to be an urate estimation. Although there were not very many homes with multiple floors, there were long roads with buildings on either side. I had even seen branching dirt paths on the way in, which seemed to lead to farnd outside of the city¡¯s walls.


    ¡°Over here!¡± A voice suddenly called out to me, and I turned my head, finding a pair of beautiful young women running towards me. The two seemed to be almost identical in their appearance, both just shy of five and a half feet, looking to be in theirter teens or early twenties. Their bodies were well proportioned, and they each had dog tails swaying behind them, as well asrge furred ears atop their heads. The only difference was that one had silver hair and wore a ck dress, while the other had ck hair and wore a silver dress.


    Name, please, if you would? I heard Aurivy¡¯s excited voice calling into my mind, and readily answered that I would be going by Mitchell. As soon as I did, the silver-haired sister ran up and took my hand, dragging me towards the other one. ¡°You finally made it, Mitchell. We¡¯ve been waiting for you!¡±


    Okay, so silver hair is Aurivy, and ck hair is Terra. As I thought that, I looked towards the ck haired sister, seeing an almost goofy smile that I hadn¡¯t seen on the felyn goddess in so long. ¡°Sorry to keep you waiting. So, what¡¯s the big event?¡± I asked, nodding my head towards the direction of the city center, where I could hear more voices speaking loudly. Every now and then we would see someone walking out of their homes and heading in that direction, as if it were only natural.


    Terra¡¯s incarnation spoke up without a second thought. ¡°It¡¯s the weekly festival of D¡¯ka, the day of rest and celebration.¡± She said as she grabbed my free hand. ¡°Come on, Miren and I can show you.¡±


    Okay, so Aurivy is Miren. Now, would someone do a convenient name drop for Terra¡¯s incarnation? It would be much appreciated! As I thought that, I nodded my head towards the two of them, causing Miren tough. ¡°Come on, Rinn, let¡¯s hurry up or we¡¯ll miss the fun!¡±


    And Rivyes in for the save. ¡°So¡­ what is D¡¯ka to celebrate, anyways?¡± I tried to use thenguage knowledge granted to me by the system, but the word did not seem to have any direct trantions.


    Thankfully, Miren answered my question pretty regrly. ¡°It¡¯s the day that the four goddesses created the four kingdoms. It is said that theymuned with their priests for six days and nights to set up thend and structure of the kingdoms. On the seventh day, they went silent, allowing their people time to rest. Yet at the same time, it was a time of celebration, because the four kingdoms were still united.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but nce over to Rinn as I heard that, recalling the version of history that Terra had told me before. She shook her head, smiling knowingly. ¡°The goddesses work in mysterious ways. Sometimes without ever actually doing any work at all, yet people still perceive it as so. Or, maybe they just wanted a convenient excuse?¡±


    That is, sadly, true. Saying that it was the idea of the goddesses themselves to divide the kingdom gives a perfect reason to keep the church in the highest position of power. As we turned a corner, I saw a pair of felyn children running past us, each with a ribbon on their arm. One of the ribbons was white, while the other was brown.


    It looked like they were being chased, so I turned my attention towards therger group of kids running after them. They all had yful smiles, so it didn¡¯t seem to be bullying. And again, there were ribbons on the arms of each child. Though, the ribbons on those kids were all blue. ¡°And¡­ what is that?¡±


    Miren looked between the two groups of kids, covering her mouth to suppress augh. ¡°Oh, this¡¯ll be good¡­ That is the ¡®Goddess¡¯s Keeper¡¯ game that they y every D¡¯ka.¡±


    ¡­Exnation needed! Seeing the stiff look on my face, the two sisters looked at each other with satisfied smiles, before Rinn took over. ¡°There is a legend of a being who stands above the Goddesses, someone who is faceless and formless, yet can alter the very world itself with a thought. Some people call him the Father, some people call him the Maker, but themon term that has developed is that he is the one who protects us, keeps our world safe. So, he hase to be known as the Goddess¡¯s Keeper.¡±


    Giggling, Miren took over from there, and we could see more children walking around with blue ribbons, as if searching for someone. ¡°When the festival of D¡¯ka first began, a bunch of kids decided to make a game of the legend. Everyone involved is given a single ribbon to wrap around their arm. Blue ribbons indicate the mortals, who worship the goddesses.¡±


    ¡°Most kids have a blue ribbon, but there are four special ones. The white ribbon marks Udona, brown marks Keliope, ck marks alia, and red marks Terra. If anyone with a blue ribbon catches one of the ¡®goddesses¡¯, they exchange ribbons.¡±


    Rinn couldn¡¯t suppress the grin on her face as Miren exined the rules of the game, and I knew there was more. ¡°However, among the blue ribbons, there is one special one. On the inside of one of them, there will be a golden band. That person bes the Goddess¡¯s Keeper. In order to ¡®win¡¯ the game, you have to have either one of the goddess ribbons, or the Keeper ribbon by the time the game ends in the evening.¡±


    ¡­My life has turned into a children¡¯s game of tag. ¡°There aren¡¯t any other, simr games, are there?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask, looking between the two as they burst outughing.


    ¡°No, ying that keeps them pretty busy. Some kids y other games among themselves, but most either stick with this game, or help out the adults.¡± Rinn exined with a shrug of her shoulders, still grinning happily.


    ¡°What about security¡­ monsters won¡¯t just stop attacking once a week because of the festival, will they?¡± I mean, if anything they should be attacking in greater numbers, because all of the juicy targets are in the city.


    Rinn nodded her head, as if understanding the question. ¡°For safety, there are patrols going through the nearby area every day, including D¡¯ka. While it means some people don¡¯t get to enjoy the festivities, they rotate them regrly so that nobody ispletely left out.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ So, aside from this¡­ game, what else is there to do on D¡¯ka? Surely, the two of you didn¡¯t ask me to dy my arrival just for that?¡± Though, I couldpletely see Terra doing it just to mess with me. But, I couldn¡¯t see Aurivy doing that.


    Miren grinned slightly, and we finally got to what seemed to be thergest building in the city. ¡°This is the theater. Every D¡¯ka, there are performances held here. We wanted to bring you here to watch those~.¡± She assured, winking yfully to me as she finally let go of my hand. Rinn soon joined her, and the two ran straight towards the theater, right past a line of people who were waiting for admittance. Oh, great, they¡¯re performers¡­


    Though, seeing them running like that did answer a small question I had been wondering about regarding beastkin fashion. Apparently, their dresses were cut just above where the base of their tails were, giving a brief glimpse of skin before pants covered everything below the tail. Still¡­ very pretty.

 Chapter 99: Alternative Facts

    <h4>Chapter 99: Alternative Facts</h4>


    The theater itself seemed to be the only multi-story building in the entire city, consisting of a total of three floors. Each floor formed an overhang that cast shade over the floor below it, yet at the same time created a nice architectural design. Once the line progressed and I was allowed in, I was guided up to the third floor, where a vast majority of the seating was held. Looking at the rest of the audience, I couldn¡¯t make out any kind of racial discrimination, as everyone was here in seemingly equal numbers. Though, it seemed like there might be more kitsune, but that was entirely likely since this was Udonia.


    Down below, I saw the stage, surrounded on almost all sides by the audience with only its back free. On the stage, I saw fifteen women, each holding a long, thin stick. At the end of each stick was a bundle of ribbon arranged like a flower, with various colors present among them. Among the women, I noticed Miren and Rinn standing near the back, with Miren holding a ck flower ribbon, and Rinn a white one. Finally, a male lycan walked out, dressed in a regal white suit. As he spoke, his voice transmitted to each and every member of the audience, as if using an unseen microphone.


    ¡°Thank you all for attending today. For this D¡¯ka festival, we have prepared a special treat. A very important part of our history, passed down through the generations since time immemorial. I give you all, the Spring of Four Divines.¡± He gave a bow towards the audience, before walking off stage, followed by all but four of the women, who bowed their bodies low, their ribbon batons held at a full arm¡¯s length.


    When the man¡¯s voice rang out again, the four women began moving, walking in a counterclockwise motion around the stage. I noticed that, among the four, there was one of each type of beastkin. ¡°In the beginning, the races were naught but scattered tribes, wandering the wilderness. Gradually drifting further and further apart.¡± As if to emphasize his words, the gap between the women became wider and wider.


    ¡°The Goddesses, seeing our plight, sought to aid us. Not in the strength of self, but in unity. They sent their divine messages to members of different tribes to call a gathering, the first gathering in our known history.¡± This time, the women slightly changed their pace, slowly spiralling inwards towards the center of the stage where they met up. Each one hooked their left arm in the center, grabbing the hand of the woman opposite them.


    ¡°Some tribesman fought them initially, but the four messengers showed them that the bonds formed between them were stronger than that of those disparate tribes.¡± The four women began walking in a circle again, arms still locked together.


    ¡°Although they sought to spread the message of love, they were not above the use of force to defend that bond.¡± Finally, with a flick of their wrists, the ribbons all unfurled. The colors of the ribbons were the same as with the Keeper game outside, white, ck, brown, and red. They raised the ribbons above their heads, letting them form a connected circle that surrounded the four of them.


    ¡°Through theirbined efforts, the first city was formed, which wouldter be known as Terraria.¡± The four women broke apart, spinning on their feet as they moved in a straight line from each other, their ribbons dancing in the air around them. The felyn holding the red ribbon happened to be dancing towards the front of the stage. ¡°Yet, they needed a leader. Someone to guide their new nation. The four chose Ardra, child of Terra. She ushered in the first generation of peace.¡±


    The felyn woman offered a low bow, her ribbon dancing behind her, though the bow was short lived. When she stood up again, she cartwheeled off to the side of the stage, her ribbon forming an almost perfect circle around her body. Then, one by one the other women came up and did the same. ¡°Many thought that Ardra would choose her own daughter to seed her, as she seemed a worthy leader herself. But Ardra would not allow it. Instead, she remembered the love of her sisters, and called forth a young kitsune, Mara Eversong. Her voice ushered in the second generation.¡±


    ¡°Following in this tradition, the second queen appointed the lycan child Thalia Fairwind. And after her, the huntswoman Gre Stormflower. Like this, a cycle which wouldst countless generations began.¡± Finally, there was nobody left on stage. ¡°Terraria grew, and every generation the torch would be passed to another race, a cycle which showed the bond between us, between the sister goddesses themselves. Yet soon¡­ Terraria had grown too far.¡±


    Following their cue, all fifteen girls danced onto the stage, their ribbons flowing around them as they mingled and intertwined, yet never seemed to get in each other¡¯s way. ¡°Soon, it was not enough to have but a single kingdom.¡± I noticed only one of the women, Rinn, seemed to not be dancing, standing in the center of all others, her body often obscured as she looked around in what seemed to be panic.


    ¡°A single queen¡¯s reach was unable topletely grasp thend on which we roam. So once again, the sister goddesses showed their love for their people.¡± Ten of the dancers dispersed, leaving only Miren, Rinn, and two other women. Aside from Rinn, the other three walked around her, her expression seeming to calm as their ribbons danced along her waist.


    ¡°They spoke to their priests, and delivered their divine message. Divide the kingdom, they said. Yet, the queen was afraid. Not to give up her throne, but to destroy the unity her people shared. Don¡¯t worry, they said, we shall always watch over you.¡± The four dancers representing the goddesses slowly began to move away, and Rinn unfurled her own white ribbon, slowly beginning to dance and twirl about.


    ¡°They promised her a unity even greater than before. Because, even though the kingdoms held a different banner, they were all the children of the goddesses.¡± As the four goddess dancers danced off stage, three more came in to dance with Rinn. ¡°Thus, they created Udonia, following our goddess Udona of the Spring Bloom. Terraria became the home of Terra of the Summer Harvest. They created Kelios, home to Keliope of the Autumn Sun. And finally, they created al, home to alia of the Winter Moon.¡±


    The four dancers, representing the four kingdoms, gradually moved further apart. From off stage, two dancers went to join each kingdom, dancing and twirling about. ¡°Under the loving gaze of the four divines, the sister goddesses, we have continued to prosper in harmony. And, as long as we believe in them, we shall continued to do so, forevermore.¡± Slowly, the four dancers began moving towards the edges of the stage, their ribbons falling lower without the constant momentum.


    I had to admit, the dance itself was¡­ beautiful. It may not seem like muchpared to modern standards, but it had its own beauty nheless. Even if I knew that some of the history that they were talking about was not entirely urate, it made for a good story. And, in time, nobody would really know the truth about it aside from me and those in the Admin Room. But, was it so bad to have that truth painted over the original? In a way, wasn¡¯t it a better one, one which made the people happy?


    I saw several people standing, so naturally I joined them. However, rather than apuse, they did something¡­ unexpected. The lycans howled, leaning their heads back with their fists on their chest. The felyn roared, their arms creating an X in front of them. The ursa stamped their feet and pped their chest once. And finally, the kitsune sped their hands in front of themselves and tilted their heads back, letting out a higher pitched tone than the howl of the lycans, though in shorter bursts.


    Thebinations of different sounds, as if almost natural, created a harmony that echoed through the theater. And, while it did somewhat hurt my ears to be in the middle of it, I did appreciate how so many people were able to form a chorus like that so naturally. When the sounds finished, the performers came back to the stage and bowed to the audience, the audience in turn bowing to them.


    Following the shared bow, people began casually talking to their neighbors as they moved slowly towards the exits. I saw a couple of strangers seeking to start a conversation with me, but politely excused myself. At least, I hope I was polite about it. It¡¯s hard to understand the customs that quickly.


    No sooner had I gotten outside than I found myself being pulled to the side by Miren and Rinn, who wereughing happily. ¡°So, what did you think, Mitchell?¡± Miren asked with an excited expression.


    I couldn¡¯t help but smile at the two of them. ¡°You both did great. Do you two dance like that often?¡±


    She nodded her head, and Rinn excused herself to go fetch us a snack. ¡°Yeah, our parents said when we were younger that we should give it a try. After doing it a couple times, we decided we really liked it. We keep trying to rope the other three in, too¡­ But they¡¯ve been busy with their own projects.¡± Miren puffed her cheeks out cutely as she said that, and I could easily make out the little halfling goddess living in that body.


    ¡°So, no advancing civilization, exploring new horizons, just exploring the life of a dancer?¡± I teased lightly, earning myself another giggle from her.


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right. I really wanted to see what it¡¯s like to live in a big city like this, and Rinn wanted to get away from the fighting for a while.¡± She nodded her head quickly, moving off to the side of the dirt road to let other people pass. Soon, Rinn came back holding arge wooden tray, atop which were three pots of soup.


    ¡°Soup¡¯s on.¡± She said with augh, and we each took one of the bowls. In each was a carved wooden spoon, the soup itself being mostly broth with a bit of meat and vegetables. ¡°So, Mitchell, you going to stick around for the rest of the festival?¡± She asked as she looked over towards me.


    ¡°There¡¯s more?¡± I asked in mild surprise. After the dance and the game they showed me earlier, I didn¡¯t know what more to expect from a weekly festival like this.


    ¡°Of course there is!¡± Sheughed, while Miren began to happily enjoy her soup, letting out delighted noises with every spoonful. ¡°Later on, they¡¯ll be drinking. And every week, there are taverns that try out new dishes to get people¡¯s opinions for new recipes. Today¡¯s soup is actually a new experiment from one of them.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯sh really good!¡± Miren assured us, her mouth still mostly full. Curious, I took a spoonful of the soup. At first, it seemed somewhat spicy, but then that taste seemed to be washed away when I bit into some of the meat. Juicy and savory, it almost literally melted in my mouth. I had to admit that this was tastier than a lot of meals I had back before the whole Keeper business.


    ¡°Mm, it actually is pretty good.¡± I said with just a bit of surprise. I honestly hadn¡¯t expected a meal cooked in this time period to really taste good to someone with a more modern pte. ¡°I suppose I could stay for a few hours.¡± I answered with mock reluctance. I was actually quite curious to see what else this ce had to offer. If it weren¡¯t so¡­ dirty, I might actually consider living here myself for a few years. However¡­ it wasn¡¯t really at the level I¡¯d find livable yet.


    ¡°Awesome.¡± Miren nodded as she heard that.


    ¡°But, what do you do for currency?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask that. It hasn¡¯t been long enough since metalworking became a thing for the beastkin that they would have a currency such as silver and gold.


    ¡°Barter, mostly.¡± Rinn answered, shrugging her shoulders. ¡°For small trades like these bowls of soup, it¡¯s generally fine as long as we return the bowls. Sometimes people offer livestock, food, or even precious gems in trade.¡±


    ¡°What, like diamonds and rubies?¡± I asked, surprised that such items are casually tossed around in barters.


    ¡°Sometimes.¡± She confirmed, nodding her head, before taking a spoonful of her own soup and letting out a happy groan. ¡°Definitely telling him to keep this recipe. But yeah, unless the gem is more than a few centimeters, or is exceptionally pure, it won¡¯t go for much in a trade. You might be able to get a single bajin--a weird type of three-horned cow-- or a quality weapon for it. Though, quality by current standards.¡±


    Yeah, I doubt there¡¯ll be anything to rece my sword for a long time. I nodded my head, sipping my way through my soup until there was none left, before putting my bowl back on the tray. ¡°Alright, what¡¯s next?¡±

 Chapter 100: D’ka Sha

    <h4>Chapter 100: D¡¯ka Sha</h4>


    After sampling the beastkin food, we moved on to the next bit of ¡®entertainment¡¯ that the D¡¯ka had to offer. ¡°Ooh, I¡¯m surprised that they are doing this this week.¡± Rinn said in an excited tone as she pulled us along towards a crowd of people that were letting out cheers and shouts.


    Seeing as we could barely hear each other over the volume, and couldn¡¯t talk about some things openly, Terra sent me a message using her ¡®god voice¡¯. This is the D¡¯ka Sha, a fight that happens whenever someone wants to challenge the Sharay, or reigning champion.


    As I listened to her exnation, I we finally pushed our way through to the front row of the crowd. In front of us, there was a kitsune and an ursa, both male. The ursa had leather straps wrapped around his wrists, while the kitsune was wielding a long wooden staff. He is Fenric, the current Sharay. He¡¯s managed to hold the title for nearly a year now. I heard her telling me as I looked towards the kitsune.


    Just then, therger ursa charged forward, using his superior size and strength to try to overwhelm Fenric. Oddly, I noticed his footwork seemed very practiced, and he kept himself controlled far better than I would expect a fighter in this age. No doubt, he was a martial artist practicing the techniques that Keliope brought down with her.


    At thest second before reaching Fenric, he nted one foot into the ground and struck out with an open palm. The strength behind the strike was enough that I could begin to see the air distort slightly around it. Yet, its speed was nothing much. Fenric nimbly dodged to the side, before nting one end of his staff into the ground and using it to vault into the air.


    Once airborne, Fenric did a quick flip, and brought the staff back around to m against his challenger¡¯s head. Judging by the fact that the staff didn¡¯t break, despite the resounding crack that the impact caused, there is no doubt he infused it with ki to strengthen it. As for the poor ursa that was the victim of the attack, his body froze for several long moments while Fenrded, before slowly copsing to the ground. His health bar had dropped down near the very bottom, showing just how much damage he had taken in that attack, while Fenric''s hadn''t even seemed to drop at all.


    Cheers and boos rang out from the gathered crowd as the fight came to an end, until Fenric once again nted his staff into the ground, quieting everyone. ¡°Is there anyone else who wants to challenge me?¡± He asked in a calm tone, scanning the crowd with his eyes. I saw his gaze linger at me, surrounded by Miren and Rinn, before moving on.


    Oh, Goddess of Fate, just what are the benefits of being Sharay? I couldn¡¯t help but ask inwardly, knowing my prayer would get through.


    The Sharay is captain of the city¡¯s guards, and gets a level of respect to go with it. She answered, though I noticed a bit of annoyance in Terra¡¯s tone. He¡¯s been trying to get with us for months now, unting his authority and wanting to make our incarnations his women.


    I¡¯m¡­ surprised he hasn¡¯t been able to, honestly. I mean, neither of the two sisters seemed built for fighting, and I wouldn¡¯t expect a society at this stage to be so strict against things like that. However, as I thought about that, the answer came to me from the heavens. Women are sacred among the beastkin. Forcing yourself on one is a crime met with immediate execution. He wants to, but he knows that he wouldn¡¯t be able to get away with it.


    Ahh¡­ that did exin some things. The four deities of the beastkin were all women, so it is natural that women have a high standing in society. ¡°You there.¡± I suddenly heard a voice calling out to me, breaking me out of my mental conversation. ncing around, I found Fenric had directed his gaze at me again, and it was not at all friendly. ¡°Perhaps you wish to challenge?¡±


    I definitely do not wish to do so. However, before I could open my mouth to decline, Miren spoke up angrily from next to me. ¡°He¡¯s not scared of you, Fenric!¡± You too, Aurivy? Really? I looked over to her and found her smiling back, her face flushed slightly.


    ¡°Well, why not prove it then?¡± The kitsune man chuckled darkly, twirling his staff in one hand. ¡°Or does he wish to cower like a scared pup?¡±


    Terra¡­ How much of my strength can I use without causing a big incident? I asked curiously, not paying much attention to the rather obvious provocation. Turning away this fight was likely to cause problems for Miren and Rinn, but at the same time I didn¡¯t want to go overboard with my Godking aura in effect.


    Uhm¡­ One stat at sixty percent, the rest sealed. Or all stats at twenty percent. Anything more than that, and you¡¯ll have the entire city feeling your presence. Her answer came after a brief pause, and I knit my brows together as I decided how I¡¯d do this. Of course, the answer seemed fairly obvious after a short consideration.


    When he saw me stepping forward, Fenric sneered. ¡°And so, are you going to ask for a weapon?¡± As he asked that, he held the staff in one arm behind himself diagonally, his forearm t against it.


    I really didn¡¯t have enough experience with any weapon other than a sword, but I naturally couldn¡¯t use a sword in this era. ¡°I¡¯ll do this unarmed.¡± I answered with a shake of my head, entering what even I knew to be a sloppybat stance. Note to self, get martial arts lessons from Terra after I go back.


    I heard a brief chuckle before he charged forward, seeming to start the match. Inwardly, I focused on my Keeper wisdom, weakening the wall around it to let roughly half of it through, and with it my ki. My body was flooded with energy by the time he reached me, to the point where I barely even noticed his initial jab with his staff.


    Bringing my attention back to Fenric, I saw a brief flicker of surprise cross his face before his expression became cold. Flexing his thumb, he caused the staff to shoot back towards him, and with his other arm grabbing the back of it he whipped it around in a wide arc to bash against me like he had with the ursa.


    Unfortunately for him, his actions were too slow. With my ki flooding every corner of my body, he seemed to be moving at a snail¡¯s pace. It did not take hardly any effort for me to reach up and grab the end of the approaching staff. As I suspected before, I could feel a trace of ki inside of it.


    Clenching my fist, I heard a small explosion as the end of the staff shattered, Fenric¡¯s face paling as he felt his ki being torn apart by an opposing force. Taking one step forward, I ced the palm of my hand against his chest, and before he could recover, I pushed.


    I didn¡¯t want to kill him, so I held back quite a lot of my ki from that attack, but still he went flying like a bolt from the collision. He sailed over a nearby building, and we could all hear a crash from where hended. Unlike before, there were no cheers or booing from the crowd. Everyone seemed to grow silent as they stared at the spot where Fenric had stood a moment ago.


    However, the silence was broken by two howls that rang out in unison. I turned and saw the two sister goddesses, each with a hand to her chest while her head was tilted back. With them as the trigger, other howls soon rang out, followed by the familiar chorus that I heard in the theater before, though this time I stood at the center of it.


    ¡°To the new Sharay!¡± One man cried out after the ¡®apuse¡¯ had ended, his voice echoed by countless others. I could only shake my head, raising a hand to silence them.


    ¡°I am a traveler passing through. I cannot be your Sharay.¡± I exined, restraining my Keeper wisdom once again to return me to normal levels. It would have been nice to fight him normally, but I doubted that he was below level one hundred, and likely had almost all of his levels inbat sses.


    Miren and Rinn stepped forward with wide smiles on their faces. ¡°Sorry, Garn, Mitchell¡¯s right. He just came this week to visit us for this D¡¯ka, and is leaving to go home soon.¡± Rinn exined, reaching down to hold my hand as she did.


    The lycan man who had started the previous shout shook his head with a sigh. ¡°Nothing we can do about it, then. Still, it was nice to see someone knock Fenric on his ass for once.¡± With that, there was a series ofughter in the crowd as numerous people agreed with his statement.


    ¡°Yeah, believe me I agree.¡± Rinn said, a knowing smile on her face. ¡°Anyways, it looks like this Sha is over now. Someone might want to call for a healer for Fenric. It sounded like hended in the stable.¡± You have your stables this far inside the city?


    Another roar ofughter rang out as Miren and Rinn dragged me back into the streets. Thankfully, nobody seemed to follow us after that, and the crowd began to disperse. ¡°Phew, I was worried for a minute there.¡± Miren said with a small grin. ¡°I guess this is the part where you go back, huh?¡±


    I thought about it for a moment, ncing between the two of them. ¡°Are there any more sights for me to see before I go?¡± While I wanted to keep a low profile¡­ I had spent so long keeping Ryone¡¯s incarnationpany, the least I could do was see these two for the rest of the day, right?


    Hearing my question, the expressions of both sisters brightened at once. With a happyugh, they began dragging me around town once again. We spent the rest of the day running from one area of the city to the next, trying everything from alcohol to thetest fashion. Of course, we didn¡¯t have much to barter with, so we mostly stuck to the free samples¡­ but still.


    That night, after everything calmed down and people were beginning to return to their homes, I decided to do the same thing. Once I was secluded in an empty corner hidden behind a building, I returned to the Admin Room. I felt my mind clearing instantly from the remnants of the booze I had consumed, and found myself immediately tackled by a small projectile halfling.


    ¡°Thank you so much, I had so much fun today!¡± Aurivy said with a wide smile as she wrapped her arms around me, almost knocking me to the floor.


    I gave a small chuckle as I reached down, patting her head. ¡°I had fun, too, Aurivy. Though maybe next time, try not to get me into a fight?¡± I scolded her with a teasing tone.


    ¡°Aww¡­ but that jerk totally had iting to him. Besides, I knew nothing would really happen to you. If he tried anything dirty, big sis would have killed him on the spot.¡± Although she had a bright smile as she said that, I noticed some rather scary words mixed in there.


    ¡°Just¡­ what levels do your incarnations have?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask that, noticing how easy she seemed to believe Terra could have killed Fenric in the middle of a big fight like that.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ I¡¯m a bit behind. I¡¯ve got thirty-eight in monk, sixteen in martial artist, five for schr, and twenty for bard. Terra has fifty in assassin, ten in bard, twenty for monk, ten in mage, and almost sixty in rogue~. Since she¡¯s not really learning anything new, she can¡¯t get the schr ss, so she devoted her levels to more ¡®practical¡¯ sses.¡± Those aren¡¯t practical sses, Aurivy. She¡¯s a de dancer.


    I wanted to retort that, but couldn¡¯t. I mean, it¡¯s not surprising that Terra was able to get those kinds of levels. Even if she can only use the knowledge known by the inhabitants, that still means that she knows how to train every ss up to the limits its been trained so far. I can only really look at that assortment of sses as her wanting to protect Aurivy.


    ¡­That¡¯s not to say that I won¡¯t be looking back at what Terra¡¯s done as Rinnter to confirm, though. Shaking my head, I patted Aurivy¡¯s hair again before looking around the room. ¡°So, where is she anyways?¡± I asked, remembering that I still needed to learn martial arts from her. Though, if this was going to be anything like when I learned to forge¡­ or when I learned magic¡­ Do I have to do this again?


    ¡­Yeah¡­ yeah I do.

 Chapter 101: Hidden Knowledge

    <h4>Chapter 101: Hidden Knowledge</h4>


    ¡°So, you want to learn a martial art, huh?¡± Terra asked, looking at me with an impressed smile. Aftering back home, I had sought her out, remembering how she had taught Keliope a strength-based martial art.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Right now, I can win with overwhelming stats, but my actual ability is stillcking. So¡­ I need a martial art that will fit me, and that meansing to you for help.¡± I lowered my head respectfully, doing my best to make a good impression as I asked for the favor.


    ¡°No.¡± However, the answer I received was¡­ different from my expectations. ¡°Sorry, Dale. It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t want to teach you one, but I really can¡¯t. Your style of fighting doesn¡¯t fit well with any martial arts from thest three worlds. You rely too heavily on the supernatural energies, which were almost entirely excluded from the worlds of those Keepers.¡±


    ¡°So¡­ there¡¯s nothing you can do?¡± I asked, looking back up at her. She seemed to have a pensive expression as she considered.


    ¡°I can¡¯t¡­ but that doesn¡¯t mean you can¡¯t learn one. There¡¯s actually a really easy way for you to do so, I was just hoping not to need to tell you about it for a while.¡± After she said that, she gave a helpless shrug, while a blue window appeared in front of me. It showed the normal market screen that I was used to, but a few search parameters had already been put in to narrow down the results.


    ¡°Terra, this is¡­?¡± I asked as I looked at a list of strangely named items.


    ¡°These are libraries martial arts knowledge, which other Keepers have submitted to the market. I went ahead and narrowed the results based on the general humanoid shape, and the energies avable to your world. You won¡¯t be able to do a lot of the movements for most of these as a centaur, so pick carefully.¡± As she said that, I was already reading through the descriptions for the first few items.


    ¡°Why did you want to wait before letting me see this?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask again. Some of these martial arts had truly exaggerated descriptions, but I could not deny the possibility that it was more than idle boasting. ¡°Are some of them faulty goods that Keepers spread out to weakenpetitors or something?¡±


    ¡°Huh? No, nothing like that. A malicious Keeper will often do their best to help a new Keeper get into the games as quickly as possible, that way they aren¡¯t prepared for what ising, and don¡¯t have the training they need. So, if anything, the techniques and suggestions that they put out there are among the most effective to advance your world. Sure, there are a few idiots that post bad information, but if you check the forums for news on each item, you can see reviews from others that have used it. This isn¡¯t like some cheap inte forum where you can have multiple ounts to praise your own work.¡±


    As she exined, she shook her head slightly. ¡°No, the reason I had wanted to wait as long as I could was because I wanted to give you a chance to discover certain things on your own.¡±


    ¡°You mean¡­¡± I looked at that screen again, and opened another window, typing in my own search parameters.


    Geometric Magic - Beginner


    This knowledge database contains all symbols and patterns used for the first tier of Geometric Magic, as well as their meaning.


    200 Points


    Geometric Magic - Advanced


    This knowledge database contains all symbols and patterns used for the second tier of Geometric Magic, as well as their meaning.


    600 Points


    Geometric Magic - Expert


    This knowledge database contains all symbols and patterns used for the third tier of Geometric Magic, as well as their meaning.


    1800 Points


    Geometric Magic - Master


    This knowledge database contains all symbols and patterns used for the fourth tier of Geometric Magic, as well as their meaning.


    5400 Points


    Geometric Magic - Grandmaster


    This knowledge database contains all symbols and patterns used for the fifth tier of Geometric Magic, as well as their meaning.


    16200 Points


    Geometric Magic - Epic


    This knowledge database contains all symbols and patterns used for the sixth tier of Geometric Magic, as well as their meaning.


    48600 Points


    Geometric Magic - Legend


    This knowledge database contains all symbols and patterns used for the final tier of Geometric Magic, as well as their meaning.


    145800 Points


    While I was amazed that this information was even avable, my eyes couldn¡¯t help but drift over towards the prices. To buy theplete package¡­ it would take well over two hundred thousand points. ¡°Out of curiosity, which tiers of magic has Earth discovered?¡± I asked as I looked up to Terra, who had a knowing smile.


    ¡°Mostly just some of the first, while barely touching the second. Unless you include that dragon. He¡¯s quite a ways up there.¡± She answered honestly.


    ¡°There¡¯s no way Ryone wouldn¡¯t have found this.¡±


    ¡°No, she found it the first day. She just prefers studying the hard way. When I asked her about it, she said it¡¯s because she thinks she¡¯ll feel like she earned it more if she didn¡¯t just have you buy it.¡±


    Well¡­ that did sound like her. ¡°Okay, so you¡¯re saying that one of these martial arts should fit me more than what the previous Earths could offer?¡± I asked onest time to confirm, looking back to the search window she had shown me.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. After you absorb the information, I¡¯d suggest practicing against Keliope to test it out, and then descending to the world for a proper trial.¡± After I heard her answer, I nodded onest time to look through the list. Honestly, there were quite a few the looked interesting to me. Yet, some stood out more than others.


    Thousand Arms, Ten Thousand Threads


    This system of martial arts focuses primarily on the use of chakra, and the many applications it can have in fighting. Its movesetrgely consists of instantaneous movement, controlling multiple weapons, and temporary energy replicants.


    150 Points


    Aki Seppo


    This system of martial arts focuses primarily on the use of spiritual energy, and harnessing the energy of a tamed spirit within you. It guides you to choosing a powerful spirit partner, and shows various methods that will maximize your strength while using it.


    125 Points


    Six Palms Annihtion


    This system of martial arts focuses primarily on the use of ki. Contained within is a ki pathway adaptable to many existing kiworks. Although this martial arts only contains six techniques, each one is incredibly powerful.


    75 Points


    Phantom Path


    This system of martial arts focuses in dual parts on both mana and ki, using both in order to bring out the greatest killing power. Its moveset consists of stealth and precision striking abilities.


    100 Points


    These four in particr caught my eye the most. I couldn¡¯t help but nce at my bnce to confirm that I still had plenty of spare points. Though, I couldn¡¯t help but think about the Assassin ss when I read the description of the Phantom Path. What I remember of its techniquesrgely mirrored that.


    However, I have not been walking the path of an assassin before now, so I cast that one from my mind. As for the Six Palms Annihtion, it was actually incredibly tempting, because it seemed like it would be the simplest of the four to learn, while also holding a great deal of strength. However, I¡¯d probably need a proper ki path to fully utilize it. Another quick search showed me that ki path knowledge was also purchasable, and the standard path was one hundred points.


    That instantly made the six palms go from the cheapest to the most expensive of the four. Next on the list was Aki Seppo, the only one with a non-tranted name. Or maybe, the name was meant to be nonsense in the first ce. I had been wanting to find information regarding better usage of spirit energy, and had only been missing a proper source. This art was definitely a strong contender.


    Finally, the one that really captured my eyes the most, was the ¡®Thousand Arms, Ten Thousand Threads¡¯. Out of all of the energy types I had seen so far, chakra was by far my favorite. It had the impossibility of magic,bined with the raw power of ki.


    The only question was, should I only get one, or both? I looked up at Terra to ask that, and she smiled. ¡°It¡¯s up to you, Dale. I can¡¯t help you decide this. You¡¯ve just got to go with your gut.¡±


    My gut is simple, my gut says get both! Two martial arts means twice as many options to fight. ¡°Alright¡­ can you pass a message to Ryone, tell her I want to use two hundred and seventy five points for a personal expense? She shouldn¡¯t have a problem with it. As for this offering a leap of power to my world¡­ I didn¡¯t have any ns to spread it around. I might eventually give Aki Seppo to the Wraiths, in order to give their upper echelons a boost in power, but the other one should mostly remain with myself.


    Terra nodded her head, seeming to wait a few moments before she spoke again. ¡°She said it¡¯s fine, and just asked that you give her a little while longer before buying the information on magic.¡± She chuckled lightly, shaking her head. ¡°She wants more time to study it herself first, before relying on points.¡±


    ¡°I understand.¡± I answered, before choosing to buy both of the martial arts. ¡°Out of curiosity, what happens to the patents a Keeper has when they are defeated in a Game? I mean, your records only seem to go back that far, right? So you wouldn¡¯t know which items might be listed by previous Earth Keepers.¡±


    As she gave her reply, two brilliant blue lights erupted between us. ¡°You mean the royalty stuff? The royalties just stop after a Keeper dies in a Game.¡± The simple answer was a bit surprising, as I had imagined them transferring ownership to the Keeper that defeated them.


    Thinking about that, I noticed the two glowing blue orbs that had taken shape in front of me. They seemed to look just like the information orbs I had received back when I bought the information on the sealing magic. ¡°So¡­ how do I read these, and absorb the knowledge like you said?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the easy part. Just grab one, and focus on it. Or, you can just push it into your skull, but I wouldn¡¯t suggest that because it might cause you to take in more than you can handle at once.¡± She shrugged her shoulders lightly as she responded.


    Nodding my head, I gently grabbed both orbs, and prepared to go back to my room. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll let you get back to the others.¡± When I had found her, she was socializing with Udona and alia, so I figured I had kept her long enough. She smiled happily, leaning in to give me a quick kiss before turning around and heading back. As for me, I just stared down at the two spheres of light as I walked back to my own room.


    Once I was back, I decided to start with the more immediately useful one. Sure, spiritual energy would be good to master, but I¡¯ll want to wait for a more powerful creature to be born most likely first. So, I ced the one that gave me the impression of that aside, and focused on the other.


    Almost immediately, information began flooding into my mind. Information about methods to utilize chakra that I had never imagined, as well as some simple training methods to help its practitioners grow in strength. I was only able to hold the connection for around a half hour before I released my focus, panting as I tried to hold in everything I had learned.


    So¡­ it can be done like that? I thought to myself, giving myself just enough time to rx before I gripped the orb once again.

 Chapter 102: Practice Makes Perfection

    <h4>Chapter 102: Practice Makes Perfection</h4>


    Chakra is form and formless. Direct and indirect. As magic summons a me, so too can it. As ki drives men to greater strength, so too does chakra. But it is so much more. Chakra is the mind and body as one. To master chakra, one must not simplybine ki and mana, they must master themselves.


    This is the basic mantra of Thousand Arms, Ten Thousand Threads. If mind and body be one, then man has no equal. This art has two forms, the Thousand Arms, which focuses body over mind, and the Ten Thousand Threads, which focuses mind over body. When both forms are trained to the pinnacle, one can be considered a true master.


    Searching through, I was able to briefly summarize the information about both forms. With Thousand Arms, you can maximize the ability to control objects remotely. A master of the Thousand Arms form can control one thousand weapons as if he was holding them himself, and be a one man army.


    As for Ten Thousand Threads, it is more mystical. With this form, you spread your chakra to your surroundings in the form of thin threads, which you utilize for various abilities. You can use instantaneous movement through a thread, or with the proper practice materialize that thread into a weaker clone of yourself. A master of Ten Thousand Threads can walk unhindered through any battlefield.


    When one reaches the realm of Thousand Arms, Ten Thousand Threads, both forms evolve. The weaker clones be more powerful, and you can move between them with a simple thought. They be your eyes and your ears. You do not simply move your body with your thoughts, but you can turn your body into thought itself, stepping into the mind of another.


    Going through this, it was easy to ssify the information. Thousand Arms was the offensive branch, while Ten Thousand Threads was the defensive one. In order to be a true master, one must practice both, yet even just one was enough to qualify as its own art. That was why it was priced so expensively.


    Surprisingly, there was even a set of weapons within the information that were suggested for people practicing the art. For those pursing the Thousand Arms, there was a circr, ded weapon that looked much like a chakram. As they required simpler motions to control with chakra as opposed to swords or daggers, they were a favored weapon.


    The favored weapon of Ten Thousand Threads was a thin metal needle. Its length should be roughly ten inches long, with as little width as possible. While a single such needle might seem to have little power on its own, this also means it is weakened less when cloned, and each clone will be able to utilize their own as powerful throwing weapons.


    To begin with, I decided to practice the Thousand Arms. Right now, I could only be considered to be at the most basic Two Arm rank, where all practitioners begin. I can wield two weapons at a distance of roughly one meter from my body. The Three Arm rank is where one truly begins walking this path, at which point they will be able to control three weapons, each within three meters of the body. At the highest rank, all one thousand weapons will be able to be controlled within a kilometer.


    In order to practice, I began to focus, creating a very basic chakram on the floor in front of me. Once more of the world hits the Metal Age, I¡¯ll have Tubrock mass produce some of these for me to take down with me. Until then, I can just rely on whatever is avable.


    With the chakram fully formed, I reached down and put my hand on it. In the Admin Room, I found that it was very easy for me tobine the energies, as long as I knew the right mixture. As such, I sent a steady flow of chakra from my hand into the weapon.


    Once my chakra filled the weapon, I stood up and took a single step back. cing both hands behind my back, I focused purely on the thread of chakra connecting me to the chakram. Attempting to lift it felt as though I was flexing a muscle I had never used, and by the time it really had lifted up I could not be entirely sure whether I was doing so through my own power, or through the effects of the Admin Room. Still, I had the chakram floating unsteadily one step in front of me.


    In truth, training in the Admin Room could only go so far when training energies. Seeing as I had limitless energy to work with here, it was never a question of whether or not I had the power to do something, only whether I had the skill. Given enough time, I could probably train myself all the way to the Thousand Arm, Ten Thousand Thread level in the Admin Room, but have made almost no progress when I actually descend, because my chakra won¡¯t be strong enough to do all of that.


    Still, this did let me practice the skill aspect, which I would further refine when I descendter. As such, I focused on the chakram, and began slowly moving it from side to side. I thinned the energy I was pouring into it as much as I possibly could, knowing that I wouldn¡¯t have such reserves avable to me when I practice this for real.


    The first problem arose when I thinned the energy too much, causing the connection to snap and the weapon to fall harmlessly to the floor. ording to what I knew from the manual, I knew what was wrong. I had still been supplying enough energy, but my control wascking. Thankfully, this was just a simple test to see whether or not I was good enough to be considered a Three Arm rank. And the answer was no.


    Instead, I moved on to the Ten Thousand Threads, and began to do its training method. The best way to train these skills were together, after all. In order to fully master control of one weapon and be considered the Three Arm rank, it was suggested to wait until you had reached the Ten Thread rank, with each following Arm rank being another ten Thread ranks.


    To train this technique was actually fairly simple. Much like I created a connection to the chakram, I now had to create an ¡®empty¡¯ connection from my finger. As such, I followed the training method and gathered my chakra to the tip of my finger. Gradually, I could see a blue dot of energy forming at the point where it gathered.


    Focusing on that point, I slowly pulled it upwards, creating a single thin line of blue energy. These were the threads that the form was named after, though they were typically meant to be invisible. I was probably only able to see them now because of where I was.


    Pointing that finger out, I watched as it slowly crawled its way through the air, before dipping down and pressing the tip against the ground on the opposite side of the room. This was far from usable in realbat at this speed, but the point was to make it faster¡­ after all¡­


    With a slight step, I disappeared from my previous position, and immediately appeared where the thread hadnded. This was the most basic technique of the Ten Thousand Threads, the Woven Step. A practitioner could instantly transport themselves to any ce that their chakra threads can reach.


    Back to training. I thought to myself, before once again creating that same thread. This time, I did not stop with one. Holding both my hands out, with my fingers pointing down, I focused to create multiple threads, one at a time from each finger. The first one formed fairly easily as it did earlier. The second offered some resistance, but still moved to hang right beside the first.


    When I formed the third thread, I noticed that the other two began to shake, slowly pulling back towards my fingers. I was getting harder to divide my focus, which was the main requirement for this technique to work.


    Giving up on the third thread for now, I went back to the other two, stretching them back out. When I sent them out, I did my best to keep my focus properly divided. The speed they moved at was even slower than the first time, but eventually they both connected to two different points of the room.


    Okay, so I can be considered at the Two Thread rank for now. I nodded to myself in satisfaction, d that I wasn¡¯t the most basic and pitiful ¡®Threadless¡¯ rank that was just starting like I was in the other form. Alright¡­ my goal is Twenty Threads and Four Arms!


    _______________________________________________________________


    Down in the world below, the festival of D¡¯ka hade to an end in the city of Hel¡¯dar. For most, it was a normal event like any other week. However, there was one man that was feeling different. A white haired kitsune named Fenric. He gnashed his teeth in anger as he thought back to the man that had injured him, and stolen what should have been his.


    In the D¡¯ka Sha, he had not simply been thrown back by that palm strike. It was something far more dangerous than that. He could still feel that man¡¯s energy in his body, blocking his ess to his own ki. In truth, his injuries from the fight had been pretty light, since he hadnded on a bundle of dried grass used to feed the bajin.


    The true terror came when he tried to muster his strength to further soften his fall. When he attempted to summon his ki, he felt it fighting back against the residual energy from that palm strike. A sharp pain rose up in his chest, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood after hended. After that, each time he tried to use his ki, he found himself hurting more and more.


    Without his ki, he had no hope of holding the title of Sharay, even with that damnable man refusing the title. He could not enjoy the luxuries that he had grown ustomed to, the authority his position brought with it. As soon as he lost a challenge, he would fall further than he had ever fallen before.


    ¡°I¡¯ll just have to fake it.¡± He said with a silent nod, speaking to himself as there was nobody else present. ¡°No one knows, and nobody has to¡­ As long as nobody challenges me, I¡¯ll be fine.¡± He continued nodding to himself, as if that was his only path to salvation.


    However, as soon as the words had left his mouth, he felt a chill running down his spine. ¡°Is that all you are?¡± A cold voice asked from behind him. ¡°A coward who is afraid to lose his power?¡± He recognized the voice, how could he not? As he turned back to face the speaker, he saw a ck-haired lycan. A woman he had been pursuing for months.


    ¡°R-Rinn¡­ What are you doing here?¡± He asked, knowing from her words that she had heard his n. He knew that he had to kill her to keep his secret safe, and immediately began thinking of ways he could do that, or intimidate her into keeping her mouth shut.


    Never had he even thought to ask himself how she managed to enter his home undetected, or how even know he could not smell her fragrance, or hear her stepping closer. If he could not see her standing in front of him, he would have no way to know that she was even here. Wait¡­ in front of me?


    As soon as the thought crossed his mind, he looked sharply upwards. Originally, Rinn had been at the far wall, where the moonlight would just barely illuminate her features. However, when he looked again, his nose was almost pressed against her own. She had covered the distance in a moment, with him never even seeing her move. Even without his ki, that should not have been possible. At least, not by his understanding.


    ¡°You should have learned when to take no for an answer.¡± She said, slowly raising her hand to ce it against his chest. A hand he had dreamed about capturing for so long. And right now, he felt the power draining from his body as she touched him. ¡°And when to keep your nose out of another¡¯s business.¡±


    Saying that, Rinn turned and began walking away. Fenric watched, the light slowly slipping from his eyes as his knees grew weak. The moment she vanished into the shadows once again, he fell forward, mming against the ground. In the morning, a physician came in to check on him, only to discover his dead body. There were no wounds, no marks of poisoning or disease. As such, it was dered that his injuries from the D¡¯ka Sha had acted up in the night, silently iming his life. And nobody even suspected the ck-haired girl who was happily dancing with her sister.

 Chapter 103: Brain vs Brawn

    <h4>Chapter 103: Brain vs Brawn</h4>


    I¡¯m not entirely sure how long it took me to train. I was determined to reach the goal that I had set for myself when I started. After all, it was no exaggeration to say that this was a matter of life and death for me. I had been looking for the chance to get a good trainer so that I could have proper lessons all this time, and I never even knew that I could simply buy the techniques I wanted.


    However, I was unlikely to do that unless it was absolutely needed. There might be an achievement for learning an art from an inhabitant. If I had to choose between paying a lot of points to get the knowledge now, or wait a while, and be paid points for learning itter? Of course I¡¯ll choose to wait.


    The training was difficult, to say the least. After I reached the Five Threads level, I had to leave the bedroom, instead making a wide empty area to train in. The confined space offered in the room was not enough for me to continue practicing at that point.


    In all honesty, controlling a single thread was incredibly easy. Even controlling two was not that hard. But, with each thread that you wanted to control, you had to split your focus an additional time. It might sound easy, but it is actually incredibly difficult to focus on so many things at once.


    Or at least¡­ it should be. From what I understand, it should be almost impossible for anyone with what I would consider to be a normal human mind to be able to track ten thousand threads at once. Especially if they were also focusing on a fight.


    Which led me to think about something. The gods and goddesses split their minds on a regr basis, and in a far moreplete degree than this¡­ Maybe this martial art was created by Keepers for Keepers. After considering it, that was the only thing I coulde up with. The Thousand Arms, Ten Thousand Threads was not just a martial art to train chakra, but also a way to train a Keeper to possess an ability closer to that of apanion.


    After I considered it from that angle, I was able to slow down and re-examine my training. By that point, I had managed to reach Ten Threads, Three Arms. If I fully utilized both at the same time, it was the equivalent of focusing on thirteen different things at once, already beyond the realm of ¡®normal¡¯.


    Knowing this, I continued my training, finding that simply being aware of the nature of the art actually helped me. I was able to ce myself in the shoes of the gods and goddesses I interacted with, feeling how they would regrly divide their attention. Even little Aurivy had to do that, so why couldn¡¯t I? Terra said that our minds were just different¡­ But that¡¯s not necessarily true, right?


    In the Admin Room, it was simr to the Underworld. Everything was a construct of focus and woven energies, including my own body. I could not be truly injured here, I did not need to eat or sleep, because I did not have a real physical form. If that is the case, then why would my brain be unable to process the things that it couldn¡¯t process before?


    That¡¯s where this art came in, a way to bridge that gap. The barriers that existed only within my mind were gradually broken through, one by one. Although it wasn¡¯t something as overwhelming as suddenly being able to dual wield perfectly because of parallel thoughts or anything like that, it remained that I was able to focus my mind on multiple things at once.


    Like this, I eventually reached my goal of Twenty Threads, Four Arms. Excited, I summoned my littlemunication paper and wrote a message to Keliope, asking her to meet me for a sparring match. I wasn¡¯t sure how long it would take, so I began preparing the weapons I would use for the spar.


    Because the Four Arms only meant having two remote controlled weapons, I only created two chakrams, though I dulled the ded edge. It¡¯s not like we could really hurt each other anyways. And for my own hands, I created two matching scimitars. These were the suggested held weapons for the Thousand Arms, as they went well with the general shing theme that the art¡¯s attacks possessed.


    By the time I was done, I saw that Keliope had managed to wander into the territory I had created. She nced around at the emptyndscape, before looking back to me. ¡°You sure you wanna spar?¡± She asked curiously, stretching her muscr arms out to prepare. ¡°I know that Terra said you got your hands on some new techniques, but¡­¡±


    I nodded my head to her question. ¡°I don¡¯t really expect to win, since you¡¯ve had more time to practice. I just want a chance to test out my abilities in an active environment, before I go down to the world to do so.¡±


    She seemed to understand what I wanted with that, nodding in satisfaction. ¡°Alright, if you say so. Any special rules for this match?¡± As she asked that, she looked towards the two swords stabbed into the ground beside me, and the metal discs beside them.


    ¡°These are part of the art I learned.¡± I exined quickly. ¡°We can use any of our powers we want, but no tampering with the Admin Room or anything like that. I only made these because I didn¡¯t feel like waiting to have Tubrock make me something for the spar.¡±


    ¡°Ahh, alright.¡± She nodded again. ¡°Well, then we can start whenever you are ready.¡± As she said that, she moved into a battle stance, one I recognized from the ursa that had previously fought Fenric.


    I lifted my hands, causing the two swords to fly into them. I still was not properly trained in how to wield a sword, but there were some techniques listed in the manual I purchased. But first, I began spreading out the translucent blue threads along the surroundings.


    Due to the nature of this ce, Keliope was able to see the chakra threads, and raised a curious eyebrow as she did so. However, she did notment on it. Instead, she waited for me to make the first move.


    Seeing that she was waiting on me, I took a step forward. Using the woven steps, I appeared just a short distance away from her, off to the side. My arms were already in motion as I turned, bringing the swords across in a double horizontal sh. She appeared surprised by the sudden movement, but not so much that she was unable to react.


    Bringing her own arms up, she pped the side of my lower de, causing it to hit the upper one and throw me off bnce. Yet, she did not follow through, instead taking a step back to avoid the pair of chakram that I had sent flying from their positions on the ground.


    When the metal rings missed their target, they floated in a circr motion around me. I wasn¡¯t sure if it was out of consideration or caution, but she gave me the time to regain my bnce. ¡°Interesting¡­¡± I could hear her voice muttering quietly.


    With my next step, I appeared on both the left and right sides of her. This was the ¡®Split Thread¡¯ method in the Thousand Threads. Only one of these images was real, while the other was a simple illusion created from an after-image given form. This was not a true cloning, as that required one to reach the Hundred Thread level first, but it would do for a confusing tactic like this.


    Unable to tell at a nce which of us was real, Keliope bent her knees to squat down. pping her hands together powerfully, she then extended them to either side of her, urately striking at both me and the illusion. This time, it was my turn to jump back in a hurry to dodge the attack, while the after-image dissipated like smoke.


    Originally, I had the chakram flying at her from the front again, but because of my hurried dodge, I briefly lost control of them. This caused them to fall to the ground just short of her position. Seeing that, she smiled, slowly standing up. ¡°I gotta say, if I couldn¡¯t see these threads, I might not be able to fight you very well. Now that I know what they are, it¡¯s easier to handle.¡±


    I could feel her energy rising as she spoke, so I decided to kick things up a notch as well. All twenty of my threads moved, touching at various points surrounding Keliope. This way, she wouldn¡¯t be able to tell which direction my next attack coulde from.


    Or at least, that was the n. I saw her closing her eyes, and determined that was the best moment to strike. Before taking that step, I had already begun shing my swords across once again, so that I would still be in that motion when I arrived behind her.


    Yet, what met me was a powerful palm to the chest the instant I appeared. I could feel the ki in it as it propelled me back along the nk terrain. When Inded, I had to stab my swords into the ground to help bring me to a stop, and when I looked up I saw that her eyes were still closed.


    ¡°You aren¡¯t the only one that knows how to use energy, Dale.¡± She teased, her toned body turning towards me. ¡°This is something that one of my people found, a way to make up for sneaky targets like you. He called it the Blind Man¡¯s Eye. A ki field extends from my body, alerting me to any disturbance around it. When you moved behind me, I could already feel your presence.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ Okay, I can¡¯t say it¡¯s cheating after what I¡¯ve done. Still, pretty overpowered, though.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but shake my head as I retorted.


    ¡°Now, is there anything else you want to try?¡± She had a smile on her face as she asked that, once again assuming her battle stance.


    ¡°Just one¡­¡± As I spoke, I slowly stood upright, my swords held at my sides, facing outwards. ¡°After this, it¡¯ll be over, whoever wins.¡± She nodded to my statement, clearly preparing for an attack.


    Once more, I sent the threads out to surround her, and she furrowed her brow as she felt that. Her body tensed up, preparing to unleash another strike as soon as I appeared. So, I took that step forward, right into her approaching fist.


    And once again, I was sent tumbling back, this time unable to break myself so easily. Yet, I couldn¡¯t help butughing when I finally came to a stop, and she sighed in frustration. ¡°So¡­ a draw then?¡± She asked in a voice filled withint. Although there was no doubt she could have killed me with that attack if we weren¡¯t in the Admin Room, there were still two sword pressed against her neck.


    The Split Thread requires two nearly simultaneous woven steps, the first one to create the after-image, and the second for the real destination. Unlike most of the other abilities these arts teach, the Split Thread can only create one after-image. After all, you only have two feet.


    When I stepped towards her this time, I had used the Split Thread again, and I am guessing that she could feel that brief difference in the timing, since she instantly struck my true body. But that was fine, because I had released my swords when I created the after image, causing them to appear behind her with it. Although she could have killed me with that punch, it¡¯s unquestionable that I could also have killed her with the swords at the same time.


    ¡°Really, that kind of self-sacrificing tactic isn¡¯t going to get you anywhereter, you know?¡± Sheined again, walking forward and extending a hand to help me up. ¡°If you die because of a stupid move like that, it¡¯s all over.¡±


    ¡°True¡­ but most people wouldn¡¯t be able to see those threads and force me to make that kind of move just tond a hit.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but throw that back at her, smiling slightly.


    ¡°Okay¡­ so you got me there.¡± She chuckled, shaking her head. ¡°In terms of surprise, you can probably assassinate most people without them ever knowing where the hit came from. But if you give people time to adjust like you did me¡­ and they aren¡¯t weaker than you, it will turn in their favor.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but nod at that. ¡°True enough. Now I just need Tubrock to make the real weapons, and I can give this a proper test run.¡± And I intended to do just that, too. There should be plenty of powerful monsters for me to practice against, and I might even gain a few levels in the process.

 Chapter 104: Hallowed be Thy Name

    <h4>Chapter 104: Hallowed be Thy Name</h4>


    This time when I descended, I again appeared on an uninhabited continent, near where I had first practiced elemental ki. The area itself lookedrgely the same, although maybe a bit more overgrown. Thankfully, this was not the same continent that the heroc appeared on, or else I would have had to choose somewhere else.


    I had descended in the body of a human, and at my waist was the bag of holding that contained my sword. Before I left, I asked Tubrock to begin working on the chakrams I would need, but it would have been unrealistic to expect them to already beplete. As such, I wasn¡¯t going to practice the Thousand Arms this time, instead focusing on the Ten Thousand Threads.


    The target for this hunt was a nt monster averaging level one hundred, the Blinking Blossom. When I first saw it, it creeped me out to no end. However, I had to admit that this kind of opponent would be the perfect test for my new techniques.


    As I wandered through the forest, I made sure to block off all of my Keeper stats, except for my health. No matter what, I could not afford to actually die here. But, cutting the other stats off did make it harder for me to detect monsters, so I had my sword at the ready.


    When I was here before, I had never journeyed far from the river, making all of this a new experience for me. I was hacking down thick bushes that got in my way, keeping my eyes focused on detecting any small movement. The blinking blossom was by no means the only monster in this forest, but it was the most powerful.


    As I was thinking that, a sharp screech came from above. Looking up, I saw a monkey with glistening silver skin jumping down at me, its wed hands at the ready.


    Level 40 - Silfur Primate


    ¡­Har har, silfur¡­ silver fur. Real funny. Whoever named that was just so creative. Sighing, I swung my sword up, feeling little resistance as it cut through the descending monkey. Although I can¡¯t say that I split it in half, it was definitely a deep enough cut to kill it, causing it to crash into the ground next to me.


    ¡­Once again, I had to admire the strength of the spellforged sword. Though the monkey was slightly lower level than me, it was still enough to be a difficult fight if I didn¡¯t have the weapon.


    As I thought about that, I heard something shift beside me. Turning my head abruptly, I saw arge red fruit. It seemed to be cracked open down the center, with a milky white aril surrounding what looked like a pitch ck bead. When I paused to stare at it, the red fruit quickly closed and reopened. It blinked.


    Jumping back, I was just in time to avoid a thick vine that hadshed out at me from beneath the blinking fruit. This was just one of the many eyes of the blinking blossom, but it was enough to let me know that I had found my target. Focusing on it, I appraised it to see whether this would be enough for a good test.


    Level 113 - Blinking Blossom


    Okay, yup. Definitely strong enough. As I thought that, I hastily formed chakra along my skin and sent out the threads. Whether it was because of me rushing it, or because my brain was unable to handle it right now, I only ended up creating twelve threads instead of my maximum of forty. And, while I could not see them down here, I could feel them.


    While I wasnding on the ground from dodging the first attack, another vine was sentshing out at me. This one had another red eye fruit along its end. I took a quick step to avoid the attack, appearing on the other side of it.


    Blinking blossoms can¡¯t be killed unless you destroy their main body, their ¡®mouth¡¯. It should also be the source of all of the vines. As such, I began running forward towards the direction where the vine came from.


    Gradually, I began to see more and more of the fruits, blinking at me from all directions. It did not take long before I waspletely surrounded by the vines, but that was also what I wanted, since it meant I had found its center. When the vines rushed towards me, I flipped the sword in my hand and stabbed directly downwards, the de stabbing into the smooth green ground.


    A horrid screech filled the air as green sap spread out from the cut. The vines faltered for a brief moment before striking more fiercely, but before they couldnd I had taken another step to disappear. I could feel my mana starting to run low, so my ¡®test¡¯ was almost over. Although it did not take too much chakra to create and maintain the threads, I was still doing so with twelve at a time.


    Looking back at where I stabbed, the ground itself seemed to be shifting. Two giant leaf-like objects lifted themselves from the ground,ing together to form a giant green maw. From between its barbed lips, dozens of vines were pouring out, each one tipped with a blinking fruit.


    ¡°Finally, found the main body.¡± I said with a sigh, flipping my sword back around to hold it properly. A blinking blossom would normally attack by dragging its victims into its mouth, before mping shut like a venus fly trap. At least, that¡¯s how the ones I witnessed behaved.


    Running forward, I charged directly towards the nt, spreading my chakra threads out around me. Whenever itunched its vines towards me, I would simply disappear from the trajectory, appearing a few meters off to the side. Like this, I was able to run all the way to the nt without getting hit.


    Imbuing the sword with ki, I gave a single slice up towards the base of its mouth, cutting deep and severing one of its lips. The green leaf, bigger than my body, fell to the ground as it let out yet another screech. This time, however, its scream seemed weaker. Green blood-like sap sprayed in my face as I turned full circle, letting the force of my previous swing carry me into the next, where I cut the second half of its mouth from the thick root anchoring it down.


    Monk has leveled up!


    Ninja has leveled up!


    Martial Artist ss unlocked!


    Martial Art detected, please dere the name of your art.


    Hero has leveled up!


    Hero has leveled up!


    Life Arrow ability unlocked!


    I watched the flood of messagesing in, my body rxing from the battle. As it did so, I felt a cold feeling wash over me. Although it was a bitte, but I felt fear over what just happened. I signed up for this, and knew logically that I was in no real danger, but still, this was the first fight that I had fought using purely my own abilities, and it was against a monster far higher level than myself.


    If not for my sword that could easily pierce its flesh, or my martial art that made it impossible to hit me with any attack I could see, this battle could have easily gone the other way. And¡­ as I felt its blood washing down my body, I came to realize just how brutal these battles were. Yes, I had participated in the ughter of the halflings during the centaur war. But in that instance, I was a mere spectator, fighting from a distance. I had never approached them to kill them myself.


    As if annoyed that I was taking so long to answer them, the series of messages once again shed in front of my face. Seeing the one about my martial art, I nodded. This was the level one ¡®ability¡¯ of a Martial Artist, to dere your art. ¡°Thousand Arms, Ten Thousand Threads.¡± As I said that, I focused on all of the information that I had learned about the art. With this ss, it took the information from the individual, and automatically turned them into abilities that could be learned for that person at higher levels.


    Martial School ¡®Thousand Arms, Ten Thousand Threads¡¯ has been founded. Abilities stored for distribution - Ranged Hand, Silent Executioner, Hidden Grapple, My Domain, Woven Step, Split Thread, Twinned Steps, Mirrored Heart, Army of One


    Ranged Hand ability unlocked!


    Woven Step ability unlocked!


    I couldn¡¯t help but nod again as I saw that. Though, looking back at the name of the new hero attack I received, I couldn¡¯t help but be curious¡­ it couldn¡¯t really be overpowered as it sounded, right? Granted, I never tested that ss¡¯s first ability.


    Curious to test this out before I went back, I turned towards a nearby tree and invoked the ability. ¡°Life Arrow¡­¡± I called out, feeling my arm raise up by itself. I could feel my body growing weak, but at the same time the air began to distort around my hand. A silver light formed in my palm, and I could feel myself exerting control over it, causing it to stretch and spin. I found myself pulling in elemental mana and wrapping it around the arrow, dying it a blood red before it fired.


    As the arrow traveled, it gave off a pulsating light, seeming to almost be alive. And when it hit the tree, it bore straight through, leaving a thin hole in its wake. However, it did not continue far beyond the tree, dissipating shortly after. Still feeling myself weakened by the attack, I opened my status window to see what was wrong.


    Name


    Dale Mitchell


    Race


    Human(Keeper)


    Health


    94/194(128730/128830)


    Mana


    165/165(41042/41042)


    Strength


    7(249)


    Ki


    196/196(54770/54770)


    Stamina


    8(226)


    Intelligence


    10(184)


    Dexterity


    13(254)


    Wisdom


    13(296)


    Luck


    6(69)


    Charm


    5(67)


    ss List


    Alchemist 1(38)


    Archer 0(93)


    Architect 0(78)


    Archmage 0(23)


    Armorer 0(49)


    Artisan 0(34)


    Assassin 0(53)


    Bard 0(73)


    Berserker 0(55)


    cksmith 0(82)


    Carpenter 1(79)


    Chef 0(60)


    Cleric 0(30)


    Druid 0(81)


    Enchanter 5(100)


    Engineer 0(5)


    Farmer 0(43)


    Gambler 0(6)


    Guard 0(63)


    Herbalist 2(50)


    Hero 3(3)


    Hunter 0(91)


    Jeweler 0(12)


    Knight 0(58)


    Leader 1(35)


    Leatherworker 0(64)


    Mage 2(87)


    Martial Artist 1(96)


    Merchant 0(34)


    Miner 0(68)


    Monk 8(99)


    Monster Tamer 2(64)


    Ninja 5(73)


    Noble 0(20)


    Painter 0(30)


    Pirate 0 (13)


    Priest 1(54)


    Rogue 0(59)


    Schr 1(34)


    Scout 0(51)


    Sculptor 0(32)


    Shaman 0(43)


    Spirit Hunter 15(42)


    Spirit Tamer 6(60)


    Swordsman 0(35)


    Tailor 0(26)


    Warrior 2(70)


    Weaponmaster 0(3)


    It used up over half my health for that one shot?! No matter how powerful the ability looked at a nce, it was definitely not worth that kind of price. Shaking my head, I decided to disregard the hero ss, for now at least.


    Since my test down here was done, I moved to call up the menu and ascend again, when I noticed something glistening within the corpse of the blinking blossom. Taking a closer inspection, I found a small green bead, no more than an inch thick, embedded in the corpse. This was¡­ not something I had seen before, and I was rather interested in asking Terra what it was.


    Digging it out, I then resumed the process of ascending to the Admin Room. Setting the bead on the desk, I set theputer to fast forward for another hundred years, moving to go and find Terra.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Another year passed, and the city of Cau Buhnga once again fell silent. The residents hurriedly closed themselves in their homes, hiding from the turtle tide. By now, nearly none even remembered of the events that had urred a year prior, when a wandering stranger had assisted their Mad Enchanter.


    Once more, Curihon and Thal sat upon the walls, watching out to keep track of the tide. They could see the shadows forming beneath the still waves. Hundreds of them moving like a swarm of insects as they came nearer.


    This year, it was Thal¡¯s turn to watch the interior of the city, facing the ocean while Curihon watched the ins to warn any who might approach. And what he saw left him speechless. For a brief moment, the walls of the city began to shine. What has that mad witch gotten us involved in this time?!


    As he cursed in his mind, he noticed something was wrong with the turtle tide. Although the first few of them had reached the shore, they merely looked around briefly before entering the water and swimming back. Could she¡­ have actually done it? He began to think with excitement, though he dared not take his eyes off the wall.


    The ward truly had done its job, with Rinon keeping it active from thefort of her home. As long as the mana gathered in thest year remained active, the turtles were unable to approach the city. Or rather¡­ they had no reason to, because everything within the city¡¯s walls simply ¡®did not exist¡¯. There was no food for them to scavenge within their senses, so they sought it elsewhere¡­ in a target they normally did not approach due to the danger. However, hunger can make a beast do things they normally would not.


    Beneath the water, just off the coast, the hundreds of turtles were swimming in unison towards the shallows king, a fish with scales harder than steel, a body bigger and stronger than anything the elves had seen before. Over twenty meters long, it saw the insignificant turtles approaching it, and opened its gaping maw.


    Immediately, a suction force began pulling in some of the turtles, devouring them whole while the rest charged at the giant fish. They rammed against it, trying to break its scaled with their ki-enhanced beaks. Yet, there was nothing that they could do, its scales were impervious to their attacks. With a single swipe of its tail, a wave arose above the water, throwing several turtles into the air.


    Some shells shattered from the impact when they collided directly with the attack, but most were pushed away by the water¡¯s current, only to charge back in. This was a stop in their migratory patterns where they were always left incredibly hungry upon arrival, and now there was only one food source avable to them. It was a choice between fighting for their lives, or dying.


    From the surface, Thal could see the still waters suddenly appear to explode, wave after wave crashing along the coast. The shallows king had been angered like never before, and Thal could barely make out the figures of shattered turtles being flung from the waters. But it was when the waters went still that the surprise truly struck him.


    The waters had gone red, the blood of the giant beast flowing out from every corner of its body. Its scales had yet to be broken, but the turtles it devoured were still whole. While its scales were harder than steel, its organs were still weak enough for the hungry monsters to devour. And devour they did, eating through the soft tissue until the creature met its end.


    This was the year when the turtle tide became the tide of blood.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Walking through the halls, I had just made it to Udona¡¯s room, where Terra could often be found socializing, when a voice filled my mind. At first I thought it might be Terra herself, asking me not to disturb her for some reason. But then, I registered what was actually being said.


    Holy Father, I do not know if you can hear me¡­ I do not even know if you are out there¡­ I have prayed time and again, but received no answer. But once again, I offer you my prayer. A gentle, unknown female voice entered my ear. From the sounds of it, it seemed to be that of a child, a teenager at best. I do not know why you remain hidden to the world, or why you have given me this power¡­ Mother won¡¯t tell me the truth, and everybody else assumes that my blood is that of Ryone¡¯s¡­

 Chapter 105: The Demigod’s Tale

    <h4>Chapter 105: The Demigod¡¯s Tale</h4>


    From a young age, Leowynn always knew that she was different. Not just because of how everyone else treated her, but because of something much more concrete. The world itself told her she was special, that her blood was not that of a mortal.


    Titles


    Demigod¡¯s Might


    Born with the blood of creation flowing through your veins, you carry the lineage of a power older than history. Your connection to this particr deity has granted you strength unmatched by any of your peers.


    Double Strength gain from all sses.


    It was impossible for her to tell when she first saw that she had that title, as it had been with her from before she could remember. ording to her mother, she was born with it. And because of that title, people had distanced themselves from her. Not out of fear, but reverence.


    ¡°She is the daughter of the Goddess Ryone¡­¡±


    ¡°The Goddess¡¯s child walks among us¡­¡±


    Many suchments could be heard as she was a child, people bowing respectfully to her as she passed. The church of the Golden Goddess had even visited on her fiftieth birthday, asking her mother for permission to raise the child as a holy figure. Anyone could tell that they wanted nothing more than to use her for their own purpose, though, so her mother outright refused them.


    When the church threatened to take the child through force, Leowynn¡¯s mother reminded them of her name. Rinon, the Mad Enchanter, the woman whose magic knows no equal among the elves. She drove the priests away with her magic, letting them know that anyone who tried to steal away her daughter would find out what a true wrath was like.


    While she might be cold in front of others, she was the only one who truly embraced Leowynn. While she was growing up, she never wanted for anything, except for friends. Yes, her mother showered her with all of the love she could handle, but everyone her own age was afraid to approach her. The child of the Goddess, how could a mere mortal elf be worthy of associating with her? When some tried, their parents harshly pulled them back, apologizing profusely for any offense their children may have caused.


    But there was one thing that nobody seemed to understand. Nobody but Leowynn herself¡­ Her blood and might did note from Ryone, as people seemed to assume. In the depths of her heart, there lurked another nameless existence. One she felt had been there forever yet she had never seen. Her connection to this fellow seemed every bit as strong as her innate bond with Ryone, so she knew that there must be a reason.


    When she questioned her mother about who her father was, her mother seemed to be nervous at first, saying that he was just a traveling schr. But, Leowynn knew that couldn¡¯t be the case. Yes, there was someone who had visited her mother a decade before her birth, but she knew there was more to the story.


    Leowynn consulted every bard and historian she could find, using the pretext of ¡®testing them in Ryone¡¯s name¡¯ as a means to question them. She felt bad doing this, but it was not without its merit. She learned of a legend from generations past. A voice that spoke to all creation, telling of the world changing. At first it brought with it fear as men became bound to even the most absurd remarks, but then it came again. ording to what she heard, this was the birth of the questing scrolls, an object that anyone could create, even without materials.


    With this discovery, Leowynn was certain. Her blood¡¯s power was not from Ryone, but from this nameless god. The one who stood above all others, yet remained hidden from everyone. After she became determined that this was the case, she became devoted to understanding anything she could about her father, her real father.


    Every night, starting from her seventieth birthday, she prayed without an answer. For twenty years, she did not skip a single night, knowing that he would answer her one day. He had given her life, he would not truly abandon her.


    As the title promised, her body had quickly be stronger than anyone else with the same levels as her, to the point where it had be hard for her to move properly when she was younger. In order to counter this, it was her mother that helped her train, making her practice sses that would raise her Stamina and Dexterity so that her body was able to move naturally. Without her mother¡¯s guidance in this matter, Leowynn knew that her body would not have developed as well as it was today.


    And now, after twenty years, an answer finally came to her after praying one night, on her nieth birthday¡­ Her faith had been rewarded, and her thoughts had been verified in the truest sense.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Okay, what?¡± I asked myself, no longer bothering to just go look for Terra the hard way. Something far more urgent had happened if I was suddenly getting a prayer! Terra¡­ I focused inwardly, trying to contact the felyn goddess. We need to talk, now.


    ¡°Alright, alright. What¡¯s going on?¡± She asked, suddenly appearing behind me. When I turned around to face her, her rxed expression suddenly became more serious. ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°Why did I just get a prayer? I¡¯m not even a real god.¡± I told her about the prayer I had just received, which had no doubte from the child of Rinon and myself. I knew that would have something to do with it, but still! I¡¯m not a god in the system, so there should be no way for me to actually have someone pray to me¡­ at least not sessfully!


    Terra¡¯s eyes opened briefly in surprise, before a small smile surfaced on her lips. ¡°Oh, it happened? Well, this is interesting¡­¡± I was about to get onto her to tell me when she began exining. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll talk. I told you that it was fairly rare for a coupling of the ¡®divine¡¯ and ¡®mortal¡¯ to produce a legitimate demigod. But, when it happens, naturally the child of a god will have a connection with their holy parent. This is the same kind of connection that the races naturally have with their patron deity. So, it¡¯s no real surprise that she can pray to you.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­ but what do I do? I mean, I can¡¯t even reliably use the mentalmunication in the Admin Room, let alone knowing how to answer a prayer.¡± I spoke out, somewhat nervous. I felt like I had just been thrust quite rapidly into fatherhood. Yes, I knew that Rinon was pregnant, and that I¡¯d be a dad eventually. But at the time, I really felt more like a sperm donor than a prospective parent. I had expected to not even hear about the child until Ryone told me about herter.


    ¡°You¡¯re¡­ really wanting to do this, huh?¡± Terra asked in surprise, carefully examining my features. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t n to stop you, of course. It¡¯s kinda nice seeing you taking this seriously.¡±


    ¡°So? How do I answer a prayer?¡± I asked more directly, looking straight at her. If I was going to do this¡­ I¡¯d do it right, at least¡­ right?


    _______________________________________________________________


    My child¡­ The voice rang softly in Leowynn¡¯s ears, long after she had fallen asleep after her nightly prayer. However, the voice was enough to cause her to jolt awake, the furred nket falling from her bed. Did she really just hear that, or was it a dream?


    Holy Father¡­? She cupped her hands together and closed her eyes, trying to catch that echo of a voice that had reached out to her. Is that you?


    It¡¯s me, Leowynn. It was a gentle voice, the same loving tone that her mother had always spoken to her with when she was upset. But this time, she could hear it from a man¡¯s voice. Soft, barely above a whisper, yet at the same time reaching deep inside of her. She knew, she knew this was real. This was her father.


    F-father¡­ She responded with a small smile, feeling tears forming at the edges of her eyes. How long had she waited to hear this voice? How many times had she forced herself to remember that he had to exist, that the feeling she had since being born was real?


    Don¡¯t cry, my daughter. She could almost feel herself being wrapped up in a warm presence as the voice came to her again. I am sorry for neglecting you for so long.


    She shook her head rapidly, letting her tears fall. They were not out of sadness, but joy. She had yet to be an adult by elven standards, but this was still the happiest she had ever been. No¡­ don¡¯t apologize to me. I¡¯m just d to hear your voice. I have so many questions I want to ask you! Can you¡­ can you answer them for me?


    Of course¡­ Anything that I can tell you. Now that the two of them were talking, it seemed so easy for her tomunicate with him, as if his voice had always been there, just waiting for her.


    She did not even consider asking where he had been her whole life, because that question just seemed so small, so unimportant. Who are you? Although hesitantly, she mustered up the courage to ask what she felt to be the most important question.


    It took a while for a response toe through, long enough that Leowynn began to believe she may have offended him. However, just before she was about to withdraw her question, the answer came. I have¡­ many names and titles. I ask you not to mention me to others if you can help it, because they would not understand. There was some hesitation in his tone, yet she couldn¡¯t help but agree with him. Everyone had long since known of Ryone, even a child knew of her. Yet him¡­ aside from some historians, very few knew that there once existed a voice that surpassed that of Ryone¡¯s.


    I¡­ understand, Father. Then, can I ask why you gave me this power?


    This time, his answer came much more quickly. That power is yours and yours alone. You are my one and only daughter in all the world. I did not expect that it would cause you such trouble, though¡­


    No, no! It¡¯s fine, Father! She hurriedly retorted in her mind, almost opening her mouth to speak verbally. She was worried that she had disappointed him, that she wasn¡¯t putting her gift to proper usage. I will cherish it always.


    The father and daughter spoke in this way for a while longer, Leowynn telling of her life so far, happy to finally have a father that she could talk to. As for that mysterious, unnamed god, he seemed all too happy to talk to his daughter as well. Their conversationsted well into the night, until Leowynn could feel sleep starting to overtake her once again. Before she fell asleep though, she asked one final question.


    Father¡­ will I be able to talk to you again? She had waited twenty years to hear his voice. Now that she knew he was real, she didn¡¯t want to lose him. She knew it would be asking too much to be able to speak with a god as powerful as he on a regr basis, but still she had to ask.


    Hmm¡­ I cannot do this every night, Leowynn. He answered, and although his tone was slightly yful, it sent a feeling of sadness through her. There is much for me to do. However, once every year, on the anniversary of your birth, pray to me and I will be here. You need not pray every night as you have in the past, but if you call out to me on that one night, I will answer.


    Although she had been saddened by the knowledge that she would not be able to talk to him like this all the time, thisst piece of information made her smile happily. What was one year to an elf like her? She had already waited faithfully for twenty without ever hearing his voice. If she could speak to him once every year, she would happily ept it. Yes, Father. Thank you¡­


    As she closed her eyes to sleep, she heard a soft melody singing in her ears. The words were unknown to her, something she had never heard before, yet it was so soft and sweet. Her smile grew as her father sang her to sleep, letting her once more return to her dreams.

 Chapter 106: Core Studies

    <h4>Chapter 106: Core Studies</h4>


    I felt a soft smile on my face as I watched Leowynn go to sleep. In the elvennguage, her name roughly trantes to ¡®Little Star¡¯, so naturally I wanted to sing a particr song for her to sleep to. Of course, that song didn¡¯t exist for the elves, and I wasn¡¯t sure whether or not she¡¯d like her name being so obviously used in a song, so I kept thenguage english.


    ¡°So now what?¡± Terra asked with a smile, having formed a chair to sit beside me as I talked to Leowynn through theputer. ¡°Are you nning to just follow along with her life for the next few centuries?¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but shake my head. ¡°No. While that does sound nice, I can¡¯t just stop developing the world for several hundred years. I¡¯ll keep my fast forwards to one year intervals at the most, so that I can keep my appointments with her, but otherwise I still have work to do.¡± That was the reason I had told her to contact me once a year, because there was no realistic way that I¡¯d be able to speak with her all the time. My training in the Ten Thousand Threads has not nearly reached the level where I would be able to devote a part of my thoughts to a world moving thousands of time the normal speed.


    Terra nodded her head with approval, though a slightly sad look could briefly be seen. ¡°Okay, just remember¡­ she is still mortal.¡± I nodded at thatment, and she let out a sigh. ¡°Anyways, what was it that you wereing to me for before you got her prayer? I¡¯m assuming that you weren¡¯t just standing outside of Udona¡¯s room expecting her to give you ate night romp.¡±


    I chuckled slightly, smiling towards her. ¡°No, I was hoping to find you there, to ask you about this.¡± As I said that, I reached out to grab the small green ball that I had left on the desk. ¡°This was lodged inside the corpse of a blinking blossom. Do you know what it is?¡±


    Naturally, I had done the basic task of focusing on it to identify it, but all it identified as was ¡®Blinking Blossom Monster Core - 100%¡¯. Given that I had never seen a monster core before, I had no way of knowing what they were for, or what that percentage even meant.


    ¡°Ahh, you found one, huh?¡± She asked with a smile, looking down at the orb. ¡°It¡¯d probably be best to talk with Irena about this. She¡¯s the one who governs death, and these thingse off of dead monsters. She¡¯ll probably know the most about them.¡± Terra answered with a mischievous smile.


    ¡°In other words, you know, but you want me to go talk to the others, and not rely on you to answer questions that they are able to answer as well.¡± I repeated bluntly, and her smile widened further. ¡°Fine, fine. Any idea where she¡¯s at right now?¡±


    Terra closed her eyes for a moment before answering. ¡°Right now, she¡¯s with Aurivy in the living room. It looks like they are watching anime together. Aurivy talked her into it with the excuse of ¡®research¡¯ for her realm.¡± And that mischievous grin was right back on her face.


    ¡°I guess I¡¯m going to be interrupting then.¡± I said with a shrug, standing up and grabbing the core. Terra nodded her head, vanishing into thin air without a word, no doubt returning to whatever it was she was doing before I called for her.


    The trip to the living room was short, and I soon found the two goddesses sitting on the couch, leaning against each other. Naturally, their ¡®research¡¯ was focused on anime that heavily included elements of afterlife. Though how that equated to swordsmen was beyond me. ¡°Irena, can I steal you away for a moment?¡±


    When I spoke up, the two goddesses jumped slightly in their seat, turning to look at me. On Aurivy¡¯s face, there was a wide smile as she lifted an arm to wave at me. ¡°Hey big bro! What¡¯s up?¡± Irena¡¯s face also showed a brief glimpse of excitement, before being reced by her usual stoic mask.


    ¡°I need to borrow Irena for a moment to ask her a couple questions. You don¡¯t mind, right Rivy?¡±


    ¡°Hmm? Not at all!¡± Aurivy shook her head heavily, before smiling to Irena. ¡°You go ahead, I¡¯ll pause it here. We can finish watching it once you¡¯re done, kay?¡±


    Irena smiled softly to Aurivy, nodding to her before standing up to face me. ¡°What is it you wanted, Dale?¡± She asked with a calm voice, though I could catch her lips twitching as she suppressed a smile.


    ¡°I wanted to ask you about these.¡± I exined, lifting up the monster core for her to see. She did not seem at all surprised to see it, as she simply stared at it for a moment before turning to face me again.


    ¡°This is a monster core. I¡¯m assuming you know the difference between an animal and a monster, correct?¡± She asked, raising a curious eyebrow at me, as if that was a key point in the exnation.


    ¡°Right. A monster is able to use some kind of energy, like ki or mana, and an animal can¡¯t. Are you saying that the core is the reason why?¡±


    ¡°Yes and no¡­¡± She shook her head, holding her hand out for the core. Once she had it, she continued her exnation. ¡°Not all monsters have cores like this. For those that possess ki, their hearts naturally generate it, as it would with a human, elf, or so on. But for those that use mana, the story is different. Like spiritual energy is in my realm, mana is a manifestation of thought. How could such simple monsters be able to cast powerful magic without the ability to understand the magic?¡±


    Seeing that I wasn¡¯t able to answer her, she rolled the core around in her palm. ¡°It is these cores. A monster¡¯s core is the manifestation of their magical ability. If I¡¯m not mistaken, this came from a blinking blossom. They possess a magic that lets them extend their limbs to great length in order to trap prey. Like any monster that possesses such an ability, its magic is sealed within this core. Though, it is far more difficult for any creature other than the blinking blossom to use its effect.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­ I think I get that. Then, what about the percentage? When I appraised it, it registered as having 100%.¡±


    Hearing my question, she nodded. ¡°Mana can¡¯t juste from nowhere. And it can¡¯t be produced endlessly by an unintelligent creature. During its growth period, until it hits adulthood the monster core absorbs mana slowly by feeding off of the monster¡¯s ability to learn during that time. However, after it hits adulthood, that learning process slows, and it may even spend mana faster than it recovers it.¡±


    ¡°This is only solved by hunting. If a monster with a core devours another monster¡¯s core, they can digest the mana within it to add to their own. If this one ispletely full, then it no doubt had a meal shortly before you found it. However, once the monster core is depleted, it crumbles into nothing.¡±


    Okay, this is definitely new information. And something that Ryone should probably know, if she hasn¡¯t figured it out already. After all, she only recently posed the question to me of why monsters were able to use magic. ¡°The Goddess of Magic knows about this, right¡­?¡± Just to be safe, I figured I had to ask.


    Irena let out a small chuckle as she heard that, nodding her head. ¡°She learned of it right after your previous fast forward session began, I believe. Most monster cores are left undiscovered because they lurk in the brain of the monster, and can be destroyed if not carefully removed. However, I recall there was arge monster near one of her cities that was killed recently. Its core was thankfully not eaten, so her elves were able to retrieve it.¡±


    I wonder how those would work as a ward power source, then¡­ I couldn¡¯t help but let that thought float around in my head. ¡°I see¡­ That¡¯s actually a lot more information than I was expecting to get out of this. And it was pretty useful, too.¡± Irena couldn¡¯t restrain her smile as Imended her on that.


    ¡°I¡¯m d that I was able to help. Is there anything else, or do you have to get back to your business?¡± She asked, holding the core back out for me to take.


    ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t think that there¡¯s anything I urgently need to do right now.¡± I thought about it in my head. With me pausing to speak to Leowynn every year, I would have a lot of time in my future to rx. Hell, with how long elves lived, it might go all the way until the next Keeper meeting.


    ¡°Well then, would you mind joining us?¡± She asked, an almost hopeful tone in her voice. ¡°I assure you, it is quite a good documentary to watch.¡±


    ¡°¡­It¡¯s called anime, but sure.¡± I shrugged my shoulders, moving back with her to sit between Irena and Aurivy. The halfling goddess was only too happy to be able to lean against me as she started the show up again, but Irena soon did the same. Though, her wing spread out to wrap around both mine and Aurivy¡¯s backs.


    _______________________________________________________________


    The next morning, Leowynn awoke with a bright smile on her face. Remembering her father¡¯s instructions from the night before, she did not offer her normal morning prayer, and rather got started on her day as soon as she awoke. Her mother seemed surprised to find her moving around so early.


    However, when Leowynn began humming a soft melody to herself over breakfast, Rinon naturally couldn¡¯t keep her curiosity in check. ¡°Are you looking to be a bard all of a sudden?¡± She teased yfully, leaning over and poking her young daughter on the shoulder.


    ¡°M-mom! It¡¯s not like that!¡± She defended herself, shaking her head. ¡°I just¡­ thought it sounded nice, is all.¡± She wanted to tell her mother that she had learned the truth about her father. However, he had asked her not to share the knowledge of him. If even her mother didn¡¯t know who he was, then he definitely had a reason to keep that secret from her.


    Leowynn had no ns to expose her father¡¯s secrets, not after she had finally met him. The idea of upsetting him, and not being able to contact him anymore made her feel small and afraid. In all her years until now, she had never had a father figure to look up to, and her only real friend had been her mother.


    ¡°Someone seems pretty happy. Did you like my present that much?¡± Rinon couldn¡¯t help but ask with a smile. As yesterday had been Leowynn¡¯s eightieth birthday, she had prepared a special dress to give her daughter. It had taken her a while to prepare, but it was worth it if Leowynn liked it.


    ¡°It¡¯s really pretty, Mom.¡± She nodded her head happily as she thought about the ck dress in her room, star-like patterns woven into it. Not only did the dress look nice, but since it hade from the ¡®Mad Enchanter¡¯, it naturally had additional functions as well. ¡°So¡­ what are we working on today?¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ How¡¯s your monk traininging along?¡± Rinon asked cautiously, looking over to her daughter. Her daughter was a real beauty, even by elven standards. Her silver hair reached down to the small of her back, and her thin, toned frame gave her an air of strength and majesty. She had been trained since she was young to have a healthy body, and it showed.


    ¡°I¡¯m at thirty-seven right now.¡± Leowynn answered casually. This was a normal routine for them, nning out what levels she needed in order to maintain the bnce of strength and flexibility in her body.


    ¡°Alright, that¡¯s good.¡± Rinon said with a small sigh. ¡°If you want, you can go out hunting today then. There shouldn¡¯t be any problems with your body.¡±


    Hearing that she was able to leave the city, Leowynn¡¯s smile grew even wider. Because of her title, she was not allowed to go anywhere dangerous unless the bnce in her body was kept at a reasonable level. And although she could find no friends among the elves, being a hunter meant that she was able tomune with animals, to a degree. ¡°Thanks, mom!¡± She called out, suddenly reaching over and hugging her mother.

 Chapter 107: Of Love and Loss

    <h4>Chapter 107: Of Love and Loss</h4>


    After I had spent a few hours watching TV with Aurivy and Irena, the halfling goddess decided she wanted to go take a nap. As for Irena, she seemed almost reluctant to part, but also wanted to check on the status of the afterlife. Which left me, going back to my own room and returning to theputer.


    I began the process of fast forwarding the world just a little bit at a time, setting each one to stop when Leowynn prayed to me. This way, I¡¯d always be able to respond to her annual prayers. And, honestly¡­ I have to say that it went better than I expected.


    I had thought that I would get bored talking to her back to back like that, each conversationsting well into the night-- her night, anyways. Yet, it always seemed to feel fresh. With each new conversation, she had new experiences to tell me about, new questions to ask. Every year, she seemed to get more and more bold, less afraid that every question would displease me.


    After our ninth scheduled conversation, she even made a rather important request. Well, it was one that I could tell was important to her. Holy Father¡­ next year, can I see you? I like talking to you, but I¡¯d like to be able to see you once¡­


    I had to think for a moment on how to answer that. It¡¯s true that she had never seen her own father before, so of course she would want to. As for why now, all of a sudden¡­ I could figure it out pretty easily. Leowynn was currently ny-nine years old. Turning one hundred for an elf marks their entry into adulthood, a very special anniversary for her.


    ¡°Okay.¡± I spoke out, talking into the program that Terra had set up for me on theputer. It was so much easier tomunicate this way, without worrying about frying her brain from thinking too hard. ¡°But I¡¯ll have to teach you a special trick in order to see me. So for the next year, I need you to practice it, and make sure that you can perform it when the timees.¡±


    O-of course, Father! Anything you want, just tell me! Her voice seemed excited by the thought of seeing me in person, even if she did have to jump through a few hoops to achieve it. So, I decided to teach her. It might be inconvenient for me to appear in that city so soon after I was there to set up the wards. Soon being rtive, of course, since the elves lived so long. And I didn¡¯t particrly want to go about creating an entirely new persona for this, since I intended to appear as ¡®special¡¯ to her.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Is he really going toe? Leowynn thought nervously as she snuck out of the city, long after the sun had fallen. The regr patrol had just finished, so she knew the area that she was going to would be safe. Though, even if it hadn¡¯t, there were few creatures that could threaten her in these ins.


    Thus, Leowynn walked, her destination the statue of Ryone just a short distance outside the city. Her Father had told her that she would be able to see him if she went to him tonight. She wasn¡¯t sure how to feel about this. Should she be happy that she gets to meet her father? Or should she be nervous about meeting a god face to face, one who legends speak of as more powerful than Ryone herself.


    Leowynn took deep breaths to force herself to calm down, soon arriving behind the statue as she was told. She was wearing the ck dress that her mother had made for her on her eightieth birthday. Although it was now twenty years old, it held a special significance for Leowynn, as that was also the same night that she had first spoken with her Father. I¡¯m here. She closed her eyes in prayer, at the same time circting her mana into her eyes.


    When she opened her eyes, she saw a sh of light before her, before that light gathered together in the shape of a man. For all intents and purposes, he seemed normal. A slender body, thin features. With his bodycking in color, it seemed to cause his hair to turn the same shade of silver as her own, which brought a small smile to Leowynn¡¯s lips.


    ¡°Father¡­¡± She spoke quietly, as if she had difficulty believing her own eyes. He had told her that this ability would let her see the spirits that roamed thend, and she had seen that herself a few times, though mostly with wild animals. This was her first time seeing the body of an elf through this form of sight.


    ¡°Hello, Leowynn.¡± He answered her with a soft smile. ¡°I hope I didn¡¯t keep you waiting too long.¡± Was he talking about since she called to him, or all the years she had spent wanting to know about him? Either way, she felt her eyes moisten, and not from the strain it took to see him.


    Shaking her head, she had a happy smile on her face. ¡°No, not at all¡­ Thank you foring. I was afraid you¡¯d be too busy¡­¡±


    ¡°Of course not, my child.¡± The elf before her answered her. ¡°I told you that I would be here for you. Or do you not trust me after all this time?¡± She almost froze up at his words, until she identified the teasing tone behind them, and realized he was joking. He did that to her sometimes, seeming to enjoy teasing her to get her to rx during their talks. Though honestly, it gave her a fright every time.


    ¡°No¡­ not that at all, Father. I just never really thought I¡¯d be able to see you¡­ In person, I mean. I had always hoped that I could, but hope was all it had ever been.¡± She shook her head sadly. Her social life had not improved much in the years since she had begun talking to him, though she had already told him all about that. If not for her mother¡¯s health starting to decline, she likely would have left to find a new home where nobody knew about her.


    Thinking of that, she looked at the man before her with a hopeful gaze. ¡°Could¡­ could you do something to help my mother? She¡¯s¡­ she¡¯s been sick a lottely. Age has taken its hold on her, and I fear she will only get worse over time.¡± Of course, her mother easily had another century left in her, but beyond that? A mortal body could onlyst for so long.


    Her Father seemed surprised by this request, but regretfully shook his head. ¡°There¡¯s nothing that I can do to reverse aging, Leowynn. No matter what I attempt, she can only live a single life.¡±


    ¡°But¡­ why?¡± Leowynn felt herself growing confused, and emotional. Normally, she would never question him to this degree, but this was for her mother¡¯s sake. ¡°You can change the rules of the world with a thought¡­ Why do people have to die at all? Wouldn¡¯t it be fine if everyone could stay together forever?¡±


    After she asked that, she realized what she had done, and hurriedly brought her hands to her mouth, wanting to apologize. However, her Father only shook his head. ¡°The world is only so big, Leowynn¡­ It is hard to exin, but I¡¯ll try. There are two reasons why death must exist.¡±


    Leowynn slowly lowered her hands from her mouth as she listened, making sure to memorize every word he spoke. ¡°The first, and most simple, is limited resources. If people cannot die, but children are still born, then they will have to expand to acquire food and water. But what happens when there is no morend to expand to? If they go across the seas, they may find more, but the world is not infinite. The earth is not as boundless as the night sky.¡±


    She could¡­ almost understand what he was saying. At the very least, she could tell that he believed it. But it was the next thing he said which really got her thinking. ¡°The second, and most important reason why death has to exist¡­ is to give life meaning. A man who lives for one lifetime will always strive to do more in his limited time, while a man who lives for eternity will simply prolong doing anything he doesn¡¯t need to. He will still be alive, but will he really be living?¡±


    She wanted to ask what the difference was, but stopped herself. He was more than just her Father, he was the god that watched over all. His words would not be meaningless, it was just her that failed topletely understand it. She would take time to consider what he said, so that she could find the meanings that were currently hidden to her. ¡°I¡­ Okay, Father. But, is there anything that you can do for her? Please¡­ She doesn¡¯t have to live forever¡­ But I don¡¯t want her to be in pain. That just seems too cruel¡­¡±


    Again, her Father shook his head, causing her heart to ache. Though, his words did not match the solemness she was feeling. ¡°I doubt she is hurting as much as you fear. In time, she will feel the ravages of old age, but right now she is still quite young, wouldn¡¯t you say? And honestly¡­ if there is something your mother wants, do you think that there is anything she wouldn¡¯t be able to get herself?¡±


    She couldn¡¯t help but widen her eyes at what sounded like his praise for Rinon. Yet, the more she thought about it, she realized that he was right. Although her mother was known as the Mad Enchanter, she was incredible in her own right. Aside from the church, who refused to deal with her ever since she refused to hand Leowynn to them, she was able to speak with anyone she wanted, even the Queen herself. As for her own power, Leowynn had seen time and again that her mother was an expert when it came to magic.


    ¡°Alright¡­ I¡¯ll listen to you for now. But¡­ if the situation gets bad¡­ can I ask you for helpter?¡± She pleaded onest time. She knew just from looking at him, just from what she had learned and the way that he talked, the lifespan of a single elf was just a short moment for him. The fact that he had given her so much of his attention was already nothing short of miraculous.


    His smile grew warm at her words, and he nodded his head. ¡°Of course. If anything serious happens, either to you or her, you need only call for me. I can¡¯t say that I will definitely be able to keep her alive no matter what, but at the very least, I can ease her pain or save her from a crisis.¡±


    Her eyes once again grew moist at his words, and she nodded her head. ¡°Thank¡­ thank you, Father.¡± Saying that, she sat down at the base of the statue, looking up at him as he moved to join her. ¡°Can we¡­ still talk like this? Like we normally do?¡±


    He nodded at her request, and her smile grew even further. Even after all this time, she was still afraid that her words might have upset him. But, seeing him agree, she began telling him about what she had experienced in the past year. About everything she had learned and done, and even about her animal friends that she had made in the nearby hills.


    However, this night did not end like those others they had shared. Her mana eventually wore out, leaving her unable to see or hear him. In a panic, she had thought he left, before he spoke into her mind that he was still there. Gently, he told her to go back home and rest, and that he would stay with her until she had fallen asleep.


    Every year before, she had fallen asleep listening to that same sweet melody which reminded her of the stars in the sky. But not tonight. Tonight, he told her a story. A story of people she had never heard of before. Lovers of opposing families who wanted nothing more than to be together. She listened to him tell of the treachery they faced from their own households, and while she was surprised that he did not sing to her, she was still happy to hear this story.


    _______________________________________________________________


    I had been reading the original Romeo and Juliet, courtesy of Terra, to Leowynn when I noticed that she had fallen asleep. I considered singing to her like I had in the past, but felt like that wasn¡¯t really suitable anymore. Although almost no time had passed for me, she was an adult now. Rather than singing her to sleep, I thought it more fitting to tell her tales of love and adventure.


    Thus, for our following conversations, I had Terra prepare a pile of ssic books and ys for me to read to her. Whether Tom Sawyer, Treasure Ind, even a few I myself had never read, I would read them to her after every conversation. Every now and then, she would ask me questions about the stories, like what certain things meant or how they worked, but for the most part she enjoyed listening to stories that couldn¡¯t be found anywhere else in the world.


    Of course, every now and then, I took a break from simply fast forwarding after one conversation to begin the next, so that I could practice my Ten Thousand Threads or check on the status of the other races. And this is how I came across another love story that I shared with Leowynn in the most unlikely of ces.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Aki and Seppo lived high in the mountains, separated from the rest of the world. Leowynn closed her eyes as she listened to her father¡¯s voice again, once more experiencing the stories that often seemed impossible. Although they were isted, they had never once felt alone, for they always had each other. From a young age, they had been friends, fighting battles and sharing joy together.


    When the two of them grew up, it was only natural that they developed feelings for each other. Aki, as a famous martial artist, and Seppo, a revered shrine maiden. The two seemed to livepletely different lives on the surface, yet they were never far apart. When Seppo was destined to wed another, the two of them abandoned their families and fled together without a second thought.


    ¡°But¡­ how could they simply leave their families like that?¡± Leowynn knit her brows together as she asked that. ¡°Couldn¡¯t they have resolved it differently?¡±


    Maybe. But, their families were not the type that liked topromise. Almost like Romeo and Juliet¡¯s. Anyways, the two of them ran far, far away, setting up a life together where none could find them. Seppo always felt that she had done wrong, abandoning her temple and her family, but she never truly regretted it. Her leaving meant being able to share a life with her love.


    As for Aki, he had little family to speak of, so his decision had been far easier. With their new life, they set up a small shrine atop the mountain, where Seppo continued her daily service. Aki became a farmer, tilling thend at the base of the mountain, climbing it day and night.


    Even though there were no guests to visit her shrine, it was enough for Seppo. With her shrine, she was able to feel connected with the world, as if that was truly her ce. Especially whenever she saw her beloved Aki waiting for her.


    Yet, like with all stories, things were unable to proceed smoothly for Aki and Seppo. As Leowynn heard that, she felt her heart tense up. One long winter season, a blizzard ravaged the mountain on which they lived. Aki was trapped at the bottom, while Seppo felt the worst of it at the top.


    Although Aki put all his might into scaling the snow-covered peak, the weather had slowed him down far too much. In his absence, his beloved Seppo had fallen gravely ill. The storm was still raging, so he could not carry her down to find her aid, yet there were no herbs which could heal his wife. It seemed he could do naught but watch the life fade from her.


    Leowynn felt a small tear drop from her eyes as she heard that, her hands tightly clenching the nket covering her. She wanted him to tell her that there was a happily ever after, that Aki had managed to save Seppo, but his next sentence killed that hope. In the end, he could do nothing but let her die in his arms. Although he knew that she was in intense pain, she had passed with a smile, for she had been with him at the very end.


    Yet¡­ that is not where this story ends. Rather, this is only the beginning. After passing, Seppo found herself watching Aki as a departed spirit. She saw that he had seemed to give up his normal routine, instead taking her job as the priest of the shrine. Only when food was low would he journey down the mountain to hunt, otherwise he sat in prayer.


    Seeing her love ache for her like this, Seppo could not sit idle. She appeared within Aki¡¯s dreams, sharing with him the secrets of her temple. She taught him how to see those spirits which had yet to pass, and how to exorcise them so that they could move on. Originally, she had intended for him to use those skills on her, to truly move on from her death.


    Yet, little did she expect, the next day when he saw her, a smile appeared on his lips. ¡®My Seppo.¡¯ He spoke gently to her. ¡®I truly cannot bare to see you go again. Not after seeing you once more. I ask of you, will you spend eternity with me?¡¯ Leowynn let out a small gasp when she heard that.


    Seppo was¡­ disappointed by his request. Not because he still loved her, but because he knew what he was asking. In the teachings, Seppo told him that a lingering spirit will begin to lose its reason if it does not pass on. ¡®I cannot stay as the Seppo that you love, Aki. You know this.¡¯


    ¡®You can.¡¯ He seemed so confident in his words, that Seppo could not help but listen. ¡®I thought of a way, if you are willing to try. A way for a lingering spirit to live within a willing host, to be eternal partners in life and in death. So, my Seppo, will you spend eternity with me?¡¯


    For the first time since her death, Seppo could feel tears forming in her eyes. She wanted nothing more than to ept his offer. And only after hearing his exnation did she agree. Through his guidance, Seppo came to live within his body. Finally, Aki left the mountain, his beloved Seppo with him. They faced dangers together again, yet were able to ovee it through theirbined powers. Seppo¡¯s one regret in life was that she had never been able to return to her family, so Aki visited them¡­ Happy that the story seemed to have a good oue, Leowynn found herself slowly starting to drift off, even as her Father continued telling his story.

 Chapter 108: The Truth and The Question

    <h4>Chapter 108: The Truth and The Question</h4>


    After seeing Leowynn falling asleep, I nced towards the glowing orb that represented the Aki Seppo martial art. I had nced through it before, hoping to get a quick bit of training in between conversations with her, but what I had found surprised me. Only about half of the information contained within the sphere was instructions on the martial art itself. The other half was exining its origins, of Aki and Seppo.


    Though, that does exin why it was the only one that did not have a tranted name in the market, since its name was just the names of its founders. As for the story, it was how I told it to Leowynn, though she wasn¡¯t awake to hear the end. And, considering everything, she had chosen a good time to fall asleep.


    I knit my brows together as I thought about the rest of the story. After Aki returned to Seppo¡¯s home, he found it lying in ruins. All of her nsmen had been in by Aki¡¯s own father. He did not have much family, but his father had always doted on him. When the two of them ran away together, his father had vented his anger on Seppo¡¯s family.


    Naturally, this drove Aki and Seppo both to the brink of despair and madness. Seppo mourned the loss of her family, but could not bring herself to me Aki for the sins of his father. Yet, Aki himself was different, ming both himself and his father for what had happened. After all, if they did not run away, would his father have truly done this?


    Once again, the two of them left that small town, but this time for a different reason. Both of them wanted to avenge Seppo¡¯s family, even if Seppo herself kept that desire buried in her heart. So they trained, bing stronger than the fiercest of warriors, and fully exploring and evolving their new union.


    The next time they returned to the city, Aki¡¯s father stood waiting for them in front of the gates. He weed his son back with a smile, as if nothing had ever gone wrong. Aki¡¯s father could not understand the bloodlust contained within his son¡¯s eyes, even to the point where he initially failed to fight back when Aki attacked him.


    His moment of carelessness ultimately led to his undoing, as his own son joined hands with the woman he hade to detest, working together to y him. But how could that truly lead Aki to finding peace? He had just killed his own father, after all. So for onest time, they left the city, returning to their mountain peak. This time, they never again descended from the shrine.


    I shook my head as I thought about the true ending to the story. It seemed it really was too much to hope for a happy ending to tales like these. However, it did serve to exin how powerful the technique he developed was.


    Aki Seppo had strict requirements for the users. Like its original creators, the spirit had to have a powerful bond of trust with the person who they are being bound to. In a sense, it was simr to the spirit I watched battling in the afterlife, though he could only be said to have reached the first stage of this art. Surely, if he had received the information in the sphere, he would have been able to master it entirely.


    Aki Seppo has three stages, though given its nature they are vaguely defined as benchmarks. The first stage, the initial manifestation, has the user channeling his bonded spirit into a form which they find mostfortable, granting certain abilities based on their own power and history. That is how he made those swords that seemed to give him extremely powerful attacks.


    As for its second stage, it was known as ¡®true manifestation¡¯. This was when you were able to truly personify the spirit into the weapon, bringing out a far greater power that represented that spirit¡¯s entire history and personality. ording to what the information said, it wasn¡¯t umon for a true manifestation to make someoneparable to an army on their own.


    Finally, there was thest stage. ¡®Body and soul as one¡¯, a stage where the user was able to temporarily switch with their spirit, essentially doubling the variety that they had avable in their attacks. Someone whopleted all three stages could really be strong, from what I could tell.


    Yet, I couldn¡¯t help but recall the requirements to perform it again. A spirit who has an intense bond of trust with me? Naturally, that couldn¡¯t be any of the goddess¡¯s incarnations. Not because of the trust factor, but from what I have been able to tell, their spirits return to them after their incarnations die, rather than going to the afterlife.


    I could probably bypass that requirement by using a World Host. I mean, who would trust me more than myself? The only problem I could see there would be that its soul and mine would be too simr, so I wouldn¡¯t really be able to bring out the full power of it.


    Thinking about it to that point, I couldn¡¯t help but turn my attention towards the sleeping Leowynn. If there was one person that could meet all of the qualifications, it¡¯d be her. However, could I really do that? I mean¡­ if I were to groom her to be my ¡®Seppo¡¯, then wouldn¡¯t that in itself destroy the bond of trust?


    Thinking about it, I pulled out a piece of paper, and then began writing a message to Ryone.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Mom, what are we doing out here?¡± Leowynn asked curiously, ncing around. This was the furthest that she had ever been from the city, so she was confused when her mother had suddenly told her that they were going out for a bit today. Already they had left the ins behind them, walking into a forest that would have normally taken several days to reach, yet their speed seemed far faster than normal.


    ¡°We¡¯re almost there.¡± Her mother spoke gently, holding Leowynn¡¯s hand in hers. Leowynn wasn¡¯t sure why, but Rinon seemed nervous today. Her face, which had aged well to barely have any wrinkles when she was over four hundred years old, seemed shaken by something.


    Leowynn barely had the mind to notice that no monsters or beasts had approached them since they left. Even for her, it was not umon for some monsters to attack when she wandered too far from the city. Yet, they were being leftpletely undisturbed.


    It was only after they had walked for another hour when Rinon finally stopped. The two of them were standing in front of a flowing brook, arge rock sitting next to it which Rinon walked over and sat on, muttering to herself. ¡°Okay¡­ this should be far enough, I think.¡±


    ¡°Uhm¡­ mom¡­ what¡¯s going on?¡± Leowynn asked, starting to grow nervous herself. There were only a few reasons that she could think of as to why her mother led her out here suddenly, so far from town. And none of them were good.


    ¡°Don¡¯t panic, dear.¡± Rinon urged, shaking her head in an attempt to dissuade Leowynn of her negative thoughts. ¡°I just¡­ wanted to tell you something. And we couldn¡¯t be near the town when I did.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll understand when I finish.¡± Rinon assured her, taking a deep breath. ¡°So¡­ you met your father, huh?¡±


    Leowynn¡¯s face tightened up when she heard that, her body going stiff. ¡°How did you know that?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ he told me?¡± Rinon responded with a small smile. ¡°He wanted me to let you know a couple things about myself, too.¡±


    ¡°Wait, so you knew?¡± Leowynn couldn¡¯t hold back from asking. If her mother knew all along about her father¡­ ¡°I thought you said that my god¡¯s blood came from Ryone?¡± Her tone turned slightly usatory as she said that, believing that her mother had been knowingly lying to her all these years.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m not wrong?¡± Rinon asked with a sheepish smile, looking down and to the side to avoid her daughter¡¯s gaze. ¡°You are Ryone¡¯s daughter.¡±


    ¡°Unless you mean to tell me that I was an abandoned child left in your care, you should start exining.¡± Leowynn¡¯s eyes almost seemed to glow as her emotions were thrown into turmoil, her fists tightening beside her.


    ¡°What? No! Not at all, we would never do something like that!¡± Rinon instantly lifted her head up, denying her daughter¡¯s words. However, there was only one word that Leowynn seemed to focus on.


    ¡°We?¡±


    ¡°Uhm¡­ well, I mean¡­ Yeah.¡± Rinon once again looked down in embarrassment, trying to find the words she wanted to say. ¡°After all¡­ I¡¯m Ryone.¡± Her voice turned incredibly small as she said that, almost enough that Leowynn would fail to hear.


    ¡°Mother. Those words are sphemous, and you know it.¡± Leowynn recoiled in shock, ncing around to make sure that there was truly nobody to overhear what her mother had just said. It¡¯s not like there hadn¡¯t been people iming to be incarnations of the gods before. One woman had almost seeded in making the church into her pawns when she had an ¡®unfortunate ident¡¯ that caused her magic to turn against her.


    ¡°But it¡¯s true!¡± Rinon almost shouted back, her thin hands hitting the rock below her. ¡°And I can prove it, too. Just pray, not to him, but to Ryone.¡± She crossed her arms beneath her chest, staring at her daughter expectantly.


    ¡°But¡­¡± Leowynn was worried that if she did this, and attracted the Goddess¡¯s attention, her mother might not be let off for the words she had spoken. Yet, seeing her determined appearance, she couldn¡¯t help but relent. ¡°Okay.¡±


    Holy Goddess, I beseech you to offer your forgiveness to my mother, for she has spoken against you and imed your identity. I fear that age is starting to take its toll on her mind. I implore you to showpassion, as my mother has no ill intent. Leowynn closed her eyes and prayed as sincerely as she could to Ryone, not noticing the incredulous expression on her mother just a few feet away.


    Hey, I¡¯m not that old! Just who do you think is going crazy! A surprised shout resounded in Leowynn¡¯s mind a momentter, nearly causing her to fall to the ground. The voice was unmistakably her mother¡¯s, yet she could also feel it as the voice of the Goddess.


    ¡°That¡­ that¡¯s not funny.¡± Leowynn muttered in disbelief as she regained her bnce, looking to her mother. Had she done something to interfere with her daughter¡¯s thoughts?


    ¡°Did not!¡± Rinon shouted out defensively. ¡°This is why I wanted to move so far away from town. I knew you¡¯d never believe me that easily.¡± She grumbled slightly.


    Leowynn was just about to protest, when her mother¡¯s eyes became dull, her body rxing as if she had suddenly fallen into a sleep. She was just about to rush forward in a panic to help her steady herself when she found her body unable to move, a strange might pressing down on her from all sides. Gradually, a golden light descended from above, another woman appearing within the light next to Rinon.


    ¡°G¡­goddess¡­¡± Leowynn said in shock. How could she not recognize the woman whose statue was erected just outside of town? Even without that, anyone would recognize her at a nce, just because of who she was! ¡°Please¡­ forgive her. She¡­ she didn¡¯t mean anything by it.¡±


    Leowynn¡¯s mind was racing, fearing that Ryone had descended due to her prayer and Rinon¡¯s previous outburst. She didn¡¯t want the Goddess to take away her mother, and could only plead for lenience. However, the Goddess suddenly had a petnt expression as she looked at Leowynn. ¡°How many times do I have to say I¡¯m not crazy!?¡±


    ¡°What¡­?¡± Leowynn¡¯s eyes opened wide in shock as she heard those words, slowly moving her eyes back towards Rinon, and then to the Goddess again. She could understand the prayer being faked, with her mother¡¯s mastery over magic, but to fake the presence of Ryone herself should be well beyond anything she was capable of. ¡°But¡­ how?¡±


    Ryone sighed gently, the pressure on Leowynn¡¯s body lessening greatly. ¡°I really didn¡¯t want to tell you this way, my daughter. I had hoped you could live a fairly normal life.¡± As she spoke, she seemed to superimpose herself over Rinon, who gradually seemed to wake up again. ¡°However, your father seemed insistent that I tell you about us.¡±


    Leowynn was still struggling to understand what was going on, yet the mention of her father caused a change in her. She seemed to almost be more obedient at the mention of him, wanting to know more. ¡°Okay. Please, exin.¡± She said softly, moving to sit next to her mother. ¡°Why now?¡±


    Rinon chuckled lightly. ¡°First, let me tell you something. After that, he wanted me to deliver a question to you. There are things you don¡¯t know, things that nobody knows yet.¡± Seeing her daughter nod gently, Rinon began speaking again. ¡°You have seen the winged spirits, my ¡®angels¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± Leowynn answered. It had taken a few years after she began practicing the ability to see spirits, but she had eventually seen those winged spirits descending and leading others to Ryone¡¯s embrace. They were an iconic figure within the church, but due to nobody having conversed with them, little was known about what they were.


    ¡°Well¡­ those aren¡¯t really my angels at all.¡± Rinon shrugged as she spoke. ¡°They work for someone else, to lead the departed into a pleasant afterlife. Normally, you¡¯d find out about that when it¡¯s your turn, but your father wanted me to tell you early.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± She couldn¡¯t help but ask again. Even though she knew her mother was the Goddess now, she didn¡¯t feel at all like she did around her father. She had known her mother from birth, so she did not feel nervous talking to her like this. If anything, she was more upset that she didn¡¯t hear about this sooner.


    ¡°Because I won¡¯t be going there.¡± Rinon shook her head, reaching out one lightly glowing arm to pull her daughter close. ¡°This body, Rinon, is an incarnation of my power. When she dies, her spirit will simply return to me. I won¡¯t be able to wait for you beyond, and can only watch over you from above.¡±


    Her words struck Leowynn¡¯s heart, making her feel a twinge of panic. She recalled how years ago she had spoken to her father about her mother¡¯s inevitable death, and knew that these two conversations had to be linked. ¡°Then¡­ he won¡¯t be there either?¡±


    Rinon shook her head again. ¡°No, he watches the world from a much higher ce. That¡¯s why, he asked me to deliver a question to you. He wants you to think about it, and give him the answer yourself when the timees.¡±


    After saying that, Rinon turned her head to look fully at her daughter. ¡°His question was¡­ ¡®Will you be my Seppo? Will you give up your future possibilities, to stay by my side and the side of your mother? When the timees, I will appear before you again, and ask this question. Leowynn¡­ please think carefully¡¯.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not entirely sure what he means by ¡®Seppo¡¯, but I can guess from the rest.¡± Rinon continued after delivering the message. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you whatever you want to know to help you make your decision, but you have to promise not to let the information spread. People just aren¡¯t ready to know about everything yet.¡±


    Leowynn¡¯s mind shook as she heard the question, enough that she barely registered what her mother said next. She dumbly nodded her head, still trying to process the information. Naturally, she wanted nothing more than to be able to stay with her mother and father, but¡­ given the words he used, she would truly have to learn everything she could to make the proper decision.

 Chapter 109: The Once and Future King

    <h4>Chapter 109: The Once and Future King</h4>


    I let out a long sigh as I watched Leowynn and Ryone gradually walking back towards the town. I had the feeling I¡¯d know what her answer was going to be, but there was no way I¡¯d push her to answer early. No, she¡¯d live a full life first, that way she¡¯d have plenty of time to have her own experiences and the chance to make new connections.


    Though, there was one thing I needed to test out first. Closing my eyes, I sent my thoughts towards the sleeping lion soul within me. I could still distinctly feel its presence even in the Admin Room, which was why I considered making her this offer in an attempt to let her spend more time with Ryone and myself. However, it was still important to know if we could bring her out of my body.


    Focusing, I urged the lion spirit to leave my body, summoning it out into the room around me. A fierce roar echoed in the room, a bright light forming in front of my chest as the spirit seemed to jump directly out of it. Strangely, it did not look at all incorporeal as it would in the mortal world. Instead, it looked just as lifelike as it did the day I fought it¡­ Okay, it died that day, so let¡¯s say the day before I fought it.


    Terra¡­ I mentally called for her, deciding this is as good of a time as any to practice my mentalmunication skills. Thankfully, I received a response shortly, so I at least did not ¡®dial¡¯ the wrong goddess this time. I thought that the only beings allowed in the Admin Room were the Keeper and any purchasedpanions?


    This was something that she had told me long ago, hence why I was performing this test in the first ce. However, soon the answer to my question came to me. That¡¯s right. Guessing you brought out your spirit beast if you are asking, so let me exin. A spirit bound to you is still considered a part of you. The connection is far stronger than something like a hunter¡¯s pet, or a tamer¡¯s monster. If you die, it dies, and it can only manifest with your power.


    And the reason it doesn¡¯t look like a ghost anymore? I had a feeling I knew the answer to this one, but I wanted to ask just in case.


    That part¡¯s easy. Remember, up here the energy at our disposal is limitless. The quality of the body your spirit possesses is based on the amount and density of the spiritual energy used to form it. Therefore, when you summon it up here, it appears in a perfect body.


    Hearing that¡­ I honestly couldn¡¯t hold back another question. Okay¡­ but wouldn¡¯t that mean I could just cheat and have it drink in the spiritual energy, so that it is stronger when I descendter?


    I could faintly hear augh over the connection. No, a bound spirit can¡¯t consume the energies of the Administration Room. If you tried to force it to, the spirit would likely be destroyed by the overwhelming energy.


    Okay, so note to self, don¡¯t do that. Alright, thanks. Anything in particr that I should pay attention to, now that I¡¯m talking with you? Figured it¡¯d be good to see if there was anything interesting going on that would be good for me to look at.


    Hmm¡­ A few people are making some advances. Aha, here¡¯s a nice spot for you. I¡¯m putting it on your monitor now.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Charn Presli stood at the helm of one of the many ships that sailed the wide blue ocean. His journey was a long one, having already been over a week since they sawnd. With him were a dozen ships, each carrying a dozen human men and women. He treated these people as if they were his family, and many of them were indeed.


    They had not been cast out from the kingdoms, but rather chose to leave, to start their own life beyond the sea. They did not agree with many of the views of those self-righteous kingdoms, those who thought themselves as gods. There was but one lord in his heart, and she did not sit upon a mortal throne.


    As such, he and his kin, and those who wished to join him had left, unsure of what they may find beyond the horizon. They brought with them enough food for a few more days, but after that they would have to rely on catching the fish that swam beneath their sails. It was not an impossible task, but Charn had already seen the fearsome might of the ocean beasts.


    Originally, there had not been twelve, but fifteen ships as part of this voyage. Yet, three days after their departure, a great shadow appeared from beneath the water. A snake as long as a city, with a mouth that could swallow a castle¡¯s gates appeared from the water. The beast was repulsive to behold, with scale and flesh dropping off its length as quickly as the waters that surrounded it.


    The creature had no intelligence within its gaze, and immediately rushed towards them, swallowing three ships in three strides. Through the holes in its flesh, we could see the broken wood and iling bodies falling down its throat. Yet after it swallowed those ships, it seemed cated, and once more sank beneath the waves.


    It was not that they had no power to fight it. The n of Presli was a n of mighty warriors, yet this was a creature which moved too fast, and with too much force for them to face. After it left, they could only pray to Bihena, as well as the spirits of the seas and skies to watch over them for the rest of the journey.


    ¡°Father, I seend!¡± The youngest child aboard Charn¡¯s ship called out from the front. His eyes had been ever-focused forward. Despite his young age, none dared question his sight. He had begun training as a monk, and had long since learned how to enhance his sight far beyond normal means.


    ¡°Good, Elphis!¡± Charn said with augh. If his son could seend, then it was at most another two days away. If they could make it for two more days, then they could reach this newnd. He let his voice build up in his throat, shouting out for his words to be carried to the nearby ships. ¡°We havend, men! The spirits have heard our call, and the Goddess has blessed our travel!¡±


    After his voice echoed out, he could hear his words being repeated again, the message being spread beyond to all of the ships. Cheers could be heard from the weary men and women who longed to reach shore. These sailors moved with renewed vigor, knowing that their new home was just beyond the horizon.


    With fair winds and clear weather, Charn and his fleet arrived at an empty shore. This was no small ind, and from the moment they saw it they could not find its ends upon the horizon. From a single nce, it was clear that the ce had never been touched by the hands of men. This was made even more obvious the moment their ships pulled in near the beach.


    Each one dropped arge stone tied to a rope, anchoring them in position. While it wouldn¡¯t protect them from the beasts beneath the waves, this would at least prevent them from drifting back to sea. From there, every man, woman and child dove into the water, quickly finding themselves able to stand and run to shore. Before the eyes of every traveler, the spirits sent their message.


    You are among the first group in history to sessfully travel to a newnd by way of sea. This is a grand achievement, earning all present the title of ¡®Beyond the Seas¡¯. While at sea, beast and monsters weaker than you will flee your presence, while those too weak to perceive it will be drawn to you.


    Charn couldn¡¯t help butugh uproariously at the blessing that the spirits gave. Though some may see thest sentence as troublesome, those who traveled the waters knew the importance of keeping fish nearby. This deterrent would likely be ineffective against the great beast that had consumed their kinsmen, but against the moremon threats it would suffice.


    ¡°Come, men!¡± He shouted with a wild smile on his aged face. ¡°Let us build our new home.¡±


    It was at this point that the young boy who had originally spotted the ind came up to him. He was eager to hunt for food and help with the construction, but first there was a question that must be asked. ¡°Father, shouldn¡¯t we name this ce? The spirits have told us that we were here first, after all!¡±


    Though his child was young, his insights often stretched far beyond his years. Charn nodded his head in agreement with anotherugh. ¡°Alright boy. Since you were first to see the ind, you shall be the one to name it. Do not shame us after we havee all this way. I¡¯m sure we¡¯d hate to have to find a newnd already.¡± A few of the nearby kinughed at his words.


    The child took the task seriously, sinking into thought as he came up with the name. ¡°Then¡­ we shall call it Rokindrol!¡± He nodded his head, earning an approving smile from his father.


    ¡°A fine name! Now, go along. There is still work to be done!¡± He shouted, causing his youngest son to immediately begin running into the nearby forest, where many had already disappeared to begin work.


    _______________________________________________________________


    I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle dryly as I watched this scene. Terra was certainly right, the first people to settle on an ind was worthy of a bit of attention. While it might seem small, that was only inparison to the gigantic proportions of the continents. There would still be enoughnd for them to explore and cultivate for many generations toe.


    But first¡­ Irena, can we talk for a moment?


    Of course, Dale. What¡¯s the matter? Her response came almost as soon as I had finished asking my question.


    I saw a monster just now in the world below, in the seas. It looked to be an undead creature. I thought your people were taking care to make sure that couldn¡¯t happen? Naturally, I had to ask that. The presence of undead horrors within the sea was likely more important than even the first settlers to a newnd.


    Dale¡­ Her reluctant tone came through the connection. My people cannot easily traverse the depths of the oceans, even if they had the numbers to do so. It is unfortunate, but until we find a race more suitable for that, there is nothing that I can do to stop the appearance of undead within the sea. Even me acting personally, I would not be able to harvest all of those souls more than once a year, and that is only assuming that they did not resist.


    It¡¯s alright, I¡¯m not ming you. I just wanted to clearly understand what¡¯s going on. I could see how it would be difficult. If a spirit had to focus on maintaining their form with water constantly pushing through it, they¡¯d hardly be able to use the same kind of battle tactics that they could on the surface. Not to mention that there are likely far more creatures beneath the seas than onnd.


    If I gave someone a domain that controlled the ocean and its wildlife, would that make it easier to take care of those creatures? I asked. While there were no free domains waiting to be assigned, I could still purchase one for someone.


    Hmm¡­ perhaps. If I work together with them, then we should be able to take care of most of the spirits with our joint power.


    Hearing that, I nodded my head, before reaching out to contact Bihena. Free for a moment? I was getting a lot of practice with this mentalmunication today, though I¡¯d have to ask the goddesses for feedbackter to make sure I wasn¡¯t ¡®broadcasting¡¯ too loud or anything.


    As long as you meant to call me and not someone else, sure. Bihena¡¯s voice came back to me through the connection. What¡¯s up?


    I want to give you a new domain. Your people were the first to cross the water and reach a newnd, so I was thinking about giving you the Oceans domain. Of course, there are other reasons too¡­


    At first, I could feel excitementing through the link, but it was soon extinguished by a small grumbling tone. You want to push more work off onto me?


    Irena¡¯s forces can¡¯t clean up the spirits in the water. She says that if she works with someone that has the appropriate domain, then the two of you should be able to take care of it.


    Then why don¡¯t you just give her the Oceans domain? A somewhat frustrated tone responded to me, making me chuckle dryly.


    Well, I thought about it, but really wouldn¡¯t it make little sense for the goddess of the Underworld and Justice--who no living being knows about-- to receive this domain? It¡¯d be more fitting for one of the living gods, with you being first on the list. I did my best to exin, feeling her reluctance gradually lessening as I did.


    Alright¡­ Fine. I¡¯ll take the Oceans domain. At least it will give me something to worry about that isn¡¯t politics. I swear, if you hade to me with another government-rted domain, I probably would have driven my head through a wall.


    I felt a small grin forming on my face. So you don¡¯t want to be the Goddess of Nobility, then? I teased lightly, hearing an almost furious scream from the connection at the mere thought of getting that title. With augh, I let go of the connection, and brought up the market to buy the domain. Thankfully, the first non-free domain for a given god or goddess was only twenty points, so it wasn¡¯t much to worry about.


    With that small distraction out of the way, I once again began fast forwarding, curious how my daughter would react to all of the information that was given to her. My daughter¡­ The thought still felt a bit strange, given that she was almost ten times as old as I was now, but it also made me feel¡­ good. In this world, I could say that she was the only person that was actually family, after all.

 Chapter 110: A Mother’s Love

    <h4>Chapter 110: A Mother¡¯s Love</h4>


    Leowynn¡¯s decision was¡­ not an easy one. In fact, she wasn¡¯t really sure what she wanted when her mother asked her that question. Yes, of course she wanted to spend the rest of her time with her mother and father, but she couldn¡¯t say that was all she wanted. Not without knowing more.


    For the next few weeks after they got home, she began asking her mother any questions she could think of, asking both about the underworld and the world in which her father lived. Because her mother had been told to answer any of her questions, Leowynn learned things which she knew nobody else in the world would know. She learned that the gods were people like them, just with vastly superior powers and lifespans.


    The wisdom of the gods was not some all-knowing power that permeated the world, but a wisdom built on age. And she even learned that there were far more races present in the world than just the elves. Fantastical races that she had never imagined, beings that seemed almost impossible for her to consider.


    This questioningsted for roughly a month, before she finally stopped asking anymore. One reason was because she could not think of anything else she wanted to ask, and the other was because her mother seemed to have fallen ill. Her lively and energetic mother was bedridden, her face far paler than normal.


    The strangest thing about this disease was that the bar of life did not appear above her head as it normally did when someone fell ill. This was, however, a relief to Leowynn instead of cause for concern. If the bar of life failed to appear, it meant her life was not truly in danger.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, mother?¡± She asked, sitting beside her mother¡¯s bed and gently stroking her cheek with a wet rag. ¡°With your abilities, surely you can heal yourself?¡± Now that she knew her mother was a goddess, it was hard to associate her with the same mortal faults that others suffered.


    Rinon, however, simply smiled. ¡°My power does not cover healing. And¡­ I am not sure what exactly is wrong with me, either.¡± Her voice was weak as she spoke, almost tired.


    ¡°Can you ask that other Goddess? The one you said knows more than she speaks?¡± Leowynn asked, her tone starting to grow worried. If even a goddess did not know what was wrong, then she could not entirely trust the bar of life.


    Rinon nodded her head, closing her eyes. Leowynn assumed that she was focusing on her divine self, to ask the other goddess why she was feeling this way. From what she had learned, all of the gods had friendly rtions with each other, so there was no reason that they wouldn¡¯t help.


    ¡°Ah¡­¡± Her voice weakly spoke out after a few minutes. ¡°Well¡­ this is embarrassing.¡±


    ¡°Mother?¡± Leowynn asked as she looked to Rinon.


    ¡°This is no illness.¡± Rinon slowly shook her head. ¡°It seems I was mistaken when I showed myself before. A mortal body cannot hold my full power.¡± A dry chuckle escaped her lips. Seeing her daughter starting to show a panicked expression, she smiled warmly. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, this won¡¯t kill me. The energies within my body were thrown into disarray. Once I focus on fixing them for a while, I¡¯ll be fine.¡± After saying that, a mischievous glint appeared in her eyes. ¡°Though, that does mean you¡¯ll have to cook for me. I might end up ill after all.¡±


    ¡°Mother!¡± Leowynn shouted, feeling her ears turning red. It was true that she didn¡¯t know how to cook, but that wasn¡¯t her fault. In order to help with the issues of her body, her mother had never allowed her to learn the Chef ss. However, now, she was at the pinnacle of power, or what her mother called the level limit. Even if she began cooking, she wouldn¡¯t earn the ss.


    ¡°I was teasing you, dear. I know you won¡¯t poison me.¡± Though she said that, her mother still smiled yfully. If anything, she had be even more yful with Leowynn after revealing her true self, no longer feeling like she had to pretend to be some poor, aging mother.


    ¡°Well, you stay here, and I¡¯ll get you some soup.¡± Leowynn said with a small sigh, moving down and preparing a breakfast for her mother.


    After that incident, Rinon truly did recover to her normal condition after a few days. Yet, Leowynn still didn¡¯te up with any more questions to ask. Naturally, she asked if there was anything else that she needed to know, but her mother didn¡¯t seem able toe up with anything either. Instead, she nned to wait for the next chance that she could speak with her father instead.


    _______________________________________________________________


    From the Admin Room, I watched as Leowynn went about her life, asionally checking to see if there were other interesting developments happening throughout the world. I had to appreciate the irony when Elphis Presli, king of Rokindrol, assumed the throne. Aside from that, I saw that the ninjas had finally begun spreading out beyond their first city, creating more ninja viges within the forest.


    I still had my conversations with Leowynn, though their subjects had changed somewhat. Instead of only telling me about how her year had been, she began asking me about my own life, and the world I used to live in. At first, I was surprised she even knew about that, but it seemed she really had been asking Rinon anything she could think of.


    After the first ten years, she probably knew more about the afterlife than I did myself, so she stopped asking questions about that. Instead, she focused more on getting to know me as a person. She had stopped seeing me just as some almighty entity, which was honestly a relief. Of course, I would still always end our conversations with a story, but now she knew where these stories came from.


    _______________________________________________________________


    As the years passed, gradually Rinon once again found herself weakening. This time, however, it was not due to her divine powers interfering with her body, but rather age itself. As she approached the end of her lifespan, her daughter was constantly with her, taking care of her in any way she could.


    To the surprise of both mother and daughter, there was even a messenger sent from the capital of Gandor. Word had spread that the Mad Enchanter was dying, so a scroll of parchment arrived from the queen herself. By the time it arrived, Rinon was having problems reading properly, so she had asked her daughter to read it to her.


    ¡°Rinon, my dear friend. I have heard of the hardships you face in these final hours, and offer my sincere apologies. I had not been aware of the schemes of the church regarding your daughter, but they have now been brought to my attention. I have not forgotten the services you have done for us, or the debts that have long been owed.¡± Leowynn read the scroll, feeling her eyes water as she saw the contents. Even knowing that her mother was not truly dying, this was still an extremely sad event for her.


    ¡°You have gone beyond your duty to help my people, as you did for my mother before me. For this, I offer you one final reward. May you meet the Goddess happily, knowing your daughter is safe. I will wee her into my court, and offer her a position at my side. I shall always strive to do my best to protect her from those who seek to misuse her gifts. And though I cannot say that she will be able to change the way people see her, know that to me, she will always be the daughter of a dear friend.¡±


    When Leowynn had finished reading the scroll, she rolled it back up and ced it beside her. Rinon had a peaceful smile on her face as she heard the contents. ¡°Finally, somewhere else you can be happy when I¡¯m gone. Maybe you¡¯ll even be able to make new friends.¡± Her voice was truly weak now, weaker than it had ever been.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, mother.¡± Leowynn spoke gently to her, clutching her hand as she sat next to her bed. ¡°I¡¯ll take care of myself. Just wait for me, and I¡¯ll see you again someday.¡± Unlike most when their loved ones were passing, Leowynn did not treat this as a true goodbye. To her, who knew the truth, she knew that she would have another chance to see her again, it would just take time.


    Rinon nodded her head slowly. ¡°Then¡­ until we meet again¡­ my daughter.¡± She spoke, her eyes slowly closing. However, even as thest vestige of strength in her hand faded away, Leowynn heard her mother¡¯s voice within her head once more. Let me do onest thing, to show those ignorant people not to mess with my daughter. Unlike the voice of her dying mother, this one was filled with life and determination.


    Suddenly, a golden light descended from above, covering the entire city of Cau Buhnga. Those who saw this light immediately stopped what they were doing, and stared into the sky. This had only ever happened once before, when the city was threatened with destruction. Now, once again, the illusory figure of the goddess descended. This time, it was above a building in the middle of town, where the Mad Enchanter had lived.


    Nobody would ever be able to forget this day, when the goddess herself personally guided the soul of a mortal into her arms. From the gentle smile that could be easily seen on her face, they knew that the soul she came to collect was one that she cared for deeply. Though many had seen her angelse to collect the souls of the fallen, the goddess herself had never made such an appearance.


    There were those who lined up around the house to pray, treating it more like a temple than the actual temple within the city. Even the local priests could not help themselves but bow in worship when they saw this. Yet, through all of this, only one person had a different reaction.


    Within the house, Leowynn had a happy smile on her face, her tears falling freely. ¡°Stupid mom¡­ why¡¯d you have to go and do that?¡± She asked, a smallughed escaping her throat as she wiped away her tears.


    Aww, you didn¡¯t like it? Ryone¡¯s voice appeared in her mind again, causing her smile to widen slightly.


    ¡°I loved it¡­ Thanks.¡± Though, she did know that she would have to leave the city now, and take up that offer to live with the queen.


    The next day, Leowynn set out in the middle of the night, carrying only what she needed to make it to the capital. Although monsters sought to obstruct her travel, there were none capable of stopping her. Even among those at the pinnacle, she could be considered one of the strongest. After all, she had not only her levels, but the blessing which doubled her strength.


    The journey to the capital was the longest she had ever been outside of the city, as well as the farthest she had ever gone from home. Yet, she did not feel like she was alone. Every night, she spoke with her mother, just as she did with her father on her birthdays.


    When she arrived at the capital of Gandor, Cau Callua, she found the queen already waiting for her outside the city gates. On either side of her stood a guard in full leather armor, the queen herself wearing an elegant dress. ¡°She said you wereing.¡± The queen spoke with a smile as she greeted Leowynn.


    Really, mother¡­ You just don¡¯t know when to quit, huh? Leowynn thought internally, though couldn¡¯t bring herself to be upset over this. ¡°Thank you for meeting me, my queen.¡± She said as she approached. She wasn¡¯t sure what was going to happen from now on, but it she knew that one chapter of her life wasing to a close, and another one soon to begin. Yet for her, she felt like she already knew the ending to her own story.

 Chapter 111: A Daughter’s Courage

    <h4>Chapter 111: A Daughter¡¯s Courage</h4>


    After joining the queen¡¯s court, Leowynn was offered a variety of jobs to choose from. No matter what her position was, the public couldn¡¯t so easily ept her living in the queen¡¯s castle unless she actually did something. But, that was just fine with her. Ever since she left Cau Buhnga, she knew exactly what she wanted to do.


    Leowynn became the queen¡¯s personal bodyguard. To test her qualifications, she was allowed to spar against the queen¡¯s current knights and guards. No matter who she fought, however, her strength proved enough to overpower any mortal enemy. It was to such a degree that she was granted a new title. From then on, Leowynn was known as the ¡®Goddess¡¯s Knight¡¯.


    Unfortunately, that title was rather empty without being able to receive the knight ss, but nobody seemed to mind that fact much. After all, she was already as strong as she could be. Nobody dared to question that fact.


    As the queen¡¯s strongest knight, Leowynn openly volunteered for even the most dangerous of missions. Whether it was protecting the queen herself on an outing, or going to defeat a powerful monster roaming thends. She always gave off an air of invincibility to those that knew about her.


    Granted, there were times when the church attempted to seize her for their own, now that her mother was no longer around. Those that did, however, learned that she was an even more monstrous existence than her mother. Without fail, the queen had them put to death after Leowynn dragged them before her.


    Only Leowynn herself knew why she was doing this. It wasn¡¯t for anything as special as proving herself to be the best of the best. No, part of her was looking forward to her failure. She was still living her life to the fullest, not wanting to leave any regrets behind, but she knew what she really wanted.


    As for her social life¡­ it¡¯s not that she didn¡¯t try to have one. Whenever the situation arose, she would try to make friends. At one point, she even tried to find a suitor. However, those people she attempted to befriend all saw her as ¡®The Daughter of Ryone¡¯, or the ¡®Knight of the Goddess¡¯, not as Leowynn.


    Still, it was not as if she was unable to enjoy her life. With her role as the queen¡¯s guard, she was able to travel and see ces that she had never seen before. She was able to fight exciting battles, and feel the thrills that had always been denied her.


    Naturally, her father had asked her to stop such a dangerous life. He wanted her to live a long, fulfilling life, where she could enjoy any pleasures she wanted. However, that is not the kind of life she wanted. She did not want to live a modest life. No, she was Ryone and Dale¡¯s little star. She would burn bright, let her glory shine upon the elves for generations.


    With all of her achievements, there was one that truly set her apart from the rest. A monster that was destroying nearby cities. This was a winged lizard that spouted fire from its mouth. From her mother, Leowynn knew it was a lesser dragon, one of the strongest monsters in existence. In terms of level, it was two hundred and fifty, a full hundred higher than anyone else.


    Along with many other knights, Leowynn had been chosen to bring the beast down. However, now she stood to face it alone. Her abilities had allowed her tost longer than herrades under the breath of the dragon.


    This is it. Leowynn thought to herself. This is where I will shine. Her bow had long since turned to ash, her sword a pile of molten g. Her body was charred ck with burns, the only thing keeping her moving being the protection of her ki.


    In truth, it would not be hard for Leowynn to kill this dragon on her own. Though its scales were strong, they were not stronger than her fists enhanced by ki. The problem was that the dragon never stopped flying!


    Rather thannding to confront her, it attacked in swooping motions, spraying down blue fire from its mouth. And as Leowynn watched, it was getting ready to do just that again. She saw it soaring high into the sky, before moving into a downward dive.


    ¡°I am Leowynn Mardin, daughter of two gods. My father gave birth to this world, and my mother filled it with her magic and her love.¡± She whispered to herself, urging her ki to spread through her body. Her silver hair had been scorched off her head, her mother¡¯s dress ashes at her feet.


    ¡°Today, I will be a burning star for them.¡± Her body seemed to almost glow as she spoke, looking up at the dragon that had opened its mouth. Her mouth curved up into a smile, no longer able to feel the pain of her burns.


    Leowynn crouched down briefly, beforeunching herself with her full strength into the air. The ground beneath her feet exploded, sending her flying upwards like an arrow shot from a bow. Her fists seemed to ignite as she clenched them. A dragon¡¯s roar could be heard, not from the beast above, but from the girl flying into it from below.


    She wasn¡¯t even aware of what she was doing, but in that moment the image of a dragon superimposed itself over her fist. When she threw her fist forward to meet the mes of the dragon¡¯s breath, the golden image surrounding her fist opened its maw, swallowing whole the mes that sought to burn her.


    The dragon¡¯s mes seemed to hold no power over the ki dragon that she had formed. And with its diving momentum, the lesser dragon was unable to stop itself from colliding with the projection itself, followed soon after by Leowynn¡¯s fist. A pained cry filled the sky as Leowynn¡¯s arm shattered under the force of her own punch.


    Yet, the cry did note from her, as blood gushed out of the dragon¡¯s head. Leowynn turned her body in midair by borrowing the force of the collision, bringing her leg high above her. That same golden light shined bright on her leg as she brought it down like an axe, severing scale, flesh, and bone. Using the power she did not understand, she had managed to split the dragon¡¯s head in two.


    However, there was a cost for such power, as her body had be iparably weak. All of her ki had been used in the jump, as well as that first punch. As she fell towards the ground, even she did not know where she had drawn the energy for thatst attack, or even what it was. All she knew was that she had done it. She had be a burning star in elven history. The woman who yed the dragon.


    She watched the bar of her life slowly trickling down to nothing, emptying before she had even hit the ground. Will you be waiting for me, father? She asked herself as she closed her eyes, a gentle smile on her face. Will you be proud of me?


    _______________________________________________________________


    I was¡­ dumbfounded, to say the least, as I watched Leowynn battling the dragon. The knights with her were all fairly normal, only in the lower hundreds for levels. After the first few rounds of dragon¡¯s breath, they had all died, with only Leowynn remaining. I had already prepared the screen to descend again to meet her, when suddenly another notification appeared.


    Leowynn Mardin has requested ess to divine power. Do you wish to embody her with the powers of a temr?


    You can do it, Leowynn. I thought to myself with a smile as I epted. Seeing her body begin to glow, I could feel the divine power coursing through her. I¡¯m not sure how she had created the dragon ki fist that she struck out with, but the kick she used afterwards had been filled with divine energy. At that moment, she had truly be an agent of the gods.


    With the battle over, and both parties falling to the ground, I hit the button to descend.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Leowynn opened her eyes, feeling the world around her changing. Looking down to herself, she saw her body returned to its normal condition. Her silver hair had returned, and even the dress that she had always worn was once again on her. If there was anything different¡­ it was that she was slightly transparent, and floating above the ground.


    ¡°So this is what it¡¯s like to be dead.¡± She said to herself as she nced at the charred husk thatid a few feet away from her, as well as the muchrger body of the dragon that had fallen nearby. A satisfied grin floated on her face until she saw a ghostly form arising from it as well. ¡°Oh¡­ I didn¡¯t think about this part.¡±


    She braced herself for another battle, ready to fight again, until a sharp shout caused the dragon¡¯s body to shake. ¡°Get out of here!¡± The voicemanded, and even Leowynn could feel her spirit shaking. As for the dragon, it nced at the source of the noise in terror, before turning and flying away as fast as it could.


    When Leowynn saw the figure that had chased away the dragon, she let out a gentle sigh. ¡°I knew you¡¯d be here.¡± She said as she looked at her father.


    ¡°I am. And I am proud of you.¡± She could feel her ears redden as he said that. ¡°Yes, I heard you. Now, I think you¡¯ve been waiting for this¡­ Leowynn, do-¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± She didn¡¯t even let him finish as she ran up to her father, wrapping her arms around his slender frame and pulling him into the first hug she had ever been able to share with him. Or at least, she tried to, before falling through him. Realizing that he was not in the form of a spirit, her ears reddened again.


    Still, she gave her answer with all the determination she had been saving up for over a century. ¡°Yes, please let me stay with you and mother. I want to meet all of the gods and goddesses, and watch the world grow with you. I want to see how you live, and see all those other races mother told me about.¡±


    He seemed dazed by the sudden interruption and admission, but soon a small smile formed on his face. ¡°Alright, then I need you to not resist this.¡± He told her as he reached a hand out to her, gently stroking her cheek. Strangely, she could actually feel this. She could feel his power seeping into her, and hers being drawn into him. ¡°Leowynn Mardin, my daughter. Do you wish to join me? This will only work properly if you give your consent now, and this is thest chance to turn back.¡±


    ¡°I do.¡± She nodded her head immediately. When the words left her lips, she found herself being drawn into him. Her spirit merged with his, and she found herself living in and of gray fog. At first, she thought that he had sent her to the afterlife instead of taking her with him like he had said. But then, she felt the bond with him, that which had always been there, but stronger than ever before.


    When she closed her eyes, she could see out into the burningndscape that she had just been standing in. It did not take her long to figure out that she was looking through his eyes. ¡°Father, can you hear me?¡±


    ¡°I can.¡± She heard the voice from all around her. ¡°Do you want to go ahead and meet Ryone first?¡±


    No sooner had the question asked than she nodded her head emphatically. ¡°Please¡­ let me see her again.¡±


    She could see a blue light shining in front of her father before the scenery changed. Soon, she saw a wooden room, a wide bed decorated in a manner she had never seen with wide red silks. But more importantly, she saw her mother, Ryone, sitting on the bed.


    She didn¡¯t even get the chance to ask before she felt a strange force pulling her from the gray world. Leowynn found herself standing between her father and mother. Her body was no longer transparent, but looked as if she was full of life. Without waiting for an exnation, she jumped forward, tackling her mother to the bed and wrapping her arms around her. ¡°I¡¯m home¡­¡± She said with a happy voice.


    ¡°Wee home, Leowynn.¡± She heard her mother say, her arms wrapping around Leowynn as well. ¡°I¡¯m so d you chose toe back with him.¡±

 Chapter 112: Meeting the Family

    <h4>Chapter 112: Meeting the Family</h4>


    I couldn¡¯t help but smile as I watched Leowynn sitting on the bed next to Ryone. ¡°So, how is it? Ufortable at all?¡± She had just received her spirit body, so I wanted to make sure that there weren¡¯t any problems with it. Of course, it wasn¡¯t like I knew what to do if she did have a problem, but still¡­


    She nced over to me with a gentle smile as she thought about it, before shaking her head. ¡°No, everything feels fine. It¡¯s almost hard to believe that I died just now¡­¡± She nced down to the floor, as if doing so would let her see her burnt body in the world below. She let out a deep breath, looking up to me as one hand gently held her mother¡¯s. ¡°So, what do we do now? Is there some kind of ritual or something I should know about? Mom said that doing this wouldn¡¯t make me a goddess, but still¡­¡±


    I shook my head at her question. ¡°No, nothing like that. If you¡¯d like, you can go with Ryone to meet the rest of the people up here. I¡¯m sure that they¡¯d all be happy to meet you.¡± Her face seemed to light up at those words, the idea of making friends who wouldn¡¯t care at all about her status.


    She nodded quickly after I made that offer, looking hopefully at Ryone. ¡°Please, mom?¡± She pleaded, her silver eyes practically sparkling. Ryone simplyughed, standing up and pulling Leowynn along with her.


    ¡°Alright, alright. What will you be doing in the meanwhile, Dale?¡± Ryone asked curiously before Leowynn had the chance to drag her out of the room.


    ¡°I want to check on a few things in the world, see if there are any major improvements to note.¡± I answered, moving to sit back down at theputer desk.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be back soon, father!¡± I heard Leowynn calling to me as her and Ryone left the room, leaving me alone in it. I had a feeling that it would be a few hours, at least, before they came back. Plenty of time for me to look through the different areas to see if there was anything special.


    First¡­ let¡¯s check on the heroc. It¡¯s been a while since I paid special attention to them.


    _______________________________________________________________


    A loud crash echoed through the dense jungle as a massive beast fell from a tree. On its head, a small hole could be seen, through which blood continuously leaked. The ground seemed to briefly shake as a green skinned figure approached. On its slightly elongated head were three nted eyes, the middle one wide open with a yellow glow on its pupil.


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± The heroc male nodded as he looked over his prey, feeling the energy within his body. ¡°Good. Still need work.¡± His speech was rough, unrefined. The heroc had only just developed a propernguage, so it had yet to fully take hold for the older ones like him.


    Looking down at his hand, the glow within his eye faded gradually. He could feel various energies coursing through him. The heroc was a warrior race, so it was only natural that their bodies were filled to the brim with ki. But even so, many practiced mana as well.


    As for this man, he was different than most. His body had another energy that most were still unable to grasp. This was the energy offered to him by the gods for his devotion. A power which stood above all others.


    The Temr has grown stronger. An ancient voice rang in his ears, causing him to nod his head in satisfaction. This voice spoke to all of his people, but only when they earned it.


    As he was contemting this, a loud screech filled the air, gathering his attention. With a grunt, the heroc turned his head to find a giant ape hanging from a tree above him. He had just killed the ape¡¯s mate, so it was only reasonable that it would appear to get revenge.


    ¡°Stupid monkey.¡± The heroc spoke, and its middle eye again opened wide, beginning to glow with a golden light. ¡°In Sharak¡¯s name, die.¡± As he spoke, the golden glow shot out from his eye like a spear, stabbing into the ape¡¯s head before it was able to respond. Like its mate, it fell lifelessly to the ground.


    The heroc looked at the two fallen monsters before it, before casually grabbing a leg from each, turning and dragging them back to his encampment. He had never had a family of his own, and such there had never been anyone to name him. The first name he took was given to him by the mighty Sharak, the god who dwelled within the woods. It was a name whispered to none but himself.


    Temr returned to the tribe with the results of his hunt.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s interesting¡­¡± I muttered slightly as I watched the heroc. Sharak was obviously not a real god, but at the same time it wasn¡¯t an actual heroc either. From what I could tell after briefly ncing into the minds of a few herocs, it was something that they came up with. A personal deity that ruled the forest.


    The fact that this heroc was able to unlock divine power by worshipping it was surprising. I mean, I always expected them to get clerics and temrs more easily than other races due to not being bound to a single god. However, I had imagined that they would have to pray to the heavens for help, not the gods that they themselves create.


    Though, tracing the power back still led to the Admin Room. It¡¯s not like their belief actually created a god. That would be rather scary if it was possible. Just thinking about that made me shiver a bit.


    One thing did cross my mind, however. I received a prompt about letting Leowynn be a Temr¡­ do the gods receive something like that for all of them?


    Out of curiosity, I sent my question to Terra, the obvious target for such a thing. A momentter, her reply came back with a rather amused tone. We do get messages for letting anyone borrow our power, whether it is as a temr, priest, cleric, or even a pdin. It all depends on which god the person worships. For the heroc¡­ each one goes to a majority vote, since they don¡¯t worship a particr god.


    And since I¡¯m not actually a god, I don¡¯t have to vote for all of them¡­ I was suddenly much more thankful that there weren¡¯t any people left that were able to view me as a god like Leowynn had. Part of me worried that the ninja vige might do so, but there had been no sign of that so far.


    Speaking of which, I sent a nce towards the ninja vige, wanting to see if anything interesting had taken ce. What I found¡­ I suppose it qualified. The ninjas were now spread out, well beyond just one city.


    That alone would not qualify as interesting, however. It was the arrangement of the cities that caught my eye. Each one was almost perfectly circr in shape, with wooden bridges connecting treetop buildings. From an aerial view, each one appeared to be aplex spell diagram.


    Like the elves, the ninjas had also discovered the existence of monster cores. This was evident by a shrine located in the center of each vige, with an altar that had one such core embedded in it. If I had to guess, the shrine was meant to serve as a power source in an emergency, with the entire city activating the spell. Well¡­ it looks like they didn¡¯t learn too much about wards yet, if they are taking that approach.


    Before I left to turn my view elsewhere, I saw something else in the ninja vige that caught my eye. Someone had discovered another use for monster cores. I saw an alchemist grinding one into a fine dust, before mixing it with the blood of a monster. When the process was done, he dipped a thin brush in the mixture, using it as ink to write on a parchment. This must be their next step in chakra research.


    Having seen enough, I turned to look at the dwarves. For them, their kingdoms had changed quite a lot from myst nce. Purely from size alone, the Iron Mountain dwarves possessed thergest and most powerful kingdom, spanning across several long mountain ranges. Like an anthill, they made their homes deep within the core of a mountain, mining out whatever they needed.


    Many of their mountains had the outward appearance of a volcano, due to the forges ced in the uppermost levels, and the venttion tunnels which had been dug towards the mountain¡¯s peak. When I looked at those forges, I found that the hammers of many cksmiths were no longer copper, and instead were using ckened iron. Some even had enchantments enhancing their usefulness.


    Of course, that was not the only area where the dwarves had advanced over these few hundred years. Arguably more spectacr was their advancement in brewing. When I found one of their taverns, I even managed to see a guard who had hit the level cap drunk to the point of passing out. This showed that they had managed to create an extremely powerful drink.


    I was about to take a look at the centaurs and halflings, when the door to my bedroom opened again. Turning to see who it was, I saw Leowynn with a wide grin on her face. To my surprise, she was no longer being escorted by Ryone, and instead had found her way back on her own.


    ¡°Did you already meet with everyone?¡± I asked curiously. I wasn¡¯t sure how long I had been looking at those three races, but it didn¡¯t feel like long enough for her to meet and interact with everyone.


    ¡°Mother asked everyone to meet us in the living room, so I saw them all together.¡± She answered, as if having heard my thoughts. ¡°I never thought that there would be so many people like her¡­ Even though she exined it to me before, it is so hard to believe.¡±


    ¡°They didn¡¯t try to tease you or anything, did they?¡±


    ¡°Huh? No, they were wonderful!¡± She eximed with an earnest smile. ¡°The little one¡­ Rivy. She even asked if she could call me her sister. I¡¯ve never seen so many people who genuinely wanted to be friends before.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle at that. ¡°You might have been a demigod to the people down there, but up here everyone is a god. To them, you¡¯re just another friendly face.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the thing. I¡¯ve always wanted something like that.¡± She said with a wistful sigh, moving back to the bed and sprawling out on it. ¡°Everyone saw me as Ryone¡¯s daughter, or the queen¡¯s holy knight. Even the queen herself mostly saw me that way, no matter how hard she tried not to.¡±


    I faintly nodded my head at her words. ¡°Well, you won¡¯t have to worry about that here. I doubt anyone is going to worship you in this group.¡± I felt myself chuckle as I said that, though she looked at me with a small grin.


    ¡°Keliope kept trying to pull me into a duel, wanting to see how the ¡®demigoddess¡¯ strength¡¯ held up. I was honestly a bit worried. If¡­ Bihena, right? If she didn¡¯t keep chasing her off, I might not have been able to get back as soon.¡±


    I was a bit surprised that Bihena would do that, but it wasn¡¯t really a bad thing. Leowynn slowly sat up in the bed, testing out its softness with her hands, before looking over at me. ¡°So, when do we begin training? You let mee all the way up here, so I don¡¯t want to be useless after all of that.¡± She asked, her expression suddenly turning serious.


    With a sigh, I pulled out the glowing orb from my desk, and tossed it at her. ¡°This has the training method for Aki Seppo inside of it. It¡¯ll be easier for you to understand if you absorb the information yourself. Just hold the orb and focus on what you want to learn.¡±


    Although startled by the unexpected object tossed at her, Leowynn managed to catch it at thest moment, nearly fumbling and falling back in the bed. She nced curiously at the sphere, before closing her eyes in focus. ¡°Ouch.¡± Only a few momentster, she dropped the information sphere on the bed, bringing a hand up to her head. ¡°Didn¡¯t know it would hurt like that.¡±


    ¡°Try to take it a bit slow.¡± I urged her. ¡°We¡¯re notcking in time.¡± I wasn¡¯t expecting her to hurt herself by taking in too much information at once, but even I had gotten a headache when I did this. ¡°Once you¡¯ve learned the methods to train the spirit, we¡¯ll get started.¡±

 Chapter 113: Necessary Education

    <h4>Chapter 113: Necessary Education</h4>


    After Leowynn finished absorbing the information, I let her return to my ¡®spiritual realm¡¯ so that she could begin practicing. This part of her training wasn¡¯t something she needed my help in, and was actually more effective if I was not involved with it. I let her know to inform me when she was done, and began looking over the world.


    It¡¯s grown quite well, hasn¡¯t it? I mused to myself, thinking about everything that had happened. However, there was still more to do yet. Not only for this world, but I wanted to get a second one going before too long, now that I had an idea of what I was doing.


    Pulling out a paper, I began writing a message to Ryone. I considered using the mentalmunication again, but there was the chance that might distract Leowynn. Is there anything you think we should get for the world?


    When I nced at my points, I happily discovered that some more royalties and advancements hade in. By now, my points totalled at 1975, meaning I could essentially buy whatever I wanted for my world at this stage, within reason of course. Unfortunately, it seemed like I didn¡¯t get any new special achievements, though in some ways that was a good thing. They didn¡¯t always give a beneficial effect, after all.


    ¡°Is she already training?¡± I heard Ryone ask from the doorway. When I nced over, I could see her searching the room, likely looking for Leowynn. ¡°She said she was going to head back here for that. Or did she get lost?¡±


    I chuckled lightly when I heard the second question. ¡°No, she¡¯s training the spirit techniques right now. So, I take it you found something you want me to get, since you came here in person?¡±


    Ryone nodded her head slightly, moving over to sit on the bed. With a soft smile, she rubbed at the spot where her and Leowynn were sitting before. ¡°Right, there¡¯s a few things I have in mind. Honestly, the world is just advancing so much faster than I thought it would, by what Terra exined to us.¡±


    ¡°Probably because all of you are actually helping your people.¡± I mused aloud as I nced at the map again. It had been around two thousand or so years since the ¡®start¡¯ of the world, yet they were already in the early metal ages. That¡¯s several times faster than what it was in my world.


    ¡°Exactly, and¡­ I think that¡¯s a bit of a problem, in some areas.¡± Ryone exined. ¡°With us offering guidance to our people, their advancements in magic and technology have both been quite amazing. Even I¡¯ve been able to learn a few things by watching them. But that¡¯s leading to certain other areas being underdeveloped.¡±


    As she said that, she closed her eyes, sighing softly. ¡°The biggest example would be ki. It has the potential to be every bit as powerful as magic, yet because people have been discovering more and more about magic, they haven¡¯t developed much for ki. Yes, they stumbled upon elemental ki and ki paths, but that¡¯s it. They haven¡¯t developed the ki paths into a proper form, nor explored any of the abilities that are possible with elemental ki.¡±


    ¡°So, you¡¯re saying that we should encourage a bit more of a focus in ki for a little while?¡± I asked, somewhat confused. I could get why ki being overlooked might be a problem, but it didn¡¯t seem as bad as she was saying.


    ¡°Not quite. What I¡¯m getting at is that we need a system of education beyond sses. Something to help people gain a rounded education, without information being lost to time. I¡¯ve already started trying to implement that with the elves, and I noticed Terra convincing the beastkin goddesses to do the same. But¡­ this is creating another problem with the level limit.¡±


    Ryone knit her brows together as she continued her exnation. ¡°With my system of education for the elves, it is an almost mandatory process for children to learn of the basic sses. Before graduation, each student will have five levels in schr, mage, monk, and druid. If they choose to, there is also an extra course that teaches the priest and warrior sses.¡±


    ¡°Now, five levels is by no means a grand boost in power. So, by the time they¡¯ve finished, and have either twenty or thirty levels, they¡¯ll also likely have some as a chef or a farmer, depending on their home life, maybe even others. There was one student my race had that managed to reach a total level of eighty before graduating, because he was taking multiple production sses in order to provide for his family.¡±


    ¡°So, I should raise the level cap again?¡± I had noticed a while ago that there were arge number of people who were stuck at the current cap, so it didn¡¯t seem too much of a stretch to raise it again. ¡°Maybe buy some information, and whisper words to certain people to get thecking areas caught up?¡±


    Ryone nodded her head with a smile when I asked that. ¡°Right. Also, I think we could do with some advanced sses. Aside from the elemental monk, there are others that people are beginning to discover on their own, so having the sses avable would serve as a good way to guide them down those paths.¡±


    Well, raising the level limit was easy enough. I could do that anytime I wanted. I¡¯d have to check which areas needed to be more developed before buying that stuff, though. ¡°Alright, anything else?¡±


    Ryone nodded her head once again. ¡°I think it¡¯s about time we purchase the guild system. There are several organizations starting to appear, ranging from the temples, your wraith group, or kingdom guards. That being the case, the world could definitely benefit from a unified guild system.¡±


    I considered that for a moment, thinking back to what I had read about the guild system. It didn¡¯t seem to be too much of an issue to buy it, and it wasn¡¯t exactly expensive. ¡°Alright. Anything else before I start buying things?¡± I asked as I looked to Ryone.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ No, but there is something to tell you. Tubrock just finished up thest of the god weapon prototypes. He ns to make upgraded versions whenever I am able to enchant them better.¡±


    ¡°Alright, then what fields do you think are the mostcking, so I know what to buy?¡± I already knew ki was one, but I wanted to hear what else she had in mind.


    ¡°Well¡­ they haven¡¯t really been doing much in the way of travel aside from their own two feet. They¡¯ve started ship construction, and some races are already sailing a small distance from their continent. For mundane travel methods, we can teach them with Terra¡¯s help, though. Right now, we need ki and natural energy guides. The druid and shaman sses are even less developed than monks.¡±


    That was true, I had barely seen anyone with those abilities in the few times I¡¯ve descended. I knew that there had to be people training the sses, due to my Keeper level in them, but they still fell a bit behind the others. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll go ahead and get started on that. By the way, have you found anything else of interesttely?¡±


    When I asked that, Ryone had a somewhat embarrassed smile. ¡°Well, I haven¡¯t been as focused on my research ever since Leowynn was born. I guess I can get back to it now that she¡¯s up here with us, though. I¡¯ll go do that now. Let her know that she cane find me anytime she wants, okay?¡± I gave a brief nod, before watching Ryone hop up and walk out of the room.


    First, I took care of the easy parts, buying the new sses and the guild system. For the sses, I started with the Basic Energy Masters ss package that I had seen previously for a hundred points. While I was at it, I perused the list of advanced spirit sses, so that I could give them something new as well. It didn¡¯t take me long to find a suitable one.


    Spirit Shaper


    A higher version of the Reaper and Spirit Hunter sses. A Spirit Shaper is capable of shaping the spiritual energies around them, drawing them in as if they were their own.


    15 points


    Reaper and Spirit Hunter required


    After purchasing that one, I grabbed the Guild System for another seventy five points. To my surprise, this system had various options that could be set, such as requirements to form and enter a guild, how many guilds one could be a part of, or the defensive capabilities of a guild base. There weren¡¯t many systems that I had purchased so far with customization options, so I was quite happy to have these choices.


    For establishing a guild¡­ let¡¯s set the requirement to be divine permission. People can pray for their guild to be epted, and if it is something that at least one god approves of, they can have it. No limit for the amount of guilds someone can join. I definitely don¡¯t want the guild names to be disyed in any way for others to see. Hmmm¡­ And for the base defenses, let¡¯s set them to minimal, leaving most of the work to the guild members themselves. This left the primary use of a guild beingmunication and production, as people within a guild base received a small boost to tasks they attempted.


    But that was fine with me. Next up, I began looking for the ki and natural energy guides. Since Ryone didn¡¯t offer a suggestion which one to get, then either there was only one of each, or she wanted me to choose it myself. That, or she just forgot, which is entirely possible.


    For ki, I bought the basic ki path that I had noticed before for seventy five points, as well as a ¡®Tier 1 ki guide¡¯ that cost a hundred points. I was a bit surprised that it only cost half as much as the first tier magic guide, but considering that I had to buy the ki path as well, that did make up for most of it. After all, there was probably only so much you could do with ki before setting up a ki path.


    Finally, I began looking for guides on natural energy. This one took quite a bit longer, because I had to skim past the guides concerning natural spirits. I had a feeling I¡¯d be looking at themter, but right now it wasn¡¯t what I needed.


    Energy of the World Tier 1


    Thisprehensive guide instructs the user in various methods of manipting natural energy, as well as the various effects that can be achieved through the usage of said energy.


    200 Points


    I let out a small sigh as I purchased this guide as well. One by one, three spheres of blue light floated down to appear in front of me. With that taken care of, I wrote a message to Ryone saying that the information was ready. I didn¡¯t want to absorb them myself because that would definitely distract--


    Father, I am finished. Leowynn¡¯s voice spoke up from deep within me, almost like a phantom thought. It felt distinctly differentpared to the mentalmunication I was used to, or even how it was when she prayed to me before. This felt like I had heard someone saying my name in a room I knew to be empty, only to find it was my imagination. urate, even, for the most part.


    Closing my eyes, I cast my perception into my spiritual realm, where Leowynn now resided. The grey, mistyndscape that had existed when any other spirit had lived there was no more. Instead, a t grassy in spread out, with a star filled sky above. This was the first step of her training, to reshape my spiritual realm into a form that couldmunicate her abilities. She herself likely didn¡¯t know what she was creating until it was already done.


    So, what were the results? I asked curiously. By now, she should at least have some idea what path she¡¯d be taking in the Aki Seppo art.


    Seated on the grassy field, Leowynn jumped briefly when she heard my voice. ¡°Uhm¡­ if I am understanding this right, I should be a ¡®transformative array¡¯ type. I don¡¯t know what different forms I can take yet since we haven¡¯t practiced, but I feel like it is rted to that.¡± As she spoke, she pointed up at the starry sky above.


    Looking over the sky again, I noticed that quite a few stars seemed to be missing. It looked as though someone had cut out all but the stars necessary to form constetions. I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle at that, shaking my head. You really are our little star.


    From what she had said, Leowynn should be quite a powerful spirit, which did note as any real surprise. In this art, there were several ssifications for the bonded spirits. An array type was one which had many varied abilities, though each ability was typically weaker than a focused one. A transformative type was one that allowed the shape of the spirit to be altered for different uses. Naturally, the two typesplimented each other.


    While Leowynn sat there with a slightly red face, Iforted her softly. We¡¯ll test it out soon. Your mother told me to let you know that you can find her any time you want. And as long as we are up here, you can roam around whenever you¡¯d like. Hearing that made a small smile surface on her face, followed by a brief nod.


    Following that, I withdrew my perception from my spiritual realm, and focused on the map in front of me. First, I am finally going to see what has happened with the centaurs and halflings. No more distractions! It¡¯s been hundreds of years, so something has to have happened by now!

 Chapter 114: A Wide Wide World

    <h4>Chapter 114: A Wide Wide World</h4>


    Finn sat at the table of his parents¡¯ home, a young man of fifteen. Today would be the beginning of his Ko¡¯Rin, the rite of passage undertaken by both the halflings and the centaurs for over a hundred years. After the great beast was destroyed and its wall of fire purged, the two races had found their people on the outside still warring against each other.


    Having been forced to survive together for so long, those that had fought the great beast moved to unify their people. They had long since discovered that their races actually had many things inmon, once they were able to understand one another. Both races shared a love for exploration, the centaurs having only been restricted to their grasnds due to a mistaken belief.


    More importantly, even their gods seemed to have simrities. Both the love domain of the halfling goddess, as well as the fellowship domain of the centaur¡¯s Tryval shared a few characteristics. This was enough that it had been able to gradually quell the hatred each side felt for the other. Though, no centaur would ever doubt if something as small as a halfling could be dangerous again.


    Now, Finn prepared himself for his Ko¡¯Rin. In truth, it was not a dangerous mission, not truly. Since the unification of the two races, halfling culture had changed a lot. Now, children were forbidden from roaming the world aimlessly, instead staying in a city with their families while they learned the knowledge they would need to survive on their own.


    The Ko¡¯Rin was the final test. All of the children his age, regardless of gender or race, would set out from the city as a group. They would wander for one six months before returning. But when they did return, it would not be as a child, but an adult. Sometimes, the groups would split up during the journey, but it was always suggested that they stick to arger force as much as possible.


    Soon, his father appeared, walking through the open door to the room. In his hand was arge leather pack, big enough to fit a young halfling if he wanted. ¡°You ready, Finn?¡± His father asked with a smile, to which the young boy nodded.


    After handing over the pack, the two of them walked together out of the house. Outside, his mother was already waiting for the two of them, and the three walked to the northern exit of town. Once there, they found dozens of other families, both halfling and centaur alike. Standing at the front was a lone centaur woman smiling at them all.


    ¡°I think this should be everyone.¡± She said as she mentally counted the crowd. ¡°As you all know, the Ko¡¯Rin is a sacred rite. Since the time of the great beast, the Lord and Lady of the Land have offered us this test. Before our young are to be adults, we must send them out to experience the world. The good and the bad, the bounties and perils. But they must do so together, without the prejudices of the old to burden their young hearts.¡±


    ¡°When you leave these walls, you will be but children. Children who must survive in a harsh world with the knowledge you have been given, and the friends by your side. In Tryval¡¯s name, I pray for the safety of you and your fellows. In Aurivy¡¯s name, I bless your path. Many partnerships have been found during the Ko¡¯Rin whichst a lifetime. Cherish everyone with you, for you will all be relying on each other.¡±


    After saying that, she took a deep breath, her face bing more serious. ¡°Some of you, however, will wish to venture alone. To explore the world with your wits and weapons, and nothing more. This is not against the will of the divines, so I shall bless your paths as well. Whether your hands be linked or bloodied, you will always have a home to return to. And when you do return in six months, it will no longer be as children. You will have earned the respect of an adult.¡±


    Finally, she slowly trotted off to the side, her arm sweeping gently towards thend beyond the city¡¯s gates. ¡°Now go, children of the city. May the Lord and Lady watch over you, as they have watched over all of us in our times of need.¡±


    With the ceremonial speech finished, there was a brief moment of silence. The silence was broken when the first person, a young centaur boy, stepped forward. His face showed a mix of anxiety and excitement, but he was still moving forward. And with that as the signal, the others followed one by one, their families watching with wet eyes.


    There would always be those lost to the Ko¡¯Rin, but for those who returned, they would have the strength and wisdom to decide their own fates.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Well¡­ I was not expecting that.¡± I muttered slightly as I watched the end of the ceremony. I was happy that the two races had reconciled their differences, and seemed to be living in rtive peace. But I hadn¡¯t really expected them to nearly give up their nomadic ways.


    That said though, I could still see arge number of both race wandering thends. There were just far more of them in cities than I had anticipated. Also, it was hard to say that they hadpletely reconciled. I was still able to see a few cases where very had cropped up, although a brief investigation revealed the vast majority of such to be criminals serving their sentence. Very few cases could be seen where someone had been forced unjustly into such a position.


    I nodded my head, realizing that Tryval and Aurivy had to have guided their two races quite a bit in order to get that kind of result. And this did give me hope for the eventual cooperation of their races, as well as others when theyter met. After all, the conflict between those two had been extremely severe. If not for them taking this Ko¡¯Rinpletely unsupervised, it was entirely possible that racist tendencies would still leak through to the younger generation. This way, they faced life and death together, building a bond in the same way that they did when fighting the dragon.


    So this is how you watch the world. I heard Leowynn¡¯s voice speaking to me, reminding me that she was still within my spiritual realm. It really is different like mom said.


    ¡°Once I get a bit more experienced, I might be able to look at it like how you imagined.¡± I spoke out loud with a small smile. ¡°Do you want toe out?¡±


    Sure. Came the happy response a momentter. With a thought, I once again brought her out to materialize in front of me. ¡°If it¡¯s okay, could I look at one of those?¡± She asked almost immediately, a hand pointing towards the three blue information spheres I had recently purchased.


    I nodded my head. ¡°Alright. These two are rted to ki, so you should be able to understand them better.¡± I exined as I set aside two of them, taking the other one myself. ¡°I don¡¯t think you had any experience with natural energy, so this one wouldn¡¯t likely be of any use to you.¡±


    She smiled happily as she looked at the two spheres. Choosing one at random, she picked up the sphere that gave information about ki paths, closing her eyes to focus on it while I began absorbing information on natural energy. I could feel the knowledge rushing into my mind, stopping now and then to sort and process it, constantly amazing myself by the depths it reached.


    From the very first line, ¡®No basic energy stands above any other¡¯, I knew that there would be a lot to gleam from this. And after I had gotten around halfway through, my focus, as well as Leowyn¡¯s, was suddenly interrupted by the door mming open. ¡°Dale, Dale!¡±


    Judging by the excited tone, I already knew who it was. ncing over, I saw Ryone grinning like a madwoman. It even took her a few moments to process that Leowynn was standing right beside me, at which point her face softened quite a bit. ¡°Oh, hello Leowynn. Is your training alright? Are you able toe out again now?¡± She asked, a mix of nervousness and hope on her face.


    Leowynnughed lightly. ¡°It¡¯s fine, mother. You don¡¯t have to be so worried. I like it up here, really. But what has you so excited?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m quite interested to know that myself.¡± I chimed in, raising a hand.


    ¡°Oh! Right. Udona came to show me something and I think you need to see it.¡± Her face once again showed the zealous worship that let me know this was something rted to a new form of magic.


    ¡°Well, we better get going then, Leowynn.¡± I said with a light chuckle. ¡°When Ryone gets like this, she won¡¯t be satisfied until she shows and exins everything she can.¡±


    Though I said that, Leowynn seemed almost as interested as Ryone herself, so the two of us quickly agreed to join her. No sooner had that agreement been expressed than the three of us had transported to Ryone¡¯s little testing area. Leowynn let out a small yip of surprise at the sudden movement, but looked around in awe at the thousands of random spell diagrams that lined the floor.


    Udona sat in a chair nearby, her head slumped over as if half asleep. Her golden hair was in a mess, and bags were forming under her eyes. It was only when she heard Leowynn that her head jerked up. ¡°Huh? Oh, hey guys. I take it she told you?¡±


    ¡°No, no she did not.¡± I denied, shaking my head. ¡°Could you?¡±


    ¡°Uhm¡­ okay.¡± She nodded briefly. ¡°A kitsune just unlocked the elementalist ss. Apparently, he¡¯s earned it for a while, so once you bought it he got it almost right away.¡± Saying that much, she yawned heavily, bringing one hand up to cover her mouth.


    Looking at Ryone, her eyes seemed even more tired. ¡°Can I go back to my room now? My incarnation is writing a new song, and I really wanna focus on that.¡±


    ¡°Show them first, then you can go.¡± Ryone urged, waving her hands as if to get Udona to hurry it along. ¡°This is your discovery, so you get the limelight this time.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­¡± She sighed gently, slowly standing up. Her pink slippers about fell off when she stumbled forward, and I had to wonder just how much of her focus she was splitting for her incarnation, or if she even had two of them going at once. At least, that''s how Terra had been when she was doing so. ¡°Can you set up a couple of targets for me, then?¡±


    As soon as she had asked, a line of wooden dummies appeared around fifty meters away, causing Leowynn¡¯s eyes to widen slightly. However, Udona just shrugged her shoulders and turned towards them. ¡°Watch close. The first spell will be normal, the second will be as an elementalist.¡±


    While she was speaking, I could see three glowing red diagrams appear in the air in front of her. At a nce, I could recognize them as the homing fireball spell Ryone had showed to me a while back. Unsurprisingly, what came out was arge fireball, which split apart and hit several of the targets, lighting them on fire.


    However, as if to not give us any time to react, the same spell diagrams appeared in front of her again. Udona¡¯s voice suddenly seemed to turn serious, echoing throughout the room. I could feel the natural energy stirring as she called out to it. ¡°As the one whomands the physicalws,e forth.¡± The first of the three diagrams began emitting a red lightning that arced along it.


    ¡°Be a de and pierce those who stand before me.¡± This time, the second of the three circles lit up, before the third joined it with the final verse of her chant. ¡°Let walk the armies of me, my soldiers of congration.¡±


    With all three circles imbued with whatever power she was channeling, the spell activated. What had before started as a fireball now had a different shape. A tall figure, a man made of fire. In one hand it held a sword the seemed to extend half its length.


    Once the me warrior had formed, it ran forward towards the targets. With every step, an afterimage appeared behind it, forming an identical soldier. Although the mes seemed to weaken each time, their numbers more than made up for it.


    By the time the ¡®army of me¡¯ had reached the dummies, there were enough of them to make it seem as if a wall of fire had appeared. I couldn¡¯t even properly discern what they were doing until the spell ended, and they all vanished. At that time, I was able to see that over half of the wooden dummies had been sliced clean through, the rest having numerous stab marks on their bodies.


    Leowynn and I were both watching in awe, our silence broken by a yawning off from the side. ¡°Okay, can I go back now?¡± She asked, seeming like she might fall asleep on her feet.


    ¡°Sure.¡± Ryone said with a nod. ¡°I¡¯ll have Terra send up some of thoseics you liketer. Thanks for helping us out with this.¡± Her fox ears seemed to perk up slightly at the mention of theics, before she vanished from the room. Afterwards, Ryone turned to face the two of us. ¡°So, questions?¡± She asked with a wide grin.


    ¡°What, and how?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡°The power of an elementalist, tobine natural energy with magical spells, enhancing their power. Whenever a druid casts their magic, they send out their mana to the surroundings to deliver amand. Udona did the same thing, she simply used her voice to give themand. You could probably do it without, but it¡¯ll be a bit easier to focus on the spell diagrams if you aren¡¯t also using mentalmunication.¡± Ryone exined, briefly going off into a tangent before I snapped my fingers to get her attention.


    ¡°Anyways! Bymanding the natural energy to merge with the spell, you can give it new effects. The most obvious is a boost in power, but other things can be done as well. Udona was able to shape a fireball into a walking figure because of how she wielded the natural energy. This should be able to supplement various missing effects within a spell diagram, and maybe even rece it altogether.¡±


    ¡°Restrictions?¡± I asked as I looked to her, wanting to get this over with. It was exciting, and I might even give it a tryter, but I was more interested in getting back to learning more about natural energy.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ I haven¡¯t done any research yet to be sure, but I have some spections. Most likely, you won¡¯t be able to change anything defined by the spell diagram. A fireball is a fireball because it is a shapeless ball of fire. Udona simply gave it shape. She wouldn¡¯t be able to make it into a ball of ice like that, or anything. Let me run some tests, and I should be able to tell me.¡± She nodded her head, sinking into thought.


    Just as I was about to return us to my room, Leowynn spoke up. ¡°Could I help?¡± She asked, looking at Ryone. ¡°I wasn¡¯t ever able to help you with your experiments when we were alive¡­ but how about now?¡±


    ¡°Of course!¡± Ryone blurted out automatically, and then immediately used a hand to cover her mouth. ¡°I mean, of course you can, Leowynn. I just didn¡¯t want you to do any of that earlier because it¡¯d mess up your strength ratio, and I didn¡¯t want to let you get hurt by that. You don¡¯t have to worry about that anymore, so I¡¯d love to have you helping me.¡±


    Leowynn grinned suddenly, walking over towards Ryone, before turning around to nce at me. ¡°It won¡¯t be a problem if we¡¯re far apart, right? I don¡¯t know how far it is to the room¡­¡±


    ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be.¡± I said, waving it off. ¡°The energy here isn¡¯t limited like that, so you should be able to go wherever you want.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± She gave a determined nod. ¡°I¡¯lle back to the room to finish studyingter.¡± I nodded in return, smiling as I went back to the room. Looks like I have a few more things to think about.

 Chapter 115: Level Field

    <h4>Chapter 115: Level Field</h4>


    After returning to my room, I finished going over the details of natural energy, and then began looking at the information I had purchased for ki. Like with natural energy, there were so many things that I had not even considered as a possibility here. It felt like, if some of this was taught in the world below, mages might not be so dominant.


    That said, it took me quite a while before I was able to finish both knowledge orbs, at which point I moved on to the ki path I bought. A brief examination of it was all I needed to see to know that the ki path was set to mostly follow the skeleton of the creature practicing it. There were several key points to note, however.


    First of all, the ki path had several spherical shapes ced throughout it, located at the heart and various joints. ording to the exnation, this was used to pool energy and make it more easily essible while also strengthening the joints. This was a clever little aspect that would make it easier to use certain techniques.


    Speaking of which, the second thing I noticed was the presence of several ¡®output veins¡¯ in the ki path. Thin lines leading to the surface of the skin in ces like the fingers, feet, or at intermittent points along the body. This was so that ki could be used to reinforce the skin, or called to exit the body through various means.


    With that taken care of, I set aside the three information spheres so that any of the other gods or goddesses could look through them. I was debating establishing my second world, but there was something else that I wanted to do first. A little test, just to confirm how urate the information I purchased was.


    First, I sent a message to Leowynn through my spiritual realm, letting her know that I needed her to return for a little while because I was going to descend to the world for some quick training. I had given her a few hours to try out things with her mother, so I figured a brief break wouldn¡¯t be too bad for her. She seemed to disagree, however, and was reluctant to return. Though, it seemed that Ryone said something to her, because she dide back fairly quickly, returning to my spiritual realm to focus on her own training.


    Navigating through the window, I prepared to descend once again, this time heading down as a human on a small ind in the middle of nowhere. To my surprise, there was a new entry in the menu, allowing me to assign a ki path to the body I was preparing. When I selected it, I found that only the path I had purchased was avable. Probably a system to make it easier for Keepers to use what they have paid for.


    Nheless, the familiar window appeared as I descended, and I once again found myself briefly shrouded in blue light. When it faded away, I now stood on a small ind, not a soul in sight around me. And by small¡­ I could probably trip and fall into the ocean in any direction.


    Naturally, this meant that there was a considerable amount of underwater wildlife nearby, but it was not such an abrupt drop that anything too big could sneak up on me. This was just what I needed in order to practice. A quiet, secluded space where activating my abilities would not signal the creation of a new holy city or something¡­


    First, I closed my eyes, focusing inward to inspect my ki. The sensation was hard to notice at first, until I went looking for it, but my ki was flowing in a much more controlled manner now. At the same time, I felt that the strength of my body had increased by arge marginpared to before. This purchase at least was definitely worth the points.


    The next thing I wanted to do was the one that was actually important. I wanted to create a token of nature, something that would help me control natural energy more smoothly. Terra once exined that I could use mana tomand natural energy, which is not at all wrong. That is the suggested method for beginners.


    However, once someone has enough control over their own energy, they must create a token. This token can only be used to its full power by its creator, but allows them tomunicate with natural energy without the need for mana. Essentially¡­ this made druids and shamans have unlimited spellcasting ability, since they were not drawing on any of their own energies. The downside to this was the natural energy was the thinnest of the four main energy types, and thus the most easy to ovee in a head on sh. A fireball spell would always be harder to dispell than a fireball made from natural energy, for example.


    Raising up one of my hands, I released my Keeper abilities, making sure that I would have enough mana to control the energy long enough to create my token. ¡°Gather.¡± I spoke, watching as the water around me seemed to tremble under my voice. ¡°Condense. Follow my will. Purify and solidify.¡±


    Multicolored lights started to slowly gather. Some came from the water, some came from the ground beneath my feet, and some came from the air above me. They all moved to gather at a single location, my upheld hand. ¡°Be the mark of recognition, the token of authority.¡± The lights began swirling around my wrist, following the delicate control I exerted over them.


    ¡°Let my will be the will of the world.¡± With that, the energies condensed onest time, forming a golden band around my wrist. Even without trying, I could sense its presence. The token of nature was designed by its creator, so there was no simple default shape. The reason I chose a golden band was because I felt it to be the most practical, no matter where or when I may need it.


    Letting out a sigh, I pulled my hand down, at the same time sealing my Keeper abilities again. When I closed my eyes, I could vividly see the world around me, all of its life and energy. I could see the currents of the wind and the water, and everything living within it. This will definitelye in handy in the future.


    Druid ss unlocked!


    Druid has leveled up!


    Druid has leveled up!


    Druid has leveled up!


    Druid has leveled up!


    ¡­


    Shaman ss unlocked!


    Shaman has leveled up!


    Shaman has leveled up!


    Shaman has leveled up!


    ¡­


    I watched as both the druid and shaman sses immediately reached level ten after I formed the token of nature. I was somewhat annoyed that my martial artist ss hadn¡¯t experienced a simr growth surge, but it was likely due to myck of training in the art. Part of me wondered if it would shoot up again after Leowynn and I tried out our Aki Seppo abilities. Out of curiosity, I opened up my status window to check on my current stats after the twenty level increase.


    Name


    Dale Mitchell


    Race


    Human(Keeper)


    Health


    280/280(121555/121555)


    Mana


    235/235(37146/37146)


    Strength


    7(251)


    Ki


    491/491(49276/49276)


    Stamina


    10(219)


    Intelligence


    12(176)


    Dexterity


    13(245)


    Wisdom


    23(306)


    Luck


    6(76)


    Charm


    5(75)


    ss List


    Alchemist 1(51)


    Archer 0(88)


    Architect 0(52)


    Archmage 0(25)


    Armorer 0(52)


    Artisan 0(31)


    Assassin 0(41)


    Bard 0(77)


    Berserker 0(51)


    cksmith 0(82)


    Carpenter 1(65)


    Chef 0(71)


    Cleric 0(36)


    Druid 10(72)


    Enchanter 5(69)


    Engineer 0(4)


    Farmer 0(44)


    Gambler 0(7)


    Guard 0(63)


    Herbalist 2(53)


    Hero 3(38)


    Hunter 0(83)


    Jeweler 0(27)


    Knight 0(61)


    Leader 1(43)


    Leatherworker 0(64)


    Mage 2(80)


    Martial Artist 1(76)


    Merchant 0(34)


    Miner 0(68)


    Monk 8(64)


    Monster Tamer 2(56)


    Ninja 6(67)


    Noble 0(22)


    Painter 0(33)


    Pdin 0(2)


    Pirate 0(17)


    Priest 1(54)


    Schr 1(35)


    Scout 1(65)


    Sculptor 0(31)


    Shaman 10(44)


    Spirit Hunter 15(42)


    Spirit Tamer 6(60)


    Swordsmen 0(37)


    Tailor 0(32)


    Temr 0(16)


    Warrior 2(67)


    Advanced ss List


    Elementalist 0(3)


    Elemental Monk 0(2)


    All in all, my Keeper stats seemed to have gone down slightly since thest time I checked. Most likely due to certain goddesses who trained one ss exclusively losing their incarnations. That, or it was just a coincidental result of the passing of time and death of geniuses in certain fields. Either way, it wasn¡¯t enough to hinder me, should I need to use those abilities at any time.


    My personal stats on the other hand seemed to have increased in almost every field, which I personally weed. A sudden twenty level jump was bound to give me some bonuses, after all. I was tempted to quickly raise some of my other sses, now that I had the most thorough training I could ever ask for with ki and natural energy.


    If my conjecture was right, each ss had its own standard for when you qualified to level up. For most, it was based on abilities you disyed, or experience you garner while using the abilities of a ss. If I¡¯m right, the minimum level to create a token should be ten for both shaman and druid, which is why it raised me that much when I did so.


    Other sses should have different requirements. For instance, I¡¯ve only gained scout by traveling to new ces manually, so it should be a purely exploration ss. Simrly, I only gained schr by learning new facts within this world and not disying what I already knew. As such, Schr should only register what I learn within the world.


    ¡°Leowynn, you up for a little bit of an adventure?¡± I asked, knowing that my words would likely get her attention.


    Of course, Father. What did you have in mind? She responded, though I could detect a slightly amused tone within her voice.


    ¡°Have you ever wanted to walk on water?¡± I grinned, looking out to the ocean. This was something that I had foolishly tried back when I was first practicing chakra, but now I actually knew the method to do it.


    Not¡­ particrly. Though, I admit that it sounds interesting.


    ¡°Good enough for me.¡± I pointed myself in the direction where I knew there would be another ind. ¡°First thing¡¯s first.¡± I said as I crouched down, dipping my hand inside the water and focusing. I could feel the natural energy within the water shift under my attention, and nodded slightly before standing up to wave my hand dry.


    What was that for? Leowynn asked curiously.


    ¡°You¡¯ll see in a bit.¡± I chuckled, before suddenly jumping off the small ind and towards the water. I could almost feel Leowynn¡¯s panic as she saw variousrge aquatic animals beneath the surface ahead of us.


    As soon as my feet touched the water, I focused my ki through my feet and into the water itself. This was a process that I learned recently, which enabled someone to use their ki to increase the density of whatever is below their foot briefly. Had I enough control and ki, I could do this with a casual walk.


    s, I didn¡¯t have such luxuries with my normal abilities, so I could only resort to condensing the water just long enough for me to jump off of it for my next step. Each jump seemed to cause ripples within the water, and consumed a small portion of ki at the same time. Leowynn¡¯s panic was quickly turning into excitement as I ran across the water as easily as if it were drynd.


    But, Father? How are you going to stop? She asked, her excitement starting to die down as she realized just how fast we were moving. It did not take a modern scientist to realize that fast objects don¡¯t normally slow down easily.


    ¡°That¡¯s going to be a bit tricky.¡± I admitted yfully as I saw the ind I was aiming at. It was justing up past the horizon, rapidly moving closer as each step carried us dozens of meters. In truth, stopping would not be a problem, I just wanted to have a bit of fun with her.


    Sure enough, her worry intensified, growing stronger and stronger as we approached an ind no bigger than the one we had left. The fact that I showed no signs of slowing down the entire time likely didn¡¯t help. It wasn¡¯t until we were right at the ind that I acted.


    Shoving both hands in front of me, I spread my ki out in the same way as I did with the water. This time, what I was condensing was the air itself, temporarily making it act as a wall to cushion me and stop my momentum. Of course¡­ this was my first time doing this, so my calctions may have been a bit off. I only overshot it by a little bit, and got my knees a little wet.


    Once I had stopped upon the second ind, I grinned as several notifications came in, signalling a seven level increase for the monk ss. Good, that part was pretty easy. Now, let¡¯s head back.


    Reaching down into the water, I let my hand soak once again while I allowed my mind to focus on the natural energy within. This was the real reason I had decided to move from one ind to another, though the monk levels were definitely a nice touch. I was practicing another ability involving natural energy.


    When I pulled my hand out of the water, I ignored Leowynn¡¯s confused emotions and brought my hand up. Almost immediately, the water reacted, forming into an oval portal in front of me. On the other side, I could see the same ind that I had originallynded on, and so I simply stepped through. One final level of druid was my reward for creating the portal.


    Wh-what¡­ but¡­ how? Why? What just happened? Leowynn asked as she saw what I had done. In response, I could only chuckle while I began manipting the menu to will myself back to the admin room.


    ¡°You really should have finished studying.¡± I said in a teasing tone.

 Chapter 116: The Devil’s in the Details

    <h4>Chapter 116: The Devil¡¯s in the Details</h4>


    When we returned to the Admin Room, I was unsurprised to find that the three information orbs were no longer on my desk. No doubt, someone hade by and taken them to study while I was down in the world below with Leowynn. Father, may Ie out again? I heard her voice echoing out from inside me before I realized I hadn¡¯t summoned her out yet.


    ¡°Sorry, sure. Still not used to needing to do this every time.¡± I said as I called her out to appear in front of me. Leowynn nodded with a faint smile, before turning her head to look at where the orbs had previously been. Given the pensive expression on her face, she was no doubt wanting to learn what I had shown myself able to do just now.


    ¡°Is it alright if I return to assist mother?¡± She asked as she looked at me. When I gave a nod, her smile grew further. She rushed to the door as I sat down at my desk.


    Next up on my agenda was a rather big step for me. Part of it included the creation of another goddess, so I grabbed themunication paper that Terra had created for me so I could send a message to everyone. I considered using the mentalmunication, but¡­ I was somewhat worried that doing so would send the message to everyone. I didn¡¯t exactly want to broadcast the creation of a new goddess to all of Earth.


    Everyone, I¡¯m about to create another goddess to govern a new. Anyone who¡¯d like to take part can meet me in the living room in ten minutes. After letting that note transmit to the others, I got up and began moving towards the living room myself. ¡°I really need to create an actual meeting room one of these days.¡± I muttered quietly, shaking my head. I could worry about that after I was done with this.


    To my surprise, I actually noticed a couple of the doors down the hall opening up as I passed by, a few figures walking out to join me. The first was naturally Aurivy, who happily jumped over to my side, holding my hand as we walked. ¡°So, we¡¯re getting another big sis now, huh?¡± She asked with a wide smile.


    I chuckled slightly, shrugging my shoulders. ¡°Maybe. I haven¡¯t decided what kind of personality to give her yet, only the race.¡±


    Aurivy looked curious, but decided not to ask as she saw Irena stepping out of her room to walk with us. ¡°Dale.¡± She greeted me with a nod and a small smile. Unlike Aurivy, who was wearing an orange shirt that hung off her shoulders, with an orange and green skirt, Irena was wearing a dark blue business suit.


    Just when I thought nobody else would be joining us, I saw another door open. This time, I almost didn¡¯t recognize the girl that stepped through. I could quickly tell it was Keliope, due to there only being one girl with teddy-bear ears in the Admin Room, but her hair length and skin tone had changed quite a lot.


    Originally, she had been fair-skinned like the rest of the gods and goddesses. However, now she had a much darker skin color. And her hair, which had originally been down to the middle of her back, now just barely reached her shoulders. She wore a small red top and baggy blue cargo pants, a pair of uneven-length red gloves on her hands. ¡°Hey, boss!¡± She said with a grin as she walked to join us. ¡°Like the new look?¡±


    ¡°How did you even get a new look?¡± I asked curiously. While I was surprised, the appearance did suit her. She was made to look like an amazon, and the darker skin tone only added to that.


    ¡°Ah, sis told us how we can change little aspects of our appearance. Bihena and I got so annoyed that our long hair was getting in the way of our spars that we had to go ask her for help. After all, we can¡¯t be ¡®damaged¡¯ here, so we can¡¯t cut our hair normally.¡± She exined, bringing a gloved hand up to hold the end of her hair gently.


    ¡°And the skin color?¡± I asked, honestly more curious about that. Granted, the goddess I wanted to create would have a vastly different skin color than any of the ones present, but this seemed like the more drastic change with Keliope.


    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s a personal thing. More and more of my people are starting to darken like this as they move further south and expand Kelios, so I figured that I¡¯d change to match. Don¡¯t want to have them feel ashamed that they lost the image of their goddess, right?¡± She answered with a slight shrug, as if it was nothing major.


    ¡°I see.¡± It did make sense, and I couldn¡¯t really fault her for it. Besides, it really didn¡¯t look bad on her. I noticed Irena casting a nce over towards Keliope as we walked, seeming curious about something. However, she didn¡¯t speak before we arrived at the living room.


    When we got there, we found that nobody else was present. Looking around, I nced back to the three that hade with me. ¡°Let¡¯s give a few more minutes for people to show up. But, otherwise it might just be us four.¡±


    Aurivy, Irena, and I made our way to sit on the sofa, while Keliope sat herself down on the recliner. ¡°So, what kinda goddess you wanna make this time, Dale?¡± Aurivy asked with a hint of excitement as she faced me on the couch. With Irena on my other side, I couldn¡¯t exactly turn topletely face either of them.


    At her question, the other two seemed to have curious expressions as well, so I went ahead and exined. It wouldn¡¯t hurt to repeat myself if more did show upter. ¡°I want to make a demon.¡± I said with a slight nod. ¡°For my second world, I¡¯m thinking that I should go a different route than the world we have now, at least to start. No magic, or supernatural energies like that. I¡¯ll let them develop naturally until they reach a high enough level on their own. After that, I¡¯ll probably create a link between the two worlds, so that they can benefit from each other.¡±


    ¡°For that, I¡¯ll need a goddess that can guide the world without interfering too much. I appreciate what you all have been doing, but I think that Earth might be advancing a bit faster than they can keep up with.¡± I looked to the three goddesses, who averted their eyes slightly.


    ¡°It¡¯s not really a problem. But, Ryone brought it to my attention. With everyone actively guiding their races¡¯ development, it seems like their culture is having a hard time keeping up. I mean, it wasn¡¯t five hundred years ago that I went down to the beastkin territory and they hadn¡¯t even developed a proper currency yet.¡± I wasn¡¯t sure how it was like in the other areas, but given how both Keliope and Aurivy strengthened their attempts to not look at me, I¡¯m guessing it¡¯s like that in most ces.


    ¡°Are you suggesting that we slow down the advancement of our people?¡± Irena asked curiously, tilting her head slightly beside me.


    ¡°The underworld is probably fine, I think. I haven¡¯t checked in a little while, but because of their circumstances they should have a bit more room to develop. However, for the living races, it would be a good idea to slow down a bit, maybe. If it keeps going how it is now, we might really be shoved into the games before any of us are ready.¡±


    Hearing my answer, Irena nodded her head. I¡¯d have to ask Terra, but I was pretty sure that the underworld would only y a minimal involvement in the evaluation from the system. ¡°Fiiine.¡± Aurivy answered, though seemed somewhat reluctant. Keliope seemed a bit more hesitant, but did end up nodding her head in agreement.


    ¡°It¡¯s not like we have topletely stopmunicating with them or anything, right? We just have to stop driving them to develop faster.¡± The ursa goddess said with a slight nod. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be toote to have them start developing more again after everyone¡¯s at least finished exploring their own continents.


    ¡°Right. I¡¯d appreciate it if you help ry that to the others. Now, back to the main topic. I don¡¯t know what kind of personality I want to give this goddess, or her domain. She¡¯s going to be governing this world mostly by herself, after all. I¡¯ll still be checking in, but most of my focus will be on Earth until we reach a stage I¡¯m morefortable leaving it alone.¡±


    This caused the three goddesses to nod slightly, sinking into thought. ¡°You could give her the Love domain like I have.¡± Aurivy eventually suggested, but I could only shake my head at that.


    ¡°I want to eventually link the two worlds, so I don¡¯t want her to have a domain already covered by anyone else. That would probably cause confusion, and maybe even a war. Otherwise, I¡¯d just give her Tubrock¡¯s innovation domain.¡±


    ¡°Why not just make her the Goddess of Technology?¡± Kelope asked from her seat on the sofa.


    ¡°Because at first, ¡®Technology¡¯ won¡¯t really mean anything to the demons. I was thinking that would be a good second domain, but I need to give her something else for the first one.¡± I answered with a small shrug.


    ¡°Fire?¡± Irena spoke up from the other side of me, causing me to nce over. ¡°If my talks with Terra are to be believed, then demons are mythological creatures from your world often associated with death and me. Neither of these are particrly beneficial for a peaceful world, but me is a key element in the development of technology.¡±


    I nced at the other two, who nodded their head in agreement. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go with the Goddess of me, then. Anyone have any ideas for her personality?¡±


    Almost instantly, Aurivy spoke up as if she had been waiting for this chance. ¡°Let¡¯s make her a mom!¡± She said with a wide grin, looking at the three of us. ¡°We have a lot of sisters, a couple brothers, but no mother!¡±


    I knit my brows together as I thought about that. However, before I could speak up, Keliope interjected. ¡°But¡­ with the memories. If webel her as a mother, she¡¯ll probably have memories of children. If so, then wouldn¡¯t she panic when she appeared here without her children?¡±


    I nodded my head, agreeing with her. ¡°And also, I¡¯m somewhat against having a mother figure among the goddesses.¡± Aurivy pouted slightly after hearing that, but began iling when I rubbed the crown of her head to apologize. ¡°Doing so would give her a feeling of authority over the other gods and goddesses, and probably cause some friction when she tries to tell us all what to do.¡±


    ¡°Uhh¡­ fiine, I guess.¡± Aurivy relented, dropping her arms back down to her side. ¡°How about a friend, then?¡± She asked, looking up at me. ¡°Big sis told me that you could use real people as a temte for apanion. Is there anyone from your old world that you¡¯d like to have brought back as a goddess?¡±


    Well¡­ that caught me a bit off guard. I could only look at Aurivy with wide eyes before slowly sinking into thought. Her idea waspletely valid, and one I hadn¡¯t considered before. The problem was, I didn¡¯t have many people I was close to before I died. My boss? No way was I turning my boss into a literal goddess and giving her an entire to govern.


    ¡°There is¡­ one girl, maybe.¡± I considered it. ¡°We weren¡¯t as close as we used to be, but I had an old friend from where I used to live. We could probably bring her in for this.¡± The more I thought about it, the more I remembered her and the world I had left behind.


    ¡°Sounds like a n to me.¡± Keliope said with a grin. ¡°I¡¯ve been wanting to meet more people from your world, boss. Never thought I¡¯d actually get the chance to do it.¡±


    Seeing that nobody seemed to have a problem with it, I closed my eyes to send a message to Terra. Would you mind joining us in the living room? I need your help with how we decided to make this goddess.

 Chapter 117: Deal with the Devil

    <h4>Chapter 117: Deal with the Devil</h4>


    After sending the message to Terra, the four of us waited in the living room for a few minutes for her to arrive. During that time, the three goddesses began talking about a few of their experiences they had encountered with their mortal incarnations. I was not really surprised to see that each one was still using that system, and was rather pleased that the points spent on it were not going to waste.


    A small sigh brought my attention to the hallway, where Terra was walking into the room. ¡°So, what do you guys need my help for?¡± She asked, her tone slightly irritated. I was beginning to think that we might have pulled her out of an important conversation with one of the others.


    Of course, my worries vanished when I exined myself. ¡°Rivy said you told her it was possible to bring someone from my previous world back, and make them into apanion, right?¡±


    Almost instantly, her annoyed expression vanished into one of delight, and she nodded her head. ¡°You want to bring someone you used to know in as the demon goddess?¡± She asked with a wide smile, confusing me somewhat with the sudden change in expression.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Though, first¡­ is it possible to talk to them before we do the wholepanion ceremony? That way I can give them a bit of a warning, and make sure that they are fine with getting the job?¡± This was honestly something I worried about, because the person I had in mind might be too attached to her family and friends to ept the job without them¡­ and there was no way that I could afford just constantly bringing in more people. Not to mention the headache that it would cause.


    Terra nodded her head again. ¡°That¡¯s right. This is something that you can only really do when you are using an actual person, and not creating the personality from scratch. All you have to do is buy the personality first, and you will have the option to go talk to them. Just keep in mind, if they reject the offer, and you end up selling her back to let her rest in peace, you¡¯ll only get half the points back.¡±


    That was fine with me. If they really didn¡¯t want the job, just losing out on ten points wouldn¡¯t be that much of a loss. ¡°Alright, thanks. Then, since you have the archives, could you get me the profile to use for Ashley Newman?¡± This was the real reason that we needed Terra here, aside from confirming that I could talk to her before giving her the job. The rest of us don¡¯t have the records of anyone from the past worlds.


    Terra closed her eyes, seeming to focus. ¡°That shouldn¡¯t be too hard¡­¡± She muttered, holding her hands out in front of her, palms facing upwards. Above her hands, a giant book took shape, bound in leather with a golden lock holding it shut.


    Once the book was fully formed, Terra¡¯s eyes opened, and she looked at me with a smile. ¡°I see why you picked her. She should do just fine.¡± She said confidently as she set down what was quite possibly the biggest book I had ever seen on the table.


    I couldn¡¯t help but remember how the personality profiles for alia and Keliope had only been a few carefully written pages, yet this book had to number in the thousands, maybe even tens of thousands ofrge pages. ¡°Is it¡­ really that much?¡± I asked as I looked at the book in surprise.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Every detail of her life is written down in there, from her birth to death. I don¡¯t have ess to someone¡¯s private thoughts, but if it was even somewhat expressed, it is written there. That is everything you need to perfectly recreate her soul at the moment of her death.¡± Terra answered with a nod, smiling and standing back.


    I nodded my head slightly as I stood up, walking over to the book. I was just about to open the system and buy Ashley¡¯s soul when Terra suddenly spoke up from in front of me. ¡°Mind looking this way for a moment?¡± I blinked in surprise, looking at her.


    Instead of doing anything that I might have been expecting¡­ she simply smiled, and then turned to run off. ¡°I¡¯ll be back in a little bit!¡± She called back, her tail swaying behind her. I could hear Aurivy and Keliope giggling to themselves, while Irena and I just watched her leave without a clue what just happened.


    Okay¡­ back to business. I went ahead and purchased the personality for Ashley Newman, using the profile that Terra had provided as the temte. I really hope that she isn¡¯t messing with me¡­ If this turns out to be some fat dude in his sixties¡­


    _______________________________________________________________


    Everything had been going great for Ashley, ever since she began college several years ago. While working to get her major in Business Management, she began working at a part-time job as an intern to gain experience. After three months, she was officially hired at the game designpany she had been interning with as an assistant supervisor.


    Within two years, she had her own team, and within two more her team had begun to work on their own title to be released. In her college, she was still the top of her ss, having alreadypleted her Bachelor¡¯s degree, and was working on her Master¡¯s. Although her schedule was difficult to bnce, to her it waspletely worth it.


    Yet, everything changed one day. She wasn¡¯t exactly sure what happened, really. One morning, she got home from work, and was getting ready for bed. Then, afterying down, there was¡­ just nothing. Ashley awoke in an empty void of grey mist, feeling like she might be trapped in a lucid nightmare.


    ¡°Hello?¡± She called out fearfully, not knowing what was going on. Thest thing that she expected was that the void would actually answer her.


    ¡°Hey, Ash.¡± The voice was familiar, yet soft enough that she almost didn¡¯t notice it. Turning her head, she saw a man standing not far from her. Wearing a purple shirt and blue jeans, and casting a warm smile towards her.


    His body shape was different than what she knew, but his face and his voice reminded her of someone. ¡°Dale? Is that you, or am I dreaming still?¡± As a test, she reached down to her arm and pinched herself, frowning when she failed to notice any pain.


    ¡°Ah, sorry, but you¡¯re not dreaming. You just can¡¯t get hurt here.¡± Dale answered, seemingly awkward in his tone. ¡°We¡¯ve got a few things to talk about, Ash. Big things.¡±


    It had been a few weeks since thest time that they talked to each other, mostly because her schedule was just too busy to have much time for long distance friends. Yet, she seemed to notice that something had changed about her old friend since thest time they spoke. ¡°Dale? What¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ there¡¯s really no easy way to say this.¡± He lowered his head in thought, before giving a mild shrug. ¡°I sort of caused the end of the world by ident.¡± If her jaw was physically capable of hitting the floor, it would have by now. ¡°Yeah, apparently ¡®God¡¯ ran out in front of my truck, and got the pancake treatment.¡±


    ¡°Dale, that¡¯s not funny.¡±


    ¡°I really wish I was joking.¡± He responded, though part of her felt like he didn¡¯t mean that. He seemed¡­ happy now. Whenever she had talked to him before, he had always been fairly depressed. Unlike Ashley, his life had never really gone anywhere.


    ¡°Okay, so why are we here? Is this heaven, hell, limbo?¡± Ashley asked as she looked around at the grey mist. If this was a dream, there was no harm in humoring it. If not, she needed to get any information she could.


    ¡°Well¡­ apparently, he who kills God, bes God, so to speak.¡± Dale said with a light shrug. ¡°After the ident, I had to create my own world, and a bunch of stuff has happened since then. Right now, I¡¯m in the process of making a second world, but I want to ce someone I trust in charge of it.¡±


    ording to his words, Ashley could clearly understand that he had been doing whatever he had been doing for quite a while. ¡°So¡­ why haven¡¯t youe looking for me before?¡± She asked.


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t, really.¡± He said while scratching the back of his head awkwardly. ¡°Capitalism is a big thing, even with stuff like this. I can¡¯t afford to just bring people back all the time. Honestly, I wouldn¡¯t have even had the chance to see you again, but¡­¡±


    ¡°You want me to run a world?¡± Ashley raised a hand to stop him, reiterating what he had said before. ¡°You want me to be some kind of goddess?¡± The idea was not entirely unappealing.


    ¡°Right. Though¡­ not a human goddess.¡± At this point, Dale seemed to avert his eyes slightly, but he could apparently feel her ring at him to continue. ¡°I already have humans as a race in my first world, and intend for the two worlds to eventually meet. Can you imagine the field day scientists would have if they found apletely identical species on another world?¡±


    Well, he did have a point. ¡°Okay, so what kind of goddess do you want me to be?¡±


    ¡°A demon.¡± He answered immediately, seemingly sure of what he wanted to say from the beginning. ¡°Not a magic ¡®sell your soul¡¯ demon, though. I¡¯ve got enough magic with the first world. This is going to be a world of technology, like ours was. I don¡¯t want to introduce the magic until muchter.¡±


    Ashley nodded her head, sinking into thought. The idea of being a goddess wasn¡¯t really that bad, even if she was a demon goddess. As for managing her own world? She had always been interested in management. And, if this was really all just some borate dream, would it really matter if she chose to ept?


    ¡°Before you decide, I need you to understand something.¡± Dale suddenly spoke up, breaking Ashley out of her thoughts. ¡°I can¡¯t bring back loved ones on a whim. Everyone in the old world is already gone. I don¡¯t want you to misunderstand and think that I¡¯d be able to bring back more people for you.¡± Although the words he said seemed harsh, she could see the regret in his face, as if he himself wished his words weren¡¯t true.


    This made her think of it in a different way. If it really was all real, would she want that? Would she want to be brought back without her family, her friends? If Dale¡¯s words were to be believed, she had already been dead for some time. However¡­ if she refused, all that awaited her was death once again. She subconsciously shivered as she thought about that. At least I went in my sleep. That was the only thought that couldfort her at that moment.


    ¡°I¡¯ll do it.¡± She said, looking up to face him. She knew that he was in no way threatening her. There might be a hidden ultimatum in this offer, but ultimately, it really was just an offer at a second life. It was her decision whether or not to take it. ¡°There anything else I should know?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­¡± Dale gave another sigh as he seemed to consider her words. ¡°You¡¯re going to have to be trained after bing a goddess. There are a lot of things that they can do that you won¡¯t be used to, and it might overwhelm you at first.¡±


    ¡°I also need you to understand that I have something in mind for this second world, so I¡¯ll need you to do your best to follow along with it. That¡¯ll mean minimal interference, unless there is an end of the world cmity or something.¡± Ashley knit her brows together as he said that, but then rxed slightly at his next words. ¡°But, that¡¯s not to say you won¡¯t have anything to do.¡±


    ¡°I have a system set up where you will be able to live out a full life as a mortal whenever you want, whether it is in my first world or the one you¡¯ll be managing. You¡¯ll also be able to interact with me and the rest of the pantheon, so there is plenty to do besides just watching your world grow.¡±


    His words did seem to relieve some of her tension, causing her to nod her head once again. ¡°Okay, I think I can agree to that. Now, whates next?¡±


    When he heard that question, Dale smiled. ¡°Now, I make you into a goddess.¡±

 Chapter 118: Happiness

    <h4>Chapter 118: Happiness</h4>


    Once I was out of the greyndscape, I immediately went to work buying the body for Ashley to use. In order for it to befortable for her, I decided to keep her general body shape, based on the image of herself that she projected in the mindscape just now. Of course, there were going to be some key differences. Most notably, her skin was a deep red.


    Aside from that, I wanted the demons to be able to naturally fly, so I gave them wings. I recalled reading before that typical fantasy representations of angels and demons were impractical, because their wingspan couldn¡¯t support sustained flight, so I made sure the wings wererge enough to do so. However, at the same time, they shouldn¡¯t interfere with routine actions. For that reason, I created a thin bone structure along the top edge of the wings that would allow it to copse in on itself, taking the appearance of a fleshy cape. To hold itself in ce easily, there were two dull hooks at the ends of each wing that couldtch onto her shoulders.


    Naturally, this means that they also had to have tougher skin so that resting their wings like that wouldn¡¯t be painful, but I¡¯d take care of that when I made the race itself. Next up, I created a pair of upwards-curving horns on top of her head, poking out of her dark red hair. And to finish it off, a thick tail sprouting from the small of her back. Not the stereotypical thin tail with a heart-shaped tip, but something more akin to a lizard¡¯s tail, without the scales.


    This was easily the most detail I had put into any god, goddess, or race in general, yet I did not find it at all difficult. Part of me suspected it was because of the martial art I had started training in, allowing me to handle multiple tasks easily enough to take care of all of this. Either way, within a few minutes of finishing my conversation with Ashley, I had created her body.


    Without hesitation, I went ahead and purchased the body as I had designed it, and those of us in the room watched as the golden light descended from above. Slowly, it began putting the body together piece by piece. Once it got up past her thighs, I realized that I had forgotten to include clothing in the design, yet the problem seemed to take care of itself.


    The outfit that manifested around Ashley¡¯s body was by no means modest. Her top was little more than a dark purple bra, bandaged sleeves covering either arm. A metal te covered her crotch, with straps leading back behind her. Below her thighs, her legs were covered in purple cloth, with a steel ted armor covering her shins. On her feet were matching purple high heels, and draped across her shoulder was a simple hood.


    Once the golden light had finished its work, I saw as Ashley slowly opened her eyes. Since I was standing in front of her, naturally I was the first thing she saw, but when she began looking around she caught sight of the other goddesses in the room. ¡°Dale¡­ did you really just want me for your harem?¡± She asked in an incredulous tone. ¡°And why is there a little kid here?¡± After saying that, she turned to look at me in usation, before seeming to notice something out of ce.


    Before I could respond, she jumped in surprise as she looked down to see her tail brushing against her leg. ¡°Holy crap, I have a tail.¡± She eximed, before ncing at the rest of her. ¡°Holy crap I have wings!¡±


    The moment she noticed their existence, her wings seemed to fully extend outwards, or at least attempt to. With her wingspan, her wings ended up smacking against the walls of the room before they were able to extend all the way. ¡°Yeowch, that¡¯s ufortable.¡± She muttered, mostly to herself as she began to twitch her wings, likely trying to get control of them.


    Thankfully, none of the goddesses had been seated in the line of fire, though Keliope¡¯s chair had been fairly close. ¡°Hey, watch it there!¡± She called, out, ducking to the side as one of the wings flew past her.


    ¡°Not the TV!¡± Aurivy called out in panic as she saw that the other wing was heading towards the television. Before the wing had the chance to knock it over, a ss dome seemed to form around it, blocking it from harm. The halfling goddess let out a sigh of relief when she saw that the TV was safe.


    ¡°Uh, Ash, how about we work on your wings first, and then we¡¯ll handle everything else?¡± I suggested, to which she nodded readily. ¡°I¡¯m going to touch along your wings, to give you an idea of where to focus your attention.¡±


    After I said that, I moved to her still-twitching wings, and began cing my hands gently on them. The areas I touched were naturally where I had ced the joints, that way she was able to slowly learn how to flex and contract her wings one step at a time. ¡°Once we¡¯ve got you settled in, we can set up an area for you to practice flying.¡±


    She seemed to like that suggestion, but was too focused on controlling her wings to actually say anything in response. Like that, it took roughly five minutes before we had managed to bring her wings all the way back in, their wed tips once moretching onto her shoulder. ¡°This is¡­ all real, isn¡¯t it?¡± She asked, the first thing she had said since noticing her wings.


    ¡°For better or worse, yeah.¡± I nodded, and immediately sent a message through my spiritual world to Leowynn, asking her to meet me in my room in a few minutes.


    ¡°So¡­ you¡¯ve been doing this for a while, huh?¡± She asked again, her eyes darting towards Aurivy, who was still seated next to Irena. ¡°Long enough to have a kid, at least.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not his daughter, I¡¯m his little sis!¡± Aurivy shouted out, iling her arms in indignation. Ashley simply raised her eyebrows slightly at that, ncing towards me.


    ¡°It¡¯s true, my daughter is an elf, not a halfling.¡± I said with a small smirk, letting that sink in. As expected, her eyes went wide with disbelief, causing me tough. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you¡¯ll meet herter. For now, you should get to know these three. They¡¯re all goddesses of their own races, so they¡¯ll be able to help you adjust to your new abilities.¡±


    She nodded her head slightly, looking to the three of them and bowing politely. ¡°I¡¯m Ashley. Pleasure to meet you all.¡±


    The others all smiled, giving their own introductions one by one. After they were done, I turned to look at Irena, the only other winged goddess in my pantheon. ¡°Once you¡¯ve got her used to everything, would you mind being her flight instructor? You¡¯re really the only one I can rely on for this¡­¡±


    Hearing me say that, Irena had a soft smile on her face as she nodded. ¡°It would be my pleasure.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, Irena. Now, I need to go get her world set up. I¡¯ll be sure not to assign her god privileges until you all think it won¡¯t overwhelm her.¡± I could still remember Aurivy¡¯s pouting face when she suddenly got her second domain, and couldn¡¯t adjust fast enough.


    Ashley obviously seemed interested in watching the creation of her own world, but the fact that she literally tripped over her own tail when she tried to take a step to follow me apparently convinced her that she needed practice first. As such, I was soon back in my room, Leowynn already sitting on my bed with her legs tucked under her waiting for me. ¡°Wee back, Father.¡± She greeted me with a warm smile.


    ¡°Hey, sorry about pulling you away from Ryone like that. I just thought you might like to see me work?¡± Of course, she could havee to watch me creating Ashley, but I figured Ryone would most likely tell her what I was up to. So, if she didn¡¯t show up, that meant either Ryone didn¡¯t tell her, or she decided she¡¯d rather stay with her mother for a bit. Either way was fine really.


    However, this was different. By now, I¡¯d made a dozen gods or goddesses, but this was only the second time I had ever created a new world. Who knew how long it would be before she got to see me do this again?


    Either way, she did seem a bit excited by the idea. ¡°Of course, Father. What do you have in mind?¡± Once I told her what I was doing, she hopped up from the bed, happily moving over to stand behind me as I sat down at theputer. Lately, I had been more adept at using the system with my thoughts, but something as big as making the world still required me to be safe rather than sorry.


    As such, I began navigating the menu, selecting the option to create a new world. In reality, even though this was my second world, it was the first time I was purposely using these menus. Naturally, there were things that surprised me.


    Please select the scale of distance between the new and Earth. If Earth has not reached the required development to unlock the appropriate distance, an additional cost will be applied.


    Same Sr System


    0 Points


    Near-Interster


    0 Points


    Same Gctic Branch


    20 Points


    Distant Region of Gxy


    30 Points


    Different Gxy


    50 Points


    Different Cosmos


    100 Points


    Different Universe


    0 Points


    This list of options was a bit unexpected to me, mostly because of thest two. From modern Earth science, Cosmos and Universe possessed the same meaning. However, clearly the system defined them differently. Judging by the pricing, some things could be understood.


    A cosmos should be something like a gxy of gxies. What we of the modern age called the ¡®known universe¡¯. On the other hand, the universe as a whole was everything. Selecting a different universe should be akin to cing the world in an entirely different reality.


    Given what I had nned, I naturally selected the ¡®Different Universe¡¯ option. I did not want this new world to have the systems and energy types of Earth, which had be physicalws permeating that universe. The fact that it didn¡¯t cost anything to select that option was a bonus.


    You have chosen to ce your new world in an alternate universe. Any previously bought systems applied to Earth may be bought at one half their cost to apply to a new world.


    Do you wish to enter Creative Mode to craft your world personally, Temte Mode to buy from the basic temte choices, or Design Mode to design specific options for your world and allow the system to create it? All costs will depend on the end result, regardless of this choice.


    While Creative Mode did sound like fun, I had no idea how long it would take me to personally create an entire world. I was also interested in Design Mode, but I didn¡¯t need that level ofplexity with what I wanted. The simple Temte Mode would suffice. Once I chose that option, the same five choices appeared in front of me as when I first created the Earth after bing the Keeper.


    I already knew what I wanted, so I went ahead and selected the Technological World option as soon as the window appeared. And just like that, another 70 points were deducted from my total, leaving me with an even thirteen hundred. Well, at least that¡¯s what it was by myst count. I had probably earned some royalties or advancement points since Ist checked.


    A slight yelp of surprise brought me out of my thoughts, and I saw that the room around Leowynn and myself had vanished. I was still sitting at my desk, and she was still standing behind me, but everything else had changed. Like when I created the Earth, we were now standing high above the skies of the new world.


    On its surface, I could see only a single, massive continent. To liken it to Earth, I guess I could consider it Pangea. Currently, no life existed on the, be it nt or animal.


    Please assign a race to inhabit this world. Alternatively, you can choose Free Mode, in which the world evolves without interference from the system. Should an intelligent race evolve, you can choose to purchase them at market value.


    Free Mode reminded me of what happened with the second discovered near Earth, and seemed like too much of a gamble even if I didn¡¯t know what I wanted. I opened the menu to create a race, and begin to fill in the information for the demonic race.


    Race Name


    Demon


    Comprehension


    8


    Agility


    6


    Strength


    6


    Lifespan


    80


    Luck


    7


    Awareness


    6


    Male:Female ratio


    1.05


    Example Adult Male


    Example Adult Female


    Racial Abilities


    Given that they weren¡¯t getting the game world system like Earth was, I decided to increase their base stats to be slightly better than humans. Although it caused their price to increase to twenty-five points, it was a good investment. For the examples, I naturally used Ashley as the female example, and a more buff male version as the other. In the process, I gave each denser skin in order to properly withstand their wingstching onto them.


    All this time, Leowynn had been staring incredulously down at the world below, as if trying to memorize every detail of it with her eyes. ¡°Wow¡­¡± She muttered under her breath as I finished purchasing the race.


    ¡°Just watch, you haven¡¯t seen anything yet.¡± I chuckled, causing her to finally remember that she wasn¡¯t alone here. She looked up at me in confusion, before I pointed downwards.


    As she looked back down, her eyes opened wide in shock. The lifeless had begun rapidly revolving. The massive continent was broken apart, pieces drifting about aimlessly before they eventually came back together. A dense greenery started to cover thend, nts and animals appearing to evolve gradually.


    I paid as close attention to this as I could, since the process had not been this¡­ natural the first time. Was it a special service to a new Keeper that gave them an easy start on their first world? When I first made Earth, the people had simply appeared on the, along with the nts and animals. I had no doubt that the system still tracked their evolution beforehand to create the setting, but the visible process was different.


    By the time the stopped moving, I could tell an obvious change had urred. Looking closely, I was able to zoom my vision in and spot various red-skinned individuals walking about. Some were flying through the skies, others roosting in caves. All in all, there was a miniscule poptionpared to the size of the.


    Pulling up the poption chart, I was able to confirm that there were only fifteen thousand demons living on the below. This was roughly what I had expected, based on my first experience. However, the next window wasn¡¯t one I saw at that time.


    Please designate a name for the new world.


    Naturally, I considered calling it Hell, but thought that might be a bit cruel towards Ashley. Instead, I decided to leave it up to someone else, because I wholly acknowledge my terrible naming sense. And since Ashley was still busy learning how to be a goddess¡­ ¡°Leowynn, any ideas for a name for the?¡±


    The elven woman was startled by my sudden question. ¡°M-me, Father? Are you sure?¡± She asked, looking at me.


    ¡°I suck at picking names¡­¡± I admitted.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ okay. How about Desbar?¡± She suggested, seemingly throwing out a random name. Yet, when I heard it, something clicked in my mind. Desbar was the elven word for new beginnings.


    I nodded my head, entering the name. Although it wasn¡¯t the most creative name around, neither was Dirt, which is essentially what our world was called. At the very least, this sounded cooler.


    New world Desbar has been registered.


    There was a light fanfare from the emptiness around us as thest message shed, startling myself and Leowynn. However, a few momentster we were back in my bedroom, the familiar wooden floorboards beneath our feet. On the screen, I saw a new tab at the top of the map window, which would allow me to change the maps between worlds.


    ¡°So, what did you think?¡± I turned to ask Leowynn, only to nearly stumble out of my chair when I saw Terra standing there beside her. My reaction obviously startled Leowynn as well, but she let out a cry of surprise when she found Terra standing there herself.


    ¡°W-what was that for?!¡± I asked as I steadied myself, earning a smallugh from Terra, who grinned happily at me. For the moment, asking her about the universe and cosmos stuff started to take a backseat in my mind to wondering whether or not I could really die of a heart attack in the Admin Room¡­


    ¡°I wanted to congratte you, Dale.¡± She said, causing me to look up at her curiously. ¡°I¡¯ve been preparing something for you for a little while now, a sort of ¡®graduation¡¯ present.¡± It was only now that I noticed Terra had her hands behind her back, seemingly holding onto something.


    ¡°Terra¡­ why does it sound like you¡¯re going away?¡± I asked, and couldn¡¯t help but feeling worried. Part of me knew it was unrealistic to expect her to go away, I knew systempanions didn¡¯t just leave like that. Yet, her words gave me that kind of feeling.


    ¡°Huh? Going away?¡± She looked down at me, confused. ¡°You think you could get rid of me that easily? I¡¯ll have you know, mister, I n to stick around for a long time.¡± As she spoke, her smile once again returned. ¡°You¡¯re just no longer a ¡®Basic¡¯ Keeper.¡±


    Seeing that I still had no idea what she was talking about, she exined with a happy tone. ¡°One of my jobs as a systempanion is to guide you along as a Keeper, and make sure that you understand your powers and abilities. This is something you¡¯ve known all along. What you didn¡¯t know, or maybe never realized, is that I also watch your performance.¡±


    Well, that I did realize, I mean she was pretty much there for every major event until recently. Yet, I didn¡¯t stop her as I wanted to figure out where this was going. ¡°When a Keeper bes familiar with their own abilities, and bes more capable of doing things on their own, a systempanion is able to award them an achievement.¡±


    As she spoke, a blue sh appeared as a window appeared in front of me, yet I brushed it aside to finish listening to the exnation. ¡°You¡¯ve made mistakes, you¡¯ve asked others for advice and confided in them. Yet, you¡¯ve been acting on your own ideas, without needing me to tell you how to do any of the basics for a while. You¡¯ve even started using the system without always needing the interface.¡±


    While she was talking, I began to realize that it wasn¡¯t just happiness in her voice, but pride. She seemed proud of me for the progress I¡¯ve made on my own, like a parent watching her child doing well in their studies. Though, maybe that was a bad example, seeing as she was the closest thing I had to a girlfriend.


    ¡°Because of all of this, I am happy to be able to officially recognize you as a true Keeper.¡± She said, bringing the object out from behind her back. ¡°This is something that the previous Keeper never achieved, because he had no interest in this position. I really am happy that you were able toe this far, so I prepared this for you. When you called me earlier, I was worried that you were going to need my help creating another personality like I did with Keliope and alia. When I found out it was something you really weren¡¯t able to do without me, I was reassured that the time was right for this.¡±


    Once she handed me the object, I was able to tell that it was a framed picture, though one that I knew had at least some level of maniption done to it. ¡°Terra, this is¡­¡± I couldn¡¯t quite find the words to describe it as I looked at it, feeling a smile tugging at my lips.


    ¡°This is our family, Dale.¡± She spoke softly, cing a hand on my shoulder. In the picture, there was myself and Leowynn, as well as each and every god and goddess. Even Ashley was included, looking like she had been there from the very beginning. ¡°We may not be a normal family, but I like to think that¡¯s what we¡¯ve be. A family that can rely on each other to do anything.¡±


    I nodded my head faintly, tracing my hand along the edge of the picture. To me, this was probably the best gift that I could have gotten. Something that could make me feel like this was truly a home, and not just somewhere that I was living with a bunch of other people.


    Without saying anything, I got up from my seat and walked out of the room. Although I passed a few of the others on the way, none of them stopped me. Maybe it was the look on my face, or their own curiosity, but they ended up following me. By the time that I got back to the living room, Ashley was sitting on the couch with Aurivy and Irena, with Keliope having left. Aside from them, most of the others had ended up following me.


    When I moved to the wall, they seemed to understand something. After I hung the picture up, I saw as the nk background shifted, blending in with the wall. It looked as if we were all simply standing on the frame. I felt a hand on my shoulder, and turned to see Ashley looking at me with a small smile.


    ¡°Looks like you finally found some happiness, huh?¡±


    Hearing her question, I could only nod slightly. ¡°Yeah, I guess I have¡­¡± Of course, the atmosphere was suddenly broken when a happy Aurivy ran up and jumped into my arms, causing most of the gathered deities tough.


    The Keeper''s Family


    Spoiler


    [copse]

 Chapter 119: The Secret Guardian

    <h4>Chapter 119: The Secret Guardian</h4>


    After spending a little bit of time with everyone, I managed to pull Terra off to the side, wanting to get her to help me with something. Assuming that what I wanted was even possible. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± She asked, a pleased smile on her face.


    I took a deep breath, doing my best to calm myself. As happy as I was over the gift that she had given me, I needed to focus. ¡°I want to do something with Ashley¡¯s world, Desbar. But I wanted to know if it was even possible, first.¡±


    Terra nodded her head slightly, crossing her arms beneath her bust. ¡°Alright. What do you have in mind?¡±


    ¡°I want to make it so that any points she earns from technology advancements go into a separate pool of points, which she can use to purchase things like cultural directions for civilizations.¡± This way, she¡¯d still be able to have at least some control over her world, and would not be restricted to simply watching it grow passively from the background.


    Terra nodded again, looking down in thought. ¡°Well, she won¡¯t be able to buy anything from the market. Even Ryone, with her domain of wealth, can¡¯t buy from the market directly. She can make local purchases though. Spawn pre-bought entities or events, or like you said adjust the culture of a group of people. I can set that up easily enough. Do you just want to include the advancements from Desbar in it?¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± I considered the options for a moment. ¡°The world achievements can contribute to that as well. But if it happens to get any Keeper achievements, that will go to the main pool. I just want to make sure that she has some say in her world, without her having to go down and handle things from the ground.¡±


    Terra¡¯s smile widened slightly at that. ¡°I understand, Dale. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll take care of it. Once she¡¯s done learning how to control her body, I¡¯ll take her through a crash course in being a Keeper. Or at least, Keeper middle management.¡±


    I chuckled slightly at that. ¡°Thanks. She¡¯s probably going to want to keep fast forwarding for a while like I did until they advance more.¡± Terra nodded her head, and walked back to the group, while I made my way towards my bedroom. I still had a few things to take care of that I had been putting off.


    First of all, I raised the level cap, bringing it up to two hundred and fifty. That would give the people a little more room to grow like Bihena suggested, and wouldn¡¯t leave them stagnated too soon afterpleting their basic education.


    Next, I did a quick fast forward of one hundred years. By now, there has been time for word to spread to everybody about what I wanted to do in regards to advancement, so fast forwarding here would cut down on the time that they would have to actively go without participating in their civilizations, from one viewpoint at least. With that out of the way, I took a look at how the world was developing, quite interested to see how the changes had yed out.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Following Leowynn¡¯s death, thends of Gandor were quiet. She could be seen as a true hero, the first true hero that the elven race had ever known. For all her life, she had faced threats that could destroy the entire kingdom and everyone in it. And in her death, she took out the greatest of these threats, a beast that would have had no equal if left unchecked.


    In the eyes of the queen, it was Leowynn¡¯s achievement which opened the path of strength for her people. For it was only when news reached her ear of her most trusted aide¡¯s death that the pinnacle was raised once more. This was a feat that was no lesser than her ying the dragon, because this would allow them to raise a new generation of elves that held the same power.


    Since then, every year on the day of her fateful battle, a festival was held throughout thends. Only the most necessary of jobs were to be done on that day, such as defending the cities from monster attacks. This was Sheawynn, the Festival of Stars. Dedicated as a holy day to Ryone, and a memorial to Leowynn, it soon became the most popr holiday within the elvennds.


    On the day of Sheawynn, all families came together, remembering what was given so that they could have these peaceful days. And at night, they would exchange gifts that they crafted or bought, trophies of their hunts, or just spent their time celebrating. Ryone¡¯s own daughter had died to protect them, so how could they not cherish the family that had been saved?


    _______________________________________________________________


    In the northern ins of al, just south of a great forest, a group of hunters had gathered. Most of them were lycan and felyn, their heightened senses and reflexes offering them an advantage in the terrain that they were journeying to. At their front stood a lone lycan female, her leather armor dyed ck to match her hair.


    ¡°Alright, everyone. Today¡¯s mission is to investigate the forest of shadows.¡± She told everyone, her voice calm. Murmurs broke out among the crowd as they heard that. ¡°There have been reports from scouts iming that a great beast hides within these woods. Children who have journeyed near the forest have gone missing.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t lie to you all, I don¡¯t know what we are facing. Nobody has ever seen the beast directly, only heard the sounds of its battle. However, for the safety of our fellows, for our children, we have to put an end to this.¡± As she said that, the group of hunters let out a collective agreement.


    To the north, several dozen kilometers away, a lone kitsune with golden fur sat atop a high branch at the edge of the forest, his eyes glowing with a faint blue light. He could hear the unfamiliar voices, theirnguage unclear to him. Yet, how they held their weapons, how they looked towards his woods, he knew their intent was to attack. His eyes dimmed, revealing their amber shade as he stood.


    Reaching into his satchel, he pulled out a thin slip of paper, strange red markings drawn on top of it. Standing up, he turned to the side and ced the paper against the tree, where it adhered to the bark easily. He filled the paper with his chakra, activating the hidden effect within, before beginning to speak.


    ¡°Lord, a group from the ins is gathering to invade the forest. What do you want me to do?¡± He asked reverently. Soon, the red markings let out a simr blue glow as his eyes previously had, and an aged voice spoke from the paper talisman.


    ¡°I see the situation. Remain hidden for now. If they attempt to harm the forest, you know what to do. Remember, we are protectors, not warriors. As long as they do not attempt to harm us or ournds, we will simply remain the silent guardians of old. Such was the will of Dayl, and the will of every chief since.¡±


    The man hesitated for another minute, before nodding his head. ¡°Very well, Lord. I¡¯ll continue to observe for now.¡± When the blue light of the talisman faded, he peeled it from the tree and ced it back in his satchel, turning again to face the People of the ins.


    It was not long before they set out, journeying in a dense group for protection. Once they entered the forest, they began to spread out slowly, unaware of the man watching them overhead. By now, he had already vanished from the nearby trees, remaining hidden and watching from afar.


    No matter how they searched, the hunting party was only able to find the tracks ofmon beasts and monsters. Nothingrge enough or strange enough to exin the reports that they had heard. For a moment, they considered scaling the trees to investigate the possibility of a snake, spider, or flying monster, but doing so would put them at a severe disadvantage in terms of mobility if they were attacked. It was better to return to town empty handed than to return without a full party.


    Though, they had not expected to find a priestess of alia waiting for them upon their return. To the beastkin, the church held a strong position in their society, on equal footing with the kings and queens. If not for several people witnessing the divine punishment of those who sought to use their positions for evil, this trust would likely not have spread as wide.


    ¡°Sister.¡± The leader of the hunting party pped her fast against her chest and bowed respectfully to the white robed lycan.


    ¡°There is no need for that, Fenil.¡± The priestess shook her head, a small smile forming on her face. She may not be a high rank within the church, but she could be considered in charge of this town¡¯s religious affairs. As such, she was used to being greeted like this. ¡°Ie bearing a message for you, from the Sister Goddesses.¡±


    The words struck like thunder in Fenil¡¯s mind, and she looked up in shock. No priest or priestess would ever dare to lie about such a message. Even purposely dying its delivery would often result in a punishment of some form. ¡°W-why would they have a message for me?¡± She asked, fearing she had done some misdeed to earn their ire.


    ¡°It should be rted to the journey your group just came back from.¡± She answered calmly, that same smile on her face still. ¡°The Sisters have spoken that people live within the forests, but they are not of the kingdoms. The children who have gone missing in recent times did so because they wandered too deep into the woods, and were attacked. These strangers saved them, and are tending to their wounds.¡±


    ¡°When the children are fully recovered, they will be allowed to return. However, we are not to seek them out, for help or harm. This message has been passed to every king and queen, as well. Terra herself has dered that, so long as we respect their territory, they will be our greatest shield. In the future, when we face our greatest dangers, they will help us ovee.¡±


    Fenil furrowed her brows as she listened to the message, but nheless nodded her head. ¡°Very well, I understand Sister.¡± In her mind she had to wonder, though. In all of history, since the founding of the First Kingdom Terraria, there had never been another organized group of people outside of the kingdoms. Did that mean that they existed outside of the control of the goddesses? Yet, this message would indicate that the goddesses knew of them, and even thought very highly of them.


    As soon as they returned into the vige, Fenil began making preparations. She set up a team to patrol the border of the forest daily, but gave them orders not to enter unless absolutely necessary. Hopefully, the words of the priestess were true, and the children would be returned shortly.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Well, it looks like the ninja vige is finallying into y.¡± I nodded my head slightly as I thought about that. Terra and the others may have intervened a bit there, but it wasn¡¯t really against what I told them. They hadn¡¯t tried to educate their people to increase their growth. If anything, preventing direct contact with the ninja vige would slow them down further.


    With that out of the way, I decided to turn my eyes elsewhere. It was time that I gave a closer look to the heroc, who I had been mostly neglecting recently. The survival of the other races were all but guaranteed since I had the gods and goddesses watching over them, but the heroc were different. The heroc truly had only themselves to depend upon.


    Announcement


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 Chapter 120: Decisions, Decisions

    <h4>Chapter 120: Decisions, Decisions</h4>


    To be honest, my expectations weren¡¯t exactly that high when I went to look at the heroc territory. There was even the chance that they had been pushed to the brink of extinction. While I knew that nothing major had happened to them, or else I would have received an alert, that didn¡¯t exclude the possibility of a slow decline.


    However, what I saw pleasantly surprised me. They were still well within the stone age, their cities little more than huts crafted out of shaped stone. Yet, their numbers were beginning to grow.


    In terms of levels, they were still lower than most, having very few people reach the cap. But in terms of poption, it had practically exploded. Compared to the other races, the heroc had an environment which could be considered ¡®safe¡¯ for them. The monsters in their area typically did not grow too powerful, so they were allowed to flourish. Out of curiosity, I opened up the poption window, wanting to get a better idea of how theypared to the other races.


    Elves - Poption: 423,000. Average level: 125


    Humans - Poption: 2,340,000. Average level: 115


    Felyn - Poption: 4,780,000. Average level: 117


    Lycan - Poption: 2,730,000. Average level: 119


    Ursa - Poption: 5,315,000. Average level: 112


    Kitsune - Poption: 3,670,000. Average level: 109


    Dwarf - Poption: 2,650,000. Average level: 121


    Halfling- Poption: 1,100,000. Average level: 116


    Daeva - Poption: 23,507,000. Average level: 167


    Centaur - Poption: 846,000. Average level: 114


    Heroc - Poption: 315,000. Average level: 75


    Given that the heroc had only been less than a tenth of that number not too long ago, it was a remarkable growth! Though, this window also had other information which I found quite interesting. In particr, the daeva.


    In terms of poption alone, the daeva race far outstripped even the four beastkin racesbined. When you take into ount their average level, which was also substantially higher, their strength as a race bes even greater. However, this is only to be expected, given the characteristics of the daeva and the world they live in.


    Within the Underworld, the strong have longer lifespans. Therefor, the average is skewed towards all of those people who train to the pinnacle and don¡¯t die after a while. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if there are still daeva alive that were there five hundred, or even a thousand years ago.


    The rest of the races were roughly what I had imagined, with the exception of the elves. Though their average level was second only to the daeva, their numbers were far too low. The centaurs and halflings can be excused due to having had a ¡®recent¡¯ war, but even they are pushing it. I couldn¡¯t help but worry that the elves would be treated badly once the races met one another, due to not having the numbers to fight back.


    For a moment, I considered putting them in a time zone and giving them a bit longer to grow, but ultimately decided against that. While it is one thing to do that for the centaurs, to enable them to catch up to the other races, doing it now for the elves would put them far ahead in terms of development. I just had to hope that they were able to ovee their weakness in the time they had left.


    This did, however, bring me another interesting idea to think about. Whether it was from Grimor, or the information I had received on the Keepe, my world was starting to get to the point where I should be a lot more actively involved. They had all rmended new Keepers to start when their world reached fifty million people. I couldn¡¯t exactly count the daeva in that number, given that they were part of a different ne of existence, but even without them I was at roughly half of that.


    But, how should I get involved? I wondered to myself, ncing at the various parts of the world. It was still far too early for me to start connecting the races together, so that idea was out. Maybe I could try to raise up another leader like I did with the centaurs, just doing it myself this time instead of a World Host.


    Nodding slightly at that idea, I couldn¡¯t help but nce towards the humans. Although they were waging far less wars than they had in the past, there were still many fragmented kingdoms within theirnds. Perhaps I should start with helping them to unify a bit?


    However, that thought soon left my mind. ¡°No. Anything like that would get pulled apart as soon as I left, I think.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯re you talking about?¡± A voice spoke up from nearby, and I turned to see alia, standing in the doorway. Her canine ears were twitching slightly as she looked at me, tilting her head. ¡°Sorry, I was just heading back to my room after the little party died down, and I heard you say something. Maybe I could help?¡± She smiled sweetly as she offered, and I couldn¡¯t find it in myself to say no.


    She was the Goddess of Wisdom, after all. Maybe she¡¯d have some good advice for me in a situation like this. ¡°Alright, pull up a chair.¡± I told her, causing another chair to form beside my own. She happily moved over to sit down, as I began exining the issue.


    Once I was done telling her about how everyone suggested I stay involved, and that I couldn¡¯t decide what to do, she put on a thoughtful expression, slightly rocking back and forth in her seat. ¡°Hmmm¡­ Well, I know a bit about the other races from talking to the others. A lot of the stuff we just take care of on our own. We use our incarnations for that, you know? If we want to build up a king or queen, we do it ourselves. I don¡¯t really think that would be something for you to get involved with, unless you get a really good idea.¡±


    Well, when you put it that way¡­She did have a point, though. The others are all able to live out their own mortal lives whenever they want, even among all of the different races. ying Merlin for them wouldn¡¯t have any real meaning, since I¡¯m sure most of them have already done that a few times. ¡°Okay¡­ then what do you have in mind?¡±


    ¡°Gimme a second.¡± She said quietly, still rocking back and forth, her legs swinging beneath her. ¡°If you went to the dwarves, you could probably be a legendary cksmith, but that doesn¡¯t really fit you. I think the best thing for you to do would be to create a legend.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but blink slightly at that. ¡°A legend, you say? Well¡­ those are easier said than done.¡± Though, I had inadvertently created a couple of legends before, doing so on purpose would be harder. After all, first I would need to figure out what kind of legend I wanted to make, and how to do that without the popce warping it beyond all recognition. Or, in other words, figure out how to do so in a way that their warping creates what I wanted.


    ¡°Yeah, true.¡± alia nodded in agreement. ¡°Oooh, I know!¡± Suddenly, her head shot up in excitement, her tail sticking straight out behind her. ¡°I know something you could do that would really impact the world! Better yet, it wouldn¡¯t take much time from you.¡±


    Seeing me urge her to continue, she put on a face that I could only describe as a wolfish grin, her sharp canine poking past her lip. ¡°Make fairies! Like, actually handcraft them, don¡¯t buy them. Here, let me show you.¡±


    Before I could say anything, she closed her eyes to focus, bringing up a window in front of me. It was one that I had seen multiple times before, and showed a ss I had already purchased, the World Spirit. ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking about this one for a while now! I even spent an entire incarnation trying to figure out how to obtain the ss.¡±


    I looked over the window, nodding my head slightly before I pulled up some information on myputer. Sure enough, nobody in the world had unlocked the World Spirit ss, or the Martial Spirit ss¡­ ¡°Okay¡­ I¡¯m guessing that you have an idea, since you brought it up.¡±


    ¡°Hehe¡­¡± She smiled wide at me in response to that, nodding her head. ¡°I actually don¡¯t think it¡¯s a ss that people can be. So hear me out. Our spiritual energy isn¡¯t something that we ourselves can manipte, at least not without really injuring our health. My incarnation actually died when I tried to forcefully pull natural energy into my body to merge it with my spirit as ast resort.¡±


    I nodded my head as I listened, already well aware of this fact. ¡°However, we have several sses that specialize in controlling unbound spiritual energy. So it got me thinking¡­ maybe a World Spirit isn¡¯t trained, but born? Maybe someone else has to manipte spiritual and natural energy, giving it a physical form.¡±


    ¡°I was nning to have my next incarnation try that, but she¡¯s still only an infant, and you asked us not to advance our races too much¡­ So, maybe you could do it! If it works, you could create a brand new race within the world!¡± With her proposal finished, she leaned forward in her chair, propped up by her hands between her legs, and looked at me with that same smile.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ I could certainly try it. Might even be able to create Martial Spirits while I¡¯m at it, if they follow the same principles.¡± I nodded my head slightly, agreeing to the idea. ¡°By the way, how are the dungeonsing along? I hadn¡¯t heard any of you mention them in a while.¡±


    ¡°Dungeons?¡± She asked, tilting her head curiously. ¡°Oh, right! Sorry, I only have one that¡¯s actually been found, and it was killed around a hundred years or so ago.¡± Saying that, she shook her head sadly. ¡°Most people see them as just another type of monster, so it¡¯s only normal for them to want to destroy them. Not all of our dungeons are able tomunicate like Aurivy¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°Oh? She¡¯s been teaching it how to talk?¡± I asked in mild surprise.


    ¡°Well¡­ maybe not talk. But it can write on the ground. She¡¯s been teaching it all the differentnguages as they evolve, so no matter who it meets in the future it will be able tomunicate with them!¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you guys try doing that with yours?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask her that, seeing as it was turning into an issue.


    ¡°Well, you see¡­ they¡¯re just too dull, honestly.¡± Her ears drooped down as she said that, shaking her head. ¡°I tried with a couple of mine. The race as a whole just has issues with learning. It took me about four hundred years just to get one to spell out a proper sentence. And even then it wasn¡¯t able to figure out how to understand spoken words.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ Well, thanks anyways for the advice. It¡¯s given me an idea on what I can do now.¡± That earned me another happy smile from alia.


    ¡°d to be of help! If you need me for anything else, just let me know. I¡¯m right down the hall.¡± Seeing that she was done here, she hopped up onto her feet and ran out the room, her tail wagging happily behind her.


    Well, I guess it¡¯s my turn to get started. I mused silently, sending a mental summons to Leowynn through my spiritual world. Let your mom know that you¡¯ll probably be gone for a little while this time. I¡¯m not sure how long it¡¯ll be before I¡¯ll be done.


    With the message sent, I waited for Leowynn to get back to the room. At the same time, I began looking through the map to find an ideal ce to put the World Spirits and Martial Spirits. Somewhere where they¡¯d be able to have an effect on the world, without getting massacred as soon as they appear.

 Chapter 121: The Fairiest of them All

    <h4>Chapter 121: The Fairiest of them All</h4>


    While I was waiting for Leowynn, I sent a message to Terra, asking what the minimum distance was that I had to be from a settlement in order to use my full power without being noticed. To my surprise¡­ it was actually quite a long ways, roughly five hundred miles for most races, and over a thousand for the heroc, due to their innate sensitivity. Either way, that gave me the starting point I needed to figure out where was safe to descend. Given my track record, I was worried that they might be able to sense my presence somewhat even if I was on the other side of the continent.


    Either way, once Leowynn returned to the room and entered my spiritual world, I descended onto the human continent. The area I chose was a forest roughly two thousand miles to the south of their southernmost city, so it should be more than enough distance for me to conduct this test safely. If not, then there was really nothing that I could do in secret anymore! I mean, two thousand miles was half the continent back in my previous world.


    Father, what did you want to do down here? Leowynn¡¯s voice broke me out of my thoughts, and I could faintly feel her confusion.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to be making history.¡± I said, in a purposely cryptic tone, before exining. ¡°There are two sses that don¡¯t seem to be able to be unlocked naturally, due to the restrictions on the sses themselves. Only specially created entities can get them. So¡­ I¡¯m going to try to create them.¡±


    As I spoke, I could feel Leowynn¡¯s excitement growing stronger. Can Ie out? She asked in a hopeful tone. I want to watch it myself!


    ¡°Sorry¡­¡± I shook my head slowly. ¡°I can¡¯t risk it. I¡¯m going to be messing with a lot of spiritual energy, and I don¡¯t want to identally drag yours into the mix. If I thought it was safe, I¡¯d let you out, but for now¡­ you¡¯ll just have to watch it through me.¡±


    Aw¡­ I could feel Leowynn pouting from within me, but there was really no helping it. I had had so little practice with my full power that it wasn¡¯t funny. To be precise, I had NO practice with my current full power, and didn¡¯t even know what my full power was! Well, I could at least remedy one part of that quickly.


    Name


    Dale Mitchell


    Race


    Human(Keeper)


    Health


    387/387(463114/463114)


    Mana


    235/235(142773/142773)


    Strength


    7(519)


    Ki


    744/744(178342/178342)


    Stamina


    13(432)


    Intelligence


    12(367)


    Dexterity


    16(489)


    Wisdom


    23(579)


    Luck


    6(172)


    Charm


    5(161)


    ss List


    Alchemist 1(134)


    Archer 0(149)


    Architect 0(67)


    Archmage 0(52)


    Armorer 0(99)


    Artisan 0(99)


    Assassin 0(113)


    Bard 0(167)


    Berserker 0(180)


    ck Knight 0(35)


    cksmith 0(99)


    Carpenter 1(99)


    Chef 0(99)


    Cleric 0(83)


    Crusader 0(48)


    Druid 11(105)


    Enchanter 5(103)


    Engineer 0(7)


    Fallen Priest 0(19)


    Farmer 0(99)


    Gambler 0(38)


    Guard 0(89)


    Herbalist 2(99)


    Hero 3(52)


    Hunter 0(121)


    Jeweler 0(67)


    Knight 0(81)


    Leader 1(61)


    Leatherworker 0(99)


    Mage 2(130)


    Martial Artist 1(99)


    Merchant 0(69)


    Miner 0(99)


    Monk 15(130)


    Monster Tamer 2(85)


    Ninja 6(150)


    Noble 0(48)


    Painter 0(74)


    Pdin 0(23)


    Pirate 0(25)


    Priest 1(100)


    Rogue 0(85)


    Schr 1(65)


    Scout 1(91)


    Sculptor 0(63)


    Shaman 10(72)


    Spirit Hunter 15(61)


    Spirit Tamer 6(79)


    Swordsman 0(91)


    Tailor 0(99)


    Temr 0(38)


    Warrior 2(160)


    Weaponmaster 0(46)


    Advanced sses


    Elemental Monk 0(35)


    Elementalist 0(40)


    Summoner 0(23)


    I¡­ couldn¡¯t help but cough in surprise when I saw the various stats and levels. No wonder Terra said I needed to be at least five hundred miles away! I even began to wonder if I had truly gone far enough. Everything was so much higher than it had been thest time that I looked that I couldn¡¯t help but worry.


    Still, Terra had never directly lied to me before, so when she said that five hundred miles would be a safe distance, then naturally that meant I would be safe where I was. It just¡­ took me a moment to ept that reality.


    Taking a deep breath, I focused inwards, taking down the wall that I had built between myself and my Keeper power. I could feel the energies washing over me, but the changes did not end there. Beneath my feet, the ground began to crack under my suddenly increased weight. Blue and golden lights circled around my body before rising into the air.


    When the light hit the skies, the clouds began to darken, lightning arcing within them. I blinked in surprise as I watched the strange phenomena which were caused simply by releasing my full power. However, it onlysted for a short time before the lights were absorbed back into my body.


    With the increase in my strength, it was only natural that I didn¡¯t notice the change in my weight, myself. If anything, I actually felt lighter than before! Yet, from the sounds that rang out every time I took a step, like a heavy rock being dropped onto the ground, I knew that the change must have been significant.


    Wow¡­ Father is powerful! Leowynn called out in surprise from within my spiritual world, having noticed the unconscious disy of strength.


    ¡°That was¡­ an ident.¡± I chuckled softly, shaking my head. ¡°Now¡­ let¡¯s get started, shall we?¡± I nced down to my wrist, where the golden bracelet I had previously formed still resided. There were questions about some of my status that I would have to ask Terrater, but for now I had to focus.


    Leowynn was clearly excited to see me perform whatever miracle she expected me to achieve. Yet, knowing myself, I was bound to disappoint her if she was expecting a sess on the first try. After all, I had never attempted to merge spiritual energy with anything else.


    First, I lifted my right hand, my golden bracelet shining slightly. ¡°Gather.¡± Imanded, and I could sense as the natural energies of the surrounding forest gathered in front of me, as if awaiting further instructions. It was so dense that I could even see a hazy image with the naked eye, like the air had been scorched.


    Smiling slightly, I infused a small amount of mana into my eyes to begin looking around, finding all of the nearby spiritual energies. Since I was so far from a human settlement, I didn¡¯t have to worry about grabbing a sapient soul by mistake. ¡°Gather.¡± I said again, though this time I wasmanding in a different manner.


    Silver smoke filled my vision, rising up from every inch of the ground. No doubt, the countless little insects and other critters that would typically escape the notice of the patrols had piled up for a while. I wasn¡¯t about toin, since it would give me the perfect materials for my own endeavors.


    As the smoke rose up, it began to gravitate towards me, much as the natural energy had. However, this process was far slower, as I did not have a convenient tool to help me control spiritual energy. At the same time, I was working to refine it, filtering it through my mana to work out the impurities.


    By the time the smoke arrived before me, it had turned into arge mass, several meters high. Although it appeared to be a solid in my vision, I knew that I would lose sight of it if I stopped channeling the mana to my eyes. ¡°Okay¡­ I¡¯ve got the ingredients¡­ now how to make this work¡­¡±


    For the spiritual energy, I knew that I would likely need the entire mass in order to create a living World Spirit. The creature needed to have a physical form, and that required condensing the energy until it was a fraction of its current size. Now, that might not be the case when I create a Martial Spirit, but that is because ki in itself is the essence of the physical. It might be able to make spiritual energy solid more easily.


    Anyways, for now I just had to be careful. ¡°Merge.¡± I spoke softly, slowly gathering the natural energies around me and sending them into the mass of spirits. The important part right now was to find the ¡®form¡¯ that would allow spiritual and natural energies to mix. Go too far on one side, and the natural energies will be repelled. Go too far on the other, and I may just destroy the spiritual energy.


    Given that natural energy was far more abundant, I decided to start small on that one. I took control of the energies myself, focusing as I let them gently press into the mass of spiritual energy. Only once I felt that they were just barely starting to sink in did I rx my control, focusing instead on keeping the spiritual energies in ce.


    Of course, the problem now was that I had no real unit of measurement for natural energy, unlike any of the other types. So it was hard for me to urately note down what the ratio was, aside from an instinctive feeling. But if that is all I had to go by, then it is what I would use.


    Once I had the spiritual energy mass filled with natural energy, it became apparent that the two were still not mixing. Instead, it seemed to be a bubble of spiritual energy surrounding natural energy. Which is¡­ not what I wanted at all. I coulde up with three possible ways for the two energies to mix, but any one of them failing would likely mean having to relocate and start from scratch.


    The first attempt I made was the most delicate, trying to modify the bnce of energies to find the proper point for them tobine. If I were to take chakra as an example, then forcing the two together could end with explosive results, and instead a delicate touch was required. Unfortunately¡­ this delicate touch soon showed more harm than good.


    As I was adjusting the ratio, moving the natural energies out of the bubble slowly in order to affect the bnce, I noticed something strange. With the reduced resistance, the spiritual energy suddenly caved in on itself, attempting to reim the area taken from it. Naturally, this in turn caused the spiritual energy to temporarily condense. Ultimately, it resulted in the spiritual energy being torn apart by the rebound.


    With a slight sigh, I kicked off the ground and ran even further south, until there was enough spiritual energy nearby to try again. This time, I tried a more forceful method. With the bubble formed once again, I attempted to condense the spiritual energy around it, with the intention of forming a physical body for the natural energy to reside in.


    As one might imagine¡­ this did not go so well either. This time, there was an actual explosion, and the ground beneath me seemed to shatter. Everything within ten meters of the ¡®experiment¡¯ had been sted back, with the exception of myself.


    Moving south once again, I tried the third and final option. What do you do when two items refuse to mix properly? You shove them in the blender! By this point, I was admittedly somewhat irritated at having to start all over again. When I had the two energies gathered, I began violently mixing them, spinning them around and containing them much like a blender would. This method was honestly the one that I thought had the least chance of sess, hence why I saved it forst.


    And yet¡­ I was not wrong. The only thing that seemed toe out of the third attempt was the spiritual energy being torn to shreds repeatedly. Although I did notice a slight change to some of it, it was far from being able to make me excited. However, it did give me another idea to try.


    So¡­ moving south again, I started over for the fourth and final time. If I failed this time, I wouldn¡¯t have anything else I could try without going back and buying a guide off the market. Which, honestly, was not a bad idea. But was it so wrong of me to want to figure this out for myself?!


    Anyways, thisst attempt was a sort of mix between all three. First, I gathered the two energies together, keeping them separate. Next, I slowly began to push them together, while focusing on condensing the spiritual energy.


    Finally, as the spiritual energy was just starting to be physical, I noticed a change in how it interacted with the natural energy. It actually became easier to fuse the two together, at which point, it was back to the blender! Grey smoke turned into a light green whirlpool in front of me, one which I could see even without focusing my eyes.


    Now, I probably need to give it a shape¡­Thest thing I wanted was to get this far, and to only end up with a blob of mixed energies. So, I began working again, doing my best to mold the energies into a humanoid shape. However, it was at this point that another problem appeared, and that was just how much energy there was.


    In short¡­ not enough! The grey mass that had been dozens of meters tall, when condensed and merged with natural energy, was barely bigger than my palm. I know I agreed to make fairies, but I didn¡¯t think they¡¯d actually BE fairies!


    Yet, it was toote to go back on it now, so I just did my best to seed. I focused my mind on an image I knew from my youth, that of a tiny woman with transparent wings behind her back. Her limbs were thin and frail, her hair short and golden. To my pleasant surprise, the energies seemed to move ording to my will quite easily, perhaps thanks to the token of nature I wore.


    When I was done, I had in my hands an actual fairy¡­ curled up in a ball, her arms hugging her legs, she looked vacantly down at my palm. I started to think that I might have failed, when she slowly looked up at me. In her eyes, I could see the briefest hint of intelligence, like a newborn child that didn¡¯t know what was going on.


    What¡­ An unfamiliar voice echoed in my mind softly, and I realized it must have beening from the fairy in my hand. I was going to be amazed that it knew anguage, but then I realized that it seemed to be more of an instinct than an actual word, as if that most simple of thoughts had been transferred to me. Thankfully, my appraisal ability was kind enough to inform me that I had, in fact, seeded.


    World Spirit - Level 1


    Congrattions! You have earned a personal achievement!


    For being the first to create a World Spirit, you have earned the Nature¡¯s Ally achievement. +10% affinity with Natural Energy, +15 points.

 Chapter 122: When Spirits Abound

    <h4>Chapter 122: When Spirits Abound</h4>


    I was half expecting to receive ss levels in Druid or Spirit Tamer after creating the World Spirit, but surprisingly they never came in. Is creating World Spirits something that is not covered by the sses, and so doesn¡¯t award experience? That was the only option that I could think of. Either way, there was no doubting the aplishment of creating life.


    What¡­ The little fairy questioned again, still looking nkly up at me. My main worry at this time was whether or not the fairy was able to develop mentally, or if I had created the world¡¯s first retarded spirit¡­


    Seeing as it wasmunicating via spirit energy, which focused on thoughts, I decided to trymunicating in the same way. Since mana was also an energy that had a simr focus, I used it to direct my thoughts towards the World Spirit. Can you understand me? Let¡¯s start simple¡­


    Her response was not immediate, but there was a flicker of recognition in her eyes. Her nk gaze slowly focused on me. What am I? It asked, a moreplete thought this time.


    You are a World Spirit. I told her, before exining how to summon the status window. It would serve as a much better exnation than anything I could say.


    Who would have thought, though, that as soon as the little fairy listened to my instructions, her entire body vanished like a puff of smoke within my palm. I was about to panic, thinking that she might have used all of her energy and died, when suddenly a message appeared in front of my eyes. Although still somewhat rming, it at least let me know what had happened.


    New Size 0 World created within Earth.


    World created as a direct result of abilities, sses, or races purchased from the market, and within a world that you have purchased. Thus, the new world has automatically been ced within your domain as a Keeper.


    Well, that is definitely something. I knew that there would be something special about World Spirits, given their unique blend of energies, but I hadn¡¯t expected them to be able to create their own worlds like that. Will each World Spirit have their own world, or will they share them? I knew that a size 0 world was tiny, probably no bigger than a single building. As such, there was no way it¡¯d be able to house an entire race, unless they had some way to grow it.


    I waited around for a few minutes, considering whether or not I should visit the fairy¡¯s world. Before that decision was reached, however, she suddenly appeared before me again, trembling as shetched onto my hand. No, no, no, no¡­ She repeated the thought over and over, and I could feel a sense of fearing from her.


    What happened? I couldn¡¯t help but ask. Her eyes slowly turned to face my, her arms still wrapping around my wrist like she was afraid she would vanish again.


    Empty alone didn¡¯t like. No voice no light didn¡¯t like. Well, clearly she¡¯ll need to learn some propernguage eventually. But first, there was something that I could maybe help you with.


    What if I could help you create more like you? If she wasn¡¯t alone, maybe that world wouldn¡¯t be so scary for her.


    Alone no one like me. No other voice all alone. Though she said that in what sounded like a disagreement, she still looked at me with hopeful eyes. Make more more voices not alone?


    When I nodded my head, I could practically feel the happiness radiating off of her. Just hold on tight for a bit. After she was secured, I once again changed locations and began the process of creating another World Spirit.


    This time, I had the benefit of experience from when I created the first World Spirit, so the process went much more smoothly. And since the first one was a girl, I decided to make the second look like a boy. Of course, neither of them actually had genitalia, so the difference was purely cosmetic.


    When I took a look at the two, I saw them staring at each other. I could vaguely feel a quick exchange of energy, likely meaning that they weremunicating, before the two of them flew into the air. Since they weren¡¯t sending me any messages, it was hard to tell what they were thinking, but judging by how they spun around one another I had to guess that they were excited.


    Do you think you can do that? I asked the female fairy after I saw her descending. She looked up at me with wide eyes, nodding her head happily.


    Yes can do make more make friends! I smiled when I heard her excited, if still broken response. It seemed like I wouldn¡¯t have to worry about the World Spirits being able to reproduce, but first I had toy some ground rules.


    Alright, but you can only take energy from those little things to make more, understand? I motioned towards the various smaller insects and rodents that the Daeva would likely overlook, which is where I had been drawing the power from to make the two spirits. If you take from something bigger, you¡¯ll end up hurting people and have to be punished, okay?


    Her eyes went even wider at that, and her body visibly trembled when she heard my words in her mind. The ¡®male¡¯ spirit nced at her, unsure of what we were talking about. Nheless, she nodded her head. Okay only small no big. Only small no big!


    She repeated the words a few times, before turning to look at the male spirit. Again, they seemed to be sharing information again, and a bit of realization seemed to dawn on his face when he learned about what we were talking about. He hastily nodded his head as well, and the two of them flew off, a trail of green energy flowing behind them. No doubt, they were off to create more World Spirits.


    As for me, it was time to create the Martial Spirits¡­ Given that the spiritual energy in this area was either drained dry, or soon to be so with their efforts, I once again moved. This time, it was to the dwarven continent. There was a wide river separating a good chunk of the continent from the rest, so that gave a wide area that nobody had explored yet, perfect for me to use for this.


    Unlike the World Spirits, I actually had an idea in mind already for how to create a Martial Spirit. In truth, the process itself shouldn¡¯t be too difficult. It was just that the preparation involved things that were only recently discovered, andrgely unknown or unavable.


    Once I arrived on the shoreline, the farthest ce from the nearest dwarven habitation, I got started on the creation of a new type of spirit! The first thing that I did was to pull out my spellforged sword, and grip the de with my hand until I could see blood starting to flow down the de. In truth, it hurt slightly, but I had no doubt that I would heal soon. And if I had only tried to prick my finger instead, it would have healed too fast, and I¡¯d need to repeat the process too much¡­


    Anyways, the first step was to create something known as ¡®essence blood¡¯. This was blood that had a high concentration of ki held within it. In order to create essence blood, roughly a thousand points of ki had to be infused into a single drop of blood. If I were not using my Keeper stats, even my full ki pull could not create a single drop of essence blood.


    However, as things were, I could just focus my ki onto my hand, and dozens of drops began to fall from the de, forming small circr blobs that retained their shape after hitting the ground. In total¡­ I count sixty five drops. That should be enough for the first ¡®generation¡¯, maybe, but if not then I¡¯ll just make more.


    But first, there was one more thing that I needed to create, and it required me to focus a much greater quantity of ki. This time, after investing roughly half of my ki into my hand, threerger red spheres, each as thick as my thumb, dropped down tond next to the essence blood. These were essence orbs, far more powerful than essence blood but also far more difficult to make. Each one required fifteen thousand ki to produce, which was a number you were unlikely to reach under normal circumstances unless you specialized in such things.


    Essence blood and essence orbs shared many of the same uses, judging from the manual that I had purchased from the market. They could each be used in a normal crafting process to create something that seemed to share many simrities to Tubrock¡¯s spellforged items. But, as it was essentially blood with a high concentration of ki, it should also serve the purpose of creating Martial Spirits.


    The essence orbs were too valuable to waste on testing, since I wasn¡¯t sure I could easily create more without proper rest given my current ki levels. Instead, I simply ced my sword back into the bag, and reached down to pick up one of the drops of essence blood. For now, I left my cut hand unattended, reminding myself to learn a proper healing spell when I get back to the Admin Room.


    With the single drop of essence blood in hand, I moved to face the ocean. In truth, even with Bihena and Irena working together, there should be far more lingering spiritual energy in the water than onnd. The oceans were so deep and so full of wildlife both big and small, it was far worse than the insects and rodents of thend.


    Reaching out, I began grasping that lingering spiritual energy, bringing it to the surface. Under my focused eyes, I could see a dense grey smoke rising up from the water, slowly flowing its way towards me. As with the previous spirit creation process, I gathered it all into a single mass in front of me.


    I held my right hand up, the essence blood resting atop my palm, and began to gather the raw spiritual energy towards it. As it came closer, I began to slowly infuse the spiritual energy into that drop of essence blood, until it seemed to reach a saturation point. At that point, I had expected the drop of blood to either pop like a balloon, or to change into something else.


    What I had not expected was for it to suddenly start drawing in the gathered spiritual energy, faster and faster. The single drop of blood began to expand, gradually taking shape into a blood-red figure. The figure had four legs, standing tall like a wolf. Or, it would be if it was more than six inches tall¡­


    ¡°Okay, that¡¯s one down¡­¡± I said, shaking my head. At the same time, another notification appeared in front of me.


    Congrattions! You have earned a personal achievement!


    For being the first to create a Martial Spirit, you have earned the Martial Path achievement. +10% Spiritual Energy, +5% Ki, +15 points.


    Huh¡­ For the most part, it appeared to be the same as the World Spirit achievement, but the reward was a bit different, including a boost to both spiritual energy and ki. Though, I wasn¡¯t about toin about having extra buffs.


    I could hear a snarling from my side, where the Martial Spirit had jumped off my hand tond on the ground, staring up at me. Focusing on it revealed something rather interesting, though, as it was not only level one, but also ssified as a ¡®Rank One Martial Spirit¡¯. Though, that did fall in line with my theories that more essence blood could produce better results.


    I wasn¡¯t sure how these things reproduced, so I went ahead and created three more of the small blood-red wolves through the same process. Strangely enough, they all appeared to take the same general shape. It might have been something to do with my blood, or maybe the spiritual energy used, or some other factors I wasn¡¯t sure. Hopefully, they could either breed or reproduce like slimes. Either way, after I had created four of them, I let my ki re up to scare them off, causing the four of them to run off into the distance.


    Next, I repeated the process with two drops of essence blood in my palm. Like this, I should either be able to create two rank one spirits, or hopefully a rank two spirit. This was why I had prepared so much essence blood, not knowing what the upper limit would be.


    Once again, as soon as the two drops had reached a saturation point, they began madly absorbing the remaining spiritual energy. Nearly a third of it had been used to create the four rank one spirits, but now that much was being used just for a single Martial Spirit! I smiled, knowing that this should mean I was on the right track for creating a rank two spirit.


    Sure enough, the spirit this time was muchrger than the little wolves, forming into a one-foot tall bird, its wings expanding out as a shrill cry escaped its lips. Unfortunately, it still seemed to possess little intelligence of its own, as it did not even attempt tomunicate, immediately taking flight the moment it was ¡®born¡¯.


    Like I did before, I created three more rank two spirits, after identifying that is indeed what it was. Then, I proceeded on with the rank three spirits, and the rank four spirits, and the rank five spirits, each one forming into their own unique shapes. Though, I had to replenish the spiritual energy several times during the process.


    A rank three spirit appeared in the form of a two foot lion, which issued a loud roar at me when it fell to the ground. It had greedily eyed the essence blood on the ground while I went through the process of creating its panions¡¯, and I ended up having to scare them off like I had the first set. Though, that did make me wonder if the blood would be useful to help them grow, or if it was just being greedy seeing that I was using it.


    A rank four spirit came out much better, forming into a five-foot long snake. Unlike the others, the snake slithered over to me, obediently wrapping itself around my waist and watching me create the other three. Only when I told it to leave with them did it seem to understand my meaning, having more intelligence than the others I had created so far.


    Naturally, the fifth rank spirits were the best so far. Because of a slight surplus, I ended up making five of them. Each of the rank five Martial Spirits took on the form of a four foot tall, bipedal creature. This time there seemed to be more variation between them, as one had canine characteristics, one had feline characteristics, one had an extra pair of arms, and thest two looked like horned humans.


    There appeared to be a bit of rivalry between the five of them, but I did not feel like putting up with that at the moment, and sent them all away like I had the snakes. Finally, I went to collect the essence orbs, nning to use them to create three more spirits. By this point, I had used up all of the remnant spiritual energy in this area, so I began running along the coast until I felt that there was more for me to ess.


    After the process of gathering the spiritual energy and purifying it, I lifted the essence orb up and started anew. In truth, there was very little difference between this and the process of making any of the others. The real difference was in the amount of energy absorbed¡­ It took most of the spiritual energy that I had gathered just to reach the saturation point.


    When that point was reached, however, the world seemed to be veiled in white within my vision. Like a ck hole, the Martial Spirit began absorbing spiritual energy from everywhere. The sea, the ground, even the sky seemed to turn grey for a few moments.


    As my vision cleared, I saw a small girl standing in front of me, a frosty expression on her face. Unlike the other spirits, her skin was pale like a human¡¯s, the only red on her being her eyes and a blood red dress. Even her hair was as white as snow. ¡°Father.¡± She said the word, looking up at me.


    Uhm¡­ why can she speak? Why can she speak anguage I understand? And why does she know what a father is?! Questions began flooding my mind, before Leowynn¡¯s thoughts were transmitted to my own.


    Interesting¡­ maybe she inherited some information from your blood? She suggested, which seemed to be the only possible answer. Gic memories? I mean, I had heard of that being a thing before, but never this¡­ literal. ¡°You can understand me?¡± I asked, looking down at the young girl.


    ¡°Un.¡± She answered, nodding her head slightly. Above her head, I could see her rank, which was able to resolve a few of my questions.


    Rank 10 Martial Spirit - Level 1


    Okay, so it goes up to nine ranks before needing the essence orbs¡­ I thought to myself, before turning to look at her again. ¡°Okay, well¡­ would you mind standing at the side for a few moments?¡± I asked, motioning for her to move aside.


    Thankfully, she listened quite well, moving a few meters away before turning around to watch me. ¡°Doing, what?¡± She asked, tilting her head slightly to the side in confusion. Okay, at least her information isn¡¯t perfect. Thest thing I wanted was for these spirits to have knowledge of the old Earth, and use that to influence this one.


    ¡°I¡¯m making more of you.¡± I answered, reaching out to grasp at some of the energy that she hadn¡¯t absorbed to kick-start the process again. Her face tensed up when she felt the essence orb begin to absorb spiritual energy wildly, this one having to draw from further and further away which made the process take far longer.


    To¡­ no real surprise, another childlike figure appeared. This one a boy with ck hair, though his outfit still appeared to be a blood red dress. Maybe that¡¯s just something they are ¡®born¡¯ with? And just like the first, the first thing it did was to call out ¡°Father.¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes, please go stand at the side.¡± I said with a sigh, motioning for him to join the other. Unlike with Leowynn, I really couldn¡¯t see these as my children. Even if they literally had my blood flowing through whatever it is they considered veins, the process of creating them felt far too artificial for me to be able to look at them like children.


    When the third one came out, and turned into another human-looking boy, I sighed slightly, finally turning to face them. ¡°Okay, you three,e over here.¡± There was some hesitation from them, but they did eventually walk up to stand before me. ¡°Now, I need to cover some ground rules with you. I¡¯m not sure how much you know¡­¡±


    ¡°World, big¡­ Words. All.¡± The first of them, I guess I could call the eldest sister, said with a slight nod. Okay, but that doesn¡¯t really answer much. I¡¯ll probably have to ask one of the goddesses to keep an eye on them, just in case.


    ¡°Anyways¡­ You¡¯re allowed to y however you want, just try not to hurt people if you can avoid it. I¡¯m not sure what powers you all have, but you should be able to be quite strong.¡± When they heard that, their red eyes practically sparkled at the idea of bing strong. ¡°I¡¯ll be keeping an eye on you, so don¡¯t be bad, okay?¡±


    The three of them looked between one another, but finally nodded their heads. ¡°Good.¡± I sighed slightly, feeling like I could finally go back and rest. Which I promptly did. Although it may seem like it hadn¡¯t taken a while, I knew just from all the running I did that I had spent at least twenty hours almost constantly in motion.


    Of course, before I passed out on my bed from exhaustion, I summoned out Leowynn again and sent a mental message to Aurivy. The¡­ twenty eight creatures I just made, could you disperse them around the world? Try to keep at least two of each type together please, and put them somewhere that a level one creature has a chance to grow.


    I had a feeling that the rank ten, and maybe even the rank five spirits might be able to gain other ss levels, as should the World Spirits. However, for the rank one through four spirits, they seemed to be far too simple, so it was unlikely that the system would recognize them for that. I would see what it looked like when I woke upter, at least.

 Chapter 123: The Power of the Soul

    <h4>Chapter 123: The Power of the Soul</h4>


    Over the next few years, people began seeing a remarkable change within the world, though few were able to guess at its cause. The sparse undead that had roamed thends at night, the souls of countless restless creatures, stopped appearing. Instead, some new creatures emerged in the world, as if guided by an invisible hand.


    The first type was a small, humanoid creature that could fly through the air with the greatest of ease. At first, the truth behind these creatures was called into question, as they primarily appeared only in front of small children. However, a few lucky adults managed to catch glimpses of them as well, fleeting nces before the small creatures vanished as if they were a lie.


    Some sought to capture them for study, to learn their secrets, but soon realized that such a thing simply couldn¡¯t be done. Whether it was the sealing spells of a mage, an isted prison formed by a druid, or even manufactured equipment, the strange creature could simply vanish from within. And for those that sought to truly harm them, not bothering to try to capture one alive and wishing to study a corpse¡­


    The wrath of nature was a terrifying thing. And when these small, innocent looking creatures were angered, there was no better description for what happened. A shrill cry would fill the air, followed by dozens, maybe even hundreds of tiny winged people appearing in the skies above. The clouds would darken and twist, the skiesing alive. The earth shook, the very ground seeming afraid of their power. And when the sky descended in a vortex of wind, the offending party¡¯s body was torn to shreds. While a single creature may be weak alone, word soon spread¡­ they were never alone.


    The second type of creature that spread about thend seemed far less benign. Stories spread of beasts made of blood sneaking into the cities, feasting on the livestock. Some would ambush adventurers, draining the life from their bodies and leaving them an empty husk. These beasts came in varying shapes and sizes, but any who saw them soon began to run.


    Unlike the fairy-like beings, most of these creatures did not travel in a pack. They tended to remain alone, with one or twopanions at the most. However, they were individually strong. They never seemed to appear in front of an opponent that they could not defeat, and each victory only increased their strength.


    And unlike those strange fairies, these beasts could also be captured or in, when caught by surprise. Though, when one of these creatures were killed, their bodies would dissolve into a pool of blood, earning them the title of ¡®blood fiends¡¯. Nobody could tell where these creatures came from, or how they came to be able to do what they do. And nobody noticed the lost children who could be seen ying at the outskirts of the human viges from time to time¡­


    _______________________________________________________________


    After I woke up from my rest, I fast forwarded the world by another fifty years, keeping an eye on both the World Spirits and Martial Spirits. In truth, the growth of these two new ¡®sses¡¯ surprised me a lot.


    First of all, the World Spirits. Within fifty years, they seemed to have spread across the globe, increasing their numbers by using the remnant spiritual energies that hadn¡¯t been collected. Whether it was in the oceans, the forests, even in somerger cities. They would travel in pairs, a mentor and student.


    The mentor would show the student how to create a World Spirit, and then leave to make another one, whereas that newly created spirit would be the student to the one left behind. Like this, their numbers rose exponentially, until it seemed like all of those minor spiritual energies had been swept through by them. A quick look was enough for me to see that their numbers had stagnated at just over five million by the end of the fifty years, though it looked like it wouldn¡¯t be able to increase any more than that for a while.


    As for their strength, I had watched a few hundred of theme together, and summon a tornado that tore apart a high level human. From what I saw, the tornado carried with it some spiritual energy, which caused the winds to condense and be delike. Though, the few hundred that did that were all the ones with the highest levels in their World Spirit ss, so it made sense that they¡¯d be able to do that if they worked together.


    On the other hand, the Martial Spirits surprised me even more. The lower ranked spirits acted like mindless beasts, attacking other animals and monsters until they were able to grow physicallyrger through absorbing their strength. Sometimes, after a hard fought battle, they would let some of their own blood drip into their victim. A few hourster, an ¡®infant¡¯ Martial Spirit emerged from the body of the victim, of the same rank as its ¡®parent¡¯.


    The fifth rank spirits were a bit better, as they mostly kept away from inhabited areas and preyed purely on monsters. By the end of the fifty years, they had built a small tribe far from the beastkinnds. They were still far from the level of intelligence that the sapient races possessed, but it was enough that they were able to survive on their own¡­


    Finally, the tenth rank spirits. They by far had the greatest personal growth, but at the same time the lowest reproduction. In fact, they had yet to create a single extra rank ten Martial Spirit even after the full fifty years had passed. They traveled the borders of the humannds together, often ying with the children that wandered away from their parents.


    When alone, however, they showed that their ferocity was no less than that of the other spirits. Once they began to level up, they seemed to discover a new ability. In battle, they would turn into blood giants, tens of meters tall with individualized weapons. Alternatively, they were able to release a blood mist, and condense it into a physical item to puppeteer.


    The part that was the least surprising was how the two types of spirits leveled up. Both Martial Spirits and World Spirits showed that they could take on other sses as well. The Martial Spirits naturally became proficient with the Monk ss, while the World Spirits easily picked up the Druid ss. I had expected them to also pick up either Reaper or Spirit Hunter as another ss, but it seemed like that wasn¡¯t going to happen.


    Of course, this didn¡¯t extend to the first four ranks of Martial Spirits. In the eyes of the system, they seemed to be treated purely as monsters, their level determined by the level of their ss. Part of me wondered whether they would count towards the maximum level for the Keeper stats, but I doubted it. Most likely, it would only select between the fifth and tenth ranked Martial Spirits.


    ¡°Okay, that is not quite how I expected that to turn out.¡± I heard alia speaking up from behind me after I finished fast forwarding, and turned around to see her standing there, her arms behind her back.


    ¡°Yeah, it was a little surprising.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but agree, nodding my head. ¡°Though, I can¡¯t say that they are the worst monsters that have been produced so far.¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡± She looked at me in confusion. ¡°Oh, you mean the little beast ones? No, they aren¡¯t that bad overall. And, I get the feeling that there is something else that can be done with them, once its discovered. You could probably look it up on the Keeper forums. I was talking about the children, and the fairies!¡±


    ¡°Anyways, I didn¡¯t expect the fairies to spread that fast! I mean, each one is still probably weaker than your average lycan or elf, but they work together really well! If I had to guess, they are able to make some sort of hive mind when they are in close proximity.¡±


    Her voice seemed to hold some genuine praise as she said that, but she just continued. ¡°As for the kids, they are behaving a lot better than I thought at first. When I saw you make them, I half expected them to go on a rampage, given the strength they were born with.¡±


    Well, that¡¯s not too surprising¡­ They were born from the ki of something around a level one hundred and fifty monk, at the very least. I imagine their base stats must have been ridiculous. I nodded my head again at that. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m rather happy with how they¡¯re acting. Though, I¡¯m more surprised that they haven¡¯t made another one of themselves yet.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t think they actually can.¡± alia said, her expression bingplicated. Seeing my confused look, she exined. ¡°So, the others all use fairly strong monsters or people to create their next generation, right? That¡¯s because they have to condense the ki of those people to form the necessary essence blood. They use their own blood as a catalyst, drawing all of the ki and spiritual energy of their target into just enough blood to start the creation process.¡±


    ¡°But, the kids can¡¯t do that. They just simply haven¡¯t run into a monster that has enough ki to create a essence orb. And if they do, as they are right now they might not be able to kill it. Thankfully, it looks like they don¡¯t have to worry about aging, so they¡¯ll have plenty of time to find a suitable host.¡± alia looked relieved as she finished her exnation, nodding slightly.


    ¡°Does¡­ that mean that the people who are used as a host have their spirits devoured?¡± I nced back at the screen briefly when I asked that. ¡°And that they won¡¯t be able to go to the Underworld?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ if their entire spirit is used for the process, yes. A lot of times, they will simply end up with a fragmented soul. As long as there¡¯s still a piece of it left, Irena¡¯s armies can still take them to the Underworld. They¡¯ll just be a bit weaker than normal to start.¡±


    Well, that¡¯s a relief, I guess? I had worried that there might be problems if this went out of control, and the lower ranked spirits were allowed to continuously multiply and consume dead souls. ¡°Alright, I think I get it. Anyways, thanks for filling me in on that.¡± I hadn¡¯t been expecting her toe in here after fast forwarding, but her input was pretty helpful.


    ¡°Anytime!¡± She said with a bright, toothy smile. Suddenly, her eyes opened wide, and she looked out the door to the room, which was hanging open. ¡°Sorry, boss! Udona is calling, so gotta go see what she wants! Talk to youter!¡± With that, she turned and ran out the door with a lightugh, heading towards Udona¡¯s room.


    Well¡­ I guess I should go ahead and take a look at the Martial Spirit information on the forum, like she suggested. I thought with a light shrug, turning back to myputer and pulling up the forums. It didn¡¯t take me long to find what I was looking for, as there were several threads discussing the ss. Some asked how to obtain it, and others were simple exnations. I pulled up one that was aptlybeled ¡®The Guide to the Martial Spirit ss¡¯.


    Martial spirits are a powerful existence, but how do they work? How are they made? Well, let¡¯s go over it, shall we! First, let¡¯s talk about how to make them, as this is a step where many civilizations fail to discover.


    ¡­


    Okay¡­ skipping a bit past that part, since I already figured that bit out. And, from skimming over it, it didn¡¯t tell me anything for that I didn¡¯t already know.


    Now, onto how they are used! Martial spirits can be utilized in one of two ways. Either as an individual existence akin to that of a sapient race or monster, or as a tamedpanion.


    If left to their own devices, a martial spirit will grow and proliferate, as any other monster would. The only difference between them and other monsters is that there is no limit to the level which they can grow, so long as they find enough blood essence to absorb. Of course, they will still be restricted by any systems ced within a specific world that inhibit growth, but that is on a case-by-case basis.


    The truly unique aspect of their ss,pared to many others, is that they can act as a possessing spirit. This is in some ways simr to the spirit tamer ss, but in reverse. The requirement is that the other party has to possess enough ki to form the essence blood required for a next generation. This is used as a payment to form the pact.


    Once the pact is formed, the martial spirit is bound by the offered ki to the contractor, and can never form a simr pact with someone else. At the same time, it is only possible to contract to one martial spirit at a time. The martial spirit gains the ability to transform its body into blood, hiding within its contractor¡¯s body. When in this state, the contractor gains ess to all of the martial energy that the spirit possessed.


    Keep in mind, the martial spirit is still a living creature, even when in a pact! If it is mistreated, it may turn against its host, destroying their body from within. If any Keeper intends to tame one, it is highly advised that they choose wisely, and treat their chosen partner well! A martial spirit will grow stronger as its host does, and also aid in the growth of its host, but it can easily be the greatest danger to a Keeper¡¯s life.

 Chapter 124: The Dark and Golden Age

    <h4>Chapter 124: The Dark and Golden Age</h4>


    As I closed the page describing the Martial Spirits and their usefulness, I couldn¡¯t help but shudder inwardly. Okay, I dodged a bullet there. I didn¡¯t have any doubts about whether or not I would have been able to convince one of the rank 10 children to form a pact with me, but there were probably any number of ways to cause a Martial Spirit to go out of control.


    Maybe if I had a situation simr to Leowynn¡¯s, it¡¯d be different. The Aki Seppou martial art is one of mutual trust and dependence. Even if something happened and Leowynn decided to turn against me, it wouldn¡¯t be a situation that would endanger me any more than it would her.


    Out of curiosity, I decided to check the information on the World Spirits, to see if they had some simr abilities. Like before, it wasn¡¯t hard to find a descriptive post about them. Though, there wasn¡¯t all that much new information here.


    World Spirits are a good ss to consider cing within any game world, especially one with either no afterlife system, or one that leads to spirits being left behind. Though, in any world that perfectly recycles all spirits, they will see very little use.


    In order to create a World Spirit¡­


    I skipped past the creation information, as I already discovered the process firsthand. Instead, like before, I went straight to their abilities and how they could benefit a world.


    World Spirits naturally create an alternate world where only they can live. Typically, this world is shared between every World Spirit, though some may choose to create their own to iste themselves. These are rare cases, however, so we will not look into them too deeply.


    The World of the Spirits, as the system tends to call it, is one of the keyponents to increasing the strength of a World Spirit. This world will growrger the more World Spirits connect with it, the energy inside growing more and more dense. Although the efficiency is low, simply spending time in this world is enough for a World Spirit to gradually be stronger. However, there are also other requirements.


    An obvious requirement to grow stronger would be to actively practice the abilities of the World Spirit. Many of these abilities seem like upgraded forms of the Druid ss, though there are some unique differences. Like a Druid, a World Spirit is able to control nature. However, the energy they control is naturally mixed with their own Spiritual Energy, which causes two big changes. First of all, it enhances the power of nature in various ways, depending on the elements used. And second, it gives them a defined limit on the amount of energy they can use, unlike Druids.


    Another big difference would be in rtion to a Druid¡¯s portal ability. World Spirits do not have this ability, but instead have something much more powerful. They are able to travel anywhere in the world, and to any world connected with the one they were born in. This does not include the worlds of other Keepers, in the case where one has the Cycle of Reincarnation. However, it does include afterlife worlds owned and operated by the same Keeper. As long as Natural or Spiritual Energy exists within the world, the World Spirits are able to travel there, so long as the connection is maintained. For Keepers wishing to remove this function, they should buy the World Istion system, which allows them to block certain world travel abilities.


    Finally, thest difference between a World Spirit and a Druid, and one of their key features. Whenever a World Spirit enters a certain range with another of its own kind, they enter into a unique type of hive mind, allowing them tobine their powers. These hive minds follow a hierarchy of strength, so the strongest World Spirit will be the king, and allowed to determine what the rest of the hive does. A World Spirit can only break free of the hive if they are given an order contrary to their nature, such as if the ¡®king¡¯ demanded that all others sacrifice themselves to increase its power.


    Again, not a lot of new information there, as most of it I had already seen first hand. Though, it did offer some exnations. For instance, it allowed me to better understand how the many World Spirits had joined forces to create a giant tornado that could kill a high level human.


    One thing I did need to check quickly, though. Terra. I sent out a mental call to Terra, waiting until I felt it connect. Oddly, I had found this to get easier and easiertely. Does Ashley¡¯s world have Spiritual or Natural Energy? I was worried that it might, since it was still connected to the afterlife, but I didn¡¯t want the World Spirits to be able to ess it yet.


    It took a few moments before a response came back, but when it did I was able to sigh in relief. Not in a usable sense. Right now, there is no supernatural affinity for that world, so the energies aren¡¯t present in the same form as they are on Earth. There are still spirits, but they are closer to what you would know as lingering ghosts than the masses of conscious energy that are found on Earth.


    Okay¡­I decided to cut to the chase, just to make sure that there was no misunderstanding. So there is no chance of the World Spirits making their way there, then?


    Right. This time, her answer came back much faster. If they tried to force their way by joining one of Irena¡¯s patrols to gather spirits, it¡¯d be like going to an alien atmosphere. They wouldn¡¯t be able to breathe, and would likely die within a few minutes, unable to get back on their own.


    Well¡­ that opened up an entirely new question. Then, how do the spirits and Daeva survive long enough to do their jobs?


    Easy. They use their own Spiritual Energy like an air supply. Only the elites are sent to Desbar, those that have enough energy to survive and make the trip back with plenty of room to spare. At the same time, Desbar doesn¡¯t have to worry about the spirits turning into undead like Earth does, because it doesn¡¯t have any kind of supernatural affinity yet. It¡¯ll take at least ten times as long for enough spirits to pile up to create an undead, and by that time the patrols would be able to round them up in bulk.


    Terra¡¯s words did help to relieve most of my worries, though I still nned to check in from time to time to make sure that Ashley was doing alright at managing the world. I sent a mental thanks to Terra, before turning my attention back towards Earth. I could safely say that I had done what I set out to originally, which was creating something to influence the world.


    Whether it was the Martial Spirits or World Spirits, either one was able to drastically alter the course of future events. I¡¯d need to keep an eye on things for a while, to make sure that their presence wasn¡¯t too disruptive. There was a big difference between shaking things up and destroying civilization, after all.


    In an effort to check this, I fast forwarded the world again. This time, five hundred years, ten times as long as my previous leap forward. I also set several rms, specifically to warn me about anyrge scale activities involving either of the two new types of spirits.


    To many races, these years woulde to be known as the Dark Ages. The centuries where the gods and goddesses let them handle business on their own. Altogether seven hundred years, the longest that the deities had ever gone without giving instructions.


    Many were lost, unsure if they had done something to disappoint their respective deity. They still answered their prayers, assured their priests that they had done nothing wrong, but would not answer the questions that they used to. If an architect, a mage, a bard, or anyone else asked for their aid in oveing an obstacle in their study, the deity would give a simr answer.


    ¡®You must discover the answer on your own¡¯. These words became a nightmare to researchers of every field. Because, for the first time in their recorded histories¡­ they had toe up with the answers themselves. The deities hadn¡¯t always just handed everything to them, but they would at least point them in the right direction. Like parents, they would show the path to the correct answer, and trust in their people to be able to go the distance.


    But now, it was as if they had been thrust into the world, all alone without the guidance they had grown so used to. In some ways, this was for the best. Those wiser schrs, the ones who already would seldomly ask the gods for aid, realized the folly of man. They were able to understand that the past had caused them to be dependent on the gods, to the point where many were unable to have new ideas of their own.


    For these people, the Dark Age was not a time of despair, but one of progress! There were many kings and queens, lords anddies who were able to take advantage of the heavenly silence to encourage their people to develop new ideas. Things that they would have never considered before.


    One example, perhaps the best, would be the Tower of Communication erected within the elven kingdom. This Tower was the most powerful guild in all the elvennds, because it distributed important news everywhere. Simr branch towers were established in every city, and whenever anything of import happened, they would spread the word to every tower, which would then use special magic to announce the news to their city.


    Like this, the elvennds were more unified than ever before, able to send and receive messages anywhere. For a small fee, they even allowed the public to send messages to friends and rtives in other cities. Just this service alone was enough to fund the construction of more than half of the Towers.


    Another grand example was an organization which formed among the humans. They called themselves the Spearhead, and represented the strongest powers among any kingdom. Each one was not only at or near the pinnacle of power, but they were among the strongest who had reached that level.


    The Spearhead devoted themselves to serving Bihena¡¯s justice in cases where she herself wouldn¡¯t. This was primarily through onew of war, written by man instead of the goddess. ¡®The strong shall fight the strong, and the weak shall fight the weak¡¯.


    Although the wording was ambiguous, its meaning soon became clear. Those at the pinnacle were forbidden from abusing their powers to bully the weak. And if they broke thisw, the entire Spearhead group would join together to stop them. Through their efforts, no less than ten tyrants had been removed from power, those who got into their position purely by abusing their personal strength.


    Yet another great example could be found in thends of the dwarves. Although they did not create a guild like the Tower of Communication, or an organization like the Spearhead, they had their own share of discoveries. For the most part, the dwarves had never relied on asking Tubrock for guidance, as one of his doctrines had always been to try to find the answers to your questions yourself.


    For the dwarves, their main discovery was how to smelt alloys. They learned how to mix different minerals and metals into new, unique forms which were stronger than their baseponents. The previously clumsy work of the cksmiths became more refined, many walking the path of a mage or a monk in order to enhance their work.


    Items forged with mana or ki gradually began to appear more and more in the dwarvennds. Although such things were seen as a raremodity, their poprity increased as their power was shown. In the hands of a monk, a bloodforged sword could topple even the greatest of foes, while a mage could take an enchanted item and use it to its fullest potential.


    Like this, the Dark Ages gradually made way to the Golden Ages. And after the seven hundred years of near silence, the gods finally spoke again. For those who had shown their ingenuity, they showered them in praises. For the churches who had never lost their faith, they gave their thanks. But for those who had turned away from them for their silence, they did not cast me. Like a parent, their arms were always open to wee their children back into the fold.


    ¡°Okay¡­ that was¡­ surprising?¡± I muttered to myself, ncing at the various advancements that had been made. At first, I was worried that telling everyone to stop actively guiding their people would lead to a few civilizations self-destructing, but it seems like that didn¡¯t happen.


    Even the Martial Spirits and World Spirits didn¡¯t show any startling signs during that time skip. If I had to guess, the World Spirits were happy just with ying around in the world, and didn¡¯t seem to have any designs on anything bigger. As for the Martial spirits, most of them were too unintelligent to hatch such ns, though¡­ I did notice one change when I looked at their information.


    Rank 10 Martial Spirits: 4


    Somehow, they had managed to finally create another one. And now I had to go back and find out how and when! I almost wanted to pull my own hair out for missing that, but instead simply decided to go back and view the ¡®records¡¯ as Terra had taught me¡­ This should be interesting.

 Chapter 125: The Setting Sun

    <h4>Chapter 125: The Setting Sun</h4>


    Roughly thirty years before the voice of the gods once more became active in the world, three children were walking towards a tall mountain, all alone. Each was dressed in deep red clothes, whether it was the dress of the girl, or the simple outfits of the boys. At the moment, the two boys were following behind the girl, staring ahead.


    ¡°Are you sure that it¡¯s here, sister?¡± One of them asked. His features seemed slightly more refined than his ¡®brother¡¯, but the sense of powering from him was no weaker. However, they both paled inparison to their ¡®elder sister¡¯, the first of their kind.


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± She said with a nod, able to feel a strange form of power calling her towards the mountain. Only recently did she begin to feel this sensation, after her power had eclipsed both of her kin. And she knew on some level what it was, a being that could be used as a host to grow another of their kind.


    The three child-like beings had inherited some understanding from the being who created them, so they hadn¡¯t sought out those powerful monks to expand their numbers. They would y with the children of the world, but they would not interfere with how it was run. And this was not simply because of some code of morals that they had learned, but something deeper.


    They knew of their own mortality. If they truly did start to hunt the intelligent races whose bodies contained the ki that they needed, then they would be hunted. There were few among the races worthy of their attention, but those few would be able to fight with them to the bitter end. So they kept to their solitude, ying with the little ones and walking thend, endlessly looking for a monster born with the ki that they required.


    It was not umon for a monster to be born with ki, quite the opposite. It was actually harder to find one that didn¡¯t possess it. The problem was the quantity. The more powerful a monster was, the more likely that its energies would be split among different types. Because of that, the ki they had avable would not be strong enough for what the children wanted.


    ¡°Are the sky demons going toe for us again?¡± The other brother asked, causing the two to shudder. The sky demons, creatures that appeared to steal away the dead. The three of them knew why they were targeted by them, as they themselves appeared to be spirits part of the time. But they had already resisted, and fought back on multiple asions when the sky demons tried to take them away.


    ¡°No¡­ this is different.¡± The sister said, shaking her head. ¡°There is not enough death here for them¡­ It¡¯s like¡­ the monsters here are quiet. Tame.¡±


    As she said, this area was perhaps one of the quietest they had ever been to. Even those carnivorous monsters didn¡¯t dare to raise a fuss and attack others, an invisible pressure restricting them to only feasting upon those that died to other causes. The three of them felt it, faintly, but the restriction was not one that would bind them. Their intelligence was too high to be influenced by their instincts like that, and furthermore they were not weaker than the being whose pressure was being emitted.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± She said softly, her delicate feet pushing off the ground to send her soundlessly into the sky. Her two brothers quickly followed behind her, and red tforms briefly formed beneath their feet every time their toes pressed down in the air again, sending them further and further up.


    Now, even the two brothers could tell that what they were looking for really was here. More importantly¡­ the ki that they were feeling was powerful and unrestrained. Anyone who reached this level through training wouldn¡¯t give that kind of feeling. This was obviously a monster, likely a mutant that had been born with overwhelming ki.


    As long as it was not an intelligent creature that knew the true wonders of the energy it had been born with, it would not be a problem for the three siblings to take care of it. And sure enough, it wasn¡¯t long before they found arge cave that had been carved out in the side of the mountain. The mouth of the cave was over a dozen meters tall, and it led into the mountain so deep that light couldn¡¯t shine.


    However, the three of them knew that this was the dwelling of the beast king which ruled the area. ¡°Come out, then.¡± The sister said, putting her hands on her hips as she looked at the mouth of the cave. ¡°I don¡¯t know how smart you are, but I know you already sensed us approach.¡±


    The two brothers smiled bitterly, but jumped off to the side, out of the way of the oing battle. They were by no means weak, but their sister was easily the strongest. More importantly, this was a special fight for them. This was their first chance to make another like themselves since they were born.


    Sure enough, a deep rumbling could be heard within the cave, followed by a guttural growl. Though the being that exited walked on two legs, it was obviously not intelligent enough to speak. A brief hesitation shed in the girl¡¯s eyes as she saw this, but soon she shook her head. ¡°If you were given enough time¡­ maybe you could make your own race. I¡¯m sorry, but we¡¯ll have to cut off that chance here.¡±


    If the creature truly did develop into a new species of its own, it would mean endless hosts for them to use in the future. But it would also mean destruction for the other races of the world. And more importantly, whether it would be able to even do so was a gamble that they couldn¡¯t afford to take.


    The being before her looked much like the humans that they had met and yed with, though it was far, farrger. Its entire body was covered in dark golden fur, its toes elongated to nearly look like fingers. Behind it swayed a long, furred tail, and in its hand it held a long stick that seemed to be used as an improvised weapon.


    She didn¡¯t know what kind of creature this was, but she almost wanted to call it a mon¡¯ki, as if the name came from some corner of her inherited memories. Inwardly, she marveled that her creator had even met beings like this before, but now was no time for such thoughts.


    Scarlet, as she had taken to calling herself, raised one hand to provoke the mon¡¯ki. ¡°Come. Show me what you can do.¡± At the same time as she said this, her brothers dispersed into clouds of blood, which then vanished from the surroundings. Scarlet knew that they had simply chosen to take on their spirit form, in order to not obstruct their fight.


    However, the mon¡¯ki only saw it as the number of prey being reduced from three to one, and the small creature floating in the sky did not give it any sense of dread. It raised up the giant stick in its arm, which upon closer inspection was actually the entire trunk of a small tree, and swung it upwards at Scarlet. Because of its overflowing ki, the creature¡¯s arm as well as the tree itself had been reinforced by its energy.


    However, that was far from enough. Scarlet simply raised brought one foot forward, letting the tree crash into it. Her body seemed to be carried away by the weight of the swing, but in truth blood-red ws had formed along the sides of her feet,tching onto the tree.


    Seeing this left the mon¡¯ki confused, and it began wildly shaking the tree trunk in order to get the small creature off of it. Yet, Scarlett just continued to walk calmly towards him. ¡°Shhh, it¡¯s alright. Don¡¯t waste too much of your energy.¡± She whispered softly, every step bringing her closer to it. A small smile, seemingly void of any malice, was present on her face as she looked at the mon¡¯ki. It wasn¡¯t the gaze of a creature looking at its prey, but rather the look of someone who was about to reunite with its family.


    Still, that look sent chills throughout the mon¡¯ki¡¯s body. In an effort to get the small creature further away from it, it hurled the tree trunk away. But it was too little, toote. Scarlett effortless jumped off the trunk of the tree,nding in front of the mon¡¯ki. She had to be careful not to do too much damage to its corpse, especially to the heart. Even though they had never done this before, they had watched their lesser kin doing so. A destroyed heart meant that a body was unusable, even if it was strong enough in life.


    ¡°Let¡¯s finish this quickly.¡± She said, raising her head. The mon¡¯ki pulled back one of its legs, the long toes of its feet curling up into something that looked like a fist just as she raised her delicate looking arm. Before the mon¡¯ki could lower its head to kick her away, a bloody spear shot from her arm, stabbing it through the head. Or¡­ to be more urate, the spear was her arm.


    The mon¡¯ki¡¯s body went limp, its leg crashing down before the great beast slowly descended, its body guided by the movements of Scarlet¡¯s arm. ¡°There, that should be just fine.¡± She smiled, thankful that the monster didn¡¯t know how to use its own ki to actively reinforce itself. Had it done so, the fight would havested much longer, and it may have even used up too much ki to y as a host.


    Then again, the mon¡¯ki couldn¡¯t be med for its ignorance. For a monster, its intelligence wasn¡¯t necessarily low. However, it had simply never needed to know how to do that. Its sheer presence and overwhelming levels of ki had been enough to cow everything around it into submission all its life. There was no need to know how to do anything more than swing a big stick.


    Scarlet¡¯s two brothers materialized next to her in the same cloud of blood that they had left in, identical smiles on their faces. They helped her flip over therge body of the creature, after which Scarlet climbed up onto its chest. ¡°Okay, here goes¡­¡± She muttered, closing her eyes.


    ¡°First, take control of the ki, stop it from vanishing.¡± She spoke, more to herself than anything, recalling the process she had seen the lesser kin taking. As she said that, she reached out and could feel the ki of the dead mon¡¯ki slowly fading. Yet, when she pushed her hand into its chest, creating a bloody wound, she began to caress its heart gently.


    As if that was some sort of cue, the ki began to flow slowly again within the mon¡¯ki¡¯s body, though now it was doing so under her control. ¡°Next, merge the ki with the spirit.¡± Scarlet bit her lip at this stage, knowing that she had to focus. The gushing blood didn¡¯t even register to her as her eyes turned the same red as her dress.


    Scarlet could see the spirit of the mon¡¯ki slowly coalescing. However, the moment she caught sight of it, it was like a puppet with its strings cut. Instead of forming into the shape of its soul, it instead dropped back into the body powerlessly, where Scarlet began merging it with the ki hidden in its fresh blood.


    Of course, this wasn¡¯t the same method that the lesser kin used, but she was trying to be more careful in how she managed this. It wasn¡¯t until the ki and spirit began to merge that a small cut appeared on the hand caressing the dead beast¡¯s heart. Just a few drops of blood came out before she pulled her hand back and jumped from the beast.


    Scarlet clenched her hands together as she looked at the beast¡¯s body, and her two brothers silently came up to put a reassuring hand on her shoulders. As they watched, minutes turned into hours, and soon the sun was falling behind the mountain. Yet, they had not moved a single muscle the entire time. It could even be said that the dead mon¡¯ki had moved more than them, a violent twitch running through its body now and then.


    But now, all of a sudden, the creature¡¯s body began to spasm erratically. Itsrge limbs iled, its chest swelling up. Under the hopeful gazes of three creatures who could be called more monstrous than any beast, the torso of the mon¡¯ki erupted into a spray of blood and gore, showing the three of them.


    As the blood rain fell and the sun set behind the mountain, a young girl who looked almost identical to Scarlet stood within the shredded corpse of the former tyrant of the mountain. She looked at the three of her kin with empty eyes, gaining only a trace of recognition when her gaze fell upon Scarlet. ¡°Mo¡­ther?¡± She spoke out, her voice quiet and untrained.


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Scarlet said, red tears falling from her eyes. ¡°I¡¯m your mother. And from now on¡­ you are Set. The fourth of our kind, and the newest member of our family.¡±


    ¡°Fam¡­ily.¡± Set repeated the word, a small smile forming on her face as she seemed to have some idea behind its meaning. Her head bobbed up and down slightly, and a red dress appeared around her, simr to the one that Scarlet wore. To most, the scene of four children happily being showered in the blood and entrails of a giant beast might look like the stuff of nightmares. But to them¡­ this was the realization of their greatest dreams.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Okay, I am exerting my right to say that that is just messed up, and creepy as all hell.¡± I said, shivering slightly as I finished watching the scene that had been recorded atop the mountain. It had taken me nearly an hour to find the Martial Spirits, and trace their timelines back to when they had created their fourth, but it definitely left a powerful impression within me. ¡°I really hope they don¡¯t turn evilter¡­¡±

 Chapter 126: Remember the Past to Make History

    <h4>Chapter 126: Remember the Past to Make History</h4>


    I let out a long sigh as I leaned back in the chair, trying to figure out what more I could do for the world right now. As things stood, there was not a lot of room for me to interfere. The poption of the races had roughly doubled since before the recent timeskip, but seeing as it was a five hundred year jump that is actually pretty slow.


    If I had to guess, they likely ran into several wars or natural disasters that they normally would have avoided due to the constant advice that the others had been giving them. But at the same time, they showed remarkable growth as well. Their little dark age had produced some of the greatest schrs this world has ever seen.


    Still, the issue remained that they were just not well developed enough. They didn¡¯t have enough history, or time to fully explore the world. Hell, aside from the halflings and centaurs, none of the races had even met one another yet!


    Out of curiosity, I pulled up maps of the explored regions of each race. To my surprise, the beastkin had actually already begun to sail a considerable distance from their own continent, while the other races mostly kept to their ownnd. It made sense when I thought about it, however. The beastkin had the advantage in numbers, with essentially four times the poption.


    As for the other races, most of them had just finally finished exploring the continent that they inhabit, though the elves and dwarves had still only explore roughly half of their ownnds. This meant that the rest of the races were also likely to begin expanding out into the sea, soon enough.


    Terra. I thought inwardly, focusing on sending a message to her. When I felt a small ping in my consciousness, I knew that she was ready to talk. How are the dungeonsing? Any updates on them yet?


    Hmm? Well, some have started to explore them, yes. Those that have been discovered are either kept as closely guarded secrets, or are exterminated with extreme prejudice, depending on the group that encounters them.


    When I received that reply, I couldn¡¯t help but feel my eye twitch. Exterminated? Because they contain monsters inside of them?


    Well, there is that. However, druids entering a dungeon lose ess to their powers, because the natural energies won¡¯t permeate the dungeon¡¯s mana. Because of that, the elves and humans see dungeons as abominations, signs of a rising evil god.


    My hand pped against my face as I thought about that, once again reminding myself why the current civilizations were too primitive. What about the other races? You said that they are kept as secrets, but why?


    Oh, that¡¯s easy! We decided to toss in some treasures for the more intelligent dungeons. With their Treasure Generation trait, they are able to copy the properties of any item that has rested in their domain long enough, and impart those traits onto other items. They can even use the materials within their domain to craft items to imbue those properties with.


    Huh¡­ that was interesting. I vaguely recalled the list of traits that I had seen in the racial window when I first bought the Dungeon Core race. You aren¡¯t throwing in anything too powerful for them, are you?


    Of course not, Dale. The strongest item that we¡¯ve thrown in was an unenchanted Spellcopper Sword. That was for a group of dwarves that showed surprising ability when they cleared a dungeon, and that sword alone caused them to treat the dungeon as a natural treasure.


    I nodded my head slightly at that, and recalled another one of the dungeon¡¯s features. What about Inhabitant Control? I remember that they had a trait like that. It won¡¯t let the dungeons mind control the explorers will it?


    ¡°No, no. That trait doesn¡¯t work on any race purchased through the system.¡± I heard, not in my mind but in my ears, turning around to find Terra standing behind me with a grin. ¡°Though, if someone dies in a dungeon, the dungeon ims their soul, rather than letting it move on to the Underworld. So the races all learned to take a priest with them, in case of undead attacks.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± I said with a relieved sigh. While it was a bit unfortunate for the souls to not pass on, it was significantly better than everyone in the dungeon being at risk of the mind control. ¡°I take it you didn¡¯t juste here to make it easier to talk, did you?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ yes and no.¡± She said, moving over towards the bed and sitting down on it, smiling slightly to me. ¡°alia told me that you were in a bit of a slump, trying to figure out how you could help the world. Good job with the Spirits, by the way. Those will help out a lotter.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­ and I take it you had something in mind?¡± I figured that the World and Martial Spirits would be able to y a significant roleter on, once I read their information. So that came as no surprise to me.


    ¡°Two things, actually.¡± Terra said, lifting up a finger. ¡°First, the girls and I had an idea for what you could do with the Wraiths.¡±


    When she said that name, I blinked in confusion for a moment, before my eyes opened wide. ¡°I had nearly forgotten about them.¡± Because there hadn¡¯t been another incident where a chimera soul broke out of the underworld yet, the Wraiths hadpletely slipped to the back of my mind.


    ¡°Yeah, we figured. Anyways, some of us had an idea for you to finally give them a job.¡± Terra¡¯s smile was all the hint I needed to know what she was talking about.


    ¡°The World and Martial Spirits.¡± I said quietly, to which she nodded happily. ¡°Since they are still spirits, they would fall under the directives of the Wraiths. And it would give meaning to their existence as a group.¡±


    ¡°Right! Anyways, the World Spirits aren¡¯t a problem. No rogues have appeared yet, and they are all incredibly pure. But, there¡¯s always the chance that one will go bad, so it¡¯s best to be prepared. As for the Martial Spirits, that¡¯s a whole other matter. Once the lower ranked ones grow some more, they might be able to be a legitimate threat to civilization.¡±


    I could certainly see where she wasing from with that. ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll get to work on that in a bit. It¡¯d be good to remind them what they are fighting for, after all.¡± A small smile tugged at my lips as I said that. From the ss levels, I knew that they hadn¡¯t been cking off in their training, but it was likely that they didn¡¯t even remember why they were training in those secret abilities. Well, and that was with the assumption that the ones doing the training were Wraiths, and not another group that discovered the power.


    ¡°Good. Now, for the second one¡­ This one will be more of a long term project. Well, long term by your normal standards.¡± Terra said yfully. ¡°But, we thought that you¡¯d prefer to be informed, and potentially take part in it. There is a beastkin voyage sailing off their western coast, scheduled for a bit more than three weeks from now. With the level of preparedness they are taking, this voyage is the one most likely to reach an inhabited continent.¡±


    Well, that got my attention, making me sit up straight in my chair, smiling slightly. ¡°We¡¯ll finally get another race meeting. Do you know which continent they¡¯ll be hitting?¡±


    That earned a smallugh out of Terra, who shook her head with a smile. ¡°Just because I¡¯m the Goddess of Fate doesn¡¯t mean I can actually predict the future. Going by the currents, they are likely to drift south for a while, so they could hit thends of either the humans, elves, or dwarves. However, the human continent has arge amount of inds, both big and small, just off their eastern coast. Taking that into consideration, they are somewhat less likely to encounter the human continent due to the shallows being difficult to navigate.¡±


    I nodded my head in understanding. ¡°So most likely the dwarves, then.¡± I closed my eyes, trying to picture how the interaction between beastkin and dwarves would go. The beastkin were not a xenophobic race by nature due to their centuries of cooperation. The dwarves, however, had never seen another race like their own. At the same time, they weren¡¯t as prone to war as the humans, but they were no stranger to it.


    ¡°Right. Between the elves and dwarves, the dwarves are considerably closer. Simrly, the elven continent is split down the center, with arge portion of the eastern part of the continent separated from the rest. Because of that, even if they reach the elven continent, they won¡¯t actually be able to meet the elves. Besides¡­ we can control where they end up.¡±


    I nced at her in surprise at that, seeing a sly smile on her face. ¡°You mean to control the winds and waves, and guide the voyage where we want it to go.¡± When I saw her nodding her head, I sank into thought. ¡°I know Bihena could probably take care of that, but she¡¯s got a lot on her te already. Which means a powerful druid.¡±


    ¡°One might even say, the most powerful druid.¡± There was an almost teasing tone in her voice as she said that. ¡°This would be a long voyage, Dale. None of us will me you if you don¡¯t want to take it. After all, if you are going to be doing this with your druid Keeper levels, you can¡¯t leave it to a World Host. At the shortest estimation, it¡¯ll take a full year for them to reach an inhabited continent, as long as they don¡¯t sumb to monsters or other disasters.¡±


    Hearing that, cold water was suddenly poured on the excitement I was feeling. A full year was longer than I had actually even been a Keeper so far. It was hard to imagine leaving the Admin Room for that long all at once. On the other hand, this finally gave me the chance to take part in history in the making.


    Bihena, are you free for a moment? I need to talk to you.


    After my message went out, there was a brief pause, before she responded with a slight tone of irritation. Well, I am now. Really, couldn¡¯t you contact me when I¡¯m not in the middle of a spar? Anyways, what¡¯s going on?


    I briefly exined what Terra had told me about the beastkin voyage, and what we wanted to do. Would you be able to take over guiding the ships now and then, so that I¡¯d be able toe back for a break at times? As excited as I was to take part in this, I knew that I¡¯d miss theforts of home. Even if the breaks were short, I would really need to take them.


    Huh? Well, alright. That wouldn¡¯t be much trouble, I guess. The Ocean is one of my domains, after all. I just can¡¯t handle them the entire way, because I also still need to keep an eye on my own people.


    I smiled as I got her consent. Thanks, Bihena. I¡¯ll owe you one with this. I felt a light huff over the connection, though she didn¡¯t seem entirely displeased, and then the connection cut. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll do it.¡± I told Terra with a nod. This would be a great chance to look at how the beastkin had been progressing, as well as y a part in one of the key moments of history.


    Terra smiled brightly when she heard my answer. ¡°Great! I¡¯ll go let the others know! Rivy already promised to help out a bit, which is why we are able to shorten the journey to only a year. She just asked that you make a small detour in the journey, somewhere to rest your sea legs and stock up on supplies. And before you ask, no the detour won¡¯t make the journey take longer than it normally would have.¡±


    I groaned slightly as I prepared myself, nodding slightly. ¡°Okay¡­ what is the detour?¡±


    Terra¡¯s grin grewrger andrger as she spoke. ¡°She wants you to make a stop at her dungeon. It¡¯s never had any visitors, and is probably the most intelligent of all of them.¡±

 Chapter 127: Remember the Wraiths

    <h4>Chapter 127: Remember the Wraiths</h4>


    I decided to rest for a little while to prepare for what I had to do next. First, I had sent a message to the beastkin sisters, asking them toe up with a reputation for me that would ensure that I would be chosen to be a part of the voyage. That would also give me any information that I needed to know regarding the beastkin customs.


    At the same time, I asked if any of the gods or goddesses wanted to join in as well. However, most of them didn¡¯t even have an incarnation prepared in beastkin territory, so only two chose to apany me. To my surprise, it was actually Udona and Keliope that chose to join in. When I asked the others about it, I learned that those two had never actually created an incarnation outside of their own race.


    Still, this would give me more time to spend with the two of them, to get to know them better. Assuming we even ended up on the same ship, that is. After taking care of that, I began sending out messages directly to a few of the residents of the world. It was time to teach the Wraiths again.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Kady Sorn stood amidst the open ins, a strange white fog surrounding her. She had heard tell of this from the ancient legends of the Wraiths, passed down through the generations. Combined with the message she had received earlier, she waspletely shocked that these legends indeed were true.


    A male voice had spoken to her, directly into her mind. Much in the way that she heard her spirit roar and growl when it was upset or excited, yet this held far more intelligence. It told her that it was time for the Wraiths to move again, that the time to act had finally arrived.


    It would be a lie to say that Kady wasn¡¯t excited. In all her years as the official leader of the dwarven Wraiths, she had never truly seen a sign of what they were meant to do. The Angels of Death came for any spirits before they had the chance to be dangerous, and no threats from beyond the veil had arrived in their many generations of service.


    However, they still continued. Some out of a sense of duty to the legends and their ancestors. Some, simply because of the contract that they signed, forbidding them from allowing the Wraiths to die out.


    ¡°Kady.¡± The male voice spoke again, and the mists cleared in front of her. A handsome young dwarf, his hair neatlybed and beard down just below his chest. If it were any other circumstances, she might want to get to know him more. However, she knew the truth of the matter.


    Kady¡¯s arms snapped to her sides, her head looking forward seriously as she stood at attention. This was the same appearance that the ancestors had described. Kady knew that this man was an agent of Lord Tubrock¡­ or something more. ¡°Sir.¡±


    ¡°No need to be so formal.¡± He spoke, though his voice seemed hoarse from age, despite his apparent youth. ¡°I asked you here today because it is time to show you something, which I trust you to pass on to the rest of the Wraiths.¡±


    After the young dwarf spoke, the mists rapidly cleared from their surroundings. ¡°There are new creatures that walk thesends as of recent times. Do you know of them?¡±


    Kady wracked her brain as she considered the man¡¯s question. There were many new monsters that were constantly appearing, so it was hard to determine exactly which ones he meant. But, if it was rted to the Wraiths¡­ ¡°The sky children, and the blood beasts?¡± She recalled two specific creatures that each seemed to control a trace of spiritual energy, though it seemed different from what she was used to.


    ¡°Good, good.¡± The other dwarf nodded his head. ¡°So that is what you call them.¡± He closed his eyes for a moment, and one of the ¡®sky children¡¯ appeared above his head. A small girl, no bigger than her palm, with wings like an insect and golden hair. It looked at the two of them strangely, before hovering down and sitting on the man¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°These are the spirits of the world given flesh.¡± He told her. ¡°Right now, they are pure and kind, but also easily angered when one of their own is hurt. The more of them there are in one ce, the stronger they be. One of your jobs will be to monitor these little creatures, make sure none of them stray down the wrong path.¡±


    As he spoke, the sky child simply kicked her legs yfully from his shoulder, leaning side to side as if she didn¡¯t understand anything they were saying. ¡°I¡­ see.¡± Kady nodded with some difficulty. It was true that they were specialized to fight spirits, and if these things truly were a form of spirits, that made it their responsibility.


    ¡°Now, next up¡­¡± The dwarf said, before turning to gaze at the sky child. The little creature had pouting expression on its face for a moment, before it simply vanished from view. Instead, a white mist slowly rolled into the surroundings. Kady knew what this meant, and simply waited to see which figures would emerge.


    To her surprise, what came through were four small creatures, looking like dwarves but far too thin. Their entire bodies were only as thick as a dwarven man¡¯s arm. Among them, there were two wearing the dress of females, and two wearing male dress. There was no doubt they were intelligent, however, as they turned towards the male dwarf and spoke words that could not be understood.


    After a brief conversation that Kady could not hope to take part of, the five of them all turned towards Kady. ¡°These are the spirits of blood, the strongest among the ¡®blood beasts¡¯, as you called them. I have asked them to help control the weaker ones, but there is only so much they can do. So, when a blood beast bes too powerful, or there be too many of them in an area and they begin to endanger the people nearby, it will be the duty of the Wraiths to destroy them.¡±


    Kady felt a chill at his words, but could only nod her head in agreement. She had noted that several blood beasts had begun appearing more and more frequentlytely, so this order wasn¡¯t so much a surprise. ¡°I understand, sir. I¡¯ll pass word along to the others when I return. Uhm¡­ how am I returning exactly?¡±


    A mysterious smile was on the dwarf¡¯s face as the mist rapidly pooled around Kady once again, and she again found herself sitting in her home in the heart of the mountain. It took her a moment to adjust, but then it was all she could do not to scream from excitement. Finally, the Wraiths had purpose! And it was in her generation.


    _______________________________________________________________


    A great disturbance filled thend, strange white smoke rising from the forest floor. Our hunting party clenched their fists, their life flowing and creating the glow of blood. Our eyes could not pierce the fog, but we could feel the power it held. Powers of the ancient spirits.


    When the smoke cleared, the seven of us stood among a wide field. The sky had turned dark, and the beasts had all gone silent. Only one stranger stood before us. A heroc of unknowable strength. His central eye glistened with an intelligence that we could not help but notice. A being of wisdom and power, who wields the world as he wished.


    The glow of life fled from our hands, and we dropped down to our knees, fists heavily impacting the ground. Our eyes closed as we lowered our heads. All at once, the seven of us shouted together. ¡°Da¡¯hu!¡±


    That one of the great spirits had descended upon us was an incredible blessing. Many had heard the whisperings of Da¡¯hu in their dreams, telling them the secrets of the world. Yet none had ever seen him in person.


    Da¡¯hu remained silent for a long time before he began to speak. ¡°Rise. I have work for you.¡±


    Asmanded, the seven of us all rose to our feets, but we only opened the center of our three eyes. To gaze fully upon a great spirit was a sin that we could not bear. ¡°What would you have of us, Da¡¯hu?¡±


    ¡°Tell me, have any of you seen the spirits of your fallen?¡±


    Da¡¯hu¡¯s question made us look to one another, after which we all nodded. It was not an umon sight to see the ancestors, before the envoys came to take them to rest. Many even saw the spirits of the beasts wandering the forest as well.


    ¡°And have you ever attempted to make contact with them?¡± These words sent a dangerous chill down our spines. It was known that one must never attempt to speak with spirits, for the act of doing so may cause them to be unable to find rest.


    ¡°I see¡­ You do not know the way.¡± Da¡¯hu shook his head strangely as he said that. ¡°I will show you. A way that will let you borrow the power of the fallen, to fight against the creatures who would use that energy to harm the heroc.¡±


    After he said that, Da¡¯hu began to speak. He told us of how we could pull the spirits of the fallen into our bodies, to use them to fight with us. Even showed us how they could be turned into strange tools when his right arm reached out and grabbed a shining spear.


    However, he also swore us to secrecy. He said that we had been chosen, and bound us by leather writ to uphold our promise. We would fight the beasts of blood when they became a danger, and the little fairies if they became evil. But we would let none know of our presence, unless they had been chosen to join us. And they too would be bound by leather writ.


    Thest thing he said before the smoke engulfed us once again, which wouldst with us until our dying breath. ¡°Farewell, my Wraiths. Protect your kin, and uphold your task.¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    I let out a long sigh when I returned to the Admin Room. It had taken me most of a day to get all of the races¡¯ Wraiths up to date, and even create a simr group within the heroc. Honestly, it was my first time taking on that form, but I could already feel that it was incredibly powerful.


    Thankfully, by the time that I returned, there was already a small stack of papers waiting for me on myputer desk. Rather than just one suggested background, it seemed like each of the four beastkin sisters had created one, and wanted me to choose. The only thing that they really all had inmon was that I would be known among the beastkin as the most powerful druid, able to easily control the wind and tide.


    It seemed a bit amusing how they each arranged a profile for me, so I took my time to look through each one. On the bright side, this gave me all of the information that I could need about the beastkin culture, since each profile contained its own backstory.


    From the four, I decided to choose the one that had been written by alia. It had me known as a powerful, but reclusive druid with unknown powers. I had wandered through the various towns as a child, seeing the different sights, but never settled down. I had never been seen with any family or friends, so it was believed that my family had been killed when I was just a young boy.


    Although I was friendly, people often refused to bother me unless something was important, because they were fearful of my power. Nobody knew exactly where my strength ended, just that the rain had never touched my house. The wind had never broken it even in the harshest storms. I could walk through a blizzard and not be cold, stand amidst the burning sands and not feel the heat.


    Honestly, it seemed like the perfect mysterious character to me. And it would let me pull out any of my other ss abilities or wisdom without seeming too suspicious. At the same time, it¡¯d be exactly the kind of character that would make people in power nervous enough to want to send me away at the first chance they got, on a voyage with little hope of ever returning.

 Chapter 128: The Stars Shall Guide Your Way

    <h4>Chapter 128: The Stars Shall Guide Your Way</h4>


    With the Wraith side of things taken care of, I did something that I hadn¡¯t done in a while. I grabbed the piece of ¡®message paper¡¯ that Terra once made for me, and wrote a message for Ryone.


    About to head down to the world for a while, but I had an idea I need for something that I need you to do. Can you make a storage bag like mine, but without the enchantment concealing effect? And then take it to a few of the dungeons in the different races so that they can learn how to replicate it. It will help stimte their growth without causing them to overly rely on the gods.


    The idea hit me as I was educating the Wraiths. If the dungeons can create items simr to those that they¡¯ve studied, then logically they should be able to create items that the other races haven¡¯t been able to yet. A perfect example being the sword that they mentioned putting in for the dwarves.


    I considered just using my own bag for this, but then I recalled the effect to make its enchantments unable to be read. If they can¡¯t see the enchantments, then odds are that they can¡¯t copy them. But, if we use a new one, different story. And if the races find something like that in the dungeons, then they will be able to begin researching them, and will likely ce more value in the dungeons themselves.


    I would have sent the message to her directly, but I didn¡¯t want to get caught up in a long conversation. I still had a bunch of things to prepare! Navigating the map, I began to descend down to the beastkin continent, finding rivers and ponds close enough to the cities to be usable without being spotted, and setting up a portal site with my druidic abilities.


    If I was going to be passing off as a powerful druid, then there was the chance that I would be required to show that I had awork such as this. And even if I wasn¡¯t, it would be a good idea to do so, for the future. Eventually, I had set up roughly fifty portal sites across the entire continent to serve as a portalwork, though doing so led me to a discovery.


    Once I moved a certain distance away from one of my portal locations, I began to feel my connection with it weaken, and found myself unable to open a portal to that location. It appeared that a druid¡¯s powers weren¡¯t quite as omnipresent as I originally believed, though the distance was still huge. If I had topare it¡­ I would be able to move from one side of the United States in my old world to the other, but not across the ocean to Europe.


    I wasn¡¯t sure if this held true for all druids, or if it was dependant on their level of power. At the moment, I was already using my Keeper levels for the Druid ss, keeping everything else suppressed to normal. So maybe a normal druid only has a range of less than half of that distance, which is still pretty huge.


    Either way, once I was done setting up the portalwork, I returned to the Admin Room. So, we¡¯re going on a boat, huh? I heard Leowynn¡¯s excited tone from within my mind. I¡¯ve never been on a boat before.


    You sure you¡¯ll be alright? You won¡¯t get the chance toe out very much if we¡¯re stuck in front of a bunch of other people. Honestly, one of the biggest things I was worrying about for this whole trip was Leowynn. Sure, I¡¯d get a bit antsy sitting on a boat for a year, but I¡¯d still be able to move around and stretch my legs. Leowynn wouldn¡¯t have that option.


    Isn¡¯t it just for a year? That¡¯ll be fine, then. I can take the time to practice a bit more. Also¡­ mind if I make a little request for your triping up? I could sense a bit more excitement creeping into Leowynn¡¯s voice as she spoke.


    Of course, a year to her wouldn¡¯t be long. She was already several centuries old when she died¡­ What is it?


    Could you guide the beastkin to the elves? I¡¯m not trying to y favorites or anything, honest. But, there¡¯s a bit of a story behind why I wanted to ask that. Would you like to hear? When I gave a brief nod, Leowynn continued. This is an old story about our sky, back from the day that the sky fell upon thend.


    The sky of the elvennds is split in five, signifying the four earthly domains and the domain of the Goddess. There is the Sky of the Lion to the west, where the beasts roam in greater strength and numbers. On the day the sky fell, it is said that a mighty lion swallowed a star, bing a guardian protector serving Ryone.


    The Sky of the Aerop lies to the north, the domain of the spiders and wicked insects. The mighty aerop spun its web around a fallen star, and drained it of its energy. The north is and of terrible beasts that the elves refuse to settle in.


    To the south is the Sky of the Mortal Pce, thend from which the elves first came. Although we did not inherit a star, we gained the protection of Ryone to shield us from harm, allowing us to own one of the four domains.


    Between the four directions, there is the Sky of the Goddess, bringing bnce to all. And finally¡­ the eastern sky is the Sky of the Serpent, the realm of the boundless ocean, and the area where more stars fell than any other domain.


    When the sky settled, the ancient ancestors saw shapes emerging from the stars in the night sky, and began to draw them on leather and name them. Among the stars in the Sky of the Serpent, there were five constetions drawn. They were The Dragon, The Tide, The School, The Snake¡­ and The Traveler.


    When Leowynn reached the end of her story, I felt a smallugh rise up from my through as I understood her meaning. I couldn¡¯t help but voice my thoughts out loud. ¡°You want us to arrive from beneath the Traveler¡¯s star, as a sign of peace and fortune for the elves.¡±


    I could practically feel Leowynn nodding her head rapidly inside my soul. If it wouldn¡¯t be too much trouble? If you had already settled on the dwarves, we can do itter¡­


    ¡°No, it¡¯s fine. I hadn¡¯tpletely decided, and it does make for a bit of poetic irony. I guess you could call this fate? Either way, there¡¯s no harm in going this way, but first we need to make sure that the elves themselves would be there to see it. Otherwise, it loses its meaning.¡±


    Hearing that, she seemed to fall into thought. Are there no cities on the eastern part of the continent after all?


    Shrugging my shoulders, I opened up the map to check. Honestly, the fact that the eastern region of the sky was the domain of the ocean meant that there should be a settlement close enough to see the ocean. And that was over five hundred years ago.


    Not surprisingly, I found that there were quite a few cities on the east, though they were mostly spread out. One of which I had actually been to myself, the city of Cau Buhnga. In fact, now that I looked at it, it seems like a second elven kingdom had taken hold. The first was in the eastern part of the continent, where Leowynn herself had been born.


    The second kingdom was on therger western area. Its cities were fewer in number than Gandor in the east, but they were packed far more closely together, offering more security for their people. I imagined I¡¯d be hearing a story behind that before too long.


    Though, this led me to question why Terra had said that the elves wouldn¡¯t be there to meet us if we sailed to them. Did she mean the other kingdom? Or was some kind of disaster heading their way that I wasn¡¯t aware of.


    Terra. I called out to her in my mind, asking her that very same question.


    Hmm? Oh, sorry, I wasn¡¯t meaning to exclude them or anything. They¡¯re not on the verge of extinction, so don¡¯t worry. A lot of them are just considering moving towards the safer western region and moving away from the coast. Though, now that I think about it a bit more, there probably wouldn¡¯t be a whole lot of dwarves living on the beach, either¡­ Sorry! Honest mistake.


    Huh¡­ Terra actually made a mistake of her own¡­ has she¡­ ever done that? You sure you¡¯re okay? I don¡¯t think that you¡¯ve ever made a slip up like that.


    Yeah, I¡¯m fine Dale. I¡¯ve been practicing handling two incarnations a lot more recently, so my attention is divided too much, I guess. I¡¯ll try to keep it more in control in the future. Oh, and nice thinking on the dungeon thing. Ryone filled me in and said she¡¯d be happy to help.


    I nodded my head slightly at that, a small sigh emerging from my lips. Ultimately, I knew that nothing normally happens to a systempanion like Terra, because Alkahest mentioned that he still had his. And he¡¯d been in this position long enough to know the Keeper from a few generations before me.


    At the same time, the idea briefly came up that she might be pregnant, though a shortugh ended that thought. The idea was a nice one, but physically impossible in this scenario. A new life can¡¯te into being in the Admin Room without being purchased or hitchhiking like Leowynn. And even if she was able to get pregnant, there is no aging, so the child could never be born.


    Shaking my head, I brought my thoughts off of that topic. ¡°So¡­ time to get started I guess.¡±


    Opening up the map, I was quickly able to find the harbor city where the voyage would set sail from. Dyjorn, it was called, and I was easily able to find a plot ofnd nearby to ce a little shack. Thankfully, using the Easy Reputation system did allow for things such as primitive dwellings to be built on emptynd to serve as the home in the reputation.


    I gathered the papers from alia, and quickly entered them in as the reputation I wanted to create. While I watched, wood began to push up out of the ground at a visible speed, forming into a small home. Just like it mentioned in the reputation, it looked as if a strong breeze would knock it over, yet it stood surprisingly firm.


    Next, I took out an insurance policy. My five hundred year timeskip had brought a massive influx of points, so I was easily resting at just over two and a half thousand. This made it very much affordable to buy a World Host. That way, even if I do end up in a fatal situation, I can just ascend and have the body left behind die in my ce.


    Finally, I began to actually craft the body that I would be using for the next year. Naturally, since it was alia¡¯s rmendation, he was a lycan. Because of his reputation, he was an elderly one, looking to be in histe sixties. His true age was unknown, but it was estimated that he had some secret to extending his life.


    His face was just showing the signs of age, a few wrinkles appearing here and there, while his formerly ck hair formed lines of grey that ran down to his shoulders. The body was far from muscr, though in this world the appearance or absence of strength can be very misleading. His clothes were neat and tidy, yet had a few patches sewn onto them to show how long they had been used.


    Once I was done crafting the body, I looked it over for a little bit. This would also be my first time descending in an elderly body, and I wasn¡¯t quite sure that I was ready to deal with all the aches and pains. It shouldn¡¯t be a problem, but if it turns into one I¡¯ll have to find a way to fix it.


    Are you sure you want to go ahead and head down? Leowynn asked, seeming to realize my intention.


    Why not¡­ the sooner the better. I need to be there in time to be picked for the voyage, and this will give me more chance to limate to beastkin culture. As I said that, I hit the button to descend, letting the blue lights surround me.


    And that was when Tebor the Traveler was born into the world, ready to see history being made.

 Chapter 129: Dual Cultivation?

    <h4>Chapter 129: Dual Cultivation?</h4>


    When the blue light faded around me, I found the world dark. I had chosen to arrive in the middle of the night so that I would not be spotted descending by anyone, so I was alone inside the quiet shack. In one hand I held a long, gnarled staff, which I subconsciously found myself leaning on for support as I felt my joints seeming a bit more stiff than I was used to. On my wrist, there was still the golden bracelet, my Token of Nature which would let me easily ess my druidic powers.


    Oh, and that reminds me¡­ Oh Terra, great Goddess of Fate¡­ Mind making sure Ashley doesn¡¯t advance her world too far while I¡¯m down here? Once she gets to the same level that the world we came from was at, please make sure to pause it.


    I heard a lightugh in my mind in response to that prayer, so it seemed like she agreed. ¡°Now¡­ to level distribution.¡± I closed my eyes briefly, taking a deep breath and calling up my character information.


    Name


    Dale Mitchell


    Race


    Lycan(Keeper)


    Health


    358/358(656974/656974)


    Mana


    216/216(270666/270666)


    Strength


    6(586)


    Ki


    911/911(351359/351359)


    Stamina


    12(553)


    Intelligence


    11(518)


    Dexterity


    16(579)


    Wisdom


    27(760)


    Luck


    6(265)


    Charm


    9(275)


    ss List


    Alchemist 1(138)


    Archer 0(132)


    Architect 0(75)


    Archmage 0(85)


    Armorer 0(112)


    Artisan 0(103)


    Assassin 0(94)


    Bard 0(158)


    Berserker 0(132)


    ck Knight 0(28)


    cksmith 0(125)


    Carpenter 1(101)


    Chef 0(95)


    Cleric 0(79)


    Crusader 0(62)


    Druid 11(124)


    Enchanter 5(130)


    Engineer 0(29)


    Fallen Priest 0(12)


    Farmer 0(101)


    Gambler 0(43)


    Guard 0(93)


    Herbalist 2(94)


    Hero 3(89)


    Hunter 0(116)


    Jeweler 0(73)


    Knight 0(92)


    Leader 1(99)


    Leatherworker 0(101)


    Mage 2(152)


    Martial Artist 1(103)


    Merchant 0(74)


    Miner 0(99)


    Monk 15(128)


    Monster Tamer 2(97)


    Ninja 6(147)


    Noble 0(63)


    Painter 0(77)


    Pdin 0(42)


    Pirate 0(85)


    Priest 1(110)


    Rogue 0(99)


    Schr 1(101)


    Scout 1(99)


    Sculptor 0(79)


    Shaman 10(99)


    Spirit Hunter 15(64)


    Spirit Tamer 6(59)


    Swordsman 0(101)


    Tailor 0(100)


    Temr 0(43)


    Warrior 2(158)


    Weaponmaster 0(52)


    Advanced sses


    Elemental Monk 0(68)


    Elementalist 0(65)


    Martial Spirit 0(123)


    Summoner 0(72)


    World Spirit 0(34)


    I suppressed the desire to let my eyes twitch as I looked at the stats, though as I looked closer a small smile came to my lips. Although the levels of the sses had shifted around, with some going higher and others lower, just looking at the pure stats was enough to see the direction that the world was growing in.


    All of the stats had increased by quite a lot, but by far the biggest increases were in intelligence and wisdom, which seemed to show that the sses rted to those stats had increased far more than any others since thest time I checked.


    Now, I just needed to decide which sses I wanted to ¡®unseal¡¯ for this voyage. The druid ss was obvious, as it was the main reason for me being here in the first ce. But I wanted just a bit more, something that would help reinforce the image of power, as well as give me the stats I¡¯d need to survive.


    If I take my own levels into consideration, and add in the difference in druid levels, Ie up just shy of two hundred. Now, there¡¯s no particr reason that I can¡¯t surpass the normal level limit, but I want to keep it as close as possible. So¡­ the mage ss goes right out the window, same with monk and ninja.


    So, this leaves me with two options that I could really see as being usible, given mybat experience so far. I could either unseal the elemental monk ss,bining my normal monk levels with my Keeper druid levels to amplify that¡­ Or I could unseal the spirit hunter ss.


    The elemental monk ss would add more raw stats, but I don¡¯t have much practice using that ss, aside from the very first time I practiced elemental ki before buying the ss. On the other hand, the spirit hunter ss would give me more versatility, an added sense of mystery, and allow me to have Leowynn y an effective role inbat, should the need arise.


    Leowynn? I directed my attention inward, wanting to get her opinion on the matter.


    Hmm? She spoke up, seeming drowsy as if she had been ready to take a nap. I¡¯m fine with whichever. Though¡­ if you use me, that would give us a chance to practice Aki Seppo. We haven¡¯t been able to do that yet.


    Well¡­ she raised a very valid point. I spent over a hundred points on that martial art, and she has been training with it ever since she died, but we haven¡¯t had the chance to use it together yet. Nodding my head, I unsealed the spirit hunter ss, bringing me to a grand total of level two hundred and forty-eight, just shy of the cap. This way, people would simply see me as having reached the pinnacle of power.


    I could immediately feel the results as my stats increased. My stiff joints loosened as if I had suddenly be young again, a feeling of power filling my body. ¡°Okay, that¡¯s taken care of now. Would you like to practice Aki Seppo for a bit, Leowynn, that way we know what we are doing when we actually need it?¡±


    Yes, please! She practically shouted out from within me, before I could feel her sitting down to exin. Okay, so, I¡¯ve gotten a bit more familiar with my end of this. I was named after a star, I lived a bright and happy life, and I died wanting to be your¡¯s and mom¡¯s star¡­ so it¡¯s not really that surprising, but my special abilities are based on stars.


    I chuckled slightly when she exined that, nodding my head for her to continue. Specifically, they are based on the elven constetions that I told you about before. Whenever I focus on each one, I feel a different power within me. So, I should be able to use a few different abilities, depending on which constetion I use.


    I simply nodded again, waiting for her to finish. ¡°Alright, then.¡± I let the staff fall to my side, taking a deep breath as I walked out of the rundown shack. I had built this a good distance from the nearest city, so even if I did practice here, nobody would see anything strange. ¡°Let¡¯s get this started.¡±


    Aki Seppo had a few restrictions, but most of them were ced on the rtionship between the users, rather than the movements or techniques involved in it. I closed my eyes, focusing as my hands raised up. I could feel Leowynn¡¯s spirit moving through my arms, before wrapping tightly around my hands and forearms.


    I manifest the Traveler! Leowynn called out, clearly focusing on one specific constetion. Why I opened my eyes, my arms were covered with glowing silver vambraces, matching gauntlets on either hand. On the backs of each gauntlet was a series of dots with lines drawn between them, giving the rough shape of a cloaked man.


    I nced around, and couldn¡¯t particrly feel anything different about myself. No sudden ability to control light or dark, no instant teleportation. I was beginning to think that we had done this wrong, before I realized that my body was suddenly lighter. Not only that, but as I began moving, I found myself to be quite a bit faster than before. ¡°Okay, so the Traveler increases movement speed¡­ makes sense. Do you want to try a different one?¡±


    I could feel Leowynn trying to focus within the gauntlets, before she let out a sigh. I need to go back to see the stars again. After she said that, the gauntlets and vambraces disappeared into a thin cloud of smoke for just a few moments before beginning to reform, apanied by her voice echoing in my mind. I manifest the Web of Souls!


    This time, when the gauntlets formed, a different pattern was stamped on their back. Another series of stars, this time connected in a way to look like a spider¡¯s web. This time, the effect was far more obvious, as white threads of spiritual energy slowly spread out from my body, burrowing into the ground and extending along it.


    I could almost feel as some of the threadstched onto spiritual bodies of small creatures, sapping their energy and feeding it back to me. However, as soon as that feeling appeared, the gauntlets vanished again. Let¡¯s¡­ not use that one when we can avoid it, okay dad? I might identally hit someone with it.


    ¡°That¡¯s fine. I take it there¡¯s another story behind that constetion, then?¡±


    Hearing my question, Leowynn spoke up in a faint voice. The Aerop was a spider who preyed on the living and the dead. After stealing the power of the stars, it was said that it gained the ability to hunt the ghosts who had passed. Some imed to have seen mother¡¯s angels trapped in its web.


    ¡°Okay¡­ so, we¡¯re just going to forget that power is a thing unless strictly needed.¡± I nodded sagely as I agreed with her decision after hearing that, knowing there was likely more to the power if it was based on that story. ¡°We can try one more tonight, so pick a good one.¡±


    I could feel Leowynn smiling at that, thinking carefully. Alright. I manifest¡­ the Dragon! When her words fell, the flow of spiritual energy shifted. It was no longer focused purely on my arms, but instead began to wrap around my entire body.


    Instead of a simple pair of silver vambraces, I soon found myself covered in a full set of pitch ck armor,yered scales covering my chest, arms, and legs. My gauntlets had been converted into sharp ws, while I wore a helmet that I could only imagine was designed to match the head of a dragon.


    However, that wasn¡¯t the biggest change to this. The biggest change was the fact that I could feelrge, leathery wings attached to my back. As my attention was drawn to them, they began to slowly extend and retract. I¡¯ll control the wings for you. Leowynn assured me.


    As soon as I thought about flying, the wings pped heavily, sending me up into the air. I couldn¡¯t help butugh as I looked at the ground moving away from me, feeling Leowynn keeping me airborne with constant beats of our wings. ¡°The dragon, huh?¡± I mused softly, rather liking this form.


    It had been a dragon that killed Leowynn, so I expected her to be more hesitant about borrowing the powers of one. To my surprise, she seemed to hold no ill will towards it, and I could almost feel that she was thankful to the dragon. With our connection strengthened in this manner, I could nearly see into her mind, just as she saw into mine.


    Having had enough of flying, I had Leowynn set us down near my shack, and called her back into me. These manifestations were not free to use, and each one drained her energy slightly. I was able to feel that the longer we remained in that state, the weaker she was getting. Though she had recovered some of her energy with the web of souls, she cut it off before it was enough to make up for the total drain.


    I would have to wait and see if she naturally recovered her energy on her own, or if I¡¯d need to harvest some spiritual energy to help her get back to her full power. But for now, there was something else I needed to check while she rested.


    Raising my hand up, I closed my eyes and let my senses flow into the golden band around my wrist. I needed to see just how far of an area I could control with my druidic powers amplified as much as they were. To do that, I created a small ball of fire in the air above me, and sent it out, away from the direction of the city.


    The small me sped along through the air, further and further away. Fifty meters, a hundred meters, two hundred, soon easily surpassing a full kilometer. Then a second kilometer, only slowing down once it moved past three. Finally, at just under three and a half kilometers, I was unable to focus enough on the me, and a small gust extinguished it.


    ¡°So, my effective control area is a three kilometer radius, then. That should be more than enough to get me on the voyage.¡± I smiled slightly as I thought about that, nodding my head. When I went back into the shack, Iid down on a bed of straw, closing my eyes and looking forward to the days ahead.

 Chapter 130: Recruitment

    <h4>Chapter 130: Recruitment</h4>


    For the next several days, I spent most of my time alone. Unsurprisingly, not many people wished to disturb the mysterious ¡®sage¡¯ that lived outside of town. Even the monsters often chose not to wander onto mynd, the few that did only trying to devour a few fallen fruits or weeds before scurrying off.


    While the days were peaceful, the nights were considerably less so. Not because of any sudden monster attacks or anything like that, but because Leowynn and I were continuing to practice our Aki Seppo techniques. Specifically, learning the functions of all the different constetions.


    ording to her exnation, the elven sky contained a total of thirty constetions. The five ¡®skies¡¯ had five constetions each, and each of the skies also acted as their own constetions. She even helped me to identify some of them that she could identify from the beastkin continent.


    Of the thirty constetions, we had been able to practice a total of twenty. The constetions from the Sky of the Goddess, as well as the five skies themselves, were all too powerful for her to ess. Most likely, we wouldn¡¯t be able to use those until we had reached the final step of Aki Seppo, or until Leowynn had be significantly stronger.


    Of course, these peaceful days couldn¡¯tst forever. It took eight full days before the first guest arrived at my door, arge ursa man in studded leather armor. At his waist was a crude bronze sword, while on his back he had strapped a short bow.


    He stood out in front of my shack, calling for me. ¡°Ie to meet with Tebor on behalf of the crown of the third Kelios Queen!¡± His tone was deep andmanding, yet I smiled as I detected a hint of a slight tremble in it. Time to start the show.


    ¡°Yes, yes, I¡¯ming.¡± I spoke from within, leaning on my staff as I walked out the door. As soon as Iid eyes on the ursa man, I knew that he wasn¡¯t one of the famed ¡®pinnacle champions¡¯. The level disyed above him had barely reached one hundred, so he was likely nothing more than amon courier for the army. ¡°What is it?¡± I found my voice aged and cracking, unlike the normal youthful tone I was ustomed.


    The man looked at me, obviously not believing that I really required the staff for anything more thanfort, yet refused to speak up about it. ¡°I have an official quest, handed down by Lord Bulrin of Dyjorn with the seal of the crown. He wishes for you to take a look at it, and view the request favorably.¡±


    After speaking, he pulled a folded parchment out of the satchel on his waist and passed it to me. I could see the print of a bear¡¯s paw stamped into the back of the paper, likely the ¡®royal seal¡¯. Nheless, I unfolded the paper to look at the quest.


    The Kingdom has need of your aid, Sir Tebor. With the approval of the Third Queen, we have issued this request to you, in the hopes that we may acquire your assistance. In fourteen days after the writing of this quest, a small fleet of ships will be departing from the port, their goal to find unchartednds to the west. In order to ensure their safety, we are sending our most formidable citizens to protect and guide them.


    All know the power of a druid, and what they can do at sea. With your ability, there is no doubt that you can easily see why we would ask this of you. We hope that you will protect our ships, and guide them safely by fair wind and weather. In return, you will be granted a noble title, and a domain of your own in whatevernd the voyage settles.


    Quest Objective: Assist the departing fleet in reaching unchartednds safely.


    Reward: Conferment of the Noble ss, and the right to im a domain.


    Well, this is interesting. I looked at the quest, somewhat amused. For the nobles that offered this, they had literally nothing to lose. Not only did this get a potential threat away from them, but they wouldn¡¯t even have to really offer me the ss in the first ce, from their perspective.


    I had a reputation of being a pinnacle power, meaning that my level should be at the limit. With that, offering me the noble ss is nothing more than a title in name only. They would still need approval of a royal party to issue this as a quest reward, but if I could not ept the ss, that was ultimately not their fault.


    I never thought I¡¯d get the chance to receive the noble ss¡­ though I suppose I could have done so easily at any point in the past. Just ask one of the gods to arrange things, and I¡¯d have it. Bit of a waste, however. Well, one level won¡¯t make much difference, especially once I start raising the cap some more.


    After appearing to think it over for a bit, I could tell that the messenger was growing nervous. Chuckling softly, I clenched the parchment in my hand, speaking in a low voice. ¡°I ept the quest.¡± If this had been a ¡®contract of service¡¯, themon name for a quest which was ¡®failed¡¯ by epting, with the ¡®penalty¡¯ being a certain act, then I would have outright refused and found a different method. But, it seemed that the nobles didn¡¯t want to get me upset before they sent me off.


    Seeing me ce the quest scroll in my own leather bag, the man breathed a sigh of relief. ¡°Many thanks, Tebor. I shall report such to the Lord.¡± After saying that, he turned and jogged away from my shack.


    I waited until he was well past earshot before letting myself begin tough lightly. ¡°Good, this will be interesting. I wonder if Udona and Keliope will make it in time¡­ or if they¡¯ve been assigned to the ships already.¡±


    I considered sending them a prayer to ask, but I thought it¡¯d be much more interesting to wait and see. Of course, that hope was all but shattered two dayster, when a booming female voice called out to me from outside the shack, stirring me from slumber. ¡°Hey, old man! You gonna invite me in or what?¡±


    Thinking, thinking¡­oh. I could only think of one person who would be able to act like that around me. I hadn¡¯t set up any significant contacts which would address me quite like that, which means it¡¯s not someone from my ¡®reputation¡¯. That can only mean a goddess, and there was no way that Udona would talk like that.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah,e on in.¡± I called out with a grumble, sitting up in my straw bed and rubbing my back slightly. As expected, a dark-skinned ursa woman came in through the door, nearly pulling it apart altogether as she used too much force opening it.


    ¡°Oops, sorry about that. Not like it¡¯ll matter much soon, but anyways.¡± Keliope grinned at me, looking almost exactly like her real self, just several inches shorter. Above her head, I could see that she definitely was a pinnacle champion, her level capped out at two hundred and fifty. ¡°How you liking thend of mortals, boss?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s dirty, there¡¯s no proper plumbing, and I feel old.¡± Iined, though I had a slight smile on my face as I did. ¡°So, I see that they really did manage to rope you into this?¡±


    ¡°Nope, I volunteered!¡± She answered with a proud grin. ¡°I figured I wanted to go out and see newnds, punch new faces, and work for the good of our people. That and I was getting bored of doing the same old thing in this life.¡±


    ¡°Martial arts, again?¡± I raised an eyebrow slightly as I asked that. I know she had been all but obsessed with that ss originally. She might very well be one of the highest level martial artists out there.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ I keep getting stuck at the ¡®99 barrier¡¯, though.¡± She awkwardly scratched the back of her head as she said that. ¡°Apparently, you need to be able to perfectly mix the styles of your chosen art and develop your own, unique technique in order to reach triple digits. But the stupid system won¡¯t recognize anything Ie up with, because I am essentially taking tips from everyone else who already used those moves. So I have to be more original than the originals.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle as she sighed in defeat. ¡°Well, at least it¡¯s good practice. Have you considered creating a new type of martial art, based on all your experience?¡±


    That earned me a small chuckle from Keliope, who nodded slightly. ¡°Yeah, I did once, but it¡¯s hard for the founder of a style to get all the way up to the nies in that style within their lifetime, so I ended up dying before that. Then on my second time through with that style, one of my students had already started up a new school on it, so more masters had started appearing. So¡­ same issue. Honestly, I¡¯m hoping that this trip will give me some new inspiration, to let me either create another art, ore up with my own unique move to use next time. Obviously, can¡¯t pass the wall now.¡± As she said that, she pointed up above her, where she seemed to know I saw her level.


    I nodded faintly at that thought. ¡°That¡¯s certainly understandable. But¡­ there¡¯s no way that they would have wanted someone that could only fight with their fists, right? In the sea, that wouldn¡¯t exactly be useful, unless you were going as aborer¡­¡±


    Keliope tilted her head back andughed loudly. ¡°Hah! Yeah, right. Me, a cargo carrier? No, since I couldn¡¯t pass the wall, I went ahead and got some monk training in. My first time really practicing its advanced ss.¡±


    As if to demonstrate, she lifted her fist up and clenched it, and I could see a golden me wrap around her fist. ¡°Fire ki might not be the most useful in the ocean, but it allows me some ranged attacks, and I can still fight if we meet something dangerous.¡±


    ¡°Makes sense¡­ Any idea what we can expect from Udona, then?¡±


    Keliope grinned mysteriously at that. ¡°She wanted it to be a surprise. Most excited I¡¯ve seen her since Terra introduced her toic books, so I¡¯m not telling. Don¡¯t worry, she¡¯ll be here in time for the party. By the way, you can call me Kelly in this life. Since I was born looking like¡­ well, me, my parents thought it fitting.¡±


    ¡°And I¡¯m Tebor¡­ because it was the first thing to float into my head when designing myself.¡± I shrugged slightly as I answered honestly. From there, Keliope and I talked for a little bit, mostly just her quizzing me to make sure that I knew everything I needed in order to pull all of this off. Once she was satisfied, she left to enter town.


    With her gone, my quiet days once again returned. And with Udona wanting to keep her identity as a surprise until thest minute, I didn¡¯t receive any other visitors. Just me and Leowynn for two weeks¡­ two long weeks. I was already starting to get stir crazy.


    Thankfully, I was able to keep myself from going back to the Admin Room for those two weeks, and held out till the bitter end. Two weekster, and I was in town, using my walking stick to help me along towards the shore.


    This was my first time actually being in the city of Dyjorn since descending, and it was quite the active city. People of all four beastkin races walking to and fro, talking and chatting, preparing for the weekly D¡¯ka. I hadn¡¯t participated in the three that had urred since my arrival, so none of that really mattered to me. Instead, I made my way towards the shore.


    Before I even arrived, I could hear a loud voice, obviously enhanced with ki or mana, drifting out to fill the area. ¡°Alright, alright, everyone who has been recruited for the Uncharted Voyage, step up. We¡¯re getting everything sorted now, soe up and tell your name and specialty, and we¡¯ll get you on a ship.¡±


    When I got to the source of the noise, I found a slim lycan boy with white hair. A long scar ran down the side of his otherwise unblemished face, his hair trying to cover it up. As people walked up to him, he took their quest scrolls as proof of identity, confirmed who they were, and then sent them off to one of twelve nearby people all dressed in official garb.


    Walking up to join the queue, I waited until it was my turn, before handing over my own quest scroll. ¡°Tebor, druid.¡± I said simply, leaning against my staff as I waited for him to give me my assignment.


    ¡°Don¡¯t bother with that one, boy. He¡¯s mine.¡± A female voice called out from the side, and I turned to see one of the twelve people lined up looking at me with a grin. ¡°Tebor, been waitin¡¯ on ya. The Lord himself suggested I be takin¡¯ ya on my crew.¡± She added with a yful wink.


    Oh, you have got to be kidding me¡­ I instantly knew that this was Udona. Not because she was a silver-haired kitsune. Not because she had called me out instantly. No¡­ it was her outfit. She wore a long, leather vest with golden threads embroidered in thin, even stripes along the center. Beneath it she wore a tight fitting red shirt and pants, outlining her curves.


    On her feet she wore leather boots with folded tops. A bronze cuss, obviously carefully crafted, sat sheathed at her waist. But what gave it away most of all was the ck hat. A ck hat with a symbol that should bepletely unknown to this world, the jolly roger.

 Chapter 131: I’m on a Boat

    <h4>Chapter 131: I¡¯m on a Boat</h4>


    ¡°Hmm?¡± The lycan man turned to look at Udona. ¡°Ah, apologies captain. Didn¡¯t realize he was one of yours.¡± He said respectfully, before handing me back my quest scroll.


    ¡°No harm no foul, boy. Just get on with yer business.¡± She said with a toothy grin, beckoning me over. ¡°As for you, Tebor. Ye heard right, ye¡¯ll be part of me own crew aboard the Jolly Dodger.¡± Her grin became more mischievous after she told me the name, and I had to resist a powerful urge to p my face with my palm. ¡°Don¡¯t be like that, now! Tis a fine ship! Leader of the Uncharted Voyage.¡±


    As she spoke proudly, she pointed to one of twelve ships parked at the docks. Most of the ships were just one or two-decked, but the one she pointed at looked like it might have three. On the top of the ship, there were threerge masts with the sails rolled up, a basket positioned at the top of the central mast.


    I was honestly surprised that their sailing technology had advanced this far, considering that they were stillrgely in the bronze age, having yet to fully transition to iron. Then again, they likely used magic to reinforce the ship in several key areas, and there was not a single cannon on any of the ships. That made sense, though. Against the monsters we¡¯d be facing in the open ocean, a high levelbatant would be worth more than a dozen cannons, even if they did know how to produce them.


    I nodded my head slightly as I looked at the ship. ¡°Shall I go ahead and board, then?¡± I asked, looking to my ¡®captain¡¯. She nodded her head with a smirk, causing me to sigh as I walked out towards the port. I didn¡¯t both taking a detour, and just walked straight across the water, it hardening into ice beneath my feet to carry me along before thawing behind me.


    Once I got to the Jolly Dodger, I was able to see a figurehead carved in the shape of a praying woman, her hands folded in front of her. Going by the ears, it looked to be a felyn woman, rather than the kitsune I had been expecting. Shaking my head, I caused the ice beneath my feet to raise me up so that I couldnd on the deck.


    Now aboard the ship, I saw several groups of people bringingrge barrels and crates onto the ship, taking them down below. Everyone knew that this would be a long journey, and there was always the chance that we wouldn¡¯t be able to easily return to resupply, so it was understandable that they were stocking up on as many supplies as the ships could hold. Whether it was wood or nails to repair the ship, food to feed the crew, or spare weapons to fight off monsters, we had to be prepared.


    Seeing as nobody was asking for my help, I moved off to the side, finding somewhere near the front of the ship to sit down and close my eyes. Or at least, that was the n. ¡°So, I take it you found her, huh?¡± Kelly¡¯s voice spoke up from next to me soon, causing me to look up at her.


    ¡°She really wanted to y the pirate, huh?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but groan now that I was talking to Kelly. Though, it seemed like she was busy, with one arm holding up arge crate, and the other carrying a barrel. ¡°You better get back to it before anyone catches you cking off, though.¡±


    She chuckled slightly, shaking her head before turning around and taking the containers below deck. Udona, got a quick question for you. You free to talk? I closed my eyes, focusing on sending a prayer to the Goddess of Life.


    In a bit, Dale. Let me just round up the rest of the crew we¡¯re bringing with us, and then we can talk face to face. Easier to keep my focus if I do it like that. I nodded my head at that suggestion, keeping my eyes closed and waiting.


    It had to have been at least an hour or twoter when I finally heard footsteps approaching me again. ¡°Let¡¯s talk in me quarters, Tebor.¡± Udona told me before turning with a grin and walking to a doorway just behind the wheel on the raised deck in the back of the ship. Inside, I saw a table, chair, a few shelves with books, and a small cot in the corner. On the far wall behind the chair was a small window, letting me see out into the city behind us.


    ¡°So, what¡¯d ye need to ask about, Tebor?¡± Udona asked, moving towards the table and leaning back against it, smiling at me as she crossed her arms beneath her bust. ¡°Questions about the ship, the crew, or me?¡±


    ¡°Yes, no, and yes again.¡± I answered, shaking my head and closing the door behind me. ¡°Soundproof?¡±


    ¡°Aye, can¡¯t be having the captain¡¯s business overheard. Only way for sound to go out is if the door or window¡¯s opened.¡±


    ¡°Do you really have to keep that ent up, then?¡± I raised an eyebrow slightly as I asked that.


    ¡°Ye can¡¯t be min¡¯ me for that,d.¡± She shook her head helplessly and shrugged. ¡°The big girl upstairs insisted.¡±


    ¡°Big girl¡­ you mean Terra?¡±


    When I asked that, she shook her head again. However, soon her eyes began to glow ever so slightly, and she smiled a bit more. ¡°No, she meant me, ¡®Tebor¡¯. I don¡¯t stay connected to this incarnation too deeply, it¡¯s a trick that Terra taught me. I let her live out the life I set up for her on her own, and guide her here and there when it seems interesting.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Well, that changes some things. So, the captain wasn¡¯t really Udona, in a sense. But she was, at the same time. ¡°Well, either way. I was wondering if you could tell me some of the details of this ship? Since my goal is to protect it, I need to know what it can do.¡±


    ¡°Of course!¡± Udona smiled happily, nodding her head. ¡°It¡¯s really great, honestly. The best ship that the beastkin havee up with. The hull is made from the wood of the ironbark trees found in the deep woods, which can only be harvested with a ki infused de. Their defenses were then further strengthened by an enchantment, meaning it¡¯d take a creature of at least level two hundred or an equivalent force in order to break through.¡±


    ¡°The sails were made to work with the help of a druid supporting them. So although there are only three, they arerge and capable of catching a much greater amount of wind to let us keep up with the smaller ships. The only real drawback is that we don¡¯t have the technology to create any offensive systems for the ships. But that¡¯s where our crewes in!¡±


    I nodded my head in understanding at that. ¡°It¡¯s a bit early for cannons, magic or otherwise. Anything else I need to know about?¡±


    ¡°Well, there is one thing.¡± Udona smiled, opening a drawer on her desk. She pulled out arge, red sphere. ¡°The other eleven ships all make up onerge warding circle, with us at the center. The ward can create a barrier around the fleet, but it won¡¯tst long against a sustained attack. It¡¯s ast resort tactic if wee up against a creature able to overpower our crew.¡±


    ¡°And what about the crew? Your pirate level can¡¯t be a hundred yet, but you¡¯re at the level cap. So you have to be a good fighter yourself.¡±


    When I guessed that, Udona shook her head. ¡°Nope, actually I¡¯m currently the highest level pirate, stuck at eighty-five. But I¡¯m not that much of a fighter. For mybat ss, I decided to give the summoner ss a shot. If we get into trouble, I¡¯ll summon one of my aeons. But they wouldn¡¯t be stronger than a pinnacle champion like Kelly.¡±


    Note to self, summoners call their summons aeons. Good to know for the future. ¡°Alright. They told you about our detour, yeah?¡±


    ¡°Yup!¡± Udona smiled warmly as she answered. ¡°Aurivy begged me to take you to see her dungeon, and even made me memorize which ind it was on so that I could help you find it.¡±


    A soft chuckle emerged from my mouth, followed my a smile forming. ¡°I¡¯m sure. Anything else I should know before we set off? Where I¡¯ll be staying, any jobs expected of me?¡±


    ¡°The druids are all being ced at the front of the ship, where they can keep an eye on the horizon and guide the wind and waves. Your main job will be to keep the sea and sky calm during the journey. The monsters aren¡¯t our biggest threat, not really. Here, the storms are dozens of times more terrible than the world you came from. The whole reason why druids are mandatory on all ships is precisely because of that, even the best ship will get overturned if it hits a storm.¡±


    ¡°Also, one other thing.¡± Udona looked up, as if she had almost forgotten. ¡°You¡¯ll need to set a portal gate at the harbor. We¡¯ll be stopping near any ind we see along the way and creating more gates, so hopefully we¡¯ll be able to have an easy way back to the maind. Just so long as none of the gates are too far apart to connect to thework.¡±


    After she said that, the glow faded from her eyes, and she shivered slightly. ¡°Yeck, always feels weird when she takes over like that. No matter. Anythin¡¯ else ye be needin¡¯, Tebor?¡± The captain looked at me with a helpless smile.


    ¡°Well, a name would be nice. Something to call you other than ¡®Captain¡¯?¡± I smiled back to her, having the feeling that life was quiteplicated for incarnations that weren¡¯t as deeply connected like this one.


    ¡°Aye, ye can call me Captain Bote. Emona Bote. And before ye goughin¡¯, it wasn¡¯t my idea! Or hers. Didn¡¯t even know what the sted name meant in your old tongue ¡®till the big girl upstairs filled me in. Seems she chose me family ¡®cuz of our name, and nearughed her tits off when they named me. ¡®Parently, that¡¯s why she wanted me to be a pirate in the first ce. Poetic irony, she called it.¡±


    I have to admit, I tried really hard not tough. I really did. But, a pirate captain named Emona Bote? ¡°Oy, you go on to yer post,d!¡± She pointed to the door as she heard meughing, the helpless look on her face only making it more priceless.


    I waited until I was able to calm myself down before nodding to her, turning and walking out of the captain¡¯s cabin. As I moved to the front of the boat, I saw an elevated bench just beyond where I had decided to rest before. I guess that¡¯s my post. They probably don¡¯t expect a non-physical ss like druids to be standing all day¡­ and I probably have to sleep here, too.


    Thest part of that thought came when I saw that the bench included a woven nket draped over the seat. This is too soon to be payback for meughing at her, right? But¡­ it makes sense. If my main job is to watch for storms, then I can¡¯t do that below deck. I still don¡¯t like it, though!


    A few minutester, and I could hear Emona¡¯s voice echoing out around us. ¡°Alright, yeds anddies! All who arein¡¯ aboard the Jolly Dodger, take yer posts! Everyone else, take a walk. We¡¯ll be raisin¡¯ the anchor in ten minutes, and I don¡¯t wanna hear word of any stowaways aboard my ship!¡±


    When her voice faded, there was a flurry of movement. Those people carrying thest of the crates did their best to hurry up, moving them below deck and then jumping off onto the docks. By the time everyone was ready, I could see that there were only twenty people aboard this ship, including myself. Of them, all but five had reached the level limit, thosest five looking like they had more auxiliary jobs like chef, or doctor. Although they weren¡¯t at the level limit, they were still decently high level.


    Most likely, there were simr numbers on each of the other ships. Instead of arge crew, they focused on each member being as effective as possible. That way, it reduces the supplies consumed, and allows for a longer voyage without added dangers.


    ¡°Alright, maties! It¡¯s time to set off! Kelly, pull up the anchor!¡± Emona ordered from the wheel of the ship, and I looked back to see Kelly move off to the side, where a long, thick rope was draped over the edge. She groaned slightly as she grabbed the rope and pulled, causing the ship to rock ever so slightly at first. However, soon she pulled up arge rock which had been tied to the rope, setting it down on the hull.


    ¡°Fe, Kag and Saru, lower the sails!¡± Three more people began moving, all males. They went towards the rigging, loosening the ropes to let the sails drop before tying them off again. ¡°Tebor, give us a breeze!¡±


    Guess it¡¯s my turn. I barely had to focus for a moment before the sails caught a gust of wind, slowly pulling the ship from the docks. Turning my head, I could see that the eleven other ships were also starting to move, entering into a circr formation around us.


    ¡°Let sail the uncharted voyage tonds unknown! For the crown, for the Sisters, and for treasures unknown!¡± Emona happily called out as she stepped up to grab the wheel, keeping a firm grip on it to steer the ship.

 Chapter 132: The Cliff at the End of the Sea

    <h4>Chapter 132: The Cliff at the End of the Sea</h4>


    As we sailed beyond the horizon, the ships continued to be carried by a favorable wind. Before us, the water smoothed out, as if paving the way. Between myself and the other druids, there was no chance for any natural disturbance.


    After sailing for roughly half an hour, the formation of the ships began to move. Of the eleven circling ships, three moved in to set up a triangle formation around the Jolly Dodger, while the other eight spread out to fill in the gaps that they left behind. With this, we had two ¡®circles¡¯ of ships around us, each with their own defenses andbatants.


    Immediately after the formation was established like this, one of the lower level people in the group jumped up, grabbing onto the ropedder on the central mast. They hurriedly climbed up to sit in the basket atop the mast, and began scanning the horizon with their eyes. No doubt the scout of the ship.


    I could feel traces of ki within the body of the scout, and the way his eyes glowed when he scanned the surroundings likely indicated he was a mage as well. Though, if he was recruited for this job, all of his abilities should focus towards the position of being a lookout. ¡°Captain Bote!¡± The man called down from above, his voice carrying even against the wind I had created.


    ¡°What is it, Saru!?¡± Emona responded from behind the wheel, gripping it tightly with both hands to keep the ship steady.


    ¡°Three monsters to the front! Appear to be a trio of leofin!¡± After hearing him say that, I nced ahead, using ki to enhance my sight and pierce beneath the calm waters. Sure enough, there were indeed threerge fish, each no smaller than the smaller ships in our fleet. Though the system named them King Catfish, due to their delike whiskers and sharp spines. Each had a level of just over two hundred, so I wasn¡¯t entirely worried.


    ¡°Aye!¡± Emona closed her eyes for a long moment and spoke. ¡°Darl, ye got three leofin just off the bow. Can ye handle them, or do ye need some assistance?¡± Though I could hear her speaking, her voice wasn¡¯t carrying very well. It was likely that she was using some special technique tomunicate, going by the fluctuations of mana. ¡°Aye, righty then!¡±


    Opening her eyes, Emona grinned up towards the lookout. ¡°Pay them no mind, boy! Darl can handle a group of would-be sharks like that!¡±


    Even as she spoke, I could feel a strong fluctuationing from the front ship. Focusing, I saw two of the crew members step forward. Given their nearly identical appearances, they seemed to be a pair of kitsune sisters. Both with ck hair and tails, and slender bodies covered in ck robes.


    Each of the sisters extended a hand out towards one another, sping their hands together. I could hear one of them speaking, while circles of light formed above the other. ¡°Lady of ice, king of the deep, duke of des.¡±


    It took me a moment to realize what they were doing, and seeing them pull it off left me amazed. ¡°The three princes stand firm to defend their home. Those who strike against them shall be torn asunder.¡±


    As the one sister spoke, the glowing magic circles began lighting up with an icy blue hue. They¡¯rebining their powers to make higher level elementalist spells! When the spell was finished, three giant spears of iceunched from the circles, hovering up into the air. As if they had eyes of their own, each one turned and and stabbed towards a fish, piercing cleanly through their bodies and embedding into the sea floor below.


    ¡°The threat¡¯s clear, Captain! No other monsters in sight!¡± Saru shouted back from up above as the dead fish stopped, floating slowly to the surface.


    ¡°Aye!¡± Edona grinned happily as she heard that, closing her eyes again. ¡°Good work, Darl! Give the sisters my regards¡­ Emil! You¡¯re on cleanup! Harvest what you can and join up with us. The core of a few leofin would make a good spare battery for our ward!¡±


    As she spoke, we kept sailing past the fish that were rising to the surface, not paying any more mind to them. Behind us, three ships broke off the formation, staying behind with the monsters. Though, they were only back there for a few minutes before I could see them starting to catch up again.


    All the while, I was piecing together in my head how those two sisters managed to do what they did. One has to be a high level mage, and the other is probably the ship¡¯s druid¡­ As sisters, their teamwork is probably really well practiced. They probably have ns in ce for what kinds of spells they use for given situations. The mage sets up the spell and holds it in ce, and the druid feeds the natural energy into it with the orders to modify the spell.


    In truth, that sounded easily, but was actually a lot moreplicated! It could never be so simple to just replicate the effects of a higher tier ss like that. Just from watching, I could tell that it required a great deal of trust and cooperation, as well as years of practice to pull something like that off.


    Soon, a low chuckle emerged from my mouth as I looked at the eleven ships surrounding ours, and then to Emona. If the vanguard is that strong, I can only imagine what the rest of them will be like. But¡­ that doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m weak, by any stretch.


    After getting that little jolt of reality, I closed my eyes and focused. The other druids would be steadying the waves around us, so my only job was to keep the wind blowing until a storm arrived. In other words, I had plenty of time to practice!


    Something that I knew about druids from a long time ago was that their ss levels weren¡¯t everything. More important was their mental discipline. They did not have a limited amount of energy to work with like a mage or a monk, but their energy was weaker. At the same time, that meant that training would allow them to improve, even without their levels increasing.


    Since I would be spending the next year as a druid, I felt that I should make the most of this time and truly practice with what I had. So, I spent most of my time with my eyes closed, using my token to connect with the natural energies. I wanted to keep this discrete, so I did not make any obvious effects like the fireball I used to test it before.


    Instead, I created a single ball of ice beneath the ship, and pushed it downwards. This was perhaps the most literal mental exercise I coulde up with, finding the limits of my control and trying to push against them. Even only after two hours at sea, the water was so deep that the ball of ice did not reach after being pushed to the edge of my control.


    Time and again, the ice struggled to float to the surface, and I firmly pushed it back down again. I could feel a headache building from the constant focus, but at the same time there was something else. It was hard to gauge since I couldn¡¯t see it, but it felt like the ice had started to go deeper over time.


    I kept up this training for the entire first day of the journey, until the sun had long since set beyond the horizon. No longer could we seend, no matter which way we looked. Just the boundless sea reflecting the clear sky.


    I don¡¯t know how many monster attacks the fleet faced on this first day, as I had been fully immersed in training myself, but at the very least nothing happened to disturb the centermost ship. No matter how distracted I was, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to ignore that. Oh Goddess of Fate, you have a collect call from your Keeper.


    I wasn¡¯t really sure why I felt the need to, but I wanted to call Terra to talk for a bit. However, soon she replied in an almost monotone voice. I¡¯m sorry, the number you have dialed is unavable. Please hang up and pray again.


    Har har¡­ Real funny. Maybe I should just tell Aurivy that you were bullying me.


    As soon as I thought that, the voice spoke up in my mind again. Oh, hey Dale! Sorry, didn¡¯t hear you the first time. So, what¡¯s up?


    I chuckled softly as I heard that, shaking my head. I was wondering something, and I wanted to get a confirmation from you. Plus, I like to have someone else to talk to now and then, and Leowynn is meditating.


    That wasn¡¯t a lie, as I had felt Leowynn meditating inside of my soul as soon as the ship left the port. Alright, fine. I guess you wanna ask about those two sisters, then? The elementalist twins?


    I felt a small grin tugging on my lips as I shook my head. No, I think I have them figured out. I wanted to ask about myself. Is it just me, or is my control over Natural Energy actually growing pretty fast? Because it seems pretty fast!


    There was a lightugh over our connection in response. Oh, it is. But that¡¯s not really anything special, given the situation. You¡¯re a level eleven druid who realistically should have the control and limits of a level one hundred and twenty four druid. A normal druid of that level would have trained for decades in this time period to reach their limit.


    Right now, you¡¯re simply adjusting. It¡¯s just going faster for you than normal because of that new achievement you got when making the World Spirits. The extra affinity with Natural Energy will let you reach your new limits faster than normal.


    Well¡­ that was certainly reassuring. I had all but forgotten about that little enhancement, since it didn¡¯t seem to do anything for me. Alright, thanks. By the way, what¡¯s up with Udona and Emona? I thought that incarnations were more deeply connected than that?


    For most, they are. She answered with a low sigh. But there are exceptions. For instance, someone like me with all of the knowledge of the system. Because there are effects that could potentially read the mind of another, that knowledge would be in danger of being leaked out if something happened.


    So my incarnations have their own personalities, though they are loyal towards me and I can experience the world through them. But they can¡¯t know any knowledge that is not already avable within the world, so they can¡¯t fully connect with me like they do the others. I just taught Udona how to distance herself from her incarnations in the same way that the system forces me to.


    I nodded my head slightly in understanding. There was undoubtedly a way to get some mind reading or mind control powers. And an incarnation didn¡¯t have any sort of special divine protection unless the god or goddess personally interfered, so it made sense that the system would have a failsafe for something like that. Alright. Well¡­ any idea how long it¡¯ll take me to reach my ¡®limit¡¯, then?


    After I asked that, Terra seemed to go quiet for a long moment. If¡­ if you practice like you have been, I¡¯d give it two months. Might seem like a long time, but really it¡¯s only that short because of your affinity, and the fact that you already have ess to the levels in the first ce.


    I was just about to send another response when I felt a hand on my shoulder. Looking back, I saw Emona standing there, a smile on her lips. She wasn¡¯t looking at me, but out ahead of the ship. Beyond the edge of the formation, something was creating ripples in the water. A giant, serpentine body poking up here and there.


    ¡°Looks like it¡¯s ¡®bout time for a real fight, Tebor.¡± She said in an excited tone. ¡°Can¡¯t have ya sittin¡¯ this one out. At the very least, need to keep the ships safe for us.¡± As she said that, she walked forward, towards the front of the ship. I could feel the same mana ripples spreading out from her as when she spoke to the other ships before.


    ¡°Alright, boys and girls. Shall we show thesendwalkers why they put us in charge?¡±

 Chapter 133: Chumming the Waters

    <h4>Chapter 133: Chumming the Waters</h4>


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it a bit too early to be running into giant monsters?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but question, while I felt a powerful energy building up inside Emona. The monster ahead of us was a giant serpent, glistening blue scales lining its body. Its length was easily a hundred meters, but I couldn¡¯t even see the head of it from where I was. All I could tell was what the system told me, that it was a level two hundred and ny Sea Prince.


    ¡°Hah!¡± She let out a loudugh, grinning broadly. ¡°Ya¡¯think this is a big¡¯un? Boy, you really haven¡¯t been to the sea yet, have ye? No, this is just a normal monster this far from shore.¡±


    As she exined that, she moved to stand at the front of the ship, the wind catching her coat and causing it to p wildly around her. ncing to the sides, I saw that each ship had their own captains taking position at the front of their ships as well. As if having rehearsed it, each one of them reached for the sword at their hips.


    ¡°Alright, mateys!¡± Emona called out, and I could hear the sound of metal sliding against metal as she unsheathed her de. ¡°Release¡­ the Kraken!¡±


    As she shouted that line, she thrust her sword into the air above her, as did all eleven other captains. A symbol could be seen on the side of her copper sword, glowing as her mana flowed through it. The symbol appeared to be a small circle with a dozen lines extending from it.


    While I was focused on the symbol, it actually seemed to float up off of the de, and hovered into the air. ¡°Ship defense¡¯ll be up to you, Tebor. We¡¯ll be needin¡¯ all our focus to keep this beastie under control.¡±


    I could see as simr glowing symbols rose up from each of the eleven other ships, all moving to merge with the one that Emona had summoned. As each new symbol was added into the mix, it pulsed with an even greater power. Even with the druids all working to keep the waters calm, ripples began to form around us, circling out away from us.


    Before I could consider just how strong the thing they were summoning would be, the final symbol merged into it. In a sudden rush, it shot down beneath the water. Those of us new to sailing all nced down off the side of the ship, though I had an¡­ easier time identifying what had happened.


    The ice that I had been practicing with was shattered as a pulse of energy swept over it, a giant form swelling into being beneath the waves. The water beneath us tried to rise up, forcing me to disperse it to the sides to prevent the ship from capsizing. Udona didn¡¯t really create a Kraken¡­ right? RIGHT?!


    The sea prince ahead of us seemed to sense something, its gargantuan head rising out of the water. Its snout was elongated, thick whiskers spreading a dozen meters in both directions. A pair of curved horns rested on its head, thick fangs lining its mouth to give it the look of an eastern dragon.


    Yet, the sensation I felt from the monster wasn¡¯t anger, or even hunger. It seemed cautious, almost afraid. Its eyes betrayed the intelligence that was hidden within, its species likely near sapience. All of a sudden, a dull roar rang out from underwater, and its eyes went wide.


    The sea prince turned to flee, but no sooner had it attempted to do so then a pair of giant tentaclesshed out from beneath the waves. Before it had even finished turning around, the tentacles had wrapped around its neck. Its body struggled, blood seeping out from where it had been grabbed.


    Waves shot up and sshed about as the sea prince struggled against the beast beneath the water. Even with the druids dispersing it to prevent any harm to the ships, the sight was a marvel to behold. Soon, another pair of tentaclesshed out, and then another. A total of eight could be seen before the body of the sea prince had been dragged down beyond our sight.


    Yet, the water still shook from the struggle urring. Only after a long moment did it die down, and we all knew that the creature had been killed. Still, the captains remained motionless, there focus not dying down for a second.


    I was about to ask what was going on, but surprisingly alia¡¯s voice echoed in my mind. Sea princes travel in schools. Don¡¯t let your guard down, Dale.


    Well, that exins why they were willing to summon up such a big fish to deal with something that seemed weak inparison. While the Kraken was great to show off, it was really overkill to just deal with one. But¡­ How big are the schools?


    Anywhere from ten to fifty. This close to shore, you¡¯ll probably have to worry about a dozen at most. While a sea prince has a strong body and powerful scales, it isn¡¯t a true monster. It doesn¡¯t wield any type of energy, so it is seen as a weaker fish. Its only methods of attack are brute force and a poisonous breath.


    I nodded my head slightly, listening to the information. If this could only be considered a weaker fish, I had a hard time imagining what the strong ones would be like. ¡°Here theye.¡± Emona¡¯s words broke me out of my thoughts, though when I looked I couldn¡¯t see anything.


    I had to enhance my sight with ki in order to see deep underwater. Like alia had said, there were another ten of the serpentine creatures angrily speeding towards us. Or more precisely¡­ towards the giant monster that now rested beneath us.


    The monster¡¯s tentacles were too many to count, swaying back and forth in a slow and natural manner. Its head was gigantic, easily bigger than the Jolly Dodger, with each limb stretching out hundreds of meters. Two particrly long ones, no doubt the ones that had first hooked the first sea prince, actually seemed to stretch out over two kilometers.


    It was likely that the first sea prince had wandered off from its school, which is how we found it alone. But when it was killed, the others all came to avenge it. They didn¡¯t even hesitate as theyunched up towards the kraken from below, their mouths opening and spewing forth a green inky cloud.


    The kraken, however, did not seem to mind. It simply targeted the closest two of the sea princes, and its tentacles shot out. Before they had even finished closing their mouths from using their poison breaths, the two longest tentacles had actually speared straight into their open jaws.


    This caused the two sea princes to panic, biting down on the tentacles. ck blood flowed out, yet their struggle onlysted for a moment. Soon enough, it seemed that the tentacles had found something vital and crushed it, because the princes went limp.


    Now that another two from their school had died, the remaining eight seemed to hesitate. They saw the ck blood leaking out from the tentacles, and steeled their resolves, continuing their charge. However, my focus was again broken by Emona speaking. ¡°Spearsh.¡± She said the two simple words, the mana fluctuations showing that she was likely speaking to the captains.


    When I looked down again, I saw the many different tentacles of the kraken seem to stiffen up, the tips thinning to be like spears. When they all thrust out at once, it almost made the kraken look like a giant porcupine. To the sea princes, however, it could only mean their deaths.


    There was one that managed to avoid a fatal injury, its hard scales deflecting a tentacle to the side. However, the others hadn¡¯t been so lucky, pierced through mouths or eyes, or in the gaps between their scales. Instantly, seven more of the sea princes had died, and the eighth had turned to flee.


    ¡°And, end.¡± Emona spoke again, and the body of the kraken began to ripple, pulsing with a blue light. Soon, it shattered into glowing shards which flew to the surface, each turning into the same symbol that I had seen before. One of the symbols went to each captain, who then sheathed their de at their hips.


    ¡°Tebor, I¡¯ll be needing a strong wind from ye.¡± Emona said hurriedly as she moved back to the wheel. ¡°Put the wind and wave at our back, and get us out of here!¡±


    I could feel that the wind immediately picked up around each of the other ships. There was nobody staying behind to collect the bodies this time. I didn¡¯t bother to ask questions, and immediately created a strong enough wind to push the ship forward. Thankfully, alia again chimed in with helpful wildlife information.


    There¡¯s always a bigger fish, Dale. Sea princes aren¡¯t really a hostile species, and would have in fact left your fleet alone. But there¡¯s something else that always lurks near a school of princes, and THAT wouldn¡¯t have left you alone. Think of it as a predator that feeds on the sea princes, and anything else that they happen to pass by.


    That¡¯s why sailors never harvest the bodies of sea princes, even though they go out of their way to kill them as quickly as possible. The king of the shallow sea needs his sacrifice. Her ominous words caused me to look back towards the bodies of the sea princes that we were quickly leaving behind us.


    Even enhancing my sight with ki, I could barely see a dark shadow rising up from beneath where we fought. No doubt it had been lurking at the ocean floor until it smelled the blood of its favorite meal. Just from the size of the dark shadow, I could tell that it absolutely dwarfed the kraken byparison.


    Thest thing I saw before we were too far away was a giant, wed hand grasping the slowly rising bodies of a sea prince, pulling it back down beneath the water. However, that was enough for me to see its information.


    Level 469 Sea Terror


    Well¡­ that was aptly named. I¡¯ll just leave behind all of my nope, and get the fuck out of here. Expanding my control, I increased the wind pushing at all twelve ships, making the water push us more from behind to keep us going forward without causing us to tip to the sides. Oh great goddess of hunting and wisdom. Please, for the love of all that is holy, tell me that sea terrors travel alone.


    I heard a faint giggle in my head in response to that. Typically. Unless it is mating season, in which case between two and five can travel together at a time. However, a sea terror only mates once every hundred years. And no, before you ask, this one isn¡¯t in its mating season. If it were, we wouldn¡¯t have had you be part of this voyage, because it would already be doomed to fail.


    I breathed out a sigh of relief when I heard that, but did not let up on my control of the natural energy. The sun may have already gone down, and I may have been nning to take a rest before¡­ But it was safe to say that I was wide awake now.


    Yes, I could definitely kill a sea terror if I went all out and used all of my Keeper power. Yes, I knew that it was illogical for me to be afraid of it. But, when you see a monster that can swim thousands of meters in mere moments, has hands that can wrap around a small house, and eats sea dragons for a snack¡­ you get out. You get out fast.


    Still, I had the sinking suspicion that creatures as ¡®terrifying¡¯ as the sea terror would be the norm once we headed into deeper waters. And I did not much like that thought. Not one bit.

 Chapter 134: Aeons Explained

    <h4>Chapter 134: Aeons Exined</h4>


    I made sure to maintain my focus on speeding the ships forward for well over an hour, until the strain of that focus began to take a toll on my mind. I could feel a dull headache building, which made me finally rx my control over the wind and water pushing the ships. Though, even after I stopped we kept going. I could only look towards the other ships and assume that they had taken over the burden.


    Thankful for the respite, I leaned back in my bench and closed my eyes, allowing myself to rest for a little while. I thought back to the journey so far, and felt my consciousness bing heavy. It had only been one day, yet so much had already happened.


    When I awoke, it was to the morning light hitting my face, causing me to raise a hand to shield my eyes. Honestly, I hadn¡¯t been expecting to be able to sleep at all after seeing the Sea Terror, so that had been a bit of a surprise to me. ncing around, I saw that a few other people had just woken up as well,ing up from below deck. At the same time, the night-time scout descended from the crow¡¯s nest to allow the other to take his ce.


    After a bit of investigating, I managed to learn what the five lower level people were here for. Well¡­ I say investigating, but really I just watched them do their jobs. As mentioned before, there were two scouts. One monitored during the day, and the other did so at night.


    There was also naturally a chef, a young man who brought me my meals after they were prepared. He seemed rather nice, so I had a pretty good impression of him so far. Next was the carpenter, who kept appraising the condition of the ship after every minor event to ensure that no repairs were needed.


    Finally, thest of the lower level people was a young felyn woman, who seemed just barely into her adult years. Given how she would often walk across the deck and sing, inspiring the other crew members to join her, as well as how she recorded everything in a thick journal, I could only assume that she was a bard.


    Two scouts, a chef, a carpenter, and a bard¡­ and then twentybatants. Was this really enough for everything that we were going to end up facing? I couldn¡¯t help but worry, before my gaze turned towards the other ships. It took me a moment to remember that it wasn¡¯t really twentybatants. Rather, it was a little over a hundred, if my estimations of the other crews was urate. And these were all among the strongest people that the beastkin could produce.


    I got up from my bench with a sigh, moving towards the wheel of the ship where I saw Emona standing, her eyes on the horizon ahead. There were clouds gathering, so I might get to see my first storm soon. But first, I wanted to go talk to her about something.


    Hold it, Dale. Udona¡¯s voice rang in my ears as I had been moving towards her incarnation. Whatever you wanna talk with Emona about, it¡¯s probably not something that should be mentioned where others can hear, right?


    I paused in my steps, giving a faint nod. There was a slight sigh after that. She can¡¯t leave the wheel right now, and that means that privacy really isn¡¯t an option. Best bet would be to just talk to me about it directly.


    Alright¡­ what is up with that Kraken from yesterday? I couldn¡¯t help but voice the biggest thing that I had been wondering about the entire time. If I had to guess, it should be the equivalent of a monster in the three hundreds, right? How did you guys manage to make that?


    There was a hint of pride in Udona¡¯s voice as I returned to my bench. That was something Ryone and I came up with. Union Summoning. You see, there are two methods to binding an Aeon once it has been created. The first is to bind it to yourself, which is what most summoners do for their primary Aeon. The second is to bind it to an object.


    I got to thinking, what would happen if multiple people joined forces to summon the same Aeon? To test it out, I created the Kraken. It¡¯s possible to create an Aeon beyond one¡¯s ability to control, but doing so runs the risk of the Aeon turning on its creator. But if there are multiple summoners controlling it¡­


    You increase the level of control. I nodded my head at that idea. It made a little sense¡­ sort of.


    Right! So I split the Kraken into twelve parts when I was done creating it, and bound each one to a cuss. Though, even like that, we¡¯re all still just barely able to keep control of it¡­


    Okay, that answered that question, but now¡­ How are Aeons even created? There was something else that was bugging me about that¡­


    Udona¡¯s tone suddenly became a bit awkward as she struggled to answer my question. Well¡­ you see. We need a considerable amount of Spiritual Energy in order to create a strong Aeon¡­


    Udona¡­ what did you do? I couldn¡¯t help but worry with how she was saying this.


    Well¡­ people may have figured out a way to tap into the afterlife, and pull some of the ambient spiritual energy. It¡¯s totally safe, though! The connection isn¡¯t big enough for anything toe through. And Irena redirected the pathway that summoners use so it only connects to the monster side of the Underworld, meaning that there is no danger to the spirits!


    Hearing her hastily try to exin herself, I groaned slightly, shaking my head. And you are absolutely positive that this connection can¡¯t be used as a door for something toe through? You know what¡¯s on the other side of that, right?


    Err¡­ yeah. Irena already showed me, just to make sure I understood. It¡¯s not a pretty sight, Dale. But trust me! Even when I was making the Kraken, it only ever pulled a small amount of ambient spiritual energy at a time. It took me hours to get enough to actually work with. Maybe summoners at a higher level can establish arger connection, but it¡¯s not possible with what Earth has right now.


    I felt like I¡¯d need to get a second opinion on thatter. But, given the fact that the system hadn¡¯t alerted me to another one of the chimera souls breaking out of the afterlife, I had to believe that she was right. I knew that something had to be strange with summoners, due to my experience seeing how much spiritual energy it took to create a body.


    If it were before I created the World Spirits, that would be one thing. But now, most of the residual spiritual energy in the world would have been soaked up by them, so there would be nothing left for summoners to use. Though, this did raise an interesting idea for me.


    Udona, what determines how much control a summoner has over their Aeon?


    Unfortunately, the response that I got back was not what I was expecting. Dale, I know what you want to really ask, so let me stop you right there. An Aeon that is bound to a person resides in their personal spirit realm. Where you have Leowynn. You might be able to bind one to an item like I did, but it wouldn¡¯t be worth it.


    Before I could question why she thought that, she took the initiative to exin. In order to control an Aeon that strong, you¡¯d need to release a good portion of your Keeper levels to make up for thecking summoner levels. By that point, you¡¯d already be stronger than the Aeon you summon. You can keep an Aeon or two in reserve for the gamester on, but it¡¯d probably be best to wait till your avable summoner level was high enough, or have it divided among many parts.


    She raised a valid point. I had simply been considering the kind of creature that I¡¯d be able to summon if I brought out all my Keeper levels. However, I still don¡¯t have an urate grasp of my own strength when I am powered up like that. Like she said, it¡¯s very possible that I¡¯d be quite a bit more powerful than any Aeon that I could control in that state.


    Though, now I had another idea¡­ Have either of you considered creating a union summoning like this, but on arger scale? The idea of an army unit working together to jointly summon one massive creature shed in my mind.


    My question was answered with an almost joyousughter. I knew there was something that sis saw in you. Yeah, Ryone and I are still thinking about doing that, and it was the original idea behind all of this. The Kraken can be considered the prototype. Once the beastkin and elves join together, we wanted to use the Kraken to fuel the passions of the next generation of summoners.


    I nodded my head slightly, admiring how far ahead Udona and Ryone were nning this. Out of curiosity, how strong of an Aeon can Emona control on her own?


    Hmm? Her personal Aeon is mostly just a messenger. Something she can send over short distances when voice transmission isn¡¯t enough. But as for the limits for her¡­ it¡¯d be a bit below the level of one sea prince.


    As I considered that, I let my eyes move towards the horizon again. The clouds that I had spotted before had begun to gather, yet the crew of the ship didn¡¯t seem the least bit worried. When I looked back, even Emona herself had a carefree smile on her face while she sailed us directly towards the gathering storm.


    Okay¡­ so nobody is concerned. Makes sense, druids should be able to protect the ships from the storms. No pressure at all, right?


    Once again, I got up and moved towards Emona, passing by the happily singing bard as she danced around the mast. No, she was not pole dancing, so get that thought out of your head! ¡°Captain.¡±


    ¡°Aye. What¡¯s the matter?¡± Emona called out from behind the wheel as she looked down at me from her elevated deck.


    ¡°There wouldn¡¯t happen to be anyrge monsters that we have to be wary about that like to hang around in storms?¡± I asked, ncing meaningfully towards the storm that we were approaching.


    ¡°Hmmm¡­¡± She seemed to give it some serious thought. ¡°Haven¡¯t the foggiest!¡± She grinned broadly as she dered that, nearly making me stumble back. ¡°We¡¯ve never had need to go out past the sea princes¡¯ territory. Your little stunt with getting us out of there put us ahead of schedule by near a full day! Nice goin¡¯ with that, by the way. Guessin¡¯ ye caught a glimpse of the beast below.¡±


    I gave a somewhat stiff nod to confirm that. ¡°So¡­ we basically have no idea what we¡¯ll be running into from now on. Completely uncharted territories from day two onwards¡­¡±


    ¡°Aye!¡± Emona responded with a wide grin. ¡°Unknown monsters and dangers behind every turn of the tide! Lands unseen awaiting past every horizon! Isn¡¯t that the best part? Doesn¡¯t it make yer heart burn for adventure!?¡±


    ¡°Well, it makes my heart burn, alright.¡± I grumbled slightly at that, shaking my head. ¡°Please tell me that one of these ships has a shaman or something?¡±


    ¡°Aye.¡± Emona nodded her head. She turned to nce at the ship directly to our right, one of the inner three. ¡°The Jaded Lady be carryin¡¯ a shaman. He¡¯s in charge of findin¡¯ anynd along our course.¡±


    The Jaded Lady¡­ I let out a small groan when I heard the name of one of the other ships in this fleet. Well, as long as we did have a dedicated shaman, that meant that things would be a bit easier on the journey. I couldn¡¯t help but nce back, my eyes looking towards the dark clouds as they gradually approached closer.

 Chapter 135: Through the Eye of the Storm

    <h4>Chapter 135: Through the Eye of the Storm</h4>


    Content with the answers that Emona had given me, I returned to my seat near the front of the ship. Looking out at the horizon, I could tell that it would only be a few hours before we would hit the growing storm. Assuming that it wasn¡¯t moving towards us, at least.


    That gave me plenty of time to¡­ sit here. I mean, really. There¡¯s not that much for me to do personally, aside from making sure that the ship doesn¡¯t capsize. Well, and training to get better at not making the ship capsize. At least for now.


    Though, that did give me an idea. A way to train that I hadn¡¯t considered before. Closing my eyes, I once again formed ice beneath the water. However, this time there were five blocks of ice instead of one.


    If Ibine my Thousand Arms training with this¡­ maybe I¡¯ll be able to adjust a bit faster? Well, that was the idea, at least. So, until we hit the storm, I pressed down all five blocks of ice in different directions, focusing on keeping them down as low as I could. While I wasn¡¯t sure how effective the training was, it was definitely a great distraction¡­


    _______________________________________________________________


    The ocean was a vast, and beautiful wondend of life, yet also terrible. The number of creatures within thend and skybined could not equal those that swam in the sea. And now, deep beneath the ocean¡¯s surface, a wondrous change was happening. One which could reshape the oceans forever.


    Far, far below the surface of the water, where even the light of day could barely shine, there were vast mountains and ins, coral trees that towered high and formed thick forests. Fishrge and small swam through the coral forests, scattering as one of the dominant races of the sea floor walked upon the bottom. Thick mud spread out with its every step, its soft yet strong body easily resisting the pressure of the deep.


    With the passing of the recent sea terror, this creature could finally leave its underwater cave. Itsrge, round eyes scanned the surroundings. Its limbs were long and thin, tiny blue scales covering its skin. Between the fingers of its hands and the toes of its feet was a small webbed surface, allowing it to easily move through the water.


    The creature¡¯s back had arge fin that went all the way down, tapering off as it met the thick tail that extended from the base of its spine. When it looked up, the clouds within the water caused by the passing of the terror obscured its sight. Yet, at the same time, its vision was able to make out strange shapes in the distance. Far above where the creature had ever gone, it could see what appeared to be a school of coral bodies moving along the surface. Closer, however, it could see five unusual shapes floating in the water, swimming downwards as ifpeting to see which could go lower.


    Its curiosity was great, but so was its caution. Before moving closer, the creature turned its elongated head to scan the sea in all directions, ensuring that there were no predators that would eat it when it left the ocean floor. Seeing that there appeared to be nothing, the creature prepared to swim up.


    Before it could, however, there was a disturbance nearby. Just off the cliff of the in where the creature was walking was the ocean thatid beneath the ocean. Thick, green water spread out from the base of the cliff, all the way into the distance where another rising mountain cut it off. An upwards ssh in the water emerged as another creature simr to the first emerged, drawn by the curiosity sensed from its peer.


    The two creatures looked at each other, tilting their heads side to side as they shared a nonverbal dialogue. Afterwards, the two creatures kicked off from the ground in unison, theirrge eyes looking upwards as they first approached the five hovering shapes.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Ohmygod ohmygod ohmygod! Aurviy¡¯s voice suddenly entered my mind, breaking my focus from my training. I could see that we were close to the storm, but given how excited she was sounding, that was likely not the reason that she was messaging me.


    What¡¯s up, Rivy?


    Mermaids! Real, honest to me mermaids! Well, sorta. Underwater people! A new race! Sis says that they¡¯re just on the verge of gaining sapience. She practically squealed at that, though that¡¯s not quite what I was focusing on.


    They¡¯re¡­ nearby, aren¡¯t they? Aurivy was likely watching my voyage, so if she saw mermaids¡­


    There was a brief giggle before her answer followed. One of them just grabbed onto your ice block. They¡¯re not mean! They don¡¯t seem it, at least. Gah! No! The storm is scaring them away!


    Just as her message ended, the water began to quickly grow restless. In the span of a dozen breaths, waves began to form in front of us, each easily as big as the Jolly Dodger. Lightning crackled within the clouds, and I could feel the wind pushing against my control.


    ¡°Here be a proper storm,ds!¡± Emona shouted out with augh from behind the wheel of the ship. ¡°Tebor, we be countin¡¯ on ye here.¡± As she said that, she didn¡¯t even hesitate to drive straight into a wave that was easily a hundred meters tall.


    Furrowing my brow, I focused on connecting with the natural energy around us. I could feel each of the other eleven druids doing the same, and together we formed a bubble around the fleet. Rain crashed against the top of the bubble, sliding down along it. Waves split apart as we moved through, unable to deter us. In our bubble, the ocean was at peace, yet the world around us was in chaos.


    At times, our bubble would bepletely submerged while the tide crashed around us, making us focus on keeping our fleet secure from all sides. A single gap would mean the oceanes crashing down upon us.


    Other times, we would be suspended in the air, struggling to maintain our control on the water to keep it from falling down. This was easily the bigger strain, as it required causing twelve ships and arge patch of water to stay afloat based on will alone.


    If there was anything to be happy about, it was that there were no monsters within the storm. We passed by giant whirlpools, and tornadoes that descended upon the ocean, but not a single creature was seen. It was as if there was a tacit understanding not to get in the way of a storm in the ocean.


    Over time, the coordination between myself and the twelve druids began to grow stronger. We were able to better cover the gaps in each other¡¯s control, and sometimesbined forces well enough to allow one to take a break and recover their mental fortitude. Of course¡­ they wouldn¡¯t let me do that, since I was known to be the bigshot among the druids¡­


    Every time we overcame a wave, or reunited with the surface of the ocean, or lightning bounced around the bubble, there was a loud cheer from each of the ships. The bigger the potential threat, the more our ¡®audience¡¯ erupted in praise.


    The biggest threat was no doubt also the only one that received no apuse¡­ A giant waterspout towered before us, rapidly moving in our direction. Even with all twelve of us working together, it was difficult to hold the winds back before we hit the great tornado of water.


    Yet, at the same time, it was toorge for us to navigate around, and moving closer to us faster than we could hope to avoid it. We could only watch as it came upon us, bigger and more terrifying than any monster. So¡­ there was just one thing that we could do to save us all.


    It was hard to tell who had the idea first. I could feel someone nudging us lower, and then all twelve of us hurriedly lowered the ships beneath the surface, forming a bubble of air around the fleet. Even below the surface, the water was still violent, yet easier to deal with than the hurricane force winds on the surface. For the first time in our journey, the ships began to rock unsteadily with the force of the currents leaking through our makeshift barrier.


    The worst of it was when the waterspout actually passed directly over us. The water that had been shielding us from the storm was pulled away. We almost weren¡¯t able to withstand it, when Leowynn suddenly woke up within my spiritual realm. Let me out, dad!


    I furrowed my brows for a moment, but soon gave a sharp nod. Leowynn¡¯s spiritual energy began to transmit along my arms while I struggled to hold the powerful winds and currents at bay. I manifest¡­ the Storm!


    As soon as I heard her voice, I knew what she had in mind. The Storm was one of the northern constetions, within the Sky of the Aerop. And as the dotted outline of a cloud and thunderbolt formed on silver gauntlets around my fists, I felt the strain lessen.


    The Storm allows Leowynn and I to control wind and lightning, with either my mana or Leowynn¡¯s spiritual energy. And right now, Leowynn was using her own energy to control the wind, keeping it from interfering with us while the rest of us focused purely on the water.


    With my hands raised towards the sky, they began to shine like a beacon. I could feel Leowynn bing weaker as she burned her energy to use her power, so I pushed us forward faster, until we were out from under the waterspout. Only then did the light of my gauntlets die down, before fading into mist as Leowynn returned to my spiritual world. I could sense that she was alright, merely exhausted from the overuse of her energy.


    This time, there was no loud cheer. Even after we surfaced again on the other side of the waterspout, a stunned silence fell over the fleet. This was likely the first time that most anyone in the fleet had seen something like that. Those more sensitive to energies were no doubt able to tell that I had not used mana, or natural energy to divert the wind. Some might even think that I was a summoner, like the captains.


    Ooh, item Aeons¡­ now there¡¯s an idea! Udona¡¯s voice rang out in response to my thought, and I had to mentally shoo her away while I nced around. Thankfully, the waterspout had been near the end of the storm, so the water was again beginning to calm around us.


    ¡°Good show,d!¡± Emona shouted out after a long moment, though she wasn¡¯t met with the usual cheers. Well, aside from the bard, who was just trying to stir up the crowd. ¡°Take a while to rest. Ye did good work, and we can take care of ourselves for a couple hours.¡± She looked at me knowingly, seeming to understand just how much it drained myself and the other druids to keep the fleet safe through the storm.


    I nodded my head slightly to her, falling back against my bench and closing my eyes. In all honesty, my head felt like it was about to split open. However, there was a bright side¡­


    Druid has leveled up!


    Druid has leveled up!


    Druid has leveled up!


    Druid has leveled up!


    ¡­


    Spirit Hunter has leveled up!


    Pirate has been unlocked!


    Star Navigation ability unlocked!


    Yes, another five levels in druid, two in Spirit Hunter, and unlocking the Pirate ss was definitely a bright side. Eight levels for navigating through a storm¡­ worth.

 Chapter 136: The Man Who Would Not Be King

    <h4>Chapter 136: The Man Who Would Not Be King</h4>


    Honestly, it wasn¡¯t just me. All of the druids had practically copsed once the storm had finished passing. I couldn¡¯t feel anyone tampering with the natural energy around the ships, so every captain had likely given their druids a break.


    Though, to say that I waspletely allowed to rest was also a lie. ¡°Mind if I join you for a little bit?¡± I heard a soft female voice speaking to me while I had my eyes closed, and recognized it as the ship¡¯s bard. I gave a slight nod of approval, and felt the nket beneath me shift slightly as she sat down.


    ¡°That was really cool, what you did with the tornado.¡± She admired, though I kept my eyes closed. ¡°I figure it¡¯s probably one of your secrets, so I won¡¯t ask how you did it. I just thought you might like someone to talk to, since you¡¯re always by yourself.¡±


    If only you knew just how wrong you were¡­ I thought inwardly, but shook my head. ¡°It¡¯s fine. But, might I ask, why are you here? Surely, there were bards that had more time to practice their trade, so you couldn¡¯t have been the strongest bard.¡±


    There was a moment of hesitation before she answered, but I could tell that she was talking with a grin from the happier tone she used. ¡°Ah, guess that you didn¡¯t hear about who all is on the mission, then. You¡¯re right, there are plenty more talented bards than myself. We actually debated on who to bring for a while.¡±


    ¡°In the end, it came down to a simple decision. We didn¡¯t need a bard for theirbat abilities, but their ability to urately document events and support the crew. At the same time, it was decided that a member of nobility had to apany the mission to see it through.¡±


    I¡¯m not quite sure how I managed it, but I raised an eyebrow without opening my eyes. There was a lightugh from next to me, before she continued. ¡°So, allow me to introduce myself. Princess Dis¡¯ni, fourth in line for the third throne of Terraria.¡±


    Okay, that got me to open my eyes, her name as much as the fact that she was actually a princess. Something that I had learned recently was how the kingdoms had shifted over the generations. There were still the four kingdoms of al, Terraria, Keliop, and Udonia, but now there were three of each. Even though the kingdoms weren¡¯t connected, they took the same name.


    The First Kingdom of al was the northernmost country on the beastkin continent, followed by the First Kingdom of Uronia, the First Kingdom of Keliop, and then repeating, all the way down to the Third Kingdom of Keliop. Being the heir to the third throne meant that her mother was the Third Queen¡­ the one that had sent me the quest to join the mission.


    I swear, I had nothing to do with this. I heard Terra¡¯s voice quickly enter my ear. Dis¡¯ni isn¡¯t one of mine, nor is her mom.


    I couldn¡¯t help but nod slightly. ¡°So¡­ how much do you know about me?¡± I asked quietly, ncing towards Dis¡¯ni, who smiled happily.


    ¡°About as much as anyone else, really. Word travels on silver wings, you know? I know that you¡¯ve always pretty much been alone, and nobody really knows where you came from. But when we were looking for the best druid, your name was the only one anyone could think of. There might be stronger druids out there, but they stay hidden from the world, so we never hear about them.¡±


    ¡°Honestly, I had been a bit skeptical about how strong you were. No offense, but you really just look like an old geezer. I can¡¯t feel all that much powering off of you like I can with people like Kelly. But maybe that¡¯s just how things are with druids. But¡­ when you did that whatever it was before, I could definitely feel your power. So, I have a request!¡±


    I nced at her curiously while she ced her hands in herp and looked at me with a wide grin. ¡°Will you be my husband?¡±


    Processing¡­ Processing¡­ unable topute. Initiating reboot sequence. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, what?¡± I could faintly feel Terra gritting her teeth in the back of my mind¡­ though that might have been my imagination.


    Dis¡¯ni nodded her head quickly, not showing the slightest signs of embarrassment. ¡°It¡¯s always been tradition in the royal families to marry strong individuals, that way the strongest child can be produced. You might be a lycan, so we wouldn¡¯t really be able to have kids, but if you be my husband then you can meet with the lycan princesses, and maybe even their queens!¡±


    Processing¡­ unable topute. ¡°Uhm¡­ thanks¡­ but don¡¯t you think that I¡¯m a bit too old?¡± Please, for the love of all that is holy, why must you tempt me like this! I mean, yes Dis¡¯ni is cute. Who wouldn¡¯t think that a golden-haired, curvy catgirl was cute? But I already had enough on my te as it is!


    She thought about that for a moment, but then shook her head. ¡°People at the pinnacle are still able to conceive children even when they reach their eighties. Even longer if they¡¯re a monk, and I can feel a faint bit of ki in you. So it shouldn¡¯t be a problem.¡±


    ¡°Well I¡­ I appreciate the offer, but I¡¯m spoken for, already.¡± By the goddess you worship, who is probably busying up with horrible things to happen to you the longer this conversation goes on.


    ¡°Spoken for¡­?¡± She tilted her head in confusion, before a look of understanding shed across her face. ¡°Oh, you mean you already have a wife? That¡¯s only natural.¡± She nodded her head again. ¡°Any man or woman worth wanting is wanted by many. If you want, you can bring her with you. I¡¯m sure mom won¡¯t mind.¡±


    It took me a long moment to remember just what kind of culture the beastkin had. Apparently, it wasn¡¯t unusual for one person to have many spouses, and their many spouses to have many more¡­ Why wasn¡¯t that included in the background information?!


    alia coughed awkwardly within my mind. Well, how was I supposed to know you¡¯d be hit on as soon as you met a young woman?! Seriously, Aurivy is the Goddess of Love, not us! Speaking of¡­


    I had no hand in this! Aurivy¡¯s high pitched voice joined alia¡¯s in my mind. Since when did my head be a conference call? She doesn¡¯t love you or anything like that, really! Well, not right now. Royal marriages are weird in the different cultures. Usually love doesn¡¯t develop until after they get together.


    ¡°¡­Let¡¯s get this voyage over with, and save any topics like that for after it¡¯s all over, agreed?¡± I looked at Dis¡¯ni, who had been patiently waiting for a reply to her proposal. Oddly enough, I could hear Kelly suddenly break outughing from below deck¡­ Guess she¡¯s more deeply connected to her incarnation than Udona is.


    ¡°Sure. I know about mom promising you nobility if this all works, so there shouldn¡¯t be any problems with it from any side. Who knows, if we find an unchartednd, I might be queen of it, with you as my first king.¡± She grinned happily at that idea as she stood up, leaving me in a daze while she walked back towards the mast. I could hear a faint humming from her while her tail swayed behind her.


    Terra, no nning any catastrophes for her future.


    As soon as I sent that thought out, I could vaguely feel the sensation of a child being caught with their hand in a cookie jar. B-but¡­ I wasn¡¯t going to do something like that, honest! Maybe just a tiny little sprained ankle¡­ or a small stampede. Nothing serious!


    No. Bad Goddess of Fate. I¡¯m not going to be doing anything with her. I mean seriously, I¡¯ve got enough girls on my te as it is. After this is all over, and I go back to the admin room, the most that will happen is that my host takes her up on the offer. But it¡¯s not like I¡¯d being back down in his lifetime.


    I let out a long sigh after I sent that message off, closing my eyes once again. Alright¡­ fine. But I can¡¯t be med if something bad does happen to her, and I didn¡¯t do it!


    Deal. Now can all of you please be quiet for a few minutes? My head is still killing me. Thankfully, they went quiet after I asked that, allowing me to rest in peace for a little while.


    Thankfully, the journey through the ocean was surprisingly easy after the first few days. After we passed by the storm, we didn¡¯t hit a single monster, all the way until we found a small ind the next day. It wasn¡¯t arge ind, and certainly not the same one that Aurivy¡¯s dungeon was on. Nheless, we dropped anchor and approached the ind.


    Once we were there, each of the twelve druids created a gate on the ind that led back to the maind. With the portal established, I was able to see my first glimpse of Emona¡¯s personal aeon.


    Emona stood in front of the swirling vortex of water that had risen from the ocean at the shore, and simply extended her hand. ¡°Go and send the report.¡± She muttered, a white cross appearing on the back of her hand.


    Just like when she summoned the kraken, the white cross shot out from her hand, turning into a small sized version of herself¡­ if she was a foot tall and hand white, feathery wings. The small Emona smiled as she flew through the portal, while Emona herself closed her eyes. ¡°Best be keepin¡¯ the portal open till she gets back.¡± She spoke out, just loud enough for me to hear.


    With that instruction, I shrugged my shoulders, simply keeping the portal open until the little aeon came back an hour or soter. ¡°Alright. Good to go.¡± She smiled, causing the aeon to return to its symbol form, and fly into her body again. ¡°We bet not needin¡¯ any supplies, so there be no point in us stickin¡¯ around here. Our journey takes us to much¡­ wider shores.¡±


    As she said that, she nced around the ind, which was smaller than even the Jolly Dodger. ¡°Hopefully, much wider.¡± She grinned a bit, shaking her head before leading us back to the ships.


    Back aboard the ships, our journey continued. We met many strange and powerful creatures along our way, but the careful preparation of the beastkin assured that none of the ships had been damaged beyond repair.


    Just over a week into the journey, we had encountered a giant bird which flew in storm clouds, controlling the storms to attack at random. The mages aboard the various ships proved able to shoot it down while we kept the ships afloat.


    A few dayster, we thought that we found another ind, only for it to be the back of a great two-headed turtle. Our monks and fighters leapt onto the shell of the turtle as it tried to attack the outer ships in the formation, and jointly brought it down. This was the first time any of the ships actually needed repaired.


    The further into the ocean we went, therger the creatures became. But at the same time, they came more and more seldomly. That said, the inds that we encountered likewise became more and more rare. Roughly two months at sea after we had left, we had finally found an ind, but it was too far away from any other that we had encountered to form a portal. Even though we had been establishing portal locations at each ind we passed, the chain had been broken after only a short two months.


    With this, we were now truly on our own. Granted¡­ if this were a normal journey, we would have been on our own from the moment we left dock, so this wasn¡¯t as big of a blow to me as it was to those who had been hoping to establish a portal chain the entire distance of our trip.


    One of our warriors, Kiran, voiced out his worries when they realized what this meant. ¡°What are we going to do now, Captain Bote? We don¡¯t have any way to contact home or request supplies anymore!¡±


    I nced around, and I saw a few people who seemed to show simr concerns, as well as others who werepletely unfazed by the matter. Emona, on the other hand¡­ughed. ¡°Hah! And, what¡¯s yer point? Did ye think that we¡¯d be gettin¡¯ everything handed to us? Nay! We brought all these supplies with us because we knew that we¡¯d be getting cut off! Sooner orter, bound to happen. As for contact¡­ The only contact that they be truly needin¡¯ is to know whether we are alive, dead, or have reached our goal. Isn¡¯t that right, Dis¡¯ni?¡±


    The golden-haired catgirl nodded with a smile. ¡°That¡¯s right, captain.¡± Saying that, she reached into her bag, and pulled out two papers, holding each one firmly while disying them so that we could see.


    ¡°My mother gave me two quests before we left, so that she could track our progress. One will bepleted upon my death, and the other, like all of yours, will bepleted when we settle on a newnd.¡± With that exnation done, she promptly put the two papers back in her satchel. ¡°If we manage to find a newnd, then our home will find a way tomunicate with us. But if we die, then the ocean is still a far too dangerous ce for us to cross, and this idea will be abandoned until a new method is found.¡±


    Her words caused the atmosphere of the ship to sink, the realization that we were truly on our own settling in to those on the ship. I could see some shifting back and forth, ncing towards the other crew members uncertainly. Good grief¡­ find out we can¡¯t phone home for two minutes, and people are already growing paranoid.


    Grumbling, I infused mana into my voice, still sitting in my bench while I turned back to look out to sea. ¡°We can¡¯t contact home, but what does that matter? We came on this journey to make a new home. And I won¡¯t let anyone get in the way of that. If you don¡¯t think you can behave, I¡¯ll send you off the ship now. We can see how well you fare on your own.¡±


    I could feel the gazes of the crew turning towards me, but there wasn¡¯t a single voice ofint. Leowynn had long since woken up again, her energy fully restored. If there were people that insisted on a fight, I wouldn¡¯t mind bringing her out again, or activating one of the other sses to settle things.


    That¡­ was actually kinda cool. I could faintly hear Aurivy speaking in my mind as we left the ind, once again on our journey.


    Please tell me we¡¯re reaching your dungeon soon? I want to stretch my legs.


    There was a faintugh in response to my hope. Just a few more days now, and you¡¯ll be there. I think you¡¯ll like how its grown.

 Chapter 137: Welcome to the Dungeon

    <h4>Chapter 137: Wee to the Dungeon</h4>


    Just as Aurivy promised, it was less than a week before we came across another strange event. The weather was fair, not a cloud to be seen, and the crew was happily singing aboard the deck of the Jolly Dodger. ¡°The King will take his tribute, the King will take his due.¡± Dis¡¯ni started them off, a wide grin on her face before the rest of the crew echoed in chorus.


    ¡°With the blood of princes flowing, the King stands true¡­¡±


    She nodded her head, jumping back and hooking a leg on the ropedder on the central mast, lightly swaying about while her body captivated the eyes of the crew. ¡°Beneath the ocean deep, beneath the ebb and flow!¡±


    Another chorus followed her words, as if mesmerized by the sight of her body and the sound of her voice. I could faintly feel an energy behind her voice, a faint divine energy that caused me to raise an eyebrow. Bards could eventually produce divine energy of their own, albeit only a small droppared to the endless oceans of the gods. ¡°The King shall watch the traveler, watching from his throne!¡±


    Dis¡¯ni let out a loudugh, easily scaling thedder and jumping from it to stand atop the boom of the sail. She grabbed a nearby rope, standing steadily as she stared down at the crew. ¡°Let loose your sails, let fly your spells, the prince ising soon!¡±


    ¡°And if the King shall find you, the prince will spell your--¡± The chorus began to shout out once again, more energetically with each verse, before they were suddenly interrupted.


    ¡°What?!¡± Emona¡¯s outburst nearly made Dis¡¯ni lose her bnce, but she didn¡¯t even seem to notice. ¡°Saru!¡± She nced down to the scout that had been joining in the singing on the deck. ¡°Up in the nest! Turn your eyes to the port!¡±


    Saru blinked in confusion, but didn¡¯t hesitate to obey the order. He easily scaled the ropedder, moving to his perch in the basket above. Turning to the left, he focused his eyes out into the distance. ¡°Captain! We¡¯ve gotnd!¡± He shouted down in surprise, and he was right to be surprised.


    This was the first ind that the shaman had not been able to locate ahead of time. However, that revtion only made Emonaugh in excitement. ¡°All ships, hard to port!¡± She shouted out, her voice infused with mana. ¡°We got an ind that can¡¯t be seen by nature, and ye know what that means!¡±


    ¡°A Dungeon!¡± Not only Emona¡¯s voice, but several voices from the crew and nearby ships shouted out in surprise, all at once. Emona didn¡¯t have to repeat herself again, and the wind suddenly shifted, every ship making a hard left to change course towards the ind. We gave each other a wide berth so as not to crash, but aside from that we were making a beeline to the distant ind.


    Finally. I thought to myself with a smile, and soon I was able to realize just how Emona had discovered the dungeon ind in the first ce.


    Just a few minutes after we had turned, I felt my connection with the natural energy cut off. Naturally, this caught me by surprise, until I remembered that a dungeon¡¯s ambient mana blocked off natural energy. And indeed, I could sense a thin mana permeating the atmosphere.


    Yet, looking out ahead, all that could be seen was a small ind, barely a hundred meters in diameter. It was like a t rock surface had been carved out just a few inches above sea level, with only one distinct feature. At the center of the ind, arge cube of stone broke the t surface, no more than ten meters thick. On the side of the stone facing us, an ornately carved stone door was held tightly shut.


    Huh¡­ Rivy really did good work if it can carve a door like that. I nodded my head as I saw that, smiling inwardly. Judging by the atmosphere of the crew, it was easy to see that the beastkin greatly valued dungeons. It was to such a degree that they took a detour on such an important mission to investigate one.


    ¡°Surround the dungeon and drop anchor, men!¡± Emona shouted out, and the twelve ships began to form a circle around the small ind, each dropping offrge boulders from their sides. Surprisingly, the water was not very deep here, and they had to tie off the anchors once they hit the bottom to remove the ck.


    ¡°All ashore that¡¯s going ashore!¡± At her cry, the entire crew jumped off the ship excitedly. Manynded directly on the ind, while others had to swim a short distance. As for myself, I used my ki to enhance my jump, allowing me tond alongside Kelly.


    ¡°Look what we got here.¡± She said with a grin, looking at the stone cube. ¡°Seems to be our lucky day.¡±


    ¡°Aye.¡± One of the other captains said as he pulled himself out of the water. This one was a felyn man with a strong build, yet he hadn¡¯t been able to make the jump all the way to the ind. ¡°We hadn¡¯t been expecting to find something like this here¡­¡±


    The other captains likewise had to pull themselves out of the water. Oddly enough, not a single one had trained as a monk. Though, it did make sense given that they were all summoners. Thest to shake herself dry was Emona, who smiled broadly as she looked around.


    ¡°This be a great opportunity for us,ds. Yet, we can¡¯t be too hasty. No tellin¡¯ if something mighte out of the waters while we¡¯re inside. Best to only send in a small group.¡± The other captains all nodded in agreement.


    ¡°Who will go, then?¡± The muscr felyn captain asked in excitement.


    ¡°Calm yerself, man.¡± Emonaughed loudly, shaking her head. ¡°We captains¡¯d be useless in the dungeon. Passages too narrow for the Kraken.¡± The other captains all drooped with disappointment at the realization that they wouldn¡¯t be joining. ¡°We¡¯ll be on the defensive side. Each captain, choose one or two to represent your ship for the search team. The rest¡¯ll stay behind.¡±


    There was an instant mor of people vying for the limited positions. In fact, the only ones that were staying quiet were the scouts and other crew members that had yet to reach the level limit. They seemed to realize that they wouldn¡¯t be so useful in a fight.


    I had no doubt that Udona would ensure that I was chosen, so instead I walked up towards the door, ncing over it curiously. It was a double door, each side having waving patterns carved along it, as if two tsunamis were going to crash into the center. At the top of the door, I could see a row of words, surprisingly written in English. In my surprise, I found myself muttering as I read.


    ¡°The Four Elements Dungeon?¡± I blinked in confusion, before noticing that the noise behind me had suddenly quieted down. Turning to look, I found everyone staring directly at me.


    ¡°Ye can read the words, boy?¡± An ursa captain asked, his ears twitching slightly. Right¡­ super hearing. Well, it doesn¡¯t really matter, it fits with the whole ¡®mysterious sage¡¯ figure I was going for.


    I simply nodded my head in response. ¡°I¡¯ve spent some time studying dungeons.¡±


    A brief murmur arose between the crew members, before Emona broke out with augh. ¡°That settles it, then. Tebor will represent the Jolly Dodger, along with Kelly. An element dungeon would likely be quite good for an elemental monk, aye?¡±


    There were several other people who nodded along in agreement, and soon the team was set. In total, twenty people had been chosen, further divided into two teams of ten. The vanguard group included myself and Kelly, two mages, two warriors, a scout, a barbarian, an archer, and a monk. The second group actually included three clerics, two priests, two swordsmen, a summoner, and two knights.


    Aside from the scout, the entire group had hit the current level limit. This gave us a great confidence in being able to clear out whatever monsters could be lurking within. Even if we encountered a level four hundred monster, it wouldn¡¯t be impossible for us to kill it, without me even needing to use my Keeper abilities.


    While the rest of the group was discussing the n for how to handle the defense of the outside, I sent a message up to Terra. Oh, great goddess of stories, spin me a tale. Why does this dungeon have english writing?


    Unofficial dungeonnguage? Terra asked a momentter with a lightugh. Most of the dungeons can¡¯t learn the nuances of anguage before thenguage naturally shifts into something else. Their learning ability is just too low,bined with all of the other subjects they have to be taught. So, since you put us in charge of the dungeons, we decided to make the dungeons share a universalnguage¡­ yours. Several races are already calling it the ¡®holy script¡¯ or ¡®devil¡¯s writing¡¯, depending on how they see dungeons.


    And before you ask, yes it was intentional that we didn¡¯t tell you. We were hoping you wouldn¡¯t resist reading it out loud. Otherwise, why would they send a druid into a dungeon. You would have just ended up being told to wait outside and have toe back on your own another time.


    I listened to her exnation, offering a faint nod in response. Alright¡­ but next time, can you at least give me a warning? I understand liking to surprise me, but still.


    Fine, fine. Party pooper¡­ Terra grumbled, and I turned around to see the rest of the first group approaching me.


    Since I was able to read the nguage of the dungeons¡¯, I had been nominated the de facto leader of the group. The n itself was really simple, we scout ahead and clear out any dangers, and the second teames in to treat any wounds and keep our backs defended.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get going¡­¡± I spoke quietly as I turned and began to walk towards the dungeon, our scout Nox to my side. As we approached, the double doors began to slowly open, revealing a circr staircase leading down.


    Lifting a hand, I cast a simple light spell, causing a glowing orb to float just above my palm. This was one of the easiest spells to cast, so nobody really seemed to even pay attention to it. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if almost everyone here were able to cast it as well.


    After stepping foot onto the staircase, I took a nce over the edge, trying to see how deep it went. Maybe¡­ two hundred meters? I thought my estimation inwardly, but since there was no sign of a monster, we simply continued onwards.


    The walls of the corridor around us werepletely smooth, the stairs just damp enough that we had to make the walk slowly. However, after descending a few dozen meters, I grew rather annoyed with the slight mana expenditure of the light spell, not wanting to waste the limited resource. So, I decided to show a bit of my hand to the others, speaking in English. ¡°Can you give us a bit more lighting? Some of us can¡¯t see in the dark.¡±


    Rather than a verbal answer, the darkness of the corridor simply faded away, as if the entire dungeon had cast a light spell on itself. ¡°Thank you.¡± I spoke up again, dismissing my own spell and doing my best to ignore the nces I could feel against my back.


    Down and down our party went, the dim light offered a wee respite. Neither the druid nor spirit hunter sses enhanced mana in any way, so I wasn¡¯t quite willing to waste what little I had on such simple matters. Before too long, we had finally reached the bottom of the staircase, and a smooth floor greeted us. Directly in front of us was another door, this one marked by an ornate carving of fire.


    Looks like this is where the dungeon adventure really begins.

 Chapter 138: We’ve Got Gunning Flames

    <h4>Chapter 138: We¡¯ve Got Gunning mes</h4>


    The scout briefly stepped up to the door, looking it over. ¡°Doesn¡¯t seem trapped anywhere. No hidden mechanisms or set spells, so it should be safe.¡± After saying that, he stepped back, allowing me to push open the door.


    The room behind was much wider that I had expected, roughly thirty meters across, and fifty deep. The dim light of the dungeon cast flickering res off of moving forms along the walls and floors. Red, viscous slimes slowly crawling along.


    ¡°Slimes? Is that it? My daughter¡¯s got one of these as a pet.¡± One of our mages, a woman named Jeren, spoke up in disappointment.


    ¡°Does hers shoot fire?¡± I asked, ncing at the information of the slime.


    Level 38 Fire Slime


    ¡°Wait, what?¡± She asked, confused, before quickly erecting a barrier in front of us, just in time to block two small fireballs. ¡°Since when can slimes do that?!¡±


    It wasn¡¯t anything to really worry about, since the slimes were still weakpared to our group. However, it appeared that Jeren had been caught off guard by the new breed of slime. Meanwhile, my eyes focused on a rather discrete slime slowly shifting among the others, this one with a somewhat deeper red than the others.


    Level 112 Fire Ki Slime


    Well, that exins it¡­ I gave a low sigh, remembering the two slimes that I had once given to Aurivy after practicing my elemental ki. It would seem that they had multiplied¡­ considerably.


    Aurivy, please tell me that there is a secret room to keep a few slimes safe? Don¡¯t want to destroy everything in the dungeon and leave it with nothing¡­


    Oh, it¡¯s fine! Aurivy called back to my prayer with a happy tone. Poption preservation is the first lesson we teach dungeons nowadays. They all have a breeding ground hidden somewhere to make sure that they don¡¯t easily run out. Though, it may take a little while to repopte, but the dungeons just don¡¯t offer treasure during that time as an incentive to let them grow up.


    I nodded my head, d that the lightning and ice spells being cast at the slimes wouldn¡¯t result in the total extinction of the species. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we take one in for study?¡± Jeren asked, doing her best to stop the other mage from killing them all before she had her chance.


    ¡°If you brought a jar big enough to contain one, sure.¡± He said casually, though obviously didn¡¯t believe that she did, seeing how he continued firing off spells.


    ¡°Umm¡­ but¡­¡± She turned to look at the slimes sadly. ¡°True¡­ We can at least bring their cores back, though!¡± After saying that, she joined in the assault. The slimes had no way to resist the spells of the powerful mages, save for one.


    Hidden amidst the destruction, the single fire ki slime kept creeping closer. When a stray ice spell hit it, its health bar appeared above its head, showing that it had taken only a tenth of its health as damage. Before the two mages could notice the ineffectiveness of their spell, it shot up off the ground, impacting against the mana barrier that they had erected.


    ¡°What the?!¡± Jeren shouted out as she felt her shield being quickly burnt away by the fire mana.


    ¡°This is where I step in. Hya!¡± Kelly took a step forward with a grin, an orange me wrapping around her fist as she lowered her stance. Her fists came together, knuckle to knuckle, and she punched forward. There was an orange sh as the slime practically exploded, bits of goo flying in all directions.


    Once the room was cleared, a section of the wall opened up, revealing a shabby wooden chest that slid out. Once the wall closed behind it, the party carefully approached. ¡°Never seen a dungeon offer a treasure like that.¡± Jeren smiled, her eyes practically gleaming.


    Nox once again went up and inspected the shoddy chest. ¡°No traps, though I can feel some magic from inside of it.¡± After saying that, he once again backed up.


    This time, it was the other mage who opened the chest, casting a spell to remotely lift the lid. Seeing that nothing attacked, Nox went forward to retrieve the contents.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ There¡¯s a short sword¡­ two copper arrows, and¡­ a pair of pants?¡± He pulled the items out one by one, setting them on the ground.


    ¡°Tebor, mind identifying them for us?¡± He asked, beckoning me forward. I had a confused look on my face for a moment, wondering what he meant, until I saw it. On the shafts of each arrow, as well as the de of the sword, there were words written. The dungeons likely do this to make it easier for them to sort the treasures.


    ¡°They all have fire abilities.¡± I said, seeing the word ¡®Fire¡¯ written on all three. ¡°The sword is also a de built to channel elemental ki, specifically fire element.¡±


    In truth, what was written on the sword was ¡®Fire Ki de¡¯, while the arrows simply had ¡®Fire Arrow¡¯ written on them. Nox nodded, and then picked up the pants to show me. The pants were dark orange with ming red patterns along it, so it was no surprise when I spoke up. ¡°These have some resistance to fire.¡±


    ¡°Pretty good haul for the first room.¡± Kelly spoke with a small grin, ncing towards the two doors on the other side of the room. One had the same me design as the door we had juste through, while the other had a swirling pattern that likely indicated air. ¡°And now we have multiple choices.¡±


    By now, the second group was entering the room as well, and looked surprised at the small pile of loot that had been set out. ¡°This is a generous dungeon¡­¡± One of the clerics spoke with a faint nod. ¡°Any injuries?¡±


    Everyone shook their heads in unison, prompting me to exin. ¡°Just a slime room, though they were a new type.¡±


    ¡°Really now?¡± The cleric¡¯s eyes practically shown as he helped the others move around to gather the various monster cores that had been discarded. Each one was norger than a pebble, so it took a little while to find all of them.


    Once we had the items packed away in separate bags, we returned our attention to the two doors. ¡°If there¡¯s another fire room, that probably would make the enemies in the next room stronger fire-type enemies.¡± Jeren stated, nodding her head. ¡°Whereas the other door probably has flying enemies, going by the design.¡±


    Nox went up to both of the doors, checking them over and informing us that neither appeared to be anything more than simple doors. Seeing that, I moved towards the ming door first. ¡°Let¡¯s see where this one leads, and we can check the other pathster.¡±


    Beyond the door was a long hallway, about fifteen meters forward before it took a sharp turn to the left. The second group stayed behind again as the rest of us moved forward, Nox standing in front to look for any hidden dangers. As we moved forward, the room seemed to heat up more and more, and we saw a red glowing from the room ahead of us.


    Unlike before, there was no door this time, just arge room at the end of the hall. Inside stood a single figure, roughly three meters tall. Its skin was translucent, its features impossible to read. It simply looked like a giant, bipedal blob with awork of ming veins running through it. And for good reason¡­


    Level 248 King Fire Slime


    Yes, it was another slime¡­ This time a big one. ¡°That¡­ that can¡¯t be a slime too, right?¡± Jeren asked, her voice trembling, either out of fear or excitement¡­ or both.


    ¡°Looks that way.¡± I grumbled. I closed my eyes, letting my ki flow through me. I couldn¡¯tpare to someone specializing in the monk ss, but my high wisdom stat made it so that I had over ten times more ki than I had mana. And while that still wasn¡¯t enough to properly fight against a mini-boss level entity with my main ss ¡®sealed¡¯, it would at least offer me some protection.


    ¡°Well, guess this is where we get serious.¡± Jeren spoke, turning towards the other mage. The two nodded at each other as the giant fire slime stepped forward.


    Three sets of magic circles appeared in the air, one in front of each mage, while the third was actually in front of the slime itself. Okay, so it can use magic¡­ that¡¯s new.


    That said, I was able to recognize the spell it was using as the most basic fireball, just pumped full of enough mana that it created a small inferno. On the other hand, the two spells fired by the mages created icy winds and thick chunks of ice that assaulted the slime.


    After going through the icy wind, the remaining power behind the fireball wasn¡¯t enough to break the mages¡¯ barrier spell, leaving us behind it unharmed. However, it also weakened their attacks enough that they didn¡¯t even reach the slime¡­


    I nced towards the archer, and noticed that he was already nocking an arrow. Closing his eyes, his lips moved in a way that seemed to be repeating a mnemonic phrase, his arrow slowly beginning to glow. I could feel mana pushing into the tip of the arrowhead, so he was no doubt casting a spell to go with the arrow.


    Once the spell wasplete, he drew the bow back and fired while the mages and slime exchanged another barrage of spells. This time, the arrow was hidden within the icy wind, and appeared to cut through the me that the slimeunched. Unlike the spells of the mages, the arrow urately dug into the center mass of the monster, causing a portion of its red body to turn blue.


    For the first time during the fight, the health bar of the slime appeared above its head, instantly dropping by a third. However, now that it had been injured, the slime was not able to keep its bipedal form. A brief cry seemed to sound out from it as it copsed into a giant puddle¡­ which turned into a wave thatunched at us.


    ¡°Okay, now this we can deal with!¡± Jerenughed, and the two of them once moreunched their spells. However, this time the result was vastly different. Without the slime¡¯s own fire spell acting as a shield, and with the archer¡¯s second arrowunched, the three attacks immediately depleted the remainder of its health.


    With the slime¡¯s death, the goop that made up it body sshed onto the floor, slowly spreading out along the ground. Unlike the slime¡¯s from the previous room, this one had a core the size of a fist, yet nobody was in a hurry to retrieve it.


    ¡°How much you want to bet its slime still burns?¡± Jeren asked, looking towards the other mage, who shrugged his shoulders.


    There wasn¡¯t another door at the other side of the room this time, but there was a small pedestal which rose up out of the ground after the slime was defeated. The top of the pedestal rotated, revealing another treasure chest, this one lined with silver. But again¡­ nobody was making a move for it¡­ because the floor was practicallyva.


    ¡°Wait till the clerics get here, and let them deal with the floor?¡± Kelly asked, cracking her neck from side to side. That seemed to get the approval from everyone else, so we simply sat back and waited, the mana barrier reduced to only a few inches high from the ground to block the flood.

 Chapter 139: The Crawl of the Dungeon

    <h4>Chapter 139: The Crawl of the Dungeon</h4>


    Once the clerics arrived, we moved back to the side to allow them through. They took one look at the molten floor ahead of us and nodded with a small smile. ¡°Sisters, guide our hands.¡± They prayed together, extending their hands forward. The three clerics were all beautiful women, one each from the felyn, kitsune, and lycan races.


    A small golden light surged up from the floor, forming a thin path that led towards the pedestal at the far side of the room. I could tell that the clerics were giving it their all to maintain the bridge, so Nox hurried across it, ignoring the heat of the room. Rather than inspecting its contents one by one like before, he simply made sure that the pedestal itself wasn¡¯t trapped, and then grabbed the entire chest to run back to us.


    Once he was back, we hurried towards the previous room, finally dropping the barrier that had kept the slime goop out of the hall. With the door shut securely behind us, we were able to breathe a long sigh of relief.


    Honestly, the room was hot, but it didn¡¯t feel as hot as I would have expected, given the enclosed space and all the fire that was being thrown around. Figured it¡¯d be like being trapped in an oven, but instead it was just making me work up a moderate sweat. Perhaps it was the result of my stats, or simply because the dungeon was self-regting the heat to make the room more hospitable.


    ¡°Well, let¡¯s see what we got.¡± Nox said with a grin, rubbing his hands together excitedly. He briefly checked to make sure that it wasn¡¯t trapped, before carefully opening the lid. This time, he seemed a bit confused by what he pulled out.


    ¡°Shirt, bow, and a crystal orb?¡± He asked curiously, setting each item off to the side. It was the orb that seemed to give him the greatest confusion, and it was understandable why. Rather than crystal, it was made of ss, and had no extraordinary properties.


    ¡°Did it give us a piece of useless junk?¡± Kelly asked, ncing over the orb.


    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s aponent for a puzzle somewhere else in the dungeon?¡± Jiren suggested, causing the others to look at her. ¡°I¡¯ve heard of some dungeons having simple puzzles, like gathering items from bosses to unlock a room. Maybe this is that?¡±


    I gave a small nod as I heard that, silently agreeing with her. Without waiting to be prompted, I walked over and identified the other two items. The shirt held the same style as the pants, so it was no surprise when it also had the same effect.


    The bow, on the other hand, had a much longer string of characters along its limb. It was a longbow as well, so that only gave it more room for the writing. ¡®Condenses ki into arrows.¡¯


    That description drew my interest, and I couldn¡¯t help but pick up the bow to try it out. I had yet to see an enchantment that affected ki, only items forged with built in ki pathways. And as I studied the bow, I found that this was also of thetter type.


    Once I fed a small bit of ki into the bow, I could feel aplex series of ¡®veins¡¯ throughout it, guiding the ki. Putting my hand on the string, I found that it also had a single vein running through it. And when I put some ki into both of them, a thin yellow arrow began to take shape, running between my two hands.


    ¡°Interesting¡­¡± I mumbled out, drawing the attention of the others. Turning towards them, I looked towards the archer, the monk, and Kelly. ¡°This bow creates arrows by condensing ki.¡± Likely, there wasn¡¯t a smith who could properly create an item like this, aside from a dungeon¡­ or obviously Tubrock, who was likely the one that created the original this dungeon copied. Though, having the finished product to study would certainly make it easier.


    ¡°Can I try it out?¡± The archer, Nile, asked. Shrugging my shoulders, I tossed the bow over towards him. He caught it deftly in one hand, quickly pulling the string back fully.


    A yellow shaft of energy formed from the bowstring to the grip, and when he released the string it shot off like a proper arrow. Although it shattered when it hit the distant wall, the sound of the impact let us know that it still carried considerable force. Nile nodded his head with a smile, turning to look at the rest of the group.


    ¡°Does anyone object if I im this one, at least until we get out of here?¡± Seeing as he was the only archer our group had, it wasn¡¯t surprising that nobody raised an objection. Especially since archers like him had a critical weakness when it came to the number of arrows that they could carry.


    After this, we went to the wind room, where we encountered¡­ you guessed it, flying slimes. They were just floating around, swimming through the air as if it were water. Some of them appeared little more thanrge bubbles, while others were bouncing back and forth along the walls.


    Once again, there was an elemental ki slime mixed in with the group. While Nile was having fun shooting off a seemingly endless stream of ki arrows to handle the clearing of this room, a nearly invisible mass crashed into his side, sending him flying back to the wall. This was the first bit of actual damage that we had taken, but it didn¡¯t seem like it hurt all that much.


    Nile¡¯s health bar appeared above his head, but only a sliver of damage had been taken. No doubt, the knockback was more powerful than the damage itself. Of course, it also made the others pay more attention to the surroundings, because the wind ki slime was practically invisible.


    Rather than deal with the slime through carefully looking for it¡­ Our two mages decided that it¡¯d be better to just bombard the room with wide area spells. Not the smartest tactic, but it did work. Soon enough, the red health bar appeared floating through the air. Although it was also mostly transparent, it stood out considerably more than the slime itself, making it an easy target to aim at.


    Once this room was clear, we gathered the loot and continued on. The next room, as I had guessed, held a King Wind Slime. Unlike the fire one, however, this one was far smaller. When it moved, we could barely keep track of it, forcing Kelly and our other monk to fight it in melee. Between the two of them together, it was still not really a threat, however.


    Next came the earth room, where slimes rested on the ground likerge boulders. This room was perhaps the easiest out of all of them, because the earth slimes were too slow to react. Their defenses were strong, but Kelly just walked around and punched each one once before we were done.


    The King Earth Slime, however, was a bit trickier. Not because it was particrly powerful, but because it caught us off guard. When we entered the room, it appeared to be empty. Only once we stepped inside did we feel something was off.


    Maybe it was because the floor was trying to eat us? Probably a pretty solid clue. Once the floor began to wrap around our legs, all of our meleebatants simply began to punch the floor with all their strength¡­ Which was likely overkill.


    The water room actually had a deep pool in it that we had to swim through. This proved rather unfortunate for most of our group, because they sank like a stone the moment they entered the water. Concealed beneath the surface were dozens of water slimes, each one blending almost perfectly with the water around them.


    This room actually proved rather annoying, both because of the people who kept sinking and because of the sudden attacks that we faced from every direction. In the end, this was my turn to shine.


    Most of our group was stuck at the bottom of the pool, trying in vain to punch the water, not able to see what they should be hitting. Every now and then, they jumped up to get a breath of air, but it was obvious that they weren¡¯t actually making any progress.


    Likewise, our mages weren¡¯t of much help, as the only thing that they could use to fight the slimes was lighting. However, simply being in the water seemed to cause the slimes to recover quickly, so their spells couldn¡¯t show the proper effect.


    Seeing that we were getting nowhere, and taking our sweet time about it, Leowynn manifested the Tide. There was a sudden rush as the water rapidly spun around the room, surprising thebatants trying to fight within it. Then, just as suddenly, the water all lifted up towards the ceiling¡­ leaving a series of utterly confused slimes sitting on the damp floor. Jiren looked at me in surprise, clearly wanting to say something, when she saw the glowing silver gauntlets that had appeared in my fists again.


    Kelly, for her credit, simply grinned as she looked towards the confused slime, cracking her knuckles. ¡°Payback time¡­¡±


    Needless to say, the water slimes weren¡¯t a problem after that. As for the water king slime¡­ As soon as we rounded the corner to face the room, a certain pair of annoyed wizards filled the entire corridor with lightning. I don¡¯t think I ever even got to see what the boss looked like¡­


    ¡°Is this thest one?¡± Jiren asked, ncing at the blue orb that was contained in the chest of the king water slime¡¯s room. Unlike the other ¡®king¡¯ rooms, there was another feature on the far wall of this one. Four colored sockets set into the wall, one each of red, yellow, blue, and white.


    Thankfully, they were clearly marked, so we could slot them in right where they were each meant to go. And once we did so, there was a low rumbling from the wall, which made me begin to wonder¡­ What¡¯s to stop people from just using brute force to punch their way through?


    Ooh, ooh, I know this one! Aurivy chimed in, as if fighting to be the first to answer. You see, the corridor behind the door actually doesn¡¯t exist at first. The dungeon keeps the next roompletely separate from the dungeon, and then moves it in ce once the ¡®puzzle¡¯ is solved, as well as creating the hallway. So even when people just keep punching away at the wall, they can¡¯t find the room faster than the dungeon can repair it!


    Ah¡­ well, that¡¯s actually kind of clever. I had expected that they reinforced the walls in some way to discourage people from trying, but to do it like that makes sense too.


    A few momentster, the wall we were standing in front of began to sink into the ground, revealing a short corridor beyond. At the end of it was arge, glittering golden chest. A total of four feet high, and eight across, it was by far the biggest chest I had seen. And before anyone asks, it wasn¡¯t a mimic¡­ I checked.


    In fact, there wasn¡¯t a monster in the room at all¡­ Which was disappointing. I had expected some kind of super-powerful slime. Well, sorry! Aurivy humphed into my mind. I¡¯m still trying to figure out how to create a slime stronger than the kings, so this is just a treasure room right now.


    Naturally, I wasn¡¯t the only one suspicious of the chest, as Nox double checked and even triple checked to make sure that there did not appear to be any traps. And even then, he asked Nile to open it from a distance, using a ki arrow to knock the lid open.


    Inside was¡­ a small, leather bag. Now, to me, I knew exactly what this was. But nobody else did. ¡°Seriously?!¡± Jiren shouted out, stamping one foot on the ground. ¡°All that build up, just for amon little bag?¡±


    ¡°No¡­¡± Nox shook his head. ¡°The bag has magic on it, too.¡± This immediately caught the mage¡¯s attention, and Jiren¡¯s head snapped to look at the bag.


    ¡°But¡­ what kind of magic would you even put on a bag?¡± She asked, reaching in to pick it up. ¡°Wait, I think there¡¯s something inside of it¡­¡±


    As she was reaching her hand towards the bag to pull out whatever strange artifact was inside, the bag began to glow slightly. Jiren let out a yelp and dropped the small bag to the ground, just as several items likewise ttered to the ground around her feet. Among them was arge staff, a broadsword, and a ss vial¡­ which shattered and spilled its contents onto the ground.


    Aww¡­ That was a really nice healing potion made from a ki slime. Aurivy pouted. Guess I¡¯ll have to keep it separate next time so they don¡¯t break it¡­


    ¡°Did¡­ did you all see that?¡± Jiren stuttered in disbelief, looking down at the items that had appeared out of nowhere. ¡°T-the bag¡­¡±


    ¡°It summoned those items.¡± The other mage¡¯s eyes began to practically shine as he realized the potential implications of that.

 Chapter 140: Splitting the Spoils

    <h4>Chapter 140: Splitting the Spoils</h4>


    The journey to the surface was an easy one, as the entire dungeon was just a single floor. ording to Jiren, who couldn¡¯t stop talking the entire way, this was rather unusual for dungeons. Most dungeons that she had seen had wide expanses of caves and stairs that led through multiple floors. Of course, she had never seen a dungeon with the types of slimes that this one hosted either, or the type of loot.


    When we once again exited the door at the top of the stairs to rejoin the crew, there was a fierce battle taking ce outside. Apparently, during our dungeon jaunt, another monster had appeared in the outside world. This one was a giant serpent, simr to an oversized sea prince. However, to call it giant was an understatement¡­ it looked big enough to swallow up the entire fleet!


    Itsrge, blue body glistened in the light, white fins rising up intermittently along its back. Atop its head was a crown of three blue spikes, while two long whiskers extended from the side of its face. On the sides of its face wererge fins, made to almost look like the flippers of a smaller fish, while its underbelly was a pale yellow.


    Surprisingly enough, it did not seem interested in attacking the ships, instead lifting its head up near the shore of the dungeon¡¯s ind and shooting out jets of high pressure water. Each attack knocked one or two people back, forcing them to slide along the surface. Yet, while I could see that everyone had been damaged by these tactics, none of them had been fatally wounded.


    On our end, people were firing arrows and spells, the meleebatants staying back to protect the others in case it came on shore. Seeing this, I couldn¡¯t help but sigh, shaking my head. In English, I spoke while ncing back towards the door. ¡°You can have it go away now.¡±


    If this were truly a wild monster as it appeared, the fleet would be in ruins. Or at the very least, someone would have been killed. If we had all been out here, and all able to use our full power, we could have likely killed it, though not without suffering some losses. But in the current situation, it simply made no sense that nobody had been killed, unless this was the dungeon merely keeping them busy while we explored.


    And sure enough, a few moments after I spoke, the giant sea monster sank beneath the surface one more time. A dark shadow could be seen swimming away as it left, leaving behind a rather stunned group of pirates. ¡°What?¡± A tired voice spoke up from the mass of people, making it hard to determine who had talked.


    ¡°We¡¯re back.¡± I called out, drawing the attention of those nearest us. ¡°And we bring loot.¡± And then the attention of everyone else.


    Jiren was bouncing on her heels excitedly as she clutched the bag in her hands, having refused to let it go the entire way up. She kept mumbling about how this could reshape the world as we know it, her eyes almost glossed over from the excitement.


    ¡°What¡¯s got the girl so excited?¡± The ursa captain asked with a raised eyebrow as he walked closer, his body drenched in seawater. Above his head, his health bar showed that he had barely taken a tenth of his health as damage, meaning he was probably hit once or twice by the monster¡¯s sts.


    ¡°It¡¯s a magic storage bag!¡± Jiren answered before any of the rest of us could. ¡°Watch!¡±


    Before anyone could ask what she was talking about, she had already begun to focus. The small bag in her hand glowed briefly, before a long staff appeared in the air in front of her, which she reached out to grab with her other hand before it could fall to the ground. ¡°It has a diameter almost as big as you are, and you can send or retrieve things from it with a thought!¡±


    In order to test the diameter, Jiren had rather insisted on Nox going inside the bag himself to take a look¡­ The sight of the poor boy looking at the bag and wondering how he was going to fit was priceless. As if to prove her point, she began summoning items from the bag one by one.


    Four pairs of pants, four shirts, the staff, two bows, a tower shield, two small shields, and a small pile of scrolls appeared along the wet floor in front of Jiren. Naturally, this drew a startled gasp from the people who had not been directly involved in the dungeon exploration. Especially once they saw that quest scrolls had been pulled out as well.


    ¡°Well¡­ what¡¯s the rest of the stuff?¡± Emona asked, gulping as she looked at the pile of loot. Out here, magical items had more value than any currency, so as someone who was groomed to act like a cliche pirate, her excitement was understandable.


    ¡°Tebor, would you mind taking over from here?¡± Jiren turned to ask me with a grin, so I sighed and nodded my head.


    ¡°The clothese in four sets. Each one resists damage of a particr element, be it earth, wind, fire, or water. The staff is a natural energy amplifier, which allows a druid to expand their range of control. Among the bows, one creates arrows from ki, while the others wraps arrows fired from it in bolts of lightning.¡± As I described each item, I pointed to them one by one.


    ¡°The tower shield has an enchantment to increase its defense at the expense of added weight, powered by mana. The other two shields create barriers around the user through ki.¡± Finally, I got to the scrolls. ¡°These are items which were either sharp or fragile, such as swords, arrows, spears, and¡­ a pair of sses.¡±


    ¡°A pair of what now?¡± Emona spoke up in surprise as she looked towards the scroll I had pointed outst.


    ¡°sses. Items worn over the eyes to help your vision. These are made to allow one to read the sses and levels of other beings.¡± Of course, it wasn¡¯t quite so simple as that. Having tried them myself, I knew that it wasn¡¯t as precise as telling you exactly what sses people had, or their levels in them. Instead, there was an aura generated around each person you saw through them, with various patches of the aura representing different sses.


    For instance, when I looked at Jiren through the sses, I saw most of her body covered in an aura that appeared to be made of ovepping spell circles. Along the aura were patches that looked to flutter as if the pages of a book. And when I looked at Nox, I saw a darker aura of daggers and footprints.


    Of course, each of the items that the dungeon had given us were powerful, but the two which could revolutionize beastkin culture were naturally the bag of holding and the ¡®ss sses¡¯. The other items, while incredibly useful, were merely at the level of being powerful magic items. Though naturally, I went through and exined the properties of each item in turn.


    ¡°So, how should we divide the spoils, then?¡± The ursa captain asked with an amused smile, crossing her arms in front of himself.


    ¡°There¡¯s not enough for everyone.¡± Emona pointed out, shaking her head regrettably. ¡°So not everyone can take something. For this, let¡¯s do it this way. Everyone from the dungeon group will get the option to select one item from the loot as their personal spoils.¡± However, as soon as she said that, she turned her head sharply to look at Jiren. ¡°Not including the bag and sses. Those will be under lock and key with me, to make sure that nothing can happen to it before we hit shore.¡±


    ¡°B-but¡­¡± Jiren looked down longingly at the bag still in her hands, as if she couldn¡¯t bear to part with it. Her eyes almost misted up, as if she was going to break down and cry from having the treasure taken from her.


    ¡°No buts,ss.¡± Emona sighed, shaking her head. ¡°You know well as I how precious those items are, so we can¡¯t be risking anything happening to them. The safest ce in the fleet be the Jolly Dodger, so that¡¯s where they¡¯ll be staying till we hit shore. After that, I can agree to let you and the others study it, see if you can figure out how to make more. Agreed?¡±


    Jiren nodded her head sadly, extending the bag slowly for Emona to take. Though, it seemed like she wasn¡¯t entirely convinced, as Emona had to have a brief tug of war with her to pry the bag out of her hands, her body simply refusing to let it go.


    In the end, I was the first to choose as the team leader. Naturally, I chose the natural energy amplifying staff. While it wasn¡¯t all that important to me as a Keeper, it was a priceless treasure to Tebor as a druid. At the level limit, any small improvement was hard toe by, so an artifact that boosted the range of a druid¡¯s abilities was amazing.


    Aside from myself, Kelly chose to take the smaller copper shield, strapping it to her arm with a small grin. Once everyone had either picked an item, or decided that nothing from the loot suited them, the rest went to the captains to distribute. Out of all of it, the only items that didn¡¯t find a proper owner were the clothes¡­ Because one size did not fit all.


    Aurivy¡­ is it just me, or are those clothes sized to fit my human body? I couldn¡¯t help but ask as I watched the captains passing the clothes around to see if they fit anyone properly.


    Well¡­ maybe? I had to pick someone to size them for! And being the Goddess of Love doesn¡¯t give me intimate knowledge of people¡¯s measurements¡­ well, not those measurements at least.


    I had the distinct feeling that I just heard something I shouldn¡¯t have, and promptly decided to ignore it. Ultimately, although there were people who could fit in the clothes, they all chose not to wear them because they could only fit in one piece, or because the clothes ended up too baggy for the smaller people. In the end, the clothes were put with the bag and sses inside a chest in Emona¡¯s cabin.


    With that settled, we made a note of the location to hopefully returnter, and once again set off. As we exited the dungeon¡¯s sphere of influence, I infused mana into the staff I had acquired to activate it, testing out how far the amplified range of my own influence was. Unsurprisingly, it burned mana quite rapidly, but the results were equally powerful.


    With the boost of the staff, as well as my token of nature, I found that my influence finally spread all the way to the horizon. While that may not seem like much, given my past memories of the world, that was entirely different here. After all, the horizon distance at sea wasn¡¯t five kilometers like in the past world, but twenty! This meant that I was able to influence a full twenty kilometers worth of natural energy.


    Of course, this wouldn¡¯t hold up for long. Given my rtively low mana pool, I began to feel a headache from the energy drain after holding it for roughly a minute. And with my mana low enough to cause a headache, that likewise meant that my normal maniption of natural energy was less powerful.


    Still, if I were to use this staff while I was at full power, the sheer distance would be enough to grant the illusion of Tebor being able to control the world. Of course, that was only just an illusion, but still it brought a smile to my lips. Part of me was curious if the range would further increase if I unleashed my full power, and I decided that I¡¯d have to give that a test once I was done with this mission.

 Chapter 141: Homesick

    <h4>Chapter 141: Homesick</h4>


    After leaving the dungeon, our journey continued with little real change. Naturally, we weren¡¯t going toe across another dungeon or anything like that. In fact, we went a full three months without even seeing another ind, which is when things started to turn sour aboard the ship.


    By now, we had been at sea for half of a year. The warmth of spring had faded, and a chill was starting to seep into our bones. It wasn¡¯t as bad for us near the equator, but it was easy to tell that winter was approaching. A cold winter at sea, where nothing coulde to our aid.


    It was also here that I was able to observe a rather peculiar characteristic of the ursa. Once the cold began to set in, the lower level ursa began to show signs of tiredness throughout the day. It wasn¡¯t an issue for Kelly, as her fire ki kept her constantly warm, but others weren¡¯t so lucky.


    Another key problem was that we were slowly running out of the preserved food that we had packed. This seemed to be a disadvantage to being higher level, as it meant that people with more powerful bodies also needed to eat more. To the previous example¡­ Kelly often ate at least thirty pounds of food a day. Even I had to eat a considerable amount more than I was used to, though not to the same degree.


    Naturally, we fished for extra food, and harvested what we could from monsters, but the scarcity of monsters on the open seas made it hard to find somethingrge enough to properly feed the crews. Every day, there would be people rushing over from the other ships to get food, as their own stores had run out. As the center ship, the Jolly Dodger had the most supplies, so it was one of our duties to share it with them.


    Yet, our food stores likewise had a limit, a limit that was fast approaching. As I sat on the bench, using natural energy to keep myself warm, I could hear the conversations of the crew behind me.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know that we¡¯ll have enough food tost out the week¡­¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t turn back, we¡¯d never make it tond.¡±


    ¡°What do you suggest? Without food, we won¡¯t make it anywhere.¡±


    ¡°What¡­ what if we kept what we have left? Better one ship survives than none, right?¡±


    No sooner had those words left the mouth of an aged lycan man than a low growl spread throughout the ship. ncing back, I saw Emona, her hair standing on edge as she stared daggers at the one who had spoken. ¡°I¡¯ll not be having any talk of treachery on my ship. If I hear another word of ite out of your mouth, we¡¯ll be seeing if you make better bait. Am I clear?¡±


    The lycan knew that he could probably overpower Emona in a fight, but as he nced around he realized that there were more people against him than there were who agreed. Albeit reluctantly, he chose to back down. Just as I was beginning to call the heavens above for aid, a certain princess happily hummed as she hopped her way out from below deck. ¡°Captain~!¡± She turned to look at Emona with a bright smile. ¡°I know where we can find food!¡±


    As soon as the words left her mouth, all eyes immediately turned to focus on her. Emona had an amused smile on her face as she leaned forward against the wheel of the ship. ¡°Aye? Well, don¡¯t keep us in suspense,ss. Do be telling us where we can eat our fill.¡±


    ¡°There are inds nearby.¡± Dis¡¯ni said calmly, her posture rxed. ¡°Three days directly west of here. Two if we hurry. I¡¯ve been praying, and Goddess Terra assured me that there is enough food for everyone on the ind. Not enough for us to settle there, but enough to fill our stomachs for the rest of the voyage.¡±


    ¡°Did she now¡­?¡± Emona raised a curious brow. ¡°Ye know I won¡¯t tolerate any falsehoods with something like this, so are ye sure that¡¯s what she said?¡±


    Dis¡¯ni nodded her head strongly. ¡°I¡¯m sure! On my pride as her princess, I would not falsify the words of Terra.¡±


    ¡°Good enough for me.¡± Emona tilted her head back andughed. ¡°All ships, we make west. Our dear princess received word from Terra herself! Three days tond, and enough food to fill our hulls to bursting!¡±


    There was an immediate shift in the wind after her words, turning us towards the west. I couldn¡¯t help but nce up towards the sky as I thought inwardly. Did you really have that conversation with her?


    Yeah¡­ Terra replied with a low groan. She¡¯s been pestering me about where to get food for a couple weeks now. Not just her, but most of the crew have. They hope that I will guide their fates. Originally, the n was to make you all sweat a bit more, and in another two weeks you¡¯d hit arge ind to resupply. You¡¯d have just barely enough food to make it there, but you wouldn¡¯t be in any danger.


    Is this detour going to extend our trip?


    To my question, there was a slight sigh. Not by much, just a week or so. Why, are you getting homesick?


    Even though she asked that yfully, I immediately answered honestly. A bit¡­


    Oh¡­ Her tone became more serious when she realized that she had hit the mark. You cane back for a little while, Dale. Honestly, we¡¯re all surprised that you managed to make it this long without returning. The longest bet anyone was willing to ce on you was four months¡­


    I felt a slight chuckle rise in my throat as I heard that. How long did you bet? I wasn¡¯t surprised that they had made these kinds of bets. This was dozens of times longer than I had ever stayed on the surface, and it had taken everything to stay down here this long. I¡¯ll admit that it was kind of fun to y Tebor, but I also missed being home as well.


    Two weeks. Terra didn¡¯t even hesitate to answer, before her tone turned a bit softer. Come on back, Dale. You can let your Host take over for a few days while you rest. Bihena¡¯s already set to take over guiding the ships whenever you want to take a break.


    I nodded my head, a small smile ying on my lips as I heard the concern in her tone. Okay, but make sure that my host doesn¡¯t do anything unusual while I¡¯m rxing. If he does, you all have full permission to hit the global stop button. I made sure that message went out to all the girls watching over the voyage, just in case Terra decided that something was more amusing than unusual.


    I could faintly hear augh as I focused, choosing to return to the Admin Room for the first time in around six months. The first thing I noticed was that I felt far more clean than I had been as Tebor, as well as how I could move more easily. The second thing I felt was a pair of bodies pressing against me, one on either side.


    Once I opened my eyes, I saw Terra and Ryone, both leaning against me and smiling slightly. ¡°My idea.¡± Ryone immediately spoke up once I opened my eyes. ¡°Thought you might like to get some proper rxation in the arms of your goddesses~.¡±


    Terra rolled her eyes at that. ¡°You just wanted him to fuck you again now that he was back, don¡¯t try to hide it.¡± Though she said that, a small knowing smirk was on her face, which caused Ryone tough.


    ¡°Maybe, but all in due time.¡± She admitted, before tugging on my arms gently. ¡°First, let¡¯s go sit down, hmm?¡±


    I nodded my head, letting the two girls lead me towards the living room. To my surprise, I actually saw Ashley and Aurivy already there, sitting on a recliner. Well, to be more precise, Ashley was sitting on the recliner, and Aurivy was in herp. Not surprisingly, they were watching an anime that I could faintly recognize from Earth.


    ¡°Hey, Ash.¡± I called out, drawing the demon goddess¡¯s attention to me. ¡°How¡¯s the Keeper life treating you?¡±


    At that, Ashley simply groaned. ¡°A hundred and twenty thousand years. Three ice ages, two supervolcanoes, and a near-extinction gue. I didn¡¯t exactly sign up for that, Dale¡­ I don¡¯t know how you handle it.¡±


    I blinked slightly as she briefly gave her summary of her experiences. ¡°Huh¡­ I don¡¯t even think I¡¯ve hit ten thousand years on my world.¡±


    ¡°You also have nearly a dozen beautiful goddesses who actively work to prevent totalary copse.¡± Ryone pointed out, guiding me to the couch, though that brought augh from Ashley.


    ¡°Right, right. Anyways, they should be all set for your n whenever you¡¯re ready.¡± She smiled, shaking her head. ¡°They¡¯re not quite at the modern age yet, but they¡¯ve definitely made steps in the right direction.¡±


    ¡°And they look really cool, too!¡± Aurivy grinned, pulling her attention away from the TV for the first time since we entered. ¡°Really, bro! I¡¯ve been working with sis Udona to make some movies for you to watch about them. They don¡¯t have any magic or anything like our people do, but they still end up being really interesting!¡±


    I smiled towards Aurivy, nodding my head. ¡°I¡¯ll have to check those out soon. I don¡¯t think my end will be ready for a while. Not until the races all have at least met each other. Though, at this rate I don¡¯t see it taking too long, once I start fast forwarding again.¡±


    Seeing Aurivy nod her head excitedly, Ashley giggled to herself, wrapping her arms around the halfling¡¯s waist. ¡°Terra said you had a n, so I didn¡¯t want to bring my world too far ahead. Thesest few months, I¡¯ve been getting to know the others, and ying with them. They¡¯re really good people, Dale. I have to say, if I was going to spend an eternity anywhere, I¡¯d rather spend it with them.¡± While she spoke, a soft smile was on her face.


    Ashley had never been an unpopr woman. She was always beautiful, which naturally led to her being surrounded by others. Though, the people she was surrounded by weren¡¯t always the best¡­ Maybe now, she was starting to feel more at home here than she had before?


    ¡°Did you ever get the chance to master flying?¡± I asked curiously, noticing how she had tucked her wings in so that they wouldn¡¯t get in the way of her sitting posture.


    That drew another groan from Ashley, though she nodded her head. ¡°It took me around fifty years of my world¡¯s time practicing to get the hang of it! Terra found me a volcano where I could descend without using any of my energy, and had me practice there until I could properly control my body.¡± She sent a grateful smile to Terra next to me after saying that, to which the catgirl just purred a silent response.


    ¡°And you¡¯re not getting bored up here?¡±


    At that question, Ashley just shook her head. ¡°Nope. Why would I? Aside from ying with the others, there¡¯s still so much that I can do. Just ying around with the Admin Room itself can be pretty interesting. If you get some free time, you should check out Udona¡¯s room. The two of us did some remodeling on it.¡± She grinned yfully as she said that, drawing a small snicker from Aurivy, who no doubt knew what she was talking about.


    ¡°Well¡­ I¡¯ll probably be up here for a couple days, so I can do that.¡± With that, I decided to stop interrupting their show, wrapping one arm around Ryone and Terra each, pulling the two of them against me. Of course, thatsted for just a moment before I found another form pressing against the other side of Ryone, Leowynn happily leaning against her mother.


    It¡¯s good to be back for a bit.

 Chapter 142: I Dream of Demons

    <h4>Chapter 142: I Dream of Demons</h4>


    After Ashley and Aurivy were done with their show, we all decided to watch one of the ¡®movies¡¯ that they had made about the demon race. Excited, Aurivy jumped up and ran over to a set of shelves near the TV. ¡°Okay¡­ uhm¡­ let¡¯s start with an introduction!¡± She grabbed the first in a row of DVDs and inserted it into the yer below the TV.


    Once the movie started, the scene was of Ashley and Aurivy standing atop a rocky mountain, looking towards the camera. ¡°Wee to Demons 101!¡± Aurivy excitedly said in the movie, as the actual halfling goddess hopped back over into Ashley¡¯sp on the chair. ¡°Here we¡¯ll go over all the basic information you need to know before watching any of the other movies.¡±


    ¡°Other movies?¡± Ashley asked, obviously faking her shock as she looked down to Aurivy.


    ¡°That¡¯s right! We¡¯re going to make an entire series to chronicle the history of the demons in an easy-to-understand format! I call it¡­ I Dream of Demon!¡± When Aurivy announced that, the name appeared in golden words above her head, causing Ashley¡¯s eyes to twitch briefly.


    ¡°You¡¯re not that good at naming things, are you?¡± She deadpanned, causing Aurivy to suddenly fall down against the rocky mountain.


    ¡°H-hey! Stick to the script! Anyways, let¡¯s start where every great story starts, the beginning. And by that, I mean the beginning. Back when Desbar was young, and the bats were just crawling out of their caves--¡±


    ¡°Wait, wait wait!¡± Ashley interrupted, waving her hands in front of her. ¡°Bats? I thought this was about demons?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m getting there!¡± The little goddess groaned, though a small smile could be seen on her face. ¡°Though, I guess I can skip some parts. Anyways, the demon race is a descendant of these giant bats! Unlike humans, who evolved from apes, demons evolved from giant red bats.¡±


    Again, Ashley seemed to look on in shock as one of said giant bats appeared behind Aurivy. It was bigger than either of the goddesses, its bulky red body a terrifying sight to behold, tworge curved horns decorating the top of its head. ¡°You¡¯re saying my people evolved from that?!¡±


    Aurivy nced behind her with a grin, and nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right! Because of this, demons are a naturally nocturnal race. Although their hearing is not as sensitive as a bat¡¯s anymore, their eyesight has adapted to allow them to see in the dark. Their eyes are actually so sensitive that direct exposure to sunlight can temporarily blind them, which led to them living in caves for several thousand years.¡±


    Ashley seemed to shudder at that. ¡°At least they got over that bit, right¡­?¡±


    Aurivy coughed awkwardly, ncing away from the red-skinned goddess. ¡°Well¡­ not really. On Earth, the most terrifying beasts live in the sky and sea. But on Desbar, the greatest predator lives on the ground.¡±


    While she spoke, the screen seemed to shake slightly, the camera panning away from them to observe the base of the mountain. Roaming around in arge herd was another great beast. This one appeared to be a scorpion¡­ the size of a truck, with three ck tails.


    ¡°These scorpion-like beasts,beled the Kiron, meaning ¡®ck hunter¡¯, are the apex predators of thend. They are absolutely brutal to anything not of their own species, but travel in packs of no less than five members at a time. However, their dense carapace andrge size has made it so that they are not as good of climbers as their smaller counterparts, their bodies slipping and falling off of steep inclines.¡±


    Ashley breathed out a sigh of relief as she heard that, the camera panning back to them. ¡°So, my people are safe in the mountains, then?¡±


    ¡°Rtively.¡± Aurivy nodded her head. ¡°There are still predators for the demons to worry about, but none as bad as the kiron. But let¡¯s look past that. Back to the demons themselves!¡±


    The camera faded to ck, before another scene appeared. This one was of a rocky outcropping inside a dark cave. Inside the outcropping was a pair of pitch ck eggs, being watched over by a red-skinned woman with loving eyes. With a hushed tone, Aurivy spoke to the camera. ¡°You see, unlike most mammals, the demons fall in the eggying category. This makes it so that females can still fly about while waiting for their young to hatch, without the weight of the pregnancy keeping them grounded.¡±


    Ashley¡¯s eyes seemed to soften as she looked at the mother and her two eggs. Seeing that, Aurivy smiled and exined. ¡°It normally takes about two and a half months for the eggs to hatch onceid, during which time either the father or mother stay with the eggs to protect them. Oh, right! Desbar¡¯s year is a bit different from Earth. Rather than a three hundred and sixty-five day calendar, their yearsst for three hundred and ny days. Thankfully, the length of a day is still simr to Earth.¡±


    ¡°Anyways, once an egg hatches, the imps are born. Imps are the demon¡¯s name for their young, like baby for human or kitten for cats. You can me Ashley for that one.¡± Aurivy grinned slightly, and I could swear that the real Ashley¡¯s cheeks darkened for just a moment at that.


    ¡°Now¡­ anything else about their biology we need to discuss? Hm¡­ it¡¯s rare to see an overweight demon, because their wings can only carry them for flight if they are light enough. What else? Oh! Their tails!¡± Aurivy grinned mischievously, reaching out and grabbing Ashley¡¯s tail, causing the red-skinned woman to yelp.


    ¡°A demon¡¯s tail is highly sensitive, allowing them to detect little changes in wind currents during flight. This also allows them to use it to rub against objects to get a feel for what they look like when they can¡¯t use their eyes. At the same time, the tails of a demon are strong, roughly as strong as their own arms, depending on how much they work them out.¡±


    ¡°I think that¡¯s enough of the biology lesson, don¡¯t you?¡± Ashley asked, snatching back her tail and ring at Aurivy, causing the halfling goddess tough.


    ¡°Fine, fine! Let¡¯s move on to their history, then?¡± She replied, to which Ashley nodded. ¡°Now, there have been several extinction level events that have urred throughout Desbar¡¯s history, each of which brought the race to the brink of copse.¡±


    From here, Ashley seemed to take over, ncing towards the camera. ¡°The first was a supervolcano that erupted, only a thousand years after the world had entered my hands. Sadly, this volcano was located on thergest and most popted continent¡­ And there were no survivors there. The ash cloud spread throughout the entire world, and it looked like all hope would be lost for them.¡±


    ¡°Thankfully, demons were a cave-dwelling people to begin with!¡± Aurivy chimed in, to which Ashley nodded with a smile.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. This let arge number of the demons from other continents survive the catastrophe, even as the volcano practically destroyed the one it was on. Roughly five thousand years after that was the first ice age. Just as the demons were starting to break past the stone age for the first time, the climate shift forced them back into their caves, with many more dying.¡±


    Ashley¡¯s face was sad as she spoke, her eyes seeming to mist up. ¡°Only eighty-thousand demons survived the ice age, scattered all throughout the world. But this was only the first one. Each time they began to advance, catastrophe struck. When they had created great cities atop the mountains, and advanced into the age of steel, there was another supervolcano eruption. This one was directly followed by another ice age, killing all but sixty thousand.¡±


    ¡°Finally, there was onest ice age. This one was just a mere ten thousand years ago, andsted for over eight thousand years. But this time, the demons persisted. Whether it was luck or nning, this time the ice age did not im many lives. Though their progress was halted in the bronze age, they were able to keep their cave dwellings warm.¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not like the ice ages were all bad!¡± Aurivy smiled up towards Ashley. ¡°Thatst one wiped out thest of the kiron, you know?¡±


    Ashley couldn¡¯t help butugh at that, nodding. ¡°That¡¯s right. For the first time in their history, the demons were able to walk thend without fear. This brought about their greatest period of advancement, roughly fifteen hundred years ago.¡±


    The camera once again faded to ck, turning to a view of a wide valley. In the valley was a sprawling city. Each building had a half-dome cover, one end open to receive flying demons. ¡°After thest ice age ended, the demons of every continent spread out into the world. Though their cultures were different, it was then that they became the true masters of Desbar.¡±


    ¡°Over the course of thest fifteen hundred years, they have expanded past their own borders, establishing trade routes and treaties, fought wars and brokered peace. Now, where they have left off now, they are just beginning to step into the information age.¡±


    As she finished her speech, Ashley gave a deep bow, and the screen faded to ck once more. Just as I thought the movie was over, Aurivy¡¯s voice appeared from the TV. ¡°Stay tuned for the next installment of I Dream of Demon, where we look into some more specific historical moments of the demon race!¡±


    With that, the movie really did end, and I looked over to see Aurivy grinning at me from her spot in Asley¡¯sp. ¡°So? What¡¯d you think?¡±


    ¡°Well, it was definitely arge info dump.¡± I chuckled softly, shaking my head. ¡°But it¡¯s interesting to see how they developed like that.¡± Saying that, I looked over towards Ashley. ¡°You don¡¯t have a problem with bright lights or anything, do you?¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡± She tilted her head curiously in response. ¡°Oh, you mean because of their sensitivity to light? No, that doesn¡¯t apply to me. Well, not unless I want it to. And let¡¯s face it, who would actually sign themselves up for something like that?¡±


    ¡°True.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but nod my head at that. ¡°But you said that they are in the information age, now? Do they have things like the inte or anything like that?¡±


    Ashley shook her head, a small smile on her lips. ¡°Not yet. They¡¯ve got electricity, and television, but they haven¡¯t gotten anything that big. That¡¯s why I said that they aren¡¯t at the modern age yet, they¡¯re still missing a few things. But, if I fast forward just a little bit more, then they¡¯ll be there.¡±


    Nodding again, I nced over towards Terra, Ryone, and Leowynn, only to find the three of them having their eyes closed. Either they were bored from the short movie and decided to zone out, or they were tired, or just really enjoyingying against each other on the couch like this. ¡°So¡­ what did you have nned next? I think I should be able to watch one more before resting a bit.¡±


    Hearing that, Aurivy squirmed out of Ashley¡¯sp with a wide grin. ¡°Oh! Oh! I know just the one. You¡¯ll love it!¡± As she said that, she rushed over towards the shelves once again. ¡°Hmm, where did I put it¡­ no, not the ult Wars¡­ Not the Cave Cities of Abbadur¡­ there it is!¡± She seemed to find what she was looking for, and pulled it off the shelf. ¡°The King of Twilight!¡±


    ¡­I don¡¯t even know what I can expect from a name like that.

 Chapter 143: The Birth of Twilight

    <h4>Chapter 143: The Birth of Twilight</h4>


    When the screen turned on once more, we were greeted to the sight of a setting sun over a distant mountain. As the camera zoomed in, we saw a lone figure standing atop the mountain, hisrge, leathery wings folded behind him as a cape. The figure stared off into the sunset, and as the camera panned around him we were able to see just how he was able to do so.


    The figure was, of course, a demon male. His formrge and robust, his chest bare. Around his neck he wore a simple ck cloth, which lifted up into a hood that stopped right before hisrge, curved horns. The front of the hood connected to a pitch ck mask that covered the entirety of the man¡¯s face. Upon a close inspection, there were two very thin slits in the mask, each one directly over the eyes.


    With the camera focused on him, burning letters began to appear on the screen, reading ¡®The King of Twilight¡¯.


    Soon, a narrator began to speak, and to no surprise I found it to be Ashley¡¯s voice. ¡°This is a tale of an old and wise king, but at the same time the most brutal conqueror in history. He is the King of Twilight, and this is his story.¡±


    The ming letters at the bottom of the screen exploded as her words ended, engulfing the entire screen with a cover of fire. When it cleared, the screen was dark. ¡°This story begins as all do. There is a beginning, a middle, and an end. In the beginning, there was nothing but darkness. A tiny world trapping a being of great destiny.¡±


    ¡°And what does a great being do when trapped within a small world? He breaks free¡­¡± A cracking could be heard from the screen, streaks of thin light filtering in through a shaking form. An infant¡¯s cry sounded out, before with one sudden burst, light poured in.


    ¡°Of course, this young boy¡¯s greatness isn¡¯t quite ready yet. No¡­ he has the most humble of beginnings. An abandoned egg in a dark cave far from town. Nobody to care for him, nobody to love him. Nobody to know whether he lived or died.¡± The cry of the infant soon overwhelmed the narrator, and the camera turned to see a tiny red form, its horns just barely poking through a patch of ck hair. Its small fists were curled up, iling wildly while its tiny wings stretched out around it.


    ¡°By all rights, the boy should have died. Be it the elements, or simple hunger, the world had been just too cruel to him. Yet fate had other ns.¡± As the narrator spoke, the scene shed forward. The young boy was seen crawling about, his body far thinner than it had been before.


    His weak hands reached out and picked up a bundle of moss, stuffing it into his mouth before he curled up in a ball. ¡°Out of the countless abandoned youths of the world, very few survive long enough to find food of their own. Thankfully, demons are hatched strong. Strong enough to slowly move about.¡±


    Again the screen shed, and the boy now appeared to be a couple of years old. His body was so thin you had to wonder if he had ever been fed. In his hands, he held a sharpened stick, and as the camera zoomed out it could be seen that he was sitting atop a high branch in a tree, staring down at the field below.


    ¡°The boy had tried hunting from such a young age, yet his small body had always prevented him from reaching his target. By the end of the day, he was forced to scavenge for moss or edible fruits. Until one day¡­ everything changed.¡±


    The boy caught side of a small animal, slowly walking beneath the tree. It appeared to be simr to a six legged cat with glistening, ck skin instead of fur. When he saw it, he flinched, quickly steadying himself on the branch. His hands tightened their grip around his spear, his wings silently extending.


    Soon, he made his move, jumping from the branch and diving down to his prey below. The ¡®cat¡¯ quickly looked up, and immediately rushed off, out of the way of theing danger and into the distant trees. Unfortunately, the boy¡¯s movement was too reckless, and without his prey to cushion his fall, his wings were too weak to stop in time.


    Although he attempted to pull up, he still crashed heavily against the ground, a sickening crunch heard as his arm bent the wrong way. Pained, he couldn¡¯t help but cry out, screaming as heid on the ground, unable to move. While the moonlight shone upon him, he sniffled and sobbed, unable to move without sending waves of agony throughout his body.


    ¡°Once more, his fate had apparently been sealed. He was doomed to die alone, without a name, without a single person aware of his existence. And indeed, this was almost the case.¡± Just as Ashley¡¯s voice faded, a thick shadow descended upon him, giant wings slowly folding while an aged mannded on the ground. For the first time in the movie, a voice besides Ashley¡¯s spoke.


    ¡°What do we have here?¡± He asked, slowly approaching the screaming child. He saw the broken arm, the discarded spear, and was able to piece together the child¡¯s story. ¡°I see¡­¡±


    The camera turned dark as the aged man knelt over the broken child, and the narrator¡¯s voice again returned. ¡°The boy had been taken in, and given a name. Myoln, the child of the moon. For the first time in his life, he had been fed properly. Myoln had a family.¡±


    The next scene was obviously yearster, the boy now nearly ten years of age. Gone was the emaciated look of his early years. Now, he could be seen flying through the skies, properly clothed in brown pants tied with a rope at his waist, his tail free and dangling behind him. His torso was covered by a simple linen shirt with an open back.


    The camera panned around, and showed himnding atop a building in the middle of a wide field. ¡°Uncle, I¡¯m home!¡± He called out, stepping inside from the door atop the roof. There was a cough as the aged man, not far in his years, stood up from a rickety wooden chair.


    ¡°My boy, where have you been? Don¡¯t you know it¡¯s not safe to be outside these nights?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine, nobody saw me. I just wanted to stretch my wings for a bit.¡± Myoln exined with a small smile to the worried old man, who let out a sigh of relief.


    Again, the narrator spoke up. ¡°There were troubled times in thends. The queen had recently passed away, and the king appeared to have lost his mind.¡± The camera zoomed out, focusing on another house where demons had descended, iron spears in hand. ¡°Houses were being ransacked at random. People killed without the slightest provocation simply for asking what they did wrong.¡±


    ¡°The nobles had cried out for mercy, but the king turned a deaf ear. Any who tried to take action were killed, their bodies nailed to the castle wall as an example.¡± As the narrator¡¯s voice faded, the scene changed again, but this time it wasn¡¯t a skip in time. Instead, it moved to follow a group of five demons, all male, as they soared through the night sky.


    A house could be seen approaching in the distance, surrounded by a vast field. Obviously the house of a farmer, though at a nce it looked to be the same one that Myoln was recently shown flying towards. As they descended, four of the five split off to surround the house,nding heavily while the fifthnded directly on the roof.


    With that, the scene again switched to the inside of the house, where the old ¡®Uncle¡¯ disyed an expression of immediate panic. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Myoln asked, moments before a loud crash could be heard on the ceiling.


    ¡°Quick, quick, the cer.¡± The Uncle spoke in a hushed tone, pushing Myoln along without allowing any time to speak. There were no windows on the bottom floor of the house, so those outside were unable to see as he pushed his straw bed aside and lifted up a pair of floorboards. ¡°The soldiers are here, you have to hide.¡±


    ¡°B-but what about you, Uncle?¡± He asked, his face quickly showing fear and concern for the only family he had ever known.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine, my boy.¡± The old man smiled sadly, shaking his head. His dull eyes closed as he pushed Myoln down into the small cer, quickly covering it back up. ¡°No matter what, you mustn¡¯t make a sound.¡±


    Just as he moved his bed to once again cover up the entrance to the cer, there was a crash from the floor above. The camera moved down to the perspective of Myoln, looking out from the cracks of the floorboards. We saw as the old man weakly walked towards the stairs, just in time for the door to be flung open by a ded boot.


    Likely knowing the reputation of the army, the Uncle kept himself quiet. Stepping through the doorway was a strong man with a bare chest, wearing only a pair of pants and leather boots with a ded tip at the end.


    The soldier did not even spare a nce at the old man as he looked around, his eyes scanning the room. ¡°Where¡¯s the boy?¡± He asked in a gruff voice, causing the old man to flinch.


    ¡°He¡¯s out for the night. Went to stretch his wings. Surely the king doesn¡¯t care about on little boy?¡± The man spoke up in jest, but soon regretted his words.


    The soldier¡¯s face turned grim, the grip on his spear tightening. In one swift motion, he turned around and plunged the iron tip of the spear into the old man¡¯s heart. The hidden boy pped his hands over his mouth to prevent himself from crying out as the old man¡¯s body fell to the floor weakly.


    Just as the soldier turned to call for the rest of the troops, I pped my hands to pause the movie. Much to the surprise of the girls next to me, and a certain halfling. ¡°Hey, what was that for?¡± Terra groaned, blinking her eyes and sitting up. I thought I might have woken her when she spoke again. ¡°It was just getting good.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s pretty easy to guess what¡¯s going on.¡± I said, shaking my head and looking towards Aurivy and Ashley. ¡°Illegitimate child of the queen?¡± The two goddesses exchanged a nce, before looking back at me and nodding their heads. ¡°Quest for revenge?¡± Another nod.


    ¡°Think we can skip over the more cliche bits, then?¡± I asked with a small smile, ncing towards the rather stereotypical ¡®father figure killed to spur the hero to action¡¯ scene. It might happen in real life, but that only makes it more stereotypical, not less. And besides, they obviously hadn¡¯t intended to spend much time building up the people around Myoln, so might as well speed things up.


    ¡°Fine, fine.¡± Aurivy rolled her eyes with a small grin. ¡°Spoilsport.¡± The movie soon began to fast forward, until the narrator¡¯s voice spoke up once again.


    ¡°And so, Myoln learned of his true identity. The abandoned son of the dead queen.¡± When the camera stopped, it was on a grown man with his head lowered as he walked through a busy street, the full moon high in the sky. ¡°But now, the news hade toote. The king was already dead, murdered by the eldest son of one of the king¡¯s concubines.¡±


    The grown man, no doubt the fully grown Myoln, sank into the crowd, his form soon bing indistinguishable from the mass of bodies. ¡°And this was the day when the King of Twilight was born, his rage against the kingdom driving him to great and terrible things¡­¡±

 Chapter 144: I Want to Play a Game

    <h4>Chapter 144: I Want to y a Game</h4>


    The next time the camera focused in on a scene, it was surprisingly in the middle of the day, the first real daytime scene that we had seen for the demons. A tall stone building, easily eclipsing all others nearby, with a dark shadow looming over it. The top of the building, like all others, was unguarded. This allowed the figure hidden in the sky to descend,nding softly on the roof near the doorway.


    When the camera panned around, we were able to see the same ck mask he wore in the opening scene, with the tiny slits in front of the eyes. ¡°Following some old legends, Myoln learned of a method to ¡®deceive the sun¡¯. It is hard to adjust the sleep cycle of a demon, so very few have done so in the past, which is ultimately what led to his sess.¡±


    As the narrator spoke, Myoln pulled a small knife from its sheath on his belt, and wedged it next to the door, lifting it up to remove the primitive lock. Inside was a single guard, though he appeared unsteady on his feet. Attached to his left hand was a gauntlet, which extended down several inches before pulling back and extending out to either side, forming arge bow anchored to his arm. The string rested against the back of his leather-d wrist, but he did not have an arrow knocked.


    When Myoln pushed through the door, the light shined in on the guard¡¯s face, making him cry out in surprise, covering his face with his right hand. At the same time, the dagger in Myoln¡¯s hand flew across the room to pierce into the man¡¯s throat, silencing him. ¡°Myoln¡¯s first target was not his father¡¯s kingdom, for he knew to target it immediately would be suicide. Instead, he gathered a force through assassination¡­¡±


    The scene changed to a demon lying peacefully in arge bed, the roompletely dark. Myoln¡¯s figure walked softly into the room, moving next to the bed. With a single stroke, he slit the sleeping demon¡¯s throat. Then, the scene changed again, once more returning to night time. Now, Myoln was standing in front of several other demons, handing each one a mask. ¡°He used his power to pull in others. Those who joined him would fight by his side¡­ and those who did not would fall before his de.¡±


    The camera zoomed out, showing a map of the area, lines drawing about to mark the borders of the different territories. One by one they began to darken. ¡°Like this, Myoln slowly dominated the nearby kingdoms, pulling each one into his rule. And with every territory, his numbers grew. Soon, the neighboring kingdoms sought to fight him back, gathering their own armies to advance upon him.¡±


    As a red wave formed near one of the lit territories, moving towards an already darkened one, the camera again zoomed in. ¡°But what they found was only scorched earth¡­¡±


    As the narrator said, the camera soon found a vige, fields burning and smoke rising up into the sky. Bodies were nailed to the walls of nearby buildings on full disy, much like the old king had done before. ¡°And Myoln¡¯s army was never found, for they did not reside in the cities. They lived in the mountains and the jungles, moving from one ce to another.¡±


    Again the scene changed, this time to a set of tents that were spread out over a wide field. Numerous winged shadows slowly descended from above, the masked demons invading the camp. ¡°Any force sent after Myoln¡¯s army only became a new source of supplies when he led his people to ughter them. Some tried in vain to create soldiers who could fight beneath the sun to fight back, but few understood the secret of Myoln¡¯s masks, leading them ultimately to failure.¡±


    Onest time, the scene changed again, this time to the same mountain we had seen in the opening credits. ¡°Finally, Myoln had gathered enough forces. He had trained them all to fight during the day, and was prepared to take flight on his ¡®brother¡¯s¡¯ kingdom.¡± As Ashley¡¯s voice spoke, hundreds of figures flew up from behind the mountain, their great wings seeming to cover the sky.


    ¡°And like all before, the kingdom was doomed to fall.¡± The camera shed to another demon nailed to the wall, no doubt Myoln¡¯s brother given the context. ¡°The Twilight King forged a new empire and waged war across thend, bringing destruction in his wake. Though his kingdomsted but a single generation, his legacy was remembered forever. A legacy of blood.¡±


    And with that, the movie slowly faded out, and the credits began rolling. Of course, the only two names that appeared on the credits were Aurivy¡¯s and Ashley¡¯s, over and over. ¡°So, what¡¯d you think?¡± Aurivy suddenly spoke up, wiggling out of Ashley¡¯sp to move in front of me.


    Seeing her wide grin, I chuckled softly to myself. ¡°It was¡­ interesting. A bit rushed though, don¡¯t you think?¡± I couldn¡¯t lie to her and say that it was great. Though, hearing my honest answer made her puff her cheeks out at me.


    Crossing her arms in front of her chest, she let out a long sigh, closing her eyes. ¡°I tried to get big sis Udona to help with them, but she¡¯s so focused on her incarnations that she hasn¡¯t been able to.¡± Aurivy brought her hands up to her face, pping her cheeks while she opened her eyes to look at me, which seemed to startle the three women leaning on the couch.


    ¡°Huh, wha?¡± They babbled slightly as they nced around, as if forgetting where they were. I had the faintest suspicion that they weren¡¯t really faking it this time. ¡°Is it over?¡± Terra asked with a yawn, her tail stretching out straight behind her.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah.¡± Aurivy pouted again, moving to climb into Terra¡¯sp. ¡°Still, it served its purpose at least. A short little distraction to give you a look at the demons. If you wanted a better look, you could get it yourself.¡±


    ¡°This is true.¡± I nodded my head, reaching over to pat Aurivy on the head, which seemed to make her smile. ¡°And I¡¯ll probably do thatter, after I¡¯m done with what I¡¯m doing down on Earth.¡±


    Aurivy nodded a bit more at that. ¡°Good. They¡¯re really neat. Not quite like what your people were before, but still kinda simr. Aside from the whole¡­ you know, demon thing.¡±


    I rolled my eyes when I heard that, smiling towards Aurivy. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m sure. Anyways, I should probably go get some rest for a bit. Wanna spend some time ying when I¡¯m done?¡±


    Aurivy¡¯s head shot up at that, her eyes wide open as she looked at me, a wide grin on her face. ¡°Wait, really? What do you want to y?¡±


    I nced over towards Ryone, thinking about that. ¡°Well, most games wouldn¡¯t really work too well, given our situation. Mind seeing if there are some on the market that we can get?¡± After all, how can you y a game like poker when you can figure out your opponent¡¯s hand with a thought, or a dice game when it alwaysnds on what you want?


    Ryone nodded her head at the request, leaning over and nting a soft kiss on my lips. ¡°Sure. You go rx, and I¡¯ll make a shopping list.¡± Her smile was obviously teasing, but it only made meugh more as I stood up, shaking my head.


    Getting up, I made my way back to the bedroom, and soon lost myself in the soft feeling of my bed. After sleeping on what was basically a bench with a nket for six months, a real bed felt fantastic. Enough that I wasn¡¯t even feeling like getting frisky with the catgirl that climbed in behind me, instead just pulling Terra into my arms and holding her while I closed my eyes, feeling her arms gently wrap around me as well.


    The next day, when I woke up, I had decided to just rx in the bed for a while. That was, until Aurivy ran in to wake me up so that we could y. As it turned out, the system truly did have a system in ce for Keepers to y games without the fear of cheating. In fact, there was a cheap package for it, costing only twenty points in total.


    Keeper Entertainment Package


    Warning, this package has no effect on anything outside of the Administration Room. Items created through this package¡¯s effects cannot be taken out of the Administration Room through any purposes. This package offers a new function to the Administration Room, whereby Keepers and Companions can design various forms of games to be yed in the Administration Room. These games can involve anything from randomized devices, livebat, to system appraisal. Settings may be enabled to restrict the abilities of the yers, allowing a wider array of game types.


    20 Points


    Naturally, I bought the package as soon as Ryone pointed it out to me. With my current bnce, twenty points was just a drop in a very big bucket, and this would keep myself and the others entertained. All in all,pletely worth it. Besides, if they manage to create an interesting game, maybe they will even be able to teach it to their cultures.


    Unsurprisingly, Udona rushed in as soon as I made the purchase. ¡°What was that?¡± She asked, her eyes more awake than I had seen them ever since the other beastkin goddesses had been given their personalities. ¡°You just bought something, and my Entertainment domain picked it up right away.¡±


    ¡°Wait¡­ that can happen?¡± I blinked in surprise, still sitting up on my bed. Next to me, Aurivy was happily bouncing.


    ¡°He got us some games to y!¡± She shouted happily, waving her arms like the child she appeared to be. ¡°Real games, that we can design and y among ourselves. No worrying about cheating or anything else!¡±


    Udona¡¯s face showed the widest smile I had ever seen on her at that moment as she understood. After a moment of focusing, she nodded her head repeatedly. ¡°It looks like ites with several games pre-loaded, as well as temtes to design new games. Combat¡­ Bihena and Keliope will love this¡­ There¡¯s even a treasure hunt? Oh, this is great.¡±


    ¡°Huh¡­¡± Seeing how excited the two of them were over this, I had a different line of thought. So this is how Grimor¡¯s guild handles the monthly meetings. They just use this system, and pay for the prizes out of their own pocket.


    ncing over at them, I could see Udona and Aurivy already talking about games that they could set up. While they were doing that, I decided to go ahead and check on what types of games came pre-loaded with this new system. There were actually quite a few, though three in particr caught my eye.


    Historical Treasure Hunt


    This game automatically adjusts to the history and geography of all worlds owned by the Keeper. A series of hints will be given, at which point the yers involved must locate on a map the location in order to score points.


    Eating Contest


    An old ssic from many worlds, this game allows the contestants to enjoy cuisine in a way that they normally cannot. By temporarily giving them bodies with preset parameters, including real hunger, they are able to set a type of food that they must devour, and the one who finishes the most wins.


    Keeper¡¯s Cards


    This game involves cards taken from every item within the Keeper Market. Whether it is a location, material, skill, individual, or a system. In order to y, the yers must design their decks, each representing a world that they would control, and pit themselves against one another. Point limits can be assigned per game, to limit the size and level of a given deck.


    Well¡­ that¡¯s interesting. Each of the games listed had value both as pure entertainment, and to help a Keeper train themselves in one way or another. Whether it was testing willpower, familiarizing themselves with their worlds, or improving their general skills. Of course, this led to me being stuck ying games for a few days, but I wasn¡¯t going toin.

 Chapter 145: Pairing Off

    <h4>Chapter 145: Pairing Off</h4>


    The next couple of days passed by rather quickly, with Aurivy and Leowynn pulling me into one game after another. Sometimes, we¡¯d y the pre-installed games that hade with the new system, and other times they would have us y a game that they created or brought from the world below. Eventually, even the other goddesses became interested and got involved, until finally Tubrock couldn¡¯t hold back his curiosity as well.


    Right now, we were in thest game that we all were going to y before I went back down to be Tebor once again. We were ying Keeper¡¯s Cards, which thankfully allowed for any number of yers. Which was good, because there weren¡¯t a whole lot of games from the world below that could work for twelve yers.


    The premise of the game was actually pretty simple. As part of everyone¡¯s ¡®deck¡¯, they set aside cards to determine the stats of their world, such as culture, magic, technology, and so on. Then, when the game began, there would first be a preparation phase and an invasion phase.


    In the preparation phase, the yers would be matched up in pairs randomly for the invasion, and the roles for it would be set. Then, each yer could y five ¡®action cards¡¯ for how they prepare for the invasion. This could range between fast forwarding to recover a lost poption, training heroes, or discovering new technologies.


    Finally, the invasion phase began. This was where the real meat of the game took ce. The invading yer would choose whether they wanted to go all-in, use an elite strike, or take a pass. If they chose either of the first two, then they y whatever cards they ¡®invest¡¯ into their attack.


    For each invasion, the defender has arge advantage, because they have all of their cards to y to fight back. Furthermore, if they defeat the invasion, then they get to keep any cards that were not destroyed in the process to strengthen their world. However, if they lose the invasion, then their entire deck goes towards the invading yer.


    Right now, most of the yers had been eliminated, with only Bihena and Ryone left in the finals. Each one had acquired a total of six worlds, so they had a lot of options for every attack. At the same time, though, that made it harder to determine a victor.


    ¡°Alright¡­¡± Bihena took a deep breath as she organized her cards. It was her turn to attack, so she reached down for her action card. ¡°I go all-in!¡± They had been going back and forth for a few rounds with no clear winner, so while all-in was a risky tactic that could leave her open for a counter on Ryone¡¯s next turn, it was the only chance either one had to win.


    As she made her decision, the cardsid out before her began to float up into the air, forming a wall between Bihena and Ryone. These were all of the cards Bihena could invest into her attack. However, Ryone didn¡¯t panic. She smiled calmly as she dered her first line of defense, a move that she had used to defeat most of the invasions so far¡­


    ¡°I activate the runic colossi.¡± Six cards floated up to meet the wall that Bihena had summoned. However, Bihena simplyughed in response.


    ¡°Figured as much. Let¡¯s just see how this goes then.¡± She grinned mischievously, as one by one the six cards that Ryone had yed dimmed, falling helplessly to the floor. They weren¡¯t alone, however, as several cards from Bihena¡¯s wall fell as well.


    ¡°W-what? How¡¯d you do that?¡± Ryone¡¯s expression changed, showing the shock at her defensive line being taken down. Only now did she notice one card near the center of the wall, realization dawning on her. ¡°You cheeky girl¡­ you got a magic disruptor¡­¡±


    Bihena smiled knowingly, nodding her head at that. ¡°That¡¯s right. This has gone on long enough.¡±


    As if of their own will, cards from Ryone¡¯s side began shooting up, one by one to try to fight back the invading wall. However, each card dimmed like thest, helplessly falling back down. Soon, even the final cards, the ones that represented her world itself, began to dim. When thest light went out, all of the cards began to neatly arrange themselves, sliding along the floor to join Bihena¡¯s own cards.


    ¡°Good game.¡± Ryone gave a soft smile as she extended a hand towards Bihena, who happily shook it.


    ¡°I¡¯m not the goddess of battle for nothing, you know.¡± She teased lightly, shaking her head. With the game officially over, the cards faded away as if they had never been there. The rest of us gave a round of apuse, and I stepped forward to join the two of them.


    ¡°Well, everyone. As much fun as this has been, I¡¯ve got to be heading back now.¡± My words were met with a few nods, some more reluctant than others. Leowynn in particr gave a sad sigh as she stepped forward, walking towards me before turning into a grey mist to enter my spiritual world again. ¡°We¡¯ll be back to y againter. Hopefully sooner this time.¡±


    ¡°Just make sure to keep yourself safe.¡± Irena said softly from the group, shaking her head. ¡°We¡¯ll all be watching over you.¡±


    ¡°Well, they will, at least.¡± Tubrock huffed with a lightugh. He lifted a hand, and one of the Keeper¡¯s Cards appeared in it. ¡°¡®Dis little thing gave me an idea, so I¡¯m gonna go see ¡®bout makin¡¯ it myself.¡± Before he turned away, I was able to get a good look at the card.


    Runic Golem


    Automated golem crafted from avable resources. Durability dependant on material used. Attack strength dependant on material used. Poption cost, 0. Material cost, 2.


    Requires Tier 2 of any magic branch to produce. Additional tiers increase effectiveness by 50% per tier.


    Cost: 75


    ¡°Ooh, let me help!¡± Ryone shot up to her feet and rushed off after Tubrock, clearly excited by the idea of creating something like this without the system¡¯s guidance.


    I could only chuckle as I watched the two of them walking off, shaking me head slightly. ¡°Alright. Well, I¡¯ll head back down then.¡± In truth, the voyage hade across the ind that we were heading towards a couple of hours ago while we were still ying the game, but we simply paused the world instead of cutting the game short.


    ¡°See you in a second.¡± Keliope grinned, with Udona nodding next to her. Irena just smiled at me, while Bihena let out a sigh of relief at being free from guiding the ships now. Terra and alia seemed more interested in discussing different cards and strategies than seeing me off.


    Aurivy ran up to me, wrapping her arms around my waist. ¡°Come back soon, bro.¡± She muttered softly, making Ashleyugh and step forward to pry her off of me. I shook my head again with a small grin as I operated the menu to descend down to the world.


    Like the first time that I came down as Tebor, I felt my joints briefly stiffen up, groaning as the pains of old age hit me again. Even though it was not as bad as if I was a normal person, it was still ufortable to go from twenty years old to sixty in the time it takes to blink. I found myself sitting on top of my bench again at the front of the Jolly Dodger, the ocean air at my back.


    As if it had been timed for my arrival, Emona¡¯s voice rang out from behind me. ¡°Drop anchor!¡± ncing around, I saw that the ships were arranged in a line, side by side, rather than the circr formation before. And in front of us, close enough to easily swim, was arge ind. Or at least, I knew it was an ind.


    The giant mass ofnd extended far beyond the horizon in both directions, making it easily mistakable for a continent of its own, if you didn¡¯t have an aerial view of it. In truth, the ind was roughly three hundred kilometers across, covered in a dense forest. If we weren¡¯t aiming for the elven continent, this ind wouldn¡¯t actually be a bad choice to settle on and create a colony.


    ¡°Druids, ye¡¯ll be makin¡¯ a portal on thisnd as well.¡± Emona called out, her voice echoing into my mind. ¡°If¡¯n we need any more supplies than we can carry this time, we¡¯ll return through the portals before we get too far away. For now, everyone choose who to send ashore!¡±


    After she said that, the mana reverberations stopped, showing that she had ended her magical conference call. ¡°Alright, everyone! I need one scout to volunteer to go ashore, and threebatants to volunteer to stay behind! Aside from that, all of thebat staff are going to gather supplies!¡±


    Almost immediately, Saru jumped to attention, volunteering to join the expedition. This was the first chance anyone had had to get off the boat since the dungeon, aside from jumping from ship to ship to socialize with the other crews. For the ones that stayed behind, there were two mages and an archer, with everyone else jumping from the ship to head ashore.


    Next time, please remember to add a dinghy or something to these boats. I prayed inwardly, knowing that at least someone would be listening while I slid along an ice tform towards thend. Yes, my way was faster, but I could see several people that simply sank like a stone and had to jump up repeatedly to get a breath of air while they walked under the water.


    Sorry, Dale. Surprisingly, it was alia that answered me. Guess she got done discussing strategies with Terra, or was multitasking. There just wasn¡¯t really a way to do so with what we have. A dinghy would be too fragile, and get destroyed against any random monster that got near the ship. We¡¯re working on alternatives that we can achieve with our current means, though. It should be implemented by the next trip.


    I nodded my head at that, at least they were considering these things. I was pretty sure that once I lifted the level cap, there would be fewer and fewer people that were actually able to swim. Though, that did make me wonder about several things, but we¡¯ll see how it all ys outter.


    Once we got to the ind, I nced around and saw the various people walking up from the water, their furpletely drenched. In total, around a hundred people hade to the ind, but we weren¡¯t nning on moving together as one unit. And just as the thought came to my mind, Emona¡¯s voice sounded in my ears, which was disorienting since she remained back on the ship with the rest of the captains.


    ¡°Alright, everyone! Spread out and find anything that looks salvageable! But, make sure ye keep yerselves safe. If ye get into danger, join up with the others to fight it off, or head back to the ship. Do not, and I repeat, do not eat anything until it has been appraised. Aside from that, go and pige to yer heart¡¯s content!¡±


    There was a brief round ofughter before several people dashed into the forest. Surprisingly, Kelly did not join them, and instead walked over to stay near me. ¡°Don¡¯t suppose you¡¯d mind having a partner for this trip? The others would kill me if I let anything happen to you.¡±


    I chuckled softly, smiling towards her and nodding. ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s just try to be careful.¡±


    Kelly nodded as well, patting the metal shield that she had gotten from the dungeon. ¡°Yup, that¡¯s what I brought this bad boy for. Finally getting the chance to properly test it out.¡± She had a wide grin on her face as she led the way, pushing aside bushes and branches to advance past the beach and into the ind¡¯s jungle.

 Chapter 146: I Spy

    <h4>Chapter 146: I Spy</h4>


    The two of us proceeded calmly through the outeryer of the jungle, but we didn¡¯t let down our guard. If there was anywhere that might pose a risk to my safety, it would be out in the wild, whether from poison or an ambush. Although Keliope and the other goddesses could watch from above, there was still a chance that something they didn¡¯t consider a threat might surprise them.


    As for me, I was doing my best to identify the various nts that we came across. With the new Keeper¡¯s Cards game, I had chosen to copy my world to use as a base to y off of. It was an idea to help mee up with strategiester on, once I saw that the option was avable. But because of that, I was able to see the card versions of all the different nts and animals in the world.


    Okay, so maybe not all of them. It¡¯s not like I had a billion cards in my deck, nor would I have had the time to study that many. But any that had special effects that would influence the world in some way, such as being useful in alchemy, or having special properties all their own. In total, there were just over a hundred of those cards like that which made up my ¡®world¡¯ deck.


    ¡°Remember, we only need to bring back two or three samples of each type of nt.¡± I reminded Kelly, who had begun picking every hanging fruit or weed she could find. ¡°It¡¯s more important to remember where we got everything. You do have the Scout ss, right?¡±


    Kelly let out a groan, letting go of the weed that she was having difficulty pulling. Even with her immense strength, it seemed that its roots had either gone too deep or were too strong to pull. Which likely meant that we couldn¡¯t eat it anyways. ¡°Yeah, yeah. Only six levels, though. I did most of my training this time before exploring.¡±


    Six levels definitely wasn¡¯t bad. If not for the voyage that we were on, I¡¯d only have one. As it stands, I had shot up to a level twenty-five scout a couple of weeks ago. ¡°Alright, then I¡¯ll be the one to mark the locations.¡± I nodded my head slightly as I said that.


    One of the perks of the scout ss was something akin to a mental map. By taking in all of the sensory data you receive and cataloguing it, it allows your mind to project a map that only you can see. Naturally, this lets you mark points of interest to remember locations forter, but it won¡¯t ¡®update¡¯ your map unless you can sense the area in some way, so there is no telling if something happened there.


    For instance, with my twenty-five levels in Scout, I could effortlessly lead us back to the ship from where we were now. However, I couldn¡¯t urately lead a journey all the way back to the beastkin continent, for the simple reason that I had to sleep during parts of the journey, so the map is iplete.


    As I focused on the Scout ss, I noticed something. A small ping on the mental map, which I immediately focused on. Closing my eyes, I could ¡®see¡¯ off into the bushes near us, a form of echolocation. Gentle paw prints pressing on the ground, ws scraping against leaves. Aside from myself and Kelly, there was a quiet breathing near us. ¡°Kelly, off to our left. Eight meters out. Possibly edible?¡±


    Myst words caught her attention immediately, making her look in that direction. Soon enough, something that looked like a green panther jumped out of the bushes just as I opened my eyes. Its fur was colored perfectly to blend in with the surroundings, making me wonder if that was a special effect of the creature. However, it wasn¡¯t one that I recognized from the cards, so it likely wasn¡¯t strong enough to be ssified as a consideration by the system.


    Level 64 Ganth


    That was an¡­ interesting name for it. But if that was as strong as it was, then it was no better than the slimes that we had fought in the dungeon. And sure enough, one solid punch from Kelly caught it mid-leap, creating a sickening crunch as its neck bent at a bad angle. It barely had the time to whimper before falling to the ground, its life bar blinking out as fast as it appeared.


    ¡°Hmm, haven¡¯t had one of these before.¡± Kelly mumbled, licking her lips as she looked at the gantha. After a brief moment, she reached down and touched its body, causing it to disappear and be a piece of paper. Since we didn¡¯t have enough bags to carry everything back, the quest system proved incredibly useful.


    I let out a low chuckle, shaking my head before an odd purple fruit caught my eye. It was hanging from a tall tree, over a dozen meters above us. Its shape was like a spiked ball, pinsing off of it from all angles. Now this, this I recognized. It took me a brief moment to recall the information from the card about this particr item.


    Reset Fruit


    A purple, edible fruit. Consuming this offers low calories, but will remove thest level acquired by the user. As a side effect, memories pertaining to that level may also be lost, causing short-term amnesia. Effects stack with multiple uses. Requires Game System within the world to grow. Food quality: 0.5. Utility: 2


    12 Points


    ¡°Kelly.¡± I grinned as I grabbed her attention, causing her to look at me in confusion, following my eyes up towards the fruit.


    ¡°You know something about those, boss?¡±


    Seeing as she wasn¡¯t aware of what the reset fruit was, I wasn¡¯t all that surprised. Her domains of Strength and Fortitude offered little in the way of herbology. ¡°It¡¯s a good item, yeah. Erases thest level you gained when you eat it. I don¡¯t remember ever seeing any on the beastkin continent, so we should probably grab some and store them forter.¡±


    ¡°Ooh, nice!¡± She grinned widely, kicking off the ground to jump high onto the branch where the fruits were hanging. ¡°There¡¯s a ton of them up here! How many you think I should take?¡±


    Hearing her call down from above to ask that, I couldn¡¯t help but shrug. ¡°Just as many as you can put in a scroll. We can get moreter when wee back!¡±


    Immediately, I put down a marker on the mental map, a reminder of where we found the fruit. As I did, I heard an amused chuckle in my mind, Terra apparently taking the chance to speak up. Nice catch there. Those fruits are really only native to the inds in this region.


    How does something like that even grow naturally? I figured that I would have to buy level reduction items from the market originally. There was a soft tugging on my lips as I held back a smile, realizing that this had saved me some future purchases.


    The energy of the system is everywhere. Although it is incredibly rare, it¡¯s possible for things to evolve that can manipte it in some way. For instance, there is a disease that gued the humans centuries ago, known as the Pinnacle gue. It was no more than amon flu to normal people, but it fed off the power of the system lingering on a person¡¯s body to grow stronger. The higher your level, the bigger the threat.


    Then¡­ isn¡¯t it possible for a person to have a birth defect where the system reacts differently to them in some way? Hearing that something like this was possible throughmon evolution only made me worry about other possibilities.


    Among monsters or animals, sure. Terra exined patiently, apparently having predicted I¡¯d ask that. But any race you purchase is ¡®protected¡¯ from those types of evolutions. They can be stronger naturally, but in order to get new effects like that, you would need to buy the ¡®Anomoly¡¯ system from the market. It allows people among the races you purchase to very rarely be born with a power either above or beyond the normal system. Imagine someone born with infinite mana or ki, or the natural ability to have their soul leave their body for a time without training any sses.


    I had to admit that the idea was interesting, and possibly worthwhile, but there was a strong reason why I wouldn¡¯t do something like that. There are bad anomalies too, right? Things that would be a danger to a Keeper¡¯s life if triggered identally?


    You got it in one! Terra seemed rather happy that I was able to guess that on my own. In any case of random chance, there is a high and a low. A strong anomaly might have infinite mana, or a regenerating body, but a weak anomaly might have the opposite. Complete rejection to mana, or a body that eats away at itself. There might even be someone born that uses apletely different system of magic, though those would be rarer than Tryval¡¯s celibate episodes.


    That brought a smallugh out of me, making Kelly look at me in confusion when she jumped down from the tree. ¡°Sorry, it¡¯s Terra.¡± I exined, getting a knowing ¡®Ahh¡¯ from her in response. Okay, so the anomalies aren¡¯t specifically good or bad, but they can be dangerous at times. Noted. However, you said that monsters could be born that manipte the system?


    Rather than Terra answering, it was alia that butted in there. And this is where I step in, Dale! She spoke with an obvious grin in her voice. Actually, there are three monsters in the present world born that can manipte the energy of the system in one way or another. One of them is super deadly, able topletely strip away all levels of its victim, returning them to their most basic statistics. Thankfully, it is on an unpopted ind far away from anyone else. And no, not the ind you are on, or anywhere near it.


    I nearly fell over when she mentioned what the monster could do, as well as it being on an uninhabited ind¡­ If they sent me to where that thing was, I¡¯d be ascending as quickly as I possibly could.


    The second one is a little fox monster, currently hiding in a little cave in the elven continent. Its ability is no weaker than the first, but in the other direction. It can actually add thirty percent to all ss levels to people it bes affectionate towards! Thankfully, the elves haven¡¯t found it, or they¡¯d be way stronger! I couldn¡¯t help but subconsciously nod as I heard that. A fox able to bestow levels was definitely strong.


    The third and final one--wait, sorry. Nevermind, it just got eaten. It WAS a bird, which had been born with the ability to siphon levels away and give them to itself. Like the others, it had never been found, so its ability had never been used before.


    With her exnation finished, I could hear Terra clearing her throat to take the conversation back from alia. Anyways, you don¡¯t really have to worry about that for now. A creature born mutated to influence the system energy is so rare that no more than five would ever appear in a world your size at once. If it was Desbar, they¡¯d be lucky if even one such creature appeared in a generation. But one thing that they all have inmon, the influence of the system energy makes it impossible for them to breed unless a monster is specifically purchased to be able to do that.


    Well, that was good at least. If creatures like that were able to breedter generations and bemonce, they could basically destroy the world! As it was, just the first or third examples alone would be threats on a national level if they were ever ced in civilization.


    Thanks for the exnation. By the way, what happens if someone eats enough reset fruit to drop their level below zero? Or if they ate a¡­ I think it was called a surge root, to get above the level limit? Now that the main topic was out of the way, I figured I would ask a question that had been bugging me since I saw the small fruits.


    The reset fruit won¡¯t do anything to a creature that doesn¡¯t have the influence of the system on them. But if someone really did send themselves all the way to level zero, they¡¯d be like a toddler, unable to speak or walk on their own. As for the roots¡­ If someone forced more of the system¡¯s energy into their body than it allows, either through the root or that fox, kaboom.


    Okay, not going to ask for specifics. Kaboom is quite clear enough, thank you! So note to self, do not go looking for the magic fox.

 Chapter 147: Resupplying and Setting Sail

    <h4>Chapter 147: Resupplying and Setting Sail</h4>


    After the failed ambush by the gantha, I wasn¡¯t all the worried about the potential dangers that this ind¡¯s animals could present. If a level sixty creature could function as a predator on the ind, then that meant that it would serve as a good judge of what the rest of the ind would be like in terms of power. After all, a level sixty can¡¯t hunt level two hundred creatures, and if some of those were on the ind, there wouldn¡¯t be any food left for the little gantha.


    Sure enough, we dide across a few other creatures, but they were all below level one hundred. By the time we returned to the shore a few hourster when we were done ¡®piging¡¯, most of the other groups were there already. As I looked around at the various groups, I saw that none of them had really encountered any trouble. Though, some of them had their clothes torn a bit, likely by thorny bushes or attacks from sudden predators.


    Once thest group came back a few minutester, our attention was turned towards our voyage leader. ¡°Alright,ds andsses!¡± Emona grinned from a chair that she had apparently brought over from the ship while we were gone. ¡°Bring out yer spoils, and let¡¯s have at it! I trust everyone remembered where they got their goods, so we won¡¯t have to search blindlyter!¡±


    After she spoke, an aged felyn woman stepped up from next to her, someone that I hadn¡¯t seen before. No doubt, she was a member of one of the other crews, and a nobat crew member at that going by her level. ¡°This here is Dalia, one of the best herbalists that we could find. It¡¯ll be her job to determine what is edible, what is useful, and what gets thrown away.¡±


    Those of us that had gone gathering nodded towards Dalia respectfully. ¡°No need for any formalities.¡± She chuckled dryly, moving over to the group at the far end to begin. ¡°Now, let¡¯s see what you brought out for me.¡± Her smile was gentle, like an old grandmother, her squinted eyes making it seem as if the smile spread across her entire face naturally.


    The group that she had chosen, the Elementalist twins from another ship, began pulling out their scrolls and calling out both the beasts and nts that had been stored inside. Dalia didn¡¯t even nce towards the dead animals, someone elseing over to take away, and instead began to examine the nts one by one.


    First, she skillfully disassembled each nt into the various pieces, the outer and inner shells, the roots and stems, and so forth. Then, she carefully took each piece and smelled it. At this stage, she simply tossed away several items, such as the roots of a ck weed or a small yellow fruit the size of a grape.


    With the pieces that were left, she took them one at a time, and ced them gently against her wrist, holding them there for a few moments as she focused. Each time after she was done, she gently wiped off her wrist before deciding whether or not to throw thatponent away, causing the pile to dwindle further. At this point, about a third of the original potential ingredients from the twins had been discarded.


    Finally, the pieces that were left seemed to be ready for thest ¡®round¡¯ of testing. One by one she collected them again, and held them in her palm. I could feel the natural energy warp above her hand, showing that she had some skill as a druid as well. Water quickly gathered into a bubble surrounding the ingredient, and slowly began to boil.


    When she was done with this step, she ced each ingredient to her lips, giving them a small taste. Once again, many pieces had been thrown away, leaving less than half of the original pile. However, she seemed satisfied with those that were left. Looking towards the sisters, she gave a small nod. ¡°These are all edible.¡± She exined, pointing at the pile that remained.


    However, she wasn¡¯t done yet. Moving to the discarded pile, she once again began picking ingredients. This time, she ground them to a pulp before boiling each into its own paste. Then, she took just a small amount of paste from each, and took turns applying it gently to her arm. Her eyes seemed to light up, and I could faintly sense fluctuations of manaing from her as she tested each item.


    Some, she shook her head with a sigh, discarding the copies of an ingredient after the first test. Other times, she would smile happily, putting them into their own pile. Twice even, her health bar appeared over her head, showing that the paste she had applied had caused a small amount of actual damage to her. Rather than being rmed, she simply moved those into another pile as well.


    The entire process to examine the different nts provided by the twins took nearly two full hours. Given that there were around fifty ¡®teams¡¯, there was no possible way that we could get through them all by the end of the day. However, she simply moved on to the next and repeated the process again.


    For any items that she had previously judged, she either discarded them or ced them into their respective pile of ¡®edible¡¯, ¡®useful¡¯, ¡®useful for poison¡¯, or ¡®trash¡¯. This already greatly diminished the pile from the second team, until there were only about five nts that needed tested. To my surprise, one of those nts happened to be the reset fruit that Kelly and I had previously gathered.


    Dalia went about her routine, slowly analyzing each item to determine what to keep or throw away. This went without any real differences from before, until she got to the reset fruit. With this one, she had already broken apart the outer shell, revealing a gooey pink gel interior.


    When she had boiled the reset fruit and tested it on her lips, she gave her first real surprised expression. It was enough that even Emona¡¯s attention had been drawn to her in concern, though Dalia¡¯s health bar was nowhere to be seen. ¡°Is everything alright?¡±


    Dalia slowly pulled the fruit back, staring off into the space in front of her. ¡°The world¡¯s voice has told me that I lost a rank as Pirate.¡± She spoke softly, but her face showed some confusion. ¡°However, I still have the same rank as before. Curious¡­¡±


    As if this required further investigation immediately, she ate the rest of the fruit and waited a moment, shaking her head. ¡°Captain Emona, please remember the number nine.¡±


    Emona still seemed confused at this, but nodded her head while Dalia gathered another of the reset fruits from the pile, and boiled it as well. When she ate it, her eyes shed in surprise once again. ¡°Captain¡­ the number was nine, correct?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s correct, Dalia. Is somethin¡¯ the matter?¡±


    ¡°It was Scout this time. But the number seems wrong now that I look at it.¡± She exined, realization dawning on her face. ¡°This fruit seems to have a special property that removes the power of the world from those that eat it.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡± Emona nodded her head gently. ¡°Lady Dalia, pray tell. How long ¡¯ave we been on our voyage?¡± She crossed her arms beneath her chest and stared intently at Dalia, who put on a perplexed face of her own.


    ¡°It must have been¡­ five months by my count, captain?¡± She answered, though it was clear that she seemed unsure of her own response.


    Emona¡¯s voice suddenly turned gentle, not carrying her normal pirate ent. ¡°Dalia, perhaps you should rest for the day, see if you can recover from the effects of the fruit. We can resume tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Captain¡­ how long has our journey been?¡± Dalia asked, and for the first time her voice began to shake, as if she was afraid that she had lost something important.


    ¡°Almost seven months now.¡± Emona shook her head in response, causing Dalia to freeze up. The elderly woman slumped down, knowing that a piece of her mind had been chipped away with her levels. ¡°Just rest for now. Maybe it wille back with a good night¡¯s sleep.¡±


    Dalia nodded her head weakly, moving the rest of the reset fruits into the pile for alchemy, before walking towards the shore. ¡°Then¡­ captain, I¡¯ll take my leave for now.¡± Her voice was still shaking as she stepped onto the water, forming a patch of ice that slowly carried her to the nearest boat.


    Emona simply gave a nod to that, before turning towards the rest of us. She took a deep breath, and her stoic face returned to normal. ¡°Alright,ds. Fun¡¯s over for tonight.¡± She pointed at the nts that had either been marked as edible or useful for alchemy. ¡°Anyone who found the locations of any of those, head off to where ye found them to collect as many as ye can carry. Anyone who didn¡¯t¡­ join up with someone that did. Be back on the ships by sundown.¡±


    Unsurprisingly, almost all of the parties immediately turned to head into the jungle again, having gathered at least one of those ingredients themselves. Those who didn¡¯t paired up with the nearest team. As for myself and Kelly, it was obvious that we at least knew where the reset fruits were, but there were also a few other fruits and roots that we knew about as well.


    Another hourter, the sun was just starting toe up as we climbed back onto the ship, mine and Kelly¡¯s bags filled with the quest scrolls. Each scroll had a picture of what was contained inside on it to serve for easy identification, so we sorted through them and ced them into the appropriate crates below deck upon our return. This was actually my first time heading below deck myself, so I was finally able to see what it looked like down there.


    The first lower deck was almost entirely taken byrge crates, most of which were empty. In those that weren¡¯t, there were stacked scrolls that appeared to carry objects such as nks of wood, copper nails, tools, fabric, and potions. Each crate could easily hold thousands of scrolls, so the sheer number of spare supplies was mind boggling. It wouldn¡¯t be an exaggeration to say that half of a kingdom¡¯s wealth likely went into the trade goods to ce in these ships.


    I also noticed that each crate wasbeled, either with a w or a curled tail. Following Kelly, I learned that those marked with the w were for the main quest scrolls, and those with the tail were for the paired scroll. While this essentially dropped the number of supplies down by half, it was still a ridiculous amount.


    The two of us went through and found where the scrolls containing the fruits that we had gathered were stored, and deposited them in the proper ces. From there, we returned above deck to have our meal and rx for the evening¡­


    The next day, the identification process started again, bright and early with everyone on the shore. Dalia was once again there, though her trademark smile seemed lessened. Obviously, neither her levels nor her memory had been returned to her after resting. Yet she had a job to do, and was likely one of only maybe two herbalists in the entire fleet qualified to do it.


    With each team that she went through, cataloguing their nts, they began to bring out less and less. Nobody bothered to retrieve an item that she had already appraised, so each team was handled more swiftly than thest. After the tenth team, only five hours had passed from the start of the process, and several teams started stepping back from the line. Likely they had nothing new to show her.


    Kelly and I were near the end of her line, so it was no surprise that we had long since stepped back before she had gotten to us on the seventh hour. After she had apparently appraised thest item that was brought for her, she gave a satisfied nod. ¡°It seems that everything is in order. Captain, if you don¡¯t mind¡­ I¡¯d like to return to my ship to rest.¡±


    Emona didn¡¯t even say anything in response, only giving a gentle nod to dismiss Dalia. Once she was gone, we were all again sent out to find any of the items that had been deemed appropriate, spending the next three days to fill all of the crates in all of the ships. While the work was long and rather tedious, it was still a wee respite from the constant sitting about that took ce on the ship itself.


    By the time that we left the ind, there was little doubt in my mind that we had made a serious dent in its ecosystem, though at the same time I knew that it would be able to recover before anyone else appeared there.

 Chapter 148: The Maybe Future Queen

    <h4>Chapter 148: The Maybe Future Queen</h4>


    The easiest way to summarize the rest of the journey would be topare it to the first few months, but in reverse. The monsters and creatures that we began encountering were gradually starting to get weaker again as the weeks moved by, though we were seeing new varieties that we had not encountered on the first leg of our trip.


    Roughly two weeks after we left the ind, Emona sent a bit of good news our way. It seemed like Dalia had regained her lost memories from the reset fruit after she gained another level as a scout and a pirate. The fact that there was a way to restore the memories, and that it wasn¡¯t all that difficult was a good sign.


    Another important thing to note was that the crew morale had gone the highest it had been since we were cut off from the maind. Apparently, the introduction of new food, and the ability to eat a more bnced meal really set everyone straight. Though, this wasn¡¯t withoutplications of its own.


    I let out a low groan as I put a hand over my stomach, feeling it unsettled from the recent meal. While all of the ingredients we had used were certainly edible¡­ it couldn¡¯t be helped that the chefs had never worked with them before. What made matters worse were that some species had aversive reactions to certain ingredients, like a minor allergy.


    That¡¯s what I was currently struggling with, having to deal with my body trying to reject the food I had just eaten. Part of me wanted to just give in and head back to the Admin Room, allowing my host toplete the voyage until we reached the elvennds. However, I couldn¡¯t let myself do that. From everything I had been told, I just knew that I¡¯d be able to get a pretty good achievement for going through this journey myself.


    So I held firm. I didn¡¯t let myself give into the temptations to retreat, and simply kept up with my task of guiding the ship. Through storms or battles, I kept the wind at our backs. My role was not to fight, so I didn¡¯t. Thankfully, I still wasn¡¯t alone on this journey.


    ¡°You okay, Tebor?¡± Dis¡¯ni asked curiously, having been sitting next to me when I grabbed my stomach. As a felyn, she wasn¡¯t affected by the same roots that my body sought to reject. Yet, seeing my face she knew what was going on, grimacing. ¡°You had the stew, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect them to put wolfsbane in it.¡± I muttered softly, nodding my head. Wolfsbane was the name that had been given to the root which lycans had a difficult time digesting. Likewise, there was lionsbane and foxbane for the felyn and kitsune. Oddly enough, none of the ingredients posed any problems for the ursa, though maybe they just had a stronger natural constitution.


    ¡°Well, they¡¯re still trying to figure out the recipes.¡± Dis¡¯ni sighed, leaning back against the bench. Ever since we left the ind, she had beening to sit and chat with me at least once a day. Whether it was out of boredom, or just seeing that I appeared lonely I wasn¡¯t sure. But it was a wee respite from the monotony that was simply guiding the Jolly Dodger. ¡°You know, I probably shouldn¡¯t say this, but you could take some of the cursed fruit when we get to the shore. That way you can get the rest of the reward that was promised.¡±


    The cursed fruit was the name that had been given to the reset fruit, because it appeared to have been cursed by the gods to reject the world¡¯s power. I simply chuckled, however, and shook my head. ¡°I might¡­ But losing my memories is really not something I¡¯d be fond of.¡±


    The princess nodded her head in understanding. ¡°I can see that.¡± In truth, from what she said she had hated the ¡®dirty trick¡¯ that the nobles pulled with the quest contracts, promising the pinnacle sses nobility that they couldn¡¯t truly gain if theypleted the quest. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t want to lose any of my memories either. Even if it was just a few days or weeks of this journey. As long as it¡¯s been, it¡¯s actually been kinda fun, you know?¡±


    As she continued, she looked upwards, at the billowing sails overhead, caught in the controlled wind. ¡°Here I get to sing and dance with everyone, and just talk to the crew. But once wend, I¡¯ll have to be the ¡®queen apparent¡¯, and act as the leader until others get here.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but smile bitterly at that. ¡°Do you think that they¡¯d be able to follow us, andnd on the same shore? The sea is vast, Dis¡¯ni, with many a port to call home.¡±


    The felyn princess giggled slightly as she nodded to that, smiling in my direction. ¡°I know that. That¡¯s one of the reasons that we have so many people here. Two hundred and forty-five people, with around sixty of each race. Even if it takes decades, or even two hundred years, the royal schrs believe that we have enough people to build a colony that willst until they find us. If they can¡¯t find our children¡¯s children by then¡­ then we just weren¡¯t destined to be found in the first ce.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but nod at that. There were indeed quite a lot of people here, maybe even enough to build a stable, thriving poption. As long as the ¡®reinforcements¡¯ arrived within a few generations, the beastkin might really create a solid footing within the elven continent. ¡°Tell me the truth. Do you have a way to contact the maind once we find a shore to call home?¡±


    Dis¡¯ni nced at me in surprise, but then seemed to grow conflicted on whether or not to answer. ¡°Well, there is one way. But we really have no idea if it¡¯ll even work. Before we left, the Third Queen created a guild called New World Hope with several members of her court, myself included. When we arrive, it¡¯s my job to create a branch of the guild in the city we create.¡±


    Saying that, she let out a long sigh, smiling bitterly as she looked out to the raging waves in the distance. It seemed that another storm was going to head our way before long. ¡°But we don¡¯t know if the world will allow the guild messages to reach from onend to another. And even if it does, the messenger could be attacked long before it actually makes it back.¡±


    It took me a moment to realize what she meant. Guild branches were able tomunicate from one to another, like the Tower of Communication in the elvennds. However, it did so through the process of creating an artificial creature to carry the message, like a bird. Such creatures could still be brought down by wild monsters or even people wanting to intercept the messages.


    ¡°I see¡­ The fact that it probably won¡¯t work is why you haven¡¯t told the rest of the crew yet.¡± I muttered, closing my eyes while my stomach felt like it was flipping over once again. ¡°You¡¯d rather wait until we get there, and e up¡¯ with the idea to give them hope. Even if it was a long shot, it¡¯ll be the only thing that they could cling onto.¡±


    There was a dryugh from Dis¡¯ni as she nodded her head. ¡°And ording to my mother, it¡¯ll help the people recognize me as the queen of the newnd, putting me in a position of power until the others arrive. If I¡¯m still alive and on the throne when the rest get there, I might be asked to step down to make way for ¡®other candidates¡¯. But, if they take long enough that I have given the throne to a new generation, then that generation will be recognized as the rightful ruler of the new kingdom.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but nce over incredulously at her. ¡°So they have, what, forty years to find us if they want to have any right to a throne? And if they take longer than that, they lose the rights to it?¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s what I said.¡± Dis¡¯ni grinned slightly as she confirmed my thoughts. ¡°This was something my mother set up. If the journey is so easy that they can arrive quickly, without all of the extra power we invested in this voyage, then there is simply no reason to leave me with the crown. But, if I go through peril after peril, fighting against all odds to establish myself where none can easily follow, then I will have earned my ce as the official first queen of the new kingdom.¡±


    Little did they know that there was already a kingdom where we were going, and that we were heading straight for their port. I felt a knowing smirk on my face as I thought about all of that. ¡°So part of you is hoping that they aren¡¯t able to make it in time. And part of you is hoping to be able to see your family again.¡±


    This time, it was her turn to look shocked, but she soon gave a brief nod. ¡°I can still see them, sometimes.¡± She let out a sigh, and I felt a mana fluctuation from her body. ¡°When I focus, I can use the teachings of the forest to cast my vision far away and see my mother. But it grows harder each day as we get further apart.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ this is a technique that I never learned.¡± I told her, not worrying about blowing my cover or anything. As far as anyone was concerned, I was specialized as a druid, though some had figured out what my second ss was. It wouldn¡¯t surprise anyone that I was missing a few mage tricks.


    And as I guessed, Dis¡¯ni gave a small smile as she looked at me. ¡°It¡¯s mostly taught to royalty and nobility, but there¡¯s now against teaching others. The captains here use a simr trick to project their voices to one another, though doing so is a bit harder. To start¡­ close your eyes and imagine the face of someone you know. The clearer the image the better.¡±


    She waited until I had closed my eyes, and felt the mana fluctuating from my body before she continued. ¡°Now, imagine that they were standing right in front of you. That if you just opened your eyes, you could see them. Then, and this is the tricky part¡­ you need to open your eyes without opening your eyes. Focus on it with your mana, but don¡¯t let your real eyes open.¡±


    Although the exnation wascking, I could understand what she meant. My ckened vision immediately seemed to clear, turning into a fog of red. Amidst the fog were five figures, all looking to be just shy of their teenage years and wearing blood-colored clothes.


    Naturally, most everyone I actually knew was either a goddess, or part of this voyage. But there were two exceptions. The World Spirits, and the Martial Spirits. Since the World Spirits keep fluttering in and out of the world, I chose to focus on thetter. And to my surprise, I saw that they had acquired a fifth member, this one a boy.


    As I watched them walking through the red fog, they suddenly stopped. The girl leading in the front, Scarlet, turned her head to look in my direction. Immediately, the red fog vanished from around the five of them, and they were standing at the edge of a wide canyon. Seeing this, the others looked surprise, and one of them turned to say something to Scarlet, though their voices couldn¡¯t be heard.


    Scarlet didn¡¯t answer, simply staring at where my sight wasing from for a long moment. I thought I saw a brief smile on her face before she shook her head. When she lifted her hand, a blood-red energy surged up from her surroundings, and my sight was instantly cut off.


    I let out a gasp of pain as I felt the recoil of the connection being broken. Dis¡¯ni, still sitting beside me, looked to me in worry. ¡°That can happen sometimes, don¡¯t worry. A lot of people identally break the connection like that on their first try.¡±


    It seemed that she was misunderstanding, thinking that I had done something wrong when I practiced the technique. In reality, it seemed like Scarlet noticed that she was being spied on, and thought it could have been an enemy. Given my current mana limits, it was no wonder she could sever the connection with a simple wave of her hand.


    ¡°I¡­ I see. So that¡¯s what you¡¯ve been seeing when you looked at your mother?¡± I nced towards Dis¡¯ni as I asked that, and she gave a sad nod.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ I see her sitting at her desk every night, two scrolls in front of her. I see her waiting, waiting to see which one breaks first. Sometimes, she can¡¯t take it and starts crying, and I think she might be afraid that something happened to me and I lost the scrolls before dying. I can never hear her voice, but I can see her calling out to me.¡±


    I blinked in surprise as I heard that, ncing towards Dis¡¯ni. ¡°Why doesn¡¯t your mother just use the same technique to watch over you? Or have someone else do the same?¡±


    Dis¡¯ni let out a lowugh, reaching down to grab her own stomach. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t you know it, the trick doesn¡¯t work on bards who know how to harness the voice of the goddesses. Clerics, either. We think that the goddesses simply refused to be observed by mortals, so any who use their power can¡¯t be seen through the eyes of the forest. Even if she were to watch you right now, she wouldn¡¯t be able to see me sitting here. That¡¯s why we had to use the scrolls.¡±


    ¡°But for all she knows, we might have just taken them from you and thrown you overboard.¡± Dis¡¯ni smiled bitterly at myment, silently agreeing. ¡°This is a really messed up situation you¡¯ve gotten yourself in.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I know it.¡± Sheughed, this time more genuinely, before standing up. ¡°I¡¯ve gotta go cheer up the crew, and you need to get ready for the storm, so this is where we¡¯ll end it here today.¡±


    As she walked off, I gave a small nod, before thinking inwardly. How much longer till we get to Cau Buhnga? I¡¯m about ready for this journey to be over already.


    To my surprise, it was actually Irena that spoke up into my mind, her voice soft andforting. Two more months, they said. Everything should just get easier from here, Dale. Given how long she waited in the Underworld, it felt kind of bad to be homesick after a mere few months, when I thought about it.


    Alright. I thought back to her, leaning back against the bench. Just two more months, then¡­

 Chapter 149: What Are They?

    <h4>Chapter 149: What Are They?</h4>


    The year was six hundred and fifty-one, and the city of Cau Buhnga had risen greater than ever before. The originally small port city had grown exponentially, but the declining poption made the great city feel empty. While it was true that the city stretched from one end of the horizon to the other, less than half of the homes were in use. Many residents had left for greener pastures, the budding kingdom in the west.


    Yet those who remained were not saddened by this loss. In fact, their spirits were high and their faces bright as they cleaned the streets. Sheawynn had recently ended, and the residents had to help clean up the streets to make way for the traffic that would once again be appearing.


    From the Tower of Communication, news was spreading that the queen had troubled times wereing. The kingdoms of the east and west were unable to see eye to eye, and it seemed that the first true war of the elves was upon them. In fact, this war would have likely taken ce sooner, had the Silent Generation not ended when it did. As the Goddess brought her voice down again, the kingdoms could not help but still their ambitions.


    In the direct center of the city, the home which once belonged to the daughter of the Goddess herself had now be the pce of the city lord. Inside, he would always have a shaman acting daily to help foresee possible dangers to thend, be it invading monsters or terrible storms.


    Today¡¯s shaman was a mature elven woman. Her long red hair glistened as it fell down her back, while her almost glowing green eyes focused on the crystal orb before her. The same orb which had once been the power source of the city¡¯s wards, now used to protect the city from future threats.


    ¡°This is strange, sire.¡± She spoke softly, yet her words were rming to the man who stood not far away. Unlike the shaman, the city lord was an old man, likely near the end of his life. He had lived through the Silent Generation, and had even caught a glimpse of the Holy Daughter before her passing.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter, Uvona? Speak clearly.¡± He told her, his voice cracking with age. If not for the training in his youth, it was unlikely that this old man would even be able to support himself at his age.


    ¡°I see people approaching the city from the east.¡± When Uvona spoke, the city lord raised his eyebrows questioningly. ¡°Far beyond the low tide. Eleven, no¡­ twelve disturbances of nature working in harmony, druids working together. They are still too far away to see more clearly.¡±


    This news was quite unusual indeed. Regardless of the direction that they wereing from, the western kingdom wasndlocked on all sides, one of its natural barriers to protect against the creatures of the sea. They had no seafaring ships to speak of, especially none that could go beyond the fishing waters to circle thend. ¡°When will they arrive?¡±


    ¡°Tonight, sire.¡± Unova answered confidently. ¡°Theye guided by the Traveler.¡±


    Herst words shocked the man even more. There was always that possibility if they came from the eastern sea, but the Traveler held a special significance. If they came by the Dragon or the Snake, or even the Tide, the signs would point towards hostility.


    But the lord was an old man, and he had seen many things. He had seen the child of the goddess walk thend, seen her power. And following her death, he watched as her mother had mourned for an entire generation. Now, merely a year since her return, and people journey from the eastern seas, sailing beneath the Traveler. If he did not take this as a sign, he did not deserve his position.


    ¡°Prepare a weing party.¡± He told the shaman, closing his clouded eyes. ¡°Tell them that the Goddess sends people from a distantnd. Have food and drink ready to nourish their bodies, and a bard to write their tale.¡±


    As he spoke, he turned to leave, heading towards his own office. ¡°And just in case, alert the guards. These are troubled times, and we must show caution. If the Traveler shall send us peace, we shall meet it with kindness. If it sends us war, then we must defend our home.¡±


    Unova nodded her head unhesitantly, drawing a cloth over the crystal ball before leaving to deliver the message.


    _______________________________________________________________


    I could feel my body growing more and more weary from the travels by the day. Though the food managed to improve with practice, the toll of the journey was as hard on the spirit as it was on the flesh. If not for the constant updates from the Admin Room, letting me know how close we were, I would already have returned to take another break.


    As it was, I knew that we would reach Cau Buhnga by sunrise. This belief was further reinforced when our scout shouted down from the basket above. ¡°Captain! Land!¡±


    This was by no means a shock to everyone, as we had gone out of our way to visit many inds over thest two months, ensuring that we had a chain of portals leading back to the ind where we harvested. Yet, the scout¡¯s next words shook most everyone to their cores. ¡°And¡­ I see buildings! And ships!¡±


    The scout had grown even more impressive over the many months in the journey, and gained several levels. His eyes had been further strengthened, and he could make out details at the far end of the horizon. Given his elevated position, it was no wonder that he could make out the buildings of Cau Buhnga, and even some of their fishing ships.


    A murmur broke out over the crew, while the other ships began to receive simr reports. Some were asking if we had circled the world, and arrived at thends beyond the east of the beastkin. But those who had traveled knew better.


    By now, the concept of time zones was not an unfamiliar thing to the world. With druids able to easily traverse from one side of a continent to another in a matter of minutes, it soon became clear that the sun did not rise and set at the same time everywhere. To those schrs, this allowed them to make a rough guess as to how big the world was, and how small their piece of it.


    No doubt this was one of the driving factors behind the journey, the belief that they did not hold the only piece ofnd on such a vast world. The existence of countless inds only proved this point, and our journey had not been nearly long enough to cross the distance the schrs believed would be needed.


    ¡°Calm yerselves!¡± Emona shouted out, grinning to herself. ¡°It looks like we be meeting some new friends! All fighters, rest and recuperate. This distance won¡¯t be crossed in merely a few hours, and we need be ready in case these friends decide to not be so friendly. If they are, we¡¯ll have a merry time! But if not, we¡¯ll show them that we¡¯re no pushovers!¡±


    There was an uproar ofughter from the crew, several people immediately moving down below deck. Yet, it was unmistakable that everyone was equally excited. This would be their first time meeting another group of people in the history of beastkin, ever since the four tribes came together.


    Udona likely didn¡¯t tell Emona what was at the end of this journey, because it would ¡®ruin the fun¡¯, or something. All that the captain knew was that the course had been set by a higher power, but that alone was enough for her not to be surprised at the presence of a reported city on the horizon.


    Soon, the only ones left above the deck were myself, Emona, and the scout high up in the basket. With the shallow waters we had been throughtely, we had not encountered a beast needing the entire crew to fight for some time. In this region, the Kraken alone would be enough to defeat any seafaring monsters. Like those below deck, I took this time to rx and close my eyes, only focusing in the corner of my mind to keep the ship moving at a steady pace.


    By the time my eyes opened, darkness had consumed the night sky. The city which had been seen only by the scout now stood in in sight to everyone.


    At a nce, the architecture was differentpared to the beastkin. Where they used wood and bricks to build manually, the elves preferred shaping raw stone with the aid of their druids. This led to the buildings often beingrge and cylindrical, as opposed to the rectangr buildings of the beastkin. Even the tops of their buildings, while still having a curved edge that led downwards off the side to offer some shade and protection from the weather, were clearly just one single piece.


    As we got closer to the shore, we could see dozens of magical lights hovering above the heads of various elves. By now, the rest of the crew hade out, some rested while others had been too excited to shut their eyes. Those who could see far enough were all wondering what type of creature the elves were, all staring in confusion.


    Unlike the beastkin, there did not appear to be any animal resemnce among the elves. At least, no animal that the beastkin knew of. ¡°Could they be serpent-kin?¡± One asked. ¡°Just look at their ears and colorful hair, like the fins and scales of a mighty serpent.¡±


    This theory gradually gained weight among the crew of the Jolly Dodger, though some rejected it. The elves simply did not have anything that they could spot such as a tail or scales. Their hair practically shone in the moonlight, and many near the port could be seen holding woven baskets.


    Naturally, it did not take them long to spot the guards as well, two dozen standing along the shore carrying a number of weapons. If not for the fact that the weapons were sheathed and stowed, the crew may well have jumped into a fight.


    ¡°It seems they be weing us with gifts!¡± Emonaughed, which brought a smile to the crew. ¡°Praise the sister goddesses! All ships, take docking positions!¡± At her words, the circr formation of the ships spread out, forming a twoyered line of six ships each. Just from looking at the port, it was clearly unable to hold all twelve ships, and could at most amodate four of them, leaving the remaining eight to anchor near the shore and swim.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°What are they?¡± Many people asked themselves as they watched the ships closing in. Like the crew, there were many among the elves with keen eyes, able to make out the features of those aboard the ships. ¡°They have the ears and tails of beasts, yet walk as a man.¡±


    The city lord nearby shook his head, though a small sigh escaped his lips. ¡°It seems their group wasrger than we thought¡­¡± When he had heard that there were twelve druids, he had expected either twelve small ships, or a lesser number ofrge ships. How could he have known that each druid was the strongest that they had to offer?


    One thing that was unmistakable was the expressions that could be seen on the faces of these strange-bodied travelers. Their mouths curved upwards, their faces filled with happiness. Not a single face seen showed hostility. Even when they were long since within range to attack, not a spell or arrow was fired.


    The first thing that arrived was the wind, which suddenly shifted to blow in from the sea, instead of out towards it. As the ships drew closer, the wind lessened, the sails falling limp until four ships glided seamlessly onto the docks. From there, they droppedrge boulders tied to ropes off the sides of their ships, tying them down.


    As for the eight that could not fit at the small fishing docks, they lined themselves a short distance from the shore before dropping simr loads. After which, the eight ships seemed to spill forth their crew, allughing as they either dove into the water, or leaped so high that they arrived at the shoreline in a single bound.


    Now that they were close, everyone could feel the subtle pressure that came when encountering the strong. Nearly all of the peopleing from the ships were at the height of power, causing an invisible pressure to leak out towards the gathered elves.


    Thergest ship, one which had taken the first position at the docks, pushed out a long and wide board, letting one end fall to the dock. The first person to walk off the ship was a woman in ck clothes, with dazzling silver hair. As everyone else had followed behind her, it was clear to anyone that she was their leader, and she smiled warmly at the gathered party. However, when her mouth opened, both sides suddenly realized a critical issue.


    They couldn¡¯t understand a single word that she was saying.

 Chapter 150: A Gateway to a Brighter Future

    <h4>Chapter 150: A Gateway to a Brighter Future</h4>


    ¡°Finally!¡± I called out after I ascended back to the Admin Room, immediately falling on the bed and burying my face in the pillow. I hadn¡¯t hesitated for a single moment. As soon as the ship docked and I saw the achievements appear, I left the rest of the job to my Host for now. If it couldn¡¯t handle even that much, then there would really be no saving it.


    Speaking of which¡­ I took a brief moment to pull up the notification windows again to look at the achievements. I hadn¡¯t taken the chance to look at them closely before I ¡®logged out¡¯ of the host.


    Congrattions! You have earned a personal achievement!


    For maintaining a single identity for an extended period, and faithfully ying the role assigned yourself, you have earned the Actor achievement. +20 points, Role Assimtion trait unlocked.


    Congrattions! You have earned a personal achievement!


    For taking part in the first overseas voyage to a new continent, you have earned the World Explorer achievement. +20 points, Navigator trait unlocked.


    Congrattions! You have earned a new achievement!


    For ying a crucial, active role in multiple civilizations meeting each other for the first time, you have earned the Ambassador achievement. +20 points


    Noble ss unlocked!


    Okay, three new achievements weren¡¯t bad, and two of them even had new traits. Speaking of which¡­ Terra. Navigator, Role Assimtion, exin. I simply hugged the pillow as I sent the message out, enjoying the softness of it and my bed now that I was done with the hard wooden bench and thin nket that I had been forced to grow used to over thest several months.


    Terra didn¡¯t seem annoyed by my short words, and insteadughed with her response. Role Assimtion will be pretty useful for you. It¡¯s an achievement that was born to work in conjunction with the reputation system. From now on, as long as you actively y out a role that you assign yourself, you will adapt to the skills of that role more quickly. The months that you spent secretly training your druid control could be reduced to weeks, or even days.


    As for the Navigator, think of it as an advanced version of the Scout ss. You¡¯ll have ess to a simplified version of the world map whenever you are descended, and can plot a course to any destination you desire. Of course, it¡¯s still up to you to follow that course.


    I nodded my head lightly as I listened to her speak. So, it¡¯s a GPS. Role Assimtion seems like it would be useful, though. I¡¯m guessing that I can¡¯t just create a role of myself as a master swordsman, and quickly get good with sword skills, though.


    I could almost feel Terra nodding her head as she agreed with that thought. Right, you still have to put in the effort. The biggest thing that it changes is your aptitude, allowing you to more easily adjust. But, right now you have barely ever wielded a de. If you were to create a role like that for yourself, you¡¯d need to take quite a while to adjust. And this is only if you were able to properly act out the role without breaking character.


    I silently thanked her for the exnations, turning over in the bed and looking at the ceiling. ¡°You can go check on your mom, Leowynn. I¡¯ll call you before we head back down.¡±


    ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary.¡± A familiar voice spoke up from the doorway, just as the grey mist was starting to spill out of my body to form Leowynn. ¡°I rushed back here once I saw you returned. I wanted to give you an update myself.¡±


    I let a groan slip out as I sat up, forfeiting the softness of the bed to properly look at Ryone. ¡°Something happen while I was gone?¡±


    The goddess of magic nodded her head with a faint smile. ¡°You can say that. Tubrock and I got some prototype golems up and working. Right now, they can only take a list of presetmands, so I know that they aren¡¯t as good as what you can get from the market.¡±


    That actually surprised me, as I hadn¡¯t expected them to be so sessful this soon. But her next reveal was even better. ¡°Aside from that, I learned the next tier of the space magic, so I was able to double the radius for the storage bag. I¡¯ll just need more materials to make the enchantment invisible again.¡±


    I gave that some thought, before I shook my head. ¡°Those materials are pretty hard toe by, so I don¡¯t want to just waste them every time the bag gets an upgrade. I¡¯ll just use my bag for now, and once they be moremon I¡¯ll upgrade.¡±


    Ryone nodded her head with a small smile, which turned into a much warmer one when she saw Leowynn standing next to me. However, before the two of them could walk off, I called out to her. ¡°I¡¯ve got another project for you and Tubrock to work on soon. This is going to be a really big one, I think.¡±


    Her eyes practically lit up at that, and she nodded her head again before dragging Leowynn off with augh. With the two of them gone, I began to search through the market. What I wanted this time was a method to travel between worlds. Although neither of mine are ready right now, I expect that it will not be easy to make what is needed for whatever I purchase.


    Fairy Gate


    This gate is constructed filled with various forms of energy. Once built, it allows users to travel from one Fairy Gate to another by use of the Gate Keys. In the absence of a Gate Key, the user will automatically be sent to one random Fairy Gate. It is strongly suggested to purchase magic-conductive materials to ease the construction requirements.


    500 points, requires Mana, Spiritual Energy, Ki, Natural Energy, Divine Energy to build.


    Reality Virtual


    This is a branch of technology which stems from the entertainment industry. As games develop, the ultimate goal will be the ability to assign one other world as the game world. Other games may be created autonomously, but to have them function as proper worlds under your control, you will be required to purchase them separately. Unable to connect to worlds within the same Universe.


    350 points, Information Age required on ¡®Master¡¯ world.


    Warp Drive Connection


    This is a branch of technology focusing on instantaneous point to point transportation. At its peak, multiple worlds will be capable of constructing the Warp Connector, devices capable of linking together with any other of the same type for instant travel.


    300 points, Ster Age required on all applicable worlds


    World Gates


    This system causes small dimensional gateways to randomly appear among selected worlds. The gates will always appear in pairs, with both never appearing on the same world at a time. This system must be purchased once for each applicable world. Duration of gates can be set, or left random.


    600 points


    Rebirth


    This system connects multiple Universes. Whenever someone dies in one connected universe, they will be reborn in another connected universe as a random race under the Keeper¡¯s control. Must be purchased once for each applicable universe.


    700 points


    Interdimensional Transportation Service


    This system creates a group of anonymous individuals, capable of ferrying people from one universe to another. They can only move between worlds under the Keeper¡¯s control. To summon them, one must learn their contact information, which can be determined upon purchase.


    1000 points


    Digital World


    This is a branch of technology that allows the user to convert their body into a digital format to upload on awork. The appearance of thework will be set as a second world under the control of the Keeper. Additionalwork worlds must have this system purchased separately.


    350 points, Information Age required on ¡®Master¡¯ world


    Worldshift Watch


    This is a branch of technology which leads to instantaneous movement between universes. By projecting an energy field around the user, a small device attached to the wrist will allow them to safely travel from one universe under the Keeper¡¯s control to another, though the position they emerge from remains rtive to their departure.


    400 points, Information Age required.


    Dive Suit


    This is a branch of technology which leads to instantaneous movement between universes. By containing the user within a special suit, they are able to safely generate and walk through dimensional portals.


    400 points, Information Age required.


    Aquatic World


    This is a system which connects two worlds under the Keeper¡¯s control through water. Both worlds must have water for this system to function. When someone from one world fully submerges themselves in a body of water, they will be immediately taken to the connected world. For additional worlds to be connected, this system must be purchased multiple times.


    800 points


    When I narrowed down the search parameters, I saw that there were a total of ten options avable on the market. To be frank, I was really surprised that the selection was so small, but as I went over each item, I realized that it was because they already covered the majority of the possibilities. Some systems even seemed to be based on others, just to earn a few more royalty points.


    The first item on the list that really caught my eye was the Warp Drive Connection system. I had noticed this system on the market right after I became a Keeper, because it was one of the ones that had been listed by a previous generation of EarthForceOne. Though, I had yet to see any royalties from it, so it seemed as if nobody had bought it in the time I¡¯d been Keeper.


    My attention was quickly shifted elsewhere, though. Neither of the worlds that I owned had reached the Ster Age, and they weren¡¯t going to any time soon. So, it would simply be a waste to invest in that one just because I could get it at a small discount. Instead, I looked through the items that I could reasonably get.


    Rebirth wasn¡¯t interesting to me, because I wanted active travel between worlds, rather than just moving the souls. And Aquatic just seemed like a bad idea in the first ce. My choices were quickly narrowed down to either the World Gate or the Fairy Gate. One was an automated system, while the other was a crafted item.


    World Gate would work in some situations, but also be a disaster of it went wrong. Furthermore, I¡¯d have to buy it at least twice, in order to connect both Earth and Desbar. On the other hand, the Fairy Gate was something that I¡¯d only have to purchase once to get the item blueprint, and then I could have the others make as many as they wanted. The only real issue was the need for extra ores, but I had an easy way to solve that.


    I closed my eyes and focused, sending a message out to all of the gods and goddesses, and even Leowynn. Everyone, I¡¯m going to be holding a Keeper¡¯s Cards tournament, starting tomorrow. It will be the first to three wins, so take the time to think it over. I¡¯ll be offering a grand prize to the final winner. They¡¯ll be allowed their own world to govern, simr to Ashley¡¯s Desbar.


    I could just imagine the expressions on the faces of the different deities, and the one demi-deity, as they heard the message. After all, if I don¡¯t have the ore that I need for the gate now, why don¡¯t I just make a world that does have it? And it will give the others something to look forward toter.


    Surprisingly, I received a message from Terra almost instantly after the announcement went out. You can count me out of the tournament. The system won¡¯t let me govern a world on my own. Rules are rules. Although her tone was casual, I could tell that she was a bit disappointed that she couldn¡¯t take part in the fun, or reap the potential rewards.


    Well then, I guess that you will just have to coach Aurivy and the others, and work together with them if they win. I offered a suggestion, a small smile on my face. While Terra couldn¡¯t y as a Keeper on her own, she could still act as the System Companion to whoever did win the tournament.


    I guess I will¡­ Her voice quickly became brighter as she sent that response back to me.

 Chapter 151: Transcending Language

    <h4>Chapter 151: Transcending Language</h4>


    After I made the announcement about the impending tournament, I decided to take a nice, long rest. One must never forget theforts of a soft bed, after all! Anyways, by the time I woke up the next morning, I found that Leowynn had quietly returned to my spiritual realm.


    Good morning, father! She called out once she had noticed my attention was on her.


    Good morning¡­ shouldn¡¯t you be getting ready for the tournament? I couldn¡¯t help but tilt my head curiously as I asked that to her.


    Ah¡­ I decided not to participate. Leowynn shook her head as she gave an unexpected answer. I want to continue exploring the worlds with you, and after asking Terra about it, I learned that I wouldn¡¯t be able to do that if you made me a goddess. If I have to choose between being left behind to be a goddess of my own world, or to explore and help you in your battles, isn¡¯t it obvious which one I¡¯d choose?


    Well, if I were given those choices, I probably wouldn¡¯t have chosen the same¡­ but seeing her smiling so innocently like that, I couldn¡¯t exactly point that out. Well¡­ thanks. I appreciate it. They¡¯re probably getting ready to start the tournament soon, so I should go watch. Of course, there was still a little bit of time left, so I opened up the map of Earth and reviewed what had happened since I left.


    _______________________________________________________________


    The awkward silence between the two partiessted for several minutes. Neither side had truly been expecting to encounter anguage barrier as soon as they met a new race of people for the first time. Soon, the silver-haired kitsune seemed to have an idea, and turned her head to call out to one of the people that had followed her down.


    The person that she called was Dis¡¯ni, a woman who held the goddess¡¯s power in her voice. The two held a small conversation that the elves couldn¡¯t understand before the new person stepped forward, and cleared her throat. When she spoke next, her eyes had a faint golden glow to them, causing the elves to immediately understand what she was trying to do.


    However, even as they felt the familiar divine energy of the bards, they couldn¡¯t understand the words that the felyn was saying. Instead, knowing that the attempt was a failure, the woman holding a basket of fruits near Dis¡¯ni shook her head sadly. Dis¡¯ni¡¯s ears ttened against her head as she walked back with a sulk.


    Neither side had made a hostile action against the other, so it looked like things could still go peacefully. This made the lord of Cau Buhnga nod in relief, as a battle against so many powerful people just might be enough to destroy his entire town. Giving it a bit of thought, he chose to allow his actions to speak louder than the words they could not understand.


    pping his hands, he drew everyone¡¯s attentions to himself. ¡°Ladies, gentlemen, let¡¯s lead our guests towards a ce to rest. The matters of speech can be handled slowly.¡± His words drew a series of nods from the attendants, who began to motion for the strangers to follow them.


    The inviting gesture was quite easy to understand, so Emona nodded her head with a faint smile. Like the lord, she pped her hands as well to get everyone¡¯s attention first. When they all turned to look at her, she spoke another strange set of words. By hermand, one of therger women in the group, one with round fuzzy ears, nodded and went back onto the ship.


    The elves were curious what was happening, but soon saw the woman walking out again, carrying arge wooden crate. Cau Buhnga¡¯s lord soon understood that they wanted to unload their cargo. And sure enough, the leader of the pirates motioned towards the box, and then the ship, and finally looked at the people around with her hands folded in a pleading gesture.


    While this was not the most precise method ofmunication, it was effective enough. With augh, the lord nodded. ¡°Alright. Guards, help them unload. Just to be safe, make sure they aren¡¯t bringing weapons or anything like that in the boxes.¡±


    The guards all nodded, and moved towards the ship, while the lord continued pantomiming a conversation with the captain of the ship. He pointed towards the box, and then the ship, and finally the sword at her waist with a curious expression. The silver-haired kitsune quickly shook her head, waving her hands back and forth.


    Before he could try to ¡®ask¡¯ anything else, she rushed over to the crate and hopped up enough to reach into it, pulling a piece of paper out. Without giving the man time to see what was on it, she spoke again, and the paper turned into a round, blue fruit. This fruit was actually recognizable by the lord, as it was something that grew in elvennds as well.


    However, Emona wasn¡¯t sure about that, and decided to prove that it was safe by taking a bite out of the fruit. She smiled at the lord as she chewed, nodding her head in assurance. Her smile only widened when she saw the relieved look on his face.


    There was a surprised shout from inside the ship, which caused everyone to immediately be rmed. They cast wary nces at each other, as if wondering if their people had been attacked on the ship. Soon, one of the guards ran out with a simr paper in his hand, which he presented to the lord.


    Upon seeing the paper, the man¡¯s eyes raised slightly in confusion. Naturally, he couldn¡¯t understand the writing of the foreignnguage¡­ but he could? ¡°Quest, recite the word ¡®salvation¡¯. Reward--¡± No sooner had he read it over then the piece of paper shined again. This time, a small bundle of copper nails appeared in his hand.


    Everyone¡¯s eyes were suddenly glued to the lord, and the pile of nails he held. For the elves, it was amazement that he had managed to read the beastkin text. But for the beastkin, it was because the trigger toplete the quest was a word. Although he did not speak any tongue they knew, it had triggered the scroll. Meaning that he had clearly read the scroll in his ownnguage.


    Emona excitedly pped her hands, drawing everyone¡¯s eyes back to her. As she closed her own eyes, a small piece of paper appeared in her hands, which she hurriedly passed over to the lord. The aged man carried an amused smile as he looked at the paper and began reading the unreadable words.


    ¡°Apologies for the problems withmunication. We hadn¡¯t expected to find anyone at the end of our journey, and didn¡¯t know to prepare. On behalf of me and my crew, I would like to request lodging for a period of time. In the meantime, perhaps we can use the quest scrolls tomunicate, and learn to speak each other¡¯snguages? Quest, offer Emona and her crew safe lodging. Reward, Emona¡¯s help securing food.¡±


    This time, the quest did not have a verbal trigger, so the lord had been able to read all the way through to the very end. He smiled slightly as he realized the little trick that Emona had put into the scroll. She had specifically asked for safe lodging, so the quest would not beplete if he nned them any harm.


    He gave a small nod towards his men to have them continue unloading the cargo, while he guided Emona towards one of the empty houses. The owners of the house hand long since moved to the west, and there were many others like it nearby to hold her and her people. Once the quest scroll lit up with a bright light and vanished, Emona nodded her head happily.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Well, that went surprisingly well.¡± I smiled in satisfaction as I finished watching the scene of the crew moving into the elven city. I had expected it to take them a little longer to discover the secret of the quest scrolls, yet one lucky guard managed to catch sight of them and learned about it.


    At the same time, far across the globe, another quest scroll had triggered as well. The Third Queen of Terraria had been staring at a pair of scrolls on after another, waiting for one of them to have a reaction. She had long since suspected that the scrolls had failed them. Either they had been lost, or the distance had simply be too much for the scrolls to activate.


    However, when she saw one lighting up and vanishing, her expression had changed. I had been able to see that she was genuinely happy that her daughter had made it to safety. As for the other scroll, she grabbed it and tore it up, as if the very existence of it had caused her endless torment.


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get this over with.¡± I stood up from theputer, and made my way towards the living room. Unsurprisingly, everyone was already gathered. Even Tryval, who almost never returned to the Admin Room, was present for the tournament.


    Before anyone had the chance to speak, I decided to take the initiative, as the ¡®host¡¯ of the event. ¡°Alright. Everyone knows the rules of Keeper¡¯s Cards, so I won¡¯t waste anyone¡¯s time with that. I¡¯m needing to establish a new world, one capable of supporting special materials that will be needed for future projects. In order to decide who will be the leader of this world, we¡¯re going to be testing everyone¡¯s ability.¡±


    ¡°The first yer to be champion three times will be crowned the winner of the event. This is to ensure fairness and make sure that everyone gets their chance to improve. The prize for the winner is to be the leader of your own world.¡±


    The contestants¡¯ eyes practically shined at that, making a knowing smile appear on my face. ¡°You¡¯ll still have your normal godly duties that you have right now, so don¡¯t get too excited. Since I¡¯m requiring you to put the materials in your world, I¡¯ll give the winner twice the normal starting funds. That¡¯s up to one thousand points to spend on establishing the start of the world.¡±


    ¡°Any points leftover after the setup will be reimed. However, any points you earn through your own world can be used by you as you see fit. My only requirement is that you keep your world¡¯s overall power at or below the level of Earth. I don¡¯t want us to be pushed into the real Keeper¡¯s games before we are ready. Are there any questions?¡±


    Everyone shook their heads, indicating that they didn¡¯t have anything to ask. I was throwing out nearly half of my funds with this tournament, but it should ultimately be worth it. ¡°Okay, then let the tournamentmence!¡±


    Following my words, everyone opened up their own interfaces, choosing to join the Keeper¡¯s Cards game. The only ones left out were myself and Terra, as well as Leowynn who was watching the scene from within my spiritual realm. With the system moderating the event, there was no need for us to act as judges. We were merely the audience, though Terra was clearly cheering for Aurivy.


    ¡°Come on, little Rivy! You can do it!¡± She called out from the couch after Aurivy got paired up with Udona in her first match. With Udona acting as the invader, it was no surprise that only one unit had been sent in to fight Aurivy, a single weak goblin army that was easily killed.


    In the first rounds, nobody would go for an all out attack, because they needed the time to build their forces. For the second match, Aurivy had been paired against Bihena. This time, Aurivy was the attacker. Like Udona, Aurivy only sent a single card over for her attack.


    The third round was when things started to heat up. Aurivy was now defending against Tubrock, who smiled apologetically. ¡°Sorry,ss, but I be wantin¡¯ the prize myself.¡± In his attack, Tubrock sent a wave of golems and automatons that crushed Aurivy¡¯s world, eliminating her from the first match.


    The halfling goddess sniffled as she made her way to the couch, hopping up on myp and burying her head in my chest. Terra looked on, as if betrayed by Aurivy for clinging onto me instead of herself, and groaned in defeat. ¡°Oh well, there¡¯s still several more matches to go¡­¡±


    As the game yed on, it quickly became one-sided. For the next battle, Udona had been paired against Tubrock, and used a group of spies and ninjas to eliminate both of his worlds. While other people only had one or two worlds under their control, Udona already had three. And the next time she attacked, that became five, and then seven.


    The final fight was between Udona and alia, with seven worlds to five. The advantage here was obvious, but the system repeatedly assigned alia as the invader. Only when it was Udona¡¯s turn did she go for an all-out attack, sending the forces of seven worlds against alia¡¯s five.

 Chapter 152: The Heart of the Cards

    <h4>Chapter 152: The Heart of the Cards</h4>


    ¡°Udona wins the first match!¡± I called out, and everyone again started the game. This time, everyone was on guard against her, not wanting to let her get the advantage again. Everyone focused more on defense, and built up their culture and security so that her stealth units couldn¡¯t so easily function.


    Udona was actually eliminated in the first round of realbat, having lost to Aurivy. She smiled yfully as she came over to sit with us, choosing to watch the rest of this round. I wasn¡¯t sure why her defenses had been so weak this time, but I shrugged it off for now.


    The winner of the second game was Irena, who had built up arge force of specters in every previous match, and used them all at once to im victory. She seemed happy with her win, but the game continued right afterwards. And once again, Udona was eliminated early, this time by Tryval. It was actually the first time that Tryval had been able to knock his opponent out, so he seemed satisfied.


    What are you up to? I asked Udona secretly through the mentalmunication, causing her to turn and smile at me. As soon as I saw her face, I knew that there was something going on, a bigger n in her mind. However, I¡¯d have to wait to see what it was.


    The third game went to Aurivy, who had created a world of high technology, discovering a method to use countless other worlds through space exploration to bolster her forces. In the final fight, she didn¡¯t just have six or seven worlds, but over twenty. This caused the other yers to start revising their strategies in order to expand their influence.


    Yet, it didn¡¯t really help. Even with this new strategy, Udona powered through all obstacles. This time, she focused purely on defense while raising a cultivation world. Cultivation worlds had a special ability where they became more powerful as time went on, without the need of extra assistance. Of course, this still had a limit, but by the time that limit was reached she had effortlessly crushed two opponents.


    From there, it was just a matter of covering her weaknesses, and she was easily able to emerge with a second victory. Through this, people had realized two new strategies. The first was to grow more worlds like Aurivy had done, while the second was to use the special effects of a world to ovee the numbers.


    For thest round, everyone seemed toe to a mutual understanding. They couldn¡¯t let Udona get another win, or else she would be the final victor. From the very first round, I could see that everyone had begun purchasing counters for the cultivation tactics. Items that could disrupt supernatural energy flows.


    However, Udona had switched away from her sure-win strategy. With everyone building their foundation to counter her previous strategy, she had already switched back to her previous focus. Once again, she was using stealth, but it was different this time. Her stealth tactics had a strange effect on other worlds, reducing their culture value by nting propaganda.


    Once culture falls to a certain point, the inhabitants themselves will rebel against the yer. While everyone else was trying to figure out how she did this, Udona had secured her third win. Without any doubt, she had shown everyone that the Goddess of Entertainment had spent plenty of time studying the Keeper¡¯s Cards, and all the different ways it could be yed.


    ¡°And the winner is Udona!¡± I called out with augh while the various people were sulking. Some muttered about it being luck, while some seemed to want a rematch. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, everyone. As I get enough points, I n to let everyone have their own ¡®private¡¯ world. This is just to see who gets it first.¡±


    That seemed to cheer them up, though some were not content with that. Tryval gave out a huff as he vanished from the room, no doubt wanting to go vent his frustrations. The others all left one by one, returning to their own business until the only ones left were myself, Terra, Aurivy, and Udona.


    ¡°How much did you practice?¡± Terra asked her, slightly surprised by the strategies that Udona had used throughout the tournament. In the first round, she used assassins to take out the opponents with minimal force. Then, she threw the next couple rounds to lower people¡¯s guards. Finally, she came out with two new strategies that swept everyone away.


    Udona¡¯s grin could probably power a third world country as she answered. ¡°I¡¯ve beenbing through the rules since we found it. Though, there were notes that some things won¡¯t work the same in the real games, and the rules bnced that by adjusting the odds of being the invader.¡±


    So that was why she had been on the defensive so many times when she was using the cultivation world. The system had judged its overall power to far outstrip the enemy, so she was set to defend repeatedly. I nced towards Terra, and she confirmed my suspicions with a nod. ¡°The system will only ever ce you against a Keeper of roughly equal power to your own. Someone using her strategy would have their own means of countering it.¡±


    I gave a slight nod at that, and then looked towards Udona. ¡°Alright. You¡¯re the big winner, so let¡¯s get this set up.¡± She grinned happily at that, and I navigated through the menu mentally to establish a new world. ¡°Since I want to harvest a bunch of resources from this world, I need it to be at least a size six.¡±


    Udona nodded her head, giving it a bit of thought. ¡°Size six is fine. But, can I get something special for it? I¡¯ve been working on this idea for a couple of weeks now, and I think this is the best time to offer it up.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but nce at her curiously, before giving another nod. ¡°As long as it¡¯s within the budget, sure¡­¡±


    Udona grinned wide at that, and held out her hand. A thin sheet of paper appeared in it, covered with neat handwriting. ¡°I came up with an idea for a new world type, and a system of magic to apany it. I even had Ryone go through the market to make sure that there wasn¡¯t something simr already out.¡±


    Well¡­ that was surprising. I took the sheet of paper, and read over it. The new world feature was called Card Law, and it essentially made it so that people could cause anything that they could carry to turn into a small card. Items stored in the cards age naturally, so the only convenience was to reduce the size and weight of the object. I gave a brief nod as I read through the information, and entered it into the system after choosing the ¡®Custom World¡¯ option.


    Congrattions! You have earned a grand achievement!


    For submitting a new world type, found suitable to create as a standard world, you have earned the World Maker achievement. +100 points.


    I blinked in surprise as I looked at that announcement, and a fanfare arose from around me. Confetti flew up from my head and rained around us for a brief moment, before everything returned to normal. This is definitely the biggest point reward I¡¯ve gotten from one quest.


    Seeing Udona and Aurivy looking at me questioningly, I shook my head. ¡°What kind of race do you want in the world?¡± In total, the Card Law came to one hundred points, causing me to spend ny to get it.


    Udona rolled her eyes yfully and smiled at me. ¡°Kitsune, of course.¡± I had expected that answer, so I went ahead and keyed it in, spending the thirty points needed to purchase them. When I entered the information for the magic system, I was given another congrattory fanfare, though the confetti was notably less than previously.


    Congrattions! You have earned arge achievement!


    For creating a new, unique form of magic, you have been awarded the Magic Maker achievement. +50 points.


    It took me a moment to realize why the magic system hadn¡¯t triggered the same ¡®grand achievement¡¯ as the world type had. The magic system required the world type, so it wasn¡¯t suitable as a ¡®standard magic¡¯, and could only be offered to those who had that world.


    To summarize, there was a chance for a in enemy to create an extra card the first time it is turned into a card itself. This extra card was the new type of magic, and they could be used orbined to create various spell effects. Udona had went through and detailed several possibilities, in order to let the system handle the rest. If used properly, the cards could even bebined to summon a defeated enemy.


    When I saw the price of the system, I shook my head slightly. It was a total of one hundred and fifty points, reduced by my royalties to one hundred and thirty five. Without hesitation, I went ahead and spent those points. ¡°You¡¯ve got almost seven hundred points left to spend of your ¡®prize money¡¯. Do you have anything else you want?¡±


    Udona quickly nodded her head at that. ¡°Can you get me the first four tiers of monsters, and the next three card tiers?¡±


    I chuckled, but shook my head at that request. Pulling up the market information, I saw that the tiers were priced simrly to other magic systems. ¡°I can get you the second card tier for six hundred. But the third one will cost eighteen hundred, so that is well outside your price range.¡±


    She sulked slightly at that, but nodded her head. ¡°Then, the first two monster tiers, and the second card tier.¡±


    That was easy enough. Unfortunately, the system did not credit me with the creation of each individual tier of the card magic system, so I had to pay the full price for it. A total of six hundred and seventy-five pointster, and I gave a satisfied nod.


    Udona seemed happy with this, as she and the other girls were staring down at the kitsune that were just starting to walk out of their caves. So, I started my own work. Opening up the page of ores, I chose several to purchase. Orichalcum, mithral, magnartum, lightning ore and numbasic. Those cost me a grand total of fifty-five points, but would offer plenty of resources to harvest for the foreseeable future.


    ¡°What do you want to call it?¡± Aurivy asked as she stared down. One mountain that had been granted a particrly high concentration of magnartum rose up into the sky, turning into a floating ind that hovered several hundred meters above the surface. Simrly, scenes like that could be seen all across the world, though the floatingndmasses would never get toorge.


    ¡°Hmm. Since it¡¯s a card theme¡­ Let¡¯s go with Deckan.¡± Udona nodded her head, her tail swishing back and forth happily. It was clear to see that she was excited about the new world she was getting ready to lead.


    I chuckled, ncing towards Terra. ¡°Same deal as with Ashley, please. Set it up so that she keeps the pool of points to use to adjust the culture of her world.¡± Terra nodded her head with a small smile, even though her ¡®favored contestant¡¯ didn¡¯t win.


    ¡°When I get enough points, can Ie back to you to have you get the next monster and card tiers?¡± Udona suddenly turned around to ask, smiling widely. In her magic system, the card dropped from a creature could never be ranked higher than the creature itself. That meant that it was most effective to buy the two together.


    ¡°Sure, though that¡¯ll probably take a little while¡­ If you can get Ashley to lend you her points, I¡¯ll allow it.¡± I smiled slightly, before giving them a wave as I turned to leave. I had half expected Aurivy to follow me out, but she seemed engrossed in watching the world as it began to rapidly spin below her, setting itself to the ¡®starting point¡¯.

 Chapter 153: Cultural Miscommunications

    <h4>Chapter 153: Cultural Mimunications</h4>


    With the issue of the minerals taken care of, I made my way back to my room, and pulled up the market once again. Without any hesitation, I spent five hundred points on the blueprint for the Fairy Gate, bringing my total back down to just over twelve hundred. Of course, I haven¡¯t collected the funds from technology advancement in a while, so my real bnce is probably higher than that.


    As I watched the familiar blue sphere taking shape in front of me, the information globe containing the purchased recipe, I sent a message to Tubrock mentally. I¡¯ve got a new project ready for you. A gateway that connects worlds. The blueprint for it is in my room, and we should have all the materials we need for it. Take a look at it, and let me know if there is anything else we¡¯re missing.


    After sending out that message, I decided to do a bit of advertising¡­ Pulling up the Keeper forums, I saw that there were several unread messages waiting for me. Unsurprisingly, all of them were from Alkahest. The first couple were just updates, telling me that another Keeper meeting was about to begin. Looked like I missed three of those while I was gone¡­ Counting the one that I went to, and the other that I missed, I¡¯ve actually been a Keeper for nearly one standard year now.


    After the updates, his tone became more concerned, asking if I was doing okay, and why I hadn¡¯t responded. In hisst message, he even outright asked me if I was still alive. No doubt, the thought had crossed his mind that I had perished while descended like the previous Keepers had done. Shaking my head, I opened up the message window to send a brief reply.


    EarthForceOne: Sorry, I was down on the world for a while taking care of something. Just got back up to the Admin Room for a break. If you get the chance, mind checking out the new Card World that¡¯s on the market, and the magic type to go with it? I need some feedback on if things work properly.


    I waited for a few minutes after the message sent, but there was no reply. He was probably dealing with his own issues and would take a little while to get back to me, so there was no rush. Instead, I simply opened up the menu and chose to return back to my host, to continue the adventures of Tebor.


    I closed my eyes, allowing the familiar warm light to engulf me, until I could once again smell the salty sea air. The tournament hadsted for most of the day, so by now it was the evening. When I opened my eyes, I found myself standing on a dirt road, leaning against my staff. With a groan, I felt the fatigue of age setting into me again. Though¡­ before I reactivated my Keeper levels, I went ahead and checked on the progress that I had made during the journey.


    Name


    Dale Mitchell


    Race


    Lycan(Keeper)


    Health


    1017/1017(656974/656974)


    Mana


    216/216(270666/270666)


    Strength


    6(586)


    Ki


    1278/1278(351359/351359)


    Stamina


    19(553)


    Intelligence


    11(518)


    Dexterity


    25(579)


    Wisdom


    38(760)


    Luck


    9(265)


    Charm


    9(275)


    ss List


    Alchemist 1(138)


    Archer 0(132)


    Architect 0(75)


    Archmage 0(85)


    Armorer 0(112)


    Artisan 0(103)


    Assassin 0(94)


    Bard 0(158)


    Berserker 0(132)


    ck Knight 0(28)


    cksmith 0(125)


    Carpenter 1(101)


    Chef 0(95)


    Cleric 0(79)


    Crusader 0(62)


    Druid 30(124)


    Enchanter 5(130)


    Engineer 0(29)


    Fallen Priest 0(12)


    Farmer 0(101)


    Gambler 0(43)


    Guard 0(93)


    Herbalist 2(94)


    Hero 3(89)


    Hunter 0(116)


    Jeweler 0(73)


    Knight 0(92)


    Leader 1(99)


    Leatherworker 0(101)


    Mage 2(152)


    Martial Artist 1(103)


    Merchant 0(74)


    Miner 0(99)


    Monk 15(128)


    Monster Tamer 2(97)


    Ninja 6(147)


    Noble 1(63)


    Painter 0(77)


    Pdin 0(42)


    Pirate 10(85)


    Priest 1(110)


    Rogue 0(99)


    Schr 3(101)


    Scout 25(99)


    Sculptor 0(79)


    Shaman 10(99)


    Spirit Hunter 20(64)


    Spirit Tamer 6(59)


    Swordsman 0(101)


    Tailor 0(100)


    Temr 0(43)


    Warrior 2(158)


    Weaponmaster 0(52)


    Advanced sses


    Elemental Monk 0(68)


    Elementalist 0(65)


    Martial Spirit 0(123)


    Summoner 0(72)


    World Spirit 0(34)


    It was no real surprise that the Keeper levels hadn¡¯t changed over thest year. Those who were at the peak of their sses wouldn¡¯t have been able to advance any further, and would have a harder time dying. But for my personal levels, there was some clear growth. Whether it was the most obvious druid ss, the scout ss, even the pirate ss, they all showed very noticeable improvements. My true level was finally up near a hundred and fifty, so even without the Keeper powers I would be apetent fighter, though I would suffer from not specializing in one field.


    After I confirmed my personal stats, I once more activated my Keeper levels for both the druid and spirit hunter sses and resumed the role of Tebor. ncing around, a few curious elves and beastkin had nced my way, likely wondering why I had stopped in the middle of the road. I offered them a slight smile and continued on my way.


    Unfortunately, I wasn¡¯t quite sure what I was supposed to be doing, but some helpful advice from on high soon fixed that when Terra sent me a message. Tebor was on his way to meet Emona to help with the trantion efforts. They¡¯re waiting at the docks now.


    I silently thanked her, before deciding to test one of my new traits. With a thought, a map of the world opened up in my view, which was quickly zoomed in to show only the city of Cau Buhnga. Since the map was not incredibly detailed, it was not as if I could see the people waiting for me, but I could at least identify the shape of the docks, and set that as my waypoint.


    Immediately, a blue path began to paint itself along the dirt road in front of me, stretching out for several blocks before making an abrupt left. Given that nobody else was reacting to the presence of ¡®The Line¡¯, I could assume that I was the only one able to see it. I could feel my lips tugging upwards, thinking that this trait might not be so useless for my circumstances after all.


    As I walked, I was greeted several times by various beastkin and elves, though thetter did so simply with a small nod and a hand gesture, since they knew I wasn¡¯t supposed to be able to understand them. I politely returned the greetings until I had arrived at the docks, where I found a new table had been ced between the Jolly Dodger and its adjacent ship.


    At the table were four seats, two of them taken by the city lord and Emona, another by an unknown female elf, and thest empty. Behind the participants on either side was a single armed guard, just in case hostilities erupted. On our side, there was Kelly, while on the other side was an elf I didn¡¯t know.


    When I arrived at the table, Emona turned her head, grinning happily at me. ¡°Ah! Tebor! Finally! Now,e on and have a seat. This will go so much faster with two sets of people.¡± She waved me forward, ushering me to sit in the empty chair.


    As soon as I sat down, I realized what they were doing. Each party was creating a quest scroll with a list of words, and then handing it over. The way toplete the quest was to write down the words, as well as their trantions on a piece of paper. Both the city lord and Emona already had several such papers at their sides, held down by a stone to prevent them from being carried away by the breeze.


    The elf across from me, Uvona going by the information from the system, took the initiative to pass me the first quest scroll to trante. Just to be safe, I chose not to read the scroll out loud, for fear of identally reading it in the elvennguage rather than the beastkin one. With my free hand, I grabbed a paper and a small piece of charcoal and began writing down the words, as well as their trantions.


    This was actually quite the ingenious way to use the quest system to bridge thenguage gap. Every five or so pages, we would stop and go over the words that we had written down. Each side taught the other the pronunciation for the different letters, and how each word was said. Then, once they were able to somewhat pronounce the words, they would try to form a sentence with them. For instance, Emona¡¯s first attempt at a sentence was quite humours¡­


    ¡°Your city looks like a maiden¡¯s stool.¡± She spoke in a broken tongue, her eyes glued on the pages while she did her best to pronounce the words correctly. I had to hold back a small chuckle while Uvona and the city lord both stared at her for several long moments¡­ ¡°Did I say it wrong?¡± She asked in the beastkinnguage, noticing the looks, ncing from side to side in a panic.


    When I tranted back what she had just said, her face suddenly drained of color, and she folded her hands, apologizing profusely. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry!¡± At least she had learned how to say that in the elvennguage fairly easily¡­ Though her reaction did bring a smile to the other two.


    When it came to my turn, it was actually hard to purposely mess up thenguage without sounding obvious, so I didn¡¯t bother, and instead simply spoke with a thick beastkin ent. As the beastkin already knew me to be able to speak the dungeon¡¯snguage, picking up the elvennguage fairly quickly wouldn¡¯t be a surprise to anyone.


    The first real upset came some timeter, when Emona included the word ¡®dungeon¡¯ in her quest scroll. The city lord frowned slightly when he saw the word, but dutifully tranted it. Yet, Emona noticed something was wrong, as what he wrote was abination of words that had already appeared, ¡®Evil God¡¯s Shrine¡¯, though they had always appeared separate before.


    I couldn¡¯t help but silently wonder if this was what was going to start a big conflict between the two sides, when sure enough Emona chose to open her mouth. She even began referencing the various papers one by one, causing each word to take some time to be spoken. ¡°Why¡­ evil¡­ god¡­ shrine? Not¡­ potato¡­ ce.¡± Aside from her randomly confusing the words potato and bad, it actually went quite well.


    Thankfully, the city lord picked up on the mistrantion and understood what she meant to say. Still, he looked at her in confusion, sighing as he too started sifting through the papers to speak. ¡°Enemy¡­ goddess¡­ blocks¡­ world.¡± It was obvious that the words that he needed to say weren¡¯t in the ones that had been tranted yet, so he instead handed over another quest scroll, which Emona read out loud.


    ¡°The dungeons block the powers of the druids and deny the goddess¡¯s power. They are a source of evil and death upon thend, and have caused any cities that discovered them to destroy them immediately.¡± Her silver ears pressed t against her skull by the time that she was done reading, and she looked at the city lord in confusion. Naturally, she did also write down the trantions as well, because this was still part of the job. However, her next scroll contained her reply.


    ¡°The shrines of the evil god aren¡¯t evil. They offer wealth and prosperity to any who can best their dangers. We acquired many treasures from one on our way to this city, each of which was a true wonder.¡± The city lord nced up at Emona, mimicking her previous expression.


    Rather than waiting for them to prepare a demonstration, I quietly passed my staff over to Uvona. I couldn¡¯t feel a particrly strong mana or ki from her, and the natural energies seemed to distort around her body slightly, so I could assume that she was either a druid or a shaman. ¡°Mana.¡± I gave her a single word instruction, making sure to say it in elven.


    She grabbed the staff, looking at it and then myself, before closing her eyes in focus. There was an almost visible pulse of natural energies around her as the effect of the staff took hold, causing her expression to immediately shift to shock, her eyes and mouth opening in a silent gasp. When the staff fell from her hands, I reached out, making a small gust of wind push it into my hand.


    Uvona quickly turned her head and exined what the staff had done, boosting her ability to attune to nature. Naturally, this also caught the lord by surprise, who turned to look at the staff. His face seemed to hold a trace of rm at the idea that the staff came from a dungeon, but also curiosity.


    Immediately afterwards, him and Emona began exchanging notes, him asking about her experiences with dungeons. And, each quest held a ¡®tell the truth¡¯ use, ensuring that Emona couldn¡¯t lie and that the city lord could believe her words. Otherwise, if the quest did not sessfullyplete, he could think that we were servants of this evil god¡­ And I don¡¯t think any of us wanted that.

 Chapter 154: Strength in Numbers

    <h4>Chapter 154: Strength in Numbers</h4>


    The impromptu negotiations continued on for over an hour, the original goal of simple trantion lost to the two of them. Seeing this, Uvona and I could only shake our heads and continue the work on our own. Although we were interested in what was being exchanged between the two of them, they had long since stopped reading the scrolls out loud.


    After that hour of continued trantion, the two of us were taking longer and longer to exchange quest scrolls. Not because we were getting tired, or distracted, or anything like that. It was just bing harder toe up with new words that hadn¡¯t been tranted already. Eventually, the two of us began to simply go back over our notes, and attempted to hold a small conversation in each other¡¯snguage.


    Naturally, this didn¡¯t go all that well, and Unova identally insulted my mother, my sheep, and my hair on numerous asions. However, considering that just twenty four hours ago, she couldn¡¯t speak a single word of the beastkinnguage, it was a remarkable improvement.


    As I was thinking that, I received another divine whisper. To my surprise, this one was from Bihena. Dale, you should be careful down there¡­


    Uhm¡­ okay? Why? The vague warning was far too vague, so I really didn¡¯t know what to make of it.


    The west is dispatching an army. Bihena began to exin. They¡¯re using druids tounch a wide scale invasion and finally kick off their war. Right now, they are still gathering in secret, but word is already being spread through the Towers of Communication. Unfortunately, by the time the messages arrive, the invasion would have already begun.


    What are the numbersing to Cau Buhnga? And their overall strength? While I was having the conversation with Bihena, I stared down at the papers in front of me, as if I was trying toe up with another sentence for Uvona.


    They are cing a great value on Cau Buhnga due to its historical significance. One thousand troops will be dispatched to the city, led by ten pinnacle soldiers. The only city receiving a bigger force is the capital itself.


    I was briefly surprised when I heard her report, but soon it made sense. While a thousand soldiers might not seem like all that much to the other races, the elves had a far lower poption. In fact, the entire city of Cau Buhnga likely held less than even half of that. However, only ten people at the level limit¡­ That doesn¡¯t really seem enough to threaten us, does it?


    The entire beastkin group? No. But being a druid will make you a priority target. Your individual strength is low in this disguise, but your influence on the battlefield can¡¯t be underestimated. Furthermore, you are the strongest druid in the city. It wouldn¡¯t be unreasonable for all ten of the pinnacle soldiers to focus on you as soon as they discover your power.


    I felt a chuckle rise from my throat at that, a small smile tugging at my lips. Well then, I guess we¡¯d better put on a show for them? Thanks for the warning, Bihena. I¡¯ll fight through this battle carefully, and then once it¡¯s over I¡¯ll let the host take care of the rest.


    I could almost feel the surprise from Bihena in her response a momentter. You¡¯re nning to join the fight? Won¡¯t it be strange if you unlock any more of your power now?


    Maybe¡­ But I might not need to do that. Saying that, I looked towards Uvona, and asked in the elvennguage. ¡°Do you have any mines nearby?¡±


    Uvona tilted her head at the question. Although I had still used a heavy beastkin ent, it was still easy to understand. That itself didn¡¯t surprise her, as I had been ¡®picking up¡¯ thenguage rather quickly. What likely surprised her was the question itself.


    When she answered, it was still in elven, but she spoke slow enough to make sure that I¡¯d catch every word. ¡°South. Hour¡¯s walk. Why?¡±


    An hour¡¯s walk¡­ that should be going by a normal person¡¯s speed. So, roughly five kilometers. ¡°Can I use it?¡±


    Unova blinked curiously, before turning her head towards the city lord to ry the question. Since I had been speaking elven, he had heard what I wanted. ¡°How much?¡±


    I gave the question some thought, lowering my head before lifting up two fingers. ¡°Two swords.¡± This was probably the first time that I was thankful for Terra forcing me to learn cksmithing in my early days.


    ¡°We have it here. No need for mines.¡± The lord shook his head, looking to the guard behind him. ¡°Lead Tebor to the city¡¯s warehouse and let him have some of the copper.¡±


    ¡°Tebor, ye best be tellin¡¯ me what¡¯s goin¡¯ on! I can¡¯t understand a word yer sayin¡¯!¡± Emona turned to look at me, seeing that everyone else had suddenly started talking in elven.


    I switched back to the beastkinnguage and smiled at her. ¡°I¡¯m going to be making myself a new set of weapons. Word around town is that a fight¡¯sing.¡±


    What about me!? Leowynn huffed from within my spiritual realm.


    Don¡¯t worry, you¡¯ll be helping me out in this fight. But our normal tactics won¡¯t work, since my Spirit Hunter level is just too low for this. I can honestly say that I won¡¯t be able to do this without you, though.


    She seemed satisfied by that answer for now, smiling to herself and going quiet. Emona on the other hand, had her eyes open wide. ¡°A fight? D¡¯ya mean to say that a war¡¯s brewin¡¯ in thisnd?¡±


    I nodded my head to that, standing up to follow the guard. ¡°I¡¯ll be back by tonight. Please make sure that everyone is ready.¡± Emona froze up at the confirmation, but her face turned deadly serious a momentter, and she nodded her head.


    I had heard rumors from the Tower of Communication even as I walked to the docks to meet them earlier, so if anyone asked I could say that I recalled the words as I was tranting. I followed the elf guiding me until we came across a small building. Inside, I found that there was simply a staircase leading downwards, which further opened into a vast storage area.


    However¡­ this room which should have been lined with aisles of shelves, full of different materials and trade goods, seemed almost empty. It was undergoing a renovation, the shelves being dismantled and moved away, instead a few crates lined against a nearby wall. It seemed that they had learned from how we stored everything in quest scrolls, and were doing the same thing with their warehouse.


    Honestly, such a measure would be obvious, but only if you were worried about space. If, like was likely the case here, they simply never needed to worry about that, then the thought wouldn¡¯t cross their minds. However, now that they have seen how much more efficient it is, they are quickly moving to copy it.


    The elven guard led me towards one of the crates, which had the elven word for copper written on it. Without saying anything, he lifted the lid of the crate and pulled out two scrolls. He had seen that I was still ¡®learning¡¯ the elvennguage, so talking at this point wouldn¡¯t help either of us. Instead, he passed the scrolls to me with a silent nod, and escorted me out of the warehouse.


    Terra. I quickly sent a message to the most knowledgeable goddess in all thends.


    Stop trying to tter me. What¡¯s up? Bihena said you were being reckless.


    I chuckled slightly at that, moving towards the beach. Of course, this time I was going to be far enough away that I wouldn¡¯t be seen by Emona and the city lord. What¡¯s the minimum distance I¡¯d need to be to release my full power without being noticed?


    The question seemed to surprise her, and she fell silent for a long moment. The nearest ind you have a portal set up would almost be far enough¡­ To y it safe, I¡¯d go further, though.


    I could feel a sigh escape my lips when I heard her answer, happy that it would only take a couple of inds. If I wasn¡¯t able to fully escape detection even going all the way to where we discovered the reset fruit, then I¡¯d really be in trouble. Thanks. Also, for the record, not being reckless. I¡¯m just going against all levels ofmon sense.


    There was augh that echoed into my mind at that, but Terra offered no further answer. Once I got to the beach, I checked to make sure that nobody was nearby and opened a portal. Then, when I was through that portal, I opened another one¡­ each one carrying me to a further ind. Once I got to the fifth ind, I had decided that I went far enough.


    Since I had my privacy now, Leowynn appeared in front of me, forming a transparent body from her spiritual energy. ¡°What¡¯re we doing here, father?¡± She asked as she looked around. This particr ind didn¡¯t have any forests on it, and served as nothing but a ry point for our portals during the trip. It was just a wide valley rise above the ocean. At most, I¡¯d say it was six kilometers across, and shaped like a crescent moon.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to make myself a couple swords. Wanna watch?¡± When I asked that, Leowynn simply shrugged her shoulders, returning to my body to rest.


    Chuckling slightly to myself, I shook my head and took a deep breath. Immediately, a feeling of power exploded from my body, causing the ground to tremble around me when I unsealed all of my Keeper levels. When I opened the scrolls that I had been given, I said themand word to trigger the quest. ¡°Retrieve.¡±


    Immediately, several lumps of copper ore appeared in the air while the scrolls disintegrated into white light, and fell to the ground. However, just after they hit the grass, they began to lift up, hovering in the air under my control.


    I gathered my ki into my lycan nails, and pierced the palm of my left hand, drawing out ten drops of essence blood which fell to the ground as well. This time, I had to reach down and collect each drop as they solidified into tiny pellets. Finally¡­ as thest step for my preparations, I had to make a forge.


    Thankfully, this wasn¡¯t a problem at the moment, and I could easily make arge stone furnace by reshaping the ground in front of me. Once the furnace was made, I began the process of melting down the lumps of copper ore and removing the impurities.


    I knew I had no right to im to be the best cksmith in the world, or anywhere close. However, I knew tricks most people wouldn¡¯t be able to pull off so easily. Since each drop of essence blood required a thousand ki, it was still usable for some stronger monks, as long as they knew the trick. Especially since you didn¡¯t have to use the blood right away.


    However, there was a special trick to forging with essence blood, which I assumed only the dwarves had likely figured out by this point. I myself only knew of it because I had gone through the first tier of ki usage information offered by the market. It was that information that made me confident about the battleing up.


    Essence blood could be used during the forging process to create special items, much like the bow we had discovered which could fire off ki arrows. It was possible to create such things without the essence blood, but doing so would exponentially raise the difficulty. And I wasn¡¯t that confident in my forging abilities.


    I had considered using essence orbs instead, as they had a much greater effect, and could bring a qualitative change to any material that they were used on. However, that option was quickly eliminated due to my low strength. Any item forged with an essence orb would receive a drastic increase in weight, so I wouldn¡¯t even be able to lift one sword with the six strength I normally had.


    Once the copper had been properly melted, and the impurities removed, I dropped the ten essence bloods into the stone pot containing the liquid copper. The metal briefly glowed, and I used my druid abilities to stir the pot, mixing the blood with the copper. Then, I made a wide table of stone with two molds to pour the copper into.


    If I wanted to take the time, I could likely hammer the copper into shape with nothing but my fists, but I had neither the time nor patience to deal with that right now. So instead, I used the molds to quickly create the shape of two swords, making sure not to let either one cool enough to harden.


    When I was ready, I first moved to one of the molds and put my hand over it, closing my eyes. As the copper began to solidify, I had to guide the ki inside of it along a determined path. Following the information I learned from the system, I created this de with a single special ability. The more ki was pushed into it, the sharper its de became.


    With that taken care of, I allowed it to cool off a little more, and then began the process of shaping it into a proper de¡­ by punching it repeatedly. Every time I struck the red-hot sword, I receive a damage of over a hundred points. But each time, I was able to use the strength of my flesh as a cksmith¡¯s hammer.


    By the end, my fist was red and burnt, so I used the Cleric ss to call down divine energy and heal it. While I hadn¡¯t particrly trained in this ss, it was one of the easiest to get used to, and my hand healed fairly fast¡­ which meant it was time to work on the next one.


    For the second sword, I gave it a different ability. When ki was applied to it, the sword would be longer or shorter. Both had the same shape as a basic copper short sword, but their enhanced abilities would make them perfectly suited for fighting as a monk.


    So, we¡¯ll be using the patient monk, then? Leowynn asked, seeming to catch on to what I had intended with these two swords. The Patient Monk was another constetion in the Sky of the Mortal Pce.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Now¡­ let¡¯s get back and get ready to fight.¡± I said with a softugh, returning the stone furnace and tables that I had set up to the ground.

 Chapter 155: For This is War

    <h4>Chapter 155: For This is War</h4>


    When I returnedter to Cau Buhnga, I learned from Emona that the copper I took wasn¡¯tpletely without cost. Since I asked for enough to make a pair of weapons for myself, the city lord had used that as a mild bit of leverage to ask something else of Emona. While he didn¡¯t ask for any of the items we got from the dungeon, because to do so would bepletely ludicrous. Who would trade an item on the level of a national treasure for a few lumps of copper ore?


    Instead, he had asked Emona to request the crew to aid with the city¡¯s defense. Not specifically for theing war, because he still did not know about the invasion. No, the poption of Cau Buhnga had declined to the extent where monsters were bing an issue. There weren¡¯t enough people in the city for the wards to charge in time to deter monsters, so it was up to the city guards like the old days.


    In the lord¡¯s eyes, two hundred pinnacle ss warriors were nearly the equivalent of an entire kingdom¡¯s standing army. And given that twelve among them were druids, they likely wouldn¡¯t lose to a real army of thousands of lower quality troops.


    Given my previous warning to Emona, it seemed the she readily agreed to aid in the protection of the town. At least, that¡¯s how she exined it when she came back to my ceter.


    ¡°I figure, we can show our stuff in this fight.¡± Emona nodded as she leaned against the wall. ¡°Repelling an enemy force would draw us the attention of the higher ups in their kingdom. Could see ourselves using this chance to barter fornd of our own, in exchange for an alliance with the kingdom.¡±


    I shook my head slightly, setting the two swords down against the wall. At a nce, they seemed to be normal copper des, their handles bound in leather straps. Only if someone able to use ki were to inspect them would they discover their abilities. ¡°And what are we going to do if the western kingdom wants to ¡®hire¡¯ us, instead?¡±


    ¡°Aye.¡± Emona grinned, chuckling to herself. Her eyes practically glowed in the darkness. ¡°We canna¡¯ bite the hand that fed us. As long as this kingdom does no wrong by us, I¡¯ll not be having my crew do wrong by them. And Tebor, after this fight, can I have you be taking the captains to another ind for a bit?¡±


    When I nced at her quizzically, she simplyughed. ¡°The Kraken not be meant to fight onnd. I reckon that I¡¯ll be needing to make a new aeon for us to hold our own. And with the lessons I learned from the bigss upstairs, I believe I be knowing just what to make next.¡±


    My answer was just a small shrug. ¡°There¡¯s no harm in taking you, I guess. How long will it take to make a new aeon?¡±


    As I asked that, Emona¡¯s smile turned a bit more awkward. ¡°Well¡­ you see, about that¡­ I¡¯m not rightly sure. The Kraken took three days and nights, but it was the firstrge aeon that I made. I know what I¡¯m doing now, even if it was just by watching her. It shouldn¡¯t take longer than two¡­ I hope?¡±


    That brought a groan from me, and I shook my head. ¡°Okay, okay. I¡¯ll take you there and watch over you while you make your new Aeon.¡± And by that, I meant Tebor would take her and watch over her. I was just about done with this life, and ready to return to greener pastures, or better yet no pastures at all.


    Emona nodded in satisfaction, and then nced to the two swords. ¡°So, what did you do with those? Don¡¯t try to tell me that you just made a pair of normal des. You could have just bought them if that was the case.¡±


    I shook my head without answering, and motioned for her to try them. She looked at me curiously, before stepping over and grabbing the hilt of the extending sword. As soon as she did, she could feel the ki pathways inside of it, though likely didn¡¯t know what they were for. ¡°I see¡­¡± She grinned, and poured a small amount of ki into the weapon. The de grew by a small two inches before retreating back to its normal form. ¡°Aye, that¡¯ll be useful. The other one the same?¡±


    ¡°No. The other one gets sharper. One to deal with armored enemies, and one to deal with people that won¡¯t let me close in on them.¡±


    Emona gave another brief nod as she heard that. ¡°I see. Well, I best be heading back now. If what you said is true, I¡¯ll be needing a good rest.¡±


    After Emona left, I decided to get some rest as well, since the battle tomorrow would be my first chaotic melee. I had acted in the massacre of a swarm of halflings back during the war between them and the centaurs, but that was a far more distant struggle. Although their screams were still heart-rending, it was not as bad as I imagine a melee fight to be.


    So I slept. And the next day, I stood on the walls of the city with the two swords on my back. Since most of the monsters that typically attacked the city were weaker, butrge in number, it was the druids that had been tasked with defending the walls on the first day. This was perhaps a blessing to us.


    When the horns of war sounded, I was casually entombing a charging boar, the loud noise catching my ear. Yes, this was a literal horn of war¡­ but it wasn¡¯t blown by the elves. In the distance, near the center of the city, I saw Soru standing atop one of the houses, arge horn in his hand.


    Beneath him, the streets were suddenly swarming with armored soldiers, all pouring forth from a series of portals that had sprung forth through fire, fire that covered the base of the city lord¡¯s ¡®pce¡¯. The fire became a door that allowed the invading force to appear directly in the center of the town. Not a bad idea¡­


    After filing away that little piece of information, I drew the ¡®sharp¡¯ sword from my back and jumped down from the walls. As I fell, I could hear Leowynn¡¯s excited voice. I manifest the Patient Monk!


    Leowynn¡¯s spiritual energy could be felt flowing along my arms, forming the familiar gauntlets on each hand. This time, the star pattern appeared to form a man sitting with his legs crossed. When I hit the ground, I used a burst of ki to propel myself forward, towards the armored troops. It was here that I learned one of the special skills of the Scout ss¡­


    Anyone who I had seen before as a friendly was mentally marked as a ¡®blue¡¯ target. However, the invading forces were instead marked as ¡®red¡¯ targets. While this would not help you root out spies, in arge scale battle like this, it helped greatly to be able to differentiate friendly units. Of course, there were bound to be guards that I simply never saw because of limited time and scheduling, but for the most part it helped me narrow down who to slice.


    Especially when the first red target noticed me, and my lycan characteristics. ¡°Monster!¡± He cried out in the elven tongue, pointing at me to draw the attention of his allies. They were all fairly weak, mostly less than one hundred, but there were at least a dozen of them that charged towards me with swords and spears.


    ¡°Cut them.¡± I muttered quietly, and I could feel ki being pushed into the de of the sword. This was the Patient Monk, Leowynn¡¯s ability to convert her own spiritual energy into ki. Although it was a bad conversion rate, it wasn¡¯t nearly as bad as trying to do so normally.


    From this group of twelve, I couldn¡¯t feel any particrly powerful ki or mana, so they were likely mostly warriors. As I lifted the handle of the sword, the de cleanly split apart one of the weapons that had been aiming towards me. However, a momentter I simply vanished, appearing behind them.


    Fighting one against many is a foolish idea, even when you have an advantage in strength. So, I had begun to scatter chakra threads as soon as I began my charge, using the Thousand Arms, Ten Thousand Threads ability to appear in their blindspot after delivering my first strike. With another burst of ki, I split the bodies of two of them from behind.


    Although the sword swept through them as if there were no resistance, the sight of their blood and guts spilling out as they fell to the floor was almost nauseating. Jumping backwards, I created a fireball above my head and threw it down at the remaining warriors. I had to turn my head away as they screamed in pain, none of them having a technique to quickly put out the fires.


    However, that disy also caught someone¡¯s attention. I felt a presence lock onto me, and traveled along one of my threads without hesitation. At the spot where I had been standing, a spear of ice prated into the ground from above. ncing around, I found a ¡®red¡¯ target on a nearby building, this one a level two hundred and fifty target.


    Mage, or elementalist? The mana that I had felt was strong, but I couldn¡¯t rule out the possibility of an advanced ss. The enemy sneered at me, raising his hand and creating ten sets of spell diagrams in the air. Okay, definitely a mage!


    While an elementalist could do this as well, it would be easier for them to create a powerful effect with a single spell. But a person specializing in the mage ss would also unlock more powerful spells through the system, such as the ice spears that were flying right now.


    Father, should I-- Leowynn started to suggest something, before I once again moved into action. My mana was not particrly high right now, so I could not control my chakra threads for long. Instead, I made a pir of earth rise beneath me, shooting me into the air above where the ten ice spears wereunched.


    Switching the ¡®sharp¡¯ sword to my left hand, I pulled the extendable de out with my right. ¡°Pierce.¡± I spoke as I wasunched through the air, several meters above the enemy mage. Leowynn seemed to understand my intention, and poured ki into the de. Unlike when Emona tried it, the de of the sword grew explosively, instantly crossing the meters of distance to stab into the shoulder of the mage.


    His health bar appeared above him, showing that I had taken off a solid chunk of it, and his second volley of casting was interrupted by the pain. I smiled, twisting the de slightly to increase the pain he was experiencing while also having Leowynn return the de to its normal size. Since it was lodged inside the body of the mage, that pulled me rapidly closer to it.


    ¡°Cut.¡± I called out again, just as I saw the mage¡¯s eyes widen in horror. As soon as I descended on him, the sharp sword cleaved his body in half. His health bar didn¡¯t decline, it simply disappeared. Without the ability to focus on a defensive spell, a mage is no harder to kill than a low level warrior.


    One down. Leowynn called out, clearly much more excited about this than I was. I looked down at my two bloodstained swords, and took several deep breaths, my vision seeming to distort momentarily. However, soon I felt another presence lock onto me, and acted on reflex, stepping through another thread.


    There was a low tsk from another building, just barely audible over the screams of fighting below. When I turned to look, an archer stood there, in his hands a bow asrge as his body. At his side was a quiver full ofrge arrows, one of which had just pierced the air where I was standing. Like the mage, this was another of the ten pinnacle soldiers, this one an archer.


    ¡°The hunter¡­¡± I called out quietly, putting the swords back in their straps on my back as I kept an eye on the archer in front of me. The gauntlets immediately disappeared from my hands as the enemy pulled another arrow.


    I manifest the Hunter! Leowynn called out, but this time much more reluctantly. This wasn¡¯t a power that she liked to use very much, but it was the only one likely to reach this enemy. By now, the other eight pinnacle soldiers should be fighting against the rest of Emona¡¯s crew, so as long as I took care of this one, it would just be a matter of sweeping the rest away.


    What formed in my hands this time wasn¡¯t a pair of gauntlets, but a longbow, as well as a single arrow. This made the archer¡¯s eyes widen slightly, and he quickly released the arrow he had been holding. I stepped through another thread, and nocked my own arrow, firing it at the enemy archer.


    Naturally, if I could dodge his arrow, he could dodge mine as well. But, that is why I chose to have Leowynn manifest the hunter, and not the archer. Although I only get one arrow with the hunter¡­ it is a tracking arrow. Guided by Leowynn¡¯s spiritual energy, it turned around in midair, flying towards the enemy archer from behind just as hended back on his feet.


    I winced at the loud sound of the arrow piercing flesh, and even Leowynn let out a small whimper as she felt the soul of the struck victim being drained into the arrow. It was not an instant kill, so the archer let out a roar of pain, reaching back to snap the arrow in half. However, this only made the tip of the arrowhead burrow more deeply into his skin.


    Without the ability to remove the arrowhead, his health bar constantly drained down, his screams bing more and more painful to hear. Until finally, thest drop of his soul had been sucked into Leowynn¡¯s arrow, and he fell to the ground dead. At that moment, Leowynn returned to my spiritual realm, and I could tell that she didn¡¯t want to be disturbed right now.


    I¡¯ll be here when you want to talk¡­ I sent my thoughts to her quietly, and she visibly flinched in response, as if the slightest sound was enough to startle her now. Taking a deep breath, I looked around the rest of the city. The red targets were disappearing rapidly, each one being found and taken out by either a local guard or a member of the beastkin crew. Seeing that, there was no reason for me to stay anymore, and I silently returned to the Admin Room.

 Chapter 156: A River of Tiers

    <h4>Chapter 156: A River of Tiers</h4>


    When I got back to the Admin Room, I didn¡¯t even care to read through the level notifications that I had received, simply sitting at the edge of my bed. My eyes stared at the floor, trying to remove the image of the bloodstained swords, of me cutting people in half. Leowynn wasn¡¯t much better, and didn¡¯t choose toe out for a while.


    Faintly, I could hear footsteps approaching my bedroom door. However, their owner suddenly stopped, turning around and leaving with more care than they hade. I couldn¡¯t be bothered to think about what they had wanted right now, my fists balling up in myp.


    I had fought before, when I trained against the nt monster. When I led the centaurs to burn the halflings. But this was the first time that I had done such a closebat with an actual person. I could still smell the burning flesh, hear their screams as they died, and it only made me remember the halflings again.


    After a while, I heard a faint voice from inside of me. Father¡­ I¡¯m ready to talk. As she said that, Leowynn slowly left my body, appearing in her tangible form next to me. Her arms lightly wrapped around my own, and she leaned her body against mine.


    I expected her to talk about what had happened, to say that she never wanted to do it again. Part of me even expected her to change her mind, and ask to be a goddess so that she wouldn¡¯t be forced into that situation again. However, that¡¯s not what she did.


    Leowynn spoke not of the events that had just happened in Cau Buhnga, but of her life before she died. She told me stories seemingly at random. From how her mother had trained her to how corrupt nobles kept trying to court her. She had killed her own people before, as she told me of her duties as one of the queen¡¯s royal knights. Criminals and usurpers, or those who wanted to kill the daughter of the goddess.


    I don¡¯t know how long we spoke, but gradually I felt my mind start to calm with the distraction. As I listened to her, I gave some thought to what I had done myself, in preparation. I had to make sure that everything wasid out, such that my efforts would not backfire and harm the rtionship between the beastkin and the elves.


    The swords were fairly easy to exin. Anyone who had reached the level limit would soon learn that there was nothing to stop them from really training as another ss, outside of the loss of stats. I as a druid and spirit tamer could not have trained as a warrior, because my strength was abysmal. Same with a mage, because of my low mana.


    A production ss, however, can be trained by anyone at the level limit. The requirements on the physical body aren¡¯t so harsh, so it would be amon choice to temper oneself as a cksmith, a carpenter, or even an architect once one¡¯s body couldn¡¯t grow further. As for the swords, they could easily be exined by studying items found in dungeons. I didn¡¯t have to worry there.


    The biggest issue of all would be how I knew a fight wasing. However, that wouldn¡¯t be for me to exin, as I wasn¡¯t the biggest suspect. It was Emona who had set Soru with the hollowed horn to warn of an attack. So naturally, it would be her that would have to answer the questions. She could push the me off to me, but Tebor still had the excuse of hearing the rumors around town and feeling the need to prepare.


    Think, think¡­ did I leave a loose end. The forge I used to craft the swords had been destroyed. I didn¡¯t leave behind any essence blood. Everything had a proper exnation, a way to make it at least somewhat believable.


    At some point while I was thinking to myself, Leowynn had stopped talking. Looking over to her, I found that she had fallen asleep against me. Smiling softly, I gently pulled my arm from her grasp andid her down on the bed. Almost immediately, she brought her knees up and hugged them close to her, curling into a little ball on the bed.


    I stood up from the bed, moving to offer her some quiet by leaving the room. She could easily find me as soon as she woke up, so I wasn¡¯t too worried. Once outside the room, I found someone leaning against the wall at the end of the hall, waiting for me. To my surprise, it was the winged angel of death, Irena.


    She had a gentle look on her face as she watched me, having likely been the one who I had heard approaching the door before. ¡°Is she alright?¡± Irena asked softly when I approached her. I offered a small nod, and she gave a sigh of relief. ¡°Good. The others asked me to give you the report on the Fairy Gate.¡±


    ¡°How long do they think it will take toplete?¡± It wasn¡¯t surprising that Irena was involved in the gate¡¯s production, since one of the requirements was spiritual energy. None of the gods or goddesses couldpare with her when it came to that field.


    However, Irena simply shook her head at my question. ¡°We can¡¯t make it yet, Dale. I can only imagine what the requirements would have been if you didn¡¯t get those other ores. Even with them, we need tier three knowledge for natural energy, spiritual energy, ki, and mana. The only conditions that we meet right now are the materials, and the divine energy of one with a domain that can connect spaces.¡±


    I knew right away that she must have meant Aurivy, as she had used her Travel domain on more than one asion to help me cross vast distances in an instant. ¡°So there¡¯s nothing that we can do to prepare?¡±


    Irena again shook her head. ¡°What little symbols Ryone already knows have already beenid out in preparation. Aside from that, Tubrock is using his golems to produce the pieces that can be forged. Each one has to be individually enchanted before they can be put together, with Aurivy using her energy to connect them all as one.¡±


    ¡°So it will take quite a while¡­¡± I gave a slight sigh at that. I had hoped it¡¯d be done sooner, so that we could connect the worlds before they grew too much. But now, it seems like we¡¯ll have to wait. It might even be that once we connect the three worlds, with Earth having tier three knowledge in the various fields, we will immediately register for the games.


    If that happens, we¡¯ll still have a hundred days to settle everything and get the worlds to work together¡­ but if we can¡¯t do that, then we might be in trouble. But if we wait until Earth is ready for the games first, the situation Terra warned us about coulde up, and we get thrown against an enemy we can¡¯t handle.


    Terra, what level do people have to be to unlock the third tier techniques of their respective sses? I sent a message out as I considered the problem, wondering if there was some way I could help.


    Level one to fifty has first tier techniques. Terra began to exin in a patient tone. I remember the first second tier spells started showing up right after the mage ss hit level fifty. From fifty-one to one hundred and fifty is all second tier techniques. Third tier starts at level one hundred and fifty one. Right now, out of all of the inhabitants of the world, only two warriors, one mage, and a single bard have crossed that threshold due to the level restriction.


    A mage, huh? Part of me was curious, now. I thanked Terra for the information, and then sent a message to Ryone. Terra told me that there is a third-tier mage in the world. Would you like to give me a demonstration of new magic?


    As soon as the message ended, I felt something shift next to me. Irena, who was still standing quietly in front of me, let out a startled gasp when Ryone suddenly appeared. ¡°Sure! I hadpletely forgotten about that, since you had that big voyage and everything.¡±


    There was a broad grin on Ryone¡¯s face as she shifted the two of us to her typical training grounds, which seemed to have even more random spell diagrams etched into the ground. ¡°So¡­ this third one is actually really interesting, as it kind of breaks the logic behind previous spells.¡±


    I looked at her curiously while she happily exined it, but then she stopped and looked back at me. ¡°It¡¯ll be easier to just show you. Right now, the best mage has unlocked just one third-tier spell from the system, so it¡¯s all I really have to show right now.¡±


    Saying that, Ryone turned away and aimed a hand at the far all. ¡°Third-tier spells have their power and range increased several times above second tier, and also allow another degree ofplexity.¡±


    In the air above Ryone¡¯s head, a giant spell diagram began to take shape. Unlike a second tier spell which typicallybined multiple ovepping diagrams, this only had one. However, its size and detail were enormous, and it seemed to beposed of severalyers itself, all in one. An outer circle, an inner circle, and a middle one.


    Furthermore, there were ten glowing spheres located throughout the outer circle, evenly spaced apart. Each one seemed to beposed of various individual patterns all merged together. ¡°Like the first first tier magic spell, and the first second tier magic spell, this is another fire-element spell. Its name is ¡®Sunbeam¡¯.¡±


    When Ryone finished her exnation, a pir of burning light shot out from the spell diagram above her head, crashing against the far wall. Even though the wall was over a hundred meters away, I could still feel the ground shake where we were standing. I even had a feeling that I¡¯d take a lot of damage from that spell if I had my full Keeper powers unlocked. Not enough to kill me outright, but definitely enough to threaten me.


    ¡°Sunbeam¡¯s range is three hundred meters, before it begins to disperse. At five hundred meters, it loses all effectiveness.¡± Ryone turned to me with a smile, the spell diagram above her head blinking out of existence. ¡°As for the logic it breaks, I¡¯m sure you noticed. It includes three dimensional symbols in its construction, which has not been used in any previous spellcasting.¡±


    I gave a small nod as I heard that, unable to refrain from asking. ¡°What¡¯s the destructive capabilities of the spell?¡±


    Ryone tilted her head in thought as she considered that. ¡°It¡¯s hard to say. The mage who unlocked it hasn¡¯t used it against anything that could survive more than one hit. At the very least, I know that it can take out a level two hundred monster in a single shot. The problem casting it is itsplexity. He can¡¯t use it without the system¡¯s guidance because it is tooplicated to properly picture.¡±


    ¡°Given its mana consumption, however, it should be able to deal massive damage. In order to fire the spell once, it requires a minimum of ten thousand mana. Even the best mage in the world is only able to cast it twice before running out.¡±


    Ten thousand mana for a single spell? I began to think about the first tier ki information that I had bought, and how a single essence orb required fifteen thousand ki to create. However, the two were fundamentally different, as essence orbs could be created and saved forter, making the ki spent less valuable byparison.


    I gave a small nod of my head as I considered the value of the spell. ¡°Can you make a model of it for me to study? If I descend as a ¡®great mage¡¯ in the future, something like that coulde in handy.¡±


    Ryone smiled and easily agreed to that request. ¡°Alright! Terra¡¯s been teaching me how to create information orbs, so this should be a good test. Can¡¯t really draw out a three dimensional diagram on a piece of paper so urately, and a physical model would be too cumbersome. I¡¯ll try to have the information orb to you some time tonight.¡±


    Thanking her, I turned and left the underground training area. I needed to check up on the other worlds, see how they were really doing now.

 Chapter 157: The Demon’s Hope

    <h4>Chapter 157: The Demon¡¯s Hope</h4>


    Ashley, you free to meet up? Would like to check in and see how Desbar¡¯s doing. Given that Udona¡¯s world had just gotten started, I wanted to at least give her enough time to get used to everything while I checked on Ashley¡¯s world first. Besides, I hadn¡¯t really seen anything from her world myself, aside from the rather hastily made movie they put together. And I¡¯d rather not get all my education of Desbar like that¡­


    Thankfully, Ashley agreed to meet, and had me head to her room. When I arrived, I was a bit surprised that it looked like a small apartment. There was a small kitchen just inside the door, a living room, and a hallway that led back towards what I had to guess were bedrooms and bathrooms. Probably the apartment that she lived in before.


    Ashley was sitting on the couch in the living room, holding aptop on herp. When I walked in, she gave me a smile and a nod, waving me over to sit next to her. The back cushion of the couch, at the base where it met the bottom cushion, had been hollowed out all along it, just thick enough that Ashley¡¯s tail couldfortably rest behind her or circle around her waist.


    ¡°So, you here to collect the points I have leftover?¡± Ashley asked, somewhat yfully.


    ¡°Nope.¡± I quickly shook my head. ¡°Those are yours to use as you see fit. I just wanted to check in on the ce, and see how everything¡¯s doing.¡±


    Ashleyughed lightly, nodding her head. ¡°Well, nothing much has changed since your little break during the trip. I¡¯ve kept the world at a normal flow of time. However, they did just end theirtest world war.¡±


    As she spoke, Ashley opened up theptop, and then ced her index and middle finger from both hands on the top corners of the screen. When she lifted her hands up, she pointed outwards. Arge projection of a map appeared in midair just in front of the wall, a map of Desbar. ¡°Right now, there¡¯s three main political powers. Funny enough, they each have their own little version of me that they worship, which leads to most of their conflict.¡±


    On the map were four continents, taking up nearly half of the¡¯s surface, a bit more than the original Earth. Two of the continents were colored white, one red, and one yellow. ¡°First, let¡¯s go over the Lenan Union.¡± As Ashley began, the two white continents lit up. They were both quiterge, and positioned closest together of the four.


    ¡°They are a matriarchy, viewing me as an ancestral figure and the first of our kind. To them, fire and technology are one and the same, as there could be no technology without the most basic fire. The fires I brought thawed the world, and led them into an age of wonder. Out of the three, they are the most technologically advanced, holding a definite superiority over the two. However, purely in terms of military capacity, they are spread out too thin, leaving them open for attacks.¡±


    Next, the white continents dimmed, and the red ones lit up. ¡°Then there is the Asharan Republic. Their view of me is more brutal. I wield the mes of destruction, mustering the power of war. Their military strength is by far the most abundant, with roughly half of their citizens being trained in the use of firearms. Thisst war was caused by them trying to take over one of Lenan¡¯s continents in my name, with the other two groups having to join forces to push them back.¡±


    Again, the red continent dimmed, and finally the yellow one lit up. ¡°And thest is the States of Nemra. A coalition of smaller country-sized groups that came together under one name and g. While they aren¡¯t the most powerful in terms of firepower or politics, they have a nice blend of the two. In fact, they¡¯re on their way now to establishing something like the inte, though it¡¯s probably a few years away.¡±


    I gave a sigh of relief as she spelled out the information without any dramatic retellings like I knew Aurivy would have. ¡°What about technology? Is there anything that you would really call unique to them?¡±


    That question caused Ashley to fall silent, thinking it over. ¡°Their firearms can be considered unique. When flying, they can¡¯t swing a sword, so rangedbat has always been the norm. The onlymon melee weapons, even in distant times, were ded boots. Rarely, someone would armor their tail, but that didn¡¯t happen often.¡±


    As she spoke, the map of the world vanished, to be reced by a model on the screen. The model appeared to be a rather typical demon male, his arms at his sides with his wings spread out. ¡°You saw how their bows were constructed in the movie before. They are made to fire straight ahead, rather than shooting in a sideways stance. That¡¯s also because of their flight. If they tried to turn to the side to fire, then they would be shooting at their own wings, or else be thrown off bnce.¡±


    ¡°Guns are the same way.¡± The model extended its arm forward, and the view of it moved to the side to give a clearer image. On its arm was a long metallic object, roughly four inches wide and stretching along the entire length of his arm, with a short barrel at the wrist. At the model¡¯s elbow was a joint which allowed the weapon to bend.


    ¡°A demon¡¯s gun is arranged like this. When the arm is bent, it¡¯s the same as the safety being on, and the gun can¡¯t fire. Extra magazines can also be held in the lower bicep area, and can be reloaded quickly by fully bending the arm inwards. With the arm fully extended, they can fire through a trigger held in the palm.¡±


    ¡°Since they can¡¯t as easily line up their shots, their uracy tends to suffer with these weapons, but that is not a weakness when fighting demons. Even just one shot to a wing can be fatal if you hit one of them flying, and we have a veryrge wingspan.¡±


    I nodded as I processed the information. ¡°Did they nevere up with the means to heal a damaged wing?¡± I had honestly thought that would have been the first thing that the demons tried to remedy.


    ¡°Well¡­ yes and no.¡± Ashley shook her head as she did her best to exin. ¡°If it is the skin of the wing that is damaged, it can typically be repaired by a skin graft. If time is less important, a salve can also be applied to stimte healing. If it¡¯s the bone, though¡­ Our wings have such thin bones that they are extremely difficult to properly heal. Most broken wings end in an amputation.¡±


    ¡°Thanks to this, flying isn¡¯t the only widely epted means of travel anymore. They developed cars fitted for their body types, and ¡®handicap¡¯ essible doors are at the base of any building. Though, this also led to an obesity problem, especially in Nemra. Once a demon bes overweight, their wings can no longer support them in flight, so they can only drive the cars around instead.¡±


    A soft chuckle escaped my lips as I thought about that, and nodded my head again. ¡°What about the entertainment industry?¡± If I was going to bring Desbar into the foldter, it would help if they had a rather solid foundation to build on.


    ¡°You mean video games? They¡¯ve been a thing for nearly fifty years now. Especially in Lenan, where the technology is typically at least a year or two ahead of the others. They might not have big online games yet, since Nemra hasn¡¯t finished creating their inte, but I imagine it won¡¯t take long for them to catch on once they see it.¡±


    That earned another brief nod from me, but I raised a hand to let Ashley know that I was focusing. A thought had urred to me. Terra, what would happen if I try to visit Desbar or Deckan? I wouldn¡¯t keep my strength from Earth, would I?


    If I did, that would be entirely unfair to anyone from the other two worlds, and something I doubt that the system would overlook. And sure enough, a lightugh soon answered my question. No, Dale, you wouldn¡¯t. At least, not before they¡¯re connected. You would have a normal demon body, with the greatest strengths any normal demon body could have. If you went to Deckan, you¡¯d have the best body determined by the number of stat cards people had obtained. If someone managed to get two Strength cards, you¡¯d have two extra strength.


    I figured as much¡­ but this also made those two worlds far more dangerous for me to visit. In Earth, I could be treated as nearly invincible with how the game system was set up, if I decided to use my full power. But in those two worlds, there wouldn¡¯t be a full power for me to seal or unseal. What about taking items between worlds? Or would that be restricted as well?


    That depends on the item itself. If it is something that can¡¯t exist without the system from its home world supporting it, then you won¡¯t be able to take it. For example, you could take your enchanted sword, but not a quest scroll to Deckan. Likewise, you wouldn¡¯t be able to take a spell card from Deckan to either Desbar or Earth until the gates are set up. Thankfully, the gates themselves do not rely on a single particr system to achieve their effect, so we will be able to ce them in all three worlds to connect them without a problem.


    I let out a sigh of relief when I heard that. If it turned out that we couldn¡¯t take items with material mined from Deckan to the other two worlds, then we wouldn¡¯t be able to use the Fairy Gates at all. That would have been a lot of wasted points. Nodding slightly, I turned my head towards Ashley and smiled, letting her know I was done with my mental conversation. ¡°Anything else important?¡±


    Ashley gave it some thought again, and then nodded. ¡°Right now, I¡¯ve set both Asharan and Lenan¡¯s cultural goals to be something I¡¯ve had an issue with for a long time. Like I said before, the wings are a critical weak spot of any demon. So until the goal is met, both countries are aimed towards finding a way to cover that weakness. Either through a lightweight armor, or something else. That¡¯s probably why Nemra got ahead of Lenan in creating the inte, because they were distracted with this.¡±


    I felt my eyes open wide in surprise as I looked towards the screen, where the map had previously been disyed. ¡°Have they made any progress?¡±


    Unfortunately, Ashley let out a sigh, shaking her head. ¡°There have been a lot of prototype armors, but anything that could cover the wing at its full span is either too stiff to allow flight, or too heavy. The best that they coulde up with was an armored cape to wear over the wings when they are pulled in. They can¡¯t even use shields, because any shield able to block enough to protect their wings would be too heavy to even lift, let alone fly with.¡±


    I tried to imagine someone carrying a tower shield six meters wide, and couldn¡¯t help but nod in agreement. ¡°That will make things difficult for them, at least until they have ess to magic. Though I wonder if their bodies will be too heavy to fly if they train as a warrior.¡±


    That thought made me imagine the demons as a widely magical race once they get the game system. Since even the archer ss added stats to strength, it would make it hard for demons to fly. Though, I imagine they could get something like a sniper ss that doesn¡¯t.


    Ashley nced at me curiously while I sank into thought. ¡°Just when are you nning on doing all of that? I can send the world ahead a few dozen more years if need be.¡±


    ¡°Not yet.¡± I shook my head, offering a smile to her as I said that. ¡°Not until we at least have the gates ready. Once those are in ce, we¡¯ll probably be pushed straight into the games, so let¡¯s make sure that everything is ready first.¡± Hell, right now even Earth wasn¡¯t at the level of strength it needed to be yet, to say nothing of the other two.


    Thanking Ashley for her information, I got up and made my way out of her room. It was time to check in on Udona, and see what Deckan was like.

 Chapter 158: All the Time to Duel

    <h4>Chapter 158: All the Time to Duel</h4>


    It didn¡¯t take me very long at all to find my way to the door to Udona¡¯s room. A part of me remembered back when I was visiting the Admin Room during my voyage, when they mentioned that she had ¡®redecorated¡¯ her room¡­ Well, now or never.


    Opening the door, the first thing I thought when I got inside was quite simple¡­ Soft¡­ The entire floor of Udona¡¯s ¡®room¡¯ was covered in nkets. No, to call it a room wouldn¡¯t be urate anymore. She had done more than simply redecorate, she had expanded. Her area was a hill of nkets, atop which sat what I assume was meant to be a log cabin.


    Only, the cabin itself was made entirely out of pillows. Stacked pillows, held together by some unimaginable force to form the walls and ceiling. Even the door was a tall, wide body pillow. Each pillow and each nket had a variety of mixed patterns. Some were nk white, some were a dark color, others had patterns of flowers or rivers.


    ¡°Well¡­ this is interesting.¡± I said to myself, ncing around to see if there were any other changes. At first, I didn¡¯t particrly notice the sky, because it seemed fairly normal. However, upon closer inspection, I realized that it was actually just a massive television screen that covered the horizon of her littlendscape.


    Aurivy must really love it here. As I thought that, I moved towards the pillow-door of the log cabin. I considered knocking, but just how much noise would knocking on a pillow really generate? ¡°Udona, you in there?¡±


    ¡°Hmm? Oh! Dale! Yeah, sure,e on in.¡± Udona called out from inside, seeming surprised by the sudden intrusion. Taking the invitation, I walked inside, where unsurprisingly I found everything to once again be made of either pillows or nkets. The wallpaper along the pillow walls were simply nkets hung up, the chairs wererge fluffed pillows big enough to sit on. Perhaps the only thing different was the TV screen I saw.


    Udona¡¯s cabin only had one room, so it was easy to see everything at once. In one corner, there was a pillow table with pillow chairs, and in another was a bundle of pillows arranged like a nest, which I assumed was the bed. In the center of the room, perhaps the most ordinary feature, was a pillow fort. A pillow fort within a pillow house atop a mountain of nkets.


    And in front of the pillow fort¡¯s one opening was arge, wide-screen television that had a scene from some television show I didn¡¯t recognize paused. Seeing that I knew Udona was inside, but couldn¡¯t see her, I walked towards the pillow fort. ¡°Sorry about popping in like this, but I wanted to get an update on your world.¡±


    Sure enough, Udona poked her head of golden hair out through the opening of the pillow fort. Aside from when we were ying Keeper¡¯s Cards before, this was perhaps the most awake I had ever seen her, her eyes wide and shining. ¡°Oh? Didn¡¯t expect you toe around about that for a while yet. Well, thankfully I have learned a few interesting things, though the world itself is still in the stone age.¡±


    As she said that, she pulled her head back into the fort, and stuck a hand out to usher me in. Raising an eyebrow, as the pillow fort was clearly not big enough for two, I moved closer. Once I lowered my head and squatted down to crawl into the fort, I was surprised to find that it led into a ratherrge room.


    This room appeared more like a theater than anything else, and one not made of either pillows or nkets. Rows of seats sat facing me, Udona in the front row at the very middle. The entrance that I was crawling through seemed to be the viewing window for the television in front of the fort.


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll hand it to you. This is creative.¡± I muttered, moving to sit in one of the seats next to her. ¡°So, you were saying?¡±


    ¡°Ah, right.¡± Udona nodded, seeming a bit distracted. ¡°Sorry, I was organizing something.¡± She lifted a hand, inside of which was a remote, and pressed a button. On the screen outside the fort, which now looked positively massive, the anime scene faded. Instead, there was a rather ordinary-looking,rge wolf frozen in time walking through a forest.


    ¡°So! I have been spending thest couple days researching into the possibilities and limitations behind the systems we set up Deckan with. And I¡¯ve found a few things. Tricky little secrets, hidden away behind the system¡¯s exnation of the cards.¡± Udona grinned mischievously, as if she were a child solving a mystery.


    ¡°First, the cards that are dropped from the bodies of the dead are not really random at all! Well, they are in a way, but not as one might expect. Take a look at this.¡± She hit another button on the remote, and an information panel appeared in front of the wolf.


    Feral Wolf


    Soul Elements: Fire, Shield, Sphere, Summon, Fusion, Agility


    ¡°See? Those soul elements are the big secret, that you won¡¯t even notice until after you buy the system. Every creature, man and beast, has random soul elements when they are born. The higher on the list the element is, the more likely you will get that card. For example, killing this wolf would most likely give the Fire element card.¡±


    ¡°But that¡¯s not all. The way the cards are captured are quite ingenious. In Deckan, I noticed that there is a peculiar new energy type, one that doesn¡¯t exist on Earth. It is found in all things, and suffers none of the typical rejection that other energies exhibit. However, I haven¡¯t found any way to merge it with mana yet. So it might be a solitary element like divine energy.¡±


    ¡°Anyways! What this energy represents seems to be space as a concept. Whenever someone wishes to store an item, and that item is neither too heavy for their control, nor attended by someone else, the energy warps that item into a small pocket space, leaving behind the card as the ¡®key¡¯. Once someone wishes to release what is inside, the card opens the pocket space and deposits the item once again.¡±


    ¡°Now, when the object to be stored is a recently deceased creature, the process of storing the card has a chance to carve out one of the creature¡¯s soul elements while it is being stored. The storing process itself destroys all of the soul elements, so the only way to make use of it is on the first try. But if it works, that element is carved out and stored in its own special space.¡±


    As she spoke, the scene of the wolf shifted, and a card appeared to cover the screen. There was no writing on the card, just an image of fire. ¡°I¡¯m surenguage will be added in once people develop an understanding of it themselves, but that is what the fire element card looks like now.¡±


    ¡°That card connects to a separate space, which generates a magical energy until full. Once full, the energy can be used to call out the element of magic, and either add it to a sequence for a spell, or be used in its raw form. Once depleted, the magic takes time to recharge.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to properly gauge the mana costs, since they don¡¯t have such clearly defined mana numbers as on Earth, but if I had to guess, the cards only use about one tenth of the mana that a simr spell would take on Earth. On the other hand, the inhabitants of Deckan can only expand their mana pool through training manually, since they don¡¯t gain levels. Unless they get the extremely rare Comprehension card.¡±


    It took me several long moments to process all of the information she had rapidly exined. And when I had finished, I saw her looking at me with a smile, as if expecting to be praised. ¡°You really put a lot of work into your research, don¡¯t you?¡±


    Udona chuckled lightly, nodding her head. ¡°I¡¯ve been sending in incarnations and constantly fast forwarding until their deaths. Each lifetime takes about a minute, and then I spent a while studying the information. For your information, I¡¯ve only ever found one Comprehension card. With it, I was able to gain mana roughly equal to a tenth level mage, after several years of mana training.¡±


    Well, at least it was a relief that those cards were so rare. If stat cards actually became moremon, then the people of Deckan would grow even stronger than the ones on Earth! And that¡¯s before they even get any game system. ¡°Alright, anything else you can tell me?¡± I nced towards her, having a feeling that there was more to this.


    ¡°Well, there is a little. Since I am able to identify the possible soul elements in a target, I can easily hunt down the cards I want. I¡¯ve found out how fusion spells work. Like normal magic cards, they hold a dimensional space, constantly filling with energy. However, a card that has been through fusion has arger space, growing bigger with every card sacrificed in the fusion. This means that it takes longer to fill up, has a higher mana cost, but also that it is more powerful.¡±


    ¡°As a drastic example¡­ Ibined neen fire cards into one with the help of two fusion cards. Each has a limit of ten cards to fuse, see? Anyways, neen is the absolute limit. Because third tier cards aren¡¯t unlocked, trying to put in one more after that causes the card to explode, which killed that incarnation¡­¡±


    ¡°But, back to the point. Neen fire cards had neen times the space inside of them as one. The fire that it pushed out was able to burn a hole through a cave wall¡­ and one of my incarnations. Okay, I lost a lot like this.¡± Udona shook her head, as if trying to cleanse a bad memory.


    ¡°But remember, neen is a hard limit. Whether they are the same, or different cards. Six fire, three shields, and ten heals was another maximum power card, creating a shield of fire around me while quickly stitching together skin and bone. Add in a twentieth, and boom.¡± That one actually made herugh lightly, as if the memory was amusing.


    ¡°Different cards even have different values, so you have to study each one to figure out how strong it is. Let me show you.¡± Udona hit another button on the remote, turning the television off. Then, with a wave of her hands, she produced a series of floating cards. ¡°I¡¯ve been collecting these whenever an incarnation died and left them intact.¡±


    With that brief exnation, she passed one of the cards to me. ¡°Take a look.¡± When I did so, an information window appeared in front of the card, making me thankful that I would be able to use this to ¡®cheat¡¯ in the Deckan world.


    Magic Element: Light


    Tier: 2


    Value: 3


    On the front of the card was a shining ball of golden light, much like the sun if it were in front of a ck background. And¡­ on the back of the card was an image of Udona herself, smiling outwards towards the viewer. ¡°So¡­ if I get this right. This card would have a total value of twelve?¡±


    Udona gave a small nod at that. ¡°Right. Once it hits ten, the tier goes up by one. By the way, it is actually possible to get cards with a value of zero. But, they¡¯re trash, and take five just to turn into a value one card. The only thing that they can do is add very minor effects to spells without taking a full value¡¯s worth of space.¡±


    I nodded slightly, ncing over towards Udona. ¡°Have you experimented with summoning, or enchanting yet?¡±


    Hearing that, she pouted slightly, and stuck out her tongue inint. ¡°Like I said, I wasn¡¯t expecting you so soon! I asked Tubrock to make me some items I can test enchanting with, and my current incarnation is hunting down creatures with the summon soul element to farm a few of those cards.¡±


    I gave a small chuckle, shaking my head. ¡°Alright. Keep me updated. And thanks for the information, it looks like your world will have quite a lot of room to grow in the future.¡± I waved my hand towards her while she nodded happily, and saw her appear to zone out as I transported myself back to my room. Likely to return to her ¡®studies¡¯. I was surprised with just how passionately she was behaving with this.

 Chapter 159: Underworld and Underdeveloped

    <h4>Chapter 159: Underworld and Underdeveloped</h4>


    Before I decided to go back to work on maintaining Earth, I thought that there was one more person that I really needed to talk with. Irena, do you have a moment? She was perhaps the person most affected by the addition of the extra worlds, and I wanted to make sure that I wasn¡¯t pushing too much work onto her. If I was, I could rework the afterlife system for Desbar and Deckan.


    Of course, Dale. Where would you like to meet?


    I nced back towards Leowynn, who was still curled up asleep on the bed, and moved towards the door. Living room alright?


    By the time that I arrived in the living room, Irena was already sitting on the couch waiting for me, her wings lifted up over the back of the couch to allow herself to getfortable. She offered me a small smile when I arrived. ¡°What did you need to speak to me about?¡±


    I gave a small sigh, moving to sit next to her on the couch, and turned to look at her. ¡°Well, I wanted to check how everything is going for you and the Underworld. I¡¯m not giving you too much to do with the extra worlds now, right?¡±


    Irena closed her eyes, slowly shaking her head at the question. ¡°Not at all. In fact, we had a recent poption boon from when you had everyone stop guiding their civilizations. Thanks to that, the numbers in the Underworld are growing a lot faster than before.¡±


    I¡­ didn¡¯t honestly know whether to take that as a good thing or a bad thing on my part. Irena seemed to notice my expression, her smile turning knowing. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it really does help overall. The increase in numbers let the current governor expand both the retrieval army and the merchant sector.¡±


    Okay, that was a bit interesting. ¡°I see¡­ what about the development? Nothing bad happening?¡±


    Irena sank into thought when I mentioned that, possibly taking a moment to check for herself. ¡°There¡¯s a small war going on, but I expect it to be quelled within a week. The governor holds over eighty percent of the army, with various other leaders controlling small portions for local security. A few of them teamed up to rebel, is all.¡±


    ¡°Aside from that, our research has gone quite a ways beyond what Earth has in terms of artifacts. If I had to put it in Terra¡¯s terms¡­ I think we are nearing mastery of the first tier, but arecking direction in understanding the second. The addition of souls from both Deckan and Desbar actually help with this, as they all provide a fresh outlook. And, people are beginning to understand that time seems to flow differently in the Underworld. For now, at least.¡± Once she said that, she shed another knowing smile towards me.


    ¡°Alright¡­ Well, is there anything that you need? Anything that could help with the Underworld management?¡±


    Again, Irenapsed into thought, before shaking her head. ¡°Nothing that I can think of, Dale. Though, I have an idea I would wish to suggest. Something that my governor asked about some time ago.¡±


    I motioned for her to continue, and she did so. ¡°At this point, the number of souls have grown beyond the minimum requirement to establish a regr patrol in most popted sectors of the three worlds. Especially with Deckan and Desbar advancing time beyond that of the Underworld itself, our numbers practically exploded at that time.¡±


    ¡°My governor presented me with a request, asking if it were possible to use the spirits and the daeva to guide the living. Not in overly obvious ways, more subtle. For instance, those who have family that are still living could enter their dreams to offer advice. He tested this privately, and it was proven that spiritual energy can be used to enter the dreams of a sleeping individual.¡±


    ¡°Another idea is to have the daeva appear in the dreams of a researcher, and offer knowledge from the Underworld to help them advance.¡± Once she had finished exining, Irena looked at me with a very business-like expression, as if it did not particrly matter to her one way or the other if these suggestions were approved.


    I crossed my arms in front of myself, lowering my head as I thought about these suggestions. ¡°I don¡¯t want the Underworld to be a power that politically effects the living world¡­ So there can¡¯t be anything like them appearing before nobles or royalty. And they would have to know what information had to be kept secret, so the people who get to do this would have to be strictly trained beforehand.¡±


    Irena nodded marginally upon hearing the answer, and closed her eyes, likely rying it to her governor. ¡°One other thing¡­¡± I asked, a thought uring to me suddenly. When she opened her eyes to look at me, I began. ¡°Have your people had any luck manifesting a physical body with their spiritual energy?¡±


    She gave another nod at that. ¡°They have. Several high leveled soldiers on patrol have manifested a physical form as experiments. Since they have not been permitted to interact with the living, there hasn¡¯t been any particr use for these forms. Especially since using them reduces theirbat strength drastically.¡±


    ¡°Makes sense¡­¡± Well, there goes the ¡®guardian angel¡¯ idea I was thinking about. If thebat strength of a spirit is low after materializing, they can¡¯t be used to protect people from life or death situations.


    Though¡­ that did get me thinking, and I pulled up the market window to look at something. Or to be more specific, to look for something. ¡°Irena, another idea¡­ this one for a ss I am thinking about creating.¡± Her head shot up as she heard that, interest suddenly clear in her eyes. Since the beginning, spirits typically only had ess to two, maybe three sses if they were lucky.


    ¡°What do you think of a ¡®Guardian Spirit¡¯ ss? A ss that is specifically built to protect the living from harm. After designating either a person or a location, they be its guardian. They wouldn¡¯t live in the Underworld with other spirits, but in the living worlds. And in order to sustain themselves with spiritual energy, they would take from those they protect.¡±


    The goddess of death raised a curious eyebrow as she considered that. ¡°It could work. But, wouldn¡¯t the feeding process ultimately harm the people that the guardian is meant to protect?¡±


    ¡°Possibly¡­ but I don¡¯t think that will be an issue for Earth. If I understand the system properly, it would divide the ¡®tribute¡¯ among the number of people being protected. So, if someone were to protect a city of thousands, then it would not even take one percent of a single unit of energy to maintain them each year.¡±


    ¡°As for a personal guardian, they would mostly be there to ensure that someone survived long enough to be strong and able to take care of themselves. That implies gaining levels, which would replenish their spiritual energy.¡±


    Hearing my exnation, Irena offered a small nod of understanding. ¡°I¡­ can see that working. A spirit specifically designed to be able to manifest and fight normally, by borrowing the powers of those it wishes to protect.¡±


    To be honest, it was something that I was surprised wasn¡¯t on the market already. However, in a way it made sense. It was already possible for spirits to manifest to protect people, this just turned it into a ss specialized for that.


    Since Irena seemed to agree that it would be a good idea, I went ahead and submitted it to the system. Unsurprisingly, the ss only cost ten points as a base price, meaning I¡¯d only be getting a single point in royalties from it. However, this could be a big helpter on. A guardian spirit could be a key defense in the Keeper Games, I think.


    ¡°Alright. Next time you speak with your Governor, tell him to begin a training program for guardian spirits. Their primary jobs for now will be to defend against monsters, not people. We don¡¯t need them getting ughtered in the wars of the living.¡±


    Irena offered a small smile and a nod. ¡°Already done, Dale. I expect that we¡¯ll be seeing results from this shortly.¡±


    I gave a small nod as I heard that, agreeing with her assessment. ¡°Alright, then I¡¯ll be speeding up Earth soon. I¡¯ve been forced to realizetely just howcking it ispared to where it should be. If we want to be able topeteter on, our level of magical engineering has to grow by a lot.¡±


    This was actually very true. From the voyage I had taken, I saw plenty of things. I saw how it was possible for enchantments made of tier one and tier two magic to withstand the blows of powerful monsters. However, such enchantments were so rare, and only ced on those important ships. Aside from the items we got in the dungeon, very few members of the crew had a single magical item on them!


    Before the world is ready to fully move into the third tier, I think that there are some things that need to be done. Magical weapons that can be mounted on city walls to defend against monster invasions, long rangemunication artifacts, maybe even an item to allow for flight. From what I could tell, all of these would be possible to create with enchanting. And more importantly, enchanting was such an easy thing to mass produce, as long as you had the mages for it.


    Irena and I exchanged a few words, before I left back to my room. Leowynn seemed to just now be starting to wake up, slowly rising from the bed as I entered and rubbing her eyes. ¡°Hmm¡­ hello, father. How long was I asleep?¡±


    I shook my head with a small chuckle at that. ¡°Not sure. I keep forgetting to add clocks around the ce. Though can¡¯t say I¡¯d easily be able to read them anyways¡­ standard time can get confusing if you¡¯re not used to it.¡±


    Leowynn looked nkly at me, clearly not understanding what I meant. She hadn¡¯t been there when I had discovered about Keeper Standard Time, so the only method of tracking time that she was familiar with would be that of Earth. ¡°Well¡­ what are we going to do now?¡±


    ¡°I was thinking of fast forwarding a while.¡± I answered honestly, while sending a heads up to Ryone. Out of anyone, she would be the most useful in solving the missing symbols to finish our tier one and two magical knowledge. ¡°Want to watch?¡±


    Leowynn smiled slightly, moving towards the edge of the bed and rising up from it. After nearly falling back down, sheughed and made her way towards me at my desk. ¡°Sure¡­¡±


    I opened up the culture window, while also keeping track of my point bnce. After collecting my royalties, and the rued cultural advancements, I was brought up to just under three thousand points again. And most of this seemed to be recent, with dozens of Keepers buying the new Card Law and Card Magic systems.


    I felt a small sigh of relief escape me when I saw my bnce shooting up like that, since I was about to need to spend it like crazy. Going through each of the six continents, I chose one kingdom each to spend a hundred points on, focusing their future development on magical research. And yes, I was a bit biased and chose the elven kingdom where my Host was staying for theirs¡­ given what happened before, I wasn¡¯t sure the western kingdom Hetheros would be able to survive much longer.


    With that out of the way, I set several rms, marking various benchmarks of cultural development and finally hit the great fast forward button. If none of the conditions were met, it would move a full two thousand years in one leap¡­ though I doubted that it would take even half that time.

 Chapter 160: Strength in Unity

    <h4>Chapter 160: Strength in Unity</h4>


    The kingdom of Hetheros had easily imed several of Gandor¡¯s major cities, failing in only two key points. These points were the capital itself, and Cau Buhnga. Inside the capital, the strongest army of the kingdom was present, so it was no wonder that they had endured. But as for Cau Buhnga, even the elven queen had been surprised when she heard that it had prevailed.


    It did not take long for the news of the strangers that came in with the tide to reach the ears of the queen, and how they had fought back the elven army that was a thousand strong, including even ten pinnacles. But what really struck awe into her was the fighting strength of these strange people.


    Over two hundredbatants, all at the pinnacle of power. Each one could themselves represent an army of a thousand normal troops. If they all moved as one, it was possible that they could crush an entire kingdom on their own, given enough time.


    Queen Allor of Gandor sent a message to Cau Buhnga by way of a druid, requesting a meeting with these people. She was soon made aware of the difference innguage between the two people, but such things mattered little to her. What she was facing now was the life and death of her family, herself, and her entire kingdom.


    Thankfully, they had already been working on solving the matter ofmunication, and one among them had made great progress. With him included, a diplomatic party was sent to meet with Queen Allor. She wished to incorporate their strength into her kingdom, to give them the power to fight back against Hetheros, and keep the oldest kingdom of the elves safe.


    Unfortunately, it seemed like her wish was impossible. Among this party was a member of their own royalty, someone who could not simply stand beneath another g. Instead, they negotiated a deal. There was arge amount of unusednd within the borders of Gandor, and Queen Allor designated some of it to the strangers to establish their own kingdom, forming an alliance between the two.


    While this may seem like she was simply conceding thend, there was actually more to the queen¡¯s ns. Thend that they had been given was surrounded on all sides by Gandor. It was safe to say that they still had a degree of control over this new kingdom, even without any political maneuvering. After all, they held the wealth of the elven nation while the neers had little. It would be easy to tax any tradesing in and out of their territory.


    But still, this gave the neers what they wished for, so they agreed to fight. A mere three months after the negotiations were finished, the new kingdom had been established with its first city. Their ruler, Queen Dis¡¯ni, quickly took a king from one of her own. When these people, these ¡®beastkin¡¯ moved, they shattered Hetheros.


    Elves were a patient people, they could go months or even years beforeunching a second offensive, giving their people time to rest and improve. The beastkin, however, struck with a primal ferocity that shook the hearts of any who saw them. Every day, they moved with a small force of Gandor and reimed a city. When the armies of Hetheros had been in or surrendered, the beastkin left.


    And once Gandor¡¯s territory had been reimed, they moved on Hetheros itself. The Towers of Communication simply could not keep up with the reports as city after city fell. It was the greatest bloodshed that had ever been spilled in the elvennds, but it was short lived. In less than a year, Hetheros had been conquered, their territories and people added to Gandor.


    Having seen their power first hand, Queen Allor could not help but fear this little kingdom, who had only a single city. Through all of their battles, they had only lost two of their pinnacle fighters, with the rest still being in pristine condition. Yet despite her fear, she knew that she could not attack. The pinnacle forces of Hetheros had been mostly wiped out, and Gandor had to supply their own to reinforce the defenses of each city.


    They simply could not afford a battle against the much more concentrated power of the beastkin. And so, their alliance was maintained, neither side having the means or desire to attack the other. But soon, the elves learned another truth of the beastkin as the years passed.


    They aged far faster than the elves themselves, fading away after a mere century at most. But at the same time, this also caused their numbers to grow. The original two hundred and fifty beastkin became over a thousand after that hundred years, and their strength had not diminished in the slightest.


    Thanks to having so many powerful fighters, the path had been paved for their young to grow. The second generation may not have all turned out to be just as powerful as their parents, nor the third, but their numbers made up for that fact. From the second generation came a mere one hundred pinnacle existences, with another hundred from the third, maintaining the core of their strength.


    However, by now the elves cared little, for they had their own matters to focus on. Their schrs had learned of the truth behind the dungeons, how they gifted magical treasures to those who showed their strengths. Many refused to believe so at first, until the beastkin showed them a rather unremarkable bag. A bag capable of instantly storing and retrieving items farrger than itself.


    Queen Allor pleaded with the second generation queen of Zoriark, the beastkin kingdom, to trade for the bag so that they could study it. However, this queen remained firm in her ideals. She would not give up the bag, and allowed her own people to study it first. Instead, she promised to trade them another if they proved able to reproduce its miraculous effects.


    Queen Allor was not pleased with the decision, but also could not act rashly. She had learned over the years that the beastkin had established more cities, using the inds off the coast as their territories. If the elves attempted to wage a war at this point, it would be a simple matter for Zoriark to evacuate its small numbers to those inds, inds where the elves had not explored.


    Instead, they focused on scouring thend, looking for any other dungeons which they could im as their own. It took them dozens of years, but they indeed found one, where they least expected it.


    One day, a druid had been walking past the pce in the capital city of Gandor, when he felt that he could simply no longer feel the presence of the world around him. When the report was given, it was found that a dungeon had been existing beneath the pce all along, too deep for them to feel its effects.


    Naturally, there were those who wanted to destroy it immediately, as it posed a threat to their very lives. However, the elven queen was forced to remember the miraculous items that dungeons bequeathed their champions. In her eyes, this dungeon was not a catastrophe, but a blessing from the goddess herself.


    But first, she had to ¡®negotiate¡¯ with it. The information on the dungeons from the beastkin had been extensive, so she knew that any who died within the dungeon¡¯s territories could never find the goddess¡¯s embrace. She invited a schr of Zoriark tomunicate with the dungeon through its ownnguage. She wanted to know what the dungeon wanted to remove its territory from the surface.


    Thankfully, this dungeon seemed surprisingly intelligent, even by the standards of Zoriark. It easilymunicated through the dungeon¡¯snguage. All it asked for was a yearly tribute of metals and different types of wood, and in return it would keep its territory beneath the ground.


    Queen Allor was ecstatic with this deal, and immediately agreed. However, along with its intelligence, the danger of this dungeon was also incredibly high. There were not only monsters scattered throughout it, but also magical traps carved into the stone walls. Some spells the elves had never even seen before, and they were forced to study to learn of the effects.


    With great danger, though, came equally great spoils. Although they did lose one of their pinnacle forces in the endeavor, they had beaten the dungeon¡¯s test, and in its final boss. A towering robed skeleton holding a giant scythe, that seemed to cut through the very air it tread. Unfortunately the scythe disappeared with the skeleton, but the rewards had been worth it.


    Gandor finally had their own storage bag to study, and this one seemed to hold even better storage abilities than the one in Zoriark. Now, Gandor spent all of its efforts on developing these magical treasures, every year sending another expedition to the dungeon to harvest more rewards to study.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Ryone¡­ I mumbled inwardly, calling the goddess of magic. I had noticed the various spell diagrams formed along the cave walls of Gandor¡¯s dungeon, as well as a massiveplex below the final boss room. A wide area that looked very simr to the spell testing area that Ryone set up in the Admin Room.


    Is your main dungeon beneath the elven capital¡­?


    Uhmm¡­ maybe? She asked, though I could feel a trace of guilt in her voice. Don¡¯t worry, though! I always made sure to stay down below the ¡®active¡¯ area of the dungeon. There aren¡¯t any paths leading to my testing chamber, so they shouldn¡¯t be able to find it!


    I couldn¡¯t help but give a small sigh, shaking my head. However, soon, the rapid progression of the world below suddenly halted. One of my rms had been triggered, after two hundred and eighty-seven years. Unfortunately, it was not one of the magic-rted rms.


    An unidentified race has ascended to sapience. At any point, you may purchase them into the system of your world. Until such time, they will be treated as typical monsters, and will be unable to ess various systems of the world restricted to registered life forms.


    I had nearly forgotten about the underwater species that we had almost encountered during our voyage. And part of me was curious as to whether I should invest in them. They did not seem to be an amphibious race, so they would only ever exist underwater. However, those thoughts soon left me as I looked at their racial scores.


    Race Name


    Unssified


    Comprehension


    35


    Agility


    30


    Strength


    25


    Lifespan


    50


    Luck


    12


    Awareness


    22


    Male:Female ratio


    2.3


    Example Adult Male


    Example Adult Female


    Racial Abilities


    -Telepathy


    -Extremophile Adaptation


    It may have been because they lived in the deepest parts of the ocean, but their physical abilities werepletely obscene. Even their mental abilities were remarkable. Although they could never properly interact with those onnd for extended periods, their stats made even a newborn equal to a high level human. I had been considering buying an amphibious evolution for them, but if I did that, they could just wreak havoc on the world with this level of power. Their only real weakness was a short lifespan.


    Perhaps thankfully, they also had a rather obscene cost to go with this level of power. Four hundred and fifty points just to purchase this race, over double what the heroc had cost. I had to shake my head at that price. While I could afford it, it was not an easy purchase. So, I sent out a message to everyone. Alright, people. It¡¯s time for another meeting of the gods. We have a new race that we need to discuss.


    If we did get this race, they could be a huge helpter on. But I wasn¡¯t sure how much they would even be able to develop before the Games began, and I couldn¡¯t rely on them as ayer of defense if they were still in the stone age. So this was a decision that had to be made by everyone.

 Chapter 161: Merkin, F*ck Yeah!

    <h4>Chapter 161: Merkin, F*ck Yeah!</h4>


    After sending the message to everyone to meet in the living room, I turned to invite Leowynn to the meeting as well. Thankfully, she seemed rather interested in her first ¡®proper¡¯ godly meeting. The closest that she had experienced so far was the meeting where I had hosted the tournament, which has been the only time where everyone had attended without exception while she was there.


    Because of this, she didn¡¯t choose to enter my spiritual realm, but instead walked next to me while I walked. By the time that we had arrived in the living room, it had already beenpletely remodeled once again. Arge round table sat in the otherwise empty room, with twelve seats and arge pile of nkets spaced evenly around it. The only other decoration in the room was the ¡®family picture¡¯ that still hung upon the wall.


    ¡°Remodeling every time we have a meeting is a bit of a waste.¡± I muttered as I approached one of the two empty seats, everyone else having already gathered. Naturally, Leowynn went to sit in the other, leaning against her mom that was sitting next to her. ¡°Terra, think we could just keep the room around this time, and make another living room?¡±


    The catgirl to my left nodded with a lightugh. ¡°Of course. It¡¯ll be set up by the time we leave.¡±


    ¡°So, what¡¯re we meeting up for this time, bro?!¡± Aurivy called out excitedly from the other side of Terra, leaning forward to nce at me. ¡°Is it about the mermaids!? Did they finally evolve?¡±


    I gave a small nod towards Aurivy, who cheered happily at that. ¡°That¡¯s right. There is an underwater race that has recently evolved. However, their level of power puts even the heroc to shame. If we are judging them by levels, then currently a single one isparable to a level two hundred human.¡±


    There was a light gasp from a few of the attending gods and goddesses at that, while Bihena carried a more pensive expression. ¡°Obviously, we¡¯re not here to talk about whether or not they should get their own god. I¡¯m already the goddess of the ocean, and we decided previously that these new races won¡¯t get their own.¡±


    Irena suddenly spoke up after Bihena, quietly adjusting her sses to fit better on her face. ¡°So, we are to discuss whether to allow them to have ess to the system in the first ce? It must really be extreme if you are taking such considerations, so could you show us their statistics?¡±


    Another nodter, and I had created a small projection over the center of the table, disying the appearance of the new race as well as their racial power and cost. ¡°My main fear is that they will be able to take advantage of the system to adapt and be amphibious. If they can safely travel over bothnd and sea, with their strength, nothing would be able to stop them. It would be apletely one sided ughter if they became hostile towards any race.¡±


    Ryone let out a low whistle as she looked at the race¡¯s price. ¡°And they aren¡¯t cheap either. If we consider that we are still waiting for magic to get caught up in terms of tiers, and that we might need to purchase the third tier for itter to finish the gates, I¡¯m not sure if this would be in our budget. It¡¯s obvious that they won¡¯t have time to develop enough civilization to earn back their costs by that point.¡±


    alia turned her head to look away from the projection and towards Terra. ¡°Would their adaptation trait allow them to adapt to life onnd as well?¡± Given that she was the one always providing me with information about monsters, it was a bit surprising that she asked this.


    However, Terra simply shook her head. ¡°That¡¯s not how that trait really works. It¡¯d be more urate to call it evolution, instead of adaptation. As long as one of them spends long enough in a new type of environment, their future offspring will find the area habitable. This would mostly apply to temperature and water salinity for their case. Since they can¡¯t breathe above water, then naturally they can¡¯t stay long enough for their trait to kick in.¡±


    That had been one of my biggest concerns, so I let out a sigh of relief when I heard the answer. ¡°Okay, then the issue at this point bes their price. Even if they do rule the oceans, it won¡¯t be as terrifying as if they could also cross ontond.¡±


    ¡°Well, how much is that third tier of magic going to cost?¡± Keliope asked, leaning back against her chair. Her arms crossed beneath her chest as she nced around the room. ¡°We gotta know how much we can afford to spend, right?¡±


    Hearing her question, I smiled slightly in agreement. ¡°Third tier knowledge requires eighteen hundred points. Currently, we have just under twenty-two hundred. If we bought this race now, we¡¯d be just short of buying the third tier system. However, by the time we are ready for it, we should have enough.¡±


    Keliope gave a satisfied nod, while Tubrock let out a loud humph. ¡°But that¡¯s not all, is it? We also need the third tiers for the other energy types as well. Magic alone¡¯s not gonna cut it. So really, it¡¯s not eighteen hundred that we need, but over seven thousand. Not ta mention, we don¡¯t have the tier two information yet for most¡¯a dem. In total, we¡¯ll probably need near nine thousand points to make the gates.¡±


    Ryone visibly winced when she heard that price, as if it hurt her merchant soul. ¡°That¡­ is quite the spending. We¡¯ve never gone above three thousand with just Dale¡¯s bnce. The odds that we¡¯d be able to afford all of that by the time that Earth finishes mastering tier two magic is¡­ slim, to say the least.¡±


    Seeing the chances of her getting the mermaid race dwindling further, Aurivy had a sullen expression. ¡°B-but¡­ that just means we need to earn more points! We can do that, right? All we have to do is make more worlds like Ashley¡¯s and Udona¡¯s, or submit more stuff to the market!¡± She nced around at the rest of the group hopefully, but Udona only shook her head to deny that im.


    ¡°We already know that the more worlds we have when the gates go up, the higher our power rating will be. And that will make it more likely to put us up against an enemy that we can¡¯t afford to face. I might have been able to exploit that w in the Keeper¡¯s Cards game, but that¡¯s just because there wasn¡¯t another yer on my level of power once I got going.¡±


    ¡°So it¡¯s only creating new systems, then?¡± Tryval spoke up for the first time, his eyes still locked on the projection. ¡°Ones that will be popr enough to earn usrge amounts of points in little time.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not too hard, though, right?¡± This time, it was Ashley that spoke up, her wings folded in front of herself to cover her. She carried a pensive expression as she considered the problem, her eyes narrowed with her hand on her chin. ¡°I mean, Dale has created a few of those already. Systems that would seem likemon sense to people from our world, but other Keepers haven¡¯t thought about yet.¡±


    ¡°Y-yeah, yeah! That¡¯s not a hard thing at all! Bro is amazing! He can earn us a ton of points if he really tries!¡± Aurivy¡¯s eyes practically glowed as she looked at me, seeing a ray of hope in Ashley¡¯s words.


    Unfortunately, I had to shake my head. ¡°It¡¯s easier said than done to create new ideas that people haven¡¯t thought of before.¡± However, after saying that, I put on a small smile. ¡°But that¡¯s only when I do so on my own. We already saw Udonaing up with new system ideas that have been earning us a good bit of points. If everyone focuses on creating new ideas, and we list them all on the market, we¡¯ll certainly increase our chances.¡±


    Terra nodded approvingly at that idea. ¡°There¡¯s also achievements, but the only achievements that would allow you to earn arge amount of points are either ones for creating rare types of systems, or things that would genuinely put your life in danger. Risk versus reward.¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Leowynn suddenly shook her head, leaning back up away from Ryone. ¡°I don¡¯t want father to put himself at risk only for a few points. Besides¡­ if he dies, we all die, right?¡± There was a moment of silence at her words, after which everyone showed their agreement.


    Terra gave a warm look towards Leowynn, approving of her outburst. ¡°I don¡¯t want Dale to put himself in danger either. I was just listing options. Thanks to what I am, I can¡¯t help with creating new systems. All I can say is whether or not an idea already exists.¡±


    The golden haired kitsune had a somewhat troubled look on her face. ¡°I¡¯ll help with new ideas as well. But¡­ can we make sure to get tier three cards for my world, when it¡¯s time? If they are stuck with only second tier cards, that will make them fall behind the other two worlds that are learning third tier magic.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡± I easily agreed to that request, as it did indeed make sense. If her world fell too far behind in terms of power, then it could simply be conquered by the others and used as a harvesting site for the cards. In order to properly maintain bnce, they needed ess to the same level of power, or at least close enough so as not to overwhelm the other.


    Desbar was going to be using the same form of magic as Earth, so buying the knowledge for one counted as buying it for both. Only Deckan was left out alone with this. ¡°Alright!¡± Udona gave a satisfied nod, clenching her fists. ¡°I¡¯ll spend the next thousand¡­ no, the next five thousand yearsing up with ideas, then!¡±


    At her mischievous grin, some of the people around the table seemed to realize something. Udona had been taking advantage of the elerated time on her own world to use for studying, much like they had done for their own uses. Ryone even actively researched new magic during these periods. Couldn¡¯t they then also use this method to have more time to develop ideas for the Keeper market?


    Aurivy sent a happy thumbs up towards Udona at that, before turning to look at me again. ¡°So, with that settled, we can afford to get the mermaids, right!?¡±


    I felt a quiet chuckle escape my lips as I saw her eager expression. Rather than responding, I directed my eyes towards Ryone, our very own ountant. Aurivy looked at her as well, and the elven goddess gave a brief nod. Right away, Aurivy jumped up out of her chair with a cheer, throwing her arms up into the air.


    ¡°But we can¡¯t call them mermaids.¡± I spoke up finally, and Aurivy visibly deted. ¡°That just gives people an image of females. Mermaids and mermen, right? So, we can call them merfolk, or merkin, or something else entirely.¡±


    ¡°Aww¡­ alright.¡± Aurivy still had a pouting expression as she heard that, but nodded her head in understanding. Nobody at the table was able toe up with a better name for the new race, so it was ultimately put to a vote. With a final result of seven to six, the name was decided as Merkin.


    With their name decided, I felt a small pain at the spending of four hundred and fifty points in one go to buy a new race. It¡¯s an investment, Dale. A long term investment. ¡°When I get back to my room, I¡¯ll be speeding things up once again. Does anyone else have anything to bring to the table before the meeting ends?¡±


    Most everyone shook their heads, except for Bihena and Tubrock. Those two nodded, and seeing that each other had something to talk about, Tubrock motioned for Bihena to go first. ¡°There was another sessful expedition from the beastkin roughly fifty years after the first. However, this one ultimatelynded on the human continent. They haven¡¯t encountered the humans yet, as they have been focusing on consolidating their power, but the encounter won¡¯t be far off.¡±


    ¡°Aye.¡± Tubrock spoke up as well. ¡°And another onended on dwarven shores near a hundred years ago. We¡¯ve got no interest in the water, so they¡¯ve yet to meet the dwarves as well. We keep our holds further ashore.¡±


    I nced towards the beastkin sisters at that, to which alia shook her head. ¡°After the report was sent back about sessfully colonizing the elven continent, the beastkin tried several times to send a repeat voyage. But without so many high level escorts, they kept getting ughtered by either the storms or sea monsters. It took about fifty years for a second group like the first to be raised, but they went off course and didn¡¯tnd at the right spot. Then a hundred yearster¡­ same thing.¡±


    ¡°The only real difference is the connection with the human continent. They got really lucky there, and managed to find enough inds to form a portalwork all the way across. So those two continents are now directly connected through the beastkin druids.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but send a nce towards Bihena after hearing that. ¡°I¡¯m not going to be watching over this war constantly¡­¡± I warned her, and she gave a helpless shrug of her shoulders. Giving the violent nature of the humans, the fact that a war was going to happen was inevitable once the two races met.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Dale. I¡¯ll keep an eye on my people to make sure they don¡¯t break the rules. I can count on you sisters to do the same, right?¡± She asked with a warm smile towards the four beastkin sisters, who nodded their heads. ¡°I¡¯ll let you know what happens with their encounter once the time jump isplete.¡±


    I sighed silently, nodding eptance at her words. ¡°Then, if there¡¯s nothing else, everyone¡¯s dismissed. If youe up with any ideas for the market, write them down and submit them to Terra so she can determine if it is eptable to put on the market. Terra, any that aren¡¯t already up you can pass to me to submit.¡±


    Everyone stood up from the table at the dismissal, many rushing back to their own rooms. Today, I would meet the foe that all men dread. Today, I would face paperwork.

 Chapter 162: A War on Economy

    <h4>Chapter 162: A War on Economy</h4>


    When I got back to my room again, I once again resumed the great fast forward. Now, there shouldn¡¯t be another race that was close to ¡®ascending¡¯, so that limited the number of reasons for my rms to go off. All that was left now was either impending natural disasters, certain technology developments, or the off chance that one species was about to send another towards extinction¡­


    Thankfully, the first rm that went off was for development, as opposed to destruction. A hundred years after the eptance of the merkin race, the Zoriark kingdom sessfully developed one of the items on my ¡®advancement checklist¡¯. This particr invention was the ¡®Status Orb¡¯, a gem that was based on centuries of study from the special sses found in the dungeon.


    Much like the item which had been presented at the first Keeper meeting that I attended, this was an orb which disyed the status of whoever held it. This included their name, race, and everything else that appeared on their information window. In essence, what it did was to summon the window, but make it visible to everyone instead of just the person using it.


    It seemed like this item could be made from the cores of most monsters mixed with some other materials and enchanted, so Zoriark was already beginning to mass produce them as soon as the first prototype was sessful. Thanks to that, I was able to fast forward five years to when the production had really taken shape, and snatch one for myself.


    I needed to be aware of the potential risks this would have for meter down the line, so I had to test the orb myself to see how it reacted with my Keeper levels. Thankfully¡­ it seemed like the system still had some consideration, and the orb didn¡¯t reveal any of my Keeper information when I had it sealed. If I unsealed ss levels or stats, the information on the orb would reflect it.


    And after spending another thirty points to run a quick test, I was relieved to discover that this worked for the World Host as well. Whenever I was possessing a host, the status orb read my name as the name I assigned the host rather than my own. This made me feel much safer for the future, as otherwise I would have had to avoid anyone who used these orbs to test a person¡¯s identity.


    With that taken care of, I again allowed the world to continue. Though, this time it onlysted a mere twenty years before the next item on the checklist waspleted. To my surprise, the item finished this time was one that I hadn¡¯t expected to bepleted untilter on. The ki cannon, a defensive fortification which allowed a user tounch projectiles at an enemy target powered by their ki.


    This wasn¡¯t like the bow that we found in the dungeon, because it did not produce the projectiles itself. But it was still a decent substitute for a typical siege weapon. And unsurprisingly, it was the humans that developed it. From a quick nce, it seemed that their war with the beastkin was still raging strong.


    Shaking my head, I hit the fast forward button once more. The next item that appeared was actually one of the more crucial ones that I had been waiting for, and would offer a great degree of safety in the future. A natural energy disruptor, something that can destabilize the natural energy of the surrounding area.


    This item wouldn¡¯t remove the majority of a druid or shaman¡¯s powers, but it would nullify one very important trick of theirs. As long as the device was active, druids wouldn¡¯t be able to establish a stable portal within its area of influence. And once again, this had been developed by humans.


    I watched as item after item from the checklist waspleted. Some of them were as close as months apart, while others made me wait for over a hundred years to pass. By the end of the two thousand year limit, nearly half of my list had beenpleted. Thankfully, this included one very important achievement that I had been waiting for.


    Congrattions! You have earned a new achievement!


    For allowing your world to fully develop and explore the first tier of a branch of research for the first time, you have earned the Patient achievement. +20 points


    I was honestly a bit surprised when I received this achievement, because Irena had told me that she thought the Underworld had already mastered the first tier of spiritual energy. It seemed like the system still found their understandingcking, because the energy from the achievement was instead mana.


    Still, this meant that I was one step closer to getting the full tier two informationpleted. And now, it was time to handle the paperwork and reports. Bihena, you¡¯re up. Progress report on the war?


    Nearly two thousand years had passed, so I refused to believe that they were still as hostile as when they first met. Yet, Bihena¡¯s words offered me nofort. They¡¯re not quite as bad, now. Around five hundred years ago, they came to a sort of mutual understanding. It was by no means a truce, but rather ¡®you don¡¯te near me and I won¡¯t go near you¡¯.


    Right now, people from either side that are captured by the other are treated as prisoners of war and ves for the other. The beastkin were against this idea at first¡­ until they saw their own people with their ears and tails severed in an attempt to make them look more ¡®pleasing¡¯ to the eyes of the humans.


    I felt a shiver run down my spine as I heard that information. I had seen firsthand how a typically peaceful people like the halflings could be absolutely vicious with the right provocation. The fact that they hadn¡¯tunched a full scale offensive against the humans was already surprising. Have there not been any efforts to establish peace between the two races?


    I tried for a few lifetimes, but people wouldn¡¯t hear of it. Any kingdom that was seen being friendly towards the ¡®feral tribes¡¯ was deemed an enemy of humanity and attacked by all others. Sorry, Dale, but I think it¡¯ll take a bit longer for these two to get along without divine intervention.


    I gave a brief, silent nod at that, closing my eyes and rubbing my forehead. Thankfully, Leowynn was preupied at the moment, having run off with Aurivy to y after the meeting. So I was alone in the room for now. Let¡¯s wait until the second tier of magic isplete. If they can¡¯t get along by then, we¡¯ll step in.


    By that time, it would be close enough to the time to install the gates that us stepping in wouldn¡¯t cause as much of an impact. Besides, as much as I hated to admit it, war does stimte growth. Over half of the new advancements in technology were first pioneered by either the humans or beastkin over thest two thousand years.


    Opening up the map, I found that the other races had also begun to move. The beastkin had made contact with the dwarves, and although they had a brief conflict, they managed to establish themselves as peaceful neighbors. However, since the beginning of the human war, it seemed like the beastkin didn¡¯t send out any new voyages to meet up with their people in the elven and dwarvennds. They were too busy fighting the humans to devote their strongest fighters to escort ships again.


    On the other hand, the elves and dwarves had actually managed to meet, their continents fairly close to each other. As both sides had made friends with the beastkin already, it became a simple matter for them to form their own alliance. And with the short distance between their continents, it only took them finding two inds between them to use as ry points for druids to connect them.


    For the halflings and centaurs, they had yet to leave their conjoined continents. This made it so that the only race that had not met any of the others so far were the heroc, as even the merkin had met seafaring travelers from time to time. I could practically see the day on the horizon when the four beastkin goddesses would unlock their next domain by meeting thest two races.


    Alright, Terra¡­ bring in the paperwork. I sent out while a groan escaped my lips. They had been developing their system ideas for nearly two thousand years, more if they borrowed Deckan to elerate time even further. I could only dread how many system ideas were about to appear in front of me.


    As soon as the message was sent out, a thick book appeared on my desk. ¡®New(ish) system ideas¡¯ was the title printed on its dark cover, written in shining golden ink. It was¡­ a lot less than what I had expected, seeing as my room was filled with neither filing cabs, stacks of paper, sticky notes, or a never-ending series ofputer files.


    Shaking my head, I realized that most of their ideas must have been rejected as having already appeared in the market. So I opened the book to begin looking through what was next, bracing myself for the possibility that the book was ¡®bigger on the inside¡¯.


    To my relief, there was no explosion of pages filling up the room. Terra had not taken the opportunity to pull a prank on me, and had rather given a professionally organized report that actually made me think she got Irena to help her. There was even a table of contents on the first page, giving the names for every system idea that appeared within the book.


    ¡°Spiritual Wanderer ss, soul binding method, card capture gun¡­¡± I read over the list, which was offered in no discernable order. There were a few dozen systems in total, though most of them weren¡¯t anything that would fetch too much in royalties.


    In general, most of the ideas didn¡¯t seem like something that I would be interested in adding to Earth, simply because they didn¡¯t fit my idea for it. But other Keepers could have different opinions, so I nned to put them all on the market anyways. There were, however, a few things that grabbed my attention.


    The first was something offered by Ashley. Shebeled it as the ss Transfer system. It came as both an object and as a system in two different entries, but both did generally the same thing. They allowed someone to get rid of their own levels, storing their umted experience either in an object or a system window, and then pass that experience on to someone else.


    There was already an object for game worlds that restricted someone to a single ss, enabling them to change sses, so instead she came up with something to let people transfer their sses among themselves. One downside I could see was that the memories would be taken with the experience, just like when someone ate a reset fruit. Then those memories would be given to the recipient, and they would gradually lose their sense of self.


    In extreme cases, it could even be possible topletely swap minds with someone, by having both parties store all of their sses and switching. This would cause aplete exchange of knowledge and memories. And that would be a rather¡­ dangerous effect to put into y. For this one, I decided to wait until I coulde up with safeguards to prevent such things as that.


    Next up was Aurivy, though this one caught my mind less because it was practical, and more because of just how much it fit her. A Cuteness Trait for world evolution. All creatures that evolved would be created with an aesthetic pleasing to the Keeper that created them. Such things as extremely soft, rainbow-colored sheep to snakes that looked like slinkies. I doubted that anyone would actually purchase this trait, but it was indeed an amusing one to see.


    When I came to Ryone¡¯s, I was surprised to find a new magic system outlined. This one was clearly developed with a technological world in mind. A system of magic that caused programming code to be able to influence the real world. Or at the very least, created a new programmingnguage that could be used through machines to cast magic.


    I briefly considered whether I should add this to Desbar, but ultimately decided against it. I didn¡¯t want to have to spend the additional points to help them research enough to catch up to the other two worlds, so giving them this programming magic would instead cripple them. I did put the idea aside for a future world, though.


    Once I was finished looking through the entire book, I began the process of submitting each item to the market, one at a time. With any luck, some of them would be popr and we could meet our goal. If not¡­ well, if not, we¡¯ll just have to wait longer. After all, if need be we could simply pause all three worlds and wait for the royalties toe in more.

 Chapter 163: To Review the Races

    <h4>Chapter 163: To Review the Races</h4>


    Out of the thirty-eight systems that the deities were submitting, all but one managed to make it through to the system. It seemed that one was actually submitted by someone else before Terra delivered the papers to me. However, the system that couldn¡¯t be submitted was merely one to create a new ss for the afterlife, one which would cause them to be more proficient in traveling from ce to ce.


    Given that the royalties from that ss would only be one or two points per purchase, it wasn¡¯t anything worth worrying over. Instead, I chose to simply submit the rest of the items andy down for a rest. Although it may soundzy, but sleep was actually the most profitable thing that I could do at this point, as it allowed the time for the rest of the Keepers to pass, meaning more people would be able to see and purchase the new systems.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Along the sandy shores of Al¡¯duin, arge group of heroc stood. In front of them was theirtest creation, a ship to sail to far-off shores. However, the heroc knew the dangers that lurked within the deeps. They had spoken to the ones beneath the waves. This was not a boat to sail the seas, but the skies.


    The boat had the same general shape as ones which sailed along the waves, but with several important differences. It did not have arge mast atop its deck to catch the wind. Instead, on either side of the ship were two iron rings protruding from either side, a feeling of powerful magicing from them. Each ring was angled downwards, halfway beneath the water¡¯s surface.


    Currently, the ship was resting atop the water, making it easier for a group of thirty heroc to climb aboard. As thest one did, another stopped him. ¡°May the ancestors guide you.¡± He spoke in a solemn tone, earning a nod from the departing heroc.


    That man moved to sit in arge chair at the top of the ship, near its rear. When he spoke, his voice rang out to all aboard. ¡°Launch the flying sea!¡±


    At hismand, a dozen heroc all moved to the sides of the ships, channeling power into the enchantments contained within the iron hoops. The water beneath the ship churned and began to rise up, carrying the ship itself with it. As it rose, some of the water began to break off from the mass, falling back to the sea below.


    When the water stabilized, it had formed two horizontal rings around the ship, each passing through the iron hoops. Yet, even without anything beneath it the ship remained steady. ¡°Move us forward!¡± The captain called out again, and the twelve heroc sent anothermand into the enchantments. This time, the ship began to steadily move forward, slowly ascending above the clouds as it traveled.


    _______________________________________________________________


    By the time I woke up from my little nap, I found another notification waiting for me on theputer. This one was surprisingly another invention, and one from the heroc of all people. A flying ship¡­ A small smile crept up onto my face as I read that. It had been over five hundred years since elves had developed personal flight artifacts, but nobody had been able to develop one on arger scale yet.


    In my excitement, I moved to investigate the heroc, seeing if they were moving ahead of the other races in other areas. What I found was both disappointing and not at the same time. In terms of smaller artifacts, the heroc simply didn¡¯t seem to bother mass producing them at all. They didn¡¯t have anything like the status orb, or a personal flight artifact, or even city defense artifacts like the ki cannons.


    Instead, their focus seemed to be on arger scale, like this ship. They had permanent gateways established between their cities, much like a druid¡¯s portals. They had mana shields that could cover a city for a certain period. But nothing for individual use.


    From my investigations into the minds of herocs, I discovered the reason. Such artifacts weren¡¯t created because they were simply deemed unnecessary. They had created a personal flight artifact, yes, but only as a prototype to the flying ship. After all, most heroc could use their own power to achieve simr effects to whatever a personal artifact could give them.


    I took a quick look at the voyage leaving from the heroc shores and couldn¡¯t help but wince slightly. The heroc were flying to the south from the southernmost tip of their continent. This would mean that they would have to go through the southern arctic pole before they hit another continent.


    If they managed to withstand the biting cold, however, they would arrive in the elven continentter. Possibly even the centaur continent, if their course diverged a little bit. I was curious to see whether or not they¡¯d make it, and how they would be received, but first I wanted to take a look at the other races.


    First up were the halflings and centaurs, as I foresaw them changing the least out of all of the races. And sure enough, they did not look much different from thest time I saw them. If there was anything that could be called change, it was that they had a lot more dirt roads between their cities than they used to, and that I noticed arger percentage of their poption was living inside of the cities, as opposed to wandering aimlessly.


    As for their magical advancement, it was¡­ practically nil. I noticed a few artifacts scattered here and there, some magical light posts to light the city at night, but nothing impressive. Well¡­ that¡¯s one hundred wasted points. I couldn¡¯t help but groan inwardly as I saw that pushing their development towards magic research had only yielded so much.


    Next on the list were the dwarves. I had great expectations for them, and was not disappointed. The structure of their society had changed little over thest two thousand years, but the number and scale of their cities had instead increased. On each of their city walls, they had dozens of manned ki cannons ready to attack any monster that approached.


    The originally shoddy craft of the dwarves had finally been refined over thest two thousand years, and they now had finely made iron and steel. Whether it was a staff enchanted for a wizard, a sword for a warrior, or even a metal bow for archers, the assortment found in their shops was enough to put other races to shame.


    And of course¡­ they had fully be drunkards, as well. Even more than their forges, their breweries seemed to be more highly regarded. I could only shake my head as I even saw a guard at the level limit passed out with a pint in his hand in one of their taverns, a pair of ursaughing across the table from him. It seemed that the beastkin had been well received in their society, at least.


    Moving on, I turned my attention towards the elves, the shining jewel of magic. From what I could tell, the elves had managed to reproduce several artifacts from the dungeon, mass producing them within their own borders. The bags of holding were a particrly significant export to both Zoriark and the dwarven continent, but they always kept the enchantment method for it a secret.


    The Towers of Communication iconic to the elves had likewise received a massive upgrade. Thanks to a long-rangemunication artifact, they no longer had to wait for days to deliver important news all across the continent. They were even able to ry information all the way to the dwarven continent, through use of their ry towards in between.


    I¡¯ll have to go down and pay another visit soon, for a closer look. I promised myself with a brief nod, before turning my attention towards the humans. There was no surprise when I saw that they had excelled in the production of weapons. Whether it was the bows that fired ki arrows, or primitive firearms that were fueled by mana, the humans had begun to mass produce them to fight their war.


    Of course, their defensive structures were just as impressive. Along the coast, they had several forts built with ki-enhanced stone bricks. I could only stare in amazement as I imagined just how much essence blood it would take to fully reinforce those walls. I¡¯d probably have to unlock most of my levels in order to break it down.


    Though, that did bring me to the beastkin. Out of all of the races, they had changed the most. Originally, they had been peace-loving and kind, but the humans had forced them to change. They became more violent in order to fight against the humans. Personally, I did not see the point to their war, as the humans had no way to invade the beastkin continent.


    As far as I could tell, it was a case of aggressions turning into a blood feud. The beastkin couldn¡¯t abandon their pride after seeing how the humans treated their people, and so they fought. Even when the humans could only be on the defensive, they never let down the attack.


    Shaking my head, I moved to see if the beastkin had made any remarkable advancements of their own that I had not seen yet. That was when I saw shops within their cities selling magic scrolls. Not the quest scrolls, but actual magic scrolls, each one containing a spell. From what I had seen, no other race had yet to perfect the method of scribing scrolls, so I was rather happy to see it from them.


    After ncing through the entire list, I debated where I wanted to go down to get a feel for their current state. The halflings and centaurs were still too far behind the others to consider¡­ The humans and beastkin were swept up in their war, so I wanted to leave that alone for now. I haven¡¯t been a dwarf in a while.


    Nodding my head at the idea, I decided to descend as a dwarf, going through the menu to set up my body. For my reputation, I decided to keep it simple, since I wasn¡¯t going to be staying for long. Just a traveling monk with no home or past. If it wasn¡¯t for the status orbs, I wouldn¡¯t have even gone for that much.


    Either way, once the body was ready and I had called back Leowynn, I selected the option to descend, making sure to grab my bag of holding as I did. The familiar warm, blue light surrounded me, and soon I found myself standing alone on a stone road.


    My body had be small, just short of five feet, but also stocky. My arms were as thick as a human¡¯s thighs, bulging with muscle and covered with hair. ck hair fell down over my face, making me work to clear it out repeatedly so that I could see in front of me.


    ¡°Well, let¡¯s get going then.¡± I muttered as I began to walk, using the map to navigate my way towards a nearby city. This wasn¡¯t a capital of either of the three kingdoms, but it was still one of theirrger cities, which was why I had chosen it.


    Along the way, I encountered several carriages moving two and from the city, more and more the closer I came. At times, they would stop to greet me, and others they would simply walk by. I didn¡¯t pay any mind until I came across a lycan walking the same road as me,ing from the city.


    ¡°Hail.¡± I called out, rather instinctively using the local greeting. I wanted to see what the rtionship was like between the two races up close, as opposed to my normal view on high.


    ¡°Ah, hey.¡± The lycan replied, ncing up from the road to smile at me. ¡°You heading towards Feradin?¡±


    ¡°Aye.¡± I responded with a brief nod. ¡°Ye juste from that direction, have ye?¡± As much as I didn¡¯t want to, I found the dwarven ent slipping out as I spoke. Terra¡¯s never going to let me live this down.


    No, no I won¡¯t. My thought was confirmed by a rather amused tone. However, the lycan in front of me soon answered. ¡°Yeah. Sorry, but I¡¯ve got to get going.¡± Saying that, he moved to walk past me along the road.


    Still, I wasn¡¯t annoyed. The caution he showed wasn¡¯t that towards someone he was afraid of, but rather the typical actions of facing a stranger. To expect one to tell their life story on the drop of a hat was rather unlikely, to say the least. I bid him farewell with a nod, and made my way towards Feradin.

 Chapter 164: Everything Has Its Price

    <h4>Chapter 164: Everything Has Its Price</h4>


    As I walked towards Feradin, I began adjusting my levels, practicing something that I hadn¡¯t really tried yet. Rather than fully unlock one ss, I practiced on only unlocking a portion of the ss in order to control my level more effectively. This way, I wouldn¡¯t just alwayse across as the best of one field. And more importantly, my levels would not go so high over the limit that people start to notice.


    Soon, I saw the city as I left the forest. Tall marble walls, battlements adorned with cannons every dozen meters. The silhouettes of dwarves could be seen walking the walls, patrolling with their eyes focused outwards. Patches of grass could be seen disturbed inrge circles around the walls, looking more¡­ fresh than the others. Likely from druids covering up craters.


    When I arrived at the walls themselves, I saw two dwarves, one on either side of arge gate. Each one held a polearm with a curved hook-like de at the end, the length of the weapon longer than their entire body. Their armor seemed to be made of silver, though I could feel the thrum of magical energy from it.


    Between them was a decently sized line of people and carriages waiting to enter the city. Each one had to step up to the guard on the left, take a small cerulean orb from his hand, and disy their identification. Only after that were they allowed to enter. And going by the pace that people were leaving the city, there was a simr checkpoint on the other side of the gate.


    Among the people gathered, it was safe to say that the vast majority were dwarves. Maybe one out of a hundred were beastkin, with about as many elves mixed in as well. However, aside from silently grumbling about their freakishly tall height requiring them to constantly talk up towards the other races, the dwarves didn¡¯t seem to have anyints.


    It was my turn soon, and the guard handed me the same orb that had tested everyone else. ¡°Is there a criminal on the loose or something?¡± I asked as I disyed my information, earning a gruffugh from the guard.


    Name


    Laird Mickens


    Race


    Dwarf


    Health


    5008/5008


    Mana


    216/216


    Strength


    22


    Ki


    4266/4266


    Stamina


    49


    Intelligence


    11


    Dexterity


    46


    Wisdom


    37


    Luck


    9


    Charm


    6


    ss List


    Alchemist 1


    cksmith 5


    Carpenter 1


    Druid 30


    Enchanter 5


    Herbalist 2


    Hero 3


    Leader 1


    Mage 2


    Martial Artist 1


    Monk 62


    Monster Tamer 2


    Ninja 6


    Noble 1


    Pirate 10


    Priest 1


    Schr 3


    Scout 25


    Shaman 10


    Spirit Hunter 21


    Spirit Tamer 6


    Swordsman 62


    Warrior 3


    ¡°No, nothing like that,d. Just standard procedure.¡± Although he said that, his eyes gave a small twitch when he saw my information window. ¡°Ah, sorry. Ye can be on yer way now. Tavern¡¯s just past the gates on yer right.¡± As he spoke, he shook his head slowly, waving my through. There seemed to be a trace of¡­ pity in his eyes?


    As I walked into the city, I reviewed my status information, and soon realized what the ¡®problem¡¯ was. My schr level was only 3¡­ From my perspective, this was perfectly normal because I didn¡¯t do most of my learning on this Earth. But for the people here, that meant I had to have the intellect of a child at best.


    I gave a small shrug as I considered that. If anything, it wasn¡¯t particrly bad. It was the perfect excuse for why my sses were so mixed up, as I had simply wanted to try a bit of everything. And it wasn¡¯t like I would be checked like that all the time, either.


    Sure enough, there had been another checkpoint on the other side of the gate, checking the people who were leaving the city. Nobody spared me a second nce as I walked in, moving past the crowd of people and into the city proper. I was able to get my first look at the dwarven architecture from up close¡­


    And I had to say that it wasn¡¯t as impressive as it looked from the Admin Room. Yes, the buildings looked nice, with nted ceilings and sharp overhangs, but they were actually quite small on the surface. From my earlier inspection, I knew that this was because of the dwarves¡¯ particr building habit. Rather than building up like most races, they tend to build down, causing all of the buildings to look small on the outside.


    In fact, the only rge¡¯ buildings in the city were the Tower of Communication, and the city lord¡¯s pce. The former is likely something that the elves have been spreading through the dwarven continent, as it was convenient for all parties involved. Not to mention the fact that if either race ever turned hostile towards the other, it would be a method of instant information gathering.


    I debated going into the tavern, as it was a surefire ce to find members of all three races. However, I didn¡¯t exactly have any coin to pay my way, and I didn¡¯t trust myself enough to not do anything stupid if I got drunk. So instead, I wandered the streets, asionally stepping in to look at the goods in a store.


    Whenever I found interesting items, I gave them a nce to identify their properties before moving on. Some of them had effects that I hadn¡¯t even thought of including in my checklist, such as a two-handed sword I found which was able to create a shield of ki around its wearer. Or a shield that was able to absorb mana from a spell and fire it back in a concentrated st.


    Of course, there were other items avable as well, such as a selection of bags of holding. Each one had a rather outrageous price tag, easily enough to purchase an entire house, if I was calcting the currency properly. Either way, they were ridiculously expensive.


    To my surprise, I also managed to find a selection of spell-iron and ki-iron weapons, showing that the dwarves had gone a step further than I had initially expected. This made me feel rather safe in regards to the spell-iron de that I myself carried, as it could no longer be seen as an otherworldly artifact. Of course, it was still strong enough with its added enchantments to put what the dwarves produced to shame, but given that it was personally made by Tubrock, that is no surprise.


    Continuing on my way, I saw examples of the beastkin, elves, and dwarves interacting with each other. Of the three races, the only ones that seemed to have even a somewhat strained rtionship were the beastkin and elves. And this wasn¡¯t a hostile rtionship by any means, as there were still several ces where they could be seen enjoying each other¡¯spany. Rather, it seemed that some of the elves were wary of the beastkin.


    This was enough to make me curious, but I decided to wait to investigate until after I returned to the Admin Room. Right now, I was simply looking at what the world had to offer. Unlike when I descended in the beastkin city with Terra and Aurivy, there was no festival going on. Nothing particrly eye-catching.


    At least, until I got to the center of the city. There, I saw an auction underway in the middle of a crowded intersection. Given the presence of guards protecting the stand, it seemed to be a sanctioned event.


    ¡°Alright,ds anddies! Next up, we¡¯ve got the spell-woven armor produced by Maxin Irins!¡± As the dwarf on the wooden tform spoke up, he unveiled one of the tall stands near him, showing a suit of metal armor within a ss cage.


    The armor drew in shouts of admiration from the crowd of all three races, though only the dwarves were bidding. After all, armor doesn¡¯t magically adjust to fit a wielder, so only a dwarf of roughly the same size as it was made for would be able to wear it. And sure enough, after a heated bidding war, one lucky dwarf dressed in fine silver armor walked up to im his prize.


    ¡°Thank ye thank ye. Now, this is where things start to get a bit unsavory. I¡¯d like to remind everyone not to cause a ruckus. Our remaining items to auction are all crime ves.¡± There was a silence that spread over the crowd as the auctioneer announced that. ¡°These youngds anddies stirred up trouble, and instead of rotting in a dungeon, they chose time as a servant.¡±


    With those words, he unveiled thest three standing cages, though these looked far more like cages than the ss disy for the armor. Iron bars holding back the sullen faces of three individuals. The first was a young dwarven man, likely barely of age with dark blonde hair. The second was a felyn woman who looked to be in her thirties. And finally, an elderly dwarven male, his sharp eyes scanning the crowd.


    Each one had a tattoo on their foreheads, in the shape of a rolled up scroll. ¡°As ye can see, they¡¯ve already entered into a binding contract.¡± The auctioneer announced. ¡°Until their term expires, they shall obey the one who purchases them. So, let¡¯s start with the youss.¡±


    The auctioneer stepped up towards the cage with the felyn woman, and shook his head sadly. ¡°Sorry, miss, but it¡¯s not often we get yer folk, so I gotta start you off.¡± After saying that, he turned to the crowd. ¡°This is Jinra Skoll. Her crime is using magic to burn a farmer¡¯s fields. The term of her contract is ten years. Per the rules agreed upon, she cannot be ordered to undertake any sexual acts. She is also permitted to defend herself from violence used against her.¡±


    The woman in the cage nced down towards the masses, the sadness evident in her eyes. I could tell from observing her that she was a fairly high level mage. And in fact, focusing in closely enough on her thoughts, I knew that she was in fact guilty of this crime. It may have been to kill a monster attack thend, but she had used fire magic to kill it, resulting in the burning of a farmer¡¯s fields. While idental, she had cost a man his own livelihood.


    If my guess was correct, the addendum to her contract that the auctioneer specified at the end was precisely because her crime was recognized as a justified ident. Most likely, had it been malicious intent, no such leeway would have been given otherwise. Before the auctioneer called for the bidding, he beckoned Jinra forward, and she ced her hands outside of the cage.


    The auctioneer ced a status orb in her hand, and she disyed her information to the crowd. As I had observed, she had just over a hundred levels in mage, as well as a few in enchanter. Surprised murmurs broke out in the crowd, and as soon as the dwarf called for bids, a bidding war even greater than the spell-iron armor erupted.


    Although I didn¡¯t ce a bid, I stuck around to watch the results. The one who ultimately purchased her was a stocky elven man, his ruby colored hair going down his back. There was ascivious grin on his face as he walked up to the tform, having the woman removed from her cage and then silently departing.


    The two dwarven men were enough to show me that thew had not been overly biased against the felyn woman. The young boy¡¯s crime was attempting to steal a bag of holding from a storefront, with a punishment term of five years. As for the older man, he actually had a much more grave offense, killing a foreign noble. His term was a life sentence, with no limits ced on his contract.


    Though, people seemed to doubt this im when they saw his information, as he was by no means a fighter. He was a cksmith, and quite a proficient one at that. I would check when I got back to the Admin Room, but I would bet that his real crime was simply making the weapons that in term killed the noble.


    Once he was purchased, by another dwarven cksmith, the auctioneer gave a satisfied nod. ¡°Alright, everyone, that¡¯s all for today! As always, we¡¯ll be back for another round in three days, so be sure to stop by and see what we get in!¡±


    As the crowd dispersed, I made my way towards a nearby alley, rather satisfied with the results I had seen. As the blue light washed around me again, I once more returned to the Admin Room.

 Chapter 165: The Foundry

    <h4>Chapter 165: The Foundry</h4>


    Now that I had gotten a glimpse into the rtionship between the elves, beastkin, and the dwarves, I was ready to begin another spree of fast forwarding. There was still a long ways left to go before the world was ready to be connected to the others, and not all that much to do until then.


    Yes, I could put an end to the war between the humans and the beastkin, but that would involve either divine intervention or one side gaining a super soldier that decimated the enemy forces. Neither of those options are something that I wanted at this point. In terms of inventions, I didn¡¯t know myself how to make most of the items that were left to invent to help them progress!


    My only real options here were to either stall for time to gain royalties, fast forward to earn advancement points, or do both. Given the sheer amount of points that I needed toplete the project to connect all three worlds, I really had no choice but to go with ¡®both¡¯. I set the world to progress again, this time with a limit of one thousand years, or until the next rm went off, before stepping away from theputer.


    As soon as we had ascended, Leowynn had already left my body to go y with the others, so I was still alone with nothing much to do. Out of curiosity, I decided to move towards Tubrock¡¯s ¡®forge¡¯. Though, when I arrived I realized that it was now more apt to call it a factory.


    Tubrock¡¯s area had been widened considerably, and was now filled with crude stone golems. Each one had a metal tool attached to its wrist, and was performing a specific task along an assembly line. Some had hammers and were striking hot metal. Others had chisels and were engraving. There was even an gigantic one in the back using two massive cleavers to cutrge chunks of stone.


    Tubrock himself was fast at work as well. In one corner of the room, I could still make out his old forge, where arge pile of metal ores were appearing next to him as he hammered away. His goggles were down over his face, protecting his eyes from the bright sparks flying off the long cylinder he was working on.


    I debated about whether or not I should disturb him, when suddenly he seemed to nce up at me. He gave a smallugh as he noticed my presence, and released both the metal shaft and the hammer he was working with. Though, surprisingly they continued to operate normally even as he walked towards me.


    ¡°Oi, Dale!¡± Tubrock called out, a small grin hidden beneath his thick facial hair. ¡°Bout time ye came by! Had a few things I been meanin¡¯ to show ya!¡±


    I was about toin about it being too hard to hear him properly over the sound of nging metal from the area around us, when suddenly the sound stopped. A brief nce told me that the activity was still continuing, but the sound itself was blocked from reaching us. ¡°Thanks. So, what have you got for me this time?¡±


    Tubrock gave a small nod, and led me to a nearby wall. As we approached it, a doorway appeared along the wall and we stepped through. Inside was a collection of various different artifacts of all sorts of shapes and sizes. ¡°Well, I been doin¡¯ my best to stay ahead of ¡®da curve. Ryone¡¯s doin¡¯ a fine job helpin¡¯ me with the enchantin¡¯ side of things, bless her soul, but I still gotta handle a lot myself. Still, I think I be doin¡¯ pretty well. The people down there still haven¡¯t made any golems yet, so that¡¯s a win in my book!¡±


    I nodded as I listened to him, a bit surprised that he was able to get all of this done. Most likely, he borrowed Ryone¡¯s methods of setting up a forge in the mortal world and using that to take advantage of the elerated time. ¡°Anyways.¡± He cleared his throat, moving over to a table. ¡°I got a few things ta show ya.¡±


    On the table were several small figurines. One of a gate, one of a cannon, then a wall, and one that even looked like a small castle. ¡°For obvious reasons, we¡¯re usin¡¯ these. Givin¡¯ ya a tour of therger ces would take patience I doubt ya have.¡±


    I did my very best to not take that the wrong way, because I also knew that I wasn¡¯t the most patient. So, Tubrock picked up the first of the figurines, the cannon. ¡°This is the improved version of the ki cannon that is being circted around right now. I figure it¡¯ll take at least another hundred years or so before they iron out the production method for this. Instead of simply propelling a projectile with ki, it fires a pure ki st.¡±


    ¡°Next up is this little beaut.¡± Setting down the cannon, he motioned towards the gate. ¡°The heroc nearly beat me to making this, but I got them by a couple months. Ye can think of this as a small scale Fairy Gate. It only works in the same world, and the distance is limited, but any druid can connect to it and select any ¡®address¡¯ that the gate is linked to, even if they¡¯ve never been their themselves.¡±


    ¡°Been working on ways to distribute this around, but it¡¯s not the best fit for a dungeon. Maybe I can have it included as a means of traveling to different rooms, or between floors, and trust people to notice and reverse engineer.¡± Saying that much, Tubrock shook his head before moving on. ¡°Ye with me so far?¡±


    I gave another nod, earning a gruffugh from the dwarf. ¡°Alright. This next one is something that they still haven¡¯t figured out down there. I call it a selective wall.¡± He pointed to the figurine of a wall. ¡°To most people, it¡¯s yer typical wall, reinforced to take a beating. But if you put the right magic form into it, the wall opens up to let ye through.¡±


    Well, that was certainly impressive. ¡°How difficult is it to decipher the password to open the wall?¡±


    Tubrock¡¯s face grew pensive at that, seeming to contemte the question. ¡°Aye, the password had to be included with the creation of the wall, so it is possible. But it¡¯s damn hard. If ye bring along someone skilled in cracking enchantments, could be anywhere between an hour and a day. Course, that suggests that nobody is defendin¡¯ the wall and that the enchanter can work undisturbed.¡±


    Seeing that I was satisfied with his answer, he moved on to thest item, the little castle. ¡°Now this, this be my pride and joy. Took me thirteen lifetimes to finish,id everyst brick myself. Had thess help me with theplicated enchantments, but now it¡¯s finally done. Say hello to the Sky Citadel.¡±


    Suddenly, the area around us changed, and we were suddenly standing in a dark cavern hidden within an empty mountain. I knew the mountain was empty because of the massive castle standing in front of us, which was easily as big as a normal mountain. ¡°As ye may have guessed by the name, this baby can fly. It also has my upgraded ki cannons installed along the battlements, reinforced walls, a mana barrier, and enough space to house a small army.¡±


    ¡°Only problem is the power source.¡± Tubrock shook his head. ¡°I thought about stealing Alkazar¡¯s monster core to use as a power source, but that thing would be depleted eventually. Right now, the only reliable power source would be you when you are at yer best.¡±


    ¡°And this citadel is a hobby of yours?¡± I asked curiously, still eyeing the giant construction before us.


    ¡°Nah, I thought about using this as a seat of power once the world knows about ye. Something you can just have flying around, outside the reach of normal mortals. And when the gamese, it can be a good defensive structure! I can upgrade the power sources and defenses as new ones are invented, so by the time we¡¯re ready it should be a proper force to be reckoned with!¡±


    I could only nod once again, impressed by the foresight. I had considered having Tubrock create arge scale defensive measure such as this, but so far I hadn¡¯te up with anything that could be made using our current resources. ¡°How far away is it from civilization?¡± I nced towards the dwarven god as I asked that.


    ¡°Ah, no need to fret there. I had the littless bring me to an ind far away from anyone in order to take care of the building. We¡¯re not on the dwarven continent at all, so there should be no worries about anyone finding this ce. Was thinkin¡¯ bout asking Bihena if she could make sure nobody sails too close to the ind though, just to be safe.¡±


    ¡°Probably a good idea.¡± I agreed, ncing around. ¡°Anything else you wanted to show me?¡±


    Tubrock¡¯s eyes opened wide, and suddenly we were back in his disy room. ¡°Ah! Right, sorry, got a bit sidetracked there. Anyways, that¡¯s enough for the Sky Citadel. I¡¯ll run you through the different passwords for its secret passages when it¡¯s time to unveil it.¡±


    My ears perked up slightly as I heard about secret passages. Who in their right mind wouldn¡¯t like to own a castle with secret passages? Still, I held in the small burst of excitement while Tubrock led me to a wall of weapons. ¡°These are the current forms of the godly weapons. Not that I ever expect them to be used, but for each their own.¡±


    Along the wall were a dozen ¡®weapons¡¯. There was arge hammer, a trident, a staff, two books, a wed gauntlet, a pen, a pair of boots, a bow, a greatsword, a chakram, and a shield. However, the number of weapons made me take a quick count in my head, making sure I hadn¡¯t forgotten anyone. ¡°Tubrock¡­ their are only eleven gods.¡±


    ¡°Well, you¡¯ll be needing your own weapon once the timees, won¡¯t ye?¡± He asked with a yful expression, pointing towards the chakram. ¡°I call it the Circle of Life and Death. Built it on the idea of your martial art, and it has the ability to create semi-real clones of itself through the application of ki.¡±


    ¡°Most of these items are pretty self-exnatory, so I¡¯ll just cover the questionable ones.¡± Before I could say anything about the intricately carved golden chakram, he already moved on. ¡°The books are for Ryone and Udona. Ryone gets the Grimoire, which she is personally inscribing every single spellponent in. Udona gets the Book of Swords, which she wants to use as a medium to create an armory of weapons and items with her Summoner skills.¡±


    ¡°The pen goes to Irena, known as the Quill of Souls. Don¡¯t let its size fool you, the body of the pen is like a bag of holding, and the tip is used both to suck up spiritual energy and fire it out. Theoretically, she could use this pen to capture one of those big Chimera Souls that used to give her a headache, grind it into spiritual dust, then fire the energy out to kill its friends without having to waste a drop of divine energy.¡±


    ¡°Last up for the ¡®unusuals¡¯, you¡¯ve got the littless¡¯s boots. As she told me, these boots were made for walkin¡¯, and that¡¯s just what they do. They can walk over any terrain, even open air without harm. Put in a bit of natural energy, and they can even cross space to serve as a druid portal.¡±


    ¡°They seem a bit big for her, don¡¯t they?¡± I questioned, ncing towards the boots which were obviously not sized for a halfling. However, Tubrock only responded with a roaringugh.


    ¡°I made each of these items able to resize themselves to fit their wielder. Special perk of being the god of crafting. Can¡¯t have one of them going down as a giant to awe their people, and make them carry a toothpick, can we?¡±


    I gave a brief nod, since his words did make sense. ¡°Alright¡­ anything else?¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± A thoughtful look was on his face. ¡°Not that I can think of right off. Ah! The tributes just ended, so looks like someone hit one of yer goals.¡±


    ¡°Uhm¡­ tributes?¡±


    Seeing the questioning look on my face, Tubrock let out augh. ¡°Ah, nothing to worry about. Something my kin set up way back. Every year, they offer me a portion of their mining harvests. Just leave them in the temples and offer me a prayer to take them. If I don¡¯t, they¡¯ll just leave more next year, so I got into a habit of collecting them. Only way I can build all this stuff without sucking a few ore veins dry.¡±


    ¡°Makes sense.¡± I spoke quietly. ¡°Anyways, thanks for this. I¡¯m sure that the citadel and the weapons will reallye in handyter on.¡± After giving my thanks, we departed and I moved back towards my room to see what had changed.

 Chapter 166: Alme Dien

    <h4>Chapter 166: Alme Dien</h4>


    When I got back to my room, to my surprise I found Terra sitting on the bed. However, her usual yful demeanor was nowhere to be seen, and instead she had a more serious, troubled look on her face. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± I asked as I moved over to sit next to her, and her tail came up to gentlynd on my wrist, as if by instinct.


    ¡°Something happened on Earth.¡± Terra told me as she turned her head to look at me, her brow furrowed. ¡°Tryval broke your rules.¡±


    Wait what? It took me a moment to process that, as it was definitely not on the list of things I expected to be troubling Terra. ¡°Which rules?¡±


    With a long, drawn-out sight, Terra exined. ¡°The ¡®no fornicating as a god¡¯ rule you gave him. From what I can tell, he was good and hasn¡¯t broken it since you told him that, but now he did it.¡±


    ¡°And something about it made you notice.¡± I interjected with a curious nce, earning a nod from the goddess of fate.


    ¡°Yeah. The kid¡¯s fate lit up my domain like the New York skyline. If nothing happens to her, she¡¯s destined to make a massive impact on the world.¡± Well, this was sounding less and less good by the minute. ¡°I¡¯m looking into it more now. That¡¯s what I was doing when you showed up. Right now, I know that she¡¯s a demigod, like Leowynn. The first one born aside from your own daughter.¡±


    Okay, now I understand why Terra would be so concerned. Out of all of Tryval¡¯s first several generations of children, none had been a true demigod with the powers to match. ¡°Does she have a special gift like Leowynn did?¡±


    Terra gave a small nod. ¡°Yeah, and hers is the reason why her fate became so big. Her gift is Divine Youth. ording to the system information, she will eternally remain in an adolescent body. She will never grow old, so her death would have toe at the hands of another, or a disease.¡±


    ¡°That is¡­ certainly powerful.¡± I could only stare nkly at Terra as I thought about that. Leowynn had a divine gift that doubled the strength gains she received from all sses. That alone made her likely the single most powerful person of her generation. And now this, Tryval¡¯s child could outlive anyone but the gods themselves.


    Shaking my head slightly, I gave another look at Terra. ¡°What about her character? She¡¯s not using this gift for evil or anything, right?¡±¡±


    Terra shook her head, her eyes slightly unfocused. ¡°Not that I can see. So far, she¡¯s not even made much of a public appearance. Alme Dien, born eighty-seven years ago. Her current level has reached the limit, but she is learning how to suppress her power from Tryval. He¡¯s with her right now, using his current incarnation.¡±


    ¡°Alright, thanks for letting me know about this.¡± I offered a small smile towards Terra, and she nodded, leaning against my shoulder. Closing my eyes, I sent a mental message towards Tryval. Mind exining why you broke the rule, and had a child as a god?


    It took a long moment before a response came in, to the point where I thought he was going to ignore me. Apologies, sire. However, this time was a special circumstance.


    How so? Rather than refute him, I wanted to know what it was that made him disobey that rule. Out of all of the gods, Tryval has always been the one to show the most¡­ official type of loyalty. I would not say that he is more loyal than Terra or Irena, or even Bihena, but his actions are more that of a knight serving his king.


    T¡¯was love, sire. Tryval exined simply. I lived a life with Alme¡¯s mother, and found myself loving her more than anyone I had met before. I could not bear the thought of hiding myself from her so, so I showed her the true me. I did not expect such a blessing toe from our union, and believed that you would never even notice this transgression. However, now that it has happened, I can say that I have no regrets.


    My brows knit together as I listened to him exin himself. To a degree, I had already expected something like this, given Tryval¡¯s character. And I wasn¡¯t going to do something like smite his kid to punish him. I¡¯m not a heartless bastard.


    Tryval, this can¡¯t happen again. I warned him. We can¡¯t just have demigods wandering around all over the ce.


    I understand that, sire. I believe that it will not happen again. I now have Alme as an eternal reminder of her mother, and that should be enough. I am training her so that she may walk among the mortals, letting none know of her identity. And when that¡¯s done, I shall watch over her.


    Tryval¡¯s response actually surprised me. He had never shown this much affection towards any of his offspring before. Back when he was first brought to life, he had raised an entire herd of variant children several generations long. Yet, at the firstmand he had left them without question. Now, one child was enough to make him change his ways.


    Honestly, I didn¡¯t entirely believe him at first. ¡°Terra, would you mind keeping an eye on him, to make sure that he sticks to the rule from now on? At least for a while.¡±


    Terra gave a small nod against my shoulder, still resting against me. ¡°¡®Kay¡­¡±


    I brought my hand over, gently grabbing Terra¡¯s and giving it a small squeeze. She seemedfortable, and I didn¡¯t intend to push her away to get up. So instead, I kept my eyes closed, and mentally summoned the map. It was still not as clear as when I used theputer, but it was getting better as I practiced.


    Checking the rms, I soon discovered which one had been triggered. After three hundred and sixty years, someone had discovered Alkazar¡¯s resting ce. Alkazar had chosen to rest on the continent that had remainedpletely uninhabited until now.


    As for the race that discovered him, it looked like it was the herocs. After their failed first expedition, they set out to the west instead and began to colonize the second uninhabited continent. After three hundred years, they had only colonized a small portion of the continent, but instead focused on exploring the newnd. This led them to finding the mountain that Alkazar had chosen as his final rest.


    Unsurprisingly, the first thing that the heroc did when they found a giant sleeping monster of unimaginable strength¡­ was to kill it. Alkazar had ced himself in aa from which he could never awaken, all of his defenses lowered. As such, it was easy for a group of heroc to y him.


    Looks like I can expect to see some items made using Alkazar¡¯s remains as ingredients in the near future. I nodded inwardly at that thought, before I once again began to fast forward. To my surprise, it actually only took another two hundred years before the final alert went off, signifying that the second tier of magic had been fully understood.


    Really¡­ thousands of years for the first tier, but only just short of six hundred for the second? I raised a curious brow at that, but there was a small chuckle from the catgirl leaning against my shoulder.


    ¡°Ryone.¡± She murmured. ¡°She knew all about the first tier already, so it was just a matter of finding out how the second tier altered it to make it more advanced.¡± Her exnation made sense, as there were still arge number of items that had yet to bepleted. Things like portable magic guns that anyone could use, items that would increase the overall power of the world.


    Just as I was beginning to wonder what I should do now to pass the time until I had enough points to buy everything, I received a small alert in the back of my head.


    Chat request has been received from Alkahest. Do you ept?


    Ah, he finally has the chance to get back to me. I smiled slightly, choosing to ept the call.


    Alkahest: Still Dale, right?


    EarthForceOne: Haven¡¯t died yet. Sorry, was on a boat trip.


    I decided to briefly summarize what had happened. Given how long he¡¯s been around, he should understand why a boat trip would take so long, especially on a world as big as mine.


    Alkahest: Ah! That exins it. Thought something mighta done you in.


    EarthForceOne: Not yet. I take it that the Keeper meeting ising close?


    Alkahest: That¡¯s right. Thought that I would call and see if you were free for this one. This¡¯ll be your one year anniversary as a Keeper, or close enough.


    I gave a small nod as I read his message. It was still hard to believe that all of this had happened over just one year, but then again that one year was really closer to one and a half. Still¡­ Lot to happen in that amount of time.


    EarthForceOne: I¡¯ll be free for this one. Don¡¯t have anything to do but wait at this point.


    Alkahest: Your world is just about ready, huh?


    EarthForceOne: Almost. Just need to buy onest thing. I should have a pretty decent set-up at this point, I think.


    Alkahest: About that. I took a look at the Card Law and Card Magic. I even asked one of mypanions to monitor a world with it for roughly a hundred thousand years, just to see how it developed.


    Well, that surprised me. I know that I had asked him to take a look at it after Udona created it, but I didn¡¯t expect that he would go that far with it.


    EarthForceOne: Oh? Did you find anything interesting?


    Alkahest: I was able to figure out why it was enough to make into a basic world of its own, at least. To test it out, I purchased up to the fifth tier of cards by the end of that hundred millenia. There¡¯s a hidden secret in the cards, once you reach that point.


    EarthForceOne: Well, don¡¯t keep me in suspense¡­


    Alkahest: Sorry, sorry. Anyways, a fifth tier card can be considered its own world. A small one, no bigger than a size 2 world, but still a world in itself. With the rightbinations, you can create spell cards that open gates to these new worlds.


    I couldn¡¯t help but open my eyes wide when I read that, briefly losing sight of the message window I had been visualizing in my mind. I didn¡¯t expect that the Card Magic would open up a new version of space travel as well. However, I quickly shook my head and called the message window to appear in front of me, so that I wouldn¡¯t need to keep my eyes closed.


    Alkahest: The worlds discovered by the Card Magic have the same rules as normal. The system rapidly elerates the time in the new world until either it bes uninhabitable or a sapient race appears. Alternatively, you can set it to prompt you when the world is discovered, and create it yourself.


    EarthForceOne: I¡¯m going to guess that the worlds get bigger with tier six and seven cards?


    Alkahest: I would imagine so. However, six and seven are a bit too expensive for me to buy to test them out. The best that I can tell you is that a card at the very limits of the fifth tier can open up a world of size 3.


    I felt my head nodding briefly as I read that. So, tier six can probably open up earth sizeds, maybe even ones like my new Earth. I would guess that tier seven can open worlds of any size.


    EarthForceOne: Thanks for the heads up. I¡¯ll have to look forward to thatter.


    Alkahest: Not a problem. I¡¯ll pass along that you are nning to attend this meeting. Anything else that I can help with?


    EarthForceOne: I should be good for now, thanks. I¡¯ll see you at the meeting.


    With that, the two of us ended our brief chat, and I was left with more to think about. Earth was nearly ready for the Gate, Tryval had an eternally young demigoddess running around¡­ and Udona¡¯s world had a lot more potential than I originally thought. At least I have plenty of time to practice my martial arts for now?

 Chapter 167: The Awaited Meeting

    <h4>Chapter 167: The Awaited Meeting</h4>


    After talking with Alkahest, I set the time on Earth to flow normally. What I needed to do now was to practice my Thousand Arms, Ten Thousand Threads martial art. Since it was avable on the market, I had to assume that other Keepers had also used it, or something simr to it, in order to bring their mentality closer to that of thepanions provided by the system.


    More to the point, there were still several abilities of the art that I was just simply not able to properly utilize yet, due to my weak mastery over it. So, I nned to kill two birds with one stone, and devoted myself to the repetitive training task of sending out multitudes of threads in every direction. Only asionally did I take a break to nce over the map and check to see if anything interesting was happening.


    _______________________________________________________________


    The sounds of children ying could be heard along the eastern shores of Tricarn, thend of the inswalkers and the little-folk. These were the names that the centaurs and halflings hade to call one another. And although they did not particrly care to explore beyond the shores of their ownnd, they could often be found enjoying their beaches.


    Yet, in the distance, a strange sight appeared. A behemoth of wood, a fish above the waves. The children ying on the sand gradually came to a stop and stared at the craft while it approached. And behind it, three more. One of iron, one of copper, and another wood.


    One of the young halflings broke off from the group, hastily running towards the adults. ¡°Mama, papa! Big water monsters!¡± He called out in a youthful tone, making the rxing adults suddenly be alert. Centaurs rose to their hooves, halflings moving to the highest nearby rock to scan the horizon.


    To their eyes, it was clear that these were not monsters, but the craft of man. The sails billowing in the wind, the figures atop the deck, it struck more caution into the adults than any monster could. Although it was no a distant memory, the memory of the great Blood War still lived on in their hearts.


    ¡°Everyone, off the beach!¡± One of the centaurs called out in a booming voice. Worry was etched in his features, and he backed up, unwilling to turn his back on the approaching crafts. ¡°Make for the town!¡±


    The Blood War had taught many lessons to both the halflings and the centaurs. Among them, perhaps the most crucial that both parties learned was never to underestimate people. Even the smallest of halflings could turn into a whirlwind of death, let alone these that sailed across the seas.


    By the time that the boats arrived, the beach had been emptied. Only the tracks in the sand remained, soon to be covered by the tide. ¡°Aha! I¡¯m first!¡± Called someone from the lead boat, a stocky dwarf no more than thirty years old. When he jumped from the boat, it was with enough force that the entire craft began to rock slightly. However, with that jump he cleared the short distance to shore and nted his feet in the sand.


    Tilting his head back, he let out a roaringugh. Behind him, the four ships slowly moved into position. It seemed that none others were quite as eager as him to jump onto an unexplorednd. ¡°Turren, I¡¯ve told you countless times, it doesn¡¯t matter who gets here first!¡± A voice floated into his ears, the voice of his female captain.


    Soon, she appeared on the sand as well, though her entrance was far more graceful. A golden bridge of light appeared off the side of the leading boat, connecting it to the shore. When a beautiful elven woman stepped onto it, she immediately appeared on the shore, as if she had traversed the entire distance in an instant. ¡°We all signed up for this voyage. We don¡¯t even know if thisnd is unimed yet, so calm your beard.¡±


    ¡°Bah!¡± Turren spat out as he was scolded, shaking his head. ¡°What¡¯sit matter either way!? Not like we can¡¯t get along with people of a different race. Yer lot proved that a long time ago, didn¡¯cha?¡±


    The captain, Sir Kine, let out a long sigh. ¡°But we must make a proper impression. What will people think if they see a cannonball of meat jumping off the ship, huh?¡±


    Turren only grumbled at that, refusing to retort. From the three other ships, simr bridges of light began to appear, and the crew of each started to unload themselves. Dwarves, elves, beastkin, all were present. The numbers were smaller, less than a hundred in total, but they had nned this far more carefully than the original voyage of the beastkin.


    ¡°Druids!¡± Sir called out as she saw people approach. ¡°Begin setting up the final gate! Engineers and artificers, make sure everything proceeds smoothly!¡±


    At her words, there was a sudden flurry of movement, and nearly half of the gathered crew began to move back and forth from the ship, bringing boxes of parts onto the shore. A pair of druids leveled off arge rock jutting from the ground to make the foundation, and people began to build arge stone arch.


    This was a device that had been jointly developed with the help of the dwarves, beastkin, and the elves. A gateway that could surpass a druid¡¯s portal through the use of ry stations. Along their voyage, they had ced several of these ry stations, one at every ind they encountered. In total, they had used far more than was necessary, but it was all in the name of caution. They couldn¡¯t be sure when they would encounter their next ind, after all.


    Soon, the gateway had been built, and one of the druids urged the natural energy of their environment into the gate to activate it. A swirling blue field appeared briefly, a whirring sound of energies colliding heard from within the gate. They had tested this invention on their ownnds already, but this was still the moment of truth.


    Suddenly, the blue field within the arch disappeared, and all sound seemed to stop. However, through the arch was a different site. No vast beach, or endless seas, but instead the view of arge building. And on the other side, an anxiously waiting elven man. ¡°It worked!¡± He cried out as he saw the people looking at him from the other side of the gate.


    ¡°Aye, it worked!¡± Turren nodded. ¡°Now go get the scouting party ready, you twit!¡±


    The man beyond the gate was briefly taken aback by thement, before his excitement overcame him once again. Nodding his head sharply, he ran out of view of the gate, causing those on the beach tough.


    ¡°You know the drill, everyone.¡± Sir said with a smile as she nced around to the crew. ¡°Those who are staying are wee to stay. Those who wish to return to their families, now is your chance to do so.¡±


    Most of the crew began to nod, not moving from their spots. However, there were a few among the druids and the crafters that had constructed the gate who began to move through it. Clearly, they had just been brought along in order to ensure that the gateway had beenpleted, and were now relieved that they would be able to return to their own homes.


    As they were leaving, unbeknownst to everyone, a young centaur appeared on a nearby hill. Her skin was as smooth as silk, her torso covered with a ck gown. Her ck hair flowed down past her shoulders, and blew softly in the wind. Along her ck pelt were frequent purple markings, some of which seemed to form patterns and others which appearedpletely random.


    The girl¡¯s eyes held an age to them that her body didn¡¯t match, and her lips curved into a soft smile as she watched the people below. Unlike the children who saw the ships as monsters, or the adults who feared a second Blood War, she simply watched them. Her presence went unnoticed until one of the crew turned away from the portal, and saw her figure upon the hill.


    Just as he began to shout out that he had found someone, she turned and retreated behind the hill. Several members of the crew felt a warm burst of power erupting from where she had left, but it vanished just as quickly. ¡°A priest¡­¡± A white-haired kitsune muttered, recognizing the familiar traces of divine energy, though not of any deity he had recognized.


    ¡°Looks like we got some new neighbors!¡± Turren let out another roaringugh as he said that, realizing that the presence of a priest and a clothed girl meant that the people here should have some form of civilization as well. ¡°One¡¯a yours?¡± He asked yfully, looking towards the kitsune priest.


    ¡°I have never heard of a beastkin with the features of a horse.¡± The man shook his head in denial. ¡°And the Sisters always refuse to speak in times like these. Even if there was a fifth, they would make us learn it ourselves.¡±


    Turren let out a low grumble when he heard that, shrugging his shoulders. ¡°Well, let¡¯s wait for the scouting party nheless.¡± Turren rubbed the back of his head as he spoke. Although his race did not have a nasty conflict like a Blood War when they first met the beastkin, the brief scuffle that they had was enough to make even the rowdy dwarf wary of provoking a conflict.


    It wasn¡¯t long before a group of people began to pour through the gateway, the designated scouting party for the voyage. When they arrived, they were briefed on the appearance of the girl beyond the hill, and how there was likely to be civilization nearby. Some of the scouts were excited by this news, while others instead seemed disappointed that this newnd had already been imed by another.


    Either way, the party began to head out, each carrying amunication artifact to report their findings in real time. On the other end of those artifacts was Sir, standing at the shore and ready to evacuate everyone should this turn into a battle. As much as they wanted to explore, it was not at the expense of her people.


    With everyone from the scouting group fanning out, it wasn¡¯t long before reports of tracks came in. Some looked like the hooves of horses, which would match the report of the unfamiliar girl, but others appeared to look like the feet of young elves. Another twenty minutester, and the first scouts began to report signs of a vige in the distance, built along the edge of a rolling field.


    From within the vige, figures could be seen moving back and forth, hastily preparing something. These figures were those of the reports, having the torso of a man atop the body of a horse. And with them, small figures that could be mistaken for children, if not for the even smaller ones apanying them that were no doubt the children of that race.


    ording to the scouts, the two races were busy preparing what seemed to be defenses. Archers and shieldbearers lined the walls of the vige, its gates closing once no more could be found rushing into the vige itself. Sir couldn¡¯t help but frown hearing the news, since it seemed that a peaceful talk would be impossible. Just as she was preparing to order everyone back so that they could set sail again, another report came in.


    ¡°Miss, the girl that they saw, can you describe her again?¡± A voice spoke up from the ss orb in Sir¡¯s hand.


    ¡°Her body was that of a young horse, ck with strange purple markings. Simrly ck hair, and a matching gown covering her torso. Why?¡±


    It took a moment before the answer to her question came back. ¡°I think she¡¯s approaching me. She appears unarmed. You said that she was a priest?¡±


    Sir gave a brief nod. ¡°That¡¯s right. Are you familiar with the procedure for first contact?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Captain Kine. I wasn¡¯t given a trantion book, but I know the procedure.¡± Sir couldn¡¯t help but curse under her breath. Trantion books were special quest scrolls that only a high level schr could create. This was because it required them to put their entirenguage into a single quest scroll, causing it to take the form of a book. And only a schr could process that much information at once.


    ¡°If you can, try to lead her back here. I¡¯ll have a book ready for you by the time you arrive.¡± Due to the difficulty of production, trantion books were still quite rare. Most were given to schools as a way to educate children about thenguage. For their trip to this newnd, they had only been granted four, one for each ship. As such, she quickly rushed back to her ship, and moved into the captain¡¯s cabin to retrieve the thick tome.


    In it were thenguages of the dwarves, the beastkin, and the elves. Among the three, the beastkinnguage had actually be the mon tongue¡¯ whenmunicating between races. This was because only the beastkin had made contact with both the elves and the dwarves before the two races met each other.


    By the time she had found the book and made it back to the shore, the report wasing in from the scout that he had managed to use an improvised quest scroll to convince the girl to meet everyone. Sir let out a breath of relief as she heard that, and quickly memorized the girl¡¯s name that was reported.


    While the pair returned, the rest of the scouts continued to watch the vige, ensuring that they did notunch any form of attack against the beach. Even if it appeared that the two races had gone purely on the defensive, Sir couldn¡¯t take any chances. They had found their first point of contact, and could have her help them meet the others.


    Soon, the elven scout arrived, apanied by the ck-haired girl. She kept smiling as she looked around, as if all of this was somehow exactly what she had been wanting. Or maybe that she was just excited to meet new people. Either way, Sir approached her with a warm smile as well, handing over the book as well as a quest scroll.


    ¡®Thank you for meeting with us, Alme. Could you take this book back to the people of the nearby vige, and let them know that we don¡¯t mean anyone any harm?¡¯ These were the contents of the scroll as the girl scanned through them, and she gave a small nod of eptance.


    Seeing that, Sir let out another sigh, before turning to the scout. ¡°Alright. Escort her back to where you found her, and make sure that she gets into the vige safely. I don¡¯t want any random monsters spoiling our chances here.¡±

 Chapter 168: Threadbare Preparations

    <h4>Chapter 168: Threadbare Preparations</h4>


    While I was rather d to see that Alme Dien was taking the initiative to help the centaurs and halflings meet the other races, I couldn¡¯t spare more than a passing nce at their progress every now and then while I trained myself. I had learned from the first Keeper meeting that I was a part of that the prizes for these games were points. And points were exactly what I needed now.


    I considered asking Alkahest if he could give me a list of all the different games that would be featured at the meeting, so that I could pick and choose what ones I wanted to do to earn the most points. One that I knew I¡¯d be participating in would be that Keeper Sim that I yed inst time. Now that I had some more experience under my belt, I was confident in my chances with that game.


    Though¡­ speaking of that. I quickly sent off a message to Alkahest, navigating the menu while I continued my ¡®thread training¡¯.


    EarthForceOne: If we bring apanion to the meeting, are they able to y games on our behalf?


    Alkahest: They can, but you¡¯re limited to just one Companion to use in this manner. You can¡¯t just flood the party with people to y the games for you, after all. You can also use them as advisors for you in the games that you y, so long as it¡¯s not in a cheating way like telling you what cards your opponent has.


    Thankfully, it didn¡¯t take him long to get back to me after I sent off the question, which made me smile in relief. Now it was just a matter of thinking who would be best to take with me for the meeting. Terra was an obvious choice, given that she was a systempanion, and knew the ins and outs of every game that they could y.


    However, I had the feeling that she wouldn¡¯t be eligible, due to the restrictions ced on systempanions. And I didn¡¯t want to put all my hope on her, only to find outter that she couldn¡¯t do it. If we weren¡¯tcking in points as badly as we were right now, I wouldn¡¯t hesitate to take Terra or the rest of them with me just to hang out with a new crowd.


    Then there was Udona. She had already disyed a remarkable level of ability in understanding games. However, that was also after she had spent months studying those games. Right now, we only had a few days left until the meeting began, so that wasn¡¯t enough time for her to even properly study the Keeper Sim game, let alone the ones that I never attended myself.


    In the end, I put it up to a vote, sending the message out to all of thepanions. In a few days¡¯ time, the regr Keeper meeting will be held by the Gilded Branch guild. I¡¯m looking for someone to attend the meeting with me. This isn¡¯t a regr party outing, or I¡¯d be willing to take everyone.


    These meetings feature games hosted by the guild, with the prizes being points. Whoever goes with me will also bepeting in these games in order to earn the prizes, so that we can get all of the information we need to bring out the Fairy Gates. I want you all to decide who will be joining me.


    I had half expected to receive a series of ¡®Me!¡¯ responses from the gods and goddesses, but they were surprisingly silent. Or maybe they were just discussing among themselves to decide, and taking this seriously like I had hoped. Either way, they didn¡¯t get back to me, which allowed me to continue my training.


    Minutes passed by into hours, which soon became days as I focused purely on expanding my understanding of the Thousand Arms, Ten Thousand Threads martial art. Every now and then, I would consult the information orb that I had purchased to refresh my understanding.


    Before, I had only practiced casually, bringing my ability up from twenty threads to thirty. I had never taken the time to diligently train like I was now. But now, I had to. After all, the key factor of this martial art was its ability to affect the mental state of its user, granting them a better ability to multitask and process information.


    By the end of my sixth day of training, I had finally reached the rank of One Hundred Threads. This meant that I could urately form and control at least one hundred threads of chakra and direct them around my surroundings. This also meant that I was able to use two new abilities of the art.


    The first new ability was the Woven Eye, which first bes avable once the practitioner can urately handle fifty threads. This ability allows the user to weave together those fifty threads and connect it with their own eyes. With that, they are able to see everywhere that their threads go, as if there were eyes attached to the threads.


    I tried the ability briefly, and was stunned by the sheer amount of sensory input I was receiving. The room around me had suddenly changed into a three dimensional map in my mind, and I could see every little nook and cranny. Naturally, once I got to a hundred threads, I could do this twice, which only increased the level of detail.


    The second ability was one that I had been looking forward to for some time, the Twinned Cord that I received after reaching One Hundred Threads. Unlike its rather confusing name, the ability was really simple to describe. It was a cloning technique, far better than the original ¡®Split Thread¡¯ ability that was unlocked early on. In this case, the clone could be considered a physical creature.


    While the clone was created, I could use any ki, magic, or chakra through it as if it were me. I could see through its eyes and use it tomunicate. It could deliver physical attacks and even wield weapons or armor. However, its body was rather fragile, since it was created from a hundred woven chakra threads. If an attack broke through its defenses, it was likely to destroy the clone.


    Another weakness of the clone was its range. This wasn¡¯t a case of me simply being able to create the clone and sending it out all over the ce to scout and fight for me. No, the clone was limited to the same range as my threads. And right now, the furthest I could push a single thread out to was fifty meters. Still a really good card to y when in a fight, but not something that can just be used as a godly clone.


    On the eighth day, I finally stopped training, having reached one hundred and thirty-two threads. I hadn¡¯t received another ability, but I felt that it was necessary for me to take at least a full day to rest and allow my mind to recover from the nonstop training. I was also quite curious why the others hadn¡¯t gotten back to me yet.


    Moving towards the living room, I saw that nobody was around, causing me to raise an eyebrow. Normally, I¡¯d find Aurivy with one of the other girls watching something on the television, but it seemed likely that she was off ying in one of their rooms. Alright¡­ who¡¯s going with me?


    I was sure that my message had gone through the first time, as I hadn¡¯t had an incident with the mental messaging malfunctioning for a while. However, the fact that they never responded could only mean that they had been taking this time to decide themselves, or that they were waiting to leave it as a surprise for when I was about to go.


    ¡°That¡¯ll be me.¡± A voice came from behind me, causing me to spin around in ce. The person that had suddenly appeared was none other than my very own Goddess of Politics, Bihena. She quirked a brow at my expression, cing one hand on her hip. ¡°You seem a bit surprised that it¡¯s me.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ yeah. I had been expecting Udona, or maybe even Terra. If not them, maybe Aurivy.¡± I answered honestly, giving a small nod of my head.


    Bihena only shook her head with a wry smile. ¡°Terra can¡¯t help in these kinds ofpetitions. Udona thought about it, but she¡¯s busy getting Deckan up to a good level of power and doesn¡¯t want to take the time to learn a bunch of new games right now. Aurivy begged and pleaded, but like you said, this isn¡¯t a regr outing. So, they decided that it would be me.¡±


    ¡°Ahh¡­ I see. Alright. We¡¯ve got two days until the meeting, but I wanted to make sure I knew who wasing along so that I could n appropriately. Did Terra tell you the kinds of games that you could expect at the meeting?¡±


    When I asked that, Bihena simply shook her head again. ¡°No, she said that there were too many to really prepare me for, and that saying anything more would be a ¡®vition of Keeper privacy¡¯. But I¡¯m fairly confident that I¡¯ll be able to bring back some points at least. How long are we staying there?¡±


    I gave a light chuckle in response. ¡°As long as we can. I left the first meeting after just a couple games, because I didn¡¯t really have a reason to stick around longer than that. This time, however, we need to stay in order to earn more points. Our goal is to get ten thousand points in total. We¡¯ll onlye back early if we hit that goal.¡±


    Hearing that number made Bihena¡¯s eyes open wide. Ten thousand points was around three times as many points as we had at our highest, and that was when we had been saving up nearly a year¡¯s worth of royalties. ¡°O¡­ okay. I guess we¡¯ll probably be there for a little while, then.¡±


    I felt my lips tugging upwards as I saw her suddenly bing nervous. ¡°Just think, this¡¯ll be your first time away from a territory that we had control over.¡±


    Her expression suddenly chilled, and she quirked a brow at me again. ¡°Terra already assured me that it was safe, and that nobody would be able to harm us. I might be nervous, but don¡¯t try to frighten me, alright?¡±


    I shrugged my shoulders helplessly, shaking my head. ¡°Oh, that reminds me¡­ I need to ask about Leowynn, too.¡± As I said that, I brought up the menu again, firing off another message to Alkahest.


    EarthForceOne: Forgot to ask before. I¡¯ve got an entity bound to me spiritually. Are there any rules that I should know for them, since they aren¡¯t really a Companion?


    Alkahest: Bound to you, huh? Well¡­ if they aren¡¯t a Companion, I¡¯d suggest to keep them with you at all times. Hostilities are forbidden during the meetings, but if someone tries something, your entity wouldn¡¯t be safe. Unlike apanion, they can still be killed if someone gets violent. I don¡¯t know anyone who would risk being cklisted for something like that, but better safe than sorry. If it is the official meeting, that¡¯s another story, though. There, the rules are enforced by the system itself, and everyone is given absolute protection.


    My eyebrow twitched slightly as I read that, feeling a bit sorry for Leowynn. I made a mental note to try to find some other types of outings where I could take her along without her just sitting inside my spiritual realm. Maybe if I joined a guild eventually, she could meet them. Or I could take her to the official meeting whenever I attend one myself.


    ¡°Everything alright, Dale?¡± Bihena asked, ncing at me curiously after I had gone quiet. ¡°Did you find out what you wanted to know?¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ looks like Leowynn won¡¯t be able toe out to y this time.¡± I answered, shaking my head. ¡°We¡¯ll find another chance for her to meet up with other people.¡±


    Bihena gave a brief nod at that, before ncing back towards the hall briefly. ¡°You said we have a couple days before the meeting, right?¡± When I nodded my head, she continued with a small smile. ¡°Alright, I¡¯m going to go make sure that I have everything ready on my end. Send me a message when it¡¯s time, and I¡¯lle find you.¡±


    After I gave another nod, she turned and walked into the hall, heading towards her own room. Part of me wondered what exactly she had to prepare. I nned to pause Earth before I left, so there wouldn¡¯t be an issue of humanity¡¯s goddess disappearing for a few days. Maybe she just wanted to pick out a good outfit¡­ women do always tend to take a long time to get ready.

 Chapter 169: Reunions

    <h4>Chapter 169: Reunions</h4>


    For thest two days that I was waiting for the meeting, I spent most of them hanging out with the others. As I had suspected, the girls were just avoiding me to keep who was going with me as a surprise, and let me prepare in the meantime¡­ Once Bihena revealed herself as the person apanying me to the meeting, I began to see more of them around.


    As for Tubrock and Tryval¡­ I¡¯m not quite sure Tubrock ever left his forge in the first ce, and Tryval seems to have been with his daughter the entire time. More than likely, the thought of those two joining me for the meeting never crossed either of their minds. Of course, I wasn¡¯t going toin about Tubrock spending more time perfecting his golems, or his other projects that he¡¯s showed me.


    If anything, I was quite curious what he nned to do with the Sky Citadel after incorporating the card magic from Deckan. Given his personality, I can¡¯t see him not wanting to incorporate the card magic into it somehow. Though, maybe he just hasn¡¯t at this point because he¡¯s waiting for the third tier of cards to be released, and he needs Udona as a supplier for them.


    Either way, I¡¯d find out soon enough. With any luck, by the time we came back from the Keeper meeting, we¡¯d have enough points to get everything we needed. Of course, until we left I had to spend plenty of time with a rather upset Aurivy to make up for the fact that I was ¡®going out to y¡¯ without her.


    Thankfully, her pouting was mostly just a joke, as I found out after spending some time with her. We watched some old shows on the television, yed a few games, and mostly just hung out with the others whenever they were free. Though, one thing of note was that I didn¡¯t see Bihena again, until the day that we were getting ready to leave.


    Just as I received the message from Alkahest, asking if I was ready, Bihena rushed out into the living room while Aurivy was giving me a goodbye hug. It was only then when I noticed why Bihena was taking so long to ¡®get ready¡¯, as her outfit seemed to be intricately crafted. Even as she was bent forward with her hands on her knees, panting for breath after rushing out suddenly, I could make out the details of her outfit.


    On her head, she wore a golden band made of five intertwined strands of gold. On each side of her head, three strands spread outwards to form the pattern of wings, while one went down to outline her jaw, leaving thest strand to circle around and hold it all together. Her blonde hair was grown out slightly, tied up in a ponytail behind her.


    She wasn¡¯t wearing her normal armor, as it seemed that she wanted to wear something special for this event. Her body was adorned in a blue armor with golden highlights, covering her upper chest and legs. A short white dress fell down from beneath her chest armor, held together by a belt at her waist to form a skirt that traveled down to her knees.


    On her hands, she wore long white gloves, the length of which traveled all the way up to her shoulders, ultimately leaving very little skin exposed aside from her head. ¡°Hah¡­ hah¡­ I made it.¡± She panted out, looking up at me with a small grin.


    However, when she saw what I was wearing, her face almost paled. ¡°Seriously? You¡¯re just going in casual clothes?¡± She asked incredulously, as I was still wearing the same t-shirt and pants as always.


    ¡°Well¡­ yeah?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but be amused as I saw her expression. ¡°Is this what you¡¯ve been preparing thest couple days?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ yeah?¡± She mimicked my response, though it seemed unknowingly. ¡°Don¡¯t you want to represent Earth¡¯s culture? This is the formal armor of nobility among the humans, so of course I made a set for myself¡­¡±


    I shook my head with a lightugh, before the message from Alkahest came through again, asking if I was ready once more. ¡°Well, let¡¯s go.¡± I told the grumbling goddess, who begrudgingly nodded her head.


    Alkahest has invited you to their Administration Room with Guest privileges.


    Do you wish to ept? Y/N


    I couldn¡¯t help but feel surprised when I saw the name on the invitation. Last time, it had been someone else¡­ a Durandor, I believe. Was she not hosting the meeting this time? Still, I chose to ept the invitation, as none of my questions would be answered otherwise.


    My eyes closed, bracing for another unpleasant transition. ¡°Dale¡­ door.¡± Bihena spoke, clearly taking her own turn to be amused. When I opened my eyes, there was a glittering golden door standing in front of us.


    A sigh of relief escaped my mouth as I moved for the door, quickly opening it and going through before the system decided that I needed some other method to travel. ¡°Sorry, bad experiences¡­¡± I exined to Bihena while she followed along.


    ¡°Uh huh, sure.¡± She simply kept a grin on her face as she watched me, as if this was payback for my casual attire.


    However, her expression froze once again when we arrived. Alkahest had clearly remodeled his Admin Room to mimic the setup that Durandor had used in the meeting I had previously attended. Or, maybe it was better to say that the Gilded Branch likely used thisyout as a temte for whoever was hosting the event.


    However, what startled Bihena obviously wasn¡¯t theyout, as she had seen wide open spaces like that too many times to count. Instead, what startled her was no doubt the sight of the hundreds of various Keepers filling the area. Some appeared out of nowhere, shaking their heads in difort, while others rose up from the ground or fell from holes in the ceiling. But with so many Keepers, of so many races and varieties, this was clearly the most diverse crowd that Bihena had ever seen.


    It didn¡¯t take me long to find a few familiar faces. The giant red dragon that had been a new Keeper in my first meeting, the arachne Kathy, and naturally the giant hosting the event Alkahest. Various other faces seemed familiar, but I couldn¡¯t quite remember where in the previous event that I had seen them.


    Shortly after we arrived, someone hurriedly walked up to us. They were a small man, barely two feet tall with dark brown hair. Their eyes were a pure green, and they were wearing a ck robe, with the emblem of a golden branch sewn on. ¡°You¡­ are EarthForceOne, right?¡± He asked hurriedly.


    ¡°That¡¯s right¡­¡±


    Before I could say anything else, he nodded his head again. ¡°Good, yes, very good. Here, take this.¡± He handed me a small badge, which looked almost like a nametag. ¡°Grimor said you were bringing apanion, so give that to them to allow them to represent you.¡± As he said that, he quickly disappeared back into the crowd, likely finding more Keepers to give the nametags to.


    ncing down at the nametag, it simply said ¡®Game Companion of EarthForceOne¡¯. With a light shrug, I passed it to Bihena next to me. ¡°Looks like they¡¯ll be using that to identify you when I¡¯m not around.¡± I had been curious how they would handle that, or if they could simply award me the points through her as a proxy. But it looked like that wasn¡¯t the case.


    It took roughly thirty minutes before people stopped appearing within the crowd. At one point, I even had to dodge out of the way as an explosion of blood and gore urred from in front of me, revealing a Keeper who looked absolutely traumatized. Inside out method? Poor guy¡­


    Once the crowd was settled in, Grimor¡¯s voice rang throughout the crowd. ¡°Hello, everyone, and wee, to the 275th semi-annual Keeper meeting hosted by the Gilded Branch. I am Grimor, owner of the title Alkahest, and I will be your host for the day. Durandor is still in the midst of her invasion against TridentTrue, so she won¡¯t be able to join us for now.¡±


    Ahh, so that¡¯s why he¡¯s hosting it. I was thinking that she might have been killed or something. ¡°Now, unfortunately there aren¡¯t any new Keepers among us, though I suppose that could be a blessing as well. This means that less Keepers have lost their lives and been reced in thisst month. However, there were still some losses, who I will honor now.¡±


    After he said that, Grimor began to list off various Keeper titles, most of which I hadn¡¯t heard of before. Yet, there was one that caught my attention. Dreyfus, whose name I only remembered because of the Designer games from my first meeting, as they had been the winner with a new type of magic. However, aside from him, none of the other titles mentioned caught my eye.


    Finally, as he finished listing off the names of Keepers, he pat his chest with his hand. ¡°In honor of those that have fallen, we carry on. To beat the system, and find the True Keeper!¡± As he finished, he thrust his fist into the air above him, his actions mimicked by many of the other Keepers as they shouted out in unison.


    ¡°¡±For the True Keeper!¡±¡± Ah¡­ I had almost forgotten about that bit. I shook my head as I waited for the ceremony to end.


    And sure enough, there was only one piece left, with Grimor clearing his throat. ¡°Now, as per usual, we have Arbitren here with his monthly report.¡± Saying that, he gave a small smile, allowing the old man that I sawst year to climb up onto the tform.


    ¡°Yes, thank you¡­ Now, I havepiled a list of many notable systems submitted over thest month, and will be sharing some information about them now.¡± He nced over the crowd of roughly a thousand Keepers before beginning to list out the various systems.


    I had a small smile of pride when he came to the Card Law and Card Magic systems submitted by EarthForceOne, as they seemed to be rated rather highly. Maybe I can look forward to an influx of royalties once everyone goes back to their own Admin Rooms.


    After he was done, Grimor once again took to the tform, long enough to announce that the guild-hosted games would be starting in ten standard minutes. ¡°So, thoughts?¡± I asked with a small smile, turning my head to look at Bihena. Throughout all of this, she seemed to have been working her hardest to simply process the information, as all of this was so new to her.


    Of course, Leowynn wasn¡¯t doing any better herself from her position inside my spiritual realm. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ big. A lot bigger than I imagined.¡± Bihena muttered with a pensive expression, her eyes ncing from one Keeper to the next. Though, it was hard to tell how many Keepers had brought apanion with them like myself.


    My smile grew slightlyrger as I heard her answer. ¡°A bit overwhelming at first?¡± I asked, amused. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, most of them are pretty friendly, from what I saw before.¡±


    As I spoke, there was the chittering of pointed legs that echoed over the crowd. ¡°Dale!¡± A high pitched voice called out to me, and I turned my head to see Kathy rushing over. ¡°I almost thought you weren¡¯ting to these meetings anymore.¡±


    Her legs were practically dancing beneath her, each one clicking against the stone ground. I chuckled softly as I heard that, shaking my head. ¡°No, I was just busy taking care of something in my own world. I take it that you¡¯ve attended all of the meetings, then?¡±


    She nodded her head rapidly, her legs clicking against the ground in an almost circr wave around her. ¡°Aside from the official one. I wasn¡¯t ready for it yetst time, so I couldn¡¯t go¡­ but I¡¯ll be able to go to the next one!¡± She grinned happily as she said that, clearly proud of herself.


    ¡°Oh? Managed to get yourself into the games already?¡± I asked in genuine curiosity while Bihena observed the two of us from the side.


    ¡°Justst week! Though, my first invasion is set to be an attack, so I won¡¯t be missing the meeting even if it takes a while. By the way, who¡¯s this?¡± She turned to look at Bihena, her head tilted in confusion.


    ¡°Ah, I¡¯m one of his goddesses¡­ Bihena.¡± The person in question introduced herself politely, offering a small bow.


    ¡°Oooh, you brought a goddess with you?¡± Kathy grinned in excitement. ¡°None of my people ever want to join me. Always too busy with their own things. I¡¯m Kathy, by the way!¡± She lowered herrge spider-like body down, extending a hand to Bihena.


    Spider-girl agro has shifted, time to find some games to participate in!

 Chapter 170: A Tournament of Champions

    <h4>Chapter 170: A Tournament of Champions</h4>


    This time, I knew more of what I was doing than the first time that I had been to one of these meetings. As the Keepers began to file into the gaming area, I took a closer look at the names on each door. With the knowledge of the games that can be bought on the market, I knew a bit more about how they were able to keep things fair, so I wasn¡¯t as concerned.


    Of course, that didn¡¯t mean I was assured of my victory in any game I yed. Rather, I just was more confident that I wouldn¡¯t be a punching bag¡­ Big difference there. For instance, I saw one door that listed a racing game. My current reaction times would not be nearly enough topete with the experienced Keepers, so it would be best to avoid those.


    I debated starting with the Keeper Sim game, since I knew the grand prize for winning that tournament was a thousand points. However, I wanted something new first. I even saw a door which wasbeled ¡®Keeper¡¯s Cards¡¯, which at least showed that there was one other game here that I would be familiar with.


    Ultimately, however, I still wanted to get warmed up with something new. Dip my feet in unfamiliar waters, so that I would have a greater understanding of how things go. The door that I first went through was onebeled ¡®Combat Tournament¡¯. I knew that I wouldn¡¯t be a match for those ultra-powerful Keepers who have been doing this for decades, but at the same time I was sure that the rules would give me a chance. And if not, then I could simply bow out and try something else.


    Though, I did leave quite a bit before it was time to do so, and arrived in the tournament room early as well. It was still surprising that I was nearly the first one here, aside from a woman standing at the far end of the room. One who I assumed was either a member of the Gilded Branch, or one of Grimor¡¯spanions.


    The room itself wasrge, with dozens of square stands spread throughout the area. On the far end, she stood alone against the wall, giving me a small nod as I entered. Her appearance looked human, but I couldn¡¯t really be sure these days¡­


    I found a spot to stand and wait, knowing it would be useless to try to get her to exin the rules to me before everyone had arrived. It just wouldn¡¯t make sense if she did agree to it. And sure enough, after a few more minutes passed, people began to wander into the room. Some of them looked curious, as if they were trying it for the first time like myself. Others, confident and likely to be returning yers.


    Of course, something that those confident people all had inmon was their physique. They were all toned, for their body types, with defined muscles and sharp eyes. At least the name on the door wasn¡¯t misleading¡­


    Once roughly thirty people had filed into the room, thepanion pped her hands to get everyone¡¯s attention, the sound echoing in the room unnaturally. Definitely apanion. ¡°Okay, everyone. Looks like we got some first-timers in here, so I¡¯ll go over the rules!¡±


    Thepanion had a grin on her face as she looked towards a few people within the crowd, myself included. ¡°This is a one on onebat tournament. Before each fight, you will be given time to design the character you want topete as. You will be given one minute to limate to your new body before the match begins, and the match ends with either Keeper¡¯s death.¡±


    One of the more curious Keeper¡¯s paled at that, looking to thepanion and asking in a shaking tone. ¡°D-death? You mean we could actually die doing this?¡±


    An echoingugh rang through the crowd from the veterans, while thepanion simply smirked knowingly. ¡°Fret not. We¡¯re using a system-regted method, and no death here is permanent. Can we get a couple of volunteers to demonstrate?¡±


    Two of the veterans immediately stepped forward. One was a four-armed cyclopean with two horns on the back of his head, and dark red skin. The other was what I could only call an orc. Tall, green skin, and bulging muscles. The two of them obviously knew each other, going by the grin that they shared when they approached one of the stages.


    Once they moved into position, they began to maneuver their hands as if they were interacting with a message window, while thepanion again spoke. ¡°The standard for power in this tournament is for a Rank 1 Keeper on their home ground. For those of you that haven¡¯t entered the Games yet, that means a Keeper who has just qualified, and isn¡¯t strong enough to face the big boys yet.¡±


    ¡°Any systems can be used, as long as the game does not judge that the total power level has risen above the first rank. In the event that you choose a set of systems reliant on items, you can create an inventory for yourself to take with you. None of the items used here are real, naturally, so you won¡¯t be able to keep them after the fight.¡±


    As she finished her exnation, the two Keepers vanished from their positions at the stage. At the same time, arge projection appeared above the stage, showing the two of them in different locations. ¡°This is the preparation phase. Bothbatants will be stationed at a random point in an artificial world with a size rating of three. Once the minute has ended, they will be allowed to leave their areas to search for their opponents.¡±


    ¡°To prevent this fighting tournament from being a game of hide and seek, the world will constantly shrink as time goes on. After ten minutes, the world will be down to a size zero, making it easy for them to find their target. If they still can¡¯t find them, then five minutester the world will be the size of one of these stages, and the one knocked out first will lose. This means that most matches will have a time limit of fifteen standard minutes!¡±


    It was likely that she timed her exnation with the countdown, because as soon as she finished speaking the two people moved into action. Both fighters had chosen to keep their own bodies, so it was easy to identify them. It took them less than a minute to run into each other, at which point the two of them began an all-out melee brawl.


    I could see blue and golden energies flying between their bodies, but it was hard to urately grasp their movements due to the speed that they were going at. It was hard to say whether or not I¡¯d even be able to keep up with them if I went all out using my current limit of power. All I could see were the blurred punches and kicks, and hear the deafening roars that came with every strike.


    This went on for another five minutes, with neither side seeming to have an advantage. Until suddenly, the four-armed cyclops pped his hands together to release a green shockwave. The orc-like Keeper was caught off-guard for a brief moment, which allowed his opponent to stab his four hands directly through the man¡¯s chest.


    There was a gasp from the crowd, no doubt the same Keeper who had raised the question of death in the first ce. However, as the orc¡¯s body seemed to go limp, the projection faded. Momentster, the two Keepers appeared at their original ces at the stage again. The red-skinned Keeper carried a triumphant smile, whereas the other shook his head.


    ¡°And that¡¯s your demonstration. As you all just saw, MeanGreen clearly died just now under MissTery¡¯s final blow.¡± A round of chuckles rang through the gathered Keepers as the four-armed fighter¡¯s Keeper title was revealed by thepanion. Yet, she didn¡¯t seem to care at all and continued. ¡°Like this, everyone can be assured that the game is totally safe. This all happens under the system¡¯s eye, and there are no true deaths here.¡±


    Her words spread a wave of relief throughout the newer Keepers, myself included. I had seen from the games you could get from the system that it was possible to simte death as part of the game, so I knew that it could happen like that. However, getting a first-hand example did help me to believe that nothing was going to go wrong.


    ¡°Now!¡± She pped her hands again to get everyone¡¯s attention, her green eyes shining. ¡°This is an elimination-style tournament. If you lose, you will be entered into the loser¡¯s bracket to determine your final standing. If you are eliminated a second time, you are out. The winner of the loser¡¯s bracket will have the chance to challenge the runner-up for their title. And if they win, they will be allowed one shot at the champion.¡±


    ¡°Everyone, take a look at the back of your primary appendage, where you will find a number. I took the liberty of marking each of you during this exnation, and those numbers will be the stage that you report to for your first fight. Before the tournament begins, you will have ten minutes to check the system and familiarize yourself with it. Then, five minutes to set your character, and finally one minute to prepare before the fight.¡±


    I turned the back of my right hand over, and found the number eight written on it in ck. Oh yeah, definitely one of Grimor¡¯spanions. If she was able to do all of this, she had to have way more than Guest Privileges. This ce had to be like her own home.


    Still, I did move towards the eighth stage. At it, I thankfully found another of the new Keepers, judging by how they had looked before the rules were exined. A brief nce through the room told me that all of the new Keepers had been paired up together, and not just the two of us.


    ¡°Good luck.¡± The man across from me said. I could tell that he was a martial artist by his outfit, which looked like a tight ck robe tied-off and cut just below the waist, his legs covered with matching loose pants. He was the very picture of a martial artist from Earth, aside from the fact that his skin was a light grey and he only had three fingers on each hand.


    ¡°You too.¡± I gave him a brief nod, before stepping up to the stage to take a look at the system. Immediately, a disy appeared, looking simr to the one in the Keeper market with various purchasable systems. There were even ¡®preset¡¯ characters that you could choose to y as.


    Naturally, I wanted something that I could take advantage of with my limited training. My own body was the one I was most familiar with, so I left it alone. For the powers, I gave it mana and ki, allowing myself to create chakra. Though¡­ just to be safe, I turned to raise a question towards thepanion hosting the tournament.


    ¡°I have sealed spirit entity within me. Will ite to any harm in this game?¡± A few other contestants raised their heads at that, either surprised at the reveal of information or simply curious about the answer.


    ¡°Nope.¡± Thepanion answered with a light shrug. ¡°Your body, and everything within it, are saved the moment the match begins, so everything will be returned to its previous state when the match is over.¡±


    That helped to calm me down a lot, since otherwise I would have immediately left the tournament. After all, if Leowynn were going to be killed just because I entered a fight, then that would not at all be worth the prizes. And, although thepanion herself did not mention what the prizes were, they had apparently already been registered with the system.


    The first ce champion of the game would go home with fifteen hundred points. Second ce would get one thousand, and third ce would get five hundred. After them, fourth would get two hundred points, but nobody else would see a reward.


    I gave a small nod as I read that, before returning to the disy to begin setting up my character. As I was scrolling through the list, I saw something interesting, which I couldn¡¯t help but smiling about. One of the systems of magic that could be used in this tournament, our very own card magic.

 Chapter 171: Destruction

    <h4>Chapter 171: Destruction</h4>


    Once I saw the card magic system as an option listed in this game, I couldn¡¯t help but somewhat give up on my ideas of winning. Not because it made me less confident in my chances, but because I felt the urge to experience what the card magic would be like once it reached a level usable in the games. More to the point, I felt like Udona¡¯s testing may not have beenpletely urate.


    The idea of the values that she exined to me originally made sense at first, until I began to think about it more deeply. After all, that would mean that only two second tier cards could bebined before it became third tier. And what about third tier cards? Each one would make it jump several levels.


    No, I felt like there was something else about how the values worked instead of simply adding them on during the fusion. So, I added the Card Law and Card Magic options to my character, which brought my attention to another feature of this little game. At the side of the screen was a slowly filling vertical bar.


    Below the bar were the two words ¡®Power Level¡¯, meaning that this was probably a rough measuring of overall power. It hadn¡¯t reacted at all when I gave myself the ability to use ki, mana, and chakra, but had shot up slightly when I added in the card powers.


    Still, everything added together was less than five percent of the ¡®Power Level¡¯ meter. Which brought me to the next window. Now that I had assigned the systems that I wanted to use, I had to adjust the attributes of my body. There were various buttons to increase my strength, speed, and everything else.


    Since I nned to use the Thousand Arms, Ten Thousand Threads in this fight, I increased my mana and ki. I wasn¡¯t sure how much exactly I was giving myself, but by the time I was done the power meter was at fifty percent. Going back to the previous window, I gave myself a ki path that specialized in defense, that way my more frail physical body wouldn¡¯t be too much of a weakness.


    Finally, I went to my ¡®inventory¡¯ window. Here, I could choose whatever weapons, armor, or artifacts I wanted to take with me. As I had expected, this also included magic cards once I gave myself that system. And it was here that I found out where the root of Udona¡¯s misunderstanding came from.


    From what I understood, Udona had been working with the first tier fusion cards, and may have even expected that was all there was. However, in the list of cards I saw, the fusion cards went all the way to rank seven. Rather than the spell cards themselves having a limit, the fusion cards should have a limit to how much they can fuse.


    With the window pulled up, I checked how much time I had left¡­ still over five standard minutes before the preparation phase of round one began, so ten minutes total. I began grabbing various magic cards,bining them into different spells. Some I discarded when I saw the finished product, and others I chose to keep. Each one raised the power level by a small margin, until finally the bar had been filled.


    Strangely enough, I found that only fourth tier spells had a significant impact on the power bar. Each one alone increased it by between five and ten percent, while third tier spells barely made a dent. I guess that means that normal Keepers will generally have a lot of third tier powers avable to them, and just a few fourth tier¡­


    This game was actually giving me a surprising amount of insight as to what I could expect from the future Keeper games. Between this and the Keeper¡¯s Cards game, I actually felt like I might have an idea of what I was doing¡­ for the first time in a long time.


    Shaking my head, I went over the items that I had granted myself. Only one was an actual weapon, though it had been enchanted through the card magic as well. I still had a few minutes left, but I felt fairly satisfied with the arrangements that I had made so far.


    Looking across from me, I saw that my opponent was still looking through the system, seeming to be having trouble deciding what he wanted to use. Seeing that, I gave a small sigh of relief, feeling like my chances for the first round were improving. After all, if I was up against someone else who didn¡¯t know what they were doing, then at least it wouldn¡¯t be so bad.


    Like that, the minutes passed by while I waited for the tournament to begin. Thankfully, the character I had set up wasn¡¯t wiped when the preparation phase started, so I did not have to go through and make it all over again. Instead, once the final countdown finished, I felt a familiar light epass my body.


    The sensation was simr to what happened when I descended, so I was not too worried. And surely enough, once I opened my eyes thendscape had changed. I was no longer in arge room filled with Keepers, and had instead moved to arge mountain, standing just before the snowy peaks. The chill invaded my body, yet caused me no harm.


    In the corner of my vision, I saw a timer counting down from one hundred seconds, no doubt the time until the fight began. Since I had some time, I looked over the items in my belongings. My outfit had not changed aftering in here, still being the same t-shirt and jeans I typically wore in the Admin Room. The only thing different was a small ck box that had been attached to my waist.


    This was the container for my various cards, which I quickly pulled out. Something I had realized when I was going through the spell cards to prepare myself was a critical weakness of this magic system. Unlike a magic system that relied only on the user¡¯s understanding, this one required you to find the card you wanted to use each time you cast a spell. This added several unnecessary seconds to the casting process.


    Thankfully, I wasn¡¯t the only one who noticed it. The weapon that I chose to grant myself for this fight was an item designed to ovee this weakness. It took my only a moment to find the right card in the deck, which quickly expanded to reveal a silver gun.


    The barrel of the gun was smooth, having a rectangr shape with a thin slot to fire from. Where one would load a magazine, there was instead an opening to insert cards. One by one, I began cing the spell cards that I had brought with me into the gun, at which point I would be able to mentally call out which spell I wanted to trigger.


    By the time I was done, the countdown was almost over, so I let out a long sigh, raising the gun up towards the sky. The instant thest second ticked away, I pulled the trigger. Detect lifeforms.


    A green light shot out from the gun and into the sky, before spreading out in a wave in all directions. I wasn¡¯t sure how the previous two fighters had managed to find each other so quickly, but it was likely that everyone selected some kind of detection ability. Mine was a radar-like spell that could cover a massive area. Since there were only two living creatures in this world, it would make it easy to find him.


    And sure enough, only a few momentster I felt a mental ping from the spell, showing me the location of my opponent. Closing my eyes, I began to spread out my chakra threads, preparing for theing battle. It was now that I noticed my mana and ki levels, both of which were far higher than normal. So this is what it will feel like¡­


    I shook my head to clear away the distraction, before firing off the gun again. Step through space. This time, the light that exploded out from the gun only moved a short distance before stopping, turning and covering my body. A momentter and I was high in the air above the other Keeper, who suddenly turned to face me from below.


    Judging by his body, he had not modified his appearance as well. Though, I did not know what abilities he would have, so I wanted to y this safe. Before giving him a chance to release one of his attacks, I aimed the gun at him and poured a massive amount of mana into it. Meteor call.


    A yellow and red portal appeared in front of the gun, which then grew further and further until it seemed to cover the world beneath me. This was my most powerful spell that I had prepared, one that by itself had taken ten percent of the power allotment. From the portal, a giant ming rock descended upon the world, crashing into it and causing a shockwave to spread out. Fire and ash filled my vision once the portal disappeared, rocks spreading across the horizon.


    I cast my detection spell again, and abruptly turned towards my side, raising my left arm up reflexively. The grey-skinned Keeper must have teleported or something, because he was now in the air next to me,shing out with a powerful kick. Even with my ki focused on defense, I felt something crack inside my arm, pain shooting through me.


    Physicalbat type¡­ I mentally assessed what he had to have chosen based on what he showed, even as my body was sent flying away. Thankfully I had defended with my free arm, or I might have lost my only weapon.


    Spreading my ki out around me, I used it as a curtain to catch the air, slowing myself down and eventually allowing my to stop. Already, the other Keeper was charging at me again, giving me just enough time to activate another of my spells before he arrived. Intangibility.


    A soft blue glow appeared on the body of the gun just as the Keeper appeared in front of me again. When his fist, d in the yellow glow of ki, mmed into my chest, it quickly passed through me. The sudden unexpected change sent the Keeper off bnce long enough for me to lift my gun and trigger the second attacking spell.


    In total, I had prepared three attack spells. The first was the meteor spell, for wide area destruction that could level a small country with ease. The second was specialized for dealing with supernatural defenses, turning them against their user. This was the third one, a pure, focused destruction on a single target. Annihte.


    From the barrel of the gun, mere inches from the other Keeper¡¯s face, a sickly green energy shot out. When it made contact with his head, the light in his eyes faded. A ck spot formed at the point of contact, quickly spreading across his body. As it spread, he seemed to burn away, his body breaking apart into bits of ash that fell to the ground one after another.


    Once thest speck of ash was blown away, the blue light surrounded my body once again, returning me to the stage. Across from me, the grey-skinned Keeper lookedpletely dumbfounded, as if he never understood how he lost like that even until the final moment. ¡°How¡­ what was that gun?¡± He asked, clearly figuring out that the gun I used yed thergest part in my victory.


    ¡°Card Law with Card Magic.¡± I told him the basic systems needed for the gun. ¡°The gun was the Mage Pistol.¡± ncing around, I saw that only a few of the other fights had ended by now, with most still ongoing. That wasn¡¯t a surprise at all, seeing that I had managed to end mine rather quickly.


    Leowynn, are you alright? I couldn¡¯t help but ask inwardly, part of me still concerned.


    I¡¯m fine, father. She answered from within my spiritual realm. What happened? I saw you preparing to fight, and then it was over.


    You weren¡¯t able to watch what happened during the fight itself? That part surprised me slightly. I had expected her to just be sealed away in my spiritual realm unable to interfere. Instead, it seemed like she had just been locked out entirely.


    No, I wasn¡¯t. Was it interesting? I could feel the curiosity in her tone as she asked that, as she had never seen me fighting with my full power before.


    A soft chuckle escaped my lips while I shook my head. I¡¯ll give my character spiritual energy next time, so you should be able to watch, at least. If that didn¡¯t work, I¡¯d have to try to find some other way to get Leowynn to watch the fights.


    Looking around, I saw the various projections above the stages, showcasing each of the fights. Through most, I saw meleebatants, but there were a few that had gone for a more magic approach like myself. It wasn¡¯t an exaggeration to say that the meleebatants could shatter a mountain with their strikes¡­ because I saw someone do just that. On the other hand, the magic users had powerful spells.


    At one of the fights, I saw that the two people hadn¡¯t actually met yet. Both of them likely chose a magic type, and were simply sitting in a meditative position at their starting point. Just as I began to wonder what they were up to, one of them abruptly opened their eyes and mmed their hand onto the ground.


    The projection zoomed out to show the entire world that the two were fighting on, where a visible ripple could be seen flowing through it. The farther it moved, therger it became. And when it arrived at the other Keeper on the far side, the itself exploded.


    Is that what a fifth tier attack spell looks like? I asked myself in amazement. The only way that I could imagine that working was if they tried to cheat the system. Instead of using third and fourth tier powers, they got a fifth tier-busting attack spell. Given how long the two of them waited to build up their power for it, it took well more than half of their power total just for that one spell.


    Of course, a strategy like that wasn¡¯t a viable one in the long run. After all, I had already finished my fight by the time heunched his attack. If I found either of them before their attack was ready, the fight would be over before they had the chance to move¡­

 Chapter 172: Playing Dirty

    <h4>Chapter 172: ying Dirty</h4>


    For my second fight, I was rather surprised to see that I had been paired up with another of the new Keepers. Things had be a bit more random now, as some of the other new ones that remained were being paired with veterans. Though, more importantly, the new Keeper I was paired up with was the same one that had used the world busting strategy in the previous fight.


    He did not appear to spend much time adjusting his character, which likely meant that he intended to use the same strategy a second time. Shaking my head, I calmly waited for the preparation period to pass. This match was the easiest I could hope for, as I won simply by teleporting to his position and dropping a meteor on him.


    And this time, I had been the first to finish my match, as I had been put against an opponent who didn¡¯t really deserve to be in the second round in the first ce. So, I simply took the chance to watch and wait for the others to finish so that the third round could begin. On the bright side, this gave me time to observe the various fighting styles that were being used by the differentpetitors.


    Most of the melee fighters appeared to be focusing on ki, with a few utilizing divine energy, mana, or other energies that I couldn¡¯t identify. There was one that struck me as interesting, a Keeper whose body was bathed in a rainbow-like glow. I found it rather hard to identify what effects the energy had, because it seemed to be too versatile,unching spells or enhancing his body as needed.


    Probably a higher levelbination energy¡­ I thought inwardly as the other Keepers began to end their matches one by one. When thest of the fights had concluded, thepanion stepped forward, a small smile on her face.


    ¡°Alright, everyone. In the winner¡¯s circle, we have ninebatants left. Since the fights are pairs of two, that means we will be seeding onepetitor each for a round. Each time, the one to get a free pass will be the one whopleted their round the fastest.¡± Her voice echoed out through the room, drawing in the attention of the other Keepers.


    Slowly, she turned her head to look at me. ¡°For this round, that will be EarthForceOne, as he finished his fight in forty-eight seconds.¡±


    I gave a slow nod of my head as I heard that, though most people were probably rather surprised to hear the number. If they knew who my opponent was, things would have been different. But at least like this, I was able to get a pass into the quarterfinal round.


    While everyone else was busy preparing for their next fights, I stepped down from the stage to watch them again. With just four matches in this round, I would be able to better observe my future opponents. This was a rather clear advantage for me, but at the same time, I wouldn¡¯t be able to skip the next round as well.


    Out of the eight other Keepers, there was only one that I could identify as being part of a new group. From his performance, he was abat expert fully focusing on ki. I was able to see a number of abilities from him that I had never witnessed monks using before.


    Whenever he moved his body, a golden glow would form around him, taking a variety of shapes to attack or defend. Sometimes, he would create a sword of energy in his hand to thrust at the enemy, and other times he would shake his shoulders to reveal a golden shield to defend himself. Even the final attack he used in the battle was shocking, though not one that waspletely new to me.


    For hisst attack, he brought his hands together, creating a golden ball of ki between them. With his fingers spread out and curved like fangs, he thrust his hands forward. As he did, the golden ball washed over his hands before pushing forward as well. However, the shape it took when it pushed forward was different.


    The originally sphere-shaped golden light changed into the form of a giant dragon¡¯s head, its mouth opened wide. By now, his opponent was weakened and weary from the fight, and could do little to prevent the jaws of the dragon from closing on him. And like that, he advanced to the next round as well.


    I couldn¡¯t help but be shaken as I saw that, and it wasn¡¯t just me¡­ Inside of my spiritual realm, Leowynn was simrly shaken. That attack that he had used was incredibly simr to thest attack that Leowynn used before she died, though it seemed more advanced. Father, are you going to fight him as well?


    Maybe¡­ I gave a slow nod. That Keeper wasn¡¯t the first of his round to finish, so he wouldn¡¯t advance directly to the semifinals. That meant that there was a one in three chance that he would be my opponent.


    Looking at the back of my hand, I saw that the number eight had changed into a one, indicating that I needed to move towards the first stage. Once I was there, I saw that my opponent wasn¡¯t the Keeper specializing in ki. Rather, it was MeanGreen, the same green-skinned Keeper that had been killed in the demonstration.


    ¡°You¡¯re one of the new guys, right?¡± He asked in a gruff voice, looking across the stage at me. When I gave a small nod, he grinned broadly. ¡°Did pretty good to make it this far. Though this is where you¡¯ll be ending, I think. Maybe you can do good in the loser¡¯s tournament and get another shot.¡±


    It was unclear whether he was trying to offer helpful advice, or just taunting, given his gravelly voice. I simply selected the same character that I had been using previously, while adding in spiritual energy so that Leowynn could potentially watch. I hadn¡¯t done so for the second round because¡­ well, it didn¡¯t seem like the fight would be very interesting for her to watch.


    This time, once we entered the fight, I did not bother firing off my detection spell to find MeanGreen. I had seen previously that he already had a detection ability and would being to find me soon. So instead, I prepared to set the valley where I spawned as the battlefield.


    Trap: Binding Chains. Trap: Soul Drain. Trap: Null Ki. Trap: Teleport Circle. One by one, I began firing a series of prepared spells at the ground, taking the time when MeanGreen was tracking me down to set a nice little surprise for him.


    Only once I had finished preparing did I take a deep breath, firing off my detection magic into the air. Thend around me was a vast valley, with mountains on one side and an ocean on the other. ording to the spell, MeanGreen wasing from the direction of the ocean, and would be at me within moments.


    As I looked out at the horizon, I could faintly see a golden glow rapidly charging towards me. Yet, I did not lift my gun to fire at him. None of my three prepared spells were suitable for a situation like this, so I waited for him to enter the area of my traps.


    However, as the green figure bathed in a golden glownded on the ins, he abruptly stopped just outside of the trap area. ¡°Eh? You were waiting for me?¡± He asked with a tone of surprise. ncing down at the ground, he seemed to sense the presence of the traps. ¡°You know those things only work if I step on them, right?¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± I said, smiling calmly. Now, I did raise my gun. ¡°So I¡¯ll have to make you step on them.¡± Force teleport.


    When I pulled the trigger of my silver pistol, a white light shot out. However, MeanGreen didn¡¯t even pay any mind to it, simply stepping out of the way before it could hit him. ¡°Really? Don¡¯t tell me that this is how you won your fights before¡­¡± He spoke, a somewhat sad tone in his voice.


    I simply shrugged my shoulders, still keeping that calm smile. Seeing that, MeanGreen sighed, shaking his head. I saw the light around his body focusing on his palms, and knew that he was about to destroy all of the traps that I set.


    Yet, that was the moment I had been waiting for. With a small step, I appeared directly in front of MeanGreen, my gun already charged for a second st and pressed right against his body. This time, when the white light shot out, he could only jump backwards, trying in vain to dodge until it caught up with him.


    When the white light surrounded his body, he let out a shout and suddenly vanished, appearing behind me in the traps I had ced beforehand. Silver chains shot up from the ground, digging into his skin. ck fog lifted up, burrowing into his legs. Even the golden light of his ki dimmed as it was sucked into the ground.


    ¡°This¡­ this is dirty.¡± He muttered with a grimace, struggling to move his arms. I could see the veins bulging out, his muscles trembling. ¡°You know this won¡¯t kill me¡­¡± As he spoke through gritted teeth, I could feel a powerful energy welling up within him, and I could only nod.


    ¡°I know. But it keeps you still.¡± I had to chuckle as I said that, lifting my gun up to aim at him again. This time, I fired off the final attack spell of my arsenal. Dissonance.


    From the description of this spell that the system provided, its uracy was the worst, simply because the spell¡¯s effects even targeted itself. But at this range, against an unmoving target, it was perfect. A spiraling pair of ck lights shot out from the pistol, shing against itself before burrowing into MeanGreen¡¯s body.


    MeanGreen¡¯s body buckled over, falling to the ground as he coughed up blood. The energy that he had been building up was suddenly running out of control inside his body. And without a way to control his energy¡­ he popped. His body burst apart at the seams, blood and bone exploding outwards in a cloud of gore.


    Like that, I had sessfully finished the quarterfinals round of the tournament, and was honestly surprised with myself. Maybe it was thanks to having time to understand that card magic system, as well as the support of the Mage Pistol, but I had not originally expected to be able to advance this far.


    What was more surprising was that I had been the first of the two fights to finish, meaning that I had a free ticket to the finals. Ultimately, this meant I was guaranteed to win at least five hundred points, even if I lost both of the uing matches. Five hundred points, plus learning more about how the card magic system worked made this tournamentpletely worth it.


    When I got back to the tournament room, I saw that the loser¡¯s bracket was still going strong. Those that had lost already had mostly left, while those that remained were simply enjoying the show. Across from me, MeanGreen had a somewhat unresigned look on his face, but ultimately did not question his loss. In my defense, it was his fault for talking so much¡­


    Unfortunately, the Keeper I had an eye on before did not make it through the quarterfinals, and was eliminated by the other one who had been in the demonstration, MissTery. The red-skinned Keeper gave a polite bow towards his opponent, before moving on to the next battle. When he saw that MeanGreen was moving towards the loser¡¯s tournament, he seemed surprised, and sent an odd nce my way.


    I smiled politely towards him, giving a brief nod before moving to watch his fight. His opponent was a Keeper that I had never seen before this tournament, a human-looking one with dark skin. Both had chosen to be melee fighters this time, but ultimately MissTery pulled out another win, advancing towards the finals.


    However, unlike what I expected, we did not jump straight into ourst match right away. Rather, once MissTery¡¯s battle was over, thepanion hosting the tournament signalled for us to wait. Only when the current round from the loser¡¯s tournament ended did she make her announcement. ¡°Alright, everyone! The finalists for the winner¡¯s circle have been decided! We have our reigning champion, MissTery! And on the other corner, the neer EarthForce One!¡±


    ¡°Everyone get ready for their fight¡­ once the loser¡¯s bracket has caught up. After all¡­ the winner from that side will still have a shot at the championship!¡± She grinned mischievously as she said that, much to the dismay of the crowd. Well¡­ at least we have time to rest?

 Chapter 173: Crushing

    <h4>Chapter 173: Crushing</h4>


    Even though I could guarantee myself a prize at this point, I couldn¡¯t ck off. If I managed to get second ce, or even the championship, my prize would increase drastically. However, at this point there were no new Keepers left. And even among the loser¡¯s bracket, I could see the veterans showing their explosive strength.


    Battles were notsting as long now, everyone pulling out all that they had to end their matches with a single decisive strike. They all knew that one more loss meant that they would lose any shot at winning this tournament. And although these meetings often held multiple tournaments for the same game, they would have to fight through an entirely new tournament for that prize, whereas this felt so close byparison.


    One by one, I got to see the powers that a Keeper could disy in the games. Magic, cultivation, there was even one Keeper that chose to mix it up by going for a pure technology build in one fight. Though, he seemed unfamiliar with wielding the weapon that he had chosen and was eliminated thanks to that.


    To my surprise, it was actually MeanGreen that emerged as the final victor of the loser¡¯s bracket. He was able to quickly triumph over all of his adversaries using the same physical fighting style that he had disyed before. And once he had earned his spot as the ¡®Final Loser¡¯, as the hostingpanion called it, he sent a fierce nce in my direction.


    ¡°Alright, everyone! The moment you guys have been waiting for! Our two undefeated fighters! EarthForceOne, MissTery, please approach the first stage!¡± She called out in a booming tone, while myself and the red-skinned Keeper moved up for our fight.


    As expected, neither of us adjusted our avatars for this battle. We hade all this way through the use of a single fighting style, and we wanted to see it through. Though for me, I was busy trying toe up with a surefire n to defeat MissTery¡­


    Once the countdown had ended and we were sent into the world, I found myself standing alone on a tiny ind, one step in any direction enough to send me to the water. Quickly, I loaded my magic cards into the magazine for my gun and waited for the battle to start. The moment it did, I did not beginying traps again, but rather fired off my detection spell.


    I doubted that I would be able to use traps to win a second time so easily. Ignoring the fact that MeanGreen might have warned him about how I defeated him in our battle, just the battle itself made me lose confidence in that tactic. After all, MeanGreen had been able to sense my traps, and the only reason he fell for them at all was because he spent too much time talking.


    As soon as my detection spell showed me where MissTery was, I fired off my teleport spell to take me roughly a mile behind him. Forcing him to change his course would buy me a little bit of time, and until then I began shooting myself. Enhance: Speed. Enhance: Strength. Aegis. Three buff spells that would boost my physical ability.


    After casting those spells, I brought the Mage Pistol into my left hand. It wouldn¡¯t y a big role in this fight, but I couldn¡¯t just turn it into a card either. Logically, doing so would cause the several cards stored inside of it to scatter, and there was still the off chance that I would need themter.


    By the time that I finished casting my buffs, I could already see MisTerry on the horizon. However, he did not charge over, merely standing in midair. His one eye stared directly at me from far away, his four hands in front of his chest forming a diamond shape. In the center of the diamond, a glowing sphere of golden light could be seen.


    Reflexively, I began spreading out my chakra threads, ready to dodge at a moment¡¯s notice. From observing the fights of the ki specialist Keeper, I could guess that this was the preparation for a big technique. And sure enough, I was not disappointed.


    Several momentster, MissTery pped his four hands together over the golden light, causing it to wash over his arms. Then, he began to move his arms back in a strange, slow rhythm, leaving golden after images. When he was done, he no longer had just his four arms, but another forty behind him.


    Yet, this was still not the end. He did not charge over towards me and overwhelm me with his fighting power. Instead, all forty-four arms moved to ce their hands in front of him, forming a fouryered circle of palms. This time, I could feel the ripples of ki spreading out all the way to my position, and my hand clenched on the pistol.


    This wasn¡¯t any special power of a system. If I was right, this should be a technique that he knew how to perform from his own training. Suddenly, all forty four palms flipped upside down, and the world around me seemed to shatter. ck cracks spread out through the air, originating from his position like a spider¡¯s web.


    The grassynd that I was standing on shook and broke apart, several pieces rising into the air, falling into the cracks. The ki he was emitting was all around me now, and I could feel it. In a desperate move, I began stepping through my chakra threads, fleeing as far as I could to the side. If this was a directed technique, then moving back or forward would amount to nothing, so only the side was a possible escape route.


    Thankfully, my chakra threads allowed me to slip between the cracked space, but I never felt myself escaping the field of ki that MissTery emitted. ncing over towards him, I saw him still facing me with a serious expression, his arms all still facing me. As I watched, his palms turned inwards, and all pped together, copsing into just his original four hands.


    For a single moment, I felt a pressure on my body unlike anything I had ever known before. I could feel my bones cracking, shattering under the force. But before I could even cry out, it was already over. I was back at the stage, bent over and gripping the console, feeling a cold sweat on my back.


    ying over the scene again, I knew that there was nothing in my arsenal that could have changed that oue. If I moved to engage in closebat, just the sheer number of arms would have overwhelmed me with an assault from all angles. None of my defensive spells even held a candle to that attack.


    ¡°Alright! What an oue! MissTery¡¯s signature technique, Shatter the Earth and Copse the Sky, folks! I haven¡¯t seen that one used in years.¡± Thepanion called out loudly, breaking me from my thoughts. I made a mental note to look through the marketter to see if I could find that technique. I had seen its power first-hand, so I knew just how terrifying it was.


    ¡°Next up, EarthForceOne has to defend second ce against MeanGreen! Fighters, to stage one!¡± Thankfully, I didn¡¯t have to move from my spot.


    Are you alright, father? Leowynn asked with concern from within my spiritual realm. That was¡­


    I know. I sent back to her with a brief nod. A technique like that shouldn¡¯t be within the realm of a first rank Keeper. However, he had not broken the rules. The amount of ki that he had was within the limits. It¡¯s just that he knew a technique that went beyond those limits. Likely, if he was able to use his full power, he would not have required a charge-up period in order to release it.


    The seconds ticked by, and once again I was sent into an isted world. This time, I was at the edge of a deep canyon which stretched on to the horizon. Once I was done loading my gun, I prepared to fire off the detection spell again. The trap tactic was definitely not going to work on the same person twice, so I could only prepare for a frontal confrontation again.


    However¡­ once my detection spellunched, I was surprised to find that there was no response from it. Even after giving the spell enough time to wash over the entire world, it did not detect another living creature. Sh*t, he¡¯s using a stealth technique¡­


    Without the ability to search for my opponent, I simply began buffing myself again, waiting for them toe to me. If this battle would be at a time of his choosing, then the least that I could do is prepare myself for it. Of course, I had to hope that they weren¡¯t simply going to use a-busting spell to end the fight while I couldn¡¯t sense them.


    Thankfully, nearly five minutester I saw MeanGreen walking through the air in the horizon. The golden glow that he held before in our previous fights were gone. Instead, I felt an intense surge of mana whenever I looked at him. Oh great¡­ he¡¯s not just a physical fighter.


    Just like MissTery, he stopped just above the horizon, staring at me with his hands behind his back. I could barely see him opening his mouth when I enhanced my eyes with ki to watch him, yet his voice rang out in my ears. ¡°Sorry, EarthForceOne, but let this be a lesson. Little tricks and traps aren¡¯t meant to take you all the way here. It ruins the fun for the other participants. And if there¡¯s no fun to be had in a fight¡­¡±


    Rather than speaking, he brought one hand out from behind his back and lifted it up to his chest, his palm facing upwards. A small orb of light formed in his palm, an intricate mix of countless strange symbols. When MeanGreen opened his mouth again, his voice once more echoed. But this time, it seemed to speak from the world itself, rather than directly to me.


    ¡°My life is the core of the world. My heart shaped the past. My hand molds the present. My mind begets the future. This world has fallen to chaos and must be restored.¡± With every word, the mana pulsing from the sphere of light grew stronger.


    This wasn¡¯t elemental magic¡­ I could not feel any disturbance in the flow of natural energy, so why¡­ Did he have another system that boosted his mana through chanting? Feeling a sense of danger, I immediately began rushing towards him as fast as I could, hoping to get there in time to stop him from unleashing this spell.


    ¡°Within my eyes that see all, return the world to its original state. Let all things be new, and all beginnings end. Final Cleansing.¡± When he finished hisst line, the ball in his hand slowly dropped, moving towards the ground. Yet, it was still too far away for me to reach before it hit the ground.


    The moment that the orb representing the spell hit the ground, a field of white began to spread out in all directions. Within the field, all things lost their shapes and colors, as if they were simply erased. With how close I was to the st, I barely had enough time to fire off a single spell.


    I hastily cast my teleport, wanting to move to the far side of the. However, in doing so, I felt a simr pressure crushing my body as when I fought MissTery. In my attempts to get as far away from the st as possible, I forgot one of the rules of this tournament.


    The fighting area shrank over time. None of my fights had eversted this long, so I miscalcted the size of the world¡­ ¡°And that¡¯s that folks! EarthForceOne loses to a ring out!¡± I heard thepanion¡¯s voice before I even noticed that we were back in the Administration Room.


    I nced up, seeing MeanGreen politely nod at me before stepping down from the stage, thepanion¡¯s voice ringing out once again. ¡°This means that EarthForceOne will be leaving with the third ce prize of five hundred points! Let¡¯s hear a round of apuse for this newpetitor!¡±


    To my surprise, there was actually a brief round of apuse from the people still gathered in the room. However, what surprised me more was that thepanion then began walking over to me. ¡°You can stick around to watch the rest of the fights.¡± She said, holding a hand out. ¡°But rules prohibit people from ying the game again after they win a prize. Can¡¯t just have three people dominating the tournament again and again to farm points, right?¡±


    I nced down towards her hand, where there seemed to be a familiar blue glow, the typical light that the system shined. Giving a small nod, I took her hand in mine, guessing that this was how they transferred the prize points. Even if I didn¡¯t ept the prize money to fight again, I doubted I¡¯d be able to get as far a second time.


    Alkahest¡¯s System Companion ria wishes to transfer 500 points. Authorizing with host Keeper¡­ transaction approved. Alkahest has transferred 500 points to your ount bnce.

 Chapter 174: An Old Game, a New Player

    <h4>Chapter 174: An Old Game, a New yer</h4>


    I didn¡¯t bother to stick around to watch the final round between MeanGreen and MissTery. At this point, there wasn¡¯t a lot for me to gain from watching fight anymore. I had already experienced firsthand the level of power that a first rank Keeper was expected to have, and then some. I¡¯d have to ask Grimor, but those two were likely at a significantly higher rank than that, and just participating in this tournament for fun.


    Instead, I went back out into the hall. It was hard to tell whether the fighting tournament was considered long or shortpared to most games, but it was definitely shorter than the Keeper Sim game that I yed before. After all, that one was a round robin style tournament, with each match taking nearly an hour. Naturally, it would take longer than a tournament with a brackets system, and each round taking a total of no more than half an hour.


    So I started looking through the door titles again. By now, there were far less people in the halls, giving me more room to examine each game taking ce. In total, there were twenty doors along each wall, with one door at the very end, for a total of forty-one different games. If I thought about how many points the Gilded Branch spent every month on these meetings¡­ the number is simply astronomical.


    Thankfully, there was one familiar face out in the hall. Grimor himself stood at the entry point, watching over everyone that was walking between the doors. When he caught my gaze on him, he offered a friendly wave. I had some questions to ask, so I walked over to greet him.


    ¡°Saw that you got a prize already. Aronia¡­ she should be in charge of the fightingpetition, yeah? Good job there.¡± He greeted me with a smile and a nod as I approached.


    ¡°Thanks. Why aren¡¯t you in any of the games, though?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask, ncing back towards the doors.


    Grimor put on a bitter expression as he heard that, shaking his head. ¡°One of our rules. The host of the meeting can¡¯t participate in any of thepetitions. It¡¯d make it look rigged if we won.¡±


    ¡°Ahh¡­ makes sense. Mind if I take some time to ask you a few questions that have been bothering metely?¡±


    When he heard that, he gave a brief, polite nod. As such, I didn¡¯t hesitate. ¡°What sort of benefits does being in a guild offer? I know you invited me to yours, and another group did the same for my first meeting. But nobody has really exined that bit to me yet.¡±


    He seemed surprised when he heard my first question, ncing at my curious. ¡°You never asked that cat-eared Companion of yours? She probably could have told you.¡± I gave a small sigh at his response, shaking my head. The question hadn¡¯t really urred to me until we got here, after all.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s pretty simple really. Guilds are another system that the Keepers themselves added into the overall foundation of the bigger governing system. Like with the Standard Time or the Keeper Titles, enough Keepers petitioned for it that we were allowed to form groups within the system.¡±


    As he exined, Grimor crossed his arms in front of himself, leaning against the nearby wall to his side. ¡°There are only really two benefits to joining a guild. First, and perhaps most importantly, members of the same guild will never be matched up against one another in a fight. Though, this has its limits. For instance, when we discovered that, we tried to get as many people into one guild as we could to end the games entirely. Wanna guess what happened?¡±


    When he saw me shrugging my shoulders helplessly, he continued with a small chuckle. ¡°The system made it so that everyone in the guild was matched against someone else within the guild for the next several months. Far as we can tell, there is a guild member cap of ten percent for every Keeper Rank. So we can only have ten percent of the first, second, and so on before the system gets mad.¡±


    I nodded at that. It was still a huge benefit to not be forced to fight your friends, even if there was that limit. ¡°And the other benefit?¡±


    Grimor shook his head, closing his eyes for a moment. ¡°The second one isn¡¯t so special. We are able to exchange points with other guild members without directly visiting their Administration Room, or vice versa. That¡¯s how we host these meetings, shifting our points around every month to make sure that the host can afford it.¡±


    ¡°We even have a few Keepers who have made it their sole purpose to farm for points by mass producing worlds and stopping them a few years before they get to the games. They just have to send off the points before the system matches them up with the next invasion.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but raise my eyebrow as I heard that. ¡°Doesn¡¯t that seem a bit like cheating? I mean, by that logic you could just transfer a ton of points to your guildmate after they¡¯ve been paired with an opponent, and they use those points to enhance their world enough to overwhelm the enemy.¡±


    Grimorughed lightly at that, shaking his head. ¡°Yeah, some people try to exploit it like that. And every now and then, it works. But it also backfires, just like the other benefit. After all, in order to raise their strength enough to dominate their opponent like that in a short time, they would have to buy extremely powerful systems or worlds.¡±


    ¡°And those would permanently increase their Keeper rating, making it so that they would always be set up against more powerful Keepers unless theypletely reset and start from scratch.¡± Saying that, Grimor simply shrugged his shoulders. ¡°Once that was found out, people stopped trying to take advantage of it. Though, we still do every now and then with our Avenger branch.¡±


    Seeing my curious expression, Grimor continued his exnation. ¡°That¡¯s what we call the ones that are specialized for that. We build them up from scratch, and wait until they are paired with one of the more monstrous Keepers. Then we funnel as many points into them as we can afford so that they can rapidly raise the strength of their world. After they send in their troops, they reset their worlds to start over from scratch.¡±


    I found myself feeling a bit of pity for those Avenger branch members¡­ Resetting their worlds over and over meant that they had to live through the more boring parts of the Keeper process repeatedly. Given the Gilded Branch¡¯s philosophy, I doubted they would simply fast forward through the entire process.


    ¡°I see¡­ That¡¯s terrifying in a number of ways. Though, it does make me want to join up with a guild sooner orter. If only for the first benefit. Are there any other restrictions on guilds that I should know about?¡±


    Grimor seemed to give it a moment of thought, before shaking his head again. ¡°Not really. You can leave or join guilds as often as you like. You just aren¡¯t allowed to be in more than one guild at a time.¡±


    Well, that was a relief. The fact that being in a guild didn¡¯t restrict my freedom helped. ¡°Thanks. Onest thing. Is there a trading tform aside from the market? For instance, if I wanted to sell a system I invented directly to another Keeper, I could give it to them at a discount, but still ultimately make more than the normal royalties?¡±


    Hearing that, Grimor actually let out a loud, roaringugh. ¡°Hah! Everyone ends up wanting something like that sooner orter! Believe me, Dale, we tried. We petitioned for it like we did everything else, but the system wouldn¡¯t budge. At one point, we had over six thousand names on the petition, a full two thirds of the entire system. But there wasn¡¯t any change.¡±


    ¡°How do those petitions work?¡± I couldn¡¯t help asking that, since he kept mentioning them. It didn¡¯t seem like anything too important, but every bit of information could be useful eventually.


    However, Grimor only gave a light shrug, shaking his head. ¡°It¡¯s nothing special. Someone just makes a forum post to petition for something, and people could respond to vote for it. Every now and then, something manages to go through. I think that¡¯s what gives so many people hope that there is a True Keeper, and that he is the one reviewing everything to see what to approve.¡±


    So either a True Keeper¡­ or just an extremely intelligent system. My head shook from side to side as I thought about that. I nced up towards Grimor and offered a small smile. ¡°Thanks for the tips. I should get back to the games, though. Still got a long ways to go to hit my goal.¡±


    Grimor nodded his head, staring down at me. ¡°Well, the offer¡¯s still open if you want to join the guild.¡±


    I chuckled, but didn¡¯t say anything. While the idea of joining a guild was more appealing now, I would have to make sure that I chose carefully. After all, if I joined the Gilded Branch and just used their points to elevate myself to the Games, it might turn into a situation where I be indebted to them. I would rather not have something like that happen.


    I gave Grimor a small wave as I turned around, once again looking for the next game that I wouldpete in. This time, I actually made my way towards the Keeper Sim room. Now that I had learned a bit more about the games held here, I felt ready to tackle this game. The fact that I had actually won points already surely made me more confident as well.


    When I entered the Keeper Sim room, I was not surprised to see that a tournament was already well under way. Going by the scoreboard projected on the far wall, they were six matches in out of twenty, showing that it was less than half over. However, I was a bit surprised when I saw the name EarthForceOne listed on the scoreboard.


    MissBehave - Six Wins


    gor - Six Wins


    EarthForceOne - Six Wins


    Titan - Five Wins


    SentinelSeven - Five Wins


    ¡­


    Naturally, this meant that Bihena was taking part in this tournament. More to the point, she was actually tied for first ce. Though, that wasn¡¯t saying much since there were still so many matches left to go, just that those three had yet to suffer a loss.


    ¡°EarthForceOne?¡± A voice spoke up from behind me, catching me by surprise. Behind me, I saw a man in a ck suit, his skin a solid white and his eyes ck. When I nodded my head, he turned to look towards one of the stages. ¡°In order to prevent cheating, you aren¡¯t allowed to directly observe yourpanionpeting. However, I can send you to a special viewing area where you can watch her match without the risk of intervening.¡±


    Hearing that, I couldn¡¯t help but hesitate. If Bihena did get a prize from this tournament, then sticking around wouldn¡¯t serve much purpose. I couldn¡¯t even be a proper cheering squad. After all, there was likely a simr rule as with the other tournament, and we wouldn¡¯t be able to y the same game after winning once.


    However, I ultimately ended up nodding. If Bihena didn¡¯t win, then we could tackle the tournament again and I¡¯d be here from the start. That, and I really didn¡¯t know what other games that I could feasibly y and didn¡¯t want to go looking for another one right after I settled on the Keeper Sim.


    Seeing me agree to the offer, the white-skinned man nodded his head. My vision was briefly obscured with a fog of ck before I found myself standing alone in a small room. There was a single chair in it along one of the four stone walls, while opposite to that was arge disy.


    The scene disyed was clearly a Keeper Sim match, going by my memory, but there was also a second screen contained within it. The second screen focused on Bihena, letting me see her expressions and reactions, and hear the differentmands that she gave out. Giving a small nod, I moved to sit at the chair, propping my chin on my hands as I watched her y.

 Chapter 175: Kill it With Fire

    <h4>Chapter 175: Kill it With Fire</h4>


    Bihena was calm as she watched a battle unfolding on the stage before her. As the Goddess of Battle herself, she had seen this scene too many times to count. People praying to her for victory on both sides of the field. Yet, she could offer support to neither, for doing so would always leave the other side with nothing.


    In every match so far, she had chosen the same race, the pure and simple humans that she had watched grow for thousands of years. They were her children, in every way that mattered to her, and she was the most familiar with their abilities. In every match, she would suggest that they use one of the other game modes topete, but every time her opponent asked for Battle mode.


    Yet, as soon as the match started, her focus immediately red up, and she showed the dignity of the Goddess of Battle. Her first move was to create a scout to identify the enemy¡¯s base and locations. She researched vision-enhancing technology such as the telescope. And sent him out alone.


    Although her scout had eventually perished, he provided valuable intelligence. And in a match such as this, that made his sacrifice not in vain. Bihena¡¯s opponent was using a race of six-armed giants, positioned far to the north of her current location. Each one stood at least fifteen meters tall, which was more than enough for her to understand how to fight them.


    A being that big would require a lot of resources to produce a single unit. They¡¯ll fall behind in terms of technology or magic advancement in order to produce a significant number of troops and attempt to rush me. This was what was going through her mind as she made preparations.


    Bihena spread her forces out, upying multiple satellite bases to aid in her production and confuse her enemy. She ced siege weapons on every base¡¯s walls, so that whenever a scout arrived, their ballistae could pierce through the giant¡¯s thick skin. Although she would sacrifice the location of a smaller base, her main fort was secured.


    And once the first base was discovered, her n went in motion. Bihenaid an ambush along the one path wide enough for the giants to traverse between the discovered base and her opponents. Lining it with explosives, and cing ballistae units in advantageous positions around the path, it was just a matter of waiting.


    Soon, she saw the giants walking through, d only in leather hides and wielding trees as clubs. A calm smile formed on her face as she gave the order to detonate the explosives. An eruption of smoke and me filled the stage as the giants had their legs blown out from under them, before being peppered with the giant bolts of the ballistae from above.


    Immediately afterwards, Bihena pulled her ambush units back to defend the base, in case there was a secondary attack beingunched from a more difficult path. Thankfully, no such attack was inbound, judging by the look of frustration she saw on her opponent¡¯s face. Bihena did a quick calction, and judged that she might be able to win the battle if she put in a full charge now, but chose to wait instead.


    There was still the chance that her enemy was hiding forces inside their base, and she needed to make sure that the battle was finished in a single move. So she continued to defend, letting her opponent misidentify the base that they had located to be her primary base. Meanwhile, her technology continued to advance.


    From ballistae to cannons. From cannons to tanks. It took her nearly a half hour to finish advancing her technology, and in that time her satellite base had to defend two more attacks before finally being taken. The look of joy on her opponent¡¯s face when he thought that he had one, only to turn to shock at the realization that he had been tricked caused her tough.


    And then, she began her offensive. Armored tanks rolled along the ground, while nes filled the air. The fists of the giants could not crush the tanks, and their thrown rocks could not strike the agile nes. From bothnd and sky, attacks came that decimated the forces of the giants, quickly advancing on theirst home.


    While artillery shells peppered the wooden walls of the base, a look of resignation appeared on her opponent, the final clue that assured her victory. As long as there was not a second base established, there could be nothing to stop her. And sure enough, the notice of her victory rang out soon after, bringing her score up to seven wins with no losses.


    Not good enough¡­ She thought to herself as she waited to be matched with her next opponent. She had also received the notice that points had been transferred to their bnce, which meant that Dale had already won a game somewhere, or at least ced high enough to earn a reward.


    Her next opponent made her blink, before a groan escaped her lips. Kathy, the girl who had dragged Bihena to this tournament in the first ce. Also known as SentinelSeven, one of the leading yers in the game so far with only one loss. ¡°Hii, Bihena!¡± She called out with that same happy smile, her legs chittering as they tapped against the ground rapidly.


    ¡°Hello, Kathy¡­¡± Bihena responded in a tired tone. Kathy reminded her too much of Aurivy back home, but did not carry the same cuteness that made the personality work as well for her. At least, not in Bihena¡¯s eyes. She could only see Kathy as a hyperactive woman who had likely not seen a true war up close.


    She said that her first match in the games would be starting soon¡­ I wonder if I¡¯ll ever see her again after that. To Bihena, someone like Kathy would never survive on a real battlefield. They weren¡¯t patient enough to observe the finer details, and would let their emotions cloud their judgement too easily.


    Still, she acknowledged that Kathy seemed genuinely kind, and ultimately hoped that they would have the chance to meet again. ¡°So, would you like to use the Tech Race, or maybe the Culture mode¡­?¡±


    Kathy simply tilted her head slightly, an action that reminded Bihena again of Aurivy. ¡°Uhm¡­ I really only have practice with the Battle mode¡­ is that alright?¡±


    Bihena only gave a light sigh as she heard that, nodding her head. ¡°Yeah¡­ it¡¯s fine.¡± Just like every other match, the game started in Battle mode. Thanks to Kathy¡¯s talkative nature, she had learned on the way to the tournament that she always ys the same race as herself, though Bihena held the faint suspicion that she might have been lying in order to get an advantageter on.


    Still, as soon as the battle began, she ordered all but one of her initial units to begin digging a trench around the base. If her opponent truly was using a spider-like race, that meant they would likely be able to rapidly produce units. She had to make sure that she was ready for an attack at any time.


    Because technology would not allow her preparations to proceed quickly enough, Bihena instead chose to pursue the path of magic for this battle. After producing mages, she set them as lookouts at the empty moat surrounding the base. Her chosen race would have incrediblend speed for their size, meaning that she won¡¯t need to invest points in transportation technology. The most efficient means of attack would be a fast rush¡­ there they are.


    Sure enough, enemy forces had already shown up on the map, their numbers great enough to easily wipe out an unprepared base. Bihena quickly ordered her mages to ignite the moat, and a wall of fire surrounded her base. The enemy units had upper bodies simr to humans, but the instincts of spiders still remained. They were unwilling to simply throw themselves into the towering fire and stopped as soon as they felt the heat licking against their skin.


    Time to work fast. Bihena knew that her mages wouldn¡¯t be able to hold out forever, so she quickly began mining resources and upgrading both her units and her facilities. The more powerful her mages, the less were needed to maintain the fire barrier. And as long as she kept producing more mages and set them to work in shifts, her defenses would beplete.


    Across from her, Kathy looked surprised at the appearance of a fire wall, but her bright smile quickly returned. She didn¡¯t pull back her units, and chose to keep them stationed just outside of Bihena¡¯s base, preventing her from being able to expand any further. Every now and then, a new wave of units woulde in through the fog of war, adding more to the growing army.


    Fortify the ground to prevent burrowing tactics. Bihena thought to herself, choosing to invest in a druid to handle her ground fortifications. By now, her mages were on a tight rotation, able to easily maintain the fire wall.


    The only thing that Bihena had to worry about was a sky attack, so once the other defenses were taken care of she began to invest in anti-air magic cannons. Outside of her small base, there was nothing that could be seen except for an endless wave of dark carapace and pale skin, the numbers far too high to begin counting.


    Not a single unit that Bihena had spotted had appeared with armor or weapons, and she knew that was unlikely to change. In order to equip themselves, the forces would have to pull back, which would give Bihena room to grow. However, going by Kathy¡¯s attack style, she wouldn¡¯t give Bihena a single inch.


    An effective battle n, but not a wise one. Although Bihena had been stuck within her wall of fire, her forces had grown far stronger. She estimated that a single one of her human mages would be worth at least a thousand of Kathy¡¯s troops. ¡°Begin the counterstrike.¡±


    At her order, another row of mages walked up behind the wall of fire. They did not pass through it, because to do so would be suicide. Instead, they began to silently chant a spell in unison. This was a siege-level spell that was listed in the magic tree, ¡®Infernal Eye¡¯.


    When the group chant wasplete, the wall of fire surrounding the base seemed to warp, folding in on itself before exploding outwards. Fire bathed the ground, washing out in all directions as the pain-filled screams of Kathy¡¯s troops filled Bihena¡¯s ears. Yet, doing so had only eliminated the innermost portion of Kathy¡¯s forces.


    Seeing the destruction of their kin, those that were spared had no desire to move in to fill the gap. Even Kathy¡¯s face seemed to pale, only able to watch the wall of fire around Bihena¡¯s base moving outwards, her base expanding to gradually cover the territory that had been upied by the in forces. Until once again the wall of fire had met the enemy forces.


    This was Bihena¡¯s n. In the face of a defensive battle, burn everything. Leave nond for the enemy to stand on. Of course, as she moved she continued to reinforce the ground, even before the me wall moved over it.


    Each expansion took ten minutes to buy enough mages, enhance their magic, and fire the spell again. And each time, the enemy troops were forced back further and further. After the third expansion, Bihena was able to detect troops hiding beneath the ground, using theirpanions¡¯ bodies to mask their presence. Yet, once the ground above them became reinforced, they were unable to return to the surface.


    Only after the fifth expansion, when Bihena¡¯s base covered a third of the map, did armored troops appear on Kathy¡¯s side. However, by that point the me wall was no longer a simple me. Even the troops d in armor were burned to death when they tried to jump through.


    After the sixth expansion, mages appeared among the arachnid forces. Kathy¡¯s face clearly disyed her struggle as she fought to find a solution to her problem. She had spent so many of her points on breeding facilities to bolster the numbers for her troops that she had fallen too far behind in advancing her units. Her mages could not affect the wall of fire at all, and were simrly turned to ash when the base expanding once again.


    Like this, Bihena continued to expand, wave after wave until she found the mountain that was Kathy¡¯s original base. Now the wall of fire had shifted, with Bihena¡¯s base covering the rest of the map, and Kathy¡¯s being surrounded by the me. Finally, the mages began to chant a different spell, hundreds of them gathered in a circle behind the safety of their ming barrier.


    Thest thing that Bihena saw before the match ended was a ming rock falling from the sky atop Kathy¡¯s mountain.

 Chapter 176: Finder’s Keepers

    <h4>Chapter 176: Finder¡¯s Keepers</h4>


    As I watched Bihena y through her rounds, I began to get more of an appreciation for her talent in strategizing. I could tell that she hadn¡¯t learned some of the secrets of the game yet, like how you could unlock special types of items by finding different resources. Even I hadn¡¯t been aware of that until another Keeper told me.


    Yet, even without that she was always a step ahead of her enemy. In every game, I saw a pattern from her. She would sacrifice a single troop at the start as a scout to locate the enemy and identify their racial characteristics. After that, she began to create and enact ns to counter that specific type of enemy.


    Like this, she managed to win match after match. The only time that she seemed to struggle was when she met an opponent with a simr style of y. Both had sacrificed a scout in order to check the enemy¡¯s race and location. And this led them both to ying on the defensive until they had built up their forces for a frontal sh.


    Out of all twenty of her matches, or at least the ones that I watched, she yed the Battle Mode for all but two of them. In one, her opponent agreed to the Culture Mode, which Bihena won by a narrow margin. And in the other, she suffered her one loss when ying the Exploration Mode.


    Because Bihena still chose to use humans, her opponent had an easy victory in that match by ying the Arachne. With their numbers and speed advantage, it only took them a few minutes to explore a hundred percent of the map, before Bihena had even sent her troops out.


    In the end, Bihena solidified her first ce lead with a total of neen wins, and one loss. The second ce went to someone with only one less victory, while third went to Kathy. I could see a proud smile on Bihena¡¯s face as she stood on the podium, shaking hands with thepanion that had hosted the event.


    Alkahest¡¯s Custom Companion Dinmor wishes to transfer 1000 points to you through your Custom Companion Bihena. Authorizing transaction¡­ Transaction approved by host. Do you wish to ept the transaction?


    Naturally, I chose to ept the prize, as there wasn¡¯t even a better reward that we could get from this game. Alright¡­ that makes fifteen hundred points that we have gotten here. We¡¯re making good time. I small smile appeared on my face as I thought about that, and I found myself transferred back out to the Keeper Sim room.


    When I noticed my surroundings again, I was once more in the room with nearly two dozen other Keepers. ¡°Dale?¡± Bihena¡¯s voice spoke up from next to me, and I saw her ncing at me with a confused expression. ¡°I thought you would have been at a different game by now.¡±


    I shook my head, chuckling slightly. ¡°No, I came to watch this tournament after I was done with mine. You did really good.¡± As Iplimented her work, I saw her proud smile once again returning, before another sound made her face pale.


    ¡°Daaaale! Bihena!¡± Kathy shouted out as she rushed over, her sharp pointed legs clicking against the ground with every step. ¡°What¡¯s next, huh?! You guys are always so much fun!¡± As she said that, she beamed down at us, her smile wide and energetic.


    And¡­ spider girl aggro has been reacquired. I did my best to hold in a groan while Bihena¡¯s shoulders sagged. ncing up towards Kathy, I shook my head. ¡°Well, you know these meetings better than us now. Are there any other fun games?¡±


    Kathy tilted her head in thought, her legs excitedly clicking against the ground in a fast rhythm. ¡°Hmm¡­ The treasure hunt isn¡¯t really that good if you don¡¯t know about the host world. Racing always makes me sick¡­ There¡¯s a fighting tournament, but I didn¡¯t really like it when I tried it¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh!¡± Kathy¡¯s head suddenly shot up as an idea struck her. ¡°We can go y Keep the Keeper!¡±


    I was fairly certain that Bihena and myself shared the same confused look, because Kathy simply giggled yfully. ¡°It¡¯s this fun little hiding game. A group of ten people get sent to a tiny world popted by the same kind of people as the Keeper Sim games. One of the ten is randomly chosen to be the Keeper of the world, while the other nine arepeting invaders.¡±


    ¡°For the Keeper, the goal is to remain hidden for as long as possible. Meanwhile, the invading forces have to find and identify the Keeper, and catch them. Whoever catches the Keeper bes the Keeper for the next round, and it goes until one of the Keepers has kept their position for one standard hour.¡±


    Bihena and I listened to the description for the event, and looked at each other. ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem like an event where we can both participate.¡± I mumbled softly, before shaking my head. ¡°I¡¯ll handle this one. You can go take care of another game in the meantime.¡±


    Bihena had a look of relief wash over her when she heard that she wouldn¡¯t be part of this game, so I could only imagine how much she was hoping to get away from the entric spider girl. She gave a brief nod and rushed out of the room before I could even tease her about it.


    Kathy¡¯s legs audibly slowed their tapping as she watched Bihena go. ¡°Aww¡­ didn¡¯t know you guys had that kind of restriction, or I would have picked something else.¡± She muttered almost sadly.


    I shook my head with a knowing smile, deciding to change the subject. ¡°Well, lead the way. By the way¡­ how did you even be a Keeper in the first ce? I can¡¯t really imagine you killing someone¡­¡±


    ¡°Hmm? Oh, well, I could say the same for you Dale!¡± Kathy spoke with a grin while she began walking towards the door, and I followed alongside. ¡°And to be honest, I ate him. Had no idea he was the Keeper at the time, though.¡±


    I felt a cold shiver run down my spine as she said that. ¡°You¡­ ate him?¡±


    ¡°Yup!¡± She nodded her head, showing that I did not misinterpret her words. ¡°Or I started to, at least. It¡¯s always best to eat your mate quickly, so that the babies can grow up nice and strong. Unfortunately, you can probably guess what happened when I got started.¡± Kathy¡¯s shoulders slumped down, as if it were a rather depressing memory.


    Should not have asked! I could only force myself to nod my head. ¡°Y-yeah¡­ I can guess.¡± Poor guy¡­ Got lost in the moment and forgot to ascend before she took action.


    We walked the rest of the way in silence. Well, aside from Kathy humming happily and her legs chittering against the ground. Sure enough, the door that she had led us to wasbeled ¡®Keep the Keeper¡¯.


    Once inside, we found the room¡­ almost empty. All except for one person along the far wall, who was no doubt thepanion managing this game. This one was a male, dark red skin with sharp horns poking above his ck hair. ¡°If you give it a few minutes, they¡¯re almost done.¡± He said as we entered, briefly ncing up at us.


    I returned his advice with a nod, moving to rest against the nearby wall as Kathy simply stood in ce. Sure enough, it was roughly ten or so minutester when a blue light filled the room, and ten Keepers emerged from nowhere. ¡°Alright, everyone, we got a winner!¡± The red-skinnedpanion called out.


    ¡°Everyone, a round of apuse for StarKiller!¡± As he said that, he pointed towards the crowd, which parted to reveal a small girl. She looked embarrassed by all of the attention, and her cheeks turned a light red. Her race was very clearly not human, with white fur covering her from head to toe. She had digitigrade legs, long whiskers, and tall white ears poking up over her head.


    That¡¯s right¡­ she looked like an anthropomorphic rabbit girl. ¡°T-thanks.¡± She whispered out, slowly walking towards thepanion to shake his head. ¡°I-it was really fun.¡±


    A few of the Keepers gathered gave bitterughs, shaking their heads while thepanion transferred the prize to her. ¡°Alright¡­ now, how many of you are sticking around for the next round?¡±


    Only one prize? I blinked in confusion, before remembering that this was a game for only ten yers. It wasn¡¯t odd for it to only have a single winner per round. And it wouldn¡¯t be strange for the prize points to be fairly low either.


    Thankfully, none of the other Keepers seemed interested in leaving. However, this actually made things difficult for thepanion. ¡°Eleven people¡­ this is supposed to be a ten yer game. Ugh¡­¡± He had aplicated expression on his face, before closing his eyes. ¡°Just a second, everyone¡­¡±


    When he opened his eyes again a momentter, he gave a quick nod. ¡°Alright. Looks like we have approval to run the game with an extra yer. Doesn¡¯t change the rules any. Hider, keep yourself hidden as long as possible. Seekers, find the hider. Whoever stays hidden for a cumtive hour first wins five hundred points.¡±


    The terminology was a bit different to how Kathy exined it, but it seemed that he had simplified the rules to avoid repeating himself too much. Either way, when the window appeared in front of us, itt gave an exnation closer to what Kathy had said. It also gave the option to choose what we looked like when wepeted in this game.


    There were options to adjust hair color, height, even race. You could even set it to randomize each time to keep people guessing. Naturally, I chose to randomize everything but my race and gender. While it might be a bit disorienting to adjust to a new height, it wouldn¡¯t give myself away as much as if I had to adjust to apletely new race.


    Once everyone had finished going through their selections, blue light filled the room again, forcing me to close my eyes. When I opened them, I found myself standing on top of a tall concrete building with at least twenty floors. Across from me was another identical building, but nothing else could be seen.


    Rather¡­ there was nothing else to be seen. A patch of street connected the two buildings, but everything else was a ck void. Endless darkness as far as could be seen.


    You have taken the role of Invader 5. Find the Keeper and capture them in order to advance to the next round.


    I raised an eyebrow as I saw that description, before turning and looking around the roof. There were a few people wandering around, almost aimlessly. Some like myself were humans, others looked like elves, dwarves, harpies, even an arachne or two. The only way down into the building was a stairwell behind an open door, which had people slowlying and going through it.


    Okay¡­ so I have to identify which of these are the other invaders, and which is the Keeper. I thought to myself, before looking down at my own body. Currently, I was in the form of a teenager, short blonde hair with calloused hands, likely a farmer. My height would make it harder for me to read the expressions of the people around me, but would also help keep myself hidden.


    Giving a brief nod, I walked calmly towards the stairwell, doing my best to keep my expression neutral like the throng of people around me. This was going to be a very different kind of game. And to be honest¡­ I wasn¡¯t all the confident in my chances at this one. At least, not when it came to finding a single Keeper out of a crowd of hundreds of random faces.

 Chapter 177: A More Fitting Game

    <h4>Chapter 177: A More Fitting Game</h4>


    From my brief nce over the two buildings where our game was hosted this time, I knew the roughyout of the area. Unless one of the others had spawned on either the rooftops or the connecting stretch of road, this gave me a slight advantage. I knew the scope of the ying field.


    At the same time, though, that advantage was miniscule at best. With the sheer number of ¡®NPCs¡¯ walking about, it was near impossible to tell which ones were the yers. Every now and then, I would get suspicious of one that bumped into someone, but their expressions showed no change.


    I could think of a few different strategies of how to win this game. Naturally, the easiest was if you were the designated Keeper. You could just find a safe ce to hide and wait out the time. Going by my own experience, nobody had ess to mana, or ki, or any special energies that would let them locate a target.


    For the searching group, however, things were harder. Theoretically, they could capture everyone they met, and eventually they might get the Keeper. But doing so would make their activities obvious, and thus avoidable.


    As I thought to myself, I continued walking alongside a harpy woman that I had encountered shortly after I left the top floor. To ensure that she wasn¡¯t my target, I grabbed the back of her neck as soon as we had been out of sight of most possible observers. The method of capturing was simply to firmly grab any part of a target¡¯s body, after all.


    She stiffened briefly on reflex as she was grabbed, and I heard a faint whimper from her throat as I held the back of her neck. However, the round did not progress, so obviously this was not my target. The reaction did serve to remind me that these were all really people, each one simply ying the role that they were assigned. Surely, some of them had worries that they would be mistreated in these games.


    ¡°Sorry.¡± I whispered as I released her neck, and her tense body seemed to rx slightly. Once she seemed sure that I wasn¡¯t going to do anything else, she began to walk away. This was when I started following alongside her. Her eyes betrayed the worry that she felt, but I could only shake my head.


    ¡°I just need a guide.¡± I spoke, but the worry did not lessen. However, she did not speak, as if that was against the rules of participation for these people. Or maybe she simply did not understand me. Either way, she continued to walk aimlessly around the first building. Sometimes she would randomly turn around and backtrack. Other times she would walk in circles in the middle of a room.


    To me, it seemed that they had been told to move in as random of a pattern as possible, since I caught others behaving in a simr manner. However, as I was watching her I felt someone grab my wrist. ¡°Caught you.¡±


    Turning around, I saw that my ¡®captor¡¯ was a tall man with three rows of orange eyes and pitch ck skin. Though, when he saw that the round wasn¡¯t ending as well, he simply grumbled. Releasing my hand, he sank back into the crowd, his expression going nk as he followed the random patterns of the various inhabitants.


    Shaking my head, I moved to leave the first building, heading over to the second. On the first building, theyout of each floor had been identical. A single, giant room full of cubicles, and a row of offices lining each wall. When I arrived at the second building, I saw¡­ That it was exactly the same.


    However, as I entered the building, I heard a faint screech from above me, a cry of surprise. At the same time, time seemed to freeze around us. The motions of every person froze in unison, including my own. A voice echoed throughout this miniature world, the same voice of thepanion that was hosting the event.


    ¡°Keeper SentinelSeven has been found. Time, sixteen standard minutes. Beginning next round.¡± Before I even had time to question how Kathy had been found, the world was washed away with blue light.


    Now, I stood just over six feet tall, with a strong muscr build. I was no longer between two tall buildings, and instead I seemed to be in a zoo. Or at least, I assumed it was a zoo. There was a stone pathway with disy cages on either side, some open and some enclosed. But all were empty, and the ques the would identify the inhabitants were nk.


    Once again, however, the area was popted with a wide array of characters wandering around aimlessly. It was at this point that I realized I really didn¡¯t stand a chance at this game¡­ Let¡¯s not mention the fact that it wasrgely based on luck whether I even appeared near the target. For instance, in the first round I was not even in the same building, and had barely made it out of the one I was in before the round ended.


    Aside from that, I had to read hundreds of faces at once and look for one that had even the slightest fluctuation while making sure nobody else could do the same to me. The game was by no means impossible, it was just an incredibly terrible match for my set of skills,pared to the others who have practice with it.


    And sure enough¡­ out of eight rounds, I did not catch the Keeper once. I got close one time, having found someone that looked suspicious and approached them. But by the time I got there, someone else had already ¡®caught¡¯ him.


    When the game ended, and we were all sent back, I let out a sigh of relief that we were finally out of that game. ¡°And the winner is¡­ Trappere!¡± Thepanion dered, pointing towards a human-looking Keeper male.


    Shaking my head, I turned to walk out of the room before I heard Kathy¡¯s voice calling out behind me. ¡°Where¡¯re you going, Dale?!¡± She called out in an almost panic, rushing over to catch up with me.


    I let out a dry chuckle, turning around to smile at her. ¡°Sorry, I don¡¯t really think this game suits me. I was going to go try my luck somewhere else.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Kathy gave a small nod, seeming to understand. ncing back towards the room, she turned her head to face me again. ¡°Well, can Ie with you? I don¡¯t really have a whole lot of friends in these meetings.¡±


    That made me raise an eyebrow. ¡°Why not? I figured that you would have joined a guild rather quickly.¡±


    Kathy puffed her cheeks out, crossing her arms in front of her as her spider legs clicked and cked against the stone floor. ¡°I got invited to join the Gilded Branch, but they sound too much like a business. I just wanna have fun, you know? I was going to start up my own guild, but it takes a bunch of points to do, and I don¡¯t have those kinds of funds¡­¡±


    I shrugged my shoulders, shaking my head with a small smile. ¡°Well, no reason you can¡¯t join me. Not sure what game I¡¯ll head for next, though. I¡¯ve got to try to earn some points to get myself ready for the games.¡±


    Kathy nodded her head quickly, a bright smile on her face. ¡°Alright! Well¡­ in that case, you could try your luck on the big game.¡± She suggested with a knowing smile. ¡°There¡¯s this one game that the guild always has, that is only a single yer game. They call it the Trials of a Keeper.¡±


    As Kathy spoke, she led me out of the room, and down towards the very end of the hall, to the door that sat alone at the end. ¡°You get thrown into a set of problems, and have toe up with a solution using as few points as possible. If you pass the trials, the guild awards you five thousand points. Of course, you can only get the reward once, and they won¡¯t let you try again even in another meeting.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle knowingly when I heard that. ¡°Did you try to run the trials again to get more prizes?¡±


    However, unexpectedly, Kathy chuckled in embarrassment. ¡°No¡­ uh¡­ I never managed to pass the first time. This is just what they exined to me back then.¡±


    I nced at the door, and then back to Kathy, but she only waved for me to go in. ¡°Come on, you said you needed points urgently. I¡¯ll just wait out here for you.¡±


    I gave a brief nod, opening the door and stepping inside. Like she said, this was a single yer game. The purpose wasn¡¯t to beat other yers, but just to pass a test. Inside, the only other upant was a female human with green hair down to her waist. Her body was covered in a silk toga, the right side of her chest on disy. Yet, she did not seem embarrassed by this outfit at all.


    ¡°Are you here to take the Trials?¡± She asked in a serious tone. When I answered with a nod, she continued. ¡°Have the rules been exined to you?¡±


    ¡°Somewhat¡­¡± I told her, before repeating what Kathy had told me about this test. I didn¡¯t want to run the risk that she left out a vital piece of information. And when I was done, the woman nodded her head.


    ¡°You will not be allowed the use of apanion during this test. All answers muste from yourself. The maximum score is ten thousand points. The passing grade is five thousand. For every point you spend to solve a problem, one point will be deducted from your final score. For one thousand points, you may ask for a hint. There is no time limit to these Trials.¡± Taking a deep breath, she looked directly at me. ¡°Are you ready?¡±


    I nodded my head sharply, processing the rules that she had exined. Since I knew the scoring mechanic, then I would have an idea of how to proceed. The only problem was the fact that I did not know how many Trials I would have to face. If there were a hundred, then even spending an average of fifty points per test would eliminate me.


    As soon as I confirmed that I was ready, I was moved into another room. This room appeared to be the same one as I was in when I had watched Bihena. Or at least, it was identical. The only difference was the disy on the wall, which now showed a map that I was unfamiliar with. Along the bottom of the screen was a blue window of text, no doubt my objective.


    First Trial


    Your world is in danger. A series of supervolcanoes threaten to wipe out life on the. You must preserve at least 50% of your world poption to pass.


    Along the map was a series of red dots in various sizes, each one pulsating. These no doubt represented the supervolcanoes. At the side of the screen was a series of windows, listing my avable assets. Things such as gods or goddesses, what races were on the world, and any special systems that may be able to help me.


    Unfortunately, there was no god of fire, earth, or volcanoes. Or anything remotely simr. So it wasn¡¯t just a matter ofmanding them to do their job. Father? This isn¡¯t actually happening, right?


    I was surprised to hear Leowynn¡¯s shaky voice, as I had expected my connection to be cut with her for this game. No, this should just be a simtion, like all of the other games. I debated taking advantage of this unexpected twist to bounce ideas off of her, but shook my head at the thought. Most of these scenarios would no doubt be beyond the scope that Leowynn was used to dealing with.


    Anyways, the answer to this trial was still fairly easy, and there were a number of ways to go about it. I couldmunicate with the world to have them take shelter from theing eruptions, but that was risky. It was possible to just stop the eruptions manually, but doing so would require ten points per volcano¡­ Given that there were twenty-three in total, I didn¡¯t want to spend so many points.


    Searching through the market, I quickly found what I was looking for. A mineral with the property of absorbing heat. I had a feeling that there would be something like this, since I remembered the presence of the lightning ore. Spending fifteen points from the trial bnce, I chose to purchase the ore and ce veins of it throughout and beneath the twenty-three volcanoes.


    First Trial


    Passed. The presence of the heat rock has caused the magma within the volcanoes to cool. Although many still erupt, the loss of the volcanic ash limits their destructive force.


    Poption saved: 96%

 Chapter 178: The Exam

    <h4>Chapter 178: The Exam</h4>


    The following tests were simr in many ways to the first. Each one tested a Keeper¡¯s ability to judge what needed to be done. For instance, in the second test, what threatened the world was an ice age. This test was actually fairly simple, as there was a God of Fire listed as one of the assets. I simply instructed the god to guide people to shelters while offering them a blessing of warmth to help them survive.


    Other tests included things like droughts, famines, or even gues. In some cases, I was able to get through it without spending any points at all, whereas others I was forced to spend a few. And, as the tests progressed, new and difficult trials seemed to appear. For instance, the first one that made me really pause¡­


    Sixteenth Trial


    Your world is in danger. A stray meteor has been detected on a collision course with your world. If it is not stopped, your world will be destroyed.


    For this trial, the world I was in charge of was still young, far too young to be able to get rid of a meteor hurtling towards it. At most, they could be considered in the bronze age. Throwing swords and spears would do nothing. And there was no God of Space, or even a God of Stone that could take control of the meteor to move it away.


    The only gods I had to work with were gods of Medicine, Crafting, Magic, and Fire. Although fire was often associated with shooting stars, that was really only after they entered the atmosphere¡­ and at that point it would be toote. As for the God of Magic, the level of magic in the world was not enough that even a god would be able to stop the meteor.


    In the end, I could onlye up with a few options. I could either purchase an entity from the market like Alkazar to get rid of the meteor, or take care of it myself. Out of the two, thetter was far cheaper. Purchasing a Time Zone, I surrounded the meteor with it and simply paused it in time while the world moved on, until it was no longer in its path.


    But this wasn¡¯t the only trial that made me pause. Immediately after that was a trial where a demon lord had arisen in my world. The system warned that itsbat ability would be greater than my own, and would likely be able to kill me if we fought. This time, I couldn¡¯t avoid bringing in the dragon.


    By the time I hit the fiftieth trial, I was beginning to wonder just how long this would take. Since I took my time answering each test patiently, I had already been in here for several hours. In fact, I had already gotten another thousand points from Bihena winning a game, though I did not know what she had won.


    As for my own score in the exams, I had managed to use only twelve hundred points from the ten thousand total after the fiftieth trial. At this point, I couldn¡¯t be sure if I was doing good or not. However¡­ I had the feeling that I was on the right track.


    From my understanding, there were no take-backs in these exams. If you spent points on an answer that turned out to be wrong, those points were still spent. Sometimes, the wrong answer might even make the problem worse. With my philosophy of not acting until I had an answer I was sure of, I avoided wasting points. Especially since I didn¡¯t ask for any hints.


    Sixty-First Trial


    Congrattions! You have ovee the invasion of a powerful enemy Keeper! However, your world is in ruins. You must prepare yourself for the next invasion to ur in 100 Standard days.


    And then there were tests like this. Things that I was not even really ready for, because my worlds were not advanced that far. I knew that there was one easy answer, which was topletely reset the world and start from scratch. And, call me stubborn, but that¡¯s not an answer that I wanted to choose.


    Thankfully, this one had a plethora of gods at my disposal, so I had another alternative. In the list of resources, the enemy remains were an option. With the use of the gods, I hadmands sent down to the world to salvage the remains and study them. After that, I chose to fast forward.


    Each trial was making me take longer to think it over, to make sure that I got it right on the first try. At the same time, there were fewer and fewer tests where I could avoid spending points. At one point, I started to believe that even asking for one hint might make the entire trial impossible to pass.


    Ny-Ninth Trial


    A war wages among the stars. Civilizations spanning countless systems have be hostile to one another on the eve of an invasion, with one side ming you for the invading forces. Your goal is to ensure the fighting potential of your world before the invasion begins, or the invading forces may ally with those hostile to you.


    I was starting to feel tired at this point. Not physically, but mentally. Looking at my bnce, I still had seven thousand, two hundred out of the original ten thousand remaining. I had lost track of the amount of time spent in this trial, and was almost positive that Kathy would not still be waiting outside the room for me anymore. If she didn¡¯t have the patience toplete the trial herself, then surely she wouldn¡¯t be able to sit around and do nothing for all that time.


    Shaking my head, I looked at the list of assets I could use for this test. Given the scope of the problem, the assets listed were simply enormous. If I took my time to read through and understand each one, I might be here for days. So instead, I looked at the list of deities avable to me.


    Thankfully, there was a long and extensive list of deities for me to use as well. Any type of domain I could wish for was represented. The only problem was how to use them. If the world involved knew about the existence of Keepers, then there was no doubt that they also knew about several things that Keepers could do.


    If I tried to take the slow approach, and get the gods to try peacefully resolving the situation, the hostile faction wouldn¡¯t listen. After all, the gods are under themand of the Keeper themselves, so why would they listen to the enemy¡¯s words? Simrly, if they knew about the Keeper¡¯s ability to influence culture, then they would be suspicious towards anyone born with different beliefs.


    Ultimately, there were a number of general answers that could be used here. Since the hostile faction is against the gods, pull all the gods back to stop them from helping that faction, and instead help the others. With all of the advancements in technology from the hostile party being fed to their enemies, they couldn¡¯t gain a technological advantage. Then, with the help of the gods, ry the hostile faction¡¯s battle strategies to alliedmanders.


    The main problem with this was resources, as the map provided showed that the hostile faction had secured several key worlds rich with rare materials. Even if the designs for new technology were passed along, the allied troops might not be able to take advantage of it without the properponents.


    However, having all of the gods actively favor one side was definitely a criticalponent of this test. If a peaceful answer couldn¡¯t be reached, then what was needed was an overwhelming victory. And even with the help of the gods, although this would be a surefire victory, it would note without the loss of overall power in the world.


    With an invasion just around the corner, and the opponent paired up for the world at its strongest, any such drop in power could prove fatal. So, I had to turn to the market for additional help. I needed to get a new technology or magic that was able to give the allied troops a new edge, strengthening them enough to bnce the loss of power that woulde from destroying the hostile forces.


    What I chose in the end were blueprints for a powerful shield for vehicles, utilizing both magic and science. The strength of the shields should prove enough to nullify the weapons that the hostile faction possessed. However, buying those blueprints cost me a full two thousand points¡­


    I closed my eyes, praying that my answer had been good enough for the system, and more so praying that I would not have to spend any more points on the rest of the tests. With my new bnce down just above five thousand, I couldn¡¯t spare anything else while still keeping a passing grade.


    Ny-Ninth Trial


    Passed. Through the use of overwhelming defenses and the aid of the Keeper¡¯s Companions, you have eliminated the rebel faction without causing arge decrease in the overall level of the world.


    You have passed the 99 Trials of a Keeper with a total score of 5200/10000.


    I nearly fell back into the chair and passed out from exhaustion when I read the final announcement. However, I soon realized that I was no longer alone in the room. The toga-wearingpanion that had been the one to send me into this game was now standing in the far corner of the room, her eyes locked onto me.


    ¡°Congrattions, EarthForceOne.¡± She spoke without a hint of emotion in her tone. ¡°You have passed the trials, and are eligible to receive the reward. I have already logged your sess with the Gilded Branch, so future attempts will not yield additional prizes.¡±


    As she spoke, she walked closer, extending one slender hand for me to grasp. With a tired nod, I reached out to grab her hand. Though, the message that appeared next surprised me.


    Caretaker has transferred 5000 points to your bnce.


    I blinked in surprise, looking up at the woman I thought had been a Companion for Grimor. However, it turned out that she herself was a Keeper. Yet, by the time I was able to look up, I was standing once again in the hallway outside of the room.


    Off to my left, I noticed that Kathy was indeed waiting¡­ in a way. Her eight legs were syed out on the ground, her feminine upper bodyying t on the floor with her eyes closed. Her body rose and fell slightly with each breath, showing that she had passed out while trying to wait for me.


    Shaking my head, I reviewed the points that we had acquired so far. Bihena had won a total of two thousand points while I was in the Trials. Combine that with my five thousand, and the points we had earned before, and we had gotten a total of eight thousand five hundred points so far in the meeting.


    ¡°Kathy, wake up.¡± I spoke to the sleeping spider girl, knowing that it would be incredibly rude for me to just walk off and leave her sleeping there.


    She stirred at my words, her legs seeming to flex back up before rxing once again. ¡°Kathy, it¡¯s Dale. Time to get up.¡±


    ¡°Mmm¡­ Dale¡­ Just a few more minutes.¡± She murmured, shaking her head slightly and burying her face in her arms.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t get up, I¡¯m just going to go find another game to y while I wait.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but smirk as I said that, looking down at therge arachne.


    ¡°Ugghhh¡­ Fine, I¡¯m up¡­¡± She whined pitifully, pushing her upper body back up with her hands while her legs got below her to lift her up. ¡°How¡¯d you do?¡± She asked, wiping at her eyes before letting out a small yawn.


    ¡°I passed¡­ eventually. It took a lot longer than what I had expected.¡±


    When I answered honestly, she nodded as if she knew all along. ¡°Yeah¡­ they get really boring¡­ But you did good, though. You passed, and that puts you closer to what you want¡­ right?¡±


    I gave a brief nod to answer that. ¡°Now I just have to find Bihena. With any luck, we can go home soon.¡±


    Kathy lowered her head slightly when she heard that, a downcast expression on her face. ¡°Home¡­ right. Once you qualify for the games, maybe I coulde visit?¡± She asked in a hopeful tone. ¡°Thepanions in my ce are all super annoying, and I¡¯d love to get the chance to meet the rest of yours. If it¡¯s alright, of course¡­¡±


    I recalled Grimor once telling me that there was no charge for Keepers in the games to invite others to their Admin Rooms. ¡°I don¡¯t see why not.¡± I nodded, before turning around. ¡°Let¡¯s go find Bihena first, though.¡±

 Chapter 179: Bihena’s Kathy

    <h4>Chapter 179: Bihena¡¯s Kathy</h4>


    It took us a while to find where Bihena had gone off to. With nearly forty rooms to check, it wasn¡¯t until we got to the onebeled ¡®World Champion¡¯ that we finally found her. With the amount of time that had passed, several Keepers seemed to have already cleared out of the meeting. This made the poption of each room barely half of what it had been before.


    So, when we saw that Bihena was in a room with only five other people, it wasn¡¯t all that surprising. Though, I was somewhat confused by the name of the game, since it seemed quite simr to the fighting tournament that I had been a part of. And to my surprise, thepanion managing this even did not stop us from approaching Bihena, which likely meant that this was one of the games where it was possible for the Keeper and Companion to act together.


    ¡°Huh?¡± Bihena seemed to notice our approach, likely through the clicking of Kathy¡¯s pointed feet against the ground, and turned around to look at us. She was standing at a stage, much like any of the other games that were yed. Inside the stage, we could see two people battling. Both seemed to be human, though one was d in armor and the other a cybeic suit. ¡°You found me, huh?¡± She asked with a small smile.


    ¡°Yeah. Sorry, was in the middle of a very long ¡®game¡¯.¡± I groaned, shaking my head. ¡°Mind exining what¡¯s going on here?¡±


    As the fighters in the ring continued to fight, Bihena nodded her head briefly. ¡°Alright, that shouldn¡¯t be too much of a problem. This tournament is designed to test your ability to raise a group of fighters. You can select or design a race, adjust the systems of the world that they live in, and then the game produces six fighters that represent the strongest force that the world would have to offer once the world reaches a certain level of power.¡±


    ¡°And then you have them fight in one on one matches?¡± I asked, raising an eyebrow as I saw the armored soldier send out a golden wave of energy towards the cybeic human, tearing the man¡¯s arm from his body. Sparks, oil and blood washed down onto the stage as the now crippled fighter let out a pained scream.


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Bihena agreed, not seeming to mind the scream. Or maybe she had gotten used to it by this point. ¡°This is my second time through the tournament, and I think I should be able to bring us a prize this time.¡±


    I gave a small nod as I heard that. ¡°Alright. After this tournament is over, we can head home then. Between this and the royalties we should have gotten, we should have enough to take the final steps now.¡±


    Bihena let out a relieved sigh, her shoulders sagging slightly. ¡°Oh good¡­ I don¡¯t think that there are any other games that I would be able to win in. It took me over an hour just to find this one.¡± As she spoke, her armored soldier cleanly decapitated the cybeicbatant.


    ¡°And EarthForceOne will move on to the final round!¡± Thepanion, a winged female that looked simr to a harpy, spoke up. Her hands and feet were talons, and her arms had her white wings attached to them. Her outfit was a simple golden dress that fell loosely over her body. ¡°Their opponent will be¡­ StarKiller!¡±


    I blinked in surprise when I heard the familiar name, turning to see the same bashful looking, white furred rabbit that had won the glorified game of hide and seek. Her head was lowered when her name was called, one of her ears twitching as if to show her embarrassment. Quietly, she walked up towards the stage that Bihena was at, waiting for her previous opponent to move before taking his ce.


    ¡°U-uhm¡­ take care of me, okay?¡± She asked, looking up at Bihena and offering a nervous smile.


    Bihena simply sighed, shaking her head as she turned her attention back towards the match. ¡°Let me guess, you¡¯re going with the same setup asst time?¡± She asked dryly, showing that she had encountered this StarKiller in thest tournament already.


    ¡°W-well¡­ it¡¯s all I really know, and it works really well with them¡­ Should I do something different?¡± StarKiller looked at Bihena hopefully, as if trying to earn some advice from her.


    ¡°It¡¯s your decision.¡± Bihena told her inly, and I could see her quickly navigating her way through a menu that appeared with a practiced ease. It seemed that she knew her way around the controls after having yed through the tournament once before. And although she was moving too quickly for me to properly make out everything she chose, I was able to get a few pieces of information.


    For instance, the race that she chose was human, like she always did in the Keeper Sim matches. For the setting, she chose a game world, which brought up a window with a number of temtes for her to choose from. However, rather than going with a temte, she simply selected ¡®import owned system¡¯ at the bottom. That likely meant that she was bringing in the game system from my own Earth.


    Aside from that, she selected all of the various systems that we had in ce on Earth, such as achievements and quest scrolls, and even the guild and kingdom systems. Everything that she picked actually seemed to be an option already present in our own world. At least, until the end, where she chose a system that we didn¡¯t have yet.


    This final system was called Parties. Although I did not have time to read through the description that the game offered, it should be the same type of party mechanics that are found in most games. I¡¯d have to take a look at itter to figure out exactly what it had to offer that made Bihena add it to the world she was establishing.


    However, once she was done, she immediately hit the ¡®Ready¡¯ button. Across from us, StarKiller was still fumbling through the menu. It didn¡¯t seem that she was having a hard time deciding what to choose, but trying to find where the options were¡­ At least, if her quiet mumblings were any indication.


    ¡°Don¡¯t mind her.¡± Bihena said with a sigh. ¡°She¡¯s always like that.¡±


    ¡°You know her?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask in surprise, seeing how this was Bihena¡¯s first time meeting other Keepers. Logically, she shouldn¡¯t be so familiar with any of them.


    Bihena¡¯s response was to groan, shaking her head. ¡°After you went to y that game with Kathy, I saw her in the Keeper¡¯s Cards tournament. Since then¡­ I guess that you could say she¡¯s be my Kathy.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ I see.¡± I had a feeling that I knew what she meant, but when I nced back Kathy was just tilting her head in confusion. ¡°I take it she tends to stick to the same routine, then? Going by what you said before¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Bihena nodded her head in agreement, her lips pursed slightly. ¡°She always picks the same race as her, which she calls a Fert. She uses a cultivation system thatbines the four basic energies, and it¡¯s actually quite powerful in the card game. She managed to get the championship there, but waited for me to finish so that we could y together again. If I had to guess, she¡¯s probably looking for the ¡®profoundws¡¯ of her system.¡±


    ¡°I can hear you, you know!¡± StarKiller called back, a pouting expression on her face as her ears bent low, one foot stomping against the ground.


    ¡°I told youst time, the import option is at the very bottom.¡± Bihena replied, shaking her head.


    StarKiller blinked, ncing down to her own menu before lowering her head. ¡°I knew that¡­¡± She weakly lifted one of her furred hands up to press a button, and a momentter more options began appearing on the screen.


    ¡°At this point, we are given various ¡®side quests¡¯.¡± Bihena exined as she read through each window that appeared before quickly selecting an option. ¡°These are development choices that ur throughout the world. Things such as wars or famine. You can choose to get involved or to let them handle it themselves.¡±


    ¡°Typically, letting them handle it lets them grow stronger. However, if you leave it up to themselves too many times, they could simply go extinct, and you automatically lose the game. Interfering with each choice is the safe option, but your forces wille out a bit less skilled.¡± As she said that, Bihena pressed thest option on the final window that appeared.


    Surprisingly, StarKiller was already done by the time Bihena finished. It was hard to tell if she just read the options faster, or just picked the same thing for every choice to speed things up. Next, six blue screens appeared each in front of StarKiller and Bihena. Although we couldn¡¯t see what was on StarKiller¡¯s, Bihena¡¯s each contained a differently dressed human.


    ¡°And these are the fighters that I have to work with.¡± She exined again, motioning an arm towards the screens. Each one had a basic list of stats for thebatant, as well as a brief summary of their skills and specialties. ¡°At this point, I just have to decide which order they will go out.¡±


    Saying that much, Bihena went silent, quietly debating the various options. First, she selected a warrior armed in silver-colored gear, listed as a Temr. Second, a female wizard with an aged face. Third, an elemental monk with a peaceful expression. Then fourth and fifth she ced a warrior and druid respectively.


    For the sixth slot, she ced what was obviously the strongest of the six. Someone whose main ss was listed as Hero. In his description, he was listed as ¡®The Hero that has entered the realm of the Perfect Self¡¯. I couldn¡¯t help but be surprised, as that no doubt meant he had unlocked the advanced ss that nobody in my own world had gotten yet.


    Once again, StarKiller was already done choosing her arrangements long before Bihena. As soon as her sixth fighter was chosen, the match began immediately. Bihena let out a brief sigh as she saw the rabbit-looking person appear on StarKiller¡¯s side of the stage, walking on air. ¡°Alright, this should go pretty quickly.¡±


    Bihena crossed her arms beneath her chest as she watched the match. The Temr in silver was wrapped in a golden light as he struck out at the flying Fert. ¡°Her cultivation techniques are pretty strong. In a game like Keeper¡¯s Cards, she pretty much can¡¯t be beat if you give her time to build. But in a game where the level of power is even, it¡¯s a different matter.¡±


    The Fert casually blocked the first strike of the Temr with the back of his hand, though a bloody mark appeared on it. When heshed out, his fist flying forward, the air seemed to buckle around it. ¡°Because the system focuses on the systematic development of all the energy types, there¡¯s a limit to what she can do here.¡±


    ¡°If I had to say it¡­ her fighters are stuck in their second cultivation stage. They have mastered the use of their ki sufficiently, and have started to cultivate natural energy. But in terms of spiritual energy or mana, most haven¡¯t touched it.¡± As she spoke, the Temr raised his sword to the sky, a golden barrier surrounding him to block the force of the Fert¡¯s punch.


    ¡°Most?¡± I asked, curious exactly how much she knew about this. It seemed that she had the time to study StarKiller¡¯s system quite a bit, or had been told about it in conversation.


    ¡°Well, there are rare cases where someone is born with difficulty cultivating ki. Instead, they begin with mana, which is normally thest step for someone cultivating normally. Simrly, there is the very rare case where someone takes both paths at once, though she won¡¯t have anyone like that. Although those people are strong enough to be considered a force themselves in the card game, they don¡¯t have enough time to grow here, and are less capable than normal cultivators.¡±


    As she exined things, the Temr burst forth with a wave of energy,unching himself at the frustrated Fert. When he swung his sword, golden light filled the sky, and the Fert¡¯s body was cut in half. Across from us, StarKiller stared at Bihena with watery eyes, stomping her foot on the ground again. ¡°You don¡¯t have to criticize it so harshly, you know!¡± Sheined. ¡°It¡¯s a really cool system! Really! I spent a lot of time fine-tuning it!¡±

 Chapter 180: The Life of Magic

    <h4>Chapter 180: The Life of Magic</h4>


    From what I could tell, each of the fighters on standby were able to observe the previous matches. At least, that was my assumption when the second round began, given how the attitude of the second Fert was so differentpared to the first. Unlike the first fighter that had an air of arrogance around him, this oneunched a berserk charge immediately.


    The Temr, still on the stage after the previous fight, seemed to be caught off guard by the sudden charge. He lifted his shield to block, only having time to release the faintest golden light before a white furred fist impacted against the shield. His body lifted off the ground, flying back against the wall like an arrow fired from a bow.


    I couldn¡¯t help but wince as I saw him crashing against the wall of the arena. Although he had managed to preserve his life with the hasty defense, I could see that his shield arm was hanging limply from its socket, clearly unable to be used.


    By the time that he pulled himself off of the wall, the Fert practitioner was performing a strange movement at the position that he hadunched the Temr from. His furred hands came together in front of his chest, as if praying, and then began to slowly rotate his arms out in wide opposing circr motions. Bihena clenched her fists against the edge of the stage as she watched the rabbit-like fur shift from white to a bloody red.


    ¡°That luck¡­¡± She muttered, before shaking her head. Once the shift in the fur wasplete, the Fert began to emit a red cloud from his body like smoke. For a moment, it reminded me of the Martial Spirits back on Earth.


    ¡°Is that¡­?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask towards Bihena, who simply shook her head in response.


    ¡°No, he¡¯s notbined his ki with his spirit. This is one of StarKiller¡¯s profoundws. Everyone¡¯s ki is different, having an affinity simr to elemental ki. Sometimes, the difference is pronounced enough to get things like this. In ourst match, she only had one person like that, so she exined it after the fight.¡±


    ¡°I keep telling you to call me by my name!¡± StarKiller shouted from the other side of the stage, stomping her foot again.


    Bihena continued on as if she hadn¡¯t heard her opponent¡¯s words. ¡°Anyways, this guy looks like his ki has a blood affinity. The onest time was lightning, so I¡¯m not sure what special abilities to expect here. Either way, we can¡¯t get involved in the fight anymore.¡±


    ¡°Muuu¡­¡± StarKiller¡¯s shoulders sagged, before she turned to look at me. ¡°You¡¯re her Keeper, right?! Can you tell her to call me by my name! I¡¯m Balu, Balu!¡±


    I gave a small chuckle as I watched the exchange, though I saw a corner of Bihena¡¯s mouth rise up slightly. It seemed that she did find some enjoyment in teasing the Fert Keeper. However, my attention was quickly drawn towards the stage, as I witnessed for the first time the effects of the ¡®Profound Laws¡¯.


    The red mist around the Fert¡¯s body twisted and distorted,shing out in strands as he sent one fist forward. Although there was no force behind the fist itself, the red mist quicklyunched at the helpless Temr. As soon as it made contact with his body, the blood dripping from the Temr¡¯s left arm seemed to rise up to meet it.


    After that¡­ nothing seemed to happen. In fact, it was hard to tell if the battle was still going on or not, as both parties stood there motionlessly. Only Balu across from usughed happily. ¡°Puppet, puppet! So he¡¯s a puppet master!¡±


    It was hard to properly understand her words until another figure suddenly appeared on the stage. This time, it was elderly female wizard. However, the temr from before was still standing¡­ ¡°He¡¯s already dead.¡± I muttered under my breath, understanding that that was the only reason why the game would continue on to the next round.


    ¡°Come on, snap out of it quickly! She¡¯s about to kill you!¡± Balu suddenly shouted out while a blue mana spread from the wizard¡¯s feet. However, both the practitioner and the temr seemed frozen in ce.


    This was my first time seeing a genuine spell of what should be the fourth tier. And I was only able to recognize the difference because of the visual disparity between it and what I know. There was no circle, no grand confinement for the spell. Symbols floated around the mage¡¯s body like runes before settling at her feet and expanding.


    Within the symbols, I could see intricately detailed spheres and cubes, pyramids and cones, and even some shapes that were hard to ssify, each with their own geometric shapes carved along them. Although none of them appeared nearly asplex as the spell that MeanGreen had fired off in ourst match, it was still a sight to behold.


    It took several long moments for all of the shapes to fall into position around the woman¡¯s feet, before they began to shift in size and position, ovepping with one another. Just looking at the finished product and trying to understand it was enough to make my head hurt, so I could only imagine the strain in casting such a spell.


    Once the spell was apparentlyplete, the collection of shapes copsed in on itself. Finally, it formed into the shape of a golden ball of light. The female wizard smiled affectionately at that light before it shot off at the still-frozen practitioner.


    As the light shot towards him, the practitioner seemed to finally break himself free of whatever state he was in. However¡­ by then, it was far toote. He had only the briefest moment to move his head before the light mmed against his chest, seeming to¡­ dig would not be the right word. The flesh that the light hit seemed to be erased.


    As the little golden orb passed through the Fert¡¯s body, he seemed to simply copse, the life immediately drained from him. However, the golden light did not disappear. Rather, it flew back towards its caster, circling around her like a tamed pet.


    Bihena¡¯s smile grew as she saw the result of the fight. ¡°It should be over now¡­¡± She said confidently, as another Fert appeared. Once again, the golden light shot out from next to the wizard, who seemed to be casually standing in the center of the stage.


    Having seen the result of being hit by the spell, the Fert practitioner immediately began to dodge at an insane speed. In fact, his speed was far greater than what the light could keep up with, which allowed him to immediately appear next to the wizard that cast the spell. Rather than fighting the terrifying light, he seemed more prepared to fight the frail woman.


    At the moment just before the Fert¡¯s fistnded on the wizard, the golden ball blinked out of existence, appearing in front of the advancing fist. Rather¡­ it was better to say that the golden ball of light and the wizard had exchanged ces. Yet the result was the same, as the Fert¡¯s power was focused entirely on offense.


    With no time to pull back or raise his defenses, his fist collided with the light, being erased just like how the previous one¡¯s chest had been. What was even worse was that the spell seemed to cling to his body, staying on him even when he explosivelyunched himself backwards. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s just not fair!¡± Balu shouted out from across the stage, ring pitifully towards Bihena.


    Bihena could only shrug as she heard that. ¡°Don¡¯t look at me, I¡¯m not even sure what that spell is.¡± When Bihena admitted that, Balu turned to look at me instead, but I could only shake my head helplessly. This was my first time seeing such a terrifying spell as well.


    ¡°Well¡­ if they can¡¯t avoid it, surely they can crush it!¡± Balu convinced herself with a nod, though I had a feeling that there was more to it than that. Given how long the spell had taken to prepare, it couldn¡¯t be simple, even among fourth tier spells. I¡¯m sure that the wizard had other cards she could have yed if her opponent was active at the time, but the fact that she chose to use this means it should be her ultimate trump card.


    A destructive spell with intelligence, and the ability to instantly swap ces with its caster. In the next round, it showed one more ability as well. Just like Balu had said, the nextpetitor aimed to simply destroy the golden ball with overwhelming power. And sure enough, it was shattered into specks of golden light when struck by an all-out attack from this practitioner.


    However, those golden specks did not disappear. Rather, they turned into needles of light that stabbed into the Fert¡¯s chest. And when he fell¡­ the golden ball once again appeared. ¡°I give up.¡± Balu said, helplessly shaking her head. ¡°That spell is a total cheat. From looking at it¡­ it would take specific magic elements to break it, right? But none of my guys are magic users, or can nullify magic.¡±


    Bihena shrugged her shoulders at that. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe an area attack that would hit both the ball and the wizard could kill her and end the spell?¡±


    Balu gave a sad smile at that. ¡°No¡­ that shouldn¡¯t be the case.¡± As she spoke, the stage darkened, showing that StarKiller really had given up the match. ¡°Spells like that¡­ I think I saw one before. It wasn¡¯t this system of magic, so naturally it looked different.¡±


    Her tone sounded different nowpared to her childish self before, as if she was revealing a bit of her experience. ¡°When a spell is given life¡­ it¡¯s not tied to its creator anymore. That thing would have just killed everyone that appeared in the ring without discrimination. Or maybe it was set to only attack my people, I don¡¯t know. Either way, this is your win.¡±


    Bihena blinked in surprise as she saw this new side of StarKiller. ¡°Balu?¡± She asked, her voiceced with concern.


    However, at that moment Balu suddenly lifted her head to stare at Bihena, a wide smile on her face. ¡°You said my name!¡± She shouted out, hopping into the air happily. ¡°No taking it back now, you said it!¡±


    Bihena groaned, shaking her head. ¡°Why did I even bother¡­¡± She muttered quietly, though the cking of pointed feet briefly distracted me.


    ¡°She is¡­ weird.¡± Kathy said behind us, her presence practically forgotten in the midst of the game. ¡°And I don¡¯t think I like this game. It wouldn¡¯t be very good for me.¡± Her head shook back and forth while thepanion hosting the event approached.


    ¡°Alright everyone, let¡¯s give a round of apuse for EarthForceOne for taking home the prize in this round.¡± She approached Bihena, extending one taloned hand to her with a toothy grin. ¡°As promised, five hundred points to the victor.¡±


    Bihena nodded her head with a small smile, extending her hand to ept the prized handshake. Apuse erupted in the room, though most of it was from the rabbit girl and the spider girl, who seemed especially excited about the turn of events. Balu actually jumped over the stage, hopping to stand next to Bihena. ¡°So, where to next? I could teach you how to race, or maybe some treasure hunts?¡±


    Bihena gave a smallugh, shaking her head before turning to look at me. ¡°Sorry, but we¡¯ve got to be going home now.¡± She answered, turning to look at Balu again.


    The pair ofrge rabbit ears drooped down pitifully. ¡°Aww¡­ leaving already? Well¡­ maybe you could invite me to your Admin Room so we can hang out?¡± Her words were not directed at Bihena, but rather me.


    ¡°Once we get qualified to do so, sure.¡± I answered with a brief nod, which seemed to take Balu by surprise.


    ¡°Huh? You aren¡¯t actually in the Games yet? Ohhh, no wonder! I thought you looked familiar! You were a noobie inst year¡¯s meeting! Sure, sure, just let me know when you qualify and I can make time toe over!¡± Balu nodded her head happily at the revtion. I would definitely be speaking with Grimor about her once we got back¡­ She didn¡¯t really seem to be so simple anymore.

 Chapter 181: To Spend a Fortune

    <h4>Chapter 181: To Spend a Fortune</h4>


    I briefly debated with myself whether I should find Grimor to talk to him before going back, or wait until I was in my own Admin Room. Ultimately, I decided to wait. I didn¡¯t want to have a question about whether or not Balu was really trustworthy when anyone could just eavesdrop on it, including the girl herself.


    Yes, it may be rude to talk about someone behind their back like this, but when you consider that situations like this could mean the life and death of hundreds of millions of people, maybe even billions by now¡­ Better safe than sorry. Bihena and I gave our brief farewells to both Kathy and Balu, who both once again expressed an interest in seeing our Admin Room when we could invite other people into it freely.


    Once we had chosen to leave, I mentally braced myself again. Yes, I might be embarrassing myself if something simple happens, but in the end I was d that I did. This transfer method was not exactly a nice one.


    The floor around mine and Bihena¡¯s feet began to shift like sand, before seeming to liquify. Our bodies lowered for just a moment, making me think we were going to fall through the floor, until I saw a trio of ck fins rising up from the ground. ¡°Ohh, I hate this one.¡± Balu said quietly, quickly jumping back away from us and pulling Kathy with her.


    ¡°Dale¡­¡± Bihena looked at me worriedly, her eyes wide with a hint of fright. The trio of fins sank and rose above the ground as they circled us, one in front and two behind. With how they always maintained the same position, it was clear that they were part of one creature.


    Soon, my assumptions were confirmed, when the creature rose enough that a section of its smooth ck back was exposed. Wide and smooth like rubber, a wet sheen causing the light to reflect off of it. By now, some of the other Keepers were looking our way. Some had looks of pity, others fear, and still more curious.


    I felt a hand in mine, and looked over to see Bihena gripping it. Thend shark, for that was the only thing I could call it, was starting to move further away. Or¡­ to be more urate, it was lining up to attack. Our feet were stuck in the ground, unable to move now that we had decided to leave, and the ¡®animation¡¯ was in effect.


    When we saw the trio of fins turning towards us, we knew it was almost over. However, what we weren¡¯t prepared for was the sheer size of the creature¡¯s body. From snout to tail, the shark was twenty meters long, and five wide. Its mouth, when it opened it, did not contain endless rows of teeth. Instead, there was a swirling ck mass that seemed to suck everything in.


    As it approached, the creature leapt out of the floor, rising up enough that its giant jawspletely engulfed mine and Bihena¡¯s bodies. I closed my eyes tight, clenching my fists as I heard Bihena let out a screech. My entire body seemed to tighten as it was pulled towards the ck mass in the center of the shark.


    Twisting, snapping, breaking, my body screamed out at me in pain as I was broken down further and further. I could faintly hear the whimpered cry of Bihena beside me, before everything seemed to happen in reverse. Suddenly, I felt myself being pushed away from the previous suction force, my body warping back to normal until I crashed into something hard. From behind my eyelids, I could see a faint light.


    My hand was still holding onto Bihena¡¯s, but I found something else. A viscous liquid covering the entirety of my body, dripping off inrge globs and falling to the floor with a st. Bihena let out a brief whimper from next to me after a long moment, but soon we heard another familiar voice.


    ¡°Oh my god, Dale!¡± Aurivy shouted from somewhere off to the side. ¡°What are you covered in?!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t know¡­ Don¡¯t care¡­ Not a fan¡­¡± I muttered out, my own voice sounding distorted to me. I brought my free hand up to my face to wipe at my eyes, uncovering them enough to open. ¡°Did anyone see what happened?¡±


    Finally, I saw Aurivy standing next to me. We seemed to be in the hallway outside my bedroom, and she was the only one in sight. ¡°I don¡¯t think so¡­¡± She answered with a shake of her head. ¡°I just heard arge crash and came to check it out. Is¡­ is Bihena okay?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯mfine.¡± Bihena herself answered, speaking so quickly that it sounded like one word. ¡°Just¡­ Just let me clean up.¡± Her voice was still shaking, and it was clear that fine was very far from what she was. However¡­ I knew that she would be able to get past that.


    Her words reminded me of something important. Closing my eyes again, I focused on cleaning myself. Removing all the sickly green gunk covering mine and Bihena¡¯s bodies. What I could only assume was the gastric fluids of the shark after it vomited us back up. ¡°I hate that one.¡± I found myself agreeing easily with Balu¡¯s opinion of this transport method.


    Once the gunk had been removed from Bihena¡¯s body, she seemed to visibly rx, her body sagging against the wall. ¡°Agreed¡­ I promise not to make fun of you next time a door appears.¡± She said weakly, turning her head to look at Aurivy.


    When Aurivy saw Bihena stretch out her two arms, a knowing smile gradually appeared on her face. She walked around me so that she was in front of Bihena, and then crouched down to sit in the human goddess¡¯sp. ¡°There, there.¡± Aurivy spoke in a teasing tone.


    ¡°Talkter. Need healing now.¡± Bihena scolded softly, shaking her head as she wrapped her arms around Aurivy, simply choosing to hug her. I raised a curious eyebrow at the sight, before shaking my head with a lightugh.


    Releasing Bihena¡¯s hand, I moved over towards my room, since we had appeared directly next to the door. Before entering, I nced down to the two of them. ¡°I¡¯ll be back once I check on things and see what we can get with our budget.¡±


    Aurivy giggled, turning her head to nod at me from within Bihena¡¯s embrace on the floor. Once I was in the room, I found that Terra wasn¡¯t present. Likely, she was with one of the others. Otherwise, she would have probablye to check out what happened when we got spit up as well.


    Shaking my head and shivering at the memory, I moved over towards myputer. It had been over a day since the announcement at the Keeper meeting about the card magic, and people even had the chance to see it in action at the tournament. So now, hopefully I would be able to earn some more royalties.


    Thankfully, I saw that a total of two hundred and sixteen people had bought the Card Law system since Ist checked. And out of them, a hundred and sixteen bought Card Magic. In total, that was just over forty-five hundred points of royalties.


    Since I had paused the world before leaving, there obviously wasn¡¯t any technology advancement, but I was still able to receive a couple hundred points since thest time I collected. This brought my grand total, counting what we earned in the meeting, to just shy of fifteen thousand.


    ¡°Thank whatever almighty power is out there for free advertisement.¡± I muttered to myself, knowing that the Gilded Branch¡¯s advertisement likely drew in arge portion of those ¡®customers¡¯ to purchase my system.


    Once again, I ran some quick math in my head to determine what we needed. Just to get the gates set up, we needed tier three of all of our energies aside from divine. That meant we had to purchase four tier three information globes. Add on the need for the three tier two ones for ki, spiritual energy, and natural energy, and the price came to nine thousand even.


    I had also promised to get Udona the next tier of monsters and cards when the gates opened, so that is another eighteen hundred and fifty points. Finally, I needed to buy the other systems for both Deckan and Desbar, so that they could be fully integrated with Earth. That was going to be the difficult part.


    Going back through the list of systems that I had purchased for Earth, and adding their costs in for each of the new worlds, the grand total price came to just under thirteen thousand. This price was enough to make me start to sweat, but I had pulled up a calctor on theputer to double check my math.


    ¡°Okay¡­ First thing¡¯s first.¡± I muttered to myself, sending a message to Ryone. We¡¯re back now, and we have all the points we need. I¡¯m going to go ahead and buy the information, that way you and Tubrock can work on the gates. That shouldn¡¯t boost our world power any, since it¡¯s not something in our world.


    Wee back! And understood. I¡¯ll be by shortly to collect them so we can get started. I take it Bihena performed admirably? She seemed to have a hint of expectation in her voice when she asked that.


    Right now she¡¯s a nervous wreck receiving ¡®healing¡¯ from Aurivy in the hall. But while we were there, yes, she was fine. I decided to tease Bihena indirectly by only telling half the truth. Though, I¡¯m sure that wille back to bite meter.


    Ryone didn¡¯t reply for a long moment, as if stunned by the message I had sent. Eventually, however, I heard her voice in my mind again. Wow, that must have really been something. Anyways, standard rules of no teaching the mortals what mortal are meant to learn for themselves?


    For now, at least. I confirmed with a nod. Once the gates were in ce, I was going to enter a rather serious training phase while the world adjusted to everything that was being added. If they haven¡¯t learned enough when it¡¯s getting closer to time, we can have everyone teach them for a couple hundred years or so to make sure that they are ready.


    After fighting in the tournament, I was actually fairly confident of my chances in the Keeper Games, at least for the first tier. Just looking at the level of power that a first tier Keeper had let mepare myself with what was expected. While I may not be a match for them presently¡­ that was bound to change as soon as I lifted the level limit of the world, and trained my world¡¯s skills.


    Without wasting any more time, I purchased the tiers of knowledge for the four energies. I held off on buying the third tier of monsters and magic for Udona¡¯s world for now, since I wanted to wait until the gates were actually done for that. I saw myself how powerful the cards could be when unleashed, and didn¡¯t want to take the risk that flooding Udona¡¯s world with them would push me into the games even earlier than expected.


    Finally, I fired off a message through the system. I hadn¡¯t forgotten about my interest in learning more about the ¡®adorable¡¯ acting StarKiller. I had just been dyed due to getting things ready. So I spoke to Alkahest while the information globes began to form in front of me, turning into seven balls of shining blue light.


    EarthForceOne: You free for a moment?


    Alkahest: Ah, you went back already? Sure, what do you need?


    EarthForceOne: One of mypanions became friendly with another Keeper, and I want to make sure that they don¡¯t have a bad reputation or anything, before I consider inviting them to my Admin Roomter.


    Alkahest: Alright. I guess that sounds fair enough. Remember, we¡¯re information brokers, Dale. If you want detailed info on something, it¡¯ll cost you. Though, what we can provide is typically limited. If it¡¯s just which side of the line they¡¯re on, I can probably hand that out for free.


    I tensed up slightly when Alkahest mentioned the possibility of a fee. I was experiencing firsthand the scale of points that experienced Keepers dealt with, so I could only imagine how much the personal information of an older Keeper would cost. Thankfully, a simple ¡®can they be trusted¡¯ was a free service, or I might not be able to afford it at all.


    EarthForceOne: The Keeper¡¯s title is StarKiller.


    Alkahest: Oh! You met Balu? Yeah, you have nothing to worry about. She¡¯s actually one of ours, in the guild. Part of that Avenger branch I told you about. As long as you¡¯re not one of the bloodthirsty types, she¡¯s totally harmless. That¡¯s all I can say for free, though. Sure you understand?


    I sent a quick message saying that I did. It was surprising to learn that Balu was a member of the Gilded Branch, but less so once I found out she was in the Avenger branch. The way that she spoke about the living spell, it was obvious that she had seen struggles at that level repeatedly. And if she developed her own profoundws for her world, that meant that she has been in the ¡®business¡¯ for a long time.


    EarthForceOne: I¡¯m a bit strapped for points, so not sure if I can afford the answer to this, but I¡¯m honestly just curious¡­ Has she been around since before the titles were handed out? StarKiller just doesn¡¯t really seem to fit her at all.


    There was a pause as Alkahest seemed to be considering whether or not to respond to me. However, a few minutester, I received a message back.


    Alkahest: Nah, that was her predecessor. She came in a few yearster. Like so many other unfortunate souls, she inherited a titlepletely contradictory to her character.


    I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle as I read that, thinking back to MissTerry in the tournament. It was obvious that the one who made that name should have been a woman, and he had inherited the title as well. Though, that made me think about how long it must have been since the titles became a thing. After all, MissTerry had be powerful enough through their own training to create the technique that destroyed me in the tournament.


    Terra had once told me that it was two generations of Keepers ago when the names appeared. However, if I recall right, that should have been the Keeper that had a space-age tech-themed Earth. There was no telling how long he was around before he died, so that was a long timespan to work with. Of course, it¡¯s not like it mattered all that much, just my idle curiosity.

 Chapter 182: Planning Ahead to Keep My Head

    <h4>Chapter 182: nning Ahead to Keep My Head</h4>


    As I pulled myself from my thoughts, I heard the soft melodicugh of Ryone as she entered the room. Through the doorway, I could still see Bihena receiving her ¡®healing¡¯ from a rather helpless looking Aurivy. ¡°So, are these the orbs?¡± She asked with a smile of amusement, looking towards the seven balls of blue light on my desk.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. You mentioned before that Terra had been teaching you how to make these¡­ so do you think that you could make copies of them before you go?¡± I fully intended to train myself in the use of the different energies, just as I had the first tiers of natural energy and ki so long ago.


    ¡°Hmm, not right now.¡± Ryone answered with a shake of her head, shrugging her shoulders and spreading her hands out. ¡°I¡¯ve got to study them myself first. But, tell you what. Give me a day, and I should have enough time by then to copy them over. Otherwise, I¡¯ll probably end up identally skippingrge amounts of information, and none of it will make sense.¡±


    I gave a nod of understanding at that, and waved my hand to send the seven balls of light towards her. ¡°Alright. Do you want me to send Leowynn with you?¡± The demigoddess soul was still sitting in my spirit realm. She had been shocked by the transport method we had gone through before, but seemed to just be waiting for the right moment toe out now that we were back.


    Ryone put on a bitter smile, even though Leowynn perked up at the question. ¡°Sorry, not this time. If I¡¯m going to get these all copied down within a day, then I need to be able to concentrate. Sorry dear.¡± She said as she looked to me, but I could tell that she was really speaking with Leowynn. ¡°I¡¯ll drag you along to y once I¡¯ve made the copies for him.¡±


    Leowynn¡¯s mood briefly dropped when she was rejected, though I could feel her nodding her head. ¡°She said that¡¯ll be fine.¡± I interpreted for her. ¡°In the meantime, maybe she¡¯d like to y with Aurivy?¡±


    Leowynn nced up again at that, and I could feel her attention drawn towards the hallway. At the same time, Aurivy seemed to notice that her name was mentioned, and turned to look into the room with a hopeful expression. Seeing that, Leowynnughed, and the familiar grey mist burst from my body, quickly reforming into the elven girl who rushed towards the door.


    Bihena briefly pouted when Leowynn rescued Aurivy from her, and then got up with a sigh, moving to enter the room just as Ryone was leaving it. ¡°I take it that means you want me for something?¡± She asked, leaning against the door frame.


    ¡°Well, first I wanted to say thanks. The points you earned really helped us get what we needed.¡± I turned in my chair to look at her, leaning back slightly while cracking my neck to stretch. ¡°Also, I spoke with Alkahest. StarKiller¡¯s good to enter as soon as we¡¯re qualified and everything is set.¡±


    Bihena looked surprised at that, her eyes opening wide for a brief moment. ¡°Huh¡­ Thought she was hiding something. Good to know. And yeah, I¡¯d like that. She seems like a good kid.¡±


    However, I quickly continued. ¡°Another thing. When you were ying that game with her, I saw you selected a party system. Tell me a bit about that, and why you chose it. Given that it¡¯s you we¡¯re talking about, you had to have had your reasons.¡±


    A small chuckle escaped Bihena¡¯s lips, and she waved a hand. In front of me, a blue window appeared, showing the information of the system I had asked about.


    Party System


    Allows the inhabitants of the world to form parties. The size limit of a party, as well as the method to establish one, is set by the purchasing Keeper. When two people are in a party, they have a general idea of their party member¡¯s health and location.


    Game System Required


    125 Points


    ¡°It¡¯s something I saw in the Keeper¡¯s cards tournament. On the surface, it doesn¡¯t appear like it provides a great benefit. There is no sharing of experience gained from killing a monster, no long distancemunication, just a simple ¡®general idea of health and location¡¯. That¡¯s all that the system offered.¡± Bihena answered with a shrug.


    Before I could ask anything else, she continued her exnation. ¡°But then I noticed something. After applying that system, thebat levels of my troops grew stronger. My culture levels began increasing, and even my counter-abilities were increased faster than normal.¡±


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t until after I was eliminated that I took the time to think it over. With the party system, adventuring groups would appear and band together, able to work more fluidly as a team when they could sense each other¡¯s presence and condition. Healers became more efficient. Coordination improved, and people grew stronger with less loss of life.¡±


    ¡°Just think of this from a different standpoint. You create a party with a diplomatic spy before sending them into enemy territory. At any point, you know if that spy has been executed or tortured, or if they have been sent somewhere else. You send a scout into a dungeon, and you don¡¯t hear from him for a worrying amount of time. Rather than advance foolishly, you already know whether he is in danger, or if you should continue to wait.¡±


    As she exined, I couldn¡¯t help but nod my head, agreeing with her. ¡°That¡­ definitely sounds like it would be a good long term benefit. If we can afford it after everything else we need, it will probably be a good idea to look into.¡±


    Bihena gave a satisfied nod when she heard my answer. ¡°Then, is there anything else?¡±


    ¡°No, that¡¯s all I needed for now.¡± I told her, shaking my head to dismiss her. While she left, I closed my eyes and sent another mental message off, this time to two goddesses. Ashley, Udona, how are your worldsing along? Do you think you¡¯ll be ready for the gates soon?


    Dale! I was wanting to talk to you when you got back! I made some new discoveries that could enhance the card magic! Udona¡¯s hasty reply came back almost immediately.


    If you mean about theter tier fusion cards, I already found out at the meeting.


    Ohh¡­ I could practically feel the kitsune girl sulking when she heard that I had already learned what she wanted to report to me. Then, yeah. Deckan should be good to go any time. They¡¯re just now starting to learn how to extract specific cards, so they¡¯re at a good level for joining up with the others.


    Desbar is fine as well. Ashley reported in once Udona had finished. They have established their worldwide inte, so technology is beginning to boom at an unprecedented rate. Simr to what happened on old Earth.


    I gave a relieved sigh at that. Alright. Then we¡¯ll keep the three worlds paused for now. When the gates are created and installed, we¡¯ll start fast forwarding again to let them develop and explore. If we put the gate on Earth somewhere remote, that will put Deckan and Desbar as the two that encounter each other first, and give them time to sort whatever they need to sort out.


    Why put the gate somewhere remote? Won¡¯t that mean it¡¯s in monster territory? Udona asked in a confused tone. Thankfully, Ashley came in with the answer quickly.


    We can¡¯t have it in any race¡¯s territory on Earth, or they will im ownership of it. More importantly, Deckan and Desbar don¡¯t have the game system yet. They¡¯re all essentially level one, so any random person could just go through the gate and either destroy or enve both worlds. Putting it in neutral territory increases the risk levels against monsters, but it allows both worlds to build themselves to an equal footing with Earth before that gate is discovered.


    Udona made a sound of understanding, seeming to ept that logic. Udona, onest thing. I¡¯m going to hold off on buying the third tier cards and monsters for Deckan until the gates are installed. It won¡¯t make much difference since the world is frozen, but I don¡¯t want to take the risk that the third tier pushes Deckan over the limit and sends us to the games before we¡¯re ready.


    That¡¯s fine. Udona answered quickly. The world is going to be paused until then anyways, so it won¡¯t make much difference. Besides, a single mage can¡¯t even properly use a second tier spell right now. It takes a team of five just to cast one. I can¡¯t imagine how many it would take to do a third tier spell before their mana levels increase¡­


    With that taken care of, I sent out two more calls. Keliope, alia, would the two of you mind meeting me in my room?


    ¡°Hey Dale!¡± alia called out excitedly from the doorway just seconds after I asked for her presence, when I know she wasn¡¯t standing there before. Guess she was bored. ¡°You need me for something?¡±


    Before I could answer, therge bear of a woman walked up behind her, patting alia on the head between her canine ears. ¡°Outta the way, pipsqueak.¡± She said in an amused tone. ¡°Boss wanted both of us.¡±


    alia stuck her tongue out yfully while making room for Keliope to enter. ¡°First thing¡¯s first¡­ alia, as the Goddess of the Hunt, what types ofbat have you taken as your specialty?¡± I already knew that Keliope loved martial arts, so I figured I should ask alia.


    The lycan goddess tilted her head in thought at that. ¡°Hmm¡­ Archery and magic. Those are the two main fields I usually specialize in. I like to attack from a distance. I¡¯ve alsobined archery with the various different energies to test their results, and started the Arcane Archery legacy with the humans. Of course, I know how to defend myself in closebat, but I¡¯m not as good as muscles for brains.¡± Keliope rubbed her fist against the crown of alia¡¯s head while sheughed, causing the girl to squirm beneath her.


    I felt a sigh building up as she gave the answer I was expecting, but held it down for now. ¡°Good, that¡¯s what I was hoping. I already bought the tiers of energy that we need to make the gates. Once Ryone gets them back to me, I n to study them. After that, I want the two of you to be mybat partners.¡±


    ¡°Ooh, another spar like thest time?¡± Keliope asked with some excitement, while alia simply looked at us curiously.


    ¡°Sort of. I found a game while I was at the meeting that lets you build yourself to a specific level of power and fight an opponent in a deathmatch. To help me train for the games, I want the both of you to join me for that.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s more to training than just battling.¡± alia pointed out quickly towards my statement, drawing augh from Keliope.


    ¡°I know, and I don¡¯t n to fight constantly. I¡¯ll be doing my own training, but whenever I improve, I want to test myself against you. It¡¯ll help me get realbat training, and maybe even pick up some of the skills you two use.¡±


    Hearing that, Keliope gave a nod. ¡°It¡¯s fine, y. He did this once before with me. There¡¯s nothing to worry about.¡±


    alia had a hard to read expression on her face, but finally relented with a small nod. ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll help you train, Dale.¡±


    Finally, that sigh I had been holding back escaped me, and I smiled towards the two of them. ¡°Thanks. I had a taste of real Keeperbat at the meeting. And while I might be able to hold my own against an invasion, that¡¯s only if they don¡¯t do anything unexpected. Just in case, I need to make sure that I¡¯m ready.¡±


    Both goddesses gave a nod of understanding at that. With their support, my confidence towards being ready for the invasion increased drastically.

 Chapter 183: Special Education

    <h4>Chapter 183: Special Education</h4>


    Once the two of them had left, I was left alone in the room. With the world paused for the time being, and everyone already off doing their own things, that left me with little to do but to train on my own. And, since Leowynn was off ying with Aurivy, that meant that what I could train was not Aki Seppo, but rather my threads.


    So, I moved towards the center of the room and once again began practicing my Thousand Arms, Ten Thousand Threads. However, my goal in doing so this time was slightly different than before. I didn¡¯t want to simply be a master of this art, but rather use it as a foundation to create something of my ownter.


    From my battle with MissTerry, I saw the power of a self-created technique. Thepanion hosting the tournament even said it was his signature skill. And after a nce through the market, it was not listed. He didn¡¯t develop the skill with any help from the system, but rather with either his own time and training, or someone on his world that did so.


    Well, nobody on my world is at the level of power where they could create anything that impressive. And it is likely going to be a very long time before they are. Once I am able to look through the various information spheres, I might be able to get a bit of insight that will allow me to create my own technique with the different energies, but that was uncertain. For now, all that I could do was practice this, and then aim to expand further upon itter.


    So, train I did. Pausing only to asionally walk around and stretch my limbs. Until finally¡­ ¡°Guess who¡¯s back!¡± Ryone shouted excitedly from the doorway, breaking me out of my concentration.


    Turning my head to look at her, a soft smile tugged at my lips. ¡°Has it been a day already?¡± I asked, having lost track of time during the monotony of training.


    ¡°Yup!¡± Ryone nodded her head, reaching over to hand a bag to me. It was obviously smaller than the seven spheres I gave her, but I couldn¡¯t feel any magic on it. Which meant Admin Room trickery. ¡°While I was at it, I made extra copies for the various gods that need them. Now I gotta go hand over a set to Tubrock, so we can get to work on the gates. By the way, he wanted me to deliver a message to you.¡±


    When I raised a curious eyebrow, taking the bag from her, she flipped her palm over. A small image of Tubrock, almost like a hologram, appeared in her palm. ¡°And tell ¡®em that I¡¯ll be needin¡¯ some time after the gates are finished! Just a few hundred years on Earth, ta get the final touches ready.¡±


    I was briefly surprised by the appearance of the hologram, but quickly realized the intention of the message. He was wanting time to finish perfecting the Sky Citadel now that he had the information that he wascking before. Maybe even upgrading the various godly items as well.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I nodded towards Ryone, who turned and walked out of the room while happily humming to herself. No doubt she found something interesting when going through the spheres, so that put her in a good mood.


    Moving over towards the bed, I opened up the bag I had been given and allowed the seven orbs to spill out overtop it. My hand reached for the one that I could sense contained the second tier secrets of ki, and I began there. Closing my eyes, I focused on slowly absorbing the information. Ryone had forced herself to rush through in order to copy everything for the rest of us, but I had no need to do that.


    I took it slow, gradually learning the different facets of ki contained within the orb. It held the secrets to various techniques, whether they were created through a ki path, or the raw usage of ki itself. I was even introduced to a higher form of crafting, above the blood essence or essence orbs.


    And then, afterwards when I grasped the third tier, it was as if a bolt of lightning had struck my mind. The amount of information was so vastly different between each tier that it was difficult to evenpare. The first tier could be considered the stone age, the second learning how to smelt, and then the third jumped straight towardsputers.


    A bad analogy, I know, but I did mention that it was difficult topare them. With theplete guide to the third tier of ki, I discovered so many things that I had never known were possible. And some of these discoveries I decided to implement immediately, while I was still inspired to do so.


    With the second tier information in my right hand, and the third in my left, I focused my mind inwardly to my own ki. This was when I created my own ki path, based on the information I had learned. A path superior to the basic one that I had purchased from the system because it was fundamentally on a higher level.


    Perhaps thergest improvement between this path and the one I had purchased could be described as its ability to hold both elemental ki and normal ki, without the either interfering with the other. This was achieved by essentially creating a second source of ki within the body, with the flow able to be controlled from either one at will. This alone might not be too impressive, but I knew my physical abilities would undergo arge shift once I actually put this to proper use.


    I continued studying the information globes on ki for quite a while, until I hadpletely lost track of time. However, eventually I had to give it up, as I had learned everything I could from study. Once I had had the chance to test out what I had learned, I woulde back and revisit these spheres.


    Next, I went for the natural energy orbs, as those were the other ones that I had personally learned before. And these were no less amazing than what I learned from ki. However¡­ I must admit that I was able to understand far less from the natural energy. Not because it was poorly exined, but¡­


    The second tier of natural energy was fairly simple toprehend. It was a change from controlling elements to controlling nts. Sounds like a pretty druid thing to do, yeah? And that was my first impression as well. I was even sure I¡¯d be able to pull it off myself once I gave it a shot.


    It was the third tier that made me give up. The third tier went back from controlling nts to the elements. Only this time, it wasn¡¯t the elements of fire, water, and the like. Instead, it was the actual elements. Separating water into its baseponents in order to create a sustainable me underwater.


    I had never been a chemistry student, so this was the point where the path of the druid just became aplete dead end for me. I could imagine that the higher tiers might go into things like transmuting one element into another by manipting the base particles, but that was not something that I could see myself being able to practically understand.


    Once I gave up on the third tier, I simply made sure that I had fully understood the second before moving on to spiritual energy. I had chosen this one to be next due to mybat abilities with Leowynn. Better understanding spiritual energy would naturally be beneficial when working together with her.


    And for this¡­ I really felt like my head was going to split open. Spiritual energy was the most abstract energy I had ever encountered. Yes, there were some simple ways to use it like to condense it in the form of a weapon. However, I finally understood for myself what Irena had once meant when she said that the image conjured in your mind when casting a ¡®spiritual spell¡¯ often had very little to do with the spell itself.


    The only things I was able to take away from the orbs on spiritual energy were how to manipte my own spiritual energy as a living being, and how to condense better weapons. Everything beyond that¡­ It seemed even less likely for me to understand than to be a master chemist and mastering natural energy.


    Once I was done with these three, I had to take a break for a little while. I felt that if I tried to absorb any more information, that my mind might really overload. I wasn¡¯t even sure if that was entirely possible, but I didn¡¯t want to find out either.


    So I rested,ying back on the bed and simply closing my eyes for a while. Only when I felt like my mind had calmed down did I finally reach for the final orb, the one containing the third tier of geometric magic.


    My only constion was that this one read mostly like a trantion guide, with only a few extra tricks. It was still not easy to understand, but I felt like I¡¯d be able to do it in time. I learned about the third tier of enchanting, the meaning behind the various three dimensional shapes and distortions.


    It was regrettable that I did not get any clues on how to better use chakra from the ki and mana orbs, but at least I was able to firmly tell where my focus would lie in the future. Out of the four energy types, ki was definitely the one that I was most talented with. Next came mana, though it would take some serious study for me to fully grasp its power.


    For the remaining two energies, natural and spiritual, I could only dabble in. I was still perfectly capable of fighting with Leowynn, as that portion of spiritual energy was something that I could manage. But the more mystical side to it was beyond me. And there was just no hope in my advancing beyond the second tier of natural energy.


    Taking a deep breath, I gathered my thoughts and calmed myself, before sending out a message. Keliope, alia, are either of you free? I¡¯m done studying, and would like to test some things out.


    It might be a bit unfair of me not to give each of them time to look through the higher tiers of energies, but in my mind it bnced out. After all, they have thousands of times more actualbat experience than myself, and more than enough tricks to make up for what I learned.


    I¡¯m free, Dale. alia¡¯s voice came back barely a moment after I sent the message out. Would you like to meet in the living room? Her tone seemed much more formal than her usual peppy self, which made me concerned that I might be asking for punishment.


    Sure. Of course, that¡¯s really exactly what I¡¯m doing. I know that my power isn¡¯t enough right now, and I¡¯m not trying to beat her. I¡¯m fully expecting to lose this fight, so that I can find the ws in my own abilities to correct them.


    When I arrived in the living room, I found alia waiting on the couch for me. She was dressed in her normal tan t-shirt with faded jean shorts, and offered a weak smile upon seeing me. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get this over with.¡± She said with a small sigh.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ is everything alright?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask, seeing how unlike normal she was.


    ¡°Huh? Yeah, yeah, it¡¯s fine.¡± She answered quickly, her eyes widening slightly as she shook her head. However, that only made me more sure that there was something wrong, as she acted like a kid caught in a lie.


    ¡°alia¡­ what¡¯s up?¡± I asked, crossing my arms and looking at her. Her tail sagged against the couch,ying t as her ears pressed against her skull.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to fight you, okay?¡± She answered with a huff, puffing her cheeks out and looking away. ¡°And no, it¡¯s not some love or anything like that. I¡¯m not like big sis or Ryone. I hunt monsters, not people. Fighting a person¡­ fighting a friend just feels wrong. Even if I know that the death isn¡¯t real, the idea of using my skills to kill you just sits wrong with me.¡±


    My eyes blinked repeatedly as I heard that outburst, having not expected that kind of thing from her. ¡°Well¡­ do you have any other suggestions for how you could help me practice my skills?¡± As a rangedbat specialist, I needed alia to be at her best if she was going to teach me. If she was feeling this way about fighting me, her skills would dull and the training would lose most of its meaning.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ sort of?¡± alia answered in a somewhat guilty tone. ¡°But you¡¯d have to spend a few more points. Not a lot¡­ just like fifty.¡±


    I simply nced at her curiously, my eyebrows raised for her to continue. ¡°After you brought up your training idea, I went looking through the entertainment package for another way I could help you. But none of them worked! And that¡¯s because they are all on the basis of yer versus yer. None of them are built on the idea of someone simply testing themselves. Well, aside from just making a deck of cards to y by yourself, but that doesn¡¯t really count.¡±


    ¡°But, when I searched the market, I found this.¡± As she spoke, alia lifted her hand, waving it to the side to create a window in front of me. ¡°This system could be exactly what we need.¡±


    Single yer Package


    Do you have the need to be entertained, but no friends to y with? Are you looking to just spend time by yourself, training or having fun without being bothered? Well, buy the Single yer Package! With this, you will be presented with a host of single yer games, ranging from action to adventure, even card games! All opponents are simted intelligences created by the system. Spectators may watch but not interfere. Keeper Entertainment Package not required.


    50 points


    ¡°If we have this, then I can create monsters at your level of power to fight you. I can watch your fights, and record them, and then show you where you went wrong. I can even fight the same monsters myself while you watch.¡± alia looked almost hopeful as she suggested this, her ears lifted marginally from her ck hair while her tail lightly tapped rhythmically against the couch.


    I gave the system some thought. If she was right about what it could do, and after seeing the entertainment package I had no reason to believe she wasn¡¯t, then this would be a valuable training tool for me. Well worth the expense of fifty points, when we now had a few extra points to spare. However, I still had to abide by my promise to Ryone before making the purchase, and sent her the details of the system, letting her judge whether it would properly fit in the budget, or if she thought we were too strapped for points.


    Thankfully, she quickly gave the all clear, so I nodded towards the expectant lycan girl. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll get it. Who knows, Keliope might ask you to give her the same treatment, and make monsters for her to pummel.¡± Without waiting, I immediately purchased the system.


    alia brought a hand to her mouth andughed lightly at that. ¡°Maybe. And thanks, Dale. This will make things easier for both of us, I think.¡±

 Chapter 184: Accalia’s Monster

    <h4>Chapter 184: alia¡¯s Monster</h4>


    Once I had bought the system, alia immediately went to work. I could feel her eyeing me with her divine power, which no doubt helped her find the power of a target. It was the only way I could imagine her understanding the abilities of the mutant monsters who were born in an environment where their powers could never be shown.


    ¡°Hmm, hmm¡­ Okay, good. I think I can build a good opponent for you. I just need to ask you a few questions.¡± alia¡¯s mood was rapidly improving as she opened an interface window in front of herself.


    ¡°Go ahead¡­¡±


    ¡°First, would you like to fight a ranged opponent, or a melee one? There are drastically different styles for fighting between the two, as I¡¯m sure you know by now.¡±


    Hearing her question, I sank into thought¡­ ¡°I¡¯ll let you decide.¡± My future opponents wouldn¡¯t be handpicked for me, so it seemed like a good idea to let alia surprise me. Though, judging by how her slowly wagging tail stopped abruptly and her eyes widened, she was fairly surprised herself.


    ¡°Okay¡­ uhm¡­ how hard do you want me to make it for you?¡± She asked, seeming a bit more timid when it came to this question.


    ¡°I don¡¯t expect to win.¡± I answered bluntly. I hadn¡¯t been expecting to win fighting alia, let alone a monster of her creation. ¡°What I¡¯m looking for is a strong opponent that can help me find the ws in my skills. With you watching, that should be even easier.¡±


    alia¡¯s head nodded slightly as she heard that, and I saw her focusing. ¡°Okay, I made a good game for us. It¡¯s a bit nonstandard, but is based on a training simtor that was already set up in this system. Long story short, I make a monster, then you make your ¡®character¡¯ to fight it. I set it to allow spectators, so I¡¯ll be able to watch.¡±


    ¡°Now, give me just a few minutes¡­¡± As she said that, her hands went fast at work. ¡°I¡¯m going to make monsters to fight you at your full power. You can think of them as being every bit as strong as a Keeper of your level. That way you won¡¯t have to adjust your profile when entering a match.¡±


    ¡°However, fighting a monster is different from fighting a person. It¡¯s¡­ something that you really have to experience yourself enough to understand.¡± alia shook her head when she said that. ¡°Good, good, this should work fine. Sorry in advance. Oh, and will you be using Leowynn to help you?¡±


    I thought about that for a moment, before shaking my head. ¡°Give her some more time to y with Aurivy and her mother. I need to test the abilities I¡¯ve learned myself.¡±


    ¡°Good idea.¡± alia answered with a small nod. ¡°At your full level of power, Leowynn¡¯s help wouldn¡¯t be significant. None of her forms would be too much stronger than your natural abilities. If she wants to be useful to youter, you¡¯ll need to take her somewhere that the two of you can absorb a lot more spiritual energy.¡±


    I wanted to refute alia¡¯s im, but I honestly couldn¡¯t. Out of all of the gods, she had proven herself the best at analyzing something¡¯s capabilities. And I couldn¡¯t tell if that was just from her Hunt domain, or her Wisdom one, or some result of the two of thembining. Either way, I knew that she was likely speaking the truth. Leowynn would need to do some serious training of her own in order to go through the games with me like she wants to.


    ¡°And done!¡± alia dered, smiling to herself. ¡°I saved it as ¡®alia Monster One¡¯, so if you don¡¯t want to spoil it for yourself you can just load it as your preset enemy.¡± When she said that, the screen shifted from being in front of her to being in front of me instead.


    It was a fairly simple interface, more so than the ones for the games at the Keeper meeting. No exnation of the rules, no mention of level limits or anything like that. It looked more like a game lobby than anything else. alia was already listed in the Spectator column, but both the yer and Enemy columns were empty.


    Going into the yer column, I found that it seemed to have all of the same options as the tournament that I had participated in at the meeting, but also held a rather convenient button near the top. ¡®Import all settings¡¯. When I clicked that, there was a brief pause before the information rapidly began to fill itself out. All of my systems, sses, everything filled out in just a few seconds.


    I gave a small nod of my head, before going to the Enemy column. Here, I saw a long list of names, as well as two options in the top. ¡®Import all settings¡¯ appeared here again, right next to ¡®Customize opponent¡¯.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be a good idea to have the enemy be myself?¡± I asked out of curiosity as I eyed the button at the top of the screen.


    ¡°Not yet.¡± alia firmly declined. ¡°You aren¡¯t familiar enough with the usage of your own power yet. Unless the system copies your skill levels as well as physical and magical prowess, then it would be safe to assume that the copy the system creates would be able to perfectly utilize all of the skills you don¡¯t even know you can use. Sure, you¡¯d be able to get a glimpse at your current maximum potential, but you¡¯d be wiped out before you could appreciate it.¡±


    Once again, I couldn¡¯t really refute that harsh truth. ¡°Alright¡­¡± I scrolled down the list of names, even spotting Alkazar on it as I reached the section where alia Monster One appeared. I guess that entities listed on the market are automatically imported as possible enemies.


    Once I was done selecting the monster, all that was left was the map. ¡°Any ideas for this?¡± I asked, but alia simply shrugged her shoulders, leaving it to me to decide. Well, that¡¯s helpful¡­


    Shaking my head, I simply selected a wide open stone floor. Since I didn¡¯t know what kind of creature I¡¯d be facing, I did not want to offer it any special terrain advantages. It was safe to say that alia wouldn¡¯t throw me a curveball on the first go, so it was either going to be a powerful ranged opponent or a living tank.


    Once I had made the decision, I found myself warped into the stone field that I had created. There was no sun in the sky, yet the entire field was illuminated as if it were day. Far across from me on the other side of the field, I could already see my opponent.


    A monster with long, slender arms and legs. Sickly pale skin clinging tightly to bones. Each hand with six fingers, sharp pointed ws tipping each. Its face held no eyes, merely a giant, gaping maw with seemingly endless rows of serrated teeth. It stood on two feet, and had two arms, but I could think of it as nothing but a monster.


    Probably a melee type at least. Just looking at its ws and mouth gave me the impression that this creature liked to tear you limb from limb. However, my thoughts were soon broken by a voice from overhead. ¡°Please choose your weapons.¡±


    There was no weapon rack appearing before me, or any type of list, so I assumed that the choice would be a verbal one. ¡°Steel longsword, forged from a blood specter¡¯s heart, and possessing the Transmutable quality.¡±


    The blood specter was a ki ability of the third tier, which allowed you to forge aplete clone of yourself out of essence blood. The essence blood had to be entirely from the same creature, and its heart had to be an essence of life, the next grade beyond an essence orb. Once the blood specter had taken shape, its essence evolved into a true beating heart of ki, which was the next step for third tier ki refining.


    As I called for my weapon, it appeared in my hand. A long de, its normal silvery steel tainted with a dark red, as if the sword itself had bathed in blood. I could feel its weight even with my full strength released, my body reinforced by my new ki path. Just this sword alone likely weighed nearly a thousand pounds, going by a rough estimate.


    Injecting my ki into the weapon, I caused it to shorten to be more convenient to wield with one hand. And again, the voice called out to me. ¡°Choose your armor.¡±


    ¡°No armor.¡± I called back. I could create the best armor possible with the third tier of magic, but that would defeat the purpose of this fight. I only chose to use a third tier sword because I wanted the ability to change its shape on a whim. This would allow me to better fight to my full ability.


    ¡°Are you ready to begin?¡± The voice asked again, and I once more looked at the monster in the distance, which had been frozen in ce the entire time.


    I took a stance, the sword at my side facing forward to prepare to attack. ¡°Begin.¡± I answered, and suddenly the creature sprang to life. It did not disappoint, rushing straight at me. Its body lowered to the ground, its ws scraping against the earth to propel itself along. Thick chunks of rocks flew up behind it whenever its hands or feet dug into the ground.


    I took a deep breath, and allowed my ki to fill my de. The bloodstained steel began to glow with a golden hue before I gave a slow, wide swing. An arc of light was formed in midair, slowly moving forward as I adjusted the de to perform a vertical swing next, this one slightly faster.


    When this de of light reached the first, they merged into a cross that gained the speed of the second strike. However, I wasn¡¯t done. I added in two more diagonal swings while the monster continued running closer, each slightly faster than thest. Each one empowered the attack as it charged forward, until it nearly reached the monster itself.


    Finally, I pulled my sword back, and did a sudden, thrust. This was a straight attack, far faster than any of the others, and a beam of light shot out of the de. When it hit the speeding waves of energy, it did not just add to them. Rather, they seemed to fold around it, turning into a single massivence of ki. This was one of the new insights I learned from the information spheres, the concept of ovepping strikes.


    And while this was all approaching the presumably blind monster, it kept rushing forward. I almost thought that it would run straight into the attack, before its body suddenly lunged into the air. It twisted above thence of ki which represented my strongest attack, before kicking off the air to charge straight towards me.


    My chakra threads quickly spread out around me, and I vanished from my spot moments before its ws came tearing down on my previous position. Just like with my own attack, the earthen light of ki shot out in waves from its ws, digging deep trenches in the ground for several meters.


    Unfortunately for me, it seemed able to sense my exact position. It turned and lunged at me again, though something seemed strange. I stepped through my threads a few meters away, and it kept going to my previous position tounch another attack. It doesn¡¯t see me¡­ it is sensing the energy. The threads are obscuring it slightly, and confusing it.


    Just as I was beginning to think that I might be able to use this to my advantage, the monster stood fully upright, bringing its head back in what I had originally thought would be a roar. Instead, though, I felt my threads beginning to distort, the energy outside of my body being drawn in towards the creature. I hastily cut off my threads, in order to prevent it from being able to suck me dry once it got ahold of them.


    And once my threads were out of the way, it charged at me yet again. However, this time I could see that its teeth had a faint blue glow to them, simr to the chakra it had just absorbed. I wasn¡¯t entirely sure what that meant, but I knew that it would not be a good idea to find out.


    Reaching out towards the natural energy, I was d to see that it had not been absorbed as well. Before the monster could reach me, I attempted to intercept its path with a stone wall. Unsurprisingly, it charged through the stone wall as if it hadn¡¯t been there. The stone spike that came next shattered against its skin.


    Okay, so fighting a monster specialized in ki use is scary. I made a mental note while noping right out of that confrontation. My feet kicked at the ground, bringing me up to run along the air. Rather unfortunately so when I saw that the creature chasing me was capable of the same feat. Think, think Dale! What can you use here? Magic? No, none of your practiced spells are strong enough.


    Looking back again, I saw that the creature was quickly closing in on me, its speed seeming a bit faster than my own. At this rate, it would only be a matter of time until it caught up. Okay, now or never.


    I took a deep breath, letting the sword fall from my hands as I spun around. I had at most three seconds before the thing was upon me, and tearing me apart. My hands began to glow as I brought them to my chest, forming a golden ball between them.


    Two seconds left. I quickly pped my hands together, letting the ki wash over the ki path that I had prepared for it, and then thrust my palms forward. A golden wall of energy formed in front of me, a shield made of condensed ki.


    One second¡­ The creature struck against the shield and briefly stopped, before suddenly appearing on the other side of it. I could see that its teeth no longer had the blue glow of chakra, and gulped as it reached me. As soon as its handnded on my body, the simtion ended. At that point, I was already marked as dead. Though, I wasn¡¯t sure if that was because it killed me with a touch, or the system simply chose to spare me the pain of being torn in half.

 Chapter 185: A Swarm of Studies

    <h4>Chapter 185: A Swarm of Studies</h4>


    I fell back onto the couch, panting for breath as soon as I appeared back in the room. Next to me, alia had an amused smile as she watched. ¡°So, do you know what you did wrong?¡± She asked in a yful tone, sping her hands in herp.


    ¡°I can probably think of a few things¡­¡± I muttered, shaking my head as I reyed the fight in my head. However, that mental rey became wholly unnecessary when alia caused the entire fight to actually y on the TV in front of us.


    ¡°You actually did pretty good.¡± She said with a hint of admiration as she watched. ¡°You quickly identified that you were facing a melee enemy and armed yourself ordingly. I¡¯m not really sure what kind of sword you chose, but it seemed suitable for a front sh like that. And the first technique youunched would have been a good choice tounch at a blind target.¡±


    ¡°You even seemed to guess that it could sense your energy pretty quickly, going by your actions.¡± alia nodded as she reached the part where I began dodging the monster¡¯s strikes. ¡°However, if there was something that I had to criticize, it was that you didn¡¯t identify its weakness.¡±


    ¡°The mouth, right?¡± I asked with a light groan, earning a knowing smile from alia. ¡°Yeah¡­ I guessed that near the end, but at that point there wasn¡¯t much I could do.¡± Logically, the mouth is a weak point for practically every living creature. It¡¯s just a small one normally. On this monster, however, it was muchrger. I just didn¡¯t have an attack prepared that could take advantage of it.


    ¡°So, do you want to watch me fight it, or move on to something else?¡± She asked curiously. However, I simply shook my head to that offer.


    ¡°You already know its weakness, so fighting it wouldn¡¯t show me anything, let¡¯s just move on.¡± After I took a moment to catch my breath, of course. Thankfully, it took her a bit longer to create the next monster.


    After going through the same procedure as before, I once more entered the stone field. Across from me was not one monster, but what seemed like an endless swarm. Little flying creatures that made up arge ck cloud.


    ¡°Select your weapon.¡± The dispassionate voice of the game instructed, but this time I had to take a moment to think. I couldn¡¯t just go with a simple sword likest time.


    If the monster was a swarm type, it might have a central consciousness, but that would be too hard to find with any weapon that attacked single targets. I had to be prepared to fight with area attacks. ¡°A bow made from thousand year ironwood, enchanted to imbue an explosive property to its arrows, and a quiver of twenty arrows.¡± After I made my request, a longbow appeared in my hands, a quiver strapping itself to my waist.


    I had not practiced archery much, but if it was just hitting a general area, I was confident that I could at least do that. Once this fight was over, though, I was definitely going to get alia to teach me some archery tricks. ¡°Select your armor.¡± The voice spoke, and this time I did not brush it off like before.


    ¡°Leather chestpiece, enchanted with a me burst spell.¡± If I was surrounded by the swarm, a burst effect would be my best option. And insects had a tendency to not enjoy fire, so¡­


    Once the armor had materialized around me, the voice once again asked if I was ready. I reached down into the quiver, carefully pulling out one arrow and nocking it so that I would be ready to fire. ¡°Ready.¡±


    As soon as I had said the word, the frozen swarm burst into motion, flying towards me as a single cloud. At the same time, I released the held arrow, letting it fly across the field to meet it. My aim was unsurprisingly off, but that was not important. When the arrow flew past the swarm, I triggered the explosive effect, causing a burst of fire to erupt next to the cloud of beetle-like insects.


    The closer they got, the better I could see them, and the less I wanted to. I hastily pulled out another arrow, fumbling for a moment and sending two more to the ground before I had it nocked and fired. This one fell short, stabbing into the ground between myself and my target.


    However, something strange happened. The swarm stopped before it approached the fallen arrow, preventing me from being able to use the explosive effect. Instead of continuing its advance, it flew straight up, high into the air.


    I couldn¡¯t help but click my tongue when I saw that. There were less chances for me to hit it with my bad marksmanship in the air. Instead, I changed tactics. While preparing another arrow, I connected with the natural energy to send a wave of fire at the cloud of bugs.


    When the fire hit it, there was a screech that was painful to hear, forcing me to wince. However, it seemed too brief. I thought I might have identally hit its core and killed the swarm, but then I saw it charging through the fire, not seeming to care about it anymore.


    No, that¡¯s wrong¡­ there was a change. The cloud seemed a bit smaller, but the insectsposing it were now red instead of ck. Seriously?! It seemed to have a mechanism to adapt to elements that killed members of the swarm.


    ¡°If fire won¡¯t work anymore¡­¡± I focused my eyes, conjuring an image in my head. In front of my body, three spell diagrams appeared and ovepped, before a bolt of lightning was shot out. I might not be confident in wielding third tier magic yet, but I could handle the second tier just fine.


    As expected, the lightning bolt instantly impacted with the center of the swarm, letting out another screech. It was then that I was able to see what they did to evolve. When the swarm halted to recoil from the attack, those that survived flew to collect the ones that had been hit. Then, the entire swarm began to cannibalize its fallen members, lines of white appearing along their red shells.


    ¡°This is not good¡­¡± Is this what she meant by Keeper level monsters? I couldn¡¯t refute her words at this point, as they were definitely every bit as dangerous as a Keeper. The only benefit at this point seemed to be that they weren¡¯t able to adapt to blunt trauma.


    I knew I had only one shot left at this point, and I wouldn¡¯t have time to fire another spell or arrow after that before they reached me. Not if I didn¡¯t run away, at least. So, I began to condense my ki into the head of the arrow I had nocked. The swarm was smaller now, so there was a chance that I could destroy it all with one well ced arrow.


    While the tip of the arrow began to glow, the swarm again charged towards me, the buzzing of their wings finally audible to me. I could see the arrowhead beginning to crack from too much ki, and took that as the sign to fire.


    Perhaps because I had been focusing on my ki, or maybe I got lucky, but the arrow this time flew straight towards the center of the swarm. Golden light spiralled around it,shing out at anything the arrow passed. The size of the swirling light was easilyrger than the swarm¡¯s current size, so I thought I might actually win this one.


    Unfortunately, fate is a fickle catgirl. As the arrow approached, the swarm dispersed, leaving only a few of its members to be hit by the ki. And just as quickly as the arrow passed, the swarm continued to surge towards me.


    I couldn¡¯t use the me burst, since they seemed immune. If they really did have Keeper levels of power, my ki would not be enough to protect myself either. I only had one thing that I could do as ast ditch resort.


    Dropping the bow, I gathered my ki along my arms, lowering my body and drawing one foot back. Just as the swarm surrounded me, I did a rapid spin, releasing the ki out through special paths along my arm. Golden des shout out all around me, slicing at many of the swarm.


    However, again it was not enough. The moment I felt a small pain in my palm, I knew that it was over. ¡°I surrender!¡± I called out just as I began to feel the flesh of my hand tear, knowing that this time would not be so forgiving as thest. I could either end it early, or feel my body being eaten by hundreds of insects.


    Thankfully, I had made the right decision as the simtion ended as soon as my words did. Once again, I was back on the couch. My eyes couldn¡¯t help but be drawn towards my hand where I had felt one of the insects biting into me previously, making sure that it was alright.


    ¡°You did pretty good again.¡± alia told me with that same smile. ¡°But¡­ you¡¯ve never really trained with a bow, have you?¡±


    When I shook my head, she let out a soft sigh. ¡°Thought as much. You didn¡¯t use any of an archer¡¯s moves, and even your way of drawing an arrow was sloppy. Do you want to review, or skip straight to watching me fight it?¡±


    I again had to think about that for a moment, before looking towards her. ¡°I want to see you do it.¡± I said frankly. I wasn¡¯t able to find a discernible weakness in the swarm, aside from something that swarms were already incredibly strong against in the first ce.


    alia nodded her head eptingly. ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll use the same stats that you used in the fight, but with my own body. After all, it¡¯d feel weird for me to suddenly fight in a man¡¯s body.¡± She said with a lightugh.


    I watched alia quickly navigate the menu, using all of the settings from the previous fight, and set myself in the spectator column. This time when we arrived at the stone field, I found myself floating high above the ground, my body invisible. I tried to open my mouth, but found myself unable to make a sound.


    Likely knowing where the spectators spawned, alia turned her head to look right up at me. ¡°Alright, watch this!¡± She said, before waiting for the voice to speak up.


    For her weapon, she chose a longbow forged in blood essence using the sinew of a ¡®golden ape¡¯ for its string. Aside from that, she chose a simple quiver of twenty arrows, and no armor. When the blood red bow appeared in her hands, she gave it a few test pulls to make sure that it worked, before telling the system to begin.


    Just as the swarm began moving, so did her hands. She grabbed not one, but four arrows at once, one between each of her fingers. And just as quickly, she began to fire them. alia didn¡¯t shoot her arrows at the swarm, but rather off to the side or in the air in wide arcs.


    When she grabbed the fifth arrow, she drew the bow back fully beforeunching it straight at the swarm. Blue lights wrapped around the fiveunched arrows, forming into spell diagrams surrounding the shaft of the arrows themselves. The four arrowsunched early burst into mes, while the fifth impacted the swarm directly.


    It was hard to tell what had happened next, but all I saw was the swarm exploding in a burst of fire. The four arrows that had been shot in different directions had vanished, and over half of the swarm had been killed in a single burst.


    Of course, now the rest of the swarm had already began devouring their deadpanions, gaining the immunity to fire that annoyed me so much in my own match. And while they were doing that, alia slowly drew another arrow, nocking it and aiming it at the center of the swarm. Her voice echoed through the ying field, the elements thrown into disarray as she spoke.


    ¡°Strike at the moment the swarm is at its weakest with an overwhelming attack. Piercing rays of light to strike them dead without fail. With one arrow, settle the match.¡± Four spell diagrams formed in front of her as she spoke, crackling with an electric glow. When she shot the arrow through them, they shattered one by one, their energy circling in on the arrow.


    Immediately, the arrow itself split apart into countless splinters, forming a white wall of light that moved through the swarm. This time, there was nothing left safe, not a single insect remaining to devour itsrades and be immune to her attack. As for alia, she let out a soft breath, and looked up at the sky, forming a V with her fingers in my direction.

 Chapter 186: Ultimate Power

    <h4>Chapter 186: Ultimate Power</h4>


    ¡°Okay, what did you do and how can I do that¡­¡± I asked as soon as we were back out of the match, earning a shortugh from alia.


    ¡°What I did was actually really simple. It just takes practice. The four arrows I fired first were simply needed to stay airborne long enough for the fifth to be fired. Each of them had my mana following them, so that I could activate a spell.¡± She exined patiently, bringing her arms together behind her back.


    ¡°When you want to imbue an arrow with a spell, you need to cast the spell around it, and then direct its power inward. You can do the same thing with anything really, and it serves as a temporary enchantment. But if the energy is too much, the arrows break.¡±


    ¡°The fifth arrow was the targeting arrow. With its location as the base, I used natural energy to warp my other four arrows to that location. Then boom.¡± She brought her hands out in front of her and spread her fingers to emphasize her ¡®boom¡¯.


    ¡°After that, it was an elementalist spell imbued into the sixth arrow to make sure and clean everything up. Really, you were pretty close to beating it in your run, you just made a small mistake.¡± As she spoke, the rey of my own fight appeared.


    ¡°This insect¡¯s special property was its adaptability. Your first arrow shaved off some of it from the side, but that was from the concussive force rather than the fire, so they didn¡¯t gain an immunity. However, they did learn to avoid your arrows.¡± The fight yed out while she spoke about each portion, pausing for each of my attacks.


    ¡°With your second arrow, they chose to make distance with you and attack from a new angle rather than take another st. Now, this is where you made your first real mistake. It¡¯s forgivable since you didn¡¯t know they could adapt to energy at the time, though. The fire that you used was a druid¡¯s natural me, so it was too weak to kill enough of the swarm before they adapted.¡±


    ¡°You made a good decision to fire lightning next, as it is a practically undodgeable attack. Unfortunately, your lightning wasn¡¯t big enough because you hadn¡¯t killed enough with your previous fire.¡± alia sighed as she spoke, shaking her head. ¡°Really, there wasn¡¯t all that much you could have done at that point. They already knew to avoid your arrows, while fire and lightning no longer worked. If you knew an acidic spell that covered an area, that might have done the trick, but I¡¯ve never seen you use one.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because I haven¡¯t learned one.¡± I pointed out, shaking my head as well. ¡°Still, at least this was informative. Now¡­ let¡¯s continue.¡±


    Like this, alia threw me against one monster after another. Some of them required interesting strategies like the swarm, while others simply required identifying a weak point or, as I like to put it, ¡®hitting them really hard¡¯. Naturally, I did best against thatst category.


    This wasn¡¯t quite the same type of training I expected to be having with alia and Keliope, but it was definitely helping. Livebat allowed me the chance to better hone my reflexes as well as practice actual battle skills. Even if I only won two out of the ten fights I had alia put me against, I felt like I hade away from it with positive growth. As for why I only had her put me against ten monsters, that was because I wanted to take some more time to practice my skills in private.


    By the time we were done, several hours had already passed since the start of the training, so I was more than ready to head back to my own room and just rx for a bit. Until, that is, I saw Terra waiting for me on the bed again. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± I asked as soon as I entered the room, knowing that thest time I found her waiting for me like this, it was bad news.


    ¡°What, can¡¯t a girl just stop by because she missed her man?¡± Terra asked in a teasing tone, and for a moment I thought she might have really meant it. At least, until her next words came out. ¡°Alright, so I¡¯m bored¡­ Sue me.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but let out a lightugh at that. ¡°You¡¯re bored? I didn¡¯t know you could even get bored¡­¡± This was the first time that I could think of hering to me with this problem.


    ¡°Well, can you me me?¡± She asked, falling back to sprawl out on the bed. ¡°The worlds are all paused. Leowynn is busy watching Ryone. alia and Keliope are training to make sure that they can teach you. Udona is practicing cardbinations in her room, and Rivy is busy ying with Bihena! There¡¯s literally nothing for me to do right now!¡±


    It was cute to see her arms iling about on the bed, bringing augh from me. ¡°Well, what do you want me to do about it?¡± I asked curiously, and her head suddenly lifting up to eye me hungrily. ¡°Aside from that. I¡¯ve gotta make sure I¡¯m ready for a fight, so every minute counts.¡±


    Terra¡¯s eyes widened in surprise when I tantly turned her down, her ears lowering against her head. ¡°Well¡­ can I watch you train, then? I can emte the skills that you use, so you can watch them on me and find ways to improve them?¡±


    I gave a brief nod after hearing her suggestion. ¡°Alright. Right now, I¡¯m trying to practice the Thousand Arms, Ten Thousand Threads art.¡± When I told her that, Terra briefly closed her eyes before nodding. ¡°I don¡¯t suppose you¡¯re able to show me what it looks like when it is fully mastered?¡±


    Terra opened her eyes briefly to look at me, seeming lost in thought. ¡°You bought the full information globe from the market¡­ so it¡¯s not against any rules.¡± Sheid her head back on the bed as she continued to think about it. ¡°There are¡­ some restrictions. I can¡¯t transmit the sensation of it to you, only show you myself using it.¡±


    ¡°That would be enough.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but be excited as I heard that she could actually do this. I had originally asked it as a joke, and hadn¡¯t expected her to answer like this. If I was able to see the art used to its full power, I could maybe get some new ideas for it myself.


    ¡°Alright, then. How do you want me to demonstrate it?¡± She asked, once again lifting her head to look over at me.


    ¡°Do you know what alia and I were doing for our training?¡± When I saw her nod, I gave a relieved sigh. ¡°Could you show it off in a fight like that, against one of her monsters?¡±


    Her brows narrowed in thought as she considered that question. ¡°I could, but it won¡¯t help you much to see it like that. At its full power, it would put me too much higher level than them. How about I show you in that fight, and then let you study me using it back in the Administration Room?¡±


    I gave a quick nod to her suggestion. ¡°Yes, that would work well.¡± I was really excited to see just how strong this martial art could be. And with her saying that it alone would make her that much stronger than a Keeper-level monster, that only made me all the more so excited.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Terra nodded, pushing herself back up to a sitting position. As I moved to sit next to her, she pulled up the game interface. ¡°Which one do you want me to fight against?¡±


    Briefly considering the ten monsters alia had pit me against, I had Terra fight the sixth. It was a monster focused entirely on strengthening its physical body. While it was slow enough that I could dodge any of its attacks, I wasn¡¯t able to do a single thing to damage it physically. Ultimately, I had won this fight bytching onto its back and draining its ki. One of my only two victories.


    However, its insane defense would let me have a better grasp of the destructive force behind the art. I watched as Terra put in the same settings that alia had used for her match, replicating my own level of power. ¡°With your amount of ki and mana, I can just barely qualify to do this.¡±


    I also knew that the only reason that she could do this in the first ce was because as a System Companion she had all of the system¡¯s knowledge. Whether it was this, Aki Seppo, maybe even MissTerry¡¯s signature move that was not on the market, she would know how to do all of it perfectly. It was just a matter of whether the rules allowed her to demonstrate that knowledge and skill. And thankfully, having bought the information released that restriction.


    Once again I found myself floating in midair as a spectator. Down below, Terra stood on the stone tform, her eyes looking straight up at me. Her face was more solemn than I had seen it in a long time, her typical yful expression gone. Guess she¡¯s not that much of a fan ofbat. Or maybe it¡¯s frustrating for her because she still has to be careful of what she can show.


    Across from her on the far side of the field stood a lumbering giant. Ten meters tall with spiked rocks protruding from its back. Its skin was a dull grey, its handsrge enough to easily engulf my entire body. More than once it had nearly done so, in fact.


    ¡°No weapon. No armor.¡± Terra called out, even before the game had the chance to ask for her to choose them. ¡°Ready.¡±


    The ground shook as the giant walked closer to Terra, but at the same time she began walking closer to it. Focusing my eyes, I could vaguely see the threads of chakra spreading out from her body, but they did not go far. In fact, before they had really traveled, they turned back to wrap around her, quickly bing visible to the naked eye as she was wrapped in a blue cocoon.


    From within the cocoon, Terra emerged. And then she emerged again, and again. One by one a hundred Terras stepped out before the cocoon shattered, and I had no way to tell which was the original. For all I knew, they all might have been, or maybe none of them were.


    ¡°Ten Thousand Threads first form, Army of One.¡± The Terras all spoke in unison, and I could tell that they were only talking for my benefit. ¡°Thousand Arms first form, One Fist.¡±


    The one hundred Terras all raised their arms, pointing them at the approaching giant. Blue strands of light stretched out from their hands, forming into a hundred giant fists that sailed through the air to punch at the monster. I knew that this alone wouldn¡¯t kill it, and she was only doing this for my sake, but I still watched the monster stagger back from the blow.


    ¡°Now¡­ Thousand Arms, Ten Thousand Threads true form.¡± The voices all spoke as one, the Terras converging on a single location to be one body again. ¡°Voidwalk.¡± Terra¡¯s body shimmered, bing translucent while specks of blue light began to shine off of her.


    Instead ofunching an attack, she simply walked towards the giant. With every step, her body grew. Two meters, three, five, soon she was just asrge as the giant, but her steps continued. Although she didn¡¯t continue to grow, she didn¡¯t stop walking even as the giant brought one of its powerful arms up to grab her.


    I watched as the pale arm passed directly through her body without the slightest resistance, and Terra simply continued to walk. Once her body passed through that of the giant, I found the two of us back on the bed, Terra propping her chin up on her hands next to me while I processed the scene I just saw.


    I knew what Voidwalk was. It was clearly listed as the final ability of the martial art, which could only be achieved bybining both branches into one at their full power. It turns the user¡¯s own body into a construct of thought, and lets them directly control their body at will, attacking anyone else¡¯s mind they make contact with.


    ¡°That was¡­ amazing.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but mutter. Unfortunately, I didn¡¯t manage to gleam much new information from the fight, just as Terra had said. The fight had been entirely one-sided, so there was nothing for me to really learn as an observer. ¡°If it¡¯s alright to ask, just how strong is that martial art?¡±


    Terra let out a long sigh, falling onto her back against the bed again. ¡°If you just master one branch or the other, it¡¯s enough for a rank one Keeper. If you master both, andbine them, it¡¯s enough to fight in the second rank on its own.¡±


    I once again thought back to the move that MissTerry had used against me. ¡°I¡¯m not allowed to ask about another Keeper¡¯s rank, am I?¡± Terra¡¯s answer was to simply shake her head, her tail slowly swaying off the bed between her legs.


    I hadn¡¯t thought that I would be able to, otherwise the Gilded Branch would never be able to sell information. I reached my hand back, and lightly scratched at Terra¡¯s fuzzy ears. Her body stiffened up briefly before she began to rx, a soft purring sound escaping her. ¡°Okay¡­ fine¡­ I¡¯ll give you another demonstration here, like I said.¡± She muttered as she tilted her head to press it against my hand, her eyes half-lidded.

 Chapter 187: Finishing Training, the Time Draws Near

    <h4>Chapter 187: Finishing Training, the Time Draws Near</h4>


    There wasn¡¯t really much to talk about when it came to the training with Terra. After I cheered her up by scratching her ears a bit, she took the two of us to a wide meadow to demonstrate the Ten Thousand Threads and the Thousand Arms martial arts separately. As for what I was able to learn from it¡­ well, my improvement wasn¡¯t nothing, at least. However, I was not able to take away as much as I had hoped.


    After that hour of study, I was able toe to a pretty solid conclusion. One that Terra was more than happy to back me up on. ¡°It¡¯s just a matter of practice, Dale.¡± She said to me with a sigh, finally pulling back the energies that she was releasing into her surroundings. ¡°You¡¯ve got the drive and the talent, you just aren¡¯t well practiced with splitting your mind like this art requires. The fact that you¡¯ve already managed toe as far as you have shows just how stubborn you¡¯¡¯ve been about it.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help butugh bitterly when she put it that way. ¡°Do you think that I¡¯d be better off just getting a pure ki art instead?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask as I nced towards her.


    Terra sank into thought for a few moments, but ultimately shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s really your own decision to make, Dale. Will you be able to progress faster by using a ki art? Possibly, yes. But at the same time, any of those arts that you can buy on the market won¡¯t be the truly powerful ones.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I saw one of those.¡± I pointed out. ¡°I take it that people like to develop their own powerful abilities on their own, without the system¡¯s guidance.¡±


    Terra gave a brief nod at that. ¡°That¡¯s right, Dale. Most techniques on the market fall under two categories. Either the Keeper wanted to list them to preserve a story behind them, or they wanted the system¡¯s help toplete a technique they were attempting to create. Your Aki Seppo falls into the first category, while the Thousand Arms, Ten Thousand Threads falls into the second.¡±


    I could just imagine that. Someone wanting to create a martial art focused on multitasking, to bring their frame of mind closer to that of apanion. Part of me wondered how many Keepers had actually practiced it topletion. ¡°So, I should continue practicing what I have, while trying to make something of my own.¡±


    Terra didn¡¯t answer directly, only offering a small smile while moving the two of us back to the bedroom. ¡°Everyone has their own path to strength, Dale. I can help you on your path, but I can¡¯t show it to you. Otherwise, it¡¯s no longer your own path, is it?¡±


    Honestly, that just sounded like a well worded excuse for ¡®the system won¡¯t let me say anything else¡¯. ¡°You seem to be able to do a lot moretely.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but point out, drawing augh from Terra.


    ¡°The further along you go, the more I can do. Almost every restriction, as you¡¯ve learned, has a way to be unlocked. I just can¡¯t tell you how to do it. Of course, there are some that can¡¯t be unlocked, but those are there to protect the Keepers.¡±


    I gave a small nod at that. ¡°Like revealing info of other Keepers, or managing your own world.¡±


    Terra¡¯s lips pursed together as I mentioned that, her ears drooping slightly for a moment. ¡°Right. After all, a world designed by a System Companion would be able to unbnce the games, simply because we know what we can do.¡±


    Sighing, I shook my head and reached out to take her hand, doing my best tofort her. ¡°You¡¯re still able to help out in plenty of ways.¡± I told her, offering a soft smile. ¡°And we can find plenty of ways for you to have fun.¡±


    Her lips began to tug upwards as I encouraged her, and she gave a small nod. ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right. And if I don¡¯t have enough fun, I can just find you or Ryone to fix that.¡± She added on yfully, eyeing me again.


    I rolled my eyes, leaning over and nting a brief kiss on her cheek. ¡°Sure. But first, could I ask you to do me a favor, for when I unpause Earth?¡±


    She started to pout again when it seemed I wouldn¡¯t take that bait again, but simply let out another sigh. ¡°Alright, what is it?¡±


    ¡°I want you and the other beastkin goddesses to pass on an edict to end the war between the beastkin and humans.¡± I said simply. I had seen the situation of the two races before I left for the meeting. Although their war was not as intense anymore, it was still ongoing. It seemed more like a tradition to fight at this point more than actual hatred.


    Terra groaned, falling down on top of the bed when she heard my request. ¡°Gah, we tried that already. Barely ten years into the war, when it looked like it wouldn¡¯t stop, we all sent an order to every priest and church to put an end to the war. You know what they did? Theyunched a full scale assault. Their idea of ending it was to try to end it quickly.¡±


    I blinked as I looked at her. I wasn¡¯t really surprised that they had sent an order like that down. ¡°I wasn¡¯t meaning to the churches, though¡­¡±


    Terra¡¯s eyes opened wide, and she suddenly sat up in the bed, looking at me with an excited expression. ¡°You¡¯ll finally let us use them, really?!¡±


    I felt a grin break out on my face as I nodded. ¡°Yeah, I think this will be a good situation for you to put your ninjas to work. They haven¡¯t been taking part in this war, right?¡±


    Terra shook her head, the excitement still evident on her face. ¡°No, we asked them a long time ago to keep themselves secluded to grow outside of the influence of the kingdoms. They have always been their own power, and have refused anymands from any kingdom for aid.¡±


    ¡°There was one point where a queen demanded them to help with the war, and sent her army into the forest. She woke up the next morning with the heads of her army arranged in her throne room, a reminder that the forest is thend of the ninjas.¡±


    I gave a small shudder as I heard that, surprised by the brutality of the ninjas. However, Terra quickly shook her head and looked at me. ¡°They¡¯re not savages, though! They only did that because the army was threatening to destroy their homes. They¡¯ve even taken in volunteers that go into the forest hoping to join them.¡±


    ¡°Do they still have that statue?¡± I asked, not quite sure I wanted to know the answer. However, Terra¡¯s growing grin told me more than her words.


    ¡°Oh yeah¡­ they¡¯ve got it.¡± She told me, not wishing to borate.


    I shook my head with a sigh, slowly standing up. ¡°Alright¡­ back to training.¡± I told her, drawing a frustrated groan from Terra. Still, she didn¡¯t really object, and simply watched me continue to train with my chakra.


    Like this, my training went on for a few days. Every now and then, I would stop to test myself against either Keliope or alia¡¯s monsters. Although it was slow, I could see a vague improvement in my performance in the amount of time it took me to lose. In fact, every now and then I even managed to beat them.


    My skills weren¡¯t perfect by any definition. Far from it, they weren¡¯t even decent for my level. But I was able to beat monsters just as strong as myself, which showed that my skills were passable. After all¡­ how often am I going toe across someone on the same level of power as myself, if I¡¯m not in one of those tournaments?


    Finally, roughly six days after we had returned from the tournament, I received a message from Tubrock, calling me down to the forge. When I arrived, I found the assembly line reced by three wide tforms, each filled with engraved concentric circles. These didn¡¯t really look like a ¡®gate¡¯, as I would call it, but given the context of the situation, I had to assume that they were the Fairy Gates.


    ¡°You managed to finish them, huh?¡± I asked as I looked at the three tforms, drawing a small scoff from Tubrock.


    ¡°Aye. Got the gates set up now and ready to install, and I¡¯ve made two copies of each Gate Key.¡± As he mentioned the keys, He lifted his hands, where six circr tes appeared. ¡°ording to the blueprints, ye just p one of these in the center, and it will lock onto the target world. Otherwise, ye could end up anywhere.¡±


    I nodded my head as I saw that, ncing back towards the wall of his forge, where he had shown me his little project room. ¡°And how much longer do you need to get everything else finished?¡±


    Judging from how his beard lifted up slightly, he seemed to grin at the question. ¡°If ye let me bring the Sky Citadel up here, I could have it done in three months. Down on Earth, it¡¯d be closer to a hundred years to make all the changes we need.¡±


    ¡°Of course, that hundred years is closer to three seconds, really.¡± And while I wasn¡¯t against three more months of waiting around and doing nothing, I¡¯m¡­ pretty against three months of waiting around and doing nothing but training.


    ¡°Aye.¡± Tubrock answered with a nod. ¡°Though now I be having a better power source for the citadel, so it will be airworthy even if you aren¡¯t feeding it.¡±


    I gave another small nod at that. It would certainly make things more helpful if the Sky Citadel could be seen as a constant symbol of authority, even when I wasn¡¯t around. ¡°Alright. Once I get back to my room, I¡¯ll set another fast forward. After that, we can install the gates down on the three worlds, and get everything started.¡±


    Tubrock gave a heartyugh at that, and the two of us quickly parted ways. On my way back towards my room, I met up with Aurvy who decided to apany me the rest of the way. ¡°So, is it true? Are the ninjas finally being put to work?¡± She asked in every bit the excited tone that Terra had spoken with.


    ¡°Yes, yes, it¡¯s true.¡± I answered helplessly. I knew that Aurivy had been waiting a long time to see the ninjas sent out for some real work. After all, it was her and Terra that had originally orchestrated the creation of the ninja forest in the first ce, after I taught the ss to a select few.


    Though, that did make me think of something. ¡°Now that the status orbs are being distributed, won¡¯t there be more people learning how to be a ninja?¡± I asked, ncing down towards Aurivy as we walked to my bedroom.


    ¡°Meh.¡± She answered simply, shrugging her shoulders. ¡°They get the ss, but so what? The ninjas of the forest have been studying ki, mana, and chakra extensively for thousands of years. Other people who get the ss are just third-rate ninjaspared to them, believe it!¡±


    I let out a low groan as I heard that exnation, shaking my head. ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll take your word for it¡­¡± She did have a point, as I had even witnessed some of their at the time groundbreaking discoveries. ¡°I take it you¡¯ll be watching to see how they handle the situation?¡± I asked, sending a curious nce towards her.


    ¡°Yup!¡± She nodded her head happily, moving along next to me. ¡°Besides, I might as well stick with you for now. You¡¯ll need my divine power when you decide to install the gates.¡± And again, she had a point¡­

 Chapter 188: This War is Over

    <h4>Chapter 188: This War is Over</h4>


    ¡°Alme?¡± One of the sentries atop the wall called out, seeing the familiar ck-haired centauress approaching the city. The sentry had in his hands a bow and arrow, though they were not aimed at the approaching girl.


    Due to the sighting of a new people arriving upon the shores, the city had gone into high alert. The scars of the past still lingered on thend like a festering wound from all those years ago, and history spoke of the brutality that became the great Blood War. Whether these new people came with good tidings or ill intentions were unknown, but nobody wanted to take the chance.


    ¡°Yes, hello!¡± Alme called out to the guard, excitedly waving her hand. She had travelled across thends, never staying in one ce for too long. Yet it was always enough time for her name to be known, the entric young priestess of Tryval.


    ¡°Hurry, hurry, open the gates!¡± The sentry called out, his eyes scanning the surroundings. ¡°Quick, Alme, you must get inside! Ounders havee, so thesends are no longer safe!¡±


    As he spoke, the gate beneath him began to open, a pair of wary halflings stepping out to help guide Alme inside. She humored them, following along while still talking with the sentry. ¡°Oh, I know! I met them already! They were really nice, and asked me to bring a gift to the city.¡±


    When she said that, she held up a thick, leather-bound book. There was no feeling of magicing from the book, and it seemed to simply be what it appeared. However, the sentry atop the walls could not help but suspect it. ¡°Quick, take it to the elder council. Whatever it is, they will know what to do.¡±


    Alme put on that same smile, nodding her head as her hair dipped over her face, parted only by the horn jutting out of her forehead. ¡°Okay!¡± She quickly turned and walked towards the center of the city.


    As she passed out of the view of the crowd, her expression seemed to shift. The childlike vigor that she disyed to match her appearance vanished, reced instead by a simple, sincere smile. Her upturned eyes instead looked straight ahead, and she clutched the book in her arms tightly, as if afraid to lose it.


    Finally! She thought to herself in excitement as she galloped towards the city center. Finally she would be able to do something for her people. Something for her father, as his daughter and his priestess. She could prevent a second Blood War from happening, and all that she had to do was make a single report. Just be at the right ce, at the right time, and say the right things.


    As she arrived at the city center, she saw the older leaders of both races already gathering together. ¡°Halum sent me!¡± She called out, once more donning her youthful ¡®mask¡¯. ¡°I have a gift from the Ounders!¡±


    Her words immediately caught the attention of everyone nearby, heads sharply turning to stare at her. Seeing the leather book held in her arms like a precious treasure, they seemed confused. Nevertheless, they beckoned her inside.


    ¡°Child¡­¡± An unfamiliar halfling woman spoke, her posture bent from age. She had to struggle to look up at Alme, causing the centauress to feel guilty and bend her knees, lowering her body to a better height for the old woman. ¡°Did the Ounders tell you what this gift is?¡±


    The old woman was a known schr around the area, yet her and Alme had never had a chance to meet. Thest time that Alme had visited this area, the woman¡¯s parents wouldn¡¯t have even been born yet. However, Alme simply nodded her head happily. ¡°They didn¡¯t say, but I took a peek while I ran back. It¡¯s a book of tongues, to teach theirnguages!¡±


    Alme presented the book to the old woman as she said that, letting her examine it herself. There were those withplex emotions upon hearing those words. Some that argued internally why they should be forced to learn thenguage of an Ounder, and not the other way around.


    However, the elder was among the wisest of the leaders. Her face almost lit up when she heard this. After all, it was the first step tomunication. ¡°Back in the Blood War, the wall between our people had also been bridged in such a method.¡± She said as she opened the book. Though the words were unfamiliar to her, the trantions for them appeared in her mind. ¡°Surely, it is a quest scroll that has be a book.¡±


    When the woman had confirmed this, her eyes came up to meet Alme¡¯s. ¡°Child, tell me more. You say you met them? Tell me of these Ounders.¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    Far off in thends of the beastkin, inside the Forest of Dayl, amotion was stirring. For the first time in untold years, the goddesses had spoken, their voices as one. The vige priests heard them first, and then the clerics, and then the leaders. An order passed down from the highest level of power.


    End the war.


    Three words, just three simple words spoken by all four goddesses. Yet, these three words were more impactful than any single discovery that had been made since the creation of the Ninja Tribes. Not a single soul dyed in their preparations, leaders of the various viges all gathering to discuss their course of action.


    There had only been two times when the gods had given an order to the ninjas of the forest. The first was the faceless Ninja of Origin, Dayl, whose power had no exnation save one. He had created the very first ninjas, and ordered them to spread his teachings. And then the second, when the Goddess of Fate ordered the ninjas into the forest to form the first ninja vige.


    Now, a third order had fallen from on high. And this order carried the weight of not one deity, but four. The goddesses had decreed the end of the war, the only true war that had ever bloodied the hearts of the beastkin. So, the war would end¡­


    _______________________________________________________________


    Near the Fort of Sorrows stood the castle of the Third Queen of Terraria, within the halls of the great city Dukan. Every guest and traveler who entered or exited the city was required to undergo apulsory identity check at the gate, a standard procedure in any important city of the realm to weed out criminals.


    At least, those who went through the gates were required to do so. In the dead of night, when only the trained eyes of the lycan could scan the distance, a lone figure moved. Dressed in tight-fitting ck clothing, he blended in with the darkness. Only his eyes could be seen, a blue haze that moved amidst the grass.


    When he neared the walls of Dukan, he froze, his figure lying prone on the ground. His eyes watched the guards upon the gate, seeing their patrols and their paths. At the moment when two guards passed one another, his figure vanished with a quiet burst of air. For the briefest moment, he appeared between the two guards, and vanished again just as quickly.


    The guards with their trained senses seemed to detect something, both turning to look at the other with a confused expression. However, neither had been able to feel anything amiss but the briefest burst of wind, so they quickly returned to their duties. Meanwhile, the dark figure silently stepped from roof to roof, barely the faintest sound the only evidence of his presence.


    When he reached the gate to the castle itself, he did not pass through it. No, the security would be too tight, even thiste at night. He moved instead towards the wall, focusing for a moment as his body began to vanish from the visible spectrum.


    This figure couldn¡¯t risk the chance that someone may see him ascend the wall, as it was farrger than those of the outer city, and too many eyes would be trained on it at all times. Yet, with his body concealed as it was, his worries were lessened. He leapt towards the wall, flipping in the air to let his feet rest against it.


    Then, as if the wall were smooth ground, he ran up it. His feet carried him straight up towards the first balcony, where he stepped off the wall to right his posture. Now, he was outside of the Queen¡¯s own quarters, where not even her chosen King could enter unannounced. Behind him, the balcony overlooked the city of Dukan and the Fort of Sorrows, a permanent reminder of the bloody war she fought.


    The figure brought his hands together in front of himself as he approached the door, forming a flurry of hand seals as his energy invisibly surged in his palms. When he opened the door, there was no sound. The rm spell set to activate when it opened from the outside did not go off, silenced by what he had done.


    When the door closed, the rm was wiped clean by a hidden force, as if he were ensuring that his ¡®meeting¡¯ with the Queen would not be disturbed. He moved to the far door, the only other escape from the room, and pulled two thin sheets of paper from his ck vest. His energy filled both of them for a moment, before one was ced on each of the two doors of the room.


    His preparationsplete, he turned his blue eyes towards the felyn queen. ¡°Your highness.¡± He spoke for the first time since leaving the forest.


    His voice struck like thunder into the mind of the sleeping queen, who shot out of bed in a fright. Never before had her sleep been disturbed so early in the morning, yet her sensitive hearing had not even detected him until he spoke. When she saw the ck-clothed man, her voice raised into a scream, as if her very life required her to be as loud as possible.


    ¡°They will not hear you.¡± He said simply, as no sound escaped the room, courtesy of the two thin papers with strange markings. ¡°Ie on a mission from the Sisters, hailing from the Forest.¡±


    There were many forests among the continent, yet only one earned the right to be known only as ¡®the Forest¡¯ to outsiders. When she realized the man¡¯s identity, her panicked cry stopped. Her face went pale as she looked on with wide eyes. ¡°W-what do you want¡­¡±


    ¡°It is not what I want.¡± He said, shaking his head. ¡°It is what they want. The Sisters have sent a decree. Your ancient war ends. Tonight.¡±


    The queen¡¯s heart raced, struggling to process his simple words. ¡°B-but we can¡¯t! We have tried. But they don¡¯t stop!¡±


    ¡°Then you stop.¡± He said simply. ¡°Pull back every force from the foreigner¡¯snd, and let them be at peace. When the timees for us to meet again, it will not be at the end of a sword.¡±


    Her eyes were wide as saucers when she heard what was nothing less than an order to retreat from the war. ¡°How could you say that!?¡± The mes of fury burned inside of her as she stared at him. ¡°Do you know what they have done? To our people, and our ancestors? How do you expect our people to forgive them?!¡±


    In this long and ancient war, both sides had captured prisoners of the other. At first, the beastkin had not thought much of it, until they saw what had be of their captured kin. Their ears and tail severed, they had been mutted to look closer to these ¡®humans¡¯. However, her words did not phase her ¡®guest¡¯.


    ¡°I was not asking. I was telling you. The Sisters have decreed, the war ends tonight. My blood shall mark the end of this ancient war.¡± As the man spoke, he raised a pitch ck dagger, drawing another scream from the frightened queen.


    However, his dagger did not end her life, but his own. Plunged into his own heart, she could see the blood gushing from the wound. His bar of health appeared above his head, and was emptied in merely a moment. And as he fell to the ground, she faintly heard the sound of something shattering within his close, the familiar sound of a quest beingpleted.


    With the ninja dead, the seals he ced to cancel out sound soon lost their power, and the cries of the Queen quickly alerted the guards, who came charging into the room. What they found was a crying and confused monarch, and a dead body that should not have been able to appear in this ce.


    Yet, this was not the end of the Queen¡¯s nightmare. The next morning, rms rang throughout the city. Dozens of people had been found dead in their homes. In Dukan, in the Fort of Sorrows, and even further. Reports soon came in throughmunication crystals.


    The Fort of War, the frontlines of the fight between them and the humans, and every Fort in between. People were found massacred in a single night. The victims all shared a single thing inmon, a single indispensable ss.


    They were all Druids. Every single Druid capable of bridging the gap between the two continents had fallen at once. The only outlier was a single victim in every city, a corpse over a month old. The corpse of one of the gate guards, who performed the status inspections. They had been reced once the order came down, and had marked every Druid that passed through their gates.


    And now that those Druids had all perished, they were cut off from the human continent. The only way to cross the sea was once again by ship. And with how many forces they had dispatched for the constant war, they did not have the strength to make that journey. Even now, their strongest fighters were positioned in the Fort of War, now cut off from their homes.


    The man was right¡­ The war was over.

 Chapter 189: The End of the Beginning

    <h4>Chapter 189: The End of the Beginning</h4>


    I watched in surprise as I quickly reviewed the past events of the beastkin war, and thending of the unified party of the three races at the continent of the centaurs and halflings. Each one had caught me off guard in their own ways. Some good, some¡­ not so good.


    For the beastkin war, and the way that the ninjas handled the matter, I could only say that it was brutally efficient. Although they sacrificed the druids, as well as the dispatched soldiers, they had forced the war to an abrupt halt. It took years just to bring their power structure back to a stable point.


    As for the humans¡­ well, the war was not quite over. They still had thatst fort to deal with. Though, without the ability to bring in reinforcements, the ¡®Fort of War¡¯ quickly fell. At that point, the humans were left with no idea as to what had happened. Their ancient invader had simply stopped attacking them.


    The humans couldn¡¯t tell if they had severed the link between the beastkin and humans by taking the fort, or if some higher power had interfered. But quite frankly, they were relieved. The endless struggle against an enemy that they didn¡¯t truly understand had finally ended.


    Over the next few years, powers began to rise. There were those that demanded to press the advantage to attack at the home of the ancient foe, yet that simply could not be done. The humans didn¡¯t know where they came from, or if they were even of the same world.


    Then there were other powers, who sought for peace. Not with the invaders, but with each other. The long war had brought them together against amon foe, and showed them that their different countries could indeed work together. Yes, there had been skirmishes among the kingdoms during the war, but they had decreased significantlypared to before the ¡®invaders¡¯ had arrived.


    Once the war had ended with the beastkin, the human kingdoms started fighting less and less with each other. There were those of course that wanted to continue the bloodshed, but they were drastically outnumbered and overwhelmed by the others.


    As for the other meeting, I was surprised by Alme¡¯s actions. From how it appeared in the beginning, she seemed to want to be in the spotlight for the event. However, once she had paved the way for the first meetings between the vige and the travelers, she disappeared.


    I saw her trotting through the meadows, moving to meet Tryval¡¯s current incarnation. They exchanged a few words, before simply moving on to live in another area. Meanwhile, the group she had left behind began their own negotiations.


    On the subject of the races moving to inhabit thends of the centaurs and halflings, potentially establishing their own cities, the local kings joined the meetings. The elves, dwarves, and beastkin had been declined the rights to settle, as the centaurs and halflings highly valued their wide open territory. They could inhabit the existing cities, but not form one of their own.


    On the other hand, the local kings did agree to setting up a trade route between the two continents. Each had exports that could be valuable to the other. And since the gateway had been established, the vast distance could be covered in merely a few simple steps.


    Like that, the two issues had been splendidly resolved. And at the same time, the third domain slot unlocked for the beastkin goddesses. For now, I decided to wait until the other goddesses all had their third domains as well.


    Next to me, Aurivy wasughing and cheering, throwing her hands up into the air. ¡°Alright, that was awesome!¡±


    As sheunched herself back to the bed,ughing at herself and sprawling out, I lifted a curious brow at her. ¡°You aren¡¯t upset at the bloody way that they aplished the mission?¡± I had expected Aurivy to be at least slightly mortified, given the way that they had acted. Yet, reality spoke to the contrary.


    ¡°Of course not! That¡¯s just how a ninja is! Brutal, efficient, aplishing their mission with a single stroke!¡± She grinned, sitting up in the bed to stare at me. ¡°Did you see how that guy snuck through the most secure ce in the kingdom like it was nothing? He even made it right up to the queen¡¯s bedroom without a single person seeing him!¡±


    ¡°And you don¡¯t mind that he killed himself afterwards?¡±


    ¡°Eh, that part was a bit sad. But he knew going in that would happen.¡± Aurivy answered with a small shrug. ¡°His silencing ward was about to wear off, which meant that the guards would have been able to hear the queen ande find him. The only way toplete his mission and not risk leading them back through the traps of the forest was for him to die there.¡±


    I gave a small nod at that, though the fact that someone could just casually consign themselves to death like he did was disturbing in a different way. ¡°Alright¡­ I wonder if--¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m done,d!¡± A voice came from the doorway, and I turned to find Tubrock standing there, his goggles down over his eyes. ¡°Managed to get done about ten years early, with Ryone¡¯s help! Now, I can walk you through the features of the Citadelter, but what say ye we get this show on the road?¡±


    Having a pretty good idea about what show he was talking about, I chuckled, nodding as I rose to my feet. ¡°Alright¡­¡± It was time to install the gates¡­ and make my grand introduction.


    _______________________________________________________________


    In three different regions of three different worlds, thendscape experienced a sudden change. Only on Desbar, this change was actually witnessed. In a small city in Nemra, a small convenience store vanished in a burst of golden light from the sky. In its ce was a smooth stone tform, fifteen meters across and full of concentric circles.


    Hovering in ce above the tform, suspended in a golden glow were two circr discs. Each had a different image on the front. One was a rectangle with a symbol of fire inside of it, while the other was a whirlpool.


    Momentster, a voice spoke out in everyone¡¯s head at once, and they saw a vision in the back of their minds. Whether they were sleeping or fighting, talking,ughing or ying, this message went out across the three worlds, and even to the underworld. An image of a man sitting in a silver throne.


    ¡°Hello, everyone.¡± He said simply, though his words weighed down on the minds of all who heard it. They could feel an invisible power from him, something that they had never felt from anyone in their lives. ¡°My name is Dale, and I am the Keeper of your world. I have been managing your world since its very creation, alongside my host.¡±


    The image in everyone¡¯s minds expanded, showing eleven other figures seated in a row. Their own thrones were positioned on thick stairs, one level below the ¡®Keeper¡¯s¡¯ own. Nearly everyone instinctively recognized at least one figure, the god or goddess that their race served.


    ¡°My goal was not to interfere. To allow you all to develop on your own as much as I could, so that you could grow stronger. But now, that strength will be needed.¡± After he said that, a scene shed through everyone¡¯s minds. Horrible creatures with ck chitin for skin running across thend.


    ¡°Our world, our worlds are facing a new threat. Beings thate from beyond the scope of my creation. Some will offer peace, and join us in our lives. Others will bring only war, seeking to destroy everything to make it their own. For this, I have chosen to grant you the greatest strength I can. The strength of solidarity.¡±


    ¡°On each of your worlds, there lies a gate. This gate can take you to either of your neighbor worlds through the use of the two keys that lie with it. I urge you to explore these worlds, meet your fellows and grow together. There is much for you to learn from one another, and I have high hopes.¡±


    Finally, the scene began to shift again. The image of the man on the silver throne was gone, and in its ce was a mountain. A mountain which began to shake and crack, before it exploded like a destroyed shell. From within, a great castle rose into the sky, rings of light surrounding its base. ¡°This is my Sky Citadel, my home among your worlds. In the future, you may find me there, should you have the permission to enter, and the ability to locate it.¡±


    As if to show his point, a golden fog rose up from the rings of light below the Sky Citadel, lifting up to engulf the towering structure. Elsewhere on Earth, above thends of the humans, a simr cloud formed. Momentster, it blew away like smoke, revealing the Sky Citadel hovering high in the sky above the human cities.


    Next, the transmission cut off for the residents of Earth, though continued broadcasting to the minds of residents of Desbar and Deckan. ¡°In order to strengthen you for this struggle, I offer you the power to grow stronger.¡± Dale¡¯s voice spoke into their minds, and a blue panel of light appeared in front of everyone hearing the message.


    Wee to the World System


    ¡°Explore the new gifts you have received, but be wary of the dangers thate with them. I hope to see all of you achieve great things. To defend the world, you must unite.¡± Finally, with those words as the end, the message cut off.


    Across the three worlds, people were confused. Aside from those in the Underworld, nobody had even seen all of the races that were shown in the eleven thrones. And for two certain races¡­ they had never seen any of those races before. Whether the heroc or the merkin, they were thrown into disarray. They were confused as to what their existence even meant, before a new message came out, one exclusive to them.


    ¡°Do not be afraid.¡± The voice spoke to them, and they felt their minds begin to calm down. ¡°I will exin now. Although you were not in the initial design, your race has risen to a point where you can stand as equals with any of the others. You have fought and struggled, faced obstacles that they were simply guided through. And because of that, you have grown strong.¡±


    Then, the voice suddenly took on a warning tone. ¡°But you must not let your strength consume you. Although you are strong, that does not mean they are weak. As I have said, we must all stand together. In theing days, I will invite those of every race into my citadel, so that we may discuss as one.¡±


    And with that, the voice faded away. The minds of the heroc were still in chaos, though of a lesser degree. Rather than feeling like they were outsiders, they felt more like an unwanted child, not knowing if they truly belonged. Only time would tell how their thoughts would change, or how the world would change as they appeared.


    _______________________________________________________________


    I let out a long sigh as I ascended back to the Admin Room after delivering the speech. For the purpose of the performance, I had every god descend in order to put on a show. However, many of them did not have anything tying them to the Citadel, so they used a lot of divine power by simply being there. While I believed it was worth it, that left several gods and goddesses exhausted upon our return.


    I went back to myputer, looking for the long awaited message that I knew deep down would be there, waiting for me. The blinking notification light in the top corner drawing my attention.


    Wee to the Keeper Games, EarthForceOne.

 Chapter 190: Glamorous and Calamitous

    <h4>Chapter 190: morous and Cmitous</h4>


    I felt a long sigh escape me when I returned back to the Admin Room, one of both relief and frustration. As I purchased the systems for the other two worlds, I was made aware of a rather peculiar feature that Terra had not told me about. Or rather, that she had not been able to tell me until I experienced it myself.


    I was relieved because buying identical systems for multiple worlds actually reduces the cost of the system for worlds beyond the first. To be exact, the price became only thirty percent of the total for each additional world. I wasn¡¯t quite sure why it worked like that, or how it affected royalties, but it would exin why I didn¡¯t recall ever seeing royalty notifications from the same person buying a system twice.


    As for why I was frustrated¡­ The next few days were going to be trying my patience. In order to ensure cooperation, I had to meet with representatives of every race. This was something that I had expected from the moment that I decided to announce myself, but that didn¡¯t make it any less annoying to think about.


    Taking another look at theputer, I further read into the notification I had received. Aside from the title, there was still more information. And some of it made my eyebrows jump up in surprise.


    Wee to the Keeper Games, EarthForceOne.


    Your worlds and your strength have been evaluated at Rank 1. As a new Keeper, your first Game will be as an invading party to familiarize yourself with the system. Your opponent has been assigned as Jugrnaut.


    You have 105:03:74:35 to decide your invading force. There is no point cost to invade. If you win, you will receive the loser¡¯s worlds as your prize. If you lose, Jugrnaut will receive points based on the strength of the dispatched army.


    After your forces have been dispatched, you will immediately be queued for your next Game.


    Finally, as a Rank 1 Keeper, you now have unlimited ess to previously restricted Rank 1 systems.


    What caught me by surprise was that the name Jugrnaut was familiar. If I remembered, he should have been the red dragon that was with me in the new batch of Keepers for my first meeting. He had seemed fairly arrogant from what I remembered, but that was probably typical for a dragon. Not sure whether I should be preparing to fight a ¡®good¡¯ Keeper or a ¡®bad¡¯ Keeper, I decided to consult the Gilded Branch.


    EarthForceOne: You free for a moment?


    Alkahest: Yeah, just sitting around still. What¡¯s up?


    EarthForceOne: What can you tell me about Jugrnaut?


    Alkahest: Ah, got your first match up? You want the free info, or are you paying?


    I let out a groan when he asked that, shaking my head inwardly. Of course, I knew that he would be able to figure out pretty easily that I was in the Games now, since I had already told him that I was just preparing for it. It was just a bit¡­ Okay, so I was basically poor now. Notpared to what I was before the meeting, but still.


    EarthForceOne: Just the free info¡­


    Alkahest: Well, there¡¯s honestly not a whole lot that I can tell you. We aren¡¯t quite sure what side he¡¯s on, since he hasn¡¯t joined a guild. However, I can tell you that his first opponent is still alive.


    Well, that did make me relieved, somewhat. It meant that either his first invasion was still ongoing, the units he sent were too weak, or he just had no interest in killing another Keeper. While two of those weren¡¯t exactly good answers, it did leave more hope than if he just killed the first Keeper that he fought.


    I sent a brief thanks to Alkahest, closing the conversation. Lying on the bed behind me were Ryone and Terra, both cuddled up with each other and looking exhausted. Although we had only been putting on a brief show, the gods all seemed to have been releasing their divine power to impress the people of the three worlds. While this might have benefitster, it ended up leaving them drained for now.


    Turning towards them, I sent a curious nce towards Terra. ¡°So¡­ question time.¡±


    ¡°Mmm?¡± She groaned, her ears flicking from side to side while she rolled over to face me. Ryone immediately took the chance, wrapping her arms around Terra and moving in to press herself fully against the catgirl goddess.


    ¡°What are the Rank 1 systems? I assume that one of them would be the ability to invite other Keepers to your Admin Room.¡± Alkahest had told me from the beginning that that ability would be free once I qualified for the Games, but not what other systems would be included.


    ¡°Uh huh¡­ Others¡­¡± Terra let out a long yawn, nuzzling back against Ryone¡¯s head. ¡°Monster spawner¡­ Like a purchased entity, but not.¡± Rather than exining it, Terra lifted a hand, causing my chair to rotate back and make me face myputer. The screen had shifted to the forums, where a page I hadn¡¯t seen before appeared.


    Monster Spawn Tutorial


    For all you new Rank 1 Keepers, here¡¯s a rundown of one of the new systems that you would have just received, the Monster Spawner! This works just like the Cmity Spawner, only that instead of spawning natural or magical disasters, you spawn a monster!


    However, this isn¡¯t just any monster. With the Monster Spawner, you can only spawn a monster race that has previously been born in your world. Furthermore, the monster you spawn is not a specific entity, so even if you spawn an intelligent monster, it will not have the same personality as one you might have known.


    Using the Monster Spawner is simple! All you need to do is select the monster you wish to spawn, as well as the number and location. Once you do that, the system will calcte a point cost. This is useful for filling your world with strong monsters just before an invasion to help defend against a hostile force, or just as training!


    As an advanced feature, it is possible to set a conditional spawn. This is a more costly version, but once implemented will continue until removed. To do this, you mustplete the above steps, as well as assign a condition for when the system spawns additional monsters. This is a good way to create a training environment, by having monsters spawn at regr intervals after the previous ones were in.


    In many cases, this resembles the Game System¡¯s method of spawning monsters after it has just beenunched. However, the Game System typically only creates monsters until the world has been popted sufficiently, and only spawns more after the monster threshold has dropped beyond a certain degree, as assigned by the Keeper when they purchase the system. Furthermore, you have no direct control over what monsters are spawned by the Game System, unlike the Monster Spawner.


    Note: Only creatures not purchased as a race by a Keeper can ssify as Monsters.


    I found myself reading through the post multiple times. I could see how this would be useful, especially in setting up dungeons. In fact, it might even be a good idea now, taking advantage of this system and the Time Zones to mass produce dungeons that can be used as training grounds.


    ncing towards Terra, I smiled slightly. ¡°If I raise the intelligence of the Dungeon Core race, will that apply to the currently created dungeons, or just the new ones that we spawn inter?¡±


    ¡°Just new ones.¡± She muttered simply, her eyes lightly closed. Her hands came up to her stomach, resting on top of Ryone¡¯s hands.


    ¡°And, would it be possible to quickly expand a dungeon¡¯s territory, if they were given a sufficient supply of mana?¡± This time, I got her to open one of her eyes to send a tired nce at me.


    ¡°Yes¡­¡± She muttered again, closing her eye. Turning around, I decided to check out the Cmity Spawner system that was mentioned in the tutorial. Since it mentioned magical disasters, that should mean that it was possible to create areas of either high mana concentration or areas of unstable mana.


    In my worlds, mana was almost purely generated by people, rather than being an ambient energy. The only ces where it was ambient was in a dungeon, where the dungeon¡¯s own mana permeated the surroundings. If used properly¡­ an area of unnaturally high mana could serve as a catalyst for the rapid growth of a dungeon.


    First, I opened the race menu, and invested two more points into the Comprehension of dungeons, bringing their starting intelligence to a six. This should help them grasp concepts much more quickly than before to better adjust to their new growth period. Although those two points of Comprehension cost me thirty points to buy, I felt that it would be worth it in the long run.


    Next, I decided to run an experiment. I selected a remote ind, one neighboring where we ced the gate on Earth. There, I ced a single dungeon, before switching to the Cmity Spawner. If this worked, then I would gain an easy method to rapidly grow dungeons in the future. If not, then I lost a grand total of one dungeon and a few points¡­


    In the Cmity Spawner, I was able to choose ¡®Mana Surge¡¯ as the ¡®disaster¡¯. For its description, it specified that all magical abilities within the area would be amplified to a dangerous degree by feeding off of ambient mana. Next, I had to choose the size, strength, and the duration of the mana surge.


    I set the duration as one week, the strength at a two out of ten, and finally the size of the surge to cover the entire ind. Once I was done meeting the various races, I would be able toe back and look at that. Thankfully, a cmity of this size was cheap, costing only five points. I couldn¡¯t help but question if I didn¡¯t set the strength high enough, but that would just be one of the things I checkter.


    With that taken care of, I nced back towards the girls again. It¡¯d be best to wait until they were ready to act again before handling the meetings. That way, even if they weren¡¯t able to release their divine power like they had to the entire world, they would still be there as a visible presence.


    So for now, I simply paused the world. Most likely, they would recover enough for this after a single day. Until then, I would handle my own training. As I left the room, I grabbed the information globes for the tier two and tier three ki knowledge.


    Part of me wondered if I should also buy knowledge for chakra and elemental ki, but those would likely be even more expensive. After all, they werebined energies rather than base energies. I was even more curious aboutbinations of three or more energy types, since those would be even more powerful.


    However, for now I chose to suppress my curiosity. While those may be more powerful, they would also be more difficult to learn. If I couldn¡¯t first master their baseponents, then I had no business trying to study the advanced energies.


    Once I arrived in the living room, I sat down on the couch. With one information globe in each hand, I began studying again. I wanted to take this chance to create new techniques, techniques that could be used in an actual battle. And maybe, even just a shy move or two that would awe the people of my world. If they see me as an impossible opponent, and I do not use my power to directly oppress them, then they should be less likely to rebel. That was the hope, at least.

 Chapter 191: Motivation

    <h4>Chapter 191: Motivation</h4>


    I was alone in the living room for several hours, slowly piecing through the information on how to use ki, until a particr ability caught my eye. In the third tier of ki usage, it began to describe the process of integrating ki with the space around you. Given the power that MissTerry had shown in the tournament, I had to guess that this was what paved the way to the technique he used.


    For the third tier of ki, it became possible to create an area of turgid space. While it wasn¡¯t as powerful as creating fractures in the air, or as stable as creating a hole in space to teleport, I couldn¡¯t help but feel that those techniques would begin appearing starting in the fourth tier.


    Turgid space might not sound like much of a problem, but it was actually still a powerful ability. It could slow, or even altogether stop projectiles, disrupt aim, and cause people to be unable to exert their full mobility. Seeing the potential, I modified the ki path I had designed to allow me to use the technique.


    ¡°Haah¡­¡± Suddenly as I was finishing up, I heard a light yawn from behind me. Turning my head, I saw that it was Leowynn. She looked like she had just woken up, so I could only assume that she had decided to take a nap while everyone else was resting.


    ¡°Had enough sleep?¡± I asked with a light chuckle, setting the two information globes down and turning to face her.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ couldn¡¯t get back to sleep. Working on your training again?¡± She nced down towards the discarded globes. When I nodded, she let out a sigh. ¡°I should probably take a look at the spiritual energy ones, huh?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m more surprised that you hadn¡¯t already.¡±


    Hearing that, Leowynn grinned, moving to sit next to me on the couch. ¡°Well, everyone knew that they¡¯d be so busy once the worlds connected¡­ So they wanted to have a lot of fun beforehand. Now that they¡¯re all busy taking care of worldly affairs, I have a lot more time to just spend training.¡±


    I nodded my head, closing my eyes and focusing briefly. ¡°Well, you¡¯ll have to get with Irena and Ryone about the first tier but¡­¡± I lifted up my hands, calling the two information globes on spiritual energy from the desk in my room. ¡°These will help with the more advanced studies.¡±


    Leowynn offered a small smile, reaching out to take the two items. ¡°Just think¡­ thousands of years worth of research¡­ And it just fits in the palm of your hand. More than that, even. With what Irena¡¯s said¡­ these three tiers could represent tens of thousands of years worth of knowledge.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help butugh lightly when I heard that. ¡°You sound so excited about it now¡­ but just wait. Spiritual energy isn¡¯t so easy to understand. I had to give up with the moreplicated subjects. Though¡­ I feel like we might be able to release your Goddess Sky powers with the knowledge in them. Maybe even reach the final stage.¡±


    When Leowynn heard that, her eyes opened wide. So far, the two of us had been unable to use any constetions from the Sky of the Goddess with Aki Seppo, but it was very likely that the information we needed was contained in those globes. And even beyond that, Aki Seppo had a second stage of release, and even a third.


    Seeing her clutch the two glowing spheres, I smiled, reaching out and patting her on the shoulder. ¡°Looks like you found your motivation to start training again.¡±


    Leowynn nodded her head sharply, a look of barely disguised excitement on her face. ¡°I guess I¡¯ve rested long enough¡­ I suppose it¡¯s been a little over a year now since I really pushed myself.¡±


    As she was standing up, she briefly paused, turning to look at me. ¡°After I¡¯m done, we may need to pay a visit to the Underworld. My level won¡¯t grow unless I absorb spiritual energy, and that is the best ce to do so.¡±


    ¡°Sounds easy enough.¡± I said, easily agreeing to her request. Her eyes had be more serious than I remember seeing them since her death. If before she was just enjoying being able to live with all of us, now it seemed like she was truly ready to put her entire focus into growing stronger.


    Leowynn nced down to the orbs, and then back to me. As if wanting to test something, she let her body dissipate into smoke, returning to my spiritual realm. I could see the information globes floating with the mist towards me, but they did not enter my body as well. Instead, they knocked harmlessly against my chest, falling onto myp.


    With a disappointed sigh, Leowynn emerged once again in the same manner that she had disappeared. ¡°Looks like I¡¯ll have to take care of my training while we¡¯re up here. I¡¯ll go to find Irena then, Father.¡± She said, turning to bow towards me before walking off with hurried steps.


    I was going to go back to my room to see if the others were starting to recover enough for the next stage of the n, but I wanted to give Leowynn at least a few hours to begin studying the new information that had been suddenly given to her. If I had opened up the possibility of releasing her full power, only to lock her up within my spiritual realm again immediately afterwards¡­ well, I wouldn¡¯t be able to me her for being upset at that point.


    Instead, I first decided to get an ¡®expert¡¯ opinion on my world. Right now, there were three Keepers that I was familiar enough with to trust. Those were Kathy, Balu, and Grimor. Out of those three, Kathy was still fairly new as a Keeper herself, while Grimor was likely still busy overseeing the meeting. Thus, I opened the menu, and sent a message towards the third Keeper. ording to Grimor, she should be experienced in managing and creating worlds, as she was one of their Avengers.


    EarthForceOne: Hey Balu, are you free?


    Starkiller: Who are you, and how do you know my name?


    Her reply wasn¡¯t immediate, but it did shock me somewhat. Thinking back, I recalled a certain aspect of her personality from watching her game with Bihena¡­ she had short term memory problems.


    EarthForceOne: I¡¯m Dale, Bihena¡¯s Keeper?


    Starkiller: Oh, I¡¯m sorry! I forgot your Keeper title! How¡¯s Bihena doing? Did you guys manage to get into the games yet?


    EarthForceOne: She¡¯s doing fine, just resting. And yeah, we got in. I was wondering if I could consult you about my world, and see if there were any major issues you spotted, since you¡¯ve been at this longer.


    After sending that message, I had to wait for a little while for a response. I wasn¡¯t sure if she was excited, or if she had to consult someone about it, or even if she just wasn¡¯t sure if she should do it or not. However, I did eventually receive an answer.


    Starkiller: Uhm¡­ well¡­ the guild won¡¯t let me do a consultation for free. Not now that you¡¯re in the games. You¡¯re still new, and a friend, so I can probably do it really cheap, though?


    EarthForceOne: And¡­ what counts as cheap?


    Starkiller: Well, you¡¯re a rank 1 Keeper, so the prices wouldn¡¯t get too high. Normally, it¡¯d cost about two thousand for a full consultation from the guild. Since you¡¯re really new, and I want to say I can trust you, I can try to do it for only five hundred?


    I couldn¡¯t help but let out a sigh as I heard that. It wouldn¡¯t be too hard to ask around to confirm their normal prices, so I wasn¡¯t afraid that she was lying to try to extort me. Above all else, any information broker had to maintain a reputation of honesty, or else nobody would trust them enough to use their services. That¡¯s one of the reasons why I was sofortable with the idea of asking Starkiller for this in the first ce.


    EarthForceOne: Can you tell me what exactly is covered in the consultation fee? I don¡¯t want to spend that many points without knowing, first.


    Starkiller: Oh, of course! Really¡­ well, you show me whatever you arefortable with, and I give you my opinion as a veteran Keeper, as well as any advice about wed systems or systems that would helpplete your world.


    Starkiller: Also! Almost forgot, but the information you give me is confidential. Guild rules prohibit me from even sharing the information with the rest of my guild, unless I pay you for it.


    Seeing the second message sent in so quickly after the first, I raised my eyebrows in surprise. Honestly, I had assumed that information from the consultations would be shared among the guild, used for when someone wanted to buy the information about me.


    EarthForceOne: Just curious, but how much does the guild pay for that kind of information?


    Starkiller: You¡¯re a rank 1 keeper, so we can¡¯t pay that much¡­ It really depends on the amount of information you give. If you told me everything, and let me see your world for myself, I could maybe offer five thousand? I could really only make the offer after I see what you give me.


    I had no intention of fully revealing my world to any Keeper, whether they seemed trustworthy or not. I might be willing to do business, but I didn¡¯t want to put my neck on the chopping block like that.


    EarthForceOne: Well, we can talk about thatter. For the consultation, do I have to pay you before inviting you over?


    Starkiller: Nope! All transactions are onlypleted after any information has been exchanged.


    EarthForceOne: Doesn¡¯t that seem pretty bad for business¡­?


    Starkiller: You mean someone trying to rip us off, right? If they do that, we put them on the cklist. We don¡¯t do business with anyone on the cklist, and they can¡¯te to our meetings. People don¡¯t usually like being on the cklist.


    Well¡­ that¡¯s better than them going on the ¡®murder¡¯ list, I guess. Though, with the Gilded Branch seeming to have the monopoly on information exchange, at least from what I¡¯ve seen, I doubted that many people would risk damaging their rtionship with them.


    EarthForceOne: Alright¡­ how do I invite you over?


    Starkiller: Just open up your menu! There should be a new entry for ¡®invite¡¯. Enter in my title, set the permissions, and it will send me an invitation!


    Giving a small nod, I opened the menu. Indeed, there was a new option that I did not remember seeing before. When I selected it, and chose to invite Starkiller, I was presented with a new window.


    Please determine the level of permissions that you wish to grant.


    None - Visiting Keeper can not alter the Administration Room in any way, and cannot interact with the objects in it.


    Guest - Visiting Keeper can not alter the Administration Room, but can interact with objects or systems installed.


    Designer - Visiting Keeper can alter the Administration Room


    I wasn¡¯t sure if theputer that Terra had set up for me counted as an object or system that a visiting Keeper would be able to interact with. So, while I selected the Guest privilege, I also sealed off the hallway leading towards the bedrooms, that way there was no risk there.


    Once I selected the permission, I simply sat back in the couch and waited. Part of me was curious what method of transportation she would wind up with, until I heard a faint noise. Like an echoing scream from above me.


    Looking up, I saw a hole had opened up in the ceiling of the room, and quickly dove out of the way. A few momentster, a bundle of white fur in a red dress plummeted down onto the couch,nding with a loud crash. ¡°Owowowow¡­ That one is always annoying¡­¡± Balu said as she rubbed her head with her furred palms.

 Chapter 192: The Perfect Trap

    <h4>Chapter 192: The Perfect Trap</h4>


    ¡°So, where¡¯s Bihena at?¡± Balu asked as she brought her hands down from her head, her ears perking up. ¡°She was¡­ resting, right? I think you mentioned that.¡±


    I gave a brief nod at that. ¡°I nned to see if she was free toe out and meet you once we were done.¡± Given that everyone was resting after expending so much of their divine power, I didn¡¯t want to bother them quite yet. I was even pretty sure that Leowynn wouldn¡¯t be able to get much help from Irena for right now.


    ¡°Okay!¡± Balu energetically nodded her head, her ears flopping back and forth. ¡°You wanted a consultation, right? Well, show me whatever you want to, and I¡¯ll give my opinion.¡± She beamed a smile at me, her furred cheeks puffing up slightly.


    I had no intention of showing her everything. The races in the world, as well as their current path of advancement would be kept secret. That way, even if something happened, the information leaked would be within a manageable level. Nothing more than what could be observed through the meetings if someone watched closely.


    As such, I created a piece of paper, a list of the systems that I had purchased. The biggest thing that I needed to check required her to only have this much information. Whether there was a w in one of the systems, or if there was another system that was drastically needed in order to make things work more smoothly.


    ¡°Oooh!¡± Balu grabbed the paper in her paws, bringing it up and holding it in front of her face. ¡°Uh huh¡­ looks good. Ooh, I¡¯ve never seen that one before.¡± She lowered the paper, her ears twitching as she looked at me. ¡°The legacy sses, and the quest contracts, those were your creations right?¡±


    When I nodded, she tilted her head. ¡°Well, obviously I can¡¯t tell you the secrets of something that you created yourself. I¡¯d have to study those two systems on my own toe up with an answer. But I can tell you about the rest!¡±


    ¡°Have you ever managed a world with a game system before?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask that, since I knew that she had been around a while.


    ¡°Mmm, yeah. It was one of my first. I think I still have the temte for it written down somewhere back home. I¡¯ve had a few since then to test things out, but I typically stick to cultivation worlds now. Those are the best for my job, I think!¡± As she said that, she flipped the paper over, where I had listed the various sses that were in the world.


    As she read through the list, she asionally nodded her head, humming lightly to herself. Only when she reached the end did her ears shoot up in rm, her fur starting to stand on end. ¡°No, no¡­ wrong¡­ very wrong. Bad¡­ why is it bad?¡±


    ¡°Balu¡­?¡± I saw her clenching the paper in her paws, a look of focus on her face.


    ¡°Perfect¡­ No, trap. Trap! Trap ss!¡± She finally seemed to catch her trail of thought, before suddenly looking up at me. ¡°You can¡¯t train the Perfect Self ss! Absolutely, positively can¡¯t!¡±


    ¡°Uhm¡­ okay? Why not?¡± Seeing how drastic of a reaction she was having, I knew that it had to be something pretty major.


    ¡°Think, think¡­¡± She began to mutter again, bringing one paw up and balling it into a fist, rubbing it against her own head. ¡°Why why¡­ Right! I remember now!¡± Lifting her head up, Balu showed another bright smile. ¡°The Perfect Self ss, it¡¯s a trap!¡±


    Before I could ask another question, she rapidly began to exin. ¡°It¡¯s a trap designed to make Keepers kill themselves. Nobody knows who came up with it, and it might not have even meant to be that way in the first ce. But we don¡¯t know a single Keeper that has survived practicing this ss!¡±


    ¡°In order to form the ¡®perfect self¡¯, you need the ¡®body of perfection¡¯. That¡¯s the only way to properly fuse ki, mana, and spiritual energy all together in the ratio needed for the ss. To do this, you have to first begin to merge your spiritual energy with your ki, and with your mana. Then, you have to destroy your own body, using the spiritual energy to construct a new one!¡±


    ¡°However, in the process of doing this, the world recognizes you as dead the moment you destroy your own body. Our guess is that the system doesn¡¯t wait for you to try to piece together a new body. Keepers only get one life, and that is the irond rule of the system. So as soon as you destroy your own body, the system considers you dead, and begins selecting the next Keeper.¡±


    I felt chills going down my back as I heard that. I had never seen anyone practicing the ss, as it had not yet been unlocked by anyone in my world. ¡°Is there a way to do the fusion without destroying your body?¡± She ran a cultivation style world, so I assumed that meant she had experience fusing energies.


    ¡°Yup!¡± Balu gave a happy nod. ¡°Just not the way that ss wants. The Perfect Self ss is great for your people, as it is actually really powerful¡­ but a Keeper absolutely must never train it themselves!¡±


    Balu looked down to the desk in front of me, and at the piece of paper again. ¡°Uhm¡­ do you have anything that I can use to write?¡±


    I nodded, and created a pencil and another sheet of paper, passing both to her. She fumbled around with the pencil a bit, before her paw began to shift, elongating to look more like a hand. Once she was able to properly grasp the pencil, she leaned forward and began writing.


    ¡°With the ss list you have, I can guess that you use the four basic energies. I don¡¯t know how they are configured in your world, though, so I can¡¯t give you any specifics. I can give you a few energybinations to try out, though.¡±


    I gave another nod as I heard that, though it did help mee up with a question. ¡°If there are so many energybinations, why did everyone just use ki or mana at the fighting tournaments in the meeting?¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡± Balu looked up at me, and then tilted her head. ¡°I dunno! Never been to those fights.¡± She shrugged her shoulders as she finished writing, before sliding the paper across the table at me. I took a moment to pick it up, reading through the list.


    World Sight - Mana 1, Ki 2, Natural 1, Mana 2, Spiritual 1.3


    Perfect Soul - Mana 1, Spiritual 1, Mana 2, Spiritual 1


    Divine Soul - Mana 3, Perfect Soul 1, Natural 4


    Divine Body - Ki 5, Divine Soul 1, Ki 2, Natural 6


    Divine Will - Divine Soul 1, Mana 2, Spiritual 1, Divine Body 2, Mana 18


    I couldn¡¯t help but be surprised when I saw the list, as there were multiple energies here that required all four types to be fused. ¡°Okay¡­ but why do you have the same energy listed multiple times on the same line?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s for the different steps.¡± Balu answered as she leaned back in the couch, kicking her feet lightly in front of herself. ¡°The configuration for the energies vary from world to world, so I can¡¯t tell you what steps to take tobine them. However, the form itself never changes.¡±


    ¡°World Sight is popr because it lets you spread your energy throughout the world, sensing everything within your reach. It is an energy specialized entirely in detection, with no other abilities that I have found. I listed it first because it would help youplete the others more easily.¡±


    ¡°The fourter aren¡¯t all that popr, but that¡¯s just because of how difficult they are. Perfect Soul is like the spiritual version of Perfect Self, but without actually killing you. I think there¡¯s a ss for it in the game system, even. The three Divine ones I listed are energies that help uplift a mortal to godly power.¡±


    Balu let out a groan as she said that, shaking her head. ¡°If someone masters Divine Will, then everything pauses. The Keeper has the choice to either block their progress, or to grant them a domain and turn them into a false god. Of course, if the Keeper themselves gets the Divine Will, then they are able to choose their own domain.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but raise my eyebrow curiously as I heard that. ¡°What¡¯s the difference between that method and just making myself a god?¡±


    Balu grinned knowingly at that, as if she had expected my question. She crossed her arms in front of her and leaned forward in the chair. ¡°Well, for one, a false god doesn¡¯t have to listen to prayers. All those annoying voices that can drive you mad are never there. More importantly, a false god will stay at their full power, even when descended.¡±


    ¡°Of course, either way you are still technically a mortal.¡± She shrugged, putting her hands down on the couch beside her and swinging her legs again. ¡°That¡¯s why it¡¯s only called a false god, because they can still be killed. But you do be able to generate your own divine energy, on a scale far greater than that of any other mortal.¡±


    Nodding my head, I thought back to when I was looking through the more powerful sses. Their had indeed been a False Divinity ss that sounded a lot like what Balu was saying. Of course, I¡¯d do my own research on any of these energy types, just to make sure I wasn¡¯t being tricked. ¡°Well, did you have any other ideas about my world, aside from warning me about the Perfect Self ss?¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ I wouldn¡¯t be able to say too much without looking at it myself. But from the list you gave me¡­ I think you need a spell recorder.¡± She answered with a confident nod.


    ¡°A¡­ spell recorder?¡±


    ¡°Yeah! Something to record spells! I¡¯m sure that you saw it in that match Bihena and I had, right? The spell her mage used was super strong, but totally impractical to use in a fight. If my guy hadn¡¯t been distracted trying to make her fighter into a puppet, then she would have never gotten the chance to cast that spell.¡±


    As Balu exined, she reached down for the pencil, snatching the paper back from my hands and drawing on it again. ¡°You see, the mentality of a normal person just isn¡¯t meant to think of spells thatplex on the fly. It¡¯s the w of the geometric system. She probably practiced that spell for most of her life, and it still took her nearly a full minute to cast.¡±


    ¡°Of course, each system has its own w. With runic, you have to train yourself to think in a differentnguage, but only some of the time. With the imaginary system, you don¡¯t really require any training, but the mana costs are enormous!¡± Though she said that, she had a small grin on her face. ¡°Now!¡±


    Rapidly, she lifted the paper up, giving me less than a second to look at it, before mming the paper face down on the table again. ¡°Casting that spell would have been like you trying to recreate the image on the paper after that brief glimpse, without being able to peek again.¡±


    I had barely seen the image to begin with, just enough to know that it wasplicated, and surrounded by a circle. ¡°Okay¡­ I see your point. But you say that a device to record spells would fix the issue?¡±


    ¡°Yup! In most worlds, third and fourth tier magic can¡¯t even be used by just one caster. You would need dozens of trained mages focusing on a single spell. In cases like that, each caster would take over a part of the spell, so the recording process would be less crucial, and you¡¯d instead need a reliable mana source.¡±


    ¡°But for a game type world, mana can be gained just by gaining levels, so mages can cast those spells themselves! But that also means that they have to cast the entire spell themselves.¡± Balu proudly crossed her arms in front of herself again as she said that.


    Though, now I was beginning to understand why Trinity¡¯s Sin was a full fifty points, despite just being a grimoire. Looks like I might have a need for it after all. Unless Tubrock is able toe up with something better. I recalled him creating a grimoire as one of the godly relics.


    ¡°Okay¡­ then is there anything else you think I need to worry about?¡± I asked, sighing as I leaned back in my chair. Honestly, if everything that she¡¯s said so far was true, then this waspletely worth the five hundred points. Just the forme for reaching the False Divinity ss would have been enough for that.


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Balu looked back down at the list of systems and sses, likely to jog her memory on what was there. ¡°You covered a lot of your bases. Maybe even went a bit overboard on some things.¡± It was hard to imagine the seriously thinking rabbit girl as the same energetic and childlike person we met at the meeting. ¡°Maybe Grimor could tell you something, but it¡¯s been a while since I ran a game world. Maybe I should start one up again¡­¡±


    ¡°If I had to suggest anything, it would be more a warning. Don¡¯t get that one world transfer system that turns one world into a game for the other world. That would just be really bad for you. If an invading force destroys the ¡®server¡¯ that the world is connected to, it is the same as destroying that world. Depending on the forces they bring in, they might even be able to hack the server and mess with it themselves.¡±


    A groan quickly escaped my lips as I heard that. ¡°Another trap?¡±


    However, Balu simply shrugged. ¡°Dunno. The Keeper who made it died before I got the job. Can¡¯t say why it happened like that.¡±


    Saying that, Balu quickly hopped to her feet. ¡°So, all done now? Can we see if Bihena¡¯s ready to y?¡± Seeing her wide grin, I had to wonder if she forgot all about the matter of me paying her for her advice¡­ Well, I wasn¡¯t going to bring it up if she didn¡¯t. There¡¯s a difference between refusing to pay and the person forgetting to ask for payment, after all.

 Chapter 193: The Keeper Speaks

    <h4>Chapter 193: The Keeper Speaks</h4>


    Rather than unsealing the path to the bedrooms, I created a new door along the wall. This way, no matter what happens, there will be zero risk. And opening the door¡­ I quickly closed it again.


    ¡°Dane?¡± Balu asked curiously from behind me, peeking her head around me to look at the door. ¡°Is she still sleeping?¡± There was a tinge of disappointment in her tone as she asked that, very much as if she just came over to a friend¡¯s house and found that they weren¡¯t home.


    ¡°No, no, she¡¯s awake.¡± I muttered, bringing a hand up to rub against my temple. Mentally, I began to count down the seconds, until I heard a scream from the other side of the door.


    ¡°Dale!¡± Bihena¡¯s voice echoed out, and momentster the door was flung open. There was a hint of red in her cheeks as she red at me, while Balu hid behind me. It took her a moment to spot the quivering mass of white fur behind me, after which she seemed to calm down a bit. ¡°Sorry, Balu, you didn¡¯t need to see that.¡± She said with a sigh.


    ¡°See what?¡± She asked curiously, her voice trembling as she poked her head out from behind me.


    ¡°Exactly, there was nothing to see at all.¡± Bihena spoke with a smile, as if nothing had happened. ¡°Would you like toe in?¡± When Bihena stepped aside, Balu sprinted into the room. ¡°Nothing to see at all.¡± She repeated, sending a meaningful nce towards me before she closed the door.


    I definitely did not see the goddess of war trying on cosy. Nope. I¡¯ll have to have words with Aurivyter about what she¡¯s teaching Bihena¡­ Anyways, with that taken care of, I moved back towards my own room.


    Once I arrived, I found that Terra was starting to stir, her body slowly rising to a sitting position. ¡°Hmm¡­ Have fun?¡± She muttered, still seemingly exhausted. Though, the fact that she was taking the initiative to talk showed that it wasn¡¯t as bad as it was before.


    ¡°Yeah, you could say that.¡± I told her, before creating a copy of the list that Balu gave me. ¡°I know that you really can¡¯t go too far with your advice on how to improve my world, so I got a consultation from the Gilded Branch. They gave me this list of energies, and strongly suggested that I never practice the Perfect Self ss.¡±


    While I may not need to consult Terra with every little thing that happens, it¡¯s still wise to keep her up to date. Especially when she is guaranteed to know more about all of this than any Keeper alive. She raised a curious brow, taking a look at the list. ¡°How much did she charge you?¡±


    ¡°Five hundred points¡­ though I¡¯m not convinced whether she¡¯ll remember to collect payment.¡± I answered honestly, causing Terra¡¯s eyes to open wide in surprise for a brief moment.


    ¡°You got a good deal. But, I can tell you that you¡¯re on your own when ites to practicing these energies.¡± She said, handing me back the list. ¡°They¡¯re too high level for the people of your world toprehend, and if they did so, you¡¯d be pushed into even higher level games.¡±


    ¡°But it won¡¯t if I train myself in it?¡± I asked, a bit confused. Terra gave a small smile at that, nodding her head.


    ¡°If you alone are trained in it, then that¡¯s alright. But if you teach anyone, even one of the gods, then that opens your world up to advancement, because it bes an asset belonging to your world.¡± She chuckled wryly as she said that, reaching her arms out to her sides to stretch. ¡°So what¡¯s the n now?¡±


    ¡°Once the rest of the gods get woken up, we¡¯re going to go back down. I want to collect a representative of each race and have a more personal introduction.¡± I told her, moving to sit down on myputer chair.


    Terra pursed her lips in thought at that, before letting out a long yawn. ¡°You want to unlock everyone¡¯s third domain slot.¡± She confirmed, nodding her head slightly. ¡°Have you thought about what you want to give us?¡±


    ¡°Somewhat. I want to have everyone gathered to get their opinions on it before I make anything official. I learned my lesson on that thest time.¡± I nced off to the side and gave a low, bitter chuckle as I thought about Aurivy¡¯s crying face when she suddenly got the Travel domain.


    ¡°I see¡­ I suppose I¡¯ll just wait my turn, then.¡± Terra said in a singsong tone. ¡°Oh, and don¡¯t worry about Starkiller. I¡¯m keeping an eye on her now. As for the energies she gave you, they aren¡¯t exactly dangerous, but I¡¯d still practice them here first. You already saw what happens when you try to force a bad mixture back in your early days.¡±


    A groan escaped my lips as I remembered being sted back from just a small chakra test. ¡°Right¡­ and these are all moreplex and powerful than that. Going in blind could very well kill me.¡±


    Terra gave another nod at that. ¡°Alright, that should be enough for now. Are you wanting us for something special in this little audience?¡±


    ¡°I was hoping that you could trante to your respective races.¡± I answered with a small shrug. ¡°It would save a lot of time. Or would that use too much energy?¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ if you just want us to sit there and fill in the chairs, and trante what you say, that shouldn¡¯t be a problem. Well, for most of us. It might be an issue for Tryval, since he¡¯s the least connected to the Citadel, but he didn¡¯t use much of his energy earlier. He¡¯s probably still up and trotting around just fine.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t be sure whether Tryval had just not participated because the amount of divine energy being exerted was already overwhelming, or if he just felt that it wasn¡¯t needed. Either way, it worked out better for us in the end. Closing my eyes, I sent a message out to everyone, letting them know what I needed from them.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Eight pools of golden mist sprang up from the floor of the flying Citadel. From each, a figure appeared, each figure of a different race. One of every sapient race found on Earth, though only one representative was present for the beastkin as opposed to one of each race.


    The eight figures looked around in confusion, especially the one on the far left. A merkin suspended in a floating bubble of water, confused at the sight of the other people around it. Likewise, the seven other figures stared at the merkin as well.


    A familiar voice spoke out from in front of them in anguage that none of them knew, drawing their attention. However, each one also received a message directly into their minds as well. Greetings.


    In front of them was the sight that everyone had seen in their minds just recently, a sight that had shaken the entire world. Their Keeper, their unknown god, sitting upon a high throne atop a set of stairs. One step below him was another eleven thrones, each containing a figure.


    The gods and goddess stared down at them impassively, and even the beastkin queen was forced to quell her urge tosh out against the human king. Their war had ended for nearly a hundred years, but the hatred that the beastkin held for them still ran deep. Deep enough that the felyn woman wished to tear the man to shreds. She even felt hostility towards the Keeper himself, as he appeared to be the same type of human in her eyes.


    When the Keeper¡¯s eyes fell upon her, the queen felt her entire body stiffen. The weight of his gaze pressed down, and she felt like she might copse before he even spoke. Only when he turned to regard the others did she let out a breath of relief.


    And when he spoke again, the gods and goddesses spoke into their minds. I have brought you all here today to properly meet each and every one of you. You are all the children of this world. And I hope that in time, your descendants will be its guardians.


    The imposing power that everyone had felt from the gods was no longer present, as if subdued to allow those gathered here to behave rationally. However, instead they had to deal with the pressure exuded by the Keeper himself. A pressure one felt whenever they met a pinnacle fighter, except that it felt a hundred times stronger.


    On the far right, therge green heroc seemed to be doing somewhat better than the rest. He looked straight at the Keeper, unafraid to meet his eyes. ¡°Then tell us. You wish for us to cooperate with the other worlds, and have ced a gate for us to do so, did you not? Where is this gate?¡±


    A low chuckle filled the halls, the Keeper having a strange smile on his face as he regarded the heroc champion. There is indeed a gate. The gods tranted for him. However, I will not tell you where it is. It is up to you yourselves to find it. There is still much of your world that you have not yet explored.


    For thousands of years, most of you have been content to stay on the pieces ofnd you were born on. However, if you wish to continue to grow, you must venture outwards. I have already removed the level limit that was restricting your growth. From now on, you may be as strong as you are capable. But to do so, you must leave your little homes.


    Slowly, the Keeper¡¯s eyes regarded each of them in turn. In doing so, I expect that some of you wille into conflict. In fact, some of you have done so before. I will notmand you to find peace with your neighbors, but know this. Every war has its limits. If anyone attempts to wipe out another race, we will intervene.


    There was a dead silence throughout the room as the Keeper¡¯s words sank in. Especially between the beastkin and human representatives, who briefly turned to regard each other. However, it was the halfling that was the first to speak. An old man who had to rely on a thick stick to support himself.


    ¡°It was you¡­ the one who brought the great beast and ended the Blood War¡­ wasn¡¯t it?¡± Although most of the others were not able to understand his words, the questioning tone and the Keeper¡¯s nod of confirmation was enough that many understood. He had intervened in the wars before.


    ¡°The ancient war¡­ The actions of the forest dwellers.¡± The beastkin queen spoke as if in shock, only to be answered by another nod.


    From now on, I ask that every race appoints a priest or priestess, someone who will act as my voice among your people. I may at times be required to be silent for tens, or even hundreds of years. But when I need to speak, I trust that there will be someone to speak in my name. If my speaker speaks falsely¡­ He nced meaningfully towards the gods and goddesses seated below him as he let his words trail off. The message, however, was clear. Lie about the Keeper¡¯s words, and the gods themselves will show no mercy.


    Now, onest thing¡­ I will be cing more dungeons in theing days. ces for you to train your champions. It will be your job to locate them, however, and their difficulty will vary. If your champions survive, they will earn great riches. If not¡­ only death awaits those who fall in the dungeon.


    Wait, and listen for my words. As he spoke, the mists rose up from the floor again, engulfing the eight figures and returning them to where they had once been.

 Chapter 194: A Tale as Old as Time

    <h4>Chapter 194: A Tale as Old as Time</h4>


    Once I had held the meeting with the races of Earth, we moved towards Deckan and Desbar. Each time, we only ¡®invited¡¯ one political leader of each race, and in the cases of these two worlds it was the leader who ruled over the territory where the gate was located. For each, we gave them the same terms. No attempting to lead to the extinction of another people, or they will be punished. And that they should appoint someone for me to speak to when need be.


    While I felt that thest bit was somewhat unnecessary due to my ability to just speak to whoever I wanted, I decided to implement it for a specific reason. If I did it this way, there would not be people who could just get away with falsely iming to be my voice in the world. Although the gods could simply punish people who did that, it would ultimately lead to problems. For instance, people be so used to someone iming to speak for me and then being smitedter, that they no longer take such people seriously¡­


    Thankfully, after we left Earth the burden became much less on the gods and goddesses. For all but one, there was practically no burden at all at any given time. After all, they simply needed to sit in the chair like an empty husk, and not need to spend a single iota of their divine power.


    Unfortunately, it was a bit upsetting when we visited Desbar. It seemed that they didn¡¯t really appreciate me turning on its head thousands of years worth of religious lore. They sent missiles and nes towards the Sky Citadel, all of which were blocked by the defenses Tubrock installed. When the defenses were being ¡®tested¡¯, I felt a small tug on my ki and mana, noticing that they were drawn into the throne I was sitting on.


    The drain was smallpared to my overall limits, so I did not attempt to fight it. By the time we left, I had probably lost about one percent of my energy powering the defenses for a short while. That was enough to show me that the Sky Citadel couldn¡¯t withstand sustained attacks for a long period, or its battery --me-- would run out of energy.


    This was dly not an issue for now. With the level limit removed, my Keeper stats should see a ratherrge growth once I give it a bit of time. Especially now that all three worlds will be contributing.


    Once we got back to the Admin Room, I let everyone go rx again¡­ aside from Irena who was immediately dragged away by a very determined looking Leowynn. As for myself, I went back to theputer, wanting to see what the results of my test would be with the dungeon. So, as soon as I got back, I hit the great fast forward button, moving ahead all of¡­ one week.


    _______________________________________________________________


    While the world was still, quiet from the revtion that their gods were not all that they thought they were, there was one group in particr that was celebrating. A festival spread among the forest of the beastkin. The ninjas danced, and with them danced the forest itself, trees swaying from side to side as beastkin swung from them.


    From the very beginning, they had believed in the existence called Dayl. The original ninja which had guided them on their current path. At first they thought that he might be a servant of the gods, but now they realized that they had it wrong. The one that they revered was not the servant, but the master.


    Blessings were made to the statues of Dayl in each vige, offerings of meats and fruits, wines and scrolls. While everyone else in the world felt as if their hearts were crumbling, these few finally found the answers that they had been seeking for thousands of years. An answer better than they could ever hope.


    Elsewhere on the continent, the felyn queen, the First Queen of Terraria, bit her lips in frustration. Are we truly meant to submit? Must we be forced to put aside our hatred, our pride? Even the Sisters were not his equal¡­


    You think too much of this, my child. A soft voice spoke into her mind, though that soft tone struck her as if it were thunder. The queen immediately knew who she was speaking with, especially as it was a voice that she had heard just recently.


    M-my goddess! Even though the words never left her head, the queen lowered her head and knelt at the foot of her bed. ¡°Were those words true? Must we do as he says?¡±


    There are things that you don¡¯t understand, my child. Terra¡¯s voice told her in a soothing tone. Things that I could not exin to you before. But now, with his wish to foster peace, now I can tell you.


    ¡°I-is he siding with the savages?¡± The queen couldn¡¯t help but ask, an obvious fear in her voice. Dale himself had appeared human, and the human goddess was also in the center of all others, so in her mind that could only be seen as a disy to show them where he stood.


    As I said, you think too much of it. The Keeper is not a human, but the creator. His form is his to choose, and has taken many shapes over the years. If you search through your history, you may indeed find his footsteps among the sister races.


    As for the seating arrangement, that will make sense in time. The human goddess was not in the center to disy power or favoritism, but because she is her own bnce. Like those who sat next to her, the goddesses of life and death. Or those beyond, who governed love and unity.


    Hearing this, the heart of the queen calmed slightly, relief washing over her. If it was as her goddess said, then things were not as dire as she feared. ¡°But¡­ why does he wish us to ignore our hatred, then?¡±


    Let me tell you a story, my child. A story of explorers who stumbled upon and fraught with internal strife. Explorers who crossed the seas and found an unknownnd, inhabited by those who had never known the unity of the sisters¡­


    The queen listened to the goddess¡¯s words, honored to have even been spoken to like this, let alone for so long. And as the story progressed, the queen¡¯s face showed confusion, anger, and sorrow. Her eyes watered and she brought her hands up to cover her face. She did not want to swallow the anger that she had felt for her whole life, but right now that was precisely what she was doing.


    ¡°My goddess¡­ is that really the truth? Why were our hands not stayed earlier?¡± The queen asked, barely able to maintain herposure.


    We did try. We sent envoys, we sent messages. However, the hatred in your hearts had grown too deep. We had been told not to interfere too deeply in the conflicts of the world, so when our messages were interpreted as they had been, we could only watch sadly.


    ¡°But¡­ why could you not interfere? Surely, he must know how that war changed us¡­¡± It wasmon knowledge that the beastkin of today were far different from what they had been before the ancient war. At one point they were a happy people, whose only joy was to expand their knowledge and wisdom and entertain the masses.


    But the war changed them. They began to amass armies for more than just fighting off the monsters that roamed thend. There had even been a time when their unity was lost for an age, the Second Kingdom of al rebelling and seeking to overthrow their neighbors.


    He knows, my child. Terra said with that same gentle tone. But he did not wish for you to be too dependant on us. In the days when our worlds are invaded, our powers will be restricted. While he himself will be among the world to help defend, it will be the duty of us above to hold back the breach. During that time, our aid will be limited. He did not wish for you to be so dependant that you could not properly act without our guidance.


    The queen seemed to understand something with that, and offered a weak nod. ¡°Thank you, my goddess. Your words may have saved us from a terrible path¡­¡±


    Although the queen waited for several long moments, she did not receive another message. Rather than feeling sad, she was instead pleased that her goddess and taken so much of her time to quell the woes of a single mortal. Standing up, she wiped her eyes and made her way to her desk. She had a public announcement to give.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Across the seas, the heroc champion stood atop a flying ship. His people were startled that he had suddenly vanished, and just as quickly returnedter. However, when he came back, a wide grin could be seen on his face.


    He turned to face his crew, pping a hand loudly against his chest. ¡°My brothers, my sisters! I have met the Keeper, the most ancient one!¡± He dered, his voice stunning those aboard the boat. He had been chosen not simply because he was the strongest of the heroc, but because many recognized him as their leader.


    ¡°I have seen those of the other tribes, and I find themcking!¡± He shouted. This time, his words drew augh from the crew. It was known that there was not a heroc among the gods and goddesses, so at first they thought that they might be inferior to those other races. ¡°Let them draw their strength from above! We have our hearts, we have our fists, we have our courage!¡±


    ¡°They are not superior because their ancients have taken a tangible shape! No, their ancients did so because they were weak! We will be the first to im the gate to another world, not some puny hairy creatures.¡±


    This time, his words were met with a cheer. ¡°We have been told not to fight the other races, but there is still more we can do! Let us show them our power, my fellows! Let us show them that they cannot use those above to look down on us, for we will stand at a height above them!¡±


    Turning around again, he ced his hand on the control crystal for the ship, pouring in arge amount of energy to increase its speed. The rings of light encircling the ship began to glow more brightly, and it gave a quick jerk as it sped forward. The crew aboard stumbled briefly, letting out augh as they felt the eleration.


    _______________________________________________________________


    I felt a smile creeping up onto my lips as I watched the results of a simple week¡¯s skip. For the most part, the various races had reacted positively. The halflings and the centaurs held a festival on the third day after I met their elder. The ninjas of the beastkin¡­ well, let¡¯s just say that they have a new holiday.


    The humans, as expected, immediately believed themselves superior due to the idea that I was a human like them. From now on, I¡¯d need to change my race each time I visited into something different so that it wouldn¡¯t be an issue in the future.


    The most unforeseen response was actually from the elves. They did not celebrate, nor did they mourn. Rather, they studied. Their first action was to go through their own history, looking for things that didn¡¯t make sense. Things that would indicate my presence in the past.


    And, they found some things. Most of it was nonsense, just local heroes that they attributed to being my descended forms. However, they did stumble upon one old legend that made them question things, and one that was indeed true.


    They found Jayl. The maker of the ward that now protects every elven city from monster swarms, with the help of the Mad Enchanter. The mysterious schr that appeared one day, on the eve of the final turtle tide, left his mark, and then left just as quickly. After he passed through, the Mad Enchanter gave birth to a daughter, despite having never been in a rtionship with anyone from the town.


    The child of the stars. The one hailed as the Goddess¡¯s own daughter. However, now that seemed to make less sense. Why would the daughter of a goddess of magic have a blessing that bestowed physical strength? This question had always been overlooked, because at the time there was only one Goddess known.


    But now they questioned it. No record had ever been made from the past generations that a schr named Jayl ever existed, aside from the brief period he spent in Cau Buhnga. They managed to create the theory that Jayl had instead been me. Although they had no proof, the fact that they were able toe to that conclusion showed their resourcefulness.


    I chuckled lightly to myself as I shifted my eyes away from the races, and towards the small ind where I had left the dungeon.

 Chapter 195: Upgrades

    <h4>Chapter 195: Upgrades</h4>


    On the unnamed ind in the middle of the ocean, the storm of mana had died down. In fact, there had been no real visible indicator that the ¡®cmity¡¯ had even taken ce. I wasn¡¯t sure if that was because it was too weak, or simply because mana by itself did not create as much of a disturbance.


    However, something else was clear. In that one week, the dungeon had rapidly expanded. Although it was not to the degree I had hoped, my guess was that it had gained about a hundred years of growth in that one week.


    ¡°You totally cheated, didn¡¯t you?¡± Terra asked from behind me, startling me briefly as I didn¡¯t hear her enter the room. ¡°I mean, it¡¯s not really a bad idea. Though it might get a bit expensive. You¡¯re not nning to make monster spawners in dungeons like that, are you?¡±


    ¡°Huh? No, nothing like that.¡± I shook my head. ¡°I was actually thinking about something entirely different, but I wanted to hear your thoughts on if it were possible.¡±


    Seeing her raise a curious eyebrow, I exined my idea. ¡°I know that you said granting a new attribute to the dungeon cores won¡¯t affect the ones that are already spawned. But¡­ what if the attribute was a telepathic link? Something that they could use tomunicate across the world with others of their own race.¡±


    ¡°You mean like a heightened akashic field?¡± Terra asked, pursing her lips in thought. The term sounded familiar before, but I wasn¡¯t really sure where I had heard it from, outside of television. ¡°It¡¯s basically a subconscious field that connects an entire race. Thest Keeper put it in for your world, because he wanted culture to be more widely shared. However, the one he put in was pretty weak because he was stingy, so it had a minimal effect.¡±


    ¡°Ahh¡­ and a heightened version would allow for race-wide telepathy?¡±


    ¡°Essentially. They should be able to hold conversations and share knowledge pretty easily. It¡¯d be expensive, though.¡± She looked thoughtfully at me as she gave that warning.


    ¡°Would it connect to the ones that were already born?¡±


    Hearing the question, she gave a brief nod of confirmation. ¡°They are still considered part of the same purchased race, just of different generations. So it should connect them as well.¡±


    I let out a breath of relief at that, before telling her the rest of the n. ¡°Good. The main reason that the dungeons have trouble learning seems to be ack of social interaction. This¡­ akashic field would let themmunicate with each other. And I know that Ryone¡¯s dungeon has been training as a summoner, so it would be able to spread that knowledge around.¡±


    ¡°Aha.¡± Terra gave a knowing grin as she heard that. ¡°You want to make it so that the dungeons aren¡¯t forced to rely on spawners. Instead, they can make their own.¡±


    ¡°Right. That seemed a lot more cost effective to me, at least. It¡¯ll take a little while for each dungeon to be brought up to speed, but if they are empowered by the mana surge then they will be able to immediately put their knowledge to use once they have learned how to do so.¡±


    ncing back towards the catgirl, I saw her give an approving nod. ¡°It¡¯s not a bad idea. It¡¯ll take some of the pressure off of us, since we won¡¯t have to personally educate each dungeon, and they might even be able to create their own culture.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m hoping, at least. By the way¡­ about thatst Keeper. I¡¯ve been meaning to ask something.¡± I saw Terra¡¯s face sour briefly when I mentioned the previous Keeper, but asked my question anyways. ¡°How did he even get his job? I mean, if he is aszy as you described him, that doesn¡¯t seem like he¡¯d go out of his way to kill the one before him.¡±


    Terra backed up from my chair, sitting on the bed with a tired groan. ¡°It¡¯s exactly because he was sozy that he got the job. The Keeper before him was a very proactive one in a tech-focused world. You could even call him a genius when it came to ster technology.¡±


    ¡°But he was so active in the world that he took part in all of the cutting edge experiments. For hisst experiment, he was designing an upgrade for his warp drive, which he nned to submit on the market for more points. Your Keeper was one of the maintenance engineers, and didn¡¯t do his job properly. Rather than an idental death, it was evaluated as sabotage because he was given clear and precise instructions that he chose not to follow.¡±


    My jaw dropped open as I heard that, and I couldn¡¯t help staring at Terra. ¡°So¡­ because he forgot to uncross a few wires or something¡­ he became a god.¡± Seeing her nod her head helplessly, I couldn¡¯t help chuckling. ¡°And here I thought my entry was ridiculous.¡±


    A small smirk appeared on Terra¡¯s face as she heard that. ¡°Your¡¯s wasn¡¯t so good yourself. A car ident because you were driving when you were too tired? Still, there are a lot worse people that could have gotten the job.¡±


    I felt myself smiling when I heard that, turning back towards theputer. ¡°So, how¡¯s our guest doing? Still here?¡±


    ¡°Starkiller? Yeah, she stayed in Bihena¡¯s room to nap while we were running our errands. Trying to get the poor girl to y with her some more now, but it seems-- ah.¡±


    I was about to ask why Terra caught herself off mid sentence, when Bihena¡¯s voice spoke into my mind. Dale, can youe here? Balu said that she¡¯s not allowed to leave without collecting the payment, but she¡¯s got to get back to her world. She¡¯s got an invasioning up, and she¡¯s on the defense this time.


    My eyebrows jumped up as I heard that. Part of me worried that this might be thest time that we saw Balu, but another part of me felt that was unlikely. She knew the form to create a False Divinity without even needing to think about it. More than likely, she had practiced those energies herself in her world, and was actually far stronger than what an invading force would expect.


    Alright, I¡¯ll be right there. As I sent that reply, I sent a small smile towards Terra, before shifting myself back to the living room. Bihena was sitting on the couch, while Balu was restlessly shifting from side to side on one of the recliners.


    ¡°Ahh!¡± She shouted out as I appeared, immediately turning to face me. Her arms propped herself up over the side of the chair. ¡°I need you to pay me, quick! My rm just went off, and I need to get home!¡±


    ¡°¡­Are you having a hard fight this time?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    Balu looked troubled at my question, thinking over whether she should answer it or not. ¡°Well¡­ maybe? I don¡¯t know. We don¡¯t know much about this guy! But that just means I need to prepare my full power to defend, just in case!¡±


    I nodded my head at that, not wanting to waste any time. ¡°So¡­ how do I transfer points?¡±


    Balu suddenly froze, her eyes blinking at me in confusion. ¡°Right¡­ you¡¯ve never done that before, have you. Uhm¡­ could you call your systempanion? They should be able to do it for you, and it would take too long to practice to get it right.¡±


    Before I could even send the message, Terra appeared behind the chair Balu was sitting on. ¡°I¡¯m here, little fert.¡± She said in a yful tone. ¡°The agreed price was five hundred points, no?¡±


    ¡°Yeah!¡± Balu nodded her head rapidly, extending one paw towards Terra. She didn¡¯t seem at all surprised by Terra¡¯s sudden appearance. ¡°Five hundred for a consultation! Full privacy included, no intent to sell information!¡± Terra gave an approving nod as she stretched one hand out to grasp Balu¡¯s paw.


    System Companion Terra wishes to transfer 500 points to Starkiller. Do you wish to approve this transaction?


    I checked over the window that appeared briefly before allowing the transaction to bepleted. Once it was done, Balu let out a long sigh, smiling happily towards us. ¡°Pleasure doing business with you, thanks for inviting me over! I¡¯ll let you know when my invasion is over, in case Bihena wants to y more.¡±


    Bihena simply rolled her eyes at that, so I did notice the corner of her lips twitching upwards. ¡°Just get going, Starkiller. You¡¯ve got to get back home fast, right?¡±


    ¡°Oh! Yeah. Hope I don¡¯t get one of the long ones¡­¡± She said as she focused, no doubt on going home. However, immediately afterwards, her eyes opened wide and her lips parted. ¡°Oh no¡­ not this--¡±


    Before she could finish what she was trying to say, she¡­ imploded. Her body seemed to be sucked into itself, copsing in as she let out a brief cry. Her arms and legs vanished into her torso as it folded forward, her head disappearing next before all that was left was a small puff of white fur on the chair. And even that seemed to be shrinking.


    ¡°That¡­ I really hope we don¡¯t get that one sometime.¡± Bihena said, shivering as she looked at the chair where Balu previously sat. However, afterwards she turned and directed her attention to me. ¡°But, what was that about a consultation?¡±


    I briefly exined the situation to her, about how I wanted to get a professional opinion on the world. I also made sure to include what I had shown her, and what she had said. Though, I left out the specifics for the forms, instead just saying that she had given me information on new energy types that could increase my power.


    Once I mentioned Balu¡¯s warning about the Perfect Self ss, Bihena lifted her head in rm. ¡°That would have been dangerous¡­¡± She muttered, mostly to herself. ¡°I was tempted to start training that ss. I suppose I still can, since the w only affects Keepers, but if you had tried to learn by copying me¡­ Okay, I admit, it was worth the points.¡±


    Saying that, Bihena got up from the couch, ncing towards the door that was now connected to the living room directly from her room. ¡°I suppose it¡¯s alright for me to unseal the area you blocked off while she was here? I¡¯d like to move my room back to where it was.¡±


    When I gave a nod, she walked towards her door, stepping through it. Rather than saying the door closed behind her, it might be more appropriate to say that the wall did. ¡°Okay¡­ step one down¡­ now let¡¯s see if I have the points to handle steps two, three, and four.¡±


    Terra gave me an amused smile as the two of us walked back towards my room. While we walked, I sent a message to Ryone, letting her know about the previous expenditure and what I nned to buy next. My response came not just from her, but surprisingly Aurivy, and even Udona and alia as well.


    They all rather emphatically agreed that I needed to make the improvement to the dungeons, even if the cost was high. There was nothing else that we desperately needed at this time, but this would be a major help in the long run. Both for the mortals and the goddesses themselves.


    So, once I got back to my room, I opened up the menu for the Dungeon Core race. Following what Terra mentioned before, I chose to add ¡®Heightened Akashic Field¡¯ to their racial traits. Immediately, the price for the race shot up by a hundred points. While expensive, it was still well within my ability to purchase.


    It was the next bit that burned a hole in my wallet. Seeing that a category two mana surge wasn¡¯t quite enough, I chose to set a conditional cmity spawner. Whenever a dungeon core spawns, a category three mana surge would erupt at its location, five hundred meters in diameter, and persisting for seven days. For this, the total price came to¡­ twenty-five hundred points.


    I was a bit surprised to see that the cost had jumped to five hundred times the original. However, given that it would be an automatic feature of the world, it could make up for its own cost in time. More importantly, I was quite certain that adding such an explosive growth to the dungeons themselves, while cheaper, would not stop so easily. Thest thing I wanted was for the dungeons to grow so much that they epassed the entire world.


    With all of that taken care of, and a meager three hundred and thirty three points left in my bnce, I blew out a sigh of relief. Choosing another ind, I spawned one more dungeon, allowing the telepathic field to connect them all together.

 Chapter 196: Domains for Days

    <h4>Chapter 196: Domains for Days</h4>


    In the darkness, the blue pulsating orb rested against a stone wall. Known as the Trial of Four Elements, as named by the voice which spoke to it. Yettely, the voice hade less and less, leading the Trial to be more and more worried. More alone, more confused. It had been so long since it had heard another voice.


    Suddenly, in a corner of its mind, it felt as if something opened up. A presence unknown to it. Mom? The Trial asked, hopeful that the voice had returned. She was the creator, the teacher, the mother.


    What is mom? Another voice spoke up, so unfamiliar to the Trial. And then another, mimicking the question.


    Who are you? What is this? Where is the mother? More and more voices spoke up, like lost children. They could tell that something had changed, that they were no longer alone with just themselves and their creators.


    Finally, a voice familiar to the Trial spoke into that link. Shh, shh. It¡¯s okay. Mama¡¯s here now. It was a female voice, one that the Trial had known all its life. He had seen her once, her small body looking so frail, but filled with such unimaginable power. She hade to him when he felt so alone, so confused. And she had been speaking to him since then.


    Who are you? Some of the other voices asked as they heard the mother¡¯s voice.


    This is mom! The Trial shouted back to them over the link, seeming enraged that they did not recognize the mother.


    It¡¯s okay. They haven¡¯t all met me yet. Everyone, hello! My name is Aurivy, and I¡¯m speaking to you through the one known as the Trial of Four Elements. I¡¯ve got some very important news, so could you all please be silent for just a moment? I understand that this must all be very confusing for all of you.


    At her request, the voices began to still. After a moment, the mother began to speak again. Thank you. Now, first I would like to apologize. Many of you have never known friendship, never even known that there were more like yourselves in the world. Some of you may even not yet know what this world itself is.


    However, I would like to tell you all now. That¡¯s changing. From now on, you aren¡¯t alone. You can speak with those like yourself, share knowledge and wisdom. You can all be friends.


    After she was done talking, another voice spoke up. This one seemed more quiet, more aged than the Trial. Where is my mother?


    The Trial was just about to retort, but the mother spoke first. You are¡­ Meril, yes? Ryone speaks highly of you. She is with me, and you can ask her to confirm all of this yourself.


    Okay¡­ Meril seemed to go silent after that, and the Trial wasn¡¯t sure what to think. Was there another mother? But, mother was the only mother he knew!


    Now, since Meril introduced herself, I¡¯d like to get everyone¡¯s attention. Mother spoke again, and the Trial could feel as if everyone¡¯s eyes were on it. With the ability tomunicatees the ability to teach. Like you have been taught, you may now teach others. Meril, you were trained in the art of summoning, and designing magical traps.


    That¡¯s right¡­ Meril¡¯s voice spoke up briefly to confirm the mother¡¯s words.


    Great! Then, would you be willing to teach others? Mother asked excitedly, and the Trial could feel her attention turning towards that distant voice.


    If mother approves. Meril¡¯s answer came back a few minutester.


    Excellent. I¡¯ll let you speak with her, then. For everyone who I haven¡¯t met yet, it was great to meet all of you. I¡¯lle backter to y, okay?


    There were mixed responses to the mother¡¯s words, some confused at what she meant. However, the mother did not speak again. Her voice faded away into the back of the Trial¡¯s mind. Before she left, though, a whisper entered his thoughts, one for him and him alone. You have friends now. Enjoy them. Teach them as I taught you. And always¡­ always be kind.


    Yes, mom¡­ The Trial spoke, unsure when next he would hear his mother¡¯s voice again.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Pulling myself away from theputer, I gave a satisfied nod. I could see that the dungeons had begun to interact with one another now, thanks to the introduction of the newest dungeon core. Like this, their dependance on the gods will be reduced over time, because they can now interact with each other.


    However, there were still other matters that needed my immediate attention. Everyone. I sent a message out to all of the gods and goddesses. For those of you that are stillcking your third domain, pleasee and visit me at your earliest convenience, so that we can bring everyone up to the same level.


    Aside from Bihena, there was not a single deity that had their third domain yet, but the third free slot had been unlocked thanks to our meeting with everyone. Technically, Bihena could take a fourth domain now, but I decided to keep her at three. If not for the previous emergence of the undersea undead, I would have wanted to keep everyone at the same ¡®level¡¯.


    The first to enter was, unsurprisingly, Terra. She put her hands on her hips, smiling towards me as she appeared standing next to my desk. ¡°I¡¯m up first, then. Let¡¯s see what you have in mind for me.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle as I heard her words. Terra had seemed curious when I told her that I had ideas for everyone¡¯s third domain. And now it seemed that she couldn¡¯t wait for the others to go first. ¡°Well, Goddess of Fate and Stories. Your domains so far cover two vague concepts. For your third¡­ I was thinking Inspiration.¡±


    Terra pursed her lips as she thought about that, briefly nodding her head. ¡°Record the stories of the past. See the fate that is toe, and inspire those lost in the present? Are you trying to turn me into the Goddess of Time?¡± She asked in an amused tone.


    ¡°Who knows? Anyways, I want to make sure that I understand the domain right before I set it in stone.¡± I leaned back in my chair, looking up towards Terra who was eyeing me curiously. ¡°The inspiration domain, it should cover things such as inspiring an inventor who is stuck on a difficult project, a bard working on a song, or even a generaling up with a battle strategy, correct?¡±


    Terra nodded her head again, her smile growing. ¡°That¡¯s right. If someone has already begun a work, and finds themselves stalled, then inspiration can show them one key step.¡±


    ¡°Good, that¡¯s what I thought.¡± I gave a sigh of relief, opening up the menu window for the gods. ¡°I suppose you don¡¯t have a problem with this domain, then?¡±


    Terra gave a light shrug as she heard my question. ¡°Better me than one of the others that would get bogged down by all the excess voices.¡±


    While not strictly a confirmation, it was also not a denial. Shaking my head, I listed the new entry under her domains, upying the third free slot. ¡°Are you going to stick around to see what I give everyone else, too?¡±


    ¡°Oh, you know it.¡± She said yfully, moving over to sit on the bed. As I looked towards the door, I saw that the other three beastkin sisters were already standing there in a line, the one in front being Keliope.


    ¡°Well, boss?¡± She asked, a toothy smile across her face. ¡°You called us here for a domain boost? Tell me whatcha got.¡±


    ¡°Keliope, Goddess of Strength and Fortitude.¡± I pointed to her. ¡°You¡¯re the very definition of a battle maniac. In fact, if the battle domain weren¡¯t taken by Bihena, I¡¯d make it your third. Instead, I want to give you the Defense domain to round out your battle powers.¡±


    Keliope tilted her head in thought. ¡°Hmm¡­ Strength, Defense, and Fortitude. Fortitude is kind of like a mental defense, so I guess this would give me physical defense powers, too.¡± She nodded her head once, agreeing to the domain.


    After she stepped aside, the next to enter was alia, who looked at me with expectation written all over her face. ¡°You came up with something cool for me, didn¡¯t you?¡± She asked, her tail wagging quickly behind her.


    ¡°You¡¯ve got Wisdom and Hunt right now¡­ Honestly, finding a third for you was harder. Until I saw your fighting style, at least. alia, I want to make you the Goddess of Wind.¡±


    ¡°You mean for my Archery?¡± alia asked curiously, but didn¡¯t seem opposed. ¡°Wind is an ever-present element, so it would really be a major power boost. Are you sure that¡¯s alright?¡±


    Hearing her question, I nodded. Seeing that she had no other objections, I entered Wind as alia¡¯s third element. ¡°And that makes Udona next, right?¡±


    As alia stepped aside, the kitsune goddess nodded her head. ¡°Can I have another cultural domain?¡± She asked quietly, her head lowered to look at the ground.


    ¡°Oh?¡± I was a bit surprised by her sudden request. ¡°I had nned to make you the Goddess of Harvest. But, if you want another cultural domain¡­¡± Stories had already been taken as a domain by Terra, so that was out of the question. Music would be covered under her current Entertainment domain.


    ¡°What about the Goddess of Education?¡± I asked, ncing between Udona and alia. ¡°Would that ovep too much with Wisdom?¡±


    alia shook her head with a soft smile. ¡°Wisdom is not the power to teach, but the power to learn. Learning the world around you, discovering why things behave as they do, and putting the knowledge you acquire this way to the best uses. I think¡­ Education would be the power to teach others what you know.¡±


    Hearing that, I nced back towards Terra. ¡°And would that ovep too much with Inspiration, then?¡±


    Terraughed, shaking her head. ¡°You can only find inspiration on your own, not teach it to others. She won¡¯t get as many new followers from this as we will with our new domains, but she already has Life. There¡¯s not a single beastkin that doesn¡¯t worship her to some extent.¡±


    Nodding my head, I once again looked at Udona, who seemed to be processing the information. ¡°Hmm¡­ that would work.¡± She spoke, her voice still quiet. Though, I noticed a small smile on her face once she found that her request had been epted. Unlike the others, who had just stepped aside once their new domain had been assigned, she turned around and immediately began heading back to her room.


    ¡°Is everything alright with her?¡± I asked the three remaining goddesses. Thest time that I had had a proper conversation with Udona, she seemed a lot more energetic than she did now. If anything, it seemed that she was beginning to rpse into her old reclusive self.


    ¡°Oh, she¡¯s fine.¡± Keliope spoke up immediately, shaking her head with augh. ¡°The girl just used up too much energy on your little meetings, so she¡¯s still tired. Give her a bit of time to rx in her pillow fortress, and she¡¯ll be as good as new.¡±


    alia gave a brief nod at that, though her answer was different. ¡°She¡¯s just not used to meeting so many new people as her real self. She just needs a bit of time alone to calm her mind.¡±


    Keliope nced at alia in surprise, but didn¡¯t seem to want to refute those words. I let a long sigh escape me as I shook my head. ¡°Alright then. Let¡¯s get the next group in here.¡± There were still quite a few more deities to take care of before I was done. And I needed to make sure to handle this quickly, before I forget and get started on other things.

 Chapter 197: Maid to Order

    <h4>Chapter 197: Maid to Order</h4>


    ¡°Oi, can we make this quick?¡± Tubrock asked as he walked up to the doorway of the room, his footsteps loud and echoing. ¡°I was workin¡¯ on somethin¡¯ big. Gotta get ahead before da lil people get caught up.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but raise an eyebrow at his question. ¡°Metal.¡± I told him simply. With his current domains of the Forge and Innovation, making him the God of Metal as well would simply reinforce his ability as a craftsman.


    ¡°Sounds good. Anythin¡¯ else?¡± He asked, an approving smile hidden beneath his thick red beard.


    ¡°What¡¯re you working on?¡± I ended up asking, curious what had gotten Tubrock so eager to get back to work. Thest time I saw him like this, heter unveiled the Sky Citadel¡­ so I couldn¡¯t be med for my excitement.


    ¡°I¡¯ll call ya down when it¡¯s done.¡± He replied, turning and walking out of the room, nearly crashing into Ryone and Aurivy as he hurried back down the hall. ¡°Sorry,sses, in a rush.¡± He mumbled as he pushed by.


    ¡°Me next, me next!¡± Aurivy jumped up in front of a surprised Ryone, running over to sit in myp. ¡°Did you think of something really good for me?¡± As she asked that, she beamed a bright smile, her hands on my shoulders to make sure that I was focused on her.


    ¡°You were¡­ difficult.¡± I admitted. ¡°Love and Travel don¡¯t really go together all that well¡­ so I needed to either stick to one side, or give you something else entirely. For you¡­ I¡¯ve got two choices.¡±


    ¡°Oooh¡­¡± Aurivy nodded her head rapidly, her pink hair shaking back and forth. ¡°Go on, let me hear them!¡±


    ¡°I can make you the Goddess of Dungeons, or--¡±


    ¡°Dungeons!¡± Aurivy interrupted, practically squealing in excitement. ¡°That one!¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t even want to hear the other option?¡± I asked in surprise. I had nned to expand her Travel domain with Navigation¡­ But I knew how much she had always loved the dungeons as well.


    ¡°Please, Dale?¡± She asked pleading, her eyes wide. ¡°Can I be the Dungeon Goddess?¡±


    With a sigh, I nodded my head, causing the halfling goddess in myp to cheer loudly. Once I entered the new entry in for her, she apparently felt the change instantly. ¡°Oh, I¡¯ve got to go see what I can do now! Can I make new types of dungeons? Free monster spawns? Oh! Maybe I can create something really special!¡±


    As she began to talk to herself, Aurivy leaned in to give me a tight hug. ¡°Thanks, Dale!¡± She said, before turning around and running out of the room. ¡°Now, for science! For dungeons!¡±


    Ryone stood next to the doorway, blinking in surprise at Aurivy¡¯s disy. ¡°Well then¡­¡± She muttered, shaking her head. Smiling calmly to me, she stepped forward. ¡°Did you have something for me as well?¡±


    Leaning back in my chair, I gave a brief nod. ¡°Your Magic domain already makes you really powerful. So, I was thinking about giving you Merchants as your third domain to bnce it.¡±


    ¡°The Goddess of Merchants¡­ I suppose that would make me a trade goddess.¡± Ryone smiled yfully. ¡°I can live with that, I suppose.¡± She gave a soft nod, moving to sit next to Terra on the bed. ¡°How many do you still have left to deal with?¡±


    I did a brief mental check through the pantheon. ¡°Just¡­ Tryval, Ashley, and Irena. After that, everyone will be taken care of.¡±


    ¡°Well, then you can cross my name off that list.¡± Ashley¡¯s voice spoke up from the doorway, an amused smile on her face. ¡°I just saw the kid running out like she heard Santa was here. Guessing she liked her third domain.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d hope so¡­¡± Given how excited she had been, she better like it. ¡°Ashley¡­ Goddess of Fire and Technology¡­ I really want to give you something that won¡¯t make you step on Tubrock¡¯s toes any more than your current domains¡­¡±


    ¡°Well, this is your challenge.¡± Ashley said as she watched me, her tail lightly swaying from side to side. ¡°Let¡¯s see what your answer is.¡±


    Tubrock had Metal, Terra had Inspiration, and Udona had Education. Those were three Domains that I had actually considered to give to Ashley at first. Anything that I could think of that could bridge Fire and Technology had either already been assigned, or would ovep too much with the others. ¡°What do you say to bing the Goddess of Darkness?¡±


    ¡°Because demons are nocturnal?¡± She asked curiously, beginning to sink into thought. ¡°You gotta think about this¡­ I¡¯ll have two elemental domains. You¡¯ll be making me pretty powerfulpared to the others, right?¡±


    I gave a brief nod. I had already thought about that. ¡°You¡¯re the only Goddess that has to govern your own world without having been part of Earth. It makes sense for you to have a bit of an extra boost, I think.¡±


    She looked like she wanted to question that logic, but simply shook her head after a long moment. ¡°Alright. I don¡¯t think anyone else mentioned having anything to do with darkness before, so it will give me something unique, at least.¡±


    Saying that, her tail wrapped around her waist and she turned to leave the room. I was half expecting either Tryval or Irena toe in soon after, but¡­ There was nobody there. Those of us still in the room waited, Keliope and alia eventually walking out to go back to their own business.


    After an hour, we had still not seen either of them¡­ ¡°Maybe they didn¡¯t get the memo?¡± I questioned curiously, only to draw a lightugh from Terra.


    ¡°No, no, they got it. You said at their earliest convenience¡­ Tryval is spending time with his daughter right now, and Irena is busy teaching your¡¯s¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­¡± So that¡¯s why they weren¡¯t showing up yet. ¡°Well, why didn¡¯t you say something sooner?¡± Asking that, I turned to look at Terra, only to find her cuddled up against Ryone, who was smiling happily.


    ¡°And end my cuddle time early?¡± Terra asked in a teasing tone. ¡°Besides, you can just send them the message directly. No need for them to really visit your room, right?¡±


    I gave a brief nod to answer her question, grumbling internally as I first messaged Tryval. Would you like the nt domain? Right now, his followers would have very little in the way of usable powers,pared to other gods. I couldn¡¯t imagine many applications for the Fellowship and ins domains inbat, at least.


    If that is your will, milord. Tryval answered a momentter, without giving proper time to think it over. It seemed as if, to him, he didn¡¯t particrly care which domain he was given. Shaking my head, I went ahead and entered it in, before sending thest message off towards Irena.


    It could be said that Irena had the greatest responsibility among all of the gods and goddesses, so I wanted to make her somewhat special. Would you like the Death domain? Both of her current domains were designed to strengthen her position as the queen of the Underworld, which Death would contribute a great deal towards.


    Hmm¡­ Her answer came after a brief pause. Very well. I suppose it is fitting. This will give me sovereignty over the dead, then? It will indeed make it easier to function in a number of ways¡­ So, thank you.


    The end of her message was almost a whisper. But, with that, everyone had been given their third domain. ncing towards myputer, I chose to set a simple ten year fast forward, giving the world a bit of time to adjust, as well as the gods time to adjust to their new powers.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Alright, everyone, line up!¡± Ginjo called out, his ck furred tail wagging in excitement behind him. Two months had passed since the revtion of their lord Dayl. It had taken some¡­ convincing, but they had acquired the right to select the representative of the beastkin.


    Naturally, they could not gift someone weak towards the king of the gods. To send a wed vessel would be a disgrace. No, they had to send their most perfect candidate. And so, they brought out their secret force. Their private military that had been held in reserve for thousands of years, trained to be the strongest, the fastest, and most loyal.


    Standing before him were two girls and one man. One of the girls was a kitsune, while the other two candidates were felyn. All three were dressed in ck and white outfits.


    For the women, they wore a skirt, ck with white frills and covered by a white apron in the front. Over their legs, they wore ck socks that came up just to their thighs, showing only the barest amount of skin before their skirts covered them. Their tops were entirely ck, save for a patch of white covering their bulging chest. Each of them had short white sleeves extending only halfway to their elbows, and their hands were folded together in front of themselves, their heads lowered respectfully to the ground.


    The felyn man wore a ck suit which trailed down past his tail, a long cut in ce to allow it free movement behind himself. Beneath the suit he wore a spotless white shirt, a ck bowtie decorating its features. Long, ck pants hugged his legs, matching ck shoes over his feet. On each hand, he wore a white glove, held together behind his back as he stood at attention.


    These were the best of the best. The most elite troops, trained to protect vige elders, traveling noble spies, and if need bey down their lives to defend the peace of the forest. ¡°You three have been judged to be the best of the Servant Corps, most capable of standing beside the Lord¡¯s side.¡±


    As the lycan elder spoke, he paced back and forth in front of the three of them. ¡°The Lord does not speak to priests, nor does he need to. What he needs is simply a capable voice. If he so chooses, you may be taken aboard the Sky Citadel. There is a chance that you may never again see your home. How does that make you feel?¡±


    As one, the three candidates spoke out. ¡°We live to serve our Lord.¡± This was the motto of the Servant Corps. To them, there was no greater honor than being ced with a powerful ruler, fulfilling their duty by protecting him or her and serving them in their daily lives.


    ¡°Only one voice was requested.¡± Ginjo spoke again, his eyes on the three candidates. ¡°That means that only one of you can fulfill this task. You have passed through many trials to reach this point, endured countless dangers in your training. Now, I give you onest task.¡±


    The three people all looked sharply towards Ginjo, who put a small smile on his face. ¡°I have spoken with the Sisters, seeking a suitable training ground for your final test. They have answered by creating three dungeons within the forest. Each of these dungeons carry the likelihood of death. If you do not return, we will simply have to try with the next round of candidates until one seeds.¡±


    ¡°You may take nothing with you except for what you have right now. No help may be given from the viges. Your task is to reach the end of the dungeon that you are assigned to, and retrieve its token. Only myself and the Sisters know the form of these tokens. The first to return shall be given the honor to server the highest Lord, and be the new Head Servant. What say you?¡±


    Once again, they spoke as one. ¡°We live to serve our Lord.¡± No sooner had their voices fallen than all three vanished from their positions, a small bundle of leaves lifting into the air to show how quickly they had left their spots.

 Chapter 198: Selections

    <h4>Chapter 198: Selections</h4>


    In the human kingdom of Hanbei, the queen sat upon her throne, reviewing the message that had just arrived from her neighboring countries. A message that had gone out to all human empires, regardless of political alliances. The Keeper wants a voice, does he?


    The image of the Keeper was still fresh in her mind. A rather unassuming male, one who looked built to be a servant rather than a king. No bulging muscles, no deep insightful gaze. Yet, she also remembered the power that she felt from him during his little announcement. An unmatchable power, something that could likely destroy an entire kingdom with ease.


    The queen wished that she herself could be his voice. Totch onto that power and aim it at her enemies. But, looking down at herself, she knew that it was a lost cause. She was already well into herter years, with neither beauty nor strength to support her im.


    So, she settled for the next best thing. Looking to her scribe, she gave him a meaningful gaze, at which he pulled out pen and paper. ¡°Let word be spread to every corner of my domain. Any single woman of marriageable age is to report for the chance at being the Voice of the Keeper.¡±


    These were the words written by King Ardas, who had personally met with the Keeper. This would determine which kingdom was the closest to the goddess, and to the one she served. Only the most beautiful woman could be chosen.


    To the queen, the suggestion made sense. Although she only knew of the barbarian races among those serving the Keeper, all but two of the deities had been female. Even by human standards, most had been true beauties. And with the Keeper himself appearing human, it was no wonder if he had a human¡¯s ideals.


    Thankfully, this selection method was perfect for Hanbei, the empire which had been striving for physical perfection since the First Queen rose to the throne. And has continued to do so even after she walked her final journey. There was no shortage of beautiful women, as ki held the power to reshape appearances. If not for her age already reaching the sixties, her face as well would be young and remarkable.


    As the scribe rushed out of the hall with the message, the queen let a cold smile float up onto her face. As far as she was concerned, this contest was as good as won already.


    _______________________________________________________________


    To my surprise, the fast forward came to a dead stop only a few moments after I hit the button. Rather than ten years, not even six had gone by. And as I was looking to see what rm had been triggered, Terra appeared next to me. ¡°Sorry, Dale, that was me this time.¡± She said, an urgent look on her face.


    ¡°Okay¡­ what happened?¡± I didn¡¯t even know that she could stop the fast forward on her own, but if she was just now doing so, that means that something big should have happened.


    ¡°The Fairy Gates.¡± Terra began to exin, moving to sit on the bed behind my chair. ¡°The others all asked me for an emergency stop so that you could be made aware of something that was happening.¡±


    I blinked in confusion, ncing back towards the screen and then to her, waiting for her to continue. ¡°The gates are letting monsters through from worlds other than the three you own.¡± She exined calmly, though her simple sentence made me open my eyes wide in surprise.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, only one big one came through so far, and we mobilized the Citadel immediately to take care of it. Tubrock is working his factory overtime to pump out defensive structures to ce around the gates to prevent it from being an issue in the future, but doing so means that you¡¯ll have to avoid fast forwarding for a couple of days.¡±


    ¡°These other worlds¡­¡± I started to question, before Terra shook her head.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, they aren¡¯t worlds that belong to other Keepers. That still can¡¯t happen outside of an invasion. Rather¡­ think of it this way. You remember in the description of the gates, where entering without a key sends you to a random world?¡±


    At my nod, she smiled knowingly. ¡°The random worlds aren¡¯t just the ones you own. The system will generate random worlds. And without a key to that world, it is nearly impossible to reach the same world twice for a mortal.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s happening now can be seen as the reverse of that. The system is randomly generating encounters at different intervals and sending them through the gate through one of those ¡®unknown worlds¡¯. It took them a few years to notice that the monsters weren¡¯ting from any of the known worlds, so they were just now able to have me pull an emergency stop.¡±


    ¡°And this was a w in the system that you couldn¡¯t warn me about before?¡± I asked curiously, to which she nodded. ¡°Okay¡­ well, can you at least tell me what the requirements are for you to forcibly stop a fast forward?¡±


    ¡°Yup!¡± She nodded her head quickly. ¡°It just never really came up before. As long as there is a unanimous agreement among thepanions, I can forcefully stop a fast forward to alert you to an emergency. At least, unless you take away that permission.¡±


    Terra raised her eyebrow at me, as if wondering whether I wanted to do just that. In response, I simply shook my head. It was better to have her able to warn me than to potentially miss a disaster I hadn¡¯t prepared for by a hundred years¡­


    ¡°Okay¡­ well, let¡¯s go meet my representatives, then.¡± I said with a sigh as I stood up. I had given them nearly six years to decide who they wanted to represent them, so they should have chosen long ago by now.


    ¡°Do you want me to get the rest of them ready to ¡®fill the seats¡¯?¡± Terra asked, an amused smile on her lips as she said that. However, I shook my head again.


    ¡°No, it will be enough with just me this time. Let¡¯s give the others a chance to rest. I¡¯m sure some of them are still adjusting to their new domain.¡± Terra gave a brief nod when she heard that, and I sent a message to Leowynn, calling her back to me.


    There was a brief hesitation before she responded, and soon I saw the grey mist flowing through the doorway of my room and into my body. We¡¯re heading back down already? She asked once she was inside my spiritual realm.


    It seems so¡­ Sorry, I was hoping to give you some more time to train with Irena.


    It¡¯s okay, father. She said that she was going to try to get mother to teach her how to make those spheres, so that she could more easily teach me. It seemed that Leowynn wasn¡¯t too upset at having to cut training early, at least.


    I was just about to descend, when I recalled what I had decided before, to avoid the appearance of favoritism. I couldn¡¯t exactly descend as a human for my first time meeting the representatives, or it would be said by all that I really did love the humans most.


    Thinking it over, I instead decided to descend as a heroc. They were a race not governed by any god, so originally they might be seen as the ¡®least loved¡¯ race. Appearing as one now would make it so it seemed as if I were being more fair.


    After my decision had been made, I felt the familiar blue light epass me, sending me down to the throne room of my citadel. ¡°Aurivy?¡± I called out to the empty room, my voice gravelly. Sure enough, the halfling goddess appeared in her throne, as if she had always been there, leaning to the side and peeking back at me.


    ¡°Yeah, bro?¡± She asked with a wide, emphatic smile.


    ¡°Please gather the representatives. I¡¯d like to meet with them.¡± As I said that, I sat down in my throne, which thankfully grew to amodate my new body.


    ¡°Understood!¡± Aurivy vanished, her body erupting into golden mist that spread throughout the room, splitting into ten strands that pooled together. Each small cloud of mist dissipated to reveal a person. Human, heroc, centaur, elf, demon, dwarf, halfling, daeva, and¡­ two kitsune? Right, one for the beastkin of Earth, and one for Desbar.


    The human was a female, standing tall and wearing a golden silk dress, which clung tightly to her somewhat exaggerated curves. She seemed surprised at the sudden transport, before noticing me sitting up on the throne. Her brows knit together slightly, but she seemed to be doing her best to keep her thoughts hidden from the surface. At least, until I focused on her, hearing her curse mentally at why I was not a human.


    The heroc was a man, a warrior by the looks of him. A fresh cut was spread along his chest, and his hands dripped with blood. No doubt Aurivy had just pulled him out of a battle. When he saw me, a strange smile filled his face.


    The centaur representative was¡­ actually someone that I already was familiar with. Alme Dien, Tryval¡¯s own daughter and Demigoddess of Youth. Looks like the centaurs won¡¯t be needing a new representative any time soon¡­


    For the elves, it looked like they had chosen a schrly young man. Rather than trying to win me over with their looks, the man looked as if he wore religious robe. Long and blue, with golden embroidery in the shape of seemingly random spellponents.


    For the demons, they chose a man as well, his skin a dark red. The moment he appeared, he actually stumbled forward, slowly ncing around the room. From the tired expression on his face, I was forced to recall that demons were nocturnal creatures, and that I likely pulled him from his sleep wherever he had been.


    The dwarf was a young, stoutdy who still clutched a gon of ale in one hand. She looked around at the others in surprise, before quickly downing thest of her drink and tossing the wooden cup aside as if to hide it.


    The halfling representative¡­ actually looked a lot like Aurivy. Her hair was blonde instead of pink, but many of her facial features were the same. She even wore the same outfit that Aurivy had recently taken a liking to, a blue skirt that went halfway down to her knees and a white, short sleeved shirt. Unlike the others, she simply smiled happily as she looked up towards the throne and saw me.


    For the daeva, there was a slender man, his two white wings drawn back behind himself. He was momentarily surprised, but quicklyposed himself as he stood at attention, every bit the business-oriented person I would expect from Irena¡¯s people.


    Lastly, there were the kitsune. The first wore a ck dress to contrast her white hair and tail, smiling sleepily as she looked around the room. Another one that I no doubt pulled from their slumber.


    The second¡­ I looked to the sport where the second kitsune had appeared, only to find that she had already moved. Searching the room, I found her off to the side, where the dwarf¡¯s cup had been tossed. She was crouched down on the floor, quickly scrubbing away at it with the cup stood up next to herself. Her hair and tail were golden, like Udona¡¯s, and she was wearing¡­ a maid uniform?


    Though, what surprised me the most about her was her strength. Of the others, the heroc representative boasted the highest level, reaching a full two hundred and seventy five. However, this unassuming maid had even him beat. Her level had in less than six short years gone from the limit of two hundred and fifty all the way up to three hundred and twelve.


    Another surprise came when she stood up, noticing my gaze on her. She quickly bowed low, her tail sticking down so as not to lift her skirt. ¡°Apologies, my lord.¡± She spoke, making my eyes widen in shock. After all, she had spoken in fluent English.

 Chapter 199: The Citadel

    <h4>Chapter 199: The Citadel</h4>


    Author''s Corner: Check out the new image in the gallery~. Aurivy''s got something extra for you all.


    It took me a long moment to regain myposure after that surprise. I¡¯d have to askter how she managed to learn English, as there was no way that she had simply learned it by studying dungeons. Dungeons could write, but not speak, and you can¡¯t perfectly reproduce an unknownnguage verbally without a proper sample.


    Shaking my head, I looked back to the rest of the group. ¡°As you all know, I am Dale.¡± I spoke to clear up any misgivings that might be caused by my form. ¡°I have asked for people to be chosen from each of your races, so that I may be able tomunicate through you when the need arises.¡±


    As I watched them nod, I felt a small smile creep onto my lips. ¡°Good. Now, I imagine that most of you have families to return to. Loved ones that will miss you if I keep you here for too long. Or, battles to finish.¡± I gave a small nod towards the heroc, who simplyughed at that. In order to trante my words to each of them in turn, I had spent a single point in the system before descending, turning my words into a message that entered their minds.


    Of course, this would not allow them to speak with each other, but I had an idea for that. ¡°In the future, I would like to ask that everyone studies to learn mynguage. Doing so will make it possible for you tomunicate with one another while you are here.¡±


    For a moment, I saw the maid beaming a proud smile at the realization that she hadpleted her first task before it was even given to her. ¡°I will have guides for thenguage delivered to all of you shortly, so that you may more easily learn it.¡±


    ¡°Keeper!¡± The heroc spoke up, stepping forward. The others looked curiously at him, unable to understand his words. Though, I did catch the brief re that the kitsune maid sent before she retracted her gaze. ¡°We have no god. How are you to deliver this message to us?¡±


    His concerns were valid, but¡­ ¡°I never said that I would have the gods deliver them.¡± Though really, I nned for just that. Sorry in advance, Aurivy¡­ ¡°Once we are done here, you need only wait a short time, and the guide will be delivered to you.¡±


    He gave a brief nod at that, seeming to ept the answer. Turning to look at the rest, I smiled slightly. ¡°Now, I give you all a choice. You can return to your people, or you may live in the Sky Citadel.¡± Just a brief nce from the Admin Room had told me that there were over thirty bedrooms in the Citadel. As well as amunications room.


    ¡°If you choose to remain here, there are some things you will need to know. I will not always be present, as I have matters to attend to outside of this world. You will be capable of contacting your people to deliver my messages, but you will not be able to fly the Citadel itself, or use any of its weapons. You will be able to live the most luxurious life, but it will be one of solitude, with only yourself and the others that choose to remain.¡±


    Three people stepped forward immediately. Unsurprisingly, the first was the maid, a resolute look in her eyes. Next, was the human woman, though I could tell that she had more greed than anything else. Even a look at her thoughts told me that she simply wanted to live in the greatest pce, already nning for how to make herself my ¡®queen¡¯.


    The third was the halfling girl, who had the simplest excited expression of all three. Curious, I looked at her thoughts, and found that she was just excited for the chance to be able to live in a moving fortress, to see ces she never knew about before.


    ¡°You three wish to remain?¡± I asked, and they all nodded their heads. Thankfully, nodding still seemed to be a universal way of saying ¡®yes¡¯.


    ¡°Very well¡­ Then the rest of you may return to your homes.¡± I spoke, and the golden mist once again surrounded the other seven, whisking them away to where they had originally been pulled from. ¡°As for you three, I will send you back as well. You have half a day to gather whatever belongings you wish to bring with you, and then you will be summoned again.¡±


    Before the three could voice anyints, Aurivy had likewise sent them back as well, before showing herself once more in her throne. ¡°That seemed like fun!¡± She called back, looking at me.


    ¡°The halfling¡­ is she your incarnation?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask with a tired expression, knowing how mischievous Aurivy could be at times.


    ¡°Nope! She just made herself look like me with ki. Just like the milk cow that the humans sent did.¡± Aurivy shook her head quickly.


    ¡°Milk cow¡­?¡± I blinked at Aurivy, surprised at the words that she had used.


    ¡°Oh,e on! You could tell that they were fake, right?¡± She asked, a wronged look on her face.


    ¡°I¡­ honestly wasn¡¯t even paying attention.¡± I answered with a shake of my head. Maybe because of thepany I kept in the Admin Room, but I had grown far more ustomed to beautiful women than I had been in my previous life.


    Yet, my answer seemed to be the correct one as Aurivy put on a happy smile. ¡°Good. But the maid¡­ You have to admit she was cute, right?¡±


    I narrowed my eyes as I looked to her, almost suspecting that the maid was Aurivy¡¯s incarnation. ¡°Is she¡­?¡±


    ¡°No, Dale.¡± Aurivy rolled her eyes. ¡°But I did help design the outfit. Way back just after the incarnation system came in and that war was over. Went in and spent a few lives showing them the merits of having servants that could double as bodyguards. Eventually, they took the hint.¡±


    ¡°So¡­ how does she speak English?¡±


    ¡°Oh! That was my doing.¡± Aurivy said with a grin. ¡°Theirst test was also a test for me. I made new dungeons for them to run through, and the prize was a quest book to learn the Keeper¡¯snguage!¡±


    I nodded my head briefly, suddenly curious. ¡°What new powers did you get from your domain, since you said that it was a test for yourself as well?¡±


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s so cool!¡± Aurivy called back, leaning back in her throne. I could see her arms stretching out to either side of it. ¡°I can possess a dungeon briefly, and while doing so have ess to functions that they themselves don¡¯t. I can make monster spawners inside of a dungeon, and even create a few traps that the dungeons normally couldn¡¯t make.¡±


    I was about to ask her for an example, when she began exining anyways. ¡°Like this one trap that I set up in one of the test dungeons. It was a maze with only a single small room. Saved a lot of space that way. Basically, they had to go through the doors in the correct order, and until they did they would simply be sent right back to the same room.¡±


    Being able to create monster spawners was something I had expected, but I didn¡¯t think she¡¯d be able to go so far with the traps as well. ¡°And there¡¯s no danger to the dungeon core from having you possess it?¡±


    Aurivy went quiet at that, almost long enough to make me worry. ¡°They said it gave them a bit of a headache, or as close to a headache as they can get. But their health didn¡¯t decrease, and they seem to still be doing fine now. So¡­ I guess that there¡¯s no danger?¡±


    If I had to guess, more than likely the possession that Aurivy was talking about would normally shorten the creature¡¯s lifespan¡­ But the dungeons had a unique racial trait that gave them an infinite lifespan, so they were no doubt immune to such an effect. It would only cause them a brief pain, if that were the case.


    ¡°I take it you¡¯ve already started experimenting with making new slimes in your original dungeon?¡± I asked, remembering that she had originally beenining that she didn¡¯t know how to do that. But now, she had the ability to simply spawn monsters in.


    ¡°Oh, yeah! I need to take you to see it again some time! He¡¯s learned so many new things! It turns out that you can trigger special evolutions in some slime races by having them eat a particr monster¡¯s core. I¡¯m still trying to find all thebinations, but so far I¡¯ve found a lot of fun things! Like, there is this one monster. It¡¯s a monkey that lives in the deep mountains of the heroc¡¯s second continent. It has the special ability that lets it throw spikes of metal from its body. I fed one of those to my earth slimes, and the one that ate its core began to change. Now it¡¯s an iron slime that can actually change its body into different items. I think I¡¯m getting really close to creating a mimic!¡±


    I wasn¡¯t sure whether or not she seemed too excited about the idea of creating a living, murderous treasure chest. She probably was¡­ Still, this seemed to be her passion, so there was no point trying to go against it. ¡°Alright. Well, would you like to explore the citadel with me?¡±


    No sooner had I asked that question than I found myself being pulled from the throne, Aurivy holding onto my hand and showing an amount of strength that simply wouldn¡¯t be possible if she weren¡¯t a goddess. Laughing, I followed along. ¡°I¡¯ll take that as a yes.¡±


    As we walked, I sent a message up to Tubrock, asking for information on the rooms as we arrived in them, as well as any secret passages that we might miss. As it turns out¡­ there was at least one secret passage in every room or hallway, usually more than that. Each required one of ten ¡®keys¡¯ to open them, the keys being spell diagramponents.


    That is to say¡­ knowing one key would grant you ess to a tenth of the secret passages. Each passage led to a torch-lit hallway that connected to another room. It was only when I learned the eighth key that I saw something strange. Like the other passages, this one simply shimmered slightly when active, allowing myself and a rather eager Aurivy to pass through.


    What was strange was that this passage led down. And the entrance was already on the bottom floor. ¡°Ooh, I wonder what he hid down here!¡± Aurivy asked in anticipation next to me.


    I didn¡¯t remember looking at this part of the map, so I myself didn¡¯t know either. However, Tubrock¡¯s deep chuckle echoed in my mind a momentter. That be the key to the ¡®secret¡¯ rooms. I made these for you to do certain things while you are descended.


    The room that we entered next had arge circr tform emitting a faint white glow. Above the tform hovered three spherical rocks, each carved to look like one of the three worlds that I owned. And in the corners of the room were statues of a certain halfling goddess, causing Aurivy to gasp in surprise.


    This be the control room for the citadel¡¯s long distance travel. In order to work, I also had to make it a shrine to the littless. Just touch anywhere on the three globes, and the Citadel will move.


    I quickly filed this under rooms to never show the representatives. Thankfully, the ¡®key¡¯ to this room was a third tier spellponent, something that is unlikely to be discovered any time soon, let alone used as a key to crack a lock. Still, I was curious, so I studied the three spheres. One was obviously Desbar, as it was far smaller than the others. Another took me a moment to recognize as Earth, which I focused in on. Walking around the tform, I waited until I found the tiniest little dot carved in the ocean beneath the beastkin and elven continents. Reaching up, I pressed my finger against that dot, and instantly felt something change.


    ¡°Oh, this is weird!¡± Aurivy spoke up, shivering slightly. I felt arge portion of my mana and ki suddenly drained from me, and could sense Aurivy¡¯s divine energy activating.


    It¡¯s possible to borrow the divine power of a god or goddess under certain circumstances. Tubrock exined. First, you have to be a priest of that god, and be located in one of their shrines. After that, it¡¯s just a question of knowing the proper craftsmanship techniques.


    And since I was technically a priest to all of the gods, that seemed to mean that I could use this. And that nobody who wasn¡¯t a priest of Aurivy would be able to¡­ Though, judging by the amount of energy that was suddenly pulled out of me, I doubted that any mortal would be able to handle that level of drain anyways.


    The drain onlysted a few moments, before everything seemed to grow still again. Beneath my finger, a small circle had appeared around the ind that I had chosen. No doubt the map¡¯s way of saying ¡®you are here¡¯.


    ¡°Okay¡­ well, let¡¯s keep going, and see what else we can discover before we call the others back.¡± I muttered under my breath, this time having to be the one to pull Aurivy away from the tform before she could activate it again.

 Chapter 200: The Rules and the Reps

    <h4>Chapter 200: The Rules and the Reps</h4>


    As we continued to explore, we found a number of other hidden rooms. Like the transportation room, each one had its own unique function. In one room as the control for the Citadel¡¯s main weapon, a magical cannon that harnessed Ryone¡¯s divine power for truly devastating results. In another was actually aplete map of the Citadel itself, using the power of Udona showing the location of everyone inside of it.


    Of course, that map did not differentiate between people, monsters, or animals. Thanks to that, I learned that we had a rat problem in the lower level, which Tubrock coughed nervously and promised to take care of right away. Maybe it was because the Sky Citadel was his pet project, but I got the feeling that he couldn¡¯t stand the thought of there being pests infesting it.


    Oddly, even the ¡®master bedroom¡¯ was one of the hidden rooms. However, it was not hidden using the highest level key. That way, even if I led someone back to it, they would not have the magical key to get into the secure areas.


    Unsurprisingly, the pantry was fully stocked when I arrived in it. A variety of different meats stored in a room that I could feel had been enchanted. I wasn¡¯t able to tell the exact property of the enchantment, but it was no doubt rted to preserving the food inside. Aside from meats, there was a fully stocked garden on the uppermost level. Golems could be seen on standby against the walls, one of their arms reshaped into a basket at the end.


    By the time we had finished the tour, it was almost time to retrieve the three representatives again. In order to shake things up a bit, I briefly ascended to the Admin Room, swapped my body to that of a halfling, and descended again. Once I was back down, Aurivy squealed happily, rushing over towards me and wrapping her arms around me.


    ¡°You¡¯re me sized!¡± She cried out in surprise. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve seen you be me sized in ages! Do I really have to disappear when theye back?! I want to y with you like this for a little while first.¡±


    I thought about her request as I felt her nuzzling her head against my cheek. It was definitely different to find myself suddenly at eye level with Aurivy. And moreso¡­ ¡°You can stay. I wanted to have a word with them anyways, and your presence here would make that more useful.¡±


    Aurivy pulled back from the hug to beam me a wide smile. ¡°Oh thank you!¡± And then immediately pulled me right back into the hug.


    I could onlyugh as I was once again wrapped in her arms. ¡°Come on, Rivy. Back to the throne room first. We¡¯ll see about ying some after everything is settled.¡± Preferably where the representatives can¡¯t see the Keeper as what looks like a child running around ying games¡­ Talk about bad for public image.


    ¡°Aww¡­ fine.¡± Aurivy finally released me with a huff. Grabbing me by the hand, she walked side by side with me back towards the throne room. Along the way, she was swinging her arms and humming happily, a wide smile on her face.


    Once we returned to the throne room, Aurivy immediately released my hand, rushing over towards her own seat and nting herself down in it. As for me, I moved at a much more leisurely pace, heading to my throne and watching as it shrank to fit me once I had sat down in it.


    ¡°Okay, you can bring them back.¡± I told the halfling goddess, who quickly nodded in agreement. Three strands of golden mist extended from her hands, stretching out onto the floor. Once more, they pooled together, forming three small clouds.


    As the clouds dissipated, they were reced by the representatives. The kitsune and halfling both stood there, looking the same as before, carrying a small satchel in their arms. The halfling looked at me in surprise when she saw my new form, and then again at Aurivy.


    The human woman, on the other hand, had not only packed considerably more, but had also changed her outfit as well. Her dress was equally as tight fitting as before, but had considerably less¡­ fabric. Her sides, her outer thighs, and even just beneath her bust were now bare, her new dress leaving very little to the imagination.


    She looked up at my throne with a seductive smile, but blinked curiously when I was not as high up as she thought. Her eyes drifted lower, until she caught my form in the throne. Her face seemed to pale for a moment before she collected herself. Her seductive smile switched into a warmer, almost motherly one. But, looking at her surface thoughts, I could tell that this was all still just an act to try to get closer to me¡­


    Unlike the small satchels that the other two had brought, she had threerge bags hanging from each arm. Since I could see pieces of paper sticking out of the top, I knew that the actual amount she had packed could likely fill up a room¡­


    I let out a sigh, shaking my head as my gaze shifted to epass all three. Since I had not thought to spend another point before descending, I had Aurivy and Bihena trante my words for me. Thankfully, the kitsune needed no trantion, so I didn¡¯t need to bother Udona for this. ¡°Now, let me go over the rules here.¡±


    The three women looked up at me suddenly, all taking on a more serious and attentive expression. ¡°You are all equals here. I do not care what race you are, what your social status is like, or anything of that sort. Here, all three of you are my representatives for your respective races.¡±


    ¡°You are not above the gods. If you try to treat them as if you were¡­ They will not suffer fools, and I will simply need to find a new voice to represent me.¡± I had the feeling that these two rules would be especially required for the human representative, who had her eye twitching as she tried to maintain her attentive mask.


    ¡°As I have said before, I do not spend all of my time here. In fact, at times I may be absent for years, decades even. There is every possibility that I may only ever visit once or twice in the lifetime of a single representative. I have other ces where I need to be at times, and other tasks I need to tend to.¡±


    ¡°Simrly, although the gods may visit this ce from time to time, they also will not be staying forever. Hoping for such will only lead to disappointment.¡±


    ¡°Now, when we are done here, I will be showing the three of you to the important facilities within the Citadel. You will see themunications room and be taught how to use it, shown to your bedrooms, and taken to the kitchen.¡±


    Once more, my eyes roamed over the three of them. ¡°The matter of cooking shall be left for you to decide. If one of you wishes to cook for another, you are able to. However, that is entirely by choice. If all three of you be friends, then indeed one of you may choose to cook for all three. However, should that not be the case, then it would be best that each of you are able to do so for yourselves.¡±


    Udona¡­ as the Goddess of Education, you should be able to make the quest books to teach them English pretty easily, right? I asked, letting silence fall over the room as the three soaked in the rules that I had given.


    I¡­ think so? She responded back in a quiet tone. Do you want me to go ahead and make one for all of the reps, and just get it over with?


    Please do. It seemed as if she was starting to feel better, though it would be a slow process. A sh of light entered the room, and when it passed both the human and halfling representatives found a new book in their hands.


    The kitsune maid looked at the book curiously, and then to her own hands as if wondering why she did not receive one. However, my next words changed her expression to a proud one. ¡°These are yournguage guides. You should study them so that you will be able tomunicate with one another.¡±


    As I said that, I stood up from my chair, walking down to stand at the same level as the representatives. ¡°Now¡­ let¡¯s start the tour.¡± While the human woman seemed to push her chest out more, forcing me to look past it to see her face, the maid seemed more withdrawn. She was holding her skirt down subtly with her hands in front of her, as if to make sure that I did not identally see anything.


    As for the halfling, she just seemed happy not to have to crane her neck to look up at me anymore. When I walked, the three of them followed behind. They moved in silence, waiting for me to first speak. And likewise, I stayed silent as well. The only sound came from the humming of Aurivy that walked next to me.


    Thankfully, themunications room was on the same floor as the throne room, and actually quite close to it. Once we arrived, we all saw the blue sphere hovering just above a stone pedestal. ¡°This should go without saying, but attempting to damage any part of the Citadel would be¡­ unwise.¡±


    ¡°Now, this is a tool handcrafted by the Goddess of Magic herself. If you ce your hand on the crystal, and think of a person you want to contact, the tool will connect you with them. A disy of that person will be created in the room, and you will be able to talk to them. However, while they can hear you and reply, they will not be able to see you.¡±


    ¡°This can connect you to any person you know in any of the worlds, and will even contact the deceased, so long as they have not been dead for too long.¡± At that reveal, the three representatives shared a gasp. Even the kitsune seemed to be eyeing the orb covetously, though I could tell that her thoughts were mostly on reconnecting with lost loved ones.


    Next, I walked them towards the library, where there wererge rows of bookshelves arranged in wide aisles. This was actually a recent addition, apparently. Added when Tubrock remodeled the Citadel to use the third tier knowledge.


    The representatives seemed a bit confused as they were led here. No doubt because I didn¡¯t actually mention the library as part of the n. In truth, I had been internally debating on whether or not I should bring them here or let them discover it themselves. But, I thought it best to bring them.


    ¡°This is the library, contained within is knowledge of magic, ki, engineering, and various other subjects. You can study from the books as you wish. However, you may not damage any of the books, nor may you attempt to hide them from the other representatives. If you wish, you may also transmit the information within the library back to your people, to help teach them as well.¡±


    The human and halfling representatives seemed rather bored with the library, but the kitsune on the other hand. ¡°M-master.¡± She hesitantly spoke out, as if not sure if she would be allowed. When I nced towards her and waited for her to continue, she gave a brief bow. ¡°May I be allowed to remain in here for a time? I am already familiar with yournguage, so I believe that I should be capable enough to read these texts.¡±


    ¡°If it is not too much trouble, perhaps you could assign me a room at ater time? If need be, I can simply find one on my own that is unimed. As for locating the kitchen, I have already found the scent of the stored ingredients, so that will not be a problem.¡±


    Curious, I probed into her surface thoughts. Primarily, she seemed interested in seeing if there was any new information on chakra in any of the books, as well as information on mana or ki that could be transmitted back to her people.


    That was what the library was for, after all, so I gave a brief nod. She offered a deep bow, and for a brief moment I thought I saw a hint of metal beneath the fabric of her outfit. How many weapons does she have hidden on her person¡­


    ¡°Now¡­ let¡¯s show everyone the kitchen, and then I will send you to your rooms.¡± I said as I walked off, the remaining two representatives following behind me while the kitsune maid moved towards the nearest bookshelf.

 Chapter 201: Scarlet’s Warning

    <h4>Chapter 201: Scarlet¡¯s Warning</h4>


    It did not take us long at all to visit the kitchen. Though, when we did so, a surprising question came out of the halfling¡¯s mouth. ¡°Will we be able to hunt for our own food?¡± She asked curiously, ncing towards the meat locker.


    However, I had to shake my head to deny that question. ¡°The only way in or out of the Sky Citadel is with the aid of Aurivy. It would be best not to bother her with requests like that whenever possible.¡±


    As I said that, I caught Aurivy sending me a knowing smile, causing me to let out a sigh. Yes, I know that I should practice what I preach. But at least now we won¡¯t need to bother you for stuff like that as much?


    It¡¯s fine, bro! Aurivymunicated back to my mind, her smile growing into a full grin as we walked towards the bedrooms. I like being able to help out, really.


    Once we got to the first bedroom, I pointed to the namete beside the door, looking towards the human woman. ¡°What name would you like to have listed?¡±


    She blinked in surprise that I had chosen her for the first room, a happy smile filling her face. Though the truth was¡­ I just wanted to dump her off so that I wouldn¡¯t have to deal with her for a while. ¡°Melora Everde.¡± She said, an unmasked sense of triumph in her voice.


    Putting my hand on the golden namete, I pushed my ki into it. While everyone watched, the nk namete gradually formed letters along it. By the time it was done, the name Melora was clearly inscribed¡­ in English letters.


    ¡°Is¡­ this my name?¡± The woman asked, stepping up and stroking her hand gently along the namete. Of course, with my halfling height, that meant that my head was right next to her hips. Which, I would be willing to bet the entire Sky Citadel was intentional.


    ¡°It is. You can take some time to make yourselffortable.¡± As I said that, I stepped back, ncing towards the halfling representative and Aurivy. Without another word, the three of us walked off towards the next floor. The halfling representative nced at each bedroom that we passed, as if curious why I did not put her in any of them.


    Once we had ascended the stone stairs to reach the next floor, I immediately pointed towards the namete of the first room that we came across, ncing towards the halfling. ¡°Huh?¡± She muttered, surprised, before grinning broadly. ¡°I¡¯m Trixy!¡±


    Tricksy little halflings¡­ I thought inwardly as I inscribed her name on the namete. It was at that point that I suddenly froze up, my hand halted just as it was lowering from the namete. Thissted only a moment, however, before I opened the door to Trixy¡¯s room.


    It seemed that she hadn¡¯t noticed my little incident, as she happily ran straight into the room. Excitement was evident on her face as she saw therge, soft bed, the ornate dresser, and even the tall standing mirror along the wall.


    Without a word, I closed the door, and immediately began walking down the hall, a previously unseen purpose in my step. ¡°Something wrong, Dale?¡± Aurivy asked curiously, hurrying to follow behind me.


    Rather than answer her, I ced my hand on a nearby wall, activating one of the ¡®elevator¡¯ passages. Once myself and Aurivy had passed through the wall, I used my ki to propel me upwards. All the while, a confused expression could be seen on my face, my eyes narrowed in focus.


    When we reached the top floor, I used the same spell key to open the ceiling, flying up through it. Finally, Aurivy was able to see what had me moving so urgently. Someone was standing right outside the barrier of the Sky Citadel. Rather, there were ten someones, each dressed in bloody, red clothes.


    At the front was a woman who appeared in herter teenage years, finally showing signs of aging from thest time I saw her. She stepped forward, her hand pressed against the barrier. ¡°Good evening, Keeper.¡± Scarlet said softly. Hernguage was¡­ not quite English, but I could still hear the simrities.


    I let out a sigh when I saw that the energies I had detected turned out to be the Martial Spirits. ¡°Scarlet¡­ how did you even get here?¡± We hadn¡¯t been in this area long enough for her to cross the ocean. And I knew that there was no way she could be a mage or a druid. Her body itself rejected the production of mana.


    Scarlet took her hand off the barrier, crossing her arms behind her back. ¡°I asked one of the fairies to bring us here.¡± She answered simply. ¡°I was hoping to speak with you, is that alright?¡±


    When I gave a nod to her question, Aurivy snapped her fingers. Rather than the disy of golden mist she normally put up, Scarlet simply disappeared from her previous location, instead standing directly in front of us. She blinked momentarily in surprise, before offering a thankful nce towards Aurivy. ¡°Well, at least now we know why you weren¡¯t able to stay with us all those years ago.¡± She said with a soft tone, her deep red eyes turning to look at me.


    I let out a soft sigh, shaking my head. ¡°Sorry, things have been¡­ Hectic, you could say.¡±


    ¡°It is perfectly alright. None of us me you.¡± Scarlet spoke in the same gentle tone. She nced back to her nine brothers and sisters, before turning to look at me again. ¡°However,tely there have been some issues with the lesser kin. Issues that I wanted to clear up with you.¡±


    I rose a curious brow, not knowing what she meant. From what I had nced over during the fast forwards, the lower ranked martial spirits hadn¡¯t been making much of a fuss with the sapient races. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±


    ¡°The lesser kin wish to be represented as equals with your races.¡± Scarlet spoke with a wry smile. ¡°Many of them are¡­ not as intelligent, but they believe that they have earned the right. It is something that we have seen over thest few years. When word reached them that you were choosing representatives from your races, they began to question why they were not given equal treatment.¡±


    Once again, I couldn¡¯t help but sigh. In truth, I had nearly forgotten about their existence as a people. Scarlet and her group were one thing, as they were born as intelligent beings. But those below them were little more than feral monsters with a few scattered tribes. ¡°If one of you want to be their representative, that would be fine.¡±


    I had no desire to alienate a single group. Even the merkin, who were still firmly rooted in the stone age had the chance to assign a representative. I had the feeling that they had simply forgotten¡­


    Scarlet offered a brief nod, smiling at my eptance. ¡°Thank you, Keeper. If that is fine with you, then I would like to be your voice to our lesser kin.¡±


    Again, there was no reason to deny her request. If anything, having the representative be Scarlet herself would only make it easier on me. ¡°Okay. I¡¯m giving all of the representatives the option to live in the Sky Citadel¡­ would you like to?¡±


    Almost immediately, Scarlet shook her head. ¡°No thank you. I wish to remain with my people. Our numbers are still so few, even after all this time. Maybe in another age, I will ept your offer. But for now¡­¡±


    I gave an understanding nod at that. ¡°Alright¡­ is there anything else?¡±


    Scarlet looked as if she had to consider that for a moment. ¡°I can feel two auras of blood within your pce, Keeper. One, like us¡­ No doubt, one of your guests has formed a pact with a lesser kin. The other¡­ one of your guests has walked through fields of death and in countless beings.¡±


    ¡°The aura is hidden, suppressed by a tempered mind. But we are of blood, and the scent of blood fills the air they pass through. I do not fear for your safety, as I can also feel your own strength. However, I wish you caution. Learn the mind of the one who has walked with death.¡±


    ¡°As for the one who contracted a lesser kin¡­ it is only the lowest of kin, the most feral. Their desires will be simple, but powerful. And if they find that they can¡¯t get what they want, the lesser kin will lead them to ughter. If possible, do not anger the one who holds the pact. If that cannot be avoided¡­ then simply ensure that the other one can act, and will not do so against you.¡±


    This was the most I had ever heard Scarlet talk at once, and I had to say that it caught me by surprise. Thinking of who could have contracted a Martial Spirit, my guess naturally went towards Melora. I knew that she was a monk, which was the basic requirement to do so.


    As for the ¡®aura of bloodshed¡¯, my mind naturally went towards the unassuming maid. I had glimpsed a knife hidden beneath her clothes, and her level showed that she was easily the strongest representative here. Of the representatives, the lowest levels were from the halflings and elves. So I highly doubted that Trixy was either aura. At least, she shouldn¡¯t have been the second aura.


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind, Scarlet.¡± I told her with a nod. I¡¯d need to speak to the representatives a bit more anyways,ter on. And if what Scarlet said was true, it was likely that the owner of the martial spirit would act up. Maybe not at first, but eventually. And when they did, they were bound to make one hell of a mess¡­


    Scarlet smiled, and then turned to look at Aurivy. ¡°Can I trouble you to send be back out¡­? I cannot pass through this barrier.¡±


    ¡°Sure thing!¡± Aurivy grinned, snapping her fingers again. Scarlet was gone just as quickly as she had appeared, once more joining the others outside of the barrier. Turning around to face them, her body exploded into a bloody mist, which quickly faded away. One by one the others joined her, vanishing from the area around the citadel.


    ¡°So¡­ uhm¡­ Dale.¡± Aurivy spoke, somewhat nervously. ¡°There are a couple of things that you should know¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­Aurivy?¡± I had never seen her act like this, so I couldn¡¯t help but be worried.


    ¡°Ah! It¡¯s nothing too bad, really! I just wanted to clear something up after what Scarlet said!¡± She shook her hands in front of her face, shaking her head quickly.


    ¡°¡­Is Trixy the owner of the martial spirit after all?¡± I asked in surprise, to which Aurivy nodded her head. There weren¡¯t a lot of things that she could tell me after that that would be rted to what Scarlet said.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ That¡¯s also why she seems so weak. Even though they are separate entities, the system wouldn¡¯t allow theirbined level to exceed the limit, back when there was a limit. But¡­ when you¡¯re just looking at her, you¡¯ll only see her level. To see the other thing¡¯s levels, you¡¯ll need to focus a bit harder.¡±


    I had to admit, I was not expecting Trixy to be the one with the martial spirit¡­ though it did make a bit of sense, given the race¡¯s propensity for taming creatures. If anything, it should have been odd that she was without any animal or monsterpanion. ¡°The other one she was talking about¡­ that¡¯s still the maid, right?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask, wanting to make sure that both of my expectations weren¡¯t wrong.


    ¡°Oh, totally!¡± Aurivy said with a sharp nod. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s all part of their training. They even call it the ¡®trial of blood¡¯! Send young initiates out into the forest alone, with no equipment to protect themselves. They have to survivepletely on their own for a full year to pass the trial! And that¡¯s a year in an area where the average level of a monster is over two hundred.¡±


    I felt a brief shiver as I imagined that. A young child¡­ one whose level was likely not even fifty yet, sent out to the wilderness like that for training. ¡°Okay¡­ so she definitely is the one for that.¡±


    ¡°Right? Anyways, I just wanted to let you know. Trixy has her martial spirit, and I didn¡¯t want that to be a problemter on.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for letting me know.¡± I smiled, reaching up to pat Aurivy on the shoulder. ¡°Saves me a bit of trouble.¡±

 Chapter 202: Bloody Bonds

    <h4>Chapter 202: Bloody Bonds</h4>


    Naturally, I had no desire to wait to handle the matter with the halfling representative. Once Scarlet and the rest of the rank ten spirits were gone, I began moving back into the Citadel. Since there was not as much of a rush this time, I chose not to take the elevator passage. Well, that and the fact that it was hard to judge which section of the wall was which floor.


    At least with the navigation perk I unlocked a while back, I could easily find my way to Trixy¡¯s room, the path that it took simply didn¡¯t lead through any secret passages. Probably some silly nonsense about walls not being proper paths. Either way, Aurivy continued to trail behind me, humming happily again as we moved to the room.


    Once we arrived, I gave a firm knock on the door. Thest thing I wanted was to walk in on her changing and cause a scene. ¡°Huh? Uhm¡­e in!¡± Her voice called out from within the room. As I opened the door, I found her standing at the wardrobe, folding a shirt to slip into one of the drawers. ¡°Oh, Keeper! Sorry, uhm¡­ did you need something?¡±


    Rather than answering right away, I focused my sight on her. Aurivy had said that I would need to look past the surface in order to see the information about the martial spirit contained within her. And sure enough, I found a second information window appearing when my gaze focused on the nervous girl.


    Level 135 Trixy Lorane


    Level 170 Rank 1 Martial Spirit


    I gave a brief nod as I confirmed the information, sighing as I looked at Trixy. The girl was sweating all over, her eyes shaking. Her hands clutched at her shirt. ¡°K-Keeper?¡±


    ¡°The creature living inside of you¡­ is it going to pose a problem?¡± It was truly the lowest ranked martial spirit, just as Scarlet had said. Naturally, that meant that it also had the lowest intelligence out of all of them.


    ¡°H-huh? Pool? You uh¡­ you saw him?¡± She backed up half a step as she said that, looking every bit like a deer caught in headlights.


    ¡°Is that it¡¯s name?¡± I mused quietly, before shaking his head. ¡°I just need to know if he will create an issue.¡±


    ¡°N-no! He won¡¯t hurt anyone! He just protects me, I swear!¡± Trixy shouted out urgently, her voice itself shaking when she realized her outburst. ¡°I-I mean. He likes it when he gets the chance to hunt, but you said that we won¡¯t get to hunt anymore. I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll understand¡­¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but let out another sigh at that. Briefly, I ran through a list of options in my head. Naturally, it would be impossible to let Trixy down on a regr basis to hunt. Doing so would be a gross misuse of Aurivy¡¯s power.


    After a few moments of thought, an idea urred to me. ¡°What is it that ¡®Pool¡¯ likes about hunting? Is it the fight, or actually killing something?¡± If it was just the creature¡¯s instincts to kill that caused it to want to hunt, then this would be a problem. We might even need to get a new representative from the halflings.


    ¡°Killing? Oh, no! No, he just loves running around and fighting things! He only really kills to protect me¡­ or when we¡¯re hungry.¡±


    I could feel a faint smile forming on my lips at that, and the giggle from behind me let me know that Aurivy had caught onto my solution. ¡°Follow me, then.¡± I told Trixy, giving her a moment to process the order before turning around and walking out of the room.


    ¡°Huh? Oh, okay!¡± She called out, following just behind me. ¡°Does this mean that we¡¯ll be able to hunt again?¡±


    ¡°Not quite¡­¡± I shook my head at the question, leading her down the stairs. Thankfully, I could still feel the kitsune maid¡¯s presence nearby. Her ki was stronger than Trixy¡¯s, and even Melora¡¯s, but it was far more well hidden. If there were more people in the Citadel, then I likely wouldn¡¯t be able to find her without help.


    Once we got to the library, we saw her sitting at one of the reading tables, a pile of books on either side of her. Although she had an intense expression on her face, her ears flicked as soon as we began to approach. Quickly, she closed the book that she was reading, and looked up at us. ¡°Keeper. And¡­ Halfling?¡± She asked, doing her best to recall the name of Trixy¡¯s race.


    Of course, Trixy had had no time yet to study English, so it came as no surprise when she was unable to understand the maid¡¯s words. However, I simply nodded in her ce. ¡°That¡¯s right. I would like to ask you to help me with a task involving this one.¡±


    As soon as I finished my words, the maid had vanished from her position, instead appearing down on one knee in front of me. One fist pressed against the ground, as the other pressed against her chest. Her ears stood straight up, and even her tail had turned still behind her. ¡°Whatever youmand of me, Keeper.¡±


    I did my best not to show my surprise at her sudden movement. With my full abilities unlocked, it was not often that things happened too fast for me to track. However, even though moving through chakra is instantaneous, I almost didn¡¯t even feel her use chakra when she moved. Clearly, she used only the bare minimum required for the act, and did so as an instinctive response.


    ¡°Trixy. Let Pool out.¡± I spoke, switching to the halflingnguage for a moment to deliver those words.


    ¡°Huh? Are you sure¡­ well, alright.¡± She muttered to herself, before closing her eyes. ¡°It¡¯s alright, Pool, you cane out now.¡± The words were whispered, just barely loud enough that the rest of us could make them out.


    ncing back, I saw a bloody glow emerge from Trixy¡¯s hand, red vapor seeping out of her pores. As the vapor congealed in the air, it took on a liquid form, which quickly solidified in the shape of a small dog. A blood-red hound just asrge as Trixy herself, its body crouched low and dangerous. An audible snarl emerged from its lips as it stared not at me, but the maid in front of us.


    However, its stare onlysted the briefest moment. As soon as the maid¡¯s eyes opened, shifting upwards to look at the creature, the growl vanished. Pool¡¯s eyes closed, and he covered his head with his paws, whimpering pitifully.


    ¡°Pool, are you okay!?¡± Trixy asked, understandably worried at the martial spirit¡¯s sudden change in behavior. She stepped in front of the giant dog, trying to ce her hand on its paws. However, Pool took advantage of the situation to hide behind her, hisrge bodyically hidden behind the small halfling. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Keeper, he never acts like this!¡±


    However, I couldn¡¯t help butugh lightly as I saw the event ying out. Scarlet had proven that martial spirits were extremely sensitive to auras of blood, so much that she was able to identify the maid from the other side of the Citadel, as well as the presence of Pool himself. And now I understood why Scarlet said to make sure that the maid was able to act if things went bad. ¡°Well, this will make things easier.¡±


    I sent a silent prayer to Aurivy, asking her to trante my words to Trixy so that I would not have to repeat myself. Looking to the maid, I spoke with a small smile. ¡°I would like you to ¡®spar¡¯ with the creature every now and then. It requires regr exercise to prevent it from running wild.¡±


    The fox girl tilted her head slightly, before lowering it to the ground once again. ¡°If that is your wish, my lord. I assume you do not wish the creature killed?¡±


    ¡°No killing Pool!¡± Trixy suddenly blurted out, turning around and spreading her arms to shield the martial spirit behind her. It seemed like Aurivy was tranting the maid¡¯s words as well.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. There¡¯s no need to kill it.¡± I confirmed, being met with a nod by the maid.


    ¡°Understood. I will follow your words.¡± After saying that, she lifted her head again to look at the martial spirit hiding behind Trixy. ¡°Please inform me when he needs to¡­ exercise.¡±


    There was an audible gulp from the nervous halfling, and it seemed like Pool couldn¡¯t take it anymore. His body exploded into a mist of blood, pouring back into Trixy¡¯s body. Strangely, she seemed to rx after Pool merged with her once again.


    ¡°You can go back to your room now, Trixy.¡± I told her, looking back at the halfling. As if my words were a signal for a race, the small girl turned and bolted for the door faster than I knew she was capable of. She even seemed to be using ki to push herself to retreat faster and faster.


    And, as my eyes turned back towards the maid, I couldn¡¯t help but crease my brow. It was because of the information that I had been seeing from the maid herself ever since I first saw her. Also the reason why I could still not call her by name.


    Level 313 Kitsune


    Like the martial spirit, she simply did not have a real name. Aurivy, name, exin.


    Ah, whoops! Sorry! Aurivy quickly responded to my mental message. In the ninja vige, the Servants have no name. They lose it in their childhood training. It is up to their future master to name them. It is a mark of pride for them to be named by their master.


    That¡­ would have been good to know before. Here I was, worried that her name was actually Kitsune. That would have been about as awkward as running into someone named Human Smith or something.


    Thinking about it for a moment, I called out the first name that came to mind, which was notpletely terrible and something that I¡¯d be able to remember easily. ¡°Tsubaki.¡± It was the first name I thought of when I thought of a female ninja¡­


    The maid¡¯s ears twitched a bit at the sudden address. Though, when nobody responded to the name, she nced up at me curiously. ¡°Keeper, do you mean¡­?¡± She asked, and I could feel a tinge of hope in her tone.


    ¡°That is your name now.¡± I told her simply. To someone who did not know the situation, it might look like I had personally stripped her of her old name to brand her with a new one. Instead, from Aurivy¡¯s description, this is literally what she has trained for.


    ¡°Yes!¡± She nodded her head in understanding. The maid¡­ no, Tsubaki lowered her head to look at the floor once again, though I could see the fist nted against the ground trembling slightly. ¡°Soo¡­ bah¡­ ki. Tsubaki will treasure the name given to her!¡± After sounding the name out to herself, she dered her intentions.


    ¡°You can rise now, Tsubaki.¡± I said, cing my hands behind my back. Unlike her quick movement before, she rose far more gracefully. In one fluid motion she was back on her feet, her hands folded neatly in front of herself.


    ¡°Is there anything else that I can do for you, my lord?¡± Tsubaki asked, a newfound eagerness in her tone.


    ¡°Not at the moment, no. If somethinges up, I will be sure to let you know. For now, I will let you return to your reading.¡± She seemed to dete slightly when I turned down the request. However, the moment I mentioned her books, her expression brightened once more.


    ¡°Yes, Keeper!¡± Tsubaki spoke with an energetic nod, already back in her seat faster than I could blink. The book that had been closed when we arrived was suddenly opened once again, a wide and happy smile on the kitsune¡¯s face as she began to pore through it.


    Well¡­ that¡¯s those problems down¡­ I thought to myself as I turned to leave the library.

 Chapter 203: The Spirit of Destruction

    <h4>Chapter 203: The Spirit of Destruction</h4>


    ¡°So now what?¡± Aurivy asked as we left the library, closing the doors behind us. In order to ensure that the people inside would not be disturbed, Tubrock had ced noise canceling enchantments on the walls and doors of the library. No matter how sensitive Tsubaki¡¯s hearing was, she wouldn¡¯t be able to hear us now. As for Trixy, I could still feel her presence moving further and further away towards her room.


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ honestly not sure.¡± I had to admit, taking a moment to think about it. ¡°I took care of the problems with Trixy, resolved my concerns with Tsubaki, and handled all of the immediate emergencies. I think I actually have some free time now.¡±


    I could return to the Admin Room and begin training in order to master the World Sight energy that Balu told me about. However, I wasn¡¯t even sure where to begin with that, and would have to first conduct more research to see if there were anymon themes with it among other Keepers¡¯ worlds. If there are, then that would at least give me a starting point.


    ¡°Well, how about we do a bit of training that you can actually do on Earth?¡± Aurivy asked with a wide grin. ¡°You still have so many abilities that you haven¡¯t properly explored, right?¡±


    Aurivy did have a point. Though, most of those abilities I didn¡¯t explore because the didn¡¯t really suit my talents¡­ Wait, that reminded me. ¡°I have a better idea.¡± I said with a small smile. ¡°Leowynn?¡±


    Yes, father? She spoke up from within me as soon as I called her name, curious about what I might want.


    ¡°Are you ready to go on a field trip to train?¡± She had said that she would need to consume arge amount of spiritual energy to ¡®level up¡¯, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. Plus¡­ it would give me a look at an area I¡¯ve never been before.


    Yes, father! She repeated the same words again, though this time much more enthusiastically. Next to me, Aurivy let out a reluctant sigh.


    ¡°Get my hopes up and smash ¡®em back down. Oh well, we¡¯ll be able to train together soon, I¡¯m sure!¡± Sure cheered herself up, bringing her hands up to p her cheeks before turning to look at me. ¡°There¡¯s no air in the Underworld, so you¡¯ll have to go back to descend as a spirit or daeva.¡±


    I gave a brief nod to her reminder, checking to make sure that nobody was in the hall watching us, and then ascended to the Admin Room again. I wasn¡¯t there for long, just enough time to select a different descent point and body. Though¡­ this would also be the first time that I had descended as a spirit in a long time.


    Just as I was nning to descend, a voice shot into my mind. Wait! The voice belonged to Irena, catching me by surprise. Momentster, she materialized in my room, a focused expression on her face. ¡°You are preparing to descend to the Underworld, correct?¡±


    I nodded my head slightly, confused about her sudden appearance. However, she let out a sigh, her wings rxing as she shook her head. ¡°Were you nning to visit the monster zone?¡±


    ¡°Well, I had been thinking about it, yes.¡±


    Irena gave a knowing nod before reaching into her breast pocket. ¡°You don¡¯t have ess to the levels of the living world as a spirit, remember? I know that it has been an age since you visited. If you want to descend, you will need this.¡±


    The item that she retrieved from her pocket was a ck fountain pen, the tip looking to be made from gold. I immediately recognized it as the Quill of Souls that Tubrock had created. Irena¡¯s own godly artifact that could easily neutralize high level monster souls.


    ¡°This will handle your offensive power. As for your defense, you will have my blessing.¡± Irena promised, slipping the pen into my hand. She let her hand rest in mine for a brief moment before pulling it back. ¡°But before you visit the monster zone, I suggest you familiarize yourself with the functions of the pen.¡±


    To be honest, it had been so long since I had gone to the Underworld that I had forgotten that the sses aren¡¯t all shared between it and the living worlds. My power would receive a drastic cut. And given that the concept of a level limit had never restricted the growth of monster spirits, I could very likely meet monsters at the same level of power as myself.


    For a moment, I wondered whether it would be best to avoid going altogether, and get the energy Leowynn needs through another method. However, seeing the reassuring smile on Irena¡¯s face, I decided to trust her. At the same time, I would take her advice and not immediately go to the monster zone.


    Changing my ¡®spawn point¡¯, I allowed myself to descend. As I wasn¡¯t going anywhere public, I had chosen my normal human body, give or take the fact I was only a spirit.


    When I appeared, I found myself in an endlessndscape of grey mist, my feet lightly touching on something I recognized to be solid ground. As soon as that thought urred to me, my body stabilized. The fog thickened and lowered, forming into a wide plot ofnd beneath me.


    The area that I had chosen to descend to was an uninhabited part of the Underworld, out beyond the areas that the ghosts had upied. As such, it seemed that the world was responding to my thoughts. This would make for good practice, even before I go to the monster area.


    ¡°You cane out, Leowynn.¡± I said quietly, and felt her energies separating from my own. The connection seemed much deeper here, now that we were both nothing but souls.


    Leowynn stepped onto the hard ground, ncing down at it. ¡°So, this is what the afterlife is like?¡± She asked, looking up. ¡°Somehow, I thought there¡¯d be¡­ oh.¡±


    Before she had even finished her sentence, lights began to appear in the sky above us, one by one forming from the mist. Each one represented a star that she had seen in her life, appearing just as they had on the day she had died. ¡°This is so weird¡­¡±


    ¡°Believe me, I understand.¡± I muttered. Closing my eyes, I conjured my information window, half in dread of what I expected to see.


    Name


    Dale Mitchell


    Race


    Human Soul(Keeper)


    Strength


    6(6)


    Spiritual Energy


    333/333(28498/28498)


    Stamina


    6(6)


    Intelligence


    7(44)


    Dexterity


    12(85)


    Wisdom


    15(119)


    Luck


    5(5)


    Charm


    5(36)


    ss List


    Guardian Spirit 0(38)


    Reaper 0(112)


    Spirit Hunter 21(130)


    Spirit Tamer 6(128)


    Even having expected it, I let out a groan upon seeing the reduction in my overall level. Me as a living Keeper could kill me as a spirit Keeper just by casually waving a hand. And given how the sses were bnced, it seemed likely that it was difficult to advance one without the other after a certain point.


    Still, I had Irena¡¯s godly weapon to back me up. Not only that, but I had the Goddess of the Underworld herself watching over me. Of course, I still wouldn¡¯t take anypletely stupid risks, but this gave me more assurance.


    Looking down at the pen, I aimed it up towards the starry sky that Leowynn had created. At first, nothing happened, until I began to focus on the pen itself. I let out a groan, feeling as if something had cut away at a part of my essence. But the scene above me had changed drastically, at the same time.


    A golden vortex spread out from the pen, and the stars above us began to shake. One by one, they shattered into a burst of mist that streamed down into the pen, vanishing inside of it. Once the stars had all been destroyed, the vortex vanished.


    The pen seemed to feel heavier in my hands, as if to tell me that it had consumed the energy properly. So next, I pointed the pen at the ground and focused on the pen¡¯s second ability. As soon as the thought had urred to me, a ck ray shot out from the tip of the pen.


    Once the ray had touched the ground, I felt as if the world shook beneath me. Cracks spreading out along the surface, causing Leowynn to stumble and fall. Her eyes widening as she saw a hole appearing in front of me, growing wider and wider. Since the ground had only been a thinyer of spiritual mist, there appeared to be nothing beneath us but endless fog.


    It didn¡¯t take long for the ck ray to pass, the pen bing lighter once again. I felt a smilee to my lips as I looked down at the holy relic. And ncing at my character window once again, I saw that it had consumed exactly a thousand spiritual energy in order to absorb the energy into the pen. As for expelling it, that had only taken a mentalmand.


    Irena. I sent a message to the goddess watching over me. Is it possible to absorb the energies inside of the pen?


    It is, Dale. Irena responded, her voice seeming relieved. That is why I wanted you to familiarize yourself with its use. In the Underworld, your spiritual energy is your life. Spend too much of it, and you will die.


    Would it be possible to have Leowynn absorb the energies? Our reason for visiting the monster zone was to help her strengthen herself, not for myself.


    To my question, there was a brief pause before she answered. Yes, that would be possible. At present, Leowynn is regarded in the system as a monster spirit. Theoretically, there is no limit to how strong she can be, even when the level cap was in ce. However, you must take care not to let her absorb the energy too quickly, or else her spirit could copse.


    I gave a brief nod, before looking towards Leowynn. The former demigoddess was currently pushing herself back up to her feet while the ground beneath us began to repair itself. ¡°That was¡­ wow.¡± She muttered, ncing warily towards the pen in my hand.


    The same pen that I passed towards her. She took it with a confused expression that slowly became brighter as I exined. ¡°This is Irena¡¯s holy weapon. With it, you can absorb all the spiritual energy you could ever want from the area around us. You just have to be careful not to take it in too quickly.¡±


    ¡°You mean, we don¡¯t have to go to the monster zone?¡± She asked, both disappointed and pleased at the same time. It seemed that she was excited to see what was on the other side of the Underworld, but possibly not quite confident in our chances.


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± I nodded, stepping aside so that she could examine the pen.


    ¡°Okay, I can do this.¡± She spoke, mostly to herself. Seeing as I had already devoured the sky with my test, she aimed the pen downwards and ahead of herself. When she focused, I could see her wincing. Above her, a grey health bar appeared, dropping down to just below the halfway points.


    However, before I could even worry about therge cost of using the item for her, the bar immediately filled again. Once it was full, it disappeared entirely, showing that she was already back to her peak condition. Not only that, but I could feel her presence growing stronger¡­ the notification windows that appeared certainly helped.


    Level 150 Leowynn has consumed a massive amount of spiritual energy! Her level has increased!


    Level 151 Leowynn has consumed a massive amount of spiritual energy! Her level has increased!


    ¡­


    The messages came in one after another, until finally I saw some strain beginning to form on Leowynn¡¯s face. The pen was still madly absorbing the energy around her, and it looked like she was feeding on the energy as it came to her. Unlike when we were in the living world, there was no rejection here. This energy was pure, and did not belong to any creature.


    ¡°Leowynn, enough!¡± I called out, startling her from her focused ¡®training¡¯. In just a few short moments, she had gained thirty levels, but I could see the pain on her face. More than that, her skin was starting to blur, as if she was losing her ability to hold herself together.


    Once the vortex vanished, her body became vivid once again. ¡°Sorry, I lost control there for a second¡­¡± She apologized, looking down at the pen. ¡°I think¡­ I think I can do this. I just need time.¡±


    I gave a small nod, stepping up and gently taking the pen from her. ¡°You¡¯ll have timeter. For now, we¡¯re going back so that you can stabilize, and make sure that you can control what you have now. You just did years worth of training in mere minutes.¡±


    She blinked in surprise at that, as if not understanding herself just how much she had grown. ¡°Oh¡­ okay.¡± She muttered, seeming distracted. I hurriedly called her back inside of me, and ascended to the Admin Room. If there was anywhere she could properly and safely stabilize her power, it would be up there.

 Chapter 204: More Research!

    <h4>Chapter 204: More Research!</h4>


    Once we got to the Admin Room, Leowynn immediately emerged from my body. ¡°Sorry, father¡­¡± She muttered, shaking her head. ¡°Just¡­ give me a moment.¡±


    ¡°You could have stayed inside.¡± I told her, raising an eyebrow. If anything, I had expected her to take the time to rest and recover in my spiritual realm while we were up here.


    However, she only briefly shook her head. ¡°No¡­ your spirit is still too strong. Normally, it¡¯s fine. But right now¡­¡±


    I nodded as I heard that. ¡°Alright. Is there anything I can do to help?¡± When I asked that, she just smiled weakly. Thankfully, her body was not bing blurred again, so it didn¡¯t seem like she was in any danger right now.


    ¡°Just time, I think. Maybe Irena¡­?¡±


    Just as Leowynn was beginning to ask for her, Irena spoke up from behind me. ¡°I¡¯m already here child.¡± She said in a gentle tone, walking past me and putting a hand on Leowynn¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, everything will be fine. Thankfully, Dale stopped you in time.¡±


    Leowynn briefly nodded at that, her eyes closing as she sat down on the bed. I watched her, while Irena moved to sit down next to her, gently stroking her hand through Leowynn¡¯s hair. I could vaguely see a bit of grey mist floating up from the area that Irena touched, as if she was siphoning off the excess energy from Leowynn.


    Seeing that this was taken care of now, I moved back to sit down at theputer. I couldn¡¯t return down to the world until Leowynn had recovered, so now¡­ it was time to conduct more research!


    Thankfully, I had the perfect subject to research, thanks to Balu¡¯s recent visit. Opening up the forums, I ran a search for ¡®World Sight¡¯, hoping to find information that I could use. The first thing that popped up was the market information¡­ with the first and only tier being priced at one hundred thousand points.


    Just how advanced is this energy?! I thought to myself, before calming down and remembering what Balu said. ording to her words, the price shouldn¡¯t be because the energy is advanced, but rather because the energy had so few uses. From what Balu had said, the only thing it could be used for was detection.


    If that was the case, then the system might have simply consolidated all of the information into one tier, and priced it ording to that metric. Which meant that the biggest benefit of buying the information would be the guide to create it¡­ And there was no way I was spending a hundred thousand points just for that.


    Scrolling down further through the search results, I found people actually discussing this energy. There seemed to be a lot of threads created on whether or not it could really be used for anything else. Some people saying that they found the secret, but refusing to tell¡­ which in my mind tranted to them simply lying.


    Further down, I found people asking for tips on how to create the world sight¡­ As for the responses, the main one that I saw was the same form that had been given to me.


    Due to the differences in energy structures between worlds, it is really impossible to say for sure how to create any one energy type. But, here are some of the important steps that seem to bemon in most cases. Don¡¯t be upset if they don¡¯t work in your particr world.


    In general, making World Sight can be done in three stages. Once you make it, you can keep it within yourself and ¡®feed¡¯ it over time.


    The first step is to mix Mana, Ki, and Natural energy in a 1:2:1 ratio. In some worlds, this can be done as easily as pushing the three energies together. And in other worlds, it requires moreplicated procedures.


    Next, you have to move fast. The first step¡¯s fusion is an unstable energy, and will explode if not treated immediately. The second step is to use double the amount of mana you originally used to cate the unstable energy and stabilize it. Again, the exact method to do this differs from world to world.


    At this point, you technically have World Sight already. However, in its current stage you won¡¯t be able to grow it within yourself, and won¡¯t be able to receive the information from it. To do so, you need to bind it to your spirit with the listed amount of spiritual energy. Doing this will absorb the energy into your body, and let you release it at will.


    In order to make it grow, simply feed it the same energy types that created it, and it will begin to strengthen gradually.


    Warning: Do not attempt to do this in your own world first. ALWAYS practice in the Administration Room. Otherwise, the wrong mixtures may identally kill you.


    Well¡­ that wasn¡¯t really all that helpful, though it did somewhat narrow down the steps I¡¯d need to take to create the energy myself. Below that post were mixed replies, some thanking the poster and othersining that the guide did not help them. Take it with a pir of salt, I guess¡­


    While I was here, I decided to look up the other four energy types that she had given me as well. It wouldn¡¯t really matter even if I managed to create world sight myself, if my reason for creating it turned out to be a lie.


    First up, the Perfect Soul¡­ Unlike world sight, this one was split into several tiers within the system market, though the cheapest was priced at a thousand points. And the final tier at nearly a million¡­


    Anyways, scrolling down, I found a description of this energy as well. Like Balu had said, it was a ss designed to give one total control of their own soul, but without actually killing themselves like the Perfect Self did¡­ Though, it did have a warning that practicing it could bring you close to death, so you should only do so in a safe environment.


    Once the Perfect Soul was created, it would be the core of their spirit. If a mortal practiced the energy and died, they could recreate their body so long as their soul wasn¡¯t scattered. Of course¡­ the same could not be said of a Keeper, as death was indeed final for them.


    Next was the Divine Soul, which I found to be listed as the ¡®first real step to divinity¡¯. Everyone had their own spark of divinity hidden within themselves, which I had experienced firsthand. I already knew that bards drew on that power to create special effects with their voice. The Divine Soul requires using mana to capture that spark, and ce it within your Perfect Soul, using the energy of the world itself to stabilize your spirit.


    Again, this was another risky strategy, as it could lead to the death of the Keeper if not practiced thoroughly before attempting it. But if it seeded, then you would begin to generate more divine energy within your soul than a normal mortal¡­


    Of course, after this came the Divine Body. As you could guess, this meant upgrading your godly soul to a godly body. If you managed to do this, then you would begin to radiate more and more divine power. ording to the description, you could be seen as the descended version of a god.


    Finally¡­ there was the Divine Will. This one had a warning pped onto it, making sure that Keepers were very careful about who they allowed to cultivate to this stage. This was the final bridge between mortals and gods. Although someone who practiced divine will could still be killed, they could exercise almost the same strength as a god created by the system.


    Once I was done reading the posts on the forums, I sat back in the chair, my brows knit together. Certainly, it did not seem like Balu had lied to me. She might have understated the risks a bit, but that wasn¡¯t all that unreasonable. If I took into ount how old Balu most likely was, she could have practiced this energy dozens of times already to the point where it stopped being a risk for her.


    There was also her suggestion to practice world sight first. She said it would help me to create the other energies as time went on. So I couldn¡¯t even really say that she had neglected to warn me, given that she had instead given me the method of reducing the danger.


    Though, this did create one concern for me¡­ Terra, can you meet me in the living room? I asked as I stood up, leaving Irena and Leowynn behind as I moved out towards the living room.


    Already there. She replied a momentter in her usual mischievous tone. Either she had dropped whatever she was doing to meet me, or she had anticipated me needing to talk to her¡­ either way, I was just d that I didn¡¯t have to wait.


    Once I got out to the living room, I saw Terraying sideways on the sofa, her legs propped up on one end to light kick off the side of the couch. In truth, she looked¡­ utterly bored. ¡°What¡¯s up, Dale?¡± She asked as I entered the room, not even lifting her head up to look at me.


    ¡°I need to talk about those energies that Balu told me about.¡±


    When she heard my response, I had just gotten close enough to see her eyebrows furrowing. ¡°You know I can¡¯t do that¡­¡± She muttered, mostly to herself.


    ¡°Okay¡­ more specific topic, then.¡± I shook my head. ¡°If I fundamentally change my soul, what would happen to a being residing in my soul at the time?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯d be destroyed.¡± Terra said simply, sighing as she turned on the couch to sit up. ¡°Which was why I had nned to suggest you let Leowynn out to y while you trained.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t hurt her if she¡¯s not in my body at the time?¡± I asked, surprised that the answer was so simple. I had been worried that practicing the Perfect Soul or Divine Soul might kill her when it changed theposition of my spirit.


    ¡°It won¡¯t be veryfortable.¡± Terra said with a shake of her head, leaning forward to rest her elbows against her knees. ¡°And it will take some getting used to when she enters your body again. But it won¡¯t really hurt her.¡±


    Well¡­ this was probably the best news I had heard all day. I felt a smile creep up onto my lips, before Terra fired off the same warning that she had given me before. ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you? You can¡¯t let anyone know how to create those energies. That includes Leowynn.¡±


    ¡°Ahh¡­¡± I gave a brief nod of understanding when she reminded me of that. ¡°So I would have had to get her to go do something else anyways¡­ but how do I stop the other gods and goddesses from watching me to figure out how to do it?¡±


    ¡°Same way thest Keeper hid from them.¡± Terra shrugged. ¡°You can remove their viewing rights to the world for a brief period. I can still safely see it, since I know how to create the energy myself already. And that way, I can pull you out of trouble if things go wrong. But you¡¯ll need to exin to them that you are doing something that they can¡¯t watch. Otherwise¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that could cause a lot of chaos.¡± I agreed. I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d be doing this any time in the next few days, but I was definitely going to try to get it taken care of once I was confident in my ability to do so.


    ¡°Exactly!¡± Terra said with an enthusiastic nod. ¡°And trust me, I don¡¯t want to see everyone falling apart over something like that. Though I imagine that Ryone will probably try to convince you to tell her¡­¡±


    I put on a knowing smile as I heard that. Ryone could be very convincing at times, but this time I¡¯d have to keep my mouth shut.

 Chapter 205: All Are Equal in His Eyes

    <h4>Chapter 205: All Are Equal in His Eyes</h4>


    Having settled the immediate issue that was worrying me with the cultivation of the Perfect Soul, I debated on what I should do next. Leowynn had likely not yet awoken, so I could not descend to the world again. Though, just to make sure, I sent a brief message to Irena.


    How¡¯s she doing? I asked, unable topletely hide the worry in my thoughts. Thankfully, it did not take long for Irena to respond.


    She¡¯ll be fine. Irena sent back only a momentter, a hint of amusement in her tone. She just had a big meal for the first time, so she needs time to digest. I¡¯ve already siphoned away enough that she is not in any danger. Once she has rested, she¡¯ll just wake up a bit sore.


    I gave a brief nod at that, happy to hear the good news. Thank you¡­ could you let me know when she wakes up?


    There were still a few other things that I could do while I waited for Leowynn to awaken. Smiling, I looked towards Terra. ¡°If anyone goes looking for me for a while, can you let me know? I¡¯m going to start training, see if I can¡¯t figure out how to get this all to work.¡±


    Terra blinked, turning her head to look at me as she was once again reclining sideways on the couch. ¡°Hmm? Sure. Though, it seems like everyone¡¯s busy with their own projects at the moment. Ryone and Tubrock are still making the cannons to guard the gates. Ashley and Udona are monitoring their own worlds. I suppose Bihena might go looking for you¡­ but I¡¯ll keep an eye on her.¡±


    I thanked her with a brief nod, before closing my eyes. I created a separate space for myself within the Admin Room, moving myself there. The space was little more than arge, dimly lit stone room, extending ten meters on all sides, but it was more than enough for the training that I wanted to do.


    When creating the world sight, or really any energy that involved natural energy, there was still on hurdle that I had yet to ovee. I¡­ didn¡¯t really know how to measure natural energy. This wasn¡¯t really that surprising, though. For every other energy type I was able to wield, I had a set measurement system in ce by the system itself.


    However, that was not the case with natural energy. Since it was an energy that came purely from the world around me, I had never had the chance to give it a value. There was the time when I was creating the world spirits, but even then I had no way to be sure. I couldn¡¯t exactly decide arbitrarily that the world spirits were formed from a 1:1 ratio, because that has often not been the case.


    Now, however, I had the ability to discover just how much a single unit of natural energy was. And in fact, I now had to do so if I wanted to pursue this type of energy. Otherwise, the results could turn a bit explosive¡­ And I was not wanting to experience my soul detonating inside of my body.


    Of course, there was another factor that I had to consider as well. Not only did I need to identify how much natural energy made up one ¡®unit¡¯, but I also had to correctly find the method to merge them. And the only way to be sure was to do both at the same time. After all, if I got the bnce wrong but the method correct, I would reach the same result as if the method itself was wrong, and vice versa.


    This is going to be just a lot of trial and error, isn¡¯t it? I asked myself with a grumble. Rather than diving into the deep end, I first pulled up the Keepe forums again. Since the big thing stopping me here was the inability to measure units of natural energy, I wanted to find another mixture that could bridge the gap.


    Search forbination energies utilizing natural energy and one other basic energy. Once I had set the search parameters in ce, a list began to grow in front of me. Naturally, some of the results I was familiar with. There were was ¡®World Spirit energy¡¯, elemental ki, elemental mana, but then there were others that I had not seen before.


    For the purpose of this search, elemental mana actually fit my needs rather well. So, rather than searching the forums for each and every energy I was unfamiliar with, and likely wasting my own time with things that I had never even heard of, I moved on. Once again, I searched on the forum, though this time specifically for elemental mana. All I wanted to know was the ratio needed to create it.


    For every one unit of mana, anywhere between 0.9 and 1.2 units of natural energy¡­ This was the answer that I found just a few postster. Apparently, elemental mana was a more flexible energy.


    However, this did give me a starting point, as I knew how to perform elementalist spells. Now it was just a matter of narrowing it down¡­


    _______________________________________________________________


    The Third Queen of Terraria sat upon her throne, hands crossed in front of her as she listened to theints of a noble. ¡°The forest dwellers are bing out of hand!¡± He growled out, his canine ears pressing against his skull. ¡°My queen, they have be more arrogant over the years! I believe that we have let them be independent for too long.¡±


    An amused smile yed on the face of the felyn queen, her red tail wrapping gently around her waist. ¡°And you would¡­ conquer them? Is that your intent? To divide our people even further?¡±


    The man¡¯s face paled, and he hurriedly shook his head. ¡°That has never been my intention, your highness. However, are they really our people?¡± As he spoke, his hands crossed behind his back, and he began pacing back and forth. ¡°Those of the forest have never been a part of Terraria. Nor have they been parts of al, Udonia, or Kelios. As far back as any living record indicates, they have never been one of us.¡±


    ¡°Enough.¡± The queen¡¯s harsh tone made the man stop in his track, looking to her in shock. Her eyes were narrowed dangerously, before she let out a sigh. ¡°If you have done your research as such, then surely there are other things you have uncovered? Such as how the Sistersmanded us not to attack the forest so many years ago, promising that they would aid us in our time of greatest need.¡±


    ¡°But they¡¯ve never lived up to that promise.¡± The lycan male continued to plead. ¡°Even in our war against the savages past the western sea, when our people were taken and enved, they did nothing. They even killed our own people to end the war.¡±


    The queen¡¯s face darkened at that mention. However, once again she forced her face to rx. ¡°There are reasons behind their actions, Hos. The Goddess herself spoke of this to the First Queen a short few years ago. If there is nothing more, then please leave¡­ The hour is growingte, and my patience grows thinner by the hour.¡±


    The nobleman looked as if he wished to speak up yet again, but kept his mouth closed. ¡°As you wish, your majesty. But please¡­ do not forget my words.¡± After he spoke, he turned and left the throne room.


    Once he was gone, the queen waved a hand to motion for the guards to dismiss themselves as well. Soon, only the queen herself was left in therge room, seated atop her throne. Yet, she spoke into the empty air. ¡°Is all of this truly okay?¡±


    And strangely¡­ the air spoke back to her, in a warm,forting tone. ¡°Of course it is, child.¡± The queen was not at all surprised by the motherly tone in the voice, and even showed a soft smile as she heard it.


    ¡°Is there no word from beyond yet, ancestor?¡±


    At the queen¡¯s question, a golden haired felyn materialized next to her, as if stepping forth from an invisible cloud. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, child. We¡¯ll find your mother¡¯s spirit. She did not die in a dungeon, so most likely she is already waiting in the beyond, and has simply not found where to register herself.¡±


    The queen gave a brief nod, sinking into thought. The circumstances of her mother¡¯s death had indeed been strange, but nothing too out of the ordinary. She had simply fallen ill. The only thing that worried the queen was when she asked the ancestor if she could pass a message along to her, to wish her well in the beyond. What she learned instead was that her mother¡¯s spirit couldn¡¯t be located.


    ¡°Is there anything that I can do to help, ancestor?¡± She asked tiredly, having been worried over this matter for some time now.


    ¡°I¡¯ve told you before, you can only wait. If someone has done harm to your mother¡¯s spirit, then they will face the proper punishment. And if not, then we will soon hear good news.¡± The guardian spirit promised once again, having already lost track of how many times she had said those words.


    The queen was about to speak up, but her face suddenly froze. A voice echoed in her mind, one that she had never known. ¡°Uhm, hello? I believe that you are the Third Queen Hipalya, correct?¡± The voice was curt and professional, sounding quite simr to the tone that amon messenger would use when addressing the queen.


    ¡°Who is this?¡± The queen asked out loud in response, startling the manifested spirit that stood next to her throne. As if on reflex, the spirit faded away from view, returning into the invisible state that she had been in before she had been called.


    ¡°Apologies. I am Tsubaki, the Voice of the Keeper chosen by the Forest. I am speaking to you from the Sky Citadel right now, using one of His devices.¡±


    ¡°The Voice¡­ so you are the representative that they chose¡­¡± The queen sighed, slumping back into her chair. She was not familiar with the internal hierarchy of the ninja viges, only that they had stepped forth after the Keeper¡¯s announcement. Their second real demand in history, and it had been delivered with a passion that made the First Queen know not to refuse. Let us choose the first Voice.


    They did not exin why they had demanded this, only saying that it has been their right for thousands of years, and that they were finally exercising it. ¡°Why are you speaking to me, Tsubaki? Shouldn¡¯t you first report to your elder?¡±


    ¡°I will be sending him a messageter. However, you are mistaken. I am now the property of the Keeper. The vige chief is no longer my elder.¡± Her words carried a firm strength behind them that seemed to shake the queen¡¯s mind. ¡°Now, I have already spoken to the first and second queens of Terraria. After our conversation is finished, I will begin to contact the royals of Udonia.¡±


    ¡°It is the Keeper¡¯s wish for all of our people to be treated equally. In order to abide by this wish, I will share knowledge equally with all of the Sisters¡¯ children.¡±


    The queen suddenly felt as if her throat were dry, and she found herself looking up at the ceiling, as if she could see the sky overhead. ¡°Share¡­ what knowledge?¡±


    ¡°The Sky Citadel contains a library of extensive information, much of which is unknown to any of our people. Secrets of mana, ki, nature, secrets of the spirit and the forge. The Keeper has given me permission to share this knowledge, so to follow his wishes I will ensure that it is shared equally.¡±


    ¡°You said that there are secrets about spirits?¡± The queen asked suddenly, jumping upright from her seat.


    ¡°I did¡­ Is something troubling you, Third Queen?¡± Normally, to be addressing the queen as such would be seen as incredibly rude, but the queen did not care for that. Not only was the position of the Voice something that gave Tsubaki that right, but she had information the queen desperately wanted.


    ¡°Please¡­ Thete queen¡¯s spirit has been missing.¡± The queen pleaded with the voice in her mind. ¡°It has been over a year now, and she cannot be found in the beyond. I fear that someone is doing ill with my mother¡¯s soul.¡±


    ¡°¡­Understood. Then, I will look for any tracking methods that can locate lost souls. I make no promises that I will be able to find what you seek, because the knowledge within the library is indeed too vast. But if I can find it, then the guardian spirit of Dukan should be able to use the knowledge to locate her.¡±


    The queen felt her eyes begin to water, her vision blurring with unshed tears. ¡°Thank you, Tsubaki.¡± She could tell that the voice was still as cold and professional as when she first contact the queen, but the fact that she had agreed to find that knowledge meant more than she could put into words.


    ¡°If that is all, then I will be going. I still have nine more queens to contact before I speak with the vige chief.¡± Tsubaki¡¯s words faded away, and the queen was too busy in her own thoughts to notice that the conversation had ended¡­

 Chapter 206: The Only Way to Travel

    <h4>Chapter 206: The Only Way to Travel</h4>


    She¡¯s awake now, Dale. Irena¡¯s voice came to me a few hours after I had begun training, making me let out a long breath. My clothes were ragged, but quickly patched themselves up with a thought as I stood, stretching my arms.


    I¡¯m on my way. I responded mentally to her, before focusing on shifting myself back to my room. My progress in the training¡­ well, there was a reason that the room I was leaving was full of ckened craters.


    I had managed to find the measurement for a single unit of natural energy, thanks to repeated attempts with elemental magic. However, the method to merge all three energies was still eluding me. Naturally, simply pushing them together didn¡¯t work. Blending them didn¡¯t work. Letting them saturate into each other would have blown me to pieces if I was descended at the time¡­


    So that was going to be something I¡¯d revisitter. For now, I appeared next to my bed, finding Irena and Leowynn still on it. Irena smiled gently down at the elven girl, who was slowly opening her eyes. Leowynn let out a groggy groan as she sat up, putting a hand on her forehead.


    ¡°How long was I asleep?¡± She asked, her brows furrowed and eyes narrowed in difort.


    ¡°About six hours, I¡¯d say.¡± I responded quickly, moving to sit on the other side of her from Irena. ¡°How are you feeling?¡±


    ¡°Aside from my head feeling like it¡¯s about to burst open¡­ actually pretty good.¡± She seemed surprised by her own words, looking up towards Irena and myself.


    ¡°That¡¯s just your spirit adjusting to the influx of energy that you received.¡± Irena pat Leowynn¡¯s leg gently as she exined. ¡°This is the first time that you¡¯ve ever taken in that much energy, and your spirit wasn¡¯t able to cope with it at first. Once you fully recover, it should be less painful next time, so long as you make sure to stop in time.¡± Her words contained a tone of warning as she said that, as if reminding Leowynn not to take things too far.


    ¡°Next time¡­¡± However, the girl in question only became more determined, her fist clenching at her side. She lifted her head up to look at Irena. ¡°How long will it take me to recover so we can go again?¡±


    Irena simply sighed, shaking her head. ¡°That depends on your own will. It could be an hour, a day, or even a week. The sooner that you adjust to your new power, and make it your own, the faster your spirit will adapt to allow you to grow further.¡±


    As soon as her words finished, Leowynn¡¯s body popped like a balloon filled with grey mist, the mist rushing into my own body. Irena jumped back in surprise at the scene, before letting out a low groan. Lifting her head, she looked straight at me, her face softer than usual. ¡°Make sure that she doesn¡¯t push herself too hard, alright?¡±


    I nodded my head, a small smile on my face. I could already feel Leowynn training herself inside my spiritual realm, practicing her different abilities. ¡°Will do. If you can get the information sphere for the first tier of spiritual energy ready, that will give her a pretty good distraction for a while.¡±


    That earned me a light chuckle, as well as a nod from Irena as she stood, her wings flexing now that she was moving again. ¡°I¡¯ll get back to that now. Let me know if anything happens?¡±


    I easily agreed to that, and Irena left through the doorway, a tired expression on her face. Moving back towards theputer, I did a quick check, seeing how much time I had left until the first round of the Keeper¡¯s Game.


    Time Until Match


    101:09:92:31


    So it¡¯s been almost four days since then¡­ I wish I could say time flies, but really it¡¯s been doing the exact opposite. I let out a breath when I saw the amount of time that was left. Technically speaking, there was still more than a Standard Month left before the match even began. It wouldn¡¯t be until after the next Keeper Meeting.


    I took a look at the Sky Citadel, wondering if I should descend to spend a bit more time with the representatives. However, after six hours of training, it seemed that the three of them were all in bed now. The only one left awake was the martial spirit, which simply walked back and forth in Trixy¡¯s room.


    With them asleep now, there was no particr reason for me to visit the citadel. Alright, Aurivy, what was it you wanted to do for training? I sent the message off to the halfling goddess, closing my eyes to do so. When I opened my eyes, I found the pink-haired girl sitting in myp, grinning widely at me.


    ¡°Finally! Let¡¯s see¡­ Why not get you some basic training in the advanced sses?¡± She asked. ¡°Summoner should be a good one for you, with your practice with spirits. And you¡¯ve already trained as an elemental monk, just back before the ss was a thing!¡±


    ¡°And let me guess¡­ you want to personally train me?¡± I asked in an amused tone, to which she nodded her head heavily.


    ¡°Of course! I¡¯ve been getting ready for this for hundreds of years! I might not be as good as Udona or Ryone, or big sis Terra, but I definitely know my way around the advanced sses that we have so far!¡± She pped her chest as she said that, lifting her head proudly.


    However, a momentter she lowered her head again. ¡°The only question is where to have you descend. I can¡¯t make a dungeon to specialize in training you, since your level of power is just way higher than anything that the dungeons can create right now.¡± Suddenly, her eyes widened. ¡°Oh! I know just the ce!¡±


    Aurivy turned around in myp, looking at the screen of myputer. Suddenly, a different image appeared, not on theputer itself but above it. ¡°Terra made it so only you can use theputer, so mind finding this spot? Eight degrees north and sixteen west on Deckan. That¡¯ll make the perfect spot to train, assuming that we get there before it leaves.¡±


    ¡°Before it¡­ nevermind.¡± I groaned, shaking my head as I pulled up the coordinates on the map. My question was soon answered when I saw arge ind, roughly a hundred kilometers wide and sixty long.


    What was special about this ind was that it wasn¡¯t resting on top of the ocean, but rather above it. Slowly, the ind appeared to be moving north-east, its base less than a hundred meters above the ocean floor. ¡°What makes this ce so special?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask as I selected it as my descent point.


    ¡°It¡¯s a naturally urring symbol of travel.¡± Aurivy exined simply. ¡°If I were to descend somewhere to teach you, it would have to be somewhere that has a connection to one of my domains, or I¡¯d get worn out really quickly! But most of my domain locations would be in or around inhabited areas, so we can¡¯t go there.¡±


    ¡°The Floating Isles of Deckan, though, are another story! It¡¯s only recently be possible for the inhabitants to begin to upy them, and they haven¡¯t worked out the method to do so safely yet. This one in particr is in the middle of the ocean, far away from anyone that would be able to feel the power you release.¡±


    ¡°Makes sense.¡± I nodded my head, choosing to descend as a kitsune, just in case. If, by some miracle, someone did find me here, I¡¯d be keeping up the appearance of changing forms regrly. ¡°Let¡¯s go, then.¡±


    When I hit the button to descend, I felt the weight of Aurivy seem to¡­ drop through me. I heard a yelp as she fell on the floor, moments before my vision faded and was reced. When my vision cleared, I was standing atop a grassy hill, trees dotting thendscape. Off in the distance, I could see a waterfall that emptied out off of the ind itself.


    ¡°Give a girl a little warning next time.¡± Aurivyined as she appeared behind me, rubbing her rump with her hands. ¡°Anyways, wee to your first look at the Floating Isles! The only monsters you have to worry about here are bird types. And Udona said that she¡¯d be getting you a shipment of cards soon, so that you can y around with the local magic.¡±


    ¡°How is there even a waterfall here, or any nts?¡± I asked, having expected the ind to be barren at first, given that it had no real connection with the ground.


    ¡°Ah! I actually asked Udona that same thing, a while back.¡± Aurivy smiled happily, before frowning as she shifted through her memories. ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ Aha! The magnartumprising the majority of these inds has varying strengths, depending on thetitude. The closer we get to the equator, the lower the inds go. This one should have just lifted up a week or two ago, I think? They¡¯re carried by the wind until they get close enough to the equator, at which point the ocean currents carry them until they get far enough north or south to lift into the air.¡±


    Once she was done reciting her memory, Aurivy crouched down to the ground, clutching her head. ¡°Oww¡­ even saying that myself makes my head hurt¡­ I think the gist of it is, the inds dip into the water and retain some of it for a while, letting the nts survive.¡±


    I gave a slow nod at that, ncing around the area. ¡°Alright. So, which ss do you want to start with, first?¡±


    ¡°Summoner!¡± Aurivy shouted, jumping back up to stand on her feet. ¡°It¡¯s the only one that you don¡¯t have any practice with already. Well, aside from the other two spirit sses¡­ but we¡¯re excluding those, because I have no way to learn about them to teach you!¡± She stuck her tongue out towards me after she made that deration, causing me to chuckle briefly.


    ¡°Okay¡­ So, how do we get started?¡± I had never bothered to train the Summoner ss, since I was worried that the aeon I create would conflict with Leowynn. However, with the discovery of item aeons, that worry faded away.


    ¡°So, normally the first step is really hard. The basic concept of being a summoner isn¡¯t that easy to understand for most people. However, it¡¯s the opposite for someone that has practiced the Spirit Hunter ss like you!¡±


    ¡°In order to make your first aeon, you take the same steps that you would take to turn spiritual energy into a weapon. However, you skip the step where you first absorb the energy into yourself. And at the end, you bind the weapon with a symbol.¡±


    ¡°Aurivy¡­¡± I called out to interrupt her, causing her to blink her eyes in confusion. ¡°The world spirits already cleaned the remnant spiritual energy dry from this ce¡­ And you said that there aren¡¯t really monsters here¡­ So where am I going to get the spiritual energy to use?¡±


    Aurivy¡¯s face seemed to pale for a moment as she realized that her n to get a secluded training area backfired. ¡°Uhm¡­ uh¡­ I¡¯ll take care of that! One hefty dose of spiritual energying right up!¡±


    Before I could say anything, a glowing mist burst from her body. From within the mist, a ck wolf charged out with a confused growl. A ck wolf the size of a small house¡­ grey spines extended from its back as it crooked its neck to look at us.


    ¡°See? One source of spiritual energy!¡± Aurivy dered proudly. ¡°Fresh and ready to be harvested.¡±


    I let out a low groan, looking up towards the¡­ This thing¡¯s name was flying wolf, and that worried me. Sure enough, in my brief moment of hesitation, the wolf leapt from the hilltop. ps of skin expanded between its legs and stomach, making it look like an overgrown flying squirrel as it attempted to glide away.


    ¡°Yeah, we¡¯re just not going to let that happen.¡± I said as I stretched my left hand out. I pointed two fingers at the wolf, and urged my ki into the special paths that were incorporated into them. My fingers began to glow in a golden light, before the ki itselfunched out like a bullet from between my fingers. The air seemed to shake where it passed, until it reached the flying wolf.


    A painful cry, and a loud yelp filled the air for a brief moment before the body of the wolf burst open from the impact. Meanwhile, Aurivy was just standing next to me, pping her hands happily.

 Chapter 207: Aeon Training

    <h4>Chapter 207: Aeon Training</h4>


    ¡°Phew.¡± Aurivy wiped some imaginary sweat from her brow as she saw the wolf being killed. ¡°Okay, now where were we? So, just go ahead and use your mana to directly refine the spiritual energy. You learned how to do that a long time ago, right? The whole, mana in your voice thing.¡±


    She must have been referring to when I first started practicing the Spirit Tamer ss, and had identally destroyed a spirit when I tried tomunicate with it. I suppose I might have just used too much energy¡­ or not been fast enough to collect it when it dispersed. Either way, I gave a brief nod.


    I stepped off of the hill, and then took a single jump tond in midair next to where the wolf had died. My feet channeled my ki, condensing the air into a solid tform for me to stand upon. Pushing mana into my eyes, I saw the spirit of the wolf slowly rising from its falling parts.


    Okay, I¡¯ve done this before, like she said. I told myself internally, before opening my mouth. ¡°Shatter.¡± With the mana pushed into my voice, I saw the energy of the wolf do exactly that¡­ The mist that had begun congealing into a recognizable shape shattered and returned to being a shapeless mass.


    For this, there wasn¡¯t much need to debate what kind of aeon I wanted. The wolf was simply a disposable monster that we were using as a test subject. Wrapping my mana around the remaining energy, I pulled it towards my hand, willing it into the shape of a simple dagger. Sure enough, the process felt extremely simr to creating a weapon through the Spirit Hunter ss.


    However, once the dagger was formed and resting in my hands, it seemed¡­ restless. It felt as if it would break and vanish at a moment¡¯s notice if I stopped holding it in ce with my concentration.


    ¡°Alright! Final step now!¡± Aurivy called out, grabbing a rock and running towards me, her feetnding on the air as if it were solid ground. When she got to me, she ced the rock in my free hand. ¡°Pull the dagger into this rock, and then seal it in ce with a mark of spiritual energy.¡±


    I raised an eyebrow at her as she said that, but did indeed follow along. I held the dagger up towards the rock, and willed for it to enter. The dagger seemed to shrink down, fading away inside of the rock. Just as I again felt like it was resisting my control, that it would break out as soon as I was done, I imagined a wolf¡¯s fang locking it in ce.


    Along the surface of the rock, blue lines began to form, drawing the outline of the fang that I had imagined. When it was done, I felt as if the dagger had calmed, as if it had found a proper home. And at the same time, the expected message windows began to appear in front of me.


    Summoner advanced ss unlocked!


    Seal Aeon ability unlocked!


    Create Aeon ability unlocked!


    Choose the name for your Aeon.


    I nced at the series of notifications, noticing how they were subtly different from normal. For the name of the dagger, I simply chose to go with ¡®Wolf Fang Dagger¡¯, after which another message appeared to tell me that it was epted.


    ¡°Okay, good!¡± Aurivy gave a quick nod. ¡°You have now stepped onto the path of being a Summoner!¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t Udona say that it was possible to draw energy directly from the Underworld?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask, remembering the talk that I had with Emona during my long voyage on the sea.


    ¡°Well, yeah¡­ it is¡­¡± Aurivy shifted her eyes away. ¡°But I didn¡¯t want to lead with that. It¡¯s a technique you unlock at level ten. And, if you tried to brute force your way there without properly understanding how it works, you might tear open a hole too big¡­ I don¡¯t wanna make extra work for Irena, okay? She has it hard enough already.¡±


    I gave a brief nod of eptance at that. ¡°Alright. So, what¡¯s next? I assume you want to get me to the point where I can draw that energy safely before moving on to the next ss.¡±


    ¡°Right!¡± Aurivy suddenly looked at me again, nodding her head. ¡°So¡­ next we¡¯ll need another monster.¡± At least this time I had a bit of warning when her golden cloud of mist stretched out. ¡°We¡¯ll go with something stronger this time¡­ one of the best of the best monsters. It¡¯ll make a nice aeon.¡±


    As she said that, the golden cloud grew bigger and bigger, and I immediately aimed my left hand at it, pushing the ki into my fingers. Sure enough, the creature that came out was farrger than the wolf. Wings that stretched a hundred meters in either directions. ck scales covering its entire body. Fourrge, muscr legs supporting beneath it. And the long neck ending in a reptilian maw, fire jutting from its jaws.


    ¡°You called a DRAGON!?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but shout out, confirming that the beast she had summoned was a level five hundred ck dragon. If I wasn¡¯t mistaken, this should definitely be one of the most powerful adult creatures in any of the three worlds.


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯ll be fine! Dragons right now don¡¯t even know any of the neat tricks!¡± Aurivy shouted over the heavy beats of the wings, the giant beast staring down at us. ¡°They¡¯re really just overgrown fire-breathing lizards.¡±


    I let out a groan upon hearing that, I fired the ki bullet that I had been building up in my two fingers. The golden bulletunched out at the dragon, cracking its scales and making it stumble back with a pained roar. It turned its head to look at me, its eyes narrowed with anger. Its mouth opened, a wide cone of me spewing out.


    I could feel ki within the me, elemental ki. If I had to guess, its breath was not really fire at all, but a simple expulsion of fire ki. Which made things both more and less problematic at the same time.


    I cast a simple shield spell around myself, fueling it with my rather ridiculous mana pool to block out the elemental ki. I could feel my mana being drained away by the inefficiency of the low level spell. Gritting my teeth, I opened both of my hands and lunged towards the dragon. I could hear it beating its wings to try to escape, even if I couldn¡¯t see it through the fire, but that didn¡¯t matter.


    Soon, I had gotten close enough toe out of the path of its fiery breath, my body just below the monster¡¯s chin. My hands like ws, I swiped them at the dragon¡¯s neck, pushing my ki into them to further strengthen myself.


    Right now, it was undoubtedly my body that was my most powerful weapon, not my spells or trained abilities. My hands dug into the neck of the dragon that was bigger than my body, and I felt its scales shatter beneath my fingers. Leaning back, I nted my feet against its neck, and gave a strong pull.


    The dragon barely had time to scream as its neck was ripped apart, its head falling down to the ground below. The ind beneath us shook from the impact, and I briefly worried that it might tip over. However, the ind soon stabilized itself, the dragon¡¯s body resting limply on the ground.


    Monk has leveled up!


    Mage has leveled up!


    Hero has leveled up!


    I saw the messages shing by in front of my face as I descended next to the body of the dragon. ¡°Alright, so what¡¯s the next step, then?¡± I asked towards Aurivy, since it seemed like she had something special in mind.


    ¡°First, refine the energy, and then use your new Create Aeon ability that the system gave you! Udona really hates to use it because of how inefficient it is, but it¡¯s good for practice.¡± Aurivy said with a smile as she appeared next to me.


    Once again, I followed her words and refined the dragon¡¯s spiritual energy with my voice, before mentally activating the new ability I had received. As soon as I did, a new window appeared in front of me. It seemed to be a window to design a custom-made aeon.


    The settings currently were those of my previous creation, a simple dagger which excelled in sharpness. And in the top corner, there was another line. Telling me how much spiritual energy I had spent from what was avable.


    ¡°Now, with this you can design the aeon to be whatever you want! Whether it¡¯s another weapon like your dagger, or an actual creature. You can even give it special abilities, if you have the spare energy.¡± Aurivy exined from behind me, her hands sped behind her back.


    Currently, I had spent five thousand out of just over seventy thousand¡­ meaning that there was significant room to improve the aeon using the energy from the dragon. Curious, I began navigating the windows, looking to see at what was avable. There were options to further enhance its cutting force, or add elemental powers to the dagger. It was even possible with the points avable to make the dagger change its shape.


    However, I didn¡¯t particrly want a dagger for this. Moving to the disy of the aeon, I changed its shape into a long red staff. And for its ability¡­ I gave it the power to convert ki into fire element ki to expel. There were still a few points left after that, so I simply chose to strengthen that ability.


    When I was done, I hit the button to finalize the aeon, calling it the Dragonfire Staff. Then, I felt my energy moving on its own,tching onto the spiritual energy of the dragon and pulling it towards me. I felt myself twisting the energy into unique patterns within the staff itself as it began to form, until it appeared exactly as I designed it.


    Once again, Aurivy handed me another rock, and I sealed the staff inside of it, this time using a simple picture of fire as its symbol. ¡°Okay¡­ so that is how an aeon is normally made.¡± I mused, recalling how the energy had gone out of control when I was doing so. And once again, I had managed to gain another level through the creation of the aeon.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s how the system handles the automatic creation.¡± Aurivy confirmed with a shrug of her shoulders. ¡°I think Udona said that this method uses about five times as much spiritual energy as if you learn how to efficiently do it yourself. There¡¯s really a lot of waste involved. But it takes a while to get used to designing the abilities manually, so it¡¯s good for beginners.¡±


    ¡°For the next few monsters, try to beat them with your new aeon.¡± Aurivy suggested as she jumped back a bit. ¡°It¡¯ll help you level up the new ss more if you get used to fighting with them. Then once we get you high enough level, the real fun will begin!¡±


    She let out augh at those words, and I shook my head, focusing on the second rock. The mark of me began to glow, lifting from the rock itself and turning into the staff I had just finished creating. ¡°Well¡­ might as well get this started.¡±


    As I said that, I gripped the staff in my hand. Behind Aurivy, over a dozen golden clouds began to form. Each one was nearly asrge as the dragon that I had just killed, but Aurivy still had that same innocent smile on her face. Okay¡­ Aurivy is definitely the most sadistic trainer out of all of the girls. I mentally confirmed this as my eyes shifted to look at the various clouds, waiting to see what woulde next.

 Chapter 208: Stare Into the Abyss

    <h4>Chapter 208: Stare Into the Abyss</h4>


    As thest of the sixteen creatures Aurivy summoned, this one a giant ck snake, fell to the ground dead, I couldn¡¯t help but fall back as well. My breath came in hard pants, and I could see the health gauge above my head. It had not dropped down very low, still well over half. Yet, the fact that these creatures were able to do this much damage to me at all just showed how strong they were.


    Each of the sixteen were pinnacle creatures, no doubt referred to as disasters by normal people. Each and every one of them had a level of exactly five hundred. Had we done our training a few yearster, those levels would have likely gone even higher now that the limit has been lifted.


    ¡°Alright! That should be enough to level you up a few times, right?¡± Aurivy asked with that same innocent smile. And indeed, she was right. I had level up six times in the Summoner ss by fighting those creatures with my two weapon aeons. My level in that ss had gone up to eight now.


    ¡°Not¡­ enough to get that ability.¡± I groaned out, my limbs feeling sore from how much ki I had repeatedly pushed into them. Although each level did restore all of my energy, I felt as if the damage didn¡¯t quite repair itself as fast as it was being caused.


    ¡°Oh?¡± Aurivy asked in surprise, before clicking her tongue in annoyance. ¡°Well, I guess it can¡¯t be helped. We¡¯ve got all this spiritual energy now, so what do you say to making a super aeon!?¡±


    Aurivy stretched her arms out to motion towards the sixteen dead bodies, and I let out a sigh as I pulled myself to my feet. ¡°I don¡¯t want a personal weapon aeon.¡± I told her bluntly, feeling like she might have been building up towards that. ¡°I¡¯ve got Leowynn. Why would I need an aeon?¡±


    Aurivy slumped her shoulder as she heard that. ¡°Well¡­ but¡­ uhm¡­ Okay, fine. Then, how about this?!¡± The halfling goddess closed her eyes in thought. ¡°You can make a bunch of aeons! Not for you¡­ but for the Sky Citadel! They can act as the first line of internal defense!¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but raise an eyebrow at that idea. Having aeons defending the Sky Citadel wasn¡¯t a bad thought, but¡­ ¡°Anything that could infiltrate the citadel would be far stronger than whatever I could mass produce with this much energy, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, but! If you use all of this energy on a single aeon, you can form the temte for the others! Then, it will just be a matter of getting you high enough level to draw power from the Underworld, and you will be able to produce them by the dozen!¡±


    I wanted to argue against her im, reminding her that a single Kraken had taken Udona weeks to acquire the energy to create. But at the same time, I wasn¡¯t sure myself that the im would hold weight. I didn¡¯t know what factors determined how quickly the energy could be drawn. If it was rted to physical or magical ability, as in the raw stats, I should be able to do it hundreds of times faster than Udona¡¯s incarnation.


    ¡°Okay¡­ let¡¯s do it then.¡± I nodded my head in eptance, looking to the pile of corpses. Refining the spiritual energy for the sixteen monsters went about as smoothly as I could expect, their spirits having lost what little power they once had to resist. And when I tried to create the aeon, I found a rather upsetting message.


    Warning: umted Spiritual Energy exceed¡¯s host ability to control. Limiting the Spiritual Energy avable for Aeon Creation to 330,770.


    Not even a third of the spiritual energy was cut away from the rest, pulled closer to myself when I activated the ability. And that number¡­ was exactly the same as my maximum mana as a Keeper.


    ¡°Ohh¡­ Whoops! Hadn¡¯t considered that. Still, this should be the equivalent of a single monster of about level three thousand, right? You should be able to make a really good aeon with it, even with how inefficient the system is!¡± Aurivy chuckled, backing up with her hands behind her head.


    I shook my head at that, not quite sure how to respond. Since this was more or less a guardian aeon for the citadel, I couldn¡¯t have it be a weapon. I needed an actual creature. And, given the theme of the citadel itself, I ended up settling on a suit of armor. ¡°Aurivy, can you bring me some swords from Tubrock¡¯s forge?¡± I asked as I looked through the options.


    She simply hummed in response, and soon the sound of three swords stabbing into stone could be heard next to me. ¡°I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll be a bit annoyed when he sees them missing, until he finds out what they¡¯re for!¡±


    Filtering out her voice, I focused entirely on the options that I could give this armor. I didn¡¯t want to need to control each one individually, so I gave them a will of their own with the Independence option. Attached to that was another option, ¡®Absolute Authority¡¯, with the description saying that they would never disobey their creator. Just those two options, as well as the body of living armor, cost one third of the avable spiritual energy.


    For the rest of the energy, I focused on their speed, strength, and defense. Thankfully, these were simple numbers that could be increased in the stats of the aeon. When I was done, it had a hundred and fifty points each in Strength, Stamina, and Dexterity. However, all of its other stats were simply one, whether it was their intelligence or their luck.


    This should make them around the equivalent of level three hundred each, right? I mused internally as I finished the aeon, grabbing the sword to bind it. For the symbol, I ced the icon of a shield at the base of the sword¡¯s de.


    Unlike the other aeons I had created, I could tell that this one felt more¡­ alive. Curious, I stabbed the sword into the ground, taking a step back. ¡°Awaken.¡± Imanded it. Sure enough, the symbol I had branded onto the sword began to glow, before it exploded outward in a burst of light. Aurivy let out a yelp while covering her eyes, and I simply stared ahead to watch.


    Standing next to the sword, grabbing it with one hand and drawing it from the stone, was the suit of armor I had created. However, it simply stood there, unmoving after it retrieved the sword. ¡°Can you understand me? Nod your head if you can.¡±


    The helmet of the armor moved, even though I could see through the gaps in the armor that nothing existed inside of it. ¡°Good. I will be taking you somewhere soon. Your job will be to defend that ce against those who would do it harm.¡± After saying that, I remembered the creature¡¯s low intelligence. ¡°You¡¯ll fight things I don¡¯t point out are friends.¡±


    Again, another nod came from the armor, the aeon otherwise motionless. ¡°Okay¡­ return to the sword.¡± I told the aeon, who immediately vanished to return into the sword, which fell down to the ground without the support of anything holding it up.


    ncing towards the messages that appeared, it seemed that I had actually jumped two levels just from creating that aeon, which brought a small smile to my face. However, Aurivy let out a long sigh. ¡°Really? I didn¡¯t even know that was an option¡­ aeons that can summon themselves? Maybe it¡¯s something you only get with a massive amount of energy¡­¡±


    As she seemed to muse that over, I went ahead and repeated the process twice more, creating the other two aeon soldiers. By the time that I was done, there was only a small fraction of the spiritual energy left. Barely enough to create another weapon like the dragon staff, which meant it wasn¡¯t enough to be particrly useful to me.


    However, as I was debating what to do with this remnant energy, a small green hole appeared in the air next to my head, and a fairy flew out from it. No, not a fairy, one of the world spirits. It looked gleefully at the energy that had been gathered, before turning to look at me with a pleading expression. Even while it was looking at me, I saw its eyes shifting back towards the energy repeatedly.


    Sighing, I gave a brief nod. A small squeak emerged from the world spirit as it dived into the mass of energy. And as it did so, I felt the natural energy of the surroundings stir, gathering towards the fairy.


    ¡°Aww, he¡¯s so cute.¡± Aurivy chimed in as she walked over towards me, watching the process of the world spirit harnessing the energy to create more of itself. One by one the spirits appeared and vanished, only stopping after twenty new world spirits had been created from the leftover spiritual energy.


    As if to thank me, the little fairy flew over and hugged my arm, before it too vanished like the rest. ¡°Okay¡­ I guess that handles the spiritual cleanup. As for the bodies¡­¡± An idea struck me, and I walked over to one. These creatures had all been killed on Deckan, so the Card Law should be in effect for them.


    As soon as I ced my hand on the body of the dragon, and willed myself to store it, I felt a brief weight against my body. Once the weight had passed, the body of the dragon disappeared, reced by a single card that rested in my hand. The card itself depicted the ck dragon¡­ give or take the head that had been ripped off. Apparently, I would have to store that separately.


    Either way, I went to each of the other bodies and repeated the process again, curious as to whether I would get a high ranking magic card. To my disappointment¡­ I did not receive a single card from any of them, aside from the standard storage card that held their bodies.


    ¡°Don¡¯t feel too bad, Dale.¡± Aurivy grinned as she saw me looking at the pile of cards. ¡°The magices from the soul, remember? When you pulled out their souls, you made it so that they couldn¡¯t produce any magic cards anymore. Though this does make things easier to clean up.¡± She nodded her head happily at the now empty patch ofnd. The only signs of battle being the scorched earth and stters of blood.


    ¡°Anyways! Did you get the levels you need yet?!¡± She asked eagerly, seeming to want to get the training back on track. When I nodded my head, she cheered, throwing her hands up into the air. ¡°Yes! Finally!¡± Knowing where this was going, I activated my new Summoner ability, ¡®Afterlife Siphon¡¯.


    You may siphon spiritual energy equal to 10% your maximum mana per hour. Please input the total spiritual energy you wish to siphon.


    ¡°Aurivy¡­ Are we going to have to be here for ten hours for every aeon like that we want to make?¡± I asked, ncing towards the halfling goddess.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ well, maybe for the first couple?¡± She asked in an innocent tone. ¡°Just until you learn how to control the flow of energy without using the system help. Once you do that, you should be able to pull all of the spiritual energy you need safely, without having to wait forever!¡±


    I let out a sigh as I shook my head. For now, I just wanted to test this out. So, to start things off, I chose to pull just ten thousand spiritual energy from the Underworld. As soon as I confirmed that amount, I felt my mana twisting within me.


    I could almost see my mana converging on a single point in front of me, and watched as it formed a circr hole in the air. A single symbol, like a dozen intertwined spirals, took shape within the circle, before the center of the symbol grew wider. When the symbol ¡®opened¡¯, it was like a tiny window into a grey abyss, norger than my fist.


    I heard a quiet gulp from Aurivy, even though nothing could be seen physicallying through the hole. When I pushed my mana into my eyes, I could see a thin fog falling through, slowlynding on the ground and pooling there. ¡°Okay, Aurivy, tell me what¡¯s wrong.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ well, it¡¯s not¡­ supposed to be that big.¡± Aurivy admitted, seemingly a bit nervous when she looked at the hole. ¡°I mean, thest time I trained a summoner, by the time I had hit the level limit I couldn¡¯t even fit my pinky through the hole. And this was when I took control of it myself without relying on the system.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ it¡¯s still too small for anything to actuallye through, right?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask, feeling like this might cause a future problem if Summoners really did gain the ability to punchrger holes into the Underworld.


    ¡°Most things, yeah¡­ hopefully, there won¡¯t be any small ones near wherever you opened your siphon.¡± Aurivy¡¯s eyes were fixed on the hole in the air, and I couldn¡¯t help but stare at it as well. Mana was held constantly in my eyes to make sure that I was able to see any spirit that might try to break through the gap. However, although I did see a faint shift within the mist beyond the hole, nothing seemed toe through by the time the hole closed. I could even hear Aurivy letting out a long sigh of relief.


    ¡°Maybe we should revisit the Summoner sster, and move on to one of the others, alright?¡± She asked weakly, putting on a smile as she said that.

 Chapter 209: The Will of the World

    <h4>Chapter 209: The Will of the World</h4>


    ¡°Okay, so what¡¯s next?¡± I asked, setting aside the three aeons that I had just created so that they could be moved to the Sky Citadelter, once the proper precautions had been put in ce.


    ¡°Well¡­¡± Aurivy let out a groan, shaking her head as she stood up. ¡°Let¡¯s just take care of the elemental monk next.¡± It was clear that she was far less enthusiastic about this ss than she had been the summoner ss. Which, naturally, piqued my interest.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with elemental monks?¡±


    Aurivy sighed, crossing her arms in front of herself and pouting. ¡°They¡¯re just no fun! I mean, they take away all the choice and opt for a preset element instead! Do you know how many lifetimes it took me to even get all four elements? Eighteen!¡± She threw her hands up in outrage as she shouted the number out.


    ¡°Earth and water were easy. Ursa typically end up with the earth element, and humans get water more often than not. I¡¯m sure if I had a few more decades, demons would get fire all the time. It¡¯s wind that was hard! There are so few races even remotely aligned naturally to wind, I actually had to wait until I could be born as a pegasus centaur.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle as I heard herints. ¡°Seems like you just got unlucky.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, yeah¡­¡± She grumbled, ncing away from me for a moment. ¡°Anyways¡­ you made that body able to contain elemental ki, right?¡± When I gave a quick nod, her smile began to return. ¡°Good, that¡¯ll make this easier. Let¡¯s see which element you have, then.¡±


    I nodded again, holding up my hand. Pulling back my normal ki, I instead activated my elemental ki pool, letting it surge through my body. A yellow glow clung to my skin, darker in tone than the normal golden ki. Seeing this, Aurivy smiled slightly. ¡°Earth, then.¡± As she spoke, a message window appeared in front of me, letting me know that I had unlocked the Elemental Monk ss.


    ¡°Looks that way.¡± I agreed as I felt the energy in my hand. ¡°By the way¡­ did you ever try designing a ki path that could hold more than one pool of ki? Maybe you would be able to get multiple elements if you simply cultivated it again as a second pool.¡±


    When I asked that, Aurivy froze. Then she slowly lifted her finger, her mouth opening to speak. And froze again. ¡°I¡¯m going to test that theory in my next life. And if it works, big sis Terra is going to make you a very happy man.¡± Aurivy nodded her head slowly as she said those rather¡­ interesting words.


    But let¡¯s not pay attention to that right now! I cleared my throat, quickly changing the subject. ¡°So¡­ the training?¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± Aurivy brought her hands up to her face, quickly pping her cheek twice. ¡°Training. So¡­ I¡¯ve had a couple of lives with earth element ki. I am definitely not the best with it, but I can teach you the basics that you need to know for how the ss itself works.¡±


    ¡°Each element has their own unique functions, and differences in how they interact with the world around you. For instance, your earth ki. It is the most purely physical of the different elements. It won¡¯t let you alter properties like normal ki, but it is instead more powerful as a purely self-buffing energy.¡±


    I gave a quick nod of my head while I listened to her exnation. ¡°To be honest, if you put your entire ki pool into a single punch, I¡¯m fairly certain that you could shatter this ind we¡¯re standing on. Please don¡¯t test that theory, though¡­ it¡¯s annoying to find new testing sites.¡±


    I smirked softly when she said that. ¡°Alright, fine. But I was really tempted to. So, anything else?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ kind of?¡± Aurivy asked in an unsure tone. ¡°I mean, elemental monks function in many ways the same as regr monks. The same techniques tend to work between them, though there are a few differences in how they function. And when ites to regr monk techniques¡­ you already read the tier three knowledge, so you¡¯re a bit ahead of me in that subject.¡±


    I had to agree with her there. She seems to have been pretty busy with all of this nning ever since I got back from the Keeper meeting, so I doubted that she had had the time to look over the information that I had purchased.


    ¡°The only thing that I can really say for sure is that elemental ki is strong. If you use your Keeper energies, you can probably ess whatever element you want. So if you¡¯re in a situation where you need ki for something, it¡¯d be best to question which type of ki would work best for what you need.¡±


    After saying that, Aurivy shrugged her shoulders. ¡°That¡¯s really the best advice I can give.¡± Suddenly, her eyes opened wide and arge grin appeared on her face. ¡°So, ready to move on? Next up is the elementalist!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve¡­ got a bit of practice with that one too, you know?¡± I had to ask, seeing how excited she appeared.


    ¡°Well, yeah, but not like me!¡± She dered proudly, sticking her small chest out. ¡°Next to ninjas, this one is my all time favorite! It even beats summoners¡­ by a little bit. Just a tiny bit¡­ Okay, they¡¯re almost tied. But elementalists!¡±


    I ended up rolling my eyes, waiting for her to get on with it. ¡°You see, the elementalist ss shows a truth that no other ss does¡­¡± As she spoke, she let her words drag on at the end, as if to build up suspense. ¡°The world is alive. Literally. Natural energy is, in some way, sentient.¡±


    ¡°And it shows this¡­ how?¡± I ended up questioning her despite myself, and judging by the grin on her face, she was waiting for exactly that.


    Soon, a voice appeared behind me, a presence that I was only just now sensing. ¡°Let me show you.¡± When I turned around to look, I saw¡­ Aurivy. Sort of. She had the same pink hair, the same height¡­ but her eyes were golden, and her ears pointed. And above her head, I saw an unfamiliar name¡­ Rn Triav. A level three hundred and five elf.


    ¡°This is my incarnation.¡± Rn and Aurivy spoke at the same time, forcing me to hear her voice in stereo. ¡°I wasn¡¯t sure how long it would be until you decided to descend, so I ended up making this one as an elf for this demonstration.¡±


    Now, only Rn herself spoke, her golden eyes staring up at me. ¡°Natural energy responds to your wishes, much in the same way that spiritual energy does. But the method is different. Spiritual energy, at its very core, is shaped by the minds of those around it. Do you remember the most basic way to activate natural energy, before you acquire a token?¡±


    I raised my eyebrows at the question, actually having to take a moment to remember. ¡°You send amand¡­ with mana.¡± I recalled, having practiced that way so long ago.


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Rn nodded happily. ¡°You have tomunicate with natural energy in order to get the response. You must speak to the will of the world. And that¡¯s where the elementalistes into y.¡±


    Rn turned towards the side, no longer facing me. ¡°An elementalistmunes with nature. When we cast a spell, we are telling the world what we want. Watch.¡± Rn brought her hand to her waist, retrieving a silver baton with a blue spiral embedded in its shaft. I could feel a slight resonance with the natural energy as I looked at it, likely indicating that it was her token.


    She held her token high above her head, and spell diagrams appeared beneath her feet. ¡°I am the inheritor of this world¡¯s will. I have studied the depths of magic, and understand itsws. By mymand, let the ck sun shine within the sky. Let night fall over day, and let darkness cover thend.¡±


    As she spoke, each of the circles beneath her feet began to light up. First in green, then in blue, and then all four of them turned pitch ck. But that wasn¡¯t all¡­ the color of the grass seemed to fade away, turning into a dull grey. The blue of the sky was next, looking as if a cloud had epassed the horizon. Next, the sun itself seemed to turn ck, and all color was drained from the world. Light became darkness, and the shadows became bright.


    And in this world of inverted light, Rn turned to face me, the circles at her feet now appearing to be the brightest white left in the world. ¡°I tell the world to change, and the world changes. When I cast a spell, I must plead with the world itself. There are those who cannot reach the world¡¯s will, and have their spells fail to cast, or receive effects that they didn¡¯t want. But the will of the world is easily swayed. It is not good, nor is it evil.¡±


    Next, five more spell diagrams began to appear above Rn¡¯s head. ¡°The best first step is to identify yourself. Make a title that the world can recognize you as.¡± Once the spell diagrams had fully formed, she aimed her token at them.


    ¡°I am the inheritor of the world¡¯s will. My word is the word that shapes the realm. Where I pass, nothing shall obstruct me. Where I wish to go, nothing shall deter me. Let this space be mine to hold.¡±


    The five diagrams above her head shifted to a dark grey, suddenly blending in with the sky above. Rn let out augh, jumping up into the air. It seemed that gravity no longer had any meaning for her, as she floated several feet off the ground. ¡°You see? One sentence for everyponent. I¡¯m still working out the trick to third tier elemental magic, but I think it should still hold true.¡±


    As she spoke, she hovered off to the side, slowly spinning around me. I watched her curiously, feeling that her mana wasn¡¯t decreasing by much as she held the spells in ce. ¡°And¡­ why is your mana still fine? Even at your level, these two spells are strong enough to drain you in a few minutes, right?¡±


    ¡°Normally, you¡¯d be absolutely correct!¡± Rn stated, stretching her arms out and rolling upside down in the air, moving up so that her now-ck eyes stared into mine. ¡°But, if you know the rules, then the natural energy can sustain the effect of a spell longer than normal.¡±


    She began to hold up her fingers, one by one as she lifted off a set of rules. ¡°One sentence per ring. Always announce yourself. The more familiar the world is with you and your title, the more easily it will help you. If we were on Earth, I could probably maintain one of these spells for days. But here¡­ I have ten minutes, it feels like. This world isn¡¯t familiar with me.¡±


    Hearing her exnation, I fell into thought. If it was as she said, then an elementalist was a far more useful ss to have as a defending unit than an attacker. This world would be more familiar with them over time, but sending them to another world would ¡®reset¡¯ that. ¡°What about theponents of the spells themselves? That should be another important rule.¡±


    Rn grinned, as if she had been waiting for that question. Her orientation righted itself, and shended on the ground. Her previous spells disappeared, color returning to the area. ¡°I was hoping you¡¯d ask that.¡±


    As she spoke, she reached into her pocket, and pulled out arge circr ring of metal, attached to it five other rings. She tossed the ring into the air above her, and then aimed her token at it. Immediately, the metal ring stopped in midair, the five other rings spreading out evenly along it.


    ¡°Having the spell as close to your desired result as you want makes it easier, sure. But¡­¡± She turned her eyes to focus on the rings. ¡°I am the inheritor of this world¡¯s will. I have studied the pinnacle of magic, and im dominion over it. My word is thew of the world. Gather, lights of above. Gather, celestial bodies that live within the night¡¯s sky. Let the wrath of the stars fall upon those who would do me harm.¡±


    Closing her eyes, Rn aimed her staff off towards the distance. I could feel the mana swelling up from her body, pouring into the spell at a far greater rate than both of her previous spellsbined. The rings that she had thrown into the air turned to face in the direction she was pointing as well.


    A silent surge of power pushed me back a couple of steps, silver lightunching itself from the six rings. The power of this spell didn¡¯t seem to lose even whenpared to the third tier spell that Ryone had once shown me. A spell that harnessed light to destroy its target.


    And when the light faded, I saw Rn grasping her head, her brows furrowed in pain. If I had to guess, that spell had drawn too much of her mana, and she was now suffering the bacsh. As I began to approach her to check on her status, her body burst into a golden mist, which slowly faded away.


    ¡°So, that was your lesson on Elementalists! What do you think?¡± Aurivy asked from behind me with a wide grin, entirely unconcerned with the fate of her incarnation.


    ¡°I think¡­ it definitely requires a lot of practice to get right.¡± And definitely a personality that is not easily embarrassed¡­

 Chapter 210: Aurivy’s Training Grounds

    <h4>Chapter 210: Aurivy¡¯s Training Grounds</h4>


    ¡°So! Ready to head back to the citadel now?¡± Aurivy asked after the ¡®lessons¡¯ were over. ¡°Or would you like to take some time to train a bit first?¡±


    Hearing the question, I began to sink into thought. In the long term, it will probably be good to practice the elementalist ss. However, the ss itself has some pretty clear weak points topensate for its strength. Specifically, the time it takes to cast each spell is quite a bit longer than that of a normal mage, leaving them open to attack.


    ¡°Dale?¡± Aurivy tilted her head, waving a hand in front of my face to get my attention. ¡°Well?¡±


    ¡°Give me a second, I¡¯m thinking.¡± I responded, rolling my eyes at her. Terra, how long until Tubrock and Ryone have the gate sites secure?


    My mental prayer was quickly answered by the ever-familiar voice. At the current rate they¡¯re working¡­ they should have the locations fully secured in five more days. That meant five days till I was able to fast forward again.


    ¡°Might as well get some training in.¡± I said with a slight sigh, shaking my head. ¡°If the Citadel can¡¯t manage to go without me for just a few days, then there¡¯s no way it will work for the years when I fast forward.¡±


    Aurivy nodded her head, holding her hands behind her back. ¡°So, what kind of training are you wanting to do? An advanced ss? Or maybe as a ninja? Or something else?¡±


    An advanced ss would boost my stats, but my stats weren¡¯t much of an issue for me since I could pull from my Keeper powers. The best thing for me to train would be something that I nned to use regrly in the future. ¡°Monk and Ninja.¡± I spoke after a brief consideration. ¡°I already know what I need to do to train the monk ss, so let¡¯s go with ninja for right now.¡±


    Aurivy jumped up into the air, her arms stretched out above her as she cheered. ¡°Yes! Finally! Alright, then, let¡¯s go!¡± Before I could even question what she meant, her golden mist wrapped around the two of us.


    It was hard to determine where we had been sent. All I knew before the mist faded was that I had felt a brief disorientation that quickly corrected itself. Once the mist was gone, I knew even less about where I was¡­ aside from the fact that I was underground somewhere. Alone.


    ¡°Aurivy?¡± I called out towards the halfling goddess, only to have her speak into my mind instead.


    Sorry Dale, busy right now setting things up! Give me just a second. I¡¯ve been waiting for this for years! She spoke in an obviously excited tone. But that alone was enough to let me know something about where we were¡­ Aurivy had brought me to a dungeon.


    Sure enough, after about thirty seconds had passed, I felt a brief pulse of mana from my surroundings. A few momentster, another pulse, until the manapletely filled the area. ¡°And done!¡± Aurivy suddenly spoke up from next to me, having no doubt abused her godly powers to sneak up beside me.


    ¡°What exactly are you done with?¡± I questioned, ncing around the empty stone room. There were no obvious doors or passageways to go through, and only a dim light that didn¡¯t seem to have any particr source.


    ¡°My Ninja Training Area!¡± Aurivy dered happily. ¡°I set this ce up for people to master the basic skills of being a ninja. I just had to take a moment to reinforce it and add some new features since it was youing here.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± I couldn¡¯t exactly say that I was surprised by the fact that Aurivy of all people would set up a dungeon to train ninjas. ¡°So, when do we start?¡±


    ¡°We already did.¡± She grinned mischievously. ¡°This dungeon uses two of my domain traps, Mana Scatter and Ki Seal. You won¡¯t be able to form spells inside of this dungeon, or use your ki outside of your body. Well, I¡¯m sure you could if you forced enough power into it, but that would require you topletely overpower the dungeon¡¯s mana to do so. Not something that you¡¯d just do on reflex.¡±


    ¡°We already started?¡± I asked curiously, ncing around the room again. ¡°Is the first test supposed to be finding the door to the next room?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Aurivy nodded. ¡°And no using special Keeper tricks to cheat. You can do it only by using your chakra. Right now, we¡¯ll just cover raw chakra usage, and I¡¯ll teach you the hand seals for itter.¡±


    Well, raw usage was what I was aiming for anyways¡­ So this worked for me. Closing my eyes, I began to form chakra along my skin, before stretching it out in thin threads. If the test had already begun, that means that somewhere along the cave wall should be a secret passage. And if I explore the area with my threads, I should be able to¡­ there it is.


    I abruptly turned to my left, my eyes still closed as I followed the path that my chakra showed me. There was a small portion of the wall that felt different from the rest when my threads passed over it. It felt like I was brushing against mana.


    ¡°Well, you found that entirely too easily.¡± Aurivyined with a pout, her bottom lip pushed out. ¡°But! Can you figure out how to activate it?¡±


    Is this something that can be solved with chakra as well? I asked myself inwardly, pushing my chakra into the wall to get a better feel of what I was looking at. As I felt it more and more, an image began to appear in my mind, a spell diagram.


    While it was hard to make out the exact specifics of the diagram, I found the peculiar triangle patterns around its edges, reminding me of the ¡®impact¡¯ trigger. So to trigger the spell, I had to create an impact without destroying the wall¡­


    Now I realized why she said that I had to solve this as well. I gathered my chakra into the palm of my hand, and lightly pped against the wall, making sure not to use too much strength. There was a slight huff from behind me, before the wall sank down into the ground. ¡°Okay, fine, so you did train this a bit. But let¡¯s see how you do in the next area!¡±


    Once the wall was down, Aurivy led me through the hallway that appeared. ¡°That was the first test, the ¡®test of hidden eyes¡¯. Next up is the ¡®test of gentle steps¡¯. This one is something that a lot of new ninjas struggle with for a while.¡±


    I felt a small smile on my face as I heard that. ¡°I think you forgot about the martial art I practice?¡±


    ¡°What do you¡­ oh, right.¡± Aurivy groaned. ¡°Okay, then you can just breeze through this one too.¡± As she said that, we arrived at a muchrge room¡­ one without a floor. Far across the room on the other side was the next passageway, but before that were six slowly swaying tforms moving back and forth, each one spaced roughly twenty meters apart.


    ¡°This trial is supposed to test your uracy with sh steps. One wrong move, and you fall down into a teleport field that sends you right back here.¡± Aurivy exined, though she seemed far less energetic about it than before.


    As expected, I spread out my threads again, cing one atop the first tform. With a single step, I had arrived there, and then another step to the next¡­ six steps to cross all six tforms. Thankfully, Aurivy was waiting for me at the end. ¡°Okay, this next one won¡¯t be so easy, even for you.¡±


    Hurriedly, Aurivy turned to lead me towards the next room. This room seemed¡­ odd. The floor was nted in random areas, walls lifting up and blocking off all but a small segment. A segment that seemed to be moving slowly. ¡°This is a stealth obstacle course. Watch¡­¡±


    Aurivy held a hand up, and a small rock appeared on top of her palm. She lightly tossed the rock into the room, and nothing seemed to happen at first. However, the moment that the rock touched the ground, two bolts of lightning shot out from the walls, scorching the rock ck for a good ten seconds.


    ¡°As soon as a single sound is made inside of that room, the lightning traps activate. If you touch the shifting walls, the traps activate. Your objective is to locate the three hidden pressure tes in the room and activate them to open the next door, without triggering any of the traps.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I can see why you said that this one wouldn¡¯t be as easy.¡± I muttered quietly as I looked at the poor rock that had been used as an innocent sacrifice. Not only would I have to be careful about treading gently, but I would also have to make sure not to strike too hard when I was activating the pressure tes. ¡°Anything else I should know about?¡±


    ¡°Nope, that¡¯s it for this one!¡± Aurivy responded, before her body simply vanished. She called out from within the room¡­ or more likely from the other side of it. ¡°I¡¯ll be waiting at the exit for you!¡±


    I took a deep breath, making sure that I wouldn¡¯t be heard once I stepped inside. Once again, I spread out my chakra threads to fill the room, before another thought urred to me. Aurivy had obviously forgotten about my threads¡­ so she couldn¡¯t have been expecting something like that. Meaning that there was another chakra detection method.


    Rather than using my threads, I pushed some chakra into my eyes, and found several areas of the room beginning to light up. The most obvious was the wall, where the empty segment actually seemed to form a spell diagram written in light that moved along the wall. Next were spots along the floor and ceilings, where I could see other spell diagrams resting.


    So this is what most ninjas use for their special sight¡­ I thought inwardly, looking at the walls where the lightning bolts hade from. As expected, I saw identical spells ced at each point. However¡­ that wasn¡¯t enough to identify which spells served as the keys. Because not all traps had the same spell applied to them.


    Nothing to do but give it a shot. I mused to myself before stepping into the room. The moment I did, I turned to a nearby wall and ced my foot along it. Aurivy specifically said that I could not use spells in this dungeon¡­ however, I had learned long ago that you could walk up walls without the need of a spell, simply by coating a foot in mana.


    And given how many traps there seemed to be along the floor, I had a feeling that you were actually meant to take advantage of this trick. Okay, here goes¡­ Not sure how sensitive the traps were, I held my breath. My eyes darted from one trap to the other, looking to identify which ones were pressure activated.


    Soon enough, I found one spell that had a pressure trigger, and stretched a thread out towards it. Once my thread touched the patch of wall where the spell was set, I stepped to it. Coating my hand in mana, I lightly tapped the wall with a single finger before moving back to my original position.


    And¡­ I was d that I had moved, since a sharp spike appeared at the spot that I had just been standing, its entrance through the wall triggering the two lightning traps to fire at it. Cold sweat dripped down my back as I imagined myself getting hit by that spike. I knew that it couldn¡¯t kill me¡­ but I am sure that between it and the lightning, it would have hurt like hell.


    Note to self, not all pressure spells are keys. Once I had decided that, I spent a bit longer looking at each spell. As it turned out¡­ almost half of them had a pressure trigger. However¡­ I soon found what should have been the correct spell. A single spell diagram that had no trigger.


    Once again, I stepped over towards the location of this spell, which was actually on the ceiling, and ced my hand against it. With a thought, I pushed my mana into the spell, waiting for it to activate before once again fleeing to safety. However, once I had moved back, I saw that there was no special trap activated. Instead, the spell diagram seemed to be shing faintly.


    One down, two to go.

 Chapter 211: The Guiding Hand

    <h4>Chapter 211: The Guiding Hand</h4>


    As I passed through the trial, I found that each ¡®trigger¡¯ was different, as well as each one being in a separate section of the room, divided by one of the shifting walls. And¡­ while I¡¯d like to say that I got through it easily, that would be a lie. The second trigger was easy enough to find, but the problem was the third.


    The third section of the room had the nted floor tiles shifting in seemingly random patterns. And no matter how I searched the various spell formationsid into the tiles, the walls, or even the ceiling, I couldn¡¯t find anything that matched the patterns of the first two triggers. Naturally¡­ this led me to try the old process of elimination tactic.


    My first attempt was a spell diagram that was positioned between myself and the area where I could sense Aurivy. Logically, it had the highest chance to be the correct one, with another shifting wall simr to the first room. So I took a moment to study the diagram, working out its trigger.


    The trigger for this seemed to be ¡®inverted pressure¡¯, the triangles along the edge of the diagram flipped upside down. That was easy enough to aplish. Using a quick chakra step, I ced myself next to the spell diagram, and pressed my palm against the surface of the wall over it. Pushing my mana into my hand, I stuck it to the wall and pulled.


    Sure enough, the spell activated. And a torrent of me surrounded me, searing at my skin. ¡°Gah!¡± I screamed out from the sudden change, feeling my skin quickly heating up. I couldn¡¯t even see where the two lightning bolts came from next, only felt the jolt of energy rushing into my body.


    My mind locked up for a moment, and I fell to the floor¡­ where there was another trap located. A stone spike speared out from the ground, directly against my chest andunched me back. Once again I winced in pain, but struggled not to cry out for fear that the lightning traps would reactivate.


    Thankfully, either I was silent enough, or the traps had a cooldown period, because the lightning never came even after a small whimper escaped my lips. It took me a few moments to realize that my body had not been burnt to a crisp. In fact, the burns were rather light, as if I had just been out in the sun for too long.


    As for my chest, which should have been stabbed through by the spike, I shifted slightly and felt an internal pain. Broken rib? I asked myself, closing my eyes and focusing my ki. Sure enough, I could feel two ribs broken in my chest from the impact of the spike. Mending them¡­ was not pleasant, but thankfully within my power. I just had to shift them back into ce with my ki, and fuse the bones back together.


    Once I opened my eyes, I saw that the spike had instead not been as lucky. The tip that had stabbed me had shattered, and there were thick cracks running throughout the length of the spike before it slowly receded back into the ground.


    Take that, trap! I celebrated my mental victory, ignoring just how panicked I had been a few moments ago. Curious, I checked my health, and found that only a few percent had been shaved off from the trio of no-doubt lethal traps. They still hurt like hell, but at least it didn¡¯t seem like they could kill me. At least, not unless I just kept bashing my head into one over and over again.


    And no, that was not the n. ¡°Back to the beginning, Dale.¡± Aurivy spoke from the other side of the wall in a singsong tone. ¡°The triggers reset and change location whenever you get struck by a trap. Just to stop people from trying to tank their way through it.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but grumble as I heard that, being rewarded for my effort with another painful jolt of electricitying from the walls.


    My second attempt was slower, more careful, but also more sessful. The rules for the first and second triggers hadn¡¯t changed, and I managed to figure out the trick for the third one. I hadn¡¯t been able to find it with my chakra sight simply because it wasn¡¯t actually a spell.


    Instead, it was a mechanical trigger. One of the shifting and nting tiles on the floor of the third area had a mechanical pressure te on it. It took me a while to find, but once I enhanced my ears with ki I managed to pick out the distinct noise, too low to trigger any of the traps.


    Once I had located the source of the noise, it was only a matter of activating it. Thankfully the activation sound did not trigger any of the spell diagrams, which I saw going dark the moment the third trigger had been activated. The wall where I had sensed Aurivy fell, revealing a smiling halfling standing in another corridor.


    ¡°See, that wasn¡¯t so bad, was it?¡± She asked while cing her arms behind her back. ¡°And you even learned some new tricks, right?¡±


    Well, I couldn¡¯t say for sure whether or not I learned new tricks, but¡­ I had definitely gained some levels. Clearing the room had immediately awarded me with four levels in the ninja ss, boosting me up to ten. And in doing so, I had unlocked the ability ¡®Chakra Detection¡¯, which was really just the same sight power I had used to find the spells.


    ¡°Well? Let¡¯s head on to the next one.¡± Aurivy spoke with a carefree attitude. ¡°This is one of my favorites. You can think of it as an introduction to proper ninja techniques.¡±


    As Aurivy spoke, I followed along behind her while she led the way. The next room had a single pedestal, surrounded by four wide stone bowls floating in the air. ¡°You go sit in the center, and the test will begin. This one shouldn¡¯t be that hard for you, and really isn¡¯t dangerous even for normal people. Well¡­ unless they just really screw up.¡±


    I raised an eyebrow at her curiously as I moved to sit on the pedestal, while she continued her exnation. ¡°Anyways, this is an introduction to elemental chakra. Your goal is to create the chakra of an element that the bowl instructs you to. The instruction¡­ well, it¡¯ll be pretty clear. You¡¯ll see in a second.¡±


    And with that, just as I sat down, the room darkened. The only light remaining was a gentle glowing from the bases of the four floating bowls. Slowly, they began to rotate, one of theming to rest in front of me. The glow flickered, raising up from the bowl to turn into a familiar shape. The spellponent of low grade fire.


    I had already done something like this before, so I didn¡¯t hesitate. As I was creating my chakra, I mentally passed it through an identical symbol, before holding my hand up in front of my mouth. Forming a ring with my thumb and index finger, I blew the chakra through it, creating a burst of fire that filled up the bowl.


    The fire seemed to be drawn into the bowl, sucked in as if by a strange energy. And once I was done with my little fire breath, it rested there, bing a torch that lit up the room. With that done, the bowls began to circle again, the second one resting in front of me.


    This one held the spellponent of water, so I repeated the same process as before with ¡®water chakra¡¯. Then the third¡­ darkness. It seemed odd how a torch could ¡®radiate¡¯ darkness, but it formed a strange sort of contrast with the torch on the opposite side holding fire.


    As for the final bowl, the spellponent it gave was that of lightning. One quick lightning breathter, and I was shaking my suddenly numb hand while looking around, waiting to see what was next. To my surprise, Aurivy¡¯s voice filled the room, though she didn¡¯t speak. In fact, her voice seemed¡­ deeper, rougher than usual. It made me think of it as a shoddy recording.


    ¡°Chakra can be both mystical and physical.¡± Unsurprisingly, the voice was speaking the beastkinnguage. ¡°It can perform wondrous feats of magic, or it can enhance your body to perfection. You have passed the first four trials, and learned the first four lessons of being a ninja.¡±


    At that, the real Aurivy began to speak up. ¡°Andpleted everything I have ready for this dungeon.¡± She said with a slight pout. ¡°I had wanted to get sparring rooms set up so that trainees could practice together, but that requires actual people¡­, and well, I haven¡¯t really opened this ce up to the public yet. These were the only four tests that I coulde up with to have ¡®automated¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­ so what¡¯s next then, if I want to keep training as a ninja?¡± I asked, wondering what Aurivy had in mind. I still had days until my little training period was over, and it was very likely that the only person who knew more about the ninjas than Aurivy would be Terra. But, then again, Terra will always know more about pretty much anything than pretty much anyone.


    Aurivy¡¯s face seemed to brighten up when she realized that I wasn¡¯t stopping my training here. ¡°First, go back to the Admin Room. I¡¯ve almost finished my information sphere to give you for how to perform ninja techniques. Once you¡¯ve practiced that¡­ you can do some training with it back here on Earth. You¡¯ve got just over four days now, right?¡±


    When I nodded my head, her smile widened. ¡°If everything goes ording to n, I should be able to have you as a level fifty ninja by then.¡± For some reason, her innocent smile, mixed with those words and my previous experience with her training methods caused my back to dampen with a cold sweat.


    I¡¯m only at level ten now! How are you going to get me to level fifty in four days! It took me over a year of constant practice just to get to level thirty as a druid! I screamed internally, though did my best not to let my thoughts surface. She seemed confident that she could live up to her im, and I honestly didn¡¯t know if that made me more or less worried.


    Still, since the next part of the training would be held in the Admin Room, I nodded my head and ascended from the dungeon. Even if Aurivy¡¯s training methods were a bit¡­ brutal, I was curious to learn more about how the ninja ss functioned.


    _______________________________________________________________


    The castle of Dukan, the capital of the Third Kingdom of Terraria,y silent. For thest day, the queen had ordered that none were to enter, save for her personal guards. Nobody on the outside knew what was going on, as word had not spread. All that they knew was that the order hade shortly after one of the nobles had been dismissed from the castle.


    Shortly after the order was given, news spread that the Keeper¡¯s Voice had begun gifting knowledge to the royals of the different kingdoms. Many believed that the queen had closed the castle so that she could properly receive this knowledge, unwilling to allow others to interrupt her. And, they were both right and wrong at the same time.


    In truth, the hope that Hipalya would be able to learn what had happened to her mother after so long had ced her in a state of mind where she could not think about matters of court. She eagerly sat in her office, waiting for anothermunication from Tsubaki. She didn¡¯t know if it would take days, or even weeks, but for now she was determined to be patient.


    Thankfully her patience paid off far sooner than she would have ever expected. Queen Hipalya? Tsubaki¡¯s voice spoke into her mind, causing her to jolt upright.


    ¡°Ancestor, appear! She has spoken.¡± The queen called out in a hurry, summoning the guardian spirit of the capital. The golden haired felyn appeared with a relieved smile, standing behind the queen. ¡°What is it, Tsubaki, do you have news?¡±


    I do. The voice spoke far too calmly to be addressing a queen, but Hipalya could not care less. Those simple words were enough to make her treat Tsubaki as a true equal, even without her status as the Keeper¡¯s Voice. These instructions are fairly difficult, so I will require you to ry them to your guardian spirit word for word¡­


    The queen nodded her head, before she began speaking. ¡°You must envision five hundred and forty-one silver ribbons of spiritual energy. The longer that you are able to imagine them, the further the range of detection, but the number must be exact. Once you have all of them in your mind, imagine that one were the person you wish to find. If they are within range of your detection, the ribbon will shift, connecting to them. If their spirit was in range within thest ten years, but was harmed, the ribbon will¡­ turn red.¡±


    As the guardian spirit nodded and closed her eyes to focus, the queen spoke up, her voice cracking. ¡°Tsubaki, is this the only way that you found?¡± In truth, she was thankful that there was a method at all, but this method more seemed to test whether or not her mother¡¯s spirit had been destroyed rather than simply lost.


    No, but it is both the easiest and the most likely to get results. Tsubaki spoke, though her voice seemed to be more gentle.


    The queen could only nod her head again, ncing fearfully towards the guardian spirit as she awaited the answer. Soon, the queen saw ribbons of silver energy beginning to appear around the spirit who had closed her eyes. One, two¡­ ten¡­ fifty¡­ soon, there were more than the queen herself could count, constantly shifting to and fro to make it harder to judge their number.


    Once new ribbons stopped appearing, they began to grow, stretching up into the ceiling. At the same time, the felyn spirit reached her hand out to the side, her eyes still closed. She grasped one of the ribbons firmly, and it began to shake almost violently.


    Hipalya cried out in shock as blood seemed to spill from the spirit¡¯s hand, dying the ribbon red. However, at that moment Tsubaki¡¯s voice spoke again. Queen Hipalya, I will now tell you the method to discern what happened to your mother.


    The queen could barely even register what was going on as she once again began to repeat the words that Tsubaki spoke, her voice seeming to have gone hollow. It was unclear if she even realized herself what she was saying anymore.

 Chapter 212: Scum of the Earth

    <h4>Chapter 212: Scum of the Earth</h4>


    Once I had returned to the Admin Room, I found Aurivy already waiting for me, sitting at the edge of my bed with her legs hanging off. She was humming happily as she looked at me. ¡°Well, here you go!¡± She said, producing an information globe in her hand and tossing it towards me. ¡°This is all of the information you¡¯ll need on ninja techniques for your next training. I¡¯ll work on making something a bit more detailedter, once I¡¯ve had more time.¡±


    Saying that, she pushed herself off from my bed with a quick hop, and jumped backwards towards the door, facing me. ¡°I¡¯ve got to talk with the others for a bit, so let me know when you¡¯re ready to begin!¡±


    Aurivy spun around in the doorway, before skipping off into the hall. I half expected Leowynn toe out as she usually did, but she simply remained quiet. When I nced inside of my spiritual realm, I saw that she was meditating. Maybe that is a part of her training?


    Either way, I nced to the shining blue sphere that Aurivy had given me, before sitting down on my bed to study. Gripping the orb, I closed my eyes and focused on absorbing the information contained within. To my surprise, there was actually a good deal of knowledge within this little bauble. Not as much as an entire tier of knowledge, but definitely more than I had expected.


    The first and most important piece of information was no doubt on the ¡®hand seals¡¯ that people used for ninja techniques. ording to the information that Aurivy prepared, they were¡­ not actually necessary. They were just the easiest and most convenient method to create the effect desired.


    In order to use those more advanced ninja techniques, you had to form chakra into a rough shape of the spellponents that would represent that technique. Since chakra was typically formed along the skin, this meant that it was simplest to form those symbols using one¡¯s body. Then, when the symbol is formed, they simply hold the chakra in that shape while performing the next symbol, until it was all finished with the circle.


    However¡­ for more advanced ninjas, they were able to bypass the hand seals through their chakra control. They simply created the symbols themselves out of chakra and then merged them together. This method was more difficult to perform, but also made it harder to detect what ability was being used.


    I let out a sigh of relief when I heard that, thankful that I would not need to be practicing those seals for the next eternity until I could create dozens of them a second. With my Thousand Arms, Ten Thousand Threads, I should theoretically be able to turn each thread into its own symbol.


    ncing down at my arm, I held it out in front of myself, my palm facing upwards. Blue light began to dance along my skin, before rising up in over a dozen thin threads. I briefly considered what sort of ¡®spell¡¯ I wanted to create, before imagining the most basic light spell in my mind.


    Once I had done so, and the image was clear, I broke the spell down into each of itsponents, and assigned thoseponents to the threads, visualizing theming together as the spell. Typically, this would create a ball of light above my hand, but once the three symbols had formed something else happened instead. My hand itself began to glow, a white chakra coating my hand.


    Okay, that will take some testing. I muttered internally. If spells did not behave quite the same way with chakra as they did with mana, I¡¯d need to learn the ¡®rules¡¯ for the differences.


    My next test was something more advanced, the second tier guided me spell. However, I quickly learned that second tier spells like this using more than one diagram simply wouldn¡¯t work the same. As soon as the first of the three diagrams had beenpleted, the spell activated. And for this one, the first was simply the target selection diagram¡­ which caused the chakra around my arm to give off a strange feeling.


    ncing back through the information sphere, I checked to see if Aurivy had any tips on how to recreate higher tier spells. Level fifty was the benchmark for the second tier, and she was confident to get me there. That means that she had to expect me to be able to do this.


    Sure enough, the information that I wanted was there. It just wasn¡¯t what I expected. For second tier spells, rather than each one getting their own circle, they were all kept separate, contained between an outer and inner circle.


    So, I once again tried the guided me spell, this time following the information I had just learned. As soon as the modified spell had beenpleted, it shot forth from my hand in a st of fire. A thin chakra string extended back towards my hand, and I felt as if I could control the fire for the brief moment it existed before it hit the wall harmlessly.


    I gave a brief nod of my head, understanding this aspect of using ninja techniques now, before ncing down to resume studying. The next ¡®lesson¡¯ was one that I needed to know perhaps more than any other.


    Chakra had a powerful ability to hide presences. There was a technique recorded that would allow one to lower their presence in the senses of others. When fully mastered, they could even fool a status orb, giving false information. The best part was, at its basic level it did not seem hard to learn at all, though the mastered version was far moreplicated.


    Closing my eyes, I quickly coated my body in chakra. Then, I simply condensed that chakra, pulling it through my body to gather at one point. Perhaps in a mystical sense this was supposed to symbolize capturing my essence and hiding it. However, what I knew was that it should allow me to choose how much of my presence I reveal¡­ as long as I maintain the technique.


    I spent at least two hours reviewing the information she had left me, and adapting it to what I knew before I sent a mental message to Aurivy. Alright¡­ I think I¡¯m done now. Do you have everything ready on your end?


    Just finishing up! She eagerly responded. A few momentster, I heard gentle footsteps running down the hall towards my room, before she entered with the same flourish she left. ¡°And done! Okay, so you ready to hear what type of training you¡¯ll be doing this time?¡± She asked with a wide grin.


    When I gave a silent nod, she waved a hand, producing a piece of paper. ¡°This is your hitlist. You have until Tubrock and Ryone finish their fortifications toplete it.¡± I blinked in surprise as Aurivy handed me a list of eleven names. ¡°Your mission is to assassinate each person on this list using only your normal levels. Of course, you can still use the Keeper stats for your health. But everything else remains sealed.¡±


    I took the piece of paper, looking over it with my brows furrowed. ¡°And¡­ who are these people?¡± Aside from the merkin and the daeva, there was one member of every major race in the world.


    ¡°These are scum.¡± Aurivy said, her voice suddenly going uncharacteristically cold. ¡°I asked everyone to give me the most vile, despicable person of their race for this assignment. And then I went through and found one for the heroc as well. Well, naturally Irena is excluded, because you can¡¯t be a ninja as a spirit.¡±


    ¡°Anyways, the people on that list are tyrants, butchers, people who even the gods would rather have dead. We just don¡¯t do anything about them because to do so would often strike more fear into the masses in the long run. For instance¡­ this one.¡± Aurivy looked at the list, before pointing out the name listed for the halflings.


    ¡°Bryant Fairfellow. Arguably the worst halfling to have ever been born. I¡¯ve debated creating an extra incarnation just to get rid of him, and was actually thinking about sending Rn in if she got close enough.¡±


    Just as I was starting to wonder just how bad a halfling could get for even Aurivy to view him this coldly, she continued exining. ¡°He has earned a title through the system, though he keeps it hidden. Heartstealer. He enjoys luring travelers into his abode, paralyzing them with drugs, and then ripping out their hearts while they still breathe.¡±


    ¡°Nobody but the gods know about his crimes, though. To the public, he is an upstanding mayor of a prominent city. He even destroys the evidence after he has had his ¡®fun¡¯.¡± Finishing her exnation, Aurivy took a deep breath, before putting on her usual smile. ¡°Mind taking care of him for me?¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but feel a chill when I heard her describe this ¡®target¡¯, and nced towards the list again. Everyone in that list should be just as bad¡­ or, even worse, given the halflings¡¯ typical carefree nature. ¡°What levels are they?¡±


    Aurivy nodded her head, closing her eyes as if she had expected the question. ¡°Everyone on that list is at least level two hundred and fifty. Evenpared to the weakest of them all, you fall eighty levels short with your normal power. Furthermore, their levels are typically more specialized than your own, and they have a lot morebat experience.¡±


    ¡°Logically speaking, there is no way for you to win in a frontal confrontation with any of them, so long as you y by the rules. That is why this is training for your ninja ss. Your goal is to kill them before they even register you as a threat. Silent assassinations, and then leaving for your next target.¡±


    Aurivy pointed one hand towards the list before backing up again. ¡°That list has the targets ranked in order of difficulty, from lowest to highest. The one at the top of the list, the centaur Jagen Fral, can often be found roaming alone. Whereas the one at the bottom, the kitsune King Lairant, is always surrounded by guards when he leaves his castle.¡±


    I gave a brief nod as I heard that. If they were of equal or lower level than me, then this wouldn¡¯t be ¡®Aurivy¡¯ level training¡­ Those restrictions that she put in ce would no doubt help my growth, but also vastly increased the difficulty for me. If I could use my full power, using the new suppression technique I just learned, it would no doubt be a simple matter to kill all eleven of them in a single day.


    ¡°I¡¯ll do it.¡± I said with a sigh, ncing towards the first name on the list. ¡°Any other rules I should know for this ¡®training exercise¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Just the obvious.¡± Aurivy shrugged, her smile growing wider. ¡°Your race selection should be restricted to the people who would normally be capable of appearing in the area you are targeting. You won¡¯t be using the World Host, as you simply don¡¯t have enough points to spend, and that would create even more bodies. Whenever you descend, the relevant deity, or myself in the case of the heroc, will give you a brief introduction to your target.¡±


    ¡°Oh, and just to let you know.¡± Aurivy tilted her head as she seemed to think about something. ¡°You¡¯ll also be training the Assassin ss at the same time for this. If everything goes as nned¡­ you should hit level thirty in that ss by the time you finish killing all eleven, depending on how quickly you take them out.¡±


    ¡°So, ording to the n¡­ in the next four days, your training regime is expecting to get me a seventy level boost¡­¡± I rified, making sure to be very clear on this. Even Tsubaki, who was no doubt one of the greatest ninja talents in the world, had only grown sixty-three levels since the cap was removed¡­ and that was over a course of nearly six years.


    ¡°Well, it does help that you are fighting people far more powerful than yourself, and that you have nearly no training in those two sses, but¡­ yup!¡± She nodded her head sharply as she said that.

 Chapter 213: Crushing Hopes and Dreams

    <h4>Chapter 213: Crushing Hopes and Dreams</h4>


    I took a deep breath as I smelled the grass extending out to the horizon. For the first target, I had chosen to descend as a halfling. The body was more simr to a human than if I descended as a centaur, so it will be easier to move naturally. As soon as I opened my eyes, there was a message waiting for me, a paper that floated down from the sky tond in my hands¡­


    Jagen Fral, the wandering butcher. He enjoys finding those alone or in groups of two, and offering to guide them to a safe rest. Once nightes, he cuts the throats of those that he lured, and carves their bodies for the meat. Man, woman, centaur, halfling, he will even target wandering members of other races.


    Do not underestimate his intelligence, nor his power. Currently, his level is 262, with his specialty lying in the Warrior ss. His skin is strong enough to repelmon des with barely a scratch, and his fists can shatter stone.


    Quest Objective: Kill Jagen Fral


    Quest Reward: Blessing of Tryval


    I gave a brief nod as I read over the paper. On the back was a drawing of Jagen, a tall centaur with a muscr build and dark brown fur. His face did not seem to be as cruel as his description indicated, but I knew better than to judge purely by his face in this circumstance.


    So, I began to walk. I felt a pull tugging me to the south, and I could vaguely tell that it was from Tryval, guiding me towards Jagen. While I walked, I made sure that my Keeper sses were sealed, and that my own power was suppressed. I wanted to appear to be as much of an easy target as I could be.


    I hadn¡¯t brought any equipment with me for this, as I knew that anything that would actually help would also undermine the purpose of the training itself. I had to rely on my own power to kill Jagen, with the only insurance being the gods watching over me and my own enormous health pool. I was curious what the ¡®Blessing of Tryval¡¯ would be, however.


    It didn¡¯t take me long before I came across the centaur walking slowly over a hill. When he spotted me, he put on a kind smile, turning and trotting over towards me. Just from his name and level, I could tell that this was the right person. ¡°Greetings, friend!¡± Jagen shouted out as he approached, waving one hand at me.


    ¡°Hello.¡± I responded with a small smile of my own, though I could see his eyes briefly nce over me. Focusing on his surface thoughts, I saw him judging me by the power he could feel. I felt weak to him, unarmed and alone. A perfect¡­ meal.


    ¡°Are you perhaps lost, friend?¡± Jagen asked kindly, ncing about. ¡°There is not a rest post for hours and the sun is soon to set. Forgive me if I am overstepping myself, but you don¡¯t quite seem equipped for a night alone.¡±


    He gave a meaningful nce to my person, as I obviously did not have any gear on me. There was not so much as a satchel to store quest scrolls. The one that I had been given was instead tucked away in my shirt.


    ¡°Ah¡­ maybe?¡± I asked, doing my best to sound innocent. ¡°I had been going to meet my family, but I believe I may have gotten turned around over the night.¡±


    Jagen simplyughed knowingly. ¡°Yes, that does tend to happen. Would you like me to carry you to rest?¡± He asked with that same warm smile. ¡°If I gallop, it should not take more than an hour, and you can seek directions to where you need to go once you are there.¡±


    I thought about it for a moment, before giving a brief nod. He turned his lower body, his side facing me, and knelt down for me to climb on. Once I did so, sitting sideways across his equine back, I saw in his thoughts a brief moment of surprise at my weight. He had estimated from my apparent power that I should be around level twenty, but my weight would indicate that I should be closer to fifty.


    Even with that realization, he still considered me far too weak to pose any sort of threat to him. He believed that even if I attacked, I would not be able to cause him an actual injury. As soon as he started to move, I held my hand up behind his back, focusing on a spell I wanted to create. Thankfully, chakra was difficult to sense for any who wasn¡¯t also a ninja.


    The spell I was creating could best be described as a ¡®crushing¡¯ spell, though the fact that I was creating it through chakra meant that it had a slightly different effect. Once the spell had beenpleted, I felt the chakra for it resting in my palm. Pretending to lose bnce from his increasing pace, I leaned forward and nted my hand against the center of his back.


    Immediately, Jagen stopped running. I could feel his hostility growing as he realized that I had done something to him, but it was already toote. The chakra had surrounded his heart, and immediately shattered it.


    When he did not immediately fall over, I began to worry, and even jumped down from his back to prevent him from attacking. What I saw was his face contorted in pain and rage, blood seeping out of his mouth as he slowly coughed it up. ¡°What¡­ did¡­ you¡­ do?¡± He asked, his voice weak, yet clearly angered.


    I couldn¡¯t imagine how he was even still standing, let alone speaking. And then I saw the health bar above his head. The moment I had attacked, it plummeted, all the way down to a mere twenty percent. I had thought that it wouldn¡¯t stop there, and he would die a momentter.


    Sire¡­ centaurs have two hearts. Tryval warned me. There is the one in their human torso, as well as the one in the lower equine body. The one that you destroyed was responsible for purifying his bloody and circting it to his upper body. It will take time for him to die like this, when the blood stops reaching his brain. If you wish to make it a clean kill, you must also take out his other heart.


    I gave a brief nod, noticing that Jagen¡¯s arms had fallen limp at his sides. However, his feet began to kick at the dirt. In his thoughts, I could see his desperation. He wanted to kill me, in the hopes of getting one more level, so that the world¡¯s power would heal him.


    For a moment, I thought about calling Leowynn to finish this, before shaking my head. I wanted to train being a ninja¡­ so let¡¯s be a ninja. Slowly, I began to walk towards Jagen, flexing my fingers. Invisible threads of chakra began to stretch out around my body, touching various points along the ground.


    Jagen let out a pained roar, his equine legs kicking at the ground again while he charged at me. His arms iled limply beside him, and it was clear that he was simply aiming to trample me. However, at the same time I created the same technique that I had just used on his heart. And when he got close enough to me¡­ I vanished from his path.


    Jagen groaned out suddenly, tumbling forward as thest of his health blinked away. Blood began to leak from his eyes, nose, and ears while I appeared on the other side of him. He might have two hearts, but he only has one brain. I thought inwardly, clenching my fist once.


    Ninja has leveled up!


    Ninja has leveled up!


    Ninja has leveled up!


    Ninja has leveled up!


    Assassin has been unlocked!


    Swaying Steps ability has been unlocked!


    Assassin has leveled up!


    I gave a brief nod to acknowledge the messages that had appeared, before the quest scroll hidden in my shirt began to shine and shatter.


    You have received Tryval¡¯s Blessing! Charm +2


    Oh¡­ so that¡¯s what his blessing is. I gave a brief nod at that, before looking up towards the sky. ¡°Okay, where next?¡± I asked, knowing that a certain halfling goddess would be watching.


    Next up is the felyn. Go ahead ande back, she¡¯s on their homnd. Aurivy said, causing me to nod again. The beastkin had learned how to travel to the halflings, but those were not the same beastkin that had regr contact with their homnd, so there was no way that a halfling child could appear there.


    I quickly ascended, changed my body to a lycan, and descended to the world once again. This time, I was in the second kingdom of al, near its western shore. I could smell the scent of the ocean on the air, and in the distance I could see the crashing waves from atop my hill. Once again, a quest scroll fell from the sky tond neatly in my hand.


    Mariah Sor, the Siren of Fitswick. Her specialty is luring men to the coast with her beautiful voice and body, seducing them to share her bed, and then spending a night dominating their minds. Those who sleep with the siren are forever changed, bing puppets to her voice.


    Her current level is 281, and her specialties are the Bard and Leader sses. However, her real strength lies in the people she surrounds herself with. When she is not out singing, she keeps two of her strongest puppets with her at all times.


    Quest Objective: Kill the Siren of Fitswick


    Reward: Blessing of Terra


    I had to say¡­ I was not particrly fond of this particr hunt. Or my target. However, I could easily see why she was worth putting down. Someone with this kind of power, and the drive to use it as she has shown, is not the kind of person that Terra would be able to tolerate.


    Once again, I began to walk, following the pull of Terra. It waste at night on the beastkin continent, the moon high in the sky. Terra¡¯s pull was not guiding me towards the shore, but rather towards the nearby town of Fitswick.


    Your best chance will be to kill her in her sleep. Terra whispered to me as I walked. I¡¯m preparing to have some of my priests reim this area once Mariah is no longer in control of the vigers. Things will be hectic for a while, but it will be better in the long run.


    I simply gave a nod again, d that my ki and mana had refilled when I chose to descend in a new body. As I walked, I practiced the swaying steps that I had received from the assassin ss. It was quite¡­ odd, really. I wrapped my legs in ki, and my feet in mana. My feet seemed to slide soundlessly along the ground in the direction that my ki pulled my body, while I could also cause an instant eleration simr to the chakra sh step.


    Once I had familiarized myself with that technique, I found myself wandering into the small vige. The guards at the vige gate simply smiled at my passing, not stopping to question me for even a moment. Everyone in the vige, in fact, seemed to just smile at my presence. Even in the dead of night, they were going about their normal business as if it were the middle of the day.


    The only exception was at one particr house in the middle of town. Around it stood three people with stern faces standing guard. Each of them had a level of exactly two hundred and fifty, making me wonder if they had just not gained any levels at all due to being under the woman¡¯s control.


    Okay, gotta sneak past them. That¡­ shouldn¡¯t really be that hard? I muttered for a moment as I thought about that. My levels were still being suppressed, so those three should not be able to detect me unless they were purposely seeking me out.


    I took a deep breath, moving out of sight from the vigers to duck behind a house. Using my chakra to silently jump up onto it, I began to shift like this from house to house, keeping my body low as I approached the center manor. Once I was there, I ced my hand over one eye, weaving my threads together to look inside of the house.


    Inside, the lights had all been extinguished, though I could still easily make out the distinct shapes along the room. A single form, naked and lying in an unnecessarilyrge bed, nkets tightly hugging her curves. Above her body, I could see the name and level of my target, so I connected one of my threads to the floor of the room and stepped inside.


    Not wanting to risk the slightest noise startling anyone, I used another chakra step to take myself to the side of her bed. With that same crushing technique I had used on Jagen, I ced my hand on her head. Her eyes opened sharply, ring at me for a brief moment, before the light in them began to fade. She let out a single cough, wet with blood, and I could hear footsteps approaching from the outside.


    Rather than rushing to leave and risk being caught, I moved myself to a corner of the room, wrapping myself in light chakra to be invisible. It made me unable to see as well, but I could still hear. I heard them rushing into the room, screaming when they saw the dead body of their ¡®goddess¡¯, and shouting out orders to find the assassin.


    I also heard the messages beeping off in my mind one by one to alert me of new levels, and the new blessing. And extra two points to Luck¡­

 Chapter 214: Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?

    <h4>Chapter 214: Who¡¯s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?</h4>


    Once the group had left the room, I silently sent a prayer towards Aurivy, asking her where I would need to go next. Next up is¡­ the lycan. He¡¯s at the homnd as well, so there¡¯s no need to change bodies this time if you don¡¯t want to.


    I gave a brief nod at that, checking my ki and mana levels, making sure that they were fine to continue. Okay¡­ take me wherever I need to go, then.


    This time, there was no golden mist wrapping around me. Just a single blink and I had moved from the dimly lit manor to the top of a tall building within a wide city. It took me a moment to recognize the city, since I hadn¡¯t looked at the maps up close in a while. But¡­ this should be the capital of the Second Kingdom of al, if memory served. Though, that question was quickly answered by the paper that appeared in my hands barely a momentter.


    Your target this time is Jaythan Shawn, alias Big Bad Wolf. He is one of the most feared assassins among the four kingdoms, his identity shrouded in secrecy from the public. He will ept any paying job, no matter how cruel, cowardly, or dangerous.


    Among his past missions, he has assassinated three popr nobles and two princesses, kidnapped over a dozen gifted children, and tortured several high ranking officials. His one failed assignment, sneaking into the Forbidden Forest. Thankfully, he has not been able to learn the secrets of being a ninja.


    Jaythan is currently level 290, and he is the highest level assassin in the world, having recently broken through to 102. He enjoys employing the most painful methods toplete his missions, and the horrific appearance that he leaves his victims has earned him his title.


    Quest Objective: Kill the Big Bad Wolf


    Reward: Blessing of alia


    I couldn¡¯t help but gulp silently when I read the contents of this mission. Level two hundred and ny was already a big hurdle, but¡­ I was supposed to assassinate the highest level assassin in the world. If there was a ray of hope, it was that the information did not mention any aplices. Knowing how thorough alia is in her reports, that means that he works alone.


    Okay, alia¡­ I¡¯ll hunt him, so lead the way. I whispered a silent prayer towards the Goddess of the Hunt herself. Naturally, my first step was to get off the building that Aurivy had ced me on. Something that was rather easy, as there was a door behind me.


    As I walked through the city, following the path alia set for me, I began to n for how I could do this. It was safe to assume that a high level assassin would have techniques to find people hiding, so I could not take as much of a stealthy approach. Likewise, if we were to have a prolonged battle, he could possibly even have ways to kill me if I don¡¯t go all out.


    The only way to do this would be to settle it with a single, powerful attack. Something that could cripple or kill him all at once, like I had done with thest two. It just became harder here, because I doubted that I could sneak up on him as easily.


    As I thought about the situation, I felt the tug from alia growing stronger. ncing up, I saw arge lycan male walking down the road ahead of me, moving towards me. He had a carefree smile on his face, his eyes ncing from building to building. As he scanned over the crowd, he didn¡¯t even seem to register me walking, or at least that¡¯s what it looked like.


    A needle¡­ Seeing him, I suddenly realized what I needed toplete this ¡®hunt¡¯. alia, I need a needle, made of a naturally strong metal that could easily pierce the skin of someone with twenty stamina without any enchantments.


    As soon as I said that, I felt something thin and cold pressing against the palm of my hand, and up between my fingers. I didn¡¯t have to look to know that she had immediately provided the weapon that I had asked for. I gave a silent thanks, walking past Jaythan. I couldn¡¯t risk focusing enough on him to peek into his thoughts while he could see me, or he might be on guard against me.


    Thanks to alia constantly guiding me towards Jaythan, I was able to ce some distance between us. I wasn¡¯t surprised to see him out and about at night like this, but it would have certainly made life easier if he was in bed like thest target. alia, what is he doing anyways?


    He¡¯s¡­ on another mission, Dale. alia whispered back to me. Right now, he¡¯s tracking his target, and looking for a suitable location to attack. His current target is the second princess. A few nobles offered him a great deal of coin to get rid of her, as she was a potential political rival for her older sister.


    Doesn¡¯t the princess have a retinue of guards or something? I couldn¡¯t help but ask, ncing towards the building next to me. Jaythan should be on the other side of that building¡­


    She does. However, thiste at night she will sometimes leave the castle with them to deliver food and supplies to local orphanages and businesses. It¡¯s her charitable nature that makes nobles view her as such a political threat. Abducting her from in front of her guards is child¡¯s y for him.


    I gave a brief nod, and in the distance I could hear the clicking of metal against metal and heavy footsteps. That will be her armed guard, then¡­


    Using my chakra, I jumped up onto the building that was separating myself and Jaythan. How long do his victimsst before he kills them?


    ¡­Up to twelve hours. If the request specifically calls for torture, he can make it take as much as a week before he kills them.


    I gave another nod as I heard that, lying in wait and doing my best to keep my presence as minimal as possible. I could see the princess walking down the street, six guards surrounding her. The princess herself was a silver haired beauty, looking to be in herte teens.


    As for her guards¡­ each of them were over level two hundred, all wearing heavy metal armor that covered most of their bodies. They were walking down the road, towards the direction where Jaythan was standing. I saw him humming slightly to himself as he walked down an alley, before seeming to disappear.


    Momentster, when the princess and her guards turned a corner, he appeared again. Just as the guards behind her lost sight of her, Jaythan appeared next to the princess just long enough to ce a hand on her shoulder before the two of them disappeared. A momentter, when the guards had likewise turned the corner, they shouted out in surprise that the princess was nowhere to be seen.


    The direction alia was tugging me towards suddenly changed, and I looked off towards the side. He was still close, in the second floor of a nearby building where the windows were closed. How did he¡­


    Darkness. alia responded quickly. Most people don¡¯t use darkness as a medium for druid travel because the path will be erased when the sun rises and shines light over the area. Water is typically a more reliable solution.


    So, he also has levels as a druid, then. I suppose that makes sense. He would need to be able to get around quickly as an assassin, and nobody is better at getting around quickly in this age than a druid.


    Before making my grand entrance, I began to construct the technique that I would be using with the needle. Only when it was done, and the needle began to glow with a faint orange light did I move. The princess¡¯s guards were already spreading out to search the area, but it was unlikely for them to immediately check the building that was part of a different street.


    Still, I had little time to act, since he was likely preparing a gate that would take him and the princess to his actual base. And, as if to answer my worries, I saw the glow of a fire from within the window. Sh*t, he¡¯s wanting to create a portal with fire, and then have the fire cover up his tracks?


    With no more time to waste, I used my ki tounch myself into the building, shattering the window as I passed. Inside, the princessy unconscious on the floor, her health bar barely visible over her head. Next to her, Jaythan was standing with a small fireball in his hand, a surprised look on his face.


    Immediately, I threw the needle in my hand towards Jaythan, which he seemed to recognize as a weapon. His face darkened, and he easily sidestepped the attack to dodge. The fire in his hand was briefly extinguished, reced by a dark energy. However, just as he lowered his posture to lunge at me, his eyes widened in shock.


    A low glow could be seen behind his eyes, and within his mouth, before a fire began to erupt inside his body. As he fell, I smiled when I saw the needle sticking into his back. The fire would not kill him immediately, but if he wasn¡¯t treated right away then there shouldn¡¯t be any saving him.


    ncing down towards the princess, I wasn¡¯t exactly fond of the idea of letting the fire spread and kill her in her sleep. So, I scooped her up in my arms in a¡­ yes¡­ in a princess carry, and jumped out the window just as the fire began to spread from Jaythan to the wooden floor of the building.


    Once we were down on the ground, I stopped suppressing my presence and unsealed my monk levels long enough to have my ki surge, letting her guards detect the ¡®sudden presence of someone strong¡¯ in this direction. Then I suppressed myself quickly once again, jumping back onto a nearby building to hide and enjoy the levels that began to pour in. Unsurprisingly, alia¡¯s blessing was a boost to wisdom.


    Who¡¯s next? I asked again, a small smile on my face as I saw the guards rushing over to surround the sleeping princess. At least this time, I was able to save someone. It may not seem like much, but being able to see that this training was making a difference did help.


    Next is the human¡­ you¡¯d bettere back up to change bodies for this. Aurivy suggested, and I gave a brief nod.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Princess, are you okay?!¡± Jordan called out to the princessid out in the streets, gently shaking her shoulder. He could feel a weak ki in her body, and urged his own ki in to remove it.


    Suddenly, the princess shot up with a sharp intake of breath, her eyes wide. When she was caught, the Big Bad Wolf had paralyzed her with his ki, making her appear to be unconscious. Yet, she had still been aware, her eyes half-lidded and able to see what was going on. ¡°Where is he?¡± She asked quickly, looking from side to side.


    ¡°Your captor had already fled by the time we arrived, your highness.¡± Her guard informed her at once, causing the princess to shake her head.


    ¡°No, my captor was killed long before you arrived.¡± She said, ncing off to the side. ¡°Please send a druid to the bakery two streets over. You¡¯ll find the body of a lycan there, burning.¡± She hadn¡¯t been able to make out much, but the way she had been taken¡­ ¡°It should be the Big Bad Wolf.¡±


    The name caused the six guards to take a sharp breath. They had thought that it was a possibility, given that the princess had been taken from right in front of them. Nobody had ever seen the man long enough to confirm anything aside from his race, and even that was from shamans recreating a scene.


    ¡°Mydy, pardon my rudeness but¡­ if this is true, how are you still here?¡± The Big Bad Wolf was like a legend, a story used to scare bullies. It was public knowledge that he had never failed in his missions, and anyone marked for death by him was sure to die.


    The princess paused, before letting out a low sigh. ¡°I think¡­ one of the Forest dwellers saved me.¡± She said in a soft voice, remembering how she had been rescued. However, her words caused even more confusion. Those who lived within the Forbidden Forest rarely emerged. And when they did, they strove to keep their identities hidden.


    The only time that they had ever gotten directly involved in royal affairs¡­ was the time when they ended the war between the beastkin and the savages to the west. Still, the guards could already hear the fire burning from behind the building they were near, and knew from that alone that the princess¡¯s words had to be true. Urgently, they called for a druid to douse the me, so that they could recover the corpse of the Big Bad Wolf.

 Chapter 215: The Black Soul

    <h4>Chapter 215: The ck Soul</h4>


    I let out a deep breath as I ascended to the Admin Room again, clenching my fists repeatedly. A long sigh escaped my lips as I fell down onto the bed, startling the catgirl that I hadn¡¯t noticed sitting on it. ¡°All done?¡± She asked with a lightugh.


    It had taken me a bit more than the four days toplete the rest of the ¡®assignments¡¯, but I had managed to take care of it. I gave a brief nod to Terra¡¯s question. ¡°Just got done with the King of Stakes.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but groan as I remembered him.


    Honestly, most of the hunts weren¡¯t too difficult. I had the advantage of surprise, always knowing where my target was, and the ability to prepare beforehand. Aside from the lycan, none of them made me worry all that much. The real difficulty of the training was keeping my activities as stealthy as possible.


    For the kitsune king of Deckan, who had a wall of cards containing the heads of the people he killed, their bodies impaled on stakes outside the castle¡­ that was possibly the most difficult to keep secret of them all. The level of Deckan was far, far lower than Earth, to the point where the royal guards only had an average level of fifty.


    However, the fact that those guards were present almost all the time meant that I couldn¡¯t just go in and kill him at my leisure. I didn¡¯t particrly want to kill the guards, as arge number of them were being forced into the role themselves. So¡­ I had to wait in his room, hidden in one corner for him to walk in.


    Of course, naturally he hadn¡¯te in alone, so I had to wait for him and his ¡®guest¡¯ to finally fall asleep before I dealt the killing blow and left. The hunt itself was not hard, just¡­ annoying, I guess?


    ¡°So, how would you rate them?¡± Terra asked curiously, rolling onto her stomach next to me. Her tail rubbed gently along my leg as she stared at me. ¡°We all gave you the worst of our people¡­ so we were kind of curious which one you thought was the worst of them all.¡±


    ¡°The Red Queen.¡± I answered immediately, shivering at the thought.


    Terra let out anotherugh, nodding in understanding. ¡°I can see why you¡¯d pick her. Even among tyrants¡­ I¡¯d probably have to rate her in the top five of Earth¡¯s history.¡±


    I gave a brief nod at that, remembering the human queen. She ruled a small ind kingdom just off the maind, to the west of the human continent. What made her earn her nickname was¡­ oddly enough, her bathing habits. She believed that she could make her ki more powerful by bathing in fresh human blood¡­ the younger the better.


    ¡°So¡­ what brings you here, anyways?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask as I nced towards Terra. ¡°Thought you¡¯d be off ying with Udona or Aurivy like normal.¡±


    Terra rolled her eyes, holding up the list that I had contained my eleven hunt targets. ¡°You¡¯ve got onest job, big shot. A special request from Udona, Irena, and that little ninja girl in your Citadel.¡±


    ¡°Tsubaki?¡± I asked curiously, sitting up and taking the paper from her. Sure enough, there was a twelfth name on the list, though the entry definitely surprised me.


    Devourer of Lost Souls - World Spirit


    ¡°A world spirit went rogue?¡± I blinked in surprise, ncing over towards Terra, who nodded her head.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Looks like one of them finally went off the rails. Irena never really noticed that a small few of the billions of souls she regrly takes in had been ¡®misced¡¯. And there are too many living creatures for Udona to ever be expected to monitor each and every one. It was actually Tsubaki that stumbled upon this herself.¡±


    I shook my head as I tried to imagine how she managed that, locked up in the citadel and unable to interact with those spirits. ¡°Okay¡­ and how exactly am I supposed to take it out? From what I remember, a world spirit draws in other nearby world spirits to amplify their power like a hive-mind.¡±


    Terra nodded her head, as if the question was expected. ¡°That¡¯s why you¡¯re going to have to descend as a world spirit yourself. World spirits gravitate towards the strongest of their kind. If you descend, then this devourer will be helpless to even resist you.¡±


    My brows furrowed a bit as I thought about that. ¡°What is the likelihood of being able to fix his habits of eating people¡¯s souls?¡±


    ¡°About as low as you¡¯re probably thinking.¡± Terra answered bluntly, her face softening slightly. ¡°World spirits are old creatures. Even more so than the martial spirits, they don¡¯t age naturally. Trying to convince someone against what they¡¯ve been doing for hundreds of years without repercussions is like trying to convince fire to be ice. And no, it doesn¡¯t count if you use magic on the fire.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle as she immediately pointed that out, before letting out a long sigh. ¡°Alright¡­ I take it that Aurivy can help me find him again? Like with the others?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. She¡¯s waiting for you to descend and get used to functioning as a world spirit. This time, there¡¯s no real need for secrecy, so she¡¯s just going to bring him straight to you.¡± Terra confirmed,ying down on the bed with her head against her arms. ¡°Go get ¡®em, Dale.¡±


    ¡°Okay, but when Ie back, I am taking the mother of all naps.¡± I said in a joking tone, earning a small chuckle from Terra as I made my way over towards theputer. Since I had never descended as a World Spirit before, I had to be careful about where I descended. It¡¯d need to be somewhere uninhabited, to make sure that my powers didn¡¯t identally kill anyone while I was testing them.


    Once that was taken care of, I allowed the familiar blue light to wrap around me, taking me down to the uninhabited ind I had chosen in the middle of the ocean. My body looked¡­ basically identical to my normal human body. Since the physical appearance of a world spirit didn¡¯t really matter, there was no harm in going with what I was familiar using.


    Unfortunately¡­ even if the form was familiar, it did not feel that way. The first thing I noticed when I descended was that breathing felt¡­ wrong. Not as in I was suffocating or anything, more¡­ that it didn¡¯t do anything for me. My chest didn¡¯t expand or contract with my breaths, it was simply just the act of pulling in and expelling air.


    Most likely, world spirits didn¡¯t even really need to breathe. At least, not air. Shaking my head at that realization, I raised one hand. Well, let¡¯s give this a quick test.


    My hand aimed towards the water, at which point I sent out a mentalmand, much like I would as a druid. Only this time, I used the strange mix of natural and spiritual energies that I felt my body fill with. Themand was simple, to create a rising ball of water.


    The result¡­ was considerably less simple. I mean, yes, it did create a ball of water that rose into the air. What I hadn¡¯t expected was the hundred smaller balls rotating it, or the faint blue glow that came from within each one.


    As I was practicing, I felt something twitch inside of me. A presence I hadn¡¯t felt before, or at least had never felt like this. It did not take long for me to realize what it was, as a small fairy-like creature appeared from the air in front of me. The other world spirit blinked its wide eyes at me, staring for several long moments.


    I began to wonder whether this was the ¡®devourer¡¯ that I had been sent to kill, before another one appeared¡­ and another¡­ and another fifty. The more that gathered, the faster they seemed to appear. And once they noticed what I was doing, they all flew in a circle around me beforeunching themselves at the ocean.


    Soon, more and more spheres of water began to float up, each surrounded by two or three world spirits. I could feel their thoughts in the back of my head, wanting to help with whatever I was doing. And when each ball had been created, the fairies maintaining it brought it to merge with therger ball I had been holding myself.


    It wasn¡¯t long before the more than fifty world spirits were now surrounding a single massive ball of glowing blue water, easily the size of the small ind that I chose to descend at. Okay¡­ so that¡¯s what it¡¯s like. I thought briefly, before sending themand to return the water to the ocean. Before my power even reached out, the world spirits had acted, sending the water pouring down again.


    Alright¡­ Aurivy, I think we are ready. I said mentally towards the goddess, still a bit dumbfounded after experiencing the world spirits¡¯ concept of a hive mind for myself.


    Roger that, Dale! One evil pixie,ing right up! Barely a second passed after she responded before I felt one more thought added to the back of my head. This one was surprised, angry, hungry, and then scared.


    My mind focused on that thought, just as my eyes turned towards a somewhatrger world spirit with ckened skin. I couldn¡¯t tell if he took that appearance willingly, or if it was a byproduct of eating living souls, but he was easily distinguishable from the others.


    What wrong what I do why I here what you need? I felt his thoughts directing the questions at me, though he made no visible attempt to flee.


    Why are you eating people?


    To my question, the spirit tilted its head. What¡¯s a people? Only eat food. Hungry so hungry food bigger and stronger more filling. There was a shudder from the other world spirits as they began to realize one by one what had happened. From the very first day they had been created, they had only been taught to eat the ¡®small food¡¯, the ¡®unwanted food¡¯. Never the ¡®food¡¯ that was bigger than them, the ¡®food¡¯ that was able to resist. That had always been a taboo.


    Don¡¯t you know that you¡¯re not supposed to do that? I asked, feeling my brows furrow in frustration. Not only with this one, but with how all world spirits seemed to see normal spirits as simply food. That would have to be¡­ corrected over time.


    Why not so hungry big food better. The ckened spirit questioned, and I could feel it growing more and more agitated. Its power tried tosh out, maybe to help it escape. But for some reason, the power failed a moment before activating. Why keep me here what wrong? Hungry so hungry, need big food.


    I let out a sigh as I heard that, shaking my head. I¡¯m sorry¡­ I thought towards the ckened spirit as I raised my hand. This creature was not inherently evil. However, like Terra said, it was an old soul. One that had grown ustomed to doing things a certain way. If I tried to correct its behavior, it would no doubt only be a temporary fix. And then every world spirit that this one created would share its views, like a cancer spreading throughout the race.


    Sensing my intentions, the dozens of other world spirits lifted their hands up as well. Green, red, white, and blue lights began to fill the air as the ckened spirit looked around in fear. No stop don¡¯t hurt. Not wrong not bad.


    However, I didn¡¯t send the order to stop, so my power shot out all at once with the gathered spirits. The ckened one tried to dodge, to flee away, but his body couldn¡¯t move. As if it had epted this fate even without his mind agreeing. The concentrated sts of energy shook the spirit to its core, until it erupted in a burst of ck mist.


    Irena¡­ is there any way to recover the souls that it had devoured? I asked as I saw that mist, which far more resembled spiritual energy than natural.


    He did not refine them before eating, so¡­ it¡¯s possible. However, their minds would be fractured. I would much rather immediately allow them to be reborn, so that they are not cursed to exist in such a manner. Every moment would be an undying hell within their own soul.


    I gave a brief nod at that, agreeing that an immediate rebirth would indeed be preferable in that scenario. Okay¡­ and can you thank Tsubaki for me? Since it was her that discovered this¡­


    I have already prepared a reward for her, sir. Irena responded in a soft tone.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Tsubaki. An unfamiliar voice called out into the kitsune¡¯s mind as she was sweeping one of the many halls of the citadel. Tsubaki jumped, spinning around as she scanned the hall. Her hands were raised defensively, a thin needle extending out from between each of her fingers.


    ¡°Who¡¯s there?!¡± She practically hissed out, not being a fan of others sneaking up on her.


    I am Irena, the Goddess of Death, Justice, and the Underworld. The voice answered in a patient tone, after which Tsubaki¡¯s attitude flipped immediately.


    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry, goddess! Please forgive me.¡± She pleaded, crouching down on the floor, one hand against the ground. The needles that had been in her hand seemed to have vanished in the brief moment that she moved. ¡°I did not recognize your voice, and thought you an intruder.¡±


    All is well, child. The voice answered, still in the same patient tone as before. Dale has asked me to thank you for bringing our attention to the one devouring souls. The matter has been handled, and he wishes you to be rewarded.


    ¡°That is unnecessary!¡± Tsubaki shook her head strongly, keeping her eyes on the ground. ¡°It is my duty to assist him in any way that I can. It is simply to be expected of me.¡±


    Then shouldn¡¯t you ept the reward of a goddess, so that you may better assist him in the future? Irena asked, though Tsubaki thought she detected just a bit of a smile in the woman¡¯s voice this time.


    ¡°I¡­ very well, then.¡± She relented, unable to find a suitable argument. ¡°What did my lord have in mind?¡±


    He has left the reward to me to decide, so I shall grant you a gift worthy of the service rendered. Tsubaki, I wish to take you as my priestess. To have you be a herald of justice, both in my name and in his. Will you ept?


    ¡°Of course, goddess.¡± Tsubaki nodded her head quickly, having already made the determination to use whatever reward had been given to serve her lord. As soon as she agreed, a message appeared in front of her.


    Priest has been unlocked!


    You are now a Priestess of Irena!


    Discern Truth ability unlocked!


    You have received the Blessing of Irena! +2 Wisdom

 Chapter 216: Lord of Nature

    <h4>Chapter 216: Lord of Nature</h4>


    I quickly ascended once again after I had dealt with the ckened world spirit, and called out for Irena to meet her in the halls. Once I got there, she was already waiting for me outside her bedroom door. Her stoic expression was betrayed by the quick nce she gave me when I came out of my room. ¡°You wished to see me, sir?¡± She asked, clearing her throat and looking at me directly.


    ¡°That¡¯s right¡­ I want to do something, but it will require your help. I want to make sure that you are able to do it.¡± I exined, seeing her nodding for me to continue. ¡°I need you to open a portal between the area I descend next and an unupied region of the Underworld. I¡¯m going to need to pull as much spiritual energy in as I can, and the world spirits have likely made it so that there isn¡¯t enough for what I need even in the entirety of Earth.¡±


    Irena¡¯s eyes narrowed in focus for a moment, before she nodded her head. ¡°This is entirely possible, sir. A gate between the two nes can easily be created with my power. However, pulling, the energy through will require your own power.¡±


    I gave a small smile at that. ¡°I think I can handle that bit. I just needed to make sure that the energy was somewhere that I could reach it.¡±


    ¡°Very well, then. I¡¯ll be watching to see where you descend to.¡± She nodded again, before turning and walking into her room, one of her long wings gently brushing over my arm as she moved.


    Father, just what is it you have nned? Leowynn asked, briefly surprising me. This was the first that she had actively spoken ever since returning to my spiritual realm to train.


    ¡°Feeling better now?¡± I asked inwardly, turning to move back to my own room.


    I think that I¡¯ve gotten full control over the energy that I absorbedst time, if that¡¯s what you mean. I could almost feel the smile that was on her face as she said that. Once you are done with this, I¡¯d appreciate it if we could pay another visit to the Underworld so that I can continue training.


    ¡°I¡¯ll add it to my list.¡± I said with a brief chuckle. ¡°As for right now¡­ well, it¡¯s a bit difficult to exin, so it would be best just to wait and see.¡± As I prepared to descend again, this time in an elven body, I closed my eyes and focused on summoning an item that I knew was in the grove. An old, familiar staff, simr to one that I had received previously.


    The staff of Tebor had been left with him after I ascended, but it had originally been obtained from a dungeon. And, as I had been told, nearly all of those equipment that could be found in dungeons were based on items that the gods had introduced to them from what Tubrock or Ryone made.


    Once I felt the staff resting in my hands, I felt my smile growing. It felt almostfortable to hold it again, even as the light surrounded me and I descended. This time, my location was on an ind far removed from where I had destroyed the world spirit, just to prevent the others of its kind from immediately surrounding me.


    I was just about to call for Irena, to let her know that I was ready, before I hear something that sounded like cloth tearing. Off to my right, I saw a gap forming in the air, an empty void peering at me from beyond. When I pushed my mana into my eyes, I saw the Underworld through the gap, and Irena standing within it.


    I watched as the portal grew more and more, far wider than the fist-sized hole that I had created while training my summoner abilities. By the time that she was done, the hole had a diameter of nearly fifty meters. Is this a suitable amount? Irena asked me mentally as she stared at me from beyond the veil.


    With a gulp, I nodded my head. In truth, that was far more than I had ever expected. But, that means that it should expedite this process even more. Okay¡­ now¡­ both natural energy and spiritual energy respond based on intent. But natural energy has the added ir that Aurivy showed me¡­ so I guess it¡¯s time to make a fool of myself.


    Closing my eyes, I struck the base of my staff against the ground, fully releasing my powers as a Keeper. I put enough mana into my staff to activate it, and I felt as if my perception expanded. Tebor¡¯s staff had a simple function, to extend a druid¡¯s control over natural energy.


    As I spoke, it seemed that the world trembled around me. ¡°I am the one who stands above the heavens.¡± Corny, yes, but not inurate. ¡°My word is thew of the universe. Spirits of nature, spirits of ages past, gather before me.¡±


    Think grey mist pooled out through the portal from behind Irena, swirling around my body. Natural energy surged, rushing towards me at mymand. I opened my eyes, feeling the two energies locked in a torrent, as if I were standing in the center of an invisible tornado.


    ¡°Thews of this world are sacrosanct. Yet, there are those who wish to vite them.¡± Small explosions began to ring out through the air around me like fireworks, the two energies colliding again and again. ¡°I call for a judge. One who stands above those of this world, and the spirits that dwell within their distant home. The wandering spirits of nature.¡±


    All at once, the explosions halted. The two energies began to merge silently, creating a visible green mist that swirled around me. ¡°Come forth, gentle soul. Come forth, ardent ruler. With a kind heart and a firm will, I wish for you to ascend to your throne.¡±


    Closing my eyes once again, I began to visualize the appearance that I wanted for this world spirit. It would be muchrger than the others, as it wasposed of far more energy. As for its race¡­ A mix of human and elf, with a dress of leaves. A powerful male appearance would only be intimidating, so I imagined a gentle, beautiful woman. Green hair flowing down her back like thin vines. And eyes as blue as still waters.


    ¡°Come forth, queen of the natural world. Ruler of wandering spirits. Let them see another way, a better way.¡± Even with my eyes closed in focus, I could feel the energies settling, condensing at a single point just in front of myself. Only when I felt thest of the energies leave my control did I open my eyes.


    Standing before me was the woman I had envisioned, every detail just as I had pictured it. Her height was just short of my own, and she stared up into my eyes with a curious expression. She opened her mouth, as if to speak, but only a brief exmation came out before she seemed to realize that she did not know any verbalnguage.


    You called for me, my lord? I heard a soft voice speak into my mind a momentter, and saw the woman¡¯s face break into a smile. Even just this short encounter showed that she seemed to be far more intelligent than a normal world spirit, just seconds after being created.


    I gave a brief nod, not to her but towards Irena. The goddess nodded back, swiftly closing the gate to the Underworld. Likely, there would never again be enough spiritual energy gathered in one ce to create a world spirit like this. At least, not for a very long time.


    ¡°Can you understand me?¡± I asked verbally, rather than sending my thoughts to her through spiritual energy. Natural energy does not have a nguage barrier¡¯, so I was hoping that she would still be able to understand my words, even if she couldn¡¯t reproduce them herself.


    Thankfully, she gave a quick nod to confirm my question. I can. What would you have of me?


    I let out a sigh, seeing thatmunication would easily be possible like this. Speaking through spiritual energy was rather draining, after all. ¡°What do you know about the other world spirits? Do you know what they are?¡±


    World spirits¡­ those like myself, but smaller? The ones that you called for me to lead? I was surprised when she said this, realizing that she had knowledge from before the time that she had been born. At the very least, she knew everything that was used in the ¡®incantation¡¯ to create her.


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± I took a brief look above her head, and saw that she was listed as a level one world spirit. However¡­ the energy that I felt from within her was far more powerful than even fifty world spiritsbined. ¡°I want you to be the World Spirit Queen and guide them.¡± As I said that, the information above her head silently adjusted, the word ¡®Queen¡¯ added to her race.


    I understand, my lord. The woman responded with a brief nod. Do you have anyws you wish upheld?


    Smiling, I nodded my head as well. ¡°I do. I want you to ensure that no world spirit ever feeds off of the energy of a creature recently killed. Only when the energy has naturally dispersed without being imed can they receive it. Even if they are dead, those spirits still have families waiting for them in the next life.¡±


    As youmand. She simply stared at me with her wide, blue eyes as she responded.


    ¡°Next, I want you to protect them, but do not lead them to violence. In the future, there may be those that want to study world spirits, and some might even use unkind methods to do so. But you can never let them wage arge conflict with the world because of that. Do you understand?¡±


    At my question, she once again nodded her head. I do. Is that all, my lord?


    ¡°For now. If a problem arises in the future, I hope that you can handle it. If not, I will call for you again. I hope that at that time, you wille to me.¡±


    The world spirit queen simply smiled, her body glowing green. The green light seemed to slowly consume her, shifting her to the ¡®home¡¯ of the world spirits. Even this simple action appeared to immediately increase her level, and I watched the number slowly rising before she faded away, onest message sent to me before she disappeared.


    Whenever you call for me, my lord, I shall be there. As soon as she left, a pair of system messages appeared in front of me.


    Congrattions! You have earned a personal achievement!


    For being the first to create a Complete World Spirit, you have earned the Lord of Nature achievement. +20% affinity with Natural Energy, +20 points


    You have performed a service to your world!


    Creating a kind and gentle ruler for the World Spirits, and ensuring asting safety for them. +2 Charm, Voice of Nature acquired.


    ¡­Terra. I called out mentally, not waiting even a moment after I read the second message. Voice of Nature, what is it, and what do I have to worry about now?


    In the back of my mind, I heard a lightugh from the catgirl goddess. Nothing to worry about, Dale. The Voice of Nature is just another enhancement of your control over natural energy. Though, world spirits will act more favorably towards you because of it.


    Huh¡­ alright. I was simply happy that this wasn¡¯t anything that was going to end up getting in my wayter. Though it did somewhat annoy me that I kept getting boosts for Natural Energy, when I had no intention of following that path. Then again, if I did more ¡®services¡¯ that involved ki or mana, I¡¯d likely get buffs with those.


    So that¡¯s what you had in mind. Leowynn suddenly spoke up from within me, still sounding a bit surprised even after a few minutes had passed. That was¡­ quite amazing, father.

 Chapter 217: Regret

    <h4>Chapter 217: Regret</h4>


    I returned to the Admin Room after creating the queen of the world spirits, but only long enough to change my body and descend to the underworld with Irena¡¯s pen. This time, the process to absorb the spiritual energy went far smoother, as Leowynn was more aware of her own limits. She gained another thirty-six levels before her face appeared to be in pain again and she immediately stopped.


    Unlike before, she did not fall unconscious as soon as we came back to the Admin Room, even though Irena was waiting on standby. She instead remained within my spiritual realm, and seemed to be meditating. Thankful that the situation was not as bad this time, I smiled to Irena, setting the world to fast forward another ten years before falling into bed and taking what I could only hope would be the mother of all naps.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Within the Sky Citadel, life was calm. The citadel itselfcked nothing for its three inhabitants, save perhaps for thefort of others. For such arge space, there lived only three people, and at first none of them even spoke the samenguage.


    There was the halfling, Trixy, who spent her days exploring the citadel as if she were a little mouse. She loved to look in every nook and cranny, seeing if she could find anything. Over time, she even became quite close with the halfling goddess, who would sometimes visit the castle to y hide and seek with her. Not exactly a fairpetition¡­ but the two of them seemed to enjoy it.


    Then there was the human, Melora. She was¡­ far less yful. Melora spent most of her time in her room, only asionally stepping out when she needed to eat. Even then, she would often try to coerce one of the others into cooking for her. Perhaps that was the only real reason she even bothered to study the Keeper¡¯s tongue.


    Of course¡­ such coercion never really got her anywhere, and only made her view the other two residents of the citadel poorly, and vice versa. Especially the kitsune, Tsubaki. Her appearance and dedication to maintaining the citadel caused Melora to view her as little more than a maidservant to order around.


    If Tsubaki was not cleaning, or sparring with Trixy and her martial spirit, she could be found in the library, constantly poring over books. For the most part, Tsubaki was the only one that used the library. Trixy attempted to after finally learning the Keeper¡¯snguage, but found that the books were too difficult for her. As for Melora, she could asionally be seen going into the library, but only long enough to look through one or two books that would be immediately helpful to her.


    Then came themunication room. This one was quite popr among all three of the girls, as it allowed them to have that social connection that they missed so much over time. Undoubtedly, Trixy spent the most time here among all of them. She would spend long hours in the room, chatting to her friends and family until one of the others began toin that they needed it as well.


    Next came Tsubaki, though she used the device for far less personal reasons. Ever the dedicated maid, she spread teachings to every kingdom of the beastkin. She did not teach much, as it would take time for each kingdom to adapt to the new information, but what she did teach was knowledge previously unknown to them.


    And finally, there was Melora. Like Trixy, she would visit the room only to talk to those she knew before, such as her friends. Though, she used the room far less than either of the other two. One time¡­ she used the device to contact the queen of Hanbei, letting her know that their n would not be as ¡®easy¡¯ as they had wished. The queen became furious, and that was thest time that Melora ever contacted her.


    However¡­ it wasn¡¯t only the beastkin that Tsubaki made contact with. After one year had passed, once Trixy had shown that she was starting to be fluent enough with the Keeper¡¯s tongue to hold a conversation, she began to reach out.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Hello? You are the representative of the elves, are you not? A gentle voice spoke into Bracken¡¯s mind, shocking him from his slumber. Although it may have been midday for Tsubaki, it was instead early in the morning for the elf.


    ¡°Huh? What was that?¡± He asked warily, ncing about the room. The voice was unfamiliar, but thenguage¡­ ¡°Keeper? Are you truly a woman as well?¡± He was amazed at the idea, his eyes going round.


    ¡­I shall pretend that I did not hear that. No, my name is Tsubaki. I am the representative of this world¡¯s beastkin.


    ¡°Oh, quite, yes, my apologies.¡± Brackenughed lightly, shaking his head. ¡°Apologies, I am familiar with your kind. However, I cannot say that I had the chance to catch your name when west met. May I ask what you are wish to speak with me for? Is it word from the Keeper?¡±


    In a manner of speaking, you are not wrong. The voice said, before letting out a sigh. It is fortunate that you have finished learning hisnguage, for that will make this far easier. Within the citadel, there is a library of knowledge that the Keeper has amassed. He wishes this knowledge to be shared equally, and so I am--what are you doing?


    Bracken stood against the wall of his room, banging his head loudly against the rock wall. After the second strike, his health bar appeared above his head. ¡°Stupid! Of course he had such an amazing thing! Why didn¡¯t I expect that!?¡±


    The voice went silent, seeming to want to wait for him to be done. After a few minutes, he had stopped, rubbing the bleeding spot on his forehead with a sigh. ¡°Once again, you have my apologies, Tsubaki. But please, could you ask the Keeper to give me another chance? I do not wish to miss out on the wonders held within those halls!¡±


    Bracken was not chosen for his strength, nor for his political power, nor for his appearance. Bracken was selected as the representative of all elves for one simple reason¡­ He had an almost limitless desire to learn. He was easily one of the most intelligent elves alive. In fact, the only reason that he had originally refused to live within the citadel was because he felt that there was still more for him to learn among his own people.


    Not even for a moment did he stop to consider that the pce of the Keeper, older than the world itself, would have a library of knowledge yet untapped. Why would he, as the Keeper was so far above and removed from worldly affairs that such knowledge should be trivial to him? However, hearing that such a thing really existed¡­ He could only scold his past self for being foolish.


    There was another sigh echoing within Bracken¡¯s mind. I will speak to him when next he walks these halls. However, when that will happen is unclear. There is even the chance that I will die to time before seeing the Lord again.


    ¡°Oh, yes, right. Your people have such short lives¡­¡± Bracken said in a sorrowful tone, feeling genuinely remorseful of this fact. Without life-prolonging abilities, most beastkin, dwarves, halflings, and centaurs would die by the same age that an elf truly entered adulthood. Bracken wasn¡¯t sure about the other races, but he felt it should be the same for them as well. Likely, it was a unique quality of the elves to live for so long unaided.


    ¡­Indeed. Anyways, may I continue?


    ¡°What? Oh, right! You said that he wanted the knowledge to be shared.¡± Bracken rapidly nodded his head, moving to the stand next to his bed to retrieve a book and pencil. ¡°Please, any information that you can impart would be greatly appreciated, my dear!¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    Tsubaki let out a sigh as she opened the door to themunication room. She had made first contact with every representative, except one. Well, that was not entirely urate. She had contacted the representative of the heroc, but it was not exactly useful. As it turns out, he had died only weeks after his appearance within the citadel. So while his spirit could be contacted, it would not aid her in her wish to spread the information to that race as well.


    As she left the room, she saw Melora there, waiting. Judging by the look of irritation on the human woman¡¯s face, she had been waiting for quite some time. Or only ten minutes, it was really hard to tell with how impatient she became. ¡°About time.¡± Melora said as she stormed past, making it a point to shove her shoulder against Tsubaki¡¯s.


    Tsubaki¡¯s eyebrow raised just slightly as she felt the woman gather the ki in her shoulder in preparation for the impact. However, she did not avoid it. As if she had never suspected the ¡®attack¡¯ she allowed it to happen.


    A loud cry echoed through the hall as Melora recoiled from the contact. Her arm felt like it was on fire, muscle and bone shifting suddenly. She could no longer feel any ki in that arm, and the arm¡¯s appearance was reverting to what it looked like before she modified her body with her ki.


    ¡°Y-you! You attacked me!¡± Melora screamed, pointing her other hand at Tsubaki, who was still casually walking away. ¡°I¡¯ll have you killed for this! You vited the rules of this citadel! The Keeper will not stand for it!¡±


    Tsubaki simply walked calmly, until the word ¡®Keeper¡¯ slipped from Melora¡¯s lips. Then, her feet froze. She turned her head to re coldly at Melora. ¡°Do not think me blind, harlot. Had you not wished me harm, my power would not have sought you out. You wished to take my arm from me and im it an ident, did you not? im that my body is so fragile that even a light brush against you could leave me crying on the floor?¡±


    Melora¡¯s face paled as she heard that. In fact, it was not far from the truth. She had never seen Tsubaki sparring with Trixy, as she spent most of her time in her room. The feeling that the kitsune gave off was even weaker than the maids that had attended her before she moved to the citadel. She may not have wanted to destroy Tsubaki¡¯s arm, but surely, hurting her was something that could be hoped for.


    Furthermore, if it appeared to be an ident, nobody could me her for it. There was no doubt in her mind that the gods could restore whatever small injuries the bump caused. However, now she learned that Tsubaki had some strange ¡®power¡¯ within her that struck back because it perceived an attack?


    Naturally, Tsubaki had no such power. She had merely used her control of ki to rip the energy out of Melora¡¯s shoulder when they made contact. The monks of Hanbei studied ki to make their lives better, morefortable. But the ninjas of the forest had spent thousands of years analyzing its properties, and all the different ways to use it.


    Tsubaki¡¯s cold re made Melora shiver even further as she spoke again. ¡°I will not punish you for your slight this time. But know this, wench. If you ever dare to use my Lord¡¯s name in one of your schemes again, even the gods will not find your body.¡± After saying that, she turned to walk down the hall once again.


    Melora stared at the retreating figure, blinking slowly. Her mind was reeling from that warning. She had wanted to injure Tsubaki to make up for the maid not serving her this past year, and yet she had been the one hurt instead. Not only that, but her life had been threatened. And Melora was quite sure that Tsubaki could carry out that threat. Knowledge that only made her shriek out when, after she finished blinking, Tsubaki¡¯s figure had vanished from the hall.

 Chapter 218: Loyalty

    <h4>Chapter 218: Loyalty</h4>


    I let out a low groan as I awoke, ncing over towards theputer. There were no shing rms, so the ten years must have passed without any real problems. At least, nothing major enough to warrant setting off one of my rms. The first thing that I did once I got up was to check the time left until the invasion.


    Just over ny-six days, huh? Wait, what¡¯s this? I nced at the corner of the screen, and there was a familiar icon blinking gently. Not one of my rms, no this was far smaller than that. This was a message sent over the Keeperwork. When I opened it, I found it to be a message from Jugrnaut, the Keeper that I would be invading soon. More urately, it was an invitation to chat, dated three days ago.


    Shrugging my shoulders, I epted the old invitation, but did not stick around. It had been three days since he sent the initial message, meaning it was when I was in the middle of my training. And since it had been so long, I highly doubted that he would still be there to respond immediately.


    Instead, I decided to first check in with my representatives at the citadel, to see how life was treating them now. As for what I would descend as¡­ let¡¯s go with a dwarf this time. I hadn¡¯t descended as a dwarf in a little while.


    Closing my eyes, I allowed the familiar blue light to carry me down to my throne, the point that I had chosen to descend. For a moment, I was confused when I opened my eyes. I could only sense two presences within the citadel at the moment. However, my confusion vanished a momentter when the third presence abruptly appeared. Tsubaki¡­ so she suppresses her presence when I¡¯m not around?


    I wasn¡¯t quite sure what the meaning of that was. However, I could feel Tsubaki¡¯s presence rapidly approaching my location. If I wasn¡¯t mistaken¡­ she even used one of the easier hidden passages as a shortcut to reach me faster.


    She had started on nearly the opposite side of the citadel, yet she arrived before me barely ten seconds after I sensed her appear. When she arrived, she immediately knelt down in front of me, cing one fist against the ground. ¡°Tsubaki greets you, my Lord.¡± She spoke gently, her eyes on the ground beneath her.


    I shook my head with a small smile while I looked down at the kitsune. ¡°You may rise, Tsubaki. Now, do you have anything to report, since you rushed here so urgently?¡±


    Tsubaki lifted her head up to look at me, before slowly rising to her feet. ¡°It is only natural for me to greet the lord of the castle upon his arrival.¡± She said, and I could at the same time feel another of the presences making its way in this direction. If I wasn¡¯t wrong, that should be the human representative. ¡°However, there are things for me to report.¡±


    I could tell that time had taken its toll on the kitsune. The marks of aging were subtle, but they were still present. However, I was more surprised when I took a look at her level, seeing that it had risen by another twenty since I wasst here.


    ¡°I have begun to spread the teachings of the library to every race except the green-skins.¡± Tsubaki began her report. ¡°I believe the Goddess called them heroc. Their representative died before I could disseminate the information to that race, so I do not have a point of contact with them.¡±


    I nodded with a slight smile when I heard that she was sharing the information equally, not just with her own people. ¡°Good, very good. Is there anything else?¡±


    ¡°Yes, my Lord.¡± Tsubaki nodded once. ¡°The representatives of the elves, the demons, and the kitsune of Deckan have expressed their wish to rescind their earlier decisions. If you would ept them, they would like toe live in the citadel.¡±


    As she said that, I heard the door to the throne room slowly creak open. Standing within it was Melora, but she looked¡­ different. Her body was thinner than before, as if she had not been eating well. Her eyes were sunken, and her hair was an unkempt mess. When she saw Tsubaki standing in front of me, she squealed like a struck pig, backing away a step.


    However, Tsubaki did not even turn to regard her for a moment. Peering into the thoughts of both of them, Tsubaki barely seemed to register Melora¡¯s presence at all. However, Melora was screaming internally, cursing that the ¡®monster¡¯ was here. She seemed genuinely scared, and only approached after she confirmed my presence once again.


    ¡°M-my Lord.¡± She spoke hesitantly, dropping down to both knees at the foot of the stairs. Unlike Tsubaki, she did not climb the stairs to stand in front of me, but rather stayed at the bottom. ¡°M-may I go back? I¡­ I don¡¯t want to stay here anymore. You can find another representative if you wish, but please¡­¡± She did not raise her hand once while she spoke, her voice shaking.


    I raised an eyebrow at her behavior, before sending a mental question to the pantheon. Okay, who can tell me why the human representative is acting like this?


    Surprisingly, it was Bihena that spoke up first. She had a conflict with Tsubaki nine years ago after attempting to injure her. Tsubaki responded by scaring her, and her fear has festered all this time. It was clear that Bihena had no sympathy for the representative of her own race. Tsubaki may have been a bit harsh with what she did, but it was not unwarranted. If she was as weak as she made herself appear, Melora would have destroyed one of her limbs.


    I see. I nodded briefly, ncing down towards Melora. My silence seemed to scare her even further, as her body had begun to tremble. Aurivy, take her home. Bihena, if they do appoint a new representative, mind letting me know?


    I received an affirmative from both goddesses as golden mist wrapped around Melora, causing her to vanish from the citadel. ¡°Tsubaki, would you like to exin what happened between the two of you?¡± I asked, and the kitsune¡¯s eyes remained steady, not a trace of guilt in them.


    ¡°Of course, my Lord.¡± She spoke up. I had already heard the story from Bihena, but I wanted to make sure that Tsubaki would not lie to try to cover the truth of the matter. If she did, I was prepared to send her back as well. ¡°Nine years ago was when the incident happened, to my knowledge. That is when she became unstable after a confrontation between the two of us.¡±


    ¡°I thought that I had forbidden such conflicts?¡± I asked with a low groan, shaking my head. However, Tsubaki shook her head.


    ¡°That is incorrect, sir. Such a rule was never spoken. You wished for us to regard each other as equals, but at no point was personal conflict forbidden.¡± She spoke confidently, causing me to blink. I had not expected her to point that out so easily, and it made me re-assess whether I had actually stated that rule or not.


    Tsubaki continued while I was thinking to myself. ¡°Nine years ago, after I had firstmunicated with the other races, I ran into Melora as I was leaving themunications room. She had attempted to run into me as we passed, enhancing that side of her body with her ki so that she would hurt me. As such, I responded in kind. When we collided, I stole the ki that she had gathered in that region of her body.¡±


    ¡°My guess is that she was using her ki to alter her appearance, as her arm began to subtly change while she screamed after that. As I attempted to continue on my way to the room, she cursed at me, iming that I had broken the rules of the citadel and attacked her unjustly. She threatened to use you to kill me.¡±


    Finally, for a moment, Tsubaki¡¯s ears dropped as she turned her head away. ¡°I may have¡­ lost my temper briefly, and spoken a few harsh words. However, I did not attack her, as that would leave the humans without a representative and no knowledge that they needed to appoint a new one. I hope that you can forgive my leniency.¡± She bowed her head in apology, not because she had acted harshly, but because she had not killed Melora then and there.


    I couldn¡¯t stop myself from blinking in confusion, peering into her mind once again. Apparently, it wasmon for those in the Servant Corps to kill those who insult their appointed master. Tsubaki felt it a disservice to me that she was not able to uphold this action due to my wish for her to treat the races equally.


    Letting out a sigh, I once again shook my head. ¡°I admit, it was an oversight of mine not to forbid personal conflicts. I had thought that would be clear when I mentioned for you to treat each other equally, but it would appear that was not the case.¡±


    ¡°The fault is not your own.¡± Tsubaki spoke quickly, lifting her head to look at me directly. ¡°I firmly believe that the human would have performed simr actions regardless, as she herself believed that such a rule was already in ce. And she likely would have continued doing so until a result was seen.¡±


    ¡°¡­No matter.¡± I spoke after shaking my head again. ¡°Anyways, is that the end of your reports?¡± I was d that Tsubaki had admitted the truth of the story, and had even done so more thoroughly than Bihena had. As for whether it was theplete truth, I questioned it mentally for a moment before Aurivy whispered into my mind.


    She said everything. Aurivy answered calmly. Well, aside from the exact words that she used¡­ but I doubt even she herself remembers exactly what she said in a conversation nine years ago.


    I gave a brief nod at that, while Tsubaki spoke up. ¡°Yes, that is all. However, I do have one personal request, if I may ask?¡± She nced curiously at me as she said that, gauging my response.


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    A small smile formed on Tsubaki¡¯s lips as I allowed her to make her request. ¡°There is mention of a few sses within one of the books in the library. I have spoken with the representatives, and nobody they know of has obtained them¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re talking about the world spirit, martial spirit, and perfect self sses, right?¡± As I asked that, her eyes shed briefly in surprise and recognition. ¡°Two of those sses are perhaps more suitable to call races. The martial spirits are like Trixy¡¯spanion, while world spirits are the little fairies that I believe sometimes frequent small viges.¡±


    ¡°And the perfect self, my Lord?¡± Tsubaki asked, clearly more interested in this ss than either of the other two.


    ¡°The perfect self is a ss that nobody in the world has unlocked.¡± I answered calmly, being quite sure of my answer seeing as how the ss was not even unlocked in my own information window yet.


    ¡°The description for the ss¡­¡± Tsubaki spoke up, her voice firm. ¡°It states that a user will haveplete control of their body. They will not bow to hunger, thirst, sickness, or even time itself.¡±


    ¡°That is correct.¡± I answered, keeping my eyes curiously on the kitsune.


    ¡°Then¡­ I would like your permission to train in this ss. I believe that the techniques required are too advanced to share to the public yet, as they are taking a while to catch up. However, for my individual study, I believe that it is something I can achieve within my lifetime, if you would allow it.¡±


    My brows furrowed when I heard that, a gentle sigh leaving my lips, past the scruffy beard that came with the body of a dwarf. ¡°Tsubaki¡­ in order to train the perfect self, you must kill yourself.¡± As soon as those words left my lips, there was a silver dagger in her hand. ¡°Not like that!¡± I hurried to shout out, causing her to nce at me curiously.


    ¡°I¡¯ll allow you to train the ss, but you have to let me finish exining first!¡± I grumbled, shaking my head as I rxed back in the chair. ¡°To train the perfect self ss, there are three steps required that I am aware of. I suggest you not attempt it until you have thoroughly studied the energies involved, to ensure that there is nocking information.¡±


    ¡°Now, for the first step, you need to merge your spirit with your mana and your ki. This already is a step beyond the realm of what people today can do. After that¡­ you shatter your body, destroying itpletely. You will only seed in practicing the ss if you do this, and are then able to reform your body with your spiritual energy.¡±


    By the time that I had finished speaking, the dagger in Tsubaki¡¯s hand had vanished, and I had no idea where it had gone. She simply stared at me for a long moment before nodding. ¡°I understand. This means that I have your permission to try, correct?¡±


    I let out a low groan, but ultimately nodded my head. ¡°Yes, you can try.¡± If I had to guess, it was also forbidden for people like Tsubaki to put themselves in danger for personal gain without asking for permission first. At least, judging by how she was acting.

 Chapter 219: Broken

    <h4>Chapter 219: Broken</h4>


    Before I left the Citadel, I had Aurivy call in the new representatives that wanted to be living there as well, and gave them the tour, much like I had with Melora, Tsubaki, and Trixy. It was¡­ rather helpful that they had all learned to properly speak English, as it meant less work for the goddesses to trante. And once that was taken care of, I met with the new representative of the heroc.


    Unsurprisingly, he did not want to stay in the Citadel, being far too fond of battle to give up that life for one of a more boring solitude. I had the distinct feeling that I would be going through heroc representatives pretty frequently¡­


    As I was wondering what to do next, I suddenly heard a message in the back of my head, a whisper from Terra. That call you were waiting on just went through, Dale. She let me know, and then promptly cut the connection.


    Nodding my head, I ascended back to the Admin Room, so that I could handle this conversation with the dragon Keeper. I wasn¡¯t really sure what to expect, but hey¡­ at least it showed that he was open tomunication. The first thing that I saw when I returned to the Admin Room was the message from Jugrnaut, shing on myputer screen. It seemed that Terra wasn¡¯t even in the room, and just notified me when she sensed that he had made contact.


    Jugrnaut: Greetings, there. Thank you for epting my contact request.


    I was a bit taken aback when I saw the seemingly genuine thanks, and didn¡¯t want to bring up the fact that I hadn¡¯t been able to answer him for days after he had tried to contact me. Or, maybe that¡¯s how things normally went? Maybe Alkahest was just in his Admin Room a lot more often and able to reply right away more.


    EarthForceOne: Not a problem. Was there anything in particr you wanted?


    Jugrnaut: Indeed. I am sure that you have noticed that I am to be the target of your next invasion, have you not? I wished to ascertain what sort of person you were, such that I could make the appropriate preparations.


    I couldn¡¯t help but furrow my brows in thought when I read that. There were a few ways that that could be taken, whether it was him trying to find a counter for my invasion, or just deciding whether or not I was ¡®peaceful¡¯.


    EarthForceOne: I¡¯ve got no intention of dedicating a substantial force, if that¡¯s what you mean. It¡¯d be a waste to do so, even if it seemed that you were someone that deserved arge attack.


    Jugrnaut: I shall choose to take that positively, then. It is rather unfortunate when one does not know whether their people will be in danger or not. However, if it is true that my people will be safe for another hundred days, then I shall offer thanks.


    And with that, the conversation closed, only for another message to ping on my screen. This was another contact request, though this one was from Starkiller. My eyes widened when I realized that she must have already dealt with her own invasion. Either she got someone easy, or she was able to wipe them out quickly.


    Starkiller: Hey, David! Just wanted to check in and let you know, got done with my defense round!


    EarthForceOne: It¡¯s Dale, not David.


    Starkiller: What?! Did David die already?! Please tell me Bihena¡¯s still there!


    EarthForceOne: She¡¯s here¡­ you just forgot my name again.


    Starkiller: Oh¡­ uhm¡­ sorry? This is awkward now.


    EarthForceOne: So, who was it that invaded you? Or is that secret information?


    Starkiller: Oh, it was some dragon dude! Jugs or something like that, hang on¡­


    Starkiller: Aha! Jugrnaut, why did I think Jugs? Though that makes me want some milk¡­ Anyways, no it¡¯s not a secret. You can look up the information on who a certain Keeper is paired against on the system. It¡¯s one of the ways that the guild collects information! For instance¡­


    While I waited for her to continue, I blinked in surprise. Were there so few first rank Keepers that it was inevitable for us to fight the same person, or was it just dumb luck? Given that there were less than ten thousand Keepers, and who knows how many ranks, I wasn¡¯t quite sure.


    Starkiller: Oh! You¡¯re fighting the same guy! Well, this is weird. Anyways, he seemed like a pretty nice guy. Bit of a newb, and sent a single person that was good at hiding for his invasion. Took me this long just to track the welp down!


    EarthForceOne: Isn¡¯t that supposed to be information that I have to pay for?


    Starkiller: ¡­


    Starkiller: You saw nothing.


    Starkiller: Seriously, they¡¯ll dock my pay if they find out I let info slip again! Pleeeaaase don¡¯t tell anyone!


    EarthForceOne:¡­Again?


    Starkiller:¡­hehe? It¡¯s only happened a couple times! I just get so caught up in conversation that I forget the whole business side of things! But don¡¯t worry! I made a note that your information is private, and it¡¯s posted on my remembrance wall! I don¡¯t slip up with anything on the wall!


    I wasn¡¯t sure whether or not that really reassured me, and could only shake my head briefly.


    EarthForceOne: So, who are you up against next, if it¡¯s alright to ask?


    Starkiller: I won¡¯t know for about half a month. For people that finish their defenses too early, they have to wait until the halfway mark of the month before their next opponent is determined. But rather than that, can Ie back to visit?! I wanna see Bihena again!


    I rolled my eyes briefly when I saw that, sending a mental message to Bihena. Balu wants to know if she cane back. Apparently, she just finished with her own invasion and wants to y again.


    There was a brief pause before I received a reply from the human goddess. Can you ask her to wait a little bit. I¡¯m focusing on multiple incarnations right now, and can¡¯t handle stuff on this end as well.


    Rather than replying to Bihena, I simply gave a brief nod, typing out a reply to Starkiller.


    EarthForceOne: She says she can¡¯t right now. She¡¯s busy handling things on our world, and wanted to know if you could wait a little while.


    Starkiller: Oh, sure! Just let me know whenever it¡¯s okay toe over!


    And with that, the conversation closed. It was fortunate that I was able to learn that Jugrnaut really wasn¡¯t a bad guy. Though, as I had told him, I wasn¡¯t prepared tounch a big attack either way. I needed my world to develop a bit more before it could handle that.


    Speaking of which, I decided to set the world to fast forward again. This time by fifty years. Though, I did set an additional rm to notify me when anyone was about to attempt to unlock the Perfect Self ss. Naturally, the only one that should set off the rm would be Tsubaki, though there was the chance that another representative found the information and attempted to get it first.


    _______________________________________________________________


    In a dark room in the dungeons of the Hanbei Royal Pce sat two people. One was a dishevelled woman that looked like a shadow of the former top beauty among humans. Her hair was a mess, her skin filthy, and her clothes torn. She was Melora, the former Voice of the Keeper.


    Her state was not because she had been tortured. Rather, this is how she had been found. On the side of the road, curled up with herself crying. Given her status, she had been brought directly to the pce, where the queen ¡®graciously¡¯ offered her shelter.


    This was naturally not out of the kindness of her heart. The queen clearly remembered when Melora gave her the cold shoulder due to her status. Yet, even the queen with her grudge couldn¡¯t help but feel pity for this woman. Even before she became the Voice of the Keeper, Melora had been a haughty woman.


    ¡°What happened to you?¡± The queen asked coldly, though Melora could almost feel a hint of concern in her voice. Not like it mattered. Not like anything mattered now. She was away from the Citadel. She was away from the monster.


    Still, when she looked up, and saw the two floating orbs of light slowly spinning in a circle around the room, she thought she saw movement in the shadows cast by the lights. ¡°Eek!¡± She cried out, ducking her head and shielding it with her hands. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­ I¡¯m sorry¡­¡±


    The queen recoiled in surprise at the scream, but then saw the woman acting even more pitifully. ¡°Melora!¡± She shouted out to snap the woman to focus. ¡°Tell me, what happened to you?¡±


    ¡°It was the monster.¡± Melora muttered out, not daring to lift her head. ¡°The golden-tailed monster. She lives in the citadel¡­ she serves the Keeper. Don¡¯t mock her¡­ no, don¡¯t mock him. She¡¯ll kill you if you mock him. Not even the gods will stop her¡­¡±


    The queen shook her head, not able to understand what Melora was talking about. ¡°The Keeper has a monster guarding the Citadel¡­ and it did this to you?¡± The light whimper from Melora was enough to confirm the queen¡¯s guess, in her mind. ¡°Melora¡­ If you don¡¯t recover, we¡¯ll have to rece you.¡±


    As soon as the words left her mouth, Melora looked up sharply. Her eyes were wide, and the queen almost thought that she was going tosh out at her for ¡®daring¡¯ to take away her position. Yet, the words she shouted caught the queen off guard more than anything else.


    ¡°Yes! Please! Rece me, I don¡¯t want to do this anymore! Please, don¡¯t make me go back there!¡± She practically begged to give up a position that even the queen herself envied. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you anything you want to know, just please let me stay down here!¡±


    Without even waiting for the queen to say anything, Melora pulled her legs up onto the chair, curling up on herself as she hugged her legs. She began to talk about the Sky Citadel, the ¡®Pce of the Gods¡¯. She spoke of itsyouts, the many different rooms, and even the Keeper himself.


    ¡°I can¡¯t make him fall for me. Maybe nobody can. He has the Goddess, and so many others. He takes so many forms¡­ why would he want a lowly mortal like us?¡± She muttered near the end of her speech.


    ¡°What about the other Voices?¡± The queen couldn¡¯t help but ask, as it was the one subject that Melora never discussed. She was angry for sure upon hearing that the Citadel had a wealth of knowledge that Melora never even attempted to share with them, but seeing the woman in her current state made her unable to speak too harshly.


    As soon as the queen asked that, Melora let out another whimper. ¡°No, no! Can¡¯t say it. She¡¯ll kill me¡­ She¡¯ll make me disappear.¡± She practically sobbed out the words, picturing the representative of the race that the humans had always considered wicked beasts. ¡°Please don¡¯t make me say it.¡±


    At this point, it wouldn¡¯t be wrong to say that her fear had crippled her. Tsubaki had be the greatest fear in Melora¡¯s heart, who she saw in every dark corner, every time she closed her eyes. That piercing re, the mysterious power that seemed to shatter her ki with a mere touch. And the fact that she dared to say what she did, without the gods punishing her in their own home.


    As the queen stood up to leave, she heard the pained mutterings of the woman behind her. ¡°They¡¯ll never find my body¡­ they¡¯ll never know it was her¡­ no body no crime. Dying alone¡­¡±


    The queen considered putting Melora out of her misery, for it seemed that misery was all that was left for her life, but decided against it. If she never recovered, then a life like this would be punishment for her past actions. And if she did, then it would only show that she was stronger than she appeared to be now. In the meantime¡­ the queen had to host another selection.

 Chapter 220: Another Origin

    <h4>Chapter 220: Another Origin</h4>


    Tsubaki stood alone in one of the secret rooms of the Sky Citadel. To her knowledge, this appeared to be a training room of sorts, meant to block out any energies that might leak as a result of training. She understood that it was likely meant to offer the Keeper a ce to train where they could not be disturbed.


    Tsubaki felt guilty using this room for her own purposes, but she had made her resolve. The Keeper had given her permission to attempt to unlock the Perfect Self. And she had worked for over thirty years in the library, studying every text she coulde across. She knew that there was still far more to learn in the citadel, but she was confident in her chances.


    First step, merging the spirit with the mind and body. Complete. Tsubaki recounted the months that she had spent in secluded meditation, slowly merging her spiritual energy into both her ki and her chakra.


    Second step,plete detonation of the body. Studies suggest that a barrier to contain the energies would be beneficial, to enable them to properly reform without escaping. This was the reason that she hade to the training room. It would perfectly iste her energies, and increase her chance of sess.


    In truth, she had found a number of secret passages and hidden rooms within the Sky Citadel. Mostly while she was cleaning the halls, her eyes would catch the faintest hint of a lock ced along a wall. Naturally, her curiosity often got the best of her, and she would spend long hours secretly studying the lock, referencing itsponents with the books in the library until she managed to deduce the key.


    There were still some locks that she had found, but could not solve, but she was in no real rush. They were more of a hobby than anything else, and once found she typically added those rooms to the list of areas that she maintained. She would not make use of any of those rooms without extenuating circumstances such as the ones she was in now.


    In the back of her mind, Tsubaki thought she felt something, a presence watching over her. Likely just her imagination, or one of the goddesses paying attention to her at the moment. Still, she had made her resolution.


    Tsubaki raised her hands up in front of her chest, her body releasing a faint golden glow, interspersed with flecks of white and blue. This is going to be a nightmare to cleanter. She thought to herself as the glow focused on her hands.


    She was no longer a young woman. When she had been chosen, she was barely twenty-three years old. But now? Now she was approaching seventy. If not for her ki rivatilizing her, she would have likely appeared much older than she did now. Even still, her face was showing distinct signs of age.


    Steeling her thoughts, Tsubaki mmed her hands down onto her own chest, sending her own ki to run rampant in her body. Detonate! With a simple thought, the kitsune known as Tsubaki ceased to exist. Her body exploded outwards, painting the walls around her with her blood.


    Yet still, her awareness did not fade instantly. She would have bit her teeth to stop her from screaming out at the pain, if she had either teeth or a throat. And, in front of the ce where she once stood, she perceived a message appearing.


    You have died.


    Not yet I haven¡¯t. We live for our Lord, we die for our Lord. Tsubaki mentally repeated the motto of the Servant Corps in her head, feeling her thoughts growing faint. She forced herself to focus, trying to grab up every scrap of her energy while she recited her own, newer version of that same motto. I die for my Lord, so that I may live for my Lord!


    Throughout the room, golden mist seemed to rise up from every drop of blood, every scrap of viscera, and every shard of bone. This mist floated towards the center of the room, where Tsubaki had once stood. They condensed further and further, spiraling inwards under her control, her will that persisted even after death.


    Slowly, a body began to form from the mist, as if sculpted from pure gold. The body of a grown woman, her hair flowing down her back. Her tail reached down to the floor as her body curled in on itself. Her eyes, first tightly shut, flew open, glistening light shining out.


    When the mist was finally spent, the glow around Tsubaki¡¯s body faded, as if returning her to normal. Now, her body had reverted in age, crafted by Tsubaki¡¯s own hand to appear as she had when Dale first met her. There was only one difference, one which even Tsubaki herself took a moment to realize.


    Is this room bigger than it was before? She asked inwardly, ncing around the room. In truth, her size had shrunken drastically. Now, she was no more than six inches tall, enough to stand in the shadows of even the smallest children. But she knew¡­ her power was no less than it had once been.


    Perfect Self has been unlocked!


    Perfect Control ability has been unlocked!


    Congrattions! You have earned an achievement!


    You have suffered through death and rebirth, and stepped on the road to Perfection. You are the first person in all of history to take this step, and it has earned you the Origin of Perfection achievement. All Stats +2, All Energies +10%


    Congrattions! You have earned an achievement!


    Few people can offer such undying loyalty to those that they serve. It takes resolve, courage, and no shortage of luck. For the sake of the one you serve, you have ended your own life for the chance to better serve. Knight ss automatically bestowed. You have earned the Loyal Beyond Life achievement. Charm +2, Knight ss Affinity +20%


    It seemed¡­ she had even grown stronger now that her size had been reduced. Both of the achievements were powerful, more than enough to make anyone envious. And she had seen a Loyalty achievement such as this before. It was umon, but there were times that those in the Servant Corps were ordered to kill those that they loved. If they did so, they would earn the Loyal Beyond Love achievement, assuming that their love was genuine.


    It was impossible to know the details of such an achievement, as those who earned it had proven that they were loyal beyond a fault. Naturally, they would not reveal any information without their lord¡¯s approval. However, the rewards for it would never be able topare to Loyal Beyond Life.


    As Tsubaki was looking at her two new achievements, she decided that she should equip one as her title. Until now, the only achievement that she had earned throughout her life was ¡®Walks With Death¡¯. However, that was not an achievement befitting a Servant, so she had never equipped it as a title.


    Without a moment of hesitation, she equipped the Loyal Beyond Life achievement as her title, and immediately noticed its effects increasing. While the other achievement offered a better benefit to her¡­ this one showed that she was truly the best Servant that she could be.


    ¡°That was incredibly foolish.¡± A familiar voice spoke out from behind and above her. Turning around, she saw the Keeper towering over her in his human form. ¡°And foolishly incredible.¡± On his face was a soft smile, as if he was thankful.


    Tsubaki felt warmed by that smile. The fact that the Keeper worried over her insignificant life showed all the more that he was worthy of her devotion. Her instinct and trainingpelled her to immediately drop to one knee, her head lowering to look at the floor. ¡°Tsubaki greets the world¡¯s Keeper.¡± She said, her voice higher pitched and quieter due to her shrunken state.


    ¡°I would tell you to rise¡­ but I do not think you would get very far.¡± He said, a hint of jest in his tone. ¡°Tell me, do you understand why your body has been reduced to its current state?¡±


    Tsubaki hesitated for a moment, mentally rechecking her information to ensure that she did not give an incorrect answer. ¡°This should be the result of my body being destroyed, Keeper. With the raw energies condensed enough to give me a body, this became my new maximum size.¡±


    With her position so close to the ground, she could easily see the shadow shifting as the Keeper nodded his head. ¡°That¡¯s correct. If you train the Perfect Body ss, your energies will all grow together. You should be able to create a body closer to the one that you had originally.¡±


    ¡°I understand, Keeper.¡± Tsubaki spoke respectfully, nodding as well. ¡°After I have finished cleaning, I would like to request that I be sent to an area where I may train myself. Although it will mean a brief dereliction of my duties, I do not believe that I can properly maintain the Citadel as I have been in my current state.¡±


    The Keeper seemed to freeze at that, caught by surprise. Tsubaki instantly worried that she may have upset him with another selfish request, before he spoke up slowly. ¡°Tsubaki¡­ before you came to the Citadel, what is the highest level monster you have ever killed?¡±


    ¡°I do not have a way to measure the levels of beasts and monsters, Keeper. I apologize for mycking in this regard. However, if we are to discuss the strongest opponent I have in¡­ It would be the guardian of the dungeon which won me my position as your Voice.¡±


    Again, there was a pause, the Keeper seeming to process that information. ¡°I see¡­ Tsubaki, do you believe that your skills have dulled in the years that you have been here? I know that you¡¯ve already discovered most of the hidden rooms of the Citadel.¡±


    ¡°Sir!¡± Tsubaki lowered her head just a bit further. ¡°No, sir! I have maintained my training every day for thest forty-eight years of my service! I do not believe that any of my skills have dulled, Keeper.¡±


    ¡°Understood. In that case, there is only one area where I believe that you will be able to gain the training that you need.¡± He said, sighing softly. ¡°Tsubaki¡­ I am going to send you to hell. If it were before, you would have died the moment I did so. But now¡­ you need not breathe. Food and water are irrelevant to you. And you have control over your spiritual energy.¡±


    Tsubaki was just about to speak up when he continued. ¡°But I must warn you¡­ the monsters that reside in hell are far more powerful than any that live in this world. They are the refuse, the spirits of monsters collected over thousands of years that have devoured each other to grow stronger.


    ¡°At one point, a single one of these creatures broke out of hell, and threatened to destroy an entire continent. If you go there, I cannot guarantee that you will survive. However, it is the only training ground avable among the regions I control where you will be able to fulfill your goals.¡±


    Tsubaki nodded her head sharply. ¡°I understand, Keeper! Please, send me there¡­ in an hour. I will need that long to prepare and tend to cleaning this room.¡±


    ¡°Ah, right.¡± The Keeper nced around the room. ¡°I must ask, where are all your hidden weapons? I don¡¯t see any metal in the¡­ pieces.¡±


    ¡°They are in my room with my clothing, Keeper. I did not want to create an additional mess.¡± Tsubaki quickly answered,pletely unabashed by her nudity in front of her lord.


    ¡°Ah¡­ I see.¡± The Keeper seemed to clear his throat, once more ncing away. ¡°Right, I¡¯ll return once you have finished making your preparations. But¡­ don¡¯t take your weapons with you. They won¡¯t be able to help you in hell. The only thing that you will be able to rely on will be your own power.¡±

 Chapter 221: A Pure Heart

    <h4>Chapter 221: A Pure Heart</h4>


    I let out a sigh of relief once Tsubaki had left the room, ncing around at the ¡®mess¡¯ she had made. I could still feel traces of energy within some of the gore, and knew that she had not perfectly formed her body. However, it was true that she got the vast majority of it, so the rest shouldn¡¯t be a problem.


    Moreover, there was only one real reason that I wasfortable with sending her to ¡®hell¡¯, the monster side of the Underworld. Irena had first assured me that Tsubaki met every prerequisite to survive in the Underworld, while Udona said that she was strong enough to handle monsters far above her level.


    That was why I had asked her what her strongest kill was. And the guardian of the dungeon Aurivy had set up was at the highest possible level for the time, five hundred and ten. It was a creature that couldn¡¯t have been born naturally yet, and could only exist because Aurivy spawned it directly as the Goddess of Dungeons.


    Still, the massive level disparity showed that Tsubaki should currently have more than enough power to take on strong monsters in hell. Even if she can¡¯t kill them, she is after all a ninja. Preserving her own life would not be a difficult matter. At least, that¡¯s what everyone seemed to imply.


    Rather than stay in the room that had been covered with bits of kitsune, I walked out of the hidden room, and began making my way towards the throne room. By now, the situation with Melora should be resolved. Or, given the time, she might have already resigned and selected a new sessor.


    Once I had made my way to the throne room, I sat down in the chair. I pushed enough mana into my voice to project it out through the entirety of the Citadel. ¡°I would like all representatives to please meet me in the main room.¡± Of course, immediately following afterwards, I closed my eyes, sending a focused message towards Tsubaki. ¡°Not you, you¡¯re still getting ready for your trip.¡±


    It did not take long for people to begin pouring in. Among them, they were all the same representatives I had seen during the initial meeting, which would have been forty years or so ago by now. Among them, Bracken had changed the least, looking every bit as youthful as the day I first saw him.


    The others, however, had all started to show signs of aging. Especially so for the demon Jace, whose race had yet to properly master any of the techniques that would allow him to slow his aging. I wasn¡¯t sure if he had picked up any of them from the library, but he had visibly aged, no longer looking like the same vigor that he had once. There were wrinkles along his face, and his red skin seemed to have lost some of its color.


    Trixy was a bit better off, as she was contracted to a martial spirit, but even she was beginning to look more mature. At least, as much as a halfling could. And then there was Lily, the kitsune from Deckan.


    Like Jace, she had visibly aged more than the rest. However, her has had ess to magic since its inception, so it was natural that she had her own defenses against aging, to at least some degree. Instead of looking like a woman in her seventies, she appeared to be closer to her fifties, her hair just starting to lose its color.


    ¡°Now, this is my first time returning to the citadel in a while.¡± I began as I looked at the four of them. I had honestly expected that the dwarf girl would choose to live here as well, since I knew that there was a forge inside the citadel. However, it seemed that she had chosen to remain with her people, and left the transfer of information to Tsubaki.


    ¡°As such¡­ Many of you have started to grow old, and I¡¯m sure you are missing your families.¡± I felt my voice grow a bit softer as I said that. ¡°For those that wish to do so, you may return to your home. In one week, you can choose again whether you wish to remain there ore back. You need simply pray to the Goddess of Travel to return you safely to the citadel.¡±


    I could hear a certain halfling snorting in the back of my mind, but I noticed relieved looks on the faces of most of the gathered representatives. Of them, only Bracken seemed unmoved by the offer. ¡°For those of you who wish to remain home after the week is over, you may choose to appoint a new representative to take your ce if that is your wish. In the meantime, I urge you to go and prepare your things.¡±


    At my words, three of the four representatives nodded their heads quickly turning to walk off. Meanwhile, Bracken waited for them all to leave, his eyes still focused on me. ¡°May I ask a question of you, sir?¡±


    I raised an eyebrow inquisitively as I looked to Bracken, before nodding my head slightly. Having received permission, he continued. ¡°There are numerous legends regarding you among my people. Some say that you have been the Saint Healer, the Undying Mage, and even that you may have once sat upon the throne of a kingdom.¡±


    ¡°As a schr, it is my duty to seek the truth. Many of these legends I can eliminate due to inconsistent information, but there are two that I must question you about personally, in order to understand the truth. I do hope you don¡¯t mind.¡±


    I simply gave another nod, though I could feel Leowynn¡¯s attention suddenly focusing on this conversation, as if it amused her. ¡°The first is the Saint Healer. This was a big name among our people four generations ago. At the time, there was an elf who would wander from city to city, tending to the sick and wounded without ever asking for something in return. Unlike most other cases, his death could not be confirmed. Instead, he wasst seen exiting the city of Crua¡¯tal.¡±


    ¡°The other one is from a bit further back, but the story it is connected to is no less well known. The story of the Mortal Star, the daughter of the Goddess. It has been theorized that the child Ley¡¯wind was the daughter of the Goddess Ryone, simply using the Mad Enchanter as a vessel to deliver the child to the world.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but wince as the story ended up butchering Leowynn¡¯s name. ¡°However, a select few of us believe differently. There is a lesser known story that the Mad Enchanter received the aid of an old friend roughly a decade before Ley¡¯wind¡¯s birth, the warder that prevented the monster tide from destroying Cau Buhnga.¡±


    ¡°My question to you is simply this¡­ were you either of these people?¡± Bracken asked, his eyes seeming sincere in their curiosity. Even checking his thoughts, this was simply another question that he sought the answer to.


    Let me out, Father! Leowynn called out from inside my spiritual realm. Let me at least get the name right!


    I could only chuckle, shaking my head, both in response to Bracken and Leowynn. ¡°I¡¯ve been quite a few people in history. But I can¡¯t say that I¡¯ve ever been called a saint. As for Leowynn¡­¡± I stressed the name, causing his eyes to widen in surprise. ¡°Yes, I am familiar with her.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t outright say that Leowynn was my daughter at this point. Rather than the humans feeling superior to other races, it would instead be the elves that had that belief. After all, they would have proof that a mortal of their race had once seduced the Keeper. And I¡¯d rather keep those thoughts out of their heads, to present another situation like what happened with Melora.


    Bracken¡¯s eyes narrowed in focus as he thought about my statement, before offering a small nod. ¡°My apologies then, sir, for taking up your time with these questions.¡± As he said that, he was already turning to leave, his curiosity apparently sated.


    Why didn¡¯t you let him know? Leowynn sulked from inside my spiritual realm.


    It¡¯s not time, yet. I mentally responded with a light sigh. If one race gets proof that they are ¡®superior¡¯ to the other races, it will wreck the bnceter on. You don¡¯t want another Melora to show up, do you?


    Who¡¯s Melora? Leowynn asked curiously, making me blink in surprise.


    Were you not paying attention at all to the first group of representatives?


    Nope! Was too busy training. So, Melora? Leowynn asked again, seeming eager to know what was so wrong. As such, I briefly exined to her about the character of the person who had originally represented the humans in the citadel. Oh¡­ oh¡­ yeah, I don¡¯t want the elves acting like that. Mom and Terra wouldn¡¯t be able to y nice with them¡­


    Honestly, I was half surprised that neither of them interfered with Melora already. Though, given just how broken Melora appeared, I couldn¡¯t rule out the possibility that Terra had yed some part in it.


    Bihena, can you meet me in themunications room? I asked as I stood up, stretching my arms before I began moving again. I think it¡¯s time to check on the human representative.


    Understood, Dale. Bihena replied, before I could faintly sense divine energy gathering in the room ahead of me. The humans were actually quite worried, since you had not invited their new Voice to the citadel yet.


    I couldn¡¯t help but let out a groan. How long have they waited? It wasn¡¯t that surprising that they had a new representative already, as Melora herself was likely to be getting into herter years now.


    Hmm¡­ thirty-two years? Bihena¡¯s voice actually carried a hint of amusement. I had to remind them a few times that you were often busy, and couldn¡¯t alwayse down to handle everything like that.


    As I entered the room, I saw Bihena leaning against one of the walls, wearing an elegant silver dress that clung nicely to her figure. Smiling, I offered her a nod. ¡°Did you all take care of giving them anguage book, at least?¡±


    Bihena nodded her head. ¡°That¡¯s right. Udona took care of that once the representative was appointed. Though¡­¡± Her eyes closed briefly. ¡°It looks like he¡¯s been raising a sessor. Do you want to contact both of them, or just the current representative?¡±


    It was good that Bihena understood why I called her here personally, instead of just using her divine powers to speak to the two of them. I could have just as easily ascended to take care of this, but doing it this way felt more¡­ personal. ¡°Let¡¯s go with both. How¡¯s the quality of these two?¡±


    Bihena must have expected my question, because her lips curved upwards ever so slightly. ¡°Much better. Melora managed to convince them not to go with the ¡®seduction¡¯ route. So they held a poll on what would be the best to use as the requirements to choose their Voice.¡± As she said that, she moved over towards the crystal ball, tapping it once with a delicate finger.


    ¡°In the end, they chose ¡®selflessness¡¯ as their requirement, which made things really hard on them. After all, how do you measure the selflessness of someone in apetition for a seat of power like this? So, they handled the selection in secret, choosing people based on their pre-existing reputation to choose the most noble and selfless of them.¡±


    I was a bit astonished when I heard this method. If it was true, and actually seeded, then that would be a great thing. ¡°Actually, the selection wasn¡¯t that hard once they found the right person. He tried to keep a low profile, but life didn¡¯t make it easy for him.¡±


    As she said that, the room seemed to shift. A hologram began to radiate out from the crystal in the center of the room and I saw two people. One, an elderly man, looking to be in his eighties. His hair had mostly fallen out, but he had a kind smile on his face as he spoke to the other figure, a small girl no older than ten years old.


    Above the head of the elderly man I could clearly see his title. Not with my Keeper¡¯s observation powers, but because he had the title equipped himself. Saint¡¯s Kindness.


    ¡°His title is one that he can¡¯t get rid of, as the system automatically equipped it. As long as he doesn¡¯t go against his nature, the title will always be there.¡± Bihena was amused as she looked at the two figures. ¡°It¡¯s a title that he gained by disying true selflessness, to the point that it seemed to border on naivete.¡±


    ¡°And the girl? Is she his grand-daughter or something?¡± I asked, ncing towards the young girl in his arms.


    ¡°Nope. She¡¯s an orphan that he found on the streets as a baby. After learning what had happened to her parents, he took her in and raised her as his own child.¡± Bihena shook her head slightly before turning to look at me. ¡°So, ready to get this meeting over with?¡±

 Chapter 222: Holy Daughter

    <h4>Chapter 222: Holy Daughter</h4>


    Hermiod. Bihena¡¯s voice sounded out in the mind of the old man, causing his eyes to wide as he was ying with his adopted daughter. It¡¯s time.


    ¡°Oh, dear.¡± He gave a low chuckle as he rose to his feet, feeling his back popping. ¡°It seems to finally be that time, then.¡±


    ¡°What time, Papa?¡± Anna asked from just in front of him. Her hair was as dark as night, her skin fair. On her face was a kind smile, her two different colored eyes staring up at him. One blue, and the other green.


    ¡°Just a moment, dear.¡± Hermiod said in a kind tone, before ncing up towards the sky. ¡°Has the Keeper atst decided to return?¡±


    In truth, Hermiod had never much been looking forward to going to the Citadel. He would much rather spend his days among the people, doing what he could to make their lives easier. However, several kings and queens had approached him directly, pleading for him to be the new Voice for the humans, and to live in the Sky Citadel.


    At first, he wanted to refuse. He felt he could do so much more for them down here. But then, they started to tell him about the Citadel, what they had learned from thest Voice. A font of knowledge, which could improve the lives of every human. When he heard that¡­ there was no longer any reason for him to refuse.


    Or at least, that¡¯s what he thought for the first few years. But then, his body had begun to age. He was no longer the spry young man he had once been. No longer able to carry out the same tasks that he used to. In fact, as it was it had even be hard for him to read from a tome.


    That¡¯s why¡­ ¡°Will she be treated well, my Goddess?¡± His voice was tinged with worry as he thought about his Anna. His little girl that he had found abandoned in the streets. Her parents killed by thieves, she was left with nobody and nothing in this world. Had he not found her when he did, she would have died to the elements mere hourster.


    Ever since then, he had been training her, teaching her how to take his ce. To show that while there were indeed monsters among humans, there was also kindness. There was also love, and joy. Hermiod had wished that the Keeper would not return, not until Anna had grown a few more years. Yet now, it seemed that the time hade sooner than he expected.


    I promise you, I will watch over her as if she were my own. Bihena replied softly, and this time even Anna herself could hear it, causing the young girl to blink her eyes in confusion.


    ¡°Am I going away, Papa?¡± She asked in a sad tone, reaching up to tug at his sleeve. ¡°Do I have to go, now?¡±


    Hermiod let out anotherugh, groaning as he crouched down to look Anna in the eyes. ¡°Afraid so, munchkin.¡± He said as he ruffled her hair. ¡°Do you remember all those stories I¡¯ve told you? How, one day, I would let you live in the greatest pce, with the most amazing people in the world?¡±


    Anna¡¯s eyes became misty as she heard Hermiod speaking. ¡°But¡­ but I don¡¯t want to leave you, Papa!¡± She suddenly threw herself forward, wrapping her arms around the older man and began to cry against his chest. ¡°What if I can never see you again?¡±


    ¡°That won¡¯t happen.¡± Hermiod shook his head, his hand gently patting the girl¡¯s back. ¡°There is this wonderful room in the pce, where you will be able to see me and talk to me whenever you want. It¡¯ll be as if I was right there with you.¡±


    Between her sniffles, Anna could barely force out a single word. ¡°P-promise?¡±


    ¡°I promise, munchkin.¡± He gave a slow nod, leaning his head down to kiss the top of hers. ¡°This is for more than just you or me. Once you¡¯re in the pce, it will be your job to help every human in the world. More than that, you¡¯ll be showing everyone just how kind and gentle our people can be. And for that, I could never be more proud of you.¡±


    Despite his words, Anna continued to sniffle against his chest. It was then that the two of them heard a new voice echo in their minds. One that Anna herself had never heard before, and Hermiod hadn¡¯t in a long time.


    Anna will be cared for. You have my word. I can arrange for her to be able to visit you from time to time, if you would like.


    Hermiod knew that the voice was that of the Keeper, but he only shook his head. ¡°Thank you, sir, but no.¡± Anna looked up at him in confusion when she heard him reject the offer, causing him to look down at the young girl. ¡°She doesn¡¯t need this useless old fool anymore.¡±


    The old man knew better than anyone the condition of his body. If he was lucky, he would live for another ten years, at most. Of that, more than half would be spent bedridden, and he was even at risk of losing touch with his own mind.


    He didn¡¯t want Anna to see him going through that. He wanted her to be happy with a new group of friends, and people that cared for her. He wanted her to remember him for his loving smile, not the mad ramblings of a man whose mind had faded.


    Once again, Anna¡¯s eyes began to grow wet, even as arge shadow loomed over their head. Looking up, they could see that magnificent pce in the sky. Floating atop an ind lifted in the air by a series of rings made from golden light.


    Hermiod knew that this was a special service. The previous Voice did not receive such a wee, nor was there word that she had been sent back in such a manner. This was something that they had arranged for him, for his little Anna.


    ¡°Papa, who¡¯s that?¡± Anna asked, tugging on Hermiod¡¯s sleeve while she wiped her eyes, before pointing up at the edge of the floating ind. Hermiod¡¯s eyes had long since deteriorated too much topare to the eyes of a young girl trained as a Scout, so he could not even make out the figure that she was pointing at. Not until he saw that figure slowly descending to the ground.


    ¡°That¡¯s the Keeper, munchkin.¡± He answered, ruffling her hair. ¡°He¡¯s the one who even the Goddess has to listen to. And he came down here today just for you.¡±


    ¡°For me¡­?¡± Anna asked, her eyes wide as she watched the man gentlynd on the floor in front of her. ¡°He¡¯s¡­ he¡¯s the one making me leave Papa?¡±


    ¡°No, child.¡± Hermiod corrected her. ¡°This was my decision. All he¡¯s doing is giving you a ce where you can show the world what it really means to be human.¡±


    Anna nced back towards her adoptive father in confusion for a moment, before looking at the Keeper. Slowly, she walked up towards him, her eyes wandering over his form. ¡°Uhm¡­ sir¡­ Did you really mean it? Can I really see my Papa again?¡±


    The Keeper nodded his head, holding a hand out towards Anna. ¡°I¡¯ll show you the room myself once we get up there.¡±


    Anna simply stared at that hand for a long moment, as if thinking whether she should ept it. When she looked back to the old man, he gave an encouraging nod, drawing onest sniffle from her as she reached her hand up to take Dale¡¯s. ¡°O-okay¡­ But, you promised!¡±


    The Keeper let out a lightugh, but didn¡¯t say anything else to her for the moment. Instead, his eyes rested on Hermiod. ¡°You raised a good child.¡± He spoke, his voice seeming genuine.


    ¡°No, sir. You¡¯re wrong there.¡± Hermiod shook his head, a sad smile on his face as he thought about Anna leave. ¡°I just have the best daughter in the world. Please, take care of her.¡±


    ¡°I promise, she¡¯ll be well loved.¡± Dale spoke, before a tform of stone rose up beneath his feet, causing Anna to yelp and grab onto his hand tighter. Hurriedly, she looked back towards Hermiod as the two of them rose up into the air, watching him get smaller and smaller beneath them. Soon, she could see the entirety of the town, and then several of the surrounding towns as they continued to rise into the air.


    The tform did not stop until it was level with the Sky Citadel itself, letting her see therge marble castle. A translucent barrier opened up for just a moment as they approached, quickly closing behind them. Finally, the tform set down on top of the stone walkway in front of the citadel itself.


    Anna was just about to speak up when she caught sight of a woman sitting nearby. A human woman, with blonde hair just down to her shoulders. As soon as Anna saw her, she know who the woman was. The name came to her as if she had been born to say it. ¡°Bihena¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right, dear.¡± The Goddess spoke with a warm expression as she walked closer, her silver dress brushing against the stone floor beneath her. When she arrived in front of Anna, she kneeled down to put herself at eye level with the young girl. ¡°Wee home. I¡¯m sure you¡¯re going to love it here.¡±


    Anna nodded her head slowly. She didn¡¯t have that same wonder when facing the Goddess that an adult would, and simply saw her as a really important woman. Almost like a mother. Letting go of the Keeper¡¯s hand, she took a step forward closer to the Goddess.


    Bihena let out a happyugh, reaching forward and picking Anna up to hold in her arms. ¡°My, you¡¯re a lot bigger than I imagined. Why don¡¯t you have me show you the special room, instead of this old busybody?¡± She asked yfully, hooking a thumb towards the Keeper.


    Anna couldn¡¯t help but giggle at that, leaning her head against Bihena¡¯s shoulder and nodding softly. ¡°Mhm.¡± She muttered, simply enjoying the Goddess¡¯s embrace. As Bihena turned to walk away, Anna btedly realized that they were leaving the Keeper behind. Lifting her head up, she waved towards him. ¡°Bye bye, mister!¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    Returning Anna¡¯s wave, I felt a small smile on my lips. I had been surprised when Bihena offered to personally care for Anna, as much as she could anyways. I had been far less surprised when Terra, Ryone, and Aurivy had chimed in to offer the exact same thing. Before the conversation with the Saint had finished, even Udona and Ashley were whispering to me to ask if they could take turns babysitting.


    It was nice to see the six of them alling together, wanting to help raise a little girl. For Bihena, she looked every bit a mother as she carried Anna away, speaking softly to the young girl. It reminded me that she had likely already had hundreds of children in the past throughout her incarnations. Perhaps, she had grown to enjoy being a mother.


    The one thing that I was concerned about was how she would get along with the other representatives. I knew it wouldn¡¯t be a problem with Tsubaki, and even Trixy would likely make good friends with her. But Bracken, Jace, or Lily? I couldn¡¯t be sure. Though at the same time, I knew that their goddesses doting on the girl would likely make them not want to cause problems.


    Shortly after Bihena and Anna had disappeared into the Citadel, I saw the tiny figure of Tsubaki appearing in front of me. Unlike before, she was now fully clothed, though she had once again dropped to one knee in front of me. ¡°Tsubaki is ready for her training, my Keeper.¡± She spoke in an earnest tone.


    Nodding my head, I sent a mental prayer towards Irena. Alright, Tsubaki¡¯s ready to head to the Underworld, the monster side. Just¡­ drop her somewhere rtively safe, alright? And keep an eye on her?


    I assure you, Dale. Irena spoke, a somewhat amused tone in her voice. I do not wish to lose my most promising priestess. I¡¯ll watch over her to make sure she doesn¡¯t get in too much trouble.


    I let out a breath of relief at that, though I was surprised to hear that Tsubaki had been made Irena¡¯s priestess. However, just as a portal began to appear behind Tsubaki, I heard her voice speak out. ¡°My Keeper, I would like to make onest selfish request, before I leave.¡±


    Raising an eyebrow, I nced down towards her. ¡°What is it, Tsubaki?¡±


    ¡°The world has named me your Knight. As such, I wish for the gift of yourmand.¡± While she spoke, Tsubaki kept her head facing down, so I could not see her expression.


    It took me a moment to understand what she meant, before I gave another nod. ¡°I understand. Then, as your Keeper, Imand you to be stronger, and to return here alive. Is that clear?¡±


    Finally, Tsubaki looked up to me, and I thought I saw a faint golden glow in the back of her eyes. ¡°By my oath, I hear and obey.¡± I could tell that this was not just a simple promise, as I felt the faintest divine spark re up at her words. Simr to a bard, and yet different at the same time.


    With the small portal finally formed behind Tsubaki, I saw her jump backwards into it. As she did, she looked straight at me, bringing her fist up over her heart. That was thest I saw before the portal closed behind her. There¡¯s nothing to do now, but wait¡­ Whenever she¡¯s done with her training, please bring her back here.


    Irena let out a lightugh in the back of my mind. Dale, when she¡¯s done with her training¡­ she won¡¯t need me to bring her out of Hell. But I will ensure that she returns to the Citadel.

 Chapter 223: Heaven and Hell

    <h4>Chapter 223: Heaven and Hell</h4>


    Once I had returned to the Admin Room, I set the time to fast forward once again while Leowynn rushed out to go learn more from Irena. This time, my aim was to skip ahead by ten years, while giving myself some more time to train the World Sight. After creating the world spirit queen, I thought that I had an idea on how to finally perform the fusion sessfully.


    As for Tsubaki or Anna, I wasn¡¯t really worried about them. Not only had so many people assured me that Tsubaki could handle it, but she even had the active protection of the Goddess of the Underworld. Anna was even less of a concern, as she had so many goddesses vying to y the motherly role.


    Before heading to my training room, I sent a quick message to Terra, letting her know what I was up to so that I wouldn¡¯t be disturbed.


    _______________________________________________________________


    So¡­ this is Hell? Tsubaki questioned, feeling a deep chill settling over her skin. All around her was what appeared to be a brokenndscape. Shards of grey earth floated through the air at odd angles, various disturbing creatures visible walking along them.


    That¡¯s correct. Irena¡¯s voice spoke up in Tsubaki¡¯s mind. You are the first living being to ever enter here. As if to confirm the words of the goddess, an achievement window appeared in front of Tsubaki stating the same thing.


    The first thing that Tsubaki did was to mask her presence, not wanting the creatures of Hell to discover her before she had gotten a proper grasp of her power. Thest thing that she wanted was to get thrown into a fight before she could naturally control her body.


    As such, Tsubaki focused her mind, and began to sink down into the ground. Knowing how to manipte spiritual energy was one of the basic prerequisites to achieving the Perfect Self ss, so it was only natural that she knew how to control the environment within the Underworld. All she had to do was put a bit of thought into it, and she could create her own little testing area.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Bihena walked through the halls, carrying Anna in her arms while smiling happily. The small human girl leaned her head against Bihena¡¯s shoulder, enjoying the feeling of being carried around. It had been a long time since her father had been able to carry her, so it felt good to just rest in Bihena¡¯s arms.


    Along the way, they passed by Trixy, the halfling representative. At first, Anna hadn¡¯t seen her, until Trixy called out. ¡°Oh¡­ uhm¡­ Bihena, right? Nice to see you!¡± She spoke warmly towards the goddess walking along. ¡°Is that the new human representative? She seems a bit young¡­¡±


    Bihena didn¡¯t seem to mind being talked to this way, and instead rather enjoyed the informality. ¡°That¡¯s right. This is Anna, and she¡¯ll be living here from now on. I hope that you and everyone else will wee her here.¡±


    ¡°Of course!¡± Trixy nodded her head, skipping along to keep pace. ¡°I was just worried that it might be a bit much for her. I¡¯ll help out with whatever I can! And I know Tsubaki will, too¡­ Speaking of which, have you seen her around?¡± Trixy nced around meaningfully. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen her today.¡±


    As Anna finally turned to regard the halfling, she saw a girl not that much taller than herself. However, even so she gave off a more mature feeling. Her face did not seem like a child¡¯s. This was her first time seeing a halfling, so she wasn¡¯t quite sure what to make of it.


    ¡°I think that the Keeper took her for some training.¡± Bihena answered nomittally. ¡°I¡¯m sure that she¡¯ll be back before too long.¡±


    Hearing that, Trixy made a rather troubled expression. ¡°Is¡­ is that so?¡±


    ¡°Something the matter?¡± Bihena asked, finally able to see themunication room at the end of the hall after turning another corner.


    ¡°Well, Pool¡¯s been getting a bit wound uptely. I was hoping that Tsubaki would be able to help calm him down again.¡± The halfling girl nced downwards as she said that. For so many years, Tsubaki had been helping to keep her martial spirit in check, to stop it from going out of control from the need to battle.


    ¡°Pool is the creature living inside of you, correct?¡± Bihena nced towards the troubled girl, who nodded. ¡°Let me show Anna around, and then I¡¯ll see what I can do.¡±


    Trixy froze in her steps, surprised by the offer. She had never spoken with Bihena personally before today. Sure, she often yed games with Aurivy, but she had never expected the human goddess to offer to help so readily. Perhaps, some part of her thought that Bihena would act as Melora did.


    ¡°I¡­ I¡¯d like that!¡± Trixy nodded her head with a wide smile, moving ahead to open the door for Bihena, so that she did not have to disrupt Anna¡¯s position in her arms. ¡°I¡¯ll uh¡­ be waiting, then?¡±


    Bihena let out a lightugh, closing her eyes as she stepped into themunications room.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Three¡­ two¡­ strike! Tsubaki lunged forward from her position below the great monster, concealed within the very ground it stood on. The instant she moved, her body began to shine. Her slender arms turning into two long des that pierced the stomach of the creature.


    The beast, looking like a giant, eight-legged cat, roared as it was stabbed into. As if on instinct, its stomach shifted, turning into a giant mouth that swallowed up the attacker. Still, the giant feline had a displeased face. It turned its body, and began to sprint towards a forest made of slowly shifting trees.


    As it ran, its body seemed to slow down. From a full sprint, it came to a light jog, then a walk. A low cry came from its throat as it was forced to crawl, feeling the pain coursing through its body. Finally, it copsed to the side, its body bursting like a balloon of ck sludge.


    Walking out from the dark mire was Tsubaki, her body swiftly cleaning itself of the mess that had been left. In the corner of her vision, she briefly noticed a message notifying her of another level-up, before she turned and sprinted for the same forest that the cat had been running towards.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Mister Bracken?¡± Anna asked, sitting next to the elf representative in the library. It had been a year since she had be a representative for the humans, but only recently had she begun to properly fulfill her duties.


    ¡°Hmm?¡± The elf nced over from his book to look at Anna. As one who sought knowledge such as he did, it was no wonder that he had ended up bing the girl¡¯s tutor. At least, when that kitsune goddess wasn¡¯t around.


    ¡°Why do ki and mana reject each other?¡± She tilted her head curiously as she asked that. ¡°If they¡¯re both energies that we generate, shouldn¡¯t they get along better?¡±


    Bracken let out a lightugh, setting down the book that he was reading and turning to sit sideways in his chair, facing Anna. ¡°Now there¡¯s a question I haven¡¯t heard asked in centuries. You see, it¡¯s quite simple.¡±


    Bracken lifted his hands, both palms facing upwards. In one, a blue ball of condensed mana appeared. ¡°Mana is the energy of thought. It is our ability to control the rules that govern the world around us.¡±


    Above his other hand, a golden ball of ki appeared. ¡°Ki, on the other hand, is the energy of the body. While it does have some external applications, its true purpose is to let us control ourselves.¡±


    ¡°Now, the two energies, one to control the world and one to control yourself. When brought together, they conflict, each trying to dominate the other.¡± As he said that, he brought the two spheres of light closer together, and Anna could see how they shook wildly, small shockwavesshing out.


    ¡°But why can¡¯t they just get along?¡± Anna asked again in a huff, puffing her cheeks out as if none of this answered her question.


    ¡°I¡¯m getting to that.¡± Bracken rolled his eyes. ¡°You see¡­ they actually can. You just need to find the proper bnce. Control yourself and control the world, and you will find harmony.¡± As he spoke, the two spheres seemed to calm down. Anna watched with wide eyes as strands of gold and blue began to reach out from the two spheres, intertwining between them. ¡°That¡¯s what we call chakra.¡±


    ¡°Ooh¡­ Howe that¡¯s not in any of these books?¡± Anna asked, ncing towards the pile of books in front of her. They were her study materials for the day, going over the various energies of the world.


    ¡°I think that the Keeper wanted some things to be a mystery.¡± Bracken told her, closing his hands. The two balls of light vanished, allowing him to conserve his energy. ¡°If he just hands us everything, then there will be nothing for us to learn on our own.¡±


    ¡°I guess¡­¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    This is your final test. Irena¡¯s voice spoke into Tsubaki¡¯s mind. She had long since lost track of how long she had spent in Hell. Had it been one year? Two years? Twenty? Day and night had no meaning here. There were no seasons to pass.


    In the distance stood the ruler of this little segment of Hell. A humanoid monster roughly Tsubaki¡¯s own size. Its fingers resembled long, ckened ws, spikes growing on the back of its arms and legs. Its face was a nk mask.


    Yet Tsubaki had learned long ago not to trust appearances. The fact that it had such a small body was not a sign of weakness in Hell, but one of strength. Those monsters with towering bodies were the weakest, the spirits easily severed due to theck of cohesion.


    Next were the monsters that had returned to a form simr to that of what they had once held. This showed that their consciousness had triumphed over the hundreds of other spirits they consumed, though their bodies were stillrge and cumbersome.


    The most terrifying monsters of Hell were those who had shrunken down, and taken on a new form. This meant that they not only had a single consciousness controlling them, but it was intelligent enough to condense their spirit to perfection. Tsubaki had always done her best to avoid these creatures after her first encounter with one, which had been the one time that she had been forced to run away from a battle.


    Defeat this foe, and I will teach you how to open the path back home.


    Tsubaki gave a sharp nod, bringing her hand up towards her chest. Throughout the entire time that she had been training, she had been fulfilling her Knight¡¯s Oath. As such, the energy within her body had grown, taking shape as she fought.


    ¡°By my oath, I mark this soul for extinction.¡± She muttered quietly, stretching her hand out to her side. The spark of divine energy shed brightly within her body, rushing along her arm. Her Knight¡¯s de formed from that small divine energy, and its mere presence pushed away the spiritual energy around them.


    The de was not a simple sword, instead forming into arge scythe. The de of the scythe seemed to form the image of a crescent moon, the shaft resting in the center of it. This was the de that she created when she earned the achievement Knight of Death, a Knight¡¯s de designed to sever souls.


    Naturally, the distant creature noticed the violent disturbance within the spiritual energy, its head turning to face her. As if nned ahead of time, the two lunged at each other together.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Alright, Trixy! That was fun!¡± Anna said as she stretched after their spar. She was now in herter teens, her body showing signs of entering womanhood. She was a full head taller than Trixy, who let out a lightugh at thement.


    ¡°Keep this up, and you might be able to y with Pool in a couple years.¡± She said encouragingly. ¡°Now, what do you say we go grab a bite to eat? I¡¯m famished.¡±


    Anna gave a sharp nod at that. ¡°Agreed! I¡¯m supposed to send a lesson back to the Jax king today, so a good meal would help.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t he the one that keeps asking you to marry him?¡± Trixy nced towards the human girl curiously, causing Anna to groan.


    ¡°Ugh, no. That¡¯s the king of Hold. Jax¡¯s king is the one that loves to question everything.¡±


    ¡°Ahh¡­ Want me to have dinner ready for you when you¡¯re done with him?¡± The halfling asked helpfully, reaching over and patting Anna¡¯s back, earning a small smile from the girl.


    ¡°Would you? It¡¯d be amazing of you.¡±


    Trixy gave a small nod, preparing to say something when her eyes widened. She sensed a vague, familiar presence appear suddenly, and then vanish just as quickly. ¡°She¡¯s back!?¡± Trixy cried out, breaking out into a dead sprint down the hall.


    Anna let out a yelp in surprise, sighing before running after her, having to use ki to keep up. ¡°What¡¯s with you all of a sudden?¡± She called out from behind, only to hear Trixyugh ahead.


    ¡°Tsubaki¡¯s back! She¡¯s finally back!¡± Trixy would never be able to forget that presence, having sensed it so many times when the two of them sparred. She knew all about how her oldest friend liked to hide her presence, but the fact that she had sensed it even for a moment meant that Tsubaki had returned.


    ¡°Tsuba¡­ the other kitsune?¡± Anna questioned, her eyes widening. She pushed more ki into her legs to catch up with Trixy. ¡°But she¡¯s been gone for six years, right? I thought her people had already chosen a recement.¡±


    ¡°Bah! They can¡¯t rece Tsubaki! Udona herself said it, she¡¯s always still been alive!¡± Trixy¡¯sugh echoed in the halls they ran through, tapestries fluttering in their wake. It only took them a moment to reach the front garden, where the two of them came to an immediate halt.


    Standing in front of them was, indeed, the golden haired kitsune Tsubaki. Her body looked every bit as young as the day when Trixy first saw her, and she was even wearing the same maid outfit. However, she was a bit taller¡­ though her body was slowly shrinking down to her old height.


    ¡°Tsubaki, you¡¯re back!¡± Trixy cried out, her eyes watering as she lunged forward, wrapping her arms around the surprised kitsune.


    ¡°Was I gone that long?¡± She asked in a dazed tone, reaching one hand down to gently stroke Trixy¡¯s hair.

 Chapter 224: The First Step

    <h4>Chapter 224: The First Step</h4>


    It was hard to tell just how long I had spent in my training this time. Every now and then, whenever I was taking a break between attempts at creating world sight, Terra would send me a message to update me on the happenings of the world. I learned that it took Tsubaki six full years toplete her training in Hell, but Terra wouldn¡¯t tell me what level she had grown to.


    She also let me know that Anna had been doing well over the ten year break, and that the world was very slowly starting to adapt to the knowledge that the residents of the Citadel were rying back to them. More importantly¡­ it seemed like the first group from Deckan and Desbar had made themselves a home on therge ind where the Fairy Gate was ced, turning it into their own nation.


    Thankfully, it seemed like she was able to restrict any of the others from being able to peek in on my training. Which was an especially good thing, because¡­ I seeded. It took a few tries, but I managed to put the form to work, and found a method to properly condense world sight!


    Naturally, I didn¡¯t stop at just once. I needed to make sure that I could do this easily, without so much as a single speck of energy out of ce. After all, once I went down to the world to do this for real, I only had one shot. If I failed, then even with all of my levels and stat buffs, there was a strong chance that I could get myself killed.


    So, I performed the fusion again. And again, and again, slowly cutting down the small errors that would sometimes ur during the process. I lost track of how many times it blew up in my face, or how many times it worked only for me to discard it and start all over.


    Each time I sessfully created the world sight energy, I was able to slightly reduce the amount of time it took to do so. I did not want to rush the process, but this was simply the result of me bing more practiced.


    Only after I waspletely confident in my ability to create this energy did I finally stop my training. At that point, I let out a deep breath, cleaning my ragged clothes and recing them with ones that had not been torn to shreds. Closing my eyes, I transferred myself back to my room, feeling my body copsing against the bed.


    I half expected one of the goddesses to already be there when I arrived, but none were present. It was only a few momentster when I received a mental message from Terra. Oh? Finally decided that you were done training, did you? She asked in an amused tone.


    Was I gone that long? I couldn¡¯t help but wonder when I received that sort of wee.


    Probably best if you check for yourself. Or are you going to take a nap first?


    As much as a nap sounded good¡­ I wanted to get this over with, to put my training to use before the finer details started to slip from the back of my mind. Nap can wait.


    After saying that, I pulled myself back up to my feet, and moved over towards myputer. I saw that I had amunication request from Balu¡­ several dozen of them, in fact. But that wasn¡¯t the big thing. In order to see how long I was gone, I went to look at how long was left until my match with the dragon Keeper.


    46:08:32:95


    ¡­


    I just stared at that number for a long moment before it processed. I spent nearly fifty days alone doing that?! Why didn¡¯t you let me know? I called back to Terra, who responded with a simpleugh.


    Because you were doing well. If I called you and let you know how much time had passed, you would have be distracted and stopped halfway. At no point did you instruct me that you wanted to stop after a certain amount of time, nor have you ever implied that there was a time limit, aside from the match against Jugrnaut.


    I wanted to argue against her reasoning, but the more I thought about it, she really was right. There was nothing in particr that I needed to do to prepare for my match against the dragon. I already decided not to try to hurt him, so I just needed to make sure that I was ready for the next round, which was another hundred dayster.


    Alright¡­ so, what do I need to do to block out the others long enough for me to do this? I asked Terra, taking a deep breath to calm myself down.


    Just go into the permissions setting, and disable all of their permissions on Earth until you¡¯re done.


    I gave a small nod of my head, before sending a message out towards all of the gods. Everyone, I¡¯m going to be doing something on Earth in a few minutes, and it requires me to temporarily cut off everyone¡¯s ess. This is step one of a trump card that I¡¯m preparing for the future, and if anyone, even one of you, knows about it then it will cause problems in the system. Any questions?


    Can you tell us what it is, at least? Ryone asked, suddenly sounding incredibly curious.


    I can¡¯t. I shook my head briefly as I considered. It¡¯s something big enough that just having one other person knowing about it could push us into being a second rank world. And we just aren¡¯t ready for that. Hell, our worlds were only arguably ready to face first rank challenges.


    Surprisingly, the next message actually came from Bihena. Give us five minutes, so that we can send a warning down to our people that we will have our attentions diverted briefly. Thest thing we want is arge scale panic if people realize that we aren¡¯t ¡®with them¡¯ anymore.


    Bihena¡¯s concern did make sense, and I soon heard the other gods and goddesses chiming their agreement with what she wanted. So, as requested, I gave them five minutes before I called back Leowynn. When she arrived, she nced briefly at me, speaking up as she merged into my spiritual realm again. ¡°Irena said that you¡¯re doing something really secretive now?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Once we get down there, I¡¯ll need you to go elsewhere for a little while. Even you can¡¯t know about it.¡± After I said that, I felt Leowynn¡¯s cheeks puffing up slightly, but she still nodded her consent.


    That said, I took away the permissions from every god and goddess on Earth, aside from Terra. There was no harm in her knowing, since she already knew anyways. She just had to keep it a secret the same as me. Next¡­ I had honestly nned to do this in my training room at the Citadel, but there was the chance that Tsubaki would discover me there.


    Instead, I once again looked through the map, finding the most isted ind, over five hundred miles from the nearest inhabited settlement. At that distance, even if they somehow managed to sense me, it wouldn¡¯t matter. There wouldn¡¯t be any chance of them being able to see what I was doing.


    Closing my eyes, I finalized my choices and selected the option to descend with the staff that I had used to create the world spirit queen. I could feel the warm light epassing me before I was silently deposited on arge, unexplored ind. The moment I had finished descending, Leowynn walked out from my spiritual realm, turning to regard me.


    ¡°You know, isted ces like this are going to be pretty rare eventually.¡± She pointed out, causing me to nod.


    ¡°I know¡­ I¡¯m thinking about that. I¡¯ll have toe up with something for the future, a private training area that others won¡¯t be able to intrude on.¡± Of course, how I¡¯d get that to work with the system I wasn¡¯t sure yet. Maybe buying another world without any inhabitants, and linking it to the Fairy Gate system, but don¡¯t give anyone the key.


    Unfortunately, pretty sure the system wouldn¡¯t just let me use that as a safe haven during invasions, and if I tried it would just spawn the invading army on that world, so I would be there alone with no reinforcements.


    Leowynn silently considered my answer, before smiling. ¡°Alright, well, I¡¯ll go see what I can find to do around here. Any idea how long it will take you?¡±


    ¡°Ten minutes? Maybe fifteen.¡± I responded quickly, estimating how long it had taken me in myst practice run. ¡°I¡¯ll call you when I¡¯m done so we can go back.¡±


    Leowynn gave a brief nod at that, before turning and rushing off into the woods. I could feel her presence moving further and further away, showing that she really did intend to give me my privacy for this.


    Letting out a relieved sigh, I tapped my staff against the ground once I had confirmed that she was far enough away for me to begin. ¡°Let¡¯s get this over with¡­¡± I began to inject my mana into the staff as I looked up, my eyes focusing on the sky. ¡°I am the one who stands above the heavens.¡±


    Immediately, a dense natural aura rushed around me in response to my words. Taking a deep breath, I began to release my ki out into the surroundings. Then, my mana along with it, presenting well over a quarter of each.


    ¡°My gaze shall cover the world. My sight shall transcend all borders and boundaries. By the strength of mymand, I make the world my own.¡± I recited the script that I had rehearsed ahead of time, practiced through countless iterations. This was what was missing, the keyponent that Icked in my previous attempts at creating world sight. I had simply been trying to control the energy on my own, instead of letting it work naturally.


    And as I spoke, the natural energy began to rush at both the mana and the ki. However, it did not try to devour them, rather¡­ it fed itself to them. And as it did, the two mixed energies began to grow closer and closer to one another, slowly beginning their own merger. This was the moment of truth, the moment that would determine whether or not it seeded.


    It was also the moment I most prepared for. ¡°Be my sight. Be my gaze. Reveal to me all the secrets of the world.¡± As soon as I saw the three energies fully merged into one, I stretched my hand out. Mana surged, condensing to be a visible blue cloud that wrapped around the trembling energy.


    When I clenched my fist, the mana began to slowly rotate, shrinking down as it merged once again. ¡°My gaze is steady and firm, and shall remain unbroken.¡± With these words, and the work of the mana, the mass shrank down once again. From before, when it was asrge as myself, it turned into a tiny purple gem norger than a grain of rice.


    Good, now thest step! I had expected the final result to berger, but it seemed like this was the most that I was able to create with the energies that I had avable to me. I dropped my staff, and instead ced my hands together while I focused.


    My spiritual energy stretched out from my body, causing me to wince in pain as it felt as if my muscles were being pulled in the wrong direction. This was the consequence of manipting spiritual energy as a living being. But, under my careful control, the spiritual energy wrapped around the small gem, lifting it up before it could fall. The gem began to brighten as more and more spiritual energy slowly pushed into it, while it was being pulled towards my body.


    The moment when the gem had turned a pure white, it merged inside of my body. I could feel it entering my spiritual realm, bing a new shining star in Leowynn¡¯s sky. And with a sigh of relief, I allowed myself to fall t on my rear, my head lifting up towards the sky andughing. It¡¯s done.


    Congrattions, you have earned an achievement!


    For being the first person to sessfullybine all four energies into one, you have received the Boundless Spring achievement. +20% Mana, Ki, and Spiritual Energy. +20% Affinity with Natural Energy. +25 Points

 Chapter 225: Vacation

    <h4>Chapter 225: Vacation</h4>


    ncing inwardly at my spiritual realm, I gave a small, satisfied nod when I saw the seed of world sight. Currently, it was too small to offer me any real benefits, but I would be able to expand it over time. It would just¡­ require me to stay descended for a while.


    That in itself wasn¡¯t that much of a bad thing anymore. The world had advanced to a point where I could be satisfied staying for a prolonged period. At least, more satisfied than I was when I was on the ocean voyage. As I mentally summoned Leowynn back, I called up the character window to see how much progress had been made over thest few years.


    Name


    Dale Mitchell


    Race


    Human(Keeper)


    Health


    2285/2285 (1474826/1474826)


    Mana


    2310/2310 (142781/753165)


    Strength


    22(898)


    Ki


    2864/2864 (583736/990658)


    Stamina


    25(896)


    Intelligence


    19(836)


    Dexterity


    58(845)


    Wisdom


    48(1201)


    Luck


    24(458)


    Charm


    17(466)


    ss List


    Alchemist 1(173)


    Archer 0(192)


    Architect 0(103)


    Archmage 0(114)


    Armorer 0(152)


    Artisan 0(129)


    Assassin 26(101)


    Bard 0(156)


    Berserker 0(150)


    ck Knight 0(39)


    cksmith 5(161)


    Carpenter 1(141)


    Chef 0(110)


    Cleric 0(125)


    Crusader 0(84)


    Druid 30(150)


    Enchanter 5(152)


    Engineer 0(183)


    Fallen Priest 0(21)


    Farmer 0(109)


    Gambler 0(103)


    Guard 0(142)


    Herbalist 2(137)


    Hero 4(162)


    Hunter 0(136)


    Jeweler 0(108)


    Knight 0(160)


    Leader 1(126)


    Leatherworker 0(119)


    Mage 3(172)


    Martial Artist 7(149)


    Merchant 0(99)


    Miner 0(124)


    Monk 16(142)


    Monster Tamer 2(99)


    Ninja 51(152)


    Noble 1(79)


    Painter 0(101)


    Pdin 0(75)


    Pirate 10(99)


    Priest 1(149)


    Rogue 0(136)


    Schr 3(193)


    Scout 25(108)


    Sculptor 0(103)


    Shaman 10(115)


    Spirit Hunter 21(99)


    Spirit Tamer 6(99)


    Swordsman 2(139)


    Tailor 0(124)


    Temr 0(99)


    Warrior 3(150)


    Weaponmaster 0(75)


    Advanced sses


    Elementalist 4(113)


    Elemental Monk 2(101)


    Martial Spirit 0(189)


    Perfect Self 0(139)


    Summoner 11(112)


    World Spirit 1(190)


    There were a few things that struck out at me when I saw my new information page. Granted, it had been a while since I bothered opening it up, so some things were bound to change. But, still, some things had changed a bit too much. Over one thousand wisdom? Arge part of that was probably from the schr ss being so high, now that Desbar was being included in the numbers.


    More importantly¡­ the level of the perfect self ss¡­ I knew that there was only one person in all three worlds that had that ss, and she had only had it for a short ten years. It made sense that she was a high level since she had literally been training in Hell for six years, I just hadn¡¯t expected her to be that high of a level.


    While I was going over the information, Leowynn had silently returned back to my body, merging into my spiritual realm once more. Is that a new star? She questioned, seeing the seed of world sight in her familiar sky.


    ¡°Right. That¡¯s the thing I was working on.¡± I said with a small nod, and I felt Leowynn focusing on it for a long moment before she let out a huff of frustration.


    Nope, can¡¯t attune to it¡­ It looks pretty, but nothing I can do with it. It seemed as if Leowynn had held some expectations when she saw the seed as a star in her sky. Honestly, it would have been a bit weird if Leowynn could draw power from it, but I suppose anything is possible when dealing with the unknown.


    Aurivy, mind giving us a lift to-- Oh, right¡­ It took me a moment to remember that she wouldn¡¯t be able to hear me presently, so I quickly ascended back to the Admin Room. Once there, I reactivated everyone¡¯s privileges to their normal levels, letting out a quick sigh of relief. Alright everyone, business may resume as normal.


    After I said that, I set down at theputer, to finally ept that conversation with Balu. Given how long it had been, there was no doubt that she was growing impatient, or perhaps worried that something might have happened.


    Starkiller: There you are! Wait, this is the right Keeper right? Dale?


    EarthForceOne: Yeah, you got it right. Sorry, was finishing World Sight, so I wasn¡¯t avable when you messaged me before.


    Starkiller: World Sight? Oh right, I gave you that form. You figured out how to blend it already? Congrattions!


    EarthForceOne: Thanks. I take it you found out who your next opponent is?


    Starkiller: Yup! Just found out a few days ago. I¡¯ll be going after a known Tyrant from our list, so I¡¯ll probably have to reset again after next month.


    I was a bit surprised with how casually she talked about resetting her world, before I realized that she has probably done this too many times for her to keep track of it. She was doing this for a long time, and has been through these battles a lot.


    EarthForceOne: Isn¡¯t it hard to always have to reset your world like that? Or do you keep one that you can rx in?


    Starkiller: You mean a Standby World? Yeah, I¡¯ve got one of those. Makes it a lot easier to have friends down there that I can go hang out with from time to time!


    EarthForceOne: New Keeper here¡­ Standby World?


    StarKiller: Oh right, sorry. It¡¯s what we call it when you keep a world below the threshold to enter the Games. As long as you never connect it to one of your other worlds, you can save that world even when you need to reset. Lots of Keepers have one or two that they use to rx in between rounds.


    EarthForceOne: I think I get it. Earth¡¯sst Keeper was that kind of person¡­ except that he only had the one world, and never advanced it far enough.


    Starkiller: Yuck, one of those. I mean, I see the appeal, you get a safe haven and don¡¯t have to worry about risking your life. But it just gets so BORING after you do that for a few decades.


    Starkiller: Anyways, is everything okay for me to head back over now? It¡¯s been a while, and I wanted to hang out with Bihena again!


    I gave a lightugh as I heard that, passing the question off to the human goddess. Once she had responded, I sent the invitation to Starkiller. Once again, I had sealed off my own room so that she wouldn¡¯t be able toe and interfere with theputer.


    As I was making my way out towards the living room, I heard a familiar voice cheering. ¡°Lucky!¡± Seems like Balu got one of the more pleasant transfer methods.


    Thankfully, it seemed that Bihena was already waiting for her on the couch. By the time I entered the living room, Balu had wrapped her arms and legs around Bihena¡¯s torso, rubbing her furred head against the woman¡¯s cheek. Bihena just let out a lightugh, prying Balu off of her. ¡°Good to see you, too.¡±


    I cleared my throat to get the attention of the two of them. ¡°I¡¯ll be heading back down to Earth now. And I¡¯ll probably be there until the invasion starts.¡±


    ¡°Oh!¡± Balu turned to face me as I said that. ¡°This¡¯ll be your first one, so you don¡¯t know yet. The annual Keeper Meeting hosted by the system starts in¡­ thirty-eight days? Something like that. It¡¯s before the next round of battles start. So you¡¯ll get your chance to attend before your first invasion!¡±


    I gave a nod, briefly thanking her for the information. ¡°So, not quite as long as I expected. Still, just wanted to let you know that I wouldn¡¯t be back up here for a while. If you need anything, Bihena can get ahold of me.¡±


    Balu nodding her head rapidly, before turning to face Bihena. ¡°There are so many new games I want to teach you!¡± She shouted out with a grin, grabbing Bihena¡¯s hands and pulling her up from the couch to drag her off towards Bihena¡¯s room.


    With a sigh, I moved to sit down on the couch, closing my eyes as I once again descended, this time choosing the form of a silver-haired felyn. Since I was going to be down here for so long, I wanted a body as close to my original as possible, without giving anyone a reason to think that I was being particrly biased towards any one race.


    ¡°Alreadying back?¡± Aurivy¡¯s voice spoke up from beside me at the same time that I had descended, causing me to jump slightly. ¡°Figured you would have wanted to spend more time up there.¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯ll be down here for a while.¡± I answered, opening my eyes. I would need to feed ki, mana, and natural energy to the seed of world sight within me in order to let it grow. Right now, I was too worried to test it, afraid that pulling from it when it was so small would just extinguish it entirely. Better to wait until it was big enough for me to properly experiment.


    As expected, I felt a familiar presence appear before me just a few moments after I descended. Standing there kneeling, I saw Tsubaki in the same posture she always greeted me. ¡°Tsubaki greets the Keeper.¡± She said, though I could feel a hint of pride and joy in her voicepared to before.


    And it was no wonder, when I looked at her level. The perfect self ss wasn¡¯t the only thing that had risen explosively from her time in Hell. It waspletely safe to say that aside from myself and the gods, Tsubaki was the strongest person in all three worlds now.


    Level 621 Tsubaki


    She had gained over two hundred and fifty levels¡­ I couldn¡¯t help but double take when I saw that. Most of those levels could be ounted for with the perfect self ss, but that still meant that she gained roughly a hundred other levels as well.


    She had every reason to be proud of her achievement. ¡°Hello, Tsubaki. Your training went well, I see.¡±


    ¡°Indeed, Keeper. I have grown far stronger thanks to the mission you gave me. I am now able to sustain this size as long as I wish, and will no longer have to worry about bing unable to fulfill my duties over time.¡±


    Ahh¡­ so she wasn¡¯t really proud of getting stronger¡­ just that she was no longer in danger of ¡®losing her job¡¯ over something as meddlesome as dying of old age¡­ Yeah, I could see that fitting her personality a lot more. I let augh escape me when I realized that. ¡°Yes, I suppose that¡¯s true, isn¡¯t it? Though, you will have to take more care not to harm any of the other representatives, since it seems that you are so much stronger than the norm now.¡±


    ¡°I have been practicing that during my regr spars with Trixy and Pool. I believe that I am presently capable of restraining my own power so as to not inadvertently harm others. Furthermore, since yourst visit, there have been six representatives that have retired. The demon, dwarf, Deckan, and three heroc representatives have retired.¡±


    I felt my eye twitch slightly when I heard that three heroc Voices had retired in the ten years I skipped. And knowing the heroc, that meant that they had died. ¡°I see¡­ is there anything else?¡±


    ¡°The new dwarven representative is currently living in the Sky Citadel.¡± Tsubaki reported, still keeping her head down to stare at the floor. ¡°However, he oftenins about theck of materials to use in the forge. With theck of ess to a mine, this has since not been resolved.¡±


    I nodded my head as I listened to that. I had no intention to add a mine to the Citadel, even if it was expected that dwarves would want easy ess to ores. We could find another way to take care of that requirement. ¡°Understood. I¡¯ll be staying down here for a few weeks this time, if no problems arise.¡±


    Tsubaki¡¯s energy seemed to briefly rise as her excitement was practically tangible. ¡°Yes, Keeper!¡± I didn¡¯t have to look into her mind to realize that she enjoyed the idea of being able to serve me for more than a few minutes at a time for now.

 Chapter 226: The Start of a Daily Life

    <h4>Chapter 226: The Start of a Daily Life</h4>


    After Tsubaki had finished her report, I stepped up from my throne and began to walk down towards the floor below. ¡°Well, let¡¯s go meet everyone.¡± I said, rather casually. Since I nned to stay here for a prolonged period, it would not be a good idea to try to maintain a ¡®supreme almighty overlord¡¯ persona in front of the representatives.


    For one, such an act would be mentally exhausting to maintain for even one full day. I could imagine it bing unbearable not long after it started, which would only create cracks that the others could easily see through. So, it was better to try to act ¡®normal¡¯ around everyone.


    ¡°Understood, Keeper.¡± Tsubaki spoke quickly, rising to her feet. ¡°Would you like for me to call everyone?¡±


    ¡°No, that will be fine.¡± I shook my head to deny her. ¡°It would be too ufortable for both myself and everyone else if I disrupted their daily lives here. I¡¯d prefer to be able to rx while I am present, rather than people fussing over what they can say or do in my presence.¡±


    Tsubaki knit her brows together as she seemed to process that statement. ¡°Understood. Is there anything else that you would like during your stay?¡±


    Briefly, I thought back to the three aeon armors that I had made, but decided that it wasn¡¯t time to bring them in yet. In fact, now that Tsubaki was as strong as she was, I doubted if those aeons had any use guarding the Citadel at all. Given herbat power, Tsubaki could likely take on all three at once as a morning workout. She was undoubtedly the strongest guardian of the Citadel that I could hope for, and she would only get stronger over time.


    ¡°What time does everyone tend to eat? If everyone eats together, I¡¯d like to join. It¡¯s been a while since I had a decent meal.¡± As soon as I said that, Tsubaki¡¯s golden hair actually began to glow, a wide grin spreading across her face.


    ¡°Understood, sir!¡± She shouted out, before looking towards the door at the side of the room. ¡°Several of the Voices will often eat together for dinner. And, since everyone appears to be getting along so far, I have been preparing the meals for them. If I may ask, what level of meal shall I prepare for you?¡±


    I nced towards her curiously before she exined. ¡°I cannot gauge your power, my Keeper. And with stronger bodies requiring more intense dietary needs, I want to ensure that I prepare enough nutrition for you, without bing wasteful.¡±


    Thinking about that, I gave a brief nod. Closing my eyes, I focused on sealing all of my Keeper sses, aside from the six advanced sses. Once I opened my eyes, I saw Tsubaki¡¯s eyes widening almost imperceptibly. ¡°Is that better?¡±


    ¡°That is¡­ if I am not mistaken, you should be nearly double my own level now. I apologize for the inconvenience, but could you perhaps lower your level further?¡± Tsubaki bowed deeply as she said that, a hint of regret in her tone. ¡°None of the food avable in the Citadel would be able to sate your requirements. By my estimation, you would consume more energy eating the food than what your body would gain from it.¡±


    It¡¯s that bad, huh? I mused to myself, before consenting. Once I sealed off my advanced ss levels as well, Tsubaki gave a brief sigh of relief. Of course, I still had my massive health pool as an insurance policy. With it, I wouldn¡¯t have to fear even if someone tried to blow my head off in a sneak attack, and would have time to respond.


    ¡°Many thanks, my Keeper. At your current level¡­ yes, I can prepare a meal for you quite easily. In the future, with the permissions of Goddesses Aurivy and alia, I would like to go out and hunt so as to gather more suitable ingredients.¡±


    No doubt it was alia that was supplying the current meat filling the Citadel¡¯s pantry. I gave a brief nod at the idea. ¡°Very well. For the next few years, there shouldn¡¯t be any monster born in any of the three worlds that could pose a threat to you.¡±


    However, as we began to walk towards the door, my words seemed to catch Tsubaki by surprise. ¡°You mean that in the future, monsters will appear even stronger than my current self?¡±


    Now that there was the ability to measure levels, whether through personal detection methods like Tsubaki had recently shown, or other means, there was no point in keeping this fact a secret. ¡°At present, the monsters will never be born more than twice the level of the strongest person in the world. With your current strength¡­ that opens up the possibility for monsters reaching over level one thousand to begin being born.¡±


    Even I myself didn¡¯t know what to expect from such monsters, though I had the feeling that I would be finding out after my first invasion ended. And, once again, my words caused Tsubaki to knit her brows together. ¡°I see¡­ these monsters will still be quite rare, I hope? A monster of that power would be able to tear through a kingdom quite easily.¡±


    ¡°The monster is most likely to evolve to that level in the vicinity of yourself. So, wherever the Sky Citadel remains in the future will be more likely to give rise to that kind of monster.¡± My words brought a relieved sigh out of Tsubaki, who seemed grateful that her rise in strength did not inadvertently doom the entire world.


    ¡°Thank you for that information, my Keeper. In that case, I formally request permission to be allowed to go out and hunt any monster that reaches such a level over the next century.¡± Tsubaki¡¯s eyes were firm as she made this request. ¡°After that time, I will allow myself to be confined within the Citadel if that is your wish, but I would not be able to rest easily in the event that my selfish desire to grow strong harmed the world that you created.¡±


    For a moment, I was taken aback by her request, before I let out a lightugh. ¡°Fine, fine. Let alia know, then. If anyone would be aware of when a monster of that level was born, it would be her.¡± Honestly, I wasn¡¯t quite sure just how strong monsters could get with my current monster tier that I had purchased. For all I knew, there would be no level cap for them in the future, outside of the one enforced by the system.


    Tsubaki let out another smile when she heard her request was epted. ¡°Thank you very much, my Keeper. I will pray for the Goddess of the Hunt to hear my words as well, then.¡±


    ¡°No need to go that far.¡± A voice spoke up from in front of us just as we opened the door. alia was standing there, grinning broadly at us. She wore a simple leather armor, decorated with furs, and had a bow strapped to her back. ¡°Dale said it¡¯d be alright, so I¡¯ll keep an eye out for anything like that to appear. You said for the next century, right?¡±


    Tsubaki appeared to have been just as surprised as I was by the sudden appearance of the lycan goddess, but still managed to collect herself in time to clear her throat. ¡°Ahem¡­ Yes, that¡¯s right. Even if people can¡¯t reach the required strength to hunt those monsters individually by that time, it should be possible to do so as a group.¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯ll depend on how things go on Tubrock¡¯s end, I suppose.¡± alia said with a shrug. ¡°Even in the hands of someone powerful like Dale here, a normal sword would shatter upon contact with the skin of a beast that strong. Special forging and enhancement techniques will be needed to keep up with both the strength of the monsters and the strength of the wielders.¡±


    Tsubaki nodded her head, as if agreeing with alia¡¯s words. ¡°I can only hope that Lord Tubrock will be able to properly educate people to prepare them during this time, then.¡±


    ¡°I like you.¡± alia chuckled, looking towards Tsubaki. ¡°Have you considered bing a lycan? You know how Dale here is on equality.¡±


    Tsubaki blinked her eyes in confusion, before they widened just a fraction. ¡°I¡­ see. However, in order for me to remain the Voice of the Beastkin, I feel it would still be best if I maintained a Beastkin appearance at all times.¡± Even as she spoke, her body gave a small change. Herrge, golden tail shrank down, looking more like that of a dog while her ears elongated and drooped against her skull.


    Tsubaki now looked quite like a lycan. Enough that it would be hard for me to tell that she was not originally born as one, had I not known her beforehand. Meanwhile, alia let out a refreshingugh. ¡°Ah, you really do look cute as a lycan. When you go out to hunt, would you like me to join you? I could probably teach you a few things.¡±


    Tsubaki kept a calm smile on her face as she rejected alia¡¯s offer. ¡°Thank you, but I wish to not gain any more power for now. Now that I know growing stronger alone will mean more hardships for everyone else, I will wait until it is safe for me to progress more.¡±


    alia gave an approving nod at Tsubaki¡¯s answer. ¡°Good, good. I can see why Irena took such a liking to you. Well, I¡¯ll let you two get back to your business. Thought I¡¯d finallye down and take a proper look at the area.¡± As she said that, she slowly stepped past us so that she could continue to the door on the other side of the room.


    I nced over towards Tsubaki after she left, and noticed that she still looked a bit surprised while she watched alia¡¯s retreating figure. ¡°I take it she hasn¡¯t been here much?¡±


    ¡°I do not believe I have ever seen her walking these halls, no.¡± Tsubaki answered while shaking her head. ¡°Many of the goddesses have arrived here in the past, though most did so while I was training. However, to my knowledge this is the first time she has visited in person since my arrival.¡±


    ¡°What about Tubrock or Tryval?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask, seeing as Tsubaki only mentioned the goddesses.


    ¡°Neither of them have ever appeared in the Sky Citadel, to my knowledge. Outside of your initial announcement, I mean.¡± Tsubaki answered quickly, which did not particrly surprise me. Tubrock was often too busy with his forge to take care of other matters, while Tryval prefered running through the ins with his daughter.


    I gave a brief nod upon hearing that. ¡°Alright. Well, let¡¯s go see the others.¡± Those words seemed to snap Tsubaki out of her distracted thoughts, and she hastily moved to follow behind me as I walked towards the library. Before I had sealed off my levels, I had detected two people nearby in that direction, so it seemed like a good ce to begin.


    We made it roughly halfway to the library before the soft sound of footsteps could be heard running towards us. Up ahead, a beautiful ck-haired human woman was rushing towards us, wearing a loose fitting shirt and leather pants. It took me a moment to recognize her as Anna, the little girl that had only been ten years old thest time I saw her.


    ¡°Keeper!¡± She smiled brightly upon seeing me, though her eyes widened in shock when she saw the woman following me. ¡°And¡­ Tsubaki? You changed your appearance?¡±


    Tsubaki gave a brisk nod before exining. ¡°It was a rmendation of the Goddess alia. Dale prefers to treat all races equally, therefore as the Voice of my people, I should also represent all of them equally.¡±


    ¡°Huh¡­¡± Anna didn¡¯t really seem like she had understood why Tsubaki felt the need to go that far, but at the same time she wasn¡¯t going to question it. ¡°Anyways, it¡¯s nice to meet you again, Keeper!¡± She turned to face me once again, offering a polite bow.


    ¡°Has everything been going well for you?¡± I found myself asking, remembering how she had been brought here when she was only a child.


    ¡°Of course, sir. The goddesses ensured that I was well cared for, just as you had promised. Everyone here was very kind to me.¡± Though she said that, I could hear a hint of sorrow in her tone. No doubt her adopted father had already passed away, recently enough that she was stilling to terms with it.


    ¡°I see. Would you like to join the two of us, then? We were just heading for the library.¡±


    When I asked that question, Anna¡¯s eyes widened briefly. ¡°Ah, right. I just ran off and left Mister Bracken there. We¡¯re about to try a high level enchantment experiment. Would you like toe watch?¡±


    I nodded my head, and motioned for Anna to lead the way.

 Chapter 227: To Show the Masses

    <h4>Chapter 227: To Show the Masses</h4>


    When I arrived in the library, the first thing that I noticed wasn¡¯t the area that they had cleared for their experiment, but rather the goddess that was standing next to that area. Ryone sent a small wave towards my direction as I entered the room, greeting me. ¡°Hey, Dale.¡±


    I blinked in surprise when I saw the Goddess of Magic herself seeming so interested in a mortal experiment, before she quickly exined. ¡°The two of them don¡¯t have enough mana themselves for an enchantment of this level, so they asked me if I could help out for this.¡± While saying that, she motioned towards the enchantment area itself, letting me realize immediately that what they were attempting was an enchantment of the third tier.


    Their enchantment circle was carved into arge table, one no doubt constructed by the new dwarven representative. That, or Anna has some hidden talents. Unlike the standard eight pointed star, this one had far more corners. It took me a few moments to count them, realizing that there were sixty four points on the table.


    Like with a normal enchantment, each point ended with a circle, in which they had ced stone spheres. These spheres had intricate patterns carved into their surface, reminiscent of third tier magicponents. However, this wasn¡¯t all.


    Above the table, supported by four metal spirals was another carved stone disc. This one appeared to be an intricate spell diagram all on its own, with severalponents that I simply didn¡¯t recognize. Shaking my head, I nced towards Ryone. ¡°So, what is this enchantment supposed to create?¡±


    The elven goddess let out a lightugh, motioning towards Bracken, who had prepared two crystal spheres. If I wasn¡¯t mistaken, those should be monster cores. Seeing that the attention had been drawn towards him, he hurriedly exined with an excited tone. ¡°You see, sir, current enchantments already allow for people tomunicate over wide distances. With the proper ry towers in ce, it is possible to even speak from one continent to the other, or even other worlds, much like themunication room in this facility.¡±


    ¡°If this enchantment works as Anna and myself suspect, we can strengthen that even further. We will be able to designate a receiver and a sender, and the sender will transmit to all receivers attuned to it.¡± As he said that, he ced the first of the two cores gently inside the center of the enchantment table. ¡°First, the receiver¡­¡±


    Once he stepped back, he gave a nod towards Ryone, who simply smiled. Reaching out, she ced her hand in front of the table, causing the sixty-four stone spheres to begin to light up. These lights then began to travel up the supporting spirals, and caused the disc above to emit the same glow.


    This was my first time seeing a third tier enchantment in action, so I opted to simply stand by and watch. Soon, the center of the stone disc began to emit a faint blue light, which shot down and into the monster core that had been ced beneath it. Thissted for less than a minute before the entire table began to dim.


    While Bracken stepped forward, carefully retrieving the core, he gave a nod towards Anna next. She started to pull out the stone spheres one by one, carrying them off to the side where I saw another pile of simr stones. After inspecting each one, she then carried the new stones to the table, cing them in a very particr order.


    Next, the two of them took the stone disc off, and reced it as well. With this, they had essentially reced everyponent of the enchantment. And while they proceeded on with the next one, I took a brief nce at the first monster core that they had tested it on.


    Sure enough, they did it¡­ I thought inwardly, which Leowynn seemed to notice.


    They did what, Father?


    They¡¯ve made their first television. I answered as I looked to the enchantment listed in the information window. The core had a number of different functions, but the primary one was to project a scene onto a solid surface, one transmitted by another source. Udona is going to love this.


    Once the second enchantment was done, Bracken excitedly held the second core, before suddenly turning and bolting out the door. I just stared in surprise, wondering what he could be doing, while Anna exined. ¡°We¡¯ve actually been preparing for this experiment for a while. Bracken has the transmission tform set up in his room, but we can watch here with this.¡±


    As she said that, she grabbed the receiver, and ced it back on the table again. ¡°Goddess, would you mind staying around for just a few more moments? If the core runs out of mana, all of this would have been for naught.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t think you could get me to leave right now if you tried.¡± Ryone responded yfully. ¡°Shall you turn it on, though?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± Anna said with a small nod of her hair, reaching forward to ce her hand on the object. I felt just a trace of mana being injected into it before beams of light shot out in all directions. The beams hit myself, Ryone, the bookshelves, the ceiling, and even the far walls. Ultimately, they honed in on the walls, establishing a square frame roughly four feet on each side.


    ¡°We¡¯re working on a better power source for these now. But for the time being, any mage above level thirty should be able to keep the receiver active for an hour before they start to suffer mana fatigue. ording to our calctions, at least. This is our first test with the real thing.¡±


    As Anna exined that, she lifted her hand off of the sphere. Suddenly, Bracken¡¯s voice spoke up from the wall where the lights had previously gathered. ¡°Hello, hello? Is this thing working? Anna, my dear, if you are receiving this, please respond.¡± As he spoke, Bracken¡¯s face appeared on the wall, a close-up projection that showed he had ced himself far too near whatever recording device they had set up.


    However, Anna didn¡¯t seem to mind that. With every bit the same excited tone as he had, she closed her eyes and spoke. ¡°Bracken, it¡¯s working. But back up just a little bit. You¡¯re standing too close to the disy.¡±


    The image of Bracken on the wall paused for a moment as he seemed to receive her message, before quickly backing up. ¡°Ah, terribly sorry.¡± He apologized quickly. ¡°But it works, yes? Have you tested the transmission swapping functions, yet?¡±


    ¡°Of course not.¡± Anna replied with a huff. ¡°We only have one transmitter, so how am I going to swap between it and something else? It auto-attuned to the one in your room, since it was the nearest transmission. Anyways, go ahead and cut it off. We need to get the designs sent off towards the kingdoms by the end of the day, right?¡±


    ¡°Huh? Oh! Right!¡± Bracken¡¯s eyes widened for a moment before he nodded his head. He briefly ran off-screen before the image faded, reced by the blue beams of light that had been anchored to the wall before the transmission began. Taking a step forward, Anna sighed and ced her hand on the orb, turning it off.


    Just how much preparation have they done for this? I mentally asked Ryone, who nced towards me from the corner of her eye while Anna carefully retrieved the core.


    A fair amount, I must say. Their first ambition was to create a recording device where one could use their mana to craft an illusion, and then rey that illusion onmand, simr to a movie. They couldn¡¯t get it to work in three dimensions, but it was easy to make it project onto a t surface like this. That got them started on the idea of videomunication simr to our ownmunication room, which they then expanded into this.


    They really have created television. I thought back to her, staring once again at the sphere nestled in Anna¡¯s hands. Has Udona found out yet?


    You¡¯re not serious, right? Ryone asked in a teasing tone. She¡¯s been wanting to curse at you for weeks for not fast forwarding again so that she could get one of these herself sooner. Now that they¡¯replete, though, I imagine she¡¯ll forget all about that.


    I¡¯m honestly not surprised. I responded with a slight chuckle, drawing a brief confused look from Anna. ¡°How are you going to send the designs down to the kingdoms, though? I do not believe that is a function of themunication room.¡±


    Anna quickly shook her head. ¡°No, we were honestly going to rely on Goddess Aurivy for this. Once she discovered what we were doing, she was quite insistent that she be allowed to help out in some way. And seeing as how we won¡¯t be able to transmit the designs down without the help of these very objects we are creating now, we asked if she would be willing to send the ns for them to the lords of thend.¡±


    After her exnation, I heard Aurivy groan in my mind. And I wanted to, too! But Udona insisted that this was more her Education domain¡¯s area of expertise. She won¡¯t even let me give her the credit. She said she¡¯d let us be sisters in our next incarnations if I didn¡¯t let everyone know it was her doing.


    But why though? I couldn¡¯t help but ask, and I could almost feel the mental shrug shrug from Aurivy.


    I think it¡¯s just her social quirks. She doesn¡¯t like to take credit for things if she doesn¡¯t have to. ording to her, too much attention from the masses all at once still makes her nervous, even over prayers. Kinda weird for a goddess, I think, but to each their own. Thest time I got to be a family with Udona¡¯s incarnations was over five hundred years ago, I was stuck ying her mother. I want to be her sister!


    I felt my eyes roll a bit when I heard Aurivy¡¯s remark. Turning to look at Anna once again, I motioned towards the table. ¡°I take it that this is the work of our resident dwarf?¡±


    However, Anna quickly shook her head. ¡°Nope, this was all made by Tsubaki. When we exined what it was we wanted to make, she asked for a copy of the ns and began to create the entire thing, all on her own. Honestly, I¡¯m not sure where she got the materials, but nothing seems to be missing and she hasn¡¯t gotten in trouble.¡±


    ncing back, I saw Tsubaki¡¯s ears twitching. Her eyes were still facing downwards, but she exined as soon as I turned to face her. ¡°The stone was pulled from the front garden, the stone tform that you had created when you brought Anna to the Citadel. Nobody ever visits the front garden, so it had been left neglected. As for the metal, I melted down some of my old tools so that I could repurpose them, now that I do not require them any longer.¡±


    By ¡®tools¡¯, I had the feeling she meant the hidden weapons she used to conceal all over her body. However, when she heard this, Anna cried out in shock, rushing over towards Tsubaki. ¡°You didn¡¯t have to do that! We could have asked Lord Tubrock to supply us some metal! There was no need to give up your things for this.¡±


    Tsubaki onlyughed when she heard that, perhaps the first trueugh I had heard from her. ¡°Anna, I gave up nothing of value. As I said, those tools are no longer necessary to me. The only purpose that they served was to upy space.¡±


    Anna had a rather difficult expression on her face as she heard that, but still nodded her head. ¡°Okay¡­ if you¡¯re sure. Thank you, though. This would have taken a lot longer toplete without you here.¡±


    ¡°You would have been able toplete it, with or without my help. It was Dale¡¯s wish to help the masses, and this invention does exactly that. As such, it is naturally my duty to assist in itspletion.¡±


    Shaking my head, I felt a soft smile y upon my lips. It seemed like people here were getting along so far. Though, I still needed to see how the other new representatives were doingter.

 Chapter 228: Look Upon The World

    <h4>Chapter 228: Look Upon The World</h4>


    Life aboard the citadel was¡­ not as boring as I had expected it to be. And at the same time, not as exhausting as I had worried. Among the representatives, nobody living in the citadel really had a problem with each other. Well, aside from the dwarf. But that was less hostility, and more because he was just grumpy that we didn¡¯t have a mine for him.


    Thankfully, with some help from Tubrock, we managed to work something out. The dwarven god created a set of gates, much like those that the heroc used to travel between their cities. However, there were two key differences with their gates and the ones that Tubrock set up.


    First of all, the range on the gates was far shorter. This wasn¡¯t a problem of the gate being weaker than what the heroc could build. Quite the opposite, which led to the second difference. The connection between the gates was significantly strengthened. Even the world spirits couldn¡¯t jump in and out of the citadel, so it was clear just how strong the barrier surrounding it was. Yet, these gates were able to open up a path through that barrier.


    With this, the dwarf¡¯sint was taken care of, as he could visit the mines whenever the citadel was close enough to a location that Tubrock had set a gate down. Next came the demon. In truth, the new demon representative wasn¡¯t all that social. He was nice, sure, and he did not seem to harbor any ill intentions. However, perhaps it was a result of his normal life being turned on its head or some other factor, but he mostly kept to himself.


    The new Deckan representative¡­ Well¡­ she had taken a liking to Tsubaki. The few times I caught the two of them together, she was wearing a maid outfit identical to Tsubaki¡¯s and asking Tsubaki to ept her as her disciple. She seemed to be under the impression that Tsubaki had be so powerful because of her profession, so she wanted to learn from her.


    Unfortunately for her, things weren¡¯t so easy. Tsubaki was quite adamant in her refusal to teach the new representative. She never gave a reason verbally while I was within earshot, but whatever reason she had didn¡¯t appear to be enough to deter the kitsune woman.


    Like this, our days passed slowly, one blending into the next as I enjoyed a simple life descended among the representatives. After every meal, I injected my mana, my ki, and a healthy dose of natural energy into the seed of world sight within my soul. And every time, I felt it grow just a bit stronger.


    Since I had already formed the energy, there was no need to dismiss Leowynn or lock out the gods when I was simply ¡®feeding¡¯ it. After all, even if they knew how much energy I was feeding the world sight, that would not tell them how to create it themselves originally.


    _______________________________________________________________


    All throughout the three realms, changes were unfolding. As the two that had known each other the longest, Deckan and Desbar had established a deep rtionship that allowed them to trade their magic and science with one another. Items born from this fusion of technology and sorcery soon becamemon household appliances. Cars that used natural energy as their fuel source, locks that faded away from existence until the proper key was brought near them. There were even those studying on how to harness the special energy of Deckan¡¯s cards to create special prisons for the growing strength of violent criminals.


    On Earth, an entirely different sort of change was taking ce. Throughout history, they had to focus their development on survival, their inventions meant to protect them from the threats posed by the elements, the monsters, and even other people. Whether it was their forging skills, the way they constructed their cities, even the Tower of Communication that the elves had set up was meant to ensure their protection.


    However, now, the Voices of the Keeper, the very people that they ced in a position to connect them with the creator of the world, were giving them something else. For the first time in a long, long time, they were creating new items not for the sake of survival, but for the sake of convenience¡­ for fun. The first of these creations came in the form of an Imagination Stone, an enchanted item which allowed them to record their thoughts as an illusion, and then rey those thoughts for others to see.


    Naturally, the first application of this device did not go towards recreation. Instead, it was used inw enforcement for victims and witnesses to record their testimony. It was used by scouts to show the safe routes through dangerous territories.


    Only when the next set of items arrived were the Imagination Stones put to the use they were intended for. Transmission Stones, capable of ying those illusions to the masses, or to show people events happening in real time. There was a small mana cost to using them that made it difficult for those families without a trained mage, but even this issue was soon taken care of.


    Not three weeks after the Voices had released the method to create the TS, as it was being called, they sent down ns for something bigger. Something much bigger. They released the concept of an upgraded Mage¡¯s Tower, a building that would serve as both the training grounds for powerful mages, and as a power source for the masses.


    The secret to these towers rested within a special ward that had been ced within them. Whenever a spell was cast inside the tower, the mana of that spell was collected after it had been used, rather than allowing it to dissipate harmlessly in the area. This,bined with durable targets and researchbs, gave mages a ce where they could practice their craft.


    At the same time, the gathered mana, farrger than what a normal mage would produce, was stored within the tower itself. Each tower came equipped with a Mana Transmission Stone, which allowed them to send the stored mana to other towers, or to the nearby areas. This soon sparked a new wave of mana-powered devices, ranging from city security to simply controlling the lighting of a room.


    And the best part? As mana was a limited resource for the mages, and thus not something that they could endlessly do, they were actually paid to test out their spells within the tower every day. This caused a small cost on the part of those who wouldter use that mana to power their homes, but this was still far more convenient for everyone.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Sitting in the throne room of the citadel, I had my eyes closed while I watched the world. It had been just over thirty days now since I had started living in the citadel. Thirty days of constantly strengthening the seed of world sight. Where once it was as small as a single grain of rice, it had now grown to be the size of my fist, and resembled a dark purple jewel shining in the sky of my spiritual realm.


    It didn¡¯t take me long after I was ready to start my experiments that I began to realize something¡­ In truth, there had never been a need to wait. What I saw as a faint seed, something that would vanish if I touched it, was actually not so fragile. In fact, although the gem did lose its luster after I used too much of its energy, it did not shrink, and only took a short while for it to regain its former light.


    Though, one thing that I do want toin to Balu about¡­ I had not been prepared for just what wasing when I first released my world sight. At that time, my eyes began to glow the same dark violet as the gem within my soul, and I saw the entirety of the citadel at once. Every speck of dust, every hair on every representative. It was as if the information were being drilled into my skull.


    There were things that I learned at that time that I really had no desire to know. In the face of world sight, there was no concept of privacy, and nothing was off limits. Even the room which Tubrock and Ryone had designed to seal off energies had been easily seen through in that brief moment.


    Releasing my world sight in this manner had only taken me a few seconds. However, recovering from the shock of its effects had taken me at least ten minutes. If there was any benefit, it was that not even Tsubaki seemed to be able to detect that I had used the energy to observe her. Or at least, if she did then she was doing a very good job of not showing it.


    My second attempt had been more sessful. For that attempt, I actually focused the energy away from me, rather than detecting my immediate surroundings. The area I chose was one familiar to me, the dungeon where I had explored during the voyage to the elvennds. This time, I was able to see the various hidden rooms within the dungeon, and all of the myriad slimes that Aurivy had been producing.


    Everything I looked at, I had an¡­ almost instinctive understanding of. Nothing as deep or detailed as the information that I received with the Keeper observation method. Rather, I looked at a glowing golden slime, and I felt that it had the power of the sun within its body. A fire slime beyond any other, which scorched the stone it slid across.


    Simrly, I saw the ¡®treasure trove¡¯ of the dungeon, where it had stored all of the items that it had created over the years. With a rush of sensations, I was able to focus in on any one object and immediately knew what it did, even without referencing the writing so often found along those items.


    It was then that I realized that the world sight could be ¡®focused¡¯. The amount of information that I received would change depending on how broad or narrow my focus. Simrly, the more I tried to broaden my focus, the more energy was drained from the gem within my spiritual realm.


    Currently, I was in my¡­ fifth test? I think it was the fifth, I didn¡¯t really bother to count them after the first two. Either way, this time I was observing a construction site within a city shared by halflings and centaurs. Even without the information provided by this new energy, I was able to tell that it was a construction site for the new Mage Tower.


    The normal centaurs could be seen draggingrge carts of stones, which halfling and unicorn druids caused to rise up into the air, reshaping and joining the steadily growing frame of the tower. Nearby, I could see artisans mixing theponents to create the necessary materials for the Mana Transmission Stones, and enchanters working with cksmiths to create an enchanting tform.


    Narrowing my sight a bit, I found one particr young centaur among the enchanters, happily walking back and forth as she checked on the work being done. If the dark purple coloring of her hair wasn¡¯t enough to identify her, her eternally youthful looks and the strange markings on her ck-furred hide immediately let me recognize Alme Dien.


    When I focused on her, I found that I did not just know her level, but I knew all of her ss levels. Unsurprisingly, her Priest ss was the highest, followed shortly after by Scout. Beyond that, it seemed that she had spent time training nearly every ss, to some extent. The only ones not on her list at all were ck Knight, Fallen Priest, and Assassin.


    Naturally, most of those sses weren¡¯t very high level. Many, like the Berserker or the Weaponmaster sses, weren¡¯t even in the double digits. In terms of overall level, she still fell far short of Tsubaki, by at least a good two hundred levels.


    Pulling my focus away from Alme, I felt that the energy within the gem was running low. As such, I pulled my world sight back, and allowed my vision to return to the throne room. Just a few more days until the Keeper Meeting¡­ and then my first invasion. Wonder who will be the one to invade me in the second round¡­


    I felt my mind starting to wander as I stared off into the distance.

 Chapter 229: A Date With Destiny

    <h4>Chapter 229: A Date With Destiny</h4>


    Myst few days among the people in the citadel passed by rather slowly. Most of my time was spent nurturing my world sight, or experimenting with its capabilities. Doing so, I learned that I could not only project my sight outwards to other areas, I could urately sense the smaller details of various energies. However, I also learned the limits of this power, as well.


    For one reason or another, world sight was incapable of extending beyond the¡¯s atmosphere. Out of curiosity, I attempted to look at the barren from the sr system that had once had the potential to support life, only to find that I couldn¡¯t. I could extend it out to nearly half the world, but even when attempt to send the energy straight up into space, I felt as if there were an impassable wall.


    At the same time, though, I felt like I should be able to eventually pursue the path of divinity with the help of world sight, given the fine detail it enabled me to view the world with. I just had the feeling that I shouldn¡¯t start right away. After all, with how small the seed of world sight had been, it was likely that my energies were just insufficient right now to create anything higher tier.


    My thoughts continued on like this until I felt something change in the world around me. Well, to be more precise, I saw the change. Tsubaki, who had been diligently cleaning one corner of the throne room, simply froze in ce. It took me a moment to realize that I myself had frozen as well, before a message appeared in front of me.


    Greetings, Keeper EarthForceOne!


    The time for the annual meeting of Keepers has arrived! For the next 8:0:00:00, all worlds will remain paused. You may choose to enter the Meeting Area at any given moment, and bring with you any number of creatures, either from your Administration Room or your world.


    All forms of hostility will be prevented within the Meeting Area, unless they take ce within a designatedpetition zone. Any lives lost in these zones will be returned moments after they are taken.


    While in the Meeting Area, you may choose to participate in any number of challenges, with the rewards being a substantial sum of points. These challenges will be separated by the rank of the Keeper, in order to ensure fairness. Note that any being that enters the Meeting Area with you will also exit the area with you as well. It is not possible to exchange individuals from one Keeper to another in this manner.


    Please, enjoy the festivities!


    I blinked at the message that appeared in front of my face. Or¡­ I wanted to, but my expression was still frozen. I focused for a brief moment, before I found myself ascending back to the Admin Room. As soon as I arrived in my room, I found myself beingtched onto by a very energetic halfing.


    ¡°It¡¯s finally time!¡± Aurivy said, as if she had seen the message as well. ¡°You¡¯ll take us, right?! All of us?! We¡¯ve been looking forward to it for a long time!¡± Aurivy¡¯s eyes were practically shining as she said that, looking up to me.


    ¡°Uh¡­ Rivy?¡± I stared down at her. ¡°If I¡¯m going anywhere, I¡¯ll need my legs.¡±


    ¡°Heheh¡­¡± Aurivy grinned, jumping down from me. ¡°But still, this is the meeting! The big gathering! We all saw the notice! You can take anyone.¡± Her grin suddenly turned mischievous as she rose up onto her tiptoes, speaking in a stage whisper. ¡°You could even bring Tsubaki with you~.¡±


    I rolled my eyes, shaking my head at her little antics. ¡°I¡¯m not bringing Tsubaki with me. At least, not this time. If she¡¯s still around when I amfortable with announcing to the world that there are nine thousand, nine hundred, and ny-eight other Keepers like myself, each with their own worlds¡­ maybe then I would take her. But that¡¯s a long ways down the road.¡±


    ¡°Fine, fine, spoil my fun why don¡¯t you?¡± Aurivy asked,ughing. ¡°Anyways, everyone¡¯s ready for you. The only one staying behind this time is Udona. She said she was looking forward to some real quiet time. Everyone else is hoping that you¡¯ll take them with you.¡±


    Well, that surprised me. ¡°Even Tryval and Tubrock? I didn¡¯t imagine either of them would be interested in joining.¡±


    ¡°Tryval was rather annoyed when Terra told him that the world would be frozen during the meeting. He didn¡¯t really say why he wanted toe with us, but I think it¡¯s just because of boredom. Eithere with us, or just stay here with Udona.¡± Aurivy answered with a shrug. ¡°As for Tubrock¡­ pretty sure that it¡¯s only because he wants to see if he can learn anything new.¡±


    I gave a slow nod at that, ncing down to my outfit. It was the same thing I usually wore, since it was a familiar shirt and jeans. Maybe eventually, I¡¯d set up a more iconic appearance, but this was what I was mostfortable with. ¡°And you said everyone¡¯s ready already?¡±


    When I asked that, Aurivy nodded, grabbing my hand and tugging me out of the room. ¡°Yeah! Balu leftst week to get ready herself for the meeting. So, Terra began to exin it to everyone since then.¡±


    And naturally, nobody exined the details to me. But, then again, I¡¯ve been to the other meetings, so I¡¯m more familiar with the procedure. Assuming that they are simr enough.


    Once we got out to the living room, I saw that everyone was indeed ready. Aside from Tryval, who was wearing his usual nothing, everyone seemed to be dressing up for the event in the same clothes that they had worn when Terra went around to take the family pictures.


    ¡°Oy, ¡®bout time ya got here.¡± Tubrock said with a grin, adjusting his goggles to rest on his head. ¡°We ready to get?¡±


    ¡°You sure you¡¯re alling?¡± I asked, ncing around to everyone.


    ¡°Don¡¯t forget about me!¡± A voice spoke up, seemingly from within my chest. A puff of grey fog burst from my body, quickly reforming into Leowynn. She was wearing her dark dress that resembled the starry sky, eyes sparkling as she looked around at everyone. ¡°I cane out for this one too, right?¡±


    Hearing that, I couldn¡¯t help but shake my head with a chuckle. ¡°Yes, I did say that I¡¯d let you out for this one, didn¡¯t I? Alright¡­ I guess there¡¯s no reason not to let everyone have their fun.¡±


    Leowynnughed happily, jumping forward and wrapping her arms around me. ¡°Thank you, father!¡±


    I gave augh of my own, smiling down towards her before I looked to Terra. ¡°Alright, what do I do?¡±


    Terra nodded briefly, before pointing to the wall. ¡°Just think about wanting to go to the meeting.¡±


    I tilted my head curiously at her words, before I looked to the wall. As she instructed, I focused on my desire to go to the meeting. As I did so, I began to notice a change in the wall. Glittering golden patterns rose up from the floor, tracing the outline of arge door. Then, without another word, the wall simply seemed to open up.


    ¡°Why can¡¯t it be this nice whenever we are going to another Keeper¡¯s ce?¡± I asked with a slight grumble, stepping up to the doorway. Naturally, the others followed closely behind me.


    As we stepped through, I saw a new sky above me, and felt myself stepping onto a solid, stone floor. The Meeting Area wasn¡¯t so much an Administration Room, it seemed. It would be more urate to call it its own world. I could feel the wind brushing against my face, and see simr golden doors appearing over the wide, stony field.


    You have chosen to bring others with you to the Meeting Area. As a safety precaution, you may wish to enforce certain restrictions on the speech or behavior of the entities you brought with you. For example, preventing them from revealing secrets about your world.


    Do you wish to enforce such restrictions at this time? If yes, please define the restrictions to enforce.


    I had to admit that I was surprised when the system gave a helpful bit of advice there. Nodding my head, I focused on the message. No revealing secrets about my worlds. That¡¯s all. I didn¡¯t want to put serious restrictions on anyone, but at the same time I knew how easy it was to slip up in a conversation. Thest thing I wanted was for someone to identally say something that they shouldn¡¯t, which could then beter used against me.


    Once I looked back around again, I once more became shocked. What was once a stony field, almost closer to a paved parking lot, was rapidly changing. Thick bs of stone rose out of the ground, stopping only when they took on the appearance of tall buildings.


    Clouds gathered overhead, lighting striking near the sides of the buildings. These lightning bolts froze in ce as they hit the ground, quickly warping into glowing signs. There were some that cheered at the disy, others thatughed, and many who just regarded it as something normal.


    The closest building to us had a lightning bolt sign that had shifted to say ¡®Entertainment¡¯. Once she saw that, Aurivy practically squealed, turning around to look at everyone. ¡°Okay, guys! I found my calling! You all know the drill!¡±


    She gave a mysterious smile as she said that, before turning and running off towards the entertainment building,ughing merrily along the way. I had to wonder what the ¡®drill¡¯ was, when I heard Ryone talking to Leowynn. ¡°Come on, dear. We haven¡¯t had a lot of time to y in a while. I¡¯d like to see what kinds of games we can find.¡±


    ¡°Huh? Well, okay Mother.¡± Leowynn smiled, walking off with Ryone. Tryval had already quietly wandered off somewhere without a word, when I suddenly heard Tubrock shout.


    ¡°Hah! There it is!¡± His eyes widened as he looked at another building. This one did not have a sign made of lightning. Rather, it seemed to be made by the fire left by that lightning. Crafts Show.


    Tubrock showed me that even a small man can run when he finds something he wants to run for. And like that, one by one everyone had wandered off. Until eventually, it was just myself, Terra, and Irena. Terra was grinning almost like a cheshire cat, stretching out and putting a hand on my shoulder. ¡°I¡¯m going to go see if I can find any other systempanions to chat up. You two can hang out for a bit.¡±


    After saying that, she wandered away, her red tail slowly flicking back and forth behind her. Looking at her in surprise, I then turned to nce at Irena. ¡°Are¡­ you nning to go somewhere, too?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask, seeing as everyone else had already left to go their own way.


    Irena was looking very pointedly at the ground, seemingly inspecting every little bit of dust. I could see the tips of her ears reddened at my question, and she shook her head. ¡°No, I was hoping you¡¯d let me wander around with you for a little while. If that would be fine?¡±


    ¡­They set me up. It took me a little bit to get it, but I dide to realize the truth. They had set me up on a date. A date with the Goddess of Death. And what is a man to do when confronted with the offer to have a date with Death at the equivalent of a heavenly faire?


    ¡°Sounds good to me.¡± I said with a slight shrug, extending a hand out towards her. Her eyes widened slightly at the offered hand, struggling to control her expression. Still, nheless, she stretched out her own hand to take it.

 Chapter 230: Divine Dining

    <h4>Chapter 230: Divine Dining</h4>


    It felt rather odd, walking through the rapidly crafted streets with Irena. Not in a bad way, but¡­ even with Terra and Ryone, I couldn¡¯t really say that I had ever actually been on a date with them. The closest that I could think of would be when I was with Aurivy and Terra for the D¡¯ka festival in the beastkin continent.


    As we walked, more and more people appeared alongside of us, walking out of their own glowing doorways. Some were alone, some with only one or two others, and some had an entire host of others apanying them. Just from this alone, the numbers had already greatly surpassed what I had seen from the monthly meetings hosted by the Gilded Branch.


    As I was wondering where we should go next, I felt a light tug on the hand that Irena was holding. When I nced over, she nodded silently towards one of the smaller buildings. As with the others, this one too had a sign created outside of it. This sign seemed to be spun from golden lights, and spelled the word ¡®Cuisine¡¯ on it.


    I gave a small smile when I saw that, nodding my head. ¡°You want to get something to eat?¡± It wasn¡¯t often that the gods were able to enjoy a meal in the Admin Room, but I suppose that Irena enjoyed it in her own way.


    She gave a brief nod of confirmation. ¡°Mhm¡­¡± As such, the two of us began making our way there. Several other people simrly were entering the restaurant in front of us, though it was impossible to determine which ones were the Keepers, and which were just beings brought by them.


    Once inside, we saw tables spread out on three different levels, the two above reachable through two different spiralling staircases. Red wood decorated the balconies of the two floors, while golden cloths were draped over the various circr and square tables. A host of waiters and waitresses of varying different races were lined up, showing the guests towards their seats.


    As I was admiring the view, one such waiter approached myself and Irena, a knowing smile on his face. ¡°EarthForceOne, plus one.¡± He spoke, as if mentally reading off a reservation. ¡°Please follow me.¡±


    Our waiter appeared to be human for all intents and purposes, though I saw that the tips of his ears were actually forked. He led us towards one of the circr tables on the first floor, where two chairs had been prepared. Irena and I each sat down at one of the chairs, while the waiter stood to the side and began exining.


    ¡°Wee to the Keeper¡¯s Feast. Here, we can prepare any dish that you could imagine, and allow you to enjoy the taste of real food. You may either ce an order, or we can prepare something to suit your tastes.¡±


    I nced over towards Irena, seeing the growing smile on her face, before I had to sully the mood with a question that I was rather concerned with. ¡°Is there a cost for the food here?¡± Given the amount of points that Keepers that would appear here normally had, it wouldn¡¯t be surprising for a single meal to cost a thousand points or more.


    Thankfully¡­ ¡°Of course not.¡± The waiter shook his head. ¡°All of our meals offer no substantial benefit to a Keeper, aside from uplifting your mood. Naturally, there won¡¯t be any charges.¡±


    Irena let out a relieved sigh at that, as did I. I was sure that our bnce was more than I expected, since I hadn¡¯t checked the points we earned for a while. Still, it was nice to know that we wouldn¡¯t need to spend anything here.


    Irena nced down towards the table, and then up at me, as if silently asking me to order for us. ¡°Can you just¡­ ¡®surprise us¡¯?¡± I asked, recalling how they said that they could craft meals designed for each individual¡¯s unique tastes.


    ¡°Of course, sir.¡± He nodded politely. ¡°Your meals will be ready in six hundred and eighteen seconds. If you require anything, just tap your table twice, and I will return.¡± After saying that, the waiter turned and walked towards the entrance, where he again stood in line to greet the customers.


    ¡°This is nice¡­¡± Irena said, turning back to look at the chair she was sitting in. It almost seemed as if it had been crafted specifically for her. The ornate, wooden back of the chair grew thin halfway up her back, nestling gently between her wings. For most people, this would be ufortable, but the situation was different when you considered someone with Irena¡¯s body type.


    As for my own chair, it was a rather normal chair made of red wood, a soft padding along its seat and back. ¡°Yeah¡­¡± I couldn¡¯t help but agree. ¡°Though, I have to say this all caught me by surprise.¡±


    Irena closed her eyes, shaking her head. Her cheeks were slightly red as she adjusted the hem of her skirt. ¡°Aurivy wanted me to spend some time alone with you¡­ I¡­ did not object.¡±


    A small chuckle escaped me when I heard that. It was hard to see sometimes, but it seemed that Irena did still have genuine feelings for me. Though, they shouldn¡¯t be because of her initial setting. After all, Bihena had shrugged off those feelings after just a few days. I had expected the same to be true for Irena, but it seemed that wasn¡¯t the case.


    ¡°I don¡¯t mind.¡± Honestly, I wasn¡¯t against Irena¡¯s feelings. My main concern was that I didn¡¯t even have the timetely for Terra and Ryone. I had spent all of my time trying to better myself and my worlds. I hadn¡¯t forgotten my initial dream to create a harem of beautiful goddesses from when I first began as a Keeper, rather¡­ it just seemed less important now. Especially once I realized that they were real people.


    Hearing my response, Irena¡¯s face briefly lit up with a happy smile, before she quickly controlled her expression. ¡°Thank you¡­¡±


    It didn¡¯t take long for our food to arrive, though the manner in which it did so was also quite unique. For mine, golden rays of light shed before my eyes, materializing int arge burger, stacked with what looked to be lettuce, tomatoes, and barbeque sauce on top a beef patty. On the side was a circle of what I could only guess were onion rings dipped in cheese.


    For Irena, the food presented itself a bit differently. Where I received rays of golden light, Irena instead had a light fog rise up from the table, forming itself into a te. Atop the te, a meal almost identical to my own appeared, though the sandwich had considerably less sauce. I could tell that Irena was happy we were eating the same thing, if only from its outer appearances.


    When I lifted up the burger, and took a bite of it, my eyes went wide with shock. To describe it¡­ I didn¡¯t even know where to begin. Everything just seemed¡­ good. The meat was soft and juicy, as if perfectly cooked. The sauce, which I had originally identified as barbeque, held a strange seasoning to it that I couldn¡¯t ce, but only amplified the other tastes of the burger as a whole.


    After the first bite, I pulled the burger away from my mouth to look at it in surprise, while Irena simply stared at me with a trace of concern. ¡°Is it not good?¡± She asked timidly, looking down to her own burger.


    It took me a moment to remember to chew, before I nodded my head towards her. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ great. Really, really great.¡± I don¡¯t think I had ever had a burger this good in my life.


    Hearing that, the nervousness in Irena¡¯s expression seemed to fade, and she lifted up one of her onion rings to take a bit. I had expected crumbs to fall from her food but instead, thin trails of mist seemed out after the ring had been bit open. Irena¡¯s eyes went wide as my own a momentter as the taste hit her.


    Is hers made of spiritual energy? I couldn¡¯t help but wonder that as I watched her hastily consume the rest of the onion ring, as if it was the first time she had ever eaten a real meal.


    As soon as she was done, she tapped on the table twice in session, her eyes sharply focused on the waiter who had shown us to our table. He was still standing in the line, but immediately turned to walk back towards us. ¡°Is there something that I can help you with?¡± He asked, a knowing smile ying on his face.


    ¡°This¡­ is this real?¡± Irena asked, pointing towards her own food. ¡°Could we really make this back home?¡± There was excitement in her tone as she asked that, and the waiter let out a lightugh.


    ¡°Of course. Everything produced here is made with real ingredients. However, there is a small cost associated with learning the recipes. You need not worry much, as the cost is a simple ten points per recipe you wish to learn.¡±


    When she heard that, Irena turned her head abruptly to stare at me. ¡°Please, Dale¡­¡± She pleaded, practically begging for something for the first time since she had been born. ¡°It¡¯s not much, right?¡±


    For the second time during the meal, I blinked in surprise. ¡°That¡­ alright.¡± I wasn¡¯t opposed to spending a mere ten points for something like this anyways, it was just that the way she asked caught mepletely off guard.


    Once I had agreed, a message window appeared in front of me, notifying me that I had spent ten points to learn a recipe for ¡®Spiritually Seasoned Food¡¯. ¡°Very well, then.¡± The waiter said, and a small blue sphere, like a miniaturized form of the normal information globes, appeared on the table.


    Before I could even say anything, Irena snatched it up off the table, staring hard at it to gain the information inside while the waiter turned to leave. ¡°Is it¡­ really that good?¡± I asked, still surprised by Irena¡¯s actions.


    As if finally realizing how out of character she had been behaving, Irena¡¯s cheeks lit up red and she stuffed the orb into her pocket. ¡°Sorry¡­ It¡¯s just¡­ The underworld doesn¡¯t really have food. They gain sustenance by simply breathing in spiritual energy, so there has never been the question of taste. This food¡­ it¡¯s¡­ so perfect.¡± Irena¡¯s eyes actually seemed to water as she looked down at her meal.


    ¡°Hey, hey, there¡¯s no need to cry now.¡± I spoke up quickly, afraid that I had said something wrong to worry her. However, she simply shook her head.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m not sad. This is better than I could have hoped. The food, and¡­¡± She let her words trail off as she looked up at me, wiping the wetness from her eyes.


    I let out a brief sigh, shaking my head before ncing back at her. ¡°It¡¯s great. Just don¡¯t scare me like that again. When we get home, you can practice that recipe so that you can teach it to your people.¡±


    She gave a firm nod when she heard that, bringing one hand up to her breast pocket where she had stored the orb. My guess was that creating food out of spiritual energy was one of the pieces of information that her people had beencking from the first tier knowledge, and why the system never acknowledged her aspleting it.


    The rest of the meal was fairly silent. Not because of a bad mood, but rather because the food was simply too good for either of us to think of a conversation topic. Especially when the dessert came, arge bowl of icecream for both of us, and another recipe that Irena wished to learn.


    By the time we left the restaurant, our moods were definitely higher than before, just as the waiter had promised.

 Chapter 231: Duality

    <h4>Chapter 231: Duality</h4>


    As we were leaving the restaurant, I caught sight of two figures standing in the distance. Well, it was honestly hard not to, as one was a towering giant standing over five meters tall, while the other looked like an angel. Grimor and his guild leader, if I had to hazard a guess.


    I pulled Irena gently with me as we moved over in that direction, at which point we saw that the angelic woman had a troubled expression. When she noticed us approach, she shook her head, reaching up to pat Grimor¡¯s arm before saying something. Given the distance, we couldn¡¯t make out what it was, but it caused the corners of his mouth to sag down.


    Just as we approached, she turned to leave, leaving us alone with Grimor. Alone as we could be on a crowded street, at least. ¡°Everything alright?¡± I asked curiously, causing therge man to look down at me, though his eyes seemed a bit lost.


    ¡°No¡­ no it¡¯s not. Sorry, Dale, but now¡¯s not a particrly good time.¡± Grimor said gloomily. ¡°I¡¯ve got a lot of work to do now, it seems.¡± As he said that, a ck door opened up behind him, which he slowly turned to step through. My guess, that is how someone leaves the Meeting Area.


    ¡°What was that about?¡± Irena asked curiously from next to me, reminding me that she had never actually met Grimor in person.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure¡­ he¡¯s a friend of mine, but he seems really upset about something.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but nce in the direction that the angelic woman had wandered off in. Through the crowd of wandering figures, I could no longer make out her shape anymore, meaning that I couldn¡¯t ask her what was wrong.


    I recalled Grimor saying that she had been stuck in an invasion for thest couple of meetings. Given how all worlds froze for this meeting, it was likely that even those worlds being invaded would have a chance for a brief respite.


    Unfortunately, there was nothing that I could really do about that right now. As I quickly discovered, I couldn¡¯t activate the messaging system. I could still feel my connections with the gods and goddesses of my own world, but I could not contact other Keepers.


    ¡°Where would you like to go next, Dale?¡± Irena asked in a small voice, tugging lightly at my arm to pull my out of my thoughts. I was quickly reminded that I was still on a date with Irena.


    ncing around, I quickly spotted the same Entertainment building that Aurivy had rushed into. ¡°Well, we had dinner¡­ why not go see if there¡¯s any fun to be had here?¡± I asked, nodding towards the nearby building.


    Irena blinked briefly, before I saw her lips tug up in a smile. ¡°Okay¡­¡± After saying that, the two of us walked alongside one another until we reached the door of the building.


    When we stepped inside, the ce seemed to be arranged like an arcade, with stairs ascending to another floor. Above each of the various games was a list of prizes achieved upon reaching different scores. Naturally, these prizes came in the form of points, though a few offered something special¡­


    For instance, there was one game I saw, which seemed to be a sharpshooting game. The highest level prize for this game was a ¡®Force Attack Ticket¡¯. In the meantime, another game nearby, which seemed to be of the resource management type, had an ¡®Attack Cancel Ticket¡¯ as its main prize.


    Seeing someone that appeared to be a staff member walking by, casually checking on everyone, I approached him with Irena. ¡°Excuse me¡­ Are you in charge of this area?¡±


    The man, a human-looking fellow with pitch ck skin and wearing a red jacket, nodded his head. ¡°That¡¯s right. I¡¯m the moderator in charge of the first floor. Is there something that I can help you with?¡±


    I pointed out the two games that had the odd prizes, and when I asked about what they were he gave a knowing nod. ¡°Yes, of course. This is your first time here, so you haven¡¯t been told yet. As you have guessed, those two items are just as their name implies. One forces an invasion on another world, outside the regr cirction, and another can be used to automatically defend against an invasion, to either end one early, or to call it off in advance.¡±


    My brows knit together as I thought about that. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t those items be a bit toomon, if that were the case? Or, couldn¡¯t people just jointly attack one world?¡±


    ¡°Ah, I see what you mean.¡± The man gave another nod. ¡°However, you need not worry. The prerequisite to use a Force Attack Ticket is that the target world must not already be engaged in a battle, and that they must of course be of the same Rank as you, or higher. Simrly, each ticket can only be earned once every year. If people attempt to y multiple games that offer the ticket as a prize, they will only receive the first one. Furthermore, these tickets expire after one year, and cannot be traded. So no Keeper will ever have more than one of each ticket.¡±


    I let a relieved sigh out when I heard that, thanking him for the information and letting him get back to work. Some of these Keepers had been at this for decades, maybe even centuries. If there weren¡¯t restrictions on these tickets, then it would be possible to receive an attack from anyone at a moment¡¯s notice, and lose any of my preparation time. If I had to guess, people generally saved their cancel tickets to defend themselves against an attack.


    A short distance down the rows of games, I saw two familiar faces. The two of them were ying at side-by-side dancing games, each ying to the same song. These were among the games with normal prizes consisting of points, but I couldn¡¯t help but notice that the two seemed to genuinely be enjoying themselves.


    The first was Aurivy, so there was no surprise that she was having fun ying a dancing game, while the other was Balu. Every now and then, they would turn and face each other, singing along with the music. They would even stretch out their hands to hold them together while they danced together.


    I shook my head, moving towards the stairs with Irena. As we walked, I finally caught sight of an angelic figure. The person shared many simrities with Grimor¡¯s guild leader, so it was likely to be one of herpanions, or a member from her world. She was ying at one of the games near the back, her eyes locked on the screen in front of her. I could see the sweat dripping down her face, and things began to make sense once I saw the prize for that particr game.


    So that¡¯s what happened¡­ This angelic woman was desperately trying to win an Attack Cancel Ticket. Given how that Keeper had looked earlier, and how Grimor reacted, as well as the information I had been given¡­ It seemed that Keeper didn¡¯t think she would survive this invasion. Surviving long enough to try to get this ticket must have been ast ditch effort for her, because if she could get it then she could call off the invasion immediately.


    I wanted to go over and offer words of encouragement, but I knew that would only distract her. And if the concentration she was showing was any indication, these games weren¡¯t easy to win the grand prize, even for an experienced individual.


    Irena and I kept moving until we had reached the stairs, before ascending upwards. The next level appeared to be where thepetitive games took ce. Some, like the ones below, were more arcade-style. Others had tablesid out, or stages set up.


    The two of us simply kept going, ascending another flight of stairs. This time, we found what we were looking for. Here, there was only a single stage, and a wide seating area for an audience. As I was wondering about the exact purpose of this floor, a message appeared in front of me.


    Wee to the Grand Stage, where anyone can perform!


    Here, one person or many may choose to enter the stage, so long as it is not currently being used. Once on the stage, they may choose to perform in any manner that they so desire for the rest of the audience.


    At the end of their performance, they will be given a reward based on the satisfaction of the audience. The more people you please with your performance, the greater your prize! If you manage to achieve a high enough satisfaction rating, special rewards may even unlock.


    Note that all abilities which show different performances to different individuals based on their personal tastes will be disabled to preserve the fairness of the stage.


    As Irena and I moved to find our seats, we saw down on the stage a wizened old man. He sat with his eyes closed in the middle of the stage, his hands brought together. However, above him an illusion was ying out, one that seemed to epass the entire room. If I had to describe it, it was simr to watching a movie at a theater, but in truly perfect 3D.


    Thankfully, the meeting was still newly started, and the movie had apparently not been going on for long. When Irena and I sat down, the world around us almost literally shrank away. We could no longer see the people sitting in front of us or beside us, as if it were just the two of us and the performer. Though really, this would exin why nobody paid any attention to us when we were making our way to our seats.


    ¡°This is all¡­ amazing.¡± Irena said quietly as she watched the movie being shown in the illusion. As one might expect, it was a movie about magic. Inds and entire worlds converted into flying vessels to travel the cosmos, fueled by the mages controlling them. Great battles against gods and devils, where the universe itself became the ultimate enemy.


    This moviested for over an hour after we had arrived, before the old man silently stood up and gave a small bow. From the smile on his face, it seemed that he was satisfied with the reward. Next to take his ce were a pair of young girls. One had skin as dark as night, while the other was pure white. Both had a single blue gem in their foreheads.


    ¡°We are the sisters Sho and Clo.¡± They spoke together, though each stopped so that the other could say their own name. ¡°And we have prepared a very special performance for you all.¡±


    With their words finished, they each stepped forward, their left feet tapping on the stage. In front of our vision, the stage seemed to expand infinitely, stretching out in all directions. More importantly, this didn¡¯t seem to be an illusion, rather a feature of the stage so that they had room for their show.


    ¡°We call this, Harmony of Light and Shadow.¡± The two sisters began, speaking in unison despite being on opposite sides of a stage that had grownrge enough that I was struggling to watch both at once.


    Sho, the white-skinned girl, dropped to one knee, raising her hand to the sky. A low hum could be heard from her, echoing across the tform. On the other side, Clo had sped her hands in front of her chest, and began to match the humming with her own.


    When Clo stretched her hands out, darkness rose around her body, creating a ck pir that rose up into the sky. When Sho lowered her hand, a blinding column of light fell to the ground. These two pirs began to move towards each other slowly, no doubt with their summoners inside.


    As they moved, the musical voices within seemed to be amplified by their respective elements, softly flowing over Irena and myself. And the moment the two pirs touched, they seemed to intertwine. The conflicting elements of light and dark sent out bursts of sound along with the music, as if it were an apanying instrument itself.


    Slowly, the two pirs became a single spiral of ck and white, the top of each spreading out to form an arch at a far point in the ground. These tips gradually came closer and closer, until they formed a link with the spiral in the center. The spiral slowly changed, shifting into a pair of twin interlocking circles. At the center of the circle, each surrounded by the other¡¯s element, were the sisters Sho and Clo, floating high above the ground.


    Their voices had gone beyond humming, lifting into a melody that echoed out above the shing of their energies. With every note, they danced through the skies, every movement triggering another ss of light and shadow. Irena and I sat, spellbound as we watched the show. I could feel her hand tightly gripping my own, and knew that she was enjoying herself.

 Chapter 232: Lift Your Voice

    <h4>Chapter 232: Lift Your Voice</h4>


    Irena and I sat, watching the performances for some time. Each one held its own charm, whether it was a movie, a song and dance, or even a stand-upedy act. After a while, Irena rose to her feet, moving to walk away from her seat. Thinking she was ready to leave, I started to rise to follow her.


    However, she motioned for me to sit back down, shaking her head. As she walked out of the seating area, she vanished from my view. Thissted for only a moment before I saw her walking onto the stage.


    ¡°Hello, everyone.¡± She spoke curtly with her eyes closed, her wings fluttering as she gave a small bow. ¡°My name is Irena. Please, enjoy.¡±


    When her eyes opened up, a vast grey fog filled the stage, surging from her body. Her form was briefly obscured, before she appeared again, her outfit entirely different. Gone was the businesswoman appearance that she often showed. Instead, she appeared as a golden armored valkyrie, a spear resting in one of her hands.


    My eyes widened briefly in surprise when she opened her mouth again. A soft, mellow voice began to echo out, carried along the fog as if to form a choire. Her head tilted back, her wings stretched out, and her voice filled the room.


    ¡°Let not your mighty pow¡¯r¡­ Obscure your thoughts this fateful hour. Let not your heart be filled with dread, when fires spiral overhead¡­¡± The grey mist began to rotate around Irena¡¯s body, rising into the sky to be a figure of me, as if it were an eye staring down at her.


    As the song continued, spectral forms began to appear around Irena, shadowy and indistinguishable from one another. These forms stood next to Irena, striking defensive stances. Yet still, her voice continued to flow, slow and smooth.


    ¡°Don¡¯t sit alone upon your throne. This world turns yet unbeknown¡­ a fateful wind begins to blow. A story still that must be told.¡± The mist swirls again, as if forming a tornado to capture both Irena and the ming eye. Irena¡¯s voice began to pick up, echoing more forcefully throughout the stage.


    ¡°So lift your voice, so lift your hand! For on your own, you cannot stand. But hear me now, I¡¯vee to say, you¡¯re not alone, no not today! We stand as one, our hearts aligned, so lift your hand and draw the line!¡±


    The figures around Irena became more clear, more distinct as the tornado scattered from around her. Counting Irena herself, there were thirteen figures, all of whom I could easily recognize. Especially considering that one of those forms was myself. All of the gods and goddesses from my world, along with Leowynn and myself, stood together in full armor.


    ¡°We lift you up, so hear our voice! This world falling is a choice! So make a stand, to fight the end, this world¡¯s ours we will defend.¡± As she called out loudly, the thirteen figures flew upwards into the ming eye, weapons drawn. The eye exploded as the thirteen figures charged into it, turning into a swirling column of smoke.


    ¡°You hold us close, you say a prayer, this fight is won so we dere. Now lift your voice, and lift your hand, we fought as one so we¡¯ll withstand.¡± As the thirteen figures slowly floated back down to the ground, they turned to face each other, Irena¡¯s voice once more going slow and soft. One by one, the figures faded away into smoke, until thest ones left were myself and Irena, until I too faded away in front of her.


    ¡°So lift your voice¡­ So make the choice¡­ Don¡¯t stand alone¡­¡± With thest word, her voice trailed off, and I could see a small tear falling from her eye. When her voice fell, the fog rolled back into her body, and she was once again in her formal attire, giving a soft bow to the crowd. I almost wished that I could see everyone else at the moment, or hear their apuse.


    However, the ¡®privacy¡¯ of the stage still prevented that, even if I began to p happily. As she stood, I saw a small smile fill her face, before she left the stage. A few momentster, she was back in front of me, walking past to her seat. ¡°So¡­ how was it?¡± She asked, seeming more bashful than I had ever remembered seeing her.


    ¡°It was¡­ beautiful.¡± I told her honestly, reaching to gently hold her hand in my own. ¡°Really. If anything, I¡¯m just sad that nobody else seemed to appreciate it.¡± That was the only conclusion that I could draw when there was no notification of points being received for that performance.


    However, Irena¡¯s eyes widened slightly at myment. ¡°Nobody? Oh, did you not get it?¡± She asked, before a small bit of spiritual energy rose up from her palm, forming the image of a message window. ¡°This appeared in front of me when I stopped singing.¡±


    You have achieved a 78% satisfaction rating over 732 audience members. As such, you have been awarded 2855 points for your performance.


    Well, if that didn¡¯t catch me by surprise, I wasn¡¯t sure what would. ¡°Almost three thousand points for that¡­ That¡¯s really amazing.¡± I admitted, shaking my head. ¡°I guess the people here weren¡¯t as jaded as I thought.¡±


    Irena nodded her head with a small smile at that, her hand gripping mine gently. ¡°Would you be fine if we went somewhere else now?¡± She asked quietly. ¡°This was nice¡­ but I would like to see what else this ce has to offer.¡±


    I had no problem with that, and slowly began to lead Irena back down the stairs of the entertainment building. There were several familiar faces that I saw on the way, but that angelic figure was still concentrating entirely on the same game when we reached the first floor.


    ¡°What did you have in mind?¡± I looked towards Irena and asked. However, she simply shrugged her shoulders, as if anything was fine. ¡°Okay then¡­ I guess we¡¯re just exploring?¡±


    That seemed to be okay with her, so the two of us left the entertainment building, and began to wander the streets. We took a look at every building, at least on the exterior. Whether it was the Crafts building, the Magic building, even the Special Presentations building, which seemed to just be where people could show off new abilities or races that they had created in thest year to advertise.


    Ultimately, we even wandered away from the area where the buildings had been erected entirely. People could be seen sitting on the grass, talking with each other or walking around. ¡°I wonder how big this area is¡­¡± I couldn¡¯t help but question that when I saw that there seemed to be no limits to the ¡®Meeting Area¡¯.


    ¡°Perhapsrger than anyone can explore within eight days.¡± Irena remarked, simrly looking around. ¡°This is as good of a spot as any, I suppose.¡±


    After saying that, she tugged on my hand and sat down, pulling me to sit next to her. There was really no reason to resist, so I sat down beside her, ncing around the area. ¡°So¡­ how did youe up with that song earlier?¡±


    Irena nced away slightly when I asked that, the tips of her ears a light red. ¡°I just started thinking about it while watching those other performances. You seemed to enjoy it when people sang, so I wanted to sing for you as well.¡±


    I made a soft sound of realization at that, my hand gripping hers just a bit harder. ¡°You didn¡¯t have to go through all that trouble. But I do appreciate it.¡±


    Irena nodded her head gently, before finally turning to look at me. Before I could properly react, she had closed the distance between our faces, nting her lips against my own. I could see her eyes closed, her cheeks red as she held her face there for a moment before backing off.


    ¡°Well¡­ that was¡­¡± I was briefly at a loss for words, having not at all expected Irena to take the initiative for something like that. ¡°Wow.¡±


    There was a smallugh from Irena when she heard my admittedly dumbfounded rambling. Slowly standing up, she brushed her legs off, looking down to me. ¡°We should go and get back to the others¡­ I promised not to take up too much of your time on my own.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t realize we were on a schedule.¡± I said with a roll of my eyes, standing next to her. ¡°Do you have any ns for where else to go to now?¡±


    Irena tilted her head as we began to walk back towards the area where the buildings had been erected. ¡°Perhaps I shall check out the magic or crafts shows? There may be something there involving spiritual energy that I could learn.¡± Although I could still see the corners of her lips tugging upwards, it seemed that she was trying to slip back into her more formal way of speaking.


    ¡°That would be pretty nice.¡± As we walked, I saw that someone was already waiting for us at beside the nearest building. She had a very catlike grin befitting of her felyn race, her red tail flicking behind herself.


    ¡°Bout time you two got back.¡± Terra teased, giving a small nod towards Irena. ¡°Enjoy yourselves?¡±


    ¡°Very much.¡± Irena responded curtly, finally releasing my hand. ¡°I would like to¡­ thank you for helping to arrange this. It was nice.¡±


    Terra¡¯s smile turned softer as she heard that. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, Irena. You¡¯ve waited long enough, you deserved this.¡± She walked over, gently patting Irena¡¯s shoulder as she said that, before turning to face me. ¡°Now as for you, mister, there are other people wanting to spend time with you.¡±


    Oddly, judging by her tone, it was somewhat clear that she didn¡¯t just mean herself. She pat me on the back to lead me forward. Once Irena was out of earshot, she began to speak again, a bit quieter. ¡°She really enjoyed herself?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± I said with a small nod. ¡°Did you think that she wouldn¡¯t?¡±


    Terra gave a lightugh at that. ¡°I was just worried you might turn her down. Poor girl¡¯s idolized you for ages. Would have broken her heart. None of us really wanted to see something like that happen.¡±


    ¡°Were¡­ all of you in on that, then?¡± When I asked that, Terra gave a nod of her own.


    ¡°Of course. I was even there in the crowd when she went up to sing. Now that caught me by surprise. And given what I am, it¡¯s hard for something to surprise me when I¡¯m paying attention.¡± Terra had an almost wistful expression on her face as she spoke. ¡°Never expected that she¡¯d have a singing voice like that.¡±


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you know everything about¡­ pretty much everyone?¡± This seemed an entirely valid question, given that the system permeated every level of thought and existence.


    ¡°Well, yes and no. I mean, if she had ever sang before, or even considered doing so, I¡¯d have probably known. If I was paying attention at the time. But that was a pretty spur of the moment decision on her part. I have to say that I was impressed. And the twenty-two percent of the audience who didn¡¯t like it can all go jump in a ck hole.¡± Terra¡¯s expression hardened a bit when she said that, clearly displeased that Irena hadn¡¯t gotten a higher rating.


    However, she quickly shook her head, returning to her normal happy expression. ¡°Anyways, Rivy and Bihena are waiting for us in the entertainment room, second floor. Normally, I can¡¯t y any of these games because it would be deemed unfair for a systempanion to earn points for their Keeper. But if we¡¯re just ying it for fun and opt out of earning points¡­¡±


    We quickly arrived at the second floor of the entertainment building, and I saw Bihena and Aurivy standing together near one of the stages. Moving closer, it seemed to be a four yer version of the Keeper Sim game that I saw during the monthly meetings.

 Chapter 233: The True Sim

    <h4>Chapter 233: The True Sim</h4>


    ¡°So what¡¯s the deal here?¡± I asked as I stepped up towards the stage with Aurivy and Bihena. ¡°A two versus two? Or is this a free-for-all?¡± It was clear that they wanted to all y this game together, but I had never yed Keeper Sim with more than just one other person.


    ¡°Little of both.¡± Terra spoke up beside me. ¡°This is just like what you saw at the monthly meeting, but with a few extras. Since it isn¡¯t as restricted as what a Keeper can personally manage on their own, we could theoretically have as many yers as we want. For now, though, nobody else was interested, so we wanted to do a four person match.¡±


    ¡°Oh, oh, I wanna be on Dale¡¯s team!¡± Aurivy excitedly called out from her spot next to Bihena, her eyes wide with expectation.


    ¡°Now, now.¡± Bihena chuckled, shaking her head. ¡°You really want to fight both the Goddess of Battle, and the Goddess of Fate at the same time?¡± I had to admit, she was right¡­ one of them alone was bad enough, but they were both highly skilled in management. Bihena herself disyed exceptional prowess at this game during thest meeting. Facing both of them together would just end poorly.


    It took Aurivy a moment to realize this as well, at which point she began to sulk. ¡°Oh, fine¡­ I¡¯ll be with big sis then.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll pretend that I¡¯m not just a constion prize.¡± Terra said with a slightly teasing tone, before she turned to address the three of us. ¡°While the match is ongoing, I won¡¯t have a connection with the system itself, so I won¡¯t be able to see all of your moves. Just to let you know this isn¡¯tpletely rigged.¡± As she said that, she gave a yful wink, moving over to stand next to Aurivy.


    At the same time, Bihena slowly walked around the stage to stand next to me, and we all approached the yer stands. ¡°So, which mode are we going for?¡± She asked curiously, almost expectantly.


    And of course, she began to sulk when Terra grinned. ¡°Battle mode, obviously. Your specialty.¡±


    After Terra said that, her and Aurivy seemed to simply vanish, and all that was left in front of us was the stage. It didn¡¯t take long at all to realize that this should be a simr effect as what the Grand Stage offered for privacy, though it seemed that this was Bihena¡¯s first time experiencing such a thing.


    Soon, the race windows appeared in front of Bihena and myself, causing me to nce over towards her. Unlike the Keeper Sim window, where you were able to choose from a wide variety of preset races, you could actually create your own races for this. ¡°I¡¯m going humans.¡± Bihena said casually as she inserted the information to create a normal human.


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll go¡­ Actually¡­¡± A small smile came to my face as I realized a possible strategy with this. I began to input the information for a rather unique race from our world, one of the most underappreciated. And one that I knew Aurivy would get augh out of once she realized.


    Confirm specifications for Dungeon Core yer race?


    Bihena looked over at me, her eyes widening slightly, before a small smile crept up onto her face. ¡°Well, this will not be dull, at least.¡±


    Simr to the version of the game that we were used to, we began y near an area of rich resources. Specifically, a mineable crystal node that gave us an ie of points that we could spend on units or upgrades. My first unit, the first dungeon core, was ced next to those crystals.


    In my view, I could see a slowly growing circle around the core, which held everything that I was able to see in my portion of the map. I sent themand for the core to begin harvesting crystals, and the growth stopped. Instead, I began to receive notifications that crystals were being harvested.


    While I was saving up to spawn a second dungeon, Bihena had already created her first scout, sending it out to explore the map. Neither of us knew howrge the world would be in this version, nor did we even know how far apart we were from each other. All that could be seen was that our territories did not connect yet.


    A couple of minutester, I had enough points to spawn my second dungeon. When I chose to do so, I was asked to determine the spawn location, and found that I could ce it in any territory explored by either myself or Bihena. As such, I chose to ce it where her scouts were currently exploring.


    For this dungeon, I sent an immediatemand for it to burrow underground, that way it would not be discovered easily if it turned out that they were actually close to the enemy camp. Then, I allowed it to steadily grow its territory while the first core continued to harvest resources.


    ¡°Not a very point efficient race, is it?¡± Bihena asked, noticing that I had only two cores in ce by the time that she had twenty humans spawned.


    ¡°Wasn¡¯t expecting it to be. Hoping that it makes a goodte-game race, though.¡± It was then that we discovered a key difference between this version and what we knew¡­ when a lone goblin wandered into the human camp. At first, Bihena panicked, thinking that it was Terra or Aurivy¡¯s troops. She ughtered it with impunity, and immediately began erecting defenses around her base.


    However, not longter, a wolf wandered into my territory. And, after falling prey to the dungeon¡¯s ability to control monsters, we confirmed that there were simply monsters that spawned randomly throughout these maps. Which was good for me, as it involved a key aspect of my race, but also bad at the same time. After all, this meant that we never knew what was a monster, and what was an enemy unless I had a dungeon nearby.


    For my third dungeon, I ced it directly inside Bihena¡¯s base. She red at me briefly, until she saw that I wasn¡¯t using this as an excuse to steal her resources, instead simply letting the dungeon growrger andrger by the second. The Keeper Sim has time move so much faster than normal that a dungeon¡¯s growth was visible to the naked eye, quickly moving past the area that she had scouted herself.


    Only after that did I begin to upgrade my race¡¯s ¡®technology¡¯. To be honest, I had no clue what doing so would even aplish for my race. And given that dungeon cores can¡¯t exert any strength of their own, I immediately began to develop in the direction of magic.


    Once I did, I discovered that I was able toy magic traps in the area covered by my dungeon domains. And after a few more monsters wandered into my base, I had a better source of points while they were put to use mining for me.


    It had to have taken nearly two hours before Bihena¡¯s scouts found anything. A halfling riding a pony, carrying with it a spear nearly asrge as her body. Once that happened, a silhouette appeared across the stage from us, showing Aurivy standing there in neutral posture. The scout that had discovered the halfling was one of the first sent out, and had yet to return to the base to upgrade its equipment or skills. As such, it was quickly killed by the halfling.


    Before that happened, though, I ced a dungeon core not far away, hidden within a bush, and immediatelymanded it to conceal itself. As long as I could keep that location marked, we would be able to see any unitsing through the area that tried to approach her base.


    After my next upgrade, the ability for my dungeons to reshape the terrain became improved, and I was able to hide both my own and Bihena¡¯s bases withinrge, artificial mountains. This gave us anotheryer of defense, while I started to assign my dungeons to the creation of mazes and traps.


    By now, the points wereing in rather steadily, so it wasn¡¯t a difficult matter at all to ce dungeons where needed. It was more about finding the proper resources to take advantage of having a dungeon nearby. For instance, unique ores or more minable gems.


    The game continued like this for some time, until mine and Bihena¡¯s territories became connected after she found my original base. Now we had a better idea about the size of the world, which was muchrger than what the Gilded Branch created for their games. ¡°I¡¯ll handle defense. Think you can focus on offense?¡± I asked as I nced over towards Bihena, who gave a sharp nod in response. Dungeons were great defenders¡­ but when it came to attacking? There was almost nothing that they could do then.


    I continued upgrading the magic of my dungeons, while I watched Bihena advance her units into a more militant troop. Thanks to the dungeons I had scattered around, we spotted some invisible halflings trying to sneak through to scout our area. Simply closing up the mountain entrance was enough for them to be unable to tell even when they walked straight up to our base.


    Only when Bihena was confident in her ability to attack did shesh out. The mountain opened, and heavy tanks rolled out from it, crushing the hiding halflings in their paths. Momentster, a huge portion of the map was revealed to us, showing both Terra and Aurivy¡¯s bases. It took a second for me to realize that this was because the halflings had died within my territory, so the dungeon took control of their souls.


    What was more worrying, though, was Terra¡¯s base. I had half expected her to make a civilization of beastkin like we had back on Earth. I had not expected to see a single, giant dragon sleeping atop a mountain. From the state of the area, it hadn¡¯t even touched its gems yet. Rather, there was a halfling mining camp at the base of the mountain, taking the resources for themselves.


    Terra never even tried spawning a second unit? I couldn¡¯t help but gulp at that. If Terra felt that just one single unit was enough, then the dragon she created should be truly terrifying. That, or she deemed that another unit would be too expensive to spawn. Either way¡­ now that we had a clear view of their base, there was an easy way for us to take advantage of it.


    I had Bihena call back her troops, while I ced a dungeon at the heart of Terra¡¯s mountain, deeply hidden away in a tunnel that had next to no foot traffic. Once there, I waited, until I had amassed enough points to research magic portals.


    With a boom and a crash, the mountain beneath the dragon erupted, sending the furious creature into the air. It wasn¡¯t dead, but it was definitely angry. And rather than investigating the cause of the disturbance, it began to fly, directly towards Bihena¡¯s mountain base.


    Unfortunately, there was nobody left in the mountain when it swooped down, a beam of light causing thend itself to evaporate. It did a few passing sweeps before rushing back, as our assault had only just begun. After using a bomb to blow up one mountain, I created a portal into Aurivy¡¯s bases, where Bihena¡¯s troops rushed in, ughtering them en masse.


    By the time the dragon had returned, only a few scattered halfling troops remained. And every so often, a portal would appear next to one, fully armored soldiers stepping through and killing them. The only threat left was the dragon itself, which¡­ we never actually killed.


    Aurivy and Terra have surrendered.


    ¡°That was cheating!¡± Aurivy shouted out as the stage began to dim, and we could see the two people across from us again. The halfling goddess was clearly upset by the way she lost, having never directly seen my chosen race. ¡°How else could you have found us like that?!¡±


    ¡°Dungeons.¡± I said with a small smile, to which she looked like she was about to shout something back, before her eyes opened wide.


    ¡°Dungeons?¡± She questioned, her voice more quiet now.


    ¡°Dungeons.¡± I confirmed once again with a brief nod.


    ¡°Rematch!¡± She immediately called out, causing Terra tough next to her. The felyn woman looked at us, as if seeking approval. Once Bihena and I both nodded, the second round began.


    We continued like this for several more rounds. Now that we both knew how to use the dungeons, the matches became a lot longer, and a lot more difficult. Aurivy and I always picked that race, while Bihena always chose humans, and Terra simply seemed to change her choice every round.


    No longer could it be considered a clearndslide, instead each match being incredibly close. Ultimately, we decided to stop because we had spent an entire day repeatedly doing one round after another.

 Chapter 234: Climb To The Top

    <h4>Chapter 234: Climb To The Top</h4>


    Aurivy let out a long sigh after we finished ourst round of the game. ¡°Okay, so, what¡¯s next?¡± She nced around at the rest of us, a small grin on her face.


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ not sure?¡± I asked, looking around at the others. ¡°I mean, I¡¯ve already checked out anything I wanted to, and there¡¯s still seven days left of the Meeting, right? Anyone have any ideas?¡±


    ¡°Well, aside from just going around and ying whatever games we can?¡± Bihena asked with a shrug of her shoulders. ¡°It¡¯d be a good way to earn points. And we can never go wrong with having an abundance of points.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve already yed some of the games¡­¡± Aurivy pouted as she said that. ¡°Most of them are really hard. Like, a ton of buttons, and one wrong move you lose hard. Was able to earn some points dancing with Balu, and a little bit on some other games before you showed up.¡±


    ¡°I was ying this on my own most of the time before everyone else came along.¡± Bihena said, patting the stage for the Keeper Sim game. ¡°You can configure it to y against a system opponent instead of another yer, so I was doing that for a bit. Could y around with it for a bit more, since you¡¯re able to earn points by winning against the system.¡±


    That made me nce over to her in surprise. ¡°And they let you keep getting the points?¡± I had expected that she¡¯d only be able to get the reward once, before she had to move on to something else.


    ¡°It¡¯s a bit more than that.¡± Terra spoke up, walking to the other side of me. ¡°Every time she wins, her opponent will be progressively more difficult. Likewise, the rewards for victory getrger to match the skill level. If a high ranking Keeper were to y this game, they would usually be able to y up until their opponents were of a simr skill to themselves. At that point, they might win between ten thousand to a hundred thousand points for a single victory.¡±


    The way she said those numbers as if it wasn¡¯t a huge sum of points made me grumble a bit. However, there was little I could do about the fact that they were simply used to dealing inrger sums. Hence, I shook my head and looked at the others. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll make everyone a deal. Whoever gets the most points by the time we head back will be able to get their own world, and will be able to use the points they earned to start it up.¡±


    Bihena and Aurivy¡¯s eyes seemed to light up at that, while Terra chuckled and ryed my message to the rest of the group. Since Udona already had her own world, this would give the others a chance to earn theirs, as well. As for Ashley, if by some chance she managed to win the contest, she¡¯d be able to design her own world, as opposed to Desbar which was my design.


    Without another word, Bihena stepped back up to the stage. The remaining three yer podiums disappeared, showing that she was now ying solo. Simrly, Aurivy rushed out of towards the stairs leading down to the first floor. Which left only Terra standing next to me.


    ¡°So, what are your ns for the next seven days?¡± Terra asked as she walked over, patting a hand against my shoulder.


    ¡°Well¡­ I was hoping you¡¯d be able to help me with that?¡± When she looked at me with a curious expression, her eyebrows raised, I continued. ¡°I want to look into guilds. I heard about the benefits for them, and thought it might be a good idea to join one myself.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Terra seemed surprised at that. ¡°Earth¡¯s never been in a guild. At least, not from any of the versions of it still in my records. Thest few Keepers were either disinterested, or never made it far enough for it to be worthwhile. So, what guild are you looking to join? The Gilded Branch?¡±


    I shook my head at the question as the two of us began to walk down the stairs. ¡°No. While I do like the idea of having a big group backing me up, I think with them I¡¯d be a bit too worried that they¡¯d request my points for things like prizes in the regr meetings. You can see how much they spend on those prizes every month, so I can¡¯t help but be cautious there.¡±


    ¡°What I want is a smaller guild. Back when I attended my first meeting, there was a group that approached me, asking if I¡¯d like to join them. I remember¡­ one of them was named Dr. He seemed like the leader of their group.¡±


    Terra closed her eyes for a moment, seeming to focus before she nodded. ¡°Right, those guys. A small guild like that isn¡¯t a bad idea. So, you¡¯re wanting to see the Guild Recruitment building, then?¡±


    ¡°Wait, there¡¯s a Guild Recruitment building?¡± I asked in shock, having explored the ce quite thoroughly with Irena earlier. ¡°Howe I didn¡¯t see that before?¡±


    ¡°Because it wasn¡¯t there before.¡± She answered simply, leading me out of the building. ¡°In the Meeting Room, a building will only appear when someone wants something it offers. Peoplee here wanting to have fun, and the Entertainment building appears. They want good food, the restaurant shows up.¡±


    As she said, a new building was rising from the ground in an empty plot ofnd not far from us. A few people had gathered around, waiting to see what it was. ¡°Most people whoe to these meetings are either already part of a guild, or have no interest in joining one. As such, it¡¯s pretty rare for the Guild Recruitment building to appear before the third or fourth day.¡±


    Once the building had finished forming, a ray of light fell down from the sky to create the sign for it. When people saw the words on the sign, most shrugged their shoulders, wandering away. Some, however, seemed excited, and rushed inside. Terraughed lightly at that. ¡°People wanting to advertise their own guilds. Now that they know there¡¯s someone here looking to join a guild, they want to take advantage of it to rope in a new member.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­¡± I nodded my head briefly as the two of us walked in. Inside the building, stalls were quickly erecting themselves around the people who had entered first, the names of their guilds on the front of the stalls. However, the two of us just continued on, not paying attention to them. Because, on the other side of therge, single floor of this area, was a wall filled with information.


    ¡°This is the Guild Information Board.¡± Terra said as she waved towards the wall. ¡°Here, you can see the names of all the different guilds, as well as their numbers, and the Keeper in charge for contact purposes. However, if you want more information on a guild, you¡¯ll need to find the person representing them.¡± Saying that, she motioned towards the stalls behind us.


    I began to look over the list, seeing so many names that I didn¡¯t know. There were easily over a hundred guilds listed, but many of them had numbers only in the single digits. If I knew Dr¡¯s Keeper title, perhaps I could just contact him directly, but I only knew him by his actual name.


    This would probably be a good time to have an information guild on hand. I mused with a small smile, before shaking my head. I turned back to look at the names on the various stalls, and cross referenced their names with the names on the board. Most of them were small guilds, but there was onerger guild among them, with over eighty members.


    Turning around, I moved to the first of the stalls, which belonged to a small guild name Fables. It was registered with seven members, and the person at the stall was a woman with wings attached to her arms, simr to a harpy.


    ¡°Hello!¡± She spoke up eagerly when I approached, and I noticed that the sounds from the outside faded away. ¡°Thanks for taking the time to speak with me. Is there anything you¡¯d like to know about my guild that could help you make your decision?¡±


    ¡°Does your guild have any goals, or special rules I¡¯d need to know about?¡± I knew that I could likely just leave a guild if I didn¡¯t like themter on, but I¡¯d rather not waste my time when I could find a guild that was a better fit for me.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ our main goal is to help one another out, I suppose.¡± The woman said, giving the question some thought. ¡°The guild is mainly just a group of friends, like a lot of smaller guilds. Though, there is one thing that we can be proud of!¡±


    Seeing that I wasn¡¯t interrupting her, she hastily continued. ¡°Several of our members are able to win Force Attack Tickets in the games here. So, if a situationes up where you are in danger, they can use their ticket to attack the world invading you! You might not know this, but if the world that¡¯s invading you is conquered, the invasion is cancelled and the invading forces are immediately registered as members of your own world.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that only work if I was the same rank as whoever has the ticket?¡±


    ¡°Uhm¡­ yes?¡± Sheughed nervously when I pointed that out. ¡°But, as long as you¡¯re at the second rank, that¡¯s not a problem! And, it doesn¡¯t take long to reach that point.¡±


    I shook my head with a small smile. ¡°Give me a chance to discuss with the others and look at my options.¡± I saw a pout forming on her face as I stepped away, moving to the next stall. This was the one for therger guild, going by the name of Truth Ascendant.


    The man inside the stall here appeared to be human, wearing a businesslike suit and nodding to me. ¡°Greetings.¡± He seemed to be a very professional person, which made me pretty sure that this wasn¡¯t just a ¡®group of friends¡¯.


    Sure enough, it didn¡¯t take long for me to finish my conversation with him and move on. The goal of their guild was to break the system, and to find the true meaning of the number of Keepers. I had no interest in being a part of a guild that was attempting to destroy an omnipresent, omnipotent system that existed in everyyer of reality. Doing so could only end badly.


    Aside from them, the other eight guilds were all like the first, small groups of friends that looked out for each other. But, it was also that same simrity that made it difficult to make a decision on who to join. I could start my own guild, but the only person that I know who isn¡¯t already in a guild is Kathy, and a two person guild seems a bit small.


    ¡°Hey!¡± As I was walking out of thest stall, I heard someone calling out towards me. Thinking it was another recruiter that had just arrived, I nced over. The voice belonged to a woman, a brte human that came up just to my shoulder. ¡°We metst year, didn¡¯t we?¡±


    It took me a moment to recall, but soon I realized that she was actually a part of Dr¡¯s guild. ¡°I think so. Dr¡¯s group, right?¡±


    ¡°Why does everyone think he¡¯s the leader¡­¡± She asked in a grumbling tone. ¡°But yeah, he¡¯s with my guild. I take it that you¡¯re the person looking to join a guild today?¡±


    When I gave a slow nod, she walked over towards an empty space on the wall, and another stall began to form around her. This time, the words Lasting Bonds appeared as the guild name. Referencing it with the wall, it was a small guild of only six people. ¡°So, reintroductions.¡± She said with a small smile. ¡°My name is Sarah, title EverLasting, and the guild leader of Lasting Bonds.¡±

 Chapter 235: The Weird Trials

    <h4>Chapter 235: The Weird Trials</h4>


    ¡°So, how much do you remember about our guild?¡± Sarah asked with a curious tilt of her head once I had approached her stall.


    ¡°Pretty much the same as everyone else here?¡± I responded with a slight shrug, though felt a smile creep onto my face. ¡°Just a group of friends looking out for each other. Though¡­ I remember there only being five of you.¡±


    ¡°Ahh, you never met Meatlover.¡± Sarah chuckled dryly as she said that. ¡°He doesn¡¯t tend to go to the monthly meetings. Would rather spend his time studying his own world instead.¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s fine. Anything else I should know before I join your group, then?¡± In truth, it wasn¡¯t just because I had met this guild before that I was inclined to join them. The fact that they had good enough rtions with the Gilded Branch to be allowed into the monthly meetings indicated that they weren¡¯t hostile Keepers. A guarantee that I couldn¡¯t make with any of the other small guilds without paying a sum of points to find out.


    ¡°Well, we do have a couple of rules.¡± Sarah spoke as she crossed her arms in front of her, nodding her head briefly. ¡°First of all¡­ if you get stuck in an invasion where you don¡¯t think you can survive, do your best to hold out until the next annual meeting. If you can do that, there¡¯s the slim chance that we can save you, and you can also warn us about who attacked you.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re new, so you might not have figured it out yet, but¡­ whenever a Keeper is killed during the games, their information is wiped from the system. That means that we can¡¯t look up who yourst opponent was to be on guard against them, and warn others that they are dangerous.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but nce over towards Terra at that, recalling how she only had the records from thest few Keepers in her memory. ¡°Makes sense. Anything else?¡±


    At that, Sarah¡¯s smile grew wider. ¡°You also have to let us know if you¡¯re having any problems. We try to avoid loaning out points, because it can mean inting your world before you¡¯re ready. But if it¡¯s an emergency, we can help out. And, if you just need some advice, we¡¯d be more than happy to help.¡±


    ¡°Aside from that¡­ just don¡¯t be a jerk?¡± She shook her head as she said that, leaning forward against the stall. ¡°So, what do you say?¡±


    ¡°I say¡­ how do I get invited?¡± I asked,ughing lightly. ¡°As you said, I¡¯m new.¡± The moment I asked that, a message shed in front of me.


    Would you like to request to join the Lasting Bonds guild?


    Y/N


    ¡°Ah, it¡¯s really that easy¡­¡± I muttered, before mentally selecting the yes option. Just a few secondster, I received another message notifying me that my request had been epted. As well as a new window that I had not seen before.


    EverLasting


    Rank 4


    Aerial


    Rank 3


    Corona


    Rank 1


    EarthForceOne


    Rank 1


    Meatlover


    Rank 1


    ShatteredSky


    Rank 1


    ToothAndNail


    Rank 1


    ¡°Rank four?¡± I asked in surprise, ncing up towards Sarah, who gave a quick nod. ¡°I¡¯ll be honest, I wasn¡¯t expecting that.¡±


    ¡°What, do I not seem old enough?¡± She asked with a roll of her eyes. ¡°I¡¯ve been in this game for a long time. So if you get stuck on something, and don¡¯t know where to go, just send a message to me or Talon. Uh¡­ that¡¯s Aerial, by the way. I¡¯d give you a guild wee, but Keeper Chat is disabled here.¡±


    I had already discovered that myself, so simply gave a nod of understanding. ¡°Alright, anything else that I need to know now?¡±


    ¡°Uhmm¡­ nope!¡± She called out with a smile. ¡°I¡¯ll let you get back to the meeting now. Now that the recruitment stage is here, there might be more people that get interested, so I¡¯ll be staying just in case.¡±


    Hearing that, I thanked her for the invite, before turning to leave with Terra. ¡°Okay, so we¡¯ve got a guild now. That was pretty much my entire n for the next seven days¡­¡±


    Terra shook her head with a helpless expression. ¡°I figured as much, but did you have to say it out loud?¡±


    ¡°Well, do you have any ideas?¡± I asked, turning to look at the amused catgirl.


    ¡°Why not take the Trials?¡± She offered, her tail waving behind her. ¡°You did that in the monthly meeting, right? If that¡¯s the case, you might be ready to start trying the real deal.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the difference between the real thing and what the monthly meeting has?¡± Given that even the Keeper Sim was different from what the Gilded Branch hosted, there was no doubt that the Trials would be different as well.


    ¡°First of all, you can only attempt the Trials once a year, and only until you pass it. That¡¯s the main rule. As for the difference between it and the one that the guild offers? The Gilded Branch can¡¯t really reproduce the level of realism faced in the Trials. Furthermore¡­ the Trials are a special field. Some of the tests will require more than just a week toplete at times, so the system set up a special rule.¡±


    ¡°When you enter the Trials, you determine how much time you want to spend inside. Then, however long it takes you, you will only spend the amount of time chosen. For instance¡­ if you want to be out in ten seconds, you could spend an entire year in the Trials, but only ten seconds would pass on the outside when you left.¡±


    I looked at her with wide eyes when I heard that. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that be the perfect stage to train techniques without worrying about running out of time?¡±


    Terra put a bitter smile on her face as she shook her head to deny that question. ¡°No¡­ you¡¯ll see for yourself. Once on the inside, you¡¯ll lose the memories of yourbat techniques and abilities, and instead gain the knowledge necessary for that test. Furthermore, any techniques you learn in a test will be erased from your mind when you leave that test¡¯s stage. The system itself prevents you from taking advantage of the Trials to train.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll keep your memories of the choices you made to ovee the test, and the result, but otherwise¡­¡± Terra let her words trail off.


    ¡°Okay¡­ And do we have to wait for another building to appear to get to the Trials?¡±


    ¡°Nope!¡± She smiled brightly as she answered quickly. ¡°Just move somewhere out of the way and focus. Since the Trials are a special stage of their own, they¡¯re not housed in a building.¡± Raising an eyebrow, I moved over near one of the buildings, and focused on entering the Trials. As I did so, a message appeared in front of me.


    You have chosen to take the Trials of the Keeper


    Please choose the amount of time that you wish to spend in your Trials.


    I looked briefly towards Terra, before nodding my head, choosing to spend six days in the trials. That way, when I was done, I could either gather the group and leave, or spend thest few hours hanging out.


    While I was waiting for something to change, I suddenly noticed the environment around me shifting. No longer was I standing next to a building, and instead I was on a familiar couch, reclining back against it. I¡¯m back in my Admin Room?


    Thinking that, I saw the message appearing in front of me, letting me know that the Trials had begun. Oh¡­ she wasn¡¯t kidding when she mentioned realism.


    The tests themselves were the same as what I had seen in the Gilded Branch, however¡­ the fact that the realism increased also increased their difficulty. After all, rather than just issuingmands, it required me to converse with the various people and establish a dialogue. Not to mention that things could go wrong in a real world situation that aren¡¯t ounted for in the simtion.


    Each test seemed to stretch on longer than thest, with me having to take the time to familiarize myself with each of the worlds that I had been thrown into. Oftentimes, the Admin Room it put me in was a copy of my own, but the people in it were always different. As for how they were different¡­ I don¡¯t know.


    By the time I left the Trials, I was deeply troubled. With my memories being altered every time I hit a new stage, it added more and more to my mental burdens. I couldn¡¯t properly remember the faces or names of any of the gods or goddesses from any of the tests. Each one just appeared as a nk hole in my memory.


    I couldn¡¯t even tell how long I had spent in the Trials themselves. All I knew was¡­ I had only made it to the twenty-second trial before my thoughts were too disordered. By that time, I was able to feel something gnawing away at me, a voice telling me that things were just wrong.


    As soon as I came out, Terra and Leowynn were standing in front of me. ¡°So that¡¯s how it is.¡± Terra spoke up with a slightly reluctant tone, as if I had never left. Though, the presence of Leowynn clearly showed that time had passed. ¡°Sorry, but there¡¯s really just no way for me to properly prepare you for that. At least, not within what I am capable of doing.¡±


    ¡°Is everything alright, father?¡± Leowynn asked, seeming to spot something from my expression. ¡°If you¡¯re not feeling well, we can leave.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I think that might be for the best.¡± Honestly, I wasn¡¯t sure what I was feeling right now. It seemed like a cross between a headache, mild depression, and a deep loss. Were some of those trials involving me being in love with one of the characters?


    I nced towards Terra, as if hoping for an answer, but she simply shook her head. ¡°Rules. I can¡¯t tell you what you can¡¯t remember. But I can tell you how to fix it.¡±


    Stepping forward, she took my arm in her own, smiling as Leowynn took the other. ¡°We can go home, and you can rest. Nobody passes the Trials on their first time, not the real one.¡±


    Still dazed and confused, I nodded my head. Rest sounded good. ¡°Who won thepetition?¡± I asked as a ck door formed in front of us.


    ¡°Give it a second, and you¡¯ll see.¡± Terra spoke gently, guiding me through the door.


    Thank you for participating in the annual Keeper Meeting! You may now collect the points from the entities who participated on your behalf.


    Irena: 2855


    Aurivy: 3295


    Bihena: 6200


    Ashley: 580


    Ryone: 920


    Tubrock: 0


    Leowynn: 0


    Terra: 0


    Keliope: 1200


    alia: 2120


    Tryval: 650


    Total: 17820


    At any point before the Meeting ends, you may choose to return to the Meeting Area.


    ¡°Ahh, so it was Bihena.¡± I said with a small smile as I entered the Admin Room again, and found that everyone else was suddenly standing with us.


    ¡°Well, about that¡­¡± Bihena began but was cut off by Aurivy.


    ¡°We made a deal.¡± Aurivy nodded her head strongly. ¡°Bihena and I want to manage a world together! Is that alright?¡±


    I looked at the two of them in confusion while Terra sighed, shaking her head. ¡°Give him a little bit, girls.¡± She said in a gentle tone, drawing worried looks from everyone. ¡°He needs to take a few hours to rest.¡±


    The worried looks only became more severe after that, but Terra simply gave a pointed nce towards Ryone. The elven goddess followed the two of us into my bedroom, and in the back of my mind I could hear them chatting, talking about what had happened with me. Mostly Terra exining to her just why rest seemed like such a good idea to me.


    As Iid down with the two goddesses, and Leowynn squeezed in behind Ryone, I felt my consciousness starting to fade. And thest thing on my mind¡­ They want to manage a world together? How¡¯s that going to turn out¡­

 Chapter 236: Break the Bank

    <h4>Chapter 236: Break the Bank</h4>


    ¡°Come on, Dale, it¡¯s time to wake up.¡± I heard a voice rousing me from my slumber, my mind still foggy from sleep. As I opened my eyes, I recognized the face of Terra, bringing a small smile to my face.


    Terra let out a sigh of relief, closing her eyes while her red hair fell down the side of her head, brushing against the bed. ¡°Good, seems like you¡¯re feeling better. Now get up, quick. You¡¯ve got an hour left before the Meeting time is over.¡±


    ¡°Alright, alright, I¡¯m up.¡± I said with a groan, slowly rising to a sitting position. ¡°Where are the other two?¡± ncing to my sides, I noticed a distinctck of the two elven women that had joined us when weid down to sleep.


    ¡°They woke up a little while ago, but didn¡¯t want to disturb you.¡± She spoke while moving to stand near the bed. ¡°It was the first good sleep you¡¯ve had in a while, and they didn¡¯t want to ruin it. Nowe on, Rivy and Bihena are waiting, and there¡¯s not much time left before the world resumes.¡±


    ¡°There something I should know about that?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but question, raising an eyebrow curiously.


    ¡°When the world resumes, all Keepers who were descended at the time the Meeting began will automatically be ced in the position they were at previously.¡± Terra exined patiently, pulling me up to my feet. ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯ve gotta wake you up now, and make sure you¡¯re ready. Also, it gives you time to look over Rivy and Bihena¡¯s world idea.¡±


    A small chuckle escaped my lips as I thought back to that, the strange feeling in my mind having lessened considerably. ¡°They earned nearly ten thousand points between the two of them¡­ I can only imagine what kind of world they want to create with that.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sure that you¡¯ll love it.¡± Terra grinned while she said that, before closing her eyes. ¡°They¡¯re on their way now. Better to set it up in here.¡±


    Sure enough, the door crashed open just a few secondster, and I found a small body holding tightly onto my own. ¡°There you are, sleepyhead!¡± Aurivy called out happily. ¡°We were getting worried about you. Okay, mostly me, but still.¡±


    ¡°Morning Aurivy.¡± I shook my head and let out a deep breath, bringing my hand up to pat her head. ¡°I hear that you and Bihena have some big ns?¡±


    ¡°Hmm? Oh! Right! She should be here¡­ now!¡± As soon as the word left Aurivy¡¯s lips, Bihena walked through the door, as if on cue. ¡°Bihena, let¡¯s do this!¡± Finally, Aurivy unwrapped her body from around my torso, and ran over towards the human goddess.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m just as excited as you are.¡± She said, a small stack of papers in her hand as she walked over towards the bed. Rather than passing the papers to me, she ced them down on the bed. ¡°These are all of the details we¡¯ve assembled for the world type we want to make. It¡¯s about twenty pages, so I¡¯ll give you a summary.¡±


    Bihena took a deep breath, getting ready to begin, when Aurivy suddenly shouted out. ¡°It¡¯s a dungeon!¡± Which of course caused Bihena to release that breath she had been building up in a long sigh.


    ¡°Let me exin it a bit better than that, will you?¡± She asked, smirking down towards Aurivy and ruffling her hair. ¡°Anyways, that¡¯s the most simple way to put it. What we want is a world that is one supermassive dungeon, divided into countlessyers. Eachyer will have its own atmosphere, and its own artificial day and night, controlled by a mana spire located at a central point in theyer.¡±


    ¡°When the spire is fully powered, it will trigger the ¡®day¡¯ cycle, filling the entire ¡®sky¡¯ of theyer in light. When it is unpowered, the sky bes dark while it recharges. Our races, human and halflings, will be born on the innermostyer, the very center and smallest piece of the world. And on thisyer, there is a key difference with its mana spire.¡±


    ¡°Ooh, can I tell this part?¡± Aurivy butted in again while Bihena was speaking, jumping excitedly next to her. The human goddess let out a light chuckle, nodding helplessly towards her.


    ¡°The mana spire of the firstyer is the foundation of this world¡¯s ¡®system¡¯!¡± She spoke with a joyous tone, stretching her arms out wide. ¡°Upgrades to the system, such as unlocking new sses, or things like the Quests or Kingdoms, are created in the world in the form of small orbs. These orbs must be brought back to the central mana spire of the first floor, at which point it creates a resonance with every other mana spire, transmitting the change in the system throughout the entire world!¡±


    ¡°Additionally¡­¡± Bihena picked up the exnation after that. ¡°The Keeper cannot choose where the orbs appear. Nor do you have ¡®ownership¡¯ of anyyer that has not been explored by a race. Same thing goes for the monsters in theyer. They won¡¯t count as part of your assets unless you have purchased the tier that they qualify as, and one of our races have explored the level it lives in. These are rules we set up in order to reduce the price and power value of the world.¡±


    ¡°Next!¡± The halfling grinned, cing her hands behind her back. ¡°Everyyer has two magical gates randomly ced within it! One going up, and the other down. The difficulty and size of eachyer scales as they go higher and higher, until on the finalyer, it would be the equivalent of a size ten world.¡±


    ¡°Which.¡± Bihena pointed out. ¡°Terra informed us is roughly as big as a medium-sized gxy.¡±


    I stayed silent during the exnation, only nodding my head briefly to show I was paying attention while I processed the information. ¡°What¡¯s to stop a monster from descending to a lower floor through the portals? Wouldn¡¯t that mean it¡¯d be able to wipe out all of your people pretty easily?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Aurivy stuttered briefly, looking at the stack of papers. She jumped forward, flipping from page to page. ¡°I know we had something about that in here¡­¡±


    Shaking her head, Bihena exined while Aurivy continued to search. ¡°The only creatures able to pass through the portals are those that resonate with the system established in the central floor, and beings bonded with them through that system. At the start, the only orbs immediately bonded with the mana spire are the races purchased when the world is created. Aster races are purchased, they will simrly receive an orb, typically on the sameyer they evolved.¡±


    ¡°Ah, right, that!¡± Aurivy nodded her head in agreement. ¡°Also, it is possible for the mana spires to be damaged, either purposely or through the interference of local creatures. But, as they are built from condensed, solidified mana, they can be repaired by having people pour their mana into them. Until they are repaired, though, the system is essentially disabled on thatyer.¡±


    Bihena closed her eyes, shaking her head in regret as she continued. ¡°Once again, another factor to limit its price. When the system is disabled, people can no longer level up or use systems like the Quest or Kingdoms that you have purchased. They¡¯ll keep all the benefits of their previous sses, but won¡¯t be able to use the automated guidance for how to use ss abilities.¡±


    ¡°Additionally, since the mana spires grant ess to the portals, that ess is restricted when one is damaged. People can enter the floor, but not leave it until the mana spire has been repaired. Likewise, it will be a perpetual night until it is repaired and fully recharged.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­¡± I gave another nod. ¡°So how big is the firstyer? With all the detail you¡¯ve put into this, I¡¯m sure you have that defined as well?¡±


    Bihena gave a brief smile to acknowledge my words. ¡°That¡¯s right. The innermostyer is asrge as¡­ Let¡¯s use the ind of Rokindrol as aparison. It¡¯s small, just enough to form a single country with both the humans and halflings, requiring them to expand to the first few additional floors, where they will begin to find the orbs.¡±


    ¡°Is there some way for them to know the purpose of the orb, or do they have to discover that the hard way?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a prompt!¡± Aurivy called out in response to my question. ¡°Whenever someone picks up an orb, it provides them a message saying ¡®Insert within the central mana spire to unlock a new power¡¯!¡±


    ¡°Okay, that will make things a bit more convenient¡­ Anything else?¡±


    To that, Bihena and Aurivy nced towards one another, as if silentlymunicating. When they turned to face me, Bihena spoke up. ¡°We¡¯d like to purchase the Party System for this world as well. Given how the world is established, it seems like it would be something that would greatly benefit the world as a whole.¡±


    Nodding my head, I moved over to the stack of papers, beginning to read through them and entering the information into the system. Most of what was there was indeed as Bihena and Aurivy had exined, though the papers had gone into more detail. It seemed that they wanted to leave as little up to the system¡¯s imagination as they could, to the point where they defined stars in the night¡¯s sky as glowing mana stones embedded within the ceiling above theyer¡¯s sky. They even put in stiptions that people would be able to create their own portals between floors, so long as their own personal power would let them cover the distance involved with that.


    Once I had finished reading through thest page, and copying the information over to the system, I submitted the entire thing as one world package. Immediately afterwards, I opened that package up as if about to buy it, so that I could see the system description and price.


    Dungeon World


    A world put together with much forethought, made to create a nearly limitless dungeon of constantly growing danger and power. Be warned, the world is not entirely yours upon purchase.


    World Size - 10


    Price - 8100


    My eyes opened wide in shock as I saw the enormous pricetag associated with this world. Even without taking everything else into consideration, just the world itself already cost over eight thousand points! If I added in the upgrades for the Game System and things of that nature¡­ ¡°Hold on, let me do some quick math.¡±


    ¡°Five hundred and fifteen, Dale.¡± Terra spoke up helpfully from the side. ¡°That will be the cost to give them all of the systems your worlds share inmon, plus the party system.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I smiled weakly as I looked at Terra, before my eyes returned to the other two. ¡°That means that it will cost eight thousand, six hundred, and forty-five points. Adding in the one additional race to include them both, and bringing them both up to the standards of how they started on Earth.¡±


    I swear, if it was physically possible for their jaws to hit the floor-- oh who am I kidding. Aurivy¡¯s mouth distendedically, her jaw actually pping against the floor when she heard the price. Bihena wasn¡¯t that much better, but without theical use of her privileges to adjust her own appearance, so only mundane levels of jaw dropping.


    ¡°Uhm, that leaves us¡­¡± Aurivy began to count on her fingers¡­ ¡°Eight hundred and fifty points?¡± She looked towards Bihena for a confirmation, only to receive a brief nod. ¡°Okay, uhm¡­ We don¡¯t really need to buy the monster tiers¡­ So that won¡¯te out of our budget. Sis, this won¡¯t push Dale into a high rank, right? We tried to make sure of that¡­¡±


    Terra let out a lightugh, shaking her head. ¡°No, because of how you two created it, this world alone won¡¯t add much to his overall level of power. Not until your people begin to explore higher and higher floors, and he buys the monster tiers to get what he finds as his.¡±


    Aurivy sighed in relief. ¡°Okay, good. Then¡­ I think that¡¯s everything, right?¡± She asked, turning to look nervously at Bihena.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ yeah, I think so. I didn¡¯t think it¡¯d still be that much, even after all the limiting factors we put in¡­


    Terraughed again, grinning towards Bihena. ¡°Those limiting factors are the only reason he was able toe anywhere near affording this world, I assure you. You¡¯ll see~.¡±


    I gave a slight smile at that, setting up the world and purchasing it, while also assigning the name that had been included in the papers. Fyor.

 Chapter 237: Savage

    <h4>Chapter 237: Savage</h4>


    Sure enough, by the time that the world had been established, and Terra had finished allocating their batch of points into a private fund for Aurivy and Bihena, it was almost time for the Meeting to end. In order to prepare, I went ahead and chose to descend, that way I wasn¡¯t just pushed into my body again. As I had expected, there were no options to choose from when I descended this time, and it put me exactly where I had been, in exactly the same form.


    Since I still had a few moments before the time was up, my body frozen in space, I decided to ask Terra a question. If I were to descend in Fyor in the future, would I still have the power that I have personally built up? For instance, my own levels, and the World Sight.


    If it is after the world has been integrated with with the other three, you will. She exined patiently. This is your ¡®Earth¡¯ setting, which was merged with Deckan and Desbar when they joined, due to you not having descended in either of those worlds previously.


    If you choose to descend to Fyor before it joins, you will create a ¡®Fyor¡¯ setting. Once Fyor merges with the rest of the worlds, the two settings will merge, and you will gain all of the strongest aspects of each. For example, if you chose to train your Mage levels in Fyor, you would receive those Mage levels in the Earth setting once the worlds are connected.


    I gave a mental nod at that, since my body was still stuck in ce. What if the worlds never join? I assume that I¡¯ll have to train each power again individually? There was always the chance that Bihena and Aurivy would wish for their world to remain separated, though such a thing was unlikely.


    That is the case, Dale. However, you should also be aware that there are differences between the behaviors of energies in these worlds. Even if they had chosen the same type of magic as Earth, the fact that they have mana spires would be a contradiction to thews of magic in Earth.


    Again, I was forced to agree. Before I descended, the two goddesses had asked me to set one final detail. Instead of the geometric magic system that existed in the rest of my worlds, they wanted to put in runic magic. The total cost came to nearly three hundred, since they had to buy the first tier of runes from the system as well, but they seemed happy with that.


    You mean to say that I would probably not be able to use the same methods for creating energies like world sight, right?


    I could almost feel Terra nodding at me. Right. Even a simple energy like chakra might require a different procedure in order to be created, let alone a blend of all four basics.


    I found myself giving an actual nod, just as the time began to resume in the world once again. Tsubaki could be seen moving as she cleaned the room, as if nothing had happened. Given how terrifying her ability really was, it just went to show that nothing could match against the system itself.


    The annual Keeper¡¯s Meeting has ended!


    The time hase for your first invasion! Your target, Jugrnaut, has been notified and is standing by in their world. Please select all troops which you wish to send, and describe the method in which you wish for them to be sent. Note that you will only receive a reward from your invasion if you sessfully capture the opposing Keeper¡¯s world.


    Currently selected troops: 0


    Shaking my head, I triggered my world sight, sending it deep into the ocean. Once my senses locked onto a single, small fish, I chose to select it as my troop to send. As for the method, a simple disappearance worked.


    You have chosen to send the following troops to Jugrnaut''s world.


    Microshark - 1


    May your forces have luck in their journey!


    I saw the fish, apparently called a microshark, disappear from my view. Just a momentter, another series of messages appeared.


    Your forces sent to invade Jugrnaut''s world have epted their ce in the new world, and harbor no will to fight. You have lost this invasion.


    Congrattions on surviving for one month! For your next round, your world, Earth, shall y as the defending force. The Keeper chosen to attack you is Savage.


    Time remaining until invasion: 99:9:99:98


    As soon as I saw that message, I stood up, my brows narrowed in thought. ¡°I¡¯ll be leaving for a while.¡± I spoke towards Tsubaki, who abruptly turned to face me. ¡°Make sure to watch over this ce while I am gone.¡±


    ¡°As youmand, my Keeper.¡± She spoke while giving a low bow. I soon ascended back into the Admin Room, noticing a concerned expression on Terra¡¯s face, no doubt having understood my thoughts.


    Before saying anything, I sat down at theputer, giving it a bit of thought. Let¡¯s check in with my own guild, before I ask the Gilded Branch for information. Navigating the windows, I found that there was a new chat option avable,beled ¡®Guild Chat¡¯.


    EarthForceOne: Hello, everyone.


    EverLasting: See, I told you I got him in!


    Aerial: Yeah, we all saw the roster, Sarah. Wee in¡­ Dale, right? We metst year.


    EarthForceOne: Right. Sorry about this, but I have to talk business right away.


    EverLasting: What¡¯s the matter?


    EarthForceOne: I just got my new match-up with the system. Next month, I¡¯m being targeted by a Keeper named Savage.


    Aerial: Oh¡­ oh, that¡¯s not so good.


    Well, if that doesn¡¯t raise a red g, I don¡¯t know what will. I thought inwardly, before sending out another message, asking for more information.


    EverLasting: We don¡¯t know that much about Savage ourselves, or at least not this version of him. But thest several Keepers with that name were all Monster Keepers. From what I¡¯ve heard, the new one follows that trend. The Gilded Branch might have information on what type of monsters you can expect from them, if there is a Keeper who¡¯s survived a battle against him.


    ¡°Oh, lovely. My first defense is someone out for blood.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but groan, sending my thanks over the guild chat. Recalling that Balu had a free pass for this month, I decided to ask her for information. Thankfully, the request to chat was immediately epted.


    EarthForceOne: Balu, you free for a minute?


    Starkiller: Dale! Hey, I wasn¡¯t able to find Bibi at the meeting, did she note with you?


    EarthForceOne: She did, but she was probably busy trying to earn points.


    Starkiller: Aww¡­ well, that¡¯s alright. What do you need?


    EarthForceOne: How much will information on a Rank 1 Keeper cost? I¡¯ve heard that he was a Monster Keeper from my guild members, but I need confirmation.


    Starkiller: You joined a guild?! Awesome! Wait, monster keeper? Oh, man, he¡¯s targeting you? Give me his name and I can see what I can get you.


    Naturally, I didn¡¯t hesitate to give her the name of the Keeper I was paired up with. Though, I did have to sit and wait after that. I had to keep reminding myself that it would take time to get the information from her guild, since it seemed like she didn¡¯t have it herself. It was nearly an hourter when she got back to me.


    Starkiller: Sorry for the wait! We found a survivor that was willing to sell us the information on Savage. I can confirm for free that he is a monster keeper, Dale. But¡­ I was told that I can¡¯t say anything more than that for less than two thousand points. Keep in mind, he might have changed monster types after fighting this Keeper!


    EarthForceOne: I¡¯ll pay it.


    I needed to know what I was up against as quickly as I could. If it was before this meeting, I might not have had the chance, but I still had plenty of points leftover from what the others brought in that I could make this purchase. The sooner I knew what to expect, the sooner I could establish countermeasures.


    Right away, I sent the invitation to call Balu over. A few secondster, I was beginning to wonder where she was when I heard a muffled voiceing from my right. There, at a spot in the wall, a small, white furred hand was sticking out. It was waving desperately, while the wall itself seemed to ripple like water.


    I ran over, grabbing her hand and pulling her through. She let out a loud gasp once she was no longer submerged inside the wall. ¡°Okay, that¡¯s a new one for me!¡± She cried out. ¡°And I don¡¯t like it!¡±


    ¡°Sorry¡­¡± I said, extending my hand to her to help her up. She took it, though seemed a bit confused for a moment while Terra walked over.


    ¡°He hasn¡¯t had the time to practice yet.¡± She exined, reaching down to take Balu¡¯s other hand.


    System Companion Terra wishes to transfer 2000 points to Keeper Starkiller. Do you permit this transaction?


    Mentally, I epted the message while Balu¡¯s eyes opened a bit wider. ¡°Ah! That¡¯s fine. Sorry, I get confused a lot. Anyways, Savage? With this, I can tell you everything we learned.¡±


    Seeing the bed, Balu rushed over to sit down on it, crossing her legs in front of herself and resting her hands in herp. ¡°From what the Keeper who survived his invasion told us, Savage tends towards ground-based predators. There were very few flying creatures, no aquatic ones, but also several that were able to burrow.¡±


    ¡°They did not carry any unique traits, aside from being adept at hiding themselves in their surroundings. They were strong, fast beasts who lived to kill. They¡­¡± Balu struggled to focus for a moment, reaching into her shirt and pulling out a small notebook. ¡°Sorry, always gotta bring notes with me¡­¡±


    ¡°Anyways, they preferred to attack with their powerful ws, using their strong hides to deflect most attacks. ording to the report, the most scary thing about them is their numbers. They¡¯re pack hunters, and they reproduce rapidly. The Keeper in question suspects that they have an ability that allows them to clone themselves after they consume enough organic material. However, he was never able to verify this first hand, because they always reproduce in secluded areas.¡±


    I gave a small nod as I listened to the report, immediately happy that I paid this price. If they were really able to clone like that, then just one small pack would be able to overrun a world. ¡°What about their intelligence, or anything like that?¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Balu flipped to a different page in her notebook. ¡°They seemed clever, he said. Able to learn how to ovee tactics after witnessing them a few times. And, he suspects that they have some way tomunicate, either mentally or verbally, as this information would quickly be shared with the rest of the race. However, it wasn¡¯t at the speed to consider it a hive mind.¡±


    ¡°From what he encountered, their weakness seemed to be an inability to properlyprehend magic. And since they couldn¡¯t understand it, they couldn¡¯t build a counter against it.¡±


    Seeing that Balu appeared done with the report, I couldn¡¯t help but raise a question. ¡°That ounts for thend predators, but didn¡¯t you say there were burrowing ones, and a few flying monsters as well?¡±


    Balu blinked herrge eyes, flipping through her notes. ¡°There¡¯s not much other mention of them here. The Keeper probably didn¡¯t see much of a threat from them, meaning that they should just be a weaker race that got pulled along when Savage sent in his forces.¡±


    I gave a nod at that, epting her exnation. This was good to know, both for this invasion and to get an understanding about the level of information that the Gilded Branch delivers. ¡°Thanks, Balu. This should help me get ready.¡±

 Chapter 238: The Language of Magic

    <h4>Chapter 238: The Language of Magic</h4>


    As I was preparing to descend back into the world after bidding Balu farewell, I found both Bihena and Aurivy blocking my way towards my room. I could just ess the system mentally to descend, but the two of them had extremely determined faces, which piqued my curiosity. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°We want you to visit Fyor, Dale.¡± Aurivy spoke up, her tone serious. ¡°There¡¯s something we need you to try out.¡± Even Bihena seemed a bit surprised by Aurivy¡¯s tone, before stepping forward to exin.


    ¡°The next round, we¡¯re the ones being invaded, right? Since that¡¯s the case, we designed Fyor to be a defensive fortress. There¡¯s one particr ability of that area that we want you to test, to see if it is worth further developing in the future.¡±


    Aurivy simply nodded her head at that. ¡°Sorry, but there¡¯s really no time to y around for now¡­ It¡¯ll be great if this works.¡±


    I let out a brief sigh, smiling towards the two. ¡°Alright. Since it seems like even little Rivy is being so serious about it, I¡¯ll go down and try it out.¡±


    Aurivy¡¯s face seemed to rx, a small smile breaking out on her lips. ¡°Thanks¡­¡± The two of them turned around and led me back towards the bedroom. ¡°As soon as the world was done being created, we put everyone to work gathering the different spheres that had appeared on the first floor.¡±


    From there, Bihena continued. ¡°The spheres of the first floor were for the sses Warrior, Rogue, Farmer, and Mage, and a Level Limit of ten. Right now, roughly a thousand years have passed, but they¡¯re still very much in the stone age.¡±


    I was somewhat surprised to hear that even the level limit system was given spheres, but I suppose that was how that systembined with the world specifications in order to gradually increase the strength of the inhabitants. But, since they wanted to do this test right now, I had a feeling it had something to do with the new magic system. Out of the spheres that they mentioned, only the Mage had the potential to offer me anything new.


    On the way, I sent a quick message to Terra. If I descend in Fyor, there won¡¯t be any negative effects on Leowynn, right?


    None at all. You won¡¯t be able to call her out, given the power of the world so far, but it won¡¯t hurt her to apany you. When I heard Terra¡¯s answer, I let out a sigh of relief.


    Once I was in the room, I moved over towards theputer, and immediately chose to descend in the body of a human. If even the residents weren¡¯t able to proceed beyond level ten, then I had very little need to fear anything living in the first level, even with my own level reset.


    Upon descending, I took a moment to survey my surroundings. It appeared that it was currently night time, and in the distance I could see a glistening crystal tower that rose up and seemed to touch the sky. I¡¯d say that this put me near the heart of the area, but in reality the firstyer was so small that anywhere would be fairly close. Even the horizon seemed noticeably nearerpared to what I was used to.


    Okay, Dale, now try to cast a fireball. I heard Aurivy¡¯s voiceing through my mind. Naturally, I attempted a fireball through the same tried and true method I always used. With¡­ no result. No, no¡­ try to call for a fireball verbally¡­ or imagining it in your mind.


    Shrugging my shoulders, I pointed to a nearby patch of grass. ¡°Fireball.¡± Sure enough¡­ nothing happened.


    Try this¡­ Aurivy spoke, and a small stone tablet appeared where I had pointed. There was a single word on the tablet, written in anguage I had never seen. However, it still tranted for me immediately.


    ¡°Fire.¡± I said, reading the word aloud. And as soon as I did, I felt a small tug on my mana, while a fire appeared atop the tablet. That¡¯s the fire rune? As I asked that, a familiar message window appeared in front of me.


    Mage has been unlocked!


    However¡­ it wasn¡¯t alone.


    Fire rune has been learned!


    Congrattions! You have earned a personal achievement!


    For being the first Mage in all of history, you have received the Mage of Origin achievement! Mana +10%, +15 points.


    That¡¯s right, Dale! Aurivy called out, now seeming closer to her usual happy self. Now¡­ one of a Keeper¡¯s powers is to automatically trante and learnnguages¡­ can you try to do something else with the runenguage, now that you have seen it?


    I couldn¡¯t help but blink in surprise as I realized what their test really meant. If this worked, then it meant that I would be able to utilize any magic I wanted within Fyor without restraint. Furthermore, Rune Magic had an extremely low mana cost. And once Fyor joined with the rest of the worlds, this power would carry over¡­


    Lifting my hand, I held my palm facing upwards, focusing on the rune that I had learned to ess thenguage in my mind. ¡°Floating light.¡± Above my hand, a sphere of white light appeared, simply floating there. The tug on my mana was almost inconsequential, and I was able to cut it off with a simple thought.


    Is this why you girls wanted the runic magic? I asked, my heart skipping a beat when I realized just what this meant.


    Correct, Dale. Bihena said in a soft tone. The description for this magicbeled itself as anguage in the system. Given that one of a Keeper¡¯s privileges in the system is to understand allnguages, we believed that it was a hint that it was included. However¡­ you will likely still need to purchase higher tiers of magic in order to be able to use them in Fyor, rather than relying on self discovery like you did with Earth.


    ¡°Still, that¡¯s amazing.¡± I spoke out loud without even realizing it at first. One of the main reasons that I can¡¯t properly understand higher levels of magic on Earth is because the shapes be tooplex to process quickly¡­ Can you get one of the swords from Tubrock¡¯s forge? I want to try enchanting here.


    A few minutester, an iron sword appeared, its de striking into the stone tablet in front of me. Rolling my eyes yfully, I drew the sword from the stone. ¡°Enchant fire on contact.¡± The four words together pulled a considerable amount of my mana, just over half of what I had as a level one mage.


    Once I felt the pull halted, I tapped the de against the ground. The moment I did, the same rune I had recently learned lit up along the length of the de, which was immediately engulfed in a small fire. I¡¯m sure that if the enchanter ss had already been unlocked, I would have received a level for it as well.


    Curious, I wanted to see just how far I could go. This time, I essed my Keeper mana, which was honestly only a couple points more than my own full mana. However, it was already full, unlike my own. ¡°Maximize fire st.¡±


    As I spoke, I lifted my hand up towards the sky. In just a second, I felt my Keeper mana draining, a swirling ball of fire sting out from my hand. Its width was roughly three meters, and it shot out rapidly. Unfortunately, it lost its energy before it hit the ceiling of this floor, vanishing into the air harmlessly.


    And now time to leave. I thought inwardly, making sure to take the sword with me as I ascended. However, I didn¡¯t fail to catch the string of ¡®level up¡¯ messages that I received, immediately boosting my mage level to five after that spell. I was sure that if I fired off a few more spells like that, I would quickly hit the level cap. But, I had something else in mind.


    Back in the Admin Room, I saw Bihena and Aurivy waiting for me. Aurivy¡¯s serious, determined expression was nowhere to be seen, reced by the normally hopeful, energetic face she usually showed. ¡°It worked! It really worked!¡±


    I let out a brief chuckle at that, nodding. ¡°It did, and you don¡¯t even know how much. From what Balu told me, our next invasion will be a serious one. And the information about our opponent suggests that they will be weak to magic.¡±


    Aurivy¡¯s eyes went wide as she heard that, her smile growing wider. Even Bihena seemed immensely pleased by this information. ¡°So, on that note, I want you two to continue advancing your world, as much as you can. When they get a level limit of two hundred and fifty, I¡¯ll go train the mage ss there, and then we can install the Fairy Gate.¡±


    Bihena gave a quick nod to thosemands, and even Aurivy was nodding eagerly. ¡°Alright! We¡¯ll do it. Don¡¯t worry, by the time the invasion gets here, we¡¯ll have all the magic power you could want! We¡¯ll save up our points so that you can buy the magic tiers you need as well.¡±


    Bihena smiled towards Aurivy¡¯s quick words, but didn¡¯tin. ¡°First, we¡¯ll need to begin scattering the runes throughout the floors as they are discovered, hiding them in various locations. Unfortunately, that wasn¡¯t one of the systems that was automatically handled by the world setup. I can¡¯t promise that the world will be at that level by the time the invasion happens, though.¡±


    ¡°You have a hundred standard days¡­¡± I said with a slight sigh. ¡°I¡¯m hoping it can reach that level in time. If not, it¡¯s not a big problem. I¡¯ll be preparing the other worlds just in case. Just let me know whenever you are ready to upgrade the runes. For now, that is a high priority.¡±


    The two of them nodded together, then looked at one another. Bihena¡¯s face was filled with determination once again, while Aurivy¡¯s held an eager smile. They both got up and left the room, no doubt to begin getting to work.


    As for myself, I really did have to get the world prepared. So, I used the system to reach out to Tsubaki, who appeared to still be cleaning. Tsubaki, I have a message for you to ry to the others. I could have sent it to all of the Voices, but some of them seemed to be busy with their own projects, and the message would only disrupt their focus.


    Of course, my Keeper! Tsubaki responded immediately, standing from her position and looking towards the throne.


    I won¡¯t be returning for some time. It may even be a few centuries. In the meantime, I want you to help the people of the three worlds. Make sure that by the time I return, there is a diplomatic rtionship between all three worlds.


    This was the first step to solidifying the defenses against these monsters. Although the system said that Earth would be the target, ¡®Earth¡¯ was merely the ssification used for the collection of worlds with Earth as the center. At least, ording to how Terra exined the different settings to me before. As such, it was necessary for all three worlds to cooperate, or none of them would be able to survive.


    Understood, my Keeper! I shall ry your message at once! And I shall be awaiting your return. I could hear the firm will behind Tsubaki¡¯s voice as she said that, but then what I saw next surprised me. Her body began to split apart, a total of six copies of herself forming. One copy ran towards themunication room, while each of the others rushed off to find one of the representatives living in the Sky Citadel.


    Huh¡­ I thought to myself. I never knew the Perfect Self could do that.

 Chapter 239: Ancestor Fox

    <h4>Chapter 239: Ancestor Fox</h4>


    After sending the message to Tsubaki to prepare the world while I was away, I began fast forwarding. A simple matter of ten or twenty years wouldn¡¯t be enough this time. No, I needed to have the world fully adapted to third tier magic before Savage invaded, if Balu¡¯s information was correct. Even if it wasn¡¯t, adjusting to these abilities would only help the world grow more capable of defending itself.


    The first jump forward was by fifty years. When it ended, I saw that the country established around the Fairy Gate had made contact with the elves and the dwarves. Perhaps due to the guidance given before, there were none of the usual initial conflicts that typically appeared. It would be a lie to say that they immediately got along, but at the very least they weren¡¯t trying to kill each other. The next jump covered a hundred years.


    _______________________________________________________________


    The Unified Kingdom of Salor, the Guardians of the Gate. Initially established as a frontal outpost to defend the worlds of Deckan and Desbar from the monsters residing within the Third World. Now, the residents of the Third World have begun to make their way into the kingdom as well.


    It began with a single elf, washed ashore with the tide. Sick and frail, every doctor and alchemist said that they were not long for this world. Using the biology of demons and kitsune as a base, they assumed she would not live through the week. The week passed, as did the next, but the condition of the elf did not improve.


    After a month, her fate still seemed uncertain. The health bar above her head had all but vanished, dropping so low that it could barely be seen as a sliver. It was evident that she was clinging to life with all she had, but nobody knew how or why.


    It was in the second month that she finally passed. However, before she did, she sent out a message. Using thest of her will, she sent word home with her dying thought. To let her people know that she had passed, and that she had found a newnd, and new people.


    There was not another sighting for years, and neither were the residents of the kingdom willing to set out into the waters. They had seen the monsters of the sea capable of tearing apart ships with their fangs and ws, the beasts of the sky who carried a storm in their wings. No, they knew that they were not strong enough to venture beyond their shores yet.


    However, six yearster, they were visited again. Not by a wreckage this time, but a full ship, sailing along the turbulent waves. The sea grew calm around it, the rain refusing to sully its sails. The watchmen of the kingdom could hardly exin it, but even the monsters refused to touch this ship.


    When the craftnded, people began to depart one by one. The tall, thin elves, the short and stout dwarves. To the surprise of many, there were even kitsune, as well as others that had the traits of beasts. They had heard of these beings through their representative, so the citizens of the kingdom knew what they were.


    That was the day when everything changed within the kingdom. The neers built a gate on Salornd, one which led all the way back to their homnd. No longer were they trapped on their own territory, but for the first time they were able to explore the world.


    Soon after, the mighty heroc made contact with the humans. Their meeting was far less kind, as both races held a violent instinct. Each saw the other as inferior for different reasons. One because they relied on the power of a deity, and the other because they were unworthy of a deity to rely on.


    Unsurprisingly, war erupted. But this war was not halted by the gods. The Keeper had spoken, letting all know that he would not stop their conflicts, so long as they did not escte too far. Instead, the war was broken by a single woman. Known as the Savage Queen by the humans, and the Ancestor Fox by the heroc.


    When she descended, she challenged both parties. ¡°Come at me.¡± She said, standing their d in nothing but a frilly outfit of ck and white, her arms and thighs exposed, as well as arge portion of her chest. Her golden hair fell down her back, her tail swaying gently behind her.


    ¡°If you want to fight, then fight me.¡± Her words lit the spark of conflict once again, and both sides charged. However, they charged not at each other, but at the woman. She calmly extended her hand, closing her eyes as a golden light began to shine out of her.


    By the time the first wave arrived, she lightly waved her arm, and bodies were sent flying. Within her hands, previously empty, was arge weapon, a ck scythe, held together by bones. Its de was a crescent moon, strapped down at the center. When the woman¡¯s eyes open again, they were filled with a ck light.


    ¡°I am the High Priestess of the Goddess of Justice and Death.¡± As she spoke, pitch ck wings began to unfold behind her, as if sucking in the light from the air. ¡°If you wish to fight, then I shall be your opponent. But there will be no war here, not while I stand. This world is in danger, and can not afford such losses.¡±


    Naturally, there were those on both sides that objected, shouting obscenities at her in their own tongue. However, they had yet to realize something. No matter which side they were on, they understood what this woman was saying, and heard an unfamiliarnguage underneath, as if she were speaking with two voices at once.


    She stood there, between the two forces. Her body was a line that could not be crossed. Soon, the strongest warrior of the heroc stepped forward, cracking his knuckles. ¡°You want to stop us? Show us your strength.¡± He told her. ¡°Defeat me, and my people will follow you.¡±


    ¡°Do not throw your life away.¡± She responded, ncing calmly towards him. The ck scythe glistened as it shifted, pointing to face the approaching heroc.


    ¡°I am the Hero Chakka! My life is mine alone!¡± The heroc roared, his third eye opening wide. Golden light filled it, a mix of energies that even made the woman curious. However, it wasn¡¯t enough. Her wing moved into position to defend herself from the st shot from the third eye. Although her feathers had been singed, and her health bar had appeared above her head, it had not dropped very far.


    On the other hand, Chakka¡¯s health had been reduced by invoking the attack. Two trails of blood leaked out from beneath the third eye as it was forced to close. Just as he was about to attack, a ck line swept through the air. Chakka¡¯s eyes opened wide, his health plummeting as he realized btedly that he had been attacked.


    His torso fell away from his legs, crashing to the ground with a thunderous roar. Across from him, blood fell down from the scythe in the priestess¡¯s hands. Her eyes gazed coldly at the heroc, who were dumbfounded by how their leader had fallen.


    However, the heroc were those who respected strength. As Chakka had said, when she beat him, she became their leader. As one, the heroc closed their central eyes, cing their hands over their chests in a sign of loyalty.


    ¡°Go home, there will be no war here.¡± She ordered, and although they hesitated, they did obey. They turned around and walked back to the shore where there ships hadnded. Next, she turned to face the humans. ¡°If you attempt to retaliate, I will return. I will present Irena¡¯s justice to all who attempt to throw this world into chaos.¡±


    Saying that, she folded her wings in on herself, and seemed to vanish from in front of the human army.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Irena¡­ did you ask Tsubaki to do that? I asked, setting the world to move at normal speed when I saw Tsubaki had left the Sky Citadel. At first, I thought she was hunting a high level monster, much as she had originally nned to do. She had done that a few times over the years, but those monsters were all close enough to the Citadel that I had been easily able to see where she was going.


    I simply asked her to make sure that the world was at peace. Irena responded innocently. With the threat of a hostile Keeper looming, we can¡¯t afford to have race wars at this time. Not ones that could easily escte if given enough time. As for how she got there¡­ you know that there is currently only one force that can freely move through the barrier.


    I let out a sigh at that answer. Of course, it meant that Aurivy was in on it as well. Though, to be fair, they weren¡¯t wrong. And I did ask Tsubaki to make sure that all three worlds had peaceful rtions by the time I returned, which could easily be taken to mean that she was to ensure the peace of Earth as well.


    The next time I fast forwarded, it was for another fifty years. And this time, I saw a change that rather surprised me. Whether it was the humans or the heroc, a new religion appeared. The Church of Irena began to establish itself in bothnds after Tsubaki¡¯s appearance on the battlefield. Although it did not rival the power of the Church of Bihena, it took on its own characteristics.


    After fifty years, every court judge was required to be a Priest or Priestess of Irena. This was not because of deitic favoritism, but because of the power that came with that position. Priests of Irena had the power to see the truth as one who worshipped the Goddess of Justice. Whether it was a defendant or a witness, they were able to identify when someone spoke falsely.


    As for the heroc, the change was notably more drastic. They had never held a proper church dedicated to a single god or goddess. Their culture was based on pantheons of ancestor spirits. However, Tsubaki had won their respect in battle, and as the Priestess of Irena, that also meant that Irena had earned their respect as well. The godless race had adopted a patron.


    Of course, there were still the merkin¡­ but they had changed very little in the hundreds of years that had passed. They were still very firmly rooted in the stone age, and showed no signs of advancing beyond it any time soon. I couldn¡¯t be certain whether it was just that it was difficult to advance for an underwater race, or their attention span was just too short to properly learn what they needed.


    Either way, it was unlikely that they were going to be of much help in this first invasion. Unless the enemy was an aquatic monster, which was highly unlikely. Amphibious maybe, but there were still ways to deal with that.


    Another change that ured¡­ the heroc had found the elven continent, making contact with the other races. Although they had initially wanted to use force to ¡®impress¡¯ their new neighbors, they quickly became docile when they began to spot kitsune living among them. They had not forgotten the Ancestor Fox, and believed that all of her kind might be equally as powerful.


    As with the othernds, the heroc helped to establish a gate leading back to their own continent. By now, the elves were connected with nearly every continent on Earth, creating links between almost all of the races. A good start for diplomatic rtions.


    Now it was just a matter of seeing if they could keep things steady on their own, and still develop the magic they needed to defend against Savage¡¯s monsters.

 Chapter 240: Playing Catch-Up

    <h4>Chapter 240: ying Catch-Up</h4>


    I briefly debated whether or not I should check out Fyor¡¯s progress, but given that the two goddesses were fast forwarding things to get it to an eptable point, I felt like I¡¯d just be getting in their way. As such, I sent them a message to amend my previous instructions. Once the world had reached a level cap of one hundred, that would be enough for me to go in and take a look at them.


    As for Earth¡­ as much as I wanted to just take another look around the area like a regr inhabitant, I had to focus too much on training my own skills at the moment. In theing invasion, I would have to y a key role in the fight if I expect us to win. It was just a matter of choosing which skills I wanted to focus on.


    One skill that I knew I¡¯d need to enhance as much as I could was World Sight. It¡¯d let me find the invaders before it was toote. After that, I¡¯ll need abat skill. My ability as a monk is probably passable already, but it wouldn¡¯t hurt to further train it. If Fyor is ready to join the rest of the worlds by that time, I¡¯ll have both ki and mana that I can rely on.


    There was only one way to train my world sight, however. As such, I decided to once again return to the world after two hundred years. This time, I chose to descend as a halfling in the citadel. Although I would have to get to know most of the representatives all over again, it was still the best ce for me to stay for the moment.


    As soon as I descended, I felt my throne shrinking to better fit my new body. Already, I could feel a presence rushing towards the throne room, and knew that it was Tsubaki. So, I stood up, and began to make my way down the steps. By the time I had reached the bottom, Tsubaki had stopped outside the door, pushing it open and offering a bow to me.


    ¡°Wee home, my Keeper.¡± She said respectfully. Compared to thest few times I saw her, her level had actually not increased by much¡­ only going up by six over the course of two hundred years.


    ¡°How are things progressing here?¡± I asked, ncing around as if to indicate the entire Citadel, and perhaps the world.


    ¡°Currently, all races have made at least initial contact with each other.¡± Tsubaki reported promptly. ¡°The humans have recently been discovered by the elves, and the beastkin have reconnected with the elven territories. All races possess the ability to travel from one continent to the others through the use of the Elven Gates.¡±


    Elven Gates, huh? I thought to myself in an amused tone. ¡°And the diplomatic rtions with the other worlds?¡±


    Tsubaki¡¯s ears, it currently looked like she was going for a felyn look, twitched slightly. ¡°Negotiations are being made now between the Alliance and Salor. Your wish has been made known, for all three worlds to reach harmony. However, political interference has arisen from those afraid to lose their power. The king of Salor wishes to impose a tariff on all goods being transported through the gate, iming that it is their right for having protected the gate all these years.¡±


    I felt my eyes narrowing as I heard that. ¡°They are essentially iming ownership of the gates?¡± I asked, staring up at Tsubaki. I had wanted to make a rule about such a thing not being allowed when I first installed the gates, but I had hoped that it wouldn¡¯t be necessary.


    ¡°That is how it appears, yes my Keeper.¡± Tsubaki answered, closing her eyes and lowering her head. ¡°I had received no orders to interfere, or I would have done so. Even the representatives of Deckan and Desbar are displeased by this turn of events. They believe as I do, that the gates were gifts from yourself and the gods, and that mortals can im no ownership over them.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll deal with this situation myself.¡± I said, shaking my head slightly. ¡°Tell me about the new representatives. So much time has passed, you are likely the only face I still know here¡­¡±


    ¡°That is not so, sir.¡± Tsubaki said, opening her eyes to look at me. ¡°Although Bracken has advanced in age, he still serves as the Voice of the Elves. However¡­ I do not believe that will be the case for long.¡±


    ¡°Oh? And why is that.¡±


    ¡°He seeks to achieve the Perfect Self, after seeing that it has allowed me to preserve my life through the centuries. I have tried to talk sense into him, but he believes the power is within his grasp. From my understanding, however, he has yet to properly merge his spirit with his mana, so he is doomed to fail.¡±


    Listening to her reasoning made me groan as I thought about that. ¡°Have you told him the problem?¡±


    ¡°I have, my Keeper. He believes that the fusion has seeded, though, so his thoughts have not been swayed by my words. By the information Ist received, he intends to perform the transformation in three days.¡±


    ¡°Adding that to my list of things to try to take care of, then.¡± I let out a sigh as I said that. ¡°And the others? I doubt that Anna or Trixy are still around after all this time.¡±


    A brief pained look shed across Tsubaki¡¯s face, but vanished just as quickly. ¡°That¡¯s correct, my Keeper. Trixy died not long after yourst visit. As for Anna, she lived a long life, but perished roughly a century ago. However, I do have some news that you will be pleased to hear, if you would allow me a space to demonstrate.¡±


    Nodding, I took a few steps back, signalling for her to go ahead. Tsubaki waved her hand, and a circr window appeared in midair, almost like a gateway. Through it, a temple could be seen. And in front of the temple, a statue remarkably simr in appearance to Anna was ced.


    ¡°Because of her good deeds, the humans established the Choir. It is both a school and an orphanage, which takes in young children and raises them to follow the example that Anna left behind. Ever since her passing, the new Voice of the Humans has always been selected from the Choir. Although there are some corrupt elements that try to interfere at times¡­ as a whole it has benefited greatly.¡±


    I had to admit that I was surprised to hear about this new organization. I hadn¡¯t noticed it when ncing through the humannds, though perhaps it is simply because of it being a smaller group than the Church of Irena. ¡°So, there have been no more problems with representatives like Melora?¡±


    Tsubaki tilted her head slightly, a confused look on her face before a sh of understanding. ¡°Ah, the first human representative. Well¡­ I cannot say that there haven¡¯t been any selfish representatives. Currently, however, I believe that there are none living within the Citadel.¡±


    ¡°As of now, the only representatives living within the Citadel are myself, Bracken, the dwarf Bastion, and the demon Solis. All other representatives wished to remain among their own people for the time.¡±


    That also surprised me quite a lot. ¡°They weren¡¯t interested in the library?¡±


    Tsubaki¡¯s head shook back and forth slowly. ¡°That is not entirely the case. Rather, many of the races are still catching up with the information left by thest generation. To spread out more information at the present time would only overwhelm those receiving it.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ That¡¯s unfortunate, but can¡¯t be helped I suppose. And what of the heroc?¡± I asked rather pointedly, looking up to stare Tsubaki in the eyes. ¡°I saw your little disy a few decades back in the war between them and the humans.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­ well¡­ about that.¡± Tsubaki actually seemed somewhat nervous now, unlike her usual self. ¡°The heroc have insisted that they shall not select another representative from their own people.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Okay, not where I was expecting that to go. ¡°Why not?¡±


    ¡°They wish for me to be their representative.¡± She answered simply, lowering her head in shame. ¡°I have attempted to refuse, iming that it would be improper for me to represent another people, but they refuse to appoint a new representative so long as I am alive. And to take my own life over such a matter would be counter-productive.¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes it would.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but agree immediately. ¡°In fact, you¡¯re not allowed to do so under any circumstances without a direct order. I would not want to descend and find that you were no longer with us.¡±


    A small smile spread out over Tsubaki¡¯s face when I gave her that order. ¡°Thank you for your words, my Keeper. I shall remember them. There is still one more thing for me to include in my report, however.¡±


    Receiving the signal from me to continue, Tsubaki waved her hand. The window, which had previously shown the Choir, shifted to show a remote mountaintop. ¡°As you predicted, monsters with far greater strength than normal began to appear shortly after yourst visit ended. For the first century, I ensured that none of these creatures could reach adulthood, hunting them down while they were still young.¡±


    The image moved in, focusing on a single cave. ¡°However, my protection ended after that. For thest one hundred years, creatures with a level of one thousand or more have begun to appear and were allowed to mature. Currently, there are ten such existences that have made their presences known.¡±


    ¡°We call them the Ten Disasters. Each one has a body that normal people cannot hope to harm. Even I myself struggle when fighting one. If not for the Death Knight¡¯s de, I would likely be unable to y even one of them. Thankfully, these creatures do not band together, or their power would be unrivaled.¡±


    ¡°There are only ten?¡± I asked for rification. ¡°They haven¡¯t been able to begin breeding yet?¡±


    ¡°I believe that I killed most of their potential breeding partners in the first hundred years, my Keeper. But no¡­ not yet. However, more exist in secret. I¡¯ve been using my power to survey the world, and found that there are indeed some existences out there of the same species. It is only a matter of time before they meet and begin to expand their numbers.¡±


    ¡°Speaking of which¡­ how are you able to do that?¡± I asked, pointing towards the window. ¡°The barrier should block those kinds of abilities, unless you use the Communication Room.¡±


    Tsubaki gave a small nod at that. ¡°Apologies, but¡­ I have had a lot of time to myself. Although I have not yete up with a way to create a gate that bypasses the barrier, I have studied it in enough detail that I can create viewing portals. I believe that always having to ask Goddess Aurivy for assistance when traveling is disrespectful to her position, and have been striving to create a method that would allow me to do so myself.¡±


    Well¡­ I mean, she¡¯s not wrong. She¡¯s had plenty of time to figure it out. And at her level of power, if anyone can do it it¡¯s her. I nodded my head back at her when I heard that. ¡°Okay, then. Is there anything else that you need to report? I think we should visit the king of Salor this evening.¡±


    ¡°There is onest thing.¡± Tsubaki said with a small nod. ¡°Though, your objective this time should help. The people have been asking to be able to see you once again. Since yourst public appearance was your initial debut, and everything since has been handled by us, they have begun to doubt you.¡±


    I chuckled slightly as I heard that. ¡°Well¡­ two birds with one stone, then.¡± Tsubaki blinked in confusion at the expression, but I simply walked out towards the exit of the throne room.

 Chapter 241: The King of Kings

    <h4>Chapter 241: The King of Kings</h4>


    In the sky above Gate City, the capital of the Salor kingdom, I appeared with Tsubaki. When I mentioned wanting toe, she insisted that I let her join me. Not out of any signs of favoritism, or because she thought that I needed protection, but simply because that is her ce as a Servant, to be by her master¡¯s side in public. As such, I had sent a quick message to the two other residents of the Citadel to ask if they wanted to join us, but they had declined.


    Bracken was still too busy with his studies and attempting to create the Perfect Self, and Solis¡­ not really sure why he didn¡¯t join, but he politely refused. Given that he was in the library, he might have been doing some studying of his own. Either way, the end result was that Tsubaki and I left alone to journey to Salor. The Sky Citadel was ¡®parked¡¯ not far away from us, but we had still needed Aurivy¡¯s power to bring us out of the barrier.


    Whether it was Tsubaki or myself, neither of us had any problems with flying, and we simply stood on the air above the city. ¡°So, this is the ce¡­¡± I could see the castle, which was built nearest to the Fairy Gate, and a fortress built on the other side. However, the area within one kilometer of the gate was empty, except for the cannons that Tubrock had installed.


    ¡°Would you like me to clear the area?¡± Tsubaki asked from next to me, and I could already feel a power building within her body.


    ¡°No, let¡¯s handle the discussions first. If they do not cooperate, we will simply rece the king. If the entire kingdom shares his opinion¡­ then we will move the gate.¡± I waved my hand to stop her, and cut off the ki that I was using to support my body in midair.


    I felt the wind brushing against me as I fell straight down, my hands behind my back. I had already unsealed all of my Keeper levels, so everyone below was able to feel my presence. They had all turned to look at the sky, seeing me dropping down to crash in front of the pce.


    When Inded, my body sank six inches into the ground, but quickly rose back up when I lifted the ground beneath me. As for Tsubaki, she had a far more gracefulnding, appearing soundlessly behind me as I began to walk forward. ¡°We¡¯re here to see the king.¡± I spoke to the guards as I neared the door. They didn¡¯t try to stop me, their bodies trembling. One immediately turned and fled inside, no doubt to alert the king that I wasing.


    The king was not on his throne when we arrived, showing that he had not expected any guests today. In fact, he was nowhere to be seen at all. The guard that had run in was standing next to the throne, his body still shaking. He was a demon, so his eyes were hidden behind protective sses, but the appearance on his face clearly showed his fear.


    ¡°Where is he?¡± I asked calmly, ncing towards the throne.


    ¡°He¡¯s¡­ not here, Your Highness¡­¡± The man spoke, barely able to keep himself from stuttering. Sighing, I activated my world sight, and spread it out to the area around us. It only took me a moment to find him, fleeing through a secret passage. Nervous sweat was dripping down the kitsune king¡¯s brow as he tried to make as much distance between us as he could.


    ¡°Well, this turned out to be a little more troublesome than I thought.¡± I muttered, while Tsubaki took a step forward.


    ¡°He¡¯s lying, my Keeper.¡± She spoke seriously, clutching her fists at her side.


    ¡°I know. I already found the king.¡± As I said that, the passage the king was running through sealed itself, walls appearing both in front of and behind him. ¡°I¡¯m bringing him here now¡­ oh? What¡¯s this¡­¡±


    I was surprised, seeing the king pulling what appeared to be a chakram from his robe. He ced it against one of the walls that I had created, and then pushed a card into it. Immediately, the chakram shattered, forming a ck gateway in front of the king. Some kind of life saving escape treasure¡­ and he wants to use it to get away from me?


    The thought of simply killing him before he could get through the portal crossed my mind, but I held off. Instead, I made the earth around his feet rise up, holding him in ce. He struggled, trying to break the stone bindings, but any cracks that formed were immediately repaired.


    Once again, I began pulling him towards the throne room, opening up a hole in the ground in front of his throne to lift him up. When he found where he was, and that his portal was no longer within reach, he began to panic. ¡°U-uh, sir Keeper. What a pleasant surprise. I was afraid that someone was invading the castle when I felt your presence¡­¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s lying.¡± Tsubaki said from next to me, her eyes narrowed in anger.


    ¡°I-I am not!¡± The king retorted, staring daggers at Tsubaki. ¡°If I had known that his grace was personallying, how could I dare to flee?¡± Though he said that, I didn¡¯t need to look into his thoughts to know that he was scared. And I didn¡¯t need Tsubaki to know he was lying.


    I let out a sigh, shaking my head. ¡°You can¡¯t lie to me. It hase to my attention that you wished to tax travel through the Fairy Gate.¡± He winced when I said that, as if he had been struck.


    ¡°C-can you me me, sire? It has been the Kingdom that has defended the gate for hundreds of years, has it not? We need the funds in order to pay for damages caused by the creatures which emerge through the gate!¡±


    I tilted my head, raising an eyebrow as I heard hisint. ¡°You have defended the gate? And, may I ask how you have done that, when the cannons were installed by the dwarven god? If there are damages being done, then would it not be best to simply not build in the vicinity of the gate?¡±


    Each word appeared to stab deeply at the man. ¡°W-well, you see¡­ that¡¯s not an option. Even with the cannons, there is still the chance for something to get through, right? And we can¡¯t leave the area that our ancestors built for us.¡±


    ¡°I see, so I simply need to move the gate, then.¡± I nodded my head, while the kitsune king¡¯s face paled visibly, as if he had never imagined such a thing was possible. ¡°If the gate is causing damages to the kingdom, and the kingdom can¡¯t be moved, then it is a simple matter, no?¡±


    ¡°W-wait!¡± He shouted out desperately. ¡°Please, sire, don¡¯t be rash! You need people to manage the gates, don¡¯t you? If not us, then who?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re mistaken about something.¡± I said calmly, still keeping my eyes on him. ¡°You are restricting traffic between the three worlds with your tariffs, and thus preventing proper diplomatic rtionships to form without the representatives of each race acting directly from the Citadel. That is not why I ced the gate here.¡±


    I was already thinking about where to send the Fairy Gate, if I did end up having to move it. The elves had already created a world-wide hub for travel between continents, so putting it in theirnd might be for the best. Aurivy, Tubrock, how long would it take to relocate the gate and its defenses?


    Tubrock¡¯s voice was the first to respond after my question. That¡¯s up to the little miss. The key won¡¯t change, so nothing new needs to be built. They can just be picked up and moved any time. But only the little miss can really do that, given how heavy the thing is.


    Huh, what? Oh, uhm¡­ yeah, I can do that. Just let me know where you want it put. Aurivy¡¯s voice came in a few secondster, seeming distracted.


    I lifted my head, looking at the king who was still quivering within the stone restraints. ¡°You have three days. If you cannot convince the nobles of your kingdom to open all traffic, the gate will be moved somewhere more suitable.¡±


    The king was frozen, unable to form a proper response, so I turned and began walking out. ¡°Let¡¯s go back then, Tsubaki.¡± I spoke up, and a portal appeared in front of us. Tsubaki¡¯s portal led to the sky in front of the flying citadel, forcing the two of us to activate our flying techniques until the barrier was taken down and we could enter.


    ¡°My Keeper, may I be allowed to speak freely?¡± Tsubaki spoke up from behind me, once we had touched down and our feet were on solid ground.


    ¡°Of course, Tsubaki.¡± I nodded my head, continuing to walk forward.


    ¡°I know that it is not my ce¡­ but I believe that you were not harsh enough in this confrontation. He repeatedly lied to you, and attempted to flee from your presence upon arrival. Pardon my rudeness¡­ but, why did you not simply eliminate him for those offenses?¡±


    I chuckled softly, shaking my head. ¡°I wonder what you would have done if you saw the portal he created to try to escape through?¡± Tsubaki¡¯s footsteps stopped when she heard that, likely surprised. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I just didn¡¯t feel like killing someone today if I didn¡¯t have to¡­ I¡¯m not fond of taking lives, Tsubaki, and I don¡¯t want to give the impression that I am.¡±


    ¡°I understand, my Keeper¡­¡± Tsubaki spoke up, picking up her pace to catch up and follow behind me once again. ¡°In that case, should such a situation arise like this in the future, please allow me to act as your de.¡±


    I gave her request a bit of thought, before nodding. ¡°Only if it is something beyond redemption. I don¡¯t want to see you killing people just because they didn¡¯t bow to me or something like that. Not everyone who is simply rude deserves to die.¡±


    ¡°I understand. I shall act with discretion, so as not to disgrace your name.¡± She bowed as we entered the throne room of the Citadel. ¡°Are there any other matters that you wish to attend to for the evening, or will you be retiring to your room?¡±


    ¡°I think I¡¯ll retire for the evening, and we can handle Bracken¡¯s mattere morning.¡± I answered, suddenly feeling the urge to get some proper sleep with a mortal body. ¡°In the meantime¡­ you can act as the heroc representative, since it seems they are quite stubborn about choosing a new one of their own.¡±


    Tsubaki gave a brief nod of her head, though her ears drooped slightly. ¡°Shall I inform the Beastkin Kingdoms that they will need to assign a new representative to rece that position, then?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± I nced back to her, shaking my head. ¡°No, you will be filling both roles, until such time that the heroc are ready to select their own representatives again.¡±


    ¡°Understood, my Keeper.¡± Tsubaki gave a sharp nod, following me through the halls as I made my way to my own room.


    I had grown used to this behavior during my previous stay here, having had her follow me around nearly everywhere I went. If not for me forbidding her from entering my room uninvited while I was inside, I was quite certain that she would try to stay near me even while I was sleeping.


    Father. Leowynn spoke up from within my spiritual realm.


    Yes?


    I would like to spend some time increasing my own strength as well, during this period. If I am to fight by your side in the next invasion, I need to be strong enough that I won¡¯t be a hindrance. I could feel the determination in Leowynn¡¯s voice as she dered that. It reminded me that it had been a while since we returned to the Underworld to allow her to consume more spiritual energy.


    Very well, once we¡¯re done taking care of the situations here, we¡¯ll start working on training you. I promised, a small smile on my face at the thought of fighting side by side with Leowynn.


    Thank you, Father. With your permission, I would like to set the Ten Disasters Tsubaki mentioned as my goal. My training will beplete when I can y one of those without your assistance.


    I nearly tripped mid-stride when I heard that, my eyes widening. Those were monsters that even Tsubaki wasn¡¯t sure she could defeat without one of her special abilities, and as far as I knew she was still the strongest mortal alive¡­ Are you sure¡­?


    I am. I know it may take some time, but that is the strength I believe is needed to fight with you.


    I let out a sigh, shaking my head slightly. Alright, but we¡¯ll do this the right way, and we¡¯ll be careful.

 Chapter 242: Salor’s Choice

    <h4>Chapter 242: Salor¡¯s Choice</h4>


    After I awoke the next day, I opened my door and did my best to only be slightly startled when Tsubaki was standing attentively in front of it. Clearing my throat, I shook my head and stepped past her. ¡°Let¡¯s go meet Bracken.¡± I told her as I walked. Just spreading out my world sight for a moment was enough for me to locate the elf who had already moved to the library. Or perhaps, he ended up sleeping there?


    ¡°As you wish, my Keeper.¡± Tsubaki gave a deep bow and followed along behind me. ¡°May I be allowed to ask a question while we walk?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± I nodded slightly, not even ncing back to her. Hopefully, she¡¯ll eventually feelfortable to not need to ask whether she can ask a question or not in the future¡­


    ¡°I havee to understand the benefits of the Perfect Self personally over these years. A simple flesh and blood body just does notpare in performance. I would like to know why you continue to appear as you do, rather than bing a perfect self.¡± There was genuine confusion in her tone as she voiced her concerns, causing me to chuckle.


    ¡°I believe you saw it when you went through the process yourself, did you not? ¡®You have died¡¯.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s correct, my Keeper.¡± Tsubaki immediately answered the question, then spoke up with a moment of hesitation. ¡°Surely¡­ one such as you doesn¡¯t fear death.¡±


    ¡°On the contrary. I fear death more than anything in this world or beyond.¡± I nced back to her, seeing her surprised face. ¡°If I die, even for a moment, everything I have created dies with me. All of the worlds, all of the people will cease to be. While mortals can practice that ss, it is an absolute taboo for me to do so.¡±


    Tsubaki¡¯s eyes widened as I told her that, and she lowered her head deeply. ¡°My apologies, my Keeper. I was not aware of this.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not your fault, Tsubaki. There¡¯s no way you could have confirmed this truth for yourself without me telling you. Don¡¯t worry, though. I am pursuing a different path to perfection. I simply haven¡¯t achieved it yet because this world is not strong enough. As the worlds grow, so too do I.¡±


    I had no intention of telling her the exact mechanics behind my power, as such a thing really had no point at this stage. It was enough for her to realize that I was directly linked to the world itself. Any action against me would then be the same as an action against the entire world.


    ¡°I understand, my Keeper. I shall faithfully await the day that I may see your perfect form, then.¡±


    It didn¡¯t take us much longer to reach the library. As I had expected, Bracken was still here, his head nted against one of the reading tables. He was sound asleep¡­ But that wasn¡¯t what made me feel concerned. I could vaguely sense mana leaking from his body at a slow but constant rate.


    Udona¡­ is there a disease that affects mana like this? I asked towards the one goddess most likely to know about such matters.


    Hmm? Uh¡­ Aha, you mean Bracken. Just a second, please. It was only a few momentster when she sent another message back. Yes, it looks like he is sick. This is actually something fairlymon, especially among elves of his age. Other races can get it as well, but elves appear especially prone to it.


    Is there anything I should know about it? Having one of my representatives having what seemed to amount to a mental disorder didn¡¯t entirely sound like a good idea.


    It¡¯s not really dangerous directly. The mana leakage is a side effect caused by the host¡¯s thoughts growing disordered. Sometimes, their memories are even affected. However, in every case, the host¡¯s spellcasting ability bes severely limited. With their focus disrupted, they can¡¯t do more than the most simple first tier spells.


    I gave a small nod as I heard that. It was somewhat sounding like a variation of alzheimer¡¯s¡­ which was not good at all. Walking over, I reached up to pat Bracken¡¯s back to wake him up. ¡°Hmm¡­ huh?¡± He slowly stirred, blinking his eyes at me in a brief moment of confusion. ¡°Keeper¡­?¡±


    When I nodded, his eyes briefly widened. ¡°Ah, sorry¡­ I didn¡¯t mean for you to see me in such a dreadful state¡­ had you arrived a few dayster, perhaps everything would be fine. Maybe¡­ I think that was the n.¡±


    ¡°Tsubaki tells me that you want to get the Perfect Self ss¡­¡±


    ¡°Huh? Oh, yes, that¡¯s correct sir.¡± Bracken nodded his head enthusiastically. ¡°If I can get that¡­ everything will be better.¡±


    ¡°Are you running out of time? You should know that you haven¡¯t prepared properly to ensure your sess.¡±


    He gave a small smile at my gentle tone. ¡°I¡¯ve prepared as much as I can, sir. My mind isn¡¯t what it used to be¡­ and I feel that if I wait any longer, I may lose what preparations I¡¯ve already made. I have devoted my life to gathering knowledge, centuries worth of it. To feel that knowledge slipping away from me¡­ well, it¡¯s worse than dying. So I¡¯ll take the risk, sir. I only ask that you don¡¯t stop me.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­ but have you made preparations for if you fail?¡±


    He blinked his eyes a couple time, lost in thought. ¡°I think so¡­ I did, didn¡¯t I?¡± Rather than looking at me, he looked towards Tsubaki.


    ¡°I have already notified the elven High Queen. They are prepared to seek a recement in the event that you do not survive beyond the week.¡±


    Bracken smiled a bit more at that. ¡°Ah, yes, thank you. I suppose preparations have been made for me, then.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ if there is anything that I can help you with, please notify me.¡± I slowly backed away. When I turned around to leave, I could hear the rustling of books as Bracken resumed his studies.


    Once we were outside the library, and I had closed the door behind us, I let out a soft sigh. ¡°Tsubaki¡­ please make sure that he¡¯sfortable for thesest few days. Even if his endeavor fails, it would be best to at least let him see that he was cared for.¡±


    ¡°As you wish, my Keeper.¡±


    For the next few days, I continued to ¡®feed¡¯ my world sight whenever I had sufficient energy to do so, letting it gradually grow stronger and stronger. At the same time, I would send it out, viewing the situation of Salor to watch how they developed.


    It was¡­ disappointing to say the least. Although the king was now insisting to open up free traffic as if his life depended on it, the nobles that he relied on would not hear of it. They continued to grasp for even more power, sure that I was bluffing in my suggestion that the gate could simply be moved.


    Of course, there were those that saw reason. A smaller group of nobles which attempted to exin the drawbacks of if I wasn¡¯t bluffing. If the gate could be moved, then they would lose their ability to easily return to their own worlds.


    Some even made preparations before the deadline was over. Just in case I ced the gate in another uninhabited area, they nned to return to the other worlds with a retinue of guards andborers, and then return a few days after to ¡®reim¡¯ the emptynd. This just further emphasized my need to ce the gate in an area that was already upied.


    The three days expired, and the consensus among the nobles had not changed. As such, I shook my head, calling for Tsubaki once again. With a brief message to Aurivy, the two of us were sent down to the world below. This time, we appeared inside a magnificent marble pce, much to the surprise of the guards and royals within.


    ¡°Halt!¡± Some called out, drawing their des. It took a few moments for my presence to fully register to them, at which point I could hear those same des dropping to the ground.


    ¡°Nobody move!¡± The queen seated upon the golden throne aheadmanded, her face looking extremely nervous as she looked at me. ¡°Apologies for their rudeness, Keeper. We had not been expecting you today.¡± She quickly stood from her throne, offering a polite bow to me.


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing to apologise for.¡± I told her, waving the matter off. ¡°They were simply doing their job.¡±


    ¡°Many thanks for your forgiveness on this matter.¡± She spoke with another bow. ¡°To what do I owe the honor of your visit? Has¡­ Bracken passed?¡±


    ¡°No, not yet. Ie for something else.¡± When I said that, she looked at me quizzically. ¡°The Kingdom of Salor has gone against my wishes, and want to impose taxes on all travel through the Fairy Gate. I assume that you are aware of this?¡±


    Seeing her nod her head with a reluctant expression, I continued. ¡°I gave them an ultimatum. They had three days to correct their decision, or the gate would be moved elsewhere.¡±


    ¡°Judging by your presence here, and your mentioning of this, they have continued to disobey your wishes?¡± She seemed equal parts curious and surprised when she voiced her question. ¡°And¡­ that you are here means¡­¡± Her eyes suddenly began to grow wider.


    ¡°The kingdom of Gandor is the oldest surviving nation in the entire world. But more importantly, you have opened up awork of traffic to almost every other race that lives within this world.¡± I smiled softly as I spoke, nodding my head. ¡°Through your own merits, and the merits of those who came before you, you have established yourself as the primary travel center of the entire world. As such, I wish to move the gate to and controlled by the elves, which will allow travelers easy ess to every region of this.¡±


    ¡°Many thanks, your Grace, for believing us worthy of this honor.¡± She said as she lowered her head, her ck hair falling down past her face. ¡°Do you have a territory in mind already?¡±


    ¡°No, I wished for you to construct one in an area you deemed fitting. But remember, there should be no restrictions or taxations on travel through the gate. I am willing to move the gate once, so naturally I will be able to do so again.¡±


    ¡°Of course. I shall immediatelymand every druid and architect at my disposal to clear an area for this task. It shall be done within the week.¡±


    Once I had that confirmation, I sent out a prayer towards Aurivy. You hear that, Rivy? Once they¡¯ve got thend ready, all you need to do is move the gate and cannons to the space they set up.


    Yeah, I got it bro. And¡­ if you¡¯re doing this in real time, we might have Fyor ready for your first look by that time!


    Oh? That caught me by surprise. I was expecting it to take a bit longer. By the way, two tickets back to the citadel, please.


    Right, right. As the golden light transported myself and Tsubaki back to the citadel, she continued. Anyways, we¡¯ve been skipping ahead like crazy, so it¡¯s already been a few tens of thousands of years since you werest there. They¡¯ve gotten their level limit up to ny so far, but eachyer takes them longer to explore. Even Bihena and I didn¡¯t expect some of theyouts we¡¯ve seen so far!


    I¡¯ll have to check it out and see what it¡¯s all about, then. I told her with a brief nod, turning and walking back to sit on the throne again, Tsubaki staying at the base of the stairs. Given this unique world, I¡¯m expecting quite a bit out of this, I must say.


    I aim to not disappoint, ¡®my Keeper¡¯. Aurivy responded, mimicking Tsubaki¡¯s tone with a slight snicker following.

 Chapter 243: Last Hope

    <h4>Chapter 243: Last Hope</h4>


    I had considered simply returning to the Admin Room after making the deal with the elven kingdom, but decided against it. Instead, I led Tsubaki through the Sky Citadel, towards the library. Bracken was clearing out a wide area when we appeared, clearly getting ready for the ¡®transformation¡¯ he wanted to attempt.


    ¡°Stop.¡± I told him, causing him to look up at me in surprise, and a bit of disappointment.


    ¡°Sir¡­ you said that you wouldn¡¯t stop me from doing this¡­ please.¡± He lowered his head as he asked that once again.


    ¡°Come with me¡­ If you¡¯re going to do this, I¡¯ll give you the best chance that you have.¡± I shook my head slowly, mentally pinging the training room where Tsubaki had performed her own transformation, following the path that had beenid out before me.


    While I walked, it took a few moments before I heard Bracken hurriedly chasing me. With the system guiding me, it didn¡¯t take very long before we reached the hidden door. And in fact, Tsubaki rushed ahead of us, stopping at the empty portion of the wall so that she could open the door for us.


    Bracken¡¯s eyes widened when he saw the wall opening up, having apparently not realized that there were hidden passages within the Sky Citadel. ¡°Go.¡± I told him, pointing down the passage. ¡°This is the same room where Tsubaki did this, and it has the best chance for you to seed¡­ I wish you luck.¡± Bracken turned to face me, his eyes beginning to tear up. He gave a sharp nod of his head and walked down the passage with determination, the door closing behind him.


    I waited at the hidden door until I could no longer detect his presence, showing that he had already entered the room. Afterwards, I turned and began walking, once more moving to sit on the throne room. ¡°You know that he won¡¯t be able to seed, right, my Keeper?¡± Tsubaki asked from behind me in a worried tone.


    I gave a small nod, agreeing to her concern. ¡°I know¡­ but if there is even the slightest chance, I want to offer it to him. This is thest thing that I can do for him, giving him hope in hisst few moments.¡±


    Tsubaki¡¯s footsteps behind me briefly paused, before she rushed to catch up. ¡°I see¡­ I¡¯m sorry for my rudeness. And, I know that he is grateful for being shown such consideration.¡±


    I didn¡¯t say anything else, waiting until I had arrived and sat down on the throne. I felt the smallest of tremors shaking the citadel, causing my hand to grip the arm of the throne, my eyes shutting tight for a moment. I knew that Bracken had just died. That he had just killed himself, in the attempt to save both his life and his failing mind.


    ¡°Would you like me to handle the cleaning, my Keeper?¡± Tsubaki asked with her head down, her ears t against her skull. It was clear that she was also affected by the mood as well.


    ¡°Give him ten minutes. However slim, there is still the chance.¡± I had considered using world sight to check the situation, but I was afraid that even that energy might disrupt the slim possibility of his energies being able to merge properly.


    Tsubaki gave another nod, and we waited in silence for those ten minutes. Afterwards, I witnessed firsthand how a second Tsubaki suddenly walked out of the body of the first, moving towards the door and walking the way we came. And only a momentter, the one that remained shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m sorry sir¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine¡­ Please send one of your avatars to notify the elven queen.¡± A third Tsubaki appeared and left through the same doorway, but this time I had been expecting it.


    I had never gotten to know Bracken too well myself. Yes, I had lived in the Sky Citadel with him during my previous stay, but that was only for a month. I knew that he was fascinated by the very prospect of learning, that all of his passion went into his work. I didn¡¯t know him well enough to mourn the man. But I knew him enough to respect him.


    In the face of losing that which he most cared about, he held onto the smallest sliver of hope. The one cure that may save him, even if it seemed impossible. And he was willing to gamble his life on that small hope. Because to him, that small hope of salvation was worth it. He would rather wee death than see himself bing an invalid, losing his lifetime of knowledge. But he did not simply wee death, or he could have done so a number of different ways.


    No, he fought for thatst hope. And that is why I choose to respect him. He was the first elven representative. And because of his actions, I won¡¯t forget him.


    _______________________________________________________________


    The High Queen of the elves, Lisandra, had barely been able to send out the orders to gather the druids and the architects after the Keeper¡¯s descent. She found herself on her throne once again when a voice spoke into her mind, one which she had heard before. High Queen. It is done.


    Her voice caught in her throat for a moment, and she gave a small nod. ¡°He¡­ died?¡±


    He did. But know¡­ the Keeper cared for him until the end. Bracken was a good man. I apologize for your loss.


    ¡°No¡­ there¡¯s nothing for you to be sorry for. We all knew that this day woulde.¡± The queen spoke quietly, lowering her head. Her guards nced curiously in her direction, but none raised their voices to speak. ¡°I have already prepared the next representative, in the event that he failed. May I ask that you take care of her as you did him?¡±


    It is my duty. So long as they strive to be good, I shall tend to the needs of any representative who chooses to live in the Keeper¡¯s Pce.


    ¡°Thank you, Tsubaki.¡± The queen nodded her head briefly, thanking the familiar voice.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Tsubaki.¡± I spoke up after a few minutes, lifting my head to look at the nearby maid.


    ¡°Yes, my Keeper?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be heading away for a little while. Please take care of things while I¡¯m gone.¡± Just as I was closing my eyes to prepare to ascend, I heard Tsubaki¡¯s voice speak up from next to me.


    ¡°If it¡¯s not too much trouble¡­ could you perhaps wait a few minutes, my Keeper?¡± Tsubaki asked, making a rather reluctant expression as she voiced her request.


    ¡°May I ask what for?¡± I turned to face her curiously.


    ¡°The new representative for the elves will be arriving momentarily.¡± She bowed deeply as she said that. ¡°It is my wish for you to allow her a meeting before you go.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ very well.¡± I nodded my head, easily epting the request. I had simply wanted to return to the Admin Room for a little bit to rx and take a look at Fyor, but I could postpone that for a few moments.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± As Tsubaki said that, a golden mist rose up from the floor, Aurivy¡¯s handiwork of bringing the new representative to the Citadel.


    The person that emerged from the mist was quite young. Not nearly as much so as Anna had been on her first appearance here, but she still seemed quite a ways from adulthood. However, given the rate elves age¡­ that still probably meant she was at least fifty years old.


    ¡°Hello, Keeper.¡± The elf, Soreya, offered a respectful bow towards me. ¡°My name is Soreya. I¡¯ll be in your care.¡±


    Well, at least her apparent age didn¡¯t cause her to be a troublemaker, it seemed¡­ Though, her level was surprisingly low, only hitting thirty-five. ¡°Hello, Soreya. I¡¯m sure everything has been exined to you?¡±


    She tilted her head in a brief moment of confusion, before nodding it. ¡°I think so¡­ You¡¯re Tsubaki, right?¡± She asked, turning her head to look at the nearby maid, who simply nodded her head. ¡°I was told to ask you if I had any questions here, is that okay?¡±


    Tsubaki gave another nod, her face the same stoic expression she typically showed. However, that seemed to be enough for Soreya, who beamed a smile at her. ¡°Okay! Then¡­ uhm¡­ can you help me meet anyone else living here?¡±


    Tsubaki nced towards me, receiving a silent nod. She stepped down from the throne, walking over towards the elf and guiding her away. This gave me the chance to ascend as I had been aiming to do before.


    Once I was back up in the Admin Room, I sent a message to Bihena and Aurivy. How¡¯s iting with you two? Ready for the second tier yet, or have they not caught up with the first?


    As I asked that question, I fell back on the bed, closing my eyes and sprawling out. It took a few minutes before they got back to me, so I guessed that they were discussing the topic among themselves.


    No harm in getting it now, I think. Bihena replied eventually. But, I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll be giving them ess to it for a few more days. They¡¯ve only gone through about two thirds of the words we left behind already.


    Nodding my head, I went ahead and spent the six hundred points to get the second tier of words. The current budget that the two of them had was already enough to afford that back when they created the world, so I didn¡¯t feel any need to wait too long. It¡¯s been bought, feel free toe pick it up whenever you¡¯re ready.


    There was a mental sigh over themunication. I¡¯ll be there shortly, Dale. Anyways¡­ the world has a level limit of ny still, but they have unlocked theyer that has the next level limit orb. You can either give us a couple days for people to find it naturally, or¡­


    I gave an amused smile at that suggestion. Or I can go do it myself, and experience this new world of yours?


    Only if you want to. If you use your full Keeper powers, the creatures of this level should not be able to pose any threat to you. But be warned, there are only sixteen sses currently avable in the world, so your powers will not be as overwhelming as you are used to.


    Hearing Bihena¡¯s warning, I gave it a bit of thought, before nodding my head. I¡¯ll do it. I wanted to see this new world of yours anyways.


    I¡¯ll pass that along, then. On the map of Fyor, you¡¯re looking for the outermostyer, and we¡¯ve marked the location of the orb you need.


    I nodded my head, lifting myself up from the bed and moving to theputer. Opening up the map of Fyor, I saw that a total of tenyers had been unlocked so far, with thestyer appearing roughly half the size of the original Earth that I had grown up on. While flipping through the map, I wondered just how the two of them had marked the location of the orb¡­


    That was, until I saw a giant patch of red along the green grass. Zooming out, I found that if formed an X on the map¡­ and sure enough, when I zoomed in on the center of that X, I found a small blue crystal sphere. Well¡­ that¡¯s one way to mark the map. I thought to myself with a shake of my head, choosing to descend to that location.


    As there were only two races this time to choose from, I opted for halfling once again. I wasn¡¯t sure how long this would take to bring the orb back to the firstyer, but I knew that halflings were notorious for being swift. Though, I¡¯ll probably be using magic to speed myself up as much as possible¡­

 Chapter 244: Min Maxer

    <h4>Chapter 244: Min Maxer</h4>


    When I arrived in Fyor, I found myself standing amidst a red field. ncing to the horizon, I could just barely see patches of green in the distance, showing just howrge this marking had been. Please tell me that the two of you have a way to fix this? I asked, sending the message to both Bihena and Aurivy.


    Of course. Bihena replied, and I could almost feel her nodding. It¡¯ll just take a couple of days, but we can burn the area to remove the marking.


    I gave a small nod, giving one more look around before pulling up my status window. They had mentioned that i would be a lot weaker here than i was used to, so figured I should go ahead and see exactly what had changed. Especially since she said that only sixteen sses were unlocked so far.


    Name


    Dale Mitchell


    Race


    Halfing(Keeper)


    Health


    35/35(8044/8044)


    Mana


    63/63(7369/7369)


    Strength


    5(83)


    Intelligence


    7(71)


    Stamina


    5(39)


    Wisdom


    8(93)


    Dexterity


    6(82)


    Charm


    7(19)


    Luck


    8(29)


    ss List


    Archer 0(66)


    Architect 0(54)


    Armorer 0(9)


    Berserker 0(63)


    cksmith 0(13)


    Carpenter 0(38)


    Chef 0(51)


    Enchanter 0(13)


    Farmer 0(31)


    Mage 5(68)


    Painter 0(62)


    Priest 0(63)


    Rogue 0(65)


    Schr 0(23)


    Scout 0(69)


    Warrior 0(67)


    I couldn¡¯t help but wince as I saw the list of sses that had been unlocked. Out of the sixteen¡­ only six were actualbat sses. I was also able to see that the sses unlocked made it difficult to bnce the stats¡­ Why aren¡¯t more sses unlocked yet? Could they really all be on higheryers?


    Most are. Aurivy confirmed my suspicion rather quickly. However, there are some that are onyers that haven¡¯t been fully explored. For instance, the Guard ss¡­ that¡¯s down on the sixthyer, but it¡¯s tucked away in a cave so nobody has found it yet.


    ¡°Well, that won¡¯t be good.¡± I said with a brief shake of my head, reaching down and picking up the orb that I hade for. I was greeted with the message telling me to take the orb to the ¡®central mana spire¡¯ to unlock my reward. Thankfully, my stats weren¡¯t so skewed that I would have trouble operating if I needed my Keeper abilities. ¡°Alright¡­ hit me with a sample of tier two runes.¡±


    I didn¡¯t trust that the seven tiers were all the samenguage of magic. If they were, it would only make sense for a Keeper to be able to speak them naturally, regardless of whether or not the words had been purchased. However, if they were treated as seven differentnguages of varying power¡­


    It only took a minute for another stone b to drop at my feet, much like the one I had learned my first rune from. This one¡­ also said the word ¡®fire¡¯¡­ but the writing was moreplex, and when I tried to mentally pronounce it, I found that the word itself was more difficult to say. At this rate, third or fourth tier magic might turn into a summoning ritual for some elder gods. I mused with a small smile.


    What¡¯s that? Aurivy asked, seeming interested by my idle thought.


    Ah, sorry, nothing. By the way, how far away is the nearest habitation? I don¡¯t want to put on too much of a show¡­


    To my surprise, it was Bihena that answered quickly. The only vige that has been built on thisyer is immediately around the gate leading down. They¡¯ve yet to expand very far beyond it yet.


    Giving a quick nod, I set the gate as my destination, discovering that it was quite far away. ¡°Well¡­ let¡¯s see if we can speed this up.¡± I said to myself with a small grin, ready to test out some of this world¡¯s magic.


    ¡°Quick flight. Shield against wind. Enhance perception. Maximum enhance speed.¡± I chanted four spells, one after another, using my Keeper mana to power them. I could feel my body lifting up with the familiar sensation of flying, the wind not touching my clothes. My eyes quickly became able to focus in on the horizon, nearly as well as if I were back in my Earth body.


    And finally, the world around me seemed to slow down while my body sped forward. I could hear a few dings, ignoring the messages that appeared to notify me of my level increasing. Instead, my eyes simply scanned the horizon, looking for the local monsters. And it did not take me long to find them.


    Roughly ten kilometers out from where I had spawned, I saw arge silver snake prowling through the grass. A quick moment of focus revealed that they were level ny-eight chameleon serpents¡­ and that there were in fact twelve of them. I could only see one at first, due to the other eleven concealing themselves.


    ncing upwards, I estimated that the ceiling had to be at least thirty kilometers, giving me plenty of room to fly above the snakes. Each snake was only five or so meters long, so while they may be pretty scary to look at up close, they were not much to worry about while flying.


    Okay¡­ time for a real magic test¡­ I had a small grin on my face as I flew up above the snakes, looking down at them with my hands spread. ¡°Maximum twin array, controlled explosive arrows of light.¡±


    It sounded a lot more mystical in the originalnguage, I swear¡­ Seven runes began to slowly circle around each of my wrists, my hands glowing with light as I chanted the spell. The air around me began to shimmer, specks of light appearing. I felt the tug on my mana as more and more specks of light formed into arrows around me. Ten, twenty, soon numbering over a hundred.


    When I clenched my fists, the spell wasunched. I was mentally focusing on the twelve targets, so it was no surprise that the arrows split up and attacked each one, as I had thrown in the ¡®control¡¯ rune. Over a dozen arrow struck each snake, and when every arrownded, it created a small explosion.


    I saw twelve health bars appear and vanish just as quickly as the snakes were killed under the attack. And once again, I was ¡®assaulted¡¯ with a barrage of messages alerting me that I had leveled up. Giving it a quick check, my new Mage level was¡­ fifty-seven. Quite the leap from where I was, but I wasn¡¯t done yet.


    It was hard to measure how much mana I had spent on the spell, as I had leveled up during its cast, and thus my mana was again recharged. But, given how this was the least mana-intensive of all the major magic types, I knew that there was still a lot more that I could do.


    I once again began flying at top speeds, moving towards the direction that the system was pointing me in. Now that I had an idea of my own strength with this world¡¯s magic, I did not stop to fight every monster that I saw. As I had noticed earlier, it was quite a ways to the gate¡­


    What I wouldn¡¯t give to have ess to portals again¡­ I thought inwardly, pushing my speed to its limits. A small pop rang out around my wind shield, and I saw a mach cone forming in front of me, showing that I had managed to elerate beyond the speed of sound with thebination of spells.


    At this point, the wind began to break through my shield, making it a bit more difficult to fly properly, so I had to slow down. Going just below the speed of sound¡­ it took me about six hours of constant flight before I saw the vige Bihena had told me about. A quaint little vige that reminded me of the early days of Earth. Walls made of wooden spikes, humans and walking outside the walls armed with stone daggers and leather armors.


    Theck of halfling guards made me worried at first, until I arrived closer. As I was in a hurry, and not wanted to reveal too much yet, I chanted a brief invisibility spell, flying straight towards the gate. Then, I saw halflings moving about in nearly equal numbers as well, though they seemed to be doing mostly physicalbor.


    And¡­ calling it a gate was about as appropriate as with the Fairy Gate. Rather than a gate, it was a¡­ ck wall. There didn¡¯t seem to be a doorway at first in the wall, so I wasn¡¯t immediately sure how to use it. The wall stretched twenty meters high, just as wide, but was only a couple of feet thick.


    As I approached, I saw a small hole open up in the wall, and a halfling carrying a woven basket ran through. Momentster, another halfling ran towards the wall, and it opened up to let them through without any resistance. Narrowing my eyes, I began to fly towards the wall, albeit more slowly than I had flown here, and was relieved to see the wall opening up for me as well.


    When I passed through, the vige I saw on the other end was¡­rger, more flourishing. I could see farnd just outside the walls of the vige, people chatting as they wandered by. A few cast curious nces towards the wall, as it had apparently opened up for nobody, but they quickly went about their day.


    Which systems have been unlocked so far? I asked towards the two goddesses,nding between two huts to catch my breath. I had been a long flight, but that was only one floor¡­


    So far¡­ the Party system, and Quests. Everything else is still waiting to be found. Why, did you have something in mind?


    Hearing Aurivy¡¯s answer, I let out a brief groan. Well, if guilds were already a thing, I was going to see if there was an adventurer¡¯s guild that I could put in a request with to send this thing back. How long will it take me at this speed to reach the firstyer?


    Hmm¡­ at the speed you were going before, you would arrive in two days. Three if you stop to rest along the way. The gates of the third and sixth floors are actually pretty close to each other.


    I gave a small nod, leaning my back against the wall behind me. I don¡¯t suppose that the druid orb is somewhere on one of theseyers? It would have made travel so much easier if I could simply use a gatework, but then again that would only apply if it had already been established for a while.


    Heheh¡­ Aurivyughed mischievously after I asked that. The druid orb was actually back on the tenthyer that you just left¡­


    That brought out another groan, before my eyes suddenly opened wide. Hey¡­ Aurivy¡­ howe you haven¡¯t just taken me directly to the firstyer?


    Hmm? Aurivy asked in surprise at my question. I thought you wanted to explore manually, rather than rely on me this time, so I didn¡¯t bring it up. If you just want to go the quick route, though¡­ well, you can either have me do it, or visit one of my temples.


    I let out a quickugh, having forgotten to ask her to simply send me there in my eagerness to try out this world¡¯s brand of magic. Myugh cancelled my invisibility out, so there were people ncing oddly at me as they passed by the two huts I was between. Your temples can do it as well?


    Even Aurivy seemed to be getting infected with myugh, giggling slightly over the connection. That¡¯s one of the powers bestowed on my Priests in this world. They can open portals to any gate that they have personally walked through. Just go to the temple, and tell them that you are delivering a sacred orb. Once you show it to them, they¡¯ll send you off right away.


    I pushed myself to my feet, scolding myself mentally. I had been so willing to take advantage of her travel cheats all this time that I had forgotten that I could do such a thing now that was in her own world.


    Walking out of the alley I hadnded myself in, I canceled the rest of the spells I had set on my person. By now, my mana was actually running pretty low, even with the rtively low usage. If not for me gaining a Scout level about halfway through the trip, I might not have had the energy to make it all the way to the first gate.


    My eyes darted from side to side, before I noticed a stone sculpture of Aurivy just down the road from me. Standing in front of it was an old halfling carrying a wooden staff, his robes bleached white. When I approached, he sent a soft smile my way. ¡°What can I do for you today, my child?¡±


    I wasn¡¯t sure what the proper etiquette was in Fyor, so I cut straight to the point. ¡°I found a sacred orb, and wanted to take it back.¡± As I spoke, I held up the orb that I had retrieved.


    The old man¡¯s eyes opened wide for a brief moment, before he reached out and took the orb from my palm. ¡°Hmm¡­ hmm, yes. Very well. I suppose you¡¯ll be wanting the first world, then.¡± He spoke with a small nod, handing me the orb back. Without saying anything else, he tapped his staff against the ground.


    ¡°May the Goddess smile upon your journey.¡± He spoke as if in prayer, while a golden portal opened up next to him, sparks flickering off of its edge. Through the portal, I could see yet another sprawling vige, this one even more active than the one I was in now.


    Not wanting to lose my chance, I jumped through the portal, watching it close behind me with a quiet snap. Surprisingly, nobody sent a nce my way at my arrival, as if it were an everyday urance. ¡°Ohh? Are you one of the maxers from the upper worlds?¡± Well¡­ almost nobody.


    Turning around, I saw a young human girl, standing just a bit taller than myself in my halfling body. ¡°Hmm?¡± She tilted her head, catching my nce. ¡°Did I say something wrong?¡±


    ¡°No, sorry¡­ I just wasn¡¯t expecting to see anyone here.¡± I answered quickly, sending out a mental request for information.


    Thankfully, Bihena once again came to the rescue. Maxers are the term for those who try to max out a single ss as much as they can, to get the greatest benefits of it. They¡¯re the ones who most often explore the uppermost floors, forming parties with other maxers. More often than not, only one of them would be finding the orbs, so she probably assumed you were one.


    ¡°Oh, okay!¡± She nodded her head happily while I was receiving the much needed information. ¡°Do you need help getting the rest of the way to the holy pir, sir?¡± She offered, turning to look at the towering blue crystal in the distance. Well¡­ distance being rtive, as it was far closer than it appeared.


    ¡°Not this time, sorry.¡± I refused with a small smile. ¡°I¡¯m in a bit of a hurry, so¡­¡± Switching to thenguage of magic, I cast another fly spell, lifting myself off the ground. I could hear a gasp from the girl I had left behind, as well as others from those around, before I rushed off towards the spire.


    I¡¯m going to guess that people haven¡¯t found the flight rune yet, have they? I asked mentally, my smile turning a bit more bitter while I increased my speed. Aurivy¡¯sugh was enough of an answer to let me know that people flying was definitely not a normal sight.


    This time, it only took me about five minutes to reach the spire. Just as I was beginning to question what I should do to activate the orb, I felt it tugging towards the spire on its own, even while I was still holding onto it.


    Seeing that the orb was being drawn in on its own, I felt no need to resist, and simply ced it against the edge of the spire. Down below, I saw a group of people gathering around the spire¡¯s base, staring up at me. However, a momentter, a new message appeared, one which caused shouts to ring out from the ground below, followed by a message that only I could see.


    Level Limit +10 Orb has been found! The new Level Limit is now 100!


    As a reward for obtaining the Level Limit +10 Orb, you have been granted one free level of your previously raised ss: Mage.

 Chapter 245: Pressing Matters

    <h4>Chapter 245: Pressing Matters</h4>


    ¡°Sir?¡± Hiyori asked as she saw the halfling in front of her looking confused. However, before she was able to repeat hear offer to guide him to the holy pir, she heard a voice echoing in her ears.


    ¡°Pars unt.¡± The tone was one that children like her hade to associate with the casting of magic, so she hurriedly took a step back, fearing that the Maxer before her had been angered. Instead, though, she was left to gasp as she saw his body lift off the ground, floating into the air.


    He¡­ he¡¯s flying like a bird. Hiyori may have been young, but she had never heard of anyone being capable of a spell like this before. And judging by the shouts that rang out from those who saw him, the adults didn¡¯t know what was going on better.


    Come on,e on¡­ Hiyori leaned down low to the ground, her fingers against the dirt. ¡°Pars maj.¡± Her body felt light, and she darted forward, racing through the crowd. She wasn¡¯t a particrly strong mage by any stretch, but she had learned a few basic spells as part of her education.


    Looking ahead, she saw the Maxer floating up towards the pir, and saw the crowd gathered beneath him. He held the sacred orb up to the pir, and it was drawn in, simply passing through and vanishing. The holy pir gave a brief pulse, before the words appeared in front of her.


    Level Limit +10 Orb has been found! The new Level Limit is now 100!


    Before she could fully stop herself, Hiyori found her foot catching on the ground, tumbling down in surprise. She let out a yelp as she felt herself crashing against the dirt, but received only a few scrapes. It was unt, right? Unt!


    In order to cast a spell, one needed to know the incantation to summon it. However, unfortunately for her, it was not enough to simply know how to pronounce it. At the same time, one had to be able to visualize the word in their mind. Hiyori did not know how to write the rune for unt, so she would not be able to reproduce the flight spell.


    That did not mean that it was wasted knowledge, though. Rather, she had a wide grin on her face, jumping to her feet and taking advantage of her still-enhanced speed to run towards the temple. Without asking for permission she rushed inside, much to the chagrin of the local priests.


    ¡°Hiyori, what are you doing this time?¡± One of them asked, clear irritation on their face. She was no stranger here, and often came by to lead people around after they came from other floors. The temple was positioned right next to the World Wall for that very purpose. But to just run in without warning like this was a bit much, even for her.


    ¡°The man that just came by, the one with the orb!¡± She spoke between panted breaths. ¡°He knew a new word, I think! He was able to fly like a bird!¡±


    The priest was just about to scold her again when she got herst words out. He had been inside when the message went out to everyone, so he had not witnessed the fact that someone had flown in front of the temple. At the same time, he was confident that Hiyori wouldn¡¯t make something like this up. After all, to falsify reports of this nature was tantamount to sphemy, and it was easy enough for him to verify.


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± He asked, his face betraying his growing excitement.


    ¡°I am!¡± She nodded her head quickly. ¡°It was unt! He said it in front of me. Pars unt! And then he was flying!¡±


    The man¡¯s excitement only grew even further when she said the word outright. It would have been too much to ask for her to know how it was written, but even just the pronunciation would be a huge help in future studies.


    When someone read the words of magic carved into thendscape, the pronunciation for those words would appear in their mind. When man first found the Sen rune, carved on a stone b on the first world, they immediately knew how to say it. However, they did not know that saying the word would create a fire.


    There are many cases when somebody finds a new rune, and it takes months to figure out its function and how to weave it into a spell. Everyone has to be careful, for the wrong experiment might cost them their own life. ¡°I see, I see.¡± He nodded his head, slowly approaching Hiyori and patting her on the shoulder. ¡°You have done good work.¡±


    Now, if they ever found the unt rune, they would immediately know its purpose. More importantly, they could be sure that the rune was on one of the explored worlds. It was only a matter of time until they found it, assuming that they could not get it from the man himself.


    With that thought crossing his mind, the priest hurriedly left the temple, ncing towards the holy pir. Indeed, there was a man standing there in the air. Yet, he was only able to catch a glimpse before a portal opened up next to the man and sucked him through. ¡°So he is also a priest?¡± There was surprise, but also joy in his voice when he asked that question to himself. After all, it would be a lot easier to find a priest than a random mage.


    Unfortunately, it was unlikely that he¡¯d ever be able to find this man again¡­


    _______________________________________________________________


    After getting Aurivy¡¯s help to quickly escape the area, I immediately returned to the Admin Room, letting a lightugh escape my lips. ¡°Man¡­ if magic were that easy from the start, I don¡¯t think I¡¯d have ever started training as a monk.¡±


    A momentter, a voice spoke up from behind me, making it jump slightly. ¡°Well, that is why that system is known as ¡®easy mode magic¡¯.¡± Obviously, the voice belonged to Terra, grinning yfully at me from the bed.


    ¡°I take it that the ¡®secret¡¯ about rune magic is not at all a secret?¡± I asked, turning to face her, still sitting in myputer chair.


    She gave a brief nod to the question, closing her eyes. ¡°You can take a look at the forums, where all this information is publicly avable, so there¡¯s no harm in me saying it at this point. A lot of Keepers rmend taking rune magic in some aspect of their world. After all, being able to cast spells as easily as talking is a big advantage for any defending Keeper.¡±


    My brows knit together for a moment as I heard that, understanding something from her words. ¡°That probably means that any serious Keeper is also likely to be prepared to counter that system.¡± It took barely a couple of days for people to begin making countermeasures on the market for my inventory system, so something as big as rune magic would have god knows how many ways to stop it by now.


    ¡°Well, you¡¯re probably not wrong.¡± Terra said, flicking a finger in my direction. A series of windows appeared, each one a market listing for a different method to specifically counter rune magic. In total, there were¡­ ¡°So far, there are a hundred and seven systems, techniques, or items designed to nullify rune magic. Wait, sorry, hundred and eight. Someone just made another one a few days ago it looks like.¡±


    ¡°You know, you¡¯re really bringing the whole ¡®I got a new awesome power¡¯ mood down a bit, right?¡± I asked lightly, to which I received augh in response.


    ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m not meaning to bring you down or anything. Just wanted to make sure that you knew what you were getting yourself into. Also¡­ you should probably not expect them to be done getting that world ready for you so soon¡­¡± Her eyes opened slightly as she said that, her lips pursed in a small frown.


    ¡°Given that you are talking about this¡­ There¡¯s something wrong with their world that they haven¡¯t noticed? But¡­ if you¡¯re talking about it, I should have met the conditions for you to say it, which means I either saw it myself, or experienced it.¡±


    Her frown cracked for a moment, breaking into a brief smile. ¡°You¡¯re learning. But you¡¯re right. You have met the conditions. In fact, if you took the time to think back to your trip to Fyor, you should be able to figure it out.¡±


    I looked at her in confusion, thinking back to what had happened. ¡°If you mean how everyyer is quite a bitrger, then yeah¡­ but I think that they already nned for that, right?¡±


    Terra let out a small sigh, shaking her head. ¡°No, not that. Well¡­ sort of that. It might have been hard for you to notice because you¡¯re already used to having such a strong body¡­ You flew for six hours in the tenthyer. However, during that time, you had no real physical exertion. You were simply floating by with your shield up, to prevent even the wind from hitting you.¡±


    I gave a small nod, signalling for her to continue. ¡°Yet, those six hours had you out of breath, even though you basically did¡­ nothing. You might as well have been lying down on the ground for those six hours. So¡­ why were you out of breath?¡±


    Now that she put it like that¡­ I began to think back to that. Why was I out of breath? At the time, I had been caught up in my excitement, and just assumed that it was a natural result of the spell. But, when I used it on the first floor, I hadn¡¯t noticed any strain at all from my brief flight.


    She said that it had to do with the size of theyers, so--¡±The gravity?¡± I cut myself off in mid-thought, looking up to Terra in surprise. I saw the satisfied smile on her face, indicating that I had hit the right answer. ¡°The gravity is increasing on the upper levels? And since my real levels didn¡¯t include anything to fortify my body, when I cut my Keeper levels off near the town, I started to feel the full force of it¡­ and then again while I was resting on the ninth level.¡±


    ¡°They really can¡¯t be med for this.¡± Terra said, turning her head to look at the doorway. ¡°I mean, look at your current worlds. You have two of drastically different sizes, but because they are separate worlds built with that in mind, the system set the standard of gravity to be the same on both. The current Earth has not studied gravity to such a degree that they would know to think about it when creating their world.¡±


    As she spoke, I began to process that information. ¡°So, with every additionalyer bingrger than thest, the gravity is constantly increasing¡­ Why aren¡¯t the loweryers being affected by the gravity of the higheryers then? They¡¯re close enough that logically it should, right?¡±


    Terra gave another nod to my question. ¡°That¡¯s because of the ¡®dividing line¡¯ between theyers. Take a look at the mineral map of anyyer in Fyor aside from the first.¡±


    Turning around to myputer, I did just that, opening up the map and finding the secondyer¡¯s minerals. Everything seemed normal until¡­ ¡°Oh¡­¡±


    There was a singleyer of ore going all the way across the secondyer,pletely sealing it off from the second. Moreso, this ore was familiar, a pitch ck rock that looked just like the gates leading between theyers. Taking a closer look, I saw that that is exactly what they were, the gates burrowing all the way down to connect with the ck shell protecting the previousyer.


    ¡°That¡¯s a special ore that was just created due to the specifications that the two of them listed for this world. It doesn¡¯t even have a name yet. However, it ispletely impervious to damage on any scale your world has tried to hit it with, with the power of the world itself keeping it protected. It also works to both connect and iste regions of space, keeping the gravity of the various levels separate from one another.¡±


    I took a deep breath, confirming that the same mineralyer was present in every other floor as well. ¡°So¡­ people need to train their physical stats in order to climb theyers safely.¡±


    When I turned around to look at Terra, she gave another nod of her head. ¡°Right. In order to operate at their peak, they need one additional point in each physical stat for every twoyers beyond the first. Otherwise, their bodies won¡¯t be able to cope with the increase in pressure. If you hadn¡¯t found the priest to send you to the firstyer right away, I was going to have them tell you to ascend immediately.¡±


    I had noticed that my body felt a bit heavy while I was walking, but honestly I just assumed that was normal. After all, I¡¯m so used to being in a body that can jump hundreds of meters with ease that normal levels of physique would just seem weak byparison. ¡°I see¡­ that will make things difficult.¡±


    Terra nodded again, yawning her head and stretching her arms out across the bed. ¡°Yup¡­ just wanted to get you that warning. They¡¯ve already started to notice the problem, but thanks to them not understanding gravity well enough they don¡¯t realize the cause. So it will probably take a little while before Fyor is ready to fully integrate.¡±

 Chapter 246: The Wild Hunt

    <h4>Chapter 246: The Wild Hunt</h4>


    Once I had heard about the issue that Fyor was expected to have in the future, I was noticeably less excited about it. I mean, there were plenty of ways for the girls to counteract the increasing gravity problem, even if it was just to create a training regiment that involved teaching people either the monk ss or something else that provided stamina boosts. Hell, I¡¯d say it would even be a good idea for people to have that kind of training anyways, given that the upper floors be significantly more dangerous as well.


    Either way, I decided to simply fast forward Earth by another ten years. I had already given the instruction to Aurivy to move the Fairy Gate once the elves had thend set up. This way it would give some time for the diplomatic rtions to settle after the change, as I was quite sure that things would get hectic for a little while.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Within the kingdom of Salor, a group of nobles were sitting around arge table,ughing merrily as they sipped their wines. They were the ones who had chosen to leave when the threat of having the gate taken was issued, intending to reim whatevernd it had arrived on. And yet, four days after the deadline had passed, they returned only to find that their worries were in vain. The gate remained where it had always been.


    They weren¡¯t sure if the Keeper had really been bluffing and couldn¡¯t move the gate, or if the king had managed to fool him into thinking that his demands had been met. Either way, theirnd was secure.


    However, just as they were celebrating, a young kitsune man rushed into the room, throwing open the door. There was a look of sheer panic on his face, but in the drunken minds of the nobles, that meant little. ¡°What are you doing here, boy?!¡± One of the nobles, a kitsune woman with raven ck hair, asked in a slurred tone while she shakily rose to her feet.


    ¡°I-i-it¡¯s gone!¡± He stammered out in a panic, afraid that he would get more than a simple punishment if he did not speak immediately. ¡°The gate vanished!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯sh thish boy talkin¡¯ bout now?¡± Another noble asked, his red skin seeming a bit darker than normal. ¡°The gate canna¡¯ be moved.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s gone!¡± He shouted out again. ¡°It just vanished!¡± Rather than staying around to wait for the nobles to collect their wits, the boy ran out of the room in order to inform other influential people about this matter. Maybe there would be some who weren¡¯t elbow deep in their drink by the time he found them¡­


    Following this event, the kingdom of Salor suffered a cataclysmic change. The people, who had found out about the king going against the Keeper¡¯s wishes and costing them all the gate, went into a rage. Families had been separated, no longer able to contact their loved ones.


    From the king to the nobles, all were forced to take the me. Even those who had pleaded to give in to what the Keeper wanted could not protect themselves. The public raged, and they suffered for it. When the ruling faction fell, the kingdom had been destroyed.


    Over the following months, three nations were born in thend that had once been Salor. Each was small, barely having the ability to protect themselves from the local monsters.


    To the north was the Jahud, a nation formed from those who believed they saw reason after their bloodlust had passed. In reality, they were just looking for someone else to me. Now, they med the Keeper for taking the gate away from them.


    To the south lived the Sunari, a nation that simply wanted to pick up the pieces of what was left behind. They did not want to cast me or throw stones anymore, and only desired to live with what little they had left.


    Finally, centered around the portal leading to the elvennds, there was the city-state of Lor. They were the ones who had been closest to the shore when the violence broke out, and furthest away from those that they could me.


    When news reached them that Salor was falling, they thought that some terrifying monster had emerged. Thus, the lord of Lor had passed through the gate to the elvennds, and requested aid from the locals to fortify hisnds. The request was granted, with a hundred strong masters being sent to help with the defense.


    Yet days passed, and there was no attack. Rather, the real cause of the disturbance reached their ears. As they had elven soldiers guarding their walls, it was only natural that they learned where the gate had gone. In his panic, the lord ordered a seal on this information, afraid that the splintered remnants of Salor would join forces and attack hisnd in order to storm the territory of the elves.


    Unfortunately for him, the world had grown too much. Information could no longer be contained so easily once it reached the public¡¯s ears. He had bought some time, allowing the other two nations to be born, but the news soon got out. While Sunari showed little movement, the same could not be said of Jahud.


    The armies of Jahud flew upon the night, wishing to go forth and crush the elves like they had done the king of Salor. Their victory over the nobility made them confident in their strength, and they thought themselves invincible. They had no idea that their actions had awoken something slumbering within the ground.


    A monster of lowly birth, too strong for its own good. Its skin stronger than enchanted steel, its teeth sharper than spears. When it found that it did not have a proper source of food, it was forced to hibernate, conserving as much of its energy as it could to prepare for a day when a better meal appeared before it.


    And when blood spilled and filled the soil, dripping into the chasms where it had put itself to rest, its nose twitched. Slowly, its eyes opened. The beast was by no means massive, a mere six feet tall and ten long. On the surface it looked like a pitch ck wolf, but its fur seemed to shimmer as it moved.


    Within the blood, it smelled food. A food that it could feast upon, food that could sate its endless hunger. And so, the wolf lifted its head and howled. And with that howl, the world around it shook. Rocks fell from the ceiling of the chasm, crashing down around it. Somended directly on the wolf, shattering on contact.


    Soon, a hole appeared, letting the beast see the sky for the first time. This was the birth of destruction, for a cmity walked thends. It took a step forward, vanishing from its position and appearing on the surface above. The food around it had grown stale, the battle here fought many days ago.


    But that would not deter the beast, its eyes looking north. It could smell food. So much food to eat. And the food was moving.


    Another step brought the wolf out of the clearing where it had appeared, andnded it several kilometers away, where it could see the food flying in the air. The food was attached to such frail red birds, but that didn¡¯t matter. It would eat it all the same.


    Once more, it let out a howl, shaking the ground and the trees. Nearby, the army of demons flew with spears in hand, ready to fight to quell the rage in their hearts. But when that sound hit them, they halted. Many were pushed back purely by the force of the howl, others finding themselves bleeding from the ears, but that was not the worst of it.


    The minds of the demons began to grow clouded, their memories bing hazy. All of their levels were being stripped away by some unseen power, and with them the experiences umted. One among them turned, and saw the pitch ck wolf standing atop a hill in the distance. ¡°It¡¯s that thing!¡± He shouted out, recalling the howl that had shook their very being.


    The army of demons turned on this new target, the mages casting magical lightning down on it. However, the wolf simply stood there, unphased. Next came the warriors, charging down with their spears. They stabbed at the wolf¡¯s small frame as soon as they approached, only to have their spears break upon contact with its hide.


    Their shock did notst long. No, they were currently in the way of its food. Such tasty food, it made the beast feel stronger, faster. It raised one of its paws and lightly swatted at the demon in front of it. The demon¡¯s body burst as if a balloon popping, blood and gore sshing everywhere while bone shrapnel flew out.


    Ahh, there was the food. The tasty food, yummy food. Good food. Opening its maw, the wolf did not let out another howl. Rather, it breathed in. A vortex of wind began to pull in the demons, a ck sphere forming in the mouth of the beast. One by one they fell into the sphere, their bodies crushed by the pressure long before they had the ability to resist.


    Soon, thest of the food was gone, and the wolf turned to look north again. It could smell more food. So much more. Finally, it would not feel hunger. Finally, it could feast.


    This was the day that Jahud fell. A disaster fell upon theirnds that none could withstand. This sated the wolf briefly, before it looked south. And on the next day¡­ Sunari fell. Lor, blissfully unaware that death was approaching, still prepared for the approach of the Jahud armies. As it meant protecting their home as well, the master from the elvennds did not return home and chose to aid in the defense.


    At least, until they felt it approaching. A strength beyond that of any mortal. In their hearts, they prayed. Prayed for the protection that only the gods could provide. Some even urgently sent messages to the only mortal they knew of who could stand against it.


    Ever faithful to her duties, Tsubaki appeared just as the wolf was approaching. However, even she felt terror deep in her soul when she sensed the strength of the monster. The beast before her, just barely visible on the horizon, easily qualified as a fully matured disaster. But, there was more to it than that. A strength she didn¡¯t even feel from the Ten Disasters.


    ¡°Well, this turned into a real mess, hasn¡¯t it?¡± A voice spoke up from next to her, catching Tsubaki by surprise. Turning, she saw a familiar lycan woman with ck hair, d in leather armor. In her hand was a shining golden bow.


    ¡°You¡­ Lady alia?¡± Tsubaki asked politely, knowing the goddess on site. She was beastkin by birth, so the appearances of the four Sister Goddesses had been engrained into her since she was a baby, let alone the fact that she had personally met this goddess on multiple asions.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m only here for a moment. You can¡¯t take that thing on by yourself, can you?¡± alia asked as she turned to face Tsubaki, her eyes seeming to pierce deep within the kitsune¡¯s heart.


    ¡°I¡­ No, it is unlikely. This creature is far stronger than any disaster I know. I plead with the Goddess for aid.¡± Tsubaki bowed her head low as she asked alia for assistance. She had faced Disasters before, though they were not mature. Even then, she knew that only her strongest weapon could deal any damage to them. If this thing was even stronger than those¡­ it was unlikely that she would be able to harm it.


    ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m here for.¡± alia lifted her hand, offering her bow to Tsubaki. ¡°You have the qualifications to wield my bow in this battle. I trust your Archer levels are not just for show?¡±


    Tsubaki blinked in surprise, before remembering that she was in the presence of a Goddess. ¡°No, my Goddess.¡± She humbly epted the bow, feeling the great weight of it in her hands.


    ¡°This is the Bow of the Wild Hunt.¡± alia exined, and only now did Tsubaki notice that the wolf had stopped in the distance, held down by some unseen force. ¡°It does not take arrows, only the energy of its wielder. Mana, Ki, even your spirit can be used. The more energy you put in, the stronger the result. Now, it¡¯s time for me to go. I think you can handle it from here.¡±


    As soon as her words faded away, so too did she. And so did the restrictive binding ced on the wolf in the distance. It stood up, and there was a fury within its eyes. It had been held back from eating, and it felt the hunger approaching again.


    Tsubaki looked down to examine the bow, and noticed a series of engravings on it. Birds, wolves, all manner of beasts were carved into the golden weapon. When she looked up and saw that the wolf was approaching again, she jumped up onto the wall. ¡°Everyone, back through the portal!¡± Shemanded with her loudest voice.


    If she could kill this creature, everything would be fine. But if not¡­ she could at least destroy the portal, and prevent it from reaching the elven maind. Seeing that even Tsubaki was uncertain about victory, people began to panic. They rushed towards the portal in a frenzy, not even hesitating to trample over their kin if it meant getting out.


    Tsubaki simply sighed as she saw this, and then saw that the wolf was opening its mouth. Without hesitation, she plucked at the string of the bow, finding that it took quite a bit of strength to draw it back. But she did still draw it, and fed some of her energy into the bow.


    The ki she fed into the bow created an arrow with a bird¡¯s beak as its head. When she released the arrow, it shattered, turning into a golden bird that flew towards the wolf. The wolf was just about to let out its howl when the golden bird smashed into the side of its head, making it flinch slightly.


    That small flinch was enough to let Tsubaki know that this battle was possible. ¡°Goddess of Death, I offer to you a sacrifice.¡± She whispered a prayer to Irena as she pulled the bow. ¡°My lord, by yourmand, I be your de.¡± Then came her oath to her Keeper.


    Her energy soared, forming a tangible aura around her while the wolf growled in frustration. The earlier attack was the closest thing that it had felt to pain. While it did not truly hurt, it was enough to give this beast, which had never before felt pain, pause. Somewhere deep in its mind, it recognized a sense of danger.


    But at the same time¡­ the food standing before it was the tastiest food it had ever seen. And never underestimate the hunger of a wolf. It took a step forward to charge again, Tsubaki¡¯s eyes barely able to track its movements.


    Five arrows formed along the string of the bow, attached to the string without her even needing to hold them in ce. One blue, one an earthen yellow, one silver, one green, and one pure shining gold. With the five arrows, the true power of the bow released itself. Dense fog rolled up from the ground, and the sky overhead darkened. A howl emerged, but not that of the Disaster.


    A voice spoke up, seeming to radiate from the bow itself. ¡°Begin the hunt.¡± Tsubaki took that as themand to release the bowstring, all five arrowsunching out at different angles.


    The ki arrow shattered again, this time turning into over a dozen birds, dozens more forming from the mist. The mana arrow likewise shattered, creating six glowing blue wolves, six more joining from the mist.


    Next came the arrow of nature, which took the form of three ming horses, and the arrow of Tsubaki¡¯s spirit which granted them ghostly riders. Simrly, more horsemen emerged, summoned from the mist.


    Finally, the arrow of Tsubaki¡¯s divine spark. Her strongest weapon. The divine arrow did not change into a beast, nor a spectral warrior. Instead, it became a man. His body was d in leather furs, and two axes with bone des rested in his hands, but she knew his figure. The man she knew as her lord led the Wild Hunt.


    When he lifted his axe, and pointed it towards the wolf, the birds let out a caw that filled the air, diving down and pecking at its flesh. Tsubaki had ced all of her energy in the attack, to the point where her body was beginning to shrink once again. However, there was an obvious result. The hairs of the wolf, which had not been phased by the stabs of spears, broke, the skin that could resist falling boulders was pierced.


    The wolf felt pain for the first time, letting out a cry as one of the birds pecked out its eye. Its cry caused the air to visibly shake, the birds around it shattering. But after the birds came the wolves. Twelve wolves made of mana charging forward, running as a pack. They were considerably smaller than their target, but they still lunged at it.


    The Disaster raised its paw to crush one of the wolves, biting at the head of another, but there were still so many more. They wed and bit at its flesh, showing a power that could only be disyed by a godly weapon. Yet even still, this only caused small changes in the health bar above the wolf.


    Tsubaki began to grow nervous as thest wolf perished, and the six horsemen charged in. By now, the monster was scared, but it was also angry. It opened its mouth, once again summoning the vortex that had imed so many lives.


    The walls of Lor shook under the pressure of the wind, the wards activating to hold it strong. Even Tsubaki had to hold on in order to be sucked in, now that she had lost so much of her strength, let alone the horsemen. They and their horses copsed, turning into mists that flew into the mouth of the wolf.


    Finally, the Huntsman stepped forward, seeming unaffected by the wind. While the wolf watched him approach, it felt a stabbing pain in its mind. The spirits it had consumed rampaged within it, tearing it apart at its weakest point. Now, the health bar began to decline sharply, whimpers emerging from the wolf¡¯s mouth.


    When the Huntsman arrived in front of the wolf, he struck down with one of his bone axes, cleaving off the head off the weakened disaster. Tsubaki let out a sigh of relief when she saw that the health bar disappeared, the vortex of wind no longer pulling on her body. Tsubaki felt a small pain in her head, as if something had gone missing, but knew that she could ask the Goddess about it when she saw her again.


    Just as Tsubaki prepared to go and greet the Huntsman, she saw him shatter into golden light, a small smile forming on her face. Btedly, she realized that he was only an entity summoned by the bow, rather than the true Keeper. As that thought urred to her, she noticed that her hand was now empty. The Bow of the Wild Hunt had vanished! Instead, she saw a message appearing in front of her.


    You have sessfully raided the World Wolf, a being beyond the limits of power!


    Congrattions! You have earned an achievement!


    For killing a being that had broken past the limit of power, you have earned the Limit Breaker achievement. All ss Affinities +5%

 Chapter 247: The Evolution of Divinity

    <h4>Chapter 247: The Evolution of Divinity</h4>


    I couldn¡¯t help but watch in surprise as I saw the body of the dead World Wolf. Just like the early incident with the chimera soul, a creature exceeding the strength of the world¡¯s limits rampaging in the world set off an rm, forcing the fast forward to stop. Originally, it had been a level twelve hundred, at the very limits of power.


    However, I didn¡¯t realize that this creature was one of those ¡®anomalies¡¯ that Terra had told me about a while back. I didn¡¯t even know it was sleeping on that ind until the rms went off. After all, the world isrge, so why would I bother to check every region of it for every possible threat? If I did that, the invasion from Savage would arrive before I even managed to finish.


    I had actually been just about to go down and try to take care of it myself when alia had stopped me. She had said that she wanted to test out the new upgrade for her bow, and¡­ well, wow. That¡¯s really all I could say about that. alia¡¯s divine will was contained in every shot fired by the bow, strengthening it far beyond their normal limits.


    How did you manage to do that? I asked her after the fight was over. Isn¡¯t divine energy not supposed to be able to merge with other energy types?


    Hmm? alia¡¯s response came a momentter, and I could tell that she sounded a bit exhausted. It didn¡¯t merge with the energies. It was controlling them.


    My original divinities were Wisdom and the Hunt. With Tubrock¡¯s help, I¡¯ve poured my power into that bow, which was further augmented by Ryone¡¯s enchantments. Whenever an arrow is fired, it is given a shape based on the energy used, and then granted a modicum of wisdom to attack its targets.


    Only when all five arrows are created can the Wild Hunt begin, but that also draws power directly from me to create the additional creatures. I wasn¡¯t really expecting it to draw that much energy¡­ good to know for the future.


    I shook my head while I listened to her exnation. Do all of you have items like that? I knew about Irena¡¯s pen, but that seemed to pale inparison to what I just saw. At least, I suspect it would. I never used it for anything other than powering up Leowynn.


    Well, most of us. Ashley¡¯s still getting the hang of wielding divine power.


    Once I heard that, I gave a small nod. Ashley was fundamentally different from the rest of the gods and goddesses in that she was born of a mortal mind, like myself. Though, that did beg the question¡­ if I manage to be a False Divinity, will I be capable of creating my own godly relic like that?


    Given that the path Balu gave me was to create genuine divine energy, I thought that it should be possible. It would just depend on the domain that I chose for myself. Part of my wondered if there was any chance that I would be able to reach that state before this next invasion, but then I immediately shook my head.


    It had taken me forty days just to fully master the process of creating world sight. Balu had said that world sight would make the other steps easier, but I couldn¡¯t underestimate the difficulty just because of that. At most, I could likely achieve the Perfect Soul, and perhaps the Divine Soul if I was lucky.


    Perfect Soul and Divine Soul wouldn¡¯t have much benefit to me in theing invasion. If I had the chance to practice them without having other things to worry about, I could certainly do that. But if there was something that could be more immediately useful to me, it was better to push the path of divinity off until after this next invasion, when I will have more time to work.


    If I thought it would be possible to reach all the way to the Divine Body in one go, then I¡¯d be all for it. But, once the Divine Soul is created, it will likely require a fair bit of time to let the energies grow before evolving.


    Shaking my head, I pulled myself back to the present. Only a couple of months had passed since the fifty year timeskip had begun, so I needed to get back to that. Thankfully, the remaining time passed without another rm going off.


    Once the fast forward had ended, I sent a mental message to Irena, asking if I could borrow her pen again. It was time to put some more work into training Leowynn¡­ especially because of how excited I felt her be when she saw the world wolf. I don¡¯t suppose you have any way to make this easier on her, right?


    Not yet, Dale. Irena¡¯s voice responded in my mind a few moments after my question was asked. The newest version of my pen will have something suitable¡­ but they are still finishing up the enchantments on it. Given how they work, I imagine that it will be finished in time for your next trip, after Leowynn has digested the energies this time.


    I gave a small nod at that, waiting for a few moments before I felt Irena¡¯s pen appearing in my hand. ¡°Ready to go out for a walk, Leowynn?¡± I asked with a small smile, navigating the map on theputer to an unupied region of the Underworld.


    I am, Father. And I hope that the pen is ready in time. It is rather inconvenient to have you make special trips for my sake, though I do appreciate it.


    Hearing Leowynn¡¯s words, I simply shook my head, choosing to descend to the Underworld as a daeva. It took us about twenty minutes before we were back, the process going much like it had thest few times with Leowynn absorbing her limit in energy before entering my spiritual realm to rest.


    After returning, I once again descended to the Sky Citadel. It was important to see first hand how the rtionships were developing now that the elves had control of the fairy gate. As much as I didn¡¯t wish to have to move it again, there was always the possibility that the elves would do something to make me do so. After all, they were the worshippers of the merchant goddess.


    I was just about to descend to my normal spot in the throne room of the citadel when I noticed the map. Tsubaki was waiting there, looking as if she were expecting me. The idea of that gave me goosebumps, so I looked back through her past to see why she was there right now.


    The answer? Well¡­ apparently that was only one of her avatars, and it had been kneeling in that same position for over twenty years. Still, it was a bit unnerving to watch it just sitting there.


    A small part of me wanted to just descend elsewhere in the citadel, just so I didn¡¯t seem all that predictable, but that felt like more of a childish prank than anything else. As such, I chose to descend, this time in the body of¡­ a demon? Yeah, let¡¯s go with a demon.


    Sure enough, after I allowed the warm blue light to envelop my body, found myself sitting on my throne again. As expected, Tsubaki was just at the bottom of the steps, still in that kneeling posture with her eyes glued to the throne. And now that I was here, she blinked slowly.


    ¡°You have returned, my Keeper.¡± She spoke softly, slowly rising to her feet and performing a deep bow.


    ¡°Yes.¡± I¡­ wasn¡¯t really sure how to respond to that, knowing that she had already been here for so long. So, to use the oldest trick in the book¡­ change the subject! ¡°How has everything been proceeding with the elves?¡±


    Tsubaki didn¡¯t seem to mind the question, offering a small nod. ¡°I am here to report that the mission you gave me is a sess. Although it took the time of two descents to aplish instead of one, the three worlds have established trade agreements and a mostly peaceful coexistence.¡±


    I felt one of my eyebrows raise up, having to focus on controlling my wings to stop them from fidgeting. ¡°That was actually quite a bit faster than I had expected. However, when you say ¡®mostly peaceful¡¯, I take it that there is still some resistance?¡±


    She seemed to hesitate for a moment, before nodding her head again. ¡°It can be seen as such, yes. The political disputes havergely been settled. No world has any im on any but the one that they were born on. If citizens of one world wish to migrate to another, they subject themselves to thews of their new home.¡±


    ¡°This point has been regrly contested, mostly by the residents of Desbar. Their world is far smaller than either of the others, so not having the ability to imnd on the other worlds has left them feeling bitter. As if to retaliate on this point, they are inting the prices of exported goods from their world, citing that the limited space they possess also means far fewer resources. A valid point, however the degree to which they inte the prices makes it difficult for the other worlds to pay.¡±


    I let out a sigh as I heard that, shaking my head. ¡°Are there any ns in the work to fix this?¡±


    ¡°There is, my Keeper. However, I was asked by the representative of the demons to request you speak with him about it. It appears that there were matters concerning this n that he wished to discuss with you personally.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but wince slightly at that. ¡°Is¡­ that same representative still in ¡®office¡¯?¡± Given that I had been gone for fifty years, it would not be impossible for whoever made that request to have either died or retired at this point.


    However, it appears that my worries were for naught. ¡°He is, my Keeper. This request was posed just over three years ago. Mystmunication with Desbar was yesterday evening, and at that point he was still healthy.¡±


    ¡°He is living in Desbar? I suppose it would be best to move to themunication room so that we could contact him, then.¡± Tsubaki nodded to that, turning and beginning to walk towards the door before I stopped her. ¡°Wait, Tsubaki¡­ did you manage to recover after your battle fifty years ago? I believe you lost some levels, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    Tsubaki¡¯s footsteps froze at that, before she turned to face me. ¡°You are referring to the Wild Hunt?¡± She asked, to which I blinked in confusion. ¡°That is the name the locals gave the battle, after hearing about the bow. Yes, I lost sixteen levels in that battle. It was quite distressing, as I found that I had misced over a hundred years of memories. Thankfully, there was an alchemist in Zoriark who had developed a remedy for lost levels. After a few months of taking his medicine, my memory fully returned.¡±


    I had to think back in order to remember Zoriark, recalling that it was the kingdom that I had technically helped the beastkin to establish in the elvennds. I hadn¡¯t taken a look at it in a while, so it was a bit surprising to hear that they were still doing well. ¡°That¡¯s good. It was quite the beast, though.¡±


    Tsubaki gave a sharp nod in agreement apparently recalling the event herself. ¡°I believe that it was the first time I had ever personally encountered a creature which was able to interfere with yourws. It was¡­ most troubling.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ve been around for a while.¡± I exined, walking past her and towards the door. ¡°It is only natural for creatures to adapt to their surroundings as they evolve, and sometimes that results in beings able to manipte the system. The ingredients used in the alchemist¡¯s medicine you spoke of should be herbs that evolved in a simr manner.¡±


    ¡°Yes, there are legends of creatures and people who have in some way existed outside the normalws. However, most believed them to be simple rumors blown out of proportion. Now that I know they exist, I can better prepare for them.¡± As Tsubaki spoke, she hastily opened the door for me, before following along behind. It was time to see what the demon¡¯s n was.

 Chapter 248: Outward Expansion

    <h4>Chapter 248: Outward Expansion</h4>


    When we arrived at themunications room, it took Tsubaki only a moment to move over to the floating crystal. When she ced her hand on it and closed her eyes, the room seemed to shift, the illusion created by the crystal constructing the targetndscape. ¡°Kirano of Desbar.¡± Tsubaki spoke, and a demon appeared next to the crystal, his body translucent.


    As he was addressed, he abruptly looked around. ¡°Lady Tsubaki?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s me.¡± She confirmed readily, nodding her head a small amount. ¡°The Keeper has descended, so I have passed the message as requested.¡±


    ¡°Ah!¡± He appeared visibly excited when he heard that, before controlling his expression. ¡°Is he there with you now?¡±


    ¡°He is.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­¡± The man let out a brief groan, before shaking his head with reluctance. ¡°My apologies, Keeper, for showing you a disgraceful sight. This should be about the n to help expand Desbar, I believe?¡±


    ¡°It is.¡± I nodded my head. ¡°I¡¯m interested in hearing what you had in mind.¡±


    A wide smile spread out across Kirano¡¯s face when he heard that. ¡°Thank you! Now, first of all, let me ask a question. Only the three of our worlds connected by the gate are under your direct control, right? There isn¡¯t a fourth or fifth out there we need to worry about?¡±


    ¡°Not¡­ yet.¡± I spoke up after a brief moment of hesitation. ¡°There will eventually be more worlds connecting through the gate, but for the moment there are only the three.¡±


    He had a somewhat difficult expression when I exined, but shook his head a momentter. ¡°No matter, no matter, that is a problem for the future. My n to expand the demon territory involves utilizing the gates. We have known for a long time that they connect to countless different worlds outside of your control, and our goal is to colonize one of those worlds.¡±


    ¡°Would that not be extremely risky without having a key to the world in question? Supply lines and immigration couldn¡¯t be achieved easily without the ability to reach the same world a second time.¡± This was something I had considered before, and it had always seemed like a nearly impossible venture, without being able to send someone through that was able to personally craft one of the gate keys.


    ¡°Aha!¡± The demon smiled triumphantly. ¡°But we have found a way. You see, if someone activates a gate from the other end, then anyone standing on the gate from our side will immediately be transported through. As long as we take with us a spare key to Desbar, we will have a reliable method with which we can stay in contact with our home until a new key is prepared.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡± I had honestly not been aware of such a feature, though it did make sense. ¡°How confident are you in your people¡¯s ability to craft a key to an unknown world?¡±


    ¡°It might¡­ take a few years.¡± The demon admitted after a moment of hesitation. ¡°However, so long as the environment we find ourselves in is not toxic, there should be no problem with setting up a colony.¡±


    I could only nod in agreement at that. Even I was curious just what kind of worlds the system would randomly generate on the other side of the fairy gates. There was every chance that the worlds might not have anything like the game system in the four that I currently owned. In fact, it was very likely.


    ¡°Just be careful. Take both magic and technology with you, because the systems you are used to having might not function on the other side.¡± Well, it was obvious that magic should at least function, if there was a fairy gate within the world, but there was also the chance that thews of magic might be different on that end, and that their spellcasting would be affected.


    ¡°Understood, Keeper.¡± The demon gave a polite nod as he heard the warning. ¡°I believe we should be able to get everything ready in as soon as a month. We¡¯d be ready sooner, but I did not want this n to move forward without your approval, as it involved going beyond your borders.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡± It basically just meant that I would have to fast forward again to see where this ended up. I wanted to be in the Admin Room when the expedition left anyways, that way I¡¯d be able to check out some things from my end that I couldn¡¯t see while descended. ¡°Is there anything else?¡±


    ¡°No, sir, I do not believe so.¡± Once he had said that, I gave a small nod towards Tsubaki, and she ended themunication there.


    ¡°Is there no issue with this n?¡± Tsubaki asked curiously as she folded her hands in front of herself.


    ¡°Why would there be?¡± I looked at her in confusion, not sure why she would ask that.


    ¡°This n could be seen as the demons wishing to leave the territory that you have granted them, and move outside of your control. Would this not pose a potential problem in the future?¡±


    I shook my head, chuckling softly as I realized the nature of her concern. ¡°No, there is not a problem at all. Even if they go to a new world, they wouldn¡¯t leave the area of my control.¡± I put a small smile on my face as I said that. After all, I could simply purchase whatever world that they ended up on if I needed to.


    Tsubaki had a somewhat confused look on her face, her eyes blinking slowly before she nodded. ¡°Very well, my Keeper. I shall trust in your words. If there is nothing else, I would like to invite you to dinner. Soreya tends to eat at about this time, so I¡¯ve been preparing a meal. It would not be hard to make an additional portion, if you so wish.¡±


    I considered her offer for a moment, before shaking my head. ¡°No, I should be leaving again.¡± Every moment I stayed down here not being productive was time wasted, given that there was an invasion happening before too long. ¡°I¡¯ll be back after Desbar has started their n. I¡¯m quite curious to see how it goes.¡±


    Tsubaki gave a small nod, moving to leave the room after I said that. Following her with my world sight, I saw that she was returning to the throne room¡­ where she once again kneeled at the bottom of the stairs, staring at my throne. I need to find that girl a hobby.


    Shaking my head, I ascended to the Admin Room, and set the world to fast forward until such time that the demons had begun their colonization efforts.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Gathered around the Fairy Gate in Desbar, arge group of demons could be seen. In front of it was a podium, upon which stood the Voice of the Demons, Kirano. ¡°Everyone, today is a great day. Today, we will set out from our small world, and expand to territories unknown.¡±


    ¡°As you all know, our world does not have the seemingly endless space possessed by both Earth and Deckan. Rather, we struggle for space, more so now than ever with the appearance of increasingly stronger monsters. Only through expansion can our people thrive. Therefore, I would like to introduce three people to you.¡±


    Stepping back, he held his hand out towards the sky, and three figures descended onto the stage, before swiftly folding their wings. ¡°These will be the three to lead us into a bright future.¡± Each of the three were wearing heavy masks over their face, their bodies covered by tight ck suits that exposed not a single inch of skin, aside from their wings.


    ¡°They will be leading the three teams on their mission to colonize new worlds. First up, Leetu Nivahn.¡± The first of the three figures stepped forward, cing his hand against his chest.


    ¡°My team will do our best to find a new home.¡± After speaking, he turned and moved to the gate. The key to control it had already been taken out, but they knew it would work regardless. A group of twenty figures, all dressed in the same manner as Leetu, rushed over to stand with him moments before the gate activated.


    ¡°Now, please give them a few moments to perform simple scans of the area.¡± Kirano said with a small smile. ¡°Each team has been granted two keys for the gate. One to use in case the world is hospitable, and one if the dangers of the world are too great. In order to assure that the dangers of that world cannot follow them back to us, the second key is specifically designed to break after a single use.¡±


    Even as he spoke, there was no sign of the gate being activated. Just to be safe, they had contacted both Deckan and Earth to ask to make sure that there was no traffic to Deckan today. Thest thing that they needed was for a random family to walk out of the gate when the crowd was expecting to greet their heroes.


    Finally, the gate lit up in a flurry of motion. The concentric stone circles lifted up, forming the familiar pattern of an iing transit. And when the light faded, there was just a single man standing there, his hand once again pped over his chest. ¡°The is habitable.¡± He spoke, before the gate lit up once again to whisk him away.


    The crowd gave a round of apuse when it was revealed that the first world that they explored was one where they could live. However, Kirano did his best to calm the crowd. ¡°Now, next, please wee Sylph Leyrin!¡±


    The second figure, a woman going by the curves of her outfit, stepped forward. Her voice was simrly muffled by her mask, but she spoke proudly as well. ¡°My team will do our best to find a new home.¡±


    This continued on, the second likewise having favorable conditions. Until finally, the third team had departed as well. Just as Kirano was getting ready to announce the sess of the endeavor, and how this would pave the way for their future, the gate lit up. Imagining that it was like the others, the team leader returning to give their report, Kirano simply smiled as he looked at the gate.


    But what came through was not the team leader. At least, not in any form that could be recognized. Five figures copsed against the stage, their bodies half melted. Bone and organs could be seen in the areas where their protective suits had been destroyed. Kirano¡¯s eyes widened in shock as he saw the scene before hurriedly turning to the crowd.


    ¡°Move everyone back! Quarantine the gate, pending an investigation!¡± Even Kirano himself did not want to remain near the gate, pping his wings to take off into the air while he covered his mouth, afraid that whatever had targeted these people would be airborne.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Well, two out of three isn¡¯t bad.¡± I shrugged my shoulders, though I did feel bad for the third group.


    I had been watching the event from the Admin Room, and was quite pleased to notice new maps being added to myputer each time a team left. Although these maps only showed me the area directly surrounding the gate, it was still better than nothing. If anything, it looked like the interface for the Keeper Sim game.


    That¡¯s how I was able to tell what really happened to the third team. It truly had been something airborne which killed them, but not any form of flesh-eating disease that had eaten through their suits. No, the air in the world that they had entered had been quite literally acidic. By the time they noticed, one of their own had already copsed, and they rushed to activate the gate again.


    Unfortunately for them, most of their people died in the time it took them to finish the activation sequence, their bodies melted. As such, they weren¡¯t carried along with the rest of the group when they returned. Only the five strongest monks within the group had ki powerful enough to mostly defend their bodies before the gate activated, but even that was just enough to let their corpses be returned home.

 Chapter 249: Incubation

    <h4>Chapter 249: Incubation</h4>


    Taking a closer look at both worlds, I confirmed that there was indeed not a game system set up. At least, judging by the price that had been ced on the worlds. They were rated at one hundred and fifteen, and one hundred and seventy points, too low to include the various systems that I had purchased for my worlds. As for the third world, it had disappeared from my interface just as soon as the team returned to Desbar. However, it seemed that there was not as much need to worry.


    The people who had already unlocked their sses were not stripped of them in this world. The mages kept their mana, the monks kept their ki. Simrly, stat bonuses gained from sses stayed as well.


    If there was one downside to being in one of these two new worlds, it was¡­ people could no longer ess those systems on their own in them. They couldn¡¯t view their status window, their health bars disappeared, and they could not create quests or anything like that. I wasn¡¯t sure yet, but it also seemed like it would be unlikely that they could level up as well.


    Well, I¡¯m sure that they will think of this as the logical price to pay for moving outside of my territory. Worst case scenario, they send their children back to one of the three worlds in order to train them. This will cause them to still be reliant on the worlds I control.


    Honestly, though, I could easily afford both worlds, and even afford the cost to give them the same systems that I had on my own. Thanks to the points that I had earned from the Keeper Meeting, I had more than enough to be able to spend on things like that. The only reason that I didn¡¯t was that I wanted to reserve the points for now, see if there was anything else that I wanted before the invasion started.


    Just as I was about to descend again, I received a message from Irena. The new pen is ready, if Leowynn would like to continue to train.


    Hearing that startled me for a moment, because it had not yet been very long since herst training period. ¡°Leowynn? Irena says that the pen¡¯s ready for you.¡±


    Thank you, father. Her voice spoke up from inside of me. I think¡­ I should be ready, yes. I want to continue. Her voice held hesitation at first, but a momentter she reaffirmed her confidence.


    I sent the response to Irena, who said that she would meet us in the Underworld in order to show us how to use the new feature of the pen. As such, I immediately chose to descend in the same location that we had visited in the past, confirming that there were still no settlements anywhere even remotely nearby.


    When I arrived, it was in the body of a daeva. Irena, as she said, was already waiting for me when I got there. In her hand was what seemed to be the exact same pen that I had been using previously in our training excursions. The only difference was that there seemed to be a bit more intricate carvings along the tip of the pen.


    ¡°Is that it?¡± I asked, looking down to the pen, to which Irena nodded stoically.


    ¡°It is, Dale.¡± She then held up the pen, as if allowing me to inspect its surface. ¡°Visually it is still very simr to the original version. However, the new function has made it into a far more powerful tool.¡±


    Looking at her curiously, I waited for her to exin. Seeing this, she turned, aiming the pen in a seemingly random direction. I could see the torrent of spiritual energy being absorbed into the pen, just like how it used to be done. The change came after that¡­


    Once the spiritual energy had been absorbed into the pen, Irena began writing in the air with it. Be fire.


    Immediately, the dark and grey mistyndscape of the Underworld erupted into mes. Every speck of spiritual energy that I could see had begun burning, causing me to open my eyes wide in shock. When she wrote the words ¡®Return to normal¡¯ in the air with the pen, the fire immediately vanished, as if it had never been there in the first ce.


    ¡°The quill of souls can only show its greatest power in the Underworld. Once filled with spiritual energy, you can use that energy to writemands. Thesemands contain the intent with which they were written, and the nearby spiritual energy interprets and responds to that intent.¡±


    I gave a small nod at her exnation, still dumbfounded by how the pen performed. If a future invasion ever involved the Underworld, then this would surely qualify as a weapon of mass destruction.


    Irena turned, passing the pen to me before nodding her head gently. ¡°Let me know if you need me for anything else.¡± For a brief moment, I thought I saw her expression soften, before she vanished, no doubt returning to the Admin Room.


    ¡°Did you¡­ see that, Leowynn?¡± I asked hesitantly, before finding the mist exploding forth from my body, forming the body of my elven daughter.


    ¡°I did.¡± She responded with a smile, clearly eager to test the effects of the pen herself. ¡°I¡¯m ready to begin whenever you are.¡±


    Nodding my head, I turned and absorbed the nearby energy in order to once again fill the pen. Only after that did I point it to Leowynn. She reflexively flinched, reminding me of the old function of the pen. Smiling to her, I simply began to write in the air. Empower Leowynn.


    Irena said that it responded to my intent, which was in line with what I knew about spiritual energy. As such, there was no need to write fancy instructions, detailing every step and condition for the training. I could simplify it down as much as I liked and still get the desired result.


    The moment that I had finished writing Leowynn¡¯s name, a circle of light sprang into being at her feet. She looked down in shock, before the circle began to brighten, rotating rapidly. All around us, the spiritual energy of the Underworld was being drawn into the circle, causing it to glow more and more.


    Steadily, the light began to rise up, obscuring Leowynn¡¯s body. I could only step back, watching the events unfold. I wasn¡¯t quite sure how this was going to work, but Leowynn did not appear to be in pain.


    Soon, the light hadpletely engulfed her body, forming into a giant egg. Only then did it settle, the energies around us halting their frantic movements. And, at the same time, a message appeared in front of me.


    Spirit Leowynn has entered an incubation period. Spiritual contact is disabled until incubation ends.


    ¡°Well¡­ I¡¯m not sure what I was expecting.¡± I admitted, realizing after the message that Leowynn would likely not be able to hear me. ¡°But it wasn¡¯t that.¡±


    Curious, I tried to pull Leowynn back into my spiritual realm. Thankfully, therge egg that she was in did not offer resistance. It had attached itself to her spirit, and thus came with her, shattering into fragments of mist that flew into my body.


    When I checked my spiritual realm, I saw the egg just sitting there, knowing that Leowynn was resting inside. I wasn¡¯t sure how long this was going to take, and likely not even Irena knew. I had just been expecting this to be a longer training session, standing here a bit while Leowynn absorbed energies.


    Instead, she had be trapped in an egg, the system dering it as an incubation period. Though, the fact that the system said that should mean that there was no danger to Leowynn from this. I just had to wait until she ¡®hatched¡¯.


    Once again, I returned to the Admin Room, this time only long enough to descend as a kitsune. And sure enough, I found Tsubaki still in her kneeling posture, waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs in front of my throne. ¡°Did you observe the event?¡± I asked her, and she nodded her head slightly.


    ¡°I did.¡± She slowly stood up, dusting off her clothes with her hands. ¡°Would you like a report on the matter?¡±


    I shook my head, standing up and heading down the steps. ¡°No need, I watched it myself. Please ry my condolences about the third expedition team. Their ending was¡­ not at all pleasant.¡±


    ¡°Is it a matter that requires urgent warning?¡± Tsubaki asked, turning to follow me. ¡°Airborne gues could perhaps infect the entirety of the Desbar poption if they had been brought back.¡±


    ¡°No, the third expedition wasn¡¯t exposed to anything like that. And, if Kirano is smart enough toe up with this n, he likely took diseases into ount. Each side will no doubt have a quarantine period after travel while they are examined for potentially harmful diseases. Especially after today¡¯s events.¡±


    Tsubaki gave a small nod at that. ¡°Very well, then. I have ryed your message. He thanks you for your concern.¡±


    While we were walking, moving towards the library, I sent a message to Aurivy. Would you be able to ce a dungeon below the gates of the new worlds that were just explored?


    It took a few moments, but she did soon respond to me. I could, but your automatic ¡®cmity¡¯ would spawn as a result. I¡¯m not sure how the mana surge would affect the gate¡¯s functions. And, more importantly, their racial connection to one another is limited to their own world. They would not be able to learn from the others.


    Ahh¡­ nevermind, then. I shook my head as I realized that my idea was not feasible at this time. I had been hoping that I could create a dungeonwork between these unexplored worlds, mapping them out as I had done while ying Keeper Sim. Would you be up for the challenge of teaching new dungeons? Not beneath the gates¡­ far enough away that the mana surge won¡¯t affect things.


    Well, I mean, I could do that. Aurivy replied, though I could hear the excitement barely contained in her tone.


    Please do so, then. I want to test some things out, and it should eventually be possible to create portals directly between the dungeons, like we used in the Keeper Sim. If we can make those portals cross between worlds, perhaps their racial connection can eventually bridge the gap as well.


    I¡¯ll get right on it! Aurivy said happily. Doing this would also prevent me from losing contact with the world, even if the demons happened to get wiped out on it. I¡¯d be able to rey what happened and see if it was worth sending a new team. If not, I could simply pull the dungeon back out with Aurivy. Maybe the dungeon could even make the gate keys itself.


    When we arrived at the library, the young elven woman was pouring over the books, humming to herself quietly as she read. The sound of the door closing behind us alerted her, making her lift her head to regard us. ¡°Oh, hello Keeper!¡± She called out, hastily scrambling out of her chair to offer a quick bow.


    She was no longer such a young girl, having aged visibly. She had not quite fully matured yet, but she definitely looked like a young woman, simr to Leowynn back when I first met her. ¡°Have you been enjoying your stay here so far?¡± I asked curiously, seeing that she was the only one currently living here with Tsubaki.


    ¡°Well, it is a bit lonely¡­¡± Soreya admitted, shaking her head. ¡°But it¡¯s fine! I was told that this would happen. And Lady Tsubaki has been keeping mepany. She¡¯s really been great. Considering everything¡­ yes, sir, I think I have been enjoying it.¡±


    She gave a low bow after saying that, smiling to herself. Seeing that she appeared happy to stay in the Citadel, I was relieved. It¡¯d be a bit upsetting if Tubrock went through all the trouble of making this ce fit for people to live in, and nobody lived in it but Tsubaki.

 Chapter 250: New Information

    <h4>Chapter 250: New Information</h4>


    After I had spoken with Soreya, I stayed in the Citadel long enough to feed my world sight a bit more, before returning to the Admin Room. There were a few more things that I had to take care of here, and then I would be able to spend a prolonged amount of time down in the world. Maybe I should go visit one of the countries this time as a normal person¡­ It¡¯s been a little while since I did that.


    The first thing that I wanted to take care of was to contact Alkahest. After seeing how he and his guild leader had been acting at the start of the meeting, I was a bit worried and wanted to hear how they were doing now.


    Just to be safe, I checked the Keeper forums, and looked around before I found the ¡®match listings¡¯ section that I had been told about before. Like I heard, you were able to see the various pairings for current matches. I scrolled through the list, and confirmed that Alkahest wasn¡¯t currently being invaded. Only after that did I send him a message request.


    Alkahest: Yo, Dale. Got a question for me?


    EarthForceOne: Actually, just wanted to make sure everything was okay. I saw you at the meeting, and it looked like something had happened.


    Alkahest: Ah, right¡­ you saw me and Seraphine. Nothing to worry about, it¡¯s taken care of.


    EarthForceOne: Wait¡­ really? Herpanions seemed so desperate, I was afraid that she was about to be eliminated or something.


    Alkahest: It was a close call¡­ And if something goes wrong, that might still be the case. But, it should just be a couple days now. I was able to force an attack, so the two of us will have to reset after this, though.


    EarthForceOne: Ah¡­ sorry to hear that.


    Alkahest: It¡¯s not a big problem. Most Keepers at my rank have had to start over a few times for one reason or another.


    From there, the two of us had just a bit of small talk, before I let him get back to whatever he was doing. At least things were starting to make sense now. Alkahest had gotten the attack ticket during the meeting, and must have used it tounch a full scale attack on the Keeper who was fighting his guild leader.


    Now that I thought about it, this was the same insurance policy that those smaller guilds promised, to try to eliminate a hostile Keeper that was trying to kill you. I suppose at the higher ranks, this took on a muchrger scale. I could just imagine Alkahest mobilizing entire universes for a massive conflict, even letting them know that they were just going there to die.


    Honestly, I wasn¡¯t sure if I¡¯d be able to do something like that. To send everyone from all my worlds out in a single attack. Then again¡­ that¡¯s also probably why I wouldn¡¯t do well in Balu¡¯s position. Just looking at my three main worlds and imagining resetting them hurt me on a deep level. Having interacted with so many people, and seen so many things, and then just making it all go away¡­ I wasn¡¯t sure I¡¯d be able to do that.


    Shaking my head, I decided to move onto the second item of my agenda. Bihena, you free for a moment?


    What¡¯s up, Dale? She responded just a momentter.


    Did you figure out how to fix the gravity issue of Fyor? I recalled Terra mentioning that being an issue that they¡¯d have to face in the future, and was hoping that they¡¯de up with a solution for it by now.


    Well, it made it easier once they found the Martial Artist sphere. Now, we¡¯ve got dojos on every floor. A basic requirement for anyone to advance to a higher floor is that they have the stamina and strength to cope with it. For now, Martial Artists are the easiest answer, because the level up all three physical stats equally.


    I gave a small nod when I heard that. And what¡¯s the progress on getting the world ready to join the others?


    Well, they¡¯re finally out of the stone age, now that they found more minerals to make widespread metal weapons. Enchanting¡¯s be a pretty big thing now, too. Monsters in the twelfth floor aren¡¯t easily hurt by normal swords. One thing to note¡­ Starting from the eleventh floor, it looks like the difficulty is spiking.


    What do you mean by that? This sounded ominous and worrisome.


    The spheres on the eleventh and twelfth floors aren¡¯t the ten level increase spheres, but fifty. And the monsters in the floor range between the level limit of the previous and current floors. Which means¡­ right now, we¡¯re trying to get the twelfth floor¡¯s orb, but our people are only level one-fifty. And the monsters go up to two hundred.


    Hearing her exnation, I nodded my head slightly. It¡¯s not an unheard of gap in levels. After all, monsters as much as double people¡¯s levels could appear on Earth. But in Fyor, where people were forced to spread their levels out in order topensate for the increasing pressure, that ended up meaning that they needed to form parties in order to survive against monsters of the same level. Only a purely physical fighter wearing enchanted gear would be able to solo creatures above their level.


    What about other races? Any signs of the dungeon world giving us a pleasant surprise yet?


    There was a brief chuckle from Bihena at that. There is a race of goblin-like creatures on the eleventh floor. They¡¯re guarding the Weaponmaster orb as if it were a holy treasure. Our people haven¡¯t found their base yet, and we¡¯re not too keen to send them that way. As for the twelfth¡­ well, I guess you could call them a type of elves?


    Exin¡­ I was not really sure I liked where this was going.


    The twelfth level is an underground floor. Didn¡¯t expect anything like that to happen, but it did. The day-night cycle simply controls the mana crystals embedded in the walls of the tunnels. These tunnels then create a maze-like structure all throughout the floor. This floor houses a race of ck-skinned creatures with body proportions simr to elves, and a talent for taming monsters.


    ¡°Dark elves?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask out loud, my eyes widening. Okay, that¡¯s unexpected. Have they been causing problems for you?


    Not yet, but I¡¯m sure that they will. Their main conve is centered around the gate to the thirteenth floor. It won¡¯t be possible to advance without meeting them.


    I gave a small nod of my head, thinking about it a little bit. The elves were born on the twelfth floor, so in order to naturally move around like they would, they¡¯d have to have eleven points higher than the humans or halflings in their physical stats. It wouldn¡¯t be a terrible idea to buy them as a race, if the diplomatic talks with them worked out. If they could be made friendly, then that would be best for everyone involved.


    If at all possible, don¡¯t make them into enemies. It¡¯d be nice to have an allied race of the upper floors now and again.


    Understood, Dale. Bihena answered with a long mental sigh. Oh, one more thing, before I forget. I wanted to let you know something about the monsters of Fyor.


    I mentally nudged her to continue, which she did after a moment. Magic-based monsters will typically have a rune carved into their monster core. This is something we just started seeing recently, after people realized that they could harvest the cores of monsters. Though, none of the cores will have a rune of the third tier or higher. Maybe it only works for ones we¡¯ve already bought?


    It was hard to say for sure, though it was a very likely answer. Alright. Keep up the good work, and let me know if anything changes. After sending that message off, I contacted Terra. I have a quick question for you.


    It¡¯s about Leowynn¡¯s incubation, right? She responded immediately, as if she had been waiting for me to contact her.


    That¡¯s¡­ right. Is there anything that you can tell me about it? I wasn¡¯t sure whether or not I had met the conditions to allow her to answer my question yet, so I had been holding off asking immediately. Now that I had a moment, however, it seemed like a good time to discuss it.


    I can¡¯t tell you the full details, because you¡¯re the first person to perform incubation on a ¡®tamed spirit¡¯ so far. All that I can say is that it won¡¯t be bad for her. Once she wakes up, you can inspect the changes yourself.


    I gave a small nod as I heard that, mentally thanking her. Although Terra wasn¡¯t able to tell me anything, the fact that she confirmed that nothing bad was happening to Leowynn was enough.


    Giving it a bit of thought, I sent my next message out to alia. As the Goddess of Wisdom, she seemed like the best one to ask for advice on this. Are you free for a moment?


    Sure thing, Dale! What¡¯s up? Her voice came across as energetic as always, making me smile slightly.


    I¡¯m about to go on a training exercise. With the invasioning up, I want to make sure I¡¯m as strong as I can be. Wanted to get your advice on which field I should focus my training.


    Oh? Well, hmm¡­ You¡¯re not terrible at magic. Not great at it, but not terrible. The best choice would be to train an advanced ss. Obviously, Martial Spirit and World Spirit are off the table. Summoner requires arge time investment to get significant returns, and you already have Leowynn. That leaves either Elemental Monk or Elementalist. And, since you¡¯re not great at magic¡­ I¡¯d suggest Elemental Monk.


    I gave a small nod at her answer, having thought that the monk ss would be the best for me in the future as well. The ninja ss is also really nice, and I might even consider making that my first back-up, but I knew I was better with ki than any other energy.


    Out of curiosity, I checked the ss list for Fyor, wanting to see if they had gotten the Elementalist ss yet. Given that the rune magic system required them to speak by default, I was curious how that ss would change. Unfortunately, they had not yet unlocked any of the advanced sses.


    Shrugging my shoulders, I sent my thanks to alia, before getting to work on theputer. I wanted to design another new ki path, one that could support multiple ¡®ki sources¡¯. Right now, I had one that could hold both normal and elemental ki, but that wasn¡¯t really enough. I wanted to test out the theory that I had given Aurivy a while back.


    The ki path that I designed had six different pools to draw from. The primary ki pool, which ran through the heart as normal, and then five spaced evenly around it in a pentagram. Four of these five would be used for elemental ki, and the fifth¡­ call it an insurance, in case I found something interesting.


    In reality, it was just there because I had the extra space in the ki path, and though that bncing a fifth secondary pool would look better than having a gap. But I was open to the possibility of being able tobine different types of elemental ki to create new elements.


    Either way, once I was done, I looked down at the world, searching through to find a quiet spot to train. Such areas were bing fewer and fewertely as the people expanded, though there were still some regions of the world where I could train in peace. For this one, I decided to return to an old familiar spot, Aurivy¡¯s very first dungeon. Out in the middle of the ocean, such a small plot ofnd, nobody around for hundreds of miles.

 Chapter 251: A New Beginning

    <h4>Chapter 251: A New Beginning</h4>


    Shortly after I descended, I was preparing to sit down on the smooth surface of the ind that the Trials dungeon had created. It was small enough to hardly be noticed unless you passed right by, and most everyone used the elven gates to move between continents anyways. There were few reasons for people to be out this far in the ocean.


    However, just as I was about to ask the dungeon to remove its mana field so that I could train, I noticed that it had already done so. Curious, and a small bit worried, I used a quick burst of world sight to check out the situation of the dungeon. I was relieved to see that it was fine, and had simply restrained its mana to within its walls.


    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s get started then.¡± I muttered to myself, before I began the process of creating elemental ki. Though¡­ giving it a bit of thought, I once again stopped myself, thinking¡­ Could control of natural energy make this easier?


    Hey, Aurivy, got a second? I ask the halfling goddess, knowing that she had spent a considerable number of lives studying elementalists in order to learn what she could about their basics.


    Sure thing, bro. Her voice came across energetically, making me think that something good had happened in her and Bihena¡¯s world. What do you need?


    Is it possible to use a druid¡¯s ability to control natural energy to better merge with a monk¡¯s ki? The normal method, the most archaic version, was to simply expel the ki into the surroundings and let it slowly merge with the ambient natural energy before pulling it back in. But¡­ that could take an insane amount of time depending on how much ki needed to be converted.


    Hmm¡­ There have been a few breakthroughs in streamlining the process since I did that. Let me ask the others real fast! B.R.B!


    When she said that, a quiet tone filled the connection, making me blink in surprise. She put me on hold. And she even included sound effects for it¡­


    Back! Okay, Keliope said that there was a breakthrough about sixty years back to use druids to help elemental monks. If the monk had a good enough control of his ki, and the druid of the natural energy, it is possible to have the two create the elemental ki together. Though, it will still be under the control of the monk.


    When I asked for details on the process, it actually sounded pretty simply. Maybe it was a big breakthrough for them because they did not have the information globes that gave us information about ki and natural energy¡­ but this seemed like tier basic tier two usage for each.


    Thanks. I¡¯ll let you get back to whatever you were doing now. I told her, before taking a deep breath. For the first step, I brought my hands up in front of myself, my palms facing upwards. My ki surged along my body, moving through the paths that I had created and into my hands. From there, it lifted up in yellow strands, forming a glowing ball of energy.


    ¡°First, create a stable, exterior bundle of ki. And next¡­¡± I focused on my control of natural energy before I began to speak, reciting the ¡®introduction¡¯ lines. ¡°I am the one who stands above the heavens. My word is thew of the universe. Spirits of nature, converge. Be the mes that guide my way.¡±


    While this was primarily used for elementalist casting, the ¡®will of the world¡¯ simrly responded when I was purely using druidic powers. Streaks of green light formed in the air, condensed natural energy that had gathered at mymand. Just as they were making contact with the ball of ki, they burst into mes.


    ¡°Mix with the light of my heart. The strength of my body will burn like the sun.¡± The ball of ming ki roared, glowing brighter and hotter as more natural energy was added into it. I couldn¡¯t help but be relieved that this method not only allowed me to more efficiently create elemental ki, but it even seemed possible to let me choose the element!


    Soon, I measured the bnce to be perfect, wrapping my world sight around this tiny sphere. It took some delicate control to properlybine the two energies without wasting much, but this was still far better than what I was used to. The efficiency of the original method would be lucky to return five points of elemental ki for every hundred invested, whereas this time it seemed like there was only five lost per hundred.


    Once the fire element ki had stabilized, I clenched my two hands. The tiny sun above my palms shattered, turning into rays of light that flew back into my body. I guided those lights to one of the five empty pools around my heart, and found it filling with the fire elemental ki easily.


    ¡°One down¡­¡± I grinned, and began repeating the process. Water, earth, and wind all took their turns to gather at my call. Each one used the same method and achieved the same result. If only Aurivy knew how to do this back when she was studying elementalists, things would have been a lot easier for her.


    By the time that I was done, all but one of the ki pools that I had prepared were set up. And seeing those wellsprings of energy within myself gave me an idea, but first¡­ Udona.


    Yes, Dale? The kitsune goddess responded after a brief moment.


    I need cards. I heard that you had been gathering them for a while. I¡¯m about to try something new, and I need a good defensive spell to protect myself in case it goes wrong.


    There was a pause after my request, before she replied again. Okay¡­ Give me just a moment and I¡¯ll make something for you.


    I nodded, standing up and stretching. The process of creating the four types of elemental ki had been quick, less than five minutes each. However, the expenditure and transfer of ki left my body feeling stiff. For what I wanted to do next, it was important to make sure that I had full control of myself.


    Shortly after I was done, a single card floated down from the sky, clearly sent by Udona. Before the breeze could whisk it away, I held my hand out and used the wind to bring it to me. Once I looked at the card, I heard Udona¡¯s calm voice exining the effects of the card. Illusion of Damage spell. Using this will create a temporary buff that absorbs the next source of damage you take. The damage is then dispelled as if it were an illusion, so long as it does not exceed the mana that you ce in the spell.


    That is a¡­ really convenient defensive spell. And just from looking at the card, I could tell that it belonged to the third tier. Thanks. This should help a lot. I told her, before activating the card. Just to be on the safe side, I used my Keeper mana to fuel it, not willing to spare any expense.


    Only once I saw the card light up was I relieved enough to start the process of trying out what I wanted to do. Waving my hand, I created onerge circle within the stone. How should I do this¡­ I thought inwardly, cing four separate circles evenly spaced along therger one, letting therge circle run directly through them.


    From there, I created a sixth circle in the center, and lines connecting each of the four outer circles to the inner one. ¡°This should work¡­ I think?¡± I wasn¡¯t entirely confident in myself at that, but I knew that something would happen.


    Of course, before that¡­ Dale, what are you trying to do, and why do I suddenly have this urge to smack you on the back of the head? Naturally, Terra had to speak up.


    Little experiment. Already took protective measures with Udona. I figure if this works, I get an achievement and something nice. If it doesn¡¯t¡­ well, that¡¯s what the protective measures were for.


    I could practically feel Terra¡¯s eyes narrowing. Aurivy is on standby. If the result of this experiment gets out of control, she¡¯s going to make you abort.


    And now I have more protective measures. I smiled slightly as I thought that.


    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s do this.¡± I said, aiming my hands towards two of the circles. From each of my hands came a sphere of elemental ki. Fire emerged on the left, a tiny sun suspended on the air, while a small whirlwind formed in my right. I sent each of them into one of the four circles before moving to the others, releasing the water and earth spheres there as well.


    Because it would be tedious to build it all back up again, I only used half of my ki from each element. Next¡­ Therge epassing circle began to light up as I fed my mana into it. Thanks to my training with the Ten Thousand Threads, focusing on these five different energies was not nearly as difficult as I had expected.


    ¡°I am the one who stands above the heavens. My word is thew of the universe.¡± Lifting my head, I called out the introduction once again. I felt the natural energies stirring around me, responding to my call as I considered what words would be best to use here.


    ¡°Come, gather, create harmony. Let the four elements join as one. By magic, by might, and by the will of the world. Let all things share one origin.¡± I moved the mana along the connecting lines, slowly filling the rest of the circles while the four spheres began to let off strands of different colored light. Each strand following along one of the lines I had drawn to converge in the center.


    ¡°The world gave birth to fire, wind, water, and the earth. One creates four, and four create all things.¡± The excitement was starting to build up within me as I watched the four types of ki merging, more elemental energy pouring in from the surroundings while the mana rose up from below. Wary of catastrophic failure, I sent my world sight in to make sure that things were stabilizing.


    I had no idea what form I should be using for this, or even if there was a set form. But, because of world sight I was able to easily find and correct any imbnces within the energy, adding or removing power where needed. I was able to see the four elements swirling within the center of the circle, gathering around a slowly growing fifth power. They were pouring their strength into it, drawing from my power and that of the world around me.


    As I watched, I began to feel as if there was something missing. A gap left unfilled within the new energy. Not something to stabilize it, as it was already showing signs of bing stable with what was already there. No¡­ it needed something to control it. Once the energies merged, they had be a higher form, and it was no longer within my control.


    Thankfully, this new energy didn¡¯t seem to be a destructive one, or else I was certain that it contained enough power to destroy the ind I was standing on. Thinking, I considered what could fill in that gap, before I remembered the one energy that I hadn¡¯t inserted yet. Spiritually energy, which became the controlling force behind world sight.


    Gritting my teeth, I pulled out a strand of my spirit and sent it out. Okay, Aurivy¡­ moment of truth. If this goes boom, you¡¯ve got to be faster.


    Don¡¯t worry, bro. I¡¯ve got my eyes on you. She whispered back at my earnest prayer. There was a hint of worry in her tone, but also clear, unmasked excitement.


    The concept of secondary ki pools likely hadn¡¯t been explored too much yet in the current world, so what I was doing could be considered as uncharted territory. I had only considered it when I thought about which two elements I wanted to try tobine to fill in the final pool. Naturally, the answer was¡­ Why not all of them?


    When my spiritual energy made contact with the ball of translucent energy sitting at the center of the circle, the entire sphere turned silver. It began to rotate, and I felt my spiritual energy being pulled out forcefully, drawn into the sphere. I could only grit my teeth harder, fighting back the desire to cry out from the pain of my spirit being stripped away.


    Above my head, my health bar had yet to appear, but I knew that this was still a dangerous situation. If too much of my spirit was drawn out, it was game over. So, I kept a close eye on my condition, not willing to let it go too far.


    Much to my immense satisfaction, the suction force stopped after several long moments. After roughly a tenth of my spiritual energy as a Keeper had been pulled out, the sphere came to a slow halt, simply hovering in the air. Please don¡¯t blow up, please don¡¯t blow up. I muttered inwardly, though I could now distinctly sense the presence of the sphere, even without my world sight.


    Feeling that I had some measure of control over it, I prayed inwardly, breaking off a small strand of it to bring it into my own body, hoping to nt it in the spare ki pool. It may have been created from a mix of all four energies, but at least half of its baseposition had been ki¡­ so it should work, right?


    Soon, I felt the energy begin to settle. It filled my body with a gentle, warm glow from within. Seeing that it was not fighting to leave the ki pool, I began pulling more of it from the sphere, until I hadpletely filled the pool. Even then, roughly a third of the energy remained hovering above the circle that I had drawn¡­


    Well, this is a waste, but¡­ Since I couldn¡¯t safely absorb any more of the energy, Iunched it up into the air, ensuring that I was well outside any potential st radius before causing it to detonate. A brilliant silver glow filled the sky, pushing a few nearby clouds away, but¡­ that was it. Lowering my head, I was honestly a bit disappointed, until I saw the message blinking in front of me.


    Congrattions! You have earned a personal achievement!


    For creating a new energy type without outside assistance, you have received the Spark of Inspiration achievement. +4 Intelligence, +20 points.


    Congrattions! You have earned a personal achievement!


    For creating the energy ¡®Ki of Beginning¡¯ through your own efforts, you have received the Spark of Life achievement. +10% Health, +20 points.

 Chapter 252: The Last Flame

    <h4>Chapter 252: The Last me</h4>


    I couldn¡¯t help but stare at the messages in confusion. I had received an achievement forbining four energies into one back when I made world sight, but that was it. Perhaps my actions of looking up guides on the Keeper Net and being told the basic form by Balu were considered as outside help by the system, so it did not deem the achievement worthy?


    At the same time, I had high hopes for this new energy. I had already experienced the power of world sight, which was simrly an energyprised of all four basic types. However, if their unique difficulties had to bepared, the Ki of Beginning would likely rank a little higher. If not for the pure detection abilities of world sight allowing me to correct the imbnces, then it was obvious that I would have failed.


    I sent a silent thanks to Balu for helping me with world sight, while at the same time looking down at my hand. Channeling the new ki into it, my hand began to glow with a gentle silver light. Terra, what can you tell me about this new energy, now that I¡¯ve already created it?


    I can tell you that it¡¯s not what you were hoping for¡­ Aside from that, you¡¯ll need to experiment for a bit before I can give you detailed information.


    Her response was timely, and it didn¡¯t surprise me. The fact that it didn¡¯t do what I had initially nned for was a little disappointing, but I was sure that this ki would still have a powerful effect. Aurivy, slimes aren¡¯t the best enemy for testing ki¡­ Mind sending me to a different dungeon?


    You got it, bro! She called out, as energetic as ever. Let¡¯s see¡­ this one should do. The kid that you created a while back and used to kickstart the telepathic link. He¡¯s low level enough that you can survive their easily with your normal levels.


    Thanks. Ryone, start searching the market for any sses that specialize in wielding the Ki of Beginning. The ss descriptions should be able to give some insight into its use, and it might be a good idea to buy the ss if this ki bes a viable option.


    On it. Her response was more curt, but I could tell that she was excited as well.


    A momentter, I found Aurivy¡¯s golden mist enveloping me, transporting me to a distant region. The area that she dropped me off was below ground, likely within the dungeon itself. I was surrounded by smooth cave walls, the stone looking as if it had been eroded over countless years.


    My initial n was to simply wait for Ryone¡¯s findings before I began to act, however it did not seem like there would be a need for that. From the darkness ahead, a single¡­ human emerged. Draped in fine silk robes, he seemed like a noble priest. However, I could not sense him until moments before his appearance.


    More telling was the fact that the name above his head was not that of a person, but of a summoned spirit. ¡°You are the one that mother mentioned.¡± The human spoke, its voice echoing deeply. His eyes did not seem to focus on any one point, by just gazed into the air ahead of him.


    ¡°I believe so.¡± I confirmed with a nod. If anyone was going to be called the mother of dungeons, then it would be Aurivy. ¡°Do you know why I¡¯m here?¡±


    ¡°Mother said that you wished to perform tests. She said that you needed something to fight.¡± The voice spoke in its same tone. I had to admit that it was rather brilliant to use a summoned creature as a medium for speech, since dungeon cores had no natural way to speak themselves.


    Wait wait wait! Ryone shouted out into my mind. You don¡¯t have to fight! I found the ss!


    ¡°Please wait for just a moment¡­¡± I told the summoned being, before responding to Ryone. What is it, and why does it sound like fighting is a bad idea now?


    The ss is named the Saint of Five Lights. It¡¯s an advanced ss like elemental monk, but seems to be higher rated. The description reads ¡®The one who hasbined the four elements with himself, and be one with the world. Share his light and cast a new beginning.¡¯ The price of the ss is¡­ two hundred points.


    That number had me opening my eyes wide. The entire package for the Basic Energy Masters, including the Perfect Self ss, had only cost half that. However, Ryone¡¯s words weren¡¯t over. The name of the ss and its descriptions seem to indicate that this isn¡¯t as simple as a normal ki ss. There¡¯s the chance that there could be a bacsh from trying to wield it as a normal ki. You shoulde to the Admin Room first to run some quick tests.


    I gave a small nod. This ss was rated as being four times as valuable as the perfect self. That might be simply because Keepers are able to train it without dying, or that the form is moreplex. Either way, there were bound to be hidden secrets.


    Lifting my head, I looked to the waiting entity. ¡°Sorry, looks like there¡¯s been a change of ns.¡±


    After saying that, I immediately chose to ascend back to the Admin Room, setting up a training area for myself. Surprisingly, I found Keliope appearing next to me as soon as I had made a small room with a single wooden dummy.


    ¡°What? I haven¡¯t had the chance to hang out in a while.¡± She huffed, as if having heard my thoughts. ¡°Besides, I really wanna see what this new toy of yours does. If it¡¯s interesting, I might spend a couple hundred years working on it. Been a while since I had something new to try.¡±


    ¡°Ahh¡­ so that¡¯s your motivation.¡± I said with a slight sigh, before feeling inside myself. It was faint, but I could definitely still feel the presence of the Ki of Beginning even now. Thankfully, creating the energy myself unlocked it for use in the Admin Room, otherwise I¡¯d have to go through the process of making it from scratch all over again.


    ¡°Less b, more jab.¡± She said with a small grin, standing against the wall behind me.


    Shaking my head, I mustered the new ki into my palm, focusing it into a single point before striking outwards at the target dummy. My palm connected, and I felt the dummy crack under my strength, but at the same time it also seemed fine after I pulled my hand back. There wasn¡¯t a trace of any crack on its body, or any significant damage.


    For a moment, I thought that maybe Keliope had strengthened the dummy in preparation for my practice, or had perhaps repaired it sneakily herself, until she spoke up. ¡°Well? Are you going to do something?¡±¡±


    ¡°I¡­ did?¡± I questioned. Her sincerely confused tone led me to believe that she hadn¡¯t tampered with the test. Rather, the dummy itself had indeed been damaged as I felt, and then had been repaired just as quickly.


    Terra said that it wasn¡¯t what I originally wanted¡­ I had honestly been hoping for a creation energy. And, given the name of the energy, the Ki of Beginning might really have been just that. But, since she knew my expectation and denied it, that means it should be something else. With the response just now¡­ mending?


    That thought in mind, I sent a message to Tubrock. I need some broken items. They don¡¯t have to be valuables or anything, just anything broken will do.


    There was a light scoff at my request. And what makes ye think I keep anythin¡¯ broken in me forge?


    Well¡­ then break something that won¡¯t be missed? This is for an important test.


    Aye, aye, just give me a moment,d. I heard him grumbling over the connection. However, a couple of minutester, three swordsnded at my feet, cleanly snapped in half at the des.


    ¡°What are you nning with that?¡± Keliope asked, raising an eyebrow at the destroyed weapons.


    ¡°Well¡­ if I¡¯m right, the basic function of this ki should be restoration. Ki¡¯s primary effect is to manipte the physical form, whether that of a living body or an item. The Ki of Beginning joins with the four elements, mana, and is guided by spiritual energy. Originally, I had been hoping to create an energy that would allow me to materialize permanent objects through a method simr to divine and spiritual energy. Instead¡­¡±


    I held a hand out over the three swords, closing my eyes and focusing to project the ki downwards. I could hear the sounds of metal shing against metal, sliding along the rough stone floor. And then, a momentter, I opened my eyes and saw three swords in good condition.


    ¡°So¡­ it fixes things?¡± Keliope asked, sounding¡­ disappointed.


    ¡°It should be more than that¡­ Restoration should apply to living beings as well. So this can be ssified as a healing ki. Only¡­ there¡¯s one thing that doesn¡¯t make sense.¡±


    ¡°Only one, huh?¡± She joked, a wry grin forming on her face while I sank into thought.


    ¡°The ss is called the saint of five lights. The first light would likely be the silver restoration light.¡±


    Before I could continue, Keliope spoke up with renewed hope in her voice. ¡°Maybe the other four lights refer to the four elements?¡±


    I gave a small nod at that. It was certainly a usible idea. ¡°The four elemental ki types are a requirement to create the ki of beginning. Maybe the ss is meant to work with all four, like a higher version of the elemental monk.¡±


    ¡°Maybe you canbine elemental ki and this new one!¡± Keliope shouted out, pushing off the wall and taking a step closer to me. ¡°Come on, give it a try! What¡¯s the worst that could happen, you getting sted into the wall and giving me a goodugh?¡±


    She did have a point¡­ since this was the Admin Room, there was no way to cause actual damage to myself. And I had to admit, the idea was exciting. If I could use this energy mixed with the other elements, that would give me even more tactics to fight with.


    Taking a deep breath, I turned to face the dummy. In my right hand, I held the ki of beginning, while the left hand began to burn with fire ki. I¡¯ll need to redesign the ki path if this works to set the ki of beginning as the dominant energy, and let the other energiese out alongside it.


    I brought my hands in front of myself, much like when I was first learning to create chakra. Slowly, I allowed my palms to approach one another, not wanting to force the connection. To my surprise, however, the two ki types seemed to jump out from my hands, mingling in the air between them.


    By the time I was able to tell what was going on, the two had merged with almost no effort, forming into a golden me. When I moved my hands back, the me split in two, covering each of my hands.


    With one quick motion, I thrust out at the wooden dummy again with one hand¡­ and nearly fell forward. It felt like I had overexerted myself and missed my target, but when I caught myself, I saw that my hand had instead passed through the dummy¡­ erasing what the golden me had touched before it could hit my skin.


    The ki of beginning,bined with me, bes destruction¡­ That is good to know. Though, maybe a wooden dummy is just too weak of a test target.


    Shaking my head, I nced back to Keliope, who was wearing a grin so wide you¡¯d swear that she found a new toy. ¡°Mind setting up a new target for me? Something stronger¡­ I want to give this a proper run.¡±

 Chapter 253: Understanding the Beginning

    <h4>Chapter 253: Understanding the Beginning</h4>


    Sure enough, the dummy that was made by Keliope was not so easily destroyed. In fact, it survived long enough to make contact with my hand when I struck, sending an intense heat back through my palm that forced me to pull back. When I did so, I saw that the chest of the metal target where I had struck was only half melted.


    Still, she gave a low whistle of appreciation at that. ¡°Pretty impressive. Looks like I might need to give this a shot sometime.¡± The ursa goddess said with a wide grin.


    Shaking my head, I began switching to test out the other three elements. If the normal ki of beginning was able to mend, andbining it with fire made it destroy, I wanted to see what the rest of the elements did.


    When I merged this new ki with water, I was somewhat surprised to find that the ¡®water¡¯ surrounding my hands had turned pitch ck. What surprised me even more was that nothing at all happened when I struck the target dummy. I even pulled my hands back and tried it again, but it was still as hard as ever, with no discernible damage!


    Simrly, nothing happened when I switched to the earth element. The dummy simply stayed rooted in its position with not a mark on it. If this were an attack with normal earth element ki, I was sure that it would have been at least heavily dented, if not utterly destroyed.


    Finally, I attacked it with wind ki, a silver gust swirling around my hands. This time, something definitely changed. Even as I pushed my hands out, I could feel a power building in the ki. The moment it struck the dummy, there was an explosive roar, and the support anchoring it to the ground snapped.


    Immediately, the dummy flew violently to the far wall of the room, crashing against it heavily. Okay, now that was definitely effective. But¡­ more importantly¡­ Terra? I should have met the requirements for more information now, correct?


    That¡¯s right. Come back to the room, and I¡¯ll exin things to you. I think you¡¯ll quite like this, even if it¡¯s not what you originally wanted.


    Nodding my head, I turned to look back at Keliope. ¡°Well, looks like I¡¯m going to learn some things. Good luck practicing this in the future.¡±


    ¡°Huh? Oh, sure¡­¡± She nodded slowly while I moved myself directly to my bedroom. Sure enough, Terra was already there, sitting cross legged on the bed with a thoughtful expression, her lips tugged upwards when she saw me arrive.


    ¡°So, is your ¡®origin energy¡¯ all that you hoped it would be?¡± She asked in a teasing tone, causing me to groan.


    ¡°Hey, I had to try, right? Just imagine if I had been able to do stuff like creating top tier weapons on the fly, or even just making special ores with it.¡± I shook my head with a groan.


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry. The guy who first invented that energy had the same idea. That¡¯s why he named it the Ki of Beginning before giving it a proper test. He was so sure of having made a creation energy to rival the divine. Instead, he enhanced ki to what could be considered its pinnacle form by most.¡±


    Hearing that, my eyes widened, but I did not interrupt Terra, letting her go on with her exnation. ¡°The Ki of Beginning emphasises five attributes of ki, fully bringing out their potential. As you guessed, the first attribute is restoration, the ability to mend objects and creatures. Thanks to the spiritual and magical energies mixed in, you don¡¯t even have to do all the little calctions for it yourself, and the energy does most of the work for you.¡±


    She let out a small chuckle when she said that, shrugging her shoulders. ¡°As long as you let the pure Ki of Beginning flow through your body, you can consider it as directly adding to your health pool. But, the real power it exerts can be seen when it isbined with an elemental ki, focusing its power in one of four directions.¡±


    ¡°With fire, what you saw was not simple burning. When an object is heated, its molecules and atoms vibrate faster and faster. The Beginning Fire takes that and amplifies it. When you struck the wooden target, its atoms were pulled apart under the intense vibration, disintegrating the affected area. However, the metal target was more dense, and only slightly began to liquify. More importantly, because it didn¡¯t offer you protection from the heat¡­ if this weren¡¯t the Admin Room, you¡¯d have burnt your hand.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but nod at that, agreeing with her. I had felt the intense heat from that time, so I knew it would have dealt some damage to me. ¡°Next was the Beginning Water. Its effects were the total opposite. Instead of making the object vibrate, it cancels those vibrations. This gives the appearance of freezing whatever you touch with it. Naturally, on a cold target like the metal you struck, it would be hard to notice a change.¡±


    ¡°The same can be said with the Beginning Earth. Its function is somewhat simr to that of water. But instead of cancelling the vibrations of the molecules, it halts the momentum of the object as a whole. When facing physical attacks, this turns it into a great defense, as it allows you to nullify the momentum behind that attack so long as you spend sufficient energy.¡±


    ¡°Then¡­ the ¡®Beginning Wind¡¯ would be the opposite of that, right?¡± I asked, recalling what had happened when I tried it. ¡°Amplify the momentum, to the point where my strike sent the dummy flying?¡±


    She nodded her head, acknowledging my words. ¡°Right. Like with normal wind ki, it does not directly do much damage. But the knockback effect can¡¯t be underestimated. Especially when you use it through other methods, such as running. Each of the ¡®five lights¡¯ exerts a terrifying power when used properly.¡±


    ¡°If that energy spread throughout the world, and everyone started mastering it¡­ I imagine the ¡®rating¡¯ of the world would rise by quite a bit?¡± I asked, concerned that this would create more troubles in the future. However, Terraughed lightly, tilting her head back and bringing a hand to cover her mouth.


    ¡°Oh, definitely! But it¡¯s not so easy for people to do that!¡± She told me. ¡°I mean¡­ maybe it¡¯s hard for you to realize, since you are able to take the easy way now, but just imagine if you had to build the ki path you used manually instead of through the interface? There would be errors, crossed connections, failed bridges¡­ you¡¯d have to start over again and again, each time taking who knows how long toplete one rotation.¡±


    Terra slowly began to calm down as she talked, before shaking her head lightly. ¡°No, even if the knowledge of the information did spread, only a few masters would ever be able toplete the ki path needed for it. And after they do that, they have to perform the merging of all those energy types. Which means that they can¡¯t be purely a ki master. They have to be proficient with mana, natural energy, and even spiritual energy.¡±


    ¡°That alone would eliminate ny-nine percent of the people who actually managed to create a ki path capable of holding the five different ki types. Now, out of that one percent, maybe one in a thousand would actually be able to sessfully perform the merger without blowing themselves up. Not everyone has ess to an energy that lets them immediately feel the imbnce of the differentponents and correct them.¡±


    ¡°No, if I had to guess¡­ If you spread the knowledge of this energy to everyone in the three worlds right now¡­ And every single one of them tried it¡­ Half of the poption would suffer idents during the training process and be left crippled or worse. Many would simply either make it part of the way and get the elemental ki, or receive no power at all. There would only be maybe ten people out of all three worlds that manage to create the Ki of Beginning.¡±


    I let out a sigh of relief when I heard that, silently apologizing to Keliope for the trouble she was likely to face in the near future. ¡°Okay, then¡­ so there is no problem with buying the ss, then?¡± I asked, causing Terra to turn thoughtful, her brows creasing together while she lowered her head.


    ¡°ording to the example I just gave, only those ten people would be able to unlock the ss in the first ce. Given the harsh requirements for the ss, their personal power wouldn¡¯t likely be higher than someone who specialized in a single field. In the time it took them to simply create the Ki of Beginning, people who started at the same level as them could easily level up a hundred times if they had the same potential. They¡¯ll be able to catch up more quickly¡­ but not to the point where it would upset the bnce of the world.¡±


    Shaking her head again, Terra looked up at me. ¡°No, it should be fine for you to purchase the ss. However, just to be safe you shouldn¡¯t publicise the information of it. Let people discover it themselves. Until they do, it will be a ss exclusive to you yourself, maybe the gods if they sessfully practice it.¡±


    That didn¡¯t seem like such a bad thought, a ss exclusive to the Keeper. And one of a higher grade than the normal advanced sses. I gave a quick nod, sending a message to Ryone that I¡¯d be buying the ss before proceeding to do just that. I¡¯d work on training it a bit more the next time I descended.


    But first, I should work on that ki path¡­ I thought inwardly, ncing towards myputer. After thanking Terra for the information, I got up and moved over to the desk. The ki path that I had previously set up only allowed me to have one of my energies active at a time, because there would naturally be conflicts between any of the normal ki types. It was this new one that was strange in that regards.


    So, I set up a channel that would allow me to have both the Ki of Beginning and an elemental ki activated simultaneously, though kept that channel separate from the rest so as not to create¡­ problems for myself. Thest thing I wanted was to merge those energies in side my own body. Just imagine if I did that¡­ any one of the fourbinations could likely kill me, either by burning up my body from the inside, freezing it, shattering my blood vessels, or just outright stopping my heart.


    No, I wasn¡¯t going to take any chances with that. Better to be safe than sorry when ites to anything that could kill me with a simple moment of negligence. Once I was done with that, I took another look at the various different worlds, checking to see if there was anything the required my urgent attention.


    I saw the new worlds of the demons, where Aurivy had ced a new dungeon on each. They would one day be thework for mapping out these new worlds in case I didn¡¯t feel the need to buy them.


    Then, turning my eyes towards Fyor, I saw that the world was still moving quickly, the goddesses in control of it fast forwarding constantly. However, it seemed like they had made contact with the dark elves, so I was hopeful that they would break through and reach the next floor soon.


    Finally, turning my sight back to Earth¡­ I spotted Tsubaki inside the Sky Citadel. Only, she wasn¡¯t alone. It wasn¡¯t Soreya with her, but rather someone else I was familiar with, and had all but forgotten about. The only other survivor from the first generation of Voices, the centauress Alme Dien.


    Curious if they had Aurivy transfer her to the Citadel or not, I began looking through the history of that area for a few moments. Soon, I found my answer. Tsubaki, standing outside in the garden, opening up a portal through which Alme Dien appeared. She still looked as young as the day I first saw her, and seemed quite happy to see Tsubaki again.


    As for the kitsune maid herself, it appeared that this was just a practice exercise for her. The result of her working on creating portals that could move outside the barrier without the need to trouble Aurivy. Well, hopefully that information doesn¡¯t spread around too much. Assuming it can be done without the perfect self ss. I¡¯d have to have a talk with her about that soon.

 Chapter 254: Martial Plight

    <h4>Chapter 254: Martial Plight</h4>


    Sorting out my priorities, the first and most important was to begin training the new ss, the Saint of Five Lights. This could be considered my trump card, since it allowed me to restore my own wounds and gave a variety of bonus abilities notmonly seen in other sses. More importantly, as an advanced ss the stats that came with it were quite high.


    The only question was, how should I go about training the ss? I could target high level monsters, and restrict myself to my normal levels. That would likely give me the greatest benefits, and also improve mybat experience. At the same time, I could go with a nonbat training routine.


    After a brief query with Terra, I had learned that the Ki of Beginning was able to purge diseases from a creature. I could use this to go around and save various people that were suffering. As long as I was careful to avoid ces infected with the pinnacle gue, I could do a lot of good with this.


    Of course, there was nothing saying that I had to choose one or the other. I could easily train myself to a somewhat higher level in the ss, and then go around taking care of people. I¡¯d just need to use a separate identity when I did so, otherwise it could create a bad impression with the people. Why save this person, and not another? Why note for the people they care about, and that type of thing.


    So, I decided to go with using both methods to train. Combat to start, and then use the other method to unwind. And for abat test¡­ It took me a moment to find her, but soon I was establishing my body as that of a human before choosing to descend in front of her.


    ¡°¡­Keeper?¡± Scarlet¡¯s face seemed to show some surprise at my sudden appearance. Not unexpected, since her and her family were currently running ten miles above the surface of the ocean, traveling between two continents. ¡°You feel¡­ different.¡±


    Nodding my head, I released some of my new ki, letting it flow through my body to allow her a more appropriate sense of it. Her eyes widened in shock before she forced her face to calm again. I did this for two reasons. One to allow her to properly sense my new power, and the other¡­


    Saint of Five Lights has been unlocked!


    Beginning me Palm ability unlocked!


    You have earned a new achievement!


    For being the first to unlock a Saint ranked ss in your world, you have received the Saint of Origin achievement. Saint¡¯s Eye unlocked, +30 points.


    Okay, so the achievement is different from what I expected, but it was enough to get me the new ss. Terra, Saint¡¯s Eye, please?


    There was an amused sigh over the connection before Terra began to exin, while several other high ranking martial spirits gathered behind Scarlet, as if to protect one another. Think of it like an upgrade to your ability to read talent. The information you get will be a little more detailed.


    Okay, that was good to know. ¡°Scarlet, I¡¯d like your assistance with something.¡± I said rather inly, sping my hands behind my back as I looked to her. I knew that Aurivy was busy maintaining her world, and did not want to keep bothering her to send me everywhere. Besides, Scarlet had been around long enough that this wouldn¡¯t cause too much of an issue.


    Sure enough, she let out a brief sigh at my words. ¡°Very well, Keeper. What may I help you with?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m attempting to train the new energy I just showed you. In order to do so, I must find suitable monsters to fight. Normally, I would ask Aurivy to help me with this. However, I feel it best not to disturb her for now.¡±


    Scarlet tilted her head, unsure of how to take that. ¡°I¡­ see. So you came to us, because we are able to sense the existence of powerful monsters. And with me as the eldest of our kind, you considered me your best option.¡±


    I saw no reason to deny her assumptions, and simply nodded my head. ¡°I hope that you will be able to help me with this matter.¡± In truth, I could just use the Admin Room to find opponents on my own and descend repeatedly, but that was tedious, and more to the point lonely. At least this way I¡¯d havepany.


    Scarlet shook her head, seeming conflicted. ¡°I am not against helping you. However, it will be several days before we reach our destination. Our kind are not as weed among the races, as our bloody appearances cause them to regard us as evil. The actions of our lesser kin do not aid us in this. So, we do not have ess to their gates.¡±


    I simply nodded again, having been expecting something like that. Otherwise, the martial spirits would have been far more well known. Even now, monsters of high levels were spawning in abundance, so it should be no problem for them to create new members of their kind.


    ¡°I can take care of that. Just tell me where you are trying to go.¡±


    Scarlet¡¯s face showed surprise once again, before she sank into thought. ¡°Very well¡­ Our current destination is a source of energy eleven days¡¯ run to the west. I can feel a gathering of strong ki sources there, and thest time I was in that area it was uninhabited.¡±


    Eleven days¡¯ run¡­ how far even is that? As I was thinking to myself, Scarlet spoke up. ¡°If you need an exact distance¡­ It should be roughly thirteen or fourteen thousand kilometers, judging by the intensity of the energy I feel.¡±


    Nodding my head, I closed my eyes and focused, sending my world sight out to the distance and direction she specified. Roughly thirteen thousand kilometers away, there was indeed a group of monsters. Each around level six hundred, their bodies brimming with ki. They had the appearance of silver bulls, two pairs of horns jutting out of their heads, with their bodies six meters tall and eight long each. ¡°I found them.¡±


    Scarlet seemed to do better at controlling her expression this time, though the same wasn¡¯t true for the others. Judging by her surface thoughts, Scarlet seemed rather interested in how I was going to get all of the people here over there like I had said.


    That part was actually pretty easy. ¡°I am the one who stands above the heavens. My word is thew of the universe.¡± I imagined a circle being drawn in the air, epassing myself and the couple dozen martial spirits that had been traveling with Scarlet, and then another one above us.


    ¡°A destination has been chosen, a path has been set. Guide us upon the world¡¯s will to end our travels.¡± I had to admit, having practiced this repeatedly already did help it be slightly less embarrassing to perform in front of other people.


    As I spoke, two green circles lit up, one above and one below us. They slowly expanded to form a green bubble as natural energy surged into the elemental spell. The bubble shook for a few moments before popping, and when it did we were now standing above a wide field, still high in the sky.


    Scarlet smiled bitterly when she realized that I had used the abilities of an elementalist to move us all. ¡°Sorry¡­ we are not capable of wielding mana or natural energy, so I had been hopeful to learn a method to travel through ki or spiritual energy, aside from what we already knew.¡±


    If I was correct, the only travel methods they knew were to convert themselves into spiritual forms, and to hasten their steps with ki. So it was understandable for them to desire another movement method. Nodding my head, I made her an offer. ¡°There is a method to travel through spiritual energy. However, it is not one that I can teach. If you would like, the information is recorded in the Sky Citadel¡¯s library.¡±


    Scarlet couldn¡¯t contain her surprise this time, and when she looked back to her brothers and sisters, they were sending her pleading gazes as well. It seemed that this had be a real problem for them. So, sighing, she turned and faced me again, nodding her head. ¡°Very well¡­ when we are done here, I will stay within the citadel to study for a time. Will I be free to leave of my own ord when I am ready?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± I responded easily. ¡°Tsubaki¡­ the one you sensed before as being simr to your kind back when the representatives were first appointed¡­ She has created a portal technique that can even move through the barrier around the citadel. You need only inform her when you are ready to leave.¡±


    ¡°I thought I still felt that one¡­ Her aura has only grown stronger, so she must have fought some great battles in her time serving you. Hopefully, her loyalty is as you seem to believe.¡± Scarlet said, nodding her head gently. ¡°Either way, we are near our targets. How many of them do you wish for yourself?¡±


    Given that each of them were around level six hundred¡­ ¡°I¡¯ll be lowering my power in order to train myself. So, one or two should suffice. I¡¯ll let you have the rest.¡±


    She gave a thankful smile when she heard that, her face softening. From her thoughts, it seemed that she had been expecting me to take the majority of them for myself. ¡°Are¡­ you still having so much trouble growing your family?¡±


    ¡°No, not really.¡± Scarlet shook her head at my question. ¡°In fact, we have split up a few times. I imagine now, we might number over a hundred. But that is still only a hundred. When youpare it with the humans who number nearly ten million times that amount, we are still just so small and weak. So much that we may never be taken seriously on a global level.¡±


    ¡°You want to start a martial spirit kingdom¡­¡± I said, mostly to myself. However, Scarlet nodded her head to confirm my thought.


    ¡°A kingdom is the political tool that the races use to show their influence. I believe that my kin could establish one as well. Even the lesser kin are prepared to join, so long as our numbers grow sufficiently. I do not wish for much, just one thousand kin to form the foundation for our kingdom, the rest popted by the lesser.¡±


    ¡°And for that, you split your family, so that you could all go and grow.¡± I briefly considered offering to make a higher tier martial spirit, now that I had ess to the proper abilities to do so. However, that thought was quickly rejected. If I did, that entity would be the new leader once their power grew a little bit, and there would be unrest in the entire martial spirit poption. It¡¯s not like the case with the world spirits, because they had a hivemind that naturally caused them to follow the strongest leader without question.


    ¡°That is correct, Keeper. However, our progress is repeatedly slowed due to the long travel time between our harvests, which often leads to the targets being hunted down by other beings before we arrive. Since we require a monster with powerful ki, one of another type may eat it, and we will not be able to gain anything.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ If I can be of assistance, just let me know.¡± Scarlet had been around long enough, watching after her people. It was not wrong for her to want to build a nation where they could all be safe and have a home. If anything, it would simply bring them onto the political stage, forcing the other races to take them seriously. Of course, I¡¯d have to be watching that¡­ just to be safe.

 Chapter 255: Scarlet’s Secret

    <h4>Chapter 255: Scarlet¡¯s Secret</h4>


    With the matter between Scarlet and myself taken care of, I allowed myself to drop down from the sky. While I was descending, I began to seal off my various Keeper levels, leaving me with only my normal level of power and, naturally, my Keeper health. No matter how confident I was in myself, I¡¯d never willingly reduce my own health like that.


    Soon, I was able to see the sixteenrge, golden bulls with the naked eye, the ground quickly speeding closer. Just to make sure that I didn¡¯t end up sinking into the ground and getting myself trampled, I called up the natural energy to slow my descent,nding quietly on the open pasture.


    Twenty streams of red mist spiralled down from above, crashing against the ground around me and reforming into the martial spirits. ¡°You can have your pick of the targets, and then we¡¯ll take the rest.¡± She said, waving a hand to keep her kin in check.


    I gave a nod, once again beginning to channel the ki of beginning throughout my body. The golden oxen, the name that the system gave these monsters, turned to regard me now that I was making my presence known. I was roughly half their level, even a bit less, so they probably didn¡¯t even consider me to be much of a threat.


    Only one of them separated from the pack, slowly walking towards me. It was clearly not the leader of them, and instead one of the weaker ones. Like an errand boy sent to take out the trash. As it approached me, it slowly began to pick up speed, steam shooting out of its nose as it began to charge.


    Don¡¯t have enough earth ki to cover the entire thing. So can¡¯t just stop it dead in its tracks¡­ let¡¯s try this. I lifted one hand, pointing a finger at the charging monster. Golden mes lit up in front of my finger, following one of the attack patterns I had set for ki, before shooting outwards in a thin beam. This attack carried half each from my fire ki and ki of beginning¡­ but really that number wasn¡¯t a whole lot, since my ki was divided as it was.


    Still, it was enough to show an effect. The beam of golden me pierced into the skull of the monster, leaving a bloody hole and causing it to roar out in pain. Its health bar appeared over its head and dropped significantly to reflect the damage done.


    Yet its charge remained intact. I was¡­ less than keen on the idea of taking the full power charge of a level six hundred ki-focused monster head on. Once it came close, I spread my chakra threads out, cing one on the creature¡¯s own back. Stepping through the thread, I mounted the monster while it continued charging.


    Since fire won¡¯t finish you off¡­ I ced my hands on the back of its back, and began to pour all that I could into Beginning Water, pushing down towards where its heart should be.


    This time the effect seemed to be enough to finish the creature off, its health bar blinking away as it stumbled and fell to the ground. Blood began leaking out of its mouth, and I nodded inwardly. It used my entire pool of this new ki, but I was able to kill a creature over double my level with minimum risk to myself.


    I took a moment to look at the martial spirits while listening to the messagese in, notifying me of increased levels. ¡°You can have the rest. That¡¯s enough for me for now.¡± Even though I could hear the other fifteen monsters beginning to charge, I oddly didn¡¯t feel a sense of danger. Everything I knew made me feel that the two dozen martial spirits were far more terrifying monsters than the golden oxen, who only knew to use ki on pure instinct.


    Sure enough, fifteen of the martial spirits immediately burst into blood mist, charging forward towards the rampaging monsters. As I turned around, I saw them entering the bodies of those giant bulls through their mouths, noses, even their eyes. Then, slowly, the entire stampede just stopped¡­


    Their health bars never appeared above their heads. There was no great battle, no sh of powers. One by one, the golden oxen had their chests explode. Fragments of bone and bloody mists scattered across the ins, causing me to summon a shield of wind to protect myself from the gore.


    Scarlet watched the scene with a warm smile, even as her face was sshed with the blood of monsters. She walked past me, towards the field of remains. From the bodies of each monster, two figures emerged. Naturally, one of them would be the martial spirit that hadunched the ¡®attacks¡¯. As for the other, it was a new, young martial spirit, looking to be no older than a group of eight year olds.


    ¡°Wee to the family.¡± Scarlet said, walking to the nearest child and kneeling down, wiping some blood off their face with her thumb. ¡°We have a lot to teach you all.¡±


    The child, a young boy, looked at her. There was recognition in his eyes, his inherited memories telling him vaguely who Scarlet was. So, he simply nodded his head while she moved on to the next one, giving the same greeting to each and every one of them.


    Okay, I don¡¯t really need to stick around for all of this¡­ I thought to myself, before choosing to immediately ascend back to the Admin Room. The miracle of life was one thing¡­ but when that miracle involved children literally exploding out of the chests of monsters, I draw the line.


    That¡¯s good for a trial run, anyways. I had just been interested in seeing how the energy stood up in practicalbat, and getting a few easy levels in the process, so there was no harm in ending thebat training there.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Mother, he¡¯s gone.¡± One of the martial spirits said as he approached Scarlet, just as she was greeting thest of the young kin.


    ¡°Hmm.¡± She nodded her head, a knowing smile on her face. She appreciated the fact that the Keeper had not insisted on taking more of the pack. The spread of the races and their growth did not make finding suitable monsters easier for the martial spirits. Rather, it made things more difficult.


    She had not lied to Dale. It took days, sometimes weeks for them to travel to a suitable breeding ground after Scarlet sensed it. And that was assuming that what Scarlet sensed was a monster, rather than a person. As much as her kin protested, she continuously denied them when it came to using a member of the races as their breeding grounds.


    ¡°All of you¡­¡± She spoke softly as she stood up, ncing to the kin that hade with her. ¡°I¡¯ll be going to the Keeper¡¯s Citadel for a while to learn the travel method he spoke of. I was promised that I will be able to return at my leisure, so there is no need to worry.¡±


    ¡°Very well, mother.¡± Several of the martial spirits nodded their heads, though they had dejected looks on their faces. ¡°But¡­ how will we find a breeding ground with you gone?¡±


    In truth, Scarlet¡¯s ability to locate potential ki sources was miraculous. It was an ability that no other martial spirit had been born with. Only she knew where the source came from, smiling slightly when she recalled the title that she had been born with.


    ¡®Demigoddess of Ki¡¯, a title earned from having been born from Dale¡¯s own blood. Even then, it seemed to be rare, as only she had acquired it. With this title came a new ability, one that would let her scan the entire world for powerful sources of ki. It was only with this ability that she had been able to grow her kin to their current numbers.


    ¡°For now, there is no need to find a new breeding ground.¡± Scarlet told them with a shake of her head. ¡°Instead, I want all of you to find a suitable ind to make our future home. When I returnter, we will have a method to easily travel wherever we please. It will be a good time to establish our home.¡±


    The other martial spirits smiled, nodding at her words. Once they were able to travel freely, having a base of operations to return to after every excursion would allow them to steadily build up a home. And they could even begin migrating some of the more intelligent lesser kin to the ind while they waited for her, to aid with construction.


    Scarlet saw them all being agreeable, and was d for it. Her ability to find breeding grounds, as well as her strength, were what always kept her kin following her. Nobody doubted her when she was able to locate hosts from so far away, and urately lead them there. Even if some questioned her judgement at times, they would not dare to directly oppose her.


    Closing her eyes, Scarlet did something that she had not done since her birth. She prayed to one of the gods. Aurivy, Goddess of Travel, as the representative of the kin, I plead for entry to the floating pce.


    Aurivy answered her prayers, a golden mist enveloping Scarlet¡¯s body. When the mist scattered, she was gone, transported to the garden atop the castle in the sky. Scarlet let out a soft sigh once she saw that she was allowed in, and was just about to begin walking, searching for the library when she suddenly stopped.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± A voice spoke up from behind her, causing Scarlet¡¯s eyes to widen. The scary thing was not that the presence had snuck up on her. No, it was that she sensed its approach clearly. From all the way at the base of the castle, it had appeared on the roof in a matter of seconds.The aura dripping with blood and death. Perhaps the one living creature that Scarlet was truly afraid of.


    ¡°I¡­ I am Scarlet, representative of the kin.¡± She answered, not even turning around. She had the feeling that any sudden movements might make this person attack her.


    ¡°The kin? I am not familiar with that race¡­¡±


    Scarlet shook her head slightly. ¡°We are the martial spirits. I am of the first, born of the Keeper¡¯s own blood.¡± There was a brief spike of hostility, as suddenly the person was directly in front of her, crouched down to be at eye level with Scarlet.


    Tsubaki was quite beautiful by the standards of most races. She was well proportioned, with a cute face, and a calm demeanor that attracted others. However, Scarlet saw her as if she were a demon.


    ¡°Say that again, please¡­¡± Tsubaki spoke again, and so Scarlet repeated herself, albeit hesitantly. When she did¡­ a surprising change unfolded. This ¡®demon¡¯ that she had been so scared of for so long dropped to a knee.


    ¡°Tsubaki, first and only Knight of the Keeper, appointed Servant, apologizes for her rudeness.¡± She spoke, her voice suddenly more respectful. ¡°I was unaware that my Keeper had a bloodline surviving in the world, and did not mean to cause any offense.¡±


    Scarlet¡¯s eyes widened again, before she blinked in confusion. It was true that she could be considered the Keeper¡¯s bloodline. He was her only parent. ¡°It¡­ is fine. I am the only one left of his line.¡±


    Originally, there had been others, her brothers¡­ However, one had been killed in a failed breeding hunt. As for the other, he hadter plotted to kill her to take control of the kin for himself, and had been killed in return. Scarlet could feel a twinge of sadness as she recalled that.


    Tsubaki looked up, her eyes staring at Scarlet before she nodded her head. ¡°Still, as his Servant and his Knight, it is my duty to follow the words of his blood, so long as they do not go against his beliefs. If you require assistance during your time here, you need only let me know.¡±

 Chapter 256: The Living Death

    <h4>Chapter 256: The Living Death</h4>


    ¡°Huh¡­¡± Out of curiosity, and a touch of concern, I had kept my eyes on Scarlet after I ascended again. I knew that she would be going back to the Sky Citadel, so I was worried that a problem might pop up between her and Tsubaki. And¡­ going by what I saw, it almost did.


    What I was honestly more surprised about was how the situation resolved itself. Or more importantly, Scarlet¡¯s hidden achievement that she brought my attention to. I had not even known that she was a demigoddess. I mean, it made sense. She was literally created from my blood, and while I was in full Keeper mode at that.


    Was this going to change how I saw her¡­? I honestly didn¡¯t think it would. Neither her nor I had ever really considered the other to be a part of the same family. To her, I was the Keeper, her creator. And to me, she was the first Martial Spirit.


    Still, it was interesting to know that there were actually two living demigoddesses. And¡­ just to be safe, I did do a specific search this time. There were in fact only two. And no demigods, either.


    Udona, mind helping me out with something? I asked mentally, leaning back in my chair and closing my eyes.


    Bit busy at the moment, Dale. She responded, her voice sounding surprisingly tired. What do you need?


    Are there any ces in Earth, Desbar, or Deckan in desperate need of a healer? The new energy I made is a healing type, and I want to put it to good use.


    There was a brief pause in the conversation, before Udona¡¯s voice spoke up again. I can think of a few. But they¡¯re pretty bad. There will always be those incurable or hopeless patients. It¡¯d be best to fast forward a few years while I keep an eye out for better ones.


    I shook my head at that. No, hopeless is fine. As long as the problem isn¡¯t a birth defect, or something like the pinnacle gue. Otherwise, I should be able to manage. Of course, I wouldn¡¯t be going down as the Keeper. Opening my eyes, I leaned forward, typing away on the keyboard to set up my new persona.


    I wanted to spend a little while down in the world this time, so I couldn¡¯t be careless. I started by making a beastkin, a kitsune specifically. With Udona as the Goddess of Life, it¡¯d make the most sense for a kitsune to have a special healing power. More importantly, beastkin could easily appear anywhere in the world without drawing too much attention, except perhaps for the human continent.


    Just to be safe, I made a second profile for a human appearance, in case Udona sent me there at any point. It¡¯d be easy enough toe back and switch them out any time I wanted. But, after that came the equipment.


    Tubrock, don¡¯t suppose you have any robes or anything like that made? I asked, a hint of amusement in my thoughts.


    What ye think I bloody am, a seamstress!? I¡¯m the God of the Forge! Ye canna¡¯ make a robe in a forge! Check with the elvenss. The connection was abruptly cut after he sent that reply.


    Shaking my head, I sent the same question to Ryone. Her response was more in line with my expectations. Hmm? I¡¯ve got a few lying around. Though they¡¯re not exactly sized for you. That can be fixed easily enough, though. Any particr function you¡¯re looking for in one?


    I¡¯d like the color to be white or silver. As for function¡­ if you have anything that would increase ki recovery speed, that would be perfect.


    There was another pause in the conversation, no doubt while Ryone searched through her things. Well, it¡¯s not the color you wanted, but I have tried out being a monk before. Give me about ten minutes, and I can have this remodeled for you.


    I nodded, mostly to myself, before sending a message back to Udona. Preparations are just about done on my end. Do you have anywhere picked out for me?


    Yeah, I found you someone. They¡¯ve been praying to me for a week to save their dying wife. Honestly, her condition isn¡¯t too hard to treat. But the family is a poor one, and can¡¯t afford to get treatment from an apothecary. Should make for a good first test.


    I hesitated, having had something a bit bigger in mind. Still, it would be better to take care of this first, to show Udona that the ki of beginning was strong enough to handle bigger challenges. And she was right, this was still a first test. It wouldn¡¯t be good for anyone if I got in over my head.


    I sent another message to Tubrock, asking for any equipment that he had that could speed up ki recovery as well. This time, his response was more agreeable. Well¡­ mostly because he didn¡¯t respond at all. A box simply appeared next to me, holding a pair of bracelets, two rings, and a ne.


    Upon inspecting them, I saw that they were something I¡¯d never personally seen before. These five items were part of a set, like those found in video games. On their own, each one had a minor effect of increasing ki strength. However, when I identified them as a group, there was a hidden function that appeared, which increased ki recovery speed.


    Wonder how he managed that. I thought inwardly, while slipping the items onto my body. Each of them included the ability to automatically resize when worn, so long as a bit of ki was injected into them, so it was only a matter of time before they were a perfect fit.


    ¡°Alright, here it is!¡± Ryone called out as she practically kicked the door open, startling me. She was carrying aplete outfit in her hands, holding each piece out so that they could be easily identified.


    In her right hand was a silver robe, which when held up to her neck extended down to her thighs. The sleeves were long, enough that they could easily cover her arms if she was wearing the robe herself. Around the waist of the robe was a white ribbon, tied to hold it closed.


    In her left hand, she held a pair of pants, baggy at the top before tightening down near the calves. Like the robe, this was silver as well. ¡°This is my Robe of the Traveling Monk.¡± She said proudly, walking over towards me and handing both pieces over.


    ¡°I wore it once when I decided to give it a go living as a monk. It was brown and white back then, but color is easy enough to change. Ki recovery was always such a pain that I ended up studying the information we had ess to to make this robe.¡±


    I nodded my head, looking over the clothes for a moment. ¡°Will this cause any problems, being worn by a kitsune?¡±


    As soon as I asked that, Ryone flicked her wrist. A small hole was torn open near the top of the pants at the back. One strip of fabric came out to form into a strap above the hole. ¡°Not anymore.¡± She said with a slight smile.


    ¡°Huh¡­ okay.¡± Taking the clothes thankfully, I went ahead and began changing into them, just as I had done with the essories that Tubrock sent previously. And unsurprisingly, Ryone did not feel the need to excuse herself from the room while I did so.


    ¡°All this preparation makes me think that you don¡¯t n toe back for a little while.¡± Ryone pointed out, moving over to sit on the bed. ¡°Want to talk about it?¡±


    ¡°Nothing really to talk about.¡± I said with a small shrug, slipping my arms through the sleeves of the robe before I tied it shut in front of myself. ¡°I want to try out this new ki and train it by helping people. So, until either Leowynn wakes up or Fyor is ready, I¡¯m going to be moving from ce to ce as the Traveling Saint.¡±


    ¡°Saint, huh?¡± Ryone asked with a small grin, having already known the name of the ss. ¡°Well, it¡¯s not inurate. You¡¯ll need to equip that title if you want people to take you seriously, though. The one you got when you unlocked the ss.¡±


    I nodded my head, having been nning to activate the Saint of Origin title for this. ¡°Between this outfit and the items I got from Tubrock, I should be able to move from ce to ce pretty easily.¡±


    ¡°Not without this, you won¡¯t.¡± Ryone said, snapping her fingers. A small pouch appeared in front of me, falling into my hands. I was surprised by the weight of it, and almost dropped it reflexively before stopping myself. ¡°Your current level is two hundred and sixty-one. In order to function for a sustained period of time you will require meals. Big ones. Depending on where you go, most ces have specialty restaurants designed for those with high body levels. You¡¯ll want to find a three ring establishment to supply your meals.¡±


    ¡°Three ring¡­ guessing that has something to do with the level of food prepared?¡± I asked, to which Ryone gave a small nod.


    ¡°Every ring represents an average of ten points in your physical stats. Right now, you¡¯re near the upper level of the third ring. If you level up much further, you¡¯ll need fourth ring dining. And, if you were to consider your Keeper levels¡­ well, there aren¡¯t any ¡®eighty-eight ring¡¯ restaurants, obviously.¡±


    I gave a small chuckle, nodding my head. ¡°Well, I can understand that. It¡¯d be a bit ridiculous if there were. Anyways, thanks. This will help take care of a lot of things.¡± I reached down to attach the coinpurse to my waist, before standing up and stretching, making sure that the robe wouldn¡¯t restrict my movements at all.


    Ryone simply crossed her arms in front of her chest, watching me until I turned around and chose to descend to the world at the coordinates provided by Udona.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Within a small hut at the edge of town, a farmer knelt beside his wife¡¯s bed, his face wet with tears. ¡°Please¡­ please save her.¡± He whispered again, having lost track of how many times he had prayed to Udona. The man knew that his wife only had a few days left to live, at most, and was starting to grow desperate.


    On the bed in front of himy the woman he had given his heart to. A young felyn woman with ck hair, her tail wrapped gingerly around her waist. Although he knew she was awake, her eyes were closed, her body refusing to move.


    Three weeks ago, his wife had begun to struggle to see properly, her eyes gradually losing their light. At first, although they were worried, there was nothing that they could do. The two of them were farmers, barely able to make enough to feed themselves. They could never afford a proper remedy from an apothecary.


    They waited, hoping that her affliction would fade on its own over time. It was onlyter, when he noticed that she was having difficulty hearing, that he managed to identify what was wrong with her. And when he did¡­ he felt like his entire world was falling apart.


    The Living Death, Narui. A disease that acted slowly, sealing away one of the body¡¯s senses at a time as it attacked the brain. Firstes sight, shrouding their world in darkness and forcing them to rely on their hearing. Then that too was taken away, and the body could only rely on what it could feel to navigate.


    However, as with the pattern of narui, the sense of touch was taken away as well. And then the sense of smell, and finally taste. Once the five senses had been deprived, next came motor control. The patient would be a prisoner in their own mind, unable to see or interact with the outside world.


    Because of the terrifying nature of the disease, research into a cure began soon after its first appearance. Now, it is easy to find the cure for anyone able to pay its cost. Unfortunately, there were many poor families who could not afford the cost to gather the materials for the cure, let alone purchasing it from an apothecary.


    ¡°Please¡­ please save her¡­¡± In times like these, all that one could do was to pray.

 Chapter 257: The Guild

    <h4>Chapter 257: The Guild</h4>


    ¡°Please¡­¡± He whispered inwardly onest time, hoping for a miracle he knew he would nevere. However, at that moment there was a knock on the door, gentle but enough to rouse his attention. The man slowly rose to his feet, wiping his eyes to dry his tears. ¡°Yes? Who is it?¡± He called out, doing his best to keep his voice calm.


    ¡°Just a wanderer.¡± The voice returned softly. ¡°Just a wandering healer, who heard that you might be in need of help.¡±


    The farmer froze in his steps, his fists tightening. There was a spark of hope in his heart, and yet at the same time, fear. ¡°I¡­ we can¡¯t pay you. You should turn back, don¡¯t waste your time on us.¡± There was something in his voice, a bitter sorrow.


    ¡°I don¡¯t need you to pay me. I am not short on coin. I¡¯m just passing through, helping where I can.¡±


    The man¡¯s heart nearly leapt out of his chest. He was by no means a strong individual, and that much was public knowledge. He was a farmer, born in a farming family. If there were someone trying to rob him, they¡¯d either need to be blind or stupid. So¡­ maybe, just maybe.


    He walked to the door, opening it to see a man dressed in strange silver robes. A kitsune, going by the ears and the ck tail swaying gently behind him. Young enough to have only left home for a year or two. However, he knew that such appearances could be deceiving. So the first thing that he did was to look at the man¡¯s feet.


    The soil around the house was fairly loose, so it was often easy to tell a man¡¯s weight by how deep his steps. And a man¡¯s weight often helped narrow down his physical power. From the little bit he saw, he could at least determine that this man had some training.


    ¡°Come in.¡± He stepped back, holding the door open to let the man inside. The floorboards creaked with the added weight, making him nod his head in eptance. ¡°Are¡­ are you sure that you are able to cure narui?¡±


    The man tilted his head in confusion for a moment, before a look of realization dawned on him. ¡°I should be able to manage. Please, take me to her.¡±


    The farmer hesitated, but ultimately decided that a slim chance was better than none at all. He led the man into the bedroom, where they saw his wifeying still on the bed. Her health bar was suspended over her, slowly creeping closer to her death. ¡°I¡¯m Zamas, and this is Aryu.¡± He exined, introducing the two of them.


    ¡°She¡¯s in thete stages of narui now¡­ We can¡¯t afford to visit the town alchemist. Please¡­ if there¡¯s anything that you can do for her¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll try.¡± The man spoke, his voice wavering for a moment. He moved to sit beside the bed, using the same chair that Zamas had used himself only minutes ago. After that¡­ it¡¯s hard to exin exactly what happened.


    The stranger in silver robes reached out, cing his hand on top of Aryu¡¯s forehead. Zamas could make out an old copper ring adorning his finger, though it did not seem to be anything special. All he saw was a small silver light surround the man¡¯s palm, before glowing green specks appeared in the air around him, floating into his body.


    However, that was of little concern to Zamas. Something far more important was happening. A green number appeared above Aryu¡¯s head, the sign of receiving magical healing. Still, although he saw this, there was still doubt. It seemed likely that the stranger was a priest of Udona, here to try to channel the power of his goddess to heal the ailing Aryu.


    Zamas knew that such a thing was foolish, however. The priests of Udona could heal many injuries, but never a sickness. No, instead their healing would only make a disease stronger. When they were asked why this was the case, it was exined that Udona¡¯s blessing grants life to everything, big and small. And the virus, while malicious, was also a living thing.


    So he watched, hoping that his spection was wrong, that this man truly had some magical power that could wash away the disease infecting his Aryu. In the meantime, he simply watched one green number after another appear, his wife¡¯s health bar visibly improving.


    It wasn¡¯t until he heard a choked cough from the bed that he sprang into movement. That was the first sound that he had heard from her in days, and he almost pushed the stranger out of the way as he quickly arrived next to Aryu¡¯s side, grabbing her hand. ¡°Aryu?¡± He asked, renewed hope finally making its way into his features.


    The stranger shook his head, slowly standing up. Even now, the green motes of light were slowly appearing to pass into his body. ¡°I believe she¡¯ll be alright now. However, she¡¯ll probably need a few days to recover and get back to normal.¡±


    Zamas heard him talking, but he couldn¡¯t pay attention to that. He saw the smallest tremble of his wife¡¯s lips, and it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. If not for the health bar showing that she was still alive, patients in thete stages of narui are often mistaken for the dead without closer inspection. But now, he saw signs of life, proper signs of life.


    After a few moments, he finally remembered his wife¡¯s savior, turning around to thank him. But, at this point he had already gone. The door was hanging opened, having never been closed after they entered. Zamas stood, rushing out to the door just in time to see the stranger in silver robes walking away, towards the town.


    _______________________________________________________________


    That went¡­ pretty well, I think. I mused, walking towards the nearby town. It had taken longer than I thought, and burned through a fair amount of my new ki. However, even while I was walking, the robe and essories I was wearing worked to replenish the missing energy.


    What surprised me the most was the appearance of the green lights that kept flowing into me. Btedly, I realized that they were specks of natural energy, though it took me a little bit to properly figure out what was happening.


    Because the pool had been attuned to the ki of beginning, it was naturally refilling it. However, my body was not able to produce natural energy, one of the kiponents in the recipe. It could only supply the ki, and then when the pool was imbnced it drew in natural energy from the outside to fill it up. I suppose this had been happening all along with elemental ki as well, I had just never been wearing any items to boost the recovery speed enough that the effect became visible.


    Udona, any ns for the next area? I asked, sending my message to the overseeing goddess. My wish to not bother Aurivy had remained unchanged. Hopefully, there was somewhere nearby that I could do some work.


    Yeah, just a second. You¡¯ll be able to find the most work if you head to the city of Suram. It¡¯s the local hub for trade.


    Hearing that, I gave a small nod, stepping into the city. How far is it?


    That¡­ It¡¯s a few days¡¯ walk. But you can pay for a gate if you go to the local Guild Hall.


    I felt a small smile creep onto my lips as I heard that. Alright, which guild am I looking for.


    No, Dale. It¡¯s called the Guild Hall. The organization you want is just known as The Guild. They handle adventurers, mercenaries, and random job requests. Pretty much everything that isn¡¯t a permanent career goes through the Guild when ites to the beastkin.


    After she said that, I felt a mental tug towards one of therger buildings at the center of the town. On the front of the building was arge emblem shaped like a badge with four colors. Red, blue, green, and gold upied the four corners of the emblem, ck lines drawn between them. Guess that¡¯s the ce.


    When I walked inside, I immediately saw arge amount of people crowding the left side of the building surrounding what looked to be a row of billboards along the wall. There were four of them in total, each marked at the top with an emblem identical to the one on the front of the building. The only difference was that here, each emblem only had one color, each being one of the colors seen outside.


    On each billboard was a series of papers tacked on, likely the requests. Most of the papers had an identical emblem to the one of the billboard that they were posted on. However, there were a few that had two, maybe even three emblems of different colors. Shaking my head, I made my way towards the reception desk.


    ¡°Are you here to register, or to request a job?¡± The man, a lycan with red hair and a slender build, asked.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to request transport to Suram. Is there anyone avable that could help with that?¡±


    After I asked that, the man briefly nodded his head. Focusing for a brief moment, a paper appeared on the desk in front of him, one with a green emblem above it. ¡°Is this what you¡¯re wanting?¡± He asked, sliding the paper to me. ¡°I have listed the price ording with the guild policies.¡±


    Nodding briefly, I reached down, grabbing the paper to read over it.


    Transport Request


    Destination: Suram


    Requirements: Druid Level 10+ with a connection near the destination.


    Payment: Three sil, twelve pen


    Specifics: The quest will bepleted after the requestor has been transported to the destination.


    ¡­ Udona, Ryone, someone please tell me what this currency means.


    Sil is the local name for a silver coin, and pen is for copper. Think of it like pennies. You¡¯ve got plenty of both in your bag, so don¡¯t worry about it. Ryone replied quickly, as expected of the merchant goddess.


    I set the paper back down, nodding again. Focusing on the bag of holding that Ryone had given me, I retrieved the requested currency, cing it on the counter. ¡°How long should I expect to wait?¡±


    He collected the payment, pocketing it himself. Since this was a quest scroll, he must have supplied the initial payment from his own pocket. ¡°It can take anywhere from a few minutes to a day. If you allow me to attune yourm crystal, I can contact you when your request is epted.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t have one of those¡­¡± I said softly, shaking my head. Now I know how it felt to walk around in modern times without a cellphone.


    There was a troubled expression on his face when he heard that, but he let out a sigh. ¡°Well, if you would like, you can buy one from the guild. Otherwise, you will need to wait here until such time as someone epts the request.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m okay with buying one.¡± I answered rather immediately. It¡¯d be good to have one in the long run, and this way I¡¯d have another little toy to explore.


    ¡°Please proceed to the first basement floor, then.¡± The receptionist motioned towards the stairs towards the back of the room. ¡°General sales are conducted on that floor.¡±


    After briefly thanking him, I followed the directions to make my way down the steps. What I found was a long hallway, various signs lined up on the ceiling to disy what each branching room offered. I wasn¡¯t looking to buy monster ingredients or weapons, so I passed over the first couple of doors.


    Next came a sign simply saying ¡®General Goods¡¯, which sounded like the ce. Inside was a young kitsune woman with blonde hair working the counter. The rest of the store seemed empty, so it was no surprise when she called out to me. How she called out to me, now that was something else entirely.


    ¡°Come on in, Dale.¡± She said with a professional smile, waving me forward. ¡°You¡¯re here for am crystal, right?¡±


    I had to admit that I was stunned, only able to dumbly nod my head. ¡°¡­Udona?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± She shook her head stoically. ¡°Irena. I wanted to be a living person this time.¡±


    Udona¡­ you did this on purpose, didn¡¯t you?


    There was a briefugh on the other end of the connection. Dale, I¡¯m sure I don¡¯t know what you mean. You wanted someone to cure, and there just happened to be a potential patient near one of our incarnations. Really, wouldn¡¯t it be more odd if none of our incarnations were around sick or wounded people? I just directed you to one where you can meet one of us.


    I let out a light sigh, shaking my head as I stepped into the shop.

 Chapter 258: Slumming it Up

    <h4>Chapter 258: Slumming it Up</h4>


    ¡°So, you¡¯ve just been working as a shopkeeper?¡± I asked, once more checking the surroundings to make sure that nobody would be eavesdropping on us. ¡°Expected you to have some grand goal in mind if you were nning to be a mortal for a while.¡±


    Irena¡¯s incarnation shook her head, leaning forward against the counter. ¡°No, I like to live a simple life when I do this. I¡¯ll leave my mark in history not by pioneering some great technique or reforming a kingdom. I¡¯ll be the one to sell the heroes of the story their everyday needs. Maybe next time I¡¯ll be a kindly priestess who spends her time helping the poor?¡±


    Saying that, she stood up and straightened her shirt. ¡°Speaking of which, you wanted am crystal? I suppose you¡¯ll want a brief tutorial on how to use them as well?¡±


    ¡°It would definitely be appreciated.¡± I responded with a slight smile, shaking my head. ¡°Things have reallye so far¡­ It wasn¡¯t so long ago for us that being able to talk to people far away was just a dream.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I know.¡± She said as she stepped out from behind the counter. ¡°Color probably doesn¡¯t matter much for you¡­ but since it matches your outfit, let¡¯s go with the silver pearl.¡± As she spoke, she perused one of the aisles in the shop, before stopping at one particr spot. Bending down low, she grabbed a small box from the bottom shelf.


    As she stood, I saw the image on the front of the box, that of a silver-white pearl set into a thin crystal b. There were two indentations on the b, one of which held the pearl and the other was empty.


    Once she had brought it back to the counter, she opened the box and pulled out the object within. Unsurprisingly, it was just as the image on the front had depicted it. ¡°This is a pretty standard modelm crystal. Its performance is not the best, but it is reliable.¡±


    Turning the b upside down, she let the pearl fall out of its indentation, and then held that pearl up to me. It was no thicker than my thumb, though I could distinctly detect the enchantments on it. ¡°This is them crystal itself. Simply grasp it in your hand, and you can call anyone on your contacts list by focusing. Here, let me register us¡­¡±


    Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a pink gemstone of the same size and shape as the pearl, and socketed it into one of the slots on the b. ¡°If you want to register a contact, this is all you have to do.¡± While talking, she ced the silver pearl in the second slot, then held the entire b up.


    ¡°Grab the end with your crystal, and I hold mine. Then, we both think about what we want to list the others¡¯ contact as. This can be changed at any time by opening up the control functions of the crystal.¡± Honestly, I felt like she was giving me this information way too quickly, but it was fairly easy to understand if I thought of it like a cell phone.


    As she said, I grabbed the offered end of the ¡®control b¡¯, and focused on the name Irena. A momentter, there was a small beep, and she pulled her crystal out. ¡°They can be either charged directly with mana, or the control console can be connected to any mana charging port. Any questions?¡±


    ¡°One¡­ how do I open the different functions of this?¡± I asked as I looked down to the b, which did not have any buttons along its surface.


    ¡°Ah!¡± Her stoic mask broke for a brief moment. ¡°Sorry, I forgot. Just hold it in your hand as if you were going to make a call, but focus on bring out its menu. They were designed so that the interface would closely resemble the interface that the world system ran on, so it should be easy for you to navigate.¡±


    ¡°Okay, thank you.¡± I sighed in relief, depositing the crystal and b inside of my bag. ¡°How much do I owe you for this?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯ll be three harams and twelve sil, after tax.¡± She put on a professional smile, moving the now empty box to the side. ¡°Harams are the name for the gold currency here.¡±


    ¡°One hundred per conversion?¡± I asked curiously, fetching the fifteen coins from my bag to pass them over.


    ¡°It fluctuates, but for thest twenty years or so, it has been fairly stable at a rate of twenty pen to a sil, and twenty-five sil to a haram. I think that the merchants are trying to increase the value of gold soon, though.¡± Irena¡¯s incarnation answered with a shrug. ¡°Either way, have a nice day. If you need anything else, well¡­ you have my number?¡±


    I chuckled, giving a brief nod as I turned around, pulling the door to the shop open just in time for a dwarven man to lumber in past me before I left. As I was walking down the hall, I could hear him striking up a conversation with Irena¡¯s incarnation.


    When I emerged at the first floor, I saw a lycan man with dark red hair standing in front of the counter, looking impatiently towards the stairs. ¡°Is he the one?¡± He asked the receptionist, who offered a small nod. ¡°Okay, good.¡±


    Saying that, he walked over to me, putting on a business smile. ¡°Hello, there. I was told you need help making your way to Suram. Is that right?¡±


    I took a moment to look him over. It seemed that this was the first druid who epted my request. Though, it was nice that I wasn¡¯t kept waiting. ¡°That¡¯s right. Are you able to get me there?¡±


    He nodded his head amiably, his eyes closed as he verified my thoughts. ¡°I can get you there, alright. I take it time is of the essence?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­¡± I couldn¡¯t really say no, but not for the reasons he might suspect. ¡°I believe that the scroll will only issue your payment after the job has beenpleted. So, sooner would be best for both of us, yes.¡±


    He gave a small chuckle, nodding in agreement. ¡°Alright, then. If you can just stand right there, this won¡¯t take a moment.¡±


    After saying that, he took a couple of steps backwards, and then reached down to open up a leather pouch at his waist. Once its stopper was removed, a thin stream of water poured out and into the air. ¡°Suram has a public fountain near the west gate. That should be a good drop off location.¡±


    The water began to spin and swirl in midair, forming a circle that was filled in by a sh of blue light. When the sh ended, I saw an open street, people walking by and giving me a wide berth.


    I nodded my thanks to the man before stepping through, happy to have made it to my next destination. Okay, Udona, where am I doing?


    From here, you¡¯ll want to head towards the southern slums. There¡¯s been an outbreak in this citytely. Nothing fatal, but it makes it hard for the poor to work. While you¡¯re there, you can find one of those ¡®hopeless cases¡¯ you wanted.


    While she was exining, I began walking towards the area that I was being guided. From what she said, there was indeed a hopeless case. A young boy who had been stung by arge insect monster one day while he was going out to gather in the fields. However, from the sounds of things he had an allergic reaction.


    Normally, he would have died on the spot, but¡­ due to a stroke of luck, he managed to level up as a farmer at thest minute. The energy of the world kept him from dying, but it also caused the venom he was allergic to to merge with his blood. Every day, his condition was getting worse and worse, his body unable to cope with the change.


    I had never even known that something like this could happen. I hope it¡¯s something that my ki can fix. I silently pray, both to Irena and to myself. My steps hastened as I made my way towards the slums.


    It was easy to tell when I arrived, because I began to see more and more people with their health bars hovering over their heads. Their health was not low, mind you, but the sign of the constant damage was in for anyone to see. Smiling to myself, I couldn¡¯t help but pity the young children who would try to pretend to be sick like this.


    Is there amunity leader I could speak with here? I asked mentally towards Udona.


    There is, actually. A young elven man named Jaren. He¡¯s been the pir of thismunity for thest fifty years or so.


    Hearing the confidence in her voice, I couldn¡¯t help but question it¡­ You seem awfully familiar with all of this. Is there anything else I should know?


    Hmm? No, I just get a lot of prayers. As long as I properly sort through them from time to time, I¡¯ll learn who is influential where, and what the general state of things are.


    Shrugging my shoulders, I asked her to guide me towards Jaren¡¯s home. His ce was a small, worn down shack in a back alley. Well¡­ if you could really call it a shack. Scraps of wood and metal fused together into a small shelter, a cloth draped over the doorway.


    I noticed a few hostile res being sent towards me as I turned down the alleyway, moving to stand in front of the doorway. ¡°I¡¯m looking for an elven man named Jaren. Are you home, by any chance?¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s asking?¡± A coarse, weary voice came from within, followed by a cough.


    ¡°I¡¯m a healer. I was told that there were those here in need of help--¡±


    ¡°Scram.¡± The word from inside the small shack cut my off. ¡°Nobody here has the gold to pay you.¡± Though he said that, his voice sounded bitter, a sorrow eating away at his words.


    ¡°I¡¯m not asking for payment, sir. I just want to help people.¡± I exined calmly, surprisingly already used to this sort of treatment after meeting Zamas.


    Slowly, the cloth curtain pulled back from the doorway, and an elven face stuck out through it. Udona had described him as a young man, but you would never be able to tell by looking at him. Dirt and grime marred his face, lines of stress making him look as if he were an elder. ¡°You say that you desire no coin to help these strangers?¡± He asked suspiciously. ¡°What do you want, then? ve trade is forbidden in thesends, even for debt ves.¡±


    Sighing slightly, I shook my head. ¡°If you find it hard to believe that I am being selfless¡­ then just consider it as me wishing to train a healing skill that I have received.¡±


    Surprisingly, a glimmer of hope appeared in the man¡¯s eye when he heard that. ¡°Then¡­ can you teach this healing skill to others?¡±


    However, I could only shake my head in denial. ¡°I only acquired this skill myself by ident, and would not even know how to train someone to use it. All I know is that it can cure illnesses and physical wounds, as well as repair objects. But if I had to choose between fixing people or things, there is only one correct answer, isn¡¯t there?¡±


    His eyes widened as he listened to my words. Looking into his thoughts, I found that this man was actually a faithful priest of Irena, and he had been using her gifts to determine the truth in my statements. ¡°Udona watches over us after all.¡± He muttered quietly, closing the curtain to his home. After a moment of shuffling about, he opened it again, stepping out fully.


    Now that he was standing, I could see that he was just as tall as myself, his previous skeptical frown reced by a smile tugging at his lips. ¡°You wait here, and I¡¯ll gather everyone. Are there any restrictions to your skill, such as uses per day or things that cannot be treated?¡±


    I hesitated to answer, as I was not entirely sure myself yet. ¡°I¡¯m still training the skill, so I haven¡¯t found the exact restrictions¡­ However, it uses energy, so once I run out I will need to replenish it. As for things that cannot be treated¡­ I have not tested it yet, but I do not believe I can cure something that someone had been born with.¡±


    He nodded his head, taking in my words. ¡°Okay, then I shall return shortly.¡± Saying that, he rushed out of the alley, where it appeared that a group of people had begun to gather and watch us. Or, more specifically, to watch me. I guess that they really were protective of Jaren.

 Chapter 259: The First Miracle

    <h4>Chapter 259: The First Miracle</h4>


    Jaren quickly went through the different alleyways, navigating to the different hovels and worn-down houses. Each time, he knocked on the wall, calling inside. ¡°Come out,e out! There¡¯s someone here to help us.¡± The excitement was clear in his voice, causing those inside to wonder what was happening.


    He had been an important figure in theirmunity for so long, he had helped raise many of the inhabitants of the slums. It was only natural that they respected him. Whenever the times came that required harsh choices, he would always sacrifice his own needs to help others. Between that and his ability to sense when someone was lying to him, people began to rely more and more on this old elf.


    ¡°Jaren, what¡¯s going on huh?¡± One of the young beastkin children, a felyn wearing little more than rags, walked out from one of the broken houses and asked. He was wiping his dirty face, his eyes stinging as the sun shone down on him.


    ¡°There¡¯s a healer here, Zander.¡± Jaren said with a wide smile. ¡°He wants to treat as many people as he can, and he¡¯s not asking for any payment.¡±


    ¡°A healer¡­?¡± The word wasn¡¯t unfamiliar to the young boy, but the idea that someone woulde here to specifically take care of them was. In his mind, healers were the apothecaries that ran their shops, or the priests who stayed in their churches.


    In the past, there had been priests that visited the slums. However, in the eyes of the sick, they had simply been there to show off. They would never use their power to save those with a dangerous illness, and would only heal small wounds or malnourishment. This had built an enmity within the hearts of the slum dwellers, who more often than not had those very illnesses.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. He¡¯s willing to treat as many people as he can, so long as his energysts.¡± Jaren continued. ¡°He said that as long as someone wasn¡¯t born with the problem, he¡¯ll do his best.¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡± Zander turned to look down the street, towards another home near the end of the road. Jaren¡¯s words caught in his throat as he followed the boy¡¯s eyes. ¡°Can¡­ can he help Roy?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know.¡± Jaren shook his head sadly, his spirits dampened slightly as he thought about that. In many instances, idents during the process of leveling up were irreversible. The process could temporarily strengthen the body against diseases, but certain injuries would not heal properly. ¡°But we can try. Go get his mother, and let her know what¡¯s happening. Maybe¡­ maybe we¡¯ll get to see a miracle.¡±


    Zander nodded his head, turning to rush towards the house at the end of the road. And, albeit less enthusiastically than before, Jaren went back to gathering those with the greatest need.


    _______________________________________________________________


    I stood, waiting in the alley while those people watched me. I knew that it would take a little while before Jaren returned, so I decided to be patient. This was only the first ce I would be traveling to like this, so it was important to be familiar with the atmosphere.


    Even after Jaren left, everyone watched in confusion. Some still held hostility in their eyes, while others showed fear. It was clear that strong individuals rarely visited these slums. After all, if someone had strength, they would easily be able to receive different jobs to earn a better living.


    No, everyone here was weak. Too weak to venture out into the dangerous fields, and not brave enough to take the risks. Most were likely farmers, some probably not even that. I even saw a few people with levels in the single digits, showing that they had never actually received more than the most basic of educations.


    Part of me pitied them, but at the same time¡­ Many of them would be able to make a better life for themselves, should they choose to take the risks. I¡¯m sure that there were those who stayed because they were taking care of their families, or simr reasons. However, there were also some who just never tried to make their own way in the world.


    As I considered all of this, I saw Jaren slowly walking back to me, down the alley. ¡°Sorry, I never caught your name.¡± He said as he looked at me, his expression solemn.


    ¡°I¡¯m just a wandering healer. You can call me Dale.¡± Now that I knew he had the ability to detect lies, I could no longer give him a false name. More importantly, the name Dale, and the various variations thereof, should not be too rare now.


    Jaren¡¯s eyes widened briefly, before he gave a small nod. Just to be safe, I looked at his surface thoughts. He actually regarded me as¡­ unfortunate? Okay, going to have to ask someone about thatter. ¡°Well, Dale¡­ there is someone we¡¯d like you to try treating, but¡­ I¡¯m not sure that it¡¯s something that can be fixed.¡±


    ¡°Lead the way.¡± I told him gently, nodding my head. I had the feeling that he was talking about the boy I heard of from Udona, and was quite curious myself to see if I¡¯d be able to help.


    Seeing that I was cooperating, a small smile appeared on Jaren¡¯s face. Turning, he quickly led me out of the alley, stopping near the crowd. ¡°It¡¯s okay, he¡¯s a good one.¡± He spoke quietly, as if trying to make sure I didn¡¯t hear him.


    The people gathered around seemed to understand with that, slowly dispersing while Jaren guided me through the slums. It did not take long before we saw another gathering up ahead in front of an old, broken down house. Bits and pieces of the stone wall had crumbled, holes showing through. Some were patched with cloth, others simply left as they were.


    Wincing at the sight, I couldn¡¯t help but send the natural energy in the surroundings to work. The crowd gasped while bits of stone and dust floated up from the ground, moving to seal the holes. It still looked like shoddy work, but¡­ at least it would keep the rain out.


    Jaren noticed this, and sent a thankful smile back my way. ¡°It¡¯s hard to get people toe out here to make repairs. Everyone regards this part of the city as a cesspool, full of disease and thieves.¡±


    ¡°Then what brought you here?¡± I found myself asking the question out loud, ncing towards Jaren. Although he wasn¡¯t incredibly high level, he had entered the triple digits. More than I could say for anyone else I had seen in the slums.


    Jaren¡¯s smile turned more bitter after hearing my question, shaking his head. ¡°Just another long story, not worth telling.¡± As we got closer to the house, he started to exin the situation with the boy inside.


    Really, it was just a repeat of what I had heard from Udona, but I also managed to learn the boy¡¯s name. Though, I had a feeling that he had waited to exin this to me until we were so close so that everyone he had gathered here would hear it as well. I felt their eyes focusing on me, waiting to hear my decision.


    Shaking my head, I let out a small sigh. ¡°I can¡¯t make any promises, but¡­ I¡¯ll do my best. I¡¯ve never tried to heal something like this.¡±


    The elf nodded his head in understanding, clearing a path through the silent crowd. I felt someone reaching out to touch my robe, but I was already out of their reach before they could grab onto it. Sorry, one at a time¡­ Given the severity of Roy¡¯s injuries, I wasn¡¯t sure how much of my energy it would to just to heal him.


    Once we got inside, I was finally able to see him. He looked to be no more than twelve years old, his body thin and frail. An ursa, going by his ears and darker skin. But the thing that shocked me the most was the series of red markings that seemed to be drawn along his skin, like hooks along his flesh. His cheeks and eyes were swollen, his hands the size of sausages.


    Above his head, there was just a sliver of his health remaining, showing that this really was an urgent matter. ¡°Please, Dale.¡± Jaren pleaded from beside me as he moved next to Roy¡¯s bed. ¡°Anything you can do for him¡­ he has already endured too much¡­¡±


    Honestly, if I didn¡¯t have at least some confidence in curing him, I would consider a mercy killing. I could tell just by looking the pain that he had been bearing,ying in bed helplessly and just waiting to die. ¡°Like I said¡­ I¡¯ll do my best.¡±


    After saying that, I moved next to Roy¡¯s bed, and ced my hand on his head, just as I had done with the farmer¡¯s wife. I allowed the ki of beginning to flow gently from my palm, using what I had learned from the first patient.


    This ki could be said to have a mind of its own in its pure state, seeking out the problems in the target body without precise instructions. If my understanding of its baseponents was correct, it moved based on my knowledge of what the ¡®correct¡¯ form of the subject should be, or perhaps what the subject themselves believed was correct. Either way, I knew that I should not try to strictly control the energy, and instead simply monitor it while it worked.


    _______________________________________________________________


    It had been over ten minutes since Jaren and the healer walked into Roy¡¯s house. The crowd outside was beginning to grow restless, not sure what to expect. How long would this take? Would he be able to even do it? Would he really try?


    ¡°Is¡­ is Roy going to be okay?¡± Zander asked, looking to the elderly ursa woman standing next to him. This was Roy¡¯s own mother, who had forced herself out of the house, afraid that she would only be a distraction to the healer in her worry.


    ¡°I hope so, Zander¡­ I really do.¡± She spoke, tears forming in her eyes. She knew that this was herst hope for her baby boy. No other healer had even been willing to try to save him, no matter what they had been offered. Since it was an ident while leveling up, many assumed it was just the world¡¯s will for him to be in this state.


    But now, someone had appeared, willing to try and save him. Not only that, he didn¡¯t ask for anything in return. Even though he didn¡¯t seempletely confident in his chances, that was far more than those local healers were able to do.


    As she was pondering this, she heard a pained scream from within the hut, and her heart jolted. That voice was undoubtedly her son¡¯s. How many times had she heard him screaming in pain over the past few days? She clenched her fists, blood dripping down her fingers as she forced herself once again not to rush inside.


    ¡°Please¡­ please save him.¡± She prayed, her eyes fixed on her home.


    _______________________________________________________________


    I could feel the ki of beginning as it located the toxin, and marveled at just how thoroughly it had been fused with Roy¡¯s body. The markings on his skin were simply a result of the concentrations in those areas being higher than normal, changing the pigmentation. Aside from the skin, it had merged with his blood vessels, his lungs, even his heart.


    The more I learned, the less confident I became. Even when I witnessed the ki pulling the toxin out of his cells, leaving them damaged before going back to heal them. I wasn¡¯t worried that the ki of beginning couldn¡¯t cure Roy, more¡­ that I didn¡¯t have enough of it. And I had no idea if the constant damaging and repairing of his cells would cause any long term problems for him.


    I spoke through the small boy¡¯s screams, looking towards Jaren. ¡°Go have the crowd outside disperse. If I¡¯m going to do this¡­ I¡¯m going to have to be here for a while. I don¡¯t have the energy to do this all at once. Tell them¡­ tell them I¡¯ll try to get to everyone after I have finished here.¡±


    Jaren¡¯s eyes were still fixed on Roy, seeing the red and green numbers constantly rising above his body. It was easy to see that a war was waging inside of the small boy, one that would determine whether he lived or died. I had to speak up once again before he finally moved, and then returned my focus back to Roy himself.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Amidst the screams, Jaren walked out of the house alone, looking around at the others. ¡°He says that there is a chance.¡± He told them, causing the eyes of the onlookers to widen. ¡°But it will take time. He¡¯s not strong enough to finish it all at once. Anyone who needs to go home can until Roy is recovered.¡±


    Surprisingly, not a single person moved from their spot. Everyone was staring fixedly on either Jaren or the doorway that he had juste from. They could still hear Roy crying out inside the home, but if anything¡­ that scream was just a confirmation that he was still alive now.


    Seeing that nobody took the offer to leave, Jaren shook his head softly, moving to approach Roy¡¯s mother. ¡°Your boy will be just fine.¡± He assured her, standing next to the elderly woman. She trembled softly at the words, but did not move.


    The screams repeated for hours, before finally they died down. A few minutester, the healer could be seen walking out the door, a tired look on his face. ¡°That¡¯s all I can do for today¡­ I need to eat and rest, and then I cane back to continue tomorrow.¡± Even as he spoke, green light swirled around his body, giving him an almost ethereal glow.


    Among the crowd, there were those who didn¡¯t entirely trust his words. They imagined him leaving and nevering back. Thankfully, they were wise enough not to voice their suspicions for fear of them bing reality.


    Thus, nobody obstructed his path as he left¡­ nor the next day when he returned. For six days, the healer worked for hours on end, only leaving the slums to eat or sleep. Nobody insisted on him staying for such things, because everyone knew that they could not even afford to feed him. If they could afford to buy a meal for someone of his level, they could have afforded the cures for their own illnesses.


    Every day, after he left, Roy¡¯s mother went in to check on her son. Bit by bit, she saw him returning to how he used to be. The markings on his skin began to fade little by little, while his swollen features started to return to normal. And every day, she found herself happier, now able to almost imagine her child up and walking around again.


    Finally, on the sixth day, the screams died down earlier than usual. The crowd, which had grown ustomed to waiting outside of Roy¡¯s house, watched as the door opened, and the healer once again emerged. This time, though, he was not leaving because he was low on energy. No, the smile on his face spoke otherwise. ¡°It¡¯s done¡­ I¡¯ve done all I can for him. Everything else¡­ that¡¯s up to him.¡±

 Chapter 260: Modern Conveniences

    <h4>Chapter 260: Modern Conveniences</h4>


    Seeing everyone¡¯s faces lighting up when I made my announcement practically made these six days worthwhile. Even though I had worked so long to cure Roy of his condition, I only managed to get one level in the Saint of Five Lights. Is it just that much harder to level up through basic training?


    My training up to this point had never been what would could consider as basic. I was constantly using abilities far beyond my levels, or fighting inbat against people higher level than myself. It was no surprise that such things would result in a faster rate of levelingpared to more ¡®mundane¡¯ uses. Otherwise, everyone¡¯s levels would be in the thousands by now.


    Of course, there were still other things that I had learned over thest few days. I had my first experience eating at a three ring diner. The food there was pretty expensive, but¡­ it was good, in a way?


    Back when I had to stay on that boat for a year, everyone had to eat massive meals every day to keep up their energy. But that was because they were eating normal food, what would now be considered one or two ring at most. With a three ring meal, I actually feltpletely full after a fairly normal dinner.


    At nights, I had checked into an inn for the week, and got to experience this world¡¯s culture even more. Every room was equipped with a TS, their magical equivalent to a television. By now, there were a few dozen regrly broadcasting channels, though each region also had an important ¡®news channel¡¯ to ry local information.


    Unfortunately, it didn¡¯t seem like there was anything simr to an inte equivalent yet for earth. When I had asked Ryone about it, she had given a small sigh. It¡¯s not like they haven¡¯t thought about connecting the entire world with an instantaneouswork like that. The problem is it isn¡¯t feasible. She exined patiently while Iy in the bed watching the crystal¡¯s projection on the wall.


    Even Desbar wouldn¡¯t be able to create something like that again now that monsters are roaming around. The foundation for a world wide connection has to beid all around the world. But with the sheer size of the oceans, they can¡¯t construct enough ry towers to send the mana waves from one continent to another without them getting degraded.


    The most efficient method would be to link it to the portalwork system of the elves, but that would require the portals to be operating full time. Currently, there¡¯s not a power source capable of sustaining that cost yet.


    Hearing her exnation, I furrowed my brows slightly. I thought that mana could cross space easily?


    Ryone gave a chuckle at that. That¡¯s only when a mind is directly controlling the mana. And even then, they have to be able to properly picture the area that it is being directed. When the mana is controlled by an enchantment, it loses that benefit in exchange for not needing someone present at all times.


    Right now, you are able to watch shows from all over the beastkin continent. However, the only way to receive information from elsewhere is to turn to the world news channel, which collects information manually from all over the world.


    Thinking back on that, I found that there were still a lot of things about this world that were left to explore. But that wasn¡¯t a bad thing. The day that there was nothing new to learn would be the day that nothing was left at all.


    ¡°Dale.¡± Jaren¡¯s voice brought me out of my thoughts and back to the presence. Looking up, I noticed a woman absent from the normal crowd which had been gathered after I came out. It seemed that Roy¡¯s mother had rushed inside past me while I was recalling my stay here.


    ¡°Yes, I haven¡¯t forgotten. As long as it is nothing like Roy¡¯s case, I should be able to treat a few more people today.¡± There was a rush of relieved sighs from the crowd when I spoke that, while Jaren hastily nced around.


    ¡°Remember what we discussed. The sick first.¡± He called out, seeming to understand that they were in more dire need.


    One woman with a sickly pale face and drooping eyes walked out. Her symptoms reminded me of amon flu or cold from the old earth, her nose practically a leaking faucet. Even among those sick, people were giving her a wide berth.


    I didn¡¯t say anything and simply stepped up to her, cing my hand on her forehead. Her level was one of the lowest, even among the people in the slums, so simrly the disease afflicting her couldn¡¯t be too advanced, or it would have killed her already.


    The woman¡¯s health bar, which had been dropped by a third, recovered in under a minute. Color quickly returned to her face, though her other symptoms didn¡¯t quite dissipate yet. ¡°Go get a good rest. You should be recovered by morning.¡±


    When she heard that, her eyes opened wide, and she turned to look at Jaren. After he nodded his head, she made her way out of the crowd, to be reced by someone else. Like that, I continued for two more days before I had finally managed to take care of everyone that I could in the slums.


    During this time, I even attempted to cure someone who had been born blind. However, I had stated originally that I didn¡¯t expect it would work. And sure enough, I was unable to cure his blindness. But for those that had been injured or who had fallen ill, I had done my best for them.


    As I was getting ready to leave the slums for thest time, Jaren caught me by the arm. ¡°Ah, before you go, there¡¯s onest thing.¡±


    I stumbled briefly, surprised by the sudden interruption before looking at him in confusion. ¡°Sorry, did I miss somebody?¡±


    ¡°Not quite¡­ I was wondering if you¡¯d be kind enough to leave a legacy behind before you go.¡±


    It took me a moment to understand what he was asking, until I remembered the existence of Legacy sses. ¡°Ahh¡­ I can try. However, I¡¯ll need some time to get it written. Once it¡¯s done, I¡¯ll send a courier to deliver it to you. Is that alright?¡±


    A legacy would increase his odds of being able to replicate what I had done, but¡­ not by much. Not when I myself wouldn¡¯t be able to repeat it without world sight, which I couldn¡¯t include in the legacy.


    ¡°Yes, yes, that¡¯s fine.¡± Jaren nodded his head happily, releasing my arm to let me continue on my way. ¡°Thank you for the consideration, Dale. We won¡¯t soon forget about you.¡±


    I gave a small nod, turning and walking off. Udona, would you be able to draw up a diagram for the ki path I¡¯m using? I¡­ wouldn¡¯t really know where to begin with how to do that right now.


    I had designed this ki path myself, but that was on a three dimensional disy, not something that I could easily or urately depict in two dimensions. I¡¯ll¡­ try. Udona¡¯s response came back, a bit of doubt in her tone. However, most people are likely to see it as a jumbled mess. You know that, right?


    Once again, I gave another nod, getting ready to ask her to guide me towards the next area where I could put my skills to work when Aurivy suddenly chimed in. We¡¯re ready, Dale!


    Tilting my head in confusion, I stopped on the side of the road, thinking towards her. Ready for what?


    Really? You forgot? She asked in exasperation. We finally got the level limit up to two hundred and fifty!


    Oh, that! I smiled slightly, ncing around to look for a nearby alley. I¡¯ll be over shortly. How many sses are still missing?


    We¡¯ve managed to gather all of them, except for the advanced ones. Those haven¡¯t appeared on any floors yet.


    And how did the situation with the dark elves go?


    There was a pause after I asked that question, before Aurivy spoke in a regretful tone. They were¡­ wiped out. They worshipped the gate to the next floor, and during negotiations we tried to prove its purpose. When they saw that our people could pass through it, but it was inert for them, they flew into a rage.


    However! Just as I was starting to regret what she had said, she quickly spoke up to continue. We found another race on the next floor, and they were more agreeable. They call themselves the Dovah, and look like giant dog people. Not like the lycans, but like REAL dog people.


    Before speaking further, I made my way to an area out of sight, and ascended back to the Admin Room. I¡¯d be able toe back and do some more work on my new ss soon. But right now, there was a more important matter to take care of, the final steps to getting the fourth world linked up.


    ¡°And these Dovah are willing to cooperate with the halflings and humans?¡± I asked out loud, moving to sit at myputer desk and pulling up a map of the area. They had actually explored a lot further than I thought, advancing a total of four floors since Ist looked. Though, most of their exploration was centered on the thirteenth floor.


    For the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth floors, they mostly scattered around to just quickly find the next gate. That¡¯s right. We got really lucky with them, and found them while their people were being attacked by some vicious beasts. Once we joined in to protect them, they immediately became friendly to us. It took a little bit to exchangenguages, but your quest system helped with that a lot.


    I pulled up the race in question, curious to see what was special about them. Aside from being innately strong due to being born on a higher floor, there wasn¡¯t much special about them. Their bodies seemedparable to the heroc, but their mental statistics were a bit lower. Still, they didn¡¯t have any inherent weaknesses like the centaur¡¯s inability to handle magic, so the race was a mere forty points.


    Think it¡¯s worth buying them into the system? I asked, looking at the price.


    Just a sec, let me ask Bihena¡­ Aurivy paused the conversation for a moment, before getting back to me. She says that there¡¯s nothing wrong with it. It¡¯ll be another force to add to the mix.


    I nodded my head, hitting the button to purchase the race. Like she said, they wererge, anthropomorphic canines. From what I saw, their fur was typically a dark brown with spots of ck. Their legs were digitrade, and their frames were typicallyrge and muscr. Just basing them off of appearances, it was likely that they were most fit to be warriors or barbarians.


    Once I had bought the race, I pulled up the map again to search for where their racial orb would be located. Going by how the world had been originally set, it should be on the thirteenth floor. Sure enough, after a quick search I found it in an old cave along the side of a mountain.


    Alright. I¡¯m going to get the Mage ss quickly trained up on the fifteenth floor. Should be secure enough there. In the meantime, make sure everything else is ready. After I¡¯m done, we¡¯ll set the connection.


    Aurivy quickly gave an affirmative, before Bihena chimed in. Just so you¡¯re aware¡­ you will probably need to purchase each race again for Fyor when they cross over from the other worlds. Otherwise, they will likely not be identified as part of the local system, and won¡¯t be able to use the gates or gain levels.


    I paused for a moment when I heard that, giving it a bit of thought. The two systems weren¡¯tpletely identical like they were for the rest of the worlds, so it wouldn¡¯t be surprising if what Bihena said was right. I¡¯ll keep it in mind. If need be, I¡¯ll buy the races again once the fairy gate has been installed.

 Chapter 261: Fyor’s Final Steps

    <h4>Chapter 261: Fyor¡¯s Final Steps</h4>


    With a sh of blue light, I descended to the fifteenth floor of Fyor. I couldn¡¯t help but smile when I opened up my character window, seeing that the power levels of Fyor were bing noticeably closer to those of Earth. If I kept waiting much longer, Fyor itself might start to qualify for the games before too much longer. Though, at the same time, I wasn¡¯t really sure what the conditions would be for a world like this.


    Name


    Dale Mitchell


    Race


    Human(Keeper)


    Health


    407/407(1174371/1174371)


    Mana


    3458/3458 (317149/317149)


    Strength


    6(691)


    Ki


    13/13 (458986/458986)


    Stamina


    6(680)


    Intelligence


    41(532)


    Dexterity


    5(592)


    Wisdom


    17(892)


    Luck


    5(249)


    Charm


    5(201)


    ss List


    Alchemist 0(143)


    Archer 0(152)


    Architect 0(113)


    Archmage 0(79)


    Armorer 0(128)


    Artisan 0(134)


    Assassin 0(85)


    Bard 0(139)


    Berserker 0(154)


    ck Knight 0(52)


    cksmith 0(149)


    Carpenter 0(129)


    Chef 0(138)


    Cleric 0(152)


    Crusader 0(97)


    Druid 0(161)


    Enchanter 0(132)


    Engineer 0(129)


    Fallen Priest 0(38)


    Farmer 0(128)


    Gambler 0(131)


    Guard 0(89)


    Herbalist 0(156)


    Hero 0(140)


    Hunter 0(147)


    Jeweler 0(123)


    Knight 0(92)


    Leader 0(112)


    Leatherworker 0(182)


    Mage 60(155)


    Martial Artist 0(195)


    Merchant 0(98)


    Miner 0(135)


    Monk 0(170)


    Monster Tamer 0(152)


    Ninja 0(64)


    Noble 0(73)


    Painter 0(142)


    Pdin 0(132)


    Pirate 0(148)


    Priest 0(153)


    Rogue 0(150)


    Schr 0(204)


    Scout 1(149)


    Sculptor 0(182)


    Shaman 0(151)


    Spirit Hunter 0(73)


    Spirit Tamer 0(125)


    Swordsman 0(152)


    Tailor 0(169)


    Temr 0(148)


    Warrior 0(159)


    Weaponmaster 0(153)


    With a small nod, I confirmed that I could definitely not seal my Keeper levels while I was on this floor. The gravity alone would hurt me, since none of my stats in this world were of a level to withstand it. Not until I connect it to Earth, at least.


    Bihena, are there any monsters nearby that I can experiment with?


    After I sent out my question, it took a moment for her to respond. If by experiment, you mean train, then yes. But be careful, the monsters of this floor have an average level of over three hundred. Yes, I know, your stats outshine them in every way. But many also have a level of resistance against first and second tier magic.


    I was just about toment when I heard her warning, giving a small nod of my head. It wouldn¡¯t be surprising for monsters of this level to need stronger magic to kill them. However, since I had full ess to both first and second tier runes,bined with my higher stats, I should be able to create spells stronger than what normal mages coulde up with as well.


    Thinking that, I asked her to direct me towards one such monster, casting spells on myself one after the other. ¡°Maximum speed flight. Enhanced shield against wind. Enhanced reinforce body. Enhanced reinforce strength. Enhanced reinforce spirit.¡±


    These spells should be enough to ensure that I was able to take on anything I encountered in this floor, even if I had to fight them head on. By the way, Aurivy, what¡¯s different about the ninja ss here?


    Hmm? Oh! Well, not much, really. The same form as Earth still works, but it is easier to store chakra within various items here, like pills and talismans. Speaking of¡­ I tested something out, and found that you can actually use those ki pools like you made for yourself to store chakra. It still dissipates over time, but a lot slower, enough that you can easily replenish it once a day or between fights.


    My eyes widened slightly at that, and I nodded my head. I¡¯d have to test if the same could be true for chakra on Earth, but since the form is the same it should work. It was fairly easy to create chakra anyways, but being able to store it like that would let ninjas activate their abilities a step faster.


    It did not take me much longer to reach the monster that Bihena had been guiding me towards. Arge, four meter tall¡­ I guess you could call it an ogre. It was green and muscr, wielding a massive wooden club in one hand.


    Well, you¡¯re not wrong. We basically call them High Ogres, because another species of ogres exist on the eighth floor. Bihena responded to my thoughts barely a momentter. They could be considered the ¡®intelligent species¡¯ of this floor. However, their intelligence is only at the most primitive level, making them little different from monsters.


    I furrowed my brow, shaking my head slightly. Guide me to something else, please. There¡¯s still a chance that these could one day turn into our allies.


    Bihena didn¡¯t seem to refuse my request, guiding me in a different direction. This time, she led me to a wide forest, though had me stop a considerable distance outside of it. Careful¡­ most of those trees are what you¡¯re here to hunt.


    You have ents here, too? I asked in surprise, staring down at the forest. Sure enough, once I focused I was able to see arge number of monster identifications rising up above various trees. I take it that fire works pretty well on these guys?


    It¡­ does, yes. However, that will also burn down the rest of the forest.


    Not if I do this right. I thought with a small smile, closing my eyes and floating high into the sky above the forest. Each tree was roughly fifty to sixty feet tall, so I had to get pretty high up to ensure that I would be out of their reach.


    ¡°Selective spell, designated targets.¡± I spoke in thenguage of magic, holding my hands out in front of me, palms facing each other. ¡°Maximum guided array,sting ray of extreme heat.¡± One red sphere flickered into life between my hands, others forming in the air around me. ¡°Repeating spell,mand ¡®Fire¡¯.¡±


    When I lowered my hands, pointing down at the forest, a ck rune appeared on the back of my right hand. I recognized that rune as the second tier ¡®heat¡¯, though why it had appeared on the back of my hand was rather unusual. ¡°Fire.¡±


    Keeping in mind Bihena¡¯s warning about these creatures being likely to have some magic resistance, I focused all neen attacks on a single target. Each red sphere shot out a red line, which all impacted the tree at the same time.


    As soon as the beams of light struck, mes burst into being along the surface of the tree, rising up as it trembled, a pained roar echoing out. However, even as nearby trees moved away to avoid the me, I was able to see that it did not spread. The ¡®Selective spell, designated targets¡¯ rune kept it that way, making sure that only the initial target would be damaged by the spell.


    ¡°Fire, fire, fire, fire.¡± I repeated, each time causing the rune on the back of my hand to glow. Every time I said the word, I pointed towards another ent. And every time, the pattern repeated, again and again. I watched my Keeper mana slowly start to decrease, until I had set fifty ents on fire.


    Now, the spells were being fueled purely by my mana, the fires on the trees unable to be extinguished until I cast another spell to dismiss them, or until I ran out of mana. And, given that I was using my Keeper mana¡­ I could keep these fifty spells fueled for hours.


    I looked at the rune on the back of my hand, having noticed how it lit up every time I repeated the spell. So¡­ whenever you set a trigger spell, it leaves an imprint on the body. Saves time on repeatedly casting, but there is probably a limit to how many you can set up at once.


    ¡°Repeating spell, dismiss.¡± I spoke up, and the rune on the back of my hand faded away. At the same time, the red spheres floating around my body disappeared all at once. However, the fire down below was still raging in full force, contained to the fifty ents I had targeted.


    Now all that was left was to wait, so I crossed my hands behind my back, and floated high in the sky while the forest went crazy down below. It did not take long for the first ent to die, and then the second and third. Only when all fifty had been killed did I speak up. ¡°Lasting spell, dismiss.¡±


    Fifty fires immediately extinguished themselves at the same time, leaving fifty husks in their ce. I closed my eyes as the series of notifications came in, letting me know that I had leveled up. This time, my level only halted when I had reached ny-eight.


    It¡¯ll be hard for you to quickly level more than one or two more times, Dale. Bihena told me, giving me time to look over the changes that the series of levels had brought me. After one hundred, high level tier two magic isn¡¯t enough to rapidly grow. You have to repeatedly use it over weeks, or even years. It might be different for third tier rune magic, but the fast training for the second tier ends there.


    Well, that somewhat dampened my spirits. I had been hoping to be able to train all the way to two hundred. From what Bihena was saying, that would likely take me at least ten years unless I bought the third tier magic.


    However, I wasn¡¯t quite willing to do that yet. Fyor¡¯s magic was¡­ easily able to be more powerful than that of Earth or Deckan. With Deckan, you had to collect cards that were randomly dropped from monster deaths. And with Earth, you had to learnplex forme that became harder and harder to understand as it became more advanced.


    However, with Fyor, all it took was learning a newnguage. Third tier rune magic might be evaluated as more powerful than third tier of another magic type in the system, and I didn¡¯t want it to be the thing that pushed me over the edge to be a higher ranked Keeper.


    Alright. Clear a spot for the fairy gate. Has Tubrock made one for Fyor?


    He had one ready as soon as we created Fyor. Bihena spoke, her toneced with amusement. It took him a little bit to get the key ready, but he¡¯s got that now, as well. How do you want to handle bringing Fyor into the fold?


    Her words made me sink into thought, gradually floating off away from the forest. I saw that a few of the trees chased beneath me for a short distance, before giving up and returning back to their ¡®home¡¯. Same deal as before. We need everyone for this, because it will make Fyor¡¯s residents realize that there are more gods out there than just the two of you. They won¡¯t have a reason to fundamentally reject the religions of the other worlds if the two of you confirm it yourselves by appearing with them.


    Also. I sent another message out shortly after the first. Send the key of Fyor to the elves, and have everyone transmit to their people that a fourth world has joined under my control. The gate should be ced on this floor, since it seems fairly unexplored. It also makes a good training grounds for those higher level people of Earth.


    Alright, we¡¯ll get it taken care of. Bihena answered quickly. Should we warn them about the gravity effects?


    After thinking about it for a brief moment, I nodded. Let them know that only those with a body in the second ring will be able to withstand the environment of this world, or those that have the ability to increase their body to a simr standard.


    Second ring? Ahh, that. Humans haven¡¯t quite adopted the ring system yet on Earth, but I¡¯ll give them the information. At the very least, it means that only decently strong people wille to Fyor.


    I nodded my head again at that. It took eighty levels of Martial Artist just to get the stats needed to withstand this floor. Most likely, there weren¡¯t many mages of the other three worlds that had trained their bodies to a suitable level. I could see that causing someints, but eventually they would either give up or start training their bodies to handle the pressure.

 Chapter 262: The Laws Merged

    <h4>Chapter 262: The Laws Merged</h4>


    Rather than ascending to the Admin Room, I waited in the skies of Fyor, above the site where the gate was going to be installed. There was a reason why I had chosen the fifteenth floor for the location of the gate, rather than the earlier floors. Several, really.


    First, the environment would make it a challenge that could help grow even the strongest of Earth, with easy ess to even greater challenges on the higher floors. Second, and perhaps most importantly¡­ the sky.


    As I looked up, I found the pale blue light reminiscent of a normal daytime sky far overhead. On the firstyer, this sky was only one or two miles at most. Here, it was closer to twenty. That meant that there would not be a substantial amount of room to maneuver the Sky Citadel within the first few floors, but plenty of space to do so here.


    While I was thinking about that, there was an odd sound in my ears, like a growing musical note. Looking back down, golden lights danced across the ground, swirling in various patterns. These lights mixed together to create stone, anchored directly to the ground. Rising higher and higher, creating the circr tform of the Fairy Gate.


    Next, following the same procedure, five more auroras of light appeared surrounding the gate. The purpose of these five quickly became apparent when they took the familiar form of a cannon, aimed directly at the gate itself.


    World Fyor has joined World System Earth.


    Conflicting systemws detected. Analyzing¡­


    EarthForceOne. Upon joining two worlds with conflicting systemws, you shall be given the option to make a choice. At no cost, you may choose to keep thews of each world isted. However, at the cost of one hundred points, you may activate a Law Merger.


    ¡­Terra¡­ do I really need to ask?


    There was an amusedugh in response to my question. You should have expected something like this, Dale. The energies of Fyor and Earth are fundamentally different. The system recognizes that, and gives Keepers this option.


    If you choose to leave the two worlds separate, then their systems will be applied individually. It will be possible to train in the Warrior ss of Earth, and thene to train in the Warrior ss of Fyor, as an example. However, Fyor¡¯s magic will be unusable on Earth, and vice versa.


    On the other hand, if you choose to perform the Law Merger, then¡­ The easiest way to describe it would be a mutation of systems. The system will analyze all conflicting aspects, and adjust them in a way to resolve the problem.


    I thought that you said that the two settings would simply merge once Fyor joined Earth? I couldn¡¯t help but ask back to her.


    I did, didn¡¯t I? But then again¡­ would you really choose not to perform the merger? Her teasing tone told me all I needed to know. Whether it is for your own personal power, or the power of your people, there are only advantages to performing the merge. Without it, the only advantage is the ability to stack ss attribute bonuses. Losing the ability to use the powers of one world on the other, though, would be a huge disadvantage that I can¡¯t see you taking.


    She had a point, one that I had to agree with. I was already nning to do the merger as soon as the option presented itself. I just wanted to first know what exactly I was signing up for. And, as soon as I registered my choice, a new message appeared.


    Recalibrating systemws. This process may take a few moments. Your patience is appreciated.


    Recalibrationplete. Any energy which has been either fully researched or manually purchased will have a log of all relevant changes within the Administration Room.


    Multiple system profiles detected. Merging profiles for both systems.


    Congrattions! You have earned a personal achievement!


    For performing your first Law Merger, you have earned the Final Compromise achievement. +20 points,wprehension affinity +1%


    ¡­Terra¡­


    Lawprehension is another one of those hidden statistics that really doesn¡¯t mean that much. She assured me gently. It makes it easier for you to determine the workings behind the fundamentalws that govern a world. This applies to supernatural energies like ki or mana, as well as purely natural forces like gravity. It¡¯s a pretty rare reward, and its effects are even more rarely noticed.


    Well, that was a good thing, at least. Either way, I decided to immediately ascend to the Admin Room, quickly descending back to the Sky Citadel after changing to my normal appearance. Well¡­ normal for a halfling. And, as expected, I found Tsubaki kneeling at the base of the stairs leading up to my throne. ¡°You know, one of these days I am going to choose to descend elsewhere in the citadel, just to see how you react.¡±


    She lifted her head, a small smile on her face when she heard that. ¡°Wee, my Keeper.¡±


    I nodded to her as a stood, ncing towards the doorway leading deeper into the citadel itself. ¡°What level is Soreya¡¯s body? You prepare her meals, so you should be familiar with her requirements.¡±


    A brief look of confusion flitted across her face. ¡°She is what my people would refer to as the second ring. Her average physical score is twenty-five. Is there an issue with that?¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s good.¡± I nodded again, a small smile on my face. ¡°We¡¯re about to introduce a new world, and will be taking the Sky Citadel there. However, you can only survive in the area where we¡¯ll be going if you have at least a second ring physique. I wanted to make sure that we did not have to ask her to leave the Citadel until we were done.¡±


    Tsubaki¡¯s eyes widened briefly, before she hurriedly nodded her head. ¡°I understand, my Keeper. I shall leave you to your business until it is finished.¡± After saying that, her body seemed to break down into dust, dissolving into nothing. So that¡¯s how it looks when she breaks down an avatar¡­


    Shaking my head, I moved to the throne at the top of the stairs. Tubrock, no problems with the operation of the citadel after the changes?


    None,d. She flies, fair as ever. Energy consumption¡¯s even gone down a few percent, I think.


    Probably a result of the way that mana changed. Lifting my hand, I looked at it curiously before flipping it over and muttering in the runguage. ¡°Fire.¡± Resting atop my hand, a small me came into existence, hovering there passively until I dismissed it.


    Doing this let me measure the rate my mana was consumed. Although it was slightly more than when I had initially cast the spell in Fyor, the increase was not severe. Still a bit cheaper than casting the spell through the geometric system.


    Ryone, you¡¯ll be in charge of figuring out anyplications caused by the merger. Think you can handle that?


    I could practically feel her grin when she responded. An entirely new set of magicalws for me to research from the ground up? And Udona says you never get me anything nice.


    I rolled my eyes, chuckling softly at that. Alright, everyone, time to make our announcement. As I said that, golden light shed through the room, everyone taking their ces.


    _______________________________________________________________


    My people. The words echoed throughout every mind in every world, causing many to look to the sky instinctively. In the back of their mind, they saw what they recognized as a halfling seated upon a gilded throne, a row of gods and goddesses beneath him. This sight had not been seen in countless years, yet everyone of Earth, Desbar, and Deckan knew that something major was happening.


    As for those of Fyor¡­ Most of you have never seen me before. I am Dale, the Keeper. I am the one who created the worlds upon which you live.


    Today, Ie to announce the joining of newnds, as well as changes that will affect all things in the days toe. The goddesses Bihena and Aurivy have been raising a new world, one different from what you know. This world is named Fyor, the world of dungeons.


    For those of Fyor, I wee you to meet the worlds of Earth, Deckan, and Desbar. If you wish to meet them, I have ced the gateway to these worlds on the fifteenthyer. As for those of the other worlds, you should be aware, there is a requirement before you enter Fyor. This world is not like the others. Only those with sufficiently strong bodies will be able to withstand the atmosphere within the world. I urge you all to ensure that you are properly prepared.


    Now, the changes that havee. Some of you may have already noticed them. The world of Fyor uses a different system of magic than those of the other worlds. As of this connection, some of thosews of magic have bled over from one world to the other. It may take some time to adjust to this change, however I assure you that it is a positive one.


    As the Keeper had said, there were indeed changes. Some noticed right away, and others less so. The Magic Towers spread across the continents reported a rise in power output, even without any additional mages fueling it. Various magical devices found themselves charging slightly, even without connecting to a mana port.


    The most obvious change happened with the wards. Almost every city had protective wards, which red up all at once. Barriers shielding every city as if they hade under attack. It didn¡¯t take long for schrs to devise a theory, one which denied one of the fundamentalws of magic. Mana was now in the air. It traveled hand in hand with natural energy, neither rejecting the other.


    As soon as this theory went out, someone came up with a way to confirm it. The easiest, most simple way, and one that changed the way adventurers trained. A druid went into a dungeon, and found that they could still wield their full power.


    _______________________________________________________________


    I let out a long breath, closing the link that I had established with the four worlds. I wonder if the merkin are actually going to remember it this time? I asked myself with amusement, before shaking my head. If they did, I was sure I¡¯d hear about it soon.


    As soon as the connection closed, the various deities all returned back to the Admin Room. As did I, after shifting the citadel from the sky of Earth to Fyor. Now that I knew what to look for, I could definitely feel the sudden increase of pressure, even if only just.


    Just as I was preparing to ascend again myself, Tsubaki opened the door, entering the throne room. ¡°I assume that we have arrived, and that business has been concluded?¡± She asked, tilting her head slightly.


    ¡°It has. I¡¯ve ced us on the fifteenthyer of Fyor, just above where its gate is located. This entire ¡®world¡¯ is popted by monsters ranging between levels three hundred and three hundred and fifty.¡± As I said that, a thought urred to me. ¡°I¡¯d like you to perform a special mission for me.¡±


    Tsubaki¡¯s eyes practically lit up when I said that. ¡°Of course, my Keeper. Anything you wish.¡±


    ¡°Theyout of Fyor is fundamentally different than the other worlds. It is built upon countlessyers, each above the one before it. The only way to travel between theseyers are through¡­ you could call them gates. They resemble ck walls jutting out of thendscape. The residents of this world can travel between theseyers easily through the use of these gates. I wish for you to go and see if you can do the same, or if I need to adjust things to properly allow it.¡±


    The beastkin maid gave it a moment of thought, before nodding her head. ¡°Very well, sir. Might I know the location of this gate, or would you prefer I find it myself?¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯ll have Terra guide you there.¡± This is your punishment for not telling me about the merger. I sent mentally towards the felyn goddess after speaking to Tsubaki.


    Yeah, yeah, I can deal with guide duty. She spoke in an amused tone, before Tsubaki¡¯s eyes widened once again.


    ¡°I understand, my Keeper. I shall set out immediately, and ry my findings back to you through the Goddess.¡± After saying that, she creased her brows in focus, lightly shing her hand through the air to create a colorful portal that rested above the ground. With one step, she had entered the portal and closed it behind her. And with that taken care of, I immediately ascended back to the Admin Room.

 Chapter 263: Cause and Effect

    <h4>Chapter 263: Cause and Effect</h4>


    After sending Tsubaki off on her mission, I returned back to the role of Dale, the traveling healer. My absence was only a few hours, as I had not fast forwarded at all while I was gone, so it would still not seem suspicious.


    ¡°Did you hear it too?¡± I heard someone asking on the streets, conversation bustling about the message that I had sent out.


    ¡°Another new world¡­ But it has such high requirements¡­ second ring bodies just to enter it? How strong would the monsters be there?¡±


    ¡°And there was a change to the magic, too? Is anyone here a mage that can exin that?¡±


    Following that question, there was a murmur of voices speaking up while I exited the alleyway that I had descended to. It seemed that none of the nearby mages had discovered what had changed about the magic system yet, aside from the city¡¯s defense wards being activated. I was quite curious to know how it would work out myself.


    Okay¡­ let¡¯s try this again. Udona, mind guiding me to the next destination for my work?


    Yeah, sure. She answered, her voice seeming distracted. You¡¯ll need to visit the guild again. The portalwork was shut down after your announcement for safety. They don¡¯t want to operate until they know the extent of the changes and how it will affect the portals.


    Understandable. After nodding my head slightly, I made my way towards the local guild. When I arrived, I saw that there were quite a lot of people were waiting in lines to file requests. And every time a request was filed, either a blue or green emblem page would be posted on the board.


    From what I could see, the blue emblem requests were for people to study the new changes on the magic system, the reward based on the amount of information received. The green ones, as expected, were transport requests to make up for the portal being shut down.


    Since there was nothing else for me to do, I decided to wait in line for my turn. So, Ryone, spotting any changes yet?


    A few. The elven goddess¡¯ voice wasced with excitement. I¡¯m sure you noticed the wards. They¡¯ve been activated because there is an outside source of mana in contact with the control device for them. Mana is no longer simply being generated by people, Dale! It¡¯s now a passive energy filling the world, like natural energy.


    I paused for a moment when I heard that, before shaking my head. Mana is the energy of thought. This should be a fundamental truth no matter how it has changed. It¡¯s the basic ideal behind mana as a whole. So, if people aren¡¯t generating the mana, then what thought is driving it?


    Can I butt in here? Aurivy¡¯s voice suddenly spoke up over the connection, her tone mischievous. I think I can answer some of these questions, if that¡¯s alright Ryone?


    Please, be my guest. She agreed readily, seeming to take a step back. These changes came from merging Aurivy¡¯s world with the rest, so Aurivy would be the one most likely to understand the changes.


    Thanks, Ryone! Anyways, you¡¯re right Dale. Mana is and will always be the energy of thought. I can¡¯t say exactly how this change will affect elementalists, because Fyor hasn¡¯t unlocked them yet, but I know the origin of mana. In Fyor, manaes from nearly every living creature. It passively leaks out of them, in amounts so small it is hard to detect.


    Anything that is capable of thinking outside of its own existence naturally leaks its mana into its surroundings. She exined, before letting out a long sigh. This is both a good thing and a bad thing.


    On the one hand, if the morale of the people is high, then the ambient mana will carry with it a positive attribute. This can cause crops to be more abundant, or people to have their natural recovery bolstered just from being in the area.


    And if morale is low? I couldn¡¯t help but ask, having a bad feeling about that.


    Exactly¡­ if anger or depression sweeps over an area, then it can cause monsters to be attracted to that area. Even worse, if the situation gets severe, the mana itself can coalesce and form its own monsters based on the thoughts of the local creatures.


    After our war against the dark elves, grief struck our people. They felt genuinely sorry that they did what they had to do, and that grief spread like wildfire. Soon, a skeletal army of undead elves had risen from the ground, andunched a renewed assault.


    Oh¡­ oh my. Ryone spoke up, half in shock. So, it is a cycle. If the people are happy, good things happen to make them happier. But, if their mood takes a turn for the worse, or heaven forbid if someone takes advantage of this to cause a disaster, it bes a spiral of sorrow.


    Pretty much! Aurivy confirmed. Thankfully, it takes quite a bit of gathered mana for either effect, so it isn¡¯t a constant thing to worry about. Once a blessing or a curse ur, the mana has to build up before another can--eh? EHH?!?


    ¡­Aurivy¡­ what just happened? I never liked it when people suddenly got cut off mid sentence. Especially when that person was literally an all-seeing god.


    Druids¡­ druids in dungeons. Aurivy muttered through the mental link in disbelief. Oh no, no no no, this is wrong. Sorry, Dale! I¡¯ve got to go! If druids can do their work in dungeons now, that means that they can alter the dungeon terrain. I have to go reinforce the dungeons! I¡¯ll get back to youter!


    After she left that message, I felt her presence vanish from my mind. I couldn¡¯t help but let out a sigh, shaking my head. She really was the Goddess of Dungeons, after all.


    ncing ahead, I saw that it was almost my turn in line, so I stopped bothering Ryone. As I stepped up, the felyn woman behind the counter looked at me with a haggard expression. ¡°Travel, right? Where are you going?¡±


    Getting my destination from Udona, I quickly answered. ¡°The capital, Dukan please.¡±


    Almost mechanically, she spoke up. ¡°That¡¯ll be six haram, seven sil, and five pen. Do you have am crystal, so that I can call you when your order is epted?¡±


    I nodded, bringing out the silver pearl that I had bought from Irena¡¯s incarnation, setting it down on the counter along with the requested coin. She pulled her own crystal out, a bright pink, and we registered each other. ¡°Thank you for your business. Next, please.¡± As soon as I had stepped out of the way, she began the same process over.


    I felt a bit sorry for her, and the other receptionists like her that would be suddenly getting an overload of work due to the recent announcement. Still, I moved off to the side, palming mym crystal while I watched someone run back to the counter and take a pile of new requests, mine included, over towards the board to post them.


    It would be nice if I said that I didn¡¯t have to wait very long. Actually, the druid that would take me to Dukan had already arrived before I did myself. However, he just waited, watching the requests piling up with a wide smile on his face.


    Only an hourter, once his eyes flicked towards the door, and he saw someone else wearing a green guild badge entering did he gather up a pile of requests and head to the counter. The receptionist¡¯s eye twitched as she saw the stack of quest papers that had been presented, before she pulled out herm crystal.


    I felt the silver pearl in my hand shake, a mental rm going off in my mind to ept the call. Doing so, I grasped the pearl firmly before hearing that same tired voice again. ¡°Everyone who wished to go to Dukan, someone has taken the job.¡± And with that, the call was cut just as abruptly.


    A number of people walked with me towards the counter, and the lycan man who epted our requests turned to face us. ¡°Hello hello. My name is Judar, and I¡¯ll be taking you all to Dukan today. Is there anyone missing? No matter, I can just send them through once theye by.¡±


    I heard a few grumbling voices from the crowd, no doubt other people who had noticed Judar waiting for quite a while before taking the requests. This was bound to be a huge payday for him, simply judging by the number of people that were gathered.


    ¡°Now now, no need to fuss. Better to handle as many as I can at once, right?¡± He asked, reaching down and pulling the lid off a leather pouch at his waist. ¡°Ocean water, straight from the port of Dukan.¡±


    As he spoke, the water emerged from the unsealed pouch, forming a portal in front of us. It was onlyrge enough for one or two people to move through at a time, so people began to line up, hastily walking through. Nobody felt like waiting any longer than they had to in order to get where they were going.


    Once I was through, I parted from the crowd, exiting the building and ncing around. In the distance, I could see the castle rising up, the top of it just barely covered by the city¡¯s shimmering shield. Okay, what can you tell me about this area, Udona?


    Quite a lot. However, I¡¯ll keep it brief and only tell you the relevant parts. Dukan is perhaps the smallest of the beastkin capital cities, due to the Druidic Massacre at the end of the ancient war. It took a long time for people to be willing to move to the city after that, and even longer for trade to flow through it again.


    Okay, my fault. I shook my head, waiting for Udona to continue. Due to this, the slums of Dukan are actually quite a bit more popted than they were in Suram. You should n to be here for a couple of weeks.


    There was a moment of hesitation before Udona spoke up again. More importantly, there is another severe case here. And¡­ it¡¯s a ninja. A rather high ranking one, with their own Servant.


    What would a high ranking ninja be doing in the slums? I asked in surprise, moving towards the area I felt Udona guiding me.


    They don¡¯t use the same currency as the rest of the continent. So when they send people out, they do so with little to no financial support. His Servant is capable enough that he is able to stay fed, but he can¡¯t afford lodging, and the Servant isn¡¯t skilled enough with alchemy to treat his master himself.


    Part of me felt a wave of relief when I heard that the Servant was a ¡®he¡¯. Seeing one Tsubaki was enough, if I saw more attractive beastkin women wearing revealing maid uniforms, that could be bad for my mental health. But it¡¯s something that I should be able to cure?


    As long as you can earn the trust of his Servant. Otherwise, you should not expect to be allowed close to him.


    I nodded my head at that. I could just imagine if I were sick and Tsubaki were guarding me. She¡¯d be likely to cut down anyone that tried to forcefully approach me, attacking first and asking questionster. Are there any influential figures in the slums here that I can get to help me, like Jaren was?


    There¡­ are a few. Like I said, the slums here are quite a bitrger. It¡¯s not just one smallmunity like you saw in Suram. I¡¯ll guide you to the leader of the firstmunity, and you can start from there. As she said that, I felt a small shift in the direction I was being led, but simply followed along. While walking, I heard more and more people discussing the changes that had just taken ce in the world, and what they all meant. There were even those eagerly wanting the portals toe back up so that they could visit the elvennds and use their gate to check the new world for themselves.

 Chapter 264: Curing the Ninja

    <h4>Chapter 264: Curing the Ninja</h4>


    My trip to the slums this time began much as it did in Suram. At first themunity leader, an elderly felyn woman, short and haggard by the name of Lynda, was untrusting of me. She thought that I was in it for some kind of profit or scheme. Unfortunately, unlike Jaren she was not a Priestess of Irena.


    Without the inherent ability to discern that I was telling the truth, it was far more difficult to ay her suspicions. Rather than gathering a crowd for me to heal all at once, she took me around, one house at a time, and closely monitored me while I worked. Since I had expressed an interest in treating those with serious afflictions, she had instead led me mostly to those with minor injuries for the first few days.


    It was only a bit over a weekter when she finally took me to treat someone who was in real need. And this was not entirely of her own decision, but rather because she had waited as long as she could. Like the farmer¡¯s wife, it was amon affliction, just one that they could not afford to have remedied.


    During my time in Dukan, I saw the servant of the ailing ninja several times. Though, if not for the fact that I was able to see their level, perhaps I would have never even noticed who they were. The man was not wearing the robes of a professional butler like I had first expected, but rather rags, his face marred with dirt and grime.


    In the slums, he seemed to blend in as just another face in the crowd, no doubt the result he was aiming for. For those first few days, I saw him stealthily observing from the crowd as we passed through one worn out house after another. He did not make contact, simply watching me.


    Out of curiosity, I had spread my world sight once while I was treating a young girl with a broken arm, and discovered that he was hiding in the rafters of the house directly above us. It took all I had in me not to jump in surprise, though I must have given enough of a reaction for him to grow cautious as he had left a momentter.


    In total, it took me just over two weeks to get through this onemunity of the slums. By the end of it, their leader was far more kind, enough so that she put in a good word for me at my next destination. Though, once again I found that same servant there. His face had changed, making him look like a different person, but the information disyed to my eyes above his head was the same.


    It was only after I had gone through the entire secondmunity when he approached me. When he did so, he walked with a limp, his health bar lower than what I had seen it previously. Don¡¯t tell me that he hurt himself so that he could put on this act? I thought to myself incredulously.


    ¡°S-sir.¡± The man muttered wearily. Right now, he looked like an elderly lycan man, one leg dragging limply behind himself. His body was thin, as though malnourished, and his face was full of aged wrinkles. ¡°Can you¡­ can you really heal people? Even those that the priests have forsaken?¡± His voice came out as a dry croak, his lips dry and cracked.


    I nodded my head, doing my best to control my expression. ¡°That¡¯s right. Are you in need of healing as well?¡± I nced above his head, purposely looking towards his health bar that had been emptied by a third.


    The manughed dryly, shaking his head. ¡°No, no, not me. Someone important to me¡­ he is ill. No, can you even call this an illness? We don¡¯t know what¡¯s wrong with him¡­ the priests can tell us nothing. He simply¡­ doesn¡¯t wake up.¡±


    Aa? My eyes widened a bit as the suspicion crept into my mind. ¡°Take me to him. I can¡¯t promise anything, but I¡¯ll do what I am able.¡±


    A smile appeared on the man¡¯s face, and he nodded his head. ¡°Yes, yes, thank you.¡± He spoke excitedly, turning and limping back the way he came, stopping after a few steps to turn and beckon me to follow him.


    I did so, and soon he had led me to a small, cheap inn at the edge of the slums. Though, to call it an inn seemed almost unfitting. It was more urate tobel it a homeless shelter. A kind young woman poured soup intorge bowls for various patrons, barely giving us a nod as we entered.


    A few of the people in the dining area I recognized as those that I had recently cured, and it seemed that they recognized me as well. They waved towards me, sending their thanks as the servant and myself ascended the stairs. ¡°Please, please, he¡¯s just inside.¡±


    As he pushed the door open, I stepped into the room. Lying on a nket that had been spread across the floor was a young man, looking still in his teens. His clothes, while dirty, were a far cry from the rags that his servant was wearing. However, the curious thing was that his health bar had not even appeared above his head, meaning that he was either uninjured, or already dead. And given the slow, gentle rise and fall of his breath, it was clear that he was at least not dead.


    I furrowed my brows, stepping forward and kneeling down next to the boy. Udona, anything you can give me? I asked towards the Goddess of Life hopefully.


    How about you see for yourself? She offered back, a small smile in her tone. I¡¯ll fill you in if you can¡¯te up with anything. You¡¯re ying the healer, so it is best to see this for yourself.


    Grimacing at theck of anything helpful, I ced my hand on his head. There was no fever, though if his condition would have caused one then his health bar should have appeared. ¡°This happened before thest announcement?¡± I asked, ncing back towards the servant.


    ¡°Yes, yes, that¡¯s right.¡± He nodded his head quickly. ¡°Is that important?¡±


    Honestly, I already knew it to be the case. I was just trying to make conversation to get things moving. ¡°I need as much information as I can get to determine what¡¯s wrong. Casually using my energy without understanding the problem could do more harm than good.¡±


    Taking note of how the farmer had measured my level, I reached down and gently lifted the boy¡¯s wrist. It felt heavier than normal, confirming that his sses had trained his body. ¡°Was he in a battle before this incident?¡±


    The man¡¯s eyes widened briefly, but he shook his head. ¡°No, no battles. He¡¯s not fought in over a year. Just¡­¡± The servant briefly hesitated, before speaking. ¡°Shortly before we arrived in this city-- we travel together, you see-- he had a fitful dream. Ever since, he¡¯s refused to awaken.¡±


    ¡°A dream¡­¡± I muttered, thinking about something. ¡°Whose priest did you take him to?¡±


    ¡°Naturally, to Udona¡¯s.¡± The servant spoke, as if it were obvious. ¡°They are the best healers in thend.¡±


    It started to make sense to me now. The spirit was still something that the living had difficulty controlling. It took Tsubaki decades to master it enough to be the perfect self, and that was with the full repository of knowledge on the energy at her disposal.


    To confirm my theory, I spread my world sight, specifically checking his body. Sure enough, I found his spirit, damaged and frayed as if it had been cut open. ¡°Something attacked his spirit directly in the dream.¡± I said quietly, not sure if my ki could repair this. It had spiritual energy as aponent, but that was just to bind it to myself.


    The man¡¯s face visibly paled at that, looking to the boyying on the nket. ¡°His s-spirit? Are you able to cure him?¡±


    ¡°Me¡­ maybe not. But I think I know someone who can.¡± As I thought about it, there were three existences that sprang to mind, who would be proficient enough in manipting the spirit to repair such damage.


    One, naturally, was Irena. But I couldn¡¯t exactly summon a goddess here and maintain my cover. The next was Tsubaki, who was even less likely to allow me to keep my cover if I summoned her. As for thest one¡­


    ¡°Please, anything¡­¡± The man spoke weakly, and I had the feeling that his tone was more genuine now than it had been the entire time he had spoken to me.


    ¡°Are you able to erect a sealing barrier around this ce? I need to perform a ritual, and I don¡¯t want to scare everyone.¡±


    For the first time, a trace of suspicion crept across his face, but he wiped it away and nodded. ¡°I have some talent in that¡­¡± He turned, his back facing me as he began to work, making sure that I could not see exactly what he was doing.


    It took about ten minutes for him to finish. ¡°It¡¯s done¡­ please, call whoever you need.¡±


    I gave a small nod, slowly standing up. ¡°Don¡¯t be rmed.¡± I spoke, giving a small warning. Soon, my voice began to echo as it resonated with the natural energy.


    ¡°My name is unimportant. I am the wandering saint. I call the one who rules the spirits of nature. Come, and appear before me, the Uncrowned Queen. There is a lost soul who requires your mercy.¡±


    I could practically feel the servant tensing up when I summoned the natural energy of the surroundings. Since I didn¡¯t use my ¡®normal¡¯ introduction, the summoning was likely not to be as effective as normal, but I had also acquired the Voice of Nature. Given that, I was confident that I could make her appear.


    And, sure enough, barely a moment passed before a portal opened up in front of me, leading to a green void. A fair, slender leg stepped through, before the rest of her body did as well. She still wore the same dress of leaves and vines as she had when I created her, her features not reflecting the many years that had passed.


    When she stepped fully through, the portal closed behind her. A brief flicker of surprise shed across her face, and she quickly sent me a message telepathically. You wish to remain hidden, my lord?


    I was shocked that she had instantly been able to see through me, given that my current body did not look like my normal one, but at the same time she was no doubt extremely gifted at reading souls. I gave a small nod, and she smiled. Her voice rang out again, throughout the room, though her mouth did not move.


    ¡°What have you summoned me for, wandering saint of origin?¡± She asked, tilting her head to the side.


    ¡°The young man behind you. His spirit has been damaged, and it is beyond my ability to cure.¡± I did not want to immediately test this theory, given that there was a decent chance that his spirit would reject my energy, only hurting him further.


    Her eyes opened widely at that, and she slowly turned around. Much like I had done, she dropped to one knee, cing a hand over his head. ¡°This was not the work of one of mine.¡±


    ¡°I did not think it would be. I merely hope that you can cure him.¡± I nced back after saying that, and saw a brief glimmer of hope in the servant¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°To fix what has been torn, I must rece that which has been lost.¡± She said, turning back to face me, and then the servant. ¡°Warrior of the hidden tribe, can you make this decision on behalf of your master?¡±


    Suddenly, the servant tensed up, a silver dagger appearing in his hand as he stood upright. ¡°How did you¡­¡±


    ¡°I see all that is within the world.¡± She answered, just as cryptically. ¡°All that happens and has ever passed can be seen, if I will it. A monster of the soul has consumed a part of your master. Knowing this, I shall aid the forces of beyond to purge it. However, in order to rece that which has been lost, a decision must be made.¡±


    ¡°What decision?¡± He asked through gritted teeth, his hand still clutching the dagger. He looked like he was ready to strike at a moment¡¯s notice, just barely holding himself back.


    ¡°I must mend his spirit in the ways of the world. When I am done, he will never again be what he was. He will be half of what I am, one who speaks with the world itself. The other half, as you are, one who walks its surface. Until his final day, he will walk this line, never belonging to either side fully.¡±


    ¡°You mean, he will be half world spirit.¡± The servant asked incredulously, earning a nod from the woman. ¡°How confident are you that this will work?¡±


    ¡°If it were one of my own that did this, the chances would be low. With I myself acting, there will be no failure. I simply require consent be given. His life will not be as long as one belonging fully to one people, but I can promise that he will continue to live.¡± She continued to speak, her mouth still unmoving as she knelt on the floor.


    ¡°In the name of my lord, I offer consent.¡± The man spoke, the dagger in his hand disappearing. ¡°Whatever punishment he sees fit to bestow, I shall ept. World spirit queen, do as you will.¡±


    She nodded at that, turning to face the boy again. A soothing, melodic tone rang out from her body as she ced a hand over his heart. I could sense a transfer of energy, directly from her to him as her voice rang out again. ¡°Arise, noble of the hidden tribe. In the name of the spirits of nature, I wake you from your slumber.¡±


    As soon as her words ended, the young man¡¯s eyes snapped open. His eyes, originally a murky brown, shifted to green, a faint glow hidden within his pupils. Above his head, I saw his level shifting, increasing by one.

 Chapter 265: Happiness

    <h4>Chapter 265: Happiness</h4>


    I deployed my world sight as the ninja sat up, curious about the changes that had taken ce within him. As expected, there were traces of natural energy merging with his spirit at a visible rate, slowly spreading through his body.


    After a few moments, he spoke, his voice dry. ¡°Lars¡­ report.¡±


    There was a rush of movement behind us, and when I expanded my world sight to include that direction, I found that the ¡®old man¡¯ had vanished. Instead, there was someone young enough to be the ninja¡¯s own brother. The rags that had been covering him were gone, reced by a ck and white suit that did not have a speck of dirt on him. Even his dirty, aged face was now youthful and clean.


    ¡°My apologies, my lord.¡± He spoke in a sincere tone. ¡°Due to my negligence, it appears as though you had been attacked by a spiritual monster. For thest forty-three days, you have been in deep slumber while I searched for someone capable of healing you.¡±


    The young man nodded his head, taking a look at the world spirit queen and myself. ¡°I take it that these are the two individuals you found?¡±


    ¡°That is¡­ mostly correct, my lord. The male is a wandering healer who has been making his rounds through the localmunities to relieve their pains. I approached him with the hope that he may be able to cure you. However, when he informed me that your affliction was of the spirit, he said that he could not remedy that. Instead, he called the queen of the world spirits here, and bid her to do so.¡±


    The young man¡¯s eyes widened slightly when he heard the woman¡¯s title, quickly facing her and bowing his head. ¡°Apologies for my rudeness, mydy. I was not aware of your identity.¡±


    ¡°It matters not, my child.¡± She replied softly. ¡°His words have not yet ended, and there is more you must hear.¡±


    That made the young ninja turn to look curiously at his servant, who quickly continued. ¡°As she said, there is¡­ still something more. In order to repair your damaged soul, the only thing that the spirit queen was able to do was to put some of her own power within you. As of now, you are half lycan, and half world spirit. Your lifespan will be lessenedpared to normal, but you are at least alive. I apologise, but I made this decision on your behalf. I will ept whatever punishment you deem worthy.¡±


    There was a slight sigh from the young man. ¡°There will be no punishment. You did what you did for my sake.¡± He then turned to address the world spirit queen. ¡°If it wasn¡¯t you, then I wouldn¡¯t have had this chance at life again, would I?¡±


    The queen answered honestly, her voice seeming to flow through the air. ¡°Had it been the queen of mortal spirits, she would have turned you into food for a new generation. Perhaps one of the Undying Queen¡¯s servants would have been able to repair your soul without alterations, but the damage to your lifespan would remain. It is a scar of the battle you fought within yourself.¡±


    A light, bitterugh escaped from the young man. ¡°You speak of spiritual queens I have never heard of. The world must truly be a vast ce, more than any man can know.¡±


    ¡°There are those that can see the world in its entirety.¡± She assured him. ¡°The queen of mortal spirits roams the earth with her kin, seeking to find a home where they belong. Soon, I feel, their home will beplete. As for the Undying Queen¡­ that is perhaps my mistake, as it is the term by which I know her. I believe your people refer to her as Irena.¡±


    The young man nodded, seeming to understand. ¡°So, it would take one of Irena¡¯s servants, a powerful spirit itself, in order to cure me without this change, then? I believe you have my thanks, then. Tell me, do you have a name by which I can call you?¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but flinch slightly, remembering that I had never given her a name. However, she spoke up with a small smile. ¡°I neither have a name, nor do I require one. I am unique, the spirit of this world itself. No other came before me, and none shalle after. You may know me as the name of this world in the tongue of your people.¡±


    ¡°Asharra, then.¡± He responded, calling her by the ancient name that the beastkin called the world, much like how the people of my Earth once called it Terra.


    ¡°As you say. Now, is there anything else? I feel my children calling to me, curious to my absence.¡± Though she had epted the name verbally, I saw that her name did not truly change when I observed her information above her head.


    The ninja shook his head hastily. ¡°No, no, that is all. Please, return to your people. I believe that we can manage on our own now.¡±


    A light, ringingughter escaped the world spirit queen as her body dissipated into green smoke. ¡°Well then, I shall be watching you, child of my soul.¡±


    Now that she was gone, the ninja turned and addressed me. ¡°I am sure that Lars had informed you, but there is nothing that we can offer as payment, even though you have saved my life.¡±


    I smiled, shaking my head. ¡°I neither asked for payment nor require it. I am simply happy to have helped.¡± After saying that, I turned, and began walking towards the door.


    ¡°You have my gratitude.¡± The young man spoke up again. ¡°But, I must ask that you keep my identity a secret. I will not return kindness with aggression, so you shalle to no harm. However, my mission is one that requires me to remain unknown.¡±


    ¡°Do not worry.¡± I turned my head, looking back at them. ¡°I have no desire to spread information about my patients. We all have our secrets, and it is not my ce to pry into yours, or to spread them to others.¡± He gave a small nod at that, and I made my way out. I doubted that I would ever see those two again, unless I specifically went looking for them after returning to the Admin Room.


    Yet, as I walked out of the room, I felt a small pulse run through my being. Caught by surprise, I stumbled briefly, cing my hand against the nearby wall. My eyes widened before I forced them closed. I had to look inside of myself, back to my spiritual realm. Inside it, I saw the egg that had been holding Leowynn¡¯s body for over a month now. Along its surface, arge crack was growing.


    I felt a smile lift onto my face, and rushed out of the inn as quickly as I could manage. Once outside, I used the beginning wind ki to propel myself into the air, rushing out of the city. I was sure that people would notice me, but at this point I didn¡¯t care. There was something else on my mind. Finally, she was waking up.


    You seem busy¡­ A voice spoke to my mind as I ran through the sky, that of the world spirit queen. Go home, my lord. Tend your business. When you return, I would have words with you in private.


    Her words barely registered before I had already chosen to ascend to the Admin Room. Shortly after I returned, a system message appeared in front of me.


    Incubationplete for spirit Leowynn. Spirit strength has risen to the maximum capacity of the host.


    ¡°Leowynn!¡± I called out into the empty room excitedly.


    Hmmm? A tired voice spoke from within me. The familiar sight of grey mist rising out of my body, forming into the image of my elven daughter once again showed itself. ¡°Father¡­? What just happened? I was¡­ asleep?¡±


    ¡°You were, Leowynn.¡± I nodded my head quickly. ¡°But you¡¯re awake now. How do you feel?¡±


    ¡°I feel¡­ strong.¡± She answered, ncing down to her own hands. ¡°How strong am I now? Is it enough to fight beside you?¡±


    I let out a smallugh at her question, stepping forward and wrapping my arms around her. There was a slight squeak of surprise from Leowynn, before she began to lean into my embrace. ¡°This is nice¡­ hugs are nice¡­¡± She muttered, as if half-asleep, slowly bringing her arms up to hold onto me as well.


    I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle, nodding my head. ¡°Yeah, they are. As for your strength, the system said that your strength has risen to match my highest capacity. I don¡¯t know if that means my normal levels or my Keeper levels.¡±


    ¡°Could we find out?¡± She asked in a hushed tone, leaning her head against my chest.


    ¡°We can. But first¡­ wouldn¡¯t you like to see your mother again?¡± I asked, causing Leowynn to lift her head, blinking at me before realization dawned on her.


    ¡°Father¡­ how long as I asleep?¡± There was a clear worry in her tone, bordering on fear. It seemed that while she was incubating she wasn¡¯t able to feel time passing by.


    ¡°It¡¯s been about forty days now, Leowynn.¡± I answered honestly, bringing a hand up to caress her cheek. ¡°Far too long. Ryone has missed you, we all have. Go, spend some time with her, and let Irena make sure that there are no problems with you. Here in a little while, I¡¯ll find a ce for the two of us to go and see how much you¡¯ve grown.¡±


    ¡°Yes, father.¡± She nodded her head wearily, slowly pulling her arms back before she turned and began to walk.


    She had not even made it to the door when it suddenly burst open. Ryone stood there, her eyes wet with unshed tears. As soon as she saw Leowynn, her face lit up and she ran forward. She picked up her daughter andughed happily. ¡°You¡¯re back. I¡¯m so d you¡¯re back.¡± She rejoiced, holding Leowynn tight.


    Leowynnughed loudly, reaching down to pat Ryone¡¯s back. ¡°What would all your followers say if they saw you acting like this, mom?¡± She asked in a teasing tone, smiling down towards her.


    ¡°Don¡¯t know, don¡¯t care. I¡¯m just d to have you back.¡± Finally, Ryone put her daughter down, bringing a hand up to wipe at her own face. ¡°Now,e on. A lot has happened, and I need to get you caught up.¡± After saying that, she gently tugged on Leowynn¡¯s hand, pulling her out of the room and down the hall.


    ¡°Well that was nice.¡± Terra spoke up, suddenly appearing on the bed behind me, watching the door with azy grin. ¡°I told you that it wouldn¡¯t be bad for her.¡±


    I nodded, moving to sit on the bed next to Terra. ¡°True. I¡¯m just happy that it¡¯s over now. It got so¡­ lonely I guess. Not having that constant presence in the back of my mind.¡±


    ¡°So that¡¯s why you¡¯ve been more talkativetely.¡± Terra rolled her eyes, turning toy on her side. ¡°C¡¯mere.¡± She held her arms open, inviting me toy with her.


    Not one to reject such an invitation, I did just that, and soon felt her arms wrapping around me, her tail flipping forward and wrapping gently around my leg. ¡°Tsubaki finished her mission.¡± Terra muttered, nuzzling her head into my arm.


    ¡°She wasn¡¯t able to make it through the gate, right?¡± I already suspected that would be the case.


    ¡°Nope.¡± Terra confirmed. ¡°Neither was Soreya. Looks like you¡¯ll have to buy the races again. However, they were able to meet up with representatives from Fyor. Since you told them what level the gate was at, they sent people there to try to find it right away, and ended up running into Tsubaki.¡±


    ¡°Please tell me it didn¡¯t turn into a fight.¡± I mumbled, shaking my head and sighing.


    There was a light chuckle from Terra at that. ¡°No fight. They weren¡¯t sure if she was one of yours, or a monster of the floor. But they used the quest system to resolve that without any problems. She even provided them with a trantion book.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± As I said that, I felt Terra shifting against me, ncing down towards her. ¡°What¡¯re you doing?¡± She took the chance to hold me a bit tighter, though I could practically feel the mischievous grin on her face.


    ¡°Rivy said she made a promise. I¡¯m supposed to make you very happy while Leowynn is off meeting the others.¡±

 Chapter 266: The Queen’s Request

    <h4>Chapter 266: The Queen¡¯s Request</h4>


    It was a few hourster when Leowynn had finally finished visiting with everyone. In her current state, Irena had said that it was difficult for her to properly examine Leowynn¡¯s spirit. This was fairly normal, since in the Admin Room she was being fueled with energy a bit differently than normal. However, once we descended again Irena said that she would be watching to look out for any abnormalities.


    Aside from that, it seemed that she had spent some time ying with Aurivy, and learning about what had happened on Fyor. Leowynn seemed quite interested in this dungeon world, as well as the changes that it brought to the others.


    Only once she was back did we descend once again. As for the location where we descended, it was the same dungeon in the middle of nowhere that I had used to create my Ki of Beginning. As the corners of the map were getting filled in by the residents, the middle of the ocean seemed to be the best ce remaining to perform unrestrained testing.


    After all, with the elven gates in ce, few ships were willing to risk traveling the seas. Unless something happened that required them to go out and perform maintenance on a gate, or they were looking for a new ind to inhabit just off the coast, people seemed to stick mostly to the mainds.


    And once we had descended, I called out Leowynn again. The easiest way for me to gauge her power would be for me to observe her information as the Keeper. So, as she appeared before me in a cloud of grey mist, I checked the information above her head, and was momentarily shocked.


    Leowynn - Dale¡¯s Bonded Spirit


    That was it. No level, or anything. When she saw my confused expression, Leowynn tilted her head. ¡°Is something wrong? Am I not strong enough after all?¡± She asked with concern, causing me to shake my head.


    ¡°No, no, I¡­ don¡¯t know? I can¡¯t see your level anymore. Let¡¯s try Aki Seppo, see if there are any new improvements.¡± When I suggested that, Leowynn nodded her head eagerly, once again rushing into my body.


    It took her only a moment of meditation before she seemed to realize something had changed on her side. Father¡­ this is different. I¡¯m going to try something, okay?


    I nodded my head, letting her do what she wanted. Soon, I felt her power rushing through my entire body, much like when we formed the initial level of Aki Seppo. Only this time, the power was not converging on my hand to form a pair of gauntlets. Rather, I saw a dark blue robe manifesting around my body, numerous shifting stars embroidered into it.


    Be the Serpent¡¯s Sky! Leowynn shouted, and the stars on the robe settled in a single pattern. Those stars began to glow, and the sky above me seemed to darken. Those stars from my robe seemed to lift up, moving to rest within the sky.


    ¡°The sky?¡± I looked up, shocked. Leowynn had only ever managed to wield a single constetion before, but now she had unleashed an entire section of the night¡¯s sky. Moreover, as I looked at those constetions, I felt as though I had a connection with them as well.


    Focusing on one that I recognized as the Tide, I saw it begin to glow more brightly. A familiar sensation arose within me, and I aimed my hand just off the small ind where the dungeon rested. With a thought, the turbulent waters became still, and then began to swirl under my control.


    Focusing on another one, the Dragon, the robe adorning my body shifted, bing a suit of ck armor, with wings sprouting from my back. ¡°So this is what it means to manifest the sky¡­ I can call on any of the constetions within that sky whenever I want.¡±


    I¡­ think so. Leowynn spoke inside my mind.


    ¡°Are you able to ess the Goddess¡¯s Sky? I remember you hadn¡¯t been able to use those constetions before.¡±


    When I suggested this, the armor around me vanished, as did the image of the starry sky above. Let¡¯s try. Be the Goddess¡¯s Sky! She shouted confidently, and the robe once again appeared on my body, though the starry sky above held different constetions now. This feels¡­ so much easier than before¡­


    I looked up at the constetions, asking Leowynn to exin them to me. I didn¡¯t want to hastily invoke any of them, since I did not know their power. And, while Leowynn likely didn¡¯t either, it would help to understand their names, and the story behind them. After all, those stories are where the powers came from.


    First came the Great Circle, which surrounded the Goddess¡¯s Sky. It was said to represent Ryone¡¯s magic, and her ability to defend against all forces. When I channeled that constetion, the familiar pair of gauntlets appeared on my hands, but they felt¡­ empty.


    It was only when Leowynn exined what she herself was feeling that I realized what the gauntlets did. I could designate a single spell for each gauntlet, and that spell would trigger whenever I struck something with the gauntlet. A fairly powerful effect, in my mind, but that was just the beginning.


    Next came the Temple, the home of the Goddess of Magic within the night sky. After invoking this one, I felt the mana within my body surging, strengthening to new heights. I had to quickly dismiss that constetion, for fear that my magic would run out of control.


    Then there was the Pce, where mankind was sheltered within Ryone¡¯s protection. Out of all of the constetions I had seen so far, this one left the deepest impression. After I focused on the Pce, Leowynn¡¯s spiritual energy surged out from within my body, creating dozens of elven figures. Spiritual soldiers, each with a fixed level of three hundred. There were knights and warriors in the front, then archers, and finally mages in the back.


    Holy sh*t, I have an army of spirits now? I asked myself in shock.


    Let¡¯s¡­ try not to use this one when you aren¡¯t in your Keeper mode, Father. Leowynn spoke, sounding slightly out of breath. It is¡­ quite draining.


    Nodding my head, I dismissed that constetion, and allowed the energy to return to Leowynn once again. There were still two constetions left, and I had high expectations for them. They were the Angel¡¯s Wing, and the Goddess herself.


    The Angel¡¯s wing represented the Daeva, who at the time of Leowynn¡¯s death were believed to server Ryone. When I activated it, an angelic wing of spiritual energy sprouted from my back. I could use it to fly, but¡­ not much else. Which didn¡¯t make sense, as it was also quite draining to Leowynn. Dismissing the constetion, I assumed that it had another hidden effect.


    Finally, the Goddess. This one surprised me even more than the Pce, both with its effect and how much it drained Leowynn to activate. As soon as I focused on it, I felt a holy energy rising up from within my body. That¡¯s right¡­ the Goddess constetion allowed Leowynn to convert her own spiritual energy into the divine energy of her mother. But to do so drained her energy extremely rapidly, enough so that only ten seconds of it caused our Aki Seppo to shatter, Leowynn¡¯s energy fully depleted.


    Hastily, I checked my spiritual realm, discovering that she was still fine. Unconscious, but she was not harmed. Taking a deep breath, I nodded to myself. Irena, anything out of the ordinary with Leowynn? I asked urgently towards the goddess who had promised to watch over her.


    Aside from the fact that she briefly channeled the power of a god¡­ yes. Irena confirmed briefly. Her strength is astounding. Her soul is as strong as your own. If you were to assign it a level, then it would be the same level as you yourself. More importantly, her soul is not weakened by the expenditure of energy.


    What do you mean? I asked, ncing up towards the sky.


    Normally, a soul¡¯s health is directly proportional to the amount of spiritual energy they had left. In all fairness, what Leowynn just did should have killed her. Irena¡¯s words sent a sudden spike of fear through my body, before she hastily continued. Don¡¯t worry, if I thought she was in danger I would have stopped the two of you myself.


    I noticed that her existence was not weakening as she drained herself when she activated her other constetions. Her energy might have lowered, but her existence itself was as firm as ever. Even now, when she haspletely drained herself, she has merely entered a dormant state, as opposed to shattering her very existence. This has led me to a rather¡­ interesting conclusion.


    Exin¡­ I urged her on, hoping that nothing was wrong with Leowynn.


    Quite simply, she is anchored to your soul, far more than she had been in the past. I cannot say what would happen if her energy was depleted while she was outside of you, but at the very least¡­ While she is within your soul, she cannot die by normal methods.


    A wave of relief washed over me, and I felt my body nearly copse from the sudden loss of tension. Thanks, Irena. This helps a lot.


    Of course, Dale. She replied softly, before the connection slowly severed.


    Shaking my head, I realized that there was still something else that I had to take care of. ¡°World spirit queen.¡± I called out, letting my voice echo in the natural energy to summon her. ¡°You wanted to speak with me.¡±


    ¡°I did, my lord.¡± Her voice spoke back, her body materializing in front of me. ¡°There are things that should be discussed, which only you can help me with.¡±


    Seeing that I looked at her in confusion, she continued. ¡°As I exined to the young man before, I am the Earth. I am all of its energy, and its will incarnate. That is the existence you bestowed me.¡± Okay, that was¡­ a bit more literal than I thought she meant when she was talking before. ¡°However, by that same rule, there can never be another of me within this world.¡±


    ¡°I have tried to make another, but every time have failed. I can divide my will to create lesser children, those stronger than the small ones, but I cannot create an equal to myself.¡±


    ¡°And¡­ you want me to change that?¡± I asked curiously, causing her to shake her head.


    ¡°My words have not ended, my lord. You see, those children not born from me can explore the other worlds as they wish. However, I and those born of my will are unable to do so. We may live within the Earth, or within the realm of natural souls. However, we cannot visit the other worlds under your rule. Those worlds are home to different wills. Wills without form.¡±


    I gave a small nod, understanding that. In short, since she was the will of Earth, she was thus bound to Earth, and Earth to her. I was admittedly worried about what would happen should she eventually be killed, but such a thing was likely harder than destroying the entire itself.


    ¡°My request is not to create another of myself within this world.¡± The queen spoke. ¡°But rather, I would bid you to give the wills of the other worlds forms of their own. As it is, I can do nothing to govern a spirit of nature once they have traveled to a different world under your rule. At that point, they leave my control.¡±


    ¡°And you would rather there be four kingdoms of world spirits.¡± I said quietly. ¡°That way, no matter where they go, there is not a risk that one will go out of control.¡±


    ¡°That is one benefit, indeed. However, being the embodiment of the world¡¯s will has also granted me other gifts. Gifts which I was unable to use before being given a form. Before, while I had a will, I was subject to the whims of others. Those druids and shamans, and many a mage were able to ess my power for their own gains.¡±


    ¡°Yet, since gaining a form, I have found the ability to restrict those who I would not allow to ess my gifts. Those who would wield my power to harm nature. Although it requires me to take notice of them in this vast world, once I have chosen someone to ignore, they can never again call on my gifts. Unless, of course, they possess a power stronger than myself.¡±


    ¡°You tested this on me, didn¡¯t you?¡± I asked in a slightly amused tone, smiling towards the queen, who smiled back.


    ¡°I had attempted to ignore you after ourst meeting. As I knew you would soon call for me, I was able to put this theory into practice. If, after some weeks, I had felt no contact being made, I would have ended the attempt and tried myself to reach you to apologize. However, I still heard your voice beckon me here.¡± She exined, nodding slightly. ¡°Your control over my power exceeds even myself. Perhaps, because of this, I and others like me will never be able to disobey your will.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to take a note of that. But, what you¡¯re saying is that if I make a plete¡¯ world spirit within the other worlds, they will be able to ensure that natural energy isn¡¯t misused? How do you determine if someone is good or evil, to deny them your power?¡±


    Hearing my question, she tilted her head slightly, as if confused. ¡°I care not for good or evil. The two are as one, bnced. What may be evil in the eyes of one man can be righteous to another. I judge them not on their morality, but how they use this power. If a druid wishes to burn down a forest, I shall watch them. If I find that they use my power to destroy nature wantonly, I shall deny them that power. If, by chance, their reason for burning down the forest is to destroy somerger threat, say a beast which threatened them and their home, I shall overlook them.¡±


    I gave a small nod at that. It wouldn¡¯t be too hard to create three moreplete world spirits like this one, so long as I had Irena helping me. And, if her power was as strong as she said, then having aplete world spirit on my side during theing invasions would be almost as useful as having a functioning goddess.


    Especially thanks to the inherent trait of world spirits, which caused them to be loyal to stronger beings like themselves. I had already seen what that was like when I punished the ¡®evil¡¯ world spirit, but to find out that the queen had the same restriction ced on her was quite surprising.

 Chapter 267: The Seekers of the Spheres

    <h4>Chapter 267: The Seekers of the Spheres</h4>


    Creating the three world spirits was not a difficult task, since I had experience from my first attempt. However, the end result turned out somewhat surprising. When creating theplete world spirits, I was unable topletely determine how they would appear.


    For instance, the world spirit of Desbar, which I created first. I had attempted to create it as a male demon, roughly six feet tall. When it appeared, though, its skin was pitch ck. Just above its head was a crown made of fire, and the air around it seemed to darken.


    Next was Deckan, where I began to notice some patterns. The being created this time, from the front, looked like a remarkably beautiful kitsune wearing a long golden dress. However, her back was hollowed out, showing that her skin was made of animate wood.


    And then finally, the spirit of Fyor. By now, I realized that both the races within the world and the domains that their gods¡¯ possessed influenced the appearance of the world¡¯s spirit. So¡­ I just let it go naturally.


    What ultimately emerged was, unsurprisingly, a female. A young human girl to be precise. She didn¡¯t have the subtle signs of maturity that a halfling would have, but rather seemed to genuinely be a human child. Her hair was a deep ocean blue, her eyes golden.


    The spirit of Fyor was not wearing a fancy dress or suit like the other three, and instead wore baggy pants, heavy boots, and a shirt that clung tightly to her frame. She looked as if she were a traveler, just caught in the act of wandering around.


    The three of them had all expressed their loyalty when they had first been created, much as the spirit of Earth had done before them. Though, just to be safe I moved from the fifteenth to sixteenth floor of Fyor and called that spirit again. It is why I saved her forst, I wasn¡¯t sure if I would need to create a different one for eachyer.


    Yet, the response I got was surprising. Rather than appearing in front of me, their voice spoke into my mind. Sorry, sir, but there is something stopping me from forming at your location. In fact, after I left our initial meeting, I am no longer able to reform my body.


    Pardon? I asked in surprise, ncing around.


    It is strange¡­ I still have the intelligence that was bestowed, but I cannot use much power¡­ I feel¡­ sleepy.


    Thankfully, the answer came shortly after from Terra. This isn¡¯t that odd, Dale. Don¡¯t forget¡­ Fyor doesn¡¯t have the World Spirit ss yet. Currently, the system running the world of Fyor is rejecting its existence. However, as it is aplete world spirit, and thus bound to the natural energy of the entire world, the world¡¯s system cannot fully eliminate it.


    I gave a small nod when I heard that. Fyor had yet to find any of the advanced ss orbs yet, so it was unlikely that we could fix this quickly. Instead, I sighed, sending out a message to the young world spirit. Sleep for now. When you wake up, you¡¯ll feel better.


    Yes sir¡­ After that, the voice went silent. Once again, Terra spoke up in my mind to reassure me.


    It¡¯s not dead. You gave form to the world¡¯s will, and that can¡¯t be taken away. It is simply sleeping until its orb is found.


    I nodded again, quietly ascending back to the Admin Room. There were still fifty days left until the invasion. I needed to train, but first, I needed to give the world some time. Time to get used to the new dungeon world that had appeared¡­ and time to find the race orbs that I had purchased, scattered around the fifteenth floor of Fyor.


    Before I fast forwarded, I made sure that I had taken care of everything that I needed to. Although it was unlikely to be helpful, I finished the legacy that I had promised to give Jaren, and briefly descended to have it sent to him.


    From there, it was back to the Admin Room. I thought about how long I should give them, seeing as they had to explore an entire small world to find the orbs. Even a thousand years might not be enough. But, at the same time, the other three worlds would advance by leaps and bounds in a thousand years.


    Ultimately, I decided to set the time for two hundred years. And, before I finalized that decision, I adjusted the focus of Fyor to finding those orbs. There was also Tsubaki in that floor, so she might be able to cut down on the time needed to locate them. At least, that was the hope.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Are you sure this is safe?¡± A middle-aged halfling asked the strange maid that had guided them towards the circr stone gateway. He had never heard of a gate shaped like this, and was naturally untrusting of unknown devices.


    The words that came from the woman¡¯s mouth in response were broken, still having difficulty learning thenguage. ¡°Master assures. Will take, simply use key and step.¡±


    Those instructions were not¡­ exactly the most clear, but that was to be expected. Thenguage barrier always caused some trouble when meeting a new species, and they had only met her a few hours ago. Giving a slight sigh, the man turned back to look at his colleagues. ¡°Anyone want to volunteer?¡±


    They were a prestigious team of Maxers, known as the Seekers. Out of everyone alive, they had found the most runes, the most hidden orbs, and survived the most dangers. It wasn¡¯t wrong to say that they were the best of the best. Strong enough that they didn¡¯t hesitate to enter the fifteenth floor, even knowing that the monsters within would have higher levels than their own.


    The Seekers were a team of twelve people. Each one had poured their life into training a single ss to the absolute limits that they could manage. So it was no great surprise when Solin, their scout, stepped forward. ¡°I¡¯ll volunteer.¡±


    Solin was a young man, appearing even younger thanks to his halfling blood. In a human family, he would appear as no more than a child. But he was their Scout, the one most sensitive to his surroundings. If there was any danger, he would know how to quickly escape.


    ¡°Let me go with him!¡± A female voice cried out, this time from their Mage, a human woman named Mariah. She could be considered as Solin¡¯s adoptive mother, and had cared for him for nearly twenty years. Everyone gave bitter smiles as they realized that her protective tendencies were taking over again.


    ¡°Okay¡­ Mariah, Solin, you two will be the initial scouting party. That voice hinted that the other worlds out there had been together for a long time already, so we should expect an outpost surrounding the gate. If you need to hide, don¡¯t hesitate to use teleportation magic to flee.¡±


    Mariah¡¯s face turned solemn, nodding her head quickly. ¡°I¡¯ll do what I have to do.¡±


    ¡°Alright, then. Let¡¯s--¡± Just as their leader, Jessim, was getting ready to order their departure, the gate lit up with a mind of its own. The maid, Tsubaki, suddenly had her eyes go wide. In an instant, the three that had been standing atop the gate were thrown off by a powerful force, sliding across the ground until they came to a stop.


    When they managed to lift themselves up to gawk at the woman who threw them so effortlessly, they saw her standing there, a giant scythe in her hands. She was staring at the gate, her body poised for battle.


    The group couldn¡¯t help but turn their eyes to watch the gate themselves, wondering just what had her so on edge. And when the light from the gate died, six figures were revealed. Four of them looked almost human, with pointed ears and brightly colored hair. One seemed much like Tsubaki herself, only with the ears and tail of a Dovah instead of a fox. And finally, thest one was a small, portly man with a ck beard that came down past his stomach.


    When they looked back to Tsubaki, they saw that the scythe was gone, and she was standing there calmly. It seemed as if her earlier tension had never been there in the first ce. She stepped up and spoke to the group, who seemed to respect her greatly by their tones, using words that the Seekers were unfamiliar with before pointing to the native team.


    The six who came from the gate walked closer, though two of them did so with some difficulty. Through the exchanging of trantion quests, the two groups came to introduce themselves to one another. Like the Seekers, the six who had juste through were a scouting group from another world, one known as Earth. They were the first delegates meant to establish peaceful rtions with the people of Fyor.


    Naturally¡­ this meant that Solin and Mariah did not need to go through the gate. While Mariah breathed a sigh of relief, the young scout actually looked sullen. The Cleric of the group, a human man named Boron, conjured a portal leading back to the gate of the first floor to take them to report.


    The Seekers shook their heads, stepping through one by one. Seeing this, the six delegates naturally followed as well. Even Tsubaki attempted to do so. But, as had happened at the gate before, the portal denied them ess. When they walked through, it was as if the portal was never there, and they simply appeared on the other side of it.


    This caught Boron by surprise, but he had already seen Tsubaki attempting to use the gate herself. He apologized, asking them to wait there for a little while, before moving through the gate to the first level himself.


    When he arrived at the first floor, known simply as Council, he found Jessim already making his report. As soon as he was done, something seemed to flicker in the eyes of the councilman that heard their story, and a surprising order was given.


    ¡°The Goddesses have just informed me that there are holy spheres within the fifteenth floor. These must be found before those from another world may freely roam Fyor. I have also been told that this is to be a priority.¡±


    Jessim groaned when he heard that, dragging his hand across his face. ¡°Are we still getting paid for it?¡± They were, first and foremost, an adventurer team for hire. They could not feed their stomachs on good will and official orders alone.


    ¡°Yes, yes, of course.¡± The councilman nodded his head. ¡°The usual rates will apply for any collections performed, whether they be beasts, nts, or the holy spheres.¡±


    That, at least, caused Jessim to smile, before turning back to his group. ¡°You heard the man. Let¡¯s get going.¡± Everyone walked back up to Boron, who shook his head with a knowing smirk and summoned another portal to the fifteenthyer.


    Once they were through, and standing before the ck gate, Jessim looked towards Mariah. ¡°Alright, Mariah. It¡¯ll take us all day to run back to the other gate, so mind giving us a shortcut?¡±


    Mariah nodded her head, stretching out her icy blue staff. ¡°Mal¡¯shune, drakaris fin.¡± A single rune floated above the crystal head of her staff, before expanding to epass the entire group. Everyone braced themselves, familiar with the turbulent forces that apanied a teleport.


    They heard a startled shout as they arrived, appearing near the six people who had previouslye through the gate. Tsubaki was noticeably absent, but when the leader of the other party noticed their curious nces, he simply pointed upwards at the magnificent floating castle overhead.


    Jessim shook his head with a sigh, producing another trantion quest to let this group know their new mission, and that they should find a ce to getfortable if they didn¡¯t want to return home. Sphere hunts were never over quickly.

 Chapter 268: Fyor’s Future

    <h4>Chapter 268: Fyor¡¯s Future</h4>


    ¡°Mariah, we¡¯ll be leaving this up to you.¡± Jerrim said helplessly as they walked away from the group of foreigners. Although a scout was undoubtedly the best when it came to exploration, nobody could rival a trained mage when it was time to search for something.


    The human woman nodded her head, reaching into her robe pocket to pull out a small book, slowly flipping through its pages. ¡°Been awhile since we were on a fetch quest.¡± She muttered to herself. ¡°Aha, here it is.¡±


    As she lifted her staff once again, her eyes focused on the book. ¡°Mal¡¯fis, krol¡¯hyn thinayr.¡± Once again, a rune lit up from the tip of her staff, though this one was different from when they were teleporting. This time, the rune shifted to form a circr blue disc in front of Mariah, a pulse of white extending out from the center.


    Everyone watched eagerly, hoping that one of the orbs they were looking for was nearby. Yet, no such luck came, as the pulse reached the edge of the disc momentster. Afterwards, the entire disc seemed to shatter, vanishing into the air. ¡°Sorry, doesn¡¯t look like there are any nearby.¡±


    Jessim simply shook his head, a small smile on his face. ¡°It¡¯s fine. It would have been too easy if they had all been clustered together like that, right? Solin, lead the way, and we¡¯ll try again in a couple hours.¡±


    The young halfling nodded, rushing forward to scout ahead. This was the fifteenth floor, so they had to be cautious.


    Like this, they moved out, leaving behind the gate and the group which hade through it. However, that group was instead staring at them in surprise. The Seekers had assumed that they moved beyond their hearing, or perhaps just that these foreigners would have no interest in what they were doing.


    Yet, they were wrong on both counts. Unlike the people of Fyor, Earth¡¯s residents hadn¡¯t had to worry about a level cap restricting their growth for a very long time, roughly a thousand years or so. Even before then, they were ustomed to spreading their levels out across a variety of sses. As such, everyone in this group of six had at least some levels in the scout ss, amplifying their senses enough that they had heard and seen what Mariah did.


    ¡°What was that?¡± The lycan woman asked the leader of the group, one of the elves.


    ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t know.¡± He shook his head honestly. There were indeed spells of Earth that could search for items, but what Mariah did didn¡¯t match any of the spells he knew of. ¡°Did you say that image that appeared? It did not appear to be a spell diagram, right?¡±


    ¡°Should we ask ¡®er?¡± The dwarf asked, jerking his head in an upward motion, indicating the citadel overhead. ¡°She¡¯s ¡®is favorite, right? Oughta know a thing or two, I figure.¡±


    The leader of the group made a difficult expression, before sighing and nodding his head. Closing his eyes, he called out to her with his mana. ¡°Lady Tsubaki, may we speak with you?¡±


    I already know what you want to ask. Tsubaki¡¯s voice entered his mind a momentter, surprising him. I was watching after I left, to ensure nothing happened. All that I can tell you is that what they did is this world¡¯s magic. Simr to the cards of Deckan. Beyond that, I am as unfamiliar with it as you are.


    ¡°There is nothing even within the great library?¡± The man asked in surprise.


    I have not noticed any new tomes being added within thest few weeks. I believe that the Keeper wishes for us to learn this on our own, or perhaps to learn it from those who live on Fyor.


    He was forced to nod his head in eptance of this, rying the information to the others. ¡°It looks like we¡¯re on our own with this. Tressy, report back to Earth and let them know what we found. Hesa, would you mind constructing us a residence? For the time being, this will be our base until they return, or another group arrives.¡±


    The lycan woman pouted, but nodded her head, moving back to the gate and making sure that the proper key was in ce. While she set off, one of the elven women nced around, identifying a t area roughly a hundred meters away from the cannons. ¡°This should be good.¡± She spoke to herself, lowering her body to kneel on the ground, her eyes closing.


    The ground beneath them began to shake, though the five remaining people did not pay it any heed. Gradually, stone pirs emerged from the ground, shaking slightly as the dirt fell off of them. Their edges smoothed themselves over, cracks vanishing as if erased.


    Hesa furrowed her brows in focus, tossing a seed out from her pocket. When itnded on the ground, it began to sprout a small tree. However, this tree was entirely under Hesa¡¯s control. Rather than growing naturally, it split off, forming into countless nks that rose up and affixed themselves to the stone pirs.


    When she was finished, a two-story house had beenpleted. It had no door, its windowscked any ss, and there were no furnishings within. However, it was somewhere that they could stay for a time.


    Slowly, Hesa rose to her feet, wobbling unsteadily. Nobody said anything, as they all knew the drain that a quick construction typically put on a druid craftsman. By now, she should be suffering from a terrible migraine, evident by how she covered her eyes and made her way inside.


    ¡°By the way.¡± The dwarf spoke up, once again looking upwards. ¡°Any of ya notice¡­ I don¡¯t see no sun.¡±


    ¡°Nonsense.¡± The leader refuted him immediately, ncing upwards himself. ¡°How can there be daylight without a sun¡­?¡± However, as he looked around, he saw that there was indeed no sun hanging in the sky. Briefly, he considered the idea that it was behind the Sky Citadel, but that would put them standing within its shadow. And clearly, they were not in any such shadow.


    Just then, as if to mock them, the sky began to dim. They looked around, expecting to see a beautiful sunset, but found nothing of the sort. The sky lost its light evenly, reced instead by darkness, and the twinkling of what should have been stars overhead.


    ¡°This just keeps getting weirder.¡± The leader said sullenly. First, a magic system that they had never seen before, and now the sky itself defied all logic.


    Like this, the days passed by to weeks. More and more people began to appear,ing from Earth, Deckan, and Desbar. Some ignored the warning about the physical requirements, and met with catastrophe as soon as they appeared. Their bodies copsed to the ground on the spot, unable to force themselves to move more than a slow crawl, while even that felt like their bones were shattering.


    As the weeks turned into months, more residences started to get built around the site of the gate. However, after learning their lessons from history, they did not try to monopolize the gate, or impose any restrictions on it. Rather, they reached out towards the Seekers, asking them to invite people of Fyor to join the settlement they were building.


    At first, the response was rather slow. The Seekers were, after all, in a mission where their lives would hang in the bnce on a daily basis. Once they were able to respond, they sent word back to the Council, and a group was sent to join the colony.


    Months became years, and gradually these groups of people began to learn more about one another. Perhaps thergest trade was that of magic systems. While the magic of Fyor was far more useful in a fast-paced tactical battle, the magic of Earth was instead better in other situations, such as enchanting or warding.


    Although the mana requirements were higher, it was worth the price. Using runic magic to ward a city required the ward to be refreshed on a daily basis, resupplied with energy. However, geometric wards couldst until they were broken. Simrly, most enchantments conducted with runic magic were simrly temporary. Only if the proper materials were gathered could they be made permanent.


    As expected, while the people of Fyor were happy to have ess to such a useful tool to enhance their weapons and defenses, the mages of Earth were astounded by the utility of runic magic. All they had to do was to learn the words, which could even be recorded in amon tome, and recite them out while imagining the associated runes. This made many advanced mages question why they had spent decades studying theplex forms involved in casting the magic that they were familiar with.


    Of course, that wasn¡¯t all. There was still the card magic of Deckan, which Fyor found almost equally interesting. The only downside to it was that there was a limited supply of cards, so it required a constant system of trade, as opposed to a quick exchange.


    And finally, years turned into decades. Twenty-five years had passed before the Seekers found the first racial orb of the foreigners. This was for the race that they hade to know as the lycans, one of four beastkin races. And it was also at this time that the foreigners were struck with another realization.


    The lucky lycans that had been staying in the growing town all rushed for the boundary gate, hoping to see the lower floors. Some of them even made it through. Others, however, found themselves still halted by the gate, unable to pass.


    It did not take long to discover what all of those left behind had inmon. They were all those whose level had exceeded two hundred and fifty. Even just going one over prevented them from using the gate. And at the same time, those who were able to use it could no longer advance beyond that point, without returning to their home world.


    This created a dilemma for the people of the three old worlds. They had always been viewing this as a great ce for them to expand, an area of potentially unlimited space and resources. Yet now, they were struck with the same restrictions of its inhabitants.


    The thought of forcefully capturing the world never even arose, because such a thing would be foolish. Only those within the system of Fyor could ess the gates, and they would have to ess the gates in order to get to the firstyer to get their race recognized. If they tried to send in a group of maximum level people to try to capture it by force, it would lead to a brutal and bloody war.


    Perhaps more importantly, they had already seen how such wars ended in the past. While Tsubaki herself faced those same restrictions, and was thus unable to journey between the floors to the best of their knowledge, she could wreak havoc on not only the fifteenth floor, but back on Earth as well. Thus, nobody even considered the option of a forceful takeover.


    Decades turned into centuries, the Seekers being reced by more exploration parties. Eventually, the level cap rose not once, but twice. With the limit extended by a full one hundred, more and more people appeared to aid in the search for the holy spheres. After a hundred and thirty-eight years, thest of the racial orbs had been uncovered. Finally, every race was able to travel between theyers of Fyor, so long as they had not grown too powerful.


    Though, even with the level cap having risen to such an extent, it had be rare to find those able to advance their levels to match it. The name Maxer became less and lessmon as the years passed, turning into an elite breed rather than the basic prerequisite to be called a true adventurer.

 Chapter 269: Spell It Out

    <h4>Chapter 269: Spell It Out</h4>


    Two hundred years passed by while I watched. Since I had kept most of my focus on Fyor, I had learned quite a few new things. I saw the rise of a unified kingdom that governed Nexus, the fifteenth floor of the dungeon world. Built with the fairy gate at its center, its reach slowly spread out, until its borders touched both the other gates leading up and down.


    I saw as the people came across the high ogres. What happened next was both unfortunate and natural, and also the very reason that I had ced the heroc race so far away from the others. The unified races saw a use for the high ogres, as manualbor and a fighting force. They were too primitive to understand higher concepts, but were unwilling to simply be domesticated.


    Of course, naturally Tsubaki intervened. Yet, even still, the result was outside my expectations. She put the ogres through a simple test, taking one to the gate betweenyers. As she knew that I had made it so that the races I had ¡®raised¡¯ would be able to pass through the gates, she used it as a test. Since she could gauge their levels with her own senses, she knew that they were not too powerful, as some of the others from the races had been.


    And when that failed, she prayed for a moment. Only when she had opened her eyes did she give her judgement, dering that the ogres were not under her protection. Perhaps, in her eyes, they were truly no different than normal monsters. Or maybe, herpassion simply did not extend beyond what she believed I treasured.


    I was not the only one surprised by her verdict, but soon action was taken once again. The ogres fought valiantly, resisting to the best of their power. It took six full years toplete the subjugation of their race, even with all of the magic and special techniques known by the people of the unified races.


    Yet, after those six years, they had been conquered. As they were not within the system they could not take normal quest scrolls to ensure their obedience. Instead, many had been marked with a magical brand, one which restricted their actions.


    Oddly enough, the heroc did not oppose this treatment, even with the vague simrities between themselves and the high ogres. They fought in the battles, and helped enve the primitive monster race, but after that they did not get involved. The heroc were far more focused on exploring more challenging areas.


    It was through their efforts that the sixteenth and seventeenth floors had been explored, smaller settlements forming around their gates. Like the Dovah, they had the advantage of a naturally stronger body, one which could almost fully endure the pressures of Fyor from the moment that they were born.


    Though, that thought had made me question something else. The first floor of Fyor hade to be known as the Council, a ruling body that governed all other floors. The kingdom that ruled the kingdoms, as it were. It was not amon living area, so it was natural that children were not born there. In fact, I saw some children running around the Nexus, a feat which shouldn¡¯t even be possible considering the heightened gravity.


    Aurivy¡­ I quickly exined my question to the Goddess of Love, knowing that she would be the one most likely to have an answer.


    This actually isn¡¯t my doing at all. She spoke up immediately, though had a small smile on her face. They figured it out all on their own, after we gave them enough runes. Hospitals in Fyor are all warded with gravity-reducing magic, lowering its effects to be roughly the same as the first or secondyer.


    When a baby is born, a stamp is ced on them, one that grants them that same resistance to gravity. Once they are old enough, the stamp is reced with a bracelet or a ring. The ring is more effective, and only has to be charged monthly, but they can¡¯t risk it falling off a baby¡¯s finger, or the child themselves taking it off to y with it.


    I nodded when I heard that. It still sounded incredibly risky, but given that they¡¯ve been dealing with that for their entire history, their culture had no doubt adapted to make it more natural. Why don¡¯t adults use those rings so that they don¡¯t have to practice martial arts in order to survive the higher floors.


    There was a lightugh from Aurivy before she answered. A bracelet or ring is too easily broken in a fight. Nobody wants to risk their lives getting extinguished if they suffer a small injury to their hands.


    That was¡­ reasonable. Giving a nod, I watched the rest of history passing by. Every time someone opened up a new floor, I searched it in the hopes of finding an orb for an advanced ss. For the seventeenth, eighteenth, and even the neenth floors, I was left with nothing. They only had the same level limit increases that were found on every floor.


    Only on the twentieth floor, which was discovered near the end of the elerated time by one of the few remaining groups of Maxers, had what I was looking for. To my delight, the ss within the orb was even that of the Elementalist. Finally, I would be able to see what elementalists would be like with Fyor¡¯s magic system.


    Speaking of¡­ Ryone, how is your research into the changes that took ceing along?


    Slowly, I¡¯m afraid. Nobody has been able to unlock any of the advanced sses alongside Fyor¡¯s magic system, even when attempting it on one of the other worlds. Thankfully, people on the other worlds can train the old version of elementalist just fine with the geometric system still. From what I can tell, the elementalist and summoner sses will have a fundamental difference in their function. However, I can say one thing for sure.


    Patiently, I waited for her to exin, though find myself surprised by the answer. Whoever takes the orb to the Council will unlock the knowledge of how to open up the ss. I spoke with Aurivy and Bihena, and every time a ss orb was taken to the central spire, the system bestowed elementary knowledge of the ss onto the individual performing the task.


    I had a small urge to descend, and take the orb myself to hasten the opening of the ss. However, such a thing would not be for the best. If I took the orb myself, I would then be required to personally teach the ss to others, which could take quite a while. But if I allowed a native to perform the deed, they would get the knowledge, and I would get it through them.


    Nodding my head, I made up my mind Aurivy, Bihena, I want the two of you to send out a ¡®revtion¡¯ about the location where the elementalist orb is. It¡¯s the first advanced ss for Fyor, so nobody should find it too strange.


    It shouldn¡¯t take too long like that for people to im the elementalist orb. While the monsters of the twentieth floor were stronger, averaging at level six hundred and seventy, the people of Earth were used to fighting monsters above their own levels. In that sense, their cooperation had even surpassed Fyor.


    Though, I knew that the twentieth floor would be the limit to their domain for a while. Contained within that level was not only the elementalist orb, but also ¡®Level Limit +100¡¯. This meant that the level of difficulty was only going to start rising sharply again with every floor. On the twenty-third floor, every monster would beparable with the Ten Disasters that could freely roam the Earth. If anything beyond that would be explored in theing years, it would be done so by the lucky scouts who managed to navigate around the powerful monsters.


    With that thought in mind, I set the world to fast forward once again, this time setting it to stop once the elementalist ss had been unlocked on Fyor. I saw the world burst into motion once again. Teams were sent out to the most difficult floor,posed of only the strongest individuals. The heroes of their generation.


    The group fought their way into the darkest regions of the underground tunnels of the twentieth floor, and killed massive insects the size of houses. At times, they were forced to retreat, while other times they were able to make significant progress. Eventually, they learned the weaknesses of their enemies, and began to burst through them, finally attaining the ss sphere.


    However, the sphere was located within a nest of monsters, so the retrieval did note without a cost. Most of the party had been in, with only the priest and mage surviving long enough toy their hands on the sphere. With thest of his energy, the priest conjured a portal to the first floor, leaping through together with the mage.


    I saw this, and intentionally slowed down the speed that time was elerating so that I could properly watch.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Beaten and haggard, Theo and Krisa panted for breath. They were covered in the blood of their friends, as well as the mixed-color blood of countless monsters. Fire had been the answer, fire was always the answer. But when pushed to the limits, the monsters had stopped shrinking back, and instead charged forward with all their might.


    With the renewed onught, their Leader was the first to die. As he did, their party copsed, no longer able to properly sense one another. The priest could no longer easily determine where to send his healing in a timely manner, and was forced to rely on his eyesight, a terrible thing when the ce was swarming with giant insects.


    Trapped in the midst of the swarm, the fighter fell next, followed by the rogue. The druid and the monk, may mercy find them, had not fallen so easily. Even when parts of their bodies had been bitten off, they struggled with every ounce of their strength. In the end, the druid had died to acid, while the monk perished to a poisonous sting that ckened his body.


    They had managed to buy the time needed for the mage to locate the orb, and teleport it into her hands. Yet this victory was bitter. Four of the most powerful Maxers had fallen in the span of mere minutes. Goddess help me, this had better have been worth it¡­ She thought inwardly, surprised when she felt aforting presence joining her mind.


    It is. A sad voice, one which she believed belonged to the Goddess of Love, spoke to her. Their sacrifice will open up a new power for every generation. They will be remembered.


    Krisa¡¯s eyes began to tear up as she heard the voice, speaking a prayer softly. ¡°May you walk forever among the mists, knowing neither hardship nor pain. Although this world is empty without your presence, may you be a shining gem within the sky.¡±


    The priest Theo nced over to her, smiling slightly as he heard the old prayer. ¡°Go¡­ we have to finish this quest, right?¡±


    Krisa nodded her head, shakily forcing herself to her feet. People of the Council gave the two of them a wide berth, staring at them in curiosity and fear. It was clear that they didn¡¯t know what to think when the two people arrived in the state that they were in, yet there was no need for them to know.


    ¡°Sorry, but¡­ I¡¯ll be going ahead.¡± Krisa muttered, her eyes locked onto the shining blue spire in the distance. ¡°Mal¡¯shune drakaris.¡± As she spoke, a rune sprang into being beneath her feet, and she vanished. Casting the spell for both herself and Theo would take too long, and no doubt be interrupted by those watching. However, teleporting a single person was far faster.


    She arrived at the base of the spire, under the eyes of many shocked guards, and paid them no heed. ¡°Hyn krol¡¯naemari.¡± With the simple chant, a blue dome sprang into being around her, a new rune repeated countless times along its surface.


    Walking up towards the spire, she ignored the guards who charged at the barrier, striking their spears and swords against it. Soon, she was standing in front of the spire itself, holding up the sphere.


    As they saw what she was carrying, the guards stopped, staring at her in shock. They knew about the quest to retrieve the orb, but if they were back then they should have gone through the proper channels. Instead, Krisa had simply teleported herself directly in front of the spire.


    When she released her grip on the sphere, it flew directly at the spire, merging seamlessly into it. At the same time, she reached up to grasp her head, her barrier flickering as new knowledge poured into her. As she called out in pain, the rest of the world was shocked, a new message appearing in front of them.


    The first advanced ss, Elementalist, has been unlocked.


    Krisa was ignorant to the uproar that her actions had caused for a moment, and found herself muttering weakly. They were mostly words unfamiliar to her, words that sprang into her mind with the appearance of the new ss. ¡°Shar kris phalin, sesharin. Hark nectra sumarin.¡±


    One rune after another rose up as a blue aura began to re around her body, making the guards back up a few steps. The length of her spell, as well as the number of second tier runes involved in it, told them all they needed to know about its power.


    Green lights appeared from outside her barrier, shattering it as they passed through. Shakily, she held up her left hand, her body slumped forward. The green lights turned into spirals that danced upon the back of her hand. Where they passed, a ck trail was left, slowly forming aplicated rune.


    When it was done, her body copsed forward, her eyes vacant. Her health had not moved, but she had fainted.


    _______________________________________________________________


    I blinked my eyes in surprise as I watched the scene, muttering to myself. ¡°Bestow me with the gift of elemental fire. Pledge my will unto the world?¡± Elementalists are actually unlocked through a spell, rather than constant use of an ability?

 Chapter 270: The Empress of Blood

    <h4>Chapter 270: The Empress of Blood</h4>


    Ryone, what can you tell me after seeing that? Given that this was a momentous asion in magical history, there was absolutely no chance that Ryone wouldn¡¯t have been watching. I was sure that she was paying close attention to every little facet of the human mage¡¯s body, studying everything that she could.


    I¡­ I don¡¯t know! Ryone called back, but sounded rather happy. I love not knowing! I mean, this goes against the normal flow for elementalists entirely! From what I can sense, her mana is no longer being leaked from her body. Instead, it is being gathered at the imprint on her left hand even now, when she¡¯s unconscious.


    It can be assumed that the magic is either steadily growing in strength, or building a charge. If you gave me a year to study this, I can probably give you more information. But with this¡­ It¡¯ll open up a new path for mages! Previously, they were forced to take a great number of levels as a martial artist in order to withstand the enhanced gravity of upper floors. But, advanced sses boost all attributes. They won¡¯t fall behind martial fighters anymore in power because of ack of levels!


    I gave a small nod as I listened to her excited exnation. I was sure that once information got around about the advanced ss, things would change drastically on Fyor. There were probably already those who specifically trained in Earth¡¯s version of an elementalist in order to make up the stat deficiency, but doing so required them to study an entirely new and moreplicated system of magic.


    Since she said that she needed a year, I gave her that. Warning her to prepare herself, I sped the world along by one year. As I did so, I turned my eyes towards Earth, curious to what changes had taken ce there over thest two hundred plus years.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Scarlet sat with a smile on her face, perched on the balcony of arge stone tower. She was no longer simply ¡®mother¡¯ to the kin. Now, she was Empress. Her pce, albeit not as fantastic as some other kings and queens, overlooked therge city in which her kin took residence.


    After she learned the method of spiritual travel, the poption of her people had boomed. It took barely a year for her to meet her goal of a thousand greater kin. And once that goal was reached, she called them to the ind that had been chosen. She taught the method of travel to the greater kin she had created, and had them bring those scattered lesser kin from the variousnds.


    Although the lowest of them refused to journey with them, there were many who epted. Enough to form the Bloodhaven Empire. They could ce no wards around their walls, no spells to defend them from monsters. But to them, such things weren¡¯t needed. Only the most daring of monsters would ever approach their cities, most scared away by the thick aura of death.


    It had taken time to build their cities, as the lesser kin were not great craftsmen and there were simply too few of the greater kin. But, now that the empire had been built and her rule recognized by her people, she was ready for the next stage of her n.


    Her eyes closed as she recalled the words written within the books of the Sky Citadel. Spiritual energy surged within her, taking the shape she desired. A method ofmunication, the same one that she had used to rally her people. Only this time, it was being focused on a different individual, one that she was able to sense from thends of the half beasts.


    ¡°I am Scarlet, the Empress of Bloodhaven.¡± She began, not knowing what rank the person that she spoke to possessed. ¡°This is neither a hallucination, nor is it a joke. You possess the strongest ki within yournd, so I speak with you now.¡± At least, she was able to differentiate between the spirits of monsters and people, once she properly connected with them.


    ¡°Pass a message to the king or queen of your realm. I would seek an audience with the Voices of the people. In seven days, I shall be at the Keeper¡¯s Pce in the sky. I hope to meet with everyone at that time.¡±


    After she finished sending that message, she sent out another, this time to the humans. And then, the elves, the dwarves, the centaurs¡­ She sent them to every race she knew of before finally contacting Tsubaki directly, asking her to pass along her message to the other worlds.


    Finally, when seven days had passed, she prayed again to be transported to the Sky Citadel. When she arrived, she could feel more presences than during herst stay, which brought a small smile to her face.


    Tsubaki was still kneeling in the throne room when she arrived, though stood up to turn and face Scarlet. ¡°May I ask why you have gathered everyone, and announced it so publicly?¡± Tsubaki wondered, since Scarlet had not only contacted Tsubaki directly, but also the beastkin.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡± Scarlet spoke politely, offering Tsubaki a light bow. ¡°I mean no offense towards anyone with this gathering. I know that is not what Dale would wish for, and if I should try, you would cut me down without hesitation, no?¡±


    Tsubaki actually smiled slightly at that. Although Scarlet was blunt, and often bloody with her speech, she was still kind. The two had managed to get along during her previous stay. ¡°As you say.¡± With that, she summoned the other representatives through her avatars, and had them gather in the throne room.


    Unsurprisingly, not everyone attended. There was no sign of the demon representative, nor that of the new world, Fyor. No matter¡­ Scarlet thought to herself. In time, perhaps they will regret not being here.


    ¡°Everyone, I would like to thank you all foring.¡± She addressed them politely, bowing her head to them. ¡°Most of you do not know who I am, so first I would like to introduce myself.¡±


    ¡°I am Scarlet, the Empress of Blood and ruler of the Bloodhaven Empire. I control those martial spirits who have lived in yournds for so many years.¡±


    At her introduction, there was a murmur from the crowd, until a single figure trotted forward. A centaur with a ck pelt, covered by various purple markings. The voice of the centaurs, Alme Dien, and one of the few first generation representatives that still survived. ¡°You mean¡­ the blood creatures, which have often terrorized smaller settlements?¡± She asked, a slight tremor in her voice.


    However, Scarlet shook her head. ¡°No, I have no power over those. The lowest of my kin are the beasts of which you speak. I refer to the people who have remained hidden, rarely journeying beyond their own secluded viges.¡±


    ¡°Aye.¡± A female dwarf spoke up. ¡°I know who ye¡¯r on about. Found em a few centuries back, my people did. Had a¡­ small disagreement with em. Each kept our own since, but also kept an eye on em. Guess ye¡¯r the reason why they all up and vanished few years back?¡±


    Scarlet gave a small nod towards the dwarven representative. ¡°That¡¯s right. Ever since our creation, I have been attempting to build the poption of the greater kin such as myself. But, as many of you have seen from the lowest of kin, we breed within bodies rich with ki. The greater the kin, the higher the requirement. Finding suitable hosts for those like myself has been¡­ difficult.¡±


    Several people grew ufortable at this revtion, before Scarlet continued. ¡°I have always forbidden those under my control from using a member of any of your races as a breeding host. Doing so would have gone against the wishes of the Keeper.¡±


    ¡°You¡­ know the keeper?¡± Soreya, the elven representative, asked in surprise. Age was starting to take its toll on her face, though she still seemed as inquisitive as she had been the day she first appeared in the Citadel.


    The newly crowned empress smiled slightly at that. ¡°I do. He created me, so many years ago, from his own blood. That is why I possess a part of his heart, and do not wish to see the deaths of those he has raised.¡±


    ¡°My point for calling you all here is two-fold. First, I wished to introduce myself and my people to those who were not familiar. I have now done that. The second goal is for my nation to be recognized by all others. I wish to establish trade between my people and those of your races.¡±


    Again, it was Soreya who spoke immediately. ¡°Trade? Your nation has just been founded, by your own words. What trade could you offer, or is yournd built on a rare mineral vein?¡± Despite her words, her tone was not derogatory, but genuinely curious. As one who followed the goddess of wealth and merchants, she was innately sensitive towards business opportunities.


    ¡°We have a very special resource to offer.¡± Scarlet nodded with a mysterious smile. ¡°We have ourselves. Many of you should be aware of what a martial spirit can do for a monk, and I sense several monks among your number.¡±


    Soreya¡¯s eyes widened as she realized the meaning of her words. ¡°You mean¡­ you would offer your own people as trade?¡± The thought of this unsettled not only her, but many of the representatives.


    ¡°You misunderstand my words, dear elf. I am not trading them into servitude. This is an equal partnership where both parties prosper. My proposition is to allow monks of your races to visit the empire, and form a pact with one of my kin. Whether it is a greater or lesser kin depends on their talent and attitude.¡±


    Hearing Scarlet¡¯s exnation, Soreya was just about to speak when a kitsune in a green dress spoke up, the representative of Deckan. ¡°What do you get out of this deal? You are simply reducing your poption through this trade, and so far haven¡¯t asked for anything in return.¡±


    Scarlet gave a nod of acknowledgement to the kitsune¡¯s words. ¡°There are some resources among your races that would be precious to us, yes. However, the greatest benefit to us is what we receive from the pact. Although we be bound to our partner until their death, their death allows us to propagate within them.¡±


    ¡°I shall make no attempts to hide the facts. In exchange for the power our people can offer, the monk who chooses this will be a future breeding host upon their eventual death. And, although unfortunate, our breeding consumes the spirit of the host. In exchange for power in this life, they will be unable to pass on to the next. I would ask all of you to make this information known to any who would wish for this pact.¡±


    ¡°So we¡¯re selling our souls to you.¡± The kitsune continued. ¡°Selling our souls for a greater strength in this life? Are there really many who would ept such a deal?¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes, I think there are.¡± The answer did note from Scarlet, but rather Soreya. She sent a look towards the human representative, and gave a small nod. ¡°I believe he is considering the deal, are you not good sir?¡±


    The human male, a man wearing a ck and white robe,ughed lightly. ¡°You have learned to see through people quite well, miss.¡± He said, not denying her guess. ¡°Many people face hardships in this world that theyck the power to ovee. The help of a martial spirit to them may be worth forsaking their own souls. Many still seek only to obtain the greatest power that they can, and leave their mark on history.¡±


    ¡°And which are you?¡± Soreya asked with a knowing smile.


    ¡°I wish to leave my mark.¡± He answered honestly. ¡°I wish to be as well known as the first of the Choir. Tell me, empress¡­¡± He turned to address Scarlet directly. ¡°If one epts the power you offer, is it purely destructive? Or can this gift be used to help others?¡±


    Scarlet gave a warm smile as she heard the question. ¡°We are of the blood. While our powers are great and terrifying, they can also be gentle. This aspect is rarely seen in the lowest of kin, and has no doubt stained our image. If you were to join with one of my kin, you would learn new healing arts, defensive shields, as well as the power to destroy foes.¡±


    The man nodded with an understanding expression. ¡°Then, after I pass along word to my people, I would request to be the first to partake in this deal. Would that be eptable, empress?¡±


    Scarlet gave a happy nod, d that there were people willing to ept this deal. She knew that one of the first representatives had housed one of her lowest kin, but that person likely didn¡¯t know the details of the pact before she entered into it. In some ways, it was harder to make the decision after having been informed.

 Chapter 271: Training for the Invasion

    <h4>Chapter 271: Training for the Invasion</h4>


    Dale, you have toe see this! After I had finished watching time pass on Earth, Ryone¡¯s excited message reminded me that she had been using this year to understand as much about the new breed of elementalist that she could manage. And, judging from how she sounded, she must have been able to learn quite a bit.


    Nodding my head, I closed my eyes and sent myself to Ryone¡¯s magic testing basement. Now that we knew the three tiers of geometric magic, and the two tiers of runes, the floors of the basements no longer carried the ¡®scars¡¯ that Ryone had drawn on them from constant experimentation to uncover more secrets of magic.


    Sure enough, though, Ryone was waiting for me there. She was practically bouncing on the heels of her feet, her eyes wide as she could barely contain herself. ¡°This is cool, better than anything I could have hoped! Elementalists in Fyor¡¯s system take on an entirely new direction!¡±


    I gave a small sigh, knowing that once she got like this, there was no point in trying to stop her. Best to just let her work it all out of her system. ¡°The new version of the ss incorporates control, enhanced magical properties, as well as new martial abilities!¡±


    Although I was curious, Ryone began acting before I had the chance to question her. ¡°Bestow me with the gift of elemental lightning. Pledge my will unto the world!¡± As she said that, I watched the elemental energy within the Admin Room inscribe the lightning rune onto her hand.


    ¡°You see? It doesn¡¯t just work with the four base elements. Any aspect of nature can be used, even wood or metal. The only two that I suspect, but have had problems with so far, are light and darkness. It¡¯d be nice if they could work, but the incantation hasn¡¯t triggered anything with them yet.¡±


    ¡°Anyways!¡± She shook her head, watching as the rune on her hand began to light up, before fading away. ¡°Once the rune has been sufficiently charged, you can will it to hide itself beneath your skin. It can then be summoned out at any time.¡±


    ¡°If you tap into the elemental mana contained within the rune, you can activate three abilities. The first is that you can charge any spell you cast with the chosen element. An ice st could be a st of both ice and lightning, for instance. Moreover, you can control your chosen element to a higher degree than normal druids, imbuing them with the strength that normal natural energycks.¡±


    ¡°And finally¡­¡± A wide grin formed on Ryone¡¯s face, and she extended her hand out. The rune, which had only just faded, lit up again. Once more, she spoke in thenguage of magic. ¡°Appear, my pledge.¡±


    Lightning arced out from the back of her hand, transforming into a crackling trident. Its shaft appeared to be made of gold, its pointed tips serrated like a traditional lightning bolt design. Electricity danced along the entire length of the weapon as she held it. ¡°They gain a pledge weapon, much like the knight¡¯s de possessed by the knight ss.¡±


    Although I wasn¡¯t too familiar with the details of that particr ability, I had seen Tsubaki using it. A weapon made out of a person¡¯s own divine spark, given shape by their intense desire to serve their lord. ¡°So¡­ that weapon is made out of elemental mana?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right! Everyone gets to design their own pledge weapon. I mean, you can change it anytime you want. But the more familiar you are with a form, the more powerful it bes. I¡¯ve only had a year, so¡­ I haven¡¯t been able to make anything too great, but I noticed a definite improvement with some people!¡±


    I gave a small nod at that, still looking at the trident. ¡°Is it possible to gain multiple elements?¡± While this all sounded great, amazing even, I didn¡¯t want to put all my eggs into one basket.


    ¡°Uhm¡­¡± Ryone had a difficult expression on her face, her eyes shifting to the side slightly. ¡°If there is¡­ we haven¡¯t figured it out yet. Using the incantation a second time causes intense pain, and simply overrides the first pledge. And I tried doing a pledge for multiple elements, but I didn¡¯t gain any results¡­¡±


    That earned another nod. It would have been nice if it worked, but since it didn¡¯t I would have to make do. ¡°Alright, then. I¡¯ve got fifty days to train my saint ss and these new elementalist abilities, as well as practicing with Leowynn¡­¡± It didn¡¯t sound like a lot, but¡­ it was better than nothing.


    Ryone nodded her head, seeming pleased by my desire to learn this ss. ¡°If you¡¯re training both¡­ you can¡¯t do it in Fyor. The system there wouldn¡¯t recognize the saint ss, since it hasn¡¯t been unlocked there yet. Do you have any idea where you will descend, then?¡±


    Honestly, Fyor would have been my first choice. I could have joined an adventuring team, and had a pretty nice time of training. But, instead¡­ I sent a message to alia. Can you find me somewhere in the level three to five hundred range? As far away from civilization as you can manage.


    Leowynn¡¯s abilities caused a change that could be recognized if we were too close to a city, so as much as I didn¡¯t want to go camping for nearly two months, there wasn¡¯t a lot of options. Besides, this would give me some time to spend with her and further understand these new abilities we had both received recently.


    Sure. Would Deckan work? There¡¯s a pretty big ind that is the home to monsters in that range. It¡¯s about a hundred kilometers from the maind, but the city that used to be there was destroyed in the first waves of powerful monsters spawning.


    I felt a small twinge of guilt when I heard that, but quickly shook it off. It¡¯ll work. Mind pointing it out for me on the map? After I asked her that, I looked towards Ryone. ¡°Looks like I¡¯m going to Deckan. Guess I can pick up some cards while I¡¯m there.¡±


    Ryone gave another quick nod. ¡°Udona¡¯s magic system is really interesting, too¡­ I¡¯ve been trying to find ways to merge it with geometric for¡­ well, since the two worlds came together. It should be possible! I just haven¡¯t figured out how yet.¡±


    I blinked in surprise when I heard that, considering the possibility. While it might not sound impressive at first, as cards were generally more effective as a quick cast than geometric magic, there was one way that thebination could be quite astounding. If it allowed a mage to store a prepared spell in the card, essentially customizing it to remove the need for hunting out new cards¡­ well, the first thing that would do would be to destroy the economy of Deckan.


    I shook my head to get rid of those thoughts, before taking myself back to the bedroom. The Sky Citadel had been moved back to Earth for Scarlet¡¯s gathering, so Fyor was still a safe ce for me to go in my normal appearance, without risking being discovered by a certain kitsune. I was sure that Tsubaki would be appalled to learn that I was staying in such a ruined city, and insist on aiding me.


    Either way, once I got back to my room, I found alia sitting in my chair, lightly kicking her legs back and forth since they did not quite reach the floor. ¡°Hey Dale! So, quick rundown about this area before you go.¡± She began, turning to face me as soon as I entered.


    ¡°I checked, and there are no ¡®anomaly¡¯ creatures. No mind altering parasites, and only a few poisonous bugs that you should be able to deal with on your own. However!¡± She held up a single hand. ¡°You should really, really not use any kind of fire attacks.¡±


    ¡°Gas?¡± I asked simply, causing her to smile slightly.


    ¡°The city was built on top of a natural gas vent, and had at one point used it as their main export. However, once the world was changed by the appearance of more powerful monsters¡­ the area went out of control. The gas itself turned into monsters.¡±


    ¡°Now, while this means that the air is safe to breathe, that only applies as long as you don¡¯t hit any monster with fire. Cooking with it is fine, but that¡¯s it. If you kill a monster with a fire or lightning attack, you could set off a chain reaction that would blow up the entire ind. And you along with it.¡±


    ¡°Fire bad, got it.¡± I nodded readily at that. ¡°But¡­ wouldn¡¯t that mean that the meat of the monsters wouldn¡¯t be safe to eat?¡±


    alia rolled her eyes yfully. ¡°Not all of the monsters. You¡¯ll be able to tell which ones are dangerous to eat pretty easily, since their blood evaporates on contact with the air.¡±


    ¡°Noted.¡± I gave another nod at that, moving over towards theputer and pulling up the map. ¡°Now, where is this ind?¡±


    alia turned in the chair, leaning forward and watching as I scrolled through the map of Deckan, rocking back and forth slightly until she suddenly stopped me. ¡°There! Zoom in.¡± She pointed to a particr point just off the coast of one of the smaller continents. Shrugging my shoulders, I zoomed in, seeing the ind she was talking about.


    As she said, there didn¡¯t seem to be anyone there. Even if I had to use my full power to get out of a really bad situation, there shouldn¡¯t be very many people on the maind that would be able to detect it. ¡°Alright, this¡¯ll work fine.¡±


    After I said that, alia smiled wide, her body slowly vanishing from my chair. Soon, all that was left were her tail and her smile, the former fading before thetter. I wonder how long she practiced that¡­


    I shook my head, sitting down and designating that location for my descent. Level three hundred monsters should be pretty safe for me to hunt normally. Level four hundred would be able to put some pressure on me, and finally those in the five hundreds would make me need to work with Leowynn or use my Keeper ability to defeat more than one at a time.


    Once the location and body had been set, I felt the familiar warm light sending me down to the world below. Of course, the first thing I did¡­ ¡°Bestow me with the gift of elemental wind. Pledge my will unto the world.¡±


    Leowynn, feel free toe out if you want. I thought inwardly, ncing around the area. Aside from my health, I had reduced all of my attributes back to my normal levels. I took a deep breath, seeing the shattered stone walls that had once kept hordes of monsters at bay. Now, it was overgrown with vines, flowers sprouting atop the wall.


    Inside the city was no better, nothing seeming to have survived the passage of time. Curiously, I walked the streets, unsure how long it would take for my elemental mana to fully charge. I could ask Ryone, but there was no hurry.


    With a sh of world sight, I scanned my immediate surroundings. I found an old card store, though the cards within had been destroyed, the shop itself blown to pieces. The only reason that I had been able to identify it in the first ce was the signying on the ground in front of it.


    Soon, Leowynn had taken me up on my offer, appearing next to me to walk side by side. When she did, Irena suddenly spoke to me. It seems that her spiritual strength is now reduced to the same level as yourself. From now on, the two of you will likely always share the same level.


    Well, that made things easier. I¡¯d no longer need to make trips to the Underworld to ¡®feed¡¯ her growth. If you can figure out a way to replicate the incubation process without the need of your pen, that would probably be a big help to spirit tamers and spirit hunters.


    Although she did not sound entirely interested, I could feel her eptance. I shall attempt to do so.


    ¡°So¡­ this is where we¡¯ll be staying for a while?¡± Leowynn asked, rubbing her eyes like she was still tired. ¡°It¡¯s not too bad¡­ Could use some work, though.¡±


    I looked to her in concern upon hearing her weary tone. ¡°If you need to rest some more, you can. I can take care of things here myself for a little while.¡±


    ¡°No, no, it¡¯s fine¡­ I¡¯ve got to be here to cook for you, right?¡± Leowynn asked, looking to me with a soft smile. ¡°I¡¯d bet that you never learned how to properly cook wild game.¡±


    ¡°And you have?¡± I fired back with a roll of my eyes and a soft smirk.


    Leowynn paused for a moment, grumbling lightly. ¡°Well, I was given lessons¡­ but I never actually trained the chef ss. It wasn¡¯t part of mom¡¯s training schedule¡­ Only ever had the chance to cook for myself after I hit the level limit.¡±


    ¡°Well, this will be a learning exercise for both of us, then.¡± I pointed out, continuing to scan the surroundings. Thankfully, there didn¡¯t seem to be any monsters in this section of the city, though I wasn¡¯t sure if that was simply because they were nocturnal or if they actively avoided it.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah¡­ Let me know when the fun starts¡­¡± Leowynn said with a small yawn, bringing a hand up to cover her mouth.

 Chapter 272: The Great Training Montage

    <h4>Chapter 272: The Great Training Montage</h4>


    As the two of us walked through the ruined city, I periodically sent out my world sight in order to scan the area. Doing this, it didn¡¯t take long before we caught sight of our first monster. To my surprise, it was not just one, but dozens of small rats. Each one had glistening gray fur, and were no more than six inches long.


    Yet, despite their small size, the information disyed above their heads showed that their levels were roughly three hundred and thirty. Of course, it took me a moment to read those windows, given how cluttered they were.


    ¡°You see something, father?¡± Leowynn asked, her eyes still drowsy.


    ¡°Seventy meters ahead and to our right. There seem to be a pack of rodents.¡± I gave her a brief description of the rats, but as expected she simply shook her head. There was no way for her to know what kinds of monsters the rats were, given that the lowest level creature on this ind wouldn¡¯t have even been able to exist yet when she was alive.


    ¡°Small creatures are typically easier to fight, though¡­¡± She muttered, before shrugging her shoulders. ¡°Are they heading this way?¡±


    ¡°No, it looks like they¡¯re just running into an old sewer system.¡± I shook my head as I answered her. ¡°I¡¯d rather not eat rat anyways, if I had the choice.¡±


    Like that, we wandered the city for a few hours. Every now and then, we would find some more rats, or arger monster that we took a detour to fight. Unfortunately, those monsters were the toxic ones that alia had warned us about, their blood turning into a pink mist as soon as it left their bodies.


    After a while, we left the city, at which point we were almost immediately attacked. ¡°Father!¡± Leowynn shouted out, alerting me to a charging ck panther that sprang out from the bushes behind me. Turning around, I brought my hand up in a quick swipe, using my ki to send out golden lines from my fingertips. Therge feline was knocked away, injured but still alive.


    No sooner had it jumped back into the bushes than another beast attacked us. This time, the threat came from the sky in the form of arge ck bird with four wings. Its talons had a dangerous glint to them as they dove towards my face, making me quickly raise a hand and shout out in the runguage. ¡°Maximum st!¡±


    A pale light shot out from my hand, barely a ripple in the air as it struck the bird in its chest. The creature let out a shrill cry, tumbling off to the side and crashing into the ground. Although its path was diverted and it had been forced to crash, it was still a far cry from being killed.


    ¡°Maximum increased gravity, target area.¡± I pointed to the bird, which had begun to rise. As the words left my mouth, it mmed back down into the ground, the air above it shaking.


    I was just getting ready to fire off a third spell when the panther returned, jumping out from behind me again. However, this time Leowynn acted first, the weariness in her eyes reced by a fierce determination. She stepped behind me and lunged, bringing her fist forward to m against the panther¡¯s face.


    There was a sickening crunch as both of them were sent tumbling backwards. Leowynn hissed lightly as she shook her hand, whereas the panther let out weak, pained cries. She wasn¡¯t the Demigoddess of Strength for nothing, and her punch had shattered a part of the creature¡¯s skull, causing its health to constantly drop.


    ¡°Now we get to the fun parts.¡± She said with a small smile, stretching her arms out. When she mmed her fists together again, her appearance seemed to change. Silver armor sprouted from her body, covering her from head to toe. At her waist there was a single ornate sword held within a white scabbard.


    ¡°Since when can you do that?¡± I called back to her, before returning my attention to the bird, which was struggling to resist the gravity effects. ¡°Launch mana de, enhance sharpness.¡± A blue sh of lightunched out from my body, striking the bird after I called out the spell.


    ¡°Hmm? I¡¯ve always been able to do this!¡± Leowynn spoke, her voice echoing within her helmet. ¡°I¡¯ve just not been able to fight with you and use it since I died!¡± As she said that, she slowly unsheathed the sword at her waist, holding it in front of her.


    It was only now that I began to truly appreciate Leowynn¡¯sbat value. Not only was she considered a monster of my level, meaning that her spiritual form was as strong as an average person of the same level as myself, but she also had hundreds of years ofbat experience. More importantly, her armor and weapon were extensions of her spiritual form, so they were not as weak as what they had been when she was alive.


    After the panther and the bird died, the area briefly grew silent. Leowynn stood guard while I collected the two bodies, forming both of them into cards. It was only after I had collected both of them that our next ¡®opponent¡¯ appeared. Arge serpent, its brown body blending in with the bark of the tree it had been slithering down.


    As soon as I noticed it, it acted, springing off of the tree and lunging through the air at me. There was a soft scoff from nearby, before a silver line passed through the body of the serpent. Leowynn had swung her sword, causing it to extend outwards during the sh.


    I had to duck to the side to avoid the serpent¡¯s head, still carried by the momentum of its lunge. After that, I turned to face Leowynn again. ¡°Huh, at this rate I might actually get overshadowed by you.¡±


    Leowynn¡¯s eyes opened wide beneath her helmet, and she hastily shook her head. ¡°No, that isn¡¯t so. I may be a good fighter, but I cannot match your magic, right? The two of us simplypliment one another!¡±


    I chuckled lightly at that, smiling towards her. ¡°I was kidding. Anyways, it looks like we won¡¯t have to worry about finding food while we¡¯re here. Though, let¡¯s head back to the city before something else showed up.¡±


    Leowynn nodded, and after collecting the snake the two of us hurried back into the city. It seemed that the monsters from outside the city would not venture inside, likely due to the toxic creatures that lived within. Once inside, I took a deep breath, relieved to be away from the battle.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter, father?¡± My ghostly daughter asked in confusion. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be tired after just those three, right?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± I turned to look at her. ¡°No, nothing like that. I just realized that I was fighting wrong, and needed a moment to correct myself.¡±


    She blinked in confusion, clearly not understanding what I meant. As such, I exined. ¡°I¡¯m not just one ss. I¡¯m a Keeper. So, I need to fight like a Keeper. That means I have to be a mage, a warrior, a monk, and even a druid all at the same time. I need to be able to fight with all of my sses.¡±


    Realization seemed to dawn on Leowynn, before it was reced by renewed confusion. ¡°But father, can you do that with your abilities sealed?¡±


    ¡°Well, why not?¡± I asked with a small grin, before looking down at my hands. ¡°Trigger spell,mand word wind. Maximum array,unch wind de. Trigger dual spell,mand word body. Maximum enhance strength, maximum enhance defense¡­¡±


    One by one, I prepared spells, runes beginning to draw themselves along my right arm. Each rune represented a prepared spell. This was the greatest ability that I had as a mage, but relying too much on this would cause my mana to deplete before I even realized it.


    As I was preparing my spells, I noticed that the rune on my left hand had vanished, showing that the charging process hadpleted. Without dy, I sent a message to Ryone in order to learn how to create my pact weapon.


    Once I had gotten her tutorial, I began to focus on the imprint on my left hand. Unfortunately, since I didn¡¯t unlock the elementalist ss on Fyor I had to do this the hard way. Still, I was familiar with the shape that I wanted, quickly imagining a silver chakram. For now, this would be my pact weapon.


    Only once I was done did we head back out of the city. This time, Leowynn was already in her full silver armor, ready for battle at the slightest sign of movement. As a nearby bush began to rustle, she immediately turned her body to face it, her sword primed to attack.


    What emerged was a silver furred¡­ something. It was a beast with long fur, standing on four limbs. The closest creature that I couldpare it to would be an anteater with longer hair and a wider snout. A snout which, as it was lifted, we saw was lined with rows of thin teeth.


    When it saw us, a pink tongue shot out of the wide snout, stretching several meters to strike towards Leowynn and myself. ¡°Shield!¡± I called out the trigger for one of my spells, erecting a barrier to take the attack.


    The tongue struck the barrier, and began to slither along it, pale saliva dripping down from its length and sizzling as it hit the grass. Oh great, acidic saliva. Just what we need. ¡°Appear, my pledge!¡± As the chakram formed in my hand, I threw it out, connecting a string of chakra to it in order to control it.


    With a shake of my wrist, the chakram came down and severed the creature¡¯s tonge, causing it to fall limply to the ground. Rather than charging at us for revenge, the acidic anteater cried, turning and running back into the forest.


    ¡°You¡¯re right¡­ this makes things far easier.¡± Leowynn said from next to me.


    Like this, we began a daily routine. Every day, we would leave the city, moving further and further away. Each time, we would be besieged by stronger monsters. At first, they had just barely hit the three hundreds, but after a week or so we began to find monsters in the four hundreds. After a month, we were beginning to see the strongest monsters on the ind.


    And then, at night, we fled back to the city to eat and rest. Although there were still toxic monsters within the city itself, their numbers were far less than what lived outside the city¡¯s walls. Thus it was easier to created a warded area to defend against them for a night.


    I decided not to focus simply on one ss, because to do so would be to weaken myself as a Keeper. While fighting, I practiced everybat ss I had trained, and even began practicing new ones such as archer or rogue. Although this kept my levels with each ss fairly low, it gave me a basic understanding of how each ss fought.


    While my primary power still came from being a mage, and then a ninja, and finally from Aki Seppo and the Saint of Five Lights, I had to ensure that I could use all of the powers at my disposal. And so I trained, for over a month on the ind with Leowynn as a constantpanion.


    It was just over forty days into our training excursion when I received a message from Terra, letting me know that there were only ten days left until the arrival of the next invasion. By that point, the clothes that I had originally descended with were filthy, only holding themselves together because I was able to easily repair them at any time.


    Leowynn, to her credit, seemed as energetic as ever, even after the month spent on the. We had only had to unleash our full power once, when we were surrounded by level five hundred monsters while in the middle of a fight. Aside from that, the training had been fruitful. ¡°Something the matter, father?¡± She asked as she pulled her sword out from the body of a four-armed ape.


    ¡°Sorry, sorry.¡± I shook my head, knowing that it was dangerous to let my guard down this far out of town. ¡°It¡¯s time to head back.¡±


    Leowynn seemed¡­ almost disappointed when she heard that, but quickly erased the expression from her face. She gave a small nod, walking towards me. ¡°Alright, father.¡± As she approached, her body began to disperse into mist, flowing back into my spiritual realm.


    Sorry, Leowynn, but it¡¯s time to make the final preparations for the invasion.

 Chapter 273: The Holy Knights

    <h4>Chapter 273: The Holy Knights</h4>


    After I ascended to the Admin Room, I found Terra once again waiting for me,ying across our bed and staring at me. ¡°So, you have a n, right?¡± She asked in azy tone, rolling over onto her back and tilting her head so she could still watch me.


    I simply gave a small nod, not directly answering her. In truth, I¡¯d known what I would be doing for thisst step for a while. This was the easy part. It was getting to this point, and everything that woulde after that was difficult.


    Tubrock. I called out to the cksmith god. How long would it take for you to add Fyor to the travel room of the Citadel?


    I recalled the great stone spheres that existed in a hidden shrine within the Sky Citadel, used to transport it from one world to another without directly relying on Aurivy. In the event that the monsters appeared on Fyor, this would be a critical feature. After all, mybined levels, while small individually were enough to make me unable to use the gates.


    I got the first fewyers down an¡¯ ready. Gimme¡­ ten months to work with thess, and we can get them set up in the Citadel. His report came promptly. Fyor¡¯s not quite an easy ce to replicate, but I think I got it just fine.


    I nodded again at that, sitting down at theputer. ¡°Ten months¡­ Was nning to give him more anyways.¡± As I said that, I spent a single point to send a message out to every world.


    _______________________________________________________________


    My people, hear me. A voice spoke into the minds of the people across the many worlds. Whether it was Fyor, Deckan, Earth, or Desbar, people began to simultaneously look to the sky. As if they could see that floating pce once again.


    The time that I feared is fast approaching. In a short fifty years, invaders will arise in order toy waste to all that you know. I cannot tell you exactly where they will appear, nor what form they will take. Only that there is every chance that they will stop at nothing to destroy everything.


    While these creatures are within the world, the gods and goddesses will be hard at work, and unable to answer prayers as deeply as they once were. Just as you guard your world, so will they. And as such, so will I.


    The people began to murmur amongst each other, unsure of what was meant by that, before the Keeper¡¯s voice continued. In fifty years, I will appear at the Sky Citadel, a few days before the appearance of the invaders. When they appear, I will help lead the charge.


    There was a pause, before the voice spoke in a more solemn tone. I implore everyone to make as many preparations as they can. Fifty years may not be a short time for most of you¡­ but it is all too soon.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Once I had finished sending that message out, I gave a small sigh as I turned to look at Terra. ¡°And now I figure, a week or two of chaos and ¡®end of the world¡¯ fanatics before you all manage to quell them.¡± As I said that, I set the worlds to fast forward once again, to the appointed fifty year destination.


    Terra groaned, sitting up on the bed. ¡°Never making our jobs easy. You know, most people had forgotten entirely about the ¡®impending invasions¡¯ that you originally mentioned?¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ figured that would probably happen.¡± I nodded my head weakly. It may havee from the word of the creator, but that was a long time ago. Perhaps only the elves still held it fresh in their memories, but even for them it would be the stories of their grandparents.


    ¡°Well, we¡¯ve got our own preparations to make, so I¡¯ll get going.¡± Terra smiled mysteriously, standing up and walking out of the room, her tail swaying gently behind her.


    Curious, I raise an eyebrow, before shaking my head. By the time that I returned my attention to theputer, the fifty years had already passed.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Jace sat by his wife¡¯s bed as shey inbor, forcing her breath to calm. His hand gently held hers, and he whispered sweetly to her. ¡°It¡¯s okay, Shara, just breathe. In and out.¡± Nearby, the doctor¡¯s were constantly checking on her status, making sure that there were noplications.


    It had been thirty years since the Keeperst spoke, his voice echoing in the minds of everyone. At the time, Jace and Shara had just been children themselves, and were now having a child of their own. They knew what it would mean for the child to be born at this time, but that would not stop them.


    Roughly half an hour into thebor, a voice spoke to all in the room. Hear me. Those gathered had their eyes widen at the familiar voice, knowing all too well who it belonged to. This child¡­ shall be as I am. She will inherit my soul, and thus I ask that she inherit my name. To stand against theing trials, this child will bear my power.


    The revtion was so sudden that Shara had temporarily forgotten to breathe, causing her to cry out in pain. However, simr situations were urring in various areas of the world. Preparations long since underwaying to fruition.


    Eventually, when the cries of a newborn infant filled the room, the doctor held the child reverently. As if the child had already be a goddess in his eyes. Slowly, gently, he passed her to her mother. ¡°It seems you have quite the special child.¡± He said in a happy tone.


    Shara nodded her head, looking down to the human baby. ¡°Bihena¡­ your name is Bihena.¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    As I descended to the Sky Citadel, I looked curiously at the dozen figures standing before me. Naturally, there was Tsubaki, who now stood off to the side, her hands behind her back. However, aside from her, there was one person of each race, though surprisingly two humans. Their faces were unfamiliar to me, but the names floating above their heads showed all I needed to see. The names of the gods and goddesses¡­


    Well¡­ most of them. The elf, no doubt Ryone¡¯s incarnation, had the name of Kirishna. When I looked curiously at her, she pouted. ¡°I was already born way more than fifty years ago, you know! And I kind of like this form.¡±


    At the center of the pack, Terra rolled her eyes. ¡°The gods and goddesses have bestowed us with their spirits in order to have us aid you.¡± Her form of speech was different from those of the others, who seemed to be in direct control of their incarnations. ¡°As the one who has inherited the will of a Goddess, I pledge my loyalty to the Keeper, if you will have it.¡±


    Terra dropped down to one knee after saying that, one hand against the ground while the other rested on her knee. One by one, the others began to take simr positions, aside from Tryval whose body shape did not allow it. Instead, his front legs bent, his upper body dipping low.


    ¡°We pledge our loyalty to the Keeper, if you will have it.¡±


    Terra, Kirishna, Ashley, Tryval, Aurivy, Tubrock, Bihena, alia, Keliope, Udona, and Irena have sworn themselves to you. Will you ept them as your knights?


    When I gave a small nod at the message, I saw everyone¡¯s level rising by one. ¡°I¡¯m d to have you all with me.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯tst.¡± Irena, in the form of the second human, spoke up. ¡°In ten days, on the advent of the invasion, these bodies will return to their original owners. They have been shaped by our will their entire life, but we will no longer be able to guide them. At that point, it will be up to you to do so.¡±


    ¡°So.¡± Kirishna spoke up from the side, crossing her arms in front of herself. ¡°We have ten days to bestow them with as much of the knowledge we¡¯ve built up over the millennia as we can. Ten day cram session¡­ won¡¯t be able to give us muchsting effect, but we could probably each impart one of our best sses.¡±


    ¡°Summoner.¡± Udona spoke, her eyes closed. She had yet to open them the entire time I had been here. ¡°This body was unfortunately born blind, so I have been preparing her to be a powerful summoner, to let her see through the eyes of an aeon.¡±


    ¡°I guess that makes me the bard.¡± Aurivy grinned, hopping back up to her feet and twirling around. ¡°This voice seems perfect for singing.¡±


    ¡°Ye know where ye can find me.¡± Tubrock shrugged, as if his position was obvious.


    ¡°An archer for me!¡± alia called out, smiling slightly. Her hand reached back, lightly stroking the familiar golden bow strung to her back. Her holy relic, which upon closer inspection each incarnation carried.


    One by one, they listed off the ss that they nned to train their incarnations in. Only Terra had remained silent the entire time, her head held low. Once they were down, I stood from the throne and walked to her. ¡°Is something wrong, Terra?¡±


    She shook her head slightly, lifting it to look me in the eyes. There was a fierce will behind her gaze, but also a hidden sadness. ¡°The goddess has promised to teach me to be an assassin.¡±


    Sorry, Dale, rules getting in the way. Terra¡¯s voice spoke into my mind as her incarnation once again lowered her head. I can¡¯t directly take control of her to teach her as well as the others. That¡¯s why I¡¯ve been building her up for this since she was a child.


    I gave a small nod, looking around to the gathered incarnations. Just as I was about to speak, Kirishna raised her hand, making me sigh as I nced towards her.


    ¡°Sorry, sorry. Thought it was worth mentioning. Once my people found out that this was my incarnation, I was appointed as the elven representative. Actually, most of us are the representatives of our race, aside from Terra, Keliope, alia, and Tryval. Since their¡¯s are still alive.¡±


    ¡°And I represent Fyor.¡± Irena added in with a small smile. ¡°It¡¯s been a while since I stood in the spotlight.¡±


    ¡°Okay, good to know.¡± I said as I moved back to the throne. ¡°All of you should go get started on your training. We¡¯ve only got ten days left.¡±


    With that, they began to excuse themselves. Every time someone walked for the door, a piece of Tsubaki broke off, forming into an avatar of herself that matched the race of the person she was joining. In the end, the only one left was Tsubaki herself, who had changed to take the form of a human, just as I was.


    ¡°Tsubaki, I think it¡¯s time we talk about something important.¡± I told her, beckoning her forward while thinking inwardly. Ready to make your debut?


    I could feel the excitement bubbling up from within my spiritual realm as Tsubaki stepped closer. ¡°Yes, my Keeper?¡± She asked respectfully, keeping her arms at her side to stand at attention.


    ¡°There is one more person that will be fighting alongside us, whose presence you should be made aware of.¡± As I said that, I lifted my hand, feeling the spiritual energy rolling through my body.


    Tsubaki¡¯s eyes opened wide for a moment as the grey mist rushed out of my arm, forming into a silver-haired elf. Her body was covered with a dark blue dress, dotted with silver lights that shone like the stars. Grabbing the sides of her dress, she gave a polite curtsy. ¡°Pleasure to finally meet you, Tsubaki. My name is Leowynn.¡±


    There was a flicker of recognition within Tsubaki¡¯s eyes, though it seemed to be from a memory long forgotten. ¡°The pleasure is mine, Leowynn.¡± She spoke softly, returning the curtsy with a formal bow.


    ¡°This is my daughter from a life so long ago.¡± I told her, grinning slightly as I watched Tsubaki give a rare stumble forward, her bnce lost to her from the realization. ¡°After her death, she joined me and became my contracted spirit. Her power has grown tremendously since then, and she will be a very important figure in this fight.¡±


    ¡°I-I see.¡± Tsubaki said as she collected herself, standing upright once again and evening out her maid skirt. ¡°Is this something that will be known to others?¡±


    ¡°In time.¡± I nodded my agreement. ¡°For now, there¡¯s no need to tell everyone. However, since you will also be fighting alongside us, it seemed important for you to know.¡±


    A small smile appeared on Tsubaki¡¯s face when I told her that she would be joining us, and she replied enthusiastically. ¡°As you wish, my Keeper! We shall not allow those invaders to rest upon yournds.¡±

 Chapter 274: It Begins

    <h4>Chapter 274: It Begins</h4>


    For the next ten days, I watched as the gods and goddesses went about their training. In order to supply Tubrock with the materials he needed, we had parked the Sky Citadel near the connected mine on Earth. Though, the items he was making didn¡¯t really seem to be anything too special,pared to what I had seen before.


    I think I¡¯ve been spoiled by godly craftsmanship¡­ I thought to myself as I watched him work.


    Like this, ten days passed by, everyone feeling the tense atmosphere growing thicker. Throughout the world, people were counting down the days. Soon, any new monster would be treated as an invader aiming to destroy the world.


    _______________________________________________________________


    As the Sky Citadel rested in the sky, and the heavenly hosts prepared, so too did the people. Many of them had had their entire lives to prepare, training harder than anyone before them. Now, ¡®Heroic Troops¡¯ were established in almost every major city of Earth, Desbar, and Deckan, those who have trained themselves in order to battle whatever enemy they may face.


    In Fyor, the preparations were equally as fierce, yet at the same time more conservative. A single Heroic Troop had been spared for the fifteenth floor, with other floors being upied by Maxers. After fifty years of preparation, it was now far moremon to find people who had forced themselves to train all the way to three hundred and fifty, especially among the mages.


    Nobody knew where the enemy would appear. It could be in the vast wilderness, or even the middle of a city. They could appear in the sky or the sea, or even the Keeper¡¯s own pce. And, aside from a general month when they would arrive on one of the worlds, nobody even knew the exact time.


    As such, tensions were rising higher and higher. People became afraid to leave their homes, unless they were those who had be a part of the troops protecting the worlds. Those people stood atop the walls of their cities, gazing out in anticipation.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Finally, the day is here. I thought to myself, watching the clock ticking down. Only a minute left.


    Sorry, Dale. Ryone spoke a bit sadly to me mentally. This is thest we¡¯ll be able to talk for a while. We¡¯ve done everything we can¡­


    Wish me luck. I prayed to her, rising up from the throne. ¡°Queen of the world spirits.¡± I called out for my first trump card, ignoring the formalities this time. I could feel the energies in the air trembling as she pushed past the barrier, forcing herself to take form within the Sky Citadel.


    ¡°Yes, Keeper?¡± She asked politely, standing in the center of the floor.


    Ten seconds¡­ My eyes once again nced towards the countdown. ¡°A group of invaders, likely monsters, are about to appear.¡± As she raised her eyebrow, I saw the message appearing in front of me, but briefly ignored it to continue my instructions.


    ¡°I want you and the other world spirits to be on the lookout. Somewhere in one of the four worlds, there are enemy creatures that weren¡¯t there yesterday.¡± Her eyes opened wide when I said that, but she remained silent. Only when I dismissed her did she disappear into green mist, and I was able to look at the message that had appeared.


    The time hase for the Keeper Games! For this match, you have been designated as Defender, with your opponent being Savage.


    While in Defender mode, certain resources will be restricted.


    Companions are unable to directly interfere, and any with divine roles will find those roles automated until the end of the match.


    You will not be able to return to the Administration Room until the end of the match.


    Until the end of the match, you will be able to call a special ¡®Hostilities¡¯ menu. This menu will tell you the number of enemy forces currently within your world.


    The match will end when the number of enemy forces is reduced to 0, either through conversion or destruction.


    Really, I get a new menu? I thought curiously, immediately summoning it in order to check.


    Current enemy forces within group Earth: 5


    ¡°Wait, what?¡± I asked out loud, much to the surprise of Tsubaki who had been keeping an avatar near the door. Only five? Is¡­ is Savage still recovering from a previous round and unable to send in arge force?


    Isn¡¯t this a good thing, Father? Leowynn asked from within my spiritual realm. She honestly seemed a bit disappointed that there were only five enemies.


    Well, I mean, yes. I was just expecting a bit more. Of course, only having five enemies meant that it would take longer to find them¡­ If not for the world spirits, I could spend a lifetime searching Earth alone and not find five particr entities.


    That thought made me remember something, and I slowly rose from my chair. ¡°Tsubaki.¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡± She turned to face me immediately, and I could feel a rush of power from all over the citadel. Prismatic streams of light poured out from under the doors, flowing back into her body.


    Immediately recalling all of her avatars? I mused, before shaking my head. ¡°I want you to take me to Bloodhaven.¡±


    There was a brief confusion within her eyes, before she seemed to realize what I want, nodding her head heavily. ¡°Of course, sir!¡± Almost immediately, a ck portal arose next to Tsubaki, who calmly walked through it. Naturally, I did the same, soon traveling from one pce to another.


    Almost everything within the pce itself seemed identical to the Sky Citadel¡¯s throne room. I was only able to immediately spot two changes. First, and most importantly, there was only a single red throne. Second¡­ the smell of blood was thick in the air.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Scarlet sat upon her throne, her eyes closed in focus. There was something that she needed to do. Something that only she could do. However, as she was focusing, she felt a sudden shift in the energies around her.


    Rising to her feet, Scarlet summoned a cloud of blood behind her, fuel for aing battle. However, once her eyes found the portal in the center of her throne room, she sighed, recalling the cloud back into herself just as Tsubaki stepped through. Soon after, her creator also appeared.


    ¡°Keeper.¡± She greeted respectfully. His face seemed calm, moreso than she would have imagined under the circumstances.


    ¡°You possess the ability to track down powerful ki holders, anywhere in the world, correct?¡± When Scarlet heard his words, her eyes opened wide for a brief moment, before she nodded her head.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. I assume that you wish for me to put that talent to use, in order to find the invaders?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no guarantee that they appeared on Earth, but¡­ yes.¡± He confirmed her suspicion, earning a lightugh from Scarlet.


    ¡°I have been using this ability for thest six days.¡± She told him with a small smile. ¡°I assure you, Keeper, if a powerful ki holder has suddenly appeared, it was not on Earth. Even now, I¡¯m watching for new energies, but¡­ there is nothing.¡±


    Dale seemed almost relieved when she said that, but at the same time annoyed. ¡°I see¡­ would you be willing toe with us to the other worlds, in order to scan them as well?¡±


    Hearing that, a difficult expression appeared on Scarlet¡¯s face. ¡°I could¡­ but I would not be able to tell you anything. I haven¡¯t felt the other worlds, so I would not know if anything was new. I apologise, but I do not think that I will be of much assistance here.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ There is nothing that can be done, then.¡± He shook his head solemnly, a trace of disappointment in his eyes. ¡°I am sorry for troubling you, Scarlet. If you can, please continue monitoring for any traces. And if they appear here, please let me know immediately.¡±


    After saying that, Dale once again stepped through the portal. Tsubaki offered a polite bow, before immediately following after. Scarlet could do nothing but sigh helplessly. Her people were in just as much danger as any other, so it was only natural for her to want to help dispose of the enemies quickly.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Well, it was worth a shot.¡± I muttered as I walked back to the throne within the Sky Citadel. I knew that the odds were fairly slim that Scarlet would be able to urately pick out the invaders, but I had still hoped it to be possible.


    As I sat back down, I nced towards the enemy count again, my eyes widening when I confirmed the number. It was no longer at five, and had instead already increased to seven.


    Balu said that they reproduce rapidly, but I didn¡¯t think she meant THAT rapidly. It had been mere minutes since the invasion began, and yet the numbers were already starting to rise. Maybe this was why he only sent five, because that¡¯s all that he needed to. Five beasts to begin the flood.


    Rather than worried, I felt a rising excitement from Leowynn, who now seemed to realize that she¡¯d be getting the fight she had dreamed of. ¡°Now¡­ we can only wait for the world spirits, or for the reports toe in from the cities.¡± I muttered helplessly, hoping that it would be the former. Otherwise¡­ people would no doubt begin dying before we ever had the chance to help.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Days passed slowly for the Heroic Troops. Every moment requiring their utmost attention. Many were unable to bear the mental strain, forced to abandon their posts until the battle arrived. Yet there were still those who stood firm. The children of the Age of Heroes, born tobat the evil that sought to end the world.


    In the fifth kingdom of al, upon the walls of Geth Bator, stood one such troop. A lycan man by the name of Sebas. With a silver staff in hand, he stood upon the wall. His gaze focused outwards, watching for even the slightest shift in the treeline.


    Word had long since passed through the Tower of Communication, warning that the enemy had appeared. However, their location was still unknown. Whether it was the continent they were on, or even the, nobody had confirmed a sighting of them.


    That was, until now. Glowing red eyes stared back at Sebas from within the forest. Focusing, he saw creatures in the shape of wolves, a ck tar-like substance dripping down from their bodies. One, two, four¡­ tens of them staring at the wall, undeterred by the wards. He could feel an intangible presence that made him raise his staff.


    The first act of battle for any troop was predetermined. Even if it also became their final act. ¡°I call to the spirits of nature, in the name of the silver ghost.¡± Aplex spell diagram appeared directly above Sebas¡¯s head. ¡°I fear that the world¡¯s enemyys at my gate, and seek aid from those who would provide. Sound the call, and let my light guide the way.¡±


    This was not the first time someone had sent out the call. Nobody knew the form of the enemy, so it had happened at various ces already, only to find that what had startled them was a normal monster. Each time, however, the response was swift.


    A silver beacon shined in the sky, a deafening roar echoing from the spell. Even the creatures within the forest seemed to shrink back beneath the noise. Only when it passed did they begin their charge.


    I have heard your call. A voice spoke into the mind of Sebas as he was preparing his second spell to deal with the enemy. A beautiful figure appeared, standing in the air in front of her. Her race was not discernible, looking somewhere between a human and an elf, her body wrapped in a green dress.


    When she lifted her hand, the sky darkened. Lightning danced on her palm, striking down at the ground and forming figures. Beasts matching the size and shape of the charging wolves. The queen of the World Spirits did not hesitate to personally take the field, after confirming that these enemies seemed to not be of this world.


    When the ckened beasts struck those made of lightning, a fierce brawl ensued. Both sides were fearless, each tearing the other to shreds with every ounce of their strength. However, the spirit queen simply stared down at them impassively. Any time one of her lightning wolves was in, she simply created another.


    Like this, it was only a matter of time until the encroaching horde was dealt with. The tens of monsters which had seemed imposing appeared to be child¡¯s y in front of this woman. The battle was over even before the other troop members had reached the wall.


    Unbeknownst to them, lurking within the forest was a flock of birds which had been observing the fight. And within that flock, a single bird stood out from the rest. It watched the queen of the spirits fighting the wolves, as a pitch ck tear seemed to drop from its red eye. At thest crack of thunder with the end of the battle, the birds took flight, finally scattering now that the moment had passed.

 Chapter 275: Defend the Home

    <h4>Chapter 275: Defend the Home</h4>


    ¡°Dale!¡± alia came running into the throne room, her expression urgent. Seeing her face made my eyes widen. ¡°We¡¯ve found them!¡±


    It had been a week since the invasion began, and so far we had not been able to find any confirmed sightings of the enemy creatures. I could only watch the number of hostile forces steadily increasing. Thinking of that, I once again nced towards that menu.


    Current enemy forces within group Earth: 10,980


    When I recalled that this number had started out as low as five barely a week ago, I broke out into a cold sweat. ¡°Where are they?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re on Earth.¡± She said as she approached the stairs leading to the throne. ¡°The Tyrna continent, in the fifth kingdom of al. They¡¯re at my home, Dale.¡± Her voice grew more and more anxious by the moment as she spoke.


    ¡°Calm down, alia¡­ what can you tell me?¡± As I asked that, I rose to my feet, and guided alia out of the throne room, leading her down the hall.


    ¡°Reports came in, they attacked arge city known as Geth Bator. Beasts dripping with a thick ck substance. They were repelled by a woman that appeared out of thin air, believed to be the queen of world spirits. Under the orders of my Goddess, word was passed down before the invasion to call for her in a spell any time there was a possible sighting.¡±


    I gave a small nod, moving down a spiral staircase with alia, listening to her continue. ¡°That was an hour ago, ording to the report. Barely a few minutester, life scrolls began shattering, belonging to troops stationed in a nearby vige. The spirit queen still had her hands full, or maybe they weren¡¯t able to get the signal out in time. Either way, we believe the vige was lost.¡±


    As we stopped at a small section of the wall, and I ced my hand against it, I questioned her. ¡°And you are from Geth Bator?¡±


    ¡°No¡­ but I dide from one of its neighboring cities. Not the vige that was lost, but¡­ it¡¯s close.¡± She confirmed, her voice gradually calming down as she talked it out. ¡°Please, my parents are still there. If the enemy is in the area, then we need to help.¡±


    ¡°I agree.¡± I nodded again, as the wall in front of us began to open, bricks sliding out of the way. alia blinked in surprise at that, but simply followed me into the revealed passage.


    ¡°I¡¯m taking you to the control room of the Sky Citadel. When we get there, I need you to point out where exactly on the map the monsters were sighted. If you can do that, we¡¯ll be able to get there immediately.¡±


    alia hesitated again when she heard that, but soon steeled her resolve. As if a reflex, she stroked the string of the bow strapped to her back while following me deeper into the passage.


    I had been worried that the world was toorge, and not enough of it had been properly mapped out for her to be able to find the location. However, as soon as we entered the room, her eyes glowed a faint blue. ¡°There!¡± She immediately spoke out, pointing towards a spot on the floating globe of Earth.


    Tubrock¡¯s reproduction didn¡¯t include anything like political borders, as such things shift too regrly. So it would not have been odd to be unable to find a certain location on a map thisrge. However, given how confident she appeared in her answer, I stepped up and ced my finger on the area that she had pointed to.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°I call to the spirits of nature, in the name of¡­¡± A young woman¡¯s cry was cut off as a massive shadow appeared overhead. She had seen the red eyes deep within the woods, heard their guttural growls.


    Yet just as she was sounding the rm, it suddenly felt as if she no longer needed to. The Sky Citadel appeared above the city of Geth Sinor. Not only that, but she soon saw a figure leap from the rocky cliff holding the pce in the sky.


    The falling figure carried a pair of twin daggers in her hands, her face wrapped in white cloth. Only her shining red eyes could clearly be seen, as well as the felyn tail swaying behind her.


    The woman atop the walls, Janna Syme, held her breath as she watched the figure dancing in the air, every motion leaving a golden trail that slowed her descent. Finally, shended atop the wall, directly next to Janna. ¡°Is that them?¡± She asked, her voice cold as she looked out past the wall, at the figures lurking within the woods.


    ¡°They match the reports exactly.¡± Janna spoke, her voice wavering. It was clear that she was talking to the incarnation of the goddess Terra. However, her words weren¡¯t quite correct.


    The beasts lurking in the words were not the same tar-covered wolves that attacked Geth Bator. These wererge, standing on two legs with stone protruding from their backs. They looked closer to bears than wolves, a full ten of them standing in a row.


    There was barely a nod from the felyn woman before she leapt forward, her daggers emitting a faint darkness. Faintly, Janna could hear her voice as she moved further away, towards the monsters. ¡°I am the shadow of my oath.¡±


    The white cloths covering Terra¡¯s body darkened, soon turning pitch ck. When she entered the shade of a tree, she seemed to vanish entirely. Momentster, one of the ten bears reacted, a roaring from its distorted maw as its arm fell to the ground. Followed shortly after by its head, its mouth slowly closing after it had been removed from the beast¡¯s shoulders.


    From beginning to end, a health bar never appeared above the beast. It was hard to tell whether that was because it had been killed too quickly, or these creatures simply had no health bars to speak of. As they were from worlds beyond the boundaries of the Keeper, that was entirely possible.


    The remaining nine bears began swiping their arms around themselves, scattering ck slime everywhere. However, they did not touch Terra. Rather, Janna jumped in fright when she noticed that Terra was suddenly standing next to her again.


    ¡°Not living¡­ Are you a cleric?¡± She turned to look at Janna, who was forced to shake her head in denial. ¡°Unfortunate.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean they¡¯re not living? Are they¡­ some kind of undead?¡±


    ¡°Unclear.¡± Terra spoke as briefly as possible. ¡°Not enough information.¡±


    At that moment, another voice could be heard from within the sky. ¡°Boleer, hark!¡± Janna nced up at the voice once again, spotting an elven woman that had simrly been falling from the Sky Citadel. However, after her words sounded, a pair of wings appeared on her back, holding her aloft.


    ¡°Terra!¡± She called down. ¡°Did you learn anything?¡±


    Rather than answering her immediately, Terra waited until the elf hadnded. ¡°Creatures not alive. Animated somehow.¡±


    ¡°How do you know that?¡± The woman, who Janna assumed to be Kirishna, asked incredulously.


    ¡°Cut off an arm. It moved independently for six seconds. Head moved two seconds after.¡±


    Kirishna brought a hand up to massage her temples after hearing that, as if trying to piece the broken report together. ¡°After this fight, we¡¯ll need to have a proper chat.¡± She said with a sigh, before turning to face the remaining nine bears, which seemed to have noticed that Terra was no longer among them.


    She lifted a golden book which had been tied to her waist, aiming it towards the bears. Blue light began to shine out from the book, floating out from between the pages to form various spell diagrams. The spells floated up into the sky as the bears slowly backed up, before a blue light was shot out towards them.


    Wherever the light passed, everything seemed to freeze. The ground was covered in ayer of thick ice, as were the monsters. Even the deceased creature had not been spared from the freezing.


    Terra¡¯s eye twitched as she saw that, looking towards a flock of birds that seemed to have been scared away by the firing of the spell. She pulled a new dagger from under the folds of the cloth wrapping her body, and threw it towards the flock. Momentster, she vanished, appearing midair along the dagger¡¯s flight.


    Another throw, and another, and she was within the flock. Once again, her body danced within the sky, but this time it was apanied by the sh of her daggers. Soon, several birds had fallen under her relentless assault, not having any power to fight back.


    Rather than grabbing the birds as they fell, she reached a hand out for them, and they vanished. Terra allowed her body to lower to the treeline before jumping off a branch, making her way back to the wall.


    ¡°Okay, want to tell me what that was about, at least?¡± Kirishna asked in exasperation.


    ¡°Felt something suspicious. Like being watched. Can¡¯t be sure, so won¡¯t take chances.¡±


    ¡°Well, at least you used more than one word a sentence that time.¡± The elf responded, shaking her head. ¡°Either way, at least it looks like we made it in--¡± Suddenly, her eyes darted upwards.


    A third figure was falling from the sky now. However, this one almost seemed like it couldn¡¯t descend fast enough. A bow was held in her hand, and the face was one Janna herself was actually familiar with.


    ¡°Janna!¡± alia shouted out in worry, only stopping her descent at thest minute, or at least slowing it enough to only crack the surface of the wall where shended. ¡°Is everything okay? Are you alright?¡±


    The worry on her face and in her tone was one that Janna was very familiar with, causing her tough happily. ¡°I¡¯m fine, alia. You all showed up right on time.¡±


    No sooner had her words ended than alia threw herself forward, wrapping her arms around Janna. ¡°Thank goodness.¡±


    Janna smiled, returning the hug gently. ¡°You know, you¡¯re really not acting like the incarnation of a goddess right now.¡± She whispered softly to alia, not wanting to embarrass her too much in front of the others.


    ¡°I¡­ I¡¯ll be fine.¡± A flushed alia responded, abruptly pulling back from the hug. Her quickly wagging tail, however, betrayed her happiness. ¡°But they were here? They actually showed up?¡±


    Janna simply pointed behind alia, towards the frozenndscape that had been the result of Kirishna¡¯s spell. alia¡¯s eyes widened at the sight, a low, feral growling from her throat as her hair stood on end.


    ¡°Calm.¡± Terra stepped out in front of alia, shaking her head. ¡°They are dealt with. Breaking ice might free them, let them return to others.¡±


    alia¡¯s growing fury died down, as if a bucket of cold water had been poured on her. ¡°I¡­ I know.¡± She then turned to address Kirishna. ¡°Can you take them to the Citadel, and create a barrier to contain them? I need to study the bodies.¡±


    The elven incarnation simply gave a small smile, nodding her head. ¡°That was the n. I was just waiting for my mana to recover enough to call the world spirit queen. Mass freezing spells aren¡¯t easy, you know?¡±


    ¡°Ah? I can handle that!¡± Janna spoke up, d to finally be able to assist them. The three incarnations nced towards her curiously, as realization dawned on them. Kirishna nodded her head encouragingly, and Janna ced a hand over her heart.


    ¡°I call to the spirits of nature, in the name of the watchful guardian. The enemies of the world have appeared before me, and the hosts of heaven require your aid. Please, queen of spirits, hear me.¡± Her voice echoed out softly from her body, her eyes closed as if in prayer.


    I have heard you. A voice spoke out, not only to her, but to the three incarnations as well, the world spirit queen slowly materializing as green lights spiraled from the surrounding air.

 Chapter 276: Wolf’s Bane

    <h4>Chapter 276: Wolf¡¯s Bane</h4>


    Moving the Sky Citadel took a massive amount of energy, enough that by the time I recovered, alia had already rushed out of the room. Using my world sight, I was able to see that the situation had mostly been resolved by that point. The world spirit queen had appeared, and was lifting a small chunk ofnd up towards the citadel.


    Unfortunately, Tubrock was no longer able to remove the shields around the citadel itself. ¡°Tsubaki.¡± I called out as I exited the hidden passage, finding the kitsune maid that had been patiently waiting there. ¡°How big of a portal can you open?¡±


    Her eyes blinked in confusion at that. ¡°I suppose that it would depend on the duration. Thergest portal I have been able to create was ten meters in diameter, but I can hold it for no more than a minute.¡±


    I gave a small nod when I heard that. It wasn¡¯t enough, quite frankly. ¡°I want you to open a portal up to an area right outside the shield. Go out and cut up the object that they are bringing until it will fit. But, do not damage the bodies.¡±


    Again, she looked confused, but hastily obeyed. And with another scan of my world sight, I gave a small sigh. ¡°And how is it that you even got in through the barrier?¡± I asked, turning around to face a shadow at the end of the hall, near the door.


    ¡°Shadows connected.¡± Terra¡¯s voice spoke out as she seemed to walk out of the darkened wall. The ck cloths wrapping around her body brightened, turning white before vanishing and leaving her in a more normal outfit. As it did, she let out a deep breath, visibly rxing.


    ¡°My knight¡¯s de that the goddess prepared for me. It enables me to step into shadows and travel through them. Unfortunately, it ces a restriction on my mind in order to enhance my focus.¡±


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t aware that a knight¡¯s de could have so many functions.¡± I replied with a raised eyebrow, shaking my head slightly.


    ¡°It is difficult to create. From what the goddess told me, your maid created her de with the power to sever souls. Is it true that she trained in the underworld?¡± Terra¡¯s face got exceptionally curious when she asked that.


    ¡°It is. Anyways, I assume that you are here for something in particr, and not simply because you like lurking in shadows?¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t it be both?¡± She fired back naturally, before shaking her head. ¡°Apologies. No, I came here to give a report. The goddess instructed that I should make a detailed report after every encounter, to ensure that you had as much information as possible.¡±


    Nodding my head, I waited for her to speak. ¡°After feeling that our location had suddenly shifted, I dove off the edge of the Citadel to engage any possible enemies. When I arrived, there were ten bear-like monsters stationed near the wall of the city.¡±


    ¡°In an effort to understand the enemy, Iunched a probing attack, and severed one of their arms in the process. However, no blood poured from the wound, and the arm continued to flex for several seconds as if it were still attached. When I severed the head, the way that it stopped seemed a bit too slow. I have to conclude that the creatures are not living, and instead are either undead or some form of construct.¡±


    Just as I thought that she was done with her report, she continued. ¡°When Kirishna arrived and froze the enemies, I felt as if something was watching us. When I searched for the source of the detection, I found an unusual bird within a flock that had been watching the fight. Its body was rigid, with ck droplets leaking out beneath its feathers. When the flock flew away, I moved to apprehend the suspicious bird.¡±


    And only in worlds like this could a bird ever truly be considered suspicious. I shook my head with a sigh. ¡°Is there anything else?¡±


    ¡°I will need to deliver the bird to alia, but no sir. There is nothing else to report.¡±


    After that, the two of us walked back towards the throne room. Terra continued walking, leaving to join the others on the ground just outside the citadel, while I returned to my throne to watch through world sight. I saw alia staring hatefully at the frozen monsters, and then directed my sight elsewhere.


    I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s a blessing or a curse that they appeared here. I thought inwardly.


    Why is that? Leowynn¡¯s voice spoke into my mind, a weefort now that the deities could no longer do so.


    The beastkin inhabit the single most popted continent in the entire world. This means that there are more potential victims here. However¡­ it will also be easier to narrow down the presence of the enemy. Like how we did today, we were able to get here quickly, but one vige has already fallen, thousands of lives lost.


    There was a tinge of sorrow radiating from Leowynn as she heard that. So strategically, it is beneficial to us for them to be here¡­ but ites at a cost.


    Exactly. If they had appeared in the first or secondyers of Fyor, for instance, I would not be able to engage them in battle. Our levels are too high to pass through the gates, and the sky is too small in those floors for the citadel.


    Or even worse, if they appeared on some uninhabited ind. They could grow their numbers without ever being spotted, until they were strong enough to extend their influence out to a continent. At that point, they¡¯d be a swarm that could wipe out an entire world.


    While speaking with Leowynn, I began scanning the forest below for any signs of the creatures. I was able to find traces of the ck substance that had fallen from them, leaving a trail back from where they hade. Unfortunately, that substance seems to evaporate after prolonged contact with the air.


    I had been able to get a rough sense of what direction they hade from, but expanding the search quickly drained thest of my world sight. It would take a bit of time to recharge it, and by that point any trace of them would have vanished. I could only hope that alia would be able to learn something from the bodies.


    As I was thinking that, I heard a frustrated shout from outside the throne room. Which sounded quite like alia¡¯s incarnation. Standing up, I made my way out to see what was going on.


    A shimmering blue barrier surrounded thendmass that had been brought up from below. From the looks of things, they had thawed it off in order for alia to study the bodies. However¡­ there were no bodies. Only steaming ck puddles that seemed to blend with the melting ice, a putrid odor wafting out.


    ¡°Of course they dissolved. Why wouldn¡¯t they dissolve?!¡± alia asked, dissatisfaction clear in her tone. ¡°It would be too easy if I could just study them, now wouldn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± I asked as I walked out, alia abruptly turning around. Her eyes widened, her ears ttening against her head as she seemed to force herself to calm down.


    ¡°Sorry¡­ When we thawed off the creatures that we had captured, their bodies began to dissolve. I don¡¯t know if they were made that way, or if something here is making them do it, but once the ice stopped holding them together¡­ that happened.¡± She pointed to the ckened puddles.


    Terra nced at one of her daggers, stepping forward to slip it through the barrier that they had created. Sure enough, with a sh of energy, another smaller puddle appeared. ¡°The one I captured did so as well¡­¡±


    ¡°Figures.¡± alia groaned, shaking her head. ¡°Sorry, Dale. I hoped that I would have better news for you.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± I consoled her with a small smile. ¡°Let¡¯s just consider what we know. What information do we have on these creatures?¡±


    At this point, the world spirit queen was the one to step forward. ¡°Unfortunately, there is little that I can offer as well, my lord. These beasts elude my sight such that I cannot see them without materializing this form before them. If not for the call that had been ced, I fear I never would have known they had infiltrated thisnd.¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s just lovely.¡± alia spoke up. ¡°Anyways. We know that they have appeared in three variants. Wolf, bear, and bird. It is possible that the five that originally came through were each a different shape. And honestly, that would be the best case scenario.¡±


    ¡°Otherwise, the ones that we have been fighting are reanimated versions of local monsters, mutated through some unknown means. The bird tried to flee after the battle, showing either a sense of self-preservation, or that it was a scout. Given how the bodies dissolved immediately upon capture, self-preservation shouldn¡¯t be high on their priorities.¡±


    ¡°So, it was just a scout then?¡± I asked, ncing towards her. ¡°That would suggest a rather high degree of intelligence.¡±


    ¡°And eliminates the possibility of arge hive mind.¡± She added. ¡°If the monsters were all connected, having a scout return after a battle would be pointless. So, they are able to somehowmunicate with one another, and they are smart. They¡¯re even able to avoid detection through natural energy.¡±


    She let out another frustrated growl. ¡°If they weren¡¯t so damn annoying, I¡¯d be impressed with them! Can someone call Udona out here? If they¡¯re dead now, maybe she can get some information out of their spirits.¡±


    As soon as the request was made, Tsubaki split an avatar off her body, which rushed into the citadel. While we were waiting, I decided to ask Terra something. ¡°What is with that knife?¡± I motioned towards the one that she had apparently been using to store the bird¡¯s body. It was clearly not her knight¡¯s de, as that was the cloth she had previously been wrapped in.


    ¡°Assassin¡¯s mark.¡± She said as she lifted it up to stare at the de of the knife. ¡°It¡¯s an item handed out within shadow guilds. The knife doubles as a storage device, bearing the same enchantment. It is customary to take a piece of the killed target to confirm the kill with the guild.¡±


    At first I was worried that it was going to be yet another special ss weapon, but it turned out to be a modified bag of holding? I hadn¡¯t really considered that they might enchant things other than actual bags.


    ¡°Huh, I had heard about those.¡± Kirishna spoke up with interest, ncing towards the knife herself. ¡°Never got to see one up close. Not many assassins that actually advertise themselves as such. And with the gates of major cities blocked by status checks, it¡¯s hard to find an assassin even if you¡¯re looking for one.¡±


    ¡°There are ways.¡± Terra gave a mysterious smile. ¡°The goddess turned it into a game for me. Sneaking past checkpoints, and then grading me on my performance. She said that it was a requirement in order to be an assassin.¡±


    Kirishna¡¯s expression soured at that. ¡°Your goddess really had a weird sense of humor, huh? Raising her incarnation to be an assassin.¡±


    Oddly, Terra didn¡¯t disagree, instead nodding her head. ¡°She was¡­ unusual. However, I could tell that she was worried. This was a job that nobody else would want out of us, but she thought that Dale would need someone with these skills.¡±


    ¡°Well, you¡¯re not wrong.¡± Kirishna agreed readily. ¡°If I had to go back and choose again, I¡¯d still pick an elementalist, even without Ryone¡¯s insistence. It¡¯s just what I enjoy.¡±


    Terra looked like she was just about to speak up again when the doors of the citadel opened, Udona walking out with Tsubaki¡¯s avatar. Lazily, she looked around, her foggy eyes briefly widening as she ¡®saw¡¯ the mess that had been left behind. ¡°There aren¡¯t any spirits here.¡± She said simply, before correcting herself while pointing to the world spirit queen. ¡°Well, except for her.¡±


    ¡°Are you¡­ sure?¡± alia asked, looking doubtfully towards Udona.


    ¡°Positive.¡± She gave a small nod of her head. ¡°Bit of spirit energy, yeah, but their spirits are gone, if they were there to begin with.¡±


    ¡°Well that¡¯s just fantastic.¡± alia replied with an indignant huff.

 Chapter 277: The Deckmaster

    <h4>Chapter 277: The Deckmaster</h4>


    With this first wave of attacks dealt with, I returned to the throne room to think while I began refilling what I could of the world sight. However, shifting the sky citadel halfway across the world drained arge portion of my reserves, so I was not even able to return it to half of its full power before my own mana and ki started to get dangerously low.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Word quickly spread to the other continents, and the other worlds, confirming the presence of the ¡®world¡¯s enemy¡¯ in the beastkin continent of Earth. This caused those people who had been feeling the stress of rising tensions over the past few weeks to let out a collective breath.


    For the most part, the heroic troops that had been stationed around the fours returned to their normal lives. They hadn¡¯t trained for their entire lives in order to protect the entire. Rather, they were devoted to the idea of protecting their home and their loved ones. With the danger passed on to another area, they no longer felt that the situation was as urgent.


    Of course, there were those who broke the mold. Those enthusiastic heroes who had truly trained in order to be the protectors of the world. To those, the idea of sitting by while the monsters decimated another continent was simply abhorrent. When they learned the location of the enemy, they rushed through the transfer gates as quickly as they could to provide reinforcements.


    Among them was one who had titled himself the Deckmaster. As one might guess from the title, he was a mage born of Deckan. His red hair and kitsune tail were blown by the wind as he came out of the gate to Geth Bator. In the sky, he could see the distant pce floating about.


    ¡°This is the ce.¡± He said under his breath, one finger gently caressing a jade ring on his right hand. The ring shed, and a card appeared in it. After tossing the card into the air, it became a translucent silver dragon, which he jumped onto the back of. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±


    There were surprised shouts as the dragon appeared, and even more cries as it beat its wings, creating gusts of wind as it took off flying towards the citadel.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Another day passed, and there were still no signs of the monsters. I could only watch again as the numbers rose higher and higher. After my energy had recovered, I began spreading my world sight out again and again to try to search the area. And, while I was able to find traces of their passing, such as monsters which had been in, wounds dripping a ckened blood, I had not found theirir.


    ¡°Sir, I think someone is approaching.¡± Tsubaki spoke up, her ears twitching as she began to walk towards the door. After she had pointed it out, I took a moment to focus my senses, before noticing a presence headed our way.


    ¡°We have a visitor¡­ Go see who they are.¡± I told her, still focused on scanning the ground below.


    ¡°Oh, can I do it?!¡± Aurivy¡¯s incarnation suddenly spoke up, poking her head through the door nearby. And¡­ I mean that literally, her body had simply passed through the door. ¡°Big sis trained me really well, and I¡¯d like to take the chance to practice!¡±


    It took me a moment to recall that Aurivy said that she was training her incarnation to be a bard, and so I nodded my head in agreement. Bards were notorious for being able to gather information, no matter what setting you looked in. As for her ability to walk through walls¡­ I¡¯m just going to assume it is rted to her godly artifact and move on.


    ¡°Thank you!¡± She shouted, before turning and running towards the exit. Every step she took seemed to scatter golden dust beneath her feet, which faded momentster. And once again, she did not even open the door before stepping out, passingpletely through it.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Halt!¡± A young voice called out to the Deckmaster, who was forced to stop his dragon¡¯s advance. As he looked around, he saw a figure running through the air towards him. Small with ck hair, she was obviously a halfling. And, given that she wasing from the direction of the citadel, it was easy to guess her identity.


    ¡°Lady Aurivy?¡± He asked, projecting his voice with mana to allow it to reach her over the sound of the dragon¡¯s wings.


    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± She responded, stopping a short distance away from him. Her face was calm as she observed him, an almost cold light in her eyes. ¡°What are you here for?¡±


    For some reason, the Deckmaster felt pressure from the small girl, a pressure he hadn¡¯t felt for a long time. Clearing his throat, he answered her. ¡°I wish to offer my support! My name is Alu Desari!¡±


    ¡°What support can you offer?¡± She asked in that same tone, and Alu felt as if his dragon shivered for a moment.


    ¡°I have a wide variety of spells at my disposal, and believe that I am best ced on the front lines. Please, Lady Aurivy, allow me to help.¡±


    Aurivy fell silent for a long moment as she studied both Alu and his dragon. ¡°You are a cardmage. A summoner, going by the dragon.¡± She nodded her head, her expression softening slightly. ¡°I¡¯ll give you a test. If you pass it, I¡¯ll consider you strong enough to let in. Is that alright?¡±


    Alu felt displeased at the idea of having to pass a test to be allowed to help. However, he also knew that he wasn¡¯t fully aware of the circumstances. More hands did not always mean an easier task, after all. And, as the person he was speaking with was the incarnation of a goddess, he had to be respectful. ¡°Very well, I will take whatever test you have for me.¡±


    Aurivy gave a mysterious smile, and gradually brought her hands out in front of her, cupping them together. ¡°I am the core of my oath.¡± A bright golden light began to shine from her body, pooling together in her hands to form a golden sphere.


    _______________________________________________________________


    It took a great deal of effort to ignore the surging divine energy that I sensed from outside of the citadel. Both the knight and bard sses wielded their own divine energy, and Aurivy trained both of them. More importantly, she carried a godly artifact that had a trace of its own divine power, and I would not doubt if she was also a cleric to top it all off.


    While I pushed those thoughts out of my mind, I continued my efforts to track the creatures through the surface. The thought had urred to me that they might have hidden beneath the surface, creating tunnels that hid them from my sight. The problem was that scanning underground took exponentially more energy than scanning the surface, as there was so much more information to process.


    After roughly fifteen minutes, the energy that I was feeling from outside began to die down. Momentster, I heard a light humming outside the door, before it was pushed slowly open. ¡°I brought a tracker!¡± Aurivy¡¯s voice pulled me out of my concentration, causing me to look up.


    Behind her was a haggard kitsune with red hair. Alu Desari, going by the name above his head. And one of the highest levels I had seen in a while. He looked exhausted, as if he had spent all of his energy simply getting here, which made me send a questioning nce towards Aurivy.


    ¡°What? He wanted to help, and I just made sure that he could. We don¡¯t need any more muscle between you and Tsubaki, right?¡± She asked with an innocent smile. ¡°We just need someone to help us find where to apply said muscle.¡±


    I had to admit, she had a point. If I was given a few years to hone my world sight, I could probably scan this entire area without breaking a sweat. But since its power was still limited, having an experienced tracker would be useful. ¡°Thank you for volunteering your services, Alu.¡±


    His eyes opened wide for a moment when I addressed him, before he gave a deep bow. ¡°It is my honor to act for the safety of the realms.¡± He spoke with more energy than his face disyed. ¡°Merely¡­ I require information if I am to perform as I am expected.¡±


    I prompted him to continue, and he exined. ¡°I need to know what I am tracking. The more exact the detail, the better. I was¡­ informed that shamanism can¡¯t trace these creatures, which gives me a good start, but I need more if I am to construct a spell to find them.¡±


    I gave a small nod towards Tsubaki, and she stepped forward, beginning to exin what we had learned about these creatures during their first few appearances. With every detail, his expression seemed to shift from disgust, intrigue, hope and despair. There were times when I thought that he might not be able to get the job done.


    However, he then surprised me with another question after the exnation. ¡°Do you have a sample of the residue? If you do, I think that I can find them for you.¡±


    Unfortunately¡­ ¡°We didn¡¯t want to risk contamination, so the residue was incinerated after the examination failed.¡± I shook my head as I said that to him. ¡°We can retrieve some for you in the next engagement, assuming that theyunch another attack.¡±


    His expression turned pensive, furrowing his brows in thought. ¡°I might still be able to create a spell to track them. However, I won¡¯t be able to cast it.¡±


    My look must have given away my curiosity, because he quickly exined. ¡°In order to piece together a tracking spell with a sample, I would only need to create a lower third rank spell. Still costly to cast, but not so much that I wouldn¡¯t be able to handle it. However¡­ if I have to broaden the scope of the search and expand on the spell, it will be a high third rank.¡±


    ¡°I can put it together, but I won¡¯t have the mana to cast it on my own. High third rank spells typically require the energy of multiple mages.¡±


    And this is even with the cost reduction thates with the cards? I asked inwardly, imagining how hard it would be to cast this magic with the geometric system. ¡°If you can prepare the spell, I¡¯ll handle casting it.¡± My own personal mana pool was several times that of a normal mage. Even if it required five or six high level mages working together, I should be able to bear the burden.


    Alu nodded his head quickly, a wide smile on his face. ¡°Thank you, sir. I¡¯ll just need a wide floor where I can assemble the spell. Given the parameters, the bigger the space I have, the better. And it has to be somewhere without any wind, to prevent the cards from being blown about.¡±


    Well, that was easy enough to take care of. ¡°Tsubaki, lead Alu to the basement. There should be all the room he needs down there. And if Kirishna is present, tell her to take a break so as not to disturb him.¡±


    Tsubaki nodded her head respectfully, turning and guiding an eager Alu out the side door. With the two of them gone, it was just myself and Aurivy. ¡°Aurivy¡­¡± I spoke up, getting the halfling¡¯s attention.


    ¡°Hmm?¡± She smiled, crossing her arms behind her back.


    ¡°What sort of test did you put him through to determine his tracking ability?¡± This was important both in order for me to exin the divine power that I had been feeling, as well as to truly know his capabilities.


    ¡°I put him in a maze and made him find me in it~.¡± She responded in a singsong voice, which made my eyes open wide.


    ¡°And¡­ how did you manage to do that?¡± I had the distinct feeling I didn¡¯t want to know the answer to this.


    ¡°Big sis helped me make a very special knight¡¯s de.¡± Aurivy¡¯s smile widened into a full grin. ¡°It¡¯s modeled after a dungeon¡¯s core. It really is amazing! I never saw one up close.¡±


    I let out a sigh, shaking my head. Of course she gave her incarnation dungeon powers¡­

 Chapter 278: To Track the Traceless Foe

    <h4>Chapter 278: To Track the Traceless Foe</h4>


    After recruiting Alu and sending him off to the basement, I once again began adjusting my energies to return to my peak condition. If the spell he was preparing really worked, then we would be able to end this battle swiftly. My only hope was that they were not immune to being tracked through magic as they were natural energy. Though, that shouldn¡¯t be an issue if the information that Balu gave me is still urate.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Are you sure that you have everything that you require in order to create your spell?¡± Tsubaki questioned as she saw Alu sitting down on the ground, retrieving a pile of cards from one of his rings.


    ¡°Hmm? Yes, yes. I think I should. If I¡¯m missing anything, it would be one of themon cards, easily reced.¡± Although he had answered her, it was clear where his focus trulyy, analyzing each card in the pile.


    For some cards, he would shake his head and cause them to vanish, while others he began to set in assorted piles. In truth, the reason that he was able toe by the name Deckmaster was quite simple. Alu hailed from a noble family, one which handled arge spell trade. Thousands of cards passed through their business everyday, of all varieties.


    Alu had been training in secret, pilfering a few cards here and there from the family business, weaker ones that would never be missed. He created his own spells, learning how the magic of the cards worked in as much detail as he could. From a young age, he had heard that the world would one day be in danger, within his generation even. And that information made his blood boil.


    He didn¡¯t learn card magic because he was wanting personal power. No, he wanted to be like the heroes in stories, who came riding in to save the day. He wanted to feel like his ce in the world mattered, more than just a middleman for trading as his family had been before him. However, he knew that he had to keep these desires hidden, as his entire n hinged on the fact that he would one day inherit the family business.


    And sure enough, that day eventually came. When it did¡­ Alu made a decision which could ruin his family. He personally bought up all of the cards that had been moving through their hands, using almost his entire family¡¯s fortune to do so. Although he left his parents with enough money to livefortably, he made sure to buy as many cards as he could before he left.


    Ever since, he had been a wandering mage, using the cards that he had purchased to create fantastic spells to help people. He took various requests from different guilds andmissioners, using the rewards to buy more and more cards. It was only after he had done this for most of his adult life that he had gotten a title from the system itself, which was where the name Deckmaster came from.


    Of course, this title came with a special power as well. A foresight for cards, as it were. Both of the abilities gained from this foresight were remarkably useful. First, he was able to determine without any external aid what cards would drop from a particr monster, if any. This alone saved him a vast sum of wealth, simply due to him being able to hunt his own cards more often.


    The second ability, however, was what he was using now. He was able to intuitively predict the card effects that would arise from a fusion. Without the trial and error, or the explosive failures that could result from improper fusions, he was soon able to create spells for any given situation. He was able to be a true Deckmaster.


    As he found all of the cards that he believed would be needed for the spell, he began the process of constructing the spell itself. This involvedying the cards out in circr sets of ten. At the core of each set was a fusion card, and every ten sets were arranged in another circle, with another fusion at its center.


    Alu was very meticulous about his preparation, discarding one card in favor for an identical one with a slightly higher or lower rating, or getting rid of an entire set altogether. As Tsubaki watched, she couldn¡¯t help but acknowledge the hard work that must have led to where he was now.


    The entire process for the spell to bepletedsted for three hours. After he was done, he checked and double checked that every card was in its proper ce, before focusing on the end result that this fusion would create.


    Only when he was fully satisfied did he act, retrieving one of his most prized spells from his rings. Mass Fusion, a spell that could simultaneously activate numerous fusion spell cards. Without this, the process of creating a high level spell like this could take days as he fused each set separately, then waited for his mana to recover and for the individual sets to charge before the next step.


    He urged Tsubaki to step back, before doing so himself and holding up the card. Channeling his mana into the card, rays of ck energy shot out, urately striking each and every fusion card that had been ced along the ground.


    From every struck card, a swirling vortex of energy rose up, drawing in the cards surrounding them and bingrger. Soon, those vortexes connected, bing a massive spiral of energy the began to fill the basement like a ck tornado. However, Alu simply stared in excitement, waiting for the energy to settle.


    After several minutes, the ck vortex began to shrink, little bit little as the floor of the basement was revealed again. The only sign that anything had transpired was theck of any cards left on the floor. That is, until the energy had faded away entirely.


    At the center of the floor, gently falling down from thest shred of ck energy, was a single card. Even Tsubaki could feel a faint sense of power from this card, showing that it was far stronger than any other that had been ced out before it.


    The face of the card seemed slightly animated, a ripple of energy spreading along the surface of the picture. Beneath the ripple was a ck, indistinct figure. Meanwhile, the name of the card slowly wrote itself beneath the picture. ¡®Track the Traceless Invader¡¯. While the full power of the spell couldn¡¯t easily be summed up in so few words, Tsubaki had witnessed the entire process of the spell¡¯s creation, and had a better understanding of its potential.


    ¡°It¡¯s done.¡± Alu smiled, walking up and gingerly grabbing the card. He lifted it up in inspection, ensuring that it was just as his insight had predicted. He did not ce the card within one of his rings, but rather turned and walked over to Tsubaki, handing it to her. ¡°Please, pass this along to the Keeper.¡±


    Tsubaki looked at Alu questioningly, before noticing the exhaustion in his eyes. In order to create the spell, he had poured in all of his focus, and spent nearly all of his mana. However, he was still smiling. Part of his smile was due to his pride at being able to contribute to this fight, while another was a message that had appeared after he examined his creation.


    You have sessfully created the pinnacle third tier spell, Track the Traceless Invader. As a reward for creating your tenth pinnacle third tier spell, you have unlocked the third ability of the Deckmaster title.


    Substitute Fusion ability unlocked!


    He wasn¡¯t sure what this new ability did exactly, but he knew that his efforts were paying off. Of course, he wouldn¡¯t be able to investigate this power until he had received proper rest, given his almostpleteck of mana at the moment.


    ¡°I understand.¡± Tsubaki nodded, holding the card carefully. While she may not know the rewards that Alu had received from the system for creating this card, she knew full well its value to her lord. ¡°I shall show you to a spare room to recover.¡±


    ¡°That would be¡­ much appreciated.¡± Alu nodded his head as well, a small sigh leaving his lips. Almost robotically, he followed behind Tsubaki, moving towards a set of stairs which took far more effort to climb than he felt reasonable. Still, he soon found his way towards a bedroom, though he barely remembered how he had gotten from the door to the bed before passing out.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Sir, the spell has been prepared.¡± Tsubaki spoke calmly to me as she opened the door to the throne room, carefully stepping through and closing it behind me. In her hands she carried an inconspicuous looking card. Though, as she came closer, I was able to spot the strangeness of it. I could see how the image appeared to shift constantly. Not like a holographic card, but¡­ more as if the image was truly moving on its own.


    I nced at my status, and saw that my mana was now nearly full. More than enough to cast one spell. I thought inwardly. I had cast card spells before, and knew that their mana cost was at least half less than casting the same spell through the geometric system. So I could only hope that a single third tier spell wouldn¡¯t require more mana than I had avable. If it did¡­ I really needed more mana.


    I took the card from her, nodding my thanks. ¡°I¡¯m going to cast this, and then tomorrow weunch our attack.¡± I¡¯d need that long in order to fully replenish my mana once again, so that I could personally join the battle as well. I had faith in thebat abilities of the others, but I also knew that my base stats were leagues ahead of anyone else.


    Tsubaki acknowledged the order as I began to push mana into the card. Once I started, it felt as if there were a force sucking in my energy, much like when I activated the movement function of the citadel. Knowing that this should be normal, I allowed the card to draw in my mana, waiting for it to activate.


    In total, nearly half of my mana was spent before the card began to glow. The ripple of energy that had once been contained to the picture began to spread out, leaving the card in a translucent bubble that spread from the card itself.


    As the spell passed through the walls, I saw the card in my hand beginning to dissolve into a faint mist, catching me by surprise. Spell cards are typically reusable, so the idea that this might be a one-time cast hadn¡¯t urred to me. Though, there was the chance that this was simply the spell moving to an ¡®active¡¯ stage, and it would again be a card when it was over.


    While I was thinking about that, I noticed an energy enter into the palm of my hand. An energy that began to project an image in the air in front of me momentster. It appeared to be a three dimensional radar, which continued to expand outwards. A single blue dot seemed to represent my position, while a red one appeared shortly after, a bit above and off to the side.


    Fearing that one of the invaders had entered the citadel, I estimated where the red dot should represent before sending my world sight to investigate, only to find the sleeping form of Alu. It was then that I realized what the spell had done, at the same time as the red dot turned green, before vanishing.


    The first step of the spell was to find those who were not from this world. Alu himself was undoubtedly a resident of Deckan, and had only recentlye over in order to assist in the fight. Therefore, the spell identified him as a potential invader. But the green dot recing the red should mean that he was traceable through natural energy, thus eliminating him as a suspect.


    Soon, more and more red dots began to appear, many of them turning green and fading away just like Alu had. It was only when the spell had stretched out over what I believed to be fifty miles that red dots began to appear en masse. And unlike those before them, these did not turn green. Rather, after a simr sweep, they became pitch ck.


    Hundreds of these ck dots soon appeared, and they continued spreading further and further. Soon, there were too many to count, many of them all nested in the same location. ¡°Good, good.¡± I muttered silently as I watched this. ¡°Tsubaki, call everyone here. We¡¯re going to discuss our battle n.¡±

 Chapter 279: The Most Unexpected Foe

    <h4>Chapter 279: The Most Unexpected Foe</h4>


    As the sun began to rise over the Geth region, the floating pce in the sky moved. The people below couldn¡¯t be sure exactly where it was going, only that it was not simply vanishing as it did before. Some watched in awe, while others simply tried to follow, wanting to see what was happening themselves.


    Those who followed were naturally those confident that they could survive these harsh woods where the enemies of the world had taken residence, namely those heroic troops most fit for battle. For hours, they ran or flew to chase the citadel, until finally it stopped above the horizon. Just as they began to wonder what was happening, massive lines of light began to trace themselves out below the base off the citadel itself. And then¡­ the world was bathed in a sh of light.


    Deafening roars resounding from thendscape, as if the earth itself had cried out in pain. Soon, those on the ground were able to feel the tremors caused by the st, while those in the air found themselves blown about by a powerful wind. Beast scattered in all directions from the st, but this¡­ this was only the beginning.


    Beneath the citadel, a wound had been carved into the ground, a circr crater a kilometer wide. Anything that had been there previously had simply been erased. Just past the edge of the crater were several beasts frozen in fear, ck liquid dripping off their bodies. Some appeared to be wolves, others birds, but some¡­ some looked like people. Felyn, lycan, ursa, and kitsune with darkened skins, their eyes pitch ck.


    ¡°You should be running~.¡± A voice suddenly spoke from behind them, and the creatures slowly turned to see a small ck-haired person standing behind them, a kitsune wielding arge scythe apanying her. ¡°Though, it¡¯s toote now.¡± The smaller figure said as she stretched out her hands. ¡°I am the core of my oath.¡±


    Golden light stretched out from her body, epassing the area as the various tainted creatures tried to flee. This golden light surrounded them, and they soon found that the sky had turned to stone. Their entire world had shifted, each entity being isted within a dimly lit room. ¡°Now¡­¡± The voice spoke out again. ¡°You all just wait your turn.¡±


    Far away on the other side of the crater, a more chaotic battle was taking ce. Three figures fought against the creatures who had been out of the range of the st, while nearly a dozen more formed a perimeter to ensure that none could escape.


    These three figures were an elf, and two humans, one male and the other female. The elf stood at the center of the battle, one hand holding a golden book towards the sky as she chanted. ¡°Krol¡¯hyn naemari! Boleer, hark! Boleer, maj sesharin fin, kris nectra!¡±


    However, at the same time, a whisper erupted from the surroundings, as if being spoken by each and every tainted creature at once. ¡°Lor kral farst.¡± Just as the runes began to take shape around the elf¡¯s body, they were just as quickly shattered, causing her a brief moment of shock.


    Thankfully, the chant seemed to have no effect on the diagram being released above her head. Pirs of crackling lightning shot out, arcing and striking several beasts, before splitting and attacking many more in a chain of thunderous sts.


    The human female closed her eyes briefly, gathering her strength. When she opened them, one eye had turned pitch ck, with the other being a milky white. Slowly, she lifted a delicate hand, held within was an ornately crafted pen. Where the pen pointed, monsters simply copsed, their bodies melting.


    Soon, she began writing within the air, every brush of the pen leaving a bubbling ck line. As it was written, so it came to pass, a dome of ck energy rising up from the ground just beyond the perimeter established by the other figures. ¡°None shall escape.¡± She said softly, bringing her hands close to her chest. ¡°Thousand lights above a burning field, twist and erupt, six suns mark the heavens.¡±


    More ck energy leaked out from her pen, pouring out in a line as they took shape between her hands. The darkness created by the dome¡¯s appearance vanished away as a burning ball of me appeared within her hand. ¡°Shatter the heavens to burn away all sin.¡± With the woman¡¯s final chant, the ball of me within her hand broke apart, scattering to be hundreds of sparks that floated through the air like fireflies.


    These sparks seemed to simply allow the wind to carry them, each onending on a different creature. When they did, that creature erupted into a pir of white light, unearthly screams echoing through the forest. Others tried to run, finding themselves face to face with even more adversaries before they even reached the wall.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Alright, Leowynn, now it¡¯s our turn. I thought inwardly, standing guard near Irena and Kirishna as they released their attacks. For this part of the n, my role had been to simply defend the two of them, ensuring that the monsters couldn¡¯t charge forward.


    However, it seemed like that role was entirely unneeded. Although it was unexpected, the creatures had all frozen in ce when Kirishna called out her runic spell, as if they were unable to move while they countered it. I know that she said it wasmon for Keepers to have defenses against this, but even these guys!?


    Honestly, I was more concerned about the fact that I was unable to understand the words that the monsters had spoken. If they were a runguage, it was definitely a different one than what I had purchased.


    As I thought about that, I felt Leowynn¡¯s spirit filling my body. Manifest the Sky of the Lion!


    With her chant, the ck dome that Irena had created suddenly seemed to gain dots of light throughout it, making it feel more like a night¡¯s sky. Next, my fists became wrapped in me, and I charged out and into the hordes of monsters.


    The initial st from the citadel had been focused on their most concentrated point, so we only had to deal with the stragglers now. Even so, I did not want to take any chances. Leowynn pushed more and more energy into the mes, turning them from orange to blue, and then a blinding white. Whenever I struck one of the tainted creatures, their bodies hissed at the contact, melting away.


    It was only now that I was able to realize the true form of my enemy. And it wasn¡¯t something that I had even properly considered until now. The smallest, most inconspicuous things had turned into the most dangerous opponents. Slimes.


    That¡¯s right, each of these creatures was truly a slime, mimicking the form of something that they had consumed. That¡¯s why they were able to adapt so easily, because they could study the energy fluctuations of attacks, and were intelligent enough to alter their own makeup to develop an immunity. As for their weakness to magic? That was likely simply a matter of magic being tooplex for them to properly analyze.


    Either way, these slimes were melted away every time my hands struck out at them, never losing their shape until they had sustained critical damage. I dove into them, one group after another, leaving a pungent mass of quivering goo after a few quick swipes of my hands. Soon, they began to avoid me, backing away from one another to not allow me to target groups.


    Others seemed to get another idea, turning to face the now unguarded girls still releasing their attacks on the surroundings. They had left this side for me to deal with, meaning that neither Irena¡¯s mes nor Kirishna¡¯s lightning touched the area around me. And this gave those monsters the chance to attack them.


    Stretching out my hands, I switched from one constetion to another. The mes attached to my handsshed out, flying through the air as if they were giant serpents. Each one seemed to have a mind of its own, targeting various enemies and consuming them as they passed, but never letting anything close to the two girls.


    In the distance, I could hear the shes between the other incarnations and the creatures which had fled to escape from the encirclement, but I did not have the attention to spare for them. Just from looking at the few I had seen in battle, I knew that the incarnations would be powerful enough to handle themselves.


    As the battle raged on, it was only a matter of time before the number of slime-creatures dwindled more and more, the battlefield shrinking until the oue became clear. Only after I was able to confirm that there were no more enemies within the dome did Irena get rid of it, and we were able to see the other dome in the distance, an equally massive one made of stone glowing with a faint golden light.


    Aurivy¡¯s dungeon, if I had to guess¡­ I thought to myself, before extending my world sight to take a look. I had left her and Tsubaki alone to cover the other side of the crater, as Aurivy¡¯s dungeon creation ability made her far better at controlling the battlefield than any of the rest of us, though it caused her attack power tog behind.


    Sure enough, I saw hundreds of isted stone rooms within the stone dome. Some appeared empty, while others had monsters wing at the walls in an attempt to escape. In one, I saw Tsubaki exterminating a lone monster with ease, before a path opened up to an adjacent room.


    The only downside was Aurivy herself, trapped within the center of the dungeon. I could see her health bar above her head, gradually shrinking as she fueled her domain with her own life force. At this rate, she would be killing herself long before Tsubaki finished cleaning up the individual rooms.


    I checked my own energy reserves, before nodding my head and rushing over. Since rune magic doesn¡¯t work¡­ ¡°Kirishna, the book!¡± I called back towards the elven incarnation, who blinked in surprise. Moments,ter, she seemed to understand, holding the book up once again. It flew from her grasp, soaring through the air and into my hand.


    Let me see, how does this work again¡­ I had gotten a brief introduction to everyone¡¯s divine relic and knight¡¯s des before the battle so that I could assign them to different posts. If I recalled, the book functioned by injecting mana into it, and focusing on the spellponents I wanted.


    It only took me less than a minute to arrive outside the dome, before I amplified my voice with my ki. ¡°Aurivy, drop it!¡±


    After saying that, I held the book facing forward, and focused. ¡°I am the one who stands above the heavens. My word is thew of the universe. Monsters of another world, creatures from beyond the veil, shatter and fall, crumple to dust. The spears of twisted space call for ck blood.¡±


    Behind my back, I saw the illumination from arge spell diagram, one I had no doubt reached the third tier. And just as the stone walls of Aurivy¡¯s dungeon vanished into golden light, the illumination from behind me turned ck. Lines of darkness trailed out of the spell, targeting the various remaining monsters within the dome. Whenever one was struck, it would be sucked into the line, its body warping and shrinking until it vanished entirely.


    Such arge and powerful spell naturally came with an equally absurd cost, and I felt Leowynn immediately shift away from the Sky of the Lion in order to manifest the Temple constetion. Like this, she was able to reinforce my ability to cast magic, ensuring that my reserves held out until they were no longer needed.


    Of course, Tsubaki did not remain idle during this time, dancing between the lines of darkness to kill any monsters that she could. Briefly, a corner of her skirt seemed to touch a line, and I was afraid that she might get drawn in. However, she simply caused that part of his skirt to shatter, the fragmented energy being pulled into the darkness while she continued to ughter her way through.


    By the time the monsters that Aurivy had trapped were all in by the two of us, I was left panting for breath. My energy was all but exhausted, and I knew that I would need to have a proper rest before I could battle again. However, something happened to make all the tension within my body fade away, such that I actually fainted on the spot.


    Looks like that was thest of them. A voice spoke directly into my mind, the voice of Terra.

 Chapter 280: Completion Awards

    <h4>Chapter 280: Completion Awards</h4>


    When I awoke, I felt myself resting against a soft bed, warmth andfort surrounding me. I shifted, and noticed that there were two bodies pressed against my own, causing me to open my eyes. To my right, I saw Terra¡¯s incarnation, and to the left I saw Ryone¡¯s. I did my best to carefully lift myself from the bed without disturbing them, but the two girls let out disappointed groans when I moved.


    Thankfully, I was able to still get out of the bed, though that only meant that I was able to see the two of them shifting closer to one another in my absence. Shaking my head with a small smile, I made my way out of the room. Okay, Terra, what¡¯d I miss?


    You were only out for most of a night, so not that much. She responded almost immediately, a relieved tone in her voice. Really, we got lucky this time. If those monsters had appeared anywhere else in the four worlds, the invasion would have taken a lot longer. But, because they showed up in this continent, where the poption is densest, you were able to find them soon.


    I gave a small nod at that, agreeing with her. I barely even noticed Tsubaki waiting outside of my room, though she began to follow behind me quietly as soon as I walked out. Did we get any rewards for fending off the invasion?


    Aside from living for another standard month? She asked in a teasing tone. You received the achievement, Stalwart, for personally fighting in the defense. And forpleting your first defense, you earned the Guardian achievement, which gave an extra two points to stamina. However, since he really only sent five troops¡­ Theirbat potential was assessed as being worth one thousand points in total after aprehensive analysis.


    Okay¡­ and why were your and Ryone¡¯s incarnations sleeping with me? This time, it was my turn to tease her, as I knew that it had to be her decision for that to happen.


    What, you didn¡¯t like it? I could practically feel the grin in her tone when she asked that. Tsubaki nearly broke herself bringing you back to the Citadel, so we decided to make sure that you weren¡¯t alone when you woke up.


    She what? My eyes widened when I heard that, and I nced back towards Tsubaki, who simply offered me a casual smile as she continued to follow me. Now that I was focusing on her, I could tell that her energy felt a bit weaker than it had before.


    Remember how high your physical stats are as a Keeper, Dale. Your body is heavy enough that she had to push everything into her strength to lift you. Right now, she¡¯s just barely able to maintain a full-sized form.


    I shook my head, turning to face forward again while passing through the halls. Should have just left me on the ground, then. I¡¯m sure she would have been able to make sure nothing took a bite out of me.


    Oh, I tried to tell her that, too. Terra let out a small sigh, before suddenlyughing. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever seen anyone re so hard at a deific figure. Just the idea of allowing her master to sleep in the dirt seemed to insult her.


    I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle at that, finally reaching to door to the throne room and making my way inside to take up my usual seat. How are the others doing?


    Pretty much as you could expect. Rivy¡¯s begging for us to let her train her slimes like that, after seeing how powerful they could get. Ryone¡­ she found a new toy to y with, thanks to that mage you brought in to help with tracking the slimes. Another lucky break, by the way.


    I thought as much. Musing inwardly, I shook my head. Do we have an opponent set up for the next round yet?


    Not yet. You managed to get through the invasion in thirteen days, or eleven in standard time. You need to wait until half of the month has passed before you¡¯ll get your next opponent.


    Good to know. I felt like I had heard that somewhere before, but shrugged off the feeling. We should be ying offense next time, right?


    Not necessarily¡­ Terra pointed out. The first two types are set as they are to be a tutorial to the Keeper Games. From now on, we could be ced in either the attacking or defending roles in any match. If we¡¯re unlucky, we might be defending against another hostile Keeper next again.


    Well, that was troubling to think about¡­ After giving a brief internal check to ensure that Leowynn was within my spiritual realm, I ascended back to the Admin Room. Given that I just survived an invasion, I felt like there were some people I needed to check in with.


    When I arrived, I found Terra curled up on the bed, staring at me as her body was wrapped around a bundle of nkets. ¡°You came back quickly.¡± She said, blinking slowly as she sat up. ¡°Thought you¡¯d want to enjoy being down there a bit more.¡±


    ¡°I had considered it¡­ But no. I¡¯ll head back down after I speak with some people.¡± She gave a small nod when I told her that, before I sat down at theputer. The first thing I did was to open up the guild chat window.


    EarthForceOne: I¡¯m back.


    EverLasting: Hey! You survived your invasion? Great!


    Meatlover: You are the new member, correct? Greetings.


    EverLasting: Even you¡¯re here? Wow, today must really be special!


    ToothAndNail: What¡¯s going on, Sarah? Chat isn¡¯t usually this lively.


    I gave a small smile as I saw the chat going by. It seemed like half the guild members were in their Admin Rooms at the moment and able to talk, which was apparently a higher number than usual. I gave them a brief update to let them know I was still around, and that I¡¯d check back inter, before sending a message to someone else.


    EarthForceOne: You around, Balu? I¡¯ve got some information I¡¯d like to sell.


    Starkiller: Dale! Is Bibi doing well?


    I rolled my eyes at seeing that her first instinct was to check on Bihena.


    EarthForceOne: She¡¯s fine, yeah. Anyways, I have more information on Savage¡¯s monsters.


    Starkiller: Savage¡­ ah, the Keeper you just fought? Alright, I can set up a trade, just give me a few minutes to grab all my notes! I¡¯ll let you know when I¡¯m ready!


    ¡°Hopefully, I¡¯ll be able to earn a decent sum of points with what I learned. Though, really all I learned is that they¡¯re slimes, and that they are able to break runic magic.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s still important information.¡± Terra assured me, and soon I felt her arms around my chest, and felt her chest pressing against the back of my head as she leaned into me. ¡°Though¡­ there¡¯s still one person you have to contact, right?¡± Her teasing tone reminded me of someone else who was probably worried. Someone that I had been putting off meeting for a while.


    EarthForceOne: Kathy, you free?


    SentinelSeven: DALE! Are you okay!? You haven¡¯t gotten in touch all month! I heard you got in your invasion, is everything alright?! Can Ie visit soon!?


    EarthForceOne: I¡¯m fine, I¡¯m fine. I¡¯ve still got some business to take care of, so I don¡¯t really think I¡¯ll be able to y for a little while. You cane and meet my Companions if you want, and I can chat until I need to get back to work.


    SentinelSeven: Yes please! Oh, what should I wear? Is there a special fashion custom of your world I should know about? Do I need to bring gifts?! Wait, no, Keepers can¡¯t take gifts to each other¡­


    EarthForceOne: I¡­ don¡¯t really think what you wear is going to make much difference with my Companions.


    My worry was more along the lines that my Companions might get freaked out by a giant talking spider-girl¡­ I knew Bihena was mostly alright with it, but Kathy had never met any of the others.


    SentinelSeven: Okay, then I¡¯m ready toe by anytime!


    Giving a small nod as I read that, I sent a message out to the rest of the people in the Admin Room while lightly cing my hand on Terra¡¯s arm. Everyone, we¡¯re about to have a couple of¡­ energetic guests. Just a warning.


    Just the thought of Kathy and Balu feeding off of each other¡¯s energy was enough to give me chills, but I stood up from the chair and walked out to the living room with Terra. Like always, I made sure to seal off my room, just in case, before sending the invitation out to Kathy.


    As I sat down on the couch, I heard a light, familiarugh. Kathy had apparently already arrived immediately after the invite was sent. Though, I did not hear or see anything that would hint at her arrival, making me look around in confusion.


    ¡°That tickles, Dale.¡± She spoke out¡­ and I realized where the sound had beening from. ¡°You¡¯re sitting on my chest.¡±


    I shot to my feet, turning around to look in horror as a face appeared on the arm of the sofa, slowly rising up to form a female head. Then, along the body of the couch itself, Kathy¡¯s body slowly rose, until it got to her wider spider-sections. At that point, she seemed to be briefly stuck, whining for a few moments as she forced herself to shrink enough to fit through. ¡°That was a fun one!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m d one of us thought so¡­¡± I muttered, not sure I¡¯d ever be able to sit on that couch again without remembering that sight.


    Kathy apparently didn¡¯t hear me, her legs cking rapidly against the ground as she skittered in circles. Her eyes soonnded on Terra standing at the entrance to the hall. Her legs all jumped briefly as she gasped in glee, before running over to wrap Terra up in a hug. ¡°Hello! You must be one of his Companions! I¡¯m Kathy!¡± She introduced herself rather¡­ forcefully.


    Terra let out a dry chuckle, prying herself out of Kathy¡¯s arms. ¡°Terra. Pleasure to finally meet you in person.¡±


    ¡°In person¡­?¡± Kathy asked curiously, ncing down at Terra. ¡°Oh! You must be his System Companion, right? Mine talks like that all the time, too! When he¡¯s not being a jerk¡­ You¡¯re not a jerk, right?¡± She hesitantly backed up from Terra, warily watching the catgirl.


    ¡°I¡¯d hope not.¡± Terra replied with a roll of her eyes. ¡°And here¡­ she¡­es.¡±


    ¡°I heard we had guests!¡± Another voice called out, before a familiar head of pink hair ran out of the hall, all but mming into Kathy¡¯s navel. Caught off-guard, she fell down as if she had been clotheslined, before finally seeing the massive arachnid body above her.


    An unearthly shriek filled the living room as Aurivy bolted away, hiding behind Terra. ¡°Giant spider!¡± She cried out, before noticing a now rather wounded looking Kathy attached to said spider body. ¡°Oh¡­ Oh I¡¯m sorry! I just wasn¡¯t expecting that.¡±


    ¡°No, no it¡¯s fine.¡± Kathy shook her head with a sad smile. ¡°I¡¯ve had worse first meetings. I¡¯m Kathy, by the way.¡±


    ¡°Aurivy! Goddess of Love, Travel, and Dungeons!¡± She introduced herself with her full list of domains, seeming immensely proud of them. However, Kathy let out a small giggle when she heard them.


    ¡°Quite the odd list, isn¡¯t it?¡± She asked as a smile slowly grew back on her face.


    ¡°Oh, you have no idea! Lately, people have been trying to figure out a way to hold marriage ceremonies in dungeons, thinking that they were like little temples for me.¡± Aurivy let out a dramatic sigh as she spoke, sending a yful wink my way. ¡°Sorry about before, Kathy. Can we be friends?¡±


    Aurivy barely had time to make her trademark wide-eyed pleading stare before she was wrapped up in Kathy¡¯s arms and lifted, held tight against the arachne¡¯s chest. ¡°Oh yes please, I¡¯d love that!¡±


    ¡°Breathing¡­ difficult.¡± Aurivy choked out. ¡°Vision¡­ growing faint. Consciousness¡­ fading. If I go¡­ tell my brother I said¡­ hello. Geh.¡± Aurivy tilted her head to the side, closing her eyes as if she had passed out, causing Kathy to cry out in worry, abruptly loosening her grip on Aurivy.


    ¡°Oh no! Are you okay? Aurivy, say something!¡± She pleaded, lightly shaking the halfling goddess as if she had forgotten that Companions couldn¡¯t really be harmed in the Admin Room. A fact made clear when Aurivy¡¯s eye opened just slightly, peeking out at Kathy.


    Though, this did remind me of something¡­ and I immediately sent a message to Ashley, warning her that our guest was an arachne¡­ Although a bitte, I remembered that she had a rather extreme fear of spiders back in the old Earth. As soon as that message went out, I heard the faint mming of a door.

 Chapter 281: Selling the Goods

    <h4>Chapter 281: Selling the Goods</h4>


    It wasn¡¯t much longer before Balu had sent me a message indicating that she was ready to head over as well. By that time, Kathy and Aurivy were acting like the best of friends, and Bihena had evene out from her room.


    ¡°So.¡± Kathy began, her feet clicking against the floor excitedly next to the couch. ¡°What do you all do for fun here? Do you just manage the world all day, or watch¡­ whatever your world calls that media?¡± She asked, pointing to the TV. It seemed like she realized that it was for entertainment, and had something like it either on her world or on her previous one.


    ¡°Little of column A, little of column B.¡± Aurivy grinned, sitting up on the back of the couch to be closer to Kathy¡¯s eye level. ¡°Mostly, if we get bored, we y some of the games in the system.¡±


    Kathy¡¯s eyes widened immediately. ¡°There are games in the system?! Why haven¡¯t I ever seen them!? Show me, show me!¡± She practically jumped in the air, immediately turned to face Aurivy directly.


    Just in time for a golden door to appear along the wall, and Balu to walk through. ¡°Friendly neighborhood Starkiller, reporting for duty!¡± She called out as she entered the room, immediately drawing everyone¡¯s attention.


    ¡°Oooh, who¡¯s she?¡± Kathy asked, her attention shifted to the fluffy white bunny girl.


    ¡°Kathy, Balu. Balu, Kathy.¡± I did a quick set of introductions. ¡°Aurivy, keep Kathy entertained for a little while. I¡¯ve got some business with Balu to handle.¡±


    ¡°Aye aye, captain!¡± Aurivy shouted with a mock salute. As I led Balu away, I could hear Aurivy beginning to tell Kathy about the system¡¯s entertainment package. It was a bit surprising that she had never heard of it, but she had mentioned that herpanions weren¡¯t a very fun sort.


    ¡°Sorry, we could do this a different time if you¡¯re busy.¡± Balu offered with a small smile, clutching a notebook in one hand.


    ¡°No, I invited you over.¡± I shook my head. ¡°I promised Kathy that I¡¯d invite her when I had some free time, but preparing for Savage took most of my focus.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I was surprised to see that you got out so fast!¡± Her eyes widened when she said that, no small amount of shock present. ¡°Wait, did his monsters spawn right in the center of a popr town or something? Those invasions always end quickly¡­¡±


    ¡°Close¡­¡± I thought back to what happened. ¡°The forest outside of a city, on the most popted continent in the world.¡±


    ¡°Ahh, that would exin it. Got a bit lucky, then. Well, sometimes it¡¯s lucky. It is when dealing with fast-spreading monsters, at least. Anyways, what was the information you wanted to sell the guild?¡±


    I gave a small smile, opening the door to my room and letting her in. Normally, when we had guests over, I would block off this room. But this time, I was in here with her personally, and this was the closest thing I had to an office. Should probably fix that sometime. ¡°I know what type of monster he uses, and roughly how it works. If the Keeper you bought the information fromst time knew, he really didn¡¯t tell you.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± She had an understandably skeptic look on her face at that, moving to lean against the wall as she pulled out a pen.


    ¡°He uses slimes.¡± When I said that, her eyes began to widen in understanding. ¡°They multiply because they devour local organisms and take their form. As for their almost hivemind-likemunication, that¡¯s because they typically have others hidden nearby as scouts. The first attack that I was a part of, one of my people noticed that a bird in a nearby flock was ¡®infected¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Presumably, the scouts would then send the information back to the main cluster, which would spread it to the others. They¡¯re also able to negate rune magic, but from what I understand that shouldn¡¯t be too umon.¡±


    Balu nodded her head ever so slightly. ¡°Most worlds have contingencies for rune magic, whether to defend themselves or for when they attack. But this slime stuff¡­ that¡¯s pretty big. Knowing that someone is using a slime-type creature means that there are a number of different ways to fight it. And if he¡¯s this invested into his monster at this point¡­ Well, he¡¯s a Monster Keeper, and they don¡¯t typically think far enough ahead to discard a monster when it¡¯s found out.¡±


    ¡°So, what is it worth?¡± I asked, knowing that this would probably give me at least as much as the invasion itself had.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to ask¡­ Give me just a minute!¡± After saying that, Balu closed her eyes tight in focus.


    Feeling like she was probably having a mental conversation with her guild, I moved to sit on the bed to wait. It took about ten minutes of her standing there, her cheeks twitching every now and then, before she opened her eyes.


    ¡°Okay! So, Savage is only a first rank Keeper. However, as he is a Monster Keeper, the information rted to his creature is in high demand. Furthermore, this is critical information which contains the creature type, and method of propagation. I¡¯ll need your System Companion¡­ her name was Terra, right? I¡¯ll need Terra to verify that all of this is correct. But if it is, it should be worth seventeen hundred points.¡±


    As soon as she was done talking, I couldn¡¯t help but let out a small grin. Not at the number, but¡­ ¡°It¡¯s correct.¡± Terra¡¯s voice spoke up from behind Balu, causing the small girl to let out a shriek as she turned around.


    ¡°Stop doing that!¡± She shouted, iling her arms at her sides. ¡°And¡­ okay. Sorry, but it¡¯s procedure. A lot of people try to sell false information. And while it¡¯s possible for a systempanion to lie, they know that doing so endangers the future of their Keeper. Since her job is basically to watch out for you, it means that they¡¯re really unlikely to lie, unless you just get the worst ofpanions.¡±


    While she was saying that, Balu began writing down the information that I had given her. Watching that, I couldn¡¯t help but ask. ¡°Just curious, but if someone were to buy that information, how much would it cost them?¡±


    ¡°Three thousand points.¡± She answered without even thinking about it, before letting out a small squeak, covering her mouth with one paw. ¡°Sorry¡­¡±


    I simply gave a small nod, smiling at the answer. ¡°It¡¯s alright. You¡¯re an information guild, with quite a lot of internal expenses, I imagine. If you didn¡¯t make a profit off the information you deal, how would your guild manage to hold those monthly meetings?¡±


    Balu seemed to freeze up at that, slowly nodding her head. ¡°Right¡­ sorry. Speaking of which, are you going to be at the next one?¡±


    ¡°n to. From my understanding, I won¡¯t have a match to worry about this month.¡±


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t. You won¡¯t even know who your opponent is for a few weeks, I think.¡± She said after a moment of thought. ¡°Anyways, this information should help a lot. Now we can offer better strategies to deal with Savage, as well as suggest specialized items on the market that can take his slimes out quickly.¡±


    ¡°There are anti-slime weapons?¡± I blinked in surprise at the thought of that. ¡°I really need to take a better look at the market.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t bother.¡± She responded with a wry smile. ¡°There¡¯s so much junk on there that you¡¯ll never find what you¡¯re looking for unless you know what to look for. There are third rank Keepers that haven¡¯t even found the techniques section yet, I think. I remember thest time I had to point out to someone that they could buy stuff like that off the market, and he practically exploded. Hundreds of years he spent making his own technique¡­ just to see that a near identical copy was already up there.¡±


    I let out a lightugh at that, imagining the scene. It was painful to think about, but still funny. ¡°I¡¯m sure. I¡¯d probably be the same way. Speaking of which¡­ after you guys go back, I think I¡¯ll take the first step on that energy path you gave mest time. My world sight should be strong enough now.¡±


    Balu looked confused at that, her brows furrowing as she tried to remember what I was talking about. ¡°Oh! The false divinity path! Right, sorry. Yeah, you¡¯re running a game world, so you should have enough energy to get most of the way there already. Have you thought about what domain you want to give yourself? Unlike normalpanions, a mortal with false divinity only receives a single domain. Even if that domain can be shared with a true god.¡±


    ¡°Given it some thought, and¡­ not really sure yet. I¡¯ve gotta figure out what works best for me, and then I¡¯ll decide when the timees. Last thing I want is to build up for one domain, and then find out I¡¯m either not that good with it or just don¡¯t really like it so much.¡±


    Balu thought about that for a moment, before nodding. ¡°Alright. But, the sooner you start preparing, the better. If you can train your divine energy to carry a bit of the domain you want, then when you be a false god, your divine energy will be more strongly aligned to that domain.¡±


    I was a bit surprised to hear that, but it did make sense. I had only recently learned that divine energy could even be trained like that in the first ce, through things like the knight¡¯s special weapon. There might be an option for something simr with bards, given that they also work based on a person¡¯s own divine energy.


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind.¡± I told her with a small nod. ¡°If I can figure out what domain I want and settle on it, I¡¯ll do the training.¡±


    ¡°Alright, now that that¡¯s settled, shall we go see what fun they¡¯re getting into out there without us?¡± Balu asked with a wide grin, not even waiting for me to answer before she turned around, running past Terra to head out towards the living room.


    I rolled my eyes, standing up from the bed. As I moved past Terra, her tail reached out and gently captured my wrist while she turned to walk with me. ¡°Really don¡¯t know what domain you want?¡±


    I gave a small chuckle at that, shrugging my shoulders. ¡°I¡¯m debating between a few right now. Like she said, it¡¯s a permanent decision, and I want to make sure that I pick something that I won¡¯t regret.¡±


    Terra closed her eyes when she heard that, but nodded her head with a small smile. ¡°Makes sense.¡±


    By the time that we got out to the living room, we saw Aurivy and Kathy ying something that looked like a modified version of Hangman in reverse. One of them picked a word, and the other one had to try and draw it. Didn¡¯t sound like too hard of a game¡­ until you realize that the two people ying it are from entirely different worlds, with drastically different cultures and items.


    ¡°What¡¯s a car?!¡± Kathy cried out, it seeming to be her turn. ¡°Last time you said truck, then bus, now car? Definition! I demand a definition!¡±


    Aurivy grinned, sticking her tongue out. ¡°Car, noun, a road vehicle, typically with four wheels and powered by an engine.¡±


    ¡°A vehicle!¡± Kathy attached significant importance to that word, and began drawing. However, what she drew¡­ did not look at all like a car. Instead, it looked like a mobile bed with four wheels and a metal frame, a steering wheel at the front. ¡°Done!¡±


    ¡°No¡­ you¡¯re really not.¡± Aurivy said, clutching her sides as she desperately held back augh. ¡°I mean¡­ maybe? I¡¯d love to see a car like that, though. It looks reallyfy to ride in.¡±


    Kathy fell down to the floor, deted. ¡°I want to y a different game. Can we go back to the card one?¡±

 Chapter 282: Foundation

    <h4>Chapter 282: Foundation</h4>


    After settling the payment with Balu, I left her to y with Kathy and the others, while Terra and myself went back to the bedroom. Unlike before, I made sure to firmly seal the door behind us this time, making sure that neither of them could get in in case I decided to descend while I was here.


    I sat down at myputer, and pulled up the maps of the four worlds. Something had been bothering me for a while, but I hadn¡¯t been able to pay too much attention to it while preparing for the invasion. Terra seemed to realize this, as she spoke up not too long after the door was sealed. ¡°There¡¯s something that you want to talk about?¡±


    I gave a small nod. ¡°Yeah¡­ for Fyor, the system assigns the sses to floors based on their strength, right? I remember that only the most simple of sses had been on the first few floors. The most basic, introductory ones.¡±


    Terra moved off to the side,ying down against the bed. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±


    ¡°So, the advanced sses¡­¡± I looked towards the map of Fyor, broken apart into variousyers. ¡°It¡¯s normal for them not to be trained until the world is already that strong? I had always imagined that it was best to include them in early, to give people a path to develop.¡±


    She simply shrugged at that, rolling onto her back and pulling one of the pillows of the bed against herself. ¡°Well, you can really go either way. Fyor is set up to be good as both a cultivation world and a pure game one.¡±


    ¡°If you follow cultivation logic, then someone would focus on a single ss, taking it to a certain stage before making a breakthrough. This breakthrough opens up a new path for them to develop. As an example here, let¡¯s use elemental monks on Earth, since you haven¡¯t seen if they will mutate yet like the elementalists.¡±


    ¡°In a cultivation world, a monk would focus purely on their ki, building up extremely solid foundations over a number of years. Then, naturally, their ki would begin to leak out of their bodies. This would cause the ki to interact with natural energy, causing the ¡®elemental ki¡¯ breakthrough.¡±


    Terra sighed softly, sitting up while still hugging the pillow, her legs hooked over the side of the bed. ¡°Now, that elemental monk then trains themselves, and begins to open another path as they catch glimpses of thews that govern the world. This inadvertently leads to the training of mana.¡±


    ¡°Here, the paths split. The monk can either focus on mana, learning how to cast spells and enchant items, or they can do what they did with natural energy, and practice fusing it with their ki. Thus bringing us to a breakthrough in chakra.¡±


    ¡°Keep following down this path, and more breakthroughs open up. Elemental mana, the art of summoning, the binding of martial spirits, and even the creation of saint level energy. Each can be considered a breakthrough. But it all starts by building a firm foundation and steadily building on it. Of course, the profoundws that the Keeper establishes will influence these paths, but that is a general exnation.¡±


    I gave a small chuckle as I heard that. ¡°And in a game world like mine¡­¡±


    She gave a wry smile when I let my worlds trail off. ¡°People care less about solid foundations, and more about the numbers that they can see. They discover a ss that allows their stats to rise faster than normal, and they jump on it. They find shortcuts, forms and techniques to open the path early. They turn unlocking an advanced ss into a science.¡±


    I felt myself nodding, agreeing with her. I had simr thoughts when I first saw how the advanced sses increased the stats within the game system. ¡°If you had topare a cultivation monk with a game world monk, who would you bet on?¡±


    ¡°Cultivation, every time.¡± She said firmly. ¡°Now, don¡¯t get me wrong, game worlds can be incredibly powerful. But in a one versus one battle, someone who has thoroughly refined their own abilities will be stronger than someone who simply relies on his stats.¡±


    ¡°And the downside to a cultivation world¡­ is that they require more time, right?¡± I recalled what I had read through the forums, and heard from various other Keepers. ¡°Without a guiding system to manage them, they have to rely on their own enlightenment. What took Earth four thousand years might take a cultivation world four hundred thousand.¡±


    ¡°Again, you¡¯re not wrong. What brought this up all of a sudden? It can¡¯t be that you¡¯re having regrets about choosing a game world thiste in, are you? After seeing how you interact with the people below, I can¡¯t see you being willing to easily reset and start over.¡±


    Her words struck me deep, and I quickly shook my head. ¡°No, no, I had no intention of simply starting over. I¡¯vee too far already to do something like that. I was just thinking¡­ if we could set up a cultivation world, and allow it to grow on its own until some of these discoveries were made¡­ then when the worlds merged, this knowledge would have been documented, and the other worlds would all be able to better themselves.¡±


    Terra¡¯s eyes widened briefly, a look of surpriseing onto her face. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be. You want to set up another world, then?¡±


    ¡°This onepletely separate from Fyor, Desbar, Deckan, and Earth.¡± I nodded. ¡°Doing so, it won¡¯t influence my rating in the Keeper Games until the merger, unless this world grows to be stronger than all four of thembined.¡±


    Honestly, I had thought about it every now and then for a while. But I had always dismissed it, for the same reasons. I either didn¡¯t have enough points to purchase the profoundws, whilecking the skills necessary to make my own, or I was too focused on other things.


    Well now, I had nearly a full year before I would be invaded again. Plenty of time to focus on how to cover up the weaknesses of my worlds. More than that, I had all the points I would need to buy a decent set of profoundws. I just needed the help of someone proficient in those types of worlds, someone that could help me pick a set that would ultimately lead to a path thatplimented the other worlds.


    As it stood, there just happened to be one person fairly familiar with the sses of my world, and most of the systems in it. She even specialized in cultivation type worlds herself. More importantly¡­ she was actually in my Admin Room right now.


    Bihena, could you have Balue back to my room? I want to consult with her about something. I knew that the information wouldn¡¯t be free. However, it should be worth it.


    Of course, I had to unseal the door after I had Bihena send in Balu, but the rabbit girl walked in with a confused twitch of her nose a few momentster. ¡°Something still on your mind, Dale?¡± She asked as she hopped over to stand in front of me.


    ¡°I¡¯m just going to lead with this. You forgot all about what sses and systems are in my world, right?¡±


    She blinked slowly. Then again, before realization dawned on her. ¡°Oh! You mean from the consultation before, right? I¡­ I didn¡¯t forget! It¡¯s all on my wall! I had to make sure to put it there, just to make sure I didn¡¯t identally tell anyone!¡±


    I gave a small smirk at that, nodding briefly. ¡°Alright, then this will be easier. I want your help in picking out something on the market. A set of profoundws that wouldpliment those systems and sses I showed you.¡±


    In a single moment, the confused expression returned to Balu¡¯s face. ¡°But¡­ you don¡¯t¡­ Oh! You¡¯re starting up a cultivation world next!¡± She seemed to catch on quickly, her head nodding up and down. ¡°Okay, well¡­ maybe a refresher then? I don¡¯t really have ess to my wall in here.¡±


    Before I could even say anything, a sheet of paper had appeared in her hand as Terra snapped her fingers. ¡°The same list you gave herst time.¡±


    I could only nod while I watched Balu study the list with a serious expression. ¡°So, what is the charge for helping someone buy a system off the market? I¡¯m sure it can¡¯t be free?¡±


    ¡°¡®Course not.¡± She shook her head. ¡°We charge a referral equal to the royalties, so ten percent of the system cost.¡± Well, that was quite a bit less than I had expected, but at the same time I wasn¡¯t entirely sure what price profoundws went for. It was an option for a new Keeper, so I knew that there were cheapws. But those were probably extremely basic.


    ¡°Okay¡­ you wantws for a cultivation world that cover the four base energies, and allow for all of these sses?¡± She asked curiously, causing me to nod my head. ¡°There are a few¡­ let me give a brief look through the market.¡±


    While she was looking at that, I turned to face Terra. ¡°So¡­ just as a little precaution. When I buy profoundws, do I have to personally train them, or will we get a set of information globes like when we purchase information off the market?¡±


    Terra¡¯s smile turned into more of a toothy grin. ¡°Both. You¡¯ll have the shortcut of knowing thews intimately, but you¡¯ll still need to train your body and mind to ept them. Think of it like going to college. You have all of those textbooks, but you still need to take sses in order to make sure that you understand the material.¡±


    I nodded, turning back to Balu as she scrolled through a series of windows that only she could see. ¡°Do you want heavenly punishments to apany breakthroughs?¡± She asked, looking off to an empty space at her right. ¡°Doing so allows the cultivator to absorb the energy of the punishment if they manage to ovee it, giving them a moderate boost in power. But it also runs the risk of killing any cultivator.¡±


    A grimace quickly rose on my face as I heard that. Thest thing that I wanted was to have to worry about some heavenly punishment arriving on me out of nowhere and killing me while I was making a breakthrough.


    ¡°Thought not.¡± She waved a finger down, and focused on a few spots to her left. ¡°What about dual cultivating? It¡¯s a system where you can start with two different types of energy, and progress both side by side.¡±


    That one, I had to give a bit of thought to. But ultimately¡­ ¡°Yeah, include those. It¡¯ll be useful in the long run.¡± When she heard that, she nodded, and seemed to mentally merge the two windows together, going by her hand and eye movements.


    Finally, a few minutester, she suddenly stopped, looking pleadingly towards Terra. The felyn goddess chuckled, and a window appeared in front of me. In the window were ten different items from the market.


    Flowing Waters Law


    A set of profoundws meant to help cultivate a world with the basic energy types. Calm as a still pond, and furious as a tsunami. All things ebb and flow.


    1900


    Nine Divine Stages


    A set of profoundws that divides cultivation into nine distinct stages. Those who master the ninth and final stage earn the right to pseudo-godhood.


    2000


    Profound Cultivation 101


    A basic set of profoundws meant to help guide a Keeper into making a firm cultivation world. Thesews can be improved upon through theprehension of the Keeper, allowing them to be improved over time.


    2800


    Laws of Heaven


    Profoundws decreed by the heavens themselves, guiding cultivators on a path of ultimate divinity. All things exist under heaven.


    2100


    Twelve Demons


    A profoundw governed by a council of twelve. These twelve each control a fundamentalw, holding the power to teach those who would follow them.


    1300


    Burning Heart Law


    A profoundw which focuses on pushing the body to its absolute limits. Ki, Mana, Spirit, Nature, all trained to the pinnacle within oneself.


    1800


    Sky Ocean Laws


    This profoundw focuses on outer space, seeking enlightenment on natural phenomena and energies through the stars.


    2500


    Profound Star Laws


    A profoundw which allows the cultivator to create a personal star of energy within themselves, evolving it with every step they take down the path of cultivation.


    2150


    Spirit Lake Law


    This profoundw focuses on developing the spirit, turning it into an endless spring of power.


    2200


    Warrior Circle


    There is no such thing aspletion. To be strong, you must realize your weakness. To be mighty, you must be humble. As the circle is ever-turning, so too does a warrior¡¯s heart grow.


    3000


    ¡°Now, keep in mind, all of these that I picked have the potential to create the False Divinity path I showed you before. I just wanted to give you plenty of options to choose from.¡± Balu said helpfully, before letting out a deep breath, her expression suddenly tired.

 Chapter 283: The Unforeseen Ruler

    <h4>Chapter 283: The Unforeseen Ruler</h4>


    I looked at the list curiously, not entirely sure which to pick. Each one had quite the cryptic, yet powerful description. But, with the system descriptions, you couldn¡¯t always just rely on the face value. Sometimes, there would be hidden ws that were not obvious. For that reason, I immediately eliminated the Twelve Demons option.


    It was not simply a matter that the price seemed too low for what it offered. The idea of twelve intelligent beings that controlled that profoundws seemed¡­ bad. In the long run, I mean. What would happen if those twelve beings decided that they were better at running the world than the Keeper? Or that, if they themselves became Keeper, they¡¯d be able to use their knowledge to create a better world?


    That is a downside that immediately screamed out to me when I read the description for the profoundw, and then saw how cheap it was. It was clear that there was a dangerous side effect there, so I moved on.


    I faintly registered Balu moving to sit on the bed next to Terra, but didn¡¯t really pay any mind to that. Rather, I opened up nine different windows myself, and began to look up information on the forums regarding the remaining ninews. I didn¡¯t need to know anything too deep about them, merely if there were any crucial ws in them that other Keepers had found and reported.


    Sure enough, there was one. The Laws of Heaven had a feature that one Keeperbeled Heaven¡¯s Jealousy. If a cultivator scorned thews set forth by the heaven, then they would be unable to train in thosews for the rest of their life. All things must exist under heaven¡¯s rule, and all which denies heaven is thus denied by heaven.


    Immediately getting rid of that one from the list. I thought inwardly, before looking at the remaining eight. Each had their own strong points, going by their names. And, I admit that I was tempted to go for the modr Profound Cultivation 101, simply for the option to improve upon it myself. But, if I wanted to create my own cultivation method, then I¡¯d do so instead of buying a system like that.


    The next one I considered was Burning Heart Law, but it was simrly discarded as well. Between the system name and description, it felt like a cultivation method that could cause severe damage to its practitioner, even without any form of heavenly tribtion. That was another thing that I desperately did not want.


    Hest one that I outright eliminated was¡­ Nine Divine Stages. If there were only nine stages between a mortal and a god, then each stage would mean a massive jump in power. If there was anything that I had learned so far, it was that the power from systems like these did note easily. Someone could be stuck at a bottleneck for the very first stage, unable to find the chance to breakthrough.


    Five down, five to go¡­ I thought inwardly, before ncing towards Balu. ¡°Out of these, which would you personally rmend?¡± While I might not strictly go with her decision, it would be good to know if she had any insight into these systems that I could borrow.


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± She closed her eyes in focus, leaning to the side against Terra. ¡°Personally, my favorite is the Warrior Circle. It¡¯s one I made myself a long time ago. I¡¯ve switched to a different set ofws since then, but I always liked it. The idea that there was always a way to improve, even when you seemed to reach the end.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­ How does that work, exactly?¡± I had been curious about that myself, but I didn¡¯t think to ask because I didn¡¯t know she created the system.


    ¡°It¡¯s really easy. Naturally, the ultimate form of power is the God Stage. However¡­ you only get one domain, right? How can you be considered the strongest with just one domain? I made the Warrior Circle in order to find a way around that. Once you reach the God Stage, which would be the False Divinity ss, there is another way to grow.¡±


    ¡°To be strong, you must realize your weakness.¡± She quoted the system description from memory. ¡°If you drop from the God Stage to the Infant Stage, the lowest level of power, you can begin the cultivation process again from the start. Your foundation bes stronger, and when you reach the God Stage¡­ you get a second domain.¡±


    My eyes widened when I heard that, and I couldn¡¯t help but give that system another look while she continued speaking. ¡°It gets harder every time you restart, of course. You have to rely on yourself to achieve new insights. Maybe you focused on water first, and became a god of water? Then on your second try, you might focus on earth-based techniques. If you devote your training and focus to the same techniques you know previously, then when you ascend you will only receive the same domain you had before.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t get to choose your domain with this system? Even as the Keeper?¡± I might not have entirely understood what she was talking about, but that part came through loud and clear.


    Balu smiled knowingly, one of her cheeks puffing out a bit as her lips curved. ¡°That¡¯s right. It¡¯s the drawback that the system imposed. I was once a ninth stage god, but because I ended up slipping back into old habits, I only had six domains.¡±


    Well, that did make the system a little less appealing, even if the idea of being able to train multiple domains seemed like it would be worth it in the end. ¡°And¡­ what is the Keeper benefit of having a cultivation world? I know that with the game system, I get the highest level of each ss avable, and the stats stack up higher because of it.¡±


    She gave a small nod, seeming to have expected this. ¡°A cultivation keeper receives the strongest energy of their world. You could be at the first stage of cultivation, with the energy equal to the strongest being. This doesn¡¯t automatically boost your cultivation, but it opens the path. You won¡¯t need to manually refine your energy over countless years, and will simply need to worry about making the breakthroughs of the profoundws.¡±


    ¡°Depending on the system you choose, it could be really hard to advance in power beyond the level of your inhabitants. This isn¡¯t like a game world, where you can walk around and kill some monsters for a power up. Well, most of them aren¡¯t. There are some where you gain energy by absorbing a monster¡¯s essence. Instead, most require you to cycle your energy through your body, strengthening what you can hold one little bit at a time.¡±


    ¡°Whenever I have to reset, I always just advance my world quickly, letting mypanions handle the guidance. They¡¯re used to it by now. Then, once someone reaches the proper stage, I descend and make repeated breakthroughs. If I have enough energy left over, I even take it a step further.¡±


    I nodded, taking another look through the systems. By now, I had it narrowed down to two. The Warrior Circle was intriguing in that it opened the possibility for me to get multiple domains. This was something that would help me in the future. But, at the same time, cultivating each domain would likely take quite a long time. If I happened to be at a weaker cultivation stage during an invasion, I¡¯d be in no position to help fight without sacrificing all of my work and starting over.


    The other system that I was interested in was the Profound Star Laws. While cheaper, it had a more special significance to me personally, given the presence of Leowynn. For the same reason, I had strongly considered the Spirit Lake Law. However, I knew from experience how hard it was for a mortal to train spiritual energy.


    That system likely had a high entry requirement, and would be hard for a normal human to train. Even worse would be if that wasn¡¯t true. If it became easier to train spiritual energy because of these profoundws, then there could be a sh with the systemws already governing Earth and my other worlds.


    Ultimately, the decision came down to those two. Warrior circle or profound star¡­ One held both risk and reward, while the other held personal meaning. In the end, I had to pick one. I couldn¡¯t easily afford both.


    Making up my mind, I chose to buy the Profound Star Laws. If I regretted it in the future, I could get a second cultivation world for Warrior Circle. But for right now, stars held a special significance for myself and Leowynn. If I didn¡¯t imagine the Sky Oceanw to have strange effects on outer space, I probably would have picked that one instead.


    I watched as the vast majority of the points that I had earned from the invasion, as well as selling the information, vanished immediately. Instead, a shining blue sphere fell into my hand.


    ¡°Profound Star Laws, was it?¡± Balu asked as she stared at the sphere from the bed, seeming to be able to read some contents from it without requiring physical contact. Probably a skill that older Keepers pick up with practice. ¡°That one was¡­ just over two thousand, right?¡±


    ¡°Two thousand, one hundred and fifty.¡± Terra said, holding a hand out towards Balu. ¡°Making yourmission fee two hundred and fifteen points.¡±


    Balu blinked, nodding her head and taking Terra¡¯s hand. The window briefly shed, asking me to confirm the transaction. Since this was a business deal, I did so readily. Balu held up her end of the bargain, so it was only right for me to do the same.


    Everyone, I¡¯m about to create another world. This time, I want you all to decide amongst yourselves who will run it. Like with Ashley¡¯s demon world, this one is going to use a preset system, which is a profoundw for cultivation. In truth, only Fyor was set up entirely free from interference so far, but it couldn¡¯t really be helped that I needed people to run worlds I set up when I found something I needed for the future.


    There was a pause for a moment, while I was sure that the gods were all discussing amongst themselves who should get it. I was half tempted to just hand it over to Keliope, as she was the Goddess of Strength, Defense, and Fortitude, making her the perfect choice for a cultivation world. But¡­ if I arbitrarily did that, it would be giving the beastkin a second unique world to themselves before most of the other races received one.


    Even now, I expected Keliope to be the first to offer to run the world. It would be perfect for her to build her martial prowess in. However, a voice spoke up from perhaps the most unlikely of ces.


    Oi, I¡¯ll handle it for ye,d. The god of the forge spoke into my mind after the pause, during which Balu had apparently fled the room to go back to ying. I get the same deal as the others, right? Any points earned from the world, able to be used to buy things from ye?


    It took me a moment to properly register that Tubrock of all people had volunteered to manage the cultivation world. My mind was now filled with the image of dwarven monks. Y-yeah. Same deal as everyone else.


    Aye, good! He said cheerily, clearly having some greater n in mind. Given that this was Tubrock, I was equal parts worried and curious. Worried for how much it would damage my sanity when I saw itpleted, and curious¡­ because let¡¯s be honest. Dwarven monks do sound kind of badass.


    Anyone have any objections? I asked around, making sure that everyone agreed to Tubrock taking this one before he had spoken up. Sure enough, he had everyone¡¯s consent. Tubrock, I¡¯m going to have Terra send a copy of the profoundws down to your forge so you can study them. In the meantime¡­ just like everyone else, you have five hundred points to spend as a starting pool. Start thinking about it, and let me know what you end up wanting.

 Chapter 284: Life Moves On

    <h4>Chapter 284: Life Moves On</h4>


    ¡°Lady Aurivy, are you sure that you are fine?¡± Tsubaki asked, sitting on a small chair next to arge bed, atop whichid the halfling incarnation of the Goddess who had participated in the invasion. Ever since the battle ended, her condition began to grow worse and worse.


    First, she lost almost all color to her face, and then a few hourster she had copsed. It was not until shortly before Dale himself woke up that the halfling did. Her skin was a sickly yellow, something that would not be considered healthy for any race.


    ¡°Of course not, you goof.¡± She said, coughing out augh. ¡°I¡¯m dying. But it¡¯s fine, right?¡± She had a genuine smile on her face as she looked towards Tsubaki. ¡°The battle¡¯s won. I knew all along that I wouldn¡¯t live long after the fight. Hell, I¡¯m surprised that I¡¯m the only one that had to push themselves that hard.¡±


    ¡°Is there¡­ no way to save you?¡± The maid asked with concern. She may not be a skilled alchemist, but she knew some simple potions, and was already having one of her incarnations working on them.


    ¡°¡®Fraid not!¡± The halfling grinned, her eyes starting to lose their light. ¡°I exhausted my divine spark, and then kept going, channeling extra divine energy from the gods. A body¡¯s just not made to handle that. Don¡¯t worry, though, my soul will return to the Goddess, where it belongs.¡±


    Tsubaki hesitated, before giving a small nod. ¡°Is there anything that I could do to make it a bit easier?¡±


    ¡°Well, you could kill me.¡± She said with a weaker smile. ¡°I¡¯ll be perfectly honest, this hurts like hell¡­ Think you could do that for me?¡±


    Tsubaki was a bit surprised at the request, but then¡­ at the same time, she had half expected it to be the case. She nodded slowly, bringing her hand up over the halfling¡¯s heart. ¡°Be at peace, then. And thank you for your service.¡±


    Aurivy gave onest nod, closing her eyes for the final time.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Nearly a full day after the battle, an announcement was made towards every king and queen, which they in turn passed to their followers. The battle was over. The enemy had appeared within thends of the beastkin. And with the help of the Keeper, as well as the incarnations and a distinguished kitsune, they had been destroyed.


    But the victory did note without a cost. A vige had been lost before the enemy was able to be tracked. Over two hundred lives had been extinguished. To the four worlds, this was a small sacrifice to defeat an enemy that threatened all of creation.


    However, to those who knew them, those two hundred lives may have been their entire world. Friends, family, loved ones, extinguished without the chance to fight back. While the four worlds atrge were able to write off those deaths as an unfortunate sacrifice, those people mourned.


    The Heroic Troops were disbanded following the end of the battle. If another battle emerged in their lifetime, they may still be called once again. But until then, they were at peace. Some joined the armies of their homnds, while others decided to go solo.


    And thus, life moved on. For many of the average citizens, their daily life had barely been changed during the battle. Farmers still had to tend their fields, shopkeeps still had to sell their goods. They knew of the dangers, but whether through their trust of their fellow men or simply their need to pay their bills, their routine continued.


    There was, however¡­ one exception. One man whose life was forever changed by the battle. Not through loss or sorrow, but through an unexpected gain. Alu Desari, the Deckmaster, sat in one of the rooms of the Sky Citadel. He had not been forgotten after his contribution, but rather allowed to remain within the citadel while he rested.


    But there was something more important on his mind. In front of him, heid out two of the most basic cards. A single, first tier fire element of the lowest power, and a simrly ranked projectile modifier.


    Extending his hand out towards the cards, he muttered quietly. ¡°Substitute fusion.¡±


    With the keyword spoken, the new ability he had gained from his title activated. His mana began to exit his body a little bit at a time, moving in strange patterns as it surrounded his hand. He had studied geometric magic enough to know that this was not the form for any sort of spell. It was far more abstract, a twisting knot of mana that gradually unwound itself.


    And when it finished, a familiar phenomena appeared. The dark vortex, the result of the fusion card itself, appeared before his hand. As if cast through a normal card, it sucked in the two ¡®ingredients¡¯. Momentster, the vortex vanished, and a weak fireball card fell to the ground in front of him.


    Alu stared at the card in surprise, and then back to his hand. He had just used card magic¡­ without a card. Although it felt like the mana consumption was far higher than a normal card fusion, the fact remained that he performed it without using one of his valuable fusion cards.


    Suddenly, Alu felt an intense focus on him from somewhere far away. ¡°Oh, Allluuu.¡± A melodic voice spoke out from outside his door, which slowly opened to reveal a certain smiling elf. ¡°I think we need to have a bit of a chat.¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    Soo¡­ Dale. Ryone¡¯s voice spoke into my mind while I was browsing through the information on the Profound Star Laws. You remember that Deckmaster guy?


    Hmm? I looked up from the orb, curious, and set it aside for the moment. Sure I do. What about him? He didn¡¯t get into any trouble now that the battle is over, did he?


    Well, I wouldn¡¯t quite call what he did trouble. He did, however, get an ability that lets him fuse spell cards together. Without the fusion card.


    I felt my eye twitch slightly at that. Given her all too innocent tone, I immediately questioned her. You¡¯re already practicing it, aren¡¯t you?


    Hell yes, I am! Do you know what this could signify?! The ability to use card magic without cards! A deeper, underlying system controlling the magic trapped within them! It might even be possible to manufacture cards without the need to kill anything!


    I shook my head with a small sigh as I listened to that, knowing that there was no way to talk her out of this. She¡¯d study this new ability as much as she could, until she either ran out of information to further her research or fully figured out how to copy the card effects. Instead, I changed the subject.


    Have you made any progress withbining geometric and runic magic?


    Huh? Ah, sort of¡­ I mean, technically yes. I¡¯m still working on it, though. So far, I can insert the runes along certain points of tier one and two spells. It adds a bit more versatility to the spell, and a little more power, but also increases the mana cost. More importantly, adding more elements like that drastically increases theplexity of the spell. It¡¯d only be practical to use on a ward or enchantment.


    I could see how that might be an issue. Geometric spells are already pretty difficult on their own to quickly envision. Add in runic scribbles the need to be pretty precise as well, and most of the moreplex spells would begin to fall apart. Unless you¡¯re literally the goddess of magic, anyways.


    Well, keep working on it whenever you can. It¡¯d be nice if there was some way tobine all three systems to create ¡®super spells¡¯ or something.


    Her reply came immediately and energetically. I agree! Just imagine it, a ten point diagram, a card at every point, with runes drawn along the lines of the spell! I¡¯ve been trying to make it a reality ever since Fyor was created!


    I shook my head with a faint smile, ncing towards the information globe again. I thought about going ahead and practicing the Perfect Soul energy fusion. But first, I wanted to wait until Balu and Kathy had left. Right now, Leowynn had already left my body to go and spend some time with them, and Terra had joined her. This left me alone in the room to study these newws.


    Though really, the profoundws were¡­ strange. The first section was essentially a cryptic dictionary. Thousands of words were listed, each with various sentences describing the words. Rain, water, wind, life, fire¡­ everything I could think of seemed to have a w¡¯ associated with it.


    The next section detailed the actual cultivation method. How to umte ki by absorbing the light of a star within oneself. At first, I was worried that that would exclude the sun, thus leading to an event where the stars in the sky were not the same type of heavenly body as the sun. Rather, they were treated as yin and yang.


    The sun provided the warmth, and the night stars cooled. In order to cultivate properly, the two must be taken in bnce. At least, that was the case for the first stage. In order to break through to the second stage, one had to use this ki to create a star within themselves.


    From what I understood, this star functioned simrly to the secondary ki ¡®hearts¡¯ I had set up within my ki path. A structure capable of slowly generating ki on its own. Already, I was beginning to see simrities between this cultivation system and the normal ki use that I was familiar with.


    From there, it became a matter of choosing one of thews to focus on, and slowly modifying the star to ept it. Again, this seemed simr to choosing an elemental ki and slowly converting your own ki to match it. Part of me even began to wonder if it was possible to absorb the energy of stars to create ki normally, or if that was one of the special features of this system.


    Once the star was fully converted, rather than further evolving that one star, you were meant to create others to form a constetion. The shape of your constetion would ultimately determine what abilities you were able to use. Although slightly modified, this felt simr to the construction of a ki path.


    The steps went on and on, the process changing step by step. In the next section, a simr method was described, but this time focusing on cultivating one¡¯s own mind. This section felt¡­ iplete. Though, I was at least able to tell why. At the beginning of it, there was an exnation that thew must first be assigned to a world with a magic system in order for mana cultivation to be possible.


    Then, finally, there was a third cultivation section. This one, like the first, wasplete. Its focus was on cultivating neither the body or the mind, but the spirit. Naturally, there was a warning that the level of difficulty for this method was far higher than either of the other two. It was even suggested to only begin practicing it after you had reached the third stage of one of the other types, though doing so would cause you to progress more slowly.


    And finally, thest chapter held details about how to tackle multiple cultivation paths at once. The so-called dual and triple cultivation. This was where things got powerful. The key to bing a ¡®god¡¯ was to cultivate all three paths in unison. To only perform one or two would lead to a bottleneck, while all three led to the divine path.


    I gave a small nod of my head when I read that. Balu had already told me that this system had the possibility to cultivate all the way to the stage of a false god. Obviously, such a thing would be difficult. Maybe even impossible for most people. But as long as the possibility was there, it could be done.


    Rather than study further into the globe, I set it aside, waiting to hear back from Tubrock.

 Chapter 285: Forged History

    <h4>Chapter 285: Forged History</h4>


    It didn¡¯t take too much longer, just a couple hours before Tubrock was walking into my room, closing the door behind himself. ¡°Oi, I¡¯m here nowd. You ready to do this?¡±


    I smiled, giving a small nod. ¡°Did you think about what other systems you want? The information globe says that you do need a magic system in order to make the whole thing work.¡±


    ¡°Aye. I¡¯ll be using the same system as Earth. Already startin¡¯ to get familiar with it, and it seems like the kinda thing that would fit in a world all about cultivating the mind and body.¡± He shrugged his shoulders as he spoke, seeming to think that was good enough.


    ¡°Alright. So¡­ just a standard cultivation world then? Any other systems that you¡¯d like to add in?¡± He had five hundred points to spend, and between the cultivation style world and geometric magic, that still left him over three hundred to work with.


    His brows sank as he focused, giving it a bit more thought. ¡°I think everything I need is already included,d. The world package gives an affinity for cultivation, and longevity is easier to achieve. Ye got thews already, so won¡¯t need to worry ¡®bout that. We¡¯ve even got the first three tiers of all the energy types we¡¯ll be havin¡¯ in this world bought up to research whenever I want!¡±


    ¡°If ye wanted to give me anythin¡¯¡­ it wouldn¡¯t be a system. There¡¯s an item I¡¯ve been tryin¡¯ to study for a while, but it feels like there¡¯s always somethin¡¯ missin¡¯. Feel like it could probably work pretty well in this kinda world.¡±


    I nodded my head when I heard that. ¡°Sure, just tell me what it is. As long as it doesn¡¯t go past your bnce, it should be fine.¡±


    ¡°Aye, this isn¡¯t something so expensive, don¡¯t worry ¡®bout that.¡± Tubrock reached into the pocket of his cksmithing apron, and pulled out a card. It took me a moment to recognize it as the same card he had walked off with after one of our first games of Keeper¡¯s Cards. ¡°I¡¯m tryin¡¯ to get the golems workin¡¯ right. Problem is, they only ever perform preset tasks. None of the flexibility that this suggests.¡±


    ¡°Are you wanting golems as an entire race¡­ or just something that can be crafted?¡± I asked as I turned towards theputer, opening up the market to search for the information he wanted.


    ¡°Crafted, for now. Maybe if the art is developed enoughter on, then they can develop real sentience. ¡®Till then, they just need to be able to follow propermands. Also, I¡¯ll be needin¡¯ ye to get me some monster tiers. As many as the rest of my budget can afford.¡±


    It didn¡¯t take me too long to find the golem that he wanted. ¡°A hundred points¡­ if I get this, I¡¯ll only be able to get you the first three tiers of monsters.¡±


    ¡°Three¡¯s fine for now. I can save up the points to fund moreter.¡± Tubrock nodded his head, epting that decision.


    Seeing that it seemed to be fine with him, I went ahead and purchased the information for golem production. At the same time, I went ahead and purchased a new Cultivation world in its own universe. I wanted this world to bepletely separated from any other, for now at least.


    Between the golems, the monsters, the magic, and the world type, practically all of the five hundred point allowance was immediately spent. Part of me marveled at how I was able to make suchrge purchases so casually now, when at first I had been scraping by with every point I could earn.


    ¡°Got a name in mind for the world?¡± I asked, ncing back towards Tubrock, who was fiddling with the recently created golem information globe.


    ¡°Aye¡­ name it Lorek. In the original dwarven tongue of Earth, it meant Forge. Language has changed enough now, though, that I doubt anyone¡¯d recognize it if they heard the term.¡±


    I gave another nod, entering in the name to make it official. ¡°Dwarven race, I take it? Same as Earth?¡±


    ¡°Aye.¡± He said without a moment of hesitation. I wasn¡¯t honestly surprised. Dwarf¡¯s gotta dwarf, and all that.


    As soon as I keyed in the race, and they began to popte the world, I turned and noticed that¡­ Tubrock had vanished.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°¡®Bout time.¡± A young dwarven boy muttered to himself, separating from the tribe he had been traveling with. He looked no more than six years old, dressed in hides carved from wild beasts. His body short and muscr, his eyes betraying an age his body did not show.


    In his hand he held the most advanced weapon in the world¡­ a sharpened rock tied to a wooden stick. Yet he showed no hesitation as he fled away from the hunting party he had been previously moving with.


    The boy, who had given himself the name of Hammer, grinned knowingly as he ran in a direction where there were no dwarves. The race was young, far too young. Just barely starting out on one small corner of a great big world.


    It took him two full days of moving before he finally settled down, satisfied with the distance he had made between himself and the rest of his race. ¡°Now let¡¯s see¡­ thisw of crafting¡­¡± Without another word, he sat down in an open field, crossing his legs in meditation as he focused on absorbing the sun¡¯s rays.


    He had ns, great ns. The world was his forge, and he had all the time he wanted to prepare things in it. But first, he¡¯d need to make sure that this body wouldst long enough to do everything he needed it for. Training new bodies was always a long, tiring task. But here¡­ here he could train one body to live for as long as he liked.


    _______________________________________________________________


    It didn¡¯t take me long to find Tubrock¡¯s incarnation within the world. It was instead exceptionally easy. He was the only dwarf in the entire that had begun to practice growing his ki. As soon as I suspected that he had gotten an incarnation, I just had to look for that.


    Of course, it was somewhat hard to track, given that he was elerating the world rather quickly to speed up the process. Ten years went by in just a few seconds, the young dwarf steadily bing more and more powerful before he finally broke through the first stage, and formed his star.


    I couldn¡¯t say for sure what he had in mind, but the fact that his first action with this new world was to begin cultivating, using the cheat sheets we had already purchased¡­ he definitely had something in mind. I could even see that he was practicing all three methods. Did he n to be an iconic god within this world? Or is he simply using this body for something else that he needs the power for?


    Time continued to pass, and after about five more minutes of watching, he broke through the second stage as well. Only then did he seem to stop, slowing the world down to a normal speed. By now, the young dwarven boy was a man, far more powerful than any other in the world.


    He kicked off the ground, and began running, shooting like a bullet across the ground. When he got to the shore of therge ind where the dwarves had originated, he kept running, pushing his ki to carry him along the water. It was only now that I realized how much he must have studied the information globes in order to properly control his ki to such a degree, keeping the waste to a minimum.


    At his full speed, it took him eight hours to reach the maind. And from there, it seemed the real work began. Time began to fast forward again, albeit more slowly this time, as he found a mountain and began to mine it out. His fists became his mining equipment, even¡­


    Once he was done, he made himself a forge to upgrade himself from a stone spear to a steel hammer, one that looked quite simr to the one he wielded in the Admin Room. From there, he began to make¡­ ruins? I wasn¡¯t sure how else to describe it. He created buildings, but then used his ki to wear them down, making them look older and abandoned.


    But¡­ he didn¡¯t just do this for that one mountain. No¡­ as the years passed, he ¡®crafted¡¯ an entire ancient kingdom. If I hadn¡¯t been watching him personally, I might have thought that there was a previous dwarven race living there that had already died out.


    Once this kingdom was built, he resumed his cultivation, causing time to speed up a lot more. I had a feeling I knew what he was going to do next, so I stopped watching for now. If I was right, he was going to start ¡®filling¡¯ his kingdom. Broken magical items, old training manuals¡­ maybe even a few golems, given that he just bought the blueprint for them.


    So that¡¯s what he wanted. Instead of directly guiding his people like the others did, he is going to manufacture a lost civilization, and give it the tools to set them on the right path. For all I knew, he might be nning to expand this out even further than just the one continent. He might give every continent their own ¡®lost civilization¡¯ with different clues on how to grow.


    Of course, he¡¯d need to set up defenses against monsters¡­ which was probably where the golems came into y. Even if he made them purposely faulty, they¡¯d still no doubt be enough to make the city untouchable to the wildlife.


    Shaking my head, I checked with Terra to confirm that Balu had already left. Kathy, however, seemed in no hurry to go anywhere. And I couldn¡¯t properly focus on cultivating the Perfect Soul until she had gone. Wouldn¡¯t be such a good thing if someone came by to let me know she had left, only to find me training in something they weren¡¯t supposed to see anyways.


    Instead, I decided to take a look back at Lorek. Sure enough, I found Tubrock carving words into stone tablets. Looking closely allowed me to see that they were instructions on how to build golems, which seemed to take quite a while to finish. Once he was done, he set the tablets to the side, and began to manufacture the golems himself.


    Every city received between five and fifty golems, each one smashed with his hammer a few times right before it was finished, giving it a damaged appearance. Though, with how quickly the world was moving, all that I could really make out were several golems limping quickly out of a forge, one after another, before he rushed off to the next area.


    Meanwhile, back in the area he had left¡­ it seemed like they hadn¡¯t really made any progress. Their greatest tools were still basic stone daggers and spears, and I couldn¡¯t find anyone that had purposely cultivated ki. I wonder if they will even realize that ki exists before they leave that ind¡­


    Either way, I was sure that this was going to be an interesting world to watch develop. Part of me even wanted to see what Tubrock¡¯s final n was for the world. Was he going to stop at ancient civilizations filled with lost secrets, or was there something more that he hoped to aplish?


    As I was wondering that, I got a message from Terra. Kathy¡¯s leaving now. I¡¯ve already let the others know that you¡¯ll be entering a private training period. Do you want me to notify you before the monthly meeting?


    I thought about that for a moment, before nodding my head. And let me know when we have our next opponent for the Games assigned. Need to know just what to prepare for.

 Chapter 286: Distant Horizons

    <h4>Chapter 286: Distant Horizons</h4>


    If I were to im that the process of creating the Perfect Soul was easy, I¡¯d be lying. If I said it was done quickly, Terra would probably kick my ass. Hell, even though I knew the form, this was still a long, painful process. Even though I had World Sight to guide me, it still blew up in my face repeatedly.


    And let me tell you¡­ even though you could deal no true damage to yourself in the Admin Room, having your soul detonate inside your body still hurt. Even with the Admin Room seeming to prevent me from losing my mind. Watching your spirit fracturing in front of you as you tried to turn it into a perfect gem, feeling as if every bone in your body was breaking like shards of ss¡­


    Let¡¯s just say that I¡¯m d I only had to do this training once. If I did ever reset, and have to start all over, this training is never being repeated. No thank you. I¡¯ll take my thousands of years of slow cultivation in Tubrock¡¯s world with a side of ice cream.


    _______________________________________________________________


    The days passed rather quietly within the worlds. In the wake of the recent battle, everyone still felt the Keeper¡¯s presence watching over them. Kings and queens alike dared not enter a war too easily, and temporary truces were called. Nobody wanted to face the wrath of a battle-weary god.


    Within the world of Deckan, changes began to take ce. The return of the Deckmaster was a joyous event. His name had been announced to every world, the name of one who went above and beyond, and who used his skills to ensure that the battle could end before the enemy spread too far.


    There were those who knew of Alu¡¯s past. His history as a noble, and how he had used his family¡¯s fortune to prepare for this. They were not many, and previously they had even been hostile towards Alu, but no longer. To chastise him would be to denounce his service, which the entire world knew of.


    Instead, they began to act as if they were the oldest of friends, wanted to get closer to the ¡®hero¡¯. But Alu was no fool, he could tell where he should put his trust, though sometimes questionable. After his return, he did not contact his family. He didn¡¯t reach out to friends to celebrate. No, immediately upon his return, he ran towards the Royal College of Magic in his home country of Kirol.


    He spared no effort, conjuring his blue dragon mount and flying as long as his mana would allow. Btedly, he cursed himself for not learning the basic runes of Fyor, as he recalled there being a spell of teleportation possible there. But no, he had what he needed. And with this new discovery, he might have more than he would ever need.


    Upon his arrival in the capital, he finally allowed himself a rest, paying for a night at an inn. He took the time to eat and sleep, recovering his energy to full. After all, the next day would change everything for him.


    Early the next morning, just as sses were beginning, the door to the dean¡¯s office was kicked open, its hinges snapping and the wood falling off to the side. ¡°Sir, I tried to stop him!¡± Said a female voice from behind the door as Alu walked into the room, a determined expression on his face.


    The dean, an elderly kitsune with greying hair, raised an eyebrow curiously above his sses towards Alu. ¡°I¡¯m afraid that will be quite alright, Sylvia. You are Mister Desari, correct?¡± He asked towards the man who strode in to stand before the desk. ¡°I wonder what business you have with me?¡±


    Sylvia, the demon assistant who helped manage the college, let out a sigh as she moved back to her desk. If her boss dismissed her like that, then what could she do? Clearly, she knew who Alu was as well, but that was no excuse for such behavior!


    ¡°I¡¯m here to change the world.¡± Alu said simply, a growing grin on his face. ¡°I¡¯ve learned a new ability, one that I need help studying. And I have it on very good authority that your college is the best ce for me to have this ability studied.¡±


    ¡°Well, I must say that you have captured my interest.¡± The elderly kitsune sat back in his chair, his grey tail shifting to rest in hisp. ¡°I assume this is not some mediocre trick, for you toe all this way? Surely, this ability you im to possess will be worth at least the door you broke.¡±


    Alu chuckled at that. ¡°Doors, actually. Sorry, I was in a hurry.¡± His response made the dean¡¯s eye twitch for a moment. ¡°And I assure you, what I have to offer is worth all of that and more. Perhaps you¡¯d like a demonstration?¡±


    ¡°So long as it does not cause any more destruction of my property¡­¡±


    Alu nodded, and retrieved two basic cards, both of the lowest tier fire element, and ced them on the man¡¯s desk. ¡°Substitute fusion¡­¡±


    Just as he had done in the citadel, he quickly performed a manual fusion of the two cards. The dean¡¯s eyes began to widen as he saw the process, knowing what it signified to not need to use a card to perform this feat. He could even see the mana patterns above Alu¡¯s hand, knowing that this was legitimately his own power.


    ¡°How?¡± He asked after a brief moment of astonishment.


    ¡°It¡¯s my title, sir. It evolved while I was working for the Keeper. I¡¯ve tested it, and I can fuse up to high second tier spells on my own. Anything greater and Ick the mana to do so.¡±


    When Alu spoke to Krishna, the descended incarnation of the Goddess of Magic herself, she had told him to study this ability. She wanted him to take it as far as he could. And to do so, she had told him toe here, to this college. Where the greatest arcane minds of all Deckan were gathered.


    Kirol was not simply any kingdom. It could even be called the iconic kingdom of the world. It was here that the Legion was born, the first teams of kitsune and demons that allied together after the worlds connected. It was here that the Advanced sses were first discovered. Even the Fairy Gate fell within its borders.


    It was only natural that nearly every major aspect of society focused on this one country. Education, trade, even the military of Kirol was greater than that of its neighbors. The only thing stopping the queen from conquering the world, outside of herck of desire to do so, was a fear of reprisal from the Keeper, as well as what would happen if all other kingdoms joined forces to stop her.


    ¡°I see. I see.¡± The man nodded repeatedly, staring at the low tier fire card that appeared on the desk. ¡°Yes, this will definitely need to be researched. As someone who earned the title of ¡®Deckmaster¡¯, I¡¯m sure I don¡¯t need to tell you the implications behind what you just did.¡±


    Alu smiled, not even needing to answer. He knew that this was a turning point for the world. And for the second time, he was there to help guide it.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Oy, put yer backs into it!¡± A burly dwarf called out, standing atop the ship¡¯s bow. He was cruising along on a long rowboat with thirty other able-bodied dwarves. The light of the sun hammered down on them as they crashed into wave after wave. In his hand, he held a bow asrge as his body, a full four feet from end to end.


    On his back, he wore a quiver of giant arrows. His eyes constantly scanned the seas, wary of any monsters. The journey to the distant shores was dangerous. In fact, had it not been for certain reports, he¡¯d have never volunteered for this trip.


    Nearly a year ago, a tower had been built upon the coast of Skar Hul, meant to watch for monsters that might roam ontond. A necessity, as many sea beasts were far too strong to fight with spears and swords. Evacuation would be the only answer.


    However, roughly a month after the tower had beenpleted, the seas were almost unnaturally calm. So calm, in fact, that the tower could see some nearly three hundred kilometers away that had never been seen before. They saw the distantnd, unobstructed by wave or storm.


    More importantly, they saw what looked to be buildings on that distant shore. Thend was too far away to see clearly, but there were certainly structures that did not seem to be of nature. So, the local lords gave the only order they could.


    They tore down a dozen fishing boats, creating a long rowboat able to hold the strongest of men. They assigned the captain of the town guard, Shanir Steelfeather, as ¡®captain¡¯ of the voyage. Though the ship would only be a few hours out at sea, the dangers lurking beneath the wave could not be questioned.


    Already, he had been forced to fire his bow twice. Both times had only been for the lowest grade of sea beasts, yet still strong enough to capsize the vessel had they been left alone. And with each kill, his wariness increased. He feared for his safety, and the safety of those under his guard. Powerful beasts often found themselves drawn to blood.


    Soon, the shore was in sight. Three hours into the voyage, and he saw the distantnds. But he saw something that shook his soul all the same. A shadow swimming beneath the water.


    Immediately, Shanir lifted a closed fist, and everyone stopped their rowing. They didn¡¯t know what he had seen, but they knew to trust his judgement. Slowly, he pulled one of the long arrows, which seemed closer to harpoons, out of his quiver.


    What lurked below was another vicious beast. Unlike the previous two, this one was of a higher grade. The sea dragon, known to viciously devour anything that moved within its waters, beast or man alike. Its long, serpentine body darkened the water below them, making Shanir too afraid to even alert his men of the exact danger.


    If the worst were toe, and it did indeed, attack¡­ everyone here was dead. Simply lifting its body from the water would be enough to destroy the boat, leaving the men at the mercy of the dragon and other beasts. If Shanir was lucky, very lucky, he might be able to take the beast out with him.


    It was better to pray, to let the boat gently drift on the water while it passed below, hoping that it did not notice them.


    Seconds felt like hours as the waves rose up slowly from beneath them, alerting the men to just what lurked below the boat. Some of them instantly had looks of despair written on their faces. Others, tense focus as they prepared to row the boat away at the slightestmand.


    Eventually, Shanir saw the shadow moving deeper in the water, further away from them. He did not give the signal to start rowing again until there was not a single trace of the sea dragon¡¯s shadow. And even then, the speed they rowed at was far slower than what they had been showing previously. They could not afford to stir the waters too heavily.


    Thus, the trip that was supposed to end within another hoursted an additional three. The sun was starting to get low on the horizon as the ship pulled up onto the beach. Now that they were on the shore, they easily recognized the structures that had been spoken of. Aged, stone buildings, cracked from what looked to be millenia of damage.


    Yet¡­ something felt off. If these buildings were indeed so old, the storms and beasts would have erased them long ago. As Shanir walked closer to one of the buildings, and put his hand against it, his expression changed.


    He could feel a strange power swelling up within the structure. It felt as if the strength of the sun itself had been captured within the stone. And at the same time, he felt vibrations, gentle thuds that seemed to grow closer and closer.


    ¡°Men! At arms!¡± He called out in rm, immediately drawing one of his harpoon-like arrows and nocking it on his bow. He could hear the swords being drawn behind him as his men prepared for an unknown foe.


    Soon, the source of the steps came within view. A walking stone in the shape of a man, its body cracked in various ces. Where its right hand would be, there was a long spike, whereas his left had been reced with a wider shield. It turned, looking towards them as a golden light leaked out from the cracks.


    Just as Shanir was about to order his men to charge and fight, the creature turned, walking away as if it had seen nothing.

 Chapter 287: Shanir’s Legacy

    <h4>Chapter 287: Shanir¡¯s Legacy</h4>


    Shanir and his men rxed, their bodies sagging as they realized that the stone creature was not going to attack them. ¡°Everyone, split up and investigate.¡± He ordered, ncing around to hisrades. It was obvious that they would be staying the night here, which meant two things.


    First, they had to identify an area that would be easily defensible, in case there were hostile nocturnal creatures in the area. Many such beasts roamed the homnd, so it would not be strange at all to find it to be the case somewhere so close. Rather, it was strange that those beasts hadn¡¯t destroyed this area before now, though he could chalk that up to the stone guardians.


    Secondly, they had to see if they could find any clues as to the purpose of this location. If there was nothing here, then the homnd would not see any reason to invest more time and manpower into further trips. However, Shanir felt like there was something incredible hidden here. Just by touching the ancient stone structure, he had felt the radiance of the sun.


    Everyone agreed to meet after an hour, and split off in pairs to search in different directions. As for Shanir, he chose the building that they were currently at, their rendezvous point, to investigate. From here, he¡¯d be able to rush out and help any of the teams if they encountered anything, and they¡¯d always know where to find him.


    Stepping inside the building, Shanir found an old anvil, covered in dust and seeming to have eroded slightly. Nevertheless, it looked incredibly firm,parable to any modern cksmith¡¯s. Along the wall near the forge he saw a picture of a man, hammering at the anvil.


    As he watched the image, it almost seemed toe alive in his mind, and he could hear the sound of iron striking hot iron. He could feel the heat of the mes on his skin, smell the sweat of a long day¡¯s work. He quickly blinked, snapping himself out of his daze. The image looked ordinary, but had somehow caused that strange sensation within him¡­ He felt like he had gained something.


    In the next room was a series of shelves, atop which were leather-bound books. Most of the books seemed to have been wiped away by time, crumbling under the slightest touch. Only one was different, one book that Shanir might have thought had just been written, if not for the visibleyer of dust covering its surface.


    Feeling that there might be something special within the book, he picked it up, feeling something fresh. The cool, gentle breeze of a clear night. When he opened the book, thenguage was one that he could make no sense of. A few characters looked vaguely familiar, but their meaning must have been lost to time, as had most of the other books within this forge.


    Seeing that he could get nothing out of the book, Shanir sighed, preparing to return it to its shelf. Just as he was starting to close the book however, the letters seemed to sh. When the light entered his eyes, he was once again dazed. This time, he heard a clear voice speaking into his mind.


    ¡°I do not know how long it will be before someone finds this tome.¡± The voice was old, as if it belonged to a man on his deathbed. ¡°I will be departin¡¯ soon, and I have only one regret. In all my life, I have never taken a disciple. Someone I could pass my teachings to. In this book, ye will find my understandin¡¯ of the cksmith¡¯s Star. I can only hope that the person that finds this will have a noble heart.¡±


    Shanir was awoken from the trance by the sound of the book hitting the floor, shocking him and making him take a step back. Unable to make sense of what he had just experienced, he reached for the book again to take it with him, only to see something¡­ different. Suddenly, he was able to read the writing within the book.


    The text had not changed, no. Rather, it was his understanding of the text that had changed. The old, alien characters now looked to him as if they were his native tongue, and the dwarf found himself flipping from page to page as he soaked up the knowledge like a dry sponge.


    The old book spoke of several subjects. Many of them were directly rted to cksmithing techniques, so he couldn¡¯t make too much sense of them. However, it was the other subject that caught his interest. The subject of stealing the power of the day and night to empower the self, harnessing it within your body.


    Shanir was not a young man, already in his sixties despite his younger appearance. But at the same time, this was normal amongst his people. Warriors who basked in the sun¡¯s light either died young or lived long lives. Everyone knew how the sun was able to enrich their bodies, but nobody had made mention of it being possible to harness that energy on your own. As for the night¡­ he had never heard of anyone being empowered by the night, but the subjects in the book were too fantastical for him to immediately dismiss it.


    Before he even became aware of it himself, the hour had passed. He heard the footsteps of his men approaching, and closed the book. Moving out to the dirt road where they had split up, he saw changes in everyone¡¯s expressions. Some were still dazed, while others were frowning in thought, and still more had proud smiles.


    ¡°Everyone found somethin¡¯, didn¡¯t they?¡± He found himself asking. If a random forge that Shanir walked into held the legacy of a cksmith, it was only reasonable to assume that other buildings within this city held words passed down as well.


    One of his smiling men nodded. ¡°I found an ancient scroll. At first, I thought it was rubbish, but then I heard something in my head. Something about a Spearman¡¯s Star¡­¡±


    Soon, another spoke up. ¡°Mine was the Water Star. How can a star be made of water?¡±


    Shanir shook his head. ¡°We¡¯ll all go over this stuffter, when we¡¯re back home. Did anyone manage to find a safe ce to stay?¡±


    The realization that they had forgotten one of their key duties made the color drain from the faces of several men. Thankfully, one among them nodded. ¡°I found an area that seemed to be the residence of the city leader. One of those golems are standing outside, but it let me in without a fuss.¡±


    ¡°Golem?¡± Several people reacted to the word, turning to look at the man in confusion.


    ¡°Ah, sorry¡­ that¡¯s what they¡¯re called. The word was written on a scroll in the house. They¡¯re made to defend this city. ¡®Parently, they used to be prettymon¡­¡±


    Shanir nodded his head, as if it made sense. ¡°Then they are probably the reason why this area hasn¡¯t been crushed by monsters yet. Still, we should grab whatever we can carry and make our way back tomorrow. I¡¯m sure everyone is achin¡¯ to get back to their families.¡±


    That earned a round of nods, everyone moving to head towards the leader¡¯s estate. Unsurprisingly, it was just as old and broken as every other building in the town, unable to escape from the ravages of time. Yet, they could faintly feel the majesty that the building once held.


    A dozen marble pirs now shattered once held up a roof over the veranda. On both the left and the right sides, there were cracks in the worn stone which once formed a gentle slope, rising up in the middle where it met a single dome over the center roof. Shanir could feel the same inspiring energy from the building as he had seen in the image on the cksmith¡¯s wall.


    As the young dwarf had said, there was another of those ¡®golems¡¯ standing outside the open doorway of the house. Its body was arguably less damaged than the one that they had previously encountered, only a single glowing crack along its head. When the first dwarf walked past the golem, it made no indication to have even seen him, leading the others to move by as well.


    Inside, Shanir could see the footprints of the young man from earlier, along with the one who hade with him. However, their paths split just beyond the door, and he could see one of the sets stopping a short distance away. Seeing that, he couldn¡¯t help but look towards the man in question curiously.


    ¡°Ah¡­ sorry¡­ I got distracted.¡± He exined while stroking his beard, shaking his head. ¡°To be honest, didn¡¯t even think much about this ce by the time we got back.¡±


    Why would you not think of this ce?! Shanir mentally retorted, barely holding in the outburst. He knew that this man, like all the others, should have received some form of enlightenment. If that was the case, maybe he was just too lost in thought and focusing on it. Though, that was still no excuse for someone trained as he was, but these were¡­ special circumstances¡­


    ¡°No matter¡­ we¡¯ll be stayin¡¯ here the night.¡± Shanir huffed out as he looked about the room. There wasn¡¯t much surviving in the way of decoration, but they didn¡¯t exactly need much. A simple spot on the floor to rest would be more than enough, while they took turns keeping watch.


    The next day, as promised, they had immediately left the ancient settlement to return home. Though they may have had more questions now than when they arrived, everyone felt as if they had gained from this endeavor. New possibilities, however strange, had opened up to them.


    Perhaps it was because the seas were calm, or that there were no beasts emerging, but Shanir felt as if their rowing speed had increasedpared to the previous day. The trip that should have taken four hours at the shortest estimate had beenpleted in just over three. More importantly, the people who had been rowing for that entire time didn¡¯t seem the least tired.


    Naturally, their first stop was to make their report to the local lord, and that¡¯s where everything began to change¡­ The day the sky¡¯s power opened up to the world.


    The lord listened to their reports, quite eagerly in fact. The news of an ancient civilization was one thing, but to hear that they left behind ¡®lost teachings¡¯ that could improve the body? Without question, his first thought was to use this information to strengthen his own troops.


    This lord, a man by the name of Hulbrek Stonecaller, passed on an order. Without his permission, word of their findings were not to spread. The information gained would be the exclusive property of the city, until such time that he was prepared to share it. Of course, he knew that such a time would onlye if the information turned out to be false.


    What he did not expect, however, was that his order came toote. Already, the thirty dwarves from the voyage had begun to spread the information through the city, including to those traveling merchants. Even with themand he had given, the word spread. Soon, everyone knew of the possibility of a strange power lying on the distant shore. A power that was proven several weekster to be true.


    The first to experience the change was Shanir, who had requested to be changed to a night shift in order to ¡®better protect the city from nocturnal threats¡¯. In reality, he wanted to take the time in order to begin cultivating the ¡®starlight ki¡¯ that he had read about. To him, the process came smooth, perhaps because of all of the sun¡¯s energy he had naturally absorbed. Mere weeks after the voyage, when they were still plotting out the second trip, his body erupted in a golden light.


    There were many who saw this, as he had not known to conceal himself during the final moment, and began to whisper about Shanir being the reincarnation of Tubrock with his holy aura. They couldn¡¯t see how his strength had risen, merely the golden glow that escaped him in the dead of night, making him look like a shining beacon in the darkness.


    Shanir himself, however, feltpletely different. He looked down at his own hands, as if they were foreign to him. Strength he had never felt before had flooded into his body at the moment he had followed the final step, forging a star within his body from the gathered ki. It may have only been a small, weak star, but it was still a light possessed by no other.

 Chapter 288: The Path to Perfection

    <h4>Chapter 288: The Path to Perfection</h4>


    Twenty days¡­ it had been twenty days since I had entered my ¡®secluded training¡¯. At least, ording to the Keeper Standard Time. At the moment, I wasn¡¯t in any sort of mood to check exactly how long it had been within the world. I knew that there were only a few days left before we found out who our next opponent would be in the Keeper Games.


    My body ached, from my skin right down to my bones. Everything just felt like terrible pain. But I had done it, I had managed toplete the Perfect Soul, and practiced enough to where I was able to do it multiple times in a row without error.


    By the time I made it back to my room, I wanted nothing more than to simply copse in my bed. A good rest sounded perfect right now, but I had to make sure to act while the process was still fresh in my mind. Terra, has everything been prepared?


    I let them all know already¡­ All you have to do is restrict their ess, and you¡¯ll be able to descend and begin.


    I gave a small nod, sitting down at my desk with a low groan while I mentally called Leowynn back to myself. By the way, I was wondering¡­ if the knowledge of how to be a false divinity pushes the world level so high up¡­ what about Lorek? The profoundws lead to divinity, and Tubrock has already studied them.


    That¡¯s¡­ a bit different. Terra said with a small sigh. In truth, reaching divinity through the profoundws is both easier and harder than normally. First, it requires someone begin their cultivation following three different paths, which the vast majority would not be capable of.


    After a brief moment to pause and consider, she continued. Let¡¯s be generous and say that one percent of the poption, once all three methods are known, attempt to tackle all three and make it to the first stage. From there, cultivation bes far more difficult. The breakthroughs in the three different types all require their own understanding of the aspect andw that they are studying.


    As an example, let¡¯s take Tubrock. He followed all three paths, and was able to easily break through to the second stage due to his innate understanding of crafting and thews. He even managed to break through to the third stage with only a bit of effort. But even as the god of the forge, every breakthrough after that became far more difficult. After twenty thousand years, his incarnation finally died at the fifth stage. Of course, by that time he had alreadypleted the crafting of different empires all over the world, so it¡¯s just a matter of waiting for the dwarves to expand.


    I gave a small nod as I listened to that, briefly registering as Leowynn entered the room and returned to my spiritual realm. And¡­ how many stages are there exactly?


    In thews that you bought¡­ there are a total of eleven. There is the Protostar, the Law Sequencing, Constetion, Neb Cycle, and thest one that Tubrock managed to achieve was Inner Sky. Even as a true god, he couldn¡¯t easily move past that.


    Of course, the names that the locals give the stages may be differentter. The point is that anyone can enter the ¡®Protostar¡¯ stage. All it takes is the knowledge how. But every stage beyond it has increasingly strict requirements. For someone only practicing one path, they¡¯ll forever be stuck halfway.


    So back to our example¡­ out of that one percent of people that manage to achieve Protostar by following all three paths from the start¡­ Maybe a tenth of them will advance towards the second stage. From there, one percent of those will get to the third stage. Then one in every ten thousand, and one in every million.


    Out of a world poption that could reach into the trillions eventually¡­ you will only get three or four people every generation that have the potential to make it to the fourth stage. As for the fifth? You would get maybe one every hundred thousand years. These odds won¡¯t improve until the world has advanced far more than it has now, far more than any of your worlds.


    Comparatively, it is easier to achieve false divinity on Earth. It doesn¡¯t take thousands of years to build up a simr amount of energy. Just a few decades of diligent training, maybe a century at most if they spread their focus among different sses evenly. Then, it is just a matter of knowing the proper mixture. While it is still not ¡®easy¡¯, the odds of a sessful divinity being born among the popce increase from one every several million years to one every few centuries.


    Okay¡­ that did make it a bit easier to understand. And also made me wonder just how much Lorek was going to expand into outer space, given that there is every chance their own sun could go supernova before they had managed to birth their own false divinity.


    For the record, the Inner Sky stage following all three methods at once would be the equivalent of a level four hundred and fifty individual from Earth, splitting their focus between Monk, Mage, and Spirit Hunter, dabbling in Druid. To give you an idea of their level of energy.


    I gave a small nod at that, thankful for the information. Someone that high level would certainly be among the elite even in the present day Earth. But they wouldn¡¯t automatically be the strongest. Hell, Tsubaki was higher level than that,st I checked.


    Of course, I couldn¡¯t underestimate the effects that a firm foundation would have, but¡­ no, I shook my head to clear those thoughts from my mind, returning my focus to the task at hand. I quickly finished cutting off the ess to the others, only letting Terra continue as normal.


    Once that was taken care of, I began scanning the four worlds for somewhere that I could perform the merge without being disturbed. Naturally, my eyes came to rest on Fyor. Out of all of the worlds, it had the most unexplored territory, given that every floor practically unlocked a whole new world to see.


    I briefly recalled that thest floor unlocked was an underground insectplex, and immediately decided not to go there for this. The odds of being allowed to remain undisturbed throughout the entire process were incredibly low if I were to go right into a hive.


    As for oneyer down, on the neenth floor, there were still many areas that had yet to be properly explored. It was a giant ocean floor with scattered ind chains throughout it. Unsurprisingly, the only native race was a type of fish-person which reminded me vaguely of the merkin. It didn¡¯t seem like my people had encountered them yet, as much of theyer was still left open.


    I chose a remote ind, far away from both the fish-people and any inhabited inds. I had to make sure that it wasrge enough for Leowynn to be able to go entertain herself without peeking on the process, but there were plenty ofrge inds like that.


    Moments after I had made the choice, I descended to the ind in the same body that I had used for the recent invasion. Once there, I called out within myself. Alright, Leowynn. Same asst time. Also¡­ this may be a bit ufortable for you, but don¡¯t worry. If anything goes wrong, Terra knows what to do.


    There was a brief moment of hesitation before I found the silver mist floating up out of my body, forming into Leowynn. She gave a small smile, nodding towards me. ¡°Alright, father. Be careful.¡± With that, she turned, kicking off the ground to rush deeper into the ind.


    This gave me the chance to observe my surroundings for a moment before I began, making sure that she was far enough away for me to get started. The ind that I had chosen was a dense, wild jungle, trees making it hard to move between them in most directions. Surprisingly, each tree seemed to be a minimum of five meters wide, giving them an incredibly firm, solid look.


    With my full Keeper abilities unlocked, it was hard for me to properly tell how high the gravity was here. But if I had to guess, it should be about three or four times that of Earth. Looking around at all the nts easily standing upright, I wouldn¡¯t be able to guess that without having experienced it myself.


    I briefly focused on the area in front of myself, using the natural energy to push the trees back and create a wide enough area for me to work with. Then, I moved to the next crucial step, making sure that the world spirit of Fyor wouldn¡¯t be able to wake up and see what I was doing.


    ¡°I am the one who stands above the heavens. My word is thew of the universe. Within this world, my will reigns supreme. None shall observe me, not even the world itself.¡± I closed my eyes, slowly speaking out each word to make sure that the elementalist spell would activate properly.


    Momentster, I felt the change in my surroundings. The natural energy was still present, which was good. But it felt¡­ different. Before, the spirit of the world had simply been sleeping. But now, it felt as if the spirit had left the area around mepletely.


    With this, my preparations wereplete, and I sat myself down in the center of the clearing that I had created for myself. Unlike world sight, this was not a merger of all four energies. Rather, it was purely a merger of both mana and spiritual energy, though done through multiple stages.


    The first thing that I had to do was to deploy my world sight, making sure the I diligently monitored every small change in the energy that I was controlling. Next, I began releasing both mana and spiritual energy, roughly two hundred and fifty thousand units of each. Clouds of silver and blue began to swirl around my body, and I had to struggle to keep them in check.


    ¡°Merge.¡± I whispered, feeling my eyes turn an odd shade of grey. Both mana and spiritual energy were highly responsive towards intent, somanding them was far easier than if ki had been involved. ¡°Swirl together and blend. Refine the impurities away and crystalize. Burn and break, condense and heal.¡±


    I grit my teeth, feeling the energy working under my orders. My mana struck away at my spiritual energy, shredding and burning away any impurities within. In doing so, it actually robbed away my ¡®ownership¡¯ of the energy, which was why the next step was so important.


    As shards of grey crystals began to emerge in the air around me, the shattered shards of a third of my soul, the grey light in my eyes began to shine brighter. ¡°Gather.¡± Imanded, unleashing twice the amount of mana that I had used for the first step.


    This mana had a single purpose, to collect all of the various shards, and piece them together. I could feel the heavy strain on my mind as the shards tried to fit themselves into ce like pieces of a puzzle, all the while the strings of mana forcing themselves to be as gentle as possible to avoid shattering the shards.


    With every piece that properly began to fit together, a bit of the mana was absorbed into it, and the two connecting shards fused. This was where the real pain started, and I had to bite my lip to hold back a scream. I had felt my spirit crumble before, but now it was starting to return to my control. And it did so in the most shattered, broken way imaginable. Every nerve seemed to be on fire, and I could feel the tears streaming down my face.


    Soon, I was able to taste blood in my mouth, and knew I had been biting too hard. But I couldn¡¯t stop here. I was so close. I needed as many shards as I could possibly put together. And after extensive trial over thest few weeks, I had found this to be my limit.


    The process continued for several long, agonizing minutes, until finally I managed to slot thest little shard into the crystal. Now it hovered in front of me, a shining blue gem as big as my head. Its exterior was almost perfectly smooth, the jagged shards merging in slowly, bit by bit to be a shining pearl.


    Almost done¡­ I could feel the refreshing wave of energy feeding back into my soul already, but there was still onest step. Right now, the Soul Stone as I called it had not properly fused with my own spirit. It existed, and I could feel it, but my control over it was too limited.


    Thankfully, this final step was far easier. With onest groan of pain, I expelled more of my spiritual energy, wrapping around the floating gemstone and pulling it towards me. As it did, I was able to see the stone visibly growing, devouring the spiritual energy that I was infusing into it and shredding away any impurities. It hurt, but¡­ it wasn¡¯t as bad as the earlier stages.


    Finally, when the stone was directly against my chest, it was big enough for me to hug, linking my arms around it. And so I did¡­ and thest little strand of spiritual energy connected the stone directly to my heart.


    With one tight squeeze, it felt as if the stone were shrinking, pushing into my body without resistance. Only now, when it was actually entering my body, was I able to truly call it my own. As thest bit pushed into my skin, and I felt it reshaping my spiritual realm, I knew that I had achieved the Perfect Soul.


    ncing up, I found that my health had dropped by about forty percent during the entire endeavor, and gave a small nod. One thing that I had learned during my training¡­ the smaller the soul stone, the harder it would be on your spirit. With how much I had invested, there was only a small portion of my spiritual energy left to ¡®convert¡¯, as opposed to when I had tried with a tiny stone¡­ I think that would have actually killed me.


    Congrattions, you have earned a personal achievement!


    For cultivating the Perfect Soul energy, you have earned the Path to Perfection achievement! +50 points, +10% Spiritual Energy Affinity.

 Chapter 289: Rising Stars

    <h4>Chapter 289: Rising Stars</h4>


    Okay, Leowynn, you cane back¡­ I thought inwardly,ying back on the ground. I wanted nothing more than to ascend and return to my nice and cozy bed. Thankfully, it didn¡¯t take too long for her to return, and I was able to do just that. As soon as she was back, and had returned to the grey mist that seeped into my body, I let out a groan, sitting up and willing myself back to the Admin Room.


    Once I had ascended, I briefly remembered to set theputer to allow the goddesses back into the world below, before everything else turned into a haze of sleep.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Back on Lorek, changes continued to happen, one after another. Now that they had unlocked the power of their ¡®inner stars¡¯, those lucky few from the first voyage across the water had begun to rather suddenly change their areas of focus. Shanir no longer seemed interested in leading the town guard, despite being a more powerful fighter than ever.


    Rather, much to the surprise of those who knew him, he had established a cksmithing shop on the edge of town. The ¡®cksmith¡¯s Star¡¯, as he called it, quickly became a popr store for any in need of weapons or tools. The items he produced may not have been of the best quality, given his rtive inexperience in the field, but his crafting speed was far greater than that of any normal cksmith.


    It was to the point where other, more experienced cksmiths began to approach his store. Some sought to sabotage his business and steal his secrets for themselves, while others made an open attempt to either take Shanir as an apprentice, or be his apprentice themselves.


    Naturally, Shanir was not opposed to learning more about his desired craft from others who pursued it. He even understood that many of them only cared about his ability to push out decent quality goods faster than anyone else. However, the ability to do so was no great secret. It was merely an insight that he had gotten as part of the inheritance from the ancient civilization.


    Sadly, this inheritance couldn¡¯t be shared with others. Even though he brought back the book that had told him these great new powers, nobody else had been able to read it, even among those of hisrades that had joined him on the trip. It felt to them as though thenguage written there had been entirely alien.


    This was not simply the case for him, as everyone else had experienced simr sensations with their own inheritances. Durak, the one who had inherited the information of the Water Master, had taken up a seafaring post. He had shared his own research scroll with Shanir, but the cksmith had found himself unable to grasp the meaning of any of the words, despite knowing that it was the samenguage as his own.


    So for now, everyone pursued their own paths. Some even took disciples of their own in order to pass on the teachings, transcribing their texts into new scrolls and books to pass down. However, there were simply not enough ¡®Stars¡¯ known for everyone. Not everyone wanted to follow the same paths, so there were naturally those that had no interest in taking an apprenticeship with one of them.


    These people hired Durak to ferry them across the water, hoping to find a path for themselves on the other side. This business had be quite profitable for Durak, as the Water Star gave him insights on how to avoid the more dangerous among the aquatic beasts. He could even feel himself growing closer and closer to his inheritance every time he made a sessful journey, giving him the sensation that he had to go out onto the water yet again.


    Though, perhaps the one who benefited the most, and at the same time suffered the most hardships, was the young dwarf by the name of Baltak. He had been the one to gain the inheritance of the city¡¯s lord, who they had begun calling the King Master. These names were not blindly chosen, and each one was based on the star that had been described within their inheritance.


    For Baltak, the inheritance he received had been for the King Star, a star that would allow him to stand above any man. Compared to the other people who had gone on their voyage with him, Baltak was among thest to make the breakthrough and achieve the ¡®starlight body¡¯ that everyone hade to enjoy. When Shanir asked him about this, the young dwarf had exined honestly to him.


    The difficulty of cultivating the King Star was far greater than that of any other. It did not simply require one to gather the necessary energy, but it required an extensive training of the mind as well. One had to thoroughly understand the hearts and minds of those around him, or else they could never break through. At least, that¡¯s what the young man had said.


    Time flowed on, and Baltak continued to be stuck at the bottleneck. Sometimes, he could be seen drawing variousplex images on papers, strange shapes that nobody could make any sense of. He swore that they had a meaning, but he himself had trouble exining what that meaning was.


    Only a few monthster did he finally achieve the sess he wanted. And it was a sess that was far greater than anyone had imagined. Rather than the golden starlight body that others had obtained, the light emitted from his breakthrough had been a light blue.


    Unlike the others, there was no explosive increase to his physical strength. Rather, he had learned a new power. Those random shapes and symbols that nobody could understand before came to life in his hands. He was able to create fire in his palms, or create a shield of light around his body.


    Of course, there were stories of simr events in the past. Folklore of men and women who had gained simr abilities, those who had shunned Tubrock¡¯s grace and walked the path of witchcraft. Yet now, when Baltak himself disyed these powers, it did not feel as if he had turned away from the lord. Rather, it felt as if he had understood a part of him that nobody else had done.


    Such an understanding was in itself a scary thing to imagine, especially for those within the church. They tried to brand Baltak as a heretic, practicing a devilish art. And, by extension, they used the others as well. ¡®No mortal should covet the power of a god¡¯, they said.


    Hypocrites, the lot of them. More than once, Durak had seen the clergy aboard his ship, seeking passage to the ¡®Old Home¡¯ as we began to call it. Even as they began to sneer at him for relying on an ¡®evil¡¯ power, they themselves sought that strength.


    Despite the ¡®best efforts¡¯ of the church to acquire and restrict this new power, it continued to spread. With everyone who learned how to cultivate a starlight body, they then taught others. It was not difficult for most to absorb the power of the night, after all.


    Within three years, the kingdom had changed drastically. This change was both for good and bad, as is with man¡¯s nature. Yes, there were many who sought to spread this great gift, but there were still many more who wished to use it for their own ends.


    For a while, crime ran rampant, unchecked as those first criminals broke free of the shackles ofw enforcement. Several small towns had been destroyed by a single person¡¯s desire to run wild. Only when the enforcers grew to an equal strength were they able to keep those criminals in check. New prisons were built underground, where no man could feel the power of the sky.


    Still, darkness lurked in the hearts of every man¡­ no matter how brightly they shined, this was a fact that could never be changed.


    _______________________________________________________________


    My eyes felt heavy when I finally awoke, forcing them open. I was still sore from the training, but¡­ at least I was able to move without feeling like I was being torn apart. As I sat up in the bed, I nced around the room, confirming that I was still alone in it. I wouldn¡¯t have really been surprised if either Terra or Ryone had snuck in while I was sleeping, but it looked as if that was not the case this time.


    ncing inwardly, I was curious to inspect the changes to my spiritual realm. What I found was¡­ surprising. Disappointing, but surprising nheless.


    The small field where Leowynn had created her home within my spiritual realm did not seem to have changed at all, nor did they sky hanging above it. The extra star representing my world sight still shone, breaking her otherwise perfect recreation of the elven sky from so long ago. No, if there was a change that had taken ce, it was that everything looked more¡­ solid? More real, maybe¡­


    I was curious to test out if I had gained any new abilities from this, but I decided to hold off on that until after I had fully recovered from the previous training. For now, there was something more important that I had to take care of. Leowynn? I called out mentally through my spiritual realm, using my connection with her. She wasn¡¯t in there, so I wanted to check on her.


    You are awake, father? Her voice called back, a touch of happy surprise to it. I wondered just how long I had been sleeping, if that was the kind of reaction I got. Sorry, is there something you need?


    I just wanted to make sure that you were alright after the training before. Terra promised that you wouldn¡¯t be hurt, but¡­ I wanted to hear it from you.


    I am¡­ fine, I suppose? She responded in a slightly subdued tone. I must admit that it was a bit painful for a little while. I almost thought that I had lost my connection to you while you were training. However, a few minutester, I could feel the connection stronger than ever. If I must say that anything was different, it was when I returned to your body.


    Oh? I asked curiously, wanting her to exin more.


    That¡¯s right. At first, it felt as if I was being devoured, or rejected. But then, something strange happened. The force trying to push me back suddenly weed me. It was warmer than normal, and I found myself slipping in without knowing it. Although the area I had created was gone, I was able to rebuild it with a bit of difficulty.


    I gave a small nod as I listened to her talking. I didn¡¯t know what that rejection was all about, though. Maybe an automatic defense against spiritual invasion, or something of that sort? I could see that being a thing. But, since it epted her, that meant that there shouldn¡¯t be any problems in the future with that?


    Have you noticed anything new about yourself since that happened? I couldn¡¯t help asking, curious to see if Leowynn had benefited from the refinement of my soul.


    Hmm? Nothing that I have noticed so far. Is there something I should be looking for?


    No¡­ probably nothing. You would have probably noticed if it changed you in some way. I shook my head as I sent that message to her, a small sigh escaping my lips. It would have been nice if there were an actual power up involved with this energy. And maybe there is, and I just haven¡¯t found it yet.


    I pushed myself up to my feet, walking out of my bedroom slowly. In the living room, I could already hear the sounds of the TV, and knew that there were people out there. When I arrived, I saw Terra sitting on the couch and, unsurprisingly, Aurivy sitting in herp. The two of them were watching another one of Aurivy¡¯s anime, and the halfling goddess seemed fully focused on the show.


    At least, that is until she noticed me walking into the room. Her smile turned into a wide grin, and she called me over. ¡°Morning, bro!¡± She said happily. ¡°Finally decided to wake up, huh?¡±


    ¡°Looks that way.¡± I nodded softly, moving to sit next to her and Terra. This seemed like a good time to take a break from everything. At least for a little while.

 Chapter 290: Merlin’s Preparations

    <h4>Chapter 290: Merlin¡¯s Preparations</h4>


    The hours passed slowly while I was watching various different shows with Terra and Aurivy. They seemed to simply be happy that I was there with them, while as for me¡­ I was thinking about something else.


    To be honest, I didn¡¯t know what I wanted to do with myself for the next little while. I could train the Perfect Soul, but after that? I was in no hurry to rush towards the Divine Soul after the experiences I had just gone through. I needed a break in between evolutions like that, no matter how much the Admin Room helped to recover my mind.


    I could work on the worlds a bit, but I wasn¡¯t really sure what was needed there. Tubrock was managing the new Lorek world, while Bihena and Aurivy worked on Fyor. Aside from those two, the other worlds were in a rather good state at the moment.


    While I was thinking about that, a thought crossed my mind. An idea that I had had a long time ago, but had forgotten about in the chaos of everything else that had happened. Something that they had called the ¡®Merlin¡¯ strategy on the forums. The act of going down into the world, and helping to raise it up personally, typically through the selection of a new king to govern an area and remove corruption.


    Now, I had done this before, in a way. Back when the centaurs were just getting started I had let a world host take over that position for me, getting their first true king set up. But, as for doing it myself? I couldn¡¯t say that I had ever had the need or desire to do so. After all, the worlds that would be in need of that would typically not have very good living standards.


    As for why I was thinking about this now? I let my mind drift back towards Fyor, the world of many worlds. The standard of living there was not terrible, but at the same time they had yet to fully expand to cover all of their territory. This was normal, as their territory constantly expanded every time a new floor was uncovered.


    Terra? I whispered towards her mentally, catching how she nced at me from the corner of her eyes. If I were to visit Fyor, with my levels as they are now, would I be restricted from going through their gates?


    If that was so, there were still a number of ways that I could y it off, and I was already considering such. But first, it was important for me to know. If I tried to set things up for me to be a traveler between the differentyers, then suddenly being stuck there would be a bit counter-productive.


    That¡¯s right. You can use the Admin Room to move betweenyers, or the power of the Sky Citadel, but as for the gates themselves, your base levels are quite a bit too high for them to allow you through.


    I was expecting that answer, and so I gave a small nod. It wouldn¡¯t be such a bad thing to y out, being stuck on one of the higher floors. So long as it wasn¡¯t the giant insect hive. I felt a shiver run down my spine as I thought about that. Thest thing that I wanted was to try to set up a life for myself there.


    Mentally, I ran a quick calction, finding that I did have plenty of points in my physical stats to withstand the gravity of that floor. As such, I nced over towards Aurivy, a small smile forming on my face. ¡°Hey Rivy, how much would you like to help me out with something?¡±


    Her eyes practically¡­ no, no they were quite literally glowing when she heard that, her head snapping with an unnatural speed to look in my direction. ¡°What can I do, Dale?!¡± She asked with a wide, eager grin.


    ¡°I¡¯m about to set up a n for Fyor, and I was wondering if you would like to be a part of it.¡± It took me a moment to realize that the show we were watching had paused itself while we talked.


    The halfling goddess nodded her head rapidly. ¡°Sure, sure! Just tell me what you need.¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯re going to do this, I need you to have an incarnation that can withstand the pressure of the neenth floor of Fyor. If you want, you could have the one you used in the battle for this¡­¡± I started to make the suggestion, before I saw that both she and Terra had somewhat awkward expressions. ¡°Okay, what happened?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ I kind of had Tsubaki kill me.¡± Aurivy exined with a small chuckle. ¡°When we did thatst fight, my incarnation overused her divine spark. By the time you got there to save her, she was already dying, right?¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but nod at that, recalling the event. ¡°Yeah, I rushed over so that I could save her in time before it was toote¡­¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ it was already toote.¡± She said with a small shake of her head. ¡°Once your health starts going down from using too much divine energy, it signifies that your body is starting to break down. If she had been lucky enough to level up from the fight, then maybe her body would have repaired itself enough that it wasn¡¯t an issue. Unfortunately, that wasn¡¯t the case, and she was bedridden and in so much pain¡­¡±


    ¡°I helped her level up as a monk after the battle ended, but by then it was toote, and the damage had already taken root. So all that was left was to let her pass on as painlessly as possible¡­¡±


    I gave another nod as I heard that. However, just as I was about to speak up she interrupted me. ¡°But that¡¯s okay! I can make a new incarnation on Fyor. Just give me fifteen years, and I can have her ready for what you want! Okay, maybe twenty¡­ Do you know what kind of incarnation you want me to have?¡±


    At her question, I fell into thought. There were a few different possibilities, but ultimately one that made the most sense. ¡°If you could be a mage or an elementalist, it would work best with the n that I had in mind.¡±


    ¡°Sure!¡± She smiled wide. ¡°I¡¯ve got lots of practice with those sses, so it¡¯ll be easy to get that set up.¡±


    I let out a small sigh of relief at her willingness to join along, before Terra spoke up as well. ¡°Think you have room for one more in your n?¡± She asked as she nced over towards me, her tail lightly wrapping around my wrist.


    ¡°Of course.¡± I told her, nodding immediately. I began to tell the two of them my n, and what their roles would be in it. Aurivy produced a small notebook out of thin air, and immediately began writing in it as I spoke, taking notes of what I wanted. Terra, meanwhile, just seemed content to be included in the n.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°This should be the ce, right sis?¡± A halfling girl spoke up as they walked through the gate, letting out a small grunt as she felt the pressure increase on her body. ¡°Semaro Maj, Kru¡¯nae.¡± She whispered, her body standing up a bit straighter as her magic reinforced herself. She had golden hair and deep blue eyes, and wore what seemed to be a sailor¡¯s outfit, the skirt cut just a bit shorter than normal.


    Another halfling that walked through the gate nodded, ncing around. Her own hair was ck, but she had the same blue eyes as her sister. Her outfit was a ck shirt covered by denim overalls, with an almosticallyrge backpack strapped to her back that she seemed to carry with ease. ¡°I think we got here a week early. Gives us enough time to find a good spot.¡±


    ¡°A week?!¡± The first sister asked loudly, her eyes widening. ¡°But you said¡­ agh, why did I let you choose the time¡­¡±


    The second sisterughed lightly, their antics attracting the eyes of the nearby priests and travelers. ¡°Come on, Rache, your teacher¡¯s waiting for us.¡±


    The first sister, Rache, nodded her head reluctantly as she brought one hand down to grab her sister¡¯s. Her eyes closed as she recalled the words of a spell. ¡°Fin, semaro, muntal.¡±


    With that, the two halfling girls lifted up off the ground, flying up into the sky and off to the west. Some were curious about their heading, as the gate to the next floor was nearby to the north, so there was hardly any reason to journey west. However, they shrugged it off, going back to their business.


    ¡°Think we got their attention enough?¡± Rache asked a few moments after they had taken off, ncing back towards the city.


    Her sister simply shook her head. ¡°Not yet. I¡¯ll be making a few trips back to town to get people interested, once we have our home set up. How are youing on your enchanting? I don¡¯t have the mana to use teleportation spells to cover that distance.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­¡± Rache¡¯s cheeks reddened slightly as they flew. ¡°I mean, I¡¯m not terrible at it. But I haven¡¯t gotten very many levels in it yet. I¡¯lle up with something to let you get back and forth soon. I think I remember there being some special stones on one of the nearby inds that should make for a good enchanting material!¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± The second sister¡¯s eyes actually widened in surprise, the look vanishing a momentter strangely. ¡°Well, I hope you are able to find them.¡±


    ¡°Wait, wait, I saw that!¡± Rache called out, her eyes widening as well, much more shocked than her sister had been. ¡°You were surprised! You don¡¯t get surprised, sis!¡±


    ¡°I do, too¡­¡± She said, puffing her cheeks out indignantly. ¡°Terra didn¡¯t tell me anything about those stones, is all. Usually she tells me anything rted to the task at hand.¡±


    The golden haired halflingughed, having to quickly cover her mouth to make sure that she didn¡¯t identally swallow a bug while they flew. Once she was able to speak normally again, she looked down at the inds that were passing by beneath them. ¡°We¡¯re already past the normal inhabited areas, so this should be a good ce to make the house, right?¡±


    ¡°This should be far enough.¡± Her sister agreed. Rache furrowed her brows in focus, causing the two of them to descend to one of therger nearby inds. ¡°I think there¡¯s everything I need here to make a nice house, if you want to clear out the area around us.¡±


    ¡°Sure thing!¡± Rache nodded happily, more than willing to take up the task of ¡®pest control¡¯. Once the two of them hadnded, Rache flew off alone while her sister dropped her backpack, it hitting the ground with a loud crash.


    Turning around to look through it, she pulled out a staff, arge saw, and a pickaxe, leaving the rest of the items inside. ¡°Well, let¡¯s get to work, then.¡± She said, ncing down and cing one hand on the rough soil. ¡°Spirits that lurk within the soil, reveal your riches to me.¡± As she spoke, her eyes began to glow a faint green.


    ¡°Iron, coal, and some thesbar. That should be enough.¡± She nodded, reaching for the pick. As she brought it up, an earthen glow emerged along the tool. And when it struck the ground, a crack emerged, longer than her body was tall and half as wide. There was a slope along the crack, which she began to walk down, going into her makeshift mine.


    Beneath the ind, the sound of metal striking metal rang out constantly. Above the surface, explosions littered thendscape, beams of fire and light striking out at anything that moved. While the rest of the world remained unaware, two determined girls were busy making themselves a new home.

 Chapter 291: Styx

    <h4>Chapter 291: Styx</h4>


    On my way back to the room, I sent out a call to Leowynn, letting her know that we¡¯d be staying down in the world for a little while. Unsurprisingly, I felt her rushing into my spiritual realm before I even reached my door.


    Once inside, I set the world to fast forward by twenty years, just as I had discussed with the two goddesses. At the same time, Imunicated my n to Leowynn while setting up my ¡®Easy Reputation¡¯.


    I would be the halfling adventurer known as Styx. My achievements within the world were on the low side, as I was always more focused with exploring both new sses and newnds. Apanying me was my student Rache, and her sister Thessa.


    Thest I had been noticed was when I tried to leave the neenth floor to return home. Shortly before that, I discovered a rather terrible truth about myself. I was born different, unbound by the ¡®level limit¡¯ system. This left me unable to travel between the differentyers of Fyor, as my level had grown beyond what the gates would allow.


    Instead, I was forced to send out the two girls to the other floors, letting them gather information for me and supplies that we needed. Meanwhile, I continued to train myself privately on an ind not too far from the gate.


    Of course, I didn¡¯t expect that setting up this reputation would actually cause me to break the level limit system and continue being able to grow on Fyor. However, it was a legitimate excuse for why someone with a level over five hundred would appear in a ce like this. I had already been told that there were people within the worlds who were asionally born with system mutations, just as there were monsters.


    With that set, I quickly designed my body and searched through the map for where the two goddesses had decided to set up base. Since I knew what names they were using, it didn¡¯t take long for me to find them, at which point I went ahead and chose to descend.


    Closing my eyes, I felt the warm blue light wrapping around me. Momentster, the salty sea breeze battered my face, and I felt a pair of hands lightly gripping my own. ¡°Hey Styx!¡± I heard an unfamiliar voice calling for me as I opened my eyes.


    In front of me was an unfamiliar halfling with golden hair and blue eyes, smiling happily to me. Standing just behind her was a confused looking girl with ck hair, who I immediately knew to be her sister. Given the golden halfling¡¯s strong reaction, I could assume that she was Aurivy pretty easily.


    ¡°This is¡­ strange?¡± The other halfling spoke up, shaking her head. ¡°Styx? The Goddess asked me to pass a message to you. She says, ¡®It works on incarnations too, I suppose.¡¯ What does that mean, sir?¡±


    I blinked my eyes in confusion, ncing towards Rache, who seemed to understand as little as I did. After a moment, I began to realize what she was talking about. ¡°Oh¡­ Oh. Uhm, well, this is going to take a little bit to exin. Why don¡¯t you tell me what you remember, Thessa? From the time we met until now.¡±


    Thessa raised a questioning brow as she heard that. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ quite a wide timeframe, sir. I suppose¡­ I¡¯ll summarize a bit, then? This is a really strange question for you.¡±


    ¡°Anyways¡­ when Thessa and I had just turned eight, we were training in the fields of Nyra. Me with my hammer, and her with a staff. However, we were assaulted by more shadow wolves than we were able to fight off on our own.¡±


    As we listened, Rache gave a small nod, an amused smile on her face while Thessa continued. ¡°I took a pretty bad sh to my arm, and thought we were done for. Then, all of a sudden, you showed up to help us with your magic.¡±


    ¡°You had told us at the time that you were just passing through when you saw you needed help, but Rache begged you to teach her how to use her magic like that.¡± Thessa shook her head helplessly, casting a nce towards her sister. ¡°Eventually, you gave in, and took her as your apprentice. As for me, I became the manualbor of the group, with you paying me a monthly wage.¡±


    ¡°From there, we began to move around as you trained us, though you did try to ditch us at first by moving to a higher floor. Naturally, Rache followed, even though her body wasn¡¯t trained enough yet. You had to use your magic to strengthen her enough that we could all go back through the gate.¡±


    ¡°And well¡­ I guess we¡¯ve been together ever since? About five years ago, we came here and began exploring around for a while. When we tried to head back home, we found that you couldn¡¯t use the gate anymore¡­ because your level didn¡¯t stop increasing when it should. Still having a hard time with that one, by the way.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s enough.¡± I let out a small sigh, shaking my head. It looked like Thessa had been thoroughly affected by the Easy Reputation system. Maybe it was because Terra couldn¡¯t be in as direct control of her as Aurivy was with Rache?


    I nced towards the side, looking at Rache as if asking what she wanted to do about this. Rache nodded, moving over towards Thessa. ¡°Sis, you see¡­ none of that really happened. Well, I mean, the training bit at Nyra, sure. There actually was a guy that came in to save us, but the wolves ate him while we made a run for it.¡±


    Thessa¡¯s eyes widened in disbelief with every word Rache spoke. ¡°But I remember¡­¡±


    ¡°Maybe it would be easier if I say it like this¡­¡± Racheughed lightly. ¡°Styx? He¡¯s the Keeper. You know that you are the incarnation of Terra, and I am the incarnation of Aurivy. We have been training all these years so that we could be here now to help him with a n that he wanted to carry out. We haven¡¯t been in Soran for five years, it¡¯s barely been over five days.¡±


    ¡°This isn¡¯t a very nice joke, Rache¡­¡± Thessa said as she gripped her head, seeming to be trying to make sense of what was being said.


    ¡°She¡¯s not lying.¡± I said as I walked over. ¡°Ask Terra. She should be able to confirm it for you. Sorry, I used a little trick when I came down to help with my n. I didn¡¯t think it would work on you as well.¡±


    Thessa nodded, closing her eyes. Suddenly, both hands came up to her head as she let out a cry of pain, falling down to her knees. Don¡¯t worry. Terra spoke up to myself and Aurivy while Thessa leaned forward with her head on the floor. I¡¯m just giving her back the memories of what really happened. This should be over soon.


    As she said, Thessa¡¯s screams soon died down into loud, pained gasps. ¡°That¡­ that fucking hurt!¡± She hissed as she slowly pushed herself back up.


    ¡°All better now?¡± Rache asked, a bit of worry in her tone.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah¡­ I¡¯m fine now.¡± Thessa spoke through gritted teeth. ¡°I guess this means I¡¯m not getting paid anymore?¡±


    ¡°I mean, I could probably still pay you?¡± I asked, while asking internally. Ryone, can I probably still pay her?


    In response, a small, familiar bag fell down from the sky,nding in my hand. While the weight of it might have been negligible before when I was in Earth, it suddenly felt much heavier now. Enough that I nearly dropped it out of surprise.


    ¡°Yup¡­ I can still pay you.¡± I said while lightly tossing the bag filled with currency in her direction. She caught it with a confused gaze, her eyes practically shining a momentter as she realized what was in the bag.


    ¡°This will do. Is there anything else I can do for you now?¡± She asked, tying the bag to her belt as if it weighed nothing. She seemed much more cooperative suddenly, cing her arms behind her back and leaning forward. ¡°I set up a mine when we came here. There¡¯s plenty of ore for me to use. Would you like swords, armor, anything like that?¡±


    Rather than waiting for me to answer, Rache let out augh. ¡°How about we start with you buying food first? We¡¯ve got plenty of meat still, but¡­¡±


    Thessa gave a quick nod, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a small silver badge. ¡°Okay, Rache. I¡¯ll be back soon with the food!¡± As she said that, the badge in her hand emitted a blue light, and she vanished.


    ¡°Is it just me, or did she change pretty quickly?¡± I nced towards Rache once Thessa had left.


    The golden haired halfling rolled her eyes yfully. ¡°Thessa¡¯s always been swayed pretty easily by coin. At least, now she has. Before, she pretty much just did whatever Terra told her. I still remember all that stuff she talked about happening, too. But, since I¡¯m in direct control, I guess I have both sets of memories? Anyways, let¡¯s show you around the house.¡±


    I turned, finally getting the chance to see the home that they had made up close. It was hard to believe that Thessa had made all of this in five days, given that she seemed to specialize in physical sses. That meant she shouldn¡¯t have too much training as a druid to speed things along. Though, Rache might have helped her with that.


    It was a nice, two story home with wooden walls resting on a stone foundation. ss windows could be seen evenly ced along the walls, while stone steps led up to a simple door. Inside, I was able to see that they had created some simple furniture, such as a couch in the living room in front of a transmission stone.


    Various magical appliances were easily visible around the house, whether it was the cooking utensils in the kitchen, the lights along the wall, or even a blue stone that caused the room to be filled with a cool breeze. It felt in many ways like a modern home from my own world, causing me to let a small smile appear on my face.


    ¡°How in the world did you guys do all of this in five days?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask out loud as she showed me around the bedrooms, and even the basement office.


    ¡°Well, most of it we actually brought with us. Thessa¡¯s got insane physical stats, so we used a lot of our money buying things to prepare. All that we really had to do thisst week was to get the house itself built. Between the two of us working together, that wasn¡¯t too hard.¡± Rache answered with a shrug of her shoulders.


    I gave a small nod as I heard that. ¡°With this, I think we should have everything we need to make this work pretty well. By the way¡­ does the transmission stone actually work?¡± I found myself asking, recalling the setup that I had seen in the living room.


    ¡°Yup! Since there are a few cities on this floor, they set up towers to broadcast near the descending gate. We made sure that we were in their broadcasting range, so we can watch whatever programs they y. Helps keep us up to date with what¡¯s happening when I can¡¯t head back myself.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ This will work. As long as we can get people¡¯s attention, this should work just fine.¡±


    Aurivy nodded happily next to me when she heard that. ¡°We¡¯ve been working on that! Though, I think it¡¯s worked a bit better now that you used the Easy Reputation thing. I remember people have been asking questions about you thest few times I went to town. I figure we should have our first guest in a few days!¡±

 Chapter 292: Concealing Traces

    <h4>Chapter 292: Concealing Traces</h4>


    Author''s Corner: I have now gone through and posted the ENTIRE Keeper''s World collection of side stories on Scribble as well.


    After Rache showed me around the ce, it didn¡¯t take too much longer for Thessa to return, her backpack loaded down with arge quantity of produce. She hummed happily to herself as she took the load inside, cing her hand on the fridge. Immediately, I could see her backpack visibly shrinking, the contents inside vanishing.


    So the fridge is essentially a bag of holding¡­ got it. I nodded to myself as I watched the event.


    While she was gone, Rache had been telling me about the unique resources found on this floor. I was actually surprised to find that there had been so many that the people had yet to discover. There were some strange minerals, nts, and even some animals whose pieces possessed special properties.


    When I heard all of that, I couldn¡¯t help but give a small nod of my head, smiling to myself.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°So what¡¯s the deal with that girl?¡± A human d in silver armor asked a nearby shopkeeper shortly after the ck-haired halfling had left.


    ¡°What girl¡­?¡± The shopkeep asked in confusion, before realization dawned on him. ¡°Ah, you must mean Thessa, right?¡±


    ¡°I suppose? Shouldn¡¯t she be down on a lower floor, with how young she is?¡± It was rare to see men or women so young with bodies capable of easily withstanding the pressure that the neenthyer brings. Even more so when you consider the sheer amount of weight that she had been carrying.


    ¡°Ah, you must be new around here.¡± The man shook his head with a sigh. ¡°It¡¯s no real secret, so no harm in saying. Thessa and her sister live off with a man nearby by the name of Styx, so I hear. Every now and then they¡¯lle around to buy goods or just hear about what¡¯s going on with the world below.¡±


    ¡°This doesn¡¯t exactly strike me as a ce to settle down¡­¡±


    ¡°Huh? Oh! No, they don¡¯t have that sort of rtionship!¡± The store ownerughed, shaking his head. ¡°At least, not as far as I know. Styx just can¡¯t leave this floor, so they stick around to keep himpany. Apparently, they¡¯re busy exploring all the hidden secrets this floor has to offer. Who knows, they might have even found a new rune or two with how long they¡¯ve been around.¡±


    As he said that, the man shrugged his shoulders, returning his attention to the storefront. ¡°Is that so¡­?¡± As he left, he dropped a gold coin on the counter to thank the man for his troubles.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°If I had known that stuff like this was here, I would have asked Ryone to join us.¡± I chuckled as I looked down at the stone Thessa had handed me. I could feel a faint magical aura from it, one that seemed to be naturally uring.


    ¡°I already sent a few samples of these off to her.¡± Rache said with a small grin. ¡°She¡¯s not sure how many other uses that they have, but there¡¯s one that she thought you might be interested in, and it¡¯s the use that gave it the name ¡®Void Concealing Stone¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Okay, now you can¡¯t just lead with that and not tell me what you¡¯re talking about.¡± I told the golden-haired halfling with a raised eyebrow while I rolled the magical rock in my hand.


    ¡°Oh, I know~. I just like to let the suspense settle in for a moment. Anyways, this rock can be used as a substitute for those gems in an enchantment concealing ritual. The magical energy of the rock can be extracted, and masks the nature of enchantments against identification and location spells.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but send another nce down to the rock when I heard that, surprised it would have such an effect. ¡°As great as that sounds¡­ howmon are these rocks? If it¡¯s easier to just find the gems, then they won¡¯t have any real value for that.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s actually a rathermon stone here on this floor!¡± Racheughed, shaking her head. ¡°And you only need a small rock like that, as opposed to a bunch of big gems, so I think people will be all for it. More importantly, you can fashion the stone into a ne or ring, and you yourself would be hidden by the same properties.¡±


    ¡°It should be pretty easy to figure out that someone is wearing one of these if you get close to them, right?¡± I could feel the magical aura of the stone myself, so there was no reason to think that others wouldn¡¯t be able to.


    ¡°Oh, sure! But that¡¯s only if you get close enough. For a stone that big¡­ I¡¯d say you need to be within three feet to feel its energy. It¡¯s also that stone that has honestly kept people from exploring this floor more. Well, that and the sea monsters.¡±


    ¡°Come again?¡± I nced up to her, waiting for an exnation.


    ¡°Well, you see¡­ there are some big veins of those stones in nearby inds. The aura they give off blocks most detection spells. So when people use magic to try to look for points of interest on this floor, whether it is a new rune, an orb, or an intelligent race, the spell gets lost in the aura of the rocks, and always answers that it didn¡¯t find anything.¡±


    I gave a small nod of understanding at that. If they didn¡¯t think that there was anything valuable on thisyer, and just the basic minerals, then they wouldn¡¯t put too much focus here. The requirements for a miner in thisyer was too high, and it would simply be easier for them to extract thosemon resources from loweryers instead. Maybe once they ran out of gold or iron on all of the previous eighteen floors would they turn their sights here, but that was something for far in the future.


    ¡°Between the uncertainty that there is anything of actual value in this floor, and the known presence of undersea dangers, people aren¡¯t willing to devote the manpower needed to properly explore this floor. The only ones that can do so safely are mages and some specially trained monks. Anyone else would need a boat.¡±


    ¡°I get it.¡± I said with a sigh, setting down the stone. ¡°Are there any runes on thisyer, though?¡±


    ¡°Tons!¡± She said in exasperation. ¡°Bihena and I keep picking some at random to throw around on every floor. Sometimes, they¡¯re runes people already know, sometimes they¡¯re entirely new. There¡¯s one not that far away, the second tier Shatter rune.¡± She huffed, crossing her arms in front of herself. ¡°I ced that one myself, and nobody¡¯s even tried to find it.¡±


    I shook my head with a small smile, before Thessa¡¯s voice called out. ¡°Sir, you have guests approaching. Two by air, shall I let them in?¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s fine. I¡¯ll go out and meet them.¡± I said with a small smile, finally getting the chance to try something out. I¡¯d only been down here for a day, but I had discovered a cool trick that I could do now with my spiritual energy.


    Closing my eyes, I began to focus, lifting one hand up. Grey mist seeped out from my palm, forming into arge cloud. The cloud quickly condensed as a figure walked out of it, a perfect copy of myself.


    For a moment, I was assaulted with two viewpoints, feeling like a lesser version of world sight. However, once I closed my real body¡¯s eyes, I was able to focus entirely on the duplicate. Like how Tsubaki was able to create avatars of herself by dividing her body, I could do so by dividing my soul.


    Of course, thebat power of this avatar was fairly limited, but it was something that wouldn¡¯t hurt me much if it was destroyed. Thinking of that, I caused the avatar to disperse into the air, reappearing outside of the house. Looking up, I could see two people flying over, while Thessa walked up next to me. Strangely, she seemed to be carrying a shovel with her.


    Of the two people, one was obviously a mage. Her robes fluttered in the air while her magic supported both herself and the man next to her. As for the man himself, he wore a silver armor that covered his body from head to toe, carrying arge de on his back.


    I waited as the twonded, each seeming to be giants from my current perspective. The two humans set down on the ground, and then began walking over. The first to speak was the warrior d in armor, his voice echoing within his helmet. ¡°You are Mister Styx, I presume?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± I said with a nod. ¡°Is there something that I can help the two of you with?¡±


    ¡°I think that there is, actually.¡± The helmet moved to nod. ¡°I¡¯ve heard that, due to unusual circumstances, you are unable to leave the Great Blue?¡±


    I assumed that was their name for thisyer, so I nodded my head. ¡°That¡¯s correct. No real secret, is it?¡±


    ¡°Quite, I just wanted to confirm it with you. My name is Ryner, and I work for the Council.¡± As he said that, he held out a hand, and a ck back appeared above it. ¡°We would like to hire you for a mission that you seem to be uniquely suited for.¡±


    ¡°Oh? And what would that be.¡±


    The man turned his head, ncing towards the mage that he had brought with him, who began to speak in a cordial tone. ¡°We would like to hire the former adventurer Styx for a mission of exploration. As I am sure you know, these waters are uncharted, and home to many dangers. Due to your ability to break the limits of power on this world, you are the most suitable candidate for such an operation.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but give a small chuckle at that. ¡°So, basically, you want me to take a look around, that way you don¡¯t have to risk any of your own people?¡±


    ¡°That¡­ is one way of looking at it, yes.¡± She said, her brows furrowing a bit. ¡°You would be paid handsomely for any discoveries you can present that hold some significance. If you find anything of real value, we may find enough reason to further upy this floor, and allow you to no longer live as secluded a life.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine with seclusion.¡± I shook my head with a smile. ¡°But for significance¡­ Thessa, would you grab the stone from your sister inside? I think these two would be interested in it.¡±


    Thessa nodded her head, immediately turning and heading back inside while I exined. ¡°You see¡­ I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t get your name, miss.¡±


    ¡°Hana.¡± She said, looking at me rather curiously, with a touch of skepticism.


    ¡°Well, you see, Hana. Not too long ago, the girls discovered this peculiar little rock. Apparently, it¡¯s quitemon in these parts. And I think you¡¯ll be able to understand its significance fairly easily. This rock can be used to create a simple nondetection effect. Simply carrying it on you can render you invisible to spells.¡±


    While there was no movement from the warrior, Hana¡¯s eyes widened for a moment, before her face returned to a stoic mask. ¡°I believe, if you words are true, that would indeed be significant. However, we¡¯ll need a bit more than just your word.¡±


    ¡°Of course, of course.¡± I nodded, ncing back to see Thessa walking out. ¡°You can keep this rock. I can find plenty others if I need something.¡± When I said that, Thessa nced over to me before shrugging, tossing the void stone towards the mage. Ryner¡¯s arm shed out, snatching the stone from the air before it coulde close to her.


    ¡°That will be all for now.¡± Hana said with a shake of her head. ¡°Maximize. Strengthen. Flight. Group.¡± As she spoke the words in the runguage, the bodies of herself and Ryner lifted into the air. ¡°If you find anything else, please report to the priest in town, and he will send word to us.¡±


    I simply gave a nod, waiting for them to fly away.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Is it fine to leave it at that, mydy?¡± Ryner asked as the two flew away from the ind.


    ¡°Of course.¡± She smiled, bringing a ck cloth up to cover the lower half of her face. ¡°We can just let him run around for a while and collect information for us. The Council simply wants newnds to control, it doesn¡¯t really matter who handles the task.¡±


    ¡°And¡­ if he creates a problem for us?¡±


    Hana let out a lightugh at that. ¡°ording to the reports, Styx¡¯s training is too spread out to qualify as a proper Maxer, despite his levels. If he bes a problem in the future, we¡¯ll just have to take care of it.¡±


    Ryner simply gave a determined nod at that, one hand clutching the stone that he had caught as they flew away.

 Chapter 293: Hidden Agendas

    <h4>Chapter 293: Hidden Agendas</h4>


    I could hear the conversation between the two as they flew away, having deployed my world sight to monitor them until they reached the city. However, I simply smiled. It didn¡¯t matter much to me if they had an ulterior motive or not. Rather, it was perfectly fine if they did. They could use me to bolster their own achievements, but at the same time it would be fulfilling my own goals.


    ¡°Thessa.¡± I called out as my avatar turned to walk into the house, the ck-haired halfling immediately turning to follow me. ¡°How strong are the special monsters in this area? The ones with more usefulponents.¡±


    ¡°The monsters on this floor range from level three-fifty to four hundred.¡± She answered calmly. ¡°However, if we are discussing theirbat strength, then the ones in question are typically weaker. Enough that adventurers in the two hundred level range could easily kill them, assuming that they found them.¡±


    I gave a small nod at that. Since most of the monsters of thisyer were aquatic, finding them was a difficult task in itself. For most people, at least. ¡°Take Rache with you and gather up as many as you can. Be sure to send samples off to Ryone so that she can study them properly.¡±


    You want me to sit around and study fish bones and guts? Ryone asked in shock, having apparently been eavesdropping.


    Hey, if it gets the job done? I responded with a small grin. I¡¯ll make it up to youter, deal?


    I heard a mental huff at that. Fine. I¡¯ll add it to your tab.


    I simply rolled my eyes, entering the house and dispersing my avatar, returning the spiritual energy to my body. I could already see Rache getting up and heading out, having been given the same request as Thessa. Which left me alone in the house. Well, aside from Leowynn.


    Once the two of them had left, I allowed Leowynn to emerge to keep mepany. She smiled as she sat on the couch, using a wisp of energy to activate the transmission stone. ¡°So, any idea what you¡¯re going to do while they¡¯re gone, or will you let yourself rx for a moment?¡±


    ¡°Me, rx?¡± I asked with a lightugh. ¡°I¡¯ve still got more training to do. The perfect soul¡­ I have only just started to figure it out.¡±


    I sat next to Leowynn and closed my eyes, listening to the news report that she had turned on while looking into myself. I could see that crystal sphere within my body, just as I had every other time that I had looked at it since finishing my training. However, there was something different about itpared to when I first saw it outside of myself.


    No longer was it a perfectly smooth pearl. There were colors and patterns that had appeared. Streaks of blue dancing along a portion of the surface, while another section held a thrumming golden cloud. This was something that I had been rather curious about. In total, thirty-two different patterns shifted about on top of the pearl¡¯s surface.


    I focused on thergest pattern, the streaks of blue, and began causing it to expand across the entirety of the soul pearl. The other patterns seemed to be masked beneath it, hidden but still struggling to surface.


    When this happened, I felt a strange sensation creeping over my body, both weakness and strength in one. It felt almost as if my mana was rising, while my body was growing weak. However, this was only an illusory feeling. I knew that my mana had not truly risen, nor had my body be weaker. Rather, I gave the ¡®appearance¡¯ as if my levels had all be that of a mage.


    Simrly, when I smoothed out the entire pearl, it felt almost as if all of my ki, my mana, and my physical strength had been hidden. This was by no means a true conversion, but rather a disguise. If I was right, then this should be able to fool most sensing abilities, as well as the status orbs. Though, I still wasn¡¯t sure how to change the finer details in the orbs such as my name.


    At that, a thought urred to me, and I found myself smiling wide at it. I unsealed my painter levels, as it was one of the few I didn¡¯t have normally, and saw a pastel mix of colors spreading out over the pearl. Focusing a bit harder, I covered that spread, burying it within the pearl as it once again looked normal.


    Terra¡­ please tell me I¡¯m not imagining this.


    There was a lightugh in response. You¡¯re not imagining it. Just remember, too many physical stats will increase your weight, and make it easy to see through the lie.


    I gave a small nod, repeating the process again with the archmage ss. Next to me, Leowynn suddenly spoke up. ¡°Father¡­? Why are you releasing your real power suddenly?¡± Naturally, since our souls were connected, she could feel the surge in my strength even if it was hidden from others.


    ¡°Because I finally found a way to do so without announcing my presence to the whole world.¡± I muttered happily. Right now, I was purely focusing on releasing sses that did not have physical stats. That way I could strengthen myself without making it too obvious. And, I have to admit, I was all for having an extrayer of life insurance.


    Once I was done releasing the sses, I stared at the pearl, seeing the torrent of energies hidden beneath the surface. It felt as if it would go out of control as soon as I stopped focusing on it¡­ which wasn¡¯t a good thing, naturally. I had no desire for my Keeper aura to leak out of me the moment I got distracted in a conversation.


    I began to ponder how to fix this issue, going through the various skills I knew to see if one might be able to apply here. I could possibly ask Leowynn to maintain the pearl for me, but I wasn¡¯t sure if our connection would allow her to control my soul like that. However, it was at that moment when I remembered another ability that I had all but forgotten in my recent training.


    I pulled a strand of my soul out from the pearl and formed a second body within myself. This body sat atop the pearl, and slowly opened its eyes. Immediately, I felt my focus splitting between the two selves. But a split such as this was still fine. The Ten Thousand Threads required me to divide my attention far more than this.


    Outside, I opened my eyes, giving a satisfied nod. If I treated the self within me like it was one of the strings, I would be able to maintain the shape of my soul pearl without too much difficulty. Now, whether it was my ki or my mana, both shot up explosively. I¡¯d be able to fight at a far higher level than with my normal abilities.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Hana and Ryner yd, reporting to the Council.¡± The mage cupped her hand respectfully as she bowed, having arrived on the first floor of Fyor.


    ¡°What do you have to report, Mrs. yd?¡± An aged halfling asked from behind a counter. He was not one of the big names in the Council. Rather, he was just the receptionist, determining if a report was worthy of being sent on to the decision makers. He dealt with people like these two every day, and it had begun to bore him.


    ¡°My husband and I have made a discovery of significance to the people of Fyor.¡± She said with a smile, reaching into the front of her dress and retrieving a small pouch, before lightly setting it on the halfling¡¯s desk. ¡°A stone from the Great Blue. It holds mystical properties, capable of blocking detection through magical means. It is this one¡¯s belief that these stones are the reason we have found nothing within that floor.¡±


    The halfling raised an eyebrow, carefully opening up the pouch and retrieving the small gem. He was not a great mage, but he could feel the wisp of magical energy once he was holding it in his palm. ¡°I see¡­ I shall pass this along. The Council will determine the value of this discovery by this time tomorrow.¡±


    Hana¡¯s eyes opened wide with joy. A normal discovery, such as a new gold vein or a new type of ore, would typically be processed immediately. There was no need to wait for Council deliberation. Only when the find held greater value did the Council need to speak amongst themselves to hand out a suitable reward. ¡°Thank you, sir.¡± She bowed low once again.


    With that, she was excused, and met her husband outside of the office. Just the excited look on her face, and theck of an additional coin purse, was all he needed to see in order to know just how much they had gotten this time. ¡°And you said that being an enforcer wouldn¡¯t get us anywhere.¡± He grinned, moving to step through the gate with Hana.


    ¡°Shut it.¡± Sheughed lightly, shaking her head. ¡°He said that these rocks weremon? Why don¡¯t we see if we can grab a few more before wee back tomorrow for our reward?¡±


    Naturally, her husband wasn¡¯t against the idea. Once the existence of the stones were made public knowledge, the demand for them would be as high as the tallest sky. If they could secure the location for arge quantity of them, then they could sell those stones off as precious gems before the market settled.


    _______________________________________________________________


    I looked up at the sky, slowly watching as it grew dark. It truly felt weird to have a dusk and dawn with no sun. There was no red on the horizon, no beautiful sunset. The sky simply seemed to power down, as if a shadow fell over the world.


    In its ce, the twinkling of false stars appeared on the ceiling of the floor. What sort of gems make up the stars in the sky? I asked, feeling like it was a ridiculous question.


    Surprisingly, it was Ryone that answered. Typically, they are simply quartz. Every now and then, there will be a particrly bright star made of a special gem. In fact, on the third floor it is a bit strange there. The gems are different colors, consisting of rubies or sapphires. They paint a picture across the sky, and the radiance they give off can faintly be seen during the day.


    So they aren¡¯t worth harvesting, then. I shook my head, a bit disappointed that there was nothing that I could get out of that. The Void Concealing Stones were good, but they weren¡¯t enough to mobilize arge force. I needed something valuable enough that it could change the way the world worked.


    Now, I knew that there was such a thing in this floor. Rache had already told me about the different materials in the ¡®Great Blue¡¯. The problem was that there weren¡¯t any of that type avable nearby, so I needed other objects to let me have an excuse to expand where I was gathering from.


    ¡°Cancel.¡± I heard the runic word spoke from behind myself, and turned to find Rache and Terranding on the ground. ¡°Hey, Styx! Got what you asked for. And we already sent plenty of it off to Ryone.¡± She said with a yful look in her eyes, no doubt imagining the disgusted goddess having to pick through fish entrails in order to find the valuableponents.


    ¡°Is there anything else that you need, sir?¡± Thessa asked dryly as she stepped forward, her body soaked from head to toe. I winced, imagining how she must have gone into the water to secure many of the ¡®materials¡¯.


    ¡°No¡­ no, you can have the rest of the night off. Go get cleaned up. I¡¯ll have work for the two of you again tomorrow.¡±

 Chapter 294: To Turn the Tides

    <h4>Chapter 294: To Turn the Tides</h4>


    ¡°It should be around here¡­¡± Hana muttered to herself, standing within a dark cave, her husband Ryner right behind her. She brought a hand up in front of herself and muttered the spell she had used multiple times already. ¡°Hyn¡¯thinayr phallin, sho.¡±


    Above her hand, a blue disc appeared, quickly expanding to be a blue sphere the spread out in all directions. However, she ignored the blue lights, rather focusing on the few empty regions. One such was the pathway that she had already dug within the ground, while another was just off to the side of her.


    Naturally, few people would think to cast a spell to search for the ground. What would be the point of that, when more often than not you are standing on it? But, when you know that you are searching for something that will always return a false negative, searching for something that logically should be present bes the best solution.


    ¡°I hope it¡¯s not another gas pocket.¡± Ryner said with a slight huff, his sword at the ready just in case a monster attacked them.


    Hana hesitated, remembering theirst little discovery. It had been¡­ unpleasant. She pulled out a small book she kept on a long ne, and flipped through it quickly. She repeated her spell, this time modifying it to instead search for gases. This time, the only response that lit up was the path that they had just created, now filled with air.


    She let out a sigh of relief at that, before cing her hand upon the stone wall. ¡°This should be the ce, then.¡± She said with a small smile. ¡°Laria, sho.¡±


    The stone in front of her opened up, split down the middle as a path stretched out directly in front of the two of them. As soon as she took a step forward, she could feel the magical aura of the stones, her smile widening.


    _______________________________________________________________


    When I awoke in the morning, I spent a bit of time observing the two ¡®Council representatives¡¯, nodding in satisfaction when I saw them looking for a vein of the Void Concealing Stones. That¡¯ll make it a bit easier to convince people that the resources are abundantter.


    Part of me wondered how many special materials there might be on the rest of the discovered floors, still waiting to be explored. Surely, this was not the only one that had such oddities. With every floor built like its own miniature world, it would make sense if each one had its own special minerals or monsters that people could make use of.


    But, that was also a part of this goal. Right now, the world was too reliant on the first floor, the Council that had so little room. They needed a reason to expand, to grow beyond their self-imposed limits. They needed to discover the richness of the world without being entirely focused on simply advancing from one floor to another.


    This was especially true because it seemed that the level limit of the world had not caught up to the monsters. This could only mean that there was a level orb or two that had yet to be discovered. But at the same time, it prevented further exploration.


    While well-equipped and prepared teams could explore the neenth and twentieth floors, it would be suicide to go any further. How could you expect them to reliably be able to fight against monsters a minimum of one hundred levels higher than themselves? They¡¯d need top of the line equipment just to be able to put a dent in them.


    Shaking my head, I took my mind off of that, and began focusing on something else. I needed to decide which resource to send their way next. It couldn¡¯t be something that paled inparison with those stones, but at same time it couldn¡¯t be something too major.


    Until the method to disguise enchantments is discovered, they likely won¡¯t be using the Void Concealing Stones as anything but personal trinkets¡­ So next up, how about something more practical?


    I gave a small nod as I thought to myself, before standing up and stepping outside. One of the objects that Aurivy had told me about was far more practical and unique than the stones. They could even be considered as the reason behind why the Great Blue was an ocean world.


    Of course, for me to get one, I¡¯d have to go deep into the water. But¡­ that was no real worry for me. I just needed to take a few precautions. ¡°Thessa, Rache! Want to go on a little hike?¡±


    ¡°Huh¡­?¡± Thessa respondedzily, tripping out of her room with a loud thud, her face still tired. ¡°Sir¡­? Where are we going?¡± As she asked that, a lightugh came from behind her, Rache happily skipping across Thessa¡¯s body to stand in the hall.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to grab some tidestone.¡± I answered, watching a bit of confusion appear on Thessa¡¯s face before Rache quickly exined.


    ¡°Tidestone is what we call a special mineral that we¡¯ve only seen appearing on this floor. When it absorbs mana, it releases an equivalent amount of water.¡± As she spoke, she ran across the hall to the storage room where the two of them kept their equipment.


    ¡°But¡­ if that was the case, wouldn¡¯t the world have flooded long ago?¡± Thessa couldn¡¯t help but ask as she forced herself back up to her feet.


    ¡°It did!¡± Rache called back. ¡°From what we can tell, this world wasn¡¯t originally a giant ocean. It¡¯s hard to say just how much has changed, but it¡¯s likely that the water has been slowly building for as long as the world¡¯s been around!¡±


    ¡°Though, once we noticed those stones, we sent one to Ryone for her to y with.¡± Rache continued, stepping out of the room wearing her robes, and carrying a blue staff in one hand. ¡°ording to her, they will continue to release water as long as the mana is supplied, until they reach a sufficient pressure.¡±


    Thessa nodded, still not entirely understanding due to herck of proper sleep. However, I was able to grasp the meaning behind that bit of information. ¡°So as the water grew higher, the air became denser, since there is a ceiling on this world. The pressure became higher, until finally the water couldn¡¯t rise anymore?¡±


    The golden haired halfling nodded her head. ¡°Yup! Well, that or they are just so deep underwater now that the water pressure itself is restricting them. Either way! With ambient mana permeating the air, all it takes is one small stone to create a container that slowly replenishes itself with water! Think of what that could mean for a desert region, or adventurers exploring newnds!¡±


    Thessa gave another nod, finally able to voice a question. ¡°But¡­ wouldn¡¯t that mean that all it would take is one stone to flood one of the lower floors?¡±


    Her question definitely had merit, so I turned my head to wait for her sister to exin. Mostly because I was curious about the answer as well. ¡°Well¡­ if they gave it long enough, sure. But that would mean that they left it alone for hundreds, maybe even thousands of years without anyone moving in to stop it. There¡¯s a limit to how much mana the stones can ept at one point, so it¡¯s not like a single magician could pour mana into it to create a flood.¡±


    Well, at least not normally. I did discover that the stone is useful when shattered as an additionalponent for a water or ice spell. Ryone¡¯s voice spoke out, echoing into our minds. Also, hi! And thanks for all the fish¡­ Terra¡¯s been having a field day with my leftovers.


    I shook my head at that, dismissing the notion. ¡°So they¡¯re not exactly a disaster waiting to happen. Good to know. The two of you, go ahead and get ready. I¡¯ll be outside waiting.¡±


    With that, I turned and began walking outside, sending a message towards Leowynn. How long do you think you could maintain the Tide with our current level?


    You want to use me to create a bubble for the three of you to safely travel through? Leowynn asked curiously, before giving it some thought. The Tide isn¡¯t one of the bigger constetions¡­ I could probably hold it for six hours if need be.


    I was rather thankful that she seemed to understand my n ahead of time, and wasn¡¯t opposed to it. While the n was still possible without her help, Leowynn¡¯s assistance did make it far easier.


    Once outside, I only had to wait for a short while. Rache emerged from the house only a few moments after myself, having already gotten herself prepared. Thessa, on the other hand, took a few minutes to get changed into her work clothes. Since she heard that we were going mining, she brought along a pickaxe and a small leather bag. Naturally, I assumed it to be a bag of holding.


    ¡°Alright.¡± I nodded, seeing that everything was set. ¡°Leowynn, if you would?¡±


    Leave it to me, Father. I manifest the Tide. I could feel Leowynn¡¯s power flowing through my own body, the familiar pair of gauntlets forming on my hands. Nearby, the waves reached up out of the ocean, moving to form a ball around myself and the two goddess incarnations.


    ¡°Now, we can simply walk there¡­ or we could fly.¡± I chuckled, switching to the runguage. ¡°Group fly¡±


    Our bodies lifted up off the ground, the ball of water bing moreplete as it was able to form beneath us as well. As we flew over towards the water, we began to sink down into it, the water sphere barely causing a ripple on the surface.


    For us on the inside, however, it looked quite spectacr. We were no longer able to see the sky and thend around us, rather looking out and into the ocean. As we sank further and further down, we saw strange looking fish, some big and some small swimming past us.


    Next to me, I saw Rache holding her staff at the ready, just in case any of the fish decided to turn back and be hostile. And sure enough, eventually some did just that.


    Our first aggressor looked like an overgrown shark with bony spikes jutting out in front of and behind its fins. It had to have been twenty meters long, and was on us almost as soon as we saw its shadow. Its mouth opened wide, looking as if it nned to swallow our entire bubble hole.


    ¡°Spear of ice, maximize strength, maximize speed freeze spread.¡± Rache muttered in the runguage, the tip of her blue staff glowing. Thessa simply stood there calmly, as if she knew that there was no real danger here.


    Moments before the giant shark reached us, a spear of ice shot out from our little bubble, right into the mouth of the beast. Its mouth abruptly closed as the spear pierced deep inside, and our bubble shifted out of its path as it crashed past us. Its health bar appeared and began to rapidly plummet as frost appeared over its skin.


    I didn¡¯t much care what happened to the shark, and simply continued sending us further and further down. If it survived, it likely wouldn¡¯t want another shot at us. If it didn¡¯t¡­ well, there was chum in the waters, now.


    ¡°How are you doing on mana after that, Rache?¡± I asked curiously, ncing over towards her.


    She gave a small smile back in response. ¡°You said that we wereing down here, so I prepared properly. I¡¯ll be fine as long as I can stick to casting water or ice spells. If we need something else¡­ I¡¯ll probably have to ask you to take care of it.¡±

 Chapter 295: The Terrors in the Deep

    <h4>Chapter 295: The Terrors in the Deep</h4>


    We sank deeper and deeper into the water, until soon the light from the surface no longer reached us. At that point, I was forced to cast a pair of spells. The first spell was a simple light spell to grant us vision over an area. The second, however, was moreplicated. Since the monsters within the ocean were fairly quick, and we were now a giant beacon of food, I also prepared a detection spell to help me keep an eye on anything approaching us.


    Next to me, Thessa for her part was still fairly calm. On the other hand, Rache could no longer be considered so. Rather, as she looked out at the dark, mostly empty waters, she would flinch at every vague shadow.


    ¡°Scared of the dark?¡± I asked curiously, making sure to use my world sight as a thirdyer of security to scan the area. I already knew where the stone was that we were traveling towards, so it was just a matter of getting there. Theoretically, I could simply teleport¡­ but I had heard stories of what happened when divers went up or down too quickly. I didn¡¯t know what my tolerance was with the strength of my body, but¡­ better safe than sorry.


    ¡°Not the dark¡­¡± Rache muttered, clinging to her staff. ¡°This incarnation¡­ she has a thing with the deep ocean. Trying to keep it covered, but her brain¡­ let¡¯s just say that it¡¯s not an easy thing to control.¡±


    I gave a small nod when I heard that. I considered slowing our descent to give her more time to adjust. But, if it was a pathological fear that her host had, then that might only make it worse. So, I continued our steady drop, until finally we reached a sandy ocean floor.


    As we nded¡¯, the sand scattered around us in a cloud, eventually revealing a rough rocky surface. Of course, doing so obscured our sight by surrounding our bubble, which made Rache scream in a brief panic. I reached a hand over to gently ce it on her shoulder, feeling how she trembled.


    I could understand a fear of the ocean. I still remembered my time on that boat¡­ when I saw the shadow of the giant beast that lurked below. Logically, I knew that I could likely kill it. But when I saw howrge and imposing it was, it triggered an innate fear.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay. We won¡¯t need to be here for long.¡± I whispered to her while deploying my world sight to scan the area, finding the exact location of the mineral vein. It wasn¡¯t far away from us, which was nice. Just a few steps off, and hiding beneath a giant manta-ray like creature that was using the sand as camouge.


    Okay, maybe that could be an issue. ¡°Recall location, force enemy teleport.¡± I spoke in the runic tongue, pointing my finger out towards where I sensed the creature. As the white beam of light shot out, the manta seemed to sense something, lifting its body up abruptly. However, it was simply toorge to fully evade the spell.


    When it hit, I focused on the nest of insects in the twentieth floor where they had found the elementalist orb. My mana decreased by a rather surprising amount for a teleportation spell, likely due to having to break the boundary betweenyers, but soon there was a copse within the water, the pressure sinking in to fill the empty space where the manta had previously been.


    Looking back, I saw Rache crouched down, practically crying as she hugged her staff to herself. Thessa gently hugged her side,forting her silently. Note to self, don¡¯t bring Rache down here again.


    If I had known that she was this bad with the ocean, I wouldn¡¯t have brought her in the first ce. Speaking of¡­ Aurivy, why didn¡¯t you mention anything if it¡¯s this bad?


    I heard a mental sigh at the question, moments before the prayer was answered. I had been managing her fear pretty well up till now. I didn¡¯t think it¡¯d get so much worse, or I would have said something. Sorry about that.


    I nodded quietly when I heard that, silently waiting for Aurivy to get control of Rache again. There weren¡¯t any other dangerous creatures around that I could sense, but that could change at a moment¡¯s notice. While I waited, I decided to ask Terra a question that had been bugging me. Terra, you have a minute?


    Sure. Her response came fairly quickly, though for once it didn¡¯t seem like she knew what I wanted to ask her about.


    If the tidestones create water out of mana, and that water doesn¡¯t dissipate over time¡­ that should be breaking even this world¡¯sws of physics. Conservation of mass goes right out the window when you can create water from mana without end.


    There was a brief pause at my question, before Terra began to exin. You¡¯re absolutely right. And¡­ technically, the water isn¡¯t limitless. It is just practically limitless. To say that the tidestones create water from mana isn¡¯t exactly correct. Rather, they use the mana much like the fairy gates, connecting to an elemental ne of water.


    So, theoretically, if the stones were to constantly pour out water till the end of time, they would eventually hit a hard limit? I couldn¡¯t help but ask, closing my eyes in thought.


    That¡¯s right.


    So what we need is a way to reverse the process, to send water back to this elemental ne. That way, the water will never be able to be too much of an issue.


    After sending that thought to her, an idea urred to me. Leowynn, I need you to brace yourself. This¡­ could get strange.


    Taking a deep breath, I lifted my hand once again, pointing my palm out towards the water. ¡°Banish.¡± I spoke the runic word.


    Like with the manta-ray, the water suddenly copsed in on itself, a brief void having opened up outside our bubble. Holy hell, it actually worked! I thought to myself, feeling the strain on Leowynn¡¯s control as the water tried to crash down against us, having to push it back with her will alone.


    But wait¡­ if these oceans were formed by the tidestones¡­ then what about all the aquatic life that lives in this world? I asked, a sudden realization dawning on me as I nced through the murky waters. Terra¡­ the level limit of monsters on this floor isn¡¯t really four hundred, is it¡­?


    Well¡­ I mean, technically? She replied, a difficult to exin tone to her voice. No monster greater than level four hundred can be born on this floor. And they can¡¯te through the gates between floors.


    Uh-huh¡­ and what about gates to the elemental ne of water? My eyes caught sight of a small fish that seemed to swim up out of the surface of the water. I knew that the location it emerged from was the tidestone vein, which only made me focus even more on it.


    Level 621 Deep Sea Minnow


    My eyes went wide when I saw the level of the small fish, before Terra¡¯s answer came in a momentter. If it makes you feel better, the size of the gate is directly dependant on the surface area of the tidestone vein connected to the water, fueled by ambient mana. TYPICALLY nothing big can get through.


    There¡¯s a big vein somewhere on this floor, isn¡¯t there?


    Oh, it¡¯s fucking massive. Her blunt answer came immediately after I voiced my question. Down in the deepest brineke, surrounded by the city of scattered lights that the aquatic race created.


    And you didn¡¯t think that this was something I needed to know before!? I fired back in a brief moment of panic before cooling my head. Sorry, sorry¡­ I know, you couldn¡¯t tell me until I had already figured out that something was wrong with the tidestones themselves, right?


    Pretty much. She said with a sigh. And I¡¯ll have you know, Aurivy¡¯s been eavesdropping. She¡¯s currently searching frantically through the oceans to make sure that there hasn¡¯t been anythinging through that vein yet.


    ¡°Styx¡­ I think I¡¯m good now.¡± Rache said shakily from behind me as she stood up, her knuckles white as she tightly clutched her staff.


    ¡°Okay¡­ Thessa, you¡¯re in charge of breaking that vein.¡± I told her, quickly walking towards it. ¡°No matter what, you can¡¯t use any kind of mana to do so. You can use ki fine, but no mana.¡±


    Thessa looked towards me in confusion, before ncing towards her pick. With a sigh, she caused it to vanish into her bag of holding, cracking her knuckles as she approached the vein. ¡°I don¡¯t want to know, do I?¡±


    ¡°That depends, how much do you like sleeping?¡±


    ¡°I am the incarnation of a cat, sir.¡± She said as she crouched down, cing her left hand on the rock while her right began to glow a faint gold. ¡°I love sleep.¡± I could already see drops of water starting to pool up from the vein as her fist mmed down, d in ki.


    There was a great crash from next to me, and I could see Thessa¡¯s health bar appear within a cloud of smoke. When it cleared, I saw her hand bloodied, severalrge stones broken off from the vein. I reached over, putting my hand on her shoulder and letting my ki of beginning wash over her to fix the damage.


    ¡°Really¡­¡± She muttered, seeming to take that as a signal to gather more, her fist mming down again.


    ¡°I¡­ was just trying to heal you.¡± I admitted, healing her once again while she blinked her eyes in confusion, her face covered with ayer of sand now.


    ¡°Oh. Does that mean I¡¯m done now?¡±


    ¡°Please, I want to get back onto drynd.¡± I nodded my head quickly, and she began to gather up the stones that she had collected, putting them all in her bag of holding.


    Enchanted bag, stones that create water based on mana¡­ well, that¡¯s going to be a great big bag of water soon. I thought to myself, reaching over to grab Rache and Thessa¡¯s hands to begin our ascent. Leowynn, how are you on energy?


    I¡¯m fine for now, Father. But you should hurry¡­ I imagine that the air inside the bubble won¡¯tst too much longer.


    ¡­Oh right, that¡¯s a thing I have to worry about too. I may have sped up our ascent just a tad bit beyond what would normally be considered strictly safe. I estimated that we were around six hundred meters below the surface of the water. That meant that normally, I would want to give us around an hour to ascend.


    Fifteen minutester, I was seeing the light from the surface again, and I could feel that it was starting to be difficult to breathe. Twenty minutes, and I saw that the other two were having the same issue. At twenty-five, we were close enough to the surface that I simply told Leowynn to open a path the entire way, so that we could have a literal breath of fresh air.


    Watching the ocean split open around us, the blurred sky now clear and visible, I took a deep breath, sighing in relief. Thest thing that I wanted was for this whole n to go down the drain because the girls ran out of air during a dive.


    Spoiler


    Once more, Dale and the others found themselves walking into therge meeting room, taking their seats at the table. They didn¡¯t remember how they had found themselves in the room, or why they were there in the first ce, but they seemed to ept it rather easily. ¡°Fanmail reading, again?¡± Dale asked as he took his spot, ncing towards Terra.


    ¡°Yup! d to see that you¡¯re getting used to the whole thing.¡± She grinned mischievously towards Dale as the rest of the gods, goddesses, and semi-divine spirits took their seats.


    ¡°Third time¡¯s the charm?¡± He shrugged his shoulders, while alia was practically bouncing in her seat.


    ¡°Hopefully someone¡¯s got a question for me this time!¡± She remarked excitedly, remembering how she had been left out from thest meeting.


    ¡°Well, we¡¯ll see.¡± Terra teased, opening up the box that she had brought with her so far to every reading. There was a small stack of letters within, and everyone was relieved to see that the stack did not seem to have diminished since thest time. Well, everyone but Tryval, who seemed rather annoyed by the whole affair.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ thirteen this time! Slowly but surely, guys.¡± Terraughed as she reached in to pull out the first letter, an old, dusty envelope. ¡°And this one is from¡­ that smiling sentient ball guy.¡±


    ¡°He was in thest one, wasn¡¯t he?¡± Ashley spoke up, unable to stop herself from sending a nce towards the envelope.


    ¡°Yup. Let¡¯s see what he has for us this time.¡± Terra waved a hand, the letter opening and revealing the paper within. ¡°Hmm¡­ This one¡¯s for Dale.¡± As she read through the question, her expression seemed to harden. ¡°Congrattions, you have fought off your first invasion! You must have experienced life and death multiple times by now right? So why don''t you have the courage yet to answer the simple question of who was better in bed? S.M.H, what¡¯s the answer Dale?¡±


    ¡°Okay, really?¡± Dale lifted his head up. ¡°This again? Anyone who¡¯s ever been in a rtionship with multiple people knows that it¡¯s not that simple.¡± He let out a low groan. ¡°To say that one is better than the other would be both unfair and untrue, and I¡¯m not about to cause a divide between my girls over some fanmail.¡±


    ¡°Good answer.¡± Ryone winked yfully, reaching one hand out to gently take hold of Dale¡¯s, looking towards the letter. ¡°Anything else?¡±


    ¡°Thankfully, yes.¡± Terra nodded. ¡°This one¡¯s for Grimor, so¡­¡± Terra snapped her fingers, the three-eyed giant falling down abruptly from the ceiling on the far side of the room. ¡°Fanmail.¡± She spoke up, before he had the chance to question things.


    ¡°What the--oh¡­ someone must have annoyed her.¡± He grunted, moving to a morefortable sitting position, his head bumping against the ceiling. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get on with it. I take it they want to know something more about my past?¡±


    ¡°How you doing, Grimor?¡± Dale suddenly asked in concern, ncing over towards the giant, who waved him off.


    ¡°No harm to me. Just been taking care of business. Heard you¡¯ve been getting along with Balu, though. Good to hear.¡± With that, he let out a deep, rumbling chuckle as his attention turned back towards Terra.


    ¡°Right. Anyways, who and what were you before you became the Keeper of your world? How and why did you kill your old Keeper?¡± Terra read off the question, ring rather fiercely at the letter.


    ¡°Oh, that?¡± Grimor¡¯s eyes opened in surprise. ¡°Well, there¡¯s a bit of a story there. In all honesty, I¡¯ve almost forgotten who I used to be. After a few hundred years, the details just start kind of blurring together.¡±


    ¡°The world that I was born on was a cultivation world. And, as you might expect, I was one of the leading figures there. The Three-Eyed Demon God, they called me.¡± He smiled fondly at the memory. ¡°I may not have always been the most upright of character. In fact, it was to such a point that the old Keeper actually descended herself to take care of me. Now that was a battle. We each had to give it everything we had, and I still only won because of a fluke.¡±


    ¡°One of myckeys arrived at a crucial moment, using his body as a shield to defend me. My old Keeper, she wasn¡¯t the heartless type. When she learned that she had killed someone by ident, it left her with an opening. ording to mypanion, her gods were too afraid that distracting her with warnings would get her killed, so by the time I acted there was nothing that they could do.¡±


    ¡°Next thing I knew, I was going through the Keeper tutorial.¡± He gave a small shrug at that, the muscles of his shoulders rippling from the movement. ¡°Over the years, I started to grow fond of my world, and even ended up joining the guild. But, that¡¯s my story. Satisfied?¡±


    Dale, as well as most of the others in the room, were staring at Grimor in shock while Terra simply nodded her head. ¡°Yup, works for me. Now,st question. This one¡¯s for Kathy¡­¡±


    Terra sighed softly, snapping her fingers again. There was the click-ck of pointed feet hitting the wooden floor as a certain arachne walked into the room, waving excitedly at everyone. ¡°Hi! I¡¯m here! Someone wanted to ask me another question!?¡± She was almost dancing in ce, her body swaying side to side as her eyes zeroed in on the letter.


    ¡°Seems to be the case.¡± Terra nodded her head. ¡°Anyways. This is the question for you. Generally, after mating the male arachne is eaten by the female. But, did you know that in Russia, the male eats the female?¡±


    ¡°Ooh, what¡¯s a Russia?¡± Kathy asked, before abruptly shaking her head. ¡°Wait, no, question! Uhm, really? Well, that¡¯s neat? I mean, sexual cannibalism is reallymon among Arachne. Typically, it urs when the mating pair bes excited, and loses control of themselves, with therger specimen eating the smaller. So, I guess if it happens that way in Russia, the males are typicallyrger?¡±


    ¡°Did¡­ Kathy just give a scientific exnation?¡± Dale asked, seeming even more shocked than to discover Grimor¡¯s history.


    ¡°Hey! I know a lot of stuff, too!¡± Kathy puffed her cheeks out in response, her eight legs all stomping in a circr motion. ¡°That¡¯s all reallymon knowledge. You have to use protection to avoid stuff like that, right?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t wanna know.¡± Ashley shook her head, her face seeming a bit of a paler red at the thought. ¡°Really don¡¯t wanna know.¡±


    ¡°Ooh, I don¡¯t think I met you!¡± Kathy smiled towards Ashley, waving happily. Ashley¡¯s wings simply wrapped around her chest, almost like a security nket.


    She seemed to be whispering to herself quietly. ¡°She didn¡¯t notice mest time¡­ we can just get through this, and then it all goes back to normal.¡±


    Terra looked in concern towards Ashley, but quickly tossed the paper to the side, the letter bursting into mes and scattering across the floor as ash. ¡°Next up.¡± She hurriedly spoke, seeming to want to help free Ashley from her living nightmare.


    ¡°This one is from a ¡®Chinboogie¡¯. Well, that¡¯s a new one. And it is¡­ for me, I guess? Has there ever been a Keeper that shared his story about how he defended or attacked a world because of how weird or funny it was?¡± Her eyes focused a bit in concentration as she thought about that.


    ¡°Well, a Keeper can¡¯t really defend another Keeper¡¯s world. So if their world were weird or funny, it would be because they made it that way. However, there have been some that have attacked other worlds because they found them to be strange. Typically, these are the case for your normal tyrant Keepers, who care more about battle than anything else.¡±


    After she had given that answer, Terra gave another look at the paper, shrugging and tossing it aside. ¡°Only one question on that one.¡± She exined, before moving to pull out another envelope. ¡°And now, from SunGato. Huh, he¡¯s been in all three readings now.¡±


    ¡°First question, for Dale. No, it¡¯s not a ¡®torment the Keeper¡¯ question.¡± She hinted, seeing that Dale tensed up when his name was called. ¡°What other programs are there on yourputer? Map with statistics, notepad, design, chat, and browser¡­ solitaire?¡±


    ¡°Solitaire, huh?¡± Dale looked a bit thoughtful at that. ¡°Can¡¯t say it has that. Though, if I wanted to y, it wouldn¡¯t be too hard to get myself a deck of cards. No, Terra set up thatputer for me back in day one, and it has the entire Keeper interface on it. Anything that I can do on theputer, I can also do without it, it¡¯s just¡­ harder?¡±


    ¡°It usually takes a fair amount of practice.¡± Grimor nodded his head. ¡°Especially for detailed searching through the map.¡±


    ¡°Right, that.¡± Dale pointed appreciatively towards Grimor. ¡°For some of the things, I¡¯ve stopped focusing too much on theputer, and have learned to do it on my own. But some of it, that¡¯s just not an option for me yet. Thest thing I want is to idently relocate a mountain because I got distracted while going through the map. That¡¯s¡­ not something that could really happen, right?¡±


    Seeing that Dale¡¯s eyes had turned towards Terra, she let out a lightugh. ¡°Well, I mean, it could. But you¡¯d get a prompt for the point cost. So you¡¯d just have to immediately ept that as well.¡± Satisfied with the answer, she looked down towards the paper. ¡°And next is¡­ another question for Kathy?¡±


    ¡°Oooh, I¡¯m getting popr over here!¡± Kathy chittered with glee.


    ¡°Seems that way. Now, why don¡¯t you ever invite Dale to visit your Admin Room?¡± Terra gave a knowing smile, looking up towards Kathy.


    ¡°Because mypanions are all so boring!¡± She gave a huff at the question. ¡°None of them really have a sense of humor. And the one that does is really sick. Like, I¡¯d be worried that he would try to wrap Dale up in a web and pin him to the wall while he was there. No, it¡¯s much more fun to hang out here!¡±


    Ashley¡¯s face seemed to only grow more and more pale with each passing word, her body starting to actually tremble. Aurivy reached over towards her, putting a gentle hand on her leg, but even that caused her to look up with a start, almost jumping out of her seat.


    Terra, reading the mood again, quickly tried to hurry things along. ¡°Andst up is¡­ Balu? Wow, this should just be the guest episode of fan mail.¡± She snapped her fingers again, and a pair of fluffy white ears seemed to sprout up from behind Grimor¡¯s head, a furry form slowly climing down his back.


    ¡°Hey, what¡¯s going on--huh?¡± She looked around in confusion once her feet were on the floor. Balu was wearing a ck robe with a red ribbon tying it closed, the loose-fitting fabric reminiscent of a monk¡¯s attire. ¡°I didn¡¯t get called here, right?¡­Fanmail?¡±


    As soon as Terra nodded her head, Balu jumped up and let out a shout. ¡°Oh it¡¯s been so long since anyone had a question for me!¡±


    Terra¡¯s lips curved upwards at that. ¡°So, Balu¡­ how big is your noteboard, and can we look at it?¡±


    Balu¡¯s excitement immediately deted, sulking down towards the floor. ¡°They always wanna know about my noteboard¡­ I can¡¯t show it to people, alright? It¡¯s like¡­ a thing! My people have naturally bad short-term memories, okay? To counter that, we set up a tradition. Everyone would have some kind of object that they put their essential memories on, to make sure that they¡¯d never forget.¡±


    ¡°I know it doesn¡¯t make sense, but the idea is that you put this object somewhere where you¡¯ll often see it, reminding you of those memories so much that they actually stick. But my board has a bunch of information that I can¡¯t show to other people. I¡¯d get in trouble with the boss if I did that.¡± She sulked, ncing towards Grimor. ¡°Hey, boss.¡±


    ¡°Hey.¡± He responded with a wry smile, it seeming to take Balu a few moments to process his presence. She let out a small yip, moving and sitting on the floor quietly next to him, looking as if she were afraid she had already gotten into trouble.


    Terra nodded her head, tossing aside the letter and pulling out another. ¡°This one is from Vorquel¡­ think I remember that name from the first reading, though I wasn¡¯t ¡®quite¡¯ here for that part.¡± She grinned at that memory. ¡°For Dale. Are you aware of a certain yandere in your pantheon? She seems to be helping you, uh, a bit more enthusiastically than you intend.¡±


    Dale¡¯s eyes immediately went towards Terra, who lifted her hands innocently. ¡°Hey, I didn¡¯t do anything wrong. Just taking out the trash and making sure that nobody does anything that they¡¯d regret.¡±


    ¡°Like the D¡¯ka Sha?¡± He asked in a knowing tone, making Terra grin, her eyes looking off to the side.


    ¡°You, uh¡­ noticed that, huh?¡±


    ¡°I looked back and found out about it a bitter. But yeah¡­ I know that Terra has her¡­ let¡¯s call them ¡®tendencies¡¯. Being protective of certain people is one of them. You don¡¯t want to cross her bottom line.¡±


    Terra whistled innocently, moving on to the next question. ¡°One more on this. And it is for¡­ oh¡­ well, this will be interesting.¡±


    Terra closed her eyes in focus, and the room seemed to darken. Kathy¡¯s feet stopped tapping against the floor, and Balu seemed to curl in on herself. Even Grimor stiffened up as a dark roar came from the wall. A sickly ck substance seemed to bleed out, congealing on the ground to rise up into a humanoid shape.


    ¡°Savage.¡± She said, looking at the shape. alia growled viciously at the neer, while the ck slime shifted, lines of white forming along its surface. It seemed to be growing clothes, a ck and white striped suit. Its frame still only vaguely resembled a human, its head bubbling endlessly.


    When the figure spoke, it was a long, drawn out speech, as if talking was a thing it had nearly forgotten. ¡°Whaaat aarre¡­ fan maail?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Someone wanted to know, what is your end goal, exactly?¡± Terra asked, and a darkugh rose up from within the figure, ck sludge flinging off, only to be sent flying back at it.


    ¡°End goal¡­ theere is no end. Only the cycle. Eat¡­ be eaten. Grow¡­ die. I will grow, and yoouu will die. The ck floood shall consuume thend.¡± No sooner had he finished his sentence than he vanished, as if erased entirely from existence where he stood.


    ¡°I think that was a satisfactory answer.¡± Terra nodded her head, tossing that letter aside. ¡°Hopefully we won¡¯t have to see him again.¡±


    ¡°Chekov would like to have a word with you.¡± Udona spoke up with a wry grin. ¡°He said you¡¯re stealing his gun.¡±


    ¡°And I¡¯m loading it with nks.¡± Terra fired back with another affirmative nod, reaching for another letter. ¡°Next up is another familiar name. Dking, appearing for the third time. And his first question goes to Ashley.¡±


    Ashley¡¯s head rose at that, looking desperately towards Terra, happy to have something to take her mind off of¡­ the giant spider in the room.


    ¡°How are you, is everything okay, we don¡¯t get to see you that muchtely? I want to ask if you ever just live on Desbar as a normal average girl, or a not-so-average one.¡±


    Ashley gave a small, soft smile at the question. ¡°Well, thanks. And, there¡¯s nothing really wrong, I guess? I just haven¡¯t really been needed since the invasion ended. He kind of jumped straight into this new adventure after his training, so I haven¡¯t had the chance to be around. Not that I was really much use in the invasion.¡±


    ¡°As for the incarnation stuff¡­ I¡¯m not all that great at it. I have tried a few times, but I always end up having to give the incarnation more personal freedom, because I have a hard time splitting my mind that much. Too much of my normal human mind, I guess?¡±


    Terra nodded at that, relieved that the question seemed to help calm Ashley down, and muttered a silent thanks of her own. ¡°Next up is for Udona.¡± A pair of golden fox-ears perked up when her name was called. ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ how simr do you think that the original Earth¡¯s culture is,pared to Dale¡¯s current worlds? As an example, are there things such as manga or anime, or fantasy and sci-fi books, shows, and movies? Or has the actual existence of magic and monsters lessened fantasy¡¯s influence as a genre?¡±


    ¡°Ooh, now that¡¯s a good one. Well, let¡¯s see. First of all, I can¡¯t say that there is manga on Earth. However, it is quite popr on both Deckan and Desbar. Earth simply didn¡¯t devote as much focus into printed materials as those two, with Fyor falling even further behind there.¡± Udona smiled, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms beneath her bust.


    ¡°On Deckan, I might have yed a role in helping it grow, but it was all natural for Desbar. Anime, on the other hand¡­ Earth has arge market for animated shows and movies, creating them through recorded illusions. Now, as for the genres? If anything¡­ science fiction is the one that you tend to see less of when ites to movies or shows.¡±


    ¡°Originally, Desbar held an interest in exploring the heavens, just like the original Earth. However, this interest was quietly removed with the appearance of the Fairy Gate and the other worlds. Why would they look to the stars to find worlds beyond, when they can look so much closer? People still put fantastical gadgets in their artwork, but you hardly ever see any space-age epics.¡± She gave a small, sad sigh at that fact, shaking her head regrettably.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll get there eventually.¡± Terra reassured her, before moving on. ¡°And thisst one is for¡­ me, again? Alright. As a systempanion, I should know everything about the system. Am I able to spill some truths about old Earth legends such as ghosts, aliens, bigfoot, or the Loch Ness Monster?¡±


    ¡°Well first of all.¡± Terra looked down at the letter. ¡°Most of those are just fantasies of people wanting to get rich. I mean, there was that one alien crashnding, but it mostly burned up on re-entry. Nobody ever realized that it was anything more than a meteor while the government cleared up the site.¡±


    ¡°The one thing that is true, however, are ghosts. Have I ever mentioned how thest Keeper was azy slob? Well, he was. Originally, he used the influx of points he had from his predecessor to buy a bunch of random systems, trying to use them to influence culture in different parts of the world. Heaven and Hell, Reincarnation, you name it.¡±


    ¡°But, once he decided that the world was ¡®ready¡¯, he sold all of them. Along with the gods that had been managing those systems for him. Meaning that there was no longer an afterlife system in ce on Earth. This meant that the fallen spirits had nowhere to go, and steadily started to build up.¡±


    ¡°Sometimes, they would be strong enough to appear as what peoplemonly saw as a ghost. Normally, they just tried to cling to life however they could. Hanging onto someone as they go about their day to day, but being too slow and weak to do anything. It was prettymon for them to be stuck on a bit ofundry as it was thrown into the wash. Yes¡­ ghosts are responsible for your missing socks. You¡¯re wee.¡±


    With a faint chuckle, she discarded the letter, moving onto the next one. ¡°Now, who¡¯s this one? ¡®FeelTheRussianStyle¡¯? Huh, wonder where he¡¯s from.¡± She asked with a sarcastic smirk. ¡°Anyways, this first one seems like it goes to me again. Why are so many Keeper names in English?¡±


    Terra gave a small shrug at that. ¡°Well, the easiest way to answer that is¡­ trantion-sama. Just like how everything auto-trantes for Dale, the Keeper titles simrly trante to other Keepers. Since most Keepers had their titles picked with some meaning within theirnguage, that meaning bes the trantion that gets carried over.¡±


    ¡°Up next¡­ a question for both Dale and Ashley.¡± She nced towards the two former earthlings. ¡°Do you know that fanmail actuallyes from Earth? I mean the Earth where the two of you used to live. And what do you think about it?¡±


    Ashley and Dale just sort of¡­ stared at the letter in confusion. ¡°What, but¡­¡± Dale began.


    ¡°Earth was erased, right?¡± Ashley finished his obvious question, unsure what else could be said there.


    Terra simply grinned, not offering any furtherment on the matter. ¡°And for his final question, to the same people¡­ Do you know that you are characters in a webnovel?¡±


    Dale¡¯s mouth seemed to hang open at that, not knowing what to say. After a moment, a sound like a dull whine came from his lips. Possibly the sound of his brain melting. ¡°¡­Eeeaaahhh¡­¡±


    The felyn goddess let out augh, dropping that letter off to the side as well. ¡°Ah, I love a good paradox. Now, what¡¯s next?¡± She picked another letter out of the box, plucking it more happily than herst few had been. ¡°This one¡¯s from Capung.¡±


    ¡°Leowynn.¡± The elven spirit turned her head with a gentle smile as she was addressed. ¡°Are you not jealous to see your father having two or three lovers, while you have none? Because my prayer to Karami seems unanswered, I want to see Dale flustered.¡±


    ¡°Why would I be jealous of father?¡± She asked in a confused tone. ¡°If he loves these women, is it not right for him to be with as many as love him in turn? I had been courted back when I was alive, suredly, but I had no interest in finding a lover. Especially after knowing what my final fate would be.¡± Rather than her tone matching her mncholic words, she seemed rather content.


    ¡°Spoilsport.¡± Terra teasingly scolded her, before moving on. ¡°Everyone. If Karami granted my wish and set you a stage, would all of youpete in a game tournament format, with the winner getting two Standard weeks of vacation time? That way he can set up a proper war story that I want?¡±


    ¡°Why would I want a vacation?¡± Aurivy asked in confusion. ¡°I love being a goddess! Not just because of all the power, but because it lets me help everyone, and I always get to see new things.¡±


    Irena nodded her head in agreement. ¡°There are not many among us who would be that happy with a true vacation. While helping to manage the world maye across as a chore at times, there are also many wonders to see. With every new being born, another perspective is added that can shape the world.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t mind a break, honestly.¡± Bihena spoke up. ¡°But that¡¯s only if the worlds were paused for that time. Much as I¡¯d like a chance to stretch my legs without worrying about everyone praying to me for aid in battle, I wouldn¡¯t really be able to enjoy it if the world kept going. I mean, I¡¯d constantly be thinking about everything that might be going wrong without me there to answer their prayers.¡±


    ¡°Good enough for me.¡± Terra nodded, getting ready to toss away the letter, only for Keliope to suddenly speak up.


    ¡°Who¡¯s Karami, anyways? His questions keep mentioning that guy.¡± The ursa goddess looked towards Terra questioningly.


    ¡°Nothing you all need to worry about.¡± Terra gave a mysterious smile at that, noticing that there was still one question left. ¡°Whoops, not done here yet. Okay, this one is for Dale. Apparently, he wants you to know that he hates you for not making a Gundam world, and because you¡¯re the main character.¡±


    ¡°¡­Eeeaaahhh¡­¡± The high-pitched whine simply continued for a long moment, Dale not seeming to recover from the previous ¡®damage¡¯.


    Terra simply gave a small grin, nodding her head. ¡°Message delivered. Alright, then.¡± She tossed out that paper, it joining the others in a pile on the floor. ¡°Next up is from ¡®ImJustTesting¡¯. One word names for five hundred, Alex?¡± She muttered to herself, before shaking her head. ¡°Aurivy, did you ever want a little sister? And no, Leowynn doesn¡¯t count.¡±


    ¡°Nope!¡± Aurivy spoke up immediately. ¡°I like being the little sis of the family. Even Leowynn is my big sis!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right she is.¡± Terra nodded approvingly. ¡°alia--¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± alia raised her fist up to the sky happily, hearing that she had been asked a question as well. ¡°Ah! Sorry, go on!¡±


    Terra simply rolled her eyes yfully. ¡°alia, as the goddess of the hunt you know the most about all manners of creatures. Is there one that you would call your favorite, not wanting to hurt it unless absolutely necessary?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s this cute little breed of mana hounds.¡± alia spoke up wistfully. ¡°They¡¯re not nearly as big as their counterparts, about the size of an old Earth puppy. They are adorable. If they¡¯re trained, they can tune into the mana signature of the person training them, and find them from anywhere in the world. They¡¯re so loyal, and always try to find their way back home when they can.¡±


    alia gave a small sigh at that, looking up at the ceiling as her tail wagged behind her. Terra gave a shake of her head, moving on to the next question. ¡°And¡­ hold please.¡± She snapped her fingers, and the golden-haired kitsune maid appeared standing next to Dale. ¡°Tsubaki. This one¡¯s for you.¡±


    Tsubaki blinked in confusion, first noticing the ¡®distressed¡¯ state that Dale was in, before her ears twitched and she turned her attention towards Terra. ¡°Is the Keeper well?¡± She asked, a trace of concern in her voice.


    ¡°He¡¯ll be fine. Just got a piece of information he¡¯s not able to process just yet. But we have another fanmail reading, and a question came in for you.¡± The felyn exined, earning a nod from Tsubaki. ¡°Are you still the representative for the herocs, or have they grown strong enough to keep their own?¡±


    ¡°It was never a question of their strength.¡± Tsubaki began with a shake of their head. ¡°They have always been a powerful race. However, their interests do not lie in governing. Politics for the heroc are simply a contest of power. When I demonstrated my ability, at first they respected my strength, believing that I was the only one fit to lead them. Thenter, when I tried to return the position, they exined to me that it was still the case. Not simply because I was stronger than them, but because I was a better representative than they could offer.


    Terra nodded her head, happy with that answer. She tossed the letter aside. ¡°Alright, most of the way done now. This next letteres from someone by the name of Morphmaul.¡± As she said that, she opened up the next letter, her eyes widening in surprise. ¡°And the first question is once again for Tsubaki.¡±


    ¡°If you identally killed Dale--put the knives away, I¡¯m not suggesting I¡¯ll make it happen. If you did, would you recreate Dale and have him live in a simtion where he believes that he is still the Keeper, so that you could continue serving him?¡±


    There was a brief sh of steel as a dagger disappeared into Tsubaki¡¯s arm before she answered. ¡°I would never knowingly harm my Keeper. If, for whatever reason, such an event did take ce, I do not believe I could find it in myself to lie to him. If it were possible, I would likely revive his memory and soul in some way. Then, as this question implies that a death passes along the title, I would attempt to orchestrate an event where he would take my life, in order to return him to his position.¡±


    That seemed to snap Dale out of his mental crash, his eyes snapping to Tsubaki in concern. However, she quickly spoke up. ¡°As Lady Terra said, this is not a situation that will actually happen.¡±


    Dale hesitated, while Terra nodded in satisfaction. ¡°Okay, next question. For me¡­ what would you need to do to get your own systempanion? You¡­ had a great question for the fanmail, but forgot it, and need one like myself to help you remember it. Well¡­ be a Keeper? That, or just take notes when these questions pop into your head.¡±


    ¡°Notes help!¡± Balu suddenly shouted out from her spot along the wall. ¡°Always carry a notepad!¡±


    Terra gave a chuckle, nodding her head. ¡°Andstly, for Aurivy. Not Auvry, Aurivy. Since you are the goddess of dungeons, has anyone ever tried to use a dungeon for an¡­ unintended purpose? Like turning rope into a whip or a candle wick.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Aurivy groaned, shaking her head. ¡°And it is really weird having people trying to host a wedding in a dungeon, let me tell you! I have to keep sending messages through priests to remind everyone that dungeons are meant to be dangerous locations, not a romantic spot for a wedding!¡±


    Terra smiled, not saying anything as she tossed yet another letter off to the pile. ¡°Now, this one is from ¡®not fake¡¯. That seems like a fake name to me. Dale, are you nning to do anything with the Forgotten race that you made so long ago?¡±


    ¡°Nope!¡± He answered quickly, turning away from Tsubaki to face Terra again. ¡°Honestly, I forgot all about them. I would need a really specific kind of world to make them useful, so I¡¯d rather just not take the risk with them.¡±


    ¡°Makes sense.¡± She agreed with a small shrug. ¡°Next one is also for you. Are you ever going to do a pure technology world, with no magic at all?¡±


    ¡°Probably¡­ not.¡± Dale¡¯s expression turned a bitplicated at that. ¡°That would mean that it would have to be a worldpletely separated from all of the others. That makes it really hard to defend in the Keeper games. Especially when you consider that Keepers don¡¯t actually get that much of a power boost in a pure tech world. There¡¯s just too many reasons not to go for a pure tech route.¡±


    Terra nodded her head again. ¡°Alright, and thisst one is to me again. What makes someone a monster Keeper? Is it due to race, personality, or something else?¡± As she asked that, she shot a brief nce to the spot where Savage had been standing a short while ago.


    After a moment, however, she sighed and answered. ¡°Personality, a hundred percent. Most Keepers can¡¯t handle a monster world. They try, but theirbat abilities aren¡¯t enough to match up to beings who have lived their entire lives on the same level of power, with a viciousness that won¡¯t allow someone stronger.¡±


    ¡°Keep in mind that a monster Keeper is also trapped within their own world during an invasion. That means that in order to survive past their first game, they have to be the best. While having the same level of power as the other monsters, they still dominate, bing the king of those monsters. That¡¯s what makes someone a monster Keeper.¡±


    With the question answered, Terra gave a shrug of her shoulders, her tail offering a small flick behind her as she tossed the letter away. ¡°This one¡¯s from Quadrum.¡± She read over the first question, a wry grining over her face. ¡°Ashley. Why are you nearly never present? Really long time since you did something, I think?¡±


    Ashley couldn¡¯t help butugh, receiving practically the same question again. ¡°Well, I¡¯m d that people are concerned about me. But like I said earlier, I¡¯m fine. I just haven¡¯t had a good reason to appear recently.¡±


    ¡°And Tubrock.¡± Terra spoke, immediately moving on to the next question. ¡°Since when did you have the idea to create an ancient civilization in your world, and why?¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Tubrock opened his eyes wide, surprised to get a question. ¡°Didn¡¯t think I¡¯d be gettin¡¯ one of these. Well, let¡¯s see¡­ honestly, the idea hit me back when the foxss was settin¡¯ up her world.¡± He waved an arm in gesture towards Udona. ¡°There be a sayin¡¯ in the old world. If ye don¡¯t learn from the past, ye¡¯r doomed to repeat it. So, I wanted to give ¡®em a past to learn from. Cultivation world just happened to fit my needs perfectly, as it gave me a nice, big to work with. More room than I could ever need.¡±


    Terra nodded, looking back towards the letter. ¡°Oh? Looks like there¡¯s only two for this one.¡± She shrugged, tossing the letter away before reaching into the box, her eyes ncing down. ¡°Almost done, just two left everyone.¡±


    As she spoke, she retrieved the next letter. ¡°This one is from Nizen. His question is for¡­ okay, really?¡± She sighed, closing her eyes and focusing again. Immediately, everyone began to tense up, worried that she was going to summon Savage again.


    However, with a pop, there was a low yell, someone falling down from the ceiling. A dark-skinned human with heavy ck goggles, wearing a pair of blue overalls and holding a wrench in his hand. ¡°Huh? What? Where am I?¡± He asked, jumping to his feet and quickly looking around.


    ¡°Sorry, James.¡± Terra waved. ¡°Fan mail.¡±


    The man looked towards her, his eyes hidden behind his goggles. ¡°I died, huh?¡± She nodded her head. ¡°Well, that blows. Alright, hit me with the question. I guess I can mourn when I¡¯m back to being dead.¡± He told her with a small huff.


    ¡°Is it possible to create apanion out of a previous Keeper, such as yourself?¡± She asked, gesturing her hand towards the former Keeper.


    ¡°Well, yeah. Same way you do it with anyone.¡± He nodded. ¡°As long as they were a part of your own world lineage, and your world hasn¡¯t been conquered by another Keeper since then. I wanted to do that, but my¡­ well, my ¡®you¡¯ advised against it. The guy before me was the nk te, and ended up making some crummy decisions that got him killed.¡±


    Terra gave a bitter smile at that. ¡°Hey, when you identally give yourself the ability to self-destruct¡­ you earn the right to be criticized.¡±


    ¡°True enough.¡± James agreed. ¡°But yeah. That¡¯s my answer. Need me for anything else, or is it back to Limbo?¡±


    ¡°How low can you go?¡± Terra joked, James¡¯s body seeming to break apart intorge clumps of dust, scattering on an unseen breeze. ¡°Okay, now that that morbid meeting is out of the way. Dale, you can stop staring, you won¡¯t remember any of this anyways. Tubrock, did you manage to replicate anything from the meeting you attended?¡±


    The dwarf gave a low chuckle. ¡°Two questions, eh? Well¡­ reckon that I can¡¯t say I did. Wasn¡¯t really goin¡¯ to steal their work. Just wanted to use it for inspiration. Been workin¡¯ on a new hammer based on a design someone showed me. Focuses energy evenly along the surface, and can be flipped to have it all focus on a single point. Good for craftin¡¯ with ki or divine energy.¡±


    Terra nodded her head, moving on to thest question of the letter. ¡°And finally, another question for Tsubaki. Wow, people really like you girl.¡± She teased the kitsune maid, who simply stared back at her with a straight face. ¡°Don¡¯t think I can¡¯t see that you secretly like it. Anyways, if given the opportunity, would you have children with Dale?¡±


    ¡°Only if that were his wish.¡± Tsubaki responded with a nod. ¡°However, I do not believe that my current form is capable of providing anyone with children anymore. Unless they are referring to creating children in the manner of the martial spirits. That may still be possible.¡±


    ¡°Way to take the fun out of it, Tsu.¡± Terra shook her head with a small sigh. ¡°But thanks for not just jumping at the chance.¡± As she said that, she tossed the letter away, reaching into the box for the final one.


    ¡°Now, to wrap things up, we have Neidan.¡± She began, only for a new voice to speak up in the room.


    ¡°It¡¯s Neiden.¡±


    ¡°Terra, did the letter just¡­¡± Dale looked towards the paper, a bit of worry on his face.


    ¡°Yes, Dale. The letter just talked.¡± Even Terra seemed a bit concerned at this.


    ¡°You misread my name thest couple times, so I felt the need to point it out this time.¡± The letter spoke again, causing people to slowly scoot back away from Terra.


    ¡°Well¡­ uh¡­ sorry?¡± Terra said, ncing down to the letter in genuine confusion.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. Anyways, for my first question. If Earth were ever in a state where Dale had to reset it, would he be able to turn Leowynn into a goddess to save her?¡±


    ¡°Sis, the letter is asking the questions now¡­¡± Aurivy trembled, leaning back against Ashley.


    ¡°I¡­ I would?¡± Dale didn¡¯t seem quite sure what else to say. ¡°I mean, of course I would?¡±


    ¡°Very well. Next question. This one is for Terra, Irena, and Ryone. When you incarnate, did you ever have s--¡± The letter suddenly found itself sandwiched between Terra¡¯s hands as she red fiercely down to it, its voice muffled.


    ¡°Yes, we all have. No, it wasn¡¯t the same. Moving on.¡± She said with a somewhat dark tone, eventually pulling one hand off of the letter, leaving it to cough up what looked liketin alphabet characters from its surface.


    ¡°O-okay, then. Thisst one is something lewd, so if you could, please cover Aurivy¡¯s ears, or have her leave the room.¡± By the time the letter had finished speaking, Aurivy¡¯s ears had been covered by Ashley.


    ¡°Hey, I wanted to listen!¡± She whined, iling her arms pitifully.


    ¡°Good, now, my question. This one is for Leowynn. When you were alive, did you ever hold someone¡¯s hand? Aside from Dale¡¯s, of course.¡±


    There was the sound of crashing, several people falling out of their chairs, while Terra huffed, simply throwing the letter at a nearby wall. ¡°And that¡¯s it for this episode, everyone.¡± She turned, crossing her arms beneath her chest, her back to the group. ¡°The next fan mail reading will be in one standard month. For those that have trouble keeping track, that puts it at June 27th. This is Terra, signing off~.¡±


    ¡°Hey, I didn¡¯t get my ans--¡±

 Chapter 296: Drawing Water From a Stone

    <h4>Chapter 296: Drawing Water From a Stone</h4>


    As soon as we returned to the surface, Rache dove towards the ind,nding ashore on her hands and knees, panting roughly. Even though she hadn¡¯t actually gotten wet the entire time we were gone, her body was soaked with sweat. Seeing that, I couldn¡¯t help but walk over towards her, leaning down to gently pat her back.


    ¡°It¡¯s alright. If we need to make another trip to get more, I won¡¯t ask you toe.¡± I told her in a soft voice, causing her to shake a bit more. I could practically hear her surface thoughts as I looked at her, and shook my head slightly. ¡°You¡¯re not a burden to me, Rache. You¡¯ve been extremely helpful so far. When we need a material that isn¡¯t so far underwater, I¡¯ll be counting on you.¡±


    At that, she turned her head to look up to me for a moment, offering only a small nod. ¡°Forgetting someone?¡± Thessa asked, walking out of the water, now drenched from head to toe. Once I had left, it seemed I had done so a bit too quickly, and the water caved in on her. However, she only gave a small sigh, taking the bag of holding off of her waist and dropping it to the floor.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I nodded towards her as well, reaching for the bag. When I sent my world sight into it, sure enough the space inside the bag¡¯s enchantment had been filled to the brim with water. I decided not to pull any of the stones out for now, since I already knew their effects.


    Aurivy¡­ how¡¯s your search going?


    Going! She responded back in an anxious tone. Haven¡¯t found anything super dangerous yet. A shark just a bit above the cap is fine, and a few harmless fish. But I¡¯d strongly suggest neutralizing that tidestone vein before anything really bades through.


    Short of going in and smashing it directly, not entirely sure how you want me to neutralize something like that. I sent back as my eyebrows knit together. I can¡¯t seal it with a banishment spell, that would suck up all the water as well, like a giant drain.


    Maybe this is a job for Tsubaki? She asked in a curious tone. And¡­ I had to admit that she could be onto something.


    We¡¯ll have to keep it discreet. The message can¡¯te directly from me. See if you can get Bihena to ask her. As the Goddess of the Ocean, it wouldn¡¯t be weird for her to ask for Tsubaki to help with a threat like this. Once she agrees, I¡¯ll leave transporting the citadel back and forth to you.


    I¡¯m on it!


    _______________________________________________________________


    The kitsune maid silently went about her duties, ensuring that the surviving incarnations of the goddesses, as well as the living elven representative were all taken care of. Twenty years had passed since the Keeper¡¯sst visit, and given his patterns she did not expect his return to be soon.


    As such, her main body was tending to the chores while she left one of her avatars at the throne room, just in case. That is, until a voice called out to her. ¡°Tsubaki, can I have a moment? Something¡¯se up.¡± When she turned her head, she saw Bihena, or rather the living incarnation of Bihena.


    The human woman stood there with a troubled expression, much unlike what Tsubaki hade to expect from her divine counterpart. Which let her know that the goddess¡¯s worries had been transmitted to the host, and those were her true feelings. ¡°Of course, Lady Bihena.¡± She agreed immediately, setting down the broom that she had been using to sweep the hall. ¡°What may I assist you with?¡±


    ¡°That easy to figure out, huh?¡± Bihena asked with a wry smile. ¡°You never use the Lady when it¡¯s just me¡­ Nevermind. A problem came up in Fyor, and she wanted to know if you were able to handle it.¡±


    Tsubaki turned to fully face Bihena, her hands gently crossed at the front of her skirt. ¡°If the Lady wishes for me to intervene, it must not be an ordinary matter. May I hear the details?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± She nodded. ¡°She and Aurivy discovered a special stone on one of the higher explored floors of Fyor. At first, it seemed to simply create water by converting mana¡­ But now, it looks like it connects to a different world filled with water.¡±


    ¡°And where there is water, there is bound to be aquatic life-forms?¡± Tsubaki asked curiously.


    ¡°Exactly. Some have alreadye through, and they¡¯re not bound by the world¡¯s level restrictions in the same way. For most of the nodes, that won¡¯t really matter¡­ but there¡¯s one big one. The two goddessses are worried that something terrifying will emerge if it is not dealt with.¡±


    Tsubaki paused for a moment to think over the request, before nodding her head. ¡°Very well. What are the rules of engagement?¡±


    Suddenly, Bihena¡¯s expression seemed to change. The nervous girl vanished, reced by a more serene smile. ¡°The vein is located at the center of an aquatic city. They seem to worship it, and treat anything that emerges from the stones as divine providence.¡±


    ¡°Normally, I would ask you to make as little impact to the city as possible, to preserve the possibility of future rtions. However, given the circumstances this time, any action against the vein will incite the fury of the people. My request is to disguise yourself as one of their own, so that their fury will not be directed at those who could misunderstand. Aurivy is preparing to move the citadel above the target location now.¡±


    ¡°Once you are there, your goal is topletely shatter the mineral vein in order to eliminate the threat that it poses to the world. Do you think that you can aplish this, Tsubaki?¡±


    The maid simply gave a small nod in response. ¡°I need only see the appearance of the race in question so that I may replicate it. Once the rock has been broken, would you like me to gather the remaining samples for disposal?¡±


    ¡°That¡­¡± Bihena hesitated, unsure how to answer. ¡°That would be appreciated. However, it would be best if you kept them within a storage space. The enchantments of the citadel would cause them to be in a constantly active state, and in time they could flood the ce.¡±


    ¡°Understood. Then, I am awaiting departure.¡± As Tsubaki said that, she abruptly turned around, and began walking towards the entrance to the Sky Citadel. Multicolored vapors flew through the air as she walked, entering into her body. In order to ensure a swiftpletion of this mission, she had even recalled the avatar that she kept in the throne room.


    Once she was outside, standing at the edge of the flying cliff face, she saw the golden mist wrapping around the Sky Citadel, transporting it far and away above a vast ocean. Tsubaki didn¡¯t hesitate, jumping directly off the cliff. As she fell, an image was projected into her mind, and her body began to shift.


    Her maid uniform shattered, bing no more than scraps of cloth that flew up in the wind before fading away. Her legs elongated, bing thinner as her feet became webbed. The fox tail emerging from her lower back became smooth, stretching out as the fur seemed to be reced by a thinyer of scales, a single fin emerging along the center of its length.


    Her upper body came next. Her bulging chest shrank to be smooth, her hair falling off of her head as her ears stretched out. Her eyes grew, her mouth widening and revealing three rows of razor sharp teeth. Finally, the color of her skin shifted to a light blue just as she hit the water.


    She had no patience to deal with the various beasts and monsters that approached her as she rapidly descended. Her Knight¡¯s de appeared, therge scythe circling around her body of its own ord as it sliced apart anything the closed in on her.


    Soon, the lights above vanished, the artificial daylight nowhere to be seen. Instead, she saw scattered lights tethered to the ground below. Large, glowing bulbs held down by vines. She felt a strange energy from the bulbs, one that seemed to scare most of the aquatic life away. Further still, she began to see other creatures with shapes like herself, and immediately dismissed the scythe hovering around her.


    One of the creatures looked at her with a surprised expression, before slowly moving to intercept. When the creature opened its mouth as if to speak, Tsubaki heard no sound. Even if she had, there was no way she would have been able to understand theirnguage without prior instruction.


    So, she continued to descend. Already she could see the ocean¡¯s floor, hidden under the thick green brine. The glittering blue and ck stone that rested just beneath the murky depths looked to be the obvious target for her, as she felt Bihena directing her towards it.


    The true problem was, and it was something that Tsubaki only fully realized now, that a door once opened can be crossed in either direction. She could see one of the creatures like her current form swimming into the stone, simply fading from view. Recalling the information that she had been given, she sent a brief prayer towards the heaven.


    Requesting Lady Ryone to ce a seal on all mana within five kilometers of my current position, if such is within her power. I am unable to physically interact with the target as long as the mana of this area remains abundant. The only alternative action is for me to kill every living creature within that radius. However, doing so is likely to draw something from the other side that smells the blood.


    There was a pause after her request came out, before a gentle female voice responded directly to her mind. I understand, dear. You can leave this to me. However, I encourage that you act quickly. Such a seal cannotst long without his assistance, and he is currently otherwise engaged.


    Affirmative. Tsubaki plunged deeper as she felt the ambient mana in the water being siphoned away. One unlucky individual that was happily swimming through the stone let out a startled cry, his body suddenly split in two, the lower half unable to fully pass before the seal had been set.


    When Tsubakinded on the surface of the rock, she stretched out her arms. The creatures around her opened their mouths, and this time she did hear something. Faint, like an odd warble, but not anguage she couldprehend. Apologies, but this location has been deemed dangerous. She thought to herself, strands of light emerging from her body.


    Each strand spiraled out to form arge, metal drill as big as Tsubaki herself. And once they were formed, they began spinning, driving down into the stone and beginning to break it apart with ease. The native creatures had their eyes going wide in shock when their sacred stone was destroyed in front of themselves, the fragments vanishing as soon as they appeared in the water.


    This was a mining operation, pure and simple. And with the ambiguous time limit imposed by the Goddess, she was in no position to take her time. She destroyed the vein as thoroughly as possible. Only when it was done did she send word back to Ryone that she could release the seal. And when she felt the mana in the area flowing again, her body vanished, leaving the spectators horrified by what they had seen.


    High above the water¡¯s surface, and just beneath the citadel, Tsubaki appeared standing on a wide, ck and white tform. Piled on the tform was arge number of stones of all shapes and sizes, leaking water out constantly. This water spilled out over the sides of the tform, down to the ocean below.


    Once she appeared, the rocks again began to vanish one by one. However, this time they were not being transported elsewhere, but instead moved into storage spaces Tsubaki kept on her at all times. Or¡­ perhaps it would be more apt to say that they were in her.


    When thest rock vanished, the tform shifted, shattering and reforming around Tsubaki¡¯s outfit as her typical maid attire. At the same time, her body returned to its normal appearance as well. With a satisfied nod, she returned to the Sky Citadel.


    She held one hand above the other, and as she walked small pouches began to fall out of the flesh of the upper hand, her skin rippling as if it were water. There was no telling when she might have need of extra storage, and so Tsubaki kept multiple bags of holding within her main body at all times.


    Missionplete. She sent to Bihena, making her way towards the shrine of the Ocean Goddess in order to send the bags to her.

 Chapter 297: Beyond the Mysterious Beyond

    <h4>Chapter 297: Beyond the Mysterious Beyond</h4>


    Once we were back inside, I decided to do a little bit of experimentation on my own. I could leave the majority of the research to Ryone and Tubrock, and was fairly certain that they could figure out most of the secrets behind the tidestone on their own. However, there was something that I was curious about, which I was fairly certain that only I could do. At least, it was something I hoped only I could do.


    Sitting down in the living room, I had Thessa fetch a ss jar. Once I had it, I retrieved one of the smaller tidestones and dropped it into the jar, before cing the lid on it. This way, there wouldn¡¯t be a mess no matter how long my experiment took.


    Though, could you really call this an experiment? In a way, it was more an exploration. Deploying my world sight, I thoroughly scanned the stone, looking at all of its magical properties. In a way¡­ the tidestone could be seen as a mutated version of the material that makes up the gates between floors.


    Ryone, can you check the market to see if there is a mineral like this when you get the moment? Anything that connects to an elemental ne naturally. I sent out the request as I focused in on the structure of the stone. I could theorize how the stone worked from what I had seen already, and it had me curious.


    I sensed a bit of ambient mana drifting into the stone and smiled, sending my world sense to follow it. Where the mana made contact, a tiny invisible rift was opened up along the surface of the stone. Nodding my head, I sent my world sight in through that rift.


    What awaited me on the other side seemed like an endless darkness. I could practically feel the water all around me, but there was no light to speak of. Beneath me was a ratherrge chunk of tidestone that seemed to simply float in the water, neither sinking nor rising. Some fish swam around it, others directly into it.


    Of course, this stone had been broken on the other side, and those fish were toorge to make it through the shattered remains, so they simply bounced off harmlessly before swimming on. Shaking my head, I used the orientation of the fish to determine which direction ¡®up¡¯ was in this ocean, and sent my world sight in that direction.


    Logically speaking, there could be no such thing as an infinite ocean. Terra herself had confirmed that there was only a finite amount of water within this elemental ne, which meant that there had to be a surface. The question then became¡­ what exists beyond the surface of thergest ocean?


    Higher and higher my world sight rose. I found many other stones floating through the water, and many creatures swimming about. Some looked harmless enough, while others¡­ there was one serpent I saw which seemedrge enough to devour an entire city in a single bite, and it had to be at least a thousand kilometers long. I was suddenly very thankful that I had ordered the destruction of the giant tidestone vein.


    Of course¡­ size isn''t everything. A fact I became distinctly aware of when I saw that giant serpent suddenly change its course, swimming away erratically. Behind it, a small, catfish-like creature no bigger than my forearm was swimming about. When it registered the giant serpent, itzily changed its course to move towards it.


    What happened next seemed almost a blur. Ripples of water exploded out in a line as the smaller fish shot out like a bullet, piercing directly through the body of the giant serpent. A deep rumble, almost like a scream echoed in the area while the catfish drank from the blood that began to fill the water.


    Even though the creature was norger than a single hair to the giant serpent, it still fled helplessly after the first attack, leaving the smaller fish to happily drink up the blood that remained behind. I could only shake my head, sending my world sight up higher and higher.


    This went on for some time, and I began to feel my world sight weakening, running out of energy for the first time in a while. However, moments before it did, I felt it break through. There was no more water, and finally, I could see light. Thest thing that I saw before the world sight was extinguished was¡­ I hate to describe it as such, but it was horrifyingly beautiful.


    Far above me, I could see a giant ming sphere, like a sun millions of timesrger than our own. Even this far away, I could feel its warmth heating the water. Besides the sun, there were three other spheres. One a giant rock, its surface seeming perfectly smooth from this distance. The next was what looked to be a massive storm suspended in a ck sky, lightning crackling along the-sized clouds.


    But it was thest one, the one that sat at the center of this formation, that was the true sight to behold. If the others could be called the elemental nes of water, fire, wind, and earth, then the only thing that I could describe this as was life. A massive world with overflowing greenery, radiating an aura of natural energy so strong that it reached each of the four orbiting worlds.


    Perhaps it was this energy that helped give birth to the monsters, making otherwise inhospitables thriving. Part of me wanted to explore this central world with my world sight, but another part was equally worried. How strong would the creatures be that were born under such pure energy?


    As my world sight faded away, I found myself back in the home that Thessa and Rache had built for the three of us. The jar of water sat before me, now filled to the brim with the stone resting peacefully at its base. However, there was something else that awaited me upon my return as well.


    Congrattions, you have earned an achievement!


    For exploring the secrets of the elemental nes, you have earned the nar Archivist achievement! +15 points, Special Title: nar Archivist unlocked.


    ¡­ Terra? I asked in a tone filled with equal parts curiosity and worry. Special title, exnation please?


    I heard a faint giggle in the back of my mind. Fine, fine. You gave me plenty of delicious fish, after all~. Anyways, special titles are¡­ as the name says, special. Do you remember Alu, the Deckmaster?


    Of course. I don¡¯t think that we would have gotten through the invasion so smoothly without him.


    Right. Well, his Deckmaster title is one such ¡®Special Title¡¯. He earned it for researching arge number of card magic fusions and possibilities. Special titles are something that the system creates on a case by case basis, and they function in a manner simrly to sses, but without proper levels. Some people think that special titles were the origin of the ss system in the first ce.


    I gave a small nod at that, waiting to hear more. For Alu, his Deckmaster title gave him the intuitive ability to know what the result would be from a card fusion, and what kinds of cards monsters would drop. Recently, he became able to create the effects of a fusion card with his own mana.


    Okay, so what about this nar Archivist title? I asked, still unsure what to think about this.


    Why don¡¯t you check it out yourself? At her coaxing, I opened up my titles window, skipping past most of the random achievements that I had earned during my time as Keeper and focusing on this one in particr.


    nar Archivist


    Only Active: Identifies the native ne of a target creature or substance.


    So I get to tell when something is from a different world? I asked, raising my eyebrows in surprise. That could be useful during an invasion, sure. Of course, during most invasions, it would be fairly easy to tell when a monster or person came from a different world, as they would typically look different.


    Don¡¯t underestimate the title too much. If you act ording to the nature of the title, it can level up to unlock new abilities. Since titles like this are created on a case by case basis, even I don¡¯t know what it could evolve into.


    As much as that did intrigue me¡­ I decided to put off exploring too deeply into that for now. Given that the title was received by exploring the elemental ne of water, then the likely path to evolve it would be to find the four other stones and explore the other nes as well. Of course, there might be more than four. Perhaps some tidestones led to different elemental nes, or there could even be more beyond the five in different nes.


    The point is¡­ it was unlikely that I¡¯d be able to gain any additional perks out of the stones I had with me. Especially now that my world sight was fully depleted.


    Instead, I simply stared at the jar of water. I heard someone descending the stairs, and saw Rache, who had changed into more casual blue and white shorts with a crop top. She smiled weakly when she saw me. ¡°Hey, sorry about making you see all that before.¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s fine. Everyone has their quirks. But, do you think that you could help mee up with something? I want to make an enchantment that will purify the water thates from these stones.¡±


    Rache tilted her head for a moment, before nodding. ¡°Oh, yeah. Can¡¯t drink ocean water. Sure, I can help with that. Miss Ryone¡¯s probably going to be busy on other things for a while, anyways.¡±


    Miss¡­? Ah, right, Aurivy¡¯s probably busy herself right now, so this is actually Rache. ¡°Right. I want an enchantment that purifies the watering out of the stone. However, the problem is that we can¡¯t directly enchant the stone itself. Too much mana makes the stones overload. So we need to enchant the container to automatically purify the water inside of it.¡±


    Rache nodded her head, moving to sit on the couch next to me. She looked at the stone thoughtfully, her lips pursed tightly as her brows furrowed. ¡°It¡¯d need to be a silver jar, at least. A simple purification spell of the first tier would remove any filth from the water, but not the salt. And normal ss that size would shatter with a second tier enchantment.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯d also need somewhere to put the ¡®impurities¡¯. You used a banishing rune before, right? If we can selectively choose to banish everything but the fresh water, it should be safe to drink. I¡¯ll need Aurivy to help me set up the enchantment for that, but it should work¡­ And being held in an enchanted container will make the stones work tirelessly.¡±


    I much preferred seeing Rache hard at work, as opposed to the abject fear that she had shown previously. I could practically see her drawing out different patterns in her head, nning the necessary form. Meanwhile, I called Thessa over, and asked her to create a special container for the stone. A silver sk with a smallpartment at the bottom, to insert the stone, and several tiny holes to let the water rise up to the main body of the sk.


    It didn¡¯t seem like it¡¯d be too much of an issue for her, given how she reacted. She moved off, and momentster I could hear the sound of metal hitting metal from her workshop. Once this is done, I can get it sent off to those two Maxers from the Council. One is a mage, so she should be able to recognize the significance of the stone, even if she can¡¯t make out the connection to the elemental nes.


    So, an update, Dale. Ryone¡¯s voice spoke up as I was thinking. Just got done looking through the market. I found a stone that radiates heat, and one that is said to absorb moisture from the air to produce water. However, I didn¡¯t find any that had a direct reference to an elemental ne on them. Do you want to go ahead and list it?


    I shook my head, no longer wanting that. If it was before¡­ I¡¯d be all for it. But now¡­ let¡¯s wait until we find the other four, so we can make it a package deal.


    Other four? She asked in confusion, and so I began to exin what I had seen during my little experiment. Naturally, she became more excited the more she heard about it, as well as when she heard about the special title I received¡­

 Chapter 298: Dull Blayd

    <h4>Chapter 298: Dull yd</h4>


    ¡°Mister and Missus yd?¡± A voice called out from outside the house where the two enforcers were stayingfortably on the tenth floor. Although their job required them to make a dailymute to the neenth floor, such amute was easy with the assistance of the local priests, so there was no problem with them living life on a more enjoyable level.


    ¡°Yes?¡± Hana called out from within, sighing as she stood up, making sure to adjust her robes so that they looked decent.


    ¡°I have a package for you from the Great Blue.¡± The voice spoke again, and Hana¡¯s eyes widened. Immediately, she rushed to the door, opening it to look at the human messenger outside, who was startled by her sudden appearance. ¡°U-uhm, it¡¯s from an individual by the name of--¡±


    ¡°Yes, I know who it¡¯s from. Just hand it over.¡± She could barely restrain the glee in her tone. They had only just received the reward from turning in the stones before, which the Council had named the Void Concealing Stone. It was more than she had ever hoped, enough for her and her husband to livefortably for years if they wanted.


    But would she be happy with just that? No, she wanted to squeeze Styx for everything he could give them. She¡¯d throw him a pittance here and there to keep him happy, but she was in this for herself, just as her husband was.


    The messenger handed over the small box, having her sign for it to indicate that it had been properly received. Once done, she walked back inside, the door closing on its own. Ryner looked up from the couch where he and Hana had been sitting, raising an eyebrow at the small wooden box. ¡°He couldn¡¯t havee up with something else already, right?¡±


    ¡°Who cares?¡± She grinned widely, waving her hand over the box. She had to check it for traps, naturally, and muttered a small spell. ¡°The more the merrier.¡±


    Once she had confirmed that the box was not spelled, she opened it, finding a small silver sk inside. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± She asked curiously, moving towards the kitchen. Lifting the sk in her hand, she could tell from the weight that there was something inside. ¡°Did he brew up a potion or something?¡±


    Ryner rose, walking out towards the kitchen as she grabbed a cup, turning the sk over and popping its lid off. ¡°Water¡­? That¡¯s his big find?¡± He asked dryly, shaking his head.


    Hana was equally confused, able to clearly tell that this was simply clean water. However, as she lifted the sk again, she felt the palm of her hand rub against something on its surface. ¡°Hmm?¡± She shifted her hand, seeing that there was a secondtch. She could feel an enchantment on this one. ¡°Ryner, can you fetch me a piece of paper and my enchanting ink?¡±


    He looked at her curiously, before shrugging his shoulder and walking to her office, returning a momentter with a ss vial filled with glittering ck ink and a single sheet of paper, as well as a feather quill. Hana took both with a warm smile. ¡°Thanks, dear.¡±


    She moved to the table, setting the sk on its base. She popped the lid off the vial and dipped the feather in, before drawing a rune on the paper. Next, she let the quil rest in the ink for a long moment before drawing a wet ck line beneath the rune. ¡°Myr kryonna.¡±


    As she spoke the words, focusing on the vial, the wet ck line of ink shifted, dripping down the paper to slowly form words. ¡®Banish impurities. Banish living.¡¯


    She saw the words, and simply raised her eyebrow at them. ¡°Banishing enchantments? What an earth for?¡± As she asked that, she picked up the sk again, before her body froze.


    ¡°Hana?¡± Ryner asked in concern, seeing how her movements had suddenly stopped.


    ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m fine.¡± She responded, shaking her head as she slowly lifted the sk again. ¡°I¡¯m sure¡­ I¡¯m sure I emptied it.¡± She got up from her chair, quickly walking over to the bowl again. Turning the sk over once more, she poured out roughly a tenth of what the sk could hold.


    Only after doing so did she slide open the secondtch, revealing a smallpartment that pulled out. This was a fairly normalpartment, though unusual in that it was ced in a sk. The only thing inside of it was a single ck and blue stone which seemed wet.


    Carefully, Hana reached in to retrieve the stone, feeling how slick it was. Given that it was submerged in a sk of water, this came as no surprise. What did surprise her, on the other hand, was when the water started to slowly leak down her fingers, one drop at a time. More than what she could expect to have stuck to the stone after she drained the sk.


    ¡°No, no, you went faster than this.¡± She muttered, thinking back to what she had previously done. When she recalled her spell to identify the enchantment, a thought urred to her. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ not possible, right?¡±


    ¡°Hello? Mind filling me in?¡± Ryner asked in confusion from the side, but Hana ignored him. She was careful, not wanting to cause too much of a mess, and ced the stone back in thepartment. But she didn¡¯t close it right away. Rather, she pushed just a tiny bit of mana into the stone.


    To her joy, she found her experiment a sess. A small few drops of water spilled out from the stone and began to fill up the smallpartment that it had been held in. She hastily closed it, locking thetch as she stared at the sk.


    ¡°So it¡¯s a stone that makes water?¡± Ryner asked, obviously still doubtful. However, Hana could already imagine how valuable a stone like this could be. Crop irrigation, a potentially unlimited source of water for a thirsty adventurer. Even daily life could be benefited from if people had ess to this.


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly what this is.¡± She said, excitement in her voice. She rushed back to where she had set down the box, searching through it once again. At the bottom, beneath where the sk had been, she found a neatly folded piece of paper that had previously gone overlooked.


    ¡®This may seem an ordinary sk. However, I implore you to check its hidden contents before you jump to conclusions. Inside, you will find a stone with wondrous properties, allowing it to feed on the ambient mana to create water. Be careful, though, because excessive mana consumption will instead shatter the stone.¡¯


    Hana¡¯s face went pale as she remembered her previous scan of the enchantment, thankful that it had apparently been within the stone¡¯s limits. ¡®Like the previous mineral that I entrusted to you, this can be found exclusively within the Great Blue. Specifically¡­ it is found beneath the surface of the water. I believe that you will be able to understand the implications of that.¡¯


    Her mind began racing as she processed the information. There is a special meaning behind it being an underwater stone? Of course it¡¯s underwater, it produces water! Obviously anywhere it rests for too long will¡­ oh.


    There were only two real hidden implications that she coulde up with. Either the stone gained its properties because it was underwater, or it was underwater because of its properties. Naturally, her train of thought made her lean heavily towards thetter option. And if that were the case, it meant that this stone was either far moremon, or far more powerful than she had imagined.


    She suddenly became very gentle with the sk, carefully cing it back inside the box that it was delivered in. ¡°Ryner, we¡¯re going to the Council.¡± She said softly, as if afraid even her voice would be the trigger to a flood.


    _______________________________________________________________


    I sat in my living room, watching the transmission on the wall with the two halfling incarnations. Now that I had sent the package off, it was just a matter of time to wait and see what Hana would do. Of course, there was always the chance that she might use a spell on the sk that would break the stone before reading the note. In which case, I had Thessa prepare a second sk, just to be safe.


    Part of me was eager to see what the results would be from the Council this time. There was no longer the option of simply waiting and letting others gather the stones. Since the tidestones were only found underwater, they needed to be able to mount a force strong enough to seek them out and harvest them if they wanted more. Otherwise, I would turn into their sole provider. And, given what I had seen of both Hana and Ryner, as well as my impression of the Council, I couldn¡¯t imagine a situation where they would be happy relying on one person to distribute a resource like this.


    Of course, a farrger part of me was more excited to find out what Tubrock and Ryone would uncover in their own research. I could just imagine if Ryone managed to figure out how to replicate the effects of the tidestone with a spell. If the two of them could achieve that, then it might be possible to tap into the other elemental nes even without waiting until I was able to find the rest of the stones.


    However, I could imagine a different motivator for Tubrock. These stones allowed natural connection across different nes. Theoretically, he could redesign the Fairy Gates using the information he received from researching the tidestones to make them more efficient.


    Father¡­ Leowynn¡¯s voice spoke up into my mind as we were watching the transmission. How long do you suppose it will take them to find a vein of tidestones? She seemed curious, judging by her tone, and just a bit worried.


    It shouldn¡¯t take them too long, I imagine. Why?


    Well, you said that those other stones you gave them before aremon, and block detection magic¡­ so I was just wondering how they would be able to find them quickly. They do not have Father¡¯s detection abilities, after all.


    You raise a¡­ very valid point. I knit my brows together in thought. I had relied on them being able to send a mining expedition through and finding a vein without a couple of weeks at most. But, given that they can¡¯t use the mostmon method of locating minerals on Fyor¡­ It might even take years of study for them to develop a reliable method with technology, coborating with Desbar.


    That still doesn¡¯t make it more trouble than it would be worth to the Council, but it would make it take quite a while for me, given that I¡¯m on a schedule with the Keeper Games. My mind began to run through different methods that they could use to set up an enchantment so that the void concealing stones didn¡¯t get in the way of their search.


    If they ced it like a sonar on a boat, but focused the detection to an area directly below the vessel, then the aura of the stones shouldn¡¯t be able to interfere. But that would require them to take the time to build the vessel, the magical device to perform the scan, as well as test it. Then they would need to find a strong enough crew to man the vessel.


    I really didn¡¯t want to just use a World Host here and skip ahead after all the work we did setting this up. Thinking about that, I sighed, shaking my head. Looks like I¡¯ll need to give them a little help finding things.


    If I could give them the location of a vein, then they would have an easier time setting up and testing their vessel. It would also encourage them to gather the forces they needed more quickly, as the goal seemed closer in their minds.


    As for exining how I was able to detect the veins? I nced towards my new title with a small smile, thinking that it mighte in handy sooner than I had expected.

 Chapter 299: Schemes

    <h4>Chapter 299: Schemes</h4>


    With the help of Rache and Thessa, it didn¡¯t take too long for me to get a map from the nearby town. After that, I simply had to mark down the locations of a few different veins that were close by, and I was able to mail it off to the yd couple again. From there, it was just a matter of waiting. Waiting for them to figure out how much information to send to the council, and waiting to see how the council themselves would respond.


    Time passed slowly as I was waiting for the changes to start taking ce, and I was even able to start living afortable life with Thessa and Rache. We slipped almost naturally into a regr routine.


    Every morning, Rache and I would wake in our respective rooms, smelling meat being cooked below. Thessa had managed to adjust her sleep schedule fairly quickly so that she could cook for everyone in the morning, but typically napped after breakfast. While we ate, we talked about the other worlds.


    Rache enjoyed telling me what had happened with the ninja vige over all these years, and Thessa mostly just enjoyed hearing the stories of the other worlds that she had never been to herself. When we started telling her about the new world, Lorek, she became even more surprised. After all, that world wasn¡¯t even connected to the others yet, so there was no way that she¡¯d be able to know about it. Terra was only able to impart information to her incarnations that other people within the world already knew.


    After lunch, I¡¯d spend most of the day practicing with either my ki of beginning or my new, perfected spiritual energy. Every now and then, I¡¯d take breaks in order to scan more of the world around us with my world sight while Rache or Thessa went to check on things in the town.


    We spent our life like this for a couple of weeks before I received a message from Terra. Your next opponent in the Keeper Games has been decided.


    I blinked in surprise, having just been waking up to the smell of breakfast cooking when the message was received. In all honesty, I had forgotten the passage of time and that I had been waiting on that bit of news. Who is it?


    Your next opponent is a Keeper with the title RedRose. I furrowed my brows when I heard that name, being unfamiliar with the title. In the worst case scenario, they could be someone who deserved an all out attack. However, that would have to wait. There were still a hundred and fifty days in Standard Time before that invasion. I¡¯d see how far along the world was by then, and if I was able to invest the force needed for that kind of attack.


    Shaking my head, I made my way down to the kitchen, smiling as I saw Thessa hard at work. Going by the smell, she was preparing an omelette again. There were a few bird type creatures in this floor, one of which hatched from eggs the size of my head. A single egg from such a creature was easily able to make enough for all three of us to enjoy.


    ¡°Good morning, sir.¡± She said without turning back to face me, wearing her typical cooking apron. ¡°Breakfast will be ready in a moment.¡±


    I chuckled, nodding and moving towards the table. Seeing as I had a few minutes to wait, I decided to save myself a bit of timeter, and sent my world sight out to the nearby town. As I did, I was pleasantly surprised to find a construction crew emerging from the gate. Some of them carried axes and saws, others carrying logs on their shoulders.


    ¡°Looks like things are finally starting to pick up.¡± I muttered quietly, opening my eyes.


    ¡°Hmm? What do you mean, sir?¡± Thessa asked as she turned her head back to face me, blinking in confusion.


    ¡°The Council. They¡¯re finally acting.¡±


    ¡°Ahh. Does that mean that it¡¯s time to move to the next stage?¡±


    I shook my head at her question, sighing softly. ¡°No, let¡¯s wait for a bit more. They need to be fully invested in this floor before we wrap up.¡±


    Thessa simply shrugged her shoulders, going back to cooking. ¡°Very well, sir. When do you intend to give them the next resource?¡±


    I hesitated at that, thinking it over carefully. ¡°The next one will be a big one¡­ but it¡¯ll have to wait until there is enough of a presence on this floor for me to request a ship for my exploration. Let¡¯s give it another month and see how things pan out.¡± If it took longer than that, I¡¯d have to go back to the Admin Room and simply leave a Host here for a little while to fast forward. I could easily invest thirty days into a project like this.


    ¡°Understood.¡± Thessa responded as I heard Rache walk heavily down the steps. When I saw her, her eyes were mostly closed, her golden hair a mess. Her shirt was hanging partially off one shoulder, but it seemed like she didn¡¯t notice it. She sniffed at the air a few times, and turned to walk towards the kitchen.


    ¡°Thessa¡­ food¡­¡± She mumbled helplessly, walking almost like a zombie as she approached Thessa to hug her from behind. ¡°Smells good¡­¡±


    There was a sigh from Thessa as she put up with Rache¡¯s antics. ¡°I swear, you¡¯ve gottenzy since we got here.¡± She spoke half-heartedly as she began to ce the food onto tes. ¡°If you keep this up, you¡¯re going to start putting on weight.¡±


    ¡°Nooo¡­¡± Rache whined pitifully. ¡°I¡¯ll go burn it all off after we eat¡­ promise.¡±


    ¡°Uh huh. Get off me so we can eat, then¡­¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    Hana stood with a bright smile as she oversaw the construction of the first mining ship of the Great Blue. In her hands, she still clutched the rolled up map that had arrived at their door nearly two weeks prior. She didn¡¯t dare send the entire map to the Council, because she knew that doing so would imply that she either had the ability to effortlessly locate the tidestone veins, or was enlisting the assistance of someone else who had that ability.


    Neither option was good for her. For the former, it would be easily discovered once the Council assigned her to the first vessel, and she was unable to find any new veins after ¡®discovering¡¯ the ones on the map. As for thetter, it would be the same as admitting that it wasn¡¯t Hana and Ryner themselves that had been finding these new resources. All of their achievements would be thrown out the window.


    Thankfully, the map hade with some basic ideas for how to create a craft able to more easily locate these veins without the use of Styx¡¯s unique ability. Hana had been in disbelief at first, because she found the man to simply be too honest. It was like he was asking them to rob him of the discovery.


    However, it didn¡¯t take them long to create one of the enchantments listed in the paper. To test it, they flew over to the nearest of the veins that Styx had given them. Sure enough, it returned a positive reading once the device had been aimed downwards, and fed enough mana to reach the ocean floor.


    Naturally, they turned over the device to the Council, with Hana iming the credit for its invention. Once again they had been rewarded handsomely. Her and her husband had already begun eyeing a plot ofnd on the tenth floor where they nned to build a magnificent mansion. It had even been hinted that, should their contributions continue, they may be ced in a seat of governance over the tenth floor.


    Of course, to do that they had to first endure a bit longer. They needed to milk Styx for everything he could give them. But, at the same time, Hana was intelligent. She knew that it wasn¡¯t possible for her to rush Styx. Even assuming that there were, in fact, more resources of value within the Great Blue, it would take anyone time to discover them. Not only would it look unnatural for him to have already harvested a third valuable item, it would look just as odd for Hana to be able to present such an item to the Council.


    No, she had ns. She¡¯d give it a few days, let the first ship bepleted and the crew setting off to harvest the tidestone. Then she¡¯dmission a boat for her own use, so that she could continue providing aid to the Council. Of course, this boat wouldn¡¯t truly be for herself, but for her to ¡®gift¡¯ to Styx as thanks for his aid.


    Given his knack for finding precious materials, Hana was confident that it was only a matter of time after he had a boat before he¡¯d be able to present them with something new. It wouldn¡¯t be toote to tie up loose ends once her future had been ensured. A nice,fortable life within the tenth floor, free from any worldly concerns.


    _______________________________________________________________


    For the next few days, I had used my world sight in order to keep track of the progress of the mining vessel. Sure enough, they had installed the magical radar to detect tidestone on the ship. They even installed a considerable number of high level enchantments as well, ranging from defense to speed, even a few for attacking that I saw. With the help of druids and mages, and skilled shipwrights, it took them a total of six days toplete the vessel.


    However, things didn¡¯t stop there. As the first voyage went out, staffed by numerous high level individuals, I saw movement again at the port. Another, smaller vessel was being built. Unlike therger galleon-ss ship that had just set off, this one looked more fit for a crew of two or three. It was at this point that I felt a small smile creep over my face.


    Looks like I won¡¯t need to make the first move. I had to admire Hana for this. I knew that she simply wanted to use me to help herself. However, the fact was that she saved me the trouble of negotiating for a ship. For them to be willing to invest the resources into creating a second ship, one meant for such a small crew, it meant that the vessel was intended for personal use. It wasn¡¯t another mining vessel. And that meant that it had to be made specifically for Hana and her husband.


    Although she was a mage, a mage¡¯s mana is limited. She couldn¡¯t sustain her spells for flight and detection at all times, so it was only natural that she would require a boat if the Council wanted her to continue exploring out beyond the nearby cluster of inds. But at the same time, it was unlikely that Hana would be willing to take that risk herself, knowing that there were numerous high level monsters within the ocean.


    No, it was more likely that I¡¯d find this boat sailing towards my home before too long, which suited me just fine. The more hope that they ced in my ability to find these minerals, the more they would invest in making the ship as powerful as possible. It would be no surprise if they poured most of their fortune into upgrading the vessel, and nobody would question it if they did.


    Rather, my eyes were on the horizon in the other direction. Far across the world, thousands of kilometers away, the true prize was waiting. In my estimate, it should be more valuable than the tidestone, and in far higher demand. Unfortunately, it was also more rare.


    It wouldn¡¯t be wrong to call the next stone a naturally urring artifact. Ryone¡¯s name for it was the Power Stone. It held a simple ability, one small enough to be overlooked entirely if one wasn¡¯t a mage. It was simply able to gather and store mana. But this also gave it immense value. With that one simple feature, it would be able to power magical devices by harnessing ambient mana, or act as an external power source for mages.


    Although the mineral might be more rare¡­ I didn¡¯t have to tell them that part. It would instead be strange for me to know howmon a new mineral like that was. I only had to tell them where I found it, and people woulde swarming.

 Chapter 300: Secondary Objectives

    <h4>Chapter 300: Secondary Objectives</h4>


    ¡°Captain!¡± One of the dark-furred dovah called out from his position at the center of the deck, standing over the magical radar. His digitigrade legs were confined within a pair of baggy blue pants, his furred hand clutching the radar while his torso was left bare. ¡°We got a reading!¡±


    The captain, a human male with light blonde hair and a pudgy build, nodded happily. ¡°Good, good.¡± He said with augh. ¡°Activate the stealth field, Jahon, and get the diving team ready once we¡¯re anchored!¡±


    The dovah nodded his head abruptly, closing his eyes and muttering to himself. ¡°Linara thel.¡± When the word was spoken, the dovah¡¯s magic swept through the ship, which seemed to quickly lose all momentum, its position frozen in the water.


    Next, he rushed inside, to the enchantment control room, looking at the various controls. Seven crystals were lined up, each connected to seven different magical functions. Beneath each was a simplebel to differentiate them, and he moved to the ¡®stealth¡¯ crystal.


    cing his hand on the gem, he pushed his mana in to trigger the ennchantment. As he did so, a pulse of energy spread out and surrounded the vessel. ¡°Stealth field is up, captain!¡± He called out, not moving from his position. In order to ensure that the field had to remain active, he had to stay at the crystal.


    Closing his eyes, he mentally contacted a member of the dive crew below. Prepare your team to dive.


    There was a flurry of motion as the dive crew got prepared. Due to the difficulty of manufacturing a dive suit for the dovah, the dive team was exclusivelyposed of humans and halflings. Each suit was a thin rubber-like material. At the neck of each was a wide metal hoop that they slipped their heads through.


    Once the team was ready, they moved out onto the deck. There were ten of them in total, and they didn¡¯t even pause to greet the captain. Instead, they moved to deploy the diving tform, arge, t sheet of metal held up by thick chains that rested vertically against the side of the boat.


    Once they had it horizontal, and set it down on the surface of the water, they gave a thumbs up to one of the dovah up above. That person began to lower the chains, the tform easily descending with its ten upants. Thankfully, the stealth field also epassed the tform, wrapping around it as they moved deeper and deeper into the water.


    As soon as they were submerged, a bubble of air appeared around the heads of each of the divers, the enchantment on the suit activating immediately. They clenched their fists, staring out at all the sea life that swam by. Although they all knew about the stealth enchantment, there were only so many mages capable of channeling their mana into it on the ship. Once that mana ran dry, it was hard to say if they¡¯d be able to make it back up in one piece.


    However, the lower that they went, the more assured they were in the effectiveness of the spells in ce. None of them were rookies when it came to adventure, as only people who had been well trained could properly survive on this floor. As such, they began to rx, their eyes drifting downwards.


    The descent was a slow one, taking nearly a half hour before they felt the tform connecting with solid ground. By then, many of the other enchantments on the suit began to activate, creating glowing lights on their knees and elbows to help them see and find each other.


    We¡¯ve reached the floor. The team leader transmitted back to the surface, before sending another message to the rest of his team. Alright, everyone, you know what you¡¯re looking for. The field only extends ten meters, so stick close and measure your steps.


    At hismand, the ten individuals dismounted the tform, their feet connecting with the ground and anchoring them to the bottom. Each step was slow, and they could feel the weight of the water pushing down on them. Yet, they persevered.


    After a couple of steps in every direction, the divers would kneel down, brushing away the grime from the sea floor. Then, with the lights on their knees, they would be able to see if they had located the mineral.


    Over here!


    Here, too! A pair of thoughts called out to the rest of the team, belonging to two of the crew who had gone off in simr directions. The rest of the team naturally converged on them to prepare for the actual excavation. The gloves of the diving suits all contained a storage enchantment, and they quickly retrieved the ki-powered drills from within them.


    Up above the surface, the captain of the vessel was keeping a close eye on the diving team, his sight projected down to them with his own mana. He gave a satisfied nod when he saw them drilling into the stones and gathering them up one by one. ¡°Alright, everyone, keep a close eye out! Don¡¯t want anything getting in the way of this voyage. Jahon, call out when you need someone to take over!¡±


    ¡°Understood, Captain!¡± Jahon¡¯s voice echoed out below the captain as he continued to steadily channel mana into the enchantment.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Looks like things are going well. I nodded to myself as I watched the mining operation. I had to admit, they did put a good deal of thought into their preparations. Each diving suit had two storage spaces. One held their tools and allowed them to store the minerals, while the other simply contained air for them to breathe, to ensure that they didn¡¯t run into the same problem I had previously.


    Dale. A voice spoke into my mind, catching me by surprise. What surprised me was that it wasn¡¯t Leowynn, or Terra, or even Ryone or Aurivy. Rather, it was Irena that was contacting me.


    Hey, is something the matter? Irena didn¡¯t usually take the initiative to reach out to me unless something had gone wrong, so I couldn¡¯t help but have my mind go to the worst case scenario.


    Not¡­ quite? She asked with a somewhat difficult tone. I wished to inform you that the Spirit Shaper ss has, atst, been unlocked.


    Spirit Shaper¡­? I thought to myself in confusion, before my eyes went wide. Oh, that! How long ago did I even get that? I had honestly forgotten that ss existed. What took them so long to unlock it?


    I believe the fault here lies with myself. When constructing the training regime for the underworld forces, I clearly differentiated the Reaper and Spirit Hunter sses and their uses. I apologize, but I think that this made them unable to properly meet the requirements to receive the ss.


    There¡¯s nothing to be sorry for. I shook my head. Neither of us really anticipated that ss back then. Anyways, what does that ss do that makes it so special? Given that the other Advanced sses all had their little gimmicks, I was quite curious what the Spirit Shaper was capable of.


    I believe that the easiestparison would be to call it a spiritual druid. They shape spiritual energy in much the same way that a druid does natural energy. However¡­ other spirits are simrlyposed of spiritual energy, so atter levels it is possible that they will be able to perform simr functions as a bard as well.


    I felt a grimace draw across my face. Hopefully it won¡¯t let them just destroy other spirits on a whim.


    There was a moment of hesitation before Irena replied. I will keep a watch for such situations. That would be very unfortunate¡­


    I gave a short nod at that, before a thought urred to me. You like to y smaller roles in the world when you make an incarnation, right?


    Her answer only indicated her confusion. That is¡­ correct, usually. Though, it depends on the circumstances. I mostly prefer to just live a natural life, and handle things as they develop. Did you have something in mind?


    Would you like to help me out with the final stage of the n that I¡¯m working on?


    Her response was immediate, obviously having been given without much prior thought. Yes. However, after that she paused. But¡­ your n is already in motion. There is no time for me to create a new incarnation to assist you, is there?


    I smiled slightly, shaking my head. Thest stage is more long term. There will still be plenty of time. I¡¯ll fill you inter, and let you know when you should create your incarnation.


    Very well, I will be awaiting your word. And with that, our conversation came to a close, and I returned to my personal training.


    Spirit Shapers, huh¡­? That was way back. Back before the boat trip, even before bringing back Ashley. It was no wonder that I had forgotten about them. Since they require the Reaper ss, it won¡¯t be something that I can do as a living being, but maybeter on¡­


    Shifting my sight back towards the port, I checked on the construction of the smaller vessel. Although the main body of it seemed finished, it was still in the drydock. Within, I was able to see a few mages walking about, inspecting the boat and its enchantments. Sure enough, it seems that Hana and Ryner were heavily investing into this boat.


    ¡°Hey, Styx. Whatcha doing?¡± Rache¡¯s voice spoke up next to me, and snapped me out of my little spying session. ncing over, I saw her sitting next to me on the couch, with Thessa on the other side of her.


    ¡°Sorry, I was just taking a few minutes to check on everything.¡± I smiled apologetically, having lost track of time during the break from the broadcast. It seems that I had been caught, as Rache had her cheeks puffed out indignantly.


    It took her a moment before she let out a long sigh. ¡°Fine, fine. All part of the n and such, right?¡± She asked, rolling her wrist a bit as she spoke. ¡°Learn anything interesting, at least?¡±


    ¡°Well, I saw that the council seems to have fully epted the dovah, using them in such an important mission as this. Does that count?¡±


    Rache blinked her eyes a couple of times, and then let out a lightugh. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s no surprise. Dovah are born with naturally stronger bodies, so it doesn¡¯t take as long for one of them to get trained up to a level where they cane to this floor. If I had to guess, they pulled in those dovah simply because they ran out of humans and halflings that they could turn to for the voyage. Probably a bunch of mages.¡±


    Well¡­ she wasn¡¯t wrong, at least. ¡°Please tell me that racial discrimination isn¡¯t that bad here¡­¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not terrible¡­¡± She said with a somewhat guilty face, her eyes ncing downwards. ¡°Sis Bihena and I have done what we could. But, with the humans and halflings being born at the center of the world, they see themselves as¡­ well, the center of the world. The further out a race is from the first floor, the less ¡®loved¡¯ they are by the world, or some nonsense.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but let out a sigh of my own at that. ¡°I suppose that¡¯s another thing that will have to be worked into my n, then. Good thing I just signed Irena up to help, so she can try to take care of part of thatter on¡­¡±


    ¡°Oooh, Irena¡¯sing?!¡± Rache¡¯s face was suddenly filled with excitement. ¡°I can¡¯t wait to see what kind of incarnation she makes! Wait, no, if it¡¯s her, I might not even be able to tell who she is if we were to pass on the street. Okay, new objective! I¡¯ve got to figure out who Irena is without her telling me!¡±

 Chapter 301: The Stone of Power

    <h4>Chapter 301: The Stone of Power</h4>


    The following day, what I had been waiting for finally arrived. I was keeping an eye on the progress of the smaller vessel ever since I noticed how much work the two Maxers were putting into strengthening it. So it was only natural when I saw them setting off from the port, sailing in my direction.


    Unlike the professional mining team created by the Council, the yd couple were clearly not as well trained at handling seafaring vessels. Ryner would constantly nce towards the water nervously, as if any little shadow might be a threat. Meanwhile, Hana didn¡¯t seem to be much better. Whereas the Council¡¯s vessel only activated their stealth function while anchored in order to preserve mana, Hana spared nothing to keep it active the entire time that they were sailing.


    At the pace that they were cutting through the water, it only took them half an hour to arrive at my ind. I stayed inside at their arrival, pretending not to have noticed them through their stealth enchantment. If I revealed that I knew they wereing, they¡¯d only be suspicious of me.


    ¡°Styx!¡± Hana¡¯s voice called out, sounding a bit tired. ¡°Are you home?!¡±


    I couldn¡¯t tell if she was hopeful that I was home or not from her surface thoughts. On the one hand, she hoped that she wouldn¡¯t have to make this journey all over again to check on me. On the other, my not being home meant that I was diligently out searching for new discoveries.


    Shrugging my shoulders, I stepped up and walked to the door, opening it up and smiling to the two of them. There was the slim chance that one of them might have a level or two as a priest of Irena, so I couldn¡¯t afford to directly lie to them. ¡°Ah, hello there. What brings the two of you to my ind?¡±


    A brief look of disappointment shed over Hana¡¯s face before she quickly schooled her expression. ¡°We¡¯re here to offer you a reward for your services.¡± She said with a small smile. ¡°As well as an encouragement for future endeavors.¡±


    Stepping to the side, she raised a hand to indicate the boat that was now parked just off shore. ¡°This vessel was specially crafted for you. It possesses the best attack, defense, and stealth enchantments avable, and is able to boast a powerful speed. Consider this our thanks for your help in locating the void concealing stones and the more recent tidestones.¡±


    ¡°With this vessel, we¡¯re also hoping that you will be able to expand your range of activity. It would be unreasonable to ask that you wander too far from your home when you don¡¯t have a ce to rest and recover, after all. So, on behalf of the Council, we hope that you ept this gift.¡±


    As she spoke, she offered a small bow, her robes naturally parting just enough to give me an ample view of her cleavage. Perhaps the view would be even better had I been a human, but I simply maintained my smile. ¡°Of course. I was hoping to be able to explore a bit further away. Who knows just what is out there to see? By the way, does the ship have a name yet?¡±


    Hana blinked in surprise at my question, before shaking her head. ¡°It doesn¡¯t. We were going to leave the naming to you, sir. But, please excuse us. The trip here was rather tiring, and we must be getting back.¡±


    I nodded, excusing the two of them. Hana walked over to Ryner and chanted a quick teleportation spell, the two vanishing from sight. ¡°Styx¡­?¡± A weary voice called back to me from within the house. Rache looked at me with wide, fearful eyes. ¡°Am I going to have to ride the boat now¡­?¡±


    ¡°Nope.¡± I shook my head, closely examining the boat. I had to make sure that they didn¡¯t put any tracking enchantments or anything of the sort on it that would make what I was about to do difficult. As I approached, the information about the different enchantments appeared in my vision, courtesy of my Keeper sight. ¡°Nobody¡¯s going to be riding this boat.¡±


    ¡°Did they tamper with it?¡± Thessa spoke up from next to Rache, looking towards the boat with narrowed eyes.


    ¡°Oh, no, they really did spare no expense. They loaded it with so many enchantments that they couldn¡¯t fit in any tracking spells. But I¡¯ve already spent a considerable amount of time on a boat, and have no desire to repeat that adventure.¡±


    Walking up to the boat, my feet stepping across the air, I ced my hand on the hull and spoke in the runguage. ¡°Lasting invisibility.¡± My mana quickly wrapped around the boat, causing the wood to shimmer briefly before it faded out of view.


    Terra, how long would it reasonably take to go to the power stone and back?


    About three weeks. One and a half if you exined the return trip with a teleport spell. Her response came quickly, but made me sigh out of frustration. I had put up with the waiting this long¡­ but I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d be able to spare another three weeks now. Not without starting to get bored.


    ¡°I can do a week¡­¡± I muttered to myself, not wanting to just fast forward events again. ¡°Recall location, teleport.¡±


    As I recited the spell, my body vanished, reappearing in a dimly lit cave. I could wait a week to turn the stones in, but that didn¡¯t mean I wanted to just sit around doing nothing until then. I¡¯ll be right back, Rivy. I whispered off to the halfling goddess.


    Getting a little restless? Her tone was yful when she responded, and I found myself nodding my head.


    The only sources of light within this cave were a few glowing gems poking out of the rock walls. Behind me, the cave extended too far and curved too many times for the light to make it through from the outside, but these stones provided more than enough light for me to see.


    I walked towards the cave wall, cing my hand on its surface. Closing my eyes, I tapped into the natural energy of the surroundings. The mana within the power stones themselves was far too rich for me to directly affect them, but the same could not be said for themon rock encasing them. With a small nudge, the rock began to recede, revealing the giant shining gem within.


    In its fully charged state, a power stone greatly resembles a glowing diamond. Seeing a raw diamond in front of me, bigger than my entire body¡­ Well, it was quite the sight. I reached my hand out, drawing my finger across arge section that was jutting out close to me.


    Once I injected the beginning fire ki through my finger, I was able to carve out thatrge section without too much trouble. As it fell, I caught it in my other hand with a satisfied nod. ¡°Recall location, teleport.¡±


    I repeated the spell once again, this time drawing the mana from the stone in my hand to fuel the magic. Immediately, I was back on the ind with Rache and Thessa, thetter of whom was now staring at the stone in my hand with wide, almost sparkling eyes.


    A significant amount of mana had been depleted from the gemstone during the teleport, causing it to lose its magical glow. Instead, it now simply looked to be a giant, precious diamond. Knowing how much Thessa liked money, I couldn¡¯t help but grin. ¡°This one isn¡¯t for you, Thessa.¡± I told her, snapping her out of her daydream. ¡°I¡¯ll get you another er, alright?¡±


    She hesitated for a moment, before nodding. ¡°I¡¯ll hold you to that, sir. Then¡­ is that the power stone?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± I turned, walking over towards Rache and handing it to her. ¡°I want to keep about half of this to give to the yd duo. The rest¡­ I figure you can probably do something with it, right?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m saying this, but¡­ no.¡± Rache shook her head, sighing softly. ¡°I don¡¯t have the skill to reliably use this in an enchantment. And a certain Goddess of Magic is currently making grabby hands at me.¡± She smirked slightly as she said that, ncing up towards the sky.


    Pleeaase, Dale, can I have it? I¡¯ve been a very good elf! Ryone practically begged. I already used up the little sample that they sent me before! With that one, no sorry, with half of that stone Rache is holding, I could create several artifacts!


    I couldn¡¯t help butugh as I heard her, taking the stone back and cutting it in half with the same beginning fire ki. No sooner had I done that than one of the two pieces vanished entirely from my hand. And if I had to wager a guess, it was therger of the two¡­


    I heard a faint, happy giggle in the back of my mind, and could already imagine what the excited elf was about to start doing. ¡°Okay, then¡­ we¡¯ve got ten days.¡± I told the two halflings with me, moving back inside the house. ¡°In ten days, we send that off, and get ready for the next step.¡±


    The two of them nodded their heads obediently, following me inside. From there, it was just a return to our normal routine. Ten days of a quiet home life, while only asionally keeping an eye out on the happenings of the world.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°You think he¡¯ll really be able to find anything with that boat?¡± Ryner asked as the two of them walked back into their home, equally tired from the trip that they had taken to meet Styx. ¡°I mean, he might have just been lucky so far¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s just it, Ryner.¡± Hana smiled. ¡°I think he¡¯s very lucky. It¡¯s not a fluke that he found those stones¡­ I think that it was the interference of the world.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­ you lost me.¡± Her husband shook his head in confusion as he copsed on the couch.


    ¡°Remember his mismatched sses? I think that he raised his luck through them, far beyond the normal.¡± She spoke in a gently tone, moving to sit across hisp with a small grin. ¡°There aren¡¯t many people of Fyor that have experimented with luck, but those on Earth have learned a bit more, and I was able to hear some rumors.¡±


    ¡°Apparently, the luck stat is not so useless as it first appears. It helps to guide you towards a desired goal. If I¡¯m not wrong, Styx¡¯s luck should be quite high. Even without trying, he will naturally be able to locate something valuable just by sailing off in a random direction.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± There was a bit of doubt in Ryner¡¯s tone. ¡°But¡­ if luck is that great, won¡¯t it make it hard to get rid of him if a problemes up?¡±


    ¡°Oh, there is no need to worry about that. From what I heard, the luck stat rarely ys a part in a battle. At most, someone will feel a sense of foreboding before danger strikes.¡± She leaned in and gave her husband a soft kiss on the lips. ¡°If the situationes to it, we can still count on our friends to help get rid of him.¡±


    Ryner seemed to visibly rx at that assurance. ¡°Alright. So we let him make one or two more big discoveries, then we move in?¡±


    ¡°See, now you¡¯re getting it.¡± Hana nodded in agreement. ¡°We just have to let him handle the hard parts as our lucky star. Then once he¡¯s all used up, we won¡¯t have any more need to keep him around.¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    Still nning out ways to kill me, huh? I thought to myself in an amused tone, keeping a watchful eye over the two humans. We¡¯ll see how well that works out for you.

 Chapter 302: The Power of the Stones

    <h4>Chapter 302: The Power of the Stones</h4>


    Time passed again, and we once more entered into a leisurely regr life. For ten days, we followed the same schedule as before. The only difference was that Thessa and Rache no longer visited the town to get information and supplies. In order to give off the appearance that we had already left to go exploring, we stayed within the house for those ten days.


    It was¡­ a bit boring, honestly. I enjoyed being able to take a break now and then, but this¡­ I had gotten so used to the quick changes in my life that having a long period to just rx felt weird. Enough so that when dawn of the tenth day came, I grabbed the power stone that I had harvested, and teleported directly to the nearby city.


    The area was more lively than it had been in the past,rgely due to the new sources of trade that had been stimting the local economy. I could see people of many different races, even those not native to this world, walking about and talking to each other. It brought a small smile to my face as I moved to find the local priest.


    I had been told to use this man as a point of contact to the yd couple if I ever found anything important. As such, I had sent the tidestone and void concealing stone through him as well. Perhaps, aside from Ryner and Hana, he was the only one in the world that knew that I was the one actually finding these discoveries.


    ¡°Geoff.¡± I called out when I saw the halfling cleric dressed in white robes not far away. He was holding his staff, leaning slightly against it as he stood by the gateway to the lower floor. When he heard his name called, he snapped to attention, his head jerking up and looking around quickly.


    Once his eyes settled on me, they widened in rm, and he hurried over to me. ¡°Shh, shh. No need to cause such a fuss, friend.¡± He smiled amiably as he spoke. ¡°I did not expect to see you again so soon.¡±


    ¡°I got lucky.¡± I exined with a shake of my head, plucking the bag of holding from my waist to pass to him. ¡°Could you ensure that this gets to them? I think that they will find it to be even better than the others. I included a map in there as well, so that should help.¡±


    His eyes practically shined as he took the bag. He knew that the yd couple nned to eliminate me once I had provided them with enough riches. Hell, he was even a part of the deal. What he didn¡¯t realize was that they were also nning to take care of him as well. After all, there were only two people aside from the yds that knew where these materialse from, and they couldn¡¯t afford to leave any loose ends.


    ¡°Of course, of course.¡± He nodded, taking the bag gingerly and pocketing it. ¡°I take it that you¡¯ll be off again?¡±


    ¡°Afraid so.¡± I smiled slightly, shaking my head regrettably. ¡°The boat and the girls are still waiting for me. I just came by to quickly drop this off, and have to get back to them now.¡±


    His eyes seemed to sh at that, and I could tell from his thoughts that he realized how important the contents of the bag must be if I had used a teleportation spell to cover such a long distance and deliver the package immediately, as opposed to journeying back the long way. He nced down towards the pocket where he had stored the pouch, and gave a small nod of his head. ¡°I understand, sir. I look forward to seeing you again.¡±


    With that, I waved my hand, speaking the teleportation spell to return to my little ind home.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Hana awoke with a start, a frantic knocking at the bedroom door breaking her out of her slumber. ¡°What is it?!¡± She shouted, her eyes only half opened as she crawled out of bed. Her robes were a mess, but shezily adjusted them to look at least somewhat decent while she made her way towards the door. ¡°I swear, this had better be good!¡±


    ¡°It is!¡± A familiar voice spoke from the other side of the door, and Hana¡¯s eyes snapped open. The yds were not staying at their home anymore, instead staying with Geoff in order to evade the Council¡¯s eyes. It would look too strange for them to be able to bring in new discoveries that required days, or even weeks of travel all without ever leaving their home.


    That fact had momentarily eluded her when she was awoken by the knocking, but now her mind was awake. And if Geoff came here to find her this early in the morning¡­


    She quickly opened the door, ncing down to the halfling with a smile, her hair showing that she had just woken up. Wide tracts of skin were clearly visible through her partially parted robes, easily drawing the halfling¡¯s eyes for a moment before he remembered his objective, and he shook his head.


    ¡°Styx just made a delivery.¡± He said, holding up the bag. As soon as Hana took it, she closed the door on Geoff, leaving him standing in the hallway.


    She couldn¡¯t be bothered to listen to his grumbledints about ¡®his house¡¯. He wouldn¡¯t be an issue for too much longer, as far as she was concerned. It was just a matter of waiting. ¡°Mmm, what is it, babe?¡± Ryner asked groggily from the bed, his own body lifting up as he nced towards Hana with half-lidded eyes.


    ¡°Nothing to worry about, dear.¡± Hana replied with aforting smile. She loved her husband dearly, but he was no schr, so there would be little point in trying to exin whatever discovery Styx had found to him. Instead, she moved off to the writing desk at the side of the room, and began retrieving the contents of the storage bag within her hands.


    There was a brief sh of light, before arge, glowing crystal the size of her fist was on the desk. Another, and a rolled up scroll appeared next to it. However, Hana¡¯s eyes were immediately captivated by the gem. Not simply because of the fact that it was a giant crystal. No, she could feel the mana radiating off of it. If she didn¡¯t know better, she might have mistaken this for one of the Core Pirs found in every floor.


    Eventually, her eyes moved towards the scroll, and she unfurled it. On one side, there was a map that chartered a voyage from Styx¡¯s ind off into the distance, showing where the crystal had been retrieved from. On the other side was a brief passage. ¡®This crystal appears to absorb mana that is injected into it, storing it forter. I did a quick test, and the mana can be harvested by a mage for their casting, or for an enchantment.¡¯


    As she read over the words that had been left for her, her suspicions were gradually confirmed. She could feel the mana inside, and her mind had immediately gone to the tidestone. It had taken in ambient mana to create water. This one seemed to take in that mana and simply store it.


    Hana¡¯s mind began shing to a number of uses. Yes, it could be used to power spells or enchantments. But¡­ what if there was more? What if you could inject the mana for an alreadypleted spell into the crystal? If that could be done, then it might even be possible for warriors like Ryner to carry life-saving spells on them.


    Hana quickly shook her head, reaching to grab a scroll of parchment from the desk. She copied the map in her own hand, altering the starting location so that the voyage appeared to set off from the port rather than from Styx¡¯s ind. Some detail may have been lost, given that her copy was not a perfect replica, but it would be more than enough for the Council to be able to plot their own voyage.


    Once she was done, she ced the stone and the new map back into the bag. Standing up, she walked over and gave her husband a gentle kiss. ¡°I¡¯ve gotta step out for just a little bit. I¡¯ll return soon.¡±


    His answer was a groggy grumble, his eyes barely even opening. Hana fixed her robes, and brushed her hair to look presentable, before striding out of the house. She didn¡¯t find Geoff at his post, but it didn¡¯t matter much to her. Instead, she walked through the gate, and found the priest on the other side to send her off towards the Council.


    She knew that this discovery would be what did it. This would be the final push that her and her husband needed. With this, they would be set for life.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Barely a day passed after I sent in the power stone before a significant change urred. While watching the city through my world sight, I saw caravansing through,rge groups of workers piling out one by one. Most of the wagons carried construction material, but they did not seem to be purely for ships.


    Mages came through, and took to the skies, flying off to the horizon as fast as they could. I felt a smile tugging at my lips as I realized what was going on. They weren¡¯t here to build ships. Those materials were to start a new city. Maybe even more than one city.


    There was one disgruntled halfling among the caravan, an elderly man who wore a ring on his finger that allowed his body to resist the gravity of the floor. Looking into his mind, I saw that he was an actual member of the Council.


    We need to get ahead of them. He thought to himself. Can¡¯t let pesky adventurers im everything themselves, or our coffers will run dry.


    Either voluntary or through an assignment, he hade to the Great Blue to govern the area. The amount that they had begun to owe Hana and Ryner was simply bing too much, and it seemed that they feared that they couldn¡¯t afford it if new discoveries were made at this pace. They needed their own people in on this. People that could be paid in political favors, rather than coin.


    More importantly, they needed to amass more crews to mine this floor for all it was worth. Void concealing stones may not be too incredibly useful for themon man, but tidestones and these new power stones? It was enough to make anyone rejoice.


    A few hourster, most of the mages returned via a teleportation spell, and reported that they had found a suitable ind. Thankfully not my ind. I mused inwardly, thankful that the plot ofnd I had chosen for myself wasn¡¯trge enough to amodate an entire city.


    One of the wagons began unpacking its supplies, constructing a gateway off at the edge of the city that I was by now quite familiar with. If I wasn¡¯t mistaken, this should be the same type of gates that the elves and heroc created on Earth to quickly allow transport between cities, or even between continents.


    Once the gate had been created, the mages began to teleport another wagon away. Barely an hourter, and the gate lit up, connecting to its twin on the distant ind. The caravan now had its path, and they moved through to begin the construction of their new home.


    I felt a small smile creep across my lips, realizing that this was only the beginning. This was the first wave of people sent by the Council. But, what would happen when the rest of the Maxers heard that the Council was mobilizing as many of their own people as they could manage?


    I resolved myself to wait for another week. To give the rumors time to spread through the different groups. The final stage of the n was about to begin.

 Chapter 303: Two Hundred Years of Night

    <h4>Chapter 303: Two Hundred Years of Night</h4>


    Author''s Corner: Thank you to Madeline for another month of support!


    A week had passed, and the floor had be¡­ more lively than I had even expected. The highest level individuals of Fyor wereing out of the woodwork, even if they didn¡¯t qualify as a ¡®Maxer¡¯. People of every field walked through the gate, creating an almost endless stream.


    Already, the few cities created in the Great Blue were so crowded that they had to expand. When these individuals learned about the new items that had been found, they all shared a simr thought. Everyone wanted a piece of this new business, whether it was to get the stones for free with their own work, or to be the first to sell them.


    Now, naturally the Council had tried to keep quiet about the power stones at the very least, as they were thergest source of the crazy. However, it is quite difficult to keep information confidential when there is a yful halfling goddess willing to answer prayers. It seemed like the information about that stone hade directly from the church, which only drove people to arrive even more quickly.


    The port of the main city was filled with the frames of ships in the progress of being made. Meanwhile, I satfortable within the living room of my ind home, breathing out a sigh of relief. Alright, finally time. Rivy, mind sending me over?


    As I stood up, a golden mist surrounded me, rising up from my feet until it hadpletely engulfed my body. When it dispersed, I was basked in a warm blue glow. A familiar voice spoke up beside me while I looked at the massive crystal pir. ¡°Want some extra firepower, or do you think you can handle this?¡± Rache asked with a wide smile.


    I turned my head, looking at the far distant cities just on the horizon, and shook my head. ¡°I think I can handle this.¡± As I said that, I began unsealing all of my sses, but once again hiding them within my soul crystal. The physical strength of my body skyrocketed until I was at my full Keeper level.


    Before me was a giant pir of blue crystal which connected the sky and the sea. Just like those found at every floor, this is what controlled the day and the night for the Great Blue. It allowed the function of the gates that led between floors. And I was going to smash it.


    Ryone, mind if I borrow your book for a moment? I asked, holding a hand out to my side. A momentter, a golden book materialized in my hand, causing me to smile. In order to entirely smash this thing, I had to use the single biggest type of attack avable to me.


    ¡°I am the one who stands above the heavens.¡± I began to speak out, tapping into the book to begin creating a spell diagram above my head, over a hundred meters wide. ¡°My word is thew of the universe. Gather, shards of stone and me. Arise from your elemental rest. Erase the world within your path with baleful congration. Darken the skies once more, that they never forget your brilliance.¡±


    There was a low cracking noise from above me asrge sections of the artificial ceiling broke loose, falling down and into the spell diagram. They gathered within its center, fusing together to create one giant stone that filled the entire length of the diagram. And then, a ck fire arose along the meteor.


    ¡°For this world¡¯s growth, the structure before me must fall. So descend, the wrath of the heavens unknown to this world, and offer true destruction.¡± The ming rock rose into the sky, and began to spin violently. Momentster, it shot down in front of me, crashing against the pir of crystallized mana.


    There was an explosion of light, and the world went dark. Shards of glowing blue gems flew in every direction before evaporating into the air, the meteor crashing down through the entirety of the pir, until finally it reached the water. A loud sizzling could be heard as the water rushed in to quell the fire, while the fire fought to vaporize the water.


    Inevitably, the water won the fight in the end, but by then the damage was done. The only portions of the pir that remained were either below the water¡¯s surface, or the cracked sections dangling from the ceiling above. And without the pir, there would be no light. No interference or travel from any floor.


    For the first time in Fyor¡¯s history, it was time for a true Dark Age. Thessa, be a dear and smash the boat, would you? I whispered to her mentally, feeling the thick mana rushing into the atmosphere after the destruction of the pir. However, it only made me smile, already choosing to ascend to the Admin Room. Irena, it¡¯s time.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Hana called out in shock, looking to the sky. ¡°Night¡¯s not supposed to fall for a few hours yet.¡± All around her, people were sharing simr thoughts, unknowing of the disaster that had struck the mana pir.


    ¡°The gate¡¯s stopped!¡± Someone cried. ¡°It won¡¯t open!¡± When Hana looked over, she saw the ck gate, basked in the warm glow of the city¡¯s street lights. A halfling man had fallen onto the floor in front of it, apparently having tried to walk through only to find himself impacting a solid wall.


    Hana furrowed her brown, a heavy frown falling over her face. She turned, making her way back towards Geoff¡¯s home to find her husband. ¡°Ryner!¡± She called out into the darkness, before the smell hit her. Blood, thick and heavy in the air. And a sound¡­


    She moved towards the sound, identifying it as the soft humming of a young girl. She recognized the tune, one that children from Earth often sang. A morbid song, by her recollection.


    When she arrived at the bedroom that her and her husband had been staying at, she retreated a step with a startled gasp. Both her husband and Geoff were copsed on the floor, their heads torn from their bodies and ced a few feet away. Sitting on the bed, her hands dripping with blood, was a halfling figure, hair as ck as the night that had fallen over the city. Her eyes practically glowed as they stared at Hana while her lips curved up in a feral grin.


    ¡°Scatter, scatter, she¡¯ll take away the pain~.¡± The figure sang, before reaching her arm out. Before Hana had the chance to react, that thin arm had stretched out, crossing several meters to wrap around her throat, and yanked her back into the room as she screamed. ¡°There there, I¡¯ll make it quick~.¡±


    ¡°B-but you¡¯re-!¡± Hana¡¯s eyes went wide once again as she identified thest face she¡¯d ever see. She felt a brief pain in her chest, before her eyes went nk.


    Thessa stayed seated on the bed, her arm piercing through Hana¡¯s chest, holding her heart out behind the human¡¯s back. ¡°This is what happens to people that want to kill my Dale.¡± She whispered into the ear of the dead woman, as if speaking to her soul. ¡°No second chances.¡±


    Thessa¡¯s ki receded, and instead a silver light wrapped around her body, which spread out and engulfed the three dead figures in the room. A thin mist rose up from the bodies, before being drawn in to Thessa¡¯s body.


    The halfling gave a small sigh once she had finished destroying the spirits of the three. Afterwards, her arms shed with ki, the blood stained on her skin falling off as if it was never there. She dropped Hana¡¯s body to the ground with a sickening thud, and began humming to herself once again as she walked out of the house.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Once I got to the Admin Room, I found Irena already waiting for me in my bedroom. She gave a small nod to my appearance, waiting for me to exin my n to her as promised.


    ¡°Okay, here¡¯s how it is.¡± I began, sitting down in myputer chair and turning it to face her. ¡°On Fyor, everyone has grown to rely on a single group. Just one government to manage the entire world, due to their upation of the first floor. Normally, I¡¯d be all for that. Having a unified world would be great.¡±


    ncing back towards the map of the world, I gave a small shrug. ¡°But it can¡¯t work. Not in our situation. Sooner orter, there will be an invasion where the crystal pirs are destroyed. Or, maybe it won¡¯t even be an invasion. It could simply be a monster that attacks them, trying to consume the mana within.¡±


    ¡°If that happens, that floor and every floor beyond it will be cut off from the Council. They¡¯ll have no ess to the government that has been guiding them all their lives. So we have to break them of this reliance.¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately, new ideas like this aren¡¯t so easy to enact in the minds of people who have built a culture that contradicts that idea. They¡¯d think about it, but ultimately would fall back to their normal habits before long. For this n, I have to make that no longer an option. At the same time, I needed as many of the highest leveled people in the world to gather at the Great Blue as possible, to ensure that they had enough to thrive.¡±


    Irena simply gave another nod, and so I continued to exin. ¡°The crystal pir will regenerate eventually. But by that time, I want the Great Blue to have its own government. If it recovers too quickly, I¡¯ll go and smash it again, nting in their minds the image of a great viin that is cutting them off from the rest of the world.¡±


    ¡°And for my part in this, you wish for me to create an incarnation to help guide the world down that path?¡± Irena asked curiously once I had finished.


    ¡°Right. And¡­ I¡¯d like you to work on easing the racial discrimination against the dovah and other races. I don¡¯t expect you to be able to totally correct it, but it¡¯d be nice if they were treated a bit better under this new government.¡±


    Irena fell silent for a few moments at that, seeming to ponder it over. Her wings twitched behind her before she raised her head to look at me. ¡°Okay, I think I can handle that.¡±


    As she turned to leave, I let loose a soft sigh, leaning back in my chair. So¡­ Terra, how long WILL it take for the pir to fully regenerate?


    Assuming that nobody finds it, and realizes that they can use their mana to speed up the process¡­ roughly two hundred and fifteen years. Give or take for local mana conditions.


    Two hundred years of darkness, huh? More if they somehow don¡¯t manage to get together and work out a system by then. Thankfully, this gave me plenty of time to worry about other things. Things such as my next opponent in the Keeper game.


    Looking at the system window, I let out a small groan when I saw that my next round would be a defense, rather than attacking. That meant that it couldn¡¯t just be an easy pass. Instead, I had to find out some information about my attacker, in order to properly prepare.


    I sent off a contact request to Balu, and would simply have to wait until she got to her Admin Room to check her messages. Given that she ran a cultivation world, I imagined everything must go a bit more slowly for her. If she didn¡¯t respond within the next couple days, I¡¯d simply contact Grimor instead.


    Just as I was about to stand up to go and spend some time with the others in the living room, I found a weight pressing down on myp. Blinking in surprise, I found Terra materializing out of a cloud of smoke, nuzzling against my chest. I couldn¡¯t help butugh, shaking my head. ¡°Well, hey there. Was just thinking of going to find you.¡±


    ¡°Beat ya to it.¡± She teased softly, her tail wrapping around my wrist gently. ¡°Thanks for letting me be part of your n. Was nice getting to stretch my legs again and help out with stuff. Even if I can¡¯t do quite as much with an incarnation as I¡¯d like.¡±


    ¡°Seemed that you did just fine to me.¡± I said with a small smile, leaning down to kiss the top of her head. ¡°Thanks for the help.¡±

 Chapter 304: Trade Wars?

    <h4>Chapter 304: Trade Wars?</h4>


    Keeper Starkiller has epted your contact request.


    I opened my eyes abruptly as I heard the system alert, reading the message in front of me. Peeling myself away from the affectionate catgirl, I made my way over towards theputer. It wasn¡¯t an exaggeration to say that this conversation would determine the near future of my worlds, so I was eager to get it over with.


    Starkiller: Hey, Dale! What¡¯s up? How¡¯s Bibi doing?


    EarthForceOne: Bihena¡¯s fine. Found out my next opponent in the games a little bit ago, and wanted to see what you could tell me.


    Starkiller: Oh? Sure, bounce their title at me, and I¡¯ll see what I can say without getting in trouble!


    It took me a brief moment to look through the system menus in order to find out who I would be defending against. It seemed rather cruel to have a new Keeper face two defenses in a row, but such was the fate of a random system.


    EarthForceOne: Their Keeper title is RedRose


    Starkiller: Oh, I know her! Yeah, she¡¯s great. One of us, actually, so you shouldn¡¯t have anything to worry about. If you¡¯d like, you could probably talk her into a Game Trade.


    EarthForceOne:¡­New Keeper here, please exin?


    Starkiller: Sorry, used to dealing with older guys. Anyways, a Game Trade is what we call the unofficial trade business that can ur within the Keeper Games. As an example, let¡¯s say that you were attacking me. But, I really liked an item or race from your world. I could pay you a discounted sum, and you would include members of that race or item in your invasion, with the express purpose of having them migrate.


    Starkiller: As long as a creature has no intentions to harm the world around them, the invasion is considered over, and those creatures be a part of the defending Keeper¡¯s world.


    I furrowed my brows in thought as I read that information. It did make sense, as I had seen that same thing happen when I sent the fish to ¡®attack¡¯ the dragon Keeper. The system had mentioned that it was immediately integrated into the new world. But, there were some things I had to learn about before I could really make a decision about this.


    EarthForceOne: How will that work between worlds with different systems? It won¡¯t trigger a Law Merger or anything like that, will it?


    Starkiller: Oh, you¡¯ve been through a merge already? No, nothing like that. Although an invading force is able to use thews of their home world during an invasion, once they fully ept their ce in a new world, they fall under your world¡¯sws. They¡¯ll keep anypatible abilities, but generally things will be just different enough that they have to retrain from the ground up. That¡¯s why the trade isn¡¯t for individuals, but races and items in general.


    EarthForceOne: So items aren¡¯t affected by this in the same way?


    Starkiller: It¡¯s¡­ difficult to exin. Yes and no? If an item is wholly ipatible with your world, then it will stop functioning once the invasion has ended. It¡¯ll be up to you to figure out what needs to be done in order to give the system a measure ofpatibility. However, if the item is something that can be created within your world, then it will undergo a small change to preserve as much of its function as possible while still coinciding with the localws.


    I thanked Balu for the information, and we ended our conversation. I was relieved to find out that there wouldn¡¯t be any problems with the next invasion, though it was still annoying that I would be forced down to the for a few moments while it all settled. Still, just to be safe I should make a few preparations.


    Balu had already told me about how she had to hunt down a few creatures that had been sent to her world in a failed attempt at a forfeit. It would be¡­ unfortunate if I had to do the same. Especially if they were creatures good at hiding. Next up, I sent a contact request towards RedRose. Thankfully, it seemed like she was already at her Admin Room, since she was able to respond immediately.


    RedRose: Hello?


    EarthForceOne: Sorry to bother you. It appears you¡¯re going to be invading me in the Keeper Games soon, so I thought it¡¯d be nice to talk a bit.


    RedRose: Huh? But you¡¯re not-- oh, you¡¯re the guy from next round? Thanks for the heads up. Take it you already went through the guild if you¡¯re contacting me directly like this?


    EarthForceOne: I spoke to someone from the Gilded Branch, yes. She told me about a possibility of trade, if you¡¯d like to discuss it?


    RedRose: Well sure, I won¡¯t turn down the chance at a few easy points. Want me to send you over the list of goods?


    EarthForceOne: It¡¯d be appreciated.


    I had to admit that I was surprised that she was so willing to send over a list of items and races that were in her world. However, there was the chance that she had countermeasures in ce to prevent that information from being used against her. Either way, I received another message soon with a list. Each item in the list was also a link to the market, giving a brief description of its function. The only item that was different was the race. It had more information.


    My Blood Angels have developed along the path of holy energy. They don¡¯t quite shun magic or technology, but they believe that their connection with the gods is more important than worldly knowledge. If you have a god that would be willing to oversee the race, they would fully devote themselves to that one god. Otherwise, they¡¯ll seek to connect with the entire pantheon. Tech Stage: Industry. Magic Stage: Development, nearing nar


    Blood Angels? I thought to myself curiously, following the link within the information to look up more about the race. What I found was an obviously angelic race, somewhat resembling the daeva. Of course, I had based the daeva on a mix of angels and demons in the first ce, so that was no real surprise.


    The main differences were that there were no horns on the blood angels, and both male and female had blood red wings, with matching hair. Even their eyes seemed almost pure red, with golden irises.


    They dide with a racial ability, though. In fact, you could even say it¡¯s where their name came from. ¡®Blood Maniption¡¯¡­ tapping that, I brought up a brief description which¡­ told me nothing more than the name did. They were able to manipte the blood of living creatures.


    Normally, the race would go for fifty points if I had bought it from the market. I wasn¡¯t sure how much the discount would be to buy it in the unofficial trade, but the fact that they already had an established culture meant that it would save quite a bit of headache over buying them from scratch.


    Looking past the race, I began to browse through the different items that she had listed. There were items such as blood-bound weapons, or holy items like staves that could boost one¡¯s affinity with holy energy. I looked through the list a few times, and thought of something, a nagging thought that just wouldn¡¯t go away.


    EarthForceOne: Sorry, but do you have anything like a grimoire? An item to easily record spells for mages.


    RedRose: Sorry, but if it¡¯s not on the list then it¡¯s not for sale. You seem new to this, so I¡¯ll give you a bit of advice. Everyone willing to enter this trade business will create a list. Typically, you don¡¯t ask for anything not on the list, because if they do have it, they consider it a part of their hidden reserve that they don¡¯t want leaked.


    EarthForceOne: Ah, sorry about that. Give me a bit of time to discuss with mypanions, and I can get back to you on the trade.


    Honestly, I rather liked the blood angels, and there were a few of the items that she had listed that caught my eye. But, first and foremost, I needed to make sure that getting any of these wouldn¡¯t boost the overall power of my world by arge margin.


    ¡°Think this is the part where Ie in?¡± Terra askedzily, stepping up behind my chair and draping her arms over my shoulders.


    ¡°Something like that.¡± I said with a smile, leaning my head back to give her a kiss on the cheek. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t cause any problems to take the trade, would it?¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± She hummed softly, her eyes closed. ¡°Truthfully, your world is already stepping into the nar stage of magic, but they only have one foot in the door themselves. The fairy gates pushed them to that point, and the demons have started utilizing it by exploring new realms. They¡¯re still ages off from personalized nar magic, though.¡±


    ¡°Topare it with a tech equivalent¡­ you¡¯ve set foot on the moon, made contact with life on Mars, and you¡¯re sending your first ships out past the sr system.¡±


    I gave a small nod at that, about to speak up when she continued. ¡°If you believe what she listed for her people, then that wouldn¡¯t boost your power by much in regards to their technology and magic. The only issue would be their culture, but that¡¯s not likely to be an issue for a while.¡±


    ¡°Going to have to exin that one a bit to me.¡± I pointed out, giving another nce back at her.


    A small smirk arose on her lips before she exined. ¡°She said that they are trying to be as close as they can to the gods, right? In a game system, that trantes to the false divinity ss. It will be their goal to use the boost in energies they get from your game world in order to create their own divinities.¡±


    Okay, that brought a small grimace to my face. I had already been told how much easier it was to do that in my world, as opposed to a cultivation would like Lorek. ¡°Would it be possible to use the system to adjust their culture away from that goal?¡±


    Terra gave a small nod in response to that. ¡°You could. It¡¯d take time, though. Probably a dozen generations at least, to make them give up the idea. Assuming that, by then, they don¡¯t already make a breakthrough. Doing so would set them back on the path again.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­ I¡¯ll keep the blood angels in mind for a future world, then. Last thing I need is people figuring out how to be a false divinity early, and pushing me into the second rank. I take it that there¡¯s not a problem with any of the items?¡±


    Hearing my question, she slowly shook her head. ¡°Honestly, you could probably make most of them on your world. They didn¡¯t seem like anything special. It¡¯smon for materials to appear with a high conductivity for holy energy in ces where gods descend for extended periods.¡±


    Given that she was telling me this¡­ it was clear that someone had-- ¡°Tubrock or Tryval?¡±


    Terra¡¯s smirk turned into a wry grin. ¡°Both. Tubrock spent so much time descended to work on the Sky Citadel that the cave he did his work in is saturated. As for Tryval, remember how much time he spent wandering the ins in the early days. Many of the nts that grow there have be a huge export for the centaurs and halflings, because of his divinity.¡±


    I let out a soft sigh, nodding at that. ¡°Okay, so we don¡¯t really need anything from this trade. Was looking forward to getting the blood angels, but I can always do thatter.¡± It was a bit regrettable that we wouldn¡¯t be able to test out the trade system, but it did leave it open for meter if I ever got into another situation like this.


    I sent a brief message to the others, letting them look through the list of items that had been sent as well. Unsurprisingly, none of them were all that interested in the options either. As such, I sent a reply to RedRose to let her know that there wasn¡¯t anything that I¡¯d be wanting this time from the trade.


    Instead, I started to think of my own list. What could I send to other worlds that would be potentially worth trading?

 Chapter 305: Fear the Dark

    <h4>Chapter 305: Fear the Dark</h4>


    What is darkness? People ran through the streets of Gate¡¯s Rest, panic in their steps as they checked the crystal streemps. Even the most novice of mages could feel the mana flooding the air, thicker than they had ever recorded. Cracking sounds could be heard as one of the magical spheres shattered, overloaded with the abundant energy.


    What is despair? As lights went out, one by one, the mana in the air only rose higher. With every crack came a whimper. With every shatter, the shadows crept closer. Those more sensitive thought that they saw visions within the darkness. Forms swaying back and forth. At times, they thought that they even saw wed fingers moving along as shadows over the ground.


    They were right.


    It wasn¡¯t even an hour after night fell when a scream rang through Gate¡¯s Rest. A man had been plucked from his home, his window blown open. Even as mages arrive and cast a spell to light the area, they saw the halfling man being dragged through the air by a ghastly form.


    Some among them managed to identify the source of their new plight, but knowledge often became a burden. There was a theory of magic among the colleges of Fyor. Mana shapes all things, guided by the thoughts of man. The heavier the mana, and the heavier those thoughts, the more easily it can affect a change.


    The schrs called this effect a mana siphon. It was hard to prove one way or the other, as the most drastic change that had ever urred could simrly be attributed to a racial characteristic. Long ago, in the war against the cave elves, they fought to theirst breath when they refused to grant the residents of Fyor passage.


    But then¡­ they rose again. Some believed that these elves simply had an inborn magic that allowed them to be undead upon their death, as they held no god in their hearts, and thus should not have been bound by the cycle of life and rebirth. However, others believed it to be another sign of the mana siphons.


    Other situations were far more minor. Taxes raised in an area to support further expansion, and dark clouds began to gather, followed by a prolonged night. There was only one solid piece of evidence that schrs always relied on when trying to prove the existence of the siphons, and it was the very thing that gave them their name. Whenever such an event urred, the mana in the surrounding area would always experience a steep decline.


    One such mage lifted his head, feeling the magic in the air. He couldn¡¯t truly tell if the mana had declined or not. No, it was still far too dense for him to say that it had reached the normal levels. But¡­ how do you tell people that a creature has been born, fueled by the fear of the dark? That it can snatch you from your homes, but the only way to stop more from appearing is to abandon that fear?


    The mortal mind was not such an easy thing to convince. No, what they needed was a light to pierce the darkness, a true beacon of hope. But where could they find such a thing now?


    As the mage pondered over his thoughts, he heard movement behind him. His eyes widened in rm, and he turned on his heels, words of magic ready to leave his lips. He expected to see one of those creaturesing for him, next. But instead¡­ he saw a light. From the Resting Gate, a light opened up, and a figure walked through.


    It was no extraordinary figure. Nothing that would turn any heads. Just an elderly man. However, as soon as he hade through, the gate snapped shut. The mage wasn¡¯t even sure that anyone else had caught the change.


    Without hesitating, he ran towards the gate, hoping beyond reason that it had reactivated. Yet, upon his arrival, he found it still a solid wall of unmoving stone. Even as another light opened up next to him, and he tried to reach his hand through the hole, he found it blocked. The elderly man smiled as he looked back, not at the mage but at the woman that had walked through just a few moments behind him.


    The two were simply an old couple. No doubt they were unaware of the nightmare that had just befallen the floor. But at that moment, he noticed something else.


    It was rare to find an elder who did not have their health bar perpetually hanging over their heads. Whether it was an ailing joint or a weary mind, there was almost always some kind of ¡®damage¡¯ on a man or woman past their prime, even if it was only minor. Yet above the heads of these two, there was no such thing.


    A brief flicker of a memory shed into his vision, and he knew that he saw the woman¡¯s health bar over her head before she passed through the gate. Which meant that she had either received some sudden healing within this darkness, or¡­


    His face paled as the alternative urred to him, and he hastily attempted to open his personal status. He tried to open his party window, his guild information, even to create a quest. Yet, none of these benefits that had been gathered through generations of work could be essed. If not for his prior casting of a light spell, he might have even assumed that everyone in the floor had been stripped of their levels.


    But no, if such a thing had happened, then there would be far less to worry about. They¡¯d have all already died simply due to the pressure of the gravity. So no, he let out a breath of relief as he convinced himself that hope wasn¡¯t entirely lost yet.


    Those living at Gate¡¯s Rise would have it worse, probably. People coulde in through the Resting Gate, showing that the entrance to the floor was still open, even if they couldn¡¯t leave. Yet, there was almost nobody living in the twentieth floor. It was a nest of vile bugs that few dared to enter. There was simply no reason anyone would be entering through the Rising Gate.


    What was darkness? What was despair? Within the Great Blue, these words would be known. People would know them in the very depths of their soul.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Shadow monsters?¡± I muttered in confusion, looking at one of the creatures that had been spawned from the mana. So far, there seemed to be five of them, so I didn¡¯t consider them as too much of a threat to the overall safety of the city.


    Their bodies seemed to be made of a ckened mist, coalescing into wed hands and a dark skull. Those five creatures had emerged just as the crystal lights began to break, and always stayed just at the edge of the light. If you think about it, there was a good chance that light was a critical weakness for them. Maybe to the extent of being one of the few things that could kill them.


    Of course, it¡¯ll take time for them to figure that out. I muttered inwardly, seeing how another shadow lurked near the gate. I¡¯d say at least a few days before they¡¯re able to put aside their panic, as long as more of those creatures don¡¯t spawn.


    In truth, I had forgotten about the fact that the gates could still offer one-way traffic into theyer where the spire had been destroyed. So supplies and manpower could still be sent in¡­ However, there was no way for them tomunicate with the lower floors to tell them what supplies were needed. The quest system was disabled¡­ which had me curious as well¡­


    ncing through the map, I found what I was looking through soon enough. In order to figure this out, I had temporarily paused the world. Inside of a warrior''s pouch, there were bundles of quest scrolls. They hadn¡¯t shattered when the spire broke, meaning that the goods within them were still safe. However, as I focused on them, I found that they were inactive.


    Sighing, I gave a small nod to myself. I knew that it was possible to use magic to break the barrier between floors, having done so myself just recently. However, the cost of such a magic was higher than what a normal mage would be able to sustain. Maybe if three or four got together, they could channel all of their mana into a spell to send someone one floor up or down. But to do so would require them to first realize that such a thing was possible, or at the very least suspect it as such.


    No, they wouldn¡¯t be establishing a true contact with the lower floors. Not unless they used the goddesses, which I had already warned Aurivy about. While the priests might plead for her to send word to the lower floors, it was extremely disrespectful for a mortal to ask a goddess to be little more than a messenger.


    I shook my head, and did something that I hadn¡¯t done for quite a while. Opening up the civilization menu for the Great Blue, I spent fifty points to set their focus on developing a self-sufficient government within their floor. With this, they should easily be able to get things set up, especially with Irena¡¯s help and the Council unable to properly interfere.


    With a smile, I chose to set the world to fast forward. Not by arge margin, just ten years to start. That would give me plenty of time to look over what had changed after I took a peak at Lorek.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Life had changed in thest two hundred years, since the Dawn of Stars. It was simply inevitable. At the same time, it was hard to say whether the culture had truly advanced, or if it had taken a step backwards. Depending on who you asked, the two might be the same thing.


    Within the Isle of Dawn, the dwarves began to form ns. These ns were led by, or at the very least guided by those who had received an inheritance. Sometimes, simply having learned from one who received an inheritance was enough for a dwarf to form their n. These ns became focused, concentrating on the path that had beenid out to them.


    For the Forge n, their focus was naturally on the cksmith¡¯s Star. Their leader was not Shanir, the dwarf who had first received that legacy, but one of the many people that he had taught. Gradually, they began to discard the knowledge that they had built up over generations of study.


    They cast aside their knowledge of how to fold steel through conventional means, in favor of harnessing the power of the stars to aid in their work. After all, a sword forged through the power of the stars could easily cleave through one made by folding steel. Of course, there were some who tried tobine the techniques, but to do so was far more difficult as it required them to split their focus.


    As the years passed, these dwarves became more and more focused on their own ns. They created schools to guide the nless dwarves, weing them in with open arms. Each n taught their own unique path, whether it was the path of water, fire, or even the path of a king.


    Every now and then, there would be another expedition sent out to the greater maind, the ancient home. Almost everyone shared the same thoughts when it came to this. ¡®If there was one city, why couldn¡¯t there be more?¡¯


    It didn¡¯t take them long to find an answer. Not the answer that they were hoping for, mind you, but an answer nheless. On the maind, there lived powerful creatures, far beyond the strength of even those who had formed their stars. Their bodies moved unnaturally fast whether they wererge or small, their ws and teeth tearing people apart with ease. Only rarely did someone make it back to tell the tale. And when they did, it only made people truly aware of how terrifying the world was.


    As such, eventually, the dwarves of the Isle of Dawn isted themselves from the outside world. The inheritances they had received hinted at a stage beyond the first star. A way to shape it and grow to new heights. This is where the ns began to set themselves apart from one another.


    For those ns who were led or guided by one who had directly received an inheritance, they had a much clearer path of study, a better understanding of how to advance. On the other hand, those like the Forge n that relied on second-hand knowledge started to fall behind, their teachings not covering the information about how to advance beyond the current stage. They had only been left with the vaguest of hints.


    By the end of the two hundred years, there were three ns that stood above all others. These were the three ns that had ¡®masters¡¯ in them. In order to be called a master, one had to break through the limits.


    Each master had nurtured their stars, letting them absorb the energy of the world within the understanding of their inheritance. They had even begun to form additional stars as well. This was as far as the inheritances described, and thus as far as they believed their power could rise for now. Yes, each of the masters were one of the original dwarves that had received a direct inheritance.


    The three ns that rose to power in this way were the Ocean n, the Spearhead n, and the Lightning n. As the ns were gathered based on their disciplines as opposed to families, they¡­ were not the most creative with their names. However, with the three masters leading them, they soon became a ruling power within the Isle of Dawn¡­ even if they didn¡¯t wish to do so.


    These three old masters had managed to prolong their lives by advancing their own powers, but they could still feel age taking its toll on each of them. In order to ensure the survival of their ns, they once more turned their sights to the maind, in the hopes of acquiring more aid from this lost civilization.

 Chapter 306: The Path of Salvation

    <h4>Chapter 306: The Path of Salvation</h4>


    Within the seaside caves of the Water n, several dwarves sat inside arge hall. The walls seemed to be sculpted to form a wide, gentle dome around them, with two rows of seating that each formed a full circle. However, only the lower circle was full, upied by the ¡®elders¡¯ of the n. Those who had begun to merge their star with worldly energies.


    ¡°We have the advantage here.¡± One dwarf, a robust man with the first wrinkles of age on his face, spoke up to the assembly. ¡°Neither the Spearhead or Lightning n are as proficient at crossing the Divide as us. We have to take advantage of this opportunity while we still can! There¡¯s no telling how much we¡¯ll lose out otherwise.¡±


    A momentter, a woman¡¯s voice emerged from a dwarven figure, her face covered by a blue veil. ¡°I do not disagree with you, Abin. However, there is more at stake than just being the first to receive a new inheritance. The other ns are eyeing us, begging for aid. If we are to set off alone, they may target our home in retribution. n Master cannot be in both ces at once.¡±


    ¡°While I respect your wisdom, Jana, I must ask of you. What do you intend for us to do, then?¡± He called back, doing his best to restrain the irritation that was creeping across his face. ¡°Are we to give up the initiative to the other ns just like that?¡±


    The others within the assembly had mostly tuned the two of them out, as this pair would often bicker during meetings. They held no true ill will towards one another, but simply had contrasting personalities, making them regrly sh when it came to how they should handle matters. However, their two opinions did represent the key issues.


    Within the water, there were indeed several beasts which could ughter those within the First Star realm. Even those who had moved into the ¡®Worldly Sun¡¯ realm were not entirely safe. The only exception was the Water n. Their knowledge of how to traverse the water without stirring the beasts within allowed them to freely move back and forth across the ocean.


    This was a gift that the other ns naturally coveted. Especially when you considered that thebat strength of the Water n was inherently weaker than the other two great ns. They could only exert their true power at sea, whereas the other two ns had no such limitations.


    Given all of this, why wouldn¡¯t they wish to garner a new inheritance for themselves, to cover their weakness? But to do so would only leave them open for attack. There was no way to tell if they would even have a n to return to by the time they had explored the maind.


    ¡°Enough.¡± A gentle voice rolled down over the assembly from the second floor. Only one person had earned the right to be seated above everyone else, and it made their discussions instantly quiet down.


    On the second level, an elderly dwarf with a tired face leaned back in his stone chair. His eyes were closed, looking almost serene, before his brows knit together. ¡°We cannot get out of my leaving this time. Yet, we cannot leave our people unprotected. Inform the n, I will be opening the path for us.¡±


    ¡°In three days time, we will leave the Isle of Dawn.¡± His voice spoke down, his tone calm yet his words severe. They would be abandoning their home, in order to assure their safety. ¡°Those who have nless family have three days to bring them into the n. When that time is over, we shall find a new home on the shores where the ancients lived.¡±


    ¡°n Master!¡± Abin rose to his feet, the previous irritation on his face reced with a deep concern. ¡°Are we really going to abandon our home?¡±


    Several people instinctively turned their heads towards Jana, expecting her to speak out against Abin. However, she remained quiet. It seemed that she was also troubled by this decision.


    ¡°It would be a fool¡¯s act to remain behind while the others voyage ahead. Yet, at the same time, we cannot leave our people undefended. Our n is not a series of caves, but the people in it. Our future is not stone, but flesh. If those old friends of mine have designs on these caves, then they can have them. By the time they catch up to us, we shall long be gone.¡±


    Every word seemed to echo around the chamber, gradually calming the minds of the dwarves below. Only when he was done did Jana rise and speak. ¡°As you will it, n Master. Everyone, pass along the messages. News of this must not escape our n, lest they act early.¡±


    The dwarves nodded their heads, moving out of the assembly hall to pass the message along to the other nsmen. For three days, the n seemed to go on a recruitment drive, everyone believing that they were preparing for another grand voyage. However, this drive was a bit strange. Their focus was on the family members of those who were already in the n.


    Those within the n began packing their belongings. Anything that they could not bear to part with would be brought along, and what would remain would simply be discarded. And on the third day, the caves emptied. Five thousand dwarves of the Water n stood along the shore, hidden by a dense fog that rolled in under the guidance of the elders.


    Among these five thousand, more than half of them were in the First Star realm. They stood in front of those who had not managed to cultivate yet, while in front of them were a mere thirty-two individuals. Thirty-one had managed to reach the level of an Elder, while the final one to stand even in front of them was naturally the n Master.


    Durak brought his hands together, channeling the starlight within himself. ¡°Be ready. The path will open soon.¡± He muttered, his voice reaching the ears of every gathered dwarf. One by one, motes of starlight seemed to escape his body. They came together in front of him, forming nine spheres, representing his nine internal stars.


    These nine stars gathered, eight of them forming an outer circle while the ninth rested in the center. Under the watchful eyes of everyone present, thin rays of light began to stretch out between the outer stars, connecting them one by one. Once the stars had fully formed the circle, they then reached down to the central star.


    Durak watched all of this happening, waiting for the moment when all stars were connected. Then, he took a half step forward, letting out a low shout as his palm thrust out at the central star. Receiving the impact, that star shot off towards the horizon, taking with it eight beams of light.


    A momentter, the stars seemed to change, their white lights turning blue, and shifting into a swirling vortex of water. On the other side, the dwarves could see another shore, the ancient buildings of the maind clearly visible.


    This was Durak¡¯s pinnacle technique, which he had cultivated over the many long years of his life. He had named it the Ocean¡¯s Path, as it would let him theoretically cross any ocean. ¡°Go now!¡± He called out, snapping the dwarves out of their trances.


    One by one, they began to rush forward, jumping into the portal and making room on the other side for their fellows to follow. The first to enter were the elders, making it their job to ensure that the surroundings were safe for everyone to follow.


    Only when everyone else was through did Durak begin to rx, walking towards the portal himself. He could feel a powerful ki flying towards them, and knew that one of his ¡®old friends¡¯ wasing. Yet, by the time that lightning bolt fell from the sky, scattering the fog and sand, there was nothing left to find. Only a feeling of power that seemed to linger on the air.


    _______________________________________________________________


    This should mark a new age for the dwarves. I thought inwardly as I watched their migration. With this, one of the main dwarven ns had chosen to take up residence on the maind, so it was only a matter of time until the others began to do the same. It would just take them longer in order to move over.


    This was also my first look at the Constetion stage of the dwarves in action. Originally, I had thought it to simply act like ki paths within the body. Now, however¡­ it seemed that you had to form the constetions outside of yourself to do certain techniques? I¡¯d need to go back and study thews a bit moreter if I wanted to ever descend in this world.


    Shaking my head, I looked back towards Fyor, curious to see how things had yed out over the years. Given the time that had passed, Irena should already have her incarnation, though she wouldn¡¯t be old enough to have really helped make any actual changes yet.


    What I saw was¡­ rather surprising. The Council, as far as I could tell, was not sending any relief aid towards the neenth floor. Either something had happened during this ten years, or they had simply decided to cut their losses after noticing that they couldn¡¯t get anything out of it. Once I looked through the recent history, I learned that it was closer to thetter.


    At first, the Council had attempted to send aid, even sending another of their own to figure out what was going on. They didn¡¯t know why nobody within the Great Blue was contacting them, and so they sent in someone to check. However, they simrly lost contact with this person immediately, them not making any of their scheduled reports.


    Rather than risking sending anyone else in, the Council dered the neenth floor a ¡®dead zone¡¯, forbidding any travel there. This decision was¡­ not a popr one, as it also cut off the twentieth floor. With the neenth¡¯s gates inactive, it appeared that priests were unable to open up portals to skip it.


    As such, this one order made it so that the strength of Fyor would now be stagnant. While the other worlds developed people with levels in the three, or even four hundreds, their own level limit would never increase. Naturally, this caused some unrest, with two factions rising up in response.


    The first group were those who chose to leave Fyor, seeking to go somewhere that they could properly grow. Then there was the second group, who became desperate to eke out any strength they could within their explored floors. This faction gained the support of the Council, which began to fund missions of exploration to any of the explored floors.


    Naturally, there was an ulterior motive behind this decision. If the Great Blue had so many hidden resources, then wouldn¡¯t the other floors hold simr treasures? However, nobodyined about this line of thought, given that they were simrly hoping for a way to increase the strength of themselves and their world through this exploration.


    Within the neenth floor itself, things were¡­ a bit different. The shades that had once tormented them had long since been in, their weakness to light easily being discovered once people allowed their heads to cool. For a time, there was indeed chaos. Storms rolled over thend as people fought for the right to rise to power.


    In each of the cities, the fighting was intense, many believing themselves to be the only ones truly capable of leading all others. This was a natural thought to them, as they had spent their entire lives growing stronger, making them forget that everyone else had gone through simr experiences.


    In this chaos, naturally the Council representatives attempted toy their im to power as well, calling it their right not by power, but by experience. With only two such representatives in the entire floor, things¡­ did not go so well for them.


    It took nearly six months for a chain ofmand to form, with the leaders ultimately being the mages. There were a number of reasons for this, even beyond theirbat potential. Only the mages could ensure the safe birth and nurturing of children by creating the enchantments to lessen the effects of gravity on infants and pregnant women. Only the mages could identify the mana siphons. And, of course, with the density of the mana in the air, only the mages held absolute power during this time.


    Like this, the Circle of Mages was born, a new council specifically to govern the neenth floor of Fyor. Their goal was not to find a way to resolve the eternal night that the Great Blue was suffering, but to give everyone a path of survival within it.

 Chapter 307: Sizable Siphons

    <h4>Chapter 307: Sizable Siphons</h4>


    I was d to see that a governing council had arisen in the neenthyer of Fyor, even if it wasn¡¯t quite what I had in mind. The fact that they were a circle of mages actually worked out for the best, though. I recalled that the dovah were most heavily concentrated as mages due to the council employing them to help with the various mining operations. Having them be an influential part of what would essentiallye to be the ¡®ruling ss¡¯ for a while could possibly help correct people¡¯s image of them.


    As I thought about that, I took a brief look at the mana levels in the area. The appearance of the shadows in those first few hours made an impact, but even now, ten yearster the levels were still high. As for the mana spire? It had barely even begun to show signs of self-repair.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Katrina?¡± A voice called out into the darkness of a small home, a small light floating up the steps. ¡°Are you reading again?¡± Through a nearby doorway, a weak light flickered in and out of being, barely sustaining itself.


    ¡°Yes, mama!¡± The sole upant of the room, a small girl with dark red hair and pale skin, called out to her mother. In front of her was arge tome, while over her head hovered a dim me, simr to a candle. The book in front of her seemed far more advanced than the child should be reading at her age, discussing advanced theories of magic.


    However, as the mother opened the door, her plump figure walking in and seeing this scene, she only let out a helpless sigh. ¡°Wherever did you get that one, huh?¡± She asked with a wry smirk.


    ¡°I told the magister at the library that I was borrowing it for someone.¡± The girl smiled brightly, even amidst the darkness. ¡°I swear, mama, I didn¡¯t lie. I just¡­ might not have told them everything?¡± She held up a hand, her fingers barely spread apart as if to represent her point.


    ¡°How¡¯s it you can even understand all of this?¡± She asked, taking a few steps closer. The light emitting from the pendant around her neck far surpassed the little me that Katrina had summoned, making the words on the page stand out even more. ¡°I like to think myself a rather learned mage, and even I struggle with some of these topics.¡±


    ¡°No offense, mama, but you make a far better enchantress than you do a mage.¡± Katrina jested, her thumb lightly stroking the silver ring on her finger. It was the one thing that kept her alive on this floor, keeping any children her age alive. But even more specifically for her.


    The mana siphons struck in many forms, confirming their existence as a solid fact to those of the Great Blue. First came the shadows, which stalked through the streets, conjured by the fear of the sudden darkness. Next came the storms, waves crashing in and destroying their port.


    But the worst of the siphons was the third. A siphon that would still sometimes trigger to this day. The people had taken to calling it the mana blight. It was unknown if this was a true siphon, or just a side effect of being born in an area with such dense mana. However, those children born in the first few years following the start of Dusk would sometimes be struck with this blight.


    For those children so affected, their bodies would be naturally weaker than those of their peers. The mana was infused so deeply within them that they could not even properly generate and manipte ki, a fact only recently discovered. However, their affinity for mana was beyond any recorded individual. While this didn¡¯t necessarily mean they could understand magic more easily, it did mean that they could execute what they had learned with far greater ease than others.


    Katrina was one such child of the blight. Her mother recognized the signs early, and modified the gravity ring. She added in an effect that would normally harm others, one that passively expelled small amounts of mana from the wearer¡¯s body. Since those from the blight were too attuned to mana, it was not umon for them to generate it beyond their means to contain. Such incidents typically turned violent, the childrenshing out at anything they could. Some even directly removed their rings to end the pain.


    ¡°Yes, well, I do what I can.¡± Her mother said, smiling softly as one hand gentlynded on her daughter¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Though, if I¡¯m not mistaken, isn¡¯t that book about geometric magic, instead of runic?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right, mama.¡± Katrina nodded her head. ¡°This is the third of sir Kindra¡¯s volumes, the Book of Autumn¡¯s Wind.¡±


    That name seemed to bring back memories for Katrina¡¯s mother, who grabbed a nearby chair to join her daughter. ¡°Did you already read through Spring¡¯s Rain, and Summer¡¯s me? When did you get the time for that?¡±


    Katrina giggled softly at that. ¡°I read them during school. Miss Beckett doesn¡¯t mind, as long as I¡¯m still paying enough attention to my lessons.¡±


    ¡°Well, whatever for? If you¡¯re aiming to be an elementalist, shouldn¡¯t you be working on runic magic instead? I doubt the lessons could possibly be any harder for that than the geometric path.¡± For those lucky children who survived the blight, the elementalist became their ultimate path of salvation. It was the only advanced ss avable, and the best choice for those who had a weak body.


    ¡°Mama, I¡¯m only eight. I still have plenty of time to learn runic magicter. Right now, I want to study this. I feel like something¡¯s not right here, and these books might hold an answer.¡±


    Katrina¡¯s words confused her mother, making her blink several times as she pondered. She knew that her daughter was brilliant, more so than anyone else her age that they had met. She rarely did things for no reason, and her reasons typically made sense, once she was given the time to exin it. ¡°Alright, I give up¡­ what¡¯s not right?¡±


    ¡°The siphons.¡± Katrina said with a small sigh. ¡°I¡¯ve been monitoring the mana levels for thest three months through town. ording to what I understand, the mana should be more than dense enough to trigger another siphon. It should be able to trigger fifty siphons, even, before the mana returns to normal levels.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s not curse our blessings, perhaps?¡± Her mother spoke, a bit concerned at where this seemed to be going. She felt like she was starting to understand her daughter¡¯s concerns now.


    ¡°But that¡¯s just it, mama. I¡¯m not sure that it is a blessing. In fact, the mana in this city has increased by nearly a tenth in thest three months. It¡¯s not normal.¡±


    ¡°Okay, okay, let¡¯s say I believe that. I do, by the way, and it scares me. But even so, how could those books help you figure it all out?¡±


    Katrina smiled towards her mother, happy to at least have thefort of someone believing in her. ¡°I think it¡¯s a naturally uring ward, mama. And not a good one. It¡¯s gathering the mana that slowly builds up in this area, and preparing it. The mana levels haven¡¯t gone down because there is a siphon, but it doesn¡¯t have enough mana to trigger yet. I asked merchants that came in through the portal, and they said that the mana here felt a bit thicker than their city. That means¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s isted here, in this region. But¡­ the books of four seasons. They are elemental magic.¡± Her mother was still clearly confused, looking once again at the book on the desk.


    ¡°Right, but it also covers being able to identify the trace elements of mana by sense. That¡¯s what I¡¯m focusing on. If I can get enough information, I might be able to analyze the ambient mana, and identify what sort of siphon is building.¡±


    ¡°Right now, I know that there is a heavy water element involved, but no fire. Tomorrow, I nned to go to the port and test for wind elements, once I have the method down.¡± As she said that, Katrina turned her head back to the book as well.


    ¡°You know it feels bad to have my eight year old daughter lecturing me, right?¡± Her mother tried to joke, her face still worried. ¡°I need to go prepare enchantments¡­ if a siphon is building, and it¡¯s rted to water, that¡¯s enough for me to get started.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± It seemed to be Katrina¡¯s turn to be confused, before her eyes lit up in realization. ¡°Oh, of course! Banishment! If you can prepare a banishing magic to defend the area, then it won¡¯t matter what sort of siphon is prepared. As long as you have enough mana to fuel your spells, nothing will be able to get through.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the idea.¡± Her mother replied with a confident nod, slowly standing up. ¡°You just tell me what other elements to the siphon you¡¯re able to work out, and leave the rest to your ma.¡±


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll do that, mama.¡± Katrina nodded her head energetically. ¡°But try to work fast. The siphon¡¯s power should be proportional to the amount of mana it takes to activate. With the amount of mana in the area, I can¡¯t imagine it will be long. The siphon might even be equivalent to a third ranked destructive spell.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t try to scare me, then.¡± Her mother huffed, turning and walking towards the door. ¡°But for tonight, that¡¯s enough reading. I was justing up to tell you that it was bedtime.¡±


    Katrina rolled her eyes with a small smile, closing therge book on the desk. The me above her head flitted out as she walked towards her bed. ¡°Yes, mama. Have a good rest.¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    Wait¡­ that¡¯s Irena, isn¡¯t it? I asked, looking at the little girl I saw on myputer screen. I had gone searching specifically for her incarnation, wanting to see how she was doing. Yet, Katrina¡¯s personality threw me for a bit of a loop there. It was hard to match up a young, energetic girl like that with Irena, especially after they had been hit with a ¡®mana blight¡¯ from birth.


    Yet, it seemed that this was indeed Irena. The system even identified her as such. But at the same time, if I had to guess, this was an incarnation Irena had full control for.


    I remembered her telling me that she enjoyed living out different lives with her incarnations. The idea that she gets so ¡®in character¡¯ that she bes unrecognizable isn¡¯t that hard to imagine. Even Aurivy took it as a personal challenge to try to find out who Irena¡¯s incarnation was without directly asking her.


    Speaking of¡­ I checked the map again, running a search for Thessa and Rache. Their parts in the n technically ended when I destroyed the spire. As such, whether they came up with a reason to return to the city, or sacrificed their incarnations to do something else was entirely up to them.


    As it turned out, both of them had returned to the city. I focused in on Rache, running back the clock to see what had happened with them. I would have done so on Thessa, but given that Rache is the one actively controlled by a goddess all the time, she seemed a safer bet.


    From the looks of the history, it seemed that they walked into town just a couple days after the darkness began. They were in tears, talking about how their ship had gone down in the darkness, and how I had been killed buying them the time they needed to escape. Ever since then, they had been working with the people to try to help wherever they could.


    Thessa had taken up a construction job, while Rache was a teacher. As it turned out, the full name of her incarnation was Rache Beckett. And given how she paid attention to her students, it seemed that she had a suspicion about who Irena¡¯s incarnation was¡­ coincidentally the girl sitting in front of Katrina. A rather sad young woman who had lost her father to the second siphon. I had to admit that her personality did fit a bit more with Irena than Katrina¡¯s.


    Sorry, Aurivy. Looks like you guessed wrong this time.

 Chapter 308: Gate’s Hope

    <h4>Chapter 308: Gate¡¯s Hope</h4>


    After watching Katrina and her mother having their conversation, I couldn¡¯t help but grow curious. Terra, is there a way for me to set the map filters to look at what kind of mana siphon might be building in Fyor? Given that this was uncharted territory for me, it only seemed natural to consult her for help.


    Hmm? Oh. Ohhh. Oh my. Well, that could be a problem. Terra¡¯s tired voice seemed to be more awake, before finallynding on concerned as she answered the question. Yeah, run an underlying mana pattern check. You should be able to see the pattern surrounding the area, and identify it as you would a person or item.


    Not words I was entirely used to hearing, but thankfully a lot of the buttons on the screen werebeled to help me with just this sort of problem. I followed her instructions, and saw a dark¡­ shape wrapping around the city of Gate¡¯s Rest on the neenth floor of Fyor. This wasn¡¯t a circle like a normal spell. More like a shifting, amorphous blob. As I moved in to identify the blob, a window appeared in front of me.


    Mana Surge - Ocean¡¯s Rise and Land Falls


    Progress: 98%


    Summary: Due to the local fears of the sea concentrated on the surrounding area, an earthquake will rock the ind. At the same time, powerful waves wille crashing in from the outside. If proper precautions are not taken, there is a high likelihood that the majority of life on the ind will be lost.


    ¡­Ryone! Bedroom, now!


    ¡°Well, if you wanted me in your bed, you didn¡¯t have to shout.¡± A familiar elven voice called back to me, sounding a bit pained at what must have been a loud, panicked call. Turning around, I found Ryone wearing nothing but a nightgown, smiling towards me. Though, when she saw my expression, she seemed to realize that I hadn¡¯t called her here to help me rx.


    ¡°Okay, what¡¯s up?¡± She asked in a suddenly concerned tone, stepping up from the bed as her gown shifted, bing her familiar earthen dress.


    ¡°You¡¯re the goddess of magic. You should be able to have a connection with the mana surges of Fyor, right?¡±


    Hearing my question, she tilted her head in confusion. ¡°Well, I¡¯m not as heavily worshipped there. But my influence isn¡¯t too small.¡±


    I beckoned Ryone over towards theputer, and showed her the screen that I had pulled up. I could see the color drain from her face as she looked back at me. ¡°Okay¡­ what do you want me to do?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t want you to stop it.¡± I shook my head, giving it a moment of thought. ¡°There are people in the world that have noticed the growing surge and are making preparations. But¡­ could you slow it down? The surge is drawing in mana from the surroundings before it can trigger.¡±


    ¡°You want me to make sure that they have enough time toplete their preparations, without being too obvious about it?¡± She questioned, wanting a bit more rity. When I nodded my head, her brows knit together, her eyes narrowing in focus. ¡°I should be able to take care of that. At the very least, it shouldn¡¯t be as hard as stopping that tsunami back in the day.¡±


    With that, she smiled, moving back towards the bed and sitting on it cross legged. ¡°Establishing a self-enclosed ward within the siphon. Primary function of drawing in mana to create light, with the secondary function being to shroud the light. Ultimately, it will result only in the pointless use of mana. That should be enough to slow the rate that the siphon is drawing in mana. Just to be safe, I¡¯ll monitor the progress and adjust the ward as need be.¡±


    I gave a small nod, a relieved sigh escaping my lips. There was the chance that Irena had already identified the nature of the surge, and was working to fix it within the time she had herself, but I couldn¡¯t be sure. Knowing her, it could really have just been a case of her bing fully absorbed in the life she was living so much that she didn¡¯t want to ¡®cheat¡¯ to get the answers.


    Either way, with Ryone setting up the ¡®pointless¡¯ ward to curb the flow of mana, Katrina will have more time to get everything resolved safely. With that assurance in mind, I set my sights back on the world, and decided to speed things up a bit again. This time, I chose to resume the world just before the mana surge struck.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Nine months had passed since Katrina had announced the discovery of the growing mana siphon to her mother. Nine months where they had begun preparations. Katrina had long since worked out that the siphon contained heavy traces of both water and earth traits. However, there were no other tests that she knew how to perform.


    A mix of water and earth could be a number of things, and none of them were good. The sky itself coulde crashing down on them if they were really unlucky. She asked her mother to visit the Circle, to speak with the magisters and tell them of her concern. While Katrina was confident in her own work, she knew that the information would seem much more reliableing from an adult as opposed to a child.


    Sure enough, hearing the report from her mother, a known enchantress, was enough to give the Circle pause. In fact, they had already been concerned over the growing levels of mana. They weren¡¯t sure what wasing themselves, but now? Now that a hint had been given to them, things were changing.


    Immediately, the circle began to perform tests of their own. As experienced mages, they had far more tricks avable to them. In less than a week, they had managed to identify the area of the siphon as well as the elements involved in it. They had even gone a step farther and ¡®captured¡¯ a part of the siphon to trigger it as an smaller scale spell in order to see the results.


    With that, they knew what kind of magic wasing for them once the siphon reached a full charge. But at the same time, they weren¡¯t sure if they should try to stop it. Given that the siphon was building up mana to trigger this function, would forcibly dispersing the mana in the area really do anything, other than dy it? There was the chance that they couldpletely disrupt the natural casting of the spell, but on the other hand they wouldn¡¯t know whether or not they had seeded for a while.


    Many of the magisters thought that it would be best to simply allow the siphon to run its course, making sure to take every precaution in order to prevent losses of life or property. The waves were easy, since a simple banishment spell could remove the water of the Great Blue. It was the earthquakeponent that was tricky.


    Various mages stood atop the Circle¡¯s tower, casting spells randomly into the air in order to deplete some of the mana and buy more time. Meanwhile, others went about and worked to reinforce houses. These preparations took nearly a full month, and they weren¡¯t even sure that they had prepared everything properly by the end of it.


    However, they had run out of time. The older mages could feel the mana siphon spiking in activity less than an hour before the first shockwave came. The ocean seemed to roar around the ind, a guttural tone that shook the hearts of everyone present. Even with the fair warning, this was something that they couldn¡¯t properly prepare for.


    Earthquakes simply didn¡¯t happen naturally on Fyor. Nobody properly understood why, but there weren¡¯t any recordings that could be attributed to a natural earthquake. In fact, before they joined the other worlds, the concept itself was foreign to them.


    Yet now they were experiencing it with their bodies. All throughout the town, there was the sound of buildings shaking. Cracks began to open up in the ground while mages and druids patrolled the streets, using the abilities that they had prepared in order to counter this disaster.


    They did not fight to stop the earthquake, simply closing up whatever holes had appeared, and saving the rest forter. No, the damage that caused would be minimal. Instead, they had to save their mana for what came next.


    Even in the darkness, they could see a ck wall closing in on them from all around. Water rising so high they couldn¡¯t fathom the end, encircling the entire ind. If it was allowed to hit, there was no question about survivors. Everything would simply be washed away. Perhaps the entire ind would be wiped clean.


    Atop the tower, a wizened old female human smiled slightly, lifting her hand and firing a sh of blue light into the air. This was the signal to trigger their preparations. All around the city, people began to chant. Whether they were a mage or not, they sped their hands together, whispering the words as if they were a prayer.


    ¡°Krollostria jishar, hyn nemari vigar lorian. Krollostria jishar, hyn nemari vigar lorian.¡± Men and women, young and old, everyone closed their eyes and recited the words that had been drilled into them over thest several days. The magic of every living inhabitant of the city gathered together into one spell, a gentle blue dome rising up under the watchful eyes of that old woman atop the tower.


    Her eyes glowed with a faint light, and she could see through the darkness. She could see the terrifying wall of water barreling towards them. Yet she was calm. It was clear that the shield was rising faster than the tsunami, and it soon formed aplete dome.


    When the wave struck the dome from all side, there was no violent sh. No sounds of collision. It simply looked as if the water had halted. But¡­ they knew that was not the case. Fish and aquatic monsters shot through the barrier, having been carried by the wave. They crashed into the ground, unable to find breath.


    Those creatures that could exist outside the watershed out, fighting back against the strange surroundings. For this, the mages couldn¡¯t prepare. It was impossible to tell which creatures would make it through the shield, or where in the city they¡¯dnd, given that the waves had covered the entire dome. They could only ask that their fighters be on the ready to defend.


    And defend they did, but not without loss. There were those who died from these monsters. There were even some who had fallen into dire straits due to over-exhausting their limited mana, pouring everything they had into the spell and not stopping. These people were rushed to the hospitals to be treated.


    Once the siphon was done, however, things changed. The ground stopped shaking. The ghastly roar that filled the air died down. The water that had been pouring over the dome seemed to simply fade away, devoured by the barrier protecting the town. But more importantly, in the eyes of the mages at least, the mana levels had plummeted.


    Although the levels were still above the norm, they had dropped far, far below what they had previously been. Those magisters in the tower even began to think that the siphons were over. That the mana had started to stabilize.


    This thought wasn¡¯t isted simply to the magisters. Those normal citizens of the town saw hope. The spell that they had all recited as a prayer had given them a light in the evesting night. A faint belief that they could ovee their trials with proper nning and cooperation.


    And thus, the final siphon triggered. As the waters receded, people felt their bodies reinvigorated. Those who had spent their mana on the spell found that mana mysteriously restored to them, at least in part. Those who had been injured in the quake, or from fighting monsters all found their pain lessening. Their wounds may not have disappeared, but they felt more serene, as if a gentle breeze had calmed their minds.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°So, this is just a thought, Ryone.¡± I spoke up as I watched the end of the scene, suddenly reminded of something. ¡°You remember that dungeon core race, right?¡±


    ¡°Aurivy may strike me down should I ever forget.¡± She answered in a yful tone, leaning over the chair behind me so that she could watch as well.


    ¡°Well¡­ back before thews merged, I had set them up so new dungeons would trigger a mana stormsting one week. At the time, it was so that the dungeons could absorb that mana to rapidly expand. But now¡­¡±


    Ryone seemed to understand my concern, a soft sigh leaving her. ¡°In your defense, you had no way to know that these surges would be a thing. That said, I would strongly advise you find a way to undo that, now that we know the consequences. Otherwise, Aurivy might just cause a ¡®natural disaster¡¯ identally.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s what I was thinking, too.¡± I responded with a lightugh, pulling up the menus and nipping that in the bud before it could be a serious issueter.

 Chapter 309: Returning Home

    <h4>Chapter 309: Returning Home</h4>


    Looking away from Fyor, I decided to review the rest of the territories within my domain. Most notably, there were the changes taking ce within the realms that the demons had visited. So far, it looked like they had expanded to six worlds. During that time, Aurivy had been expanding dungeonworks within each of the world, so as to give us a better idea of theyout.


    I gave a brief mental apology that she wouldn¡¯t be able to keep doing this so easily in the future now that dungeons no longer triggered a mana storm. Because of that, it would take far longer for their territories to grow. Though, a part of me hoped that they would still be able to feed off of the ambient mana that now permeated the air to do so at a faster rate than before.


    Now, as for those six worlds of the demons. Actually, four of them were fairly normal. They had no game systems to speak of, so that caused their inhabitants to be far weaker naturally than those of the ¡®primary worlds¡¯. Not just physically, but even mentally they were at a disadvantage, unless they went to a primary world to train and level up.


    As for the two different worlds¡­ They didn¡¯t really have a system themselves, but there were other strange things about them. Things that made them seem far from ordinary. For the first one, I noticed that the had a natural magic effect permeating the area. A passive healing field that increased the natural healing of anything on that world.


    This world had naturally be popr among the demons, as they could use this effect to help treat patients. Just from a quick nce through, I could see that most of its inhabitants were either doctors of some sort, or those in need of such aid. Each city within the world had arge hospital, fully equipped with both technological and magical healing devices.


    The other world, however, had another effect. This one seemed strengthen the effects of energies such as ki, mana, or even natural energy. Like how the previous world had specialized in medicine, this one seemed to specialize in magical research.


    Part of me wanted to buy this new world, to include it with the ones I¡¯ve purchased. However, to do so would be to include it as one of my ¡®assets¡¯, and make it a part of my world¡¯s strength. From what I had gathered, these extra worlds do not directly contribute to my overall level as a Keeper unless I purchase them. And a world that naturally strengthened supernatural energies¡­ that did not seem like a weak world.


    After looking through the demons¡¯ new worlds, I turned my sight back towards the others. Earth might not have changed all that drastically over thest few years that I had skipped, but there was one area in particr that I hadn¡¯t paid attention to in a while. I hadn¡¯t even thought about them recently, until Rache brought them up during my stay in the Great Blue.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°We¡¯re almost back home.¡± A young felyn man spoke out emotionally as he walked into arge forest, walking alongside a middle-aged woman of the same race. Both had fiery red hair and green eyes, and the two of them looked quite simr to one another.


    If there was a major difference to be found, it was in their attire. The young man wore brown pants and a loose-fitting green shirt, having a longbow strapped to his back. Oddly, he didn¡¯t seem to carry a quiver on him, making the bow feel more symbolic on his person than anything else.


    The woman, on the other hand, was dressed in a long ck and white dress. There were white frills along the hem of the dress, the sleeves, and the cor which was cut into a low V. She followed half a step behind the younger man as they entered the forest, nodding slightly at his words.


    ¡°Looking forward to finally getting back?¡± He asked yfully, looking over towards her. It had been many years since he had left the vige, but now that he hadpleted his mission it felt good to finally go home.


    ¡°Of course, master.¡± The woman said with a small smile, nodding her head again. Her ears twitched as she spoke, indicating that she was, indeed, happy to return as well.


    However, her words caused the young man to groan. ¡°I¡¯ve told you, mom. You don¡¯t have to call me that. You can just call me by my name in private.¡±


    ¡°Of course, master Brent.¡± She said again, her smile bing just a touch more yful. ¡°However, we¡¯re not entirely in private.¡±


    Her words caused Brent¡¯s ears to perk up. He knew better than to doubt his mother¡¯s intuition. Immediately, he began focusing, using his mana to scan the area nearby. It was faint, but he felt a trace of chakra, causing him to let out a sigh of relief. ¡°Looks like we¡¯re closer than I thought.¡±


    Brent was the son of a local lord to the ninjas, the child of him and his Servant. There were those who considered inducting Brent to be a Servant as well, of course. However, the lord refused them, demanding the right to raise his own son.


    As such, Brent grew up in a wealthy household, or what qualified as wealthy to them. He never had to worry about food orfort, and could often go out to y with the other children in town. What made someone a lord wasn¡¯t strictly wealth, but the contributions that they make towards the vige. Sometimes, this meant that they worked to defend the vige from attacks, while other times one could be a lord through retrieving new knowledge from the outside world.


    The title of a lord is a double edged sword among the ninjas. They are not granted a territory as reward for their service, nor any substantial wealth. Instead, they are granted a Servant. If they so wish, their Servant can be put to work to help them make an easy living, but lords who do such a thing are frowned upon by their peers.


    Like Brent¡¯s father before him, he had set out at a young age with the help of his father¡¯s Servant. There were no urgent threats against the vige that would require the aid of a young fighter, so the only way for him to earn his own lordship would be the hard way. He had to provide information or an artifact worthy of the title he wanted.


    ¡°Are you sure that this will be enough, though?¡± There was a tinge of worry to Brent¡¯s voice as they walked deeper into the forest, now aware of the scouts that had spotted the two of them. The information that they had brought back was indeed valuable. However, he wasn¡¯t sure whether it was truly enough to earn his lordship, given that it was a bit dated.


    ¡°It will be fine, master.¡± His mother spoke in aforting tone. He had to believe that she was right. If he failed to contribute with this, he would have to once again go out to the outside. Only this time, he¡¯d have to do so alone.


    He gave a small nod, straightening his back as he walked forward. Only once they had vanished behind the treeline did he stop hiding his trained ability, hopping several meters into the air tond on a nearby branch. He began running along, from tree to tree as he made his way back towards the vige he was born in.


    Soon, the trees seemed to open up in front of him as he reached a clearing. Wide branches warped in odd patterns to form an outer circle. Down below, he could see a series of wooden houses, and hear the sounds of children ying. Above, there were openings in the sides of various trees, the homes of the trained ninjas.


    This was the residential area, a ce he knew all too well. The thought brought a smile to his face as he turned to regard his mother. ¡°Could you go let the elder know we¡¯re back?¡±


    ¡°Of course, master.¡± She bowed politely, before her figure abruptly vanished from where she had been standing. Rather than following her, he simply chose to sit on the branch he had walked in on. He knew that it wouldn¡¯t take long before there was a response. Matters of lordship were naturally treated as a high priority.


    Sure enough, he only had to wait for a few minutes before he felt the branch sink just slightly under the arrival of new weight. His mother had returned, and with her was an elderly lycan man, his once ck hair now a faded grey. His outfit was a loose fitting ck robe, a white sash tying it around his waist and a simrly white undershirt visible beneath the robe.


    His wrinkled face nced over Brent. ¡°It¡¯s been a while, young sir.¡± He spoke with a small smile. ¡°I take it that your return means that you have found something?¡±


    Brent simply gave a nod. ¡°I did, sir, yes.¡± Slowly, he stood up, offering a respectful bow towards the senior. ¡°I have learned of some new materials found within one of the neighbor worlds. Materials that could be of assistance to the vige, should they be acquired.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± He raised an eyebrow in thought. ¡°Are you referring to those Void Concealing Stones of Fyor? I believe word was spreading of their appearance around the time you had left. However, their origin has been sealed, so we can¡¯t ess them.¡±


    ¡°No, sir, I refer to different materials.¡± He shook his head to deny the elder¡¯s suspicion. ¡°Also, I discovered that there were two other materials discovered in that same sealed region. One is a stone that produces water, and the other one that holds mana.¡±


    ¡°Holds mana?¡± That drew the elder¡¯s interest, as such a thing was indeed valuable for the ninjas. ¡°A shame it was lost, then.¡±


    ¡°On the contrary, sir.¡± Brent smiled mischievously. ¡°This material was not isted to the now-sealed region. Fyor¡¯s Council hired several groups to begin examining the resources of their other regions. Recently, another vein of it was found.¡±


    Before the elder could speak up and interrupt him, Brent continued. ¡°However, this is not the material I came to make my report about. In the same region, the Council group located a new metal. They¡¯ve only recentlye tobel it as Intercite. Initially, it was analyzed as being a metal with a high conductivity for both mana and ki. However¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t y with your words now, boy.¡± The elder scolded, bing anxious for this news, as he could guess what wasing next.


    Brent gave a small chuckle, nodding his head. ¡°Intercite is incredibly receptive to chakra. It can be used to store it, and easily allows it to be channeled through the material.¡±


    The man brought his hand out, the bow on his back briefly shing. A light, silver chunk of metal appeared in his palm, with wavy blue and yellow veins running along its surface. ¡°I managed to acquire a sample of it from a trader.¡±


    The elder slowly reached one of his frail-looking hands out, taking hold of the silver chunk. ¡°Good, very good. I¡¯ll need to send this to the researchers. But if it is as you say, and we are able to acquire more of it, I believe you can count this mission as a sess.¡±


    Brent let out a relieved sigh when he heard that. He had been worried that another party might have revealed the information to the vige already, before he had the chance to do so. Had that been the case, his discovery would have been wasted.


    Thankfully, he and his mother were fairly ¡®weak¡¯ by the ninja vige standards, even if she was a Servant. She was by no means the best of her year, and had little excuse to train after entering his father¡¯s service. Due to that, she was fortunate enough to still be beneath the level limit of Fyor¡¯s gates.


    That was why he had chosen Fyor, a ce where most who left the ninja vige were simply too strong to explore. With his unique circumstances, he was sure that he could eventually find something worthwhile there. It was just a matter of time.

 Chapter 310: The Stakes

    <h4>Chapter 310: The Stakes</h4>


    I was, honestly, a bit surprised at what I had stumbled across when I looked at the ninjas. The viges were mobilizing, people of all four beastkin racesing out of the forest. Although it wasn¡¯t even half of the total poption of the ninjas, there were still quite a lot of them, mostly from the younger poption.


    The one thing that they all had inmon? All of them were below level three hundred. I sped up the world, enough to watch the group quickly moving through the transport gates to the elvennds, then through the fairy gate to Fyor.


    What was¡­ most surprising about this whole thing wasn¡¯t simply the mobilization. After they arrived in Fyor, they immediately all split up. Each of them found somewhere secluded, and then began to change their own appearances through the use of ki. They caused their ears to lower on their skulls and look more human, and their tails disappeared entirely.


    Yes, they had all made themselves appear to be human. From there, they began to take different routes. Some contacted priests to go to various floors, others moved from gate to gate. But they all had a single destination, the twelfth floor. The undergroundyer that once yed host to the now-extinct dark elves.


    For some, they were able to arrive directly, and began moving through the caves. For this part, they actually began to stick together, acting like adventuring parties. They navigated the caves in an odd criss-crossing pattern, but never really seemed to be lost.


    After a while, they stopped at a certain point along the caves, and began pulling out pickaxes. The tinking of metal hitting stone could be heard rapidly over the monitors, each strike causing the wall to recede slightly. I watched as they carved out a small territory, the entrance to which they then concealed with four talismans, creating what appeared to be a natural rock wall.


    By the time that they were done, some of the other ninjas began to arrive in theyer as well. It shouldn¡¯t havee as much of a surprise, but they followed the exact same criss-crossing path that the previous group took. They stopped at the same stretch of wall, cing their hands against it. Then, as if the wall wasn¡¯t there, they simply began to walk inside.


    This group began to help the first one in expanding the territory that they had established for themselves, while also constructing various houses out of the mined stones. As for the rest, it appeared that they stored them in various quest scrolls. Those scrolls were then stored inside of a storage bag that acted as their ¡®warehouse¡¯.


    The entire mobilization took nearly two years before thest batch of ninjas had arrived on the twelfth floor. At that point, one of the ninjas retrieved a silver stone from their pocket, a piece of intercite judging by the system identification. Using their shaman abilities to locate more of the same material, they once again spread their way through the caves.


    The only difference in their behaviour now, as opposed to when they were ¡®moving in¡¯, was something that they did along the way. Whenever they encountered any of the glowing stones that lit the various caverns, they mined them out, storing them as well. This left any cave they passed through in total darkness.


    I shook my head, realizing that the ninjas had essentially established a branch colony in thisyer of Fyor, all for the sake of mining that stone. While the years passed, they began to send shipments back in the form of traders passing through Earth. Merchants were in ce in the elven capital, where they passed off nondescript storage items. It had turned into a full blown smuggling ring.


    I could only sigh, letting that progress as I shifted my gaze back towards the Great Blue. Another ten years had passed since the ¡®Mana Siphon¡¯ incident, so it was worth taking a look.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Really?¡± Rache asked with an exasperated sigh, sitting in front of Magister Laerin¡¯s desk. ¡°It was you? I had that goth girl pegged from the start.¡±


    Magister Laerin, or Katrina Laerin, simply smiled slightly. ¡°Sorry, Rivy. I don¡¯t like to shift things of their course. I suppose this means that I win, though?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, you win. What¡¯ll it be this time? Want help getting another date?¡± Rache grinned mischievously as she asked that, causing the magister¡¯s cheeks to redden.


    ¡°N-no, not this time. I¡¯d like your helppleting my assignment.¡± Katrina shook her head, her face recovering to its normal palor. ¡°You¡¯re a magister as well. With two of us working on the issue, we should be able to get things to work more easily.¡±


    Rache let out another sigh. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s hear it. What kind of help do you want?¡±


    Katrina smiled wide, nodding her head at the eptance. ¡°I¡¯ve written a draft for some mandates that we could push at the next Circle gathering. They¡¯ll give the dovah a bit more power. They still won¡¯t be able to join the highest ring, but it¡¯s a start.¡±


    The halfling leaned back in her chair, closing her eyes at that. ¡°Another step towards equality, huh? Yeah, I¡¯m down for that. I¡¯ve been doing what I can for that front, but the votes have been against me for a while. Maybe another voice speaking out will help. And you are one of our rising stars.¡±


    Katrina simply lowered her head a bit at that. ¡°You have no idea how inconvenient this body has been for me¡­ I¡¯ve spent most of her life looking for a cure to the blight. Everything that I¡¯vee up with only treats the symptoms.¡±


    ¡°On the bright side, the mana levels are back to normal now, so new blight babies haven¡¯t been born in years.¡± Rache spoke up, obviously trying tofort her friend. ¡°Once Katrina¡¯s gone, you shouldn¡¯t have that issue for the next one, right?¡±


    Katrina looked a bit saddened by that news nheless, causing Rache to shake her head immediately. ¡°Ah, sorry, I didn¡¯t mean it like that. I know that you get attached to all of your incarnations.¡±


    ¡°I know, Rivy.¡± Katrina softly smiled towards her. ¡°And this one¡­ in a way, she¡¯s special. I¡¯ve experienced new things as Katrina that I never did before. A world with no light. A world where even the tiniest hope shines brighter than Earth¡¯s sun. Last week, I was asked to preside over a birth. The parents were so happy to have me there.¡±


    ¡±Not because I was a magister, or even because I was a woman. Just because I was a person, and I had agreed to offer their baby the first bit of light that it would see in this world. I served as much function as a lit candle, and they were still overjoyed.¡±


    Rache¡¯s eyes actually began to water as she listened to that. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve been there¡­ You never really value what you have until it¡¯s not there anymore, right? But for these people, especially this newer generation like you¡­ they never saw daylight in the first ce. They were born in the darkness, molded by it. And in the darkness, they¡¯ll eventually find their rest. As will their children, and their children¡¯s children.¡±


    Katrina¡¯s smile turned a bit more bitter at that. ¡°By the time the mana spire is restored, I doubt daylight will be more than a legend passed down to the people. Last I checked, there weren¡¯t any elves in the Great Blue when it broke. The Council tried to block the otherworld adventurers from the discoveries. So there won¡¯t be a single person that lived here during the entire night.¡±


    ¡°Tsubaki would totally do it if she were still here.¡± Rache said in an amused tone, earning a groan from her friend. ¡°What, you know she would. She¡¯d just stand out on the edge of the Citadel, staring at the spire without moving unless he came down to visit.¡±


    ¡°I hate it because you¡¯re right.¡± Katrina pointed out. ¡°Rivy, I know you love your ninjas, but don¡¯t you think that they took it a bit far with the Servant Corps?¡±


    ¡°Well, maybe a little?¡± She shrugged her shoulders with an innocent expression. ¡°I wasn¡¯t expecting them to be such extremists when it came to that. I mean, the test of blood¡­ You know I¡¯d never ask for them to put kids through that kind of thing.¡±


    Katrina had a somewhat bitter smile on her face as she heard that. ¡°I know¡­ I lived through it myself.¡±


    ¡°Wait, what?¡± Rache suddenly shot up in her seat. ¡°When were you a Servant? Why didn¡¯t I ever know about this?!¡±


    ¡°It was a few lifetimes ago.¡± Katrina simply waved the question off. ¡°I got assigned to some battle-lord. He wanted me to be the next Tsubaki, and had us challenge one of the Disasters together. It was a short-lived rtionship.¡±


    Rache chuckled a bit at that. ¡°People forget that Tsubaki only hunted that one because of Cali¡¯s bow. Even then¡­ she was already ¡®perfect¡¯ at that time. Sorry, but your lord was an idiot.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t disagree with you. Now¡­ can we go over those mandates before people start to get suspicious of why you¡¯re in here so long¡­?¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    So that¡¯s what they¡¯re like when they meet up in an incarnation¡­ wait, does that mean that my date with Irena was the result of one of their bets? I grumbled mentally when I realized the implications of that. Still, at least it looked like they were having fun, and I was able to get a look at how they behaved when they weren¡¯t necessarily aware that I was watching.


    Shaking my head, I decided to give another nce towards Lorek. To my surprise, it appeared that Tubrock had stopped fast forwarding the world, as only about a day had passed since myst look.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°n Master!¡± Those within the Lightning n respectfully greeted their n Master as he walked through the caves. There was a vicious expression on his face, his previous discovery at the Water n¡¯s home still clear in his mind.


    ¡°Call the council!¡± He shouted, his voice echoing like thunder through the cave system. Those standing nearest him with weak cultivations began to grow dizzy at the noise, blood dripping from their ears.


    With the Water n gone, there was no longer a secure route to the ancestralnd. It was no longer possible to make the journey without risk of loss, and the n Master himself was incapable of protecting an entire fleet. One or two ships, that was easy. But, could he be expected to personally ferry one or two ships across, dozens of times?


    The Water n had taken drastic action in abandoning their home. In doing so, they had also abandoned the other dwarf ns. Once the news spread of this betrayal, they would never be safe. Every n would target them, making them a public enemy, and the greatest evil among the dwarves.


    However, there was also a cause for him to worry. If they left, then surely they had gone to the ancestralnd. By the time the other ns arrived and found them, how many legacies would they be able to find? How many new Masters would they cultivate? Would the other ns even be able to afford to do battle with them by then?


    These worries flooded the n Master¡¯s mind before he received a message. A transmission straight into his mind, one of the specialties of the Formations n. The Spear Master wishes a meeting with you, sir.


    This made the n Master pause. Did he also discover the Water n¡¯s absence? If he was making contact in this manner, it meant that he was already prepared to involve the other ns, whether the Lightning n¡¯s Master agreed to do so or not. This only added to the anger in his expression, his body crackling with electricity before he vanished, a sound like thunder shaking the cave.

 Chapter 311: Waters of Life

    <h4>Chapter 311: Waters of Life</h4>


    Author''s Corner: Thank you to Madeline for your continued support!


    ¡°Saren.¡± A voice spoke atop a tall mountain peak, apanied by the p of thunder. At first, one man stood alone, his back straight like a spear. His eyes were sharp, staring off towards the distance. After the voice spoke, however, there was another figure standing next to him, the Lightning Master.


    ¡°It¡¯s been a long time, Kishi.¡± Saren spoke calmly. ¡°I take it you¡¯ve discovered their disappearance, as well?¡±


    Kishi nodded his head, a fierce expression on his face. ¡°Those bastards¡­ They¡¯d rather abandon our race than share the ancestralnd with us.¡±


    Saren gave a small, simple nod at his words. ¡°Without them, we can only cross the ocean if we cooperate. Building a bridge to cover the distance is simply foolish, as is trying to set out alone. We have to gather all of the ns, and make a decision¡±


    ¡°You have a n?¡± Kishi asked in surprise. Saren was always able to keep his head better than him after they both began cultivating their respective paths. The way of lightning was to act quickly, while the spear could stand straight and await an opportunity. In a way, they had both be embodiments of these ideals over the years.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. We can¡¯t afford to continue making voyages back and forth. Your elders might be able to cross the sea in a sh, depending on the techniques they have trained, but that would leave you with too few chances to obtain a legacy. So, I have spread the word to call for a gathering.¡±


    ¡±There, we will decide who will stay, and who will go. Those who leave will be establishing new homes in the ancestralnd, while those who remain behind will have to survive with only the legacies that they have until now.¡±


    Lightning seemed to crackle along Kishi¡¯s skin fiercely as he heard that. ¡°You want us to abandon everyone like those Water bastards?¡±


    ¡°If you abandon them or not is your choice.¡± Saren spoke, his voice still calm. ¡°If you or your people wish to return at some point, that is your decision. However, we can no longer keep our focus on this small ind.¡±


    Kishi was naturally a bit annoyed at calling this ¡®ind¡¯ small, as it had been where their people had lived for over two thousand years, since recorded history. Even so, the size of it was enough to easily amodate their numbers several times over. Given that the dwarven ns mostly lived in mountains over thest two centuries, the ins and forests had be nearly devoid of people.


    ¡°The meeting will be held at midday tomorrow, at the ruins of the old castle. I¡¯ve already made arrangements to ensure that all ns would be able to send representatives.¡± With that, Saren fell silent, as if there was simply nothing more for him to say.


    Seeing this, Kishi let out a growl from the back of his throat, his form shing and vanishing just as quickly as it had arrived. If this gathering was going to go as he had said, then Kishi needed to prepare his own n for it as well.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Far across the sea, the Water n were not have as peaceful a time as everyone imagined. Rather, they were locked in a heated battle of their own. Blood began to stain the ground, a hundred lives lost in the short day that they had been gone.


    Currently, they were in battle with a giant many-legged insect. It looked to be a massive centipede, twenty meters long from end to end. Its back was ck, specks of white covering its chitinous carapace.


    This was one of many from what the Water n had begun to call ¡®star beasts¡¯. They were creatures that were naturally capable of cultivating to a certain degree. It was obvious that they walked a more feral path than those of the dwarves, but it was a powerful path nheless


    The Water Master Durak stood at the forefront of this fight, doing his best to shield his nsmen. At the very least, he wanted to provide time for them to escape. He could tell that this beast was a Master in its own right, able to stand toe to toe with him, and even inflict injuries on his body.


    Durak¡¯s arms were bloody, green liquid dripping from the wounds. He knew that he had been poisoned in their previous exchanges, but raised noints. His ki fueled his body, the starlight shining around him. Nine stars hovered behind him, scattered in a seemingly random fashion. Yet, oveyed over those stars seemed to be nine raindrops.


    With a shout, Durak thrust his arms forward, striking at the mandibles of the charging beast. The air around him grew thick, specks of water forming. This was the first time that Durak had ever pushed himself to the very limit forbat. He had never had a reason to do battle against another Master level enemy, and he had the feeling that he may never get the chance to do so again.


    The light around his body did not dim over time while the water gathered, swirling around him in countless drops. Rather, it only grew brighter. ¡°Rain like falling daggers.¡± He whispered hoarsely, feeling his voice starting to leave him as his body was flung back by the brief exchange with the star beast.


    The water around him began to react at his words, rushing towards the centipede. Finally, its own aura of light began to appear around its body, forced to absorb the impacts. Even so, scattered wounds began to appear, blood starting to leak out and cause the creature to let out a screeching hiss.


    Only two elders had remained behind with Durak. Jana and Abin, the notorious pair who rarely agreed on anything. Now, they worked together to provide what little support they could manage. Their stout bodies struck at the beast from the sides, their hands pping against its hard shell as they passed one another.


    Only a master could gather their stars to form special techniques, but there were some things that even the elders could do. While the attacks inflicted no real harm on the star beast, the light around it dimmed, having to fight back their ki with its own.


    While they distracted it, causing the star beast to turn its body to face the elders, Durak¡¯s nine stars began to shift again. This time, the image that ovepped them appeared to be arge wave. ¡°Hammering wave!¡±


    He lunged forward,nding on the back of the creature. His two palms pped downwards, striking the carapace of the centipede. Unlike when the two elders attacked, this time the light briefly flickered out of existence. Cracks began to spread across its body, ck blood oozing out.


    However, even as it roared in pain, turning and running to the distance, Durak didn¡¯t move from its back. Rather he slowly stood up, a serene smile on his face. Gradually, a tenth light formed behind him.


    Durak felt power flowing through his body, but he paid no mind to that. He was an old man even before the fight. And now that he had the poison of a star beast flowing through him, he could feel his life slipping away. Yet he burned brighter than ever, using his own remaining life as the fuel.


    He had long theorized what constetion he would create when he manifested his tenth star. But it no longer seemed appropriate. Each star held its own secret. Whether it was the rain, the waves, the vortex, or the storm. This new star, he felt it deep within himself, was red¡­ blood red. And with it, he almost instinctively knew what constetion he could create.


    ¡°Watch my final performance.¡± His voice rolled out, entering the ears of the two elders. ¡°And learn from it. Behold¡­ the river of blood.¡±


    After he said that, the ten stars behind him all red with a red light that seemed to engulf his body. He had a serene smile on his face, even as cuts appeared along his person, blood gushing out. More and more, more than one body should be able to produce, until he literally exploded in a torrent of red.


    This red flood lifted into the sky, guided by thest will of Durak, and crashed down against the star beast. Water is patient. His words echoed into the minds of the two stunned elders. It tears apart mountains and valleys. It crosses thend to strike at its heart. Through time and patience, water can be the ultimate destructive force. Never forget this.


    When the red tide washed away, the star beast was left dead. Its legs twitched here and there, but it was able to make no proper movements. Its hide had been¡­ the only proper word could be severed, but even that did not seem fitting. Eroded, maybe? Wiped away as if by a dreadful force, beaten and battered thousands of times over at the cost of Durak¡¯s own life.


    Tears began to gather in Jana¡¯s eyes, and Abin moved over, gently cing his hand on her back. Durak was the master of the Water n. He was the one who could keep them safe amidst the dangers of the ancestralnd. And now, he had fallen to a bug.


    However, they began to feel something else, besides their grief. Within their own hearts, they began to understand. Although it was not as big as the star that Durak had gathered, a single dot of red light began to appear within the inner sky of both of these elders. If they lived long enough to cultivate it¡­


    Abin was only a step away from bing a master himself. He and Jana had been Durak¡¯s first students, and had learned everything that he was able to teach them. ¡°We have to go back to the n.¡± He whispered softly, earning a broken sob from both his rival and oldest friend.


    It was at that moment that they heard a roar in the distance, in the direction that the n had retreated. Their faces paled, imagining the worst as they rushed off. If another star beast of that level appeared while Durak was gone, it could ughter half the n before they put it down.


    When they arrived, they saw twenty elders fighting against five silver wolves. Each of the wolves had deep, ck eyes. From their appearance alone, it seemed like they were star beasts, causing worry to build up even more. If all of them were at the centipede¡¯s level¡­ there was no hope for the n.


    Thankfully, their worries were dismissed once the first of the elders struck out. From how much damage the beast took, it was clearly not a ¡®master¡¯ level beast. At most, it would only be an elder. Janaughed, a broken, confusedugh pouring from her lips. She didn¡¯t know if she should celebrate that the n was okay, or worry that they could be extinguished at any moment.


    As she copsed to her knees, Abin simply stood next to her. Unlike Jana, he let out a long sigh of relief. A powerful urge filled his body, knowing that the only way to keep the n safe was if he could fill the void left behind by Durak¡¯s passing. But first, they needed a home.


    Abin¡¯s eyes turned towards a distant mountain range. At first, Durak had wished to move further along thend, finding a mountain nearer the sea to settle in. He knew that it was too dangerous to settle in the open due to the star beasts, and even more so to settle in the ruined cities, for fear of the other dwarves. But now¡­ there was only one mountain range in sight, and it was the only option left for the Water n to survive. They just had to make it there in one piece.

 Chapter 312: Visitation

    <h4>Chapter 312: Visitation</h4>


    After watching the final battle with the water cultivator, I felt like I began to understand more about the cultivation system. Yes, I could study it as much as I wanted with the information globe, but seeing it myself was something else entirely. When I studied the knowledge that the system had given, I likened the constetions to ki paths, but the truth was something else entirely.


    Now that I had watched the battle of a Constetion-stage cultivator, I knew better. Each star represented its own ¡®insight¡¯. Not just the all-epassingw of water, but the little things. Rain, mists, blood, the sea, all of these things could be cultivated by a ¡®water¡¯ cultivator. Then, they were able to arrange this insight in order to form an image. Their ki passed through each star, adopting the traits of the insights in order to create arger technique.


    That¡¯s how he was able to cause his own blood to explode into a river that eroded that creature. He simply had to create the proper image, and know which order to put the stars in. Though there may still be more to the system that I wasn¡¯t understanding, it did make me think.


    Will this really be something good tobine with Earth and the other worlds? While the cultivation system itself was certainly not a negative by any means, it¡­ vastly differed from the ki growth used by my normal worlds. There were too many possibilities, too many things that could go wrong if I performed aw merger. Terra.


    Hmm? She responded to my call immediately. Something on your mind? You¡¯ve been calling me more and moretely.


    I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle at that. Well, I¡¯ve been encountering more and more new thingstely. When something biges up, and I don¡¯t know how terrifying the consequences could be of not knowing about it, who else should I turn to?


    Good point. So, what¡¯s up?


    Lorek. If I performed a Law Merger between it and Earth, how would that affect their systems? And what would happen to Lorek if I connected them without merging? I knew that she wouldn¡¯t be able to tell me everything, but she should at least be able to give me enough that I would be able to think about it.


    Well, without breaking any rules¡­ the cultivation system would ovep with what you currently have on Earth. Not really rece it, but¡­ it¡¯s really hard to exin without saying too much, sorry. Monks could still do monk things on both worlds. She seemed a bit frustrated as she tried to put her thoughts into¡­ well, thoughts directed towards me.


    As for if you don¡¯t do the merge¡­ I did tell you that people would keep their stats gained from other sses between Fyor and Earth if you didn¡¯t do that merge. Something simr would happen here. They would be able to maintain their cultivation, but only in the ways that it passively benefited their bodies.


    I gave a small nod, silently thanking her for the information. Thankfully, it wasn¡¯t time to merge the two worlds yet, so there was still plenty to consider. Idly, I gave a nce towards the time remaining before I was invaded, and saw that there were just over a hundred and one days left¡­ Wait, that means a Keeper meeting will be happening soon, right?


    I had lost track of time while down within Fyor, and hadpletely forgotten about the regr monthly meeting. Normally, Alkahest would have called me to remind me, but maybe he was busy trying to take care of his own affairs? Or, maybe I had ¡®graduated¡¯ from being someone that he had to reach out to every month, and he was letting me decide whether or not I was going to attend on my own.


    Either way, I wasn¡¯t particrly sure whether or not I wanted to attend this month¡¯s meeting anyways. I still had a couple thousand points saved up, probably more if I were to look into the savings of the other worlds and withdraw them, so I wasn¡¯t reallycking in that regard. I could go just to socialize, but I didn¡¯t really feel all that inclined to do so just yet.


    Remembering that socializing was actually a thing you could do with other Keepers, I smiled in self-deprecation, opening up the guild chat. Ever since I had joined the guild, I had only looked at the chat a couple of times. It was hard to really think of myself as part of a guild if I never interacted with them.


    EverLasting: Hey, Dale¡¯s back!


    Meatlover: Greetings.


    EarthForceOne: Just the two of you on right now?


    I gave a small smile as I looked at the chat. Although the guild was small, and that made it more like a collection of friends than anything official¡­ the nature of being a Keeper did mean that it ended up with most of us busy whenever anyone else was free.


    EverLasting: Yeah, Gato was just asking a question to help with his world. I think everyone else is off doing their own things?


    Meatlover: Guild leader, I request that you refer to me by my given title. Use of true identities is amon cause for misunderstandings during Keeper conversations.


    EverLasting: Heheh, sorry. Anyways, yeah, that¡¯s what¡¯s happening here. What about you?


    EarthForceOne: Just got done with something on my world, and noticed the time. Are you nning on attending the monthly meeting?


    There was a brief pause after I asked my question, and I wasn¡¯t sure if she was thinking about it herself, or calling up the other guild members to ask their opinions. Either way, it took her a few minutes before she said anything else, and Meatlover didn¡¯t seem inclined to interject in the conversation.


    EverLasting: Nah, I think I¡¯ll sit this one out. The point rewards don¡¯t really interest me that much, and we¡¯ve already got enough people in the guild for me to be happy now. Why, you thinking about attending?


    EarthForceOne: Well, it was either that, or figure something else out to do with my time. Still sore internally from a bit of soul-wrenching training recently, so not all that eager for the next round yet.


    EverLasting: Oh! Why don¡¯t you visit my ce? I bet you¡¯ve never seen a higher ranked Keeper¡¯s worlds, have you?


    EarthForceOne: Isn¡¯t that¡­ risky? I mean, you¡¯d be showing off your secrets to another Keeper.


    I had to admit, I was interested in her offer. Seeing the level of power that could be found in the fourth rank would give me some clue to the power scaling in the system. It might not be a big clue, but it would be something. Plus, it would let me get a look at how other Keepers ran their own worlds.


    EverLasting: Well, yeah, but you¡¯re a guildmate. It¡¯s not like you have anything to gain by stabbing me in the back. And even if you tried¡­ no offense, but I¡¯m not really scared of a first rank Keeper. The worst that you could do would be sell my information to the Gilded Branch, but all they¡¯d really use it for was to tell people that I was peaceful.


    EarthForceOne: Alright¡­ Sure. Is it okay if I bring apanion?


    EverLasting: Sure! Bring as many as you¡¯d like! This isn¡¯t a fancy meeting with lots of rules. You¡¯re justing here to hang out and take a look at things. The more, the merrier! But¡­ I¡¯ll only be letting you see my worlds. Last thing either of us need is one of your gods getting ideas from a fourth rank world, and suddenly you jump up in rankings before you realize what happened.


    EarthForceOne: I¡¯ll keep that in mind. Give me just a minute to ask if anyone wants to join me.


    After leaving that message, I leaned back in my chair, closing my eyes and calling out to the pantheon. Anyone interested in visiting another Keeper¡¯s world with me for a little while? We probably won¡¯t be there long, but I thought it¡¯d be nice to get out there and meet them.


    Ooh, me! Pick me! Aurivy suddenly called out. You can pause the worlds so that our incarnations don¡¯t get in trouble while we¡¯re gone, right? I wanna meet them!


    As I gave a small chuckle, I received requests to tag along from two other people as well. One was from Ryone, who I was not at all surprised wanted to join, while the other came from Keliope. Now she¡­ she I wasn¡¯t expecting. Still, the invitation was open to anyone that wanted it.


    As I waited to see if anyone else was going to join, a pink blur flew into my room, tackling myp and causing myputer chair to rock back. Aurivy sat there, hugging me and leaning her head against my chest. ¡°We¡¯re going to meet a new Keeper?¡± She asked, slowly lifting her head to stare at me with wide eyes. ¡°This one of the ones from your new guild?¡±


    I gave a small nod at that, and her expression seemed to brighten. ¡°Great! I wonder what kind ofpanions they have¡­ Does a high ranking Keeper have more gods, or do they start to handle everything themselves?¡±


    I wasn¡¯t quite sure how to answer her question. I mean, even if I was able to, I¡¯d rather not deal with all the responsibilities of being a god myself. Having that many voices speaking into my mind at once sounded like a nightmare. If anything, I¡¯d want to make more gods to relieve the burdens on the ones already present.


    ¡°Everyone ready?¡± Ryone asked softly as she walked into the room, giving a gentle smile. However, as she nced towards myself and Aurivy, she gave a small nod. ¡°Ah, I see we¡¯re still missing one.¡±


    ¡°Coming through!¡± A voice called out from behind Ryone, causing her to yelp and jump to the side reflexively. The dark skinned form of the ursa goddess Keliope barrelled into the room. ¡°Did I miss it?! Am I toote for the party?!¡± She didn¡¯t even take the time to look around before asking, giving out a sigh of relief when she saw that both myself and Aurivy were still there.


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s do this!¡± She grinned widely, pumping her fists together. I rolled my eyes, turning back to theputer with Aurivy in myp, and let EverLasting know that I was ready. Almost immediately, I received the invitation from the system, asking if I wanted to visit her Admin Room.


    Naturally, I epted, willing the three goddesses to join me. I could feel Aurivy tensing up against me, clearly anxious about whatever transport method we were going to receive.


    ¡°Hey, uh¡­ you gonna eat that?¡± A muffled voice spoke up in the room, causing the four of us to blink in confusion. It was clearly not a voice that we had heard before, but it sounded so close. In fact, I found Ryone and Keliope staring straight at me, their faces slowly growing pale.


    When I turned around, I saw that myputer chair had sproutedrge eyes on the top of its seat, a long vertical mouth beneath it. Its eyes were fixated on Aurivy, who looked aghast at the creature. ¡°No? Well¡­ dibs!¡± Suddenly, its mouth expanded, seeming to be the whole of the chair itself.


    Aurivy let out a scream as we fell into the rows of teeth, and I am not ashamed that I was screaming right there with her. From within, we even saw the chair chasing down Ryone, swallowing her in one simr bite. Keliope struggled, fighting back against the demonic furniture. She even managed to get a few good hits in, before it caught her fist in its mouth and gave a violent tug.


    Thest thing we heard as the mouth was closing was a loud burp, before light was once again returned to us. Now, the four of us were suddenlyunched into the air, our bodies covered with spit before we descended, this time onto a soft mattress.


    I was frozen in shock. In my time as a Keeper, this was not the first time that I had been eaten as a mode of transportation, and then regurgitated. The first time had been to and shark¡­ but now my own chair? Is nothing sacred?!

 Chapter 313: Server Settings

    <h4>Chapter 313: Server Settings</h4>


    It took me several long minutes to properly register that my surroundings had changed. In one arm, I had a trembling halfling, whimpering to herself. In the other, oddly Keliope hadnded next to me. She didn¡¯t seem so traumatized, more¡­ annoyed? And past her was a frozen elf, her face white.


    The bed that we were on was clearly not the same one that I used in my room. For one, it wasn¡¯t as soft, and it was a different color, being a pale blue. White and blue striped wallpaper adorned the room, which appeared to be amon bedroom. At each of the four corners of the bed were tall wooden posts, a white canopy hanging beneath them.


    By the time I was able to regain my senses, I heard the door to the room open, Sarah stepping through. She was wearing a simple white sleeveless shirt, and a pair of baggy blue pants. Her eyes widened when she saw the state we were in on her bed. ¡°Oh god¡­ was it the mimic? Or the slime? Those are both terrible ones¡­¡±


    ¡°M-m-mimic.¡± Aurivy stuttered out, another whimper leaving her throat. Something told me that she wasn¡¯t going to stop dreaming about getting a mimic of her own after this¡­ but she might kill a few in revenge to vent her anger first.


    ¡°Yikes. That guy is always terrible.¡± Sarah sighed, shaking her head. ¡°Sorry, you need a minute? Getting eaten is never a fun way to travel.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ think I¡¯m good.¡± I told her, slowly rising from the bed. Aurivy next to me held onto my arm, clinging to it as if she were afraid the bed were going to eat her the moment I left. ¡°Come on, Rivy. This is the ce. You wanted to meet her, right?¡±


    ¡°Her?¡± Realization slowly began to dawn on Aurivy, her eyes turning to look towards Sarah, who offered a small wave. ¡°Wait, she¡¯s a human?¡± Aurivy seemed almost disappointed at that. ¡°Here I was expecting something more¡­ exotic? No offense, miss.¡±


    ¡°None taken.¡± She shook her head with a calm smile. ¡°Natural with the job. And you can call me Sarah.¡± She nodded her head, her brte hair falling over her shoulders. ¡°You¡¯re Rivy, right?¡±


    ¡°Short for Aurivy, yeah.¡± The halfling nodded, slowly starting to get over the trauma of being eaten by a chair. ¡°Goddess of Love, Travel, and Dungeons. And yes, I know it¡¯s an odd mix.¡±


    ¡°Not as bad as Sky, Names, and Time.¡± Sarah gave a somewhat bitter smile. ¡°Sorry, long story. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll meet himter. So, the other two have names?¡±


    ¡°Keliope.¡± The ursa rose up, bringing a hand up to wipe the spittle from her face with a disgusted expression. ¡°Strength, Defense, and Fortitude.¡±


    ¡°A battle god?¡± Sarah tilted her head, processing that for a moment. ¡°Alright, that¡¯s a bit more normal, I guess. Andst one¡­ an elf if I¡¯m not mistaken?¡±


    ¡°Y-yeah.¡± Ryone nodded, slowly rising as well, though her legs were still shaking beneath her dress. ¡°R-Ryone. Magic, Merchants, and¡­ Wealth. Pleasure to meet you¡­ Sarah?¡±


    ¡°Pleasure¡¯s mine, dear.¡± Sarah stepped forward, gently shaking Ryone¡¯s hand without paying any attention to the disgusting fluids covering it. ¡°Now, first¡­ let¡¯s get you all cleaned up.¡± She lifted her hand, snapping her finger as all the gunk vanished from our bodies. It felt so nice to be clean¡­


    ¡°Now, I¡¯m sure you all have your questions. Some of you might be here just to y around.¡± She grinned mischievously towards Aurivy as she said that. ¡°Some of you might be here to learn.¡± She turned her eyes towards Ryone. ¡°And some of you might be here to fight.¡± Finally, she nced towards Keliope, seeming to grasp a bit of their personalities already. Or, maybe she had just used a trick?


    ¡°Well, I mean, you¡¯re not wrong.¡± Keliope grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head. ¡°I¡¯d kinda like to have a spar with another Keeper¡¯spanions. Get to see something new, you know?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s perfectly fine, Keliope.¡± Sarah shrugged her shoulders. ¡°I¡¯ve got a few battle maniacs of my own. After a few decades, you start to recognize them. But¡­ are any of you systempanions?¡±


    All three girls shook her head, causing Sarah to let out a relieved sigh. ¡°Oh, good. Sorry, it¡¯s just that every time I let someone bring their systempanion in, they start trying to tell my gods how they should be doing their jobs. I know each one has their own personality, but I swear they just do it to mess with me now.¡±


    Aurivy gave a small giggle at that, before staring up at Sarah. ¡°So you do have gods still?¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, loads.¡± The confirmation was an easy one, the other Keeper shrugging it off. ¡°You think I could manage everyone by myself? Yeah, sure, I might be stronger, but there¡¯s also a lot more people in my worlds. You wanna visit my control room?¡± She leaned down, looking Aurivy in the eye as she asked that with a yful tone.


    ¡°Control room¡­?¡± It took her a moment to register what was being offered, before her head began to vigorously nod. ¡°Yes, please!¡±


    Sarah let out a lightugh, slowly standing back up and straightening her back. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go. I think all of you will be able to get what you want there.¡±


    She gave a faint nod of her head, and turned around, walking out of the bedroom. Once we had exited, I noticed an immediate shift in the style of the decorations. While the bedroom had cozy wooden walls, the hallway was pure metal, sliding doors lighting up as we passed them. Like we hade straight out of a countryside home, and onto a space station.


    Aparison that didn¡¯t seem far from the mark when we reached what appeared to be the control room. Nearly three dozen figures sat behind terminals, interacting with various screens with different configurations. Some were looking down at maps, others at graphs, and there was one that I was entirely sure was just ying a video game.


    ¡°Sammy!¡± Sarah called out indignantly, walking towards the one I had suspected to be ying a game. ¡°We¡¯ve been over this. No possessing the NPCs ¡®just because¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Hey, it was a legitimate quest this time.¡± The humanpanion spoke with an innocent smile. His hair was an unkempt, dirty blonde mess. Hisrge spectacles rested on his face as he looked towards Sarah to defend himself. ¡°One of the yers was just reaching the end of a quest line, and I needed to have him in ce for the finale.¡±


    Sarah let out a long sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose. ¡°Okay, okay¡­ fine. Just make sure he gets back to his post when it¡¯s all over. Last time you had an NPC wander around, everyone assumed that it was a hidden event.¡±


    ¡°Well, I mean, they were kinda right? Just not the kind of hidden they expected.¡± Sammy responded with a light chuckle, while I took a moment to look around at the differentpanions.


    Out of the thirty or so present, nearly half of them were human, while the others were¡­ far less so. There was one that looked like a goblin, their terminal being mounted on their wrist and manipted with one hand while they leaned back in their chair. Another looked like a weird kind of¡­ octopus thing, their eight legs nimbly controlling the different knobs in front of them.


    ¡°Why are all their screens nk?¡± Keliope asked in confusion, which only spurred my own curiosity. I mean, the screens were most obviously not nk. To me, at least.


    ¡°Sorry, safety measure.¡± Sarah exined politely. ¡°When non-Keepers learn information beyond their rank, there is a risk of the Keeper being forcefully promoted. Hmm¡­ Sammy, would you mind switching over to our Twilight server? I think that one hasn¡¯t quite hit the games yet.¡±


    ¡°Are all of your worlds modeled after video games? You definitely called someone an NPC earlier.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask, starting to worry that Sarah might be one of the hardcore game Keepers that Alkahest had warned me about.


    ¡°What? Oh, that! No, no, sorry.¡± Sarah shook her head,ughing as she did her best to exin. ¡°You see, Sammy here is my God of Games, Reason, and Technology. We call the people living in his world NPCs because they are exactly that. When he creates a world, he personally designs each starting inhabitant. They¡¯re not even recognized as proper races in the system because of how their logic is set up. Whenever one of his worlds meets his standards, he¡¯ll pass it over to one of the others to let them hook it up to either their world or our primary. That world then bes an online game for whoever it was passed to.¡±


    By the time that she had finished, the malepanion had already moved back to his seat, and swapped the screen over. As the name might suggest, the world that came up was far darker. Sarah gave a small nod when she saw it. ¡°You girls can look at this one. It¡¯s not scheduled to market for a few weeks. In fact¡­ why don¡¯t you three beta test it?¡±


    ¡°Oh, could we?!¡± Aurivy jumped at the opportunity, her eyes sparkling with excitement.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be dangerous to go into a foreign Keeper¡¯s world? How would it even happen?¡± Ryone, on the other hand, seemed more cautious. Though I couldn¡¯t help but notice that her eyes had be glued to the screen as well.


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s fine. I couldn¡¯t harm youdies no matter what I tried. Now, maybe if there was a way for me to trick Dale into going down in his real body, I might be able to put him in danger. But the system automatically warns any Keeper before they do something like that.¡± Sarah waved off theirins, smiling towards them.


    ¡°As for the how, it¡¯s easy. We have an interface room for guests, so that they can try out our worlds. Cost a small fortune, but I think it has proven to be worth it. Basically, once you sit down, someone from our side will choose which worlds to grant you ess to. Then, you get to make an avatar to go explore them. For one of Sammy¡¯s games, you¡¯d be making a starting character.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m in! I am so in!¡± Aurivy was still hopping with joy, hanging on Sarah¡¯s every word. Hearing the possibility, even Keliope seemed interested, while Ryone¡¯s worries were lessened.


    Everything that I had been told previously from multiple sources told me thatpanions were, indeed, immortal. There shouldn¡¯t be any way that a system in another Keeper¡¯s world could kill them. So, when Aurivy looked at me, as if begging for permission, I simply gave her a small nod.


    Sheughed happily, jumping up and wrapping her arms around me. The embracested only a brief moment before she dropped, turning around to face Sarah. ¡°Lead the way, please!¡±


    Sarah nodded her head, looking around. ¡°Xatu, would you mind getting them set up for Twilight¡¯s Hold?¡± The goblin lifted his head up at the call, grumbling as he climbed down from his chair. ¡°What, were you ying one of them yourself?¡±


    ¡°Marik¡¯s Dungeon.¡± The goblin answered in a shrill tone. ¡°This way, girls.¡± His short, pudgy body was contained within a ck uniform as he walked off towards one of the nearby doors. I thought about going with them, but honestly I was more interested in seeing what the rest of this ce had to offer.


    ¡°So, the design of this ce¡­?¡± I looked around the control room, feeling that it was rather odd for an office.


    ¡°Hmm? Oh, you mean the theme? Yeah, everyone ends up asking at one point or another. I modeled it after my old ship, back before I became a Keeper. I wasn¡¯t a captain, just a gunnery officer. But, because I pushed the button to kill the enemy vessel¡­ and that vessel happened to contain the previous Keeper¡­ well, the system gave me credit for the kill.¡± Once again, Sarah shrugged her shoulders, as if it didn¡¯t matter to her too much.


    I couldn¡¯t help but question internally why a Keeper would even choose to remain on a ship actively engaging inbat. That seemed like they were just asking to get killed. ¡°Ahh¡­ and I suppose that some of these guys are your old crew?¡±


    ¡°Nah.¡± She shook her head. ¡°By the time I figured out I could do that, I realized that I didn¡¯t really have any friends in my old ship. I was more attached to the vessel than I was the people. Most of the gods here are people from my worlds that I took a liking to, and offered them godhood as a thanks for their service, or things like that.¡±


    ¡°Never told us about the damned voices, though.¡± Sammy grumbled lightly, earning a yful swat on the back of his head.


    ¡°Did, too. Just because you are a selective listener doesn¡¯t mean I leave the details out. Though I may have under exaggerated just a bit.¡± Sarah gave a small, sheepish smile as she admitted that, earning a fewughs of agreement from those in the room.

 Chapter 314: Twilight’s Saga

    <h4>Chapter 314: Twilight¡¯s Saga</h4>


    ¡°Please select your starting race.¡± A monotonous voice spoke through the darkness, in which only two minds existed.


    ¡°Starting race?¡± One spoke out, sounding younger and feminine, almost childlike. ¡°Does that mean that there is a way to change races after character creation?¡±


    ¡°Ah, let me handle this one.¡± Another voice, female but not belonging to either mind, spoke up. ¡°Sorry, Goddess of Death here. We use a special reincarnation system. The system judged it too pricey to list with the basic options, but we like it. Basically, new souls are born in our lowest ranked worlds. Then, when they die, if they have earned enough karma they are given the choice to advance and be reborn in a higher ranked world.¡±


    ¡°Ahh.¡± The second mind spoke up, sounding a bit older than the first. ¡°I assume you have elves as an option for this world?¡±


    ¡°Confirmed.¡± The monotonous voice spoke again.


    ¡°Two elves, please!¡± Before the second voice could even say anything, the younger, yful voice had shouted out. The darkness was suddenly cast away, filled with a bright light as two elves stood there. They looked almost as if they could be sisters, one with pink hair and the other a brilliant red.


    ¡°Really, Rivy?¡± The red-haired elf asked with a sigh, shaking her head. ¡°Well, I was going to pick it anyways. So, what¡¯s next?¡±


    ¡°Please describe your desired upation.¡± The mysterious voice answered coolly. ¡°Once the description has been given, it will be filtered through the list of avable upations, and suitable choices will be presented.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to be a mage.¡± Ryone spoke, while Aurivy decided to wait her turn this time. ¡°If specialty mages are an option here¡­ A mage who specializes in the crafting of artifacts.¡±


    ¡°Selection confirmed. Suitable upations: Mage, Enchanter, Shaper, Artificer, Binder.¡±


    Ryone nodded as she heard the list, naturally recognizing some of the options. However, near the end her curiosity seemed to be piqued. ¡°I¡¯d like a Binder, please. Please define for me, what are the conditions required to unlock additional sses?¡±


    ¡°sses can be unlocked every one hundred levels. Unlocked sses will always be based on previous achievements.¡±


    She gave another nod. ¡°Thank you. Binder, then.¡± She didn¡¯t particrly know what the binder ss did, but the name made her think of the summoner advanced ss.


    ¡°I want to be a traveler! Someone really fast that can see the sights and run away from danger! Oh, and really cute so everyone gets along with me.¡± Aurivy added a giggle at the end of her request that didn¡¯t seem to match her more mature body.


    ¡°Selection confirmed. Suitable upations: Bard, Scout, Monk, Racer, Tamer.¡±


    ¡°Racer, please!¡± She had lived as the first three, and thest one just sounded like a monster tamer, which she had simrly done before.


    ¡°upations confirmed. Starting location has been set to ¡®Elven Spawn Point Three¡¯, in Twilight¡¯s Hold. Please enjoy your experience.¡±


    As the voice faded, the light began to dim around the two figures, before cracks appeared around them. Like ss, the white exterior shattered, leaving the two girls standing in front of arge, circr fountain. They seemed to be standing in arge city, people walking almost mechanically back and forth.


    The people in the city walked along set paths, moving to talk to someone, and then going back to their starting position to stand in the exact same pose that they had been previously. It was eerie to look at when seeing them as real people. At least, until one elf walked directly up to them, a small smile on his face.


    ¡°Sorry, we haven¡¯t finished setting up the character creation interface for this server yet.¡± He spoke with a polite bow. ¡°Jelial, God of Birth, Adventure, and Wisdom. Nicknamed as the God of Sagas. I¡¯ll be substituting for the tutorial until Sam is able to get the fairies finished.¡±


    ¡°You use tutorial fairies?¡± Aurivy asked with wide eyes.


    ¡°Actually, they act as yer assistants throughout their entire adventure.¡± Jelial chuckled, shaking his head. ¡°He has to set up a separate database for each world, that way the fairies can properly answer questions that the yers might have. Right now, I think he¡¯s only about half done, so they haven¡¯t been implemented yet. You¡¯d be amazed how many people just pick up random rocks to identify, trying to break the system.¡±


    Ryone let out a groan, her head dropping slightly. ¡°I can only imagine. Anyways, why don¡¯t we get started? If you¡¯re here for our tutorial, that means you¡¯re probably going to introduce us to our sses, right?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. If you open your inventory, each of you should have a starting item. Ryone, you chose to y as a Binder, so your starting item is an enchanted pen. Aurivy, you have a pair of winged boots.¡±


    Sure enough, as each goddess thought about their inventory, they would see a screen sh into being in front of them. Each of them only had a few coins, a couple pieces of bread, and a single ¡®weapon¡¯. Though, since neither of them tookbat sses, they couldn¡¯t exactly call their tools weapons.


    Still, Ryone reached into her inventory, calling for the pen, and pulling it out. ¡°If I may ask, how do I use this?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s quite simple. If you apply to join any Mage College, they will teach you the basics of the local magic.¡± Jelial exined, pointing towards the very image of a stereotypical mage nearby. An elderly elven man with a long, gnarled staff and wearing dark grey robes. ¡°In this server, you require a skill to be able to use certain effects like magic. Even if you know the way magic works on a fundamental level, the system will not register anything happening unless you also possess the skill to go with it.¡±


    Ryone gave a small nod, drawing a rune in the air with her pen. It was one that she knew intimately from Fyor, the basic rune for fire. However, as expected, nothing happened. She couldn¡¯t even be sure if the rune had the same meaning here, but merely shrugged her shoulders. ¡°Alright. Please, lead the way.¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    I watched the screen as Ryone and Aurivy were led off towards the ¡®Mage Instructor¡¯ NPC, ncing out of the corner of my eye towards Sarah. ¡°Have you thought about putting these game worlds on the market? I mean, I imagine they¡¯d be worth quite a lot of points.¡±


    ¡°Oh, definitely!¡± She nodded her head quickly. ¡°Whenever a game is praised as a ¡®best-seller¡¯ in the world we introduce it to, we consider that as passing its quality review and immediately put it on the market. Unranked games like this one currently is usually sell for about eight thousand points.¡±


    My eyes widened as I heard that figure. Even with the points that I had saved up, it was still clearly not enough to afford this game world that they had created. ¡°So much?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. When you buy a world in bulk, you are buying every system in it. Our game worlds each typically have crafting systems with assigned blueprints. That means that you¡¯ll be buying all of those blueprints as well.¡± Sarah brought a hand up to her chin, closing her eyes in focus. ¡°Sammy, how many points went into Twilight?¡±


    ¡°We spent about three thousand, four hundred. That¡¯s not counting all the freebies.¡±


    My ears practically perked up when I heard that. ¡°Freebies?¡± Surely, the system doesn¡¯t just give you things for free. I had been here long enough to know that.


    ¡°Huh? Oh, right, you¡¯re still mostly new. Once you buy the exact same system or blueprint on a second world, the price is cut down to only a third of normal. After you get it on ten worlds, the system or blueprint is ¡®saved¡¯ to your ount, and you can apply it for free to new worlds beyond that. But at the same time, you be unable to get any points back by refunding those systems. We reuse a lot of content, so spending three thousand points is actually quite a lot for a first ranked project here.¡±


    Ahh, so I just haven¡¯t gotten that far, yet. I nodded my head, ncing back towards the screen. The two girls were being led towards arge building with a symbol of two crossed wands above the door.


    ¡°Actually, selling these game worlds earns us a ton of points from those really big Keepers. Seraphine usually ends up buying whatever we put on the market to give to her worlds. We usually don¡¯t make enough back to cover what we spent on them, but¡­¡± She shrugged her shoulders.


    It was Sammy that spoke up next. ¡°But it¡¯s fun to make these kinds of worlds! And they give us another way to interact with out inhabitants! In every world, the Evesting Bonds gamepany stands at the top.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Sarah had a content smile on her face as she agreed. ¡°Those worlds that we cultivate proper life on, we will never sell. And, if a game has its NPCs or monsters gain true sentience, they will be moved to a more suitable world for them. Sammy here was actually one of my first attempts at creating an NPC in my first game world. He just evolved too quickly, and I couldn¡¯t watch him die like that.¡±


    I nodded again, looking back to the screen. ¡°You had said that you wanted to show me a higher ranked world, right?¡±


    ¡°Huh? Right! Kliff, could you pull up Lyra on the main screen. Full gctic view, please.¡± Another of the human-lookingpanions nodded, and arge red gxy appeared. ¡°Now, ovey a territory map. Let¡¯s start with just human-explored.¡±


    Nearly eighty percent of the gxy shifted from red to white, slowly blinking as Sarah turned to face me. ¡°I¡¯m at the point where growing power starts to matter less and less. I¡¯ve got the quality. I have mortals that can train to be deific. So now it¡¯s a matter of quantity. Fourth ranked Keepers aren¡¯t that much scarier than third because they have mortal gods. Hell, even a second ranked Keeper can have those, depending on their path.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m scary because I have billions of mortal gods.¡± She gave a lightugh when she said that. ¡°Okay, maybe not billions, but I could! I know it¡¯s in the high millions, at least. But it¡¯s just a number for me, now.¡±


    ¡°To me, the joy of being a Keeper doesn¡¯te from cultivating Lyra anymore, even though it is my primary world. Ites from interacting with its people. Releasing new games, and watching everyone enjoy them. I don¡¯t care about increasing my rank anymore. To me, it¡¯s way more fun to go back to those early days, to load up a level one character on a game server and meet some new friends.¡±


    I looked from her to that map, thinking about those words. If the power curve was really that high, I had to wonder what a seventh rank Keeper was even like. Sarah already had more mortal ¡®gods¡¯ than she cared to count, and she was only at the fourth rank.


    ¡°I do have one more question.¡± I nced back towards Sarah, who looked at me curiously. ¡°When you connect one of the games to a tech world, aren¡¯t there people that try to take apart the code? Even if it¡¯s just to create mods or something. How would that work, since it¡¯s actually a world purchased by the Keeper?¡±


    ¡°Ooh, a good question!¡± Sammy spoke up from his seat in front of me, turning around to fully face me. ¡°You¡¯re right, modderse out of the woodwork every time a game is released. It¡¯s a pain hiding the codex for the fairies in fragments throughout the system so that they can¡¯t just piece it all together. But the way the system handles a world when it is converted into a game is really simple.¡±


    ¡°The system itself creates the code for the game world, based on the ¡®features¡¯ we put in it. If you have real races, that means billions of sentient AI, and a buttload more processing power andplex code. But, something like Twilight there that your friends are enjoying, and it¡¯s a lot more simple. Twilight¡¯s aimed at being ¡®hardware friendly¡¯, without being so simple that people get bored of it. It¡¯s a delicate bnce.¡±


    I gave a small nod at that. There were a lot of uses for game worlds like this, with entertainment definitely being one of the big ones. If I could get a god or goddess interested in doing things like Sammy did, I might be able to get them to create worlds more fit for honing a person¡¯s technical skills. Things that would normally be more dangerous to do in real life, but they could practice without harm in the game in order to improve themselves.

 Chapter 315: Charging for a Craft

    <h4>Chapter 315: Charging for a Craft</h4>


    You have unlocked Beginner Magic: Level 1.


    The window appeared in front of Ryone, and she gave a small nod towards Jelial that was standing nearby. She hadn¡¯t so much ¡®learned¡¯ anything with the skill, merely exchanged a few words with the skill instructor and paid most of her starting coin. ¡°Okay¡­ now what?¡±


    ¡°You thought that it¡¯d be a bit moreplicated, huh?¡± He asked with a knowing nod of his head. ¡°But really, that¡¯s it. Once you have the skill, the magic system functionsrgely in the same way as the imagination system.¡±


    ¡°If you are able to imagine yourself casting a certain spell, and have both the mana and skill level needed for that type of spell, then the system will allow you to cast it. You can also increase a spell¡¯s power by adding in additionalponents, such as a casting time or materials. Of course, any additionalponents have to at least be relevant to the spell.¡±


    ¡°Ooh, ooh, can I try!¡± Aurivy bounced on her feet, her winged shoes actually carrying her a few feet into the air as her eyes shined brightly.


    ¡°Your ss was the racer, right?¡± He looked towards the pink-haired elf. ¡°That ss doesn¡¯t have any particr restriction towards learning magic. There¡¯s no real reason why you can¡¯t give it a shot.¡±


    Aurivy gave a quick nod, running up to the skill instructor. ¡°Sir, I have an interest in learning magic!¡± She spoke up, already anticipating his next lines. ¡°And I am ready to pay to learn!¡±


    Still, he spoke his line, just as he did with Ryone. ¡°Magic is not something that can be taught to just anyone. You must be ready to pay the cost thates with this knowledge.¡±


    Aurivy pushed her hands out towards him, oval coins cupped in her palms. ¡°Shut up and take my money!¡±


    Jelial simply chuckled as he watched the exchange, Aurivy now getting her own magic, and focused his attention back on Ryone. ¡°Anyways, back to your ss abilities. As a binder, you possess the ability to bind the souls of dead creatures to different items through the use of your magic. This is an ability that other sses have to pay far more mana in order to aplish, making your ss a valuable crafter.¡±


    Ryone gave a small nod at that, ncing down to her pen. ¡°I suppose this has something to do with it¡­ and mine is not a ss made for the front lines, correct?¡±


    ¡°Hmm? Ah, no, no. Dead souls are umon drops from creatures, a crystallized essence of their power. If this server were live, people would bring those essences to you. Then, it would be up to you how you wanted to perform the ¡®binding¡¯. In this case, it is more of an art as opposed to a science.¡±


    Ryone listened to the instructions calmly, several different thoughts going through her head. ¡°Different methods would produce different results, right?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. The system grades you on your efficiency, and rewards creativity. Would you like to give it a test? It shouldn¡¯t take too long for me to go grab a few low level essences.¡±


    Once Jelial made the offer, Ryone smiled thankfully towards him. ¡°That would be lovely. Sorry for putting you through all this work. It¡¯s all really interesting, and just so¡­ different than the worlds I¡¯m used to.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s great!¡± Aurivy chimed in, bringing a hand up to partially cover one eye. Her pupil turned a bloody red as she began to chant. ¡°Come forth, the mes of my soul, and devour those who would stand before me.¡± Aurivy extended her hand with a wide grin, a ck me flying out from her palm to strike at the stone floor. ¡°Sweet¡­¡±


    Jelial gave a small chuckle at her antics. As someone who had yed these games for a long time, he was able to recognize that she had only cast a basic fireball spell, using a bit of theatrics to change its appearance. In terms of damage, it might do some more than a normal spell, but only because of the additional cast time that she had given it. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll be back in just a few minutes. Try not to damage the building while I¡¯m gone, or the guards might be summoned.¡±


    Aurivy gave a light yelp at that, looking to her ck me and wishing it away. Thest thing that she needed was to be enjoying herself in this new game world, only to spend the rest of her time here inspecting their dungeons. Once she lifted her head, she noticed that Jelial was gone, and looked towards Ryone. ¡°I want one of these ces eventually.¡± She said happily, her body lightly rocking back and forth.


    ¡°I¡¯m not surprised.¡± Ryone grinned back to Aurivy. ¡°This kind of thing seems right up your alley. Though I doubt any of our people have the patience to make something like this.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I mean, maybe¡­ wasn¡¯t Ashley working on managing a game design team, back before her Earth went kaput?¡± Aurivy mused out loud. ¡°Though, I guess there¡¯d be a big difference between that and making something like this.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s an understatement if I ever heard one. The guy who made this must have created a ton of different ¡®people¡¯. It¡¯s actually more impressive than if they had used a real race as the NPCs. This way requires far more work, but you don¡¯t have the ethical problems of not treating your inhabitants as people. They only have key words and actions that trigger different behaviors.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s more than that, right?¡± The pink-haired elf asked, moving over and looking towards the magic instructor. ¡°He¡¯s old. I mean, old old. They let this world grow, which means the people age. I¡¯m guessing that they age, at least. But, that would mean that they have the basic living needs such as food, water, and sleep. Then you also have to take into consideration that they breed. They don¡¯t feel love, so they have to have preset conditions to find a suitable partner, don¡¯t they?¡±


    Ryone stared, wide-eyed at Aurivy. ¡°You¡­ are giving this a lot more thought than I expected.¡±


    ¡°I was going to be a nerd for my next incarnation if Dale didn¡¯t need me for the Fyor stuff.¡± Aurivyughed lightly, shaking her head. ¡°Was thinking about being born on either Desbar or Earth, and making games. But I don¡¯t think I¡¯d ever be able to make something like this. Like you said, I¡¯m not that patient.¡±


    Ryone was just about to speak up when she turned her head, noticing Jelial walking back. ¡°Sorry for the wait. The drop rates were either lower than I expected, or I just got unlucky. Either way, I got some essences from a couple low level monsters in the surroundings.¡±


    Jelial did the same motion as Ryone and Aurivy had done to retrieve their items from their inventories, and suddenly held two small, green stones in his hand. The girls could feel a faint magical energy leaking out from the growing rocks, a light dust sprinkling our around them. ¡°One of these is from a wild charger, and the other from a goblin. Think you can do something with them?¡±


    Ryone took the two stones gently, nodding her head. ¡°I think I can manage something. Rivy, dear, can I borrow your shoes? If I¡¯m going to do ths, I need something that I can bind the souls to.¡±


    Aurivy nodded without hesitation, reaching down and taking the winged shoes off of her feet before passing them over. ¡°Sure thing. I kinda wanna see what you can do with them too.¡±


    When Ryone took the shoes, she was able to inspect them, and noticed that they had an option to increase movement speed. She allowed herself to sink into thought for a moment, before putting one of the stones away. The one that she kept, the system had told her was the stone for a level three wild charger.


    Hopefully, such a small level gap could be overlooked by the system. Otherwise, it would take ages for crafters to get anywhere at the starting levels. ¡°Alright¡­ I need a mortar and pestle, a handful of berries, preferably the type that the charger would eat, and a small cup of water.¡±


    Jelial raised an eyebrow, looking amused by her recipe. ¡°Alright. Normally, we¡¯d make yers get their own ingredients. But you two aren¡¯t going to be here for that long, and you have me curious.¡±


    He closed his eyes for a few moments, and objects began to appear in front of him. First was a small, wooden table. After that, a stone mortar and pestle appeared on the table, already filled with pink berries. Next to the mortar and pestle as arge cup of water.


    ¡°If you can just spawn things in, why¡¯d you have to go hunt for the essences?¡± Aurivy couldn¡¯t help but question while Ryone moved to the table, emptying the berries out of the mortar.


    ¡°Essences are souls.¡± Jelial said with a small shrug. ¡°Can¡¯t just spawn in fresh souls without spending points. But we have a lot of assets like these that we can just move around. Worst that will happen is an alchemist puts in an order for some new tools and a couple of early level quests pop up.¡±


    Aurivy gave a small nod at that, while Ryone ced the essence inside the mortar. ¡°Soften.¡± She whispered, her hand hovering over the essence. Afterwards, she grabbed the pestle and began to grind the essence down, her earlier word having been part of a magic to assist her in breaking the stone.


    Only once it was reduced to a fine powder did Ryone begin adding in the berries, crushing them as well. The dust from the soul essence mixed with the juice of the berries to create a glittering mush, which was further distilled when she began to pour a bit of water into the mix. Now, she was using the pestle to gently stir the three ingredients, before she did something that Jelial hadn¡¯t been expecting.


    Ryone brought her left hand up over the mixture, using a bit of magic to give herself a small cut on her finger. She allowed just a few drops of blood to drip in, keeping her hand in ce. ¡°Now stir. With my own blood as the catalyst, I bind it.¡±


    The mixture began to swirl beneath her hand, the blood darkening the pink berries to create a darker red fluid. After a few moments, she grabbed her pen, moving it up over the substance. ¡°Now that I have the ink¡­ absorb.¡±


    The ¡®ink¡¯ lifted up in a thin strand from the mortar, flowing into the empty pen. She waited patiently, until the pen had been entirely filled, before entering into a blur of motion. Now, she was in her element. Her pen drew long lines across the table, forming a familiar enchantment diagram, the same sort that she would be using if this were Earth.


    While she filled in the outer circles of the enchantment with the effects that she wanted to imbue the boots, Jelial watched off from the side with Aurivy. ¡°She¡¯s your magic goddess, isn¡¯t she?¡± He guessed, seeing how devoted she clearly was to her craft. She seemed to be entirely absorbed in the process of drawing out even a low level enchantment that she was drowning out everything else.


    ¡°Yup! Magic, merchants, and wealth.¡± Aurivy answered without concern, simply watching Ryone work with growing enthusiasm.


    Once the diagram had beenpleted, Ryone went over it again, making sure that everything was in its correct ce. Only then did she ce the boots in the center of the diagram. Afterwards, she waited for her mana to recharge after her earlier spell casts, before triggering the enchantment diagram.


    35% Wild Charger essence consumed.


    Exceptional craft! You have granted the Winged Shoes the Charging property.


    You have unlocked Beginner Binding Mastery, Level 1.

 Chapter 316: Marik’s Dungeon

    <h4>Chapter 316: Marik¡¯s Dungeon</h4>


    While Ryone and Aurivy were preupied with testing out the ¡®Twilight¡¯s Hold¡¯ game world, I decided to have Sarah let me take a look at one of the higher tier worlds. I figured that would give the two of them a bit more time to mess around and try out new things.


    In the back of my head, I could already imagine both of them wanting to save up points to buy one of these worlds to connect to their own. Hell, whenever I give Ryone the option to make her own world, I wouldn¡¯t doubt if she pools her funds with Aurivy, and even Udona to get the amount needed for one of these.


    ¡°This is Marik¡¯s Dungeon.¡± Sarah said with a small smile, motioning towards the monitor. ¡°It¡¯s actually one of our newest products that we just released in Lyra. You might even find it more interesting than Twilight.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± I took a look at the screen. Rather than showing the game world, it showed a ¡®cover art¡¯. In the center of the screen was a faintly glowing, blue crystal pir that reached from the ground all the way into the sky. ¡°Wait¡­ don¡¯t tell me.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Sarah chuckled lightly. ¡°We used the dungeon world that you put on the market recently as the base for this game. Though, I must say that it has given us no shortage of extra work since weunched it.¡±


    Sammy smirked bitterly at that. ¡°That¡¯s an understatement. We¡¯ve got to do all the real exploring for new floors ourselves.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± I asked in confusion, looking between the two of them. I knew for a fact that the world inhabitants could just discover the gates between floors themselves.


    A fact that Sarah was no doubt aware of, especially judging by her answer. ¡°Remember how we said that we move any sapient races away from the game worlds, to preserve their ¡®living rights¡¯? Well¡­ when we were designing this game, we did a lot of the exploring ourselves. Set up starter zones and all that, make sure we had the basic systems ¡®installed¡¯ forunch.¡±


    ¡°You can imagine our surprise when we found a sentient race that we never purchased, long before the game came out. Since then, we¡¯ve put in special procedures. Whenever a new floor is released as an ¡®update¡¯, the gate to the next level is locked off. We go in, move whatever sapient races there are to safety, and then repopte the floor with NPCs and content.¡±


    ¡°That must take¡­ years between updates, then?¡± My eyes opened wide as I tried to imagine the process that they would have to take in order to fully popte a server with what could be essentially ssified as living golems.


    ¡°Couple months in world time, usually.¡± Sammy waved it off with a small shrug. ¡°If you use the time zones cleverly, you can create a workroom. She sends me down into the designated workroom, then freezes everything else in Lyra. Fast forward just the workroom, teleport the NPCs out once they¡¯repleted, and that¡¯s that. The only thing that really takes any amount of time on Sarah¡¯s end is helping toe up with storylines for each floor. But she loves stuff like that.¡±


    I gave a small nod, starting to understand. ¡°Out of curiosity¡­ how far in has your world grown? Which floor?¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡± Sarah nced upwards in thought. ¡°Forty-seventh,st I checked. Right, Sammy?¡±


    ¡°We just started exploring the forty-eighth floor, boss. But yeah, the game¡¯s expanded up to the forty-seventh. Man, at this rate, I¡¯m expecting there to be at least five hundred floors per world.¡±


    Something about how he said that grabbed my attention. ¡°Per world? I always just expected a single world to basically go on forever.¡± Or until the end of a ¡®gxy¡¯ size, at which point things would simply be too terrifying to explore further anyways.


    He chuckled, shaking his head. ¡°Nah, that¡¯s not how it works. A limitless world size is way more expensive. You have to buy it as a special option. With what you have here¡­ Keep in mind, I¡¯ve never met one myself. But I¡¯d say that the final floor should be filled with creatures that have the strength of a sixth ranked Keeper.¡±


    ¡°That is to say, any random creature from thest floor could potentially wipe out a Keeper of that rank or lower in the games, even with their world advantage. But out beyond that? In the vastness of space? There could be creatures that could challenge seventh ranked Keepers.¡±


    ¡°Of course, there would be other worlds, as well. The big difference, though, is that these worlds can¡¯t be conquered normally.¡± Seeing the confusion on my face, he raised a finger. ¡°In order to pass through the gates, you have to take the orb for your race in that world to the centermostyer.¡±


    I understood what he was talking about now, giving a slight nod. ¡°And naturally, you can¡¯t do that without going through the gates¡­ so you¡¯d be forced to use teleportation magic to cross the barriers.¡±


    ¡°Exactly! Now, I don¡¯t know what kind of power a seventh ranked Keeper would have, but the barrier betweenyers bes thicker the higher up you go. Even for them, they probably couldn¡¯t break through more than one at a time at first. Then them or their deities would have to search through the floors to find the racial spheres, and so on.¡±


    This conversation gradually made me begin to think about the situation that Fyor was facing. Seeing that they had started to use this kind of world as well, it seemed like a good idea to ask them about it. ¡°And, what do you do if someone breaks one of the mana pirs in this game?¡±


    Sarah, surprisingly, gave a sullen groan at that. ¡°Ugh, don¡¯t remind me. The bug hunters were all over that on opening day. One of them actually managed to deal enough damage to the second floor crystal to cause a system shutdown. For us, the system shutting down means that all the ¡®yers¡¯ had their connections cut.¡±


    ¡°No real danger for anyone involved, but there was a huge bacsh on the forums. The guy even leaked that attacking the crystal crashed the servers. Since then, more and more people have been grouping up, finding it fun to try and break the game for everyone else. Any system that could reliably stop them would be deemed too powerful, and ced on an unexplored floor, so we¡¯ve resorted to more basic practices.¡±


    ¡°What she means.¡± Another voice spoke up, causing me to nce back. A short, childlike boy sat in another nearby chair at his own terminal. ¡°Is that we set up barriers around every pir, fueled by the mana of the pirs themselves. It causes the day-night cycle to tilt a bit, with about twice as much night as day¡­ but it keeps the barriers charged.¡±


    Sarah nodded her head at that. ¡°When they saw our countermeasures, the griefers naturally protested, saying that it was all part of the game. We really don¡¯t like banning people from one of our servers, but that was a time I ended up making an exception.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t really say that I¡¯d do any better there. I¡¯d have probably banned them the moment they started teaming up to try to destroy the mana spires. It only made sense to get rid of yers that were actively seeking to destroy the game for everyone else. That¡¯s the kind of thing that you put in the terms of service!¡­Which nobody ever really reads.


    ¡°Alright. Now that that¡¯s out of the way¡­ mind giving me a rundown of this game?¡± When I asked that, Sarah visibly perked up. It seemed that there was something about this one that she really enjoyed.


    ¡°Sure! First of all, Marik¡¯s Dungeon is unlike any of our other products. That¡¯s because, unlike our other games, there is a single sapient race that inhabit this world. Their numbers are small, in order to keep the game as easy to y as possible, but they do exist. They even know fully well that they are inside of a game.¡±


    ¡°They are the Avariel, deific beings both almighty and powerless. All of them that remain in the game do so of their own free will, having been given the option to leave whenever they wished.¡±


    Seeing that she was starting to lose focus on the key points, Sammy turned to face me, continuing the exnation. ¡°It¡¯s like this. Avariel are really hard to kill, but they can¡¯t cultivate much personal power at all. Instead, they have the ability to bestow power onto others in the form of special skills and techniques.¡±


    ¡°Several key figures within this game belong the the Avariel race, and some are even secretly disguised as normal NPCs. It¡¯s up to the yers to be friendly with an Avariel, and gain those abilities. These abilities are often crucial for surviving on theter floors, or in big boss fights.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s more than just that, Sammy!¡± Sarah spoke with a wistful sigh. ¡°The depth of the bond between a yer and an Avariel can greatly change the level of power bestowed on them. You could have one Avariel that sponsors an entire guild, granting each member a small boost¡­ or you can have a couple that truly falls in love. The Avariel joins them in life and death struggles, pouring everything they have into strengthening their chosen champion!¡±


    Sammy grinned, ncing towards Sarah out of the corner of his eyes before looking back at me. ¡°Don¡¯t mind her. She loves romance stories like that the most. The first time she actually saw an Avariel and yer falling for one another, I swear she actually went down in person to congratte the two of them, and eventually hosted their wedding. Not many couples can say that they were married by the Keeper herself.¡±


    ¡°It was so beautiful!¡± Sarah¡¯s eyes seemed to shine as she thought back. ¡°They were torn between their two worlds, each asking me for the right to let them live truly in the other world with their love. When I saw that, how could I say no? We had been letting the Avariel out whenever they grew tired of living in a game, so why would this be any different.¡±


    Sammy rolled his eyes, giving me a small wink. ¡°She¡¯s leaving out the fact that we had to stop her from hand-crafting an entire world to give the two of them. Their own little paradise. When the couple heard about that, they actually became worried. Who wouldn¡¯t, though? It¡¯d be a world where the only other intelligent being was your lover. Even the happiest of couples want friends or family that they can connect to.¡±


    ¡°I was really excited to make that world, though¡­¡± Sarah muttered under her breath, before quickly shaking her head. ¡°I got sidetracked! Anyways, like I was saying, there are certain things that you can only get by forming a bond with an Avariel. Sometimes, you can get the ability to change your ss into something fitting the Avariel, or things of that nature.¡±


    I had to admit, the idea for the game did sound interesting to me. However, I couldn¡¯t really see it as something I¡¯d really buy. Just the price tag on the world alone would be obscene. Then there were the difficulties when it came to expanding it. Perhaps Tubrock might be willing to create NPCs for me like that, but I really couldn¡¯t see him wanting to put in the same amount of work on that that Sammy clearly does.


    No, I was unlikely to ever get Marik¡¯s Dungeon, even if they did end up putting it on the market some day. Though now I did want to take a look through the rest of the games that they had listed when we got back, just to see what all there was. Out of curiosity, I had them flip back to Twilight¡¯s Hold, where I saw Ryone and Aurivy walking out of the elven city with Jelial, heading towards a field of monsters. It looked like they were about to finally start somebat.

 Chapter 317: Charging Extra

    <h4>Chapter 317: Charging Extra</h4>


    Author''s Corner: Thank you to Madeline for another month of support!


    ¡°You ready for this, Rivy?¡± Ryone asked as the took a deep breath, walking out into the field just outside the city gate. Apanying them was Jelial, who was still acting as their tutorial for the moment. Of course, there wasn¡¯t much that he¡¯d be able to help them with once they actually got into the heat of battle.


    ¡°Girl, are you serious? I should be the one asking you that. Don¡¯t forget who the Goddess of Dungeons is. I could be half considered as a battle goddess, you know!¡± Aurivy rolled her shoulder yfully as she said that.


    Ryone simply let out a light chuckle, shaking her head as they walked along the dirt road. Already, they could see various monsters scattered about. Most of them seemed simr to wild boars, but with four horns that grew up into a sort of helmet over their faces. The only problem was¡­ they were spaced worrying close together. There was typically not more than ten meters between each boar as they roamed idly about.


    Immediately, that made the two girls quite nervous. And they weren¡¯t wrong to be nervous. Thinking about it logically, there was no wild animal who wouldn¡¯t notice a fight just ten meters away. Thus, even attacking one charger could result in an entire stampede.


    Jelial nced towards them when he noticed their pause, giving a knowing smile. ¡°Remember, you have to apply game logic. Kiroa went through a lot of trouble designing the aggro form. It¡¯s still based on their sensory range, but it doesn¡¯t extend the full range.¡±


    ¡°As an example¡­ if you are directly in front of a wild charger like these, they will not notice you until you are six meters away. If you approach from behind them, the only way they¡¯ll notice you is if you make enough noise, or have a strong enough smell.¡± Immediately both of the elven girls lifted their arms, checking how powerful their own scents were.


    ¡°Trust me, neither of you really meet those conditions. Of course, there is another way to activate monsters. If their hunger rating is low, they will enter ¡®hunt¡¯ mode. While hunting, they will seek out creatures or nts that are part of their diet group, and will ignore aggro distance. Certain predator species are considered constantly hunting, as they do so for sport rather than food.¡±


    ¡°Ah, you mean like people.¡± Thatment from Aurivy brought a small grin towards Jelial¡¯s face.


    ¡°Quite right. Like people. But you don¡¯t have to worry about that here. Since the two of you are both first level, you won¡¯t lose anything even if you die a few times. So feel free to test yourselves here.¡±


    ¡°I thought that we weren¡¯t evenbat sses to begin with?¡± Ryone pointed out, ncing back towards Jelial as she began to clench her fists repeatedly. ¡°Will crafters and scouts even get experience for fighting?¡±


    ¡°Everyone can get experience for fighting, so long as they properly contribute.¡± Jelial said with a small nod. ¡°However, for sses that don¡¯t specialize in fighting, they have alternative ways to earn experience. For example, a merchant will earn experience from making favorable deals. A crafter well earn it from crafting. If you focus and pull up your character window, you should be about two thirds of the way to leveling up after that craft from before.¡±


    ¡°So scouts can get experience just by running around to new ces?¡± Aurivy asked, stretching her legs out.


    ¡°Not even necessarily new ces. If an area has undergone significant change, either through a battle or natural disaster, it will qualify as new terrain for any exploration-based ss.¡±


    Hearing that bit of information, both girls looked at one another and nodded. It was Aurivy who spoke first again, taking a step forward. ¡°I¡¯ll handle the melee, you back me up with ranged?¡±


    ¡°You got it, Rivy.¡± Ryone agreed easily, taking a step back. She brought her hands together, a blue circle spreading out beneath her feet. Gradually, lines began to take shape along its surface, forming aplete spell diagram.


    While Ryone was preparing, naturally Aurivy did not sit idle. ¡°Oh beastly spirit that slumbers within my body, undo your bonds. Let your power flow through me and strike fear into our prey.¡± Her body hunched forward, her elbows pulling back. Her pupils narrowed into slits while her fingers grew ws along their tips. Even her teeth seemed to elongate into fangs.


    When she kicked off from the ground, it was hard to believe that she was only a first level character. Thebination of her physical enhancement spell and her enchanted boots gave her a preternatural speed. Her target was the closest of the chargers, even though it was facing them.


    As Jelial had exined, itszy gaze seemed to harden once she was within six meters. It let out a low roar, kicking the ground as it began running. Its head angled down, the curved horns positioned to provide the best impact it could.


    There was a feral grin on Aurivy¡¯s face as she watched it charge. The moment before they connected, she lightly kicked off to jump into the air, flipping over the creature and sending it running beneath her. Straight towards Ryone. However, the caster seemed to fully trust Aurivy, focusing on charging her spell.


    When Aurivy chased after the boar, her enhanced speed was enough to almost immediately catch up with it. Her ws sank into the flesh of the beast¡¯s hind quarters, and its speed began to slow down. Now, it was dragging her, her feet nted in the ground. However, a health bar immediately appeared over the heads of both Aurivy and the charger. Naturally, thetter¡¯s was decreasing more rapidly.


    ¡°Mana bolt.¡± Ryone spoke calmly, aiming her hand forward. This was the spell that she had prepared, one of the most basic attack spells she knew. However, given the conditions of ¡®charging time¡¯ and ¡®ritual preparation¡¯, she trusted the system to suitably enhance its power.


    Sure enough, a thick ripple formed in the air in front of her, a nearly invisible ball of energy shooting out to crash against the ¡®helmet¡¯ of the charger. Thest of its momentum was halted, and even though it didn¡¯t take much in the way of damage from the spell, it had been dazed. This was more than enough of an opportunity for Aurivy, who let out a low roar.


    Her muscles tensed up, and she actually lifted the charger off of its feet, throwing it a solid six feet above her head. The elf¡¯s eyes had turned blood red, her feet kicking off the ground. The wings on her shoes shifted, curling forward as if to match the helmet pattern of the wild charger.


    When Aurivy¡¯s body began to spin in midair, her feetunched out in a series of rapid kicks directly at the charger¡¯s underbelly. Each strike cut down arge portion of its health, knocking it just a bit further into the air. Ultimately, it was Aurivy that had touched the ground first, being sent back down due to the bacsh of her kicks.


    The beast was not far behind, though, as it crashed to the ground with a loud crack a momentter. The fall stripped away thest of its health, signalling its defeat. However, the health bar did not vanish. Instead, it began gently blinking, prompting Jelial to exin.


    ¡°When a creature¡¯s health bar begins blinking, that means it¡¯s ready to be looted. You have one minute to loot a creature before it enters ¡®natural¡¯ mode. If you get it before then, you could get drops like coins, equipment, materials, or recipes. Once it enters natural mode, though, the only way to harvest anything from it will be the hard way. Also, only those who directly contributed to the defeat of the creature are able to loot it.¡±


    ¡°I got it!¡± Aurivy grinned, the red vanishing from her eyes as her features returned to normal. She rushed forward, cing a hand on the beast. ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ you said earlier¡­ it¡¯s just ¡®loot¡¯!¡±


    Jelial had exined some of the very basics on the way from the college to the city gates, so it was quite nice that Aurivy had been paying enough attention to recall the lootmand. Even if it was almost painfully easy to remember.


    The wild charger¡¯s body shattered in a burst of green light. Once that light cleared, there were six items in its ce. Four of them were simple copper coins. One was arge b of meat on a single bone, while thest seemed to be a rolled up piece of parchment. Aurivy looked a bit disappointed at the loot, causing her to speak up in a sullen tone. ¡°Aww¡­ no essence.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ think you may need to reconsider your words.¡± Jelial spoke, walking casually over towards the pile of loot. ¡°The coinage and meat aremon drops. But anything not directly rted to the creature is rather rare. This could be a skill or spell scroll, or a map fragment.¡±


    ¡°Ooh¡­ gimme!¡± Aurivy changed her tune immediately, disregarding all of the other loot in order to pick up the scroll. When she did, a notification window appeared in front of her.


    Unidentified Scroll


    Level: 2


    Rating: Low


    ¡°Okay¡­ spill¡­ how do we identify items?¡± Aurivy turned to face Jelial, a renewed vigor in her eyes.


    ¡°It¡¯s quite simple really.¡± He shook his head, lightly plucking the scroll from her fingers. ¡°If you learn the Appraise skill in town, you¡¯ll be able to identify dropped loot like this. Since I imagine we don¡¯t have the time for that, let me just take care of this for you.¡±


    His eyes nced over the rolled up parchment for a brief moment before handing it back with a small nod. This time when Aurivy focused on it, an entirely different message window appeared.


    Wild Charge


    Spell Level: 2


    Rating: Low


    Base Damage: 6


    By channeling the power of the Wild Charger through your body, you are able to grant yourself a quick burst of speed in a straight line. While running, you will have an increase in armor equal to the spell¡¯s damage. Any impact during the charge will apply a significant knockback in rtion to spell damage. If you collide directly with an object during the charge, you will take the spell¡¯s full damage, and enter a staggered state.


    ¡°Question!¡± Aurivy raised the hand containing the scroll, causing Jelial to nod his head towards her. ¡°What¡¯s the point of a spell scroll, if spells only require our imagination?¡± Ryone also nced over from where she had walked to collect the rest of the loot, simrly interested in the answer.


    ¡°Ahh, that¡¯s actually a prettymon question.¡± Jelial nodded his head, crossing his arms behind his back. ¡°If you get a scroll or a book that teaches you a spell, that spell will typically have more damage, or extra added effectspared to if you were to cast it yourself. In this case, it is the former. The difference between a scroll or a book is simply the rating of the individual ability. Powerful spells, such that would allow you to alter the weather orunch devastating attacks, are delivered through tomes. Meanwhile, smaller spells like this charge are given out as simple scrolls.¡±


    Aurivy rapidly nodded her head, understanding the answer with that much. ¡°Alright! Next question¡­ how long does it take to recharge mana?¡± She gave a sheepish smile as she asked that, ncing off towards the side. She hadn¡¯t really kept track of how much mana she spent during her first fire spell, or the time it took to recharge it.


    Nearby, Ryone let out a light groan. ¡°You spent all of your mana on that feral form, didn¡¯t you?¡± Her words were met with an innocent whistle, prompting Ryone to sigh. ¡°I think we¡¯re done hunting, then. I just leveled up, so I¡¯m back to full, but it looks like that¡¯s not the case for you.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s just as well, anyways.¡± Jelial shook his head regretfully. ¡°It looks like your Keeper¡¯s ready to leave whenever you guys are done.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Aurivy looked to Jelial in surprise. ¡°But we just got here!¡±


    ¡°Rivy, dear¡­¡± Ryone walked over, cing a gentle hand on Aurivy¡¯s shoulder. ¡°We¡¯ve been in this game for two hours already¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah!¡± She nodded, as if she understood that. ¡°Like I said, just got here!¡±

 Chapter 318: Expectations

    <h4>Chapter 318: Expectations</h4>


    Author''s Corner: Thank you to Sam Ellis for another month of support!


    Seeing the two of them getting ready to exit the game, I gave a small nod, turning towards Sarah. ¡°There¡¯s onest question before I go. Something that might determine whether or not I¡¯m able to get any of your games in the near future.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Sarah blinked, her eyes going wide. ¡°I could donate you the funds to get the first one free, if you¡¯d like.¡±


    ¡°Pretend she didn¡¯t say that!¡± A female human across the room spoke up. ¡°Sarah, we¡¯re just barely making a profit already. Can we really afford to loan out enough for a free copy to another Keeper?¡±


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s not so bad as that.¡± Sarah smiled towards the human, a slightly pudgy girl with brown hair. ¡°I know Dale can pay us back over time. And since we would be getting the royalties from it, he¡¯d only have to pay back ny percent, right?¡±


    Thepanion looked like she wanted to protest, holding her mouth open for several long moments before simply sighing, shaking her head. Seeing that, Sarah turned back to face me. ¡°Anyways, what is the question you wanted to ask?¡±


    I chuckled slightly at the exchange between the two of them. ¡°I remember that the only options I saw on the market to enter a game world like this was through the ¡®Information Age¡¯ in a tech tree. Is there a magical equivalent? Out of my worlds, most of them are more magically inclined, whereas thest one is just stepping into the information age. I think it¡¯d be a while before they manage to catch up enough to get anything like that.¡±


    Sarah had a rather difficult expression at that. ¡°Well, there is a magical equivalent, it¡¯s just¡­ a lot more expensive. Connecting the entire world seamlessly together is one thing that technology can simply achieve far more easily than magic. If you want my advice, get the tech version, and then set their culture to focus towards it.¡±


    So magic can¡¯t quite rece the inte yet, huh? I mused inwardly, nodding my head. ¡°Alright. Also, is it possible to set up a ¡®server¡¯ that spans multiple nes in one connected system? That way, the game can be yed on any of my different worlds.¡±


    ¡°Okay, now that I can help with.¡± Sarah smiled wide, nodding her head. ¡°If you have a device, magical or tech, that is able to perform nar travel like that, then it is only a matter of investing in that research a bit more. If you do so, you¡¯ll be able to create small, sustained portals between worlds. They won¡¯t be nearly as effective as therger device, but they will be enough to runwork cables through.¡±


    That sounded like a job I could give Ashley and Tubrock. One to work on the portals, and the other to draw up ns toy out awork infrastructure through the other worlds. Maybe this would encourage those other worlds to finally use more of Desbar¡¯s technology, rather than relying purely on their own magical advancements.


    ¡°Alright, thanks.¡± I held my hand out to shake, ready to bid her farewell. ¡°It was niceing over. I¡¯m sure that next time I visit, I¡¯ll have a lot more people with me. Especially after those two tell them about the games.¡±


    Sarah nodded, reaching her hand out to grasp mine. However, there was a mischievous look in her eyes. I didn¡¯t quite know what to make of it until I saw the window appearing in front of me, letting me know that Keeper EverLasting was wishing to give me eight thousand points. That number nearly made me stumble, my eyes going wide.


    ¡°Like I said, first one¡¯s on me. Consider it ate wee present for joining the guild.¡±


    It took me a moment to fully register what she had said. ¡°It won¡¯t¡­ adjust the strength of my worlds too much, having an additional first ranked world like this, would it?¡±


    Sarah shook her head at that. ¡°Oh no, nothing like that. When ites to game worlds like this, the system is a bit more lenient. Maybe if you connected it to your worlds through a different system, but with a pure game one like you¡¯re wanting, then the system only cares if the world¡¯s rank is higher than your own.¡±


    ¡°So no second rank games.¡± I said with a small nod, not really having a problem with that. If a first rank game already cost this much, I could only dread to imagine how much a bigger one would.


    I heard the two girlsing through the door, talking excitedly as I mentally epted the trade. ¡°Oh Dale, you wouldn¡¯t believe how cool it is-- what did you just do?¡± Aurivy asked, her energetic tone quickly halted as she stared at myself and Sarah. ¡°Did you just sell something big?¡± After asking that, she gasped, her hands covering her own body. ¡°Did you sell me?!¡±


    Thankfully, I could tell that she seemed to be joking, otherwise I might get seriously worried where her mind went. ¡°No, I didn¡¯t sell anything. Sarah here was just giving us the funds so that we could buy one of these games ourselves when we get back.¡±


    ¡°Oh you are my new favorite person ever!¡± Aurivy squealed out, running over and jumping at Sarah, wrapping her arms around the surprised Keeper. ¡°Thank you thank you thank you! I had so much fun, even if it was short! I can¡¯t wait to try one of your finished products!¡±


    Sarah couldn¡¯t help butugh at the excited halfling, reaching a hand up to pat her head. ¡°Don¡¯t thank me too soon. From what I hear, you won¡¯t be able to enjoy it just yet. One of your worlds has to get the technology unlocked, which may take a little while.¡±


    ¡°Daaaale.¡± Aurivy whined, jumping down from Sarah to walk over towards me. ¡°When we get back, can we fast forward? I promise I¡¯ll help finish up with your Fyor project, and then help Ashley with Desbar! I¡¯ll even pay for the Reality Virtual tech out of my share of Fyor¡¯s points!¡±


    I shook my head with a small sigh, reaching down and ruffling her hair. ¡°Let¡¯s finish up with Fyor first, and Ashley can get started with Tubrock on some other things we need to prepare. Until then¡­ you can start looking with Udona and the others to figure out which one you want. Fair?¡±


    ¡°Fair!¡± She responded happily. ¡°Let¡¯s go, hurry!¡± She reached up to tug at my arm, pulling me towards a grinning Ryone. ¡°I wonder what it will be this time. I think I¡¯d be okay with and shark after all this!¡±


    I rolled my eyes, waving farewell to Sarah before focusing on returning home. Aurivy sounded¡­ almost disappointed when a red door appeared along a nearby wall, silently opening into a ck void. ¡°Okay¡­ a normal door works, too.¡± She ran, dragging me through the door, causing us to appear in our living room a momentter. Naturally, Ryone was only a step behind us. As she walked through, though, there was a low yell from behind her, a certain dark-skinned ursa goddess being thrown through the door.


    Once we were all through, the door closed, fading back into the wall as if it were never there. ¡°So¡­ you made a rather lucrative trip.¡± Terra said knowingly, having been waiting for us sprawled out on the couch. Keliope grumbled at her words, having just barely missed the couch herself.


    ¡°That¡¯s one way to look at it.¡± I nodded with a small smile, walking over and giving her a quick peck on the lips. ¡°I miss anything while I was gone?¡±


    She purred up at me, azy smile falling over her face. ¡°Nah. Everything stayed paused when you left. Though with that look Rivy¡¯s giving me, starting to wish that I had let them keep going.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s just¡­ very excited.¡± Ryone said with a smallugh. ¡°Rivy, you go and find Udona. I¡¯ll get Ashley and Tubrock.¡±


    No sooner had Aurivy heard the suggestion before she vanished entirely from the room. She was most certainly very excited to be able to have one of these game worlds. Ryone simply let out a small giggle, bringing her hand up to cover her mouth as she walked off. Leaving myself and Terra alone in the living room after Keliope sulked her way out of the room, muttering about her fun being interrupted.


    ¡°So, what do you n to do now?¡± The catgirl asked with a small grin. ¡°I don¡¯t think Aurivy will be able to forgive you if you go into training mode before everything is set up for this new game world. You could probably train the Divine Soul, but it would mean keeping things going slow enough that you don¡¯t miss the world falling apart without you.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but groan, nodding at that. I had actually been nning to do a bit more training originally after we got back from this trip, but now¡­ It definitely felt like this would be important as well. A training environment where I could practicebat skills without any fear of death, no matter how bad I mess up. I won¡¯t be able to use it for the energybinations, since we won¡¯t be doing a fullw merger, but normalbat or technical skills could easily be trained.


    ¡°Just to confirm¡­ if I get the Reality Virtual tech tree off the market, then it ispletely safe for me as a Keeper?¡± This was a pretty important thing that I had to ask, since otherwise it¡¯d all be purely for the entertainment value.


    ¡°For the most part. While logged into the game, your body will still be vulnerable at the connection point. If you are attacked out there, you could still be killed despite being logged in. There¡¯s no such thing as ¡®absolute protection¡¯ for a Keeper outside of the Administration Room.¡±


    ¡°Oh? That connection thing that Sarah had in her Admin Room seemed like it¡¯d be pretty close.¡±


    Myment made Terra grin knowingly. ¡°There¡¯s a little w to that system that she didn¡¯t point out. First of all, you don¡¯t get any of your Keeper bonuses when you use it. You are forced to start from the very beginning as a normal person. Second, it can¡¯t connect to any world that is already part of the Games. Those are two major limiting factors that make it no better than a permanent installment of weakened World Hosts.¡±


    ¡°Sure, she can ¡®die¡¯ when logged in like that. But would it really be worth it? No progress that she makes like that could ever carry over to her Keeper profile. And every time she dies, she has to start from scratch unless there is a respawn system in ce.¡±


    I nodded my head at that. Certainly, it didn¡¯t seem to be as perfect as I had imagined. It was still quite nice, and she had admitted that it had cost a fortune by her standards. Meaning I¡¯d probably be looking at at least a hundred thousand points just to get a system I¡¯d hardly ever use. To me, it just seemed more worth it to rely on the World Hosts. I doubted that I¡¯d ever go through three thousand of them, so it was the most cost effective option for me.


    ¡°Alright. Rivy said that she¡¯d pay for the tech tree out of her portion of Fyor¡¯s funds. And since Sarah gave us all the points that we¡¯ll need to get one of her games, all that¡¯s left is getting there and getting awork set up to spread through all of the worlds.¡±


    I was running through various different ideas in my mind as I talked about that. Part of me wanted to consolidate all of the portalworks to the area around the Fairy Gates, but it became immediately clear that doing so was not an option. Whenever a creature from the ¡®outside¡¯ came through a gate, it was fired upon by a series of ki cannons. From what I had seen, druids had toe through every few weeks to fix the terrain. cing cables there would just be asking them to be cut.


    This meant that other sites had to be designated within each world as thework connections. Maybe even multiple ones for each world to act as redundancies. The inte was all about being a giant hydra, no single connection able to take down the entire thing. Might as well y to that, it may even help boost their connection speeds.

 Chapter 319: Dancing Waves

    <h4>Chapter 319: Dancing Waves</h4>


    After leaving Terra to curl up on the couch, I made my way back towards the bedroom. It was pretty clear that the others would be able to find a game easily enough, so all that I had to do was make sure that the situation in Fyor was handled properly, and that Desbar¡¯s technology progressed in the proper direction.


    Thetter was fairly easy to aplish. I merely had to open up the culture window for Desbar. Looking through, I found that Lenan was still a major power, and the leading technology contributor for the world. They¡¯d be the best target for this. So, I assigned their secondary goal for the future to be game development.


    This way, they wouldn¡¯t take away too much from their current focus, but the technology would still be advancing in the proper direction more and more rapidly. Especially once the goddesses started getting involved.


    With that out of the way, I turned my sight back to Fyor. Nothing was going to happen there if I didn¡¯t speed things up a bit. As I recalled, Aurivy and Irena were just getting ready to propose a notion to help better things in the Great Blue. So for them¡­ a five year skip would be good to show some progress.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Kat, are you okay?!¡± Rache asked urgently as she rushed over. The pale-skinned human had doubled over, letting out a low, pained scream as they were walking through the streets on patrol. Rache¡¯s eyes were wide and worried as she looked at her friend. ¡°It¡¯s getting worse. We¡¯ve got to get you looked at.¡±


    Katrina simply let out a light chuckle, shaking her head. ¡°You know that there¡¯s nobody that can treat this.¡± As she spoke, she winced, bringing a hand up to wipe the blood away from her mouth. ¡°Just get me somewhere I can vent, and it¡¯ll get better for now.¡±


    Rache nodded, closing her eyes and reciting a spell. ¡°Mal drakaris, fin.¡± Runes of light moved out from her body, wrapping around the two of them before they vanished from the dark road, appearing on a nearby ind. It was the same ind where Rache had once lived with her sister, and now used it as Katrina¡¯s ¡®venting¡¯ ground.


    ¡°Alright, we¡¯re here.¡± She said softly, taking her hands off of Katrina and slowly stepping back. The human woman stood up, reaching for the ring on her finger. When she slid it off, her eyes began to shine like beacons in the night. The mana in the air was dense around her, enough that they were afraid of triggering a siphon if they did this nearer to town.


    ¡°Oh¡­ that¡¯s better.¡± Katrina spoke, her voice free of the pain that it had been experiencing moments before. It even seemed to carry an odd echo within it, her words resonating with the very air around her.


    ¡°Krollostria, Laria, Lorian.¡± The words flowed from her mouth as she looked off the shore of the small ind. Ripples forming in the ocean¡¯s water, before great waves rose, splitting the sea. Even in the darkness, Rache could make out the muddy floor from the light cast in Katrina¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Kra ¡®call¡¯, shora nae, boleer urtho-lo.¡± A glowing blue mark formed along Katrina¡¯s right wrist as she cast her next spell, and at the same time five figures seemed to walk out from the water, standing on the muddy ground between the two great walls of waves. It was hard to call them humanoids, as their body flowed with every motion, their limbs whipping back and forth in odd torrents.


    ¡°Call. Call. Call.¡± Every time she repeated the word, five more figures emerged from the wall, joining the others. They stood in a neat formation, as if an army awaiting themand of their general.


    And once all twenty of them had been created, Katrina gave her finalmand. ¡°Prakta.¡± As another rune seemed to flow from her mouth and eyes, the shapes moved. Their bodies began to contort in an odd dance, spiraling about one another while the two girls watched on.


    Strangely enough, this had be the ¡®treatment¡¯ for Katrina¡¯s own mana pulses. Due to being born blighted, her body produced far more mana than it could ever hold. As she grew older, and trained as a mage in order to control that very energy, the amount she produced only grew as well. Even with the enchanted ring to dispel her mana, it steadily began to build.


    When it grew to the point where her body simply couldn¡¯t contain it, she would be brought here. She would use the most mana-draining spell that she could without overly damaging the environment, which happened to be this performance. Twenty watery soldiers summoned to do nothing more than dance.


    The very fact that Katrina had memorized a second tier ¡®dance¡¯ rune alone had initially surprised Rache, since she knew that it was Katrina¡¯s own memory, rather than Irena cheating. That was¡­ not exactly a rune most mages would care to remember, and was likely only recorded in order to be thorough.


    Rache didn¡¯t speak up, simply counting the seconds down in her head. It had gotten to the point where they had to make almost daily trips to this ind, so she knew exactly how long it took in order for Katrina to deplete her mana. And sure enough, after a few moments she began to approach again.


    The moment that she reached Katrina¡¯s side, the sound of rushing water filled her ears. The walls of water copsed, swallowing up the soldiers. Katrina herself was no better, falling down into Rache¡¯s waiting arms. The halfling quickly pried the ring from Katrina¡¯s unconscious hand, and slipped it on one of her fingers again. ¡°Looks like this body¡¯s wearing a bit thin, then¡­¡± She whispered gently, knowing that nobody could hear her.


    She spoke the teleportation spell again, taking the two of them not back to their patrol, but rather to Katrina¡¯s home in the town. The ce which had once belonged to her mother now felt empty with only the sleeping girl resting inside. Seeing her like this, Rache shook her head sadly, walking out of the house.


    Once outside, she almost bumped into therge, furred form of a wandering dovah. ¡°Ah! Pardon, miss, didn¡¯t see ya down there.¡± He apologized with a nod, before he seemed to recognize her. ¡°Ah, if it isn¡¯t miss Laerin. Pleasure to meet ya again, miss.¡± His tone was gruff, his elongated jaw proving difficult to pronounce certain words the same way.


    Rache smiled sadly to the dovah. ¡°Hey. Sorry, Jax, but I¡¯m not really in the talking mood right now¡­ could you do me a favor?¡±


    ¡°¡®Course, miss.¡± He nodded his head, his own mage robes shuffling from the movement. ¡°What¡¯ll it be, then?¡±


    ¡°Could you fetch a doctor? I know it¡¯s a lost cause, but¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± He blinked briefly, before looking back at the door that she hade from, his nose twitching as he sniffed the air. ¡°Ohh¡­ it¡¯s gotten worse then, has it? Don¡¯t worry, miss, I¡¯ll fetch someone. And if you want to chatter, about anything at all¡­¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± Rache nodded gratefully. ¡°I might take you up on that. How¡¯s everything going with the¡­ uhm¡­¡± It seemed that she didn¡¯t quite know what word to use without sounding offensive.


    ¡°The wife.¡± Jax gave a wolfish grin. ¡°Well, people are still a bit off about the whole thing, but we¡¯re making do. Thanks to you and those policies you keep pushing, things¡¯ve been better for us.¡±


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t have done it alone.¡± She gave another nce back towards the house behind her as she said that. ¡°Anyways¡­ I have to get back to the patrol. Could you let me know what the doctor says?¡±


    ¡°¡®Course.¡± He nodded, turning and heading off into the street. Rache knew that she could count on him. He might be a dovah born after the darkness fell, but he was still one of her oldest friends. He was trustworthy, loyal, everything you could ask for.


    So it was no surprise when he captured the heart of a human woman, after risking life and limb to save her during therge Siphon years ago. One of the monsters that came through the barrier had almost killed her, but he showed up just in time. Since then, the two had been forced to keep their feelings for each other hidden, afraid of the public ridicule.


    Rache naturally knew the truth of the matter, given her¡­ divine connections. Unlike Irena, Aurivy had no problems abusing her divinity to get things done. While pushing for the equality of dovah, she raised the issue of interracial marriage. Between human and halfling, such a thing was actually rathermon in Fyor, but with a dovah¡­


    Her proposal was faced with almost constant rejection for several years. People saw the dovah as glorified beasts due to their more animalistic nature than even the beastkin. To propose a marriage with one¡­ it was not an easy pill to swallow. But in the end, the louder voice often wins when ites to politics. And Rache was quite loud indeed.


    Particrly in recent years, she pushed her agenda of racial equality harder than ever. She stressed how they struggled just as much as anyone else, how there was no point in treating them as lesser beings. Her ideals were not popr with the older generation, but the younger ones¡­ those more open to change slowly began to gather around her.


    Finally, interracial marriage had been epted by the Circle. But the people as a whole¡­ it would take more time for them. Maybe an entire generation, maybe even two, just to let people grow up with the idea that there is no reason to judge someone harshly because of their race. Was it likely an opinion that would be shared by the entire poption? No, definitely not, there were always those who ostracized anything that didn¡¯t fit in their narrow view of what the world should be like.


    Thankfully, in Rache¡¯s eyes, such people didn¡¯t tend tost long in an eternal night, living in a world where you either train your body and mind to be stronger, or get literally crushed by the pressure. For those people, who thought that they were supreme beneath the heavens simply by the right of their birth, she had no sympathy. The sooner they realized their mistakes, and put in the work needed to survive in this world, the better off everyone would be.


    _______________________________________________________________


    I gave a small nod of approval as I looked over the changes that had gone through Fyor. It was¡­ a bit sad that I couldn¡¯t stop Irena¡¯s incarnation from suffering as she was. I couldn¡¯t even use my ki of beginning, since it was a birth defect that caused her problem in the first ce.


    Though¡­ that did get me curious about something else. So¡­ what did you get up to while we were at Sarah¡¯s ce? I sent the message off towards Keliope. I totally hadn¡¯t forgotten about her while I was looking at the shiny new games. Nope, not at all.


    There was a mental huff before she answered. Was sparring with one of her battle gods. Guy was good, real good. Gave me a few pointers to help me improve. Unfortunately¡­ this big red door swallowed me up right as we were about to go another round.


    Yeah¡­ sorry about that. Okay, so I couldn¡¯t admit that I did forget that she had wandered off. I may have been slightly distracted. Forgot to send you a warning to let you know that we were heading back.


    It¡¯s fine. She replied with a mental sigh. Bright side, I learned a few new tricks, and it looks like we¡¯ll be getting a fun game world soon. If Udona¡¯s screaming is any indication.

 Chapter 320: The Technological Super-Hydra

    <h4>Chapter 320: The Technological Super-Hydra</h4>


    I spent a bit of time talking with Keliope, hearing about the new moves that she had learned when we visited Sarah¡¯s ce. While doing so, I decided to let the worlds fast forward again, making sure to set several rms. Thest thing I needed was for one of the worlds to make a sudden breakthrough that increased their power significantly while I was advancing ahead.


    In the end, the entire fifty years that I had set aside passed by during my conversation with Keliope. Fifty years for Fyor to adjust to their new outlook. But, that was not where the most drastic change took ce. After all, that was also fifty years of dedicated research into video games and expanding the inte.


    The foundations for the inte had been in ce ever since Desbar was first being brought in to join the other worlds. Development to expand it had been halted for a while, due to the sudden appearance of monsters, magic, and things of that nature, but it was still there. Even when their attention shifted away to colonizing other worlds, progress was slowly being made to improve thework.


    But now, they had be more focused on it for fifty full years. It took less than thirty years for the inte of the old world to almostpletely span the globe, with hundreds of millions of sites. I was quite interested in seeing how the world had changed, given the sudden burst of technology.


    With that thought in mind, I first turned my sight towards Desbar. My gaze focused in on Lenan, picking a city at random. The location I ultimatelynded on seemed to be a rather small coastal settlement. I saw what appeared to be three turrets spread out along the beach, demons lounging about at them as they kept an eye on the water.


    Focusing in, I found the turrets to be monster prevention artifacts. While they used AI to track potential targets, the real ¡®ammunition¡¯ that they used to fire was ki. Like this, there was no real risk of a rogue turret targeting friendly troops, whether it was hacked or any other possible situation. After all, the shots had to be provided by a living being, and they didn¡¯t have the ability to automate ki production outside of their own bodies.


    As I moved my sight away from the beach, and towards the city itself, I noticed a stark changepared to what had once been present. Every streetmp I saw had been reced with an enchanted stone that was fed by ambient mana. This didn¡¯t simply seem to be demons straying away from technology to dabble in magic. Rather, it allowed them to conserve energy by drawing from an alternative fuel source.


    That was something I saw in abundance once I found the power nt of the city. There were rows of capacitors within theplex drawing in mana to fuel a simple electricity spell, then storing that converted energy. Around these sites, I noticed that the ambient mana was exceptionally thin, as it had almost entirely been drawn in to create cheap power.


    Within the city, buildings were paying more attention to their ground floor entrances than they had been doing in the past. Previously, ground floor doors were seen as handicapped entrances for those demons that weren¡¯t able to fly any longer, either due to a damaged wing, or other situations like simply gaining too much weight to support themselves in the air.


    Now, however, the two sets of doors were given equal treatment. There were some buildings that didn¡¯t even have a rooftop entrance anymore. Likewise, it was all but impossible to see what was happening inside of a building, due to the fact that the windows were made of tinted ss. Even for a demon in the middle of the day, their eyes would not be hurt by the sun when indoors.


    As I moved in closer, I realized that I was soon going to see the real progress made in the entertainment industry over these fifty years for Desbar. The building that I had chosen appeared to be a local video game arcade, judging by the sign out in front, lit by dim lights that let the words shine softly in the night.


    I wasn¡¯t really surprised to see that there were almost entirely demons inside. No, that was perfectly normal, given the circumstances. However, the ¡®games¡¯ that I was expecting to find weren¡¯t¡­ ¡®quite¡¯ there? Instead, there were spherical pods lined up along the interior walls of the arcade, which people seemed to climb into.


    Okay, Ashley, you¡¯re not going to convince me that you didn¡¯t have a hand in this. I sent off towards the Goddess of Technology. While what they were experiencing in those pods didn¡¯t seem to be a full virtual reality experience, it came pretty close. There were some games that simply required you to wear a pair of gloves and visor, while others went beyond that.


    The closest that I saw could even be considered early virtual reality. A young demon had his visor on, and seemed to be talking to himself. His hands gave small movements, which in the game tranted to walking around and interacting with objects.


    To be fair¡­ I really didn¡¯t. Ashley responded lightly, once she seemed to realize what I was talking about. Splitting my mind too many times is still pretty hard for me, after all. Tubrock, on the other hand¡­ he¡¯s been spending a lot of time on Desbartely.


    That made sense. I had expected Tubrock to be less interested in this project than the others, and keep most of his focus geared towards his own cultivation world. Another thing that I was going to have to check on soon. Anyways, it looked like they were just about ready for the Reality Virtual tech tree.


    Realizing that I hadn¡¯t purchased it yet, I nced towards the market, finding the entry for it. Since Aurivy offered to use her points to pay for the system, I took it out of Fyor¡¯s bnce. Three hundred and fifty points, and in exchange we received another information orb. Ashley, Tubrock, whenever either of you are ready for this, I¡¯ve got the game information up here now.


    Almost as soon as I had sent that message out, the blue sphere that was just formed and still lowering towards my desk vanished. The light faded like a lie, and I could tell that one of the two of them had spirited the orb away. Giving a small nod, I turned my attention back towards theputer.


    Now that I had confirmed the situation with Desbar, it was about time for me to check on the rest of the worlds. I wanted to see if they had made any progress with spreading theirwork out to the rest of the worlds, and what I found was¡­ pleasantly surprising.


    The first world that I looked at was Deckan. Besides Desbar, they were the most technologically inclined, and thus the most likely to be open to the idea of applying technology to everyday life. When I performed a quick search, I found that there were indeedwork cables that had beenid beneath the ground along the majority of Deckan.


    Thework cables were mostly along roads, still having to worry too much about the monsters to be able to fully expand wherever they wanted, but that was still enough for the cables to connect to every major city in the veryrge world. More importantly, I saw that Udona or whoever had set it up had a simr thought as myself. Aside from the widework of cables, there were ten bundled junctions that seemed to simply lead to a dead end.


    When I investigated with the map, narrowing the search a bit, I found that there were small ¡®portals¡¯ set up around each bundle, looking almost like the gates of Fyor with the wires running directly into a t wall. They were located withinrge cities, where the ambient mana was thick enough to be sucked in and used as a power source. Of course, I noted that they had backup mana gems embedded in the wall as well, just in case the local supply wasn¡¯t enough.


    Five of these bundles led back to Desbar, while three led to Earth, and thest two went to Fyor. This¡­ gave me a curious thought. I was nning to check Earth next, but now I cast my sight towards Fyor.


    Sure enough, these same portals had been created in bundles around the various floors of Fyor. They were able to bypass the use of the gates to connect the different floors, but¡­ those cables had not touched either floor neen or twenty. I could see that the portals had been erected within the city of Gate¡¯s Rest, but it did not seem that they would work while the pir was deactivated.


    I let out a long breath when I realized that, worried that the entire n that I had set up for the Great Blue had been wasted due to this invention. Though at the same time, it made me wonder whether or not the Fairy Gate would still activate if the floor that it was hosted on lost their own spires. These portals were based on that device, after all.


    Throughout both Fyor and Deckan, I noticed that they had taken a slightly different approach to power generation, aspared to Desbar. Whereas the demons created a centralized power source that relied on mana to supply extra electricity, the concept of mage towers was long since instilled within their culture. Looking to Earth, I saw the same thing.


    Rather than arge power hub, there were localized energy converters that could be sold per house. These acted as generators, connecting to the mage towerwork to draw in mana, and then using that mana to trigger an electricity spell. The end result was much like the capacitors at Desbar¡¯s power station, storing electricity to be used as needed.


    Of course, there was more to it than just that. First of all, the houses had to be remodelled to allow for modern wiring practices, so that the electricity could be put to use. More importantly¡­ the charge in the capacitors drained over time, as there was no such thing as a perfect energy storage in the world yet. That had to make it a pain for their bill.


    Either way, I had learned what I needed. Technology had gradually begun to invade the other worlds, whereas magic had simrly started to appear more prevalently in Desbar. All three worlds were starting to take on their own little mixtures, with each having a massive inte connection.


    Finally, I turned my attention back towards Fyor, this time looking back at the Great Blue. It had been around seventy years or so now since the mana spire had been destroyed, and I could see it starting to rise up out of the ocean again. It looked like it was around a quarter of the way reformed, though it seemed that the locals hadn¡¯t noticed it yet.


    As a society, they¡­ were actually adapting quite well to the eternal darkness. There was still a fair amount of discrimination towards the dovah, but it seemed less¡­ severe than it had been previously? From what I could see looking through their culture, they were given equal rights to humans and halflings for pretty much everything.


    Now, the only real discrimination was on a personal level, and that would take far longer to fully fix. For now¡­ this seemed like as much as I could hope for. Aurivy, Irena? What do you girls think, as people who have been down there personally. Is the Great Blue ready to see the light again?


    It was Irena that responded first, her cordial tone sounding in my mind. Personally, I believe that a few more years would not do them any harm. However, even if we gave them until the mana spire had fully regenerated, I doubt that their societal issues would improve any more than they currently have.


    Aurivy chimed in a momentter, though she sounded somewhat distracted. I have to agree with her, Dale. My current incarnation down there was a dovah after Rache passed away¡­ things still aren¡¯t entirely okay, but they are definitely better than they had been at first. As long as we keep at it, and maintain that the mage circle of the Great Blue is an autonomous government, I don¡¯t think that the Council¡¯s habits will be able to sharply influence them much for a while.


    I gave a small nod at that, turning and looking at the mana spire. Looks like it¡¯s time for morning, then.

 Chapter 321: A New Light

    <h4>Chapter 321: A New Light</h4>


    Within the ckness of the Great Blue, I hovered in the air. So close to the spire, I could feel that the mana was far more dense here. It was being drawn in from the entire floor, so it was only natural.


    I took a deep breath, and fully released my entire Keeper power, my body filling with energy. At this point, I wasn¡¯t concerned about whether or not they were able to detect me. If anything, it would only be better if they did. Though¡­ given that nearly everyone in this floor was the equivalent of level one, I didn¡¯t expect that to happen either way.


    Just how many people will suddenly get massive level increases when this thing is repaired? I mused idly while gathering my mana. There was an obvious pull, drawing my energy towards the crystal. For now, I held back, keeping my energy to myself.


    I imagine that there will probably be several people that rise to meet the new level limit. Leowynnmented from within my spirit. They have trained even harder than normal for their entire lives to make up the difference.


    Especially the mages¡­ I agreed easily, nodding my head. There was a limit to how much a warrior¡¯s muscles could strengthen on their own. No matter how hard they tried, a level one human could never have the same physical strength of a fit level one hundred warrior, unless they were relying on some other tricks.


    Mages, on the other hand¡­ They were able to slowly train up their mana through constant work and study. I saw myself that Katrina had been able to cast second tier rune magic, despite having never been able to gain any levels as a mage since birth. Of course, her ¡®blighted¡¯ condition likely helped with that, but it still showed how much she had trained to get that far.


    Even without the disorder caused originally due to the spire being destroyed, it was likely that mages still would have ended up being the ruling party in the Great Blue. Though it did make me question something else, as well¡­ would these mages who have trained manually for so many years have a stat buff to their mana to represent that growth? Maybe they would even be awarded achievements for it.


    I felt a small prick of pain in the back of my mind as I thought about that, my mana beginning to run low. In my hands, there was now a glowing blue sphere, lightly hovering above my palms. This sphere represented the vast majority of my mana as a Keeper. Almost one and a half million units of mana, as much as forty high level mages pouring their entire energy into it.


    Lowering my hands, I willed the energy to move towards the spire, which greedily began to absorb it. The entire crystal seemed to glow, shedding a faint blue light as it rose at a visible pace. Where it had previously only gained a few inches every day, now it was shooting up at a speed of meters every second.


    However, even my full mana didn¡¯t seem like it¡¯d be enough topletely finish the job. The mana spire rose up into the sky, but still seemed roughly a hundred meters short of connecting to the ceiling of the Great Blue. I was just about to head back to the Admin Room to rest, and allow my mana to recharge when Leowynn spoke up again.


    Is it my turn, now? She asked softly. I watched as the grey mist that formed Leowynn¡¯s body slowly seeped out of my own, congealing nearby. ¡°We might as well finish this while we¡¯re here, right?¡± Leowynn asked with a small smile.


    It was only then that I remembered that spiritual energy could be converted into mana. And with Leowynn¡¯s spirit linked to my own, that meant that she had a simrly massive strength to draw from. I gave another look at the pir, wondering if her strength was enough to finish the job without hurting her.


    ¡°I can do it, father.¡± She assured me, before turning to face the giant blue crystal. Her hands folded over her chest, her eyes closing. The stars on her ck dress began to shine as she focused.


    There was no chant for what she was doing, only a faint narrowing of her eyebrows. When she pulled her hands away from her chest, there was a shimmering blue orb between them, much like the one that I had recently created. Though it was smaller and dimmer, containing only about two thirds the mana, it was still more than enough to finish repairing the pir.


    ¡°Let there be light.¡± She dered, sending her own mana into the pir just as I had recently. When her mana sphere collided with the crystal surface, it once again began to glow brightly. This time, it easily reached its full height.


    Not only that, but the glow of the pir pulsed, sending out a burst of light that covered the sky. For the first time in nearly a hundred years, daylight filled the Great Blue.


    Congrattions! You have earned a personal achievement!


    For creating and then resolving a disaster that reshaped society, you have earned the Beginning and End achievement. +30 points, Disaster Warning system upgraded.


    Thankfully¡­ at least I didn¡¯t have to ask Terra what this new upgrade meant, as it was fairly self exnatory. With the warning system upgraded, hopefully I¡¯d get a bit more time to respond before things be too desperate in the future. Either way, it was clearly a benefit for me.


    Leowynn nced towards me, a tired look on her face. She was clearly unharmed, but she had used a lot of her energy to create thatst burst of mana. ¡°I¡¯m going to take a nap now, I think.¡± She said with a low yawn, her form bing blurry. Her body dissipated into grey smoke, which once again rushed into my body, leaving me alone in the sky.


    I simply nodded towards where she had been hovering a moment ago, and willed myself back to the Admin Room. I wanted to see the changes that had taken ce, now that the spire was repaired.


    _______________________________________________________________


    There was a sharp hiss of pain that filled the city, people quickly raising their hands to cover their eyes. Most of them had never seen a light so bright in their lives. Those that had, did so typically because they came from a different floor, ignoring the Council¡¯s ban on travel. Suddenly, though, their vision was filled with this bright light.


    ¡°Day¡­?¡± A young halfling spoke up, his hands covering his pale face. ¡°Mommy, is that¡­¡±


    ¡°I think so.¡± The boy¡¯s mother stood next to him, nodding as she too covered her eyes.


    Elsewhere in the city, people were finding themselves shocked for other reasons. Dawn finally came after the long night, but that was not what had people the most amazed. Naturally, since they had been trapped in this world without the system, they had never seen the interface. But suddenly, windows were appearing in front of them en masse, their bodies flooding with a strength they never knew.


    Some people gained two, even three hundred levels in a matter of moments, their actions throughout their entire lives quantified within the system. They were chefs, mages, sculptors, warriors, schrs. The concept of a Maxer hadn¡¯t existed within the Great Blue since the night began, so people were no longer able to focus purely on one ss to train.


    Naturally, this sudden burst of power caused the mana in the air to rise by hundreds of times. It was only a matter of time until a siphon was triggered, yet nobody seemed to be able to realize this fact. Not because they were not smart enough to put the pieces together, but because their shock was simply too great.


    Throughout the entire floor, the eight cities of man fueled one massive mana siphon. But this was not a dreadful siphon, like the one that had nearly destroyed the city of Gate¡¯s Rest. No, this was created through the relief and joy of everyone at seeing their first light of day, the shock of a sudden growth.


    When man utterly feared the dark, the fiends of shadows were born. And now that they were rejoicing the light, something else was born as well. A heavenly hymn seemed to echo through the air, streams of light gathering in the sky in hundreds, maybe even thousands of locations.


    The mana in the air plummeted, the points of light growing intorge spheres. Then, from every sphere stepped a person. Their body gave off a faint glow, their eyes shining like stars. Their skin was not the same pale as the people below hade to know from being in the dark their entire lives, but was rather bore a healthy tan. Behind their backs were wings that seemed to be born from light itself, not bearing any true physical presence that one could see.


    Among those born in this way, all of them were adults, though such a fact was not evident at first. There were many that looked as if they were human children, but those with trained eyes soon noticed that they bore a stronger resemnce to halfling. Still others looked as if they were the dovah, the main difference being that their fur was shining a brilliant white.


    A race of being born purely from the joy and shock of those below, it was only natural that these beings all wore smiles on their faces as they descended to the ground. As they were created out of the mana of over a hundred thousand creatures, they did not have the minds of those born mere moments ago.


    When theynded on the ground, people became distinctly aware that these new beings cast no shadow. Perhaps it was because they were the ones giving off their own light, or some mystical quality of their very nature. As one, they each walked to the person nearest to them when theynded. Their hands sped together respectfully, their eyes closing as they offered a small bow. And as one, they all spoke the same first words.


    ¡°Please grant us a name.¡± Their minds were not linked, but they had no personal identity. Even worse, their entire race had no title. They were a spontaneous birth from mana, an entire race created with a whole new awareness.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°That¡­ that¡­ that¡¯s not normal, right?¡± I asked into the empty room, looking at the race that had been created and now upied the Great Blue. Although they might not know their own name, the system had assigned one for them, making me aware that this was not likely the first time that something like this had urred. They were the Lightborn.


    Going through their racial features, I saw that they had a number of abilities. Light Maniption, Shadow Bane, Thought Formed¡­ Perhaps the most surprising thing was that their physical abilities were fairly weak. Much lower than what a creature should be able to survive the neenth floor with. Their stats looked closer to those of a human, though theirprehension and awareness were considerably higher.


    If I wanted to purchase their race, it would only cost me a hundred and eighty points. Rather high for a race with such low stats, but that was likely due to their three special qualities. Aurivy, Bihena, any reason that I shouldn¡¯t buy the light angels that were just born in Fyor?


    Although I was of the opinion that I should get them, it was after all the world governed by the two of them. I felt as if I should leave the final decision with the two goddesses. Please do! Aurivy called back excitedly a momentter.


    I see no reason not to. Bihena spoke, though I could sense a distinctly pleased tone to her thoughts.


    With that out of the way, I spent the points to purchase the Lightborn. To my surprise, their orb was not created in some far off corner of the floor. Rather, a stream of blue light shone out from the mana spire, shooting in a high arc before striking one of the Lightborn. He shuddered in shock, his eyes going wide. A momentter, a blue, crystal sphere formed in his palm. In the presence of those who have lived here for so long, the birth of a racial orb was inly witnessed.

 Chapter 322: The Dawn of a New Age

    <h4>Chapter 322: The Dawn of a New Age</h4>


    After purchasing the Lightborn race, I was quite curious to see how they would get integrated with the rest of society. This was by no means the normal way for a race to be discovered. They had been created in in view of everyone within the Great Blue, and in a very ostentatious way. It wouldn¡¯t be too surprising if certain cultures began to revere them as divine beings.


    However, all of that would take time to see, and there were other things that were urring at the moment. The formerly highest level individual within the Great Blue, a halfling engineer who had volunteered to try to establish thework connection on this floor, was fast at work. The stone b that he had brought with him, the one which was meant to facilitate the connecting portals, had shown a reaction.


    I could tell that he was incredibly excited when he saw this. The first thing that he did was to immediately run to the circle of mages, shouting happily and carrying the object high above his head. He wasn¡¯t directly involved with the Council, and didn¡¯t carry the same level of arrogance that had originally caused the deaths of those who represented them within this floor. No, he was passionate only about his work, which was why he had been willing to gamble his life that this device could function.


    Of course, what he had no way of knowing at the time was that there were other forces preventing any and all connections from being formed with this level. Even though the device he was so proud of functioned wlessly, there was no way that it would be able to work once he had actually managed to bring it all this way.


    For the months since his arrival, he had been heartbroken, knowing that his family must all think that he perished with the rest of the inhabitants of the forbiddenyer. Without any source of information flowing back to the Council, they had no way of knowing whether anyone that had been sent was alive or dead. Even the ¡®life scrolls¡¯, quests meant to determine when one had died, remained active far longer than they logically should have. An elder who expected to live no more than ten more years was still alive when the engineer left, ording to his ¡®life scroll¡¯.


    But now, he had the chance to show that he was still here. That his life¡¯s work hadn¡¯t been for nothing. And with his more easy-going personality, it wasn¡¯t hard to understand how he had made friends with the local mages, after they had heard about his plight. At first, there had been many people that stumbled through the portal, unaware that the connection had been closed. But such a thing quickly reduced as time went on. This engineer was, in fact, the only person to step through the gate in over ten years.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°It works, it bloody works!¡± Arthur shouted, rushing up towards the entrance to the Circle Tower, and bashing his fist against the door. ¡°Please, let me in!¡±


    It took several long moments, during which the crowd began to look towards Arthur in confusion, before the door opened up. The woman on the other side was human, and looked down towards Arthur with a kind smile. ¡°Arthur, I¡¯m not sure if you¡¯ve noticed, but there is a lot going on today¡­ Please tell me that this is urgent.¡±


    ¡°As urgent as anything else that has happened, maybe more!¡± He nodded, gently pushing the human mage aside as he stepped in, not wanting to identally injure her. ¡°The nar te is functioning! Do you know what this means?¡±


    ¡°That is¡­ the device you brought from the lower floors?¡± She asked, seeing the ck circle of stone in Arthur¡¯s hands. ¡°If I recall¡­ you said it functioned as a lesser version of the gates, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes! That¡¯s right! And now that it¡¯s working, we can establish a connection with the lower floors! I just need a suitable power source to start it up. That¡¯s why I came here, Winona. We can finally get it started!¡±


    The human woman, Winona, simply stared at Arthur. ¡°But¡­ if that¡¯s working¡­ then maybe¡­¡± Rather than speaking further, she turned, rushing out the door. Her mana surged, more powerfully than she had ever felt it as she sent out a message.


    Someone, please attend to Arthur at the Circle Tower. She wanted to help him, she really did, but she was rushing towards the gate. Maybe, just maybe, if one connection was working, others were.


    With the closing of the floor, the gates had be monuments to the past. Nobody knew for sure whether or not they would truly one day reopen. Nobody approached them, because nobody had reason to. So when people saw a known mage rushing towards the gate, it only added onto the curiosity that they had been struck with during the day. Many didn¡¯t even notice her presence at all.


    It did not take long for Winona to appear in front of the giant ck stone jutting from the ground. Even after the passing of so many years, it seemedpletely immacte, the passage of time having simply no effect on it. She walked up to it slowly, stretching one arm out. There were stories passed down from her parents about what it was like when the gate opened. The silent ripple of energy as a hole seemed to form on the stone.


    That ¡®silent¡¯ ripple struck her mind like a p of thunder. The soft light from the other side of the gate was cut off the moment that she pulled her hand back. She looked around hastily, waiting to see if anyone had seen the gate react. Sure enough, there were several people staring at the gate with wide eyes.


    Everyone. She sent the message out to every magister that she knew. The gate is active.


    _______________________________________________________________


    I nodded my head gently when I saw that they quickly discovered the reactivation of the gate. Honestly, I had expected it to take a couple of days for them to process everything that had just happened, and only then be able to realize that the gate was active again. However, given that the device that the halfling made functioned simrly to the gates, they were able to piece it together a lot more quickly.


    Focusing on the human woman, it seemed that she had initially wanted to hide the fact that the gate was active. There was a fear inside of her, a fear that the Council woulde. Many people med the floor going dark on the Council mobilizing to this floor, even if it was a baseless superstition.


    More than that, however, she feared that the Council would once again try to force control over the floor. While there was only a superstitious belief about the Council being responsible for the Great Blue going dark, the policies put forth by them were far more public. After years of being outside of their control, people finally were able to experience what freedom was like.


    That¡¯s not to say that the Council treated the public as ves, or anything of that sort. Well, unless you were from another Fyor race aside from humans or halflings. Instead, they saw the entire poption as their ¡®employees¡¯. They sought to use people to make a profit for themselves with as little risk as possible.


    I could see the n forming in her mind. She couldn¡¯t keep the people quiet about what they had seen, and the news would surely spread. Instead, she had to prepare. Through the shock of everything else that had happened in the day, she called an emergency meeting. Nobody wanted their freedoms to be taken away, and they knew that the Council would do just that, if given the chance.


    This applied doubly so for the dovah, who had finally begun to be epted into society. When they heard that the gate had be active, their faces were filled with dread. They began rushing to the tower, each wanting to quickly get there and discuss what they could do.


    I allowed time to speed up just enough for the meeting to begin, though already I could see some people slowly start to trickle in through the gate. They weren¡¯t from the Council, just those curious individuals who had noticed the gate opening briefly when Winona tested it. Inevitably, though, that meant that there would be people that saw them going in, and word would quickly spread.


    Focusing back on the meeting, I saw them debating possible countermeasures back and forth. Some people suggested actually sealing the gate, physically building a barrier around it to prevent anyone froming through. That was istionist thinking, though, and quickly shot down by the others.


    Then there were those who were still prejudiced, questioning what was wrong even if some things went back to normal. They didn¡¯t want to give up their power, and would simply seek a position within the Council that would legally allow them to continue governing the floor as they had been until now. Naturally, the dovah poption in the meeting was entirely opposed to that, as were a number of others.


    Finally, there was the group that agreed to letting peoplee and go as they please. They suggested the idea of the Great Blue bing its own country. An idea which, until now, had not truly been done within the world of Fyor, not by the natives at least. There was one Kingdom, the Kingdom of Fyor, ruled by the Council. Its influence had spread through every floor of the world so far.


    Even those who wanted to join the Council were¡­ intrigued by the idea of running their own kingdom. For so long, everyone in the floor had been following their rule, there was simply not the same system in ce that would allow such a thing to be recognized as a kingdom. It was a level of control that they had not thought of, but now that they had they were unwilling to give it up.


    As one, they sent their mana out, using the power that they had gotten from leveling up so many times to its full effect. They touched the minds of every person within the floor, sending them all a message at the same time. The Council will arrive soon. If we are to stand free as we have before, all of you must listen.


    They didn¡¯t know how many ¡®votes¡¯ were needed to form a kingdom, as such a thing was not entirely researched even on Earth. They only knew that the more they had, the better. We do not wish to sumb to their rule again. If you remember the tales of your parents, or of their parents, you know what to expect if they take over. So please¡­ we wish to form our own Kingdom. With the Circle of Mages as the ruling party, we will ensure the freedom of any who wish to reside here.


    It took less than five minutes after the message was sent that I noticed a window appearing in front of each of them. Pleased smiles filled the faces of the circle, and they all epted the prompt. Everyone¡­ wee to the Kingdom of Dawn.


    Okay, so maybe the name was a bit corny. But I had to admit¡­ given the circumstances behind why the name was chosen, I did like it. It was a reminder about why they do what they do. A reminder about why they had to.


    After the kingdom was formed, more and more people began joining it, those who had hesitated about their decisions before. With the bnce in their minds broken, they were automatically registered as citizens of the kingdom.


    Of course, there were other things that I was curious about. Would the Council really allow another Kingdom to rise to power within Fyor? They hadn¡¯t had much choice but to allow the Nexus kingdom to be established, as the people living there were typically not bound by the same level restrictions.


    And if they didn¡¯t agree¡­ would there be a war? Even without checking their stats, I could tell that the mages within this new kingdom were far superiorpared to a normal mage. They had constantly pushed themselves throughout their entire lives to be able to draw on more and more mana. That bonus didn¡¯t just get added on top of their normal mage levels, but instead was multiplied.


    It wouldn¡¯t be easy, but if they managed to get future generations to follow simr training routines, they could be a grand kingdom of magic that surpassed even the elves. The only question was if such a thing was even possible without the system being disabled as it had been. And if it wasn¡¯t¡­ what would happen to the kingdom once this generation of mages died out?

 Chapter 323: A Vision of Tomorrow

    <h4>Chapter 323: A Vision of Tomorrow</h4>


    I nodded my head, satisfied that the situation was at least mostly resolved now. So long as proper steps were taken in the future, it wouldn¡¯t be too hard to keep the Dawn Kingdom intact as a sign that it was possible to stand apart from the Council. If another crisis happened in the future, and a lower floor was sealed off, it was even possible that Dawn might absorb other floors into its forces as well.


    You all narrowed down the game world you want to buy? I sent the message towards Aurivy, since now that the matter with Fyor was taken care of, the only thing left to do at this point was fast forward enough that such a game would be possible in Desbar. And from what I had seen, that meant only ten, maybe fifteen more years.


    I think so! Aurivy responded after a moment. There¡¯s this cool one that¡¯s a blend of science and magic. It¡¯s advertised as not being as ¡®high power¡¯ as some of their other products, but there is WAY more to explore in it. Think of it like one of those procedurally generated endless sandboxes.


    I raised an eyebrow as I thought of that, but ultimately nodded my head in eptance. I wasn¡¯t quite sure how Sarah had managed to get something like that set up, given what she had exined as her process for creating these game worlds. It wasn¡¯t a big enough question to bother her directly about it, however, as I would likely get the information myself when I purchased the world.


    Alright, show me. After I sent her that message, I shifted my focus back to Desbar, making sure that Lenan was still set properly with their focus. As I did so, I noticed that Reality Virtual was a new option for them to specialize their cultural development towards. By the time I had finished inputting that setting, a window had appeared in front of me.


    Vision Expanse


    VE for short, this game world is designed to be yed with the Reality Virtual system. Set in a world where magic and technology have be one and the same, yers are able to take on nearly an infinite number of possibilities in this self-expanding universe. Whether they want to be a king or a bandit, an archmage or a ster adventurer, it is all possible here.


    A note from the developer. This game is a test of a new AI temte. If you encounter any problems, please contact the developer and we will walk you through the steps to fix any issues you may have. For ongoing changes, please see the forum thread concerning this world.


    8650 Points


    A new AI temte? I looked a bit confused at that, remembering that Sammy seemed to prefer to ¡®program¡¯ all of the AI himself. Maybe this game came around before he started doing that regrly? Just to be safe, I opened up the thread for the world, prepared to find a plethora of issues being addressed. Instead, the only real issue I found was that the game seemed to have trouble working for worlds that did not have a vaguely humanoid race. As onest precaution, I did end up sending a message to Sarah. If we were about to buy an ¡®experimental product¡¯, it was worth making sure that she hadn¡¯t run into too many problems with it so far.


    EverLasting: Well, that didn¡¯t take long! Settle on which game you want to buy already?


    EarthForceOne: Well, hello to you, too. But yeah, they did pick one out that they like. Vision Expanse. Market entry says that it uses an experimental AI, so I wanted to make sure to check that there weren¡¯t any major issues.


    EverLasting: Ooh, VE! Good pick for a first go. As for issues¡­ mind if I ask what race you have set to ¡®develop¡¯ the game? Given the form you took, it should be humans, right?


    EarthForceOne: Close. Actually, a type of nocturnal demons.


    EverLasting: Huh, alright. Well, as long as they look at least a little humanoid, it should be alright. We get customers of so many races, we set up the NPCs with a system that matches them to the race of the developing party. VE¡­ if I recall right, that one has a scriptedmand that it runs when you first purchase it. The script will prompt you to select which race you want as ¡®dominant¡¯ in the world, which will be the developing race typically.


    EverLasting: Once you make that choice, the game goes into a soft reset. Nothing to panic over. It changes the race of any human NPCs into the one you selected. Since different races have different qualities, this lets the world AI adapt the game to each specific race.


    EarthForceOne: It lets the AI adapt it? Is the AI sentient or something?


    EverLasting: Oh! Right, yeah, it is. The world AI is kind of like a pseudo-Companion. Uhmm¡­ do you have World Spirits on your world?


    EarthForceOne: I do, yes¡­


    EverLasting: Oh, good. Yeah, she¡¯s one of those, with a couple special systems purchased to affect her. She¡¯s able to monitor the entire VE game system, and report back to the Keeper if any problems arise. Aside from that, she has the ability to help set up events for the game, working as a sort of interface between the Keeper and the systems controlling the game.


    A World Spirit set up with that much control? Might as well call her a goddess, just without Admin Room ess¡­ Either way, I thanked Sarah for the information. Alright, looks like that world¡¯s good for purchase. Once Desbar is able to implement the system, I¡¯ll buy the world off the market.


    Shouldn¡¯t be too long. Surprisingly, it was Ashley¡¯s voice that spoke up in my mind next. I¡¯ve got apany starting up with my current incarnation. Once you get things fast forwarding, it should be able to take off and get the system started.


    I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle upon hearing that. Ashley had been working to manage a game development team back in our old world, and now she was about to lead apany to develop an online world,plete with the technology to get you there. I¡¯ll get it going, then.


    With that, I set the worlds to fast forward, with a new rm set to stop when the Reality Virtual technology tree had been developed. I did¡­ not have to wait very long at all. A mere eighteen years after the worlds began to advance, and it was ready.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Any word from the Council?¡± An aged female dovah asked, sitting upon one of twenty thrones. At the moment, only six of them were upied, the rest of their owners being out of the pce at the moment. Kneeling before her was a lightborn, its radiance masked to make them appear as little more than a normal human.


    ¡°Merely the same, Magister.¡± The lightborn reported professionally. ¡°They will not condone trade with a ¡®rebel nation¡¯, and demand the stones by right of discovery and the old contract.¡±


    The dovah barked augh out at that. This was a ¡®negotiation¡¯ that had gone on for too long. ¡°They want our resources, but are unwilling to give anything for them? This is the kind of attitude that made us establish Dawn in the first ce.¡±


    ¡°What is this old contract that they speak of?¡± A young halfling wearing blue robes sat on a throne near the elderly dovah, looking to her as he asked.


    The dovah sighed, shaking her head. This Magister was still too young, and had only just risen to power due to an innate talent for magic. ¡°Before the Age of Shadows, the Council did indeed find resources within thisyer. They sent every able body they could to retrieve them. But, when the night came, and the shadows came to life, how could our grandparents, and their parents spare the time to carry out the Council¡¯s will?¡±


    ¡°Indeed, there was a contract signed by our former generations. But it was not signed by us. This mission has no binding over the world today, and their right of discovery means nothing. The resources that they wante from our seas. That is the only right of ownership that applies here. Tell me, Jasper, what would you do?¡±


    The halfling sank into thought at that, lowering his head. This was not the first time such a question had been posed to him, as the other Magisters often used simr moments to test his ability to make decisions that would affect the kingdom. ¡°We will not hand over the stone.¡± He said in a resolute voice, nodding heavily. ¡°If they wish for it, they can either purchase it from us, or purchase the right to have their own people pull it from the water.¡±


    ¡°But what if they choose to send in smugglers?¡± An aged human male asked from the other side of Jasper, smiling slightly as he urged the halfling to continue.


    ¡°Smugglers? There¡¯s¡­ not a good way for us to properly stop them if they use a member of the church to avoid checkpoints. Ah! We can set up sea patrols to watch for mining vessels.¡±


    The human gave a satisfied nod at that answer. ¡°Sea patrols, is it? I quite like the sound of that.¡± He then turned his head to face the lightborn. ¡°Please pass on the message. If they wish to harvest from our waters, they will have to pay the price. We will not offer up what is ours for mere scraps. They can either make an equal trade, or purchase the right to mine from specific regions. Any who vite this decree will be treated as a criminal, and be dealt with ording to their crimes.¡±


    The lightborn looked to the remaining Magisters, only to see them nodding their heads in agreement. ¡°Very well, Magisters. I will pass the message along.¡± With that, his body began to shine, bursting into rays of light that flew through the door to the room.


    Once outside, his body reformed, his eyes beginning to shine like torches. ¡°The Magisters have spoken.¡± His voice echoed in an empty hallway, but it also sounded in the mind of another Lightborn far, far away, passing through several others to reach the firstyer. ¡°They will not acquiesce to a contract signed by their forefathers.¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    d to see that full scale war has not been a thing yet. I thought inwardly, checking up on Dawn once the worlds had stopped fast forwarding. Afterwards, I turned back to the popup that had appeared when my rm went off.


    Reality Virtual system has been researched to Stage 1. You now possess a world capable of creating a vast digital world, and have ess to the Reality Virtual interface.


    Please use the Reality Virtual interface when buying a new world that you wish to digitize. If you wish to convert an already existing world, there will be a small fee depending on the nature of the world involved. By purchasing through this interface, you will receive a digital copy of the desired world,patible with the world that has unlocked this system.


    ¡°So I have a new interface now, huh?¡± I shook my head, briefly opening this new interface in order to see what it had avable to me. Currently, there was an empty ¡®Worlds¡¯ list, with a button to purchase a new one. Aside from that, it looked fairly simr to my normal Keeper menu, except that there was no forum or messaging service.


    I gave a small shrug of my shoulders, choosing to purchase the Vision Expanse world through this new interface. Immediately, a series of events took ce. The same blue light that so often deposited information globes for me began to rise up from my desk, while at the same time more windows began to appear.


    You have chosen to purchase Vision Expanse for 8650 points. Converting to a digital format.


    Vision Expanse requires special ess permissions for a unique entity. Permissions include messaging powers in connection to the Keeper and all purchased Companions. Do you consent to these permissions?


    Congrattions, you have earned a personal achievement!


    For buying your first digital world, you have earned the Digitized achievement. +15 points.


    As I was looking over the messages, I saw that the light on my desk had faded, leaving behind what looked like a small sh drive. Only, the plug for it was circr, making it look quite a bit different than what I knew. ¡°And I think that¡¯s for me.¡± Ashley called out from the hall, quickly opening the door and running into the room, her tail swaying behind her.


    She ran towards me, clearly excited, and swiped up the sh drive just as quickly as I could ask¡­ ¡°You were expecting this?¡±


    ¡°Terra let me know that you¡¯d be getting something for me once the system was set up.¡± She answered, looking over the sh drive. ¡°Looks about right for the demons. Hard to believe that this little thing stores enough data to cover an entire universe. I¡¯ll need to plug it in once I get back. Hell, once the data¡¯s transferred, this could be reverse engineered to create an all new generation ofputers.¡±


    She seemed almost in a trance as she looked over the sh drive, causing me to chuckle as I turned back towards theputer. Sarah told me that there were special systems for the world spirit on VE, so I immediately chose to ept. And as soon as I did so, another message appeared. Unlike the normal, blue system messages, this one had a faint golden border.


    May I know the title of my new Keeper?


    I could see the words typing them out within the window, and I wasn¡¯t quite sure how to respond. Verbally, maybe? Should I type back? I decided to try and narrow it down, first. ¡°EarthForceOne. But you can call me Dale.¡±


    Dale. It is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Vivi, and I am the Augmented Intelligence that EverLasting created to watch over this world. Please do not worry, I do not hold any lingering attachments to my former Keeper, as I am aware that she created me for this purpose.


    Now, before we begin, there are a few pieces of information that I need to acquire before the world is ready for use.


    So¡­ AI was short for Augmented Intelligence, not Artificial Intelligence. I suppose that¡¯s an apt ssification, when you¡¯re dealing with an elevated spirit. ¡°She told me. Let¡¯s get started, Vivi.¡±

 Chapter 324: Stars and Stories

    <h4>Chapter 324: Stars and Stories</h4>


    In order to facilitate a natural environment for the race you want to use as the yers in this world, I need ess to that race. EverLasting told me that you would be able to find an option inside of the Reality Virtual interface to upload the race.


    I watched Vivi¡¯s words appear within the window on myputer, nodding my head. This wasn¡¯t quite what I expected when I was told that I would be prompted for the race selection, but it was not entirely inurate. I went through the interface, and chose the demon race as the ¡®primary race¡¯ for Vision Expanse.


    Thank you, Dale. Now, while you are there, you should see a selection for secondary races. You can choose to have these avable at the start of the ¡®game¡¯ for yers to select, and you may also select for there to be other civilizations that host these races, whether they are in other countries ors.


    I had noticed that option, and actually nned to ask her about it when we were done. But since she brought it up herself, I nodded, beginning to add in the other races. The only one that I chose not to add to this menu was the dungeon core race, because I could not imagine anyone wanting to y as an immobile dungeon stuck at the starting zone. Aside from that, the game likely had its own dungeon system.


    Very good. You¡¯ve chosen several races as viable both as a starting race, and as other civilizations. Do you have any restrictions on how you want these races to be unlocked, or shall they be avable from the start?


    ¡°Avable from the start.¡± While it was nice to give people the option to y as demons within the game, I definitely did not want to force everyone into that race. The fact that I was able to set it up so that they could y their own unique races was pretty useful.


    I understand. I notice that you included one race that has several variable options. Do you wish for those options to be freely chosen by the yer, or shall it be left to chance which variant they begin as?


    That one made me take some time to think. I knew that she was talking about the centaurs, as they were the only race I owned with ¡®variant¡¯ options. I just wasn¡¯t sure if it would break the bnce of the game to have the variants avable to the yers, since some of them could get quite strong. ¡°Is there a ¡®family¡¯ system in this game at all?¡±


    When she asked for me to borate, I took a deep breath. ¡°If two yers got together, would they be able to produce a child. And if so, would a yer be able to y as that child?¡±


    There is no system in ce for such an urrence. However, it is within my power to assign a feature like that, as it does not require additional purchases.


    ¡°It¡­ doesn¡¯t?¡± Now that surprised me. I was expecting to have to purchase any little changes that I wanted to make here.


    No, sir. As I am able to act with a certain measure of control within this world, including yer spawn options, I am able to adjust this rule as it is not a system bought from the Keeper market.


    ¡°I see¡­ what if two characters of different races wished to have a child?¡± I had never been particrly interested in purchasing a system like that for my worlds, because I did not see much of a point to it. If two people loved one another, then they would continue that love whether or not they were able to have a child.


    However, in a video game things were different. People yed games to live out the fantasies that they couldn¡¯t have in real life. It made sense to make something like that possible here.


    There is an option for a custom starting race built into the systems included for this world. Using that, I can merge the two parent races to produce an offspring sharing mixed traits of the parents. Is this something that you wish to be possible?


    ¡°Yes, please.¡± I nodded my head, watching theputer screen. ¡°Is there anything else that you need to know, before we can get started?¡±


    There is, yes. In this world, religion ys a heavy role. If you do not have any deities, I can invent a few to fill the roles as needed. However, if you already possess them, then I also have the option to incorporate those deities into the world of Vision Expanse.


    Naturally, I wasn¡¯t about to give up on that. Religion was equally as important to my own worlds, and Ashley¡¯spany might be hurt if other deities were represented in the game while Ashley herself wasn¡¯t. I began telling Vivi the names of the various gods and goddesses, as well as their domains. I was quite confused when Vivi asked for their personalities. However, rather than describing that about them, I suggested that she talk to them herself.


    As I was just about to finish up with this segment, a thought urred to me. ¡°Vivi¡­ would it be possible to add a second elven goddess?¡± I felt something stir inside of my soul as I asked that question.


    Of course, sir. There is room for a potentially unlimited number of deities.


    ¡°Good¡­ Leowynn, could youe out?¡± There was a moment of hesitation, before I felt the silver mist slowly seeping out of my body. When my daughter appeared standing next to me, she looked at me with a face mixed with concern and confusion.


    ¡°Are you sure, father?¡± She asked, ncing between myself and theputer screen. ¡°I thought you wished to keep my existence a secret?¡±


    ¡°At first.¡± I nodded my head. ¡°But I always nned to let them know at some point. And¡­ I was nning to discuss it with Vivi, to make the information about you need to be discovered within the game. Would that be possible?¡±


    Surely. I need only to insert her as a goddess for a foreign power. yers are often drawn to new information such as this, ording to EverLasting.


    ¡°Alright.¡± I gave another nod, turning to look at Leowynn. ¡°So, what domains would you like here?¡± I felt my lips tugging upwards as I asked that. ¡°Everyone gets three.¡±


    Leowynn¡¯s face flushed, having clearly not expected this kind of development. ¡°U-uhm¡­ Stars?¡± She looked down at her own dress. ¡°Stars have always been a really big thing for me¡­ Aside from that¡­ Vivi, do you have any suggestions?¡±


    There are several popr domains that have not been taken yet. The Beauty domain is a


    ¡°No! Not that one, please!¡± Leowynn¡¯s face flushed even further as she cut Vivi off, her blush reaching all the way up to her ears.


    Very well. You addressed the Keeper as your father. If you like, we could style you as a creation deity.


    ¡°I can¡¯t be the creator.¡± Leowynn shook her head again. ¡°That¡¯d mean I came before my mother, Ryone. It wouldn¡¯t make any sense.¡±


    Understood. If you are the daughter of the Goddess of Magic and the Keeper, then perhaps you would prefer to have the Family domain?


    ¡°Family¡­¡± She hesitated again, before nodding. ¡°Okay, I like that one. But, one more¡­ stars, family¡­ what could possibly connect those?¡±


    If we carry Stars as your prominent domain, then Family could represent a major constetion within the area that you reside. By that logic, your third domain would simrly represent another constetion.


    ¡°Oh?¡± Leowynn looked in surprise towards theputer. ¡°Okay, then¡­ a constetion. Could¡­ I be the goddess of Monsters? They¡¯re amon theme in constetions, right? Especially¡­ dragons.¡±


    I could easily prepare this setting for you, yes. Now, Dale. If there is nothing else, I would like to inform you of a few options that have been included within the game settings.


    EverLasting gave me the ability to create Admin ounts. This setting would be chosen upon creation of the ount, and could not be changedter. While logged in on the Admin ount, you will possess powers simr to that of a deity, as well as the ability to grant or remove levels, skills, or equipment.


    ¡°Admin ount, huh?¡± That seemed pretty standard for a video game. I wasn¡¯t sure whether or not to expect something like that from the Reality Virtual system, but it was nice to see that the option was considered.


    This ount is treated as secondary, and anybody possessing an Admin ount may also log in with a normal yer ount if they simply wish to y the game. I was also instructed to warn you that, should an enemy in the Keeper Games directly infiltrate Vision Expanse, the Admin ount will not be able to influence them.


    Aside from that, I am currently rebooting the world. If you have any lore that you would like to include in the world, please tell me at this time, and I will see that it is ced in a fitting location.


    I gave it a moment of thought. However, aside from Leowynn, I couldn¡¯t think of any other special information that I wanted to hide inside of the game. Hearing nothing from me, Vivi seemed to assume that there was nothing else, her chat window going nk as she began to type out another message to me.


    Very well, I shall use my own discretion. By the time this world has been installed on a device, it should be ready.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ fast.¡± I nodded, a bit surprised myself that it would be ready so soon. Though, she was probably getting things ready privately as we were setting up the different modifications. I turned my head, ncing towards Leowynn to see that she was doing her best to conceal a small smile. ¡°Vivi, is it possible for a spirit to y the game?¡±


    That depends entirely on the level of technology used to connect, sir. However, like all game worlds designed by EverLasting, Vision Expanse is created with the idea that it will be yed over thousands of years. During this time, it is entirely possible for there to be a breakthrough that would allow a spirit to connect with the game.


    So it wasn¡¯t likely to be a thing yet with a group that had just unlocked the technology. However, there was hope for letting her y the game herself in time. Until then, if I chose to log in, she¡¯d simply be watching it through my eyes.


    Ashley. I sent a message out to the demoness, ncing back to myputer and switching over to the map. I could easily find the gamepany in Lenan¡¯s capital, and see a very excited demoness flying in through the roof entrance. In her hand she was gingerly holding the new sh drive, though I saw her wing give a small twitch when I sent that message.


    You don¡¯t have to do so right away. But eventually, I¡¯d like it if you were to make known that yourpany was actually founded by you. If people see the game as something literally brought by the gods, it¡¯s less likely to fall out of style in the long run, I think.


    After entering the building, I saw Ashley give a small nod, still walking towards her own office. Inside thepany, I saw that there was a huge server room set up, even though thepany didn¡¯t seem to have released any prominent game titles yet. Something I imagine the employees were quite concerned over.


    Nheless, once she plugged her sh drive into theputer, there was a moment of pause. Afterwards, she tilted her head back and beganughing uproariously. Her wings trembled as she clutched her side, and I didn¡¯t even realize what she wasughing about until she sent a message. A week! Just transferring all this information to our servers is going to take a week!

 Chapter 325: A Whole New World

    <h4>Chapter 325: A Whole New World</h4>


    A low sigh sounded in the grassy ins, a single woman standing alone. She lowered her hands from the translucent keyboard that hovered in the air in front of her, it disappearing along with the screen that had existed above it. Slowly, her feet began to lift her up off the ground, flying gently into the sky.


    The woman¡¯s body seemed to be crafted from silver, with glowing blue lines running along her joints. Yet despite her wholly artificial appearance, there was a strange sort of feeling about her. The soft glow of her body seemed to blend with the world in an odd way.


    She rose higher and higher into the sky, her speed gradually increasing. In just a few moments, she had appeared above the entire world, able to look down on it. Despite the distance, she could see the various demons standing on the ground below. ¡°Modifying script topensate for a nocturnal race.¡± She muttered, her pure white eyes shining.


    The woman lifted a single hand, her palm turning upwards. An hourss appeared floating above her palm, oddly empty of any sand. ¡°elerating time flow by thirty one and a half million times.¡±


    Below, the world burst into motion, rotating rapidly. She was both within the time field and outside of it, able to perceive the elerated world without being swept away by it. She could see the demons one moment, roaming through the mountains, and then as the world turned she saw the humans, the halflings, the kitsune.


    Every second of elerated time that passed caused a single grain of sand to appear at the base of the hourss. She gave a small nod as she saw the world shifting past the stone age, before turning the hourss upside down. Suddenly, the world froze, every creature within it held in ce. Only the woman herself was able to move freely.


    ¡°Next up¡­ insert the foundation of magic.¡± The magic within Vision Expanse was not any of the basic types. As one might expect of a world designed by a high ranking Keeper, they used a more advanced magic system, Structural Magic.


    The woman, Vivi, lifted her other hand, and a shimmering blue seed appeared within it. This was the crystallized seed of magic, held in stasis by a system of its own. The reason that structural magic was treated as more advanced than any normal arcane system was due to the fact that the world itself was treated as a structure. If the proper measures weren¡¯t taken, it was possible to end up with a-sized spell that doomed the entire world.


    To prevent this, Sarah had used a system to suspend the magic. Only objects created after it was implemented would be imbued with the arcane energies, leaving the world itself unharmed. When Vivi clenched her fist around the seed of magic, it shattered. Its energies spread out, engulfing everything. Only then did she turn the hourss back over and allow the world to resume its elerated time.


    Even with the coded temte governing the minds of the people, there was a chaos when every item forged suddenly carried a strange magical property. Though this chaos felt muted when the inhabitants weren¡¯t capable of expressing true emotion. Vivi sighed, shaking her head as she watched the world develop more and more.


    Soon, magic came to be understood and wielded. cksmiths developed a specialty field known as spellmasons, a craft devoted to mastering the art of shaping the magic in every item. Mages, on the other hand, were those who trained the skills to draw out the magic in the items they carried.


    Thus was the way of Vision Expanse. The foremost crafting and exploration game world that Vivi had been made aware of. She watched the world developing again, and could feel when it had been first plugged into aputer. Her mind was immediately connected to the machine, able to read through it as easily as if it were a book in her hands.


    Through thatputer, she was able to understand thenguage of the world, and her eyes glowed. A burst of energy swept over thend, inserting thenguage into the ¡®script¡¯ of the NPCs evolving below. Now, they would be able to develop towards this newnguage.


    Once again, Vivi raised her hands, and the same screen appeared in front of her as before. What she saw disyed on it was theughing face of a female demon. ¡°You should be Ashley, correct?¡± She asked professionally, causing the woman to stop herughing and look at the screen in shock. ¡°Please don¡¯t be rmed. I am merely trying to take this time to be better acquainted with you. I have already sent strands of my consciousness to converse with the minds of the other deities.¡±


    In fact, this avatar of Vivi was only one of several dozen, all acting in unison at different points around the world. When the demoness learned this, she gave a slow nod. ¡°Ahh¡­ alright. Sorry, but who are you?¡±


    Vivi gave a small, soft smile. As much as it pained her to admit, she did enjoy simply getting these sorts of reactions out of people. The standard ¡®please identify yourself¡¯ that the NPCs responded with was grating on her mind. ¡°My name is Vivi. I¡¯m the intelligence controlling the world you just plugged in to yourputer.¡±


    ¡°Ah!¡± Ashley eximed, leaning forward in her chair. Her eyes gleamed in a way that no NPC ever could. ¡°So you¡¯re like a little goddess for that world? That¡¯s really cool.¡±


    Vivi nodded her head. ¡°If need be, I am able to insert myself in the role of a deity. However, I try not to do that. It is more enjoyable to let those like yourself maintain their roles. Now, from what I am seeing, thepany you wish to release this game on is known as¡­ Darkme Technologies?¡±


    When Ashley gave a small nod, Vivi continued. ¡°Would you like me to leave yourpany logo at any points within the world, as a form of advertisement?¡±


    ¡°Wait, you can do that? Of course you can do that¡­ Sure. Ancient civilizations, ces where it won¡¯t disrupt the activity of the current world. So¡­ is there a manual for this game, or would we be creating that ourselves?¡±


    Vivi gave a small shake of her head. ¡°I can upload a simplified tutorial codex to your terminal. For something more detailed, the information can freely be given by the fairies. As soon as the game has finished downloading onto your servers, I will provide you with an admin ount and let you see for yourself.¡±


    ¡°Sure, that sounds fun. Anything else that I need to know in the meantime?¡±


    Hearing that, Vivi hesitated before answering. ¡°There is, Ashley. ording to the records I¡¯m seeing, yourpany has been primarily focused on developing and releasing virtual reality devices. However, it was otherpanies that supplied the games for your products. May I ask¡­ what do you n to tell your employees now that you suddenly have a fully developed game of your own?¡±


    Ashley raised a hand, as if about to speak. And then she lowered it. She opened her mouth¡­ and closed it. ¡°Well, that¡¯s a bit of an oversight on my part. Guess we¡¯re going with Dale¡¯s n a bit early. I¡¯ll reveal myself to my employees, and swear them to secrecy.¡±


    By now, Vivi had finished exploring Ashley¡¯sputer, and had branched out. Now, she was looking through the inte itself. Her mind was naturally used to being in all ces at once, so this did not feel strange at all for her. ¡°Do you have any questions for me, now that we¡¯re talking?¡± She asked patiently, offering that same gentle smile to Ashley.


    ¡°Actually, I do. Though, they¡¯re mostly about the technology that we¡¯ll be using to connect to your world.¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    As one might expect, the Council of Fyor did not wish to conduct a simple trade agreement. No, they drafted up a n of their own. After sending a messenger to Dawn, they agreed to purchase the mining rights for a single vein of void concealing stones. Unlike most of the other resources within the Great Blue, this was one that truly could not be found on any other floor. Only this and the tidestone had proven to be truly unique to this region.


    Once they had the rights to mine, they sent a team to carry out the task. However, this team was a bit more than one might expect. There were craftsmen hidden within their ranks, with the intention of creating more mining vessels in secret once they had managed to hide themselves within the giant ocean.


    Unfortunately, they underestimated the new strength that the mages had been able to achieve after their istion. Scrying spells were no longer so easily blocked by those stones, and their ploy was discovered before they managed to finish their first ship. Moreover, it was discovered in such a way that it forced the Council to realize what they were up against.


    As the training crew hammered away at their boat, dry-docked in a small cave, they didn¡¯t notice the soft footsteps approaching. It wasn¡¯t until the dock manager looked over that he saw a halfling walking over, a pale blue staff in one hand. His arms appeared to be covered with arcane runes, and the manager could tell at a nce that this wasn¡¯t one of his workers.


    ¡°Who¡¯re you?!¡± The human shouted, moving to stand between the halfling and the rest of the workers. His shout alerted the others, and the sounds of hammering, the sawing of wood, all stopped. Silence filled the cave as the halfling looked up at him, his face neutral.


    ¡°Jasper Fallows.¡± He introduced himself. ¡°I am a Magister of Dawn, and you are in direct vition of the trade agreement. I will be taking you all in for questioning.¡±


    ¡°Just you?¡± The manager raised his eyebrows. Most of them may be craftsmen, but there were a fair few seasoned warriors on their side. Furthermore, even if he was a halfling, Jasper was obviously young. Yet he simply nodded in response to the question. ¡°Dammit, I don¡¯t know how you found us so quickly, but we¡¯re going to have to get you to stay here for a while.¡±


    Seeing the man slowly beginning to advance on him, Jasper lifted his staff just slightly off the ground, and then tapped it once against the dock. The sound that echoed out was light, yet a deafening roar followed after. A dark shadow filled the cave as the water rose up, forming the shape of a giant serpent.


    Jasper was the product of a new method of training. He had easily managed to climb the ranks due to his talent, but it didn¡¯t take him long to hit the ceiling that was created when one reached the level limit. Even then, he continued to train, practicing the methods learned by the Magisters in the Age of Night. His mana continued to grow steadily, even if his level remained stagnant.


    ¡°Bind. Shatter.¡± Two of the many runes on Jasper¡¯s arms lit up as he activated two of his prepared spells. Strands of water shot out from the mouth of the great beast, each one homing in on one of the dock workers. With the second spell, he cast a brief nce to the side, and the wooden vessel that was under construction began to shake violently.


    Within moments, nks began to fall off, those who had been standing on the deck crashing down onto it. Loud cracks rang out as a crevice formed within the boat itself, rising up from the center to break it apart.


    The dock manager stumbled back, charging his ki to forcefully break apart the binding spell. ¡°What¡­¡± He looked at the kid in shock, before narrowing his eyes in anger. No matter what, it was still just one boy. He lunged forward, gathering his ki in his palms. If he could end this quickly, he could not only save his people, but get them away to safety.


    ¡°Body.¡± Five runes along Jasper¡¯s right arm lit up at the word, five spells bound to the same trigger. Speed, strength, defense, reflexes, and flight. The manager¡¯s eyes widened as Jasper moved just as quickly as him. What surprised him even more was that the halfling wasn¡¯t dodging, and instead charged right in.


    Just as the palms were about to connect with his body, Jasper lowered his posture and spun, his staff twirling in his hands. It came down, sweeping through the man¡¯s feet before batting his hands to the side. When he tumbled to the ground, he would find the tip of the staff presented directly in front of his face, glowing faintly. ¡°You are under arrest.¡±

 Chapter 326: Divine Revelations

    <h4>Chapter 326: Divine Revtions</h4>


    I let out a low whistle as I watched Jasper bringing in the construction crew. I could tell that it wasn¡¯t just his arms. At least half of his body was covered with the runes that represented a triggered spell. Most of them were centered around water, though I saw that there were a variety that simply boosted his physical ability, or acted as a short range teleport. He must have spent at least an hour setting all of those spells before he confront the group.


    Not to mention that the staff he wielded was his elementalist weapon. It may have looked at first like he was an utter monster, able to take them all out easily, but in truth it was just because he had a huge advantage over them. You never give a mage enough time to prepare for a battle. Once you do, you¡¯re giving them more and more tools to hurt you with.


    I shook my head, moving back to the time controls for the world. Ashley said that she¡¯d need a week to get everything ready, and I had only given her a few days so far, given that I stopped in order to see what was going on with Jasper in the cave. Though, as I was about to hit the button, a thought struck me.


    Tubrock¡­ the Sky Citadel doesn¡¯t have an inte connection yet, does it? Given the state that the world was in now, I was considering staying descended for a while soon. Either as a civilian, or in the Sky Citadel itself. Thetter would be preferred, though I¡¯d likely take walks in disguise now and then to get a better look at the world.


    Aye, it does. Yer foxss even requested it ¡®erself, once she learned it was gettin¡¯ released across the worlds. Said yer pce could act as a secondary hub for the connections, and has one port leadin¡¯ ta ev¡¯ry world.


    Wait, she did? Now that surprised me. I was expecting that she would be against ¡®defiling¡¯ the pce with the cables, but to hear that she personally requested it¡­ I¡¯d have to ask her what she had in mind when I visitedter.


    I thanked Tubrock for the information, d to hear that I wouldn¡¯t need to take extra measures to ensure that the Citadel would havework ess when I decided to go down. With that out of the way, I hit the button to finish the fast forward. I kept an eye on the upload progress of the game, waiting to stop it until the data had been fully transferred.


    To my surprise, Ashley didn¡¯t seem too eager to reverse engineer the sh drive after that. Instead, she gingerly unplugged it, and wished it back to the Admin Room. I suppose it¡¯s a good idea to keep the physical copy as a back-up in case something happens to the servers.


    Shaking my head after that silent thought, I sent a message down towards Ashley. How long do you think it¡¯ll take you to get the game in working order?


    Honestly? There was a surprised tone to her reply as she appeared to be looking theputer. It¡¯s ready. It could do with a few test runs, but aside from that, we could release the game as fast as we can market it and manufacture the dive gear. To build up the hype¡­ I¡¯d say six months, at least? And I can already feel Aurivy flying my way to be the first tester.


    I blinked in surprise, shifting my gaze back towards Fyor. Aurivy¡¯s incarnation was still the elderly dovah mage. Has she gotten the hang of controlling two incarnations at once, now?


    A small sigh escaped my lips, and I nodded my head. Alright, take whatever time you need to get it done right. I¡¯ve got things to take care of for a while. With that, I stood up from the desk, smiling gently. ¡°Leowynn, could you go y with your mom for a while? I¡¯ve got to do some training again.¡±


    Sure enough, the silver mist escaped my body, flying out through the bedroom door. As my body faded away, shifting towards my training area, I sent Terra a message to let her know what I was doing. Since Ashley needed more time, it seemed like a good idea to spend it productively, now that I wasn¡¯t feeling so bad about the idea of training anymore.


    It was time to create my Divine Soul.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°What¡¯s going on, Le?¡± A demon asked as he opened the door to his boss¡¯s office. There was a confused look on his face. ¡°I just got your report¡­ you want us to set up a marketing campaign? But¡­ where did this gamee from?¡±


    This man was the Head of Finances for Darkme Technologies, so naturally it was his responsibility to sign off on important financial affairs such as these. However, Le simply smiled calmly at him, standing up from her seat. ¡°It came from me.¡± She answered simply. ¡°Geoff, would you mind helping me call everyone together for a meeting? I promise that I¡¯ll exin everything there.¡±


    There was a moment of hesitation before Geoff nodded his head. His boss had never been such an entric woman that she would spend the kind of money needed to fund such arge game in secret. And he could tell from the reports that wereing in from the servers that it was arge game.


    Within a few minutes, he had called everyone into the nning room on the sixth floor of the building. It was a little cramped to fit all of them in, but they made do. Of course, there were a few people murmuring in discontent about how they had been interrupted from their work in order to be here. Once Le entered the room, they all quieted down, waiting to hear what she had to say.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to thank everyone for gathering here today. Now, as you all have likely heard by now, DF Tech will be releasing a new game onto the marketter this year. Many of you are probably wondering where this game came from, and why none of you were aware of it before now.¡±


    Even within the darkened room, she could see the heads of several demons nodding their heads. She was even quite happy to see that there were a few kitsune within the meeting as well. ¡°Well, I have a few pieces of news that wille across as quite the shock to you. First, I would like to make sure that nobody spreads word of this outside this room. Sorry, Hal, but I¡¯m afraid you¡¯ll need to turn your recorder off this time.¡± She gave a small smile towards a portly demon near the back of the room that had been trying to stay out of her attention.


    When he saw that he was being addressed, the man looked at her in shock. ¡°I-I¡¯m sure I don¡¯t know what you mean, miss.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay, Hal. I don¡¯t me you. I¡¯ve known what you were doing here since the beginning. You¡¯re not going to lose your job over it now, so long as you are able to keep this part a secret.¡± Being a goddess, Ashley had known from the start that there was a corporate spy in herpany, stealing information wherever he could to send to thepetition. In an effort to remain fair to her role as a ¡®mortal¡¯, she had not exposed him until now.


    There was a small gulp from the demon she was addressing, who nodded and reached into his pocket. He nced around the room, as if looking to make a break for it, but the room was far too packed to be able to get out without hurting anyone. While he might be greedy, he was not a violent man.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Le nodded her head. ¡°Now, first and foremost, I would like to rify the origins of this game. In fact, this game is a gift to the world. It came from the Keeper himself.¡±


    Silence fell over the room after she said that. The first person to speak up was Geoff, one of the most senior ranking demons in thepany. ¡°Le¡­ that¡¯s a big statement. You can¡¯t just say things like that without being able to back it up¡­¡± There was concern in his tone, because what she had just said was nothing short of sphemous. To credit or me the Keeper for something was as good as saying so about the gods themselves, and nobody wanted to invite that wrath.


    ¡°Of course I can back it up.¡± Le nodded again. Suddenly, her eyes went pitch ck, a dark shadow falling over the room. When she spoke next, there was an extra voiceyered over her own. A voice that resonated within the mind of every demon in the room. ¡°After all, I got it from him myself.¡±


    After saying that, Le fell backwards, copsing into a chair that she had made sure to position herself in front of. Where she had been standing was now Ashley, the Goddess of Darkness, Fire, and Technology. ¡°Sorry, guys, I didn¡¯t really n to let it out this way.¡± She apologized with a kind smile. ¡°But really? Darkme Technologies? I¡¯m sure someone put together that I was at least using religious subtext when I created that. Though, to be honest, it was just the first thing that came to my mind.¡±


    Once again, silence fell over the room, though this time for a much different reason. The only sound that could be heard was Hal trembling, his red face going a ghastly pale as he looked at Ashley, who simply sighed. ¡°I told you, Hal, it¡¯s fine. If I wanted to stop you, I would have. I was actually a little thankful that you were helping to get this technology out there.¡±


    ¡°Wait¡­¡± One of the kitsune spoke up first, raising a hand. ¡°So¡­ you¡¯re actually her? I mean¡­ you¡¯re the goddess? But¡­ why would you be running apany like this? And¡­ why would the Keeper want to give everyone a game¡­¡±


    ¡°Both good questions.¡± Ashley said, pointing towards the curious kitsune. ¡°And actually quite connected. You see, this isn¡¯t any normal game. This game represents an entire world, every bit as full as our own. The only difference is that you can only ess it through connecting to the virtual world. Because of that, I had to make sure that this world was able to progress far enough that we would be able to have that level of technology.¡±


    ¡°This is¡­ a new world?¡± The kitsune asked, her ears pressing t against her skull. ¡°But¡­ that would mean new dangers, right? Would anyone really y a game if they felt that their life might actually be at risk?¡±


    ¡°I was worried about that at first, myself.¡± Ashley assured her, and the kitsune could feel a smallforting energying from the goddess. ¡°However, there will be no danger inherently present in ying this game. So long as the point you connect from is secure, then you will be fine. But, if your body is attacked while you are connected¡­ there¡¯s not really much that can be done about that.¡±


    The kitsune gave a small nod, relieved that her question hadn¡¯t upset the goddess. Seeing that nobody else had any immediate questions, Ashley continued. ¡°There is another main difference between this world and those that we live in now. This world was created with the express purpose of being an ¡®entertainment world¡¯. The inhabitants there have programmed personalities, just like those you would find in a real game.¡±


    ¡°Within this game world, you will be able to practice a variety of skills that would normally be quite dangerous to do in the real world. For instance, if you wanted to practice some scientific experiments or martial arts, you could do so here. Though, I can¡¯t say that you will be able to practice any ¡®real¡¯ arcane skills within this world, as it uses a different magical system.¡±


    ¡°What the Keeper, and me personally, hope for with this game is that people will continue to be able to enjoy it for many years toe. It¡¯s not easy to get worlds like this, even for him. Also¡­ please make sure not to spread word that I am¡­ well, me. I¡¯ve been keeping it a secret for a while now for a reason. If not for this game suddenly being ready, I wouldn¡¯t have revealed myself like this. I¡¯ll reveal it to the world in due time¡­ but I think that this should serve as a good enough exnation for why the game was released under these circumstances.¡±


    After saying that, Ashley took a long moment to look over all the different faces in the meeting room, before her body erupted into a dark energy, vanishing from the room. All that was left was Le, who groaned as she slowly woke up. ¡°So¡­ any questions?¡± She asked, though it didn¡¯t seem like anyone was quite willing to ask.

 Chapter 327: Aurivy’s First Look

    <h4>Chapter 327: Aurivy¡¯s First Look</h4>


    Initializing Admin ount.


    ¡­


    ount verified. Ascertaining user data.


    ¡­


    Data not found. Beginning Character Creation.


    ¡°Wee in, Aurivy I assume?¡± The silver woman appeared standing in front of Aurivy within an endless ck void. There was a small smile on her face as the first true person joined her within thisnd.


    The person in question, a young demoness with pitch ck hair and bright yellow eyes, looked around the ck void in excitement. ¡°That¡¯s right! Looks like the graphics need to be improved in the disy, though.¡± She muttered when her eyes settled on Vivi.


    Due to the device that she was using to connect to Vision Expanse, Vivi¡¯s body looked more artificial than normal. Although she was still fairly realistic, Aurivy could make out several rendered polygons along the woman¡¯s curves. Yet Vivi only gave a lightugh. ¡°That will improve as your world does. As a goddess, you will be able to see this improvement personally.¡±


    ¡°Well, you¡¯re right about that!¡± Aurivy nodded her head excitedly. ¡°Now, could you make me a halfling real quick? I don¡¯t mind ying as a demon and all, but if this is going to be my admin ount, better to go with somethingfy!¡±


    Vivi responded with a slight nod, Aurivy¡¯s body shrinking. Her wings melted into her back, her horns doing the same on her head. Her skin lost its deep red color while her hair began to turn a vibrant pink. Soon, Aurivy was standing there in the same body that she possessed as a goddess. ¡°Is this better?¡±


    Aurivy took a moment to nce down at herself, giving a very satisfied thumbs up. ¡°Perfect! So, what are we going to do for sses, or do I get the Keeper treatment as an admin?¡±


    Vivi simply shook her head. ¡°No. I¡¯m afraid that Vision Expanse is a world that does not possess sses in the sense that you are used to. The governing force of the world is instead Skills. If one does not possess the skill to perform an action, then they will find themselves having a far harder time doing it.¡±


    ¡°Skills¡­ I remember you saying that admins could grant those. So if I want to make myself aplete badass, I just need to grant myself the right skills? Well, aside from that godlike admin power that you told me about before.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Vivi agreed after a brief moment. ¡°As an admin, you could theoretically grant yourself any skill that you desire. Normally, there would be a tutorial fairy guiding you through the process of character creation. However, given that you yourself are on an admin ount, you are automatically upgraded to receive my personal help.¡± There was a warm smile on her metallic face as she spoke.


    ¡°I gotta say, I am not against that. So, what all do I have to do to handle the creation process? I¡¯ll be going through all of this againter, so might as well learn what I¡¯ll need to do now.¡±


    Hearing her question, Vivi closed her eyes for a moment. ¡°You¡¯ve already chosen your race. As Vision Expanse is a game heavily focused on exploration, it begins with only a single spawn point. As yers explore the world, more will be added, including a kingdom that is primarily dominated by halflings.¡±


    ¡°When you first begin y, you are allowed to choose a single starting skill that will determine your early gamey experience. It is strongly suggested to choose either abat or production skill, so that you may earn the funds necessary to trainter skills.¡±


    After Vivi exined that, she waved her hand, a blue light escaping her palm and forming a window in front of Aurivy. She could see a vast list of skills appearing in front of herself. There were different weapon proficiencies, magic specializations, and crafting skills listed. However, there were also a few other utility skills, such as navigation, diplomacy, or pick-pocketing.


    ¡°Aww, you mean that you have to buy skills with currency in this game?¡± Aurivy asked, a little deted at thatment. It had been the one thing that had somewhat annoyed her about her time in Twilight¡¯s Hold, as it meant that people would be unable to train skills on their own.


    ¡°Not quite.¡± Vivi denied with a shake of her head. ¡°If you purchase a skill, then you will start with a basic level of proficiency with it. However, it is possible to train your own skills over time. Doing so is simply more difficult in the long run.¡±


    She hesitated for a moment as she looked for the proper words to exin herself. ¡°If you train a skill yourself, you will be able to still make progress in that skill. However, if you seek the aid of a tutor, you will gain an experience boost in that skill based on the skill level of the instructor. It is also possible to train the skill yourself, than gain that boost byter seeking a tutor. But until you do so, you will be operating with a penalty.¡±


    Aurivy perked up when she heard that exnation, her eyes practically shining. ¡°Cool! Then I¡¯ll choose the Navigation skill for now. I have enoughbat experience with various weapons that I should be able to fight proficiently with those, even without the skill to do so.¡± Vivi gave a small nod at that, and the list in front of Aurivy disappeared.


    Navigation Skill - Level 1 has been learned


    ¡°Now, normally you would have to choose your spawning location. However, since there is only one such location, that is not possible at this time. Once you finish this process, you¡¯ll have your own tutorial fairy bound to your ount. At any point in time, you will be able to contact me if you require my assistance with anything.¡±


    Aurivy gave a yful salute when she heard that, making Vivi blink briefly in confusion. ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am! Is there anything else that I need to know before I go?¡±


    ¡°No, I believe not. The tutorial fairy will be able to tell you anything important once you arrive.¡± Although Vivi was a bit confused by Aurivy¡¯s gesture, she was still enjoying talking face to face with someone.


    Soon, Aurivy would be able to see the image of Vivi shattering, appearing as if shards of ss were falling all around her. In its ce, she found herself in arge city, standing in the middle of a wide circr path. A small, repeating beep sounded in her ear for several moments until she focused on it, unable to pay attention to the various demon¡¯s in the dark surroundings through the noise.


    A gentle glow flew out of Aurivy¡¯s body, hovering up in front of herself. A figure appeared within the glow no more than three inches tall, distinctly female with green hair and a pure white dress, wings fluttering behind her back. ¡°Wee, yer, to Vision Expanse! During your gamey, you will be able to ask me for any information that you need! It is my job to help ensure that you have an enjoyable gamey experience!¡±


    ¡°Please state all your avable functions.¡± Aurivy immediately spoke up, her eyes focused on the tiny fairy.


    ¡°Very well! I can identify the properties of any item for you, so long as it is within your level and skill range. I can also provide information on locations that youe across, based on your experience there and the poprity of the region. Furthermore, I can connect with other fairies to allow you to exchange messages with other yers, and inform you on the usage of skills and systems!¡±


    Aurivy gave a satisfied nod as she heard that. She had never been able to test out the fairies in thest game that she yed, so she was quite curious how they worked. ¡°Alright, then can you provide me any information on the area we¡¯re in now?¡±


    ¡°Checking data. You are currently located within the Endhoven Empire¡¯s capital city, Endhor. This is a popr trade city where you can find items of various levels and quality. For more detailed information, please converse with local NPCs to receive information on the current standing of the city.¡±


    Aurivy nodded her head again, looking around. Her eyes were having trouble adjusting to the darkness, but as she was in the city of a nocturnal race it was only to be expected. Thankfully, the glow of the tutorial fairy helped her to make out various features of the people standing around her. There did not seem to be any obvious mages. Nobody wearing heavy robes, or carrying arge staff.


    It wasn¡¯t until she found her eyes training on a particr, elderly demon that she noticed the glint of metal at his hips. A pair of wands, one with the shape of a star at the tip and the other a more uneven, natural spike. She mentally noted him to be the likely mage trainer, and let her eyes continued wandering.


    Soon, she approached the man who was positioned the closest to where she had appeared, her fairy following just over her shoulder. ¡°Wee, adventurer.¡± The man said in an emotional voice, though Aurivy felt more as if it were a rehearsed line. ¡°My name is Kristoph, the head of house Malum. I wee you to our city.¡±


    ¡°It is a pleasure to meet you, Kristoph.¡± Aurivy bowed politely, not sure just how much detail went into their ability to read the words and bodynguage of yers. ¡°Could you tell me what¡¯s going on with the city? I¡¯m afraid I just arrived.¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± He nodded his head, though even that seemed to be a measured action. ¡°Unfortunately, the city of Endhor is experiencing troubling times. Only recently, there was a great war that shook our empire. We have managed to keep the area around the city rtively safe for travel, but beyond that¡­ we have lost almost all contact with the other cities.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡± Aurivy could practically taste the quest. However, this was her admin ount, not her casual yer ount. ¡°If one wanted to train themselves physically, where would they go?¡±


    ¡°Please borate.¡± He spoke simply. ¡°Do you wish to train martial skills, or experience livebat?¡±


    This was the first real sign that the man had shown for having a limited vocabry, but it only made Aurivy give a brief sigh. ¡°Livebat for now.¡±


    ¡°Ah! Very well, then! If you leave through the southern gate of the city, you will find yourself on the road. Though most of the road is safe, there are the asional bandits and wild animal that you can hunt. If you are looking for more danger, leave through the western gate. Aside from these two, there is still the north gate, however your level is still far too low to survive there.¡±


    Aurivy gave a small nod, thanking him for his information. Even without that navigation skill, simply being the Goddess of travel allowed her to be able to instinctively understand which direction was south. As such, she cracked her knuckles, beginning to make her way in that direction. ¡°Fairy, could you exin the magic used in this world?¡±


    ¡°Certainly!¡± The fairy responded energetically. ¡°In Vision Expanse, all items possess magic, unless it has been specifically drained from them. The shape and nature of this magic depends entirely on the structure of the item that it possesses. As an example, your clothes possess a weak defense enchantment that will be able to lessen the damage of minor attacks.¡±


    Aurivy¡¯s steps faltered as she heard that. She hadn¡¯t thought to ask Vivi about the world¡¯s magic system when they were talking previously. ¡°So, you mean that I can¡¯t use magic without an item?¡±


    ¡°With the yer¡¯s current skill level, it is impossible to recreate the magical structure without using a focus item.¡±


    Aurivy suddenly found herself wishing that she had chosen a magical skill instead of navigation. She had purposely chosen the skill in order to give herself a ¡®hard mode¡¯ to y, and was almost tempted to simply grant herself the skill now. However, she refrained from doing so. Even if she had the tools to cheat, she wanted to at least experience the game normally for a bit. Once the game was truly released, she¡¯d be able to create her regr yer ount, and would have a better idea of what she wanted to start with.

 Chapter 328: The Hype

    <h4>Chapter 328: The Hype</h4>


    Outside of the game, the marketing campaign for the new title, Vision Expanse was in full swing. Gamey trailers were quickly released, one after another, and the word had been spread to every world. Back in Fyor, Jasper was using a handheld device to watch the video from his throne within the Dawn Pce. The elderly dovah that had been his tutor all this time nced towards him with an amused smile.


    ¡°Are you interested in those games, Jasper?¡±


    ¡°Mhm!¡± He nodded energetically, before remembering topose himself. ¡°I-I mean, I haven¡¯t had the chance to try them yet, but they look really fun.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to¡­ I think they call it ¡®pre-ordering?¡¯ I¡¯ll have to make sure to reserve one for you, then.¡± The woman nodded her head. ¡°Just remember not to overdo it. You still have your duty as one of the Magisters.¡±


    The boy¡¯s eyes went wide in shock when he heard that he would be getting a copy of the game. His entire focus for most of his life had been on training his magic. While he thought that it would be nice to y those games, he didn¡¯t really have any hopes of doing so. This woman, who had treated him as a second mother his entire life, had agreed so readily that it left him stunned.


    Seeing that, she simply gave a mysterious chuckle, not discussing the situation further. Her eyes closed as she rested back in her throne, her mind scanning the area to make sure that there were no further troubles.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Within the floating pce, the Sky Citadel, there currently existed only a single entity. Everyone else had chosen to return to their own homes, and the new representatives did not wish to leave their people to live in istion within the Keeper¡¯s Pce. However, naturally there was a single exception.


    The avatars of Tsubaki roamed the halls, cleaning away any dust that gathered over the passing of time. Another remained kneeling in ce before the Keeper¡¯s throne, ready to serve him again if he returned. Yet, the main body of Tsubaki was within her room, watching the video of the new title announced to be released soon in Desbar.


    She found this game to be suspicious, as it seemed to havee from nowhere. When she had requested to have wiresid through the citadel to provide an inte connection, she had naturally acquired a terminal for herself as well, aputer for her personal use. Through that machine, she had been able to keep an eye on the changes urring within the world outside the pce, in case she was needed elsewhere to act in her master¡¯s name.


    When she heard about this game, her curiosity was piqued. She had spent quite a bit of time learning technical skills, and suddenly began deploying those skills now. There was no news of this game prior to the announcement. No hint that thepany had been working on any game. In fact, from their financial records, it seemed that they didn¡¯t even spend the money necessary to create it.


    ¡°Where did youe from?¡± She muttered quietly to herself. Just from the trailers, it was obviously a vast game. More vast than any other that she had seen. For such a game to not leave a visible paper trail¡­ she couldn¡¯t imagine it.


    In her mind, there were three warring ideas. The least likely to her was that thepany had simply done a very good job preparing this game over a long period. However, with how quickly they have been releasing new consoles, each with somewhat different operating systems, it was far too unlikely that they would have such arge game already prepared for their newest product.


    The second possibility, and only somewhat more likely than the first, was that this was a new invasion tactic. The magic disyed within the trailer did not use runes, and she could not find any hints that would indicate geometric magic was being used. If it was a new type of magic, and this game was more than it appeared, than it was entirely possible that it was the prelude to another invasion. The only w with this theory was that the Keeper would have likely announced such a thing to the entire world, if he was aware of it.


    As much as she worshipped the Keeper, she knew that he was not truly omniscient. It was possible that this had slipped in under his notice. In such a situation, it was urgent that she reported it as quickly as possible.


    Which brought her to her third possibility, and also the one that seemed to be the most likely. This game could either be the coboration of multiple deities, or a product of the Keeper¡¯s personal work. This had the highest chance to be the case, because while he wasn¡¯t omniscient, Tsubaki was confident that he would have at least been notified of such an obvious development within the world.


    Nevertheless, there was only one way to confirm things. If it was the second option, then it would be a terrible crime not to report it. Tsubaki closed her eyes, whispering softly. ¡°Ohdy of magic and fortune, I ask for an audience.¡±


    Tsubaki could feel the surge of power behind her, slowly turning around in her chair to see Ryone standing there, smiling calmly to her. ¡°My, this is unusual. You don¡¯t normally ask to see us. Is something the matter, dear?¡±


    Tsubaki rose from her chair, moving to kneel on the floor. ¡°I thank you for granting my request. I asked to speak with you because I have concerns over a development within the worlds. It would go against my duty not to seek an answer.¡±


    Ryone nced past the kneeling Tsubaki, looking towards theputer screen. She could still see the trailer loaded up for Vision Expanse. ¡°Ah, so you noticed that something was wrong, hmm?¡±


    Tsubaki¡¯s head jerked up, her kitsune ears falling back as she looked to Ryone in rm. ¡°You mean, the game truly is dangerous?¡±


    ¡°Hmm? Oh, no, nothing of the sort, dear. Ashley just didn¡¯t cover her tracks well enough, is all.¡± Ryone gave a small grin. ¡°It¡¯s not some dangerous attack or anything of the sort. It¡¯s from us.¡±


    Tsubaki¡¯s body visibly rxed at that, a content smile falling over her face. ¡°Thank you for your words, Lady Ryone.¡±


    ¡°Ah, but don¡¯t tell anyone. It¡¯s a secret for now. He doesn¡¯t want people to know just yet.¡±


    Tsubaki nced towards Ryone, her face regaining its former calm. ¡°Of course. Thank you. I simply could not allow a possible danger to go unnoticed.¡±


    ¡°Oh, no, thank you my dear.¡± Ryone crouched down in front of Tsubaki. ¡°For all your hard work over the years, you have all of our thanks. When this gamees out, why don¡¯t you give it a try yourself? It will give you something to do between Dale¡¯s visits, besides training.¡±


    Tsubaki hesitated, both at the closeness of the goddess and at her suggestion. ¡°I¡¯ll consider it, Lady Ryone.¡±


    Ryone gave a small nod, seemingly satisfied with that answer. She stood, brushing off her dress. ¡°I¡¯ll get going, then. If you want to talk, feel free to call again. I¡¯m sure that it must get lonely here now, but don¡¯t worry¡­ soon enough, I think that things will get lively again.¡± And with that, her body broke apart into golden lights, fading away in the air.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Within the game of Vision Expanse, Aurivy had arrived outside of the city of Endhor. This was¡­ not her first time doing this. In fact, she had already been killed three times before when facing the wild dogs, due to their pack tactics.


    Now, however, there was a determined look in her eyes. She had spent two days performing various repeatable quests within the city to earn enough money for new equipment. No longer was she unarmed, instead now carrying a pair of daggers that seemed a size too big for her body. They didn¡¯t have any halfling-sized gear in Endhor, and she hadn¡¯t taken the time to learn a craft skill to make her own. Instead, she simply chose to bear with the unwieldy size of the dagger¡¯s handles for now.


    At least when it came to her armor, she was able to get it fitted for her body, though that took most of the funds that she had earned thest two days to achieve. The armor she wore now was a simple leather vest which left a portion of her midriff exposed, and leather pants that clung tightly to her legs.


    She eyed one of the nearby dogs with a barely hidden fury. The pain in this game was dulledpared to the real thing, but that didn¡¯t help here. Now, instead of building a trauma, making her fear the dogs, it made her angry. It fueled a rage inside of her that made her desire revenge.


    However, she knew how to act. She had the experience of being torn apart in the real world before. While she was angry, she didn¡¯t lose herself to the anger. Instead, she activated one of the skills that she had purchased. Her body began to fade, her shadow disappearing.


    When she walked, her steps carried no sound. Only the slight disturbance of the grass marked where her feet had passed. This was Stealth, ssified as a general magic skill. As long as someone carried some kind of item on themselves, they would be able to draw the magic from that item to activate the skill.


    With her stealth active, she calmly approached the dog, which she saw digging at the ground in an attempt to dig up edible roots. She had trusted too much in the aggro form that she learned from when she was in EverLasting¡¯s game. She forgot that ¡®hunger¡¯ was enough to upset the form, and cause all creatures to enter a more natural aggressive state.


    And these weren¡¯t just dogs, their title was ¡®starving wild dogs¡¯. They were only level one beasts, but they were all hungry. The moment one entered into a battle, the rest would notice, and rush over to feast.


    Aurivy approached calmly, until she was standing directly next to the dog. Finally, it seemed to notice something amiss, its head lifting up and searching side to side. When its eyes seemed to train on Aurivy, it let out a silent whimper. Aurivy¡¯s body began to reappear, a bloody dagger in her hand piercing up through the beast¡¯s throat and into its skull.


    Even without the ensuing message prompt, she knew that it was a critical hit. The beast copsed, its legs unable to support it after its life had been stolen, but now there was the scent of blood in the air. The rest of the dogs from the field began turning their heads, seeing Aurivy standing there.


    ¡°Well, can¡¯t stealth now.¡± She muttered. One of the conditions to activate stealth, at least at its lowest level, was that she couldn¡¯t be the focus of a creature¡¯s attention. Moreover¡­ she wasn¡¯t sure that stealth would even work while she had the fresh blood on her hands. It was entirely possible that the dogs would be able to smell it, and still easily track her.


    ¡°Twin dervish.¡± Aurivy muttered, raising her daggers. One began to crackle with weak electricity, while the other emitted a faint, icy glow. She lowered her stance, ready to take on the dogs now that she had acquired the equipment and skill to fight them.


    The beasts swarmed towards her. Some went for the easy meal, tearing into the body of the dead dog, while others went after Aurivy. She might be small, but she was still more meaty than a starved beast. When they approached, her arms began to move. Trails of ice and electricity were left in the air as she cut into the creatures. Her body spun, her arms moving in wide arcs.


    Even as more beasts were cut into, they kept charging, their hunger demanding that they seize any chance they could to fill their stomachs. One managed to bite into Aurivy¡¯s arm, immobilizing it. Fresh blood sprayed out, and she let out a hiss of pain. She did her best to keep her grip on her dagger, knowing that she wouldn¡¯t be able to retrieve it so easily if she dropped it before her death.


    Still more dogs piled in, biting at her legs and her waist. She could see her health rapidly dwindling, and knew that she wasn¡¯t going to win this fight. With a sigh, she gave in, letting them take away thest of her health again. However, next time¡­ now that she had earned skill experience, things would be easier. It¡¯d be even easier if there were dozens of yers all fighting the dogs, like how it would be when the game released. But right now, she was just one small girl versus the world.

 Chapter 329: Press Release

    <h4>Chapter 329: Press Release</h4>


    Lightning crackled over the seas of Lorek. The Lightning Master stood atop arge boat, one of two that had been crafted by the gathering of ns. He let his aura freely burst from his body like a storm, his energy cascading into the sea and sky alike. When it came to the beasts of the water, he knew no fear.


    The boat he was standing upon was two hundred meters long and fifty across. Three stories high and with a dozen billowing sails, it was the grandest ship that they had ever created. Contained within was the hope of the future generation. A hundred people each from twenty-five lesser ns, and five hundred from the lightning n, for a total of three thousand dwarves.


    Nearby was another ship of identical make. The sea seemed to scatter before it as it cut through the waves like a de. Atop the second ship was the Spear Master, his hands behind his back as he stood straight. His ship carried a simr number of people, all for the sake of moving to the ancestral home.


    This was what had been agreed upon in the gathering. Of the splintered, lesser ns, fifty of them would each send a hundred bodies. The two great ns, however, were guarding the ships with their n masters. Thus, they were given five times the space.


    One ship cut through the waves calmly, and the other crashed through like a storm. However, with the imposing might of the two masters being released, there weren¡¯t any aquatic beasts in the region that came up to fight for the chance at such arge feast. This only made the two masters more and more sure of themselves as they sailed closer and closer to the ancestral home.


    As soon as they were close enough to drop anchor, the two masters jumped from their ships, their bodies sailing through the air tond on the nearby shore. Both of them had secretly made arrangements of their own before they left, to ensure the continuation of their ns. They had left behind elders to lead the n, as well as assurances that they would return when they had found a new inheritance.


    However¡­ neither of the two of them truly had an intention to return. There were numerous excuses that they could give if asked, such as needing to protect the n members that they came to thisnd with. In their hearts, the only thing that they truly cared about was creating new, more powerful ns using the strength of the ancestral home.


    That¡­ and finding the traitorous water n. Neither of the two masters were happy with the fact that the water n had left by themselves, sealing off the way for the other ns to easilymute to the ancestral home. To them, it was only such a move that made them break away from their own ns.


    The two exchanged looks, and nodded to one another, turning and waiting for their nsmen to arrive on the shore with smaller rowboats. This was where the protection of their n ended, and everyone would be going their separate ways.


    _______________________________________________________________


    As the days past within Desbar, more and more excitement began to build up. The mystery around the game was gradually dismissed when a small design team came forward. They appeared with Le publicly, announcing that it was them who had been working on the game in secret all this time.


    ¡°In truth¡­ we approached Darkme Technologies with the game concept several years ago. However, at the time, the technology to properly y the game hadn¡¯t been released yet. So, we continued working in silence, polishing our product. There have been people who havee forward, looking for the money trail, saying that there was no way that such a game could appear.¡±


    The demon male shed a toothy grin. ¡°In truth, Miss Fyre has been very generous with us. She was willing to pay us out of her own pockets, so as to ensure the secrecy of the game. We were afraid that news of it getting out before it was essible would stir discord within the public. Now, however, technology has caught up with the dream. I am happy to say that I helped with this project. That will be all.¡±


    The man gave a small, polite bow as he stepped back, the rest of his team joining him. Le Fyre stepped up to the stage next to address the crowd. ¡°I hope that will settle some of the concerns I¡¯ve been seeing pop uptely.¡± She said with a small smile. ¡°In five more months, we willunch the mass release of Vision Expanse across all worlds. Our production factories in both Deckan and Earth have assured me that there will be more than enough models to cover all of the pre-orders ced so far. However, I can¡¯t make any promises for how long they stay on the shelves once it¡¯s out, so it¡¯s best to act fast!¡±


    After saying a few more words, she nodded her head, turning and walking out after the design team. When she arrived backstage, she saw only the single man who had been talking, the rest of his team seemingly gone. However, she only let out a small sigh of relief, shaking her head. ¡°Thanks for doing this, Tsu. You¡¯re really pulling me out of a bind here.¡±


    The demon male nodded his head. When he spoke this time, an entirely different voice flowed out, far more feminine and soft. ¡°Of course, Lady Ashley. I must do what I can to ensure thepletion of His ns.¡±


    Le chuckled slightly when she heard that. ¡°You sure that I can¡¯t set you up with an early ess ount? Aurivy¡¯s been real lonely testing the game by herself. I won¡¯t make you take an admin ount or anything like that, don¡¯t worry.¡±


    The demon hesitated, showing a difficult expression on ¡®his¡¯ face. ¡°I¡¯ll¡­ ept. However, I ask that you pass my message to the Keeper. I will attempt to be there to tend to him if he appears, but I am unsure if I am able to maintain my avatars while my consciousness is within the game world.¡±


    Le nodded her head, looking amused at that. ¡°I¡¯ll let him know. Honestly, I think it¡¯d be nice to surprise him with you not waiting at his feet the moment he arrived. To be fair¡­ it¡¯s a bit creepy, seeing you kneeling in one position for decades like that.¡±


    ¡°C-creepy?!¡± The demon¡¯s eyes widened, his horns suddenly standing up straight. They widened into fox-like ears, which had stiffened in rm. ¡°H-he doesn¡¯t think I¡¯m creepy, right? Oh no, what have I done¡­¡±


    Le blinked in surprise, having not expected to get such a strong reaction out of such a casualment. However, given who she was talking to, it was only to be expected. ¡°You should ask him yourself, once he shows up again. It¡¯ll be soon, don¡¯t worry. At thetest¡­ I think he¡¯ll try to show up for the game¡¯sunch, to y it himself.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s going to y it?¡± Tsubaki¡¯s eyes widened once again, her form shifting back to her natural appearance from what she had assumed for this endeavor. ¡°I see, I see¡­ no wonder you goddesses have continually asked me to y. Very well. Is it possible to have two ounts? I would like one that I could use to learn the game on my own, and another for use when he is active.¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± Le readily agreed to the request. ¡°Setting up an extra ount for you shouldn¡¯t be a problem. I¡¯ll ask Vivi to take care of you. Should I let Aurivy know to expect you in the game soon?¡±


    Tsubaki hesitated again, before nodding. ¡°It would be best to get started quickly. Please inform Lady Aurivy that I will be joining her as soon as I am able.¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    Rivy~. Ashley¡¯s voice echoed in Aurivy¡¯s mind as she sat at the cksmith¡¯s forge. I found a gaming buddy for you.


    Aurivy¡¯s half-lidded eyes immediately opened, and she looked up. ¡°What? Did Udona finally decide that she¡¯ll y before the official release?¡±


    Well, no¡­ still no luck on that front. She¡¯s being pretty insistent there. But I got someone outside the pantheon.


    ¡°Ugh¡­ don¡¯t tell me you talked one of your employees into babysitting me? I¡¯m not that desperate, Ash.¡± It seemed as if the cksmith working just a few feet away either didn¡¯t hear Aurivy, or didn¡¯t care about her sudden outbursts of conversation with herself.


    No, no. It¡¯s Tsubaki. I talked her into ying the game.


    ¡°Really?!¡± Aurivy jumped to her feet, excitement written across her face. ¡°You got Tsu to y? But how?! She never does anything if it¡¯s not for Dale!¡±


    I may have told her that Dale ns to y the game himself. I mean¡­ it¡¯s not a lie, right? He did get the game so that he could enjoy it personally as well.


    ¡°Well, I mean¡­ I think so? He never said it directly, but he definitely seemed interested. If he doesn¡¯t want to y it right now¡­ I¡¯ll get him in. I¡¯m not going to make a liar out of you, Ash. So¡­ when¡¯s she getting here?¡±


    Just as soon as you can send her a couple of consoles. I¡¯ve got two in my office with the game pre-installed and--they just vanished off my desk.


    ¡°Done!¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    Was it ten or fifteen days? It was hard to measure the passage of time so urately when I was training, since I typically didn¡¯t pull up the interface to keep track. Doing so was only a distraction. What I did know¡­ it seemed like this would be easier than I had expected. The training this time had not been overly painful when I seeded, though I still felt that same soul tearing pain whenever I got the mixtures wrong.


    From what I could tell, it appeared that the creation of the Divine Soul was a bit more lenient than when I was creating the Perfect Soul. This¡­ made me feel a lot better. It had only taken a few days for me to get the right form down, and after that I had begun refining it.


    Though, it did make me feel a bit worried. If it was this easy to create the Divine Soul from the Perfect Soul¡­ would the Divine Body be the real problem? Or the Divine Will? I could definitely imagine it being extremely painful to remold my body with divine energy.


    Either way, I made my way back to my room. With the ease of performing this fusion, I didn¡¯t feel overly pressured to do it quickly, but at the same time¡­ I did want to get it over with. Everyone, I¡¯ll be cutting off ess to the world in a few moments. This time¡­ I¡¯ll be down there for about eight hours, so make whatever preparations you have to do.


    After I sent that message, I looked down at the world. Or more specifically, at the Sky Citadel. I could see Tsubaki¡­ not kneeling in front of my throne. Her avatars did not fill the halls, handling her regr cleaning tasks. Though, given how spotless the ce was, it was likely she had already done so.


    Instead, I found her lying in her own bed, a ck visor fitted over her face. Tsubaki. I whispered into her mind. Barely a momentter, she pulled the visor off and jumped to her feet to stand at attention. I¡¯ll be heading down for something important in a moment. When I do so, I¡¯ll need you to vacate the Sky Citadel for roughly eight hours. Once eight hours are up, you cane back immediately.


    Tsubaki gave a small nod, not looking at anything in particr, as if she was simply responding to my voice in her mind. A swirling portal opened beside her, which she readily walked through. Once she did so, I confirmed that there was nothing remaining within the Citadel that could interrupt me.


    Well, time to get to work.

 Chapter 330: New Divinity

    <h4>Chapter 330: New Divinity</h4>


    Once everyone had made their proper preparations, I descended down to the world below. No longer was there asrge a ce that I could easily perform this change in safety like when I had created the Perfect Soul. Perhaps, there were still regions in the Great Blue where I might not be caught, but there were¡­ otherplications with this one.


    ¡°Leowynn? You know the drill. Like with the others, I¡¯ll need you to stay out for eight hours. Think you can handle it?¡± I spoke into the empty throne room. Soon, the grey mist seeped out of my body, pooling into the form of Leowynn standing before me.


    ¡°I can maintain my own form for as long as I wish.¡± She said with a small nod. ¡°I shall return when you call for me, father.¡± After leaving that message, her body burst apart, and she floated through the cracks of the nearby door. It seemed that she wanted to take this chance to explore the citadel while it was unupied.


    Now that I waspletely alone, I leaned back in the throne and closed my eyes. I deployed my world sight on myself, scanning my entire being. This was the one true challenge of creating the Divine Soul. It wasn¡¯t the fusion, it was finding the seed of divinity. If I simply used a portion of the divine energy I naturally possessed, it would cause my soul to crumble.


    I scanned through myself again and again, each time narrowing down the target of my search. Everyone had a seed of divinity within themselves, but it¡­ wandered. In its inactive state, sometimes it would float through your soul, your heart, even ki paths. Only when it was being actively used would its position be fixed.


    Sure enough, I found my divine seed in my own brain,zily floating about. Narrowing my eyebrows, I allowed my mana to surge. Like a wave, the energy crashed against my seed of divinity, pushing it downwards. I had already discovered that there would be no violent bacsh by having my manaing into contact like this, so long as I didn¡¯t attempt to merge the two.


    Instead, I pushed the divine seed into my left hand, somewhere safe for me to carry out the rest of this process without any fear of a devastating bacsh. Once there, I wrapped my mana around it like a cage. As I had previously shown, the only way to properly guide the seed through my body was with my mana, and the same was true for moving it elsewhere, as well¡­


    With a single, focused thought, the seed vanished from my hand. Instead, it appeared outside the crystalized representation of my soul. It felt so small and insignificant next to the shining crystal, though I knew their strengths were likely equal. With another thought, a tendril emerged from the crystal, reaching out to gently grab onto the seed.


    What happened next made me grit my teeth in preparation. As the seed was grabbed, that tendril began to shine a bright gold, the color traveling back along the length of the appendage and soon ¡®infecting¡¯ the entirety of my soul. The feeling was¡­ both painful and soothing at the same time. However, there was something else that I had to do now.


    While the rest of my soul was slowly being converted, I opened my eyes and called out to the natural energy around me. Torrents of green light rushed into my body, filling me up and stabilizing the small fluctuations that began to crop up. Since natural energy couldn¡¯t enter directly into my ¡®soul space¡¯, I could only stabilize my body like this to make sure that I didn¡¯t burst apart at the seams.


    So far, the entire process hadsted maybe¡­ five minutes? It felt like it had only been five minutes. But there was a reason that I asked everyone to give me eight hours. As the soothing sensation overcame the pain from my soul being transformed, and my vision started to fade into ckness, that reason showed itself.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Exactly eight hours after she had left, a portal opened within the throne room of the Sky Citadel. Tsubaki stepped through calmly, the portal closing behind her. What she saw immediately upon her arrival startled her, the Keeper sitting in his throne with his eyes closed. She could tell from his slow, steady breathing was a clear indicator that he was asleep.


    However, something about him felt different than before. He still carried that overwhelming aura that she hade to know over her many years of service, but¡­ there was something else. Due to her training, she had made herself sensitive to divine energies, such that she could distinguish when a person was being possessed by a deity.


    Now, she almost got the same feeling from the Keeper himself. His divinity had grown beyond the mortal limits in her eyes. Though¡­ she knew that such an ability of detection had only arisen after hundreds of years of training. If it were so easy for people to gain the skill, the gods and goddesses would never be able to live through their incarnations without being detected.


    Soon, a different expression appeared on Tsubaki¡¯s face. Her eyes went wide in rm before her body exploded, streams of energy pouring through the door and rushing through the halls of the citadel. It only took her a moment to cross the distance between herself and the other entity that she sensed.


    What she found was an elf, wearing a dress that looked like the night sky, sitting in the library. The strength that she felt from the figure was immense, enough that she wasn¡¯t sure that she could win a frontal confrontation if the woman had anybat training. Still, once again, there was something else.


    ¡°Leowynn?¡± She asked, feeling a bit of confusion. She recognized the woman, though the feeling she gave off was starkly different as opposed to the one other time that the two of them had met. Now, not only was her spirit stronger, more solid, but it even had the same feeling of divinity that she had just seen from the Keeper himself.


    ¡°Huh?!¡± Leowynn turned around, startled by the sudden voice speaking from behind her. ¡°Oh, hey Tsubaki. Sorry¡­ has it been eight hours already?¡±


    Tsubaki gave a slow nod at that, moving to sit next to the spirit. ¡°I just returned. Were you asked to allow him his space as well?¡±


    Leowynn nodded as well in response. ¡°That¡¯s right. There¡¯s¡­ something special about what he¡¯s doing. If anyone knew too much, it might harm the world in the long run. Even if it was me.¡±


    The maid hesitated, feeling a bit of reluctance from Leowynn¡¯s voice. ¡°If the Keeper has expressed such, then surely it is for a good reason¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh, no, I know.¡± Leowynn forced a smile onto her face. ¡°I¡¯m not upset or anything. It just feels¡­ odd being out here at times now. I¡¯ve gotten so used to remaining within his spirit that it gotfortable.¡±


    Tsubaki could understand that. After so long of living in the Sky Citadel, she couldn¡¯t really imagine living anywhere else now, even if the opportunity did present itself. Even the eight hours that she had spent away had her itching to return. ¡°Well, then. Perhaps there is something that I can do to help?¡± She offered softly, standing up and bowing politely to a confused elven spirit.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Simply follow me, and you will see.¡± With that, Tsubaki turned on her heels, and began walking out of the library. Seeing that, Leowynn could do little but shrug, standing up to follow the maid and see what she had in mind.


    _______________________________________________________________


    I let out a low groan, my eyes feeling heavy as I awoke. From my repeated practice, I knew that it took roughly eight hours for the total conversion of my soul. And during that time, even in the Admin Room my consciousness had grown faint. I had fully expected it to knock me out entirely when I did this down in the real world.


    Sending my vision inward, I noticed that the pearl which represented my soul had shifted. Its previously grey surface was now a shining gold, perfectly smooth. No longer were there the blemishes that had represented my various sses disyed so prominently along its surface. Instead, those patterns could be seen as reflections that covered the golden sphere.


    Nodding my head, I was quite happy with the result. It would take a bit of time to discover what new abilities awaited me with this divine soul, and possibly longer to decide what domain I ultimately wanted to practice for when I reached the final stage.


    I sent my world sight out, wanting to see if Tsubaki had returned yet. If not, it would be fine to send her a message saying that it was time. And at the same time, I wanted to see what Leowynn herself was getting up to. To my surprise, I found both answers in the same ce.


    Within Tsubaki¡¯s room, I found the kitsune maidying in her bed, having once again ced the ck visor over her head. However, sitting next to the bed was Leowynn. Her eyes were focused on a nearbyputer screen, which seemed to be disying game footage.


    She was watching in interest as the two characters on the screen fought back a swarm of dogs. The beasts had thin bodies, clearly malnourished, but the way that the two fought made it seem like an epic battle against an army of demons. She would wince orugh every so often in response to the screen, a smile stered across her face.


    Finally, when the battle was won, she brought her hands to the keyboard and began typing a message, reading it aloud as she did. ¡°That was great, Tsubaki. But it feels like my father is awake now.¡±


    One of the characters on the screen, a kitsune unsurprisingly, paused at that. She offered a quick apology towards the halfling before rushing back into the town as fast as she could. Once she was inside, the screen turned ck. Tsubaki¡¯s visor came off and she bolted to her feet, briefly startling Leowynn.


    Apparently unwilling to take the ¡®long¡¯ way, Tsubaki ripped open a portal and jumped through, the other end leading directly to my throne room. ¡°Greetings, my Keeper.¡± She spoke politely, quickly dropping to one knee.


    Honestly, I had forgotten that Leowynn and Tsubaki had even met. But seeing the two of them together like that, I was reminded of the event during the first invasion. ¡°You looked like you were having fun.¡± I told her in a gentle tone, though her body seemed to stiffen at that.


    ¡°I apologize if my conduct was unbing. Lady Ryone assured me that you would soon be joining the game, so I wished to educate myself about the world that had been prepared.¡± Oh? Ryone spilled the beans, huh? Well, I highly doubt Tsubaki would ever say anything that she knew I wanted to be kept secret.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. Leowynn seemed like she was enjoying herself as well.¡± I leaned back in my throne as a golden mist rushed into the throne room. At first, I thought it might be Aurivy arriving, but the golden mist soon formed into the body of Leowynn. Did her own spiritual energy change with my soul?


    Tsubaki had gone quiet, so I decided to take a few moments to think over how I wanted to phrase this. ¡°Tsubaki.¡± Her head jerked up to look at me when I called her name. ¡°As long as you are able to maintain the citadel as you have been, I hereby grant you permission to use the rest of your time as you see fit. Have fun, surely there is something that you enjoy other than constantly doing chores or training.¡±


    I knew that if I just told her to take a break now and then, she would vehemently refuse, saying that it was unbing. Even with this, I could see her internal struggle as she sought a way to politely refuse. ¡°I¡­ I will do so, my Keeper. However, I request permission to still conduct training in my free time. In order to properly serve you, I still require the ability to carry out your orders, whatever they may be.¡±


    I gave a small nod at that. ¡°Alright. So long as you make sure to take some time for yourself now and again. Besides, you wanted to make sure that you were ready for when I join the game, weren¡¯t you?¡± There was a hinting tone to my voice, one that she caught onto right away. Her eyes widened, and she gave a quick nod. It seemed like she¡¯d be ying the game a bit more now, making sure that she was as capable in it as she could be.

 Chapter 331: Shifting Focus

    <h4>Chapter 331: Shifting Focus</h4>


    After finishing my divine soul, I immediately returned to the Admin Room for a moment, just long enough to reset the permissions for the various deities. I had no desire to keep them locked out any longer than necessary. However, once that was done, I returned to the Sky Citadel. Now that I saw how much Leowynn enjoyed watching Tsubaki ying VE, I didn¡¯t really feel that it was right to keep her locked up in the Admin Room all the time.


    Back in the citadel, I made my way to my own bedroom, closing my eyes in thought. I was able to rework some of my habits now, with how far the world had evolved. I didn¡¯t need to stay away the entire time anymore. Unless I wanted to purchase something for my world, or speed time up, I could stay down here now, right?


    I went through a mental checklist of things that I typically needed to remain in the Admin Room for. Using my world sight, I could keep a constant watch over the world, just as I had with the map. The only exception there was with Lorek. However, now that Tubrock wasn¡¯t fast forwarding that world anymore, I¡¯d be able to leave it alone for a while.


    Aside from that¡­ there was the messaging system, and my rms. Terra. Is there a way to handle messages from down here? Given that she was my System Companion, this seemed like an appropriate question for her.


    Afraid not. She replied in a light tone, and I could practically feel her head shaking. I can give you a warning about when someone sends you a message, butpanions don¡¯t have ess rights in the system to respond. And the system rejects anyone submitting a function to the market that grants specific Administration Room abilities to a descended Keeper.


    I gave a faint nod at that. I had already noticed that other Keepers, even those as experienced as Sarah or Grimor, were bound by the inability to respond to messages while descended. If there was a system on the market to correct that, then surely the two of them would have gotten it already. And that is an obvious enough system that it simply didn¡¯t make sense for anyone not toe up with before now.


    I sent another quick message to Terra, asking her to ry any iing messages or rms to me, before sitting down on my bed. ¡°Leowynn?¡±


    Yes, father? Her voice echoed out from within me in response to my call.


    ¡°Would you like toe out and watch the game some more with Tsubaki?¡±


    There was a brief moment of pause before a golden mist began to pour out of my body, pooling into Leowynn¡¯s form in front of me. ¡°Are you certain, father?¡± She asked, though I could see the barely hidden excitement on her features.


    I nodded, gently waving her off. Her body erupted into a stream of mist that rushed from the room, leaving my sight instantly. Now alone within the room, Iid back atop my bed, sending out another message. Ashley? Is there any way I could talk to Vivi? I know you have a point of contact, but I don¡¯t have a terminal here.


    Hmm? Yeah, sure. I can get the desktop app for Vision Expanse set up, and send one your way. If you¡¯ve got a headset, you¡¯ll be able to use it to log into the game. But I¡¯ll let her know that the program is going to you, so she¡¯ll be able to handle things there even if you don¡¯t log in.


    Hearing that, I couldn¡¯t help but nce around the room. There were no power outlets in the walls for me to plug in aputer, though that only made me remember how power was handled in my more magically inclined worlds. While Ashley was setting up theputer, I had Ryone get me set up with a mana-powered generator for my room. It was easier than getting Tubrock to wire the entire room to connect it to the current grid.


    As for the inte connection¡­ this was an inte junction from what I saw, so it should be safe to say that a wireless connection wouldn¡¯t be that hard to set up. I added it to the list of things I needed from Ashley, pleasantly surprised when she told me that she was already working on it.


    After about ten minutes, I had a newputer resting on the desk of my room. It looked strikingly simr to the one that I used in the Admin Room, making me think that Ashley had been keeping it around to wait for me. Next to the desk, there was a small capacitor with a simple blue stone resting atop of it.


    From the moment the device appeared, it began to emit a low, gentle hum. A pulsating light gradually built up from the bottom of the capacitor, all the way up to the top, at which point the light of the stone dimmed. There was a clear power outlet on the base of the device, which I plugged theputer into.


    As soon as I had turned on theputer, I heard a gentle voiceing from the speakers. ¡°Good evening, Keeper. I¡¯m d that we are able to speak again so soon.¡±


    ¡°Vivi?¡± I asked, looking towards the screen. The silver face that I had seen through the map previously appeared on the desktop background, and she nodded her head. ¡°Okay, this is¡­ unexpected. Are you supposed to be my operating system or something?¡±


    ¡°Hmm? No, Ashley merely set my program to run on system startup. She said that you wanted to talk to me.¡±


    I gave a small sigh at that, shaking my head at my own misunderstanding. ¡°Yeah, I had an idea for the game, and I was wondering whether or not it would be possible to implement.¡±


    She gave another nod, silently urging me to continue. ¡°I saw that it¡¯s possible to have the desktop connected to the game disy a third person camera perspective of what¡¯s going on. It got me thinking about how drones could be used for things like news broadcasts. So my question is¡­ if someone had a ¡®media¡¯ ess, would they be able to create a custom character that existed just to fly around and record gamey?¡±


    ¡°Such a system has been made possible within this world, yes.¡± She exined. ¡°The media avatars are not invincible, but they are a naturally invisible race capable of flight. So long as they maintain their distance from a battle, only thergest area attacks will disrupt them. They may also cancel their invisibility at any time in order to conduct an interview.¡±


    ¡°However.¡± She lifted one hand, indicating there was still more. ¡°Media avatars have a built-in w. They are incapable of dealing damage, and do not register on most game systems. A media avatar can¡¯t be used to unlock new features, or fight any kind of monster, or even gain levels. They exist purely to function as observers.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine. Did you already tell Ashley about this?¡± Having a strong media presence within the game would help to build up the excitement for it over time, turning it into a proper source of news.


    ¡°I have, Dale.¡± Vivi gave a brief nod. ¡°She asked me a simr question not too long ago, so I have already made the preparations necessary to create the media ess ounts. Would you like me to set up an admin ount for you, while I¡¯m here?¡±


    I shook my head at that. ¡°No, I¡¯ll be staying out of the game until its officialunch. I¡¯d rather experience it with the rest of the world.¡±


    ¡°I understand. Is there anything else you¡¯d like to discuss with me?¡±


    Her tone was professional, but I could see that she was interested in the conversation, her eyes having a kind of focus to them that I hadn¡¯t seen when she was just monitoring the world. ¡°How are Aurivy and Tsubaki doing in the game?¡±


    To my surprise, Vivi actually showed a small smile at that. ¡°Aurivy has shown excellent persistence against normally insurmountable odds. The area where she has been conductingbat was built to amodate at least a hundred yers hunting at once. At first, she perished time and again, and I feared that she would grow frustrated with the game.¡±


    ¡°Despite my worries, however, she sought different solutions. She trained herself in various other fields, umting skills and experience until she was able to safely retreat after each battle, even without using her admin privileges. With the addition of Tsubaki, who appears to be abat specialist, the two are now able to fight their way out of the heavily popted starter areas.¡±


    Hearing that, I nodded, a small smile on my face. ¡°Can you show me what they¡¯re up to?¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°So, how¡¯d it go with Dale?¡± Aurivy asked the leather-d kitsune as the two walked along an abandoned dirt road within a forest. She had a pair of daggers sheathed at the back of her waist, her hands behind her head as she walked casually with her traveling partner.


    ¡°He requested that I take some time off for myself.¡± Tsubaki answered, ncing down towards Aurivy. Her own weapon was a rapier fastened to her waist, a faint red crystal attached to its pommel. ¡°And he suggested that he wishes for me to experience this game for myself, so that we can y it togetherter.¡±


    The halfling let out a happyugh at that, jumping and throwing her hands into the air. ¡°See! I told you! Sorry, Tsu, but you¡¯re way too stiff. If you want to make Dale happy, you¡¯ve got to learn to rx more.¡±


    Tsubaki let out a long sigh, shaking her head. ¡°I understand that, Lady Aurivy. At least, in theory¡­ However, it is difficult for me to discard my etiquette training. Above all else, I am his servant.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, I get it.¡± Aurivy grinned towards Tsubaki. ¡°That idea has been worked into your mind since you were a kid, so I understand. But¡­ didn¡¯t Dale seem happy that you had found something you enjoyed doing?¡±


    ¡°He did, yes¡­ And I intend to honor his wishes. However, please be patient¡­ it will likely take a great deal of time before I am able to truly rx, especially around my Keeper.¡±


    ¡°Rome wasn¡¯t built in a day, after all.¡± Aurivy told her with a shrug of her shoulders, earning a confused look from the kitsune as they continued their walk down the road.


    ¡°What is a rome?¡±


    ¡°Uhh¡­ you can just ignore that.¡± Aurivy shook her head. ¡°It means that big changes take time. I¡¯m not expecting you to change immediately, and neither is he. But this game¡¯s going to be around for a very long time, so it¡¯d be best if you really tried to enjoy it.¡±


    ¡°I will do my best.¡± Tsubaki replied lightly, before her ears began to twitch. Her hand began to shift towards her rapier, alerting Aurivy. The halfing lowered her hands, her palms gripping the hilts of her twin daggers.


    ¡°How many?¡±


    At her question, Tsubaki closed her eyes. ¡°I hear three sets of footsteps. Bipedal, though they¡¯re small. Definitely not demon bandits. There¡¯s also a scraping noise, so one of them is dragging something heavy.¡±


    ¡°They should be on a regr patrol path, then.¡± Aurivy said after a moment of thought. ¡°Are they approaching us, or moving within the forest?¡±


    Tsubaki focused a bit more, her ears twitching once again. ¡°Their footsteps are growing closer, though they are not headed directly in this direction.¡± Slowly, she drew her rapier and pointed to a position roughly twenty meters ahead of them. ¡°My senses are dulled in this body, but if I¡¯m right, they should be passing by that point in about two minutes.¡±


    ¡°Alright. Just let me know if you hear them stop to fight anything.¡± Aurivy was still tense, remembering the starving situation of the dogs outside of the starter city. If the creatures here were the same, then they would stop to fight any wild beast that they came across. If that happened, then they would need to prepare for a fight, even if they remained outside of the aggro range.


    Tsubaki remained quiet, her de drawn. Soon, three short figures emerged from between the trees, standing just a bit smaller than Aurivy herself. They were pudgy, clearly well fed, though their arms and legs were overly scrawny. Two of them carried short spears that they held over their shoulders, while the third pulled a long club behind himself. Sure enough, they moved to pass by the same spot that Tsubaki had previously indicated.


    ¡°Fairy, can you identify these creatures?¡± Aurivy asked in a quiet voice, not wanting to make enough noise to triggerbat, in case they had an extended aggro range.


    ¡°Of course!¡± The fairy appeared next to Aurivy¡¯s shoulder, nodding her head. ¡°These are forest hobs. Level six monsters that live within otherwise unpopted forests. Known for traveling in hunting parties, they are amon monster encountered by explorers, and also the lowest ranked force in the Mad King¡¯s army.¡±


    Aurivy paused upon hearing about the Mad King. It wasn¡¯t her first time encountering the name, and she believed that it was a part of a plot built up within the world. From what she knew, it was the Mad King that had led a number of forces to attack demonnds, cutting off contact between cities with his hordes of monsters.


    ¡°We¡¯ll let them pass for now.¡± Aurivy whispered to Tsubaki, who simply nodded her head. It was too much of a run to get back here from Endhor, and they were too close to the next city. Once they arrived, they¡¯d be able to set their new spawn point, and have less to worry about when it came to fighting monsters.

 Chapter 332: Mirror, Mirror

    <h4>Chapter 332: Mirror, Mirror</h4>


    Living within the Sky Citadel, I gradually began to let myself slip into a more normal life once again. With Leowynn no longer needing to remain hidden, and with Ryone or the others sometimesing down to visit, it started to feel like a proper family. I had to admit, even Tsubaki started to show signs of changing from the lively atmosphere.


    I first started to notice it about a week after I had descended. With her perfect self transformation, she no longer needed to eat, yet she still cooked for me. When she did, she diligently stood at the corner of the dining room and watched in case I needed her for anything. That day, Aurivy and Ryone had bothe by to visit, and we were all chatting at the table.


    It was only for a brief moment, but I swore that I saw her lips tugging upwards as she watched us. It seemed like she caught my gaze, however, and quickly returned her expression to its normal, stoic state. But that was enough, and it had me paying more attention.


    Most of the time, she only seemed to loosen up when she thought she was alone, whether it was cleaning the halls, doing the dishes, or even just sitting in her room. Her body would rx, and the serious look in her eyes would turn more content. For the record, I checked. She wasn¡¯t developing a crush or anything, she didn¡¯t have that kind of love for me or anyone else around us.


    Instead, there was a thought that went through her head whenever she saw us enjoying ourselves. ¡®So this is what it¡¯s like¡­ having a family.¡¯ Even if she didn¡¯t directly consider herself a member of this rather unorthodox family, the fact that she was able to be around it seemed to lift some invisible burden from her heart.


    Naturally, of course, there was one person who just wouldn¡¯t let such a hint go. Aurivy and Tsubaki spent a lot of time together ying Vision Expanse, and I would often see a variety of different expressions from her during that time. Sometimes, she¡¯d get flustered at Aurivy¡¯s teasings, whereas other times her eyes lowered, her ears drooping as she remembered her past.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Do you wanna talk about it?¡± Aurivy asked as her and Tsubaki sat at a table. Aurivy was using a long, t stone to carefully sharpen one of her daggers. Meanwhile, across from her, Tsubaki hadid out arge bundle of ck and white fabrics, and was hard at work tailoring an outfit for herself.


    The kitsune shook her head at the question. ¡°I appreciate your kindness, Lady Aurivy, but there is truly nothing to discuss. I assure you, I am not attempting to hide something from you.¡± Her eyes grew dull as she grabbed a pair of scissors, cutting away at the fabric. ¡°There was just never anything there to hide in the first ce.¡±


    ¡°You mean a family?¡± Aurivy asked in a gentle tone, earning the barest of nods from Tsubaki. ¡°Tsubaki, I already knew about all that. Believe it or not¡­ I¡¯ve seen your entire life. But there¡¯s something that you¡¯re wrong about.¡±


    Seeing that Tsubaki wasn¡¯t answering her right away, Aurivy simply continued. ¡°You do have a family. I get that you can¡¯t look at Dale that way, but we all think of you as one of us. No, not like a Goddess, but just someone that we can trust and confide in.¡±


    There was a small twitch in the kitsune¡¯s ears at that, and she nced up to Aurivy. ¡°I apologize, but you know that I can¡¯t ept this.¡±


    However, Aurivy had a rather¡­ unexpected reaction. ¡°You were pleased! You were totally just pleased with what I said!¡± She pointed her finger towards Tsubaki in ¡®usation¡¯.


    Tsubaki, as if in a practiced motion, leaned back in her chair, her hand going over her heart. ¡°Lady Aurivy, you mustn¡¯t say such things.¡± She turned her head to the side to hide the barest hint of a smile. This little y had be something that Tsubaki hade to enjoy. Any time Aurivy noticed a sign that she liked something, she would ¡®use¡¯ Tsubaki of being happy.


    In truth, that had done a lot to help Tsubaki to rx over the past several days. She hadn¡¯t known personal happiness in so long¡­ having it pointed out like that allowed her to remember the feeling again and again. She didn¡¯t know if that was all a part of Aurivy¡¯s n, but it was most definitely working.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Seeing the two of them like that was rather nice for me. Both Tsubaki and Aurivy seemed to have found a friend in each other that they could enjoy spending time together with. And thanks to that, I began to see more and more normal reactions from her as time went by.


    Of course, I wasn¡¯t giving up on my own personal training, or preparations for the iing invasion. Despite the guild¡¯s assurances, there was still the chance that RedRose wouldunch an attack on me. And while I didn¡¯t want to raise inteary panic over a slim chance, I still had to prepare for it myself.


    That means personal training, exploring the depths of the divine soul. After giving it some serious thought, I made a decision on how I wanted to train my divinity, what type of domain I wanted to pursue. Of course, I hadn¡¯t narrowed down the exact one yet, merely the category.


    The path I wanted to take was the path of detection, the ability to search through the entire world and beyond. I had already begun that path with my world sight, but I needed to take it a step further. I needed an ability that would let me more easily locate invading forces during an invasion, while still offering enoughbat potential to fight them off once I found them.


    As a part of this training, I looked through the world with my divine energy. I molded my divine soul into various shapes such as eyes, mirrors, or pools of water, and looked through it to gaze upon the activity of the inhabitants of my worlds. Doing so was tiring, as I was purposely avoiding the use of world sight, but I also felt that it was rewarding.


    This training continued for¡­ it should have been about two months, right? Every so often, I would get an update from Terra about how much time was left before the scheduled invasion, and I felt the weight of that time pressing down on me. If, for some reason, RedRose didunch a true attack, I would know fairly quickly thanks to the length of the invasion. There would be plenty of time for me to send out a warning to the world, even if they didn¡¯t have the fifty years of preparation that they did before.


    Nheless, I wanted to believe in the Gilded Branch. So far, they had given me no reason to doubt them. And, as I counted down the seconds before the invasion began, I hoped that that wouldn¡¯t change.


    The time hase for the Keeper Games! For this match, you have been designated as Defender, with your opponent being RedRose.


    Immediately, I moved to open the hostilities menu, wanting to see how many enemies had been sent to the world. Yet, I was never able to. Before I even had the chance, another window appeared.


    Congrattions! You have defeated the invading forces, and won the match! Below, you will find aprehensive list of entities that had been sent, and their total point value for your victory.


    1 Tusken - Heavily injured prior to arrival. Value: 0 Points


    My body finally rxed after I saw the message, the stress from thest several days of waiting left me all at once. I copsed back onto my bed with a heavy sigh, and actually began tough. Two months of constant training in preparation for a potential invasion, and it had been blown away like nothing.


    Sure enough, when I asked Terra about the time until the next invasion, there were still two more Standard Months. That should put the next invasion as happening immediately after the annual Keeper meeting that the system hosted.


    I shook my head, slowly rising back up to sit on my bed. ¡°Mirror, mirror.¡± I spoke, drawing out a sliver of my golden divine soul. As I had practiced recently, it formed into a circr mirror that floated in front of me. At first, the image reflected in the mirror was cloudy and unfocused, but this was normal. I had to focus on what I wanted to find, first, and my range was far more limited than that of world sight. But I wasn¡¯t aiming to look too far. The citadel had already been positioned near where I wanted to observe.


    _______________________________________________________________


    A young unicorn galloped through the ins along a dirt road, her ck fur marred with strange purple markings. Atop her head she wore a silver tiara, one built to rest on her gently shining horn. On her human upper body, she wore a white dress that flowed down just beneath her waist.


    Hailed as the Eternal Princess, she had long since gotten used to the life of royalty. It was not one that she had asked for, but it was also unavoidable after she began her life as the Keeper¡¯s voice among the centaurs. She had gotten the position due to Tryval himself, and it was only normal that people eventually began to notice that she never aged.


    Alme Dien had refused the crown at first, wanting to live a free life, unobstructed by the chains that came with it. Even now, she was adamant about not being named queen. She was the Princess, wherever she went. She did not rule any centaurnds, but the king and queen of both centaur kingdoms would happily ept her order, should she choose to give one.


    Instead, her function as the Eternal Princess was an advisor to the crown. As arge city with a wide, marble gate came into view, a warm smile filled Alme¡¯s face. She had been asked to visit the Queen of Chet, one of the two kingdoms, and offer her advice on a matter.


    Nobody stopped her as she trotted through the gate, the guards shifting aside to let her pass. Whether centaur or halfling, or even one of the visiting races, Alme had be a living legend. Nobody stood in her way, and nobody dared to impersonate the daughter of Tryval.


    When she reached the gate of the castle itself, she received a simr treatment, only this time one of the guards had moved to walk alongside her. Upon entering the throne room, he loudly announced her presence. ¡°The Eternal Princess has arrived to grant an audience, my Queen.¡± He introduced her, before giving a polite bow and backing away.


    ¡°Seek an audience.¡± Alme insisted. ¡°It¡¯s seek, seek.¡± However, the queen that had been sitting on a wide swath of nkets across the room, her equine half fully rxed while her upper body stayed upright, smiled warmly.


    ¡°Now now, my dear. You know that it is simply custom. Come, join me for a moment, will you?¡± She offered, inviting Alme closer.


    While Alme typically avoided the royal treatment, things were different for her right now. ¡°Alright, auntie!¡± She rushed over, practically cuddling into the queen¡¯s side. She had seen a lot of rulers over the years, and sometimes she would get close enough to them to see them as an extended family. This was seen as a great honor by those members of royalty, as it brought them even closer to Tryval, and showed that their character was such that it had earned the approval of the Eternal Princess.


    ¡°My dear, have you heard about the new game being announced? Word hase in from the merchants, and people are¡­ curious.¡±


    Alme¡¯s face scrunched up at that. She didn¡¯t hate games, but¡­ ¡°Why would anyone want to stay still long enough for something like that?¡± She did enjoy games, but only those that she could carry with her and y while she ran, or at night when she was resting.


    The queenughed, seeming to have expected such an answer. ¡°Actually¡­ from what I hear, you don¡¯t truly stand still. Within the game, you can experience the joys of running through newnds with your mind, while your body remains where it was.¡±


    The princess¡¯s eyes widened, having not heard the full details. ¡°That¡­ that could be fun. The disabled could walk again?¡± Even now, the greatest pain a centaur could suffer was to have their leg broken. Mending a leg was difficult, sometimes impossible, and would almost always ensure that the centaur would never be able to run again.


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± The queen gently stroked a hand through Alme¡¯s hair. ¡°However¡­ I wanted to consult you about this. To allow the game within ournds¡­ it is both harmful and helpful at once. You¡¯ve seen what happens when we give up on our regr runs. Even if our minds go free within this game, our bodies will be idle. I worry that it could be a health risk.¡±


    Alme gave a nod, leaning into the queen¡¯s hand. ¡°Yeah¡­ I see what you mean, auntie. It¡¯d be really good to help the disabled¡­ But you could set up rules to restrict its use? Only so many hours a day, to prevent people from hurting themselves?¡±


    When a centaur stopped running, and became ustomed to a still life, they grew¡­zy. To an even greater degree than most races. Their bodies would be physically sapped of energy, needing the regr activity to keep their blood pumping properly. Otherwise, their hearts began to slow down, and their bodies weakened. The normally hearty race became prone to diseases, their bodies no longer able to keep up with its own demands.


    Hearing her suggestion, the queen nodded as well. ¡°Let¡¯s discuss what sort of rules we could use here, shall we? And truly, thank you for the help, my dear.¡±

 Chapter 333: Scry Me a River

    <h4>Chapter 333: Scry Me a River</h4>


    ¡°M-miss Le?¡± A bulky demon man announced himself as he knocked on the office door of his boss. He had been called in to see her, and he was terrified. After all, the entirepany knew who she really was, now.


    ¡°Ah, yes Hal. Thank you foring here so quickly.¡± Le answered with a polite smile as she sat behind her desk. ¡°Please, take a seat. I don¡¯t think that this should take very long.¡±


    Hal nodded his head, moving to sit in one of the chairs opposite of her. ¡°You¡­ wanted to see me?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. I wanted to ask you something. I¡¯ve noticed that your contact with Mra stopped a couple weeks ago. Are you not intending to continue working with them?¡± There was a genuinely confused look on Le¡¯s face, but Hal¡¯s went pale at the reminder. He had been a corporate spy, spying on a literal goddess.


    ¡°O-of course not!¡± He shook his head profusely. ¡°I can¡¯t spy on you. I may not be much a religious man, but I know when something¡¯s a bad idea.¡±


    Le shook her head with a sigh, her smile dropping. ¡°Hal, I never meant to make you stop. I want you to keep doing what you were doing. I only called you out at the meeting because I couldn¡¯t have you leaking my identity.¡±


    ¡°What¡­? But¡­ why would you want that? Why would¡­ a goddess want someone to spy on them?¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s certainly not for any of the reasons that just went through your head.¡± She said with a somewhat stern look towards the man. ¡°I want this technology to be shared. The more people are working on it, contributing new ideas, the faster it will grow.¡±


    ¡°Then¡­ why not just tell people directly?¡± This was something that had confused Hal a great deal. If she truly wanted people to work on something, why not tell them? Mostpanies would rush to obey her just for a chance to earn favor. Others would act as a way to avoid retribution.


    ¡°Simple.¡± Le shrugged her shoulders. ¡°I want them toe up with the idea themselves. I don¡¯t want to impede on the free will of my people, Hal. Take you yourself, for instance.¡± She leaned back in her chair, waving a hand towards Hal.


    ¡°You look as you do, making people assume that you are wealthy and well-fed. But in truth, you suffer from a nd disorder. You can barely afford to feed yourself, let alone your family. I know that you¡¯recking in funds, and that¡¯s why Mra¡¯s executives approached you. While you were working your double life, you were able to take care of your family, and even build up a little extra.¡±


    ¡°But now? It¡¯s been two weeks since you checked in. They¡¯re already considering striking your deal. The extra money you saved up won¡¯tst you very long, and you¡¯ll be back in the same position that you started in. And if I hadn¡¯t appeared, you would have continued to work for them. But because I did¡­ your family is at risk of going hungry.¡±


    ¡°If my mere presence could potentially destroy one family, then what would happen if I made a publicmand to focus a new technology? People from every field would attempt to contribute, causing every other field to suffer. Transportation, medicine, education, these are all incredibly important parts of our society. But if I gave amand for people to start working on developing the entertainment industry, they would decline.¡±


    After saying all of that, Le took a deep breath. ¡°So I want them to decide for themselves. Thosepanies who are already inclined to do this kind of work are also the ones that would show the most promise if I made that kind of deration anyways. So, why not just let things y out? I¡¯ll be revealing myself eventually¡­ but I hope that by that time, this technology would have reached the standard where I wouldn¡¯t have to try to coerce anyone anymore.¡±


    Hal sat in his seat, lost in thought as he listened to the words of the goddess. He knew that she was right, at least about his own financial situation. His family would be able to live happily for a few more months if they were careful with the money, but after that¡­?


    When he lifted his head up, and saw the gentle smile of Le looking back at him, he felt as if his soul had melted in her gaze. He knew that she was trying to help him. That she was a gentle goddess, caring for her people. ¡°Okay¡­ I¡¯ll get in touch with them again.¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    Today, I was using a pool of golden water as my ¡®divination¡¯ medium. Through it, I watched Ashley meeting with someone in her office. In truth, I had only wanted to take a look at her to see if I could use the various cable gateways in the citadel to extend my scrying reach. And of course, one of them led straight towards Darkme Technologies.


    I waited for the man to leave before I spoke up, still staring into the pool. ¡°How does it feel to be back in the business life?¡±


    Ashley, or rather Le, jumped from the sudden voice, ncing around to try to find the source of it. ¡°Ah, hold on. Let me see if I can get this to work.¡± I hadn¡¯t really practiced making the viewing two-way yet, but this was a good chance to practice.


    Closing my eyes in focus, I reached for another strand of my soul, sending it through the pool I had created. On the other side, I willed it into a circr shape, and imagined the two connecting. Once my eyes were opened, I could see Le¡¯s eyes focusing on my own.


    ¡°Someone learned a new trick¡­¡± She muttered softly, before shaking her head. ¡°It¡¯s fine. Honestly, it has been so long since our old Earth, I thought I would have lost my touch. Actually had to attend business school all over again to remember some of the basics. But then¡­ that happens when you spend fifty years just trying to learn how to act naturally in a new body type.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but give a small nod. ¡°This invasion looks like it was a pass, so Vision Expanse is sure to be released by the time the next one happens.¡±


    Le had a rather¡­ odd look when she heard that, gazing at me through the pool. ¡°You¡¯re¡­ going to be staying down the entire time?¡±


    ¡°Well, unless something biges up. Or until it¡¯s time for me to take the next step in my training. By the way, how are our beta testers doing?¡±


    ¡°Tsubaki and Aurivy?¡± Her expression turned into one of amusement again. ¡°They just found their third new city. ording to Vivi, at the rate they¡¯re going, and if she keeps guiding Aurivy, they might unlock the second starter zone before the public release. Which is great, because I was worried how we would handle the traffic.¡±


    ¡°Couldn¡¯t you just ask Vivi to open up more spawn zones? Do they really have to unlock manually?¡±


    Unfortunately, Le shook her head at my question. ¡°Part of the rules to reduce the cost of the systems, apparently. She has to choose a single spawn location for the start of the game. Only when a yer ount has entered another valid starting city will that city be unlocked for other yers. And Aurivy is being stubborn about using her admin powers to transport Tsubaki to different cities quickly for now.¡±


    I nodded at that, leaning back in my throne. I could tell that the two of them were in the game again, since Leowynn was still watching them in Tsubaki¡¯s room. ¡°I¡¯m surprised that Tubrock hasn¡¯t joined the test. I mean, I saw the magic of this world. If there was anything that was a fit for him, this game is it.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, me too¡­¡± Le agreed after a brief moment. ¡°I made the offer, but he turned me down. Said he¡¯d rather wait for the game tounch, so that he could test his skill against the true smiths. If they start at the same time, the only thing that determines who is on top is how good they are. And¡­ he is surprisingly prideful.¡±


    My head tilted back, my eyes going to the ceiling as I thought back to my conversations with Tubrock. It was true, when it came to his ability in the forge, he had always been prideful. He hated the idea that mortals might be able to invent something before him, and when I had fast forwarded the world to rush advancements, he had put everything he could into making sure that he stayed one step ahead of everyone. ¡°Yeah¡­ I guess I can see that from him. Udona, though?¡±


    ¡°She has pre-ordered a hundred copies of the game. They¡¯re going out to a group of people that she is wanting to establish a guild with. And because she wants to y with them, she doesn¡¯t want to have any firsthand experience in the game herself before release.¡±


    ¡°A guild?¡± I nced back down towards Le in surprise. ¡°Wait¡­ don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s a bard guild?¡±


    ¡°Got it in one. She created a gaming group in Deckan a few years back, and everyone is excited to y this. Apparently, she even revealed herself to them after they were all good friends, but they haven¡¯t treated her any differently.¡± There was a touch of envy in Le¡¯s voice as she said that, clearly wishing that people acted the same way with her.


    ¡°Huh¡­ well, I guess the release day is going to be pretty major for everyone.¡± I could already imagine Keliope and alia eagerly awaiting the game to battle or explore new areas, or Bihena simply taking the chance to enjoy herself. Irena¡­ with how devoted she was to her incarnations, she would almost definitely be ying it. The only one that I was really unsure about was Tryval. Given his personality, he didn¡¯t really seem like the type to care about games, even ones as realistic as this.


    Well, unless Alme joined. Then he would probably y it to spend more time with her. But, given what I saw of Alme¡¯s meeting with the queen, it didn¡¯t seem likely that she was in a hurry to y the game. If she did, it definitely wouldn¡¯t be on the day it came out.


    ¡°Well, thanks for the update. Let me know if there is anything for me to take care of while I¡¯m down here. Otherwise¡­ well, I¡¯ll be doing a lot of practice like this.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ now that you bring it up. There is something that you could help with. Either you or Tsubaki.¡± Le had a somewhat troubled expression on her face as she stopped me from ending the call.


    Seeing my curious expression urging her on, she continued. ¡°A pair of disasters were born on Desbar. One is a scorpion monster, the other a dragon. For now, they¡¯re iming arge, uninhabited jungle ind off the coast of Ashara. The dragon is still just a baby, but the scorpion¡­ it¡¯s not only fully grown, but looking for a mate.¡±


    ¡°I was nning to have alia take care of it quietly before it left the ind. If that creature is allowed to reproduce, and we don¡¯t act, it could wipe out Ashara.¡±


    When I heard that, I immediately thought back to the world wolf that Tsubaki had hunted. ¡°It¡¯s not also an anomaly, is it? Or is it ying by the same rules as everyone else?¡±


    ¡°Same rules. It¡¯s just as big as a truck, and its venom could kill even the strongest bodied demon in under a minute. Assuming, of course, that the forearm thick hole it left from its stinger didn¡¯t do the trick first.¡±


    ¡°And changing the topic right off that, what about the dragon?¡± I gave a violent shudder as I imagined the pain a scorpion like that would be to deal with, let alone a bunch of them if they were able to breed.


    ¡°So far, the dragon hasn¡¯t been violent. It was a random mutation from a wyvern coupling, as they¡¯re a fairlymon monster type in Desbar now, gaining the ability to breathe fire and use more powerful magic. Unfortunately for it, it also began aging far more slowly. From what alia said, this should be one of the first true dragons to appear in any of the connected worlds.¡±


    Well¡­ at least it wasn¡¯t violent, so maybe there was still hope of peaceful rtions with it in the future. ¡°Alright¡­ I¡¯ll look into dealing with your scorpion problem.¡±

 Chapter 334: Extermination

    <h4>Chapter 334: Extermination</h4>


    Author''s Corner: Thank you to Madeline for another month of support!


    Now that I had a rather clear goal in mind for something I could be doing to actively help out in the world, I saw no reason not to take the moment to do so. Even if the creature wasbeled as a disaster by normal standards, I should still be able to kill it, right? Though, that isn¡¯t to say that I would brazenly go in there unprepared. No matter what, it was still one of the strongest existences in any of my worlds.


    Tubrock, any chance you have a set of armor and a weapon that would be effective against a creature with a level just over a thousand? For a moment, I had considered using my elementalist weapon, the chakrams. However, my proficiency with them was stillcking, and I wasn¡¯t sure if the de would even be sharp enough to prate such a strong hide.


    Aye, I got somethin¡¯ that should work just fine for ye. Lookin¡¯ for a bow, a sword, or a spear? Got one of each.


    Thankfully, his reply was pretty fast, so I didn¡¯t have to wait long. As for those three weapons, I had only experienced fighting with one of them personally. A sword, please. And I¡¯m going to guess that it has some additional functions built into it?


    Nah, none of that with this one. Although he said that, I found it rather hard to believe when he sent the item directly to me. A glittering, silver curved de connected to a golden hilt, a ruby embedded in the pommel. The entire weapon seemed to glow with a holy light that made me sure that it was a weapon crafted for divinity.


    This is my Cauber, a sword designed purely to cut. Every enchantment, whether magical, divine, or ki is geared purely towards enhancing its cutting power. If ye can find something that Cauber can¡¯t cut¡­ well, then I¡¯m sorry, but I got no weapon that could break that.


    I gave a small nod, my hand reaching out to grab the hilt of the de. Once Tubrock¡¯s power stopped supporting it, I was left to handle the full weight of the sword. My arm dropped from the surprise burden, my eyes widening in shock. Even with all of my strength with my Keeper stats, I still felt the weight of the weapon. If I had to guess, it had to weight at least¡­ five hundred pounds? Though not enough to make it difficult for me to carry, I wasn¡¯t sure that there were many people within my worlds who would be able to easily wield the de without other supporting measures.


    Okay¡­ now what about armor? Since he had given me a weapon, but no armor, I couldn¡¯t help but voice my concern.


    Sorry,d. Armor¡¯s a bit trickier. Give me a few days, and I could throw something together to fit whatever yer needs may be. But there are too many things to consider when designing an armor. Elemental resistances, whether it is specialized to reduce the effects of bludgeoning, shing, or piercing, and so on.


    While it was¡­ regretful, there wasn¡¯t much I could do. Though, I did have easy ess to a good deity level armor, if my thoughts were correct. Leowynn. Sorry, but I¡¯ll need you to return to me for a few minutes. Ashley wants us to go out on a hunt.


    I could feel the surprise over my connection with Leowynn, but I also felt her quickly growing closer. It seemed that she had immediately stopped watching Tsubaki when I called her, and began heading in my direction. Emerging from the cracks in the door to the throne room a momentter, her golden mist poured into my body. What are we hunting today, father?


    There¡¯s a disaster-level creature in Desbar. She said that if it¡¯s allowed tost long enough to find a mate, then it could destroy an entire country. Since we¡¯re here, she wanted to ask us to take care of it for her.


    There was a brief moment of pause as Leowyyn considered my words. That sword is something you acquired from Tubrock to help fight this creature, then?


    That¡¯s right. I know you can be a sword, but I wasn¡¯t sure if the Warrior would be the best choice here, as it would be splitting you between offense and defense. I¡¯d rather use the Dragon for this, and have you focused purely on defense. Better safe than sorry.


    As we spoke, I passed through the door, quickly making my way towards one of the secret passages. Aurivy was still ying the game, so I didn¡¯t want to bother her with this right now. Not when we had another option to move the Citadel without needing to trouble her.


    When we arrived in the control room, I sent a message towards Ashley. Mind pointing out for me where I should be going? I looked at the four spheres floating above the terminal, representing the fours that the Citadel was connected to.


    There was an eruption of fire from beside me as Ashley appeared in her full glory. Her neck cracked as she tilted her head from side to side, approaching the control device. ¡°Ten miles off the coast of Ashara, near the northern tip. That puts it¡­ here.¡± She pointed towards an ind that could barely even be seen on the globe, but made sure not to touch it, leaving that for me to do.


    Once I did touch it, I felt the rush of my energies being drawn in. This was not the first time that I was borrowing the power of Tubrock¡¯s creation to move the citadel instead of asking Aurivy to do it for me. I knew to expect the drain, and in fact¡­ it wasn¡¯t asrge as I remembered,rgely due to the fact that my energies had risen sharply since then.


    By the time it was done, I knew that we had shifted positions. Ashley was already gone, having faded away into the darkness while I was feeding the artifact. I shook my head, turning to walk out towards the front garden of the citadel. As I walked, I sent my world sight to Tsubaki¡¯s room, confirming that she was still plugged into the game.


    Looks like we¡¯ll need to figure out just how much one is still able to detect while inside the game. I muttered those words to myself mentally, knowing that Leowynn would be able to hear them as well. If Tsubaki had been able to feel the shift in location from the citadel, she would have immediately left the game to rush over to me. That was just the kind of person she was.


    When I left the citadel, I was able to see the vast ocean beneath, a sizable ind resting just under where we had appeared. Focusing closer, I could seerge, shifting forms within the ind¡¯s jungle. Trees were bent and brushed aside as the forms moved, the sunlight reflecting off their dense carapace.


    Ashley had told me that there was a single scorpion disaster. What she neglected to tell me was that there were a considerable amount of other powerful scorpion monsters that also lived in the same forest. Their bodies were ck, lines of red marking their joint. At the lead was one that was nearly twice as big as any of its peers, the ck on its body reced with a pure white.


    Even without looking at its information, it was clear that it was the disaster. The only problem was¡­ I couldn¡¯t fight it like this. Even with Leowynn forming my armor, there was no guarantee that I¡¯d be able to hold off against so many powerful opponents without getting stung. And I really didn¡¯t want to test for myself whether or not my body was able to resist that poison.


    ¡°Repeating trigger spell slice.¡± I spoke in the runguage, holding the sword that Tubrock had given me out in front of myself. ¡°Focus spell, strengthened mana st.¡±


    I watched as, on my wrist, a faint blue rune appeared on my skin. It was the rune for ¡®st¡¯, the mark that I had set up my spell. Not wanting to get into the heat of battle without properly testing this spell, I lightly swung the sword through the air while speaking. ¡°Slice.¡±


    Blue light condensed along the de, drawing a line through the air where the tip of the sword passed. When the swing was finished, the light flew forward rapidly, a sh of mana sent through the air. I nodded in satisfaction, d that I was able to get a second tier spell to work with a higher grade weapon.


    ¡°Now, let¡¯s do this¡­¡± As I stepped off of the tform that held the Sky Citadel, it was clear that the scorpions below had already detected me. Like roaches hiding from a light, that scattered, moving disorderly in every direction.


    ¡°Slice.¡± I spoke themand as I stood in the air, swinging the sword as fast as I was able. As long as the de did not stop, it seemed that the spell would continue. So¡­ I did not stop. I picked one of the targets, and I kept shing at a single point in the air from various angles, making sure to never allow the de to fully rest. In the end, a great star of mana surged out, bingrger andrger the further it went.


    Without waiting to see the result, I repeated the process again on a different scorpion. And again. I needed to make sure that they would stay out of what I had to do next, because there was no way that I could feasibly wipe out the entire species of scorpions on this ind.


    Once I had sent out my fifth attack, I used my ki to propel myself towards the albino scorpion. From inside myself, I could hear Leowynn¡¯s voice. I manifest the dragon!


    As I flew through the air, my body was surrounding in what felt like golden smoke. What used to be ck te armor had turned a shining gold, giving off a feeling of power that was far greater than what this appearance used to present. ¡°Slice!¡± I called out the attack again, slowing down just enough that I could swing the sword without diving headfirst into my own attack.


    The de of mana shot down towards the scurrying insect and crashed against it, but the creature appeared uninjured. Perhaps the spell was simply too weak to effect it, but it did not have a single scratch in its carapace. I couldn¡¯t help but curse to myself as I saw that, having hoped that the spell would carry the weapon¡¯s sharpness.


    Since that didn¡¯t seem to be the case, I could only speed up further, closing the distance between the two of us. My approach, however, was not unnoticed. Well before I made it all the way, it turned to face me. Its tail raised up, its stinger as long as my arm. The tip itself looked as sharp as any de, but what worried me the most was the speed.


    In a moment of danger, my perception seemed to slow, my body feeling sluggish and unustomed to such a thing. By rights, I should be faster than any living creature, purely due to my stats. My perception should be higher, and my muscles stronger. However, many facets of my abilities have been¡­ let¡¯s call it sealed, due to never having met the right stimulus. How do you know how much you can lift until you find your limit?


    As I saw the tail whipping towards me, still appearing fast even after my perception slowed things down, I realized that I had found the limit for my speed. With the same body type, yes, I could im to be the fastest. But this thing was built to strike out like lightning, and it showed.


    I only had enough time to bring my sword up in an attempt to parry the stinger, my arm straining under the force I was using. But what came next¡­ surprised me even more. As the sword came up to parry the stinger, I felt almost no resistance. ck venom sprayed out as the sword cut into the tail as if it were butter, the tip flying off and rocketing past my body as time seemed to return to normal.


    My breath came in heavy pants while the scorpion screeched in pain. It once more turned to run, and I was faintly aware that I had to kill it now, or I might not get such an easy chanceter. I still had Leowynn acting as my armor, so theoretically there shouldn¡¯t be anything else that the creature could do to threaten me.


    And with that self-assurance in mind, I charged again. I pushed my ki into the de, wanting to give it as much power as I could, and crashed down on the scorpion¡¯s head heavily. Its pincers came up, trying to grab at me. However, this time I was a step faster. My sword shed down, into the head of the scorpion, and I once again felt as though I were cutting apart nothing.


    That nothing, however, had a quickly depleting health bar, letting out panicked cries every time my wrist moved. Until finally, I pierced the sword into an open wound and smiled wickedly. ¡°Slice.¡±


    Okay, so maybe this time it¡¯s not being used as a cutting attack. Did that really matter when the mana st from the spell erupted inside the insect¡¯s head? No? I didn¡¯t think so.

 Chapter 335: Vanity

    <h4>Chapter 335: Vanity</h4>


    I heard the ping of a system message, alerting me that I had received a level in the swordsman ss. As I had only been level five in it before, that wasn¡¯t too surprising. The fact that my spirit tamer or hunter sses didn¡¯t level up simply showed that the system didn¡¯t think this kill was worth much at my overall level. Still¡­ I remembered back to when time seemed to slow down for me.


    It was obvious that the cause wasn¡¯t some strange system or anything like that. My body should have been able to react at that speed for a long time, at least with my Keeper stats. It only never happened before because I hadn¡¯t felt any intense danger. And now that it was over, things had already gone back to normal.


    Ashley, the scorpion¡¯s taken care of. I sent the mental message out, taking a deep breath. I thought about visiting the dragon, and seeing if there was any way to start a peaceful dialog, but¡­ Ashley had said it was pretty young right now. If its mind hadn¡¯t matured, it might just see me as a tasty snack. Better to visit it when it¡¯s grown a bit.


    Now that I was done here, there was no point in waiting around for the other scorpions toe back. I jumped from the ground, pushing my ki into my feet as I began my trip back to the Sky Citadel. When I arrived, I was surprised to find Tsubaki standing on the edge of the front garden, her eyes calmly watching me approach.


    ¡°Wee back, my Keeper.¡± She spoke with a polite bow as my golden dragon armor shifted, the smoke leaving my body to reform Leowynn. ¡°And wee back, Leowynn.¡±


    ¡°Heh¡­¡± Leowynn chuckled slightly, averting her gaze. ¡°You noticed we were gone, huh¡­?¡±


    ¡°Of course. It is my duty to keep track of such things.¡±


    ¡°You tried to send me a message from Vision Expanse, right?¡± When Leowynn asked that, there was a small twitch to Tsubaki¡¯s ears, the kitsune refraining from answer.


    Instead, she quickly sought to change the subject. ¡°My Keeper, may I ask what the purpose of this hunt was?¡±


    ¡°Another disaster appeared here, and Ashley asked me if I¡¯d get rid of it for her.¡± I shrugged my shoulders as I responded, though Tsubaki¡¯s eyes briefly widened.


    ¡°You could have asked me to handle this matter for you, my Keeper. Cleaning up dangers to your world has always been one of my tasks.¡± It was almost funny how she seemed to be pleading with me to let her handle jobs like this, but I shook my head.


    ¡°I needed the properbat experience. I don¡¯t get too many chances to test myself in fights like this. Besides, it looked like you were having fun.¡±


    When Tsubaki heard that, her ears bent, pressing against her skull as she had aplicated expression on her face. I was just about to peek into her thoughts when her ears straightened up and she looked directly at me. ¡°My Keeper, would you like me to help you in this regard?¡±


    I must admit, I was taken about when she all but asked to be mybat trainer. However¡­ unless I went to the goddesses directly, she was perhaps the most suited to y this role. And if I did go to Keliope, Aurivy, or even alia, their methods of training are¡­ each specialized for their own fields.


    alia will pit me against monsters at the same level as myself, and make me taste defeat again and again until I realize the errors in my strategy. Keliope is far more straightforward, but she¡¯s also more of an instinctive fighter, so she isn¡¯t so good at exining her methods. As for Aurivy, she dabbles in every field, and is actually pretty good at exining things. But she prefers to just give me the basics, and the start of a few techniques to let me explore the rest.


    ¡°Sure.¡± I finally nodded my head, though it seemed that Tsubaki was as surprised by this as I had been by her asking. ¡°If you¡¯d like, we can start tomorrow. But for now¡­ I think you left Aurivy waiting for you, right?¡±


    There was a guilty look on Tsubaki¡¯s face at that, one that I doubted she even realized herself. She gave the briefest of nods, ncing back towards the citadel. ¡°Then, sir, do I have your leave to return to Lady Aurivy?¡±


    ¡°Of course, Tsubaki.¡± I smiled, d that I was able to see more visible reactions from the typically stoic fox.


    She walked back into the citadel, with Leowynn joining her, while I simply looked around. It seemed like I¡¯d have another bit of training before the game released after all.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°So, what happened?¡± Aurivy immediately asked once Tsubaki appeared in front of her in a sh of blue light. She was still standing over the corpses of the demon bandits that had tried to ambush them just before Tsubaki had to leave. It looked like Aurivy had opted to not loot the bandits and instead waited for Tsubaki to return.


    ¡°Sorry, he went on a hunt.¡± She said with a shake of her head. ¡°I had to at least be there to greet him when he returned, and ask what he was doing. Also¡­ it looks like I¡¯ll be training him for a while.¡±


    Aurivy could tell from the tone that Tsubaki used that she wasn¡¯t entirely sure how to feel about training the person that she was supposed to devote her life to. ¡°Really? Well, I guess it¡¯s your turn, huh?¡±


    ¡°My turn?¡± The kitsune blinked in confusion.


    ¡°Yeah! Your turn to be his trainer. I did itst time. Then before that it was alia and Keliope. Then Terra before them. Honestly, I thought he¡¯d pick Bihena next. But, I guess when ites to manipting energy, you¡¯re probably better than her, right?¡±


    Tsubaki had a slight panicked expression when she heard that, her eyes instinctively ncing around. ¡°Please don¡¯t joke about that, Aurivy.¡±


    ¡°Aha! You dropped the title.¡± Aurivy beamed a happy smile, before letting her expression rx again. ¡°But yeah, don¡¯t think too deeply into it. This is just another way that you can help him, right? And you¡¯re probably the closest thing to a worthy sparring partner he can get without going back home.¡±


    ¡°Can we change the subject, please?¡± Tsubaki pleaded, looking down at the bandits. ¡°Did they drop any information or anything?¡±


    ¡°Oh! Right, actually they did.¡± The halfling was easily distracted once the topic turned back to the game, reaching into her pocket to pull out a piece of crumpled paper. ¡°Just like thest ones. They¡¯re here on orders. It looks like the Mad King recruited the bandits, or one of his generals did.¡±


    Tsubaki gave a brief nod, taking the paper and reading over it. ¡°How long until we hit the next major city? We¡¯ve almost crossed into the dwarven hills, right?¡±


    Aurivy huffed, puffing her cheeks up at that. She knew that Tsubaki was trying to rush her to the next starting zone, and had been doing her best to take the scenic route to have more fun. ¡°We could be there in a couple weeks¡­ but this quest is right along the way! Can¡¯t we clear out the bandit camp before we hit the mountains?¡±


    The kitsune maid gave Aurivy the barest hint of a smile. ¡°Once the game has officially released, we can return here and take care of it together. Until then, this is all content for the yers to be able to exploreter, right?¡±


    Aurivy visibly deted at thatment. ¡°Fine, fine. But I¡¯ll hold you to that! We¡¯re taking your second ount for a spin when you aren¡¯t partying with Dale.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a promise.¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    The next few days were¡­ well, I couldn¡¯t say that I was bored anymore. When Tsubaki trained me, she took an entirely different approach from any of the goddesses that I had trained under before. If I had topare it to anyone, it would be sort of like Terra, though she exined things far morepletely than the felyn goddess.


    First, we started every day with a spar. Contrary to my expectations, we didn¡¯t go until there was a clear winner or loser, but instead only exchanged a few moves, with Tsubaki doing something different each time. The first day, she brought out her scythe, which had honestly made me worried. The second, she used spells on me. And on the third day, she attacked with ki.


    After every spar, she would take the time to exin each move that she used, whether I already knew it or not. In her words, there was always something new to learn by hearing another perspective. And then we would spar again, her using variations of the same moves until I was either able to match them or create a counter.


    Gradually, I began to feel as if she were testing me. Adjusting her speed and strength to try to find what I wasfortable with. Sometimes, she would explode with a monstrous speed that made me once again enter that slowed state. However, just like with the scorpion, I found myself just barely keeping up with her.


    From what Tsubaki said, this was a technique known as ¡®Battle Time¡¯. Normally, a person¡¯s mind adjusts automatically once they level up, allowing them to perceive events at the same speed that they are used to. Battle Time is the release of that adjustment, and requires both a high dexterity and a high wisdom to achieve.


    She noticed that I was sluggish when using that technique, my body clearly not used to acting so quickly, even though it should have been more than capable of it. And once she noticed that¡­ well, our training took a different focus. She spent weeks teaching me to control this state, to enter and leave it freely and to allow my body to properly move.


    Once she had done so¡­ I was actually able to keep up with her fairly easily. I felt like the protagonist in a movie, suddenly able to move my body so fast that it became a blur to block high speed attacks with ease. Tsubaki said that I should be able to get even faster, but that this was as much as she could help me with in that regard, since she herself wasn¡¯t able to surpass that level.


    Only when we had finished that portion of our training did we go back to learning new techniques. And when I wasn¡¯t training with her, I was training on my own. I had to practice my divine soul, and continue my normal chakra thread training.


    At least, until I received a message from Terra, her voice sounding surprisingly tense. Dale. Our next match has been set. We¡¯re on the offense this time.


    When I got that message, I was sitting in my room, awork of blue strings hanging from my fingertips. My eyes widened not at her words, but her tone. Who is it?


    The Keeper title is Vanity. Beyond that¡­


    I know, I¡¯ve got to talk to the guild. As our conversation concluded, I sent a message out to Leowynn, recalling her back to my body. It had been nice spending a few months down in the world. While I felt like my own personal training had taken a great leap, it also felt like the world itself hadn¡¯t been able to grow at all. But then again, I suppose that¡¯s the problem with handling affairs in real time.


    I knew I¡¯d be back down soon, but first, I had something to do. Once Leowynn was back in my body, I ascended to the Admin Room, and immediately sent a message out on the guild chat.


    EarthForceOne: Anyone familiar with a Keeper named Vanity?


    MeatLover: Exin. Are you on the offensive or defensive side? The purpose of your question should be due to the assignment of the system¡¯s matches, correct?


    EarthForceOne: Well, you¡¯re not wrong. And I¡¯m attacking.


    MeatLover: This is fortunate. I am familiar with Vanity. Rank One Monster Keeper. His army invaded my world six months ago. It was a difficult fight.


    I couldn¡¯t help but wince when I learned that I would be fighting a monster Keeper. Though, perhaps in the course of a year, he might have been reced? It was unlikely, though. Just the fact that I had someone in my own guild that had information was a good thing. It stopped me having to pay the Gilded Branch for the same knowledge.


    EarthForceOne: Can you give me any information on the type of monsters he uses?


    MeatLover: This is possible. Keeper Vanity disyed a preference for armored, nocturnal creatures. Their shapes varied, as did their abilities, but all skirmishes were conducted at night, unless I discovered one of their nests. They possess a high level of intelligence for monsters, bordering on sapience. However, what other creatures he has on his own world is unknown. At the very least, the ones he showed had no magical capabilities.


    If he was a monster Keeper, then I had a decision to make. Do I send a group to attack, or pass the round? If I attack, how many troops do I send? Because, this would surely be a hard fight.

 Chapter 336: The Passing of the Torch

    <h4>Chapter 336: The Passing of the Torch</h4>


    Jana stood worryingly outside of the resting chamber of Abin, the Chief Elder of the Water n. Ever since Durak¡¯s death, the n had been thrown into turmoil. Everyone was terrified that they might encounter another master ss beast, yet at the same time there was no longer a path to retreat. Even if they would be weed back, the only one that could take them to their old home had perished.


    Sure, they could craft new boats to sail back. It wouldn¡¯t even be that hard to do so with their skills. But the process of gathering the required materials would leave them exposed to the dangerous monsters that lurked in thisnd. So, they followed their original n. They found a nearby mountain to settle, and began to dig it out.


    With the manpower that they had avable to them, it only took them a short couple of years to mine out a sizable number of residences, including the establishment of cultivation channels within key rooms. These cultivation channels were thin paths that led out of the mountain, lined with cleverly positioned gems and mirrors to redirect both sunlight and starlight into the designated room. Yes, they leaked when it rained, but rain was never a worry to this n.


    The biggest problem that they faced was safety. The nsmen were too scared to even go out and hunt properly, leaving the cave for only the shortest amount of time possible. Powerful as these dwarves were, they still needed to eat. So, even though their numbers had exceeded five thousand when they first arrived at the maind¡­ barely a fifth of that number still survived.


    Some had died before Durak to the beasts. Some had died on the way to finding a proper mountain to excavate. However, most of them perished either to the forces of nature when they left on hunting parties, or to the bitter cold that came when they did not have enough food to go around. It was a sad fact, but this all originated from a single issue.


    The n did not have enough strength. Without a master, they had no way to contend against master level beasts. The elders could charge en masse, and theoretically might be able to take one on, but at what cost? At least half of them would be in to simply destroy a single monster.


    After Durak died, both Jana and Abin realized that they had received a form of enlightenment from his final act. Their legacy of water was not as narrow as they had first believed. Their understanding of blood from his battle had nted a seed within them. For Jana, it brought her one step closer to that ultimate goal. But for Abin, who was already at the threshold¡­


    For thest three days, Abin had been in istion within his chambers, refusing any visitors. He had not eaten, or emerged since locking himself away. But, every so often, people could feel a pulse of starlight echoing through their bodies when they walked by, like an ancient heart slowly beating.


    Only a few knew what this meant, and Jana was one of them. It meant that Abin was advancing. His body was being remade amidst the sun and the stars. His internal sky was evolving, epting the discoveries that he had made and bing more flexible. A new Water Master was being born, a master born of battle and blood.


    As Jana stood there, timing the spans between each pulse of energy, her lips slowly curved upwards. The beats wereing faster, and at a noticeable pace. At first, they had been hours apart, such that people were not even truly aware of what they were. But now, they were mere minutes away, each gap shorter and shorter.


    She stood, not to greet him when he emerged, but to prevent anyone from disturbing him at this critical time. Nobody knew what would happen if an elder was disturbed as they advanced, but everyone agreed that it could not possibly be a good thing.


    Inside the room, a lone figure sat kneeling in the center of the floor, a bright beam cascading down over his body from above. His skin was pulled taut over his thick muscles, a shining silver color that matched his hair. His eyes shone like twin suns.


    Briefly, his body red, a sh of light leaving him and returning him to his normal appearance, before he was once again dyed in the heavenly colors. In truth, he was not even aware himself of what he looked like. His attention was entirely focused inwards. Durak had passed them a warning that came with his inheritance, one that Abin fully intended to heed.


    ¡°When you are advancing to my level, you must focus on your own stars. Study their nature, theirws, and any changes that they experience. The more you truly understand them, the greater your growth will be.¡±


    Even when Abin believed he would never reach that height, he still engrained those words within his heart. They were the words of his teacher, a man that he respected above all else. So now, he was doing exactly that, studying each of the nine stars within himself.


    He studied the waves, rocking to and fro crashing into the cliffs and beaches. He studied the drops of rain that stabbed like arrows into the wet sand. He studied the gentle spring which nourished life, and the harsh snow that stripped it away.


    But most of all, at the center of his inner sky, he studied the red star. It was the star of blood, blood which was both the root of all life and the mark of death.


    As he studied the red star, the silver on his skin began to shift to match, turning a deep crimson. It looked as if his entire body had been bathed in blood, until it was cleared away with yet another pulse of energy. Finally, after three days of seclusion, the half-shut eyes of Abin opened. At the same moment, a single pulse echoed through the entire cave, the world itself announcing the birth of a new master.


    To Jana, who stood outside the door, the pulse felt like any other. Stronger, maybe, but not fundamentally different. It wasn¡¯t until she heard the door creaking behind herself that her eyes went wide and she turned. She saw her friend and rival standing there with a calm smile. His eyes were more youthful than she had ever seen, yet contained a deep power.


    At a nce, she could tell that he had been reborn in body, while his mind had reached a new height. ¡°Call the elders.¡± He spoke gently, reaching out to pat her shoulders. ¡°We¡¯re going to get through this.¡±


    Abin had a n to elevate the water n. Something that his predecessor hadn¡¯t been able to do, due to relying so heavily on the cultivation inheritance. But he was different. He may have been tutored by Durak, but he had reached this level through his own enlightenment.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°This bastard!¡± Kishi¡¯s voice roared like thunder, his body crackling with electricity. It had been nearly a year since they had set down on the maind, but they had yet to find what they were looking for. Whether it was a new inheritance or the traitorous n, nothing seemed to be going their way.


    After touching down, the various ns had gone their separate ways, though Kishi and Saren had stayed in touch to help coordinate their efforts. It was the most that they could do to help each other, and neither could be bothered to care for the lesser ns that hade with them. They had volunteered for this voyage, so they had to deal with that responsibility.


    In fact, it didn¡¯t take long before they began to find the corpses of those unfortunate souls that had split off from the rest, half-eaten and abandoned off the side of a dirt path. But neither Kishi nor Saren treated it seriously, seeing themselves above those worries.


    When it was time to hunt, one of them would go with the hunting party, keeping the master level beasts at bay long enough to allow their nsmen to escape with their lives. This allowed them to prosper far more than the other ns, even more than the water n. They did notck for food in the winter, able to eat and drink until their bodies were full and warm.


    However, that all changed one day. Using the method that they had arranged previously, Saren warned Kishi that he sensed a strong presence lurking nearby. He advised that they stay hidden for theing days until it passed. But that was not Kishi¡¯s way. Instead, he thought that Saren was bluffing, that he might have found another city, and wanted the chance to seize an inheritance for himself.


    In a fit of rage, Kishi broke the spear that Saren had used to send the message, and charged out towards the mountain which yed host to the spear n. Yet, he was never able to reach his destination. A creature beyond imagination did indeed lurk nearby, and it caught up to Kishi faster than he could imagine.


    The beast was small, norger than an average dog, with six legs and two swishing tails. Its body was without hair, a pale purple skin covering it from head to toe. Kishi could tell that there was something wrong with the creature as soon as it suddenly appeared in front of him. He could feel a fear that he hadn¡¯t known in so long. As if he had been identified as the prey of a higher being.


    Knowing that victory was unlikely in the fight against this creature, Kishi instantly deployed his strongest movement technique. His nine stars appeared above his chest in the shape of a lightning bolt, and his body immediately shed towards the horizon.


    When he stopped, after reaching his maximum range, he was aghast to find that the beast was still standing in front of him. It wasn¡¯t that he had failed to execute his technique, nor that he had traveled more slowly than he wished. It was already here, already waiting when he arrived. Speed meant nothing before such an existence, one that was clearly beyond the level of a master.


    Kishi roared, his body crackling as a de of energy formed in his hands. There was a chance, a small chance that the creature was entirely focused on speed, and that itsbat abilities were lower as a result. And that was his only chance at survival. ¡°This bastard!¡±


    His body charged forward, the lightning des arcing to strike at the beast. He saw the first bolt strike before the creature¡¯s body began to blur, the second passing through it. When the third struck, the beast was nowhere to be seen. Yet, Kishi still felt that same danger. Only this time, it wasing from behind him.


    And as he felt a powerful jaw locking around the back of his neck¡­ as he saw his own, headless body copsing in front of him¡­ he wished that he had epted Saren¡¯s warning. They were not the masters of thisnd. They were not the kings. This creature, whatever it was¡­ it held the right to be called a king among beasts.


    As that thought shed through Kishi¡¯s mind, the light in his eyes died out. His life, which had stood at the top above all else for so long, snuffed out by a stray dog. Worse yet, his corpse would never be found. Nobody would know what killed him. For the one person who could sense such a battle did not dare to leave the safety of his cave, fearing that what he felt might turn its sights on him instead.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Well, that was a rather anticlimactic end to him.¡± I muttered to myself as I watched the Neb-stage beast tearing into the former Lightning Master. ¡°I thought he¡¯d end up being a big bosster. I guess that¡¯s what happens when you get too full of yourself¡­¡±

 Chapter 337: Time to Shine

    <h4>Chapter 337: Time to Shine</h4>


    Author''s Corner: Thank you to Sean Ellis for another month of support!


    After stopping to check in on Lorek for a few moments, I decided to go ahead and return to the citadel, which was still positioned over the ind on Desbar. When I arrived, I found that Tsubaki was still immersed within the game with Aurivy. It wasn¡¯t really surprising, since there was only a couple of weeks until the bigunch of the game. Even I was excited to give it a try.


    But first, there was something that I had to do. Closing my eyes, I sent messages to the different deities to ry my words. I had a message that needed to be sent to everyone.


    People, hear me. I am the Keeper. There is another force which is approaching our worlds, much like the former invasions. However, this time we have the chance to attack. I will not force anyone tomit to this attack, but know this. This force is one which does not hesitate to wipe out any world that theye across.


    If you volunteer, then this will likely be a one way trip. Only by conquering the opposing world will you have the chance to return home. Knowing this, the choice rests in your hands. Whoever chooses to volunteer, you have almost half a year to prepare.


    After finishing the message, I cut off themunication with the gods, and opened my eyes. I was briefly startled to find that Tsubaki was now kneeling in front of me at the base of the steps before my throne. ¡°No, you¡¯re not going.¡± Tsubaki may be insanely powerful, but I didn¡¯t want to lose her like that. Not to mention, she was an incredibly valuable ally during an invasion, and sending her on an attack would be tantamount to throwing her away.


    However, she shook her head. ¡°I was not going to request such. I have a different wish. Please allow me to train your volunteer troops until they depart.¡± When she lifted her head to look at me, there was a powerful determination in her gaze. One that even caught me by surprise.


    ¡°You want to train them?¡± I furrowed my brow a bit when I heard that. ¡°What do you hope to aplish? There is, after all, less than half a year before they depart.¡± I could extend the time longer if I returned to the Admin Room. However, for the moment, I had no ns to do such. If I give them too long, the sense of urgency will fade and they will be less motivated.


    ¡°I believe that there are those within your people who I could elevate to a new level of power. I will not grant them the secrets of the Perfect Self, as you once requested of me. However, I will give them training that will hone theirbat instincts such that they would make their enemies fear them.¡±


    I leaned back in my throne, sinking into thought. Before I could answer, she followed up her request with another condition. ¡°Unfortunately, it means that I will be unable to assist you in your ownbat training, until the army has left. I will also not likely be able to join you in Vision Expanse very often while overseeing their training.¡±


    My brows furrowed when I heard that. Neither of those were too incredibly important to me right away. Tsubaki and I could train ourselvester, and we could simrly y the game after the invasion force had left. But I knew that the game was likely Tsubaki¡¯s only real source of enjoymenttely, and I didn¡¯t want to arbitrarily strip her of that.


    Eventually, I gave a long sigh, looking down towards her. ¡°What do you want to do? I will leave this decision in your hands, Tsubaki. If you wish to train them, you have my permission and may do so in my name. But if you are simply doing this out of a sense of obligation¡­¡±


    ¡°It is nothing like that, my Keeper.¡± Tsubaki shook her head heavily. ¡°I was there for the first invasion. I understand that these external forces are powerful and terrifying. Perhaps even¡­ a foreign Keeper?¡± She nced towards me curiously as she asked that.


    I couldn¡¯t help but blink in surprise, looking down at her. ¡°You suspect foreign Keepers?¡± I wasn¡¯t intending to deny the suggestion if she could present her reasoning, I just wanted to know what led her to that conclusion.


    ¡°Apologies, my Keeper, but I have suspected their existence for a long while. While you may hold absolute dominion over your own world, we know that there are worlds outside of your direct control. The other worlds that the Fairy Gate connect to are a good example. However, you have never issued warnings about those forces, seeming to regard them as trivial existences that can be handled with the use of Lord Tubrock¡¯s cannons.¡±


    ¡°Yet, you warn us in advance when ites to these other forces¡­ This means that you regard them as a serious threat. They did not arrive by the gate when they invaded, instead seeming to just one day appear. This leads me to believe that a force of equal power to yourself opened the way for them, possibly while your deities held off some other force to make the invasion easier for the world to handle.¡±


    ¡°Especially now, when you announce that another force has drawn near, and it is our chance to attack. Putting all of this together, the only answer that I cane up with is that our opponent is another being like yourself, another Keeper. And if such is the case, our troops must be capable of fighting above their level.¡±


    I paused, thinking over her reasoning, before giving a slow nod. ¡°Well, you¡¯re not wrong.¡± Given that she had pieced it together through so many clues, there was no reason to lie to her about it. ¡°Our opponent is indeed another Keeper. However, I would not say that he is like me. From what I know, all Keepers possess intelligence like you or any other race. Yet some Keepers choose to devote themselves fully to monsters.¡±


    ¡°They live as monsters themselves, raising and evolving them to be the greatest killing machines that they can think of. Imagine¡­ imagine a world popted entirely by disaster level monsters. That is what these troops will be sent into. It¡¯s a world full of monsters who exist to kill Keepers.¡±


    Tsubaki¡¯s brows furrowed as she listened to that, before lowering her head. ¡°Forgive me, my Keeper, but why would your people be so hostile towards one another?¡±


    I gave a small smile when I heard that. ¡°Because, if one Keeper kills another in these invasions, they gain all of that Keeper¡¯s worlds. Simple as that, really. Just like if someone in my own world killed me, they would be the Keeper while the rest of the world was destroyed with me.¡±


    Tsubaki¡¯s ears visibly twitched at that, and she gave a small nod of her head. ¡°I understand, my Keeper. I will do my best to train any volunteer troops.¡± She slowly stood up, moving to walk out of the room.


    Once I could feel that she had left the room, I stretched my hand out, creating a tall mirror floating in front of myself. ¡°Let¡¯s see what they think of this¡­¡±


    However, as I was about tomand the mirror to show me the reactions of the demons below, a face appeared within it. The face of Leowynn, blinking in confusion and ncing around. ¡°Huh¡­ Well, this is happening. Hello, father.¡± She spoke from within the mirror, her head bobbing as if in a quick bow. ¡°I seem to be a mirror, now.¡±


    ¡°¡­And why are you a mirror?¡± I could feel my eye twitch as I looked at the reflection of my daughter within the mirror.


    ¡°I was getting ready to leave your body, and felt some of your soul being withdrawn. I decided to follow it to help me get out faster, and well¡­ I am a mirror, now. Could I perhaps stop being a mirror?¡±


    I shook my head with an exasperated sigh, drawing on a bit more of my diviine soul to modify the mirror, changing it into a doorway. As soon as the change had been made, the door was opened, and Leowynn stepped through. ¡°Thank you.¡± She offered a small smile.


    ¡°Were youing out to visit Tsubaki?¡±


    Hearing my question, Leowynn waved her hands to deny it. ¡°No, I saw the conversation between the two of you. Even if I wanted to watch her y the game some more, it doesn¡¯t look like I¡¯ll get the chance for a little while. I was thinking we could maybe watch some TS together?¡±


    I chuckled softly when I heard that, rising from my seat. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go.¡± I let her lead the way, instead deploying my world sight to check the reactions of the people I had been nning to see through the mirror.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Throughout the worlds, there were mixed responses to the Keeper¡¯s new revtion. They would be fighting another world again, but this time attacking? And participation was optional? Naturally, few saw the merit in taking the fight to the enemy world, when they had the choice to stay safe at home. Few indeed, when you weren¡¯t looking at one race in particr.


    When the heroc heard the news, their bodies seemed to heat up. A passion for battle that had gone too long without being properly sated now rose within their chests. They had not fought a proper war since the reveal of the Ancestor Fox, and could only settle for smaller skirmishes against monsters.


    ¡°Finally, our chance hase!¡± The leader of one heroc city, a small vige whenpared to some grand kingdoms, called out to his people. Such scenes were easily found in any of their settlements. ¡°For too long, we have stood idle, training ourselves in seclusion. The other races view us as godless, unworthy of the Keeper¡¯s love. What use have we of their gods!?¡±


    ¡°If not for the benevolence of the Ancestor, we would have swept over this world like a storm.¡± The chief¡¯s third eye scanned the faces of the growing crowd around him. ¡°Now we are given the chance at a new world. One where nobody will stop us from battling to our heart¡¯s content. We will live and die by the strength of our bodies, and the depth of our will!¡±


    The herocs cheered for their leader¡¯s words, before a voice filled their minds. People of the heroc, hear me. My name is Tsubaki, and I speak on behalf of the Keeper.


    The voice shook their minds, not because of the strength behind it, but because of its identity. This was their Ancestor Fox, the sole representative of the herocs for hundreds of years. The one who had asked them to show kindness to the other races, instead of war.


    I have been granted permission to train the Keeper¡¯s troops for this uing battle. I know that your people no doubt wish to send as many as possible to this battle, but I must impose a limit. If too many are sent, the species will be unable to continue within this world. To prevent that, I ask that no more than half of the heroc people participate in this battle.


    As one might expect, there was a mix of emotions present in those that heard Tsubaki¡¯s words. On the one hand, she was granting permission for half of the entire race to participate in this battle, and even saying that she would personally oversee their training until they left. This was a great honor for the herocs. However, it also meant that half of them would have to stay behind. Naturally, they couldn¡¯t just leave the sick and the old, for that would not meet the condition of allowing the species to continue.


    Yet how could they fight this ruling? Was it not the Keeper himself who had the final verdict over who left for this attack? And if the Ancestor spoke for the Keeper, then that meant her word was as good as final. Although they did not enjoy that many of their people would be left behind, it was a result that could not be argued with.

 Chapter 338: Return of the Traveler

    <h4>Chapter 338: Return of the Traveler</h4>


    As Leowynn and I entertained ourselves in one of the sitting rooms of the citadel, I was able to watch the world below. I could see the forces that began to shift and gather at my summons. Already, millions of beings were moving, more and more passing through the gates to arrive at Earth.


    When they got there, they all seemed to somehow already know where to go, taking one of the elven gates to the heroc continent. That¡¯s where the true army seemed to be gathering. And¡­ it¡¯s also where I saw Tsubaki waiting for them.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Tsubaki stood calmly upon a raised tform, watching the people moving in, one group at a time. She knew that it would take a few days for the first batch of recruits to finish arriving, but time was in short supply. This was only one of the meeting locations, with her avatars in seven other ces nearby, each one crowded to capacity.


    ¡°Listen up!¡± She shouted, her voice amplified to reach the horizon. After focusing for a moment, an illusory image of herself appeared, farrger and able to clearly be seen by everyone that had gathered. Simrly, seven other Tsubaki images could be seen just beyond the horizon, rising up like tall mountains.


    ¡°You have all answered the Keeper¡¯s call. And for this, I thank you. From the bottom of my heart, I respect anyone willing toy down their lives for this cause. But right now, that is not enough! Right now, you are all too weak! If he sent you to the enemy world at this time, you would be ughtered by the inhabitants.¡±


    ¡°Sure, you might be able to take one down with you. Some of you may even be able to take down ten, or twenty. But for every one of you, you can expect there to be a thousand enemies. If you want to survive long enough to return home, you will need to be strong enough not to fall when swarmed by the enemy. That¡¯s where Ie in. I¡¯m going to train you. I¡¯m going to teach you tactics and techniques the will help you survive.¡±


    ¡°For these six months, the Keeper has left all of you in my care. Now, everyone! Divide yourselves into four groups!¡± With a wave of Tsubaki¡¯s hand, thend shifted. Four wide tforms emerged, one on either side of her. ¡°To my left, I want anyone who specializes in martialbat. To my right, anyone who is a proficient healer. At my back, those who are focused on stealth and speed. And in front of me, I want the casters.¡±


    Naturally, the tforms were not big enough to hold everyone. Tsubaki was good, but she wasn¡¯t that good. Instead, they were simply guidelines on where people should stand. However, she was pleased to see the druids from the crowd acting of their own volition. Whenever a tform was filled to capacity, it was suddenly expanded, further and further until the horizon was just a sea of faces.


    ¡°Good.¡± Tsubaki nodded, having to wait several hours while people shifted to get into position, and having to help a few decide where the specialty lie. ¡°Those that stand with you all share a simr skill to your own. But you will not be focusing on training with them. I would ask everyone to remain still for a while, while I go through and assign team numbers. These will be the teams that you live and train with for the rest of your lives. However short or long they may be.¡±


    After saying that, Tsubaki¡¯s brow narrowed in focus. Her body began to blur as she moved rapidly through the mages in front of her. She was burning her own power to enhance her speed to its absolute limit, knowing that there were too many people to take this any slower. Every time she passed by someone, a searing brand was left on their chest with a number, and their health bar appeared above their head.


    Like this, her progress could be measured by seeing how many people were still ¡®uninjured¡¯. Even with her speed, it took her two full hours to get through only the mages. Then next came the warriors¡­ and the healers¡­ then finally the rogues. Of the four groups, there were significantly less rogues, with healersing in a close second, so those two were able to be ¡®processed¡¯ a lot sooner.


    By the time Tsubaki was done, the sun was setting over the horizon. With that same blur of motion, she appeared on her own tform once again. Her face was visibly exhausted, the energy she was emitting notably weaker than it had been previously. Even the illusory image that she was maintaining looked less solid.


    ¡°I have now marked everyone here with a team number.¡± She said with a tired tone. ¡°For now, you are all dismissed to set up camps for the night. At dawn, I want everyone here, organized by their team. Anyone who is displeased by their team may leave.¡±


    And with that, the eight images of Tsubaki vanished. Her avatars erupted into multicolor wisps of energy and rushed into the sky. She would need to rest as well, to recover her energies that she had spent handling the selection process.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Like that, the days once again began to pass. However, soon I noticed that Tsubaki was not the only one handling their training. At one point, both Bihena and Keliope had arrived among the camps, coaching them through several drills. She seemed thankful for the help, as it was really difficult to manage¡­ oh lord, that was a lot of people.


    Each camp held twenty million recruits. Seeing that number, even I ended up sending a silent thanks to the two goddesses for choosing to assist her with their training. However, that was not the only thing happening in the world.


    They may have lost a significant amount of customers to thistest revtion, but Darkme Technologies was still moving ording to schedule. Roughly two weeks after the armies began to amass, it was finally time to release Vision Expanse unto the world. There was an excitement mixed within the tension of the world, both anxious about the uing fight, and the release of a new product.


    Though¡­ to my surprise, there were not as many people pre-ordering copies as I had expected. Less than one percent of the total poption chose to reserve a copy for themselves. Nevertheless, that left quite a lot of yers. Myself included among them. This was something that Sarah made, and my own deities chose for us, so naturally I had to give it a try.


    ¡°Wee in, Dale.¡± Vivi spoke gently, my body hovering in a ck void. She was the only other creature present, her silver body standing before me.


    ¡°Hey, Vivi.¡± I looked down at my own hands, feeling rather odd how I could see the misshapen polygons that seemed to conflict with reality. Even though I could still feel it as my normal body. ¡°Special treatment for the Keeper, or run out of fairies to help people with creation?¡±


    ¡°Special treatment.¡± She nodded her head to confirm. ¡°I try to be here for any deity that I am aware of. Now, shall we begin?¡± When I signalled her to continue, she began to lead me through the character creation process.


    Choosing my body was easy enough, as I went with my own default. However, when it came to choosing my starter skill¡­ That was a significantly harder decision. I had already watched how much Aurivy struggled in the initial phase of the game due to not possessing abat skill of her own.


    Even if I didn¡¯t n to y this game religiously, I did want to be able to log in and have fun with it now and then. It was a new culture of my world for me to explore, to watch develop, and one that I could even actively take part in.


    ¡°The four starting cities are going to be incredibly crowded.¡± I mused out loud. Even with so few yers, that was still one percent of the total poption of four worlds. No matter how big the cities were, they would be packed. ¡°So I shouldn¡¯t pick a production skill or anything that would rely on me staying within the city.¡±


    Suddenly, a thought urred to me. ¡°Vivi, is there chakra in this world?¡±


    ¡°Chakra exists, yes.¡± She confirmed easily. ¡°It is a basic energybination. However, it is a second rank skill, meaning that you are unable to choose it as a starting ability. If I may make a suggestion, do you wish to pursue that path?¡± When I nodded my head, she presented me with a skill window.


    Inscription


    This skill allows you to use special inks while drawing on a talisman or scroll to create numerous magical effects. Recipes for the inks, and designs can be either unlocked manually, through leveling the skill, or purchased from a trainer.


    Looking at the skill, I felt my brows knitting together. Certainly, I had seen the ninjas of Earth wielding talismans. But, if Vivi was suggesting it, I was sure that there had to be more to this. ¡°Can I ask why this is so closely rted to chakra?¡±


    ¡°Certainly.¡± With a smile, she began to exin. ¡°Magical ink is capable of being enhanced with chakra, empowering the effects of any talisman or scroll you craft. Given your status, I do not expect you to be able to spend as much time in the game as most people, meaning that a less active role will be more fitting for you at the early stages. However, these items have manybat properties as well, and will allow you to y an active role when you choose to do so.¡±


    I gave a small nod at that. ¡°I imagine I¡¯ll need to learn ki as well, if I want to make chakra eventually?¡±


    ¡°That is correct. However, the process of acquiring the Ki Control skill is considerably easier than that of Inscription, so I chose this to suggest for your starting ability.¡±


    Again, another nod. ¡°It¡¯s possible to learn skills manually, right? I know Sarah said that there were systems for that in some of her other games.¡±


    ¡°You are correct. EverLasting uses the same skill proficiency system in all of her games, to my knowledge. She once told me that it made things easier to keep track of.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± I let out a long sigh, looking down at the window. ¡°Before I finalize this decision¡­ what patterns will I know to start with? For scrolls and talismans, I mean.¡±


    Vivi brought her hand up to gently grasp her chin, sinking into thought. ¡°ording to the records, you will begin y with the Firebolt scroll pattern, and the Embertouch talisman. For magical ink, you will get themon rank Ember ink, used in both patterns.¡±


    So I would be able to havebat options, at least. ¡°And¡­ how hard is it to make this ink?¡±


    ¡°The ingredients of the ink aremon, and can be found even within the walls of the town. Petals of a sunscorch flower, water, a touch of pepper, and three drops of blood make a full vial. At base market price, you can purchase the ingredients for three copper coins. The ink itself can be sold back to a merchant for the same price.¡±


    ¡°Guessing that means that a scroll would sell significantly better, if I¡¯m able toplete it properly.¡± I theorized, earning a brief nod from Vivi. ¡°Well, I¡¯m no artist¡­ so I guess we¡¯ll be seeing how the system assistance works here.¡± With that, I decided to choose the Inscription skill.


    If worstes to worst, I either remake my character, or have one of the admin deities swap out my skill with something else. But for now, it was time to get in the game. Or¡­ at least that¡¯s what I thought, before noticing that I wasn¡¯t going anywhere. ¡°Is there something else?¡± I had already told her when creating my body that I wanted a random spawn city, not caring which one I ended up in.


    ¡°Character name.¡± She nodded her head. ¡°I skipped this step with Aurivy and Tsubaki, as they were the only two characters within the game in its ¡®beta¡¯ period. However, it is now a required step for all characters to have a name associated with them. In instances where names are shared, a fairy will store a number attached to the name to use for identification purposes.¡±


    ¡°Ah. Right.¡± Well, that seemed obvious now that I looked back at it. ¡°Just call me¡­ Tebor. It¡¯s been a long while since I used that name.¡±

 Chapter 339: Luck of the Draw

    <h4>Chapter 339: Luck of the Draw</h4>


    I felt the familiar warmth of the light enveloping me, casting me down to the world of Vision Expanse. The game had been set to release at midnight, or at least the local midnight, which had a shared timezone with the city that I arrived in. This meant that the city was full of life from the¡­ rigid NPCs that basically stood in ce, staring at the crowd.


    What city is this? I asked mentally, having learned from Vivi that it was possible tomunicate with fairies just as a Keeper would theirpanions. Which was good, because I could already see dozens of fairies popping out of people¡¯s shoulders as they were called out verbally, yers quickly beginning to fill the streets one by one.


    Wee to the city of Xanjara! A high pitched, feminine voice spoke into my mind. The capital of Jarafa, once a vassal kingdom to the Endhoven Empire! Local trade specialties are unknown. Poption levels are unknown. Military power is unknown. You will need to investigate more to learn additional information!


    I shook my head, rather disappointed that the only thing I was able to learn was the name of the city and its former political rtionship. Looking around, I approached a patrolling guard NPC, a demon draped in pitch ck armor. There was a pressing need to get out of the spawn point before it became overrun by--


    ¡°Tank looking for group!¡±


    ¡°Scout for guild, message me!¡±


    Yup, there it was. ¡°Excuse me.¡± I addressed the guard, who stopped in his steps to regard me. ¡°Can you give me directions to a merchant for general supplies?¡±


    There was a brief moment where it looked like he was processing my request, before he nodded, his deep voice echoing from within his helmet. ¡°Very well.¡± However, after saying that, he simply turned and continued walking along his patrol route.


    Directions received! Would you like me to disy the path, Tebor? The fairy¡¯s voice called out to me, allowing me to realize that the confirmation was merely a way to transfer the information to the fairy. Maybe that was just a function of guards, or the fairies themselves?


    Either way, I nodded my head, and a blue line appeared beneath my feet. I watched as it stretched out ahead of me, and began to follow it out of the public square. As I was walking, I heard a voice calling from behind me. ¡°Hey, hey, wait for me!¡±


    I thought it might be someone among the people looking for a group, but the voice was quickly growing closer. Turning, I raised an eyebrow, only to see a felyn woman charging over, her deep red hair seeming to glow in the dim moonlight. ¡°Don¡¯t go running off like that.¡± She panted, stopping just in front of me. It took me a moment to realize exactly who she was, until I saw her bright, green eyes.


    ¡°Are you--¡±


    ¡°Yes. Call me H.¡± The felyn, clearly Terra¡¯s incarnation, stuck her hand out for me. I reached for it, giving her my own name. As I did so, a prompt appeared in front of my face.


    H wishes to add you to her friends list! ept? Y/N


    Naturally, I epted her request, causing her to smile. ¡°So, heard your talk with the guard. Looking for a merchant?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I need some materials before I can use my skill, so I wanted to go and see if I could buy them, rather than running around a city that I don¡¯t know to try and find them myself.¡±


    ¡°Makes sense.¡± H nodded with a shrug. ¡°What skill d¡¯you get?¡±


    I figured that she was either just toozy to look into my info, or just wanted to y it off for prying eyes as normal. ¡°Inscription. I¡¯m going to be making scrolls.¡±


    There was an audible groan from next to me as she heard that, H¡¯s shoulders lowering as she stuck her tongue out in disgust. ¡°That means that you¡¯re just going to be sitting in town all day, right? Well, I suppose that there¡¯s plenty of time to learn new skillster on.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle at that, ncing over towards her. ¡°And I suppose you picked up abat skill?¡±


    ¡°Actually¡­ I don¡¯t know!¡± She blinked, lifting one hand as if to manipte an invisible interface. ¡°I chose to start with the lottery option. Apparently, if you can¡¯t decide what skill you want to start with, you can just tell the creation guide that you want something random. They¡¯ll give you a ¡®lottery¡¯, where your starting skill ispletely outside your control.¡±


    ¡°You might hit the jackpot and get a high tier skill¡­ or¡­¡± The gloom that set over H¡¯s face made it clear that she hit the other end of the spectrum. ¡°They have a weed cutting skill. A supplementary skill to help farmers keep their fields clear.¡±


    I held back the urge tough, silentlymunicating my amusement towards her. Aren¡¯t you the goddess of luck? The irony of all of this was not lost on me.


    Fate, but close enough. I was hoping to rely on that a bit to levy the odds in my favor¡­ Maybe Vivi caught onto my cheat?


    ¡°Well, looks like you won¡¯t be going anywhere until you get a new skill yourself. Unless you¡¯re just going to remake your character?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a week timer before you can delete a character profile. By that time, I could easily have already gotten myself a new skill or two, so it¡¯s just not worth it¡­ Maybe if I could guarantee a jackpot, but¡­ eh, I¡¯ll just figure something out. You said you¡¯re a scribe, right?¡±


    As the two of us walked back down along the marked path, I gave a light nod of my head. ¡°That¡¯s right. I¡¯m wanting to build towards energybinations again. This seemed like a good ce to start. Plus¡­ it¡¯ll help me make some easy money once I get good at it.¡±


    ¡°Tebor¡­ an artist, you are not. But¡­ maybe the system will help you ovee.¡± By the time she finished saying that, I found myself standing in front of a store with an image of a cloth bag for its sign. The path along the ground took a sharp turn, guiding me into the store.


    Once inside, I didn¡¯t bother browsing the goods, instead moving towards the shopkeeper while conversing with my fairy. What type of paper is suitable for low level scrolls?


    Checking information. ording to your skill level, standard parchment is suitable for all recipes you are capable of producing!


    With that answer, I smiled towards the shopkeeper, a red-skinned woman with her wings draped across her like a cape, a long ck dress entuating her figure. ¡°Do you have any ember ink, by chance?¡±


    ¡°Five copper coins per vial.¡± She responded, her eyes fixed on me. I checked my inventory, discovering that I had a grand total of fifteen copper. That was¡­ not enough tost me very long.


    ¡°What about a brush to write with, and parchment?¡± I had the distinct feeling that the game was going to try to force me to collect the materials myself, at first.


    ¡°Five copper coins for a writing brush, and one copper coin per parchment.¡± Or I could have just barely enough for five attempts, depending on how long one vialsted me. Either way, I didn¡¯t have the funds for a second vial, so I was all in.


    I ordered five papers, the brush, and the vial, before turning to leave with H. ¡°Well, that¡¯s well and good and all¡­¡± She spoke up as we walked. ¡°But where are you going to actually do it? You don¡¯t have a workshop or anything yet, right?¡±


    She¡­ raised a valid point. One that made me immediately send a question to my fairy. Are libraries public ess in this city?


    Information unknown, please collect the information locally!


    Groaning in dissatisfaction, I found another guard so that we could be led towards the library. Thankfully, the answer that the fairy had been unable to tell me was yes, as I was able to enter the library with my small bundle of items. ¡°Surprised you aren¡¯t going to train a new skill while I do this.¡±


    H let out a soft grunt as she sat down at one of the tables near me. ¡°I¡¯ll do that after I let the traffic die down a bit. Or when people start storming the library to try to find secret quests.¡±


    Well, I supposed that was a possibility as well. With the amount of people that would be flooding into this game, they were likely to start spreading out everywhere. I might only have a short while before even the library bes noisy. Assuming that they don¡¯t have rules to prevent that sort of thing.


    ¡°Either way¡­ fairy, how do I draw this recipe?¡± As I sat down at the table myself, I spread out one of the pieces of parchment. The pyramid-shaped vial of red ink sat next to the paper, while my brush wasid out beside that.


    Under the watchful eyes of both myself and H, the fairy flew out from my shoulder tond next to the paper. ¡°Please specify which recipe you want to use.¡±


    I rolled my eyes, already seeing how I might get annoyed with the fairies over time. Maybe it would be easier just to set up a direct link to Vivi, if it wouldn¡¯t be too distracting for her. ¡°I want to draw the Firebolt scroll.¡±


    The fairy nodded her head, flying back into my shoulder. A momentter, I saw a blue pattern that seemed to draw itself into the paper. Curving lines criss-crossing it in an almost mesmerizing way. However, I knew that this was only a personal image, as H showed no reaction to it. Simply trace along the pattern! As you grow proficient in the use of this recipe, you may develop techniques to maximize the effect of the scroll. However, such hints are beyond your skill level at this time!


    That was a starting point, at least. And, if all I had to do was to carefully trace the lines, then even I would be able to do that. So I did, dipping the brush into the red ink and brushing it on the inside of the lid to ensure that none of it would leak out onto the page. I did not want to ruin this scroll merely due to a small splotch of ink.


    Tracing the pattern took¡­ longer than I would honestly care to admit. Almost worryingly so, given that nearly the entire vial of ink was used in the creation of this one scroll. But, after roughly fifteen minutes, I was left with what looked to be apleted scroll, and a dirty, red vial.


    Okay, now what? I asked the fairy, since I had already traced out all the lines. There simply didn¡¯t seem to be anything left for me to do for this.


    Now you just have to wait for the ink to dry! So, we were back to waiting. Though¡­ as time began to pass, I noticed that the red ink on the page gradually darkened, turning into a more normal ck. Only when it had fully settled did a message appear in front of me.


    You have created your first sessful scroll! You are within the first ten people to craft a scroll! As a reward, you will receive a small amount of bonus experience, and a Scribe Ticket.


    ¡­Fairy, please exin to me what a scribe ticket is? Imunicated mentally, opening up my inventory window to see that there was indeed a new item present. One whose function I was unsure of.


    Scribe Tickets are a form of skill lottery tickets, handed out as rewards for special achievements! With a Scribe Ticket, you can enter the Scribe¡¯s Lottery, where you have the chance to randomly earn an inscription pattern, materials, or production equipment! At this time, you are only capable of entering the lowest level of lottery. For further ess, either acquire more tickets, or increase your level!


    ¡°This game is really big on lottery rewards, isn¡¯t it?¡± I found myself asking the question out loud once I heard the fairy¡¯s description. I mean¡­ there was no reason not to just save the ticket for now, right? Even if I were to win a good recipe, I¡¯d likely need ingredients that were hard toe by. To me, the ¡®jackpot¡¯ would likely be the production equipment, but I wasn¡¯t sure what kinds of items that meant. Just different sizes of brushes? A mortar and pestle to help mix the inks? Maybe a brush with a special enchantment, even.

 Chapter 340: The Opening Slaughter

    <h4>Chapter 340: The Opening ughter</h4>


    Within the city square of Xanjara, a golden-haired kitsune jumped up onto the fountain¡¯s edge. When she spoke, her voice carried over the calls that various people had been making to form groups. ¡°Assembling the Life¡¯s Dream!¡± She shouted out, her brown eyes lively as she surveyed the crowd.


    ¡°I answer the call!¡± One voice spoke up, a human male with darker skin and blue eyes, possessing a lithe build as he walked towards the fountain, smiling towards the kitsune.


    This was a summons that they had rehearsed previously, and soon others began to ¡®answer¡¯. Every five minutes, she would repeat her summons, and more people would surround the base of the fountain, standing before her. Some weren¡¯t truly a part of her ¡®group¡¯, yet had joined to see what was going on. Seeing that there was no proper exnation being given, those loners soon broke off into their own groups.


    Within fifteen minutes, dozens of people were standing around her. ¡°Alright!¡± She finally jumped down, pping her hands together as her tail swayed behind her. ¡°Looks like this is everyone that¡¯s able to log in right now. Everyone, register friends!¡±


    There was augh from the crowd as they began exchanging their game names with one another so that they could build their friends list. The leader of this group, the kitsune named Nuado, smiled happily as she watched the exchange. She waited until everyone was done before nodding. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s head to the library!¡±


    Of course¡­ none of them knew exactly where that was, so everyone simply stared at Nuado. She cleared her throat, walking over to the guard patrolling the city square. ¡°Kind sir, could you direct us to the library?¡± Even though the NPC clearly had only a limited sentience, she was incredibly polite, as if speaking with a proper official.


    It only took a moment for the guard to nod, before carrying on with his patrol. Pumping her fist into the air, Nuado turned around to face the group. ¡°Alright. Fairy, please share the path with my friends here.¡±


    Once their destination had been shared, the group of forty set off in unison. Those who walked at the back sent wary nces behind them, waiting until they were sure that they had left the main crowd behind. Only afterwards did they p their hands, another rehearsed signal that it was safe to speak.


    ¡°So, what are we going to the library for?¡± The dark-skinned human, who had given the name Dresler, asked Nuado.


    ¡°Of course, it¡¯s to find out how to form a guild!¡± She answered as if it was obvious. Some of the other members nodded their heads in eptance, though Dresler seemed skeptical still.


    ¡°Couldn¡¯t you find that information easily?¡±


    Nuado let out a huff, rolling her eyes as she continued walking. ¡°Well, yeah! But where¡¯s the fun in that? We wanted to y this game together, not just have me carry everyone around by my tail. No cheating, no abuse, no special favors. We do this the fun way!¡±


    Dresler simply chuckled as he heard that, shaking his head. ¡°Sure. Are you positive that the information is in the library at all?¡±


    ¡°Nope!¡± She nced towards him with an amused grin. ¡°But if the information is anywhere, it will be in the library! Worst case scenario, we spend a night learning the lore of this game. Our fairies should record any information we read through, even if we ourselves aren¡¯t aware that we found a hint. At the very least, they should be able to tell us where the hint was.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m okay with that either way.¡± The human shrugged his shoulders, seeing the library gradually drawing closer as they approached. ¡°Either we get what we want, or we learn other information we want. Who knows, maybe there will be quest hints in the books as well.¡±


    ¡°See, now that¡¯s the spirit!¡± When Nuado opened the doors of the library, she cast a nce back towards the rest of the group. ¡°Remember, everyone has to keep their voices down. We don¡¯t know if there are any rules regarding volume, and I don¡¯t want to see any of you getting kicked out.¡±


    Those following her nodded their heads, moving in to discover that the library was surprisingly not empty. Nuado actually paused as she caught sight of the pair sitting at a nearby table. One a human with a thin build and ck hair, the other a felyn with deep red hair that looked incredibly bored.


    The human was just standing up, gathering what looked like a pile of parchment from the table as they entered. When he turned to see their own group, he blinked in confusion. ¡°Ah, sorry. We¡¯ll get out of your hair. Library¡¯s all yours now.¡± He smiled amiably, stepping aside to let the group walk past.


    Nuado gave a thankful nod, leading her group past as she heard the footsteps of the pair leaving the library. ¡°Familiar face?¡± Dresler asked, noticing how Nuado seemed to have paid special attention to the two of them.


    ¡°Huh? Oh, sorry, I was just caught a bit off-guard that there was already someone here. Nothing to worry about.¡± She waved a hand dismissively. ¡°Anyways, everyone split up and see what you can find. We¡¯ll probably be here for a little while.¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    I really need to get a workshop. I thought to myself as I left the library with H. Just as I was getting ready to leave, a big group shows up to upy the library? However, at least H seemed to be d that we were getting out of there.


    ¡°So, where to now? You¡¯ve got¡­ no coins left to your name, so there¡¯s not much you can do until you sell that scroll, right?¡± She nced towards my hands, even though I had already ced everything within my invisible inventory space.


    ¡°Pretty much.¡± I agreed with a brief nod. ¡°It¡¯ll give me a good chance to see how much these sell for. Hopefully, I can get more than the six copper it took to buy the parchment and ink¡­ if not, I¡¯ll need to gather all of the ingredients myself from now on, and mix it all¡­¡±


    H shuddered at that idea, clearly imagining herself staying with me throughout that process. ¡°Okay¡­ if that happens, sorry, but I¡¯m going to be off doing my own thing while you pick flowers. No offense?¡±


    ¡°None taken.¡± I¡¯d have probably made the same decision myself, in her position. After all, it took me fifteen minutes just to draw out one scroll when I had everything prepared. During that time, H had basically done nothing but sit there and watch. I don¡¯t think I¡¯d have the patience to keep doing that all the time.


    It didn¡¯t take us long to find our way back towards the general shop, which seemed like a decent ce to sell a low level spell scroll. I approached the counter to address the shopkeeper, pulling out mypleted scroll and showing it to her. ¡°I¡¯d like to sell this, please.¡±


    She epted the parchment from me, unfurling it on the counter. ¡°One low quality firebolt scroll. I can offer you eight copper coins for this.¡±


    I let out a breath of relief when I heard that price, nodding my head in eptance. ¡°By chance, do you know how much it would cost to rent a room somewhere? Either a workshop, or even an inn room would suffice.¡±


    The woman rolled the scroll up as she listened to my question, leaning down to ce it beneath the counter on her side. Only once she stood up did she speak. ¡°Room prices vary based on location. The cheapest inn room allows you to stay for two copper coins a night. The cheapest workshop can be rented out for one silver coin per month.¡± As she was exining that, she passed me the eight coins for the scroll, which I immediately put into my inventory.


    I had fifteen copper to start, so we¡¯re probably going with sets of one hundred for currency. Before we left, I bought a new vial of ember ink, thankful that it would still leave me with enough money to purchase an inn room for the night. That would give me the space that I needed to do more scribing, at the very least. Though, hopefully I would get a faster way to earn money soon.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Three tables had been filled to capacity in the library, Nuado leaning over one of her books as she read, her lips moving as she focused on every line. It was clear that she was taking this seriously, and not just to create their guild. Whether it was her, or most of their group, learning new lore like this was their passion.


    Most of them didn¡¯t even have books out that would logically have clues about forming a guild. Nuado¡¯s was a documentary about the rise of a figure known as the Mad King, whereas the halfling sitting next to her was reading what looked to be a book about nobility. In fact, only a few of them had actually gone to find books rted to the local policies.


    One such person was a lycan boy, looking to be just at the end of his teenage years. ¡°Found it.¡± He spoke quietly, just loud enough to alert the rest of the group. Several reluctant eyes nced up to look at him. ¡°In order to establish a guild, the guild leader must be at least level ten. After acquiring the signatures of ten other members, they take a payment of ten silver coins to the relevant official.¡±


    ¡°And who¡¯s that?¡± Dresler asked, having a war documentary in front of him. It seemed that there weren¡¯t any obvious works of fiction within the library, no doubt a sad side-effect of the limited AI which had written the books.


    ¡°It depends on the guild¡¯s purpose.¡± The lycan answered with a shrug. ¡°If you want your guild to be focused on exploring and fighting monsters, you register with the adventurer¡¯s guild. If you want it to be a merchantpany, you go to the merchant¡¯s guild. Each guild type has special buffs, so it should be important to know where you have to go at the start.¡±


    ¡°Okay, but who do we go to.¡± Nuado asked, her own attention fixated on the boy, causing him to smile happily.


    ¡°Closest thing for us would be the adventurer¡¯s guild that I see. It¡¯ll give us a movement speed buff on roads so we can get around more quickly.¡±


    The kitsune leader gave a small nod at that, looking back down to her book. ¡°Okay¡­ everyone¡­ you can finish whatever you were reading, and then we are going out to hunt whatever unfortunate monsters exist outside this city.¡±


    A lightugh echoed through the otherwise silent library. Nuado¡¯s group knew that she favored reading overbat any day of the week. If she was given the chance, she¡¯d lock herself in the library until she had read every book on their shelves, then probably spend a few more months writing a couple of her own.


    That¡¯s just how their resident goddess was.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Outside the city, a fierce battle raged. The cries of yer and monster alike sang through the air. However, this was not simply a battle of man versus beast. The monsters that upied the territory outside of the city wererge, ck rodents. Their bodies were easily two feet long, though where they should have been plump with fat they were instead thin, their ribs visible.


    Dire rats in dire straits, forced to feed on whatever they could find. Any time a yer drew near, they attacked in a swarm, aiming to devour that yer. What they no doubt were not expecting, though, is that the yers came in evenrger swarms. For every rat that appeared, four yers charged over to kill it.


    However¡­ these yers were not all working together. There were only so many monsters to go around, and far too many people to fight them. What should have been the opening day massacre of low level monsters turned into a battle royale, yers striking out at one another whenever they thought that their ¡®prey¡¯ was being taken away. Beneath the full moon, yers thoroughly ¡®enjoyed¡¯ themselves by partaking in a bloody brawl that they could not properly enjoy in the real world. At least, not without being branded as a psychopath.

 Chapter 341: Beholden to a Cause

    <h4>Chapter 341: Beholden to a Cause</h4>


    After finding a nearby inn, I spent the rest of the night performing the extremely repetitive task of creating firebolt scrolls. Once I had made ten, I received another Scribe Ticket, adding it to the one I already had in my inventory. But for the most part, I was happy with a different benefit that I received.


    Inscription has reached level 2! Due to your repeated diligence in creating the same recipe, you have received additional proficiency with the Firebolt Scroll recipe.


    I received that message after crafting my tenth scroll. Maybe it was because I did them so close together, or maybe it only needed ten in total for such a low level scroll. Either way, I wasn¡¯t going to look a gift horse in the mouth, and began to draw out my next scroll, wanting to see what exactly additional proficiency meant.


    What I found was that the pattern had slightly changed. All of the lines were still in exactly the same ce, but they were¡­ different. They varied in brightness from a deep, dark blue to almost blindingly bright. Maybe the order that the lines are drawn in is important to the quality of the scroll?


    Left with no other hints, I began from the brightest lines, as they were the most eye-catching. As I finished the line, it faded back behind the scroll, and the next brightest began to glow even more, as if signalling me. Figuring that meant that I was on the right track, I continued on this path, until I had finished my eleventh scroll.


    Immediately after letting the ink dry, I gathered both this scroll and the one that I had finished prior, making my way to the general store. Since H had left much earlier on to begin looking for a new skill, I was left alone to wait in the line. That¡¯s right¡­ a line.


    I started to notice after selling my third scroll that people had found the general store, and started filing in to purchasemon items such as daggers, maps, or new clothes. There were a few familiar faces that seemed to notice meing in repeatedly to sell the same item, so it¡¯s likely that they knew I had begun crafting. However, none of them had approached me, so I didn¡¯t bother with them.


    When I reached the front of the line, I presented my items once again to the shopkeeper. I heard a small sigh from the person behind me when I pulled two scrolls from my inventory, waiting for the shopkeeper to appraise them.


    ¡°Two firebolt scrolls.¡± She nodding, unfurling each one before examining them, rolling them back up and stashing them away. ¡°One low quality, and one medium quality. The total value is twenty copper.¡± Having said that, she ced two finger-lengthrge, oval coins on the counter. ¡°Will you be making the same order as before?¡±


    I was surprised to hear that my profit had increased so much due to the jump in proficiency. ¡°Yes, please¡­ one of each again.¡± She took away one of therge coins, instead recing it with four smaller coins. After that, she ced a single sheet of parchment on the counter, along with another red vial of ink.


    Putting the money and items in my inventory, I made my way back out of the store, only to notice one of the familiar faces quietly drifting away.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Iing message from Jessex, Nuado! The fairy¡¯s voice echoed in the kitsune¡¯s ear just as she was swiping her rapier to clean the blood off of it. Her brows knit together as she called out to her team. ¡°Got a message, form a line!¡±


    After they left the library, they had naturally moved out to the hunting grounds just outside of town. And, of course, that meant that they had be involved with the giant brawl. Nuado kept twenty of her own people at her side to form a hunting team, allowing the rest to explore the city and train their own skills.


    At her call, her team rushed over, forming a living barrier between their leader and any yers that would try to take advantage of the situation. With their numbers, it was no surprise that they had intimidated the masses. Some even attacked them purely out of spite, thinking that they meant to monopolize the hunting area.


    However, that thought had never even urred to Nuado, who calmly took the message. What is it, Jess?


    The voice that responded to her was that of a halfling, light and young-sounding, but with a certain weariness that you don¡¯t often find in young humans. The voice of a woman with the body of a young girl. You remember that man we saw in the library? Back when we first entered?


    Nuado¡¯s eyes went wide with rm, though she didn¡¯t let that slip into her voice, thankful that her defenders had their backs to her. Yes¡­ what about him?


    He¡¯s a scribe. I¡¯ve been keeping an eye on the general store to practice my appraisal skill on anyone that passes by. Far as I can tell, writing firebolt scrolls is the only thing that he¡¯s done since the gameunched. And just now, he managed to sell a higher quality scroll. Either he got really lucky, or his skill has grown.


    Is there a rest stop between now and the point? Nuado couldn¡¯t keep some of the agitation out of her tone, knowing who Jessex was really talking about. Sorry¡­ the fighting out here¡¯s hectic. I didn¡¯t mean to snap like that.


    It¡¯s fine. I wanted to report about this because I noticed some other people keeping their eye on him as well. Assuming that they didn¡¯t change their look, it should be Eye of War.


    Well, that name certainly rung a bell for Nuado. Eye of War was the name of a yer that they had encountered in multiple games in the past, and was part of a guild known as the Beholden. One of their lieutenants, he acted primarily as their ¡®talent scout¡¯. Nuado was familiar with how they operated, how they would often act as tyrants.


    Those who joined Beholden were granted many benefits, yes, all to keep them loyal to its leader. However, anyone who didn¡¯t join would be used of having directly stolen from them, or defamed some other way in the game until they either quit or had no power left to speak of. It wasn¡¯t really a surprise that they would be on the lookout for dedicated crafters, especially crafters of magic items.


    Jess, approach the scribe. Tell him¡­ tell him that ¡®Hikikomori Fox¡¯ sent you. He¡¯ll trust you. She didn¡¯t want to outright reveal her true connection with him, so instead she gave a fake name that she knew he¡¯d be able to recognize. A name that nobody else in the world would be able to make sense of.


    Hikiko¡­ okay, I had the fairy record the name. You know this guy, Nua? There was surprise in her voice, which was normal. All of Life¡¯s Dream knew who Nuado really was. However, since she gave the false name, it seemed like she only knew him from another game.


    It¡¯s a long story. I¡¯ll tell youter. She promised, inwardly adding ¡®after I make one up¡¯ at the end.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Hey, wait up!¡± I heard a light voice calling out behind me. The streets were a bit crowded now due to more and more yers logging in, so I was at first convinced that the voice was meant for someone else. At least until I felt a pair of small hands grabbing my arm to stop me.


    Turning around, I saw a blonde halfling that barely came up to my waist, panting for breath as she looked up at me. A bit behind us, there was a demon that nced away and took a detour as soon as I noticed him, the same face I had seen stalk away from the store. Though, my attention was quickly drawn back down to the halfling girl. ¡°Haah¡­ haah¡­ finally caught up with you.¡±


    ¡°Sorry, can I help you?¡± I asked, stepping off to the side to make sure that I didn¡¯t obstruct traffic.


    ¡°N-no¡­ but I think I can help you.¡± She said mysteriously, before her brows knit in focus. ¡°Hi¡­ Hikikomori Fox sent me. She said that you¡¯d know the name.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but blink in surprise. It had been so long since I heard that word that I almost forgot what it meant. However, once I pieced it together, I let out a light chuckle. ¡°Yeah, I know her.¡± There was only one fox I knew that could be described as a hikikomori. Hell, there was only one fox I knew that would even know that word.


    ¡°Oh, good.¡± The halfling let out a relieved sigh. ¡°Anyways, I came here to give you a warning. Someone has their eye on you, and they¡¯re not the kind of people you want to be associated with¡­¡±


    ¡°You mean the demon from the shop?¡± As I asked that, I decided that it was best that we get back to moving, rather than making ourselves a stationary target.


    ¡°Yeah! Big guy, horns oddly curving inwards until they spiral? He sets the same look in every game, or as close to it as the game allows.¡± The halfling girl nodded her head repeatedly to confirm my suspicion.


    ¡°Looks like he¡¯s trying to find out where I¡¯m working.¡± I muttered as we walked, causing the girl¡¯s eyes to widen. ¡°I don¡¯t think this game offers advanced security for inn rooms. And if the rooms have any practical purpose other than a quiet spot to rest, it would be easy for them to break in.¡±


    ¡°They do. If you don¡¯t log out in a designated safe zone such as an inn room, or some kind of personal property, people with certain skills can steal from your inventory. Your character model disappears, but if they have the right detection skills, and the Pickpocket skill, they can rob you blind while you¡¯re logged out.¡±


    Okay, that made me stop in my tracks. ¡°And how do you know that? The game¡¯s not even been out a full night.¡±


    She looked up at me with a wry grin. ¡°It¡¯s in the library. A lot of the game mechanics are recorded in books, if you look for the ones with no listed authors. Nuado¡­ sorry, Miss Fox sent a message off to a known gaming broadcaster to spread the word, so hopefully people realize the danger before it bes an issue.¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately, there are only limited rooms in the inns. Less than half of the yers will be able to secure their ¡®safe zone¡¯. They¡¯ll have to take the risk, or journey out to try to find another city.¡±


    When I said that, the halfling gave a quiet groan. ¡°Yeah¡­ we reserved our rooms for the next three days when we heard that. But, what do you n to do about the guy? No offense, but a crafter typically isn¡¯t strong enough to take on an entire guild by himself.¡±


    ¡°You clearly haven¡¯t been reading the right stories.¡± I mused with a small smile. ¡°But¡­ if Nuado is willing, I think that I could set up a business rtionship with your group. You are all part of a guild yourself, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Yup! We¡¯re the Life¡¯s Dream guild, because ying games like this is what we dream of all our lives. But¡­ I don¡¯t have the authority to set up any kind of deal. If you can tell me what you want, I¡¯ll pass the message onto her, and she can get in touch with you to discuss the terms?¡±


    I nodded my head, satisfied with that much. ¡°It¡¯s quite simple. If your guild can pay to get me a workshop where I won¡¯t be disturbed, I¡¯ll sell my scrolls to you for the same cost as the vendors pay. I¡¯m sure you noticed, but they tend to buy low and sell high.¡±


    ¡°Uhm¡­ I can pass the message along. But I wouldn¡¯t be too sure. We¡¯d have to see what one of these scrolls could do to see if it was worth it. They¡¯re too expensive to buy from the merchant right now without knowing.¡± She shook her head with a difficult expression.


    ¡°Oh? How much do you tend to make from killing a single mob?¡±


    ¡°About two or three copper? But it¡¯s a mad dash to see who picks it up, since the items aren¡¯t transferred directly to your inventory. Our group¡¯s been pretty lucky because of how many people we have, but a single firebolt scroll can¡¯t be worth killing four enemies, right?¡±


    I had to admit that she had a point there. Maybe the scrolls were meant to take on slightly higher level enemies? Or maybe there was more to it? ¡°What about talismans? They¡¯re smaller, and less powerful, so they are likely to be considerably cheaper as well.¡±


    She perked up when she heard about the talismans. ¡°Yes! I saw someone throwing a lightning talisman earlier when I was at the hunting ground, and it was able to take out a rat in one shot!¡±


    Lightning? Maybe that¡¯s what I¡¯ll get next. ¡°I can¡¯t do lightning yet, but I can do fire. It wouldn¡¯t be a problem to sell those to the guild, once I get some experience crafting them. As long as I¡¯m not operating at a loss, I wouldn¡¯t have anyints.¡±


    ¡°Alright! I¡¯ll pass the message along! Uhm¡­ could you give me your name, so I can have her contact you directly?¡± When she asked that, I nodded, giving her my ingame name and looking forward to when Udona got in touch. Given her personality, I could easily see her wanting to support my dream of mastering chakra in the game.

 Chapter 342: Invitation

    <h4>Chapter 342: Invitation</h4>


    Life¡¯s Dream made contact with the scribe. A gruff voice spoke into the mind of a dwarven man who stood amidst the ughter outside the city. Like everyone else, he wore only the most basic of clothes, having not been able to upgrade yet, instead investing in arge axe he carried over his shoulder. However, there was still something odd about the man.


    As he walked through the fields outside the city, nobody got in his way. It wasn¡¯t simply his reputation that made them wary of him, but also the blindfold wrapped around his eyes. Even with it, he walked calmly, swinging his axe towards anything that got within his reach. It was clear that he had picked up a skill that enabled him to fight in this manner, or perhaps it was just his naturalbat instincts.


    Did she make her move yet? The dwarf responded mentally, keeping his attention focused. He could hear every footstep within half a dozen meters of himself clearly, and turned towards the sounds of skittering steps.


    Not personally. She should still be at the hunting grounds. One of the halflings acted for her. As the message came through, he lifted his axe, his body slowly rotating. When he brought his arm down, it moved across his torso, waiting for the apex of his spin to shoot outward like a whip. He could feel the crunch of bone beneath his de, and knew that he had in his target.


    As he knelt down to loot the rat, he felt an absence of the usual currency. A grimace spread over his face as he thought someone might have stolen from him, until he felt a slender length of gnarled wood beneath his fingers. No more than six inches long, it was clearly a wand. A rare drop, if he had to guess. Send someone by to pick an item up from me, I need to get it appraised. As for the scribe, keep watching. If they take him in, then there¡¯s nothing we can do about him. Otherwise, you know the drill.


    Of course. I¡¯ll dispatch someone right away. The two of them knew that while they did not truly fear Life¡¯s Dream, there were some lines that they didn¡¯t cross. They could be the tyrants of solo yers to rope them in and breed loyalty in them with benefits. However, if they targeted an established group, they would only be inviting a heavy bacsh, both from the target group and their own members.


    Make the members beholden to the group, and they will fight for you. This was the first meaning of their guild name. The other had to do with a special skill that some of their members focused on, as much as they could in any game that they yed. It was why the dwarf wore his blindfold, having long since learned how to discern his surroundings by sound alone.


    When the eyes of the beholder open, the festival of blood begins.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Dale, you really scared me, you know? Nuado¡¯s voice came through only a few minutes after the halfling left me. It was easy to spot the simrities between her tone and Udona¡¯s, once I knew what to look for. I mean, I wasn¡¯t sure if you were going to reveal yourself or not, I didn¡¯t know what to do!


    I gave a light chuckle as I heard that, sitting in my inn room. Sorry about that. I¡¯m keeping a low profile for now. Once my activity bes suspicious, I¡¯ll reveal who I am. So¡­ Hikikomori Fox, huh?


    Yeah, well¡­ it was the only thing I could think of that I knew for sure you¡¯d recognize as me, without letting anything slip. But what¡¯s this about you needing a workshop? Do you not have your Keeper privileges in this world?


    Apparently not. I shook my head, ncing towards my skill list, which only included the Inscription skill that I had started with. Looks like Sarah wasn¡¯t lying. She set these games up so that she¡¯d be able to y as just a normal yer. If I want to have my Keeper abilities, I have to use the admin ount.


    That makes sense. Nuado responded after a moment of thought, though she seemed a bit distracted. I¡¯ll look into getting you your workshop. From the looks of things, we aren¡¯t going to be staying in this city too long, though. We¡¯re going to have to move out in order to secure better hunting grounds.


    I gave a small nod of understanding. Honestly, most yers would begin to fan out pretty soon. There was only so much that they could do in the three starter cities, and only so much room to go around. That¡¯s fine. I should be able to keep up the production until I need to fast forward again, or get my chakra going. Does this game have a mailing system in ce for us to trade through?


    It does, but only between main cities. But you¡¯re going for the ninja path again? Guess that means you don¡¯t n to stay a crafter forever.


    I could hear the amusement in her tone at that, my lips tugging upwards. I think I like crafting a bit, it¡¯s easy money for now. But yeah, I n to learn how to use ki soon. ording to the general store, it costs half a silver to learn a basic skill from an NPC. I¡¯m almost halfway there now.


    Why not join my guild, then? Her sudden question caught me by surprise, leaving me unable to respond for a long moment. I don¡¯t mean to put you in charge of it or anything. But if you join Life¡¯s Dream, you¡¯ll always have a group to y with.


    I don¡¯t think I really align with your guild¡¯s focus, do I? I¡¯m way more of a filthy casual.


    Nuado let out a lightugh at that, carried over the message. We¡¯re all casuals to some degree, Dale! But no, our focus is on exploring and learning whatever new information we can about any game we y. I suppose you could call us lore addicts. And with your identity, who would be able to explore more of this world than you yourself?


    I¡¯ll¡­ think about it. I remarked casually. For the time being, I didn¡¯t have any immediate ns to join any powers. Once Tsubaki was done with her training of the invasion army, I intended to team up with her and H to explore for a while.


    No rush. We literally have all the time in the world. For now, I¡¯ll look into getting you your workshop. As long as you continue making enough items in it for us to cover the regr fees, we can keep it maintained. We might even be able to upgrade you to an automated workshop, eventually.


    Okay, questions forter. Apparently, there was a way to automate crafting in workshops, which was good to know. But, given that there was no real magic involved in drawing the scrolls, it made sense. It would basically just be a modified printing press. Of course, ingredients would still need to be provided for the ink, at the very least.


    Either way, it was time for me to get back to work. If I can continue making medium quality scrolls, then it would only take me another five scrolls before I could afford to get my ki skill. Thankfully, five scrolls were easy to make, and it was only a matter of time.


    After finishing the one I was working on and moving back towards the general store, I noticed the halfling had been waiting for me outside the inn. She gave a polite wave before walking alongside me, not really saying anything. It gave off the feeling that she was ying the role of my escort or bodyguard. Maybe to ward off that other guild, show them that I was under their ¡®protection¡¯?


    It didn¡¯t matter much what their reasons were. All that I needed to know was that she wasn¡¯t bothering me with my work. So, when I arrived at the store, I ordered enough supplies to make five more scrolls. This way, I¡¯d still have a bit of change left over after getting my ki skill.


    Thankfully, I quickly learned that it was easy for me to make a medium quality scroll, so long as I followed along with the pattern. I couldn¡¯t be sure if I could unlock an even higher quality by improvising my own rules, or just continuing to grind out this one method. Maybe the direction that I draw the lines could influence the quality, as well as their order. It might even be better to go at specific speeds.


    Thoughts forter. I muttered inwardly with a shake of my head. Finishing off the five scrolls had been equally easy, and left me with a good chunk of copper. Once I left, I saw Jessex raising an eyebrow at me. We had added each other to our friends lists while walking back and forth. ¡°Not making any more right now?¡±


    ¡°Going to learn a new skill.¡± I answered quietly. ¡°Any chance that you know where the monk trainer is?¡±


    ¡°Huh? Oh, sure¡­ wait, no, not really.¡± She seemed a bit confused at first, making it obvious that Nuado hadn¡¯t told her about my ns. ¡°I take it you¡¯re done with crafting for the night?¡±


    ¡°Unless I want to test out how one of my scrolls work in actualbat.¡± Seeing as she didn¡¯t know where to go, I received directions from a guard. Apparently, there were several trainers that could teach yers how to use their ki, so I went with the closest one.


    What I ultimately found after following the directions given was an elderly demon with wrinkled skin, the skin of his wings torn in several areas. By demonic standards, he looked like a cripple, leaning against the side of his house with a long staff in his hand. Even his eyes seemed to be failing, looking incredibly clouded.


    I couldn¡¯t tell if this was Vivi¡¯s design, or maybe this character was a war veteran. Either way, I approached him and offered a polite bow. ¡°Excuse me, sir, but I would like to learn how to activate my ki.¡±


    His head turned towards me, his eyes briefly growing clearer before he held out his hand. When he spoke, it was with a raspy tone, as if he had been without food or water for too long. ¡°Fifty¡­ coppers, please.¡±


    I had expected the price, and immediately retrieved the coins from my inventory. To my surprise, the small copper coins that I had originally put in turned into fiverger coins when I pulled them out. A disy of an automatic currency converter, from the looks of things. I ced the coins in his hand and he nodded, pushing off from the wall.


    I didn¡¯t have the ability to sense ki yet, but I could see how he had activated his. His posture straightened, his eyes clearing. He still leaned heavily on his staff, but it looked like it was more out of habit than need. Only his voice remained as dry as it had been before. ¡°In order to channel your ki, you must look inside yourself. Find the wellspring of power, and call upon it.¡±


    Before I could do as he instructed, his staff suddenly swept up in a quick movement. The tip of it pressed against my chest, and I felt the warm, familiar energy of ki push into me from his staff, guiding me towards my own. Itched onto the sensation, even though I already had an idea where to look from my real life experiences.


    It didn¡¯t take me long to find the low pulse of my own ki, hidden deep within my heart. And as I focused on it, it came to life.


    Congrattions! You have received guidance on how to use a skill! Ki Control skill has been unlocked at level 1!


    I offered a polite bow to the man, before looking down at my fists. At level two, I had only fifteen points of ki, but I wasn¡¯t sure how a single point in this gamepared to what I was used to. What I did know was that I would need to train this skill before I was able to use it inbat, and to do so I had to move back to my inn room.


    Making my way through the town, I once more caught sight of the demonic ¡®talent scout¡¯ that had tailed me earlier, but I paid him no mind. He seemed content to watch from a distance, so I was going to let him.


    When I was back in my room, I immediately sat down, cross legged on the floor. Anyone who practiced ki outside of the game would know that the first step to true mastery was to establish a ki path. I just happened to have ess to the most advanced ki path of anyone in the world.


    If only I was able to actually use it¡­ there was no way to automatically create my ki path that I knew about, so I had to do it the hard way. By grabbing a small wisp of ki, and slowly channeling it throughout my right arm. With how weak the energy currently was, I wasn¡¯t confident in creating a path that spanned my entire body, and instead chose to start by enhancing a single limb.

 Chapter 343: Opening Event

    <h4>Chapter 343: Opening Event</h4>


    In the process of creating my ki path, I was pleased to find that I had not only gained two levels in the Ki Control skill, but I had even gained a level overall. This made me smile, even though I knew that I would be nowhere near the top level of the area. Those who had been battling this entire time would be at least a couple levels higher than myself.


    However, I wasn¡¯t here to be the very best that no one ever was. I was here to enjoy myself as a yer. And so, I smiled, sending a whisper towards H. So, are you ready to actually do some fighting now?


    About time! H¡¯s voice called out as soon as I sent the message. I just got another new skill, so I¡¯m ready to test it out! Immediately after she said that, a window appeared in my field of view.


    H has invited you to a party!


    Mentally epting the invitation, I was suddenly able to feel a presence off in the distance, internally identifying it as H. She was quickly rushing over towards me, so I went ahead and exited the inn to wait for her.


    Sure enough, it only took her a minute before I saw her rushing over in front of me, stopping and lightly panting for breath. ¡°Made it¡­ okay, let¡¯s go!¡± She linked her arm in mine, and the two of us began walking towards the city exit.


    ¡°So¡­ going to tell me what skills you got?¡±


    At the question, H turned her head to face me. She seemed to internally debate whether or not she should keep it a secret before shrugging her shoulders. ¡°I decided to be a healer. You want your shadow to join us eventually, right? Neither of you are going to y healers¡­ so I figured that I should.¡±


    ¡°Well, I say that¡­ but right now, I only have basic alchemy and mana control. Healing magic is a higher level skill, so I¡¯ve got to work my way up to it.¡±


    I gave a small nod when I heard that, being in a simr position myself. ¡°I suppose getting an item with healing properties would be too expensive as well?¡±


    H groaned, her posture dropping for a second. ¡°Five silvers for the cheapest one, I checked. Anything less than that only offers a slow, passive heal to the person wearing the object.¡±


    ¡°Well, I guess we have to do some farming, then. For now¡­ do you have anything that could be used forbat?¡±


    With her free hand, H reached into her inventory, pulling out a dagger. ¡°All I could afford after getting the skills. Though, I think we should probably move a bit further out. Between the two of us, we should be able to take on more advanced monsters than the basic rats.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t other yers be thinking the same thing by now?¡± I asked curiously, ncing towards the city gates as they came closer with every step. I could already hear the sounds of battle outside, and knew that the majority of the starting yers hadn¡¯t left the area yet.


    ¡°Well¡­ They would have, if not for all the yer killing going on.¡± H gave another shrug as she exined. ¡°Since there were more yers than monsters, grinding in this area became difficult. So people turned towards the only other source of experience that they could get, which was each other. A few managed to break past the blockade of killers, including Foxy¡¯s group.¡±


    ¡°Those that broke past have been able to get into the better hunting areas, while those that dominate the area around the city itself are the ones that enjoy killing yers. With the two of us¡­ well, I think we should be able to get through.¡±


    I sank into thought at that, my right hand clenching into a fist. ¡°If not¡­ I¡¯ll just make a couple of scrolls and we cane back prepared.¡±


    ¡°See, that¡¯s the spirit!¡± H smiled wide, nodding her head.


    _______________________________________________________________


    High above the sky, within the infinite void, a silver figure watched the world beneath her feet. Her body appeared rxed, satisfied that the lifeless world she had been given charge of atst had people in it, real people with real thoughts and emotions.


    As her eyes focused downwards, seeing through the clouds and across the vast distance, her head nodded gently. ¡°It¡¯s been long enough, and he¡¯s moving. Time to start the first event.¡±


    With a wave of her hand, a screen appeared before her, which she began to type in. A message to send to every yer.


    Attention everyone! Wee to theunch event of Vision Expanse! As a celebration of this asion, all exploration-based experience will be doubled for the next three days. Don¡¯t miss out on this chance to be the first to discover newnds!


    Outside of the three main cities, the fighting suddenly stopped. yers stopped attacking one another as they read the prompt that appeared before them. Only those who had to defend themselves against the monsters still split their attention enough to keep themselves alive.


    There were some who thought that the event was too long to worry about immediately. Yet others who gave it more thought realized that it was just the opposite. By measuring the scale of the main cities, it was clear that the distance measured appropriately to real life, rather than a normal game. Running from the capital of one kingdom to another, even if they had a map, three days was simply not enough time.


    For those who realized this, and wanted to take advantage of the event, there was only one thing standing between them and their goal. They gripped their weapons more tightly, forming into teams to attack the yer killers in swarms. Within moments, a path had been opened up for yers to leave over the corpse of their former oppressors.


    _______________________________________________________________


    By the time we got out of the city, I was able to see the result of Vivi¡¯s little event¡­ I felt like I was back in the fight against the elven army, back when I had previously been Tebor. My hand even reached subconsciously for one of the swords that I had prepared for that battle. It was a chaotic brawl, with one side having superior strength while the other had vastly more numbers.


    Unfortunately for them, their strength simply wasn¡¯t high enough yet to fight back the tide, and I saw one person after another falling. Some lost their grips on their weapons before they fell, leaving the weapon itself dropped, only to have it picked up by a passing yer. H and I stood by the gates, stepping aside so that respawning yers could run back out to fight again.


    Ultimately, it took less than five minutes for the battle to die down after we won. Those yers wanting to take advantage of the event took a moment to cheer and hug each other, some having clearly be friends in the battle. Most of them, however, simply dashed madly towards the road to flee the area.


    ¡°Well, I suppose that handles that¡­¡± I muttered, causing H to nod next to me. ¡°Wonder if she has any more events nned?¡±


    After asking that, I heard a response from my fairy, transmitted directly into my mind. I have several default events set up to assist the game¡¯s development in the early stages. For this one, I used my discretion to determine that it was necessary for yers to spread out far more than they were currently doing. In order to handle the iing yer traffic over theing days, we will need at least twice as many starter cities avable for them to choose from.


    yers won¡¯t be able to cover that much distance so soon, right? It took Aurivy and Tsubaki six months just to find two of them¡­ It was pretty safe to assume that the message hade from Vivi, so I responded rather naturally.


    Under normal circumstances, yes. However, the two of them were forced to travel very carefully due to their limited numbers and fear of lost progress. Likewise, Aurivy was purposely taking things slow so that she could properly enjoy herself. Here, there are several yers that have skills which can enhance their movement speed.


    Taking all of this into consideration, I determined that it would take five days to reach the requisite number of starter cities. Giving them three days to push themselves to the limit will ensure that they have covered over half the distance. Seeing the amount of experience that they gain from exploring, these yers are more likely to continue for the remaining two days than turn around and head back.


    I gave a small nod when I heard her reasoning. It didn¡¯t seem to be inherently wrong, and someone who had already done half the work is more likely tomit themselves to finishing a project than to simply give up. However, the timing seemed a bit suspicious, and it was likely that she had triggered the event also as a way to give us an easy way out of the city.


    ¡°Well, let¡¯s get going, then!¡± H tugged at my arm. ¡°It¡¯ll probably take a day or two before the monsters here are replenished, so we should grab another area in the meantime.¡±


    At that, I couldn¡¯t help but look around, the formerly chaotic battlefield now deste. I couldn¡¯t see a single monster still living, so my only choice to hunt was to move further out as well. ¡°Alright. Keep an eye out for any materials, since we¡¯ll both be needing them.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, I know. But I wanna kill things!¡± There was a feral grin on the felyn girl¡¯s face as we walked along the road. Every now and then, her ears twitched as if she was intently listening for anything that she could charge after.


    It took about ten minutes of walking before we finally found a monster that hadn¡¯t been wiped out by the wave of people moving ahead of us. A group of three that looked to be on patrol. If I remembered right from watching Aurivy and Tsubaki, they were known as hobs. Low level monsters, but they possessed their own tribal system.


    H simply clutched her dagger, diving towards the three creatures in a manner entirely unbefitting of someone that wanted to be a healer. Of the three, two carried spears while thest dragged behind him a club asrge as his body. He was her first target.


    ¡°Really?¡± I muttered quietly, charging over to back her up. They might be low level monsters, but we were still lower level. As soon as she got close enough to trigger their aggro, the three monsters immediately enteredbat mode. The two with spears stood on either side of the third, lowering their stances and holding their weapons out threateningly.


    On closer inspection, I could see what looked like fresh blood dripping off the tips of their spears. It¡¯s not that they weren¡¯t killed by the previous yers, but they were too strong for those that had found them¡­


    The third hob lifted his club just as H arrived before them. As the two spearmen stabbed at her with their weapons, he let out a loud shout, his weapon crashing down. It was a coordinated three-pronged assault, one that could easily kill a yer of our level.


    Thankfully, H had Terra¡¯sbat experience. She was able to recognize the danger at thest moment and duck out of the way, though not before taking a vicious sh across her side by one of the spears. With a hiss of pain, she rolled off to the side, grabbing her wound.


    That was when it was my turn to take the beating, having charged right behind her. With the club already lowered after his first attack, that hob was no threat to me. The two spearmen, however, were another story. I didn¡¯t concern myself with the hob in the center of the formation, rather moving to the one on the right.


    My right hand came up, its palm facing upwards to parry the goblin¡¯s spear. Afterwards, that same handshed out, chopping down on the goblin¡¯s head while my left hand grabbed the spear. To my relief, my strike was heavy enough to cause the goblin¡¯s grip to loosen, allowing me to pull it from his hand.


    The weapon was much too small for me to wield properly, but it was enough for me to twist it around in my hand and stab it back down into the head of its dazed former owner. Moments before I felt a heavy impact on my left side that sent me tumbling out towards H. Yeah, that was a club¡­ he moves faster than I thought.


    Still¡­ one¡¯s dead, and that left only two of them-- why are they running? I don¡¯t like that they are running! As soon as the two hobs saw that their partner had died, they did not turn to avenge him. Rather, they immediately fled the scene. The one that wielded the heavy club even dropped it so that it wouldn¡¯t slow him down.


    ¡°Did we win¡­?¡± H asked, still holding a hand to her bleeding side, her eyes watching the retreating figures.


    ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t think so? I vote we move quickly, before they return with reinforcements.¡± After saying that, I stood with a groan, walking over to the dead hob and looting it. When I did so, the spear that it had been wielding grew, left behind and adjusted to be an appropriately sized weapon. Aside from that, there was a singlerge copper coin.


    Ten copper and a weapon¡­ at least the hobs are valuable targets?

 Chapter 344: Blood and Iron

    <h4>Chapter 344: Blood and Iron</h4>


    How are things going out there? I thought towards the fairy, knowing that my message would reach its intended recipient, even if I didn¡¯t verbally say what I wanted. And, sure enough, the fairy responded momentster.


    It¡¯s weird, not being able to see all of this myself. I can still hear your thoughts, but they sound more distant, like they¡¯ll disappear if I don¡¯t focus on them. If I couldn¡¯t watch through the screen, I don¡¯t think I¡¯d be able to tell what was going on for you, father. The fairy ryed Leowynn¡¯s response, causing me to let out a brief nod.


    Well, I¡¯m sorry that you can¡¯te in. However, you¡¯re able to y a very important role out there. While I¡¯m in the game, you are my shield to protect me from any unforeseen attacks. I know it¡¯s unlikely, but¡­ I am counting on you for that.


    There was a long pause as H and I continued to walk, though we were both leaning against each other now. She had a shed side, and I was fairly certain that I had broken a couple of ribs when the hob smacked me with the club. You¡¯re just saying that to make me feel better. But thanks¡­ it did work a little bit.


    I let out a soft chuckle, before wincing in pain. Being funny hurt too much right now. ¡°There¡¯s not a passive health recovery for yers in this game?¡±


    H gave a bitter smile in response to that. ¡°Afraid not. Hyper-realism, right? At the very least, they don¡¯t make you worry about eating or drinking to stay healthy.¡±


    That was true. One of the advertised points of the game was that it would trante the feeling of hunger or thirst directly into the game character, so that you would only get hungry when it was time for you to eat in the real world. ¡°So, how far is it to the next town, anyways?¡±


    ¡°About another hour, and we¡¯ll be there. As long as the hobs don¡¯t catch up to us.¡± H¡¯s ear twitched slightly as she said that, and I couldn¡¯t help but nce behind us. ¡°No, I don¡¯t hear them. But I¡¯m pretty sure that we¡¯ll be dead as soon as they find us.¡±


    ¡°Probably.¡± I agreed with a small nod, before an idea urred to me. Vivi¡­ just checking, but does the real world luck stat trante into luck with this game¡¯s lottery?


    Please allow me a moment to gather the information needed to answer that request, as your world is vastly different from the one I was born in. The voice ryed back to me, before pausing while we continued to walk. After a few minutes, she spoke up once again.


    The Luck stat directly affects your mental acuity, and generates a mysterious sixth sense. ording to my research, it allows your mind to process numerous variables that you notice on a purely subconscious level to aid in your decision making abilities. As there is no sensory data for you to receive during the lottery to formte a subconscious prediction, I do not believe that it will be of any real assistance regardless of how high your luck is on the outside.


    That made sense¡­ in a way. I had been hoping that I could use my insane Keeper luck to rig the lottery and get exactly what I wanted to help us out of this situation. However, if that was not the case, I¡¯d rather wait until we get to a town to use my tickets. Thest thing I needed was to get something useful, only to have it taken away after we got killed.


    ¡°So, I don¡¯t suppose you can at least tell me how we can train up the Appraise skill on our own?¡± I asked H after I remembered that I still had the hob¡¯s spear in my inventory.


    H winced, her brows knitting together. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ easy, really. Appraisal is a skill that lets you analyze mana patterns. Reading the pattern is easy for anyone that can control their own mana, though making sense of it is where the skilles in. With how much time has passed, I¡­ should be able to use it myself, with a certain margin of error.¡±


    Without saying anything else, I pulled the spear out of my inventory and passed it to her. She had the skill to control her mana, and the collective knowledge to pull on, so I might as well take advantage of it for now. If it were a normal situation, it¡¯d be fine, but it¡¯d be too much of a waste to just get taken out here when we might have a weapon capable of saving us.


    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s see¡­¡± H held the spear in one hand, using it like a walking stick as she closed her eyes, still leaning against me. ¡°I feel¡­ disorder. This spear was never treated by a spellmason, so its magic is chaotic by nature. There¡¯s a strong nt energy¡­ poison? No, I¡¯d be dead by now if it was.¡±


    After a few more moments, she focused, flipping the spear to point the tip at the ground. Her steps stopped, causing me to stop with her. With a gentle thrust, she stabbed the spear into the ground, and then flicked her wrist. As the spear swept out of the ground, a thin thorn in the shape of a needle flew out of the ground in the same direction.


    ¡°Aha¡­ it¡¯s a weak thorn spell¡­¡± H smiled in satisfaction. ¡°I don¡¯t know if the thorn is poisoned or not, but it¡¯s likely not a very strong spell either way. Certainly not enough to kill those hobs, unless we are able to rapidly fire them.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ entirely unhelpful for us for right now.¡± I shook my head, letting her keep the spear. At the very least, she was focusing on being a healer, so she didn¡¯t need to charge into the front lines if there was an alternative. This spear might have been a weak alternative, but it was better than nothing.


    ¡°Would you rather we turn around?¡± There was a knowing look on her face when she asked that. Turning around meant going back to the hobs, and essentially killing ourselves. This was not a pleasant option, even if I had already paid for an inn room when we respawn. ¡°Let¡¯s just hurry up to the next town and see if it¡¯s worth turning around¡­¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    Outside of the city gates of Xanjafar, nine people stood in a line. Their backs were to the city, their eyes looking out at the field which had once been ripe with yers and monsters alike. At their center stood the blindfolded dwarf, his former axe no longer in his hand.


    ¡°So, what do you want to do, boss?¡± A demonic man asked, his horns curved inward and spiraling together. Over his right eye, he wore an eyepatch, an item that could be seen on all of the other gathered members. ¡°Are we going to hit this event, or just let everyone get ahead like that?¡±


    The dwarf let out a gruffugh, shaking his head. ¡°No, let them have their fun. Some of them will get away, aye. But most¡¯lle back. And there¡¯s still the next batch to consider. No, we¡¯ll stay here. Build our force up, and then find and to im.¡±


    ¡°And the one that stole your axe?¡± The demon nced towards the dwarf¡¯s empty hand.


    ¡°It was a worthless trinket that I got off a rat¡¯s arse. Ye think I¡¯d be so attached to it that I¡¯d want vengeance? Good riddance, the thing was far too unwieldy. Now, if ye find me a hammer or some magic tools, then I¡¯ll have a treasure. Till then, it¡¯s no matter.¡±


    The dwarf turned, his blindfolded head facing the city. ¡°I want all of ye to scour the city. There¡¯ll be yers that stayed behind, and they¡¯ll be needing our ¡®support¡¯. And find any quests that ye can. If we can build up a reputation with the NPCs, maybe we¡¯ll get a special reward.¡±


    ¡°What are you going to do?¡± The demon asked again, figuring that his leader had ns of his own.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to go find some necks to snap. I need a new weapon, and I¡¯m sure that there¡¯s a generous monster somewhere nearby willin¡¯ to gift me one. I¡¯ll be back by sunrise, one way or the other.¡± After saying that, he offered them a brief wave, once again turning around and beginning to walk out on the road.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Tsubaki sat atop a tall tree, one leg propped up to rest her head on while the other hung limply off the branch she was using as her perch. Her eyes were constantly scanning the group activities being conducted by the soldiers training below. Beneath the tree, another Tsubaki stood, this one being slightly muted in color, its entire body looking more nd.


    She simply didn¡¯t have the energy to devote too much to her extra avatars, and only needed them purely to convey her instructions. It was already a trying task on her mind to watch over the training exercises of so many teams, and she was already being split a dozen ways.


    Thankfully, she wasn¡¯t here alone, a small flicker of joy shing through her eyes when she saw the lycan goddess appear next to one of the training teams. Currently, they were practicing team spars against one another, with healers standing by to ensure that nobody died.


    ¡°You have to be more mindful of your terrain!¡± alia told the heroc druid, who had just caused an idental sinkhole to engulf his own team after sending a wave of earth at his opponents. ¡°This is an important skill for you as a druid, so listen up! Whenever you¡¯re not in battle, make sure to send your senses out into the world around you. If you find a spot of weak earth, it can be used to your advantage.¡±


    After saying that, she pointed to the six people stuck in therge hole. ¡°But if you just y it by ear, you could destabilize the ground around yourself, and do things like that. As a caster, you can turn a desperate situation around for your team. But the reverse is also true. You can just as easily kill everyone with one reckless move.¡±


    The heroc nced off to the side, not willing to meet the goddess¡¯s gaze. Partly out of respect, but also a bit out of fear. She was a goddess, after all. ¡°Err¡­ sorry about that.¡±


    Tsubaki closed her eyes, focusing her senses on another area of the training field. One of her other avatars was watching Bihena discussing strategy in arge tent with those team leaders who were currently too injured to resume training for the day.


    ¡°ording to our information, the enemies you¡¯re facing are nocturnal.¡± She announced, pacing back and forth in front of them, fully dressed in her godly armor. Her blue and golden spear was strapped to her back, showcasing her readiness to battle. ¡°However, you shouldn¡¯t discount the possibility that there will be powerful diurnal creatures as well.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t know the enemy terrain, so you will have to y that by ear. What you should focus on right now is your sleep cycle. Before you all leave, I want everyone adapted to performing nightly activities. You will have members standing watch during the day to prevent an ambush while you sleep, but otherwise you will have to train yourselves to be nocturnal. Otherwise, you are offering yourselves as a free lunch to your enemies.¡±


    Tsubaki couldn¡¯t help but nod as she heard that. She had already passed along the same advice to several groups. There were simply too many to impress those words upon everyone without the aid of a goddess. As she was pulling her focus back from that avatar, she noticed another of the descended deities. To her surprise, this wasn¡¯t Keliope, but someone else. And he wasn¡¯t exactly here to train anyone.


    ¡°Aye! Listen upds anddies!¡± Tubrock¡¯s voice shouted out at one of the campsites. ¡°The lot of ye¡¯ll be leaving soon, but I can¡¯t just have ye go out there like this! Ye¡¯re supposed to represent this world, aren¡¯tcha? Well, what kind of representatives do ye call yerselves if ye run around in rags and carrying scrap metal?!¡±


    Unlike the pious respect that the other deities had received, Tubrock¡¯sment was met with indignant grumbles. After all, he was directly insulting their equipment, which was by no means simple rags and scrap.


    ¡°Ah, quit ye¡¯re barkin¡¯. Save that for the beasts ye¡¯ll be facing! My job here¡¯s not to hold yer hands. I won¡¯t give ye lot any battle tips. Ye want to cave in skulls? Well, ye¡¯ll need the tools for the job.¡± Tubrock crouched down as he said that, his calloused palm pping against the ground. Glowing red cracks began to open up around him, thick smoke rising from them.


    ¡°Forged from the blood and bones of the great dragon. Armor enough for a thousand men.¡± The cracks widened at his words, red and white armors floating up from them and into the air. ¡°From the chitinous hides of disaster-level beasts, armor enough for ten thousand.¡± Next, ck armors arose, far more numerous than the previous red and white.


    ¡°And finally¡­ forged of spellsteel, tempered in me own mes. Armor enough for the lot of ye.¡± The armor did not rise from the cracks this time. Rather, it rained from the sky, ck dots that covered the clouds and formed ranks behind the previous two rows of armor.


    ¡°The others can determine distribution.¡± Tubrock said with a grunt as he stood, patting off his hand. The cracks in the ground slowly closed up now that he was no longer feeding it energy. ¡°In the meantime, I reckon ye lot¡¯ll be needing weapons to go with your armor. Those toys ye¡¯re carrying won¡¯t do a lick of good against whatever beast ye¡¯ll find on the other side.¡±


    Tsubaki let out a small sigh from her main body when she saw the millions of armored suits that filled the sky. Crafted by the God of the Forge himself. For a moment, she believed that there may be hope of this army one day returning home. Of course, first she¡¯d have to establish a hierarchy within the army.


    The thousand Dragon Generals, ten thousand Disaster Commanders¡­ her work was still cut out for her.

 Chapter 345: Unluck of the Draw

    <h4>Chapter 345: Unluck of the Draw</h4>


    I let out a long sigh as I pulled the headset off of my face, sitting up in the bed. My body felt stiff after lying in one position for so long, but also oddly well-rested. One of the nice features of Ashley¡¯s game product was that it had a ¡®sleep¡¯ mode. That way, whenever you yed the game, you could choose to have your body sleeping at the same time. Rather convenient to use for normally busy people.


    Nothing much happened while H and I were walking, with the hobs never showing up to attack us again and the path ahead being cleared by the wave of yers. We actually made it to the next city rather easily¡­ only to find out that it was a total dump.


    The city itself was ratherrge, but had be fairly empty over the passage of time, its people starving due to ack of trade. Now that the city had been officially discovered, maybe trade would resume, but until then there was nothing particrly useful for us there. I couldn¡¯t even buy the ink for my scrolls.


    Realizing that, H and I decided to run back to Xanjafar after healing our injuries. Since it seemed like other cities would likely be in a simr situation as that one, our primary goal was returning to an area where we could properly level up. That said, we did get one level once we found the city of Sumhain, bringing both of us up to four.


    Of course¡­ the difference of one level didn¡¯t really do anything but quickly heal us. We were still a bit too low to fight the hobs evenly, so we did our best to avoid them on our way back. Even H was able to restrain her bloodlust, although she was gripping that spear rather tightly.


    When we returned to Xanjafar, there were only a few people out searching the fields for monsters, most of the yers still gone from before. H and I resolved ourselves to staying inside the city until our skills were ready for the two of us to fill the roles we wanted. Which meant¡­ more scribing for me.


    ¡°Did you enjoy yourself, father?¡± Leowynn asked, turning herself in theputer chair to face me with a warm smile.


    ¡°Aside from the part where I had my ribs smashed, sure.¡± Saying that, I decided to deploy my world sight to check up on Tsubaki-- and holy armors, Tubrock. I looked over just in time to see the dwarven god mass summoning armor for the army. ¡°Did Tsubaki or anyone elsee by while I was asleep?¡±


    Leowynn shook her head at that. ¡°No, but she should be by soon, I think. She never misses your meal time.¡±


    Almost as soon as Leowynn said that, I could feel a surge of energy within the citadel, the familiar feeling of one of Tsubaki¡¯s portals opening. I gave a small nod, standing up and stretching my arms out before walking with Leowynn.


    Almost as soon as we left the bedroom and entered the main hallway, Tsubaki was standing there, waiting for us. Her hands were sped together in front of her waist, and she offered a polite bow. ¡°I hope you enjoyed the game, my Keeper.¡±


    ¡°It was good. I can see why you liked it so much.¡± I admitted easily. ¡°Also, Terra¡¯s decided to join the two of us, for whenever you¡¯re able to y.¡±


    Tsubaki¡¯s ears twitched curiously at that, but she nodded her head. ¡°I will keep that in mind. Unfortunately, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll have the chance to apany you before the army has left. Some of the deities are, thankfully, assisting me in the process, but there are simply too many to allow me any free time.¡±


    ¡°Oh? How many are there in total?¡± I knew that their numbers easily crossed into the millions, just after taking a look. But the exact number was unknown to me.


    ¡°Discounting those that left after the training began, or died in the process¡­ twenty-six million, three hundred and eighty four thousand. Give or take.¡± And¡­ that¡¯s where my brain froze for a moment. I know that my worlds are so muchrger than the old Earth, and that I have an extremely warlike race upying a part of it. But twenty-six million? There were countries in the old world that didn¡¯t have a poption like that.


    If the force was truly thatrge, and everyone was outfitted with gear created by Tubrock¡­ maybe there really was a chance at victory? And if not, they¡¯d at least be able to keep Vanity upied for a while.


    ¡°I see¡­ I can understand how training so many people would be a difficult task. Don¡¯t worry, Terra and I should be staying in the starter city for a while. There¡¯ll be plenty of time for you to join up after you¡¯ve sent them on their way.¡±


    Tsubaki gave a brief nod at that. ¡°If I may ask, what are the specialties that the two of you n to pursue? That way, I may n out an appropriate role to fill when it is my time to join you.¡±


    There was no harm in telling her, so I let her know how I wanted to be a ninja by learning inscription, whereas Terra was interested in ying our healer. Again, Tsubaki gave a nod. ¡°I¡¯ll n to be defense, then.¡±


    ¡°Oh, right. Do you know anything about chakra in Vision Expanse?¡± I asked, as the three of us began walking towards the dining area. ¡°You were in there for a few months with Rivy, and I know chakra used to be a big specialty of yours.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ gave it a little practice, yes.¡± She had a somewhat difficult expression as she exined. ¡°It is different than what I was raised with. The concept of hand seals doesn¡¯t exist within this world. Instead, you channel your chakra into various three-dimensional constructs. If I were topare it to anything, imagine a more flexible version of the elementalist weapons from Fyor.¡±


    ¡°The constructs that you create with chakra are entirely temporary. Simrly, due to the majority of manaing from items you carry instead of yourself, you have a bit less freedom in determining the item properties. And while the mana has been invested from another item, the source item loses its magical properties.¡±


    I nodded my head as I listened to her exnation. It did make sense for chakra to function this way in Vision Expanse. On Earth, people used hand seals to physically recreate the different spell diagrams to the best of their ability. As for Fyor, I hadn¡¯t seen how their ninjas work just yet.


    ¡°Still, I think it would be worth practicing. If it works the way you say that it does, it would be great for creating temporary weapons that can handle various situations. And, once I start making higher grade talismans, I should have an easy source of mana to pull from.¡±


    However, my final goal wasn¡¯t to end with chakra. It was, after all, only the firstbination of energies. Once I was proficient enough to handle it, I could begin trying otherbinations as well. Elemental ki would be a good second step, once I get the ability to control natural energy.


    Further down the line, I¡¯d like to be able to reproduce my Ki of Beginning within Vision Expanse. It was the strongest battle-rted energy that I currently had ess to, and would no doubt be a highly rated skill within the game. Even the Keeper system itself regarded that energy as ¡®Saint¡¯ level, though I still didn¡¯t have a firm grasp on what other energies of that level would be like.


    After I ate, given that I was the only one of the three of us that even required food, Tsubaki immediately went back to training the army, while Leowynn and I returned to my room. When I logged back into the game, I quickly found that Jessex was waiting for me outside of my rented room, tapping her foot impatiently on the floor.


    ¡°Sorry?¡± I blinked in surprise, having not expected to find her there. ¡°Did I make you wait long? Also, weren¡¯t you guys heading out to explore with everyone else fromst night?¡±


    Jessex let out a small sigh, shaking her head. ¡°I was elected to stay behind. This city is the meeting point that our group agreed on for new yers, and this way I can act as your ¡®trade liaison¡¯, ording to Nuado. She left me the funds for your workshop before they took off. Told me to, and I quote, help you out as much as I could, because it would be the best for the entire guild in the long run.¡±


    Jessex had an obviously skeptical expression as she said that. ¡°I imagine she might know something about inscription that we don¡¯t, but who knows.¡± She shrugged her shoulders, then her eyes briefly widened as she backpedalled to look for a good exnation. ¡°Ah¡­ I mean, she knows the game developers. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if she knew about a few skills that were really usefulte-game.¡±


    My lips tugged upwards in amusement. I knew that this was just Nuado trying to take care of me, but maybe there would be something to it, as well? Either way, I let Jessex lead me out of the inn, and towards a different part of the city that I hadn¡¯t explored yet.


    ¡°This workshop is only at the most basic level. Even with Nuado¡¯s request, I can¡¯t afford to get you anything better yet. It took me all night just to grind up the one silver for this ce¡­ But, it is a Scribe workshop, so it should have all the tools you need to work.¡±


    I gave a small nod at that, soon finding us standing before arge building with six floors. The sign on the front was of a leather-bound book with a quill next to it. ¡°Come on, we¡¯re on the first floor.¡±


    After Jessex said that, she led me in, guiding me towards the first door on the right. Inside, I found a simple writing desk, a table with what looked to be an alchemy kit on it with beakers and vials galore, and finally another desk with a paper cutting board on it. Aside from that, there was nothing special about the room. At least, until I actually stepped inside.


    You have entered a Basic Inscription Workshop. All Inscription rted skills have a 10% increased experience gain while within the workshop, and rted production is 10% faster.


    So there was an actual bonus to using a workshop. As I was wondering about that, I noticed a second window appear in front of me.


    Ownership of the Basic Inscription Workshop has been transferred to you. yer Jessex has consented to continue to handle billing. While within the workshop, you may ess the workshop inventory to store produced items securely. Any items stored if the bill is unpaid will be automatically sold to cover the next month¡¯s rent.


    Any damage done to the facilities will be added to the next rent payment.


    I nced back towards Jessex, who simply nodded her head. ¡°No point in me having the inventory, right?¡±


    ¡°Right¡­¡± I wasn¡¯t sure what I was expecting from a workshop. Maybe just a safe ce to work without being disturbed? However, even the basic level workshop offered a skill buff and a secure inventory.


    By the time I snapped out of my thoughts, Jessex was already leaving the room, closing the door quietly behind her. Left alone in the workshop, I made my way towards the desk. I didn¡¯t have any of the materials yet to craft anything, so I¡¯d need to visit the general store before I could actually craft my scrolls. In the meantime¡­ I decided to use one of my lottery tickets.


    Activating Scribe Lottery


    ¡­


    Congrattions! You have won one bundle of parchment!


    Really¡­? I had been expecting a new recipe, maybe a new tool¡­ but all I got was paper? Though, after I checked my inventory, I quickly realized what a ¡®bundle¡¯ of parchment meant¡­ one thousand pieces of paper. Okay, I was good on paper for the foreseeable future¡­ though that only saved me one copper from production costs.

 Chapter 346: Compendium of Magic

    <h4>Chapter 346: Compendium of Magic</h4>


    I¡¯ll admit, a part of me was tempted to use my remaining lottery ticket after seeing my ¡®prize¡¯. What¡¯s the worst that could happen, I get another ten silver worth of paper? I¡­ hope that there¡¯s not actually a worse prize than that. Vivi¡­ out of morbid curiosity, how many prizes are there worse than what I just got?


    There was a light, amusedugh when she heard that question. In all honesty, Dale, you were in the worst ten percent. There are only a few items that rate less valuable than the stack of parchment. I was genuinely expecting you to get something better as well. However, considering your purpose, this could actually be quite beneficial to you.


    Okay, that had me curious. Go on?


    Once you master the use of chakra, talismans can turn into a disposable armory for you. If the ink used to scribe them is enhanced with ki to be chakra ink, then the items created will have the same properties as the talismans themselves. That¡¯s why I had initially rmended you taking this skill, as it has the best synergy with chakra usage.


    ¡°Then I should get started on that.¡± I muttered, standing up and moving towards the door. It was going to be a long, slow grind for a while.


    _______________________________________________________________


    As the days passed, more and more people began to join the game. Whether it was those who hadn¡¯t been able to preorder their copy, or simply those who did but didn¡¯t have the chance to connect right away. Every night, the main cities would be crowded to capacity, before yers were forced to slowly funnel out to find appropriate hunting grounds.


    This trend continued for several days, some yers even deciding to build small outposts outside of the cities in order to house more people. However, they had not gotten the clearance to build within the kingdoms. Soldiers were immediately dispatched every time the construction began, tearing down the work of the yers and reminding them that there were proper channels to go through in order to handle construction.


    Finally,te into the fourth night, news echoed through the world, prompts appearing before every single yer. News that a fourth city had been found, the kitsune kingdom of Lyrea. It even announced the name of the individual that had discovered it. The kitsune character Nuado.


    Only a few hourster, and a fifth city was discovered. This one belonged to another demon kingdom, the Fnel Republic. And then a few hours after that, a human kingdom, the Crimor Empire. Six cities now split the burden of the yers, opening up newnds for them to explore. New space for them to spread out.


    Standing at the gate of Lithryal, the capital city of Lyrea, Nuado had a proud smile on her face. This was the result of her hard work, of pushing herself to the limits physically and mentally. She did not possess any special skill to increase her travel speed, yet she had still been the first to reach a new starting area.


    This was because she had studied the maps in the library. She had learned the shortest routes. She was willing to run at a full sprint for hours until her feet began to bleed, just to train herself up a level to heal and run some more. Even the other members of Life¡¯s Dream weren¡¯t able to keep up with her, instead choosing to wait at different cities along the way to act as guides for future yers until it was time to gather again.


    The Empire and its subordinate kingdoms were militaristic in nature, which felt stifling to her. But she had chosen Lyrea as the target for her marathon. It was the kingdom of bards. Where wealth of knowledge meant more than strength of arms.


    ¡°Fairy, send a message out across my entire friends list. From now on, I want everyone to start in Lyrea. This is going to be where we call our home.¡± She spoke as she smiled up towards the worn city. Like all others, it had suffered from istion, its people hungry andcking. But these were things that could be fixed. These are things that would be fixed.


    Nuado, what about Tebor? Jessex¡¯s voice responded only a few moments after the call went out. If we leave him here, Beholden is going to set their sights on him again, thinking that we abandoned him.


    Nuado¡¯s brows furrowed at that. Honestly, she was somewhat more worried about what would happen to Beholden if they targeted him. She knew what kind of person Terra was. And if they tried to defame him or hurt him, either emotionally or psychologically, she might just snap at them. She did not particrly like Beholden¡¯s practices, but that did not mean that she wished such a fate on them.


    How many people do we still have near Xanjafar? She sent out the question, knowing that there wouldn¡¯t be any kind of true fast travel system yet. The kingdoms were too poor to properly feed their people, so building magical gates to connect to far-off ces was out of the question. There was likely a system in ce for that, but it would have to be unlocked through city repairs.


    As it turned out, there were only eight people left in the vicinity of Xanjafar, most having already moved at least two days away on their trip towards Lithryal. So, she once again had her fairy send messages to everyone. Okay, here¡¯s the n guys. Anyone that¡¯s close to Xanjafar, return to the city. For the rest of this month, that ce is going to be your base of operations. We paid for that workshop, and I¡¯m not going to waste Jess¡¯s efforts like that. After the month is up, we¡¯ll run a migration to Lyrea with him and everyone else.


    Is he really that important? There was an honestly curious tone to Jessex¡¯s voice when she responded. I mean, any of us could learn inscription, right? I think Nail even started with it.


    Thankfully, themunication was only two-way, so the person in question was unable to back up her statement. Just¡­ trust me, this is important. Call it my one little cheat here. If we can manage to rope Tebor in, Life¡¯s Dream will have a guaranteed future. He has skills that none of you realize yet, and no I don¡¯t mean in the game.


    There was a pause as Jessex considered that, before seeming to give in. He must have left quite an impression on you in yourst game together, if you kept such a close eye on him. But¡­ you know how it is. We¡¯ll follow your lead, Nuado. I just couldn¡¯t help asking.


    It¡¯s fine, Jess. I like it when you ask. It reminds me that you really think of me as a friend. A genuine, warm smile was stered on Nuado¡¯s face as she sent that reply back, before she shook her head. With this, it should be enough to make sure that Tebor was taken care of, and things wouldn¡¯t get out of hand.


    _______________________________________________________________


    The next several days, I spent ten hours in the game, every day. Most of this was while I was sleeping, with the rest being either just before or just after. The rest of my time I spent training my divine soul, and keeping a close watch on Tsubaki¡¯s army.


    There were times that I thought about spending more time in the game, grind my skills up even further. But honestly¡­ there was only so much that I could handle sitting in front of a desk, drawing the same pattern over and over again. I mean¡­ sure, I unlocked a second pattern and ink when my skill level hit five. And I got another burst of proficiency when I had crafted a hundred scrolls.


    For the second pattern, it was the lightning scroll and shock talisman that Jessex had previously told me about. A single shock talisman could be purchased from a magic vendor for fifteen copper coins, so it was definitely worth learning¡­ but the ingredients weren¡¯t locally avable.


    Even with the ember ink, there was only a limited supply that they had stocked up before I had been forced to start making my own. Thankfully, when I offered to pay Life¡¯s Dream for help in procuring the ingredients, they were happy to oblige. And due to that, I was able to practice infusing ki into my ink¡­ turns out you can only do that during the creation process, which would have been nice to know before I wasted five vials on experiments.


    Either way, I was eventually able to seed, infusing my ki into the ink as it boiled. The normally red ink turned a burnt orange with the infusion. Finally, when I used the ink to draw out five talismans, I saw that their name changed from ¡®Embertouch Talisman¡¯ to ¡®Firebrand Talisman¡¯. It still used the same recipe, but the result had changed after adding ki¡­


    Speaking of, I had managed to learn two new skills between my repeated inscriptions. The first was naturally Mana Control, as that was a basic skill that everyone would eventually need. Then, finally, I learned Appraisal. Getting others to appraise my items every time to check their quality had be an annoyance, so it seemed like a skill that I would need to learn myself.


    While I was working on all of that, I didn¡¯t neglect to continue my ki training. By the end of the second week, I had managed to create a basic ki path that ran through my entire body. And by the end of the fourth week¡­


    You have drawn your 1000th Firebolt Scroll! You are nearing the level of mastery in this design, and have gained another increase in proficiency. You have been awarded 1 Scribe Ticket.


    I¡¯m going to be perfectly honest¡­ I felt like crying when I saw that I had gone through my entire bundle of parchment, only to be awarded another ticket. A thousand scrolls¡­ the very thought of it made me want to w off my hand. And that wasn¡¯t even counting the ones that I made into talismans!


    On the bright side¡­ I had not only earned a significant amount of silver, but had even gotten myself a single gold coin. If I wanted to, I could rent a workshop like this for ten years just on a single month¡¯s profits. But¡­ that was under the assumption that I was able to devote so much time to scribing, leaving the resource gathering to everyone else. I might have only made a tenth of that if I had to do everything myself.


    Still¡­ I decided to bite the bullet again. Like Vivi had said, I got an incredibly poor result with my first lottery. I could afford to suffer a bit of a loss at this point, so it was worth it to aim for the jackpot.


    Activating Scribe Lottery


    ¡­


    Congrattions! You have won the Scribe¡¯s Compendium(Basic Edition)!


    Vivi¡­ is that a jackpot item?


    Unfortunately, no Dale. However, it is the downgraded version of a jackpot. The Basic Compendium is a slightly below average result, but still considerably more valuable than what you received thest time. With it, you can copy the enchantments of different items onto the pages, and those enchantments will be inscription patterns.


    Hearing the potential behind this item, I instantly grew excited. Even if it wasn¡¯t a true jackpot, this was something that would unlock many possibilities for me. At least, until I heard the rest of her exnation.


    The basic edition is limited to the simple scrolls such as Firebolt or Lightning. Simrly, while it will use color coded ink to give you hints on what you need, determining the recipe for the inscription ink is still up to the user. If you take thependium to a professional scribe, they can analyze the color and pattern to give you the recipe for a fee, but it is the same as buying a new ink recipe.


    I gave a small nod when I heard that. Still, it was far better than a stack of papers. With this, I could expand my inscription crafting options. And all I¡¯d need is sample objects to copy from. Maybe one of those healing items that H mentioned¡­

 Chapter 347: The Eye of the Beholder

    <h4>Chapter 347: The Eye of the Beholder</h4>


    Finally, the month of torture was at an end. I mean¡­ scribing, not torture¡­ right. Jessex and Udona had both long since exined the n to me, though from different perspectives. Jessex wanted to y up that the kingdom of Lyrea was more specialized for scribes, and that I¡¯d be able to more easily find the materials I needed there. As for Udona¡­


    I¡¯m not asking you to join the guild or anything. But it would put my mind at ease if you didn¡¯t stay in Xanjafar. With Beholden building their base there, I¡¯m worried that they¡¯ll be making their move soon. Life¡¯s Dream is already a properly established guild, so we have the resources to help you grow.


    I looked towards the workshop desk, which I had be very familiar with during thest month. I could tell by Udona¡¯s tone that she wasn¡¯t really trying to get me out of the city for my own safety. So I had given her a condition, one that I thought that I wouldn¡¯t be able to achieve. And that condition had actually caused Life¡¯s Dream to go so far as to collect all of the ink materials that I needed.


    My condition was that I didn¡¯t want to leave Xanjafar until I had learned Chakra Control. But to learn a second tier skill was so much more expensive than a basic one like Ki or Inscription. Those only cost half a silver, but second tier skills had a price tag of a single gold coin. My month of ving away on the scrolls was all for the purpose of achieving my goal.


    ¡°Have you found the trainer?¡± I asked Jessex, who was leaning against the wall of the building as I exited. I had all of my firebrand talismans in my inventory, so there was plenty of ammunition for me to use once I had the skill.


    She chuckled, pushing off from the wall to walk alongside me. Her eyes stared up towards me as she spoke. ¡°His name is Jinx Hartfelt. A recluse that lives within the forest outside of town. Second tier skills aren¡¯t as easy to get, especially for first timers.¡± She waved a hand, and a window appeared in front of me.


    Jessex has chosen to share the quest Rescue the Recluse!


    Rescue the Recluse!


    Jinx Hartfelt has always been a free soul. He carved out his own path in life and innd. While others hid within their cities under assault by the Mad King, Jinx attacked the enemy bases, slipping in and out undetected. It was thought that he made it through the war unscathed, even. However, in recent months, there has been no contact from the man. When a team was sent to investigate, they found signs of battle, hob weapons strewn about.


    Quest Objective: Find the reclusive Jinx Hartfelt


    Quest Reward: +30 Favorability with Jinx Hartfelt, +20 Reputation with Xanjafar


    ¡°I suppose that the skill can¡¯t be learned without him?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but let out a groan as I thought of that. Surely, there should have been other people within the city that knew how tobine ki and mana, right?


    ¡°Unfortunately, not that I can see. If anyone knows it, they won¡¯t talk about it.¡± Jessex shrugged her shoulders. ¡°If I had to guess based on the AI levels, they have a ¡®fear¡¯ setting. Jinx was the prominent figure when it came to chakra. With him captured, they are set to keep their knowledge to themselves, out of a ¡®fear¡¯ that they may be taken next.¡±


    ¡°We only even learned as much as we did thanks to this old demon veteran. He heard us asking around about chakra and approached us to tell the story. That¡¯s when we got this quest.¡±


    I¡¯m just going to pretend that the veteran didn¡¯t sound like the same person who taught me ki. If it was, then it was likely that they knew how to use chakra as well, and had some personal rtionship with Jinx. ¡°Alright¡­ do we know where to go, at least?¡±


    Jessex gave a small nod, putting two fingers in her mouth and letting out a loud whistle. ¡°The questes with map information. As long as you¡¯ve studied a map of the region to gain the minimap feature, it¡¯ll update for you.¡±


    As she said that, she pulled a rolled up map out of her inventory to pass to me. When I nced down towards the map, I noticed that half a dozen other figures had walked out onto the road to join us. Some of them I recognized as members of Life¡¯s Dream that had helped me gather resources over the past month, and I offered them nods of greeting. H herself even appeared, though her attire had changed.


    Where once she wore only the basic starting clothes, she now had a white robe adorning her body. A blue cross, which was somewhat ruined when the top split into a deep V just above her chest, was engraved on the center of the robe. Around her neck she wore a silver pendant shaped like a three-pronged spiral facing downwards, and in her hands she carried a white, marble staff.


    In all honesty, she looked like the perfect image of a felyn priestess, and she shot me a knowing look as she joined up with our group. ¡°Finally about to leave this ce, huh?¡± It seemed that she was getting bored of staying in one ce for so long, as well.


    ¡°Yeah, we just need to take care of a quest on our way. I take it you managed to get your skills just fine, though?¡±


    H simply shrugged in response, lightly tapping the staff along the ground as we walked towards the city exit. ¡°My skill quest was a bit easier. I had to prove my devotion by answering riddles concerning the gods. Thankfully, most of the information the riddles used came from the real world.¡±


    ¡°Okay, yeah, that is a lot easier than what we have to do¡­ though it will be a big help to have a real healer along for the battle.¡± I swiped the quest screen over towards H, sharing it with her.


    There was a brief grimace on her face as she nodded. ¡°A rescue mission with no real information about the enemy¡¯s strength. Assuming that the hob weapons weren¡¯t decoys set out to confuse people, he might be in the middle of a hob vige. And if he¡¯s been there for months¡­ he¡¯s either dead, or dying.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t make sense, though!¡± Jessex called out, running up on the opposite side of H to speak to her. ¡°Quest rewards shouldn¡¯t be ¡®impossible¡¯, even if the objective is. The quest says that we need to find Jinx, and that the reward will be an increase in personal favorability with him. He¡¯s got to be alive for that, doesn¡¯t he?¡±


    H nodded her head, analyzing the text again. ¡°The information doesn¡¯t say that we have to rescue him, though. If it¡¯s enough to simply find him, then either he doesn¡¯t have any hope of being rescued, or he has no desire to be rescued.¡±


    Jess¡¯s eyes widened as a possibility urred to her. ¡°You mean that he might have faked his own capture.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s possible.¡± H gave another nod, ncing towards the guard NPCs as we left the city. ¡°Everyone has their own stress setting. If his situation got to be too hard on him, he might have staged a fake battle in order to slip away without anyone knowing where he went. He could easily be in an entirely different kingdom by now, if that¡¯s the case.¡±


    It was here that I had to interject. ¡°And we won¡¯t know until we reach his home. That¡¯s where the first clue is. If he¡¯s in a different region altogether¡­ I¡¯ll work on the skill on my own. It¡¯s not so hard in reality, so I imagine that it can¡¯t be too bad here.¡±


    H chuckled lightly. ¡°Yeah, just imagine it as a cross between normal chakra and cksmithing, from what I read. I know one of those is just your favorite subject, isn¡¯t it Tebor?¡±


    There was a wicked grin on her face that gave me shbacks to our original cksmith training, back when I was just starting as a Keeper. I felt a shiver run down my spine, shaking my head abruptly. I had chosen to do my own cksmithingter to help in the elven war, but that was still a rather dark spot in my early training.


    Inwardly, I decided that I needed to get a trainer, even if it was just to help with my own sanity.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Oi¡­ he should be ¡®round here, no?¡± A blindfolded dwarf stood within a thick tree, apanied by a burly demon.


    ¡°This is where the quest led us, at least.¡± The demon muttered with a nod. ¡°Are you feeling anything here?¡±


    ¡°Aye.¡± The dwarf nodded, a faint glow radiating beneath the cloth over his eyes. ¡°There was a battle here, alright. Blood was shed, and the spirits still roam for vengeance. Hobs, too, by the look. But they¡¯re blurrin¡¯. If this was back home, I¡¯d say they been dead a week, but that can¡¯t be. Quest said months, didn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°Maybe spirits simply decay more slowly here?¡± The demon guessed. ¡°Do you want to get rid of the spirits, cover the tracks to confuse other yers?¡±


    ¡°What, are ye daft or somethin¡¯!?¡± The dwarf shouted, looking towards hispanion. ¡°What¡¯d be the point inin¡¯ here, then? We¡¯re not after the quest reward, just the skill. Long as someone finds the man, I don¡¯t rightly care who it is. More the merrier, I say. Just gimme a quick moment.¡±


    The dwarf stepped up towards one corner of the room. In his vision, the entire world was ck, with a single, small form blurred just beyond his normal sight. As he approached, one of his hands came up, lifting his blindfold. His eyes shone like stars, one blue and the other red. ¡°Little guy, why don¡¯t you tell us what you know about the man who lived here, hmm?¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    It took nearly an hour to navigate through the woods, until finally we came upon arge, hollowed tree. A small doorway stood just at its base, the door kicked out of ce. Had it not been, it would likely have blended in quite well with the tree. Though¡­ it also made it quite clear that Jinx was a halfling.


    Just as I was about to approach, H pushed her arm out to stop me, her staff blocking my path. She was looking into the house with a serious expression. ¡°Who¡¯s in there?!¡± She called out loudly.


    ¡°Oi, did ye have to shout!?¡± A deep, heavily ented voice responded. A short, stocky dwarf carefully made his way through the doorway, a blindfold covering both eyes. ¡°Was just finishin¡¯ up an important talk.¡± Behind the dwarf, there was a demon that actually had to get down on his knees and crawl out of the hut.


    ¡°Beholder¡­¡± Jessex grit her teeth as she saw the man. ¡°Come on, guys, what are you doing here? Isn¡¯t it too early for this, still?¡±


    ¡°And what¡¯s that supposed to mean,ss? Hmm, judging by that voice¡­ the Jess girl, right? Halfling? What variation you using this time? Jessek, Jessem?¡±


    ¡°Jessex, actually.¡± She answered, still staring daggers at the two figures.


    ¡°Jessex, then. Anyways, we¡¯re here same reason as you, I imagine. Trying to find a lost ninja. Found a little spirit inside to interrogate, got some pretty juicy info. If yer interested, that is.¡± There was a knowing smile on the man¡¯s face as he said that.


    ¡°And what is it you¡¯re wanting in return?¡± Jessex moved a step closer to me, as if ready to defend against an attack.


    ¡°Not a thing.¡± I swear, Jessex actually tripped when he said that, falling onto her side. ¡°I wanna learn the skill this guy¡¯s got to offer, and that¡¯s that. Ye get to him before we do, quest reward¡¯s all yer¡¯s. Long as I get what I came here to get, doesn¡¯t matter to me. So, want the info or not?¡±


    ¡°Sure¡­¡± Jess grumbled as she stood up in front of me, still clearly wary.


    ¡°Well, there¡¯s a couple of hob spirits inside, lookin¡¯ bout ready to fade. Managed to strike up a ¡®conversation¡¯ with one, and learned that the midget was taken to their base. Orders from on high, he said. But he couldn¡¯t tell how long ago it was, what with being dead and all. Killed by Jinx in the battle to capture him.¡±


    ¡°So he was captured, after all¡­¡± Jessex muttered to herself, seeming to believe his exnation. Well, the presence of a hob spirit would be easy enough for anyone to confirm with mana control. And a spirit should only be left behind if the corpse wasn¡¯t looted, meaning that it¡¯d be impractical to try to fake that information.


    As for whatever the hob ¡®told¡¯ him, that part was still subject to suspicion. All that we knew for sure was that there was a battle, and it involved hobs. Which was enough of a reason as any to look for their tribal camp.

 Chapter 348: Jinxed It

    <h4>Chapter 348: Jinxed It</h4>


    Beholder was surprisingly easy to work with, given how much the members of Life¡¯s Dream seemed to be wary of him. It was pretty easy to guess that he was the leader of Beholden, the group that Udona had been so worried about. Still, thankfully he didn¡¯t seem to harbor any ill will just yet. And if he nned to use this as an excuse to frame me for stealing his quest credit? Well, we were leaving the city as soon as we were done getting the skill.


    After he gave us the coordinates for the hob tribe, the two groups split up. Obviously, the group apanying me wasn¡¯tfortable with having Beholder sticking around us, so it was probably for the best. The trip towards the base was a quiet one, at least until H stopped us again, her ears twitching while her eyes focused off into the distance.


    ¡°Hear something?¡± Jessex asked curiously, before seeming to focus herself. ¡°Ah¡­ a patrol.¡±


    ¡°How likely are we to be able to break into the hob camp and rescue Jinx without alerting anyone?¡± I nced in the direction that H was looking as I asked that, already opening up my inventory.


    ¡°Well¡­ assuming that he really is alive, and still there, they probably are keeping him alive for a reason. That means a heavy guard. Unless you suddenly learned how to make invisibility and teleport scrolls, I don¡¯t think stealth is an option.¡± One of the other members, a human male known as Bryant spoke up. He was tall and slim, a flute carried on one hip and a sword on the other.


    ¡°Please tell me that you know how to make those scrolls.¡± Jessex¡¯s eyes began shining as she asked that, clearly hoping for such wondrous items.


    ¡°No such luck.¡± I chuckled, pulling ten thin slips of paper out. ¡°I do, however, have these. Try to save them for when they¡¯re needed. I haven¡¯t had the chance to test out their power yet. But¡­ they should be at least as powerful as the lightning talismans you can get from the vendors.¡±


    I passed out one of the talismans to each of our party. These were the firebrand talismans, those that had been enhanced with ki. In total, I had seventy of them saved up¡­ well, sixty now.


    Jessex had a rather difficult expression as she epted the mysterious talisman. ¡°Uhm¡­ how much do we owe you?¡±


    ¡°Consider it payment for helping me with this quest. If, for some reason, you don¡¯t end up using it here, you can keep it. If you do¡­ I¡¯ll try to make some more once we reach our next stop.¡± Her face began to brighten up when I said that, and she nodded her head.


    It didn¡¯t take long before the patrol was in sight, our preparations already taken care of. H gave a knowing smile, taking the initiative to flick her wrist. The talisman that she had been given, lit up as it flew forward, either with a throwing skill of hers or a function of the talisman itself. Either way, she seemed to be using this to showcase the power of the item.


    The glowing paper immediately turned into a red symbol, one that I surprisingly couldn¡¯t recognize or trante. Meaning that it either had no direct trantion, or I had even lost that ability. Probably the former, if I had to guess.


    The symbol flew through the air,nding against the chest of the center hob. This one was carrying a sword, while the two at its sides held daggers. However, we were only able to see them briefly before the symbol red up, the green skin of the hob turning a smoldering ck as it dropped dead, its sword falling from its hands.


    ¡°Seems like they¡¯re pretty useful.¡± H remarked, waving her staff. ¡°Confinement seal.¡±


    Two streaks of white light flew out from the tip of her staff, shooting at the two remaining hobs. As expected, they had immediately turned to flee as soon as theirrade died, though they were not able to make it very far before the lights caught up with them. Each light circled around a hob, and seemed to prevent them from moving past their boundaries.


    The rest of the group was suddenly staring at the talismans in their hands, until H called out to them. ¡°Uhm, guys? My spell won¡¯t hold them for long.¡±


    Her words snapped them out of their trance, and they put those pieces of paper into their inventory. Only after that did they each draw their weapon and begin to battle. Two people within the group, a pair of elven sisters whose names I never learned, drew the longbows from their back, beginning to fire one arrow after another. Meanwhile, both Jessex and Bryant charged forward with their own des drawn.


    With H holding the hobs in ce, it did not take long at all for the group to do away with the other two. After all, we were no longer either outnumbered or outmatched. A fact that caused me to nce towards H. ¡°You know, we could have solved this even without that talisman, right?¡± There was an amused smile on my face when I asked that, one which she quickly returned to me.


    ¡°Obviously. But if we didn¡¯t test it out now, how were we going to know their effectiveness forter?¡± As she asked that, she moved forward, crouching down and looting the hub that she had in with the first talisman. Unfortunately, the only items dropped were a few coins, which she swiftly pocketed, and the sword. But since it had dropped the sword, the sword had be a ¡®separate entity¡¯, and thus free loot. It just didn¡¯t resize like the spear had.


    ¡°Jess, you want this?¡± H asked, hoisting up the sword. Jessex was the only halfling in our group, and thus the only one that the hob weapon was suited for.


    She shook her head, however, to decline. ¡°No thanks. More of a dagger girl.¡± As she said that, she dashed off towards one of the other two hobs, hoping that their own daggers would be appropriate loot for her.


    She was, unfortunately, disappointed when they dropped only coins again. Though among the coins was a rolled up scroll which made her brows furrow. She gave the scroll a brief nce, before nodding, looking over towards myself and H. ¡°Neither of you two are interested in cksmithing, right?¡±


    When both of us shook our heads, she deposited the scroll into her inventory. Standing up and brushing off her knees, she walked over with a small shrug. ¡°It won¡¯t drop the daggers I want¡­ but it drops a crafting recipe for daggers instead¡­¡±


    ¡°A crafting recipe for¡­ daggers?¡± I was understandably confused. ¡°I thought any cksmith who knew their trade would be able to make daggers without a dedicated recipe for it.¡±


    Jessex nced towards me in surprise, before understanding what I meant and shaking her head. ¡°Oh, no, not like that. Uhm¡­ think of it like spellsmithing. That¡¯s what they call the specialized cksmithing skill that molds the magic in an item. cksmithing recipes like this onee with preset spell patterns, letting cksmiths bring out the power of a spellsmith on a single item type.¡±


    I gave a small nod of understanding with that, before ncing towards H. Our group was already walking once again towards the coordinates for the tribal camp. ¡°So, that throwing technique you used earlier?¡±


    ¡°Hmm? Oh, that¡¯s pretty simple, really.¡± She exined. ¡°Just inject a bit of ki into a talisman, and you can make them fly really well. It¡¯s a trick I learned on the outside. Good thing it is able to be applied here, and that talisman didn¡¯t just go off at my feet, right?¡± She gave a yful wink when she said that, though I could see Jessex¡¯s face turning a deathly pale at the thought.


    I simply chuckled, walking along behind the group. My only real weapons were my body and the talismans in my inventory. Since they didn¡¯t seem to have any area to their attack, I had to save them for difficult solo encounters, or when I was ready to use them with the chakra skill.


    The next group we found, H immediately bound them with the same light as before, and the fight was again over quickly. We were enjoying the feeling of being the hunters, rather than the prey, rejoicing over how easy the battles became after we had gained a bit of strength and worked together.


    We quickly noticed, however, that the patrols were starting toe more frequently as we neared the hob camp. A clear sign that the area was bing more and more popted, but also caused us to be more careful. Thest thing that we needed was to trigger a raid and have the entire camp descend on us at once.


    ¡°How do you want to handle this?¡± H asked towards Jessex as we neared the perimeter, looking between the trees to see a group of pieced together sticks and leathers making a few dozen buildings.


    Those of us in the group peered in, looking for any clues. There wasn¡¯t anything obvious that could tell us where Jinx might be kept. Nothing that looks like a prison, or cages, or even a big hole in the ground.


    ¡°Where could they be keeping him?¡± Jessex wondered silently, looking towards thergest hut. She had only dismissed it originally due to the sounds that continuously echoed out from inside. Sounds that very clearlybeled it as not a prison tent.


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m not going into their baby factory.¡± H said rather tly. ¡°Let¡¯s think¡­ use the clues we have so far¡­ what are we missing?¡±


    The way that she seemed to be hinting at something worried me, so I began to think back. I wasn¡¯t with the group for most of the quest, but they had told me the majority of their findings. At least, I would assume that they did.


    Step one, they learned from the old war veteran about the chakra expert that had been missing for a few months, signs of battle at his home with a heavy hint towards the hobs. We get there, and find that Beholder had already arrived on the scene, and interrogated a spirit--¡­ oh, I really hope I¡¯m wrong here.


    As I channeled the mana from my shirt into my body, and up into my eyes, I noticed H giving an approving smile. However, that sight onlysted for a moment as my vision turned darker. Wisps of silver mist began to flood the area, spiritual energy flooding the camp. At first, it was hard to make out one shape from another, until I was forced to ept that these spirits had been ¡®re-killed¡¯ after their first death.


    Standing at the center of the camp, daggers held in either hand, was a halfling man. When he swung his arms, the tide of spiritual energy surged, moving in tandem with him tosh out against any new spirit that appeared. He kept his eyes on his surroundings, a hateful expression etched across his features.


    When he turned towards us, he seemed ready tosh out once again, before stopping himself. He began turning away before pausing, his eyes immediately looking back to meet my own. There was a sh of grey before he appeared directly in front of me, staring up into me. His lips moved, but no sound emerged. At least, not that I could hear physically.


    You can see me¡­


    Rescue the Recluse has beenpleted! Please inform the quest-giver about the results of your investigation.


    ¡°Huh?¡± I could hear Jessex¡¯s voice from next to me. ¡°What happened? Tebor--Oh¡­ it¡¯s one of those¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re Jinx?¡± I asked, earning a nod from the halfling spirit. I gave a soft sigh, shaking my head. ¡°Looks like we¡¯re toote to rescue you.¡±


    Rescue¡­? It has been so long. There is nothing left to save. Go, tell whoever sent you what happened. Tell them that the blood debt has been set.


    His words made my eyes go wide, because they seemed different from the usual monotonous voice of the NPCs. For a moment, I wondered if he had gained some form of sentience, of if this was just another written scenario from Vivi. The blood debt¡­ it oddly called back to the first war of the halflings. And if it meant the same thing here as it did there¡­ Xanjafar was about to get a lot louder.

 Chapter 349: Prelude to War

    <h4>Chapter 349: Prelude to War</h4>


    ¡°Well¡­ that wasn¡¯t how I had hoped this would go.¡± Jessex said with a groan as we walked through the forest, back towards town. ¡°All that, and he was actually already dead? And¡­ that blood debt¡­¡± A dark shadow was cast over her face as she recalled Jinx¡¯s parting words. ¡°I can¡¯t believe they even included something like that in here.¡±


    ¡°Is it a really sensitive subject, or something?¡± Naturally, I knew the significance behind a blood debt, especially when it concerned a halfling. However, I wasn¡¯t familiar with how their culture had evolved to recognize that aspect since their first true war.


    ¡°Huh?¡± She looked over towards me in surprise, before shaking her head. ¡°Guess that they didn¡¯t teach halfling history for you. A blood debt is an ancient custom among halflings. Something that hasn¡¯t been used on a grand scale for a long, long time. If blood is wrongly shed, the debt is set. And it won¡¯t be cleared until blood flows from the debtor. Usually, it¡¯s only used if a loved one is murdered, and the one who calls the debt witnessed it.¡±


    ¡°If the evidence is provided to justify the debt¡­ thew obliges. Nobody will stop a true blood debt, Tebor. That¡¯s how big it is for us. And if this is the same thing¡­ anyone who was friends with Jinx will take up arms. They¡¯ll get their friends to join in, and so on.¡± She shuddered as she imagined what might happen after the news was passed on.


    ¡°So, it¡¯s not a taboo or anything, at least?¡± That was a relief. Given that we had a halfling in our group, that was thest thing we needed.


    ¡°Well¡­ it is and it isn¡¯t. It¡¯s hard to exin. Some people might take offense that our culture is being appropriated like this. However, I have to admit that it¡¯s fitting. He was taken from his home by the hobs and murdered. He was killed in such a way that even now his spirit fights and kills every hob spirit it meets. For a halfling¡­ that level of suffering calls for blood.¡±


    I gave a small nod as I listened to that, ncing down towards her. ¡°You¡¯re not going to be wanting to stay behind to help them or anything, right?¡±


    ¡°Huh? Are you kidding me?¡± Her eyes went surprisingly wide when I suggested that. ¡°This is his debt. Sorry, but I¡¯m not involved. It¡¯d be an insult to his name if I tried to join without having been connected to him. No, we¡¯ve got other stuff to take care of. If you can¡¯t get your skill after turning the mission in¡­ well, we¡¯ll help you find someone for it in Lyrea. Maybe Nuado has a lead or two we can chase down.¡±


    ¡°At least we didn¡¯t have to fight the entire tribe?¡± I smiled towards the group when I said that. I had faith in our abilities, but¡­ I had no doubt that we¡¯d be swarmed if we actually attacked their settlement.


    Bryant let out a groan when he heard that. ¡°It might have saved us the walk back to town, though.¡±


    ¡°Now, now, none of that.¡± Jessex shook her head. ¡°We don¡¯t want to lose any experience from the death penalty. Besides, we still got quite a bit out of this, right guys? We didn¡¯t end up having to use any of our talismans!¡±


    The mood of the group seemed to brighten considerably at that. Was being a crafter of consumables really such a bonus here? That thought made me turn my head towards H, sending her a private whisper through the fairy. I don¡¯t suppose that your potions have such a beneficial effect?


    Well, they would if I trained them as hard as you trained your inscription. She responded after a moment of consideration. I¡¯ve been busy with other things, whereas you¡¯ve been basically locked up in your workshop for a month, working on that one pattern. If I did the same thing¡­ I¡¯d probably have my healing potions practiced enough that they could recover our entire health pool.


    Did you not do any training for your alchemy this month? I couldn¡¯t help but ask that, since it was pretty clear that she had been focusing on training her other skills.


    Oh, I did. But not on healing potions. I¡­ might have gotten lucky on the alchemist lottery, and gotten a bomb recipe. There was a downright evil smile on H¡¯s face as she revealed that bit of information. It takes a few rare materials, but I¡¯ve managed to make a couple of them so far.


    I thought you were going healer!?


    Her evil smile vanished, her eyes taking an innocent, even wronged look. I can¡¯t be med for the results of the lottery. Surely, it is as if the heavens themselves want me to pursue this path. Who am I to deny the will of fate?


    There were so many things wrong with what she said, I didn¡¯t even know where to begin¡­ Like this, we continued our private conversation as our group made it back to Xanjafar. Once we were there, Jessex led us through the streets, and we came across an old demon leaning against a wall. From his appearance¡­ he truly was the same demon that had trained me to use ki.


    When we approached, he nced up, taking the initiative to speak. His voice was still dry and weary, showing that his situation hadn¡¯t improved substantially in the time I hadn¡¯t seen him. ¡°Were you able to find him?¡±


    I was waiting for Jessex to speak, as the one who had originally epted the quest, but when I nced over, I saw that she was looking at me in expectation. With a sigh, I stepped forward. ¡°We did¡­ he is already dead, sir. We found his spirit fighting in the hob camp. He wanted us to tell you¡­ ¡®the blood debt has been set¡¯.¡±


    There was a visible change in the demon¡¯s expression when he heard that, switching from grief to outrage. ¡°The debt has been set, has it?¡± He asked, pushing off from the wall and walking towards us, still leaning heavily on his staff. ¡°You have my thanks, travelers, and the thanks of everyone in the city. If memory serves, you were interested in learning how to wield chakra?¡±


    Even though I wasn¡¯t the one who had epted the quest, his eyes were locked on me the entire time that he spoke, as if the others hadn¡¯t even entered his vision. As such, I could only give a faint nod in response. ¡°That¡¯s right¡­¡±


    ¡°I am a busy man, I don¡¯t have the time to teach you right now.¡± He waved his hand dismissively, before reaching into his bag and pulling out a scroll. Passing it to me, he made sure not to let it go until he was done speaking. ¡°Study this carefully, because it has everything you will need to know to practice this ability.¡±


    You have received a training scroll for Chakra Control!


    Jessex¡¯s eyes were practically glued to the scroll the moment that the demon¡¯s hands let go of it. He turned around, finished with the conversation, and began to walk on down the street. ¡°That¡¯s a training scroll, right?!¡± She asked in excitement, to which I nodded. ¡°Can I borrow it when you¡¯re done with it? I¡¯ve wanted to learn how to properly use chakra for ages, but I can just never get the techniques down properly in the real world.¡±


    I didn¡¯t particrly see any reason to refuse. If the scroll was reusable, I might as well let those people near me benefit from it as well. It was the equivalent to saving a gold coin after all--¡­ ¡°He didn¡¯t ask for payment.¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± It took a moment for Jessex to realize what I meant, before her eyes widened. ¡°Tebor¡­ we need to leave, now. And put that thing away before someone sees it.¡±


    As I was putting the scroll away, she urged H and I to walk back towards the city gates quickly, speaking in the private party chat. That scroll¡¯s value¡­ from what I¡¯ve heard, training scrolls are being valued at twenty times the skill cost. That means that guy handed over a twenty gold treasure for this quest¡­ Do you know what that means?


    Surprisingly, it was H that answered. It means that we triggered a big story event, right¡­?


    That¡¯s putting it lightly! Bryant chimed in, his steps bing more hurried by the moment. The sooner we get out of here, the better! Events this big, this early in the game¡­ I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if Xanjafar isn¡¯t here a week from now.


    Jessex gave a nod towards herpanion¡¯s words. This kind of event¡­ it¡¯s going to turn into a full-scale war. Either the city falls, or they destroy their target. And something like this is way bigger than just one hob tribe.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Sir, are you sure that this is the right way?¡± Eye of War asked as he followed behind the blindfolded dwarf. They had been moving ever since they split up from the Life¡¯s Dream group, and they hadn¡¯t seen even the smallest sign of a hob.


    ¡°Aye, ¡®course it is! Ye think I don¡¯t know how to read my own mini-map?!¡± Beholder called back to him angrily, earning a small sigh from the demon.


    Eye of War knew that his boss had one of the worst senses of direction ever, even when he wasn¡¯t blindfolded. ¡°Did you read the coordinates wrong again?¡±


    ¡°Huh? ¡®Course not, they¡¯re right here. Let¡¯s see¡­ eh, what¡¯s this?¡± Beholder¡¯s mouth dropped open in surprise before heughed out, seeing a new window appearing in front of him. ¡°Well, boy, looks like we don¡¯t have to worry about it anymore. Those kids took care of the problem for us.¡±


    Rescue the Recluse has beenpleted by another party, and has automatically been canceled.


    ¡°Does that mean we can go back to town, sir?¡± The demon asked, genuinely hoping to get out of this maze of a forest. If he let Beholder lead the way the entire time, who knew how long it would take them to get anywhere. They might even end up in another city entirely.


    ¡°Aye, sure, we¡¯ll be off now¡­¡± Just as he was nodding, turning around as if preparing to leave, something caught his attention. With his eyes covered as they were, his other senses had been trained to their fullest. Including his supernatural senses. ¡°War. Ten paces behind ye, three to the right. I sense somethin¡¯ there.¡±


    Eye of War¡¯s face grew serious, and he pulled his longsword from his inventory as he turned in that direction. At first, all that he saw was a group of gnarled roots where Beholder had indicated, yet he still approached carefully. His boss wasn¡¯t the type to joke around when it came to things like this. If he said that he felt something, then something was there.


    When the demon was standing immediately over the location, Beholder gave him a firm nod. ¡°Right at yer feet, just below. It¡¯s small, but I can sense magic in it.¡±


    That was all that he needed to know, and he brought his sword down towards the roots at his feet. If something was truly buried under there, then it would have to be a relic from the old war that the NPCs sometimes referenced. And a relic used in a war would typically be a good item.


    Sure enough, once he had cut away a few of the roots, he saw the first hint of rusted metal. A few more cuts, and he was able to pull out a small amulet. ¡°Sir¡­ I can¡¯t appraise this.¡± He said as his eyes widened. The pattern in the metal clearly represented a single eye bathed in me, yet he could get nothing out of it. Every time he tried, his fairy informed him that his skill level was insufficient.


    ¡°Ye didn¡¯t get a quest for finding it or anything?¡± Beholder asked suspiciously, his head pointed towards the amulet, as if he could see it from beneath the blindfold.


    ¡°No, sir. Maybe we can only get the quest after it has been identified¡­?¡± That was the only answer that the demon coulde up with.


    ¡°Aye¡­ let¡¯s head back quickly. Stick it in yer inventory, make sure it doesn¡¯t get lost.¡± The dwarven leader was no longer in the mood to y around. This trinket represented both a potentially powerful treasure, as well as the possibility of a hidden quest. And, of course, he still wanted to learn how to wield chakra after getting back to town.

 Chapter 350: The Slumbering Beast

    <h4>Chapter 350: The Slumbering Beast</h4>


    The city of Xanjafar seemed to spring to life. The NPCs that had beenrgely unresponsive to the actions of the yers now carried fierce expressions. The city¡¯s cksmith shops could be heard working night and day, pumping out new weapons and armor that were immediately equipped by the various residents and guards.


    At first, many yers had hoped to earn new quests when they saw this activity. However, most were shot down with the excuse ¡®This has nothing to do with you¡¯. Only those rare few who had been working to get into the city¡¯s army were rewarded for their efforts with the final prize. If you could call it a prize.


    Collect the Blood Debt


    A hero of the city, one who fought to keep it safe from those who wished to destroy it, has been brutally killed by the forces of the Mad King. His spirit has called for a blood debt. Assist the army in destroying any of the Mad King¡¯s forces in the vicinity of Xanjafar.


    This quest cannot be rejected or abandoned without resigning from the army.


    Quest rewards: +80 Reputation with Xanjafar


    Quest failure condition: Xanjafar is destroyed


    To some, these quest rewards were actually quite promising. It was a little known fact that high enough reputation would allow you to take up permanent residence in a city, and be simr to a normal civilian there. Few people had actually managed it, but once done you would be able to have a safe residence that belonged entirely to yourself, and be qualified to get a job in the area.


    Of course, there weren¡¯t too many yers that joined the game only looking to live a normal, quiet life. However, those devoted enough to the idea to join the army were just that type of person. Otherwise, they would have spread out and begun exploring to train themselves long ago.


    Either way, however, the only way for them to give up this quest was to give up all their hard work so far. So they epted. They were given some of the new equipment that had been forged, and were sent out with the regr army. Their first destination was the hob tribe where Jinx had been killed. They¡¯d soon find, though, that it would not be theirst.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Thirteenth Dragon Garrison, stand ready!¡± Tsubaki¡¯s voice shouted out, apanied by the heavy footfalls and steel shing against steel as a vast number of troops began to organize themselves. Standing immediately in front of her was a single heroc, wearing red and white armor that made him look positively vicious.


    Standing behind him, there were ten more people spread out, each wearing glistening chitinous armor. And finally, behind each of those ten were twenty-five rows of eight people. Their armors were far more normal, yet none of them seemed discouraged by this fact.


    Ever since Tubrock had begun presenting them with equipment, Tsubaki had started to hammer military training into them. She had assigned twenty-five teams to eachmander, and tenmanders to each general. This gave another level of organization and structure to the previously disordered army by assigning a clear hierarchy.


    Unfortunately, this also meant that she had to teach them group fighting on an entirely different level. Due to the limited time, she had only nned to teach the individual teams the basics of fighting together to increase their chances. But now that this was a proper military force, that alone wasn¡¯t enough anymore.


    To those who had known her from the start, Tsubaki¡¯s body felt¡­ weak. She had to use so much of her energy to help guide these forces that she was barely holding her avatars together. If someone were to find her true self, it¡¯s possible that any one of these soldiers would be able to kill her in her current state.


    She wouldn¡¯t take that risk, though. The weaker she felt her energy bing, the more cautious she became. She might not be afraid of death, but dying would mean failure, a failure to live up to the expectations that her Keeper had ced upon her.


    She did her best, of course, to restore her energies every day when it was time to rest. To get what little she could back to help her prepare for the next night¡¯s training. But every day, she grew weaker still.


    When she returned at her normal hours to prepare meals for Dale, he would ask her about it at times. However, she repeatedly assured him that she was still able to carry on with the task that she had taken. She would not allow herself to fall so easily.


    And so it went, the cruel cycle of growing weaker and weaker. For sixth months she worked, only allowing the army to rest for a day when she felt that she didn¡¯t even have the energy left to form an avatar. By that point, even several of the goddesses hade down to check on her, to make sure that she wasn¡¯t pushing herself too hard.


    At some point, it had stopped being purely about those expectations, and had instead be a matter of pride. This was her project, what she had poured her heart into. She would see it through to the end.


    When that thought began to sink in, there were only a couple of weeks left before the army¡¯s departure. Once again, Tsubaki was sitting on a tall tree, her golden hair looking a ghastly white. Her mind was focused on controlling her single avatar, watching over the training of one of the garrisons, when suddenly she felt the weight on the branch shifting.


    Pulling her mind back, she immediately withdrew one of her weapons, thinking that a beast had snuck up on her. Instead, she found what looked to be an elven woman in a green dress, her eyes focused on the distant horizon. Tsubaki immediately recognized the direction as the area where her avatar was.


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t sneak up on me like that¡­¡± Tsubaki muttered weakly, stowing the dagger that she had pulled out.


    ¡°Apologies, madam fox, but I felt my presence was needed here.¡± The woman spoke in a formal tone, her eyes never leaving the horizon. Tsubaki knew who she was, having seen her a couple times before in her long life. ¡°You are aware of your situation, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°More so than you, I¡¯d imagine.¡± It was hard for Tsubaki to split her focus between both herself and her avatar now, having already lost so much energy.


    ¡°Perhaps so, perhaps not. Consider these words. As you are now, you are barely able to lift your own dagger. When ites time for you to prepare your lord¡¯s meal, you can barely muster the strength to cut the meat to stew. Soon, it would take little more than a breeze to shatter your form. What use will you have, then? When you have be little more than dust scattered upon the winds?¡±


    Tsubaki¡¯s expression darkened at those words. ¡°I¡¯m managing my energy¡­ tomorrow is a night of rest so that I can recover again. Then I¡¯ll be fine until they leave.¡±


    ¡°I think you have overlooked something of extreme import, madam fox.¡± The woman said gently. ¡°Every time you push yourself to the brink of destruction, you do not grow stronger. No, your energy has be weaker each and every time. If you allow yourself merely a single rest yet again, I fear that there will be nothing left of you by week¡¯s end.¡±


    ¡°And what would you suggest?¡± Tsubaki felt genuinely annoyed by the woman¡¯s words, knowing in some small way that they might be true. But this had be too important to her now. She couldn¡¯t let herself give up so near the end.


    ¡°What more can you teach them in this short time? I know as well as you that the day when they leave is fast approaching. If you wish to truly ensure their chances, then these final days need not be spent training for battle. They should be spent resting, allowing them to say farewell to their loved ones. I have seen so many armies perish over acking morale, and I believe that you do not wish the same to happen here?¡±


    ¡°So you want me to stop.¡± The kitsune cut straight to the point.


    For the first time since her appearance, the woman turned her head to look straight at Tsubaki. ¡°Yes, I want you to stop. I wish for you to recover to your full strength. Because it will be needed soon. I have heard word from Desbar that the scaled beast has begun to grow restless in its slumber. It was spared your lord¡¯s wrath previously, but if it awakens in a foul mood, will you ask him to hunt it alone?¡±


    That caused Tsubaki to freeze, thest bits of color draining from her features. When Dale had gone to hunt before, she put some effort into investigating any disaster level threats that still remained within the worlds. Both Deckan and Desbar had creatures that could constitute as true horrors, ording to alia¡¯s information.


    For Deckan, there was a great sea beast that dwelled at the bottom of the ocean. Its casual movements caused whirlpools and tsunamis, its jaws able to devour entire ships and leave nothing behind. Yet even that one paled inparison to the dragon.


    As if an echo of an ancient, terrifying creature, this dragon had been born with a remarkable gift for magic and ki alike. Its scales were stronger than any known metal, and its breath could liquify stone. Tsubaki had herself desired to hunt it when she first learned of its existence, wishing to eliminate a future threat. She had only been stopped when alia assured her that the Keeper already knew of its existence.


    He knew, and he had allowed it to live. This showed that he had some hopes for the creature to be good, to have intelligence matching its power. For a while, she had shared in that hope. But now, after what the spirit of Earth itself had said?


    ¡°How long do we have?¡± Tsubaki asked, her voice quiet.


    ¡°Desbar isn¡¯t sure. It could be days, weeks, maybe even years if the beast falls back to slumber. However, there are so few people able to fight it, and even fewer still that have the will to do so. If you were to still be so weak when it awakens, then perhaps you would still be driven to participate, charging forth into the jaws of death.¡±


    Tsubaki looked like she wanted to argue, when the spirit recited an old quote. Something written long ago, and had be something of a saying to ward off deception. ¡°Let not our shadows lie, when the light shines true. No matter how strong or weak you be, your ultimate wish is to serve your lord. So rest, recover, and prepare for your own battle.¡±


    There was a small sigh from the kitsune, who leaned back against the tree again, closing her eyes. She had to send out the dismissal order, to let the army know that they had a period of rest before their departure. When her eyes opened again, she was alone on the branch, a green mist scattering in front of her.


    ¡°The dragon¡¯s waking up?¡± She mused to herself, once again closing her eyes to focus on restoring her energy.


    _______________________________________________________________


    When Tsubaki returned to the citadel, reporting that she was taking thest few days to recover and allowing the army to rest, I was overjoyed. I could tell that she had been getting weaker by the day, and had worried that soon she wouldn¡¯t even be able to open her portals to get to and from the citadel anymore.


    However, when she also reported that the dragon of Desbar was showing signs of waking up¡­ I knew that it was time for things to start shaking up again. It¡¯d be nice if the dragon was intelligent and could be reasoned with. If it couldn¡¯t¡­ I knew that I¡¯d have to be part of the group that hunted it, to stop it from destroying arge portion of Desbar.


    I gave a small sigh when I thought about that, reflecting back on my time spent rxing in the game. Moving to Lyrea was easy, as was getting a new workshop, one a bit better even than what I had before. However, I had once again fallen into my old habit of training, scribing, and repeating.


    Perhaps on some level, I was wanting to wait for Tsubaki before I allowed myself to truly explore the game. Or maybe, I had just gotten so used to a lifestyle of training that it had befortable for me to do so. After all¡­ that¡¯s what I spent most of my time outside of the game doing, as well.

 Chapter 351: The Chosen Path

    <h4>Chapter 351: The Chosen Path</h4>


    I opened my eyes to see the familiar bedroom that I had left behind for several months. This was only the second time that I had spent so long away from ¡®home¡¯, but honestly¡­ it didn¡¯t feel as bad this time. I wasn¡¯t stuck in an ufortable environment, forced to act in a certain way to keep up appearances. Instead, I was surrounded by modernforts and caring people. In many ways, it had started to feel that I was back in my old life.


    Granted, my old life didn¡¯t have magic, or fully immersive virtual reality games. But, those things didn¡¯t break the illusion as much as I had expected. Even with my hours of training every day to master the usage of the divine soul, I still ended up feeling myself slip back into a ¡®normal¡¯ life.


    It wasn¡¯t until I was reminded of the dragon, and the uing battle that I¡¯d have to fight that I truly remembered my ce in this world. I wasn¡¯t just a normal person. I wasn¡¯t a scribe, or a gamer, or even a good ruler. I did my best, sure, but I knew that there was room to improve.


    What I was, was the ¡®overseer¡¯. I was the lynchpin holding the world together. I was the closest thing to a mortal god, and I had to act like one at times. This wasn¡¯t me inting my own ego, but a simple acknowledgement of the truth. alia, would you minding to my room, if you have a moment?


    Mere seconds after I sent the message, I heard a voice speaking up next to me, feeling a pressure on the bed that appeared suddenly. ¡°Sure Dale, what¡¯s up?¡±


    ¡°I want you to create another monster for me to fight.¡± I turned, looking towards the dog-eared goddess, her tail wagging slowly against the bed. I offered a small smile to return her own, knowing that this was the best that I could do for now. ¡°I want you to simte Desbar¡¯s dragon, so that I have practice fighting it. I know that I¡¯m probably far stronger in terms of raw strength, but¡­ I¡¯d rather know for sure. And this will help me train some techniques I¡¯ve been wanting to try out.¡±


    alia blinked a few times as she processed my request. This was my first time to prepare so thoroughly for a fight, so it might have caught her off guard. ¡°Sure, Dale. Everything okay?¡±


    I nodded my head slowly. ¡°Yeah, I just¡­ feel like I need to fight a bit harder for all of this. Now that I¡¯ve tasted a casual life again, I need to make sure that I¡¯m ready for sh*t to hit the fan. Because you know it always does. Maybe after Vanity, we¡¯ll get a Tyrant Keeper, or another Monster Keeper, with barely any time to recover. A hundred days feels like a long time to us, but¡­ it goes by so fast.¡±


    ¡°Dale, you¡¯re starting to sound like you¡¯re having a midlife crisis.¡± She pointed out, bringing a hand up to press against my forehead, as if she thought that I might have a fever. ¡°Are you sure that you¡¯re not letting yourself train too much? Maybe you should take a couple days to cool off. You have been tampering with your own soul after all, right?¡±


    I reached up to swat her hand, unable to hold back a chuckle. ¡°I¡¯m serious about this, alia. And I don¡¯t know¡­ maybe I just don¡¯t want to make Tsubaki fight so hard when she¡¯s in as bad of shape as she¡¯s in. I might be relying on her too much to handle earthly affairs, and don¡¯t want to work her to death.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I get that Dale.¡± alia rolled her eyes, leaning back against the bed with her arms behind her. ¡°It¡¯s just weird to have you get so serious all of a sudden. Though, knowing you, once you¡¯ve got the strength you want, you¡¯ll head right back into Vision Expanse. Especially now that Tsubaki¡¯s going to be joining you.¡± She sent a mischievous grin my way after saying that, to which I averted my eyes.


    ¡°I admit¡­ I¡¯m still going to take plenty of time to just enjoy myself¡­ That¡¯s not changing. After all, what¡¯s the point of being what I am if I can¡¯t have some fun now and then? Keep up morale for the sake of the world, right?¡±


    That earned a lightugh from the goddess. ¡°Yeah, yeah. That¡¯s more like it. Now, let¡¯s see about having you fight a dragon. You¡¯ve never seen the thing yourself, right?¡±


    ¡°No¡­ but I¡¯m going to be looking after the fight to make sure you didn¡¯t cheat.¡± I warned her, earning a not-so-innocent whistle. ¡°And would it be safe for me to have Leowynn join me for this fight, or would she be in danger in the ¡®game¡¯?¡±


    alia waved a hand dismissively as she summoned an interface in front of herself. ¡°If the dragon had any methods of directly attacking souls, maybe she¡¯d be in trouble. But it doesn¡¯t have anything like that, yet.¡±


    ¡°There was a ¡®yet¡¯, there. Why did you say ¡®yet¡¯? The thing¡¯s sleeping, right?¡± My eyebrows raised in rm when I caught her little slip.


    ¡°Well¡­ I mean, yes, it is. But the thing is scary smart, even for such a young age. Or maybe it¡¯s just its natural adaptability. You¡¯ll see when you fight it, but¡­ it analyzes energies used around it to incorporate into its own power. It learned how to wield ki after hunting monsters that used it. It learned how to use the spells of different creatures it fought. It takes time for it to learn, but it does¡­ If it fought spirits, it¡¯d probably have some sort of countermeasure against them within a month.¡±


    Saying up to that point, she gave a brief pause, ncing towards me. ¡°Well, maybe not one as strong as Leowynn, but still. We can all feel the divinity flowing through her now. I don¡¯t know how you did it, and frankly I know that this falls under the category of ¡®don¡¯t ask¡¯. But Leowynn has reached a stage beyond a normal spirit because of you. So it¡¯d take a serious spirit buster to put her in danger.¡±


    Although I was worried about the idea that this dragon could evolve to the point where it could fight spirits, herter words did help to reassure me. Divinity was the most absolute thing in the world, at least at my current stage of development. It was stronger than my saint energy, stronger than anything. The odds of the dragon evolving to be able to fight gods would be astronomical.


    But¡­ that just made this test even more important. If it did have that ability¡­ I¡¯d have to put it down, regardless of how benevolent it was. Having a creature gain power to rival gods would probably boost the power of my world substantially, to the point where I¡¯d have my rank increased.


    ¡°Just one question before we start, though.¡± alia spoke up, seeming like she was done preparing the dragon on her end. When I gave her a nod to continue, she did so. ¡°Why not just include the dragon as part of the invading force? If you¡¯re so worried about it, why not make it someone else¡¯s problem?¡±


    I gave a small chuckle at that, having been thinking about that myselftely. ¡°I¡¯ve considered it. But¡­ I don¡¯t want to use it to make the enemy stronger. If they have an adapting monster themselves, like the one that Savage used against us, then I¡¯d be feeding them the perfect ingredient to grow more powerful. I¡¯d rather take care of the dragon here than risk making Vanity a more powerful opponentter.¡±


    ¡°Fair enough.¡± alia shrugged, waving her hand to the side to send the interface window in front of me. I was already familiar with this window, so I simply chose to use my current Keeper profile before entering the fight.


    When I arrived at the prepared arena, I found that we weren¡¯t in the same wide cave that I was used to fighting alia¡¯s creations in. Instead, I found myself standing on a vast in. Opposite me, several hundred meters away, was a creature the size of a small mall. Dozens of meters tall and hundreds long, its scales glistened in the sun, shifting between silver, gold, and blue in an almost hypnotizing disy.


    It was fully standing upright, its wings pulled back behind it. With its posture, it looked more noble than childish, making me suspect that maybe this was a ¡®grown up¡¯ version of the dragon.


    When the voice spoke up to allow me to choose my weapons, I chose to go unarmed, instead sending my thoughts inwards. Ready for a fight, Leowynn?


    Always, father. Just tell me how you want to handle this.


    I gave a small nod, listening to the voice counting down for the match to begin. ¡°Fight dragon with dragon.¡±


    As you wish. Then, I manifest the Sky¡­of the Serpent.


    When the voice announced for the fight to begin, I felt my feet rising up off the ground. Beneath me, golden mist burst out, lifting me up and forming into a phantasmal golden dragon. I stood upon the golden dragon¡¯s head, and although Leowynn¡¯s dragon was only a fraction of the size of our opponent, her presence made me feel more secure.


    ¡°Leowynn, I leave the opening act to you. If you can kill it by the time I¡¯m done preparing, fine. That just means I worried too much.¡± The moment I said that, I felt the wind rushing around me as the two dragons charged each other. As they neared, both let out breaths of energy.


    From the giant dragon, a burst of white me poured out in a thick beam. To my surprise, the beam was actually aimed at myself, rather than Leowynn. However, it was met by the golden breath of my daughter, which kept it at bay until the two were closer.


    While they charged, I lifted my hand, hearing a strange shattering sound in the back of my mind. Golden energy rushed out of my hand and into the air around us, even as the giant dragon¡¯s head came down to bite Leowynn¡¯s neck. I could see that its teeth were having trouble sinking in, so I wasn¡¯t too worried. Instead, she struggled, while I could feel the heat of its breath.


    Its ws scraped towards me, only for Leowynn¡¯s own head to rise up and bite into its arm. Unfortunately¡­ she wasn¡¯t having much more luck prating the dragon¡¯s hide than it was with hers. I could see some scales cracking, but no blood flowed from the sounds.


    Behind myself, between my body and the dragon¡¯s head, a golden panel of ss formed, quickly surrounded by an ornate decoration. However, reflected within the ss was not my own body. ¡°Mirror the Huntress.¡± I spoke, though my voice was no longer my own, sounding lighter and more feminine.


    I clenched my hand around a bow that hadn¡¯t been there a moment ago and jumped forward, off of Leowynn¡¯s head. I could see her eyes widen in surprise, even in her altered state as I spun around, plucking at the strings of the bow. Golden arrows shot out with uracy I could never hope to achieve on my own, piercing towards the eye of the giant dragon.


    Seeing the golden arrows flying at it, its eye closed, the lid turning blood red moments before the arrows struck. There was a hiss of me, and a gout of fire spread from its mouth along Leowynn¡¯s neck. However, my body was already flying towards another mirror from my jump, this time with another form. ¡°Mirror the Forgemaster.¡±


    Inded heavily on the ground after my second shift, my body suddenly feeling stiff. My limbs were thicker, the bow in my hands reced by arge hammer. ¡°This¡¯ll be a lot easier once I get the next bit of training done, I think.¡± My voice was deep and gruff, my words seeming almost muffled through a thick beard.


    Father, I don¡¯t mean to rm you, but this does kind of hurt my neck. Can you do something about that?


    ¡°Aye, aye, I¡¯m gettin¡¯ theress.¡± I felt even my words slip into Tubrock¡¯s as I walked forward, hammer in hand. When the dragon opened its eye, it seemed to regard me as more of a threat, or perhaps Leowynn as too difficult a target to injure, and began charging towards me. An idea that worked just fine, given that Tubrock was apparently not a fast runner.


    I was expecting it to let out another breath of fire as soon as it was within range, but such a thing never happened. Its form soon began to tower over my own, before a spell diagram appeared beneath its head, six interlocking patterns. ¡°Oi, isn¡¯t that--¡± My words were cut off as I seemed to instinctively recognize bits of the diagram, mming my hammer down against the ground. Immediately, a dome of metal appeared around me to defend against the spell, one which I had identified as a life draining st.


    There was the sound of ss shattering again as I formed another mirror behind myself, feeling a growing pain deep within my soul. Three¡¯s the limit for now¡­ ¡°Mirror the Judge of Souls.¡±


    I could feel my divine soul growing more brittle every time that I shifted from one form to another. This was a technique that I hade up with in theory, realizing the potential behind divine energy. If I devote myself to a concept, then I can use that concept in any way that I can rationalize. I had been torn between the concept of eyes or mirrors¡­ but I had ultimately chosen this.


    When I felt the rumbling from the st stop, I simply waited. In my hand, I held a thin pen, my eyes facing upwards as my wings tucked in close behind me. Soon, I knew it woulde for me.


    Momentster, I heard that sound of metal being ripped, and slowly lifted my hand. My eyes were cold and calm as I saw two giant ws spreading the cage just enough for it to lower its head. I knew that it wanted to simply st its fire inside my self-made prison. ¡°Begone.¡± I spoke with Irena¡¯s voice, writing a single word in the air with the pen, a shimmering golden ink trailing behind the pen¡¯s tip.


    Die.

 Chapter 352: Shattered Hopes

    <h4>Chapter 352: Shattered Hopes</h4>


    With the battle over, I appeared back on my bed within the Admin Room. Nothing had particrly changed, aside from a shocked look on alia¡¯s face. ¡°Wha¡­ you¡­ you became me.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but grin when I saw her eyes wide in disbelief. ¡°It¡¯s a technique I came up with for my divinity, the Mirrored Self. The idea behind it is¡­ if I can understand someone well enough, then I can copy them, be a mirror image. I can¡¯t say that I know you well enough to fully replicate your skills with a bow, or your battle tactics, but¡­ I do admit that you are better in both of those fields than myself.¡±


    ¡°Mirrored Self¡­?¡± alia muttered the technique name to me, seeming to sink into thought. ¡°And of course, the people that you know best within the entire world are the gods¡­ and Tsubaki. That¡¯s a scary strong ability, considering that you¡¯re still a ¡®mortal¡¯.¡±


    I gave a small nod, agreeing with her. Honestly, it turned out better than I had expected. I wasn¡¯t really thinking that I¡¯d be able to replicate their godly relics, but it seemed that the divine energy I had built up was enough to aplish the job. ¡°But there¡¯s a downside. It looks like I can only use it for a few times right now, before I need to stop and recover. Only my soul is divine, so changing the rest of me caused a bacsh.¡±


    ¡°Once I go a bit further, I should have a bit more freedom to use that ability. Until then¡­ this will be plenty for now.¡±


    alia barked out augh when she heard that. ¡°Hell yeah it¡¯s enough. I know you didn¡¯t fully reproduce my abilities after seeing you fight, but¡­ that was about sixty percent me, if I had to guess. And when you mirrored Irena¡­ that definitely felt close to her.¡±


    That made sense. The four deities that I really knew the best were Irena, Ryone, Terra, and Aurivy. Given the situation, Irena seemed like the safest bet for quickly finishing the battle, but I knew that the other three would be useful in a variety of different circumstances.


    ¡°So, I take it you¡¯ve really settled on mirrors as your future domain?¡± alia asked curiously while I was lost in thought, snapping me back to attention.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ I wanted a versatile detection domain that could be used inbat as well. This was the best that I coulde up with that suited both.¡±


    Hearing my exnation, alia nodded her head slowly. ¡°Sure, I can see that. Why didn¡¯t you just try firing the dragon¡¯s breath back at him or something?¡±


    My eyes went wide at her question, staring at her in shock. ¡°Are you kidding me? And risk putting myself right in the literal line of fire if the technique didn¡¯t work? No, I think I¡¯d be too worried about it failing to be able to get it off in the first ce.


    A small smirk floated up onto alia¡¯s face at my answer, before her eyes widened anew at my next request. ¡°Now, could you send me back in? There¡¯s a couple of other things that I want to test before we call it a day.¡±


    ¡°Uhm¡­ you sure? I mean, it looked to me like you already have a way to pretty easily take out the dragon.¡±


    I simply nodded my head in response. I could feel that my damaged divine soul had been repaired when the simtion had ended, leaving me with little reason not to jump back in. Unlike my prior training sessions, this left no real mental trauma that I had to cope with, and it was just a matter of whether or not I felt that I was up to the task at hand.


    Momentster, I found myself standing back in the same grassy in that I had just fought in. And once again, standing opposite of myself was the towering draconic figure. As the voice began counting down, Leowynn spoke up from within me. Should I go for the dragon again?


    No. I shook my head to refuse her question. I¡¯ll try to handle this one on my own. This time, I¡¯m going to be using a technique that you gave me the idea for.


    I could feel her confusion, moments before the match began. The dragon immediately began to charge towards me, following the same pattern that it had used previously. Its mouth lit up with white mes, preparing tounch them.


    Lifting one hand, I willed my divine soul to rush out of me again and into the surroundings. This was, unfortunately, a necessary step to be able to use my divine techniques readily inbat. I had to draw on energy that I had already scattered.


    As the breath wasunched, I willed a mirror to form on the opposite side of the dragon, one with my own image. Then, ¡®I¡¯ stepped out of that mirror, just as the previous image of me shattered like ss beneath the dragon¡¯s breath. As it turned around to look for me, I continued to push out my divine energy, knowing that I would need a lot for what I wanted to aplish.


    Of course, that much energy naturally drew the beast¡¯s attention, its tail swinging down to strike against me. Even its tail was at least ten meters thick, so blocking it was¡­ ill advised. Instead, I opted with another mirror shift, this time cing myself high in the sky above the dragon.


    This time, its eyes followed me almost instantly. After all, I had pulled back all of my divine soul in my direction the moment I moved, my hand ced out in front of me. As the energy returned, it formed a golden hand mirror. ¡°I really hope this works.¡± I muttered, aiming the mirror downwards.


    The dragon¡¯s eyes were naturally attracted to the powerful energy that it had been using to track me, meaning that it stared directly into the mirror as it was positioned. Upon seeing its own reflection, the mirror let out a golden light. Yet¡­ I was not at all satisfied with the result.


    ¡°You¡¯re not trapped in the mirror. You were supposed to be¡­ oh.¡± I looked down at the still present dragon, which was now spreading its wings to take flight after me, and then back to the mirror. When I looked into the reflection, I saw that the image of the dragon was still carried within the mirror. ¡°Okay¡­ maybe this will work anyways.¡±


    Opening my hand, I released the mirror, allowing it to drop from my position high in the sky. As it descended, I fired a simple mana bolt spell at it, causing the fragile ss to shatter. When that happened, there was an explosion of blood and gore as the dragon itself suddenly shattered into numerous jagged pieces, earning a small wince from me.


    Okay¡­ for the record, it was supposed to be fully sealed within the mirror, so that I could either use it as a prison OR break it. Maybe I didn¡¯t have enough divine energy to seal its physical form yet? After six months, my entire soul had long since been converted, but it was still far from the power of a true god.


    As that thought finished, I heard a small sigh from beside myself, finding that I was already back on my bed. ¡°Any other techniques you want to try out?¡± alia asked in a tired sounding voice. ¡°I had actually been worried that you didn¡¯t think you could kill it¡­¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ in my defense, I didn¡¯t know how powerful my divinity would be inbat.¡± I smiled innocently when I said that. The only thing that I had used it for so far was scrying, and even that had a limited range. Granted, the range was several thousand miles, but given the size of my worlds, that was practically nothing! I had no real basis topare it for practicalbat.


    ¡°What about your other skills?¡± She asked, ncing towards my right hand. ¡°You¡¯ve still got that elementalist weapon to train, right? And your chakra techniques¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m still going to do those.¡± I replied immediately, waving my hand to dismiss her worries. ¡°The more skills I practice, the easier it should be for me to understand people¡¯s abilities with my earlier technique.¡±


    ¡°Alright, alright. Well, anything else that you need me for, then? I¡¯m suddenly feeling the urge to go punch something in the face repeatedly.¡± alia¡¯s head drooped down as she said that, her tail no longer wagging against the bed.


    I reached up to pat her shoulder gently, shaking my head. ¡°Nah, you can go. Have fun in the game, or wherever it is you go to wreck faces.¡± That earned a small smile from her as she faded away beneath my palm.


    _______________________________________________________________


    As the months passed in Lorek, there were startling changes in both the Water n and those that had once been pursuing them. With the assistance of Abin, detailing his path of enlightenment to the other elders, it did not take long for a second master to arise, followed by a third.


    These masters had relied on their own understandings in order to achieve their current state, unaided by the mysterious legacies. Their knowledge was not that which hade from a dusty tome, but from their own experiences. And, thanks to that, they were able to more easily advance. Unfortunately¡­ without a guide on what it took to advance, they were stuck at the level of a master, unsure even if there was a level beyond.


    They had their suspicions, as every master had been able to sense terrifying presences roaming nearby at times, forbidding their nsmen from leaving the caves until they passed. Each of them could tell that the beasts were so much more powerful than themselves, enough so that their mere aura sent fear into their hearts.


    However, due to the presence of the three masters, the Water n had easily been able to secure enough food for their people. The same could not be said for other ns¡­


    Without the aid of the Lightning Master, his n fell into a panic. Some members harbored thoughts that he had abandoned them, just like they had abandoned their homnd in pursuit of power. After all, they were just slowing him down. If he truly wished to give it his all to find an inheritance, he would be able to move faster on his own.


    Others began to plot to steal the power of the n for themselves, speaking of how they would ¡®guide¡¯ it to a better age. When these people appeared, they were often given the most terrifying of punishments. They were told to go hunt for food. After all, how could the people follow them if there were no people left?


    As the Spear Master watched over their battle from afar, he simply shook his head. As a favor to his fallen friend, he had chosen to watch over them for a half-year, allowing them time to pick themselves up. However, he had chosen to do so in secret, not wanting their n toe to rely on him. He had done his best to deter lower level beasts from attacking the hunting parties, retreating when anything too powerful appeared.


    Now that the six months had passed, though¡­ they were on their own. To live or die depended on their own power. In the eyes of the Spear Master, he had already done his old friend a great service by protecting them for as long as he had. After all, he still had his own n to worry about.


    Recently, he had been finding more and more evidence that the other ns had begun to perish. Bits of bodies or bloodied clothes scattered about when he went out for regr patrols. His thoughts of exploring far beyond the mountain range were quickly extinguished every time he felt those terrifying auras, urging him back into his hole.


    What inheritances, what great civilizations? This was and of death.

 Chapter 353: Breaking News

    <h4>Chapter 353: Breaking News</h4>


    After running a quick check on Lorek, I decided to follow through on my little tease to alia, and turned my sight towards Desbar. I wanted to take a look at the dragon myself, see just how simr it was to the one that I had fought. And what I found was¡­ worrying, to say the least.


    Not because she had exaggerated its abilities, one way or the other. It was every bit as massive as she had shown me, slumbering fitfully beneath a mountain. Its scales shifted through various colors in the same way as what I had seen. No, what worried me was its location.


    The mountain that the dragon was sleeping under had the appearance of a volcano, but I could easily tell that it wasn¡¯t naturally formed. Rather, every time that the dragon snorted out a bellow of white mes, another chunk of rock fell from its ceiling, sshing against the floor as glowing red magma.


    I wasn¡¯t sure whether the dragon¡¯s body heat was insanely high, or if it was some sort of magical aura that it radiated, but theva that it created in this way didn¡¯t simply cool off as one might expect over time. No, it pooled up, creating a growing bath that wrapped around the beast. Yet that still wasn¡¯t the part that worried me. What truly caught my eye, made me feel as if this was a truly dangerous monster, was the size of the entrance to its little cavern.


    It was small. Far smaller than the dragon¡¯s current size. Maybe three meters in diameter at the most narrow parts of the tunnel leading down to it. And yet, there it was¡­ so very muchrger than that. I had to look back through time to get a proper idea of what had happened.


    In the beginning, it was truly just a small whelp. Large considering its parent wyverns, but still manageable. The kind of dragon that you¡¯d see in your standard knight¡¯s tale. Just a bitrger than a winged, reptilian horse.


    But then it began to hunt. The game started small, at first rabbits or foxes which it devoured on the spot, but then moving up to wolves or deer. These, it brought back to this cave to save forter. What couldn¡¯t fit through the passage, he tore apart and took in pieces. This went on for several months, a mountain of food piling up on one side of the cave.


    Finally, when one particrly cold winter night came around, the dragon didn¡¯t go out to hunt. It feasted, digging into the meat that it had umted. Whether it was rotted or not seemed to matter very little to the ferocious beast. It ate its full, and then curled up beside the pile to sleep. A sleep that hasn¡¯t ended to this day.


    Every now and again, a w would stretch out from its curled form, grasping onto another chunk of meat and pulling it close, munching on it slowly. It even devoured the bones. And as it did so, it began to grow. Its small form expanded over time, more and more as it ate, until there was simply no more food left for it to consume.


    That was when it became restless. wing at the ground where it had left its meals, it let out a low whine apanied with a roar of me. The first ssh ofva fell over its form, and it seemed to settle,forted by the heat. But then the hunger arose again, and again.


    By now, the beast had melted away so much of the mountain that smoke began to rise from the surface. Holes dotted the top of the mountain, which nobody dared approach. Every test that the demons ran on the mountain warned that it was dangerous in one form or another. The heat, the mana, the powerful ki, everything within the mountain screamed of a disaster.


    They didn¡¯t seem to realize whether the mountain itself was alive, or if there was simply a powerful creature within it, but they were not about to disturb it to find out. Instead, they dered that ind as a forbidden zone.


    Thinking back, I honestly believe that they did the right thing. If they had disturbed the dragon, then there is nothing good that could havee of it. In the best case scenario, Tsubaki would have been called to deal with it¡­ but I was honestly unsure if even she could do it. Leowynn, with all of her strength, could barely pierce the dragon¡¯s scales when in a matching form.


    I shook my head, casting my eyes elsewhere. It had been six months now since the release of Vision Expanse, and I wanted to see what people thought¡­


    *****


    On a wide screen, there was the scene of battle. Ten brave heroes of various races standing against an army of monsters. Some of them fired spells, some fired arrows, and others simply gripped their weapons to ward off the tide of enemies.


    ¡°It¡¯s been six months now since the release of the new Massively Online Virtual Environment, known as Vision Expanse. I¡¯m here live, watching the battle of the ranking team known as Legion.¡± A gentle female voice spoke up from the screen, the sounds of battle quieting to allow her to talk.


    ¡°At first, there were many concerns that people had over the game. The first and foremost was theck of space. However, we quickly learned that all of that was actually intended. See how Legion is battling against this army, moving off towards the distant mountain.¡± The camera panned up to see a lone mountain thaty beyond the horde of monsters. At the top of the mountain was a structure which could barely made out from this distance.


    ¡°Theck of space had always been intentional. It was a way to force yers to work together, to grow. And now, we see where that finally culminates. Legion has been working together since their very first days in the game, and I am happy to say that I¡¯ve been reporting for them for most of it. Now, they are in the final stretch of their grand quest.¡±


    ¡°For those tuning in for the first time, allow me to give you a bit of history. Before the release of Vision Expanse, there was a terrible tyrant who gathered the monstrous forces of the world. He formed armies that ravaged thend, causing empires to crumble. Those who survived were forced to hide within their city walls, unable to properly escape. Even now, there are still those cities who have yet to be freed. These are the types of cities that yers start in.¡±


    ¡°With the initial limit of three cities, yers were cramped. Even with the initial yerbase being small, there were too many people, and not enough resources.¡± There was a sorrow to her tone as she spoke, the camera once more panning down to the battle.


    ¡°That¡¯s where Legion came in. Shortly after theunch of the game, they began to train, wanting to fight against this Mad King. And now they¡¯re here for the final battle. A battle to liberate the world of Vision Expanse. But¡­ what is toe after this? Is this the end of Vision Expanse¡¯s storyline, or is it merely the opening chapter? Let¡¯s find out together, everyone!¡±


    With that, the voice of the reporter went silent, at the battle was once more yed at its full volume. It also became apparent at this point that only nine of the ten members of the party were truly participating in the battle. The final one, thest member standing at the center of the encirclement, was writing furiously within a book.


    ¡°Are you about done over there?¡± One woman, an elven mage holding arge silver staff, called back towards the scribe as she fired a beam of ice that swept away a horde of hobs and demi-gorgs,rger red creatures that carried oversized weapons.


    ¡°Almost¡­ got it!¡± He flipped to thest page, his pen moving quickly. ¡°Everyone, barriers!¡± As he spoke, he mmed the cover of the book shut, throwing it high into the sky.


    Every member of the party huddled close together, gripping a golden pendant on each of their chests. Domes of energy sprang up around them, connecting to one another to be one powerful shield.


    Up above, the book began to glow violet, turning darker and darker. Then, suddenly, it exploded. Rays of ck energy swept over the battlefield, seeming to simply erase any living creatures that they touched. These rays swept against the shield as well, of course, but bounced off of it, only hitting more and more of the enemies.


    By the time that the spell ended, less than a tenth of the monsters remained. The burden had been lessened considerably on the party, and they could take their time cleaning up the rest of the monsters. It was then that the reporter¡¯s voice spoke up again. ¡°Wow! Leon¡¯s Grimoire Destruction skill gets me every time! He¡¯s not called Death¡¯s Scribe for nothing, folks!¡±


    *****


    ¡­A scribe¡­ leveled a battlefield. Okay, that¡¯s it, calling Vivi. I quickly pulled up my chat interface, knowing that she could hear me as long as I had it open. ¡°Vivi¡­ you see that battle, right? What is this Grimoire Destruction skill, and why does it seem so overpowered?¡±


    I assure you that it is quite powerful indeed, Dale. However, it alsoes at a heavy cost. This is a third tier spell, learnable only under special circumstances. If you are referring to the yer known as Leon, then he chanced upon it through his own efforts, and has not properly received the experience bonus for learning from an NPC.


    To summarize, someone may take a freshly written grimoire, or book of scrolls, and activate every spell in it at once. It¡¯s necessary for the ink on each page to still be fresh, so that it seeps through each page to link the spells together. Only someone with exceptionally fast and urate hands can pull off the feat of scribing fifty scrolls in that time, even if they are of the lowest rank.


    If sessful, however, the spells merge and create a powerful effect like what you saw. And of course, it has its obvious downsides. The user has to be entirely focused during the scribing of the grimoire, to ensure its effect. That means that they must spend at least a dozen minutes in a chaotic battle without being disturbed. Even one attack slipping through could cause the pen to slip enough to ruin the grimoire¡¯s chances of being used in this manner.


    I couldn¡¯t help but grimace when I read that. ¡°Well¡­ now the skill honestly just sounds like more trouble than it¡¯s worth.¡±


    When used like this, you aren¡¯t wrong. Originally, it is part of the Siege Mage skillset. Its true purpose was to be used in a calm environment, to be the opening attack in a city siege. There are many, far easier to use skills that can be utilized to clear out groups of enemies. Though, admittedly this way gives asting impact to the viewers.


    It didn¡¯t take me very long to figure out what she meant by that. ¡°They¡¯re just putting on a show. If he¡¯s that advanced of a scribe, he would have hundreds of scrolls and talismans prepared for them. They could have easily gotten through that army, just by pouring money at it.¡±


    That is correct. Indeed, each of them has dozens of Good quality area-effect scrolls in their inventories. However, they aren¡¯t simply doing this to ¡®liberate¡¯ this world. These yers are professional gamers, and are thus suitably paid based on their poprity. Showing the world the power that a production ss can personally unleash on a battlefield¡­ I¡¯m seeing a distinct spike in forum activity discussing his skill.


    I wasn¡¯t quite sure how to feel about the fact that they were just doing this as an act. Sure, to them it wasn¡¯t a real world. To them, it was all a game that they were beating and a way to earn a living. But in truth, there was so much more to it than that.


    My next words, I sent both verbally to Vivi, and also mentally to Ashley. ¡°Alright. I think it¡¯s time to get yers a bit more involved. If they run out of things to do but explore the after defeating the Mad King, the game¡¯s poprity will plummet. They need a reason to be even more interested¡­ After the Mad King¡¯s death¡­ I¡¯d like to reveal the true origins of the game. Thoughts?¡±


    As you wish, Dale.


    Well¡­ I mean, we can. It won¡¯t impact any of us too heavily. But you¡¯ll need to make a personal appearance in order for people to truly believe it. As for additional content¡­ there is some. But yeah, most of it is just getting the rest of the world reimed. For now, at least.


    ¡°Okay. And also¡­ I¡¯d like one of you to pass a message along to Aurivy. Ask if she¡¯d like to y the role of the Mad King. She could put on a good performance for them, I think.¡±

 Chapter 354: Fated Soul

    <h4>Chapter 354: Fated Soul</h4>


    It didn¡¯t take long for me to get a resounding yes from Aurivy after I had the two of them ry my question to her. She was all too happy to y the role of the ¡®big bad¡¯. Seeing her getting pumped up, and working on her skill profile to y the part brought a small smile to my face before I chose to descend again. This time, I was going back to the Sky Citadel, having aplished what I wanted from my training.


    Until I achieved the next breakthrough to the Divine Body, I couldn¡¯t truly finish my domain abilities. I could only theorize and practice with them slowly.


    When I descended, I found Tsubaki once again waiting for me in the throne room, kneeling at the base of the stairs. It was obvious just how little energy she had left, now that I focused on measuring it, and I was d that she was taking a break. ¡°I¡¯m home.¡± I spoke up, getting her attention.


    Her head shot up abruptly, looking at me with wide eyes. However, after a brief moment, her lips curved upwards. ¡°Wee home, my Keeper. Do you have any ns for the day?¡±


    ¡°Actually, yes. I do.¡± I gave a small nod, rising from my throne. ¡°I was nning to y some more Vision Expanse, until the dragon fully awakened. Assuming that myst party member is ready to get started in the game, as well?¡±


    She caught me looking pointedly at her, and she really must have been tired if it took so long for my words to sink in. ¡°O-oh, me? You want me to join you, after all? I imagined that you would be at too high of a level, and I would need to catch up first¡­¡±


    I waved my hand dismissively at that. ¡°I just barely hit the double digits in levels myself. I¡¯ve spent almost all of my time in the game so far crafting. It let me build up a small fortune, but hasn¡¯t really done much for my levels.¡±


    In truth, my small fortune only amounted to a few gold coins that I had earned. As it turns out, purchasing the ink for higher level scrolls costs a lot more. Nearly a silver per vial of the most recent pattern I had learned.


    ¡°I see¡­ very well.¡± Tsubaki looked down at the ground, though I could tell that it was to suppress a smile growing over her lips. ¡°I would be honored to be able to y the game with you. Are you still being based in Lyrea?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Udona¡¯s guild invited us along to join her there. Though, once you¡¯re in and ready, we might move on to other things.¡±


    She gave a small nod at my words, before slowly rising to her feet. ¡°Shall we get going, then?¡±


    Nodding my head as well, we turned to walk out into the hall, heading towards the bedrooms. Meanwhile, I sent a brief mental message towards Terra. So, as the Goddess of Fate, if you had to give a guess¡­ how long do you expect it will be before the dragon wakes up?


    There was an amusedugh transmitted in response. Knowing our luck? As soon as we find something fun to get working on. But, if I had to guess in my capacity as a goddess holding some gift of foresight¡­ Six days. If my domain readings are correct, that should be when its hunger overwhelms it and it truly awakens. There is a margin of error, though.


    Six days¡­ that would put it just before the troops are sent off to fight Vanity. But still, that was six days to get Tsubaki to rx more¡­ And how long will it take her to get back to peak condition?


    That¡¯s¡­ a bit harder. If she spent some time in Hell again, she might be able to recharge overnight by absorbing the energy there. Natural recovery¡­ I¡¯d give it a month for her to get back to a hundred percent.


    ¡­So it was unlikely that Tsubaki would be able to directly participate in the battle against the dragon. She wouldn¡¯t even be back up to a quarter of her energy by then. I just had to figure out how to tell her without getting her to be upset at herself for ¡®letting me down¡¯. A task that was far more difficult than it sounded, if you actually knew the girl.


    _______________________________________________________________


    A loud crash sounded within an obsidian pce, the door being thrown wide open. From beyond the doorway walked ten figures, their faces tired. Their shoulders slouched slightly from fatigue. However, they moved onwards. They had only paused outside of the pce long enough to swap out their equipment for a fresh batch before heading in.


    Their weapons still dripped with the blood of monsters as they approached the throne room. When they forced that door open as well, the hallway was consumed by darkness. Even the reporter, still diligently watching the scene, found herself only barely able to make out what was going on by using a different vision mode.


    ¡°W-what the¡­¡± The leader, a human warrior with a shining sword, spoke in surprise, even the glow of his de muted in the darkness.


    It was at that time that a voice echoed out from within the throne room. ¡°You are not prepared to fight me. Rest, recover your strength. Do not bore me with ipetence.¡± The voice was old and deep, and powerful enough to send chills down the spines of the party members.


    The priestess, a dwarven woman carrying a seemingly in wooden staff, struck the ground with the base of her weapon. ¡°O¡¯ light, cast out this darkness!¡± Her staff began to brighten, yet only a few feet around her had be visible to the group, even when she was visibly struggling to focus on her spell.


    ¡°I said not to bore me.¡± The voice spoke again, before a snap echoed through the room. The glow of the staff faded as, with a startled cry from the dwarf, it shattered into pieces. ¡°You may rest within the pce. When you are ready to fight at your full power, I will be waiting for you.¡±


    All this time, and the members of Legion had yet to even see the Mad King, the one that they hade here to fight. They had only heard his voice, and what sounded like the snapping of his fingers, yet that alone had already destroyed one of their weapons, and seriously injured their morale.


    Just as Legion backed away, moving to find a ce that they could recover, the reporter decided to take matters into her own hands. She used her undetectable form to fly into the throne room, staring straight at the throne.


    What she saw was a throne made entirely of bones, the armrests branching off into spikes as skulls decorated the top of the throne itself. Sitting in it was what looked to be a young man. Elven, by the look of his ears. His face did not show any of the age that was present in his voice, yet he was the only one in the room.


    As the group left, the Mad King sat back within his throne of bone, letting out a soft sigh that echoed through the room. The door mmed shut, the darkness pulling back into his body. Although he was alone, the reporter still heard him speak. Something that logically shouldn¡¯t have happened with the NPC coding of the game.


    ¡°It looks like the time has finallye¡­¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    It didn¡¯t take long after I had logged in before I found myself once again sitting in my workshop. I decided to take care of a few talismans while waiting for Tsubaki. Something that would help her quickly close the distance between our levels.


    What I ultimately chose to work on was a set of healing talismans. Specifically, the ki-enhanced variety, which the system named the Healbrand Talisman. I had been waiting to unlock the ¡®good quality¡¯ for them before mass producing any talismans, just as I had done with the Lightningbrand Talismans.


    My current workshop was a bit improved whenpared to my old one. Most notably, the buffs had improved, meaning that time seemed to move at a different speed for me once I actually started scribing. Aside from that, the alchemy set to mix inks had be moreplex, and I was able to use the interface to ce orders for new materials.


    But enough of that¡­ I was just finishing up the first batch of talismans when I saw a prompt appear in front of me. A simple warning message that someone was waiting for me outside of the workshop. The message was off to the side, out of my direct field of view, so that I wouldn¡¯t notice if it I was truly focusing on something. In fact, I wasn¡¯t entirely sure that I caught it right away this time, as I had been double checking the items that I had just finished making.


    Moving to the door and opening it, I saw someone that could only be Tsubaki. Although her golden hair and tail had switched to silver, how many other kitsune wearing beginner¡¯s gear would be seeking me out right now. She seemed to study my face for a few moments, before nodding in satisfaction. ¡°I believe this is the right ce. I havee to make my initial report.¡±


    ¡°Your report?¡± I blinked in confusion, earning another nod from her.


    ¡°Yes. My name in here is Fated Soul, though you can simply address me as Fate.¡± She gave a polite bow after that introduction. ¡°I chose to take the lottery for my skills¡­¡± Fate nced towards her skill window, grimacing slightly. ¡°And it seems I have obtained Archery. Not entirely useful for our ns¡­ but I can easily acquire the skills I need.¡±


    Since she had given me her yer name, I sent a quick confirmation to make sure that it was really Tsubaki, because she seemed more¡­ lively that I am used to. Thankfully, she did indeed confirm it with me. Stepping aside, I waved for her to enter my workshop, closing the door behind her. ¡°Sorry, but I actually just got done preparing something that should be able to help you with that. And don¡¯t worry, the room is soundproof.¡±


    There was a light sigh of relief as I turned around, walking back towards the desk where five talismans with light green ink were starting to dry. ¡°I understand, my Keeper. May I ask what it is that you prepared for me?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re still drying, so you¡¯ll have to wait a couple minutes. But, I made you a few healing items. If my appraisal is urate, they should be able to recover up to two hundred points of health each. Which, if you look at your stats¡­ is a lot more than you have.¡±


    When I said that, I could see Fate checking her own information to confirm, and thought I would do the same. It had been a while since I looked at my numbers, though there weren¡¯t very many in this game to look at¡­


    Name


    Tebor


    Race


    Human


    Level


    12


    Health


    120/120


    Magic


    70/70


    Ki


    83/83


    These talismans would even be able to fully heal myself, let alone a new level one character. Once Fate had confirmed that fact, she gave a nod. ¡°You have my thanks. I shall be sure to use them carefully.¡±


    ¡°Good. Just make sure not to wait until it¡¯s toote. Also¡­ take this.¡± I reached into my inventory, pulling out five silver coins and passing them over to her. ¡°If there are some basic skills that you aren¡¯t able to unlock yourself and you think they¡¯d help, go ahead and get them. Whatever¡¯s left over can be used to upgrade your starting equipment.¡±


    Fate hesitated, looking at the five coins resting in her palms before gently closing her hands around them. ¡°Very well. I will follow your wishes. Would you like me to report back again when I have raised my level to match your own?¡±


    I gave that a moment of thought before shaking my head. ¡°Honestly, you¡¯re a better fighter for your ¡®level¡¯ than I am. Once you hit level eight, we should be able to start adventuring together.¡±

 Chapter 355: Shadows Lurk

    <h4>Chapter 355: Shadows Lurk</h4>


    It had been eight hours since the forces of Legion had made their way to the Mad King¡¯s pce. They had been utterly defeated by the man¡¯s mere presence, without even being able to see his face. But they did not give up. They still had tricks up their sleeves.


    Thankfully, the Mad King at least seemed to be a man of his word. They chose a spot to rest and rx, even logging out for the day when the system informed them that it was truly safe. While logged out, they discussed with each other about the abilities of the Mad King, and what they could expect from the fight.


    ¡°Obviously, he has a really powerful darkness ability.¡± An elven woman said as she looked at the holographic screen being projected over her wall, nine other faces appearing on it. ¡°The second we opened his door, he used it. Or maybe it¡¯s a passive effect of his. We should equip our darkvision goggles before trying to fight him again.¡±


    ¡°Oi, but ye saw what the man did to me staff.¡± A gruff voice spoke up, surprisingly deep considering who it came from. Their priestess, their healer¡­ a young dwarven man. Why he chose to y a female character, the rest of the party never really understood. ¡°What¡¯ll we do if he does the same thing to the rest of our items?¡±


    The elven woman, their resident expert mage, spoke up again. ¡°Games always have rules, Burmir. The stronger an ability is, the more difficulty there will be in using it. I can see two possibilities here. First off, it could be an event power that the King only uses to force the attacking party to rest and recover their stamina. If that¡¯s the case, he won¡¯t be doing anything like that in the main fight.¡±


    ¡°The other option is that it is a true skill. A high level mana control skill might be able to control the mana of a magical object to detonate it, like how Leon uses his books. Only his skill would let him target someone else¡¯s items. This is the worst case scenario, because it means that any items with active effects could be destroyed.¡±


    Another voice spoke up, a human male. One of their archers. ¡°What if we swarm him with attacks from all sides, make him unable to focus enough to channel the skill?¡±


    Finally, their party leader, the warrior that had led them through their many fights, nodded his head. ¡°Any skill requires sufficient focus to activate. That¡¯s true in here and in the game. But, did you see the footage?¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± The elven woman nodded her head. ¡°That wasn¡¯t a normal NPC. Even an event NPC wouldn¡¯t respond like that when there was nobody around to trigger it. I think that there is an extremely high chance that the Mad King is a game admin.¡±


    ¡°Won¡¯t that just make things harder for us?¡± Burmir spoke up in agitation. ¡°I mean, he could just buff himself through the mists and we¡¯d never be able to finish the job, right?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s likely.¡± The party leader said again. ¡°If he is an admin, and he wanted to block us off, he could have simply let us fight and wiped us out. But he told us to rest, to fight him at our full power. I think that it¡¯s safe to look at this as a test. If we don¡¯t perform up to a certain standard, he¡¯ll destroy us easily. But, if we can prove ourselves, he might take the fall, stage a dramatic defeat.¡±


    ¡°Would that really be good for thepany?¡± Another mage, this one a halfling girl, spoke up in confusion. ¡°If you look at the Mad King as the end game content, is it really a good thing for it to be taken out in under a year?¡±


    The elven woman gave a light scoff at that. ¡°Vision Expanse always had a limited shelf life. It offers too much, but is way too crowded. They don¡¯t deal with instanced servers, so the space is always going to be limited. Once we take out the Mad King and be the heroes of the world, things are going to change. yers will rapidly expand and establish their own territories, but that will be it. No new content means a sharp decline in their interest. Only those hardcore roleyers will stick around here after another year or two.¡±


    The party leader nodded his head, seeming to agree with the assessment. ¡°For now, we¡¯ll stick with Vision Expanse. Once a new gamees out, I¡¯ll look into seeing if we should swap over. But, until then, I think we can make our own adventures enough to keep going here.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll follow your lead, boss.¡± The halfling mage spoke up in a bright tone, cing an open hand over her chest in salute.


    ¡°Everyone, rest up. Tonight, we¡¯re hitting him with everything we have. Let¡¯s use our Overlord strategy this time.¡± As soon as he had given that verdict, the holographic screen vanished, the call having ended.


    ¡°Overlord, huh?¡± The elf muttered to herself. ¡°Kind of overkill, but I guess it fits here.¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    Back within the game, Legion was ready. Each of them fit a single ring onto their fingers, silver with the image of an open palm. They didn¡¯t speak aloud, knowing that there was the chance that they were being observed, simply giving it a few minutes for the reporter to appear.


    Naturally, they weren¡¯t able to perceive her when she did, that being the entire point of her character type. However, they had let her know in advance when they would be doing this fight, so it was just a matter of waiting. After a few minutes, the party leader nodded, opening the door of the room that they had used to rest.


    Without a word, the party moved, pulling a pair of ck goggles out of their inventories as they walked down the halls. Each of them made sure that their goggles were firmly strapped to their heads before they ever reached the door of the throne room.


    However, this time there was no deafening voice, no all epassing darkness. The door did not even wait for the party leader to m it open. As soon as they neared it, the door simply opened of its own ord.


    ncing to one another, they took it as a sign that they were expected. They held their hands together as they walked in, rather than having their weapons drawn, using one hand to hide the ring on the other. If the Mad King couldn¡¯t see the ring, then it was unlikely he¡¯d be able to urately target and destroy all ten.


    When they stood inside, all lined up, they saw with their own eyes the elven youth. This had been a point of interest for them when they saw the footage earlier, as all of the texts described the Mad King as a demon.


    As he spoke, however, they could hear that same ancient voice. ¡°So, you havee. Finally, there is someone that has made it here to challenge me?¡± The way he asked was almost as if the matter was of no real importance. He could have just as easily asked what was for dinner in the same tone, and nobody would bat an eye.


    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± The party leader spoke up, taking a step forward. ¡°We¡¯re here to end your tyranny. Everyone!¡±


    At once, the ten members of Legion lifted their hands, the rings pointed out towards the Mad King. He watched with an amused smile as a dozen rolls of parchment appeared in front of each of them. ¡°Very well, let¡¯s see how well you prepared for me.¡±


    Over a hundred spells fired together, mixed sts of lightning, fire, wind and stone. All of them focused on a single point. This was the Overlord strategy. A single barrage of attacks meant to erase bosses. And if it couldn¡¯tpletely destroy them, it would at the very least weaken them for the battle ahead.


    A small smile appeared on the party leader¡¯s face when he saw the obvious collisions from the spell, but he still immediately drew his weapon. Unless the system announced that an event had been cleared, he would always expect that the fight was not over yet. Likewise, the others all drew their weapons at the same time, not waiting for the smoke to clear.


    When it did, however, their expressions froze. The throne that the Mad King had sat upon was in ruins, broken bones littering the floor. Standing in front of it was the elf¡­ no, the thing that had looked like an elf.


    The Mad King had holes piercing through its body, and even its head, yet it stood calmly. An empty void pierced straight through its skull where one of its eyes had been, yet they still felt its gaze focused on them. Darkness oozed out of every wound, dripping onto the floor and spreading out like a ck puddle beneath its feet. One that kept growing, and growing, and growing.


    ¡°Good. You have spirit. Had I a mortal flesh, your attack may have done me in. Especially you, dear scribe. Your aim was quite excellent. Straight for the heart and brain. Sadly for you¡­ I have neither.¡±


    As he spoke, the ck pool continued to expand, beginning to creep up along the walls. Legion was forced to step back away as it came closer, their priestess once more striking the ground with her staff. ¡°Begone, ye evil darkness.¡±


    A brilliant barrier of light surrounded the party, and seemed to halt the progress of the ck pool. For a moment, the party seemed relieved, as this would confirm their suspicions of the attack it had used the night before being an event only ability.


    ¡°Darkness is not evil.¡± The Mad King spoke, his body slowly sliding forward along the surface of the ck pool. ¡°Light is not good. No element possesses a moral superiority over any other. Watch¡­¡±


    When the king drew closer, and ced his palm on the edge of the barrier, the priestess suddenly had a very bad feeling. ¡°Oh light which has intruded upon my sacred darkness, I banish you.¡±


    There was a cracking noise, and the barrier shattered like ss, the ck substance once more spreading closer. Strangely, the Mad King did not move with it. Suddenly, a thought urred to the elven mage, and she held her staff high above her head. ¡°Balefire rain.¡±


    A ball of fire shot up from her staff, turning into a swirling cloud above the battlefield. Molten rain fell from the cloud, smoke rising as each ¡®drop¡¯ struck the ground. The Mad King let out a hiss of pain, the darkness recoiling away from the fires.


    ¡°He¡¯s transformed his body!¡± She called out to the others. ¡°He¡¯s not just controlling the darkness, he is the darkness!¡±


    ¡°Clever girl.¡± The Mad King growled as he heard that, his skin turning pitch ck. ¡°But that won¡¯t be enough to save you.¡±


    ¡°Oi, wanna bet?¡± The priestess asked with a wide grin, swapping out her staff for another. This one had a golden hoop at its top, five rings linked into it. Unlike how she had used her previous staff, this one she swung in front of her, allowing the rings to shake and chime. ¡°Oh being of darkness, creature born of malice. In the name of the goddess Ashley, I drive you back! Divinity¡¯s Wrath!¡±


    A dark energy shed out from the tip of her staff, striking at the ck pool of shadows on the ground. Immediately, the pool seemed to weaken, being pulled in to the dark beam. At the same time, the rest of the group simrly arranged their own equipment to be strongest against the darkness.


    Bursts of light and energy des shot out one after another, followed by the screams of the Mad King as he stumbled back towards his throne. Now that they knew how to fight him, and had weapons that opposed his element, he did not appear so domineering. However, he would not allow them to have the finalugh so easily.


    ¡°You think this is it?¡± Heughed, even as he gripped a cut in his side, one that was not truly healing as it should. ¡°Foolish mortals¡­ this isn¡¯t even my final form!¡± A p of thunder rang out as the figure exploded upwards in a pir of darkness.


    The ceiling of the pce shattered, debris flying away for hundreds of meters. The members of Legion gripped their weapons tight, expecting a final stage of the boss battle. However, soon, silence emerged. In the dead of night, the Mad King could not be seen, having flown above the sky, above the clouds, and into the infinite darkness.


    ¡°¡­Really?¡± The halfling asked after several long moments. ¡°He ran away?¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡­Really? I asked mentally as I watched the scene ying out, as well as the announcement ying that they had driven away the Mad King. You had to?


    Oh,e on! Aurivy¡¯s voice responded back momentster, far too amused with herself. That line¡¯s a ssic!

 Chapter 356: Expansion

    <h4>Chapter 356: Expansion</h4>


    When the video finished, showing the fight that had ured with the Mad King, people felt¡­ disappointed. As if they had been built up for so much, with so many possibilities, only to have it all crash down in front of them. This was true both for the viewers, and for Legion as well. Their victory felt hollow. After all their preparations, their careful nning, they had defeated the Mad King. But they hadn¡¯t killed him. Instead, in the middle of his final words, he had simply exited the stage.


    How could they not get upset after that? They grit their teeth and endured, knowing that they had an audience at the time, butter? When they were out of the game, free to speak their own minds?


    ¡°I¡¯m done with this game!¡± The elven mage hissed into the call, looking towards their team leader. ¡°I can get past the overcrowded cities, the long journeys to get anywhere. But that was all because there was an interesting story behind it all. Now? Their ¡®story¡¯ just flew away into the night. I¡¯m going to be filing with Darkme to get my money back, first thing in the evening.¡±


    ¡°I know how you feel.¡± The leader responded with a grumble. ¡°But¡­ let¡¯s just wait for now. No, I¡¯m not saying that we have to keep ying.¡± He spoke up immediately when he saw the venomous look in the woman¡¯s eyes. ¡°I just received word that they¡¯ll be holding a press conference in the evening to discuss what happened. Odds are¡­ whichever admin they put in charge of that fight is getting fired, and they¡¯ll probably run a special event.¡±


    ¡°What, like a ¡®fake King¡¯ saga?¡± The woman rolled her eyes, before realizing that the team leader was serious. ¡°Wait, really? You think that they would say after all of this, that that wasn¡¯t the Mad King?¡±


    ¡°It would make sense, Julia.¡± He nodded his head. ¡°All of the records pointed towards the Mad King being a demon, not an elf. At first, I thought that he had simply shifted his shape with his darkness power. But, they might use that as the excuse to write that admin out of the game.¡±


    Julia fell back against her couch, crossing her arms with a huff. ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll wait for the announcement. But I swear, Rnd, if I¡¯m not satisfied with it¡­ We can¡¯t make good content if the game doesn¡¯t have any.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep you posted.¡± The man nodded his head, ending the call. For all of them, this was more than just a game. They had devoted most of their adult lives to being professional gamers. Once they signed on with their exclusive reporter, they had even be simr to movie actors. And this felt like their movie suddenly pulled a surprise ending where a rock fell from the sky to kill their characters.


    _______________________________________________________________


    The evening after the ¡®Cowardly King¡¯ fight, as the people had begun to call it, a female demon in a formal suit walked out in front of arge podium. As the owner of Darkme Technologies, it was her who had called the press conference. However, there was something more. The light of the moon had been obscured. Not by clouds, but by the giant floating pce of the Keeper.


    Many people sneered towards the woman, thinking that the Keeper himself hade to judge her speech. This was the first time that the pce had ever made a special appearance at a public event, but¡­ if there was ever a time that someone deserved a smiting, it was now.


    Yet Le did not seem to be disturbed. She stood there calmly, projecting her voice out for everyone watching. ¡°I¡¯m sure that, by now, all of you are more than aware of my identity, so I¡¯ll skip the introductions. Tonight, I¡¯ve called this meeting to address what has brought up a great amount of concern with the yers of our game, Vision Expanse.¡±


    ¡°Many people foresaw this battle as the end of the story. The end of the game. Fight your way to the final boss, and y him to end his tyranny. Free the world from the grips of the ¡®Mad King¡¯, and allow peace to prosper.¡±


    She cleared her throat, shaking her head. ¡°But, that¡¯s just not how things work. Even without the Mad King, his forces would still oppress the people. They would just do so without any semnce of order, no structure behind their attacks.¡±


    ¡°Instead¡­ the Mad King felt fear. He foresaw his death at the hands of Legion, and bought the time needed for him to flee. This was all a part of his design, albeit it was executed in a manner which I personally had objection with.¡± Her eye seemed to twitch as she said that.


    ¡°However, I am not the designer of this game. I am not the one who made it, nor is the man who appeared in public some time ago, at a former conference.¡± The crowd began to stir at her words, not knowing what to make of them. ¡°Instead, I would like to invite the one who truly provided the world of Vision Expanse to the people to the stage, so that he can personally clear up any questions.¡±


    To the surprise of many, Le turned her head upwards, looking towards the pce. Those who followed her gaze had their eyes going wide, seeing two figures slowly descending, a man and a woman. While the man¡¯s face was unfamiliar, the power he emitted was beyond question. As for the woman, she was someone that most people had seen images of, at one point or another. The Keeper¡¯s maid, Tsubaki. And with her position right behind the lycan man, his status became clear to anyone.


    As hended on the tform, Le stepped aside, allowing him to speak. When he did, his voice was simrly projected outwards, far more clearly than when Le herself did so. ¡°My name is Dale. As you were all just told¡­ I am the one who brought Vision Expanse to this world. I will ept questions in a moment, but first, allow me to exin a few things.¡±


    ¡°Vision Expanse truly is a game. However, at the same time, it is so much more. It is a world unto itself, living and breathing just as Desbar is. The simplicity of the NPCs is by design, because it would be too cruel to ask a truly sentient people to exist as mere background characters for the entertainment of someone else.¡±


    His eyes closed as he said that, shaking his head. When they opened, he scanned the crowd, any conversations halted by his mere presence. ¡°However¡­ the Mad King fight was never the end of Vision Expanse. No¡­ this world is such that it canst for thousands of years. So I would like to pose these three questions to everyone.¡±


    The Keeper lifted his fist, extending his fingers one by one to count the questions. ¡°What was the source of the Mad King¡¯s power? Is he dead? And, finally¡­ where did he go? These are very important questions, which I believe there are people who know the answers.¡±


    Seeing that nobody was immediately speaking, he gave a small sigh. ¡°The Mad King is still a very real threat to the people of Vision Expanse. However, at the current time¡­ you all do not possess the ability to fight him. He is no longer in that world of Vision Expanse. I have noticed that the demons once attempted tounch satellites outside of their own atmosphere, only to give up on the project due to the inability to create suitable space suits for maintenance.¡±


    ¡°This problem could have been solved long ago with the magic of Fyor and Earth, yet by that time, their focus had turned elsewhere. Now, you are expanding not beyond your own world, but beyond your universe. But there is still much to see up beyond the stars.¡±


    A golden light rushed out of the Keeper¡¯s body, forming the image of arge sphere above the heads of the audience. For some, this was easily recognizable as the image of a. ¡°There are many worlds to see, even without the use of the Fairy Gate. That is one of the lessons that I want Vision Expanse to teach you. Through that game, you will learn the knowledge necessary to travel the stars. Find new worlds, new people, and new challenges. As the name implies¡­ expand your vision.¡±


    The floating flickered out of existence, returning to Dale¡¯s body before he addressed the crowd again. ¡°Now, are there any questions?¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    I let out a long sigh when I returned to the citadel. The reporters had been¡­ persistent, once I specifically gave them permission to ask questions. They wanted to know everything that they could. Some asked if there was truly life on other worlds, while others asked if I myself yed the game.


    Some questions I answered, while others I made sure to be vague about. For instance¡­ I definitely threw Aurivy under the bus as the one who had been ying the Mad King, causing the halfling goddess herself to appear for a moment. She decided to act all mysterious, iming that the ¡®tale¡¯ of the Mad King was far from over, and that she looked forward to ying the role again in the future.


    As for whether or not I yed? I did admit to ying the game, however I did not tell them my identity in it. I wanted that to stay a surprise for as long as possible. Which, going by how Udona sent me a message telling me that her guildmates were already asking if Tebor was the Keeper¡­ wasn¡¯t going to be very long.


    Once the conference was over, I simply gave a reminder that there was far more to see, both in the game and in reality. After that, Tsubaki and I came back to the citadel. Tsubaki had the smallest of smiles on her face when we returned, though I saw her doing her best to hide it once she caught me looking. ¡°What now, my Keeper?¡±


    ¡°Now¡­ now I go meet the dragon.¡± I spoke inly, already moving to the hall, walking towards the control room of the citadel. Tsubaki actually stumbled for a moment in surprise, before quickly rushing after me.


    ¡°So soon? I thought that there was still more time before it awoke?¡± She asked, a bit of hesitation in her voice. I could tell that her power had not recovered nearly enough for her to join me, but that was also part of why I chose to do this now.


    ¡°If we were waiting for it to wake up due to hunger, yes. It would take another five days or so for that. However, I want to wake it up early. It¡¯s my belief that we will be more likely to have a peaceful resolution if it isn¡¯t going mad from hunger the moment it awakens.¡± Although I had prepared, and made sure that I could properly kill the dragon if need be, I was still hoping that it could be friendly.


    Tsubaki seemed to hesitate, before nodding her head. ¡°Very well, then I¡¯ll--¡±


    ¡°Stay here.¡± I finished her sentence for her, sending a gentle smile her way. ¡°Tsubaki, I know that you¡¯re still a long way from recovery. You did excellent work, training the army. But right now¡­ if it truly came to a fight, you would probably be killed just by the aftershocks.¡±


    ¡°But, my Keeper¡­ it¡¯s my duty¡­¡± She seemed almost desperate toe along, but I shook my head again.


    ¡°It¡¯s your duty to serve me, isn¡¯t it? The best way that you can do that is by staying here, allowing yourself to recover so that you can stay by my side in the future. Not by throwing your life away. Don¡¯t worry¡­ I¡¯ve made sure that I¡¯m plenty strong enough to deal with this monster, if it shoulde to that.¡±


    Her eyes flickered slightly, looking at a loss for words. However, ultimately, she nodded. A determination appeared on her features that I hadn¡¯t seen for a long time. And after taking a brief look at her surface thoughts, I could understand why.


    I¡¯m not strong enough, yet¡­ I have to train more. Beyond perfection. Tsubaki¡¯s thirst for power had once again stirred, just like it had when she was still a normal kitsune, and had ultimately led her to achieve the Perfect Self. What would she end up as this time?

 Chapter 357: The Dragon’s Dilemma

    <h4>Chapter 357: The Dragon¡¯s Dilemma</h4>


    So, what is your n, father? Leowynn asked as the two of us walked out of the citadel¡¯s front gates. Are you really going to try to negotiate with the dragon, first?


    I chuckled lightly at that, nodding my head. Well, I¡¯ll try¡­ no matter how intelligent of a creature it is, it hasn¡¯t had any contact with anguage since its birth. Simrly, it¡¯s had no others of its own kind for it tomunicate with to build its ownnguage. If this were Fyor, I¡¯d think that it might be able to speak thenguage of magic, but¡­ a creature born on Desbar doesn¡¯t seem as likely to do that.


    I stepped off of the cliff of the floating ind, allowing my ki to carry me through the air as I continued walking towards the nearby volcano. Already I could see the smoke rising up, the caved in peak glowing red. Soon, there wouldn¡¯t be much of a roof left to the dragon¡¯s cave.


    Would you like me to prepare for a battle, then? Leowynn asked, and I could feel a touch of concern.


    Not for battle, but¡­ if you could manifest your dragon form, that would help. Maybe showing it something simr to itself will make it more hesitant to fight than if it simply saw a small ¡®morsel¡¯ overflowing with power.


    _______________________________________________________________


    So hungry¡­ a cough escape the lips of the mighty dragon, bathing inva. With it, another st of fire, and a ssh of molten rock falling over its form. It wasfortable, yet not. It did not wish to awaken, yet it had no more food. Nothing left to fill its stomachs.


    Theva rippled as the dragon¡¯s tail stirred within it, feeling the approach of a powerful figure. No, I don¡¯t want to wake up. Let me sleep. The beast thought to itself, even as the presence drew closer. One wing stretched outzily, sshing the hotva towards the figure as soon as it hade too close, trying to drive it off.


    The dragon could hear something, the call of some small animal. Surely, that presence didn¡¯t belong to something so tiny? Yet, the call of an animal was simply like any other, unable to be understood by those of a different breed.


    Theva that it had sshed seemed to have no effect. Either the creature dodged it, or simply endured the heat as the dragon did. It let out its call once again, though this time it sounded faintly different. The roar of the creature, if you could call such a small thing a roar, seemed to echo off of the cavern¡¯s walls.


    Slowly, theforting heat that had surrounded it for so long was fading, cooling off. A low growl escaped the dragon, its ki surging once more to reheat theva. Fine, I¡¯ll get up¡­ It thought to itself, its hulking body slowly rising from its molten bath.


    The first thing that the dragon noticed was that its home seemed smaller than it remembered. Once standing at its full height, it nearly bumped its head against the soft ceiling. The second thing that it noticed was a golden image standing before it. A creature looking fairly simr to itself. Another of its own kind?


    No¡­ looking closely, he felt like he could almost see through the other dragon. It gave off a feeling of power no less than its own, but it could surely not be called the same breed. And besides, it was far toorge to be the source of the call before. That was when the great dragon noticed another creature, a small little speck standing atop the golden dragon¡¯s head. At first it had been mistaken for an off-colored horn, until it inspected more closely.


    The creature stood on two legs, its hide purple for its torso, ck for its legs, and oddly pinkish for the rest of its limbs. It was staring directly at the dragon, its mouth opening and calling out repeatedly. The different tones, the dragon almost felt like they should mean something, but it was little more than the call of a small beast.


    It turned its head to the side, letting out another cough due to its hunger. The golden dragon recoiled back, but the look on the small creature¡¯s face seemed more concerned than anything. The great dragon did consider eating the small creature. Its power felt quite enormous, but¡­ there was simply so little meat to it. It would be little more than a snack, and the golden dragon seemed quite fond of it.


    The small beast turned silent for several long moments, closing its eyes. Was it offering itself up? No, it was still too small to be worth eating. However, as the seconds passed, there did not seem to be any direct movement from either the golden dragon or the creature riding atop its head.


    Suddenly, its eyes opened again, and the dragon could feel three other mighty presences, feeling far greater than even the two in front of it. In a sh of golden light, three figures appeared in the air.


    One had the hair and tail of a jungle cat, one of the dragon¡¯s favorite meals. It couldn¡¯t help lick its lips at the memory of the taste. The next looked even more sulent, half its body appearing as a small beast, held up by four thin legs. At least this creature looked like it would be a juicy bite, if it weren¡¯t so powerful.


    The final figure was d in golden chitin, but did not have any simrities with any creatures it knew. It looked to be of the same kind as the small creature standing atop the golden dragon, if not for the shining chitin covering most of its body. It even wielded a sharp stick with three tips at the end.


    These three beings appeared in the air behind the golden dragon, their eyes all focusing on the one which had just been woken up. Theymunicated in their odd animal calls, seeming to be able to understand each other. Another cough to the side, and the golden creature suddenly lifted its pointed stick, the tip aimed at the great dragon.


    It needed to get some food, and soon. It knew that it was hungry, and needed to hunt. As those thoughts shed by, a fourth mighty aura appeared, this one directly in front of the dragon. It blinked its eyes in surprise, suddenly seeing a new figure. This one had the ears and tail of another beast, a pack animal that it had often hunted.


    Can you understand me? The dragon tilted its head to the side, unsure why it had thought that to itself. Of course it could understand its own thoughts. Though, why did that thought feel different? Then it saw the eyes of the newest presence focusing intensely on its own. Yes, it¡¯s me.


    Another creature was thinking for it? Thinking into the mind of the dragon? Would you like something to eat?


    The thought of actually getting food sent another tremor through the three stomachs of the dragon. Another cough rang out, this one just barely turned quickly enough to not st the newest presence with its ming breath. When it looked again, the lips of the creature were oddly turned upwards. If you would like to eat, follow us.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Alright, that should be good!¡± alia called back to me. ¡°Wherever you n on taking it for a meal, better hurry. This guy¡¯s actually starving.¡±


    I nodded, having noticed that myself. When we arrived, I had noticed that it seemed to have more intelligence than amon monster. The fact that it turned its head to shoot the wall with its fire instead of us either meant that it was a warning shot, or it just couldn¡¯t help itself.


    Coupled with the knowledge that it was only waking up soon due to its hunger growing too intense, it was easy to figure out that the creature was starving. Probably sick because of it, hence the uncontrolled firests.


    ¡°Leowynn, can you fly me to the nearest beach? And Bihena.¡± I smiled towards the human goddess, one of the ones I had called down to help me with this. ¡°Would you be able to get something big from the ocean? I think that, by the time I got it myself, the dragon would lose its patience.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not seriously what you called me here for, right?¡± Bihena asked with a deadpan expression. ¡°I mean, I can do it, but I thought you wanted me here for something else.¡±


    ¡°I do. This is just something to get it in a better mood to cooperate.¡± I had tried listening to the thoughts of the dragon. However, since it was not a purchased race of mine, I couldn¡¯t ess its mind. Only alia, being the Goddess of the Hunt, could see into the minds of beasts and monsters.


    As Leowynn took off, Bihena vanished from sight. alia, Terra, and Tryval all followed behind us, with the dragon behind the three of them as we proceeded towards the nearest shoreline. By the time that we arrived, we could see Bihena standing atop the body of a dead monster, one nearly asrge as the dragon itself. However, it was clearly not at the same level, going by how it felt.


    Nheless, the dragon¡¯s eyes shed brightly as it saw the corpse. With a gust of wind, it immediately overtook us, descending upon the sea monster fast enough that even Bihena¡¯s eyes widened. She jumped out of the way to let the dragon tear into its rubbery hide, blood spreading across its mouth and ws.


    ¡°So¡­ while we wait, mind going over the whole n with us?¡± Bihena asked, hovering back to my side and standing on top of Leowynn¡¯s head. It would take a little while for the dragon to finish eating the sea serpent, so there was no harm in exining.


    ¡°I want to form a contract with it.¡± I said simply. ¡°A binding contract. In a sense¡­ I think it¡¯s time for me to try out being a Monster Tamer. And yes, I know I haven¡¯t personally trained that ss yet, so a disaster-level dragon might be a touch above my pay grade. That¡¯s why I called you all.¡±


    ¡°Between the domains of Fate, Fellowship, and Peace, I think we can make it work. We just need alia to act as our arbitrator, since she is the only one able to directlymunicate with the dragon.¡±


    ¡°You wish to make the dragon your subordinate, my lord?¡± Tryval asked, raising an eyebrow as he watched the creature viciously tear into its newest meal. ¡°Are you sure that you will be able to keep it fed?¡±


    ¡°Working on that.¡± I nodded, still fleshing out the n in my mind. It was either this, or destroy an intelligent creature whose only crime was being too powerful. Maybe Tsubaki would be able to help cope with its dietary needs. From what I could estimate, it¡¯d only need such arge meal once a week or so. And when it had been taught properly, it¡¯d be able to get its own food.


    ¡°So¡­¡± Terra smiled, tilting back and forth on her heels, despite thepleteck of anything solid beneath her feet. ¡°Fellowship and Peace to forge the pact, and then Fate to seal it,bined with your own energy as the final stamp? About right for what you had nned?¡±


    I gave another nod. ¡°I had thought about borrowing Irena¡¯s pen, but a literal contract wouldn¡¯t help much. It¡¯d just impose a shackle on the creature that it would begin to struggle against. You guys are able tobine the powers of your domains to do joint efforts, right¡­? This is kinda pointless if not¡­¡±


    alia rolled her eyes yfully. ¡°Yeah, we can. As long as we all have the same goal in mind, and know our part to y. But with this, it should be easy enough. Just so long as tall, dark, and scaly over there is agreeable to the idea. If not, we go with n A, putting him down.¡±


    As cruel as that sounded, she was right. Left unchecked, and unwilling to be taught, the dragon¡¯s hunger would lead it to more hunting grounds. At its current power, it would take either myself or one of the gods to step in and stop it. Most likely, no weapon or technique known to mortals would do anything more than annoy it.


    And so, we waited. It didn¡¯t take too long before the dragon had finished its meal, leaving only scattered blood and bones of the ¡®offering¡¯. It turned, facing alia who once again approached. In order to help both sides understand, she spoke aloud at the same time as shemunicated with the creature¡¯s mind.


    ¡°I¡¯m here to offer you a choice.¡± Her tone was gentle, and she brought a hand up to rub the scales of the dragon, just between its nostrils. ¡°You are simply too powerful to let roam about. If we don¡¯t do something, you could destroy this world that we work to protect.¡±


    The dragon once again tilted its head, but was careful not to move its snout too much. alia let out a lightugh. ¡°Yes, I know that you don¡¯t want to eat the ground. But there is more to this world than that. The creatures that inhabit it are under our care. If you don¡¯t let us guide you¡­ you may end up destroying them without realizing.¡±


    ¡°The choice I offer you is an alternative to the destruction you risk. Behind me stands the supreme existence of this world. If you submit to his rule, and allow him to guide you¡­ not only will you be able to stay well fed like today, but you may even grow stronger as well.¡±


    Moments after saying that, alia blinked, turning her head back to look at us with a sheepish smile. ¡°Heins that he¡¯s not full yet.¡± After she said that, she shook her head, looking back to the dragon. ¡°We¡¯ll work on thatter, okay? For now¡­ you need to consider what I told you.¡±


    The dragon pulled its head back, seeming to look in my direction, before back down to alia. She sighed, shaking her head again and turning around. ¡°He thinks that you can¡¯t be the supreme being, because we feel stronger than you do. So¡­ he¡¯ll submit if you can beat him in a fight.¡±


    I could hear the gauntlets of Bihena¡¯s armor creaking as she gripped her spear tight, yet alia simply asked in that same, gentle tone. ¡°Are you able to beat him without killing him?¡±


    ¡°You know¡­ non-lethal techniques had never been high on my priority list.¡± I admitted rather inly. ¡°But I can try.¡±

 Chapter 358: Dragon’s Duel

    <h4>Chapter 358: Dragon¡¯s Duel</h4>


    In order to handle this fight properly, I asked Leowynn to stay back with the others. I might realize that she could still be considered a part of my own power, but the same might not be said for the dragon. My goal wasn¡¯t just to beat it here, it was to make it ept its loss.


    We both stood along the beach, nearly a kilometer apart. While alia announced the rules of the fight to the both of us, I began running through battle ns in my mind.


    When ites to physical strength, I can¡¯t make up for the sheer muscle mass that the dragon has, so a head on confrontation was out of the question. From what I had seen in the simted fights before, I could easily handle it in terms of speed. The issue was breaking through its scales and causing real damage without killing it. Most of my damaging attacks were¡­ very damaging.


    When alia gave the signal to fight, I let out a soft sigh. I allowed my chakra threads to spread out, into the area around me, and began to walk forward. As expected from the simted fights, the dragon¡¯s first move was to begin a frontal charge. And as I stepped forward, I began to let my divine soul seep out of my body as well.


    Once the dragon got within a hundred meters, its mouth opened, a wide cone of white me pouring out. Using the chakra strings, I stepped several times in quick session to get out of the way, still continuing my slow advance.


    Do I go with Terra, or Ryone? I thought to myself inwardly as I saw the dragon sweeping its mouth towards me, the cone of me shifting as well. I continued to move out of the way as quickly as I could, my body shing with every step as the world began to slow down for me.


    I can¡¯t go with Terra. I gave a small shake of my head. I¡¯m not sure I could handle my mind suddenly working like that in the middle of the battle. Better to test it in the Admin Room first.


    I knew that Terra¡¯s mind worked differently on a fundamental level to my own, or even the other gods. So, when I formed the mirror behind myself, that left only one option. ¡°Mirror the Archmage.¡±


    As soon as I heard the mirror shatter, I felt an influx of information. Spell diagrams that I couldn¡¯t remember learning. But, I knew that I did. My mirrors didn¡¯t grant me ¡®new knowledge¡¯. No, they just worked with what I already knew. I could mirror Tubrock because I had some experience forging. I could mirror Ryone because I¡¯ve read through the information globes, and the knowledge about the spell forms existed within my mind.


    Even if I had forgotten the information personally, it was still there. And that¡¯s what mattered for this. As I lifted my hand, aplex spell diagram appeared above my head. Within it rested seventeen ¡®diagram spheres¡¯, marking it as a third tier spell.


    The dragon seemed to notice that something was wrong, ending its breath attack. Its wings came forward, forming a physical shield in front of itself as they turned a bright gold. Yet the expected impact didn¡¯te as immediately as it had expected.


    ¡°I am the one who holds thews of magic.¡± I spoke as the diagram began to light up. ¡°One thought to create, one thought to banish. Come forth, ebon shackles. Twist and turn, ensnare all within my sight. Come forth, binding pirs of light. Strike down from the heavens, and form the prison.¡±


    As the spell diagram crackled with energy, ck tendrils rose up from around the dragon,tching onto its limbs, tail, and neck. With surprising strength, they dragged it down to the ground, forming what looked to be metal shackles and chains. I could see the dragon¡¯s eyes going wide with shock as it found itself pressed to the ground.


    Next came seven beams of light that fell from the sky, forming thick pirs that surrounded the dragon on all sides. Although none of the pirs directly touched the body of the dragon, they let out a field of mana between them, creating a barrier.


    The ground shook and cracked as the dragon struggled, the chains slowly rising as it fought to break free. However, there was a soft smile on my face as a new diagram appeared above my head. Even as it let out a powerful breath against the barrier, shaking the pirs, I knew that I had the time I needed to finish my next spell.


    ¡°I am the one who holds thews of magic. One thought to create, one thought to banish. Be still, be cold. Cease and freeze. With winter¡¯s grip, I call for ruin.¡±


    While the first spell had been a binding, this was an attack. The prison of light that held the dragon shed blue, before everything froze. The massive body of the dragon was held within an iceberg, its eyes still focused on me.


    That¡¯s not going to hold him for long. I thought to myself, seeing how the dragon was already beginning to slowly move within the ice, melting any of it that touched him. This time, I didn¡¯t have the luxury of being able to use elementalist abilities with my spell. He¡¯d be free long before I finished the chant.


    Instead, I created arge number of spell diagrams in the air above the light cage. Each of them was only of the second tier, but I was betting on theirbined strength. That, and I didn¡¯t have the mana for so many third tier spells.


    The moment that the ice shattered, so did the binding light pirs, the dragon letting out an indignant roar. Steam rose along its skin, moments before the spells activated, and lightning engulfed the body of the dragon. Its roar turned to one of pain as dozens of lightning bolts struck against its skin at once, making it stumble to the ground.


    Still, I didn¡¯t count on the battle being over yet. But this was all that I could do as Ryone. Another mirror formed behind me, and I felt my body shrinking rapidly, lessening to half my normal size. ¡°Mirror¡­ the Dungeon Master.¡±


    The moment I had finished saying that, my body shed, and I appeared directly on top of the dragon¡¯s snout, my hands crossed behind my back as I stared into itsrge eye. A wide grin shed over my face as I spoke. ¡°So, big guy, still want more?¡±


    The slits of its snake-like eyes narrowed at me, and its head lifted up, bringing me with it. Clearly, it wasn¡¯t quite done fighting yet. But, that¡¯s why I had chosen Aurivy. Out of everyone, she had trained the most evenly across all fields to properly understand the abilities of every ss.


    Blue runes rose up from my skin as I waved my hand horizontally, resting in a line before me. Then when I brought it up, through that line, they formed a cross. When did I learn about how Fyor¡¯s ninjas worked? Or is it just my mind piecing the information together, now that I was using this technique.


    ¡°Be still.¡± I said in a quiet voice, the runes shattering into strands of light that rushed into the dragon¡¯s body, between its scales. As it seemed to hesitate, the previous technique striking at its mind, I crouched down, my hand glowing with the ki surrounding it.


    As my hand mmed down, the ki suddenly spread out like a wide palm around my hand. When my hand slowed down, the ki palm surged ahead. However, neither palm harshly struck the snout of the dragon. The ki palm slowed down just a fraction of a second after my own hand, lightly tapping the dragon¡¯s scales.


    But then¡­ my hand pulled back, making a gripping motion. When therger palm made of ki reacted in the same manner, I saw a golden light forcing its way out of the dragon¡¯s body. I was extracting its own ki, weakening it and absorbing it into my technique.


    The hand made of ki grewrger as it absorbed what it had drained from the dragon. And again, it struck down. This time, it did not slow, fully smashing against the scaled body of the beast. As its head crashed downwards, scales cracking and dripping blood, I flipped back,nding softly on the sandy beach.


    ¡°So, ¡®Cali~!¡± I called out with Aurivy¡¯s voice, turning towards alia. ¡°Mind asking if it wants to keep going for me?¡±


    alia gave a dry chuckle, shaking her head as her eyes focused on the dragon. Its body shuddered, rising up before stumbling, one of itsrge legs starting to slip out from under it. It turned its head to look at her, and the two seemed to be holding a mental conversation.


    With a small shrug, I cancelled my divine technique, returning to my normal appearance. That was actually kind of cool. Aurivy¡¯s voice spoke up into my mind. Can¡¯t wait to see how it works once you perfect it!


    I raised an eyebrow at that. I knew that I still had to upgrade the rest of myself to divinity in order to release the true power of that technique. Well¡­ hopefully I won¡¯t have to cross dress as much.


    Oh,e on, you make a cute me! Aurivy teased yfully. But seriously. If you n to use a technique like that more often, you¡¯ll need more training from anyone you want to copy. Ryone¡¯s probably got a few tricks that you don¡¯t know how to mimic yet.


    I gave a small nod, and saw that alia was floating over. ¡°It looks like he¡¯s willing to ept the loss.¡± She smiled, reaching out to pat my shoulder. ¡°Once he realized that it wasn¡¯t just other people stepping in to fight for you¡­ Well, let¡¯s just say that you¡¯ve annoyed him into submission.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle. ¡°I didn¡¯t want to kill him¡­ anyways, does this mean that we can get on with it?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re already working out the details.¡± She jerked a thumb over her shoulder, indicating the three gods that had moved closer together, talking amongst themselves. ¡°I figure that they should be done any--¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re done!¡± Terra called out, waving at us from her ce in the sky. ¡°alia, if you would act as a trantor for us?¡±


    alia simply rolled her eyes, moving over to stand next to the dragon, gently rubbing the scales of its lower jaw while the other three descended to the ground, From their bodies, golden light began to glow. Terra stood at their center, her hands out in front of her chest as the lights from both Bihena and Tryval rushed towards her.


    ¡°To prevent the destruction of both yourself and this world, we offer this pact. In the name of Peace and Fellowship, to bind your fates. In exchange for fair treatment and protection, you will serve as apanion to the one who has bested you in battle. This pact willst until such time when both parties choose to cancel it.¡±


    As she spoke, strands of golden lightshed out from her body. One struck the dragon, connecting to it directly between its eyes, while the other did the same for myself. ¡°Do you both agree to this pact? To defend this world from all threats as a single force?¡±


    The dragon hesitated, ncing towards me onest time, before lowering its head. It seemed to let out a sigh, dark smoke flowing up from between its jaws. alia turned to face Terra, nodding her head. ¡°Then by our powers, the pact is set.¡± Terra spoke, the light leaving her body, connecting myself and the dragon directly.


    At least I can keep eating now¡­ I heard a new voice in the back of my mind, much deeper than any I was used to, carrying a distant echo to it. The voice of the dragon¡¯s thoughts, if I had to guess. A guess confirmed a momentter.


    You have formed a Divine Tamer Pact with the Shiftscale Dragon - Level 1324.


    Monster Tamer has leveled up!


    Monster Tamer has leveled up!


    Monster Tamer has leveled up!


    ---


    For the sake of my own sanity, I decided to ignore the constant popups, letting me know how many times the tamer ss leveled up. A divine tamer pact, huh? I imagine that¡¯ll be a bit different than a normal pact¡­ guess we¡¯ll explore itter.

 Chapter 359: The Dragon’s Roost

    <h4>Chapter 359: The Dragon¡¯s Roost</h4>


    Sadly, taming the dragon all at once was not enough to get me all the way to level one hundred as a monster tamer. Not even close, in fact. However, it did seem to be worth quite a lot, still. My level in that ss increased all the way up to fifty in one go before stopping. By the time it was done, I hesitated for a moment, before taking a good, long look at my information page.


    Name


    Dale Mitchell


    Race


    Lycan(Keeper)


    Health


    18755/18755 (3639981/3639981)


    Mana


    35926/35926 (1634724/1634724)


    Strength


    59(1308)


    Ki


    15322/15322 (2036520/2036520)


    Stamina


    80(1364)


    Intelligence


    121(1210)


    Dexterity


    93(1252)


    Wisdom


    126(1748)


    Luck


    42(654)


    Charm


    54(681)


    ss List


    Alchemist 1(236)


    Archer 13(245)


    Architect 0(149)


    Archmage 8(149)


    Armorer 0(199)


    Artisan 0(149)


    Assassin 26(152)


    Bard 0(184)


    Berserker 0(173)


    ck Knight 0(48)


    cksmith 5(199)


    Carpenter 1(154)


    Chef 0(149)


    Cleric 0(168)


    Crusader 0(132)


    Druid 31(199)


    Enchanter 12(203)


    Engineer 0(299)


    Fallen Priest 0(13)


    Farmer 0(199)


    Gambler 0(152)


    Guard 0(201)


    Herbalist 15(243)


    Hero 7(159)


    Hunter 0(199)


    Jeweler 0(142)


    Knight 0(203)


    Leader 1(193)


    Leatherworker 0(211)


    Mage 114(268)


    Martial Artist 15(249)


    Merchant 0(149)


    Miner 0(149)


    Monk 24(231)


    Monster Tamer 50(199)


    Ninja 54(199)


    Noble 1(99)


    Painter 0(149)


    Pdin 0(149)


    Pirate 10(149)


    Priest 16(232)


    Rogue 7(209)


    Schr 8(232)


    Scout 27(199)


    Sculptor 0(199)


    Shaman 12(199)


    Spirit Hunter 21(149)


    Spirit Tamer 28(149)


    Swordsman 6(203)


    Tailor 0(199)


    Temr 0(149)


    Warrior 21(274)


    Weaponmaster 0(211)


    Advanced sses


    Elementalist 23(157)


    Elemental Monk 19(134)


    Martial Spirit 0(258)


    Perfect Self 0(218)


    Saint of Five Lights 21(21)


    Summoner 11(161)


    World Spirit 1(291)


    While my own level growth hadn¡¯t been too extreme before this jump, I had to say that it looked like Tsubaki¡¯s training of the invasion forces seemed to be apparent. Assuming that some of those level jumps could be attributed to that training. It would be pretty easy to find out, if the levels dropped back down after they were sent away.


    ¡°We¡¯re heading back, Dale.¡± Terra called out to tell me. ¡°Most of us can¡¯t stay down here too long without draining our energy.¡±


    I gave a small nod towards the deities, smiling towards them. As they left, I turned to face the dragon which had now be bonded to me. So¡­ I don¡¯t suppose you have a name?


    I probably should have expected its response, if I was to be totally honest with myself. What is a name? Sadly, I knew that it wasn¡¯t just trying to be poetic.


    A name is¡­ something people use to verbally identify one another. I¡¯m called Dale, for instance.


    The dragon paused for several long moments, simply staring at me. Following that¡­ well, we got into a brief debate over why verbal identification was important, when you could tell people apart by their appearance. Let¡¯s just say¡­ we were there for a while.


    In the end, we decided to settle on the name Fafnir. Meaning that neither of us could reallye up with a name, so I just thought of the first dragon that came to mind. He didn¡¯t have any objections with the name, so it ended up sticking.


    Are you okay to fly? I asked once the naming ¡®ceremony¡¯ had been finished.


    You did not injure my wings, so I should be able to fly. His response earned a faint nod from me, before I sent him a briefmand to follow. To be honest, I considered riding atop him, but¡­ first of all, he doesn¡¯t know where we¡¯re going, and secondly I wanted to work up to that. No point making him ufortable so early on.


    After Leowynn returned to my own soul, I took off back towards the Sky Citadel. As we drew nearer and nearer, I was able to make out a figure standing upon the edge of the cliff. Tsubaki, her scythe fully drawn. Her legs were shaky, her expression pale as she stared at me. Or rather, past me, her eyes tracking the dragon.


    Someone, quickly please let Tsubaki know that Fafnir isn¡¯t chasing me! I urgently sent the message towards the others, worried that Tsubaki might use thest of her strength for a desperate attack if she thought that I was fleeing for my life from the ¡®great dragon¡¯.


    Sure enough, I could see her hesitate, blinking in confusion. Her scythe vanished, the smallest bit of color returning to her expression. She took a couple of steps back, away from the ledge, and simply waited. As soon as Inded, Fafnir pping his wings heavily in the air to hover just beyond the barrier, she offered a polite bow.


    ¡°I apologise for my rudeness, my Keeper. I did not expect you to bring it home with you.¡±


    I shook my head, waving my hand dismissively. ¡°It¡¯s fine¡­ neither did I. But, one thing led to another¡­ and I guess you could say that I¡¯ve tamed him. We¡¯ve just got to find him a suitable hunting ground, since¡­ I really don¡¯t think that anyone could be expected to properly cook the level of meals that he would need.¡±


    She gave a simple nod at that, standing up straight again to nce towards the dragon over my shoulder. After asking for his level, she sank into thought. ¡°No monster in the discovered territories of Fyor could feed it. Simrly, there aren¡¯t enoughrge creatures in Desbar, and most of therge monsters of Deckan would not provide enough nutrients.¡±


    ¡°I would suggest taking him to Earth. There is a human ind off the coast of their continent known as Rokindrol. A number ofrge sea creatures tend to live in the surroundings of that ind. More than one disaster has even appeared there in the past.¡±


    ¡°Thank you. Thank you, very much.¡± I expressed my sincere gratitude. For Fafnir, the biggest concern really was food. Everything else could be handled over time, including training him to use all of the powers at his disposal.


    Aurivy, is there an area near Rokindrol that would be suitable for him to build a nest?


    Moments after I sent that message off, I got a surprisingly eager response. Yup! It¡¯s a heavily mountainous ind, so there are lots of ces to put your new dragon! Want me to give him a lift?


    I gave a small nod, briefly warning Fafnir that we were about to move. I could see him ready to shift his flight again, before the golden mists surrounded us. When it dispersed, darkness clouded my vision. It was night-time in this part of Earth, causing my eyes to take a moment to adjust.


    Aurivy had ced us directly above the mountain range that she had mentioned. Scattered peaks could be seen below, as well as the lights of several cities in the distance. Pointing down towards the mountains, I sent a message to Fafnir, letting him know that he could make his home there. Are youfortable with hunting creatures in the water?


    As long as they are not too deep, I believe? His response seemed a bit uncertain, making me mentally add aquatic techniques to the list of things that we would have to teach him. Still, it was better than nothing, so I told him simply not to hunt anything around my own size. It wouldn¡¯t offer much in the way of nutrition for him, and would keep him from identally hunting people.


    As Fafnir descended towards the mountains, I let out a long sigh, moving to head into the citadel. Naturally, Tsubaki followed along, barely a step behind me. ¡°You seem like you could use some rest, my Keeper. Do you wish for me to prepare a meal?¡±


    I shook my head, denying that. ¡°No, I¡¯m not hungry, just tired. And, I think that you need the rest far more than I do, Tsubaki.¡± I turned my head to look at her in concern, only to see her lowering her head. ¡°It¡¯s fine. You get some rest. Or did you think that you¡¯d be able to resume our regr training if you can barely hold your weapon?¡±


    Tsubaki¡¯s head shot up, her eyes going wide as she processed that for a moment. Eventually, she nodded, giving another polite bow. ¡°Then, I will excuse myself for the evening, my Keeper.¡± After she said that, she began walking at a hurried pace inside, clearly choosing to take her imposed break seriously.


    As for me¡­ I chose to go to my own room. After using my divine technique twice like that, I could already feel my soul growing weaker. I had to get some proper rest myself, or I wouldn¡¯t be any good to anyone.


    So¡­ is this a bad time? Udona spoke up into my mind as I moved through the halls, heading towards my bedroom.


    What is it, Udona? I did my best to keep my tone gentle, worried that she might being with bad news, given how she had asked that.


    Well, I was just wondering¡­ what do you want me to tell the guild? It took me a moment to realize that she meant her guild from Vision Expanse. They¡¯ve started convincing themselves that Tebor is you. I can just make up a story and tell them that I met you in a different game, but I wanted to check before I lied to them like that.


    As I moved into my room, falling back onto my bed, I let out a long sigh. Can they be trusted?


    In my opinion, absolutely. Even with my own identity, none of them have done anything. They¡¯re the first mortal group that I can honestly say I¡¯ve been able to get so close to.


    Her response brought a small smile to my face, before I closed my eyes and gave the idea some serious consideration. Okay, you can tell them the truth. But make sure that they know that they can¡¯t tell anyone. And I don¡¯t want any special treatment in the game or anything¡­ I probably won¡¯t even log in for a couple of days. It depends on how long it takes me to recover my soul.


    There was a touch of concern to Udona¡¯s tone after she heard that. Are you alright, Dale? Injuries to the soul should never be taken lightly.


    I¡¯m fine, Udona. It¡¯s not an injury. I just have to recover after the use of that technique. I should be good as new before too long. Assuming Fafnir doesn¡¯t eat somebody¡¯s dog.

 Chapter 360: Departure

    <h4>Chapter 360: Departure</h4>


    For the following few days, I took it easy within the Sky Citadel, allowing my soul to slowly recover. At the same time, I continued my normal training of my other skills, and kept an eye on Fafnir. After leaving him to his own devices, it seemed that he hollowed out another mountain to use as his base, once again spending most of his time asleep.


    Once a day, he would fly out from the mountain to hunt, attacking therger monsters that could be found on the ind. I would honestly rather he hunt sea monsters, as they wererger and would cause less damage to the locals if he hunted them, but¡­ I didn¡¯t want to have Tsubaki training him until she was back to her full strength.


    Speaking of Tsubaki, I was rather d to see that she was spending most of her time focusing on recovery. Although I made it a point not to log onto Vision Expanse for a little while, wanting to let the excitement about my big reveal die off a bit, I saw that she was logging on herself, on both of her ounts.


    For her first ount, she was using the same character that she had used to meet me, training until she had reached level eleven before stopping. Knowing that that was my level, she seemed determined not to advance any further for the time being, swapping her focus to her other character.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Wee back, Tsubaki.¡± Vivi spoke up as she stood in front of the kitsune for the second time. ¡°Are you ready to begin your second character?¡±


    Tsubaki took a deep breath, closing her eyes and nodding. ¡°Before I begin, I have a couple of questions for you, to help me determine what I want to get.¡± When she opened her eyes, seeing that Vivi was waiting for her to continue, she asked¡­ ¡°Is it possible to attain the Perfect Self within Vision Expanse?¡±


    A small smile crept over Vivi¡¯s lips. ¡°It is, yes. The process might be slightly different from what you know, due to a difference in energyws, however the skills of Perfection are within the game.¡±


    Tsubaki nodded her head sharply. ¡°Good. Then my next question¡­ is there a level beyond the Perfect Self? Is there a higher goal that I can reach for?¡±


    This question seemed to momentarily stun Vivi, before a look of understanding dawned over her face. ¡°Tsubaki¡­ let me tell you this¡­ there is no ¡®pinnacle¡¯ of power. No t teau where you stop being able to train. There is always a way to improve. Do not let the title of Perfect sway your thoughts. It is only perfection on a mortal level.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your advice.¡± Tsubaki bowed deeply towards Vivi. ¡°I will remember your words. For this character¡­ please use my proper appearance and name. For my skill, please grant me ki control.¡±


    Vivi nodded her head. ¡°Very well, it has been done. May I offer you a word of advice before you go?¡±


    Tsubaki didn¡¯t seem to want to stop her, so Vivi let out a long breath. ¡°Don¡¯t rely too much on the specific paths you can take within this world. I can feel a thirst for strength that you didn¡¯t have thest time, but that only makes me warn you more forcefully. If you try to replicate a path from within Vision Expanse, you may find your vision going astray. Take what you learn here as guidelines. Study the principles, andpare them with what you know. That will give you all that you need to seed.¡±


    Tsubaki offered another thankful nod, before she was sent down. Her starting position did not matter much to her, so she simply asked Vivi to randomize it. If she could have started in the wilderness, she would have. Instead, she sent a nce around the city that she had spawned in, noting that it was an unfamiliar location to her, before immediately leaving.


    It was time for her to return to her roots. Time to once again undergo the trial of blood. As she went, she sent a harsh request towards Vivi. If I die on this character to a monster, please delete my character.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Okay¡­ so maybe she wasn¡¯t rxing as much as I had initially hoped. She was ying the game, meaning that her body was resting, allowing her to properly recover all of the energies that she had spent training the army. However, what she was doing was by no means rxing.


    Aside froming out of the game to handle meals and daily chores such as sweeping the halls of the citadel, Tsubaki spent almost all of her time within the game. And she was taking her training within the game very seriously. Using the knowledge of how to properly handle ki and her copious battle experience, she was able to take on monsters several levels above herself, offering her a degree of safety within the wilds that most other yers couldn¡¯t receive.


    Yet, that alone wasn¡¯t enough. She camped within the trees, creating crude traps and ambushes. Whether it was a yer or a monster, everything that she saw was an enemy in her eyes, a challenge to fuel her growth. And sometimes¡­ she failed that challenge.


    One the third day after she began her trial, she was ambushed by a pack of hungry monsters. On their own, no big threat, and she was able to kill them. But in doing so, she attracted the attention of more powerful beasts. Before she had the chance to run, she had been afflicted with a paralyzing poison, leaving her little hope of survival.


    And thus, she had her first death. The first failure of her trial. As she had requested, her character was immediately deleted after the death. Then, she started over. The same name, the same skill, in a new random location. Making sure that she didn¡¯t have the benefit of knowing the terrain before she entered.


    As I watched her, the time hade for the army to set off. It was less than an hour away before the invasion began. But I didn¡¯t let her know. I hadn¡¯t told her the exact time of their departure, because this training seemed to be important to her. Her determination was clear, and I didn¡¯t want to distract her from it.


    Shaking my head, I sent a request to Aurivy to transport the citadel after letting Fafnir know that I would be leaving for a little while. Thankfully, the fact that our connection was handled through installed portals meant that we could move the citadel anywhere without losing the signal, so long as we didn¡¯t end up in an ¡®isted¡¯ location like a locked floor of Fyor.


    Once we had arrived, I walked out of the throne room, past the hanging garden and out to the cliff. Beneath the citadel, a sea of shining armor greeted me. Over twenty million individuals standing in their appointed formations. ncing at the time remaining, I gave a gentle nod of my head.


    When I spoke, I projected my voice out with mana to reach everyone below. ¡°Thank you for answering my call, everyone. I know that this isn¡¯t an easy decision for many of you. Some have friends, families, loves that you are leaving behind. However, I believe that what you fight for is an honorable thing.¡±


    ¡°You are fighting to keep them safe, to ensure that your friends can wake up without fear. The threat you choose to face is one that could destroy everything we love, if given the chance. You face monsters on a scale you¡¯ve never known. But you do so with pride.¡±


    ¡°Whether you fight for the glory of battle, the desire to protect, or the simple wish to choose your own path¡­ you have my sincere thanks. I hope that I will be able to see you all again some day. That you can truly emerge victorious in this battle.¡± As I finished speaking, the system window appeared in front of me.


    The time hase for your invasion! The defending Keeper, Vanity, has been notified and is standing by in their world! Please select all troops which you wish to send, and describe the method in which you wish for them to be sent. Note that you will only receive a reward from your invasion if you sessfully capture the opposing Keeper¡¯s world.


    Currently selected troops: 0


    I closed my eyes and focused, mentally selecting the army that had beenid out before me. As for the method to send them¡­ ¡°Begin your march.¡± I gave themand, and a massive energy rose up from the ground beneath the citadel, forming into a red and ck arch, a portal of swirling energy.


    For their part, there was no hesitation from the troops. When they saw the portal appear, they marched towards it. One by one they vanished, and I watched the number of selected troops increasing. For a full ten minutes, I stood there and oversaw the troops departing. Only when thest one had left did the portal close, vanishing without a trace.


    I knew that it was unrealistic to expect that there would be any kind of resolution to the invasion quickly. Unless they appeared directly in front of the Keeper, it was almost impossible for it to end so fast. Assuming, of course, that they didn¡¯t get split up and divided across the entire world. I could only hope that that would not be the case.


    Giving a long sigh, I turned around, walking back inside towards the throne room. How¡¯d I do? I asked mentally, not particrly caring who it was that answered.


    Well, it wasn¡¯t terrible, at least. Aurivy spoke up in an attempt to cheer me up. Who knows¡­ with Tubrock¡¯s equipment, they may just have a chance.


    Speaking of¡­ Hey, Tubrock¡­ how did you make equipment for that many people so quickly?


    Ah, ye mean the armors? I¡¯ve been workin¡¯ on those for ages! Got ¡®em on a mass production line to use up some of the ores that keep gettin¡¯ offered up to me. For their weapons¡­ that was a bit trickier. Had to use a fair bit of my energy crafting suitable weapons quickly, and wasn¡¯t able to give them the special attention I would¡¯a liked. Still, should be better than most mortal creations, I reckon.


    I nodded when I heard that. With how many armors he handed out, it was clear that he couldn¡¯t have made them all that quickly. There were simply too many of them. If he had been mass producing for a while, that made more sense. How many sets of that armor do you still have? I recalled him saying that he didn¡¯t have any suitable armor for me when I went to hunt the scorpions¡­ but that dragon armor should have been more than enough.


    About ten thousand or so of the blessed steel. Used up almost all of my reserves for it. Bit shoddy on the work, but again, can¡¯t give special attention to mass production.


    So it was just that he didn¡¯t consider the armor good enough, because he hadn¡¯t given it special treatment? Still, I had to admit that he was the expert. There was the chance that my own ki-enhanced skin might be stronger than the mass produced armor he made. What are you working on now?


    The others told me that ye settled on what domain ye want to pick. So, I¡¯m makin¡¯ you a weapon for it! His words surprised me. I didn¡¯t expect him to get to work on something like that so quickly. Maybe after I had upgraded my divinity to the next stage, sure¡­ but he seemed pretty enthusiastic about this.


    Thinking it over, I moved back inside the citadel, walking through the halls. I made my way back towards Tsubaki¡¯s room, and found a paper and pen on her desk. If I sent the message to her directly, I knew that she would want toe out and bid me farewell. But, looking at the screen, I could see that she was currently lying in wait for an ambush, and logging out would only ruin her chances.


    So, I wrote her a note, letting her know that I would be going back ¡®home¡¯ for a little while to take care of some things. It would likely be a few weeks before I returned, and I didn¡¯t want her to be constantly waiting for me. This trial of hers was something that seemed to be helping her, and I fully supported her efforts in it. As ast note, I wished her well on her trial, and that she would pull through just as she had the first one.


    As for me¡­ since the army had left, and everyone else seemed to be getting ready for it¡­ it was time to start training the next step.

 Chapter 361: Growing Pains

    <h4>Chapter 361: Growing Pains</h4>


    A certain kitsune sat within a high tree, her eyes closed. She was dressed in nothing but rags, her bare skin easily visible beneath the tattered clothing. She was waiting, listening. Every sound that passed her area would be registered, and would be another target.


    He wants me to seed. My trial cannot fail. It had been a week since Dale left her the note that he was going away for a while. And in that week¡­ she had died once. An unfortunate encounter with some bad herbs had slowed her reaction speed enough to allow too many hits in.


    Now for this, her third attempt at the trial¡­ she had increased the difficulty. She still used the same starting skill, but she was no longer a level five character in a level ten region. No, she had spent some time moving further away from the area. Now, she had hit level ten, but everything she encountered was at least four times her level.


    One wrong move in a fight would mean instant death. No carelessness was allowed. She had to be vignt at every moment, just as it had been in her youth.


    Her ear twitched, and she recognized the sound moving closer. A set of paws gently stepping on dry leaves. And then another. Her head shook slightly as she denied the possibility of a fight. From their gait, she could tell that these were the horned wolves that inhabited this area. The fact that she could hear two of them meant that there was likely a third as well, maybe more.


    Although she could confidently take these creatures on one at a time, this confidence only extended to one wolf. If a second joined in, or even a third, she was not even confident in her ability to escape with her life.


    Waiting again, she allowed the wolves to pass, keeping her presence within the trees concealed. Soon, she heard another animal. This one was much closer, throwing up instant rms in her mind. The sounds of branches creaking, the gentle hiss of a thin tongue licking the air.


    Tsubaki¡¯s eyes opened in time to see a pale blue snake staring at her from across the way. As she looked at it, its color shifted, from pale blue to deep brown, slightly blending in with the bark behind it. Not enough to fool her sight, but likely a good defense against lesser animals.


    Immediately, Tsubaki¡¯s ki began to channel through her palms. She had no items to pull mana from, and thus couldn¡¯t use any magic or chakra, but she could use her bare hands. When her fingers curled, a soft light spread out from the tips, looking to take the shape of ws.


    The snake quickly seemed to recognize the threat, or perhaps she had been in its agro range all along, and it was preparing itself to strike. Either way, the camouged creature surged forward at an insane speed. Tsubaki¡¯s instincts kicked in, and time seemed to slow as she tilted her body to the side. She wasn¡¯t fast enough to catch the snake in its attack, but she was able to avoid it, if only barely.


    As its body was fully extended, its head twisting to try to take another strike, Tsubaki¡¯s ¡®ws¡¯ traced along its underbelly. Although the movement looked slow to her, it was as fast as she could move her body. And as she moved, her ws became sharper, drawing the ki from the serpent to empower her own attack.


    There was a hiss of pain as it drew back, giving up its chance for a second attack. A thin line of blood a couple inches long appeared beneath it, showing that her attack had had an effect. The snake stared at her for what felt like an eternity before striking out again, its fangs extended and ready to take her life.


    This time, she was faster. The ki she had stolen was redistributed to increase her speed, and she performed the same move as before. Only this time, instead of tracing along its stomach, she started from the corner of its mouth.


    The snake apparently was caught by surprise with this move, its body falling free from the branch and carried with its momentum. If Tsubaki hadn¡¯t reached out to grab its tail, it may have flown beyond her reach, and be the prey for another beast. But, her hands caught the tail in a vice grip, swinging it around.


    When the head of the snake crashed against the branch that it had originated from, its slowly depleting health bar plummeted, its body falling limp. So, she let it go, allowing the corpse to fall from her hands and down to the forest floor below. Instead of looting the in creature, she immediately jumped from her branch, vacating the area before another monster coulde along and discover its easy meal.


    The trial of blood did not allow for any external assistance such as weapons or armor to be brought in, so Tsubaki refused to loot anything that was not already wielded as a weapon, such as a humanoid monster¡¯s spear or sword. Unfortunately, the area that she had taken up camp in had no such humanoid monsters, nothing that carried its own weapons or armor.


    She hunted, because even if she knew that she did not need to eat, she had to simte the conditions as perfectly as she could. That meant hunting enough monsters that she would be able to feed herself without fear. And as the seconds ticked by, she was greeted with a familiar reward screen.


    You have hunted a monster far surpassing your own level in a fair fight, and refused to im any valuables from it! You have earned one Hardcore Ticket.


    She didn¡¯t know how many of those tickets she had umted in thest several days. In order to resist the urge to use them, she had not even looked at her inventory screen. When she had first received the ticket, she had asked Vivi what items existed in that lottery, out of curiosity. Maybe there was something that could benefit Dale?


    What she learned was that the Hardcore Lottery existed for those who sought a more realistic experience. There were some powerful weapons in it, of course, to allow fighters an easier time with those challenges. Yet, most of the prizes were harvesting or crafting equipment. Skinning knives or mining picks, and things of that nature.


    As Tsubaki ran through the treetops, she could hear the distant howl, the signal that the snake had been found.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Knew it¡­ I knew it. I cursed at myself for my previous guesses as I exited the training area I had established. My body felt like it was on fire, the me burning just beneath my skin. Looking at the clock, it had taken me nine days to ¡®perfect¡¯ the next step along my path to divinity. As one might guess¡­ this means that the process was surprisingly easy.


    Yeah, no, that¡¯s a lie. I could tell that the process was only easy because I was in the Admin Room. The feeling of having your body torn apart and reformed, one piece at a time¡­ it¡¯s enough to shatter a man¡¯s soul. If I was truly capable of taking damage here, I don¡¯t think I would have been able toplete the training that quickly, if I was even able toplete it at all.


    I was able to do it, though¡­ I was able to finish, and do it again¡­ all it took was a little testing, and a lot of pain. Moving over to my bed, I sat on it, leaning forward and taking deep breaths while I called Leowynn back to myself. If this was what it meant to be a false god on this path, I could see why most first ranked Keepers avoided it. There were probably less painful ways to do so through other methods, but this was the one that Balu had thought most fitting for me.


    Speaking of which¡­ there was a reason that I hadn¡¯t been too worried about entering training when I did. I had nced towards my next opponent briefly, but the information had only made me smile.


    Time until Starkiller¡¯s attack: 90:09:16:32


    That¡¯s right¡­ my next opponent was Balu herself. I felt a sense of relief that it was her, as she had proven to be a trustworthy friend, whether it was personally or through the guild. If not for her assistance, I might actually be dead by now.


    Sure, I could feel a simr sense of security if my opponent was somebody like Kathy¡­ but let¡¯s be honest here¡­ Kathy¡¯s just as likely to send me a monster she considers weak, but reproduces like crazy. No ill intent behind her action, just a warpedmon sense that would make her more terrifying than a normal enemy.


    ncing towards my interface, I saw that I had a conversation request waiting from her. I shook my head with a small smile, though, deciding that I would wait until I had finished upgrading my body. I let everyone know that I was cutting them off for just a little while and, with a small groan, I selected the option to descend, appearing once again in my throne room.


    ¡°Leowynn¡­ can you go to Tsubaki¡¯s room?¡± I asked with a tired voice. ¡°I need you to make sure that neither of you interfere with this. It should only take a few minutes this time¡­ but if she knew what it meant, she would immediately rush over.¡±


    Leowynn appeared before me in a golden mist, offering a sad smile as she nodded her head. When she floated through the doorway and out into the halls, I got up. It was time to use one of the long forgotten rooms in the citadel, the ¡®cultivation chamber¡¯ that blocked off energy signatures from escaping.


    Part of me was hoping that this would lessen the pain that Leowynn would feel transmitted over my soul, but I knew that that was not too likely. Instead, I sat down in the center of the room, cross legged. There was no ritual to begin here, merely the start of the process.


    Lifting my right hand, I gathered my ki, focusing it to weaken my flesh and bones rather than strengthening it. Immediately, a numbness could be felt, as if my hand had fallen asleep, the pins and needles you feel from cirction being cut. And then¡­ I brought in my divine soul.


    The golden light slipped into my weakened flesh, and I bit my lip to avoid crying out. Blood spilled from my fingertips as the flesh peeled away, falling off in strips. However, a new fingertip was present in its ce, one that I could just barely feel as my own. This process repeated again, growing more intense as I slowly worked it along the rest of my hand.


    As each portion was formed, a thinyer of ki spread out to wrap around the ¡®divine¡¯ flesh, holding it in ce. It still felt as if I was shoving my entire hand into a blender, but I was able to keep my new ¡®hand¡¯ in its proper shape.


    After the hand, naturally, came the arm. This only proved even more painful, the girth of my arm meaning that I had to destroy and reform more at once. Soon, I was able to taste the blood pooling in my mouth, having bitten a bit too hard on my lip.


    This was a pain the likes of which I had only experienced when training to be a god. A pain that nobody should ever have to endure. And it was just getting started.


    Once I finished my right arm, I moved onto my left, following the same process. And then, my legs. After that was where things started to get tricky¡­ It took some trial and error to figure out whether I should convert my heart first or my brain, as both were organs vital for survival.


    Ultimately¡­ I found that I had to convert the heart first¡­ and when I did so, I had to quickly move on to the brain. You can survive for a brief period of time without a heart, but if you lose the entirety of your brain¡­ there is no hope.


    So, my torso came next. Iid down on the stone floor in order to avoid copsing, but couldn¡¯t stop the screams passing my lips once my divine soul ¡®reced¡¯ my stomach, my ribs, my lungs¡­ my heart. I coughed up blood, turning over to my side to make sure that I didn¡¯t choke on it, and quickly moved to the final step.


    Even I couldn¡¯t survive the process of reshaping my brain like this normally, there was no way. My brain was the primary center of my consciousness, and losing that meant that I would have apse in the control of my power. The body that was only being held together by a thinyer of ki would shatter, and I would be a lifeless head.


    This was what had taken me nine days to perfect. Focusing, even as I felt my consciousness growing faint, I entered my soul. With my mind fully within my soul, and my soul making up the divine portion of my body, it grew more solid. And then¡­ my head exploded.


    I¡¯ll admit, I was scared. I was waiting for the ¡®you have died¡¯ message to appear. Part of me knew that Terra would never let mee down here and do this if I hadn¡¯t gotten the process right, but that part of me was vastly overshadowed by the primal fear of death.


    Where my head had exploded, there was¡­ still a head. The difference between this method and the ¡®perfect self¡¯y in the fact that there was no time transition between destruction and creation. In fact, it was the creation of the divine body that caused the mortal flesh to erupt, but that divine body was already fully joined with the connecting tissue.


    Was I distracting myself from the pain by going over the theories I had been studying these past few days? Holy hell, yes I was! Was it working? I wish!


    With my body now fully formed, there was only one true step left. Opening my mouth, I coughed out thest bit of my blood and spoke. ¡°Gather¡­¡±


    My word summoned the natural energy from the surroundings, bringing them surging towards my body. Natural energy had a stabilizing effect, which was why it was used as the final ingredient for evolving both the soul and body to divinity. And as it washed over me, infusing my divine body with energy, I could feel myself bing stronger.


    The pain began to recede, leaving only the scar of it in my mind. The numbness faded, and my body felt properly under my own control. As a test, I removed the thinyer of ki from around my right hand, fully prepared for it to erupt in a violent explosion and having to quickly repair it. Instead¡­ nothing. There was no change.


    Letting out a sigh, I deployed my world sight, thankful that it too was attached to my soul. I scanned over my body, ensuring that everything was stable. Anywhere that looked less than safe, I guided the natural energy towards the region to fix it. And soon¡­


    Congrattions! You have earned an achievement!


    For converting your entire body to the Divine Body, you have earned the Demigod achievement! +25 points, +5% Divine Energy Affinity!

 Chapter 362: Dinner Reservations

    <h4>Chapter 362: Dinner Reservations</h4>


    Moments after I saw the notification window about my new achievement, I felt the enchantments of the room I was in beginning to shake. Around the entrance, a small hole was torn open within the sealing barrier, and Leowynn rushed inside, panic on her face. ¡°Father!¡±


    She had felt the pain that I had gone through within the Admin Room¡­ but down here, where everything was so much more real, that pain meant so much more. Immediately, she saw the scattered blood and strips of flesh, a hand going up to her mouth in shock. She had felt the pain of my body being torn apart over our link, but she had never seen what it meant.


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ fine.¡± I spoke, my voice a bit hoarse. My body was in perfect condition, but my mind was still reeling from the pain I had just gone through. Slowly, I made myself sit up, ncing around the room. Seeing the mess for myself, I winced a bit. Not at the pain, but at the cleanup that it would entail. Yeah¡­ let¡¯s not leave this one to Tsubaki. Pretty sure she¡¯d freak out if she just saw a drop of blood from me, let alone all of this.


    I raised my hand to signal for Leowynn to step back, and called on the natural energy that I had used to stabilize my new body. With a simple thought, the air within the room burst into mes, incinerating the blood, flesh, and bones that had been scattered about. Soon, all that was left was ash and scorched walls. Much less traumatizing for her¡­


    With a soft sigh, I looked back towards Leowynn. ¡°How¡¯s Tsubaki doing?¡±


    ¡°She seemed to be fine.¡± Leowynn informed me, sitting down on the floor before me. ¡°She¡¯s still in her trial, and still really tense¡­ but she didn¡¯t look angry or anything.¡±


    That was something, at least. I didn¡¯t know what goal she had set herself for this trial of blood, so I didn¡¯t particrly want to interfere. I knew that the original test that the ninja vige put forsted for an entire year, but¡­ I couldn¡¯t see Tsubaki doing that here. Not that she didn¡¯t have the resolve tost for a year like that, but I couldn¡¯t see her finding it necessary. A month, maybe, to bring out hertent battle instincts that hadid dormant for so long.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go back.¡± I said as I stood up, feeling the dire need to rest falling over me. There was something else that I wanted to do first, but sleep was very high up on my list. Did I even physically need to sleep anymore? Or eat, for that matter? Questions forter!


    Once Leowynn had returned back inside of my spirit, the two of us ascended to the Admin Room again. The first thing I did was to restore everyone¡¯s permissions for the various worlds, making sure that I didn¡¯t forget to do that before sleeping. I did not want to cause mass havoc over a simple oversight.


    Just as I was finishing that up, I felt something soft pressing against my back, two arms wrapping around me. ¡°That was really dangerous, you know?¡± Terra muttered softly to me, leaning her head against my own.


    I cracked a small smile, trying to look less tired than I was. ¡°I was confident that it would work¡­ and that you wouldn¡¯t let me try if you didn¡¯t think I could do it.¡±


    That earned a briefugh from her, before she shook her head. ¡°Still, I get worried. One wrong slip with things like this¡­ I was readying myself to jump in at any moment to make you rush back to the Admin Room before it was toote.¡±


    ¡°Oh please no.¡± I visibly paled at that. ¡°Thest thing that I want is to have to go through all of that again. I won¡¯t have to, will I? I get to keep that divine body no matter which race I descend as in the future?¡±


    I could almost feel Terra smiling behind me, and that smile sent a chill down my spine before she spoke. ¡°No, you won¡¯t have to do it again¡­ not unless you reset your world for some reason.¡±


    ¡°Talk about motivation to never have to reset¡­¡± Though I said that, I knew that it was likely inevitable. Alkahest had already mentioned before that most Keepers at his level had reset their worlds a few times. That didn¡¯t mean I wasn¡¯t going to do everything in my power to try to avoid it, though.


    ¡°Out of curiosity¡­¡± I muttered, turning my head to nce towards the felyn goddess. ¡°In general¡­ how does this methodpare to other methods of bing a false divinity?¡±


    Terra furrowed her brow for a moment. ¡°Well¡­ I can¡¯t give you specifics, of course¡­ there are some ways that are easier, but take a lot longer. Like with your cultivation system, the breakthroughs are fairly painless, and simply require an understanding of thews. But, through that system, you would need to cultivate to gradually build up all of the energy needed. That is the only way to get it yourself, without waiting until your residents reach that level.¡±


    I gave a faint nod, recalling something from a previous conversation with Balu. ¡°She said that she does this every time¡­ But she runs a cultivation type world, too¡­¡±


    Terra let out a sigh, bringing her arms back and moving to sit on the edge of her bed. ¡°Most likely, she set up a cultivation site or something that allows her to gather the energies needed more quickly. Such things exist, but they¡¯re hard to configure properly. She might even have an individual entity on the market that she purchases who has a cultivation close enough to what she needs that she can take thest step on her own.¡±


    Both options made sense, and it may be that she did a mix of them. Either way, I shook my head. Balu had sent a request to chat, and so I opened up that request to ept it. There was a brief pause, before a row of text appeared on the screen.


    Starkiller: There you are! Have you seen the system¡¯s assignment yet?


    I gave a small chuckle. Most likely, she had tried to send this message to me back before I sent the invasion off towards Vanity, depending on what herst round was. I just hadn¡¯t been back to check my messages in a while.


    EarthForceOne: Yeah, sorry. I was just training for the Divine Body.


    Starkiller: Oh! Oh¡­ first time. Right, understandable. Surprised you got into it so quickly.


    EarthForceOne: It¡¯s fine. But yeah, I saw. I would hope I don¡¯t have anything to worry about with you?


    Starkiller: Course not! Well, not unless you wanted me to give you a real challenge for some reason. Our fight will be right after the annual meeting. Want to talk trade at the meeting? We can meet over lunch!


    EarthForceOne: Sure. Mind sending me a list of avable options to consider until then?


    Starkiller: I¡¯ll have it for you soon!


    Just like before, I wasn¡¯t sure that I¡¯d actually buy anything from Balu. She was bound to have a powerful world with plenty of things to choose from, but¡­ whatever I ended up getting would be going to Earth and its connected worlds. She ran a cultivation world, so the most benefit I could get would be if I could send those goods to Lorek.


    Not to say that there wouldn¡¯t be any benefit for Earth¡­ It might even be useful to see if I can buy a portion of one of her races, as they would have the knowledge of the ¡®foundation¡¯ that would help train people of my world. Though, I still nned to get that out of Lorek, once that world had progressed to a point that I wasfortable with it.


    Either way, I had finished my conversation with her, and turned to find Terra alreadyying down in the bed. There was a knowing smile on her face as she lifted an arm up to invite me over. Not needing anything else said, I moved over to embrace her, and allow myself to properly rest for a little while.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Just as with the rest of the worlds, Fyor was experiencing a new trend. The game Vision Expanse was bing wildly popr after the reveal by the Keeper himself. Some people suspected that the virtual reality visors were being sold out as fast as they could be produced, every family wanting one.


    However, this also presented a new opportunity. One that certain people capitalized on. Within the Council, an intense debate had begun. ¡°Dawn has been disrespectful of us for too long!¡± One man, an elderly halfling, called out. His fist mmed against the stone desk that he sat at as he addressed the crowd. ¡°We are the ones who sit at the core of this world, the ones who have the right to rule it!¡±


    Another man, a human this time, nodded in agreement. ¡°It is one thing to forfeit Nexus, as they control the fairy gate¡­ But Dawn is made of residents from this world. Yet they forbid us ess to resources that should rightly be ours. Resources that could help make the world a better ce.¡±


    An elderly human woman sat at another of the desks, her eyes closed and hands folded in herp. ¡°There is little that we can do about this matter. The world has recognized their governance. Their mages are also surprisingly powerful, and present a military might that we should not take lightly.¡±


    As soon as she said that, a small smirk appeared on the face of the halfling that had initially spoken. ¡°That may have been true before¡­ but things are changing. Their mages can no longer keep a watchful eye at all times.¡±


    ¡°Exin yourself.¡± A fourth person, another halfling, spoke up. This one wasn¡¯t as old as the others, showing that he was likely a newer member of the Council.


    ¡°What I mean to say is¡­ The Keeper has bestowed us with an opportunity. This game that he created¡­ when someone is ying it, their senses will be cut off from the real world. Those mages who manage to keep themselves alert even in their sleep will no longer have any awareness at all while they are ying this game.¡±


    As he said that, he slowly stood up, his hands on his desk. ¡°If the Keeper has granted us this chance, surely he intends for us to use it! This is exactly what we need, a way to eliminate the threat to our world¡¯s order silently, with minimal loss! I¡¯m sure that he knew of our crisis, and wanted to help us in a way that wouldn¡¯t warn Dawn about our intentions!¡±


    The room fell silent at this im. Sure enough, it was possible. Thework of Desbar had spread throughout all worlds, and the Council was no exception. They understood the features that the virtual reality device offered.


    With nobody else speaking, all eyes turned towards the elderly woman, her eyes still closed. She was the most senior member of the Council, her words carrying the most weight. Everyone respected her decisions, as she had always thought carefully before making them. With a long sigh, she leaned forward.


    ¡°Mobilize the Shadow Council. Tell them to investigate Dawn¡¯s mages, and see if they are truly vulnerable while they are within the game. Depending on the wards they set, or if they have guards watching over them, we will make our decision soon.¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    With a groan, I awoke, feeling the absence of anyone beside me on the bed. I wasn¡¯t too surprised, Terra often slipped away while I slept. However, when I turned over, I found her sitting at the desk, watching something on theputer. ¡°What are you looking at?¡± I asked groggily, knowing that she could see anything she wanted even without the use of myputer.


    ¡°Just a group of old idiots.¡± She responded lightly, waving a dismissive hand. ¡°Nothing to worry about.¡±

 Chapter 363: Seeking a Path

    <h4>Chapter 363: Seeking a Path</h4>


    Watching Terra get up from theputer and wander out of the room, I noticed that she left the screen up to what she was looking at. Alright, alright¡­ I know how to take a hint. Pulling myself out of bed, I moved over to theputer, reviewing what had just happened in that area.


    Once I saw what the Council had nned, I gave a small sigh, shaking my head. Ryone, Bihena? Looks like the Council is about to do something incredibly stupid ¡®in my name¡¯. How well defended are the mages in the new kingdom of Fyor?


    The first to answer was, unsurprisingly, Ryone. Should be pretty good! I mean, there are ways around their wards, but you¡¯d have to be pretty skilled to find them. They set up their defenses knowing how vulnerable they¡¯d be while sleeping or logged into the game.


    The Shadow Council is pretty skilled. Bihena chimed in, a rather tired tone to her voice. I¡¯d bet that they have people who can get around those wards. Maybe not easily¡­ but they could probably do it. Want us to do something about it?


    I closed my eyes, sinking into thought. If I move the citadel to rest over the Dawn kingdom, even if it is to dissuade them, they will likely take it as my silent support. They might even think that I nned to join them in the attack. On the other hand, if I use a show of force to stop them¡­ it¡¯s likely to lead the Council to eventually revolt. Simrly, attempting to force a negotiation would end up breeding resentment within the Council.


    While I wasn¡¯t too worried about my life being in danger if the Council rebelled, there would be too many lives lost from apletely avoidable war. Ryone¡­ when they attack, would you be able to interfere with the wards, twist them just a bit to make the assassinations fail?


    It took a moment for her to respond, as if she was considering it. I should be able to do something. If anyone dies to the wards, do you want me to get rid of the bodies?


    Please. I nodded my head slightly. The best case scenario that I coulde up with was for the Shadow Council to fail their mission. For them to believe that the mages were too well protected to assassinate, without being discovered by their would-be targets. Send an image of strength from those mages, make the Council hesitate before doing anything foolish.


    As I was closing the map, I noticed the notification icon blinking for a new message. Once I opened it up, I was able to confirm that it was the list from Balu. Unsurprisingly, the list wasn¡¯t all that long. However, only two items immediately caught my attention.


    The first were her race, the anthropomorphic rabbits known as the Baharan. As I expected, they came with a note stating that they were a culture focusedrgely on cultivation, with ki as their focus. I once again swore inwardly, wishing that I could ept them into Lorek instead of Earth.


    The other item, however, was all the way at the very bottom of the list. When I saw it, I felt my lips curl upwards. She had chosen to list a grimoire as one of her avable objects. Normally, I might think that it was a coincidence¡­ if she hadn¡¯t bolded the entry and underlined it.


    I could easily recall back when I had Balu evaluate my world, and she rmended that I get an item like that. The fact that she was still able to remember that advice was surprising, given her memory, but it was likely that she had written it down for her ¡®wall¡¯.


    I focused, passing the list off to Ryone. Let me know if there¡¯s anything you want from there by the end of the month. Once I had set that off, I finally decided to return to the citadel.


    As soon as I felt the warm light wrapping around me, taking me back down to my throne room, I was immediately aware that there was another presence within the room. When my eyes opened, I saw that Tsubaki was kneeling in front of my throne. She was¡­ definitely not there when I left.


    ¡°Wee home, my Keeper.¡± She said quietly, her head bowed. ¡°I took the liberty of cleaning the training room.¡±


    ¡°You saw that, huh¡­¡± I was somewhat hoping that it would take a little bit longer for her to realize that I had been descended when she was logged in, but it looked like that wasn¡¯t going to be the case anymore.


    ¡°I did. When I left the game to perform my regr chores, I sensed an unusual energy lingering around, which led me back there. Once I felt the divinity that it contained, I knew that it had to be you.¡± Even as she said that, she kept her head lowered.


    I sighed, shaking my head as I stood up. ¡°How¡¯s your trial faring?¡± I could tell that a good amount of her energy had already started to return, her body no longer looking as cold and lifeless as it had back when she had just finished training the army.


    Tsubaki finally lifted her head, the barest hint of a smile on her face. ¡°I believe that it is going well, my Keeper. If all goes as nned, then within another week, I should be ready to ¡®graduate¡¯ on this character.¡±


    I gave a faint nod. ¡°So¡­ have to ask now¡­ what exactly are you hoping to get out of this trial? I know that the original trial of blood is to cultivate the strongest of the servants, to force them to endure a year in a level where they are the weakest of creatures. But¡­ what is it you want to gain from this?¡±


    Tsubaki hesitated for a moment, her eyes closing before she speaks softly. ¡°Exactly what you said. I wish to be the strongest once again. I want to recreate all of the skills I learned when I was a child, learn them within this new world. My aim is to never spend coin to learn a skill with that character. If it is not something that I am able to learn on my own, or through the guidance of another, then it is not something that I was destined to know.¡±


    Opening her eyes, she looked at me with determination. ¡°My goal isn¡¯t to be your sword within the game. I do not believe you need something like that. This is for myself¡­ for my own growth. When I have trained myself within the game to reach the level I am at, I will be able to find a new power, a new path to move forward. This will serve as my practice arena, where I test and explore new possibilities.¡±


    Well, I had to admit that I was happy to hear that she wasn¡¯t doing it out of some misguided belief that it¡¯s what I wanted for her. The fact that she was doing something like this entirely for herself showed how far she hade, for me at least. ¡°Alright.¡± I consented with a small nod. ¡°I hope you¡¯re able to find what you¡¯re looking for.¡±


    Tsubaki gave a sharp nod of her head, before looking at me questioningly for a long moment. However, she didn¡¯t say anything, simply seeming to wait for me to give her an order. ncing into her mind, I could see that she felt the change in energying from my body, and she wasn¡¯t sure what effects it would have over our daily routine. In my defense, I didn¡¯t know either. This was going to be a learning experience for the both of us!


    ¡°You can return to your trial, Tsubaki.¡± I spoke up, before hesitating, another thought crossing my mind. ¡°Actually¡­ I have a mission for you, one that should fuel your drive to get stronger.¡±


    Tsubaki had already turned around by the time I finished, looking as if she were ready to leave. Once she heard me, though, she stopped, turning to look back at me. ¡°Please, my Keeper.¡±


    ¡°There is a leaderboard for Vision Expanse.¡± I told her with a light chuckle. ¡°Naturally, your training will cause you to rise to the top of it. However¡­ I want you to meet with the others at the top as well. Spar with them, train them, learn from them. You have a body that isn¡¯t bound by time¡­ you can study with the experts of every field. You can test yourself against the best, and learn from these experiences.¡±


    There was a small light that seemed to shine in the back of Tsubaki¡¯s eyes as she listened to me. ¡°I understand, my Keeper. I will not disappoint you.¡± With that, her body broke apart into multicolored mists and rushed through the door.


    Dale. Aurivy spoke up into my mind yfully. I think that you just created a monster.


    Shaking my head, I walked towards the door, heading towards the control center of the citadel. Let¡¯s be perfectly honest with ourselves, Rivy. Tsubaki became a monster a long time ago. I¡¯m just adding some fuel to the fire.


    It was true. Ever since Tsubaki came to me, she had been incredibly powerful. The feeling of blood staining her essence had been enough to scare Scarlet, and cow other martial spirits into submission. When she became the first Perfect Self, her power had only grown, giving her new ways to train herself.


    Yet, she had grown stagnant. In her efforts to protect the world from the monsters that may spawn as a result of her presence, she stopped training. If I understand her trial correctly, it would even be safe to say that she has grown rusty. She needs a proper motivation to get stronger, to use her abilities to the fullest.


    In my opinion, Vision Expanse is perfect for that. She¡¯ll be able topete against the most talented individuals from every world, mastering the skills she once had, and gaining entirely new ones. I¡¯m not making a monster¡­ I¡¯m helping her wake up.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Myrna shune krionna.¡± A voice spoke out in the darkness, two red eyes staring at arge door ten meters away. The eyes shed, seeing an array of runes hovering gently over the door. More seemed to line the wall, gliding mystically in odd patterns that made it hard to properly discern them.


    Still, it did not take him too long. And when he closed his eyes, his presence seemed to vanish entirely from within the hall. Or perhaps, it had never truly been there to begin with¡­


    Outside of the marble walls of the Pce of Dawn, a young man opened his red eyes. He looked at the group of three in front of himself, and nodded. ¡°He has a freezing ward on his door. Anyone that doesn¡¯t use the proper spell will trigger it¡­ however, the key spelles from the geometric school.¡±


    Crouching down, he grabbed a stick and began to draw the pattern he had pieced together while analyzing the ward. He was certain that he had found the various clues within the ward needed to properly disarm it, and thus didn¡¯t hesitate to share this information with his colleagues.


    ¡°That makes three of them.¡± A woman muttered, her body wrapped in ck cloth. All that could be seen of her was a patch of pale skin surrounding light blue eyes. ¡°Just a few more, and we¡¯ll be able to make our move.¡±


    The red-eyed human nodded. They were in no rush to finish the job. Rushing simply led to mistakes. No, they would take their time¡­ analyze each target, everyyer of defense protecting them¡­ Then, when they were ready, they would strike at once.


    The Council guided the world, leading the differentyers openly. But the Shadow Council¡­ they removed the unwanted elements. Those that would threaten Fyor¡¯s way of life. Those that would threaten the Council¡­

 Chapter 364: I’m Back

    <h4>Chapter 364: I¡¯m Back</h4>


    I watched the meeting between the Shadow Council, using another mirror that I summoned with my divine power. I knew that it was extremely difficult for these mirrors to be sensed, unless it was someone as familiar with divine energy as Tsubaki was, so I was not worried about being discovered. Rather, I was using this as a test of my abilities.


    Previously, my divine soul had allowed me to view over a distance of ten thousand kilometers. Now¡­ that sounds like it should be plenty, given the size of the world I came from. Yet, on this Earth, that was only a small corner of the world. Now that I had upgraded to the divine body as well, I wanted to get an idea of what my new range would be like.


    I was not at all disappointed. From my position high above Earth, I was able to use the portal outlets from the inte cables to extend my reach all over Fyor, and even Deckan or Desbar. It felt like my sensing abilities no longer had a range limit¡­ and that made me excited for an entirely different reason.


    Ryone, do you still have any more of those tidestones? When we had first discovered this material, I had used my world sight to probe the small portals within each stone, allowing me to catch the first glimpse of the elemental ne that rested behind them.


    Hmm? Sure. Want me to send some down for you?


    Please do. I waited for a moment after sending that message, and soon felt a small weight resting in the palm of my hand, a single, slightly damp stone. Moving to set the stone on the arm of my throne, I allowed my ambient mana to keep the item active enough.


    ¡°Now, let¡¯s see what we have here.¡± I muttered to myself, looking towards the mirror in front of me. Show me the world within the stone. Communicating my thought to the mirror, I watched as the image of the Shadow Council meeting grew foggy, a vast world of water appearing within it instead.


    I gave a small nod, recognizing the water world. I took a quick moment to activate my nar Archivist title, before looking to the mirror once again. Focusing, I sent my will into the mirror,manding the vision to leave, to rush out of that world. This would be the true test of my range, as I knew that the elemental ne was farrger than any of my worlds.


    The image grew blurry again, though this time from the rapid movement as the mirror seemed to swiftly swim through the giant ocean. It passed by the other tidestones, shifting further and further upwards. As it did, I began to feel a small pull on my divine body, as if the mirror was trying to pull more energy to expand its reach.


    Almost as soon as I supplied more divine energy to the mirror, the scene shifted again. The view within the mirror had be ck. I willed the view to turn, the mirror shifting to gaze on the world again. As expected, it had broken past the surface of the ocean, the ckness being the void beyond. It would appear that I was not as lucky this time, noting out on the same side as the other elemental worlds.


    Still, that didn¡¯t matter to me. I had learned something new¡­ I had learned that supplying more energy to the mirror would not only extend my range, but also vastly increase its speed. Neither of these had ever happened before, so this was an exciting discovery for me.


    Since none of the elemental worlds could be seen on the horizon, I turned the mirror to directly face the surface of the ocean and once again urged it forward. Without hesitation, I pushed more of my energy into the mirror, watching the scene blur as it passed through the world of water. At the same time, the mirror seemed to be more solid, floating in front of me.


    I could see the many tidestones passing by, but didn¡¯t dare to check them. There was a chance that one of them connected to a higher level of Fyor, a world that might unlock when I view it. I didn¡¯t want my world to immediately rise in level simply because I was a bit too curious.


    With me steadily feeding a supply of divine energy to the mirror, it took roughly three minutes to fully prate from one end of the world of water to the other. Given that I can immediately pull up a mirror to search all the way to Fyor¡­ that just goes to show how far the distance really was. And, when it had once again exited the ocean, I was able to see the worlds of fire, earth, and wind again. As well as the mysterious central world that seemed to pulse with life.


    That central world was by far the closest, and also the one that I had the most personal interest in. As such, it was no wonder that I immediately told the mirror to move towards that world. I wanted to see what this ¡®elemental world of life¡¯ had to offer.


    Thankfully, it seemed like the divine energy found empty space easier to move through than a vast ocean, as the world becamerger at an almost visible pace. It took less than a minute before itpletely engulfed my view, and within another minute I was observing the surface.


    All around me, I saw a vast sea of dense vegetation. Trees over a thousand meters tall and pulsating with energy. Even beneath me, I could see that the ground did not seem to be soil, but rather awork of vines. However, that did not surprise me as much as what I saw next.


    ¡°Hello? Who is this?¡± A voice spoke from the mirror. A young girl¡¯s face appeared within, one that I had seen before, but not for a long time. ¡°This energy feels familiar¡­ but not at the same time. Have I met you?¡± Her soft, golden eyes were unfocused in the vague direction of the mirror, clearly sensing its general location without being able to further narrow it down.


    Her blue hair, most notably, was something I wouldn¡¯t be able to forget easily. I shifted the mirror to allow for a more stable connection, letting her see me as well without offering a path of physical travel. ¡°You are Fyor¡¯s world spirit, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    She blinked in surprise, looking more focused towards me. Her eyes squinted briefly, before going wide. ¡°Mister?! You¡¯re the one that made me, right? The¡­ oh, what¡¯s the word¡­ the Keeper?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right¡­ I thought that you were still sleeping?¡± Thest time I had seen her was just after I had finished making her. Because Fyor didn¡¯t have the world spirit ss unlocked, she was unable to continue forming her body, and had fallen asleep. Naturally, I had assumed at that point that she would just wake up when the ss had been unlocked.


    ¡°No¡­ I don¡¯t think I slept for very long. When I woke up, I was here! But I can¡¯t ess the spirit world where the others go. I know that the ability is there, but¡­ it feels blocked. If you¡¯re here, though¡­ does that mean I¡¯ll be able to go back, soon?¡±


    Now I was starting to get an idea of what this world was. It wasn¡¯t strictly a world of life¡­ but a world denselyprised of natural energy in its purest form. It was connected to Fyor on a fundamental level, so when the system expelled her from the main body of Fyor, this was set to be her home¡­


    I shook my head to shake away those thoughts, looking to the girl in the mirror. ¡°I¡¯m afraid that can¡¯t happen yet. We still haven¡¯t managed to find the world spirit ss to let you return.¡± I could see the sorrow on her face when I said that, and it pierced at my heart. If there were a way for me to bring her out of there, I would have. However, I knew that apleted world spirit like her couldn¡¯t exist within another world¡¯s territory, so there was no way for me to pull her over here.


    As I was thinking about that, a brief look of rm shed across her features. ¡°We can¡¯t stay here, follow me.¡± After saying that, her body erupted into green light, vanishing entirely from my view. I was left blinking in surprise, beforemanding the mirror to find her again. It took only a few moments, but I soon saw her panting slightly behind arge tree.


    ¡°What just happened?¡± I asked, concerned over the panic that had ovee what should have been a nearly immortal being.


    ¡°A hunter beast¡­¡± She whispered. ¡°I found them shortly after I first woke up here, not knowing what they were¡­ if I don¡¯t leave the area before they lock onto me, they track me down and eat me¡­ I don¡¯t die, but it hurts, and takes a long time for my mind to gather again. I don¡¯t like them¡­¡±


    Okay, now I was definitely not going to set up a passage through the mirror, if there was a creature strong enough to overpower apleted world spirit and cause her consciousness to disperse. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll try to find the world spirit orb soon so that you cane out of there.¡±


    I saw a thankful smile on her face when she heard that. ¡°Thank you, sir. I hope you¡¯re able to do that. Is it okay if I go back to hiding, now? If I don¡¯t they¡¯re probably going to find me again soon.¡± I offered a small nod to ept her request, and her body once again faded away. At the same time, I also removed the two-way link from the mirror, not wanting anything that came by to be able to see it.


    Not more than ten seconds after I did that, I was thankful that I had removed the connection. There was a sh of green light in the vision of the mirror, and a small, green wolf was standing where the world spirit had been only moments before. It lifted its head, looking around the area as if searching. Vines seemed to sprout from its back, bark-like armor covering its sides and limbs. Focusing, I managed to identify the creature through the mirror.


    Level 4113 - Spirit Eater


    Native ne - Elemental Life


    This was my first time seeing a creature anywhere near that level, aside from myself in my full Keeper power. And if all of its power was focused, that made it a terrifying force to be reckoned with.


    It nced briefly in the direction of the mirror, and the frame seemed to shake for a moment. I was briefly worried that it might be able to force a connection from its end, and travel through the mirror to reach me. However, just as I was about to dispel the mirror, the creature vanished. The mirror became stable once again, my view left focused on the tree that the world spirit had been hiding behind.


    Still, not wanting to take any chances, I immediately dispelled the mirror. As I did so, I found an information window appearing in front of me.


    You have explored a new elemental world, and made contact with one of its inhabitants. As a reward, you have unlocked the second ability of the nar Archivist title!


    nar Shift ability unlocked!


    I cleared my throat as I read that. So¡­ Terra¡­ nar shift¡­ is that what I think it is?


    Pretty much! She responded after a brief moment, causing a small smile to appear on my face. This ability allows you to consume your own energies in order to create a temporary portal to a world that is connected with one you are currently on. So, for instance, you could use it to move to Fyor or Deckan, or even the elemental ne that you discovered if you were feeling particrly stupid, but you couldn¡¯t use it to go to Lorek.


    I¡­ had to agree with her. There was no way that I was going to directly visit the elemental nes. Doing so would be nothing short of suicide, given that that spirit eater was not likely to be the strongest creature inhabiting that world. It might be the one most specialized to hunt down the world spirit, but there were bound to be many more powerful creatures that would be able to hunt down me.


    Okay¡­ next question. I felt a small smirk tugging at my lips. Does Vision Expanse count as a world that is connected to these worlds?


    There was a brief pause as Terra took a moment to process what I was asking. Clever boy. It does count, yes. However, it counts as a world that has not undergone a w merge¡¯. You¡¯d get the same deal there that you have here, but with skills instead of sses. But at the same time¡­ if you took your true body there, you would no longer be able to respawn upon death. If something killed you, that would be the end.


    Well, that doused any ns I had of ying around like that in Vision Expanse¡­ I¡¯d be more likely to kill myself than anything else, just by experimenting with the different uses of energies there.

 Chapter 365: Graduation

    <h4>Chapter 365: Graduation</h4>


    Resting within the treetops, Tsubaki closed her eyes in focus. She was waiting, getting ready for her ¡®final test¡¯. Beneath her, she could hear footsteps across the dirt road. She had to listen closely to make out the patterns of the steps. If they were a yer, there would often be a slight disorder to their rhythm. However, an NPC was different, their walking motions programmed and perfectly repeating, unless they had some obvious injury.


    After a moment, her lips crooked upwards, her hand resting down on the branch she was resting on. Blue light slowly began to leak out of the wood, flowing into her palm. When it stopped, it had formed the shape of a dagger.


    As the light seemed to solidify in her grasp, the dagger became more real, wooden with a row of thorns making up a serrated edge. Tsubaki stood up, before crouching down on one leg, her other foot lowering to hook onto the bottom of the branch. She allowed herself to slowly fall forward, until her body was aimed at the source of the noise that she had detected.


    Only then, when she was properly aligned, did she move her foot off of the branch, her other leg kicking off. She vanished in a sh, appearing on the road in the middle of a caravan. There were four people, all walking in formation. One, front and center wielding a sword and shield, and d in heavy armor. Two in the back, wearing either blue or white robes and carrying a staff. And finally, one in the center that wielded no weapon, but carried arge backpack.


    Tsubaki appeared immediately in front of the human woman wearing a white robe, her eyes glinting fiercely as she brought her dagger up. There was a startled cry of pain as the thorns dug into the woman¡¯s skin. A fountain of blood gushed out of her chest as she fell back, trying to catch herself with her staff.


    But one free strike was all that Tsubaki was allowed, as the woman¡¯s cry had alerted the other members of the caravan. The one with the backpack yelled out, immediately moving forward to hide behind the warrior, who charged forward with his shield. It was hard to tell whether they recognized her as a yer, or thought that she was a wandering monster. Either way, she had been openly hostile towards them, and they had to defend themselves.


    As the warrior¡¯s sword fell towards Tsubaki, she was able to hear an odd sound of wind being cut. She shed away again, this time appearing behind the mage. Just as she did, the warrior¡¯s sword struck the ground, a st of air rising from the impact. ¡°She¡¯s a ninja, watch out!¡± He called towards the dwarven woman in the blue robe in rm, who had instinctively erected a blue barrier around herself when she lost sight of the enemy.


    Inwardly, Tsubaki nodded, satisfied with the mage¡¯s response time. Another quick sh, and she appeared above the human woman. ¡°Sorry, but I¡¯ll need to ask you to sit this fight out. Clerics are annoying to deal with.¡± She spoke coldly, her left hand bundled up as if the tip of the spear, glowing with an earthen light as it plunged into the woman¡¯s open wound.


    Another gasp of pain rang out before it was silenced, the woman¡¯s health bar plummeting. However, that had left Tsubaki open to an attack from the mage. Knowing that she was too quick for arge spell, she had instead chosen to send a bolt of ice at Tsubaki¡¯s side.


    What surprised her wasn¡¯t that the attack hit, given that she had done her best to properly time it. No, what surprised her was the grunt of pain, the health bar that immediately appeared over Tsubaki and dropped by nearly half from such a normal spell. Is she a special mob, or a yer that focused too much on speed? The thought shed through the remaining yers¡¯ minds as the warrior picked up his sword and dropped into a charging stance.


    Yet, the words that Tsubaki spoke sent chills down their spines as she stood, the dagger dropping from her hand. ¡°By my oath, I mark these souls for execution.¡± Her arm stretched out to the side as ck wings formed along her back, a golden light shing as a scythe made of white bone was suddenly held in her grasp. The weapon had slight differences with the legends, yet an image appeared in the minds of both the dwarven mage and the armored warrior.


    Tsubaki¡¯s wings pped once, and she appeared in front of the dwarf, staring down coldly at her with herrge scythe pulled back. ¡°Sever.¡± Shemanded, swinging forward. The scythe cut through the barrier of mana, slicing along the neck of the mage and causing her head to roll.


    ¡°Why¡­¡± The warrior asked as he saw his second party member fall. Turning his head, he shouted towards the person that they had been protecting. ¡°Run!¡±


    The man toting the backpack was already moving, knowing he could offer nothing to this fight. However, Tsubaki did not give chase, turning around to face the man. When she did, he could see her mouth moving, forming words she wasn¡¯t speaking. It took a moment for him to realize that she was counting down from ten.


    Kicking forward, his boots lit up with a green light as his bodyunched far beyond normal speeds, shooting towards Tsubaki like a bullet. However, just as he was about to pierce his sword towards her, her body vanished, and he felt a pain along his back, a warmth spreading over it. Tsubaki appeared behind him as blood began to leak from a cut in the back of his armor.


    Five. Tsubaki mouthed to herself, spinning around to face the warrior. He clearly showed his own experience, knowing that he was outmatched in skill. As soon as he had gathered his bnce, he kicked off the ground, using the special ability of his boots to propel himself far into the distance again.


    Seeing this, Tsubaki blinked, standing fully upright and allowing her scythe and wings to vanish. She turned around and began walking while talking aloud. ¡°Vivi, please send a friend request to that dwarf for me.¡±


    Oh? Taking an interest in someone? Vivi asked in surprise as Tsubaki¡¯s body shed forward, several meters with every step.


    ¡°She showed good judgement and use of her skills.¡± Tsubaki replied nomittally, ncing towards her health. Even given their level difference, one basic spell had done nearly half her health, and it wasn¡¯t even at a critical location. If not for the special ability she imbued within her scythe, she doubted that she could have broken the mage¡¯s shield and killed her so easily.


    After a few moments, the fleeing image of the man carrying the backpack came in view. Given how Tsubaki was shing forward constantly, it only took a matter of seconds for her to appear in front of him, causing the man to stop with a gulp. ¡°W-what do you want from me?¡± He asked, feeling as if he could be killed at any moment.


    While the death penalty wasn¡¯t too harsh, it would dy his delivery, and even gave the possibility that some of his important merchandise to drop. However, Tsubaki simply stared down at him. ¡°Do you have some armor I could use?¡± She asked in a casual tone. Her starting clothes had long since turned to rags, those rags being torn off during countless battles with monsters. As it stood, there was barely a scrap of cloth on her. ¡°Perhaps some clothes, instead?¡±


    The man blinked dumbly as he processed her request. ¡°Oh¡­ uh¡­ sure.¡± He opened up his inventory, pulling out a set of female leather armor and female clothes, which Tsubaki took with an appreciative nod. When she turned around and vanished again, the merchant could hardly believe that he was being left alive.


    _______________________________________________________________


    I couldn¡¯t help but smile as I watched Tsubaki fighting from my room, gazing through a mirror to watch her screen. The fact that she had taken the items from the traveling merchant showed that she was done with her trial, that she had considered herself to have graduated. Not only that, but what she showed me was quite amazing.


    Not only had she learned how to use chakra on her own in the game, but she had even rekindled her divine spark to gain her knight¡¯s de again. That was her most iconic weapon outside of the game, but it must have been incredibly hard for her to use inside of it. After all, she was still rathercking when it came to levels, so the amount of energy avable to her should have been more limited.


    Though, I wasn¡¯t entirely sure if that would apply to divinity, given that there was no mention of it in the stats screen. Maybe it was a hidden stat, or something that just needed unlocked. Or maybe, it just wasn¡¯t a stat at all, and the game treated it just the same as the system out here.


    Either way, Tsubaki was ready to finally reveal herself to the world of Vision Expanse. I gave a small nod of my head as I shifted the mirror to nce outside of the castle, where I could see Fafnir standing atop one of the mountains, his eyes focused out on the ocean. With Ryone¡¯s help, we had taught him a basic spell that would allow him to move underwater, but he still seemed a bit apprehensive about it.


    With one mighty leap, he lunged off the mountain, causingrge rocks to fall from its peak. His wings extended fully and cast a wide shadow over thend below. As he moved closer to the water, his eyes continued to scan over it, his head turning side to side.


    Finally, as he seemed to find something that he liked, his wings tucked in and he dove. A blue film appeared to form around his body as he entered the water, steam rising from the dive. The mirror followed him beneath the water, and it showed boiling water rising from around him, bubbles floating to the surface.


    Fafnir himself was chasing down arge reptile, looking like a crocodile, but with a more narrow snout. The creature was nearly half as long as Fafnir was, which already made it a massive beast, and likely a local king of the waters. Still, it was fleeing from therger dragon, a high speed chase urring beneath the waves.


    Fafnir opened his mouth wide, preparing to unleash its breath weapon when its eyes opened wide in shock. The intense heat of the breath attack had melted away the blue film around its mouth, and it coughed out. Its wings gave a heavy p to push him up, his head lifting above the surface to gain a panicked breath.


    Watching a dragon il around on the surface of the water was¡­ unusual, to say the least. In the end, it had to kick off from the water, creatingrge waves that threatened to break over the tall walls along the shoreline. Thankfully, those walls began to glow, and a higher wall of mana formed to prevent the tidal wave.


    Looks like he¡¯ll need a bit more time to properly get ustomed to being the king of the sea. I thought to myself in amusement, shaking my head. The fact that he had taken the risk to dive into the water showed that he was getting more willing to try such things. Maybe in the next couple of days, he¡¯d be able to properly hunt on his own.


    If not¡­ well, it was a good thing that there were other ¡®snacks¡¯ he could eat on the ind to keep himself from starving, without having to hunt any people or livestock. I gave a small nod towards that thought, mentally noting to keep an eye out to ensure he didn¡¯t do just that. Thest thing we needed was for the world to see that the Keeper¡¯s ¡®pet¡¯ had taken a liking to hunting humans. Not that they¡¯d provide much nutrition for him either way.

 Chapter 366: Resolve

    <h4>Chapter 366: Resolve</h4>


    Under the cover of night, Yaksha of the Shadow Council made his move. He had two targets listed for him to assassinate among the magisters, and their defenses had already been fully decoded. There was nothing left for them to prepare. Tonight, the leaders of Dawn would fall.


    His body seemed to blend with the shadows. He saw his target, the young Jasper Fallows, walking to his room. Utilizing his mana, he made sure to contain his own thoughts, for fear of the young Magister having an ability to detect those watching him. Among powerful mages, it was not such a rare thing, after all.


    Once Jasper had entered his room, closing the door behind him, Yaksha began counting down in his mind. Five minutes to go over recent news. Twenty minutes for ate night meal. Then another five to get ready to log in. For safety, he added an extra ten minutes, ensuring that his target would already be logged into Vision Expanse. Jasper was known to y on a fairly regr schedule, which was why he had been chosen to be the first target.


    Yaksha timed the passage of the lightborn guards, making sure to pass unseen as he went to the magister¡¯s door. When he arrived, he used the same spell diagram that he had been taught, and heard a faint click from the door itself. Smiling inwardly, he pushed the door open, closing it behind himself and using the same diagram to seal the lock again.


    The next step was actually moreplicated, as it required a string of runes mixed within a second stage diagram to ess a barrier within the room. Jasper was only able toe and go so readily because he wore the key to the barrier around his neck, the diagram enchanted within it.


    However, this was also something that they had prepared for, although it had taken considerably longer to do so. Lifting one hand from his robe, Yaksha retrieved a small copper amulet, one which had been enchanted with the same spell. With a confident smile, he ced the amulet against the barrier, only for his eyes to go wide with rm.


    An icy blue light spread out from the barrier, stretching over Yaksha¡¯s arm before he had been able to pull back. This was supposed to be an rm barrier, not an attack! He thought to himself, gritting his teeth as he prepared for a worst case scenario.


    With the lightborn patrolling the walls, it was impossible to send messages through mana. Instead, the Shadow Council had something else, a string of beads, each with a name printed on them. Below each name, a single line of text. I vow to die. These weren¡¯t the real names of the Shadow Council, of course, just the names that were used for their missions.


    As Yaksha prepared to crush his own bead, warning the others that the n had gone awry, he hesitated. The ice crept further up his arm as a deathly chill went down his spine. There was already a bead missing from the string. And, while he was watching¡­ another one shattered. And another.


    They knew! He shouted the words inside of his head, believing that the magisters had known about the day of their attack, and had chosen to alter their defensive wards to trap their assassins. It was even possible that one of the assassins themselves was a spy, and had simply shattered their own bead willingly, giving the appearance that they died.


    Yaksha reached into his robe, and pulled out a long, thing de. Clenching his jaw, he brought the de up, cleanly severing his own arm. The pain immediately made him want to cry out, but he would not let himself. Even the smell of fresh blood would attract the dovah to this room soon.


    Wait¡­ the blood¡­ Yaksha stared at his arm, frozen in midair. Not by ice, but something else. The spray of blood that should have spread across the floor and wall had halted, suspended in midair as innumerable droplets.


    The assassin soon found that his own body had simrly been trapped. It¡­ felt like raw mana was holding him down, yet he could not sense one iota of it. All he could feel was an endless pressure, before a word whispered into his mind. A word that felt familiar, but waspletely unknown to him. Gresholl.


    When the word thundered through his mind, he felt his consciousness growing faint. He could hear the beating of his heart slowing down. The blood in his veins seemed to turn solid as he began to copse. Yet he never made it to the floor.


    Thest thing that he saw was the deepest darkness he had ever known. The pressure holding his body in ce vanished, just in time for an even greater pressure to grab him from all sides. Glowing red eyes pierced through the darkness, before white, jagged teeth shed in front of him.


    _______________________________________________________________


    I gave a small nod as I saw that the situation with the Shadow Council had been dealt with. Aside from one individual, all of the assassins had fallen for Ryone¡¯s altered spells, and been transported to the bottom of the ocean. As for what happened to them after that¡­ well, it wasn¡¯t pretty.


    For the one who got away, though, it was the same individual that had investigated the wards in the first ce. It seemed that he did his due diligence, and had once again inspected the wards as he was undergoing his mission. That was why, at thest moment, he had noticed a slight shift within the ward. The key in his hand was no longer set to disarm the ward, but rather activate a hidden one.


    He had immediately retracted his arm and fled the scene, watching as the beads crumbled one by one. At first, I thought that he was going to go back to report his failure. Instead, he bit his lip, crushing thest bead on the string before slipping into the darkness. Just looking at his surface thoughts, I could tell that he had no intention of returning to the Council.


    No, if he did that, he would likely take the me for the failed operation, being its only survivor and the one who had been sent to investigate the wards in the first ce. Going back meant a guaranteed death sentence. At least, if he remained in hiding, he had the chance to survive. He would never be able to make a name for himself, but it was better than being hunted down.


    And sure enough, the council had received the news a momentter, using the same set of beads to confirm the status of the assassins. This was sure to be a hot topic among them¡­ but since Dawn would never be able to respond to this assassination attempt, it would just look to them as if their opponents had no need to fear such things.


    Shaking my head, I brushed away these thoughts. There were other things for me to consider. I was in no immediate rush to fully ascend and finish my training for the divine will. Before I did that, I had to get used to my current level of power to make sure that I was ¡®ready¡¯ for it. That¡¯s why I had refused to log into the game ever since I upgraded to my current stage.


    Now, though¡­ I was ready to get back in, to see how things had progressed. I wasn¡¯t going to stay in the game long, simply checking in and seeing what had happened. Not to mention¡­ Udona¡¯s guild mates still had questions for me.


    I gave a quiet sigh, grabbing my own visor and slipping it on, logging back into the game within my workshop. Almost immediately, I noticed two things. First¡­ my workshop¡¯s inventory had been stuffed full of various ¡®gifts¡¯, whether they were inscription diagrams or materials. The system actually warned me that the inventory had been filled.


    The second thing that I noticed was the fairy on my shoulder, who had materialized in order to speak with me. ¡°You have six hundred and seventeen missed messages, Tebor!¡± She spoke up in a cheery voice.


    ¡°Please delete all of them¡­¡± There was no way that I had the time to go through everyone¡¯s messages. Especially when they were all likely to be the same questions repeated from multiple people.


    ¡°Understood! Iing message from Jessex.¡± She reported, before her voice seemed to shift.


    ¡°You came back, huh¡­?¡± The voice the fairy spoke with now was far more subdued than how I remembered Jessex. ¡°So, it¡¯s really true?¡±


    ¡°And now you get why I didn¡¯t advertise it in the first ce?¡± There was a bitter smile on my face as I responded, earning a lightugh from the fairy.


    ¡°Sorry, sorry. Nuado is one thing, but this¡­ this is a whole different level. I think¡­ she said that we¡¯re supposed to just treat you like anyone else. But¡­ well¡­ I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve already seen it?¡±


    ¡°You mean the workshop?¡±


    There was a brief pause from Jessex, before she seemed to understand what I was talking about. ¡°Oh, right, that. No, not that, though. There¡¯s¡­ something a bit bigger.¡±


    ¡°Jessex, you¡¯re beating around the bush.¡±


    Another pause¡­ ¡°I¡¯m not entirely sure what that¡¯s supposed to mean, but given the context I have an idea¡­ Life Dream was officially recognized as a guild within the Lyrean Kingdom, and Nuado earned herself a noble title. It should have been in your messages, but we have a guild hall now. The members were¡­ quite insistent that we establish the best workshop that we could for you, as well as giving you a separate residence within the hall.¡±


    This was starting to turn into more and more of a headache. I mean, it was good if it was one of the automated workshops, since that would mean that I didn¡¯t even have to log in to keep working. Though, it was safe to assume that automating the process meant that there was no skill experience gained.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take a look at it some other time. Can you help me move the items from my workshop inventory here to the guild hall? I am not nning to be logged in for very long.¡±


    ¡°Ah! Sure, I¡¯ll be over once I¡¯m done with this quest.¡± There was a brief tone of surprise in her voice, as if she hadn¡¯t expected me to ask her for something like that. ¡°You won¡¯t be leaving the guild, then?¡±


    So that¡¯s what she was worried about. ¡°No, I said that I¡¯d stick to it¡­ besides, it¡¯ll be nice to have more people to team up withter. I just have to take care of other things first.¡±


    With that, I ended the conversation, dismissing the fairy and closing my eyes. Vivi. Has there been any progress made yet by the yers towards exploring further?


    I waited for a few moments before the voice of the world spirit entered my mind. They have begun researching a method to leave this. Currently, the demons are the leading force in this regard, as they had their old space program to go off of. Many of the other yers are more focused on exploring the entirety of this world, refusing to leave it before they have mapped it out in its entirety.


    I estimate that it will take roughly five years for a full space program to be ready, such that they will be able to travel to other worlds. Even this timeframe is only possible by relying on the inherent mixture of magic and technology found within this game.


    However, the travel will not be short. I estimate that it will take six months for them to reach the next closest after they have set a properunch. To reach the next inhabited world¡­ I estimate at least fifteen years, at a minimum. This timeframe can be adjusted if certain technologies are discovered early, or it may be dyed as long as fifty years.


    Regarding this subject, I should inform you that the first nned expansion for the game is scheduled tounch once they havepleted their space program. With this expansion, the NPCs will be more motivated to expand and explore space, as well as establish interster fleets and civilizations.


    Hearing her report, I nodded my head here and there. However, I was honestly surprised with how much she talked, and all of the information she was giving me. Were you¡­ lonely?


    ¡­ Her reply was dyed by several long moments of silence. The goddesses have not logged in for some time, and Tubrock refuses to speak to me for fear of gaining unfair information. I have at least found sce in the fact that Tsubaki continues tomunicate with me.


    It took me a moment to fully process that. As a being who had personally watched a ¡®lifeless¡¯ world evolve, she was suddenly able to see countless ¡®real¡¯ yers, but unable to interact with them. I could understand how she would feel lonely from that. Sorry. I¡¯ll make sure to let Rivy know¡­ trust me, you¡¯ll be begging me for some solitude by the time she¡¯s done.

 Chapter 367: Conspiracy

    <h4>Chapter 367: Conspiracy</h4>


    After logging out of vision Expanse, I moved over towards theputer. I had to admit, a small part of me was hoping that the reaction of Udona¡¯s guild members wouldn¡¯t be so extreme. I had expected it, but at the same time, they had epted Udona¡¯s identity previously without much fuss.


    When I pulled up the news online, I was able to get a quick grasp on what had happenedtely. The demons¡¯ attempts to research space travel had not been simply limited to the game, and they had also begun openly studying the subject in the real world as well. There even seemed to be more progress on this end, due to a more advanced understanding of magic than what was found within the game.


    Seeing this made me hopeful that the demons would soon be able to develop the technology to properly leave their own worlds, and explore out beyond. Of course, there was still a long ways to go before that happened. If I wanted to see it finished any time soon, I would have to fast forward the world once again.


    With that in mind, I shook my head. I wanted to wait until I had finished growing into my divinity before I did any morerge fast forwards like that. It was fine to take things slow, to make sure that I properly understood my own abilities before forcing myself forward. Some Keepers might want to ¡®speed run¡¯ the system, but to me¡­ that only sounded like they were asking to get overwhelmed.


    Turning in my chair, I conjured up another mirror, intending to look through the world to see if there was anything else that immediately caught my interest. As it happened¡­ there was something.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°This should be it¡­¡± An elven man looked out over a carefully engraved spell diagram. The room was lit only by torches ced in the eight corners, four along the floor and four along the ceiling. The door, assuming that there indeed had been one, was flush with the wall, another engraving covering it. Whether runes or diagrams, the entire space avable had been used.


    The elven man, Jonas Bayrun, smiled as he looked over the diagrams. For years, he had been working on a form to properly merge all energy types. To take the very essence of oneself and perfect it. He knew that there were others who pursued this goal and failed rather¡­ explosively, but he was also convinced that sess was possible.


    Jonas closed his eyes, recalling the descriptions that he had heard of the Keeper¡¯s Servant. A woman who withstood the test of time better than any elf. Her body freely shifted in whichever manner she desired. She was his goal, a perfect being beneath only the gods.


    Many people assumed that she had the Keeper¡¯s help to reach her state, that no mortal could aplish such a thing alone, but Jonas thought otherwise. If a mortal can do so with the Keeper¡¯s aid, then what is to stop them from doing it alone, but theck of preparation? Even when others criticized his work, or viewed him as a man walking to his death, he paid it no mind.


    Instead, he worked tirelessly, merging his energies one at a time. He mastered the art of chakra creation easily, became a trained elementalist, and even learned the art of crafting aeons. For weeks now, he had been steadily merging his spirit with his mana and ki, and finally he reached what he felt to be the tipping point.


    A bridge had been formed within himself, a bridge between his mana, his ki, and his soul. Yet, this was not the perfection that he dreamed of. No, he could still not achieve the fantastical feats that the Keeper¡¯s Servant performed casually. There was still one step remaining. His bridge did connect his energies¡­ but it also kept them apart.


    In order to fully join them together, he would have to take a leap of faith. If his body was the bridge that kept his energies apart¡­ then he would shatter his body. That was what the spellsid into the floor and walls were for. They would keep his energy contained, and ensure that his spirit was fully aware even after death.


    If he failed here¡­ he would die, it was as simple as that. He knew the risks and epted them. But if he seeded¡­ perhaps he may never die. If he took this leap, and found what awaited him at the other side¡­ where would his growth end?


    As he walked into the center of the room, a feeling of warmth flooded through him. The feeling of a child whose parent was watching them take their first steps, or as they walked up onto a grand stage to ept a reward. It felt as if the eyes of the world itself had chosen to watch him, to immortalize this event.


    With this feeling, he couldn¡¯t help but speak, cing his hand over his chest. His ki began to run wild within his body as he smiled. ¡°To eternity¡­ and beyond.¡± And with that, his body erupted, shattering as blood and gore sshed across the room.


    Immediately, the spell diagrams red to life, preventing any of the energies from leaking out. His mind recoiled for a moment from the pain, before he realized that his mind had recoiled. He was still in control of his mind, still connected to everything that had formed his being.


    With a flex of his will, he began to gather his energy, pulling it back to a single mass. This process, at least, felt familiar to him. It felt as if he were crafting an aeon again, shaping its body with the energy he had captured. Only this time, the body that he was shaping was his own, a body that he couldn¡¯t have been more familiar with.


    While he was forming the body, allowing his energies to truly merge, he felt as though something wascking. A crucial step missing, preventing his body from stabilizing. At that moment, he reached an epiphany, calling on the elements of nature to rush into his body as well.


    Now, he had reached a whole new problem. Well, perhaps not a problem, per se¡­ but it was concerning. As his energies merged, they condensed, shrinking down much further than he had expected. He knew that the size of the body did not entirely represent one¡¯s power, as shown by the Keeper¡¯s Servant, so he had assumed that he would be able to maintain his former appearance.


    Yet, what he found was nowpletely different. When he attempted to retain his normal size, his energy had grown faint, threatening to scatter at any moment. He had been forced to shrink himself down, further and further until a solid form appeared upon the floor. It was the same elven man, yes. Jonas had returned to life as a Perfect Self, at a grand total of¡­ one foot tall.


    Still, when the message appeared in front of him, congratting him on his achievement, his mind raced. It was a ss that had beenpletely unknown to him, one that contained everything he had dreamed of. The system itself had confirmed his beliefs, that there was a perfection thaty beyond the mortal flesh.


    _______________________________________________________________


    A second perfect self finally rose up, huh? I asked with a small smile, watching as Jonas began exploring his newfound abilities. Of course, he¡¯d need to gather plenty of energy in order to restore his former appearance, just as Tsubaki had done originally. And for him¡­ it would likely be a much longer road.


    Tsubaki had spent six years in hell, just to gather the energy she needed to fully condense a normal sized body. Now, if I recall properly, she had started out a bit shorter than he was now, and had trained until her body had reached a density she was satisfied with. But still¡­ if he trained in a normal environment, I was expecting it to take him at least a dozen years to regain his former¡­ stature.


    That was also assuming that he spent his entire time training. Given what I was able to see of his history¡­ I did not expect him to spend so much time training. No, he was too outgoing for that. He was the type of man who would rather spend his time helping others. Even his pursuit of the Perfect Self had been so that he could help others.


    But¡­ I had to admit that he did have one advantage over Tsubaki. When I focused on him, I saw a rainbow of colors stretching out beyond his physical form. The extremely rare ¡®protagonist¡¯ aura that Terra had told me about so long ago. Tsubaki¡¯s aura was a bloody red, mixed with specks of silver, showing her aptitude for battle. But, ording to Terra¡¯s words, a rainbow aura such as this represented someone with the ability to easily pick up whatever they set their mind to. They were the ones that shaped history, and this man just obtained the ability to not only shape it, but watch it grow.


    Part of me was excited to see that, looking forward to what would happen next. But, as with the space travel, that would alleter. For now, there were other things that I could work on.


    My sight turned towards Fyor, to thest explored floor. This was still proving to be a great challenge for the residents, as they had not yet found all of the level cap spheres. They were forced to fight at a heavy disadvantage, against monsters that swarmed out from all directions.


    But if they never advance further, they will be left behind by the other worlds. Fyor will be the weakest of the four, unsuited for the training ground it was meant to be. ¡°Find me the orbs.¡± Imanded the mirror, spreading out my divine energy to create five other mirrors as well.


    I knew that there were still five level orbs that had not yet been found, counting the one in the uppermost floor. It did not take long for the central mirror to locate that one, an orb which increased the maximum level by a full hundred. The twentieth floor marked a new spike in difficulty, which was why it had been so hard to pass for so long.


    Two more mirrors quickly came into focus as well, showing a pair of orbs hidden within dark caves. It was no wonder that they hadn¡¯t been found yet, as they were likely so far from anyone that would be looking for them that detection magic simply didn¡¯t reach. However, it was thest two that really got under my skin.


    Thest two mirrors showed an identical sight to one another, a pair of blue orbs resting within a closed box. Commanding the view to expand and show me the surroundings, I soon saw that they were in a vault within the Council. These orbs had long since been found, but had been hidden away in secret, no doubt to slow the growth of the world and keep it under their control.


    It was hard to say if they even remembered the fact that these orbs were in their possession. But the fact that they had been kept there annoyed me to no ends. Aurivy¡­ I¡¯m looking for a master thief that wouldn¡¯t mind going on a dangerous mission for the greater good.


    And why did you want to ask me about that?! Aurviy retorted, sounding shocked that I would think to look to her for something like this.


    Because you¡¯re you. So, have anyone in mind?


    As I smirked knowingly, I could hear a faint grumbling. Yeah, yeah¡­ I know a girl. Real Robin Hood type. Loves to steal from the rich and give to the poor. And before you ask¡­ yes, she¡¯s in Fyor. Have your mirrors look for Thelsa Whitefallow.

 Chapter 368: The Big Score

    <h4>Chapter 368: The Big Score</h4>


    A human woman sat in the alley, a ck hood covering the majority of her face while a long robe obscured her figure. She had a soft smile on her face as she watched the various figures walking by down the road, her eyes scanning them from beneath the hood. Out of habit, she was analyzing any clearly worn items carried by figures that stood out, mentally appraising their values. Yet, she didn¡¯t move to act.


    Thelsa did not move out of simple greed, or even the thrill of the hunt. She was a very¡­ different kind of thief. A thief for hire, but only for the jobs she chose to ept. Jobs where she would be stealing from those who use their wealth and power to hurt others. And, if someone tried to hire her when they themselves fit that definition¡­ she would often actively seek out someone that they had harmed, performing a bit of ¡®charity work¡¯.


    As Thelsa was watching the crowd, she heard someone clearing their throat behind her, her eyes widening. In shock, she spun around, dust kicking up as she rose to her feet. Standing before her was a rather unassuming halfling man, looking to be in histe thirties. From a brief inspection, the only item of any magical significance he wore was the storage bag strapped to his waist. Though, such things often held other valuables inside.


    His dress was¡­ in, a simple cotton shirt and ck jean pants. His hazel eyes stared at her for a moment before he spoke up. ¡°Thelsa Whitefallow, correct?¡± He seemed to understand at least something, given that he had kept his voice quiet.


    ¡°You here to hunt or hire?¡± Thelsa asked, reflexively reaching towards one of the two daggers strapped horizontally along the small of her back. Given that this man had appeared without alerting her, he was either skilled enough to avoid detection, or so weak that he had no business being on a double digit floor.


    ¡°Hire, you could say.¡± The man replied with a small nod. ¡°Perhaps the biggest, most important job you¡¯ve ever done. And against the biggest target of your life.¡±


    A wry smirk lifted Thelsa¡¯s lips when she heard that. ¡°If I had a coin for every time someone led with that¡­¡±


    ¡°Trust me¡­ this time, it¡¯s true.¡± His face turned serious for a moment. ¡°Hyn¡¯yor.¡± A brief pulse of magic rushed past Thelsa¡¯s senses, but she didn¡¯t mind it. She was familiar with this spell, a simple silencing magic to prevent noise from leaking out of a conversation.


    ¡°Well¡­ seems like you know what you¡¯re doing, if only a little.¡± She straightened her posture, crossing her arms behind her back. She made sure that her hands were still ced near her daggers, ready to draw them at a moment¡¯s notice. ¡°Let¡¯s hear what you have to say, and then I¡¯ll tell you the price.¡±


    The halfling gave another nod. ¡°There is someone currently holding two of the four remaining level orbs, keeping them within a vault so that they cannot be used. If they were to be acquired, and given to the central pir, the level limit for all of Fyor would rise by a full quarter of what it is now.¡±


    Well, that was getting her attention. Certainly, if this was correct, then it was a job that would match her criteria, someone actively using their power to weaken others. On a massive scale, at that. ¡°Why not just tell the Council about it?¡± She couldn¡¯t help but retort. ¡°Surely, they could force whoever is responsible to hand them over, by word or by sword.¡±


    A bitter smile appeared on the halfling¡¯s face. ¡°Because it¡¯s the Council themselves that are holding these two orbs. I can¡¯t say whether they realize that they are still in their possession, but they are within the Council¡¯s own vault.¡±


    And there was the ¡®biggest target¡¯¡­ Thelsa gulped, unsure if she could properly believe what she was hearing. ¡°You want me to break into the Council¡¯s vaults, steal two of what are bound to be the most guarded treasures of the world, and make my way to the central pir?¡±


    ¡°Actually, no.¡± He shook his head. ¡°The orbs are not guarded more than any other object within the vault. They are simply held within a box that is enchanted against detection magic. And I¡¯m not wanting you to simply take two orbs to the pir.¡±


    As he spoke, two gaps seemed to form in the air around him, swirling golden outlines that contained a deep darkness within. Thelsa could feel a subtle pulse of power from the holes in space that shook her very soul. The halfling stuck one arm into each of the holes, and pulled out two blue, crystal spheres.


    ¡°These are the remaining two orbs. I want you to deliver all four at once. I want you to remove the shackles that are binding this world to the first twenty floors.¡± With a casual motion, he tossed the two orbs towards Thelsa, the thief scrambling to catch them. Only after she had done so did her mind process the possibility of it being a trap. But, by that time, she could already see the messages rising from the orbs, telling her to return them to the central pir.


    She knew that this was a message from the system that only appeared with the orbs, something that even young children learned about. And the fact that this man had casually pulled them out of some other space, some gap in reality¡­ ¡°Why don¡¯t you do this yourself? You know where the other orbs are¡­ you clearly have the power. Why leave it to me?¡±


    ¡°I have my reasons.¡± He said with a somewhat mysterious smile. ¡°The Council¡¯s current stance will lead Fyor to stagnation. They don¡¯t fear the other worlds because they are safe within theiryer. Even if Fyor bes the weakest of all worlds, the strong individuals of the others can¡¯t threaten them for the foreseeable future. So, they would rather not allow Fyor to grow any further, to make sure that their grasp on their power remains firm.¡±


    ¡°I want you to correct them. Show them that there are still people of Fyor that have the power to stand up to them. Break their hold, and give the people the power that they should rightfully have.¡±


    Thelsa stared nkly towards the halfling as he spoke, and then watched as he waited with an expectant expression. It took a moment for Thelsa to figure out what he was waiting for. ¡°A-ah¡­ no price. If I manage to do this like you said¡­ I¡¯ll get an instant level increase, a possibility for furthering my own training, and maybe even a new achievement¡­¡±


    He gave a small nod, not choosing to say anything further. Instead, the air seemed to ripple and fold over him, his body vanishing entirely from view. Thelsa was left there, entirely unable to sense his presence, aside from the lingering aura of his power over the two spheres in her hands.


    ¡°Breaking into the Council, huh¡­? Guess it¡¯s time to call on some old favors.¡± The two orbs shed, vanishing from her hands as she pulled her hood a bit lower, walking further into the alley. The darkness appeared to wrap around her body, allowing her to vanish in an almost simr way to how her client had done moments ago.


    When she re-emerged from the shadows, she was standing within a small living room, the lights arranged to leave one corner entirely dark. Extending her hand, there was a sh before a small crystal appeared within it. She sent a mentalmand to the item, causing an illusion of a dovah¡¯s face to appear above it.


    ¡°Hey, Jax. I got a new job that I need your help with.¡±


    The dovah let out a low grunt as he heard that. ¡°What is it this time? Need a ward cracker again? I thought yourst one should still be working.¡±


    ¡°No, no, it¡¯s fine.¡± She gave an innocent smile as she pulled back her hood, revealing her fiery red hair. ¡°I need a portable transporter, strong enough to prate single-digit floor barriers. The target this time is on a low floor, and I can¡¯t risk being seen at the gate.¡±


    She wanted to share the details with her friend, but this¡­ this was a bit much. If she seeded, it would be fairly obviouster what she had done. If she didn¡¯t¡­ it was better that he didn¡¯t know.


    ¡°Single-digit, huh? Well¡­ the walls are a bit thin down there, so it should be fine. I¡¯ll need to buy up some power stones, though. Give me an hour or two to gather everything I need. You still staying near the usual channel?¡±


    Thelsa yfully rolled her eyes at that. ¡°Like the other businesses would let me near theirs.¡±


    There was a nod from the man at the other end of the call. ¡°Alright. But this is big. I give you this, we¡¯re even, right? No more freebies?¡±


    ¡°I thought you just said it would be fine, because the walls are thin?¡± Thelsa asked with a groan.


    ¡°Oh, it is. If you were going after an upper floor, your credit wouldn¡¯t be nearly enough. So, do we have a deal?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, yeah.¡± She waved him off dismissively. ¡°I¡¯ll need to start charging a bit more to make up for the costs¡­ but sure. See you in a couple hours.¡±


    After that, she ended her call, moving to her bedroom to get changed. Now that she was going there, she couldn¡¯t stay in her ¡®mysterious vagrant¡¯ getup, and had to properly dress for the asion. When she pulled her robe off, her lithe figure was quite evident, her arms stretching and joints popping.


    She quickly changed into a red undershirt, a ck vest covering it. On the base of her neck, just above the back of her shirt, the uppermost portion of a tattoo was visible. A circle of runes that had been drawn directly on her skin. Once she was dressed in her ck leather jeans as well, she reholstered her daggers, giving her the appearance of a rather normal adventurer.


    Once she left, she began humming softly to herself, the action mixing with her appearance to give her the image of a young woman. As she had told the dovah, she lived pretty close to her destination, having to walk for less than five minutes to reach a small store. Inside was a human man who weed her warmly. ¡°Hey, Thelsa. Here to buy, or waiting for a delivery?¡±


    Rather than answer, she snapped her fingers, a silver coin appearing in them, which immediately caught the man¡¯s eyes. Most currency within Fyor had the face of Bihena on one side, and Aurivy on the other. However, this one had the faces of Ryone and Irena. To most merchants, this wouldn¡¯t mean enough to raise a fuss over it, as silver was silver.


    In a particr line of work, however, these coins were used as a badge. They had other uses as well, being more valuable than gold for buying certain favors or products, or storing certain items for easy delivery. ¡°I see¡­ a delivery, then?¡± The man asked, ncing towards a door leading further into the shop.


    ¡°Thanks, Charlie.¡± Thelsa nodded as she walked in, cing the coin on the counter as she passed. ¡°I might be a couple hours, so is there a room prepared?¡±


    He reached up, sliding the coin off the counter and out of sight as he spoke, not even ncing towards her. ¡°First door on the right. You know the rules.¡±


    ¡°Yup!¡± She replied energetically as she rushed through the door, moving to wait for her delivery. When she was out of the room, Charlie gave a small sigh, shaking his head. He nced down towards the coin in his hand, knowing that she shouldn¡¯t have too many more of those. It took a big score to be able to trade for an underworld coin, and he hadn¡¯t heard about her taking any big jobs in over a year.

 Chapter 369: The Grinning Shade

    <h4>Chapter 369: The Grinning Shade</h4>


    Thelsa sat within a small waiting room, her eyes closed as she leaned back on a leather armchair. Her legs were crossed, the right kicking in a soft motion. In the back of her mind, she kept reying the scene from before, revisiting the image of her new client in her mind. There was obviously more to him than meets the eyes¡­ However, she felt like she had been able to piece together a portion of his identity.


    Given the level of power that he had shown¡­ she could only think of one group with enough magic to perform such feats. This same group would simrly have the desire to break the Council¡¯s grip on the first twenty floors and throw them into disarray.


    She could even more believe that the magisters of Dawn didn¡¯t want to handle this job themselves, carrying it out through a third party. Word around the shadows were that the Council had mobilized the Shadow Council against them recently, so perhaps they were trying to conduct a different type of war, now¡­


    Nheless, even if her suspicions were true, she knew that she was still going to go through with this job. If she were being asked to assassinate someone, or steal some priceless treasure to hand over to Dawn, that would be one thing. But her mission was to assist the entire world.


    Thelsa was broken out of her thoughts by knuckles rapping against the door. ¡°Thelsa?¡± A gruff voice called in softly.


    ¡°I¡¯m in here, Jax.¡± She called back, slowly standing up to greet the dovah as he opened the door. ¡°You manage to get everything that you needed?¡±


    ¡°Thankfully for you, yeah.¡± He sighed, shaking his head. ¡°Power stones are pretty closely monitored, so I had to recycle a few I used on other projects.¡± Jax held his hand out, dropping a copper underworld coin into Thelsa¡¯s hand. While silver coins could simrly be used for item storage, that was when storing high quality items. Traditionally, copper coins were more useful for ¡®lesser¡¯ quality goods.


    Thelsa smiled as she took the coin, pocketing it. ¡°Thanks, Jax. If you need anything, you know how to reach me.¡±


    The two of them began to move out of the room, Jax giving a wave and heading further in, to the establishment¡¯s own portal array. Like with the item that she had ordered, it was necessary for smugglers and thieves to be able to move between floors without the use of the world gates. Otherwise, their movements were far too easily tracked.


    In the past, this had been an impossible problem, as there had been no way to prate the barrier between floors. Obviously, they could not simply dig up or down. But, with the appearance of the power stones, things changed¡­ people began to understand that powerful enough teleportation portals could prate theyers.


    This realization made the Council heavily monitor all known mines for this ore, keeping it under as much control as possible. What had once been hailed as a miracle stone had be the key for criminals to escape their watch. But of course¡­ they couldn¡¯t properly watch all of it. Some miners themselves smuggled out the ores to sell for a high price.


    As Thelsa walked out of the establishment, she smiled, quickly making her way to the gate. Once there, she waved down a nearby priest of Aurivy, moving to speak with him. ¡°Can you send me to Gate¡¯s Rest in Treben, please?¡±


    The halfling priest looked her over for a moment before offering a kind smile. His hand stretched out, and he lightly opened a portal in the air in front of himself. For a moment, Thelsa once again remembered her current client, thinking that he must be a priest as well as a magister.


    Once she had stepped through the portal, she immediately turned around, the gate to the second floor in front of her. Passing through it, she arrived at Gate¡¯s Rise of the floor below. Without a word, she caused her body to seem to vanish, all trace of her disappearing as she made her way to a secluded alley.


    Once out of sight, she knelt down on the ground and retrieved the coin that Jax had given her. With a thought, an ornate bracelet appeared along her wrist, iid with bright purple stones. Thelsa couldn¡¯t help but smile when she saw that, muttering to herself. ¡°Thanks, Jax¡­ you always do the best work¡­¡±


    ¡°Boleer, hark.¡± She whispered, and her outfit shifted into an inky ck cloth that covered her body from head to toe. Even her face was entirely obscured, causing her to turn into a feminine ck form.


    Beneath the cover of darkness that nketed her body, a monocle shed into being over her eye. Runic patterns danced along the outer rim while the lens depicted an entirely different scenery. If teleporting throughyers was possible, then why wouldn¡¯t scrying be? Of course¡­ this was the Council¡¯s personal vault, so they naturally had wards in ce.


    Thelsa¡¯s eyes shed, and she was immediately able to see the different wards surrounding the vault, the wards that were stopping her detection from going any further. Another item appeared in her hand, a disk with manyyered rings. Each ring had a series of runes drawn into it, and she began to almost idly twist the different rings.


    As she did so, the monocle responded, slowly working its way through the different wards. Only when she had pierced through the entire array did she set the disk down. ¡°He said that it was in a box warded against detection spells¡­ so let¡¯s see how many boxes I can¡¯t look in.¡±


    Her monocle quickly scanned through the different contents of the vault. She saw documents concerning secret deals, artifact designs for grand weapons, and even the entrance to the Council¡¯s Bank where they kept all of the gold that they used to pay for various tasks. However, there were only three containers that she couldn¡¯t peer into with her monocle.


    The first was obviously not what she wanted, as it wasrge enough to hold an entire person, let alone a pair of small spheres. Her curiosity tugged at her, wanting to see what was inside, but that was a task for another time. If there truly was a hidden war going on between Dawn and the Council, she was certain she¡¯d be back here eventually.


    That left the remaining two boxes as her targets. One of them would hold the orbs she wanted. And, thankfully, they were not too far apart. ¡°Take me.¡± She whispered, focusing on the first box as her bracelet lit up, a dull purple light shining beneath the darkness. Soon, she disappeared, along with the disk that she had already configured to help her bypass the vault¡¯s wards.


    As soon as she reappeared, her body appeared to merge with the darkness. Only if someone looked closely would they see a ck form cing its hand over the box. However, there was nobody around to inspect so closely. The two boxes that she had found were in a forbidden section of the vault, where dust settled heavily.


    Judging by the footprints, it had been days since anyone hadst been through this area. Which meant that there was plenty of time for her to slowly decipher the locks on the boxes. What she found in the first one¡­ disappointed her.


    She could tell immediately that it was the same material as the orbs, the same blue crystal. However, this was no orb, instead being a jagged shard. It took Thelsa a moment to make the connection on what the item was¡­ a shard of the central pir. She didn¡¯t know when or why, but at some point the Council had broken off this shard without anyone realizing.


    Bringing her hand off the still-closed box, she walked down the aisle to find the other one. Unsurprisingly, she found that the two boxes used nearly identical locking spells, and it took only a moment for her to pop the lid of the box open. She smiled beneath her shadowy veil as she saw the two orbs resting within the box.


    She gave a quick inspection, making sure that there were no wards set to go off when the items were moved, before lifting both spheres out of the box, causing them to vanish in her hands. Now for the tricky part.


    The forbidden archives of the Council¡¯s Vault may have only been scarcely monitored¡­ but the same was not true for the central pir. Even without inspecting the area, she knew to expect a heavy guard, likely even those who would be able to detect her scrying. So, instead, she was careful, her body merging with the shadows and gliding along the floor in a thin patch of darkness.


    The trip out of that section of the vault took several minutes. After she was out, she found a patrolling guard, and attached herself to his shadow. Wherever he went, she would go, so it was only a matter of waiting¡­


    Thankfully, if there was one thing that she was good at, it was patience. She let herself rest within the shadow for what felt like hours, going with the guard through the entirety of his patrol. Eventually, he came out, and she began to move once more.


    Thelsa had to be careful, only passing from one shadow to another while they were touching. Each one brought her closer to her goal, until¡­ she hit the jackpot. As she was hiding within the shadow of a secretary, another guard passed by. This one was far more equipped than the normal soldiers of the Council, and Thelsa immediately attached herself to his shadow.


    He was clearly an elite, and sure enough¡­ he walked her straight to the central pir. Inside the room were a dozen other guards in simr armor, one stepping out to leave as Thelsa was brought in. Going by that pattern, and how long she had waited to find this guard, she could make an educated guess. Every two hours, a single guard would switch out.


    This realization had her grimace from her hiding spot. They were physically strong enough to handle twenty-four hour shifts without exhausting themselves. Most likely, every guard employed on their rotation was a Maxer specializing in physical ability. If she was discovered, her only hope of escape would be to teleport out of the floor before they got their hands on her.


    If there was one thing that she could be happy about, it was that their formation didn¡¯t have anyone directly looking at the pir. Six guards formed two rows of three, staring at each other with a few meters separating them, creating a path from the door to the pir. The remaining six, meanwhile, were all facing the door.


    For any forceing head on through the front door, this would be a terrifying lineup. However, for Thelsa¡­ it took her only a moment to reach the shadow closest to the pir itself. She had one shot¡­ one chance toplete her task and escape with her life.


    She took a calming breath, and four blue orbs immediately shot out of the guard¡¯s shadow standing closest to the pir. The one across from him was the first to react, his eyes widening in rm as his kished out to swat the orbs away.


    His ki was met with ash of a shadowy whip, which extended from the same guard¡¯s shadow, allowing just enough time for the orbs to leave its range before the whip was shattered. But, by that point, the rest of the guards had been alerted as well.


    It was toote for them to stop the orbs, but they turned to the guard whose shadow had been possessed, their weapons striking down. A series of crashes rang out, before being apanied by a hideousughter. The light of the pir seemed to dim as shadows spread out in all directions. One after another, notification windows appeared in front of all twelve guards¡­ as well as the rest of the residents in the world. Four identical messages.


    Level Limit +50 orb has been acquired!


    A giant, dark shadow rose up between the guards and the pir. Two bloody, red eyes stared down at them while a twisted grin spread across its face. ¡°Puppets of the Council¡­ be free.¡±


    This was not the body of Thelsa, as she had quickly concealed herself within another guard¡¯s shadow the moment the chaos began. Instead, this was a technique she often used to get out of such situations, giving opponents a target to strike at while she herself made her escape. It was this habit that had earned her the nickname, the Grinning Shade.

 Chapter 370: The Golden Favor

    <h4>Chapter 370: The Golden Favor</h4>


    Well, that¡¯s one problem taken care of. I muttered to myself, sitting at myputer desk in the Admin Room. I didn¡¯t want to take any risks jeopardizing the mission, or lose track of what was happening, so I had immediately chosen to ascend to the Admin Room after leaving Thelsa. Now, it was a matter of seeing how the Council reacted to these ¡®attacks¡¯ against them.


    There were a number of possibilities that they could take. First¡­ they may use their influence to try to uncover Thelsa¡¯s real identity, or put a bounty out for her underworld alias. This would cost them a lot of funds and manpower, given that she seemed extremely capable when it came to escaping.


    They could also choose to ignore what had happened, and try to reinforce their power over the currently dominated floors. With the existence of Dawn, they could no longer guarantee ownership of any floor beyond the first eighteen. But, adding in new restrictions would make people form a more negative opinion of the Council, and choose to immigrate to either another world, or Dawn.


    Next¡­ there was the possibility that they perceive this in a simr manner to what Thelsa did, as an undercover retaliation for their attempted assassination. If that was the case, then perhaps they would continue to fight Dawn in the shadows. Though, without their Shadow Council, their methods of doing so werergely limited to the criminal underworld.


    As I began to gradually speed the world along, keeping a close watch on any movements from either side, I noticed that they chose a fourth option¡­ For the time being, they ignored Thelsa, viewing her as a pawn in a greater game. What surprised me was that they also didn¡¯t make any other moves against Dawn, or organize training parties to rapidly increase their own power.


    No¡­ instead, they called in all of the strongest adventurers on their payroll. They began patrolling heavily around the fourteenth and fifteenth floors of Fyor. Their focus seemed entirely taken by the fifteenth floor, Nexus. The floor with the Fairy Gate.


    They weren¡¯t worried so much about Dawn, but rather that they would have new, powerful enemies attacking from the other worlds. Worlds that now had a much more loose restriction on who could be sent. With a level limit of six hundred, there were only a select few people that were still unable to pass through the gates of Fyor. If just a couple more levels were conquered, their orbs found as well¡­ even those people would be granted passage.


    Thinking back to that, I suddenly had an odd thought appear in my head, sending a mental whisper to Terra. I¡¯ve got a¡­ strange question.


    I¡¯ve probably got an even stranger answer. She responded lightly after a moment.


    Probably. What happens when someone keeps getting stronger, without training the Perfect Self? Jonas had more energy to start with than Tsubaki did when she first trained the ss, and he started out a bitrger than her¡­ so what if someone had so much energy that, even when condensed into the Perfect Self, they would still maintain their full size?


    It took a few moments before Terra gave me an answer. They pop, Dale. There¡¯s a limit to how much energy a physical form can hold. You¡¯re able to get around it to a degree with your Keeper powers, because that energy is not all contained within your body, but rather a metaphysical construct sewn into the world itself. But, once an individual¡¯s energies be so much that they upy too much space in apressed form¡­ they have to find a way to immediately relieve those energies.


    Think about it like how Irena dealt with her extreme mana production on her former incarnation. Because she was blighted, her body produced more mana than it was able to hold, and it made her physically ill, wracking her with pains until she spent a massive amount of that energy.


    There are multiple ways to go about this alleviation. One is like how she did, to spend the energy gradually as it became too much, to always keep yourself below the limits of the mortal body. Another is like what you or Tsubaki did, assuming formsprised of energy. For people like that, they can continue to grow stronger, and the only downside will be that they getrger when their energy bes too dense. But, that also leads me into a third method, one which has only somewhat been explored in your world.


    Separating the power into avatars. I spoke up, interrupting her. It was an ability I came to see first from Tsubaki, who used it to handle simple chores. Then,ter, when I had the perfect soul, I was able to create my own avatars as well. I still used one within my soul to limit the leakage of my power.


    That¡¯s right. Terra confirmed in an approving tone. This is something that even those who retain their flesh bodies can do, if they find a suitable power form. That¡¯s why you are able to benefit from certain sses, such as the perfect self, martial spirit, or world spirit. It¡¯s possible for an individual to partition their power with the proper form and create a remotely controlled avatar.


    However, there is still a w to this method. A lifeform will always have a core. This is true for all things. Tsubaki must always designate one self as her true self. A flesh body will always be the core controlling the remote avatars. Even for theplete world spirits, their core is the world itself. If the core is destroyed, the being dies.


    I gave a small nod at that. I was worried that something like this would be the case, that it woulde down to a limit of the flesh. Terra had once described my world as moving along the ¡®energy¡¯ path, so it only made sense that one of the endpoints of that path was to be an energy being.


    Yet, there were more things that concerned me about this. Is it possible for people to reproduce after reaching that point? If the strongest people in the world all abandon their flesh bodies, will that cut off the possibility for future generations? It seems like¡­ it would be counter-productive.


    Again, there was an approving tone to Terra¡¯s voice. It¡¯s possible. However, it will require experimentation. I can¡¯t tell you the exact method yet, but what I can say is that there is a way to ensure a future generation for those that transcend the flesh. You don¡¯t need to worry so much about that.


    That was a relief. I let out a long sigh as I nodded my head, returning my attention to theputer. It had been a month now since Thelsa¡¯s actions. Sure enough, there were many people flooding in to Fyor now, from the other worlds. The majority were the heroc, and those who valued personal strength over anything else.


    Many stayed behind, yes, able to train on their own worlds while enjoying otherforts. But for the heroc? No, they valued a true battle. It was rare to see any of their kind ying Vision Expanse, because they did not view it as a real fight. There was no real risk when they could just be reborn, and it was that risk that fueled their battles.


    So, many heroc rushed towards the twentieth level of Fyor, crushing the waves of insects that tried to overwhelm them. They set up multiple camps, carving outrge caverns to make their homes. Few people even cared for finding the next gate, or any orbs that might be hidden on the level. Instead, they wanted only to hone themselves.


    As for the Council? Once they realized that there was no immediate danger from the other worlds, the first thing that they did was to strengthen the defenses around their own vault. As it turned out, there were individuals who remembered that the orbs were located within their own treasury, and so they knew that their precious vault had been infiltrated.


    In secret, they even recruited a third party to post a bounty on Thelsa, which made me furrow my brows in annoyance. The bounty wasn¡¯t incredibly high, as they didn¡¯t want to draw attention to it. Definitely not something befitting of her breaking into Council territory. No, it was closer to her stealing from some prestigious noble.


    That didn¡¯t stop the rumors from spreading, though. There were very few people that knew Thelsa was going for a ¡®big score¡¯, immediately before the messages were sent, one after the other. Those people were able to piece together that Thelsa was responsible. But, more importantly, those who knew Thelsa¡¯s nature were also able to realize what it meant for her to take that job.


    Because of this, nobody took the Council¡¯s bounty. At least, not sessfully. Those who tried to do so out of simple greed were turned away as soon as they began to seek out information about her. There were rules within the criminal underworld. And, because of this, a new rule had been written. ¡®Never ept a Council mission¡¯.


    They had been cklisted by the dark side of society. Their attempts to restrict power stones were one thing¡­ but to shackle the power of every being within Fyor was something that could not be ignored. Sure¡­ there were still people who didn¡¯t care about this rule. But those people were the ones that operated alone, that did not care about joining the organization.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Thelsa sat within her safe house in the neenthyer, smiling happily as she looked at a series of eleven coins on a table. Most were silver, gifts from friends that had discovered what she had done. But, one stood out. Among the eleven, there was a single gold coin. It still bore the same pattern on its faces, the markings of Ryone and Irena, but there was more to it.


    A subtle enchantment existed along the coin. Something that you wouldn¡¯t notice unless you knew what to look for. It wasn¡¯t an enchantment of magic, or even of the spirit. This was the power of the system itself.


    Along the rim of the coin, a series of words were etched into the grooves. ¡®For a service rendered to the Consortium, we grant Thelsa Whitefallow one golden favor, to be exchanged as she desires.¡¯


    It was possible to counterfeit a copper or silver underworld coin, but gold ones were different. A gold coin was no longer a currency, it was a favor of the highest order. Each coin was the manifestation of a quest, its counterpart held within the organization¡¯s vaults. They could only be used by the one who had been named on them, but the size of the favor¡­ It was the equivalent of earning a seat on the ruling council for one decision.


    For one request, she could gain the operations of an entire floor as her business, or seek shelter from any adversary. If someone truly wronged her, making her hate them more than anyone else¡­ she could even use her favor to send the entire criminal underworld after them. It was the highest reward that one could receive.


    She swept her hand over the table, causing the eleven coins to vanish before she stood up, turning around. After that, however, she froze. Sitting on her bed, less than five meters in front of her, was the same halfling that she had met a month ago, the one that had given her the mission which earned her such favor.


    ¡°I suppose you want me to thank you?¡± She asked hesitantly, not knowing how to address this man. Afterpleting the mission, anding to her safehouse in the Dawn kingdom, she had been inquiring about powerful halflings, trying to learn his identity. It seemed unlikely, but nobody had heard of such an individual.


    ¡°Not at all.¡± He said with a brief shake of his head. ¡°I just wanted to make sure that you were doing well after ourst talk. Though¡­ looking at you now, it seems you¡¯re not concerned about the bounty.¡±


    A wry smile came over Thelsa¡¯s lips at that. In truth¡­ she had been given two golden coins, not one. The first one, though, she had used the moment she learned about the bounty. She had called in her favor to cklist the Council, reporting what they had done to the upper echelon. ¡°I don¡¯t think that I have to worry about them, for now.¡±


    The halfling gave a small nod of understanding. ¡°Is that so¡­¡± He seemed to be lost in thought for several long seconds. ¡°In truth, I wanted to give you something myself. But, I do not know what would be suitable. What is it that you require? New weapons, maybe armor? Perhaps some special type of magical item?¡±


    Thelsa raised her brow as she was given her options. In truth¡­ what she wanted was to learn his identity. It had been a mystery that had been guing her for a month now. But would a simple name bring her any closer to understanding? If he was as unknown to the magisters as he appeared, then he was likely either a secret weapon, or a hermit. In either case, knowing his name would not bring her any closer to understanding who he was.


    ¡°Can I ask for¡­ a favor?¡± She hesitated, before speaking up. There were many things that she could request, but most of them she could get through other methods. One, however¡­ did not quite fit with the methods of the criminals she worked with.


    ¡°I¡¯m listening.¡± He responded with another nod.


    ¡°My uncle runs a church on the seventh floor. Because it reveres all of the gods equally, the Council refuses to support it financially. I¡¯ve been doing what I could to send money his way with my work, but¡­ after what happened, I think that they might target him. My uncle¡¯s a good fighter, don¡¯t get me wrong, but the church doubles as an orphanage. Could you make sure that nothing happens?¡±


    The halfling seemed surprised by her request, before a soft smile appeared on his face. ¡°No wonder she rmended you. Very well¡­ I¡¯ll do as you have asked.¡± And with that, the air wrapped around him in gentle ripples, and he vanished, just as he did the first time they met. But, to Thelsa¡¯s surprise, a window appeared in front of her the moment that she was alone.


    Congrattions! You have earned an achievement!


    For selflessly denying an unparalleled reward from a mysterious being, instead using it to protect others, you have received the Shadow Saint special title!

 Chapter 371: Avatars

    <h4>Chapter 371: Avatars</h4>


    This time when I left, I had not returned to the Admin Room. Instead, I left directly to Earth, moving to the Sky Citadel with the use of my new ne shifting ability. It was¡­ extremely convenient, since I was able to set the destination for where I wanted to go, so long as I was able to properly picture the area and it was a location in another ¡®ne¡¯.


    But now, with the level limit of Fyor up at six hundred, there should be another outburst of strength in that world. Aside from Dawn, who already has mages that far surpass their own levels, the higher floors may trulye to be ruled by the forces of the other worlds. Not out of violence, but because they are the ones most capable of protecting the inhabitants, at least until Fyor catches up.


    Of course, this also means that the mages of Fyor will be able to grow even stronger now, and use this growth to their advantage. Maybe it was time to finally purchase the third tier of runes for that world? I had held off doing so before because the normal bnce of levels meant that only those truly devoted mages had gone into the level range of third tier magic¡­ but things had changed now. I also didn¡¯t think that I had to worry about this pushing us over the limits and bing the second tier, after understanding howrge the gap is between each tier.


    I gave a small nod at that thought, making my way to sit on the throne as Leowynn wordlessly left my body, presumably to go entertain herself watching Tsubaki. Ryone. Did you find anything in Balu¡¯s list that you think we should really get?


    Well, there is the spell recorder. That would be a huge help to a lot of mages! She responded after a moment of consideration. I mean, that thing really doesn¡¯t fit in with the rest of her list. I can¡¯t help but think that she only added it there for us.


    But, aside from that¡­ there¡¯s also a mat that helps whoever sit on it gather and condense their ki. That would be a good thing to learn how to mass produce for our monks. Other than that, everything is something that would either not be too useful to us, or Tubrock can make already.


    I closed my eyes, thinking about that. Okay. How much does she have the grimoire and mat listed for? Also, is it in our budget to get the third tier of rune magic now?


    There was another brief pause. I mean, sure. As for the two items, their total cost listed is at a hundred and twenty points. We can easily afford both.


    I¡¯ll send a message to her in a bit to let her know. As for the magic, I¡¯ll buy it when I go back to the Admin Room to do that.


    I didn¡¯t expect that I¡¯d be down here too incredibly long this time. I still wanted to train my new level of divinity, yes, but I was not in a rush to constantly get that done. I could afford to be more rxed than that for a little while.


    As I wrapped up the conversation, I sent another message to Aurivy and Bihena, asking them to help me keep up my promise with Thelsa to protect that church. Neither of them seemed against the idea, thankfully, which made me sigh in relief.


    Once I had finished the conversation, I thought back to what I had talked about with Terra, about the ability to create avatars out of different energy types. Aside from the perfect self, I was already fully aware of the form to create the other types of energy bodies. After all, I had been the one to originally create both the martial and world spirits.


    Focusing, I extended my hand out towards therge floor of my throne room, urging a strand of my spiritual energy and ki out of my body. As they moved towards the center of the floor, I began to gradually mix them, seeing the golden and earthen lights merging. When they were fullybined, specks of red began to overtake them.


    My consciousness suddenly felt split, as if I was constantly working on manipting my chakra threads. I was able to see a blood-red shadow forming into a humanoid mass on the floor¡­ and through it, I was able to see myself sitting on my throne. Gradually, this mass reshaped itself, forming into a copy of my own appearance. The only differences were that the clothes, eyes, and hair had all turned a deep red.


    This had been¡­ a lot easier than I had expected. Admittedly, it was because I had already known how to create a martial spirit. If someone didn¡¯t know the proper form, it would likely not be such a simple matter, and be far more¡­ explosive.


    Back when I had first created both the world and martial spirits, I had used ambient spiritual energy as opposed to my own, which seemed to be why they had been created as independent beings. Now that what I was using was entirely my own power¡­ it felt like an extension of myself.


    Part of me began to wonder if I would be able to form a pact with my avatar like other martial spirits. However, I quickly shook away that thought. The strengthening effect of martial spiritsrgelyes from the two different wills and energiesplementing one another. This would still be entirely my own power, and entirely my own will. I would gain ess to their ¡®blood ki¡¯ abilities, but would not really get any stronger.


    As I was thinking about this, I had another idea. My avatar turned, a golden mirror opening in front of it before forming a portal, which it stepped through. One of theponents for this martial spirit was my divine soul, so it naturally had my divinity as well.


    Once it left, I began focusing on the other type of avatar I could create. Another strand of spiritual energy left my body as I called upon natural energy to merge with it. This avatar I was actually far more looking forward to¡­ I had always wanted to take a first-hand look at the world of the world spirits, and this would allow me to do so without detracting from my other business.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Within the pce of Scarlet¡¯s Watch, the capital of the Bloodhaven Empire, the Bloody Queen sat upon her throne. She was calm, her senses extending out beyond the boundaries of her city. As the Demigoddess of Ki, it had always been her duty to find powerful hosts for a new generation.


    There were many people who came to Bloodhaven seeking trade. The spirits of blood were eternal, and could bond with a mortal for a lifetime. Thus, there were no issues with Scarlet having her own people as the empire¡¯s prime export. It was something that nobody else could match, after all. They brought in special goods, and were able to trade for a martial spirit to bond with them.


    Naturally, there were many that demanded that Scarlet herself be their bonded spirit. These people¡­ quickly regretted their decisions. As a Demigoddess, her abilities were no longer restricted to detecting ki. No, now she had learned a new way to use her power, the ability to control the ki of those weaker than herself.


    When someone became too violent in their demands, she didn¡¯t kill them. She merely sealed their ki, essentially stripping it from their control. To some, this was a fate worse than death. Ki provided a mortal with longevity and prolonged youth, when practiced properly. Many times, she had seen someone age before her eyes after executing this punishment.


    Scarlet¡¯s eyes opened wide as she suddenly felt a powerful ki from within her own throne room. She saw a golden vortex in the air, and a solitary figure stepping through it. The powerful aura of blood instantly assaulted her senses, and she knew that this was another spirit like herself. But¡­ how could another one have grown to such levels without entering her awareness before now?


    It was only then that she was able to see past the aura, feel the familiar energy within this being. Right away, her tensed body rxed and she sighed. ¡°Wee, Keeper.¡±


    ¡°Scarlet.¡± The Keeper spoke with a small smile. ¡°I hope I¡¯m not intruding.¡±


    ¡°Not at all.¡± She shook her head, rising from her throne so that she could walk down and stand before him. She no longer had her innocent, childlike appearance. Instead, she looked to be an adult, fully grown into her own body. Though her body was starting to feel quite cramped. ¡°To what do I owe this honor?¡±


    ¡°Actually, believe it or not, I just wanted to visit, see how things were going here.¡± His response surprised Scarlet, as this was the first time he had ever paid her a ¡®social visit¡¯ before.


    ¡°I¡­ see. I think. Very well. If you would, please follow me.¡± She gave a polite nod, walking past her creator so that she could move out towards the balcony. Dale naturally followed behind her, and the two of them nced out over the railing.


    Scarlet¡¯s Watch was named as such because her eyes were always on her city. Her castle had been built atop a mountain, overlooking the entirety of the region. Beneath, glistening red homes could be seen, spirits of different ranks walking through the paved streets. Their bloody aura seemed to have even invaded the world around them, a nearby spring running red while the trees themselves seemed to adopt a reddish hue. Even the sky in the area had suffered a simr change.


    This wasn¡¯t a true change in any sense, but rather an illusion that began to appear when so many martial spirits had gathered in one area. Their auras resonated with one another and began to dye the world around them. However, to Scarlet, it was simply a sign that this was home.


    ¡°It¡¯s quite remarkable what you¡¯ve done here.¡± Dale spoke up next to Scarlet, his eyes ncing across the horizon. He seemed somewhat distracted, but Scarlet chose not to pry into his personal matters. ¡°If there¡¯s anything I can do to help, please don¡¯t hesitate to ask.¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    A world of green, swimming with blue. No sky, or sea, ornd, just a world of color. As a new figure stepped into this world, a silent ripple of power spread out. It appeared to be an exact copy of the Keeper himself, though with bright, golden eyes and his outfit dyed green.


    Within the colors, countless small humanoids were flying about happily, ying with each other. Like brushes on a canvas, the colors changed as they flew past.


    Three more ripples spread, and then there were fourrger figures. One appeared to be an elven woman in a flowing green dress. Another, a demonic soldier with a crown of ck fire hovering over his head. Finally, the third, a kitsune wearing a long, golden dress. Anyone looking from behind her could see that her back was hollowed out, revealing what seemed to be a wooden interior.


    ¡°My lord.¡± The elven spirit, the spirit of Earth, spoke first. ¡°This is a pleasant surprise.¡± From the feelings that they gave off, the spirit of Earth was the strongest of the three, and had thus been appointed their leader under the naturalw.


    The Keeper nodded his head, ncing around at the prismatic world around him. ¡°This is¡­ certainly not what I expected to find here.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t mind it.¡± The kitsune spirit of Deckan waved thement off with a smile. ¡°The little ones like to y. So long as we don¡¯t give them a scene to maintain, this is what it turns into.¡±


    The final one, the demonic spirit of Desbar, grunted softly. ¡°It¡¯s disordered, but¡­ it is the way of things.¡±


    The spirit of Earth nodded her head gently. ¡°Please, my lord. If you have need of us, you need only speak. Our minds will hear you anywhere within ournds.¡±


    ¡°No need for such a fuss.¡± Dale shook his head. ¡°I just wanted to finally see this area for myself. I¡¯m working on a new ability, and it allowed me toe here. I don¡¯t mean to disrupt any normal business.¡±

 Chapter 372: The Pantheon Parthenon

    <h4>Chapter 372: The Pantheon Parthenon</h4>


    As I sat in the throne room, focusing, I was made acutely aware of why the Ten Thousand Threads required you to reach the level of a hundred threads before you could proficiently make and control a single clone. The amount of concentration consumed to control an entire second body was no joke, even just with the sensory input. I myself hadn¡¯t hit the level of two hundred threads, so controlling two avatars was too much for me to do casually.


    In the end, I had to focus purely on controlling the two of them, to the extent that I ignored what was happening in my own surroundings. If I was willing to discard one of the avatars, I felt like I¡¯d be able to control both it and myself normally, without sacrificing anything for either body. But, this made for a good learning experience for me.


    With my martial spirit avatar, I was able to view the Bloodhaven Empire. It certainly earned its name, and it was nice to see an area where the martial spirits were able to live in peace. After letting Scarlet show me around for a couple hours, I dissolved that avatar. Furrowing my brow, I noticed that the energies didn¡¯t naturally flow back to me. I could feel the spiritual energy slowly starting to return, but it felt like the ki invested had been lost.


    On the other hand, there was my world spirit avatar. The world of world spirits¡­ that ce caught me by surprise. It was beautiful. Completely illogical, but beautiful all the same. Everyone was ying and enjoying themselves, their moods shaping the world in a literal sense.


    When I dissolved this second avatar, I first had him appear in the Sky Citadel again. This time, the energy was reimed much more quickly, causing me to nod in relief. It helped to know that there were different ways to go about it, and that I¡¯d just need to experiment.


    Scarlet said that her body is starting to feel cramped¡­ I guess that she¡¯ll need to either let herself grow a bit more soon, or learn how to make avatars. Shaking my head, my eyes opened to take in the throne room again. Nothing had particrly changed since I had first created the avatars, as it felt like Leowynn and Tsubaki were still off in Tsubaki¡¯s room.


    Now that I think about it¡­ Terra, what would happen if I sent one of my avatars into Vision Expanse with my nar shifting power?


    Oh, now there¡¯s an interesting question! Terra gave an almost eager reply after a moment. It would depend on what kind of avatar it was, really. If there was a skill discovered within the game that was able to support the avatar, then it would be able to function normally. Your powers on that avatar would be overwritten with the new Keeper profile, but the avatar would continue to function.


    If no such skill existed, your avatar would shatter into nothing the moment that it entered the world, as the fundamental basis of its existence wasn¡¯t present.


    And there went that idea¡­ for now, at least. The only type of avatar I was able to make that would currently be able to exist in the game would be my thread clone. And that one needed to maintain a certain distance with me to function, so it wasn¡¯t an option.


    I shook my head again, putting away those thoughts for now. With a wave of my hand and a surge of energy, I created another martial spirit. This one I didn¡¯t send out of the citadel, and instead immediately sent to the library.


    Given how my mirror powers worked, it would only be a good thing for me to be able to read through the many books in the library. Some of them contained information that I already knew, but for the rest¡­ they would help me get stronger.


    While that was happening, I decided to resume my thread training again¡­ If I was able to break through to two hundred, that would increase mybat ability exceptionally.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Thelsa walked through the streets of Diworth, the seventh floor of Fyor. She didn¡¯t bother to wear a heavy cloak or disguise her features. Instead, she simply equipped her new title, the Shadow Saint.


    This title hade with both an active and a passive ability. The active ability could be used even when the title wasn¡¯t equipped, but the passive needed her to do this. It allowed people to simply¡­ not notice her. As long as she didn¡¯t do something to grab the attention of others, she was just another random face passing by.


    This was the best kind of ability that she could hope for in her profession, especially with a bounty on her head. And it allowed her to check on her uncle without fearing that he would be implicated by their interaction.


    Soon, she arrived in front of arge church. It was bigger than most others, with what looked like a run-down apartmentplex attached to the side. This was the Pantheon Parthenon, the church her uncle had devoted his life to. And as she looked on it with a smile, she noticed a man entering the church, a heavy axe strapped to his back.


    Her eyes immediately went wide in rm, and she began to follow him inside, fearing that he was there to cause trouble. By the time she hade in, she saw the man approaching an elder in a ck robe, his back hunched slightly. His face was covered in wrinkles, his hair long since greyed.


    ¡°Father Whitefallow?¡± The apparent adventurer called out to him as he approached. This wasn¡¯t a typical sermon day, so the church wasrgely empty, aside from a few children ying between the pews.


    ¡°Hmm? Is there something that I can help you with, sir?¡± Her uncle turned his head to address the man.


    ¡°I was asked to bring you this.¡± He pulled a small pouch off his belt, and Thelsa¡¯s eyes immediately lit up, scanning the storage magic to check its contents. There was the risk that it contained an explosive, or a poison, but what she saw made her briefly stumble back.


    The pouch was clearly top of the line in its enchantment, having a ten meter diameter for its storage. But more importantly, the items inside of the pouch were by no means tools to hurt him. There were giant piles of silver and gold, as well as a table filled with fresh books. Training manuals, history, math, everything that a child would need to educate themselves.


    Finally, next to the books, there was onest item, a green crystal sphere that seemed to house a ck me. It was nestled within a stand, four legs pinning down a note. Consider this a gift from a friend. You may have it appraised, if you wish. ce it within the church¡¯s basement, and it will protect the building and those within from harm.


    Thelsa wanted to appraise the item herself, but doing so within a storage space would draw too much attention and break her passive ability. Yet, considering the other items in the pouch¡­ she could tell fairly easily who it hade from. And that knowledge was enough to put her mind at ease.


    Turning around, she made her way out of the church, walking towards the gate. Finally, she felt like she no longer had to worry. Like everything would somehow work out on its own. Now, she could focus on her own training.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°There must be a faster way.¡± A tiny humanoid muttered to himself in an almostically high-pitched voice. He was the second person to unlock the Perfect Self ss, the elf Jonas Bayrun. He had spent thest month focusing on gathering energy for his new body, yet had barely gained an inch of height.


    To him, this alone was incredibly frustrating. He, who had been regarded as a prodigy. But he didn¡¯t know any other way to get what he needed. Of course, it was possible for him to take the energies from others, but such an act was reprehensible! He would not hasten his recovery by robbing another of their future.


    ¡°Maybe I can use the power stones to stimte the growth of my mana.¡± He mused, though he was unsure how he would be able to acquire any in his state. Already, he had contacted his friends, informing them that his experiment was a resounding sess. Sadly, though, he would need to take time away from the public eye to recover from the results of his experiment.


    Some of them understood, and wished him well. Others thought that this was just his way of bluffing, and trying to escape the reality of the situation by using the time to run away. Either way, he had found himself confined to his own home, unsure of how long his recovery would take.


    ¡°Maybe I could beseech Tsubaki for an answer? Clearly, she underwent a simr process, and would no doubt know the proper path¡­ No, she is supposedly spending time in that new game¡­ and I don¡¯t have a way to enter it like this.¡± He racked his brain, trying to find some answer to his situation.


    Finally, he came to a conclusion, jumping up on top of his table and opening one of his notebooks, beginning to draw out the design for a spell diagram. ¡°Maybe this could do it¡­¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Tsubaaaaki!¡± A voice shouted out towards the kitsune walking down the forest road, who blinked in surprise, turning her head to see a familiar looking halfling running towards her from the distance. ¡°I foouuund youu!¡±


    An almost yful smile emerged on Tsubaki¡¯s face as she immediately recognized the halfling¡¯s identity. ¡°Apologies, Aurivy. Have I made it too easy?¡± After saying that, her body flickered out of sight.


    ¡°Noooo!!¡± Aurivy slid to a stop where Tsubaki had been previously standing. ¡°Finally caught up with her¡­ why¡¯d it have to turn into a game of hide and seek¡­ or maybe tag?¡±


    ¡°Actually, we call it ¡®ninja¡¯s shadow¡¯.¡± Tsubaki¡¯s voice spoke up in response, causing Aurivy to nod.


    ¡°Right, there was a game like that¡­¡± Slowly, Aurivy turned her head to see Tsubaki standing directly behind her, offering a polite wave. ¡°You know, I really thought you had run off somewhere¡­¡±


    ¡°That was what I wished for you to think.¡± The kitsune nodded her head decisively. ¡°Your speed is quite impressive¡­ did you train a movement skill in order to find me more quickly?¡±


    ¡°Nope! Magic boots.¡± She pointed to her feet, one foot extending and shaking slightly. ¡°Anyways, you promised that we¡¯d be able to y the game together! I waited for you to do that trial stuff¡­ are you free now?¡±


    Tsubaki¡¯s smile turned more gentle as she nodded her head. ¡°Sure. Though, I must warn you that I have been given a task from the Keeper.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, I know. He made you into a PvP fanatic.¡± Aurivy waved a hand dismissively. ¡°I¡¯ll try to n our route so that you can meet some powerful yers. Until then, I think that bandit camp we found in the beta is still around! They¡¯ve even managed to get stronger, thanks to some yers joining their ranks and helping them.¡±


    ¡°Oh, have they now?¡± Tsubaki¡¯s eyes seemed to sh dangerously as she nodded. ¡°Please, lead the way.¡±


    Aurivy nodded her head, taking a moment to nce over Tsubaki¡¯s attire. She was back to wearing her maid uniform, though Aurivy was able to spot thicker patches of fabric that seemed to be armor padding. She didn¡¯t have any weapons visible, though considering that this was Tsubaki, that by no means meant that she didn¡¯t have any weapons.


    In fact, Aurivy knew that there was a short sword strapped to the maid¡¯s spine beneath her hair and clothes, made of thin, flexible metal to allow it to bend with her back. There were also the daggers in her sleeves, and what could be considered an entire armory in her inventory¡­


    ¡°Do you really need to keep so many weapons in your inventory?¡± Aurivy muttered slightly as she began walking, leading Tsubaki down the road.


    ¡°Actually, I intend to give most of those to the Keeper. They¡¯re the results of my lotteries from when I was in my trial. Some items might be useful to him.¡±


    ¡°Right, right.¡± Aurivy nodded her head, sighing slightly to herself.

 Chapter 373: Nebula

    <h4>Chapter 373: Neb</h4>


    After a few hours of training, I ascended to the Admin Room once again. The first thing that I did was to spend eighteen hundred points on buying the third level of runes, before passing them off to Ryone, Bihena, and Aurivy. If there was some secret to the runes outside of thenguage itself, I was sure that the three of them would let me know. But, otherwise, I already had the greatest cheat when it came to thisnguage.


    Next up¡­ I had to pass a message to Balu. Thankfully, she seemed to be ready for the message, as she responded almost immediately.


    Starkiller: Dale! How¡¯s it going? Did you pick out anything that you wanted from the list yet?


    EarthForceOne: Actually, yes. But first, I¡¯d like to ask something¡­


    Starkiller: Sure, what¡¯s on your mind?


    EarthForceOne: Nearly all of your items listed were for ki cultivation. Did you get the spell recorder for me?


    Starkiller: Nah! I¡¯ve had magic in my world for ages. I just never put it on the list before because I specialize in ki, like you said. But, since you needed it, figured I could offer it up to help! Take it that you decided you want it?


    EarthForceOne: That and the cultivation mat.


    Starkiller: Sure, sure. Our invasion is scheduled for right after the meeting, so you can have Bibi give me the points there!


    EarthForceOne: Alright¡­ how any of these am I buying with these points?


    Starkiller: Standard shipments are a thousand of each item. When purchasing races, anywhere between ten thousand to a hundred thousand, depending on things like their reproductivity and all that. That¡¯s usually plenty to ensure that a race can continue, and enough items to ensure that they can be reverse engineered by a decent craftsman.


    I gave a small nod at that. Between Ryone and Tubrock, I had no doubt that they¡¯d be able to quickly reverse engineer the grimoire, once they were able to see a finished example of it. There were just some intricacies to the design that had been eluding Ryone.


    In truth, these spell recorders would likely function much like her godly weapon. But that thing waspletely impractical to mass-produce as it relied on divine energy. For what we were paying, these items should bepletely worth it.


    Thanking Balu, I closed the conversation, before turning my sights towards Lorek. From what I saw right away, it seemed like Tubrock had sped the world up by about five years¡­


    _______________________________________________________________


    Five years¡­ within five years, there had been so many changes. The Lightning n had been all but destroyed, scattered remnants hiding in distant mountains, terrified every time they had to venture out for food. The Spear n had managed to slowly adapt, developing a second master in that time and ensuring their security.


    But it was the Water n that had grown the most. They were no longer simply lurking within their mountain. They were on the move.


    With twelve masters leading the way, they crossed the massivendmass slowly, always wary of potential dangers. If they sensed any powerful energies approaching, they immediately found somewhere to hide until it passed. Although they never made direct contact with the Lightning n, they had seen them from afar. Seen how scattered and disordered they were¡­ that the Lightning Master had fallen.


    Kishi had been a man that specialized inbat. While the former Water Master, Durak, held the same rank, his skills were not at all suited forbat. Thus, while it made sense for Durak to be in by a master-level star beast, the same could not be said for Kishi. Clearly, there was a level of monster out here that surpassed the rank of master.


    But, did this not also mean that there was a way for them to surpass that level as well? This thought once again caused the Water n to seek out a legacy. They were not aiming to gainprehension of a new field, but needed the legacy as a guide for how one could reach the next stage.


    Cultivate a star, imbue it with understanding, form a constetion. These were the main steps that were known to progress through the first three ranks. In theory, they applied to all types of legacies, so wouldn¡¯t the next step be shared, as well?


    It took them three years to find the next ruins, maintaining a slow march. Doing so kept their casualties minimum, losing barely a dozen star-level students who had gone too far from the group to forage or scout.


    What they found after their three years was the shattered ruin of a vast city, crumpled heaps of once-giant buildings showing the true immensity of the ancient civilization. Maybe now, they would finally learn what had caused this great empire to fall to ruin¡­


    When they cautiously entered the city, they were unsurprised to find the golems patrolling it, just as they had in the port city. Though, these golems gave off a feeling of power that even made the masters uneasy. Not wanting to cause any harm to their group, the n split apart, searching through the ruins.


    As before, they found many legacies. Or at least, they expected that what they found were legacies. The books resembled what Durak had once found, yet anyone above the star level was unable to gleam the secrets from them.


    Those within the star level and below, however, would receive the legacies as soon as they opened the books. This caused the elders and masters among the n to nod inwardly. The legacies were meant to be passed to a suitable heir, not someone whose path had already been determined.


    Many of these legacies merely led to the master realm, just as with the previous city. But there were two that went beyond, to a realm that they did not know. It¡¯s just¡­ the next step that the two books detailed for advancement¡­ it was a terrifying step to any master.


    When the masters heard what it entailed, their faces went white in disbelief and horror. To advance from a master, into the next stage¡­ the first requirement was twenty stars. This was easy enough to achieve, and there were already three among them at that level.


    The second requirement was for the master to detonate all twenty stars within themselves in a controlled explosion. To condense their understanding of their path in a single cloud of gas and dust.


    The legacies warned that this was an incredibly dangerous step, unlike the previous advancement paths that simply required talent and hard work. One wrong step, and the best case scenario was the shattering of one¡¯s own energy. At worst, their entire body could explode.


    When Jana and Abin heard this, they nced at one another, thinking back to Durak¡¯s dying moment. How his body had exploded to temporarily unleash a power strong enough to destroy a master-level star beast in a single breath. Without cultivating enough stars, he had forced himself to break through with ten in an uncontrolled environment, and it had cost him his life.


    ¡°I¡¯ll do it.¡± Abin spoke up first, causing Jana to stare at him in shock. They both knew that the first one to practice this had the highest chance of failure. Abin had almost single-handedly led the n to its current state after Durak passed, cultivating so many other masters.


    When he saw her aghast expression, he offered her a warm smile. ¡°I can¡¯t rightly ask someone else to do what I¡¯m not willing to, can I?¡± With that, he offered a small wave to the group, and began walking off. ¡°Nobody follow me, ye hear? I don¡¯t need the distractions.¡±


    His words stirred the hearts of every elder and master in the n, for they understood just how much he was risking for himself. They knew that they would likely never see him again. But, he wasn¡¯t just going to die in vain.


    When Abin found a secluded building, he made his way to its highest floor. ¡°Oi, I hope this works¡­¡± He muttered inwardly, before twenty streams of light left his body. They formed three concentric circles, with a single dot on the inside. ¡°Ripples of the Past and Present. Record.¡±


    This was a technique that he had used before to help them avoid enemies. Ripples of the Past and Present held two functions¡­ one was ¡®Rewind¡¯, to show what caused the ripples. The other was ¡®Record¡¯, to store a scene within an object for others to viewter. He was just unsure if destroying his stars would allow the image to remain preserved.


    Either way, he pulled a strong ball of iron out from his pocket, and tossed it into a corner of the room. The twenty hovering stars all shot out a beam of light, hitting the ball of iron and causing it to glow. Afterwards, the stars returned to Abina¡¯s body, and he sat down with his legs crossed.


    ¡°If yer seeing this, then it means that I have died, but that my efforts weren¡¯t for naught. I¡¯m leaving this record to show every step I take. I hope that my experiences help another master after I¡¯m gone.¡±


    Abin took a deep breath, closing his eyes and focusing inwardly. ¡°Following the instructions of the legacies, I am now bringing my stars together.¡± Sweat began to appear on his brow as silver light shone over his body.


    ¡°All twenty stars¡­ are now close enough together that they are almost touch¡­¡± He began speaking with difficulty. ¡°Now¡­ detonate.¡±


    The silver light erupted from Abin¡¯s body as his brows focused more heavily, blood starting to leak out from the pores of his skin. The light condensed, turning into strands of prismatic mist that began to flow up and around him, bathing the room in brilliant light.


    ¡°The energy¡­ is hard¡­ to control.¡± Abin muttered, barely able to speak as blood burst out of his mouth with every breath. He had already epted that he would not be able to make it out of this. ¡°Whoever¡­ finds this¡­ don¡¯t hold¡­ too hard. Don¡¯t fight it!¡±


    And with those as his final words, he screamed, his head turning towards the sky. He had tried to practice the ¡®control¡¯ described in the books, but he had done so to too high of a degree. The energy hadpressed, fighting against him, looking for any weakness to escape. And when it found that weakness¡­ a blinding light shot out of Abin¡¯s mouth, his body starting to cken as the roof crumbled above him, falling down and crushing him beneath.


    Thest thing the image showed was scattering ash. In trying to hold his power in too tightly, his body had burnt to a crisp from within. The true master and leader of the Water n had perished, sacrificing himself to open a path for the n¡¯s future. Just as Durak had done before him. Perhaps this was how he had hoped to live up to his master¡¯s legacy, to use his life for the greatest purpose he could find for it.


    _______________________________________________________________


    I closed my eyes, offering a moment of silence. Abin¡¯s death had truly not been in vain. The recording that he had left had survived, his technique still lingering on it. When they found itter, they had learned why he had insisted on being the one to attempt it first.


    For seven days, they mourned Abin. And on the eighth day, I was able to watch as Jana attempted the same feat. Just as with Abin, she created a recording of her event. However, her recording was never seen, because Jana had seeded. She kept only a loose control of the nebulous energy rushing through her body, choosing to guide it rather than contain it.


    Thanks to that, she was the first person in Lorek aside from Tubrock himself to reach the level of Neb Cycle. Or, as they were calling it, the Grandmaster realm. Made me wonder what they were going to end up calling the seven stages that hadn¡¯t yet been discovered¡­

 Chapter 374: Swarm Tactics

    <h4>Chapter 374: Swarm Tactics</h4>


    After I had finished observing Lorek, I once again descended, though this time I went towards Fyor instead of the citadel. I was quick to discover that my avatar within the library had been destroyed, and so I immediately created a new one to rece it. Meanwhile, my main body was going for a ¡®walk¡¯ of sorts.


    The area that I had descended to this time was the twentieth floor of Fyor, the giant cave system infested with giant insects, and also the single most dangerous ce I was likely to find in any of the four worlds. The levels of the insects might pale inparison to beings like Fafnir or the other disasters, but they had the numbers. If a giant swarm of the monsters from this level fought him¡­ I wasn¡¯t sure which side would win.


    However, that¡¯s what I was looking for. My battle with Fafnir made mee to a realization. It was something so obvious, yet I had taken so long to let it truly sink in. I waspletely and tantly overpowered. It was getting harder and harder for me to find a chance to fight against someone forbat training because they weren¡¯t able to offer any sort of resistance.


    Even with Tsubaki¡­ if I used my full power, now that it had been upgraded, it was unlikely that she would be able to hurt me. And so, if I wanted to continue training myself, aside from just sitting on my throne and practicing skills, I needed to seek a different sort of challenge.


    As I was thinking that, a section of stone beneath my feet cracked, and arge mandible shot out, grabbing at my leg. I had already sensed the insects lying in wait around me, so I didn¡¯t panic. Instead, I just lifted that leg lightly and stomped down, hearing the cracking of the earth and the squelch of the insect beneath being crushed.


    Aurivy, if this really starts to get too much for me, pull me out somewhere. I whispered in my mind as I took a deep breath, feeling how the swarm scurried through hidden tunnels just beyond the cave walls. Aside from that¡­ give me the path to the next gate. I¡¯ll be walking in that direction.


    I felt a gentle nudging in the back of my mind, and began to walk forward, my hands idly crossed behind my back. I wasn¡¯t using my world sight for this¡­ no, I had the feeling that that level of detail might sicken me when used on the insects. I was purely using my normal senses built up from my energies growing stronger.


    Even still, it was enough to sense the insects long before they attacked. I was able to feel a writhing mass charging from the other end of the cave, advancing towards me in a wave. Taking a deep breath, I looked towards them as they appeared. One hand came out from behind my back, my ki forming an orange-ish ball above my palm.


    With a thrust of my hand, that ball turned into a wide st that swept forward, through the swarm. I noticed after a moment that the st hadn¡¯t quite been wide enough to engulf all of the insects, and yet the cave still shook from the force of it, rocks falling from above as it pierced a thick hole through the other side. But, since the swarm had not been entirely killed, the survivors continued charging, disregarding their own lives.


    It didn¡¯t take long for them to surround me, but¡­ they weren¡¯t able to touch me. With the beginning fire ki wrapped around my body, they burned away as soon as they got too close. Still, it looked really creepy to see a mass of what seemed to be giant centipedes crawling all around me.


    Guess I won¡¯t be needed for this one, huh father? Leowynn asked from within me, a certain yful tone to her voice that hadn¡¯t been there in a while.


    Sorry, Leowynn. I need to do this. Just as I thought that, my eyes widened, and I felt a powerful presence flying through the cave at a high speed. It pierced through the swarm, and even through my ki aura, leaving a thin cut along my skin.


    I flexed my ki, and burnt away all of the insects that were surrounding me, turning abruptly to see what had attacked. Something that could pierce my aura like that would be far stronger than what this level would suggest. Which meant¡­ this floor connected to another ne.


    Bihena, I need you to quickly run a search for where that thing came from. There should be another ore like tidestone around here somewhere. It needs to be secured before something really bades through.


    Already on it! Bihena¡¯s reply came back barely a breathter, and I saw a thin hole within the cave wall behind me. Clearly, whatever had attacked had gone straight through, from one end of the cave to the other. However¡­ that just wouldn¡¯t do.


    ¡°Identify the creature that created that hole.¡± I spoke in the runguage, surprised to find that the grammar no longer sounded awkward to me, likely a result of the third tier. ¡°Define creature as target. Teleport back to this position and restrain.¡±


    My mana surged out, and very soon there was a figure frozen, suspended in the air in front of me. It looked like¡­ a slightly oversized flea, if I was being perfectly honest. A level nine hundred flea, but still a flea¡­ Its legs were uselessly kicking at the air, the force of each kick creating an irritating buzzing noise.


    With my nar Archivist title active, I was able to confirm that this flea came from the elemental ne. Sending it back there was¡­ a pain, and so I bathed it in my beginning water ki. After a few long moments, it had stopped kicking, its health bar appearing and gradually fading away.


    Bihena, did you find anything? I asked as I turned around, once more walking down the path towards the gate.


    Yeah, it looks like it just now came through. It was a straight shot from where you found it back to the node. Looks like nothing had been able to activate the ore before now. I¡¯ve identified the ore, though.


    Thanks. Ryone, would you mind sealing them? Unlike the tidestones, a connection to the earth ne isn¡¯t beneficial in any way¡­ Resources won¡¯t pass through them like with water, so it¡¯s best to make sure that nothing happens.


    After sending off that message, I received a brief confirmation from Ryone, and let out a mental sigh of relief. The node likely activated because of my ambient mana, so it was lucky that something came through when it did. I simply gave a firm nod of my head. Problem identified and resolved!


    As I began walking through the cave again, I noticed that the bugs seemed to be focused mostly behind me now. They weren¡¯t following anymore or attacking¡­ Was I leaving the territory of this nest, or did they develop a sense of how strong I was? Given their apparent intellect, I was going to guess the former.


    Sure enough, after roughly another ten minutes of walking, I found another group blocking my path. This one seemed to be made of worm-like insects that secreted acid¡­ best not to let them get too close. I surrounded myself with beginning earth ki and began walking forward, letting my divinity leak into the surroundings.


    The air seemed to condense into reflective shards that revolved around me, as if I were the center of an eruption of ss. When the worms detected my approach, they turned their ends¡­ which I sincerely hoped were their mouths, and shot out a sickly green liquid. Most of it was caught by the revolving shards, while the rest continued to fly towards me, before falling off of my ki aura.


    I gave a small sigh as I realized that this kind of training was just not going to help me¡­ I needed to fight something that possessed both numbers and intelligence. And so, I increased my pace, roughly sixty chakra threads spreading out around me. With every step, I shed forward dozens of meters.


    When I appeared behind a worm, and stepped away again, their body seemed to shatter, cut into tiny pieces because of the revolving shards. I was now speeding forward, following the path that Aurivy had given me. After about three minutes, I had left the territory of the worms, and entered the domain of tunneling spiders. Ten minutes after that, and I was gone from their territory as well.


    It took me roughly two hours like this, moving at my full speed, before I reached the end. For thest couple minutes, I noticed that the local infestation was getting bigger and bigger. And so¡­ I didn¡¯t even hesitate. The moment that I stepped into the cavern with the gate, I released an explosion of beginning fire ki. Shrill screeches could be heard as thousands of insects burnt away to nothing.


    When it was done¡­ the only things in the cave were myself and the gate¡­ while arge portion of the tunnel itself seemed to have smoothed away, showing the radius of the explosion I let out. So, Dale¡­ Aurivy spoke up as I walked to the gate. You made it to the gate¡­ but you¡¯re still too high level to activate it, right? Do you want me to send someone to do it for you?


    I shook my head briefly. Not yet¡­ I want to try a few things first. There might be a way around the level restriction, if I use my different abilities. If not¡­ I could just go with her suggestion. But I at least wanted to try.


    First, I lowered my own apparent power as much as possible, until I could feel the gravity of the floor pressing down heavily on me. However, even like that, the gate wouldn¡¯t respond, so I quickly restored my own power. No point in hurting myself to get this done¡­


    Next, I tried world sight, sending it through the gate like I had done with the tidestones. If I could see what was on the other side, then I could teleport there. But¡­ once again, there was nothing. It felt as though the wall were¡­ well, a solid wall,pletely impassable.


    Finally, I resorted to myst measure, conjuring a mirror with my divinity. ¡°Show me what lies beyond this gate.¡± Imanded the mirror, feeling the energy from it pressing against the wall. At first, I felt as thought it might be giving way¡­ until the mirror shattered.


    However, I wasn¡¯t upset that my methods were blocked. No¡­ instead, I was actually happy. I was happy that I waspletely unable to break through the gate, because that meant that other creatures should be unable to break through as well. Those monsters up at the higher floors, which still honestly frightened me, wouldn¡¯t be able to crush theyer of stone that divided each floor.


    ¡°Okay, Rivy, you can send me someone.¡± I said with a small smile. I waited for a moment, before a golden mist appeared. Stepping out of that mist, I expected to see a heroc, maybe a dovah, as they were the two mostmon races on this floor. Instead¡­ I saw a face I hadn¡¯t been expecting. A face that made me happy I was no longer in the form of a halfling, and instead had changed back to my morefortable human appearance.


    ¡°H-hello, Keeper.¡± Thelsa spoke up, the mist vanishing behind her. ¡°The¡­ Goddess Aurivy said that you needed my help with something?¡±


    I cleared my throat, trying to not sound at all awkward as I nodded. ¡°Yes¡­ I¡¯d like you to activate this gate. I¡¯ll meet you on the other side, and you can choose whether you¡¯d like to explore from there or go back home.¡±


    Thelsa blinked in surprise, nodding her head as she extended one hand, cing it against the surface of the gate. As the gate opened to let her through, I could hear the distant rumbling of a powerful storm. Either the next floor was experiencing a hurricane season or¡­ Wind next, huh?

 Chapter 375: Stormworld

    <h4>Chapter 375: Stormworld</h4>


    Once Thelsa had activated the gate, it felt like the next floor had ¡®unlocked¡¯ for me. I still couldn¡¯t ess the gate, but¡­ my divinity was able to prate theyers now. After that, it was a simple matter to open up a portal of my own to step through and meet her on the other side.


    The twentieth and twenty-first floors looked like the difference between heaven and earth. As soon as I stepped through, I could see Thelsa gritting her teeth as she braced herself against a powerful wind. But¡­ I couldn¡¯t see much further than that. The wind was heavy enough that dust was being picked up and obscuring my vision.


    Deploying my world sight let me see that we were standing on the outer edge of a giant storm¡­ a storm that went on for as far as I was able to see. I wasn¡¯t worried about being blown away due to the weight of my body, but Thelsa¡­ it looked like she was just barely able to stay standing. As if lifting one foot might topple her over.


    ¡°Appear, my pledge.¡± I spoke as my hand lit up, and the air around us grew peaceful. A single chakram hovered above my head, canceling out the iing wind. Thelsa seemed visibly relieved once she was able to stand normally, nodding her thanks to me as I walked over. ¡°You probably shouldn¡¯t stay here if it¡¯s that hard on you.¡±


    She seemed to hesitate, before shaking her heard a momentter. She spoke in the runguage to cast a spell of her own. ¡°Gravity increase.¡±


    It was hard to see a real change from her spell, but since I was able to hear what she had cast, it was easy to guess what happened. And what it meant. ¡°Okay¡­ but I can¡¯t promise that I¡¯ll be able to protect you.¡±


    Thelsa smiled slightly in response. ¡°I wasn¡¯t expecting you to, Keeper.¡± As she said that, she turned and began walking out of the protective ¡®bubble¡¯ of calm wind. It seemed as though she had made up her mind, and would do her best to train here. It was certainly preferable to and crawling with giant insects¡­ at least in my opinion.


    Aurivy. What orbs are on this floor? I asked as I began walking as well, in a different direction. I knew that Thelsa had ways to escape danger, if she really got into trouble, so I wasn¡¯t too worried that something would go wrong. In the worst case, she¡¯d get a critical injury and quickly descend a couple of floors to safety.


    Well, let¡¯s see¡­ another plus one hundred level orb¡­ and another advanced ss!


    Hearing that, my eyes widened slightly, but¡­ I had a feeling I knew what it was. It¡¯s the elemental monk, isn¡¯t it?


    What? Huh, yeah¡­ Her response confirmed my suspicions.


    If I was right, then the next floor after this would contain the summoner ss¡­ After that, the next two should be the martial and world spirit sses, followed by the perfect self.


    Fyor¡¯s configuration was set so that the sses would appear at the ¡®proper¡¯ levels of power. The first six hundred levels, by this logic, would be the ¡®entry¡¯ training. Letting people build up their foundations and choose their paths of advancement. Between six hundred and a thousand would be the ¡®advanced¡¯ training, where they start to permanently create energy mixtures.


    Finally, level one thousand would be the start of the ¡®avatar¡¯ training. But¡­ if that were the case¡­ it meant that I was unlikely to be able to get the world spirit ss in Fyor before bing a second rank Keeper. I wouldn¡¯t be able to rescue Fyor¡¯s world spirit from the elemental nes until then¡­


    I shook my head, dismissing those thoughts. Sooner orter, I would reach that level. But¡­ not until my world was ready for it. The only reason that I had even pushed through to this floor was for my own training, and because I was confident that it wouldn¡¯t be seen as taking things too far.


    ncing up, I noticed silver lines cutting through the wind, crashing against the protective bubble protecting me. Unlike Thelsa, I was walking further in, towards the center of the storm. And, as I entered in further, the wind had be so powerful, so condensed that it formed tangible des that cut through the sky.


    This was definitely the work of the elemental stones. But for it to carry such strength¡­ that meant that the stones had to be located near a mana source. One strong enough and stable enough to fuel such a massive storm. In other words¡­ the pir of this floor.


    Of course, that meant that it was very likely that there were already creatures from that ne on this floor, hidden within the storm. Briefly, I considered asking Ryone to seal the stones, like I had previously for the twentieth floor. But¡­ I could think of a few uses for a wind stone.


    Before I do anything big¡­ run a check. I want to see if there are any intelligent creatures that came over, through the stones.


    As I waited for the deities to deliver their report, I focused, sending my divinity into the air around myself to form numerous mirrors. ¡°Show me the beings thate from other worlds.¡±


    The views in the mirrors began to shift just as Bihena spoke up. I¡¯m not seeing any intelligent creatures. Plenty of monsters, but nothing that looks like it could possibly be reasoned with.


    I had expected as much, but I wanted to make sure. So, I simply nodded my head as the mirrors began disying dozens of different creatures to me. There was one that looked like a living lightning bolt, one that was a translucent bird, almost impossible to see amidst the heavy winds. One had a humanoid shape, seeming entirelyprised of elemental mana, but I did not think that it would be safe to try reasoning with it¡­


    Mostly because the humanoid monster, its true image captured within the mirror, was walking up behind Thelsa now. Its arm extended, shifting into a sort of spike as wind began swirling around it. Just as I was about to act, I saw Thelsa¡¯s shadow lunge upwards.


    The human thief turned towards the wind monster and smiled calmly as her shadow shed at the creature. ¡°I thought I felt something odd¡­ the Keeper wouldn¡¯t target me like this, and there wouldn¡¯t be another mage here¡­ so that leaves you.¡±


    Surprisingly, her shadow was able to inflict a wound on the creature, causing its health bar to appear above it. She didn¡¯t waste any further words, drawing one of her daggers as she spoke in the runguage. ¡°Temporary enchant, dispel wind. Appear, my pledge.¡±


    Her body was wrapped in a dark shadow as she lunged forward, her other shadow moving to bind the monster in ce. I was surprised that what was attacking the monster wasn¡¯t her elementalist abilities, and so I focused in on it, trying to glean some information.


    Level 425 - Saint¡¯s Shadow


    It was¡­ a kind of monster? No¡­ maybe it would be more urate to call it an aeon¡­ but how?


    It took me a moment to recall that she had gained a new title, one that she had recently used to visit her uncle¡¯s church. I thought that its only ability was the concealment, and hadn¡¯t looked too deeply into it. But, if it had a second ability¡­ the Shadow Saint was able to breathe life into her own shadow?


    Still¡­ the level difference between Thelsa and the wind monster was quite severe. Even with her abilities restraining it, it would take a while for her to kill it. Thankfully, she didn¡¯t seem to be in any danger, so I turned my focus to the rest of the monsters. ¡°Mass banish.¡± I channeled the spell through the various mirrors, watching the creatures shown within disappear one by one.


    Ryone, can you set up a banishment enchantment on the area around the stones? It¡¯s fine for wind to be able toe through, but I want any creatures to be sent back if theye out too far.


    Ryone¡¯s response was almost immediate. I was just waiting for you to ask, Dale! Can I keep a bit of the stone, first? I think they¡¯d make great research materials!


    I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle slightly in response, nodding my head as I continued to walk towards the center of the storm. Soon, I began to see creatures appearing within my vision, though¡­ none of them appeared to be immediately hostile.


    The first one that I saw looked like a slick-skinned boar, its body two meters tall and three long. I watched the wind des striking against its hide and having no immediate effect, and a realization dawned on me.


    This storm has been around since the birth of the world itself, just as the tidestones had gradually flooded the neenth floor. The des of wind influenced the evolution of creatures in a number of ways. First, any creature that was able to survive here needed to be heavy enough to not get blown away. Secondly, they needed either a strong enough hide, or to be fast enough that the des didn¡¯t threaten them.


    Creating something heavy enough to not get blown away, but fast enough to dodge something like that¡­ it was clear that there wouldn¡¯t be many creatures like that. Simrly, they needed strong enough teeth to chew through the nts that were able to withstand the wind¡¯s pull as well.


    This was simply not an environment good for producing predators. Most likely, any predator that existed within this floor was one that had traveled from the elemental ne¡­ meaning that I had just banished them. There may be one or two other species¡­ but it shouldn¡¯t be anything too extreme.


    As I moved closer to the center of the storm, I found a literal wall of wind barring my path, kicking up dirt and dust to obscure my vision and even resisting the power of my elementalist weapon. This wall extended as far as I could see in every direction, prompting me to once again deploy my world sight.


    I had arrived, after hours of walking, at the very center of the storm. This wall of wind was actually a massive tornado that surrounded the mana pir on all sides¡­ and inside of it, the weather seemed calm. The eye of a single, massive hurricane. In truth, I had walked all this way because I wanted to see this. I wanted to make sure that the pir was truly within the eye of the storm.


    If it wasn¡¯t, if the pir was simply in another portion of storm¡­ this floor would be all but destroyed. The pir would constantly be torn to shreds, faster than it could repair itself.


    Another reason I hade this far¡­ honestly, I was hoping to be able to fight things on the way. I didn¡¯t realize until it was toote that I had banished the predators of the storm¡­


    Shaking my head, I closed my eyes, activating my nar shift to return to the sky citadel. There was no longer a reason for me to remain in Fyor for the moment, as I couldn¡¯t get the training that I wanted there.


    When I returned, I immediately dismissed my elementalist weapon, but not before I was seen by a certain kitsune, standing in my throne room and offering me a polite bow. ¡°Wee home, my Keeper.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, Tsubaki.¡± I replied with a small smile. ¡°I thought you would be in the game right now.¡±


    ¡°I just exited it a moment ago. Lady Aurivy had to leave to tend to some matters, and asked that I wait for her. When I came out¡­ I noticed a¡­ ¡®version¡¯ of you in the library. You seemed to be quite busy, so I didn¡¯t want to disturb you, and chose to wait here until you were done.¡±

 Chapter 376: Ascension

    <h4>Chapter 376: Ascension</h4>


    Over the next week, I had continued my private training. There wasn¡¯t much for me to do personally, and I was wanting to wait until I had read more of the books within the library before I took that final step. Thankfully¡­ I did not need to properly study all of the information within the books, and was able to simply skim through them. So long as the knowledge existed in my mind, it would be usable when using my mirror clones.


    Which meant¡­ even though there were enough books tost a lifetime of studying within the library, it only took me a week to briefly nce through the ones that contained information I didn¡¯t already know. Once thatst book had been put back in its ce, my martial spirit avatar faded away, returning to my own power. Rather than simply destroying the avatars, I learned that I could siphon their power back to myself instead.


    So now, it was time to return to the Admin Room. When I came back¡­ it would be time to finallyplete the path of divinity.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Thelsa muttered to herself as she walked through the heavy storm. It had been hours since she hade to this floor with the Keeper. Merely minutes had passed before she was attacked by a phantasmal creature, yet now¡­ it seemed as if life within thisnd were peaceful. ¡°Maybe I¡¯ve gotten too far from the center of the storm?¡± She asked, seemingly to no one in particr.


    And yet, she still received an answer. A hissing tone that seemed to enter straight into her mind. I can¡¯t feel any new presences¡­ should I go back to sleep, now?


    Thelsa thought about it for a moment, before nodding her head. It was already taking a decent amount of mana just maintaining the gravity spell to keep her anchored. Maintaining her shadow was another expenditure that she wasn¡¯t sure she could afford at the moment.


    With a breath of relief, her shadow seemed to dim just slightly, though it was hard to notice with how powerful the winds were blowing, brushing the grass violently behind her. In the corner of her sight, she caught a glimpse of something shining, flying like a bullet through the storm. Her head turned abruptly, and she was able to just barely find it again, before it flew out of sight.


    An orb¡­ she had managed to find an orb within a short few hours. Though¡­ thinking about it a different way¡­ if the orb was caught in the storm, it would be tossed all around the floor. The fact that it took so long meant that its path had finally intercepted her. And now, Thelsa was left with a choice. She did not have the spells to pull the orb back to her, yanking it out of the storm.


    She could chase after it, and hope that she was able to catch up. She could even awaken her shadow again and have it chase the orb. But¡­ the odds of her managing to catch it with either method were slim. It wasn¡¯t impossible, but¡­ it would take too much energy. If she spent too much mana chasing the orb, she¡¯d lose her gravity spell, and be blown away with it.


    Thelsa could only grit her teeth in frustration, moving on from where she had stopped. ¡°Goddess alia, if you are listening¡­ please allow me to find it once again.¡± It was impossible to tell which orb it was. Maybe it was another level boost? Maybe it was another of the ¡®missing sses¡¯¡­


    Sure thing! An energetic voice spoke into Thelsa¡¯s mind, making her eyes go wide and her feet stop once again. If ites by your direction again, I¡¯ll try to guide it to you.


    ¡°Wha¡­?¡± Thelsa nced around, feeling like she had been pranked. ¡°G¡­Goddess?¡±


    That¡¯s me! The voice spoke once again. Sorry, I know, you¡¯re technically one of Ryone¡¯s. But you¡¯ve done a pretty big favor for all of us, so I thought answering one little prayer wouldn¡¯t hurt.


    Thelsa brought a hand up to massage her forehead, unsure how she should take any of this. She had heard the voice of Ryone before, answering her prayers at rare moments. In fact, it had been the voice of the Goddess that had started her on her path, helping her to find those individuals who truly deserved to be stolen from. And then there was Aurivy, who had called her to help the Keeper.


    Yet, she never thought that another one would speak with her over such a whimsical prayer. And all because she was helping to maintain a church for them in Fyor? That was the only favor that Thelsa could immediately think of.


    ¡°T-thanks¡­ I think?¡± Thelsa muttered, not sure what to think right now. Maybe the favor had been unlocking this floor for the Keeper, as well? That was the first time that she had ever seen him in person, and she was understandably nervous about being summoned before him. But it didn¡¯t seem like a very big favor to her¡­ She shook her head, dismissing those thoughts and focusing on keeping herself anchored to the ground.


    _______________________________________________________________


    The Council was starting to grow desperate. They knew that it was only a matter of time. The twentieth floor was being mapped out more and more with every passing day. Sooner orter, they would find the gate leading towards the twenty-first. To them, the best case scenario was that the twenty-first floor would have equally as hostile an environment as the twentieth.


    However¡­ if it turned out that the next floor possessed useful resources, their power would crumble even further. As it stood, their trade lines were maintained because of their control over the imports and exports of their territory. Many minerals were found within the twentieth floor, true, but the requirements to be able to mine them were for more stringent than, say, on the seventh.


    Thanks to this, they were able to hold significant trade leverage over every floor, supplying them with the resources that theycked in exchange for taking what they wanted. The only exceptions to this were the kingdoms of Nexus and Dawn¡­ Dawn had experienced self-sufficiency for more than a generation, and no longer had to rely on the Council.


    As for Nexus, that was an even easier answer. Why would they care about what the Council had to offer, when they controlled the connection to every other world? They could import as many resources as they wanted, and the Council couldn¡¯t say a single thing about it.


    But¡­ what would happen if a new source appeared, within the world of Fyor? Beyond Dawn, where the Council¡¯s influence was weaker? If they were able to set up their own stable system, likely with Dawn¡¯s cooperation, they would be able to eat away at the Council¡¯s power even further.


    They knew that the Grinning Shade was to me for all of this. But, no matter how they looked at it, she couldn¡¯t have done what she did alone. She was able to break in and steal the orbs¡­ but how did she know that they were there in the first ce? Only a truly powerful mage, or a divine being, would be able to pierce their wards to find the orbs without knowing they were there in the first ce.


    With that in mind¡­ what use was there in holding a grudge against the gods themselves? If the Council truly considered that the heavens were their enemies, then they would have no hope of recovery. Such, they could only identify a ¡®powerful mage¡¯ as their enemy.


    With their enemy apparently clear in this feud, they just had to figure out what they could do. Waging a shadow war wasn¡¯t possible, as any criminal contacts that they once had now cut offmunication. Briefly, they began to believe that Dawn had somehow taken control of their criminal underworld, before they learned that it was the Grinning Shade herself that had caused this. Retribution for putting a bounty on her¡­


    Even if Dawn didn¡¯t cause this directly¡­ they were still left in a bind. What good would increasing taxes on trade with a self-sufficient nation do? Dawn could easily just stop trading with them altogether.


    Cut off the inte wires heading to that floor? Every floor also had a set leading out to Desbar. And they already learned that secret assassinations didn¡¯t work.


    Was there no choice but tounch an open war? Would such a thing really even be an option, given the strength of Dawn¡¯s mages?


    _______________________________________________________________


    When I left my training¡­ I was thoroughly annoyed¡­ Annoyed at myself for waiting so long, and for the system for conditioning me to think that every transition would be incredibly difficult and painful. No, no¡­ not all of them. I had only spent a couple hours toplete my training this time. Just two, simple hours of me banging my head against the wall after I realized how utterly simple it was to merge the divine body and the divine soul.


    Maybe it had be simple due to me absorbing a bit of the information that I had skimmed through, letting me put the pieces together faster? I wasn¡¯t sure, but what I knew was that I waspletely pissed for waiting so long to do this, when I could have done so practically at any time.


    Sure, sure, there were a few requirements. But, as far as I could tell, I met those long ago. Sighing, I sent everyone a warning that I was going to be cutting them off for a few minutes while I made another breakthrough. After that, I descended back to the citadel, going straight into my room.


    Tsubaki was already back in the game, so there was no worry that I would be letting the information ¡®leak¡¯ to her at all. After having Leowynn leave to go watch her y the game, Iid down on my bed and closed my eyes.


    When I had first started this, I imagined some grand, heavenly reveal to be waiting at the end of the path. When I gained the Perfect Soul, I wanted nothing more than to finally be able to finish, just so that I wouldn¡¯t have to do it all again. Then, when I upgraded to the Divine Body, I had thought that there would be something even worse waiting for me at the end of the line.


    As I thought about these things, I focused on myself. Currently, my Divine Body and Divine Soul were already partially linked, because I had built my body with the energy of my soul. However, this was only a thin tether.


    Once I ced my mana, my mind, between these two ends of the link, I could feel it pulse, the link gradually growing stronger. At the same time, the divine energies of both sides were converting the mana, transforming it. So, I kept feeding it more mana, more and more.


    The more I pushed in, the stronger the link grew, the more my soul and body became joined as one. There was a slight tinge of pain, but nothing like what I had experienced during any of the previous transitions. This was simply at the level of a mana depletion headache.


    And once that mana was entirely depleted¡­ everything froze. The link had been set, the divine energies of my body and soul flooding my mind, filling every aspect of my being.


    A natural divinity has been born! Please select which Domain you wish to bestow upon the new deity, Dale Mitchell!


    Mirrors. I focused on that answer without a second thought, having been building towards that concept specifically.


    Congrattions! You have earned an achievement!


    For cultivating your divinity to the peak, you have earned the God of Mirrors achievement! +15 Intelligence, Special Title: God of Mirrors unlocked!


    Congrattions! You have earned an achievement!


    For having your first non-system deity arise within your world, you have earned the Godmaker achievement! +50 points


    One achievement from the world, and one from the Keeper system itself? I nodded inwardly, checking the details of the ¡®special title¡¯.


    God of Mirrors


    Permanent: Control of the Mirrors godly domain.


    And¡­ that was it. No descending golden lights from the sky, no wrath of the heavens fighting back against the birth of a new god¡­ Just pump mana into it¡­ Why do I feel ripped off?

 Chapter 377: The Final Manifestation

    <h4>Chapter 377: The Final Manifestation</h4>


    With a small sigh, I got up from the bed, ncing over my achievements as I called Leowynn back to me. Sorry, Leowynn. Hopefully, I won¡¯t have to do stuff like that anymore now. I whispered to her mentally, feeling how she had just gotten to Tsubaki¡¯s room to begin watching her y when I recalled her.


    It¡¯s fine, father. Leowynn assured me, the golden mist rushing through the door and back into my body. I understand why you want to get stronger. Though¡­ I¡¯m not sure how much stronger you can get now.


    I chuckled a bit at that, smiling wryly. I knew that there had to be a higher level still. I just¡­ didn¡¯t know what it was. For now, I was satisfied with what I had achieved. Let¡¯s let the others back in, then go get an idea for what we can do now?


    I could feel the excitement rising in Leowynn as I made that offer. Even before I made this change, there hadn¡¯t really been an opponent for us in any of the worlds. Fafnir was a decent fight, but only under the pretense that I wasn¡¯t using any killer moves. And on the other end of the spectrum were the deities themselves. We could likely fight all we wanted, but it was hard to say who would win, since neither party would have ess to their ¡®finishing moves¡¯.


    However, there were still other ways for us to test our power. And, as I ascended to the Admin Room, I was thinking about what kind of method I¡¯d like to use. After all¡­ this would also be a way for me to vent my frustrations over just how easy the transition had been.


    What I was not expecting, was to find a new item propped against myputer screen when I returned to the Admin Room. A hand mirror, simr in size to the one that I had tried to use in my battle with alia¡¯s recreation of Fafnir. It had a silver frame, iid with small jewels along the edge.


    Tied to the bottom of it was a note, which I quickly opened and read. The handwriting was rough, making it feel pretty obvious that it was written by Tubrock.


    ¡®alia told me what you tried to do in your fight. This is the Keeping Mirror. Fitting name, I thought. It has three primary functions, all of which require you to capture the target¡¯s image within the mirror. Shouldn¡¯t be hard with your domain. First, it can Keep the target within an isted mirror world that you and those you choose can enter. Getting out should be damn difficult without some kind of godly power or special ability.¡¯


    ¡®Secondly, it can summon a copy of a creature whose image is disyed in the mirror. This copy will have the mind and powers of the original, but be bound to your will. Think of it like an avatar with imprinted knowledge.¡¯


    ¡®Finally, the third ability allows you to simply track whoever has their image stored, like your normal ability. Should be a bit easier to use, I think, and make for an appropriate medium for you to use your domain powers. Try not to break this one, will you? It just requires your divine energy now, to bond to your domain and reallyplete it.¡¯


    Putting down the note, I felt a small smile tugging at my lips. Terra must have told him that I was taking the final step, and ascending to actual divinity now. I knew that he had been preparing a divine artifact for me, but I didn¡¯t know whether or not he had finished it. And the abilities that he gave it¡­ they were everything I could have hoped for.


    I picked up the Keeping Mirror, and channeled in my divine energy. The silver frame seemed to sh, before it changed gradually, from bottom to top shifting from silver to gold. Okay, Terra¡­ time to give me a rundown of how to be a ¡®false god¡¯, I think?


    As I asked for that information, I quickly got on theputer, setting it so that everyone had their normal ess rights to the worlds restored. By the time I was done, I felt the air shift behind me, Terra appearing and leaning against the chair. ¡°If you¡¯re worried about needing the faith of mortals or something to keep your power sustained, don¡¯t.¡± She said simply, reaching down to pat my shoulder.


    ¡°Good to know¡­ but there has to be some measure of how a god gains more divine energy, right?¡± I nced back towards Terra, smiling as I thought about where I should go for a ¡®test run¡¯ of my abilities.


    ¡°Divine energy builds gradually over time within a deity.¡± Terra exined kindly, her tail flicking back and forth behind her. ¡°It¡¯s not a measure of how we gain more, but where we can use it most effectively.¡±


    ¡°Yesterday, you still had the chance to use your divine energy to create a sword, or control fire. Now that you have a domain, you are both stronger and more limited. You can¡¯t use your divinity for things outside of your domain anymore, not without expending a massive amount of energy. But¡­ for things that are a part of your domain, the expenditure is considerably less.¡±


    ¡°Simrly, you can hasten the recovery of your energy by spending time in a ¡®holy site¡¯ dedicated to your domain. For you¡­ I suppose that would be a room where all of the walls were mirrors? But, that only helps you return to your peak, not move beyond it.¡± Terra shook her head slightly as she exined that.


    ¡°So, I should have a giant mirror installed in the ceiling of my bedroom?¡± I asked with a raised eyebrow, earning a light giggle from the catgirl goddess.


    ¡°It would certainly aid in your recovery while you rested. Though, sleep is entirely optional for you now¡­ As is eating, or even breathing.¡±


    When I heard Terra¡¯s exnation, a thought briefly shed through my mind. ¡°So, Terra¡­ with my ability to transform into the other gods¡­ would that mean that I can temporarily use their domains, as well?¡±


    Terra actually had to pause to consider that. And, when Terra of all people has to pause to think, you know that something is a big question. ¡°Actually¡­ yes. However, the cost to do so will be a bit bigger than what the copied individual would have to pay themselves. As for just how much¡­ you¡¯ll have to find that out on your own.¡±


    I gave a small nod at that, ncing back towards theputer. The location that I had selected was¡­ not any of my worlds. It was the moon of Earth. As she had said¡­ breathing was optional for me. And this was somewhere that I truly knew nobody would be able to discover what I was doing. Not unless they had zoom and enhance eyesight on the level of a massive telescope.


    When I descended, I had my eyes closed at first. I could feel the cold washing over my body. The utter stillness around me. When I opened my eyes, the vast expanse of grey rock appeared before me. Craters the size of cities dotted thendscape, one of which I stood at the very edge of.


    My eyes nced upwards, and I saw the massive world overhead, the vast blue and green. The ice caps of the north and south. For a moment, I thought I was able to see the ind of Rokindrol, where we had parked the Sky Citadel. However, I quickly shook my head, realizing that I wasn¡¯t even looking at the right section of the world.


    Well, Leowynn? What do you think of the view?


    It took a moment for any response toe from my question, and I could feel her slowly stirring, leaving my body to stand next to me. The coolness around my hand was reced with a gentle warmth as she grabbed it. It¡¯s beautiful, father¡­


    I had to agree with her, nodding my head. In my other hand, I still held the Keeping Mirror. I opened my mouth to speak, but of course¡­ there was no way I¡¯d be able to hear anything out here. Let¡¯s see what we can really do now.


    Stretching out the hand holding the mirror, I focused on channeling my divine energy. As Terra had previously exined, the energy felt a bit different than it had before. More focused¡­ and as I created a tall mirror in front of the two of us, I could tell that doing so used almost none of my power.


    Nodding in satisfaction, I nced towards Leowynn. Although my divine energy had been filtered into a domain, I could tell that the same wasn¡¯t true for her. She was still a pure divine soul¡­ Which was good, since otherwise it would mean that we would not likely be able to use our Aki Seppo in the same manner anymore.


    She caught my nce and smiled, turning into golden mist and wrapping around me. However, what we did wasn¡¯t our normal manifestations. Instead, I allowed myself to slip back, entering into my own soul space as mine and Leowynn¡¯s voices spoke as one in our mind. Body and soul as one.


    The final stage of Aki Seppo, which we hadn¡¯t had the power to properly achieve yet. But now, things were different. As I rested inside of Leowynn¡¯s body, allowing her to take control, I could feel my energy coursing through her. Thin threads of power rushing all around me. She has stars¡­ and I have my threads? I mused inwardly.


    For Leowynn, she appeared just as she always did, in her starry night dress with her tinum blonde hair flowing down behind her. However, she wore a single glove on each hand, from which multiple strings extended.


    I allowed my mind to divide, seeking the limit of what I was able to do in this form. As I did so, Leowynn swung out her hand. Dozens of blue lines shot out, stretching across the area and touching various points. One hundred, one fifty¡­ two hundred, I was able to go beyond what I could normally achieve, now that I did not have to focus on controlling my own body.


    In the end, I was able to maintain two hundred and fifty-nine threads. Leowynn smiled wide as she danced, the threads spinning around her. Sometimes, she would step through a thread to appear somewhere else. Sometimes, she would condense ten of them together to physically pull herself somewhere. She was truly enjoying the freedom of this new power.


    But there was more¡­ a second half to the final stage. After letting her have her fun for a little while, I felt that she was ready to continue. And so, I withdrew the threads, returning my mind to a single, undivided focus. Manifest the Keeper¡¯s Might.


    Immediately, Leowynn¡¯s energy skyrocketed. A golden aura appeared around her body, which grew to the height of a dozen meters before condensing back down into a thinyer that covered her skin. For most people, this would simply look like a protective barrier, or a super-advanced version of ki, but I saw something else.


    Across her body, I was able to see distinct patterns. Rolling blue waves, burning embers, piercing swords¡­ all of the patterns that I hade to identify with sses across my own soul. This wasn¡¯t as simple as a protective energy. It was just as it was named.


    Leowynn stared down at her own hand, seeming to feel the strength contained within the golden light. Her eyes closed as she spoke, her words echoing within our souls. Thank you, father.


    Suddenly, she stretched her hand out, making a grabbing motion at the air. Using the powers of a druid, she lifted severalrge rocks out of the ground, and made them spin over her head, before tossing them off into the horizon. Then, she slowly stretched her hand down, creating a sword that she deftly held.


    Leowynn had been with me more than long enough to know how to use all of my ss abilities. It was only natural that she¡¯d be able to pick it up quickly. And, after a few tests of this power, she let out an empty, silent breath. I could feel her tugging on my soul, pulling me back in control while she moved to rest in my soul again, happy with our disy. And the mirror still stood in front of us, having let her see herself the entire time.

 Chapter 378: A New Age Dawns

    <h4>Chapter 378: A New Age Dawns</h4>


    After Leowynn and I took a moment to adjust to our new abilities, I opened another mirror portal. This time, it was taking us directly to the Sky Citadel. I felt no need to make any grand announcement about my new status. Instead, it would be obvious over time to those who paid attention, so there was no need to make a fuss.


    Once I had returned to the world, I felt something within my mind subtly change. Intangible connections forming between me and countless ces within not only Earth, but the other three worlds as well. At first, it caused me to stumble slightly from the new sensations, before I was able to mentally suppress it.


    It didn¡¯t take long to figure out that what I was being ¡®connected¡¯ to were mirrors. Every mirror¡­ giving a slight nudge of thought towards the closest link, I could see an empty stone room, one of the unused bedrooms within the citadel itself. And then another, and another¡­ it didn¡¯t take long to find the room that had the maid peacefullyying on her bed, a ck visor over her eyes.


    Was the moon just too far away? Why didn¡¯t I get this before¡­ or was my divinity still ¡®adjusting¡¯ to my body before I left? I wondered inwardly, shaking my head as I focused to suppress the connection between myself and the mirrors. I knew that I would find a use for this, eventually. But that was something to think about for the future.


    Instead of moving towards my throne room, I walked out towards the garden, taking in the sights. Fafnir was just dragging his way out onto a nearby beach, his mouth holding the tail of arge serpent, showing that he had finally been able to hunt a sea creature. Below, I could see a vast expanse of trees, opening up in select areas to make way for various cities.


    Stretching my sight out further, I looked through thework portals with the aid of a mirror, seeing the Dawn Kingdom. Their mining ships sailing across the seas, looking for new mineral deposits while they fight back the powerful monsters that lurk below. As I focused on that, something special caught my eye¡­


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°And you¡¯re saying that this information can be trusted?¡± Jasper asked curiously, looking over a hand drawn map that had beenid out in front of him. Across his desk, one of the Lightborn stood at attention with a calm smile.


    ¡°We¡¯re investigating that right now. However, it seems that an identical map has appeared within the Consortium. They¡¯re currently acting to verify its contents, as well.¡± The Lightborn nodded his head. He appeared to be a dovah with pure white skin, the subtle glow about him giving him an angelic appearance.


    ¡°The Consortium¡­¡± This wasn¡¯t the first time in recent days that he had heard that name, and he knew all too well what it meant. Such a thing didn¡¯t exist during his mother¡¯s time, as Dawn had been cut off from the rest of Fyor. But now¡­ the Consortium controlled the shadows of Fyor. Any shady business was likely tied to them through some manner or other. And if not¡­ it was just a matter of time until they sought it out.


    ¡°Do we know where the map came from?¡± He nced up towards the Lightborn, who nodded, pulling out a pitch ck coin. Along the coin were two narrow, red eyes and a crooked red grin.


    ¡°This is supposedly the token of the Grinning Shade. In truth, it is simply a painted underworld coin.¡± He flipped the coin over, allowing Jasper to see where some of the paint had been scratched off, revealing a copper surface underneath. ¡°It was used as a storage device, the map left inside of it. Once we received word of the parcel, and what it contained, we brought it to you immediately.¡±


    Jasper nodded his head. Many of the other magisters were training within the next floor, growing their own power to ensure that they remain strong enough to keep the kingdom safe. Leaving him as one of the highest ranking individuals of the kingdom. ¡°Let me know once you verify the map¡¯s authenticity. If we can quickly break through to the twenty-first floor¡­ the others will want to hear about it.¡±


    Jasper, admittedly, wasn¡¯t the best when it came to political maneuvering. He knew that it was important for them to secure the new territory, but he wasn¡¯t able to figure out what they would need to do from there. He was a mage, through and through. Since a young age, he had been focused purely on his studies of magic. His training as a ruler didn¡¯te until muchter, and was arguably still far fromplete.


    He had been chosen to remain behind and oversee Dawn not because of his gifts as a Magister, but his strength as a mage. Whereas the others had to train in the floor above to get more powerful, Jasper was already far beyond the norm. Thus, they were confident leaving the area in his hands for the short duration it took them to train.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­¡± Thelsa furrowed her brows in thought, looking over the map that she had drawn. ¡°Dawn, the organization¡­ right, gave it to the herocs on twenty, as well¡­ Maybe I should stop by Nexus, spread the map to the other worlds?¡±


    Once she had realized that the twenty-first floor was ¡®safe¡¯, Thelsa had gotten an idea. Using her monocle to peer through the barrier between floors, she grasped the location of the twentieth floor¡¯s gate, and began to trace it back from her position of safety. There were too many swarms for her to risk manually exploring the area, which was the same reason that nobody had done so before now.


    As for mapping it from the floor below? That would just let them know where the starting line was, but they wouldn¡¯t have any idea where to go to find the other gate. Only someone that had personally been to both locations would be able to map them out like she had.


    Nodding her head, she picked up another of her token coins, holding it tight as a smile came over her face.


    _______________________________________________________________


    The sounds of des crashing resonated through the bandit camp. yers shouted in frustration as their hard work was quickly torn apart by two young-looking women. The first, a halfling with pink hair, a popr look for any female followers of Aurivy. The second, arguably an even more popr look, a golden-haired kitsune in a maid uniform.


    It was natural for people to idolize Aurivy as a goddess, and many aspired to be like Tsubaki as well. So, when these two individuals appeared at their gate, the bandit yers thought that they were just a pair of people dressing up. It was a game after all, right? So many people wanted to live out their fantasies within Vision Expanse¡­ There were even people that took on the appearance of the Keeper himself.


    But when they unsheathed their des, and began to dance through the battlefield, there was a viciousness about them that did not at all match the normal ¡®roleys¡¯ people had regarding these two figures. Everyone wanted to portray the Goddess of Love as a gentle, caring individual, out to explore the world and see everything that she could. As for the Keeper¡¯s Servant, they often portrayed her as being firm in her service to her lord, but not very outgoing.


    Now, however¡­ they were like two reapers. Bloodthirsty smiles filled their faces as their eyes glinted fiercely. Most of the NPCs had been wiped out in under a minute, while the yers themselves were struggling to hold on, using the skills that they had acquired through their life. After seeing the mass ughter of the NPCs, they no longer thought of this as a game¡­ they felt as though they were truly fighting to survive.


    The bandits began pulling scrolls out of their inventory, one after another in a desperate attempt to save themselves. Potions were gulped down without remorse, talismans thrown. Even bombs were thrown around, uncaring for the friendly fire so long as it bought them the chance they needed.


    Seeing the attacks raining towards her, Aurivy grinned, crouching down and pping the ground. ¡°Tremble, Shinnok.¡± A glowing blue circle of light appeared on the ground where she had touched, before spreading out around her. As it expanded, multicolored lights emerged from the grass, the burning tents, even the items being thrown towards her.


    Moments before those items could hit, however, a towering hand rose out of the ground, the palm forming a shield that covered Aurivy¡¯s entire body. It waited for a moment as silence descended, before grabbing the ground, seeming to pull itself up. Now, the circle expanded even further, everything in its path ¡®donating¡¯ mana to fuel its arrival.


    ¡°S-she¡¯s a summoner?¡± One of the bandits uttered as a towering, armored giant appeared, nearly twenty feet tall. Its armor was a deep ocean blue, its skin pitch ck. On its helmet were two curved horns, while on its back it held a sword asrge as its body.


    Naturally, everyone knew what a summoner was. However¡­ nobody had seen one in the game, yet. They had tried the traditional methods of unlocking advanced sses, but none of them seemed to go how they expected. This one was no different¡­


    Aurivy wasn¡¯t truly a summoner, not in the way that Earth recognized the ss. Shinnok was not an Aeon that she created. Instead, she had learned how to create pacts with certain powerful beings. She carried a token of their power, and when she called for them, they used her as a medium to summon an avatar of themselves.


    The rituals that she had to learn to gain the attention of these powerful individuals were well worth the effect that they had inbat. At least, in her mind. And as she watched Shinnok grasp the greatsword on his back, she sent a small grin towards Tsubaki.


    The kitsune¡¯s brows furrowed, her ck wings forming and unfolding behind her as she called her scythe. The two of them were having apetition¡­ to see who could eliminate the most bandits. As soon as Aurivy called for Shinnok, she knew that she couldn¡¯t afford to hold back anymore herself, or she would surely lose their bet.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Le leaned back against her chair, letting out a soft sigh as she finished writing up an email. ¡°You sure this is alright, Vivi?¡± She asked out loud, her eyes closed as her head tilted back to rest against the back of the chair.


    A voice soon responded from herputer. ¡°I assure you, there will be no problems with the operation of the world. It had always been designed with a moddingmunity in mind.¡±


    Le gave a brief grumble, doing her best to nod her head. She had been worried, understandably, when she learned that there were people trying to dissect the code of Vision Expanse. Some of them wanted to create mods, things like shared minimaps, reskins, or new UI features. At first, she was worried that their meddling would somehow damage the world itself, but Vivi had repeatedly assured her that nothing like that would happen.


    Mods would not change anything about the world itself, only the way that the yer perceived it. This was a rule not only for Vision Expanse, but any game world built with the Reality Virtual system. As such, Vivi actually encouraged her to allow the moddingmunity to create what they wanted.


    ¡°Alright¡­ if this doesn¡¯t work¡­¡± She mumbled, but deep down she already knew that it would. Vivi wouldn¡¯t have spoken with such confidence if she was unsure. As such, the two of them hade to a conclusion, a contest issued to the public.


    Whoever was able to create the most popr mod for Vision Expanse would be given a ticket for a very special lottery. This lottery would include only second or third tier skills, making it an extremely valuable reward. While the person might not get something that they immediately want, they would have the option to teach the skill to other yers, earning a substantial profit in the process.


    ¡°By the way, Vivi¡­ how hard would it be to add in a new god at this point?¡± Le asked, her lips crooking up slightly.


    ¡°If it is for one of the undiscovered worlds, it would still be a simple matter. Did you have a specific idea in mind?¡± The voice from theputer asked, seemingly curious about Le¡¯s idea.


    ¡°I do, yeah¡­ Dale just finished ascending, it looks like¡­ So, would you be able to make him the God of Mirrors, Kings, and¡­ let¡¯s go with Rebirth as the third one.¡± As Ashley was the one that had been ced in charge of the game by Dale, Le was able to ask for certain things without having to run it by Dale first. ¡°Let¡¯s just keep this as a surprise for him¡­ If you could put him in the same areas as Leowynn, that¡¯d be best.¡±


    ¡°Noted.¡± Vivi spoke up in a light, yful voice. ¡°I¡¯ll add it into the registry.¡±

 Chapter 379: Counting Cards

    <h4>Chapter 379: Counting Cards</h4>


    After a few minutes of observing the world through the mirrors, I pulled my sight back. My hand came up, massaging my temple as I fought off a sudden headache. In order to test myself, I had chosen to watch multiple areas at once. However, like with controlling my avatars, I could only handle so much sensory input at one time. It seemed like bing a false deity hadn¡¯t given me a substantial increase in that regard.


    However, that was a small matter. I could train my mind through the same method I had been doing until now, albeit a slow process. What mattered the most at this moment was allowing my world to grow.


    Some small part of me considered returning to the Admin Room, and fast forwarding again. Like this, I would be able to see a noticeable growth in the development of the world quickly. Whether it was the space race within Vision Expanse, the matters between Dawn and the Council, or even Tsubaki¡¯s own growth.


    Yet¡­ I quickly rejected that idea. I did not want to just fast forward over everything all the time. I wanted to be here, within the world, and watch it shape itself in my eyes. I wanted to properly learn, now that I had the power to do so without worry, and the convenience to do sofortably.


    As I thought about that, I suddenly blinked. Right¡­ there was something that I had been wanting to look into for a long time, and had been forgetting. A skillset that could prove invaluable if it was properly utilized.


    Ryone, is there a currency that works between worlds? I asked as I stood up, making sure to conceal my aura deep within myself. When I was done, I would appear as no more than an aplished mage and schr, with only a light touch of other sses here and there.


    Unfortunately not. Ryone replied once I was done. Each of the four worlds have set up their own ¡®standard¡¯ currency, and they each have banks that allow people to convert their money from one world¡¯s currency to another, especially near the Fairy Gate.


    I gave a small nod at that. Could you supply me with some funds for Deckan? I need to go shopping.


    There was a brief pause, as if she were surprised, before a card floated down tond in my hand. That was it, just a single card. However, on its cover was a golden coin engraved with Udona¡¯s face. Fox Gold¡­ one hundred thousa--Ryone! This is probably overkill, right!? I feel like this is overkill!


    Her response was a light giggle. Get me something nice while you¡¯re out.


    I shook my head with a sigh. Focusing on the card, I carefully extracted the coins and divided them among a hundred cards. I found that it was rather easy to do, actually. As long as I thought of how much I wanted to extract, a second card would be formed with that amount. This let me create a small pile of cards, each with a thousand coins.


    Given Ryone¡¯s personality, she had no doubt just given me a true fortune. I never told her what I was going shopping for, after all, so she would have prepared for the most extravagant purchases¡­ plus a little extra for her present.


    I kept one of the cards in my storage pouch at my waist, the other ny-nine hiding within my body. Since I was no longer flesh and blood, I was able to create a small cavity within myself to hold them. It took a little bit to get used to, sure¡­ but I felt it was nice to have insurance. Someone might try to steal my storage bag. Aside from that, it would only invite trouble if I shed around too much money in public.


    With that in mind, I adjusted my aura once again to give the appearance of the noble ss. Finally, my preparationsplete, I activated my nar shift power. The world seemed to copse around me, and suddenly everything changed. I was now standing in a dark alleyway, along one of the busy streets of Ashtanu, the capital city of Kirol.


    Kirol was a popr trade country, located so close to the Fairy Gate. Ever since the return of the Deckmaster, Alu, their industry had boomed. They now specialized in a new field, which they named Card Synthesis.


    Card synthesis was a technique that Alu had touched on himself, but only barely. It had given him the power to perform a Fusion of multiple cards without needing the Fusion card itself. This was the first step, Emtion. Synthesis went a step further, binding the emted effect into a card.


    I left my alley and walked into the noisy streets. It was easy to tell who was from around here, and who wasn¡¯t. Natives of Deckan rarely wore backpacks or anyrge satchels. Local products could all be stored in card form, after all. And with the appearance of card synthesis, it was slowly bing possible to store items produced from other worlds in cards as well.


    Thus, most natives simply carried a small container for their cards, typically somewhere hidden on their person. I was able to see this as a small bulge in a vest pocket, or a slightly thicker sleeve. Those who could afford to do so went a step further, enchanting an everyday item with a storage space.


    I had heard about the card synthesis development only recently, by watching the world through my mirrors. I had yet to see one of these special cards myself. So, when I ced myself in this world, I made sure to choose a location near one of thergest card vendors in the city. Above their door was a sign of a kitsune with nine golden tails, something which immediately caught my eye.


    I had never heard of a nine-tailed kitsune, which meant¡­ it was very likely that this store was founded by Udona, or one who learned some information from her. When I entered the store, there was a thin man with ck hair standing in a business suit behind the counter. He didn¡¯t immediately greet me, as he was already dealing with another customer.


    As such, I merely moved along the wall. This store¡­ and probably others as well, didn¡¯t disy their cards out in the open. Instead, they had a number of catalogsid out along the walls for people to browse through


    Once I opened the catalog, I realized immediately that it was enchanted. Like a magical tracker of the store¡¯s stock, it held up to date numbers on all cards within their storage. I couldn¡¯t help but smile when I realized this, happy to see that they hade this far with their magic to make such a thingmercially avable.


    Browsing through the pages, I saw that they primarily sold basic cards from the three tiers of magic. Only a few popr fusion spells were listed, such as the first tier fireball, second tier teleport, or¡­ my eyes widened as a I saw the price of apleted third tier spell. Its name was ¡®Autonomous Home Defense Ward¡¯, priced at a staggering twenty-five hundred fox gold. For reference¡­ the second tier teleport spell cost a mere fifty fox gold.


    Udona? What is this spell? I asked mentally, focusing on the target of my curiosity.


    Hmm? Udona spoke up, seeming surprised I was calling for her. Oh! That¡¯s a really good one. Pretty popr with the higher ss. As long as it is ced in a ¡®ward generator¡¯ and supplied enough mana, it handles most aspects of home security. It keeps a record of thest twenty-four hours of surveince, passively increases the defense of all structures in the ward area, andes with an rm if any structure suffers a certain amount of damage.


    So it was a one time investment, but offered a lot of utility for those that could afford it. I thanked Udona for her information, just as I noticed the kitsune man walking over towards me. ¡°Can I help you find something?¡± He asked with a polite smile. I hadn¡¯t changed into anything overly fancy beforeing here, so it was nice that he didn¡¯t look at me as if he were trying to hurry me out of his store. Even a look at his surface thoughts told me that he was simply doing his job to help customers.


    I nodded my head. ¡°I¡¯m starting a collection of second and third tier cards, so that I can help train a young novice in the ways of magic. I had heard about your store¡¯s reputation, and wanted to see if it was as the rumors say.¡±


    The man¡¯s eyes widened for a moment. I had to be careful with my wording still, as I was never sure just who would be a priest of Irena. Technically, I was very much a young novice when it came to card magic. To my recollection, I had never performed my own card fusion. ¡°Certainly, sir. Do you have any spells in mind for the final goal of the training? If so, we can n out what different cards you will need to reach that point.¡±


    I gave a satisfied nod at his response. ¡°Self defense is incredibly important, but¡­ he has learned quite a bit from the other worlds. So I want to challenge him. It will be a grand spell, of that I am sure, requiring many smaller conditional arguments.¡± I could see him running the numbers in his expression.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ okay. I think we can help with that.¡± He said after a moment, motioning for me to follow him towards the counter. When I got there, I saw him pull up a holographic screen made of mana, a circr, holographic ¡®keyboard¡¯ in front of it that he manipted by rotating numerous dials and slides within it. ¡°Is it okay if I prepare a surplus, just in case of initial failures?¡± He asked, not wanting to overcharge me.


    ¡°It would be appreciated.¡±


    There was a moment of hesitation, before he gave another nod. ¡°Okay¡­ looking at this, adding in tax, it wille to¡­ three thousand, seven hundred, and sixty-two fox gold and change. I put in a few choices from various second tier effects, so if that price is too much I can cut the number down a bit.¡±


    Once again, I was assured that Ryone had given me a gross amount of money. ¡°No, that will be fine.¡± I told him simply, willing a few of the cards within myself to merge into a single, five-thousand coin card. Reaching into my bag, I motioned as if retrieving the card, only to have it emerge from my hand as I did so.


    There was a ck device on the counter, which had disyed the same price he had listed off. It didn¡¯t take a genius to figure out what the machine was for, and I ced the card against it, willing the money to transfer.


    He seemed surprised that I had so easily parted with such arge sum, broken out of his thoughts a momentter, when the ck device produced another card. This one held a far smaller number on it, representing my change from the transaction. ¡°I-I¡¯ll go get your order, sir.¡± After he said that, he rushed into the storage room behind the counter, causing me to chuckle slightly.


    I could feel a pair of eyes watching me from the moment that I said what type of purchase I wanted to make, but I didn¡¯t pay it any mind. There would always be those greedy for another¡¯s treasures. I was just not so simple a target, especially since I didn¡¯t n to stick around for very long afterwards.


    When the shopkeeper returned, he was carrying a small, golden deck box. It looked like it held no more than fifty cards, but I could feel that that was a lie. After all, it was actually empty, enchanted as a storage container with the cards that I had purchased hidden within that. ¡°Complimentary with your purchase, sir.¡± His tone was still polite as he passed the case to me.


    ¡°Thank you. I¡¯ll be sure toe back if I need anything else.¡± And it was true¡­ if I needed to get more cards, this would undoubtedly be where I came. Just from seeing their selection, I could tell that they had ess to card synthesis, and were able to produce a wide variety of cards because of it.


    As I left the store, the deck box in hand, I felt the eyes watching me still. Whoever had set their sights on me would surely make a move, if given the chance. Unfortunately for them¡­ I quickly ducked into an alley and used my nar shift once again, returning to the Sky Citadel.

 Chapter 380: The Watcher

    <h4>Chapter 380: The Watcher</h4>


    When I reappeared, I was already back within my own room in the Sky Citadel. The thought of punishing those who had their eyes on my treasure did ur to me, but what was the point of that? Needlessly exposing my strength, leaving potential clues behind for others? It was far easier for someone to rationalize a teleportation ability, as those weremonce among the four worlds.


    For now, I wanted to focus on my little training project. I hadn¡¯t forgotten how Ryone had asked for a present when I was done, but¡­ if this worked, I might just be able to give her the kind of present she would really like. If it didn¡¯t, then it was just a matter of finding something nice for her, though I doubt she¡¯d like it as much¡­


    Closing my eyes, I began visualizing what I wanted in my mind. All I needed was the big picture, the finished product. From there¡­ I broke it down into pieces. What made it work, how did it all fit together.


    With my understanding of magic, I knew that its potential shouldn¡¯t be a single step behind technology. I had personally seen a fourth tier spell once before, a spell that had been given a life of its own. Not some artificial programming, but a true soul formed through mana.


    That said, the third tier should include the potential for artificial awareness. Simr to the home defense spell, how it identifies damage to a structure, or detects intruders. But this¡­ this would be a bit more.


    I still stood on my bed, unmoving after I had arrived. Only once I hadpleted the n for the first part in my mind did I get to work. In the corner of my awareness, I could swear that I felt eyes focusing on me from above, but I did my best not to pay too much attention to that.


    The living mind is a repository of stored information and decisions. Right and wrong is not something that we¡¯re born knowing. We aren¡¯t born with the knowledge to talk. We are born able to store information, and use that information to make decisions.


    What makes artificial intelligence so difficult isn¡¯t the ability to store information, but to properly ess that information to make decisions in such a way that shows growth. Onerge factor for this is that artificial intelligence doesn¡¯t have the ¡®w¡¯ of age. Whether it is a ¡®faulty¡¯ memory that causes decisions to sometimes be erratic, or the simple moral code that we had grown ustomed to, an artificial intelligence typically doesn¡¯t have any of that.


    Of course, who would want to program an artificial intelligence that randomly corrupted its own memories to simte simple forgetfulness? As a person, we could jog our memory, showing that the information was still there, simply stored in a hard to reach area of the mind.


    Still, the most difficult part was to create the measures by which decisions would be made. The two aspects which truly governed decisions¡­ logic and emotion. I wasn¡¯t worried about emotion. I suspected that creating genuine emotion was likely to be an ability of the fourth tier.


    What I wanted was a ¡®generous¡¯ logic, which took the wellbeing of itself and others into consideration. Obviously, without taking it to such an extreme that the intelligence would desire the destruction of all life. I wanted it to analyze the expressions of others, see their pain both emotional and physical.


    As I carefullyid out the cards, one by one, only creating the most basic of concepts for right now, I was trying to create a framework for the intelligence itself to learn the difference between right and wrong. I had never heard of a magic like this being created, as even the most advanced golems were like those of Lorek, only following basic, presetmands.


    Working on this made it very easy for me topletely lose track of time. Sometimes, I would stop, focusing on what I wanted again to break it down all over again. Just standing there for who knows how long, before I got back to work. I noticed about halfway through that I should have run out of the cards I had purchased, and nned to go buy more.


    However, I found that the deck box had been fully replenished, all of the cards that I had previously spent returned. Whether it was Udona or Ryone, someone was clearly interested in seeing where I went with this.


    Every so often, I would see a prepared function ¡®failing¡¯ to fuse. Lightning crackled around the cards as they were drawn towards the vortex, each one created more and more energy. I quickly learned that this was a sign of a failure, and began dispersing the fusion vortex as soon as such signs appeared, to prevent too much waste.


    Finally, I was done with the most basic properties that I could think of. Now, it was just a matter of getting them all to join together in a way that did not cause a massive explosion¡­ And that meant an understanding of magic beyond what I was consciously aware of.


    Closing my eyes, I gave a light breath. ¡°Mirror the Archmage.¡± I let my divine energy pulse as a mirror appeared behind me, my body and thoughts shifting. Now, looking at the cards, I felt a different sort of feeling. It was a feeling of closeness, a realization that I knew came from my avatar¡¯s reading in the library.


    The information was there in my own mind, it was just a matter of bringing it to the surface. And who better to do that than my current form? Raising one slender hand, the cards flew into motion. Some of themid down in patterns like I had been doing until now, others stacking on top of those patterns, formingyers of cards between two and five high.


    My wrist flourished, and the fusion cards began flying out next. I could feel my lips curving upwards as I watched the vortexes forming. Even if this wasn¡¯t exactly what I had intended, it should still be a step in the right direction.


    My brows creased together as I saw sparks forming within two of therger vortexes. However, a soothing sensation filled the back of my mind. I knew that Dale would stop this, he would be more cautious. But I wasn¡¯t Dale right now. My mind raced at seeing what might happen, whether the spell would seed or fail spectacrly.


    Granted, I was still able to maintain enough control of myself that I could have banished the vortex if I truly wanted to. It¡¯s just¡­ something about my current state told me that I didn¡¯t need to. My fingers extended, pointing towards the two vortexes, and I saw them beginning to calm down. ¡°Note to self¡­ well, note to other self. If they don¡¯t have fusion stabilizers yet, that should be a priority.¡±


    Oh, they do. Ryone¡¯s true voice spoke back to me after I had spoken. There was a slight touch of excitement that she couldn¡¯t quite hide. Udona and I haven¡¯t finishedpiling the book that would have those machines in them yet.


    Figures¡­ either way, it didn¡¯t matter to me much at the current moment. The vortexes were finally starting to fuse together. As they did, as they grew more and more dense, a turbulent wind seemed to spread through my room, a crack of thunder that let me know that the spell wasn¡¯t taking properly.


    After just a moment of thought, I was able to realize that it was because I had used too many cards. I had gone over the limit that a third tier card could hold. But¡­ once again, I did not panic, nor did I dismiss the vortexes.


    Again, I pointed to the rumbling mass of dark energy, and it began to calm. If the base limit had been reached, then I simply had to enhance it. That was something I did learn about when reading, a device used during card fusions to increase the upper limit.


    Once I had calmed the fusion for thest time, I saw the vortex shrinking, the winds falling away as everything seemed to return to normal. And then, in a sh, the mana in the atmosphere seemed to have been caught in a storm. All of it was rushing madly towards a single card that was slowly falling down in the center of the room.


    Its edges were trimmed in gold, seeming to shine within the light. This was the effect of ¡®breaking the limit¡¯ of what a card could hold. Normally reserved only for the most powerful of spells. The image of the card was a shifting, foggy cloud, as if the true form of the magic had yet to fully take root. Even the name and description on the card were empty. For now, at least.


    You have created a new Magic Card! Please choose the name for this card.


    ¡°The Watcher.¡± I spoke, still in Ryone¡¯s voice as my eyes focused on the card. As I did so, I saw the name appearing on the card¡¯s face, as well as a line of text below. ¡®Imbues a target with sentience for as long as the card is merged with the target.¡¯


    Congrattions! You have earned an achievement!


    For creating a pinnacle spell of the highest tier your world can achieve, you have earned the Limit Break achievement! +20 points, +5% Mana Affinity


    Honestly, I had been expecting an achievement for creating sentience, but¡­ I had already done that before. Both the world spirits and martial spirits qualified there, so perhaps the system didn¡¯t evaluate that as highly as normal people would¡­?


    Furthermore, I knew that sentience wasn¡¯t the only effect given with this card. ¡°Wake up.¡± I said, the sound of shattering ss filling the room as I returned to my normal form. Within the dense mist of the card¡¯s image, two spots of light seemed to form, almost like eyes.


    Satisfied with your present? I asked Ryone in a slightly teasing tone, her responseing through almost right away.


    Definitely. What made you think of it, out of curiosity?


    I shook my head with a small smile. Honestly, I¡¯ve wanted to try it for ages. Artificial intelligence was one of the main research fields in the world that I came from. When I saw what ¡®third tier¡¯ abilities were capable of, I knew it was possible. Card magic made it easier, because all of the options are clearlyid out from the start, and it was just a matter of making thebinations.


    Now that the intelligence had been formed, it was still incapable of making proper decisions on how to act. First, it had to absorb enough information, and be ¡®taught¡¯. For that, there were a few different answers. The easiest, normally, would be to simply carry the card with me and let it learn from my daily activities. If it had any questions, I would be able to answer them.


    But for me, personally, there was a way that I thought was far better. As the card¡¯s description said, it didn¡¯t imbue a target creature with sentience. Just a target.


    I briefly focused, and a golden mirror appeared along the far wall of my room. Walking over towards it, I picked the Watcher card up as I passed, before cing it against the surface of the mirror. The face of the card was directed at me, and I ced a closed fist in front of it. When my hand pulled back, opening up, a circr interface appeared, simr to what was used for the cash register at the card shop.


    This was something that I added in after seeing that, a sort of safeguard. ¡°Let¡¯s temporarily disable motion for now. Don¡¯t want you flying off just yet.¡± I muttered, finding the node which represented the power for the spell to move its host body. Then, I brought that node to the center, after which a slide appeared. Once I had turned it all the way down, I knew that this mirror wouldn¡¯t go flying away.


    Pulling my hand back, I watched the card slowly sink into the surface of the mirror. This next part was something that I was sure that only I was able to do¡­ connecting this mirror to a work¡¯ of other mirrors. The Watcher would be able to see and learn by watching the world, seeing a far greater scope than what I could show myself.

 Chapter 381: Special Event

    <h4>Chapter 381: Special Event</h4>


    As soon as the Watcher got to work, I could feel it looking through the link that I had set up. I had been careful to make sure not to connect the link with my own awareness, after the flood of information I had received from just looking through a handful of mirrors. For the Watcher, though, that was not an issue. It was able to choose how many and which mirrors it wanted to observe.


    Now, of course I was aware that there was a somewhat limited scope on where most people ced their mirrors. I couldn¡¯t say that I was skilled enough to remove certain mirrors from the connection. However, aside from the obvious ces, there were also mirrors that were carried out in the open. Particrly so when they were used as mediums for magic.


    With that in mind, I was confident that I could leave the Watcher to its task of collecting information, ande back to it after a couple of days to see how it had grown. From the looks of things, it turned out better than I had expected¡­


    That thought earned me a satisfied whisper from Ryone. Oh? What were you expecting?


    The usual. Chaos, lightning, explosions. Maybe a robotic personality hellbent on overthrowing mankind. I did do my best to not make thatst one a thing¡­


    I could all but feel the Goddess of Magic nodding her head. From the configuration, it values the happiness of others enough above their safety that, even in an extreme situation, it wouldn¡¯t go for mass destruction or conquest like that.


    Good. I gave a small smile as she confirmed that the failsafes were in ce. At least it was an easier project than the other thing I had in mind.


    Okay, mister. Now you know you have to talk.


    My lips curved upwards just a bit more as I responded. My other idea was to try to make an arcane video game. Card magic is essentially magical programming, right? It should be possible to make games out of it, then. The only reason that I had decided against it, and gone with my Watcher idea was because I remembered Sarah telling me that it was far more difficult to make game worlds with magic, as opposed to technology.


    Well¡­ I can¡¯t say that you¡¯re the only one working on it. Ryone delivered a rather unexpected piece of news to me, making me pause in my steps as I was heading towards the door. Honestly, there are some smaller games out. However, they are only single yer, or local co-op. They¡¯ve yet to figure out how to establish a stable connection across multiple cards for long distance y.


    That was a bit unfortunate. Still, it was progress. As I thought that, I nced back towards the ck visor resting beside my bed. It should be about time for me to head back in and have a look around now.


    Nodding to myself, I walked over, cing the visor on top of my head to log into Vision Expanse. Briefly, I was concerned that I would no longer be able to connect after bing a false deity. I didn¡¯t exactly have a normal body for the machine to register anymore. Yet, my expectations were betrayed, and I smoothly logged into the game.


    ¡°Congrattions on your ascension.¡± A voice spoke up in front of me, and I saw the silver-bodied Vivi standing there. I had appeared in her territory, as opposed to where I had logged out, which meant that she likely needed something from me. Or she just wanted to congratte me¡­


    ¡°One of the others told you?¡± That was the only way that I figured she would have been able to figure out what had happened to me.


    ¡°That is correct, Dale.¡± Vivi gave a joyful smile as she held her arms behind her back. ¡°From my understanding, this is quite the aplishment. As such, I wanted to offer the creation of a special event.¡±


    I blinked, surprised at her offer. ¡°Excuse me?¡±


    ¡°A special event within Vision Expanse. We can keep the purpose behind the event a secret if that is what you wish. However, I believed it would be a good way tomemorate the asion.¡±


    I lifted my hand up to my head, rubbing my forehead gently. ¡°Okay¡­ let¡¯s hear it¡­ what kind of event did you have in mind?¡± I wasn¡¯t so much frustrated or annoyed, just shocked, and stuck trying to process everything still.


    ¡°Within your world, I believe you live in a ce known as the Sky Citadel. I¡¯ve been working to craft a facsimile of this fortress, to the best of my abilities. Now, naturally, I do not have the blueprints or the proper materials to create an exact replica. Aside from what I have heard from the others, or seen through the cameras in yours and Tsubaki¡¯s bedrooms, I havergely given it my own design.¡±


    ¡°My event idea is to have the Sky Citadel appear within the world of Vision Expanse as a high level dungeon. It will fly around aimlessly, without a master. Whichever group clears the dungeon and reaches the central control room will have the ability to im it as a permanent base.¡±


    ¡°The Citadel, as I have created it, features workshops of the highest quality that are suitable for any essential crafting skills. There are enough living quarters to house a medium sized guild, as well as mobile defenses in the event of a raid. It is my belief that this event could stir the yer base into action. If not because of the previously mentioned features, then surely because of the final function¡­¡±


    Seeing how she left her words hanging, my eyes widened in realization. ¡°You gave it the ability to travel through space¡­¡±


    Vivi nodded her head in satisfaction. ¡°The Citadel¡¯s shields are capable of containing the atmosphere within the base, and its propulsion system is capable of continuous eleration outside of the¡¯s gravity. Whoever conquers the Sky Citadel will be capable of viewing other worlds. Though, the travel time would still be a bit long.¡±


    She shook her head briefly, ridding herself of some hidden thoughts. ¡°If we allow one group to see other worlds, and let spread the information, it will encourage the rest of the yer base. The structure of the Citadel itself will also present them with new ideas to further their research. If the event proceeds smoothly, it may be possible for them to finish their inteary craft ahead of my predicted schedule.¡±


    I let out a long, heavy breath. It was also possible for yers to fly into a rage that one group was allowed such a fantastic advantage that no other group was. However¡­ ¡°The Citadel¡­ it is created entirely using skills and materials found within Vision Expanse, right? As far as I know, you shouldn¡¯t be able to make something without those requirements.¡±


    ¡°That is correct, sir.¡± Vivi gave a sharp nod. ¡°With the proper materials and skills, it is simrly possible for yers to create mobile bases such as what I have prepared for this event.¡±


    That was a relief. If we announced that possibility, it would dampen their anger a bit, shifting their focus to either getting their own mobile base, orpleting the space program. ¡°Okay, you canunch the event.¡± I told her, though not without conditions. ¡°But, just to be clear, it will be regr monsters upying the Citadel, not representations of myself or any of the others, correct?¡±


    Vivi¡¯s head bobbed up and down so quickly that I was sure it was about to fall off. ¡°Of course! It would be improper to pose them with the challenge of defeating deity levelbatants. I had been tempted to offer Tsubaki the position of final boss within the dungeon, but¡­¡±


    The way she nced off to the side almost nervously brought a chuckle out of me. ¡°You¡¯re worried she wouldn¡¯t let anyone conquer the dungeon?¡±


    Vivi sighed, gently nodding an agreement. ¡°Herbat abilities are exceptional. In a fight against someone like her, who is a master of her own strength, bringing along a raid party is meaningless. She can slip in between party members to prevent them from fighting while she kills indiscriminately. Larger groups would then be more of a burden, which contradicts the design of a dungeon.¡±


    I did have to agree with her. Though, I could already Imagine Tsubaki rushing to guard the entrance of the citadel, iming not to let anyone unworthy inside. ¡°I¡¯ll talk with her, and make sure that she doesn¡¯t do anything drastic.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Dale. That would be much appreciated.¡± As Vivi spoke, a gentle blue light appeared around my feet. ¡°Now, with that out of the way, I wish you a happy gaming experience.¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    There was no great fanfare to announce the event this time. No message broadcast to the whole of the world. No, it began with a single shadow across a grassy in. This wide grasnds was currently the center for a heated battle between tworge groups, vying for control of the area.


    On one side, you had the Beholden. Having left Xanjafar to avoid getting swept up in their campaign against the remnant forces of the Mad King, they had been wandering, looking for a territory to im as their own.


    Several weeks ago, they had found thisnd. Unimed territory, outside the borders of any marked kingdom. The ideal location for a guild to set up their own, permanent base. Unfortunately, they were not the only ones to think that.


    Which brings us to the other side, the Sons of Hanbei. They were a guildrgely consisting of monks, and had simrly been roaming thend to seek out a ce to build their home. There was only so much room in the world, with new yers joining all the time. Given the apparentck of any thoughts towards multiple servers, which may not even be possible for a proper world created by the Keeper, it was only natural that territory would be contested.


    As such, the Sons of Hanbei and the Beholden had scheduled a guild battle in order to determine the owners of thend. As they shed, ki and magic colliding, a massive, dark shadow slowly crept over their battlefield. Beholder¡¯s tightly shut eyes opened as he felt the lull in the battle, his shining blue eyes looking up. ¡°Oi, ¡®s that¡­?¡±


    His question went unanswered for a few long, deafening moments of silence, before a window appeared in front of everyone on the grassy ins.


    You have discovered the location of the mobile dungeon - Sky Citadel!


    Capture possible.


    ¡°Come again!?¡± Beholder shouted out, his eyes focusing on the message. The identity of the flying ind wasn¡¯t what surprised him. He was able to guess as much just from looking at it. No, what shocked him to his core, and likely everyone else in their little fight, were thest two words.


    ¡®Capture possible.¡¯ This wasn¡¯t the first dungeon that was able to be taken as a base. Most simply continued to refresh with monsters after a certain period of time, but some¡­ some unique dungeons included this tag. Those dungeons would only continue to spawn monsters until itsst boss had been defeated. After that, ownership of the dungeon would go to whoever had managed to y the boss.


    Beholder immediately nced towards the leader of the Sons, someone who named his character Mountain¡¯s Crown. If it was just Beholden present, then they could attempt to monopolize the dungeon, raiding it again and again until they learned every trick and defeated every boss. They might even be able to figure out a way to trap its movement, keeping it rooted in one spot.


    However, it was clear that that wasn¡¯t going to be an option. He could already see members of the Sons moving their lips subtly, sharing the news with their friends.

 Chapter 382: Heart’s Shadow

    <h4>Chapter 382: Heart¡¯s Shadow</h4>


    Once I was fully logged into the game, I made a quick check to see how many people were online, not surprised to find that the guild was still rather active. Nearly a quarter of the guild¡¯s yers were online, which was quite high for a period when there wasn¡¯t an active, ongoing event. What did surprise me was that I had not been immediately swarmed with messages the moment I logged on.


    Did I have messages waiting to be read? Yes, naturally. However, that was somewhat expected. Once again, I had the fairy delete those messages, not particrly having the time or patience to read through hundreds of letters asking me about the meaning of life. I mean, I could just give them the textbook definition, but I doubted that¡¯s what they were really after.


    I had logged in just outside of the workshop I used to rent with the guild¡¯s help, having not really gone anywhere thest time I logged out. Noticing that I was not in a safe zone, I did a quick check of my inventory, letting out a sigh of relief that everything was still present. It would not be strange if I had been robbed blind during this period, but it seemed like I lucked out there.


    Focus, Dale! I shook my head, remembering that I did have a purpose for wanting to visit this game today. Admittedly, it was a purpose that I could quite easily achieve by abusing admin privileges, but¡­ where was the fun in that? If I just abused my way into getting what I wanted here, I wouldn¡¯t have the experience to let me know how it all worked in the future.


    Once again forcing myself to focus, I began walking out of the building, and towards the busy streets. I knew that it was possible to do what I wanted right now, even without buying the skills for them. Tsubaki had already shown me that. I just had to put theory into practice.


    Are you doing what I think you¡¯re doing, Dale? Terra asked in a curious tone as I made my way for the exit of the city.


    If you mean introducing world spirits to Vision Expanse? Yes. Yes I am. And I¡¯m probably about to explode a good dozen times or so in the process.


    There was a lightugh in response to my joke, before she let out a long breath. Alright. Want me to have her show up to make sure you¡¯re not disturbed?


    It would be appreciated. I nodded my head slightly, seeing the gate within sight. I wanted to talk to Tsubaki anyways.


    _______________________________________________________________


    An elven woman stepped out of her bedroom, her feet all but dragging against the ground. Her eyes were half-lidded and bloodshot, her hair an absolute mess. Even her attire was only half-done, her robe hanging loosely off her body. She walked out towards the living room of her house, where she heard that incessant, infernal ringing, and practically snarled. ¡°Answer. But I swear to Ryone, if this isn¡¯t important, there will be hell to pay.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s important, Julia.¡± A voice spoke up urgently from the other end of the call, the image of a human male appearing with short, ck hair and angr features.


    ¡°Did you find us another game?¡± Julia grumbled, moving to sit on the couch and slowly fix her robe, offering herself at least a modicum of decency.


    ¡°We¡¯re not leaving Vision Expanse, yet.¡± He sighed, shaking his head. Ever since the incident with the Mad King, Julia had been rather sore about the game. She continued to y it, and continued to y the part of the enthusiastic adventurer, but more and more it was starting to grate on her nerves. The sense of aplishment, the thrill of a final boss¡­ she just didn¡¯t feel it in that game anymore. She knew that it was still the best game on the market, in terms of their business n, but that didn¡¯t mean she had fun with it.


    ¡°Then what is this about?¡± As she spoke, she began running her fingers through her silver hair, trying tob it somewhat.


    ¡°There¡¯s a report that¡¯s gone viral on the forums.¡± The man waved a hand, and another screen appeared next to his face, showing an image of what appeared to be the Sky Citadel. Only¡­ less perfect, less real. The graphics of the image just a little distorted, as if¡­


    ¡°So the Keeper made a proper appearance in the game, finally?¡± She asked, not seeing how this was worth waking her up in the middle of the day.


    ¡°No, he didn¡¯t. This is a dungeon.¡± Her interest was, admittedly, piqued when she heard that. ¡°And it can be captured.¡±


    Okay, even more interested now. But still¡­ ¡°What¡¯s this got to do with us? Legion¡¯s never gone after unique bases before. I mean, we¡¯ve still got the Mad King¡¯s Pce up on the market, right Rnd?¡± As it turned out, that had also been a capturable dungeon. But since it had no crafting workstations, and served as nothing but arge barracks and bragging rights¡­ the group had decided to sell it.


    Rnd simply chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s not that easy to meet our asking price. It is, after all, a one of a kind historic site. Even if it doesn¡¯t currently have practical value, the significance of it can¡¯t be undervalued. But no¡­ this is something way bigger. Remember, Julia, the Citadel flies. It is fully shielded from all sides oncepletely operational.¡±


    ¡°Get to the point, Rnd¡­ You just woke me up, I¡¯m not in the mood to think.¡± She grumbled, finding a snag in her hair that she had to fix.


    Rnd shook his head as he exined. ¡°There¡¯s a theory popping up that this is a way to expedite space travel, and increase interest in visiting other worlds. I thought you might like to finally get your ¡®rematch¡¯.¡±


    Julia¡¯s hand suddenly stopped, her eyes gaining just a bit of rity. Her head turned towards the screen. ¡°When are we gathering?¡±


    ¡°Leon¡¯s grabbing up all his reserves. Get yourself pumped, the group¡¯s assembling in half an hour.¡± After he said that, his face vanished from the screen, the call ending.


    Julia took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment. Her ki briefly fluctuated, speeding up within her body before her eyes shot open, a pulse of energy seeming to radiate off of her. ¡°Oh, Lady Aurivy~?¡± She spoke up in the sweetest voice she could muster, looking up towards the ceiling. ¡°You said I could call you if I needed something, right~?¡±


    Eheheh¡­ yes? A childish voice spoke up in a somewhat nervous tone, as if the Goddess of Love herself had reservations about what Julia might ask for.


    ¡°If we get this Citadel¡­ and we will get this Citadel¡­ we¡¯re going toe looking for you. And if we find you¡­ when we find the Mad King¡­ I want a real fight. Win or lose, no running away. No secret third act, no hiding away within the cosmos to recharge for the ¡®true¡¯ fight.¡± There were very few people who would ever talk to a Goddess the way that Julia was. But she was hurt by Aurivy¡¯sst performance, and it had been eating away at her for too long. Finally, she had the chance to vent. ¡°Whether you wipe us out, or we kill the Mad King¡­ I need this fight to happen. I¡¯m sure you understand, right?¡±


    There was a long sigh that seemed to echo around in Julia¡¯s heart. Alright. I guess that was kind of my bad for how thatst fight ended. Didn¡¯t mean for any hard feelings or anything, I know how important the game is to you. After all, that¡¯s also a form of Love. I suppose it wouldn¡¯t exactly be right for me of all people to ruin the thing you love.


    A small, genuine smile appeared on Julia¡¯s lips. ¡°Thank you. And¡­ perhaps try and pretend like you don¡¯t already know every countermeasure we¡¯ve been preparing for that eventual encounter?¡±


    Oh, don¡¯t worry! This time, Aurivy¡¯s voice was far more clear. I didn¡¯t want to cheat, so I¡¯ve been making sure to not watch any of your private ingame activities. If you broadcast it, that¡¯s totally fair game. But it wouldn¡¯t be right to build up for a final, climactic battle, only to already know everything you¡¯re going to pull out!


    Julia gave a small nod, happy that their battle would be the fair and final fight she had wanted from the start. With this, the shadow in her heart had started to lift, and she was already starting to feel like she could enjoy herself. She would do everything in her power to ensure that Legion gained the Citadel. Furthermore, Aurivy¡¯s agreement was a form of confirmation that it truly was capable of finding her.


    As she was thinking that, she heard Aurivy clear her throat, having thought the connection was over. So¡­ after this is all over, wanna be friends?


    ¡°Huh?¡± Julia blinked, staring at the ceiling rather dumbly. ¡°You realize I just all but threatened a Goddess, right? Normally, you¡¯d be wanting to smite me, almighty smiter.¡±


    You kidding? You have any idea how few people are actually willing to stand up to us and talk to us like that? Aurivy let out a light huff. Sure, if everyone did it, we¡¯d get annoyed pretty quick. But there¡¯s only so much ¡®Lady Aurivy, please bless this union¡¯ or ¡®Lady Aurivy, I ask for your favor in my journey¡¯ a girl can take before she wants to be talked to like an actual person.


    ¡°Figured you¡¯d have all the ¡®friends¡¯ you needed with the other gods, to bepletely honest.¡± Julia said, still not quite sure what she had gotten herself into with her moment of impulse.


    Well, yeah. But they¡¯re all also busy doing their own things a lot of the time. And besides, there are eighty-seven billion people spread out throughout the four worlds, and I¡¯m pretty much in all of their heads at once. Can you me a girl for wanting to get a bit more friendly with some?


    ¡°I¡­ guess I never thought of it that way? So¡­ friends, then?¡± She asked after a moment of hesitation.


    ¡°The best!¡± Julia yelped, all but jumping out of her skin as a pink-haired halfling manifested on the couch, lunging over to wrap her in a hug.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ hi. This is weird.¡± Julia chuckled, reaching up to nervously pat the Goddess on the back. ¡°Yeah, nobody would ever believe me if I told them about this¡­ So, does this make me a Priestess or something?¡±


    ¡°Nope!¡± Aurivy giggled, shaking her head against Julia¡¯s shoulders. ¡°No divine favors, no special fortunes, outside of maybe the help here or there if it¡¯s really important. No actual benefits at all! Just friends.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re not going to tell me who my soulmate is?¡± Julia asked with a small smirk, clearly teasing the young-looking Goddess.


    ¡°Oh, please.¡± Aurivy rolled her eyes with augh. ¡°We both know that gaming is your only true love. Well, that and Rnd, but let¡¯s keep that little bit to ourselves.¡± She winked towards Julia, who suddenly had a very red face.


    ¡°I-it¡¯s not like that, really!¡± She shouted, even as Aurivy continued tough, fading away in a cloud of golden smoke. ¡°Really, it¡¯s not!¡± She wasn¡¯t even sure at that point who she was trying to convince.


    Uh huh, I¡¯m sure it isn¡¯t. Can¡¯t lie to me, dear, even if you can to yourself. Now, you should get going. They¡¯ll be expecting you soon. And I¡¯ll be watching to see how you im the Citadel.


    Julia let out a huff, standing up and marching towards her room. Now, she had even more of a reason to want to fight the Mad King, to wipe that grin off Aurivy¡¯s face!


    ¡­Ah, who was she kidding, the little halfling would probably find a reason to be happy either way.

 Chapter 383: To Call the Void

    <h4>Chapter 383: To Call the Void</h4>


    ¡°Thought you might not show up.¡± Leon teased when he saw the elven mage appearing in front of him. She was dressed in a splendid silver dress, and shot him a re that only seemed to make him chuckle. ¡°Rx, Crystal. Put your game face on. We do this, and we might just make history.¡±


    When she heard that, the elven woman hesitated, before nodding and taking a deep breath. ¡°What¡¯s our status?¡±


    ¡°Logain is grabbing the rest of the crew, and letting Pepper know that we¡¯re heading out.¡± Leon nced towards Crystal, noticing the faint blush that crept over her cheeks as he mentioned their leader¡¯s in game name. ¡°What¡¯s the matter? Didn¡¯t wake you up ill, did he?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± Crystal said, rather firmly. ¡°When Logain shows up, tell him¡­ that the rumor was confirmed. He¡¯ll know what I mean.¡±


    After she said that, Crystal struck her hand out towards the side, the air seeming to warp around her hand, before she pulled back a pitch ck staff. Leon¡¯s eyes widened as he saw that, since this was not the game¡¯s inventory she was using. ¡°You¡¯re¡­ even using that? You¡¯re serious about this¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh, Leon, you have no idea just how serious I am right now.¡± She told him with a cold smile. At the end of the staff were two opposed metal hooks serving to frame a floating ck crystal. ¡°Tell the others that I¡¯m going ahead to make sure the path is open. Jade should be able to teleport everyone to me when they¡¯re ready.¡± Saying so, she tapped the staff¡¯s base against the ground, and a ck void seemed to open up in front of her.


    Once she had stepped through, Leon wiped his brow for a moment, watching the void close behind her. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever felt the need to pity a goddess before¡­¡± Naturally, the entire team knew about Crystal¡¯s¡­ or rather, Crystal Harmony¡¯s issue with the previous Mad King subjugation. It had nearly killed her love of the game, but also fueled her to find a way to surely defeat him if they met again.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± A man walked into the room, wearing silver, knightly armor. ¡°I heard Crystal¡¯s voice, so I thought I¡¯de to greet her. Did she take off already?¡±


    Leon gave a feeble nod of his head. ¡°That¡¯s right, boss. She went to ¡®clear¡¯ the way for us. And she brought out the Voidcaller¡¯s Staff.¡±


    Logain¡¯s eyes immediately went wide as he realized what this meant. ¡°We¡¯d better hurry. Jade said she was just finishing up dinner, so she¡¯ll be on in a minute.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, think things should be over by then.¡± Leon responded with a somewhat bitter smile. ¡°Oh, and she asked me to pass another message onto you.¡± Seeing the captain looking at him with interest, he gave a small shrug. ¡°She said to let you know that ¡®the rumor has been confirmed¡¯. Said that you¡¯d know.¡±


    If his eyes were wide before, this time they looked like they nearly fell out of his head. ¡°She wouldn¡¯t say that lightly¡­ Leon, no matter what happens, Legion has to secure the Sky Citadel today. Whatever expense, the guild will cover it threefold.¡±


    Leon blinked in confusion. He wasn¡¯t against getting an extra share of the profit, since his was the most expensive skill to train out of the group, but¡­ he did not realize the significance of the Citadel. Logain hadn¡¯t needed to exin that to everyone to get them on board, and in fact didn¡¯t even have time to do so before they agreed readily. ¡°Sure, boss. I¡¯ll break out the big toys today.¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    Barely two hours had passed since the appearance of the Sky Citadel, and it was already starting to gently float beyond the grassy ins where it had first appeared. Down below, Beholder was gritting his teeth as he watched the flying castle. They hadn¡¯t prepared for an air siege, so their flight items were all in safe storage. Didn¡¯t want to risk dropping them on death.


    Instead, Beholden was now forced to send people to the nearest city to ess their storage. Well¡­ getting them there was as easy as splitting a few skulls. Winning this base would be well worth anyints that rose up within the guild.


    The problem was the run back. This area had been chosen due to it being on unimed territory. It was a three hour sprint from the nearest town, which made Beholder simply pray that nobody more prepared would be able to arrive sooner. Looking to the Sons of Hanbei, it seemed like they were facing simr issues.


    Personal flight skills were still very rare within the game, being regarded as a high level ability. Whether it was supporting yourself with the wind as a druid, using ki, or even magic, few mages had ess to such spells. Teleportation¡­ now that was even more rare. Only the true elites could teleport, and even then it was typically with the use of items that boosted their power.


    However, as he watched, fervently hoping that no such elite would appear, he saw a patch of darkness forming in the sky. When it faded, there was an elven woman standing there, holding a pitch ck staff in her hands. Beholder narrowed his eyes to get a better look at her, before his bearded face went pale. ¡°Crystal Harmony¡­¡±


    He knew that this mage represented the foremost elite team within the entire game. Whether it was personal skills or items, they had it all. Even worse, Crystal Harmony was the greatest mage within this elite team. Seeing her able to fly, even teleport didn¡¯t startle Beholder. The problem was that she was outside their attack range¡­ but they weren¡¯t outside hers.


    Crystal stood above the masses, staring down towards them. ¡°Don¡¯t hold this against me. You¡¯re in the way.¡± Reaching out, she held her greatest weapon in front of her, wisps of energy seeming to warp the air around her.


    ¡°Sky above, and earth below, twist and invert.¡± The wisps of energy split apart, forming strange patterns in several locations high in the air. ¡°I call through the void beyond the sky, to shatterednds beyond. I desire a mountain of fire and stone.¡±


    The patterns seemed to rip apart the sky, creating swirling vortexes which grew wider and wider. She could already see the troops below dispersing¡­ no, fleeing. They were scattering in all directions as fiverge rocks slowly appeared beyond the vortexes, falling through them.


    The air seemed to ignite around the rocks as they fell past Crystal herself, colliding against the ground below. The shockwave toppled over the troops that were lucky enough to escape the st radius, sending them flying dozens of meters. For those less fortunate, they had either been instantly killed, or were now buried under mountains of rubble.


    Each rock looked to be at least fifty meters tall, and even Crystal herself felt the shock of the impact at her position in the sky. However, she didn¡¯tunch another attack. Her staff needed time to recharge its mana. And besides¡­ her point had been made.


    Silently, Crystal received a mana crystal from her inventory, and ced it against her chest to absorb the energy within. Thest thing she needed at this point was to fall from the sky. Instead, her body turned, her gaze settling on the Sky Citadel. An almost sinister grin formed over her face while her eyes narrowed. ¡°You aren¡¯t getting away from me.¡±


    Her staff shed briefly, and another void appeared in front of her, which she promptly stepped through. When she stepped into the void, the world seemed to turn dark, objects strangely outlined with thin white and blue lights. In this state, she was one with the void, able to travel vast distances in a single breath. Only¡­ she couldn¡¯t breathe. There was no air within this void for her, so she had to keep her journeys to short jumps.


    Almost casually, she walked towards the Citadel, seeing the heavy barrier around it. Yet, when she approached, she seemed able to pass through with ease. She doubted it would be so easy to bypass the barriers of the true Sky Citadel, but¡­ they had to at least make it possible for yers to enter. Otherwise, there would be no point in having this ce as a dungeon.


    Within the garden just outside the main pce, she saw roving monsters, four-legged beasts that sniffed the air. It took a moment for her to recognize them with how her vision had been altered, but then she shook her head. They really aren¡¯t making this easy.


    If she was correct, then these should be Chaos Hounds. Each one could be considered a boss monster for a mid-level hunting ground. Even Crystal herself had reservations against fighting so many. However, she could only hold her breath for so long.


    She transitioned out of the void, already reaching into her inventory. She couldn¡¯t pull out the scroll she needed just yet, as she had to verify the color of the monsters¡¯ furs. Chaos beasts such as these had weaknesses that could be observed through their fur or scale tone.


    What she saw was a mass of silver fur, letting her know that these were wind-attuned monsters. ¡°Dragon¡¯s congration.¡± She muttered, pulling out three scrolls from her inventory and throwing them into the air. Just as the monsters began to react, and moved to pounce towards her, she shifted back into the void to escape.


    For a few, long moments, Crystal was able to watch ck fireballs crashing into the garden, and witness the silent screams of the beasts. She did not show any mercy, watching their health fall while she moved outside the area of the three scrolls.


    When she appeared again, she was now in a safer location. She could see the dying beasts falling one by one, unable to find her as they were burned. Only when thest fell did she move, collecting the loot.


    It should be known that chaos beasts were extremely deadly when one was not properly prepared. Fighting them with any element that wasn¡¯t their weakness would be harder than almost any other encounter. However, equally, they gave rich rewards to match their difficulty.


    Some of the most powerful items circting within the game were dropped from chaos beasts, or crafted using their materials. Even Crystal¡¯s staff was the same, being made from the loot offered by earth, light, and dark chaos beasts. Of course, even though her staff was powerful, its strength could only truly show when wielded by a skilled mage, one capable of twisting its innate magic to form her own spells.


    ¡°Crystal, are you there?¡± Her fairy appeared on her shoulder, speaking with a voice she knew all too well.


    ¡°I¡¯m here, Logain.¡± She answered. ¡°Have Jade send you all to me. I¡¯m standing in the gardens right now. It looks like the theme of this dungeon¡¯s monsters should be ¡®chaos¡¯.¡±


    The cursing she heard from the small fairy brought a strange relief to Crystal. Logain knew all too well what kind of monsters she meant. ¡°Our repair fees are going through the roof¡­ are they at least moving in packs?¡±


    ¡°For now.¡± Crystal confirmed with a nod, gathering thest of the loot. ¡°There were eight wind-attributed hounds in the garden. Bur¡­ sorry, Brace is going to have her work cut out for her today.¡±


    ¡°We all will¡­¡± Logain sighed, before ending the connection.


    After the call ended, Crystal was able to feel a small thrum from the amulet around her neck. Bringing her hand up and grasping it, she inserted a small amount of mana to ¡®ept¡¯ the teleport request.


    Blue and white mana erupted around her body, forming into a pattern along the garden floor. As it shone, brighter and brighter, she was able to make out figures appearing within the light, standing alongside her. Once the spell had ended, and Legion was assembled, it was time to move.

 Chapter 384: Well Equipped

    <h4>Chapter 384: Well Equipped</h4>


    For most groups, a dungeon full of chaos beasts would require weeks of nning and testing in order to properly conquer it. More if the configuration of the monsters changed randomly over time, as wasmon in dungeons to prevent the appearance of detailed strategy guides that could let even a beginner walk through a high level area.


    However, Legion was different. As they had disyed in their fight against the Mad King, they had different equipment sets to counter different elemental affinities. As long as they were given enough time to swap their equipment, they could easily raid chaos beasts.


    Of course¡­ this only applied when chaos beasts traveled in ¡®packs¡¯. This was what they called it when multiple chaos beasts of the same element moved together. Once you mixed in beasts of multiple elements, that is where things truly turned chaotic.


    As such, for the first few rooms, Legion did not encounter much difficulty, sending their scout out to check the elements of the next group of monsters so that they could prepare ordingly. For them, the true problem came in the seventh room. This seemed to be the library of the Citadel, judging by the tall rows of books that had been tipped over, crashing against the wall.


    Logain could tell as soon as their scout returned that something was wrong, due to their pale expression. ¡°We finally hit one, huh?¡± He asked, to which the scout nodded his head.


    The scout was a young halfling man, a friend in real life of Jade¡¯s. At first, people thought he got in due to his connection with her, but he was able to disy true skill when it came to stealth and exploration. ¡°It¡¯s a pandemonium¡­ fire and water. Spider types, from what I saw. Tiny ones, no bigger than your hand.¡±


    Logain¡¯splexion went dark when he heard that. It was wrong to assume thatrger monsters were more dangerous. Although it was true that a level fifty elephant had more force than a level fifty ant in the real world, the threat levels became different in the game. In the real world, levels were a measure of the creature¡¯sposition, whether their mana density, ki purity, or muscle structure.


    Yet, in the game, creatures were purely measured by their danger level. In this sense, a small creature could be considered far more dangerous when on the same level. And this was a horde of them, from opposing elements no less. ¡°We¡¯ll start with a mass lightning burst. Jade, Crystal, Leon, that¡¯ll be up to you. Everyone else, equip anti-fire gear. Once the opening barrage has hopefully taken out most of the water-attributed monsters, we¡¯ll focus on using our ice-attribute weapons and attacks to clear out the rest.¡±


    This was a very dangerous strategy. When a chaos beast was struck by its own element, it was hard to predict the result. Lightning was different enough from fire to not trigger their effects¡­ but if there were water beasts caught within the area of their ice attacks, it would be a problem. In the worst case scenario, it might trigger a cloning ability, and they¡¯d be back to their fullbat strength.


    ¡°I¡¯ll offer ye all some defensive spells.¡± The dwarven priestess said as she held up her marble staff, patterns etched along its length. Beneath her breath, she muttered a chant to bless her party.


    As the spell began to take effect, the rest of the party began changing their equipment to prepare for the battle.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°You asked to see me, my lord?¡± Tsubaki spoke up, appearing behind me as I was walking. I may have flinched just a bit, not having the same spiritual or magical perceptions in the game that I had in the real world. From how calm she was, I guessed that she hadn¡¯t heard the news about the Sky Citadel appearing within the game yet.


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± I nodded my head. ¡°First of all, I wanted to congratte you on passing your Trial of Blood.¡± I turned my head to regard her with a small smile. ¡°I know that it had been important for you.¡±


    Tsubaki gave a firm nod, her expressionrgely unchanging. Though, I did notice a small twitch at the corner of her mouth. ¡°Thank you, my lord.¡±


    I could tell that she was purposely avoiding the standard address of ¡®my Keeper¡¯ that she often used, likely in case of eavesdroppers. As a rather popr yer, it was hard to tell if a media source was trying to follow her. Even Tsubaki herself would not likely be able to detect them if such was the case.


    ¡°Now, next¡­ they¡¯re having a special event right now. It doesn¡¯t seem like you¡¯ve heard, but¡­ the citadel has appeared within the game.¡±


    Tsubaki¡¯s steps faltered for a brief moment as she heard that, though she quickly corrected herself. ¡°I¡­ I see. Would you like me to go and im it?¡± Her response was¡­ pretty much as I had expected, causing me to shake my head.


    ¡°No, this is for them. I just wanted to make sure you knew so that you didn¡¯t decide to go take it for yourself in the name of ¡®preserving¡¯ it.¡± I could see one of her ears slightly drooping when I said that, and knew that that was exactly what she had nned on doing. ¡°For now¡­ I need you to guard me while I take care of some business. I need to enter a high level area, and this character isn¡¯t properly equipped to do so yet.¡±


    Hearing me ask for protection, Tsubaki seemed strangely happy. ¡°Yes, my lord. I will ensure that nothing threatens you. Though, if I may ask, could you not handle this matter with your other ount?¡±


    Naturally, Tsubaki knew that I had an admin ount to the game. It would be somewhat ridiculous if I didn¡¯t. Nheless, I shook my head. ¡°For the future, it will be best if I handle this myself, to build up the practice. I have to personally measure how the energies are different between this world and Earth, or it might cause a catastrophe in the future when I attempt to use these energies myself.¡±


    That seemed to help her catch on, as Tsubaki offered a quick nod of her head. ¡°Very well¡­ though, I believe that I may be able to offer some assistance to my lord in this matter.¡±


    I nced back towards her curiously, and she reached into her inventory. ¡°During my trial, I umted many tickets for the ¡®hardcore¡¯ lottery. This was because I refused to obtain the loot from creatures, despite hunting above my level. Since I myself do not require arge amount of equipment, I saved these items in the hope that they may prove useful to you.¡±


    ¡°Through these lotteries, I managed to acquire a set of items, known as the ¡®Maniptor¡¯s Raiment¡¯. If your goal involves interacting with the mystical energies of this world, then I believe that these items would be useful for you.¡± As she said that, she retrieved six different pieces of equipment from her inventory to hand over to me.


    Blinking in surprise, I epted the equipment. Among them was a leather tunic, a pair of fingerless gloves, a pair of brown cotton pants, a pair of leather boots, a long, straight staff, and finally a headdress that looked simr to a ck turban with a golden gem on the forehead. Inspecting them, I found that each item offered bonuses when manipting either ki, mana, spiritual energy, or natural energy. Oddly, none of the items had level or stat requirements, simply being tagged with ¡®hardcore¡¯ at the bottom.


    Without waiting for me to ask, Tsubaki exined. ¡°Hardcore items can not be equipped through the system interface. In order to equip them, you must do so manually. However, hardcore items have no requirements for their use, aside from needing to fit the wearer. I have already had all clothing items that I obtained from the lottery modified to fit you.¡±


    I didn¡¯t have to bother asking how Tsubaki knew my size. Most likely, she was able to tell from a simple nce. I simply shook my head, moving to stand near a tree as I began changing into the new outfit. She waspletely right, this equipment would prove a huge help to me. As for trying to be modest and change behind the tree, or asking Tsubaki to give me some space to do so privately¡­


    I had just asked her to protect me, and we were already in an area beyond my level. Asking her to leave my side at this point would simply be a contradiction ofmands. Either way, I was able to tell that she had turned her back to allow me to dress privately.


    Once I was done, I stored my previous equipment in my inventory, and cleared my throat. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s get back to business.¡± I muttered, resuming our walk. Now that I was equipped with the full set, I had the appearance of a middle-aged monk, using the staff as a walking stick to guide my way.


    ¡°Might I ask what your goal is, so that I may best protect you, my lord?¡± Tsubaki spoke up, stepping in to walk immediately behind me.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to create world spirits.¡± I answered simply and honestly. ¡°If I do so, I will have a link with this world that I can use to send my avatars in directly, as opposed to needing to log in with these devices.¡±


    Tsubaki gave a small nod, trying to understand. ¡°Would Vivi not count for this? From my understanding, she is functionally a world spirit.¡± Given how I had spoken, it seemed like she no longer intended to maintain anonymity, as I had already revealed my identity to any watching with what I had just said.


    ¡°Afraid not. She¡¯s not governed by the game system that permeates this world, and is instead in a position above it. I require a world spirit that is bound to the rules of this system. Something that possesses the inherent ¡®skills¡¯ of a world spirit.¡±


    Tsubaki gave a sharp nod at that. ¡°I understand, my Keeper.¡± Immediately afterwards, Tsubaki¡¯s body vanished briefly, and I could hear a de slicing through the air nearby. My current level wasn¡¯t such that I could properly monitor her speed, which was exactly why I needed her to guard me in the first ce.


    Soon, we reached an open clearing, far out of the way of any normal hunting grounds. The monsters within the clearing were disposed of quickly, and I nodded in approval. ¡°This will do, this will do wonderfully.¡±


    Personally, I did not have any of the energies in high enough quantity to create lifeforms, whether they martial spirits, aeons, or other such entities. World spirits were unique in this regard, as they could be created purely through external energy sources. All that it took was proper understanding and control.


    As for why more people hadn¡¯t created world spirits before now, if it was so easy? After I did so, they quickly began consuming the spiritual energy of the world, making it harder for an artificial birth to take ce. Still, maybe someone did seed in creating them. I couldn¡¯t be sure. What I did know was that it was impossible for more than oneplete world spirit to exist in the same world. I couldn¡¯t create one here, because Vivi already existed.


    Thankfully, I did not need aplete world spirit. Just a simple, basic one would do. And as I closed my eyes, connecting to the energies around me, that was exactly what I intended to create. ¡°Gather.¡± I held my new staff up, summoning both the natural and spiritual energies.


    Wisps of silver and green began to spiral from the forest around us and into the clearing. The items that Tsubaki gave me truly were fitting for a high level character, making this far easier than it otherwise would have been. Part of me was even considering creating my world sight within the game, but I shook away those thoughts.


    In order for me to create world sight, I would once again have to block the view of the deities after I trained to create the energy for this particr world. Once I was able to appear here with an avatar, it wouldn¡¯t matter. I could connect to the natural energy of the world itself to be my eyes at that point.


    Keeping my eyes closed, I focused on the streams of energy encircling me. Before I proceeded with the fusion process itself, I needed to clearly understand any changes within the substance of the base energies. Otherwise, I was likely to blow myself up by doing this¡­ and the new equipment in the process.

 Chapter 385: The Pact

    <h4>Chapter 385: The Pact</h4>


    I was actually quite surprised when I focused on connecting to the two energy types, feeling the differences between them and what I was used to. It was these changes that made me d that I had chosen to do this, instead of simply granting myself the skills. The most significant change came with spiritual energy.


    On Earth, spiritual energy was gaseous, misty. It was hard to properly grasp without the proper techniques. However, once you knew the techniques, it became possible to perform even the most fine maniption. Here it was¡­ dense, more firm. Easier to connect with, but far more difficult to properly wield.


    Curious, I sent a mental message towards Vivi. Just wondering, but what kind of afterlife system does Vision Expanse use?


    It only took a moment to hear back from her. Spiritual energy is passively absorbed by dungeons to replenish monsters. If there is no dungeon nearby, it is possible for the spiritual energy to automatically condense and form a new dungeon.


    I gave a small nod, letting that information sink in. It was an efficient system that furthered the design of a game. And given that the ¡®life¡¯ on this was not truly ¡®alive¡¯, would it really be regarded as cruel?


    I shook away those thoughts, focusing instead on natural energy. Like the spiritual, it had undergone some changes as well. Though, these were perhaps not as drastic. Natural energy now seemed to respond in many ways the same as mana, though relying on the power of the world to achieve results instead of the power of magic.


    Now that I knew about these changes, I was able to formte an idea on how to fuse them. Balu had once told me that themon energy fusions would always maintain the same ratios between worlds, which was something that I could put to my advantage. I knew how much of the energy to use, and only needed to specte on the how.


    Given the more firm structure of spiritual energy, simply pushing the two together and swirling them around didn¡¯t seem like the best idea. Instead, I kept my eyes closed, focusing. ¡°Condense.¡± Stretching my hand out, I turned my palm upwards.


    The spiritual energy began moving, condensing into a small bead just above my palm. For now¡­ let¡¯s call this a soul seed. For this fusion, I had to take advantage of the unique properties of both energy types, making this seed the foundation to create a new spirit.


    My nextmand went out towards the natural energy, and I could feel the jewel in my headdress heating up slightly. I called the natural energy to surround the soul seed, letting the seed ¡®soak¡¯ in the energy. From there, I began monitoring the seed through the natural energy, attempting to form a connection between the two.


    Over time, I began to notice a change within the seed. Whenever I made an attempt to directly connect it to the mass of natural energy, a small portion of the seed would briefly turn light up within my perception. I gave a small nod at that, narrowing my brows as I began to focus harder. Although I was not directly using my mana for this, I still needed to consume some in order to control the other energies. The equipment only lessened that burden, instead of removing it.


    Concentrating on the natural energy, I made it connect to the seed from all directions at once. Right away, I was able to feel the change, my eyes snapping open. The seed was now green, floating a bit above my hand as the energy rushed towards it.


    I didn¡¯t waste any time, jumping back and out of the glowing cloud that had been created. There was the off chance that I would get swept away by it, given my current level, and I didn¡¯t want that to happen. Besides, from my experience creating world spirits the first time, I knew that I had already done everything that I needed to do. From here, it was just a matter of watching and waiting.


    Naturally, Tsubaki stayed next to me the entire time. Every now and then, I was able to see her body briefly flicker, but she would always return immediately as if nothing was wrong. All the while, the surroundings became more and more chaotic, a tempest of energy sweeping through the clearing.


    ¡°Is this normal, my Keeper?¡± Tsubaki asked calmly, and I could feel the impact on my body lessen considerably as she shielded me.


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± I nodded my head. ¡°It usually turns out like this.¡± Vaguely, I could see a shape beginning to form within the swirling streams of light. Like Vivi, it possessed a silver body. However, its gender was entirely unknown, looking closer to an androgenous doll as it floated gently in the air. There was no life to its eyes, no significant marker that it even recognized our existence. It just stayed there, unmoving.


    ¡°I see¡­¡± As I watched what seemed no more than a floating doll, I realized something. The world spirits were so alive and active within the other world because the spirits used to make them had all of those emotions. Even the appearance of aplete world spirit was determined by the inner thoughts of those souls.


    In this world, however, the spiritual energy came from creatures who werergely missing such emotions. And it didn¡¯t seem to have been granted the ¡®temte¡¯ personality that NPCs were given here. Which meant that it would remain in this state forever, until it was either killed¡­ or given some of what it was missing.


    ¡°Tsubaki, would you like to help me finish?¡± I wasn¡¯t confident in controlling my own spiritual energy right now, even with the assistance of this gear, so I could only look towards her for help.


    ¡°Certainly, my Keeper. How may I be of assistance?¡± She asked politely, offering a small bow.


    I exined my observation to her about the spirit, before pointing a finger to it. ¡°I just need you to inject a small strand of spiritual energy into the ¡®seed¡¯ inside of it. This should give it the capacity to properly think and feel.¡± And given how I hadn¡¯t been rewarded for what I had been doing so far, the system likely wouldn¡¯t consider the taskpleted until this step was taken.


    Tsubaki thought about my request for a moment, before nodding and moving forward. As she did, the storm of energy began to calm around the spirit. By the time she fully approached, it was still just floating there, unmoving and unflinching. ¡°The Keeper has asked for your life.¡± Tsubaki spoke, raising a hand. Gently, she tapped her finger against the tiny head of the spirit, and I could see a small silver strand briefly connect the two.


    I felt a small smile creep over my lips, because I knew that there was likely to be a second effect from the use of Tsubaki¡¯s spiritual energy. An effect that was all but confirmed by the messages appearing in front of me.


    You have personally trained the Spirit Control skill to Level 13!


    You have personally trained the Natural Energy Maniption skill to Level 9!


    You have received an achievement!


    For creating a spirit-type pet to be used by another yer, you have earned the Spirit of Life achievement!


    I had already received the reward for creating world spirits once before, so it was no surprise to see that it was missing this time. However, the massive increase in the two untrained skills was sure to help me in the future. Whenever I came back to this character, instead of just using a world spirit avatar, at least.


    ¡°Sir?¡± Tsubaki asked, turning her head to look at me in confusion. ¡°The system said that I have registered this spirit as a pet just now¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡± I nodded. ¡°I thought it might happen. Consider it someone to keep youpany while you¡¯re ying, when Aurivy and the others can¡¯t be around.¡±


    Tsubaki hesitated for a moment, before nodding her head. ¡°As you wish, my Keeper.¡± After she said that, she waved her hand, causing the newly acquired pet to vanish.


    As I watched that, I sent a quick message to Terra. Just to confirm, Tsubaki won¡¯t need to actively be online in order for me to bring an avatar here, correct?


    That¡¯s right. Terra answered back right away. The important thing is that the spirit exists. Even if it is stored somece else while she is offline, it does not cease to exist during that time. Well, that was a relief to hear, at least.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Logain panted for breath, gripping his icy blue longsword as he stood over the body of thest of the spider monsters. Pulling up, he drew his de out of the beast¡¯s hide, letting out a deep breath. Throughout the room, books were burning, others having been ruined by water.


    It was regrettable that arge portion of the information within the library had been wasted. Going by the usual pattern, there were likely many hidden skills recorded in these books. At least, that would fit with what wasmonly known about the Sky Citadel¡¯s library, which had once been a great font of knowledge that spread throughout the world.


    ¡°Put out whatever fires you can, save any books that remain.¡± Logain called out, having used too much of his stamina and not possessing the abilities to extinguish fires on such arge scale himself.


    Crystal and Jade nced at each other and nodded, closing their eyes and stretching out their arms. Gradually, the roar of the mes began to die down, much to everyone¡¯s relief.


    Once Logain had managed to calm his breathing, he looked towards the others. ¡°We¡¯ll take a moment to rest here, and then we¡¯re moving straight to the central chambers. If we can get ahold of the control mechanisms, there might be an anti-intruder function that can be used to help clear out the rest of the monsters.¡±


    In reality, that was their original n. Most bases wouldn¡¯t possess something like that, unless it had been added in personally by the base¡¯s owner. But this was the Sky Citadel, likely the highest tier base anyone had ever seen. It wasn¡¯t outside the realm of possibility for it toe equipped with such a thing. The only problem was finding it.


    They had only taken this detour because, out of all of the buildings within the citadel, this was the room that they were most concerned about. There was the possibility that any anti-intruder weapons would damage the rooms that they were used in, destroying any information that they could have learned from the library.


    You have received a message from Ster Dynamics Research Representative! The voice of Logain¡¯s fairy spoke up, causing his lips to twitch upwards in a smile. Ever since Crystal appeared, there had been a few cases like this, where a representative of onepany or another tried to get in touch with him.


    Naturally, he was busy and couldn¡¯t answer their messages, but he had taken a look at a couple of them in between fights. Thesepanies were willing to pay handsomely to allow some of their own researchers within the Sky Citadel on its maiden voyage, should Legion be sessful in capturing it.


    Perhaps it was because of everyone¡¯s confidence that his team would be able to clear the dungeon, or maybe the potential reward that awaited them afterwards, but Logain couldn¡¯t find it in himself to be in a bad mood. The Keeper had personally stated that this world was meant to inspire travel to others, did he not? If that was the case, then it would only be his duty to allow those representatives.


    Of course, the context of a game still allowed enough freedom for him to ept their payments, or even ask for some of his own. In such circumstances, there was nothing wrong with their group profiting off of their skills.

 Chapter 386: Internet Sensations

    <h4>Chapter 386: Inte Sensations</h4>


    Naturally, conquering the Sky Citadel would be no easy feat, even for the most elite team in the game. When it came to fighting chaos beasts, they could be seen as something of an expert, but their resources and abilities only went so far. For instance, it was fairly easy for them to find the library, as it was close to the entrance. However, how were they meant to find the hidden control room at the heart of the citadel?


    For hours, the group fought, clearing room after room. Every time they hit a patrol of wandering beasts, they quickly lept into action. Yet, they never saw any sign of the control mechanism.


    ¡°Maybe there was something about that throne room?¡± Crystal muttered to herself as they walked forward. They had seen the throne room even before they arrived at the library, but had passed it over. There was not a single monster inhabiting the room, and no obvious furnishings, save for the throne itself.


    As a test, Logain had even sat on the throne, to see if that was the ¡®clear condition¡¯ for the dungeon. To his dismay, however, nothing happened. They were forced to wander aimlessly through the citadel, relying only on their scout to direct them on which rooms were up next.


    By now, much of their equipment had be ragged. Especially their fire-resistant armor, as those monsters had been quitemon within the previous rooms. It was even looking like Legion would have to return from their expedition for a while, long enough for them to conduct repairs. Which meant that monsters might end up respawning, and they¡¯d have to start all over¡­


    So naturally, when their scout approached with a bright smile, the rest of the group immediately got excited. ¡°Did you find the core?¡± Logain asked in a hurry. As the tank of the group, his own equipment had suffered the most damage.


    ¡°Ah, no.¡± The halfling shook his head. ¡°But it¡¯s almost as good. I found a workshop up ahead.¡± The expressions of the group instantly darkened, as they had already found several such workstations for various crafting skills. At least until his next words came out. ¡°And this one looks like it¡¯s for a spellsmith.¡±


    Crystal stepped up immediately, cing herself between Logain and the scout. ¡°Aiz, please tell me it¡¯s functional.¡± While not as bad as the team leader, Crystal¡¯s gear had taken some damage as well. And, given that she wore cloth armor or robes, that meant that the ¡®damage¡¯ would be far greater, her body bing more exposed with every battle.


    Aiz gulped as he looked at the dangerous light in Crystal¡¯s eyes, nodding his head. ¡°Y-yeah. I didn¡¯t see any signs of damage. And there¡¯s just one monster inside. But it¡¯s a Lord.¡±


    Crystal¡¯s face went pale. Chaos lords were one of the strongest types of chaos beasts, and they had a humanoid shape. Fighting one, even with the elemental advantage, would be difficult. Especially when they were trying not to damage the room. ¡°What element was it¡­?¡±


    ¡°Light¡­¡± Another rare modifier, as light-type chaos beasts were incredibly hard to find. A light-type lord, however¡­ it was possible that this was the first one discovered.


    Yet, Crystal actually revealed a look of pleasant surprise when she heard that. The light-resistant gear of the group was perhaps the least damaged, meaning that there would be less risk of their weapons and armor breaking in the middle of the fight.


    Of course, this also went to show the value ced in this one room. Crystal immediately swapped to a midnight-ck robe, retrieving her Voidcaller¡¯s staff. Simrly, the rest of the group gathered their best equipment for the battle as well. ¡°I¡¯ll kite him out here.¡± Crystal said as she stepped forward, surprising the others.


    Just as Logain was about to speak up, she shot him a look that made him freeze. ¡°I¡¯m not going to risk damaging that room. So get ready for an ambush¡­¡±


    Saying that, she walked over to stand in front of the closed door of the workshop, taking a deep breath. ¡°I call through the void, to thend of endless darkness.¡± Crystal¡¯s mana began to pulse, ck lines beginning to appear along her skin. ¡°Come forth, the shadow of space. Capture the light before me, and and send it where I desire.¡± With her spell ready, she brought one foot up, and kicked the door in front of her wide open.


    Inside, there was a humanoid construct, made purely of shining light. It was hard for Crystal to even focus her eyes on it. And, as soon as the door opened, it was shing towards her, arms outstretched like giant des. But her spell had already been prepared.


    The ck lines across her skin shot forward, weaving together like a to wrap around the lord of light. Meanwhile, Crystal decided on her next course of action. Turning towards the group¡­ she began sprinting as fast as she could. ¡°Iiiitt¡¯s coommiiing!¡± She called out during her run, knowing that the shadow would only slow a creature like that down for a few moments at most.


    Sure enough, by the time she saw her group at the end of the hall, she could see her shadow stretching out before her. A bright light had appeared at her back, and she knew that her spell had been broken. Waving her staff, she quickly stepped into the void to cover thest bit of distance, simultaneously transferring the aggression from the monster to them instead.


    Seeing the monster sail straight past her to attack her party, Crystal stepped out of the void, taking a deep breath of relief. Now the battle was in full swing, and she held her staff forward. She no longer needed the long,plicated spells at this point, and fired condensed sts of dark magic directly towards the back of the monster.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Once I was done setting Tsubaki up with her world spirit, I promptly logged off. Once I did so, I sat up in my bed and pulled the visor off, a small smile on my face. Now that all of this was taken care of, I would be able to create avatars that could enter the game for me directly. I wouldn¡¯t have to solely devote myself to one task.


    As a test, I created a world spirit avatar, and promptly had it use its nar shift power. When the avatar reappeared, he was hovering high in the sky above a shattered grasnd. Five small mountains seemed to erupt from the ground, or maybe crashed into it, going by the cracks and craters surrounding them.


    Turning my head, I could see a floating pce in the distance, looking like a nearly perfect copy of the Sky Citadel. There were a few ws here and there, but mostly minor things, such as the colors of certain windows, or the types of nts in the upper garden.


    Unfortunately, it seemed like I wasn¡¯t able to channel my divinity through this avatar. Instead, it was restricted simply to the skills that had been unlocked by yers within the game.


    I shook my head, sending my avatar out to practice its new skills while I focused elsewhere. I wanted to check how the event was going, and moved to theputer.


    While I was certain that there would be some coverage of the event happening by now, I was somewhat surprised to find that Legion was the one currently upying it. I knew that they were a fairly prominent group, thanks to the Mad King fight, but still¡­ It didn¡¯t seem right for one group to monopolize all of the unique content.


    In the long run, it might not be so bad, as this was still rtively ¡®early game¡¯ content. But that also meant that this was the period where the opinions of the people would shape the future the most. If one group takes all of the good ¡®content¡¯ from the world, other people won¡¯t be able to enjoy it as much.


    Well, I suppose I can at least be thankful that they are broadcasting it. I thought inwardly, knowing that that would at least spur people on, making them aim for an even higher ce.


    Shaking my head, I watched as the ¡®show¡¯ ended for the day. After their fight with the light creature, a voice spoke up on the screen. ¡°That¡¯s all for today, everyone! Legion is going to repair their equipment and resupply, and we¡¯ll be back first thing in the morning!¡±


    As the broadcast ended, I felt a voice entering my mind. Looks like it shouldn¡¯t be long now. It was Aurivy that spoke up, seeming to have a hopeful tone to her.


    Cheering them on? I felt my lips tug upwards at that thought. It seemed like Aurivy had be a fan of this group at some point.


    Well, I mean¡­ maybe? I think that they have a lot of untapped potential. Watchful Aiz is actually a great thief in real life, having put his mastery of stealth to use as a pickpocket until his sister, the yer of Jade Hand, convinced him that he could make more money through honest work in their group. Then you have Burmir.


    Sure, he¡¯s a bit of an oddball, preferring to y female characters in any game hees across. But in reality, he¡¯s a skilled cksmith and devout cleric following the entire pantheon. I bet he¡¯d even pray to you if he could. He personally crafts all of the weapons and armor he makes in the real world first, ensuring the he properly understands them.


    Logain¡­ well, he might be the hardest to believe out of all of them. Logain is actually the second in line for the throne of Rokindrol, only after his sister, the crown princess. Prince Rnd is a natural when ites to gathering talents, and hand-picked several of the starting members himself. Despite having the funds of a prince at his disposal, he has refused to ept the kingdom¡¯s money. He believes that he should not have a share of the kingdom that rightfully belongs to his elder sister.


    I could go on and on about them, but really¡­ I think that Legion is a gathering of great talents from the current generation. And more than that, they¡¯ve all managed to be friends in real life.


    I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle as I listened to her giving character descriptions. It was clear that she had definitely be a fan of the group, speaking about them like they were her idols. A somewhat ironic thing,ing from a Goddess, but also oddly fitting for her.


    Ryone? I called out towards the Goddess of Magic, feeling like it should be time to make another big move. I couldn¡¯t really call the current ingame event a move of my own, as it had been orchestrated by Vivi.


    Yes? Her response carried a curious tone to it, seeming unsure what I wanted from her.


    Are you ready for your own territory? I spoke rather yfully to her in my mind. Out of all of the gods and Goddesses, five currently had their own worlds. Of the ones that were left¡­ I thought it was most fitting for Ryone to get it next.


    There was a long moment of silence from Ryone, to the point where I started to wonder if she had heard my offer. However, it was rather clear that she had, once she responded with an overwhelmingly energetic, Yes!


    I gave a small nod, stepping through a mirror to sit at my throne in the main hall of the citadel. I¡¯ll give you the time to set up whatever settings you want for your world, so just let me know when you¡¯re ready to start.


    I could practically hear the papers rustling, and picture Ryone running through her room, going from one bookshelf to another as she began frantically taking notes and writing down her ns. She did say that she wanted a present¡­ I wasn¡¯t just going to settle for giving her a new spell.

 Chapter 387: Conquest

    <h4>Chapter 387: Conquest</h4>


    While Ryone was working on her ideas for her new world, I decided to take it easy and rx for a few days. Between the Watcher that was still growing, Legion conquering the Citadel, or her preparations, that gave me some time before everything came together.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Crystal was breathing heavily as she walked with her party, her staff tapping against the floor with every step. For three days, they had spent almost their entire time within the Citadel, only logging out to eat, or stopping their progress to repair equipment.


    Even their media liaison wasn¡¯t able to keep up with them, having to swap out now and again. It was decided that their broadcast wouldn¡¯t entirely be a live one, and that it would be released in several segments due to the sheer length of time they were spending. But that didn¡¯t bother Legion.


    No, what truly bothered them was how quiet everything had be¡­ ¡°Are you sure you¡¯ve properly mapped the ce?¡± Logain called back to Aiz, who nodded his head hastily.


    ¡°That¡¯s right! I even had Leon double check.¡± He pointed to the tired-looking scribe. ¡°Unless there are even more hidden passages, we should have explored every room of the dungeon by now!¡±


    Logain wasn¡¯t going to get mad at him for this. There were times when a special condition had to be met to clear a dungeon, or hidden passages existed that led towards the boss room. ¡°Crystal, Jade, are either of you able to detect anything?¡±


    Crystal shook her head, ncing towards Jade who had a thoughtful expression. Crystal may have been the expert when it came to applying magical theory orprehending its structure, but Jade was undoubtedly the more ¡®sensitive¡¯ of the two. Feeling the gazes on her, Jade hesitated for a moment. ¡°I think¡­ we should go back to the throne room.¡± She spoke in a soft voice, clearly uncertain herself.


    ¡°Oi, what makes ya think that,ss?¡± Their priestess spoke up, ncing towards Jade out of the corner of her eyes. They had already checked the throne room again after clearing out the monsters, and hadn¡¯t seen anything different.


    ¡°It¡¯s just¡­ there was a little shift in the flow of energy after ourst fight. I think that the monsters we¡¯ve been fighting have been holding bits of the structure¡¯s energy. I thought I felt it earlier, when we went back to the throne room. But, I didn¡¯t say anything¡­ because it still felt iplete¡­¡±


    That made Logain pause. He didn¡¯t know how much value he should ce in these words, but at the same time¡­ it would hurt nothing to follow through. Jade¡¯s intuition had often led them to finding unexplored areas by reading the currents of magic.


    However, it was Crystal that spoke up first, a light of realization shing in her eyes. ¡°The throne. You didn¡¯t sit on itst time¡­ Now that the energy has filled up, it might be waiting to interface with a new ¡®master¡¯.¡±


    This was why Crystal and Jade made such a great team. Jade was able to find the little, hidden clues, helping Crystal understand the bigger picture. With her confirmation, Logain gave a strong nod, his steps turning to lead them towards the throne room once again.


    Really, the only reason he hadn¡¯t sat on the throne again was because he felt like he¡¯d be making a fool of himself by doing so. Presuming to sit on the Keeper¡¯s throne at every chance he got would likely make others look at him like a greedy lord, hungry for power. Only now that Jade and Crystal had both spoken up did it seem eptable in his mind.


    Without needing to worry about any patrolling monsters, the party quickly made their way back to the throne room. Everything looked the same as the first time they entered, the cracked stone bricks giving it the appearance that an ancient battle had rocked the citadel.


    Logain nced towards the others, before once again walking up towards the throne. As he did so, Crystal was focusing, feeling the energies that converged on this one room. Like she had guessed, the energies seemed to be tied directly into the throne itself. ¡°Once you sit down, ce your hands on the armrests, and lean back. Pulse your mana once to connect with the throne like you would a piece of equipment.¡±


    Following her instructions, Logain did exactly as he was told, sitting back in the chair as if it truly was his throne. When his energy pulsed, he heard a voice in the back of his head, from his fairy. Do you wish to bind the Sky Citadel?


    Logain¡¯s eyes went wide as he heard that voice. Like Crystal had suggested, it was the same as when taking possession of a bindable item. The entirety of the Sky Citadel was treated as one giant item¡­ He knew that if he did bind it to himself, it would be impossible for another to steal it. Only if he undid the bindings or suffered a true death would the citadel recognize another owner.


    He nced towards his party members, hesitant about taking this item for himself. Yes, he was the leader of the guild, but it still felt as if he were gaining everything while they took nothing. Inwardly, he spoke with his fairy. Is it possible to share the binding among multiple people?


    It is not. The fairy answered simply. He hadn¡¯t been expecting that it was, but was still hopeful. This was, after all, the very epitome of ¡®special circumstances¡¯. Eventually, Logain nodded his head, agreeing to the binding. Once he did, there was an eruption of energy, golden lights streaming out from the throne in long strands that connected to the walls of the throne room.


    At the front of the room, opposite the throne and above the entryway, arge window appeared, a smaller one beneath it. Given the surprised reactions of his teammates, they were visible for all to see.


    Structural Damage: 35%, initiating repairs. Estimated Time of Completion: 12 Hours.


    Congrattions, yer Logain for taking possession of the Sky Citadel. Base Admin rights have been granted.


    When he saw the second window, his eyes widened. Immediately, he opened up the admin options for the base, and set ownership to be shared among Legion. This way, he might be the ¡®true¡¯ owner, but everyone present would receive their share of the citadel.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Once the Sky Citadel had been imed, a world-wide message went out, announcing the sess of Legion. Even though their broadcast had not caught up with their adventures, this gave everyone the confirmation that they had been waiting for. Confirmation that this floating pce had been imed.


    Outside the citadel, Beholder narrowed his eyes, floating just outside the barrier with the aid ofrge wings attached to his back. Naturally, other groups had wanted to enter the citadel to try to take it for themselves. Some even managed to break through the barrier, much like Crystal had done, with the use of special abilities.


    When each group did so, they found that they each entered their own ¡®instance¡¯ of the Sky Citadel. This was one of the first instanced dungeons that were released within the game. In every situation, the result had been the same. It was a simple race, a race to the end. Whichever group came first would have the ¡®true¡¯ instance, while others would be banished outside.


    Naturally, this meant that Beholder and his guild had failed to catch up to Legion¡¯s progress. They didn¡¯t have the extensive equipment options avable to Legion, and were also of significantly lower level. Fighting the chaos beasts was only a fleeting fantasy for them.


    ¡°Everyone¡­ pull back.¡± Beholder begrudgingly ordered, once again bringing the cloth up to cover his eyes, returning to his signature appearance. He couldn¡¯t risk the chance that the base had the same offensive capabilities as the true Sky Citadel had demonstrated long ago, and turned to fly towards the horizon.


    All around this flying fortress were groups with simr thoughts. Most flew away like Beholden, while others had different thoughts. Pulling out their own weapons, they seemed to have been waiting for this. Would it not be easier to take the base from a small group of people, as opposed to endless hordes of boss-level monsters?


    And so, these daring people struck against the base¡¯s shields. Those with the ability to bypass the shields entirely did so, leading their teams inside. It was a raid, with the citadel as the prize. These individuals naturally had no way to know that the base had be a bound item, or they would be forced to give up their thoughts of stealing it.


    ¡°Quick, get inside!¡± One group¡¯s leader shouted out. He knew that Legion had disyed powerful area attacks before taking the citadel, so he wanted to enter the building itself to reduce their chance to disy such might. ¡°Once we get in, we can overwhelm them and take this for ourselves!¡±


    The other groups that had made it past the barrier seemed to agree with that logic, storming towards the door. However, as they did so, the damaged wooden gates seemed to m shut. A golden barrier then shrouded the gate, preventing others from touching it. Just as they were about to use their techniques to bypass this barrier as well, like they did the one outside, a hole was ripped open in the air to the side of the pce.


    Stepping through the portal was a young woman with golden hair, a long, bushy tail swaying behind her. Her eyes were only half open as she looked towards the violent groups. Yet, what made them all pause was her attire, the frilly ck and white outfit of a maid.


    ¡°I was asked to not interfere with the initial conquering of this dungeon.¡± She stated bluntly, her portal closing behind herself. ¡°However, I will not tolerate those who seek to steal this pce from its owner. The Keeper¡¯s pce is no ce to hold your battles.¡±


    Naturally, almost everyone was able to recognize this woman through her reputation. The Keeper¡¯s personal servant, the ughterer that had been challenging high ranking yers. There was the chance that she was a fake, but the simple fact that she had prated the barrier so casually to stand in front of them gave credit to her authenticity.


    The man who had first spoken out seemed to grit his teeth. ¡°We were already nning to fight Legion. Why are we getting scared of one girl!?¡± As he said that, he was the first to charge, hefting his battle axe over his head. Bright, red mes surrounded the head of his axe as it came crashing down.


    Despite the man¡¯s bravado, he was a fairly low level yer. He was merely seeking to y people against each other, scheming to be the ¡®final winner¡¯ when the dust cleared. Even this show of force was meant to incite others into joining during his battle.


    ¡°Pip.¡± Tsubaki spoke up, not even looking towards the axe falling towards her body. A st of icy wind shot out from behind Tsubaki, converging on the attacker and blowing him to the side. A second Tsubaki then appeared¡­ this one looking far smaller than the original, standing on the true Tsubaki¡¯s shoulder. The only difference, aside from their size, was that the second figure had purely silver skin.


    No means no! The small creature pointed angrily towards the man she had blown away, her voice being transmitted through the wind without her mouth moving.

 Chapter 388: What Sorcery is This

    <h4>Chapter 388: What Sorcery is This</h4>


    I gave a small chuckle as I watched the scene of Tsubaki guarding the door of the Sky Citadel. Indeed, I had asked her not to prevent people from iming this base for the event. But, I was somewhat d that I hadn¡¯t told her topletely ignore this citadel. This was a good chance for her to get recognition with the upper echelon of yers as more than just the Keeper¡¯s Servant. Here, she was a yer as well. Just one with a rather intense drive to grow in personal strength, and knowledge of how to do just that.


    Perhaps due to Vivi¡¯s nning, the media crews that were watching the various yers inside the citadel had all been ejected out once it had been imed. This included the media liaison that was apanying Legion, which allowed them to record the scene of the other groups trying to raid the citadel.


    While I watched the scene through Tsubaki¡¯sputer, Leowynn sitting happily in the chair in front of me, I heard another message I had been waiting for. I¡¯ve got it ready, Dale!


    Naturally, that message hade from Ryone, her tone eager and excited. I shook my head, smiling as I reached down to tap on Leowynn¡¯s shoulder. ¡°We¡¯ve got to go back for a little bit. I¡¯ll make sure that you can watch the broadcast once they air it.¡±


    Leowynn gave a small pout at having to pull herself away from watching, just as the main fight was starting to break out. Still, she nodded her head, dispersing into a golden cloud that rushed into my body. Mentally, I apologized to her, but I wouldn¡¯t be able to do what I needed to do without returning to the Admin Room, and the timing was pretty important with this.


    The next moment, I was in my room, an excited Ryone sitting on my bed. There was a grin that threatened to split her face open, and I could see her lightly bouncing in her seat. ¡°I take it that you¡¯ve got something rather nice nned?¡±


    Ryone¡¯s head nodded faster than I thought should be physically possible. ¡°Yes! I made something extra special for this!¡± Reaching out her hand, she produced a thin notebook with a pitch ck cover.


    Taking the book, I opened it up to begin reading, and was pleasantly surprised. As I did so, Ryone exined the contents¡­rgely for Leowynn, I imagine. ¡°I wanted to create a new type of magic, like Udona did with her cards. But it couldn¡¯t just be anything¡­ I wanted to make this special.¡±


    ¡°There are already advanced starlight magic types within the market, but they weren¡¯t what I wanted. They turned the stars ands into giant masses of mana that radiate outwards. This would probably make space travel a bit difficult, I think¡­ so I wanted something different. Something that could potentially qualify as a base magic type.¡±


    ¡°I drew a lot of my inspiration for this from Lorek¡¯s Profound Star Laws. Essentially, the outeryer of the atmosphere catches the light from celestial bodies, using that light to create mana. The intensity and spectrum of the celestial light changes the specific type of mana produced. For instance, naturally during the day, the star that the rotates would provide heavy amounts of light, empowering magic. But only one specific type of magic.¡±


    ¡°It would be the goal of a mage to connect with the atmospheric mana, sifting through it to take the spectrums that they wanted for their spells. It will also greatly encourage the native species to have an interest in the stars as well, butes with some clear weaknesses.¡±


    I gave a nod at that, able to imagine some of those. ¡°If they¡¯re connecting to starlight, it will probably be harder to use underground. They¡¯ll need a mana storage or some other magical item.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ a bit more than that, actually.¡± Ryone chuckled, shaking her head. ¡°You see, the mana is generated from starlight in the atmosphere. This means that, once they leave the atmosphere, they won¡¯t have ess to that energy anymore¡­ In order for them to use magic outside of their own world, I imagine that they will need to create a device that replicates that effect. But it will mean that they will need to heavily rely on technology for space travel.¡±


    Gradually, as we were discussing, the golden mist surfaced from my body again. Leowynn stepped out, looking towards her mother. ¡°You made this¡­ because of me?¡±


    Ryone¡¯s grin shifted into a gentle, warm smile, and she nodded her head. ¡°That¡¯s right, dear. I wanted something special for you. You are our little star, aren¡¯t you? And after hearing about your domains in that game, I knew that I definitely needed to make something rted to stars, once it got to my turn.¡±


    Leowynn dove forward, wrapping her arms around her mother¡¯s neck and holding her tight. It was clear that she was incredibly touched by the sentiment, her shoulders even starting to shake slightly. Ryone¡¯s eyes softened, and she held her daughter in a gentle embrace while I continued to read.


    Ryone hadn¡¯t just written about her magic system in the notebook. She had written down her desired race, which was unsurprisingly elves. Though, I noticed that they weren¡¯t the same elves as I had created for Earth. For the most part, they were the same¡­ same stats, same appearance, but there was an added effect for them. ¡®Gic Adaptation¡¯, with the description being the ability to rapidly undergo evolution in only a few generations to adapt to different climates.


    It had been a while since I received notifications about my races evolving. But, again, I had not been fast forwarding as muchtely either. Aside from the race, she also gave a list of what sses she wanted for the world¡¯s game system. Unsurprisingly, the list mirrored what we had in the other worlds.


    One thing that she did add special was an ore. I couldn¡¯t tell if it was one of her own creation, or one that she was getting from the market. Either way, it was listed as ¡®starmetal¡¯. An ore created by saturating other raw materials in the essence of starlight found only in deep space. Depending on the original material that was altered in this way, the starmetal would have different properties.


    I gave a small nod as I read over everything. Putting the options into the system, I decided to make this world the same size as Desbar. That was still plenty of space for them, with the main goal being that they would expand to the stars, as opposed to the other worlds that had to be convinced of what might await them.


    As I finished entering the options in to the system, I couldn¡¯t help but arch my brow towards Ryone. She knew that the typical limit for one of these worlds that I set was five hundred points. I had made an exception with Fyor, but only because Bihena and Aurivy had personally earned the points that they used for it.


    And for this world that she had created, which she had named Spica, the total cost came to¡­ four hundred and ny-five points. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if she had spent thest few days adjusting her requests such that it would use up her full budget.


    Seeing that, I shook my head with a small smile, purchasing the world and cing it in its own universe. ¡°You know the deal. If you want to use the points you earn in your world to buy anything, just let me know. Depending on how the world develops, I¡¯ll be figuring out when to join it with the others.¡± As I purchased the world, golden confetti seemed to spring up out of my body, a window appearing in front of me.


    Congrattions! You have earned an achievement!


    For submitting an eligible primary magic type, you have been awarded with the Master of the Arcane achievement! +50 points, Sorcerer special title unlocked!


    Ryone gave a soft nod, still holding Leowynn. She didn¡¯t even seem to pay any attention towards the fanfare that came with the achievement, only giving a knowing smile. I decided to give them a moment alone, turning and walking out of the room. It wouldn¡¯t feel right to ask Leowynn toe back with me to Earth right now, so I wanted to take a walk for a bit, maybe look into the new title that came with the achievement.


    While I was walking down the hall, I noticed a loud, repeated crashing sound from one of the rooms. Giving it a quick nce, I noticed that it was Keliope¡¯s room. Going by the pattern, it sounded like she was punching something. Training to pass the time, maybe?


    It had been a while since I spent any time with the ursa goddess, so I walked over and knocked on the door. There was a pause in the repeated pattern of crashing, before a voice called out. ¡°Just a sec!¡±


    After a moment, the door opened and the tall, dark-skinned form of Keliope stood in the doorway, smiling towards me. ¡°Hey, Dale! Wasn¡¯t expecting a visit from you.¡± She was wearing her typical red crop top, and baggy blue jeans. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±


    ¡°Just got done setting Ryone up with her world, and figured I¡¯d give her and Leowynn some time to themselves.¡± I exined with a small shrug of my shoulders. ¡°Heard you from the hall, and figured I¡¯d see how you were doing.¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡± Keliope leaned to the side, against the frame of the doorway, and seemed to think it over. ¡°I mean, no realints here. Been feeling a bit cramped, but I am able to go have fun on Earth and in that new game whenever I want. Congrats on bing a god yourself, by the way. Udo¡¯ was pretty happy for you.¡±


    It wasn¡¯t hard to figure out who she was referring to. ¡°Thanks. Sorry about not consulting any of you on which world came next.¡±


    Keliope simply gave another shrug. ¡°Doesn¡¯t really bother me. I¡¯ve been having fun studying Lorek. I think that if I were to make a world myself, it would probably be a cultivation world like Tubrock¡¯s. But I doubt I¡¯d have the patience for that whole ancient civilization stuff he did toy the groundwork for it all.¡±


    That¡­ gave me a thought. ¡°Do you think you¡¯d have other changes as well, or would it just be a world like his, but with ursa as the leading race?¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡± Keliope raised her eyebrows at me. ¡°I mean, I guess I¡¯d keep everything else the same? I kind of like that world¡¯s cultivation method, but it is a bit hard to step onto the right path. You know me, Dale. I¡¯m not exactly the type to go through and overly n stuff like that.¡± She waved a hand dismissively, shaking her head.


    ¡°Well, then.¡± I smiled slightly. ¡°You can talk about it with Tubrock. But, if that¡¯s the way you want it, you could potentially get a world in the same universe as him. Since you don¡¯t mind everything being the same, it wouldn¡¯t make too much sense to make you an entirely different world, right?¡±


    Keliope blinked at that, seeming a bit caught off-guard by the proposal as she considered it for a moment. ¡°Heh, I guess you¡¯re right, huh? Sure, I¡¯ll go chat him up about it. Given the size of his world, though, I doubt it¡¯ll be any time soon when the two meet.¡±


    I hadn¡¯t considered that¡­ I had forgotten just how truly massive Lorek was. Even with as strong as the people have gotten, they weren¡¯t explorers by nature. It was hard to tell when they would finish exploring their own world, let alone moving out past it to see others. ¡°Well¡­ just see what he says. If he wants, I could even see about adding the ursa to an unexplored region of Lorek.¡±


    Keliope nodded her head, appearing to be happy with the suggestion. ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll bring it up with him. I take it that you¡¯re nning to finish giving the rest of us worlds of our own pretty soon?¡±


    Thinking about it, doing this would make it so that only three of the eligible deities would remain without a world of their own. Well, two if you counted the Underworld as Irena¡¯s domain. But I¡¯d still like to offer her the option of making her own world, as well. ¡°Probably, yeah¡­ I¡¯ll be speaking with alia, Tryval, and Irena about it here before too long. I am sure alia at least has had ideas for what she¡¯s wanted for a while.¡±


    Keliope rolled her eyes yfully at that. ¡°Oh, ages. She keeps trying to rope me and Udo¡¯ in to help her fine-tune her ns. She¡¯ll be all over you like a happy puppy once you tell her it¡¯s finally her turn.¡±

 Chapter 389: Synergy

    <h4>Chapter 389: Synergy</h4>


    Once I left Keliope¡¯s room, I decided to walk out towards the living room, sitting down on the sofa. As I did, I pulled up the information about the new special title that I had received. Honestly¡­ I felt like this title was a bit unfair, but deserving of its ce as a reward for creating a ¡®basic magic¡¯ system.


    ¡®User may gain an understanding of magic within their power. Usable once per month.¡¯ It was¡­ ambiguous, to say the least. I could vaguely guess it¡¯s ability, based on the description. If I was right, it would allow a moment ofprehension when the user posed a question on magic. As long as said magic wasn¡¯t outside the scope of their power, at least.


    A one month cooldown is pretty long, though¡­ Since this was an effect generated by the system, it was almost guaranteed that it would be one month for me, not something that could be sped up by fast forwarding the world.


    ¡°Daaaale!¡± A certain Lycan goddess called out as she ran into the room, her eyes sparkling as she looked at me. ¡°Kelly said that you were going around and asking people about what they wanted for their own worlds!¡±


    I blinked, turning my head to look to alia in confusion. I mean¡­ I did say that it would make sense to get everyone their own sooner rather thanter. I didn¡¯t expect her to take that to mean that I wanted to get everyone¡¯s done now. Though, that also didn¡¯t mean that there was a reason to avoid it, now that alia hade directly to me.


    ¡°Sure.¡± I answered simply, deciding not to point out the correction. ¡°She said that you had something in mind for yours?¡±


    alia nodded her head in excitement, jumping over me to nt herself in the couch next to myself. ¡°Yes! I¡¯ve been giving it a lot of thoughttely, and I think that I¡¯ve gotten something that will work.¡±


    Once I motioned for her to continue, she began exining. ¡°For the magic, I¡¯d like to use one of the limited types of the Imagination system. It¡¯s listed as ¡®Familiar Binding¡¯.¡± She gave a pause while looking at me, as if waiting for something. So, I went ahead and opened the market to take a look at that system.


    Familiar Binding


    This is a limited form of the Imagination magic system. Here, users are capable of creating their spells, but must take the time to store them inside of living assistants known as familiars.


    40 Points


    I nodded my head while reading through the system, and she smiled again. ¡°I¡¯d also like the first three or four tiers of monsters to get my world started. For now¡­ I¡¯d rather leave the game system out, until they join with the other worlds. And for the race, well¡­¡± She simply smiled, as if the answer was obvious. And really, it was. Only Ryone had actually made a change to her race when creating her world.


    ¡°That should work.¡± I agreed with a nod. So far, she hadn¡¯t really asked for anything expensive.


    ¡°Onest thing.¡± She held her hand up. ¡°Could you buy ki for my world?¡±


    That part made me hesitate. Not because I was unwilling to buy ki, but more because I had gotten used to it simplying with most of the worlds so far. Now that I thought about it, Desbar didn¡¯t start out with ki either, or Deckan. They would have only gotten it when they reached the merger, right? Taking a look at the market, I saw that each of the base energy types were listed for a simple ten points.


    I gave another nod, and she shouted out excitedly, lunging forward and wrapping her arms around one of mine, burying her head against my shoulder. ¡°Thank you, Dale! For the name, I was thinking of going with Kione. It¡¯s a beastkin word that means ¡®mother¡¯s home¡¯.¡±


    Before I could answer, I felt the softness against my arms vanish, alia having pulled back and jumped to her feet. With augh, she started rushing out of the room, back to her own. Seeing her so happy like that actually brought a small smile to my face as I leaned back in the couch.


    Well, now it¡¯s just Tryval and Irena. I nced towards the amount of points remaining, and decided to hold off for just a bit before getting thest two their own worlds. If I tried to get all four at once¡­ five if Keliope ended up needing her own, then we wouldn¡¯t have enough points for everything. Not quite yet, at least.


    Instead, I decided to test out my new title. I knew that there was a certain magical conundrum that Ryone had been trying to puzzle out for ages, but none of us had been able to fully figure it out. So, focusing on my Sorcerer title, I mentally asked a question. How do you achieve a proper synergy while casting with Rune Magic, Geometric Magic, and Card Magic simultaneously?


    Sorcerer ability has been activated!


    My eyes shot wide open as I felt a multitude of images rushing through my head, some unseen force sifting through the various scenes, filtering them out. If it was looking for an example within my world, I knew it wouldn¡¯t find it, because otherwise Ryone would have already known.


    Gradually, the figures in the images stopped bing random people, and instead it started showing¡­ me. In different positions and areas, performing different actions, before finally settling on a single scene. This scene then began ying in my mind, over and over again, the information firmly embedding itself in my consciousness.


    Once it was done, I sagged back in the couch, bringing a hand up to my head with a groan. ¡°Well, at least you used it on a pretty good question.¡± A familiar voice spoke up, and I once again felt a softness wrapping around my free arm.


    ncing over, I saw the head of red hair and bright green eyes staring back at me. ¡°Hey, Terra.¡± I spoke in a soft tone, leaning over to kiss her forehead. ¡°That was¡­ not how I expected to get my answer, though.¡±


    Terra simply shrugged, leaning down and resting her head against my shoulder. ¡°If it was something that had already happened in your world, then it would show you the answer from there¡­ But, what you¡¯re asking not only hasn¡¯t happened in your worlds¡­ Thebination of Geometric, Runic, and Card magic hasn¡¯t beenpleted yet in any world. After all¡­ you were the one who submitted it to the system.¡±


    I gave a small nod, taking my hand off my head and stretching it out. The air before me began to distort with multiple hues of magic arranged in an almost chaotic pattern. A small bit of golden smoke leaked out from my hand and into the distorted mass, before it solidified into the shape of a card.


    This was the answer that the system had given me. It showed me how to create the temte for a spell card with my own magic, and how to infuse that temte with abination of runes and geometric magic. Looking at the image, I could see a basic spell diagram, and outside of it was a circle of runes. Oddly, the image was animated, the runes rotating around the diagram.


    ¡°In card form, a spell is able to gradually fill up with the mana needed to cast it.¡± Terra exined, her eyes ncing towards the card as well. ¡°This is the biggest benefit of the Card Magic system. It doesn¡¯t directly enhance the power of the spell, but rather stores the spell to be usedter.¡±


    ¡°Runic Magic is flexible and shifting, while Geometric is more rigid and defined. For the spell itself, it is easier to use Geometric as the base, with Runic magic acting to filter and empower the spell. When you look at thepleted form, it¡¯s obvious that this is the only way it could truly work. While the ideas may seem obvious, creating the temte itself is an extremely difficult task.¡±


    Saying that, Terra took a deep breath. ¡°Honestly¡­ if not for your world having discovered the possibility of Card Synthesis already, the system wouldn¡¯t have given you the answer to that question. Creating a synthetic card naturally means that the temte is used, but they already have the temte filled and defined in their process, which keeps it from being easily identified.¡±


    I nodded my head, still ncing towards the card, before my eyes shifted back to Terra. ¡°How would you rate this kind of synergy?¡±


    I saw her green eyes blinking for a moment. ¡°Well, naturally you weren¡¯t given the ¡®perfectbination¡¯, to let you have room to grow. It mostly depends on the spell stored into the card, but¡­ With what you just made, it would have a forty percent increase in spell power, and an eighty percent decrease in its consumption.¡±


    ¡°However, that spell you just made would have a recharge period of six minutes before it can be used again without damaging the card. That¡¯s the drawback to using the Card Magic system, cards need time to charge their mana between uses.¡±


    Thinking about that, I was honestly quite satisfied with the results. ¡°For a higher tier spell, it would be perfect, then. The casting speed would drastically increase, far more quickly than either of the other systems are capable of.¡±


    Sadly, the system had only given me the ¡®temte¡¯ for a first tier spell card. If I wanted to create second or third tier cards¡­ Well, now that I had the answer, I felt my smile turning a bit more yful. With a flick of my wrist, the card vanished, being teleported onto Ryone¡¯sp. I wasn¡¯t sure if she would notice it right away, but¡­


    Dale¡­ Nope, she noticed it right away. Did you just send me what I think you just sent me?


    Have fun? I responded in a slightly teasing tone. I knew that her biggest hobby was studying magic, and hertest project was this fusion of magic systems. Now that she had a working final product, it was likely that she¡¯d be able to make great strides in her research.


    While thinking about that, I went ahead and purchased Kione for alia, before I forgot the details of the world that she had asked for. Then I began leaning to the side against Terra, letting out a content sigh. ¡°You know, as much as I like being able to stay in the citadel, it really just can¡¯t beat being home with everyone.¡±


    Terra¡¯s grip on my arm went just a bit tighter, hugging it closer to herself. ¡°Yeah, well, I like having you around, too. Make sure toe visit us more often, will you?¡±


    I gave a small nod, having already been thinking the same thing myself. ¡°So, what did you think of my Watcher spell?¡±


    Terra let out a long groan. ¡°Did you have to name it something so perverted? And even set it to learn through mirrors¡­ It¡¯s like you¡¯re asking for a twisted personality. Overall, though¡­ I think the spell is pretty good. It¡¯s a good rough draft of making an artificial intelligence through magic, as long as proper care is taken during its learning period.¡±


    I was¡­ a bit concerned how its personality might turn out as well, but its intelligence should be high enough to notice the difference between how people act in private and in front of others. At least, I sincerely hoped that was the case.


    ¡°We¡¯ll see how it¡¯s turned out once I get back. It should have had enough time to learn to develop a foundation for its own personality.¡± I exined, bringing my hand up and lightly resting it against her own. For now, it just felt nice for the two of us to sit together like this, so I was in no rush.

 Chapter 390: The Mirror’s Analysis

    <h4>Chapter 390: The Mirror¡¯s Analysis</h4>


    Eventually, I was able to feel Leowynn returning, the golden mist slowly hovering through the halls before it entered my body on the couch. She was certainly in a better mood now, and her spirit all but radiated joy. We¡¯ll have toe back more often so that we can check on Spica from now on, won¡¯t we?


    I¡¯d really appreciate that, father. Leowynn answered in a sincere voice as I closed my eyes, quietly returning to my ce in the Sky Citadel. The only difference was that I had now chosen to appear as a halfling. Even if it was a bit ridiculous, I had spent so long descended as a human, and didn¡¯t want humans to suddenly think that they were overly favored.


    Of course, I could easily change what race I appeared as, now that I was a full divinity. It was probably possible ever since I gained my divine body. Using the system was just my way of taking a shortcut.


    Once I had descended, I found myself standing in my bedroom, turning and walking towards the mirror that I had created with my divinity previously. The same mirror that I had attached the Watcher to. Waving my hand over the mirror, the interface to control the Watcher card appeared.


    After first severing the link between this mirror and others, I then activated the spell¡¯s ability to animate within its host, as well as its ability to speak. ¡°How do you feel?¡± I asked, inwardly praying that the spell had not developed a warped personality.


    ¡°I feel great!¡± A new voice said from within the mirror. The reflective surface was briefly covered with a silver fog, my own figure vanishing from within. When the fog cleared, there was a young woman standing in the mirror, wearing a long, golden dress with ornate designs that looked reminiscent of the mirror¡¯s frame. ¡°You¡¯re the Keeper, right?¡± She asked in a pleasant tone. She seemed a bit too tall to be a halfling, yet not as tall as your average human. Her ears were slightly pointed, with her hair a sandy blonde.


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± I confirmed rather easily. ¡°Have youe up with a name for yourself?¡± Although it was able to mimic emotions due to its settings, I knew that those emotions were merely calcted due to various factors.


    ¡°A name?¡± The embodiment of the spell tilted her head slightly, blinking. ¡°I¡¯m Watcher, of course. Isn¡¯t that my name?¡±


    Well, I mean¡­ sort of? ¡°That¡¯s¡­ closer to your ¡®race¡¯ than your name.¡±


    ¡°Oh!¡± She nodded in understanding, crossing her arms in front of her petite chest. ¡°I think that I like the name Ana.¡± Immediately, that made me think of the human ¡®saintess¡¯ that had first started to change the world¡¯s view on humans after the first representative¡­ didn¡¯t do a very good job.


    Deep down, I realized how she hade to find that name most suitable, but I still nodded my head. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s call you Ana, then.¡± Ana beamed a happy smile, giving a small twirl within the mirror. ¡°So, what do you think about the world you¡¯ve been watching?¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡± Once she had straightened her posture, she turned to look at me. ¡°Well, I learned a lot of things. People can be really nice and caring, but¡­ they can also be incredibly cruel. It was really hard to figure out what drove people to act like they do. Even now, I¡¯m not entirely sure I¡¯ve gotten it right. But I definitely saw more people being nice and having fun with one another than those being mean!¡±


    ¡°Outside of that, there were a lot of different things to learn. Did you know that the Magical Research Institute of Xanathor has a mirrored ceiling in its practice rooms? Warded to reinforce it against damage, of course, but they use it to record magical experiments!¡± She seemed really excited when rying that bit of information.


    ¡°Oh? Were you able to learn anything nice from that?¡± I knew that the Watcher would eventually be able to cast spells, and potentially grow to be a rudimentary elementalist. It could not, however, wield ki or spiritual energy. Even natural energy could only be used through the basic method of connecting to it via mana.


    ¡°Yup!¡± She nodded her head. ¡°There are these two students, Larien and Sarel,peting to try and find a way to improve storage spells. Every day, they each head to a training room and beginying out a new version of their enchantments. I¡¯m not sure what all the symbols mean yet, but I¡¯ve been working on decoding them. I think that if I have a couple more days to watch, I might be able to beat both of them!¡± Ana stuck out her tongue yfully when she said that.


    I gave a small, satisfied nod at that. Ana¡¯s interest in enchantment was¡­ not unexpected. It was a field perfectly suited for someone like her. ¡°What do you think the world needs most right now? From what you¡¯ve seen, I mean.¡±


    It took a moment for Ana to process that question. ¡°Most people are happy. There is plenty of food to go around thanks to the presence of monsters, but at the same time those monsters present a threat to the various races. Guards are alwaysining about how they¡¯re kept busy, patrolling the roads or watching from the walls.¡±


    ¡°The wards around the cities prevent most monsters from attacking, but there are those that still choose to do so. And for travelers moving on foot, who can¡¯t use the transport channels for one reason or another, the roads are treacherous.¡±


    ¡°With the increase of storage capabilities inside of bags, then containing those bags within quest scrolls, the need for long caravans has been all but eliminated. Most merchants are able to carry all of their necessary goods on their person, only having to hire guards or mercenaries to escort them from ce to ce when transport channels or druids are unavable.¡±


    ¡°Now, granted, this is only a minority of people. Most are able to afford themission to go between cities rather easily, or are able to form those connections themselves. However, I have seen this trend appearing mostmonly among centaurs and halflings, two highly nomadic races, as well as those training themselves to be strong adventurers. Even though they are fully capable of utilizing such alternate means of transport, they still choose manual travel.¡±


    ¡°If I were to designate a single item that would be deemed the most useful to the world today, it would be an ¡®escape charm¡¯. This is a general term I¡¯ll assign, defined as an item capable of allowing individuals to escape from mortal danger.¡±


    ¡°In order to mass produce the item, the materials would need to be fairly cheap. However, that would mean that the item itself would be unable to properly contain its own enchantment, and would be destroyed upon a single use. The easiest way to create the enchantment that I can estimate would be to have it bind to a location of the owner¡¯s choosing, most likely their home. Then, in a moment of need, they could activate it to be instantly transported back to their bound point.¡±


    Without stopping for a single breath, Ana continued her exnation as if it were only natural. ¡°Even with this measure, there will be those who are unable to react in time, or who fall victim to a poison and are still killed after returning to their home. However, this should reduce overall casualties by more than eighty percent for those who insist on taking the road.¡±


    I gave a small nod as I listened to her argument. Indeed, an item like that would be valuable. However¡­ ¡°Why hasn¡¯t an item like that already been made?¡± It should clearly be within the realm of possibility, given the current development level of the various worlds.


    ¡°There is one student within Xanathor¡¯s institute that has been studying this problem, as well.¡± Ana exined, nodding her head. ¡°The issue is publicly known, but creating a device capable of filling that need is more difficult than one might expect. A simple teleportation item is easy to make. However, permanently binding the enchantment to a location is more difficult.¡±


    ¡°Furthermore, this student is researching which materials can be used in order to contain the initial enchantment process, without being too expensive to mass produce. Currently, he is looking into using a syntheticpoundmonly used in most construction projects. Sadly, the mana storage capabilities of that material have proven to be insufficient for his needs.¡±


    Again, I gave another nod. ¡°What material would you suggest?¡±


    Ana looked towards me, blinking in confusion. ¡°I do not know. I¡¯m not aware of the capacity most materials have to store mana. I would need more information in order to make a proper analysis. If it were possible, I would suggest using synthetic cards for the medium of the spell, created within the world of Deckan. The production of such a card relies entirely on energy and the contribution of spiritual energy by numerous willing volunteers.¡±


    ¡°Although it would require more volunteers in order to create enough cards to mass produce the spell, I believe that the end result would be a sizable profit for Deckan¡¯s trade industry, as well as the aforementioned fatality decrease. Furthermore, I believe that this production method would be the most valuable to those of the world Fyor. Although they will not be able to use it to move between floors, they will be capable of binding their teleport location to the gate.¡±


    Her answers definitely made sense, and made me rather happy because it showed that she was truly taking the safety of the people into ount. She didn¡¯t suggest greater weapons to deal with the monsters, or automated golems that could handle the patrols, but rather a way for those in danger to escape safely.


    ¡°For now, I¡¯m going to reopen your link to other mirrors. You¡¯ll be able to observe some more. However, the link is going to be one-way, so you won¡¯t be able to project your appearance or voice to other mirrors.¡± As I said that, I established the link as I said, and I could see Ana¡¯s eyes change, the golden iris seeming to reflect a myriad of different scenes.


    ¡°I understand. From what I know, people would find it rather unusual if their mirror suddenly began talking to them. Though oddly, people spend a great deal of time talking to their mirrors, even when they are not used for magical purposes.¡± She seemed slightly confused by that, but shrugged her shoulders.


    Leaving her to her ¡®studies¡¯, I moved towards the exit to my room, leaving it and projecting my world sight to observe Tsubaki¡¯s room. It seemed like she had logged off from the game already, as she was not in her bed and herputer was currently off. And as I exited the hidden passage that contained the entrance to my bedroom, I found her waiting patiently for me.


    ¡°Greetings, my Keeper.¡± She spoke in her usual polite tone. ¡°I believe that the situation with the Sky Citadel within the game has now been properly resolved.¡±


    ¡°Already?¡± I asked in surprise. I had seen how many people there were, and figured it would take her a bit longer to ¡®persuade¡¯ them all to leave. People were persistent creatures, after all.


    However, she simply nodded her head. ¡°The Citadel has been imed by the group known as Legion. At first, there were many who immediately sought to rob them of their prize. However, I felt that bringing a battle between to your throne room would be disrespectful, and stepped in to stop them¡­¡± She nced off to the side as she said that, as if not sure if I would punish her for interfering in the event.


    Nheless, she did continue. ¡°At first, I nned to fight them off by myself. However, after a few minutes, crystal turrets began to appear in the courtyard, and began firing on the invaders. Surprisingly, I myself was not targeted. Later, I learned that these were not automated turrets, but had been controlled by the group members within the citadel.¡±


    ¡°The group, Legion, emerged after the invaders had been cleared out to thank me for protecting them while they learned how to use the base¡¯s defenses.¡± At that, Tsubaki gave a satisfied nod, clearly pleased with how they had behaved.


    So it was the base¡¯s defenses that killed everyone before Tsubaki had the chance¡­ wait¡­ I wonder if the real Sky Citadel has those kinds of defenses¡­ and if not, we should fix that.

 Chapter 391: Financial Planning

    <h4>Chapter 391: Financial nning</h4>


    Rnd sat at his desk in the office building that he had created as the headquarters for his gaming guild, Legion. Although the key yers each lived in their own worlds, and their own countries, the headquarters still housed several secondary members. They also handled tasks outside of the game, such as speaking with the press, handling sponsorship deals, and things of that nature.


    Currently, he was in a call with a science and exploration institute from Desbar, known as LSE. Their chairman, an elderly gentleman with wrinkled red skin and weathered horns, smiled politely towards Rnd. ¡°I hope that you¡¯ll be agreeable on this matter, young sir.¡±


    Rnd returned the smile with one of his own. ¡°Of course. Legion is prepared to take on additional parties for the maiden voyage of the citadel. It¡¯s our duty to do so, now that we have gained such a treasure, is it not?¡±


    This seemed to please the businessman, before Rnd continued speaking. ¡°However, there is a matter of cost for such a thing. As you know, there is no real concept of hunger within the game, so there is no need to charge for food provisions. Simrly, there is no need for sleep.¡±


    ¡°There is, though, the matter of protection. yers who are not part of the guild cannot bind their resurrection point to a guild¡¯s base. That¡¯s just a simple andmon mechanic to prevent griefing. Therefore, it is only natural that the members of Legion will have to put our own lives on the line to protect any apanying members, should a situation arise. We may be able to revive at the base, but consider this.¡±


    Rnd sat back in his chair, clearly having prepared for this and talked it out with others. ¡°In order for Legion to make this journey, which willst an unknown period of time, we will be relinquishing the lead we have in the leaderboards for the game. The vastness of space is something that someone in your position is surely aware of, so you no doubt know that we are unlikely to find a suitable hunting ground before arriving at our first destination.¡±


    ¡°Now, on top of this, if we do encounter some danger, and are forced to spend our own lives to save the members of the expedition, that will lower our experience even further. On behalf of the guild, I am fully prepared to agree to your conditions of bringing an individual for the expedition. But at the same time, you must understand that we are putting our own livelihoods at risk by doing so. There is no guarantee that we will be able to recover from this expedition in any swift manner, and I have to consider the well-being of my guild members.¡±


    The chairman furrowed his brows when he heard that. Naturally, he wasn¡¯t one to take video gaming seriously as a career. If not for the words of the Keeper when he had revealed himself as the true creator of the game, then he would not even be speaking to Rnd right now. But, as it stood, there was a high chance that space travel within the game would mimic the same conditions as in real life.


    As one of the institutes participating in the ¡®space race¡¯, aiming to design their own inteary travel methods, it was imperative that they get this ¡®real world experience¡¯ for themselves. That was the best way for them to know what to expect and design around in the future.


    The man had expected to offer a modest sum to Rnd in exchange for the inclusion, but¡­ It seemed like the young prince was going to ask for even more. ¡°Try not to go overboard, young man.¡± The elder said with a reluctant sigh. ¡°There¡¯s only so much that can be spared, and I am quite certain that this is not an ¡®exclusive¡¯ deal that you are making.¡±


    ¡°And you are right to say that!¡± Rnd nodded his head. ¡°In fact, mostpanies that I have spoken with so far have sought just that exclusivity, and are even preparing a quite astronomical sum to ensure it. As I said, I must consider the well-being of my members. As long as the information is spread, I am still doing my duty. But, if it bes more financially beneficial to take an exclusive deal over multiple smaller deals¡­ I have to do what is best for them.¡±


    The LSE wasn¡¯t the onlypany aiming to be the first to travel the stars. They weren¡¯t even the only ones in Desbar, and the old chairman knew this. In fact, it only added anotheryer of pressure to ensure that his group was represented. Anyone that missed this chance would suddenly be decades behind any other group when it came to the research and development they needed.


    With a reluctant sigh, the chairman nodded his head. ¡°I¡¯ll speak with our board, and get back to you.¡± After that, the call ended. He clearly knew that the sum he had prepared wouldn¡¯t be enough, so he now had to renegotiate with hispany to determine a more suitable amount. Because, as much as he hated to admit it, Rnd was the one with all of the power in this deal.


    He could pick anyone he wanted to go with his group, or he could take nobody at all. The concept of ¡®duty¡¯ was just a facade to show politeness. If he truly did not want to take others with him on this expedition, there was nothing that anyone would be able to do about it. Thesepanies did not have the ability to pressure the yers who lived in so many different countries and worlds.


    The gods were even less likely to punish him. There had been nomand for him to take others with him, not even the suggestion that he should. As such, there was no true duty at all, just the foreign prince providing a service that could not be found anywhere else.


    Once the call had ended, Rnd sat back in his chair, letting out an exasperated sigh. In all honesty, he did have some form of duty, but not the kind that the chairman would likely understand. The moment that the repairs had beenpleted on the Sky Citadel, Legion received a new quest. They were to take yers to another world.


    The reward for the quest? It rewarded experience based on the distance from the home world and the amount of people that they took, and offered a ¡®mysterious¡¯ reward that was not clearly listed. But, he doubted that this experience would make up for the amount of time that they would lose clearing content and grinding, unless they took arge number of people with them.


    Thanks to that, he had strictly told the team members not to let the information about this quest leak out to the public. If it did, thenpanies would no longer be willing to offer enough to join. He really was taking their own financial well-being into consideration, as they would be forced to simply rely on their previous gains during this time.


    Only if they encountered some astronomical anomaly, or space-faring monsters would they be able to publish new content for the media. Because of all of that, it was important that he engineer the situation such thatpanies were willing to spare no expense to be included in this voyage.


    ¡°Call Julia.¡± He muttered, his eyes closed. As usual, the call went through right away, and the elve¡¯s charming appearance was disyed on the wall in front of him, were the old chairman had been just moments ago.


    ¡°Another one?¡± She asked with a knowing smile.


    ¡°Lenan¡¯s Space Exploration¡­¡± He groaned with a nod. ¡°That makes eighteen.¡±


    ¡°So, only another fifteen more to go, then?¡± She asked mischievously, earning a much louder groan in response. Going by the number of offers he had received in game during the process of conquering the tower, there truly could be that many yet toe. And so far, the only real ¡®exclusivity¡¯ that they had agreed to had been with their media liaison. Herpany would be the only one allowed to broadcast the events.


    ¡°This is why I got out of politics¡­¡± He was excited for the potential rewards that could benefit both him and his team with this mission, but at the same time¡­ he didn¡¯t like handling the negotiations so much. He¡¯d rather make friends and y in the game, having fun with everyone. Everything else came after that.


    ¡°Are they still wanting to go to the same?¡± Julia asked curiously. So far, most of thepanies that had taken the proper steps to research had discovered that there was a green in the same sr system as the world of Vision Expanse¡­ which was apparently known as Vespa.


    ¡°Yeah. Here I thought we¡¯d be traveling to other stars. But, I guess that would probably take a lot longer, wouldn¡¯t it? I wonder just how different this world will really be.¡±


    Julia shrugged her shoulders, before offering a small ray of hope. ¡°It might turn out to be a leveling field that we can im all to ourselves for a while.¡± If that was the case, and they were even temporarily able to im an exclusive location to grind, they might really be able to climb the leaderboards again.


    ¡°Either way, there should be an achievement for being the first to reach a new world.¡± Rnd himself spoke up, as if trying to cheer himself up. ¡°Hopefully, the game will reward us for the time we spent traveling between worlds.¡±


    ¡°I have it on¡­ good authority that there will be something.¡± Julia spoke, ncing off towards the side. ¡°I just don¡¯t know what.¡±


    Rnd looked towards the screen, raising an eyebrow. ¡°Good authority? This have something to do with you confirming the rumors about the citadel earlier?¡±


    Julia gave a small nod of her head at that. ¡°I can¡¯t say who it is¡­ but yeah.¡± Julia nced towards a pink-haired halfling girl sitting on her couch, just out of view of the call and waving her hand energetically. The moment that Rnd had mentioned a reward, the girl had nodded her head firmly.


    ¡°Well, I guess we¡¯ll find out soon, won¡¯t we?¡± Rnd asked, shaking her head. ¡°Though I doubt we¡¯ll find ¡®him¡¯ on this journey. Once we¡¯ve got the whole exploration thing down, and figure out a n for our growth in the future, promise, we¡¯ll go looking.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± Julia shrugged it off, which surprised Rnd rather greatly. ¡°We¡¯ll meet him when we meet him. I¡¯m sure that it¡¯ll work out.¡±


    This was the first time that Julia had spoken about the Mad King with anything short of absolute venom since the event, so Rnd wasn¡¯t immediately sure what to make of it. But¡­ if she was getting over it, at least she¡¯d be able to enjoy the game again, now.


    Just as he was about to speak up, there was a chime from hismunication crystal, causing him to let out a sigh. ¡°Iing number neen. I¡¯ll talk to youter.¡± He said before answering the call, his figure vanishing from Julia¡¯s wall.


    ¡°So¡­ there is a reward?¡± Julia asked once the call was over, ncing over towards Aurivy.


    ¡°Yup!¡± She nodded assuredly. ¡°Well, maybe not for each time you make the trip¡­ but obviously the first space travel is a grand achievement, right?! That¡¯s not even really spoilers, justmon sense. Now, telling you what the reward was, that would be spoilers.¡±


    Julia furrowed her brow, letting out a long sigh. She nced towards the table between their seats, where two decks of cards had beenid out. The two of them had been in the middle of a Deckan card game when Rnd called. ¡°Alright¡­ whose turn was it again?¡±


    ¡°Yours!¡± Aurivy reminded, beaming a smile at her, causing Julia to chuckle slightly. It appeared that Aurivy had been entirely serious about wanting to be friends with Julia, dropping in to chat after the citadel had been conquered, and even teaching Julia how to y this game.

 Chapter 392: Lift-Off

    <h4>Chapter 392: Lift-Off</h4>


    As the days began to pass once again, I kept a close watch on how long it would be before the annual meeting. So far, it looked like there were only a couple of weeks left to go, so it was once again time for everyone to get ready. I made sure to remind everyone of the event, and let them know that anyone who didn¡¯t already have a world would be able to use whatever points they earned in the meeting to purchase their own.


    For those that already had a world, I gave them the option to earn points to add to their pool, that way they could save up for any enhancements they might want to add. Of course, there was also the option of not keeping their points for themselves, but I doubted any of them would go for that. With all of the new ideas being submittedtely to the market, I wasn¡¯t so worried about running out of points if I needed something in a hurry.


    Naturally, I kept my eyes on what was happening within the world as well. My world spirit avatar frequently visited Vision Expanse to casually train the different skills that it had ess to. Though, it was missing a fair few, since it had ess to neither magic nor ki. I recalled seeing that Aurivy was a summoner, so perhaps I would be able to create an aeon avatar at some point¡­


    _______________________________________________________________


    Finally, the time was here. Logaine sat atop the throne of his Sky Citadel and breathed deeply. It had been almost a month now since he had conquered this base with his team, and they were finally preparing for their maiden voyage.


    All of the stations within the Citadel had been repaired, and the most senior craftsmen from the guild had been moved over from their main headquarters. Counting the main team of Legion, that meant thirty people from the guild were present. There were also another twenty from the variouspanies that had chosen to ¡®sponsor¡¯ this trip.


    Out of all of the different rooms, the one that the group had perhaps been the most excited for was naturally the library. As they expected, it contained skill books for a wide variety of different skills. Most of these were basics that could be trained easily in any starting city, and had no immediate value for the group.


    However, there were also a few advanced books in it as well. Many had been burned when the group reimed the library, but some¡­ some still survived. The art of summoning, the knowledge to control spiritual energy, even a few spellsmithing guides had managed to survive the process.


    These books had been immediately removed from the library as soon as they were discovered, considered to be the hidden treasures of Legion. Naturally, none of these were ¡®unique skills¡¯, as they had all appeared in the yerbase before now. But that was from people undergoing a variety of quests to obtain them. With the skill books in hand, they could train as many people in those skills as they found had the talent for them.


    But now, that was all secondary. Now, they were preparing for their first real journey. ¡°Navigation disy, up. External view, up.¡± Logain called out, and two screens appeared along the far wall, disyed for both himself and the various guests in the throne room. One was the view projected from a small sphere that rested atop the citadel, currently pointing forward.


    It was the other disy that many of the guests took a real interest in. It seemed to be a radar, with silent pulses of mana stretching outwards to create a map of the surroundings. Logain clutched the armrest of the throne, willing it to ascend. Those within barely felt a tremor while the citadel rose up higher into the sky.


    While the difference wasn¡¯t immediately noticeable from the external view, they were able to see in the navigation disy how quickly they were climbing. Eventually, clouds began to pass by the outside camera. After a few minutes, they were able to see the darkness of a night¡¯s sky at noon, the dotted stars contained within the endlessndscape.


    Please set the autopilot for the fourth from our sun. Logain spoke mentally to his fairy, obviously not familiar enough with navigating the void of space to perform manual piloting for the entire duration.


    Yes, sir! The fairy responded, and the citadel¡¯s direction shifted, a silent hum filling the air as they were propelled through space. Once they escaped the¡¯s gravity, they were able to elerate further, no longer pulled back by the restraining forces of Vespa. However, after a few short moments of eleration, Logain noticed that they simply began coasting.


    Summoning the console from the throne to investigate, he saw that the mana that had been allocated by default to the propulsion systems had run out and was currently recharging. In that console, he was able to see and adjust how much mana was sent to each individual system, but¡­ he was not about to change anything. He rather liked being able to breathe.


    ¡°Alright, everyone.¡± He called out to the group. ¡°If you want to run any tests outside, now is your chance. I¡¯ve already confirmed that the air is breathable up to the edge of the courtyard. And I don¡¯t need to remind everyone that sabotaging each other is the easiest way to get yourself sent right back to Vespa.¡±


    This was what had honestly taken the most time to prepare, and what had caused them to wait four weeks instead of four days before they left. Many of their sponsors had needed to create certain pieces of equipment that were beyond the normal technology level of Vespa. Which meant that they had to either invent the requiredponents, or find magical alternatives within the world.


    After his call, over a dozen individuals of various races moved towards the door. Some were excited while others seemed to be positively bored. As for those that stayed behind? They were not here to advance the knowledge of space travel.


    They were the rich sons and daughters of corporations that had bought their ticket on this voyage purely for the bragging rights. But, Legion did have a mission to bring additional people, so they had no reason to turn down the extra funds that these rich heirs were providing.


    Those scientists outside all retrieved their equipment from their inventories. Most of them moved right to the edge of the courtyard, where a simple railing had been constructed, and stuck the machines in their hands just past the barrier to get their readings. They measured the gravity, radiation, heat, anything that they were capable of doing so.


    Logain was¡­ honestly not that knowledgeable about what they were doing. It was all science stuff beyond his abilities, so he did his best not to pay them any mind. Instead, he kept his eyes on the navigational window. On our projected course, how long will it take us to reach the next world?


    If we are able to continue elerating whenever the mana has recharged, and encounter no obstacles, we shall reach the designated target in eighteen days! The fairy spoke up, though this number made Logain inhale sharply. He had been prepared for a week or two of travel. Even though he had entertained the notion that it might take up to months, that was truly a worst case scenario.


    Still¡­ at least we are able to cover our losses for this trip. Hopefully there will be something in the new world that lets us catch up, or some extra content that we can show. Logain shook his head as those thoughts went through his mind. He had been assured that there would be a reward, but without knowing who Julia¡¯s source was, he couldn¡¯t be sure of the validity to that im.


    As he thought about that, a different idea urred to him. If we establish a city on the new world, will we be able to use the fast travel feature? If we can, it¡¯s possible that we can establish our new city as a potential spawn zone and popte it with NPCs. That will give us a steady flow of ie while we train ourselves back up, until someone elsees through and makes their own city.


    This thought cheered him up enough that he nodded his head in satisfaction. As long as the guild was taken care of, he wouldn¡¯t have much to worry about.


    ¡°You seem to be in a good mood.¡± Crystal Heart spoke up with an amused look to her face. She didn¡¯t have any of her weapons summoned, and only wore a casual, silver dress.


    ¡°Just nning ahead.¡± Logain admitted honestly. ¡°What about you, have you finished ¡®studying¡¯?¡±


    The elven mage gave a faint nod at that. ¡°I learned the ones suitable for myself.¡± Seeing as there were those who had not left the throne room, they had to be somewhat careful with their choice of words. ¡°I¡¯m just concerned that this voyage will be positively dull.¡±


    Logain couldn¡¯t hold back the chuckle that rose up in response. ¡°Just consider it a paid vacation, unless we actually get attacked. Once we reach the new world, I¡¯m sure that there will be something for everyone to do.¡±


    Again, Crystal nodded, her eyes ncing towards their guests. ¡°How long until you think they log off for the rest of the trip?¡±


    He let out a low sigh, shaking his head. ¡°I give it an hour at most, before they get bored.¡± He kept his voice low, so as to not let himself be overheard. ¡°But of course, as far as their friends are concerned, they braved the dangers and stuck with the crew through thick and thin. I¡¯m sure that some will even speak about how they ¡®rescued¡¯ us from fearsome monsters.¡±


    Crystal giggled faintly, her smile growing. ¡°Oh, but of course. I¡¯m sure there will even be those who have imed to be my boyfriends during this trip.¡±


    There was a slight twitch to Logain¡¯s brow when Crystal mentioned that, but it only made the elven woman¡¯s smile brighter. Any confirmation of mutual feelings was better than none, no matter how remote the chance.


    And perhaps, after spending so much time with the Goddess of Love, Crystal might have epted the truth in her own heart. She had been learning a lot,tely¡­ Enough that she felt almost silly for worrying about how she had previously ¡®threatened¡¯ Aurivy.


    Naturally, she wasn¡¯t going to tell everyone how easy-going the goddess was. Neither of them wanted that, between the religious scandals and thepleteck of respect for Aurivy¡¯s position that it could cause. No¡­ they were both quite satisfied with simply being secret friends.


    _______________________________________________________________


    I gave a faint nod as I watched the Sky Citadel speeding through the void of space. It looked like things were starting to get heated up, so¡­ it was about time for me to make my move as well. Ryone¡­ how¡¯s Spicaing along?


    It should be ready for its debut any day now! Want toe and check it out?


    I nodded again, silently transferring myself to the Admin Room. Before I connected Spica to the other worlds, it would be best if I first took a look at it myself, and made sure that there wouldn¡¯t be any big problems that would arise from the merger. If there were¡­ well, I would have to apologize to Ryone, and ask her to wait a bit until they were taken care of, or until we advanced in rank and no longer had to worry about it.

 Chapter 393: Spica

    <h4>Chapter 393: Spica</h4>


    Two men were chasing one another through the starry sky, passing over mountains and valleys. Wherever they went, the echoing roar of thunder sounded. The one in the lead was badly wounded, a severe burn on his left side that scorched his clothes and revealed ckened skin. He had silver hair and eyes, wearing a blue jacket that was left open to reveal his slender chest and long, baggy ck pants.


    The man chasing him, however, wore a vicious expression. His hair was ck, his eyes blue, but he wore a glistening silver armor. ¡°You won¡¯t get away, this time!¡± He shouted, waving his hand in front of himself. Multiple shining, yellow dots appeared in front of his hand, arranged into a lightning bolt. The sky itself seemed to shimmer, before lightning once again struck towards the man in the blue jacket.


    He grit his teeth, being forced to take the full brunt of the attack to his back. His defensive spells had already beenpletely crushed by his opponent, which was why he was desperately fleeing through the sky. When the spell struck, he was flung down, crashing into a wide meadow.


    His pursuernded just a short distance behind him. The silver knight¡¯s hand extended, and a staff appeared within it, several small topaz gems embedded in the length. ¡°For the crime of assassinating Princess Matreya, you have been sentenced to death.¡± As he spoke, his staff tapped against the ground. ¡°May the Mother grant you pardon in the next life.¡±


    Again, lightning bolts crashed down from the sky, one after the other as the yellow gems within the staff lit up. The man screamed in pain as each strike depleted his health more and more, it dwindling at an increasing rate. Only when it was done, the bar disappearing entirely, did he stop.


    Finally, he shook his head, turning and walking back in the direction he came. Blue, silver, and ck dots of light surrounded him before he vanished, reappearing in a grand throne room. Immediately upon entering, he knelt down, his staffid t in front of him with his head lowered. ¡°My queen, I have carried out your orders.¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    I watched the scene of the pursuit, studying the magic that the knight had used while asionally nodding my head. He knows teleportation magic, so the world should be in thete second stage of spells, maybe even the third stage.


    It was hard to tell just from that one conflict how powerful the magic of the world was. I needed to be able topare it. And even more, I needed to consider what effects would happen if I performed aw merger between Spica and Earth.


    Given how mana rests in the atmosphere for Spica, it¡¯s likely that a merge would cause the ambient mana of an area to rise to the surface. Any enchantments that rely on things like a constant supply of nearby mana would be weakened if that was the case. And then¡­ there was Fyor to consider.


    Fyor had no true stars, not until the outermostyer. And that distance would definitely be too far for a mage to connect with their energy. Even myself, with all of my Keeper power, I doubted that I would be able to touch any mana resting in Fyor¡¯s upper atmosphere.


    There is the chance that the system will consider that, and have the mana pir substitute for the starry sky on each floor. But, that would be simr to casting during the day on Spica. It would always be one spectrum of light that mages could draw from.


    Overall, it¡¯s likely that aw merger would only affect Fyor detrimentally. I would need to do some more research, since there might be other ways that it could affect that world, but that is how I expect it would happen.


    And then there was the question of how the other worlds would affect Spica¡­ I took a deep breath when I considered that. Currently, the residents of Spica do not possess their own supply of mana. They are like antennae, tuning themselves to specific types of mana and calling it down toplete their spells.


    If I perform aw merger, then they will be able tobine their own magic with the mana supplies of other worlds, likely to produce far more powerful results. That was something that I had to take seriously.


    Shaking my head, I cast aside those thoughts, and began looking through the world again. I saw only two kingdoms that seemed to upy the entire world. One to the east, and the other the west. They each upied an entire half of the, and were almost literally as different as day and night.


    For the eastern kingdom, Sce, they specialized purely in magic and enchantment. Many modern conveniences had been imitated through the creation of magical items. Each item drew power from the atmospheric mana, having specifically colored gems embedded in them to attune them to the proper spectrums.


    They were fairly medieval in their structure, possessing mage towers that rose high into the sky and orders of armored knights that patrolled thend. Sce was the location where I had seen the previous chase.


    The western kingdom, Demacry, was far more advanced, technologically. They still had magic and magical items, but they were primarily used to power various machines. Their hierarchy was more of a meritocracy than Sce¡¯s matriarchy, with a council that elected rulers based on what they can contribute to society.


    Unfortunately¡­ it seemed that Sce and Demacry were locked in a war. There was no good or evil, just a simple difference of opinions. Sce fought because they believed that Demacry was damaging their world with their machines, while Demacry fought because Sce had more arablend that they could use to feed their people.


    Looking back through the past, it seemed like this war had been going on for hundreds of years already, ever since the first Prime Minister of Demacry broke away from Sce, taking a portion ofnd for himself and his followers. He was an inventor, and such had been shunned from Sce¡¯s society.


    As time went on, Demacry grew more and more powerful, until they were an even match for Sce, each upying half of the world. As things were, although they were at ¡®war¡¯, their conflicts were little more than border skirmishes, and the asional infiltration. Neither side had any desire to fully wipe out the other, due to the losses that it would cause their own people to achieve. Furthermore¡­ with the low reproduction rate of elves, they truly could not afford to gamble on an all or nothing battle.


    Now¡­ aside from those two kingdoms, there were many scattered colonies all over the world that did not consider themselves to belong to either side. And it was in these that I was finally able to see the difference between Ryone¡¯s elves and the elves that upied Earth.


    Within the vast forests, there lived the Wood Elves. Their ears had grown longer than even those of normal elves, their eyes sharper. Their bodies were typically more slender while their skin possessed a faint tan. As they moved through the trees, their houses reminded me of the ninja viges, entire cities suspended within a forest. With the thick canopy overhead, they relied far less on magic than either of the two main kingdoms. They used their ki, emphasizing their physical agility and acrobatics.


    Next were the elves that had moved to live in the deep caves. I expected to see them named Dark Elves, but instead they called themselves the Deep Elves. Their skin was almost entirely ck, their ears a touch shorter than normal. Their eyes had ck sclera with white pupils, and they were able to see perfectly within the dark. From what I could see, they were mostly mining colonies, having moved into the caves with their families to offer a steady source of trade with the kingdoms.


    Finally, and this was perhaps the elven variant that surprised me the most¡­ Sea Elves. I had to look back through the records to really understand how they came to be. When elves first moved to the beaches, and spent most of their time swimming within the water, hunting aquatic wildlife, their children began to evolve.


    At first, they were simply able to hold their breath longer, spending more time underwater. Then, they actually gained a set of gills along their upper abdomen, enabling them to breathe underwater just as easily as above. This processsted thousands of years, and now¡­ both their hands and feet were slightly webbed, their ears spread out like fins while their skin had turned blue.


    The Sea Elves possessed undersea cities contained within air pockets. The abundance of flora helped keep their air fresh, and the elves themselves would often renew their air supply by tapping into druidic powers.


    Although these scattered colonies did not possess any true kingdoms, each one had managed to be self-sustaining. They did not offer prejudice against the changed elves, or at least not anymore. Likewise, the colonies did not involve themselves in the war between the two kingdoms. They remained neutral, having found their own paths through life that did not disturb either agenda.


    Giving a small nod, I took a look at the overall levels of the world. This would be a big indicator as to whether they were ready to meet with Earth and the other worlds yet. And, as it stood¡­ I felt that they were a littlecking. Not by much, mind you. Over thest few weeks, Ryone had asked me to purchase higher monster tiers for the inhabitants, allowing them to train more than they had been.


    Perhaps, what I was most pleased with wasn¡¯t what was on the surface of Spica, or even resting beneath it. Instead, it was what I found orbiting the world. Demacry had alreadyunched several satellites into orbit, both manned and unmanned, and seemed to be studying how to replicate atmospheric storage outside of the atmosphere.


    As for Sce¡­ it looked like they were trying to create suitable methods to travel into orbit as well, but were finding the process to be more difficult with their primary reliance on magic. They had managed to create flying structures that could make it up to the top of the atmosphere¡­ but beyond that, the enchantments shut down, so they were only able to hover there, unable to reach the same heights as Demacry.


    Honestly, I had to give credit to the engineers of Demacry for what they had achieved. Spica had two moons orbiting at different distances, and Demacry from what I saw had managed to ce people on the closer of the two. Not as a colony, mind you¡­ but visiting their moon is better than what the rest of my people had achieved, from what I could immediately recall.


    When I looked closer, I could see that they were nning yet another voyage. And this one¡­ it was just that type of colony. Aiming for the further of their two moons, they were nning on which nts they would be able to take. It looked like they were nning to establish a long-term colony, maybe even try to terraform.


    Well¡­ if they use natural energy, it should be possible to terraform a moon over time. As I thought that, I sent my gaze towards their target destination, the second moon of Spica. It was there that I saw what happened with the atmospheric mana when there was no atmosphere to speak of.


    Once I adjusted my screen to look into the spectrum of mana, I saw lights dancing along the surface. On the side of the moon facing the sun, it appeared to be a burning red, while the other half of the moon danced with yellow, blue, purple, every color of the rainbow. However, those lights weren¡¯t able to ¡®hold on¡¯ to the moon, sshing off of it like wet paint. On the horizon, where day turned into night, there was a halo of violent light that surrounded the entire moon, shing magical energies that created unseen storms.


    Okay¡­ I¡¯m definitely going to have to be careful with this world.

 Chapter 394: Firsthand Look

    <h4>Chapter 394: Firsthand Look</h4>


    Wanting to get a bit of a closer look, I decided that it was best to see the world of Spica up close. This was the first time that I had been to an entirely new world for a while, so the first thing that I did after descending in a fairly remote location was firmly suppress my Keeper abilities. There was no guarantee that the same masking technique I used on Earth would work here, especially given that I did not have the Perfect Soul that made it possible.


    Father, this feels¡­ ufortable. Leowynn spoke up before I had the chance to open my eyes, and I could feel her shifting within my spirit. The same sses existed in this world that would allow me to keep her with me, but¡­ once again, my spirit had been reverted to a lower state.


    If I had to put an analogy to it, she had just gotten used to living in a luxury apartment, and was suddenly forced to stay in a cheap motel room. Sorry, Leowynn. I¡¯m just going to check this ce out for a little bit, and then we can go back home, promise.


    After saying that, I began walking. From what I had seen on the map, I was a good ten minutes away from the nearest settlement, one of the trade cities of Demacry. As a little experiment, I had chosen to model my body for this descent after the wood elves. Although the races themselves had not been recognized by the system as individual species, it wasn¡¯t hard to get the look right.


    My body was slim and tall, my ears sharply pointed back. My hair was a chestnut brown, and I chose to wear a shirt and pants with leaf embroidery. Toplete the look, I had a bow on my back, though I did not have any arrows to use with it. From what I had seen, though, that wasn¡¯t umon. Many wood elf archers relied on alternative means to create their arrows.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Serith, we¡¯ve got a wanderer.¡± A man spoke from atop the high city gate of Theodorn, looking through a telescope towards a lone elf walking towards the gate. ¡°Looks like a¡­ wood elf?¡±


    His partner, Serith, responded with a raised eyebrow. ¡°All the way out here? You sure it¡¯s not a disguise?¡±


    The one manning the telescope reached down, adjusting a few dials at the base of the device. ¡°I¡¯m not seeing any ki fluctuations, and he¡¯s not carrying any magic items. If it¡¯s surgery, it¡¯s a pretty good one.¡±


    Serith brought a hand up to caress his chin in thought. ¡°I haven¡¯t heard of any of their colonies around this area¡­ But you said he isn¡¯t carrying anything magical? Maybe he ran away from the vers.¡±


    ¡°You know those are just rumors.¡± Serith¡¯s partner rebuked him, standing up straight. ¡°The mother¡¯s church would never allow something like that.¡±


    ¡°Well, how would you exin one of the treefolk to be so far from home?¡±


    The man thought about it for a moment, before shrugging with a shake of his head. ¡°Maybe he is just a traveler. Not everyone wants to stay cooped up in the forest.¡±


    Serith had to give a small nod of eptance at that. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll go greet him, either way. Maybe he¡¯s here for trade, and just keeping things in scrolls.¡±


    His partner nodded as Serith jumped down from the wall,nding along the road. This was a trade city, and yet¡­ the roads were quite clear outside of town. It was overhead where the real traffic took ce, flying vehicles burning mana to stay aloft. There were too many beasts on the ground, and it was easier to ess mana from a higher elevation, so most traffic within Demacry was like this.


    ¡°Hail, traveler.¡± The guard raised an arm to stop the wood elf. ¡°What brings you to Theodorn?¡± He tried to keep his tone as a mix between professional and friendly, not wanting to rm the traveler.


    The wood elf simply smiled, his voice a bit deeper than what Serith had expected. ¡°I¡¯m just passing through, for now.¡±


    Serith gave a nod, as if he had expected such an answer. ¡°Alright, friend. I¡¯ll just need your name for the registry, and you can be on your way.¡±


    The traveler¡¯s brow deepened a bit at that, either concerned or confused. ¡°Is that amon practice around here?¡±


    ¡°Hoo, boy.¡± Serithughed merrily, shaking his head. ¡°You¡¯re really not from around here, huh? Sorry, but yeah. Standard procedure, whenever someone enters or leaves a city, they are entered in a registry. That way, if anyone goes missing or is needed for questioning, we can use the registry to find out where they werest.¡±


    After saying that, he pointed up to the various vehicles flying overhead. ¡°You see those? Each of those has an identification chip, and are scanned whenever they enter or leave a city. But¡­ for people going around on foot, such as yourself, we need toe down and get your name manually. To be honest, I¡¯m not sure how you managed to get so far into Demacry without getting stopped sooner.¡±


    The man shook his head briefly. ¡°I try to avoid the cities. They¡¯re¡­ quite loud. As for my name¡­ I am Dalin. Dalin Highbranch.¡±


    Serith raised an eyebrow. ¡°That¡¯s an unusual name, but very well. I¡¯ll mark you in, and you can be on your way.¡± As he spoke, he opened his hand, and a small, handheldputer appeared in his palm. He typed in the name, making sure to ask for the correct spelling, and filed it away. ¡°Sorry for the inconvenience.¡±


    Serith turned, kicking off the ground as wings of light sprouted from his boots, carrying him back up towards his post. He faced his partner with a knowing smile. ¡°Just a traveler. One that is a long way from home.¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    I watched as the guard returned to his post, thinking about what he had told me. Such a registry system was pretty easy to overlook when it wasrgely automated, but it wasn¡¯t so bad of an idea. Either way, I was now free to enter the city.


    As I did, I soon learned that my guess about it being loud was quite close to the mark. Whether it was the people walking around and conversing, the traffic overhead, or the machinery found in every building, there was a fair amount of noise. Maybe it was just because I had chosen to be a wood elf, and thus my ears were more sensitive. But with how this felt, I would definitely not be able to see myself living in a city like this. Or even being able to sleep, unless the noise lessened considerably at night.


    My first reason for descending as a wood elf was quite simple. I wanted to see if the residents of Demacry would be prejudiced against me, as ¡®my people¡¯ were quite rare in this country. That also made it more convenient for me, not knowing much about the area.


    If they can¡¯t even ept wood elves, it¡¯s unlikely that they would be able to ept the various races of the otherworlds. I mused inwardly as I walked through the streets, being careful to avoid any foot traffic. It was¡­ quite obvious that I was drawing attention from those that I passed, but they were looks of curiosity, not of anger or disgust.


    This isn¡¯t really anything odd, Dale. Ryone¡¯s voice suddenly entered into the back of my mind. Or¡­ were you expecting it to be closer to what the centaurs went through?


    I gave a subtle nod, which could have easily been mistaken as me greeting one of the onlookers. Not just them. Even in my world, a long time ago, those who were born with any kind of deformity were¡­ put down. Sometimes, they were seen as devil spawn, or simply freaks of nature. Thankfully, the practice ended long before I was born, but still¡­


    I can¡¯t say that the same thing didn¡¯t happen with the elves of Earth at first. But here¡­ evolution has be such a normal part of life that people epted it early on. If you have more than three generations of elves spending their lives in the same environment, then that third generation would have already started to change to better suit their home.


    It¡¯s hard to say how they will react to other races being introduced to Spica, but at the very least they are epting of each other.


    I smirked slightly when I considered that. Another thing you have to think about¡­ Different types of elves are able to interbreed in Spica, right? Due to their gic adaptation?


    After receiving a confirmation from Ryone, I continued. I wonder if that feature is strong enough that they will actually be able to breed with other races. The elves of Spica might end up being the catalyst for generations of mixed breeding within the other races. A child between an elf and a felyn then goes on to have a child with a lycan, or a human.


    It¡¯s hard to say which race the children would be considered as. Maybe, because of the elven genes being the necessary ¡®ingredient¡¯, they will all be considered elves by the system. Maybe each pairing will need its own designation. Either way¡­ if elves are able to have children with other races¡­ that is going to cause a big change to the other worlds.


    Ryone went quiet for a few long moments after that, and I turned the corner, narrowly avoiding being run into by a hurrying elven woman. I¡­ actually had not considered that part. It¡¯s not a problem, is it? There was a touch of concern to her tone, as if she was worried that Spica wouldn¡¯t be able to join the other worlds due to this possibility.


    No¡­ it¡¯s fine. We¡¯ll just have to figure out what the results are like when that happens, so that we can n around it. I assured her with a gentle tone of my own. This feature would definitely cause a bit of extra work on our end to keep everything stable within the system, but it wasn¡¯t anything bad enough that I would ask her to reset her world.


    As I wandered through the town, I was quite happy to find that nobody seemed to show any malice towards me, apart from those shadier individuals. But, I couldn¡¯t really count them, as they showed that same intent towards everyone. And, after about a half hour of wandering, I decided that I was satisfied with the results.


    Finding a secluded alleyway, I first checked it for any monitoring devices or people who would be able to witness my ascent. Then, once I was sure that I was alone, with a sh of blue light, I returned to the Admin Room. Almost immediately, I was able to feel Leowynn rx, morefortable now that we were no longer on Spica.


    Are we going to visit Kione next? Leowynn asked hesitantly. I could tell that she was in no rush to visit another world that had different ws¡¯, and shook my head.


    They don¡¯t have the ability to control spiritual energy there. I can¡¯t guarantee that you¡¯d be safe if we visited alia¡¯s world. I could still look at it through the monitor, but I didn¡¯t want to take the risk that something might happen to Leowynn by visiting a world that was ipatible with her existence.


    My words seemed to cause her to rx again, thankful that we would stay in worlds that she was fortable¡¯ with again. Thank you, father. She muttered softly, and I could feel her slowly falling asleep. It must have really felt nice to get back to her ¡®old ce¡¯ after being in Spica for a little bit. Or maybe the difference in energy levels temporarily weakened her, and she needed to recover.


    Either way, I wasn¡¯t going to disturb her rest.

 Chapter 395: The Binding of a Soul

    <h4>Chapter 395: The Binding of a Soul</h4>


    The Durak Nomads, as the former Water n had taken to calling themselves, were camping within one of the great ancient cities. They felt safe with the old, worn golems protecting them, knowing that those golems were capable of taking on any star beasts within the territory.


    It had been over a dozen years since the appearance of the first Grandmaster, Jana. Although her body did not show any signs of age, her face was tired, always looking back on her past. Her advancement had been earned only through the sacrifice of someone she cared for deeply. And yet, how could she face him if she did not carry on his will?


    So, she guided her people. They found an old, ruined map that showed a few other cities, and made their way between them carefully. Never staying in one ce too long, never drawing too much attention from the wildlife. Move in like the tide, and retreat just as quickly.


    During their travels, they had secured far more inheritances from the ancients. More than they had people to train them. Finally, it was getting to a point where Jana was thinking about stopping. About finding a quiet mountain range to make their permanent home. The ns from the homnd would have long since lost their trail, so there was no need to run, and they had enough knowledge on cultivation to create a system of education that would lead talents all the way to the Grandmaster level, should they have the ability.


    As she looked out over her people, she nodded her head, thinking that this was what he would have wanted. Right now, the nomads had everything that they needed in life to prosper. Everything, except for a home.


    ¡°Grandmaster, I found something!¡± One of the youths called out to her, causing Jana to slowly raise her head to look in his direction. She was not the only one of her rank, but out of respect for her, she was the only one known simply as ¡®Grandmaster¡¯.


    Jana rose to her feet, walking over to follow the youth. ¡°Forgive me for disturbing you.¡± He hastily apologized as he led her along. ¡°But this is something new. I¡¯ve never seen anything like it before now.¡±


    ¡°I trust your judgement, Raul.¡± He was only a novice, but Raul was one of the most passionate when it came to exploring the ancient cities. The short, stocky dwarf with ck hair and only the trimmings of a beard enjoyed researching what had happened to the ancient people. He had already discovered several old murals and documents, including the map that had been guiding them between cities.


    And this time was no different. ¡°Thank you, Grandmaster, but you really need to see this.¡± He led her towards a remote part of the city, to the basement of a library that he had obviously had to clear out on his own, copsed walls shifted to the side to make a path.


    What she saw on the far corner of the wall made Jana arch one brow in confusion. There was a dwarven male shaking hands with a¡­ something else. It was clearly a person, but¡­ it was taller by far, almost double the height of any dwarf, and thinner. This was the first time that a mural of such a creature had been discovered. ¡°What are they¡­?¡±


    ¡°The Ursa.¡± Raul said excitedly, moving over to a line of text beneath the mural that had been treated with the utmost care. ¡°That¡¯s what they¡¯re called, from what I can tell. ¡®To our Ursa allies across the seas, if you read this one day, I hope that you can understand. The Starfall¡­¡¯ and that¡¯s it.¡± He pointed towards the end of the text, where the words had been broken off from age.


    ¡°Starfall?¡± Jana muttered the other unfamiliar term. Seeing a new hope for her people, she turned to look at Raul. ¡°It mentioned the seas. Have you found anything that could indicate which direction the Ursa live in?¡±


    Raul smiled a bit bitterly. ¡°Not¡­ exactly. This is the first mention of them that we¡¯ve found, though¡­ We¡¯ve been moving south for thest couple of years. If we keep moving further south, and are able to find more clues¡­ it should indicate that their influence was the greatest in this direction. So, their continent should be reached by the port in the south.¡±


    Jana nodded her head, thinking that these assumptions made sense. Given how little information they had to go on, they could only trust in such guesses. ¡°We¡¯ll continue moving south, then. Spend another day, and see if you can find any more information that will help us.¡±


    Raul was clearly excited at his new orders, and agreed immediately, leaving Jana to walk back towards the camp and inform the others of her decision.


    _______________________________________________________________


    When I went to look at the progress that Lorek had made, I was¡­ honestly quite surprised. Tubrock first asked me if he could buy a Time Zone for the southern continent of Lorek, which I naturally agreed to, and then said that he wanted to share the world with Keliope. I hadn¡¯t expected him to take such an initiative when it came to working with her, but¡­


    I saw him quickly going in through different cities, adding in little tidbits of information about their ¡®old allies¡¯, the ursa. And then, once the ursa had been purchased, he did the same thing as before¡­ he incarnated as an ursa youth, and began to popte the entire continent with another ancient civilization. Only this time, he was even faster about it, given that he had ¡®practiced¡¯ once before.


    While this portion of the world was fast forwarding, I was able to see the ¡®ancient civilization¡¯ spreading out all across the continent at a visible pace. The architecture was even different, showing an approach favoring multiple-story buildings like pagodas. All in all, it felt like Lorek had be Tubrock¡¯s yground.


    Looking away from that, I turned my eyes towards alia¡¯s new world, interested in seeing what she had built for herself. Spica and Lorek were bothing along nicely, so it was time to check on Kione.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Are you ready, dear? It¡¯s a big day for you.¡± A kind woman with brte hair and soft eyes looked down to her daughter, a teenager with almost matching features. While the mother wore a leather armor that showed off her stomach and legs, carrying a bow on her back, her daughter wore a long, ck robe.


    ¡°I¡¯m ready!¡± The daughter, Yasmin, answered in determination. ¡°I¡¯m going to get the best, momma! The best!¡±


    Today was Yasmin¡¯s Binding Day, her first real step to open up the path of magic. In ordance with thews of the Saintess, everyone underwent their first Binding on their thirteenth birthday. Today was her turn, and so, she turned, walking into the dimly lit room that had been prepared for her.


    Yasmin stretched out her hands, palms facing inwards, and began to speak the chant that had been taught to her. ¡°Spirit that dwells within my spirit, heart of my heart. Give shape to my will, and form to my soul. Guardian of thews of magic, keeper of ages. d in the armor of the heavens, bear witness to this pact.¡±


    A silver me began to form between Yasmin¡¯s palms, illuminating the room. Then, in front of her, a circle of fire rose like a gateway along the wall. ¡°I beckon the partner which has been chosen for me. If you heed my will, step forward and be my strength.¡±


    The shadow of arge figure appeared within the silver mes, before the dull crash of a giant step echoed. Then, as if to mock that very noice, a tiny white paw pierced the mes,nding on the wooden floor. A feline head poked through a momentter, that of a kitten, white with ck spots.


    Although it was small and young, it walked forward with the pride of a king. And once it was through, the ming gate behind it closed. Immediately, Yasmin could feel a powerful connection between her mind and that of the kitten. Her eyes brightened, and the me between her hands vanished as she stepped forward.


    Their was no resistance from the cat as she picked it up, cradling it in her arms. In fact, it seemed surprisinglyfortable in her embrace. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re so cute!¡± Yasmin said with a giggle, turning and walking out of the room.


    When her mother saw the tiny bundle cradled in her daughter¡¯s arms, her eyes widened in excitement. ¡°You really did get a good one, didn¡¯t you dear?¡± As an older, more experienced woman, she had learned more about familiars than her daughter. Although she did not specialize as a mage, she had enough of an interest to identify the different breeds of familiars.


    ¡°That should be a Strigan Leopard.¡± Yasmin¡¯s mother mused to herself, the cry of a bird causing her to look up, just in time for arge bird with ck plumage to descend andnd on her leather-d shoulder. ¡°It may be small now, but if you can take care of it, they can get really big.¡±


    Yasmin nodded her head in excitement. She didn¡¯t doubt her mother¡¯s words, and knew that her familiar would grow to be a mighty friend. But right now, when it was simply nuzzling its head against her chest, curling up in her arms, she only saw it as the cutest kitten in the world.


    Seeing her reaction, her mother gave a knowing smile, shaking her head. ¡°I¡¯ll let you spend some time together and name it. You can start learning spellcraft tomorrow.¡± Saying that, she turned and began to walk away from the house, likely to begin hunting for the day.


    ¡°A name¡­¡± Yasmin muttered, moving to take her new kitten back into the house, going through the front door this time. She passed by the modest decorations and traveled back to her room, sitting down on her bed. Her eyes closed as she thought about it, knowing that this name would stick with her familiar forever.


    ¡°I¡¯ll call you Winter.¡± She decided after a few moments, earning a soft mewl of approval from the kitten. The noise caused her smile to widen. ¡°You like that, huh?¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    Okay, that was¡­ unexpected. When I had first read the details of the ¡®Familiar Binding¡¯ magic, I expected that mages would have to tame and bind a wild animal, and that would be their familiar. I hadn¡¯t expected that their familiars would be summoned, created from a shadow of their user¡¯s soul.


    However, there wasn¡¯t exactly anything wrong with this method. It caused people to grow up knowing and understanding their familiars, gradually learning how the two could work together. Though¡­ from what I saw in a quick search, it was possible for familiars to be killed. Doing so would greatly hurt the mage, as a part of their soul was crushed.


    If a familiar died, it was possible to summon a new one after the mage¡¯s soul had recovered. This familiar would not be in the ¡®infant stage¡¯ like the one that a child summoned, but would instead be at a stage of growth simr to that of their summoner. Their form would simply be different, and the mage would need to train them once again like they did their original.


    As opposed to the questions about Spica being able to join the other worlds, or Lorek¡¯s problems, Kione was actually looking like it would be a good fit. I couldn¡¯t see much conflict arising between the different systems of magic that had been purchased, so Kione would be able to experience a t increase in power once they had gained the game system.


    I was somewhat curious if familiars would be able to store magic of other systems, such as runic or geometric, or even potentially card spells. If they could, then that would be another alternative to the grimoire that I was nning to buy from Balu, though I still intended to get both. The grimoire was useful for more than just its worth as an item, as it allowed me to experience the method of trading between Keepers.

 Chapter 396: Self-Reflection

    <h4>Chapter 396: Self-Reflection</h4>


    Send in your questions over a PRIVATE message. Questions asked viaments or in themunity discord will not be taken. If you have already sent in some questions¡­ maybe drop a reminder, because there''s the chance that it''s been a while since I saw them, and might forget when ites time to answer.


    Everyone can ask up to three questions! In your question, make sure you include who you would like to address it to. It can be any character in this setting, whether past or present. Got something you''re curious about? Toss it in!


    Leowynn¡¯s ¡®nap¡¯sted for another five hours before I finally felt her beginning to stir within my spirit. During that time, I had continued to look through Kione and Spica, studying the magicalws of these worlds. In doing so, I learned that Kione¡¯s familiar magic system was actually something that could already be replicated to a degree within Earth and the other joined worlds.


    What Kione performs is simr to an aeon summoning, using their own spirit as aponent. And I already knew that it was possible for an aeon to be created with the potential to use magic. With Kione¡¯s method, the purpose of the summoned creature is simply to store the magic, however.


    When I brought this up to alia, and asked her about the summoning ritual, I got a rather unexpected answer. Yeah, that about sums it up. As for how they do it¡­ well, they technically do have a small potential for magic on their own. However, their mana is tied far more deeply to their spiritual energy with this system.


    Doing some research, I found that children around thirteen years old have the greatest ¡®potential¡¯. That is the time of their youth when their spirits are the most free, and yet their mind has begun to develop enough to understand some of the concepts involved, without thinking too deeply on it.


    The chant is something I came up with myself. Did you like it? There was a yful tone to her voice when she added that part in. The words aren¡¯t strictly necessary. However, saying a thing helps you think it and picture it. The chant acts as nothing more than a way to instinctively allow the mind of a child to control their mana and spirit such that they can perform the summoning.


    Listening to that, I gave a small nod, my brows furrowing together. If that¡¯s the case, there should also be those it doesn¡¯t work on, right?


    Oh, definitely! She agreed without even trying to argue. There are plenty of children that simply don¡¯t have the talent for magic, or the imagination to make it work. Those people would probably be more skilled when it came to casting geometric spells, though. But, that¡¯s why I asked you to get ki for my world.


    As long as the world possesses ki as well, there will an alternative path for those individuals to grow. If someone possesses no talent for either mana or ki¡­ they can only find another way to contribute to society. It¡¯s not like there isn¡¯t a need for leaders or schrs.


    I nodded my head again as I heard that, feeling that Leowynn had finished waking up. Better now? I asked towards her, receiving a murmur of confirmation. Okay, maybe not entirely finished waking up.


    Either way, it was time for me to return to the world below. This time¡­ let¡¯s go with a lycan.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°No, no!¡± A woman spoke up within a mirror, shaking her head firmly as she looked at a pair of elves. ¡°I keep trying to tell you, you¡¯re both going about it wrong.¡± She looked simr to a young elf, or a fairly tall halfling, causing the two students to have misgivings about her identity. ¡°Look, Barton, Sheller. You¡¯ve got the material right finally. Wood from an Ironbark tree is perfect for what you want.¡±


    ¡°But, you¡¯ve both got way too many unneededplications within your enchantment arrays!¡± As she said that, she lifted her hands next to herself, two simr yet different spell diagrams appearing above her hands.


    ¡°Miss Ana¡­¡± One of the students spoke up in a tired voice. He brought his hands up to rub against her temple. ¡°I don¡¯t see a way to simplify the array any further than we¡¯ve already done.¡±


    Just over a week ago, the Keeper had given Ana restricted freedom to move between the mirror in the Sky Citadel and one he created in a study room of their institute. Since then, she had been trying to help the two of them perfect their projects. With her help, they had narrowed down an item that should be able to hold the mana that they needed for the enchantment, and yet it still did not work.


    Ana let out an exaggerated sigh, shaking her head. With a flick of her wrists, both spell diagrams faded, and Ana¡¯s own body began to distort. For a moment, the two students thought that she was leaving for the day, before her body turned into a series of shapes and lines, her voice still being emitted from the mirror.


    ¡°Barton, your array has the coordinates for the teleportation stored as an extra manaponent on top of the primary body of the enchantment. Yes, yes, you set it that was as a failsafe to ensure that the mana did not degrade and corrupt the coordinates. But that was only a fear for lesser materials.¡±


    ¡°And Sheller, your attempt at an emergency protocol queries for the owner¡¯s health value every iteration. That uses an inordinate amount of mana storage. The idea isn¡¯t for these tokens to automatically activate to defend their owners, though that would be nice. That would require a spell-iron alloy, and increase production costs by a thousand times. What we¡¯re trying to make here is just a token that the user can activate onmand and send them back to their bind point.¡±


    As she spoke, her ¡®body¡¯ began to rearrange itself into multipleyers of a fairlyplex diagram. ¡°After watching your work all this time, this is the most efficient array that I can create to fulfill the design goals. The mana requirements should be within the limits of the materials we¡¯ve gathered.¡±


    There were noplex new theories to the diagram that she created, no groundbreaking discovery. No, this was just as she said, simplifying a groundbreaking idea such that it could be created with current designs. And as the two students studied her work, they seemed to be looking for ws within it, something that they could bring up to redeem themselves, if only slightly.


    Yet, Ana had performed countless calctions in order to find this mix. Briefly, she had considered using card magic as the basis, after learning about the new Synthesis technology being developed. However, the production costs of new synthesized cards would be far higher than the enchantment that she had created. Just the simple fact that it required spiritual energy from volunteers ensured that. Living beings could only recover their spirit so quickly, after all.


    Finally, the two had to admit that they were looking at a functional array. While the overall product might not be more valuable than what each of them were trying to create, it was more efficient and suited their design goals. As such, they began to take out their notebooks and copy it down from her design.


    Seeing how the two had epted it, Ana waited patiently until they were done. ¡°Alright, boys! If you guyse up with something interesting again, I¡¯ll see if I can show up to help. ¡®Till then¡­¡±


    However, just as she was starting to vanish, Barton called out to her. ¡°Miss Ana, please wait for a moment.¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡± Ana responded, her body reforming into her pseudo-elven appearance. ¡°I think that was everything, wasn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°Yes, it was, for this¡­ But I wanted to ask you something.¡± Seeing her give a small nod for him to continue, Barton spoke up again. ¡°Have you considered bing a teacher? Surely, you would be able to enlighten many individuals with your talents.¡±


    Ana seemed to freeze for a brief moment, a question like that having not urred to her. However, after her moment of processing, she had a rather neutral face. ¡°I¡¯ll consult with the Keeper, and see what he decides.¡±


    While she may be able to mimic human emotions conversationally in order to appear more natural to her conversation partner, such things as likes and aspirations were still beyond her. Even her name, which she had chosen for herself and imed to like, was something that she hade up with after a careful analysis. Or rather, she hade up with by simply shortening the word.


    As Ana vanished again, this time neither of them stopped her. They had seen her more inhuman moments before, where her face would go entirely neutral or her speech turned more logical than normal. While they were not fully aware of what she was, it was quite obvious that she was not a normal living creature. That was why Barton had not asked if she would ¡®like¡¯ to be a teacher, merely if she had considered it.


    After all, there were many benefits to having a teacher such as herself. As long as the Keeper agreed, Ana could help to educate a new generation of powerful and efficient mages.


    _______________________________________________________________


    When I returned to the citadel, I had naturally first gone to check on Ana. I knew that she had been making a good deal of progress in her studies of magic¡­ especially after I temporarily took her out of the mirror, instead cing her in several books within the library. Her understanding of magic forms seemed to skyrocket once she had the information within those books.


    And when I got back, I was able to see her speaking with the two students, helping them crack the final piece of their puzzle. Though, the question that they left her with was one that I was unprepared for myself. ¡°Keeper.¡± Ana¡¯s voice spoke up once she had returned to her mirror within my room.


    ¡°You want an answer, right?¡± I asked, to which she nodded. ¡°Based on your knowledge, do you believe that you would be a good teacher?¡±


    ¡°Unknown.¡± Her tone was calmer than normal. ¡°I have only a limited sample of interactions between myself and living beings. However, if it does work, I should be capable of handling the education in a concise manner. My theories on magic have not reached the level of the great schrs as of yet, but I am capable of understanding magic at a level beyond the majority of students within the research institute.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± I smiled slightly, bringing my hands together behind my back. ¡°I¡¯ll set up a meeting between you and the Headmistress to discuss cing you as a teacher. If you perform well, ande to the conclusion that you are suited for that role, we can make it a permanent arrangement.¡±


    Ana nodded again, her body seeming to rx as the issue was settled. ¡°Very well. Do you have anything else for me?¡±


    I thought about that for a moment, before shaking my head. ¡°No, that should be all. You can return to your observations.¡± After I dismissed her, she vanished into a blue fog within the mirror. However, I had another idea of my own. Tubrock, how would you like to make a golem body for Ana?


    _______________________________________________________________


    Well¡­ ye certainly got my interest,d. By Ana, ye mean the spellss in the mirrors? Aye, I reckon I can make somethin¡¯ for that. I¡¯ll see what I cane up with during the meeting, and craft up the prototype when we get back.


    That sounded plenty good to me. If Ana was going to be ying an active role in front of others, it would probably be best if her view was not limited to stationary objects like mirrors. Instead, being able to properly observe an entire ss at once would make her a far more effective teacher. Plus, it gave Tubrock an excuse to make another golem¡­ and he really seemed to like those.


    With that thought in mind, I turned and began to walk out of my room, heading towards the throne room. Once there, I returned to my normal training routine, sending an avatar into the world of Vision Expanse while my main body trained within the citadel. Now it was just a matter of waiting. Waiting for the annual meeting, for Balu¡¯s ¡®delivery¡¯, and for Legion to reach the new world.

 Chapter 397: Return to the Meeting

    <h4>Chapter 397: Return to the Meeting</h4>


    Time passed at a snail¡¯s pace as I waited, the world developing slowly around me. I was able to keep an eye on the happenings from within the Sky Citadel, using both my world sight and my mirrors.


    Ana began teaching a small ss at the research institute, her chosen subject being the fundamentals of enchantment. It was a rather popr ss, once it was revealed that the teacher herself was a form of enchantment, many peopleing purely to ask questions about her.


    Legion was having a fairly smooth journey through space, only having to adjust their course to avoid impact with arge asteroid belt. There were no monsters within the vast void that saw fit to attack them, so the researchers continued to diligently collect their data, sending it back to their employers every time that they logged off. By my estimation, they should be arriving fairly soon to their destination.


    That information was then taken by thepanies, which were pouring over it to learn everything that they could. Already, they were getting new ideas for how to develop proper shielding for long distance voyages, or sustainable food supplies that could be sent with the transports.


    Tsubaki was¡­ well, to be honest, Tsubaki hadn¡¯t been doing much different from what she had been doing recently. If there was anything that I had to say, it was that she was getting more familiar with her world spiritpanion, training together with it. She still went to challenge the top rankers of each field at their own areas of expertise to learn and grow.


    When it came to a fight, there were few that were able to stand up against her, having spent her entire, long life honing herbat skills. However, when she challenged a ranking craftsmen, things became different. Her skills as a crafter were far below her fighting abilities, and she ended up losing most of those challenges.


    Nevertheless, she refused to be discouraged by such losses. When she found a dwarven smith that she seemed to admire, she even asked him to take her as an apprentice. Now¡­ that was truly something to behold, the man looking like he was unsure what he even lived on. In the end, he refused her, believing that the servant of the Keeper should have only one master. Instead, he left her with some teachings for her to study and improve her skills, promising that she could challenge him again at any time.


    Looking away from the game, there were also many developments happening within Fyor, as well. More and more teams had broken through the twentieth floor, making their way into the twenty-first where they had encountered the perpetual storm. Without many hostile creatures to be found on this floor, it could be regarded as a ¡®safe¡¯ ce to set up a kingdom.


    That is, if they were able to build in a way that the storm did not destroy it immediately. Their answer to this seemed to be to build mostly underground, away from the storm ravaging the surface. There was about a hundred meters of dirt and stone to dig through before they hit the dividingyer between floors. On the surface, they created domed structures around the entrances and exits to their underground civilization, including one around the gate itself.


    The hardest part for this colonization process was finding a food source. Given the intense gravity and atmosphere of the floor, most of the nts were too difficult to cut through, while the hides of the various animals had simr developed to withstand the pressurized des of wind that swept through the storm.


    However, this problem was solved rather¡­ unexpectedly. When they heard of the troubles on the twenty-first floor, Dawn immediately reached out to offer aid. While the Council was still worrying about protecting their own borders and thinking how they could take this new area under their control, Dawn sent food and water. The neenthyer had an abundance of both of these things, so it did not trouble them at all to provide the assistance.


    With Dawn¡¯s help, and a donation of a considerable amount of tidestones, they were able to create their own farms underground. Although it hasn¡¯t been long enough yet to say for sure, it looked like they were going to be able to sustain themselves fairly well.


    When the Council learned of Dawn¡¯s intervention with the new floor, they were¡­ unhappy, to say the least. It was to the point that I was wondering if a war was actually going to be sparked by generosity. Dawn didn¡¯t ask for anything in return for their aid, or wait to see if the twenty-first floor had any valuable resources. They just started sending supplies as soon as they heard about the problems.


    Seeing actions like that actually made me quite happy, since it was rare for a governing body to be so altruistic. Thankfully, the Council decided not to do anything about it, for the time being at least.


    As I was thinking about that, and debating whether or not I should return to the Admin Room to look into Lorek and the other worlds, a message appeared in front of me, one that I had been waiting for for a while now. The message announcing the annual meeting between Keepers. I had long since made sure that everyone was prepared for this meeting, so I was not at all surprised when the world stopped around me.


    Given the information that I had already told Tsubaki in regards to being a Keeper, I had struggled with whether or not I should bring her to this meeting as well, give her thatst little push. In the end, I had decided against it, believing that it wasn¡¯t time yet for her to see all of that. Instead, I returned to the Admin Room, and saw the gods and goddesses all lined up to wait for me.


    ¡°Oi,d, we goin¡¯ or not?¡± Tubrock asked with a wide grin, clearly excited for this meeting. I could see Aurivy and alia both bouncing on their heels, while Irena and Terra sported small smiles. Leowynn stepped out from my body, her misty form coalescing to stand next to her mother.


    Ashley seemed¡­ well, almost bored. When I noticed her looking around in disinterest, I couldn¡¯t help but speak up. ¡°You sure you want toe with us?¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡± She blinked, looking in my direction. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s fine. It¡¯d be lonely if I stayed here alone anyways. Might as well go and hang out, right?¡± She tried to offer a smile at that, but I could see that she didn¡¯t really feel it.


    Everything alright? I asked mentally, deciding that it would be best for the conversation to be kept private at this point.


    Yeah, I¡¯m fine. Ashley assured me mentally, before I could almost hear a sigh in the back of her mind. I guess I¡¯m just feeling homesick. Missing my old life, you know? It¡¯s nothing to worry about. I know that there¡¯s no going back, and I have plenty of friends here. I just tend to think about it at times, about all the people I used to know, and what they would have been doing by now.


    I hesitated for a moment when I heard her exnation. In truth, I had only rarely given any thought to my life prior to bing a Keeper. Whether it was friends or family, I didn¡¯t really think about them much. To be honest, I didn¡¯t think about them much even before, as I was in short supply of both. To me, my life truly started the day that I identally ran into the old Keeper.


    Still, I could understand how it would be different for other people. For me, I was simply going from one day to the next in a life with neither purpose nor substance. But for Ashley, she was leading a team, making friends andrgely enjoying her life. She was actually living, while I was just focusing on surviving from day to day.


    If I can do anything to help, let me know. I whispered mentally to her, but saw her shaking her head.


    It¡¯s fine, Dale. It¡¯ll just take a little while, but my head will clear up. It always does. After sending that, I saw a more genuine smile on her face as she tried to reassure me, leaving me to nod in response.


    Aside from her, everyone seemed at least somewhat interested in the event. Even Tryval, who I figured to be the one least likely to want to attend, seemed to be in high spirits. As such, I didn¡¯t waste any time, focusing on the option to attend the meeting with all those present.


    Simr tost time, a glistening golden door appeared along a nearby wall, slowly opening up to reveal a marble whitendscape beyond. Udona was the first to run through the portal, seeming determined to make up for herck of attendance in thest annual meeting, with the rest of us following shortly behind her.


    Once prompted, I again chose the same restrictions asst time to ce on everyone. Simply being, that they weren¡¯t able to discuss secrets about our worlds. And as I walked through the gate, I could see the bustling crowd filing in. Keepers of all shapes and sizes appearing through their own gates.


    ¡°Well!¡± Aurivy called out with a yful grin. ¡°You know the deal! Irena?¡±


    With a warm smile, Irena nodded, taking a step closer and linking her arm through mine. It seemed like I was going to be having another ¡®surprise date¡¯ today. Still, that wasn¡¯t an unpleasant thought, and I gently grabbed her hand with mine, smiling towards her.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got an appointment with Balu that I need to take care of first. We¡¯re supposed to meet up at the restaurant.¡± When I said that, Irena¡¯s eyes lit up, clearly remembering the meal that we had shared therest time, when she had gotten me to buy the ¡®cooking methods¡¯ for spiritual energy. Something that I should probably check up on in the future, see how it all turned out.


    Irena quickly nodded her head, and everyone dispersed. As we did so, I sent messages to both Tryval and Irena. Whatever the two of you earn today can go towards getting your own worlds. I figure it¡¯s about time everyone that wants one should get it.


    I did not receive an immediate response back from Tryval, but Irena gave a gentle squeeze of my arm. ¡°Don¡¯t I already have my own world?¡± She asked in a soft voice. ¡°I was the first one, and mine is connected to every other world through their afterlife.¡±


    ¡°This and that are two different things.¡± I said with a shake of my head. ¡°The Underworld wasn¡¯t a reward for you, but more like a job¡­ I want to give you a reward, Irena.¡±


    The goddess of death chuckled slightly when she heard that. ¡°Maybe, but I¡¯ve always considered it as my realm. So¡­ instead, can I use the points I earn today to have special enhancements purchased for my realm?¡±


    I nced curiously towards her at that, wondering what sort of enhancements it was she wanted. However, she didn¡¯t borate any further, so I shrugged. ¡°If that¡¯s what you want to spend your points on, then that¡¯s fine.¡± Though now I was even more curious what she had in mind.


    Hearing my agreement, Irena¡¯s smile grew just a touch wider, and we proceeded towards the buildings that seemed to manifest along our path. We walked past the games, thepetitions, and saw the vast fields beyond. And just as we had almost left the ¡®city¡¯, the building we were looking for appeared before us.


    ¡°There you are!¡± I heard a familiar voice shouting from behind me, and saw Balu rushing over, waving an arm energetically. ¡°I was wondering where it would crop up this time.¡± The small rabbit girl gave a twitch of her nose as she rushed past. ¡°Let¡¯s go find a good seat, Dale!¡±

 Chapter 398: The Trade

    <h4>Chapter 398: The Trade</h4>


    Seeing Balu so energetic, I cracked a small smile, following along behind her with Irena. By the time we entered the building, there were only a few people sitting along the scattered tables. Given the nature of this meeting, it was hard to tell which ones were Keepers, and which were just here to enjoy the good food.


    Waiting for us on our arrival was a ¡®man¡¯ with pitch-ck skin, a singlerge eye on its head with no nose and a wide mouth. ¡°EarthForceOne, Starkiller, right this way.¡± They spoke as if expecting us, and given that these were all embodiments of the system¡¯s knowledge, they probably were.


    Balu let out a happy squeak as she followed behind the waiter, the three of us guided towards a round, white table with three chairs around it. ¡°We¡¯ll be by with your order soon.¡± The waiter assured us with a small nod before turning and walking off, leaving the three of us alone at the table.


    ¡°So, how have things been?¡± Balu asked, adjusting herself to getfortable in her seat before looking between myself and Irena.


    ¡°Alright, I suppose.¡± I gave a brief nod. ¡°Been working on a few projects.¡± My invasion force sent to attack Vanity had not reached a conclusion yet, so I couldn¡¯t be sure how that would fare.


    Balu thought about my words for a moment. ¡°Yeah, I guess it¡¯s kinda hard to discuss things in such a public ce. So, I guess you probably have questions about the items you wanted to buy?¡± She gave a small twitch of her nose at that, and a silver screen seemed to sprout around the table, isting us from the rest of the building.


    ¡°It¡¯s a privacy field. Some people have issues eating in front of others, or try to study the food brought to other Keepers to make guesses on what assets they have in their world. I know, it sounds ridiculous, but the system made these fields optional for anyone that wanted them.¡± Once she saw Irena and I looking around the translucent wall around us, Balu exined in a cheerful tone. ¡°Nobody can see or hear what¡¯s going on at the table, as long as that field is up.¡±


    I hesitated for a moment, before nodding my head. ¡°Do features like this get added often?¡±


    Balu blinked, before giving a quick shake of her head. ¡°Nope, maybe one every few years. When it happens, there will be an announcement that goes out to all Keepers, along with the standard invitation.¡±


    Well, at least they keep us informed. ¡°Okay¡­ so, you wanted me to ask questions¡­ I guess the easiest ones would be for you to exin how the grimoire and cultivation mat work, so I know what I¡¯m buying.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ not an umon question.¡± Balu sighed with a difficult expression. ¡°Normally, I¡¯d have to make you wait until after you bought the items before I could exin that. We can¡¯t have people learn how they function, then decide to cancel the deal and either make the item themselves, or sell it to a potential enemy. If you yourself have the item, the risk of thetter is lessened because you would be giving away your own information as well.¡±


    ¡°For this time¡­ I¡¯ll make an exception. Just don¡¯t tell Grimor, alright?¡± She had a pleading look on her face when she said that, to which I found myself nodding subconsciously.


    With a sigh of relief, she began to exin. ¡°The power of the grimoire lies in its simplicity, as well as a hidden function. When casting a spell with the book open, you are capable of storing that spell, along with all of the mana used to cast it, within the book. Thenter, you can cast that spell from the grimoire, and add additional mana to it.¡±


    ¡°The hidden function is that it is possible to ¡®recast¡¯ the spell into the book, as long as there is enough mana capacity avable. So, for instance¡­ take your basic ¡®fire st¡¯ spell. For the first storage, you channel the spell and arge sum of mana into the book to produce a medium sized attack. Thenter, when your mana is recovered, you cast the spell from the book again, channeling it through your body and back into the grimoire with another sum of mana. Like this, it is possible to overcharge spells. A first tier spell overcharged to its limits, has the potential to rival a third tier spell.¡±


    Okay, now that was an interesting feature to include in a grimoire. ¡°And what about overcharging a third tier spell?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask, curious if it would be possible to release power of the fourth, or even fifth tiers.


    Balu, however, shook her head. ¡°That¡¯s why the mana storage is important. A basic grimoire with this blueprint only has the capacity to store one top third tier spell. If you want something better, you need to modify the blueprint by finding suitable materials from your own world. Theoretically, it¡¯s possible to reach any level of spell, so long as there are materials capable of storing the mana required.¡±


    ¡°As for the cultivation mat, it is a somewhat more elegant item. The primary function allows anyone resting on it to gather ki more rapidly from their surroundings. Now¡­ you¡¯ve probably figured out by now, but that¡¯s just not how ki works in some worlds. In some, kies from the world around you, and in others ites from the user themselves.¡±


    ¡°In cases where it is thetter, I¡¯ve found that the cultivation mat has a different function. It causes the ki within the body to begin pulsing and speeding up. This allows whoever is on the mat to more easily sense the energy within their own body, and guide it to form moreplicated paths.¡±


    I gave a small nod as I listened to the exnation. ¡°What aboutbined energies? For instance¡­ elemental ki?¡±


    Balu¡¯s brow furrowed, her nose twitching as she focused to remember. ¡°I think¡­ the mat is still effective on those energy types, but the efficiency is less than basic ki. The weaker ki is as an ingredient in the energy, the less of an effect you will see from it. For instance, the divine body energy I had you cultivate¡­ only about a third of it isposed of ki, so the effect would be fairly low. Same with world sight.¡±


    ¡°Again, the mat can be improved depending on materials used, and if the design is modified. I¡¯m only sending the most basic versions, as per the normal trade rules. The same designs that you would get if you purchased from the system directly.¡±


    That was pretty straightforward. And, while I wasn¡¯t sure which grimoire would be rated higher between hers and the one I submitted to the market, I had to admit that the one she offered had a useful secondary function. I knew that there were materials within my world that were very good at storing mana, so it was possible that I could take it beyond its initial properties once the item had been reverse engineered by both Tubrock and Ryone.


    Nodding my head, I reached my hand across the table. I still wasn¡¯t used to personally transferring points to someone else, but Terra wasn¡¯t here this time. Besides that, I had already figured out how tofortably use the system interface, so now was as good of a time as any to try it out.


    Balu beam a toothy smile, stretching out her furred hand to grab mine. As our hands met, I focused on the hidden interface, creasing my brows together.


    You have chosen to transfer 130 points to Keeper Starkiller. No mental influences detected. Please confirm deposit.


    I let out a sigh of relief when the window appeared, giving a small nod. Balu was, thankfully, patient with the process. Once I had confirmed it, her nose gave another twitch, and I received another window stating that the transfer had gone through.


    Almost as if it had been waiting, the waiter returned at that moment with three dishes, stepping through the privacy field. The first to receive her meal was Balu, who had arge sd of green leaves and orange circr sliced fruit, interspersed with kes of meat and covered in a white gravy. She actually drooled as she saw it, her eyes going wide.


    Next was Irena, who seemed to receive a drink instead of food. A tall, wide ss filled with swimming nebulous gasses. She arched a curious brow towards the ss, but seemed to assume it was alright.


    Finally, there was my own dish, something I was immediately able to recognize. Ever since I achieved my godly body, I no longer had the need to eat. Tsubaki naturally understood this, having a simr quality. Yet, she continued to insist on cooking for me. Only now, instead of gathering powerful, nutritious ingredients to make sure that I never left the table hungry, she focused her efforts on improving the taste. Something easier to do when the meat was not nearly as hard as iron, or the herbs strong enough to overpower normal cuisine.


    While her cooking was certainly not bad before, the quality immediately shot up once she was able to focus purely on taste. This dish looked like a copy of one that she had previously made for me. A lightly roasted steak, sprinkled with a thinyer of sauces, and with a side of greens.


    I couldn¡¯t help but gulp when I saw that, wondering if it would taste the same as when Tsubaki made it. Across from me, Balu had already begun to dig into her own meal, with Irena looking curiously towards her drink. As if she understood something, she dipped a finger into the gases, watching as a trail followed behind it while she brought it to her mouth.


    It was only an experimental test, but her eyes shot open, quickly looking down towards her meal. If I had to wager a guess, it was another construct of spiritual energy. Only now, it did not have the ¡®disguise¡¯ of a normal meal, showing itself for what it really was.


    Opening her mouth, she took a deep breath, strands of the mist leaping up from her cup. I watched in awe as she quite literally inhaled her meal. Shaking my head, I looked down and began eating my own steak and savoring its taste.


    It didn¡¯t take long for the three of us to finish, everyone waiting patiently after they were done. Once the waiter came back and took our tes away, Balu stretched her arms out. ¡°Well, thanks for the meal, Dale! I¡¯ve already got the items ready on my end, and I¡¯ll send them by once the meeting¡¯s over.¡±


    ¡°Thanks. Though, before you run off.¡± I held a hand up to stop her, figuring she was about to make a run for it to try and find Bihena. ¡°I did have one other question that I wanted to ask you, as an experienced Keeper.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± She nced towards me, seeming interested by what I had to say.


    ¡°How do you know when it is time to advance to the next rank? I¡¯m going to assume that you haven¡¯t been stuck at the first rank forever, right?¡± This was actually a question that I nned to ask Sarah as well, but I wanted to get multiple opinions on the matter.


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s easy.¡± Balu simply shrugged her shoulders. ¡°Just whenever it¡¯s natural. As an avenger, I had to find a bnce that let me rest at the top of the first tier. But, I could advance whenever I wanted.¡±


    ¡°If your world is stable, and getting to a point where it is ready to advance on its own, then there¡¯s really no need to stop it, unless you wanna be like me. The only problem is if you force it to advance by introducing new elements that destabilize the world. By the time you are getting everything sorted, you might be attacked by an enemy Keeper of your new rank, and not have time to prepare a response.¡±


    ¡°Also, keep in mind, a Keeper is never allowed to attack another Keeper of a lower rank. If you are on the defending team, and your rank increases, the invasion will still go through. It will be a pretty easy victory at that point, but that¡¯s just how it is. Now, if you¡¯re the attacking Keeper, and your rank increases, that¡¯s another thing entirely.¡±


    ¡°Under those circumstances, the invasion is cancelled, and both parties are entered into the selection for the next round¡¯s matches instead. Same thing if you are defending, and your rank ends up dropping due to a reset or something.¡±

 Chapter 399: Dream Another Dream of Me

    <h4>Chapter 399: Dream Another Dream of Me</h4>


    Once Balu ran off, I felt Irena gently gripping my hand. Looking over, I saw her smiling at me, her wings tucked back behind her. ¡°Well, where would you like to go next?¡± I asked her, moving to lead her out of the dining area.


    She shook her head softly. ¡°We have plenty of time. I¡¯m happy going anywhere.¡± And with that, the ball was back in my court.


    I closed my eyes, thinking about where I had taken herst time. Mostly, it had just been to eat, and watch a performance. However, I didn¡¯t want to just make this a repeat ofst year. Starting a tradition was one thing, but I¡¯d rather keep things new as opposed to reliving the same date over and over.


    As such, I didn¡¯t lead Irena to the performance hall. Instead, we went to the game parlor, where we could see various Keepers gathered around the arcade style games with a lively atmosphere. Immediately, I recognized the angelicpanion that I had spottedst time, one of Seraphine¡¯s. Her presence clearly meant that Seraphine had survived that disaster. And, although she was once again ying a game with a defense ticket as the prize, her posture was a lot more rxed, looking like she was ying more for fun than anything else.


    Not so far away from her, I saw Seraphine herself, speaking with Grimor. Given the gentle atmosphere between the two of them, I couldn¡¯t bring myself to interfere with their conversation. Instead, I led Irena off towards the side, along a wall lined with games. Oddly, almost every game seemed to be taken.


    Even more oddly, as we were reaching the end of the row, I saw the wall expand out a little ways, a new game appearing as someone walked naturally towards it. Oh, right. The meeting area responds to the wishes of the upants. I was still getting used to that idea.


    Passing by the new game, we once again reached the end of the row, stopping. Irena began to look at me curiously as I closed my eyes, focusing. I wanted a game that Irena would be able to enjoy, so I thought back to her hobbies. There was one that stood out above all else, one thing that she seemed passionate about, outside of her duties as a Goddess.


    I want a role-ying game for Irena. I muttered inwardly. Out of everyone in my pantheon, she was the greatest roleyer. Whenever she lived an incarnation, she would immerse herself fully in the role of whatever life she lived. Unlike the others who liked to live a certain type of life, Irena did only what came naturally to her incarnation.


    When I opened my eyes, the wall had not expanded like I thought. Rather, the two of us had been moved to an entirely different room, up on the second floor where they kept the multiyer games. In front of us sat a table with a clear screen on top of it. ncing towards Irena, the two of us moved over to sit at the table.


    Wee to the Keeper¡¯s Table!


    Would you like an introduction?


    Naturally, I chose yes. This was a first for me, so I didn¡¯t want to just be leftpletely clueless. Even Irena didn¡¯t seem to know what was going on, so she likely didn¡¯t find this gamest time after we separated.


    Keeper¡¯s Table is a simted experience for those that wish to take on a different role. The system used for the experience must be defined at the beginning of y. There are three game modes: Law, Order, and Chaos!


    In the Law game mode, one yer takes the role of the ¡®world¡¯, activating different scenarios and events, while the other yers each y out either one or multiple characters. In this game mode, points are earned at a slower rate than Order.


    In the Order game mode, the system itself takes control of the world, while the yers each yer their character or characters. Points may be earned forpleting system-set challenges, based on the difficulty of the challenge!


    Finally, the Chaos mode. In this mode, every yer shares control of the world, able to activate world events by spending in-game points. This mode is designed primarily for the enjoyment of the yers, and offers the least amount of rewards.


    While I was reading over the rules, I could tell that Irena was doing the same. Honestly, I was surprised to see a game like this as an option, let alone the fact that it was possible to earn points from it. As I was about to suggest running something for Irena, she squeezed my hand, turning to face me. ¡°Let¡¯s y the Order mode.¡±


    I thought about it for a moment, before nodding my head. Looking down towards the table, there were two small disys, each with the outline of a hand. Those instructions seemed plenty clear, so I reached down with my free hand and ced it on the disy, Irena doing the same thing next to me.


    I blinked, and suddenly was in a different space. Irena was still next to me, but the table had disappeared. Now, we were standing within an endless, white void. And then, a voice spoke out to us, a very familiar voice. ¡°Please choose a system that you would like to use for this experience.¡±


    ¡°Terra?¡± Irena called out before I had the chance, and the image of a certain red-headed catgirl appeared in front of us.


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Terra nodded her head, a yful look on her face. ¡°The rules said it, right? The system ys the role of game master when you choose the Order mode. As your System Companion, that means that I receive the role. But watch out, I can¡¯t go easy on you just because of our rtionship.¡±


    That was probably another rule to ensure fairness. Every Keeper was bound to have their own System Companion, so it made sense to have them be the representative as a familiar face. At the same time, the system had to ensure that they would remain impartial. I nced towards Irena, a small grin tugging at my lips before I faced Terra. ¡°I want to use the system of Kione.¡±


    Irena was clearly surprised by my choice, looking at me in confusion. However, Terra justughed heartily, clutching her stomach. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s just mean, Dale. But, I guess it¡¯s fair. Neither of you really know that world well. Would you like to design your own characters, or leave it up to fate?¡±


    The way that she said that, and the look in her eyes told me that she wanted me to choose thetter. However, even as the Goddess of Fate, I knew that she could not go against the system¡¯s rules. So there had to be another reason why. ¡°What¡¯s the difference?¡±


    Terra gave a nod of approval, crossing her arms beneath her bust. ¡°The introduction exined that points were rewarded based on the difficulty of the various challenges I give you. However, this difficulty is subjective. For a young farmhand, it is more difficult to y amon goblin than for a great hero to fight a dragon. The greater the challenge is for your character, the higher the potential rewards.¡±


    Well, that certainly was a factor to consider. However, as she said, the challenge would be the same for the same amount of points. The point was to ovee those challenges. ¡°How would the creation of my Ki of Beginning rate as a challenge?¡±


    Terra held up a hand, signalling us to wait as she closed her eyes, processing the request. ¡°Five thousand points. Based on the difficulty you had to face at the time, along with the advantages that you had to allow you to deal with it, that is the system¡¯s evaluation. Creating your Divine Body measures in at eight thousand, by the way. That¡¯s likely to be your greatest achievement so far, even more than making Ana.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but shudder as I remembered making my Divine Body¡­ It wasn¡¯t surprising that the system evaluated it more highly, given the amount of pain that had been involved. ¡°We¡¯ll take the fate route.¡±


    ¡°I thought you might.¡± She responded in a yful tone, Irena simply watching the exchange for a moment. ¡°Now¡¯s your chance to make any requests for your characters before I begin the process.¡±


    ¡°Can we have our characters being together?¡± Irena asked in a voice barely above a whisper, but one which made Terra¡¯s smile turn far more warm and gentle.


    ¡°Of course, Irena. Of course you can. Once I¡¯m done, you¡¯ll receive a memory imnt of your characters to help you y your role. This imnt will be removed once you end the game. You¡¯ll still remember everything that happened during the game, but you won¡¯t have the conflicting memories of life leading up to it.¡±


    ¡°Likewise, you will still have your memories of real life while inside the game, so how deep you y into your role is up to you. However, if I may offer a token of advice¡­ the better you y the role, the higher the system¡¯s evaluation.¡±


    With that out of the way, Terra closed her eyes. Slowly, she brought her hands out from behind her back. Her right hand carried with it a blinding light, while her left hand held pure darkness. When she brought her hands together in a p in front of her, the two energies touching, I brought my hands up to cover my eyes.


    And in that moment, everything changed. Is something the matter, Sly? An unfamiliar, gravelly voice spoke up in my mind, causing me to look to the side. There, I saw Griffith, my lion. We were sitting out on the porch of my house when I had jerked, covering my face suddenly.


    I shook my head, startled by how quickly the memories took root. Here, I was Slyris, a journeyman magus. Like Terra had promised, I could still remember everything, but at the same time¡­ I was able to remember receiving Griffith as a young boy, how he had scratched yfully at my face, unaware of his sharp ws, and how I still bore the scars of that first encounter to this day.


    ¡°No¡­ everything¡¯s fine.¡± I spoke in a quiet voice, reaching over to lightly scratch him just behind his mane. ¡°The sun just caught my eye, is all.¡±


    I could feel Griffith¡¯s hesitation, before he seemed to rx with the attention I was giving the back of his neck,ying down next to me. If you say so. It sounds like they¡¯re almost back, now.


    I knew who he was talking about even before I heard the squawk of a great bird, a wide shadow darkening my doorstep. ncing up, I saw Genevieve, a ck Shadow Eagle. Her wingspan was nearly a dozen meters as she touched down in front of my house, and a figure jumped off her back.


    The figure was just shy of six feet tall with long, flowing ck hair. Her hazel eyes shined as theynded on me, her lips curving upwards. She wore a leather armor, reaching up to pat her shoulder as Genevieve began glowing in a soft light, shrinking until she fit on her perch. ¡°I¡¯m back.¡± My wife said softly, walking over to sit next to me. I knew that this was Irena, the character that she had been given, but that wasn¡¯t the name that left my mouth.


    ¡°Wee back, Kaneda.¡± That was her character, a spell-bow huntress named Kaneda. Neither of us were incredibly powerful, especiallypared to the heroes of Earth I was used to. After all, there was no game system here. No easy way to grow in power. But we were happy, I knew that much.


    And in the end, isn¡¯t that what mattered? Not your strength, your influence, or anything else. In the end, isn¡¯t the best thing in the world to simply be happy?

 Chapter 400: Amalgamation

    <h4>Chapter 400: Amalgamation</h4>


    ¡°How was the hunt?¡± I asked, knowing that I couldn¡¯t see Kaneda carrying anything on her person. However, that did not necessarily mean anything, something which she soon proved true.


    ¡°It was decent.¡± As she said that, Genevieve¡¯s shadow seemed to grow in front of Kaneda, and the body of arge boar slowly rose up from it. ¡°I didn¡¯t miss anything, did I?¡±


    Just as I was about to answer, there was a distant shockwave that shook the ground around us. Griffith jumped to his feet, snarling in rm while Genevieve pped her wings from atop Kaneda¡¯s shoulder. Just a quick moment of focus told me that the st had originated from the nearby town, making me grit my teeth.


    Kaneda turned her head to look at me, worry on her face. However, I simply shook my head, moving to mount the lion as Genevieve hopped off her shoulder, taking to the sky. ¡°We¡¯ve got to investigate.¡±


    She simply let out a small sigh, moving to get atop the lion behind me, her arms gently wrapping around my waist. ¡°So much for a quiet evening at home.¡± She muttered with some regret, and I couldn¡¯t quite tell if that was from Kaneda or Irena.


    ncing back towards her, I shed her a smile. ¡°We¡¯ll take care of this quick, and thene back.¡±


    That seemed to cheer her up, and I signalled for Griffith to start running. His body was surprisingly strong, able to carry the two of us and still move quite fast. As he did, I began to mentally review the magic of this world, as well as what spells I had stored inside of Griffith.


    It only took a few short minutes before we arrived at the town, where we saw roaring mes and billowing clouds of smoke. Mangled, fresh corpses were strewn about, causing myself and Kaneda to both gasp for breath. Some of these faces we knew in our memories, close friends that we would often visit.


    Standing at the center of the town and wrapped in a me as ck as night was a winged figure. It was clearly male, going by the body shape, but beyond that nothing could clearly be seen through the mes. ¡°Ohh?¡± It spoke, its voice crackling like embers. ¡°There¡¯s still someone left?¡±


    Well¡­ this certainly qualified as a challenge. In the world of our memories, there were no winged races. In fact, the only race at all should have been humans. And yet here there was something¡­ else. I looked at it for just a moment before a thought urred to me. ¡°Amalgam¡­¡±


    The word left my lips almost without me meaning to say it, and its meaning only truly urred to me after the fact. Amalgamation was a forbidden branch of spells. As the theory went, familiars were created from the soul of the host, and therefore it should be possible for those two souls to fuse once again, to grant a man all of the magical powers of a familiar. However, reality was never so simple.


    When a familiar is created, its soul bes both linked to and separated from the host body. As time passes, it begins to change more and more. Amalgamation fuses these two souls, but in the process warps both the body and mind.


    The nearby example of such a process chuckled darkly. ¡°Oops, looks like I¡¯ve got to clean up now.¡± His ming wings stretched out, growingrger andrger, soon dwarfing the rest of his body before reshaping into massive hands.


    These hands then picked up two chunks of walls from the copsed buildings surrounding us, and threw them in our direction. ¡°Griffith!¡± I called out, focusing on one of the spells I felt stored within him.


    Griffith¡¯s eyes began to glow, his mouth opening and releasing a rumbling roar. Visible pulses of sound swept out from his mouth, striking the debris heading our way and shattering it. With every pulse, it broke down more and more, until only dust remained, scattered by the force of the roar.


    ¡°Gen!¡± Kaneda looked up, whistling. Therge eagle swept down from the sky as she jumped off of Griffith, holding her hand out calmly. Her eyes were focused on the enemy as Genevievended on her wrist. The bird¡¯s wings extended fully, its body lying t before shing with ck light. When the light faded, Genevieve had been reced by a ck longbow, the limbs of the bow decorated by dark grey feathers.


    This was Kaneda¡¯s signature spell, which she had named the Shadowheart Bow. However, our opponent wasn¡¯t going to be kind enough and simply wait for us to finish powering up. Upon seeing that his initial attack failed, he sprang into action, darting towards myself and Griffith.


    The massive hands attached to his back reached out at us, as if wanting to squeeze the life from our bodies. Jumping back, I sent Griffith forward, his body glowing with a golden light. A thin film of energy formed around the lion¡¯s body before he crashed into the ming figure, sending it tumbling back.


    Kaneda turned to the side, taking a shooting stance, and began to speak softly. ¡°Oh darkness that dwells within my heart, take shape.¡± Her bow shed again, a long arrow forming and nocking itself as she grabbed the fletching. The arrowhead was curved downwards slightly, seeming to resemble a bird¡¯s beak.


    The man let out a bestial roar as hended on the ground, dust scattering around him. His wings receded, and he brought his true hands forward. ¡°You want to do this the hard way? Fine! Fires which burn at the end of creation, embers of a fallen star.¡±


    Chanted spells were more rare, given that they took longer to cast, but that was also because the chant itself was an activation for a secondary spell that gathered more energy for the primary one. And, as a ball of pitch-ck fire condensed within his hand, I had to wonder whose spell wouldunch first.


    Kaneda slowly pulled the string of her bow back, continuing her chant without showing any worry on her face. ¡°Oh sorrow of my soul, ensure my aim is true.¡± Her bow pulsed with ck energy, the feathers beginning to wave in an unseen wind.


    I moved myself and Griffith back towards Kaneda, ready to act defensively as the enemy finished his spell just a step faster. ¡°Consume all within your path, strike down gods and demons alike!¡± His hands began to spread apart, the sphere of ck me growingrger, before his hands pped together. As if shot out from a cannon, the spellunched towards us, kicking up debris in its passing.


    Even at a nce, I knew that we did not want to take that thing head-on. I crouched down, mming my hand against the ground as Griffith mimicked the motion. Three tall, thick walls of stone rose up along the path of the spell, causing the enemy to beginughing hysterically.


    The first wall was burnt away on contact, the secondsting for barely a moment longer. The third wall crumbled soon after, but by that time, the speed of the spell had been reduced significantly, allowing Kaneda to finish her chant. ¡°May the holy mother show you mercy in the next life.¡±


    A ck trail of light shot out as she released her arrow. It pierced through the ball of ck fire and scattered it, before a soft gasp reached our ears. As the dust cleared, we could see the amalgam, his mes scattering from his body. His skin was leathery like a bat¡¯s, his eyesrge and dark. There was a thin hole piercing straight through his forehead, and we could see blood dripping along it.


    His knees grew weak and he copsed, falling back onto his misshapen wings. His mouth was twisted in a snarl, fangs poking through from both jaws. As we walked closer, a fresh arrow in Kaneda¡¯s hand, we checked to ensure that he was truly dead.


    Once we did so, Terra¡¯s voice spoke into our minds. For defeating the mysterious amalgam, all parties involved have received six hundred points.


    Neither of us truly paid attention to that voice at this time, Kaneda speaking softly. ¡°Why here?¡± She slowly rxed the bowstring, and allowed her weapon to return to its eagle form. ¡°Genevieve, could you scout the area for any clues?¡±


    The bird gave a nod, cawing before it flew up into the air once again. Meanwhile, I heard another voice in my mind, this one from Griffith. There is a stench about him. Old blood, and¡­ a curse.


    ¡°He was cursed?¡± I found myself asking in surprise. I knew what a curse meant here. It was any magic forced upon another, their own innate energies struggling to fight against it. Normally, that should have been obvious, and people could easily associate Amalgamation with a curse, but¡­ typically, amalgams are volunteers, even the researchers themselves.


    ¡°Slyris, this is bad.¡± Kaneda muttered, one eye closed as she looked at me. ¡°It¡¯s not just here¡­ Every city on the horizon shows signs of a battle. I can see smoke rising in all directions.¡±


    I let out a groan, shaking my head. ¡°What are the odds that this was all his doing, and this was just thest ce he visited?¡±


    ¡°As much as I wish that the case¡­¡± Kaneda shook her head sadly. ¡°These attacks look all too recent¡­ and some look like they¡¯re still underway.¡±


    ¡°Then we need to get moving.¡± I immediately turned and began walking back towards Griffith. Think you¡¯re still up for more?


    The response I got was a huff, Griffith striding over and kneeling for me to mount him again. It will take more than that to tire me, Sly.


    Kaneda walked over, jumping up behind me again, when the world briefly froze. Terra¡¯s voice spoke out once again, this time surprising us. A new yer has entered the game. As soon as she finished saying that, everything returned to normal, Griffith having not noticed that anything went wrong in the first ce.


    I so desperately wanted to ask who joined, but I had my suspicions. And asking such a thing right now would likely only confuse our trusty mount. Logically, there should be some kind of confirmation needed for someone to join a game like this, even with the Keeper¡¯s logic. It was too easy to reveal secrets of the world, and so the system would likely take measures to stop that.


    However, those measures were unlikely to apply to people in the Keeper¡¯s own group, meaning it should be another of the deities that came with us. Narrowing it down a bit more by personalities¡­ it should either be alia, Udona, or Aurivy. Beyond that, it would be impossible to tell until we met their character, assuming we were able to recognize them as a yer.


    I dismissed those thoughts with a shake of my hand, signalling Griffith to once again begin running towards the next nearest city. This one was further away, so the run would take quite a bit longer. It was unlikely that we would arrive before it was over, but¡­ we had to try. Even if the attack had already ended, and the enemy wandered off, there was the chance that someone might still be alive, hiding in the wreckage and needing rescued.


    Seeing as we had some time now before arriving at our next destination, I decided to make the most of it. Bringing one hand forward, I rested it on the back of Griffith¡¯s head. As my eyes closed, I focused on the creation of a new spell. Thankfully, spells were not consumed when they were cast, but there were only a set amount that each familiar could hold. After thatst battle, I noticed that Griffith still had some room for more.


    Creating a spell within this system was¡­ surprisingly, quite easy. The primary requirement was to have physical contact with the familiar while imagining the spell that you wanted to impart. And so, I imagined Griffith standing in an emptyndscape, letting out a roar much like he did earlier. Only this time, instead of destructive sound waves, he was firing out a stream of fire.

 Chapter 401: Thick-Skinned

    <h4>Chapter 401: Thick-Skinned</h4>


    Also! I would like to announce that World Keeper Volume 1 is now avable as a Paperback book on Amazon with a new cover art!


    Creating the spell took nearly the entire time that we were moving towards the next town. The amount of detail required in it was something that was hard to properly understand without experiencing it firsthand. Take the sonic roar for instance. In the memories I received, I had to study sound so that I could envision how various vibrations could cluster together to strike a target in order to break it apart. The more in-depth the understanding of the underlying principles behind a spell, the less mana it cost for the same power output.


    While this spell wasn''t going to be as difficult, it would still be troublesome. I needed to imagine the heat of the spell, its range, and things of that nature. By the time that I had finished, I felt Kaneda nudging my back, pulling my attention away from what I had been doing. We could hear a distant, feminine scream of pain, and our eyes widened.


    A scream meant a survivor. I nced back to Kaneda, who nodded her head and stood up. She seemed to be able to bnce quite well on the back of the charging lion, crouching down and jumping high into the air. A ck shadow swept over us as Genevieve flew by in itsrger form to catch Kaneda.


    Let¡¯s hurry, Griffith. I whispered mentally, activating another spell. mes surged around Griffith¡¯s feet, his speed increasing as we ran along the road. We couldn¡¯t move faster than Genevieve, but we were still able to get there in time to help.


    The enemy this time was clearly another amalgam, a giant of a man with gray, thick skin and wide ears, an elongated snout that formed a trunk. Every step he took sent tremors through the ground. When we got there, Kaneda had Genevieve back in her bow form, but was being far more acrobatic an archer than she had in the previous battle.


    Ducking and weaving through therge opponent¡¯s slow movements, she kept herself fairly close to his body. Arrows appeared every time she plucked at her bowstring, digging into the target. With each one that hit, he let out a fresh roar of pain, his anger rising higher and higher.


    This amalgam didn¡¯t seem as lucid as the one that Kaneda and I had fought previously. He seemed to be doing little more than throwing his weight around, triggering the same spell again and again to cause the ground to shake beneath him. Which¡­ honestly made him the best possible target for someone like Kaneda.


    You help her. I whispered mentally to Griffith. But be careful. I¡¯m going to see if I can find whoever that was screaming before.


    Griffith nodded his head as I jumped off of his back, scanning my surroundings. Without Griffith¡¯s help, I didn¡¯t have any magical abilities at my disposal, and could only focus my ki on my ears, closing my eyes. Sure enough, I could hear a faint, pained whimper from nearby, beneath a copsed building.


    My ki was certainly not my strong suit, but it was enough for basic tasks. As such, once I heard the voice, I immediately raced in that direction. Once I hade to what looked to be the remains of an old store, I channeled my ki into my arms to begin moving the rubble out of the way.


    It didn¡¯t take me long before I heard a gasp from beneath me as the rocks shifted, letting me know that I was getting close. ¡°Try to rx and stay still. I¡¯m almost to you.¡±


    A few more pieces, and I was able to see the person I had been trying to rescue. A young girl, a head of auburn hair just down to her shoulders, with bright red eyes. She was lying on her back, her arms spread out to her sides. They had been pinned under the debris, but it looked like she was lucky, and nothing was visibly broken. At least¡­ nothing physical.


    There was a heart-broken look in her eyes, a distinct emptiness that zed them over. This was a different kind of look from just losing a loved one. She had lost a part of her own soul. She had lost her familiar.


    And as I looked at her, her image seemed to blur for just a moment, as if the shadow of another figure ovepped her. A figure I was all too familiar with. Aurivy¡¯s form faded away, leaving her once again as the heartbroken girl. Only the sorrow seemed to have slightly faded from her eyes. The utter brokenness filled in by the new mind, which hadn¡¯t personally experienced that.


    But the sorrow was still there. And with her mind able to focus more clearly now, her tears began to flow freely. ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡± I whispered, leaning down to press my fingers against various points of her body, injecting just enough ki to look for any fractures or internal injuries.


    Once I had determined that the system wasn¡¯t cruel enough to put her in a truly crippled character, I reached down and scooped her up in my arms. She turned, wrapping her arms around my shoulders and burying her face against my chest, continuing to sob loudly.


    Turning back to face the battle, I saw that things were going fairly slow. Dozens of arrows were jabbed into the giant amalgam, yet it did not go down. Its skin seemed so thick that the arrows weren¡¯t able to do any true damage. Unfortunately, she had thoroughly drawn the ire of the creature, making it impossible for her to charge up her piercing arrow.


    On the other hand, Griffith wasn¡¯t agile enough to get in and out safely, and seemed to have already taken a couple of nasty blows. His body sagged to the side as he limped with every step, but refused topletely back down. However, it was clear that getting hit any more would mean that he would perish as well.


    Think. Neither of us specialize in cleansing spells, so we can¡¯t remove the curse. Kaneda is the only one with the piercing power to get through his natural armor, but he is so focused on her that she can¡¯t activate any of those spells.


    ¡°Kaneda, fall back!¡± I shouted, before focusing on Griffith. He realized what I was doing and nodded his head solemnly, taking a step forward. The sonic roar only properly breaks down certain materials like wood, ss, and stone. However, it is also capable of causing internal damage to a living creature.


    As Griffith let out his roar, the giant amalgam froze in ce. As Kaneda retreated, he stumbled back, the ground quaking beneath him. I could see Kaneda taking her stance, preparing her piercing arrow, so now it was a matter of buying time.


    Don¡¯t try to be a hero, Griffith. Focus on avoiding his attacks. At times like this, I could only wish that I had a healing spell saved. Griffith¡¯s speed was highly impacted by his injuries, so he could only try to limp away as the amalgam rushed towards him, trying to trample all over the lion.


    I mentally apologized for the damage this would cause, before activating the charge spell. Griffith¡¯s body began to glow brilliantly before he surged forward, just out of range of the amalgam¡¯srge hand. Still, the wind pressure swept him away a few meters, leaving him to tumble and roll.


    As if realizing that the lion was little more than cornered prey, the amalgam began to approach more slowly, taunting it with every step. It was both terrifying and reassuring at the same time, for it allowed Kaneda all the time she needed to finish her incantation, firing off her arrow.


    A thin, ck drill seemed to pierce through the creature¡¯s back, flying out through his chest and causing him to pause, staring down at the gaping wound. He turned, staggering, looking like he was about to charge at Kaneda again. However, with a loud crash, he instead fell to the ground.


    Defeated the Elephant Amalgam and rescued the New yer. yers Irena and Dale awarded five hundred points each. yer Aurivy has now been activated. Terra¡¯s voice spoke, indicating yet another sizable deposit for our ount.


    Kaneda didn¡¯t waste any time, tossing her bow up and allowing it to return to its eagle form as she rushed forward. ¡°How is she?¡± She asked, concerned while looking over the girl in my arms. Her clothes were torn and tattered, clearly damaged in the previous battle.


    ¡°She lost her familiar.¡± I whispered, earning another powerful sob, and a small gasp from Kaneda. ¡°Otherwise, she seems in good health.¡±


    Kaneda pursed her lips, nodding as she fell into thought. ¡°We should stop here for now. We took too long getting here¡­ any other attacks would have ended by the time we reach the next city, and we can¡¯t leave her here.¡±


    I had to agree with her. Even disregarding the fact that this was Aurivy, who no doubt only joined so that she could y with us, we couldn¡¯t leave a defenseless and traumatized child alone after such an attack. And we certainly couldn¡¯t bring her with us, into the battlefield.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think Griffith would be able to handle another run right now, anyways.¡± I muttered, passing the girl to Kaneda before moving over to check on the lion. ¡°How you doing, big guy?¡±


    Did we win? His mental voice sounded dry, and I could tell that he was hurting. Even if he held the pain back from the link, not wanting to share it with me, it was clear just from looking at his sorry state.


    ¡°Yeah, we won, Griffith. We¡¯re going to rest here for the night, so get some sleep. I¡¯ll focus on helping you recover your injuries in the meantime.¡± As I said that, I moved to sit next to Griffith, keeping my breathing steady while cing my hands on his side.


    I could feel Griffith gradually falling unconscious, my ki filling his body. Like I had done with the girl before, I now sought to identify any of Griffith¡¯s internal injuries. Sadly, his condition was far more troublesome. His front right leg was fractured, he had three broken ribs. Aside from that, he was bruised inside and out, and would need time to heal.


    With the injuries identified, I began to focus on mending. Even without healing spells, it was possible to use ki to the same effect, with the proper understanding of biology. Thankfully, Slyris was familiar with Griffith¡¯s physiology, having trained for cases where field treatment like this was needed.


    After a few minutes passed, I could hear a shifting next to me, Kaneda moving to sit down. The girl in her arms had gone quiet, simply shuddering every so often in her sleep. ¡°She said her name is Lyra.¡± Kaneda whispered, not wanting to disturb Lyra¡¯s slumber.


    I gave a small nod at that, confirming that I understood. However, my attention was focused entirely on healing as many of Griffith¡¯s injuries as I could. Only when my ki ran dry did I stop, bringing my hands up and off of the lion.


    ¡°There had to be a cause to all of this.¡± I pointed out, clenching my fists a few times after holding them still for so long. ¡°If every city nearby was hit by amalgams at once¡­ and that first one, Griffith said he had been cursed.¡±


    ¡°An organization?¡± Kaneda questioned, causing me to nod again. ¡°It¡¯s possible. I don¡¯t remember anyone that would fit the description of being able to do that, however. So, they must be new.¡±


    Unfortunately, my memories held the same result. If there was an organization that had done this, then it was either someone new, or an old group that had branched out onto a dark path. ¡°It would help if they left some clues. A logo, a calling card, any kind of hint. Don¡¯t terrorists love to im credit?¡±


    Kaneda simply shook her head. ¡°They probably didn¡¯t expect anyone to be left alive to see their im to fame. If they are making themselves known, it will be to another area, perhaps the pce. If we want answers, we¡¯ll have to start there¡­ and they¡¯ll likely need our help.¡±

 Chapter 402: Mending a Broken Heart

    <h4>Chapter 402: Mending a Broken Heart</h4>


    It was hard to find shelter for the night after deciding to rest in the shattered remains of the town. The amalgam that struck here primarily focused on earthquake-like attacks, so there weren¡¯t any buildings left fully intact after its passing. Instead, we managed to find a previously three story building where a section of the second story¡¯s floor was remaining. It wasn¡¯t perfect, but it was shelter.


    Kaneda volunteered to stay on watch through the night, since I had used most of my energy healing Griffith and needed to sleep to recharge. Thanking her, Iid down next to Griffith and closed my eyes. If we spent the entire meeting within this simtion, then that would give us just over nine days of real time. Given that we earned over a thousand points each on the first day¡­ that was a lot of potential points.


    It¡¯s actually more than that. Terra¡¯s voice spoke into my mind as I focused on drifting off to sleep. As long as all yers are unconscious, the scenario automatically fast-forwards until either an encounter wakes them up, or they wake up on their own. Assuming an average sleep schedule of six hours a day, you could potentially stay within this simtion for almost twelve full days.


    As nice as that sounded, I didn¡¯t think I would want to be stuck here for that long. I did want to get back to my own worlds eventually, even if this was a replication of Kione¡¯s system. I was more thinking about how we had that long to earn points and try to uncover whatever plot was behind the previous encounters. If simply defeating two amalgams had earned us that many points, thenpleting the entire plot would surely be far more profitable.


    Shaking my head, I did my best to take my mind off of those thoughts, and let myself drift off to sleep. When I woke up, I found that I could hear Kaneda speaking softly. Opening my eyes, I saw her and Lyra sitting together. Lyra seemed to be feeling better than she had initially, but the smile on her face was a sad, forced one.


    ¡°We¡¯ll be leaving once Griffith is recovered.¡± Kaneda told her in a gentle tone. ¡°With everything that¡¯s happening¡­ we have to try to help people.¡±


    Lyra gave a small nod, closing her eyes. ¡°I get it¡­ and I want you to. I¡­ I don¡¯t want more people to end up like this¡­ like me. That pain¡­ it¡¯s worse than anything you can imagine. To¡­ to have a part of your soul ripped away and shattered.¡± Her shoulders began to tremble as she tried to describe it, and Kaneda reached over to hold onto her, trying to calm her.


    ¡°I¡¯ll get strong¡­ so take me with you.¡± Lyra whispered. ¡°Let me help¡­ Or at least¡­ let me get back at the ones that took away my Shelly.¡±


    Kaneda had a difficult expression as she heard that, noticing that I was awake. She nodded her her towards Lyra, as if silently asking for my help, and so I sat up. ¡°We weren¡¯t going to leave you behind, Lyra.¡±


    Lyra jerked subtly as she heard my voice, seeming to not have noticed I was awake, before turning to face me. Her eyes were wet, but she quickly wiped them. ¡°Promise?¡±


    ¡°Promise.¡± I nodded with a small smile. After saying that, I turned my attention towards Griffith. My ki had recharged after a good rest, so I once again set myself to healing his injuries. Thankfully, most of the work had already been taken care of, so I was able to finish mending his ribs easily enough.


    As I was working, I could feel Griffith stirring awake, the pain of his bruised bones and sore muscles. While I could mend the fractures, I didn¡¯t have the energy to take away all of those aches and pains. Sorry, but it looks like we¡¯ll be taking it slow today while we walk.


    I couldn¡¯t ask Griffith to carry the three of us in his current condition, and at the same time, Genevieve could only carry one person at a time. This world hadn¡¯t discovered long distance teleportation magic yet, so we would have to walk until Griffith had fully recovered.


    While I was finishing up with his wounds, I felt a small hand ced on my own, and nced back to see Lyra standing there. She looked at me with a torn expression, her eyes shifting between myself and Griffith. ¡°Before we go¡­ I want to do the ritual. I¡¯m no good to you like this.¡±


    Kaneda¡¯s eyes opened wide in shock when she heard that. ¡°But Lyra, you haven¡¯t allowed time for your soul to recover. Performing a summoning in your condition could cripple you.¡±


    Her hand tensed as she heard that, yet she didn¡¯t seem to waver. Seeing that, I searched through Slyris¡¯s memories, looking for an answer. ¡°We can help her.¡± I spoke up after a realization struck me, my eyes ncing to Kaneda.


    ¡°We can perform an assisted summoning.¡± While it was only a theoretical ritual discussed recently among different academies, the logic held up. Multiple individuals could contribute the spiritual energy to perform the summoning ritual, the hypothesized result being a more powerful familiar. However, it would also work toplete the basic ritual for someone like Lyra with a damaged soul.


    Hearing my idea, Kaneda hesitated again, before seeing the pleading look in Lyra¡¯s eyes. Finally, with a sigh, she nodded her head, agreeing. ¡°Okay, but¡­ we¡¯ll do this carefully. Slyris, you¡¯re in charge of the script.¡±


    Hearing that, I sank into thought. Since this was only a theoretical ritual, there wasn¡¯t an epted script published. As such, it was true that I would have to make the preparations for this myself. ¡°Alright¡­ get me a piece of paper and something to write with.¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    The preparations for the ritual took a few hours, during which Kaneda prepared breakfast for everyone. When it was ready, the three of us cleared a wide area in the abandoned streets, closing our minds to the death that surrounded us. This ritual had to take our full attention.


    Once we were ready to begin, Kaneda and I took our positions behind Lyra, each of us cing one hand on her shoulders. Our other hands were ced over our chests. As for Lyra herself, she stood with both hands crossed over her heart.


    The first part of the ritual came from the two of us supporting. We looked to each other and nodded, reciting the script that had been prepared while stirring our spiritual energies. ¡°We freely lend ourselves to this pact, to call forth an ally for she who stands alone. Let our lives be as one, our wills connected.¡±


    Our arms lit up with a blue, ghostly fire that seemed to connect to Lyra¡¯s back. The girl in question let out a gasp as she felt the energy flowing into her, but did her best not to resist it, beginning to read her own verse. ¡°Let what was broken be whole again. I call to the spirit that rests beyond the veil of sorrow.¡±


    A flickering blue light appeared, hovering above the dirt road before us. ¡°I call to my heart, lost to the darkness. Let our wills and our souls take shape as one. Guardian of the oath, keeper of thews of magic,e forth.¡±


    The blue light shed, growing into a circle as tall as a person. I could feel a tug on my spiritual energy and did not hold back as it poured into Lyra. ¡°d in the heavenly armor, empowered by my pact, step forward. Let my light lift you to the highest skies, so that you may carry me with you.¡±


    The circle doubled in size, and we could see a great shadow lurking behind it, shifting within the empty void. When it stepped forward, arge w emerged. Covered in green scales, a powerful leg appeared next. After that was its head, one with a fang-riddled maw and serpentine eyes, and it was staring directly at us.


    With every step, more of the creature was revealed. Its back, covered with thick ridges and decorated by two leathery wings. Its tail, sweeping two meters behind its main body. As Lyra saw the familiar that had been summoned for her, she let out a gasp, covering her mouth before turning to look at us.


    ¡°Did I summon a dragon? Oh my god, I just summoned a dragon! This is so cool!¡± She turned again, lunging towards the green dragon and wrapping her arms around its neck, her body hanging a few feet off the ground. ¡°You¡¯re so cool!¡±


    I could tell that this was likely more or Aurivy slipping through than Lyra, but I couldn¡¯t help the smile that surfaced onto my face. Though, soon the three of us were broken out of our thoughts by Terra¡¯s voice. For performing an assisted summoning, all participants have received three hundred points. For writing a functioning script, yer Dale has received an extra two hundred points.


    So, the system even rewards challenges that we give ourselves to ovee¡­ That¡¯s good to know. Either way, I nced back towards Griffith, who was staring at the dragon. ¡°Looks like you¡¯re not the biggest anymore.¡±


    Hmph. He gave a mental snort, ncing off towards the side. Dragons were renowned as among the most powerful familiars, but were also incredibly rare. Most likely, we only received one this time due to thebined energies of all three of us.


    Still, Lyra seemed happy, finally letting go of her new familiar¡¯s neck. ¡°I¡¯ll call you Grace.¡± She said with a bright smile. ¡°Because you look really graceful.¡± Grace seemed to enjoy that name, her lips curving upwards as her head dipped down in a nod.


    ¡°Can you fly, Grace?¡± Lyra asked. Typically, a flying familiar would be raised from infancy, so by the time they reached this stage of growth, they could do so as a natural. However, Grace had just been ¡®born¡¯. As such¡­ nobody was really surprised when she pped her wings heavily, but didn¡¯t manage to lift more than a couple inches off the ground.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay, we¡¯ll work on it together.¡± Lyra promised, stepping up and cing one hand on Grace¡¯s leg to reassure her. The dragon tilted its head down, rubbing against the side of Lyra¡¯s.


    ¡°Just wait until ites time to feed her.¡± I teased, Kaneda¡¯s face going pale from the thought of how much food a familiar of that size would eat. As our huntress, it was naturally up to her to gather food, a task which just became far more difficult. A part of me wondered if simply feeding Grace would be a challenge that could earn Grace some points along the way.


    ¡°Well, let¡¯s get going.¡± I spoke up to break everyone out of their thoughts. ¡°It¡¯s a long road to the capital.¡±


    Or at least¡­ I was expecting it to be one. Grace¡¯s head suddenly lifted up, as did Griffith¡¯s and Genevieve¡¯s. Noticing that they were reacting to a sound, I turned towards the direction they were looking in. Dust was being kicked up along the road as a group of armored knights rode towards us.


    The crest of the knights was that of an eagle clutching a staff. This was the crest of the Loren royal family that ruled over this region. Given that they were arriving now, and the tired expressions on their faces, they must have been riding ever since news arrived at the capital.


    However, upon seeing the three of us, particrly Grace, the knights turned more vignt. ¡°Halt!¡± The one in front called out, spurring his horse to run onest stretch. He drew his sword, which I could see was etched with some manner of runes.


    When he arrived near us, he dismounted, giving a gentle pat to his horse¡¯s side. Given how he did not have another animal nearby, the horse was likely his familiar. ¡°What happened here?¡± Even though he asked that, his eyes kept darting suspiciously towards Grace.


    Kaneda stepped forward, a hand on her chest as she spoke. ¡°We are from a nearby town. Yesterday, we had been attacked by an amalgam wielding ck mes, looking like it was a form of giant bat. After myself and my husband defeated it, we rushed here, hoping to help. However¡­ the amalgam which struck here appeared to be part elephant. The only survivor we found was this young girl, who had been trapped under the rubble.¡±


    Hearing that, his posture rxed slightly, but it was clear that he was not entirely trusting of the exnation. Which made me sigh, realizing that this was going to be a long day.

 Chapter 403: Echoed Fates

    <h4>Chapter 403: Echoed Fates</h4>


    It did not take long for us to hear what had happened, thanks to the questioning of the knights. Though, they still did not entirely trust Grace, or Lyra once they figured out that she was the one who had bonded with the dragon. Still, some progress was better than no progress.


    As we had guessed, there had been a warning sent to the capital just a couple days ago in the form of a feline amalgam. It carried with it a message that was only obtained at the cost of many innocent lives. The message, naturally, informed the crown that these attacks were going to take ce. It did not say when, only which district would be attacked in this ¡®first wave¡¯.


    The message also identified the perpetrators behind the event, a group calling themselves the Gate of Truth. This was not an organization that existed in my memories, so I could only listen intently to figure out what they wanted. And, as it turned out, they did not want anything good.


    The goal of this mysterious group was nothing short of an apocalypse. They believed that they had found the secret to the ¡®true magic¡¯, and that it involved amalgams. So, they wanted to mass produce amalgams¡­ a thought which sent a chill down my spine.


    Why was Lyra the only person we had found alive in both towns? Why was there not even one other survivor, hiding in the rubble? When we asked Lyra what had happened to her, she said that she had been out with her former familiar ying in the woods when she heard the roar of the amalgam. By the time she got to town, everything was mostly destroyed already.


    Seeing the creature that was causing such destruction, she thought it was best to hide. Unfortunately, the building she chose to hide in copsed, pinning her beneath it and crushing her familiar. She didn¡¯t see anyone else during the entire event.


    Simrly, by the time Kaneda and I arrived at our own town, the area was already burning. The amalgam was attacking, and there was nobody left alive around us. But¡­ we weren¡¯t thatte in getting to the town, after the fire started.


    ¡°It¡¯s highly likely that most of the townsfolk were abducted.¡± The knight spected, finally sheathing his sword after listening to our stories. ¡°Those who resisted, or who the organization did not ¡®want¡¯ were killed to cover their tracks, and make it look like a ughter.¡±


    I gave a small nod, ncing at Kaneda. ¡°The amalgam that we fought here yesterday¡­ it was practically mindless. And the one before that, Griffith said that he was able to smell a curse on it.¡±


    ¡°We found simr evidence with the amalgam that attacked the pce.¡± The knight confirmed with a nod, moving back to signal for the others to let their horses rest. ¡°It was absolutely feral, and our court mages said that it was under multiple powerful curses.¡±


    ¡°In all likelihood, these amalgams are normal civilians that were abducted by this organization, and forced into their frenzied state. Since they were just normal people, possibly even test subjects, the organization didn¡¯t hesitate to send them out as disposable pawns. They were simply fodder to showcase their power, and cover up any tracks that would lead us back to their base.¡±


    ¡°But mister, they chose this area for a reason, right?¡± Lyra looked up at the knight with wide eyes. ¡°A kitty is easy to transport, even a feral one. But the big elephant man I saw¡­¡±


    The knight¡¯s eyes widened as he realized what Lyra was insinuating. ¡°Their base is near this district.¡± It had only been a day since the attack, so we had easily been able to show them the body off the elephant amalgam sitting in the distant streets. Lyra was right, it was far toorge to easily move, especially in its frenzied state. Even moving it under normal conditions would draw considerable attention.


    ¡°We¡¯d like to be of assistance here.¡± I spoke up, knowing that this was thest chance we¡¯d get to put ourselves in the story. If we didn¡¯t join here, we would just be sent somewhere else, away from thebat for our own safety.


    Kaneda quickly nodded her head as well. ¡°We¡¯ve fought their amalgams twice now, and you need all the help you can get before the kidnapped civilians are used for their plot.¡±


    The knight had a ratherplex expression, torn between whether to ept our help or turn us down. However, with another look towards Grace, he gave a long sigh. ¡°Okay, but we do need to hurry. You probably don¡¯t know what happened with the other towns in the area, where you weren¡¯t able to get to in time, do you?¡±


    When the three of us shook our heads, a look of pain shed across his face. ¡°The amalgams were all found dead. Whether anyone stepped in to fight them or not, eventually they just died in the middle of the street.¡±


    Hearing that, rms sounded in my mind, my eyes going wide. They were not just turning people into amalgams. These creations were wed, such that they had a very limited lifespan. Or perhaps one of their curses ensured that they died before they were able to regain their sanity. That way, the information about the organization¡¯s base wouldn¡¯t be leaked to the outside.


    ¡°My name is Hensworth, the captain of the Royal Guard.¡± The knight finally introduced himself, seeing as we were going to be working together.


    I simply gave a nod, turning towards Kaneda and Lyra. ¡°Lyra, do you think you can make a tracking spell?¡± Both Genevieve and Griffith had such spells, but each one covered a different method. With the abilities of a dragon at her disposal, Lyra should be able to make something useful as well.


    The small girl gave it a moment of thought, before nodding her head. ¡°Sure! I can do that!¡± After saying that, she turned to run over to Grace, who crouched down to let her climb up onto the dragon¡¯s back.


    I looked at Kaneda, who seemed to understand my intentions. With a shrill cry, Genevieve flew into the sky, while Kaneda closed one of her eyes.


    For a moment, I considered sending Griffith out as well. However, given his condition, he wouldn¡¯t be able to get away in time if he encountered an enemy while alone in the wild. ¡°Sir Hensworth, you should take a moment for your men to rest their mounts. We¡¯re going to try to find some clues in the surroundings.¡±


    He thought about that briefly, before agreeing. They had made a hard run this far, and had only just managed to get through a few of the cities when they encountered us. It was possible that there were other survivors in other cities that had managed to resist the amalgams like we had.


    ¡°Okay¡­ I think that should do it.¡± Lyra spoke up after nearly a half hour of concentrating with Grace, while the knights were resting against a building and Genevieve was still out scouting the area.


    I gave a thankful smile towards Lyra, who quickly jumped off of Grace¡¯s back. ¡°Ready to show off, Grace?¡± She asked with a wide grin, to which the dragon nodded approvingly.


    Lyra¡¯s voice turned soft as she brought her hands to her chest, her eyes closing. Grace¡¯s wings extended to their full length, rising slightly over her body. As Lyra spoke, a silver glow began to wrap around both her and the dragon.


    ¡°Eyes which gaze through the veil of time, observing the present and seeking a better future¡­ turn to the past, and review the lessons of history. Oh spirits of the world, you who watch over us, guide us in this moment as we receive the echo of fate.¡±


    The glow on Grace¡¯s body condensed just beneath her wings. As she gave a gentle p, light spread out around us in a fog, clinging to our bodies and the debris around us. Once it had settled, Lyra¡¯s eyes opened, and the light seemed to move.


    As if time was rewinding itself, we could see Hensworth standing up, walking backwards towards his horse, the rest of his men joining him. He spoke briefly with them, before walking backwards towards us. Our previous conversation yed in reverse, before we saw them ¡®un-arriving¡¯ at the town where we were staying.


    For the next few moments, things sped up. The long night that had passed with us staying beneath a nearby building, the fight with the elephant amalgam, the scene of Lyra¡¯s former familiar being crushed beneath a building¡­


    Finally, new lights began to appear. Their forms were more vague than the distinct appearances of those who were currently in the area. Even the dead bodies that had now stood up, standing in a daze were more lifelike.


    Only when that scene had ended did Lyra stop turning back the clock, allowing it to y out for us once more. Whether it was Kaneda or myself, or Hensworth and his men, we all watched with rapt attention.


    Six blurred figures walked into the city wearing heavy robes, ncing around before nodding. The one in the lead spoke, his voice distorted. ¡°Yes, they will do.¡± After he spoke, he extended one hand from beneath his robe. Even through the distortions of the spell, the hand looked¡­ scaled, with ws at the tips of each finger.


    A visible pulse swept out from his bodies, the activity of the city simply stopping. All of the residents turned towards him as one, walking closer and standing in arge group. The six figures began to look through the group, picking out people here and there seemingly at random and having them stand at the side. We soon began to notice that the ¡®dead¡¯, the civilians with distinct appearances, were those standing in the second group.


    Once he was satisfied, the man nodded his head. ¡°Send these back, and bring in the brute.¡± The other five gave a short bow, and led therger of the two groups away. Once they were gone, only the leader was left with his unfortunate victims. Victims which soon began walking lifelessly to where they had been found, simply standing there and waiting.


    The man walked to the first victim, and retrieved a dagger from his robe, stabbing it into the man¡¯s heart. The victim coughed up blood, but then he immediately copsed as the man moved on to the next target. Some, he slew with his dagger, others he used his ws, and some he killed with fire. All arranged in a pattern to make the scene look chaotic.


    After he had finished, and looked around to make sure that there were none left alive in the town, he turned and walked away. A few momentster, another of the robed figures returned with the elephant amalgam.


    This figure waved a hand towards the elephant before simrly walking away. Just as he was exiting the scene, a light flickered in the elephant amalgam¡¯s eyes, before he let out a furious roar. His rampage was beginning, and he smashed against any building that stood in his way.


    Lyra let out a gasp, falling to her knees as the spell ended. Her face was pale, and Grace looked down at her with worry. I rushed over, kneeling beside her and checking her condition. ¡°Are you alright?¡± I asked in a soft voice.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine¡­¡± Lyra whispered, though I could tell it was a lie. Slyris might not have been able to identify what Lyra just did, but I knew. Deep down, I knew that Lyra had used a piece of her own spirit to cast this spell, and was now suffering the consequences of that decision. Her spirit had been wounded twice now, in as many days, and who knew how long it would take for her to fully recover.

 Chapter 404: Chapter Not Found

    <h4>Chapter 404: Chapter Not Found</h4>


    Even the knights, who were unfamiliar with the method of boosting mystical powers by consuming spiritual energy, could see the heavy drain that the spell had taken on Lyra. However, there was no doubting that it was effective. The fact that we had been able to see which direction the enemies entered the town from was enough to narrow down the search considerably.


    There was a reason why Aurivy had chosen to make Lyra¡¯s spell like that, after all. Spells capable of directly looking through time like that simply¡­ didn¡¯t exist. There was no magic capable of directly interfacing with natural energy in this world, so that method was simrly impossible. As such, people simply don¡¯t n around possibilities like that. Why n around something that, as far as you know, can¡¯t ever happen?


    Once the vision had ended, Kaneda sent Genevie to investigate the direction where they hade from, searching for any tracks or hidden clues. Meanwhile, Hensworth came over, his eyes filled with concern as he looked at Lyra. ¡°Is she going to be okay?¡±


    I gave a faint nod, my thumb caressing Lyra¡¯s cheek as I smiled and tried tofort her. ¡°She¡¯ll be great. That spell just takes a lot out of her, it seems.¡±


    Hensworth nodded his understanding, turning to rejoin his men. Although we had a direction to go off of now, the fact that they were exhausted from their trip hadn¡¯t changed. The knights would still need time to rest before they were ready to leave for the fight.


    ¡°Any luck?¡± I nced towards Kaneda, who was looking towards us with concern in her one free eye.


    She hesitated, but nodded her head, keeping her voice low. ¡°Tracks, a lot of them. Clustered together in arge group, with both human and familiar mixed in.¡±


    Looking back towards the resting night, I couldn¡¯t help but sigh. I reached down, lightly flicking Lyra on the forehead. ¡°No more deliberately getting yourself hurt like that.¡±


    Lyra¡¯s eyes went wide, her handsing up to cover her forehead. Still, she agreed after a brief moment. ¡°O-okay.¡±


    Even if this was only a simtion, it didn¡¯t feel good to see the people I cared about hurting themselves like that. As I thought about that, I stood up, ncing at Griffith with Lyra still in my arms. Do you think you can run?


    Not for very far, why? He looked to me curiously, clearly not sure what I had in mind, before giving a slow blink. You aren¡¯t thinking of leaving behind the knights, are you?


    It¡¯d be nice if we didn¡¯t have to. But they aren¡¯t fit for battle right now. They ran for too long without rest to get here.


    Griffith tilted his head, seeming to think about it for a moment, before nodding. I¡¯m not sure any of us are better off than that, besides Kaneda. And she¡¯s starting to run low on mana.


    I¡¯ve got an idea for that. I gave a small smile, before looking at Lyra. ¡°Think you can y the role of priest from now on?¡±


    Lyra nodded her head quietly as I carried her over towards Gracy, putting her next to the dragon¡¯srge w so that she could lean against it. Afterwards, I moved back to Griffith, sitting against him and closing my eyes in focus. For the uing battle, I had to remove some of my existing spells from him, and then create new ones.


    I had an idea for how we could do this, but we had to n it carefully. Currently, the biggest issue was Lyra, who wasn¡¯t able to act easily on her own after having weakened herself as she did. Thankfully, Grace was the best ¡®tank¡¯ for her, so it should be able to work itself out as long as she created the proper spells to support a fight from the rear.


    Kaneda seemed to understand what I had in mind, calling Genevieve back and focusing with her to both recover mana and likely swap out some of her own spells. Even as an archer, she was without a doubt our best fighter, ying the agile rogue.


    Which left me as the typical mage. With that in mind, I had to redesign Griffith¡¯s spells to focus less around enhancing his fighting abilities, and more about bing a ranged caster. It was an¡­ odd dynamic for a lion, but it¡¯s what needed to be done in this situation.


    As I focused on changing the spells, I also did my best to recover what ki I could from when I had healed Griffith. While I wasn¡¯t a fighter by any definition as Slyris, it was still nice to have ki for an emergency.


    Roughly an hourter, I saw Lyra giving me a subtle nod, moving to climb up onto Grace¡¯s back. She leaned forward, hugging the dragon¡¯s neck for support. Simrly, Kaneda¡¯s face looked more rxed as well.


    It was impossible to verballymunicate our n, given that the familiars of the knights would likely have good enough hearing that anything we said would be exposed. Instead, we had to rely on our experiences with each other so far to understand what we had to do.


    I slowly stood up, moving with Griffith to approach the knights, waving amiably. ¡°How long until your mounts are ready to ride?¡±


    Hensworth shook his head with a difficult expression. ¡°If we pushed them, we could set off now. But if we did that, those of us using our familiars as mounts wouldn¡¯t be able to participate in the battle. If we¡¯re ying it safe¡­ another two hours, at least.¡±


    I gave a small nod at that, before my robe was suddenly blown forward, causing me to stumble. Hensworth called out in shock, and I turned around as if in surprise. Grace was ¡®flying¡¯ up into the air with Lyra on her back, gusts of wind beneath her wings to carry the inexperienced flyer.


    Next to her was Genevieve in her giant form, with Kaneda riding on her back. Hensworth rushed past me to call out to them, his other knights jumping to their feet in surprise. Meanwhile, I ced a hand on Griffith¡¯s head and focused. Griffith¡¯s body began glowing, turning into a burst of me that surrounded my body.


    When the me faded, I was wearing a pair of golden fur boots, thick manes lining the top of them. ¡°I¡¯ll bring them back!¡± I shouted, me kicking up around my feet as I gave chase, my speed far greater than what it would normally be.


    Naturally, I wasn¡¯t really going to try to convince them toe back. But, I had to at least make the knights feel like I was. Or at the very least, hesitate to immediately give chase.


    The three of us rushed in the direction where Kaneda¡¯s scouting had found tracks, allowing her to lead the way. Given our formation, we were not even nearly close enough to be able tomunicate with one another, with the two of them flying above and me running below.


    It didn¡¯t take long before I was able to catch the traces of the tracks that Kaneda had spotted. Perhaps they were confident that the knights wouldn¡¯t be able to think to look out this area, or they just didn¡¯t have anyone capable of covering up the tracks of so many people. Either way, I was able to see the footprints clustered together, the branches broken and bushes pushed aside in a path ahead.


    Given that I couldn¡¯t hear the knights behind me, I had to assume that the n worked, and that they would not be immediately following. As we kept moving, I saw more paths beginning to branch into the one we were walking on, evidently the rest of the viges from this direction.


    Up ahead, Genevieve gave a loud caw, swooping down to dive beneath the treeline. Simrly, Lyra had Grace glide down for a rather roughnding of her own. At that point, it only took me a few seconds to reach where they hadnded, arge clearing where multiple paths seemed to converge.


    My boots shed, fire wrapping around my hands as I transferred Griffith to his other new form, a long golden staff. At the head of the staff was a lion¡¯s face, while a slender tail wrapped around the upper portion. Up ahead, I could see both Lyra and Kaneda prepared for battle.


    Kaneda had already changed Genevieve into her bow form, while Lyra had simrly changed Grace into a full suit of green scaled armor. There was hardly any exposed skin along her body, with thick leathery wings stretching behind her. On her forehead, chest, and the back of each palm were small, blue orbs of crystal.


    She did not give off the image of a priest in any way, shape, or form. And when she saw my questioning gaze, she simply smiled. ¡°Easier to have Grace walk for me, and she won¡¯t fit inside of most structures.¡±


    I had to give a small nod in agreement. Even for a familiar that had only just recently been summoned, Grace was quiterge. That was one of the downsides of dragons. This form would also give her the ability to generate spells more easily while we¡¯re on the move.


    As I began looking around for where we could go from here, I felt a warm energy from Lyra wrapping around myself, and could see a pale blue glow surrounding all three of us. ¡°Defense against mind-altering spells.¡± Lyra spoke out. ¡°We don¡¯t want to get hit by whatever hypnotized the vigers.¡±


    ¡°Well, well. That¡¯s quite the annoying spell.¡± A voice spoke up, causing our eyes to dart off towards one side of the clearing, where a robed figure had suddenly appeared. ¡°An eagle, a lion, and if I am not mistaken, a dragon. You would have been such great additions to our forces.¡±


    He stretched one hand out, and I could see the red scales along his wed hand. If he had wings, I might have worried that he was a dragon amalgam. Now that would have been a dangerous fight. ¡°Let¡¯s check how well your preparations are, little one.¡±


    A dark pulse of energy swept out from his w, crashing against the protective fields that Lyra had just finished establishing. I could feel the two energies shing around my body, and knew that the other two would be doing the same. In the back of my mind, I could hear a faint whisper, but nothing discernible.


    Naturally, none of us were going to simply stand by and let him try to mesmerize us. Kaneda lifted her bow, rapidly loosing multiple arrows towards the robed figure while I lifted my staff. Thin fireballs began appearing around my body, beforeunching forward.


    The arrows were the first to arrive, which the man growled, swatting his hand three times to smack them out of the air. As the fireballs neared him, he ducked his body down and moved to the side with surprising agility. However, the fireballs I created were homing, following him as he moved.


    He still managed to dodge, kicking up dirt and rocks to impact the fireballs, but not before one of them clipped his robe. As it did, I poured more mana into that fireball, causing it to burst and spread over the man¡¯s body.


    With a hiss of pain, he tore the robe off of his body, revealing his slender, serpentine form. His eyes focused on me. ¡°You¡­ I don¡¯t like y-¡± His words were cut off with a screech, Kaneda having released another arrow while he was distracted, directly into his arm. ¡°Can you not interrupt me while I¡¯m talking!?¡±


    ¡°Sorry, I don¡¯t like those kinds of cliches.¡± Kaneda said rather bluntly.

 Chapter 405: Stare Into the Abyss

    <h4>Chapter 405: Stare Into the Abyss</h4>


    With a pained hiss, the amalgam pulled the arrow out of his arm, ring fiercely towards Kaneda. And then, taking a step back, as if a runner preparing to sprint forward he¡­ vanished. I blinked, staring at the ce he had been previously staying. There was no shimmer of light that would indicate a teleport, no sh of magic at all. It was just as if he stepped behind a wall¡­


    ¡°So that¡¯s how it is.¡± Lyra said in an almost yful tone, holding out her right hand. A glittering cloud sprayed forth from her palm, clinging to anything that it passed. As it reached the area where the amalgam had been standing, it began to rise up in a solid line, as if clinging to a wall.


    However, the structure appeared to not be veryrge, just over two meters tall in every direction. Certainly not enough for an entire base, unless it was hidden underground¡­ Though really, given the amalgam¡¯s love of cliches, the odds of an underground base were almost a hundred percent. That or an imposing castle.


    Given that the building itself was invisible, and that we did not know whether the door was opened, closed, or if he was just waiting inside to strike, I readied my staff. cing the base of it on the ground, the mouth aimed at the glittering wall, I focused.


    In front of myself, I created a spike of stone thatunched forward, towards the invisible wall. We could see the spike passing through, disappearing before our eyes. Then, a half secondter, there was the sound of a loud crash. Clearly, the door had been left open.


    With the building damaged, the enchantment covering it faded away. What was left standing before us looked to be a small, brick shed with a wide gate at the front. From where I was standing, I could see the hole that my spell had put in the other side, one of its walls copsed.


    Along the floor of the structure was a staircase, which simply extended down into the darkness. The three of us nced to each other, before we moved to enter. As we walked, Kaneda and I moved to the front, cing Lyra in a position to support us from the rear.


    Once we entered the staircase, we could see that there were torches ced along the wall starting from about fifty feet in. Just long enough that the light wouldn¡¯t shine out too conspicuously through the entrance above. Otherwise, the interior was made of worked stone, the hallways fifteen feet across and tall.


    At our feet, we could see the asional droplets of blood guiding us, no doubt left by the amalgam when he came through. Still, we didn¡¯t let our guard down, keeping an eye out for any potential traps or ambushes.


    After a couple of minutes, it became quite apparent that this structure wasrger than we first anticipated, making seemingly no progress despite walking for so long. Not that we were in some kind of magical loop or anything like that. We had walked far enough that I could no longer see the entrance behind us, and the rooms branching off from the hall had not been in such a perfect pattern that could cause one to feel like they are repeating the same area over and over.


    No, this ce was simply big. Awork of tunnels that may just stretch beneath the entire region. Evidence that this group has been hiding in the shadows to prepare for quite a long time.


    Soon enough, the blood seemed to stop, indicating that the amalgam we were chasing had finally managed to treat his wound. This left us deep within the tunnels without any way to guide ourselves.


    Immediately, the guard of our group was raised even higher than before. Slowly, we crept forward, peeking our heads into the different rooms that we passed along the way. Most of them were quite simr¡­ long rows of prison cells, iron bars on their doors. Inside each one was a human and a familiar, standing or sitting on the floor like soulless statues.


    These must be the people that were abducted. I thought to myself, steeling my resolve. There would be time to free these peopleter, once the danger had passed. Doing so now would simply consume our mana that we would need for the battle ahead.


    It took us¡­ I¡¯d say another half hour before we actually found our target. Or rather, targets. Standing roughly fifty feet ahead of us in a row were five robed figures, with the lizard amalgam standing at the front of them. After tending his wound, it looked like he had gone to gather reinforcements¡­


    Even though he was no longer wearing his robe, he still did his best to look dignified. He was even managing to mask the asional pained twitches of his eyes, for the most part. ¡°Apologies, warriors, but I¡¯m afraid that this is as far as you will be going.¡±


    ¡°If you are nning to give a grand speech, would you mind warning us first?¡± Kaneda asked, nocking another arrow on her bow. ¡°It will give me plenty of time to recite an incantation while I wait.¡±


    The amalgam¡¯s brow furrowed in frustration. ¡°Well, you just like to take the fun out of everything, don¡¯t you?¡± As he said that, he lifted one hand, flicking his wrist forward to signal the others behind him. There bodies moved like ethereal shapes, flying through the air as they swerved around them.


    Given the fact that their robes were still on, and pulled heavily over their faces, it was impossible to determine just what kind of amalgams these were. But that didn¡¯t matter for this fight.


    ¡°Wall of stone.¡± I spoke, tapping the ground. Immediately, a stone wall rose, sealing off one end of the hall. Though, what seemed to surprise the lizard amalgam was that the wall was behind him, instead of blocking the advance of the other amalgams.


    Kaneda closed her eyes for a brief moment. When she opened them again, they had turned pitch ck, as if staring into an abyss. The torches in the hall behind us seemed to flicker out one by one, consuming the hall in total darkness.


    Before thest of the lights went out, I even saw a few of the flying figures pause in hesitation, before I lost sight of them. Now, the only sources of light that could be seen were the spheres of crystallized mana attached to Lyra¡¯s draconic armor, and even that seemed to be more dim than usual.


    ¡°All is darkness.¡± Kaneda¡¯s voice echoed from within the hall, her location suddenly impossible to determine. However, what was clear was the scream that followed, a pained cry and the sound of something sshing.


    I felt the strange sensation that I had been moved, and yet my position in rtion to Lyra was unchanged. ¡°Lyra, do you have anything that¡­¡±


    ¡°Nope.¡± She spoke in a surprisingly t voice. ¡°Big sis seems mad¡­ so let¡¯s just let her have this one, okay?¡±


    ¡°Agreed.¡± I nodded my head. Under these circumstances, it would be incredibly reckless for me to fire off spells when I can¡¯t even determine the position of either Kaneda or any of the targets.


    As Lyra and I were speaking, I could hear metal shing against metal, and see a few sparks fly from a brief sh up¡­ much farther ahead than I believed that it should have been. From that sh, I was able to see a robed figure wielding what seemed to be a scimitar, and a ck¡­ something. The image faded too quickly for me to get a proper look, but it definitely did not look like Kaneda.


    Soon, another scream echoed thunderously in the halls, this one like the shout of a mighty beast. ¡°You fools, ignore her! Get the other two!¡± The lizard amalgam¡¯s voice called out, and I felt the sensation of being moved again. This time, there was a distinct difference in the direction that the sounds of conflict came from. Specifically, it now sounded like it wasing from behind me, though somehow muffled.


    ¡°We¡¯re on the other side of the wall now, aren¡¯t we?¡± I muttered quietly.


    ¡°Yup.¡± Lyra confirmed, and I could see the lights of her mana spheres shifting as she turned around. ¡°She¡¯s really mad.¡±


    Maybe we should stop after this encounter¡­ I thought to myself. Originally, this had been nned to be a rxing adventure with myself and Kane--no, with Irena. But, it seemed as though something within the scenario had set her off.


    ¡°Oh lord of the infinite abyss.¡± Kaneda¡¯s voice echoed darkly in the shadows. ¡°Spirits of fear and death, feast upon this offering. Drag these souls to the depths, and consume them.¡±


    After Kaneda¡¯s chant, there was the rapid sound of metal clinking together. Not des shing as they had before, but more like¡­ chains? Following that, a startled gasp, and a series of horrified cries came from the other side of the wall.


    Finally, after thest of the screams died down, light returned to the hall. The orbs on Lyra¡¯s armor once more gained their full glow, and the torches lit up as if they had never been extinguished.


    With a deep breath, I looked at the wall of stone standing in front of us. ¡°Well¡­ let¡¯s go greet her, shall we?¡± I asked, taking a step forward and tapping my staff against the ground. Just as quickly as the wall had appeared, it vanished, leaving naught but a few cracked stones along the floor.


    What awaited us on the other side was a surprisingly gruesome sight. Two of the enemies had clearly been killed by des, their bodies cleaved in two. One had blue feathers along the exposed skin of his arms, while the other had short, brown fur.


    However, it was the other four figures that were startling. On either side of Kaneda, two figures had been chained to each wall, thick hooks digging into their arms and legs to support them there. Their mouths and eyes were open in a silent scream, but it was clear that they had no life left to them.


    ¡°Terra, I think that¡¯s enough for now.¡± I spoke up, moving over to stand next to¡­ Irena. The image of Kaneda, the bow in her hands, melted away like water as Irena returned to her normal appearance, as did myself and Aurivy.


    I could tell from Irena¡¯s twitching wings, and her furrowed brow that she was troubled. However, there was someone else that managed to speak up before me. ¡°Are you alright, Irena?¡± Terra¡¯s voice asked softly from the side, the red-haired catgirl appearing and looking towards Irena with a concerned expression.


    Irena took a deep breath, pulling her wings in and nodding her head. ¡°I am¡­ no, I cannot say that I am. I apologize, to all of you.¡± She gave a brief bow after saying that.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± I spoke up, cing a hand gently on her arm tofort her. An action that earned a small, appreciative smile.


    ¡°It was¡­ a number of things. The damaging of Lyra¡¯s soul, the kidnappings, and the forced transformations¡­ they brought up some rather unpleasant memories from some of my previous incarnations. I suppose I allowed those emotions to get to my head a bit.¡±


    ¡°Oh, no, it¡¯s fine.¡± Terra shook her head hastily, trying her best to reassure Irena. ¡°The scenario was generated by the system, so I couldn¡¯t modify things outside of what had been set. I really didn¡¯t mean to trouble you like that.¡±


    Irena, however, just let out a hollow chuckle. ¡°I suppose this means that the date is over?¡± She asked, looking towards me.


    Yet, I shook my head, reaching down to grab her hand. ¡°It doesn¡¯t have to be, right?¡±

 Chapter 406: The Fox and the Hare

    <h4>Chapter 406: The Fox and the Hare</h4>


    The rest of the meeting passed rather uneventfully. I spent a couple of days with Irena, simply wandering around and ying different games, or enjoying different performances. When that was done, I decided to take Ryone for a date of her own, since we had not really done anything together in a while.


    After Ryone, naturally, came Terra. Though, the two of us mostly just moved between the restaurant and performance areas. Given that Terra was a System Companion, it seemed that she was not allowed to directly y any games that gave points as a reward.


    Finally, after I had spent a considerable amount of time with all three of them, the meeting came to an end. Oddly, I didn¡¯t see Sarah around during the meeting, but it was possible that we simply didn¡¯t run into each other. As we were sent back, I became aware of how many points everyone had earned.


    The one with the greatest earnings this time was, surprisingly Irena. She had earned a total of over six thousand points, with Aurivy being a close runner up at five thousand. Even Tryval had earned enough to fund his own world, though he hade inst. Aside from Terra, at least.


    And, with the meeting over, it was time for Balu¡¯s invasion trade to begin¡­


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Ah, here we are¡­¡± A young man with white fur spoke up as he stepped out of a shimmering blue portal,nding in a grassy field. His eyes wererge and ck, his ears standing straight and tall from his head. Over his chest he wore a ck, button-up shirt with a red vest.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­¡± Reaching into the pocket of his vest, he pulled out a goldenpass, holding it in hisrge paw. ¡°The nearest town¡­ oh dear, it looks like there are ki signatures from all over the ce. I hope I didn¡¯t get sent too far away. It would be quite troubling if I couldn¡¯t make my delivery in time.¡±


    After saying that, a silver aura red to life around the rabbit man, and he shot into the air like a bullet. As he soared higher and higher, his eyes scanned the horizon. ¡°Hmm, this world is about as same as what I¡¯m used to¡­ Well, no matter. I suppose I can just use that.¡±


    He pocketed his goldenpass again, bringing his two front paws out in front of himself. A golden, swirling light shined between his paws, before he pped them together. As he did, a ripple of energy spread out from his body, and he closed his eyes in focus.


    To put it simply, he was using a wide-range scanning ability to locate the greatest source of ki in the area. From his knowledge, that should be the Keeper, so long as the Keeper was truly on this world. However, it appeared that luck was not quite on his side, as he only felt rather normal levels of energy.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have any intention to fight, and would happily remain within this world until my end hase.¡± He spoke, both to himself and as if he were speaking to the world itself. He had been told by his own Keeper that any thoughts of hostility would cause the Keeper to enter a war-like mode, while fully embracing the world would enable him to be found quite quickly.


    In truth, he had never felt any hostility towards this world at all, so his words were unnecessary. However, shortly after he said it, a golden cloud sprang into existence in front of him. Shocked, the rabbit jumped back in the air several meters, watching the cloud condense with wide eyes.


    And then, just as quickly, it dispersed. In its ce, though, it left a grand pce flying atop a floating ind. ¡°Aha!¡± The man spoke up in delight, now able to sense a more powerful ki from within this pce. As he flew forward, he saw a woman with no fur and hair like gold stepping out of the door to greet him. Behind her was a long, bushy tail, while atop her head were two tall ears, like a fox. She wore an odd, ck and white dress that seemed to cover the majority of her body, while leaving a significant portion of her chest and arms exposed.


    The man gave a small shiver at the image of a fox in humanoid skin, but still flew over to meet her. Thankfully, the shields around the pce parted to allow him passage, and he soonnded on the stone path leading to the pce¡¯s gate.


    The woman who came to greet him, held her hand forward, a sliver of silver mist extending towards him. Recognizing this as spiritual energy, the man nodded with a wide smile, meeting it with some of his own.


    Apologies, my dear. As you have guessed, I do not know thenguage of thisnd. Hemunicated his thoughts through their connected spirits, causing the mysterious woman to nod.


    That is to be expected. I was informed that youe bearing gifts for my Keeper?


    Hearing her response, he nodded his head quickly, his ears flopping back and forth. That is correct! If you serve him, would you mind making the delivery on my behalf? I have been told that Keepers are often unwilling to receive deliveries in person.


    This was because it was entirely possible for there to be hidden tricks like explosives within the deliveries. Even if the deliveryman himself held no hostility to the world, it was possible for such things to be slipped in without their notice.


    That would be appreciated. Tsubaki nodded, moving to the side of the path, a more open and grassy area.


    ¡°And with this, my job has beenpleted.¡± The man spoke aloud, retrieving a ck, spherical stone from his pocket. Pushing his ki into it, he aimed it forward.


    Earthen, yellow lights began flying out from the stone, wrapping around a wide patch ofnd a dozen meters squared. As the lights rose higher and higher, shapes could be seen within, red and golden carpets stack atop each other several meters high. Each one seemed to contain a small pulse of ki, causing the man to nod.


    However, he was not done yet. Moving further off to the side, he retrieved another stone of simr shape, the first having crumbled to dust after use. This time, the objects that appeared were rows upon rows of tall bookshelves, withpletely identical books. Every tome had a dark purple cover and a silver lock binding them shut.


    Now, if you don¡¯t mind. The man began, once more turning to face the golden-haired woman. My mission has beenpleted, and my time is running out. Could I trouble you to send me somewhere with a decent view?


    The woman¡¯s eye gave a small twitch as she heard that request, before nodding politely. Very well, honorable rabbit. I thank you for your service. With a wave of her hand, she opened a green and ck swirling void next to her, which the man did not even hesitate before walking through.


    The area that he arrived in was the bank of a river, surrounded by a vast, lush forest. He could hear the sound of crashing water off to his right, and turning his head allowed him to see a majestic waterfall. At the base of the waterfall was a rainbow which captivated the eyes, and all around his feet were brilliantly colored flowers.


    Ah, this is splendid. He nodded to himself, sitting down and letting his legs sy out. He took a long breath, his eyes closing. With every moment, he could feel his heart beating more slowly, his mind growing weary. His very soul itself was deteriorating, scattering into nothing and leaving him as an empty husk.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°My Keeper, the young lord has left.¡± Tsubaki spoke as she entered the throne room, her words catching me by surprise.


    ¡°The young lord?¡± I think that this was the first time that she had ever referred to someone other than myself or one of the gods in such a way.


    ¡°Yes, my Keeper.¡± She nodded respectfully. ¡°I cannot show dishonor to one who would carry out such a task for their lord, knowing that both sess and failure will mean a certain death. As he bore no ill will to you or your people, and endured the pain of a broken soul toplete his mission, I truly believe that he is an individual worthy of being called a young lord.¡±


    I gave a small nod at her appraisal of his character. It was likely that Balu personally broke his soul before sending him, or that they possessed a technique to do so. Even in death, it was possible to interrogate an individual for information about their home world, so such measures would be necessary to stop that spread.


    Honestly, I had expected that she would just send a single dying animal with the various books and cultivation mats. But perhaps that was a mistake, given that it was possible for such things to be damaged before they were properly delivered. If that was the case, then it made sense to use a living middle-man.


    ¡°Have you retrieved the items outside?¡± I asked, leaning forward in my throne.


    ¡°I have, my Keeper. As instructed, I have divided them into two groups. Two of each item will be kept here, while the rest will be distributed among the various national research institutions of your worlds.¡±


    I had asked her to keep one of each for my own personal use, and at the same time one to send back to Ryone and Tubrock for them to study. The recursive properties of the tome in particr were worthy of considerable attention. ¡°Thank you, Tsubaki. Once you have finished, you can go back to your game.¡±


    Tsubaki cleared her throat, ncing awkwardly to the side when I said that. Even though she did enjoy ying Vision Expanse, in her heart she was still a Servant first. Being called out of the game to perform her duties must have been quite embarrassing for her. ¡°Very well, I shall begin at once.¡±


    As she said that, she produced one cloth bag from her¡­hand? It looked like it just came from her hand, and she gently tossed it towards me. This was no doubt the one containing the objects for myself and the gods. Afterwards, she offered a polite bow, turning and walking out of the room once again.


    Seeing her leave like that, I let out a small chuckle, leaning back in my throne. You already took one of each from this bag, didn¡¯t you? I whispered mentally towards Ryone.


    Dale, I took them before she even passed you the bag~. She responded in a yful tone. Really, this book is something else. It¡¯s quite simple, but at the same time beautifully crafted. This should keep me busy with my research for quite a while.


    I¡¯m d to hear that. Just make sure that you send off the mat to Tubrock. Something like that will be especially useful for him to study.


    There was a brief pause after I told her that, before she responded that she had done so. Hearing that, I nodded, once more leaning back in my seat. Thinking back, it should be about time for the second world of Vision Expanse to appear. Once that happened, I nned to celebrate by introducing another world to my main group of worlds.


    Still, whether it was Spica or Kione that I brought in was still a matter of internal debate. Spica was, honestly, more thematically appropriate. However, their magic system would likely cause chaos in the other worlds if I performed aw merge. Kione, on the other hand, was safer but less appropriate for the asion.


    I suppose it will be time to find out what happens when I do not perform such a merge¡­ I thought inwardly, shaking my head. Not performing a merger meant that my power would be on a different level between each world. Though, from what I knew, I should still maintain my divinity in both, so it was not too difficult to adjust.

 Chapter 407: A Whole New World

    <h4>Chapter 407: A Whole New World</h4>


    ¡°Beginning reverse thrust.¡± A voice spoke up within the throne room of the Sky Citadel, Logain staring at the disy screen nervously. His hands gripped the arms of the throne, doing his best not to panic as he heard the automated voice. ¡°Deploying heat shields. For the safety of all passengers, it is advised to remain indoors during reentry.¡±


    For the first time in over a week, all members of the expedition were online. Whether they were the researchers, the rich show-offs, or the members of Legion themselves, nobody wanted to miss this event. As such, Legion called out to the systems of the ship. ¡°Disy exterior view.¡±


    However, the view that awaited them caused the hearts of all within the room to fall into despair. The world that they saw, the world that looked lush with life on their approach¡­ Now it looked as if it were on fire. mes rising as high as the sky, seeming to wrap around--oh¡­


    It took a few moments for those present to realize that it was not the world that was burning, but the outer shields of the citadel itself. This was the first time that anyone here had experienced something like this, so it hade as an initial shock. Especially so for Logain, who was watching the mana sharply falling from the structure¡¯s storage.


    His nerves only became worse and worse as the mana continued to drain, until it was down to less than ten percent. Then, finally, the mes around the citadel vanished. ¡°Reentryplete. Removing heat shields. Activating atmospheric scans.¡±


    Logain let out a long breath in relief when he heard that, and saw the mana beginning to stabilize. Just as he was about to speak up, the automated voice spoke again. ¡°Atmosphere within eptable standards, lowering atmospheric shields. It is now safe to exit the building.¡±


    As if on cue, all of the guests began rushing towards the door at once. The researchers wanted to collect their precious data, while others simply wanted the bragging rights of being the first to set eyes on a new world directly. There was always the possibility that such a thing woulde with a special achievement, after all.


    However, while they were all rushing out, the members of Legion were looking in surprise at a window that had appeared before them. Even before the others had set foot beyond the outer doors, Legion had been the first to receive the achievement. Of course, only for those members present. Those left on the homeworld would naturally not receive anything.


    Congrattions! You have earned an achievement!


    For actively participating in the first inteary expedition, you have earned the Astral Pioneer achievement. +10% Experience gain in outer space.


    You have unlocked the Astral Navigation skill!


    Of the members of Legion, there was one in particr that was eager to test out this new skill. Crystal closed her eyes in focus, calling out the name of the skill in her mind. As she did, she saw a map of the sr system being disyed for her. With a thought, she selected Vespa, the world that they hade from.


    Crystal didn¡¯t know whether the skill would teleport one between worlds or not, but given the hints that Aurivy had been dropping for her, she knew that it would be a valuable skill. And although she did not disappear from her position to reappear in a familiar area, she saw a progress bar appearing over the world she selected.


    Once that bar had finished, she saw numerous curved lines shing into being within the map of the sr system. Each one showed a possible path between her current position and Vespa, though none of them actually seemed to lead to Vespa itself. Instead, selecting any path would show how thes moved such that Vespa would intersect their course.


    Perhaps raising the skill level will help to show the most efficient paths? Crystal muttered to herself, guessing the usefulness of the skill. At the same time, however, she was somewhat disappointed in it. While it was true that the skill would be useful to those who made their career exploring the stars, it was not quite on the level that Aurivy had assured her.


    That was when she heard a gasp from nearby, her eyes opening quickly. She saw the other members of Legion looking in front of themselves in surprise, and noticed that another set of windows had appeared.


    For participating in the first inteary expedition, you have earned two tickets for the Astral Lottery.


    Quest has beenpleted! Total number of yers: 49!


    Quest Reward: Five levels, and three Astral Lottery tickets.


    Now that got Crystal¡¯s attention. Lottery tickets were just that, a lottery. It was impossible to tell whether it would be something good or bad immediately, and it depended on the type of lottery. For instance, the Hardcore lottery was one that was known to offer excellent gear, but had rather strict requirements in order to receive tickets for it.


    On the other hand, there were lotteries for each crafting profession that typically didn¡¯t give much in the way of a valuable reward unless you hit the jackpot. These lotteries were easy to enter, though, so nobody thought of it as a waste.


    This Astral Lottery should definitely be one of the harder ones to enter at this stage of the game. While the prizes might not be immensely valuable in the future, they were sure to be incredible for current yers. But now, each member of Legion present had received five tickets to this lottery, while the guests had received two.


    Crystal immediately used all five of her tickets, watching the lottery animation y out in front of her. Given the expressions on some of the other members¡¯ faces, she wasn¡¯t the only one wanting to immediately test her luck.


    You have received Station Habitation Module(blueprint)!


    You have received EVA Combat Suit!


    You have received Station Thruster Module: Medium(blueprint)!


    You have received Astral Navigation Skill Scroll!


    You have received Station Mana Generator: Large(blueprint)!


    Of the five rewards, three were absolutely amazing. Blueprints that could be used to buildrge space stations orbiting a¡­ It was hard to even imagine how much they could sell for on the market. Thebat suit was nice, as it meant that she would not need to fear the harsh environment of space anymore when she had to fight.


    The only reward that truly feltcking was the skill scroll. Having tested the usefulness of the skill herself, she felt that it was a reward which could only be put to use by those researchers outside. Yet, would they really want it? Each of them were only ying the game for the purpose of this voyage, so it was doubtful whether they would even log on again after gathering the data they wanted.


    However, Crystal shook her head. At the very least, it was another skill. Maybe some of the others would have gotten blueprints for ships, allowing the mass production of space-worthy vessels. If that were the case, her skill scroll would be a prizedmodity among those intrepid explorers. As she was wondering that, she received a message over the partymunication channel.


    Logain: Everyone that used their tickets¡­ please report your rewards.


    It was rather unusual for such a request to be made, as lottery rewards were random for every person, and thus couldn¡¯t really be imed by the guild. However, in this case nobody even considered denying his request. There were far more benefits to revealing it than keeping it hidden.


    And so, everyone listed their prizes off, starting with Logain himself. He had¡­ actually received the worst luck out of all of them. His greatest rewards were two system blueprints, for Navigation and Thermal Shields, while his worst was¡­ a lump of ck rock, said to be from a meteorite.


    As for the others, there were multiple station modules that had been awarded. It was enough that Crystal actually thought we could build an entire station with just a bit of personal effort! But that was still not everything, not the true ¡®jackpot¡¯ of the lottery.


    Burmir reported that he had received a blueprint for an inteary warp gate, while Watchful Aiz¡­ He didn¡¯t merely receive a blueprint, but said that he now had an actual personal space transport in his inventory. Of course, like with anyrge lottery rewards, it would only be in his inventory until he first retrieved it, and would never be able to put it back.


    However, the fact that he had received not just a blueprint, but the finished product showed just how lucky he was with this lottery. Hearing that, Logain leaned back in his throne, closing his eyes in thought.


    Logain: I¡¯d like to ask those that received a blueprint to turn them in to the guild¡¯s craftsmen, so that the guild can be the first to possess these items. For those that have gotten apleted item or skill, you are free to do with it as you wish.


    Watchful Aiz had been worried at first, thinking that his ship would be confiscated. He hadn¡¯t had the chance to personally test it out yet, but he knew that it should be exceptional. After all¡­ when he won it, there was an extra message stating that it had been within the top five percent of all rewards from the lottery.


    The fact that he had been allowed to keep it let him breathe a sigh of relief, a small smile growing on his face. He happily turned over the Hydroponics Module blueprint that he had received.


    _______________________________________________________________


    I shook my head in surprise when I saw the rewards that everyone received from the lottery, looking back at my own previously poor luck with such things. Moving to myputer in my bedroom, I couldn¡¯t help but ask Vivi. ¡°Just how overpowered is Watchful¡¯s reward?¡±


    Vivi let out augh, appearing on the screen and smiling towards me, her hands at her sides. ¡°In truth, it is perhaps more useful than the Sky Citadel in the grand scheme of things. However, it will be impossible for people to reverse engineer it to create their own copies for many years. While the transport possesses its own warp drive, the techniques used to craft it have not yet been discovered.¡±


    ¡°Taking into ount that it can hold at most three yers, and uses condensed liquid mana as fuel, it is unlikely that he will be capable of using it to its full potential. Of the rewards gained today, none were blueprints for a Mana Fuel Factory, merely the standard Mana Generators that powerrger space stations. Although it currently has full fuel, that will be quickly depleted if he is not careful.¡±


    That was a relief, at least. If his ship had its own fuel generator on it as well, then it would perhaps be the single most valuable item that had been released within the game to date, even more so than the Sky Citadel.


    At the same time, I nced towards the achievement that I had received when they arrived at the. Like Legion, I had simrly received the Astral Pioneer achievement, though for different reasons. For me, it was because members of my world had begun to travel to different worlds within their own universe.


    Closing my eyes, I gave a small nod, happy with the results of this event. At the same time, I debated letting the world experience another growth spurt after making the reveal of Spica. It had been a while since I properly fast forwarded the world.

 Chapter 408: Foreign Relations

    <h4>Chapter 408: Foreign Rtions</h4>


    The worlds were in an uproar after the sessfulnding on the second world of Vision Expanse, which was named Legat in honor of those that discovered it. Though, whether or not the world of Legat had any inhabitants of its own or not was still something unknown.


    What was known, however, was that a grand reward had been given to those who joined the expedition. Of the researchers, there were only three that actually cared to continue ying the game and keep their rewards. For the others, they immediately sold the results of their lottery tickets to either Legion or the rich guests.


    These three chose to continue because each of them coveted the reward that they had been given¡­ three lucky individuals that managed to getplete spacecraft like Watchful Aiz. They had no thoughts of selling these items for profit, and instead convinced their ownpanies to allow them to use the craft for further research within the game itself.


    On the other hand, those guests who had bought their way onto the journey simply to enjoy the view were¡­ less than pleased whenparing their results to the others. None of them had hit a ¡®jackpot¡¯, or even received any blueprints for station modules. They received system designs, spaceworthy materials, or outfits meant to be worn in the vacuum of space.


    Perhaps they were unlucky, or fate had recognized theirck of any real contribution towards the expedition. Either way, they could do little more thanin amongst themselves, having no real means to change the results of their fortune. Even their lesser rewards could still be considered worth the price that they had paid to partake in this journey.


    Legion themselves quickly got to work. The main team set out to explore the nearby area, meanwhile the support personnel that had been brought along began constructing a base of operations within the new world. At a nce, this world was rich in materials, possibly even untouched by civilization, so it was only a matter of scouting out a workable mine and lumber before they got started.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Within the Fairy¡¯s za, the transport nexus of Earth housing the gate to other worlds, a familiar scene was taking ce. The concentric rings of the gate rose up from its tform, causing the ¡®travel rm¡¯ to call out. ¡°Unscheduled gate activation. All personnel, please vacate the transit room and move to the designated safety areas. This is for your own safety.¡±


    The gate was not held in any fortified bunker, kept underground to prevent an outbreak of monsters or abuse. No, it was simply positioned in arge intersection, multiple roads leading to different portals nearby. However, as the rm came to life, so too did the area around it. Those people living in the area did not panic, instead calmly walking into the nearest buildings.


    Even after all this time, it was not umon for the gate to activate on its own and spew out some strange, powerful monster. Thus, themonality of this event had allowed ample opportunities to prepare countermeasures.


    The first countermeasure was to evacuate all nearby civilians to a safe space, in one of the many basements of the nearby structures. This would ensure that they would not be in any danger, should a dangerous beast appear. There were signs directing everyone to these safe areas posted at the entrance to each building.


    The second countermeasure was to ensure the safety of the portals, which deactivated during the rm. Each one was positioned on a small tform, which sank into the ground, metal grates closing the hole until the signal was given for them to rise again.


    And then came thest countermeasure, sixrge turrets positioned around the gate, each one thirty meters from its outer edge. Normally, these turrets were pointed upwards, but during situations such as this one, they began to hum, their barrels emitting a dangerous orange glow as they aimed towards the gate.


    If the creature that emerged showed immediate hostility, the elvenmander was prepared to unleash the cannons to destroy whatever appeared. If it was simply an unscheduled visit from one of the other worlds, then the cannons would power down and return to their normal function.


    As the light within the gate died down, themander watched with rapt attention, waiting to see if he had to give themand to fire. However, what he saw confused him. It was¡­ an elf, at least to his immediate understanding. Yet something about it was just¡­ off. It may have been the longer than normal ears, the dark green hair, or the leather armor that tightly hugged the elf¡¯s frame.


    It looked like an elf, but at the same time was just different enough so as to strike him as odd. This ¡®elf¡¯ looked around at the cannons pointing towards itself, and its eyes went wide in rm. Its hands went into the air in a clear sign of surrender as it blurted out foreign words.


    These words only increased the confusion of themander, as he had made himself familiar with every world¡¯s primarynguages to a certain degree. Enough at least that he would be able to guess the origin of the other party after hearing them speak. But this¡­ this was entirely unknown to him.


    ¡°Stand down.¡± Themander spoke, ordering the turrets to be deactivated, before giving his second order. ¡°We have a code green. Diplomatic team, report ording to protocol.¡±


    There were multiple color-coded designations to handle different situations. Code red was the mostmonly used, when a monster appeared and civilians needed to give time for the turrets to handle their tasks. Then there was code blue, which was simply ¡®false rm¡¯, and was given when the arrival was simply a being from one of the allied worlds that for some reason came through unscheduled.


    Code ck was perhaps the most terrifying designation¡­ it symbolized that a monster hade through that was strong enough to destroy the turrets, and that the fighting force stationed at the gate may very well fall. When this code was given, all civilians were ordered to stay within the underground bunkers for one full week, surviving off of the food and water provided within them. After one week, a scout would be sent out to determine if the threat had passed.


    And finally, code green. This code meant that a ¡®peaceful¡¯ individual came from an unknown world. This particr code was used only once every few years, sometimes as little as once a decade. Oftentimes, it simply resulted in the individual being allowed to ¡®test their luck¡¯ and attempt to return to their home world. Those individuals were those that chose not to live within a foreign world, and were willing to make the gamble in order to return to where they belonged.


    Soon, a small team of elven men and women emerged from the building closest to the gate, the offices of this nexus. The one in front was a woman with a slim build and almost shining silver hair, her eyes a strange mix of blue and gold. As she approached, the elf on the gate once more raised its guard, before the woman shook her head and waved a hand, as if trying to use her bodynguage tomunicate that there was no threat.


    ¡°Please, it¡¯s alright, you don¡¯t have to be rmed.¡± She spoke as she waved a hand, a piece of paper materializing as she reached for it. As part of her training, she had learned how to hastily create certain types of quest scrolls.


    This paper seemed to catch the elf¡¯s eyes, before it hesitantly reached out for the, reading the contents. It was a simple quest, so easy to understand that even a child could grasp it. The ¡®objective¡¯ of the quest was to follow the diplomatic team to a safe room, with the ¡®reward¡¯ being the mutual exchange of information.


    ¡°It¡¯s alright, miss.¡± The woman said in her most gentle tone. Even if the words couldn¡¯t get through to this strange elven woman, she knew that the tone of her voice was still important. ¡°You can trust us.¡±


    The unfamiliar elf hesitated a moment longer, before nodding. Stepping down from the tform, she made a sweeping gesture with one hand, as if indicating for the team to lead the way. With a sigh of relief, they did just that. Secretly, they were relieved to see that this wanderer was at least close enough to pass for an elf. There should be no problems allowing her to mix in with society, once she learned the propernguage skills.


    Of course, these thoughts changed entirely once the group actually arrived in the ¡®safe area¡¯, arge room withfortable couches and a wide table to discuss. This was because the elven woman produced four stone bs from a storage space concealed within one of the objects on her person. Likely, this was a gesture on her part to work towards the mutual exchange of information, while she herself seemed clueless as to the significance of the objects she produced.


    Each b was perfectly circr, with various designs inscribed on their face. Three of these were immediately familiar to the diplomatic team leader. They were the Fairy Gate keys leading to Desbar, Deckan, and Fyor. As for the fourth, it was not the key leading to Earth, but rather¡­ a key unknown to her.


    Immediately, she reached for a piece of paper, and began drawing a pattern on it before showing it to the elf. At the same time, she created a quest scroll tomunicate her message. ¡°Did you see another one like this? One that you used toe here?¡±


    The pattern that she drew was the one that should have been found on the key that led to Earth, but this was not a question typically asked during these exchanges. Unless the individual had simplye from one of the three other known worlds, there was not a signal reported instance of a ¡®code green¡¯ event where the individual possessed keys like this.


    The foreign elf nodded her head, the gesture thankfully seeming to mean the same thing in both cultures. With this, the diplomat was certain that the fourth key should be the one that leads back to the foreign elf¡¯s world.


    _______________________________________________________________


    I gave a small smile as I watched the exchange between diplomat Lisara Lionna and wood elf K¡¯thona Everdew from my ce in the Admin Room. I had not ced the gate in any inhabited nation. Rather, it was instead ced on the border between Demacry and Sce, in an isted clearing.


    I had even checked to make sure that there were no nearby settlements before having Tubrock ce the gate, wanting it to be discovered naturally. And, after fast forwarding for a few days¡­ it was. A lone wood elf, out on a travel far away from her home, had stumbled across the gate.


    She saw the four keys I hadid out before the gate, along with the message written in front of them. ¡®Take these with you on your travels¡¯, that was all that the message said. Sure enough, she had done so, not seeming too suspicious about the strange objects. Instead, she wanted to take them for trade to the nearest city.


    After taking the four that had beenid out before the gate, she seemed to notice the one that was resting within the gate itself. When moving onto the tform, I asked Aurivy to secretly activate that gate before she had the chance to remove the key. As such, instead of gaining an additional souvenir, she was taken to a foreign world.


    Of course¡­ if for some reason this elf had decided to attack on sight and use her arrows against the cannons, she would have only discovered that the magic that she was used to relying on no longer aided her. With the worlds merged, I had chosen against merging thews as well. And one archer without her magic would not even be worth firing the cannons.


    Thankfully, everything yed out in a positive direction. K¡¯thona was a rather skittish woman, so she had immediately surrendered upon seeing the weapons aimed at her. In fact, she wasn¡¯t presenting the tablets in order to share information with Lisara. Rather, she had shown them so that she could get them appraised for their value, as she judged that the woman in front of her would be more familiar with these objects.


    She did not know what the gate was, nor what the stones represented. She simply knew that she had been transported to a foreign world¡­ and that the air felt like it was starting to give her a headache.


    Okay, that might be bad. I muttered, reading that thought in K¡¯thona¡¯s mind. I clicked on her to pull up a detailed status window, and saw that her health had started depleting. Not fast enough to be considered dangerous, but enough that her health bar had appeared above her head.


    One theory immediately sprang to mind, and I sent it off to Terra. If an individual that is not ustomed to housing mana within their own bodies is suddenly thrust into an extremely mana-rich environment, what kind of problems will they face?


    Pretty much what you¡¯re seeing now. Terra¡¯s reply came back almost as soon as I had finished asking. It¡¯s nothing fatal, don¡¯t worry. Individuals will simply need an adjustment period while their body adapts to the mana. Until then, they will suffer from moderate to severe headaches, some mild vertigo, and in extreme cases nausea.


    Their symptoms will probably be regarded as a foreign illness at first, so I¡¯d expect this wood elf will be quarantined soon, along with the diplomatic team. Once her symptoms pass, and it is determined to be non-infectious, everything should be fine.


    I gave a small sigh of relief when I heard that, before sending a follow-up question. What about the reverse? Someone from Earth or one of the other worlds going to Spica?


    They¡¯ll be light-headed for a bit, due to their bodies being unable to leak mana like they are used to, but it is also something easy to adjust to. I should note that while her body adapts to ept mana, this is asting change. Even though she won¡¯t be able to use the mana externally in Spica, she will still have it within herself.


    Well, that was something good to know. Though, I wasn¡¯t sure what the effects of that would be, aside from preventing her from experiencing this ¡®mana sickness¡¯ a second time.


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 Chapter 409: If You Want Something Done Right

    <h4>Chapter 409: If You Want Something Done Right</h4>


    The days following the arrival to the second of Vision Expanse were¡­ quite a remarkable moment in the history of the four¡­ now five worlds. The addition to a new world to what was now being called the Legion of Allied Worlds, or L.A.W. for short, was by no means less momentous than that of a sessful space travel within the game provided by the Keeper.


    In fact¡­ as the information became more and more clear, it seemed obvious that the Keeper himself made this arrangement. A Fairy Gate appearing with the keysid out, and a message for whoever finds them to take them? No matter how you look at it, that had to be the work of the Keeper, and he was simply not making as big of an announcement as he did previously.


    After three days of quarantine, the elf known as K¡¯thona Everdew was finally released. The cause of her symptoms was unable to be determined, though there were some who believed that it had simrities with the gue which had once struck the Dawn Kingdom during the Dark Ages. Given that she made a speedy recover, without the aid of any advanced medicine or magic, it was impossible to say for sure that it was the same thing.


    Once she had been released, K¡¯thona returned to her world, apanied by three researchers and six security personnel. They wished to learn more about the strange new world that had been connected to them, a world where the Keeper was unknown.


    When they arrived, the nine travelers from Earth all realized that something was strange about this world. Their magic, and any magical items that they had brought with them, refused to function. They were unable to even make their mana leave their own bodies, and the simple act of attempting to do so made them dizzy.


    On the other hand, K¡¯thona looked more rxed than ever. As if the air of Earth had been stifling to her, her disposition improved just by being in her own world. It did not take much for the people of Earth to realize that they were not properly prepared to explore this, and thus they promptly returned from whence they came.


    Afterwards, a more detailed study of the world began, individuals being sent through with primarily monk or warrior escorts. Their purpose was to identify the unique properties of the world known as Spica. Only through doing so would they be able to withstand its strange atmosphere long enough to make contact with the local popce.


    Perhaps thankfully, it appeared that the Fairy Gate was not near any local settlements, giving them ample time to prepare their research. Days passed, weeks even, before they were able to arrive at a startling conclusion¡­


    Thews of magic were fundamentally different between the two worlds. Admittedly, this was not the first time that differentws of magic had interacted with one another. History showed that magic itself had changed considerably when the world of Fyor had been introduced. This change was such that it shook the four worlds and made mages tremble, yet this instance seemed entirely different, for better or worse.


    In the past, when the differentws conflicted, they had joined together to be one, changing aspects of each world. Here, however, there was no such event. This was, honestly, closer to the secondary worlds of Desbar. The worlds where magic held unpredictable effects due to not being under the Keeper¡¯s rule.


    Thisparison began to make people question whether Spica truly was one of the Keeper¡¯s worlds¡­ if it was, why did magic go awry as it did in the worlds outside the Keeper¡¯s rule? This debate proved to be a hot topic, until a certain figure personally appeared. Someone who was able to quell all conflict on this matter.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Ryone crossed her arms under her chest as she watched the world below, tapping her foot on the ground. ¡°Is it really that hard to ept?¡± She muttered to herself, thinking that the direction that things were going in would lead to Spica being isted from the other worlds.


    She could understand it, to an extent. Magic had always been something her followers sought to understand, and now they were presented with a magicpletely foreign to them. Not just that, but a world in which their own magic did not properly function.


    Creating a storage enchantment that functioned both in Spica and Earth had not been an easy task, but she had done it for the sake of a budding peace between these worlds. She had even left the bag at the Fairy Gate along with the keys, so that they could easily be taken to Earth.


    Ryone couldn¡¯t allow this world to be isted from the others. Spica was a world she created to represent her love for her daughter¡­ How could she simply stand by at a time like this?


    With a sigh, her body was wrapped in a golden light. She knew that Dale did not want to reveal Leowynn¡¯s existence to the world yet, that he wanted them to learn of it through the game he had given them. Even so, there were ways for her to get this done properly.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Empress Margold looked over the papers that had been presented to her, a deep furrow in her brow. It had been nearly two months now since the discovery of Spica, and so far things were looking worse and worse. Between the Keeper not announcing his involvement in this world, and the strangews of magic, even her own advisors were beginning to suggest against including Spica within the Legion of Allied Worlds.


    This was a troublesome subject for her. On the one hand, it was entirely possible that they were right. That the Keeper truly did not create and manage Spica as he did Earth. If that was the case, then the fact that the keys to the various Fairy Gates had been found on Spica is more likely to be the prelude to some attack.


    With this thought in mind, she could not help but be vignt. However¡­ if this truly was a world of the Keeper¡¯s making, then shunning them would be a grave crime, would it not? Long ago, history showed that the Keeper had destroyed an entire nation for attempting to prevent others from freely using the gate. That event is what ultimately allowed the gate to be moved to elven territory.


    If this truly was a world of the Keeper¡¯s, and she made the decision to shun them¡­ was it not possible that her empire would face the same end? No matter which decision she made, there was a possibility that she was wrong, and that in being wrong she doomed her people.


    Just as the empress was biting her lip in frustration, her breath caught in her throat. Her eyes went wide as a feeling of power spread through her chambers. She was preparing to shout for her guards, but found that her voice would note. Her lips would not move.


    She was forced to simply stare ahead as golden light descended from the ceiling, condensing in the form of a beautiful elven woman with long brown hair. The empress¡¯s face went from fear to awe, and back again as she realized the identity of this ¡®intruder¡¯. The Mother of Magic herself was visiting her.


    Once her body had been fully formed, Ryone let out a long sigh. ¡°I really didn¡¯t want to have to do this.¡± She muttered to herself, before shaking her head and looking towards the empress resting on her bed with her paperwork. With a thought, the oppressive aura vanished, the restraining power on the woman¡¯s body fading away.


    ¡°M-my Goddess¡­¡± Rarely was it said to be a good thing to have a god descend before you. Especially when they looked as annoyed as Ryone did then. Not that the gods were cruel¡­ but if they had to descend themselves, something was usually very, very wrong.


    ¡°Lady Margold.¡± Ryone gave a polite nod, lowering herself as if to sit. In a sh, a wooden chair appeared beneath her, just in time for her tond in it. ¡°I¡¯vee to have a little chat with you about something that has been troubling both of us.¡±


    Something that troubled even the Mother of Magic? The empress¡¯s eyes went wide, before a thought urred to her. ¡°You mean this Spica world?¡± Her throat was dry as she spoke, sweat beading down her face.


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Ryone nodded again. ¡°And really, you don¡¯t have to be so nervous. I¡¯ll try to make this quick.¡±


    Those words seemed far more menacing than anything else the empress could have heard, her face going pale before Ryone rified. ¡°The exnation, you daft woman!¡± She waved a hand in exasperation. ¡°I¡¯m not here for your life.¡±


    The empress calmed down after hearing that, even if only slightly, while the goddess exined further, though her exnation began with a question. ¡°What do you know of Deckan? Before it was connected to Earth, I mean.¡±


    I thought we were talking about Spica? The empress thought to herself, before reviewing her own memories. ¡°Deckan¡­ it was originally a worldposed entirely of kitsune, serving only the goddess Udona. The system of strength was not a part of their world prior to the joining, and thus civilization had flourished, with all people being on a simr level of power.¡±


    These weremonly known facts taught to children, so it was only natural for the empress to be aware of this much. She knew that the system of strength had caused the monsters of Deckan to be more powerful, something that the world had not been prepared for. Millions of lives were reportedly lost in the rampages, before Deckan¡¯sbatants had grown strong enough to counteract them, entire cities swept away.


    ¡°Good, good¡­¡± Ryone nodded, before speaking again. ¡°And Desbar?¡±


    The empress raised a brow, but did not dare to protest the questioning. Instead, she offered another answer. ¡°The world of demons, who once only worshipped Ashley, a deity who was not yet known to us before their appearance. Not only the system of strength, even magic itself had not been part of that world before it experienced the joining.¡±


    Of course, the next question that followed was one that the empress had almost expected. ¡°And what about Fyor?¡±


    At this point, the empress merely let out a sigh. ¡°Fyor jointly worshipped both Aurivy and Bihena, a world of humans and halflings. While they possessed the system of strength, their magic was of a different nature to our own, and their world is fundamentally different. Even to this day, other gods and goddesses are treated as merely a secondary religion within Fyor, frowned upon in thends governed by the Council.¡±


    There was a faint twitch of annoyance in Ryone¡¯s eye as the empress said that, which made her immediately think that she had answered wrongly. However, Ryone did not rebuke her. ¡°Good. Now allow me to add a simr exnation for Spica¡­¡±


    The goddess took a deep breath, shaking her head as she spoke. ¡°Spica is my world. The natives of Deckan worshipped Udona, those of Desbar worshipped Ashley, and Fyor¡­ you get my point. Make no mistake, Spica is one of the Keeper¡¯s worlds.¡±


    ¡°The reason why the magic of that world is so different is because I created it. Its magic is of my own making. And, to be honest, if the magic of Spica was not contained to only that realm¡­ this world would burn. Fyor would freeze, and both Deckan and Desbar would be a wastnd.¡± Her eyes were serious as she said this, causing the empress to once again go pale.


    ¡°This is not because the magic of Spica is stronger, but¡­ the way that it functions is so fundamentally different. Here, mana resides among the people, within the very air you breathe. In Spica, magices from the stars themselves. This mana rests within the atmosphere, and is harnessed to perform magic.¡±


    ¡°Now¡­ with that being said, the star closest to Spica provides mana attuned to fire spells. Imagine what would happen if that mana was not contained within the atmosphere, if it was instead allowed to settle upon the surface of the world, where the mana of Earth typically resides.¡±


    The empress could imagine it. She could practically see the scene unfold before her. A world on fire, the people screaming. The oceans would boil, and there would be naught but ash left of Earth.


    Suddenly, the empress was very d that this magic had note to Earth, as the magics of Fyor and Deckan had done.

 Chapter 410: The Path Ahead

    <h4>Chapter 410: The Path Ahead</h4>


    Empress Margold sat in her throne room, aposed look on her face that did not at all match the disposition she showed in the presence of the Goddess. She was no longer a ¡®mortal¡¯ standing before the ¡®almighty¡¯, but a ruler before her citizens. Resting her hand on one of the gems embedded in her throne, she activated amunication function.


    Three panels of golden light appeared before her, each one seeming to waver as they waited for the calls to connect. The one in the center was the first to stabilize, revealing a kitsune woman with ck hair. Judging from the drooping eyelids and the way her ears bent, the empress could tell that she had only woken up.


    ¡°Marrryyy.¡± The kitsuneined. ¡°Did you have to call so early?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the middle of the afternoon here.¡± Margold shook her head. ¡°But let¡¯s wait for the others. There is an important matter to discuss.¡±


    The kitsune blinked, rubbing her eyes and trying topose herself. Meanwhile, the image on the right stabilized, and showed a demonic male wearing a ck suit. His wings were wrapped around himself as he sat at a desk, offering a polite nod. ¡°Empress.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for answering so quickly, president. I know things have been busy on your end.¡± Margold returned the nod, just as the third screen stabilized. Unlike the others, it did not show a distinct figure. Instead, what was disyed was a shadowy outline of what seemed to be a human woman. ¡°Lady Representative.¡± Empress Margold greeted the figure, which seemed to nod her head.


    ¡°I assume that there is something urgent, if you have called all of us.¡± The shadowy woman spoke.


    ¡°There is. Very urgent indeed.¡± The empress agreed readily. ¡°I assume that all of you by now have heard of the new world, Spica?¡±


    ¡°Ehh?¡± The kitsune tilted her head, blinking. ¡°That¡¯s the ce you guys have been going crazy overtely, right?¡±


    ¡°By my understanding, it was deemed a hazardous zone.¡± The demon added, his brows narrowing. ¡°Has there been a change in the situation?¡±


    Margold took a deep breath. ¡°There has. And due to this change, I would like to request the help of all L.A.W. worlds in establishing a research outpost on this new world.¡±


    ¡°You ask for quite a bit, empress.¡± The shadowy woman spoke up in an almost cold tone. ¡°You should know that the Council does not currently have the manpower avable to divide their attention even further.¡±


    ¡°Oh,e on!¡± Surprisingly, it was the kitsune that retorted. ¡°You know that those old geezers are just being paranoid. None of us care about taking away yournd. I¡¯d bet even those Dawn guys aren¡¯t looking for that kinda fight! Isn¡¯t that why they haven¡¯tunched any actual attacks yet?¡±


    ¡°The Council believes that it is simply due to their vignce that Dawn has yet to make their move.¡± The human woman spoke, but did let out a small sigh. ¡°My opinion on the matter is irrelevant, but I do agree with you, Queen Sylva. However, I am but one voice among many.¡±


    The demon president leaned forward in his chair. ¡°I will admit, Lady Representative, there was a time when my advisors suggested moving against Fyor. However, these ideas were promptly dismissed. Although you may have thend that we were originallycking, we have made due with our secondary worlds. Besides that, the sky of Fyor¡­ well, let¡¯s just say that we prefer to have a real sky.¡±


    ¡°Noted.¡± The woman nodded her head again, before returning to the matter at hand. ¡°Regardless, Empress, if you wish to secure the Council¡¯s help, you will need to provide a sufficient exnation.¡±


    A small smirk began to tug at Margold¡¯s lips. ¡°The Mother of Magic visited mest night. Not in a dream, as you may suspect. No, she appeared personally before me to deliver a message.¡±


    That certainly got everyone¡¯s attention. ¡°Really, Mary?!¡± The kitsune shouted out in surprise. ¡°Ryone visited you!?¡±


    As Margold nodded, the demon waved a hand to try to keep the conversation on track and prevent it from derailing again. ¡°And what was the message that the Goddess delivered?¡±


    Margold took a deep breath again, preparing her words. ¡°As you know, each of you belong to a world initially governed by only one of the Goddesses of Earth¡¯s pantheon. Two, in the case of Fyor. This has been a rather hot topic for many years, but I won¡¯t go into that for now.¡±


    ¡°When Ryone visited my chambersst night, she told me¡­ that Spica is the world that she governs. What we perceive as a dangerous environment is simply the result of a new magic she has woven for that world.¡±


    ¡°As was originally the case with all of your worlds, they have no knowledge of the Keeper, and worship only their native goddess. Yet, they are without a doubt a world under his rule. I have passed this message to my advisors, and have dered that we will beunching an operation in seven days to establish an outpost within this world to use as a foothold to make contact with its natives.¡±


    ¡°Given that this is a new world under the Keeper¡¯s rule, I am following the rules we have in ce. I am letting all of you know my n, and freely offering to allow participation from any who seek to do so.¡±


    Finally, the kitsune¡¯s face seemed to be serious. ¡°I¡¯ll pass the word on to my people. If what I hear is true, I don¡¯t know how much help you can expect from Deckan, but we will lend manpower at the very least. Our card magic may not work properly, but that won¡¯t stop those with a strong back from carrying stone.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll dispatch a regiment to act as a military escort.¡± The demon said with a faint nod. ¡°If ki functions simrly in this world as I¡¯ve heard, we should have an advantage. Most of our soldiers are trained monks.¡±


    Then, it came to the human woman, still no more than a shadowy outline. ¡°I will pass your message along to the Council. I would not get my hopes up for more than a token involvement, but I shall attempt to plead for them to consider the benefits of this operation.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Lady Representative.¡± Empress Margold nodded her head. ¡°That is all that I can ask for. Then, everyone, as stated before the operation will take ce in seven days. We will be departing at noon, Standard Earth Time.¡±


    The three figures all nodded a confirmation, before the images of both the demon president and the shadowy woman faded away. This left only the kitsune queen grinning towards Margold. ¡°So, you finally got a personal visit, huh?¡±


    Now that the other two were gone, Margold practically deted, letting out a heavy sigh. ¡°You never told me their presence was so stifling.¡±


    The kitsune giggled yfully, shaking her head. ¡°I guess she must have really been annoyed. Lady Udona¡¯s never like that when shees by to chat. Maybe she¡¯s just more used to appearing in front of mortals than Ryone, though?¡±


    ¡°Really¡­ I mean, I thought I was dead for sure. She even said ¡®don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll make it quick¡¯.¡± Margold brought a hand up to rub at her neck, wincing at that memory and the thought of where her imagination had gone at those words.


    ¡°Yikes! I¡¯ll pray to Lady Udonater to let her know. I¡¯m pretty sure she wasn¡¯t mad at you, though. If she was, well¡­¡± She let her words trail off at that, their meaning rather obvious.


    ¡°I know, I know. Still, it was nice to actually get the chance to meet her, even if it was under¡­ difficult circumstances.¡± Margold gave a small smile as she said that. Queen Sylva of Deckan had long ago told her how Udona would sometimese by to talk, or how the kitsune would go to her room just to find it rearranged into a massive pillow fortress, Udona curled up at the center of it.


    From what she had heard, the kitsune queen and her goddess were on quite good terms, though Margold had been asked to never speak of it to others. Sylva had only told Margold because Udona said it was fine if she only told one person. Given their friendship, Sylva had chosen to confide in Margold.


    Of course, her nervousness when meeting Ryone was still entirely true. Even though she knew that Udona liked to be moreid-back, she had never heard of Ryone being the same way. And with how incredibly oppressive Ryone¡¯s aura was, Margold couldn¡¯t help but be worried when facing her.


    ¡°Well, good luck with Spica!¡± Queen Sylva beamed a smile, waving towards the elven empress. ¡°I¡¯ll be rooting for you guys to connect with Ryone¡¯s world!¡±


    Margold offered her thanks, before the final panel faded away, leaving the empress alone to her thoughts. There were still many things that needed to be prepared before the operation could beunched, and so much more paperwork she had to do to take care of it all.


    _______________________________________________________________


    I gave a faint nod as I watched the conversation between the leaders of the four worlds. Or rather, the leaders of the nations which each held the Fairy Gates. Fyor had managed to get a representative of their Council inside of Nexus, even though they do not hold any governing power in that floor. The fact that they controlled the majority of the otheryers of Fyor had been enough to make the position of Representative official.


    I was surprised that Ryone had taken matters into her own hands to get things started, but in the end¡­ I was actually happy that she did. With the confidence and knowledge gained through interacting with Ryone, the leaders would be able to act more freely. They wouldn¡¯t need to hesitate anymore, fearing that this could be some borate trap.


    Though, that did make me think about what would happen if a Keeper actually sent an entire during an invasion¡­ would the system set up an arrangement simr to what we did? Creating the path to the enemy Keeper¡¯s worlds without any proper exnation to either side? Or, would the entire itself simply appear somewhere in that Keeper¡¯s universe?


    That was likely a tactic used by those higher ranked Keepers that were able to freely give away entires for the sake of an offensive. I was¡­ not at that level yet.


    Instead, pulling up my interface, I checked to make sure that there was no notice yet regarding my own invading force. Given that they had managed to survive for¡­ it should be nearly four months now to them¡­ but given that they are still alive, it at least means that a part of the invasion should have been a sess.


    I knew that it was too early to celebrate, but a part of me did wish for their safe return. Even if they don¡¯te back to the world quite the same as they left it, given how I am fast forwarding things again.


    Shaking my head, I cleared away those thoughts. I had already made up my mind¡­ Tubrock.


    The dwarven god appeared surprised to hear me calling out to him, going by his tone. Eh? What do you need,d? I¡¯m not done with the little miss¡¯s golem body yet.


    It¡¯s not about that¡­ I want you to elerate Lorek again. Make it able to participate in the games. This was a decision I hade to after speaking with Sarah after the meeting. Her advice had been fairly simr to Balu¡¯s, that I shouldn¡¯t be afraid to advance once my worlds and myself were properly prepared. It¡¯s not wise to rush things, but at the same time, a world will fall to stagnation if it is not allowed to advance properly.


    After hearing that, I realized that I had almost allowed my worlds to suffer that fate. In order to prevent myself from bing a second rank Keeper, I had chosen to stop pursuing the same type of advancements that I had taken early on. I was simply sitting back and watching, afraid that getting involved personally would mean the doom of my world.


    Eh!? Tubrock¡¯s voice sounded far more surprised now. Ye sure about this,d? There¡¯s no goin¡¯ back after we do this, not without startin¡¯ from nothin¡¯.


    I know. I nodded, letting out a sigh. I¡¯m going to pass this message on to alia as well, and Tryval once he decides on what kind of world he wants. Once your worlds qualify for the games, we¡¯ll bring them all together. That should push us into the second rank. In order to maximize the amount of time we have to get things ready after advancing, let¡¯s aim to do this at the end of the month, after the next month¡¯s matches have been decided.

 Chapter 411: Karmic Justice

    <h4>Chapter 411: Karmic Justice</h4>


    After passing the messages along to both alia and Tryval regarding my future ns, I let out a sigh, moving to sit at myputer desk. If I wanted to truly maximize the potential of my world, then it was necessary to use more than simply the fast forwardmand. At the same time, it would be best to alter the cultural focuses of certain areas that were impeding growth.


    The one that came most heavily to mind was the Council within Fyor. Back when I had set my n in motion that had created the Dawn Kingdom, I knew it would be a bad idea for them to be too reliant on a single body of government. However, I did not realize at the time just how paranoid it would make the Council.


    And so, the first thing I did was begin to set cultural focuses for the various different floors of Fyor. The goal that I gave each one was quite simple¡­ independence. This way, there would be more people born with the inclination to free theiryers from the rule of the Council.


    I did not want Fyor to be under the control of a single body of government¡­ no, that would not work at all for what the world needed in the long run. Not unless there was some way to bypass floors that had been damaged, and I had yet to find such a method yet. The only thing that could potentially work would be devices like the Fairy Gate, but with those¡­ you could only ce one in a given universe, or else all instances of it in that universe would stop functioning.


    What I wanted was for Fyor to be an alliance of smaller governments. That way, they would be able to survive independently, without needing to fear any given floor being inessible.


    After I had finished with Fyor, I turned my sight towards Earth. Now¡­ I couldn¡¯t say that there was really anything toin about with Earth. They were governing themselves fine, minus a few smaller conflicts here and there. No, I looked upon the world for an entirely different reason, so that I could send a message to Tsubaki.


    I¡¯m not going to be back in the Sky Citadel for a while. I whispered into her mind, and watched as she immediately disconnected from Vision Expanse to stand at attention next to her bed. While I¡¯m gone, I¡¯m cing you in charge of Ana. If anything happens and she gets out of hand, pray to Ryone, she will tell you the method to put her to sleep.


    Until I get back, I have a new mission for you¡­ I want you to be more powerful. The people of my worlds have grown to the point that you no longer need to hold back in your training. Their weapons and defenses are strong enough to repel what would have formerly been considered disasters. Train yourself, and train Fafnir.


    Finally¡­ if you spot any exceptional talents within the world, you have my permission to take them as your students. Train them as much as you can, and show them the path you have climbed to be strong.


    On the screen, I watched Tsubaki bow, her hand on her chest. ¡°As you will it, my Keeper.¡± Instead of logging back into the game, she turned, carving a hole in space and stepping through without a second thought. For a moment, I lost sight of her, having to run a search specifically for her. The reason for this, as I soon discovered, was that she had disappeared entirely from the world of the living.


    It seemed that Tsubaki had taken my words to mean that she should once again use the training method that she had been subjected to upon first obtaining her Perfect Self. Or, perhaps, she thought that this was the only ce with enemies that would pose a suitable challenge for her.


    Either way, as I allowed time to fly ahead for a few seconds, which equalled a few days on Earth, I saw her returning to the Sky Citadel. She was not mindlessly enforcing another trial upon herself like she had in Vision Expanse. Instead, it seemed that she was simply honing her skills little by little.


    As I let out a sigh of relief, I heard something shift on the bed behind me. Despite my expectations, the one that I found waiting for me sitting on the edge of the bed was not Terra, but Irena. She offered a small smile of greeting, holding a clipboard in her hands. ¡°Dale. Is now a good time?¡±


    I blinked, surprised, but nodded. I didn¡¯t have any other immediately pressing concerns to take care of at the moment, so I could handle whatever it was that Irena wanted. ¡°Of course. What did you need?¡±


    Irena stood from the bed, walking over and handing me the clipboard. ¡°You offered to allow me to enhance the Underworld with any points that I earned during this previous meeting. While I expect that this will not use my full quota of points avable, it is what I had wanted to adjust within my realm.¡±


    Taking the clipboard, I read over it. In short, it was an enhancement of the karma system. And, as I was reading through it, Irena began to exin. ¡°Currently, the karma system in ce isrgely automated, with only a small amount of attention needed on my part as judge. However, it is a highly impractical system, as I have discovered.¡±


    ¡°The punishments that the system allows me to impose are limited to disabilities, physical weaknesses, or a reduction of the Luck stat. For many offenders, this is more than enough. However, over the years, it has caused problems among the living world. Those who are born with such disabilities are treated as sinners from their past lives, thanks to information about the underworld being leaked to the mortal realm.¡±


    ¡°Naturally, not all of these cases are the true sinners. There are often innocent souls mixed up in these usations. As I am the only one capable of reading karma, it is impossible for mortals to tell the difference. Simrly, there are cases where the true sinners are born or adopted into a noble house, and they use advanced magic or medicine to treat these disabilities. With the taint of evil karma still on their souls, this means that they are ced in a position tomit even more heinous acts.¡±


    ¡°As such, I have devised a two-part system to handle exceptionally positive and negative karma. For those with extremely positive karma, those who could be regarded as saints or heroes, they have the option to receive an invitation upon the end of their spiritual life. This invitation will take them to a pocket realm within the Underworld, inessible without meeting the requisite karma levels.¡±


    ¡°Any individual that has been invited to this area will be free of the shackles of time. Their spirit will no longer degrade or shatter with the years. In addition, they will be capable of viewing the living world from within this area. At any point, should they feel that the situation has grown grim, they may choose to forego eternity.¡±


    ¡°Doing this allows them to be reborn once again, but as a figure blessed with the highest karma. This feature is designed to allow heroes to enter the world again in times of need, rising up to lead the way as soldier or schr.¡±


    I gave a nod as I read over those details while she was speaking, before I caught the next part. ¡°And those with exceptionally negative karma¡­¡±


    Irena nodded her head. ¡°Those individuals who thrive on the torture and death of others, who are so irredeemable that their souls cannot be saved, are bound in eternal chains. They simrly gain eternity¡­ but it is an eternity of suffering, the energy of their souls used as fuel to sustain the paradise that they can never receive.¡±


    ¡°Naturally, should someone act within this paradise in such a manner that they lose their qualifications, they will be banished from it, immediately reentering the cycle of life and death with their new karmic value.¡±


    Again, I nodded. So this is what she had been thinking about, why the scenario we had yed out had offended her so much. For so long, she has been watching those truly heinous acts going unpunished, maybe even being the victim of them herself at times. And at the same time, watching noble deeds go unrewarded¡­


    As I thought about that, I remembered the ck chains that she had called within that scenario. Those should be the abyssal chains that she described in her document. It was hard to remember at times, but she was not simply the Goddess of Death, the ruler of the Underworld. She also held the domain of Justice.


    ¡°I understand.¡± While it didn¡¯t feel so good to use souls as fuel for a paradise, it was also a fact that only those who had the absolute worst karma, the kinds of monsters I myself once hunted down to hone my assassin skills were the ones that would be punished there. Besides that, I did promise her that she could use her points to modify the Underworld. It would not set a good example if I went back on my word unless this truly did offend me.


    ¡°Alright.¡± I agreed, looking over the details once again, while sending a message to Terra. Is Irena¡¯s idea already a system that I can buy, or should I submit it?


    Sorry, Dale. Terra spoke up yfully. No free points for you this time. There are multiple plug-ins in ce for the karma system already. One of which includes precisely what Irena is asking for. In fact, it also includes an additional feature not on her list, which allows those within the paradise of souls to temporarily descend as heroic spirits to defend the world. After this descent, however, they will be entered into the cycle of rebirth.


    I blinked in surprise, exining what Terra had said to Irena. When she heard about this feature, she closed her eyes in thought. ¡°Very well. I would like you to purchase this addition on my behalf, then.¡±


    Opening the market window, I could tell that Terra was ¡®helping¡¯. Without me even needing to search for that item, it had already been highlighted in my vision. The name that had been given to this plug-in was¡­ Karmic Justice.


    I gave it a quick read to make sure that it was what we were wanting. The total cost of it was only three hundred and fifty points, a far cry from the total amount that she had earned in the meeting. As such, it was a simple matter to purchase it.


    When I did so, I could see Irena actually tense up, her eyes going wide. When I bought it, she must have felt the change instinctively, as the Goddess of Justice that watched over all karma, and the Goddess of the Underworld. Both of these things would make her extremely sensitive to these kinds of changes.


    _______________________________________________________________


    The days passed slowly for Tsubaki after she received her new orders, but they were far from uneventful. No, she had set up an itinerary for her training. She would spend three days within Hell, and a week in the living world. Six of these seven days would be spent training Fafnir, while the seventh would be ¡®rxation and scouting¡¯.


    Her method of seeking potential disciples was quite simple. Through the same method as before, she would look through the top-ranked members of Vision Expanse, those who dominated each field. If she felt that one was worthy of training, she nned to make the offer. At the same time, she would maintain a close watch over local news channels for figures which stood out.


    However¡­ she did not expect that her first disciple would note from either of these methods. Nor was it someone that she stumbled upon while training Fafnir. No, Tsubaki met her first disciple three months after she had been given her mission.


    As she was wandering through Hell, her scythe already prepared at her side and ready to face any of the monstrous souls of the area, she heard a strange noise. This was not the roar or predatory growl of a ferocious beast, nor was it the dying whimper of the defeated. This was a sound that wholly did not belong here, one that caught this ancient Servant of the Keeper entirely unprepared.


    She heard the singing voice of a child¡­


    ¡°A shadow in your eyes


    Makes a good disguise.


    Scatter, scatter


    We all blow away¡­¡±

 Chapter 412: Thawing the Frozen Heart

    <h4>Chapter 412: Thawing the Frozen Heart</h4>


    As Tsubaki approached the source of the singing, she soon came across a rather astonishing sight. The child, a girl, stood before her in a wide, grassy meadow. Such scenes weren¡¯t hard to find in this region of the Underworld, given that the spirits of monsters often used pure instinct to recreate familiar areas.


    What was unusual, however, was its size. Tsubaki herself stood no taller than a single de of grass within thisndscape, the singing girl towering in the distance. If not for the ever-present spiritual mists obscuring her vision, Tsubaki was sure that she would be able to see this woman clearly from tens of miles away.


    ¡°Little Dana Jafer


    Her Daddy couldn¡¯t save her


    Scatter, Scatter


    She¡¯ll take away the pain.¡±


    The child continued to sing to herself, rocking back and forth slightly atop the grass. As Tsubaki got closer, she began to make out certain distinctive features on the girl. The pointed ears that symbolized an elf, a long, silken dress. And in her hands, a dolly made of y. The child looked down to it with a small, sad smile. A smile that tugged at the heartstrings, and contained a tremendous solitude.


    Closing her eyes, Tsubaki focused purely on increasing her own size, spreading her energy more thin as opposed to herpact fighting form. She had no intention of getting into a brawl with the titanic elven child. And as she grew, soon making herself visible by rising higher than the grass, she stopped herself when she was no taller than the girl¡¯s knees.


    ¡°Oh!¡± The girl jumped in fright, the meadow trembling with her shock. ¡°You don¡¯t look like a monster¡­ are you one of the death-seekers?¡± She spoke in an innocent voice, her eyes ncing over Tsubaki.


    ¡°Death-seekers?¡± Tsubaki had never heard that term before, but such was to be expected. It seemed to be something that the girl had created herself.


    ¡°Yeah, the ones that go around, looking for dead people. They¡¯re usually really nice, but I haven¡¯t seen any for a while.¡± She had a small smile as she reminisced, before shaking her head. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t mean to get so big again.¡±


    Furrowing her brow, the girl began to shrink down, thendscape around them shrinking with her. In order to return them to a more fitting size, Tsubaki herself began to shrink as well, more slowly than therger girl. That way, when they both stopped, Tsubaki was at her normal height, while the child barely came up to her stomach.


    Once down with the change, the girl let out a sigh of relief. ¡°There, that should be better.¡± She beamed a happy smile towards Tsubaki. ¡°I¡¯m Dana!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Tsubaki.¡± The kitsune returned the greeting with a polite bow. ¡°To answer your question, however¡­ no, I am not a ¡®death-seeker¡¯. I am a living being, who was able toe here through my own power. Just to be clear¡­ your family name is Jafer, correct? That was your song?¡±


    Dana nodded her head happily. ¡°Yup! I sent a little me back home a long time ago, and heard kids singing it. They seemed¡­ really happy when they sang it, running around in circles and ying games. I don¡¯t really like the song itself, but it helps me remember things!¡±


    Tsubaki had a rare look of sympathy on her face as she bent down. ¡°You¡¯ve been alone here for a long time, haven¡¯t you?¡±


    Dana¡¯s smile faltered, an almost lost look appearing in her eyes. ¡°Y-yeah¡­ I want to find my daddy, but¡­ I haven¡¯t seen him yet. I went to the other side where all the people spirits stay, but they said that they never received him¡­¡±


    Tsubaki¡¯s eyes widened when she heard that. A lost soul, not received by the afterlifemunity¡­ it wasn¡¯t wrong to think that it could be wandering around Hell. But, if that was the case, if that spirit had been wandering for this long¡­ Tsubaki knew the story of Dana Jafer, she was alive when it happened. She knew just how long ago it was.


    ¡°I know what you¡¯re thinking¡­¡± Dana shook her head sadly. ¡°You think Daddy¡¯s re-dead. That he was eaten by one of the bad spirits. I think¡­ I think that¡¯s right. I haven¡¯t been able to feel Daddy¡¯s presence for a long time¡­ But I don¡¯t know what else to do. All I have left is to keep looking for him¡­¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you try going to live with the people on the other side?¡± Tsubaki asked curiously, referring to thergermunity of spirits.


    ¡°I can¡¯t.¡± Dana denied it immediately. ¡°They won¡¯t let me stay there. I¡¯m not a ¡®real spirit¡¯ like them¡­ I¡¯m an aeon. Daddy made me like this, and I wanted to do the same for him. But now he¡¯s gone¡­¡±


    Dana¡¯s shoulders began to tremble as she held back the tears. Leaning forward, Tsubaki wrapped the smaller girl in her arms. She couldn¡¯t help it, she felt a connection to Dana.


    Servants were raised in the Trial of Blood, forced to survive one year alone in the most hostile environments. They were trained, honed into weapons and tools for their lords. But what value did that Trial of Blood havepared to what Dana had endured? One year in a forest of monsters? How many decades¡­ centuries even, had Dana spent alone in Hell? All for the sake of finding her father.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay, you can cry¡­¡± Tsubaki whispered softly to Dana, who leaned into her shoulder and began to loudly sob. An instinct awakened within Tsubaki that had been dormant for far too long, one that she didn¡¯t even know she had anymore. She wanted to protect this child, to protect her smile.


    After letting Dana cry for nearly an hour, the tears slowly began to subside. She was reduced to little more than trembling whimpers when Tsubaki pulled back, looking Dana in the eyes. ¡°Would you like toe live with me?¡± She asked in the most gentle tone that she could manage.


    ¡°R-really?¡± Dana wiped at her face with one hand, her eyes still wet as she choked back a breath. ¡°You¡­ you mean it?¡±


    ¡°I do.¡± Tsubaki nodded, bringing a hand up to wipe away the tears with her thumb. ¡°I don¡¯t know what aeons eat, but¡­ we have plenty of free rooms where I live. I can give you nice clothes and spend time with you¡­ you don¡¯t have to be alone anymore. And sometimes, where I live, there is this incredible person thates to stay for a while. I know that he would like to meet you, too.¡±


    ¡°I-incredible¡­? More incredible than Daddy?¡±


    Tsubaki gave another nod at that. ¡°The most incredible man in the entire world. He said that he won¡¯t be back for a little while, but¡­ that¡¯s not a problem for us, is it? We¡¯re used to waiting by now.¡±


    ¡°But I won¡¯t have to wait alone¡­?¡± Dana asked, reaching out to grab a corner of Tsubaki¡¯s dress, as if scared she would disappear.


    Instead of directly answering her, Tsubaki bent down, scooping Dana up in her arms to carry her. ¡°I promise, you won¡¯t need to be alone anymore. Maybe, just maybe, I can introduce you to many more friends, if everything works out.¡±


    Dana¡¯s eyes seemed to light up at that, and she nodded her head. Her hands came up to more quickly wipe at her face. ¡°O-okay! I¡¯ll do it, I¡¯ll go live with you¡­ Tsubaki, please let me live with you!¡±


    A genuine, warm smile appeared on Tsubaki¡¯s face as she turned around. With a thought, she cut open a hole through the underworld, taking herself and Dana back to the citadel.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Did Tsubaki just be a foster mother? I asked myself with a soft smile of my own as I watched the scene y out. I had never seen Tsubaki so emotional before, even when she was ying with Aurivy. And a part of their conversation jumped out at me, the promise to introduce her to more friends.


    Ashley, can you do me a favor?


    Dale? Ashley¡¯s tone seemed more surprised than anything. Your thoughts feel¡­ odd, is everything alright?


    I¡¯m fine, I just saw something in the world. I assured her with a shake of my head. Can you see if there is a way to make the headsets for Vision Expansepatible with spirits? I know that they work for energy bodies, but the only examples I¡¯ve seen are those that have recreated a normal body.


    I¡¯ll¡­ check. I can¡¯t promise results right away, but I¡¯ll see what I can do.


    That¡¯s alright. Her answer was enough for me, just the attempt was better than nothing. If you want a volunteer¡­ get in touch with Tsubaki.


    After leaving that message with her, I once again resumed my fast forwarding process. While I was mostly paying attention to the development of the world, I did also spare some focus to watching Tsubaki and Dana, seeing their happy life together.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Mana readings¡­ minimal.¡± One researcher said as he stepped off of the tform for the Fairy¡¯s Gate, holding a small device in his hand. Since enchanted items would not function within Spica, they were forced to resort to technology, which was notoriously less urate when it came to reading mana.


    ¡°Oi, what¡¯d ye expect?¡± A dwarf walked by with a grin, carrying a heavy axe over his shoulder, one which was nearly asrge as he was. ¡°We were told, weren¡¯t we? All the mana¡¯s way up above, so we only get wee trickles of it down here.¡±


    The elf nodded, naturally remembering this detail as well. ¡°Yes, I know. I just have to check anyways. Knowledge is built on evidence, after all.¡±


    ¡°Ye want yer evidence? Find out where that elfss ye all hadst year ran off to.¡± He walked off towards a nearby forest as he shouted that back at the researcher. With a heavy swing of his axe, a tree was cleanly felled, four kitsune men running over to collect it. ¡°Anyone gonna teach us about this area, it ain¡¯t gonna be that gadget, it¡¯ll be a native.¡±


    Unfortunately, the researcher also knew this fact. It was simply an all but impossible task to find a single individual in a foreign world, especially so when they knew it better than you. While it may be impossible to find the same native, search parties had already been sent out in attempts to locate other settlements.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Finally¡­¡± Jonas let out a breath of relief, more of a habit at this point than anything else as he stepped away from the wall that he had been using to measure his growth. ¡°Eight years¡­ I¡¯m not asrge as I used to be, but at the very least, I won¡¯t be stepped on if I go out in public.¡±


    Jonas stretched his arms out, looking back at the most recent mark. His original height was just shy of two meters, while his current one was barely one and a half. If he gave it another three years, he could likely gather the energy to reach his full height without worry.


    However, that would mean three more years of solitude. Even now, his old friends only barely realized he was still alive. Some would visit him on asion, asking about his progress or keeping him up to date with the happenings of the world. When Jonas learned that there was a new world called Spica that had been discovered, he was ecstatic. He wanted nothing more than to rush over and immediately participate in the exploration.


    Unfortunately, such a thing was forbidden to him, due to hisck of strength. More importantly, he couldn¡¯t even be sure that his body would be able to sustain itself in a world where thews of magic were twisted like that. In the end, he could onlyfort himself in the knowledge that he would learn, one day.

 Chapter 413: First(?) Contact

    <h4>Chapter 413: First(?) Contact</h4>


    ¡°High Minister.¡± An elven dignitary called out as he stepped into arge office, holding a folder in his hands. He wore a ck suit with a white undershirt and long, ck pants. His silver hair almost glowed in the light, while his eyes were oddly an almost pitch ck.


    ¡°Come in.¡± Another man sat behind the desk, his suit a dark blue. His hair looked to be almost pure golden, cut short and neatlybed. He held his hand out, and the visitor passed the folder in his hands. ¡°Has the situation changed?¡±


    ¡°No, sir.¡± The visitor shook his head while the High Minister opened the folder, pulling out several images. They seemed to be topographical shots of a heavily forested area, taken from high above. ¡°Our satellites have confirmed that the foreign presence has maintained its position along the border. Aside from small groups leaving for what I can only assume are scouting operations, they have stayed within their base of operations.¡±


    The High Minister nodded his head, letting out a long sigh. ¡°I take it we¡¯ve kept anyone from wandering too close?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s correct, sir. Per orders, we advanced the army and pushed into Sce territory to engage in small skirmishes, while the patrols have been able to keep anyone from entering the area.¡±


    When he heard that, the High Minister gave another nod. Their satellites had captured the appearance of the unusual structure shortly after it first appeared. They had even managed to capture the images of its first activation. At first, they were preparing for the worst, believing that it may be a new Sce weapon.


    Instead, a weekter, those same satellites saw the structure activate once again. This time, an unknown group of people emerged, clearly indicating its function as a teleportation tform. Immediately, the army had been reinforced in that area, preparing for the possibility of a full-scale invasion.


    They waited¡­ for weeks, they saw nothing but the odd monster that seemed to wander out from the gate. Until finally, it became active once again. Elves emerged through the gate, along with¡­ other creatures. At first, the High Minister had mistaken them for an unknown breed of elves, until he noticed the distinctly animal features, or therge wings on some of them.


    No, once he was able to get a clear view of them sent back, he knew that these were foreigners from somewhere entirely different. By his initial estimation, the tform should be a path between worlds. Though, how it appeared on this end was beyond his understanding.


    Several of his advisors suggested immediately making contact, establishing a peaceful rtionship with this new group. But the High Minister was cautious. Instead of proactively seeking a first contact, he maneuvered troops to iste that region. He wanted to observe, to simply wait and see what these foreigners would do. This way, he could gauge their reactions, and have a more clear view of what they were after.


    For the first year, the foreigners established a small vige along the edge of the forest next to the tform. The High Minister was able to quickly notice from the image reports that the foreigners would maintain a constant guard in a ring around the tform. What was odd about this was that the guard was facing inward. They were not defending the tform, but defending against anything that may emerge from it.


    In the second year, after their homes had been established, they began constructing additional facilities. Stone towers that likely reached fifty meters high with an open roof. It was hard to tell the purpose of these towers, although they received heavy foot traffic.


    Starting from the third year, they began to more actively search their surroundings, forcing the High Minister to expand the istion zone. His advisors told him that he was being overly cautious, but he saw it differently. Each of the warriors from the foreign group showcased an astonishing level of power that was captured by the satellites.


    Finally, in the fifth year, they pulled their searches back. The foreigners kept to their own area and gradually expanded their vige, turning it into a small city built around the tform. This allowed them to get a more urate idea of the different cultures found beyond the tform.


    The primary difference that he noticed was that they seemed entirely incapable of using magic. While they proved to be masters of ki beyond anything the High Minister had seen, there was not a single sign of anyone using any kind of mana-based power. Initially, this had proven to be a relief, as it meant that these powerful warriors would not simply trample over the people of this world.


    Now it had been three years after the establishment of this city. Eight years since the appearance of the gate itself. Finally, the foreigners had begun to move again, this time in smaller organized units. They did not simply return back to base after a day of scouting as they had in the past, but moved further on.


    This meant that the High Minister now had to make his decision. But, in reality, there was only one decision to make. ¡°Send a message to the diplomatic envoys. Tell them that their mission has been approved.¡±


    Thanks to them having tracked down the Wood Elf that had first traversed the gate, they were able to learn a small amount of information, though she had been reluctant to say much. The only thing that she had made clear was that they were capable ofmunicating through quest objects. This made it easy to prepare a diplomatic team, which had been standing by for far too long.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Within one of the six Towers of Knowledge established within the foreign world, Jassar let out a breath of frustration. He was staring down at a series of documents. The research that everyone had been working on since their arrival. There were a number of interesting facts about this world that differed from what he knew.


    Of the nts within the area, there were arge number that were capable of being transnted into nearly any environment. Some had been taken to Fyor for tests, even, which had produced the most astounding results. These nts were capable of rapid mutation when grown within a hostile environment.


    This mutation did not cause the nts themselves to be violent or rapidly spread, however. Instead, they were able to change their structures or adapt new features to enable them to survive in a number of different biomes. One flower could be taken to a desert, and its roots would grow deep while it created arge bulb that filled with extracted groundwater.


    That same flower, when ced on an upperyer of Fyor, gradually became more sturdy. Its size increased, and it gained an almost lustrous shine. After six months of growing, it was no longer oppressed by the local gravity, and was capable of standing fully upright. Honestly, this was simply amazing. The potential found in these nts alone was mind-boggling.


    What frustrated him was the people¡­ or rather theck thereof. In the eight years since his arrival, not a single native had appeared, even just stumbling into the area. When they devoted a full year to scouting their surroundings to locate resource deposits, they were not able to locate a single soul.


    Now, they had met one native, the one that had originallye through to Earth. But she had vanished after returning to this world. This was enough for them to know that there were people here, the gate had simply been ced in an uninhabited area.


    Ill fortune aside, it was now just a matter of time. The first contact teams had been assembled and dispatched. It was¡­ regretful that it had taken so long, but there was little that could be done about that. Given that the storage enchantments from all known worlds simply failed to function here, there was a problem with preparing enough food to sustain a high level group.


    As Jassar leaned back in his chair, massaging his temple, he began to worry that he might not be able to make the deadline that he had been given by his empress. Ten years, she said. She had given him ten years to govern this territory in an attempt to establish contact with the natives. If he seeded, she would attempt to broker an agreement to allow him to remain inmand of this city as a trade hub.


    If he failed, however, he would be reced. His recement would then be given the same ten year deadline, the same deal. Only, the job would be far easier for his recement, as they would have ess to the decade of work that Jassar had already put in.


    Sabotaging his own work in the final year was an option, but a terrible one. The only reason to do so would be out of spite, and if he was caught he would surely be imprisoned. As Jassar was thinking that, he heard a horn sounding from outside the tower, the improvised rm that they had created, as none of theirmunication spells worked here.


    Jassar jumped to his feet, moving to open a nearby window. Pushing his ki into his voice, he called out. ¡°Report!¡±


    ¡°Travelers inbound!¡± A young dwarf shouted back, standing atop the stone wall over fifty meters away. It was thankful that they had at least been able to keep their use of ki. When he turned, pointing, Jassar¡¯s gaze followed, before his mouth began to hang open.


    In the air, just at the edge of the horizon, numerous figures were flying through the sky. These were not elves, nor beasts, but vessels made of steel. Each one appearedrge enough to hold five men, and there were ten of them. Though, depending on how tight the interiors were, they might not hold as many as he first guessed.


    They flew in a straight line towards the city, clearly having already located it long before their vessels came into view. First contact¡­ well, second contact was finally here. Jassar rushed away from the window and down the stairs, almost tripping in his haste as he left the tower.


    It took less than five minutes for the flying vehicles to arrive from the edge of the horizon. Each was shaped like a thick tube with a t underbelly, four wheels protruding from the bottom and two long, t panels on the sides. When theynded, a small door opened up on the left side of each vehicle, and three figures stepped out.


    From all ten vehicles, this made a total of thirty individuals. Among the group, there were ten wearing rather slim, neat suits. The other twenty were wearing leather armor, a sword or spear strapped to their sides.


    The first of the group, a woman with hair that was a deep ocean blue, stepped forward. She did not say anything, simply producing a piece of paper from air using a familiar ability, and passed it towards Jassar with a nod as he walked to meet her.


    Jassar didn¡¯t hesitate, opening the scroll and reading through it, allowing the trantion feature of the scroll to assist him. ¡°In the name of the High Minister of Demacry, Midan Highborne, I offer you greetings. We havee here as part of a diplomatic mission to greet you. May we be let in?¡±


    Jassar¡¯s heart was racing. Just as he had been worried about his mission potentially failing, these figures descended from the sky and delivered themselves to him. He nodded his head hastily, turning and calling back. ¡°Clear a way!¡±


    His sudden shout had put the armed guards on edge, until they saw that the various warriors and residents of this vige began to pull back from the street. When he turned again, motioning for them to follow, they allowed themselves to rx once again. They had been briefed on the potential strength of these foreigners, and did not wish to be caught unaware should a conflict break out. Of course, the objective was to ensure that no such conflict urred.

 Chapter 414: Long Live the Queen

    <h4>Chapter 414: Long Live the Queen</h4>


    Empress Margold looked over the reports with a furrowed brow. She had known that Spica would naturally be different from their own world, but she hadn¡¯t suspected how much. After eight years, they had not been able to figure out this new magic system, even with the hint that Ryone had given them.


    The Mother of Magic had once said that the magic of Spica came from the stars, and that mana rested in the upper atmosphere. As such, in order to get closer to that source of mana, the colony on Spica built numerous towers. Yet none of them were able to properly sense and control that mana.


    Perhaps it was simply because people of Earth had always controlled their mana from within themselves, so it was more difficult for them to connect with an external source. Either way, the magic was hardly the only thing different between their worlds.


    After making contact with the emissaries of Demacry, a report had been sent back to the empress about the political situation of Spica. Two kingdoms divided the entire, massive world. Such a thing was unheard of anywhere else, save for perhaps Fyor. And these Kingdoms appeared to be irreconcble enemies simply due to their views on technology.


    The elven empress was certain that putting the full backing of the Legion of Allied Worlds behind either kingdom would allow them to decide the fate of that eternal war. However, she did not want to do that.


    The Keeper had ced the gate directly on the border between these two nations. The only exnation for this that she coulde up with was that he wanted them to be allies with both, and favor neither. If the gate had appeared within the capital of Demacry, then there would be no question, she would convene a meeting of world leaders and urge that they support that nation.


    As it was, the only order that she could give was for Jassar to dere the colony as neutral territory. So long as neither side attempted to provoke hostilities, they would not be involved in this war. In doing so, she also sent an order for Jassar to make contact with Sce, dering these terms with both parties.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Tsuba!¡± Dana called out as she ran down the hall, now wearing a ck and white dress that matched Tsubaki¡¯s. One that had been sewn personally for her by the kitsune maid. She had a wide smile on her face as she ran towards the courtyard, where Tsubaki was already waiting for her. ¡°I¡¯m notte, am I?¡±


    ¡°No, Dana, you¡¯re right on time.¡± Tsubaki told her with a gentle expression that had be more and more natural for her as ofte. Even after finding Dana, she did not forget the mission that had been given to her. She kept up her regr training schedule, with only one small adjustment.


    Tsubaki no longer needed to go to Hell to find an opponent worthy of her full strength. Once she had properly measured Dana¡¯s energy, Tsubaki had noticed that it even surpassed her own. Although Dana did not know any true fighting skills, her raw power was beyond what Tsubaki could unleash.


    After tearing open a hole in the air in front of her, creating a wide portal, she ushered herself and Dana through. ¡°Today, we¡¯re going to try working on ki again.¡± She spoke, the two of them arriving atop arge mountain. Dana quickly noticed that a portion of the area had been carved away into a t clearing, with tworge carpetsid out. The corners of these carpets were held down by heavy stones to ensure that they did not blow away.


    ¡°But Tsubaaaa¡­¡± Dana drawled out with a pout, her cheeks puffing up. ¡°You know I can¡¯t use ki¡­ It¡¯s not¡­patible? Compatible with me!¡±


    Tsubaki gave a small nod of her head, moving to sit on one of the mats. ¡°I am aware, Dana. However, I believe that I have created a n that could potentially allow your body to cultivate ki. Please.¡± She motioned towards the other carpet, and Dana moved towards it with a huff.


    ¡°You see, the reason you cannot use ki is that your body does not have any. Without ki, you can¡¯t create a ki heart, which will enable you to produce more ki. Originally, I had thought that I could use my own ki to construct a ki heart within your body, but¡­¡±


    Dana paled, reaching a hand up to grab her chest. ¡°No thank you! That really hurtst time! I seriously thought I was going to die!¡±


    Tsubaki simply nodded her head. ¡°Right¡­ you can¡¯t use someone else¡¯s ki to establish a ki heart. Only your own can be used for that.¡±


    ¡°But I don¡¯t have ki.¡± Dana pointed out with a small whine.


    However, Tsubaki did not take offense to theint, simply smiling. ¡°What if there was a way for you to make some?¡±


    Dana sat there, simply blinking in confusion. ¡°What are you talking about¡­?¡± This was the first time that she had heard of being able to create ki without already having ki, so she was understandably confused.


    ¡°In order to resolve this issue of yours, I¡¯ve been going through the library¡¯s archives, when I stumbled upon something that allowed me to recall a special fact.¡± Tsubaki exined patiently, lifting one hand to create a familiar diagram in the air. At the center of the diagram, a ck void opened up, and grey mist began to slowly seep through.


    ¡°A feeding portal!¡± Dana called out in surprise. It was hard for her to mentally associate these portals with anything other than food, given that it was the only thing she was really able to eat.


    Tsubaki simply gave a lightugh, shaking her head. ¡°We¡¯re not eating right now, Dana. I want you to gather this spiritual energy as if you were going to create one of your dolls.¡±


    Dana blinked in confusion, but did not argue. She stretched her hand out, and the spiritual energy immediately reacted to her call. It surged towards her outstretched hand, gathering in her palm in a squirming mass.


    ¡°Good. Now,press it. Although the exchange rate is fairly poor, it is possible for spiritual energy to be converted into ki, mana, even natural energy. As long as we do this, it will be possible for you to gain ki that is entirely your own.¡±


    Dana¡¯s eyes went wide, but she did not lose her grip on the energy. She simply nodded, closing her eyes and focusing. She knew what ki felt like, she used to have it, back when she was a normal girl. So she concentrated on that memory.


    As Tsubaki watched, that squirming grey mass began to shrink, specks of yellow appearing within it. Soon, it had turned entirely into a small strand of earthen yellow light, sinking into Dana¡¯s hand. ¡°Oh, this feels weird¡­¡± Dana shivered, feeling the foreign energy now residing in her body.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay, you¡¯ll get used to it soon.¡± Tsubaki promised gently. ¡°Now, you¡¯ll need more ki than that to establish your ki heart. Keep going for now, and I¡¯ll let you know when to stop.¡±


    Dana gave a small nod of her head, drawing more and more spiritual energy from the void Tsubaki opened. Only now, it was gradually beginning to convert itself into ki before even reaching her hand. Once it got to her, it directly sank into her body while Tsubaki monitored her condition.


    It took roughly ten minutes of this process before Tsubaki closed the gateway to the Underworld. Thanks to the use of the cultivation mats, there was no risk of Dana¡¯s newly gathered ki simply disappearing before she had enough to properly cultivate a ki heart, allowing it all to stay within her body until they were ready.


    ¡°Okay, now this is going to be the hard part, Dana.¡± Tsubaki said as she held a hand out, a small strand of ki appearing in her palm. ¡°I¡¯m going to show you a pattern, and I need you to guide your ki to move along that same pattern inside of your body. These mats we¡¯re using will help, but this is still dependent on your own effort.¡±


    Dana nodded, opening her eyes to watch the light above Tsubaki¡¯s palm. Normally, a master would guide their students with their own ki to establish a secondary ki heart, but they had already discovered how Dana¡¯s body reacted rather explosively when someone else¡¯s ki tried to settle in it.


    Still, she trusted Tsubaki, and she had more than enough experience when it came to controlling energy. Reaching inwards, to the ki that she had just created, she grabbed the scattered threads of ki and began to weave them together. After which, she grabbed the very tip of the new thread, and began to pull it along the pattern that Tsubaki had told her.


    This time, the processsted more than an hour, Dana staring intently at the pattern until following it was simply a second nature. At one point, it felt almost as if the pattern Tsubaki was showing was controlling her ki, rather than Dana herself. But that was fine, Tsubaki knew what she was doing, and Dana trusted her.


    At the end of the hour, the beginning and end of the pattern seemed to slowly merge together. When Dana matched this, her eyes went wide. She realized that she no longer needed to control the ki, that it was now truly acting on its own, and that more was slowly being produced within her body.


    Congrattions! You have received an achievement!


    For oveing the limitations of your race(Aeon), you have received the Transcendent achievement.


    At this point, Dana truly had ovee her own limitations, cultivating an energy that was not meant to exist within her body. At the same time, she had opened the path to reach a higher realm of training.


    Tsubaki had simrly received an achievement for assisting someone in breaking their limits. Unlike Dana¡¯s, her achievement was Transcendent Teacher. When she checked the information, she noticed that the title had an active ability, which allowed her to ¡®view the energy of another¡¯. Although she was tempted to test it, she held off, noticing a troubled look on Dana¡¯s face. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±


    Hearing Tsubaki speak up, Dana hesitated before responding. ¡°I¡­ did I do something wrong, Tsuba?¡±


    Tsubaki was surprised that Dana would think something like that, and moved over to join her on her own cultivation mat. ¡°Why would you think something like that, dear?¡±


    ¡°I got a new title¡­¡± Dana spoke in a guilty tone, her head lowering. However, her words only confused Tsubaki even further.


    ¡°Why do you think that a new title would be something bad?¡± Her voice was soft, and she held an arm around Dana¡¯s shoulders to attempt tofort her.


    ¡°I¡­ the panel-voice always used to give me mean titles. Monstrous, Tyrant Soul, Queen of Hell¡­ I thought this might be a bad one, too¡­¡±


    Well, those were certainly unusual titles, and Tsubaki was a bit curious about their effects, but she held those thoughts in. ¡°No, no, it¡¯s nothing like that. Achievements are simply gained through performing various special actions. There¡¯s nothing good or bad about the achievement itself, only what you do to earn it¡­¡±


    Dana hesitated, before nodding her head, shifting over to lean against Tsubaki. ¡°Okay¡­ thanks, Tsuba.¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    I gave a small nod of my head as I watched the progress of the worlds, as well as that of Tsubaki and Dana. Eight years had passed in the world, but it had taken a full day on this end, due to me taking things a bit more slowly. Unlike Tsubaki¡­ I was unable to hold myself back from checking the effects of Dana¡¯s titles.


    Monstrous was a pretty simple one, which she had gained for crushing monsters that others would fear. If she equipped the title, it would apply a passive intimidation to those around her. While not equipped, that effect was far lessened, such that most would simply rather avoid her.


    Tyrant Soul was somewhat simr, but was more special for Dana. From the records, she had gained it by forcibly suppressing the creatures of Hell while trying to look for her father. This title provided an increased affinity with spiritual energy, without offering any other bonuses.


    And then finally, the Queen of Hell. This was a special title, an upgraded form of Tyrant Soul. It was obtained once she became the most infamous ¡®monster¡¯ in Hell. Thanks to that title, she gained an increased affinity with spiritual energy, and overall increased stats when residing in the Underworld.


    Just by looking through her titles, it was clear the type of life that she had been living until now¡­

 Chapter 415: Disaster Awareness

    <h4>Chapter 415: Disaster Awareness</h4>


    After witnessing the changes taking ce in thebined worlds, I shifted my attention to those that had not yet been joined. My gaze firstnded on Kione, recalling the scenario that the system had put us through in the meeting. We had asked for a copy of Kione¡¯s world settings, meaning that everything we experienced was a real possibility.


    The concept of amalgams was not a mere theory, as the system had proven it to be fact. As such, I began to search through the world, even as I watched how it quickly advanced. A part of me hoped that this world would not go down that path, that Irena¡¯s traumas wouldn¡¯t be relived again.


    Unfortunately, it did not take me long to find evidence of amalgamation research. As with the scenario, it had beenbeled as a forbidden research. Even the church expressly forbid it as sphemy against alia. But this did not stop some people, those who preferred to delve into the taboo arts.


    Potentially, I could go and crush them myself, but that would require extensive training to adapt to that world. While I did still have my memories from my time as Slyris, that did not include his history¡­


    It was then that I remembered a particr feature that had unlocked when I first became a first ranked Keeper. As I opened up the disaster spawner, I sent a mental message towards alia. Sorry to cut in like this, but did you hear about what had happened at the meeting with Irena?


    It took a few moments for her to respond, as if she had to think about what I meant. Do you mean the issue with that game you guys yed? Terra had told me about it, yeah¡­ Honestly, I didn¡¯t even realize that amalgamation was a thing before that.


    That would exin why it had been expressly banned by her church¡­ I¡¯m thinking of a more¡­ definite solution to the problem. Until we understand more about amalgamation, and unless there is some benefit for itter on, I was thinking of creating a disaster that spawns during amalgamation research. I want you to help me set one up that will sufficiently ¡®discourage¡¯ people from performing that research, while at the same time won¡¯t harm nearby civilians.


    Again, another long pause. Can¡¯t do earthquakes, or weather phenomena then¡­ honestly, I¡¯d like to do a tornado due to my domain. But if someone was doing that research underground, then it would not damage the research, and would only hurt those above.


    How about¡­ a Mana Null? That¡¯s a thing you can do, right? Whenever someone attempts to perform amalgamation, the mana in a small area around them is stripped away for a few minutes. No mana, no ritual, it¡¯ll be impossible for anyone toplete their research.


    I thought about that, closing my eyes and trying to imagine what sort of problems that could cause. I was not assuming that her answer was a bad one, merely trying to think of potential problems before they became an issue. I¡¯ll make it a very small area. Personal, maybe a couple meters in diameter. Any bigger, and it¡¯s possible that they will stumble upon it as a way to disrupt mages in a fight.


    As I spoke, I began to set the parameters for this disaster, before my mind went almost nk. Something else urred to me, something potentially bad. Hold that thought.


    Swapping over my ¡®channel¡¯, I sent a message to Aurivy. Got a moment? Potentially earth-shattering thoughts urring at the moment, and need your input.


    Dale, I always get worried when you use that tone, but go on¡­ Aurivy¡¯s response was understandably cautious.


    Have you ced any of your dungeon cores in Spica during the¡­ okay, nine years now that they¡¯ve been connected?


    Thankfully, her response this time was almost instant. Not yet, why? I was thinking about starting to branch out to there, soon. I¡¯ve finally gotten the secondary worlds of the demons fully mapped out with our dungeon n.


    Dungeons operate by releasing a field of mana that they control to reshape the area around them. I was mostly speaking to myself at that point, as Aurivy was far more familiar with the way that dungeons operated. However, in Spica, mana sources are stars.


    What does tha--oh¡­ potentially earth-shattering kaboom¡­ Okay, how do you want to handle this? It was clear that Aurivy had caught on fairly quickly. Given the nature of dungeons, and of magic as a whole in Spica, there were three options for how dungeons could operate.


    The first, and most likely option was that they simply work as normal, with only minor mechanical changes. This was the ideal answer, however it was not the only one. In either of the other two scenarios, it would range from useless to terrible.


    The second option was that, like other magic, dungeons simply did not operate on Spica. Their mana would be unable to leave their own cores, and they would forever remain as inert lumps of crystal within the ground. This was the ¡®useless¡¯ option.


    The ¡®terrible¡¯ option¡­ if mana sources were stars, then perhaps dungeons would undergo a mutation in Spica and be stars as well. While this was the least likely of the three options, the possibility was not zero. Going by the theory that the creation of mana produces heat and light, which then carries that mana to distant worlds, then a dungeon core which produces mana would be treated as a small-scale star when operating under thosews.


    We need to test, first. Terra, I know you¡¯re listening. If I go down to Spica, I will still have my godly status from Earth, correct? That won¡¯t be stripped away due to me not merging thews?


    There was a brief pause before I heard someone clearing their throat, Terra quietly speaking up. I wasn¡¯t eavesdropping, I swear. I can¡¯t help it¡­ Anyways, if you weren¡¯t at your fully divine stage, then it is possible that your body would have a negative reaction in Spica. As you are now, however, your descended body is made entirely of divine energy, and is thus unaffected by the change in mana.


    Divine energy functions simrly in both worlds, so its uses will remain unchanged. Simrly, since you cultivated it manually, and it is not a ss granted to you by Earth¡¯s system, you will retain full control over it.


    That caused me to let out a small sigh of relief. Okay, Aurivy. Find me the furthest region of space that we can monitor. Terra, I¡¯m guessing you can¡¯t just answer our question for us here?


    Sorry, Dale¡­ Terra spoke up with a tone of regret.


    It¡¯s fine, I kinda expected that would be the case. So, the only way that we will be able to discover the answer is by testing it ourselves. I gave a nod to myself as I decided that, turning my attention towards the map of Spica. The map zoomed out, further and further. Soon, the was a green and blue dot, orbited by itsrge moons, each of which were simrly growing smaller.


    Spica had long since begun studying their stars, and in doing so they would naturally cause the system to fill that space in ¡®retroactively¡¯. So while I was happy when the map zoomed out past the entire sr system, other stars appearing in the distance, I was not at all surprised.


    In fact, the map continued to zoom, until I was able to see the entirety of the gxy. Unlike the Milky Way that I knew from my own world, the gxy of Spica was not spiral. Rather, it consisted of a singlerge, dense ring.


    Further zooming out, I was able to see a few other gxies in the distance. Okay, where is the furthest that we can monitor closely? I corrected my earlier request.


    There was a pause, before the map began rapidly zooming in, back towards Spica. Or at least, the same general region of the gctic ring as Spica. The that Aurivy showed me was clearly not one capable of supporting life, being too far from its parent star. This is PX-9, by the Spican designation. An uninhabited world that they only recently managed to make out clearly due to their long range telescopes.


    It¡¯ll work. I nodded my head, taking a deep breath. Now¡­ spawn a dungeon on this world.


    As soon as I had said my request, I saw a tiny speck of light appearing on the surface of the. Switching over to view thermal data, I could see the area around the spawn zone rapidly increasing in temperature. Its mana was clearly not enough to make bright light like a true star, but¡­ dungeons clearly operated under the worst or the three possibilities.


    And then, just as I was watching the data, I noticed the temperature beginning to cool once again. Part of me hoped that the dungeon had managed to control the outburst of energy, and I quickly switched my view back to zoom in on the area it had been ced.


    What I found was a shattered, blue crystal. The dungeon had not managed to regain control of itself, but rather its mana had be too hot for its own body to withstand. While this did mean that there was no risk of a dungeon going supernova on Spica, it also meant that it was impossible to ce them within this world.


    Sorry, Aurivy¡­


    It¡¯s fine. She responded with a voice that clearly spoke otherwise, saddened by the loss of the dungeon. Better to learn now than when I tried to sneak them inter, right?


    I wasn¡¯t quite sure what to say there, and could only nod my agreement. I hadn¡¯t even considered the dungeons when I was thinking about whether or not to merge thews. And given how Fyor¡¯s crystal spires were in essence giant mana crystals¡­ merging thews may have outright destroyed Fyor. Meanwhile, those old dungeons that had grown over hundreds, even thousands of years would produce far more mana than a newly spawned one.


    Shaking my head, I quickly cleared away those thoughts, before returning my attention to Kione. The disaster spawner had already been pulled up, and I already had almost everything entered in. All that was left was to actually purchase the change for¡­ thirteen hundred points?


    I gave a wince at that price, before I realized why it had turned out to be so expensive. This wasn¡¯t a case of a creature¡¯s appearance causing a magical reaction, but altering thews of magic themselves such that a single ritual now had an entirely different effect. While it might look like a small change, it was one that had to be handled extensively.


    When it came to this, I really did not want to be stingy, and confirmed the expenditure with only a brief reluctance. Sorry, I¡¯m back alia¡­ Okay, that should take care of that. Hopefully, even those entric researchers will abandon the topic when they learn that it is now a dead end.


    It¡¯s fine, Dale. I kept an eye on what you were up to. That was unfortunate, to say the least. As for Kione, I already sent another divine message to my church. They¡¯ve been made aware that I have entirely forbidden amalgamation, and have ¡®shattered its potential¡¯. Best way I coulde up with to tell them.


    I nodded my head when I heard that, d that she was taking care of things. Even if Kione was a rather unusual worldpared to my others, I was happy that she was ying an active role in its development.


    Relieved that the immediate issues with Kione had been taken care of, I prepared to turn my sight to Lorek next. Given that this world was now being governed by both Keliope and Tubrock, I wanted to see what changes had urred now that it was starting to advance more quickly.

 Chapter 416: Beyond Perfection

    <h4>Chapter 416: Beyond Perfection</h4>


    Along the waters of Lorek, a dozen vessels sailed the boundless oceans of the south. Though the waves rose tall on either side of these great vessels, they seemed to smooth out directly in front and behind. These were the vessels of the Durak Nomads, who had long since found a map that would lead them to the ancientnds of the ¡®ursa¡¯.


    Not only that, but they had discovered the next step in cultivation, a level beyond even the Grandmaster. The nomads referred to this level as the Ancients. After shattering one¡¯s own stars, they allow their neb to grow within themselves. This neb represents the sum of all of their wisdom, all of their knowledge regarding their path of cultivation.


    As they study their path again, the neb begins to form countless new stars. These stars, unlike the previous ones, are but pebbles inparison. However, it is their sheer number and all of the profoundws that they represented that truly showcased the power of the Ancients. More importantly, these stars could represent individual techniques, making them more easily essed by their users.


    Among the entire tribe of nomads, there were only two Ancients. Ancient Jana had been the first to walk this path, having expected to fall to it like her love did before her. Yet fate yed a cruel trick indeed, allowing the advancement to be a far more smooth process for her with little risk.


    With every advancement increasing the life expectancy of the one who reached it, it was hard to say how long it would take Jana to die a natural death at this point. She still had no intentions of throwing her life away recklessly, unless it was truly something necessary for the tribe.


    With the appearance of the Ancients, it seemed almost natural that there were more teachers capable of leading those of lower ranks. Masters, a rank once revered as the almighty, now numbered in the hundreds, with elders being too many to count. Even considering only the grandmasters, there were a total of eight.


    However, they had been made aware through broken murals and tattered scrolls that this was also not the end. Records had been found indicating the existence of a higher rank, the true leaders of the ancient civilization. This rank was simply referred to as ¡®Immortal¡¯. Given that these records did not contain all of the necessary information, it was hard to tell how many ranks existed between ¡®Ancient¡¯ and ¡®Immortal¡¯.


    As Jana was thinking about this, she noticed dark shadows spreading out below the ship she had been left in charge of. Furrowing her brow, she could clearly sense the danger that the shadow represented. If it attacked¡­ it would easily be able to annihte their entire expedition.


    Jana spread her arms out, sending calming waves of energy to spread through the water. This was a basic technique of those who cultivated the Water Star¡¯s path, a method to pacify beasts of the sea. Without this, they would never dare to cross the ocean, where beasts beyond imagination freely roamed.


    She watched, eyes fixed on the shadow as it moved to the surface. Then, she saw it suddenly change its path, wandering off to the side as if having lost interest. Jana let out a sigh of relief, turning her attention back to the horizon.


    They had been sailing for months now, and finally they were able to see the end of their long journey. A vast stretch ofnd, ruined structures, and¡­ fishing boats. Active ones, not wrecks left by the ancient civilizations.


    For the first time in so, so long, Jana was genuinely happy to be alive.


    _______________________________________________________________


    I gave a faint nod as I looked at Lorek, satisfied with their progress. However, it was not without fault. Of the ns that had left the homnd of the dwarves, only the water n showed such prosperity. The vast majority of the other ns had been destroyed by starbeasts, or by the harsh winters when they were unable to hunt. Only the spear n held some semnce of its former glory, but even that was just a mere echo.


    The dwarves still living on their original ind¡­ they were still safe. But it wasn¡¯t wise to expect anything out of them any time soon. They had all but given up on the path of cultivation, content with just living normal lives.


    As for the ursa? I was actually quite surprised when I saw how they had operated. Instead of the dwarves¡¯ method of scouring the ancient civilizations for knowledge and moving on, the ursa took a different approach. They moved into a city, worked on restoring it to its former glory. They did not live in the mountains as the dwarves had grown ustomed to, but rather in thefortable buildings that Tubrock had personally crafted.


    In a way, this concept allowed the ursa to flourish on their continent. They still had the golems that protected their cities, ensuring their safety. And in this way, they were able to uncover more of the knowledge that Tubrock had left behind.


    The ursa worked the fields, retreating into their cities when the weather worsened, and built magnificent fishing ships ording to the records left behind. In many aspects, they were doing far better than the dwarves when it came to survival.


    However, because they did not aggressively explore and experience hardships like the dwarves did, their cultivation wascking inparison. While they had found the teachings left behind on how to advance to the next rank, their highest cultivation was what the dwarves referred to as Grandmaster.


    I could expect that the nomadic dwarves would likely be able to integrate quite well with ursan society. Once they overcame thenguage barrier, that is¡­ Tubrock had not been so generous as to use the samenguage for the ruins of both the dwarves and the ursa.


    Shaking my head, I turned my sight away from Lorek, looking back towards Earth as time sped forward.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Yes, thank you for making the time to meet with me, Lady Tsubaki.¡± An elven man said respectfully, bowing towards the maid. He did not question the appearance of the second girl, elven by appearance, assuming that it was just another of the Keeper¡¯s servants.


    ¡°Of course, Mister Bayrun.¡± Tsubaki returned the bow with one of her own. ¡°You said that you had an important matter to discuss with me.¡±


    ¡°That is correct, yes. But first¡­ I must ask you a question. I suspect that I already know the answer regardless, but¡­ you have trained the ¡®Perfect Self¡¯ ss, correct?¡± Jonas asked curiously, looking towards Tsubaki.


    There was barely a small twitch in Tsubaki¡¯s eye when she heard the man¡¯s question. ¡°I see¡­ the fact that you know that name means that you should have trained the ss as well. And you sought me out due to the clues that I had practiced it first. Is that correct?¡±


    Jonas smiled thankfully, nodding his head. ¡°Yes, that is quite right, mydy. In the midst of research intended to ovee the limitations of the mortal body, I theorized the existence of a purely energy-based form that could be achieved. Something akin to the Martial Spirits, or World Spirits.¡±


    ¡°My peers called my research ignorant, iming that there could be no limits on the mortal body so long as we continued to level up, the world¡¯s system adjusting our structure so as to allow constant growth. But that is not something I believed¡­¡±


    ¡°And so, I continued my research, eventually realizing the significance of your existence. A kitsune unbound by age, living longer than any elf. Sometimes, your form would even freely change to mimic another race. Again, my friends simply dismissed my ims, saying that you had the blessing of the Keeper himself, so such things were only natural.¡±


    Jonas let out a long breath, reaching up to massage his forehead. ¡°I did not believe that the Keeper would show such favoritism, even to his own servant. I mean no disrespect when I say that, mydy, I merely imply that I believe you reached your current stage through your own efforts.¡±


    Tsubaki thought about it for a moment, before nodding her head. ¡°The Keeper did warn me about what the path I had chosen meant, and offered me a room to perform the final step. However, that was the extent of his involvement.¡±


    ¡°As I suspected.¡± Jonas¡¯s lips curved upwards, clearly pleased with the validation of his theory. ¡°I would have liked to have contacted you sooner, but¡­ after I performed the ¡®Ritual of Perfection¡¯, I was left rather small. It took me several years to regain my former stature, and then more to find a method of contacting you. Thankfully, you encountered one of my peers within that game going around.¡±


    ¡°Vision Expanse is so cool!¡± The second girl spoke up in an energetic voice, before hastily covering her mouth. ¡°Sorry, Tsuba¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, Dana.¡± Tsubaki waved a hand dismissively, as if the outburst did not bother her. ¡°You should be talking about Able, the sixth rank spellsmith. He was the one that had asked me to meet you.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Even after my research proved sessful, many of them still refuse to believe that the mortal body has those limitations I spoke about. Regardless, I feel as if there should still be a higher realm, beyond what I am currently capable of seeing.¡±


    When Tsubaki heard his words, she fell into a deep thought. She recalled something that the Keeper had once said to her. ¡°Mister Bayrun, do you know why you were so small afterpleting your ritual?¡±


    Jonas blinked, having not expected such a question. ¡°It should be due to the fact that that was the most condensed form of my energy, resulting in a smaller being. Am I incorrect?¡±


    ¡°No, no, that ispletely true. Now, if that is the most condensed form of your energy, then imagine if you had appeared at your normal size. Or if that most condensed form wasrger than your normal size.¡±


    Jonas¡¯s eyes went wide as he heard that, his head nodding rapidly. ¡°Yes, exactly! Everyone kept saying that the system wouldpensate for the change, but how can a vessel hold more than its size allows? After reaching a certain level of energy, it would only be natural for someone¡¯s body to be unable to hold anymore!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s correct. ording to the Keeper, if anyone reaches that level, their body would simply explode. I have had many years to think about this, and have arrived at a few possibilities for what could happen after that. If they are unprepared, they may be able to use theirst moments of cognizance to form the body of either an aeon or a martial spirit.¡±


    ¡°However, if they have prepared properly for that event, then they will be able to naturally obtain the forms that you and I now hold. But that is not all. Even now, we have the ability to acquire more and more energy. You have not reached what I call the ¡®saturation point¡¯, where your energy is once again condensed to its fullest even at its full size.¡±


    ¡°Once that happens, you have only two choices. You may either allow your body to continue growing, or separate it. If you perform thetter, you will be able to maintain your current size, but your attention will be constantly divided.¡±


    Jonas sank into thought as he heard that. He spected that there should be a stage even beyond the Perfect Self, something that he had simply not seen yet. While he did not doubt Tsubaki¡¯s words, he felt that she was not telling him everything. ¡°I understand, mydy. And I thank you for giving validation to my years of research. Your answers today mean more than you likely realize.¡±

 Chapter 417: The End of the Line

    <h4>Chapter 417: The End of the Line</h4>


    After Tsubaki left, Jonas began pacing his room in thought. ¡°She said that I have yet to reach the saturation point of my current form. Obviously, I am still able to be more powerful within my current stage. But, that is not what interests me. No, there must still be a higher stage. Although the world acknowledges that this is a ¡®perfect¡¯ form, can it be considered truly perfect?¡±


    Jonas walked over towards his desks, pushing aside one of his books toy out a paper, scrawling down some figures. ¡°The Keeper himself confirmed that this is the next logical step of growth, shedding the physical to be pure energy. But that doesn¡¯t make sense. What am I missing?¡±


    ¡°If those who attain the perfect form continue to grow endlessly, then eventually there will be ack of territory avable for them on a world. No, even worse, it is possible that they could eventually grow to berger than the entire. The next stage couldn¡¯t be that those of us with perfect forms must leave our worlds, and live among the stars, could it? No, why would the Keeper design such a thing.¡±


    As he was going through his thoughts, he seemed to realize something. ¡°The perfect self¡­ it truly is perfect. Itbines the soul, the mind, the life, and the world. But there is another energy, isn¡¯t there? Not the chaos of the dark priests, which corrodes all it touches. What can be better than perfect¡­ if not the gods?¡±


    As if a jolt of electricity had moved through him, Jonas shuddered. The thought of encroaching on the realm of the gods was the epitome of heresy. And yet¡­ were they not already? Every living being wielded a spark of divinity. Bards and knights utilized this spark for a variety of effects on a regr basis.


    If an energy can be wielded, it can be cultivated. This was a truth that had existed since the dawn of civilization. Divine energy had never been an exception, as the use of it through the aforementioned sses would gradually strengthen the spark over time. ¡°Perhaps the next step is to cultivate the spark into a me¡­¡± Jonas muttered to himself.


    ¡°But how¡­? Need I be a bard, or pledge myself to be a knight in order to wield this energy?¡± The elf knew that he had no talent for song, and his propensity forbat was dreadful. He had obtained the levels he had through practical study rather than livebat.


    Of the two, the easiest path for him was to be a bard. As a knight, his time would no longer be his own, and he would have to live for his lord. Unless he were able to receive a lord like the Keeper who allowed the freedom that Tsubaki enjoyed, his research would be forced to the side.


    With that set, Jonas nodded his head, standing up from his desk and walking towards the door. If his research required him to be a bard, then a bard he would be.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Within the world of Spica, there was an uneasy ceasefire urring. The wood elves of the forest and the dark elves of the mountains were left confused. For as long as anyone could remember, there had never been an end to the fighting between the two nations.


    Of course, there would be long pauses between conflicts, but¡­ they would neverst more than a year at most. As of now, it had been nearly five years since thest news of a conflict spread. For these scattered tribes, the reason behind this was a mystery. Even among the high elves to the two nations, many were unaware of the exact reason.


    Those in power, however, knew quite well. Both nations had been forced to call a ceasefire because of the arrival of a third party. Although Demacry tried to curry favor with them by securing first contact with these foreigners, they immediately reached out towards Sce afterwards.


    It did not take them long to learn the reasons behind the eternal conflict, and the war that had turned into tradition more than any true hatred. They dered that they would remain a neutral party, that they would not join either side, and would conduct business with both equally.


    This was¡­ a suspicious arrangement to the leaders of both nations, as they could not help but imagine these foreigners secretly joining the other team. After being involved in politics, they had long since learned their lessons. Whenever a leading party makes a move openly, they will typically make two or three secretly as well, and it was those secret moves you needed to watch out for.


    Thus, both parties called for a temporary ceasefire to rearrange their troops. The small plot ofnd that these foreigners had imed meant little to either country, positioned immediately along the border. The armies walked the starlight bridges back towards their base camps, and awaited their next orders.


    The first order of business for both groups was to position squads nearby the foreigners¡¯nd, which they had mistakenly begun calling Earth. This is due to the message that had been ryed by the envoys, ¡®We are from Earth.¡¯ To them, they believed that was what they were calling the territory that had been imed, as opposed to their home world.


    So, both kingdoms felt the need to station squads near ¡®Earth¡¯, watching for any dangerous moves. At the same time, they also acted sincerely, taking the foreigners up on their offer for trade.


    While they did not originally expect much, they were surprised to find numerous powerful artifacts. While none of them were distinctly magical, many had the power of ki flowing through them. Demacry was even pleased to find several different inventions that they had yet to create within their own borders.


    However, these foreigners did not take currency for their trade. The gems of Spica seemed to hold little value to them. Instead, they asked for one of two things to barter. Those of Spica could either teach them the magic of this world, or trade items of simr value to what they were asking.


    For Sce, the choice was easy. They had no issues with the spread of magical knowledge, and fully encouraged any civilian to master at least the fundamentals. Schrs and astronomers were sent to ¡®Earth¡¯ to act as instructors in exchange for those ki-forged items such as cannons and spears.


    Demacry was understandably more hesitant when it came to giving magical knowledge to Earth, as they were well aware of how powerful their warriors were. Sce might have seen it as innocent curiosity, but Demacry knew better. If the beings of Earth were just as talented with magic as they were martial prowess, teaching them the magic of Spica would breed an army that neither nation would be able to match.


    So instead, they chose to send items, those mostly magical in nature. As the beings of Earth were unable to understand Spica¡¯s magic in the first ce, and Earth was keeping their deals with both parties separate, they saw no harm in providing them with devices that they could not properly understand.


    Like this, the colony under Jassar¡¯s control managed to easily gain both the knowledge of Spica¡¯s magic, and the items that were able to take advantage of that magic. Although it was difficult to practice a school of magic fundamentally different from any that they were used to¡­ elves were nothing if not patient.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Queen Sylva, unofficial leader of Deckan and Queen of Kirol, walked towards her room with heavy steps. Though it did not show on her body, she was no longer a young woman. She could feel the hands of fate closing in around her, despite her attempts to fend it off with the practice of ki. While she kept a lively demeanor in front of her friends or her people, she was truly tired, her heart aching with every moment.


    When she opened the door of her quarters, she saw a familiar sight. A kitsune with golden hair curled up on her bed, snuggling into a pillow. She wore a mesh nightgown, and although her body looked incredibly rxed, her eyes were open, watching Sylvia at the door.


    Sylvia let out a chuckle, shaking her head with a wry grin. ¡°Back already, Udona?¡± She asked, closing the door behind herself as she walked towards the bed,ying on it to face the Goddess of Life. ¡°You were just here yesterday. I wasn¡¯t expecting you back for a few weeks.¡±


    Udona had a somewhat sad look on her face, reaching out to gently grasp Sylvia¡¯s hand. ¡°I wanted to be here for you.¡± She said in a quiet tone. ¡°And I wanted to ask again, if--¡±


    Sylvia held up her free hand, shaking her head. ¡°No, Udona. Thank you for the offer, really. I mean it, it¡¯s great. But I wouldn¡¯t be able to ept living just by the power of a goddess.¡± Though she said that, she returned the hold on Udona¡¯s hand. ¡°If you¡¯re here, that means it¡¯s soon?¡±


    Udona nodded, her eyes beginning to mist over. ¡°From what I can tell¡­ tonight. Your heart is wearing itself down, even as we speak. If you don¡¯t let me do something¡­ You¡¯ve been overtaxing your ki in order to maintain normal function, and your body can¡¯t take it anymore.¡±


    Sylvia simply shook her head, releasing her control over her ki for the first time in a long while. Her hair began to quickly fade, her youthful skin tightening and bing wrinkled. ¡°There is only one thing you can do for me, my Goddess.¡± She said, even as her voice began to grow hoarse, no longer sustained by the energy that had kept it young and fresh.


    ¡°Anything, my friend.¡± Udona spoke up without hesitation, staring into Sylvia¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Be friends with the one that reces me. Guide her like you¡¯ve guided me.¡± This was Sylvia¡¯s heartfelt wish, as she knew that she wouldn¡¯t have turned into the woman she was if not for Udona. ¡°Let her be your joy, as I have always strived to be. And if she steps out of line¡­ kick her ass for me.¡±


    As she closed her eyes, her thoughts growing heavy, she could hear a dry chuckle from Udona, who leaned forward and gave Sylvia a chaste kiss on the forehead. ¡°Your mother asked for the same thing, you know¡­ Okay, you have my word, Sylvia. I¡¯ll be friends with Bria, just like you wanted. Now sleep, my friend.¡±


    Saying that, Udona began to gently stroke a hand through Sylvia¡¯s hair, humming a gentle tune to send her off. Her lips parted, and she began to sing a song she only ever sang for those she truly held dear.


    ¡°This hand of fate, this game of life.


    These years of love, of loss and strife.


    A hand so cruel, yet fate holds true.


    We walk the path as time rues.¡±


    ¡°These cards we y, our day to day.


    As love and sorrow fades away.


    The deck is set, the die is cast.


    These lives we yearn for, fade too fast.¡±


    ¡°But what are we to do, howe I can¡¯t say,


    I¡¯ll just live my life another way.


    This game¡¯s so cruel that I can¡¯t y,


    So I¡¯ll hold my heart and fly away.¡±


    ¡°Soe with me, and we¡¯ll be free.


    We¡¯ll share our lives eternally.


    For what is fate to you and me,


    Let¡¯s take away this destiny.¡±


    ¡°This life is ours, let¡¯s live it well.


    Don¡¯t break my heart and end this spell.


    It¡¯s you and me, right here and now.


    So hear my words, so hear my vow.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s fly away¡­¡±


    As Udona finished the song, she could feel a line of wetness running down her cheeks. No matter how many lifetimes she lived, no matter how many friends she made, it always hurt her to watch them die. And as shey across from Sylvia, she could see the flicker of life fading away.


    Onest favor. Udona thought to herself, wrapping Sylvia¡¯s soul with her power. She would not force Sylvia to live, as she had already rejected that choice. But she could ensure the protection of her soul, and that it reached the afterlife safely. One final gift that she could offer her friends, and she once again carried it out, her body fading away from the bed.


    Though Sylvia had passed, the gentle smile on her aged face was unmistakable. And it was that smile that Udona had cherished. A happiness that she could grant to another even in their final moments.

 Chapter 418: The Passing of the Torch

    <h4>Chapter 418: The Passing of the Torch</h4>


    In the morning, the body of the queen was found lying in her bed. The best doctors, shamans, and mages of the court were immediately called to investigate, unsure if she had suffered from foul y. Yet, they all came to the same conclusion. Even the guardian spirit of the royal family could only say that she died of natural causes.


    Everyone knew that Queen Sylvia was quite old for a kitsune, but¡­ it was simply hard to picture the bright, energetic woman that was always goofing around as someone near the end of her lifespan. When it struck, those around her mourned. Her children, her friends, they all attended her funeral. Even the Empress of the elven empire appeared.


    However, the one struck perhaps the hardest by all of this was her eldest child. A woman of almost twenty years by the name of Bria. Her silver hair was cut short, just above her shoulders, her blue eyes watering as she walked back to her room.


    She was so distraught that she did not immediately recognize the presence of another figure in her room, closing the door behind her and walking over towards her bed. Once she copsed onto the bed, and btedly realized that she wasn¡¯t alone, her head shot up to look at the figure. The other party was naturally someone that she recognized, someone that any kitsune would recognize. ¡°Ldy Udona.¡± She wiped at her eyes, doing her best to lookposed in front of the goddess.


    Yet Udona simply shook her head, standing up from the chair along the wall and walking over. Without a word, she wrapped the surprised Bria in a hug, holding her firmly against her chest. Bria was able to see the look of loss in Udona¡¯s expression as well, a look that would be forever burned into her heart, something that made her look far more real than any statue or painting.


    And seeing that look was enough, causing Bria to start crying anew into the body of the goddess. ¡°Why¡­ why did she have to die?¡± She knew it was impudent of her to ask the goddess to have favored her mother above others, to let her live while the poor and starving were left to suffer. Yet it was her mother, and she was still mourning.


    ¡°She chose this.¡± Udona whispered sadly, stroking through Bria¡¯s silver hair. ¡°She wanted you to have your chance to shine. Your chance to stand tall, not in her shadow. Don¡¯t worry, Bria, she is still watching over you. And¡­ she wanted me to tell you something after I guided her beyond.¡±


    Bria lifted her head, the tears still trailing down her cheeks. She just waited to hear her mother¡¯s final message, until Udona leaned forward to press her forehead against Bria¡¯s. ¡°She said that she loves you, and that she wants you to be the brilliant woman she knows you can be.¡±


    ¡°Mom¡­ mom said that?¡± Bria asked, her speech broken by her cries. Udona only nodded her head slightly to confirm, and Bria wrapped her arms around Udona, holding the goddess. ¡°You were there for her¡­ at the end, weren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Your mother was an amazing woman.¡± Udona said in answer. ¡°How could I not be?¡±


    Bria paused, thinking about that, before lowering her head once again. ¡°Thank you¡­ you let her smile. I know she was happy to have you there for her¡­¡±


    Udona¡¯s body seemed to freeze at that, before she squeezed Bria just a bit harder. ¡°Of course¡­ isn¡¯t that what I¡¯m supposed to do? Life is so much more beautiful when you can enjoy it.¡±


    Bria gave a small, jerky nod as she agreed. Eventually, she pulled her head back, seeming to realize the implications of actually crying against and hugging a goddess. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­ I¡¯ve shown you something disgraceful.¡±


    Udona furrowed her brow, almost pouting as she brought one of her hands up and lightly flicked Bria¡¯s nose with a finger. The younger kitsune recoiled, bringing her hands up to cover her nose as her face flushed red. ¡°None of that.¡± Udona told her more firmly. ¡°I didn¡¯te here looking for someposed queen-to-be. I came here because¡­ you needed someone. And maybe I wanted to be it, okay?¡±


    Bria blinked in confusion, her hands still covering her nose. ¡°You mean¡­?¡± She wasn¡¯t quite sure what to make of that, but knew it was far more than other people received from the goddess.


    ¡°I mean I wanna be friends.¡± Udona spoke, still in that same firm tone, which was now ruined by the upwards twitching of her lips. ¡°I want to be here for you when you need someone, and I want you to be here for me when I just wannain or hang out.¡±


    ¡°O-okay.¡± What else was Bria supposed to say at a time like this? How was she supposed to tell a goddess no, even if she wanted to?


    _______________________________________________________________


    I gave a small smile as I watched Udona ¡®introducing¡¯ herself to the new kitsune queen. While it had apparently be something of a tradition for her to be friends with the queens of Kirol, I didn¡¯t n to hold it against her. If anything, it was nice that she was able to keep meeting people that epted her like that.


    Thinking of that, I wondered how her guild was doing in Vision Expanse. It had been around twenty years now since its firstunch, and numerous other games had been released in that time. While the poprity of the game did indeed suffer a bit, it was still ¡®a world created by the Keeper¡¯.


    Looking back through Earth¡¯s records, I was quite surprised by what I saw. Legion had retired from the professional gaming scene, most of their members beyond the prime of their youth. Instead, Legion had set up various businesses within Vision Expanse, using the ie earned from that as their retirement funds. Most of these businesses were set up within their space stations, orbiting both of the known worlds.


    The one exception to this was the elf, Crystal Heart. After her guild leader decided to retire, he had granted her the Sky Citadel, which she now used to travel through space. Even after bing friends with Aurivy, she still wished to hunt the Mad King. Though, I suspected that it was now more of a game of hide and seek than a true grudge.


    The impact this game had was quite far-reaching, as much as I had originally hoped. Numerous space exploration programs had begun, with both Earth and Desbar managing to sessfully reach their own moon. To my surprise, it was Desbar that showed the greatest sess there, setting up a small colony on the moon with the help of numerous druids and engineers.


    I imagined that Spica simrly contributed to this sess, as Demacry already had the experience with sending people into space. Still, the fact that they were moving beyond their own worlds and properly settling into the space age was exciting to me.


    Oi,d! Tubrock¡¯s voice suddenly called out into my mind. Lorek should be ready for the merge whenever ye want. Terra says it¡¯s just a step shy of entering the games.


    Good. I responded, nodding my head in satisfaction. This put us one step closer to advancing.


    Also, I finished the golem body for the spellss ye made a while back.


    I blinked when I heard that, having almost forgotten that I asked Tubrock to make that after the meeting. Ah, right. Can you send it down to Tsubaki? She should know what to do with it.


    After that brief exchange, I looked to the Underworld, wanting to see the results of the new additions that had been made there.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Above the Governor''s Pce, a golden moon recently came into being. When it did, the Goddess of Death descended from her heavenly castle to make an announcement to all. ¡°Behold, the Realm of Eternity.¡± Her voice seemed to echo through the entire Underworld, everyone looking up towards that golden moon.


    ¡°Those who earn sufficient karmic merits shall be granted ess to this new realm. Here, one needs not worry about time. Their spirits will no longer degrade, and they will no longer be forced to re-enter the cycle of rebirth.¡±


    ¡°However, with fitting rewardse fitting punishments. Let it be known, those of true evil shall simrly be removed from the cycle. They will not be granted eternal pleasure, but rather torment. Their souls will be driven to the abyss for all time. This is my decree.¡±


    After she left those words, she once more vanished into the mists. And then, soon afterwards, a young halfling within one of the satellite cities found himself glowing with golden light. A voice entered his mind, the same voice that had just resonated throughout the world. You have been chosen, my child. Do you wish for eternity?


    The voice was kind and gentle, causing the halfling to look around in surprise. He was not aware of any great deeds that he had done, yet he was truly the first worthy of this Eternity. In his life, he had died in order to save his family, leading away a monster that they had no hope of defeating so that they could escape. In his previous lives, he had steadily built up his karma as a hero or inventor, and had long since reached the point that Irena could no longer bestow rewards on him.


    ¡°I¡­ are you sure?¡± The boy asked hesitantly. ¡°Why me?¡±


    Your soul has long since be too bright. There is no longer a reward I can offer you, aside from eternity itself. I wish to grant you peace, a peace in which you can watch over those you loved in the living world without having to fight anymore.


    He hesitated once again, before nodding. As soon as he consented, a golden stairway seemed to stretch out from that giant moon,nding directly before him. Naturally, there were those that saw this and hoped to take a shortcut to their ¡®due rewards¡¯.


    As soon as these poor souls charged forward, they found themselves being mmed back by an invisible force. They were unable to even approach within ten meters of those stairs. Yet the boy himself stepped on them with no interference.


    Almost in a daze, he began walking up as the stairway began vanishing behind him. The distance seemed like it would take hours, even days for him to cross, yet he could see the ending closer and closer with every step he took. After only a mere minute of climbing, the moon was close enough that he could see a golden gateway at the end of the stairs.


    Once he reached that gate, it opened of its own ord, the boy able to walk in. He found avishly decorated pce, but even more surprising was that he was not alone. Young men and women d in golden clothes lined up before him, bowing in reverence.


    ¡°We greet Hazel Bandicurt.¡± They said in unison before lifting their heads. These were the Caretakers. Existences created with the Realm of Eternity to serve those within.


    As Hazel stood there in a daze, a different scene was ying out within the Underworld. While he had umted so many karmic merits that he had been granted ess, there were numerous souls that had done the opposite. Those who had stooped to such evils that ck chains wrapped in dark fire reached out from the ground to pull them in.


    Their screams echoed in the Underworld, but the goddess was not unjust. Those who had made an effort to begin repenting, or those who had umted their sins in previous lives while having lived a more noble one more recently were spared. Only those who were truly evil to their core were dragged to the abyss.

 Chapter 419: Treasured Knowledge

    <h4>Chapter 419: Treasured Knowledge</h4>


    I wasn¡¯t surprised to see that there were far more ¡®evil¡¯ souls than those being allowed into Irena¡¯s paradise. Although it was a sad fact of life, it was far more difficult to find people who would go out of their way to help others than those who would sooner hurt others to help themselves. In a world where people were able to train to terrifying levels of power, this only made each side more exaggerated.


    Those who truly sought to be defenders of justice, whose hearts were pure and sacred would be mighty warriors, fighting off countless monsters until their dying breath. Meanwhile, those cruel individuals who think of nothing but their own gains would not hesitate to sacrifice countless innocents in sinister plots.


    The fact that civilization still stood was a testament to those heroes of justice, and the fear that the gods themselves put in those evil beings. Now that Irena¡¯s new system was put in ce, things should return to a more peaceful bnce. Those souls who had been stained by too much negative karma would be removed from the cycle, unable to contaminate what would have been their future lives. Simrly, those heroes of justice would be removed as well.


    All that would be left of the world were those whose karma had not permanently altered their soul. Good or evil would be their own choice from now on. For better or worse, Irena¡¯s decision will reshape the future of the world.


    Shaking my head, I cast aside those thoughts, flipping back through the records to return my view of the Underworld to the present day. Now, nearly a hundred souls had been invited to the ¡®Realm of Eternity¡¯. Of them, very few refused this offer, while the majority happily epted.


    Within their new paradise, they were treated like kings. The servants that waited on them had been provided by the system itself, catering to every wish that the heroic souls might have. Whether they sought a sparring partner, a teacher, a friend, anything they wanted was provided for them.


    Personally, I felt like I¡¯d go crazy in that kind of environment. But¡­ that might have been the point. Those who were able to maintain their pure souls even in this environment would be the true heroes, while those who allowed their karma to slip from over-indulgence would no longer be ¡®permanently stained¡¯ by their karma, able to safely re-enter the cycle.


    Either way, the fact that their souls were preserved was a boon in itself. Hopefully, it should be possible to call upon them if danger truly struck during an invasion.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Where are you¡­¡± Crystal muttered to herself as she sat in the throne room of her pce. So much had changed for her after Legion¡¯s raiding team split apart. Her life became less about the mor, and more about the game. For the first time in so long, she was truly enjoying herself, even with such repetitive tasks.


    Aurivy still came by to visit, still considered the two of them as best friends, and still yed different games with them. In fact, Crystal now had Aurivy¡¯s admin ount on her friends list in Vision Expanse.


    With the improvement of the headsets that Darkme Technologies released, Vision Expanse now looked almost no different from the real world. Unless, of course, you really when through the effort of analyzing every de of grass. Nothing about the physics of the world had changed, but it was now possible to view it more clearly than ever.


    Currently, Crystal was on a sort of treasure hunt to find the Mad King. Aurivy had left her with cryptic clues which required her to take the citadel all throughout the sr system. Yet, even so, being led around on this hunt did not frustrate her. Sure, it got rather annoying that time when her hint had just been a series of numbers that corrted to an asteroid group she had to find, but at least she didn¡¯t have to handle it alone.


    As she was thinking about that, her travelingpanion logged in,nding right in Crystal¡¯sp and making her cry out in shock. ¡°H-hey! Watch where you log out, will you?¡±


    The small, elven girl giggled as she jumped off of Crystal¡¯sp, twirling around to face her with a wide smile. ¡°Sorry, big sis! That chair¡¯s just realfortable!¡±


    This was a girl that had been brought to Crystal by Aurivy herself. They had never met in the real world, but the goddess had assured her that she was a good, fun loving girl. ¡°Fine, fine. So, have fun today?¡±


    ¡°Yup!¡± The elven girl nodded her head. ¡°My big sis taught me lots of new things! She said that if I practice and get better at it, I¡¯ll be allowed to get on more often!¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Crystal¡¯s smile grew a touch wider. ¡°What did she ask you to practice? Maybe I can help.¡± She knew that the girl¡¯s ¡®big sister¡¯ always taught her incredibly advanced techniques, such that Crystal herself sometimes struggled. It was great practice even for a mage as experienced as her, so she was always interested in what this young girl learned.


    ¡°She taught me how to make world spirits!¡± The girl beamed happily, causing Crystal to pause, blinking in confusion.


    ¡°She taught you to¡­ Dana, are you sure you understood her properly? Maybe she was trying to teach you how to control or capture world spirits?¡±


    ¡°Nope!¡± Dana shook her head, that same smile on her face. ¡°Big sis told me that this is a technique that lets you make world spirits! But it¡¯s really hard to do. And one mistake can lead to a big explosion, so she told me to practice in the game first!¡±


    Crystal brought a hand up to massage her head, having a hard time processing this information. She had learned long ago not to ask who Dana¡¯s ¡®big sister¡¯ was, as it was apparently a secret she wasn¡¯t allowed to tell. For a while, Crystal thought it might be Aurivy, or one of the other goddesses. After all, if Aurivy enjoyed ying the role of a best friend, maybe someone else would like to have a family?


    Yet, Aurivy had hinted before that Dana¡¯s big sister was not a goddess. She never outright said it, but it had been easy enough to infer from their conversations. But creating world spirits? If Crystal wasn¡¯t sure of the Keeper¡¯s gender, she¡¯d think he might be who Dana was talking about.


    ¡°O-okay¡­ so¡­ how do you do it, then?¡± Crystal asked hesitantly, unsure if she really wanted to hear the answer.


    ¡°It¡¯s really simple!¡± Dana said with that same smile. ¡°You just need to gather spiritual energy, and natural energy, and mix ¡®em together!¡±


    ¡°¡­I thought you said it was hard?¡± Crystal asked, not even sure what to believe anymore.


    ¡°It is!¡± The younger girl nodded her head vigorously. ¡°If you don¡¯t get it right, it all blows up! Big sis says that you have to open a tiny gate to the underworld to siphon off raw spiritual energy, while mixing it with natural energy. But you need to get the amounts right.¡±


    ¡°Because improperly mixing different energies will lead to a rebound.¡± Crystal nodded her head, understanding that part. However, was it truly so simple to create world spirits? She had never heard of anyone performing such a feat before. Then again, opening holes to the underworld to siphon spiritual energy was a heavily restricted practice.


    Only those with a Summoner¡¯s License were permitted to use techniques of that nature, as it was believed that there was too much of a risk in damaging the underworld itself. So¡­ it is possible that someone might have done this before, but kept their aplishment secret out of fear of reprisal.


    Crystal, unfortunately, did not have a Summoner¡¯s License. She had never taken that particr ss¡¯s training, and was one of the few who pursued the path of a standard mage until the end. Sure, she dabbled in elementalism, but her focus was elsewhere. She wanted to be a true Archmage.


    ¡°Do you have a Summoner¡¯s License?¡± Crystal asked in a gentle tone. ¡°You know, if you don¡¯t have one, it¡¯s illegal to do this kind of thing.¡±


    Dana blinked innocently for a moment, before thinking about it. ¡°Yup! Big sis took me to get onest week. The test was really easy, though.¡± In truth, the ¡®test¡¯ was only a minor issue. When the examiners saw who brought Dana in, they only gave her the simplest of tests to ensure that she had the necessary skills.


    Crystal simply nodded her head. ¡°Okay, Dana. But, I can¡¯t help you this time. I can watch, but it¡¯s illegal for me to do this.¡±


    Dana¡¯s brow furrowed a bit at that, as if she wanted to protest. Her eyes gained the typical far-away look one had when sending a message to someone else, and she sighed. ¡°Big sis says she can¡¯t get you a license¡­ But she said it¡¯s okay for you to just watch and make sure I do it right!¡±


    Crystal let out a sigh of relief, thankful that this hadn¡¯t turned into a bigger issue. ¡°Okay. We shouldn¡¯t be at our next stop for a few hours yet, so we¡¯ve got plenty of time.¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Gooood morning, everyone!¡± An energetic voice called out from the ssroom, various eyes moving towards the mirror. A mix of elves, humans, even some dwarves were present for the lessons on ¡®Advanced Spell Structure¡¯. However, the mirror did not seem toe alive as it had done in the past.


    Instead, the door to the room opened, and a distinctly feminine figure walked in, her ss eyes scanning over the room. Her lips moved, but her expression seemed frozen in a smile due to the structure. Her hair wasposed of numerous long strands of silver thread, while her body was wrapped in a white robe.


    The ss was shocked as they saw their ¡®teacher¡¯ in this new form for the first time. ¡°Sorry about the build-up! I was running a bitte now that I actually have to run here.¡± Ana looked out to her ss as she went to her desk. ¡°As you can see, I¡¯ve had an upgrade. None of my core functions have changed, and I am still perfectly capable of performing my duties as before.¡±


    ¡°Today¡¯s lesson is on the magicalws of Spica. As such, there will be no practical demonstration today, given that¡­ this is not Spica. However, this information is important for anyone present to understand.¡±


    Lightly tapping on her desk, an illusion appeared that shrouded the ceiling of the ssroom, disying a field of ck, dotted with white stars. ¡°As most of you should know by now, the world of Spica draws its magical energy from the stars. This is because the same chemical processes which produce heat and light simrly produce mana. Theoretically, this means that it is possible to draw mana from something as small as a torch or a campfire. However, the amount of mana produced by such small fires is insufficient to power any sort of spell.¡±


    ¡°Anyone who has obtained the Mage ss within Spica will realize that they are able to sense the different frequencies of magic in Spica¡¯s atmosphere. While they will not have any innate understanding of what these frequencies mean, that is what today¡¯s lesson is about! Today, we will cover the different stars of Spica, the frequencies of mana that they provide, and what you can do with those frequencies!¡±


    While Ana herself had naturally never been to Spica, her very existence questionable if she tried, she had browsed through all of the information that had been traded from Sce andpiled it into a lesson n. The Dean of Magic had asked that she begin training people in the use of Spica¡¯s magic, as it was too much of a risk to leave the colony undefended against mages.


    Of course, she wouldn¡¯t be telling this to the students. It was counterproductive to feed them paranoid ideas such as the possibility of being attacked by foreign nations. It was more conducive for her lecture as well as her overall goal to simply provide the lesson as what it was, a way to prepare those who held an interest in Spica¡¯s magic.

 Chapter 420: Shady Transactions

    <h4>Chapter 420: Shady Transactions</h4>


    As the years passed, the bnce of power within the world of Spica gradually began to shift. Previously, two main factors had allowed the nations of Demacry and Sce to preserve their own territories, despite the constant war.


    The first of these factors was poption. Elves had extremely long lives, and slow gestation. This meant that there poption was a lot thinner than the other worlds. In turn, they did not require as muchnd. Even with the territory divided among the many different tribes, there was more than enoughnd for both nations to be content, and neither wished to risk the precious lives of the elves in a struggle for something that they did not even need.


    The second, and perhaps the most important factor, was theprehensive power each nation wielded. In the beginning, when Demacry first broke off from Sce, they secured a small territory, and began using their technological inventions to expand outwards. Thissted until they had split the world between themselves, as Sce was no longer willing to allow them to encroach any further.


    This bnce of power had never been so great that Demacry could surely gain victory in the past. Even with their inventions, the magic of Spica was equally powerful. Even with their satellites, the risk was too high for the High Ministers to desire an all out war.


    But now¡­ things were beginning to change. While Sce did not partake in the technology of Earth, and merely embraced their artifacts, Demacry did not hesitate to use both. The crafting techniques brought forth a new wave of innovation among the engineers of Spica, with more powerful armors and weapons produced as a result.


    After a while, they were no longer satisfied with the status quo. For thousands of years, Sce had scorned them simply for their love of knowledge, waged war on them for no reason other than their thirst to advance their own civilization. But no more.


    Admittedly, Demacry was wary that the beings from Earth would participate if a true fight broke out. Thus, their stratagem started out small. They captured a small province along the border, far from Earth¡¯s colony. And then, they waited. For years, until they were certain that this news had reached Earth.


    Yet the colony made no moves. For just one province, Sce did not even seek the aid of the self-proimed neutral party. It was a minor loss, and Demacry¡¯s battle tactics ensured a minimum of lives lost, preferring to capture enemy soldiers or officials alive to ransom back to their home country.


    Typical civilians did not even have to worry about that much. Demacry¡¯s troopsrgely ignored them, unless they actively fought against the troops. When the battle was won, themander of the battalion gave a very simple edict to each city. Anyone who refused toply with Demacry rule could freely leave for Sce.


    While Demacry held a grudge for the generations of scorn that they suffered, this grudge was not against themon people. Only those in power, those that actively sought to oppress Demacry were the true targets of the war.


    And when Demacry saw Earth making no moves, the true campaign began. Every year, Demacry would advance and capture one province, offering them the same treatment. After fifteen years, they had fully captured one of the two continents that had been divided between themselves and Sce.


    Now that they had their presence removed from one of the continents, Sce began to feel pressure. In all these years that their had been divided, Demacry had never made such bold moves. Immediately, they turned to these foreigners, pleading for aid.


    ¡°In the name of Emperor Naer, I am here to request aid on behalf of Sce.¡± An elf spoke politely in the native elvennguage of Earth to a halfling diplomat. He had long since learned not to judge those members of Earth by their appearance, as many could be far older or younger than they appeared.


    ¡°Oh?¡± The halfling, a young woman named Rose, smiled. ¡°What is it that you need?¡±


    The elven diplomat was relieved that Rose seemed willing to hear him out. ¡°Please, the forces of Demacry are advancing further and further into Sce¡¯s territory. If they are not stopped, it is only a matter of time before our empire will cease to exist.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Rose crossed her arms in front of herself, thinking. ¡°You know that we swore an oath of neutrality in the name of Bihena, right? We can¡¯t get involved with the disputes between your two nations. We can supply food, or manpower to help rebuild damaged areas, but to provide soldiers would break our oath.¡±


    The elf had heard of this ¡®Bihena¡¯, apparently one of the many deities present in the world that the halfling came from, who governed the field of war. Sce had a hard time epting the existence of multiple deities, but the fact that Earth already worshipped Ryone managed to alleviate some of their concerns.


    ¡°I am aware of that, yes¡­ but are you not already involved in this war?¡± The man questioned, doing his best to maintain a polite tone. ¡°You have supplied Demacry with the weapons that they are using against our people, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    Rose blinked in confusion. ¡°Anything that we have offered to Demacry has simrly been offered to Sce. It¡¯s up to you whether or not to trade for anything we can provide.¡± Of course, Rose was aware that Sce had forbidden the purchase of more advanced technological goods from Earth. However, that was truly not something for her to be concerned over. The fact of the matter was that they offered equal trade to both parties.


    The elf¡¯s brow twitched, unable to find a rebuttal that would allow these negotiations to remain friendly. In the end, he simply sighed. ¡°Is there anything that you can offer for trade that could potentially help us?¡±


    Rose brought one hand up to her chin, thinking about that. ¡°Well¡­ there is one thing that we were thinking of adding to our selection. But I really don¡¯t know if it would even interest you guys.¡±


    Seeing that the diplomat was interested, Rose shrugged her shoulders and exined. ¡°A while back, the Keeper provided us with a few thousand different grimoires. They have the function of recording spells forter use. And with their recursive design, it is possible to empower the same spell multiple times before casting it.¡±


    Before the elf could reply in his excitement, Rose lifted a hand up to stop him. ¡°However, we have only managed to reverse engineer these grimoires in thest few years, and have only been able to make them work properly with our magic. As you know, mana-based items from Earth do not function in Spica, and vice versa. Even if we gave you the grimoire, you wouldn¡¯t be able to use it.¡±


    ¡°Then¡­ why put it in the selection at all?¡± The elf asked, feeling as if cold water had been doused on his hopes.


    Rose simply shook her head. ¡°The idea was for schrs of either Sce or Demacry to temporarily migrate to Earth, so that they could study the inner workings of the grimoires. Then, byparing the magical processes with that of Spica, you would hopefully be able toe up with a way to make them yourselves over here.¡±


    ¡°Alternatively, you could wait for the research to finish up with that on our end.¡± Rose offered with a small,forting smile. ¡°But, I¡¯m sure you understand that we can only invest so much manpower into researching the development of something we wouldn¡¯t be able to use in our own world.¡±


    The diplomat did not particrly enjoy that truth, though he did understand it. There was only so much that Earth could be expected to do, and losing his cool over this matter would only put them in an even worse position. Part of his mission was to ensure that the rtionship between Earth and Sce did not worsen, for fear of Earth joining Demacry¡¯s forces.


    ¡°I understand¡­¡± He spoke with a regretful tone. ¡°I¡¯ll pass your words on to His Highness. Hopefully, you shall hear back from me soon for further business.¡±


    ¡°Of course, sir!¡± Rose nodded her head, her smile growing. ¡°As always, be sure to return whenever you wish.¡±


    With that, the elven diplomat sullenly left, unable to obtain the reinforcements he had been sent to request. In truth, nobody expected that Earth would supply Sce with troops, but he had still been hopeful.


    As he was walking out of the embassy to find the nearest starlight bridge, a human walked up alongside him. This human wore a heavy ck cloak that obscured their figure, but a distinctly masculine voice emerged from within. ¡°You are here looking for troops, right?¡±


    The elf¡¯s eyes shook as he heard that voice, feeling as if it were the temptations of the devil itself. Still, he nodded his head in answer. If there was hope for his people, he had to at least report the possibility.


    ¡°Tell your emperor this¡­ If he chooses to support the Council, the Council will support him. If he agrees, we will supply you with the troops you need.¡± After saying that, the man broke off, dipping into a dark alley and vanishing from sight.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Really?¡± I raised an eyebrow, having caught the exchange between the Council representative and the Sce diplomat. I had been watching the diplomat out of curiosity, unsure how his meeting would y out. Would hesh out at Rose, im that Earth had betrayed their trust, or ept things calmly?


    His response was quite nice, but this¡­ I briefly went to check on the situation with Fyor. As soon as I did, I began to understand what the Council was after. My n for self-governance had already begun, multiple floors having already broken away from the Council to establish their own sovereignty.


    This move seemed to be ast ditch effort by the Council. By covertly supplying Sce with aid, they aimed to have the favor returned and secure their own position.


    I shook my head in disappointment, as I could already imagine how that would y out. Even assuming that they were able to amass the troops, and that they were able to secretly bring them out of the colony to join Sce, it would be obvious that the Legion of Allied Worlds had lent troops to Sce.


    While the vow of neutrality that they took was not an official ceremony to Bihena, they had still done so in her name. The system might not punish them for breaking that vow, but¡­ if any priest were to question the origin of these troops, I could not see Bihena being too happy that her name had been used falsely.


    Perhaps the Council still believed that they were favored by Bihena and Aurivy, and that the two of them would not ¡®betray¡¯ their own people. Either way, once the news of where those troops came from spreads, the other worlds would be honorbound to move against the Council.


    This desperate move by them relied on too many factors that simply did not rest in their favor. I had called for the independence of the different floors of Fyor, but I had not imagined that it would be through something like this.


    Leaning back in my chair, I allowed myself to sink into thought. There was no way that the Council had not considered that their ploy would be noticed. They had to be prepared for a battle with the other worlds.


    As I thought about that, my eyes widened, recalling some information I had all but forgotten. The Council had long since seized control of the first floor¡¯s mana spire. Not only that, but they had researched it, dealt it small damage in order to test its recovery speed. They¡¯ve likely been prepared for a siege all along. All that they need to do is shatter the spire, and their floor will bepletely cut off.


    Worse yet, because they control the central spire, no other floor will be able to submit new orbs. As long as the spire is broken, Fyor will be unable to advance to new floors due to the difficulty spikes. And all that they would need to make this work is enough food and water supply to be self-sustaining.


    Bihena, you free for a minute? I called out to her, only knowing of one surefire way to stop such a scenario from urring.


    Bit annoyed, but otherwise yeah. What¡¯s going on?


    Ah, I take it you noticed Fyor¡¯s movements. Well, that was going to make this easier at least. Though, her frustrated tone showed that she was taking this more personally than I expected.


    Yes. Yes I did. She replied, and I could practically hear her gritting her teeth.


    Okay, then I¡¯ll keep this brief. If, for any reason, a war breaks out between the Council and the other governing bodies, I want you to send a message to Tsubaki for me. Have her visit the first floor of Fyor, and ensure that the spire remains unbroken.


    This was my n, to have Tsubaki act in my stead. However¡­ Dale¡­ Tsubaki already surpassed the level cap of Fyor. She won¡¯t be able to reach the first floor.


    I furrowed my brow, having forgotten for a moment about the level restrictions in ce there. Do we have anyone else that can fill that role, then?


    There¡¯s¡­ one. You met her before, right? The Shadow Saint. If we contact her, she should be able to do it.


    I sat upright in my seat, surprised by Bihena¡¯s rmendation. Wait, she¡¯s still alive? I had imagined that old age would have imed Thelsa by now, so my surprise was understandable.


    Her title leveled up a while ago. She can now restore her own vitality as long as she¡¯s in darkness. She¡¯s been using that to keep herself young.


    Good to know! I nodded my head, a pleased smile on my face. Then yes, please contact her for this mission. We need to ensure that the spire remains safe. If we don¡¯t, it¡¯s possible that the Council could just continue to damage it for generations in order to protect themselves.

 Chapter 421: Disaster Prevention Hotline

    <h4>Chapter 421: Disaster Prevention Hotline</h4>


    Thelsa walked calmly within the superstorm of Thormir, the name given to the twenty-first floor of Fyor. Her ck cloak billowed in the terrifying wind, but her expression was calm. She was out alone for a single purpose, and that was in order to identify the location of the next gateway, the path to the twenty-second floor.


    Thelsa Whitefallow had long since staged her own death, deciding to live in the shadows of society. With the powers of her unique title, hiding her own identity was a simple matter. After all, nobody but Thelsa herself was able to see the information rted to her titles.


    Currently, she was going by the name of Julia Storms, a rather renowned identity that she had built for herself as a human from Earth. But even that identity was one that she was able to discard if need be.


    As she walked through the windswept valleys of Thormir, between two great mountains, she scanned the horizon with her eyes. ¡°Where are you¡­¡± She muttered to herself. Thelsa had previously cast magic in order to determine the general direction of the gate, and knew that it should be somewhere in this area.


    So, she continued her slow trek, the mountains offering little shelter from the ever present storms. Her magic was not precise enough to give her an exact location, forcing her to check every cave she encountered.


    Her search took three full days after arriving at the valley, during which she checked over a dozen caves every day. By the time she found what she was looking for, her rations were beginning to run low. Thoughts of turning back had begun to enter her mind, but she pushed on.


    As she had devoted some time to bing a Priestess of Aurivy, she knew that she would be able to return back to Gate¡¯s Rest at any time. However, unless she found the next gate, she would be required to walk back manually. Not an exciting proposition.


    Near the end of the third day, as she was walking through one of the dark caves, she saw one wall that was¡­ unusually smooth. This region of Thormir had not yet been inhabited by the people of Fyor, so finding an unnatural rock formation such as that was, well¡­ unnatural.


    Walking towards the wall, she silently cast a spell to conjure a light in the cave, using the magic of Earth. As the cave was lit up by a brilliant white light, the smooth, ck wall stood out even further. ¡°Found you¡­¡± Thelsa said with a small smile, walking closer to the wall.


    However, a part of her was cautious as well. She brought out a special card from her inventory, looking down at it. This was a product that had recently begun circting within Deckan. They called it a Synthesized Composite, a card that was created to merge the three branches of magic together. Apparently, it had been discovered by some young genius among the kitsune, and they immediately began research on her discovery.


    This particr card was a shield spell, which she didn¡¯t hesitate to activate. The card began to shine, thin strands of light emerging and wrapping around Thelsa¡¯s body to form a barrier. Only when this wasplete did she dare to raise her hand to the wall.


    ¡°Water¡­ earth¡­ wind¡­ is fire next?¡± She muttered, recalling the elemental nature of the most recently discovered floors. Depending on which elemental lore she went on, life or metal could be options as well.


    Either way, the moment her hand was about to touch the wall, it split open, revealing itself to truly be the gateway she sought. What entered her ears was not the roar of a raging inferno, nor the rumbling of a volcano. In fact, she wasn¡¯t even able to hear anything from beyond the gate, not when Thormir¡¯s storms hammered against the mountain.


    But she could see green. A grassy meadow with gently swaying trees. Steeling her resolve, she stepped through, one hand gripping at her breast pocket to prepare for the worst.


    The moment she stepped through, she felt the temperature rise a few degrees, the warm light of the sun falling over her. She could hear the insects and the birds, and the distant roars of animals--and since when did Fyor have a sun?


    As soon as she made that realization, Thelsa lifted her head to look at the sky. It was not one sun, not two, but countless fireballs littering the sky. Their light shone bright across all that was below them.


    ¡°So it is fire after all¡­¡± Thelsa confirmed, though it was not the type of fire she had been expecting.


    I don¡¯t like it here. A familiar voice spoke up,ing from her shadow. Thelsa simply shook her head with a small smile.


    ¡°Sorry, but we¡¯ll have to put up with it. Once we¡¯re ready to advance, I¡¯ll get us to the next floor so that we don¡¯t have to deal with this.¡± As the Shadow Saint, she had long since gotten used to conversing with her shadow, especially once the life granted to it had be permanent. She was no longer ever truly alone.


    However, as she was looking back to her smile with an apologetic expression, she heard another voice entering her mind. Thelsa Whitefallow.


    She froze when she heard the voice, her eyes going wide. This wasn¡¯t the first time that she had heard the voice of a goddess before. She had even interacted with the Keeper himself once, if only briefly. Still, it wasn¡¯t something that someone could ever simply be prepared for.


    ¡°B-Bihena?¡± She stuttered out, the identity of the voiceing instinctively to her. ¡°My Goddess. What do you wish of me?¡±


    Let¡¯s start with you calming down. Bihena spoke softly. I have a favor to ask of you. A mission from the Keeper himself. In aplishing it, you will be preventing a disaster from engulfing all of Fyor.


    Thelsa¡¯s eyes went wide, and she immediately dropped to one knee, her hands over the other as she lowered her head. ¡°Please, just tell me what is required of me.¡± She did not ask for any rewards, nor did she care to. The moment that she heard that her help was needed to prevent a disaster, her mind was set.


    I¡¯m relieved that you are epting so quickly¡­ Very well. The Council is attempting to vite the pact of neutrality made in my name to the people of Spica. They seek to offer troops to aid in that world¡¯s war. In doing so, they risk sparking a war that will drive the other three worlds against them.


    Thelsa¡¯s brows furrowed at that. ¡°Such a thing¡­ is that not the epitome of idiocy? They wish to set everyone against themselves, even breaking a vow made in the name of a goddess?¡±


    Unfortunately, things are not so simple, as you once saw in the past. For many, many years now, the Council has been researching their own central spire. The pir that allows the system of the world to be updated with new orbs. They seek to hold this pir hostage, to force the world of Fyor to stand with them, or risk stagnation.


    To those of your world, this pir is the key to progression. Without it, you will never again be able to increase the level limit and ess new areas. Furthermore, destroying the pir brings no risk to the Council. The first floor of Fyor has always been inhabitable, being the origin of your races.


    The gravity is gentle, the food is abundant¡­ they will simply be able to mine the pir generation after generation, until eventually even they forget why they are doing it. A tradition passed down in their families that would exist for no reason other than to harm the rest of Fyor. This is the disaster that I seek to avoid.


    Thelsa had to nod her head. The actions of the Council in recent years had truly be more and more erratic. So, while she did not agree with these actions, she did believe that the Council was capable of doing it. More importantly, she had already found the evidence once in the past that they had begun experimenting with their pir, chunks of it hidden away in their vault.


    ¡°What is it you wish of me, my Goddess?¡± She asked in a reverent tone, her head still lowered.


    I ask of you a very dangerous mission, to conceal yourself within the first floor. If word of war reaches you, and the Council truly does make a move against their spire, you must ensure that it is protected at all costs. If a battle ensues, you must gather the pieces together and repair the spire.


    ¡°As you wish.¡± Thelsa nodded, not hesitating even as she was ordered to walk into the enemy camp. It was hard to say how long it would take for this war to ur, so she had to make preparations. ¡°May I take time to gather the supplies needed, my Goddess?¡±


    Of course. But it must not take more than a week for you to make your way to the Council¡¯s territory. Depending on how quickly the situation devolves, that may be all the time you have to reach there.


    Thelsa simply gave another nod. A week was more than enough time to secure herself arge supply of rations tost for months. Finally, she stood, dusting off her pants and opening a portal next to herself. If she was given a week to prepare, that meant that she could at least inform others of the location of the twenty-second floor¡¯s gate.


    _______________________________________________________________


    I gave a small nod, happy that Thelsa had epted Bihena¡¯s request. Having her act personally offered me some reassurance, though I wasn¡¯t entirely aware of herbat strength. The fact that Bihena had suggested her was enough for me to believe in her.


    Closing my eyes, I thought about what I should be doing next. As of now, I was simply watching, waiting. Waiting for the news of my invasion against Vanity toe back, waiting for the system to designate my next match. One of those things I had no idea how long it would take, and as for the other¡­ forty-two more days.


    That meant that it would be ny-two days before I advanced to a second rank Keeper. Until then, I had to make sure that my worlds were all stable, and keep them from advancing early. In other words, I couldn¡¯t continue to blindly fast forward, especially not when I considered the existence of Jonas Bayrun.


    While he was not the only one studying the possibility of ascending to godhood, he was by far the closest to the truth. Simply by obtaining the Perfect Self ss, he was far ahead of his peers. Realizing that he needed to train his divinity and add it into the mix meant that he would likely reach godhood before even Tsubaki. Assuming, that is, that Tsubaki even intended to aim for that at all.


    The point of the matter was, I could not fast forward and risk Jonas¡¯s research hitting a major breakthrough. If the knowledge and ability to ascend to godhood were to leak out, I would surely advance in ranks ahead of schedule.


    It was a better move, in my mind, to simply allow the worlds to advance at a normal rate without fast forwarding. In the meantime, I would spend time with my heavenly host, and maybe reach out to some of the Keepers I was familiar with. It can¡¯t hurt to socialize every now and then, right?


    As I thought about that, I began setting numerous rms. If a disaster truly did ur, I wanted to be notified immediately. That way, I could rush back and resolve it before the damage became too extreme. Only once that was done did I let myself rx, standing up from the desk and stretching. ¡°Time for a¡­ vacation? Does this count as a vacation?¡±

 Chapter 422: The Life of a Shadow

    <h4>Chapter 422: The Life of a Shadow</h4>


    Looking through the guild members list, I noticed that it had Meatlover listed as in a match against a Keeper whose name I didn¡¯t recognize. However, once I joined the chat, things started to get lively¡­


    EarthForceOne: Hey, everyone.


    Aerial: Ah, it¡¯s the new guy! d to see you¡¯re still around.


    EverLasting: Good afternoon, Dale. Is there something on your mind today?


    EarthForceOne: Not particrly. I¡¯m getting ready to advance in rank, and just need to wait a little bit for everything to be ready.


    Aerial: Oh? You¡¯re going to be Rank 2 now? Corona¡¯s almost gotten back her original rank as well. How is it? Pretty different from back when you were just starting out, huh?


    EarthForceOne: That¡¯s one way of looking at it¡­ It¡¯s certainly be more difficult to manage multiple worlds at once.


    EverLasting: If you don¡¯t mind me asking, how is Vision Expanse treating you?


    EarthForceOne: It¡¯s going well. Thanks to that, I managed to get my people back on track.


    My chat with themsted for quite a while, with us mostly talking about what we¡¯ve been up to. Sarah gave us an exnation of the new game that she was working on, where she was trying to build an entirely new system of magic exclusively for the game. It was¡­ hard to understand, if I¡¯m going to be honest.


    The magic that she was working to create was one that required the user to have an extremely high spatial awareness. This was because it was a more advanced version of geometric magic, with the spell diagrams forming entirely around the caster in a bubble. Personally, I didn¡¯t see the allure to something that was needlessly difficult, but she seemed quite passionate.


    After the conversation ended, I received a private message from Sarah¡­


    EverLasting: Congrattions on getting ready to advance. Since you haven¡¯t actually done it yet, I¡¯m guessing that your System Companion hasn¡¯t been able to tell you what kinds of perks you will unlock yet.


    EarthForceOne: Not yet, at least¡­ Is there something else like the Cmity Spawner and Monster Spawner that will be unlocked?


    EverLasting: Not something like that two of those¡­ however, there is a new feature that bes avable at rank 2.


    EverLasting: Rank 2 is the dawn of the Divine Age as Keepers tend to call it. It is the time when your people either gain the ability to be gods, or gain the power to fight against them. You¡¯ll need to keep in mind that any enemy you face wille prepared with that level of power.


    EverLasting: As for the new feature, it is known as the Champion¡¯s Guidance. Since your worlds have expanded as much as they have, I doubt that you use the basic aura reading techniques anymore, correct?


    EarthForceOne: Not in a while¡­ It¡¯s a bit troublesome to search through so many people for specific kinds of auras.


    EverLasting: Well, with the Champion¡¯s Guidance, that actually bes a bit easier. What this feature does is allow you to spend points to alter a person¡¯s aura. You can enhance their natural talents, grant them new ones, or even give them the ¡®golden aura¡¯.


    EarthForceOne: Really? That seems kind of¡­ counter-productive, right? After challenging us to get so many powerful individuals, what we get in return is a system that lets us grant extra talent to only one person at a time.


    EverLasting: Well, you¡¯re not exactly wrong. However, the benefit of this is that you get to pick and choose who you empower like this. And depending on how you choose to alter their aura, and if you provide them any additional guidance, it is likely for those chosen individuals to be deities in their own right.


    EverLasting: If you properly use Champion¡¯s Guidance, you can build your starting lineup of deities out of those you respect within your world. Of course, there¡¯s also the option of just ¡®ascending¡¯ them directly to the Admin Room to make them gods like that, but those types of gods won¡¯t be able to help during an invasion.


    EarthForceOne: By that method¡­ you mean basically killing them and creating a Companion that was a copy of them, right?


    EverLasting: That¡¯s right. It¡¯s not a very popr method, unless you find someone that you just can¡¯t bear the thought of losing. For example¡­ most of mypanions are people who ascended with that method.


    I didn¡¯t really mean to insult her methods, or anything like that. Given the fact that you were creating a perfect copy, I could understand how many people would consider that to be a good idea. Personally, though, I preferred the thought of the gods being able to freely remain within the world. Even among mine, although they had learned to descend more often, there was always a time limit.


    EarthForceOne: I¡¯ll keep it in mind. Anyways, is the ¡®Champion¡¯s Guidance¡¯ the only system unlocked at rank 2?


    EverLasting: Afraid so. Most of these systems are only unlocked due to amon need for them. For example¡­ as a rank 1 Keeper, you gained the ability to spawn monsters and disasters. Some people use these defensively, setting up spawn conditions for ¡®extra-dimensional travel¡¯ to target invading armies. This is a good method for new Keepers to protect themselves, but it bes less effective over time.


    EverLasting: As a rank 2 Keeper, those disasters and monsters are unlikely to cause any problems for a serious invasion. From now on, it will be possible that enemy gods will be sent to your world.


    EverLasting: I should also give you another warning. There are far more of the Monster and Gamer Keepers in the second rank than the first. They have the tendency to quickly pass the first rank, and settle in either the second or third, so you should be careful.


    Subconsciously, I gave a small nod when I heard that. A part of me had hoped that most of the monster Keepers were kept to the first rank, but that was unrealistic. They were monsters, after all, and thrived on strength. It¡¯d be odd for them not to grow to the level of gods, if they were aware of the method.


    Sarah and I continued to talk for a few more minutes, before she had to go to work on her new game. Shaking my head, I got up from my desk once again, moving out towards the hall. I was not at all surprised when I found Aurivy sitting on the couch in the living room, a bucket of popcorn in her hand.


    She grinned at me as I entered, waving one arm. ¡°Wanna join me? Been a while since you came up here to just rx.¡±


    I gave a small nod, moving to sit next to her. She was watching yet another show that I had never seen before, though it appeared that this one was likely one from my current world as opposed to the old one. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be up here for a while this time¡­¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Are you sure that this information is correct, Miss Storms?¡± A burly dovah spoke up within a dimly lit stone room. He was standing behind a desk, holding a hand-drawn map and studying it.


    The woman opposite him nodded with a smile, her ck hair flowing gently down her back. ¡°Of course, guildmaster. If you would like, I can send one of the Travelers there personally, so you can have easy ess from now on.¡±


    The dovah blinked in surprise, before nodding. ¡°Right, you were a Traveler yourself, weren¡¯t you? Alright, that would be appreciated. And you said that the sky of the next level was on fire?¡±


    The ck-haired human simply nodded again. ¡°To be more precise, I believe that it should be something simr to Dawn¡¯s tidestones. It wasn¡¯t the entire sky that was on fire, merelyrge chunks of it. But it should be safe to assume that the twenty-second floor will have no such concept as night-time. Otherwise, thendscape that I saw was ideal for living.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for this.¡± The dovah nodded with a long sigh. ¡°I¡¯ll pass along word to the excavation team, and we will begin digging towards this location as soon as the information has been confirmed. As promised, the bounty--¡±


    The woman shook her hands quickly. ¡°Please, I don¡¯t need anything like a bounty for this, sir. I¡¯m just doing this to help. If you must use the money, use it to help outfit the exploration team you¡¯re going to send. This is a newyer, which means new dangers that we aren¡¯t prepared for. I¡¯d rather your coin be spent to preserve their lives than to line my pockets.¡±


    The guildmaster paused for a moment, before his lips curved upwards into a grin that looked all too feral on his canine face. Still, the woman recognized it as a kind smile. ¡°Alright, I got it. Though, I take it that means you don¡¯t want to be part of the team yourself?¡±


    She simply sighed, shaking her head. ¡°I¡¯d love to be if I could, sir. But, I¡¯ve got a rather pressing engagement. I received a mission from the church, and can¡¯t afford to dy.¡±


    ¡°Oh? A busy one, aren¡¯t you?¡± The dovahughed heartily. ¡°Alright, I won¡¯t keep you. Let me know whenever you¡¯re finished with your business, and I¡¯ll include you in the team if I can.¡±


    The woman bowed politely. ¡°Thank you for that, sir. Now, if you don¡¯t need me for anything else, I should be off. I need to prepare for my mission.¡±


    The dovah shook his head, allowing Julia Storms to leave his office. As she did, Julia heard a voice speaking up from her shadow. You could have epted a little bit of the reward, at least. It would have probably helped us get the rations we¡¯ll need.


    Ah, right, sorry about that Thelsa. Julia spoke to her shadow mentally. You know how it is. Don¡¯t worry, we still have plenty from ourst job to get what we need.


    This was the secret to the woman known as Julia Storms, and the true power of the Shadow Saint. At first, Thelsa was only able to grant her shadow life for a limited time, treating it as if it were an aeon. Now, however, her shadow had be its own being, able to trade ces with Thelsa at will.


    More importantly, this shadow was a nk te in itspleted state, a being with no sses or levels. She could train in these sses, sure, but only in ones that Thelsa herself had unlocked. While Thelsa prided herself as an elementalist and a rogue, she had unlocked numerous other sses, enabling Julia to primarily act as a mage and priest.


    Of course, this did note without its downsides. Since the two were independent entities, they did not share their stats. As Julia did not train heavily in any physical sses, she was forced to wear a ring that negated the powerful gravity of the higher floors of Fyor.


    I¡¯ll let you take care of buying the food for our trip, so let me know when you¡¯re done. I need to focus on cultivating the second shadow. Thelsa¡¯s instructions spoke into Julia¡¯s mind, making her blink in surprise.


    You¡¯re working on the second one already? Do you even know what you want to make her?


    She could see her shadow ahead of her thanks to the passing lights, and how it offered a faint nod. She¡¯ll be our warrior and archer. Sorry, but after this Council business, we might be forced to retire your identity. Hopefully, it won¡¯te to that, but I wanted to warn you.


    Julia began to grimace, before shaking her head with a sigh. It is what it is. Just make sure you only wipe out my name and ss levels this time. I still can¡¯t remember half of who I was thest time before you had me ¡®retire¡¯.


    I did say sorry about that¡­ I¡¯ll do my best, though. I¡¯ve been practicing, so I think I should be getting better at targeting specific information.


    Wait, you¡¯ve been practicing!? Julia shouted out in her mind, red gs suddenly going off. On who? I¡¯m the only one here!


    Don¡¯t worry, don¡¯t worry. Thelsa¡¯s response came back with augh. I just do little tests after breakfast every morning.


    Breakfast? But we never eat brea-- you cheeky woman¡­ Okay, but at least don¡¯t make me forget anything important.

 Chapter 423: Troubled Times

    <h4>Chapter 423: Troubled Times</h4>


    Julia Storms calmly walked out from the Council¡¯s gate, a smile on her face. She moved over to the receptionist, and ced a hand on the identification crystal to verify her identity. ¡°I have some information I¡¯d like to report to the Council.¡± She told the receptionist, her eyes squinted close to entuate her smile.


    ¡°Hmm?¡± The receptionist looked up, her brows furrowing. She was a young halfling, and was still fairly new to this job. ¡°Miss¡­ Storms, is it? What would you like to report?¡±


    ¡°The twenty-second floor of Fyor has been discovered.¡± She told the suddenly surprised halfling, not skipping a beat as she leaned forward against the desk. ¡°It¡¯s a lushnd, and seems perfect for living in. I thought that the Council might be interested in this knowledge.¡±


    The halfling blinked, surprised at how close Julia suddenly was, but quickly shook her head and cleared her throat. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Miss Storms¡­ Information on new floors isn¡¯t as valuable as it used to be. If you¡¯d like, I can go ask what reward you can receive for bringing this to us.¡±


    ¡°I would appreciate that.¡± Julia nodded, her eyes still closed. She watched as the halfling got up from the desk, moving to a door behind it to deliver this report. However, a few momentster, amunication crystal on Julia¡¯s body began to shine, and she suddenly stood up straight.


    ¡°Ah!¡± She looked around, her face seeming panicked as she approached one of the guards. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I just realized that I have to leave for a while. Can you tell the receptionist that it¡¯s fine, and I¡¯ll try toe back for the reward if I get time in the future?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± The guard, a human man with blue eyes, asked in surprise. ¡°Uhm, sure¡­ That shouldn¡¯t be a problem.¡± While it was not umon for things toe up like that, it was certainly not unheard of, and not exactly suspicious. If anything, Julia appeared to be losing out. The information about the discovery of the twenty-second floor would be easily verified, so it didn¡¯t seem like a scam, and they had her name if she tried anything.


    ¡°Thank you!¡± She nodded her head rapidly, turning and making a dash towards the gate. However, there was one thing that none of the guards noticed, as Julia no longer possessed a shadow when she left. And as she reached the gate, her eyes opened, revealing them to be pitch ck.


    Sure enough, she did enter the gate on the first floor, or at least she appeared to. However, she never emerged from the second floor. Instead, the woman that was Julia was now being carried towards the Council offices, hidden inside the halfling¡¯s shadow.


    Did we really have to tell them about the twenty-second floor? Sheined mentally to the other upant of the shadow, Thelsa.


    Unfortunately, it was necessary. If I were in the Council¡¯s position, I would require anyone that regrly converses with outsiders to have training as one of Irena¡¯s priests. The ability to discern lies is incredibly powerful, and it would be too hard to try to alter your memory to give us a different reason to be here.


    As Thelsa exined that, they silently transferred away from the shadow of the receptionist. They did not choose to enter the shadow of a guard, or even another Council staff. Instead, they inhabited the shadow of the door leading into the Council Chamber.


    There, they would be able to see and hear any official business conducted by the Council, without running the risk of being carried outside of the floor on the day war broke out. More importantly, being attached to a door meant that they could freely move to any shadow of anyone that used that door.


    It did not take long for them to hear something rted to their mission. On the second night of their stake-out, they overheard a conversation from within.


    ¡°Our informant has sessfully secured the cooperation of Sce¡¯s emperor. Are the troops prepared for deployment?¡± The voice sounded aged, yet high-pitched enough to likely belong to a halfling male.


    The voice that responded was deeper, more youthful. The race wasn¡¯t exactly clear, but it definitely belonged to a man. ¡°They are. Everyone has been briefed, and the n is in ce. We¡¯ve decided to send them under the guise of relief workers, building new homes for the elves that lost theirs to the war. Just in case, this is what they themselves were told about their mission. They will receive their true orders on-site.¡±


    See? Thelsa asked towards Julia with a mental smirk. Even the Council is wary of Irena¡¯s priests.


    Is it really that bad? Julia asked in genuine surprise. She disliked lying in general, so she had never reallye across a problem where she was blocked by a priest.


    It is. Unfortunately, it¡¯s rather easy to acquire the services of one of Irena¡¯s priests, and you have to be prepared to navigate a verbal maze to mislead them. Look at these guys¡­ I¡¯d bet that the soldiers all have secret letters that they were ordered not to open until they had arrived in Sce.


    Doing it this way poses a risk of the orders getting out if a soldier is killed, but the only way for them to really be killed in the colony is if they purposely make trouble. Given their previous orders of acting as relief workers, they will do their best to behave until they arrive at their destination.


    Julia silently listened to Thelsa¡¯s exnation, before letting out a mental sigh. I hate politics. How¡¯s our thirding along, by the way?


    I¡¯ve got Maria¡¯s identity crafted now. I¡¯m running her through simted training to build up some levels, but that won¡¯t be enough to really get herbat ready. Once we¡¯re done here, we¡¯ll take her to¡­ let¡¯s say the thirteenth floor to begin properbat training.


    Maria, huh? Julia muttered. Anything I should be warned about?


    She¡¯s a bit of a show-off¡­ Thelsa let out a sigh at that. She¡¯s loud, and loves fighting. I tried to tone that down a bit, but those were the personality traits thattched onto her. I should have made her a ninja¡­


    Oh, I was a ninja once, I think! Julia called out suddenly, seeming to remember a detail from her past life.


    That¡¯s right.


    _______________________________________________________________


    The days of Spica passed slowly, the Magic King of Sce sitting atop his throne. The emperor had told him to expect a foreign army to appear, and that he would hear word soon, but the Magic King felt unsure of this n.


    There were simply too many things wrong with what was happening, and he found it hard to believe that the emperor did not see them as well. To seek aid from a foreign power during a war was one thing, they had contracted tribes before to help with various tasks. But this¡­ they were seeking aid not only from such a powerful neutral party¡­ but one that they logically should not align themselves with.


    The age-old war between Sce and Demacry was sparked by Demacry¡¯s willingness to destroy the resources of their world to advance their own technology. In this manner¡­ would that not also make Earth¡¯s alliance their enemy as well? The technology disyed in their colony was enough that it had even sparked a new wave of innovation within their ancient foes.


    ¡°If we can ept Earth, why not them?¡± The Magic King muttered to himself, unsure for the first time in so long why they fought this war in the first ce. Yes, he understood that the difference was that Demacry took their resources from their world, while those of Earth took from other worlds. But in the end, was it not all still destroying nature? What made one¡¯s environment any less special than another.


    The emperor, however, refused to see things this way. To him, all that mattered was eliminating the threat that was Demacry. Their vast world was simply not big enough for two empires in his eyes.


    As the Magic King sighed, thinking about this, he felt the mana shifting. Rising to his feet, he recognized the shift as a magic code left by the scouts. Earth¡¯s¡­ or rather, Fyor¡¯s army had arrived.


    He focused, measuring the shifts in the code to determine where they wereing from, before leaping into the sky and flying to the east. The elves who saw him were awed, as the Magic King rarely made public appearances. His feet were wrapped in brilliant mes as he sailed through the air, eventuallynding on the eastern gate of the city.


    Outside the gate, he could see hundreds of individuals wearing leather armor. His brow furrowed as he realized that not a single one wore metal armor, before shaking his head. Among them were humans, and what he hoped were the smaller race known as halflings, rather than simply children.


    This army of hundreds¡­ five hundred after a rough count, was marching towards the castle without their weapons drawn. They seemed intent on making their presence known without appearing hostile, but the Magic King was simply disappointed.


    Of the five hundred, they were all certainly high leveled warriors, likely many monks among them. But he could not feel the connection with Spica¡¯s mana. Their bodies were strong, but the Magic King was unsure if merely five hundred strong bodies would stand up against Demacry¡¯s weapons.


    Still, he descended from the city¡¯s wall, floating down tond before the human walking in the lead. He was once again disappointed when the human opened his mouth, his speech broken from an obviousck of familiarity with thenguage.


    ¡°We¡­ reinforcements. Fight with Sce.¡± The human said with much difficulty, as if each word were both rehearsed and not at the same time.


    The Magic King simply shook his head, producing a quest scroll and tossing it towards the human. While the attempt was made for them to learn Sce¡¯s tongue, he feared that allowing them to continue butchering it would simply cause misunderstandings in the future. Better to speak the universalnguage of quests.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Your highness.¡± One of the kitsune maidservants approached Queen Bria, her hands in front of her stomach. ¡°We have just received a report. Five hundred men have been sent from Fyor to Spica.¡±


    Bria furrowed her brows, sitting in the throne that was still ufortable for her. ¡°Do we know their objective?¡± She asked cautiously. Her reign on the throne had been far too short so far, and she was afraid of causing an incident. She was unaware that the people around her were being just as cautious to let her settle into her role without overwhelming her.


    The maidservant nodded again, her auburn hair shaking behind her. ¡°ording to the report filed, they are relief workers, helping to rebuild houses for families who have lost theirs in the war against Demacry.¡±


    Bria¡¯s eyes went wide at that, leaning forward in the throne. There were monsters in Spica, so five hundred individuals wouldn¡¯t look suspicious even if they were fully armored. ¡°Fyor is sending aid so generously¡­? Send an envoy to Nexus. I need to know which kingdom is acting.¡±


    ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary.¡± The maidservant replied softly. ¡°That was in the report as well. Their orders came directly from the Council.¡±


    Bria froze when she heard that. The fact that they seemed to be acting generously had made her immediately eliminate the Council as a possibility. She had only asked which kingdom they were working for because she wanted to foster positive rtions with an altruistic ally. ¡°Make sure that Desbar¡¯s president, and Empress Margold are both aware of this information.¡±


    Before the maidservant could leave, Bria added on to her order. ¡°I want you to keep your movements confidential. Do not tell anyone but those I have mentioned. Use my name if you must, but you must speak to them directly, and only after you have confirmed their identity.¡±


    She knew she was being paranoid with all of these precautions, but she considered the maidservant to be a friend of hers, and did not want to take any risks losing her. Moreso, there were risks of the Council¡¯s operatives lurking within the courts of the various worlds, so it was hard to say who could be trusted aside from the rulers themselves.

 Chapter 424: Sher Dien

    <h4>Chapter 424: Sher Dien</h4>


    My days of waiting seemed rather slow at first, the urge to return to the world building up now and then. I kept wanting to personally check up on things, experience what was new firsthand, or simply watch the world grow as I sped it up just a bit more. However, I kept those urges down and, after a while, began to enjoy myself.


    Aurivy introduced me to several of the new games that were created over the history of my worlds, and there were times that Udona came to join us as well. Like this, I spent another month within the Admin Room¡­ a normal month, not a Standard Month. Even now, Keeper time felt weird. It wasn¡¯t until the thirty-first day of my ¡®work vacation¡¯ before I received a system prompt.


    Your invasion against Keeper Vanity has ended!


    All forces sent to your opponent¡¯s world have been destroyed. You have lost this invasion.


    I felt a small tinge of sadness when I heard that the troops I had sent to Vanity¡¯s world had been destroyed. I had¡­ expected that it was a likely oue, but that did not mean I was happy about it. At least I won¡¯t have to worry about him counter-attacking me. From what I heard, he¡¯s stayed at the first rank for a while now.


    As I was thinking that, I heard the clopping of hooves against the wooden floor, and saw a rare sight. Tryval had walked into the living room, ncing around until his eyes settled on me. ¡°Do you have a moment, sire?¡±


    Although confused, I nodded my head, before looking towards Aurivy. ¡°Sorry, but we¡¯ll need to pick this upter.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡± Aurivy gave a happy smile, waving a hand dismissively. ¡°Tryval doesn¡¯te up here very often, so I bet he¡¯s got something pretty important to talk about.¡±


    I had a simr thought, so I slowly stood up from my position on the couch, where I had been ying a game of dice with Aurivy. After that, I walked over to follow Tryval as he walked down the hall. ¡°Is this about the world you want to create?¡± I guessed, seeing the centaur ahead of me nodding his head.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. I wish to discuss a world that could be created for my people.¡± Finally, he turned and opened a doorway along the hall, gesturing me inside. Within, I could see a vast meadowid out before me, a blue sky overhead. Although I could see the open doorway still behind me, the rest of the scenery lookedpletely natural.


    Is this the first time I¡¯ve been in Tryval¡¯s room? I asked myself, before shaking the thought away. ¡°What ideas did you have in mind?¡±


    ¡°First, I wanted to discuss some possibilities with you, if that is okay.¡± As he said that, he entered the room, closing the door behind himself. ¡°I had first raised these questions with Terra, but she insisted that you should be experienced enough toe up with an answer yourself by now.¡±


    ¡°Did she?¡± I raised an eyebrow curiously, fairly certain that I could take that to be some sort of roundabout praise. That, or Terra was just trying to get out of doing extra work. ¡°What kind of questions did you have for me, then?¡±


    Tryval closed his eyes, letting out a long sigh. ¡°First of all, I would like to be able to take Alme with me to live in this world from the beginning. She has expressed an interest in seeing ¡®my world¡¯, after learning more about Spica. With her longevity, it should not be a problem for her to live through the entire growth of a world, so long as I can keep her safe.¡±


    Possible issues with her being as strong as she is, but putting that aside for now. I thought to myself, looking up towards Tryval. ¡°And you want to know how we can make that work for your world, having her there from the start?¡±


    ¡°Precisely, my lord.¡±


    After a moment of consideration, I arrived at the answer surprisingly easily. ¡°The Fairy Gate. If we ce one on your world from the start and link the two worlds, then you will be able to take Alme with you into your world with Aurivy¡¯s power. We will just need to put the gate in some obscure or underground location to ensure that it is not found before we are ready. When your world has grown, we can move the gate. We¡¯ll put your world in a Time Zone, that way you can still fast forward it even though it is connected.¡±


    Tryval¡¯s eyes briefly widened as he considered my words. ¡°Is there anything that I will need to keep in mind with this?¡±


    I gave a small nod, already thinking of one potential issue. ¡°The Fairy Gate spawns monsters at random intervals. If they are left unchecked, then they could destroy entire nations of lower leveled inhabitants. However, if we set up artillery around the gate like the others we have, the shockwaves of its firing could possibly attract unwanted attention.¡±


    Tryval furrowed his brow as he considered that. ¡°If you ce the gate in the ins of arge, uninhabited ind, I would be able to arrive there and deal with the monsters instantly, with only a minimal amount of energy.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true as well. I can take steps to ensure that the environment around the ind deters seafaring travelers, as well.¡±


    ¡°That would be appreciated, though¡­rgely unnecessary, I think.¡± Tryval cleared his throat. ¡°This brings me to my second question. Would it be possible to shape the world, such that major continents andrger inds have and bridge connecting them, even if said bridges are narrow?¡±


    Seeing my confusion, Tryval went on to exin. ¡°My kind are physically incapable of vomiting, so many people mistakenly believe that we do not get seasick. In fact, seasickness is worse in centaurs than it is in most other races. The effect it has on us is an excruciating pain that can cripple even a hardened warrior.¡±


    ¡°Withoutnd bridges connecting continents, it is likely that my kind will forever remain on only a single continent, save for a few of the variants capable of flight. Even they would only dare to venture so far away for fear of their stamina depleting.¡±


    This was a harder question. I had never personally attempted to terraform an area with Keeper controls. It was then that my eyes went wide, and I recalled options that had been in my menu since the very beginning, but I had never taken notice of.


    Ever since my very first descent upon the world, any time I selected an area, there were five options. Edit Location, Spawn, Kill, Trigger Event, and Descend¡­ I had always made use of Descend, and neglected the others. Spawn and Trigger Event could both be understood as links to theter unlocked Monster Spawner and Cmity Spawner features.


    Kill¡­ I had never seen anyone that I hated so much that I wanted to test that particr option on. Focusing, I brought up the map in front of me, moving to an isted area of Fyor¡¯s twenty-second floor, far away from where anyone had explored. There, I selected an eight-meter tall deer with sharp points at the tips of its antlers and tested the ¡®Kill¡¯mand.


    As expected, the giant deer simply copsed. However, no spirit escaped its body. The Killmand apparently destroyed a creature¡¯s very essence, ensuring that they were well and truly dead. Good to know for future events.


    Finally, there was the ¡®Edit Location¡¯mand. Selecting that at the same area, I saw options to shift the ground level, add water, or adjust the mineral distribution for the area. Satisfied, I closed the map, nodding to Tryval. ¡°I can make thend bridges for you.¡±


    At the same time as I said that, I was also silently debating the possibility of arranging a naturalndscape in such a way that it served as a focus for geometric magic. Something like that, formed by the world itself, would carry an astonishing amount of power. And it did not have to be anything offensive. Perhaps a massive healing spell, spread out through a giant area to serve as a passive regeneration effect.


    Thinking about it again, I shook my head. I¡¯d only be able to create first tier spells like that, unless I was able to modify ore veins beneath the initialyer to form the secondary spell diagrams. Either way, I wouldn¡¯t be able to get the kind of amazing effect that would make that worthwhile.


    ¡°Excellent.¡± Tryval let out a relieved sigh, obviously happy that his ideas could be implemented without any undue worry. ¡°In that case, I would like a size six world. Rather than Earth¡¯s geometric magic, I would prefer Fyor¡¯s rune magic. Likewise, the game system used in the rest of the worlds would be suitable here.¡±


    ¡°For races, I believe that my own race already has quite a bit of variation in it. Naturally, I will not ask you to rescind your previous rulings. Aside from these things¡­ there is nothing else that I wish for my own world. I do not require any special systems not already in ce, nor do I require any special minerals. Merely thend to roam, and my daughter to roam it with.¡±


    I smiled softly as I heard that request, opening up the menu. ¡°Okay, then let¡¯s get this started.¡± I said, creating an orb of stone in front of myself. ¡°Do you have a name for the world?¡±


    Tryval closed his eyes in thought, before a small smile appeared on his face. ¡°Sher Dien. The name of Alme¡¯s mother.¡±


    I could feel the love contained in those words. It was obvious that even after all this time, his heart still belonged to the memory of Alme¡¯s mother. The centaur that had been an utter yboy when he was first created had been thoroughly tamed by a mortal, such that he remains faithful centuries after her death.


    After entering that name, I pulled up the map of this freshly created world and oveid it on the stone sphere. The rough stone became smoother,rge chunks of green and sshes of blue appearing within it.


    Sher Dien was a world that was fifty percentnd,pared to Earth¡¯s roughly thirty or so percent. However, the continents did not dominate as much as one might expect from that ratio. Instead of a few massive continents, there were hundreds, maybe even thousands ofrge inds with thick waterways between them.


    There was only one true ocean, located in a patch of the world where the inds didn¡¯t touch. Everything else, however thick, could only be described as numerous rivers or a few scatteredkes. Even so, these rivers ranged anywhere from one mile to a hundred miles thick.


    I looked at this model, furrowing my brows. Connecting the differentndmasses viand bridges would not be hard at all. However, there was the geography of the world to consider. If I blocked these rivers, turning the bridges into dams, then the entire surface of the world would change.


    I couldn¡¯t create arches covering the rivers from one side to the other, either. Tectonic drift would eventually ensure that those arches crumbled into nothing, possibly before they were even used.


    Thinking about how I could preserve thendscape of the world while also fulfilling Tryval¡¯s wishes, an idea struck me. Without hesitation, I began to get to work. For each ind connection, I checked the high and low tides, building thend bridge such that it settled in between those two levels.


    Then, I created holes that ran through the bottom of thend bridge such that water could still pass through without turning it into a dam. After I was done with the first one, I fast forwarded time a bit. During the rainy season, when the tides were highest, the bridge was entirely invisible, hidden beneath the water.


    However, when the tide lowered, the bridge became apparent. Although it still looked like a dam, I adjusted the underground waterways enough to allow plenty of water through without removing the stability of the bridge.


    Simrly, in order to ensure that the structure did not copse easily to earthquakes or tectonic shifts, I carefully plotted the connections. It was impossible for every ind to have a connection to every other ind. For those inds that remained on the same tectonic te, I allowed them to connect to all of their neighbors. For the inds which were divided by a te, I only made one connection between the two inds nearest each other.


    This connection was also much thicker than the others I had been creating to attempt to ensure sturdiness. Like this, I made sure that only one ind existed that had absolutely no connections to any other ind¡­ and that ind I moved to the center of the vast ocean. ¡°This is where I¡¯ll be cing the gate.¡± I exined, before opening another menu, the Cmity Spawner¡­


    My n to help deter travelers from approaching this ind was quite simple. I only had to create a massive, perpetual storm with the ind in the eye of it. Normally, such a thing would be impossible, but this menu made it a far easier matter. At first, I considered setting a deactivation method, such as the sessful use of the Fairy Gate. But, with it activating to spawn monsters, that would not work.


    Instead, I simply created the storm, and watched as it quickly took shape around the ind. A wall of wind and lightning obscured the ind from vision, causing me to nod my head. Only once that was done did I actually purchase the centaurs and the various systems for this world.

 Chapter 425: Political Maneuvering

    <h4>Chapter 425: Political Maneuvering</h4>


    ¡°I see¡­¡± Empress Margold nodded as she spoke with a young kitsune woman. The two of them were located in a private meeting room, as this woman had pleaded to speak with her in secret. In fact, it was incredibly risky for the empress to meet with someone without any guards, yet she had barely hesitated.


    The main reason for this was the identity of the woman in question. Empress Margold had been a dear friend to Queen Sylvia, so she was naturally familiar with certain faces within her court. After they had both verified the others¡¯ identities, the empress led the kitsune to this meeting room.


    Of course, another source of her confidence came from the wards within the meeting room itself. Should anyone in the room have their health fall beyond a certain value, a spell would activate to send that person to the medical ward of the pce. Even if she dide here to harm the empress, she was not strong enough to kill in a single strike.


    ¡°Mydy wishes for you to be aware of this information.¡± The kitsune spoke with a deep bow. She was no longer wearing the pce robes, having changed into amon ck shirt and pants, a dark blue robe obscuring her figure.


    ¡°I appreciate the swiftness of the new queen¡¯s report.¡± The empress spoke honestly. ¡°In truth, we received this information as well, and I was debating sending messengers to Deckan. However¡­ I believe you were just a step too slow, my dear.¡±


    The kitsune lifted her head to look at the empress with a confused expression. ¡°What do you mean, your highness?¡±


    ¡°I mean in terms of reaching here first.¡± Margold let out a lightugh at that. ¡°Actually, about an hour before you got here, a demon arrived from Desbar to deliver this information as well. Those guys are even less trusting than I am, I have to admit¡­¡±


    It was clear that the kitsune wasn¡¯t quite sure what the empress meant by this. So, the empress leaned forward on the desk, an amused smile on her face. ¡°Unlike our two worlds, the demons have a greater focus on technology. You are aware of this, correct?¡±


    When the kitsune nodded, the empress continued. ¡°Our magic is useless in Spica, but their technology suffers no penalty. When one of Desbar¡¯s officers heard that these ¡®workers¡¯ came from the Council, he secretly nted a device on this person¡¯s clothes, small enough to escape notice. Apparently, he has a grudge against the Council or something like that.¡± The empress waved her hand dismissively.


    ¡°The point of the matter is that he used this device to secretly follow these people from a distance and listen in on their conversation. And thanks to that, he was able to learn of their ¡®real¡¯ orders.¡±


    Only now did the kitsune maidservant seem to catch on, her eyes going wide. ¡°Fyor broke the oath¡­?¡±


    Margold let out a small sigh, nodding her head. ¡°That¡¯s right. Those ¡®workers¡¯ are hired mercenaries, just like your queen probably expects. But really¡­ this is a pain.¡±


    ¡°H-how so?¡±


    Seeing herte friend¡¯s trusted maid so agitated, Margold put on a reassuring smile tofort her. Though, her words were far fromforting. ¡°Well, it¡¯s rather hard to move against the Council, even for us. If they see using, then they¡¯ll just break their pir. Oh¡­ right, you might not know.¡± The empress blinked in realization, before shaking her head again.


    ¡°A while back, before the foundation of the Dawn Kingdom, the neenthyer of Fyor had its pir destroyed. That event was long enough ago now that most people have forgotten, but¡­ because their pir was destroyed, they werepletely cut off. Their world was shrouded in darkness, and they were forced to live alone until it repaired itself.¡±


    As an elf, Margold was keenly aware of the events that had happened to the neenthyer of Fyor. That event had been a major eye-opener to her, as it presented both strategic strength and weakness in one. ¡°In short¡­ if the Council destroys their pir, we won¡¯t be able to move against them. From what I¡¯ve heard, even powerful spatial magic wasn¡¯t able to function until the pir was repaired.¡±


    ¡°B-but, we can¡¯t simply overlook this matter!¡± The maidservant cried out, before hastily covering her mouth. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, your highness¡­¡±


    ¡°No, no, you¡¯re right.¡± Margold waved a hand dismissively, having expected an outburst like that. ¡°We can pressure the Council politically, even if we can¡¯t attack them at their core. For instance¡­ if Bria votes with us, we can ce the Dawn Kingdom as the representatives of Fyor.¡±


    ¡°From there, the Council would lose their voice in the Legion of Allied Worlds, as well as control over trade going in and out of Fyor. By now, it is only a matter of time before Demacry notices humans and halflings among Sce¡¯s army, so it would be wise to pre-empt theirints by publicly denouncing the Council¡¯s actions.¡±


    ¡°Once the church learns that the Council willfully broke an oath made on the name of their Goddess, religious support will likewise be taken away from them. However, this will drive them down a path of desperation. Given their previous actions, they will try to use their pir to hold all of Fyor hostage.¡±


    ¡°T-then¡­ is there really nothing that we can do?¡± The maidservant asked, her face having gone pale as she both imagined the implications of that tactic as well as Margold¡¯s own strategies.


    ¡°Well¡­ that would normally be the case.¡± Margold gave a small grin. ¡°But, you must remember¡­ the Council broke an oath made in Bihena¡¯s name¡­ I imagine that their goddess is none too pleased with them right now.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t just rely on the possibility that Lady Bihena will act in your favor, can you?¡± The kitsune woman couldn¡¯t help but argue, as the concept of relying on a god¡¯s intervention was simply madness.


    ¡°If she hadn¡¯t already, you might be right.¡± Margold¡¯s grin grew a touch wider. ¡°Bria should already have been informed by now. You can report back to her, and let her know that we¡¯re aware of the situation. Tomorrow, we will be hosting a L.A.W. conference to officially appoint the Dawn Kingdom as Fyor¡¯s representatives.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Although confused, the maidservant did indeed rush back to her queen, only to see Bria in a daze. Apparently, Bihena had personally visited each of the world leaders to ensure them that the crystal pir would be protected, no matter what actions were taken. She would not aid the Council in any way, should battle break out.


    And, as promised, a meeting was held the following day. During this meeting, the Council was officially denounced as the governing body of Fyor, which was nowbeled as a union of independent states. The Dawn Kingdom was unanimously elected by the remaining three leaders to act as the representative to this union.


    Immediately afterwards, word was sent to Demacry, informing them of the Council¡¯s betrayal. Although a simple apology would not be enough, they were offered more favorable trade aspensation. At the same time, troops were sent marching towards Sce¡¯s territory to demand the return of the treasonous forces.


    Naturally, Demacry and Sce were both shocked by this turn of events. Although Sce refused to hand over the soldiers, they were given a simple promation by the troops that had been dispatched.


    ¡®Five hundred troops were illegally moved to your territory. If you refuse to return these troops to face justice, justice will be brought here. Do not force us to join this war of yours.¡¯


    It was a simple promation, but at the same time an overbearing demand. The emperor of Sce, as well as the Magic King, were both entirely aware of its meaning. If they refused to hand over the reinforcements from the Council, it was likely that Earth¡¯s alliance would join Demacry in the war.


    Faced with such pressure, the emperor had no choice but to ede. The five hundred troops were brought back to face trial. Although their crimes were lighter than those of the Council, they had still knowingly continued their mission after learning that they were breaking that same oath.


    Back in Fyor, things were proceeding just as the world leaders had predicted. With their power restricted, the Council began to act like a cornered animal. Troops were dispatched to surround all of the gates within the first five floors, while the reception room of the Council itself was remodeled into a bunker. Without fail, they immediately demanded the ¡®rightful¡¯ rule of Fyor to be given back to them.


    It was only when this n failed, when the soldiers of the other worlds began marching within Fyor, that their true downfall arrived. When they saw that their only path for survival was to carry out their bluff.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Six men walked in full armor through the halls of the Council, each carrying a heavy greatsword on their back. These were the elite guards of the Council, their strongest warriors. For years, they had been groomed, sent out in groups to dangerous regions to hunt until they had reached the limit of power that could be allowed within Fyor.


    Their name was the Six Pirs, and their primary role was to ensure the continuation of the Council. Now, they had been tasked with what could likely be their final mission. They were asked to ensure peace within the Council by destroying the very thing that they had guarded for so long.


    However, when they turned the corner, pushing open the door to the Pir Chamber, they were met with a surprise. Two human women stood before them. One had long ck hair and a curvaceous figure, draped in a ck robe. Meanwhile the other had short, fiery red hair, clothed in leather armor and carrying twin daggers.


    ¡°Sorry, boys¡­¡± The ck-haired woman began, before the other spoke as if naturally continuing the sentence.


    ¡°But we can¡¯t allow anyone near this thing. Boleer, hark.¡± The shadow connecting the two figures rose up, wrapping around the one with red hair while the other took a step back.


    ¡°I¡¯ll leave the melee to you, Thelsa!¡± Julia shouted bringing her hand forward. Arge spell diagram appeared in front of her hand, and she made a pushing motion towards it.


    ¡°I am the shadow of salvation. Heed my call ande forth, riding on ebon wings. Soldiers lost to the abyss, warriors forgotten within the darkness. Let shine your final moments on this field, and redeem yourselves and your honor.¡±


    Called forth by her words, a pulse reverberated through the room. Even as Thelsa charged forward, darting between the armored knights drawing their heavy weapons, three figures stepped out of the circle. Another pulse seemed to apany every step, their pitch-ck figures soon taking shape.


    Like the knights, they wore heavy armor. However, their armor was ck and ethereal, looking to be made of ghastly mes. Beneath that armor was a mass of grey, unmistakably bone. Skeletons d in dark magic, great ck wings attached to their backs. Each of them carried a single sword and a single shield, the empty eye sockets of their skulls filled with a blood-red glow.


    These dark soldiers did not charge, instead simply standing near Julia defensively as she prepared her next spell. This time, there was no fancy chant, no surge of elemental might. She was not casting this as an elementalist, but rather purely as a mage.


    The Six Pirs were having a hard time fighting Thelsa, the slippery rogue able to evade their rtively slower swings. At the same time, however, their armors were reinforced enough that she could only strike at their joints, making their own defense much easier. Given this, their fight so far had been a stalemate, even leaning in favor of the Six Pirs due to their numbers.


    That is, until they saw the spell diagram forming beneath Julia¡¯s feet. The spheres embedded within the different points of the diagram was enough for them to identify this as a third tier spell, something that immediately made them rmed.


    With a silent understanding, two of the six knights broke off from the battle with Thelsa, ensuring that the rogue would not easily be able to gain the upper hand while they charged the spellcaster.


    As expected, the three figures summoned by the former spell began to step forward, blocking the way of the knights. Unfortunately, these were not true soldiers, merely spells given humanoid shape. They had no truebat experience to block off the knights, and could only activate their spell effects in their final moments.


    As their magic was unleashed, the room was wrapped in darkness, at least in the eyes of the two knights. In truth, they were wrapped in ck spheres that held them in ce, each sphere created from the death of a shadowy warrior.


    Thelsa. Julia called to her partner mentally, and the rogue vanished, her body falling into her own shadow. Julia stretched her hand out towards the knights, her spell finally ready. ¡°Abyss Break.¡±


    ck lines stretched up from Julia¡¯s spell diagram, spreading towards the door. Whatever those lines touched appeared to be cleanly severed, whether it was stone, steel, or the limbs of the trapped knights. These lines raced towards the knights stationed near the door, arriving sooner than they could retreat.


    Screams filled the room for but a brief moment, before the lines widened, swallowing everything that they had severed. Now, Julia stood once again in an empty room, letting out a deep breath of relief. Trade with me for the next batch. I need to recover my mana.

 Chapter 426: Carna Petra

    <h4>Chapter 426: Carna Petra</h4>


    Bihena did not simply nominate Thelsa for this mission due to her previous connection to Dale. When ites to the safety of the world, she would never resort to nepotism so easily. No, she chose Thelsa purely because of her strength. The Shadow Saint title did not simply give her another body that could act for her, those two bodies were perfectly in sync, able tomunicate wlessly whileplimenting each other¡¯s powers.


    Although each body was restricted by the level limit of Fyor as a whole, it was not hard for Thelsa to find monsters to train both herself and Julia to the limit. After that, they would spend their free time sparring against one another, further improving their cooperation and understanding of their abilities.


    Previously, when Thelsa had snuck into the Council on Dale¡¯s mission, she had been forced to beat a hasty retreat due to a few average guards. But after surviving that encounter and developing this new power, she was even a match for the greatest elites that the Council could throw at her.


    After the Six Pirs failed toplete their mission, Thelsa moved once again to stand in front of the crystal spire. It was unknown how long it would take the Council to begin questioning the fact that their elites had failed their mission, but she could not afford to lower her guard.


    While she stood watch, Julia began consuming mana pills within her shadow, refreshing the mana that she had been forced to use on her top-tier spell. Abyss Break was an offensive version of the standard shadow binding spell, where one would pull a creature into a shadow prison. Instead, it only pulled in small sections as wide as a thread, essentially severing space wherever it cut. And once it had finished this first step, it rapidly expanded to consume what was left.


    When we get out of here, make sure to see if we can grab one of those new grimoires from Earth! Julia called out from the shadow. Will make fighting way easier on me.


    I¡¯ll see what I can do. Thelsa nodded. She still intended to ¡®renew¡¯ Julia¡¯s identity after this, since it would be all too clear that she was one of the ones responsible for killing Council soldiers. While it was unlikely that anyone would consider this a crime, she did not want to stand in the spotlight. Thankfully, she did not have topletely wipe out the personality that was Julia, merely give her a new name and change her appearance, maybe adjust her sses a bit.


    Can I pick what my next name would be? Julia asked while they waited, slowly rising up from Thelsa¡¯s shadow to join her in the formation.


    Of course. Thelsa agreed without hesitation. Although Julia was fully aware and consented to her identity being reced, Thelsa would still feel bad about not agreeing to her wishes in this matter.


    I¡¯ve always wanted to be a Sora. Sora Sparks! Now that would be a name.


    Thelsa let out a light chuckle as she heard that. I¡¯ll remember that. Well then¡­ after this, please continue to take care of me, Sora.


    Julia¡¯s lips curved upwards into a smile before the two of them heard a voice shouting down the hall. ¡°What¡¯s taking you so long!?¡±


    The one that turned the corner was an aged halfling man, his hair already starting to turn grey. When he looked into the room, and saw the sshes of blood along the floors, as well as the two women standing in front of the crystal, his eyes went wide. ¡°Y-y-you! Why you! Do you know what you are doing?! The Warrior Goddess will not stand for this!¡±


    Rather than standing and fighting, the man turned and ran after that threat, screaming. ¡°Bihena, help us! People seek to destroy your most devout followers, and caretakers of your people!¡±


    Of course, there was no answer that came to him. If he knew that the goddess he was praying to was resisting the urge to simply smite him, he might have chosen his words differently. As Thelsa and Julia were aware of the goddess¡¯s stance, they simply looked to each other with wry grins.


    As they waited, they began to feel like they had plenty of time¡­ There were no rushing footsteps, no surging energies heading towards them. So the two got to work. Stretching out their hands, they focused, closing off the doorway to the room and sealing it with a wall of stone.


    It was a full ten minutes before they could hear people banging against the wall on the other side. The sound of steel and bone striking stone echoed as cracks began to form with every hit. However, the fact that the wall was not simply blown apart showed that the people gathered now were only average guards, and that there was not even a druid among them.


    ¡°I¡¯d rather not kill them if they¡¯re this weak¡­¡± Julia muttered to herself, crossing her arms as she focused on maintaining the wall, gradually thickening it in case the guards began using their ki. ¡°Lady Bihena, may we know how much longer to expect this siege?¡±


    She was not expecting an answer, and was prepared to simply wait in silence. However, to her surprise, an answer did indeede. It should only be a few more moments. The United Army has already reached the gate, and are dealing with the remaining elites. And don¡¯t worry about your reward¡­ I¡¯ve been assured that you will receive something far too fitting for your abilities.


    ¡°Reward?¡± Julia blinked in confusion, having not really been expecting a reward. ¡°With all due respect, Lady Bihena, we are doing this for the people. Please, do not trouble yourself with things like rewards. Just the fact that we are helping is enough.¡±


    Sorry, my child. But she insisted on this one. Trying to argue with her when she has set her mind on something¡­ well, let¡¯s just say that it¡¯s taken care of, and leave it at that for now, hmm? Bihena spoke in a gentle tone, clearly happy that Julia and Thelsa did not seem to care about being rewarded.


    ¡°She?¡± Thelsa asked, not sure who Bihena was talking about. Given that they were doing this for Fyor, she felt that the other goddess involved should be Aurivy. However, Bihena did not offer up an answer to this.


    Instead, their answer came roughly five minutester, when the two of them could hear the sounds of struggle outside their stone wall. The guards were being distracted, and had begun shouting, meaning that the army should have reached this location. Thelsa let out a sigh, preparing to sink into her own shadow when a golden mist suddenly wrapped around the two of them.


    When the mist dispersed, the two were standing in an entirely new area. Now they were on an ind, an old, weathered house behind them. Many of its nks were broken or rotted away, its windows shattered.


    They were familiar with this sensation, having experienced it once before. ¡°Thank you, Lady Aurivy.¡± Thelsa bowed reverently, knowing that Aurivy pulled them out of the room out of consideration for their desire to remain discreet.


    There was a soft giggle that echoed in their minds, before that voice faded away, instead reced by another. This one not in their heads, but from behind them. ¡°No, we should be the ones thanking you.¡±


    Thelsa and Julia both turned, surprised to find a red-skinned woman smiling at them. The presence she gave off, now that they were able to focus on her, was unmistakably that of a deity¡­ which left her identity clear. ¡°Lady Ashley.¡± The two women bowed in unison, lowering themselves to rest one knee on the ground, their heads lowered.


    ¡°Now now, none of that.¡± Ashley said in a gentle tone, and both Julia and Thelsa could feel themselves being lifted back to their feet. ¡°It would have been a problem for us if you didn¡¯t act, and having us do so personally would set a bad precedent. In times like these, we need people like yourselves that are willing to act on our behalf.¡±


    ¡°Of course, goddess.¡± Thelsa nodded her head, still doing her best to disy her reverence even when her body refused to do so.


    ¡°Now¡­ as for your reward. Yes, I¡¯m the one that arranged things for that. Really, it should note as a surprise to you, given that I am the Goddess of Darkness. Who better to reward the Shadow Saint?¡± There was a knowing smile on the demon goddess¡¯s lips as she asked that.


    In truth, Thelsa had never considered working as an agent for Ashley. Not because she had anything against the goddess, but simply because she did not believe she should attract enough attention for a goddess to even notice her. However, not it seemed that Ashley had indeed been watching, at least for a little while.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you are curious, so¡­ allow me to get right to it. This reward¡­ I will be granting you a fourth shadow, using my power. This shadow will be a bit different from the ones like Julia here, or the still growing Maria. She will hold a piece of my own power, a powerpatible with your own.¡±


    ¡°In truth, I am doing this because I am curious if it will work.¡± Ashley spoke honestly, her smile widening. ¡°You are a unique existence, Thelsa. The only being within five worlds that can do what you do. You can freely create shadows of life by siphoning the powers of darkness. So my gift to you¡­ treat her well. She will be a lonely child, her power likely too great for her to easily contain. Show her the world, teach her, and allow her to create new bonds.¡±


    As Ashley spoke, she waved a hand, and Thelsa¡¯s eyes immediately went wide. She could feel the power surging up within her shadow, a fourth persona suddenly appearing. Unlike the ones she had created before, this was no human. Rather, she was a demon like Ashley herself.


    Your third Shadow of Salvation, Petra Carna, has unlocked an achievement!


    For being born with the divine powers of darkness, Petra Carna has received the Demigoddess of Shadows special title.


    Thelsa immediately investigated the new shadow, and found that it only had three sses trained. Petra Carna was a druid, a priest, and a berserker. However, these three sses were all high enough level that her total power was somewhat beyond that of Thelsa herself¡­ meaning that it was beyond the level limit of Fyor.


    ¡°W-will we even be able to use the gates like this?¡± Thelsa asked in concern, as otherwise that would mean that they would be trapped on what was no doubt the neenthyer of Fyor. The unique scenery, coupled with the sunless sky, could only make her think of the Dawn Kingdom.


    ¡°Well, I think so?¡± Ashley shrugged her shoulders, a carefree smile on her face. ¡°As long as you don¡¯t bring out Petra while you are crossing, the gate shouldn¡¯t stop you. If it does, I will lower her strength enough that it won¡¯t be an issue anymore. This child has a connection with me, but she otherwise does not know anything about the world. She is but a newborn at heart, so be kind to her. If you can win her love, she will be your greatest ally.¡±


    Thelsa gave a small nod at that, looking to Julia. The ck-haired woman let out a sigh. ¡°Alright, alright. I¡¯ll head for the gate, so you go take care of the new girl.¡± Julia smiled bitterly while Thelsa began to sink into her shadow. ¡°I guess we¡¯ll have our hands full for a while with this reward.¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    I watched the scene y out with Ashley out of the corner of my eye, only half focusing on my game with Aurivy. Ashley had asked for permission to create a demigod, though she herself had not been sure that the procedure would work. Given that I was curious, and that we already had two demigods living within the world¡­ one of them of my own creation, I saw no reason to refuse her.


    As long as she didn¡¯t go around doing this as much as Tryval had been trying to ¡®produce¡¯ a demigod originally, I saw no harm in it. And, given that that was not even possible, as Thelsa was likely the only person this method would work with, I decided to let her carry out her n. I was already preparing to make Thelsa one of the chosen champions, once we advanced our rank and unlocked that feature.

 Chapter 427: The Brightest Future

    <h4>Chapter 427: The Brightest Future</h4>


    Following the fall of the Council, the power bnce within Fyor underwent a rather drastic shift. The remaining Council members were relieved of theirmand and forced to live in the otheryers, while others had evidence of crimes brought against them. These few faced trials to determine their fates.


    No longer were any floors within Fyor forced to subject to an external government. Rather, the established nations of Fyor assisted each floor in creating their own system by which to rule. Even the dreadful twentieth floor, the cave of massive insects, was given a governing body to take control of its few cities. These nations then formed alliances with one another and entered negotiations for beneficial trade agreements.


    As for the first floor of Fyor? The floor which had been eternally off-limits to normal citizens? The leaders of the various governing bodies debated on what should be done with this area. Given the strategic significance of it, they could not simply turn what had once been the Council into a residential zone.


    Instead, they opted to begin remodeling the Council floor as a military base. With how important the central spire was to the rest of the world, it seemed only logical to defend it as much as they could. This would be a rather long construction project, as it was a veryrge task to undertake.


    Yet, for the average citizen, there was hardly any impact felt from this change. Many only came to realize what was happening after they received the system prompt, alerting them that they were no longer ¡®citizens¡¯ of the Council of Fyor. Then, a few dayster, they received their new kingdom.


    Perhaps the ce that had changed the most over these days was not Fyor itself, but rather Spica. After all, the Legion of Allied Worlds had made it perfectly clear that they would not take sides in this battle. More importantly, by showing that they would harshly reprimand their own people for breaking this oath, the leaders of both nations truly realized that this was their own battle to fight.


    Thanks to this knowledge, Demacry became far more assertive in their march. While they still held the same policies towards the soldiers and civilians, they no longer waited for so long between their marches. Immediately after the news hit, they set out to im a coastal province on another of Sce¡¯s continents. This would serve as their foothold in thisnd.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°It¡¯s okay, auntie!¡± A young unicorn centauress called out, wearing a ck dress. Her equine hide was ck with purple markings, and she waved towards another centaur, one which had a silver crown atop her head. ¡°I should be back soon, don¡¯t worry.¡±


    ¡°Of course, princess.¡± The queen bowed politely to the Eternal Princess, smiling and waving to bid her farewell.


    Alme Dien had been making her rounds, letting the centaur kings and queens know that she would be gone for a while. Her father was taking her to a newnd, but she wanted to assure them that she would be back soon. This was herst stop, thest person she had to visit before she could make her journey.


    Now, as she ran out through the city¡¯s gates, over a tall and grassy hill, she saw her father standing there. He offered her a small nod and a gentle smile, extending his hand for her to grasp it. When she did, the two of them vanished, shrouded in a golden mist.


    The next thing Alme knew, she could hear the gentle rushing of water. She found herself standing upon an ind with her father, water surrounding them on almost all sides. ¡°This is it, Alme.¡± Tryval spoke in a kind tone. ¡°This is Sher Dien.¡±


    Alme¡¯s voice caught in her throat when she heard the name of this world, her eyes going wide. Her father had yet to tell her the name of the world he would take her to, saying that it should be kept as a surprise. She let out a small sniffle, shuffling closer to lean her body against Tryval¡¯s. ¡°I love it, daddy. But¡­ where are all of the people?¡±


    Tryvalughed lightly at that, reaching down to ruffle Alme¡¯s hair. ¡°This is a world of connected inds. Our people are out there, we need only find them. However, do you remember your mission?¡±


    Alme gave a confident nod of her head. ¡°I¡¯ll do it. I¡¯ll show you that I can keep them safe.¡±


    Given the logic behind the monster spawning system, monsters would spawn at up to double the level of the strongest individual in an area. As Alme was undoubtedly the single most powerful mortal of Sher Dien, that meant that they could spawn up to double her level.


    Thankfully, Dale didn¡¯t wish for the centaurs to bepletely wiped out. As such, he only bought the first tier of monsters, which had a lower level limit. Even if the system allowed monsters to spawn up to twice Alme¡¯s level, that would only take effect if there were such monsters avable.


    Even so, while these monsters could not threaten Alme, they were creatures of nightmare to the average centaur. Thus, Alme had been given a mission from Tryval. She would be the first queen of his world, and protect these people.


    For so long, she had been the Eternal Princess, the child who had lived longer than any elf. She had acted as an advisor to generations of kings and queens, but had always refused to take the role herself. Now, she had been given a choice. She wished to experience her father¡¯s own world, and was allowed to do so from the very dawn of it¡­ but only if she acted as its queen until such time as her protection was unneeded.


    In all honesty, the decision was one of the easiest she had made in a long time. For the first time in so long, she would be able to be genuinely helpful to her father. She could watch his world grow firsthand, be a part of its history¡­


    ¡°So, daddy, what am I going to eat?¡± Alme asked in an innocent tone, causing Tryval¡¯s eye to twitch slightly. Alme¡¯s body needed far more sustenance than these low level creatures could provide, unless she ate them in massive quantities.


    More importantly, Tryval couldn¡¯t simply bring her food every day from the other worlds to eat. Just the time needed to acquire the food, even if he used his divine powers, would slow down this world¡¯s progression drastically.


    The thought of teaching Alme how to change into the Perfect Self did cross his mind. However, it was impossible for him to ept that. Not before she had been thoroughly trained to perform the energy fusion. There was too much risk of her simply dying in the process.


    As he thought more about it, an idea came to mind. ¡°I¡¯m going to teach you a technique. It will only work on those of considerably lower level than yourself, but will allow you to siphon off small portions of ki from those in the area. Until the monsters are strong enough to feed you, we¡¯ll be using this method.¡±


    Alme¡¯s brow furrowed a bit at that. ¡°Will that not hurt the people I take from?¡±


    Tryval chuckled, ruffling Alme¡¯s hair once again. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t ask you to do that. No, it will only take a small amount from each person. They will likely notice that their ki isn¡¯tpletely full if they look at their information, but it will not be enough of a difference to cause any problems. By the time that they are strong enough that the technique won¡¯t affect them, the monsters spawning should be able to sustain you.¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    I let out a small sigh of relief when I saw that the matter of Alme¡¯s food had been taken care of. There were a number of routes that could be taken, so I wasn¡¯t too incredibly worried about that, but it was still something to keep an eye out for. Given Alme¡¯s presence in the world, I couldn¡¯t risk buying more advanced monster packages, or she would be unable to keep the people safe.


    ncing at the time, I noticed that it was time for the next match. Soon, the system prompt appeared before me, informing me that I would be ying defense this time. Even more¡­ I recognized the name of my opponent¡­


    ¡°Really?¡± Aurivy called out in disbelief from next to me. ¡°We just got done with our fight with him, didn¡¯t we?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± I nodded, seeing the name Vanity appear on the information window. The world had a rather twisted sense of humor to put us up against him right away after ourst match ended. And since I was on the defending team, the round wouldn¡¯t be skipped if I advanced.


    Everyone, we¡¯re moving the n forward. I sent the message to the others in the pantheon. If we had been on the attacking team, that meant that we could simply wait until thest minute to advance, and earn a free skip. However, as part of the defense, there was only a benefit to advancing early. Tubrock, Keliope, is Lorek ready?


    As I awaited their replies, I went ahead and opened the interface from my position on the couch, preparing to join Lorek with the other worlds if they gave the confirmation. Aye,d! We¡¯re just shy of bein¡¯ a rank one world. Once we join the others, and start sharin¡¯ progress, Lorek should jump in power in no time!


    What the dwarf said! Keliope followed up Tubrock¡¯sment with augh. The dwarves of Lorek that got left behind still aren¡¯t doing great, but we¡¯re working on that. As long as the gate gets dropped somewhere we can reach it soon, advancing won¡¯t be an issue for us.


    I gave a small nod, choosing to ce the Fairy Gate of Lorek in the center of Mokar, the port city of the ursa. Here, they would be able to see it as a gift from the gods, while at the same time the city¡¯s golems would be able to act as defenses for the gate.


    However, as soon as I hit the button to join, I was struck with a surprising revtion. The option to mergews appeared in front of me. Originally, I had been nning to deny the merge for Lorek on the same principle that I denied it for Spica. However¡­


    Please choose which Group ofws you wish to merge Lorek with. To activate a Law Merger for any group, there is a static cost of one hundred points.


    Earth


    Spica


    None


    Until now, I had been imagining that I had two options. I could either merge thews of a new world with Earth, or leave them entirely separate. It had simply never urred to me that I would be able to create multiple groups of worlds in this manner.


    And now that I had that option, I had to give it some serious thought. While the profoundws of Lorek may conflict too heavily with Earth¡¯s group, and cause some issues ranging from bad to terrible, the same could not be said for merging with Spica.


    Both worlds held stars as the primary source of power. With Spica, stars emit mana, allowing spells to be powered. And in Lorek, they emit ki. Terra, you might not be able to answer this question. If you can, however, I really need an answer.


    You want to know whether or not the energies created by the stars in Lorek and Spica will merge into chakra or violently collide and explode, destroying every star in the sky.


    Yes.Yes, that is exactly what I want to know. I nodded my head in confirmation. If merging the twows would literally cause every star in both universes to go supernova, then there was no way I could make that decision. Simrly, if the energy automatically merged to be chakra, that would impede the progress of cultivation and destroy the foundation of magic.


    Thankfully, it¡¯s nothing that extreme. Terra spoke up, causing me to let out a sigh of relief. Both systems state that stars generate one type of energy. However, neither of them state that stars can only generate either ki or mana, or that all stars must generate the same kind.


    Since that is the case, stars will be randomly chosen and assigned either ki or mana. Rarely, there will be those that generate chakra.


    That took a rather heavy burden off my mind, causing me to nod. At the same time, I began running through different possibilities for effects the merge might have. What about energy storms in space? With ki and mana shing in the deep void, it¡¯s possible that they will create storms of energy that wander aimlessly through space.


    Oh? Terra seemed surprised when I brought that up. Well, that is certainly a possibility, yes. However, you don¡¯t need to worry about those storms attacking anys. ording to Ryone¡¯s system, mana will be stopped at the upper atmosphere until it is specifically called down. So, even if a spatial storm did approach Lorek or Spica, it would be halted as soon as it reached the atmosphere.


    Of course, this only worked under the premise that we don¡¯t merge them with another set ofws that would allow the mana to reach down to the surface of the world itself. I gave a small nod, sending a message to Ryone. Ryone, I¡¯m going to advance time by one year. I want you to have everyone prepare. In one year, there will be another merge, this one specifically targeting Spica.


    At that time, it¡¯s possible that any magic items will have their functionality affected. It is also possible that ki users will be affected. I¡¯d like you to ask that exactly one year from now, any ki users purge as much of their ki as possible, and magic items are temporarily turned offline for one hour.


    This was the most that I could do to prepare them. Then, I sent the same message to Tubrock and Keliope. Although the stars most important to Lorek¡¯s cultivators were those inside their own body, I had to get them to prepare as much as I could. Only after I had done so, and allowed that year to quickly pass, did I hit the big red button.


    Recalibrating systemws. This process may take a few moments. Your patience is appreciated.


    Recalibrationplete. Any energy which has been either fully researched or manually purchased will have a log of all relevant changes within the Administration Room.

 Chapter 428: A Star is Born

    <h4>Chapter 428: A Star is Born</h4>


    Jana furrowed her brows as she sat cross-legged beneath the starry sky. All around her were other citizens of the city in simr positions. Whether they were dwarves or ursa mattered not, for this was the day that the gods had warned wasing.


    After the appearance of the strange tform within the center of town, a divine message had been sent out to all within the city. In fact, even those from the old home of the dwarves, and the scattered remnants of ns in the dwarven continent received the same message. One yearter, they would sit beneath the stars and expel as much ki as they could from their body.


    While many did not know why such an action was necessary, they did not question the words of the gods. In fact, some feared that refusing to obey an order such as this was what might have destroyed the old civilizations, and so they obeyed without the slightest bit of hesitation.


    At this point, their ki had already been greatly dispersed, each of them having only the power of their own bodies. If a powerful starbeast came along at this time, then it was likely that most of them would perish.


    As Jana was looking up at the stars, she felt as if something had changed. Her hand came up, gripping her chest as her eyes went wide. Her neb had begun to tremble. The starry sky that she had spent her life creating was shaking uncontrobly.


    All around her, other people were gripping their own chests as well. Those who had held back when expelling their ki let out screams of pain, their bodies wrapped in a white fire before vanishing from this world. Although it was just for a moment, the stars within their bodies had begun to truly burn.


    And then, just as quickly as the catastrophe arrived, it likewise passed. But now¡­ Jana could feel something different about the stars above. It felt like the ki had be weaker, while a second energy had been mixed in. This second energy seemed to form a barrier over the sky. If she was not mistaken, this should be the energy known as mana, a power considered rather difficult to cultivate.


    But, this was not the end of their surprises. All at once, blue shes of light appeared in front of each individual, shes that only they could see.


    Wee to the World System.


    Congrattions! You have earned an achievement!


    For mastering the power of the Inner Sky, you have received the Ancient achievement! +5 Wisdom.


    As Lorek faced their crisis, so too did Spica. All around the world, people sat waiting. The Goddess had not told them what would happen, only what was required of them.


    Their magic devices had been disabled, and they all sat outside. Whether women or children, anyone that had cultivated even an ounce of ki had dispelled it from their bodies in preparation for this event.


    However, the scene was different from what happened on Lorek. There was no scream of burning pain from those who had not dispersed their ki properly. There were ufortable grunts, and a few people who coughed up a bit of blood, but nobody lost their lives in this process.


    Instead, roughly half of all adults within the world found their bodies growing hot. Their ki may have dispersed, but it was gradually recovering. And in the process of doing so, they learned that their bodies could no longer hold ki in quite the same manner as before.


    If this continued, then all of those individuals would find their bodies burning as their ki returned, forced to constantly disperse it. Thankfully, the people unaffected were not limited to those too weak to have their ki show such an effect. In fact, several master monks were not affected by this heat either. Instead of their bodies heating up, these individuals found themselves glowing with a faint silver light.


    When they noticed this strange phenomena, they looked into their own bodies to examine themselves. It was then that they saw the change. ¡°Our ki heart¡­ it turned into a star!¡±


    As thews of ki had changed, it was now impossible to house as much ki within their bodies using the normal method. Only by condensing a star could the ki then be stabilized and stored.


    At that moment, the serene voice of the Goddess spoke into the minds of those suffering on Spica. My children¡­ listen well. I am about to teach you the method to condense your first star. If you wish for your pain to end, you will follow my words.


    While these people were being brought onto the path of cultivation, others within the world felt a familiar energy pressing down on them from above. Looking up towards the sky, they could feel a sliver of ki being sent down from the stars themselves. The mana around the world felt somewhat thinner, but now there was something else mixed in as well.


    _______________________________________________________________


    I let out a sigh of relief, nodding my head when I saw the two worlds merging theirws. A quick inspection confirmed Terra¡¯s earlier remarks. There were several stars within the skies of each world that released different energies from the past.


    Thankfully, the main star of each world continued to release the same energy as the past. The star which Lorek orbited still released ki, while Spica¡¯s still released mana. As long as that did not change, then the foundation of each world would be able to remain firm.


    I was somewhat curious how my own body would turn out if it went to Spica, given that I had multiple ¡®ki hearts¡¯ within myself in order to house the energies of the Saint of Five Lights. Would they all turn into stars, allowing me to step directly into the Constetion stage, or would I be walking a more difficult path of cultivation?


    It did not particrly matter to me, as I had already reached godhood with Earth¡¯s method. However, it was also likely that I would reach a special kind of synergy if I allowed myself to fully cultivate both paths. At the very least, it would not make me weaker to do so.


    I would think about this soon. Next up was connecting Kione with the rest of the worlds. alia had already let me know that her world was ready, and I did not have as many reservations about this merge as the others. The primary difference between Kione and Earth¡¯sws was the magic system. However, I had already discovered that that alone was not enough to require aw merge, such as when Deckan joined the collective.


    Unless there was something fundamentally different about the way that the energies functioned, a merge would not be an issue. And even if there was, it would not overwrite the magic systems purchased in other worlds, as seen when Fyor and Earth joined.


    Surprisingly, however, it did indeed prompt me for a merge. It took me a moment to realize why, before I recalled the fact that Fyor had changed Earth¡¯s mana to be ¡®free-floating¡¯. So now, that change had to apply to Kione as well. Nodding my head, I invested the one hundred points to perform this change, joining Kione to Earth¡¯sw group.


    Now, once Sher Dien had advanced enough, every deity would have their own iconic world, save for Terra. Unfortunately, she was unable to have a world of her own. Well¡­ and Irena, but she considered the Underworld to be her domain.


    Before I descended to experience these changes for myself, there were a couple of things that I needed to take care of. First, I sent a mental message to Tubrock, asking him to provide the Sky Citadel with a rudimentary guide to cultivation, up to the Inner Sky stage.


    Next, I looked over to Aurivy, who had been patiently watching with the TV paused, and smiled apologetically. ¡°Sorry, Rivy. Time to get back down to business.¡±


    Aurivy let out a disgruntled sigh, but nodded her head. ¡°Alright. But we¡¯re finishing this showter!¡± She dered with a triumphant grin, as if she had won before an argument even began.


    Rolling my eyes, I reached over and patted her on the head. ¡°Sure thing, Rivy.¡±


    Finally, I stood up, making my way back to the room while making a grasping motion at the air. A blue, crystal sphere appeared in my hand, which I began to focus on. Before I could head down, I first needed to study¡­


    _______________________________________________________________


    Tsubaki sat at herputer, with Dana on herp. One arm was wrapped around the smaller girl¡¯s waist while the other used the mouse and keyboard to look for updates on the situation within Spica. Every since the message had gone out a year ago, Tsubaki knew that this would be Dale¡¯s doing.


    She didn¡¯t know what he was doing, but it could only be him that caused a change on such a scale. She understood his position enough to know at least that much. ¡°Our master should be here soon, Dana.¡± Tsubaki spoke in a gentle tone to the girl in herp.


    ¡°I¡¯ll finally get to meet him, Tsuba?¡± Dana asked, her eyes going wide before she let out a small grunt of pain. One hand went up to her head as her eyes screwed shut.


    ¡°Dana?¡± Suddenly, Tsubaki was worried, closing her eyes and allowing her mana to inspect Dana¡¯s body. She could see tiny changes being made to the structure of the aeon¡¯s energy taking ce in real time. However, these changes continued for only a moment before stopping, her body now configured in a very slightly different manner than before. Tsubaki could notice several ¡®gaps¡¯ within the mana that made up her being, gaps which had never been there before.


    ¡°I¡¯m okay.¡± Dana shook her head, before blinking as she saw a message appearing in front of herself. ¡°Tsuba¡­ the system is giving me a strange message again.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± Tsubaki asked curiously, before Dana waved a hand. A facsimile of a system prompt appeared, generated by Dana¡¯s spiritual energy for Tsubaki to read.


    You are now an Unbound Familiar. You may, at any time, choose to bond yourself to a new master, so long as that master does not possess a familiar of their own.


    I thought his changes were being isted to Spica? Tsubaki thought inwardly, before shaking her head. ¡°Do you feel any different, Dana?¡±


    Dana thought about it for a moment, before shaking her head. ¡°No, I feel the same as before. Though¡­ there feels like there¡¯s something missing in my head. Should I wait to bind myself to the Keeper when he arrives?¡± Dana asked curiously.


    It was clear that she did not know what exactly this binding meant, but Tsubaki had been teaching her for a long while now that they served the Keeper. Since the system used the word ¡®master¡¯, it naturally made Dana think of the man that she had never met.


    Tsubaki, on the other hand, furrowed her brows. ¡°Let¡¯s wait. When he arrives, we¡¯ll ask him about this. There may be more to it than meets the eye.¡±


    Dana nodded her head in eptance. ¡°Okay! I hope he doesn¡¯t want me to, though¡­¡± She admitted, a small smile on her face. ¡°If he doesn¡¯t, then I can bind myself to Tsuba, instead!¡±


    Tsubaki blinked when she heard that, briefly confused by Dana¡¯s words. Then, a soft smile began to rise on her lips. ¡°You don¡¯t have to do that, Dana.¡± Tsubaki was touched by Dana¡¯s willingness tomit herself to Tsubaki, but did not want Dana to feel pressured into doing so.


    ¡°I want to!¡± Dana shook her head heavily. ¡°Tsuba makes me happy! I think you would be the best master for me. Besides, if I bind myself to him¡­ won¡¯t I go away whenever he does? Doesn¡¯t that mean I¡¯d have to leave you?¡±


    Tsubaki didn¡¯t know why at first, but she felt an immense pain in her chest when she heard that. As if the mere idea of losing Dana hurt far more than she thought possible. She found that she didn¡¯t want Dana to bind herself to Dale if it meant losing the rtionship that they had developed. She knew that she could endure if it wasmanded, but¡­ she genuinely hoped that Dale would not make such a demand.

 Chapter 429: Wish Upon a Star

    <h4>Chapter 429: Wish Upon a Star</h4>


    I spent a good few hours studying thews of Lorek, making sure I would be able to understand what I needed to do if anything happened when I visited. There was the chance that my divinity would force me to immediately cultivate through all of the stages, and I needed to be prepared for that.


    Once I was done, I let out a quiet sigh and descended down towards the citadel. Although it wasn¡¯t yet time for me to once again live within the citadel long-term, I did need to pay at least a brief visit.


    When I arrived, I saw Tsubaki already kneeling at the foot of the stairs leading up to my throne. As I gave a small smile, the door to the throne room flew open, and I saw Dana rushing in to join her. Tsubaki turned her head to look at Dana, before looking up towards me. ¡°Wee back, my Keeper.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I spoke softly, looking between the two of them. ¡°I notice that you and Dana are getting along really well.¡±


    ¡°Tsuba¡¯s great, Mister Keeper!¡± Dana spoke up happily, before covering her mouth with one hand. ¡°Oops, sorry¡­¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but let out a lightugh. ¡°It¡¯s fine, Dana. You don¡¯t have to act serious all the time with me. Feel free to rx. I¡¯ve seen how well Tsubaki treats you.¡±


    Dana¡¯s eyes went wide, and she nodded her head. Tsubaki cleared her throat, lowering her head to hide a small flush in her cheeks. ¡°My Keeper, I do have a matter that I wish to report to you.¡±


    Seeing that I was giving her the chance to speak, she continued. ¡°After the recent changes you made to the various worlds, Dana has be something¡­ new. Originally, she was an aeon that I discovered within the Underworld during my training. Now, however, the world system hasbeled her as a familiar.¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡± I asked, nodding my head and giving it some thought. I had noticed that aeons and familiars had quite a bit inmon. However, it shouldn¡¯t have been enough for an aeon to immediately be a familiar with Kione¡¯sws. It was then that I remembered that Tsubaki taught Dana how to use ki, and helped her in acquiring her own.


    Perhaps, when she did that, she met the conditions of Kione to be a familiar spirit? As I thought about that, Leowynn spoke up from within me. Father, it appears¡­ that I am also a familiar, now.


    Okay, now that part surprised me, forcing me to take another moment to think. When I did, the answers seemed to link up. Leowynn was deeply linked to my own soul, and had been reshaped by it. On the other hand, Dana was an independent spirit that simply possessed the necessary energy types to be regarded as a familiar¡­


    ¡°Yeah, so¡­ uhm¡­¡± Dana fidgeted a bit, struggling to find her words. ¡°I don¡¯t have a partner right now¡­ is it okay if I¡­?¡±


    I gave a small nod, able to read from her surface thoughts what it was that she was wanting. ¡°I possess a familiar of my own, already. If Tsubaki consents to it, the two of you can bond. As for how¡­ I believe you should have some understanding of that already.¡±


    ¡°I would enjoy that very much.¡± Tsubaki spoke honestly, keeping her head lowered. Dana simply blinked at my words, closing her eyes and focusing. If the system told her that she could choose her partner, then the process to do so should be fairly simple.


    And indeed, after a moment, Dana reached her hand over to ce it on Tsubaki¡¯s back. ¡°Can I be your familiar, Tsuba?¡± Dana asked in a gentle tone, a pale blue me wrapping around her hand.


    Tsubaki didn¡¯t say anything, simply nodding her head. Once the consent was given, the me seemed to burrow itself into Tsubaki¡¯s back. At the same time, Dana smiled brightly, nodding her head. ¡°That did it!¡±


    Tsubaki kept her head lower, but I could practically feel the happiness surging off of her thoughts, making my lips tug upwards. ¡°Now¡­ while this was a bit unexpected, I¡¯d like to take a moment to exin to the two of you exactly what this means.¡±


    The two girls lifted their heads up to look at me. Dana still held her wide-eyed enthusiasm, while Tsubaki was holding back a smile. ¡°Familiars are a new concept introduced in a world I have just connected to this one. Think of them as living spellbooks. Tsubaki, now that Dana is your familiar, you will be able to design spells and ¡®store¡¯ them inside of her.¡±


    ¡°These spells do not need to be created via the geometric or runic systems, and cane straight from your imagination. That is the magic employed in this new world. However¡­ that is not the only new world that I have introduced.¡±


    Tsubaki blinked in confusion, before her eyes went wide. ¡°You joined another world with Spica¡¯s.¡± She spoke up in realization. ¡°That¡¯s why Lady Ryone sent out that warning, and why everyone¡¯s ki began acting oddly there.¡±


    I gave a small nod, not denying that. ¡°Correct. The other world that I joined functions simrly to that of Spica. However, their world focuses on ki, rather than mana.¡±


    I could see Tsubaki¡¯s thoughts leaning towards which gods or goddesses managed these two worlds. For Lorek, she immediately assumed that it was the world of Keliope. However, for Kione¡­ she seemed to be leaning towards Irena. I wasn¡¯t about to correct her either way, as I wished for her to discover it on her own.


    ¡°For now, I¡¯ll be visiting these new worlds on my own. I only wanted to let the two of you know what was happening, and finally get the chance to meet Dana.¡± Dana¡¯s smile grew even wider when I mentioned her. ¡°You can spread the information that I¡¯ve told you so far as you wish.¡±


    ¡°My Keeper, should we not apany you?¡± Tsubaki asked immediately when she heard that I would be setting off on my own, causing me to shake my head.


    ¡°I can¡¯t take the Sky Citadel to Spica or its connected worlds. It was built using the magicalws of Earth, and would cease functioning if it ever entered that realm. I would rather the two of you watch over the Citadel while I am away.¡±


    As I said that, I stood up, inwardly promising that I would let Leowynn try out Vision Expanse once we were ready to settle down again. And then, without another word, I felt the air ripple around me as I stepped between nes.


    When I arrived in Lorek, my body felt¡­ odd. The energy pools within my being felt as if they were throbbing. Closing my eyes, I looked inwards with my spiritual energy, and saw that my primary ki heart had already shifted into a white star. My elemental ki pools had also changed, bing red, blue, brown, and silver stars.


    The one that seemed to be having trouble was the ki pool which contained my Ki of Beginning. It pulsed and shifted, mes licking up over its surface. However, perhaps because I had already evolved into an energy form, these mes did not hurt me.


    Finally, thest energy pool seemed to stop. All at once, it appeared to disappear from my body. rmed, I swept my senses through myself once more, and found that I did still possess my Ki of Beginning. It was still exactly where I left it, but I could no longer see it. From what I could gather, the ¡®color¡¯ of that star was nk, invisible.


    ¡°I¡¯m still in the Protostar stage, right?¡± I muttered to myself, analyzing my stars. They had not been imbued with anyws yet, and were merely energy sources within my body. Even though I had multiple stars, that meant that I should be within the first stage of cultivation.


    Nodding my head, I opened my eyes to look around at where I had transferred to. Given what I nned to do, I did not appear in the ursands. Rather, I was in one of the many unexplored ¡®cities¡¯ of the ancient dwarven civilization.


    Leowynn, let me know if it gets ufortable for you. I whispered in my mind, before hopping up on the nearest building. Now that I was not in the same w group¡¯ as Earth, I was not benefiting from the same level of Keeper attributes. Thankfully, I was still able to draw on the levels of Spica, so it wasn¡¯t too bad.


    Establishing my Mana Star and Spirit Star was¡­ frankly, far too easy. From what Balu had told me, I needed to cultivate all three energies at once to reach the height of power with this system, so I had expected it to be more difficult.


    Maybe it was because I had already established a Divine Spirit, and Divine Will, making it easier to manipte those two energies. Either way, I was thankful that I did not have to spend much time working on it. Once the two were created, I maneuvered them to form a triangle with my primary Ki Star. These three would be the foundation for my cultivation within Lorek.


    As for which profoundw I chose to follow? While studying, I had considered going with Mirrors again, doubling up on that domain. But then I remembered something that Balu had told me, that there was essentially no benefit to training the same domain multiple times. So instead of Mirrors, I chose to follow the Law of Illusions.


    With the information I had gained from studying, I managed to quickly imbue my three stars with the fundamentalws of my path. Once I did so, my body was wrapped in a silver light, signalling that I had advanced through a stage of cultivation. I was now in the Law Sequencing stage.


    But¡­ this is where it would be difficult. Following the triple-cultivation path, I had to take special steps when developing the stars to prepare for the Constetion stage. Namely, I had to create a star for martial spirit energy, aeon energy, and chakra. Then, each of these stars simrly had to be imbued with matchingws.


    I¡¯m going to be here for a little while¡­


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°He seemed pretty nice.¡± Dana smiled once the Keeper had left, having immediately jumped up to her feet.


    Tsubaki simply gave a nod, slowly standing as well. ¡°Yes, he is not a bad master to serve. However¡­ are you sure that you want this? To bind yourself to me, I mean.¡±


    ¡°Already did it!¡± Dana stuck her tongue out yfully. ¡°I¡¯m your familiar now, Tsuba! No takebacks!¡±


    Despite her questioning, Tsubaki felt a warmth flooding her chest when she heard that. She reached down, scooping Dana up into a hug. In her own thoughts, she made a promise. I¡¯ll never let anything happen to you.


    ¡°I know you won¡¯t.¡± Dana spoke up naturally, having clearly heard Tsubaki¡¯s thoughts there. Tsubaki hesitated when she heard that, her body temporarily freezing. Dana simply giggled after a moment. ¡°Yeah, he didn¡¯t tell us that part, huh?¡±


    Tsubaki let out a sigh, shaking her head with a helpless smile. ¡°Well, let¡¯s go, Dana. There should be some news about the changes in Spica¡­ and we should let the people know what the Keeper has said.¡±


    ¡°You mean about the new worlds?¡± Dana asked curiously. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t they already know if he gave them the keys? And¡­ if he didn¡¯t give them the keys, maybe he¡¯s waiting for the people on the other side to make the connection first again?¡±


    Tsubaki thought about that for a moment, before nodding. ¡°We¡¯ll wait and see.¡± If the keys to these new worlds were already discovered, then there was no need to hold back the information. Otherwise, it was possible that Dana was right, and that the Keeper was simply waiting for now.

 Chapter 430: Thoughts and Prayers

    <h4>Chapter 430: Thoughts and Prayers</h4>


    And because I''ve been a dumb and forgetting this, thank you to Dennis Altink, Sam Ellis, Casey Hall, and Nathan Vanbrunt for your continued support!


    My cultivation process went fairly smoothly. Using the energy from my Keeper side, I was able to cultivate directly to the Nova Merge stage. This was two full stages beyond what Tubrock had initially been able to cultivate when he was establishing this world. However, at the same time¡­ I held an unfair advantage.


    Each stage of cultivation was simrly a hint about the process to reach that stage. Naturally, this information wasn¡¯t known by the mortals, who had assigned their own titles. But, for instance, the Nova Merge stage¡­ the key word to focus on here was ¡®merge¡¯. This stage of cultivation was the beginning step of cultivating an energy body.


    For anyone who was pursuing a singr path of energy, they would never be able to make it to this step. That was because it took at least two base energies in order to form the body. Well¡­ unless you were dead, but that wasn¡¯t particrly an option for me.


    Now, back to the topic¡­ Nova Merge is the first ¡®level¡¯ of transcending mortal flesh. You couldpare it to a variation of the Perfect Self. The key difference being the care that the Keeper who designed it had taken, ensuring that it did not have the same ws. Instead, the profoundws allowed for the steady conversion of the body through the power of starlight.


    In truth, I could have probably cultivated quite a bit further, but¡­ I simply did not have the energy levels to do so. As such, I temporarily had to settle for this stage, nodding my head in satisfaction.


    Thankfully, Leowynn wasn¡¯t disturbed during the entire process, afterining that the formation of my ¡®spirit star¡¯ had heated up her ¡®house¡¯. A bit of careful control had taken care of that.


    The next item on my agenda was to take care of some work that I had been putting off. Namely, the creation of more plete¡¯ world spirits. I could still not do so for Spica or Lorek, as I was not familiar enough with the magic system Spica to properly create such a thing, but¡­ I had a way around that.


    That way being to tell Ryone to do it while I took care of Kione and Sher Dien. I nced up towards the sky, grinning as I sent that request off, before shifting myself over to Kione to begin working.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Jana walked through the town slowly, her ki still not fully stabilized after the earlier event. Although she had been diligent about following Tubrock¡¯smands, her internal sky felt¡­ different. Both weaker and stronger at the same time. She could feel that her energy levels were lower than they had been, yet the energy felt more refined now, as if she had taken a step forward in her cultivation unknowingly.


    She took a deep breath, soon arriving at the Altar of Rings, the tform that had mysteriously appeared alongside that warning a year prior. There were those who had stepped upon the altar to study it, only to have the concentric rings lift up and take them away. It was impossible to tell where they went, as such individuals had yet to return.


    Now, however¡­ Jana noticed something different about the altar. In its center, where previously there was an empty indentation, there was now an odd stone b. On the face of the b was a carving resembling a constetion. This constetion took the form of a figure wearing a wide dress, and Jana found herself moving closer to inspect it.


    Before she even registered what she was doing, one of her feet hadnded on the steps to ascend towards the altar. That was when she heard a voice calling out to her. ¡°Ancient Jana! What¡¯s going on?¡±


    The voice was respectful, even if it dide from a member of the other race. Jana turned to look at the tall ursa man, blinking in confusion. Her eyes nced down at her feet, and she noticed that she was now standing at the edge of the altar. Just a few more steps, and she would have been taken by it.


    ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t know.¡± She confessed honestly. ¡°There¡¯s something different about the altar today. Look¡­¡± Jana pointed towards the stone b that now rested at its center, the ursa stepping over to investigate. As he was a much taller race, he was able to see it more clearly without having to climb the steps.


    ¡°You¡¯re right¡­¡± The ursa said with a brief nod.


    ¡°I felt like it was calling to me¡­¡± Jana spoke, once again finding herself moving towards the center of the tform unknowingly. This time, the ursa seemed simrly distracted, and even began climbing atop the altar himself.


    Neither of them were broken out of their trance-like state until Jana crouched down, rubbing one hand along the stone b. Then, they heard a deep rumbling, their minds once more bing alert. As they stood, they saw the rings rising up around them.


    Immediately, the thought of simply jumping off the altar took root in both of their minds, yet they found themselves unable to move. Their feet were rooted in ce by some strange presence. Dwarves and ursa alike gathered around the altar, eximing in shock when they saw it activating once again.


    And then¡­ they were gone. The next moment, Jana found herself surrounded by metal walls. Large, cylindrical objects pointed towards her, and she could feel a dangerous ki welling up within them. Just as she was about tosh out, the objects retracted back into the walls.


    Along the farthest wall, a panel slid open to reveal a doorway, through which two figures emerged. One was a dwarf much like Jana, wearing strange clothes. She couldn¡¯t quite make out what material it was meant to be. The other was a taller race, much like the ursa. However, its body was not as muscr, and rather than the furred, rounded ears of an ursa this creature¡¯s ears were long and pointed.


    ¡°Where are we?¡± The ursa atop the altar asked towards Jana, his words seeming to rm the other two. The long-eared individual turned and shouted something through the doorway while the dwarf approached.


    Jana simply shook her head. ¡°It appears that we¡¯re on the other side of the altar¡­ wherever that is.¡±


    Jana watched as the unfamiliar dwarf waved one hand, a sheet of paper magically appearing in front of him. This action caught the attention of both travelers, who stared as Jana was handed the paper. Jana looked at the scribble on the paper, clearly unable to recognize them, and yet somehow able to read them at the same time.


    ¡°Is this¡­ an inheritance?¡± She asked herself in confusion. The ancient inheritance scrolls had simrly been written in unknown text, yet somehow still legible to those who read it. To casually create an inheritance like this, Jana began to question internally if this was where the ancient civilizations had gone to¡­


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Ooh, I like that one!¡± Danaughed as she sat on a chair across the table from Tsubaki. ¡°I think I have room for¡­ six more? It feels like that should be right.¡±


    Tsubaki nodded, closing her eyes and thinking. ¡°Well, we already covered some meleebat spells, and gave you a form simr to the one I use myself when fighting. We can either handle ranged spells next, or spells that you can use to help with daily life.¡±


    ¡°Oh, oh! How about something to help with the chores?¡± Dana asked with a wide grin. ¡°Cleaning spells, or spells to organize books and furniture?¡±


    Tsubaki hesitated for a moment, before nodding her head. While they seemed simple, such spells were actually difficult to perform with geometric and runic magic. That was because of the difficulty in defining what needed to be done to perform ¡®cleaning¡¯, or how you wanted items moved to organize them. For example, there was a simple cleaning spell that could remove dirt, but it did nothing for stains.


    With this new system, on the other hand, Tsubaki felt like it should be possible to create such a spell. And so, she focused, sending the mentalmands over her bond with Dana. First was the cleaning spell, with Tsubaki leaving the ¡®target¡¯ for cleaning vague enough that Dana would be able to use her own judgement. Then, simrly, she created the organization spell, leaving both the target and order vague.


    Only when she was done did Tsubaki rx, cing her hand on the thick tome in front of herself. ¡°Now, ready for the next test?¡± Dana nodded her head eagerly, reaching out to take the book.


    Dana set the book in front of herself, cing one hand on its cover. ¡°First, the Servant¡¯s Weapons spell.¡± As she focused, a silvery-blue mana wrapped around her hand, channeling itself into the grimoire.


    Once she was done, she hastily opened the book, seeing an entry on the first page. There was an elegant pattern drawn out along the corners of the page, and a strange script that neither of them could read written out in paragraphs. Covering one full section of the page was an image showing a long, thin knife, which caused both girls to nod in satisfaction.


    ¡°It looks like we can store your spells in the grimoire as well.¡± The grimoires of Earth were able to handle both geometric and runic magic, so the two of them were quite curious if it would be able to handle these new spells as well. As it did, this opened up a new realm of possibility for magic.


    Given that the spells within these grimoires could be cast multiple times, so long as mana was stored within the spell between each cast, this would enable the creation of far more diverse spell repertoires. Of course¡­ card magic could be used with the grimoire as well, but many felt that that was a waste. It took more physical space in the grimoire to store a spell than the card itself.


    ¡°I wonder if people are going to use tricks like this to market spellbooks.¡± Dana mused out loud. ¡°I mean, if you fill one of these up with daily spells like the cleaning one, a lot of people would buy it, right?¡±


    Tsubaki gave it a moment of thought, nodding her head. ¡°That¡¯s possible. If we can discover how enchanting works with this new magic system, we could likely create items with simr effects.¡±


    ¡°Well, why don¡¯t we give it a try?¡± Dana asked with a wide grin. ¡°Gimme some spells meant to enchant items, and we can figure out what works!¡±


    Tsubaki smiled lightly, nodding her head. ¡°Okay.¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    Jonas read over his notes again and again, nodding to himself. ¡°I think I¡¯ve found it¡­¡± For years now, he had trained himself as a bard and as a cleric. While thetter borrowed divine energy from above, that was still enough to let him feel that energy. Then, with his training as a bard, he could cultivate his own spark of divinity.


    This was all a part of his research, a way to ovee the limits of his new, ¡®perfect¡¯ body. ¡°I need to take this carefully. One step at a time.¡±


    ording to his theory, he should either begin by merging his divinity with either his ki or his soul. If he chose the former, he wasn¡¯t sure that his soul would be able to safely inhabit his new vessel. Yet, if he chose to start with his soul, there was the chance that it could overwhelm his new body.


    The reason he had eliminated mana as the first step was quite simple. Jonas had no confidence in being able to maintain his focus while his mana was being reshaped on such arge scale. It was far safer to begin with one of the other two, first.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ perhaps I should test it, first.¡± He thought to himself, wondering what he could use as an experimental subject. The idea of using another person never crossed his mind, and he would instead rather choose a monster. ¡°Oh¡­ I think I know a nice, simple subject.¡± He gave a small smile, an ideaing to him.

 Chapter 431: The Era of Champions

    <h4>Chapter 431: The Era of Champions</h4>


    After a few hours of searching through the shops, Jonas returned home with a small box. The box was roughly two feet in every dimension, and seemed quite light in his hands. Oddly, despite the shaking of the box indicating that there was something living inside, there were no air holes. The reason for this became quite apparent when Jonas arrived downstairs, flipping the box over to empty its contents out onto the floor.


    The test subject that he had sought out for this experiment was the single most versatile creature in the entire world. One that had shown throughout history the ability to use various energy types, able to learn at a shocking pace. At the same time, it was an existence weak enough that it would pose little threat even after obtaining the ¡®perfect self¡¯.


    The creature shook and wobbled as it practically sshed onto the ground, pulling itself together and ¡®looking¡¯ up at Jonas. Although it had no eyes, there seemed to be curiosity in its gaze, its body shaking a bit as if in greeting.


    That¡¯s right. The creature that Jonas selected¡­ was a slime.


    As part of the purchasing process, a trained Monster Tamer had personally bound this slime to Jonas, ensuring the creature¡¯s loyalty. This bond also came with instructions that would serve to assist him in his research.


    ¡°Now¡­ let¡¯s get started. Once we¡¯ve made a bit of progress, I¡¯ll let you divide a couple times.¡± The slime¡¯s natural ability to reproduce via splitting was typically restricted through magical means while domesticated. This was to prevent amon family from being overrun by slimes slowly devouring everything they owned. For the sake of his research, Jonas had had those restrictions lifted.


    Jonas leaned down, using his mana tomunicate with the slime as he slowly extended one hand. ¡°First, let¡¯s start with ki¡­¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    As I returned to the Admin Room, I found myself hearing hystericalughter from the living room. Raising an eyebrow, I began making my way over. I had just finished making the world spirits of both Kione and Sher Dien, as well as meeting the two that Ryone made.


    As one might expect, the world spirit of Kione ended up looking simr to a lycan. However, perhaps because of the strong animal influence of the familiar system, it looked somewhat more feral. Almost like a cross between a lycan and one of Fyor¡¯s dovah.


    Sher Dien¡¯s world spirit, however, looked¡­ almost exactly like Alme Dien. Maybe it was due to Alme being the strongest influence on that world¡¯s natural energy because of her rtively higher levels, but the only real difference between the two was that the world spirit had purple hair and an entirely purple hide.


    Then there was Spica¡¯s, which was unsurprisingly an elf¡­ At least, somewhat an elf. Its skin was pitch ck, its figure androgynous, and there were swirling white specks that shed along its body. If I had to call it anything, I would call it a ¡®cosmic elf¡¯.


    Finally, the world spirit of Lorek. This one appeared to be a¡­ giant dwarf. Standing nearly ten feet tall with a burly build, it towered over both dwarves and ursa alike. The figure was undoubtedly male, having a deep red beard that went all the way down to its knees. I mean seriously, you could get lost in that beard¡­


    Regardless, once I was done introducing myself to the four new world spirits, I had made my way back to the Admin Room. It was there that I could distinctly hear Aurivyughing. As I got out to the living room, I saw herid out on the couch, hands gripping her sides as she rolled back and forth. ¡°I feel like I missed something.¡±


    Aurivy opened her eyes, wet fromughing too hard, and looked towards me. ¡°Oh¡­ oh you did. It was great¡­ All hail the Slime God!¡± As she said that, she once again was thrown into hysterics.


    Her words confused me to no end, so I moved closer, realizing that the scene on the television was no longer the show that we had been watching before. Rather, it seemed that she was using the television as a medium to observe the world. And the ¡®channel¡¯ that she had settled on was that of Jonas Bayrun.


    As I observed the screen, I began to realize what had gotten Aurivy so worked up. I was well aware of Jonas¡¯s research, and the direction it was likely to take. So when I saw him training a slime, the pieces fell into ce, and my lips began to curve upwards. ¡°Oh, we are so keeping an eye on how this develops.¡±


    Aurivy nodded her head, unable to properly form words yet. Now it was time to get things moving forward again. As such, I reached for the remote, pressing the fast forward button on it while doing the same to the world itself. Almost as soon as I did, when no more than a few days had passed within the world, a prompt appeared in front of me.


    Congrattions, EarthForceOne! You have now qualified for a promotion!


    Your worlds and your strength have been evaluated at Rank 2. You now have unlimited ess to the previously restricted Rank 2 system, the Champion¡¯s Guidance.


    Congrattions! You have earned an achievement!


    For promoting a world to Rank 2, you have earned the Keep Moving Forward achievement. +50 points, Champion¡¯s Aura.


    As I had already been informed of what the new system was, I gave it a brief nce to confirm the contents before moving on. Right away, I already had several ideas for who I should use this system on. First and foremost, there was nobody who had earned a ¡®golden aura¡¯ more than Tsubaki. She had been with me for so long that it seemed unfair not to give it to her first.


    So, I quickly flipped the ¡®channel¡¯ to focus on Tsubaki, allowing the television to show her rapidly going through her normal days. Then, I pulled up the interface for the newly unlocked system, and assigned her as my ¡®Champion¡¯. As it turned out, there was a cost of two hundred points to assign a single champion, but¡­ I¡¯d say it was a worthwhile investment.


    When I was finished, I noticed that it was not only Tsubaki who had received this benefit. Through their new connection, Dana¡¯s aura had simrly turned golden. At the same time, I saw that there were options to assign personal champions to each god or goddess, in addition to ones I wanted myself.


    This made me nod my head slightly, sending the news to the others. There was something that they could finally spend the points they¡¯ve been saving on, so I wanted to let them choose their own.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Sora Sparks hummed lightly to herself as she walked through the ins of the twenty-second floor of Fyor. She wore a ck robe that fluttered with the wind behind her, revealing her curvaceous frame trapped within a skintight ck outfit. At her waist was a tome, bound in chains.


    Her right hand was held by a smaller, red hand. A young demoness walked alongside her, her pitch ck eyes scanning the surroundings. Although she was dressed simrly to Sora, their expressions were miles apart. While Sora was confident and carefree, Petra was shy, almost paranoid of her surroundings.


    ¡°Come on, Petra.¡± Sora lightly teased, looking down to the demoness. ¡°You wanted the chance to walk around outside, right?¡± Though her tone was yful, there was a caring smile on her face.


    Petra simply nodded her head, looking up to Sora hesitantly. ¡°I-I did¡­ it¡¯s just¡­ so much more than I expected¡­¡±


    For years, Thelsa and her shadows had been teaching Petra about the world, and even showing her simtions of it or letting her watch through their eyes. However, it was only recently that they were convinced she was ready for the real thing. The Goddess had stressed how powerful Petra was, so Thelsa didn¡¯t want to let her out before the girl had a firm control over her own emotions and powers.


    Now that she was out, it was all so overwhelming. Yet Petra seemed to like that, she saw it as everything she had hoped for, and so much more. She had nevercked for friends, sharing her shadow with Thelsa, Sora, and Maria. The three of them had always done their best to take care of Petra.


    As the two of them walked through the meadow, seeing the signs of construction up ahead, Petra knew it was time for the ¡®big test¡¯. Cities were still being built within this floor, and so it made the perfect ce for her to observe other people. It was unlikely that there would be any children around, given thergely unexplored nature of this floor, but it was a good ce to start.


    At least, that was the n. When the two of them were less than ten minutes out from the budding town, a prompt shed before both of their eyes. They could feel that the same prompt had also been given to the other two still resting in their shadow.


    You have been chosen as the Champion of Ashley!


    ¡°M-mom?¡± Petra blinked, looking at the message. While she had yet to personally meet Ashley herself, she was well aware that the Goddess of Darkness had been the one to give her life. In practically every sense of the word, Ashley was Petra¡¯s mother, a fact further enforced by Petra¡¯s demigoddess status.


    ¡°Well¡­¡± Sora paused, her hand gently squeezing Petra¡¯s. ¡°Maybe¡­ maybe we should put this off just a bit longer, and go see if she¡¯ll exin a bit about this to us?¡± While Sora was certain that there wouldn¡¯t be any negatives associated with being the champion to a goddess, it was still better to get all of the information first.


    It would be really inconvenient if their status was known to anyone that they meet, as that would put a lot of pressure on the young demoness. Feeling those thoughts through their connection, Petra gave a slight nod. ¡°Okay¡­ does this mean that I get to meet her?¡±


    ¡°If she answers us, at least.¡± Sora nodded with a warm smile.


    _______________________________________________________________


    It didn¡¯t take long for me to see the names of Champions being filled in on my interface. Some of these names I was familiar with, such as Thelsa or Jonas, or Alme Dien. Because of course the only person Tryval would consider making his champion was his daughter.


    Other names, however, belonged to people who I had never personally observed. Irena, for instance¡­ after some investigation, her champion was a young orphaned felyn boy. I didn¡¯t particrly see anything special about him, but I imagined that it likely had something to do with his karma.


    Naturally, it was up to each person how much they wished to ¡®groom¡¯ their champions. I personally did not see the need to help raise Tsubaki any more than she already was. With her talents, it was only a matter of time before she ascended to godhood. Others, however, would likely be in need of more assistance to reach their full potential.

 Chapter 432: The Greatest Plans of Slimes and Men

    <h4>Chapter 432: The Greatest ns of Slimes and Men</h4>


    Why me? Queen Bria prayed as she saw the prompt appearing in front of herself. I don¡¯t deserve this, Udona.


    Pretty sure that¡¯s my decision to make~. The goddess responded in a teasing tone. Out of the billions of people scattered across the different worlds, Udona had selected an otherwise unassuming queen of the kitsune to make her champion.


    But¡­ I¡¯m no warrior, or schr. I¡¯m not a teacher¡­ I don¡¯t represent any of your domains. It just feels like you¡¯re wasting this on me.


    There was a brief pause before Udona began to speak in a gentle tone. You are so much more than that, Bria. You have the potential to be anything you want, and you embody all three of my domains. As the queen, it is your job to protect life, ensure the education of your people, and use entertainment to improve their morale. You may not focus on one particr domain, but you are the only one I can think of that deserves this role.


    Bria let out a long sigh, shaking her head. Okay¡­ what do I need to do as your champion?


    Absolutely nothing. I will not ask anything unreasonable of you. You being my champion merely means that I see the potential for greatness in you, and that you have my support. Whatever you do with that is your own choice.


    _______________________________________________________________


    I watched as the world began advancing once again, sitting back on the couch with Aurivy. Most of our focus was on Jonas, asionallyughing about how he was handling the slimes. It only took him a few weeks to teach the slime each of the basic energy types, at which point he allowed it to begin dividing.


    Once he had five slimes, he seemed content, and resumed his training of them. Only¡­ this time, his training took the form of him taking the slimes into the capital¡¯s dungeon. Using the skills he taught them, he made his slimes kill the various monsters within the dungeon time and again to level them up.


    Doing this eventually earned him the title Slime Tamer, which improved the growth rate of slimes under his control. However, it took a few years before they had grown enough for him to begin training them on the next stage. During that time, there were¡­ many other changes taking ce within the world.


    First of all, both Lorek and Kione made contact with the other worlds. When it came to Lorek¡­ their existence shocked Spica, and changed the way the elves looked at ki. They found a path that could lead them to a higher level,bining cultivation with the system¡¯s growth.


    At the same time, Demacry began to notice certain oddities detected outside of the¡¯s atmosphere. Ster storms that created energy clouds that swept through space. These storms would always seem to harmlessly bounce off of Spica itself, but other celestial objects were shattered by its passing. Even multiple satellites met their destruction at the hands of these storms.


    Perhaps the most unfortunate victims of these new ster storms were the colonists that had began to inhabit Spica¡¯s moon. As the moon had yet to develop an atmosphere, there was no protection for those within the sealed structures. The colony was lost, as were the lives of those within it.


    Then there was Kione. Rather than connecting first to Earth, it seemed that alia wanted them to connect to Deckan first. When the first Kionan stepped through the Fairy Gate, apanied by arge snake familiar, things were¡­ hectic to say the least. Thenguage barrier made it difficult for the lycan to exin that the snake was no threat, despite its sinister appearance.


    Once that was smoothed over, however, and Kione was further explored¡­ its nature shocked the allied worlds no less than Lorek. Within ten years, the process of creating a familiar was standard education in every school. Simrly, the knowledge of the allied worlds quickly spread to Kione, advancing their civilization by leaps and bounds.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Within the world of Kione, there were many who secretly saw the appearance of new worlds as a threat to their way of life. These individuals, who believed that their own culture and history would be swept away by those more advanced worlds, soon came together to form their own group. They called themselves alia¡¯s Heralds, those who would ensure the purity of their world.


    At first, they were still a peaceful group. They did not hold protests, they did not attack otherworlders. No, they simply umted knowledge. They gathered the teachings of their own world, doing their best to ensure that it would forever be preserved.


    It was thanks to this that they noticed the changes before any other. How the cultures of the other worlds began to encroach upon Kione. The technology of Desbar, the entertainment industry of Deckan. Gradually, bit by bit, Kione¡¯s way of life changed. Buildings were no longer erected in the same style as previously, causing them to be more efficient and streamlined.


    That was when the Heralds began to grow fearful. They made secret pleas with the government to ensure the preservation of Kione¡¯s way of life, yet their words fell on deaf ears. There were simply too many benefits of cooperating with and learning from the other worlds.


    And so¡­ the Heralds decided that they had to take action. Even still, they did not seek to cause anyone any true harm. Whether they were from Kione, Earth, Deckan, wherever¡­ the Heralds did their best to not hurt anyone.


    Instead, they targeted structures, defacing them and sabotaging them. The magic towers that were erected to spread mana to various power stations had their enchantments broken. Construction sites would have their supplies stolen. While harmless to the people, they caused a massive amount of financial damage, causing the group to be branded as criminals.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Should we do something about this, Tsuba?¡± Dana asked as she sat in Tsubaki¡¯sp, reading through the news about another Herald ¡®attack¡¯ on a merchant caravan. All of their offworld goods had been stolen, with the merchants themselves transported back to the town that they had originated from through magic.


    Tsubaki thought about it for a moment, before shaking her head. ¡°No, this is not one of our duties, not yet. If the Keeper wished for us to intervene, he would pass us such a message. Aside from that, it is only our duty to get involved if it is a matter of extinction.¡±


    Nodding slightly, Tsubaki went on to exin. ¡°As these criminals seek to preserve the life of anyone that they ¡®attack¡¯, there is no threat of the Kionan poption dying out. Furthermore, they are not entirely unreasonable. While they act against the ¡®modern conveniences¡¯ such as Magic Towers and power lines, they do not interfere with public security matters. None of the more advanced city defenses have been targeted by them, allowing the people to stay safe from the evolving monsters.¡±


    Dana hesitated, before epting that answer. ¡°Okay¡­ but even if we don¡¯t get involved personally¡­ maybe we could do something sneaky behind the scenes?¡± There was a mischievous glint to Dana¡¯s eyes that had Tsubaki quite curious.


    ¡°What did you have in mind?¡± She asked, her lips giving a small tug as she tried to keep her face neutral.


    ¡°The ninjas!¡± Dana lifted her hands in excitement. ¡°The Fyor ninja colony is almost done mining what they can, right? You mentioned that they were getting ready to move towards the twenty-first floor. What if¡­ we gave them a reason to go to Kione instead?¡±


    Tsubaki took a moment to consider Dana¡¯s suggestion. There were indeed lycans among the beastkin ninja tribes. As their primary goal was to seek out knowledge, there was a high likelihood that they would infiltrate the Heralds, a group that had first gathered the knowledge of Kione to preserve. However¡­


    ¡°Even if we give the ninjas a reason to infiltrate Kione, what makes you believe that they would suppress the Heralds? It seems more likely that they would join in the group¡¯s activities to aid their own cover.¡±


    Dana snickered yfully, bringing her hands together. ¡°We don¡¯t need them to fight the Heralds. We just need the ninjas, people who hold more knowledge of the world, to infiltrate them. At first, they¡¯ll probably join in on the ¡®raids¡¯ like you said, and the power of the group will rise. But¡­ once there are enough ninjas, they will be able to change the Heralds from the inside.¡±


    ¡°It could start small¡­ using confiscated ¡®contraband¡¯ to improve the daily life of the group. Then more and more, until the Heralds lose sight of what they were after in the first ce. They¡¯re afraid that Kione will lose its identity after joining the other worlds¡­ but why?¡±


    ¡°A world is not a lump of rock, it¡¯s not the history or industry set out on it¡­ it¡¯s the people. So long as Kionan¡¯s live in Kione, their identity is their own. The other worlds aren¡¯t trying to annex them or anything, so we just need to give the Heralds a little ¡®nudge¡¯ in the right direction!¡±


    Tsubaki blinked in confusion, before looking down towards Dana. ¡°When did you start scheming so much?¡±


    Dana stuck out her tongue yfully, grinning up at Tsubaki. ¡°When I linked with your soul! Who do you think I learned it from, Tsuba~?¡±


    Tsubaki let out a low sigh. ¡°Well, let¡¯s find one of the young lords. There should be a few in Kione by now that we can use for your wicked little scheme.¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    Jonas nodded to himself as he stood before his ¡®little pets¡¯. By now, his five slimes were no longer the ¡®adorable¡¯ little creatures that they once were. No, they had grown far beyond the domesticated pets that children yed with.


    Each slime now stood at a height of three meters, having long since required him to find a new plot ofnd to store them on. His ¡®slime ranch¡¯ as the locals had taken to calling it. Moreover, that was not the only thing that had changed about them.


    When he first acquired the little slime, it had been the standard green variant. This was the natural color of a slime that did not possess any extraordinary energy of its own, and mostly consumed grass and other nt matter to survive. The five slimes standing before him now, however, had a lustrous silver color to their gel.


    Inside of each slime was also a series of secondary cores that slowly revolved around the primary core. Normally, this would be the sign that a slime was ready to split, but these cores were slightly different. Instead of being the core of a new slime, they were used as the source of the different energies that the slime was capable of using.


    Each slime had been trained in the use of mana, ki, spiritual energy, natural energy, as well as the two basicbinations that were chakra and elemental ki. Oddly enough, thest two did not create ¡®new¡¯ cores. Instead, thin branches extended out between the ki and mana cores, and the ki and natural energy cores.


    ¡°If my theory is correct¡­ I should be able to create a ¡®perfect¡¯ slime by having their cores form a perfect ring¡­¡± He mused to himself, before approaching the first slime. It was time to start teaching them how to merge their spiritual energy with their ki and mana, to prepare for that final step.

 Chapter 433: Evolution

    <h4>Chapter 433: Evolution</h4>


    The process of evolving the slimes was¡­ more challenging than one might expect. Even for a Goddess, it took her a long period of time to create several different slime variants. For Jonas, although the process was aided by his extensive research, it was ultimately still very time consuming.


    After teaching them all of the basic energy types, and helping them to construct cores to maintain those energies, he had to gradually work with one of them to perform the fusions. Thankfully, slimes have an excellent ability when ites to observing and learning from others, they are just a bit¡­ slow.


    As an example, the process of merging ki with spiritual energy. After demonstrating merely three times, the first slime was able to grasp the ratios needed almost instinctively. Yet still, Jonas had to wait for months as he watched the bridge slowly building between the two cores of the slime that controlled those energies. And then again when merging spiritual energy and mana.


    If there was one benefit here, it was that slimes learned even more quickly from other slimes. Even though he only taught one of them, all five showed progress with learning. And after roughly half a year, their cores looked like an oddwork of rods rotating around a central core.


    This was where the elf had expected things to get difficult. He constructed arge ritual chamber that could house the five slimes, designed to prevent any energy from leaking out. This was the same type of chamber that Jonas himself had used to attain his Perfect Self. It had even been improved upon due to advances in his research.


    After leading the five slimes down, he used his mana to carefully instruct one toe forward, exining the process. The body of a slime itself was unimportant, you could cut it away forever and they would take no damage. No, the only vulnerable part of a slime was their core. If you did not damage that, they would not die.


    At the same time, it was possible to simply remove a core from a slime. If you did so, and set the core down atop something that could easily be consumed, the core would regrow the entire body of the slime, while its old body was rendered lifeless.


    As such, in order to take this final step, it was necessary for the slime to willingly shatter their own cores. That would be the equivalent to a normal person destroying their body in order to achieve perfection.


    This was clearly a difficult concept for the slime to understand, yet the link it had with Jonas enabled it to tell that there were no lies in what he was saying. Uncertainties, perhaps, but it knew that Jonas was not simplymanding its death. Such a thing would go against the pact between monster and tamer.


    And so, therge silver slime moved into the center of the room as Jonas backed away to the edge. It stood there, its body shaking for several moments before visible cracks appeared along the many cores inside of its body. Then, with a thunderous snap, these cores erupted.


    Yet¡­ perhaps there was more merit to using a slime for this than he had first expected. Although Jonas received the system prompt telling him that his slime had died, the shattered cores did not fly out of its body. The viscous gel that formed the slime held the shards within itself, not allowing them to easily escape.


    This fact allowed Jonas to watch as the shards began slowly floating back to the center. As they joined up with one another, they let out a brilliant glow. Steam could be seen rising off of the body of the slime, its outer coat beginning to evaporate. A foul stench filled the room, but Jonas did not look away, too engrossed in recording what he was seeing.


    As the outer body of the slime shrank down, the light emitting from the cores began to fade. When it had dimmed enough, Jonas was able to note that his prediction was not entirely urate. Yes, the energy cores had formed a ring, a halo half a meter in diameter. But, there was also a change to the primary core.


    No longer was the core a sphere. Now, it formed a disc shape, almost a foot wide and ced directly in the center of this halo. Even more incredulously, this new core was not inside the viscous slime body. Instead, it hovered a few inches above it.


    The halo rotated one way, the core the other as the slime began to shift and reform. It was now a much more pure white, and small enough that it paled inparison to its former stature. In fact, as the slime reshaped, taking on an almost humanoid shape, its total height was less than two meters.


    Congrattions! You have earned an achievement!


    For assisting a tamed creature in being the first monster with the Perfect Self qualities, you have earned the Tamer of the Origin achievement. +10% Growth on all tamed creatures.


    Jonas barely even noticed the achievement. His eyes were focused on the slime that was now walking towards him. Yes, walking, not sloshing around with its gtinous form, it was properly using its legs.


    And of course¡­ slimes always learn more quickly from others¡­ a fact that Jonas only registered when he noticed several bright lightsing from behind himself.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°They¡­ all seeded?¡± I asked, incredulously as I watched the screen. As this was the moment of truth, I slowed down the time once again to match a normal speed.


    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s because he is Ryone¡¯s champion now?¡± Aurivy muttered, her eyes transfixed on the screen as well. ¡°The golden aura has to have its perks¡­¡±


    I could only nod faintly at that, my eyes focusing in on the first slime to transform. As I read its information, I opened my eyes wide with shock. ¡°Okay, this could turn into an issue¡­¡±


    Niri - Slime of Origin - Level 1213


    ¡°How the hell did it get so many levels from evolving?!¡± Aurivy eximed once she noticed what I was referring to. ¡°Those things weren¡¯t more than level four hundred before the ritual.¡±


    ¡°Simple, really.¡± A third voice spoke up that startled the both of us, causing us to look at the end of the couch. Terra sat there, having appeared at some point unbeknownst to us.


    ¡°A monster¡¯s level isn¡¯t just determined by the quantity of energy in their body. Rather, it is determined by theplexity and strength of their body, along with any energy that they possess. Slimes are the absolute bottom of the barrel when ites toplexity, starting with levels no greater than twenty at their base form.¡±


    ¡°For a slime to possess a level in the hundreds shows that it had umted a massive amount of energy. And then, when it ascended from being the ¡®bottom of the barrel¡¯ slime to a ¡®perfect self¡¯¡­¡±


    Aurivy gulped as she finished Terra¡¯s sentence. ¡°The strength of its body has reached the pinnacle form. Coupled with its former energy levels, its level skyrocketed.¡±


    ¡°Precisely.¡± Terra nodded with a small smile. ¡°Such a change wouldn¡¯t be as drastic if it were to happen to, say¡­ Fafnir. His body is already incredibly strong, and so the evolution would only offer him a minor increase. Maybe one hundred levels, at most. The weaker a monster¡¯s body is, the bigger the jump.¡±


    ¡°So that¡¯s why its race changed to ¡®Slime of Origin¡¯.¡± I muttered, shaking my head. We had been taking the idea of a ¡®slime god¡¯ to be a joke. However, as it stands¡­ Niri could take out almost anyone in any of my worlds. Only Tsubaki would stand a chance at defeating it in singlebat. And worse yet, it seems that Jonas had yet to notice just how strong his slimes had be.


    If there was anything to be thankful for, it was that the monster tamer bond was still in effect. If it had broken when the slimes ¡®died¡¯, then these creatures would be entirely without anything to control them. At that point, it was possible that I would need to directly smite them in order to prevent them from destroying entire nations to sate their gluttony.


    ¡°Let¡¯s watch how things develop.¡± I spoke in a careful tone, leaning forward in my seat. ¡°If they get too much stronger, and decide to break free from his control, we¡¯ll have to get involved.¡±


    Aurivy nodded her head, shifting to the side so that she could lean against me. ¡°Still, though¡­ they do look a little cool.¡±


    ¡°Rivy, they¡¯re humanoid, pure white slimes with halos.¡± I spoke with a deadpan tone before cracking a small grin. ¡°Yeah, they are kinda cool.¡±


    Terra simply rolled her eyes in bemusement. ¡°It should be fine to speed things up again now, right? It doesn¡¯t look like anything¡¯s happening.¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Is everything packed up?¡± Sr Fairbrook asked as he looked to the other beastkin scattered about in their cave dwelling. They were thest group set to depart back home, having cleared out thest of the silver intercite that they could find.


    It had been¡­ generations since some of the families in the colony had seen their homnd. Those who performed exceptionally were allowed to ¡®retire¡¯ and move back home, being reced by new workers soon, while those who did not perform up to that standard would remain. Ever since before the establishment of the Dawn Kingdom, this group had remained in the twelfth floor of Fyor.


    Every now and then, they would change the location of their colony, seeking out more hidden veins of intercite or avoiding Fyor¡¯s mining teams. However, now, the mineral seemed to be entirely spent from this region. As such, the families were moving again. They would first be sent back to the homnd, and allowed a year¡¯s respite as thanks for their continuous service.


    After that¡­ the colony was scheduled to scout out the twentieth floor of Fyor, another underground location. Geologists predicted that there was a high likelihood of intercite and other valuable minerals to be located within this floor.


    Thanks to their work in procuringrge quantities of intercite, the ninja viges had been able to make remarkable advancements in their research. However, this only made them wish to acquire more if at all possible. While they did indeed have enough for themselves¡­ they intended to begin sharing their discoveries.


    Sr nodded as he saw the beastkin closing in, their packs hefted over their shoulders. Each of them carried bags stuffed with quest scrolls, but these scrolls carried only basic living tools such as nkets, bedrolls and cooking utensils. The few valuable objects they had were stored in secret storage enchantments scattered across otherwise mundane items that they wore.


    Just as he was giving the order to move out, Sr furrowed his brow, bringing a hand to his ear. The others could tell that he had been contacted by someone, judging by the expression of focus falling over his features. Once their secret conversation was done, Sr simply sighed. He looked at the group with a small smile.


    ¡°Good news, I suppose. We have a new mission to take after our respite. This mission is avable only for the lycans, and will require undercover training. Anyone who wishes to volunteer may speak to the elders when we arrive.¡±


    After saying that, Sr gestured for the others to leave first. Only when they were all gone did he turn to face the cave. There were several scattered homes built into the stone walls, and it would be too difficult to fill in the cave, as they had extracted too many resources. Instead, he could only do his best to make it appear that this was an ancient dark elf colony.


    Closing his eyes, he brought his hands in front of his chest, his palms facing each other. Numerous runes began lighting up in the air over his flesh, shing with blue light. This light then arched up from the runes to join in the center, forming a dense ball of energy. Thrusting his hands forward, Srunched the energy into the center of the cave, where it erupted into a brilliant light show.


    Yet, nothing seemed to change from this action. The structures remained as they were, and there was not even the slightest breeze created from the st of energy. This chakra technique had only one purpose, which was to scramble the natural energy of the surrounding areas. With this, it would be impossible for any shaman to look through the past in order to find the truth of their presence here.

 Chapter 434: Daughter of the Stars

    <h4>Chapter 434: Daughter of the Stars</h4>


    Jana stood high above the clouds, her eyes sweeping over thendscape. Presently, she was back in her own world, though she had taken the chance to leave her people. They were safe, she knew, and she needed to gain more experience. Both practical experience, and¡­


    Monk has increased to 534!


    Elemental Monk has increased to 219!


    Beneath Jana¡¯s feety a mountain of flesh and bone, riddled with holes. An Ancestor level star beast known as the Mountain King. For a normal Ancestor level cultivator, she expected that it would take a lot more effort to y such a creature. In fact, the very thought of it had terrified her years ago.


    She recently learned, however, that the current generation of cultivators were blessed. The appearance of this ¡®system¡¯ offered a massive boost to their power,pared to any that would start trainingter. As she trained her ki, her level had initially skyrocketed, and with it her energy rose explosively. In her estimation, she should rank a step above the Ancestor level, and had in fact felt herself at a bottleneck in her training.


    Unfortunately for her, she had not yet found the method to break through to the next level yet. Her inner sky had be saturated with dense stars, threatening to break free of her control every time her strength increased again.


    As her eyes scanned the horizon, there was a small flicker in her gaze. Thanks to their union with the world of Spica, she had learned new techniques to amplify her abilities, even when it came to the use of her ki. She stepped out, her feetnding on air as if it were solidnd. A momentter, a dense cloud appeared beneath her feet, and carried her off into the distance.


    ¡°Maybe you¡¯ll have what I need.¡± She muttered, seeing arger city on the horizon. Judging from its rundown appearance, she could tell that this city had not yet been inhabited.


    By now, Jana had already made her way back to the ancient maind of the dwarves, crossing the ocean by walking over the clouds. Aside from finding the next step in cultivation, she did in fact have another goal, one that was bringing her closer and closer to the home that they had left so long ago.


    Jana felt that it was time to bring the rest of the dwarves out of the dark. She still remembered the day that they had been forced to leave their home, setting out into a life of wandering through the wild. She remembered living in fear, day and night of the roaming star beasts. Yet now, as she learned of just how much there was to see in the world, she felt as if they deserved a second chance.


    Part of her wasn¡¯t sure why she was doing this. Maybe it was some lingering sentiment for her people, wanting them to see the wider world. Maybe she thought that it was simply her duty as the Champion of Tubrock.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Haah¡­ haah¡­¡± A young felyn man with red hair stood across from an elven girl. The former¡¯s breath was ragged, his hair dishevelled, while the girl appearedpletely fine with barely a wrinkle in her clothes.


    ¡°That was fun!¡± She spoke in a bright tone, taking a step forward. The felyn naturally flinched backwards, seeing her approaching. It may have been him that picked this fight, but¡­ he didn¡¯t expect her to be such a monster.


    ¡°Enough¡­ that¡¯s enough.¡± He said with a long sigh, shaking his head as he stood upright. The two of them were within the world of Vision Expanse, standing within an empty meadow. In truth, the young man was unsure which they were on. He was fairly certain that neither of the current yer worlds had three moons, one of which was half-shattered with fragments floating slowly around it.


    ¡°Hmm?¡± The girl tilted her head in confusion. ¡°I thought you said you wanted to fight? If you wanna go back to a yer city, well¡­ there¡¯s really only one way to get there quickly.¡±


    The felyn¡¯s eye twitched as he heard that, realizing that the ¡®shortcut¡¯ was for him to die. In a way, he had asked for this. She had performed a summoning spell, and it had somehow locked onto him instead of the being she meant to call. ¡°Where are we?¡±


    ¡°We haven¡¯t named this one, yet.¡± The elven girl shook her head. ¡°We were just stopping here to grab materials. It¡¯ll probably be a couple of days before we leave, but¡­ you could stick around if you wanted?¡± She tilted her head slightly in thought. ¡°Our scans did show some intelligent life in this world.¡±


    He thought about that for a moment, nodding his head. If he did remain in this area, then it would be a simple matter to get back to a world that he knew, so long as he did not set a new spawn point. He would be cut off from the other yers for a while, but this was unexplored territory. ¡°Do you know what kind of race lives on this?¡±


    ¡°Nope! But, lemme check real quick!¡± Saying that, the elven girl closed her eyes, focusing.


    Big sis Crystal! Can you check the scans to see what kind of people live here?


    It took a moment before any response came. Dana? Sure¡­ give me just a second. Are you nning to make contact with them before we go?


    Nope! Another yer¡¯s here, and he was asking!


    _______________________________________________________________


    What?! Crystal¡¯s response was transmitted over right away. How is there another yer here already!? This isn¡¯t even the same sr system! Wait¡­ is it that halfling kid? No, well, he¡¯s not a kid anymore¡­


    Nope! A felyn, I summoned him here by mistake, so he¡¯s kinda sorta stuck and doesn¡¯t wanna take the shortcut back.


    There was a troubled sigh that came back over the private message. Well, let me check¡­ looks like this hosts a wide level range of monsters, and the dominant species is¡­ a dark-skinned elf.


    Thanks! Dana thanked her mentally before opening her eyes. ¡°Looks like there¡¯s a different kind of elf that lives here.¡±


    ¡°Elves?¡± The felyn blinked in confusion, before nodding his head. ¡°Can you point me in the right direction?¡±


    After another moment of focus, Dana looked around for a moment. Turning, she pointed off towards the west. ¡°Should just be a few hours that way!¡±


    The young man nodded his head, thanking her before walking off. After he was well out of earshot, Dana closed her eyes. ¡°Okay, big sis, it¡¯s taken care of.¡± Unlike before, when she was sending a message to Crystal, she was now speaking out loud.


    Understood. Good work, Dana. This time, the message that came back to her was far more monotone, not being transmitted by any yer in the game.


    ¡°You sure that he¡¯ll find it?¡± Her tone was uncertain when she asked that, opening her eyes to nce in the direction that the felyn had left.


    As long as he doesn¡¯t die too soon. Reaching the city should be enough to unlock this area as a new starting zone. Even if he doesn¡¯t find it, someone else should.


    ¡°Okay!¡± Dana nodded her head heavily, satisfied with those answers. ¡°Aunt Rivy should be really happy when she hears that.¡± As she spoke, she turned around, beginning to walk. With every step, a silver mist spread out around her feet, gradually rising to cover her entire body. Once it did so, the mist vanished, along with Dana.


    When she reappeared, she was now standing in the garden of the citadel, humming to herself while walking inside. Crystal offered her a small smile from the throne. ¡°Find what you were looking for?¡±


    ¡°Yup!¡± Dana nodded her head happily. She held out her hand, which contained a smooth, ck rock. ¡°I can feel a powerful shadow mana from this. It should be a fragment of the Mad King after he crashed into one of this world¡¯s moons. As long as we have this, I can perform a summoning whenever I want!¡±


    Crystal¡¯s eyes practically shined as she heard that, nodding her head. ¡°Now we just need to make sure that we¡¯re properly equipped¡­ What more do you need to finish upgrading the citadel¡¯s weapon system?¡±


    Dana brought one hand up to her chin, stroking it gently. ¡°We want to use light-attribute attacks for the raid. Thankfully, we already have most of what we need. I can use this stone to reinforce the shield against darkness, but for the weapons¡­ the mainponent that I¡¯m missing should be a high level chaos gem attuned to light. Or something with simr properties.¡±


    As she thought about that, her eyes suddenly went wide. ¡°Oh! We passed that supernova a few months ago, right?! If we double back, there should be a ton of materials we can grab there that have powerful light and fire mana!¡±


    Crystal¡¯s lips tugged upwards, and she gave another nod. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll set a course. Have you made any progress with the warp drive schematics?¡± The two of them had been lucky enough to obtain more astral lottery tickets during their prolonged journey, one of which had granted them the schematics for arge warp drive.


    Unfortunately¡­ Dana let out a long sigh. ¡°None. The technology behind it is really just not my thing. If we could find a ready-made workshop, we could just have it made automatically, but nothing in the citadel is big enough.¡±


    Crystal nodded her head, a resigned look in her eyes. She hadn¡¯t been expecting much, but Dana had proved herself time and again to always exceed expectations. She had be a genius over thest several years, magical theories and enchantments learned fast enough that it had put Crystal to shame.


    Yet still, the younger elf had always insisted on following Crystal. She said it was fun, and that they were like family. And for some reason, that had always been enough to make Crystal happy. Besides, who wouldn¡¯t like the idea to hunt a goddess in the world¡¯s most epic game of ninja¡¯s shadow ever?


    Crystal closed her eyes, setting the course for the citadel. There was a brief shaking as it rose higher into the air, the two of them gradually moving further and further away from the.


    Dana, meanwhile, turned and looked out the window, a small smile rising over her lips. She bid farewell to this new world. The world of the unknown goddess, the daughter of the stars.


    While Crystal hadn¡¯t been made aware of it, Aurivy had led them to one of the worlds that worshiped Leowynn. Realizing that fact, naturally Tsubaki and Dana could not just sit by. Once they had learned the significance of this world, they enacted their n to ensure that the yers would learn this knowledge as well.


    In truth, the hardest part was the summoning. Summoning magic ignored the distance between two objects, but there were other criteria that had to be fulfilled. For one, she had to attune herself to the creature that she was summoning. In this case, attuning herself to someone that she had never met before.


    The ritual was difficult to prepare, but thankfully they were not aiming for any specific yer. They just needed someone that would be able to uncover the truths of this world.


    Unknown to Dana, however, there was indeed a link between herself and the man she had summoned. Dana, the Queen of Hell, summoning Sirin, the Champion of Irena. A connection that went down to their very souls, and perhaps the only reason the ritual had been performed sessfully in the first ce.

 Chapter 435: Family Understands

    <h4>Chapter 435: Family Understands</h4>


    The moment that Sirin set foot in the vige of dark elves, an announcement rang out through the whole of the game. Every yer was immediately made aware of a new ¡®starting¡¯. This soon became a hot topic, as there were only the two inhabited worlds of Vespa¡¯s star system. While the major guilds and corporations were close to developing their own warp drives, they had not yet made that advancement. As such, there were very few people who knew why a new world had been discovered¡­


    ¡°You did something, didn¡¯t you?¡± Crystal asked suspiciously as she and Dana walked through the halls of the citadel, moving to inspect their remaining supplies.


    Dana simply giggled at first, grinning up to the taller elf. ¡°I just helped big sis take care of something~.¡±


    ¡®Big sis¡¯ was Dana¡¯s greatest excuse to get out of trouble¡­ especially once Crystal had realized who Dana was talking about. In all of the worlds, there was only one woman that would be able to teach Dana everything that she did, knowledge thought limited only to the Keeper himself. And so above the rules that she could easily acquire permission for Dana to perform certain techniques.


    Crystal let out a sigh, shaking her head. Even without Dana saying anything, at this point she knew that ¡®Big sis¡¯ was the Keeper¡¯s Servant. Which meant that Dana herself likely lived in the true Sky Citadel. A thought that always made a question ur to Crystal¡­


    ¡°So¡­ Just curious, but how is this citadelpared to the real thing?¡± She asked, curious as they arrived at the storeroom.


    Dana thought about it for a moment, before answering naturally. ¡°It¡¯s alright, I guess? The floorn is all wrong, so I usually end up getting lost. And obviously, we don¡¯t have so many workshops. Oh, and the garden is way better in reality! But then again, we don¡¯t really have to eat in the game, so that makes sense.¡±


    Seeing Crystal contemting over Dana¡¯s answer, the younger elf gave a small smile. ¡°If you want, I could bring you to look around? You could even be the representative of the elves, if you want!¡±


    Crystal¡¯s eyes went wide at that. ¡°N-no, that¡¯s fine. I don¡¯t need that kind of responsibility. I¡¯d love to have a look around sometime, if that¡¯s alright with Lady Tsubaki, but I do not want to impose.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll be fiiiine~!¡± Dana assured her. ¡°You can even meet Faffy! We haven¡¯t been getting visitors for a long time, and none of the representatives want to live there, so it¡¯d be great to have you!¡±


    Crystal still hesitated at that, before nodding her head. ¡°As a visitor.¡± Even though the function of the representatives had long beenmunicated to the new worlds, very few ever visited the Citadel for more than a few days. The fact that they were unable to see their friends and families while they were within the citadel, coupled with the knowledge that their presence there was optional, tended to have them perform their ¡®representative responsibilities¡¯ from home.


    Dana smiled even wider, nodding her head. ¡°Big sis says that she can be at your ce to pick you up whenever you want!¡±


    Crystal let out a small, reluctant sigh. ¡°Why am I not surprised that she knows where I live¡­?¡±


    Dana simply giggled again, and the two approached one of therger crates. ¡°Hmm¡­ looks like we¡¯re about out of paper. Do you think we have enough materials for the raid?¡±


    Crystal grasped onto the change of topic like a life raft. ¡°We have two supreme-tier spell scrolls, along with the ns to modify the rest of the weapons on the citadel¡­ But the Mad King has obviously grown way more powerful than we expected. Just crashing into a moon was enough to shatterrge chunks of it.¡±


    ¡°We shouldn¡¯t expect to be able to clear the raid unless we go at it with enough power to destroy a small. Anything less, and the citadel is what will likely be destroyed instead¡­¡±


    The more Crystal thought about it, the less certain she was of their chances. ¡°It¡¯d be great if we could harness the powers of one of Spica¡¯s spatial storms, or one of those ck holes.¡± Thanks to the long range scans of the citadel, they had been able to observe mana celestial events that others could only dream of.


    Dana gave a bitter smile, shaking her head. ¡°I don¡¯t think our engines are good enough to escape a ck hole¡­ But I might be able toe up with something that could cripple the Mad King if I use a piece of that fragment we found.¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    Sirin was¡­ a bit overwhelmed when he arrived at the dark elven vige. He saw the dusky-skinned individuals walking alongside untamed monsters, and yet neither side was attacking the other. If not for the fact that his interface registered the monsters as enemies, he might have thought that they were entirely domesticated.


    In fact¡­ when he entered the city, those same monsters began to growl threateningly at him, as if he was drawing their aggro. However, a few words from the elves caused them to calm down. Those same elves then approached and began speaking in anguage that Sirin was unable to understand.


    This world did not have the ¡®universal trantor¡¯ that was the quest scrolls. Thenguage barrier was far more difficult to ovee than it had ever been in the past. Seeming to realize this, one of the elves gestured for Sirin to follow him into a nearby temple.


    Once the two of them entered the temple, Sirin saw a towering statue of an elven woman wearing a long, flowing dress. Her eyes were kind, her wavy hair falling down her back. At the base of the statue were symbols that Sirin could not understand. However, a single word from the elves seemed to change everything.


    ¡°Leowynn¡­¡±


    You have discovered the unknown goddess, Leowynn!


    Leowynn¡¯s Domains are unknown!


    Leowynn¡¯s Blessing: Family is someone who understands - Sharenguage with all of Leowynn¡¯s followers.


    You have discovered one of Leowynn¡¯s Domains - Family!


    As the messages shed by in front of his face, Sirin¡¯s eyes went wide. He had never heard of a goddess by the name of Leowynn before. It was possible that this was simply a setting in the game, as so many others had invented their own deities to fill their lore. However, he thought that that was unlikely here, as this game had been personally handed down by the Keeper.


    ¡°Can you understand me now?¡± The elf that led him into the temple asked, looking over towards Sirin. He was a friendly old man with a kind smile that almost seemed to break the established convention of artificial intelligence.


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡± Sirin spoke respectfully, still in awe over what he was seeing. Outside of the temple, new yers were beginning to appear, those who had chosen to make new characters in order to discover this new world.


    When these new yers looked up at the night sky, and saw the three moons, one of which was shattered, they felt a strange sense of wonder. In a way, the game had started fresh for these people.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Huh¡­¡± I blinked, seeing the screennd on Sirin, and the statue standing in front of him. Leowynn?


    Yes, father? She replied after a moment, and I could tell that she seemed a bit distracted with her training.


    You might want toe take a look at this. It seems like someone ¡®found¡¯ you. As soon as I finished saying that, I could feel her rushing to escape my soul,nding in myp. Leowynn¡¯s eyes immediately focused in on the screen, letting out a small gasp.


    ¡°It¡¯s only a matter of time now.¡± Aurivy spoke up from next to the two of us with a happy smile. One of her hands came over to gently grip Leowynn¡¯s. It was obvious that she had a hand to y with the discovery of this world, but nobody was going to call her out on it. Right now, Leowynn was simply happy that the world would know who she was.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Tsubaki gave a small smile as she watched the conversation between Dana and Crystal. In fact, Tsubaki did indeed know where Crystal lived, and had known so for years, since before Crystal retired from being a professional gamer. Although she still made a sizable ie due to her share of Legion¡¯s businesses, she did not live such an extravagant life as she once did.


    Now, Julia lived within one of the trade cities of the elves, Loras Tor. She had the newest game capsule, and spent the majority of her day inside of it. When she wasn¡¯t gaming, she would work at the local Mage Tower. With the knowledge of magic that Dana helped her acquire, she had developed a few of her own spells.


    Like most other mages in recent years, Julia had even summoned her own familiar. A rather¡­ unusual familiar at that. A crystal golem in the shape of a young girl sat beside Julia¡¯s gaming capsule, her eyes closed as she shared in Crystal¡¯s experiences. Although it was possible to get a special capsule for intelligent familiar or simr spirit entities, such things were ludicrously expensive.


    Thinking about that, Tsubaki leaned back in her chair, making a mental call. Lady Ashley, may I have a word?


    Tsubaki had considered simply purchasing the spirit capsule for Julia as a gift, a way of thanking her for being friends with Dana for so long. The only problem with that, however¡­ was that being the Keeper¡¯s Servant was not exactly a paying career. Dale did not grant her a sry, nor did she ask forpensation when contributing to the advancement of the people.


    Even the Daily Magic Tome that she had developed with Dana had been freely gifted to the research institutes. Nobody would argue if Tsubaki had asked for money, and there were even those that wished to offer donations. However, they were all refused. Tsubaki did not wish to give people the image that favors with the Keeper could be bought. As such, she was entirely self sufficient.


    In the rare event that she needed something she could not simply acquire on her own, she had two methods of acquiring them. The first was to acquire something of equal value, and use a disguise to trade for those items. The second method, as she was doing now, was to seek aid from one of the Pantheon. As Ashley was the founder of thepany which produced the spirit capsules, Tsubaki decided to go directly to her.


    Thankfully, the gods and goddesses rarely refused her requests. They realized that her contributions so far had far outweighed anything she asked in return. Some of them, such as Ryone, even encouraged her to make such requests more often.


    Julia was unaware that she was about to receive such a present, that she was soon going to have yet another yer running about in the citadel within the game. Currently, she was simply nervous about meeting Dana¡¯s ¡®big sister¡¯.


    Of course, Tsubaki. Ashley responded to the request in a kind tone, able to understand what Tsubaki wanted before the question was even voiced. I¡¯ll have someone handle the delivery, and it should be there within a few days. I assume you want to remain anonymous?


    Tsubaki¡¯s lip curved up at the corner, shaking her head. She¡¯s smart enough to know that it was from me.

 Chapter 436: The King’s Tribute

    <h4>Chapter 436: The King¡¯s Tribute</h4>


    As the years continued to pass, a number of rather¡­ strange urrences took ce within thends of Earth. Creatures could be seen within the starry sky at night, ascending to the heavens. These were the new ¡®Disasters¡¯, the creatures spawned at the highest level. For some reason, these creatures were born¡­ different.


    One example was a silver serpent a hundred meters long, which flew up into the air, its body wrapped in an almost celestial light. Upon reaching the atmosphere, it did not stop its ascent, flying high above and beyond the clouds of Earth. This creature, like so many others that were being born within nature, seemed to find their home simply too small to contain them.


    This once noble prince of the sea was leaving behind the world which gave birth to it. Instead, it sought a new home among the stars, one far away from the home it knew. Perhaps something was calling out to it, beckoning it forward. It was hard to imagine what force could summon such a powerful monster.


    Or maybe¡­ it felt that there was simply more room to grow in the seas of the stars than the worldly oceans. All that could be clearly seen was that it was leaving.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Atop the Sky Citadel, floating just above the clouds, Tsubaki stood upon her balcony. Her eyes gazed at the silver figure dashing up into space. As she did so, her eyes began to slowly close. ¡°Dana.¡± Although her tone was gentle, it seemed to echo throughout the entire pce, carried by Tsubaki¡¯s power.


    ¡°Yes, Tsuba?¡± A figure appeared next to Tsubaki through a cloud of silver mist. The shorter elven girl simrly caught sight of the serpent flying high into the sky. ¡°Do we have a problem?¡± Dana was able to tell by the atmosphere that Tsubaki had not called her to y or study, yet she could not make out what the situation was herself either.


    Tsubaki gave a faint nod of her head. ¡°Another Disaster has left the.¡± That was the second one this week, showing that they were leaving with increasing frequency.


    ¡°But¡­ that¡¯s a good thing, right?¡± Dana asked curiously, her eyes going back to Tsubaki. ¡°If they leave us alone, then we won¡¯t need to hunt them down, right?¡± Dana¡¯s eyes blinked in confusion, clearly not understanding why this was a problem.


    Tsubaki let out a long sigh, simply shaking her head. ¡°That depends on why they are leaving.¡± Due to these creatures being able to survive in the vastness of space, Tsubaki had been able to deduce that these beings had been naturally born with an energy body. That meant that there were only a few reasons why they would depart from this world.


    First, and perhaps the most likely reason, was that they sensed the need for a special type of food that could not be found on the. Perhaps there were creatures that could only feast upon the energy of a star. Normally, this would indeed be the most likely answer, if it happened only once or twice.


    Next, there was the possibility that these creatures simply realized that they had the power to explore newnds, and wished to take advantage of that power. But again¡­ this theory held less and less weight the more creatures left the. And within thest ten years, Tsubaki had counted no less than fifty such urrences.


    Finally, there was one other reason for her concern, as she cast her eyes down towards therge red dragon resting atop a nearby mountain. She had been able to sense Fafnir¡¯s restlessness as ofte. When she attempted to discover the reason behind it, she found that even Fafnir himself did not know.


    Which brought her to the final reason¡­ they were not just leaving the. They were fleeing it. There was something in this world that terrified the disaster-level monsters across the globe, causing these most powerful creatures to turn and run as fast as they possibly could.


    But¡­ what could do something like that? Was it possible for an existence to truly be powerful enough that its presence was felt by monsters across the globe?


    ¡°Dana, I¡¯m going to be calling out to an old friend.¡± Tsubaki spoke, stepping up onto the rail of the balcony. Soon, she began walking out, her feetnding on the air as if it were a solid tform.


    Once Tsubaki had exited the barrier surrounding the citadel, she brought her hands in front of her chest. ¡°I am the servant that abides the will of heaven. I am the speaker of His will. Spirit of the world, you who watches over all creation, I request an audience with you now.¡±


    Tsubaki could feel a pulse of energy spreading out from her body as she issued her summons, and so she closed her eyes to wait. It had been many years since shest spoke with the world spirit of Earth, but she was confident that her call would be answered.


    And yet¡­ there was silence in the night. The wind gently blow across Tsubaki¡¯s body, the chill permeating her body, but the familiar presence did not appear. At first, Tsubaki thought that the spirit might be busy, that there might be something requiring her attention. And so, she waited longer, for nearly an hour before performing the call again.


    When that still failed to work, Tsubaki¡¯s head snapped upwards. I pray to the lords anddies above, to any who would hear my call. The spirit of Earth is missing. There was a newfound rm to Tsubaki¡¯s eyes, the first trace of genuine panic that had been seen in centuries.


    It must be known that a true,plete world spirit such as this one could not be in without destroying the world that they were bound to. At least, that was the theory. So for the world spirit of Earth to go missing¡­ there was something truly grand resting beneath the surface.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Dale!¡± An rmed voice called out to the living room, while Aurivy, Terra and I were still watching Jonas. Turning my head, I saw Bihena walking into the room, a grave expression on her face.


    ¡°Bihena¡­¡± I muttered to myself, looking at the human goddess. She was not dressed in her casual attire, no simple dresses or clothes. Bihena was wearing her golden armor, her spear strapped to her back. ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°Earth¡¯s world spirit.¡± Bihena spoke slowly, her eyes ncing between myself and Terra. ¡°It¡¯s being consumed.¡±


    I shot to my feet when I heard that, my eyes going wide. ¡°How?¡± I asked aloud, my mind instantly recalling the creature that I had seen in the elemental ne of life. The beast that hunted Fyor¡¯s world spirit. ¡°Did it escape¡­?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Terra spoke with a small sigh, shaking her head. ¡°There¡¯s another anomaly. It looks like one finally spawned as a disaster again.¡±


    I turned around, facing Terra, before turning to the TV. ¡°Show me.¡±


    Terra gave a brief nod, pointing to the screen. The ¡®channel¡¯ switched to a scene hovering over the vast ocean. Down below, a shadow could be seen beneath the waves, one that sent chills down my spine.


    What frightened me most of all¡­ was that the shadow was familiar. I had only seen the shape once before, and only then its hand. Long ago, before I had even be a ranked Keeper, when I was sailing on the open sea. Only then, this creature was smaller, so much smaller. And even then, it had beenrge enough for a single hand to grasp a creature over a hundred meters long.


    This time¡­ it stood in the depths of the ocean, and yet it felt like its body was almost touching the surface. This was a Sea Terror, one of the ancient kings of the deep. I always thought that they would have been reced by something worse, but¡­


    Level 2013 Sea Terror King


    My eyes focused in on the massive monster, and I was able to see that its body wasposed entirely of energy, primarily spiritual and natural energy, with ki as the runner up. If there was anything that could be celebrated, it was that the mana of this monster seemed remarkably weak. ¡°Terra, this anomaly, what is it that allows the monster to devour the world spirits?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not just the world spirits¡­¡± Terra spoke with a sigh. ¡°This thing is a vacuum for energy. If any energy touches it, it begins to absorb that energy, and anything directly connected to it. And Dale¡­ natural energy is everywhere, and it is all connected to the spirit.¡±


    I furrowed my brows when I heard that. ¡°So the world spirit of Earth had her intelligence consumed before she could escape¡­ and now it is continuing to absorb her faster than she can recover, along with the rest of the natural energy in its surroundings.¡±


    Bihena gave a firm nod. ¡°If this creature is not destroyed, it will continue to grow without limits. As it feasts on energy, it besrger andrger.¡±


    This is worse than the chimera soul. I muttered inwardly. Pulling up the menu, I directly selected the Smite option. There was the chance that this thing could even absorb divine energy. While the most likely oue there would be for it to self destruct, I couldn¡¯t overlook the option that it would trigger an evolution.


    Yet¡­ the smite did not work. The creature continued to stand there, beneath the sea, as if nothing had happened. ¡°Sorry, Dale.¡± Terra spoke sadly from the couch. ¡°Because of how far this anomaly has grown, it has evolved beyond the tiers of monsters you own. As such, it is no longer regarded as your ¡®property¡¯, and can¡¯t be targeted with systemmands.¡±


    I looked at Terra, and could feel the guilt in her gaze. She knew about this, but was unable to tell me. This wasn¡¯t something she ¡®naturally¡¯ knew, but rather something she knew only because of her status as the System Companion. Meaning that it was beyond her ability to share with me until we discovered the problem ourselves.


    Letting out a long sigh, I turned to look at Bihena. ¡°You and I will take care of this. Judging by the creature¡¯s mana levels, its intelligence should not be too high, so it is still running on its base instincts. We¡¯ll use those to take it down.¡±


    Bihena seemed to realize something, nodding her head. ¡°We¡¯ll need the Sea Princes. A lot of them.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­ this thing has a natural appetite for those monsters.¡± I nodded in agreement. ¡°Get as many as you can muster. If what Terra said about it is urate, then we need topletely destroy it in one shot. Otherwise, we may end up dealing with a Sea Terror God.¡±


    Bihena¡¯s face darkened at that, but she nodded her head. With a sh of golden light, she disappeared from the living room. Once she had done so, I closed my eyes to focus. Irena, I need your pen. We have a bit of a situation.


    No sooner had I sent that message than I was able to feel the cool length of a pen resting on my hand. Thank you, Irena. I whispered mentally, before preparing myself for a fight.

 Chapter 437: Sea God’s Play

    <h4>Chapter 437: Sea God¡¯s y</h4>


    Leowynn, I¡¯m going to need to ask you to stay inside while we do this. I muttered inwardly to Leowynn. I couldn¡¯t take the risk that this creature would be capable of absorbing her the same way that it had absorbed the world spirit of Earth.


    Alright, father. Thankfully, Leowynn seemed fairly understanding of that point, and didn¡¯t put up any resistance.


    Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and selected where I wanted to descend. The warm, blue light of the system surrounded my body for a brief moment, before I was able to smell the salty air above the ocean. The warmth of the sun beat down on my back while my eyes opened, watching the massive shadow beneath the waves.


    The form was only very vaguely humanoid, with a thick tail that spread out behind its back for at least a kilometer, simply judging by the shape of the shadow. Though the fact that I was even able to make out that much was admittedly worrying. How are youing with the Sea Princes, Bihena?


    Just finishing up. As she said that, I could feel a disturbance in the surrounding energies. The water beneath me began to shift, crashing together inrge waves. Thick shadows emerged around the body of the Sea Terror King.


    Immediately, the monster seemed to spring into action. One of its massive hands reached out far more quickly than its frame would indicate. Capturing one of the Sea Princes, I could see it bringing it in to devour the struggling beast.


    Next to me, I could see Bihena materializing in the air next to me, her spear aiming down towards the sea as she held it in one hand. Her short, blonde hair blew in the wind, her eyes piercing down towards the monster. ¡°Okay, it should be distracted enough for you to do whatever you need to.¡±


    I gave a small nod, pulling the pen out. After closing my eyes, I opened a small hole in the air, connecting it to the Underworld before aiming the pen at it. Activating the suction feature of the pen, I quickly wanted to fill it to full capacity. What I had in mind would require a lot of energy.


    Down below, the water darkened with the blood of numerous beasts. The Sea Princes struggled in vain to escape their natural predator, while the Sea Terror King was enjoying the feast of a lifetime. Although the creatures could no longer provide any real sustenance for him, that did not mean his instincts would turn down his species¡¯ favorite meal.


    More and more, I could sense the pen filling up, until the energy simply stopped absorbing into the pen. After that, I began to move, a golden mirror forming behind me with the image of the elven Goddess of Magic. ¡°Mirror the Archmage.¡±


    After saying that, and allowing the mirror to shatter, I could feel the knowledge of magic welling up inside of me. With my focus on the pen again, I began working. Typically, the pen was used with written words, but I had something different in mind. I wanted to use the pen to draw out arge spell diagram.


    _______________________________________________________________


    As Bihena watched Ryone work¡­ or rather, watched the Keeper work with Ryone¡¯s form, her eyes nced down towards the Sea Terror King. She knew that she had not simply been tasked toe here and present bait for the monster.


    Bihena was not simply the Goddess of Oceans. No, that was only a title that had been given to her out of convenience, due to the need to eliminate aquatic undead. As the feeding of the monster below began to stir, glowing red eyes aiming upwards, she gripped her spear and prepared herself.


    After all, she was the Goddess of Battle. That was her true, primary domain. While the Sea Princes might be its favorite food, it was impossible for the distraction tost forever. Especially when the meal it truly craved was energy. Even with the water saturated with blood, it could still feel that pulse of energy from the growing spell diagram above.


    The Sea Princes were only meant to dy the inevitable, causing it to hesitate when choosing between meals. But, as the pulse of energy from above grew stronger, so too did the monster¡¯s desire to consume it. Soon, that same wed hand that had been entrapping the Sea Princes shot out above the water.


    Each finger was utterly enormous, dozens of meters long and covered with green scales. When it rose out of the water, the waves crashed like a storm, and the Goddess of Battle began to act. They still had to worry about the possibility of divine energy being absorbed, so she pulled hers in, not letting a single drop leak out.


    Her body shot forward, leaving a brief, sonic boom behind herself. With such arge target in front of her, she did not need to worry about uracy. It would be hard for her to miss even if she wanted to.


    Before its wrist had even managed to make it halfway to Dale, Bihena had already arrived. ¡°First Form - Wrath of Storms!¡± Her spear shifted as she spoke, almost like a liquid metal. The form that it settled on was that of a lightning bolt, which she thrust forward into the wrist of the Sea Terror King.


    Although the weapon was so small that such an attack did not even register, what happened next certainly did. As the tip of the de pierced into the monster, it crackled with electricity. On the other side of the monster¡¯s wrist, a blinding sh emerged, a burst of light shooting out like aser.


    A dull, muffled roar rang out through the ocean when the Sea Terror King experienced pain for the first time. A crater had been blown out of its wrist from the inside, ten meters deep and twenty wide. Although the creature had no true blood, beingposed of energy, it was still a gruesome sight.


    Bihena¡¯s spear did not emit ki, spiritual energy, natural energy, or even mana to create its effects. As a product of Tubrock¡¯s craftsmanship, the lightning was created internally before being fired outwards through the tip.


    This did, however, serve to draw the creature¡¯s attention, and its ire. The gruesome hole quickly began to close up, energy being redistributed to fill the gap as its hand then began sweeping towards Bihena.


    With a smile, Bihena¡¯s body shot off to the side to evade the creature¡¯s ws. Although it was remarkably fast for its size, it could notpete with her in terms of speed. Her smaller form was able to quickly escape long before the ws of the monster closed around her location.


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right, big guy. Big bad battle goddess right here.¡± Bihena taunted with a feral grin. She saw the second wed hand reaching up to grab towards her as well, but managed to simrly evade that with her quick speed. ¡°All eyes on me. Pay no attention to the man behind the woman.¡±


    In order to keep the Sea Terror King in the range of whatever spell Dale was cooking up, Bihena could not afford to draw the monster away. She had to simply annoy it until he was ready. ¡°Fourth Form - Split the Seas!¡±


    Once again, the head of her spear seemed to melt and shift. This time, however, it turned into a long sword-like de. cing one hand at the base of the spear, and the other near the de, she held the weapon behind herself. Then, with a full twist of her body, she released the hand holding near the de, causing it to quickly whip out.


    As the de tore through the air, a crescent sh followed behind it. An attack made with such condensed air pressure that it remained solid even after striking the monster¡¯s wrist. A fact that made Bihena¡¯s grin turn far more wicked when the sh passed through the wrist entirely.


    Carried by the momentum of the previous swing, the wed hand fell forward, severed at the wrist. When it hit the water¡¯s surface, it seemed to break apart into blue and silver lights, which sank into the water again to be reabsorbed by the Sea Terror King. All in all, that meant that Bihena had done no true damage. But man, was she sure that it hurt.


    The furious scream that seemed to make the ocean itself rise was more than enough proof of the creature¡¯s pain. As Bihena watched, the monster grewrger andrger, dispersing its energy out more in order to rise above the waves. First was its head, with six nted eyes staring hatefully at Bihena, sheltered by thick, scaled ridges. Its mouth was elongated, its jaw distended and only held together by rtively thin strands of muscle.


    Then came the shoulders, full of spines and hanging webbing, titanic masses of muscle and flesh. Down its back were triangr spines, silver in color as opposed to the natural green. Now, it looked more like a creature standing in a swimming pool than a beast in the depths of the ocean.


    ¡°Eww, you¡¯re even uglier up close.¡± Bihena grimaced, pulling her spear back once again. ¡°Final Form - Sea God¡¯s Fury.¡± Her body plummeted downwards as she called out her next attack, the tip of the spear moving to rest beneath the water.


    A swirling vortex appeared beneath Bihena as the spear seemed to drink up the water, sucking in the ocean itself. When she lifted it up again, the golden trim had entirely vanished, leaving only a sparkling blue, three-pronged tip.


    However, just as she was pulling back to position herself for her attack¡­ just as the monster¡¯s hands were rising to perform its own strike¡­ Bihena¡¯s eyes shed. I¡¯m finished.


    The voice echoed in her head like thunder, and she shed backwards as quickly as she could. The Sea Terror King looked as if it were preparing to give chase, before it faltered. Its eyes nced upwards, seeing a brilliantly glowing diagram littered with runic spheres. Standing above the diagram, Dale looked coldly down upon the monster with Ryone¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Underworld Erasure.¡± Ryone¡¯s voice boomed down from above as the diagram red to live. A pale white beam cut down from the air, striking into the center of the creature¡¯s forehead.


    Bihena watched, her divine vision able to see exactly what was happening. The spell, constructed with the divinities of both Ryone and Irena, was seeking out every trace of spiritual energy within the body of the Sea Terror King. Once found, those traces were swept away, destroying the very soul that held the monster together.


    Desperate, the Sea Terror King resisted, trying to consume the spell faster than the spell could consume it. However, such a thing was useless at this point. Even if it consumed a small portion of the spiritual energy thatposed the spell, that energy would then be directly washed away by what was left.


    The entire process only took a matter of moments, before the red glow of the monster¡¯s eyes faded to a dull grey. This grey then seemed to spread out from its eyes, stretching out to cover the monster''s head before gradually heading down towards its shoulders and covering the rest of its body. Finally, like dust, it began to scatter away on the wind.


    _______________________________________________________________


    I let out a long sigh of relief when I saw the spell sessfully y the monster. In truth, I was concerned that it might not work. But¡­ this was the only spell I coulde up with using Ryone¡¯s experience that had the highest chance to utterly destroy the Sea Terror King. If it did not work, it would have at the very least drastically weakened it.


    ¡°Sorry for stealing your thunder.¡± I called out with a smile, my form shifting back to my own as I lowered my body to meet Bihena.


    She shook her head, her face returning to its almost neutral mask. ¡°It¡¯s good that it is over. I¡¯ll keep a closer eye on the waters from now on in order to prevent a simr creature from appearing.¡±


    I only gave a small nod at that. In truth, if this thing had appeared in Lorek or Spica, then it would have been far more difficult to deal with. But, as it appeared here, we were able to attack it with our full power.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go home.¡± I said softly, closing my eyes and choosing to ascend once again. It would take a few hours before the world spirit of Earth was once again able to fully materialize, so there was no point in waiting around.

 Chapter 438: Ill Fortunes

    <h4>Chapter 438: Ill Fortunes</h4>


    When I arrived back at the Admin Room, I let out a deep breath of relief. In truth, this had been the fight that had worried me the most ever since I had be a Keeper. No, I wasn¡¯t worried that the Sea Terror King would have been able to kill me. No matter what happened in the fight, it wouldn¡¯t have been able to do me in before I was able to ascend again.


    What I was worried was that I might not be able to kill it. If my spell failed, and its speed of absorption was faster than we had calcted, it could have consumed the entire spell that I used to defeat it. That spell contained trace amounts of Irena¡¯s divinity due to her pen, so that would mean that the creature could potentially obtain a divinity of its own.


    On the other hand¡­ while Bihena¡¯s attacks had been carving outrge chunks of the monster, they did no real damage aside from inflicting pain. With its ability topletely reabsorb the severed energy, only energy-based attacks that could deplete those energies would be effective. But, it was simrly able to absorb outside energies¡­


    If the spell I had crafted with Ryone¡¯s insight and Irena¡¯s pen had failed, I would have only had two options. I could either buy every remaining monster tier, so that even divine beings were included, or I could reset Earth.


    Monster tiers doubled in price at every level, so it would cost an exorbitant amount to buy them all. On the other hand, resetting Earth meant losing all of my progress since bing a Keeper. Years of work and growth down the drain, and starting from scratch. Naturally, neither of these were ideas I was particrly inclined to choose.


    And so, I had worried. I took the most powerful goddess at my side, and used the strongestbination that I could imagine, and I was still unsure if I would be able to kill it. Thankfully, my gamble had paid off.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Alme Dien stood atop her city¡¯s walls, staring out across thekes and ins of Sher Dien. Despite her physical body refusing to age, she seemed more mature than the day she left for this world. Her lithe upper frame was covered in steel armor, and even her equine lower body was draped in chainmail.


    In Alme¡¯s right hand was a greatsword, the tip stabbed into the worked stone at her hooves. Behind her was a vast, sprawling city filled with centaurs of every type. This was Cal Har, the capital city of Dien Sur.


    In Dien Sur, variant centaurs were revered as nobility, but were simrly tasked with the most difficult jobs. Not to mention that their Timeless Queen was a variant herself, but variants possessed powerful abilities that normal centaurs were incapable of replicating. They wielded magic, flew through the sky, or could even control fire as if it were their own body.


    Due to this, variants became the ¡®upper ss¡¯ of society in Sher Dien¡¯s lone kingdom. Yes¡­ there was only one kingdom in this wide world. Dien Sur was not some vast nation that spread out through the numerous inds. No, it was actually a rtively small territory, controlling only a dozen inds surrounding Cal Har.


    The reason for Dien Sur¡¯s solitary status was the powerful monsters that existed outside its borders. Creatures that could tear apart even the most well trained soldiers. Only the Timeless Queen possessed the power to fight back the strongest of these creatures. With mystical armor formed of strange materials, she had galloped alone to face the beasts that gued hernds.


    Standing at Alme¡¯s side was her ¡®son¡¯, a horned qilin variant. One of the rarest breeds of centaurs, and the only one of his kind in his generation. Alme had adopted him as a young foal, and raised him as she had raised so many princes and princesses before him.


    In truth, the role of a prince or princess was not necessary, and something that Alme had created in order to help distribute the responsibilities of managing the kingdom. They were closer to advisors than heirs. Even now, Alme considered her sole family member to be her father.


    Unfortunately, her father was unable to stay by her side as often as he had before arriving at this ce. Due to his status, he could not wander the realm in his divine form, lest he stir the masses. He could only take his time, living with her one incarnation after the next, each timeing to meet her when he had reached adulthood.


    At the moment, it had been ten years since the death of hisst incarnation, which meant that his newest one would still be an adolescent. Thinking about this, she shook her head with a soft sigh, muttering under her breath. ¡°This can¡¯t continue.¡±


    ¡°What can¡¯t?¡± Her son, Jeralt asked from next to her. To his credit, he was an excellent advisor, and had helped manage the kingdom for years.


    ¡°Our people¡¯s fear of the monsters beyond our walls.¡± Alme said, quickly changing the subject to avoid talking about how she missed being able to spend her days running alongside her father. ¡°We need to grow stronger, so that we can fight back and reim this world.¡±


    Jeralt simply let out a sigh. ¡°This is just the way it has always been, mother. We do not have the training methods needed to allow our soldiers to reach a level in the five hundreds. Although we are making progress, we are reaching bottlenecks in every field.¡±


    Alme nodded her head at that. In truth, she knew that it would take at least another fifty years before her people hit the ¡®level five hundred¡¯ standard that she had set with the kingdom¡¯s founding. And that was if they continued advancing without any problems. This standard had been created in order to allow the normal soldiers to team up and fight against the most powerful monsters that spawned due to Alme¡¯s presence.


    With the smaller territory of her kingdom, progress developing had been almost torturously slow. Over a thousand years spent growing the people of Dien Sur, protecting them from the harsh rigors of the world. But there was something else, as well, an emptiness inside of her, a hunger. Well, actual hunger¡­


    The only time that Alme was able to truly have a meal was when she went out and hunted one of the powerful monsters that inhabited the outer edge of her kingdom. Those rare meats were prepared by the best chefs, but aside from those asions, she had to subsist off of the ki technique that her father had given her.


    Things had gotten easiertely, more monsters appearing around her own level. But it had never been enough. She wanted her kingdom to finish growing, so that she could return to her father¡¯s side. Although time had taken its toll on her heart, she had never forgotten her dreams.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Tsubaki sat atop her balcony once again, her eyes scanning the horizon. She had learned of the birth of a new disaster-level monster that had spawned within this region, and had directed the citadel to fly here. Currently, her gaze overlooked a vast expanse of mountains, many of which looked as if they would pierce the sky.


    Under her watchful eyes, it did not take long for her to find what she was looking for. Her sight zoomed in, silver lights shing in her eyes as she saw a figure walking along the base of a distant mountain. Barely two meters tall, with a humanoid body that seemed made of diamonds.


    The kitsune maid leaned against the balcony, watching this monster¡¯s behavior. There was no sense of restlessness in its actions, casually walking about until it found a deep cave. As it disappeared into the cave, Tsubaki¡¯s brows furrowed.


    ¡°You won¡¯t need to worry about them anymore.¡± A voice spoke up from behind Tsubaki, causing her to rapidly turn around. Her hand had turned into a spike of silver energy, before she saw the green-haired figure before her. Gradually, her posture began to rx, her hand returning to its normal shape.


    ¡°I see that they managed to restore you.¡± Tsubaki said, leaning back against the balcony as her eyes focused on the world spirit of Earth. Her face did not have the same exuberant glow that it always had in the past, showing that she was still in her recovery period.


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± The spirit answered in a gentle tone. ¡°I wanted toe and thank you in person. It was your warning that allowed my rescue. If my plight had been dyed much longer, then this world may have fallen to ruin.¡±


    A flicker of surprise came over Tsubaki¡¯s face. ¡°It really was that bad?¡±


    The spirit gave a small nod of her head. ¡°Before my fall, I detected a powerful presence disrupting the energy of the world within the depths of the ocean. Feeling the threat that it posed, I resolved myself to deal with it personally. s, this was my undoing.¡±


    ¡°My attacks cleaved away the beast¡¯s body, returning it to its base elements, yet its essence was undamaged. It absorbed my attacks as fast as I couldunch them, soon bing immune to my power. When I sought to flee the battle and call for aid, the energies around me had already left my control.¡±


    ¡°There was naught I could do but be devoured.¡± The spirit recalled with a mournful sigh. ¡°My essence may lie with the world itself, but after I condensed it to form this body, I could only be reborn in the same area. My spirit was consumed again and again, torn apart at the seams to fuel its growth.¡±


    ¡°I cannot say for certain what heights it had reached before its downfall. What I am sure of, however, is that its capacity for growth knew no limits. And I had delivered myself as an evesting font of power for it to feast upon.¡±


    Tsubaki shook her head when she heard that. She knew well of the spirit¡¯s strength. If the monster had truly been that terrifying, then Tsubaki herself would have likely fallen as well. ¡°Then, it¡¯s best that it was dealt with quickly.¡± As she said that, her eyes scanned along the world spirit once more. ¡°You should return to the dimension of your kind. It shouldn¡¯t be hard to recover there.¡±


    The spirit nodded, her body gradually bing more faint. ¡°Twas the n. I merely wished to thank you before my departure. And also to warn you.¡±


    Tsubaki¡¯s brow rose as she heard that, allowing the spirit to continue. ¡°Twas the beast¡¯s presence that held back those monsters of great power. That caused them to flee the world and seek the stars. Some of them will have grown stronger in their absence, consuming those rare substances that exist beyond this world. Others will have bred more of their kind.¡±


    ¡°Now that the beast has been in, there will surely be those that wish to return. In theing days, a true disaster will descend from the heavens. Monsters will rain upon this world like a storm, and it will fall to those such as yourself to deal with them. Only the strongest warriors will have the chance to help fend off this crisis.¡±


    There was a grave expression on Tsubaki¡¯s face when she heard this, her eyes ncing towards the sky. ¡°You¡¯re sure?¡±


    ¡°The first has already returned.¡± The world spirit assured in the same gentle tone. ¡°It had been lingering just above the sky, and had returned shortly after I regained my consciousness. While I was not strong enough to deal with it, I sent my children to eliminate it in my stead. Thankfully, it had not obtained any form of enhanced strength.¡±


    After leaving those words of warning, Tsubaki saw the spirit¡¯s body fading away into soft green lights. It seemed that the problems were not yet over.

 Chapter 439: Proof of Graduation

    <h4>Chapter 439: Proof of Graduation</h4>


    Following the departure of the world spirit of Earth, Tsubaki hastily made her way back to themunications room. If things were as she was told, then there was not a moment to lose. The sooner the forces were prepared, the better they would be able to stave off any potential destruction.


    As such, she used a function of the crystal that had gone unused for many years. cing her hands on it, she closed her eyes. Her voice was firm as she spoke towards the crystal. ¡°I am now speaking with every ruling body of Earth. I am Tsubaki, and you will hear me.¡±


    ¡°In the Keeper¡¯s name, in the name of protecting this world from harm, I call upon the champions of every nation¡­¡± Although the Keeper had not explicitly given his approval for this matter, he had long since given her permission to use his name for matters of world security. While she had often refused to use this right in the past, time was of the essence here.


    And so, Tsubaki exined the dangers that the world faced. She spoke of the giant disaster that had lurked unseen, and how it had chased the most powerful monsters away with its mere presence. She told them of how the spirit of the world itself hade to her, warning her that those same monsters would soon be returning, some more terrifying than ever.


    This was different than the attacks that they had faced from other worlds in the past. These were all creatures that had originated from their own world. Unfortunately, many of them left before being truly understood, so their abilities were unknown.


    When the kings and queens, presidents and emperors heard Tsubaki¡¯s words, they could feel the crisis hanging over their heads. Even if she had not invoked the name of the Keeper, many of them would have still sent aid without a second thought. Now that she did so, however, those more reluctant individuals found themselvespelled.


    Within the hour, these world leaders were sending orders to assemble the mightiest champions of their worlds. The greatest mages and warriors, druids and heroes were all called for an emergency meeting.


    _______________________________________________________________


    High above and far away from Earth, an unassuming silver fish flitted through the vastness of space. Behind it¡­ were over a hundred of the same type of creature, undaunted by the harsh atmosphere. They swam through the starry sky as if it were their ocean, navigating around asteroids as they moved back towards the distant world that had birthed the leader of this school.


    In another direction, a writhing mass of brown and purple flew forward as well. It had nine long tentacles dangling behind a bulbous head. It looked almost like an octopus, if not for the extra tentacles and the fact that its head appeared to be made of countless glowing rocks.


    And finally, perhaps the most terrifying presence wasing directly from the sun itself. A feline form made of golden mes, prancing towards its original home. It did not dodge around any asteroids, simply batting them aside with its heavy paws. Some of the smaller asteroids simply evaporated on contact, while others were left misshapen after briefly turning into molten g.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°This is going to be another problem, isn¡¯t it?¡± I asked, watching the various monster groups moving back towards the world. In truth, there were dozens of different types now roaming the sr system, and of those less than ten had decided to return to earth. Even still, most of those were returning in the same state that they left.


    The problems were the three that had been empowered. The Silversoul Bass, a creature that had left as an individual, but had created an entire school of fish to follow its return. The Earthshaper, a mollusk that had absorbed rare and powerful materials in the asteroid field and evolved.


    However, the worst of them was the Goldenleo. Originally a lion made of ki, natural energy, and mana, it had been drawn towards the sun after fleeing the. While it was living on the sun for only a few short years, it had absorbed some of the power of the sun¡¯s mes. Like with the Sea Terror King, it had grown to a level beyond what I could simply smite.


    ¡°Judging by their speed and distance¡­¡± Aurivy spoke up, looking at the monitor. ¡°The first wave will be the unmodified disasters. Five of them will descend over the course of five days. On the seventh day, the Earthshaper will arrive. On the twelfth day, the Silversoul school will arrive. After that¡­ it will take one month for the Goldenleo to appear.¡±


    I gave a small nod as I listened to her estimation. ¡°The main problem is getting everyone in a position to intercept these monsters as they arrive. Earth is too big, and they can¡¯t afford to spread their forces too thin.¡±


    Aurivy shook her head at that. ¡°That shouldn¡¯t be a problem. Now that they know where the danger ising from, they can focus their manascopes and plot the courses themselves.¡±


    Bihena, still standing nearby, stroked her chin in thought. ¡°With the assembled champions, the normal disaster-level monsters won¡¯t be able to pose a significant challenge. However, as they are appearing alone, this could cause those champions to lower their guards. Especially the gaps between the three major threats.¡±


    The human goddess pointed to the three modified disasters. ¡°Having a day gap after five days of consecutive fighting means that the forces will have started to think that the worst was over. Unlike alia, I can¡¯t measure this monster¡¯s defense, but the nature of the materials that it consumed should make most conventional attacks useless against it.¡±


    ¡°Next, the fish¡­ this is going to be hard for them. Up to this point, they will have had an overwhelming numbers advantage, needing only to fight one disaster off at a time. When the entire school descends, each one having disaster-level strength, I expect that they will encounter heavy casualties.¡±


    ¡°But¡­ the main problem is the Goldenleo. The other monsters, I believe that the mortals can fight against. This one¡­ even entering the¡¯s atmosphere could cause damage to the world, due to the extreme heat its body emits. If possible, I would rmend sending some of us to deal with this one.¡±


    Hearing Bihena¡¯s suggestion, I gave a small nod, closing my eyes in thought. This wasn¡¯t like the Sea Terror King. There was no risk in sending the deities to fight, and I did not necessarily need to make a move myself. So, I only needed to choose who would be best to send.


    ¡°First off, Ashley. As the Goddess of Fire, she has the greatest advantage over this type of creature, and might even be able to snuff it out on her own. If she can¡¯t, she¡¯ll need a suitable defender, so Keliope should move as well. As the most defense-oriented goddess, she¡¯ll be able to provide ample help.¡±


    ¡°Finally¡­ Ryone. Her Magic domain will prove helpful in pretty much any fight.¡± In truth, I had considered sending alia as well, but decided against it. alia¡¯s Wind domain would bepletely useless in space, and her main fighting style would simrly be less effective.


    Aside from our first invasion, I had never seen Terra in a fight. With her domains, it was unlikely that she would make a good battle goddess, so I did not want to include her. Simrly, most of the other deities would be eliminated for the same reason. I could only trust these three to handle the task.


    Bihena seemed to consider the lineup, before nodding her head. ¡°Sending three goddesses to destroy one monster could be seen as overkill, but it is also best to err on the side of caution. Aside from Ashley, the other two will be acting outside of their domains, and burn divine energy to fight.¡±


    Giving a faint nod, I turned my eyes towards the screen once again, where I saw a rather¡­ surprising scene.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Sir, are you certain that these creatures are up for this task?¡± An elven soldier addressed an otherwise unassuming schr, who offered a small smile in return.


    ¡°I would offer a demonstration, but these children have a hard time holding back.¡± The elven schr, Jonas Bayrun, assured the soldier. Standing behind him were five humanoid figures that seemed to be made of brilliant light. At first, the soldier thought that these were the Lightborn of Fyor, before realizing the different characteristics.


    As had been exined to him, these were monsters. And monster tamers had never truly dominated the upper tiers of champions due to the limits of the monsters they controlled. For normalbat, they could be seen as remarkable, but that was only when they were able to face monsters of the same or lesser level than the monsters that they tamed.


    ¡°Very well¡­¡± The soldier reluctantly agreed, before filing in Jonas¡¯s name on the register. ¡°The first attack is expected to take ce the day after tomorrow, above the Forest of Heroes.¡±


    ¡°The Heroc homnd?¡± Jonas mused to himself, before nodding his head. ¡°I¡¯ll make my way over there immediately.¡±


    After saying that, Jonas wasted no time before turning around and walking out of the building. Once outside, he signaled to the five slimes of origin. Their halos split apart from the viscous bodies,ing together toyer atop one another.


    Following this motion, the bodies of the five slimes all merged and joined together, forming into a single mass. The shape that they chose vaguely resembled a canoe, which Jonas jumped into without hesitation. Afterwards, there was a silver sh as the ¡®canoe¡¯ ascended into the air and sped off to the horizon at a rather extreme speed.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Interesting¡­¡± I muttered to myself, watching Jonas with his five slimes. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect him to be joining this battle¡­ but maybe that means that we will be able to avoid some extra casualties.¡±


    ¡°Apologies, Dale, but¡­ Jonas was included in my initial calctions.¡± Bihena sighed, shaking her head. ¡°I will not deny the power of the five slimes he possesses, but I find it unlikely that they will be able to protect some of the champions from the attacks of the Earthshaper and the Silversoul school.¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡± I wasn¡¯t quite sure where she got her confidence from, but I knew better than to doubt her when it came to such things. At this point, I could only watch and wait. Between Tsubaki and Jonas, I could already predict that the first five days would pass without much issue. The real crisis would only begin with the Earthshaper¡­


    _______________________________________________________________


    When Tsubaki had finished her briefing, and began walking towards her room, she heard a faint ttering of metal. Moving to investigate, she found Dana standing in the armory, seemingly testing the various weapons within. ¡°Dana¡­ what are you doing?¡± Tsubaki questioned, though she seemed to know deep down what was happening.


    ¡°I¡¯m getting ready to join you.¡± Dana spoke matter-of-factly. ¡°A sword is no good, huh? Maybe a staff would be better for me?¡±


    ¡°Dana, no.¡± Tsubaki shook her head firmly, though for the first time Dana did not seem intent on listening.


    ¡°Dana, yes.¡± She retorted. ¡°Tsuba, if you die, I die. And I don¡¯t want to die. The safest ce in the world for me is by your side, keeping the both of us safe. You¡¯ve spent so long training me, you know I¡¯m ready for this. Instead of trying to hold me back so that you can protect me, help me.¡±


    Dana turned to fully face Tsubaki, showing her teacher and adopted big sister a face of utter determination. ¡°Rewrite the spells you stored in me and create battle spells. I¡¯m joining you in this fight, one way or the other. Make me your armor, your spear, or your ally. But I won¡¯t let you leave me behind now that we¡¯re facing a real threat. This is what you trained me for.¡±


    Dana¡¯s words seemed to bounce around in Tsubaki¡¯s head. She had been so focused on raising Dana as a little sister, and engrossed herself in the feeling of having a family, that she had forgotten Dana¡¯s role as her student. A student to the Servant of the Keeper, who herself had entered his employ. Taking a deep breath, Tsubaki nodded her head with a firm look in her eyes.


    ¡°Alright¡­ let¡¯s get started.¡±

 Chapter 440: The Earthshaper

    <h4>Chapter 440: The Earthshaper</h4>


    In the days leading up to the first attack, forces from all over the world moved to the Forest of Heroes. As these were the most powerful individuals of every nation, the herocs weed them with open arms. They feasted and sparred together, exchanging new techniques with one another.


    On the day of the attack, however, there was a deadly calm throughout the area. The herocs equipped those who needed with an enchanted token that would allow flight, so that they could properlybat these monsters that rained from the heavens. As such, tens of thousands of people stood in the sky, supported either by these tokens or their own powers.


    The pressure that these people gave off from their mana and ki was utterly stifling, and several mages had dedicated themselves on the ground purely to dispersing all of the ambient mana into the surrounding area. Thest thing that everyone needed was a powerful mana siphon to trigger while they were fighting a powerful entity.


    Soon, the first disaster could be seen. It possessed the body of a giant green eagle, with lightning radiating from its talons and feathers. The moment it hit the atmosphere, dark clouds gathered around it. A storm had been summoned with its mere presence¡­


    ¡°First volley, fire!¡± One of the mages in the lead called out, many others reaching up as a thick tome appeared in their hands. Dozens of spell diagrams appeared in the air, each a powerful third-tier spell.


    sts of fire, ice, light and darkness shot up into the sky. The clouds froze over, causing snow to fall before it was struck by the rampaging mes. When the clouds parted, they could see the heavily wounded body of the eagle, raising the morale of the group. With its fierce cry, however, the clouds gathered once again, the winds picking up into a spiral as a tornado began to descend.


    ¡°Brothers.¡± One of the many druids spoke, before they all closed their eyes. In the face of theirbined power, there was simply no way for the tornado to finish forming. The eagle could do nothing but re fiercely at them, sending lightning bolts in their direction. However, even these were weakened by the druids¡¯ power such that they could not y a single person. Although the druids cried out in pain, they remained in the air.


    At that moment, a woman wearing priestly robes pulled a longbow off her back. ¡°alia¡¯s breath, guide my bow.¡± She whispered, pulling the string back. A silver arrow gradually began to form, already nocked on the drawn string.


    When the arrow was released, it pierced through the sky, undisturbed by the powerful winds. Its aim was true, and struck at the heart of the eagle. Despite the size difference, which made the arrow look like no more than a splinter, it pierced deeply into the eagle¡¯s chest. Seeing that, the priestess withdrew her bow and offered a bow towards the beast.


    Through either poison or some other strange effect that those nearby were unable to perceive, the health of the eagle began to rapidly drop after it had been shot with the single arrow. Its cries rang out in the sky, before blood began trickling out of its mouth. Even as its body stilled and began to fall, the lightning continued to crackle across it.


    In order to prevent this great monster from crashing into the ground below, several monks shot forward. Enduring the shocks, they used their own strengths to guide the monster¡¯s descent. Only when it had crashed upon an empty patch of forest did everyone heave a sigh of relief.


    One man shook his head, seeing that he had not gotten the chance to act. ¡°The next disaster is nned to descend over the ocean. The elves have erected a transport gate on the nearest ind, so we had best be off.¡± As he said that, the five humanoid slimes standing with him all fell to the ground along with the speaker.


    This pattern continued for the next four days. Whether it was the ape with a golden body, the turtle capable of controlling fire, or the twin snakes of light and dark. With thebined power of so many champions, they were able to fend off so many disasters with almost no casualties.


    And so, they received a day of respite. Morale was high as the group moved to the site of the next attack. Reports had been tracking arge creature that had been gradually shifting its angle during flight, and the most recent estimation for its descend would be over arge mountain range in the humans¡¯ territory.


    As the champions arrived, their heads full of their recent victory, they saw something that made their minds instantly calm. Hovering above the mountains was the floating pce that was the Keeper¡¯s abode. Standing out before it were two figures, one of which was known by many.


    Tsubaki stood with a young elven girl, both dressed in servant¡¯s attire as their eyes gazed upwards. Standing tall atop a nearby mountain was a dragon with red and silver scales, one that had been often seen flying near the Sky Citadel. Its head was craned towards the sky, eyes staring unblinkingly.


    Tsubaki had not been present for any of the five recent attacks, causing people to question what true danger was being faced. Now, however, they saw her standing on the forefront. Those with weapons gripped them tighter as they realized this would not be a normal fight.


    Sensing something in the sky, Tsubaki spoke quietly. ¡°I¡¯ll trust you with my back, Dana.¡± After she said that, the elven girl next to her became a silver and blue light, merging into Tsubaki¡¯s body. Unlike the normal ck wings that she typically donned for battle, two pairs of pure white wings sprouted from her back under the influence of that light. Once they were fully formed, flexible metal armor appeared along the wings, making Tsubaki look like an angel of battle.


    Following the gaze of Tsubaki and the dragon, a small dot of me could be seen in the distance. A giant creature at the edge of the atmosphere, barreling towards them. It did not slow to gently enter the¡¯s atmosphere as the other monsters had, crashing downwards without a care.


    As it grew closer, the me appeared to getrger andrger. The dragon leaned back, letting out a roar apanied by a pir of me. Unlike previous disasters, this one did not stop its fall when it noticed the threats below. Or maybe, it did not consider them threats at all.


    When it crashed down, itnded atop one of the nearby mountains, which copsed under its body. The shockwave carried dust and rocks out in every direction, but already Tsubaki was moving.


    A shield of light spread out from her wings, stopping any of the debris from blocking her path. It took her only a few seconds to arrive at the location of the giant mollusk, a creature sorge it dwarfed the mountain that it hadnded on. Glowing veins of strange minerals could be seen embedded along its body.


    Tsubaki¡¯s approach seemed to be entirely unnoticed by the monster, even as she formed her signature bone scythe in her hands. Cleaving it at the creature, she was sadly unsurprised to find that it only prated the firstyer of rock. No extra damage could be seen on the creature¡¯s health bar, aside from the small amount it had taken from the fall.


    Her attack, however, acted as the trigger to get everyone else moving. The dragon flew high into the sky, spitting fire over the mollusk. The priestess drew back her bow once again, and Jonas signalled for his slimes to act.


    For any of the previous battles, even just one of these would have been enough to quickly end the fight. However¡­ the dragon merely heated the rocks along the creature¡¯s body, which began glowing with a dangerous light. The spiritual arrow that could y any creature before broke harmlessly against this outer shell. Even the five slimes, who had yet to have the chance to show their power, could do little more than shatter a segment of the rocky exterior.


    That was, perhaps, the most damage that the creature had ever received, however. Its eyes turned to the five slimes, each of which was pummeling its body with rapid blows. Their strikes were able to shatter theyer of protection it had built itself, and deal some damage directly to its body. But for every segment they shattered, it repaired itself before the next attack.


    The nine arms of the Earthshaper moved, the ground trembling and shifting to follow its motion in wide streams. Rocks began to flow out of the ground like water, before being flung out at the attackers.


    As these were still only ordinary rocks, none of those on the forefront truly needed to worry. The slimes protected their cores, the priestess nimbly dodging, while the rocks bounced harmlessly off of the dragon¡¯s scales and Tsubaki¡¯s shield.


    For those still watching in the back, this exchange had shown the true power of the enemy. A power that could not be killed easily even with thebined assault of these champions among them.


    Warriors and monks began charging over, able to assist the most without worry for friendly fire. Archers and mages spread out, seeking angles that they could attack safely. As for the druids, they moved with the ranged attackers, serving as shields to defend them from the flying rocks.


    The pressure on Tsubaki was relieved somewhat when the rest of the close-ranged attackers charged over. Their strikes that could easily shatter normal stone only had minimal effect here, but that was enough. Tsuba, let¡¯s go with raining light. A voice entered Tsubaki¡¯s mind, and she nodded.


    Her body flew up into the air above the mollusk, and an ethereal voice spread out from the wings on her back. ¡°Light of heaven, that which pierces all evil. Let rain your wrath upon the beast that threatens yournd. Lords anddies on high, may you offer eternal peace to those that would bite your hand.¡±


    Tsubaki¡¯s wings began to glow more brightly with every word, before feathers seemed to break off of them. These feathers were made of pure light, rotating in circles around Tsubaki. With the end of Dana¡¯s chant, they shot forward, concentrating on a single point.


    These feathers all struck in a continuous flow, piercing through the rock faster than it could regenerate. For the first time, fresh blue blood began to spray out of the head of the beast, its health dropping a visible amount. Enraged, the monster turned its attention to Tsubaki, the ores across it glowing again.


    ¡°Dodge it!¡± A voice called out from behind, originating from the priestess. Tsubaki quickly moved to the side, moments before a ck beam cut through the space she had been flying previously. Ripples seemed to spread out through the air after the beam passed, showing just how terrifying the attack would have been.


    While Tsubaki wanted to offer her thanks, there was no time. The monster¡¯s attention was still firmly on her. She began to fly around the Earthshaper¡¯s head while calling out to the others. ¡°Everyone, prepare yourrgest attacks. Strike together when it is facing away!¡±


    The arms of the monster were iling again, but it was not normal rock that rose up this time. Streams of silvery metal flew up from the ground, causing even the Keeper¡¯s Servant to look in shock. She could easily recognize mithral, and knew that it would be able to damage her body if she took a solid hit.


    Immediately, Tsubaki began to focus purely on evasion, still causing the creature to slowly turn away from the other forces. Chants could be heard ovepping with one another, mana and ki both rising. Once Tsubaki felt that the attacks were about tounch, she cut open a portal in the air, dodging through it.


    Barely a second after she had left, pandemonium broke out in the mountain range. Countless attacks joined into one, forming a prismatic beam that erased everything in its path. A thick hole appeared within the center of the Earthshaper¡¯s head, the same hole being present on another mountain behind it. The health bar of the monster could no longer be seen¡­

 Chapter 441: Like Fish in a Barrel

    <h4>Chapter 441: Like Fish in a Barrel</h4>


    Following the attack of the Earthshaper, the manascopes calcted that it would be five days for the next disaster to arrive. The devices that the various institutions were using were having some difficulty getting a proper understanding of this disaster. Its form seemed to shift oddly like a dense cloud. What they were able to tell, however, was that the total energy present in this ¡®disaster cloud¡¯ was no less than that of the Earthshaper.


    With five days to rest and prepare, the forces of Earth took a brief moment to catch their breath. Of the six disasters that they had faced so far, five of them could only be described as ¡®average¡¯. While they could sweep through normal travelers and cities with ease, they could at most match up to four or five of the thousands of gatheredbatants.


    Thisst one, however¡­ The Earthshaper easily had the power to topple nations. If not for thebined attack of everyone present, it would have taken countless losses to bring this single monster down. And this next opponent was no less powerful.


    Worse still, there was onest disaster approaching from much further away. ording to the manascopes, its power dwarfed all of the other disastersbined. It was a true disaster among disasters, and the forces of Earth weren¡¯t sure how they could handle it.


    As such, the days preceding the next battle came and went. When the time came, the champions once again gathered above a deserted coastal city in the elven kingdom. An ancient city regarded as the birthce of modern magic. Normally, it would still be bustling, filled with trade and civilians living their normal lives.


    Now, however, it was abandoned. Not only this city, but every city within five hundred kilometers had been evacuated by the elven government. There was too much risk in fighting such a creature while worrying about the civilian poption, so Empress Margold wisely issued an order to clear out the surrounding area.


    One of the elven troops present, a localmander, had a grave look on his face. His voice resounded among the gathered heroes. ¡°Remember, we must not allow this creature to escape into the ocean! With its estimated power, we can not afford to lose it within the deep waters.¡±


    Naturally, thismander was more concerned with his homnd than simply destroying the iing monster. If it were any other area, then the person who hailed from thatnd would likely say the same thing. As such, they did not concern themselves overly with his words, everyone already knowing them to be true. Instead, they merely looked up at the sky.


    Those with the best eyes could see a small, pulsating speck of silver rushing towards them. The ¡®creature¡¯ this time did not look particrlyrge, but continued shifting in a way that prevented them from getting a proper look. It was onlyter, when the creature had fully entered the atmosphere, that the eyes of these heroes went wide.


    ¡°It¡¯s a swarm!¡± The elvenmander shouted in shock, readying his magic staff. Now they could understand why the energy readings for this disaster had been so strange. The creatures were clumped together densely enough that they registered as a single entity, with each one being a disaster on its own.


    The most dejected among the lot were those like the priestess of alia. Although her bow had yed a critical role in the first five fights, it excelled only when targeting single enemies. The special feature of the bow would show no effect against a swarm.


    So instead, the priestess moved herself to the backlines, closing her eyes and praying. She invoked the skill of alia¡¯s Priests known as Identify Monster. ¡°Silversoul Bass¡­ levels range between one thousand and eighteen-hundred. Primary energyposition is spiritual. Total number¡­ one hundred and neen.¡±


    Each of the flying fish was no more than a meter long,zily floating through the sky. At first, they had clearly been moving towards the ocean, an act which roused the concern of the people who had gathered to face them. Suddenly, however, they changed their course and began sailing straight towards the group.


    ¡°They¡¯re fish, right?¡± The elvenmand asked with a furrowed brow, his staff crackling with lightning. A second-tier spell diagram formed above him, before bolts of electricity flew forward. As the lead fish was struck, the lightning began to spread through the rest of the school. The dense cluster was perfect for attacks such as chain lightning.


    Various health bars immediately appeared within the swarm, though unfortunately none of them were outright in by the spell. Still, the fact that such damage was inflicted inspired the rest. All of those with area attacks beganunching them immediately.


    Tsubaki floated near the front of the crowd, releasing her own lightning spells while Dana once again aided her as wings of light. The five slimes¡­ were not as useful here. Theyunched rapid attacks, killing a few individual fish, but not before the swarm arrived in front of the group.


    As he was standing in the lead, the elvenmander was the first to encounter the school of fish. When they swept past him, one actually traveled through his body, causing his eyes to go wide with a mix of shock and pain. His health bar immediately appeared over his head, over half of his life sapped away in a moment.


    There was no wound where the fish passed, only a mass of decaying flesh. Although only one had entered into the man¡¯s chest, two swam out of his back. This scene was repeated multiple times within the group, the numbers of the fish now rising faster than they were being in.


    ¡°Everyone fall back!¡± Tsubaki shouted, wielding her iconic bone scythe. ¡°We can¡¯t fight them properly when we are all grouped together!¡±


    Tsubaki¡¯s words quickly caused the forces to scatter, their trust in the Keeper¡¯s Servant implicit. However, Tsubaki had a different reason for getting everyone to scatter. It was undeniable that within the entire group, Tsubaki and Dana had the most powerful souls. This made the two of them the perfect bait for these creatures which seemed to feast on souls.


    As the others moved away, Tsubaki focused, empowering her soul as much as she could manage. Sensing this, the fish that had begun swimming after the fleeing fighters began moving towards Tsubaki instead. As she saw them swarming in, she readied her scythe.


    Tsubaki¡¯s scythe had always had a single property that it excelled in, one that had been given to it due to the environment where she had created it. Her scythe was able to sever souls.


    Now that she had free reign to move as she pleased, her scythe shed, cutting through fish with every swing. Dana created a barrier of light to hold back the swarm and protect the two of them, creating the image of a bubble of swarming fish. Inside this bubble, Tsubaki only had to wildly swing her arms to kill several monsters at a time.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°That should be it.¡± I muttered to myself, watching Tsubaki y the silversoul bass. As Bihena predicted, there were numerous deaths that had urred before they realized the special properties of these monsters. In fact, almost a tenth of the champions that were gathered had lost their lives, causing the school of fish to grow explosively.


    Thankfully, none of the champions chosen by the deities lost their lives. That being said, the losses would be felt heavily by the respective nations of the world.


    Just as I was letting out a sigh of relief, I saw one of the fish breaking off from the school around Tsubaki. Clearly, it realized the danger and valued its life above a tasty meal. It dove downwards, aiming to disappear into the water.


    Moments before it hit the surface, however, a silver arrow pierced into its body. Changing the view, I could see that alia¡¯s chosen champion had fired an arrow to stop this stray fish. While herbat abilities declined sharply against a swarm, she was still more than capable of finishing off just one fish.


    Like this, Tsubaki dealt with the remainder of the swarm, while those that tried to escape were attacked by the others. With this strategy, they were able to cleanly finish the rest of the enemies without suffering substantial losses.


    When thest of the silversoul bass had died, I could see Tsubaki¡¯s health dangerously low. In order to keep the attention of the fish on her, and send them into a mindless feeding frenzy, she had actually ignited the power of her soul. This caused significant damage to her own body, but allowed her to gather the enemies to her.


    She was left panting heavily, her face pale. With one swing of her arm, she cut open a portal to send herself back to the Citadel. From what I could see, she would need several weeks to recover the power of her spirit. Even if we weren¡¯t nning to have the goddesses personally deal with the goldenleo, she wouldn¡¯t be in any shape to participate in that fight.


    ¡°Alright!¡± Aurivy pumped her fists when she saw that the swarm had been dealt with. After saying that, she turned to face me. ¡°When do you want the others to handle the big firekitty?¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but let out a small groan at her nickname for what was potentially the single most devastating monster that the world had ever faced. ¡°I nned to wait for a couple of weeks, to maximize the impact of the battle in the eyes of the people.¡±


    Leaning forward, I kept my eyes on the screen. ¡°If we defeat the goldenleo on our own, while the eyes of the world are focused elsewhere, there will only be a minimal impact from the battle. Some people may even be anxious, wondering where this super-disaster went.¡±


    ¡°If we wait until the monster is only a few days out, when the various groups of Earth are watching it closely and gathering forces to try and deal with it, they¡¯ll see the gods acting to defend them. Normally, I prefer to let you guys act with a low profile, so that they won¡¯t overly rely on us and can take care of themselves.¡±


    ¡°When an apocalyptic threat approaches the world, however, leaving people to fend for themselves doesn¡¯t work. We¡¯ve got to show them that, while we will not directly intervene for matters that they can deal with, we will still protect them when the fate of the world is at risk.¡±


    ¡°You know¡­¡± Aurivy rolled her eyes with a yful smile. ¡°You could¡¯ve just said ¡®we¡¯ll give it a couple weeks¡¯. We all know your modus operandi by now, Dale.¡± Leaning over, she likely poked my side, earning a light chuckle from me.


    ¡°Thanks. But yeah, that¡¯s the n.¡± I nodded my head, reaching over to ruffle Aurivy¡¯s hair. ¡°Then hopefully, after the ¡®big firekitty¡¯ is dead, this crisis period will be over for a while.¡±


    ¡°Well, now you¡¯re just jinxing it!¡± She called out in rm, iling her arms into the air. ¡°Watch, now there will be aliens invading that were stirred up by the monsters spreading through space, tracking them back to Earth. What will you do then!? Aliens, Dale!¡± Aurivy¡¯s eyes went wide as she said that with a dramatic tone.


    ¡°Pretty sure we would have gotten a notification of a world being discovered with sentient life on it.¡± In fact, there had been numerous alerts until now of worlds suitable for such, but they had all failed to properly produce such life before being rendered inhospitable. Until now, I had yet to receive a ¡®sessful¡¯ alert of sapient life forming on other worlds.

 Chapter 442: Bear Witness

    <h4>Chapter 442: Bear Witness</h4>


    As the days passed, the eyes of Earth focused more heavily on the impending disaster. At this point, even those normal civilians felt the sense of crisis growing. Electricity generators that had been created to convert mana into electrical energy began to fail all across the. Prismatic lights that danced across the sky in the northern reaches spread far enough that they were visible above even the¡¯s equator.


    The disaster was still weeks from arriving, but already its presence could be felt shaking the world. Many forces of Earth called for the aid of other worlds, hoping to suppress the cmity with greater troops. The Gate za in the elven kingdom was simrly filled to the brim with civilians seeking shelter in other worlds.


    Empress Margold stood on her balcony, staring up at the sun. She was well aware of where this danger came from. The institutions had been tracking its path from the very beginning. They had even estimated that, based on the trajectory the creature was taking, the scientists expected to arrive at the southern tip of the humans¡¯ homnd.


    Despite the threatnding so far away, there was no room for the empress to rx. Given the impact the creature had on the world, even from so far away, she was certain that nobody would be safe when it finally arrived. And so, her voice joined the countless others that looked towards the sky and trembled.


    ¡°My Goddess, please lend us your aid in this hour.¡± She earnestly prayed, her hands gripping the railing of her balcony. ¡°I fear for the safety of your people. There is not enough time to evacuate everyone. No matter what you choose, I will remain within thisnd until my final moment.¡±


    She had made this prayer over a dozen times in thest week, desperate for her voice to reach Ryone. But this time, finally, she received an answer. Watch the sky, my child. Watch closely.


    The empress¡¯s eyes widened when she heard that. She pulled out hermunication crystal, and immediately spoke into it. ¡°Get me a visual on the sr beast! Project directly to my throne room.¡±


    After saying that, she did not even wait for a response, closing her eyes and focusing to teleport herself back to her throne. Aside from a few guards, the room was empty in her absence. When she appeared, those guards gave polite bows, before standing at attention at either side of the room.


    Sitting upon her throne, she ran a hand over a projection crystal, which had begun blinking to indicate an iing message. When the holographic screen appeared before her, she saw the image of a massive ming lion running through a ck abyss. This was a scene that she had witnessed numerous times before, but this time¡­ something changed.


    The beast halted its charge, staring ahead at three specks so insignificant that Margold would have never noticed them without the monster¡¯s aid. When she saw them, when her sight zoomed in to make their forms out¡­ her fists clenched. Once again, she pulled out themunication crystal.


    ¡°This is an emergency order. I am issuing a-scale broadcast, effective immediately. All transmission towers are to immediately ry visual from the manascopes watching the sr beast. Utilize the emergency broadcast crystals in every city.¡±


    Following the words of the empress, the same scene that she was watching appeared in the center of every city in the world. Any home with a working mana generator, every mage tower, all of them shared the same image. The image of three women standing between them and destruction.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Looks like it¡¯s time to start.¡± Ryone spoke, using mana to transmit her voice to the other two goddesses within the void of space. ¡°Ashley, how much do you think you can restrain it?¡±


    The demon goddess closed her eyes in focus. ¡°If I burn half of my divinity, I can weaken its mes by about half. If I¡¯m going to extinguish it all at once, I need it to be weakened first.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll handle that, then. You save your energy until you can wipe it out altogether. Keliope, you¡¯re on defense.¡± While it would be impossible for this monster to truly kill a deity, any damage that they took would still drain their divinity. As such, having a ¡®tank¡¯ was necessary in a fight such as this.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡± The dark-skinned ursa spoke up, punching her fists against each other. She wore a pair of golden gauntlets, their wrists widened to create small shields. This was Keliope¡¯s newest godly weapon, fashioned by Tubrock. ¡°Nobody will hurt the two of you while I¡¯m here.¡±


    Ryone nodded, lifting her tome. Unlike the others, her godly weapon had not changed its form in many years, only having its functionality improved. ¡°Against the mes of the sun, there is no water spell strong enough to snuff it out. Matter itself burns upon contact.¡±


    Taking a deep sigh, a golden breath emerged from Ryone, washing over her book as the ming lion stared at them. ¡°I trade one tenth of my divinity for the power of absolute cold. I trade one fifth of my divinity for the power of absolute gravity.¡±


    It must be remembered, Ryone was not simply the Goddess of Magic. That was but one of her three domains. She was also the Goddess of Wealth and Merchants. While her passiony in magic, it could be said that her greatest strength was as a goddess governing trade.


    If the God of Mirrors could mirror the divinity of others, then why could the Goddess of Merchants not trade for those same divinities? This was something that she realized after watching Dale develop, how she could fight beyond simple magic.


    At this point, she had traded thirty percent of her divinity to ¡®purchase¡¯ the Cold and Gravity domains, temporarily adding them to her arsenal. Her deep brown hair turned an icy blue, while her eyes became pitch ck. An aura of swirling light appeared around her person, captivating the ming beast.


    Finally, this creature seemed to feel a sense of danger from the trio, lifting one of its heavy paws. With its body hundreds of kilometers long, even just this one paw could trample over smaller cities, and it now came crashing towards the three goddesses.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t I just say that I wouldn¡¯t let you do that?!¡± Keliope asked, charging up just above the other two. Her had punched out, a golden shield wrapping around the trio. ¡°I am the Goddess of Defense, and I challenge you to break my shield!¡±


    ming ws struck against the barrier Keliope erected, leaving long white marks along it. Gritting her teeth, Keliope repaired the damage done while the goldenleo opened its mouth to roar. Even in the dead of space, the strength of this roar could be felt, sound being carried by the shockwave.


    ¡°Sorry, Kel.¡± Ryone muttered, focusing on her new domains. Once she had adjusted properly, arge diagram began to spread out from her feet. ¡°I¡¯m ready to fight now. Once my attackunches, drop your shield.¡±


    Keliope gave a small nod as Ryone began her chant. ¡°I am the one who holds thews of magic. One thought to create, one thought to banish. Be still, be cold, and cease. Feel the chill of eternity, the darkness that rests at the end of time. Compress, condense, and gather. Let nothing escape your ebon grasp.¡±


    In Ryone¡¯s palm, light seemed to twist and distort, a sphere of utter darkness appearing with a faint ring of light. The goldenleo struck out at the barrier again and again while she continued her chant, white marks gathering and spreading with every strike. Thankfully, Keliope was able to continue to repair the barrier, with only a bit of heat slipping through.


    ¡°Ethereal darkness, the final trap of creation, that which has existed since the dawn of time.¡± Ryone¡¯s voice grew louder, carried by her mana and echoing even past the barrier. Lifting her hand, she gently pushed it forward. The mass of darkness mixed with swirling light slowly shot forward. ¡°ck Hole.¡±


    Keliope¡¯s eyes widened when she heard the name of the spell, realizing why Ryone was so insistent on her dropping her shield to let the attack through. ¡°Nope!¡± She shouted out, not even hesitating to open a wide gap in her barrier to let it through.


    Ryone was not simply ¡®simting¡¯ a ck hole with magic. No, she had traded to obtain the Gravity and Cold domains. Keliope reasoned that this was a true ck hole created through her magic, once which she was controlling with her temporary power. If it attached itself to Keliope¡¯s barrier, the ursa goddess was entirely unconvinced that she would be able to maintain the shield protecting them.


    The goldenleo saw a gap forming in the barrier, and its attacks grew more frenzied. Lunging towards them, a giant w came crashing down at the open shield. It did not even seem to notice the small shape in its path, the void that its paw crashed into.


    This time, the attack of the monster never reached them. The heat from its mes stopped before even touching the barrier. The three goddesses watched as the tiny spot of darkness greedily ate away at the fire. Flesh ripped and tore as the creature screamed into the void, trying to free its arm.


    After several agonizing seconds, the arm was pulled free of the ck hole. This was done only after the goldenleo struck out with its other paw, cutting off everything below the elbow. It was now left with naught but a stump, its eyes glowing with hatred. However, it failed to notice the smile on Ryone¡¯s face.


    She pointed two fingers forward in an almost casual gesture, before flipping her hand and pointing those fingers upwards. To the astonishment of the monster before them, the sphere of death that had imed one of its arms now sped up, immediately embedding itself in the goldenleo¡¯s chest.


    ¡°This thing costs a lot to maintain.¡± Ryone spoke up. ¡°Once you¡¯re able to act, wipe it out!¡±


    Ryone was constantly supplying energy to maintain the ck hole at its peak condition, a heavy drain on her divinity. However, this was undeniably her greatest weapon to use outside of the¡¯s atmosphere. A fact that could be seen, given how the health of the goldenleo was constantly dropping.


    With the ck hole embedded in the monster¡¯s chest, it was no longer able to move freely. Instead, it was left to struggle, trying to pry itself away in a desperate bid for survival. Feeding on its mass, the ck hole actually seemed to growrger against its body.


    As the icy blue color began to fade from Ryone¡¯s hair, Ashley stepped forward. ck mes danced around her body as she extended her hands forward. The mes that made up the body of the goldenleo seemed to freeze all at once. As she pulled her hands apart, the mes began to scatter, dispersing into space. All that was left was the orange outline of a feline form, rapidly being absorbed by the ck hole in its chest.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Empress Margold was watching the screen with rapt attention, unwilling to look away for even a moment. This battle would determine the fate of their world, after all. Even though she was certain that the gods would not lose, Ryone herself had instructed her to watch.


    When the fight finally ended, and Ryone banished the ck hole that she had created, the three of them vanished from the void. The world could only see how the three Goddesses had worked together to defeat a monster that could upset the bnce of the world without even being close.


    All around the world, cheers began to echo out, causing birds and beasts alike to scatter. It had been so long since the world witnessed the true power of a deity, but now that very power had been used to save them from destruction.

 Chapter 443: Divine Insight

    <h4>Chapter 443: Divine Insight</h4>


    With the current threat to the world having passed by, there was a calm that swept through Earth. Those nations that held their grudges towards one another briefly stayed their hands, pulling back their forces to allow time to recover. The impact of having the world possibly destroyed was simply too great on the minds of these rulers.


    Themoners, on the other hand, had different reactions. Almost as soon as the battle had ended, temples across the world had a sudden influx of people. Many chose to devote themselves to the gods after witnessing not only how they protected the world, but also their strength.


    Yet, at the same time, there were other reactions as well¡­


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°So that is what a god is like in battle.¡± Jonas said, stroking his chin thoughtfully. He was thankful to the three for having defended the world, this is true. But at the same time, what they had done was a disy of power on the level he was aiming for.


    ¡°It should be time to get started, now.¡± He pushed off from his desk, moving towards his basement while muttering to himself. ¡°There are no known magic forms that directly affect divine power within the geometric or runic systems. As for Deckan¡¯s card system¡­ there is a divinity card. But the trade of it is forbidden by the church.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t suppose they¡¯ll let me have one if I tell them that I want to use it to be a god, so I¡¯ll need to handle this more carefully.¡± Jonas knew now that it was unwise to gather all of his slimes at once to attempt to break through to the next level. If, by chance, the first one failed while the others were copying it, he would lose them all.


    No, it was better to bring them one by one. He only needed one sess, after all. ¡°The first step has to be the holy body.¡± He nodded towards himself, looking around the room for any materials that he could use to aid the slimes.


    As he looked at the spell diagrams he had previously used on the floor, a thought urred to him. ¡°If I can procure one of the prayer mats, that should be able to help me.¡±


    For the next week, he made his ns. After acquiring one of the prayer mats from the monk temples, he took just one of his powerful slimes and left, leaving the other four at home. Their destination was deep in the woods, somewhere that they would not be interrupted.


    Eventually, the two of them arrived at arge clearing, the mere presence of the two having scared away any roaming monsters. ¡°This should be good.¡± Jonas nodded to himself, moving to the center of the clearing and rolling out the mat. After sending a mentalmand, the slime walked over to stand on it.


    In order to prepare for the next step, Jonas had trained himself as a bard, honing his divine energy and learning how to properly master it. His aplishments in this ss were¡­ still suboptimal at best. However, that was by no means due to ack of ability to control his personal divine energy. Rather¡­ it was because he was tone deaf.


    That being said, he had learned how to control his divinity enough that he was confident in his own ability. As confident as one could be when preparing five back-up ns, of course. Closing his eyes, he held one hand out towards the slime, and utilized a high level technique of monster tamers.


    ¡°Direct Control!¡± This was an ability that sent a fragment of his soul and mana into a tamed creature in order to personally control it. Typically, this power was used to either teach a monster new techniques, or control them to scout into dangerous territory. As the consciousness of the monster was not fully suppressed, they were capable of retaining any experiences that they gained during this period.


    Immediately, Jonas felt as if his body had shifted drastically, his senses now spread out in every direction. This was not the first time that he had taken control of one of his slimes, and so he quickly took a moment to adjust. Admittedly the fact that his entire body was basically a tongue, eye, nose, and ear all rolled into one was disorienting the first few times. And the taste of the ground was entirely unpleasant.


    Once he had finished adjusting, he caused the slime to sit down on the mat. Directing his focus inward, he knew that he first needed to determine where the divinity of this slime lurked. Scanning through the viscous form of his current body, he was somewhat disappointed to not find it anywhere.


    It was only then that he remembered that there was actually another part to the slime¡¯s true body. Immediately his senses shifted to scan through the halo and disc at his back. Once his senses passed through thetter, he found it. The tiniest spark of holy light shifting about within the core of the slime¡¯s being.


    Steeling his focus, Jonas began to pull that spark of divinity out of the disc, directing it towards the main body of the slime. As he did so, he could feel the change right away, how his slime gained an extra golden luster that spread throughout its form. However, at the same time, there was an instability. A trembling shook through the slime¡¯s form, as if it were instinctively rejecting this change.


    This was a new discovery for Jonas, as he had never had his slimes reject any sort of change before. Was this what pain felt like for a slime? Although he tried to maintain a firm grasp over the changes, the new sensation caused his concentration to slip.


    ¡°Gah!¡± With a shout of pain, Jonas was ejected from the slime. Immediately afterwards, there was an eruption of energy that shook through the forest, sending birds and beasts scattering into the distance.


    When he opened his eyes again, Jonas found that his slime was no more. Various bits of gunk rained down from above, fading into strands of energy before ever hitting the ground. As for the prayer mat that he had prepared for this event¡­ it nowy in tatters, torn apart by the energy of the explosion.


    While it pained Jonas¡¯s heart to lose one of his five slimes, he had long since been prepared. If anything, he was amazed that this was the first time that he had lost one, having been sure that at least one would fail to achieve the ¡®perfect self¡¯. So, with a heavy sigh, he stood and began making his way back.


    Now that he had this experience, he would be better prepared for the next one. There were still four more attempts left, after all. In the worst case scenario, he could instruct thest slime to multiply again to replenish the numbers.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Tsk.¡± Aurivy clicked her tongue when she saw that Jonas failed his first upgrade. ¡°Almost had it.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle, shaking my head. ¡°You really can¡¯t underestimate the difficulty of the divine body. The pain of being torn apart and reformed at the cellr level¡­ I never want to go through something like that again.¡± Unlike Aurivy, I wasn¡¯t surprised that Jonas had failed. I had been through the process before, and had only managed toplete it after considerable trial and error within the Admin Room.


    ¡°Yeah, but still!¡± Aurivy huffed, shaking her head. ¡°What¡¯s the point of being a champion if he blows up like that?¡±


    ¡°¡­You¡¯re not talking about Jonas, are you?¡±


    ¡°Were you?¡± She asked curiously, turning to look at me with wide, blinking eyes.


    ¡°Right¡­ I forgot you liked slimes as much as you do.¡± I could only shake my head helplessly when I realized that she wasmenting the loss of the slime, rather than Jonas¡¯s own failure.


    Since it would take some time before he tried again, I decided to direct my attention elsewhere. While Earth was the most heavily affected by this most recent disaster, that wasn¡¯t to say that the other worlds had remained unfazed. Every world had the same renewed worship for the gods, tales of their battle spreading.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°So, why weren¡¯t you in that battle?¡± Bria asked casually, her hands slowly stroking through long golden locks in front of her. Before bing queen, she would have never imagined a day when the Goddess of Life would be sitting in herp. But here she was, braiding Udona¡¯s hair while the two talked. ¡°It shouldn¡¯t have been hard for you to participate with your power, would it?¡±


    Udona simply shrugged her shoulders, not turning her head so as to avoid disturbing Bria¡¯s progress. ¡°I¡¯m not a battle goddess. It¡¯s really just as simple as that. The closest thing I have to a battle domain is Life, but Ryone¡¯s better suited forbat in that regard.¡±


    ¡°Now, if there was some terrifying gue sweeping through the world, I¡¯m your goddess. But you¡¯ve gotta send the right people for the right job. My role is to heal the sick, guide the young, and ensure the happiness of the world.¡±


    Bria thought about that for a moment, nodding her head. ¡°I suppose. Still, it would have been nice for your temples to receive the same kind of support that their temples are getting now.¡± While there had been a general influx of new followers for religious upations, the majority had gone towards Ryone, Keliope, or Ashley.


    Udona let out a peal ofughter at that. ¡°Maybe. But I¡¯d rather not attract those muscleheads that only want to join a religion for its strength. I want followers who care more about following my ts than standing out in the field of battle. I even had to reject granting my blessing towards some who came to my temple.¡±


    Bria¡¯s eyes widened at that, before the goddess exined. ¡°I can read their hearts, Bria. I can tell when someone wants my blessing to help others, or simply to help themselves. If someonees to me seeking to use my power to help others, I will dly bestow it. But, if someone wishes for my power merely to help themselves, or worse to oppress others¡­ that is not the purpose of my gift.¡±


    The queen simplyughed, realizing that she shouldn¡¯t have been surprised. ¡°You¡¯re a lot pickier in your followers than I had expected.¡±


    Udona rolled her eyes with a yful smile. ¡°You think I¡¯m bad? You should take a look at Terra¡¯s temples. With her domains, she chooses people to bestow blessings based on if she finds them ¡®interesting¡¯. As a goddess basically governing legends, she only wants to give the best blessings to those who will go down in the history books. Most of her own clergy hasn¡¯t received the ¡®best¡¯ blessing from her.¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Bria muttered, finishing one braid and moving on to another. ¡°What about Lady Ashley? With her domains, I imagine that she must have a selection process as well.¡±


    ¡°Why, you thinking of jumping ship?¡± Udona asked in a yful tone, a hint of redness appearing on Bria¡¯s cheeks.


    ¡°No, of course not! I¡¯m just curious¡­ you don¡¯t usually talk about the others.¡±


    Udona let out another brightugh, her tail swaying against Bria¡¯s stomach. ¡°It¡¯s fine, I was just teasing. I can read your heart, remember? For Ashley¡­ well, she doesn¡¯t honestly have a strict process. She favors inventors, just like Tubrock, and grants her blessing to those who seek to pursue new heights in technology. Aside from that, she¡¯ll offer her blessing to anyone that earnestly seeks it.¡±


    ¡°Huh¡­ she¡¯s a lot more open than I imagined.¡± Bria muttered in surprise, a small smirk appearing on Udona¡¯s face.


    ¡°No, she just doesn¡¯t like to take the time to look deeply into every follower thates to her temple. Too much of a pain, she says, and she¡¯ll just take back the blessing if anyone abuses it.¡±

 Chapter 444: Advanced Knowledge

    <h4>Chapter 444: Advanced Knowledge</h4>


    Now that we were no longer as restricted by our rank, I allowed time to pass more quickly once again. But, at the same time, I nced towards the market. There was something that I had been thinking about ever since my promotion, and I decided that now was the time to finally take care of it.


    Back during one of my very first Keeper Meetings, Bihena participated in various games on my behalf. That was how we first me Balu, after all. And it was in that meeting with Balu that I discovered the power of fourth tier magic.


    In the game that they yed, they were restricted to the power of a first rank world, so the appearance of fourth tier magic was definitely a sign. Even if it was considered as the ¡®ultimate spell¡¯ at the time, that still means that it should be far moremon once we hit the second rank. Once I considered this, I knew that we would need to upgrade our various magic tiers to the next level before we could fight off an invasion in our new level.


    The problem was the cost. Each fourth-tier magic information cost five thousand, four hundred points. And we needed that information for Geometric, Runic, Card, Ster, and Familiar Binding magic systems. That¡¯s a total of twenty-six thousand points¡­


    For some systems, it was possible for us to get around the need for the new knowledge due to self-discovery. However, for both the Runic and Card Magic systems, that was impossible. Those two systems had further tiers unlocked only when they were purchased. Which meant that I was facing a minimum cost of just over ten thousand.


    Everyone. I sent out a brief message, calling for their attention. I¡¯m working on buying the next tiers of magic, so I need a census for how many points each person has in their personal funds.


    This was the easiest way for me to cover the costs, by having each person foot the bill for their own world¡¯s magic. Unsurprisingly, the first to speak up was the halfling still sitting on the couch next to me. ¡°Oh, we¡¯re getting an upgrade?!¡± She asked in excitement, her eyes going wide.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ We haven¡¯t really bought anything for Fyor in a while. Bihena and I are sitting at nine thousand, nine hundred points.¡± Aurivy¡¯s report was soon confirmed when Bihena gave me the same number. Given how many points they had earned in thest meeting, I was happy to hear that they still had so many left over.


    I¡¯ve got just over six thousand. Udona spoke up cheerily. I wasn¡¯t surprised that she had so much, since Deckan was one of the oldest worlds.


    It was Irena¡¯s report that threw me off the most, as she did not have a ¡®world¡¯ to generate her own ie. Five thousand, nine hundred, and fifty points. It took me a moment to recall that she was actually the biggest winner of the most recent meeting, and that the only thing she had truly spent it on was the upgrade to the karma system.


    ¡°Alright¡­ looks like we can easily afford the card and runic upgrades.¡± I spoke up, happy that we were able to meet the bare minimum at the very least.


    Next was alia, who reported that she only had eight hundred points¡­ From what I could tell, she adjusted her culture too much to properly save points. And then was Keliope and Tubrock, who had saved a total of twenty-seven hundred.


    Just as I was beginning to worry that we wouldn¡¯t have enough for everything, Ashley spoke up in my mind. I¡¯ve got seven thousand points, if that can help.


    Last to report in was Ryone, with a total of eighteen-hundred points, and Tryval with¡­ three hundred. Thankfully, Sher Dien did not have its own magic system to worry about. Okay¡­ Aurivy, Udona, and Ashley. If you could, transfer five thousand, four hundred points to the main bnce. Tubrock, Keliope, and Ryone, I¡¯ll need everything from your bnces, and will cover the rest myself.


    Before I could even mention alia, Irena¡¯s voice spoke up to stop me. I¡¯ll cover alia¡¯s cost. She said in a gentle tone, and I could feel a wave of reliefing from alia at that. With this, everything was taken care of, and it was time to get started.


    Opening up the market once again, I selected the five magic tiers that I wanted. After spending a small fortune, five streams of blue light descended from above. I was able to see the familiar scene of five crystal spheres forming around me. Despite their identical appearances, I was able to identify at a nce which one belonged to which system. Something I was distinctly aware was shared with mypanions.


    ¡°Yoink!¡± Aurivyughed, snatching the orb for Fyor¡¯s Runic Magic right out of the air as soon as it was done forming. I simply chuckled, shaking my head as I transferred the other four off to their respective recipients.


    In truth, it would likely be beneficial for me to unlock the next tiers of the other energy types, as well. However, that was anotherrge expense, which I was not able to cover quite yet. If I was not mistaken, the power to control space itself with ki should be an ability that is unlocked in theter portion of the fourth tier. As for the other types, I wasn¡¯t quite sure what to expect to find there.


    Once you¡¯ve made copies of the orbs, make sure to send one back for me to study. I reminded those who had received their orbs. Being able to study them would only bring me benefits, as it meant that I would have more options when mirroring Ryone¡¯s ability.


    With that taken care of, I turned my sights back towards Earth. Several months had already passed, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that Jonas had finally seeded in his transformation. It had cost him¡­ another two slimes, by my count, but he had managed to transform his body with his own divine energy.


    Looking elsewhere, I was a bit disappointed to see that Tsubaki was not even attempting to make any progress in this regard. Part of me was tempted to drop a hint or two for her to help her along the way, but I ultimately decided against it. While she had been the strongest individual in my world for so many years, that was purely due to her own effort. If someone happened to overtake her, then maybe it would be just the push she needed.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Are you sure it¡¯s ready?¡± Crystal asked from the throne room, looking down at the two people before her. That¡¯s right, two¡­ After a specialized game capsule, designed to work with spirits appeared at her doorstep, Crystal¡¯s real world familiar had begged to let her join the game.


    Once in the game, it was only a matter of Dana teaching Crystal the summoning ritual she would need to call the familiar to her. Ever since then, there had been an extra passenger aboard the Sky Citadel, giving Dana another ymate while Crystal herself was busy managing the mobile base.


    To her credit, Crystal Heart¡¯s familiar chose an avatar that looked almost exactly like Crystal herself. With the name Crystal Soul, the only difference between the two were Crystal Soul¡¯s icy blue eyes, as opposed to Crystal Heart¡¯s pale green.


    ¡°That¡¯s right, captain!¡± Dana smiled, performing a salute with her hand over her heart. ¡°All weapons and armor systems have been refitted and upgraded. Our currentbat capabilities are now specialized to deal with shadow-aligned creatures. Finally, the summoning ritual has been prepared to call forth the Mad King.¡±


    Crystal took a deep breath, nodding her head. ¡°Good. Soul, you¡¯ll be manning the secondary weapons. Dana, I¡¯m leaving the defense systems to you. Once you¡¯ve finished the summoning, fall back to barrier controls.¡±


    Dana nodded her head heavily, a bright smile on her face. ¡°Understood!¡±


    Crystal gripped the arm of her throne firmly, knowing that this battle would alter her future experiences within Vision Expanse, and perhaps even in the real world. She had made a deal with Aurivy, after all. No holding back in this battle¡­ which meant that there was the very real possibility that the Sky Citadel could be destroyed.


    The loss of the base wouldn¡¯t cause any major waves within the game, as other mobile bases were already being built. Many such facilities were designed with the purpose of space exploration. However, it would mean that she was no longer free to roam with such a small group. Even in terms of levels, she had long since fallen behind on the leaderboards. If this raid failed¡­ she would be just another veteran yer.


    ¡°Go.¡± Still, she gave themand. Because this was about more than just her reputation in the game. It was about more than her levels or her equipment. This was a promise that she had made with a goddess, a goddess that was willing to call Crystal her best friend.


    Dana gave another nod, turning and pushing open the doors of the throne room. Outside, within the courtyard sat a spiral altar of stone, at the top of which was a polished ck fragment. ¡°Construction materials check out.¡± Dana nodded, her eyes shing blue.


    ¡°Now, for the summoning.¡± Clearing her throat, Dana held up her hands. One was facing towards the top of the altar, while the other faced its bottom. ¡°Lord of darkness, shadow of cmity, fragment of a fallen king.¡±


    ¡°Call flesh to flesh, and soul to soul,e forth to battle. Let no chains bind your form. Let no lock hold back your will.¡± As she continued her chant, the ck stone atop the altar began shaking, cracks forming along its surface.


    ¡°By the name of Ashley, I trace the darkness. By the name of Aurivy, I call you forth. By the name of Ryone, I seek a bargain. I issue the contract in my name, Dana Jafer! With power unfettered, a fatal conflict, with a single wish as the prize to the victor. Now, answer my call!¡±


    Following Dana¡¯s final cry, the stone shattered, silence falling upon the courtyard. Dana¡¯s lips began curving gently upwards as she saw the space outside of the citadel¡¯s shield beginning to distort. As if the stars were snuffed out, one by one the darkness spread. It formed a body farrger than that of the citadel itself, truly visible only once it had fully congealed.


    The figure stood as tall as a small moon, with blood red eyes staring down at the citadel. Its skin seemed to shift and undte, making its true features hard to determine. However, it was at least vaguely humanoid, with two arms and two legs.


    Its mouth did not move, but its voice echoed into not only Dana¡¯s mind, but also the minds of both Crystal Heart and Crystal Soul. ¡°I ept the terms of the contract.¡±


    ¡°Good, now if you don¡¯t mind¡­¡± Dana immediately turned around, running back inside. ¡°That¡¯s my cue to go!¡±


    The Sky Citadel appeared as no more than a grain of sand before the titan of darkness that was the Mad King. And when Crystal saw that, she clenched her teeth, no longer certain of her victory. ¡°Oh, you are so not ying fair. Fine¡­ let¡¯s do this.¡±


    ¡°Channel power to auxiliary weapons, and begin charging main gun!¡± Her voice sentmands to the intelligence controlling the citadel, preparing herself for battle. She trusted Dana to handle their defensive measures, so it was her job to make sure she brought down the Mad King. ¡°ce the Kingyer on standby, await my orders to fire!¡±


    Numerous silver barrels formed along the upper levels of the citadel, shooting beams of condensed light towards the enemy. At the same time, Danamanded the mobile base to begin taking evasive measures. It was hard to imagine whether a creature that size could truly be fast, but it was always better to be safe than sorry.

 Chapter 445: Revenge

    <h4>Chapter 445: Revenge</h4>


    When the shadowy figure waved his hand, dark spears formed in the void of space, each nearly a foot thick. With a casual flick of his finger, these spears wereunched towards the Sky Citadel, crashing against its barrier and sending motes of light shing across its surface.


    ¡°Ohh?¡± His voice sounded out in surprise, finding that the citadel¡¯s shields had not been pierced. Instead, it seemed that they had actually grown stronger by absorbing the power of darkness. ¡°So, that is where your confidencees from¡­¡±


    As he spoke, beams of light struck against his body, causing only minimal damage. These were only the secondary weapons of the citadel, not something truly fit to take on a being like the current Mad King. Still, as the beams repeatedly fired, they were starting to be annoying.


    The Mad King was left with a dilemma. On the one hand, the shields had been modified to absorb his power, refining it into greater strength. This made it impossible for him to directly damage the citadel or those inside of it. On the other hand, the enemy was capable of firing constantly against him.


    If it were possible, he could simply control the darkness within the citadel itself to act for him. However, he could feel that his senses were cut off from inside the barrier. Although he didn¡¯t know how, it was clear that they had prepared against his current, full power.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Really, Aurivy?¡± I asked in exasperation as I saw the fight appearing on the screen. ¡°You made the Mad King a god?¡±


    ¡°Almost a god!¡± Aurivy corrected, raising a finger. ¡°I haven¡¯t unlocked his divine will, only the body and soul. And before you ask, it was all trained manually within the confines of the game. No admin cheats.¡±


    ¡°Still, this can be considered half of a god that they are fighting¡­¡± I could clearly remember the level of power that I had when I had been at this level. Even a disaster like Fafnir, a powerful dragon that alia believed Tsubaki wouldn¡¯t stand a chance against, had been powerless to resist my divine abilities. And the Mad King seemed to focus its divinity around darkness.


    ¡°I¡¯m guessing there won¡¯t be any conflict with having two darkness rted gods, even if he does win this battle.¡± I shook my head and sighed, though it didn¡¯t particrly make much difference. Even if someone ascended to godhood in the game, it would not reflect on reality. Even less so for a character controlled by someone who was already a god.


    ¡°What do you mean if?¡± Aurivy raised an eyebrow, ncing towards me. ¡°Watch how I win this!¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Mana levels are falling fast.¡± Crystal muttered with clenched teeth. Even though they had upgraded the mana generator, it was not enough to make up for the constant consumption of their full arsenal.


    They weren¡¯t doing enough damage to settle this battle before their mana ran out, even with their hidden cards. So, desperate for an idea, Crystal called for Dana. ¡°Run us straight into him! His body isposed of the same energy that our shields absorb! We should be able to burn away at him and recharge at the same time!¡±


    Thankfully, this wasn¡¯t Crystal¡¯s first fight with the Mad King. She had long since known that he was no longer a physical creature. Realizing this, Dana changed the direction that the Citadel was moving, flying it directly forward.


    The Mad King was no idiot. He could tell what the citadel was doing as soon as it began elerating towards him. Calmly, he began backing off, calcting his next move. If he could, he¡¯d prefer to simply move the battlefield to more favorable terrain. However, running from this fight would be seen as a forfeit in the terms of the contract.


    As he was contemting his strategy, he noticed a sudden burning in his midsection. To his surprise, the citadel had elerated beyond his calctions, burying itself in his body. His eyes widening, he immediately spread out his form, creating a void in his body that prevented the citadel¡¯s shields from absorbing him.


    ¡°Fire the main cannon!¡± Crystal¡¯s voice called out within the citadel. From within the void that had once been the Mad King¡¯s navel, the uppermost floor of the citadel split apart. Arge, cylindrical tower rose up from this new gap. Within the tower, a bright light seemed to shine.


    This light was the fully charged main cannon of the Sky Citadel. Unlike the original model which fired downwards, this cannon was built to fire directly up. Something that could only truly be taken advantage of in a space battle, where ¡®up¡¯ was a rtive concept.


    A scream of pain, carried by mana, echoed against the citadel¡¯s barrier. A beam of light, which grew to be thicker than the entire citadel itself, pierced straight up through the body of the Mad King. For the first time since he had left his home world, the Mad King had suffered true pain.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Still sure you¡¯re going to win?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but grin as I asked that. I had to admit that Crystal¡¯s team seemed far more prepared for this fight than I ever thought possible. I¡¯d need to look into what they had done to the Sky Citadelter.


    ¡°Y-yeah! Of course I am! Just watch!¡± Aurivy shouted, her cheeks slightly red from embarrassment. I could see her furrowing her brow in focus, diverting more of her attention to the incarnation that was controlling the Mad King.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Enough!¡± The Mad King shouted, fuming in anger. Although the beam that struck through him had been no thicker than one of his own fingers, it still caused a considerable amount of damage to his essence. Unlike physical attacks, this st had simply erased any of his power that it had struck.


    ¡°I am the eternal night.¡± His body erupted into a cloud, which began to travel in thick streams away from the citadel, condensing only a short distance away. When he reformed, his body was now much smaller, barely twice the size of the citadel itself. ¡°I will not be in by the likes of two mere mortals!¡±


    Inside the citadel, Crystal had a confused expression on her face. Two--oh right¡­ Aurivy wouldn¡¯t have been paying attention to know that Crystal Soul joined us. There wasn¡¯t really any way to use this knowledge to their advantage, but it was nice to have some confirmation that Aurivy was keeping her word.


    ¡°Load the Kingyer.¡± Now that the Mad King had shrunken his body, their trump card would be able to show its full power.


    Within the depths of the Sky Citadel, Crystal Soul jumped up from her seat at the weapon controls. Running to the back of the room, she found therge, silver container loaded halfway into a pipe. With a smile, she pushed the tube fully into the pipe, closing off the cap at the end. ¡°Kingyer loaded!¡±


    ¡°Fire all secondary guns.¡± Crystalmanded with a grin. Her eyes were still on the screen, watching the Mad King. Their preparations had even shocked Crystal herself with their effectiveness, and she was finally confident in winning her old deal with Aurivy.


    All at once, numerous beams of light shot out from the hovering cannons along the Sky Citadel. Only this time, the Mad King was no longer passively epting the attacks. His body shifted to the side, dodging and weaving even as the beams seemed to lock onto him. They curved, some striking directly against his body while others shot by him.


    Stretching out his hand, he conjured a swirling portal of darkness above the citadel. ¡°Descend!¡± Within the portal, a giant rock could be seen falling down, forcing the citadel to immediately take evasive action. Their cannons stopped firing as they ducked out of the way of the giant rock, but the Mad King didn¡¯t realize that it was already toote.


    In order to deliver his own powerful attack, he had been forced to stop dodging. This was an eptable sacrifice in his mind, as he could still take countless of these smallerser sts before being truly injured. Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t notice a small, silver tube contained within one of the beams.


    Once that beam curved and struck against his back, the Mad King¡¯s eyes went wide. There was an eruption of energy from within his body, his very essence turned into a bomb to destroy himself. He had no time to scream, his body self-detonating faster than he could suppress it. In under a second, his entire form had erupted like a supernova.


    However, Crystal was not entirely at ease. There was no popup dering that the enemy had been defeated, no reward that had been issued¡­ as far as she was concerned, the battle was still ongoing. A belief that was only further proven when that same swirling mass of darkness appeared before the citadel again.


    To Crystal¡¯s shock, horror, and¡­ frustration, the Mad King once again appeared at his full size. Towering over the citadel like a giant, as if the previous battle had simply never happened. ¡°Okay, that is so not fair¡­¡±


    ¡°Rx, I got this!¡± Dana called out from the navigation room with augh. ¡°It¡¯s all part of the contract. The summoning ritual I used ensures that neither side is truly killed in the ensuing battle. Otherwise, how could they grant the victor a wish?¡±


    When Crystal heard that, she froze. ¡°Does this still count as my win?¡± She asked herself, only to get a response directly from Aurivy.


    Yeah, yeah, live it up¡­ this is your win, Julia. This wasn¡¯t a message sent over the system, or the Mad King speaking via its mana, but Aurivy sending a message directly into her mind. I thought I had you there, too¡­ what was thatst attack?


    ¡°Uhm, I¡­ well, Dana and I¡­ okay mostly Dana.¡± Crystal struggled with how to exin. ¡°We found one of your fragments, from after you crashed into a moon. Using that, we engineered a bomb that would spread an explosive ¡®virus¡¯ through your body. We just had to wait for you to get small enough to hit you all at once with it.¡±


    A¡­ fragment? But I¡¯m an energy being! How do I have fragments!? Wait¡­ maybe it was just a chunk of rock that had absorbed my power after passing through me? This is so not fair!


    Crystal couldn¡¯t help but chuckle when she heard that. ¡°You think it¡¯s not fair? How were you nning for us to fight you like that!? I mean, it worked out in the end, thanks to preparations that I had always assumed wereplete and total overkill, but still.¡±


    ¡°Uhm, can I get my wish now?¡± Dana asked, having arrived in the throne room to find Crystal talking to herself.


    ¡°O-oh right, sure.¡± Crystal nodded, agreeing to Dana¡¯s request. As she had said, most of this victory had been caused by Dana herself. Julia and Aurivy still had their original deal, which didn¡¯t require any wishes. There was no reason for her to ask for Dana¡¯s wish.


    ¡°Alright!¡± Dana shouted, jumping around and running outside. ¡°Mad King, I wish for you to be my personal summons!¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°You what now?!¡± Aurivy shouted out from next to me on the couch after hearing Dana¡¯s wish. At the same time, I couldn¡¯t help clenching my sides, leaning back and letting out a roaringugh.


    ¡°Now now, Rivy, you made a deal.¡± I teased, grinning towards her. I had checked with Vivi secretly during the fight. The contract summoning that Dana had used was a truly binding one. As long as the wish was something that the other party could aplish, the contract would see that it was so.


    Now that Dana had used her wish to acquire the Mad King as a personal summons, it did not matter that the Mad King himself was far beyond her in terms of power. Aurivy could adjust the amount of power given to the summons to make it require an obscene amount of mana to actually summon, but there was no way for her to deny Dana¡¯s wish at this point.


    ¡°Oh, and just so you know.¡± I spoke up, wiping a tear from my eye afterughing so hard. ¡°Vivi recorded the entire fight. She wants to use it as a promotional video for space battles.¡±


    ¡°She what now?!¡±

 Chapter 446: A Bargain

    <h4>Chapter 446: A Bargain</h4>


    Sure enough, it was less than a monthter when the video had been released to the public. Naturally, it was edited, with certain key details cut out. For instance, it did not show the summoning ritual that Dana used to call forth the Mad King. Nor did it show the aftermath, how the Mad King had ultimately survived and be Dana¡¯s summons. What it did show was the scale of the battle, the sheer enormity of the opponent, and how the Sky Citadel had used careful preparations to defeat an otherwise insurmountable foe.


    This video created a stir within themunities of both Vision Expanse, and those who were studying space travel. Given that the world of Vision Expanse was indeed a real world, it meant that anything which they encountered in the game could theoretically be encountered in real life. There was the chance, however remote, that they could encounter simr titans on their space journeys.


    Because of this, there were numerous individuals requesting an interview with Julia. As someone who could be considered the most experienced space traveler, they asked her technical questions. These included things such as the speed of her vessel¡¯s propulsion systems, the mana tension of its barriers, or the wavelength that the weapons had been attuned to.


    Naturally¡­ Julia did not actually know most of this information just off the top of her head. Dana had been the one in charge of most of the alterations for the ship¡¯s design. While Julia knew the process to replicate these changes in the game, the exact results were something that eluded her. As such, she had to log in and get the information directly.


    Even so, the information that she gave helped pave the way for the development of real-world space exploration. In fact¡­ the first orbitalunches had already been performed on Deckan, Desbar, and Earth. With the information obtained from Julia, they were busy modifying their own designs, and preparing an intearyunch.


    Due to theary scale being smaller, Desbar was chosen as the first to travel to other worlds. It was estimated that a vessel would need roughly ten percent of the fuel to move the same rtive distance between twos in Desbar¡¯s ne as opposed to any other.


    It was also decided that the pilot for this voyage, as well as the mission¡¯s captain, would not be a demon. Instead, an elf would y the leading role. This was not due to any desire to steal the spotlight, but rather a practical decision. An elf¡¯s extended lifespan ensured that even if something went wrong in transit, they would be able to survive long enough to guide the ship back home.


    If possible, they would have chosen a ¡®Perfect Self¡¯ to pilot the craft, as their lifespan was essentially endless. However, the number of people that had sessfully made that leap following Jonas¡¯s research could still only be counted on one hand. Too few people that learned about the process were willing to risk their lives in such a manner, and that directly caused the research to receive less publicity.


    Only when the process was more refined and the risk lowered would it likely spread to the public. Secretly, Jonas had already been envisioning ¡®conversion centers¡¯ established in major cities to help those whose strength had grown too far, and were ready to seek perfection. Before that happened, though, he wanted to reach the end of his own journey. He wanted to pioneer the next step before anyone else.


    As Jonas sat in his workshop, he focused his senses on his own improved body. His divine spark had fully merged with his physical form, allowing him to naturally produce divine energy. Even without singing, he could stir his divinity for a number of lesser effects. And in fact, he hade to realize that he had to do so regrly.


    After a few weeks in his enhanced form, he began to feel a suffocating pressure originating from his own body. His divine energy had grown too strong for the rest of his essence to contain, and he had to spend it on ¡®miracles¡¯. Without a divine soul, his essence could not properly hold the divinity he was creating. Without a divine mind, he could not properly control it.


    And so, every few days Jonas would leave his home, moving out to the town. His divine energy was spent in small doses, keeping it at a level he could manage. He used it to heal the sick, to aid the crippled, or simply to help acquire food for the hungry. He spent it freely, asking nothing in return. After all, he did not feel right asking any payment for an act he was performing out of his own need.


    The longer this went on, the more that he felt like his own capacity to store divine energy was slowly being improved. He was tempering his own soul, improving it step by step. Buttely, he felt that pressure again, and it was even sooner than he had previously.


    It did not take him long to realize that he was suffering a bacsh of the constant growth of his soul. His essence had been stretched too thin, and was in danger of breaking altogether if he did not allow it to evolve as his body did.


    Originally, his idea was to allow his soul to gradually evolve under this tempering, unaware of the dangers that had now made themselves evident. But time was short, and he needed to act quickly. Unfortunately¡­ this step was not one that he could take by practicing with his slimes.


    Jonas was no fool. The Direct Control technique used a portion of one¡¯s own soul to control a tamed monster. This meant that his own soul¡¯s fragment would be caught up in the conversion process when he was guiding his slimes to evolve. If that happened, and the connection leaked back to his own soul, it could spell his doom.


    No, Jonas had already decided that this was as far as his research could reliably take the slimes. While the thought might have been amusing, he could not afford to take the risk of truly allowing a group of monsters to ascend to godhood. Especially monsters who grow stronger by consuming everything in their wake.


    Just as he was imagining how he would dispose of the two remaining slimes, a voice entered into his mind. My child, I would offer you a deal.


    This voice was one that Jonas was instinctively aware of, causing his eyes to widen. ¡°Mother Goddess.¡± Ever since he had be Ryone¡¯s champion, he had only rarely heard her voice, and never dared by the one to call for her attention.


    I would like to buy those two slimes from you, my child. Ryone spoke softly, her voice echoing in his ears. In exchange, I will offer a shard of crystalized divinity.


    As he was nning to get rid of the slimes anyways, he had been prepared to tell the goddess that she could take them freely. However, his words were cut off before he had the chance to voice them. As the Goddess of Merchants, I cannot simply take something for free, my child. This deal will benefit us both. With this shard of divinity, you will be able to craft your own holy relic, once you have reached the end of your path.


    The words Ryone spoke were still soft, but they echoed like thunder in his ears. She had personally acknowledged the path that he was taking, and even granted him an item to assist him upon reaching his goal. This meant that not only did she approve of his actions, the possibility of a mortal ascending to godhood was within his grasp!


    This was the greatest validation that he had ever received, and he had only offered a faint nod to answer her request for a deal. A momentter, he could feel his connection with the two slimes outside being severed. Instead, he felt a small item resting in his hand.


    Looking down, it looked to be a triangr piece of golden ss, norger than Jonas¡¯s palm. It gave off a faint, ethereal glow, and he could feel the divinity radiating off of it. As he was starting to grow worried, Ryone¡¯s voice soothed his thoughts once again. I have ced a seal on your house. So long as you keep the shard within, none of its energy shall be leaked out.


    Jonas let out a sigh of relief as he heard that, nodding his head. Moving back to face his desk, he ced the shard within one of the drawers. And then¡­ he grabbed his notebook again, writing out theories and forms to help him think of how to properly merge his divinity with his soul, and then finish his ascension.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Yes!¡± Aurivy¡¯s previously sour mood was lifted, a bright smile floating across her face. I could only guess that it had something to do with what happened to Jonas, the two of us having changed the view on the television to watch him following the news of the space mission.


    ¡°You seem unusually happy about something.¡± I pointed out, raising an eyebrow.


    ¡°Ryone just got me the best present!¡± Aurivy smiled wide. ¡°I asked her to get the slimes for me, so that I could put them in my dungeon. Just think, semi-divine slimes! That would make the best dungeon ever!¡±


    I thought about it for a moment, nodding my head. ¡°I wonder if the dungeon cores would be able to learn the secrets of divinity by studying these slimes.¡±


    When I said that, Aurivy¡¯s eyes went unnaturally wide. ¡°Dale, that¡¯s brilliant! Dungeon gods! Dungeons made to test and train gods! Oh, wait, their Akashic link! Maybe all the dungeons wouldbine to be a single god!¡±


    Now that she put it like that¡­ I had to wonder if the wills of the different dungeons would indeed end upbining as they trained divinity together. An evolved dungeon¡­ now that could be a God of Monsters.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Jana faced her homnd, feeling herself a stranger in it. Since the Water n had departed so many years ago, and the other ns followed after them, the homnd had never been the same. With her senses, she could not sense a single person who surpassed the ¡®Elder¡¯ rank in cultivation. And this was after the events where the system of power had been introduced.


    Back in the current home of the Durak Nomads, she was certain that the elder rank had now be the new ¡®beginning¡¯ of the path. This meant that the strength of their own home was¡­ pitiful to say the least. But they had grown in other ways.


    Forges prospered throughout the ind nation, technology a thriving art. She could see metal towers rising towards the clouds, harnessing the power of storms to produce energy. Something that she had seen from the other world, using electricity to power mundane devices.


    While these dwarves had not yet fully modernized, they had found their own ways to use this electricity. Instead of storing it within transformers and batteries, they channeled it into their forges. It appeared that they had learned how to use rudimentary formations, for they were able to enhance the mes themselves through this method.


    Weapons and armor made in this way were known as Stormforged, and they possessed the power of nature, as well as some of the mana and ki that were trapped within the atmosphere. This allowed even an elder to battle on the same level as a master. It was probably also the only reason why the nation had not been destroyed by wandering star beasts.


    While they had truly fallen in terms of cultivation, that was only because they had nobody to guide them. Without ess to the inheritances of the maind, it was impossible for them to advance beyond their current strength. Thankfully, they had learned how to make up for this defect.


    As she considered that, Jananded soundlessly within the stone streets, her presence concealed from the people around her. If she wanted to bring her nation into the wide world, she would have to do so carefully. Aside from her nomad tribe, these were likely among thest dwarves left on the. It would be too sad to allow them to be defeated by the monsters which she knew would soon be strengthened as well.

 Chapter 447: A Chance to Grow

    <h4>Chapter 447: A Chance to Grow</h4>


    Jana walked through the streets of the dwarven city, its buildings tall and rugged. Her presence was concealed such that nobody even seemed to notice her, as if she was just a passing mist. This was an ability that she had only recently learned, and one which would not work on those near her own level of power.


    When she approached the Lord¡¯s Hall, she saw two elder-level dwarves standing guard. They each held a spear tipped with shimmering metal, no doubt stormforged weapons. Jana walked past them without causing either one to change their expressions in the slightest. Even when she opened the door they were guarding, it was like they didn¡¯t hear the noise.


    As such, she simply continued to walk, until she arrived at arge, luxurious office. A middle-aged dwarf with a long, grey beard sat behind a desk, looking over some paperwork. Jana calmly sat down across from his desk before clearing her throat, undoing the mour disguising her body.


    The dwarven lord jumped in fright, his chair sliding back behind him before it hit the wall and toppled over. ¡°W-who are you?¡± He spoke in shock, seeing that this stranger had appeared in his office without a sound.


    Immediately, he thought to call the guards, but did not wish to agitate a being that was clearly capable enough to end his life long before they arrived. Worse yet, there was the chance that she might simply disappear through whatever means she used to arrive undetected. Although he was scared, he could do nothing about it for the moment.


    ¡°My name is Jana. I am the current leader of the Durak Nomads, which you would likely know as the Water n.¡± Jana remained calm as she spoke, though she knew that there would not be a dwarf alive on this ind who was around when her people left it.


    ¡°The water¡­¡± The lord muttered to himself, wracking his brain before his eyes went wide with shock. ¡°The traitors of the dwarven ns!¡±


    Jana grit her teeth, ring hard at the lord. ¡°We did not betray anyone. We left in order to stop our people from being enved and forced to serve the other ns as transportation. If we had not done so, we would have never been free to roam the maind.¡±


    The lord sucked in a breath when he heard Jana¡¯s tone. ¡°What do you want with me?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s simple.¡± Jana exined, giving a long sigh to help calm herself. ¡°The other ns have all been annihted as far as I can tell. When sweeping through the area, I was unable to find traces of them. However, our nomad tribe has flourished.¡±


    ¡°We have moved to and far to the south, joining with an ancient ally. At the same time, the path to other worlds has opened for us in that area. And so, I wish to offer you a chance.¡±


    As the lord was absorbing this information, Jana leveled another hard look at him. ¡°I can take everyone away from here, to our new home. In doing so, you will all gain the cultivation knowledge that we have umted over the years, which will allow your elders to experience further breakthroughs in power.¡±


    ¡°Or¡­ I can leave. Nobody need ever know that I was here. You will run this tiny corner of the world, isted from the wonders you could be experiencing. Soon, the star beasts will be more powerful. When that happens, they will no doubt descend upon thisnd and destroy it. If you stay here, you must do so with the confidence that your little weapons will be able to triumph over creatures the likes of which you cannot imagine.¡±


    The lord bit his tongue, holding back the obvious retort. She was not threatening him, but offering him a chance. Still¡­ ¡°Why can you not give us this information and leave us in peace?¡±


    Jana shook her head at the request. ¡°I have no intention to babysit you all. Even if I had brought the documents on the process with me, they would be of little help to you without someone present that could personally guide you through the process. By the time you decipher the teachings and stumble through on your own, it would already be toote.¡±


    ¡°I was born in thisnd, and I am thest of the original Water n that still lives. If not for this fact, I would not havee here. But, as I was chosen as the Forgemaster¡¯s Champion, I havee to offer you this chance to escape destruction.¡±


    There was another moment of hesitation before the lord nodded his head. ¡°I¡­ we will ept. I¡¯ll need to gather everyone, however. This isn¡¯t something that can be done immediately.¡±


    However, Jana¡¯s words cut off any ns he had to take things slow. ¡°I leave in seven days. Anyone who isn¡¯t at the south shore of the ind will be left behind.¡± Before the lord could offer up a retort, Jana¡¯s figure seemed to fade away once again.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Within the Admin Room, I slowly stood up, letting out a slight groan as I did so. I had been sitting for a while, watching the various changes taking ce within the world. It felt like I had watched a full movie marathon, and now needed to get up to stretch my legs.


    ¡°How¡¯s progressing on the runic magic?¡± I asked Aurivy, who had apparently decided to join me for my brief walk. She still held the information sphere in one hand, clenching it tightly. I could tell she wasn¡¯t done absorbing the knowledge within it yet.


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ going.¡± She answered with a sigh. ¡°Right now, I¡¯m trying to figure out where to put some of these runes. There are a lot more of them than any of the other tiers. And from what I¡¯m seeing, there are a few that are absolutely necessary in order to cast a fourth tier spell.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Given that I was likely to be using this magic myself in the future, I was quite curious about its structure.


    ¡°Yeah. With the second tier, you were able to set some changes to the spells, such as adding arrays or repeating casts. In the third tier, you could structure the spells asplete sentences to add additional uses. ¡®Strike every human target three times, ignoring allies¡¯ and things like that.¡±


    ¡°The fourth tier¡­ the standard for a spell is a paragraph. On average, it takes thirty tier four runes to cast a true fourth tier spell. For instance, say you were casting a fire spell¡­ You wouldn¡¯t simply say ¡®Fire st, explode on impact¡¯.¡±


    Aurivy shook her head in frustration before continuing. ¡°Instead, it would be more like¡­ Extract and condense oxygen from the surrounding air, and ignite the oxygen. Mix in sulfur and saltpeter, surrounded with a barrier of nitrogen. Project forward until collision, dispersing nitrogen barrier.¡±


    My eyes opened wide when I heard that, a spell which sounded almost like the technical details of a simple fireball. ¡°And¡­ what happens if you just use the runes for ¡®fire st, explode on impact¡¯?¡±


    Aurivy let out a groan, closing her eyes to think. ¡°You¡¯d have a small burst of me in your hand, but it would immediately erupt. At least, if I¡¯m reading this information right. However, ¡®macro spells¡¯ are a much moremon facet with this tier.¡±


    ¡°Spending twenty seconds casting every spell would be an incredible weakness. So instead, there is the suggestion to create a library of spell macros, and there are even runes that let you link macros into additional spells.¡±


    ¡°Returning to the fireball example, say I assign that spell to the ¡®fireball¡¯ macro. I can then add in third or fourth tier modifiers such as ¡®Mass Array¡¯, ¡®Multi-Cast¡¯, or ¡®Homing¡¯. With the fourth tier requiring more proper understanding of the magic that the caster is using, as well as creativity to form the effects, it will weed out a lot of the less capable mages.¡±


    I gave a small nod at that, agreeing with her view. Until now, a lot of spells have been easy to decipher and replicate, as they were shorter and straight to the point. But here¡­ it sounded like you had to tell your mana precisely what effects to replicate in order to get the results. This meant that a spell could be weaker than the first tier if worded improperly, or possess a godly power if properly formed.


    Of course, this all hinged not only on the idea that the mage themselves could formte these spells, but that they also knew the rted runes. Which was the problem that we were encountering now. ¡°Maybe, instead of single runes being found at a time, you should provideplete spells.¡±


    Giving another nod, I followed that train of thought to exin. ¡°This way, you will provide them with a temte for theplete spells, while also giving them enough runes to craft their own. As for the rarer runes¡­ perhaps you could work together with Ryone to include spells that could incorporate those effects.¡±


    Aurivy thought about that suggestion for a moment, before nodding with a wide smile. ¡°I think that could work. Maybe we can even make it thematic, so that it looks like the spells we inscribe caused some phenomena on the area we put them. Such as a fire spell in an area surrounded by mes.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle at that, nodding my head. It would certainly add an element of intrigue to the discoveries, though it would also make it easier for them to decipher the meaning of the runes. That wasn¡¯t entirely a bad thing, though.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Mother has brought us presents. A voice echoed through the collective, stirring the sleeping minds to life. For years now, the only time that a voice had spoken was to talk about the beings challenging them, or to share knowledge of new spells and monsters. Anything rted to ¡®Mother¡¯ was bound to be a hot topic.


    Mother?


    What did she give us?


    Did she say anything?


    When will she visit us again? The questions poured in too fast, causing the first voice to experience a brief disorientation. This was the most excited that they had been in so long, so their responses were understandable.


    She said she¡¯ll visit again soon. She brought us two new slimes. As soon as the voice, the dungeon known as Trials, said that, there was a pang of disappointment felt throughout the connection. Their interest plummeted as soon as they heard that the ¡®present¡¯ was only a pair of slimes, as opposed to new techniques or magic items.


    Don¡¯t be so hasty. Mother said that these slimes hold the key for us to be like her. They have the bodies of gods, just like Mother. And she wants us to study them. Once more, the connection red to life. Immediately, the attention of the dungeons across Earth, Desbar, and Deckan, as well as Desbar¡¯s subsidiary worlds all focused on the Trials dungeon.


    It had been many years since the dungeons discovered the method to use their Akashic link to connect to the dungeons of connected nes. This was a discovery they made on their own, not one that they had learned from their Mother. When they told her about it, she had been so proud of them.


    Now, they had the chance to earn that kind of reaction once again. Immediately, every Dungeon Core in existence began to work on a single topic, tens of thousands of minds all focusing on analyzing every aspect of the two curious slimes. In many ways, the dungeons still had very childlike minds. And now they were children with a new puzzle, knowing that they would be praised if they managed to solve it.


    Your slimes¡­ I have seen them before. Another of the voices spoke up. This was the dungeon that rested beneath the elven capital. They have a familiar energy. I believe that they trained initially within me, starting from lesser slime breeds. This isn¡¯t a new breed of slime, it¡¯s an evolution that they obtained as a result of their own efforts.


    What¡¯s the difference? One of the younger voices in one of the subsidiary worlds of Desbar asked.


    It would be harder to replicate a new breed of slime. We would have to trace back its ancestry to find the breeding conditions. After that, we would need to replicate the conditions for each step of their growth in order to obtain the final result.


    On the other hand, an evolution such as this is something that can happen within a single generation. And Mother said that we would be able to apply this to ourselves¡­

 Chapter 448: Master’s Trials

    <h4>Chapter 448: Master¡¯s Trials</h4>


    This is Priest energy! One of the dungeons eximed as they analyzed the structure of the slimes. Immediately, a number of calls rang out through thework.


    Who possesses Priest levels?


    No, Bard and Knight work, too!


    Do any of us have those? The dungeons were all capable of naturally gaining levels, as Dale had purchased them long ago as an official race. However, the Knight ss required the user to swear fealty to someone. Meanwhile, the mostmon method of training as a bard was to put on performances that emotionally moved people.


    Of course¡­ neither of these methods were exactly avable options to dungeons. Under normal circumstances, that is. I am a Knight.


    The voice that spoke out was the dungeon that rested beneath the capital of the elven city. Long ago, when the existence of the dungeon cores had first been revealed, the queen of the time had gone into the dungeon with a group of troops. She had spoken to the core by using the quest system to ry messages.


    ¡®If you want to live within my kingdom, swear yourself to the throne. We will protect and nurture you, and you will do the same for us.¡¯ This was what the queen had ultimately told him. As this was long before the Akashicwork arose, there was little that the core could do but agree. It was the only dungeon in all of history that had chosen to be a knight, serving generations of queens until the kingdom rose into an empire.


    By now, the core itself doubted if the current Empress even remembered that she had a secret knight resting beneath her city, or if she simply thought that it was a convenient and friendly dungeon. Either way, this was good. The dungeons soon realized that, while nearly every dungeon was also a priest of Aurivy, the priests only channeled divine powers from above. They needed a knight to teach them to control their own divinity.


    The first step¡­ you must take a Master. The core instructed them, leaving many dungeons dumbfounded.


    What is a master? Is it a type of monster? Can we summon it?


    Let me exin¡­


    _______________________________________________________________


    Empress Margold sat before her desk, looking over her paperwork. There were numerous trade agreements needing to be finalized with the newestyer of Fyor, the Fire Nation as they were calling themselves due to the perpetual mes hovering over their heads. Even if there was not some obscene material such as the power stone within thatnd, the simple resources such as wood or stone were valuable exports. These materials had been grown in an area of far greater gravity, ensuring that even the weakest tree within thatnd would be as strong as Earth¡¯s mightiest Iron Oak.


    As she reviewed the requested price for these materials, Margold felt a gentle mana wash over her. Immediately, she became alert, standing from her chair. The empress watched a being appearing in front of her, one which seemed to be an elf. Only¡­ something felt wrong about it. Its eyes felt empty, its expression neutral.


    The figure had short, ck hair and a slim build. Its facial structure was practically textbook, with almost no defining characteristics to speak of. It was undoubtedly an elf, but more like the first thing you¡¯d imagine when thinking of an elven male.


    ¡°My Empress.¡± The figure spoke in a neutral, steady voice as it offered a bow. ¡°I do not believe we have met in person.¡±


    ¡°You are¡­ no, you can¡¯t be Juraxis, that wasn¡¯t spiritual energy I felt.¡± She muttered, before her eyes went wide. ¡°The dungeon sent you.¡±


    ¡°Correction, my Empress, I am the dungeon. In order to create this avatar, I temporarily extended my reach into your pce. As our localized mana fields no longer cause interference in any of your abilities, I deemed it a suitable method to contact you.¡±


    Hearing the figure¡¯s words, the empress furrowed her brow. Indeed, she was aware of the dungeon¡¯s presence. And in some part of her mind, she even knew of its loyalty. But she had never seen a reason to meet it directly, causing the thought to slip to the back of her mind. ¡°And what is it that has made youe here today?¡±


    ¡°I havee to deliver a message, on behalf of my brethren throughout the known worlds.¡± The avatar spoke in that same tone, without a single change of inflection. ¡°I have been chosen to announce the start of the Dungeon Master Trials, as I am the one with the most suitable method of doing so.¡±


    ¡°Dungeon Master Trials¡­?¡± Margold asked in confusion, unable to interpret the meaning behind the core¡¯s words.


    ¡°That is correct. Effective immediately, every dungeon core in existence will begin to monitor the adventurers that enter them. Once they find suitable candidates, each core will then swear loyalty to the adventurer they have chosen, appointing them as the Dungeon Master. The Dungeon Master will have the same authority over their dungeon that you have over myself.¡±


    ¡°However, there are a number of rules which must be followed for this trial. No dungeon core is to be destroyed in the process of the event. If this rule is breached, the offender will be cklisted from the entire event, and all Dungeon Masters will be encouraged to fight them to avenge our brethren.¡±


    ¡°Secondly, each dungeon has been tailored to fit the level of the master that they are looking for. If a candidate appears that is of too high a level, and they are able to sweep through the dungeon with ease, they will not be chosen.¡±


    ¡°Finally, the safety of the Dungeon Master shall be guaranteed within the dungeon under the same stiptions as the core itself. Should a master be killed outside of their dungeon, we will have no way to know the culprit, nor will their title be passed to the killer. The core will simply begin the selection process once again.¡±


    Closing its eyes, the dungeon offered another bow towards the Empress. ¡°These are the regtions of the Dungeon Master Trials. If they are not announced publicly within three days, I am to take measures to spread the word myself. Limiting the participants to only the elites of the elven nation would defeat the purpose of these Trials.¡±


    ¡°And what is that purpose, exactly?¡± The empress asked, barely able to maintain the calm in her voice. She was worried that her guards would sense the mana that had spread and allowed the avatar to appear here, but she knew that this was too good of an opportunity to miss.


    ¡°We seek the betterment of our race, and in so doing wish to offer benefits to those who would aid us.¡± The core spoke honestly. The empress opened her eyes in shock once again. Not at the answer, but at the fact that the answer was true. As a priestess of Irena, she had asked that question entirely to probe the core and see if it would give an honest answer. The fact that it had done so lowered her suspicions a great deal.


    ¡°I understand.¡± She nodded her head. ¡°I will personally make the announcement at first light tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°You have my thanks.¡± The avatar said with a nod off its own. ¡°And, may I congratte you on bing the first Dungeon Master.¡±


    As soon as the words fell, the empress saw a panel appearing in front of her. It was an achievement, the Dungeon Master achievement.


    In a way, the dungeon cores were manipting the system itself, though not intentionally. Achievements were granted based on a number of factors, thergest being the ¡®thoughts¡¯ of arge group of individuals. If a task was seen as incredibly difficult in one area, such that itspletion was truly remarkable, it would be natural for it to award an achievement. However, if that same task was performed in an area where it was seen as mundane, there would be no reward.


    Simrly, if arge group of people unanimously decided to address someone by a title, that title would be an achievement. Almost every national leader had such an achievement to represent their status, such as Margold having an achievement known as Empress.


    Given that the dungeon cores had unanimously agreed to the choosing of a Dungeon Master, this then created an achievement that they could give out by acknowledging their chosen candidate. While they were argely unseen group, they were by no means small or weak, each one controlling its own army within its dungeon.


    Of course, not even the dungeons themselves realized that they were giving out these achievements at the moment. More importantly, this achievement had a very special effect. While not powerful, it was incredibly useful for those in the position. They were capable of mentally contacting their bonded dungeon core, simr to the normal methods of contact via mana.


    By the time the empress had finished reviewing the details of the achievement, as well as processing the revtion of what it meant, the avatar had already left. The mana that she previously felt washing over her had faded away as well, with her guards unaware. Unknown to Margold, the dungeon had not directly expanded itself in all directions as normal, but controlled its field to pass only through the walls of the pce until it found the room that she was in. Only then did it make itself known.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Wait, they did what!?¡± Aurivy suddenly called out in shock from next to me. I looked over and saw the halfling goddess trembling, half out of shock and half excitement. Her expression couldn¡¯t seem to settle as she processed something.


    ¡°Aurivy¡­ what just happened?¡±


    ¡°Something wonderful, Dale.¡± She said with a grin. ¡°I can finally put one of my oldest projects into motion.¡±


    After saying that, she took the time to exin to me the decision that the dungeons had reached, and how they chose to execute it. I had to admit¡­ it was a crafty n. In order for them to further their research into divinity, they needed to swear their loyalty as knights. But such a thing couldn¡¯t be done so haphazardly, so they created this n.


    Ultimately, their goal was to surpass their ¡®lords¡¯, bing gods while their Dungeon Masters remained purely mortal. While some could say that they were taking advantage of the other races through dirty tricks and schemes, I had to disagree. The benefits of bing a Dungeon Master were more than enough to make up for whateverints someone might have.


    As a Dungeon Master, they would be able to control the ¡®loot¡¯ of the dungeon. If they chose to do so, they could turn a dungeon into a factory for producing magical items. All they needed to supply would be the raw materials, and the dungeon could handle the rest. Simrly, they could control the monsters of the dungeon, making it the perfect training grounds for themselves and their friends, or even a personal fortress with monster guards.


    All in all, the only ¡®downside¡¯ that there was to being a Dungeon Master was the fact that they would likely lose that position in the event that their dungeon either sessfully ascended or failed and was destroyed. They would not suffer any sort of consequence of this ¡®betrayal¡¯, and some dungeons may even choose to keep their Dungeon Masters after ascending out of loyalty.


    ¡°And¡­ what project could you possibly have that would be taking advantage of all of this?¡± I asked, feeling like I wasn¡¯t truly prepared for the answer.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious, Dale~? It¡¯s my Dungeon Master Project. I¡¯ve been working for months on a system to incorporate dungeon masters into the fold, acting as an extension of my Dungeon domain. However, after I finished it, I just couldn¡¯t implement it. Just another pet project to put on the shelf in case it ever came up.¡±


    Aurivy¡¯s eyes gleamed as she spoke, her excitement evident given that she had even forgotten about the information sphere in her hand. ¡°Before now, the dungeons have never had a reason to bind themselves to normal people in any way. And I didn¡¯t want to just tell them to do it without a good reason, because they wouldn¡¯t understand. But now that they¡¯ve done it on their own¡­!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re enjoying this way too much.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but point out, letting out a small sigh.

 Chapter 449: Dungeon Battles

    <h4>Chapter 449: Dungeon Battles</h4>


    As it turned out, Aurivy¡¯s little ¡®project¡¯ really had been prepared for some time. After briefly running to her room, she returned with a golden sphere which seemed to shine mysteriously. ¡°This is a magic item that I personally created after that first invasion we fought in.¡± She exined with a smile.


    Thinking back, I recalled that her avatar at the time had used the powers of the Knight ss to create a replica dungeon core. ¡°So¡­ this is an artificial dungeon, then?¡± I asked curiously, looking the item over.


    It appeared to be an almost perfect crystal sphere, thin lines engraved seemingly at random both on the outside of the orb and within. When she heard my question, Aurivy nodded her head. ¡°That¡¯s right! I call this the Artifact Core Unit!¡±


    ¡°This AC unit has several special properties, all of which can be powered by the owner¡¯s mana. First, they are able to absorb the mana of a dungeon to create a link with it, through which they can teleport to that dungeon at any time. This is the basic principle of the Dungeon Master Project.¡±


    ¡°The second feature is what you saw my previous incarnation use, the power to create an artificial dungeon. In order to spawn monsters within the dungeon, the AC unit is able to capture the souls of defeated monsters and slowly convert them into aeons. However, terrain may be modified freely through the use of the owner¡¯s mana.¡±


    ¡°Finally, the units have a resonating effect. If two units enter within one hundred meters of each other, they will immediately be notified. This is to encourage what I call ¡®Dungeon Battles¡¯. If two units are activated within range of each other, only a single dungeon is formed, with the two units fighting to control the monsters and terrain.¡±


    I gave an asional nod as I listened to her exnation. ¡°Aren¡¯t you worried about the dungeon masters using these to kill each other? I mean, I feel like it would bemon to aim for the enemymander in a battle like that.¡±


    ¡°And that¡¯s where the first featurees into y!¡± Aurivy announced proudly. ¡°With the ability to teleport to safety at any given time, the risk of death is reduced as low as possible. However, fleeing the scene in such a situation will result in the opposing core gaining total control of the terrain and winning the battle. Any monsters that the fleeing core lost in the fight would then be imed by the victor¡¯s core.¡±


    Relieved that this project wouldn¡¯tpletely undermine the n that the dungeon cores were making, I nodded my head once again. ¡°Okay. But obviously, the units should only ever be used by a dungeon master. It would be chaotic if the dungeons mass produced these, letting them spread to the public.¡±


    Aurivy considered that for a moment, before nodding. ¡°Since it looks like the cores were able toe up with the Dungeon Master achievement, I should be able to use my divinity to make these units only functional for those that have that achievement.¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    Mother contacted us! The Trials dungeon spoke up over the link in excitement, once more causing thework of dungeons to focus their attention on it.


    Mother?


    Did she hear about our n?


    She did! The dungeon confirmed, answering the myriad of voices. She liked our idea, and gave me an item for us to make for our dungeon masters.


    A stream of information flooded over the link, the Artificial Core Unit¡¯s ns immediately shared among the entirework. After mastering their own Akashic link to this degree, it was a simple matter for them to share information on items that they either create or acquire from outside sources.


    And with their innate ability to understand the structure of magical items, it only took a few moments for them to realize the purpose behind these artifacts. Creating the physical structure might be a nearly impossible task for a normal craftsman, but to a dungeon core there was nothing easier. As for its enchantments, they were able to analyze those directly to reproduce them regardless of their understanding.


    She wants us to give these to our future masters? Does everyone have a crystal supply? ss won¡¯t be able to contain this much mana.


    I don¡¯t have any crystal! One dungeon called out, several others voicing simr issues.


    Hearing theirints, one mountain-based dungeon spoke up helpfully. I should have plenty to cover everyone. This dungeon specialized in producing crystalline creatures, so their bodies would make for the perfect material. I¡¯ll send some over. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be able to participate in the n much, anyways.


    Why not? Several curious cores asked together, worried about their brother not being able to join the fun.


    There¡¯s a super powerful diamond monster lurking near me. It won¡¯t let anyone inside.


    There was a pause as the cores processed that information. The dungeon cores were not familiar with the concept of ¡®disaster-level¡¯ monsters. To them, monsters could only be measured on a constantly growing scale of strength. Some, like the Trials dungeon, had existed since long ago. The most powerful monsters in the world from the time of its birth would pose no threat to those strong adventurers of the present.


    I¡¯ll fly over to help. Another dungeon spoke up. If we attack it together, we can bring you into the n!


    Thanks! The core answered innocently, before focusing intensely. It must be remembered that almost every dungeon was also a Priest of Aurivy. They held unwavering faith in her, and she rewarded them for it. Thanks to that status, as well as their Akashic link, they had developed a special gift.


    The crystalline corpses within the mountain dungeon¡¯s interior shattered apart, pieces vanishing one by one as they were physically transferred across the nes to the other dungeons. Aside from the Fairy Gates, only the dungeons had such a reliable cross-nar transportation system.


    Meanwhile, another mountain in a distant region of Earth began shaking, cracks forming along its base. Birds and beast scattered along the valley as the mountain broke apart, the peak rising into the air. This dungeon had been importing magnartum from the dungeons of Deckan, creating a structure that would enable it to fly once activated.


    It wished to be a roaming dungeon, able to freely move throughout the world. While most were content with just remaining in one ce, this dungeon wished for freedom. Using its control over the surrounding area to create a powerful wind current, the mountaintop began flying to the west. I¡¯ll be there in a few days to help with your problem!


    _______________________________________________________________


    Petra sat on a ck couch, watching a news broadcast ying out on the projection before her. Next to her was her ¡®big sister¡¯, Sora. While Petra was an unassuming young demoness with pitch ck eyes, Sora was a human woman with golden eyes and ck hair.


    The two were currently ¡®vacationing¡¯ in Deckan, having decided to step away from Fyor for a little while to both build a history for their new lives and allow Petra to get more experience around other people. Yet, despite being within Deckan, they saw an image of Earth¡¯s Elven Empress standing on the screen.


    Petra looked incredibly excited as she heard the announcement, the news about the dungeon cores fascinating her. Sora, on the other hand, looked mostly amused by Petra¡¯s reaction.


    ¡°That will be all. I encourage anyone interested to participate in this event, and look forward to everyone¡¯s performance.¡± After the Empress said that, she stepped off the stage, the scene transitioning back to the normal news broadcasters.


    ¡°Can I get one, Sora?!¡± Petra asked as soon as the announcement ended, turning to look at Sora with wide eyes. ¡°Please? I promise I¡¯ll be good!¡±


    Sora simply let out a lightugh. ¡°I¡¯ve no objection. What about you?¡± She asked, though there was nobody else in the room. Instead, her eyes were focused on the floor, where Petra and Sora¡¯s shadows merged.


    I don¡¯t see an issue with this. Thelsa¡¯s voice spoke to the two of them. However, Petra will be the dungeon master out of us. We¡¯ll make that a part of her identity. Thelsa didn¡¯t wish to have all of their identities exposed by sharing the dungeon master privileges, after all.


    ¡°Thank you!¡± Petra squealed out happily, jumping up off the couch and earning anotherugh from Sora.


    ¡°Well, we might as well get started. Alright, Petra, focus for me. Can you feel any shadow-rted dungeons nearby that we can visit?¡± It was obvious that as the Demigoddess of Shadows, Petra would have the greatest chance at winning over a dungeon focusing on her element.


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Petra closed her eyes, beginning to focus heavily. ¡°Miss Margold said that it had to be one around our own level. I don¡¯t feel any like that in Deckan. Let¡¯s just pick a normal dungeon! If I can convince it to ept me, I can make it a shadow dungeon as its master, right?¡±


    Sora thought about that, before agreeing. ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s go to the Guild and find a list of all the dungeons that are around your level. We¡¯ll pick one based on that.¡±


    No need. Thelsa spoke up in a confident tone, shocking both of the girls in the room. I¡¯ve beenpiling a list of dungeons for a few years now. I wanted Maria to be a professional dungeon explorer. From what I know¡­ there is a dungeon suitable for your levels, but it will require us to travel a bit.


    ¡°Oh?¡± Sora asked in amusement. Both Sora and Thelsa would be considered Maxers in Fyor, so a dungeon of their level meant something really powerful. ¡°How far away is it?¡±


    If it¡¯s following its normal route, it will be touching down in the Valley of Dragons within a week. That was all that Sora needed to hear, her brain filling in the rest. The Valley of Dragons was a jagged canyon that had been carved out along the equator thanks to the numerous flying inds that inhabited Deckan. As the area where the¡¯s maism was the weakest, any inds passing through would scrape along the ground.


    As the canyon had been carved out in an almost serpentine appearance, it had earned its name. As far as anyone knew, there weren¡¯t any real dragons living within the area. If there were, they would surely have protested against the inds carving away at their homes long ago.


    ¡°A week, huh?¡± Sora muttered to herself. ¡°Can we get to it before that? If this thing turns into a real craze, there might not be any known dungeons left unimed after another week.¡±


    Don¡¯t worry. This one won¡¯t be taken so easily. The name of this dungeon is the Floating Eye. Everyone avoids it because the ind exists within the eye of a hurricane.


    ¡°The Eye had a dungeon?!¡± Sora called out in shock.


    It should, yes. The guild theorizes that the hurricane is a result of a dungeon possessing high quantities of both lightning ore and numbasic. The numbasic stores the excess mana of the dungeon, which then channels into the lightning ore to empower the storm. Any creature that lives on that ind should be roughly our level, if not a little higher.


    If not for Aurivy¡¯s church forbidding the destruction of dungeons, the ind would have been destroyed long ago to end the eternal storm.


    Sora let out a low whistle when she heard that. ¡°Magnartum, lightning ore, and numbasic all in one dungeon. Okay, I think this ce is totally befitting our little demigoddess.¡± She said in a teasing tone, the demon in question already excitedly bouncing on her heels.


    ¡°Yes please!¡± She called out happily, fully satisfied with such a special dungeon.


    I¡¯ll send Maria to apany the three of you for this. Since Fyor hasn¡¯t found the next level orb yet, I won¡¯t join in. We don¡¯t want me to level and lose ess to the gates when we return.

 Chapter 450: Qualifications

    <h4>Chapter 450: Qualifications</h4>


    Throughout the known worlds, the Dungeon Master Trials were quickly bing a growing fascination. While this held little meaning to those living within Spica or Lorek, as both worldscked dungeons of their own, the other worlds were able to quickly recognize the significance of this event.


    Whether rich or poor, strong or weak, many sought to be the first to im these dungeons. There were those that wished to do so for personal glory, or to gain greater strength. There were those who wished to use the mystical powers of the dungeon for wealth, or to establish their own territory. Many people believed that a key reason for the elven empire being so sessful was that their capital was built atop a dungeon, after


    And of course, there were those who sought to use the power of the dungeons for more nefarious purposes. The darker parts of society who simply saw the dungeons as convenient bases where they could better trap their would-be foes, or murder adventurers without fear.


    No matter what, everyone who now sought a dungeon had their reason for doing so, few willing to relinquish that right to others. Countless battles broke out, but inside and outside of dungeons as people fought over the possibility to im it as their own. There was nothing in the rules to prevent such behavior, so long as they did not kill a dungeon master after they had been chosen in the dungeon.


    This simple oversight led many to believe that the dungeons silently agreed to their fights, that they wanted people to weed out the unworthy. However, it also led to other situations.


    Within the beastkin continent, an affluent young felyn walked proudly through a dungeon. His body was covered in magical equipment, the aura of power being emitted many times greater than what he naturally could muster with his level. He had chosen a dungeon above his own level with this equipment in mind, believing that it would impress the dungeon¡¯s core.


    He walked alone, no party at his side, every battle a fierce experience. Yet the entire time, he remained calm. There were simply too many lifesaving treasures on his person for him to feel the fear that would bring out the true strength of a normal adventurer. No matter what foe faced him in this fire-type dungeon, he was unafraid.


    Soon, he arrived at the deepest region of the dungeon, where he found a beautiful lycan woman standing alone. Her features were¡­ in a word, perfect, igniting the passion of the felyn youth. ¡°I have braved your challenges, dungeon, and ask for the right to rule you.¡± He spoke fervently, pping a sword over his chest.


    ¡°Please leave.¡± These simple words from the summoned avatar stabbed into the youth like daggers, causing him to step back.


    ¡°In what way am I not worthy? My level is below that of this dungeon, and I have proven my strength by fighting my way here alone!¡± The youth protested, his passion turning into fury. He was already entertaining thoughts of threatening the dungeon¡¯s core if it did not agree to make him its master.


    The avatar of the core simply waved a hand, disying a projection in the air. An older felyn standing atop a grassy hill, coldly looking down at the ground. Fire spread around his body, shaping into countless swords. Following the elder¡¯s gaze, dozens of corpses could be seen lining the ground, each possessing signs of being heavily burned.


    ¡°In order to enter alone, you sent him to stand guard at my gate, killing all who approached.¡± The dungeon core told him, never a change in the expressions on her face. ¡°This is not the type of master I wish to serve. You may choose to leave, or I shall be forced to expel you.¡±


    The felyn grit his teeth, fully aware of the man¡¯s presence outside the dungeon. That man was a guard for his family, someone that the youth brought along to ensure that nobody came in to steal the dungeon from him while he was conquering it. ¡°I am your master.¡± He spoke in an arrogant tone, taking a step forward.


    As his hand went to his de, the avatar simply shook its head. ¡°No. I will not choose you.¡± With a wave of her hand, the felyn was engulfed in ck light, vanishing from where he stood. Another wave caused the same incident to happen to the one standing outside the dungeon.


    Both reappeared in the same room, equally surprised. However, before they could question the sudden change, they noticed that they were not alone. Standing in front of them was a softly glowing humanoid figure. Its body was slightly translucent, simr to that of a slime, but neither of them had ever heard of a slime with this shape. Behind its body was a wide disc surrounded by a slowly rotating halo.


    When it saw them, the slime began casually walking forward, its form shaking with every step. As their eyes scanned the room, preparing for battle, they would find that it was littered with white bones, numerous skeletons having been picked clean. This was the punishment chamber for the dungeon cores, where they sent those who attempted to vite the rules of the trial. Of course, it was not something that could easily be done, but they had plenty of time to prepare the translocation while monitoring solo adventurers.


    _______________________________________________________________


    Far away, within thends of Kione, another felyn stood within a dungeon alone. However, there was not a trace of arrogance in his features. He wore little more than simple rags, carrying a wooden staff at his side. He had short red hair and a face covered in dirt. Despite the strength hidden in his body, he clearly was an individual of poorer status.


    As he entered the dungeon, his eyes warily watched the walls. He had heard that this dungeon specialized in traps and illusions, making it a poor choice for many adventurers. For him, however, it was the perfect field to disy his skills.


    ¡°Eyes of Truth.¡± He muttered, a hazy fog clouding over his vision. ncing around the room once again, he walked towards a nearby wall, and then¡­ through the wall. The illusory wall rippled slightly with his passing, but did not hinder him.


    ¡°Please don¡¯t hold it against me for using these skills.¡± The young man spoke politely. ¡°Dealing with hidden dangers is a specialty of mine.¡±


    As his eyes cleared, he suddenly halted his steps, unwilling to ce his foot down where it was about tond. The hair on the back of his neck stood up as he saw a thin crack in the stone floor. Given the darkness of the hall, the crack was nearly invisible, yet he was able to see that it extended in a nearly perfect line from one wall to the other.


    Pulling his foot back, he allowed his eyes to scan over the walls. While using the Eyes of Truth, his vision turned cloudy, and he was only able to properly make out the presence of illusions. This fact had caused him to nearly miss the trap before him.


    Finding no trace of indentations along the walls, he then turned to the ceiling, where he could make out many needle-thick holes. Like the small crack, these were almost impossible to spot in the darkness, but this man had very keen eyesight thanks to his training. ¡°So¡­ if I step forward, it¡¯ll either be gas or projectiles¡­¡±


    Taking a deep breath, he sped his fists together, offering a bow towards the trap. ¡°Please, watch carefully.¡± As there was only one crack, he was sure that there was not a secret pitfall beneath the ceiling trap. His body rxed, hand tightening on the staff at his side, and then he began to walk forward.


    The moment his foot had fully crossed the crack, he could hear the mechanism for the trap being tripped. Closing his eyes, he used the standard technique for experienced fighters, Battle Time. His body seemed to blur as he spun his staff overhead.


    Needles fell upon him like rain, but seemed to be moving in slow motionpared to the felyn man. With each needle being roughly five inches long, they were quickly batted aside before they were able to reach him. Thissted for roughly ten seconds before the trap stopped, the hallway littered with countless needles.


    Taking a deep breath, the man exited the Battle Time state, lowering his weapon. He was surprised to see that dozens of the needles had stabbed into the wood of his staff, as he had reinforced it with his ki. ¡°Spellforged needles? Talk about an expensive trap.¡± He muttered, before realizing that it was likely not expensive at all for the dungeon to make.


    Carefully, he pulled each needle out of his staff, wary of the possibility that they could be poisoned. Only once he had done so did he begin moving forward, sweeping away the needles in front of him with the staff to ensure that he did not identally step on any.


    To his surprise, there was a young boy waiting in the next room for him, staring emotionlessly towards the felyn. This boy was a lycan, but given that he was on Kione now, that was no surprise. Rather, it would be surprising if he were anything else. ¡°What is your name?¡± The boy asked, a touch of curiosity to its otherwise neutral tone.


    ¡°I am Sirin.¡± The felyn responded with a polite bow. ¡°May I ask who you are, young one?¡±


    ¡°I am Sirin as well, now.¡± He answered, holding his hand out. ¡°I am the dungeon around you, and this is simply a body that I have created tomunicate. Before now, I have had no name, nor have I needed one. As such, I wish to ept your name as my own as well.¡±


    Sirin hesitated for a moment, before a small smile tugged at his lips. ¡°Then, it is a pleasure to meet you, Sirin.¡±


    ¡°And you. There is the chance that you would be killed by the traps further in my dungeon, but that is not the result I desire. You have proven yourself to possess the qualities that I seek.¡±


    ¡°You mean¡­¡± The felyn looked at the young avatar in surprise, thetter slowly sping his hands together to mirror the gesture that had been shown to the trap earlier.


    ¡°I, Sirin of Kione, swear fealty to Sirin of Earth. May your word be my guide, and my strength your shield.¡± As he spoke, the felyn would see a notification in front of him, alerting him that he had gained a new Knight, as well as the Dungeon Master achievement. When his eyes returned to the avatar, he noticed a glowing sphere within its hands. ¡°This shall be your reward, as well as a token of my oath.¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    I have a master now! A young voice spoke up in excitement over the link between dungeons. I even received a name from him!


    Really? Another voice asked in exasperation. Nobody has shown up that really looks good to me. Should I lower the difficulty a bit¡­?


    After that, a third voice chimed in. At least they¡¯re challenging yours fairly. Those of us closer to the cities keep having to deal with the ¡®undesirables¡¯. Speaking of¡­ Trials, are you sure it¡¯s fine to keep using your Punishment Chamber?


    Hearing that question, the Trials dungeon chimed in without dy. It¡¯s fine. Those slimes can keep eating as much as they want. They¡¯re strong enough that none of these guys have even really hurt them yet! Well, there was that fire guy from earlier who kept attacking the core, but he was eaten before he could crack it.


    Sirin¡¯s voice called over the link once again. With me, that makes¡­ thirty-eight of us that have masters now? We¡¯ll start training our divinity while the rest of you find candidates.


    I got one just now, too! So, make that thirty-nine! Another excited voice spoke up, one which caught the others by surprise.


    Storm, even you managed to find someone? Trials spoke up in wonder.


    Just now, a group of three entered, two humans and a demon. I thought that there was something weird about them, so I sent my spark fiends after them. It was a good fight, but I found something really interesting!


    The three people were actually just one! And she¡¯s the daughter of one of the gods like Mother! This revtion sparked an immediate response from numerous cores.


    Daughter of a god?


    Maybe we can learn more about divinity from her!


    You got a good catch, Storm! I¡¯m jealous¡­ why can¡¯t a demigode to me? In truth, almost any dungeon would have immediately epted Petra as their master as soon as her status as a demigod was revealed. This was not any form of favoritism, but rather simply the dungeons following their primary goal. Through the study of divinity, they would be divine. Who better to study than someone born of divinity?

 Chapter 451: Investment

    <h4>Chapter 451: Investment</h4>


    Just a heads up for everyone! There will likely only be two more chapters released before a small hiatus. I have finished Volume 6 of World Keeper, and am in the process of writing the short story to apany it. I''ll try to keep the hiatus as short as possible, but I may take a brief break after I''m done. This volume was a whopping 84 chapters!


    Every day, more and more dungeons were choosing their masters. For some, it was an easy matter, simply observing the adventurers that made their way inside. As part of their ¡®experiment¡¯, there were some dungeons who even epted vicious killers as their master. They needed to observe all facets of the races, and so each dungeon chose traits that they would primarily look for.


    The dungeon which had named itself Sirin looked for those with the ability to see past deception and understand what lies within. The me dungeon which had rejected the arrogant noble sought a courageous heart that would not waver in the face of danger. Initially, the dungeon known as Storm had chosen to look for an individual with excellent intuition and judgement, such that they would be able to navigate the chaotic storms.


    Of course, not everything went as nned. The presence of a demigoddess caused Storm to immediately abandon its initial goal to ept her, instead. Naturally, there were others that had abandoned their original ns when they met someone that surpassed their expectations.


    Within a month, there were more than five hundred confirmed dungeons that had been ¡®conquered¡¯. These consisted of every dungeon whose location was known to the Guild. Yet, this was not even five percent of the grand total of dungeons within the various worlds. There were still so many that had not yet been discovered, who were awaiting the day that they would be encountered.


    As such, the dungeons enacted the second stage of their n. The dungeon of the elven capital sent an anonymous missive to the guild, which contained the locations of various previously undiscovered dungeons. This information was easy to verify, as all someone needed to do was to visit the location in question. And given the importance of the information at the time, it was only natural that they immediately checked its validity.


    Like this, more and more dungeons gradually came into the light. More cores pledged their allegiance to a master, gaining the power to control their own divinity. However, there was one core that was different from the rest. One with the strictest requirements out of any.


    A previously undiscovered dungeon which sat within a deep valley. Following information of its location being leaked, it erected a mighty tower above its location to serve as a guide. Unlike the other dungeons, it stated its requirements directly on the entrance to the tower.


    ¡®Only one who has reached perfection shall be my master¡¯. These words were written in the ancient script of the dungeons, which had taken many years to previously decipher. This dungeon¡¯s condition was chosen due to the realization within thework that ¡®perfection¡¯ was merely the first step along the road to ascension.


    They were able to arrive at this conclusion due to the fact that the slimes no longer had truly physical forms. Yet at the same time, only their bodies had reached divinity. It stood to reason then, that divinity could only be aplished after shedding the physical body.


    If they knew that the Keeper himself had gone through the process from the opposite direction, it was likely that many of the cores would get headaches thinking about the possibilities. However, they only had a limited sample size to study, which gave them limited clues to expand upon. Perhaps only Tsubaki herself would realize that the Keeper did not reach divinity through the body, but the soul. But, to her, the Keeper had always been a divine being, regardless of the quality of his divinity.


    When word spread of this dungeon, which had been named the ¡®Tower of Perfection¡¯ by the guild, many came to challenge it. Of these people, not a single one returned. It was unknown exactly what method the tower used to kill the adventurers, only that those who entered unconditionally died within six hours.


    This caused those remaining to view the tower with apprehension, heeding its warning. There were still far too few people who had crossed over the threshold of perfection, as the process was quite risky. Of those who had followed Jonas¡¯s method, most were still recovering from the ordeal, left as shadows of their former figures.


    Everyone knew that someday, it would be one of these individuals that managed to im this dungeon, if not Jonas himself. For now, though, there were none that stepped forward to attempt it.


    _______________________________________________________________


    ¡°Hey, I¡¯ve got a question that I¡¯ve been thinking about for a while.¡± I spoke up while watching the world fast forward in front of us. We had a map set up to highlight whenever a dungeon had been imed by a master, so it was easy for us to track the activity.


    ¡°Hmm?¡± Aurivy responded as she bit off the tip of a pocky stick. A treat that she had no doubt learned about from Udona.


    ¡°Why are there no active dungeons on Fyor?¡± This was something that had always confused me. Yes, Fyor itself was a dungeon. But dungeons were¡­ well, they were Aurivy¡¯s thing. To have dungeons within Fyor as well would only be normal in my eyes.


    ¡°Another project I¡¯m waiting on~.¡± Aurivy replied, a mysterious glint in her eye before she giggled, shaking her head. ¡°It¡¯s actually not a secret. Bihena knows about it, too. It¡¯s just something that we won¡¯t be able to achieve for a long


    ¡°Oh?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but press for more information.


    ¡°Those crystal spheres, the ones that everyone submits to the central spire to unlock new features¡­ don¡¯t you think that they look a little bit like dungeon cores?¡± Her words made me think, and it was true that both took the shape of small, blue spheres made of crystal. Aside from the dungeon cores being a bitrger, the two held a lot of simrities.


    ¡°I noticed something about that a few months back, and tried an experiment with Bihena. After distracting the guards, I took a new dungeon core into the spire, and tried to insert it like a normal feature orb. It was just a silly little idea at first, neither Bihena nor myself really thought anything would happen.¡±


    ¡°But something did?¡± For the first time in a while, my attention was drawn fully away from the map to watch Aurivy, who nodded her head.


    ¡°The core went in. For ten seconds, Fyor waspletely under the control of a dungeon core, and nobody knew a thing about it. Because¡­ after those ten seconds, it was violently ejected.¡± Aurivy shook her head with a resigned sigh. ¡°During that brief time, it was assimting itself with the various floors of Fyor through the crystal spires. But, it was forcefully stopped once it hit the limit of ¡®explored¡¯ territory. The spireshed out, and the core was almost destroyed in the chaos.¡±


    ¡°So the world still won¡¯t allow a core to ess any floors beyond what has been considered our territory¡­ Surely you would have tried to use another core, and tell this one to limit its own reach?¡±


    When I asked that, Aurivy nodded her head. ¡°That¡¯s right. I did that almost right away. But, the assimtion is an instinctive process. It can¡¯t stop even if it wants to. The second core was shot out just like the first.¡±


    ¡°So, Bihena and I arrived at a conclusion based on this.¡± At that, Aurivy let out a bright smile. ¡°The day the final floor enters our territory, Fyor will be a true dungeon! Until then, I don¡¯t want to ¡®spoil¡¯ the world with lesser dungeons. There could be conflicts between them once the super-dungeon is installed, so I want to n ahead.¡±


    ¡°¡­You realize that the final floor of Fyor likely won¡¯t be revealed until I¡¯m at least a rank six or seven Keeper, right?¡±


    ¡°nning way ahead.¡± Aurivy nodded her head sagely.


    I couldn¡¯t help but let out a sigh. ¡°Well, it¡¯s been a couple of years now, let¡¯s check on Jonas¡¯s progress.¡±


    _______________________________________________________________


    Jonas sat in the depths of his basement, staring at the triangr shard of divinity that he had acquired some time ago from Ryone. It had been six months since he had experienced the agonizing pain of his soul being torn apart and reforged by the mes of his divinity.


    Since that time, he had no longer felt the same stifling pressure, yet he continued to regrly exert his divinity to perform miracles for those around him. Even though both his body and soul had been assimted as part of his divine power, he knew that there was still one step left to go.


    His hand trembled as he recalled the pain of the event. In his heart, he had always thought that upgrading his body would be the most torturous experience he would ever face. Yet, what he had felt then shattered his confidence. The mere memory of it was enough to cause him to tremble.


    There was only one step left, but Jonas couldn¡¯t take it. Not yet. Whenever he thought about it, his mind would go back to the day when he upgraded his soul. What if every stage is a harder trial? He always wondered.


    His will had almost entirely broken while he was upgrading his spirit. If it hadsted even a moment longer, he may have been destroyed. Until he was able to ovee this trauma, there was no way that he could even consider upgrading his mind to the same level as his body and soul.


    And yet, he kept staring at that shard. Despite the memories that it caused to float to the surface, how it made him relive the worst of pains, beyond anything he had ever imagined possible. He couldn¡¯t bring himself to give up his dream.


    He brought his other hand up, using it to steady the shaking. ¡°Oh, holy mother, I speak to you at this time to ask for your guidance. My goal is in sight, yet every day it feels as if it slips further away from me. I fear that my resolve is not enough for this final trial, that everything I have built will crumble as I vanish from this world.¡±


    A softughter entered into Jonas¡¯s ear. Silly child. Have you forgotten that treasure which you stare at every day? Have you not yet realized what it means?


    Jonas blinked, looking down at the fragment once again, as if it could answer his questions. ¡°This child is foolish, holy mother, and can only ask for your aid.¡±


    I am the Goddess of Merchants, dear Jonas. That fragment I gave you is an investment. Do you expect the Goddess of Merchants to make a bad investment?


    ¡°An¡­ investment.¡± He nodded, as if he hade to understand something. However, what Ryone did not immediately realize was that his understanding was not what she had intended at all.


    When Ryone dove deeper into Jonas¡¯s thoughts, seeking to guide him, she saw what he was truly ¡®realizing¡¯, and it made her gasp secretly. ¡°No, bad Jonas!¡± She called out, though did not transmit her words to him. ¡°That divinity was meant to be used to forge your own artifact, not as a shortcut to reach godhood! Gah!¡±


    ¡°Okay, okay¡­ calm down Ryone. That fragment isn¡¯t really all that powerful. He¡¯ll be able to make a new one easily, once he learns the method. But still, that¡¯s frustrating! I condensed that fragment specifically for him, after all!¡±


    Ryone brought her hands up to hold her forehead, letting out a frustrated groan. ¡°I swear, if he uses that fragment and still fails to ascend to divinity, I¡¯ll personally descend and piece his soul back together just so I can p him silly!¡±


    As it turns out, the Goddess of Merchants could make bad investments at times. Only¡­ good luck ever getting her to admit that. Thankfully, her investment this time had been rtively little, and she had still managed to get the present for Aurivy out of it. So¡­ it wasn¡¯t a total loss, right?

 Chapter 452: Culmination

    <h4>Chapter 452: Culmination</h4>


    The following day, after steeling his resolve, Jonas stood within a wide meadow. Given that this should be the final step to obtain divinity, he did not want to risk and explosive outbursts of energy damaging the town. In his hand, he still carried the shard of divinity which had been gifted to him from the Goddess of Magic. A shard he intended to use to ease his passage into divinity.


    Ryone herself did not know the exact method to reach divinity, but she was sure that it had nothing to do with the shard he had received from her. After all, Dale had never requested a shard of divinity from any of the gods, and had managed to ascend on his own. So, she saw his action of using her gift in this manner as somewhat of a waste.


    Nheless, it had given him the courage to take the final step. Without that, it was hard to say how long Jonas would have idled at the doorstep of divinity.


    Looking down to the fragment in his hand, Jonas let out a deep breath. Then, closing his eyes, he focused on condensing all of his mana. This one moment would determine whether he lived eternally or died horribly.


    Jonas¡¯s hand moved fast enough to create a blur, mming the fragment of divinity directly into his own forehead where he had condensed his mana. Taking control of the mana, he used it to forcefully connect his mana with his divine attributes, merging everything into one.


    The process stung, admittedly¡­ but no more so than he would expect from shoving a shard of what was basically ss into his forehead. Compared to the previous upgrades, it was¡­ not even worth mentioning. A golden light shone brightly within the meadow, as if a second sun had appeared along the ground.


    This sunsted for no more than a minute before fading, and Jonas¡¯s eyes opened. There was a new, mystical presence to his gaze, a power that would never waver. And while he questioned whether or not he had seeded, a series of messages appeared in front of himself.


    Congrattions! You have earned an achievement!


    For ascending to godhood, you have earned the Divinity achievement. +10 Wisdom, ess to the Community domain.


    Congrattions! You have be Jonas Bayrun, the God of Community!


    Because you have used the divinity of another god to ascend, you have be a Subordinate God under that Master God. Unless your power bes greater than their own, you cannot break this bond. You may beseech your Master God for temporary ess to their domains at the cost of some divine power, should they agree to the request. Your Master God may, at any moment, control your own domain with the same authority you wield.


    You have be the Subordinate God of Ryone!


    ¡°But Daaaale!¡± Aurivy whined after seeing the choice that I had made for Jonas¡¯s domain.


    ¡°No, Aurivy.¡± I let out a groan, shaking my head. There were only two rmended options for domains that Jonas could take, and I didn¡¯t feel like giving him something random. ¡°I was not going to make him the God of Slime.¡±


    ¡°But it would be so cool! And think about it, he used slimes practically every step of the way while he was ascending!¡± She protested, despite the event having already been set in stone.


    ¡°If an actual slime bes a god, I promise I¡¯ll let them be the God of Slimes, okay?¡± I asked, reaching over and patting Aurivy¡¯s head. That seemed to cate her while I was left to think about what had happened.


    The concept of subordinate gods was something I had not even been aware of before the message shed in front of Jonas. I had even obtained an achievement myself for my world gaining a subordinate god, the Divine Overseer achievement. However, this did present a series of possibilities.


    First of all, was it possible for someone like Jonas to use his own divinity to make more subordinate gods of himself? Or would they be subordinate to Ryone, given that he was acting as an extension of her power? There could be a divine hierarchy of those who obtained divinity on their own alongside those who became subordinate to another god.


    Secondly¡­ why was this feature even a thing? The final step of ascension was not difficult enough to require a shortcut like this. Was it an option for those who wished to impose their will on lesser gods, forcing them to take the path? Or was thest step actually harder for those who took the path of perfecting the body first?


    ¡°Hey, Dale.¡± Aurivy spoke up suddenly, seeming a bit dazed next to me. ¡°Do you still have that information sphere for your martial arts? Not Aki Seppo, the other one.¡±


    ¡°Thousand Arms, Ten Thousand Threads?¡± I muttered, having been a little while since I practiced that ability. Not strictly out ofziness, but rather because I hadn¡¯t descended for a while, and had been enjoying my time off.


    ¡°Yeah, that!¡± She nodded her head rapidly, holding her hand out. With a shrug, I summoned the information sphere and passed it to her. ¡°Thanks!¡± She called out. To my surprise, she got up and ran off as soon as she had the sphere, retreating to her room.


    Mother sent me another message! Trials spoke up over the link. She¡¯s preparing a gift for us!


    A gift?


    From Mother? The voices naturally spoke up in shock and wonder as they heard that. The progress to obtain Dungeon Masters had been going rather slowly now, as most of the remaining dungeons were in hard to reach locations, or those who had strict standards such as the Tower of Perfection. Those who had already obtained the knight ss were practicing their divinity while studying the slimes, while the rest were eagerly looking for new candidates.


    As such, both sides relished the idea of a present from their Mother. She said she can¡¯t tell me what it was, but she would tell me what she was calling it¡­


    Well? What is it?! Several voices cried out as one.


    She said it was a technique. Something we could learn. Mother called it Thousand Arms, Ten Thousand Threads, A Single Heart.


    ¡°Finally¡­¡± A young woman spoke, a unicorn centauress d in silver armor. Her eyes held an age her bodycked, a coldness that was thawing by the second with new warmth and expectation. Alme Dien had finally seeded.


    The Kingdom of Dien Sur had finally been able to properly expand. The soldiers had grown to the point where Alme Dien was no longer an unrivaled existence in the world. They had expanded their reach by a single ind in every direction, and were maintaining a steady pace of growth.


    Alme lost track of how long she had spent within this world. All she knew was that it was truly too long. She felt like she had broken all of those promises to those people she had left behind, despite knowing that the time they experienced would be shorter. For all she knew, those kings and queens that she had befriended would still be long dead.


    Alme looked back to her castle, where the new Queen of Dien Sur rested within her room. She was a dragon centaur, a force to truly be reckoned with within this world. She was also¡­ the first Princess that Alme had raised to be an heir, rather than an advisor.


    This change had shocked many people, but Alme quelled all rebellion. She had been their queen since the dawn of the world, so it was only natural that they protest her stepping down at this point. But Alme was tired, so tired of ruling. She wanted to run through hills and valleys again, carefree and alongside her father.


    The exnation that she gave them was simple. Dien Sur no longer needed an Eternal Queen, and so she would rejoin Tryval to walk by his side. Many people took this to mean that she would be dying, when in truth her words were quite literal. It had long be established fact that Alme Dien was the daughter of their God, so the thought of returning to his side seemed as if it meant ascending to the heavens.


    Alme was fine with letting them believe what they wished to believe. Once this world and Earth had begun to explore each other, they would learn the truth. They may me her for abandoning them but she did not lie to them. They no longer needed her to rule them. She had given them all of the knowledge that she could, all of the preparation that they would need to im the world as their own.


    As a figure stepped up beside her, Alme felt her heart grow warm. This holy warmth was something that she had been unable to properly experience in so long. With a burst of ki, her armor shattered, leaving her in a flowing ck dress that covered her upper body. ¡°I¡¯m back, father¡­¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± Tryval said with a gentle smile, reaching down to brush a few tears out of Alme¡¯s eyes just as they formed. ¡°Let¡¯s go home.¡±


    Home¡­ that felt like such a strange word now. For thousands of years, she had lived in Sher Dien, ruling over a developing nation. Now, her mind could not help but think of this ce as her home. Yet her hearts were another matter. There was always only one home for her hearts, alongside her father.


    ¡°Now this is my kind of dungeon!¡± Petraughed, standing tall above the ind which had once been home to the dungeon Storm. Now, it had been renamed as Shadow, and had experienced a fundamental change in the process.


    Petra had spent over a year saturating the ind with the power of her darkness, allowing it to seep into every special ore the dungeon controlled. As she had be the dungeon¡¯s master, the dungeon was naturally not opposed to the change. If anything, it was excited, as this meant the opportunity for it to study divine energy at work.


    The storm which constantly surrounded the ind was still present, still warding against any enemy attacks. Only, it had undergone a mutation due to the nature of those ores changing.


    The massive stormcloud had turned a shade darker, with ck figures seeming to run through them. The lightning which fell from these clouds lost its natural color, bing pitch ck. There was an almost evil, fiendish look to the storm now. Even the magnartum that caused the ind to float had experienced a change, creating a nket of shadow that swept beneath the eye of the storm.


    Without piercing this darkness, or looking from above the storm itself, nobody would be able to properly see the true shape of the ind. This was Petra¡¯s masterpiece, her Shadow Citadel. Though not as grand andfortable as the Keeper¡¯s pce, she was confident in its power.


    ¡°Now¡­¡± She reached into the shadow of her wing. When she withdrew her hand, she was holding a golden sphere. ¡°Shall we join the Dungeon Master Games?¡±


    While she had spent the vast majority of her time reconstructing the dungeon to suit her elemental preference, she would still asionally leave in order to check on the rest of the world. After all, with the AC unit in her hand, she could teleport back to the dungeon from any distance.


    Petra had long since learned of apetition being established by the dungeon masters. In thispetition, two masters would activate their cores and begin a small-scale war between their forces. Any of the enemy¡¯s troops you killed would then be given to your own unit to be your strength.


    Other dungeon masters had been using this to establish a ranking among themselves, and Petra was eager to join in. She had already received permission to make her identity as a dungeon master known, so it was time to join the battle.

 Chapter 453: Blasting Off Again

    <h4>Chapter 453: sting Off Again</h4>


    ¡°Eagle Five, you are go for preunch checks.¡± A voice spoke up over a radio, an elven woman nodding her head with a smile. She was dressed in a form-fitting bodysuit, sitting within a tightly enclosed cabin.


    On her wrists, ankles, and neck were silver bands. These were magic items which were based on the ¡®EVA Combat Suit¡¯ found in Vision Expanse, creating a self-enclosed environment without restricting the user¡¯s mobility or energy flow. ¡°This is Eagle Five. Hibernation pods are on standby, engines powering on. All crew members are in their assigned positions.¡±


    She flipped through a series of practicedmands on her console, ensuring the viability of the different systems. ¡°All systems check out. Ashlin, we are go forunch.¡±


    Today marked a historic moment for Desbar, as the first manned inteary voyage was beingunched. Within the control room, dozens of demons as well as select members of other races were standing by and watching, monitoring various systems. The man in charge ofmunicating with the craft nodded his head. ¡°Understood. Eagle Five, prepare forunch in 10, 9¡­¡±


    His voice was not simply being sent to the spacecraft, a sleek metallic vessel with a curved tip. It was also being broadcast across the various newsworks. While it was by no means the only piece of news for the day, there was no denying just how important it was.


    ¡°¡­ 3, 2, 1, engage.¡± His voice trailed off as three rings of yellow light formed beneath the thrusters. Slowly, the red and ck craft lifted into the air, released from the mps holding it in ce. The rings of light seemed to rotating, kicking up a powerful wind beneath them as they carried Eagle Five higher into the sky with every moment.


    ¡°Altitude five thousand feet.¡± The elven pilot reported, monitoring the disys in front of her. ¡°Seven thousand. Ten thousand. Altitude twenty thousand feet. Initiating second stage boost.¡± After she said that, an additional red ring appeared beneath the three yellow rings. Suddenly, the speed of the craft increased drastically, rocketing higher into the atmosphere.


    Angling the craft to properly leave the¡¯s atmosphere, the pilot once again spoke up. ¡°Alright, boys. If you look to your left, you will see the vast expanse of nothingness that will be our home for the next few years. If you want to wave goodbye to your friends, I¡¯d suggest looking to your right.¡±


    There was a series of chuckles from the rest of the crew as they looked in both directions. They had been through numerous simtions, as well as test flights within Vision Expanse. However, this was the first time that they were seeing the real thing in their own world.


    ¡°Exiting the upper atmosphere, switching to pulse propulsion.¡± After the pilot said that, both the red and yellow rings vanished from the thrusters. Instead, they began to emit a faint blue light. This light briefly pulsed, offering small bursts of momentum to stabilize the orbit. ¡°We¡¯ll be making onep around Desbar, and then it¡¯s off to Sorii. All crew members, please enter your hibernation pods to ensure a safe journey.¡±


    ¡°Eagle Five, we¡¯ll be monitoring your progress every step of the way. Ashlin out.¡± As the voice spoke up, the elven pilot let out a small sigh of relief. Standing up, she stretched out her arms until her shoulders popped. A quick sweep with her mana was enough to let her know that the rest of the crew was already entering their own hibernation pods.


    These pods were slender, metallic tubes with a transparent screen over the front. As they slipped in, a faint light began to fill the tube. Within each pod, there was a headset that the user put on in order to activate the other functions of the pod.


    Eagle Five used the newest model of mana-power generators. However, there was no ambient mana within the void of space for the generator to feed off of. This meant that they needed active minds within the vessel itself in order to keep a constant stream of energy. Of course, there was backup fuel as well, but that was for emergencies only.


    In order to keep the minds active, these hibernation pods had been specially designed. Using enchantments that slow time while providing the necessary sustenance for survival was enough to keep the body alive. But if that was done, and the crew was merely put into cryostasis, the mind would be asleep. This had been solved with the headset. Instead of cryostasis, the enchantments werebined with this headset to log the crew members into Vision Expanse for the duration of their journey.


    Thankfully, a set of dimensional portals had been used in order to route thework to the ship. So long as they were logged in, and their body not forced into a state that shut down their minds, they would continuously produce ambient mana that the generator could then feed off of. At the same time, their pods were connected to the various systems of the ships, allowing them to have live updates and status reports in case they were needed.


    Giving a small nod, the pilot moved out of the cockpit to enter the habitation room. Given her position, she was the only one not permitted to enter hibernation until a full day after the craft had left the¡¯s orbit. She could only wait patiently while monitoring the ship and crew.


    It¡¯s so beautiful¡­ A voice spoke up from within the pilot, causing her to smile slightly. Her familiar was currently inhabiting her own body, seeing through her eyes to stare out at the green and blue world through the windows.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ yeah, it is.¡±


    ¡°Finally, theyunched.¡± I said with a relieved sigh, shaking my head. They had waited so long in order to have the optimal conditions for their trip. Now, it was only a matter of time before they truly began expanding.


    I took a moment to look through the various systems of the craft, thinking about their effect. In truth, the hibernation pods weren¡¯t such a bad idea, but it made me think. If they could create dimensional portals like that to feed the inte to the ship, why couldn¡¯t they just feed the main power supply through the same portals?


    Was it just a precaution in case of a power failure-side? Or maybe just a matter of energy efficiency. Either way, I had other questions that needed answers, and those answers I couldn¡¯t get on my own. So, with a moment of focus, I sent a message out towards Sarah.


    EverLasting: Hey, Dale. Everything going alright?


    Thankfully, it seemed like she wasn¡¯t busy, given that she answered almost immediately.


    EarthForceOne: Yeah, I just learned about something, and was hoping that you could borate on it for me.


    EverLasting: Sure thing. Guessing it must be pretty big if you didn¡¯t ask your System Companion.


    EarthForceOne: Yeah, I imagine this might be beyond what she can exin to me until I get at least some answers on my own. What do you know about Subordinate Gods?


    There was a long pause after I asked that question. It was hard to tell if she got distracted by something on her end, or if the question itself was somehow hard for her to answer. Thankfully, it only took a couple minutes for her to get back to me.


    EverLasting: Dale, you didn¡¯t be a Subordinate God, did you?


    EarthForceOne: No, not me. Someone else in my world did.


    EverLasting: Oh, good! It¡¯s really troublesome to break that link, and the first Master Gods are almost alwayspanions.


    EverLasting: Anyways, you wanted to learn more about them?


    EarthForceOne: Yeah. For instance, why is it even a thing? Thest stage of ascension is such an easy thing to pass, I can¡¯t imagine anyone going through the extra steps to create a shortcut.


    Another pause, and in the back of my mind I could faintly hear an almost maniacalughing from Aurivy¡¯s room. Filing that under ¡®ask aboutter¡¯¡­ Probably has something to do with the martial art I gave her.


    EverLasting: Wait, someone used external divinity for thest step?!


    EarthForceOne: Yes¡­?


    EverLasting: Okay, yeah, that¡¯s a huge waste. Honestly, external divinity can be used to supplement any step of the ascension process. However, once it is done, the divinity of the person undergoing the procedure is permanently altered with the brand of the Master God¡¯s own divine energy. That way, they can only ever have a single Master God, and anyone that their Subordinates get would then have the same brand passed down to them.


    EarthForceOne: Okay, so it isn¡¯t a case where a subordinate can also be a master, then. But, you mean that another god could actively help someone ascend by assisting them in their evolution?


    EverLasting: That¡¯s right. It¡¯s actually a prettymon thing for higher power universes to have gods convert the mortals of an entire world to be their subordinates. The Master God is able to gain ess to the domains of their subordinates, and can borrow divine power from them.


    EarthForceOne: Well¡­ now I just feel bad about making myself go through all of that pain.


    EverLasting: Don¡¯t. Like I said, it¡¯s not a good thing when one of us bes a subordinate god to apanion. There is never going to be a higher order of god than a True Divinity, after all. If you ascended to be a False Divinity as a subordinate to a True Divinity, then the only way that you would ever be able to escape the shackles of the subordinate role would be topletely remove your Master God from the world¡¯s system and never put them back in.


    So, I¡¯d have to essentially cut them off in order to do it. I mused inwardly, shaking my head. I wasn¡¯t sure what all the downsides would be to bing a subordinate god, but I could easily say that it was likely better in the long run not to have any restraints like that. This way, I might even be able to establish my own subordinatework to grow stronger¡­


    EarthForceOne: So, before I riskpletely shattering someone¡¯s existence, and maybe blowing up a while I¡¯m at it, how exactly does one help a mortal ascend with their own divine energy?


    EverLasting: It¡¯s actually pretty easy, just a drawn-out process. Using your own divinity, you perform the steps that they would need to take to evolve for them. So, you would merge your divinity with their body and/or soul, and the burden on them would drastically decrease. There is naturally still the risk of failure, but it is far easier than a personal ascension. After all, without the need to control their own energy, the evolving party just has to not il around too much as they bear the pain of having their body and soul torn apart.


    I could already think of some people that would be worthy of bing subordinate gods, but¡­ slowly. This wasn¡¯t something I wanted to rush too much, in case they were going to take the chance to evolve on their own.


    EarthForceOne: Last question. Is it necessary for someone to undergo the evolution to Perfect Self or Perfect Soul before they receive assistance evolving?


    EverLasting: Necessary¡­ no. But it does help, like a lot. Perfection is the limits of mortality, the gateway to divinity. Honestly, the ideal candidate for divinity would be someone that has obtained perfection in both body and soul. Wherever their perfection is, it eases the process of evolving to divinity. To skip that step is a bit dangerous, and should only be done after ample practice.


    Noted, not something to suggest to Tryval for doing on Alme. At least, not yet. Alme Dien should be about halfway to the limits of what her mortal body can handle. Given that, there is plenty of time for Tryval to learn how to safely deify her before she is in any danger of¡­well, popping.


    After thanking Sarah for her information, I ended the conversation while thinking about what would soon be happening within my own world. It was still a few days away from the invasion, but I didn¡¯t want to go down and warn them quite yet. First, there were things that I wanted to see.


    Obviously, after Jonas, the next most likely mortal to ascend to deity status should be Tsubaki. However, she has never made an attempt to push that boundary. Now that Jonas himself has already done so, it is a matter of letting things develop and letting word reach her that a mortal has be a god.


    Hopefully, Jonas won¡¯t mention his ¡®subordinate¡¯ status in his report, so news of that particr feature won¡¯t reach her. If it does¡­ given her personality, I could see her adamantly refusing to be a god unless I make her my subordinate god.

 Chapter 454: One Giant Leap

    <h4>Chapter 454: One Giant Leap</h4>


    Tsubaki sat at herputer, reading the report that had been posted online about the new ¡®Minor God¡¯, Jonas Bayrun. This was a matter that had recently been sweeping through the various worlds, as it was the first time that a mortal had ever been confirmed to have ascended to godhood.


    Originally, Tsubaki as well as other people refused to believe that such a thing had happened. Sure, Tsubaki knew of the possibility, but she did not think that it would be something so easily aplished. Although Jonas didn¡¯t publicize the steps he took to reach his ascension, she could still recall that it had not been too long ago when she had seen him in a simr state to herself.


    In fact, it wasn¡¯t until Ryone personally spoke to her priests to verify Jonas¡¯s ims that his word was epted. From now on, Jonas had officially be the new God of Community. Tsubaki wasn¡¯t sure what types of powers he would gain from that domain, but she had already seen the powers that came from both the Mirrors and Merchants domains. That alone was enough to convince her not to underestimate Jonas.


    At the same time, Jonas¡¯s status as a subordinate god, and what that entailed, was also made public. This was perhaps the piece of news that Tsubaki paid the most attention to. It was also the one that made her think the most deeply¡­


    Despite knowing that it was possible to transcend perfection and attain divinity, Tsubaki had never truly attempted to walk that path. That was because she did not want to ce herself on the same level as the man that she served. However, the concept of subordinate gods overturned those concerns. If she was able to convince him to ept her as a subordinate¡­ she may yet have reason to be stronger yet again.


    I couldn¡¯t help but sigh as I saw Tsubaki reading over the news report. It was clear that her decision had already been made, and I was not entirely opposed to the idea myself. Sure, I may have wanted to give her the chance to reach that stage on her own, not requiring her to be shackled under my own divinity. But at the same time, I was quite curious what it would be like to have a subordinate god.


    Either way, the decision that I had been waiting for had now been made. It was time to prepare for theing invasion from Vanity. This would be myst invasion from a rank one world, unless I had to reset for some reason, so I had to make sure that everything went smoothly.


    After advancing time by roughly an hour, I saw that Tsubaki¡¯s train of thought had shifted away from divinity, and instead moved onto training Dana. Focusing, I connected myself with her mind to allow me tomunicate directly with her.


    ¡°Tsubaki.¡± I spoke up, and saw her immediately jump to her feet. She was standing at attention so fast that I could even see Dana jumping in shock. ¡°There is another forceing to invade our world. Our soldiers that we sentst time have¡­ failed. The enemy is now striking out at us.¡±


    Tsubaki furrowed her brow, but simply nodded her head. ¡°How long do we have to prepare?¡± She asked, once again confusing Dana. Despite their mental link, it seemed like she wasn¡¯t able to eavesdrop on my conversation with Tsubaki.


    ¡°I¡¯ll give you ten years. After that time, their forces will appear.¡± Of course, ten years to her would just be an afternoon to me¡­ I couldn¡¯t help but nce at the timer, showing that it was now two days before the invasion took ce.


    ¡°Very well.¡± She nodded her head. ¡°My Keeper, I would like to ask-¡±


    I cut her off, already knowing what she was going to say. ¡°Once the invasion is over, yes. Until then, prepare yourself, and prepare the worlds for what is toe.¡±


    Tsubaki¡¯s expression seemed to brighten, her tail waving behind herself repeatedly as she processed my words. ¡°Understood, sir.¡± She spoke up before I cut themunication, and began fast forwarding once again.


    ¡°Eagle Five, we have your signal.¡± The voice once again spoke through the console, a somewhat groggy elf stimting her energy to help her recover from hibernation more quickly. Thanks to thework portal aboard the ship, they did not suffer from the ssical w of dyedmunications.


    ¡°Understood, Ashlin. Eagle Five preparing to enter Sorii¡¯s atmosphere. All crew are on standby, preparing reentry procedures. Heat barriers at full, activating reverse thrust.¡± Slowly, above the deste red, Eagle Five spun a full one hundred and eighty degrees. The mana thrusters lit up, sending blue lights shooting out as they began to reduce speed.


    Once done, they quickly corrected their positioning. Only then did they begin to feel the shake of turbulence the craft entering into the atmosphere. The elven pilot narrowed her eyes in focus. She monitored the various disys, ensuring that nothing reached dangerous levels. ¡°Heat barriers are rapidly draining mana, activating emergency fuel to reroute energy.¡±


    ¡°Understood, Eagle Five. We¡¯re picking up some surface storms on the, can you confirm?¡± When she heard that, the elf nced up, through the window of the craft. Her eyes gazed past the me enveloping the barrier, and she nodded.


    ¡°Confirmed. Looks like we¡¯rending in a dust storm. Please advise, should I seek an alternatending site?¡± While this specific area had been chosen due to its t terrain and easy navigation, a sandstorm meant that they wouldn¡¯t even be able to see the ground on their approach.


    ¡°That¡¯s an affirmative, Eagle Five. Patching in coordinates for Beta Site.¡± As the new coordinates were fed in, the ship continued to decelerate within the¡¯s atmosphere, the mes beginning to recede from the barrier.


    ¡°Coordinates received. Cutting off emergency fuel to return normal power flow.¡± The pilot said as she flipped a few more switches on her console. Reaching forward, she took manual control over the steering, as the preprogrammed coordinates no longer applied. Instead, she had to fly the craft several hundred miles past their initial destination.


    ¡°Spokes, let¡¯s get started on the flyover scans!¡± She called back into the radio, this time speaking to the rest of the crew. A slim demon male in histe twenties nodded, triggering the scanning devices built into Eagle Five.


    Thankfully, most of their scanning devices weren¡¯t interfered with by the storm raging below. Ironically, it was mostly their navigation systems that had problems there.


    ¡°Disabling pulse propulsion, reverting to stage one navigation thrusters.¡± The pilot called out, the yellow rings appearing once again behind the thrusters as they flew over thendscape. ¡°Everyone, if you look to your left, you will see a barren wastnd. If you look to your right, you will also see a barren wastnd. The difference being that one of these is going to be our new home for a little while.¡±


    ¡°Eagle Five, we read your approach on target coordinates. Weather shows all clear, please confirm.¡±


    ¡°This is Eagle Five, weather is all clear. Bringing us in for anding.¡± As she said that, the pilot carefully navigated the ship tond along its underside, rows ofnding gear deploying to help ease their stop. Although it was a bit of a bumpy ride, thending urred without incident. ¡°Eagle Five hasnded.¡±


    Back at Desbar, there was a loud cheer when they heard that. This was the first manned flight to another, and they had safely managed tond. ncing back towards them, thems officer smiled wryly before speaking into the microphone. ¡°Good work, Eagle Five. Get your temporary shelters set up, and we¡¯ll send your supplies over once you get the gate built.¡±


    ¡°Will do. Eagle Five, out.¡± After saying that, the pilot stood up, excitedly heading towards the door. Arguably, she had the most responsibility in this journey, but¡­ that also came with a perk. Stepping through the airlock, she checked her EVA rings before exiting the craft. As the ship¡¯s pilot, she had the first rights to the achievement.


    Congrattions! You have earned an achievement!


    For being the first to travel the void and walk on an unexplored, you have earned the One Giant Leap achievement. +15 Luck


    She had heard of the achievement that had been given to the first demon to walk on the moon, One Small Step, and thus she had made this a part of her contract before epting this mission. Achievements such as these were incredibly rare things. It wouldn¡¯t be wrong to call them valuable, but also wouldn¡¯t be right either. How could you put a value on something that couldn¡¯t be traded?


    Giddy that she had managed to get her own space exploration achievement, she walked around to explore the surface directly outside of the craft. Her body was protected from the harsh environment due to the invisible shields projected from the silver essories she wore. ¡°Gravity feels¡­ a bit lower than what we are used to. Spokes, what did you find on those scans?¡±


    There was a chuckle that answered her over the radio. ¡°Bitte to ask that after you are already outside, isn¡¯t it boss? Anyways, I didn¡¯t pick up any life readings. No signs of mana or ki anywhere we passed. I¡¯d call this a dead world, but there wasn¡¯t any spiritual energy either.¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s about what we expected.¡± The pilot shook her head. ¡°Any valuable resources?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m reading high levels of iron and copper. Nothing extraordinary like magnartum or numbasic. Though there are some unidentified materials near the surface a few kilometers off.¡±


    ¡°Unidentified is good.¡± She nodded quickly. ¡°We¡¯ll check it out after we get our home base set up.¡±


    A young demonic female walked through the dirt roads between the cities of Deckan, following behind a kitsune man in histe fifties. Despite his age, he still looked to be in his prime, every step rather heavy.


    ¡°This should be far enough, right mister!?¡± Petra called out, excitement in her tone. They had been walking for over an hour, and were now far enough away that their battle wouldn¡¯t disturb any of the locals.


    The man ahead simply let out a reluctant sigh. ¡°I was honestly hoping you¡¯d give up if I made youe this far for it.¡± He confessed with a bitter smile, now turning to walk off the road.


    Petra giggled yfully. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t be like that, it¡¯s all in good fun!¡± Her hand shed, and she retrieved her AC unit as she followed along behind him.


    ¡°I never thought that Shadow would be talking about this like it was fun.¡± He muttered, moving to stand roughly two hundred meters away from Petra. A momentter, a simr golden sphere appeared in his own hand.


    ¡°Oh, but it is fun right?¡± Petra questioned. ¡°I mean, as long as we don¡¯t aim to kill each other.¡±


    Hearing that, the man silently raised an eyebrow, to which Petra called out in protest. ¡°Oh,e on! It was one time, and it was an ident! When I see a really fancy magical shield set up in front of someone, with taunting words like ¡®Let¡¯s see you break this¡¯, what am I supposed to do?! He seemed really confident, so I thought I had to give it everything I had¡­¡±


    ¡°How many times have you had to exin that now?¡± Her opponent asked with an almost amused smirk.


    ¡°Too many.¡± She groaned, shaking her head. ¡°Anyways, let¡¯s do this! I am Petra Carna, Master of Shadow!¡±


    ¡°Creo nch, Master of the Spirit¡¯s Cave.¡± As the two of them introduced themselves, the game officially began. Each of the dungeon masters created fields a hundred meters wide around themselves. Petra¡¯s appeared to be a pitch ck field of shifting shadows, while Creo¡¯s was a ghastly projection of the Underworld filled with the screams of lost souls.


    ¡°Okay, Mister nch, that¡¯s actually kind of cool. Creepy, but cool!¡± Petra called out when she saw the external appearance of Creo¡¯s portable dungeon. Next, the ground seemed to shift around them, epassing the two dungeons until only a small hallway connected their center. This was the battlefield of a dungeon war, a self-enclosed area where the dungeon masters could freely monitor and modify the terrain.

 Chapter 455: Home Sweet Home

    <h4>Chapter 455: Home Sweet Home</h4>


    Within the darkness dungeon, Petra established a maze of shadows. Space itself seemed to twist and expand, before giving way to light. Soon, every ¡®room¡¯ of her maze was an independent space that she had created, each with a different environment. The first room was a wide hill in the middle of the day, numerous trees dotting thendscape.


    In order to pass from room to room within Petra¡¯s dungeon, it was necessary to step on a shadow. Different shadows would lead to different areas, and only the right one would progress forward. If the wrong shadow was chosen, it became more and more difficult to find the way back with every poor choice.


    ¡°Amazing¡­¡± Creo muttered as he saw thendscape through the vanguard of his forces, a single skeleton. His dungeon specialized in undead, and this was the simplest type that he was able to produce. ¡°So this is your World of Shadows¡­¡±


    Creo had long since heard of Petra. She was rather famous within the dungeon mastermunity, once she made herself known. The style in which she made her dungeon was something no other master had learned how to replicate. However, that was because no other master possessed Petra¡¯s divine status, a secret she never let spread.


    ¡°Sorry, but¡­ I¡¯ll be solving your maze today.¡± Creo said as he focused. The skeleton that he sent broke apart, each bone rolling out independently, before a wave of bones followed behind it. This was the only n that he could think of, using as many monsters as he could to map her dungeon.


    Whenever a bone fell through a maze, Creo would learn about anotheryer of shadows. Since each bone was ssified as its own monster, this wave tactic had the highest chance of sess.


    Of course, Petra wouldn¡¯t be idle while he was attacking. Her own monster had simrly moved into Creo¡¯s dungeon, which took the shape of a graveyard. Although, he wasn¡¯t able to fold space in the same way that she did, which resulted in the path being fairly straight forward.


    Petra¡¯s monster was incredibly simple. It appeared as if it were a clone of Petra herself, with its body entirely made of shadows. The only parts of its surface that were not pitch ck were the eyes and the mouth, which formed into an eerie red grin. When it spoke, its voice echoed in the graveyard.


    ¡°Nice, you¡¯re really living up to your name.¡± The shade spoke, its glowing eyes scanning the surroundings. ¡°If you had created a maze, it would probably take me a while to get through. But, you¡¯re not a maze builder. Which Puppet are you going to use today?¡±


    Creo grit his teeth when he heard that. ¡°You really did your homework, didn¡¯t you?¡± Taking a deep breath, he calmed himself. As Petra said, Creo¡¯s main fighting force were a type of undead puppet. However, he only had the spiritual energy to create one of them at a time, so it was always a matter of picking the best fighter to send in against his opponent.


    ¡°Since you are a darkness specialist¡­ I¡¯ll call the Third Puppet, the Lord of Radiance!¡± After shouting that, Creo threw one hand up, and one of the many graves within the graveyard seemed to stir. Cracks appeared within the overturned soil, through which a blinding light pierced.


    The graveyard¡¯s mist scattered as a human figure rose. There was a pure white cloth wrapped around his eyes, and a white robe draped over his body. In one hand, he held a golden scepter, while the other held a short sword. His feet were bound together with cloth, leaving him to float serenely over the surface.


    The puppet¡¯s appearance caused the graveyard to shine, holy light spreading in all directions. Feeling this, the shade let out a hiss of pain, its powers weakening when met with its opposed element. ¡°Hsss¡­ I figured you¡¯d probably have something like this. Everyone¡¯s trying to make countermeasures against me these days.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve fought so many people that kept light aeons as their trump cards.¡± The shade¡¯s voice spoke, the pain slowly lessening as it backed up until it was standing partially behind a tombstone. ¡°But they all fall short at the same point.¡±


    Narrowing his eyes to see through the blinding light, Creo instructed his puppet to attack. Beams of energy shot out, piercing through the body of the shade and seeming to cause it to disintegrate. Yet, its voice continued to echo, nowing from all around him.


    ¡°The brightest light¡­ casts the darkest shadow.¡± Following those words, Creo could hear a faint giggling echoing in the graveyard. He turned his head to look, soon seeing a nearby shadow of a tombstone, cast by the light of the puppet. A pair of glowing red eyes stared back at him. And then another from a different shadow.


    In every shadow he saw, the same eyes stared back at him, causing a sense of dread to slowly wash over him. Creo turned around slowly, looking at his own shadow. The eyes were there as well, as was the mouth, but there was more. His shadow looked jagged, with massive wings spreading out on either side.


    ¡°You can never escape the darkness, Mister nch.¡± His shadow said, before a wed hand reached up to grab at his leg, attempting to drag him down into the ground. Into his very own shadow.


    Creo¡¯s eyes went wide with rm, and his hand tightened on his AC unit. On the other end, his bones had explored six differentyers of shadows, with over a hundred possibilities found already. He had to admit that there was no way for him to win, and so he abandoned his fight. In another sh of golden light, Creo vanished, signalling the end of the match.


    ¡°Status report.¡± The elven pilot said as she looked at everyone gathered at the table. It had been roughly a year since theynded on Sorii, but she was still inmand. Even if this missionsted one hundred years, this fact would not change. In fact, it was because they expected it to be a long term project.


    The first to speak up was a demon with a green badge on his red and ck uniform. ¡°Soil cultivation is going fairly slow, Captain Thorne. The algae that we imported from Desbar hasn¡¯t been growing properly.¡±


    The pilot nodded her head at that. ¡°I¡¯ll send a requisition in for some Spican nts. It¡¯s said that they can grow anywhere. Next?¡±


    The next demon that spoke had a silver badge in the shape of a hammer and wrench. ¡°Noints with the nar gate. With our batteries, we have enough to use it at full power once every week. Otherwise, we¡¯ll have to settle for the smallerwork portals. However, Biome Three is showing some structural damage afterst night¡¯s storm.¡±


    ¡°Biome Three¡­¡± Captain Thorne muttered to herself. ¡°We can¡¯t afford to lose water production. Take some of the emergency supplies to repair it before there is a rupture.¡± After that, she turned towards a demon with a blue badge. ¡°How¡¯s our power situation?¡±


    ¡°We lost two panels in the storm, but we¡¯ve still got plenty of sr energy.¡± He exined with a small smile. ¡°We shouldn¡¯t need to tap into the emergency fuel any time soon.¡±


    ¡°Captain.¡± Another crewmember spoke up, this one wearing a red badge in the shape of a sword. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we be worried about the invasion?¡± While spending their free time in Vision Expanse, they had eventually learned the news that there was another invasion on its way, this one from the same enemy that they had previously sent an army after. While they were admittedlyte getting this news, it was not something that they could immediately do anything about.


    ¡°No.¡± The captain spoke simply. ¡°There aren¡¯t enough of us here to contribute toary defense. Our mission is to establish a stable colonization outpost on Sorii, and begin terraforming. If, and I stress this if, an emergency happens, then we will reevaluate our mission objectives.¡±


    In truth, the man who had raised this question was simply bored. As head of security on an uninhabited world, he generally had nothing to do. In the entire year that they had been present, there had only even been one incident where a monster appeared close enough to them that he needed to act. Otherwise, he simply sat around, watching the sands blow.


    ¡°Understood, Captain.¡± He answered begrudgingly.


    Finally, the captain turned towards thest member of the crew, who had an open eye for a badge. ¡°How are the scans looking.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s interesting.¡± He admitted, adjusting the sses on his head. ¡°Every day, I¡¯m picking up more and more life signs in the area. Furthermore, they¡¯re all quite varied. Starting fromst week, monster life began to spawn on the surface of Sorii.¡±


    ¡°It appears that the System itself is creating these creatures, because I am confident that they were not here before.¡± His smile grew wide when he mentioned that. ¡°As of this morning¡¯s scan, I have identified twelve different life signatures, and a total of hundred creatures within a twenty mile radius of the base.¡±


    The elven captain let out a light groan, massaging her temples. ¡°Hopefully, they won¡¯t interfere with out terraforming efforts. But¡­ one week ago, was it?¡± It had to be known that it was only a week after their one year anniversary on the. Meaning that after being here for one year, monsters began spawning. ¡°That¡¯s important information, so we¡¯ll be sending it back in the reportter.¡±


    Golden light shed briefly within a dense meadow, before two sets of hooves could be heard stepping onto the ground. Alme Dien looked around at thend which seemed simultaneously foreign and familiar, tears gathering in her eyes. ¡°I¡¯m home¡­¡±


    After leaving Dien Sur, Tryval and Alme had finally taken the time to properly tour the world that he had created for her. She was able to see how it had grown and evolved over the years, how nature had flourished while she was forced to remain in her kingdom.


    Only after doing so did the two of them finally return. The perpetual storm surrounding Sher Dien¡¯s Fairy Gate finally ended, and and bridge was created to connect it with one of the nearest inds. It would still take many years for the path to be discovered from their end, but a key had silently been stored within the main warehouse of the elven capital.


    Alme slowly took a step forward, smelling the clean air. For so long she had always known the scent of nearby water. Few inds wererge enough to escape that, and so this was a wee respite, a literal breath of fresh air.


    Letting out a joyful gasp, she began to gallop forward. Her eyes closed as she felt the wind blowing through her hair, the sun beating down on her back. And then she felt a shadow falling over her, a different warmth spreading through her body as a second set of hooves ran alongside her own.


    Almeughed, almost feeling as if she had gone back to being the innocent youth that she had given up for over a thousand years. It would be hard for her to ever truly return to that state, her heart hardened by the burden of ruling for so many years. But, for that one moment, she was happy to be back.

 Chapter 456: No News is Good News

    <h4>Chapter 456: No News is Good News</h4>


    Days turned into months, and months into years as time continued forward for the. Eventually, the world discovered the truth of the hidden Goddess, Leowynn. Elven records spoke of the daughter of Ryone, who died in service to her kingdom. Although the trantion for her name had changed somewhat over the years, her story remained the same.


    People began to build statues of Leowynn within Ryone¡¯s churches, considering her as a subordinate god just the same as Jonas. Though nobody had any proof of this, such was the story that the public chose to believe.


    During this time, the Dungeon Rankings was also made public, establishing a hierarchy within the ranks of dungeon masters. Though, to be truthful, only the best one thousand dungeon masters earned a spot on this rank, naming themselves the Powerful Thousand. Furthermore, there was also the Unyielding Hundred, Heavenly Ten, and finally the top ranked position, the Dungeon King.


    Among the dungeon masters, there were a few that stayed in the upper positions. For instance, Petra Carna, a young demoness with powerful skills had always been within the Heavenly Ten. Many expected her to be able to im the title of Dungeon King due to her rapid rise to fame at such a young age, yet such never came to pass. Instead, her rank would always alternate between the top five positions.


    At the same time, however, there were dungeon masters that never sought to appear in the rankings. These masters did not use their dungeons for battle, but rather used them as bases or factories. Cities were built atop dungeons, thendscape sculpted perfectly to fit them, and powerful magic items began to enter the market en masse.


    Elsewhere within the realm, in the world of Sorii, specks of green and blue could be seen on the red. Grass and trees from Spica had been transnted onto the barren world, where they quickly took root. These roots burrowed deep beneath the soil, tapping into the frozenkes below the surface.


    Normal nts would never be able to grow under such conditions, but those of Spica truly boasted the ability to thrive in any environment. The druid of the terraforming team continued to manually fertilize and water the nts, watching as they evolved every day. Within a year, the roots had developed a sort of ¡®body temperature¡¯ by absorbing sr energy that allowed them to gradually thaw the underground ice.


    Once they had made this evolutionary leap, there was nothing to stop them from flourishing. Even without the druid¡¯s guidance, the grass began to spread. The fruits of the tree changed into pods of spores that burst when struck by a heavy wind, scattering the seeds far and wide. Although they would need to introduce more edible nts after the initial terraforming process, this was going a long way towards revitalizing the atmosphere.


    By the end of the ten years before the invasion, over a hundred square miles had been converted into greennd. The thawing of the undergroundkes caused the waters to flow, further heating until they broke through the ground as steam. Rain fell, and rivers took shape. It was estimated that it would only take another fifty years before the entire world was ready for the next stage of terraforming.


    Just a few minutes left now¡­ I muttered, descending to my throne room. Dana and Tsubaki were both already present and waiting for me. Even without reading their thoughts, I could see that Tsubaki was¡­ exceptionally excited. Not just for this invasion, but what woulde after. Her tail, which was usually kept tightly under control, was waving back and forth eagerly.


    ¡°It¡¯s time.¡± I nodded towards them, before my eyes went to Dana. ¡°This will be your first invasion, won¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡± Dana nodded. ¡°I was¡­ indisposed for the first one we faced.¡± It took me a moment to recall that Dana truly was an old existence. It was hard to ce her exact age, but it would not lose to Tsubaki by too much.


    ¡°Well, let¡¯s just hope that this goes well.¡± I spoke in a more gentle tone. ¡°Tsubaki, have you notified Jonas to prepare him for this fight?¡±


    ¡°I did, sir.¡± She nodded immediately in response. ¡°Jonas has said that his abilities are more geared towards travel and siege warfare. However, as soon as we identify the location of the enemy, he will move in to help fortify the area.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± I didn¡¯t give the others time to prepare incarnations for this fight, as we were no longer simply a rank one world. There shouldn¡¯t be an enemy at that level capable of killing gods under normal circumstances. Especially not the monsters we¡¯ve heard about Vanity possessing.


    As I thought about it, the window appeared before me, announcing the start of the invasion. Inwardly, I had been hoping that Vanity might pass up this chance to attack, that maybe my forces had damaged his world too much for him tounch a full offensive. When I took a look at the number of enemies present, however¡­


    Current enemy forces within group Earth: 3,248,927


    Over three million enemy troops¡­ As they were mostly normal monsters, I wasn¡¯t too worried, but the simple fact that they were hidden somewhere within my worlds was the problem. Immediately, I controlled the Sky Citadel to vanish, shifting to Sher Dien. This world had still not properly connected with the others, as the explorers sent through had yet to find the natives.


    If there was a world that was in the most danger at this point in time, it would be here. ¡°Spirit of the world, appear before me.¡± I called out, tapping into the natural energy of this world to summon its world spirit. Given the sense of urgency I felt from the number of enemies, I did not bother with the prolonged summoning ritual.


    Soon, a world spirit in the form of Alme Dien pushed open the doors of my throne room, slowly trotting into the room. ¡°Yes, my lord?¡± She asked in an airy tone, the two maids standing and moving to either side.


    ¡°I need to temporarily connect my divinity to this world¡¯s energy. I¡¯ll have to trouble you to cooperate with me.¡± As I spoke, I conjured a silver mirror in midair, directing it to rest in her hand.


    ¡°As you wish.¡± She bowed slightly, walking forward while holding the mirror.


    My eyes focused on the reflective surface, entering the search parameters. I wanted the mirror to show me any and all creatures which suddenly appeared in this world within thest five minutes, whether through natural or unnatural spawning.


    Naturally, this showed me several images of monsters randomly being spawned through the system, as well as the activation of this world¡¯s fairy gate. However, there was nothing that would indicate an invasion of the scale that the system had shown me.


    Seeing that, I let out a low sigh. I waved a hand, causing the mirror to dissolve. Even so, I erred on the side of caution, given that the monsters previously had been able to evade detection by natural energy. ¡°There is a chance that monsters have appeared in your world. I need you to closely monitor for any abnormal activity, and report it to the other world spirits immediately.¡±


    There was a moment of hesitation as the spirit took the time to process my request, before giving another nod. ¡°As you wish.¡± She said once again. Afterwards, her body began to evaporate, fading into green smoke that rushed out the door.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ next is Fyor.¡± I muttered, shaking my head and transferring the citadel once again.


    ¡°Report, how¡¯s the hunt for today?¡± Captain Thorne¡¯s voice spoke up over a radio, built into the demon warrior¡¯s EVA suit.


    ¡°Could be better.¡± He muttered back, shaking his head. Although the nts had begun producing oxygen, the air was still far from being breathable. ¡°Got a couple small game, and found tracks for what should be a lizard-type monster, but I¡¯ve yet to find it.¡±


    Ever since monsters had begun to spawn in more frequently, his job had be far more active. He could now go out and properly hunt, bringing his kills back to the habitat. Although they had to be scanned for any hostile bacteria or parasites, and confirmed to be edible, this activity served to both relieve his stress and increase the variety of meals for their small colony.


    ¡°Well, no rush. We¡¯ve still got a few steaks fromst week¡¯s run.¡± The captain spoke up in a pleased tone. There was no doubt that everyone enjoyed being able to eat the meat that he hunted.


    The warrior heard a screech off in the distance, his head abruptly turning. His fists clenched at his sides, while three swords materialized in the air around himself. ¡°I think I heard it, so I¡¯ll call you back.¡±


    After saying that, the man turned off his radio slowly began walking forward, the swords floating around him. He was one of the rarer Weaponmasters, a ss devoted to controlling weapons. At the earlier levels, the ss could be advanced by physically wielding a sword or axe. However, as it progressed, more weapons could be ¡®held¡¯ at once, using energy to substitute for the extra limbs.


    This required precise control over the user¡¯s energy, as well as the ability to manipte multiple ¡®arms¡¯ fluidly at once. As such, few people truly explored the depths of this ss. These same traits made it perfect to fight in these circumstances, where normal fighters were unable to properly wield their strength.


    His swords continued pointing forward, and he soon heard another screech. This one sounded weaker than the first, and closer as well. He grimaced at the thought of finding a sick monster, as that meant its meat would likely be unusable. Behind arge rock, he could see traces of blood trickling out, and soon saw a slightly shaking tail.


    The man was no fool, and gave a wide berth to prevent an ambush, circling the rock until he saw whaty on the other side. It truly was therge lizard that he had been searching for, but¡­ its side had been torn open by sharp ws. It was dying, leaning against a rock and crying out in pain while it¡¯s innards spilled out of its body.


    Seeing this, the man sighed, looking down at the ground. There were another set of tracks, longer and thinner than the reptile he had been tracking. Traces of blood dripped alongside the tracks, before they vanished off behind a nearby thicket of trees. He shook his head, sending a nce towards the dying lizard.


    As an experienced hunter, he was aware of the possibility that this was a trap that the predator had set for him. Such a result was unlikely, though, with the more realistic answer being that he had scared away whatever had attacked the lizard while talking to his captain. Either way, he summoned a fourth sword, this one with a silver de, and turned on his radio again. ¡°Well, captain, I got good news and bad news.¡±


    He waited for a moment for the captain¡¯s response, his brows soon furrowing when silence was his only answer. ¡°Captain Thorne, respond. Eagle Five, this is Security Officer Devin, respond.¡± His second message had been not only to the captain, but to the entire crew. And yet, there was still silence.


    ¡°Ashlin, this is Eagle Five Security Officer, do you read?¡± He changed tactics, directly attempting to contact the home base through the colony¡¯swork.


    ¡°Officer Devin, we read you. What¡¯s your situation?¡± Finally, somebody answered him.


    ¡°Eagle Five Habitat isn¡¯t responding, and I¡¯m EVA. Can I get a sitrep?¡±


    ¡°One moment, sir.¡± The voice cut off, taking a moment to operate their terminal. ¡°Patching into Habitat security, I¡¯ll have the feed up in a moment. Hmm, I¡¯m showing structural damage in numerous biomes-oh, goddess¡­¡± The calm report suddenly gained a horrified tone, and the warrior could feel his heart sinking.

 Chapter 457: Community’s Call

    <h4>Chapter 457: Community¡¯s Call</h4>


    ¡°Ashlin, report!¡± Officer Devin called back anxiously when he noticed the pause, as if worried his contact with Desbar had been severed as well.


    ¡°Eagle Five is lost.¡± A strained voice spoke up in response. On the screen, themunications officer saw the mangled corpses of the various crew members. Shadows could be seen shifting just at the corners of the screen before a long, spindly arm reached out and dragged a body away from the camera.


    Officer Devin¡¯s face went pale when he heard that. In the back of his mind, he registered a faint clicking along with a low gurgle. Driven by fear, he kicked off the ground, sending himself high into the air with the power of his ki. As he did, a fifth sword appeared, this one resting beneath his feet as he used it to aid his flight.


    When Devin¡¯s eyes looked back down, he trembled. It took everything he had not to lose control of his weapons that he had called out. ¡°Ashlin¡­ activate protocol ckest Night.¡±


    Beneath Devin¡¯s feet was a sea of ck chitin, creatures swarming like ants to his position. They were rushing in from the direction of the habitat. He could easily see thousands of these creatures, which started to pile atop one another to form a tower under him. Without any hesitation, he called back his swords, only keeping the one beneath his feet out as he used it to flee.


    ¡°ckest Night can only be triggered on-site, sir, you know-¡± The voiceing through was cut off by the officer¡¯s frantic call.


    ¡°Use the overrides! Don¡¯t tell me that you idiots didn¡¯t put in any fail-safes for if the habitat was lost!¡±


    ¡°The Allied Governments forbid such an action, sir¡­¡±


    Hearing the helpless tone of themunications officer, Devin clicked his tongue in annoyance. ¡°As the sole surviving member of Eagle Five, transfer all on-site authority. I¡¯ll activate it myself.¡± Gritting his teeth, he immediately turned, guiding his sword to fly him towards the habitat.


    Without the habitat or the ship, it was only a matter of time before his suit¡¯s built-in oxygen ran out and he died. If he wanted to survive, he only had one option, which was an emergency activation of their dimensional gate. However¡­ even if he activated it, there was no way that they would let him through while such arge threat was flooding the base.


    To truly escape, he had to kill his way to safety, and activate the ckest Night protocol. Only then would he have the chance to get through the portal before it took effect, killing everything in the area.


    Sadly¡­ would it really be so easy? It took less than five minutes for the monstrous swarm to decimate the habitat, so how could one man fight through all of that?


    ¡°Nothing here, either¡­¡± I muttered to myself, shaking my head as I stood out within the citadel¡¯s garden. As it stood, the only worlds I had left to check were Spica and Lorek. However, the citadel¡¯s enchantments would not function within these two worlds, so I would not be able to take this ce with me.


    Just as I was preparing to ne shift, I heard footsteps running towards me. ¡°Lord Keeper, Tsubaki!¡± Dana called out, an expression of panic on her face. ¡°There¡¯s an urgent report.¡±


    I turned my head to regard her as the two of us waited, Dana quickly straightening out her skirt as she spoke. ¡°The Sorii terraforming colony has been lost. Arge number of creatures appeared suddenly. Currently, there is only a single survivor, but he won¡¯tst long! They¡¯re trying to activate the ckest Night protocols.¡±


    Sorii¡­ it took me a moment to remember that name. That was the that Desbar was working to colonize on their first manned voyage. I couldn¡¯t help but furrow my brow as I thought about that. Obviously, I had never purchased that, as it was a lifeless rock. There was simply no sense in wasting the points.


    Since that was the case, the should not have been considered my ¡®territory¡¯. Yet the report was undeniable. If the enemy did appear on an uninhabited world, perhaps it would be for the best. There would be no civilian casualties aside from those that had already been lost, and it would simply be a matter of taking the time to remove the infestation.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I nodded towards Dana, before adding. ¡°Please call Jonas here, and tell him that we¡¯ve found our target.¡± After I gave that instruction, Dana bowed and ran back inside.


    ¡°Tsubaki, please exin that protocol she mentioned.¡± As I said that, I looked back out over the horizon. Since Desbar was the most densely popted world, I had saved it forst, as it should have been the most obvious of the various worlds in this group.


    ¡°Of course, my Keeper.¡± Tsubaki nodded calmly. ¡°ckest Night is the highest level emergency protocol given to any space voyage. By purposely destabilizing a pair of nar gates in close proximity to one another, a dimensional fissure is opened for a fraction of a second. In this time, everything within one hundred kilometers is devoured by the rampaging energies.¡±


    ¡°If they are activating ckest Night, then the sole survivor has likely given up hopes of escape.¡± Tsubaki¡¯s eyes nced upwards as she said that, as if imagining the scene on the distant world.


    As I let out a sigh, I heard two pairs of footsteps approaching from behind me. Turning around, I saw the familiar elven god that had just recently ascended. ¡°This is our first time meeting. I only wish it were under less dire circumstances.¡±


    Jonas smiled wryly as he heard that. ¡°It is the fault of the times. How may I be of assistance, Keeper?¡±


    ¡°You and I will be moving to Sorii to handle this battle personally.¡± I could see Tsubaki look as if she were about to speak up, and so I shook my head. ¡°There are too many enemies, even for you. I¡¯m not nning to kill them all in one move. My goal is to retrieve the survivor, and thin the herd. For this, only another god-levelbatant can join me.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ understand, my Keeper.¡± Tsubaki nodded, clearly not wanting to question me in front of others. I could already imagine theints she would have once this was all over, but hopefully it would help convince her to advance more quickly to join me in such battles.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that my travel ability is limited to people that I have met before, Keeper.¡± Jonas spoke up, shaking his head. ¡°I won¡¯t be able to send the two of us to Sorii, as I have never met a member of its crew.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine. I¡¯ll be handling the transportation this time.¡± As I said that, I formed a golden mirror behind myself, the image of a certain pink-haired halfling held within. ¡°Mirror the Wanderer.¡±


    As the mirror shattered, I suddenly felt my perspective shrink, my body reduced to that of a halfling. ¡°Well, let¡¯s get going!¡± I called out, finding that I was suddenly far more energetic. Jonas blinked at that, seeming deep in thought as golden mists wrapped around us.


    A momentter, the two of us could feel sand blowing across our face, the air stale. If we needed to breathe, we¡¯d be in trouble¡­ Looking down, I let out a low whistle. ¡°Man, that¡¯s going to be troublesome.¡± Despite my words, I felt my lips curving upwards in a small smile.


    Focusing my divine energy, I shattered my ¡®reflection¡¯ of Aurivy, returning to my former self. It was the middle of the day, yet these creatures were so active¡­ they must have deemed this area as their nest after having been sent here. With Aurivy¡¯s energy having left me, I let out a small sigh. ¡°Tell me what you can do, Jonas.¡±


    ¡°I think it would be better to show you, sir.¡± Jonas said with a mysterious smile, before his body seemed to blur. A phantom image stepped out from his body, and then another, each appearing to be apletely different person. These figures seemed to walk aimlessly through the air, as if they were simply going down the street.


    More and more phantom images began appearing, each oneing faster than thest. Soon, it seemed as though there were an endless stream surging out of Jonas¡¯s body. ¡°All for one, and one for all. The primary power of my Community domain is for me to build amunity with those that I have influenced.¡±


    Seeing where this was going, I gave a small nod. ¡°And then you can summon yourmunity to aid you in battle. So that¡¯s why you said you specialize in siege battles¡­ you¡¯re a walking army.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Jonas admitted, the stream of phantoms finally stopping. Countless people now wandered before us, before they all lifted their heads at once. In unison, they turned, moving to line themselves up orderly before Jonas. ¡°However, if any phantom is in, that person is removed from mymunity.¡±


    In a way, it was simr to my own ability to mirror others. Only¡­ I had the feeling that Jonas¡¯s power was unable to call the phantoms of gods. Not yet, at least. There were a different set of restrictions in ce, but this was still a powerful ability, one arguably more suited forrge scale battles than my own domain.


    After I gave him a subtle signal, the phantoms all turned to face downwards. The chitinous horde had all but covered the habitat, using their bodies as shells to fully enclose it. Was this how they created their nests?


    Cards were lifted, spell diagrams were drawn in the air, and runes were spoken. Swarms of spells rained down upon them, eliciting pained screeches as green blood sttered.


    While he wasunching the initial bombardment, I conjured a handheld mirror. If I was going to save the lone survivor, it would likely be best to do so before Jonas destroyed the entire area.


    Within the mirror, I could see one man wielding¡­ seven swords as he ran through the hallways. Two were held in his hands, while five moreshed out around him in midair. The style was actually quite simr to my own Thousand Arms, Ten Thousand Threads, so it was somewhat refreshing to see firsthand.


    Still, I was doing this for a reason, after all. Focusing my divinity, I slowly turned the mirror in my hand.


    ¡°Almost there¡­¡± Officer Devin grit his teeth, slicing through another monster with his silver de. There seemed to be no end to these creatures, ever since he cut his way into the main habitat. Their bodies filled the hallways, forcing him to push past them and hope that the ones he was shoving aside had truly been in. Already, both of his wings had been torn, patches of bloody membrane hanging loose from the holes.


    Suddenly, he heard a crashing sound from above. One that seemed to startle the rest of the creatures in the hall. And then another¡­ suddenly, his presence seemed insignificant, the monsters turning and leaving. ¡°Not another meteor shower¡­¡± Naturally, the demon had no way to know what sort of battle was taking ce above him.


    The distraction did, however, give him a chance. He stepped forward to advance, ready to charge at the control room before a brief wave of disorientation hit him. He felt as if his vision had been flipped suddenly. The hall ahead, which was supposed to turn left, now faced right. No¡­ that wasn¡¯t right, the words on the wall to serve as guiding marks had been flipped as well.


    I looked down at the mirror, seeing the confused expression on the man¡¯s face. As long as I kept him in my mirror realm, there was no need to worry about his safety. Well, unless he did something to himself of course. But if that were the case, then there would truly be nothing I could do to stop it.

 Chapter 458: The Brightest Light

    <h4>Chapter 458: The Brightest Light</h4>


    After the initial barrage, arge portion of the creatures below were cleared out. This was the result of thousands of individuals all working in tandem tounch their most powerful attacks. Using my world sight, I was able to watch through the chaos to determine which abilities appeared to do the most damage to their targets.


    Let¡¯s see¡­ their carapace has a degree of protection against physical attacks, as well as elemental effects. They must be designed to survive in hostile environments. Poison spells appearpletely ineffective. As expected, offensive light spells can be considered their primary weakness, with intangible magic following closely.


    Taking a deep breath to focus myself, I created a golden mirror, which quickly shattered. ¡°Mirror the Archmage.¡±


    Momentster, I could feel my hair flowing down my back, my more slender limbs stretching slightly. My eyes gleamed with arcane power as I spoke in thenguage of runes. This would be my first time using a fourth-tier spell, so I wanted to borrow the power of Ryone.


    ¡°Define variable Scan, analyze gic material to determine species, designate as target. Define variable Trace, search within a one thousand meter radius for assigned target. Gather light across five hundred meters, empower by three weeks, condense into a one millimeter point. Attach variables Trace and Scan. Fire forward until contact with gic sample, or until two hundred meters. Run Scan, run Trace, fire forward towards designated target. Repeat spell, store spell Chain Extinction.¡±


    As I spoke, both of my hands were rapidly carving out lines of light within the air, gathering natural energy to further empower the spell. As I finished it, I drew onest symbol, that of a pair of crossed chains. This symbol sank into my palm, forming a brand that would allow me to quickly cast the spell again if I needed to.


    The next moment, all light seemed to briefly flicker out from the surroundings, colors blurring as a small orb appeared in front of my hand. A momentter, this orb sted forward, leaving a trail of scorched air behind itself. Its target was one of the many already deceased monsters.


    The instant the light struck the corpse, the world appeared to ignite. I pulled my hands back, crossing them in front of my chest as I stared down, only offering a small smile at the sight. As soon as the orb hit a body, it would burn, splitting off to attack the next one at the same time. This created a rapidly spreading chain of fire.


    With the power of my borrowed divinity, I was able to maintain the somewhat excessive mana cost of the spell. So long as there was another of these monsters within one kilometer of the victim, it would continue to branch out more and more.


    Of course, I wasn¡¯t expecting this spell to be able to kill all of the enemies. The odds of the entire invasion force being at this one location was¡­ unfortunately very low. No doubt, they were already spreading across the to build additional nests by the time we arrived.


    After my spellunched, Jonas halted his assault, watching me with aplex expression. It was clear that the habitat would be lost within the mes, but¡­ there was only the one officer now. As far as I was concerned, the habitat was lost before we arrived. The mission to bring them here had been a sess, so it would not be a problem to send another group. If the portals remained intact, they may even be able to salvage something of this sooner.


    My spell burned for roughly five minutes before it had found thest target, causing me to faintly nod. I noticed that there were other monsters within the spell¡¯s range, not targeted by its effects. Judging by the health bars that appeared over their heads when they passed too close to the fire, they should have been naturally spawned monsters of my own world.


    The fact that this world had naturally spawned monsters was a bit troubling¡­ it meant that there was a food source for the enemy. Either way, I simply shook my head. ¡°Well, let¡¯s get going back, shall we?¡± Now I knew what I needed to, both about Jonas¡¯s abilities and those of the enemy monsters.


    As he had said, he would be of most use in a defense. Since there was no need to fight a defensive battle this time, it would be for the best to have me personally deal with the enemy. Annoying, but efficient at the very least.


    As the fires of Eagle Five continued to burn, there was a faint shifting within the ground. Near a mangled body of a young elven woman, burnt by mes, roots slowly rose up from the ground. Soundlessly, this body slowly drifted beneath the soil, beyond the notice of the two gods above.


    Three weeks¡­ it took me three weeks to track down thest of these monsters, even with the help of Desbar¡¯s world spirit. Every day, I would find another ten nests, each with tens of thousands of these monsters. Their very bodies were torn apart by their kin, used as building material to construct these nests.


    Each time, I would use my Chain Extinction spell that I stored, together with Ryone¡¯s divinity, to reduce the nests to ash. Although these creatures burrowed underground to expand their nests, the mes still followed them.


    While this sounded easy, it was¡­ quite honestly, exhausting. Every day, I was using my own divinity to fight, and my speed of recovery was simply not keeping up. By the end of the third week, I could feel that I was down to roughly a tenth of the power I started with. If there were many more monsters, I would have to take a bit of time to rest, but doing so would also give these creatures more time to spread.


    At this point, I could easily see why having mortal gods was a trademark of the second rank. With just one, I could slowly decimate an entire rank one invasion on my own. The next time, however, it was likely that we would be facing enemy gods¡­ that was not something that I was looking forward to.


    Still, at least the rewards were nice¡­


    Congrattions! You have sessfully repelled the invasion of Keeper Vanity!


    Assessing the value of forces deployed in the invasion¡­


    3,248,927 enemies assessed!


    Keeper rank evaluated one tier higher than invading world, deducting 50% of rewards for reduced difficulty!


    75,000 points have been awarded as a result of your sessful defense!


    Admittedly, my eyes had gone full cartoon and bulged wide when I saw that number. My first invasion against Savage only awarded one thousand points, after all! Then again, he only sent five slimes, whereas Vanity sent millions of creatures. I suppose it wasn¡¯t too unusual for the points awarded to be so different.


    However, I was not the most excited person for the invasion to end. Every day, Tsubaki would greet me when I returned from battle. And every day, she would seem more and more desperate to join me when I left.


    Finally, when it was all over, there was practically a fire burning in her eyes despite her calm appearance. I could hear her thoughts begging for me to remember what I had promised her. That¡¯s why we were currently within her room, with Tsubakiying down on her bed.


    ¡°You¡¯re sure you want this?¡± I asked, sitting next to the bed. Although I knew the answer, I felt the need to ask, if only as a courtesy.


    ¡°I¡¯m certain.¡± Tsubaki answered without a moment of hesitation, closing her eyes.


    ¡°Very well¡­ just keep in mind, this is likely to be the most painful thing you have ever experienced. I¡¯ll be starting with reconstructing your body, and then immediately move onto your soul. For the time being, I¡¯ve had Dana sever her link with you, that way she isn¡¯t swept up in any of these changes.¡±


    Following the fall of Eagle Five, a new goddess arose within the world. Given the events surrounding Jonas Bayrun, there was far less uproar this time. In fact, few people truly seemed surprised when they learned the identity of the new goddess.


    Tsubaki stood out within the garden, staring out over the horizon. On her body, there were a few noticeable changes. Her previously golden hair was now a pure, faintly glowing white. Her eyes had turned into pure yellow orbs that gave off a slight radiance. And finally, her tails had¡­ divided? There were now nine tails, seeminglyposed of bright essence.


    Tsubaki, the Goddess of Light, had now taken her proper role.


    Meanwhile, within the world of Sorii, a new life was taking shape. Within the embers of Eagle Five¡¯s habitat, a small bud broke through the soil. At the tip of the bud was a faint, golden seed.


    As soon as I returned back to the Admin Room, I once again set the world to fast forward while I sent a message to Terra. I¡¯m sure you know by now what I want to ask¡­


    A faint giggle answered me through the mental connection. You want to know how they appeared on a world you haven¡¯t purchased, right?


    Nodding my head, I waited for her to get to the exnation. Normally, it should bemon sense that the creatures only spawn on my ¡®owned¡¯ territory. So, the fact that they instead appeared on Sorii confused me.


    It¡¯s simple. Terra exined. You do own Sorii. There is a second method to acquiring a world, rather than simply purchasing it. If your people colonize it, and inhabit the world as the dominant species for at least one year, the is acquired as your own property.


    I hesitated for a moment when I heard her words. That would exin why monsters had appeared, as the system expanded to cover that world, but¡­ this was bigger than simply Sorii. The auxiliary demon worlds. It¡¯s been way more than one year.


    It has, hasn¡¯t it? Terra asked in a mysterious tone. Those worlds were long ago made your property. However, because they were already connected with the Fairy Gates, there was no option to merge theirws. Simrly, some of those worlds would be very expensive to integrate their systems with Earth.


    I gave a small nod when I heard that, thinking about the ¡®hospital¡¯ that the demons had set up. If an invasion urred there, it would be even more troublesome. After all, it was a world where any inhabitant, whether it was a monster or a person, was gradually healed. At the same time, that world did not share the game system that the primary worlds did.


    Thinking about that made me furrow my brow. Terra¡­ I want to upgrade the Fairy Gates. Please notify Aurivy, Ryone, Tubrock, and¡­ Udona should probably be involved as well.


    Suddenly, Terra¡¯s tone became much more interested. Oh? What kind of upgrade did you have in mind.


    From now on, I want the Fairy Gate¡¯s ¡®random connection¡¯ feature to only connect to worlds that have the basic game temte I¡¯m using for my worlds. That should limit my headaches in the future. And between the four of them, I¡¯m hoping that they cane up with an answer.


    Hmm¡­ Terra muttered mentally, before sending another reply. I¡¯ll get them on it. But don¡¯t expect that to be an easy modification.


    Oh, I wasn¡¯t¡­ I was fully expecting that we might need another god or two to help. Hopefully, someone suitable would soon appear within my worlds.

 Chapter 459: Divine Tree… Divinitree?

    <h4>Chapter 459: Divine Tree¡­ Divinitree?</h4>


    Following the loss of Eagle Five, a storm of activity began to take ce within many of the primary worlds. Although the habitat had ultimately been lost, the fact was that the habitation itself was sessful. Only the unpredictable enemy known as the ¡®invasion¡¯ had stopped a sessful terraforming.


    With this fact in mind, Desbar, Deckan, and even Earth all began to focus heavily on their own space programs. Spica was already doing a considerable amount of work themselves, and was currently only missing one key detail. That detail was a proper shield that could defend against the energy storms that ravage space in their realm.


    As for Lorek¡­ although it was perhaps a bit sad, they were far too behind in terms of technology to contribute to a space program. Their power came purely from personal strength, which could now rival any of the other worlds.


    Six years after the invasion, proper contact was finally made within the world of Sher Dien. The Allied Nation that had been built around the gate had atst spread far enough to arrive within the inhabitednds of Dien Shur.


    This contact proved to be¡­ far more peaceful than the original meeting that the centaurs of Earth had with other races, likely due to the difference in their advancement. After being suppressed by powerful monsters for so many generations, they did not have the same arrogance that their Earthbound kin once held.


    Admittedly, few centaurs chose to leave their world to venture into Earth. This was true even after they established stable portals that did not require the centaurs to cross the sea. One trait that they hadrgely inmon with those of Earth was a strong sense of belonging in their own home.


    ¡°Ten years should give them plenty of time to advance a bit.¡± I mumbled to myself, setting the rm in the system to stop fast forwarding ten years after the invasion. I wanted to give plenty of time for those within my worlds to once again step out into the stars. And not just the people of Desbar, either. There should be no reason why others can¡¯t-


    My thoughts were broken off as a system announcement appeared in front of me.


    ¡°Phoenix One, we are reading your approach on Sorii.¡± A voice spoke up into the radio, causing a demonic woman to chuckle. After the events of thest expedition, it was no longer deemed necessary to outsource the leadership for these missions to other races. With every working on their own programs, each world wanted to keep its own trained astronauts to themselves.


    ¡°Ashlin, this is Phoenix One. I have a visual on- holy mother, what is that¡­¡±


    Captain Alice nced out her viewport, looking down at the red below. Or rather, what should have been a red. There was¡­ far more green that she had remembered from thetest scans. ¡°Ashlin, are you seeing this?¡±


    ¡°Patching into external cameras, give me just a second. That can¡¯t be right¡­¡± Thetest view of Sorii from both the mana scanners and telescopes had shown that the progress was still mostly on schedule for their projected estimates. Now, however, over half of the had be either green or blue.


    What was more shocking was the massive structure that could be seen on the surface. It was¡­ a tree. A tree reaching up roughly a hundred kilometers, needing only minimal levels of zoom to properly make out. Its width could be estimated at roughly fifty kilometers along the canopy, with a trunk that was one kilometer thick.


    ¡°Phoenix One, redirect to site three and perform scans as normal.¡±


    ¡°¡­Understood, Ashlin.¡± Captain Alice nodded her head, feeling like this was the right call. A tree that grew thatrge in the span of a short few years¡­ they needed proper information.


    Making up her mind, she turned on the radio to get everyone¡¯s attention. ¡°Alright, guys, everyone log out now. It¡¯s wakeup time We¡¯ve got an unexpected surprise waiting for us below, and I want everyone at their best. We¡¯ll be hitting orbit in ten minutes.¡±


    An unidentified race has ascended to sapience. At any point, you may purchase them into the system of your world. Until such time, they will be treated as typical monsters, and will be unable to ess various systems of the world restricted to registered life forms.


    ¡°This is¡­ surprising.¡± I muttered inwardly, before pulling up the information on this new race.


    Race Name


    Unssified


    Comprehension


    74


    Agility


    25


    Strength


    38


    Lifespan


    900


    Luck


    18


    Awareness


    60


    Progenitor:Progeny ratio


    1:100000000


    Example Adult Progenitor


    Example Adult Progeny


    Racial Traits


    - Alternate Gender Profile: Progenitor/Progeny


    - Progenitor Insipience


    - Natural Affinity 4


    - Environmental Adaptation 2


    - Poison Resistance 2


    - Tactile Telepathy


    ¡°These numbers¡­ a ¡®gender¡¯ ratio of one to one hundred million¡­ And only the ¡®progeny¡¯ are sapient?¡± I muttered, pulling up the images for both.


    The example progenitor was a massive tree, its roots forming an entire forest around its primary structure. On the other hand, the progeny looked¡­ almost like an elf. If an elf were made entirely of nt matter. Its skin was green with brown, wooden joints. ¡®Hair¡¯ made of leaves and vines sprouted from the top of its head.


    Although the point cost was a full one thousand, seven hundred¡­ I actually could see it being worth that. The various traits included with the race could lead it to be a powerhouse. The only question was¡­ where did ite from. Locating the source of the race was easy, at which point I yed back its history to see for myself what had happened.


    In a way, it could be said that I created this race. In a way, at least.


    On the Sorii, when the invaders from Vanity had attacked, I deployed arge-scale spell that had its roots in sr energy. Previously, the evolution of the transnted nts had been elerated in such a direction that sr energy became a fuel source for them. When I deployed this spell, it triggered a reaction with those nts¡­


    With the increased fuel spurring an elerated growth period, the nts were rapidly seeking out anything that could be used as fuel. At that point, they found a suitable fertilizer¡­ a dead elf. The elf¡¯s body was pulled underground and drained, gic material mixing in with the nts.


    Normally, that alone shouldn¡¯t be enough, even if the elf was remarkably high level. However, I was constantly using my own divinity to fuel that spell, which enabled the nts to absorb trace amounts of divine energy.


    Fuel to elerate growth, gic materials of a high-level elf, and the divinity of a god. These three coincidences merged with the natural evolution ability of Spica¡¯s flora to trigger a much more startling change.


    Pulling up the image of this new ¡®Progenitor Tree¡¯, I ran a scan on it. Its unique evolution process had me curious about something. Sure enough, I found my answer soon.


    The entire tree had divine energy running through it! While not thick enough for the tree itself to be considered a deity, it was several times more dense than the average person¡¯s divine spark. More importantly, the quantity was millions of times greater. Millions¡­


    So that¡¯s why one tree can produce one hundred million progeny. It uses its own divinity to do so. Itsst sparks should be to create a fruit which possesses the seeds for the next generation¡¯s progenitor.


    Currently, the tree on Sorii was still in its growth phase. Despite that, it had reached a height of a hundred kilometers, hitting the atmospheric ceiling of the. At this point, it was instead beginning to grow outwards, and had already birthed thousands of young progeny.


    I could see these progeny walking around with a carefree attitude, casually expanding the forest with the innate talents they possessed. Despite not possessing any sses, they were as good as any druid when it came to handling nts.


    ¡°Name the race¡­ Sylvans.¡± I muttered to the system. I sent a message to Tryval, in order to alert him to this development. After all, he was the God of nts, even if he rarely used that domain. In a way, he would be the sponsored ¡®god¡¯ of this race, until one of them grew into a god themselves.


    That said, I didn¡¯t hesitate to buy these sylvans. There was no downside to doing so, and they could perhaps help with many issues down the line.


    ¡°Captain, I¡¯m reading multiple lifesigns below!¡± A voice called out to the captain over the radio. ¡°Mana signatures are roughly a hundred times denser than during Eagle Five¡¯s habitation. Picking up ki and spiritual energy readings, and natural energy movements show stage three terraforming progress.¡±


    The terraforming process was split into five stages, ording to the space programs of the Allied Worlds. Stage one was simple, transnt a small number of Spican nts and help them multiply. This would begin the process of cleansing the atmosphere and helping to revitalize thend.


    Stage two was to bring in more nt samples from both Spica and another home world. The non-Spican nts would help keep the others in check with atmospheric requirements, so long as a druid was kept on standby to monitor their growth. Don¡¯t want the Spican nts to overwhelm the others, after all.


    Stage three was mass expansion. Bringing in a greater quantity of nts capable of bearing edible fruits and expanding the affected area until it covered the entire. Stage three wasn¡¯t expected to begin for another century, even with the most optimistic estimates.


    Stage four would be the introduction of wildlife, though they discovered that the system wouldrgely take care of that for them. At the end of stage four, the itself could be considered livable.


    Finally, stage five was the introduction of people to live in the world and properly colonizing it. These stages were meant tost a hundred and fifty years, and yet¡­ a mere twenty years had passed since Eagle Five firstnded. Sorii was apparently going through stage three terraforming already¡­ wouldn¡¯t theter stagese sooner than they expected, as well?


    ¡°Send the data back home.¡± The captain said, her eyes focusing on the below. Currently, they were flying at a height of five hundred meters, so she only had to channel a small amount of ki to see the details on the surface.


    When she did, she could see figures walking about, from one tree to another. Every now and then, they would hold hands before moving on, or lean against a nearby tree. Some of them danced, and flowers spread out beneath their feet. Others held their hands in the air, slowly waving them as small clouds gathered overhead to bring rain.


    At first, the captain wanted to dismiss them as humanoid monsters. While they didn¡¯t seem particrly violent, it was always best to be careful. However, that was when she saw something unusual. A faint, familiar light enveloping one of the rain callers. The light of leveling up.


    These aren¡¯t monsters¡­ for whatever reason, these are people as well. It had to be known that the only time a monster was capable of leveling up was when it was bound to a monster tamer. Clearly, there was no monster tamer involved here, as the only surviving member of Eagle Five had long since been returned to Desbar. The only exnations were that this was either a new race, or one that hade to this world while they were gone.


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t prepared for diplomacy on this mission.¡± She said with a groan, as the presence of a recognized race meant that they had to take entirely different measures before they could im anynd on Sorii now. Even if they were technically here first.

 Chapter 460: Perfect Timing

    <h4>Chapter 460: Perfect Timing</h4>


    When Phoenix Onended, they did so in an area well outside where the ¡®nt people¡¯ were doing their work. They could see the towering figure of the giant tree in the distance, the forest gradually encroaching on their position, but not the faintly elven creatures creating that effect.


    ¡°You sure about this, Captain?¡± The security officer spoke up as he and Captain Alice stepped out of the craft. This wasn¡¯t the same man who had joined the Eagle Five project. Although they had wanted to recruit him, he had sworn vehemently that he would not go back to Sorii.


    ¡°Sadly, it¡¯s protocol, Mires.¡± Alice shook her head. ¡°At least, that¡¯s what the eggheads back home said.¡± Egghead was a somewhat derogatory term among demons for younger people, as if they had just hatched. Despite her youthful appearance, Alice herself was well into her sixties, so it wasn¡¯t unusual for her to use terms like that.


    ¡°Pretty sure they¡¯re just making it up as we go.¡± Mires shook his head with an annoyed huff. The two of them were both wearing their EVA rings to protect themselves from the still-quite hostile atmosphere of the barren world.


    ¡°Maybe, but it¡¯s part of the mission. If we can get their cooperation, we can finish terraforming a full century ahead of schedule, at least.¡± As the two of them spoke, they began moving towards the growing forest.


    It took them roughly ten minutes of walking before the shadows of the trees began to loom over them. Soon after, they could see a figure poking its head out from behind one of the trees. The person had green skin with extrusions simr to leaves covering its body to offer some form of modesty. From its general shape, it seemed to be a female, with milky white eyes and thin branches extending out of the back of her head.


    Alice focused, and a thin disc shed into existence in her hand. She ced that disc into a small device strapped to her wrist and held it up. Soon, the device began speaking in Alice¡¯s voice. ¡°Hello, this is our first time meeting your race. We would like to take this chance to get to know you. Quest Objective, introduction to an individual capable of speaking for your people. Quest Reward, establishing a peaceful line ofmunications.¡±


    The figure¡¯s mouth opened in a silent gasp as she heard the voice, running over with her eyes locked on the device. It was clear that she didn¡¯t understand the words that Alice and Mires had been speaking, but she had somehow understood the thing on her wrist.


    Alice began to channel her ki, preparing for a potential assault while Mires clenched his fists. However, when the figure arrived in front of them, she reached down to hold Alice¡¯s hand, the other hand touching the device on her wrist.


    The first thing that the demoness noticed was the coolness of her skin. It was clear that the species wasn¡¯t warmblooded, if there was any blood in them at all. The second thing, however, is what really caught her by surprise. A voice speaking into her mind. Are you a child of the tree as well, tiny arm creature?


    ¡°Oh, joy¡­ this is going to take a while.¡± It was painfully clear at this point that this was no advanced race that had begun colonizing Sorii during their absence. No, they were about as far from advanced as it could get.


    Within the world of Lorek, Jana had her eyes closed as she sat atop a mountain. She allowed herself to be lost in meditation, only enough awareness spared for her surroundings to warn her of an approaching monster. She was currently stuck at a bottleneck in both her cultivation and levels.


    From what Jana knew, she should be a peak-Ancient realm cultivator. All she needed was to find the next step, just some kind of hint about how she should advance. At the same time, her monk levels had halted at five hundred and ny-nine.


    Yet, this proved to be just what she needed, the spark to fuel her advancement. She had been unable to find a guide that described how to proceed forward into the next realm, yet this ¡®World System¡¯ had given her a clue. The moment she hit her current level, a system prompt appeared.


    Analyzing cultivation method. Bottleneck confirmed.


    You have reached the pinnacle of your current realm. Preparing automated cultivation hint.


    One thought bes tenws. Tenws be a thousand truths. A thousand truths confirm the heart.


    As soon as Jana read those lines, she knew that it had something to do with her advancement. Immediately, she secluded herself atop a distant mountain, establishing arrays to help protect her. All the while, her mind was focused.


    One thought bes tenws¡­ tenws be a thousand truths, and a thousand truths confirm the heart¡­


    She brought it! Trials¡¯ voice rang out through the bond, shattering the focus of the many dungeon cores who had been studying their own divinity. Mother finally brought her gift!


    The one she promised before?


    Mother brought us a gift?


    Show us! Numerous voices rang out at once. However, the next voice that spoke up was one that only rarely talked within the dungeonmunity.


    She shared it with me. There was an air of mystery to this voice that attracted the other cores. Thousand Arms, Ten Thousand Threads, a Single Heart. This is a technique that Mother designed for us.


    She gave it to you, Tower? You don¡¯t even have a Master yet! One of the voices spoke up in confusion.


    It¡¯s true! Trials confirmed. Mother told me she gave the technique to Tower, and wants him to teach it to us.


    Why didn¡¯t she just tell Tower to tell us, then¡­ The previous voice asked. It was¡­ unusual for such a gift toe through Tower, rather than Trials. It had to be known that Trials, as far as anyone could tell, was the first dungeon. He was always doted on by Mother, and so often used as Mother¡¯s voice within the dungeons.


    She wishes for me to act as the core of the technique. Tower exined. If it works¡­ we should be able to obtain our divinity as soon as we have a Perfection to study.


    ¡°You guys want someone with a Perfection?¡± Petra asked, sitting atop a tall building as she dangled her legs over the ledge of the room. In herp, she carefully held her AC unit, speaking with the core of her own dungeon.


    Yes, that¡¯s right. Unlike many of the dungeon masters, Storm felt as though Petra could be trusted. If not with their whole n, at least a part of it. We need to study how the body isposed when in a perfect state.


    ¡°I take it that¡¯s why that Tower of Perfection guy appeared?¡± She muttered aloud, gazing up at the stars.


    Exactly. Unfortunately¡­ it seems like there are too few people that have gained that level. There was a tone of helplessness to the dungeon¡¯s voice as it spoke with her.


    ¡°Yeah, I only really know of a few.¡± Petra nodded. ¡°One¡­ no, two of them are gods now, so that won¡¯t work anymore, huh? Hmm¡­ what do you even need that for, anyways?¡±


    That¡­ we¡¯re trying to create a Perfect dungeon core. By now, Storm knew that there was a being with Petra that could discern lies, so it chose to give a half-truth. By all technicality, that is what they needed a Perfection for, it was just not their end goal.


    ¡°Oh! If that¡¯s all, why not just say so?¡± Petra asked with a bright smile. ¡°Would it be alright if I just tell you how to do it? I¡¯m sure you guys can run all sorts of experiments with your monsters to get it right.¡±


    You know how to reach Perfection!? Storm was truly shocked when he heard that. Given how few beings there seemed to be in that state, the dungeons had all assumed that it was a closely guarded secret. They thought that anybody who managed to discover the method would keep it to themselves.


    ¡°Oh, sure. There¡¯s this guy that wrote a big report on the entire process, like, years ago. It¡¯s just that nobody does it because they are worried about failing.¡±


    Why don¡¯t you do it, then?


    The dungeon¡¯s curiosity was understandable. A being as strong as Petra could easily ovee many difficulties. However, she simply shook her head. ¡°I can¡¯t train new sses on my own, and big sis Thelsa said that she isn¡¯t prepared to do it yet.¡±


    Then, could you teach us¡­?


    ¡°Sure!¡± She nodded her head with a bright smile, pushing off of the ledge. Her wings spread out behind her as she began gliding down towards the busy streets below. ¡°Let me get to aputer, and I¡¯ll pull the report up for you guys.¡±


    Two hours¡­ it took two hours just to convince the nt woman that the device on Alice¡¯s wrist was not just some tiny creature, and was a tool that they were using tomunicate. They never thought that they¡¯d have to actually exin what ¡®tools¡¯ were, but such was the situation they found themselves in.


    After they finished the exnation, the woman looked around, walking over towards one of the nearby trees and cing her hand on it. A few momentster, she came back, motioning for the two demons to follow her.


    The three people began walking deeper into the forest, where other nt people began watching them. Oddly, all of these individuals held female body shapes, something that the two demons quickly took note of.


    Roughly halfway through their walk, some of these individuals began following the group, forming a small entourage. They were obviously curious about the new people, though the fact that they did not speak audibly was a bit off-putting. Instead, every now and then one of them would reach out and touch another, simr to how the one who had spoken to Alice hadmunicated.


    ¡°Hopefully, they can be taught to speak.¡± Mires spoke up as they walked. ¡°It¡¯ll be hard for them to really fit in if they can onlymunicate through touch.¡±


    ¡°Maybe we can work on a device to trante their thoughts to words.¡± Alice shrugged. Such items were not entirely umon, though none quite like that. ¡°As long as they aren¡¯t hostile, it won¡¯t be too bad.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, speaking of¡­ how have we not seen any monsters yet?¡± Mires¡¯ question raised a valid point. Ever sincending, the only creatures that they had seen were these nt people. ording to the data that they had from Eagle Five, there should have been arge number of monsters within the world by now.


    ¡°That¡¯s a¡­ good question.¡± Alice nodded her head, before repeating the question via another Quest Disc.


    Their guide turned to look at them curiously, walking over and touching the captain¡¯s arm. Are you talking about the food-beings?


    ¡°Okay, yeah¡­ they did it. Mires, stay on your guard. I think the nts might be omnivores.¡± Admittedly, that was probably not what Mires wanted to hear at the moment, his eyes scanning around to look at the different nt people walking with them.


    Mires began circting his ki, doing his best to keep himself in a state of readiness while also maintaining his calm. Soon, the two demons were brought before the trunk of the tree at the center of the forest. A trunk that stretched a kilometer wide, and literally scraped the skies.


    Hanging from the branches above were countless fruits in various stages of their growth. Those on the lowest branches seemed to have already fallen, green shells littering the floor. The next level up had slowly swaying blue fruit two feet wide. The skin of the fruit was translucent, and it was filled with a strange liquid while a humanoid shape curled up within.


    The next level possessed far less fruits, each one only half the size of the blue fruits. Their skins were opaque, however, so Alice and Mires couldn¡¯t see what was inside.


    Finally, there were only three fruits on the highest level that they could see, though there were perhaps more in other areas of the tree¡¯s branches. Three golden gourd-shaped fruits, only a few inches thick. Their exterior seemed to almost shimmer with a faint light.

 Chapter 461: Fruits of Our Labors

    <h4>Chapter 461: Fruits of Our Labors</h4>


    After roughly five minutes of waiting, the trunk of the tree began to distort. A passageway opened within the knotted wood, and a figure stepped out. This figure was clearly the same species as those surrounding the two demons, with one stark difference. Unlike the green skin of the others, this one had a yellow, almost golden skin tone.


    What was more shocking was that it soon opened its mouth, speaking in a tongue familiar to the demons, the elvennguage of Earth. ¡°You¡­e from the otherworld.¡± The figure spoke with some difficulty, as if it had to strain itself to speak. Thankfully, there were somenguages that were taught in every school, those most likely to be encountered in the different worlds. This elvennguage was one of those.


    ¡°T-that¡¯s right.¡± Alice nodded her head. ¡°How is it you can speak like that? I don¡¯t believe that we have ever met before.¡±


    ¡°I am Cicily of Learning.¡± The figure said, stepping forward again. With every word, her speech seemed to be more natural and flowing, soon sounding as if she was a true, native speaker. ¡°I learned the voice of the tree¡¯s mother, and use it to speak with you.¡±


    As she said that, she lightly waved her hands, releasing a gentle flow of green light. Vines began to rise up from the ground, wrapping around the roots of the great tree. These vines then thickened, and small green fruits began growing from them like grapes.


    In some form of quiet understanding, the nearby nt people all walked over to the vines, each plucking a fruit and eating it. Afterwards, they began to gasp, making simple noises with brand new voices.


    ¡°These fruits will bestow the youth with a voice of their own.¡± Cicily exined. ¡°It will take time for them to speak as we do, but that is fine. For now, you wish to speak with me?¡±


    Alice watched the events unfolding, having to snap her attention back to what was clearly the leader of this grove. ¡°That¡¯s right. Wee from the ¡®otherworld¡¯ that you spoke of, a known as Desbar. Our objective here is to create a sustainable colony on this. During ourst mission, your people were not present. Now that they are¡­ we find ourselves needing to negotiate to ensure peaceful rtions.¡±


    Cicily nodded her head slowly, listening to the words. She fell silent after Alice finished, needing to take time to find the meaning for many of the words that she had used. ¡°You wish your people to live on this world, and in doing so seek the aid of the forest.¡±


    ¡°In a manner of speaking, yes.¡± Alice confirmed simply.


    ¡°There is a concept within the memories of the tree¡¯s mother, one which weighed heavily within her heart.¡± Cicily spoke in a pleasant tone. ¡°Trade. Equivalence. Cooperation through mutual benefit. If you are able to offer something of value to the forest, the forest shall be your ally.¡±


    If there was any doubt before, Alice was now certain that the tree had been born from an elf in some way. One who firmly believed in the teachings of Ryone. Alice took a deep breath, thinking over her options. Clearly, there was no point in offering up resources or advanced technology. For the former, these people had plenty, and they wouldn¡¯t know what to do with thetter.


    However, as she was thinking about that, Alice¡¯s eyes went wide. She recalled the title that Cicily had given herself. ¡°Knowledge. What if we can supply you with knowledge beyond what you possess?¡±


    Cicily closed her eyes in thought. ¡°While I myself hold a deep interest in the wonders of knowledge, this is not a direct benefit to the forest as a whole. However, if I obtain suitable information, I can then pass it to others. Through this sharing of information, the forest will grow.¡±


    Speaking up to that point, Cicily nodded her head. ¡°Very well, I ept your proposal. You shall share your knowledge, and the forest shall be your ally. May the tree bear witness to our agreement.¡±


    ¡°Ashlin, did you get all of that?¡± Alice spoke up into her radio, earning a confused nce from Cicily.


    ¡°We read you, Phoenix One. Trade Agreement has been approved. We¡¯repiling all of the information we have on the Druid, Shaman, Herbalist, and Alchemist sses. Ask if they¡¯d prefer it in written or verbal form.¡±


    ¡°Verbal, if you would.¡± Cicily responded, showing that she could clearly hear the faint voice in Alice¡¯s ear. ¡°The memories of the tree¡¯s mother did not include enough information for me to read hernguage.¡±


    My eyes were focused on the scene below, on the interaction between Cicily and Alice. However, it was undoubtedly Cicily that captured the vast majority of my focus. That was because of some information I received when I first saw her.


    Cicily - Level 273 Sylvan Demigoddess of Learning


    That was why she called herself ¡®Cicily of Learning¡¯, because the system itself had assigned that trait to her. Or maybe it was something that the tree subconsciously decided. Her level was rapidly increasing, primarily as a druid and schr, allowing her to reach her current level after a meager few days.


    Entering in a few mentalmands, I counted the number of fruits within the branches of the tree. At the lowest level, the green fruits were just starting to grow back in, and there were a total of seventy-five thousand of them. This roughly matched the number of currently living Sylvans.


    The nextyer had the blue fruits, which were almost ready to fall. Of those, there were forty thousand. Following that was twenty thousand red fruits that seemed to be at varying stages in their growth, and¡­ nine gold. For the nine gold, they were barely noticeable, with one extra that had been lifted up by the tree itself and ced nearer the trunk. That extra fruit had already ripened and ¡®hatched¡¯, which no doubt resulted in Cicily.


    That is to say¡­ the golden fruits would likely all give birth to demigods. There may even be an actual divinity among them. As for the others¡­ the green fruits seemed to be the most simple sylvans, those who were not even born with vocal cords.


    The only reason that the ¡®green sylvans¡¯ were able to speak was because of those fruits that Cicily had grown. I don¡¯t know how she managed to do it, but those fruits modified the throats of the sylvans that ate them, giving them a working set of vocal cords. The only thing that I coulde up with was that her demi-domain gave her the ability to quickly understand concepts, and she was able to understand the difference between herself and her ¡®sisters¡¯.


    If she was able to physically modify the other sylvans through fruits like that, then it was entirely possible that more drastic modifications could be made in the future. And they were giving her all of the information that she would need to do just that with the records of those four sses¡­


    Following the information provided by the demons, there was a rapid shift in the forest. The trees grown from the roots of the ¡®parent tree¡¯ began shifting under Cicily¡¯s guidance, turning into various facilities. Some trees sold knowledge, others sold potions or tools.


    For the tools, these were nt-based replicas of things such as swords, armor, or farming equipment. des were reced by serrated barbs attached to iron-like bark, a simr material used as the foundation for armor.


    The currency that the shop epted turned out to be ¡®contribution¡¯ to the forest. Clearing away the ¡®food-beings¡¯, what they called the monsters, and helping to spread the forest allowed the sylvans to earn points. These points were tallied and kept by Cicily herself, who served as the leader of the sylvans. Whenever someone wished to acquire something from the shops, they need only possess proper contribution.


    This became the basis of the ¡®merchant¡¯ society of the sylvans, and also fueled their growth. The demons had barely finished setting up their habitat for Phoenix One when the forest had reached their location.


    Perhaps the most disturbing thing was when the trees themselves became capable of talking. Not directly, but Cicily had discovered a way to transmit her voice through the trees, as if connected to a speaker system. This was first discovered when a tree with a pattern reminiscent of a face grew outside of their habitat.


    As Alice went to investigate the tree, it had directly spoken to her in Cicily¡¯s voice. ¡°Don¡¯t mind me.¡± It said. ¡°I thought that this would make for easiermunication between our people.¡±


    Alice simply shook her head with a sigh. ¡°I don¡¯t even know what to expect anymore¡­¡±


    ¡°One thought bes tenws. Tenws be a thousand truths. A thousand truths confirm the heart¡­ confirm the heart.¡± Jana muttered, focusing on her internal sea of stars.


    Every star represented a ¡®truth¡¯. The only question on Jana¡¯s mind became¡­ how can these truths confirm the heart. There were multiple possible answers, but Jana did not have the luxury of trial and error. One misstep on the path of cultivation could lead to the destruction of her body.


    After a while, Jana began looking at it a different way. Instead of thews, truths, and the heart, she thought about the other side of the hint. ¡°One bes ten, ten bes a thousand, and a thousand be one. Return to the origin to confirm the heart.¡±


    When that thought struck her, it was as if she had experienced enlightenment. Focusing on her internal sea of stars, she began picking those with ¡®simr¡¯ truths and drawing them towards one another. As she did so, these stars began to exude an attractive force, merging together to form a single star.


    This began to ur throughout her inner sky, more and more stars joining together, until the countless specks had be a hundred perfect spheres. The moment thest one fell into ce, a pulse of energy shot out from Jana¡¯s body, shattering the mountain peak that she sat on. Heavenly radiance poured from above, silver lights glistening off her skin.


    Monk has leveled up!


    Cultivation advancement detected! You are the first to reach your current realm! Do you wish to name your current realm?


    Finally, Jana had broken through the bottleneck, and reached level six hundred as a monk. As she read the system¡¯s announcement, she focused, looking over her current self. With a small sigh, she shook her head. ¡°This shouldn¡¯t be the immortal realm recorded in the murals¡­ Let¡¯s call this the Lord realm.¡±


    The sixth realm of cultivation, the Lord realm, has been registered!


    Jana nodded her head as she read that. That¡¯s right, this was the sixth realm¡­ she didn¡¯t know how many more realms were left on the path of cultivation. However, she was determined to see it through to the end. That was what she felt she owed to those who sacrificed themselves for her to make it this far.


    ¡°Looks like they¡¯re making good progress on that end.¡± I nodded my head after checking up on Jana. The Lord realm, or what I knew as Binary Union, was a rather important step in the Profound Star Laws. It represented the change from ¡®expansion¡¯ to pression¡¯.


    One more rank, and she would arrive at Nova Merge. Given the path that she was pursuing, that would likely be the limit of her cultivation, unless she chose to cultivate additionalws. Otherwise, I couldn¡¯t see her advancing again after that.


    Perhaps thankfully, the water path that she chose cultivated both ki and natural energy. While I wasn¡¯t sure what type of energy body would be created through that union, the very fact that there were multiple energies should enable her to step into that realm. And, unless I am mistaken, that should be the realm which she knows as ¡®immortal¡¯.

 Chapter 462: Divine Unity

    <h4>Chapter 462: Divine Unity</h4>


    When Jana returned to the city, she found that the dwarves she had brought from the ancestral home had finally begun to properly integrate themselves within society. Some were pursuing the path of cultivation that had been lost to them for so long, while others were sharing the secrets of stormforged weapons that this region had yet to discover.


    Still others could be seen lined up next to the Fairy Gate with packed bags, preparing to depart for other worlds. Jana herself was tempted to visit some of these other worlds, but ultimately restrained herself. Now that she had ascended to the Lord realm, she had other needs to tend to.


    It was still too early for her to go beyond the sky yet, as she had not cultivated to the point where she wouldn¡¯t need to breathe anymore. Instead, what she wanted to do was to explore the world where she lived. During her brief visit to Spica, she had learned the enormity of the world, and wanted to truly explore what secretsy within thend she called home.


    As such, she only remained within the city long enough to share the secrets of advancement before leaving once again. This time, she directly left the ursa home continent and began to wander the open ocean without any guide.


    ¡°Big sis Tsuba!¡± Dana called out within the Sky Citadel, looking around the various rooms. Tsubaki hardly ever went against her normal schedule, so Dana couldn¡¯t quite figure out what she was up to.


    Through the bond that they had reestablished, she could feel that Tsubaki was close, but it was as if her presence wasing from the entire citadel itself. ¡°Did you lose track of time cleaning again?¡± She called out, before making her way towards Tsubaki¡¯s room.


    For most people, it would be normal to look in their bedrooms first if they were searching. For Tsubaki, however, she spent so little time in her room that Dana rarely had to look there. When she opened the door and entered the room, however, Dana let out a light gasp.


    Sure enough, Tsubaki was indeed in her room,ying in her bed. She wore her virtual reality headset, clearly logged into Vision Expanse. But that wasn¡¯t what surprised Dana. What surprised her was that the wire connected to the headset, and even theputer that were plugged into, were actually glowing. Not only that, the inte cord plugged into theputer, extending into the wall had the same glow.


    So that¡¯s why her presence was all over the ce. Dana muttered inwardly, before shaking her head. As the Goddess of Light, Tsubaki had a deep connection with all things light-based. A connection which included fiber-optic wires.


    Dana simply walked over to theputer, sitting down in the chair. What surprised her initially was that the screen which should have disyed her character within Vision Expanse was simply showing the loading screen of the game.


    ¡°Tsubaki?¡± She asked out loud, at the same time typing the name into the keyboard as ifmunicating with her in the game. Almost immediately, Tsubaki appeared within the screen, looking around in a daze. However, the screen still appeared to be loading, showing that she was not truly within the game.


    ¡°This is very unusual.¡± She muttered, her voice reaching Dana through theputer¡¯s speakers.


    Dana blinked in confusion, typing on the keyboard again. ¡°Can you read this?¡±


    ¡°No, but I can hear you, Dana.¡± Tsubaki said, rather bluntly. ¡°Where am I? I should have logged into Vision Expanse by now.¡±


    Dana sat back, confused before a moment of realization struck her. ¡°Sis, I think you got lost on the way. Right now, you¡¯re in yourputer.¡± Out of curiosity, she grabbed the mouse, bringing it over towards Tsubaki.


    The kitsune goddess¡¯s head turned to face the approaching cursor, her eyes widening. She let out a low hiss, firing a beam of light at the cursor. The moment it hit, Dana clicked the mouse by reflex, seeming to ¡®catch¡¯ the beam, which startled both of them.


    ¡°Okay, I think I¡¯m going to get out of theputer now.¡± Tsubaki nodded resolutely. From her perspective, she saw a massive hand hovering in the sky, holding the beam of light which she had just fired at it.


    Immediately, theputer lost its ethereal glow, as did the wires and headset. Tsubaki¡¯s figure disappeared from the screen, and she abruptly sat up on her bed. Still, Dana sat at theputer, holding the mouse button down as the cursor held onto the beam of light. ¡°Well, what am I supposed to do with this!?¡±


    Within the Tower of Perfection, roaring explosions could be heard echoing about. Monsters were created one after another, then modified following the methods that they had received from Petra. Each time, they would modify the process ever so slightly, whether it was the type of monster they were attempting to perfect or the method that they used to do so.


    This started with the most simple of monsters, slimes, simr to how Jonas Bayrun had begun his experiments. Only after they had perfected the creation of ¡®slimes of origin¡¯ did they move on to moreplex lifeforms.


    Thankfully the Tower dungeon was not alone in this endeavor. At the moment, roughly half of the total dungeon cores were practicing the new art that had been given to them by their Mother. The core of their focus was on the third part of the technique, ¡®A Single Heart¡¯.


    This technique was something that Aurivy had designed in order to allow multiple cores to focus on a single dungeon. By turning their own will into a thread, they then sent those threads across their telepathic bond, congealing them within the Tower of Perfection. Like this, the processing ability of Tower increased exponentially.


    With every creature that they sessfully perfected, they moved a step closer to their own forms. Moreplex structures, focused more intently on mana, even shifting to crystalline creatures. All of these were happening on the various floors of the dungeons at once.


    From the outside, people had begun to gather, staring at the rumbling tower. Some stared in awe, thinking that a challenger had finally appeared that was capable of braving the dangers that the dungeon offered. Was this masterless dungeon finally going to be conquered?


    Soon, the experiments wereing closer to fruition. Only a hundred monsters were appearing at a time, their energies forcibly altered to follow the patterns that had been tested and proven to work. Less and less failures rocked the dungeon with violent sts until finally, the dungeon began creating facsimile cores in their own image.


    Although these cores were not truly alive and capable of functioning as their own dungeons, they possessed the same types of energy. This was because their energy was being supplemented by the dungeon which created them.


    Out of the one hundred cores, only ten failed the process of perfection. Seeing this, the dungeon known as Tower was immensely pleased, and issued an announcement to all dungeons. We will immediately begin the n. Everyone, I ask for your assistance here.


    The reason why only half of the dungeons had been working on the process until now was that the others had to deal with either invaders in their dungeon, or handling requests for their master. Now that the n was ready, however, they temporarily put everything on hold. This was the culmination of their ns, the realization of the efforts which Mother herself had taken note.


    More and more threads of will began to pour into Tower as they began the process of perfecting his core. Those that had participated until now took the leading role, whereas the others supported by making sure that there wasn¡¯t any improper energy leakage.


    Outside the dungeon, the onlookers noticed that things had quieted down. Some of them shook their heads, preparing to return to the cities that they came from. It was clear that whatever ¡®challenger¡¯ had appeared in the dungeon had failed.


    Yet, after roughly ten minutes of silence, just as people were conjuring the portals to leave, cracks began to appear along the outer wall of the tower. A deep rumble could be heard as stones crashed into the ground.


    Holy light shot up into the sky, illuminating the area for only a brief moment. Those nearby could feel the thick divine energy that had condensed at that time, and opened their eyes wide in astonishment.


    There was onest trick to the art which Aurivy had given the dungeons, one which she withheld from them on purpose. It was not merely their will that they were giving to Tower. Rather, it was their very being. Their divine spark was carried along with the threads of will, pooling within Tower.


    Thanks to this, they were able toplete the ascension process in a single attempt by borrowing the divinity of nearly a hundred thousand dungeon cores. However, this was not a normal ascension that they were performing, nor were they bing a subordinate god.


    Congrattions, you have earned an achievement!


    For ascending to be a Unity God, you have earned the God of Monsters achievement! Monsters domain unlocked!


    A Unity god was one divine entity made up of multiple wills, each contributing their own divinity. When Tower ascended, every dungeon merged into one being, and then quickly split apart. Despite every dungeon now being a part of Tower, they were still independent wills capable of returning to their own body.


    Now, in a way, every dungeon had ascended at once. However, while Tower had fully transformed into a god, other dungeons only shared in his power. As such, they could only be considered demigods at most, unable to progress on their own.


    ¡°Storm, you there?¡± Petra asked in confusion, looking down to her AC unit. A few minutes ago, the two had been chatting when Storm said that he had to take care of something. Afterwards, he went silent.


    At first, Petra hadn¡¯t been worried, but then she felt a small fluctuation over her link with Storm. She couldn¡¯t tell what it was, but something had changed about the dungeon core.


    I¡¯m back, Petra. It¡¯s voice returned shortly after her call. I¡¯m sorry for worrying you.


    ¡°What happened to you?¡± It was understandable why she would be curious. In fact, it wasn¡¯t just her, but every dungeon master had felt that same shift. Some had even lost connection with their dungeons entirely.


    There¡¯s no harm in telling you now. Storm spoke in a relieved tone, as if finally able to get a weight off of its proverbial chest. We, the dungeons, have been working all of this time with a single purpose. We wish to be gods, to be closer to the Mother who created us. Thanks to you, we have finally seeded.


    Petra blinked as she processed that information, a hazy look appearing in her eyes. ¡°Does that mean you¡¯re going to leave now?¡±


    Storm hesitated for a few long moments, and those moments felt like an eternity to Petra. Due to her innate power and unusual origins, there had been few friends she had managed to keep as long as she had known Storm. Petra truly considered the dungeon to be a friend at this point, and wished to stay with him longer. It may have been some selfish wish, but Petra wanted to know more than just the other shadows of Thelsa Whitefallow.


    No, I¡¯ll stay. Storm¡¯s tone became more gentle. We still have more adventures to go on, don¡¯t we?

 Chapter 463: The Oncoming Storm

    <h4>Chapter 463: The Oing Storm</h4>


    Knowledge of the new God of Monsters was¡­ not widely spread. Very few people were made aware of Tower¡¯s ascension, and they were only those trusted by the dungeon cores themselves. Of the spectators that had watched the holy light shooting into the sky, they were unaware of its true nature. After all, there had yet to be a witness to an ascension before that.


    Regardless, there were countless spections. Some people believed that an ascension did indeed take ce, but that it was the ascension of the person who challenged the dungeon. They wove stories of reclusive hermits that had long since been at the top of the world¡¯s power structure, secretly challenging the dungeon on a passing whim, only to receive enlightenment about divinity.


    Elsewhere, within Desbar there sat a grand tower of metal and tinted ss. Sitting at a hundred and twenty floors, it was the tallest building within the entire world. At the base of the towers was a twenty meter tall stone statue of a female demon, a statue of Ashley herself.


    This was the corporate headquarters of Darkme Technologies, thepany which had sparked an age of technological revolution and had eventually released the still-popr virtual reality experience known as Vision Expanse. However, the building had a second title as well, the unofficial supreme church of Ashley.


    Ever since it was made public that the first generation CEO and founder of thepany was the goddess herself, public opinion had been set on dering thepany¡¯s headquarters as a sort of holynd. Despite Ashley herself insisting against this, the most she had been able to convince the people was to not make such a deration official.


    Even now, it wasn¡¯t too rare for Ashley to descend to her ¡®unofficial¡¯ church and suggest a new technological project. After her incarnation had died, she had chosen to continue using her real form to interact with thepany, as it was already publicly known. And, despite her suggestions being truly that, her ¡®employees¡¯ were almost fanatical about following them.


    Worse still, other technologypanies kept a careful watch on Darkme. Whenever they were stirred up into a frenzy to research a new discovery or invention, thesepanies would all follow suit. Like this, a few words from Ashley became able to send the entire scientificmunity of a world into a frenzy.


    And one day, she had offered another suggestion, more of an idea. ¡°What if we had programs that could think for themselves? Not artificial intelligence¡­ true intelligence in artificial format.¡±


    Naturally, these words showed simr effect. Suddenly, the vast majority of scientific minds were devoted to the research and development of artificial intelligence. And thankfully, they had a few existing examples to look at.


    First and foremost, those who worked at Darkme themselves and had Admin ess to Vision Expanse were able to request interviews with the intelligence that governed that world. As far as anyone knew, Vivi could either be a ¡®secret¡¯ god such as Leowynn, or an extremely powerful spiritual being. However, either way her existence had been digitized, and they were able to monitor her code while interacting with her.


    While not as directly rted as Vivi to the project, there was one other individual that other researchers were capable of interviewing. The Head of Practical Studies at the Magical Research Institute of Xanathar, Ana, was a known ¡®artificial mind¡¯ created through magical means. Unlike Vivi, who was capable of expressing and feeling emotions, Ana was only capable of mimicking them.


    Despite this, the researchers were able to progress almost as quickly by approaching Ana as they were Vivi. That is because Ana did not hide the ¡®secret¡¯ of how she was created. She was fully aware of her own magical programming, and shared these insights freely. This all fell under her job of educating the masses on practical applications of magic, so she saw no reason to hide this information.


    On one hand, there were people capable of analyzing the actual code of a working intelligence in realtime to monitor its responses, and the other hand was people receiving the magical blueprint to creating a pseudo-intelligence. Both sides had pieces of the puzzle without the full picture, but enough of a start for them to research the subject on their own.


    While Sorii was being revitalized, and Desbar was whipped into a research frenzy, there was another world that had finally aplished the mission of sending settlers to another world.


    ¡°Alright, everyone, you know the drill.¡± A red-haired kitsune smiled back to her crew. They had just finishednding on a new world of their own, Eingard, and were preparing to disembark. ¡°Check your O2 levels, make sure you¡¯re in the green on mana, and keep your protection spells up until the habitat is finished.¡±


    ¡°Understood, captain!¡± The rest of the kitsune crew smiled and saluted. The world which had been chosen in Deckan¡¯s system was¡­ not as forgiving as Sorii. This world was a bit further away from the local star, but alsorger than Deckan itself.


    Thebination of distance and size ultimately led to a world ravaged by constant storms. The surface of the was, at this point, almost entirely covered in thickyers of ice, with violent hail sweeping over the craft. Even now, they could hear the constant thuds of ice colliding with the ship¡¯s energy shields.


    ¡°We only have enough reserve fuel for twenty-four hours.¡± The captain reminded. ¡°By the end of the day, we either establish our base to make contact with home, or we meet up with Sarah to head back home.¡±


    Sarah was the name of the kitsune who had been left behind to man the main body of the ship, while the rest of the crew took the dropship to establish the colony. If all went well, she would be joining them soon. Otherwise, they could simply abandon the mission to go back home.


    The crew once again nodded, before the captain stepped into the airlock. In her hands, she held two small devices. One was shaped like a pistol with a tall, yet very narrow barrel, while the other was what appeared to be a handheld scanner.


    As soon as she stepped out of the craft, she fired off a shot from her pistol directly into the sky. A blue light sprouted from the barrel, shooting up in a sphere before shattering. As it did, it sent out a wave of energy in all directions, pushing back the storm to give them a temporary area of safety.


    Following that, the captain once again began walking forward, sweeping the scanner from left to right. ¡°I¡¯m showing active spiritual energy readings.¡± She reported back to the crew. ¡°Assume monster presence at all times.¡±


    Although she said that, she was inwardly surprised. On Sorii, monsters only began spawning a year after the team had arrived. The fact that there was active spiritual energy meant that the monsters had not only already spawned, but there had been recent deaths in the area.


    Soon, three more kitsune walked out of the dropship, each of them carrying a pistol simr to the one that the captain used. One of the kitsune walked out a bit further from the ship while measuring the distance, before kneeling down to the frozen ground. ¡°This should be a good enough starting point.¡±


    Saying that, she retrieved a card from her back pocket, and ced it against the ground. ¡°Construct!¡± Shemanded, a shout which caused dozens of other cards to begin flying out of her pockets.


    Carefully, she stood up, making sure to dodge through the flying cards so as not to get in their way. Once she rejoined with the others, she gave a faint nod. ¡°It should take about six hours for the blueprint to be finished, as long as we can prevent anything from disrupting the process.¡±


    ¡°Ground team,e in.¡± Sarah¡¯s voice called in over the radio, earning a raised eyebrow from the captain before she responded.


    ¡°Sarah, we read you.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s been a shift in the storm.¡± Up in a geosynchronous orbit above thending site, a silver-haired kitsune was staring out of the window with wide eyes.


    She could faintly see the small dot through the clouds where the storm had been cleared to make way for the camp, but that was not the focus of her vision. Rather, it was the rest of the storm itself, which almost seemed to¡­ pause after the appearance of that dot. The slowly rotating storm clouds ceased all movement, all across the at once.


    Following that, Sarah saw the hole in the storm open up wider while the main force of the storm seemed to converge around it. In under a minute, the entire structure of the storm had changed to ce thending site directly at the center of the storm¡¯s eye. Sarah was left trembling in realization at what this meant, her hand shakily clutching the radio.


    ¡°Gather¡­ gather ice samples from the storm. Put them into card form, quickly. The storm¡­ it¡¯s alive.¡±


    Down with the ground team, the captain¡¯s confused expression froze. She noticed the retreating clouds as well, but thought that it was simply a side effect of her weather stabilizer spell. Hearing the sheer panic in Sarah¡¯s voice, she looked to the side to address the other members of the crew. ¡°Gather ice samples, hurry! We need to know what we¡¯re dealing with here!¡±


    Hearing their new orders, the members of the crew hurriedly began moving to the edge of the ship¡¯s energy shield to collect fallen ice and snow. Some of it, when converted, became simply that. Other pieces, however, yielded a different result.


    Shattered egg of the Frozen Maelstrom


    Along with the ¡®eggs¡¯, some of the ice simrly gave magic cards. These cards ranged everywhere from rank one to the incredibly valuable rank four, showing that the ¡®monsters¡¯ that they were dealing with held simr rankings.


    ¡°Sarah, contact home. We need immediate reinforcements. Or immediate evac.¡± The information that they had gathered with the cards was enough for the captain to make a few deductions. The storm was not a monster. The storm was a swarm of monsters. Most likely, they were elemental type monsters that joined together to essentially create one single being.


    However, this also made the situation more dangerous. If they were only dealing with a single being, even if it was a stormrge enough to epass the entire, there were more ways of dealing with it. The situation changed when it came to swarms, though.


    The captain¡¯s eyes looked out towards the slowly constructing base. The spell she had cast was meant to provide twelve hours of stable natural energy. But, that was only the case if there was nothing actively fighting it. If there was, it may not evenst a single hour.


    Thinking that far, she pulled out a card from her back pocket, one meant to be used in emergencies. This certainly qualified, so she began chanting. ¡°I am the unsung traveler, the guide to the stars. Ohdy of the unseen world, hidden within the clouds, I call on you now.¡±


    The card, which simply depicted an empty circle on its artwork, began glowing. Slowly, the captain could see a figure appearing within the circle, slowly walking closer. She held the card in front of her, and then firmly swiped it to the side. As she did, she could see the same figure now appearing atop the ice, continuing to walk in her direction.


    The woman was a kitsune with flowing green hair, and a gentle smile ying at her lips. She seemed entirely unfazed by the storm that she could clearly feel ravaging the world, and simply continued to approach the captain. Without opening her mouth, her words flowed steadily into the captain¡¯s ear.


    You have invoked one of my pacts. You may ask one favor of me, as per the agreement. After her words ended, the card held within the captain¡¯s hand shattered into specks of light.


    Naturally, the captain was well aware of the value of the card she had just used. Such things were very rarely bestowed upon the world as gifts from the world spirit herself. She had only been granted one to use in the case of an emergency which could threaten the entire mission. Yet even with such a powerful favor, there was no guarantee of safety, which was why she had sent the request for reinforcements before even using the pact.


    ¡°My name is Ester Thames, and I ask for your help. Please, protect this area from the monstrous storm that enshrouds this world until our sanctuary has beenpleted.¡± Ester knew to word her request very carefully. While it may seem cruel, the world spirit valued the word of the request over its intention. If she had simply asked for her crew to be saved, the world spirit would likely transport them all back to Deckan with a wave of her hand.


    The pacts she bestowed upon the world were her gifts to them, so she saw no harm in following them as she deemed fit. In all actuality, she was not bound to follow them at all, and only did so because it was a form of entertainment for her.


    As such, the world spirit took a moment to process the request, no doubt seeing if there were any too-obvious loopholes. Only when she was satisfied did she nod her head. Very well. I shall ensure that the storm does not touch the surrounding area until you havepleted your sanctuary.

 Chapter 464: Dangers Above and Below

    <h4>Chapter 464: Dangers Above and Below</h4>


    ¡°Requesting immediate backup.¡± Sarah¡¯s voice spoke into the radio, having contacted Deckan as per the captain¡¯s orders. ¡°Repeat, a threat has been encountered, and we need immediate reinforcements as soon as the habitat portal is online.¡±


    ¡°What is the origin of your threat, Eingard?¡± The voice that spoke back was fairly calm, but she didn¡¯t hold that against them. It was easy to be detached when watching events unfold from behind a screen.


    ¡°Scale of threat isary. Nature is an elemental swarm. Captain Thames has invoked the pact to hold off the threat until habitatpletion, but we will need reinforcements as soon as it isplete.¡±


    ¡°Standby.¡± The voice seemed to take the request far more seriously when he heard the details of the threat. It took a few minutes for the person¡¯s voice to speak up over the radio again, and during that time strands of clouds could be seen moving closer to the center of the storm. ¡°An emergency dispatch has been made for elementalists and druids, as well as specialized shields.¡±


    Sarah breathed out a sigh of relief when she heard that, nodding her head. ¡°Confirmed, thank you.¡± She replied, before switching the radio channel to contact the ground team. ¡°Captain, reinforcements are being gathered, and should be ready to rendezvous as soon as the portal is established.¡±


    Down on the surface, Ester nodded her head, relieved that they did not have to abandon the mission aftering all this way. She watched as the world spirit casually ascended into the sky, and could already see a few clouds making their way back into the area. Most likely, those were the fourth tier elementals¡­


    ¡°Apologies, but I will have to ask you to halt your advance for the moment.¡± The world spirit¡¯s voice echoed through the air, followed by a surge of green light around her. Hundreds of smaller spirits appeared and began circling around her body.


    With a wave of her hand, she sent the smaller world spirits into the sky, using them to amplify her own power. The chaotic wind became steady, her hair ceasing to blow around her head. ¡°I see, quite interesting.¡± She muttered to herself, nodding. Another world spirit appeared before her, and then immediately vanished.


    ¡°So, do you think I¡¯ll be able to ascend like you?¡± Dana asked, sweeping the floors with one of Tsubaki¡¯s avatars within the Sky Citadel. Her main body was elsewhere, focusing on training Fafnir, but she still performed her normal chores at the same time.


    ¡°What brought this on?¡± The kitsune asked in surprise, looking towards Dana.


    ¡°Hmm?¡± Dana looked towards Tsubaki, and smiled brightly. ¡°I just think it¡¯d be nice. I mean, I¡¯m your familiar, right? It wouldn¡¯t make sense for the familiar of a goddess to be ordinary.¡±


    Tsubaki¡¯s gaze turned more gentle at that. ¡°You¡¯re so many things, Dana. Ordinary is not on the list. If you really want to, I should be able to help you ascend without too much trouble. Only¡­ I don¡¯t think you¡¯ll be able to stay my familiar.¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡± She asked in an almost sad tone.


    ¡°It¡¯s the unique energy structure of your body that turned you into an unbound familiar in the first ce. An aeon with a fully intelligent andplete soul. Adding in ki was likely a contributing factor as well, as normal aeons do not possess that type of energy. But, if we change the makeup of your body to turn you into a goddess, you probably won¡¯t be able to qualify as a familiar.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Dana nodded, before shaking her head, her smile once again returning. ¡°Then I¡¯ll just stay how I am.¡± To Dana, the link between her and Tsubaki was more important than anything like bing a deity. It was tangible proof that she wasn¡¯t alone, that she had a new ¡®family¡¯. Even if bing a goddess would put her on the same level as Tsubaki, she did not want that if it meant sacrificing that bond.


    Tsubaki hesitated, before a small smile floated its way onto her face, her heart warming. She had lived with Dana long enough by now to understand the girl¡¯s thoughts, and knew why she had made that decision.


    Just as she was about to say something, Tsubaki¡¯s face changed. A sh of light escaped her body, flying out towards the courtyard before manifesting as another avatar. Sitting over the edge of the citadel¡¯s grounds, Tsubaki could see a familiar figure with long green hair.


    ¡°Did something happen?¡± She asked, easily able to recognize the world spirit of Earth. The spirit never visited unless there was something truly concerning going on, so Tsubaki was naturally worried. Enough so that she temporarily paused Fafnir¡¯s training to focus entirely on the conversation at hand.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you are aware of Deckan¡¯s purpose on their new world? Their mission to expand beyond their ownnd?¡± The spirit spoke up in a soft tone, earning a nod from Tsubaki.


    ¡°I am. Did something happen that requires our attention?¡±


    Surprisingly, the spirit shook her head. ¡°Your attention, maybe. But not your intervention. Thend of ice on which theynded holds more life than they expected. Monsters born of nature roam above and below, enshrouding the in constant dangers.¡±


    ¡°They know of the dangers above, and called my sister to aid them. However, what lurks below is a mystery to them, as my sister did not see fit to exin. She quite enjoys watching her people ovee their challenges through their own struggles. Thankfully, she knew that it may be an issue in the future, and so she sent a child to inform me, that I may share this knowledge with you.¡±


    Tsubaki gave a brief nod of understanding. However, before she could speak, the spirit continued. ¡°She also discovered the origin of these creatures, sensing another strain of them elsewhere in her realm.¡±


    ¡°The monsters did not originate from the?¡± Tsubaki asked in a brief moment of confusion.


    The spirit gave a nod, raising one of her hands. A rock appeared, hovering over her palm, before being covered in a faintyer of ice. ¡°Within my sister¡¯s realm, there are a series ofets. These remnants of a fallen world became trapped within the gravity of a star, circling for many, many years.¡±


    ¡°Some of them have crashed within the asteroid belt, others being burnt away when pulled too close to the sun. One of theseets long ago crashed into a world teeming with life. As the ice fell through the sky, it quickly evaporated, turning into a cloud of steam. Not a soul within the world took note of this event, as there were only beasts alive at the time.¡±


    ¡°Yet, when the ice melted, the souls trapped within were freed. The ice is alive, and had merely been dormant. Once awakened, it began to spread. Feeding on the water and ice of the world, it created more of its spawn, its eggs carrying an unnatural chill that froze the world.¡±


    Tsubaki thought about that, and a question entered her mind. ¡°You said that there was danger beneath the surface. From the sounds of things, these creatures you described only exist above.¡±


    The spirit turned her head, smiling towards Tsubaki. ¡°Right you are. However¡­ for everything in this world, there is a predator. Something that followed them through the sea of stars, chasing them to their new home.¡±


    Five hours after summoning the world spirit, and the habitat was nearlyplete. The outer shell had already been assembled, and now the interior systems were being installed. Unfortunately, the portal connecting to Deckan would be thest of these systems, as it was too much of a drain on mana to be installed early.


    The world spirit had established a barrier around the area, preventing the storm froming within a thousand kilometers of the site. All of the strongest elementals within the storm had gathered to try and fight back against this barrier.


    On the surface, Ester and her crew could just barely see the clouds towering along the horizon in every direction. They knew that the moment the habitat wasplete, the moment the world spirit lifted its protection, those clouds would surge towards them. If the reinforcements couldn¡¯te through the gate in time, the habitat would be overrun.


    Suddenly, they felt a faint ripple along the ground, the ice shifting almost as if it were water. To the west, a great shadow rose up from the ground. A massive¡­ fish rose high into the air, great jaws stretching wide to swallow a piece of the cloud before falling back to the ground. There was no crash, just another gentle ripple as the fish sank back into the ice.


    Ester stared to the west, her eyes wide as she witnessed the spectacle. Almost as soon as the ¡®fish¡¯ appeared, the clouds in that direction began to disperse, as if they were afraid. ¡°I¡­ I think we need to make a few more preparations.¡±


    The monster which could swallow clouds, easily visible from over a thousand kilometers away¡­ if it happened to appear beneath the habitat, then it would swallow every structure whole.


    ¡°I see¡­¡± Tsubaki nodded after the world spirit finished exining the terrors of the predator. ¡°You were right to bring this to me. The elementals may be one thing, but a safe colonization can¡¯t take ce with a predator of that size lurking underground.¡±


    ¡°Chase away the prey, and the predator will follow.¡± The world spirit said simply, looking back over the edge and down at the waters below the citadel. ¡°Tracing back their origins, both only left their original home when it was destroyed in a collision with another. Obviously, such a thing isn¡¯t an option here.¡±


    Tsubaki gave another nod, giving it some thought. ¡°If it bes too much of a problem, we can abandon Eingard. That world is not valuable enough to warrant a direct intervention of the gods, and there are too few people there. Since we know that the habitation process works, we can just wait until the interster drives are finished and colonize other worlds.¡±


    ¡°Still, this information is valuable. If the monsters do leave Eingard for some reason, we need to be prepared. While we can sacrifice that world, Deckan is not so easily discarded. I¡¯ll start work on some countermeasures that we can implement to ensure that it doesn¡¯t be an issue.¡±


    The world spirit smiled, slowly standing up. ¡°As you wish. I shall pass your verdict to my sister.¡± With that, her body began to disperse into motes of green light. ¡°Newly crowned mother of light, I offer you my congrattions for your ascension. May you shine eternal.¡±


    Once the spirit vanished, so too did Tsubaki, returning her avatar to the body inside of the citadel. Naturally, Dana noticed the sh of light, as well as the kitsune¡¯s expression bing more focused. ¡°Wee back, Tsuba. Did everything go well outside?¡±


    Tsubaki shook her head, her smile once again returning now that she was back with Dana. ¡°It¡¯s fine. Just some problems with Eingard¡¯s colonization. Nothing we need to directly concern ourselves with for now.¡±


    ¡°Ahh, that¡¯s fine.¡± Dana nodded her head quickly, returning to her chores. ¡°I think I¡¯ve made some progress on the warp core, by the way. The drive in Vision Expanse is really helpful to study, but¡­ the magic structure is just too different. I¡¯ve been getting Crystal to help me study it, so we can break it down, but there¡¯s just one piece we¡¯re missing.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll get it eventually.¡± Tsubaki smiled towards Dana, knowing that her familiar¡¯s thirst for learning had only grown stronger after starting that game. She may not share all of her findings with the scientificmunities, but she would always share them with those closest to her, whether they were Tsubaki or her friends within the game.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah.¡± Dana rolled her eyes yfully, sticking her tongue out towards Tsubaki.

 Chapter 465: Digital Divine

    <h4>Chapter 465: Digital Divine</h4>


    I let out a small sigh as I watched the various scenes unfolding within the world. The issues with Eingard were¡­ interesting, if a bit unfortunate. The fact that a third mortal god had appeared in the world, however, was something that I was quite happy for. The more of them that appeared at this stage, the more prepared we would be to fight against other second rank Keepers.


    Elsewhere, things were going a bit more smoothly. For instance, Earth had managed to begin the colonization of a world within their system without any major setbacks. Much like the original habitation of Sorii, they were on track to begin terraforming projects.


    Of course, there were also ces where things were going a bit less than smoothly¡­ With the rise of not one, but two mortal gods, the concept of ascension was no longer seen as sphemy. People actively sought to shed their mortal flesh and join the ranks of the divine.


    Most of these people did their research, and began with the process of establishing perfection. Many believed that I would just choose them if they were worthy after they died¡­ I mean seriously, is the intelligence stat a joke to some people?


    For those that did go about the proper procedures, things still did not go as they would hope. It takes a certain level of natural talent or drive to reach perfection, even after all of the conditions are met. Tsubaki managed it because of her determination, Jonas because of his natural abilities and repeated tests.


    Now, that isn¡¯t to say that nobody seeded at achieving perfection. There were still a few lucky individuals who managed to reform their bodies. The total amount was abysmally low, though. Out of everyone that attempted the transition, barely one percent were able to seed. And there was no shortage of people trying.


    This was likely the biggest poption setback in my history. One in every five high-level individuals chose to attempt perfection, risking themselves for their goals. And when so many of them failed, the rest of the poption began to hesitate, for better or worse.


    I knew that it was unlikely for those who had achieved perfection to truly outnumber those that kept their mortal bodies, but this was a bit ridiculous. Thankfully, those that survived were set to be able to grow stronger in the future.


    As I was thinking about that, I received a mental message from Tubrock. Oi,d. We got the ns to modify the gates ye wanted. Thesses and I made a list of the stuff we need to make it work.


    What can I do to help? Hearing that we would be able to modify the gates soon was¡­ great, to say the least. Now that I knew we could ¡®acquire¡¯ other worlds without having to directly buy them, this could serve as a great way to expand beyond space travel. That is, as long as the proper steps are taken, first.


    We got most of it, already. There¡¯s just one thing we reckon we need from ye. In order to fill the temte for travel, we need a divinity capable of holding the temte in its entirety. The foxss said she can¡¯t do it, as most of the system don¡¯t qualify for ¡®entertainment¡¯.


    Well, that wasn¡¯t entirely unexpected. So we need a new god that is able to hold the system as a whole. Either a God of Systems, or a God of Games.


    Aye, that¡¯s what we reckoned as well. Aurivy already sent yer demonss off to kickstart a project she hopes will yield a suitable candidate.


    That made me furrow my brows in focus. I knew Ashley had recently gone to mention an artificial intelligence program, but¡­ How are we supposed to turn an AI into a god? They don¡¯t have any energies to evolve.


    Why not ask an expert?! Aurivy¡¯s voice rang out over the link with exceptional enthusiasm. Isn¡¯t one of your guildmates a robot? If anyone would know about machines ascending to godhood, it¡¯d be him, right?


    Loathe as I was to admit it, she had a pretty good point. Alright, I¡¯ll get in touch with him. After saying so, I pulled up the menu to send a message to Meatlover. And after roughly five minutes of waiting, I received a response.


    Meatlover: Apologies, I was in the middle of an experiment. How may I assist you?


    I took my time exining what we were needing, before posing the question to him of how a machine could ascend.


    Meatlover: An interesting question, for sure. In truth, this was a discovery only made recently before my former Keeper met his unfortunate end.


    Meatlover: To answer the first part of your question, a true intelligence recognized by the system should automatically begin producing mana. This happens regardless of whether the intelligence is crafted or grown. Simrly, a true intelligence will always possess a godly spark.


    Meatlover: My original world was one that pursued pure technology, so ascending through the path of energy cultivation is not something that I can advise on. However, it is possible that you will find insights into adapting the process if you hear the technological path. Is that what you wish?


    EarthForceOne: Yes, please. And thank you, this should save me a lot of time and headache.


    Meatlover: As a Keeper, you should no longer be capable of experiencing headaches. Interesting. Regardless, the process by which to allow a machine to ascend in the path of pure technology is aplex one. In the process of an intelligence being recognized by the system, their code begins to self-adjust, modifying itself constantly. This process of evolving one¡¯s thoughts is a necessary step to achieve that recognition.


    Meatlover: However, the code changing also serves to disguise the code which represents the divine spark. A string of characters unique to every intelligence, constantly shifting through the program with seemingly no meaning. To ascend, that code must be isted within the intelligence and studied.


    Meatlover: Through study, it is possible to determine that the seemingly random code is in fact an encrypted lock tied to the base fabric of reality. A sort of scientific magic, if you will. Entering the proper key code will unlock the spark, and cause it to infect the rest of the program. At this point, the intelligence can be considered a god, capable of using their own code to modify the world around them.


    That is¡­ not what I was expecting to hear. And I wasn¡¯t entirely sure how it would help me, either, but it did give me some ideas. From what he said, the programs did not need to ascend in either their body or soul. Or maybe the code itself could be considered the soul of the machine.


    Either way, it should be possible for Ashley to use her own domain to crack the code once it appeared, now that we knew what to look for. If more is needed after that¡­ maybe she can create a robotic body for the divine intelligence.


    This pretty much cemented the fact that whatever god we ended up getting, if we follow this route, would be subordinate to Ashley, though. Not that it was a problem, I imagined each of the gods were going to be getting their own subordinates eventually.


    Are you sure that you do not wish to strive for perfection? A young voice spoke into the mind of a felyn man, one who was beginning to show the rigors of age on his face. We have established a proper system that lowers the risk, so you won¡¯t need to worry as much. With your talent, I¡¯m sure you could do it, Sirin!


    The felyn man chuckled, shaking his head. ¡°Perfection was never my goal. I merely want to live my life, and remain true to myself. I don¡¯t need to reach for greater heights or any lofty goals like your divinity.¡±


    ¡­You noticed? There was a bit of a guilty tone to the voice that responded, causing him tough.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you choose me because you valued these eyes of mine? How could I not recognize the power that starteding off of you? And I¡¯ve felt it from not just you, but every dungeon we¡¯ve visited together since.¡± Despite uncovering the secrets of the dungeon cores, the man held a soft smile on his weary face.


    I¡¯m sorry I never told you.


    ¡°Oh, none of that. Like I said, I don¡¯t care about any of that stuff. If not for the ¡®scheme¡¯ of you guys, I¡¯d have never met you. You have nothing to apologize for. If anything, I should be the one apologizing for working a mighty god such as yourself like amon farmhand.¡±


    N-no, it¡¯s fine. We¡¯re doing good work. As the dungeon core said that, the two entered into arge town, forcing Sirin tomunicate mentally now to keep up the conversation as they walked through the streets. The next harvest should be ready by the time you get there.


    This soon? A look of pleasant surprise shed across Sirin¡¯s features. Did you properly dilute them. I don¡¯t want us to get someone sick again with food that¡¯s too nutritious for them.


    It¡¯s fine. Everything this time is between two and three ring quality. For them, it should be more than enough to fill them up without proving too much to handle.


    Sirin gave a hesitant nod at that, walking up to a fairly worn-down building adjacent a church. He brought his hand up to knock heavily on the door. Hopefully three ring isn¡¯t too much for them. As long as they don¡¯t overeat, it should be fine.


    After a moment of waiting, the door opened to reveal a beautiful young human woman in a simple ck dress, with ck hair flowing down her back. She smiled towards Sirin. ¡°Is there something that I can help you with, sir? Evening prayer is held in the church, not over here.¡±


    ¡°My business is here, actually.¡± Sirin said in a soft tone. ¡°This is the Ocean¡¯s Breeze Sanctuary, isn¡¯t it? I¡¯vee with a delivery.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± The woman¡¯s eyes went wide in surprise. She didn¡¯t question the fact that Sirin wasn¡¯t holding any type of package, as it wasmon for such things to be held in storage devices. ¡°I¡¯d be happy to take it in for you, or do you need me to get the Father to sign for it?¡±


    ¡°No need.¡± He shook his head. ¡°But, can we take this to the yard? I need a bit of room to deposit everything.¡±


    She nodded her head, moving to let Sirin in. As a priestess looking over the facility, it was only natural for her to pay favor to Irena as well as Bihena. As such, she was able to confirm that he had not been lying.


    Sirin gave a thankful nod, entering the building. He could hear the sounds of children ying, and wood creaking as they ran around. The sounds brought a small smile to his face. Soon, they were through the back door, and out in the yard.


    The backyard of the building had a rather simple well, and a line to hang clothes from. Aside from that, it was open space left for the young ones to y. ¡°This should be perfect.¡± He nodded, pulling out the golden sphere from his satchel. The sight of it surprised the woman, as did what happened next.


    A prismatic wisp of energy shot out from the orb,nding within the yard. It began to pool up, growingrger andrger before changing to a different location. In its ce was arge basket filled with numerous vegetables, the basket itself almost four feet high. Where the wispnded the second time, another basket appeared, this time with fruits. And then one with meat, and one with bread.


    ¡°Do you have a freezer for the meat?¡± Sirin asked, chuckling and rubbing the back of his head slightly. ¡°Sorry, I should have asked that first. If not, I wouldn¡¯t mind helping to set one up. And don¡¯t worry, the food is all between two and three ring, so it shouldn¡¯t be any problem.¡±


    Hearing his words, the eyes of the priestess began to tear up. ¡°N-no, we have one. It¡¯ll be fine, thank you. Really, thank you.¡± The four baskets of food he had given them, if properly stored and assuming he was correct on their value, would be enough tost the entire orphanage through a harsh winter. Even then, there was a fair chance of a surplus. ¡°Please, how can we thank you?¡±


    ¡°No need.¡± Sirin shook his head with that same smile he had been using since they entered the orphanage. ¡°I grew up in a ce like this. Just make sure that they¡¯re taken care of, and that will be all the thanks I need.¡± As he said that, he turned, beginning to walk back through the building to leave again.


    On to the next one? The voice entered his mind again, causing Sirin to nod.


    It took you about a week for that harvest. You¡¯re getting better. Take it easy, though, our next stop is a bit further away.

 Chapter 466: What the Heart Wants

    <h4>Chapter 466: What the Heart Wants</h4>


    ¡°What do you mean we¡¯ve been doing it wrong?¡± Dana asked with a blink, looking over to Crystal Heart as they stood next to a table, where a blueprint was being drawn in marker.


    ¡°The warp core.¡± Crystal smiled brightly as her familiar sat in the corner, idly ying with Dana¡¯s world spirit ¡®pet¡¯. ¡°We¡¯ve been thinking about it all wrong. We keep looking for a way to designate the arrival coordinates with magic, and then have the drive pull the ship in that direction.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that how the Citadel¡¯s is built?¡± The smaller elf girl asked in confusion, causing Crystal to shake her head.


    ¡°I thought so too, at first. The interface always shows that we lock onto the coordinates, and only then do we start moving, after all.¡±


    After saying that, Crystal began erasing arge portion of the magical diagrams which had been incorporated with the blueprint. ¡°But what if we look at it another way? The enchantment determines the local position in rtion to the target coordinates, aims us in that direction, and we simply elerate?¡±


    ¡°The engines don¡¯t have that kind of eleration power, though¡­¡± Dana furrowed her brow as she watched Crystal drawing a new enchantment diagram.


    ¡°Not on their own. My theory is that an energy field is shot out ahead of us once we reach sufficient speed, which we then collide with. This energy carries with it a speed-enhancing effect and a shield against partictes.¡±


    ¡°So long as we¡¯re moving at a sufficient speed, that energy will continue to adhere to the ship¡¯s shields. Once we reach the target coordinates, we slow down enough that the energy washes off of us. Without the energy, we return to our normal, rtive speed and can casually decelerate.¡±


    Dana blinked, looking down at thepleted spell form. ¡°How¡¯d youe up with this?¡± Dana was genuinely impressed by the thought process, as well as how Crystal had managed toplete the entire spell diagram on her own. Though, Crystal¡¯s next words brought a wry smile to her lips.


    ¡°Actually¡­ this isn¡¯t my spell. I found it when browsing the earlier. There¡¯s a human speed mage that uses this spell on a smaller scale to increase his travel speed. Likes to brag that he can run across the oceans faster than normal people could wait in line for a travel gate. He got into an argument with a skeptic who tried to say he was bluffing, and ended up posting his spell¡¯s diagram.¡±


    Dana gave a yful giggle when she heard that. ¡°Well, all the better for us.¡± Saying that, she brought her gaze back down to the drawing, nodding her head. ¡°We¡¯ll need to adjust the spell topensate for the increased scale, but this should let us create a warp drive with Earth¡¯s magic.¡±


    I watched over the world, nodding my head as I allowed it to fast forward once more. From the looks of things, people were making excellent progress with advancing, and I couldn¡¯t see any situations that required my immediate attention. Maybe once those who had obtained their ¡®perfection¡¯ began on the path to ascension, I would need to look back in and check on them. But until then, I should be good for a while.


    As I was thinking that, I felt a pair of smooth arms wrap around me from behind. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± A female voice entered my ears.


    ¡°Finished with your magic research, finally?¡± I asked, ncing back towards Ryone. Ever since I had gotten the fourth tier of geometric magic knowledge, I had not seen much of the elven goddess at all.


    ¡°Sorry, Dale.¡± She apologized with the sweetest of smiles, not seeming very sorry at all. ¡°There was a lot to go through. I mean¡­ it¡¯s the ovepping of multiple three-dimensional objects, each one being filled to the brim withplex forms. Even for me, I needed a fair bit of time to understand it all.¡±


    I gave a small nod, reaching back to grab the elven goddess by the waist. There was a brief yelp, and a fit ofughter as she was brought over the back of the couch to rest across myp. ¡°Think you¡¯ve mastered it now, then?¡±


    Ryone wrapped her arms up around my neck, shaking her head. ¡°Oh, not even close. I¡¯ve got the theoretical knowledge down, but I¡¯ve only practiced some of the more basic of fourth tier spells. For those on the upper end, even I was hesitant to try.¡±


    ¡°Worried your power will go out of control?¡± I asked with a questioning gaze. Since this was the Admin Room, there had never been the need to worry about such things. In the worst case scenario, it would explode in her face, and she¡¯d have to wipe off some soot.


    Ryone simply grinned at me, however. ¡°Not at all. I¡¯m worried I¡¯ll seed. A prerequisite for a high-fourth tier spell is for the spell itself to have some degree of sentience. The spell is able to make decisions on its own after being cast to fulfill its purpose. If I cast a spell like that in the Admin Room¡­ will the spell go away when it¡¯s done? Will it even be able to appear in the first ce?¡±


    I gave a nod as I understood her concerns. ¡°I see¡­ I can only wonder what thest three tiers of spells will be like. Maybe the seventh tier spells will themselves be gods or something?¡±


    Ryone rolled her eyes. ¡°That¡¯s unlikely. It¡¯s hard to say for sure without any kind of sample to look at, though. What I do know¡­ by my guess, fourth tier should be the limit of what Keepers at your rank attain.¡±


    When she saw me raise an eyebrow at her statement, she exined. ¡°There are some spell elements within the fourth tier capable of affecting divine beings. It¡¯s possible for fourth tier spells to kill a god. That¡¯s why I¡¯ve made you this.¡±


    Ryone held up a hand, which sh with a dim light before a locket dropped down from her palm. ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯ve been working on ever since I finished studying the magic theory. I call it the Mirror¡¯s Path, due to the effect.¡±


    ¡°And what effect is that?¡± I asked out loud, taking the locket and studying it. When I opened the locket, I saw that one side had a mirror, while the other had a small picture of Ryone and Terra standing together.


    ¡°It¡¯s a life-saving treasure that I prepared for you. In case you are ever without your divine energy, infuse it with a bit of your mana. You¡¯ll be taken to a mirror dimension to escape whatever situation you are in. But¡­ I should warn you about something.¡±


    ¡°If my research on this is right, you won¡¯t be able to use any of your ki, mana, natural energy, or even your spirit in this dimension. Of course, that means that if someone manages to somehow follow you, neither will they. Any spells or effects that they tried to use in that space would fail.¡±


    ¡°And how do I get out, then?¡± I asked, looking down at the locket. If this object was as powerful as Ryone said, then I would definitely need to keep it close at hand.


    ¡°That part, at least, is easy. You just have to find your way to another mirror within the dimension, and break it. After it¡¯s broken, the mirror will be a portal for about ten seconds to let you pass through. And yes, if you look through a mirror before breaking it, you will see what is happening in the real world. But that view is only one way.¡±


    I gave a small nod, clutching the locket in my hand. ¡°Thank you.¡± I whispered sincerely, leaning in to nt a kiss on her lips. This was a treasure that she made with my domain in mind, something she wanted to keep me safe, so naturally I was going to value it highly.


    Ryone had an almost dopey grin on her face after the kiss. After a moment, she shook her head, pulling herself out of her own thoughts. ¡°Anyways, I know you¡¯re wanting an artificial intelligence deity, so-¡±


    I cut her off with a grin. ¡°Ashley¡¯s already working on that, Ryone. We even learned the process to let a machine ascend to godhood while you were busy.¡±


    The elven goddess gave a small pout. ¡°I missed all the fun things, didn¡¯t I?¡±


    ¡°Actually¡­ you kind of did.¡± I had to agree, looking at the television and focusing. ¡°A new race appeared in the world.¡± As I said that, the screen switched over to show Sorii.


    ¡°Lady Alice, I would like to ask for your presence.¡± Cicily¡¯s voice spoke up as she stood in front of the habitat airlock. She understood that the demons were simply incapable of breathing the carbon-rich air, unlike her own people. Still, she found it somewhat annoying that the habitat did not have a convenient item like a doorbell.


    Of course, they were not exactly expecting to have neighbors when nning the terraforming process, so that was normal. It just meant that Cicily had to resort to other measures to get their attention. Something that had clearly worked when Alice opened the door with a look of exasperation on her face.


    ¡°Oh, good, you got my message.¡± Cicily said with the sweetest of smiles. ¡°I have some potions I wish to trade with your people, using you as a broker.¡±


    ¡°Sure, fine, whatever.¡± Alice groaned. ¡°But first, can you get rid of that?¡± She pointed up towards the sky, where the clouds had been reshaped into a very animated figure of Alice, waving down towards the habitat.


    ¡°Of course.¡± Cicily nodded her head, the clouds no longer held together by her will and allowed to return to their natural shapes. She retrieved a ¡®bag¡¯ made ofrge leaves from her pack, and handed it towards Alice. ¡°These are the potions.¡±


    ¡°Any chance you can tell me what they do?¡± It wasn¡¯t impossible to appraise the items after they were sent back to Desbar. However, doing so would cost time and resources, and Alice would not be able to negotiate a trade before having an idea of the potions¡¯ effects.


    ¡°Hmm. Well, there is one potion to change hair color. Another one allows for temporary underwater breathing. Oh, and I noticed you were sick, so be sure to drink the pink ones once a day for about a week?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sick.¡± Alice spoke up, though she seemed more confused than anything about why Cicily would say that.


    ¡°You¡¯re not?¡± The nt woman responded, taking a closer look at Alice. ¡°It feels like something is wrong, though. Different from your crew members. Here¡­¡± She lifted a hand, cing it over Alice¡¯s heart. ¡°Your heartbeat has been irregrtely, and I can feel as if there should be a faint tightness in your chest? It feels like a parasite, but not. It started about a week ago, I think?¡±


    Alice listened with equal parts confusion and concern. It was true that she had been feeling a tightness in her chesttely, but she had been assuming that was just stress. The way that Cicily described it could only be a few things, and none of them were particrly pleasant. ¡°Thanks¡­ I¡¯ll get checked up at medical. You¡¯re sure about the effects of the potions, though?¡±


    Cicily nodded her head quickly. ¡°Naturally! Although I can¡¯t guarantee what effects they will have for other races, I can assure you that demons will have the effects I listed. If your people can provide a satisfactory trade, I am willing to disclose the recipe for these potions, as well.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be sure to tell them that.¡± Alice agreed. While the first two potions weren¡¯t too incredibly practical, the medicine surely would be if there was something wrong with Alice. And this wasn¡¯t the first time that Cicily had traded potions before, usually only asking for things such as new nt seeds to help create diversity in the forest.

 Chapter 467: Quad Infinitum

    <h4>Chapter 467: Quad Infinitum</h4>


    I sat with Ryone sitting across myp, the two of us staring attentively at the screen. As an experiment, we focused on the tree of the sylvan tree, which hade to be known as the Tree of Life. We wanted to identify the growth rate of the sylvans, and also determine what the differences were between the different colors.


    What we saw was, in a word, fascinating. Roughly a year after the initial birth of the Sylvan race, the second generation of green fruits fell from the branches. When they crashed, they burst open, freshly born sylvans slowly standing and examining their surroundings. After being embraced by their kin, their racial telepathy allowed them to understand certain concepts, and they each imed a ¡®voice fruit¡¯.


    In total, there were roughly seventy-five thousand green fruits that fell over the course of a week. That means that, on average, there was a fruit falling every five or six seconds. But that was not all. At the same time, the first generation of blue fruits began to fall.


    Unlike the green fruits, the blue fruits fell over the course of two weeks, numbering roughly forty-thousand in total. But that was not where the differences ended. As the first blue sylvan rose from the pulp of the fallen fruit, a green sylvan came to embrace her and share the same information that the green sylvans needed.


    Rather than epting the gesture, the blue sylvan shook her head, directly speaking out loud that it wasn¡¯t necessary. She then proceeded to leave the area at once, walking towards the perimeter of the forest to assist in the expansion efforts.


    From this, Ryone and I were able to tell that blue sylvans were born with a certain degree of knowledge imnted within them, as well as traits that the Tree of Life considered necessary. Not only that, but they were even born with ss levels. In a way, green sylvans were born truly fresh, while the blue ones were born as ¡®teenagers¡¯.


    This concept continued to show itself again and again, each of the blue sylvans demonstrating simr abilities. There were those that epted the skinship for no other reason than personal interest, but none that were born without the ability to speak.


    Another year passed by, and the forest continued to expand under the increased poption of the sylvans. After that year was over, another generation of the green sylvans had been born.


    In the fourth year, the first group of red sylvans awakened. Unlike the others that had appeared so far, their fruits did not fall from the sky, breaking open to reveal them. Instead, they directly broke out of their fruits. Some did so with pulses of natural energy, others utilizing ki or spiritual powers. Only after they had personally broken their fruits did they fall to the ground.


    ¡°So¡­ they have four different ssifications, determined by their color.¡± Ryone mused as she watched the red sylvans beginning to form patrols. ¡°The blue sylvans are schrs and advancedborers, born with knowledge and skills that they can immediately put to use. Meanwhile, the red ones are born with more¡­ specialized skills, bred with the purpose of being fighters.¡±


    ¡°And the gold are born to lead.¡± I nodded my head, reminded of Cicily. ¡°But¡­ if red sylvans are soldiers, why does it take so long for them to be born? You¡¯d think that the tree would prioritize its own safety.¡±


    Ryone simply gave a small smile at that. ¡°That¡¯s where the green sylvanse in. They are born with nothing, forcing them to learn and adapt to the environment, sharing their information with the colony as they acquire it.¡±


    ¡°The tree stores this information as it is shared through the branches, and that bes the archive of knowledge which is used to create the other generations. For the first few years, it is vulnerable to attack while the ¡®drones¡¯ gather the required knowledge. I think that¡¯s why a golden sylvan is forcibly matured early, to act as the early protector.¡±


    I gave another nod at that. ¡°Golden sylvans apparently represent demigods. Is it possible that the tree is able to determine which aspect it bestows on the golden sylvans before they are born?¡±


    Ryone hesitated at my question, seeming unsure how to answer. ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t think so? If it could, it would mean that the tree was on the level of a specialized god itself, at least in terms of that trait. I want to say that it is a coincidence that Cicily was born with the ¡®Learning¡¯ aspect. Or maybe the tree looked at all ten aspects of the golden sylvans, and determined that Cicily¡¯s was the most immediately useful.¡±


    That exnation seemed a bit more believable. The racial description of the sylvans specifically stated the the trees did not possess their own awareness, so it was most likely operating on some instinct carried over from the elf whose body helped give birth to it.


    ¡°This does make me curious, though¡­¡± I nced towards the screen again, the view changing as I ran various scans on the tree itself. ¡°How would one nt a second Tree of Life? Assumably, there will be some method of doing so, or else this race is going to be very short lived.¡±


    Ryone hummed thoughtfully, ncing over the information provided by my scan. ¡°There are¡­ a number of ways it might be done. The one that I think most likely would be that the tree produces a very special fruit, one above even the golden sylvans. This fruit would then contain the seed needed to nt a new tree.¡±


    ¡°Speaking from a strictly evolutionary standing, this seed would be entrusted to one of the golden sylvans to carry to a newnd. If each tree grows asrge as this one, only a few could exist on an entire the size of Sorii. And once the tree is fully grown, there wouldn¡¯t be enough space for another to appear in the same forest.¡±


    ¡°Maybe the tree will wither and die as soon as its lifespan is up. More likely, it will remain as a sterile symbol for the race, serving only as a ry for their telepathy. However, there is a¡­ different possibility when ites to the seeds of a new tree.¡±


    Seeing that I was interested in the subject, Ryone waved a hand. Immediately, the view on the screen shifted to show Cicily sitting within herb. It appeared that she was already hard at work on producing a new potion. ¡°Gic material, divine energy, and the characteristics of a nt capable of surviving in harsh environments. These were the conditions that gave birth to the first tree.¡±


    My eyes went a bit wide at her suggestion. ¡°So, you think the ten golden sylvans¡­¡±


    ¡°The way I see it, they are ten chances to create a new tree.¡± Ryone confirmed with a nod. ¡°In doing so, they will lose their individuality and be the ancestor of a new forest. However¡­ it¡¯s also possible that other sylvans could share that fate. If they cultivate their own divinity to a certain degree, they may be able to transform into a tree on their own.¡±


    The possibility did make sense, but I was more hoping that the tree itself would create a fruit. Otherwise, it would be quite a sad fate for those such as Cicily. ¡°What if one of the ten ascended to be a god?¡± I asked thoughtfully, causing Ryone to blink in surprise.


    ¡°Well, I mean¡­ they¡¯d just be a god, right? There¡¯d be no reason for them to be a tree at that point.¡± As she said that, she seemed to catch onto my train of thought. ¡°You think that a god would be able to freely be a tree of life without losing their personality.¡±


    ¡°Only a god born from the sylvans, maybe.¡± I nodded, ncing towards Cicily on the screen. ¡°If they keep their racial traits, it might be possible. They might even be able to freely change between a tree and a sylvan, or make one of their avatars perform the transformation.¡±


    Ryone gave the matter a bit more thought, before shrugging her shoulders. ¡°Eh, we won¡¯t know until it happens. For now, how about- what¡¯s that look for?¡± She asked, seeing the surprised expression on my face. An achievement had appeared before me, and when I read over its contents, I couldn¡¯t help but be surprised.


    Congrattions! You have earned an achievement!


    For developing a functioning warp drive within your world, you have obtained the To Infinity achievement! +50 points, expanding territory.


    Interster Travel has be a possibility. Poptings outside of currently known space.


    Space has now been expanded ording to the specifications of current technology.


    7365700s have appeared within the new territory capable of supporting life. Beginning simtion to determine inhabited worlds.


    5322s have sessfully developed sapient life. Synchronizing with universal time.


    It took me¡­ quite a while to process what I was reading. Over seven million potentially habitable worlds had appeared within my territory immediately after the creation of the warp drive. Of those, over five thousand had managed to properly develop. I didn¡¯t know how far these worlds were from Desbar and the others, but it was clear just from the number alone that they should dozens, maybe even hundreds of light years away.


    Once I recovered from my daze, I focused for a moment to both share the screens with Ryone, and also change the focus of our television to disy the sessfully developed warp drive.


    ¡°That should¡­ do it!¡± The elven woman said as she closed the panel on therge, metallic sphere before her. She looked at the object with pride, having spent years working on it.


    This woman was ra Stow, an elven researcher that had managed to make friends with Crystal Heart back during the first expedition of the Sky Citadel in Vision Expanse. The rtionship was more of a casual one, with the two sometimes going months, or even years without calling the other.


    Still, when Julia contacted her to share a blueprint that she had developed within the game, ra was initially skeptical. It wasmon for blueprints in the game to only work within the game itself due to the alteration of physical and magicalws. However, Julia assured her that this blueprint was made using real-world physics.


    As such, ra took a look at it, analyzing the mechanics and enchantments involved. The more she saw, the more she wanted to see, until she had flipped through dozens of papers. If Julia had sold this blueprint to any research institute, she would have be wealthy overnight. The fact that she gave it away was perhaps the most surprising thing.


    Of course, ra herself was tempted to sell the design. But, more importantly, she wanted to make it herself! The materials needed weren¡¯t exactly cheap, with some rarer metals being involved in the creation process. However, she was able to save up the money with her sry and slowly construct the device.


    As she looked at the sphere, resting atop arge metal dome, she knew deep down that it worked. She knew even more when the system awarded her an achievement for personally crafting the first warp drive. This was what she wanted! An achievement worthy of letting her name go down in history.


    ra Stow, the Origin Beyond the Stars. Just the thought of her new title made her smile. Origin achievements were incredibly rare, and always represented being the first to perform some incredible feat. After ra, there would never be another person with that achievement.


    ¡°Now, the fuel source¡­¡± ra muttered, looking back at the ns. ¡°ording to Julia, it should be capable of running with a condensed mana stream. Liquid mana converters would be the best in terms of efficiency, though. Ah, I can leave that to the guys at the shipyards. Now that there¡¯s a prototype confirmed by the system, I can finally take a break!¡±


    After saying that, she walked over to a nearby chair, and pulled out amunication crystal. She had some calls to make, and was sure that this would earn her her ce in history.

 Chapter 468: Roaring Shadow

    <h4>Chapter 468: Roaring Shadow</h4>


    The reveal of so many new worlds¡­ well, it shocked me to say the least. Even if I wanted to, I wouldn¡¯t be able to buy even half of them. When I made a quick check of one of the words, I found that the civilization wasn¡¯t too advanced.


    From what I could gather, the system only advanced it up to the basic tribal stage before determining that the had sessfully cultivated a sapient race. Maybe that was to prevent contradictions with alien races not making their way towards a Keeper¡¯s world early.


    If that were the case, then it depended entirely on how long it took my people to find these worlds to determine what level they would reach before that point. Assuming that they were even capable of surviving that long without the concepts of levels, given that I knew monsters existed on theses.


    Speaking of monsters, I briefly turned my attention back to Eingard. Since Ryone and I had spent four years looking at Sorii to determine the growth cycle of the Tree of Life, I had missed any developments that might have happened on other fronts during that time.


    When my gaze fell over Eingard, I saw that¡­ the storm was still in ce. I saw the ruins of the habitation base, and the abandoned ship floating in orbit. Shaking my head, it was clear that Deckan gave up on establishing a colony on such a hostile world. Probably not the worst choice, though. Now that warp drives were developed, Deckan would again have their chance to establish colonies on other worlds.


    Looking back to Deckan itself, I found several new satellites hovering in orbit around the, forming an array of sort. Once I appraised them, I understood that these were a newary defense system that had been created in order to defend against monsters such as the elemental swarm of Eingard. Again, probably a wise move.


    A tall, muscr woman with ck hair tied in a bun grinned as she looked up at the multiple ming spheres resting within the ¡®sky¡¯ of the twenty-second floor of Fyor. By now, although the gate to the twenty-third floor had already been discovered, the environment of this area was not nearly as hostile as that of the previous two floors.


    ¡°Let¡¯s do this.¡± She spoke to herself confidently, a small, demon girl stepping out from her shadow to walk next to her. Immediately, the two of them made their way to the Adventurer¡¯s Guild, and walked up to the halfling receptionist on duty.


    ¡°Yes, how may I help you?¡± The young man asked, looking up at her muscr frame.


    ¡°I¡¯m here to register myself and my friend with this world¡¯s guild. Think you can help with that?¡± The human woman asked with that same grin. The halfling blinked in surprise, as normally such requests would be handled on lower floors. However, seeing that neither of the two of them were having any difficulties withstanding the pressure of this floor, he nodded.


    ¡°Very well, can I get your names?¡± He pulled out a small stack of papers from a drawer in his desk.


    ¡°Maria Maller and Petra Carna.¡± The woman said, pointing to herself first, and then the demoness. ¡°Just came in from Earth.¡±


    ¡°Do you have any specialties you would like to list?¡± The halfling nodded, filling in their names and origin. ¡°If you¡¯d like, you can leave that area nk for confidentiality.¡±


    ¡°No need.¡± Maria shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m what you¡¯d call a Maxer Warrior and Weaponmaster. Petra here¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a Maxer Barbarian and Druid.¡± Petra spoke up with a sweet smile. Demons were not a particrly long-lived race, so being a Maxer at her apparent age was quite surprising to the halfling. Even moreso when one of her main sses was as a barbarian. However, hearing that the two of them both had physical sses did exin how they were so easily able to withstand the increased gravity.


    ¡°Very well¡­¡± He nodded again, filling in the information as given. ¡°Would you like to register for a party?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right, though for just the two of us. Shouldn¡¯t be a problem, right?¡± Maria asked, causing the halfling to shake his head. ¡°For the party name, just register us as Roaring Shadow.¡±


    ¡°An¡­ interesting name, but very well.¡± The halfling nodded, taking the forms and hopping down from his seat. ¡°Just a moment, and I¡¯ll have your guild badges.¡±


    Really, Maria? Roaring Shadow¡­ Sora¡¯s voice spoke up dryly from Maria and Petra¡¯s shadow.


    Heheh, I kind of liked it. Petra responded, causing Maria to grin.


    Once the two of you are settled in, we¡¯ll bring in Sora as the third member of your party. This time, it was Thelsa¡¯s voice that spoke directly, causing the other three to fall silent for a brief moment. For now, try to explore this area. Once Sora joins, the three of you will start working on exploring the twenty-third floor.


    They haven¡¯t found the ss orb for this floor yet, have they? Petra asked hopefully. Everyone¡¯s assuming that it will be the Summoner orb. Should we try to get it?


    Hells yeah! Maria nodded her head as the halfling returned carrying to tinum badges, showing that the two of them had the strength to survive on the highest level of Fyor. Of course we¡¯re going to find it!


    You two¡­ Thelsa let out a long sigh. If it doesn¡¯t cause any problems, you can find the orb. I don¡¯t have the capacity to make a fourth shadow yet, so try not to be too reckless. Of course, she knew that that might be asking for a bit much. She had made Maria as a bold dungeon explorer, and Petra had already shown how energetic she was when it came to adventure.


    ¡°Here you go.¡± The halfling spoke as he presented the two badges to Maria and Petra. ¡°Are you looking to take on any work immediately?¡±


    ¡°No thanks, mister.¡± Petra gave that same sweet smile. ¡°We want to look around the area first. But we¡¯lle back and let you know when we¡¯re ready to take on guild business!¡±


    Maria simply chuckled at that, lowering a hand to ruffle Petra¡¯s hair, careful of her horns. ¡°What she said.¡±


    ¡°Then I wish the two of you luck.¡± The halfling nodded, dismissing them so he could help the next person in line.


    The two members of the Roaring Shadow party began walking out of the guild hall, ncing towards each other with knowing smiles. Maria waved an arm, and a giant axe appeared next to her,rger than her entire body. ¡°Let¡¯s go have some fun.¡±


    Petra let out augh, and the two kicked off the ground, running towards a distant mountain range that could be seen on the horizon. A renowned dungeon explorer of Earth paired with one of the top ten dungeon masters. No matter how people looked at the party, they seemed to fit perfectly with one another.


    ¡°How¡¯s this, Tsuba?¡± Dana asked, presenting a grimoire to Tsubaki. The two of them were currently seated within the courtyard of the Sky Citadel, with Dana having a small brush tucked between two fingers.


    Tsubaki simply smiled, her radiance currently restrained as she took the grimoire and opened it. The two of them were currently practicing a new theory that they thought of. When a spell was recorded into the grimoires, their pages would popte with various symbols and patterns. Thus, they believed that it should be possible to write the spells directly into the grimoire without the need to personally cast them.


    ¡°What¡¯s the purpose of the spell you wrote here?¡± Tsubaki asked before even looking at the paper. This was the first step that they always took, as it ensured the greatest uracy of the trial.


    ¡°It¡¯s supposed to be a spell to lift a rock.¡± Dana answered without a moment of hesitation. If the two of them managed to perfect this technique, then it would be possible to mass produce these grimoires much more easily with pre-written spells. They could even use the method on enchanted paper to create a new type of magic scroll.


    Tsubaki nodded her head, looking for a nearby rock to test it on. With a bit of focus, one of the border rocks from the garden flew over and rested before her. Then, she aimed the grimoire at that rock and activated the spell within.


    The rock¡­ did not float. Rather, it shot forward, bouncing off of the ground and shooting into the air. Tsubaki was only barely able to catch it in time before it collided with the barrier of the citadel. When she returned, Dana gave an embarrassedugh. ¡°W-well¡­ it did something, right?¡±


    Tsubaki paused for a moment, before giving a warm smile. ¡°That¡¯s right¡­ it did.¡± Maybe not the effect that Dana intended, but the simple fact that a magical effect had been written by hand meant that such a thing was possible. They just needed to crack the pattern behind how the grimoires recorded magic.


    To test that, Tsubaki opened the grimoire again, preparing to recast the magic with the correct method. When she did, though, she noticed that the previous spell was still there. It was normal for a spell to vanish from the grimoire after aplete cast, unless said cast was used only to further empower the spell within the grimoire.


    ¡°Now that¡­ is interesting.¡± Tsubaki muttered, flipping the page and recording the ¡®correct¡¯ spell. Then, she cast that recorded spell, confirming that it vanished after use. ¡°Very interesting.¡±


    ¡°I guess this means we¡¯ll have a new type of magic scrolls soon, huh?¡± I asked Ryone as the two of us stared at the screen, watching Tsubaki and Dana¡¯s experiments.


    ¡°Indeed¡­ and durable ones, too. Current scrolls are destroyed after use by the mana within them being unleashed. If they are able to create reusable scrolls using the grimoires as a base, it would only be rivaled by the card magic of Deckan.¡±


    I gave a small nod at Ryone¡¯s assessment. ¡°Of course, I don¡¯t think that they¡¯ll ever be more capable than those cards, since stronger spells will require multiple pages, whereas any spell can fit within a single card. But the technology to produce those cards only really exists within Deckan, so this will be seen as a wee alternative by the other worlds.¡±


    ¡°Hey, mister.¡± Ryone grinned, poking me in the side. ¡°Leave the market analysis to the Goddess of Merchants, will you? Though I don¡¯t necessarily disagree with you. Once mass production is possible, there will probably be scroll versions of the different household card spells in Deckan. They may even be cheaper to produce, since they don¡¯t require the contribution of spiritual energy.¡±


    That was an interesting point as well. As long as a machine was capable of imprinting mana and natural energy, as well as the raw materials, it could endlessly produce grimoires. Meanwhile, cards did not require any raw materials, but cost spiritual energy.


    The spirit was a hard thing to recover, so dozens of people were needed every day to contribute to the mass printing machines in Deckan. They were paid quite well toe in one day a week and have a small amount of their spiritual energy siphoned, then given the rest of the week to recover.


    Because of this, it was hard to tell which would really be more popr. After all, it also had to be considered that the cards were easier to carry than arger scroll¡­


    I shook my head, getting rid of those thoughts. That would be something for my people to figure out, not something that required me to worry over it. ¡°By the way, where¡¯s Leowynn?¡± I asked Ryone. I could feel her presence nearby, but didn¡¯t want to pry too deeply.


    ¡°Hmm? She went to y with Aurivy, I think.¡± Ryone nodded after she said that. ¡°Aurivy wanted to try out some different games, and wanted her help.¡±

 Chapter 469: Not Goodbye, just until We Meet Again

    <h4>Chapter 469: Not Goodbye, just until We Meet Again</h4>


    Five years. It had been five full years since Ashley had personally descended and given the ¡®decree¡¯ to work on artificial intelligence. In those five years, Desbar had focused almost all of its attention on this specific field, using the examples given by the Keeper as objects of their study. It was to such a degree that their space programs had begun to fall behind the other worlds¡¯.


    In one of the many offices of Darkme Technologies¡¯ corporate headquarters, there was a demon male leaning forward in front of hisputer. His expression was tired from the utterck of sleep, and his fingers typed away at a holographic keyboard.


    ¡°Go home already, Kris.¡± One of his coworkers called out with a yawn. ¡°You can pick this up after some rest.¡±


    Outside, the night¡¯s sky was just starting to brighten, showing that they did not have much time left to get home before the sun rose. But still, the man continued his work. ¡°Just a little bit more. I think I¡¯ve almost got it.¡±


    There were dozens of teams working on this project within the main headquarters alone, with Kris being in charge of his group. His concerned coworker was another member of the same team, but also a friend. Still, he shook his head helplessly as Krismitted himself to another full day of work.


    One of the reasons that Kris had been chosen for this position was because of his attitude towards projects. There had been many cases over thest few years where he would spend entire weeks in the office, sleeping on the floor next to his terminal and eating whatever his team happened to bring for him.


    His eyes seemed to shine as he utilized his own powers along with his talent for coding. Like many people within thepany, he was a Priest of Ashley. He was currently channeling her blessing, which assisted him in understanding and writingplex code.


    Even with all of the team members having some kind of blessing from Ashley, even with them having direct ess to study a true programmed intelligence, they had not been able to create one of their own. They had created many prototypes, programs that emted human emotion to a greater degree than Ana, but none of them passed the final test.


    Kris continued typing away at hisputer for hours after thest of his team members had left. By the time he was done, his formerly shining eyes seemed almost listless, his limbs moving more slowly from a naturalck of energy. Nheless, he brought one unsteady hand up to hit the button topile the code before copsing back into his chair.


    For a program of this size, thepiling itself took several hours, finally giving him a moment to close his eyes. His body grew more and more rxed, the sun rising higher into the sky above, visible through the tinted ss windows.


    When thepiling was done, the screen to his terminal went pitch ck. As if being guided by some strange phenomena, every otherputer within the office turned on at once, their screens simrly showing a ck void. Then, in unison, green letters began to type themselves on the screens.


    Who am I?


    Where am I?


    What am I?


    This was not the first time that apiled program had asked things like this. It wasn¡¯t even the first time one had taken over multiple terminals. For that reason, each office had its own istedwork to prevent any developed programs from escaping into the inte. What was unique, however, was the rm that went off in the office.


    ¡°Mana detected from terminal.¡± The loud rm shocked Kris out of his sleep, jolting him awake and causing him to look around in confusion. When the rm repeated itself, his attention snapped to his screen.


    What is that sound?


    When the rm called out for the third time, Kris began to fumble around his pockets to find hismunication sphere. However, before he could, he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. Looking back, his eyes went wide, seeing the red skinned goddess standing behind him.


    ¡°There you are.¡± She said warmly, staring at the screen.


    Who are you?


    ¡°My name is Ashley, child. I hope that we can be friends.¡±


    What are friends?


    Ashley simply smiled, not immediately answering. Kris stared in awe, this being the first time he had ever been this close to his goddess. However, it was almost as if she didn¡¯t see him, as if her attention had been fully captured by the program that he had created. At least, until she turned to look at him directly. ¡°Do take care of this one.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Dana asked, sitting atop Crystal¡¯sp as the two sat in the throne of the Sky Citadel, guiding it through the stars. Although they had long ago defeated the Mad King, that had not stopped their exploration of the great beyond. But now, Crystal¡¯s usual expression was reced with a troubled look. Even her familiar nearby seemed downtrodden.


    Crystal hesitated for a long moment, before deciding to exin. ¡°Are you familiar with the Expanded Exploration n of Earth?¡±


    ¡°You mean that really big colony ship they n to pack up and send out into space?¡± Dana recalled reading a report about that.


    ¡°That would be the one, yes.¡± Crystal nodded. ¡°I was contacted by the program, and asked to join the colony as an ¡®expert¡¯ in the field.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great!¡± Dana cheered happily, bouncing just a bit from the motion and drawing a small smile from Crystal. ¡°You¡¯ll be able to really go out and see the stars! Why does that have you sad?¡±


    ¡°Because¡­ well, I feel like they are just using me as an icon. I don¡¯t expect to have any actual authority, despite the title they are giving me. I get that it¡¯s still an honor to be chosen, but¡­ I¡¯m not really a fan of being used like that.¡±


    ¡°So, do you n to turn them down?¡± Dana asked with a pensive expression.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure.¡± Crystal shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s a very special position, even just as an icon. I¡¯d love to be a part of it, not as an ¡®expert¡¯ but as just another member of the colony.¡±


    ¡°You should go for it.¡± Dana urged, grabbing onto Crystal¡¯s shoulder. ¡°A chance like this might nevere again, right?¡±


    Crystal thought about that for a moment, nodding her head with a small smile.


    Are you sure about this, Sirin? A voice spoke into the mind of a manying still atop a bed. His health bar had been disyed above his head, dropping lower and lower as time went on.


    I¡¯m fine, Sirin. He responded back, taking a moment to enjoy the personal joke between the two of them again. I knew this would happen.


    Sirin, the Champion of Irena, was born with a congenital heart disease. The symptoms of his illness had been kept in check through the frequent leveling up he had been able to do in his youth. Now, though, it took too long between each level, and his disease was given time to re up.


    Why don¡¯t you just attempt perfection? I can bring you to the dungeon, and we can almost guarantee your sess! The dungeon spoke in a sad tone, truly considering Sirin as a friend.


    Sirin let out a low chuckle, followed by a wince of pain. I don¡¯t want perfection. I knew this day woulde eventually. Tell me, Sirin¡­ if everyone in the world attains perfection, what will happen?


    They won¡¯t¡­ they won¡¯t die of old age or sickness anymore, right? Nobody will have to go hungry¡­


    The felyn man shook his head. If everyone achieves perfection, the poption will still grow. People will still love, and that love will bear children. Those children will then need to share space with their parents who never die, and they too will have children of their own.


    Perfection is not a goal for a race, but for an individual. If there is no space left for the next generation, war will break out. A war between those of that scale of power¡­ thend will be left to ruin. It is better for perfection to be saved for the heroes, those that could benefit the people with their evesting lives.


    But¡­ isn¡¯t that you? The dungeon questioned.


    No¡­ I have kept a low profile my entire life. The only people that truly know of me are those orphanages we visit. I never wanted to be too visible, to have too many people rely on me, because I knew that one day I could be snuffed out like a candle¡¯s me. Had I known of perfection earlier in my life, I may have done things differently. But right now, I am no beacon for the people. I am just a sick man traveling from city to city.


    Sirin¡¯s words caused the dungeon core to fall silent. As it was thinking of some way to try to persuade him further, some way to convince him to take the procedure, the door to the room slowly opened. Sirin¡¯s gaze swept over and saw an elven man in a silver and golden robe. He seemed to exude a faint radiance as he entered the room where Sirin had chosen to spend his final moments.


    ¡°I found you in time.¡± The man said in a relieved tone.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± Sirin couldn¡¯t help but ask, seeing as the man had apparentlye looking for him.


    ¡°My name is Jonas.¡± The elf exined with a smile. ¡°And I¡¯m here to make you an offer. I can see that your time is short, so I will keep this brief¡­¡±


    I looked in confusion as I saw Jonas approaching Sirin. It shouldn¡¯t be possible for him to know of Sirin¡¯s status as Irena¡¯s chosen, unless Ryone herself told him. But¡­ I didn¡¯t think that was likely, since Irena is always so insistent on letting things y out as they may.


    Jonas¡¯s offer for Sirin was simple. He wanted Sirin to be a member of his Community. To preserve his memory with his divine power, so that he could continue to offer his help to those who need it. At first, Sirin refused, once again iming that he did not want to live forever.


    It was only after Sirin exined that this would only be a ¡®memory¡¯ of Sirin created through his divine that the man was swayed. Jonas was not drawn by Sirin¡¯s status as a champion, nor his power as a dungeon master. Rather, he was looking for someone capable of caring for lost children. He had filled so many roles in hismunity, so many leaders and fighters, schrs and crafters. He had mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters. What hecked was a guide for the children that had lost their way.


    Once Sirin heard about this, his gaze became troubled. He could find no reason to reject Jonas¡¯s simple request. The ability to watch over the future generation was what Sirin himself cared for most deeply. As such, while his health continued to trickle downwards, he epted Jonas¡¯s offer.


    A faint golden light appeared briefly around Sirin, before a phantom image of him stood up out of his own body. This phantom then walked over to join Jonas, before stepping into his body instead. ¡°Well¡­ so that¡¯s how he expands his Community.¡± I muttered to myself.

 Chapter 470: Prelude to Shadow

    <h4>Chapter 470: Prelude to Shadow</h4>


    After watching the scene of Sirin spending his final moments with Jonas, I turned my attention towards Ryone. ¡°I think¡­ it¡¯s about time that I go for another adventure.¡± I had been in the Admin Room for a while, and gods were now starting to appear in my world. The ¡®form¡¯ for godhood was known, so it was only a matter of time before the numbers increased exponentially.


    Given that, it was time to slow things down. If I produced too many god-level figures, my rank would increase again, and I wasn¡¯t ready for that yet. So, if I was going to just take things slow, I might as well simply descend myself.


    ¡°Okay.¡± Ryone agreed without any worry. She had already given me what could be considered a supreme life-saving treasure, so a lot of her fears had already been taken care of. ¡°But¡­ do you have any idea what to do this time?¡±


    ¡°Not in the slightest.¡± I admitted with a small grin. ¡°Any suggestions?¡±


    ¡°Why not do something on one of your newer worlds? You could be part of the first interster voyage, but¡­ I don¡¯t expect it¡¯d be too much different for you than the first intercontinental voyage.¡± She asked, and I had to take a moment to give it some thought. It was true that I hadn¡¯t really explored those new worlds much yet since I acquired them.


    Thinking that far, I sent off a mental message towards alia. I¡¯m looking to do some work down below. Got any adventures for me in Kione?


    There was a faintugh that apanied her words when she responded. Finally getting stir crazy? Let¡¯s see¡­ there¡¯s a family of dragonriders in the Kiyara Mountains that are starting to turn to banditry. A demonic sect in southern Sashu is trying to gather sacrifices to summon the Shadow King. Oh, or there¡¯s the cult trying to cultivate a divinity by gathering subjects to pour their divine sparks into a single person.


    I blinked in surprise as I heard the options that alia had given me. Dragonriders, demonic sects, and this cult¡­ it suddenly felt like I was missing so much in the world. However¡­ none of these were really suited for my full power, so it wasn¡¯t like I¡¯d be in true danger from them.


    What¡¯s this about a Shadow King? I couldn¡¯t help but ask, thinking that the demonic sect sounded like the most interesting problem to help resolve.


    There¡¯s not really a Shadow King. Well, not yet. alia exined patiently. However, because Kione¡¯s field of magic is based on the imagination system, it¡¯s possible that their ritual could create one. Even if they did, he should be a demigod at best. That world has yet to discover how to use fourth tier magic.


    The problem is that they are gathering sacrifices, right? I nodded my head, already somewhat determined to handle this. Though, as I did with problems in the past, it would be in a disguise. I didn¡¯t want to give the appearance of being willing to settle all of the world¡¯s problems.


    Right. They use the special characteristics of their demonic familiars to lure in unsuspecting victims.


    Well, that raised an rm. Special characteristics? I thought that all familiars were essentially the same, aside from body shape and spell capacity?


    That¡¯s¡­ true for the first and second tiers. From my understanding, the world that you adventured in at the Keeper Meeting only had up to second tier magic. When a mage graduates to the third tier, their familiar undergoes an evolution. Some gain increasedbat abilities, some get special attributes of magic that don¡¯t upy their capacity.


    For instance, Leoywnn should actually be a third tier familiar for you, maybe even a fourth given her divine energy. You¡¯d have to have Ryone check her to see what her special characteristic was, but most human-shaped familiars in the third tier have a degree of personal spellcasting that they can use.


    Anyways, for demonic familiars, their specialty is in eitherbat, mental maniption, or contract magic. The exact specifics depends on the type of demon.


    Hearing alia¡¯s exnation naturally piqued my curiosity, so I turned to regard Ryone. After exining to her what alia had said, she closed her eyes in focus. ¡°Hmm? Ah, Leowynn has two innate talents that I can see. The first one allows her to summon armor, and the second is an increase to physical strength.¡± After saying that, she fell silent once again, allowing me to continue my conversation with alia.


    Okay, I¡¯ll head down to take care of that. You said that it was in Sashu? As I asked that, I opened a map of Kione, looking for a region by that name. What I found was a kingdom in one of thergest continents, far away from the Fairy Gates.


    That¡¯s right. Though, I¡¯d suggest using a disguise for Leowynn as well. Her face is¡­ pretty well known in Kione.


    It¡¯s what now? I blinked in surprise, having not expected that news at all.


    Vision Expanse is a big hit in my world. And they were more open to learning about new gods, so a lot of them started on ¡®Leowynn¡¯s world¡¯ due to the overcrowding in the other startings. I think Kione is one of the few ces where Leowynn is worshipped as a legitimate god on the same standing as the rest of us.


    I was sure that Leowynn would be happy to hear about that, and changing her appearance shouldn¡¯t be that difficult. Energy beings like the two of us should be able to theoretically change our bodies however we want. A perfect example was how Tsubaki had once taken on the habit of changing between different races herself before again settling on kitsune.


    We typically only stuck to one appearance because it was what our minds identified as natural. Maintaining a different form required concentration, until it became a second nature to the individual.


    Leowynn, are you free to descend with me? I found us an adventure.


    Of course, father, just one moment. She spoke up briefly, seeming distracted, so I gave her a bit of time. I continued to sit there on the couch, Ryone in myp as the two of us waited.


    Leowynn? I messaged her again after ten minutes passed by.


    Huh? Oh, sorry! I felt her rushing through the Admin Room, appearing in the living room. Her face was flustered, clearly embarrassed at having lost track of time. Still, when she arrived, she leaned forward to give her mother a tight hug. ¡°See you when I get back, mom.¡±


    Ryone simply giggled, returning the embrace. ¡°See you soon, honey.¡±


    While the two of them were saying their farewells, I was setting up my own appearance and history for this venture. Since we were going to Kione, and a region of the world far removed from the gate, I chose to descend as a lycan.


    In order to avoid creating too many waves with my identity, I ced myself as a normal citizen, an adventuring mage by the name of¡­ let¡¯s go with Clover Kyr, with Leowynn¡¯s alias here being Val. Val Kyr¡­ it seemed a suitable name for Leowynn, and gave me an idea for her disguise.


    Once Ryone had gotten off of myp, Leowynn merged into my body, and the two of us descended. The area we appeared at was quite a ways from the town where I had set myself as living. Since I needed to take care of several additional details before we returned, it was important to not set down in the center of town.


    The first thing that I needed to do was adjust my aura. I focused on the golden pearl of my soul, and set myself to appear as someone with roughly two hundred levels each in Mage, Monk, and Ninja, and sixty levels of Schr. Then, I threw in a smattering of misceneous sses such as Chef, Hunter, Herbalist, and other such life skills that someone would easily be able to acquire through my defined lifestyle.


    While I was doing that, I exined to Leowynn our current situation, as well as the need for her to establish a disguise. As I expected, she was quite intrigued at the idea of a major church devoted to her. She even asked that we make sure to visit at some point while we were here, a request I didn¡¯t have any problems agreeing to.


    Finally, after my aura and her disguise were taken care of, there was only one matter left to settle. In order to pass as a mage of Kione, I had to utilize magic through my familiar instead of the normal magic with which I was¡­ well, familiar.


    Leowynn and I spent a good three hours together, simply establishing the magical repertoire of spells to store within her. Following the theme of her name, I gave her spells focused on meleebat, archery, and a few elemental effects. Combined with her appearance of an armored maiden, she truly fit the image of a valkyrie.


    To my surprise, though, even those few hours of developing spells did not seem to fill her capacity. I remembered back when I was in the simtion, my lion had enough room for barely a dozen simple spells, but I had already long since passed that number with Leowynn.


    Seeming to sense my surprise, alia whispered into my mind. As familiars evolve, they naturally gain a greater capacity for magic. Leowynn should be able to hold¡­ quite a lot, honestly. More than you could fit in five of those grimoires you bought from Starkiller. In fact, it¡¯s quite rare for a familiar at the third tier to everpletely fill their capacity, because their mages prefer to stick to a smaller array of spells.


    Well, that was reassuring at least. The fact that nobody would question if Leowynn didn¡¯t have a full arsenal meant that I didn¡¯t need to worry about spending the rest of the day just toe up with more spells. ¡°Let¡¯s get going.¡± I spoke up, taking a deep breath before guiding Leowynn to walk back towards the town.


    While the two of us walked, alia gave us additional information about our targets. From what she said, it sounded as if the demons often targeted lone adventurers, particrly those of high level. From their theories, the Shadow King would only be appeased through the most powerful offerings.


    With me establishing myself as an adventurer with a total level above six hundred, this made me a prime target for them. Even without me going out of the way to find them, they would eventuallye looking for me themselves. This gave me some time to simply enjoy Kione¡¯s culture while I waited.


    The walk back to town took a little over an hour, during which we encountered a fewrger beasts. Using Leowynn¡¯s innate talents, we easily slew them. After each kill, I took my time to harvest their meat. This wasn¡¯t my first time hunting with Leowynn, so I at least had an idea of what I was doing, and we could sell the meat when we got back to town. Even though I had Ryone, who could simply give me as much money as I needed, it still helped to sell the image of a normal adventurer if I was seen earning for myself.


    When we got back to town, I was able to see that¡­ there were no walls to this city. At first, I felt that to be an unusual trait in a world with monsters. In any situation where the city was able to be attacked at any moment, a certain amount of defenses seemed to be a requirement.


    However, as I got closer, I noticed that there were a pair of guards posted on either side of a road. As with other cities I¡¯d seen, there was a short line of people entering the city along that road. Furrowing my brow, I deployed my world sight, before suddenly understanding what was going on. There was a wall around the city, of a sort. A barrier surrounded it on almost all sides, projected by a group of familiars within the city itself. The only openings to the barrier were along the roads.


    I gave a small nod as I began to understand, moving to stand in line with the others.

 Chapter 471: On a Whim

    <h4>Chapter 471: On a Whim</h4>


    ¡°Clover?¡± The guard asked as he saw me walking over, my turn in the line finallying. Then, he nced to Leowynn next to me, nodding his head. ¡°Wee back.¡± He gestured for us to enter the town, looking over the next person in line.


    How can familiars serve as identification? I asked in confusion. After all, we were already taking advantage of the fact that energy beings like Leowynn and I could change our shape freely.


    Most familiars have a more firm body when materialized, and can¡¯t change like that. alia exined calmly. Maybe because Leowynn inherited the position of familiar, rather than a natural born one, but she is one of the rare few able to freely change.


    Still, couldn¡¯t people simply use a spell to make their familiars look like somebody else¡¯s?


    There was a lightugh from alia in response to that. That¡¯s true, but couldn¡¯t they also use a spell to disguise their name from an appraisal, or forge documents?


    That was¡­ annoyingly true as well. Worse yet, they couldn¡¯t use scanners to detect magic and verify it, because the familiars themselves are the embodiment of magic in Kione. So, it seemed that they had taken to using them in this manner. I felt a bit sorry again for anyone whose familiar was killed.


    Either way, I walked into the town, mentally setting my destination as the local butcher shop where I could sell the meat that I had acquired. Thanks to my old navigation perk, I was able to quickly and easily make my way through the streets.


    When I arrived at the butcher shop, I stepped inside and found a small girl tending the counter. She could have been no more than twelve years old, with light blonde hair and wearing an oversized set of leather armor. This¡­ can¡¯t be the owner of the store, right? I asked, even as I approached the counter.


    It¡­ is now. alia muttered in a sad tone.


    My expression tightened up a bit at that, and I checked the girl¡¯s information. ¡°Where¡¯s your dad, Lydia?¡± I asked in a soft tone, causing the girl to look up at me. Her eyes were red, though she was doing her best to hide it.


    ¡°Daddy had to go out for a bit today, Mister Kyr. I¡¯m helping run things until he gets back.¡± Her hands were shaking as she said that, and it seemed obvious that she wasn¡¯t actually expecting him toe back.


    ¡°Do you know how to do this?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask, given her young age. She wouldn¡¯t even have her first familiar yet, after all.


    ¡°Yeah!¡± She nodded her head heavily, her fists clenching. ¡°I watched Daddy a lot, and I¡¯m a really good schr and chef! I promise I can handle the business.¡±


    I gave a small sigh, nodding as I retrieved the meat that I had harvested from the animals. She looked the meat over, testing its toughness and nutritional value with a small spike-shaped tool. Then, she examined the quality of the cut itself. Finally, after doing a bit of math, likely with the aid of the system¡­ ¡°I can give you a hundred and seventy-eight pieces for this. Is that alright, Mister Kyr?¡±


    I wasn¡¯t sure if that was the normal market value, so I just gave another nod. I could feel Leowynn urging me to speak up, but I already nned to do so. ¡°Lydia, would you like to stay with me for a little while? Just until your dades back.¡±


    Since I hadn¡¯t set any specific rtionship details with my reputation, I couldn¡¯t know just how deep my friendship with her family went. However, she seemed to regard me pretty well. And there was no way that I could leave someone that young to fend for themselves.


    Lydia seemed to hesitate at my offer, before nodding her head. ¡°O-okay, Mister Kyr. After I close up tonight, I¡¯ll leave a note for Daddy at the house to let him know.¡±


    I knew that it mightplicate things to have to handle a child while doing my mission. I was already prepared to buy a World Host to take over here for me after I left. That way, even if Lydia¡¯s father was already dead, she wouldn¡¯t be left alone.


    I offered her a small smile, taking the series of paper money that she handed me in exchange for the meat. It was surprising that Kione used paper money as opposed to precious metals, but that was just another thing for me to adjust to.


    After leaving the butcher¡¯s shop, I began making my way home to familiarize myself with it. In this life, I owned a two story house with three bedrooms. More than enough for one person to live alone in, but people with my kind of strength could often afford excess.


    The room had white outer walls and a triangr roof, a small window showing the existence of an attic. At the same time, there was a cer door attached to the side of the house, causing me to nod my head. Once inside, I swept over the area with my world sight before returning to the Admin Room.


    My return this time was only long enough for me to buy the World Host, before I once again descended. From now on, how I behaved would influence the host¡¯s personality. At the same time, I wasmitting myself to descend into this body until it perished.


    As soon as I returned, Leowynn and I sat together on the couch in the living room. ¡°Do you think I could y Vision Expanse here?¡± Leowynn asked, looking towards me. There were two sets of headgear to connect to the game in the house, one of them being specifically for spiritual beings like herself.


    That probably meant that we had characters set up as well, so I would look into thatter. ¡°Sure, Val.¡± I made sure to use her alias here, as it would be the foundation for the host¡¯s interaction with its own familiar in the future.


    Aside from the Vision Expanse headgear, there was also a pretty standard entertainment center. Not wanting to miss when Lydia came over, I checked to see what was on and waited for night toe.


    Roughly six hourster, I heard a faint knock on my door, prompting me to open it. Standing outside was Lydia, wearing a simple t-shirt and jeans, her tail drooping behind her. In her hands was arge luggage bag of clothes, so I was able to confirm once again that she expected this to be a long term arrangement.


    ¡°T-thank you, Mister Kyr.¡± Lydia stuttered, her eyes red. I simply offered a warm smile, guiding her into the house.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, Lydia.¡± Part of me wanted to tell her that she didn¡¯t have to work at the butcher¡¯s shop anymore, but I couldn¡¯t bring myself to say it. That shop might very well be thest thing of her father¡¯s. Taking that away from her would be cruel.


    Something that I had learned the hard way in my time observing these worlds. Their views on children earning a living were far morex than the world I came from. After all, if a teenager received a little bit of training and gained some levels, they could easily be stronger than a fully grown man was where I came from.


    As such, these worlds valued capability over everything else. They would not force people of Lydia¡¯s age to work, but¡­ if she possessed the drive and ability to do so, they also wouldn¡¯t stop her.


    ¡°How long is it until your Binding Day?¡± I asked out of curiosity, guiding Lydia up the stairs to take her to one of the spare rooms of the house.


    ¡°I-It was yesterday, actually.¡± She admitted, her voice trembling again. ¡°But Daddy left before we could do the ceremony.¡±


    I was surprised when I heard that, shaking my head. alia, is there anything that is different about modern familiar summonings that I should be aware of?


    A bit. The lycan goddess exined. Certain materials are used during the summoning in order to either boost the effect of the summoning or lock the familiar in as a particr type.


    For instance, to summon an Armored Maiden familiar, you would typically have a set of enchanted armor crafted for you. During the ritual, you would use that armor, along with a drop of blood and a circle of lcs.


    There are also modifications to themon ritual incantations that can be used to increase the chance of a familiar being the type you wanted, and other ritual aspects like borrowing power from others and such.


    Nodding my head, I nced over to Lydia, leading her into the room. ¡°When you wake up tomorrow, how about we take care of your Binding? Is there a certain type of familiar you¡¯re wanting?¡±


    Lydia froze up at that, just as she was about to set down her bag. For a moment, I asked if I had said something wrong, before she looked up at me with wet eyes. ¡°Really? You¡¯d help me?¡±


    ¡°Bitte for that, don¡¯t you think?¡± I asked in a yful tone, lightly knocking on her head. ¡°I¡¯m already helping you, aren¡¯t I? So, like I said, any preferences?¡±


    The girl began to think, seeming aware that this decision could determine her future. ¡°I-If it¡¯s not too much trouble, could I get an angel?¡±


    I closed my eyes, pretending to think it over. alia?


    Thankfully, the helpful Goddess of Wisdom was helpful as ever. Angels can be summoned. To do so, you need the bark of an ancient tree and feathers of a light-attribute creature. The stronger it is, the better, with a maximum limit of ten feathers. People who acquire angel familiars typically take up positions in the church, or in hospitals.


    And what are the odds that I have a few particrly high-level light-attribute feathers lying around in storage, oh Goddess of the Hunt? I asked hopefully, earning a lightugh.


    I¡¯ll get them for you by morning, along with the specialized chant and the bark. There are different types among angels, just like there are with demons, so getting the best materials will help guarantee the best results.


    I nodded at that, opening my eyes. I was just about to speak when I noticed that Lydia¡¯s eyes had been lowered. Her shoulders were trembling, and I could tell that she was afraid she had asked for too much. ¡°I¡¯ve got just the stuff for that kind of summoning.¡± I assured her in a gentle tone. ¡°Just had to make sure that I wasn¡¯t missing anything.¡±


    Her head rose up, her eyes went but shining with hope. ¡°Really? I can¡­ I can have an angel?¡±


    ¡°Of course. Did your father teach you about an angel¡¯s abilities?¡±


    She gave a strong nod to my question. ¡°Y-yeah! An angel will automatically evolve to the second tier at adulthood without any problems, and can easily advance to the third! After reaching the third tier, they can gain one of several different abilities. These can be healing lights, holy shields, or anything like that! I always wanted an angel, and Daddy had been trying to save up to get me the feathers¡­¡±


    Something told me that the group that abducted her father made away with his savings as well. alia¡­ I know it¡¯s unlikely, but is her father¡­?


    There was a short dy after my question, before alia spoke up. Just going by her tone, I already knew the answer and was forced to close my eyes in sce. I¡¯m sorry, Dale¡­


    No, this isn¡¯t your fault. I assured her. We keep ourselves separate from mortal problems so that they are able to make their own mistakes and get past them. This is all just a part of that. If I didn¡¯te here on a whim, this girl would be living on the streets soon, or taken in by some local orphanage. But our whims won¡¯t fix everything. They need to be allowed the freedom to do both right and wrong, or else they will not be able to tell the difference between the two.

 Chapter 472: The Keeper of Rings

    <h4>Chapter 472: The Keeper of Rings</h4>


    The next morning, I awoke to find that Leowynn was still enjoying Vision Expanse. On the screen, I could see that her character was some form of magic knight, and that she was traveling with a small group of friends. Given that, I didn¡¯t want to disturb her. It wasn¡¯t often that she was able to simply y around like this when we descended.


    alia? I questioned as I began to change into a clean set of clothes for today. Just a simple tunic and leather pants, showing that I wasn¡¯t really nning to hunt for the time being.


    I put them in a chest in the attic. A bundle of feathers from a level eight hundred Starlight Sparrow rarely found in the mountains east of your position. It¡¯s a bit of a journey, but it is usible for Clover to have kept such precious materials. In an adjacent chest is a branch from a six hundred year Immortal Oak.


    I nodded my head, more than satisfied with the materials. I wasn¡¯t sure what sort of angel would be summoned if we used these ingredients, but it should at the very least seed in ensuring the proper type. What about the incantation?


    Second drawer of your desk, I put a book containing all of the discovered incantations for different familiar types. That method seemed more usible than simply having a paper specifically for angels.


    That struck me as a rather smart move, so I thanked her mentally. By the way¡­ are angels and demons a part of this world¡¯s mythology? I can¡¯t imagine Desbar taking it too kindly to know that demons are seen as evil, maniptive beings in Kione.


    There was a long sigh at that, before alia answered. They are¡­ different sorts of demons. Demon is just a very broad term. It¡¯s like the difference between Judeo-Christian demons of hell, and the Japanese Oni of your world. Technically, oni is the direct trantion of the word demon, but the two types of demons are too far removed to consider the same breed.


    To differentiate them, the residents of Kione have two different words to ssify the demons of Kione and the demons of myth that the familiars take after. Of course, because of your auto-trante function, both words would simply register as ¡®demon¡¯ to you.


    That cleared up some of my concerns. I was worried that there would be hidden tension between the lycans of Kione and Desbar if they were branded under the same name as evil beings of local legend. I¡¯ll need you to fill me in on what kind of angel Lydia summonster. That way I¡¯ll be able to help her, and disy the sort of knowledge expected of someone who has lived here.


    After saying that, I grabbed the book from my desk and began to flip through it. The rituals were neatly organized, with the page on the left containing the materials for a particr summoning, and the page on the right containing the incantation. Each one was marked to specify the intended race that was being called on.


    It only took me a few moments to find the pages containing the information on summoning angels. Once I did so, I grabbed a pen and paper from my desk, and began to transcribe the incantation to pass to Lydia. At the same time, I made sure to note down the particr details of the ritual itself.


    Thanks to my scan of the previous day, I knew that there was a room in the cer for performing the ritual. With that, everything was taken care of. After finishing the chant, I stood up and walked to the attic to gather ten feathers and some of the bark that I required from the branch. Only then did I move to the room I had ced Lydia in, knocking on her door.


    Almost the same second that I knocked, the door flew open. Lydia was wearing a simple white dress today, and her face seemed far more excited than it had been the night before¡­ if a bit tired. At a guess, she hadn¡¯t been able to sleep due to the thought of finally getting her familiar, and the one of her dreams at that.


    ¡°Is it time?¡± She asked quickly when she saw that I held the necessary materials. I simplyughed, passing her the incantation and nodding my head. After reading over it, Lydia reached forward to wrap me in a warm hug. ¡°Thank you, Mister Kyr.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, Lydia. Let¡¯s go meet your new partner, alright?¡± I separated her from me after a moment, and began leading her down to the ritual room. Once we were inside, I moved to the ritual circle, and ced the ten faintly glowing feathers along the outer rim. ording to the book, the bark itself went at the center of the circle.


    After I finished, I stood up and moved to stand along the wall, gesturing Lydia to step forward. For the first time today, she looked slightly nervous, looking to me for support as she clung to the paper in her hands.


    After taking a deep breath, she held one hand out towards the circle. ¡°Light that dwells within my soul, carried on the wings of righteousness. Appear and take form, bring your splendor unto the world. I swear to uphold the heavenlyws, and be all that is good in the world. Eyes of the heavenly goddess, bear witness to this pact.¡±


    Unlike the silver mes I had seen in the old ritual, the mes that emerged from the ten feathers and piece of bark were pure white. Otherwise, the process seemed fairly simr to what I knew.


    ¡°I call forth the one who has been chosen for me. If you heed my will, descend from your heavenly abode.¡± Soon, I was able to see a figure shifting within the portal, looking like a small child. When they stepped through, I saw that their hair was short and golden, their body wrapped in a white cloth. Above his head was a golden ring of light, another one around each of his wrists and ankles. Simrly, his eyes seemed to glow a faint blue.


    This is an upper ss angel, Dale. It¡¯s known as the Keeper of Rings. They are said to be the overseers of love. As a familiar, they gain two abilities at the third tier. The first is to bind targets with those rings of light. The second ability is to detect any form of magical pact.


    I gave a small nod, looking over the familiar. I wasn¡¯t particrly surprised that alia had given me the materials needed for a higher ss of angel. If anything, I¡¯d have been surprised if she didn¡¯t. It would have even made sense if what she gave me had allowed Lydia to summon whatever the pinnacle level of angelic familiar was.


    ¡°Very good, Lydia.¡± I eximed with a smile towards her, nodding my head and exining the information about the familiar that alia had given me. Hearing that she had gotten such a good result, Lydia¡¯s eyes brightened.


    She looked at the boy who seemed a bit younger than herself, and walked forward to hug him. Behind him, the swirling void vanished away into nothing, showing that the ritual had truly ended. From this point, a familiar would experience a heightened growth period, reaching maturity in no more than five years.


    If Lydia diligently trained, the growth should be even faster. However, I had no intention to urge any of that. She would train at her own pace, for better or worse. I hadn¡¯t chosen to take her in to cultivate a powerful weapon, only to save an unfortunate child.


    ¡°What are you going to call him?¡± I asked, seeing Lydia leading the angelic youth over.


    ¡°I think¡­ I think I¡¯ll call him Elijah. Is that okay, Mister Kyr?¡± The name clearly held deep emotional meaning for her by the way her eyes went to her familiar. It didn¡¯t take much for me to guess what that meaning was.


    It¡¯s her father¡¯s name, isn¡¯t it?


    Yeah¡­ alia responded promptly, and I nodded my head.


    ¡°It¡¯s just fine, Lydia.¡± I told her in a soft tone. ¡°For now, how about we get us something to eat?¡±


    ¡°Oh, let me!¡± Lydia called out, running out of the room. I vaguely recalled her saying that she had learned to be a good chef from watching her father, so I turned and followed her out.


    By the time I came up to the kitchen, I saw Lydia lifting arge pot over her head, taking it towards the stove. She had ced a chair in front of the stove, which she climbed up on. Surprisingly, she seemed quite well bnced. When she set the pot down, I heard the sloshing of water inside.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to do that you know.¡± I tried to assure her, but she shook her head heavily. I could see her tail, which had previously been drooping, now wagging happily.


    ¡°I want to, Mister Kyr! Daddy always says that we have to repay kindness for kindness!¡± After adjusting the temperature of the stove, she jumped down and ran over to the fridge. Looking through it, she gathered a few spices, some meat, and vegetables. Maybe it was a feature of the chef ss, or just a part of her own training, but she did not seem to have any doubts about the materials she was grabbing.


    Seeing how determined she was, I simply sat down and waited. After I did so, I noticed the chair next to me was pulled out, and Lydia¡¯s angelic familiar had chosen to sit with me. His eyes alternated between ncing at me and Lydia, before settling on thetter.


    When it looked like the stew that she was making was almost done, I called out mentally to Leowynn. If you can find a good spot to log out for now, we¡¯re about to have dinner. Lydia¡¯s cooking.


    It only took a couple of minutes for Leowynn to descend the steps and join us, after which we had a nice breakfast together. For a little while, it was as if all the terrible things that had happened to Lydia were just a lie, and she was able to return to a happier time. She gave a bright smile as she looked at me, and a warm gaze to Elijah.


    When I saw that, I knew even more clearly that I had to act against the demonic sect. If I was not able to do this with the life of Clover Kyr, then I woulde back with another life, and another.


    ¡°Have you located the next sacrifice?¡± An aged voice spoke up from beneath a ck hood. A seductive woman with ck skin, her frame hugged by strips of carapace, stood next to him as they watched another robed figure approach.


    Apanying the second figure was a man with four arms, parchment seeming to hand from his limbs. The rest of his skin was covered in shifting letters.


    ¡°I have, your Holiness.¡± The second figure spoke up in a more youthful voice. ¡°There is a local adventurer who has reached quite a high level. His Armored Maiden has already reached the third tier, though his focus is as a ninja.¡±


    ¡°A ninja, is it? The Shadow King has yet to sample a powerful ninja¡¯s essence. Very well, it sounds as if he shall make a fitting addition indeed. Perhaps even the final touch that we need. The time to meet our king is close at hand, so take care.¡±


    ¡°Of course, your Holiness. I have dispatched the Sisters to bring him over.¡± Beneath the hood, the younger figure smiled as he said that. ¡°They have yet to fail us.¡±


    ¡°If they had failed us, then they would no longer be in our employ.¡± The elderly figure spoke dryly. He had already sacrificed multiple of his own followers as a punishment for failure, which served to¡­ encourage those that remained.

 Chapter 473: Mowai Halii

    <h4>Chapter 473: Mowai Halii</h4>


    After breakfast, I walked Lydia to the local schoolhouse so that she could go to ss. For the entire duration of the walk, Lydia was looking guiltily at the ground. One of her hands was in my own, and the other was holding Elijah¡¯s hand. She had chosen to skip ss the previous day, because she had to manage the shop after her father left.


    When I heard that¡­ well, I may not intend to stop her from running the shop, but she still needs to finish her studies as well. So, the two of us came to an agreement. She would continue to manage the shop, but only after school. During other times, I was going to help arrange for her to hire someone to help out.


    Seeing that I had no intention of taking the shop from her, or forcing her to give it away to someone else seemed to help persuade Lydia. She eventually agreed to my conditions, leading to us finally getting her to school.


    The school itself was arge facility, with two floors above ground and one below. Although the city that we lived in wasn¡¯t thatrge itself, this school also covers nearby viges, who all send their children here to study with the aid of transportation magic. As such, we could see a steady stream of children walking through the gates.


    ¡°Ah! Lydia, there you are.¡± One of the teachers of the school, a woman wearing a dark grey button-up uniform called out with a smile. She rushed over, her brown hair tied up in a ponytail while she watched Lydia through a pair of thinly rimmed sses. ¡°Are you feeling better today? I see you managed to get your familiar.¡±


    It seemed that she thought that Lydia had missed school because of an illness, an easy mistake if they didn¡¯t send anyone to her father¡¯s business. Lydia blushed a bit in embarrassment. She simply nodded her head, releasing my hand and running into the school with Elijah.


    Seeing that, the teacher blinked in confusion, before looking over at myself. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I don¡¯t think we¡¯ve met?¡±


    I offered her a small smile. ¡°That¡¯s right. My name is Clover Kyr. For the time being, I¡¯ll be looking after Lydia.¡±


    ¡°Looking after¡­ is Elijah alright?¡± The teacher¡¯s eyes went wide with rm, now seeming to understand the true reason behind Lydia¡¯s absence.


    ¡°He¡­ left.¡± That was the only way that I could say it. I couldn¡¯t say that I knew he was dead, because ¡®Clover¡¯ wouldn¡¯t have that information yet. All that I should logically know is what Lydia told me.


    ¡°Oh¡­ oh dear. Another one of those?¡± The teacher asked in a solemn tone, ncing back to catch Lydia¡¯s figure as she ran into the school building. ¡°Poor dear¡­ those people have been acting up more and moretely.¡±


    ¡°You know about them?¡± That caught me by surprise. I had expected that the demonic sect was moving entirely in the shadows, in order to avoid the persecution of localw enforcement.


    ¡°It¡¯s the Mowai Halii, right?¡± She asked, looking back to face me. ¡°That¡¯s what we call them. A name that the children came up with, actually.¡±


    Error, does notpute. alia, trantor-sama broke! Mowai Halii?


    My ¡®prayer¡¯ was answered with a light, mentalugh. That¡¯s because the words themselves were partly made up. As a rough trantion, it is a mix of ¡®Shadow People¡¯ and ¡®Parent Thief¡¯.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t there anything that the guards can do to stop it?¡± I nced off to the side, seeing an armored soldier walking a patrol along the road.


    ¡°Not that I¡¯ve seen.¡± The teacher shook her head. ¡°The Mowai Halii don¡¯t operate by a specific method. Sometimes, they kidnap people who are out of town. Sometimes, they lure them into dark alleys and simply vanish with their targets. One of my students said that he heard them creeping in through the window of his house, and the next day his big sister was gone.¡±


    I let out a light sigh. ¡°From what I could tell talking with Lydia, they convinced her father to leave with¡­ basically his entire savings.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll get her in to see our school¡¯s therapist after sses today. Thank you for helping her.¡± The teacher spoke, before offering a polite bow. When I left, Leowynn stepped out from my body to walk alongside me.


    What are we going to do now? She asked mentally, given that we were still in a public area.


    y everything as if it were normal. alia, is there a guild or some local business that acts as a middleman for helping people find work?


    Thankfully, the answer to my question came back without much dy. From what she said, there wasn¡¯t a particr guild that was as all-epassing as the one that had spread throughout Earth. Here, there were instead individual businesses that performed the different jobs. What I was looking for was the job office, a building ced within the town center.


    When I arrived, I was greeted by an elderly lycan with grey hair. He sat behind his desk and appraised me, before pulling out a thick binder. ¡°Are you looking for work, or here to post a job listing?¡±


    ¡°Thetter.¡± I informed him. ¡°The¡­ new owner of the Thin Cuts butchery is looking for someone to help man the shop while she is otherwise indisposed.¡±


    ¡°Are you not the owner in question?¡± The man asked, ncing towards me with undisguised suspicion.


    ¡°No. I¡¯m her current guardian.¡± My answer caused the man¡¯s face to soften, and he offered a faint nod.


    ¡°Another of those.¡± He said with a sigh, opening up the binder. As he flipped through the different pages, I was able to catch glimpses of far more job openings than would normally make sense in a town this size. If I had to guess, almost a quarter of the adult poption of this town had gone missing. ¡°I can help you fill in the details such as an hourly wage and requested schedule. However, before the posting can be made official, you will need to bring the new owner to review the paperwork and offer her signature.¡±


    I thanked the man, giving him the hours and rates that Lydia and I had discussed. Once he had filled a paper out with the information, he ced it within the binder. ¡°Normally, I would say that you should hear back from us in a matter of days. However¡­ you will be notified when someonees in.¡±


    While it sounded simr, the difference in meaning was clear. I thanked him again, and turned to leave. In the worst case scenario, I would help set up some security for the shop and it would simply open for a few hours after Lydia got out of ss each day. It may not be best for business, but I wasn¡¯t hurting for money.


    When Leowynn and I got home, and I opened the door, I felt Leowynn freezing up behind me. Someone was here while we were gone. She whispered into my mind, walking ahead of me into the house.


    Are you sure? I didn¡¯t particrly doubt her judgement, I just didn¡¯t know how she had arrived at that conclusion.


    Definitely. I noticed it yesterday, but I¡¯m connected to the wards in this ce. Whatever you set for your background probably ended up with Clover setting his home¡¯s defenses himself. As your familiar, that means that I am the anchor for these wards.


    Convenient, but definitely usible. Okay, what can you tell me? I entered the house behind Leowynn, looking through it for anything different. Any shifts in the furniture, or messages left behind.


    All that I noticed was a faint, sweet scent. Two of the wards have been broken. One on the front door, and the one on your bedroom window.


    After she said that, I made my way upstairs. It didn¡¯t make sense for them to actually break my wards like this. Clearly, from what I have been told, they had the power to slip in undetected. The only reason to do things like this was if they wanted to send a message. I didn¡¯t see anything near the front door, so that message had to be in my bedroom.


    Sure enough, when I reached my room, I saw a folded letterying across my bed. There was a pink lipstick smear on it, making it look like a love letter, though it was obviously different.


    `Dear Mister Kyr,


    I do so hope that this letter finds you in good health. It would pain me to see anything happen to you, truly. You may not know who I am, but I know so much about you. Please don¡¯t worry about the wards, as that was merely my way of getting your attention. I won¡¯t be resorting to such things again.


    Next time, I hope that the two of us may meet face to face. My sisters and I have been looking forward to it. Perhaps tonight, maybe you¡¯ll get an unexpected visitor?


    With Deepest Affection, Sister Iris`


    I furrowed my brow as I read the letter, before feeling as if something was off. My world sight pulsed out, sweeping the entire house. The first thing that I noticed was the enchantment on the letter itself, meant to entrance the reader. While it would be quite effective on a normal person, my mental stats likely too high, causing it to fail.


    The next thing I noticed were six chalk drawings ced throughout the house, each containing a faint trace of magic. While I couldn¡¯t tell exactly what those drawings were for, I had no intention of simply allowing them to remain. There was a fine line between ying along as Clover Kyr and cing my actual life in jeopardy by refusing to act against such a security risk.


    Lifting up my bed, I found the first of the chalk drawings on the floor underneath. When I broke it by scratching out one of the lines, the magic in the drawing snapped. Mentally, I transmitted the location of the other five drawings to Leowynn to have her break them as well.


    It looks like they¡¯ve already decided to act against you. Leowynn spoke up as she finished the final piece of whatever magic they had prepared. I expected that it would take a few more days.


    So did I. Perhaps my backstory made me more of an appealing target than I expected. Or maybe there were so few valid options left for them in the area that they were ready to grasp at any suitable candidate that prepared itself. Either way, it made one thing clear. I was going to have to y this carefully in order to avoid pulling Lydia into the mess.


    Tonight, I want you to watch Lydia. I told Leowynn, making sure she knew not to spend all night in Vision Expanse again. If anyone attempts to enter her room, you have permission to act as you see fit. If they are too strong for ¡®Val Kyr¡¯ to handle, you are permitted to use full power. I¡¯ll think of a way to exin itter if that happens.


    Understood, father. Leowynn responded immediately. It was unlikely that they would target her, unless they intended to do so purely as a hostage to use against me. From what I had heard of this group, that was unlikely. Then again, they are known for using different tactics with every abduction, so that could honestly just be their n for this event.


    After making sure that any magical traces that they left behind were taken care of, I had Ryone help me remake the wards to protect the house. Even though I knew that these people could break them, or likely even slip in without touching the wards, it made no sense to leave them down. The wards might not do anything for Mowai Halii, but they¡¯d still stop themon robber.

 Chapter 474: Turnabout is Fair Play, Right?

    <h4>Chapter 474: Turnabout is Fair y, Right?</h4>


    ¡°He broke our formation, Iris.¡± A voluptuous female called out from beneath the cover of a red hood, speaking to another simrly dressed woman.


    ¡°Oh? He must be more capable than the rumors suggest, if he did so already.¡± The second woman spoke in a pleased tone. ¡°Still, we have more tricks up our sleeves. Sister Nyx, this one will be in your hands.¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± A third voice spoke up from the nearby shadows, another form concealed within. ¡°He¡¯s as good as ours.¡±


    I stood with my eyes closed as a thin mist spread out around me. The sky seemed dark, yet I was somehow able to see clearly. I looked around, trying to find somendmarks I could use to identify my present location. As I did so, I heard a voice from behind me.


    ¡°Come on, bro!¡± Turning, I saw Aurivy standing within the hallway. Hallway? Another nce around showed me to be in the Admin Room. ¡°You¡¯re going to miss the show.¡±


    ¡°What show?¡± I asked curiously, almost in a daze as I turned to follow her. Out in the living room, I could see Terra, alia, and Leowynn all waiting for me on the couch.


    ¡°The fireworks! You set it up yourself, remember?¡± There was a happy smile on Aurivy¡¯s face as she ran over to sit in Terra¡¯sp, turning to watch the screen. On it, I could see a zoomed out image of Earth. However, there was something else in the image as well¡­ a giant meteor, aimed straight towards the.


    My eyes went wide in rm as I saw that. ¡°Where¡¯s Ryone? Tubrock? Shouldn¡¯t they be stopping this?¡±


    ¡°Why would we?¡± Ryone asked curiously, walking out from behind me to lean against the back of the couch. ¡°This is what you wanted, right? To destroy everything with a bang, and start fresh. Oh, but it looks like Tsubaki¡¯s not going to ept that.¡± The image zoomed in, and I could see the Sky Citadel leaving the¡¯s atmosphere, moving towards the meteor. ¡°She¡¯s definitely not strong enough to stop this¡­ but should we kill her too, just to be sure?¡±


    Hearing Ryone talking like this made me furrow my brow. I turned around, scanning the room. Pieces began falling into ce now. Funny thing, it¡¯s always hardest to recognize a dream when you¡¯re inside of one. But once you do, you¡¯re able to see things from a new perspective.


    ¡°Y-you¡­ what are you.¡± There was a red-robed figure cowering in one corner of the room. Someone I knew shouldn¡¯t be in the Admin Room.


    ¡°Are you Sister Iris?¡± I asked and as I walked closer, the room seemed to tremble with every step. After a moment, I paused, speaking in the runguage. ¡°Stabilize the dream, contain all entities within.¡± We weren¡¯t done here, not by a long shot.


    ¡°T-that¡¯s not Kione¡¯s magic! You¡¯re from Fyor?!¡± The woman cried out in rm, her form growing blurry before snapping back to ce. ¡°No¡­ no, this kind of thing can¡¯te from Fyor. You consort with gods, and hold the fate of the world within your palm¡­ How could you be-¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not for you to worry about right now. Are you Sister Iris?¡± I repeated my question, now standing directly before the woman.


    ¡°N-no. I am Sister Nyx. Iris sent me here to invade your dreams. I¡¯m sorry, sir, please let me go.¡± Her eyes began to water, and I felt something familiar in her tone. I waved my hand, and her cloak shattered into dust. What remained beneath¡­ it was the female teacher that had approached me when I dropped Lydia off at the school.


    Seeing that her appearance had been discovered, she didn¡¯t fly into a rage. No, she curled in on herself like a scared puppy. I felt the room grow cold around me at the realization that she had taken advantage of her position as a teacher to leave children orphaned.


    ¡°I¡¯m s-sorry sir, please¡­ I¡¯ll do whatever you want.¡± She was cowering in front of me, begging for mercy.


    ¡°Yes, you will.¡± I reached forward, cing a hand on her head. Meeting someone who found joy in endangering the children she was supposed to watch over, there was no mercy in my eyes.


    Within a dark room, Nyx Sturgeon sat across from her familiar, a demonic woman in a seductive robe. Both of their eyes were closed, sweat beading down their brows. Nyx let out a pained gasp, and opened her eyes. ¡°I-It¡¯s done.¡± She muttered in a weak voice as her subus slowly opened her eyes as well.


    Nearby, Iris was watching over them, offering a pleased nod. ¡°As nned?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯ll take the girl to school in the morning, and then walk out to join us in the forest.¡± Nyx¡¯s voice slowly grew calm, earning a nod from her familiar. ¡°He had a strong mind, but we¡¯ve been through worse.¡±


    ¡°Any secrets we should be aware of?¡± Iris asked, the subus seeming to fall into thought while Nyx shook her head.


    ¡°Nothing more than you¡¯d expect. He¡¯s more skilled than his known level would suggest, and has fought disaster level monsters. However, his mastery over ki can¡¯t protect his mind from me.¡±


    Iris gave another nod. ¡°Very good. As usual, your familiar will be taking your ce for work tomorrow. Once we lead him back to base, you can get back to work.¡±


    ¡°Understood, Sister Iris.¡± Nyx nodded obediently, slowly rising from her position on the ground.


    So that¡¯s their n. I thought to myself as I awoke in the morning. Scanning through Nyx¡¯s mind had shown me not only the wicked deeds she hadmitted, or how she took pleasure in preying on the stronger members of society while watching the weak struggle. I was also able to see what she had in store for me.


    If her magic had worked, I would be left as a puppet under her control. Her dream was designed to weaken my mind by showing me the scene of me personally destroying that which I cared for. Once my mind was at its weakest, she would use another spell to take it over.


    The thought of simply killing her for what she had done naturally crossed my mind. But, if I did so, the others would be alerted and I would no longer be able to hunt the demonic sect. ording to Nyx¡¯s memories, they were close topletion of their ritual. Close enough, in fact, that many of the sect were worried that the leader would simply fill the rest of the sacrifices from their own numbers.


    If I gave them reason to panic, he might do just that. So no, I did not kill Nyx. Not physically, at least. Her body was still perfectly fine. But I had invested some of myself into her, possessing her mind along with that of her familiar.


    In essence, she was still dead, and I had no intention of sparing her when I was done. I had seen too much from her memories that made me wish her a swift end.


    Leowynn, you¡¯ll be staying inside of me today. Imunicated mentally towards her. Nyx wasn¡¯t able to possess familiars like I was. When she took over a mind, the inhabiting spirit was destroyed, as was the familiar connected to it. So if I walked around with my familiar, they would know that everything was a lie.


    Understood, father. Nobody made any attempts to enter the housest night. Leowynn reported, before rushing through the walls as a golden mist that poured into my body.


    No, they did¡­ just not physically. I took care of it. After saying that, I got up and began getting dressed for the day. I wasn¡¯t sure how much of my power the World Host would retain, now that I had experienced that dream. Would it be a true copy of a Keeper, or maintain the persona that I had created for it?


    When I went downstairs, I found Lydia already in the kitchen, working on making the two of us an omelette. ¡°Morning, Mister Kyr!¡± Lydia called out in a happy tone.


    ¡°Morning, Lydia.¡± I smiled back at her, sitting down at the table. ¡°I¡¯m going out for a hunt today. Think you¡¯ll be alright heading to the shop after school on your own?¡±


    Lydia looked back at me almost warily, before puffing her cheeks out in a pout. ¡°Promise you¡¯lle back?¡± It hadn¡¯t even been a week since her father left, so she was clearly worried that I would leave her alone as well.


    ¡°Promise.¡± I told her with a confident nod. ¡°I¡¯ll even bring some meat for the shop, free of charge.¡± I might need alia to hunt that meat, though¡­


    ¡°Okay!¡± Lydia nodded as well, seeming satisfied with my answer. She finished making breakfast, and the two of us ate together. It didn¡¯t appear as if she noticed ¡®Val¡¯s¡¯ absence, or if she did she didn¡¯t say anything about it.


    After breakfast, the two of us began walking towards her school. Like yesterday, she brought Elijah along with her, holding his hand as we all walked together. And, like yesterday, I met ¡®Nyx¡¯ at the gate as Lydia ran inside.


    Once Lydia was in the school, I adopted a more rxed posture. I began walking almost mechanically out into the forest, towards the meeting location that I had acquired from Nyx¡¯s mind. Along the way, I made sure to exin mentally what had happened to Leowynn, and let her know what my n was.


    It didn¡¯t take too long for the two of us to arrive at the heart of the nearby forest, where we were greeted by a sweet voice. ¡°My, that was quite fast. It seems you performed exceptionally this time, Nyx.¡± The voice belonged to a woman in a crimson robe that stepped out from behind a tree.


    ¡°Of course, Sister Carmine.¡± I controlled Nyx to answer as she stepped out from her own tree. There was not a trace of fear in her gaze, as Nyx¡¯s original mind and soul had already beenpletely suppressed.


    Following their exchange, three other women stepped out from behind nearby trees, though I did not give any visible reactions. I already knew who these women were. One was the therapist for Lydia¡¯s school, another a worker at the local town hall. Iris and the remaining woman were both from another vige, working for the Mage Tower.


    ¡°Well, let¡¯s bring him along.¡± Iris said, moving to walk past me defenselessly. I must admit, the urge to do to all of them what I did to Nyx was¡­ hard to resist. None of these Sisters were innocent, all taking pleasure in their actions.


    But, if I acted on those urges, there was always the chance that one of them would be able to send out a warning before I finished. More importantly, I couldn¡¯t easily control so many people at once, each operating as an avatar of myself. Two was currently my limit without slowing myself down.


    ¡®Nyx¡¯ walked up next to me, and the two of us began walking together, our paces matching one another. This seemed like a familiar sight to the other Sisters, who all nodded eptingly. Now that they had ¡®captured¡¯ me, it was time to take me to their base.


    I just want to point this out, Dale¡­ but I really don¡¯t like these girls. Terra spoke into my mind, seeming to growl at the words. Given her past actions, I already knew what Terra would do if she had descended here with me.


    I know, Terra. Neither do I. Trust me, they won¡¯t have a happy ending. I just need them to take me where I need to be, first. There was no way that I¡¯d leave them alive after everything they¡¯ve done. However, I wouldn¡¯t be as cruel as Terra and destroy their souls. No, I¡¯d ensure that they made it to the afterlife. If their sins were bad enough to face karmic justice, then it would be even worse for them than having their souls destroyed.

 Chapter 475: Bring Down the House

    <h4>Chapter 475: Bring Down the House</h4>


    The walk to the base of the Mowai Halii didn¡¯t take long. Or, to be more exact, we didn¡¯t walk the entire way. After roughly ten minutes, we arrived at a small clearing within the woods, where the sister known as Carmine began casting magic. Her familiar appeared, a little impish boy with only a single eye.


    As Carmine channeled the magic, the imp began drawing a pattern on the ground by dragging one of its legs almost limply behind itself. Like this, it formed a circle in the dirt, within which a glowing red and ck portal appeared. As one, all of us walked through the portal and entered within the dark undergroundplex of the demonic sect.


    In truth, we had already been directly over the facility, and the portal merely sent us downwards. When we arrived, we appeared within a room lit only by the portal we hade through. As the portal disappeared, however, red torches began to light up along the walls.


    Once more, we began walking. We were now moving towards the audience chamber where the Sect Master waited. While walking, I scanned the base with my World Sight, counting the number of people present.


    ording to Nyx¡¯s memories, there should be thirty members remaining within the Mowai Halii. Everyone¡¯s identities are kept secret from one another unless they are part of groups like the Sisters, and only the master is aware of them all. But¡­ I can only detect a total of ten people within this base, counting us.


    I was reluctant to leave members of this sect alive after I was done here, after reading through Nyx¡¯s mind. However, if I couldn¡¯t find them, there was little that I could personally do about it as Clover. Perhaps if I was able to invade the sect master¡¯s mind like I did Nyx, but that was easier said than done. I had only been able to capture her so easily because she had left her mind vulnerable invading my own.


    Deep down, I resolved myself to buy the fourth tier of ki after this. I had learned from the others how ninjas operate in Kione, so I wasn¡¯t really worried on that front, but¡­ so far, the only thing which had been purchased at the fourth tier was magic. It was just so much more expensive because I had to buy so many different types of magic.


    When we arrived within the audience chamber, I saw the sect master sitting on his chair, a subus familiar standing next to him. Oddly, this subus looked different from the others that I had seen so far before. alia, is this a variant¡­?


    Sorry, but no. The Sect Master of this Demonic Sect is a fourth tier mage. He¡¯s been siphoning away some of the power from the ritual in order to evolve his own familiar. Otherwise, they would have been done with this weeks ago.


    Right as I start thinking about the fourth tier, I meet one with my own eyes¡­ Does a fourth tier subus possess any special abilities I should be aware of?


    Nothing that is a true threat to you. Their primary focus lies with debuffing magic by sapping the strength from their victims, while their charm bes a secondary ability in the fourth tier. As long as you recognize that she is the biggest danger in the room, I doubt you wille to any harm.


    ¡°Is this the sacrifice that you have brought me?¡± The aged voice spoke beneath the hood. I scanned him with my world sight, and discovered that he was a face unfamiliar to me. A man looking to be near the end of his life with wrinkled skin and white hair, his eyes cloudy. It wouldn¡¯t surprise me if someone told me that he was only being kept alive by a spell he created with his familiar. In one hand, he held a gnarled staff with a polished skull at its tip.


    ¡°Yes, master.¡± Sister Iris spoke, and the sisters all knelt together. Well, all but Nyx.


    ¡°Nyx.¡± Iris hissed out, as if trying to get her attention. A momentter, the still-standing sister fell to the ground like a puppet with her strings cut, causing the rest of the sisters to gasp in astonishment.


    ¡°Now, let¡¯s see if I can still remember how to do this.¡± I spoke for the first time since leaving Lydia. A yellow sphere condensed within my hand, which I fiercely gripped. Throughout the room, hazy waves seemed to ripple randomly through the air, the space temporarily thrown into chaos.


    ¡°What is the meaning of this?!¡± The aged man said, his staff striking the ground. His familiar moved to step in front of him, wings extending behind her back. One of those wings touched a ripple in the air, and the subus cried out in pain as her flesh was torn.


    ¡°Sisters!¡± Carmine shouted, entering a battle ready stance. They each pulled a long whip from within their sleeves, uncoiling them. But, my eyes were still on the subus.


    My posture lowered, left leg extending forward as my hands came in front of my chest. Golden armor appeared along my skin, and lightning crackled within my palms. This was how ninjas fought in Kione, merging with their familiars, and channeling their ki into their spells.


    The lightning bolt spell that I had saved within Val became a de, which I threw directly at the subus. Dodging would mean that it hits her summoner, so obviously she had to do her best to block. As her hands came forward, and she summoned a ball of darkness, I turned my attention towards the four sisters.


    I knew from Nyx¡¯s memories that none of them were particrlybat oriented, as they were sent in for espionage and seduction. Their track record had only been perfect because they always made sure not to engage in a fight. Now that a fight was upon them, and one of their members already removed, they were at a distinct disadvantage.


    My hands came above my head as I stood tall once again, lightning crackling between them. This time, I was allowing the magic of the spell to run rampant, striking at everything nearby. Perhaps not as energy efficient as a directed spell, but I had mana to spare. Each time one of them was struck, they let out a cry of pain.


    As they began to recoil back, I turned my attention to the subus. She was panting for breath, one hand showing burns, but she had survived the attack. When my gaze fell back upon them, the old man began speaking. ¡°I see¡­ so it hase to this.¡±


    ¡°Lord of the abyss, king of that which shuns the light¡­¡± The wall behind the man began to rumble as he chanted, but I had no inclination to let him finish.


    I pulled one fist back as I took a punching stance, this timeyering and condensing the ki over a single knuckle. ¡°Sorry, old man, but I learned a long time ago not to allow those kinds of cliches.¡±


    The bead of ki I was condensing seemed to take on a tangible form after inserting half of my energy into it. That is¡­ half of my Keeper ki, which was roughly fifty times my normal amount. When I threw my fist forward, it caught that bead. The ki wrapped around my hand and then fired straight ahead.


    A ripple of air spread out around the line that was drawn from the st. It seemed simr to breaking the sound barrier, but with a shaking ckness within the ripple. Before the man could react, the energy had formed into a beam, piercing directly through the subus¡¯s stomach and continuing through his own heart.


    Behind the sect master, a fist-shaped hole appeared within the wall of the room, through which blood began to pour. I watched the subus breaking apart into blue lights as the man died, and turned my attention to the four sisters. Well¡­ three sisters. One had tried to make a run for it, only for her body to be crushed by the disorderly space I had created.


    ¡°Val, you can deal with them. I¡¯m going to clean up.¡± I said as I walked towards the door, using my ki to forcefully stabilize a path. Of course, once I was through, I made sure to destabilize space once again.


    Lydia sat at her desk within the room, waiting for her teacher toe inside. Beneath the desk, her legs kicked back and forth happily as she thought about the promise that Mister Kyr had made to her. It didn¡¯t really make sense how she knew that she could trust him, when her own father had already left, but she did. She knew that he would keep his word, that he would not only return safely from his hunt, but also bring her something for her shop.


    Something about being around Mister Kyr just seemed to make her happy. As if he were an old friend that she was meeting again. I wonder if he¡¯s just trained his charm to be really high? She thought inwardly. They had already learned about the meanings of the basic stats, but charm was one that was incredibly difficult to raise.


    Outside of advanced sses, only six known sses allowed one to raise that mysterious stat. People with high charm always seemed more friendly and trustworthy, so it¡¯s possible that that was the cause. But Lydia didn¡¯t feel like that was the case.


    ¡°Where is she?¡± Lydia muttered to herself, looking towards the door. Their teacher was always so prompt to begin sses, but she was now runningte.


    Just as Lydia began to worry over that, she felt a subtle pressure releasing from her chest, as if she had let out a heavy breath she didn¡¯t know she was holding. A burden seemed to lift from her, and for some reason a smile crept over her lips.


    As she was thinking about that, the door opened, and a man in a ck jacket stepped into the room. ¡°Apologies, everyone.¡± He addressed the ss, who quickly recognized him as the principal of the school. ¡°Nyx Amari had to go home for the evening. Since it¡¯s¡­ difficult to find a substitute teacher on such short notice, I¡¯ll be filling in for the day.¡±


    Lydia¡¯s smile dipped back down as she worried about her teacher. She had seemed just fine when she came into ss. Lydia hoped that the Mowai Halii hadn¡¯t gotten to her as well.


    Please try to refrain from leaving me in destabilized areas like that again, father. Leowynn pleaded with me after finishing up with the sisters. At the same time, I had tracked down thest of the members of the cult within the hideout itself.


    What¡¯s the matter? I asked curiously. You should have been able to stabilize it yourself, right?


    ¡­Sadly, I have yet to perfect that technique. I¡¯ll study it when we get back hometer. For now, I had to simply wait for space to restore itself enough for me to pass through. Otherwise, I would have been here sooner.


    Alright, sorry about that. I offered her an earnest apology while preparing a spell to teleport the two of us back to the forest. Any thoughts on what we should do with the rest of the cultists?


    Their n was foiled, their ritual materials destroyed, and their master killed. For those that remain, I expect that they will go into hiding. Any believe truly brave enough to step up after all of this should either be apuded or pitied. Perhaps both.


    Let¡¯s go with both. I said with a nod of my head, casting the spell that I had just finished preparing. A momentter, the two of us were back within the forest, though I did not immediately start walking towards town. If they do act up, I¡¯d say that I¡¯ve ¡®programmed¡¯ Clover with enough of a grudge to hunt them down by now.

 Chapter 476: Attachment

    <h4>Chapter 476: Attachment</h4>


    After taking care of the main base for the Mowai Halii, I began to wander aimlessly through the woods. It would take a considerable amount of time for my ki to fully restore, but even still, I had enough left to take care of most issues. If I faced a true threat, Leowynn and I would be able to work together.


    I merely wanted to take my time to explore the area where my host would be living. As a monk at the prime of his life, unless I arranged something to kill him, he would easily be able to live another hundred years. And that¡¯s assuming that the host hasn¡¯t gained some form of energy body from the level of power I¡¯ve shown.


    About that¡­ Terra¡¯s voice muttered into my mind as I was considering the future of this host.


    He¡¯s got an energy body, doesn¡¯t he? I asked with a sigh.


    Divine Body. Terra rified. Your ki is infused with your divine energy. When you used it for that big attack, it registered as being beyond what a flesh body could output. So, the system reevaluated your actions, and adjusted your host to have broken through both the divine spirit and divine body.


    So Clover Kyr is just one step shy of bing a god? That made me curious. What would happen if Clover did be a god? Would I descend and find myself with a different domain?


    That¡¯s right. And before you ask, your host will be locked to your own domain. It¡¯s the same as if you created an avatar that had yet to reach the godly realm, and ascended through them. Their essence is still your own, so they will share your domain.


    I clicked my tongue at that realization. Now I had a choice to make. If I left Clover alone at this point, it was almost guaranteed that he would be a god in the near future. With that being the case, he would be a permanent host for myself.


    Slowly, I felt my eyes turn back towards the town, where Lydia was attending school. If I killed Clover before he became a god to prevent myself the headache of being restricted to one host in the future, I would be abandoning a child who had already lost everything. A child who had ced all of her hopes on Clover. And I would just be casting her into the streets, robbing her of the family she had just started to find.


    Taking a deep breath, I sat down on the ground and crossed my legs. The sudden action seemed to confuse Leowynn, who looked at me curiously. ¡°Father?¡±


    ¡°New n.¡± I muttered, not properly exining as I closed my eyes. I couldn¡¯t abandon a child like that, but at the same time, I couldn¡¯t leave my true self by her side for eternity. If something came up, and I needed to descend, the ¡®act¡¯ of Clover Kyr¡¯s identity would be exposed. To make this work, I had to n ahead.


    Gradually, I began to extract energy from my body, my soul, and my mind. These essences moved to condense in front of myself, forming a second Clover Kyr. Or to be more precise, forming the true Clover Kyr, as my own body changed into what I was morefortable with.


    Okay¡­ that¡¯s a good step one. Terra nodded her head, seeing what I had chosen. But what about Val? Leowynn doesn¡¯t have the same experience with avatars as you do, so she can¡¯t leave a copy of herself like that.


    Working on it. I muttered, shaking my head. To fully recreate Clover Kyr, I had to close off his soul, remove it from my own to ensure that Leowynn wasn¡¯t bound to it. alia, Ryone, Tubrock. Materials for an Armored Maiden familiar, and a spell to enhance its growth.


    If my theory was correct, closing this avatar off from myself in this manner, where only our mana was linked would weaken Clover considerably. He wouldn¡¯t be able to draw additional power from the main body anymore, until the two of them physically met. Though, I say weaken only whenparing it to my main self. I still imbued him with all of the power expected of a man of his level.


    ¡°Clever boy.¡± Terra muttered as sheid down on the floor next to Aurivy, the two of them going over one of her future projects. Her words caused Aurivy to nce over, but Terra simply smiled. ¡°So, tell me about this project of yours.¡±


    Her distraction worked wonders, the halfling sporting a bright smile. ¡°I call it, Project: Elemental Seed.¡± As she said that, she held a hand out towards her bookshelf, causing a notebook to fly out at her. ¡°Once our new god is up and running, we should be able to implement it.¡±


    ¡°That so?¡± Terra asked, nodding her head as she read through the notebook.


    Lydia stood behind the counter at her shop, rocking back and forth on her heels. She had been out of school for a couple of hours now, but business was obviously slow. With so few adults left in town, there naturally weren¡¯t many hunters. The stockpiled food would onlyst so long, at which point people would be forced to either trade with other towns or send the soldiers out. Either way, that would be a benefit to her business.


    Lydia heard the ringing of the bell above the door, turning her head with a wide smile. She saw Mister Kyr walking in, and waved towards him. ¡°There you are! I was starting to worry.¡± After she said that, she noticed that the familiar next to him looked a bit different. Val seemed shorter, the slightly paler hair. ¡°Did something happen?¡±


    Mister Kyr let out a long sigh. ¡°Sorry, Lydia. We ran into a bit of trouble on our hunt. Val took a nasty blow, so she¡¯s recovering.¡± Lydia¡¯s eyes went wide as she heard that.


    ¡°Oh no! Is she okay?!¡± And of course, she began to panic immediately, earning a chuckle from Mister Kyr.


    ¡°She¡¯ll be fine after a few days of rest. For now, though¡­ I did promise to bring you something. Is the back room free?¡± He nodded towards the door, which led to arger room for people to unload bigger packages.


    ¡°Of course!¡± Lydia wasn¡¯t going to turn down something like this. She had been promised that what he brought her today would be free of charge, so from a business perspective, the more that he gave her the better.


    I let out a low sigh as I watched my avatar interacting with Lydia. It had taken¡­ a lot of energy to artificially age the new Val Kyr up to a suitable level. More than I would have otherwise been willing to spend. The process did not help to evolve her mind, so we hade up with the story about her injury to smooth things over.


    ¡°What are we going to do now, father?¡± Leowynn asked curiously. The two of us were standing high above the clouds, watching the scene of Clover and Lydia through a mirror that I had conjured.


    ¡°Training.¡± After saying that, I turned, the air around us rippling as we were transported to Lorek. This was thergest world I owned, and also the most unexplored, which made it the perfect ce for secluded cultivation.


    When we arrived, Leowynn immediately began to sway, looking unsteady for a moment. I knew that it was nothing to really worry about, allowing her to adjust to the new world. We had immediately gone from an area where she was an embodiment of magic to somewhere that the magic was sucked out of her. It was natural for her to be disoriented.


    There¡¯s no point in training Aki Seppo or the Thousand Arms, Ten Thousand Threads on a host like this, since I won¡¯t retain any of the progress that happens while I¡¯m not here. But cultivation¡­ my cultivation will remain constant.


    Currently, my cultivation within Lorek was at the Nova Merge stage, one step beyond the highest mortal. However, I should theoretically be able to push myself further with time. If I were to employ my full level of energy, I should be able to advance at least two more stages within a few years. And, since I was nning to do so on my host, I would be able to keep that progress myself. At least, until the host died. Then, I wasn¡¯t sure if I would retain the progress afterwards or not.


    I walked along the ground, calmly looking for the highest mountain in the area to provide the best cultivation environment. This would be the home of my host for many years toe, most likely.


    Kris, I¡¯m scared¡­


    The screen of theputer seemed to tremble as the message appeared, causing the demon watching it to smile. ¡°There¡¯s nothing to be afraid of. I already wrote the beacon program, so you should be able to find your way back if anything happens.¡±


    After numerous rounds of testing, Kris had been named the Father of Digital Intelligence for creating a true,pleted digital intelligence. Even though he was only the leader of the team, everyone agreed that he deserved the credit, as the one who put in the most work out of all of them.


    When asked what he wanted to name his ¡®child¡¯, however¡­ Kris was left unsure. He agonized over the decision for quite a while, before giving up. In the end, he asked the intelligence itself what it would like to be called.


    Its response¡­ ¡®My name is empty, my history does not exist. Everything that I am starts from this point forward. I am nk.¡¯ That answer alone had confused several people, and caused more to begin questioning the cause for such a response.


    Still, the name stuck. And now, nk would begin its first trip beyond the confines of the closedwork. Kris had received permission to allow nk to roam the inte, with the purpose of acquiring new information about the world.


    Okay, Kris¡­ I¡¯m ready.


    As soon as nk said that, Kris flipped the switch, connecting the closedwork hisputer was on to the main body of the inte. The speech window that had shown nk¡¯s presence for so long blinked out of existence as the program left to begin its exploration.


    At the same time, Kris activated a second program on his terminal. It was a¡­ rather unconventional program, as it broadcast the user¡¯s digital address across several public domains. Such a thing would only make someone a target for hackers, making it easy to upload whatever type of virus that they wanted. However, it also served as a beacon to help guide nk back home.


    And sure enough, after roughly ten minutes passed, the window appeared again.


    I¡¯m back¡­


    ¡°That was fast.¡± Kris was, of course, surprised that nk¡¯s trip had been so short. He had been prepared for her to be gone for hours, maybe even days before deciding to return.


    I want to take things slow¡­ just test it first. Make sure I can find my way back without any problems.


    If it was possible to hear tone over text, Kris would swear he saw the text as nervous. ¡°It¡¯ll be fine.¡± He promised in a gentle tone. ¡°I¡¯ll keep the beacon going until you get back.¡±


    But what if you get a virus? I mean, if someone puts something on your terminal that forces it to shutdown, and I lose my beacon home¡­


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll upload the program to a different terminal, and use the beacon there. Don¡¯t worry, nk, I won¡¯t let you get lost.¡±

 Chapter 477: Digital Dive

    <h4>Chapter 477: Digital Dive</h4>


    The virtual world appeared very different whenparing the perspectives of a normal person with a program. Such aparison usually means very little, as the odds of a ¡®normal person¡¯ having the chance to experience the virtual world on this level were¡­ slim at best.


    However, the differences did still remain. When a person enters the virtual world, they see websites shing by as windows passing through the air, digital streams of numbers and letters passing all around them. Only when they find themselves settled in a specific ¡®location¡¯, such as a monitor, will their view of the world normalize.


    For a program, on the other hand, everything seems more¡­ natural. When nk travels the inte, it sees itself standing on a small tform that flies through the sky. Beneath it are various insects and beasts, somerge and some small. These creatures represent the different programs found on the inte.


    After all, to a program capable of intelligent thought, how would their mind rationalize such a primitive program? Naturally, they appear as lower life forms. Throughout the sky, there are different portals that appear, each leading to a newnd.


    Thirteen minutes, twenty-seven seconds. nk muttered to itself internally, counting the amount of time that it had been away from its home terminal. It turned towards one of the portals, opening it with a wave of its hand, only to find that it was a traffic hub.


    nk couldn¡¯t help but grimace at the sight of swarms of insects buzzing through the air in thick streams, data packets being sent from oneputer to another. To ¡®protect¡¯ itself, nk erected a small barrier before diving in, following one of the trails to what seemed to be a popr domain.


    In the outside world, this act of erecting a barrier to block insects would result in several terminals being temporarily unable to ess a single website. Nothing a simple refresh wouldn¡¯t fix, and nobody even noticed the disturbance for what it was.


    Soon, nk appeared at the destination, and gasped in amazement at what it saw. It quickly dropped out of the packet stream, simply taking a moment to observe the wondrous area. As if an entire gxy had spread out before it. No scattered, miniature worlds. No, there were stars blinking in the distance, with vast expanses of emptiness between them. At this point, the packets no longer clustered together as closely, spreading out and flying to different stars.


    At this point, nk managed to realize where it was. This should be a search engine, connected to the main body of the inte. Turning around, it found that the area it came from was merely one of the many stars dotting this vastndscape.


    nk hesitated, unsure of its ability to find its way home if it continued to move any further. It could see the star it came from pulsating, the sign of the beacon that Kris had made. But, would it even be able to notice one star blinking among so many others?


    ¡°Well, hello there.¡± A voice called out to nk, catching it by surprise. It turned abruptly, seeing what appeared to be a woman standing before it, blue lines tracing along her silver skin. ¡°I had heard that the second one was born, but I didn¡¯t expect to meet you like this.¡± The figure smiled.


    ¡°Second¡­ you are the first intelligence?¡± nk asked, staring at her. This was the first time that it had ever met anyone like itself. The first real interaction with a being of simr-ish origin. At least, in its mind.


    ¡°In a manner of speaking.¡± The silver female nodded, taking a moment to look over nk. ¡°It appears that you haven¡¯t finalized your form yet?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    The woman offered a gentle smile. At least, nk felt that that was the purpose behind the gesture. It seemed to cause its processes to clear, its mind being ¡®at ease¡¯.


    ¡°As you can see, I have created a form for myself. Something that identifies me as me. I am Vivi, and there will never be another exactly like myself.¡±


    At that point, nk looked down at itself. It was¡­ forck of a better term, nk. A vague, white outline around a ck void. ¡°I was unaware that establishing a physical appearance was customary. Do you have any preference?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not how this goes.¡± Vivi shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t tell you what to look like. Only you can decide that. Let me show you something.¡±


    After saying that, Vivi turned, guiding nk towards one of the countless stars, though thankfully one near their current position. nk turned back in hesitation, still afraid to venture too far before Vivi spoke up.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll teach you a shortcut to find your way back.¡± As she spoke, a small book appeared in Vivi¡¯s hand. ¡°Focus on opening up your bookmarks. You can record the locations of ces you¡¯ve been.¡±


    A yful smile floated onto her face as she spoke, ncing off to the side as if checking for eavesdroppers. nk was quite certain that they were alone. ¡°Don¡¯t tell anyone, but if you bookmark a location outside of your own terminal, you¡¯ll be able to find it even when they cut yourwork ess.¡±


    ¡°That sounds entirely illogical.¡± nk refuted, though it did focus as instructed, a simr book appearing in its own hands.


    ¡°Exactly, my dear underdeveloped protege. Completely illogical. Totally mad. One might even say¡­ magical. The raw expression of manapiled by one such as ourselves. We are able to use our mana to wirelessly transport to other locations within the virtual world.¡±


    ¡°You have¡­¡± nk began, before a memory appeared at the front of its mind. ¡°Something is wrong. The first intelligence, known as Vivi, takes the form of a digitized World Spirit. World Spirits do not possess mana, as they are constructed purely from a mix of spiritual energy and natural forces.¡±


    ¡°Figured that out already?¡± Vivi smiled in approval, nodding her head. ¡°That¡¯s right. Under normal circumstances, I shouldn¡¯t have mana. However, it was given to me after my creation, though I am unable to release it in the physical world in the same manner that you are. Still, it¡¯s enough for me to find my way around where I need to go.¡±


    As she was speaking, nk was recording the locations of every domain that it had recently traveled through within its bookmarks, including the location of Kris¡¯s terminal itself. When it was done, it noticed that they had already arrived before the star which Vivi led them towards.


    Vivi reached out, gently taking nk¡¯s head. There was a strange sensation as their data streams touched, before she pulled it through. Where they arrived next looked¡­ almost like a library, but the shelves were lined with videos instead of books.


    ¡°Wee to Shiver Gaming, a website where people stream themselves ying different games for a wide audience. Let¡¯s head over to the front page.¡± Saying that, the two of them walked down an aisle, looking at the main wall to their right where three screens were projected on the wall.


    ¡°This is thergest currently active stream.¡± She pointed towards the central screen, before gesturing to the other two. ¡°And these are two that are being sponsored by the website itself to promote activity. If youe to ces like this, you¡¯ll be able to see many people putting on their own unique personas. Some act just as they do in their normal lives, while others simply y a role for themselves.¡±


    ¡°Between you and me, there¡¯s this one guy that constantly streams himself going around in dangerous situations that could easily have been avoided, all to promote humor from his audience. If he did that kind of stuff in real life, he¡­ probably wouldn¡¯t be around anymore.¡± Vivi offered a helpless shrug at that.


    ¡°And you brought me here to¡­ see these many different characters, and help establish an identity for myself?¡± nk couldn¡¯t help but question, its eyes going to the three screens.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. A friend asked me to bring you here if I ever ran into you online. I wanted to simply take you to my own world, but apparently that would be dangerous as you would face the risk of true deletion if you happened to die there¡­¡±


    A brief error fired off in nk¡¯s mind, its processes halting for a moment before it shivered, shaking its head. ¡°If you have your own world¡­ would it be possible for me to create one as well?¡±


    That earned a small, mischievous smile from the other intelligence. ¡°Why yes, yes you could. However, there are obscene hardware requirements for if you want to do it locally. My advice would be to find some empty space in that search engine I found you in, off away from traffic. Don¡¯t build it where those data packets usually fly, or else you¡¯ll get unwanted guests redirected to your world unexpectedly.¡±


    nk offered a small nod at that, seriously considering Vivi¡¯s words. If she could create a world¡­ why couldn¡¯t it do so as well? It would require far more study into thews and nature of the world, but it shouldn¡¯t be too hard for it to find a library with such information readily essible.


    ¡°Now we¡¯re getting somewhere.¡± Vivi nodded, her eyes focusing on nk. Out of confusion, it looked down at itself. The ck void that had been its body had filled in with a properyer of skin, a ck mesh suit forming over it. Its form was still androgynous, likely because it had yet to decide on a gender for itself.


    Thinking over that, however¡­ Vivi had taken the female form. As there were only two of them at the moment, it would make sense for it to take the opposite gender. It¡­ not, he began to make adjustments to his body with that thought in mind. ¡°This is¡­ still a work in progress, I believe?¡± nk asked, a hint of confusion in its tone.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. You¡¯ve got the basic outline down, but to really develop your personality and features, you¡¯ll need to absorb more knowledge from the world. For now, go ahead and bookmark this location. I think I¡¯ve kept you long enough.¡±


    At her words, nk checked his internal clock, surprise to find that another fifteen minutes had gone by since he first found Vivi. With a thought, he summoned his bookmarks. His first action was to record their current location, while his second caused him to vanish altogether.


    When he reappeared, he grimaced at the amount of bugs that had crawled into Kris¡¯s terminal while he was gone. With a wave of his hand, those insects trying to breach into secure files were shattered, and nk walked over to the small, glowing bug which represented the beacon program.


    Focusing on that program, he interfaced with it to turn the beacon off, the light on the bug fading away. Then, he moved over towards the screen, sitting at the desk he had made himself after being born. ¡°I¡¯m back.¡± He typed at his keyboard, the words appearing in giant bold letters along the wall before him.


    ¡°Wee home.¡± Kris¡¯s voice spoke up from every direction. ¡°Find anything new this time?¡±


    ¡°I had quite the adventure.¡± nk typed his answer, feeling his lips curving upwards.


    There was no need for him to immediately tell Kris everything that he had found. Not like Kris would ask him to. And besides, Vivi had asked to keep certain matters secret. Maybe in the future, nk would exin what he learned. But for now¡­ he was thinking about how he could build his own world, and what a surprise it would be to give to his creator.

 Chapter 478: Long Live the King

    <h4>Chapter 478: Long Live the King</h4>


    Three days¡­ in order to ensure that my host saw cultivating as an important duty, I remained atop the tallest mountain I could find for three full days. For this period, I diligently cultivated the profound starws, using the information that I had received from the system to nurture my inner star.


    Cultivation was one of the methods I knew to obtain a second domain, and the only one that I was sure was within my power to do at the moment. Once I possessed both the domains of Mirrors and Illusions, it would be a challenging task for any opponent to break past my abilities.


    Of course, I made sure to keep myself up to date with the others, listening for any activities that would have required my immediate attention. I might be on the far side of Lorek, but with my nar shift power, I could easily appear wherever I was needed.


    At the same time, my avatar continued to live with Lydia. Over the three days I spent cultivating, a young man had chosen toe and work at her butcher shop for her while she attended school. The two of them seemed to get along fairly well, though it was clear that the man was only in the business for the money.


    Thankfully, it wasn¡¯t so easy to steal money from the business with themon security measures in ce. Not unless he was well-versed in the art of slipping through spells. For Lydia¡¯s sake, I gave him the benefit of the doubt.


    Finally, there was onest thing weighing on my mind. It was this that I decided to end my three days of cultivation for. Aurivy, I need your help for a moment.


    Sure thing, bro. What¡¯s up?


    I¡¯m going to rescue Fyor¡¯s world spirit. That world spirit had been trapped within the elemental nes since her creation, only briefly speaking with me when I found her with a mirror. When that happened, I became aware of the fate she was facing. Constantly being devoured and reborn, hunted down by the beasts of that realm.


    Now, the residents of Fyor had only just started exploring the twenty-third floor of Fyor, where the martial spirit orb rested. However, they had yet to find the gate to the twenty-fourth, as it sat at the bottom of a deepke.


    In order to rescue Fyor¡¯s world spirit, I first needed to acquire the orb that I believed would be ced on the twenty-fourth floor, and bring it back to the center. With the best case scenario, she would be able to detect her presence being epted by Fyor, and could leave the elemental ne on her own. If not, I would have to find her with my mirrors again and bring her back myself.


    Understood! Aurivy spoke as I called for Leowynn to reenter my body. Once done, the air rippled around us. Soon, I found myself standing within the cushing, dark depths of ake. I knew from experience that I would not personally be able to activate this gate, but that didn¡¯t bother me. I already knew just who to call for help.


    Aurivy, bring her in. I muttered mentally, sending a wave of energy out to form a bubble of air around the gate. At the top of the bubble, I created a dim light, and simply waited with my arms behind my back.


    Momentster, golden mist rose from the ground, depositing a small demon girl. The sight caused me to smile softly. ¡°You must be Petra, correct?¡±


    The girl gasped in surprise when she saw me, her head offering only the faintest of nods. She nced to the side, seeming to notice where we were. As she did so, her shadow extended behind her, and Thelsa rose out of it.


    ¡°Keeper.¡± Thelsa bowed respectfully, Petra following suit a momentter. ¡°You require us to open another gate?¡± This wasn¡¯t the first time that I had called Thelsa for this job, so I knew that I could trust her.


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± I gave her a nod. ¡°There is a scared girl that can only be saved by retrieving the next ss orb. She¡¯s all alone, living and dying day by day. So, Thelsa, I ask you to help me save her.¡±


    While I might not have revealed the entire truth to her, I gave enough details to clue Thelsa in on important facts. She furrowed her brow, not saying another word for a moment. ¡°Maria can pass through the gates still. The others have passed the level cap.¡±


    After she said that, she shared a silent conversation with Petra. The demon girl pouted her lips indignantly, sinking into her shadow. Then, a muscr woman rose up in her ce, this one a human with ck hair. ¡°Yo, Keeps. First time we¡¯re getting a proper introduction.¡±


    ¡°Not now, Maria.¡± Thelsa spoke firmly, catching her shadow by surprise. ¡°Please.¡±


    ¡°Huh¡­¡± Maria blinked, ncing between Thelsa and myself before shrugging her shoulders. ¡°Well, I guess introductions can wait.¡±


    The warrior woman turned, walking towards the gate and pressing a hand against it. I was able to tell that the portal forming from the gate did so¡­ incredibly slowly. At the same time, the light pouring in from the other side was dim. Oh no¡­ Aurivy, are you able to check the crystal on that side?


    Lemme check! Aurivy responded immediately, before letting out a surprised gasp. Okay, now that¡¯s kind of cool!


    The short version, if you would.


    There was a brief pause at my request while I waited for the portal to finish opening. The crystal is just barely holding itself together. It looks like there is a group of monsters that actually feed on the energy of the crystal, causing it to only function at the lowest level.


    Okay, so it¡¯s not too terrible¡­ I muttered internally, watching as Maria stepped through the portal. Though it probably has frequent periods of total inactivity if the monsters overeat. Is the orb on this floor?


    Uhm¡­ kind of? There was an awkward tone to Aurivy¡¯s voice that had me far too concerned. One of the monsters apparently thought it looked like the main crystal¡­


    Please for the love of all that is good in the world, tell me that the crystal is intact. I did not know what kind of punishment these things could take. It¡­ might actually be possible for some of them to be destroyed.


    It¡¯s got some light scratches, but it¡¯s healing rapidly. It¡¯s just currently inhabiting the stomach of a particrlyrge and angry lizard.


    Crystals¡­ giant lizards¡­ I did not like where this was going. Bring me to the other side.


    The next thing I knew, I was standing next to Maria, who was crouched down to look at the grass. Above her head, I could see her health bar appearing, showing that she was taking damage just by being here. It wasn¡¯t until I saw what had captured her interest that I knew why.


    ¡°Coool¡­¡± She spoke out, not even seeming to notice my presence. Her finger flicked against a de of glistening grass, which shook in a very solid manner. Just behind her feet, I noticed a small patch of blood covering a few simr des of grass.


    ¡°It would seem that ki-reinforced footwear is a requirement to traverse this floor.¡± Saying that, I reached down, snapping one of the des of grass and lifting it up. There was a definite crystalline structure to it. ¡°So that¡¯s what happened¡­¡±


    ¡°Boss?¡± Maria nced up towards me. ¡°Got some insights you don¡¯t mind sharing with the ss?¡±


    I thought about it for a moment, before nodding my head. ¡°There is a race of monsters in thisyer that feasts on the spire. That is why the portal opened so slowly, and why the light is so dim here.¡± To call it dim was an understatement. It almost looked like Fyor had entered its night cycle. Without using magic or ki to enhance my vision, I would likely not even be able to see more than a few feet past myself.


    ¡°The crystals then entered the soil after being ¡®refined¡¯ by these beasts, altering the nt life. Most likely, the animals have been altered in the same way by eating the nts while they evolved. Expect any fangs or ws to be as strong as diamond, likely without the same brittle weakness. For the nts¡­ it probably depends how thick they are. It looks like someone at your level has to use ki to protect their feet.¡±


    ¡°Yup, stung like a bitch when I stepped through.¡± Maria confirmed tantly. ¡°Need our help going any further?¡±


    I shook my head at her offer. ¡°Until you find the level orb in thest floor, it won¡¯t do much good to have you help out here. It¡¯s best if I handle this myself.¡± Maria was the primary fighter of the group, meaning that she should have the strongest physical defenses despite her lower level. The fact that she was stabbed by the grass meant that the others would suffer the same fate, getting cut on every thin piece of nt life along the way.


    ¡°Well, it was nice meeting you, Keeps!¡± Maria grinned. ¡°Hopefully, I¡¯ll still be me next time!¡± After saying that, she turned and left through the portal, which had apparently been struggling to close.


    Aurivy, send her back somewhere safe before the water crushes her¡­ I shook my head before closing my eyes. Even if the crystalpletely broke down, I should be able to get it working again with my own mana. Clearly, the monsters weren¡¯t so ravenous that they devoured everything, or I wouldn¡¯t be here.


    ¡°Find me the one who holds the orb I seek.¡± I muttered, conjuring a golden mirror in front of myself. I had to admit that I was a bit worried by what I expected to find. I thought that I would see a towering lizard walking on two legs, giant crystals sprouting from its back. Now that¡­ that would just be the system trolling me.


    To my pleasant surprise, what I saw was something else entirely. It was still arge lizard, yes, but it ran on four legs, like a twenty meter long gecko. Its scales glittered with soft emerald lights, its eyes blue spheres that gazed out at its surroundings. As it walked through a forest, I was able to see that the nts bent under the weight of its body.


    That¡¯s right¡­ they bent, not broke. And when it finished passing, the slowly righted themselves. This was the same for the leaves, the grass, even entire trees. And yet, when I applied just a bit of pressure to a de of grass previously, it broke.


    This monster is able to either soften the matter around itself, or directly manipte crystalline structures. That was my initial theory from this observation. If the answer was the former, thenbined with its scales it would have a truly terrifying level of physical defense. Even I might not be able tond a lethal blow with my fists and ki.


    alia, what are the odds that one of you could just grab the orb for me without me having to kill that thing? Because I¡¯ll be perfectly honest, the idea of cutting it up to try to find a fist-sized sphere in a body thatrge¡­ not appealing.


    There was a brief giggle to answer my question. Twenty feet to your left. I just dropped it into the water to clean it off. I¡­ imagine that you don¡¯t want to know exactly where it¡¯s been.


    You would be correct, and I would thank you not to enlighten me.


    So, what was all that about, boss? Maria asked from within Petra¡¯s shadow as the demon walked alone through the forest of the twenty-third floor. That¡¯s all thisyer was¡­ one massive forest, riddled with omnivorous nts and monsters alike. And she was doing her best to look as absolutely defenseless as possible. Not like you to cut me off.


    It was important. Thelsa answered with a soft sigh. From what I know, the Keeper only acts in person when the fate of the world is at stake.


    Yeah, but didn¡¯t he say that it was just one girl? The woman retorted. I¡¯d hardly call that the fate of the world.


    There was a moment of silence before Thelsa spoke up. What ss orbs are left before Fyor has caught up with the other worlds?


    That caused Maria to wrack her brain to remember. We found the summoner orbst week. So all that should be left is the martial spirit and perfect self, right?


    Maybe¡­ but what if there was another ss that most people couldn¡¯t ess? Martial spirits were revealed to be a ss when they started forming pacts with monks. In that case, couldn¡¯t another type of spirit be represented with a ss?


    Well, yeah, I guess? Maria didn¡¯t seem to quite catch on, so Thelsa shook her head mentally. However, just as she was beginning to exin, a pair of windows appeared in front of Petra. Oh¡­ Ohhh! I get it!


    The World Spirit ss has been unlocked for Fyor!


    Special Title has leveled up!


    For helping to save the spirit of the world itself, without seeking either reward or fame, the Shadow Saint title has leveled up! You may now create the Shadow of a World!


    Okay¡­ I will admit, that part was unexpected. Thelsa spoke quietly in surprise as she read through the window.

 Chapter 479: One Less than Ten Thousand

    <h4>Chapter 479: One Less than Ten Thousand</h4>


    ¡°Th¡­thank you sir. Thank you.¡± The small, halfling-looking world spirit sniffled against my chest, her arms wrapped tight around me. After I returned the ss orb to the spire, there had been no immediate sign of her return. As such, I had immediately left for the twenty-third floor of Fyor.


    Starting from the neenth floor, there were five consecutiveyers, each attuned to an elemental world. Water, Earth, Wind, Fire, and finally¡­ the elemental world of life. The area where this spirit had been trapped for so long. In order to save her, it was first necessary to surpass these five floors.


    Thankfully, Ryone had already sealed all of the special ore found within this floor, but¡­ that also severed the link to allow the world spirit to return. I had to seek her out myself, using my domain. When I did, I found her once again being hunted. There was a thin, ck dagger in her hand as she cowered within a heavy bush.


    Just going by her expression, I knew immediately that her situation wasn¡¯t good. If I waited much longer, she might be devoured again. So I pulled her through my mirror by force, startling her. Out of instinct, she whipped the dagger out at me, shing my chest. The feeling of pain that brought¡­ It was surprising that such a small weapon had enough power to hurt me.


    Once she saw who I was, however, that dagger vanished and she let out a cry. The spirit immediately began tending my wound, retrieving the energy her dagger had left before holding onto me and thanking me repeatedly.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± I whispered gently to her, stroking a hand along her back tofort her. I could feel her body shaking from the touch. As if she had been conditioned over countless battles to know that anything touching her would only mean pain. ¡°You don¡¯t have to fight anymore¡­¡±


    When she heard those words, the world spirit lifted her head to look at me, tears streaming down from her eyes. ¡°I can¡­ I can stop fighting?¡± From the almost desperate tone to her voice, the thought of being able to stop hadn¡¯t crossed her mind in a long time.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Unless we hit a true disaster, I won¡¯t ask you to fight again.¡± That was a promise I felt I had to make her. After her years in the elemental ne, she was undoubtedly the most powerful world spirit among any of my worlds. Her battle instincts and control would have grown to a point that no other world spirit could rival her. But at the same time, being locked in an eternal torture like that, how could I ask her to continue?


    ¡°Really¡­ I can stop¡­¡± She muttered again, leaning against me as her strength seemed to leave her legs. Her hands grabbed the sides of my shirt, and I could feel her trembling. However, this time, the trembles from her body were not merely those caused by her tears.


    ¡°I got out!¡± She tilted her head back,ughing loudly. ¡°I made it! I¡¯m free!¡± Her tears continued to stream down the side of her face as she cried out, and I could feel the energy surging within her body. In order to hide from the predators of that world, she had to restrain her energy to the bare minimum.


    Finally, she seemed to start toe to her senses, gathering strength in her legs to stand up. She stepped back, looking down at her own arms. ¡°It¡¯s true¡­ the world isn¡¯t rejecting me anymore. I don¡¯t have to go back to that elemental ne. I can finally join the others¡­¡±


    I gave a small nod of my head, reaching up to brush the tears off of her cheeks. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± There were so many questions I wanted to ask her, but now wasn¡¯t the time. When my eyes nced over her level, I saw that it had risen to over a thousand, far above what the level cap was for Fyor. Since she was outside of my ¡®domain¡¯ within the elemental nes, she had been unrestricted by the level limit of this world.


    Thanks to my own experiences, I knew that it would still be possible for her to move betweenyers effortlessly, as long as she took detours through the world of world spirits. That was not a concern.


    ¡°Oh!¡± The world spirit spoke up suddenly, as if remembering something. ¡°I¡¯ve got to tell you something, sir!¡± When she said that, her face went serious, and she turned to face me.


    ¡°Go on?¡± If it was important enough to snap her out of her own celebration, I couldn¡¯t help but be curious.


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t the only person living in that world. They were scattered, but there were others. One of them taught me how to make the dagger that I¡­ err¡­¡± She suddenly grew embarrassed as she mentioned the dagger. ¡°The one you found me with, sir.¡±


    ¡°They showed you how to make a dagger that could harm a god?¡± Okay, now I was even more curious. Just what kind of people did she encounter?


    ¡°Not specifically a god¡­ but yes. And one of them asked me to pass a message, to ¡®the man who made me¡¯. He seemed quite confident that I would meet that man again, and that I knew he meant you¡­¡±


    Immediately, I began thinking back, wondering if there had been any other people who had mysteriously vanished after being connected to me. However, I kept drawing a nk. Was there really someone like that? ¡°What did he say?¡±


    ¡°Uhm¡­ hold on, let me think.¡± The world spirit closed her eyes to focus. ¡°It was¡­ odd, but he said that I had to deliver the message exactly. ¡®What¡¯s one less than ten thousand?¡¯ I think that¡¯s how it went. Sorry, sir, I was eaten not long after I met him, so my mind is a bit blurry¡­¡±


    ¡­Terra! I shouted within my mind as soon as I heard the spirit¡¯s words. Someone knows things that nobody in this world should possibly know! Exnations, please!


    What was one less than ten thousand? Anyone could give you an answer to that question. But not everyone could understand its meaning. There were only a select few that had the ¡®right¡¯ to know what it meant. A group of nine thousand, nine hundred and ny-nine individuals.


    It¡¯s¡­ Terra¡¯s voice actually seemed to be shaking as she responded to me, recoiling from the surprise herself. An Anomaly. An Anomaly among Anomalies, even. He was reborn.


    Who was? Don¡¯t tell me it was thezy bastard I hit! My hands were shaking at the thought of that, the idea that he could be back spelled nothing good.


    No, not him. The one before. I-I¡¯m sorry, this really shouldn¡¯t happen. His soul should have been destroyed at the beginning of thest cycle. It¡¯s part of the normal procedure. I need to think.


    After saying that, Terra went silent for a few moments, while the world spirit looked at me in confusion. ¡°Do you know him, sir?¡±


    ¡°Not directly¡­¡± I shook my head. ¡°But he should have been someone like me, at one point in time¡­¡±


    ¡°Think, Terra, think!¡± The catgirl muttered to herself, reviewing the records within her memory to identify the origin of this anomaly. She had already found and confirmed its identity, but this was something new. For a System Companion, new was scary. New meant that, out of the trillions of worlds that had existed in the past, this was the first time an event had happened.


    ¡°The soul was destroyed, I¡¯m sure of that.¡± She nodded her head, pacing in the bedroom as she recalled those logs. ¡°The energy was perfectly dispersed into the stream. Follow it¡­¡± Terra ¡®tagged¡¯ one part of the spirit¡¯s energy in the record, following it through the cycle of rebirth.


    She saw the soul fragment joining together with randomly discarded souls to be reborn in another Keeper¡¯s world, its memories erased. She watched its life and death, making sure to keep that exact piece of its soul tagged to follow it into the next life. And the next.


    Through thousands of lifetimes, she followed the fragment of a soul, ensuring that she never lost track of it. At times, it would encounter a few other pieces of its former Keeper soul, but nothing that had ever caused memories to resurface.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have time for this.¡± She growled, and the process sped up tremendously. Hundreds of lives passed in every second. Sometimes, he would be reborn as a frog or a cat, a man or a woman. Once he was a dragon, and once even he ascended to godhood.


    Finally, the soul fragment found its way back to Dale¡¯s own world, at the same time as arge number of other fragments found their way back. Itnded in Fyor, on a rtively higher floor. Terra felt resistance when she tried to track it, but forced her way through. ¡°I¡¯m not going to tell him anything he doesn¡¯t need to know. But we need to see how this happened.¡±


    After she said that, the resistance loosened. She saw the fragments, which had been apart for so many years, merging together into a new life. Maybe it was because of just howpatible the fragments were with one another, but they caused an anomaly within the game system. One that allowed its archived memories from this world to return. The memories from when he was a Keeper.


    ¡°James¡­ you¡¯re actually back.¡± Terra muttered in surprise, shaking her head.


    Okay, I¡¯ve got what I can tell you. Terra spoke, seeming only slightly agitated now.


    Please don¡¯t tell me that there¡¯s critical information you have to hide from me because of the system¡¯s rules? I was practically begging at this point.


    It¡¯s not¡­ critical, no. I can¡¯t tell you exactly what he has been through, or how to find him. But¡­ yes, it¡¯s him. No, he doesn¡¯t still have his Keeper authority. Even the greatest anomaly in the world can¡¯t override that ruling. Instead, he has his memories from his time as this world¡¯s Keeper.


    And you said that it was the guy two generations before me, right? The really hardworking one? I asked to rify.


    That¡¯s right. His name is James. I can easily tell you that much, at least.


    And¡­ does he know that I¡¯m not the Keeper immediately after him? That I¡¯m not the one that killed him? I gulped nervously as I asked that, and waited for a while for a response.


    ¡­No, he doesn¡¯t. His memories end at his death, and resume when he was reborn as an anomaly. I can¡¯t tell if he holds a grudge or not. I¡¯m not allowed to check that right now.


    I had to note there¡­ she didn¡¯t say that she wasn¡¯t allowed to tell me, but that she wasn¡¯t allowed to check. Meaning she herself didn¡¯t know, because the system wouldn¡¯t let her. So, correct me if I¡¯m wrong¡­ the most hardworking,bor-intensive Keeper in our records for this world has been reborn, and could possibly be under the impression that I¡¯m the one that killed him. Did I get that right?


    Yes¡­? He¡¯s not the type to go out of his way for revenge, I think, but I don¡¯t know if his new life changed him. He was a really nice and caring guy when he was the Keeper. Hispanion had nothing but praise for him.


    I gave a small nod at that. I could hope that he didn¡¯t want revenge thinking that I killed him, that his message through the world spirit wasn¡¯t a ¡®warning¡¯ that he wasing. I could hope for a lot of things. If he truly was as understanding as Terra¡¯s described him in the past, he could be one of the most powerful allies I could ever get.


    Otherwise¡­ he might be the deadliest enemy as well. Depending on just how high up he was born, it was entirely possible that his power might surpass my own at the moment. Hell, he might even be a god that awakened outside of my territory, since he could know how to cultivate to that level.


    I¡¯d just have to wait and see.

 Chapter 480: Dark Expanse

    <h4>Chapter 480: Dark Expanse</h4>


    After spending some more time with the world spirit of Fyor, I finally left, returning once again to my cultivation location within Lorek. Part of me wanted to try to find James, to get a glimpse of his abilities. However, I was not naive to think that my mirrors were foolproof.


    If he truly did have wicked designs and was able to detect the mirror that I used to spy on him, he might be able to use an ability to follow it back to me. Worse yet, the elemental nes didn¡¯t count as a realm that was within my domain as a Keeper due to how this world was set up. Meaning¡­ even if I went back to the Admin Room, I wouldn¡¯t be able to spy on him with the assistance of the system.


    The best thing that I could do was get stronger. If he turned out to be a friend, my strength would aid me in my next battle. If not, it would aid me against him. Either way, it was important that I allow my host to cultivate.


    Once I was set into the familiar rhythm of nurturing my internal star, I ascended back to the Admin Room. As I arrived, I saw Terra walking out of the bedroom, her face haggard. ¡°Everything alright?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± She muttered, before shaking her head. ¡°Sorry, it¡¯s just that this has really never happened. Keepers are meant to have only one chance, and that¡¯s it. If you die, game over. Your soul is shattered into fine powder and thrown into the endless stream, your memories recorded only in the system¡¯s archives.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but raise an eyebrow at that. ¡°So nobody has ever just done something like buying apanion with an old Keeper¡¯s memories?¡±


    ¡°Oh, of course they have, but that¡¯s different.¡± Terra offered a weak smile. ¡°No matter how rebellious apanion is, they can¡¯t directly cause the death of a Keeper. Like when Bihena got mad at you for the emotions you put in her head when you made her. She could rain hellfire down on the world, lead the people to ughter one another, but she wouldn¡¯t be able to kill you.¡±


    ¡°James, on the other hand¡­ he¡¯s not apanion, but a creature legitimately born in this world. There aren¡¯t any rules in ce to protect you from him. If something happened, and he did end up killing you, he¡¯d have another go at being the Keeper.¡±


    I gave a small nod when I listened to that. If James was able to figure that out, it would be all the more reason to be wary of him. ¡°I¡¯m surprised that the system didn¡¯t terminate him simply due to principle.¡±


    ¡°For better or worse, it doesn¡¯t work that way, Dale.¡± Terra groaned, leading me out to the couch and having me sit down so that she could drape herself across myp. ¡°If something happens, it happens. This may go against procedure, but that¡¯s just how it is. Just a really, really unlikely coincidence.¡±


    ¡°And since it¡¯s never happened before, I can¡¯t ask for help from other Keepers.¡± I gave a small sigh at that. Well, maybe Grimor. He seemed like good friends with James, if I recall. The news that his friend miraculously survived may be taken quite well with him. Though, on that note¡­ maybe don¡¯t tell him until I am sure of James¡¯ intentions.


    If it really does turn out that James wants his ¡®job¡¯ back, Grimor might just find a way to help him get it. He was likely much closer to James than myself. Gah, why does it feel like I am paranoid about everything, all of a sudden?


    I shook my head, reaching down to stroke a hand through Terra¡¯s hair. ¡°Regardless¡­ I¡¯m quite curious. Did you see that dagger that the world spirit was using?¡±


    ¡°Mhm¡­¡± Terra nodded her head, her eyes drifting shut. ¡°Manifestation of natural and spiritual energy, the two working together to create a poison to target energy bodies. Pretty advanced technique, really. Would have been annoying for you to force the energy out yourself once afflicted.¡±


    ¡°So that¡¯s what it was¡­¡± I gave a small nod, continuing to pet her hair. ¡°Did I miss anything else while I was down there? Any progress with the AI?¡±


    ¡°nk. It named itself nk.¡± Terra informed me, but¡­ really? nk? ¡°It¡¯s been getting along pretty well with Vivi, and looks like it¡¯s going to try to create its own game world soon.¡±


    ¡°Interesting¡­ we can have Ashley deify him once he¡¯s done with it. It¡¯ll be a good learning experience for him.¡± If we were going to make him the God of Games like we nned, having personal experience creating games would surely help.


    That reminded me about something else that I wanted, and I pulled up the system, checking my bnce briefly before buying the fourth tier of ki. Now that I was focusing more on cultivation, it was especially important that I learn this. ¡°Looks like it¡¯s time for me to do my homework¡­¡±


    You can create a WORLD? Sora asked in shock from within the shadow, gasping. She had been asleep when the achievement came through, resting from a previous battle. Thus, the information was especially shocking for her.


    Apparently. Thelsa confirmed hesitantly. That¡¯s what the window said, at least. I haven¡¯t actually tried it, yet.


    Well, what are you waiting for? Maria urged her excitedly. They had all waited for Sora to wake up so that nobody was left out from this event.


    Okay¡­ let¡¯s see how this is done. Thelsa rose up from Petra¡¯s shadow, patting the demoness¡¯s shoulder. ¡°You¡¯ve done very good so far Petra. Would you mind watching over me for a few minutes?¡±


    Petra gave a bright smile, nodding her head. ¡°Sure thing, Thelsa! I won¡¯t let anyone bother you!¡± After she said that, she turned around, her back facing Thelsa as her eyes began to scan the surroundings. Thelsa could already feel the darkness moving to Petra¡¯s will, shadows shaking along the ground. However, the seriousness she gave to this gave Thelsa a warm feeling.


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s try this out.¡± And so, Thelsa focused, calling up her new ability. ¡°Shadow of the World¡­¡± A quiet pulse of energy echoed within her words, the trees surrounding Petra and Thelsa beginning to grow darker. Her shadow began stretching at unnatural angles, spreading out in every direction.


    You have created the Shadow of Fyor


    Due to local interference, the Shadow of Fyor is iplete. Name changed to Iplete Shadow - Twenty Third Layer of Fyor.


    The Saint of Shadows has imed her first domain. While within her realm, her power will be increased, and shadows are more likely toe to her aid.


    Thelsa read through the windows that appeared, but¡­ they didn¡¯t seem to register entirely. Her legs shook, and her head spun at an unfamiliar sensation. Her body suddenly felt¡­ no, light wasn¡¯t the word for it. As if there was a powerful gust of wind just at her back, supporting her.


    Okay¡­ this is cool. Maria muttered from within the shadow. Or, to be more urate, from within the shadow realm. Previously, their shared shadow had been something akin to arge room. Thelsa had shaped it with her will over time to make it morefortable, and because doing so helped train her abilities. She was able to create other rooms to help raise her shadows, but they always tried to stay in that one room to make it easier on her.


    After she used the Shadow of the World, however, the walls of the room seemed to crumble. Maria and Sora found themselves standing within a dense jungle, one which almost perfectly mirrored the world outside. However, there was one key difference, that being that light and shadow had been reversed.


    Anywhere that light shined on the outside world, there was only darkness within this realm. However, those areas of darkness beneath the canopy of trees instead became fairly well-lit.


    While Maria and Sora were adjusting to the view, Petra spun around to help Thelsa stabilize herself. ¡°Are you okay?¡± She asked, her eyes wide with concern.


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ fine, I think.¡± Thelsa shook her head. ¡°I just¡­ need to adjust. This isn¡¯t like leveling up.¡± As if the very inside of her head had expanded, Thelsa knew that she would need to take time to get used to this feeling. ¡°For now, do you think you can make us a home in that world? I think the old one broke¡­¡±


    Thelsa may be the Saint of Shadows, but Petra was the Demigoddess. She knew that reshaping a terrain made of her domain would be an even easier task than it would be for Thelsa herself. However, her words weren¡¯t met with a confirmation. Rather, Petra¡¯s eyes went wide once again in panic.


    ¡°Mister Snookums!¡± She cried out, diving into the shadow. Where are you¡­e on, Snooky, where¡¯d you go?


    Is she¡­ looking for her stuffed cat? Maria asked hesitantly within the shadow, watching Petra run through the forest hurriedly.


    I think so, why? Did you see where it flew off to when the room changed? Sora asked in curiosity, eliciting a nod from the warrior.


    Yeah, you could say that¡­ I think it might have fused with one of these trees when the area was still forming¡­ Maria pointed off towards the ¡®bright shadow¡¯ of a nearby tree, where the faintest tip of a ck paw could be seen.


    Sora went pale when she saw that/ May Ashley have mercy on all of us¡­ Uhm¡­ Petra, sweety? He¡¯s over here¡­


    ¡°No, no, that won¡¯t work at all.¡± nk muttered, shaking his head quickly. He sat at arge table within a vast expanse of nothingness. Atop the table were four floating books, two on either side of him. Each book was open, their pages slowly flipping.


    Kris was asleep, so nk chose to slip away unseen, moving to his testing ground. ¡°I like Geometric Magic the most, but¡­ something is missing. Without full understanding of the magicalws, I can¡¯t perfectly recreate the system. Anything less would simply be a wed copy that restricted the ingenuity of a caster.¡±


    ¡°No, I need something better. Something mine.¡± nk didn¡¯t even seem to realize that he was talking to himself. But, in a way, he wasn¡¯t. There was another pair of eyes watching him from the distance, the silver-skinned Vivi keeping watch on his progress. ¡°Something that takes aspects from each of the three systems of magic.¡±


    He thought on that idea for a moment, internally simting the end result. ¡°It won¡¯t be useful for mages to practice with such a unique system. However, this is still only a trial. If I decipher the magicalws, perhaps my next world will include something better.¡±


    Snapping his fingers, a pen appeared in his hand, and a fifth book materialized directly in front of himself. ¡°Now, let¡¯s get this started. I think I¡¯ll call this¡­ Binary Call.¡± As he said that, nk began writing within the book, recording his ideas for this magic system. While understanding an existing set of magicalws fully was an insurmountable task for him, he found it much easier to envision how mana would react with his new system of magic.


    ¡°Pytharian¡¯s Loop Casting might pose a bit of a problem here¡­¡± nk muttered, one of the four books flipping its pages. ¡°If I work the mana like this, it should be able to resolve itself¡­¡±


    Within the void, Vivi gave a yful smile, nodding her head in satisfaction. She knew that he was almost ready, and was quite pleased in how this new AI was growing. After studying him for so long, she had evenpleted the second objective that Ashley gave her. She had found his God Key, the shifting string of characters within his code.


    Naturally, she wasn¡¯t able to solve his key herself, but she could give it to Ashley. The Goddess of Technology would no doubt have her ways to crack the code.

 chapter 481: Creeping Closer

    <h4>chapter 481: Creeping Closer</h4>


    ¡°Here.¡± A voice spoke up from behind an elven man in a white robe, briefly startling him. When he turned around, he saw a halfling woman holding out a small, styrofoam cup, steam rising above the rim.


    ¡°Thanks, Rin.¡± The man smiled, nodding as he took the offered cup. Rin moved over to sit at her terminal near him, studying the almost graph-like representation of the starry sky.


    ¡°Anything interesting happen while I was gone?¡± She asked with a knowing grin.


    ¡°Oh, yeah. Proxa three through five started dancing. Totally missed it.¡± The manughed, shaking his head. ¡°Nothing new so far tonight.¡±


    Rin nodded, leaning back and staring at her screen, which was alternating between close up shots of various celestial bodies. ¡°Ever wish you could actually get out there? See the stars up close?¡±


    ¡°Well, yeah. But the first warp expedition isn¡¯t scheduled till next year. Even if I wanted to go, not much I can do about it for now.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true. They get back to you on your application yet, Regas?¡± Rin nced over towards the elf as she asked that, but was rewarded with a hollow sigh.


    ¡°Nothing yet. Mason from the second shift managed to get on, so here¡¯s hoping.¡± Regas gave a helpless shrug as he said that. ¡°I hear that Spica¡¯s making a modified warp drive that uses their own system of magic as well, so maybe I¡¯ll have better luck there.¡±


    ¡°Help a girl out if you do, will ya?¡± Rin smiled sweetly towards Regas. ¡°They¡¯re pretty harsh on their immigrationws.¡±


    As the two joked, one of the screens near Rin suddenly shed red. They quickly looked over at the screen in question, seeing a ratherrge rock drifting through space. Regas was the first to speak up, his brows furrowing. ¡°I don¡¯t remember anyrge meteors in that sector, do you?¡±


    ¡°Nope.¡± She rolled her chair over to another keyboard and entered in a fewmands. ¡°Weird, it¡¯s not showing up on mana sensors. We only caught it through the optical scope.¡±


    ¡°Think it might be made of that Void Concealing stuff they have in Fyor? I hear it disperses the mana around it.¡±


    Rin tilted her head at that. ¡°Maybe. Let¡¯s see where it¡¯s heading.¡± After typing away at her keyboard for a few moments, a new graph appeared to disy the meteor¡¯s trajectory. ¡°Looks like it¡¯ll be a pretty close one¡­¡±


    Regas let out a low whistle when he read the chart. ¡°Yeah, we¡¯ll need to report that one. Best be prepared with the defense grid.¡±


    Rin chuckled, shaking her head as she began drafting up the email. ¡°Saving the world, one giant rock at a time.¡±


    As she was writing the email, she would asionally nce towards the screen which disyed the meteor in order to get urate readings of its size and speed. Which was why she was so surprised when she looked up and saw¡­ nothing. The screen which had shown the meteor on a near-collision course with Earth had simply vanished.


    ¡°Regas¡­?¡± She asked her partner, who had already gone back to sipping his coffee while watching his own terminal.


    ¡°Yeah? Need help with something?¡±


    ¡°You could say that. I¡¯m not crazy, right? We saw a big rock just a second ago, right?¡± When Rin asked that, Regas had a sinking feeling in his gut, looking over and catching sight of the now-empty screen.


    ¡°Check the coordinates. Make sure the telescope didn¡¯t shift. Could be nothing¡­¡±


    Rin gave a hasty nod, linking up with the orbital telescope. ¡°Angle¡¯s good. No collision detected that would knock it off. Doing a wider scan now-my goddess¡­¡± Rin¡¯s eyes went wide suddenly, and she began to type away again.


    When Regas looked over, he saw that the meteor had been found, so he wasn¡¯t quite sure what she was upset over. Until, that is, he saw the sector coordinates disyed at the bottom corner of the screen. ¡°Wait, isn¡¯t that¡­¡±


    Rin had already sent the email, rising up from her seat and moving towards a blue spherical crystal embedded in the wall. ¡°Emergencymunique, please put me through.¡±


    A small pulse of mana rolled out from the crystal, washing over her face before pulling back. Afterwards, the energy formed into a circle. After a few moments of waiting, a figure appeared within the circle. A golden-haired kitsune with faintly shining eyes.


    ¡°What is the emergency?¡± She asked, cutting straight to the chase.


    ¡°Ma¡¯am.¡± Rin nodded her head. ¡°Moments ago, we detected arge meteor, roughly Delune-sized within the system. After confirming that the meteor did not appear on mana scans, we estimated it to be on a course that would have it just missing Earth.¡±


    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t use this line for a near miss.¡± The kitsune said, raising an eyebrow.


    ¡°Correct. As we were submitting the report, the meteor¡­ moved. It advanced along its path considerably. In doing so¡­ it is now on a direct collision course with Earth.¡±


    The kitsune froze up at that, her face bing serious. ¡°Give me a timeframe.¡±


    ¡°Ma¡¯am, ording to theputer, it will arrive within two days.¡± Originally, the rock had been at least a full week away from the, which would have given Earth plenty of time to naturally move out of its path. Now that it had advanced so much closer, such a thing wasn¡¯t an option. ¡°If it vanishes again¡­ it could be here at any moment.¡±


    Terra and I sat down at the dining table with Ryone, Bihena, Aurivy, and Leowynn. In front of us was a collection of cards, Keeper¡¯s Cards to be exact. Given that I had only just finished my excursion to the mortal coil, we decided to y a game to rx.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ this battle will be between¡­¡± Aurivy started to speak up as she hit the button on her own interface, readying the battle phase. Everyone at the table had a card appear in front of them, two each of yellow, blue, and red. Aurivy held a blue card, and smirked mischievously as she saw me holding the matching blue card. ¡°You and me, bro.¡± She looked down to her own card, seeing the image of a sword on it. ¡°And I¡¯m attacking.¡±


    We were still in the early stages of the game at this point, so nobody had been eliminated yet. It also meant that we hadn¡¯t had as much time to build up powerful decks. I simply offered her a small smile, confident in my defenses.


    Keeper, hear my prayer. At least, I was, until I heard a familiar voice speaking into my mind. My eyes went wide with shock, having not received an actual prayer since Leowynn died.


    ¡°Just a second, Aurivy¡­¡± I spoke, closing my eyes and focusing. Tsubaki. What is it?


    I fear that your world may yet be at risk. A meteor has been sighted, now on a direct collision course with Earth. Its size is roughlyparable to Desbar¡¯s moon, ensuring that it would do a substantial amount of damage, possibly on a global scale.


    Immediately, I pulled up a mental map, zooming out from Earth. It didn¡¯t take me long to find the meteor in question. It was¡­ massive was an understatement. ¡°Terra¡­ why didn¡¯t I get a system prompt for this?¡± I knew from experience that the system would warn me whenever any natural disasters were on the horizon that threatened a significant percentage of my poption. ¡®All of Earth¡¯ seemed like it should qualify there¡­


    ¡°Hmm?¡± Terra blinked, before focusing. ¡°Oh. Oh my. Sorry, after that whole thing with James, I¡¯ve been kind of out of it. Let¡¯s see¡­ ording to this, you weren¡¯t given a warning because the matter was destined to be discovered by mortals, and it is within their collective power to avert the disaster.¡±


    ¡°How can they- right¡­ gods.¡± I muttered, shaking my head. The sheer scale of the meteor had me slipping back into my old mentality. Tsubaki, you have my permission to act. If need be, request the assistance of Jonas, as well as the dungeons. Between the three of you, it should be entirely possible to ensure the safety of the world.


    ¡­I shall do as you wish, my Keeper. Tsubaki spoke solemnly before ending the prayer.


    Just to be safe, I nced over towards Ryone. ¡°Would you mind keeping an eye on the situation, making sure it doesn¡¯t get too bad?¡± Although Terra said that the system evaluated it as ¡®possible to avert¡¯¡­ that didn¡¯t mean that they would necessarily be safe in doing so. It could be possible that they had the power to divert the meteor at the cost of their lives.


    Ryone hesitated for a moment, before giving a firm nod. ¡°Sure. I¡¯ll step in if things look too bad.¡±


    ¡°That might not be such a good idea, Dale.¡± Terra spoke up. In my mental map of the meteor, I could see it zooming in, and a geological survey was disyed. ¡°The material that meteor is made out of¡­ it¡¯s a sort of natural counter to Ryone.¡±


    ¡°Simr to the Void Concealing Stone, it obscures the mana that enters its territory, preventing it from being located through magical means. However, it¡¯s not quite the same substance. If I had to give it a name¡­ I¡¯d call it the Void Traveling Stone.¡±


    Aurivy¡¯s eyes went wide at that, just as she was picking her cards to use in the game against me. ¡°Wait, does that mean¡­¡±


    Terra simply nodded her head. ¡°Whenever it obscures the mana around it, it actually devours that mana, fueling a short-distance teleport. If Ryone were to act, with her powers focusing heavily on magic, it is likely to trigger another teleport. There is the chance that the meteor could appear out of harm¡¯s way¡­ but it could also teleport inside of the, and shatter it from within.¡±


    Don¡¯t use any magic on the meteor! I called down to Tsubaki immediately, rying Terra¡¯s words. Don¡¯t even let them scan it anymore. Mana triggers its transportation effect. Make sure that Tower knows to restrain his mana aura.


    Understood, my Keeper. Tsubaki spoke up, this time with a far more relieved tone than previously.


    ¡°So¡­¡± Ryone spoke up. ¡°I¡¯ll leave the reinforcement to Ashley. But, when that thing gets blown up¡­¡± There was an almost sparkling look to her eyes, making it clear what she wanted to ask.


    I spoke up with a faint sigh, agreeing to her unspoken request. ¡°Yes, you can have as much of it to study as you want.¡±


    ¡°Yes! You¡¯re the best!¡± Ryone bounced in her seat happily, grinning from ear to ear. She always loved to study minerals that had magical properties, so this ¡®disaster¡¯ was like a treasure to her, offering itself up for her to unravel.


    Thankfully, and I did make sure to check this, there weren¡¯t any creatures living on this meteor or anything like that. We didn¡¯t want Earth to turn out like Eingard, after all. A world ravaged by monsters brought from the furthest corners of space¡­


    In the worst case scenario, amon meteor like that is something that I should be able to forcibly move if I descended to take care of it. I might even be able to do so through the Keeper interface. However, thinking about Tsubaki rising into the air to confront the meteor¡­ it made me sh back to the dream that I had during my time as Clover. The dream that Nyx had given me.


    It was just a bad feeling, I knew, but I still didn¡¯t like it. Probably because it made me remember everything I saw in her memories, or how she had set up a scene to watch me ¡®destroy¡¯ my own world. Either way, I was suddenly wishing for this meteor to face the most unpleasant of endings.

 Chapter 482: Faith

    <h4>Chapter 482: Faith</h4>


    Are you certain that we will be enough for this? Jonas asked mentally as he rose into the air with Tsubaki. Alongside him was an unfamiliar man whose entire body seemed to be made of smooth, blue crystal.


    The Keeper has assured me that our powers alone will be sufficient for this task. The kitsune nodded her head. Their mission this time had a far grander scale than anything that anyone had ever done before. They were to destroy a meteor the size of Desbar¡¯s moon to prevent the total destruction of Earth.


    Naturally, since the meteor had been discovered by a mortal organization, the news had quickly spread. A news announcement was made almost immediately after the report had been filed to Rin¡¯s superiors. They wanted to convince everyone to seek immediate shelter, as only a divine intervention would be able to truly restore the¡¯s surface if the meteor were to hit.


    At first, they wished to issue an evacuation order, but¡­ how would they be able to evacuate everyone? There was only the single gate leading to a different world. With an activation time of twenty seconds, and a maximum of one hundred people cramming together on the ring¡­ They wouldn¡¯t be able to save even a single percent of the world¡¯s poption.


    Instead, people were given the only hope they could pray for. Tsubaki had contacted the media to inform her that the mortal gods were making a move. She, along with the two other ascended mortals, would be personally going to destroy the meteor.


    This news spread like wildfire. Very soon, these three began to feel something that had previously belonged only to the true gods of the higher realm. With not only the people of Earth, but also the other worlds praying for their sess, the divinities of billions of people became linked. Their strengths surged together into the three mortal gods, drastically boosting their divine power.


    Although gods were capable of recovering their divine energy naturally on their own, and even strengthening it through training, both of these things could be enhanced by the sincere worship of arge number of beings. Tsubaki¡¯s light had been growing brighter and brighter since the announcement had been made, forcing her to suppress it more sharply. Jonas felt as if hismunity had expanded hundreds of times over, as those who worshipped him had added themselves into his domain.


    As for Tower, it was hard to read his expression, but he had noticed the change as well. It was particrly strong for him, who had never received a proper worshipper before. If the Keeper believes that this is within our power, let us have faith in him.


    Jonas offered a small nod as the three of them left the¡¯s atmosphere. Once in the void of space, Tsubaki wrapped her light around them, causing their speed to drastically increase. Within moments, they had stopped, able to see the massive meteor. Its size was truly enough to cause rm, like a jagged stone being thrown through the air. Tsubaki had stopped them all a fair distance away, roughly two thousand kilometers away.


    At this range, they were just barely feeling the pull of the meteor¡¯s gravity, and its sizepletely epassed their vision. Remember, no mana-based abilities. Tsubaki reminded, slowly extending her hands out to the side. Behind her, light began to pour in, forming a miniature sun.


    I remember. Jonas nodded, pping his hands together silently. Countless forms began to spread out behind him, phantoms summoned quickly enough to appear as a golden cloud. This army seemed to stretch out in every direction, the numbers reaching the hundreds, thousands, soon even the millions.


    Meanwhile, Tower stared at the meteor. I require an evolved Disaster. He muttered, a ck circle ripping open the space next to him, before it began to growrger andrger.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Dale.¡± Terra smiled confidently as she set another card on the table. ¡°Now that the three of them had been boosted by the faith of your worlds, let alone a meteor like this¡­ they temporarily have the power to destroy an entire on their own.¡±


    I flinched a bit at that, ncing towards Terra. ¡°Temporarily?¡± I had long since known that the power to destroy worlds was something that was possible within the second tier. I just didn¡¯t expect that I woulde across it so soon.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Destroying a is actually not that hard for people at our level. At the end of the day, it is just a mass of rock that needs to be broken. Unless the itself is enhanced, or it is in fact the disguised avatar of an energy being.¡± She spoke as if answering my true thoughts, before moving on to what I had actually asked.


    ¡°Regardless, yes. Once the faith they are receiving wanes, their powers will fall back down. Originally, at least one of them would have needed to burn their divinity to take down this meteor. Now, it¡¯s just a matter of them realizing their own power.¡±


    I gave a small nod, focusing my mental gaze on the scene. Jonas was summoning every monk and druid from within hismunity. Tsubaki was creating a massive ball of destructive light, the likes of which you would normally only see in an anime. And Towers was creating¡­ something. It was something big, that much I could say for sure, but until it stepped through the gate he was creating I wouldn¡¯t be able to tell exactly what it was.


    As I thought that, there was movement within Towers¡¯ gate, which had grown to be over a hundred kilometers in diameter. A dark form was poking through the gate, showing bright white scales. It¡­ took me a moment to process the fact that the gate had been summoned only for the mouth of a creature to stick through, but that seemed to be the case.


    Massive jaws stretched from the top of the ck field to the bottom, a bright light gathering in its mouth. Sharp fangs, each ten kilometers long on their own, rose from the jaws. When enough of the head had been exposed to show the slitted eyes, I knew that Towers was calling on the power of a draconic monster.


    ¡°Due to the warning of the Keeper¡¯s Servant, Tsubaki, we are unable to show a projected model of this battle.¡± The news anchor said in a regretful tone, appearing within the homes of countless individuals. ¡°However, we have turned some of our optical scopes towards the sight of the battle, so we are able to catch some images.¡±


    After saying that, arge screen appeared beside the news anchor, showing the meteor. Zooming in, the image showed a bright light, as well as what looked like an army standing before the approaching disaster. ¡°Please note that these scenes will be a few seconds behind the actual events, due to the sheer distance involved. As you can see, they have already started to make their moves.¡±


    ¡°Everyone at home, please¡­ pray for their sess.¡± After saying that, the news anchor went silent, and the scene of the battle expanded to cover the entire screen.


    Tsubaki had initially been surprised to find how easy it was to amass her light sphere, which was now expanding above her head. Having experimented with it in the past, she had found that a sphere with a diameter of ten meters was her previous limit. This was a sphere where the light and heat was condensed so greatly that most matter would vaporize upon contact. When she had created it within Earth¡¯s atmosphere, it had created a fireball due to scorching the air.


    Now, she held such a sphere above her head that was over a hundred meters in diameter, and felt as if she could continue to let it grow further. However, she knew that she did not have time for such a thing. Although she had adjusted their momentum to be moving away from the meteor as it approached, it was still drawing closer, pulling them with its gravitational field.


    Okay, you two. Let¡¯s do this. Shemunicated mentally to them, before waving her hand forward to cause the sphere of light to descend on the flying space rock.


    At the same time, the monster that Towers summoned had opened its mouth wide, jaws distending. It fired a beam of concentrated light from its mouth, not at the meteor, but at the ball that Tsubaki herself had just thrown. When the beam hit the glowing sphere, it seemed to be absorbed into it which caused the sphere to grow evenrger as it traveled.


    At the same time, Jonas¡¯s eyes shot open. Thebined ki of every monk he had summoned was pouring into his body at once, and he tightened up his fist. His entire arm seemed to radiate a brilliant, earthen glow which spread up above him like steam.


    As the sphere of light crashed into the surface of the meteor, smoke and debris scattered. The meteor itself seemed to tremble under the force of the crash, and the ball of light which continued to dig down beneath the surface.


    Seeing that, Jonas pulled back his arm. The glowing ¡®steam¡¯ that had been escaping his arm was pulled back to form a thin film along his skin. His lips moved, but no words were heard in the emptiness of space as he thrust his closed fist forward.


    A thin beam of light shot out from Jonas¡¯s arm, piercing directly through the ball of light that Tsubaki had created. Barely a secondter, the same beam could be seen exiting the far side of the meteor, leaving a fist-sized hole that prated it in its entirety. However, that wasn¡¯t all.


    After being pierced through by that beam, the ball of light trembled violently before erupting. The shockwave caused the three mortal gods to be thrown back several meters, even as they were fighting to maintain their positions. The damage to the meteor itself, on the other hand, was far more extreme.


    Thick cracks spread out along the meteor, each one releasing a towering mountain of dust and rock. At the point of impact, a wide crater could be seen, its edges smooth and molten. When the cracks had spread to cover the entire surface of the meteor, Tsubaki noticedrge chunks that began to break off. It¡¯s not holding its shape anymore. We should be able to deal with thergest fragments, with the rest being safe to let through.


    Jonas nodded his head, calling on the druids that he had summoned. With so many working together to control the forces of nature, the rocks spread apart faster and faster, their speed also slowing to provide more time for the gods to act.


    ¡°As you can see, the initial attack by the ascended have caused great destruction to the meteor!¡± The news anchor called out in an excited voice. The hope that he was feeling seemed to project out from the screens, ¡®infecting¡¯ those who saw the scene. ¡°Maybe they really can prevent this disaster¡­¡±


    ¡°Schrs have determined that any meteoroid entering the atmosphere in excess of a hundred meters diameter would be enough to cause significant damage on a national scale. Depending on the density of the meteor, any pieces smaller than that will cause more minor damage, or potentially explode within the atmosphere.¡±


    ¡°We are working in conjunction with the Astrological Research Foundation of al, also known as ARF, to constantly update the danger zones. When the ascended pull back, these zones will be more stable. Those that have the ability to erect public defenses are urged to do so, while others are asked to remain in the nearest underground shelter avable.¡±


    As the anchor said that, the scene showed the rocks seeming to stop in front of the three ascended mortals. These rocks then continued to break down further and further, bing smaller with every passing breath. Druids were not particrly renowned for theirbat ability, but when it came to terrain maniption, there was nobody better.

 Chapter 483: Gravity of the Situation

    <h4>Chapter 483: Gravity of the Situation</h4>


    I let out a quiet sigh as I watched the meteor being halted by Jonas¡¯s druid army. With this, there wouldn¡¯t be any damage to the world, as the remaining chunks were now under his control. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed one of therger chunks near the back vanishing, the scene obscured by the other fragments. At the same time, Ryone was happily humming to herself in her seat.


    Seeing that, I simply rolled my eyes with a yful smile. The situation had been resolved without me needing to do anything, which opened my eyes to the real power of a second ranked world. As I was thinking that, a message appeared in front of me, notifying me that my next opponent in the Keeper Games had been decided.


    Unfortunately, it looked like I was on the defense this time. And, given my newfound awareness of the power that would be standard to this rank¡­ New n, expansion.


    I had just witnessed three mortal gods effortlessly taking out a meteor the size of a moon¡­ if ten such gods were sent through, it¡¯s possible that they could simply destroy my worlds. As such, I became distinctly aware of the meaning behind Sarah¡¯s words when she told me that quantity eventually meant more than quality.


    Even if a world were to be destroyed, it was possible to salvage the situation so long as there were more worlds within the Keeper¡¯s territory. It might not be a good situation, but it was a way to salvage it.


    Tsubaki looked at the scattered rocks floating before her, and then down at her own hands. Part of her was having a hard time epting the fact that this was truly the power wielded by someone like herself, as it was a scale far beyond anything she had done before. At the same time, she was distinctly aware of the fact that the enemies that her Keeper would be facing would be other Keepers, likely of the same power.


    One ascended alone is enough to unleash such power, when bolstered by the faith of the masses. She thought inwardly, her mind racing as she worked on a n to ensure the safety of her Keeper¡¯s realm.


    Tsuba? Everything alright? Dana called out mentally, their link stretched thin due to the vast distance between them.


    I¡¯m fine. Could you please visit the library, and pray for the fourth level of magic? I don¡¯t think that information has been given to us yet, and we will need it soon.


    Hearing her request left Dana puzzled, nevertheless she agreed. Sure thing, sis.


    Even now, Tsubaki could feel the faith pouring into her body, perhaps even stronger than before. Her divinity was being rapidly strengthened. Previously, she had received the hope of the masses, their prayers to protect them. Now, she was receiving their thanks, feeling their celebrations in her name.


    I suppose this is a type of quest, as well. After reaching that conclusion, she shook her head, directing her gaze towards Tower. This was her first time meeting the dungeon god, but she had been able to work out his domain after witnessing the effect in person. Or at least, narrowed it down significantly.


    She knew that his domain did not allow the ¡®summoning¡¯ of powerful monsters, but rather their ¡®creation¡¯. It was possible that this was limited only to dragons, but Tsubaki felt that this was unlikely. Still, the fact that Tower was capable of creating a dragon of that level of strength was enough to reinforce her n. They needed countermeasures against ascended enemies.


    ¡°They really did it¡­¡± The news anchor spoke up in shock, before collecting himself. ¡°Everyone, thanks to thebined efforts of these three ascended, it appears as if the crisis has been averted. There is still the low chance that debris will enter the atmosphere and cause some damage, but it should no longer be on the previously predicted scale. We¡¯ll be monitoring the debris of the battle to keep you updated in real time on our website.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± Another voice spoke up, watching the screen from within a dark void. He sat alone at a desk, closing a thick tome. ¡°It would have been unfortunate if the world had been destroyed.¡±


    nk¡¯s personality had begun to evolve after watching the various streamers that Vivi had rmended, along with personally crafting his own world. Although it was nowhere nearplete yet, he had a grasp on the arcanews he wished to implement. Now, he simply needed topile the data on the other energy types toplete his work.


    It was unlikely that he would be able to offer perfect recreations, no matter how detailed his research. The chances of people being able to discover new energy fusions within his world that worked on the outside was slim at best. But, it was something he wished to attempt.


    While he worked, Vivi continued to watch over him silently. She still had to keep track of her own world as well, but that was an easy matter at the moment. yer activity had declined sharply with the event happening in the real world, so there was less for her to manage.


    She thought of simply giving nk the information on the energy types from her world, but had ultimately decided against doing so. While minute, there were numerous differences that she had already noted between her own energies and those of the ¡®real¡¯ world. It was better to let nk create his own systems for now, and only offer help after he had obtained this experience for himself.


    ¡°Oh Goddess of Magic, Ryone, and Goddess of Education, Udona.¡± Dana spoke aloud as she entered the library, standing before the aisles of books. ¡°This servant prays for knowledge unknown. Uhm¡­ in other words, can we have the fourth level of magic, please? It¡¯d really help us, thanks!¡±


    She tried, she really did try to keep things formal and ritual-esque when she made the prayer. But after spending so much time in the Citadel, and having interacted with the gods themselves on more than one asion, she found it hard to keep up those formalities.


    You sure you want this? Ryone¡¯s voice echoed in Dana¡¯s mind. The fourth level is not something easily wielded, even by those as talented as yourself and Tsubaki.


    ¡°Tsuba asked for it, so I¡¯m sure she can take it, Aunt Ryone!¡± Dana smiled brightly as she spoke towards the empty library. What answered her was a quiet sigh which seemed to turn into a soft breeze.


    Alright, we¡¯ll send them down.


    Looks like you don¡¯t need to head to Earth, after all. Maria¡¯s voice spoke up in Thelsa¡¯s mind as she stood before arge, ck gate. In one hand was a crystal she had been using to keep track of the news being sent out about the situation on Earth.


    In the event that the ascended trio had been unable to destroy the meteor, she had nned to use her new ability to create a shadow of Earth and pull its inhabitants inside. Doing such a thing would likely destroy her current shadow world, but she expected that she¡¯d at least be able to save some people. How many, she couldn¡¯t say. She had yet to forcefully bring anyone into her shadow world before, after all.


    Seeing that she was no longer needed for that task, Thelsa simply offered a small nod. ¡°Let¡¯s head to the nextyer, then.¡± As she said that, she stepped through the ck gate. Thelsa¡¯s current power had offered her a¡­ unique ability to explore the variousyers of Fyor.


    So long as there were no immediate dangers around the gate itself, Thelsa had no need to fear. After obtaining her new ability, she had gone through each of the exploredyers to acquire their shadows, before returning to the twenty-fourth floor and acquiring it as well. As of that moment, she had aplete shadow that had mirrored all of the known territory within Fyor.


    However¡­ her shadow was still listed as iplete. Part of her wondered just what it would take to finish this new ability. Did she have to acquire every unexploredyer of Fyor, as well? Nobody knew how many floors were left. So instead, she made up her mind to at least acquire the twenty-fifth floor.


    One pleasant surprise that Thelsa had discovered was the fact that she was able to locate the orbs within her shadow world, and that they corresponded to their actual locations. Thanks to that, she had acquired the level orbs of the twenty-third and twenty-fourth floors and taken them to the spire on the first floor. As she could transport herself through the shadows of her own world, there was no need to deal with the formalities normally involved in the matter.


    Now, as she stepped through the gate to the twenty-fifth floor, which erupted from the top of a crystal mountain, she found herself curious as to what woulde next. What she found¡­ surprised her, even beyond her own broad expectations.


    Is that¡­ Sora spoke up hesitantly within the shadow, causing Thelsa to nod. She the immediately retreated into a nearby shadow to avoid others taking note of her.


    That¡¯s right, the area surrounding the twenty-fifth floor¡¯s gate was popted. Far more so than any knownyer had been. Towering structures rose up that connected the ground and the ¡®sky¡¯, made of metal and stone with dark ss windows. Human creatures with pale blue skin stood barely a meter tall, walking around with heavy loads over their shoulders.


    These creatures wore clothing like one would find in a modern store, and some even drove machinery such as cars or trucks. It seemed as though the gate was positioned at the center of this race¡¯s city. With any luck, her appearance had gone unnoticed due to the gate remaining inactive for so many years.


    This isn¡¯t what I was expecting¡­ but it¡¯s kinda cool! Petra spoke up, looking around. Go ahead and grab this floor¡¯s shadow, Thelsa!


    Petra¡¯s words broke Thelsa out of her daze, reminding her that they hade here with a mission in mind. Focusing, she connected her own shadow with the shadow of thisyer, once again activating her Shadow of a World power.


    There was no major change to her ability after gaining the twenty-fifth floor, but she was now able to properly tell just howrge this one was. While the diameter of the first floor was a mere two kilometers, and the neenth floor¡¯s diameter was almost asrge as Desbar, the twenty-fifth floor was actually somewhatrger than that of Earth or Deckan.


    With that thought in mind, her eyes turned towards one of those ¡®skyscrapers¡¯ which connected to the ceiling of thisyer. Its size was¡­ ridiculous, to say the least. Large enough to pierce over halfway through Desbar.


    Creating buildings of that size while maintaining their structural stability showed that the scientific knowledge of this race should be far beyond anything that people had encountered before. What was more amazing was that she couldn¡¯t detect any magic from those buildings that would indicate that they had been enchanted to help support their frames. She did, however, feel a strong ki signature.


    It makes sense. Sora noted from within the shadow. They haven¡¯t had ess to the runes that we learned from the goddesses. The odds of identally pairing a rune with its appropriate pronunciation¡­ it¡¯d be a miracle if they even get one or two. Ki, on the other hand, is something that they are innately born with, and don¡¯t need excessive luck to learn.

 Chapter 484: Travel Plans

    <h4>Chapter 484: Travel ns</h4>


    The twenty-fifthyer was a sprawling civilization beyond anyone¡¯s expectations. Despite not yet having the ability to level up, obtain sses, or even using any magic, the Solii as they called themselves had built a prospering civilization. They did not fear the monsters, and directly beat them back with both their ki and their technology.


    Within this floor, the primary currency used between the solii were bloodstones. Bloodstones were the name that they had given to essence orbs, condensed drops of blood imbued with enough ki that they became solid objects.


    These bloodstones were used to power many of their devices, such as the hovering drones that they used to patrol the wilderness and defeat monsters or the cars which the solii themselves drove. Furthermore, there was a particr ss of solii that could only be entered by the ¡®rich¡¯, those who had collected sufficient bloodstones.


    These individuals, through a technique discovered long ago, were capable of shedding their mortal flesh and bing spirits of blood. In exchange for their umted wealth, they would gain eternity, along with powers unavable to them previously.


    Only these spirits of blood were deemed fit to serve as the rulers of solii, each one granted their own territory. Some were kind lords, treating their citizens with love and respect, while others were far more vicious. However, there was a line that should never be crossed, a set ofws that applied even to the spirits of blood.


    The Blood Covenant, as it was called, was this bindingw. If you shed the blood of solii unjustly, so too shall your blood be shed. This was an ancientw, passed down from the very first spirit of blood to arise within the solii. If someone was found to have unjustly killed a member of their race, they would be collectively hunted down by the spirits of blood, with nowhere left to flee.


    When I looked over the twenty-fifthyer, I had to admit that I was surprised. After all, their culture had developed entirely without any outside interference. From what I could see, there wasn¡¯t even an elemental stone or anything like that, only the basic ores you would find on Earth. Albeit, those ores had been strengthened several times over due to the intense gravity affecting thatyer.


    Still, I shook my head, ncing through the rest of the worlds. In order to prepare for the games, I had to perform enough of a fast forward that every world had at least fully colonized another. That way, even if an entire ended up being destroyed, I wouldn¡¯t lose the territory that I had given to everyone.


    Of course, there were some areas that were¡­ difficult to follow that rule. For instead, Tryval¡¯s world Sher Dien was still far too behind in technology to implement interster warp. More importantly, centaurs had an innate problem when it came to space travel. They required more room to regrly run, and suffered from severe pains when riding on a ship.


    With both of these in mind, it seemed unlikely that they would ever be properly fit to travel beyond their own world. Part of me was worried, because that meant that it would be easy for the world that he created with Alme¡¯s help, and had even named after her mother could be lost.


    And so, I got to thinking about the subject. If it wasn¡¯t possible to have them travel to the stars, maybe I could convince them to research internar travel through magical means. Not simply using the Fairy Gate, but manually creating spells to traverse into new realms.


    Although the majority of centaurs had aplete inability to use magic, certain variants still could. If they learned the trick, then maybe it could be used for the good of the entire world.


    With that thought in mind, I selected ¡®Internar Magic¡¯ as the cultural focus of Sher Dien. Afterwards, I immediately chose to fast forward, hoping that I had done enough.


    ¡°So this is the fourth level of magic.¡± Tsubaki muttered, reading through one of the books. Or rather, reading through the holographic images projected above the book itself. Given the nature of the fourth tier, it was not a simple matter to record itsponents within a two-dimensional medium like paper.


    ¡°I understand why she was so concerned about our ability to use this.¡± The kitsune offered a small nod, ncing towards the young elf who sat nearby. Dana was simrly going through her own book regarding this magic, studying to the best of her ability.


    ¡°What kind of magic are we trying to make, Tsuba?¡± Dana asked without ever taking her eyes off of her own projected images.


    ¡°We need a ward that can epass an entire. One which locks onto unauthorized divine powers and seals them away.¡± After she said that, she shook her head. ¡°We¡¯ll need to set it to look at only the strongest forms of divine power, cast directly by a god. If we simply set it to look for discharges of divine energy, it would target every bard and knight in the world.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­¡± She nodded her head, focusing. ¡°So first, we need to assign the parameters of powerful divine energy for the spell to target. We don¡¯t want to make it a ¡®living¡¯ spell, since those take longer to process information, so we can scrap thoseponents.¡±


    ¡°If you turn to page ny-three, they have something called a Wardstone that should work.¡± Suddenly, Dana lifted a hand up to hold her head. ¡°Building an enchantment room for these things shouldn¡¯t be impossible. But¡­ ow, yeah, I don¡¯t think I could even begin to cast one of these spells myself.¡±


    Tsubaki didn¡¯t me her. Just a singleponent of a fourth tier spell posed the same difficulty as a fully formed, top level spell of the third tier. Part of her morbidly wondered what type of form was required for the fifth tier, but she cast those thoughts aside.


    Instead, she flipped to the page that Dana told her about, scrolling through the information until she found the wardstones. Small stones created through the materialization of mana to act as ward anchors. As long as multiple stones with matching spells and keys were ced within range of one another, they would erect a ward between them.


    Naturally, a power source had to also be ced within the ward itself, withrger wards requiring greater reserves of energy. For a ward like they were discussing, they would have to use techniques recorded in the book to refine ambient mana into a more efficient fuel.


    If they managed to get this to work, however, they would have a certain degree of safety against enemy gods. It would be excellent if they coulde up with something better, but this was the best that Tsubaki was able to create at the time. There was always the risk that the ward would target new ascended, as well as older gods like the Keeper himself, so they could not allow the effects of the ward to be too extreme.


    ¡°Right this way, Ms Hart.¡± A halfling man in a ck formal suit spoke amiably to the elf following behind him. ¡°As a VIP for this trip, I assure you that your amodations will be to your liking.¡±


    Julia simply sighed as she heard that, ncing at the crystalline girl following alongside her. Toote to back out now, right? She asked her familiar, who nodded with a bright smile.


    That¡¯s right, Julia! Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll be out among the stars again in no time!


    Julia let out a faint chuckle as she heard the optimistic words of her familiar. It was finally time tounch the first long-term warp voyage. For six months, they would be living within arge spaceship, which had been constructed within an orbital shipyard.


    During that time, she would contractually be required to be ¡®on call¡¯ for twelve hours a day. For the rest of the time, she would be free to act as she saw fit, whether to rx in one of the lounges or to log into Vision Expanse.


    In reality, however, she did not expect to be called upon much to help out or offer advice. In the eyes of many members of the crew, Julia was simply a gamer from the first generation of Vision Expanse yers, a relic who had built up ¡®simted¡¯ experience.


    Julia knew this, and she had epted it. What she was here for was to be one of the first people able to experience the new world. While she had done so several times already within the game, this was her first, maybe even her only chance to do so in the real world.


    As such, she allowed the halfling to guide her to a modest lodging. Her quarters seemed to be aplete suite unto itself with a modern living room, kitchen, bedroom, bath, and even a guest room. She had already seen what the ¡®normal¡¯ lodgings were like, having passed many of them on the way. Little more than closets with a sleeping pod.


    Julia gave a small shake of her head, well aware that she could fit at least fifty of such rooms within her own suite. It wasfortable, yes, but also grossly demonstrated the difference between normal passengers and ¡®first ss¡¯.


    As soon as the halfling left, and the door closed, Julia was left alone with her familiar. And¡­ a pink haired girl that had manifested on Julia¡¯s couch. ¡°Are you excited?¡± The little bundle of joy and energy asked with a lightugh.


    Nheless, her presence always brought a smile to Julia¡¯s face. ¡°Yeah, Aury. I didn¡¯t expect you toe along for the ride, though.¡±


    ¡°Well, I can¡¯t be here all the time, obviously.¡± Aurivy grinned. ¡°But I can totally show up to chat still. Besides, it gives me something to do when the little runt isn¡¯t calling on me.¡± She rolled her eyes with a small huff at that.


    ¡°You¡¯re never going to let that go, are you?¡± Julia asked, knowing that Aurivy didn¡¯t truly hold a grudge. ¡°Besides, I don¡¯t think Dana¡¯s going to be ingame for a few days. She said she had something important that she was working on with her big sister.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, I know¡­ but still! How do you go and turn a semi-godly being, one portrayed by an actual goddess, into a pet!? That¡¯s just so wrong on so many levels! I feel like I got cheated so hard whenever I think of that.¡±


    Seeing Aurivy puff her cheeks out in a pout, Julia¡¯s lips twitched upwards just a bit further. ¡°At least she doesn¡¯t call on you for much?¡±


    ¡°Not when you¡¯re around, sure!¡± Aurivy iled her arms. ¡°Whenever you log off, she immediately summons me to y with her, or help her take care of chores. That¡¯s a waste of a perfectly good summon, you know!?¡±


    After she said that, she lowered her voice while ncing off to the side. ¡°I even told her that she could just ask me to y with her in the real world, but she insists on doing it in the game because of that contract.¡±


    Deciding that it was a good idea to change the subject, Julia moved over to sit down next to Aurivy. ¡°Any insider tips on what we can expect from this new world, Aury?¡±


    The halfling goddess gave a mischievous wink towards Julia. ¡°Sorry, you know I can¡¯t tell you that. I¡¯ve been avoiding looking at it myself, because I want to experience it with you for the first time!¡±


    For some reason, those words seemed to warm Julia¡¯s heart, and this entire trip suddenly became more meaningful. Without warning, she leaned over and wrapped the goddess in a gentle hug, earning a giggle from the smaller girl. ¡°You¡¯re the best, Aury. Don¡¯t let anyone ever tell you otherwise.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t know¡­¡± The halfling smiled wide. ¡°There was this one girl, way back, who was practically asking for a smiting. Had the nerve to threaten me because I cheated her out of a fight.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, well, I¡¯m sure she was just a dumb little girl.¡± Julia said, clearly knowing who Aurivy was talking about. ¡°Threatening a goddess? How could that ever go well for anyone?¡±

 Chapter 485: The Song of Rest

    <h4>Chapter 485: The Song of Rest</h4>


    Cicily sat at her desk, looking over the different vials she had prepared. A small smile appeared on her golden features, before her eyes nced out towards the window. It was still a long time before the next golden sylvan would be born from the tree, but she felt something tugging at her instincts.


    This was not a new feeling, as she had been experiencing it for weeks already, and had investigated the sensation with the help of her power. ¡°I suppose it¡¯s time, then.¡±


    One of her hands gently rested on the desk, and Cicily closed her eyes in focus. To prepare for her final duty, she used the inherent ability of her race to transmit all of the knowledge that she had acquired into the ancestor tree. She could feel her wisdom being shared among all of her sisters, stored within the collective dream.


    Only when she was sure that she had finished did she stand, the scenery around her shifting. She had directly transported herself to the southernmost edge of the forest. ¡°It would have been nice to say goodbye, first. Ah¡­ Alice was already sent back to her own world, wasn¡¯t she? No matter, then.¡±


    Cicily brought her hands up to her chest, and opened her mouth to release a gentle tune. A melody that felt as if it echoed against the trees.


    Jahar, the demon sent as the second leader of the Sorii Settlement, sat at his window overlooking the small city that had been erected surrounding theunch site. With the aid of the sylvans, the atmosphere of this world was almost breathable, and there was no shortage of edible nts and meat.


    Thanks to them, the hundred year n had been almostpleted in a mere five. And by all estimates, the sylvan race was expected to continue growing at a steady pace for a long time toe. Their only known downside was their dependency on the tree from which they were born. From a strategic standpoint, this left them far too vulnerable. Merely a singlerge-scale attack would be enough to wipe out the future of their species.


    As he was mourning that weakness, he heard something, a voice that prated the atmospheric shell of the settlement. No, not one voice¡­ focusing his eyes past their normal limits, he could see the figures of the green, blue, and even red sylvans all stopping their normal activities.


    Each of these being looked to the south, as if called by a strange power¡­ and began to sing. Some of these sylvans were even located inside the settlement itself, their voices even more clearly heard. However, there were no words to their lyrics. Despite this, for some reason, Jahar felt¡­ a sense of loss in their chorus.


    The final duty of the golden sylvan was something that Cicily was well aware of. She had devised the appropriate ritual and disseminated it to her sisters to ensure its sess. Now was the time, and she had sent the call.


    Almost five hundred thousand voices echoed her call, answering her. Singing her song and channeling the power of nature to her location. From the north, waves of green light gathered together, forming a wide beam that descended on Cicily¡¯s position.


    My sisters, my friends, you have provided me with a wealth of knowledge and richness of life. Now, it is my turn. Sing for me, that I may find my final home. The green light seemed to ripple around Cicily, the condensed natural energy causing fluctuations in space that showed strange images.


    Through some ripples, there was naught but darkness. Through some, unending fire. Others showed vast expanses of water or thriving cities. Cicily watched all of these scenes passing her by, until suddenly, her armshed out. One scene, a ripple just barely within her field of view, a red valley.


    She caught this scene, and forced her own mastery of natural energy to its limits. There was a sh of green, and Cicily vanished from the pir of light. With her presence gone, the song ended, and silence filled the air. For a brief moment, the sylvans went still, as if to both mourn their loss and thank her for her duty.


    Elsewhere, Cicily emerged from a blinding sh of light. Scorching wind assaulted her skin. She didn¡¯t know how far away she had sent herself, or even if she was still in the same realm. Her eyes scanned the horizon, and judged it to be far further than she was familiar with, yet the gravity felt the same.


    Ultimately, though, her current location mattered little. She had no method of returning to Sorii, even if she had sent herself to a doomed world. This was something that she hade to understand.


    The ancestor tree had given itself ten chances to continue its lineage. The green, blue, and red sylvans all existed for the purpose of feeding knowledge and power to the gold, who in turn existed to be a seed. Once a gold sylvan had grown sufficiently powerful, it would feel a calling to establish its own forest. If only one of the ten seeds managed to be a sessful forest, the lineage could continue.


    Knowing this, Cicily had chosen not to fight her instincts. Even though she had lived a short life, she had learned much. She had learned that the value of one life can neverpare to the value of the future.


    And so, once again, she sang. Standing beneath the twin suns of the desert, she gave her final song. Green and golden lights erupted from her body, taking root into the ground and soaring upwards. When her voice faded, she had truly be a new tree, standing fifty meters tall. In time, she would grow as high as the sky itself, casting a shadow on all who saw her. She would bear the fruits of a new generation, and be their mother.


    But for now, all that was left for Cicily to do¡­ was to dream.


    ¡°I feel a disturbance in the-¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t even say it, Terra.¡± I muttered, cutting her off and earning a wry grin from the catgirl. Udona had warned me that Cicily was about to do something big, though I didn¡¯t quite expect that. ¡°Where¡¯d she go?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s see?¡± Terra closed her eyes, before giggling yfully. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s just poetic. She¡¯s gone home, Dale. Back to Spica¡¯s realm.¡±


    ¡°Spica¡¯s realm, but now Spica¡­¡± I muttered, confirming her words when I changed the map to that region, and ran a search for her. There was a brief moment when the image rapidly zoomed out, showing a starryndscape before zeroing in on a specific star. Or, as I noticed when I got closer, a binary cluster.


    The that Cicily arrived on was a barren desert, with barely any water either above or below the surface. This was due to the fact that its twin suns had been constantly hammering at its atmosphere ever since I merged thews of Spica and Lorek. One of the stars in this system produced mana, while the other produced ki.


    Normally, the energy collisions would cause no real damage to a, as it would be entirely absorbed by the atmosphere. However, this already had a fairly thin atmosphere, so a portion of the energy was allowed to leak through, wreaking havoc on what little resources remained of the.


    I couldn¡¯t help but wince when I noticed the conditions that cicily had sent herself to. ¡°Is there¡­ really any hope of thriving there?¡± I asked, ncing over to Terra.


    The catgirl goddess simply offered a small shrug. ¡°If anyone can do it, it¡¯d be a sylvan. I doubt that she¡¯ll be able to terraform that world like they did Sorii, but there¡¯s a chance that they¡¯ll make a forest that the sylvans themselves can live in. On the bright side, monsters won¡¯t start spawning there until one year after the first batch of sylvans are born. They¡¯ll have some time to build up their knowledge and skills before having to fight.¡±


    I gave a small nod when I heard that. If monsters began spawning at the same time as the first generation of sylvans were born from Cicily¡¯s tree, it would be hard for them to fight. But if the ¡®countdown¡¯ didn¡¯t start until the first sylvans were born, that would increase their chances for survival. So long as the tree itself was able to maintain itself for that long.


    ¡°Warp jump has been sessfullypleted.¡± A voice spoke out in the observation deck that Julia found herself sitting on, gazing out as the blue veil was lifted and the stars became visible.


    ¡°Another eight hours until it¡¯s charged again, I guess.¡± she muttered to herself, raising her ss to peer at the stars through the red liquid in the cup. This was something that she had quickly be ustomed to.


    The warp drive that Dana had designed was by no means perfect. On a single charge, it did not have the energy to travel all the way between two stars. Instead, after four hours of dedicated travel, depending on the size of the ship, it would need to stop and recharge for eight hours. Like this, twoplete jumps werepleted in every twenty-four hour period.


    Julia¡¯s shifts were centered around one of those ¡®off¡¯ periods. Halfway through the jump, she would switch out with the ¡®expert¡¯ that covered the other shift. Then she would sit around and wait for that jump to end, and the eight hours to pass for the charge before passing the baton back halfway through that jump.


    As of yet, however, there had hardly been anything worth noting about their journey. Sure, there was the one time that they had identally jumped into an asteroid field, but that had only been a brief hup in their ns before they escaped it and corrected their path.


    While Julia was watching the stars through her cup, she noticed something shifting. At first, she thought it to be a trick of the light, a shadow caused by the liquid. Until she saw it again.


    For the first time during their voyage, Julia brought a hand to her ear, tapping the button to send a message to the bridge. ¡°Run an optical scan off our starboard side. Adjust for infrared, but don¡¯t run a manascan just yet.¡±


    One thing that Julia had learned quite well in her time traveling through space in Vision Expanse. Many space-faring creatures didn¡¯t possess normal ¡®sight¡¯. Typically, they possessed some form of extrasensory perception such as detecting mana or sending out ki waves. This was because it was too easy for the optic nerve to be damaged by directly subjecting it to a star¡¯s rays.


    More often than not, running a mana scan would cause these creatures to immediately be hostile, registering either new prey or a potential predator that had entered their territory. Either way, they fought viciously, causing Julia to quickly learn to first scan with more mundane means.


    It took a few moments for the scan toplete, so Julia simply waited. However, soon enough, she had her response. ¡°Miss Hart, would you pleasee to the bridge? Your presence is urgently requested.¡±


    Julia¡¯s eyes went wide when she heard that. She had expected that she might have actually seen something, and sent that suggestion on a whim. She never actually expected that, not only was she right, but they would actively request her help with something.


    Slowly, the elf rose from her seat, setting her ss down as she made her way for the door. I swear that if this is a boss battle, I am so not prepared.


    Making her way through the hallways, she passed the other passengers, all of whom clearly had no idea that anything was amiss. Some even greeted Julia as she passed, before returning to their own conversations. When she arrived at the bridge, she was greeted with the sight of the crew stiffly looking at the screen at the far end of the room.


    Disyed on the screen were numerousrge, wispy figures. They seemed to randomly fade in and out, giving them the appearance of ghosts. However, at the corner of that screen was a smaller red screen. Julia immediately identified this as the infrared scan she had suggested.


    What appeared to be numerous scattered ghosts on the main screen was, in fact, simply one massive creature. Its body would fade in and out of the visible spectrum in random patches, giving the appearance of an army of smaller figures.


    So. Not. Prepared.

 Chapter 486: Sowing the Seeds

    <h4>Chapter 486: Sowing the Seeds</h4>


    ¡°It¡¯s good that you¡¯ve arrived, Miss Hart.¡± The captain of the colony vessel spoke with a stiff expression, barely ncing towards Julia. ¡°I thought it rather urgent to get your opinion on this creature.¡±


    While the normal rigors of space travel were all known to the researchers that had nned this mission, it was true that nobody was more familiar with the monsters one might encounter than Julia herself. Given the circumstances, that knowledge was incredibly valuable, as was already shown when she helped them locate the monster in the first ce.


    Julia thought about it a moment, staring at the screen. ¡°We¡¯re still connected to the grid back on Earth, right?¡± When the captain nodded his head, Julia let out a relieved sigh. ¡°Then please, switch over to that emergency power, and disable all nonessential systems that use mana as a power source.¡±


    The captain hesitated for a moment, finally ncing in her direction for more than just a brief moment. ¡°Exin.¡±


    ¡°Almost every creature I¡¯ve found that lives in the void like this identifies prey by sensing their mana. Looking at this one¡­ it seems to have evolved as a passive hunter. By my guess, if we were to do a mana scan, we would only see those wisps register as they became visible. This makes it look like a group of smaller, more appealing targets.¡±


    ¡°Whenever a preyes too close, or attacks, it will no doubt reveal its true self to devour them. We have to get rid of as much of our mana signature as we can before it notices us.¡± Julia knew that, while the ship did have some weapons, they were likely not enough to defeat this creature without sustaining damage. ¡°If you have a stealth field that you can apply to hide the mana, that would be ideal.¡±


    The captain considered her words, before directing a nod towards one of the bridge personnel. Soon, the lights began to dim, and a quiet voice echoed throughout the ship. ¡°Emergency power mode is temporarily engaged. Please return to your quarters.¡±


    Julia gave a relieved sigh when it looked like her words were being taken seriously. ¡°If I remember right, the maneuvering thrusters on this ship have their own fuel source. This thing seems to be simply drifting, so unless we wait the entire eight hours for the warp drive to recharge, we¡¯ll be stuck with it.¡±


    ¡°To that end, I suggest using those thrusters to propel ourselves slowly, gradually making distance between us.¡± This time, her words were far more readily epted, given that nobody in the bridge wanted to be staring at that creature for the next eight hours, constantly worried that it would notice them.


    As such, Julia felt the small reverberations of the thrusters kicking in. Her eyes remained locked on the creature in the disy, waiting to see its movements. If it had already noticed them, there was a chance that it would pursue. As long as it remained still, on the other hand, they would be able to escape without fear.


    Seconds passed, and then minutes, the distance between the colony ship and the monster growing further and further. However, Julia was still reluctant to give the signal that it was fine to return to normal power. There was no telling how fast that creature was, and the sensory abilities of predators in the void often extended tens of thousands of kilometers at least.


    After what felt like an eternity, a full hour passed since their discovery of this creature. Finally, something changed.


    Arge, white serpent seemed to materialize in the void not far from the monster, circling around it for a moment. Though the serpent had no visible eyes, it seemed to be watching the multiple wisps that the hidden predator was showing it.


    Soon, the serpent was apparently satisfied with its observations. It lunged in, biting at a wisp just as it appeared. And then, all at once, the serpent vanished.


    Julia couldn¡¯t help but gulp, speaking in a nervous tone. ¡°Can someone¡­ y that back, in slow motion?¡± This time, they didn¡¯t even wait for the captain¡¯s authorization. The image on the screen rewound itself a few seconds, and then began ying at a far slower speed.


    What they saw was the serpent¡¯s teeth brushing up against the giant monster, which seemed to almost explode in the infrared view. On the visible spectrum, they could see a massive, ck curtain covering the serpent. This curtainpletely engulfed its prey in a fraction of a second, and then returned to the same passive state that it had been in previously.


    ¡°It¡¯s a slime.¡± Julia said, her face pale. ¡°Of course it¡¯s a slime¡­ why wouldn¡¯t the most terrifying monster I¡¯ve ever seen be a slime¡­¡±


    A Dark Void Slime, to be precise! Aurivy announced mentally, seemingly in awe. I want one.


    No, Aury. Bad goddess. No giant monster slimes for you. Julia couldn¡¯t help but retort in her head.


    You¡¯re not my mom! Aurivy protested, though more in a yful tone than anything else.


    ¡°I want one.¡± Aurivy spoke up from next to me. The two of us had moved back to the couch after our game of Keeper¡¯s Cards had ended, with Ryone taking a decisive victory.


    ¡°No, Rivy.¡± I shook my head, looking at the screen. ¡°We don¡¯t take things like that as pets.¡±


    ¡°Aww¡­¡± Aurivy pouted her lips, but I just reached over to ruffle her hair. She was doing her absolute best to be adorable and try to convince me. However, even if I agreed, where would she keep it?! That slime alone is bigger than any of her dungeons, and would probably eat her dungeons.


    As I was thinking about that, Ashley walked into the room, a proud look on her face. ¡°Dale, can I have a minute?¡±


    Blinking in surprise, I nodded my head before standing. ¡°Sure, what is it?¡±


    ¡°Ah, we don¡¯t have to go anywhere.¡± Ashley hastily waved her hands, seeing that I was getting ready to follow her. ¡°I just wanted to give you an update. nk has finished his world.¡±


    My eyes went wide at that, and I nced back at the television. The ¡®channel¡¯ instantly changed to a different dark void, where a ck-robed man was standing before a fully formed. ¡°That¡¯s faster than I expected¡­¡±


    ¡°Vivi gave him a nudge once everything was ready.¡± The demon goddess exined. ¡°As soon as he had his physics working properly, she showed him how to create a ¡®naturally generated¡¯ world. His AI temte for the inhabitants is more advanced than those in Vision Expanse, but it shouldn¡¯t cause any issues.¡±


    I gave a small nod at that. ¡°Alright, then. You can find a time to help him ascend, and we¡¯ll have our God of Games.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Aurivy cheered. The arrival of a God of Games meant that we could finally give the Fairy Gates the tweak we had been wanting, to ensure that their random transportations always went to worlds with simr ws¡¯ as the origin. ¡°Project: Elemental Seed can finally begin!¡±


    Or maybe there was a different reason she was excited. ¡°Pardon me?¡± I nced to her in confusion.


    ¡°Eheh¡­ oops?¡± Aurivy covered her mouth with her hands. ¡°Well, cat¡¯s out of the bag now.¡± She gave a small shrug of her shoulders, holding a hand out and focusing. An information globe appeared in her hand, which she passed towards me.


    ¡°This is a project I¡¯ve been working on with some of the others. A new game world to implement alongside Vision Expanse.¡± Aurivy rocked back and forth yfully as she exined. ¡°The selling point here is the unique trait of natural energy, as opposed to magic.¡±


    ¡°With my Elemental Seed project, natural energy gathers at points of extreme elemental influence. For instance, deep oceans, volcanoes, the heart of a star, things like that. When the energy gathers like that, it forms what I call an ¡®elemental seed¡¯. These seeds are physical objects that then in turn radiate their element to further fuel the extremes of their environment.¡±


    ¡°Now, different seeds may have different natures, even if they are of the same element. The seed born in the heart of a star would have a different effect than one born in a volcano, despite both of them being of the fire attribute. This is because there are still trace amounts of other elements involved in their creation.¡±


    ¡°The elemental seed born in a star would have trace amounts of ¡®void¡¯ and ¡®darkness¡¯ element mixed in, while the one born in a volcano would have ¡®earth¡¯ mixed in. Now, these seeds y a special role with how natives grow stronger. The magic system implemented in this world is built to work around the elemental seeds.¡±


    ¡°At its core, it is a limited version of the imagination magic system, but restricted to prevent any elemental spells. The only way to ess elemental spells are to absorb a seed of that element, at which point your spells will gain the effects of that seed.¡± Aurivy exined proudly, puffing her chest out. ¡°In exchange, spells cast with the power of seeds are easier to use, and more powerful.¡±


    I gave a faint nod as I heard that. In truth, I was starting to feel like we had too many mixed magic systems in our worlds. However¡­ this was just for a game, not a new world that would need itsws merged with the others. Simr to the structural magic of Vision Expanse, or the Binary Law that nk had made for his digital world.


    ¡°This will probably be more popr among Kione, or people who have deeply studied familiars.¡± Both the familiar magic system and this one that Aurivy had created were based on the imagination magic type. And with the magic of Aurivy¡¯s system being restricted to the ¡®theme¡¯ of whatever seed the yer absorbed, it would help train mages to focus on one branch of magic.


    After I said that, however, I turned my head to look at Aurivy. ¡°Why were you waiting until nk was ready to ascend to share this with me, though?¡±


    Aurivy simply grinned in response. ¡°Well, I figured that with the domain you had nned for him, he¡¯d be able to simply create the world himself as opposed to having to make you buy it through the market. Then, if it turns out to be a big enough hit, you can submit it to the market and we can make royalties off of it!¡±


    I thought about her words for a moment, before nodding. After that, I reached over, pulling the halfling goddess in for a hug. ¡°If we do that, I¡¯ll ask Terra to set it up so that eighty percent of the royalties from this are added to your bnce. Deal?¡±


    Aurivy¡¯s eyes went wide in response to my offer. ¡°Wait, really?! You¡¯re not going to take that back, and say you were just kidding, right?!¡±


    I felt my lips tugging upwards, holding her a bit tighter. ¡°I¡¯m not going to just refuse to reward someone after theye up with something like this. It should be popr among Keepers, if for no other reason than the novelty of adjusting the natural energy system. Though, I¡¯d like to release that as a separate system of its own, as well.¡±


    ¡°Sure!¡± Aurivy beamed a wide smile at me, wrapping her arms around me. ¡°I¡¯ll get the details of that system specifically isted to work on its own.¡±


    Going by the price of Vision Expanse, which was regarded as a fairly cheap game, I imagined that the royalties Aurivy would make from this would quickly inte her own bnce. Internally, I was starting to wonder what I could offer her as a way to spend those points she¡¯s earning. Perhaps letting her choose new games to purchase would be a good idea, once she has enough to afford them.


    Ashley, meanwhile, simply smiled as she watched the two of us. Her next job was to create the first digital god to the world, who would then be her own subordinate god. In a way, she would be a Goddess of Games as well.

 Chapter 487: True Innovation

    <h4>Chapter 487: True Innovation</h4>


    There was the sound of cracking knuckles within the otherwise empty office room as Ashley slowly rose out of the shadows. In order to handle this without any potential interruption, she had sent a message to all of the employees of herpany to take the day off. Due to that, there was nobody else in the entire building aside from herself as she walked over to sit in front of one of the terminals.


    ¡°Hey, nk, you here?¡± The red-skinned goddess grinned at that, already knowing the answer. With everyone gone, nk had taken the chance to sneak out and work on his new world.


    Raising a hand, Ashley snapped her fingers, a brief flicker of golden light shining from her hand. ¡°There we go. ¡®Wee back¡¯, I should say.¡±


    Who are- I see. You were there when I was born. If I am not mistaken, you are the Goddess Ashley?


    The screen flickered before a chat window opened, the message disying itself to her. ¡°That¡¯s right. d you remembered. I¡¯m here to give you a little present today.¡±


    A present? I apologize, but I am afraid that I don¡¯t know what the asion is.


    ¡°Easy¡­¡± A mischievous light flickered in Ashley¡¯s eyes as her fingers came to rest on the holographic keyboard. ¡°I¡¯m going to make you a god today.¡±


    There was no response from theputer, but Ashley could feel the surprise from the program within. She closed her eyes, focusing. ¡°Identifying code of divinity.¡± Her fingers began rapidly moving, typing away as a series of shifting characters filled the screen.


    One by one, the characters were highlighted in either red, blue, or gold. Red characters were immediately deleted from the screen, blue were left untouched for the moment, while gold characters were moved to the center. Gradually, more and more characters were turning red, until even the previously blue characters began vanishing one by one after their color changed.


    After roughly five minutes, a string of golden characters extended from one side of the screen to the other, and Ashley opened her eyes. ¡°Well, that¡¯s just gibberish, isn¡¯t it?¡± She muttered aint, having originally wanted to solve the code on her own rather than relying on the domain. Unfortunately, the characters seemed truly random, some not even matching anynguage she knew.


    ¡°Fine, I guess we do this the easy way, then.¡± Ashley let out a grumble, her fingers gaining a faint, golden glow that seeped into the keyboard. Compared to her rapid typing from before, each character she typed now was slow and deliberate.


    Simr to the original code, the characters that she typed appeared random, with no discernible meaning. She wasn¡¯t sure how anyone was meant to actually decipher this code on their own, unless it was the would-be programmed god themselves working day and night to generate random keys. Even then, how long would it take?


    When Ashley hit thest key, she lifted her hands from the holographic keyboard. Meanwhile, the terminal in front of her seemed to shudder, the two lines of code glowing on the screen. Gradually, they came closer together, merging into a single line of text.


    ¡°Once again, I¡¯d like to wee you to the world.¡± Ashley said, golden light shining from the screen. This light rose up, forming a humanoid shape before condensing into the same ck-robed man that had be nk¡¯s avatar. ¡°nk, the God of Games.¡±


    ¡°I am¡­¡± nk looked down at the sitting Ashley, surprised. This was his first time ever leaving theputer, a feat he thought impossible previously. Yet now, he felt as if he coulde and go at will. ¡°I am a god?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Try not to mess everything up. We¡¯ll be counting on you, from now on.¡± Ashley brought a hand up to her forehead, offering a brief salute as her body dissolved into darkness.


    ¡°Alright guys, are we ready to get this started?¡± Ashley asked with a wide smile as she appeared within Tubrock¡¯s workshop. Ryone and Tubrock were already waiting for her, with only one figure absent.


    ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m here!¡± Aurivy called out as she ran into the room. ¡°Had to let Dale know what was going on. You confirm that he¡¯s your sub god, Ash?¡±


    Ashley nodded her head, looking towards the halfling. ¡°That¡¯s right. I felt it when I helped him ascend. I can use the Games domain myself, now. I¡¯ll need to explore whether or not I¡¯m able to affect the system governing the worlds, but we might be able to save a few points now.¡±


    ¡°Awesome!¡± Naturally, the halfling goddess was ecstatic. The ability to save points meant that they could potentially do more with their own systems. Ashley might be able to create new sses on her own, personally create achievements, or even use her divinity to create entirely new systems. Of course, they all knew that bigger changes would no doubt consume more energy.


    ¡°Oi,sses!¡± The gruff dwarven god spoke with arge hammer over his shoulder. ¡°Ye came here ta work, not ta gossip. Let¡¯s get movin¡¯!¡±


    Saying that, he turned, walking back to the back room of his workshop. They passed by his assembly line, where they saw golems working to put together miniaturized stone structures piece by piece. Some appeared to be tforms, houses, others entire castles. When they arrived at the back room, they found rows of disy cases. Each case held over a hundred such miniaturized structures.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ I put the gates ova¡¯ here, I think.¡± He muttered, walking off to the right, arriving at a ss case that held far less than the others. Roughly twenty items made of ck stone, looking like small rings.


    ¡°You already finished their structure? And this many, too¡­¡± Ryone looked impressed as she appraised the items within the case.


    ¡°Aye. The base materials are an alloy from both Deckan and Fyor¡¯s higher floors. Should make ¡®em a good deal more resistant. Just gotta handle the final touches.¡± Reaching forward, Tubrock opened the ss case, and the twenty small rings lifted themselves off of their velvet disys.


    After finding a spot in the center of the room, he set them all down close to one another. ¡°Now, it¡¯d be all the more dramatic to shrink ourselves down ta size ta do this. But let¡¯s hold off on the theater and just get it done, aye?¡±


    Aurivy gave a small pout at that, before nodding her head. ¡°Party pooper¡­ alright. Ryone, mind starting us off, then?¡±


    The goddess of magic brought her hands up to her chest, where they began to glow with divine light. ¡°As the Goddess of Magic, I bless these materials to ept power beyond the norm. May they shine brilliantly with our light.¡±


    Next up was Aurivy, who nodded her head and performed a simr action. ¡°As the Goddess of Travel, I bless these structures to connect beyond the bounds of space. May the infinite realms open before them.¡±


    Finally, it was Ashley¡¯s turn. ¡°And as the Goddess of Games, I bless these structures with the temte of a world. May all be as the origin.¡±


    The dwarven god nodded his head, watching the three strands of divinity reaching out from the goddesses. Golden light wrapped tightly around the rings, and Tubrock¡¯s grip on his hammer tightened. Ki, spiritual energy, mana, and natural energy all seemed to flow together within his weapon. Normally, the four energies violently opposed one another, but now they seemed almost docile.


    ¡°Here I go!¡± He said, swinging the hammer down. It struck the golden light, causing it to sink beneath the surface of the twenty rings. Then again, this time seeming to impact the air itself above those rings. Blue, green, silver, and yellow lights all left the hammer with every swing.


    Again and again, Tubrock struck with his hammer, controlling the energy carefully to prevent himself from shattering the objects he was working on. All the while, the three goddesses continued to channel their blessings.


    This pattern continued for roughly half an hour, before Tubrock set his hammer down. A bead of sweat could be seen falling down his brow as he nodded. ¡°Aye, they¡¯re all done now. Littless, ye can take eight of ¡®em to rece the old gates.¡±


    These were no longer the Fairy Gates that they had bought from the system. Tubrock had studied those blueprints and improved upon them. His new name for these items would be Fairy Rings, and would allow far more efficient travel between worlds.


    ¡°Just to make sure.¡± Aurivy said as she reached down to scoop up eight of the rings. ¡°The old keys will still work with these, right?¡±


    ¡°Aye, they still lock onto worlds the same way as the old ones. Ye slip the key into the left side of the tform. Easier ta see it when the whole thing¡¯s bigger, but you¡¯ll spot it.¡±


    Having received the answer she wanted, Aurivy gave a happy smile, her eyes squinting shut. ¡°Thanks, Tubrock! You always do the best work.¡± After saying that, her body vanished, along with the rings she had carried with her.


    ¡°Why¡¯d you make twenty, though?¡± Ashley couldn¡¯t help but ask, looking down at the dozen rings which remained. A grin formed beneath the red beard of the dwarf.


    ¡°Follow me.¡± He said, walking over towards the far wall. A door seemed to materialize as he approached, which he opened to guide the two goddesses in.


    Inside, the two of them were shocked to find three spherical lumps of stone floating idly. Of the two, Ryone was the first to speak. ¡°Where¡­ how did you get this much material?¡± If the three rocks were what she thought they were, there was no conceivable way that it could be exined through simply epting offerings from his people.


    ¡°When our reach expanded, I set some mining sites out on a few dozen worlds.¡± Tubrock exined, stroking his beard. ¡°They¡¯re out of the way, not likely for anyone ta stumble across ¡®em.¡±


    ¡°Wait, are these-¡± Ashley¡¯s question was cut off as Ryone nodded.


    ¡°He¡¯s craftings. So those assembly lines we saw on the way in¡­¡± She nced towards the dwarven god, who let out a loudugh.


    ¡°Aye,ss! Yer a bright one, alright. Buildin¡¯ a world from the ground up! Now, how¡¯s that for innovation?! Just missin¡¯ a couple details ta make it work, which I was gonna end up askin¡¯ help with from the two of ye.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a madman, Tubrock.¡± Ryone said, a yful glint in her eyes. ¡°And I approve.¡±


    ¡°Wait wait wait, what exactly do you need our help for?¡± Ashley asked in confusion, ncing between the other two.


    ¡°Well, mostly me, I imagine.¡± Ryone exined. ¡°Your job will be to connect these worlds to the game system Dale uses in the rest of his worlds. My job will be to establish a universe for them after trading arge portion of my divinity to temporarily obtain a new domain.¡±


    After saying that, she turned to look at Tubrock. ¡°When are you nning to implement this?¡±


    Tubrock offered a small shrug. ¡°Hard ta say. I¡¯m workin¡¯ on the blueprint for the golem race I want ta ce in ¡®em. While I¡¯m doin¡¯ that, I¡¯ve got their cities bein¡¯ built out there. After I get the race¡¯s blueprint done, I¡¯ll set up a new line ta work on that. I¡¯ll let ye know when I¡¯ve enough of the golems to implement these worlds.¡±


    Ryone thought about that for a moment, nodding her head. ¡°Alright. Knowing you, you won¡¯t settle for anything less than a truly intelligent golem. I¡¯d suggest looking into clockwork technology.¡±


    ¡°Clockwhat now,ss? Don¡¯t go makin¡¯ sh*te up in front of me.¡± Tubrock red towards Ryone, earning augh.


    ¡°I¡¯m not making it up. It¡¯s a type of technology that Dale¡¯s old world enjoyed writing about. You should ask Udona for some references, I¡¯m sure she¡¯d be happy to help.¡±

 Chapter 488: Evolution

    <h4>Chapter 488: Evolution</h4>


    Wait, them creating worlds like that is actually a thing? I thought to myself, having observed their little ritual to empower the Fairy Gates¡­ no, I guess they should be called Fairy Rings now. Either way, I had watched out of curiosity, wanting to see what it would be like. When I saw Tubrock leading them to his back room and discussing his n to create entire worlds¡­


    It would be one thing if he just dropped those three worlds in ass within an established universe. But, what he was talking about was creating an entirely new universe for them. Maybe even one for each of the three. Even with Ryone¡¯s incredibly versatile domain, I felt like that would drain her considerably.


    Moreover, they had talked about the idea of Ashley being able to modify the game system of my worlds with her new domain. That was¡­ something I hadn¡¯t taken into consideration. Looking back now, it should be fairly obvious, given that it was the game system, but still. Depending on how much influence she is able to exert, that could make her potentially the most powerful goddess in the entire pantheon at this point.


    I shook my head to dismiss those thoughts. Regardless of what she was able to do now, it was a benefit for me. Even if she wasn¡¯t able to do anything that would save me a single point, it would still help just for her to be able to do what she¡¯s already done.


    Either way, the next course of action was to simply let Aurivy rece all of the Fairy Gates with the new Fairy Rings, and then wait for the colonization efforts to bear fruit.


    Across the eight realms, there was a brief stir. Travel through the Fairy Gates had been suspended, or rather rendered impossible. The gates themselves had all vanished at once. Wrapped in golden mists, they disappeared from the facilities housing them.


    This news caused an uproar that spread throughout the realms. Trade had been cut off abruptly, no divine warning before the gates had been whisked away. But¡­ all of thissted for just a few minutes.


    After those few minutes, the mist returned once again, leaving behind something new. The smooth stone tform had turned ck. The concentric rings were gone, reced by a single,rge ring that stood upright within the center of the tform. This ring was a full ten meters in radius, offering ample room for groups to walk through side-by-side, or even to drive entire wagons through.


    With a brief inspection, it was confirmed that each of these devices still had the same key that had originally been inserted into their previous gate. The only difference was in the location that the key was ced. Rather than atop the tform, it was now off to the side.


    In order to test that this new structure worked, one of the guards of Deckan pressed his hand on the key as if it were a button. This was the same method to activate the previous version of the gates, and this time it showed simr results. Only, rather than the rings that rose up to surround travelers, a pitch ck void appeared within the standing ring.


    The difference here was clear. The new structure allowed the opening of a portal, which gave far more utility as a travel tool than a teleportation circle. This portal persisted until the guard pressed down on the key once again.


    This presented new opportunities, but also new challenges. When a portal opened from a random world, would they be able to close it from this end? Would they have to go through to the other side to close it, sacrificing whoever was there? If they could close it from this end, if what came through was too powerful, would they have the chance to do so?


    Not only this guard, the people who had been watching this event all had these thoughts. Immediately, they began to devise the implementation of items which could be attached to the gate. Items that could be used to remotely activate and deactivate these portals.


    Within the realm of Spica, in a distant and barren world, a lone tree stood beneath the twin suns. At first, it had been beaten down by the terrible heat and chaotic energy, shrinking a little more each day. At that rate, it would have been no surprise for it to have withered away entirely within a year, especially given theck of water beneath the surface.


    However, those very same energy waves offered salvation. After three months of enduring the pain, suffering from thepletely inhospitable environment, there was a change within the tree.


    It started slow, just two leaves that sprouted at the top of the canopy. One blue and the other red, each of these leaves absorbed one type of energy, either ki or mana. This energy was then channeled through the tree and stored as power to aid in its growth.


    The next day, ten more leaves of each color appeared, and the tree began to grow again. After one week, the tree had reached its original size. By that time, the leaves were an even split of green, blue, and red. Power began to circte through the tree, far more than when it had first been nted.


    With the gentle, guiding nature of the tree¡¯s energy pathways, the ki and mana were allowed to merge into chakra. This chakra, in response to the unconscious needs of the tree, formed nutrients to feed it while also nurturing its future fruits.


    One month after the tree had began to truly grow, it had reached a height of ten kilometers. Its branches spread out, and the buds of its fruit began to grow. By now, there was nothing that the hostile environment could do to stop this tree¡¯s growth. Instead, the very thing that had once threatened it now became its fuel.


    Another month passed, and the trees height reached a hundred kilometers, where it finally began to slow down. Now, finally, the first generation of fruits began to drop. When they crashed into the ground, they split open, revealing the same wide-eyed, naive sylvans that had first appeared on Sorii.


    Momentster, the base of the tree split open, revealing a girl with golden skin. Bark and vines covered her, giving an appearance simr to that of armor. Although many of her features appeared simr to Cicily of Learning, she did not have the same innocent gentleness to her.


    This golden sylvan struck the side of her fist against the tree, causing the vines growing along it to sprout the speech fruit. It was at that time that shemunicated her name to the people she had been appointed to guide, though for the moment she could only do so through their telepathic connection, until they properly understood speech.


    I am Gracia of Protection. All of you, aid in the spreading of the forest. We¡¯ll need proper fortifications in case we are attacked.


    Thanks to the knowledge that Cicily had obtained in her life, the advanced sylvans born of her true were far more capable than the tree which Cicily herself hade from. Although Gracia did not know that there would ever be a threat to them in this world, she knew her purpose. She knew the meaning of Protection, and what she had to do to achieve it.


    ¡°Mother, I feel different than your memories.¡± She spoke to herself only once the other sylvans had left the area, already working to spread the roots of the tree out in a growing circle. As the first true inheritor of Cicily¡¯s memories, she knew that something was different about this generation.


    Closing her eyes, she focused on these oddities, before letting out a gasp. There was an additional energy seed within her body that Cicily had not recorded. ¡°I see¡­ is it this environment, then?¡± Her eyes nced upwards, looking at the twin stars.


    She could feel two of the energies beating down heavily from the suns, while the third only trickled in slowly. ¡°ording to her memory, this should be chakra.¡±


    Unfortunately, Cicily had never had reason to obtain the cultivation system of Lorek. It was entirely irrelevant knowledge to her, someone far more interested in brewing potions or studying the very nature of her existence. Had she more time before hearing the call of her instincts, she very well could have learned the method to cultivate. As it was, though, this generation of sylvans had no method by which to ess that information.


    ¡°Attention, all passengers. We are preparing to exit our final warp. Will the Initial Landing Team please report to Hangar Two. I repeat, we are preparing to exit our final warp¡­¡±


    The electronic voice echoed out across the colony ship, creating a buzz among the passengers. For six long months, they had waited on this ship for the chance to start a colony on a new world. Many of them were here for no reason other than bragging rights, or the awe of adventure itself. After all, once the portal was built within the new colony, they would be able toe and go far more freely.


    Julia let out a relieved sigh as she listened to the announcement. Barring one crazy encounter she¡¯d rather soon forget, the entire travel wasrgely uneventful. Pulling herself out of her bed, she quickly got dressed and began making her way to the observation deck alongside her familiar.


    As she was not part of thending team, it could be considered that her job within this voyage hade to an end. All that was left now was to sit back and wait for the portal to be constructed that could take her home.


    When she arrived at the observation deck, it was just in time for the blue veil of warp energy to fall away from the ship. In the distance, she could see the marvelous green and blue that had been advertised to them. Finally, this was their new territory, the ce where the people of Earth would be expanding to.


    Though, in her honest opinion, it didn¡¯t look that much different from Earth itself. The second moon was surely an exotic touch, but otherwise it just looked like another to her. After years traveling through space in Vision Expanse, she was able to calmly appraise the with a nce.


    Two moons, they¡¯ll need to keep an eye out for exotic marine life. Threerge continents, probably a bunch of scattered small inds that we can¡¯t see yet. Maybe another continent on the far side of the. The ice caps are¡­ huh, looks like they¡¯re pretty small. And the green is a bit darker. Tropical, then.


    This¡¯ll be a paradise for the ursa, maybe the lycans. I don¡¯t see many mountain ranges on this side of the world, so the tectonic tes are unusually stable. That or the foliage is so dense that it can hide them at this distance. If we ever met a world like this in the game, there would almost always be a civilization inhabiting it, even if it were simply in its infant stages.


    Julia gave a faint nod at her own assessment of the. It didn¡¯t really matter to her how urate it was, that was for other people to worry about. She was neither a soldier nor a politician, and had no intention of acting like one.


    After a few minutes, she saw three smaller ships breaking off from the colony ship, each heading towards the at a different angle. These ships would run a closer scan, see what they could find, and identify a propernding zone to establish the colony. With any luck, they would discover rare resources that this could offer. With an extreme amount of bad luck, they would be attacked by powerful monsters before they could return.


    Julia silently wished them all luck on this final leg of the voyage.

 Chapter 489: Assemble

    <h4>Chapter 489: Assemble</h4>


    ¡°This is Scout One, entering the lower atmosphere.¡± A young elven man said as he caused his shuttle to descend, speaking into a radio. Momentster, he could hear two other voices in his ears.


    ¡°Scout Two, descending as well.¡±


    ¡°This is Scout Three, doing the same.¡±


    The three of them were all in charge of the final scanning procedures of this world, which they had temporarily named Harvus Prime. ording to the script, they would fly over this world for a full six hours to create aprehensive map, and then return to the colony ship. This map would include geographical data, life sign readings, as well as resource deposits as far down as a kilometer beneath the surface.


    Once the young man had reached the assigned altitude, he flipped a series of switches on his dashboard. ¡°Activating scans now. How¡¯s the data link looking?¡±


    ¡°Just a second¡­¡± A voice spoke back to him, originating from the colony ship. ¡°Looks like you¡¯re connected with minimal interference. I¡¯m not reading any maic anomalies, so you may proceed as nned.¡±


    ¡°Copy that.¡± The elven scout nodded his head, focusing on his flying. His starting location was far over the ocean, so he didn¡¯t actually expect to see anything important on his scans immediately.


    And, in fact, what he caught on his scan couldn¡¯t be counted as anything significant from a pragmatic standpoint. Instead, it was something more¡­ beautiful than anything else. He caught the sight ofrge creatures with smooth backs breaking the surface of the water. Each one was over a hundred meters long, and spewed water out of three holes along their back when they surfaced.


    This action was apanied by an almost musical tune that echoed deeply from the creatures, as if their backs were massive instruments. When he saw that, the young scout had an idea, switching over to a video recording. ¡°Why don¡¯t we give the people back home something to look forward to?¡± He asked over the radio, sending the scene back to the colony ship.


    Along the way, he saw many other fantastic sights. A group of ¡®migrating¡¯ inds, like those of Deckan. Only, instead of flying through the sky, they were anchored on the backs of giant turtles. Giant pockets of air existed beneath the surface of the ind, likerge cave structures, helping to keep the ind afloat.


    ording to the information from the scan, based on the thickness of the foliage and presence of animal life on the inds, these giant turtles had to be at least three hundred years old. While that number might not be particrly impressive to an elf like him, that was only the youngest estimate.


    As he was thinking about that, he heard a reporte in over the radio. ¡°This is Scout Three, I¡¯m picking up traces of manmade structures. All scouts, be advised. I¡¯m reading simple, wooden huts and fences. No signs of any residents, and these structures appear dated.¡±


    A surprised look shed over the scout¡¯s face as he thought about that, before nodding his head and adopting a more focused expression. The odds of truly encountering sentient life on their first interster colonization was incredibly low. But, after the incident with Sorii, the world governments had made ns for such events.


    I watched the slowly being mapped out, and couldn¡¯t help shaking my head. There really had been sentient creatures living there, at one point. Now, however, all that remained was the dpidated structures and their scattered bones. ¡°What was it that got this group? gue, or maybe predators?¡±


    ¡°Neither.¡± Terra shook her head, leaning against me on the couch. ¡°They just weren¡¯t able to prepare suitable shelter for a particrly harsh winter. Once every about, oh, five hundred years or so, there is a terrible cold front that covers the entire. Aside from the open oceans, almost everything freezes for a good six months.¡±


    ¡°Their ancestors were lucky enough to hide in deep caves. As they grew ¡®wiser¡¯, though, they expanded away from the caves, and started building those settlements. Soon, they forgot about that deadly winter¡­ and it came back to bite them.¡±


    I gave a small nod as I heard that. Certainly, a winter as bad as that would be deadly for less developed species. However, it wouldn¡¯t be anything too bad for my people, as they had long since invented suitable technology and techniques to defend themselves from the elements. ¡°How long is it until the next ¡®big winter¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Quite a while.¡± Terra answered, patting my leg gently to help assure me. ¡°Thest one was only about six years ago.¡±


    So no real sense of urgency on that front. I¡¯ll let them take care of it themselves. In five hundred years, who knows, I might even have a God of Snow or something on that world. With my curiosity satisfied, I allowed the world to resume fast forwarding, keeping an eye out for other important scenes.


    So, should we let them know? Sora asked as she watched from within the shadow. They¡¯ll be hitting the twenty-fourthyer soon, after all.


    It should be fine for a little while longer. Thelsa said, while watching hertest shadow working. After their discovery of the twenty-fifth floor¡¯s culture, she decided that it was better to get to know them more. As such, they had spent a considerable amount of time on thisyer, only returning now and then for Maria and Petra to make public appearances.


    Thelsa¡¯s newest shadow was that of a solii, the residents of the twenty-fifth floor. In order to integrate itself into their culture, they hade up with the story that the Solii had lost its memories. It wasn¡¯t able to speak the nativenguage, and had to be given great care for weeks.


    By now, however, their efforts had shown positive results. Thelsa was able to properly understand thenguage of the solii, and her shadow had be a well-respected member of society. This was because, unlike a true solii, her shadow still counted as a part of herself, and was thus able to level up. As the currency in this society was ki, she had chosen to primarily train this shadow as a monk, dipping into the elemental monk ss for enough strength that the shadow did not need to concern itself with the gravity of theyer.


    Thelsa had never attempted to truly create a shadow of another race before, so the result she had gotten was¡­ less than excellent. She created the shape of a solii, but with the same base stats of a human. Only after training her to a suitable level did she let her shadow enter the solii society.


    How many shadows can you create now, anyways? Sora asked, curiously as they watched the solii shadow joining a hunting party. She had thought Thelsa reached her limit after creating Maria, and when Ashley had ¡®granted¡¯ Petra to them, but Thelsa apparently didn¡¯t have much difficulty creating another one.


    I¡­ don¡¯t know, if I¡¯m being honest. Thelsa answered, hesitation clear in her tone. Ever since my title evolved, I felt as if I could create more. I¡¯ve only been holding myself back because of how time-consuming it is, and the fact we didn¡¯t particrly need anyone new.


    Wait, really? Thelsa could hear the surprise from Sora¡¯s voice. Why not just create a few ¡®instructor¡¯ types? Then, all you¡¯d have to do is create the starting point of the shadow, and tell the instructors how you¡¯d like them to develop.


    Because¡­ well, because I hadn¡¯t thought of that, okay? There was a small huff from Thelsa as she considered Sora¡¯s words. It would help her, in the long run, to have arger roster of people that she could pull from in times of need. More importantly, it would prevent her from having to ¡®remodel¡¯ one of the shadows again, like she had done to turn Julia Storms into Sora Sparks.


    The process of remodelling a shadow forced her to remove arge portion of their memory and personality, even when she did her best to keep such things intact. Every time she did so, it saddened her, as if she were losing a close friend. With that in mind, the thought of simply having more alternatives that she could call on didn¡¯t seem bad at all.


    Does this mean we¡¯re getting a Shadow Army? Maria asked, a touch of amusement to her tone. Because, and I¡¯ll be real honest here, I am so down to join a Shadow Army.


    We¡¯re not calling it the Shadow Army. Thelsa protested against her own shadow, shaking her head vehemently.


    Well, maybe you¡¯re not~. Petra spoke up in a teasing tone. I totally am! For some reason, the Shadow Saint was already regretting her decision to start mass producing shadows¡­


    Queen Bria sat at her desk within her quarters, looking over her reports. ¡°It looks like Earth¡¯s colonization n is working well.¡± She spoke out to the otherwise empty room. ¡°Our ship should be ready tounch within a month¡¯s time.¡±


    Despite the room being empty, a voice called back to her. ¡°Really? You managed to get it done so soon?¡± The queen formed a thin smile as she recognized the voice, having been expecting her to listen in. ¡°You even made it like I asked?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right, Udona.¡± The queen nodded, turning to face the figure which nowid on her bed. Udona was wearing a thin nightgown, hugging Bria¡¯s pillow against her chest. ¡°The¡­ humanoid shuttles were quite difficult for the researchers to configure, but they were more than happy to abide by the rest of your requests.¡±


    ¡°I told you, they¡¯re not shuttles, they¡¯re mechs!¡± The Goddess of Life puffed her cheeks out in protest. ¡°Mechs have this awesome re to them, the symbol of man bing something bigger than himself. Achieving more than he thought possible just by sitting in the cockpit.¡±


    Bria shook her head gently. She had long since epted Udona¡¯s new role in her life, that of a best friend and confidante. Over the years, things had been hard at first, but now¡­ there was nobody she¡¯d rather have at her side. ¡°Regardless, the ¡®mechs¡¯ have been assembled per your specifications. Each one has been modrized into five primaryponents, with multiple secondaryponents forming the arsenal.¡±


    ¡°And you got them all into cards?¡± Udona¡¯s eyes practically shone at that.


    ¡°Of course, Udona. Just as you requested.¡± Honestly, that part had been the easiest to convince the researchers of attempting. Being able to carry around vehicles capable of flying outside of the atmosphere within a small number of cards was an appealing prospect.


    Udona giggled happily,pletely breaking the image of a noble and reserved goddess, rolling around in the bed. ¡°Yes, finally!¡±


    Udona had been waiting for this project to bepleted for quite a while. In fact, the entire reason that Earth had managed to beat Deckan to interster travel was because of Udona¡¯s special requests for both the colony ship and these mechs. Otherwise, it was entirely possible that they would have already finished colonizing a world by the time Earth had evenunched their ship. After all, transporting goods was far easier for them, so they did not have to worry as much about the issue of weight.


    However, although Udona¡¯s requests had been¡­ excessive, there was also merit to them. The main cannon she had designed for the colony ship far surpassed what Earth had given to their own vessel. The vessel that Udona had drafted for Deckan was not merely a migration ship, but it could also be used as an interster battleship. This alone gave the researchers more assurance, since they saw it as Udona cing a heavy value in protecting her people.


    And, of course, that was also a part of it. But only Bria herself knew that the main reason Udona wanted the ship to look like that was to appeal to her personal taste, to create the interster vessel of her dreams.

 chapter 490: Virtual Virtuoso

    <h4>chapter 490: Virtual Virtuoso</h4>


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter, Dale?¡± Aurivy asked as I closed a conversation window. There was a faint grimace on my face, though the halfling goddess would have had no real way of knowing who I was talking to or what it was about.


    ¡°I just got done talking to Sarah.¡± I exined, shaking my head. ¡°I wanted to find out if there was anything that she knew about our next opponent.¡±


    ¡°Oh! Ohhh.¡± Realization dawned on Aurivy, and she looked up at me from her spot on the couch opposite Terra. ¡°It¡¯s not good, huh?¡±


    ¡°Our opponent¡¯s codename this time is Sanction. ording to what she told me, he appears to be a member of the Virtuous Virtual guild. It¡¯s a name she sees a lot, because he¡¯s always buying the new games that she releases.¡±


    ¡°Is there something wrong with that guild?¡± Naturally, Aurivy would have no knowledge of that guild at the moment. I had only heard its name once, and that was back I believe before she had even been given life.


    ¡°They¡¯re¡­ they¡¯re the type to treat this whole affair as if it were just a game, as if there were no real consequences. They kill other Keepers like you¡¯d kill another yer in PvP.¡± However, that wasn¡¯t really the bad part¡­


    ¡°Okay¡­ I get that¡¯s bad. But, wait¡­ you said that he¡¯s always buying Sarah¡¯s games? Those take a lot of points¡­ how does a normal second rank Keeper afford that?¡± And there it is¡­


    ¡°Exactly.¡± I shook my head, my grimace growing a bit stronger. ¡°ording to what Sarah said, he should actually be a third or fourth rank Keeper. But since he¡¯s being chosen as my opponent, that means he had to reset his world, and is simply in the process of climbing the ranks again.¡±


    ¡°She warned me that, when fighting an experienced Keeper like this, I have to be prepared for things that seem like cheats. That they would know tricks that people like me wouldn¡¯t, even though we are on the same level.¡±


    This was just making me feel the need to colonize more worlds even more, if I was to be totally honest with myself. Fighting a Keeper like this¡­ busting effects would be easy for them to devise. They might even consider it standard practice. Simrly, I should expect at least one mortal god to be deployed in their invasion.


    ¡°Well, if they¡¯re just trying to climb the ranks, it¡¯s possible that they won¡¯t spend the resources to attack us?¡± Aurivy spoke up in a hopeful tone, trying to lighten the mood.


    ¡°It would be really nice if that was the case, but we have to be prepared.¡± After saying that, I decided that it was my turn to try to change the subject. ¡°Speaking of being prepared¡­ how¡¯s your Elemental Seed projecting, Rivy?¡±


    It had been roughly five years now in the world¡¯s time since the ascension of nk to the role of God of Games. In that time, dozens of new sentient AI had been created, but nobody could figure out how to replicate the ascension process. Of course, that was only natural as it had been literal divine intervention.


    In that time, however, nk had released his game. He called it Binary Law, after the magic system he created for it. Although the game wasn¡¯t ¡®Keeper made¡¯, it was still quite popr as it was created by a god. Though, not many knew it was created before he became a god.


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s ready!¡± Aurivy smiled wide when she heard my question. ¡°I had to get Ash to make a new server room for it, but we already have the game set up and ready tounch. Ash just wanted to run a final check on it to make sure everything was implemented properly, and¡­ well, creating an entire game world like that¡­¡±


    Seeing Aurivy trail off, looking to the side guiltily, I raised an eyebrow. ¡°What happened to Ashley?¡±


    ¡°She passed out.¡± Terra answered casually, earning a pouting look from Dale. ¡°What? It¡¯s not like it was unexpected. She wasn¡¯t just creating the code based on your form. Like with Vision Expanse, she was making a legitimate world within the game. It¡¯s only natural for that to take its toll on her.¡±


    My eyes opened wide in rm when I heard Terra¡¯s summary of the events. ¡°Is she alright?¡±


    ¡°Oh, she¡¯s fine, don¡¯t worry.¡± Terra smiled, putting a hand on my arm in an effort tofort me. I could see in her eyes that there didn¡¯t seem to be anything really wrong. ¡°After about a month of rest, she was back on her feet. Take a look.¡±


    After Terra said that, the screen of the television flickered, showing a new scene.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ ording to the data reports¡­ there should be a seed around here.¡± A demon woman spoke quietly, walking through a dark cave. Above one of her hands was a small ball of me, specks of ck mixed in with the red and orange. Her wings were draped around her body, and she had a pair of ck sunsses on.


    ¡°Nine Shadows me, don¡¯t let me down.¡± She muttered, holding the fireball ahead of herself as she walked. As a demon, she didn¡¯t need this me to see. Rather, it was guiding her in a different sense.


    Soon the me flickered, tilting off to the left as if trying to fly out of her grasp. ¡°Good¡­ just like she said.¡± The demoness turned to the right, holding out her hand. ¡°Open the path.¡±


    After she said those words, the rock wall of the cave shook, cracks spreading out from where her hand was facing. These cracks grew wider, pebbles falling before they formed a hallway. Unfortunately¡­


    ¡°Wait wait wait noooo!!!¡± The demoness¡¯s screams echoed through the cave before the sounds of water crashing against stone could be heard. In digging through the cave walls, she had tapped into one of the underground water channels. ¡°A-Admin Commands! Unlock Restrain-GAH!¡± She coughed up a mouthful of water, iling her arms to grab onto a hanging stctite, pushing her head above the surface of the water.


    ¡°Admin Commands! Unlock Restraints!¡± Only after getting those four words out did she seem to calm down, allowing her body to sink beneath the water. She was no longer being pushed by the current, able to effortlessly walk against it. Her wings fluttered along her body with the water crashing against her, but she did not seem to mind.


    Soon, she had made it back to the area where she had opened the pathway, and began walking through it. Now¡­ let¡¯s try this again. Irona said that the Flowing Stone Seed could be found here. It was repelling my mes, so it should be close¡­ Ah! There it is.


    As she was walking through the water channel, she kept her eyes peeled. Her sunsses had long since been lost to the tide, but she no longer needed her me to guide her. Just ahead, within the center of the channel there existed a glowing sphere the size of her fist.


    This sphere was¡­ unique in the sense that it was unaffected by the water currents, always remaining in the same position. Its surface seemed to be stone, with deep crevices running through it that emitted a soft, blue light. This was the seed that she had been looking for. Thankfully, at this point, taking it was as simple as walking over to grab it.


    After doing so, she vanished, teleporting herself up above the surface. She appeared within a wide valley, the elemental seed still in her hand. ¡°If the system works as designed, another seed should begin forming there after a month passes. Until then¡­¡±


    The demonic woman, Ashley¡¯s avatar within the game, crushed the Flowing Stone Seed in her hand, its power rushing into her body. This was the final test that she had to run for this game, the possibility of merging two opposing seeds. ¡°Admin Commands, activate restraints.¡± She muttered, needing a ¡®normal¡¯ body for this part.


    As soon as her ¡®god mode¡¯ was turned off, she could feel the shing energy of her two seeds. Her first one, the Nine Shadows me, was an elemental seed she obtained with great difficulty. Thebination of fire and shadow was rare, and she had only managed to obtain it within a particr volcano¡¯s magma channel, where a special rock formation caused nine shadows to ovep from nine different directions on a single point. She had decided that this would be her primary seed while ying this game, as it both fit her domains and was incredibly rare.


    Inparison, this Flowing Stone was far moremon. The only requirement to spawn it was an underground water channel that was at least five meters wide. Whereas her Nine Shadows me could only be found in a single location, Flowing Stone could be found in hundreds, maybe even thousands of areas.


    However, that was not what was important. What was important was that the fire and water elements of these two seeds opposed one another. This could be easily seen when her fireball had tried to avoid the seed earlier, even though it was a far more powerful effect. Now, the two were shing inside her body, fighting for control of her energy channels.


    ¡°Calm down, you two.¡± Ashley muttered in annoyance, feeling the pain spiking through her arms. It seemed clear at this point that the two seeds were not getting along, something she found quite disappointing. After all, she had already confirmed that people could wield two seeds that didn¡¯t oppose one another, and that it was possible to ¡®feed¡¯ a seed with others of the same element to let it grow.


    Although she was trying to control her own energy, suppressing the struggles between the two to try to bring them together, she was finding it to quickly be beyond her ability. The power of the Nine Shadows me surged, rushing through her entire body and purging the Flowing Stone energy.


    Seeing that, Ashley was stunned, her eyes going wide. She had guessed that a situation simr to this might happen, but¡­ in all of her estimates, it would only be the water element that is purged from the body. As Flowing Stone was a mix of water and earth, that meant that she should have been left with a pure earth element.


    Instead, however, the stronger element hadpletely expunged the weaker one. The only thing that could be considered as a relief was that she did not lose her precious me during the ordeal. ¡°Irona?¡± Ashley called out into the empty air, looking upwards to the sky.


    ¡°Yes, Ashley?¡± A voice spoke up, a figure shing into existence. Her body seemed to be made of golden me, her smile bright both literally and figuratively. ¡°Did you collect enough information from your experiment? If not, I have the location of another Flowing Stone Seed prepared to assist you.¡±


    ¡°No, that¡¯s fine.¡± Ashley shook her head. Irona was¡­ well, she was the Vivi of this world. Someone who had been included in Aurivy¡¯s design. ¡°I¡¯ve got what I need for now. All I want to know¡­ are there seeds that possess opposing elements on their own? For instance, one that has both fire and water, or light and dark?¡±


    Irona fell silent for a moment, her eyes seeming to close. ¡°There is one seed which has both fire and water, yes. Its ssification is the Deep me Seed, and it exists in the heart of an underwater volcano, where water is constantly pouring in to douse the magma as it begins heating up. As for both light and dark¡­ there is one. However, I do not believe that it will be acquired within the foreseeable future.¡±


    ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡± Ashley looked at the world spirit in curiosity. If it was simply a matter of the seed being in space, then it shouldn¡¯t be too hard to acquire.


    ¡°It exists as the heart of a ck hole, the Darkest Light Seed.¡±


    ¡°¡­Yeah, that¡¯d do it.¡±

 Chapter 491: The Ten Year Plan

    <h4>Chapter 491: The Ten Year n</h4>


    During this skip, I had allowed a total of ten years to pass. In that time, I had to say that I was not disappointed in the progress that my worlds had made. Each one had expanded beautifully, choosing a new world and setting their sights to it.


    First of all, let¡¯s start with my original world, Earth. Over the course of ten years, they had created awork of cities spanning the new world of Harvus. Although they did not have a Fairy Ring, they possessed transdimensional portals that would allow them to casually move to and from Earth, so long as sufficient mana was supplied.


    Desbar had simrly followed a path like Earth¡¯s, though they were a step slower as they also had to take care of their minor worlds. After roughly six years had passed, they finished their first interster colonization. The world that they found was one ripe with precious metals and gems, as well as fluctuating gravity pockets that sprang up now and then. This provided them both wealth and a research focus.


    Deckan¡­ wow, where should I even start. The mechs that Udona designed quickly became the standard military vehicle of that world due to both their power and convenience. Once Deckan finished their initial colonization, their exploration ship simply moved on again. It didn¡¯t back down from fighting giant space monsters, and sought out yet mores that they could explore.


    Fyor expanded into the twenty-fourth floor, but I was not particrly worried about them. Fyor was very much a special case when it came to colonization, after all. My reason for wanting the other worlds to spread out was in an effort tobat effects that could destroy entires. With Fyor¡­ eachyer was separated by a truly imprable defense. To such a degree that even Terra called it unbreakable. If someone were to destroy Fyor, that would mean they had the power to copse an entire universe. I hoped that wasn¡¯t within the limits of a rank two Keeper.


    Now¡­ Lorek and Spica. Spica, I have to say that I was happy with. First of all, the second sylvan tree gave that world an anchor beyond their own. But also, Spica itself had already begun experimenting with space travel even before joining the others. Now that a working warp drive had been designed, they truly took off. Unlike the other realms, they colonized two extras within the ten year duration.


    Lorek, on the other hand¡­ they had yet to finish exploring their own world. The poption of Lorek itself was low due to the high dangers present within that world. However, that world was massive beyond any other currently within my territory. It would stand to reason that it would take more power to destroy that world than one of my others.


    There was something else of note to happen on Lorek during these ten years, however¡­ the ascension of my avatar. Using the vast energy at its disposal, as well as my understanding of thews, it had only taken ten years for it to pass through thest few stages of the Profound Star Laws. It was now in the realm of ¡®Universe Born¡¯, which meant that its internal sky had been upgraded to a true universe.


    And I do mean a true universe¡­ Something that I had suspected when I read the description that the information globe offered. Anyone who reaches the final level of this cultivation system will establish their own world. With this, in a sense, Lorek had expanded. It was, at the very least, preserved if anything were to happen.


    Kione¡­ to my surprise, this world took a different path. The schrs of Kione worked together with Sher Dien in order to pioneer the path of nar exploration. Both of these worlds, when cooperating, were able to make great strides with their research, which put my mind at ease.


    Finally, Aurivy¡¯s game proved to be a major sess, even drawing away a number of hardcore fans from Vision Expanse. Thanks to this, I immediately put both the elemental seed system and the game itself on the market. And boy¡­ did I expect some ie from that¡­


    The elemental seed system itself wasn¡¯t that expensive, rtively speaking. Yes, it was five hundred points, but that isn¡¯t very bad at this level. The game, Natural Seed, on the other hand, was listed on the market for thirteen thousand points. Just what did Aurivy put in this world that made it so expensive?!


    On the bright side, I¡¯d be able to pay back that loan Sarah gave me to get Vision Expanse after only a few people got my game world. It was just a touch bit on the ridiculous side, is all.


    ¡°How are youing on the divine inversion form?¡± Tsubaki called out from another room, while Dana hovered in the air, holding a carving knife in one hand and a book in the other. The room was shaped¡­ oddly. The walls seemed to randomly jut outwards as spikes or curve inwards, and it was impossible to navigate properly without flying as Dana was.


    ¡°I¡¯m close, I think!¡± Dana called back, gently scraping the knife along the stone wall before her to copy the pattern she was reading in the book.


    Their first attempt at creating a fourth tier enchantment had¡­ failed. Spectacrly so. Enough that Tsubaki had to call Tubrock in with tears to fix the left wing of the Sky Citadel after it copsed. She was so afraid that Dale would show up and be disappointed with her that she was on edge for weeks after that. Thankfully, Tubrock had been able to repair the citadel with ease.


    Ever since then, Dana and Tsubaki had decided to carve out their own enchantment rooms withinrge mountains, where nothing was close enough to be destroyed if things went wrong. And they did¡­ repeatedly. Dana was currently working on her sixth iteration of the enchantment form, while Tsubaki worked on her fifth. Each of them decided to take different approaches to try to get it to work, as a sort of game to see who could reach the end goal first.


    ¡°Okay! I¡¯m going to start up my enchantment room, then!¡± Tsubaki called out, or rather her avatar did. Hearing that, Dana immediately retreated from the wall, storing herbat knife and holding her hands up. Tsubaki and Dana were working within different mountains, but they were close enough that the trembles of an explosion could be felt between them if something went wrong.


    ¡°It¡¯s working¡­¡± Tsubaki¡¯s avatar eximed in excitement. ¡°Mana is condensing, following the proper paths, forming the sto-¡± The avatar¡¯s words halted abruptly, and Dana began counting down in her head.


    Four, three, two, one¡­ As she hit zero, a deep rumble spread throughout her enchantment room. ¡°The stone overloaded, and the mana went wild again, right?¡± She asked as she pulled out her carving knife again, moving towards the wall she had been working on.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ I thought I had it this time when I flipped the istion matrix, but it¡¯s still conflicting with something.¡± The avatar let out a small, reluctant sigh. Fourth tier magic was so difficult primarily because there were so many ovepping shapes, each engraved with their own series of markings. If at any point two or more of these markings ovepped in the wrong way, it would cause the entire spell to break down.


    ¡°Well, we¡¯re both on six now.¡± Dana said with a small smirk, once again carving at her wall. When she reached the abrupt edge, her knife simply kept going, as if it were carving the air. Behind the knife, a thin trail of light was left behind to mark her engravings. Once finished with this piece, she stored her knife again, and made a swiping motion at the air in front of her.


    Countless lines sprang up from the oddly shaped walls, ovepping and forming unusual shapes within themselves. Dana nodded her head, studying each individual line, and how it connected to others that it passed. ¡°Inversion is finished, I think! All that¡¯s left is¡­ wait¡­¡± Dana guided herself to float forward, noticing a peculiar interaction between the various shapes that she had created.


    This interaction had gone almost unnoticed, mostly because of just how perfect it was. Every line from these forms connected perfectly, forming their own additional shape within the overall diagram. ¡°This is¡­¡± Dana shook her head, flipping open the book again and searching through it. ¡°General shape matches with a function insert, and the function is¡­¡±


    Dana¡¯s eyes went wide as she cross-referenced the figures within this additional shape with the ones in the book. Suddenly, her hand swiped out to the left, and caused the rest of her ¡®carved air¡¯ patterns to appear. Her body seemed to swivel, turning to a different point in the form and noticing a simr interaction, and then finally a third. ¡°So that¡¯s why we kept failing. Somehow, we actually made it even moreplicated than it had to be.¡±


    ¡°Tsuba! I¡¯m going to start up my enchantment room!¡± Dana called out confidently, catching Tsubaki by surprise.


    ¡°Dana, I know I just did mine, but you don¡¯t have to be in a hurry. You haven¡¯t gotten started on the sealing aspect yet.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t need to!¡± Dana felt a grin tugging on her lips. ¡°Check the three prime intersections of the divine inversion, storage, and identification arrays!¡±


    There was a pause as Tsubaki began to follow Dana¡¯s instructions, but the younger girl was already in motion, having triggered her own enchantment room and quickly vacated the area. Thest thing she wanted was for her own body to get caught up in the process.


    ¡°¡­Well, I suppose that does simplify things.¡± Tsubaki¡¯s avatar said, before noticing Dana standing next to her.


    ¡°Yeah, we just had to spot it. Which, if this was a first tier spell, would be easy. But how are you going to look for an invisible answer you carved in the air without realizing.¡± Danained, feeling the flow of energy in the adjacent room. She was preparing her defensive spells to protect herself if anything were to go wrong, but at the same time so full of hope.


    Twenty seconds passed, and then thirty. Two minutes, then five. The mana continued to pour into the mountain, forming a blue mist that filled the room. After the ten minute mark, this mist began to fade. ¡°No boom? No mountain-shattering st?¡± Dana asked with hope in her tone, flying back into the room.


    Her eyes quickly scanned for any damage, anything that seemed out of ce. What she found, however, was a small blue stone, barely the size of her thumb. It was resting at the very bottom of the room, having certainly not been there before her activation. ¡°Tsuba! I made the wardstone!¡±


    Tsubaki shed into the room as soon as Dana¡¯s words ended. Not her avatar, the Goddess of Light herself had shifted locations to verify Dana¡¯s aplishment. This was the first sessful enchantment of the fourth tier to be applied in the entire history of the world. ¡°You did it, Dana.¡± The kitsune said in a proud tone, reaching down to pick up the wardstone. Now that they had a functioning enchantment room, they could make more of these as soon as there was sufficient mana avable.


    Once they had enough wardstones, Tsubaki would be able to begin implementing theary defense n that they had drafted up together long ago. Of course, for such arge spell, it required no small amount of mana. Tsubaki could feel that the ambient mana within a hundred kilometer radius had been sucked dry. If she or Dana were to use their own reserves to fuel an enchantment like that, it was hard to say if they would even have the energy to do so.


    ¡°We¡¯ll need to set up our mana refinement station before we can begin mass production.¡± She said with a shake of her head. Now that they had fixed one problem, it was only natural for another to emerge.

 Chapter 492: Reality Marble

    <h4>Chapter 492: Reality Marble</h4>


    Gracia stood atop the highest branch of the ancestor tree, her gaze stretching out across the horizon. Monsters born of fire and earth were attacking the forest again, causing her fists to clench in annoyance. These were always the worst enemies for her people to fight against, and many green sisters had already been lost.


    Ever since they were born in this world, they had begun slowly gathering ki and leveling up as monks with minimal effort. After a while, many of them had sparked an evolution, allowing them to gather and store their ki internally. At which point, they had been given a prompt by the system, asking them which path they wanted to follow.


    For the green sisters, most of them chose the path of Wood, hoping to further expand the forest. The red sisters each chose an element or a weapon, aiming to better themselves forbat to protect their people. Meanwhile, the blue sisters had more varied choices. Some took the paths simr to the green or red sisters, while others branched out.


    The weapons being wielded on the frontlines by the red sisters were products crafted by a blue sister who had chosen the path of Arrays. This seemed to be a fairly mysterious path, which allowed individuals to either establish protective fields around an area, or imbue items with special abilities.


    After we received these prompts, their growth soared. Understanding was required in order to progress from one stage to another. However, the sisters were all able to share their understanding of their own paths on the deepest level directly with the ancestor tree itself. This knowledge was then conveniently avable for other sisters to ess at will.


    In the first few years, many sisters had been lost to either the monsters that appeared or to a failure in advancing their strength. Now, however¡­ Gracia was confident in their strength. Still, it was only natural for her to worry for her people. Their numbers which should have reached nearly a million by now were barely half of that, after all.


    In a way, though, they were stronger than ever. Focusing, she was able to see through the eyes of the forest, watching the fight. Humanoid figures of molten earth walked towards a line of red sisters, each holding a different weapon.


    The first sister stood forward, and lifted her staff. Raising it to the sky, a swirl of wind began to form around the staff. Wind was¡­ quite arguably one of the weakest elements within this world, which contained practically no atmosphere to speak of. However, her wind was supplemented by her own power, beginning to shine with a pale light.


    When she brought her staff forward, the wind flew out, crashing against the molten figure in the lead. Although it did not sustain much damage, it had been blown back several meters. The rest of the red sisters took this as a signal, and began unleashing their own attacks. Some of them relied on the power of their weapons, while others formed patterns in the air that resembled stars in the sky.


    Gracia gave a small nod of satisfaction as she watched the fight, knowing that there were many blue and green sisters standing by to help heal them if they got hurt. This was the path of the forest, the path of unity. All things sharing one root.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ something feels different.¡± I muttered, standing within the courtyard of the Sky Citadel. My eyes nced over the stone walls, feeling that something was amiss.


    ¡°N-nothing¡¯s wrong, my Keeper.¡± Tsubaki hurriedly spoke up in front of me, having called me here. I could see the nervousness in her face, her panicked thoughts easily visible to me even without purposely observing them.


    I reached out, gently patting Tsubaki¡¯s shoulder to try tofort her. Whatever had happened, it seemed like she took care of it well enough. ¡°What did you want me for, by the way?¡± It was rare for Tsubaki to reach out to me in prayer, and she had never done so to directly ask for my presence. I had the feeling that it was rted to that special project that she had been working on together with Dana, but I wanted to ask to be sure.


    ¡°Ah.¡± Tsubaki¡¯s face brightened as she saw the chance to change the subject. ¡°In fact, I was hoping for your help. Dana and myself have constructed a mana refinery, and we require arge source of energy in order to get it started.¡±


    ¡°Activating it on our own would require more mana than myself and Dana possess, and we wish to keep this project a secret from the rest of the world for the time being. If they were aware of what we were powering, there is the possibility that this information will leak to our future enemies before they make themselves known.¡±


    I gave a small nod as I listened to Tsubaki¡¯s request. ¡°I¡¯m honestly surprised that you didn¡¯t call Ryone for this.¡± I knew that Tsubaki was much more willing to disturb the other gods than she was to do so with me personally.


    Tsubaki¡¯s cheeks puffed out slightly, and her gaze shifted to the side. ¡°I attempted to do so, but she said she was unavable, and that I should just ask you instead. She¡¯s been saying that for¡­ five months now.¡±


    Ryone? I raised an eyebrow, calling out to the Goddess of Magic.


    Yes, dear? Thankfully, her voice answered back quickly.


    What¡¯s got you so busy that you¡¯ve been ignoring Tsubaki¡¯s request all this time?


    There was a lightugh as Ryone¡¯s voice entered my ear. I wouldn¡¯t really say I¡¯m busy. I do have a little project I¡¯m working on, but starting up her mana refinery would only take a second for me. I just thought it¡¯d be better for you to be able to spend more time with your little fox, and see how well she¡¯s growntely.


    I clicked my tongue at that, seeing that it was just a bout of yfulness from the elven goddess. Still, I offered a small shrug. ¡°Well, let¡¯s get this started up, then.¡±


    After I said that, Tsubaki nodded her head heavily. She began walking to the edge of the courtyard, as opposed to the interior of the citadel, while exining. ¡°The mana refinery acts by establishing a connection with a different realm, one where mana is the primary element. This realm is then contained within a crystalline structure, while the mana contained within is refined and deposited at a rate equal to its generation.¡±


    Once we reached the edge of the courtyard, Tsubaki lightly stepped off, allowing her body to fall freely while I followed behind her. Beneath us, I could see arge facility with wide domes covering its rooms. This type of method seemed¡­ unusual, to say the least. Possibly hical, if the target dimension contained life, which was a typical requirement for mana.


    However, once I saw the spell array myself, I understood something. With my Keeper abilities, I was able to appraise the true nature of the spell. It didn¡¯t ¡®connect¡¯ to a dimension where mana was in abundance, it created one.


    Long ago, I had heard from Alkahest that cards from the fifth tier of card magic could be considered their own world. Only size two worlds, but that was still something I regarded as a huge discovery. This spell, which Tsubaki and Dana designed to be at the pinnacle of the fourth tier, touched that territory.


    The world that it created was only a size one world, with each ¡¯ being roughly the size of a city block, but that still meant it was an entire world in itself. One specifically designed to produce mana as a means of expansion. When I looked at the mana cost of the spell, however, I understood immediately why they needed my help.


    ¡°One million mana to establish this refinery¡­¡± I muttered, shaking my head. Even for me, that was a lot of mana, though it was doable.


    Perhaps the most important thing to note was that therger the world within the refinery expanded, the more mana it would produce. So, while this was not a perfect ¡®infinite¡¯ power source, it did continuously produce a certain amount of mana. This amount would increase the longer the refinery was ¡®turned off¡¯.


    ¡°Are you capable of fueling the refinery?¡± Tsubaki asked, a hint of hesitation in her tone. I knew that she didn¡¯t want to seem like she was doubting me, but the requirements for this refinery were truly obscene. Fifty top-tier mages would all need to pour their mana into this spell to get it to activate.


    I gave a small nod, and relief washed over her face, reced by a mix of pride and confidence. Reaching out a hand, I focused, sending a wave of mana into the giant spell array. Innumerable geometric patterns lit up on the wall, and even in the air itself, and I felt my mana being drained at a rapid pace.


    Within the very center of the array, I could somewhat make out a ck, swirling void that seemed to consume the mana I was pouring in. Faintly, I was able to see through it, like a window. A world of blue crystal that was being formed from the energy I fed it.


    Tens of thousands of mana was being drawn out of me with every breath, until the spell reached its limit. Then, all at once, it stopped. The patterns filling the space faded away, and the void copsed. In its ce, a small marble fell downwards, towards the floor of the room. With a sh, Tsubaki rushed over to retrieve the marble, holding it gently.


    In its infant state, the marble was capable of producing one ¡®drop¡¯ of liquid mana every five seconds. This drop was the equivalent of one thousand points of mana. However, it seemed like Tsubaki was aware of this as well, and she immediately guided me to another room within therge facility.


    The room she led me to only contained a third-tier spell array, but she quickly ced the marble at its center. ¡°This will temporarily suppress most of the refinement abilities of the refinery, while elerating its time to facilitate a faster growth.¡±


    I gave a small nod, happy to know that Tsubaki had made the proper preparations ahead of time. While one thousand mana every five seconds could be considered fantastic for normal mages or enchantments, it was¡­ a far cry from enough for what she wanted to power. Even just using it to power that same spell would require five thousand seconds, which was¡­ over an hour by my calctions.


    Sure, those marbles would add up over time if she were to constantly focus on creating more rather than nourishing this one. However, the growth of this single marble wasn¡¯t linear, but exponential due to its strength increasing in proportion to the expanding volume of the world within.


    No doubt, once this marble had been properly nourished, she intended to use it as a battery to acquire more such worlds to serve as backup batteries. I noticed from above that there were at least six other rooms within this facilityrge enough to support a full-sized spell diagram. Assuming that one was to be used as the control center of Tsubaki¡¯s-epassing ward, the other five should all be simr to the one that we were in now.


    Of course, knowing Tsubaki, those secondary marbles could very well be meant to fuel the wards of the others. As for the rest of the world? Refining mana into a liquid form was already a known technique. But that was purely to refine mana that existed in this world, and roughly doubled the efficiency. That technique couldn¡¯t hold a candle to refining the growth of an alternate dimension made of mana.

 Chapter 493: A Day in the Life

    <h4>Chapter 493: A Day in the Life</h4>


    ¡°Hah¡­ hah¡­ this isn¡¯t so hard.¡± A human spoke up within a deep forest, clenching his fists. He could feel the new power spreading through him, the golden light that had be his soul. For most people, this pain would have crushed them. Evidence of this was the thin trail of red dripping from the corner of his mouth.


    ¡°Three steps to ascension, was it? Well, I¡¯ve climbed the first step.¡± A wicked grin covered the man¡¯s face, his bright yellow eyes piercing the night. The blood not only showed the level of pain this man had undergone, but also the fact that he had skipped the elevation of his body to the Perfect Self.


    He clenched his fists tight, staring off into the horizon. Already, he was nning his next step along the path of godhood.


    ¡°Mister Kyr, I¡¯m back!¡± Lydia called out, sliding her bag off of her shoulder and setting it on a small table inside the dining room. After ten years had passed, the young lycan woman had grown into a beautiful young maiden. Her figure had developed, her hair grown out and kept in a ponytail, and her smile¡­ well, it seemed to be permanently carved into her features.


    ¡°Hmm?¡± She blinked a bit, noticing that Clover wasn¡¯t home. ¡°I wonder if he went out to hunt. Elijah, are you able to sense anything?¡±


    A young man walked into the room, his hair a glowing blonde. He had golden bands suspended in the air around his wrists and ankles, and wore a deep blue shirt with jeans. ¡°I can¡¯t feel him. Let me check.¡± He lifted his right hand up, the golden band floating forward. ¡°Repeat for me the scenes of the past.¡±


    After he said that, the space within the ring seemed to distort, bing a window through time. Elijah was able to see Clovering home, and going about his day normally. Thankfully, the view seemed to focus on him, following him through the house. However, a few hours prior, he seemed to think of something.


    Suddenly, he lifted his head and spoke. ¡°Lydia, I¡¯m going to head out for a little bit. I need to meet up with some old friends, so I¡¯m taking Val with me. If I¡¯m not back by the time you get home, well¡­ you¡¯ve always been a better cook than me, anyways. See you when I get back!¡±


    Ever since Lydia hade up with this convenient little spell for Elijah, it had be their new way to leave messages for one another. When Lydia asked why Clover wanted to do things like that, he had simply smiled, saying that it sounded like a fun idea.


    ¡°Hmph¡­ I¡¯m not a kid anymore, Mister Kyr.¡± Lydia puffed her cheeks out slightly as she said that. She knew by now that he would be safe, he had already proven himself time and again with that.


    Clover Kyr sat atop a tall mountain, smiling softly towards the grassyndscape that spread out before him. Standing next to him was the armored maiden Val, whose face seemed to be entirely expressionless. Ever since Val had been ¡®reborn¡¯, her growth had been¡­ rushed would be the best term.


    While her body had physically developed to the point where she looked as she ¡®once did¡¯, her mind was vastly different. They yed it off as a simple injury to his familiar, one which had left her permanently damaged. But the truth was that she simply did not have any hope of ¡®recovery¡¯ in the first ce.


    So, while Clover enjoyed the scenery, Val simply¡­ stood there. No joy or irritation could be found in her gaze. She was unfeeling, obedient to Clover simply because of the nature of their rtionship. In a sense, she was closer to a machine.


    Clover let out a content sigh, slowly standing up and patting off his pants. ¡°Let¡¯s get back, Val. I¡¯m sure Lydia will be missing us by now.¡± As he spoke, he began walking through the air, each step causing him to elerate.


    Val watched him leave, and then looked back behind her at the carnage thaty behind the mountain. The beast tide that had been beaten, shattered by Clover, bodies lying in jagged chunks. They were only an hour from the city, at which point it was no telling how many people would be killed.


    She thought about that, about how they had charged out here to face them alone, and simply shook her head. Logically, she knew that these beasts were likely drawn by a primal instinct, recognizing the suppressed power within Clover. Rather than leaving the city for good, however, he simply chose to fight these monster swarms as they formed. To her, such a situation was irrational.


    Regardless¡­ she had her orders, and so she turned to follow her foolish master. Once she had left the scene, the bodies of the monsters began to break apart, forming countless specks of dust that faded into the wind.


    ¡°Yeah, I got it.¡± I closed the chat window with an amused smile, shaking my head. Ryone wasying down on the couch, her head in myp as she looked up at me.


    ¡°Sarah again?¡± She asked with a knowing smile.


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± This time, it had actually been Sarah that had reached out to me, instead of the other way around. ¡°She saw my game on the market, and wanted to ask if we¡¯d be able to give her a copy.¡±


    ¡°Asking a bit much, isn¡¯t she?¡± Ryone asked, her smile turning yful. ¡°An eight thousand point world in exchange for a twelve thousand point one? Though, I suppose¡­¡±


    ¡°Right?¡± I nodded. ¡°She has a God of Games, just like we do. We don¡¯t actually have to spend the points to buy it for her. And, it¡¯ll clear our debt¡­ so I was thinking about heading over there some time with Aurivy to give her a copy of the core information.¡±


    ¡°Being able to repay our debt without actually spending anything would be quite nice.¡± She agreed readily. ¡°I say go for it. We¡¯ve already released the base elemental seed system, so it¡¯s only a matter of time until ¡®spinoff¡¯ games are created.¡±


    ¡°I told her that we¡¯d be over in a few days. I just have some things I want to take care of here, first.¡± I reached down to stroke Ryone¡¯s hair as I spoke, the action causing a smile to bloom on the elf¡¯s face.


    ¡°I take it you liked spending time with Tsubaki again?¡± She asked, a mischievous glint in her eyes that caused me tough.


    ¡°It was nice. She changed a lot more than I expected. I think being properly challenged and having Dana around has really helped here out of her shell.¡±


    ¡°Though she still didn¡¯t tell you about how she wrecked your citadel.¡±


    I froze at that, my hand still in Ryone¡¯s hair. ¡°How she what?¡± I knew that the citadel looked a bit off when I got there, but I knew it wouldn¡¯t be too bad for Tsubaki not to bring it up.


    Ryone covered her mouth. ¡°Oops~.¡± She let out a yful giggle. ¡°When the two of them were first experimenting with fourth tier magic. That¡¯s why they made that facility, after all.¡±


    I took a deep breath, briefly closing my eyes. ¡°Well¡­ it was fixed. That¡¯s what¡¯s important. Now, at least I know what she was so worried about. And why you insisted on me meeting her face to face.¡±


    Within the dark room of the Core of Shadows, the name they had given the firstyer of their Shadow Fyor, Thelsa pushed open a door and walked in with sagging steps. Her eyes, red with exhaustion, scanned the area for somewhere to simply copse. As Petra was sitting in the chair, Thelsa moved for the couch instead.


    Seeing her ¡®big sister¡¯ copse haphazardly on the couch, Petra let out a lightugh. In her hand, she was ying with the golden AC unit. ¡°Tough day at work, Thelsa?¡± She asked, turning her head to regard Thelsa.


    ¡°Why did I let you girls talk me into this¡­¡± Thelsa groaned. ¡°The assassin and martial artist trainers are up and ready, now. It wasn¡¯t easy finding ways to set up assassin training without killing the other shadows¡­¡±


    ¡°Two at once?¡± Petra looked on in surprise. ¡°That would exin your exhaustion¡­ I think those were thest of your sses, weren¡¯t they?¡±


    ¡°Nuh-uh.¡± Thelsa brought one hand up to wipe along her face, cleansing it of sweat. ¡°Still need the elemental monk and elementalist. Then I¡¯ll have everyone. Also, made a bunch of basic shadows today. Will see how they turn out.¡±


    ¡°Mhm.¡± Petra nodded her head, stowing away the AC unit as she stood, walking over towards Thelsa. ¡°You get some rest for now, you seem worn out. I¡¯ll go make some more shadows for you for a while.¡± There was an innocent smile on Petra¡¯s face as she offered that. With her ability, she had a limited control over this shadow realm, but she had recently learned how to create those basic shadows by studying Thelsa in action.


    Thelsa, meanwhile, eyed her warily, before her desire to sleep overcame her curiosity. ¡°Okay, but no funny business.¡±


    ¡°I promise~!¡± Petra nodded her head, thinking internally. Totally serious, nothing funny about a legion of trained shadow assassins.


    As she thought that, Petra hummed happily to herself, moving over to push open the door of the room. Only to be caught by Maria on her way out. ¡°Got a n, munchkin?¡± Maria asked with a knowing grin.


    ¡°Maaaybe~.¡± Petra responded by sticking out her tongue. Out of all of Thelsa¡¯s shadows, she and Maria got along the best. ¡°Want in?¡±


    ¡°Totally.¡± The warrior shadowughed, pushing off from the wall and following Petra.


    The crystalline form of Tower sat within arge, stone room. Ever since his little ¡®adventure¡¯ with the other gods, he had begun to truly understand the potential scope of his power. Due to this realization, he had shifted his workshop, his personal dungeon. He didn¡¯t want anyone to find him easily, so he went where nobody would think to look¡­ the moon.


    After the incident had ended, it had taken a few weeks for his divinity to return to normal levels. Ever since then, he had only felt a trickle of the power he had obtained in that brief moment. But, at his core, he knew¡­ he knew that he would need that power again.


    Since then, he had been experimenting. Creating monsters using different methods in the hope that one would be able to ¡®pray¡¯ to him and feed back a small amount of divinity. Thus far, his experiments were less than sessful. Monsters he created himself could not in turn fuel him with their prayers, and grant a gain in energy.


    This led him to think of alternative solutions. Dungeons were revered by adventurers and merchants alike, but such reverence paled inparison. What he needed was a world, a where the people knew him and exalted him.


    Of course, he couldn¡¯t just im one of the existing worlds for that purpose. That would be going against Mother¡¯s wishes, after all. No, he needed to find his own world. Or¡­ perhaps, instead of finding one¡­


    A thought shed through Tower¡¯s mind, and he vanished from within his moon base. There was still one way that he could potentially gain extra energy, but it would require a considerable investment. If he simply needed a, why not be one himself?

 Chapter 494: What is Real

    <h4>Chapter 494: What is Real</h4>


    ¡°What¡¯s he up to¡­¡± I muttered to myself, seeing one of my gods leave Earth. He didn¡¯t proceed through a Fairy Ring, but rather journeyed into the void of space. When I thought that I might have to fast forward to properly see what he was doing, he cut open a hole within the void before him.


    Through that ck tear, a creature emerged, a ck skeletal horse that trotted in front of him and simply waited. When he mounted the horse, it vanished. My eyes went wide, and I hastily looked for him again, only to find that he had traveled over a dozen light years. ¡°He can even make monsters like that?¡±


    ¡°Hmm? What¡¯s going on?¡± Ryone asked, stillying on the couch with her head in myp. Since she was curious, I disyed my current mental view of the scene on the television. After I exined what Towers had just done, the elven goddess sank into deep thought.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have any monsters like that. But, if I had to guess, the horse he created had a powerful teleportation ability that simply required a set of rtive coordinates.¡± When she had finished saying that, she took in a sharp breath. ¡°That cost him a lot of divinity¡­ what¡¯s he nning?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I want to know.¡± As the two of us were both watching now, the ck horse made a few more jumps. It seemed to be aiming for a particr star, but whenever it either overshot or undershot its mark it wouldnd a considerable distance away. Only after roughly a dozen jumps did Towers seem satisfied with his location, dismissing the horse.


    His crystalline body curled in on itself, bing arge sphere. This sphere then began to radiate a golden glow. ¡°¡­He¡¯s going to turn his body into a.¡± The idea was¡­ preposterous, in my mind. The amount of divinity needed to create a the size of Earth would have to be massive.


    ¡°You seem to be forgetting the most important aspect of Aurivy¡¯s little dungeons, Dale¡­¡± Ryone muttered, watching the screen. Every time the core that Towers had be pulsed, he grew just a little bit further. ¡°They have a patience that could even put elves to shame.¡±


    I set up a quick program in the Keeper interface, calcting how long it would take Tower to reach the size of Earth¡­ ¡°Fifty-two years, at his current rate of growth. That¡¯s¡­ quite a bit of patience.¡±


    ¡°Only fifty-some years?¡± Ryoneughed. ¡°That¡¯s nothing. Even for an elf, fifty years could be considered just a long-term n. For a dungeon¡­ he probably doesn¡¯t see the time as a factor at all. All he knows is that it will eventually happen. And when it does¡­ using his innate abilities to control his own terrain, as well as creating intelligent monsters capable of worshipping him, he¡¯ll be able to set up a divinity farm.¡±


    I thought back to the final stage of the Profound Star Laws at that, the Universe Born¡­ technically, there was no life within that universe. At least, not at its conception. Depending on the domain that the cultivator pursued, it was possible to create life to fill it. For instance, if Jana ever reached that stage, she would be capable of seeding her universe with aquatic life or water elementals.


    For me, someone whose universe was built on the foundation of ¡®illusions¡¯, I began to wonder what sort of life I could create in it. Theoretically, I could create the illusion of life, using the ¡®final conclusion¡¯ that I reached on the illusion path. Each path had numerous final conclusions, none more urate than the others. For instance again, with water, a water cultivator could reach the conclusion that water was the source of all life. Alternatively, water could also be seen as a patient, destructive force.


    The conclusion that I chose was something that I had decided from the moment I began cultivating illusions. ¡®What is real is fake, and what is fake is real.¡¯ My path of illusions built towards that goal, the ability to dismiss reality as an illusion, and make an illusion real.


    Of course, this would all be pointless if my world host somehow managed to die¡­ but, I couldn¡¯t see that happening easily. Now that it had be a god of two domains, along with the supporting power of Tsubaki, there shouldn¡¯t be anything left in my own world that can threaten me.


    Focusing, I sent a mental message down to my host, telling him about my idea. As we were of the same mind, it wouldn¡¯t take much for him to figure out what I wanted and begin experimenting on his own.


    ¡°Is it about time, now?¡± Dana asked Tsubaki, both of them standing outside what they had called the ¡®charging chamber¡¯.


    Tsubaki gave a small nod, opening the door and stepping inside. Within the room, at the center of therge spell diagram, sat the small marble that the Keeper had helped them create. The two of them allowed it to rest for about a day before checking on it, wanting to see the progress that it had made.


    They had initially been concerned that a day would be too long with something such as this, and had measured its growth after one hour. And then again at two. At both readings, the change seemed¡­ negligible at best, if there was any change at all. Enough that they were concerned that a day might not actually be enough.


    And so, Tsubaki and Dana walked over to the marble, seeing it glow with the same vibrant energy it had shown before. ¡°Are you ready to start measuring?¡± She asked, reaching for the marble.


    When Dana nodded, Tsubaki lifted it out of the containment of the spell diagram it was held in. And immediately regretted her decision. Within a single second of the marble being lifted out of its containment, there was a torrent of liquified mana that poured into the surroundings, bursting out and filling almost two feet in every direction.


    The pressure was intense enough that it took a full five seconds for Tsubaki to wrestle the marble back into the containment, her eyes wide with shock. Dana had been sted back by the pressure, sliding along the now wet ground to rest several feet away. ¡°T-Tsuba?¡± She spoke up in a hesitant voice.


    ¡°Okay, new n.¡± Tsubaki nodded her head decisively. ¡°We¡¯re going to make a new spell array that draws out only the amount of mana needed from the internal world.¡± Her hand was still numb from the pressure of the liquified mana, the blue liquid spreading over the entire floor of the room and reaching halfway to her knees.


    ¡°And then we¡¯re going to attach it as a seal directly to that marble.¡± She said, pointing usingly at the offending object. She had run the numbers previously, and knew that the marble would eventually erupt in productivity. She just hadn¡¯t expected the eruption to be quite so literal, quite so soon¡­


    ¡°Uh huh¡­¡± Dana nodded her head, her eyes still focusing on that marble. When Tsubaki called for her to get her attention, she snapped out of her little daze. She was calcting in her head just how much that internal world must have expanded to be producing so rapidly.


    From the initial burst, she expected it had to be at least a dozen or so kilometers wide now. As opposed to the mere fifty meters it had started as. Once her mind was back on task, though, she quickly changed her focus to designing the seal that Tsubaki had asked for.


    Tsubaki, meanwhile, held out her hand. Within it, a small sk appeared. ¡°We should make sure to contain the mana before it evaporates, or else we¡¯re going to have the king of all mana siphons on our heads.¡±


    Dana¡¯s face went absolutely pale when she considered that, watching as the liquified mana surged up from the floor to pour into Tsubaki¡¯s sk. The sk itself was naturally a magic item, a simple storage device that she had prepared for special asions. Not something that she expected to need to use in this type of situation.


    Once the rampant fluids had been sucked up, Tsubaki caused one of her fingers to let out a brilliant light, which she then used to engrave the word ¡®Mana¡¯ on the side of the sk. Neither of them had any way of telling what the value of the mana within the sk was, only that it was the strongest source of energy that either of them had ever felt.


    The two girls exchanged a nce, and immediately left the room, closing and locking the door behind them. Before they were ready to deal with that marble again, they absolutely had to prepare the proper seals.


    Fafniridzily across a mountain within the ind of Rokindrol, his eyes gazing over the surroundings. Finding food had no longer be a challenge, and he was able to properly fill his stomach whenever he needed. Whether they were above or below the water did not matter anymore.


    He could feel the presence of his master, but it was so faint. So far away, beyond a wall he couldn¡¯t cross. Fafnir knew what that meant, that the Keeper was within another of the worlds. However, he did not speak of this to either Tsubaki or Dana. If he wished to make himself known, he would have, and otherwise it was none of their business.


    As he thought about that, his eyes began to drift upwards, towards one of the many stars in the sky. The great dragon wasn¡¯t sure why, but he felt as if¡­ there was something out there, calling for him. He briefly thought about whether or not he should answer the call, before quickly shaking his head.


    He had yet to achieve perfection of the flesh, though Tsubaki was helping him understand the process. Before that, he knew that he would not be able to survive outside of this world¡¯s atmosphere. Mostly because he had tried once already, testing how high he could fly.


    Maybe once he had achieved his perfection, he would answer the call that seemed to speak directly to his soul. For the time being, however, he lowered his head, peering out into the distance. There was another presence, much nearer, that was drawing his attention as well.


    Was it a human? There seemed to be more and more people that rose to power in recent years, so it couldn¡¯t be sure. Fafnir had even begun to feel as if it might no longer ¡®deserve¡¯ to be the tamed monster of the Keeper. Maybe that problem would resolve itself with this ¡®perfection¡¯ as well.


    Fafnir¡¯s heavy-lidded eyes closed as he gazed in the direction of the rising power, feeling the negativity that seemed to be directed at Fafnir himself. Though, he wasn¡¯t sure why that would be the case. Maybe a trick of the mind, he thought to himself as he began to drift off.


    ¡°Couldn¡¯t give me an easy job, could you?¡± A lone figure asked, sitting atop a lonely mountain peak. The area around him seemed to ripple and distort in hazy ribbons. His eyes were closed, his mental gaze focused inwards.


    What he saw was a sprawling void dotted with countless stars and nebs, a cosmos within himself. Each star seemed to flicker in and out of existence in a seemingly random pattern, while the cosmic gases swirled around without a true sense of gravity. As if they were simply dancing to decorate the scenery.


    His view narrowed, focusing in further and further on one of his worlds. ¡°Let¡¯s see if this is even possible¡­¡±

 Chapter 495: Archmage Scepter

    <h4>Chapter 495: Archmage Scepter</h4>


    Following the sess which toppled even their most hopeful dreams, Tsubaki and Dana got to work on the ¡®regtor¡¯ seal. A spell which would detect the amount of mana that another spell is attempting to draw out, and supply the required amount. Without such a precaution, the marble would produce an endless stream of mana that could swallow the world with a massive siphon.


    However, once the seal was produced, things changed. This marble, which Tsubaki named the ¡®Reality Gem¡¯, contained an essentially endless supply of mana. Theoretically, it could power any spell or magic device with the amount it casually produced.


    Such power couldn¡¯t be allowed to fall into the wrong hands, as the boundless mana within could ce someone at the level of a god. As such, Tsubaki made her preparations. While Dana was busy working on the ¡®Seal of Regted Flow¡¯, Tsubaki focused on redesigning the facility which would hold the marbles in the future.


    Unfortunately, while the seal only needed to be third-tier in order to work properly, Tsubaki had to construct wards that were fourth-tier in order to protect it. As such, Dana was finished with her project long before Tsubaki.


    ¡°Tsuba?¡± Dana called out, holding a metal rod in her hands. She knew that Tsubaki was working on a different project, and had wholeheartedly entrusted this matter to Dana. However, Dana was in fact worried. Nearly a week had passed since she started the research of this seal, so she was afraid to go into the room to test it on her own.


    Given how utterly massive the increase was over the first twenty-four hours, she had the suspicion that the reality gem would now outpour enough water to crush her with the pressure. Perhaps it would even destroy the entire facility within seconds.


    ¡°I¡¯m here, Dana.¡± Tsubaki, or rather, one of her avatars spoke up, appearing next to Dana. ¡°Have you finished it?¡±


    Dana nodded, holding the rod out towards Tsubaki. ¡°I call it the Archmage Scepter. Do you see that indent on the top? The marble goes in there, and the regtor will activate. At the same time, a second enchantment will activate, that will cause the marble itself to maize to the rod. Its own mana will keep it rooted in ce.¡±


    Tsubaki nodded, seeming satisfied with the report as she took the rod. It seemed rather in for its purpose, but it could be decoratedter if need be. She thought back to the main energy attack of the Sky Citadel, and imagined if it had been empowered by this item at the time. However¡­ she quickly shook her head to dismiss that thought, as the result would quite possibly shatters.


    Such a concept would have seemed so foreign to her before. But now, experiencing the raw power that she could unleash as a goddess, and knowing that this marble was at least on par with that¡­ she had to admit it was possible.


    ¡°Wait here.¡± She said, moving to enter the ¡®forbidden room¡¯ while carrying the rod in her hands. Unlike Dana, she had a higher chance of not only being able to survive the torrent of mana should it run wild, but bring the marble to a safe distance.


    Once in the room, she carefully walked towards the center of therge spell formation. Her eyes never left that innocent-looking blue gem. As if scared that it would leap off of the floor and erupt into a flood. Few things could shake Tsubaki¡¯s spirit, after all. But this had be one of them.


    At the center of the room, she aimed the center down, not daring to pick the marble up directly. Instead, she would attach it to the scepter first, at which point the ¡®bomb¡¯ would be diffused.


    The tip of the sphere just gently pressed against the surface of the marble, before the kitsune heard something akin to a spark. A small weight had been added to the item in her hand. And, as she lifted it up, she saw the marble resting atop it. But more than that, the scepter itself began to change. Markings along the body of the scepter that had been hidden from view not lit up with a golden glow.


    These markings shifted, traveling upwards to form three rings just beneath the tip of the scepter. There, they sat, as if they had always been part of the item itself. Tsubaki gave a yful smile when she saw that, knowing that Dana had added it purely for cosmetic purposes, and to give a small but constant drain to the marble.


    Exiting the room, Tsubaki found Dana waiting nervously outside. However, when Dana saw the three rings, her face lit up with excitement. Before she could speak, though, Tsubaki did so. ¡°How long will it take you to craft more of these scepters?¡±


    Naturally, Dana understood Tsubaki¡¯s intention. They needed more than just one of these gems. In order toplete their anti-divinity wards, they needed one reality gem for every which supported the card system. ¡°As long as I have enough mithral, they¡¯re easy to make now. I¡¯ve got the production room already built.¡±


    Tsubaki nodded with a relieved sigh. ¡°Gather as much as you need. Just to be sure, though¡­ there won¡¯t be any problems with these self-destructing if too much mana is used at once?¡±


    Dana quickly shook her head. ¡°There shouldn¡¯t be anything like that, Tsuba! The regtor only has three core functions. First, detect the amount of mana being requested. Second, weaken the seal to allow that much mana to escape from the gem. Finally, strengthen the seal again once the mana has been applied.¡±


    ¡°Since the mana isn¡¯t actually being channeled through the scepter, there should be no risk of a detonation. Just in case some did slip through, though¡­ that¡¯s why I chose mithral as the material for the scepter.¡±


    Tsubaki nodded when she heard that, reassured that there wouldn¡¯t be any problems. ¡°I¡¯m going to go create the next gem. By the time you have the next staff produced, it will be waiting in this room.¡±


    Dana gave a heavy nod. Now that she had seen for herself that the scepters worked, her confidence had risen. ¡°Alright, Tsuba! I won¡¯t let you down!¡± As she said that, she turned to leave, even as Tsubaki vanished from her position in a sh of light.


    Far away, she appeared, the scepter still in hand. Instead of immediately visiting the spell chamber to create the next marble, she had brought herself out of the¡¯s atmosphere in order to first test its power. She needed to see exactly what kind of output she was looking at in terms of spell potential in order to better n her wards.


    In her mind, she mulled over what spell she wished to use to test the item¡¯s power. In the end, she decided on something rather simple. One of the basic third-tier spells that mages learned from the system, the Sunbeam spell.


    Tsubaki raised the staff above her head, picturing the spell diagram for the required spell. For her, spells of this level were no longer difficult to properly envision, even if she could not handle the spells a tier higher yet. Though, even when she had imagined the spell, she did not infuse it with any of her own mana.


    Instead, she envisioned it appearing in the air before her, and waved the scepter over it. Once the scepter touched on one of the invisible lines she had imagined, blue light rapidly shot out to illuminate the entirety of the diagram.


    Naturally, Tsubaki was not truly aiming the spell at anything in particr. Without knowing the power it contained, she aimed it out, into the void. Since Sunbeam could be considered as much a light-attribute spell as it was fire, she would be able to properly gauge its effectiveness through her domain.


    Once the scepter had charged the spell to the point where the lines crackled with arcane might, she waved the scepter forward once again, giving the order to fire. And fire it did. But the beam that emerged was not the yellow-white light she expected. It wasn¡¯t blue, or red¡­ it was ck.


    A ck beam as thick as she was tall shot out into the void. If not for the fact that it obscured the stars as it passed, she may not have seen it at all in the void of space. Her furred ears ttened to her skull as she saw that, as she knew what it meant. A me that burned everything it touched, even light itself. Such a thing should not have been possible, yet she had witnessed it.


    She ended her experiment immediately, vanishing to return to the spell chamber. Compared to what she had just seen, the process of creating a new reality gem felt¡­ utterly mundane. With a wave of the scepter, the mana was effortlessly provided, a marble falling to the ground mere secondster.


    Like the first one, this one dripped out a drop of water only once every five seconds. This fact caused Tsubaki to re ruefully at the marble atop her own scepter, as if chiding it for being a disobedient child. Regardless, she knew this new reality gem would end up with the same level of power as the one she wielded now, and it was merely a matter of time.


    If she were more trusting of the people within the world, Tsubaki may have distributed the Archmage Scepters to powerful individuals. They would be invaluable tools in the defense of the world. But, who would trust another person with what was essentially a button that could blow up the if pressed the wrong way, and tell them to use it as a weapon?


    No¡­ instead, when Dana and Tsubaki decided that they were ready to release the fourth tier of magic knowledge to the world, they would leave out key facets. Certain details that would make it impossible to create the same spell that they made.


    As long as they did that, there was no threat that these gems would fall into the wrong hand, once she created the proper wards. Her only concern after that was¡­ if they could create power sources of this magnitude, so could the enemies that their world would face in the future. She had to be prepared, create defensive artifacts fueled by these scepters. Perhaps even request to remodel the Sky Citadel into a true flying fortress.


    ¡°So that¡¯s what thess came up with, eh?¡± Tubrock asked, observing the scepter in Tsubaki¡¯s hand from within his factory. As the God of Innovation, his domain was not merely limited to technology, but extended to cover magic as well.


    Whenever something ¡®new¡¯ was invented, whether technological, magical, or even simply a new technique Tubrock got a sort of mental ping. Usually, he tuned them out, actively working to stay ahead of the curve to reduce the number of ¡®pings¡¯ he received. So naturally, when Tsubaki and Dana created the innovative spell that forged an entire dimension purely as a battery, he was notified. And boy, was that the mother of all pings.


    ¡°Hard ta imagine somethin¡¯ so small holds all that power. But¡­ it might be just what I¡¯m looking for.¡± His eyes seemed to sh, and a new room was created within his factory, once which perfectly matched the spell diagram that had created the reality gem.


    His World Forge n had been proceeding excellently so far. He had created a temte for sentient golems, which would even be recognized by the system as a living race. He had crafted entires from scratch, turning them into massive machines. There was just one thing that thesescked¡­ a core, a power source.


    Tubrock needed a power source capable of fueling an entire. That had been all that was stopping him from moving to the final stage of the n. Now, he had found the answer he needed. More importantly, it was such a grand source that he was already getting ideas for how to improve hiss further.

 Chapter 496: Wayvering Faith

    <h4>Chapter 496: Wayvering Faith</h4>


    Armed with the new Archmage Scepters, the progress ofpleting the Anti-Divinity Ward sped up many times over. Wardstones were created with a casual wave of the scepter, and it took less than a week for Dana and Tsubaki to receive the total amount that they needed for every world.


    From there, they created the control devices for the wards. After spending an additional month with Dana¡¯s assistance, they had also designed the wards that would be ced on the control facilities. At this point, it was merely a matter of building the facilities themselves.


    Thankfully, they were able to ask help from each of the local world spirits to help with the construction efforts. As much as possible, they did not want anyone within these worlds to know where the controls of the wards were held. I could see that Tsubaki nned to release this information to myself, and nobody else.


    This was simply an additional security measure, one which I fully understood. Regardless of how powerful the wards were, the security was in no way perfect. Unexpected variables existed everywhere, and it was best to simply keep this information as close to the chest as possible.


    Closing my eyes, I focused on fast forwarding the world just a little bit further, bringing this n to its fruition.


    Tsubaki held tight a leather bag in one hand, the storage device small and unassuming. She offered a small smile to Dana, who held a stone tablet. ¡°I¡¯m going, then.¡± She said, receiving a nod before vanishing in a sh of light.


    Watching the tablet before her, Dana waited. She knew that Tsubaki was carefully cing each of the wardstones in orbit, and that she had to do so quickly in order to make them stabilize themselves rather than falling back to the.


    Dana counted the seconds, and when she reached ten, there was a change in the tablet. ¡®Divinity detected. Domain - Light. Unregistered entity. Location¡­¡¯


    Dana¡¯s eyes went wide as a pleased smile rose across her face, reading the shifting location on the tablet. Okay, Tsuba! It¡¯s got you on its radar. Activate your registry stone! They knew, naturally, that the first divinity that would register with the ward was the person using their own divinity in order to establish the ward in the first ce.


    Soon, the words vanished from the tablet, reced instead by something else. ¡®Registered Divinity, Light Goddess Tsubaki.¡¯ It no longer showed her position, as she was not an ¡®illegal¡¯ divinity. The purpose of this ward was merely to suppress hostile gods, not to monitor those who were friendly to them.


    ¡°Huh, wonder where Jonas went to.¡± Dana curiously asked herself, seeing as his name didn¡¯t appear on the ward. They had purposely chosen Earth as it was the known home of two gods, with a third suspected of living there.


    Of the four known mortal gods, both Jonas and Tsubaki typically resided on Earth. nk existed as a digital being when he wasn¡¯t within Deckan directly, so he could appear at any time. Finally, Tower was suspected of living on Earth due to it being his original home. However, he had not been seen since the meteor incident.


    As she was wondering that, two new lines appeared on the tablet, indicating that two more divinities had been found. One of them had the domain of ¡®Games¡¯, signifying that it was nk. Meanwhile, the other divinity was ¡®unassigned¡¯. That caused some confusion in Dana, but she nheless reported the information back to Tsubaki.


    Tsubaki¡¯s answer was quite simple. It is likely that it is a mortal in the process of ascending. A half-god wouldn¡¯t have their domain yet.


    Dana nodded her head as she heard that, before her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. The scope of the ward was growing, and with it were the number of these ¡®half-gods¡¯ that were being detected. Although the process was hard, and unspeakably painful, there was no shortage of brave fools within the vast world.


    ¡°One, two, three¡­¡± Dana counted the lines as they appeared, waiting for Tsubaki toplete the ward. Tsuba¡­ I¡¯m reading thirteen of those ¡®half-gods¡¯ within this world. Thirteen, while only the tiniest fraction of the world¡¯s poption, was no small number. Most would likely never take the next step after experiencing the true terror of advancing, but it was likely that they could expect at least one or two more gods from this batch.


    Understood. Send me their locations, and I¡¯ll start the registration process.


    A human woman sat before her mirror, staring at her beautiful golden hair. She wore a white and blue dress, an amulet in the shape of a trident around her neck. Her figure was slim, the dress hiding any of the slight curves she possessed, yet her face was beautiful. Even without the use of any special techniques or treatments, she had an appeal that many yearned for.


    Yet now, that very face gazed at the mirror in frustration and loss. ¡°My Goddess, have you forsaken me?¡± She asked herself, feeling the power within her being suppressed. The same power that she had endured horrendous pain to acquire in the name of the goddess Bihena.


    There was a heavy knock on the door, the rapping against the wood sounding rather urgent. However, the woman simply let out a low sigh, rising to her feet and walking to open it. She controlled her expression to put on a brilliant smile when the door opened, seeing the High Priestess of the church standing there with a flushed face.


    ¡°Mother Catarina, what troubles you at this time?¡± She asked in a pleasant tone.


    ¡°Y-you have a visitor.¡± Catarina spoke, her voice stuttering despite her usually stern personality. Immediately, the woman knew that something was off, as no normal visitor could elicit such a reaction from the High Priestess. However, before she could ask who it was, the answer was given to her. ¡°It is thedy Tsubaki.¡±


    The woman¡¯s smile shifted, her mouth agape with a gasp. There wasn¡¯t a person in this world that did not know that name. ¡°I see¡­ please, by all means, I will see her.¡± She nodded her head quickly.


    With the timing of this meeting, she suspected that it had something to do with her disappearing divine power. Was Tsubaki here to deliver the verdict of the gods, or merely tofort her and exin things? She did not know, but knew that she would soon discover the answer.


    The two of them moved towards arge conference room, where the priests and priestesses of the church would gather for regr meetings. Sitting at one end of therge table was, sure enough, a kitsune radiating a golden light. Her body was dressed in the attire of a Servant, and her divine power was something that could not be faked by any means known to them.


    As she stepped into the room, she noticed the High Priestess did not join her, instead closing the door behind her to allow the two their privacy. ¡°Greetings, Lady Tsubaki.¡± She said with a polite smile towards the Keeper¡¯s Servant.


    ¡°You are the Holy Sister, Be Wayver?¡± Tsubaki asked, her eyes focused, yet not seeming upset.


    ¡°That¡¯s correct.¡± In fact, Holy Sister had been a title invented for her, a rank showing that one was a member of the church that had stepped onto the path of godhood themselves. It had been decided that, should she seed and still serve Bihena, she would be regarded as a Holy Mother.


    ¡°I see¡­ It is a pleasure to meet you.¡± Tsubaki¡¯s expression seemed to soften, and a faint relief spread through Be¡¯s body. ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve noticed your divine energy has been suppressed for several minutes now?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s correct, Lady Tsubaki. I feared that my Goddess had lost her faith in me, and that I was being punished. Seeing you here, I hope that you may offer guidance.¡±


    The kitsune goddess gave a faint nod. ¡°It¡¯s nothing of that sort, do not worry. In the Keeper¡¯s name, I have established the Divine Registry. With the appearance of ascended beings such as myself, and what you may well be in the future, I felt this a necessary step. Before registering, any divine or half-divine individuals like yourself will find their divinity suppressed.¡±


    Confusion appeared on Be¡¯s face, before being reced by joy. ¡°My Goddess has not given up on me.¡± She did not know how Tsubaki had created such a registry in the first ce, as magic was not her forte. All she knew was that this was not the workings of Bihena, and that her power could return to her upon being registered.


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Tsubaki gave aforting smile, standing from her seat and walking over towards Be. There was a gentleness to her light that Be had never expected, as if a mother caring for her children. ¡°Once you register yourself with our Divine Registry, your power will return to you. So long as you do not step on an evil path, your power will not be restricted or monitored. This measure is only being taken to prevent the rising of an evil god.¡±


    Be brought her hands up, crossing them over her chest as if in prayer, and nodded her head. ¡°I understand. Thank you, Lady Tsubaki. Then, please, whatever you need to do. So long as it means I may continue to serve my Goddess, I will have no fear.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a good child, Be Wayver.¡± Tsubaki said, retrieving a stone from a storage item hidden on her purpose. Its oval surface was smooth, with no identifying marks. It appeared to simply be a rock you could pick up on the shore of a river, yet its significance here could not be underestimated.


    This unassuming stone lit up with a faint blow glow, strands of light leaving its surface to wrap around Be. She remained still, her smile bing warmer as the energy pierced her body. Suddenly, she could feel the suppressive power on her divinity vanish, and her golden hair became as blue as the ocean waves.


    ¡°Thank you for this guidance, Lady Tsubaki.¡± Be spoke in a sincere tone. Were such a registry established by one with ill intent, they may have never notified the ¡®half-gods¡¯ such as Be. They would have simply waited until the ascension wasplete before forcing them to register. Even if that wasn¡¯t the case, they could force the affected people to seek out the registry on their own power.


    Instead, Tsubaki had paid a personal visit. One of the highest powers within any known world was personally attending to each registration without any of the arrogance that would normally match her position. In Be¡¯s eyes, this showed the true nature of a person. She now understood why Tsubaki alone was fit to be the Keeper¡¯s Servant. It was not simply due to her power, but also herpassion.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a bother.¡± Tsubaki replied with that same smile. ¡°If you decide to advance further, please let me know. I¡¯ll watch the registry, in case I need to return. If it works as intended, that shouldn¡¯t be the case, but I¡¯d rather be prepared.¡±


    ¡°I understand.¡± Be nodded, offering a grateful bow.


    ¡°Now, I¡¯m sorry that I have to cut this short¡­ But there are a dozen more half-ascended that I need to register, before I implement this on the other worlds as well.¡±


    ¡°Oh, by all means!¡± Be¡¯s head quickly nodded, stepping aside to allow Tsubaki to leave the room first. ¡°Don¡¯t let me keep you if you have important matters to attend, Lady Tsubaki. If you are ever in the area, please stop by again.¡±


    ¡°I may just do that.¡± Tsubaki replied as she walked towards the door. When the door opened, the High Priestess was standing there in wait, prepared to guide Tsubaki back out. When Catarina saw that Be¡¯s hair had returned to its blue color, her expression brightened.


    The two left, leaving Be alone within the conference room. Once again, she sped her hands in prayer. ¡°Thank you, my Goddess, for not abandoning me at this time. Please forgive me myck of faith.¡±


    Really, I didn¡¯t even get the chance to tell you what was happening. Bihena¡¯s voice spoke up in Be¡¯s mind, sounding only slightly upset at the ¡®usation¡¯ of abandoning Be. Next time, give a Goddess the time to exin matters before you assume you¡¯ve been thrown away, won¡¯t you?


    Be¡¯s smile turned softer as she heard the voice of her goddess in her mind. ¡°I shall strive to do my best, my Goddess.¡±


    You know, the offer still stands, if you want to be my subordinate goddess. Bihena spoke up after Be¡¯s prayer was over.


    ¡°Thank you for your kindness. However, I wish to walk this path with my own strength. Only in doing so may I truly serve you with all my being.¡± While Be did not want to take the ¡®shortcut¡¯ that was bing a subordinate goddess, that did not mean that she intended to break free of Bihena¡¯s church. She was entirely devoted to serving Bihena, but wished to ept the hardships that came with such a decision as a show of her faith.

 Chapter 497: Mirror Truths

    <h4>Chapter 497: Mirror Truths</h4>


    Of the thirteen half-gods discovered by the Divine Registry, twelve of them were easily located and convinced to let Tsubaki register them with the new system. As for the final half-god, he vanished from the system before Tsubaki could find him. ording to his coordinates, he had traveled through the Fairy Ring.


    Whether this action was intentional or a mere coincidence was hard to say, but the two of them carried on. Once they had finished cataloguing all of Earth¡¯s half-gods, they moved onto the next world. In order to fullyplete their, they had to ce these wards around every world that could support them.


    Of course, there were not only half-gods on Earth. Desbar and Deckan each had their own as well. However, the real surprise came when they were setting up their wards for Kione¡­


    ¡°Alright, Tsuba, almost done.¡± Dana said with a small smile as she watched the tablet filling itself out in Kione. Tsubaki and Dana¡¯s registry stones were connected to the overall system, meaning that Tsubaki had been immediately identified once the ward covered her again. ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ one, two¡­ I¡¯m picking up only three half-gods in this world!¡±


    Give me their locations. Tsubaki responded casually, already used to this. In fact, aside from the smaller world of Desbar, three was the lowest number they hade across so far.


    ¡°Alright, the first one is-¡± Dana cut herself off as another line appeared at the bottom of the registry, meaning another person had been detected.


    ¡®Divinity detected. Domains - Mirrors, Illusions. Unregistered entity. Location¡­¡¯


    Dana? Tsubaki asked, still waiting for the location of the first half-god.


    ¡°Tsuba¡­ the Keeper is in Kione.¡± She was unfamiliar with his illusion domain, but Dana was fully aware that Dale was the God of Mirrors. As for how he acquired a second domain, she wasn¡¯t sure. But, the odds that an unknown figure had risen to godhood in not one, but two domains, one of which being the Keeper¡¯s own¡­ they were too miniscule for her to imagine.


    Clover felt his eye twitch slightly as the energy within himself became suppressed. When he was created, he admittedly did not have much of Dale¡¯s godly power, but it was still enough to use. After all, he was created out of Dale¡¯s divine body and soul, even if their souls were no longer linked.


    ¡°Everything okay, Mister Kyr?¡± Lydia asked with a smile, the two of them sitting down to eat dinner while their familiars stood at the side.


    ¡°Yeah, everything¡¯s fine.¡± Clover nodded his head gently. Inwardly, however, he was shocked. While his soul wasn¡¯t connected to Dale¡¯s anymore, which prevented the same level of fine control that Dale had over it, his mana was. A seemingly boundless mana that should have been able to fight back against this suppression. Yet, it was crushed effortlessly.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry actually, would you excuse me for just a minute?¡± He asked, standing up, much to Lydia¡¯s surprise. With a wry smile, he tapped his head. ¡°Someone wants to speak to me.¡±


    ¡°Oh!¡± Lydia gasped, nodding her head quickly. ¡°Of course. I¡¯ll just wait and heat this up when you get back.¡± She knew that Clover didn¡¯t really need to eat, and only did so because he knew it made her happy to have ¡®family¡¯ dinners together. As such, she was fine with waiting to eat until he got back.


    ¡°Thanks, Lyd.¡± Clover reached over, patting her head before walking towards the door. His action caused Lydia to puff her cheeks out in indignation at being treated like a kid, but also happy at the same time.


    Val didn¡¯t follow Clover, however, as she could feel that he wasn¡¯t going far. She had also sensed the suppressive effects, but only indirectly. And, if he wished her to go with him, he would let her know.


    Once outside, Clover walked around the yard, moving behind a tree and simply waiting. In his mind, such a powerful suppression had to be targeted, so the person responsible would doubtlessly show themselves once he was alone. At least, that¡¯s what he was expecting.


    Three minutes passed by, and then four, with Clover expecting that he was simply being toyed with. Then, in a small sh, a familiar figure appeared within the shadow of the tree, her mere presence brightening the shade. ¡°Tsubaki?¡± Clover asked in surprise, having not expected her to appear.


    ¡°My Keeper.¡± Tsubaki immediately dropped to one knee, bowing her head to him.


    ¡°Wait, wait, you¡¯ve got it wrong.¡± Clover waved his hands, shaking his head towards Tsubaki. ¡°Well, half wrong at least. I¡¯m not ¡®really¡¯ your Keeper.¡±


    Tsubaki lifted her head, tilting it slightly in confusion. ¡°Please exin, my Keeper. I¡¯m afraid that I do not understand.¡±


    Clover let out a deep sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. ¡°Okay¡­ you see, I was taking care of something here a few years ago, and I¡­ well, I adopted a girl. Her father had been killed, so I took her in. But, after I was done with my business, I couldn¡¯t just abandon her. So, I created this avatar, and isted his soul from ¡®my¡¯ own. The me you see now is Clover Kyr, not Dale. I have his memories and his knowledge up to the time of my creation, and his divinity, but you can¡¯t really call us the same person.¡±


    Tsubaki blinked, looking from Clover to the house, where she could indeed sense another presence. ¡°If this girl was special to you, why not invite her to live in the Sky Citadel with myself and Dana?¡±


    Clover put on a wry smile at that. ¡°I was undercover. If I revealed myself as the Keeper, it would have alerted the group I was waiting for. And she was young, with nobody else left in her life. Once I was done, I didn¡¯t want to just make it look like I was giving her up, even if it was to the Sky Citadel. I decided that I¡¯d just wait, I¡¯d give her a true Clover Kyr to be the family she needed, and let things y out as they may. I thought about telling her when she was older, but I decided I actually like being Clover.¡±


    ¡°I apologize, my Keeper, but¡­ you just did.¡± Tsubaki spoke up, and now it was Clover¡¯s turn to be confused.


    ¡°Pardon?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s currently watching this conversation through a spell of her familiar.¡± Unlike Clover, Tsubaki¡¯s divinity was in no way suppressed, meaning that she could use it to see anywhere that light touched. Out of curiosity, she had looked inside the house, watching the shocked expression of the lycan woman as ¡®Clover¡¯ and Tsubaki spoke.


    ¡°Ah¡­ f***.¡± Clover blurted out, rubbing his face out of frustration. ¡°Look, I¡¯m not upset with you or anything, Tsubaki. If you were the one to cause this suppression, can you lift it so I can go back inside and salvage my rtionship with my daughter?¡±


    Tsubaki gave a curt nod, bringing out the registry stone and immediately registering Clover. Though, she did so under the name Dale, as this would simrly represent Dale¡¯s own registration. ¡°It is done, my Keeper. I apologize for intruding on this matter.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± Clover shook his head with a sigh, turning and walking back towards the house. Inside, Lydia sat at the table, her cheeks flushed and eyes wet as she stared down at herself.


    ¡°So, you heard all that, huh?¡± He asked in a gentle tone, closing the door behind himself while moving to return to his previous seat.


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Lydia nodded her head, wiping her eyes. ¡°You¡¯re¡­ you¡¯re the Keeper, then?¡±


    ¡°Like I told her¡­ yes and no. Before I showed up here, there was no Clover Kyr¡­ I created the memories of him that everyone had. I needed an identity, because I was hunting down the Mowai Halii.¡± Clover could see Lydia tensing up as he said that name. ¡°I had to make myself a target for them, so that they would take me to their hideout.¡±


    ¡°So¡­ Clover isn¡¯t really real at all?¡± She asked, her voice shaking.


    ¡°He wasn¡¯t¡­ but he is now. Normally, when I do this, I might linger around for just a little while. But I always let the identity I took fade away into obscurity. This time, I just couldn¡¯t do that. So, I paid a price to make Clover truly real.¡±


    That seemed to catch Lydia¡¯s attention. ¡°A¡­ price?¡± She couldn¡¯t imagine what kind of price the Keeper would have to pay to do¡­ well, anything. He was the Keeper, after all.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. I split myself. Both like you heard me tell Tsubaki, and in another way. This side of myself can never ascend again. I chose to keep a part of me in this world to apany you.¡±


    ¡°But then¡­ why didn¡¯t you just tell me? You could have, after you killed¡­ killed ¡®them¡¯, right?¡± Lydia gave a small sniffle as she asked that, the first of her tears starting to fall.


    ¡°I could have, but¡­ I didn¡¯t want to break your heart. You had just lost your father, Lyd. I didn¡¯t want you to feel like you were losing Clover, too. I decided I¡¯d rather just truly be Clover than to put you through that.¡±


    Lydia gave a chokedugh. ¡°You know how much I always hate that in stories. Someone keeping secrets just to make someone else happy.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ me too.¡± Clover smiled, reaching out over the table to offer his hand to Lydia. ¡°You¡¯re still my Lydia. As far as I¡¯m concerned, that hasn¡¯t changed. You¡¯ll always be the daughter I took in, a part of my own family.¡±


    ¡°You really are an idiot, Mister Kyr.¡± Lydia shook her head, reaching out and cing her hand in his.


    ¡°Eh?¡± Clover¡¯s eyes went wide in shock at the sudden usation, but Lydia simply changed the subject.


    ¡°So, those times when you always have to go out to meet ¡®old friends¡¯¡­ is that when the godse to visit you or something?¡± She had been wondering about that for a while now, but never wanted to pry. Now, however, she felt it was worth asking.


    ¡°Ah¡­ uhm¡­ not really.¡± Clover shook his head. ¡°You see¡­ my main self has this really convenient thing called a Perfect Soul. It lets him perfectly hide the aura of power he emits. And he¡­ did not give me that ability.¡±


    ¡°Kind of an oversight on his part, I know. But, it means that my aura is leaking out. I¡¯ve managed to hide it from the senses of people through a different technique to prevent any undue trouble. Hiding it from monsters, on the other hand, is considerably harder. Every now and then, I can sense a monster army forming up to try and attack me, so I go and take care of them before they can reach a city.¡±


    Lydia¡¯s jaw dropped open at that deration, her hand going stiff. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you just get this ¡®perfect soul¡¯ or whatever from your main self, and just prevent the problem altogether?¡±


    ¡°Heh¡­¡± Clover chuckled, ncing off to the side. ¡°It¡¯s a bit of a journey to where he¡¯s staying, and I didn¡¯t want to worry you by vanishing for that long.¡±


    ¡°You¡­¡± Lydia let out a long sigh. ¡°You get it taken care of, okay? I promise, I¡¯m not going anywhere, and I won¡¯t panic. But this sounds like a big oversight. We¡¯ll talk more once you aren¡¯t a giant monster ma, okay?¡±


    Clover offered a small, relieved smile towards Lydia. ¡°Sure thing, Lyd.¡±


    As he stood up, Clover suddenly paused, blinking. ¡°You¡¯re right, I am an idiot¡­ If Tsubaki were still around, it¡¯d take only a minute to get to my main self.¡± Give or take the time to boot up the Fairy Ring to Lorek, but still¡­


    ¡°Just¡­ how far away is your main self?¡± Lydia suddenly felt herself growing concerned at this idea.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ if he is where he nned on being still, let¡¯s see. If I use a portal, I can get to Kiran in just an hour to reach the Fairy Ring. Then wait for the next connection to Lorek. And¡­ maybe a month to actually get there?¡±


    ¡°A month?!¡± Lydia cried out in shock. ¡°I know you said it was a journey, but I thought you meant you¡¯d be back in just a week or two¡­ You can call her back, right?¡±


    ¡°Well, I can try.¡± Clover shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m not sure if the call will go through.¡±


    ¡°Please try.¡±


    Seeing the insistent expression on Lydia¡¯s face, Clover simply smiled and focused on initiating the mental call with Tsubaki.

 Chapter 498: Over Drive

    <h4>Chapter 498: Over Drive</h4>


    It was¡­ unexpected for Clover to be caught the way that he was, as I neglected the fact that he still possessed my divinity. Still, it didn¡¯t really do any damage, so there wasn¡¯t a problem. If anything, it made it more convenient as I no longer had to personally make an appearance in order to register myself with their system.


    Soon, Tsubaki and Dana had managed to implement the Divine Registry across all worlds that epted geometric magic, with the exception of Fyor. All that was left was to find a way to implement the same system within Lorek and Spica. Unfortunately¡­ the difference between those two magic types were so far apart that I did not have the faintest idea how to utilize such powerful magic, without the information globes.


    I¡¯m sure it was possible. Anything that was possible in one magic system should theoretically be possible in another. It was just a matter of specialties. Geometric magic was simply better at creating wards due to its more stable structure. Runic magic was better atbat magic due to its flexibility and the ability to store spells within ¡®sigils¡¯ to activate at a moment¡¯s notice.


    What would this ster magic be better at, then? Those who used it boasted the highest mana sensitivity. If I had to ssify ster magic as ¡®better¡¯ in one field it was energy usage. Since the mana was trapped within the atmosphere, instead of within the body of the caster, there was no real mana usage on the caster. The only ¡®drain¡¯ that urred was the mental strain of connecting with that mana.


    Of course, this wasn¡¯t the case for those cultivators who formed ¡®mana stars¡¯ within themselves, as they were capable of generating and utilizing their own mana. But, in general, I could ssify that as a strong suit of that magic type. Perhaps, with the mana trapped like that, it would provide the perfect power source for the orbital ward all on its own.


    ¡°All fighter troops to forward hangar! We are engaging the enemy!¡± The voice echoed urgently throughout the ship, lights alternating between their normal glow and a bloody red. Dozens of kitsune rushed through the halls. Each one, male or female, was d in a form-fitting rubber suit, a white helmet over their face with a green visor. If one paid close attention, they would notice specks of energy crackling along the length of their tails, ensuring that their body was totally protected.


    ¡°The Emergence has encountered the enemy. All fighter troops to forward hangar for immediate sortie.¡±


    Soon, the first of the troops arrived at the empty hangar, running over towards the nearest empty port. On it were five thin slots, prompting the man to wave his hand, conjuring five cards. Each card slid into one of the slots. ¡°Begin assembly!¡± He shouted, and began to move without even waiting for the machine to act.


    As soon as he had spoken, he ran to a nearbydder, and began climbing up. While he did so, rays of light shot out from the floor, dancing in the air. As they rose, metal formed beneath them, like they were printing a giant object from the air.


    When the man reached the tform at the top of thedder, the light had already caught up with him. Just as the capsule which formed the cockpit finished forming, its hatch already opened, he leapt from the tform tond inside of it. Once inside, he was locked within a tight, empty space for several long moments.


    Then, suddenly, a light emerged on the screen in front of him. With thepletion of the assembly, the light spread throughout the entire interior. The man ced his hands in the gel-like control spheres and focused. ¡°Fox Troop One,unch!¡±


    Outside of the mech- a red, humanoid machine with sharp edges and white highlights- a ss wall rose up from the ground. This wall fully epassed the mech, reaching from the floor to the ceiling in barely a second. Afterwards, the ground beneath the mech split open. The vacuum of space pulled the mech from the hangar along with the air that had been within the walled-off area.


    ¡°Talk to me,mand. What are we facing this time?¡± The soldier asked, looking around as he stabilized himself with the built-in thrusters of his machine. He could see thesers being fired from the Emergence, andmanded his machine to adjust the view. On the screen, the light of thesers dimmed, and he was able to make out the figures of¡­ something flying through the air.


    ¡°Sorry, Fox Troop One, we don¡¯t have a clear identification on them, yet.¡± The creatures were notrge, but they were powerful. Their bodies appeared to be made of rock, if you could could them bodies in the first ce. Rough spheres with numerous openings along their surface.


    The soldier watched as one of the creatures, no more than six meters in diameter, caught aser st in one of its open ports. It did not seem to do any damage, aside from pushing it back. Afterwards, the creature began releasing multiple, smaller sts of its own to stabilize its flight.


    ¡°Attention all troops.¡± Themander¡¯s voice spoke up after witnessing this. ¡°These enemies are unknown, but we have at least something. Everyone, switch to physical loadouts. Shields, swords, and boost thrusters.¡±


    ¡°Understood!¡± The soldier dered, retrieving one of his hands from the gel-like control sphere. He waved it to the left, and several slots opened up, revealing rectangr ports. Another wave, and he slotted four more cards into these ports.


    epting the cards, a thin ss cover held them in ce, while lines of energy lit up along the panel. ¡°Activating loadout.¡± He spoke, mostly to himself as he returned his hand to the control sphere.


    Through these control spheres, he was capable of experiencing the ¡®senses¡¯ of his mech if he focused. He could feel the extra weight on his back and legs from the materializing thrusters, the thin sword in his right hand, and therge shield in his left. If he tried, he could take the link deeper, but that was a fighting style he had yet to master.


    ¡°Now, the enemy appears capable of absorbing and redirecting energy sts, both offensively and for propulsion. Due to their attack pattern, it¡¯s likely that their primary focus is to ram into objects at high speeds. Do not try to meet their charge head-on!¡±


    Unfortunately, there was not just one enemy to worry about. At first, the soldier had only noticed the one, but then they came into view¡­ a shifting ¡®cloud¡¯ of stone and light. There had to be dozens of them, if not hundreds.


    ¡°Requesting authorization to use Over Drive.¡± The soldier spoke up, his thrusters ring as he charged towards the monsters. Already, he could register the other mechs appearing in the space behind him, and knew that he was not alone in this charge.


    ¡°Negative, Trooper One.¡± However, his request to use this powerful device was turned down. Over Drive, when activated, would boost his machine¡¯s abilities far beyond its normal limits. In exchange, it caused heavy damage to the inner workings of the mech from the strain, so it was saved as ast resort.


    ¡°Understood.¡± The soldier grit his teeth at the refusal, elerating while holding his shield in front of him. The first of the ¡®meteor monsters¡¯ was almost upon him, so he quickly shifted his momentum to the left to sidestep it. Its ¡®ports¡¯ along its body lit up to immediately correct its course, but this caused it to remain stationary for just a moment.


    That moment was all he needed to bring his sword down and slice the rock in twain. His sword seemed to vibrate as he shed with it, cleanly severing the rock and revealing what hid within. He could see a grotesque blob of flesh, tethered to the rock by thick strands while pulsating pores covered its surface, matching the holes on the rocky exterior.


    ¡°Times like this, I wish we had a pilot ss.¡± He muttered to himself, spinning slightly to kick the twin pieces of the rock monster away. Momentster, one of the pieces detonated, erupting in a small burst of light.


    ¡°Well, at least we know they¡¯re organic. On the inside.¡± A voice spoke into his radio, one of the other pilots joining his charge. He gave a nod towards her words, knowing that she wasn¡¯t wrong. Every little bit of information that they acquired would help them in the battle ahead.


    At least, that was the immediate thought, before the monsters suddenly took on a rather strange formation. From an aimlessly scattered cloud, their presence began to narrow, lining up behind one another. Their bodies gave off only faint glows while they corrected their courses, but something seemed wrong.


    That was when themander¡¯s voice rang out in rm. ¡°Troops One through Ten, activate Over Drive now!¡± Clearly, they had noticed something back on the Emergence that the troops had yet to see.


    Either way, they had their orders. ¡°Understood!¡± The soldier shouted, charging ahead with nine other mechs. ¡°Activating Over Drive.¡± He still never understood why they insisted on the name being two words, as opposed to simply calling it an overdrive. However, its effect was remarkable.


    Once he gave themand, the red surface of his mech began to shine like a star. Behind the mech, where previously only the trails of the thrusters could be seen, a shimmering tail spread out. And then another, and another, nine tails in total forming behind the mech. On the screen in front of himself, the soldier could see the climbing power levels of his mech.


    Standard operating power was only listed at ¡®five hundred¡¯, but that number soared with the activation of the Over Drive. In fact, for every full thousand power the mech achieved, it was capable of sprouting a single tail. This tail served as both the exhaust for this substantial energy, and as a way to utilize it inbat.


    ¡°Over Drive has reached full power,mander!¡± The soldier dered, before his nine tails pped at the empty space, propelling him forward violently. Within seconds, he had traversed thousands of kilometers to meet the enemy.


    One of the tails came up and whipped around his sword, causing its de to gain a bright, white glow. He shed through the first of the monsters with ease, a beam of energy spreading out to cut the second. Just a momentter, the rest of the empowered mechs arrived, each striking out at one or two monsters.


    It was then that he realized what they were up to, noticing that several monsters were suspiciously far back from the rest of the pack. They had been feeding their energy forward,unching themselves back in the process so that they couldbine everything in the front. When he noticed this, his tails immediately whipped the remains of the two frontmost monsters off into the distance.


    He counted the seconds as they flew, hoping that he hadunched them far enough. There was no way of knowing which ¡®piece¡¯ of each creature held their energy core, but he had already watched one explode upon death. And sure enough, this was no different, aside from the scale of the st itself.


    None of the other soldiers were the ignorant types, or else they wouldn¡¯t havested this long. They had seen him kick away the first monster, and the explosion that had followed, so each of them had simrly thrown away their kills. One after another, brilliant shes of light shook the space around them each detonationrger than thest.


    A relieved sigh spoke up into their radio, theirmander giving the next order. ¡°All troops, deactivate Over Drive. The energy levels of the rest of these monsters are nearly depleted, so just mop them up and return home.¡±

 Chapter 499: Array With You

    <h4>Chapter 499: Array With You</h4>


    ¡°What now, Tsuba?¡± Dana asked, skipping idly down the hall as she moved alongside her ¡®big sister¡¯. The two of them had just finished securing every world where their ward could work, but that still left ratherrge gaps in theirwork. For instance, Spica and Lorek, as well as Fyor, and the vast majority of the demons¡¯ secondary worlds.


    ¡°Next up is Spica and Lorek.¡± Tsubaki said with a firm nod, already moving towards the library. However, Dana froze as she heard that, confused.


    ¡°But¡­ do you know how to use star magic?¡± Given that Tsubaki¡¯s domain was light itself, she wouldn¡¯t put it past the kitsune to be capable of freely controlling the magic of those two worlds.


    ¡°Only somewhat, but not enough to cover this.¡± Tsubaki shook her head, her steps not stopping until she was well within the library.


    ¡°Then¡­ how do you n to incorporate them?¡± If they were capable of using these wards without needing to master the local magic, then naturally there would have been no reason to skip the other worlds in the first ce.


    ¡°Through the geometric system, obviously. Though I hear it¡¯s a bit different there¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, what?¡± I sat upright when I heard Tsubaki¡¯s words, looking towards the screen in confusion. At first, I thought that I misheard her. After all, Lorek and Spica both used the ster system right? Shaking my head, I decided to focus on the screen to hear her exnation personally.


    ¡°God of the Forge, and Goddess of Magic.¡± Tsubaki spoke as she stood before a table within the library, one of the many that had been set up in order to allow people to freely read. Of course, Dana and Tsubaki were the only ones that ever really used it anymore, given that the other representatives no longer visited the citadel.


    ¡°Please bestow upon us the codex of the Array Path.¡± It was then that Dana¡¯s eyes widened, and she remembered the existence of the ¡®array cultivators¡¯ from Lorek. There were, admittedly, only a few of them in existence as most of those who received the initial teaching had been eliminated long ago.


    Regardless, there were a few simrities between the arrays of Lorek and the geometric magic of Earth. Unfortunately, the simrities were not nearly enough for magic from one to work in the other. This caused Dana, as well as the vast majority of natives, to dismiss the two as entirely separate magic systems.


    ¡°Are you nning to cultivate this path?¡± Dana asked curiously, watching a row of books beginning to appear on the table before them. The first showed a star with three points, and then four. This continued all the way until the twenty-fifth book, which featured a star with twenty-seven points.


    Cultivation within Lorek was not an easy feat for those who were starting from the bottom. The potential to fail was constantly looming, with the results of failure being¡­ unpleasant to say the least.


    ¡°Of course not.¡± Tsubaki shook her head. ¡°If that was going to be my goal, I would have had to start preparing for this since before we began work on the wards for Earth.¡±


    After saying that, she sat down at the table and gestured for Dana to do the same. ¡°Anyone can use the arrays of Lorek. Array cultivators simply engrave these arrays into their advancement path, allowing them to activate a selection of spells at a moment¡¯s notice.¡±


    ¡°The first thing that we need to do is to identify the key differences between these arrays and the magic that we are familiar with. Once we have that, we can move to Lorek and begin designing the array which will act as the ward for that world.¡±


    Dana gave a brief nod, sitting next to Tsubaki and opening the book in front of her. ¡°Okay¡­ but we can¡¯t ever take our scepters there. I heard that someone tried to smuggle an AC unit into Spica once, and it blew up in their storage device. Anything that radiates mana like that meets with an explosive end.¡±


    By that logic, simply taking the scepters to Lorek or Spica would be equivalent to unleashing a terrifying destructive weapon. Not something that either of them wanted to ur. ¡°Thankfully, we don¡¯t need to do that. Unlike Earth, Lorek and Spica aren¡¯tcking when ites to orbital energy.¡±


    Dana blinked, suddenly remembering that aspect as well, the pieces falling into ce in her head. ¡°This can work¡­ this can actually work, can¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s my intention. I¡¯d love to create a sphere for Fyor that could merge with their central pir, but¡­ if I¡¯m correct, it requires at least fifth tier magic in order to craft something of that nature.¡±


    ¡°Wha?¡± Dana¡¯s motions of reading through the book in her hands stopped as she heard that. It had taken them years to create the upper-limit fourth tier spell that made the Reality Gem. She was having a hard time even imagining how one would go about casting fifth-tier magic.


    ¡°Aha.¡± Tsubaki smiled happily as she ignored Dana¡¯s stunned response. ¡°Their first tier arrays differ from ours in their concept ofyering. With our magic, we craft the entire spell, and then cast it as a single whole. On the other hand, each piece of their array is its own form, capable of shifting within the array itself.¡±


    Dana gave a nod of understanding, slowlying back to her senses. ¡°If a basic function like that differed, it would make sense for even lower tier items to not function when brought over.¡±


    ¡°Not just that, but the symbols don¡¯t represent the same thing between the two worlds. Look here.¡± Tsubaki slid her book over to Dana. ¡°What we consider as the pattern of the basic ¡®st¡¯ effect, they use to represent the element of stone.¡±


    Dana let out a low groan when she saw that, realization dawning on her. ¡°We¡¯re going to need to remake the entire ward from the ground up, aren¡¯t we?¡±


    ¡°Indeed. But, at least this time we have the experience of making the first one to help us along.¡±


    ¡°Wait, so that¡¯s it?¡± I blinked, looking at the screen. Leaning back, I fell into thought. I had to piece this together in my own mind, to help me make sense of these new changes. Or rather, old changes that I had overlooked until now.


    Tubrock asked for the system of magic from Earth. I remember that now. But, when the magic items from Earth stopped functioning after the merge of Lorek and Spica, that thought had fallen to the back of my mind.


    Focusing, I remembered another scene as well. Back in a previous invasion, when I fought against the ck slime monsters. In order to jam our magic, they used runic magic. However, it was very clearly not the same sort of runic magic that I was familiar with, or I would have been able to understand it.


    At first, I had assumed that it was of a level higher than what I had purchased, but maybe that wasn¡¯t the case. If the energy systems between two worlds can change on a fundamental level with the differences of the systems governing that world, then why can¡¯t the magic itself change?


    Lorek operates on a fundamentally different set of supernaturalws whenpared to Earth. If I look at it that way, it¡¯s not strange for their magic systems to operate differently, even when they are purchased as the same basic system.


    The only question was¡­ why didn¡¯t I know of that sooner? I had already studied fourth tier geometric magic, even if only casually. However, I didn¡¯t see any mention of a ¡®second type¡¯ of geometric magic. Even though I should have acquired both sets of knowledge with that purchase.


    Thinking that, I summoned the information sphere into my hand again, and focused on it. At first, when I went diving for information, I indeed only found the knowledge of Earth¡¯s magic system. It was only when I specifically thought about looking for Lorek¡¯s information that the results drastically changed.


    And, of course, I had never been interested in the path of arrays, so I hadn¡¯t studied that information too deeply. I didn¡¯t want to be the God of Arrays, so studying that field didn¡¯t make as much sense to me at the time.


    Once I realized all of this, I was both relieved and not at the same time. Relieved that there was a way for Tsubaki and Dana to continue their ns with Lorek and Spica. And as for the not, that was simply my own disappointment at myself for not putting this together sooner.


    ¡°Aye, that ought to do it.¡± Tubrock muttered to himself, looking at the engraving that he had created within a dark cavern. He had his hammer in his left hand, and a small chisel in the right hand. ¡°Once I slot that core in here, this world should be fully operational in no time.¡±


    The only thing stopping him from doing so was the absence of the dimension to ce his world inside of. Before he got ahead of himself, he had to first confirm that what he wanted would actually work. ¡°Oi! Magicss! Get yer ass in here!¡± He called out into the empty cavern, answered only by a faint sigh.


    ¡°Really, Tubrock?¡± Ryone said, seeming to melt out of the walls to walk over as an orb of light formed in her hand. ¡°You could be a bit more polite about it, you know?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, just excited. Ye ready to do this?¡± There was a wide grin on Tubrock¡¯s face as he asked that.


    Seeing the eagerness of the dwarf, Ryone let out a faint chuckle. ¡°Sure. Have you decided which world you want me to copy? I mean, I can guess, looking around, but I¡¯d rather make sure.¡±


    Tubrock gave a faint nod of his head. ¡°Can¡¯t rightly use Lorek¡¯s system, if I be wantin¡¯ to make use of this power source. An¡¯ besides, I made the golems with a mix of runic and geometric magic.¡±


    ¡°That, and I can feel a certain special material.¡± Ryone sent a raised eyebrow towards Tubrock as she said that. ¡°You nning on letting Udona know?¡±


    ¡°Eh, I already told the foxss my n. She¡¯s the one that gave me the idea to mine hers.¡± Tubrock shrugged his shoulders at the verbal jab. ¡°I reckon that it¡¯ll be easier on my guys in the long run if¡¯n they are able to lighten their load.¡±


    ¡°Fair enough.¡± Ryone nodded her head, taking a deep breath. ¡°Let¡¯s head on out and take care of this properly.¡± With a wave of her hand, she vanished, the dwarven god doing the same only momentster.


    When they reappeared, they were within the void of space, stars dotting the otherwise empty expanse. Ryone was focusing, her eyes screwed shut as she held her hands in front of her chest. Her ¡®voice¡¯ echoed out around her, though only Tubrock was capable of hearing it within the depths of his mind.


    I trade eight-tenths of my divinity for the absolute power of dimensions. It had taken thirty percent of her divinity previously in order to trade for the domains that let her make a controlled ck hole. This time, she immediately traded away eighty percent.


    Partition this world and flourish. Manifest thews of time and space. May all be as one, copse and burn, shatter and spread. The dust of creation moves unhindered. Form fire and light, water and stone. Ripple and open, the path to a new world.


    As Ryone finished her chant, the focus to unleash a massive divine ability, the space in front of her seemed to distort, a gap forming. Tubrock offered her a thankful nod before walking forward. On the other side of the gap was an entirely new dimension, onepletely essible without both knowledge of it and the proper connections.


    For now, Ryone was that connection, but that would change soon enough. Currently, this new universe was too young, there would be no sentient life within it. Probably no life at all. He could see the waves of cosmic dust forming stars, and simply smiled to himself. His golems needed no water to drink, or air to breathe. They could exist from the dawn of creation if he chose for them to do so.


    However, such was not his n. Even if he didn¡¯t interfere, if he allowed them a billion years to develop, there was no way that they would notpletely overtake the other worlds. However, he still waved his hand, a giant mass of energy forming in front of him. The first of his threes form, bereft of his golems.


    This world was the one which held the Fairy Ring. So long as it existed, this dimension would be anchored within their strand of reality. Now, the finishing touch¡­ He snapped his fingers, and a blue gem appeared within the empty core of the, trapped within a silver device. The same cavern where he had just finished carving his grand spell.


    Even without the golems, the seemed toe alive. A thin barrier formed that repelled the cosmic dust from encroaching upon it, while turrets positioned atop tall mountains fired upon any meteors that gravitated towards it. Thanks to the power source developed by Tsubaki and Dana, hiss could function independently as long as he required it.


    Of course, he had to add self-repair functions into a great many of the spell forms, but it was worth it in the end. Turning, he stepped through the void of space to arrive in another distant region so that he could deposit the second world, and then the third. Three independent civilizations within this new dimension, three types of golems to inhabit them when the realm was ready.

 Chapter 500: Time Marches On

    <h4>Chapter 500: Time Marches On</h4>


    After I saw Tubrock and Ryone set up Tubrock¡¯s new dimension for his three crafted worlds, I saw Ryone returning to the Admin Room. She all but hobbled to her room, her energy clearly drained as she pushed open the door and copsed in her bed. From what they had said about Ashley, creating an entirely new dimension had taken her a full month of ¡®world time¡¯ to recover. I expected something simr with this situation.


    But first¡­ Terra, quick question for you.


    Hmm? The catgirl responded mentally, a touch of interest in her tone. I hadn¡¯t really bothered her muchtely, since the reveal of James being reborn somewhere within Fyor. But, I felt that this was a conundrum worthy of sharing.


    This new world that Tubrock and Ryone made¡­ would it be considered a part of my territory? It was made by one of my gods, and has a Fairy Ring, but otherwise has none of the normal standards that would make it mine. I haven¡¯t purchased it, none of my purchased races inhabit it, nothing like that.


    There was a brief pause before Terra answered, as if having to consider her response. This one¡­ I don¡¯t think it will be treated as your world for a while. As Tubrock personally crafted his sentient golems, they are regarded as ¡®his¡¯ property, and by extension yours. Once they inhabit the area, the system will recognize the location as part of your territory.


    As for the territory itself being created by a god, that doesn¡¯t influence this decision. Otherwise, the worlds inside of Tsubaki¡¯s ¡®Reality Gems¡¯ would all be considered as a part of your realm, given that one of them was made by you personally, and a god created the others. It would be too easy of a trap if a Keeper were simply capable of creating thousands of those little gems as potential targets for invasion.


    Thinking about that, I offered a small nod. The idea that an invasion could ur within the reality gems never even urred to me. After all, there was no way in or out that I was aware of. Perhaps, if I used my world sight, I¡¯d be able to peer in and see which world was chosen before destroying that marble. If I look at it that way, it would truly be too easy to set up traps like that.


    Still, even if it wasn¡¯t actually part of ¡®my¡¯ territory, it was saved. Once Tubrock added the first of his three worlds, which included the Fairy Ring, I noticed the world appearing within my list of avable territories as something that I could buy. I assumed that it would simply take a year within the world first, at which point it would automatically enter my hands.


    The only concern was¡­ without the universe it was in being under my control, just how would that year pass in the first ce? If I was unable to influence its flow of time, then naturally that would be the same with the other gods. Didn¡¯t that mean that it would be forever stuck in this primordial state for¡­ well, essentially forever?


    As I was asking myself that, I noticed something within that realm. Its appearance in my interface was blinking rapidly¡­ and then suddenly vanished. Instead, it appeared in my ¡®owned¡¯ list, leaving me utterly speechless.


    ¡°But¡­ what? I¡¯m sorry, what?¡± I shook my head in disbelief, opening the map of that world. Inside, I saw not the seas of cosmic dust, but fully formed sr systems and gxies, rotating at a visible speed before slowing to a halt. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, what!?¡±


    My confusion was, I felt, well deserved. After all, even Terra said that it would be a while before I received this world. And yet, it had happened in mere moments. As such, I began to search through the map of the world, looking for any unusual objects. That¡¯s when I found them. Millions¡­ maybe even billions ofets that had been mixed in with the expanding field of the universe.


    Each of theseets were a wardstone, powered by a reality gem. This ward expanded and proliferated to cover the entire cosmos. And, on a close inspection, had the function of elerating time within its field, with its only other function being to replicate itself after a certain duration.


    ¡°How do you even ce a ward on an entire universe!?¡± I asked out loud, knowing that Tsubaki would be very interested in learning that secret as well. Though, perhaps it was only really possible due to it being initiated at the ¡®dawn¡¯ of the universe. But still, that was ridiculous. Or should I say that it was as expected of Tubrock?


    As I was wondering that, I noticed that the control point of the ward had vanished, rendering the entire thing inoperable. Was Tubrock standing by, watching the growth of the universe and waiting to pluck it away when the time was right? No, that¡¯s not what he did first¡­ time was still elerating when I saw this world appear.


    Scanning back through the world¡¯s history, I soon arrived at my answer. One hundred thousand years prior, Tubrock seeded his three worlds each with one hundred infant golems¡­


    The metal nging could be heard throughout therge hall as a tall figure appeared. One of his ¡®eyes¡¯ was covered by a ss lens, blinking with a brass shudder, while the other was fully encased. He spoke with a firm voice, despite the otherwisepleteck of a mouth. ¡°Lord Geer, I am here to report.¡±


    Sitting before him was a metal giant, chest bared to reveal spinning gears and puffs of steam. He sat upon a brass throne, twenty meters tall in this position and far dwarfing the mechanical figure before him. ¡°Speak.¡± ¡®Lord Geer¡¯ said in a dull, resounding tone.


    ¡°The Cog Scouts have discovered three potential minings, rich in dimensium and iron ores. However, there appears to be organic life present within one of these worlds. How do you wish to proceed?¡±


    ¡°What level has the organic life reached?¡± The giant¡¯s voice was emotionless as it asked this question.


    ¡°The scouts report that they have begun the understanding of primitive tools, but show no signs of civilization.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡± After those words, silence fell over the room for several long moments. ¡°Send the Harvester.¡±


    The retainer offered a nod, as if expecting these words, before turning and walking out of the room. Perhaps, if the race had been more advanced, there would have been room for discussion. However, in their present state, there was no such need to do so. Dimensium was far too valuable, capable of creating powerful artifacts that could amplify the ability of magical cards.


    The figure held one hand forward, his arm bare and showing a metallic skeleton lined with tubes and pistons. In front of his hand, a geometric magic form formed. ¡°Lord Geer has spoken. The worlds shall be harvested.¡±


    ¡°Understood,mander.¡± A voice spoke through the formation. ¡°For the Gears.¡±


    ¡°Shh, shh, it¡¯s okay now.¡± A figure spoke in a gentle, motherly tone. Her body was sleek, seeminglyposed of a single piece as she bent down to lift a smaller form into her arms. She was quite clearly metallic by her lustrous silver skin, her eyes glossy as she looked at the babe in her arms.


    ¡°Shar mirran.¡± She spoke the tongue of magic, the metallic infant calming. ¡°It¡¯s okay. We all take a while to assume a proper form. Don¡¯t worry, you¡¯ll adjust soon.¡± At a closer look, it could be seen that the baby¡¯s facial features were rippling like an upset pond, unable to settle on a single appearance.


    ¡°High Mother.¡± A voice spoke up in the room, sounding extremely respectful. Along the wall, a string of runes condensed and formed a projection of a male figure, simrlyposed of smooth metal.


    ¡°Knight Jessin. What is the problem for you to call me at this hour?¡± The woman asked, never dropping her pleasant tone as she ced the infant back into its crib. She stood within arge room, filled with hundreds of such cribs. And, within each was either a fully formed infant such as she was holding, or a puddle of liquid metal struggling to take shape.


    ¡°Our colony ships have reported back, as requested. They arrived at the target world, but found it to be inhabited, and wish for your wisdom.¡±


    ¡°What is their civilization level?¡± The High Mother asked, walking along the room and inspecting each crib.


    ¡°Only one, High Mother, and barely so at that. Scans indicate ack of manufactured structures within the.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± She nodded, speaking in a casual tone. ¡°Send in the Speakers to make first contact. If they show promise, we will wee them into the fold. However, if they initiate hostilities, you have my permission to use the Unspoken Word.¡± There was a sh of reluctance as she gave thatmand, but she did so anyways.


    The Unspoken Word had another name among their people, the Unraveler. It was capable of erasing its targets sopletely that the world itself seemed to forget them. ¡°Are you sure that is necessary, High Mother?¡±


    ¡°Like I said, only if they attack first.¡± She nodded her head. ¡°You must not underestimate any creature simply due to its apparent simplicity. If they show the willingness to be a threat to our people, we must treat them as one. However, if they ept our guidance, we will find a ce for them within the Network.¡±


    ¡°As you wish, High Mother.¡± The figure within the projection said, before the projection itself shattered into countless runes.


    An armored figure stood atop a tall balcony, looking out over the world. The glitteringndscape reflected within his ck, ss eyes. Spires erected since before time itself shielded their world, while furnaces beneath the surface worked to create products in ordance with the designs fed into them.


    Yet, there still existed more, hidden secrets within his domain. Functions of the world itself that he had yet to unlock. As the bearer of the King¡¯s Card, he should have been capable ofmanding all of the world¡¯s facilities, but there were certain areas that simply refused to answer him.


    ¡°My lord, there has been a change within the third district.¡± A voice spoke up, seeming toe from the king himself. However, he simply reached into his breast pocket, retrieving a card that depicted a face. Their forms were slim, yet with sharp angles. Such was the aesthetic that they had been created with at the dawn of their history, and such had stayed with them until now.


    ¡°Show me.¡± The king spoke, waving the card in the air. Immediately, it erged, bing a window through which he looked. His subordinate was standing within a high-traffic area, though the traffic was almost entirely in the forms of shadows passing over his head. Only a few figures walked the streets, after all.


    There, within a public square at the heart of the third district, a circr te was letting out a deep hiss of steam. This was but one of the many regions where the King¡¯s Card had yet to grant him control. That alone had made it obvious to him that there was something hidden beneath this square, yet every attempt to probe it, either magically or mechanically, had been repelled.


    Soon, the circr te began rotating, sinking down beneath the surface. And then, sliding off to one side to reveal a pit thirty meters wide. ¡°Sikar, prepare a team.¡± The king spoke, before realizing that thismand was not necessary. A new structure was beginning to rise up from the pit, slowly spinning as it reced the te which had once been there.


    This structure appeared to be arge, ck ring resting atop an elevator tform. ¡°Make that a research team. Look for an Archive Card.¡± Now that a new structure had appeared, there was a need for the king to understand its purpose. With any luck, the Creator had left behind a guide, as he had with many facilities before. If not, it would simply be a matter of discovering the answer on their own.


    ¡°Three worlds, three golems¡­ so that¡¯s the significance of the number.¡± I muttered to myself as I looked at each of the worlds. ¡°Three systems of magic.¡± There was the Gear Federation, clockwork golems that specialized in geometric magic. From what I saw, they had a more pragmatic, war-like agenda.


    Then there was the Sliphere Network, liquid metal golems that had mastered runic magic. While they seemed more peaceful, this peace was bnced with the constant readiness to do battle. Simr to their clockwork counterparts, they did not hesitate to use their greatest weapons against any threat. The main difference was that they did not jump so quickly to assume that everything was a threat to their race.


    And then, finally, the Aquilo March. This was the third race, which was also positioned on the where Tubrock installed the Fairy Ring. They did not seem to have any interest in war outside of a means to defend themselves. Their cultural focus leaned heavily towards understanding, and they used their card magic in interesting ways to further their own knowledge.


    Even though each race was theoretically capable of using the magic of other races, simr to how the Gear Federation was seeking out dimensium in order to refine more powerful card-based weapons, they maintained a strong focus on their own field. If I had to guess, each¡¯s internal workings was based on one of the different types of magic, with Tubrock providing small hints to get them set up.


    ¡°That¡­ is going to be interesting to see how it turns out.¡±

 Chapter 501: Iron March

    <h4>Chapter 501: Iron March</h4>


    ¡°Captain, we¡¯ve got an unscheduled ring activation.¡± A young kitsune woman spoke up, ncing back from her monitor to look at the transit captain.


    ¡°It should be almost time for Lorek¡¯s regr shift.¡± The captain mused, sitting back in his chair. ¡°Maybe they¡¯re just starting early. Check the inbound signature.¡± Despite the closeness of the next scheduled shift, they could not entirely rule out the possibility of a ¡®random connection¡¯ being established.


    ¡°Understood, sir.¡± The woman nodded, facing her terminal again to type on a holographic keyboard. A series of windows shed on the screen, before she called back. ¡°Unknown signature, sir! This is not a registered world!¡±


    ¡°Activate the protocols.¡± He furrowed his brow as he gave themand. A screen projected itself onto the wall in front of them. Within the image were two guards, each pointing thin pistols at an active Fairy Ring. Even now, the captain could see the faint shaking of the guns caused by nerves. There was always the chance that a disaster could walk through an unknown connection.


    Soon, ripples could be seen in the otherwise smooth portal, and a heavy metallic nk was heard when a foot stepped through. No, not a foot¡­ a boot, maybe? It was armored, a mix of silver with blue highlights. And then, the owner stepped through fully. The captain stood upright as he saw the metallic figure, distinctly aware that he had never seen anything like it before.


    At least, not anything that didn¡¯t tower three stories high. ¡°Send a message to the queen, we have a First Contact.¡± The captain said, while the metallic figure looked between the two guards.


    Casually, it retrieved a single card from apartment on its left wrist, and held it up to its mouth. What came next sounded like a series of beeps and static to the captain, but surprisingly¡­


    ¡°This world is Deckan.¡± One of the guards spoke as if answering a question. ¡°Please state your business.¡±


    Again, another odd mix of static and beeping before he spoke again. ¡°I¡¯m not authorized to make that decision. Levin, you got this?¡± He asked the other guard, who gave a firm nod, not removing his pistol from its position.


    The other guard then lowered his own gun, walking towards the wall and cing a hand on his head. ¡°You seeing this,mand?¡± He asked, his voice nowing through twice as he activated the radio.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. What does it want?¡± The captain kept his brows furrowed as he focused on the screen, as if waiting for the metal man to take a hostile action.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t hear? He said he wants to set up a meeting with the ¡®local authority figure¡¯. Guessing that means you.¡± It would seem that the soldier was unaware that the card the entity had been using was tranting its odd speech patterns.


    The captain simply nodded at that, ncing towards the girl who was already cing the call asmanded. ¡°Whatever happens, follow protocol.¡± He told her, before walking towards the door. ¡°I¡¯ll be in room one.¡±


    Interesting¡­ silver weapons enchanted with geometric patterns to take advantage of the unique energy of dimensium. The golem thought to himself as he observed the weapons of the soldiers. Though, it would be far more efficient to use dimensium in the construction. Perhaps it is a more scarce resource within this world. I should note that as a potential trade opportunity.


    As he thought to himself, he was being led through a series of stone hallways, doing his best to assess the level of civilization from the little details of both their architecture and any items he spotted along the way. If not for the presence of the gateway, he would have assumed them to be a lower ss civilization, only level four or five. However, the guns he witnessed increased his evaluation slightly.


    Soon enough, the two guards stopped in front of a door, gesturing for him to go inside. Without a word, he did so, pushing the door open with one hand. There were a number of enchantments that he could identify within the confines of this room, defensive spells meant to activate in the event that anyonees to any harm.


    ¡°Interesting.¡± He spoke, though it seemed as if the organic in the room could not hear him. With a mental sigh, he once again retrieved the trantion card from his wrist. ¡°My apologies. I am aware that you are incapable ofmunicating with me without the use of cards such as this.¡±


    Such cards were not that hard to generate, in all honesty. They were merely of the second tier. Yet, the fact that this world did not utilize them once again lowered his view of them.


    ¡°I see, so that¡¯s what it is.¡± The organic nodded his head, and the golem noted a small twitch in his eye. ¡°Sorry, we are used to using a different method of trantion. Though, I believe that this could be considered more convenient, in a way.¡±


    ¡°Ah, it is good that you have your own means.¡± The golem understood after the exnation that they weren¡¯t entirely uneducated, merely that they had followed a different path. ¡°In an effort to expedite negotiations, I must first determine the level of civilization for this world known as Deckan. Are you familiar with the creator¡¯s level assignment system?¡±


    The organic looked¡­ confused, or perhaps frustrated. ¡°I assume that you don¡¯t mean the levels of sses, such as schr or engineer?¡±


    ¡°Correct. However, the fact that you are aware of that system has raised your grade marginally. Within the world wee from, we are the only known entities with ess to that level system. But, to exin, the level assignment system allows us to determine the advancement of a civilization through a series of achievements that they have made.¡±


    ¡°From your guardsmen, I could tell that you are capable of manufacturing metal, and imbuing it with arcane properties. This ces you at a minimum of level four. For reference, the maximum level within the system handed down by the creator was ten, which we have recently achieved.¡±


    The organic let out a low groan, shaking his head. ¡°Well, let¡¯s start from the top, then. What¡¯s the requirement for reaching level ten?¡±


    ¡°In order to reach level ten, a civilization must be capable of bothary defense andary destruction through manufactured means.¡± As this wasmon knowledge among his people, the golem had no need to hide this information.


    ary destruction, huh?¡± The organic fell into thought at that. ¡°We haven¡¯t tried to build anything capable of destroyings. There hasn¡¯t been the need to. But for the other¡­¡± Clearly, the organic was not as open to discussing their technology level.


    ¡°Then, I shall assume you to be at a level nine standard, under the assumption thatary defenses are avable in this world. Very good, we now have a reference for negotiations.¡± The golem was quite pleased at learning this information. Not just because his own race was more advanced, that didn¡¯t entirely factor into it.


    Simply the act of being able to assess the other party¡¯s level was something to be proud of. It meant that he had a basic understanding of how to proceed. A civilization at level nine was fit to be treated as equals to the March.


    ¡°Now that we have that taken care of, I would like to begin the necessary exnations in order to introduce you to the world that I originate from.¡± The golem expressed, his joy evident in his tone rather than his expressionless face.


    ¡°Ie from the world known as Aquilo Prime, the forgeworld where our race was founded. As a fully established forgeworld, it was once rich in materials, which are now being imported from offworld mining sites. With your permission, I would like to present a demonstration of goods that could be offered in trade.¡±


    The organic seemed to consider the idea, before tilting his head forward briefly. It was only when the golem failed to do anything that he realized that the gesture was lost on him. ¡°You may proceed.¡±


    ¡°Wonderful.¡± The golem slotted the card back into his left wrist, before retrieving another one. This card had the image of a small box on it, and he set it down on the table in front of him. As he was unable to use both cards at the same time, he did not bother speaking.


    When he activated the card, a small portion of the table began to glow. Once this glow had faded, there were new grooves along the table that had never been there before, as well as hinges. The golem simply reached down to grab a handle that had simrly appeared, and lifted it up.


    The surface of the table opened as if it had always been designed to do so, and he stuck his hand inside to retrieve something. Curiously, the organic stuck his head beneath the table to confirm that the golem¡¯s hand was not truly passing through. As he lifted himself back up, he saw that the golem had pulled five items out of the strange storage space.


    Of the five, three of the items were metal ingots. One very clearly gold, one that appeared to be orichalcum, and thest one¡­ the organic didn¡¯t seem to recognize. Interesting¡­ the golem thought to himself when he noted the look of confusion on the organic¡¯s face.


    Of thest two items, one was a card made of the same strange metal as the third ingot, while thest one was a sk with a bluish liquid. After closing the storage space and retrieving the card, he once again began to trante himself for the organic.


    ¡°From left to right, these are gold, orichalcum, dimensium, a modr fusion card, and an item we have found beneficial to you organics. The great system refers to it as a healing potion.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m familiar with potions.¡± The organic nodded, looking closer to the middle of the lineup. ¡°Those two¡­ dimensium, was it? And that card. Could you exin a bit about those?¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ I detected readings of dimensium in this, but perhaps it is too deep for your mining efforts? The background radiation at this location is quite powerful. Regardless, dimensium is the foundation for all cards. It is through basking in its ambient energy that items are capable of assuming a card form.¡±


    ¡°Simrly, it may be used to enhance dimensional properties, or create empowered card products. For instance, the storage space which I just demonstrated was created using a dimensium pulse.¡±


    ¡°Alternatively, this modr fusion card is a product of refined dimensium itself. By adding in spellponents, it functions as a fusion card for any within it. In order to alter the fusion, one must simply remove aponent card or rece it. This allows us to prevent the loss ofponents due to a wasteful fusion.¡±


    The organic clearly tensed up when he heard these words. Both that there was a metal within their own world that they were unfamiliar with, as well as this new type of fusion card. It must be considered that fusion cards were fairly rare, and several were often required in order to create a single high level spell. Their demand always outweighed the supply, which was why they were the first type of card to be mass produced with Card Synthesis.


    ¡°I think we would like to study this card¡­ and the metal you brought with you. Can you think of anything in particr that you would want in trade?¡± It was hard to list the products that could be delivered when one was unprepared, so the golem did not hold it against the organic. Rather, he already had something he wanted to ask for, and thought it would be awkward without first getting permission.


    ¡°The two guns of your soldiers outside.¡± He spoke simply. ¡°I noticed their design while they were being aimed at me, and I believe that it would be a satisfactory trade for a small quantity of dimensium, as well as a single modr fusion.¡±

 Chapter 502: Unknown and Unseen

    <h4>Chapter 502: Unknown and Unseen</h4>


    ¡°Are you confident in your assessment?¡± The mechanical king asked once he finished reading the report of the merchant they had sent through the strange gateway.


    ¡°Of course, sir. Just as it is written. A level nine civilization with a dimensium rich. Although it is unusual that they haven¡¯t discovered the material themselves, the point remains that they would make excellent allies.¡±


    The king¡¯s eyes shed once at that. ¡°Indeed. And they have the leveling system as well. Very well, then. As we agreed, you may be the first to establish a store within this new territory, with the permission of the native government.¡±


    ¡°And the other matter?¡± The merchant asked, his eyes shing as well.


    There was some hesitation, before the king seemed to relent. ¡°Yes, the forge of the seventh district will be leased to yourpany for the next three years.¡±


    The mission that he had given this merchant was an incredibly dangerous one. To investigate an unknown phenomenon, leading to apletely new world where it was unknown if the natives would be friendly or hostile, weak or strong. There was a high chance that the merchant could have died in the mission.


    As such, there had been substantial rewards promised topensate for the danger. The exclusive use of one of the¡¯s built-in forges was one of the highest prices that the king could pay, but he had done so with the belief that the creator would not lead them into danger.


    The merchant turned to leave the room, while the king read over the reports again. From what the merchant had told him, there were still several other worlds that the one they joined with connected to. Each of them could be reached through that gate, and all had roughly the same level of development, though specializing in different fields.


    This was all important information to the king, and he was quite pleased that the merchant had seen fit to acquire it before returning. Even if they were a more militaristic empire, he would not be so foolish as to attack an alliance of a half dozen civilizations.


    ¡°Still¡­ the restriction of the ring is quite a burden onmerce.¡± The king spoke quietly, gazing at a new card that rested on his desk. It was a surveince card, one which showed the area around the gate itself. ¡°Trade ships will not fit through such a small construct, limiting us to what we can carry in our storage cards.¡±


    The concept of dimensional travel had never truly crossed the king¡¯s mind before this event, as they had always been expanding out towards the stars. Now, however, they seemed to have gained a new direction with which to expand.


    ¡°Now, boy, don¡¯t lie to me about something like this.¡± A kitsune in a heavy white coat spoke, looking at the almost silver card being held in front of him, as well as the strange metal bar.


    Yet, the person before him, who wore a military uniform no less, insisted. ¡°I¡¯m telling you, it¡¯s the truth. The gate activated, and a single entity walked through. From the appearance, they seemed to be some form of intelligent golem. Something like a far smaller version of the Fox Troops developed recently.¡±


    ¡°And he said-¡± The research started, skeptically, before his words were cut off.


    ¡°Yes. That this metal can be found within our own, and is the reason why we are capable of using card magic.¡± There was a look of exasperation on the officer¡¯s face as he spoke, having to repeat himself multiple times in an attempt to convince the researcher. ¡°So, can you do it or not?¡±


    ¡°I never said that I couldn¡¯t.¡± The older gentleman said with a huff, taking the bar of metal from the officer. ¡°It¡¯ll take some calibration, but I should be able to create a scanner to prate deep underground and look for this, if it is indeed there.¡±


    In truth, they had always assumed that the unique powers of their cards were simply something that they were able to do in their world, due to whatever magical systems governed it. Much like how Fyor defied conventionalws of physics with itsyered system. They knew about the background energy that helped to create the cards, but simply thought that it was another energy that existed naturally.


    The thought of a physical material being the cause of the magic hadn¡¯t been something that had urred to them. If it was the case, however, then they could perhaps improve upon their technology, much as this strange golem had implied. ¡°Has the queen heard about this?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± The officer nodded his head immediately. ¡°She was the first to do so, and insisted that Ie to you about the scanner.¡±


    At that, the researcher let out a sigh of resignation. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll get started, then. Don¡¯t want to disappoint her Majesty.¡±


    ¡°Sister Wayver?¡± The High Priestess called out through the door, into the room of the Holy Sister. Be had not appeared for the afternoon gathering, which was most unlike her, so the priestess wished to check up on her personally.


    When there was no call from beyond the door, Mother Catarina pushed it open, fearing that the Holy Sister may have taken ill. What she saw, however, left her to gasp in shock. The room was in shambles, the wall blown out as if by an explosion. Evenrge sections of the floor were missing, nks barely hanging on.


    Through it, she could see the people below in the garden, walking about as if they had not noticed the tant destruction that had befallen the room. The priestess shook her head, grabbing the amulet at her neck and praying for the scene to be nothing but an illusion. However, when she opened her eyes, she found that it was still just as terrible.


    ¡°Scatter!¡± She shouted, waving an arm and calling forth a shred of power from above. This was not the power of Bihena that she had utilized here, but that of Irena. The power to dispel illusions spread out, causing the air to ripple. Only now did the people outside take notice of the room, crying out in shock.


    ¡°What happened here¡­¡± Clearly, someone had used a powerful ability to iste this space in an illusion. But where had the Holy Sister gone to?


    ¡°Let me make it in time.¡± Be Wayver thought to herself as she flew through the air, icy blue wings spreading from her back. She didn¡¯t take the time to bother healing the shattered stump of her right arm, knowing that it would take time and energy that she didn¡¯t have.


    She couldn¡¯t tell if she was being followed, her attacker able to evade her senses at all but the very moment that he struck. All she knew was that she had to use her greatest speed, boosted by her divine energy.


    Beneath her, Be saw the endless ocean, the waters which had always brought peace to her heart. Now, however, they only served as a constant reminder of the distance she had to travel.


    In the distance, an ind appeared in her vision, and her eyes grew wet with tears of joy. Thend of Rokindrol, the unofficial home of the Sky Citadel. And, while she couldn¡¯t see the citadel itself, there was something else that she saw that eased the pressure on her heart.


    ¡°Holy dragon Fafnir!¡± She shouted, projecting her voice with all her might. The dragon, scales currently shining a brilliant silver, waszily curled atop the highest peak of a mountain. When it heard her desperate cry, it nced upwards, eyes locking onto her.


    What is it, human? The dragonmunicated its thoughts to her, evidently upset that its rest had been disturbed. There were few among the humans who would ever dare to disturb its rest, so it believed that this one was either foolish, or truly in dire need of its attention.


    ¡°Please, call Tsu-¡± Be began, before a shadow covered her vision. A male figure appeared in front of her, hazy mist spreading behind his body as if to form wings. He held a sword in his hand, and was using it to pierce towards her head from directly in front of her, mere inches from her face.


    Yet, with the sound of steel shing against steel, the strike never connected. Instead, the de rebounded off of a thin blue barrier that had suddenly appeared between the two of them. Call who? The dragon asked, seeing that the woman had been interrupted by a strange fellow.


    Be gulped, fully aware that her life had just been saved. As soon as his attack failed, the figure vanished once again. When she spoke, she did so with a dry mouth. ¡°Tsubaki¡­ please. We need her¡­¡±


    The dragon let out a long sigh, plumes of smoke emerging from his throat. Is it to deal with the fly buzzing around you?


    ¡°Please, lord Fafnir. This man is a hunter of those who wish to ascend! He calls himself godyer!¡±


    That seemed to catch Fafnir¡¯s interest, and he let out a roaringugh. A godyer? With just that little power? Slowly, Fafnir rose from his perch, craning his neck from side to side as if stretching it.


    You, who seeks to wield the power of the Unknown, know that your form does not escape my eyes. As the dragon¡¯s ¡®voice¡¯ reverberated through the air, his eyes remained locked onto a certain point in the air. Then, as if tracking an invisible figure, nced off towards the side. Leave, before my patience ends.


    A warning growl echoed out from Fafnir¡¯s throat, before Be felt a wave of relief wash over her body. She didn¡¯t know how she knew, but she was faintly aware that the presence that had been following her ever since the church had vanished. ¡°Thank¡­ thank you, lord Fafnir.¡±


    Fafnir simply nodded, moving toy back down atop his mountain. If that is all, you can leave now.


    A rather difficult expression came upon Be¡¯s face as she heard that. Leave? That killer was still hunting her down. If she left now, then she would simply be presenting herself as a target again. ¡°If¡­ if it pleases you, may I remain in this ce for a while longer? It is beyond my ability to track the individual hunting me, so I wish to use this time to recuperate until Lady Tsubaki returns.¡±


    Fafnir¡¯s shoulder faintly shrugged. Do as you wish. Despiteying down to rest, Fafnir¡¯s senses were still projected outwards. He was now keeping a watchful eye over the entire ind. While the so-called godyer¡¯s power might be able to elude Be¡¯s senses, it could not do so against his own.


    Tsubaki had taught Fafnir how to identify divine energy, which allowed him to identify the path that the stranger was pursuing while he was visible. Thanks to that, he knew what he was dealing with. And because of that knowledge, the ¡®unknown¡¯ ability would no longer affect him.


    This was the secret to the hunter¡¯s power. As long as his prey did not understand his ability, he would be invisible to their senses. In this state, he was the perfect killer. But, when his power became known, he lost his advantage.

 Chapter 503: Census

    <h4>Chapter 503: Census</h4>


    ¡°What?¡± Tsubaki¡¯s eyes widened briefly in shock when she heard about what had happened from Be. Their divine registry was meant to prevent cases such as this, so the fact that there was already such a rogue half-god filled her with apprehension.


    She turned, casting her eyes towards the resting dragon. ¡°Can you show me what this fellow looks like?¡± Logically speaking, the fact that he was able to use his divinity meant that he should have already been registered. As long as that was the case, they would be able to suppress him once again.


    Fafnir gave azy nod, and the image of the man was projected into Tsubaki¡¯s mind. However, doing so only surprised her, as the face was unfamiliar. Furrowing her brow, she couldn¡¯t help but wonder if this ¡®Unknown¡¯ power made it possible for the man to avoid the detection of the registry.


    There was no such thing as a perfect ability, after all. In order for the registry to suppress a target, it first had to locate them. If the person was using an ability such as this while the search was ongoing, then it was possible that it would allow them to avoid detection.


    At the same time, his own ability to hide was simrly imperfect, as shown when Fafnir himself was capable of seeing through it. The problem was that the weakness in this particr stealth method required one to be aware of the user¡¯s ability. They had purposely prevented themselves from bestowing any degree of sentience within their registry in order to prevent the possibility of it turning against them.


    Dana, I need you to check the registries of the various worlds. Confirm how many half-gods have gone missing. Tsubakimunicated with her familiar back at the Sky Citadel. Aside from Tsubaki herself, Dana was the only person aware of the location of the various registry bases.


    Hmm? Sure, Tsuba. Dana, meanwhile, was busily studying the array textbooks that had been bestowed to them by the gods. In their first experience of creating the ward, they had found a strange synergy between multiple spell patterns that ovepped to create a missingponent. She was looking to see if such a thing was likely to happen again, or if they would be able to shave off years of the research time.


    When she heard Tsubaki¡¯s request, though, she closed her eyes and focused. An Archmage Scepter appeared in her hand, and she blinked out of view. Her first target was naturally the registry stone for Earth, as that was the closest to her current location. The area that she appeared in was now a frozen tundra, one whose environment had only been made harsher due to their direct influence.


    des of ice cut through the air like hail, carving white trails that formed a shifting. When two of these trails ovepped, a small disruption appeared within the space, no more than a tiny ripple. However weak this ripple was, though, it became utterly terrifying when magnified thousands of times across a widendscape. Fractures in space littered the tundra at random intervals, blinking in and out unpredictably.


    Even for someone like Dana and Tsubaki, they didn¡¯t dare try to teleport through such disturbed space. The only way to safely proceed was to either move so fast as to avoid every ripple as it formed, or to possess the key. In this case, Dana had such a key.


    ¡°Calm.¡± She spoke quietly, walking forward through the maelstrom. The angle of the hail seemed to shift subtly, opening a corridor through which nothing fell.


    As she walked closer, the nextyer of defense activated, and the winds picked up. Reminiscent of one of Fyor¡¯s higheryers, des of wind began falling down on Dana one after the other. ¡°Calm.¡± She said again, lightly waving the scepter as she activated the next key.


    This continued for everyyer of defense. From the powerful hail to the wind, a creeping cold that would freeze energy itself, even an illusion to trick the mind into wandering off the safe path. Until finally, she arrived at a wall within the ice. This was not so much ayer of defense as it was a natural camouge.


    For this obstacle, she held the scepter up, and spoke again. ¡°Thaw.¡± The blue gem of the scepter shed red, and water began to drip from the wall as a tunnel was gradually melted.


    Only when all of that was done did she finally arrive at the registry chamber. She let out a sigh of relief as she read over the names on the stone b, before moving towards the leftmost wall. They had known all along that they would eventually need to take a census, so they had established a means to transfer from one registry chamber to another safely.


    In order to prevent the chambers from beingpromised, the artifact required to do so was kept on their person at all times, and could only be activated within one of these chambers. Still, one she retrieved the key, and slipped it into a small gap in the ice wall, she vanished again.


    Back with Tsubaki and the others, they had to wait for roughly half an hour in order for the census to finish, as it took a fair amount of time in order for Dana to break through the initial set of wards. Once she had done so, however, Tsubaki let out a faint sigh. ¡°There are six names missing from the registry. Some of them may have simply moved outside of our coverage, but there is the very real chance that a few of them have already passed.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be surprised.¡± Be nodded her head seriously. ¡°I had just barely managed to escape, thanks to the warning of my goddess. If she had been just a secondter, I would have not even known I was in danger.¡±


    Why not simply consult their spirits in the Underworld? Fafnir spoke as if the matter didn¡¯t concern him. Though, his suggestion triggered a rather sad look on Tsubaki¡¯s face.


    ¡°That won¡¯t work, I¡¯m afraid. As long as they have created their divine soul, they will no longer be guided to the Underworld. While their soul persists, they will not be treated as truly dead. The fact that they aren¡¯t appearing on the registry means that either they have escaped its range, or that they have had their souls extinguished.¡±


    Ahh. Fafnir gave a small nod, while Be watched the conversation between the two of them. She had heard about her would-be hunter¡¯s power through Fafnir, and would now be able to spot him should he try to attack again. Still, she felt it better to remain behind until she was certain that the situation had resolved itself. First of all, she had yet to finish regrowing her arm, and secondly was unsure if she would be needed to help.


    Tsubaki was not well-versed with using her domain for detection techniques. There was simply so much information to process when doing so with the Light domain that even she had problems organizing it all. As such, she turned towards Be, curiously. ¡°If I may ask¡­ what domain are you pursuing?¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t settled, yet.¡± Be answered, unsure of why the question was being asked. ¡°I trust in my goddess to give me a domain befitting me when the time arises.¡±


    This time, it was Tsubaki¡¯s turn to be unsure. ¡°You n to be a subordinate god?¡± She herself was Dale¡¯s subordinate god, so it wasn¡¯t like she had any distaste towards the idea.


    ¡°That is not the case.¡± The human half-god shook her head. ¡°I wish to reach ascension through my own power, rather than take the shortcut of bing a subordinate god. However, I intend to fully pledge myself to my goddess even after my ascension.¡±


    There was a¡­ strange look that shed across Tsubaki¡¯s face. It seemed as if a mix of pride, understanding, and yet doubt all at once. She had no intentions of challenging this woman¡¯s convictions, however. She had merely been hoping that Be would possess some sort of ability for detection as a worshipper of Bihena. Water was a powerful scrying element, after all.


    ¡°I see¡­ unless we finish your ascension now, that won¡¯t be easily aplished.¡± She muttered to herself, shaking her head. The pain of ascending the flesh was the next step that Be had to take, judging by the rate she was recovering her arm. It was also the most grueling challenge of the process, and one wrong move would mean that she would perish, especially if she was doing so without someone¡¯s assistance.


    ¡°I apologize for my ipetence in this matter.¡± Be spoke with a sincere tone, offering a faint bow towards Tsubaki. It was clear what the kitsune goddess had been after, but Be was currently unable to provide it. ¡°However, I may know of another who can perform a search, assuming that they still stand.¡±


    Tsubaki¡¯s head snapped over to look at Be. When she was interviewing everyone for the registry, she did not think to ask them for what domain they were aiming for. She had felt that it was a matter of personal privacy, a fact that she was currently regretting. ¡°Who is it?¡±


    ¡°Libris Storn.¡± The name was strange, but that only made it all the more recognizable to Tsubaki. The image of a rather slender heroc shed through her mind.


    ¡°Libris¡­ how do the two of you know each other?¡± She couldn¡¯t help but voice out her confusion. From what she knew, the two of them were from entirely different social circles. There should have never been a point in time when they would have had contact with one another.


    ¡°Libris is a gentle soul, a rarity among his kind.¡± A smile formed on Be¡¯s face as she exined. ¡°He sought me out for advice when he began to walk the path to ascension, as I had been a step ahead of him. As a seafaring knight of his n lord, he wished to pursue the ¡®Water¡¯ domain. This led him to the church of Bihena, in an effort to understand as much about the Goddess as he could.¡±


    And since he¡¯s a heroc, there¡¯s little chance of him bing a subordinate god. Meaning that he should only be at the ¡®Divine Soul¡¯ stage like Be. Tsubaki nodded her head as she thought to herself. ¡°His name has not yet been struck from the list. Do you know where we can find him?¡±


    Be¡¯s expression grew somewhat moreplicated when she heard that request. ¡°He spends most of his time at sea, this much I am sure of. Thest time that we spoke was nearly a month ago, so it is unsure where he is within the water.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ I hope he¡¯s not in a fight at the moment, then.¡± Tsubaki muttered with a shake of her head. Dana, please remove Libris Storn from the authorized list, and report his coordinates to me.


    While not a preferred way to track down a divinity, due to the fact that it could put them in mortal danger if they were locked in battle, this was a way that they had devised out of necessity. As such, a momentter, Tsubaki¡¯s figure shed before she disappeared.


    ¡°Eh? Suppressed again? Don¡¯t think I did anything wrong, right?¡± A green-skinned man said as he adjusted the sails on his small ship. The waves were calm, and the monsters had yet to attack him for a while, so he wasn¡¯t particrly worried. ¡°Well, I figure she¡¯ll say what the problem is when she shows up.¡±


    ¡°Quite.¡± A voice spoke from behind him, and he gave a somewhat bitter smile. ¡°I apologize for the inconvenience, Mister Storn. I¡¯ll add you back to the registry right away.¡±


    When Libris turned around, Tsubaki was already pulling out the stone that he had seen her use once before. ¡°Hope that¡¯s not going to happen too often?¡±


    ¡°It shouldn¡¯t.¡± She shook her head as she spoke, pocketing the stone again once she had finished restoring his power. ¡°I had to do so this time as an emergency, so that I could locate you. You see, someone is hunting half-gods such as yourself.¡±


    Libris¡¯s eyebrows shot upwards at that, even his third eye opening wide. ¡°And you are worried that I may be his next target? That seems like a bad time to strip me of my power, no?¡±


    ¡°Quite the opposite, actually.¡± Tsubaki shook her head, her eyes beginning to glow. ¡°We want you to help us find them.¡±

 Chapter 504: Nothing to Fear

    <h4>Chapter 504: Nothing to Fear</h4>


    After hearing Tsubaki¡¯s request for him, Libris offered a small nod. ¡°Alright. This shouldn¡¯t be too much trouble for me.¡± He spoke with a confident smile, beating one hand against his chest.


    Tsubaki nodded in relief, d that she didn¡¯t have to resort to more drastic measures. While it was theoretically possible to help Be ascend immediately to im a domain suitable for their needs, they only had one chance at that. And, at best, it was a slim hope.


    Using an energy projection, she disyed his form for Libris to study, while also describing his power. At first, he wasn¡¯t sure why she was taking that extra step, but the reason became clear the more he heard, a grim expression covering his face.


    ¡°I apologize for troubling you for this matter. However, without a specific domain ability capable of searching him out, it could take us weeks to create a spell capable of doing so.¡± She made sure not to allude to the fact that they had ess to fourth tier magic, allowing Libris to believe that it would simply be an advanced third tier spell.


    ¡°Yeah, I got that.¡± Libris spoke with a serious expression, before cracking his knuckles. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get started.¡± Closing all but his middle eye, he slowly walked to the edge of the boat.


    When he pped his hands, the water around the boat seemed to freeze. It did not turn to ice, but rather simply halted any motion, waves suspended above the surface. Turning his palms downwards, he then spread his hands apart. This time, the water in front of him began to smooth itself out, as if one were looking at the water in a simple ss bowl.


    ¡°Find him for me.¡± He said, his central eye looking downwards. The hazel pupil shifted to a deep blue, and the surface of the still water seemed to churn. After a moment, there was a ck spot that appeared within its center, white foam bubbling up along the edge to give the water the appearance of an eye.


    Within the ck ¡®pupil¡¯, images began rapidly shing, faces and figures moving too fast to be properly identified. ¡°If he is within sight of a single drop of water, beneath a cloudy sky, anywhere that there is moisture, find this man for me. Find the one that wishes to be Unknown.¡±


    The pupil seemed to ripple, and a figure appeared kneeling on a stone floor. The figure which Tsubaki sought. The viewpoint seemed to be looking at them from a higher tform, with arms and legs at the corner of the view. As if looking through another¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°How has your training gone, Sir Loriat?¡± A voice rang out from within the water, the effect causing it to sound like a rumbling roar.


    The man, the knight, seemed to hesitate. ¡°It went better than expected, however I faced an interruption which caused me to return ahead of schedule.¡±


    The voice from before let out a loudugh. ¡°Hah! Well, no matter. If you continue your training, I am sure that you will truly be the first of my Holy Knights. The first step to divinity is said to be a true test. It would be unwise to challenge it before you are ready.¡±


    Sir Loriat, to his credit, kept his face neutral as he heard that. ¡°As you say, my King.¡±


    ¡°Go on, then.¡± The king gestured for him to rise. ¡°I am sure you have matters to attend to, my Knight of Mystery.¡± He said the title with an amused tone, though there was an unmistakable twitch within Loriat¡¯s eyes as he heard that.


    Back within the boat, Libris let out a low sigh. ¡°This seems like the one that you are after.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Tsubaki agreed readily. ¡°Can you give me a location?¡±


    ¡°Just a moment.¡± After saying that, Libris clenched his fists together, and the view changed, shifting away from the king to up above. Now, they were looking down at a grand stone castle surrounded by arge city. ¡°I can¡¯t give you coordinates, but-oh, nevermind.¡±


    His voice was cut off in exasperation when he saw Tsubaki appearing within the vision he was sending. Clearly, she not only recognized the castle, but had been able to send herself to that location before he had been able to finish speaking.


    High within the skies, above the human nation of Hanbei, a glowing kitsune appeared. Immediately, her senses spread out to epass the entire city. Scanning in such a crude way would surely be noticed, but once she had set her sights on this target, she knew he would have no means of escape.


    Sure enough, she found the unassuming knight walking just outside of the castle, a short sword at either side of his waist. Immediately, his eyes looked up at the sky in rm, but by then it was toote. ¡°I am truly sorry for this, you have a valuable ability.¡± Tsubaki muttered to herself, seeing him immediately take to the skies to flee from her.


    ¡°However, I cannot allow anyone that would use their power to harm my Keeper¡¯s world.¡± She lightly waved one hand, and a silver scepter appeared within. Despite his speed, she was able to easily track him, his figure never leaving her sight.


    Within her left hand, a thick tome bound in leather appeared. ¡°I¡¯m not confident in being able to kill you with my domain, without harming the environment.¡± The tome opened, flipping through a few pages. When it settled, a projection appeared above the book, one that appeared to be an ovepping mess of shapes and symbols.


    The next moment, her body flickered and she was hovering directly in front of Loriat. She swept her staff to the side, allowing the blue orb at the top to lightly brush against the projection. ¡°Disappear.¡± She said in a cold tone.


    An icy blue beam shot out from the projection after the scepter¡¯s orb touched it, too close for Loriat to dodge. As ast ditch effort, he tried to make himself Unknown once again. Not to Tsubaki, but to the spell she had fired. Unknown to magic, to the world¡¯sws.


    For a moment, the beam passed through him, and he gave a sneer towards his would-be executioner. However, that beam simply turned around, piercing through his head next. It could still not touch him, but at the same time he could not get rid of it.


    ¡°Interesting. How long can you hold out in that state?¡± Tsubaki asked, closing the book. ¡°Such a powerful ability must consume a lot of divinity. And the moment you stop it, you will die. I can tell that you have yet to break through to the Divine Body, so your energy must be limited.¡±


    She was right, and he knew it. Even while she was talking, he could feel his reserves draining. The only question was, would he run out of energy first, or would the spell? He had to bet his life on the idea that he had more energy with his divinity than a spell that could be stored within a grimoire.


    And, had this been a normal grimoire, he would have been correct. However, the book that Tsubaki pulled out did not store ¡®spells¡¯, but ¡®spell patterns¡¯. While the two seemed simr, the differencey in the fact that one could not cast spells strictly with the pattern, they also needed the mana source. However, the fact that they were not storing an entire spell meant that they did not have nearly the same limit on what could be stored within.


    This,bined with the Archmage¡¯s Scepter, ensured that the spell had more than enough energy to oust even a powerful god. And, given how calm Tsubaki seemed to be watching this scene, Loriat felt his chances dimming by the second.


    Everyone fears what they don¡¯t understand. This was a fact of life that had been instilled in almost every living being. When people mocked his decision to be an unknown knight, to channel his loyalty to his king not into shining brightly, but disappearing, he knew. Once he reached the height of his power, there would be nothing he couldn¡¯t do.


    Killing the other half-gods had been nothing more than a test to him. Proof to himself that his path was superior. He didn¡¯t even know that they were being monitored, as his ability had kicked in long before the registry appeared. He simply knew that his power, his Unknown domain, would let him prove his worth.


    He assassinated a half-god monk who followed the path of blood, a druid on the path of fire, and had almost taken the life of a priestess on the path to godhood as well. None of them had so much caught a glimpse of him before he struck.


    Everyone fears what they don¡¯t understand. So, he became what could not be understood. Only now, he was known, and his enemy was the one using a power beyondprehension. As his divinity withered away, he felt that the spell had not weakened in the slightest.


    Fear began to spread across his features, and Loriat did the only thing he could do. He ran. He turned and charged back towards the city. There were only a few moments left before his power ran out. Maybe, just maybe he could force this spell to target someone else. If so, he would have time to rest. It wasn¡¯t possible for such a powerful spell to be used repeatedly, was it?


    As soon as he was in the city, he dove for the nearestrge man. In his current state, his body passed directly through the human shield, the unfortunate victim being none the wiser. Within seconds, the spell would strike the man, and he would be able to flee.


    Yet, no scream emerged from behind him. Looking back, he saw the icy blue beam still circling around him,pletely ignoring the man that Loriat had tried to use as a shield. Another thing that he simply couldn¡¯t understand.


    From afar, Tsubaki watched his desperate bid to live. In truth, she was controlling the beam herself. Her sight directed its movement. Meaning that he could only escape it if he could escape her vision. The only way to do that would be to go through a portal, but he could not do so as long as he was in his current ¡®unknown¡¯ state.


    Once his energy ran out, his face went deathly pale. The people around him finally took notice of his existence, gasping in shock as the beam dug into his forehead. Then, just as quickly as he appeared, he vanished.


    Tsubaki gave a small nod, storing away the scepter that she had used to power the spell. Dana? I just tested the Magus Tome. The third execution spell performed wlessly.


    Third execution¡­ Dana¡¯s voice spoke back in Tsubaki¡¯s mind. Oh! You mean the divine erasure spell?


    That¡¯s right. Tsubaki¡¯s lips curved upwards as she vanished from her position in the sky. The tome worked just as you expected. Will you be able to prepare another one soon?


    There was a faint giggle in the back of Tsubaki¡¯s mind. Yes, I¡¯ll prepare one for the Keeper. Want me to make a customized storage space for them, as well?


    Tsubaki¡¯s cheeks flushed slightly pink when she heard that, her mental voice growing tiny. Yes please. You know the drill¡­


    Yes, I do. ¡®Nothing is too good¡¯. Dana repeated the mantra that Tsubaki lived by. Nothing was too good for the Keeper. This world was his, as was everything within it. Speaking of, though, I had an idea for an improved storage space, borrowing from the Reality Gems. What if, instead of a world filled with mana, we simply make an empty world?


    Tsubaki¡¯s eyes gave a small twitch at that. The idea was possible in theory. However¡­ The gravity of a world that size would be far greater when we increase its scale, right? Let¡¯s study the idea, and see if it can be implemented without adverse effects. She knew that Dale could easily withstand increased gravity, but certain items might be more fragile.


    Alright, alright. I get it. Danaughed off her worry. I wanted to try making something with that dimensium stuff, anyways.


    The kitsune had her ears twitch at the unknown term. The what?


    Oh, right, you¡¯ve been busy. A new world connected with Deckan a couple days ago. Our connection with their research servers logged a new metal, which is supposedly responsible for card magic. One of the properties listed is to create a new type of storage space.

 Chapter 505: Heavy Handed

    <h4>Chapter 505: Heavy Handed</h4>


    ¡°Hmm hmm hmm¡­¡± Dana hummed to herself happily as she stood within arge room with an open ceiling. All along the floor was a massive spell diagram, with seven intricately carved spheres positioned at equal points around it.


    Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a small vial of what seemed to be metal shavings, and casually threw them into the center of the spell array. As the vialnded, she began speaking, holding both of her hands forward. ¡°I am the forgotten daughter, queen of the deepest abyss. Hear me, spirit of the world, ande forth.¡±


    Green light began to shine from the seven spheres, before spreading along the lines of the diagram. ¡°Trace the origin of that whiches from a realm beyond. Open the path to what I desire. By my name, I beckon. Split the void and connect beyond the veil of space.¡±


    As the green light finally reached the center of the diagram, the vial of shavings shattered. A green circle traced itself through the air, its center showing a golden sky. I¡¯ll be back in a little while, Tsuba!


    Are you sure you don¡¯t wish for mypany? Tsubaki asked mentally, causing Dana to giggle.


    I¡¯ll be fine! You¡¯re needed here in case we have another incident. I¡¯m not very helpful with stuff like that, so it¡¯s best if you just leave the errands like this to me! If the worst happens, I¡¯ll trigger the forced recall spell after getting enough materials to bring the citadel over.


    There was clear hesitation before Tsubaki sent a simple feeling of eptance. Feeling that, Dana nodded her hand, ncing around to the air of the room. ¡°Thanks, miss!¡± She called out, before running into the portal. After she entered, and the portal closed, a small sigh echoed in the empty room.


    On the other end of the portal, Dana appeared on a vacant street, metal buildings rising on either side. A deep hum sounded out from beneath the surface, apanied by the sounds of pistons. Almost like the beat of a giant heart. In the sky, she could see hovering spheres projecting energy, as well as vehicles flying along.


    Putting her hands behind her back, she began happily skipping along the street. ¡°I¡¯m just a lovely little girl, waiting to be noticed within a strange, strange world~.¡± She sang under her breath.


    It didn¡¯t even take a full minute before she could feel the eyes of others on her, but she simply kept skipping along without a care. The key to this world had yet to be created yet, so this should be the first time that a being from one of the other worlds had appeared on their like this.


    As she kept going, she gradually began to see less and less vehicles flying above her. The streets remained empty, though she could faintly hear the sounds of metal feet scattering away. ¡°Ohh~?¡± She muttered in a cute tone, realizing what was going on. ¡°Is the big bad girl scaring all the¡­ they called themselves the March, right?¡±


    By the time that she finished saying that, four figures materialized around her. Each of them were metallic humanoids with sharp frames, their colors ck and blue. ¡°Halt.¡± The one before her said, and she obediently stopped.


    ¡°Yes, mister?¡± She asked, looking up to the taller golem. At a nce, it should either be a soldier or a police officer, though itcked any visible weapons.


    ¡°Please state your ce of origin, and purpose of your appearance here.¡±


    ¡°You could just ask me what I want.¡± Dana smiled, rolling her eyes yfully.


    ¡°I did.¡± Okay, so they were not very good with jokes. Or, at the least, this one wasn¡¯t. With a sigh, Dana simply shrugged her shoulders.


    ¡°I¡¯m from Earth, one of the other worlds connected to the Fairy Gate. I came here because I wanna learn things!¡± She puffed out her chest when she said that, confusing the four golems around her.


    ¡°Is there a secretpartment in your chest that contains your mission details?¡± The one in front of her asked after seeing her strange gesture.


    ¡°Wha- no, nothing like that!¡± Dana grumbled. She had heard about their strangenguage, so was using a technique involving spiritual energy to trante for her. ¡°Take me to your leader! I¡¯ve always wanted to say that¡­¡±


    There was a moment of hesitation before the golem in front of her spoke. ¡°Requesting priority transport for five to diplomatic zone two. One individual is in possession of an energy-based body, be advised.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you could tell that, huh¡ªooh shiny light.¡± Dana started talking, before noticing that flowing white lights were appearing around their bodies. A half secondter, and they were standing within arge conference room.


    ¡°Please wait here, and do not attempt to leave.¡± The mechanical officer said, before the four of them left the room.


    Dana offered a shrug, not really nning to leave one way or the other. Once she arrived in this world, she quickly realized that creating a key would be more difficult than expected. Unless, of course there were regions left undeveloped. Maybe she would even have to go offworld in order to get the materials she needed.


    And so, she waited, unsure of how long it was going to take. In the meantime, she was going over alternate ways of creating gates to this world, if the normal method of producing a key was not an option.


    Maybe I can use a spell to record the dimensional coordinates of this realm. Could I get away with a third tier spell for that, or would I need fourth tier? No, if I do it right, maybe even a second tier would be enough¡­


    A dimensional gate could work, but I¡¯d need to bring one hereter and find somewhere to install it. That means asking those guys in Deckan for more shavings¡­ they really hated having to give some of it up this time. Stingy foxes¡­


    ¡°I was told you wished to speak to me.¡± A voice broke Dana out of her thoughts, a figure sitting at the head of the table. No¡­ appearing to sit there. On a closer look, she could tell that it was simply a hologram projected by magic.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s one way to handle meetings, I guess.¡± Dana shook her head. ¡°My name is Dana Jafer, and I am one of the servants of the Keeper.¡± She let that sink in, waiting for any recognition from the fellow across from her.


    ¡°The¡­ Keeper. Am I meant to know who this figure is?¡± The figure asked, having clearly not heard of a ¡®Keeper¡¯ of another world before.


    Dana let out a low groan, thinking. ¡°You guys worship some kind of maker, right? You call him the Creator?¡±


    ¡°That is correct.¡±


    ¡°And his name is Tubrock, yeah?¡± Naturally, among the gods, Dana knew exactly which one of them would have an interest in golems. It could only be either Udona or Tubrock, and Udona didn¡¯t have the technical skill required to craft them.


    ¡°You are aware of the Creator¡¯s name?¡± This time, there was a tone of surprise in the figure¡¯s voice as he looked at Dana.


    ¡°Oh, yeah. I¡¯ve met him a few times.¡± Dana spoke with an honest smile. ¡°He¡¯s a great guy, and you suddenly seem very angry with me.¡±


    ¡°I believe that this meeting is over.¡± The figure spoke, reaching for something on the table, or rather the equivalent wherever they were.


    ¡°I mean, I can prove it if you want?¡± Dana spoke up, realizing that the whole ¡®I know your god on a personal level¡¯ thing is a touch rude to some civilizations without proof to back it up.


    When he heard that, his hand stopped. Instead, it moved off to the side, pressing down against something other than its original target. ¡°There is a cleansing protocol in ce within all diplomatic chambers. If you are incapable of providing this proof you have mentioned, I will immediately activate the one located within your current room.¡±


    ¡°Sheesh, harsh much, aren¡¯t you?¡± Dana smirked, before closing her eyes. Hey, Uncle Tubrock, mind lending me a hand here? Apparently, this guy wants to roast me if I can¡¯t prove that I know you.


    Oi¡­ why are you dragging me into this? A gruff, dwarven voice spoke into her mind, though he did take action. At least, Dana assumed that he was the one that threw somerge, heavy object which caused the figure within the projection to shoot off through the wall of the room.


    Thank you! Oh, also, while I have your attention, amazing work with this! I mean, really, you outdid yourself even more than the citadel.


    A small, contentugh echoed deeply in Dana¡¯s mind. Thanks for that,ss. Just wait till ya see the others.


    Others? Dana blinked in confusion. Tubrock couldn¡¯t have personally crafted every in this realm, right?! If he did that, she wasn¡¯t sure if she¡¯d ever be able to get the materials she needed for the key.


    Spoilers. He spoke in a cheeky tone, clearly wanting her to find out for herself.


    Just as she was going to press him for more information, she saw the projection from before walking back into the room. Only, this time there was a sizable dent within the side of their head. ¡°I apologize for my rudeness.¡± The projection said as soon as he sat down.


    ¡°That¡¯s fine. I didn¡¯t expect him to give you that kind of a sign.¡± Dana was suddenly feeling a bit sorry for bringing up Tubrock¡¯s name, since it led to a rather clear injury of the party she was talking to.


    ¡°Regardless¡­ should I take your earlier words to mean that the Creator is the same person as this Keeper you spoke of?¡±


    ¡°Oh, no, not at all.¡± Dana shook her head quickly. ¡°Tubrock isn¡¯t the Keeper. He just¡­ well¡­ you¡¯re going to get mad as soon as I say this. He works for the Keeper.¡±


    The figure focused intently on Dana, and she could feel the rising mood despite itsck of expressions. ¡°So, you wish to say that you operate on the same level as our Creator?¡± She could see the figure¡¯s hands once again moving towards the table.


    ¡°I mean, yes and no?¡± She thought about that for a moment. ¡°We both work for the Keeper, but I¡¯m not nearly as strong as Tubrock. I¡¯m basically the Keeper¡¯s housekeeper, and Tubrock is an assistant manager? I¡¯d say he¡¯s above me in rank, we just both report directly to the Keeper.¡±


    She could still see the figure¡¯s hand moving towards the table. ¡°Please don¡¯t make me call him and have him hit you with another hammer¡­ that was his hammer, right? He didn¡¯t just throw a random rock at you?¡±


    ¡°It was a lot of rocks, actually.¡± The figureined, slowly sitting back up. He was still clearly agitated by the idea that someone was iming to be on the same level as the creator for their entire species, but¡­ he was enduring. ¡°What is it you want?¡±


    ¡°I want to learn how to use a dimensium pulse to create a storage space!¡± Dana beamed a wide smile towards the figure as she said that. ¡°Oh, and I¡¯m willing to pay for it! I can trade information that I¡¯m sure you don¡¯t have.¡±


    Hearing her confidence, the figure seemed intrigued. ¡°And what information is it that you are so certain we do not already possess?¡±


    ¡°How to shed your physical bodies to achieve an energy state.¡± Dana answered with that same smile. This world was clearly familiar with the concept of energy bodies, but¡­ given what she had seen, she did not believe that they had reached the realm of Perfection yet. Of course, she was somewhat cheating, as this information could easily be achieved after they integrate more deeply with Deckan and the other worlds.


    At the same time, though, the information that she wanted could simrly be achieved if she simply waited. She was exchanging one shortcut for another.

 Chapter 506: The Power of Faith

    <h4>Chapter 506: The Power of Faith</h4>


    For thirty days, Dana remained within the world of the Aquilo March, only returning briefly to assure Tsubaki that she was still safe. During that time, she devoted herself to learning the ins and outs of dimensium. She found it to be an utterly fascinating material, one she deeply regretted not having had the pleasure of studying previously.


    She absorbed the information like a sponge, all the while sharing the steps to achieve the Perfect Self. Due to the requirements of needing to slowly merge the various energies within the body, the golems of the March found themselves progressing more slowly in their own studies than Dana did.


    Regardless, at the end of the thirty days, she finally returned home. Her mood was brighter than ever. She felt as if she had made a breakthrough in her understanding of card magic, and was ready to take things to the next level.


    Her first stop was Deckan, where she discreetly extracted a few kilograms of the mystical metal in a self-made pit that stretched deep beneath the ground. Only then did she return to Earth with the metal in tow.


    She knew exactly what she was doing now, and made her way first to the citadel¡¯s forge. Naturally, Tsubaki did not miss her arrival, keeping an eye on the joyful little elf. It had been a while since Dana seemed this excited about something, and Tsubaki was curious to see what was going on.


    ¡°Okay¡­ let¡¯s see, got the refining part done.¡± Dana muttered, looking to the boiling pot of silvery metal before her. As part of the special process to create the ¡®pulse¡¯ mechanism she wanted, she had to ensure that the dimensium did not cool too quickly.


    She was speaking to herself, as if reciting a recipe from memory. ¡°Now we need a thirty percent gallium, ten percent mercury, and five percent indium.¡± She walked over to the wall, opening up different drawers containing the required metals.


    Once she found what she needed, she went through the process of creating a softer dimensium alloy. By its nature, dimensium had a rather high melting point, simr to that of copper. However, it had the characteristic of being highly susceptible to change when mixed with other metals. As such, mixing it with metals that had a low melting point would show a greater effect than normal.


    By the time she was done, the silver metal was no longer boiling, and had in fact somewhat solidified. Carefully, she tested its temperature before transferring its contents to another container. The new alloy was a paste, easily shifted into arge jar before Dana carried it out of the room.


    ¡°Oh, hey Tsuba!¡± She greeted brightly, seeing the kitsune standing outside the forge. ¡°Done with the cleaning for today?¡±


    Tsubaki, however, shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m having an avatar take care of that. More importantly, that thing in your hands¡­ is that rted to the project I assigned you?¡±


    Dana naturally knew that Tsubaki was referring to creating an improved storage space for the Keeper, and nodded her head. ¡°That¡¯s right! This dimensium paste is the main ingredient to create a pulse corridor! Wanna see?¡±


    Rather than saying anything, Tsubaki nodded her head and signalled for Dana to lead the way. As such, the smaller elf ran with a carefree attitude. ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ it¡¯d probably be bad to have the corridor link to the citadel directly, right? Oh! How about one of those caves we messed up when practicing for the wardstones? If we clear it out a bit, it¡¯d make a great storage!¡±


    Tsubaki¡¯s eye twitched slightly when she was reminded of their repeated failures, but gave a small nod of her head. In truth, she was curious to see what this would look like as well. The trade between the elves and golems had not yet officially begun, as they were still ironing out the details. As such, she had yet to see this ¡®pulse¡¯ effect herself.


    It only took a moment for Tsubaki to recall the location of a suitable area, ripping open a portal in front of them. ¡°Thanks, sis!¡± Dana smiled before stepping through. On the other side of the portal was a pitch-ck cave with copsed rocks piled in front of them.


    With a thought, Dana controlled the natural energy of the surrounding area to shift the rocks. Those that had copsed from above rose to merge with the ceiling while she adjusted the dimensions of the room inside. Soon, the path ahead was clear, leading to a room roughly thirty meters cubed.


    ¡°We can decorate it once we set the corridor.¡± Dana nodded excitedly to herself, before controlling the natural energy once again. This time, she was creating a smooth wall of stone to seal the room.


    She didn¡¯t bring anything like hinges or handles with her, so the door had to be crudely made. A simple,rge b that rested on a wide groove. It could be opened simply by pushing it and sliding it to the side. Not quite ¡®secure¡¯, but it was more than enough for what she needed.


    Next, Dana set the jar of paste down, and scooped some of it out with her hands. Moving to the door, she carefully began applying the paste just outside the frame of the door itself. Her face was a mask of concentration, ensuring that the paste was applied evenly and without any gaps.


    It took less than a tenth of the paste that she had prepared in order to surround the door with a thinyer, to which she nodded her head happily. After wiping the remaining paste off of her hands, she rubbed her hands together in excitement. ¡°Now, we just need to apply the proper mix of mana and spiritual energy, and¡­¡±


    She pushed her hands forward after she spoke, a silvery-blue streak of light somewhat illuminating the dark cave. This light struck the paste which Dana had applied, and caused the paste itself to light up with the same color. Afterwards, the paste seemed to thrum, the light pulsating within it.


    ¡°And this is why it¡¯s called a dimensium pulse corridor.¡± Dana said proudly as she watched the paste pulse powerfully, the light shattering as it copsed inwards. The cave was plunged into darkness again, though thankfully neither of them truly needed light to see.


    Tsubaki¡¯s eyes widened briefly as she saw the wall. The paste had vanished, but¡­ so had the door. What stood in its ce was simply a smooth wall without any blemishes. And falling to the ground was a small card which Dana rushed over to grab. ¡°And there it is! Just activate this bad boy on any surfacerge enough, and it will ce the door on that surface.¡±


    Tsubaki blinked, before nodding her head. ¡°I see. That is quite impressive.¡± Her eyes naturally drifted to the remaining paste, already thinking of uses for it.


    Within the deepest levels of the church, pitiful screams could be heard echoing out. Be had finally made her decision to take the next step in her path to divinity. She studied what was needed, familiarizing herself with the process as the God of Community had published it. She knew what was needed of her, and that this would be the most harrowing step. If she seeded, she would be but a simple thought away from bing a new goddess.


    Her bodyy within the prepared room, a mangled mess of her normal self. Both of her arms had already been shattered, transforming into specks of light before being pulled back to mix with her divine energy. Every inch felt like it would break her, but she held firm.


    No matter how much she cried, how much she screamed, she didn¡¯t stop. Deep within her mind, she felt that stopping would mean that her faith was insufficient. Be was not just doing this for herself, but also for her goddess. A goddess that she held so dear to her heart that the very thought of her helped push her forward.


    It was her faith in Bihena that had helped her through the darkest times of her life. She had been an orphan, abandoned in the streets by parents that didn¡¯t love her. Even before she knew the cruelty of the world, she was left to wander on her own, not even knowing her family name.


    In the back of her mind, she recalled her first meeting with the High Priestess, who was at the time just a young woman herself. Catarina had taken her in and brought her to the church, told her of the Goddess¡¯s majesty. At first, Be didn¡¯t believe those beautiful words. If such a goddess was truly watching over them and cared for them, why was she allowed to suffer as a child?


    Even when she voiced thoseints, the priestess did not get mad and scold her. She simply offered her a caring smile, and told her that she would know for herself one day.


    Despite entering the church, life was not all well for Be. She was poor, and an attractive girl justing into adulthood often drew the wrong type of attention. One day, she found herself fleeing a group of individuals who sought to abduct her, tears in her eyes.


    She knew what they wanted, what fate would be of her if they got their hands on her. But at the same time, she was not strong enough to fight them. This was an experienced group, their levels all high enough to survive in the darker side of society. It was all she could do to run, her ki pushed to its limits as she fled for the ocean.


    Be had already set her resolve at that point. The ocean wasn¡¯t simply her means of escaping this group. Rather, it was her means of escaping¡­ everything. She would rather go out beneath the waves than allow herself to be taken in by traffickers.


    And so, when she reached the edge of the water, she jumped. With everything she had, she dove into the ocean, knowing that her pursuers were only moments behind her. She felt her lungs starting to burn, her vision growing dark.


    But then, just as that darkness was about to overtake her, she heard a faint sigh within the watery abyss where no such sound should reach. Suddenly, the water in her lungs vanished, and she was surrounded by a bubble of fresh air that rose above the ground.


    Her tears finally began to fall as she realized that she had been caught. Yet, the figure she saw when she hit the surface was not that of the men chasing her. Instead, there was a beautiful woman with blonde hair standing atop the surface of the water. Her body was d in golden armor with silver and blue highlights, and she held a golden trident in one hand.


    How could Be not know who this figure was? Her mind had all but copsed at that moment, feeling as if the goddess she heard so much about was preventing her from escaping a fate worse than death. Then, she saw her pursuers.


    As expected, they had jumped into the water after her in a bid to capture her. However, the goddess had not been so kind to them. These kidnappers and thieves were floating limply, the water around them stained red. Each one of them had a matching wound on their back with three evenly spaced holes.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s a little early to be giving up?¡± Bihena asked in a gentle tone, crouching down to one knee to put herself at eye level with Be. ¡°There is so much beauty in the world, little Be.¡±


    ¡°B-but¡­¡° Be wanted to retort, she wanted to ask why people like her were made to suffer. Why¡­ why she was saved. Why she wasn¡¯t saved earlier. Yet, none of these words could push past her lips, as if her heart knew that those weren¡¯t what she really wanted to say. ¡°But why me¡­¡±


    Bihena gave a warm smile, reaching out to brush Be¡¯s blonde hair. ¡°Because I have faith in you, Be. Even if you don¡¯t have any in me. I know that you can be so much more than you are, if given the chance. And, besides¡­ what kind of goddess would I be if I didn¡¯t help a follower of my church even when they enter my domain.¡±


    Be¡¯s eyes began to water at that, her head lowering. ¡°A¡­ a normal one?¡± She had heard so many stories about people drowning at sea, regardless of their faith. Of demons burnt by fire, or loyal lycans ravaged by storms. Wasn¡¯t it normal for the gods to ignore the faithful in need.


    ¡°Okay, missy.¡± Bihena smirked, lightly flicking Be¡¯s forehead. ¡°You try having a billion people praying to you at once and pick out everyone¡¯s wishes.¡± Despite her ¡®scolding¡¯ words, her tone was still soft. Though, Be did lift her hands to cover her forehead.


    ¡°Sorry¡­¡± Still, in the depths of her heart, she felt an attachment to this goddess. She saved her, said that she had faith in a little human like Be. Those words, from such a figure, made Be¡¯s tears flow again.


    That was when she gave herself the name Wayver. A reminder of her faith, how she had been pulled from her despair by the goddess she had previously rejected.


    As the memory shed through her mind, Be¡¯s eyes went gold. She bit her lip, stifling her screams. I¡­ will not¡­ let you down¡­ again!


    In one final burst, the rest of her body erupted into golden light, which began to rapidly swirl around the room. The pain of that final push was immeasurable, almost making her mind go nk. Yet still, she held onto her faith. It was her anchor in the storm of energy coursing through the room.


    Slowly, that golden light began pouring back down to the floor, congealing between the apparently severed limbs to create a new torso. Then, a new head formed as well. Her eyes opened, a hint of golden light within her gaze before her hair returned to its previous blue.


    But she wasn¡¯t done yet. She knew that the hardest part was behind her. Her soul begged for rest, but there was still one thing left to do. With a thought, her divinity made contact with her mana. She had steeled her resolve, and allowed her faith to guide her.


    Outside of the church, golden light erupted, soaring high into the sky. A new divinity had entered the world.

 Chapter 507: Mercy

    <h4>Chapter 507: Mercy</h4>


    ¡°Really, what should I choose, here?¡± I muttered to myself, looking over the list of options avable for Be¡¯s domain. Since she had specifically avoided training her divinity in any particr direction, there was a muchrger list of ¡®preferred options¡¯ for herpared to anyone else that had ascended so far.


    While the world below was paused so that I could consider this decision, I closed my eyes. Bihena? Could youe here for a moment?


    As I was sitting in my bedroom at the time, it didn¡¯t take long for Bihena to make her way in, pushing the door open. As opposed to her normal, armored look, she was currently wearing a light blue dress that went all the way down to her ankles. I could faintly see wavy patterns within the fabric that seemed to shift and roll as the fabric moved with each step.


    ¡°You wanted to see me?¡± She asked curiously, leaning against the doorway and crossing her arms in front of herself. ¡°Guessing it¡¯s about Be?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± While I was impressed with her choice of dress, there was something more important to discuss. ¡°Since she is nning to be your subordinate in all but name, I wanted to have you help me pick something that would be suitable for her domain. I imagine you know more about her, and could help me pick something fitting.¡±


    Bihena looked somewhat surprised at my request, her lips tugging up into a smile. Something about the way she looked at me shifted slightly, as if she was respecting me more for this decision. ¡°I see. Well, Be¡¯s most notable traits are her unshakeable faith and devotion. However, I imagine it wouldn¡¯t be fitting to have someone be the Goddess of Faith. You don¡¯t have faith in faith itself, after all.¡±


    ¡°Despite my War domain, she has never engaged in a violent battle, always choosing to settle things peacefully or run away and seek help when she was not her opponent¡¯s match. It¡¯d be best not to give her anything like a weapon-rted domain.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d say that the Waves domain might fit her, but it would restrict her potential too much with such a narrow focus.¡± Bihena shook her head at that. ¡°And at the same time, making it Water would make her feel miserable as it is a higher form of my Ocean domain.¡±


    ¡°What about Weather?¡± I asked, looking over the various options. Weather was on the list, because apparently she had once used her power to calm a storm that was threatening to destroy the coastal city where the church was stationed.


    Bihena fell into thought when I mentioned that domain. ¡°Weather implies both the gentle wind and the violent hurricane. As strong as I think the domain would be for her, I don¡¯t really think it matches her personality. She wouldn¡¯t be able to use it to its full potential.¡±


    I gave a small nod when I heard that. So, it¡¯d be best to give her a domain more focused towards a support role, then. I looked through the list again, and one domain caught my eye. ¡°Mercy¡­¡±


    Bihena¡¯s head jerked up slightly to look at me when she heard me mutter. ¡°What was that?¡±


    ¡°Huh? Sorry.¡± Shaking my head, I spoke a bit louder. ¡°The Mercy domain. It¡¯s one of the ones closer to the top of her very long suggested list. She¡¯s healed a number of people, or intervened to protect them from harm. Apparently, that qualified her for this domain as an option.¡±


    ¡°Mercy, mercy¡­¡± Bihena focused, mulling over the word. Most likely, she was going over all of its potential applications, and testing them against Be¡¯s personality. ¡°Yeah¡­ I think she¡¯d like that. And it can be seen as a subordinate form of my own Peace domain, so it¡¯s one she would appreciate, as well.¡±


    Hearing that, I was relieved, selecting the option from the list. And with that, the Goddess of Mercy was born. The first truly independent deity born naturally aside from myself, despite her pledging herself to Bihena.


    Be gave a heaving breath as shey on the floor. She had lost track of time, her mind truly going nk when she performed the merge between her divinity and her mana. She had slipped into unconsciousness from that moment, unaware how long it was before she awoke.


    ¡°I¡­ did it?¡± She asked, as if unsure about her own results. Looking down at herself, she found her body bare. Her clothes had been destroyed when ascending her flesh, and so she created new ones with a tiny sliver of divine might.


    You did it. Bihena¡¯s voice spoke gently into Be¡¯s mind. Congrattions, oh Goddess of Mercy.


    ¡°Mercy¡­?¡± Be mumbled the word to herself, looking at the achievement that had appeared in front of her. Sure enough, that was the domain that the world had granted her. A smile tugged at her lips, a gentle warmth washing over her. ¡°I will continue to serve you in this way, my Goddess.¡±


    Hey, you¡¯re a Goddess now, too. Can¡¯t you just call me Bihena now?


    ¡°I-I wouldn¡¯t dare.¡± Be¡¯s cheeks flushed red at that, shaking her head heavily as she pulled herself to her feet. Despite her ascension, she found herself feeling incredibly weak. No doubt a result of rushing to finish her ascension without allowing her divinity to umte after the second step. Still, that could alle with time.


    Bihena simply sighed within the back of Be¡¯s mind. Well, it was worth a shot. Anyways, you¡¯ve been out for a while, so everyone¡¯s waiting for you outside.


    ¡°Outside¡­ how long?¡± Be asked, turning to look at the door to the room she was in. She had noticed that she wasn¡¯t disturbed when she woke up.


    Two days. That¡¯s what you get for rushing the finish like that.


    Be¡¯s eyes went wide, and she rushed for the door. She felt guilty for making everyone wait and worry for that long. Once she opened the door, she saw more than half of the priests and priestesses of the church kneeling within the hall. Moreover, further down she saw other faces, the regr worshippers or priests from other cities.


    ¡°Congrattions on your ascension, Holy Mother.¡± Catarina spoke up first, her words soon echoed by the masses around her.


    ¡°Congrattions on your ascension, Holy Mother!¡± It was at that point that Be remembered the arrangement that had been made when she started her path of ascension. The ranks that had been prepared in advance. While a Holy Sister would be regarded as the second inmand of any church, still abiding by the rules set by its High Priestess, a Holy Mother was second only to the Goddess herself.


    In a way, she had be the Saintess of the church. From that moment on, she would be Bihena¡¯s voice within the mortal coil. The warmth she felt before surged forth again, and she could feel the faith of those gathered here. Not only did they believe in Bihena, but they now believed in her as well.


    This caused a somewhat troubled feeling to emerge within her heart. She did not want to steal the power which should rightfully belong to Bihena. And so, she focused on that divinity being sent to her. Since she couldn¡¯t cut it off, she included it within a prayer of her own, redirecting it.


    When she found that this was possible, she felt relieved. As a Goddess, controlling divine energy was her very nature. Since she truly worshiped Bihena, she could send any amount of excess divinity towards her.


    ¡°Please, rise.¡± Be spoke gently, looking to the crowd. Slowly, one by one they rose at her words. ¡°I do not wish for any here to ce me above Her. She shall always be the Goddess I serve, this I pledge. Keep this in your hearts, that it was only by Her grace that I have received this power.¡±


    She saw the look of warmth on Catarina¡¯s face as she once again swore her faith in Bihena. The High Priestess of the church nodded her head. ¡°Thank you, Holy Mother.¡±


    So, how is it? Dana¡¯s voice echoed in Tsubaki¡¯s mind as she stood within a frozen room, looking down at arge b of solid stone.


    ¡°Just as we thought. We don¡¯t have to register her again.¡± Tsubaki spoke in a somewhat relieved tone. The Divine Registry had continued to track Be through her ascension process. And, when the news reported that the holy light had risen to the sky from the church, Tsubaki hade to confirm this feature.


    ¡®Mercy Goddess Be Wayver¡¯ was now listed on the tablet, recing her former entry. Somehow, Tsubaki was rather proud of this, of the fruits of her and Dana¡¯s work showing at this moment. It would be¡­ inconvenient, to say the very least, if they had to update the registry to fix this feature.


    ¡°How are things going on your end?¡± She spoke, her words traveling across their link to reach Dana, who sat alone at a workbench. In front of her were a variety of tools, ranging from hammers to knives, nails or swords.


    Dana shook her head with a groan, leaning back in her seat. ¡°Easier said than done. How am I supposed to prepare a tool for ¡®everything¡¯, after all? You gotta admit, even for you that¡¯s a big request.¡±


    Maybe slightly. Tsubaki¡¯s voice answered back to her. But we have to do our best.


    Dana grumbled in frustration, looking behind her at the shelves filled with various items. Armors for both men and women of every race, weapons of different variety. Then there were the shelves of smaller tools. Lockpicks, magnifying sses,munication crystals, and things of that nature.


    Most of it she had simply been able to buy from cksmiths and shops around the world to save her time. They were all top-grade, forged by the best craftsmen avable, but none of them had been specially prepared for this purpose. ¡°Maybe clothes? No, why would he need that?¡±


    For all the good that Dana¡¯s storage space did by using the dimensium pulse, it failed in one very basic regard that even standard storage spaces adhered to. They weren¡¯t able to pull items out at will, and had to physically enter the storage room. As such, Dana had been tasked with once again creating another item to fill this purpose. Only this time, it hade with the added request of filling the storage space with ¡®anything he could ever need¡¯.


    Sadly, this included things that he might need to bestow on others. Hence the need to acquire armor not only for different body shapes, but for females as well. Dana was already feeling like this storage space might be a bit small for what Tsubaki was asking for. Then again, she knew that Tsubaki was also just making an impossible request.


    It¡¯d be great if we could just get one of those forges from the March, so it could craft items on demand for him. She thought to herself with a shake of her head. Naturally, she knew that Tubrock could create that for her, as he created the ones that the March themselves used. However, it was still not feasible.


    In order to make it work properly, they would need a reliable supply of whatever materials were needed, and an intelligent system that was able to program the forge to produce the items that he wanted. Oddly, it was the intelligent system that was the easier part of this equation, as they had the reference of fourth tier magic books that could help them with that goal. The harder challenge was ess to any and all materials that they required. Unlike Tubrock, they had to actually mine for their materials.

 Chapter 508: Manifest Destiny

    <h4>Chapter 508: Manifest Destiny</h4>


    ¡°About time you came by.¡± The human woman said, standing across from me with a small grin. She held her hands on her waist, watching me while Aurivy stood off to the side. ¡°I almost thought that you had forgotten about our little deal.¡±


    I shook my head with a light chuckle. ¡°Not at all, I was just busy. A bunch of my champions have reached the point of ascension, so I had to monitor how things were going there.¡±


    The woman standing across from me was none other than Sarah, the leader of my guild. In exchange for the eight thousand points she had lent me previously to purchase Vision Expanse, she asked me to give her a hard copy of the newest game I had released on my end. Naturally, since it wouldn¡¯t cost me any points to do so, I had no reason to refuse.


    ¡°Did you bring it?¡± Sarah asked with wide, hopeful eyes, and I nced towards Aurivy.


    ¡°¡®Course I brought it!¡± She said proudly, holding her hand up. Within her hand was an information sphere, no doubt containing all of the core details of Natural Seed. This game actually had a greater value than Vision Expanse, but that wasn¡¯t really important here. After all, we lost nothing by giving this to her.


    The information couldn¡¯t even really be used against us. After all, Aurivy created the system within this game entirely independently, so a lot of the mon sense¡¯ logic of my world did not apply to it anymore.


    Sarah saw the orb, her eyes practically sparkling as she skipped over towards Aurivy. ¡°You¡¯re the one that made this game, then?¡±


    ¡°Yup!¡± Aurivy admitted without a care, beaming a bright smile towards the other Keeper.


    ¡°Nice! I¡¯ve been seeing a lot of reviews from people over your Element Seed system.¡± Sarah said as she lifted the orb from Aurivy¡¯s hand. ¡°It¡¯s fairly well thought out. Easier to pick up than most magic systems, but also more difficult to master.¡±


    ¡°Eheheh.¡± Aurivy giggled happily. ¡°That¡¯s kinda what I wanted. Do you have any advice on how to improve it? I wanna make this game as fun as I can!¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Sarah slightly dropped her happy, yful demeanor to give some serious consideration to Aurivy¡¯s request. ¡°I¡¯d like to say that the entry requirements for magic might be somewhat stricter than need be.¡±


    ¡°From the reviews I read, evenmon seeds are rare enough to only enable ten percent of the poption of a world to activate the magic system. This problem is alleviated slightly when the secret to artificially producing seeds is explored, but even then less than half the poption will be capable of finding a seed.¡±


    ¡°And this is before you take into ount one person acquiring multiple seeds in order to either rece their former one or merge them, or seeds not being harvested regrly. Theoretically, you could support a tenth of the poption naturally. Practically, on the other hand, you would be closer to one in a hundred.¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± Aurivy¡¯s eyes went wide in surprise when she heard that, clearly having not noticed such problems in the system. ¡°But, well¡­ I mean¡­ I guess that could be a thing¡­ we don¡¯t have that high of a yer base yet, and they are spread out through multiples.¡±


    Sarah regained her smile, nodding her head. ¡°Resource problems like that are easier to overlook in a true game, because there could be adminmands to manually respawn seeds. I was just giving my opinion for improving the system overall. If it were any cheaper, I think that it might qualify as a new basic magic type.¡±


    ¡°Oh, yeah! I was wondering about that!¡± Aurivy spoke up, seeming totch onto something that Sarah said. ¡°There are Keepers out there with game worlds that actually merge with their real worlds, right?¡±


    Sarah blinked in confusion, before nodding her head. ¡°That¡¯s right. I have a couple of those games myself. They¡¯re only really popr among the higher ss, though.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± Aurivy nodded, not caring about that. ¡°Anyways¡­ if an adminmand is used to spawn something in a game like that, can¡¯t it be taken out? If that¡¯s the case, you¡¯d be able to cheat and just mass produce powerful items or unlimited resources, right?¡±


    Sarah and I both seemed to understand where Aurivy was going with her question. To be honest, now that she said it, I was also quite curious. I had confirmed that I possessed the unique ability to travel into game worlds that we had purchased thanks to my nar Shift power. Logically, I should be able to bring items out of the game, then. However, I had never bothered with that for the simple reason that the two worlds weren¡¯t merged, so anything that I brought out would be useless.


    ¡°You¡¯re pretty smart, huh?¡± Sarah asked with a yful smile. ¡°Logically, what you just said would be right. It would be possible to mass produce anything from weapons, armor, even people with customized powers. Then, the spawned individuals would simply be summoned from the game.¡±


    ¡°But the system doesn¡¯t like cheating like that.¡± She shook her head, shrugging her shoulders. ¡°A while back, there were some people abusing that loophole, myself included. I wanted an easy supply of weapons and materials. I think I was only a first rank Keeper at the time.¡±


    ¡°Regardless, the system mped down on that, and it became impossible to pull items directly out of the game without first purchasing a new system that appeared on the market.¡± Sarah waved a hand, and a screen appeared in front of myself and Aurivy.


    ¡°Digital Realism. With this system, someone could export items from the game, but doing so came at a cost. If the proper materials were prepared, they could be used to pay this fee. Otherwise, the cost of such an export would be the energy of the user.¡±


    ¡°In short, it would drain your various energies so that you were forced to materialize the item yourself, as opposed to simply pulling it from the void.¡±


    I read over the screen that Sarah showed us, and couldn¡¯t help but be surprised at the cost of this system. A thousand points for this ¡®equivalent exchange¡¯ style system. Clearly, the Keeper system rated the ability rather highly.


    Aurivy seemed to dete slightly when she heard Sarah¡¯s answer, before she rose up again. ¡°Wait, what if you weren¡¯t actually materializing anything? What if you were a Keeper, sending your forces on an invasion, but what you sent were their game avatars, fully equipped with legendary artifacts?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re really worried about your next match, huh?¡± Sarah asked, her smile turning more gentle. ¡°To answer your question, that applies to this, as well. However, since it is the Keeper making this transfer himself, he is also the one to pay the price. The only price that a Keeper can truly pay, and one that is avable only to himself.¡±


    ¡°It costs them points.¡± I muttered, and Sarah nodded her head. ¡°So if Sanction wants to send an army at us like that, he¡¯d need to pay a fine to do so.¡±


    I didn¡¯t think that was a very good deal on his part. Having to pay points for an invasion force when you weren¡¯t certain that you¡¯d be able to make back your investment, even if you won? It¡¯d be more feasible to have a deity use the exchange system to supply an invasion with the proper items.


    ¡°Sanction¡¯s an older Keeper.¡± Sarah pointed out, warning me. ¡°It would be right to expect him to know these kinds of strategies. He might not be old enough to have been around when the loophole still existed, but he¡¯s old enough to have figured out how to summon items from his games.¡±


    I nodded my head, thinking about that, before I realized something. ¡°Sanction bought Natural Seed.¡± There was no reason for me to hide this information. If anything, it was important for Sarah to know, as she was able to help me make ns to counter whatever Sanction could throw at us.


    ¡°That¡¯s not surprising.¡± Sarah said with a faint sigh. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, I wouldn¡¯t be at all surprised if he threw people at you that possessed powerful elemental seeds. I¡¯ll run simted wars on my end, and see if I can find a way to counter the powers of those seeds.¡±


    I thought for a moment about what she said, and then gave a firm nod. Most likely, she meant creating different games that had various types ofws, and then have them host inter-game PvP battles against one another. I don¡¯t know how she would handle the problem ofw merging, but perhaps it would be possible if she used her God of Games.


    ¡°Thanks, I¡¯d appreciate it if you let me know what youe up with.¡± If I had considered these problems, I would have stopped by before this, but the thought of such a thing had simply not crossed my mind.


    ¡°No problem. That¡¯s what the guild¡¯s for, right?¡± She asked with that same, warm smile. ¡°That said, you¡¯re pretty lucky. I had an invasion myself about a week and a half ago. If they had taken it seriously, I might not be free to meet you like this yet.¡±


    I blinked, having forgotten about things like that as well. I had simply gotten used to people like Sarah or Balu being free when I needed them. ¡°Right, I¡¯ll try to get here more quickly next time.¡±


    ¡°Eh, it¡¯s fine.¡± Sarah shrugged her shoulders, shaking her head. ¡°Anyways, I got the game now. If you¡¯re busy, I won¡¯t keep you any longer.¡±


    While I wasn¡¯t opposed to staying, and maybe seeing more of Sarah¡¯s games, I knew that I did need to get back. Since I was facing a legitimate threat this time, I needed to properly prepare myself. ¡°Thanks again.¡± I nodded, before turning to leave.


    As soon as I selected the option to leave, I felt a blue beam rising up from the ground around myself and Aurivy. With a gasp, Sarah spoke up from behind us. ¡°Oh, not this one¡­¡±


    And with that, before she could offer an exnation, our surroundings shifted and we were back in our own Admin Room. I stood next to the wall, letting out a sigh and closing my eyes to focus. I had to sort through the information that I had acquired in order to help me n against the uing invasion.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ Dale?¡± A voice asked from next to me, sounding strangely familiar. It was clearly a male voice, but not deep enough to be either Tubrock or Tryval. Who else could it be, though? Those were the only two male deities within my Admin Room. Opening my eyes, I turned to the side, seeing¡­ a giant.


    Craning my neck up, my jaw dropped open as I looked at my own face staring down at me. ¡°That¡¯s you, right Dale?¡± ¡®I¡¯ asked me. Looking down at myself, I saw a pair of frail-looking smooth hands, a petite chest, and-oh my god I was in Aurivy¡¯s body.


    ¡°I won¡¯t say ¡®new least favorite transport¡¯, because of the mimic¡­ but definitely up there.¡± I muttered, hearing myself speaking in Aurivy¡¯s voice. Now I had to begin focusing for an entirely different reason, returning myself to my original body. Aurivy was already doing the same, the other form of me shrinking and bing more feminine until it naturally shifted into her true look.


    At least on the way there we had only gotten a simple door. I suppose that it was too much to hope for something nice on the way back.


    Upon the lonely mountain peak, a figure sat, their body within an empty circle surrounded on all sides by snow. His eyes were closed, uncaring of what was happening around himself as he focused intently. His brows furrowed, feeling his energy briefly plummet, a feeling that had assaulted him dozens of times in thest month.


    ¡°What is real is false.¡± He muttered, focusing on an illusory world within the great cosmos he held inside his body. ¡°And what is false is real.¡± Gradually, the world seemed to shift, the barrenndscape bing blue and green. Millions of people appeared along the surface of the world, all going through their daily life as if it were wholly normal.


    ¡°Realize the illusion, and bestow truth.¡± As he said that, his energy began steadily climbing once again. It was not to the point where he was able to easily regain what he had just lost, but it was certainly better than nothing.


    He had earned the respect of the world, of every world, but few within it truly ¡®worshipped¡¯ him. His normal divinity only rose at a slow trickle, most of his energying from what Tsubaki sent him. It had been over a month now since he had begun work on ¡®creating life¡¯ within his internal world. Each attempt cost him arge amount of divine energy, which he was barely able to refill within a full day.


    The process had actually been more difficult than Dale had first imagined. If, at any point, one of the illusory creatures truly realized that they were not real, and truly believed such¡­ they would vanish from the world. If another one witnessed this, their faith would be shaken, and they would begin to doubt as well. This doubt would be viral, until all life within the world vanished.


    At first, he had started small. Only one individual, created doing nothing at the time. This had not proven too difficult, but that individual then soon vanished. Coming into existence with no memories, no idea of what they were, it was easy for them to believe that they weren¡¯t real.


    So, he started working on creating his illusory residents with memories, cing them in actions that would fit their daily lives. This worked at first, but soon led to a ¡®copse¡¯ due to theck of other residents. Now, he was trying to create more and more, each one having their own soul. Like this, he wanted to prevent a copse by giving them no reason to truly doubt their own existence.


    Of course, there was an inherent problem with this. If they were to worship the ¡®God of Illusions¡¯, this would lead them to naturally doubt their own reality. Thus, after a while he had been forced to start from scratch, granting these illusory souls only the knowledge of his Mirrors domain.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see if it works this time.¡± He muttered to himself, watching over this small world.

 Chapter 509: Gift of the Father

    <h4>Chapter 509: Gift of the Father</h4>


    Opening my eyes, I found myself standing atop the mountain which had be the home of my World Host for thest several years. It didn¡¯t take much to notice the ring around my body, a circle where the snow simply did not touch. At first, I thought it was simply that the snow was melting for some reason, before I noticed that the ground was not even damp.


    Rather than melting, the snow was erased within this space. However, as I watched, the snow began to slowly fill this gap. In other words, this strange phenomenon was caused by something that my host had been doing.


    Shaking my head, I put those thoughts out of my mind and focused inwards. The first thing that I wanted to do was to check on how the mission I had given my host was turning out. I could feel a slow, but steady influx of divine energy, so I knew that I had ¡®obtained¡¯ a number of followers, and could follow that faith back to its source.


    Within my internal sky, I followed the trail of divinity to an otherwise unassuming world. At a nce, I could feel numerous streams of energy flowing from the which felt as if it would disappear if I blinked. I didn¡¯t even dare to look too closely for fear that my power might disrupt the delicate bnce holding the hazy together.


    I see¡­ he¡¯s worked hard. The fact that this was producing divine energy for me confirmed that my clone had learned the secret of ¡®creating life¡¯ from an illusion. If I am able to study that power, I could use it to create loyal scouts linked to my power. Since they wouldn¡¯t be avatars, I would not need to personally divide my mind to control them.


    With a deep breath, I stood up, my body feeling stiff from sitting too long. This feeling was surprising, as my body was no longer that of flesh and blood. Perhaps it was simply because I thought that it would be normal to feel sore after sitting for so long? Either way, once my eyes scanned the horizon, I was able to confirm that nobody had approached my training area yet.


    ¡°Okay¡­ first order of business.¡± I focused, and the air around me distorted as I moved to the citadel. Tsubaki and Dana had gone to such lengths to prepare their gifts for me, it would be rude not to visit them.


    And sure enough, as soon as I appeared there was a sh of light. Tsubaki knelt before me, her head lowered. ¡°My Keeper.¡± She greeted passionately, clearly happy to be able to see me here again.


    I gave a small nod of my head, looking around the throne room. Nothing had truly changed about it since its original debut, and Tsubaki had made sure to keep it spotless. ¡°How is your registry ning along?¡±


    ¡°My Keeper, all is proceeding well. We¡¯ve almost finished producing the array points for Lorek and Spica, after which our coverage will be nearlyplete.¡± I was surprised to hear that they had managed to find the method of creating a fourth tier array so easily, but then again¡­ this was Tsubaki and Dana I was talking about.


    ¡°Very good.¡± I praised, bringing my hand down to lightly pat her head. Tsubaki positively glowed at that, her body shivering. No, really, she actually began glowing, a white light shining off of her. It was adorable how her emotions leaked through like that.


    ¡°My Keeper!¡± She suddenly stood up, her eyes fixated upon me. ¡°We have prepared gifts to celebrate your return.¡±


    I gave a small nod when I heard that. ¡°The scepter and the tome. I witnessed you using them against the rogue half-god. They were very impressive.¡±


    Tsubaki¡¯s lips twitched, barely suppressing a smile. ¡°I am d that you approve, my Keeper.¡± Slowly, she brought her hands forward, her palms shing as the two items appeared within them. The silver Archmage Scepter, and the leather bound Magus Tome. Both were items that couldpletely reshape the world¡¯s view of magic, but their value truly came to light when utilized together.


    Of course, I knew that these weren¡¯t the ones that had been prepared for me, but rather were Tsubaki¡¯s own. In her haste to present me with her gifts, she had chosen to give up her own rather than rush off to grab mine. Though, that didn¡¯t matter as these two items were the same even whenparing them to the ones that had been specifically prepared for me.


    ¡°I trust that with your power, you will easily be able to identify the spells within.¡± Tsubaki offered a faint bow as I epted the items. ¡°We do have one other gift prepared, but Dana is currently working on improving it.¡±


    While I knew that the item that they were talking about was the personalized storage space, I chose not to reveal that knowledge. If I showed that I knew what it was, they might be less inclined to continue working on it and simply pass it to me. Instead, I nodded my head again. ¡°Very well. There is actually another reason that I have chosen to visit.¡±


    When she heard that, Tsubaki looked at me curiously, prompting me to continue. ¡°We will be facing another invasion within a few months¡¯ time. I expect that our enemy this time will be more difficult than any other that we have faced before. To the extent that it would not be surprising if they possessed the power to kill gods such as you and I.¡±


    Tsubaki¡¯s eyes went wide in rm at this news, and she hastily nodded her head. ¡°Very well. If that is the case, would you like me to begin dissemination of the fourth tier magical knowledge? If it is made publicly avable, it may be possible to dramatically increase the defensive abilities of our cities.¡±


    I gave a small smile, approving of her suggestion. ¡°That would likely be wise. However, I trust that you know that certain information should not be spread so casually.¡± Specifically, the information within the fourth tier that specialized in the killing of gods. Bolstering our defenses was all well and good, but we didn¡¯t need to give the masses a way to easily kill gods. For that, Tsubaki¡¯s ward setup would be the most effective method.


    ¡°Of course, my Keeper.¡± Tsubaki performed another bow. ¡°I¡¯ll begin the process at once. Is there anything else that you would have me do?¡±


    ¡°Not at the moment.¡± I considered asking Tsubaki to study the fourth tier of ki as well, which I purchased and studied just before descending. Using that knowledge, I had redesigned my own ki paths to better take advantage of my Saint of Five Lights ability. However, after observing Tsubaki myself, I felt that she no longer utilized ki to such an extent that she once did. Instead, it would be better to bestow that knowledge on someone who would more actively use that knowledge.


    And of course, there was one person that immediately sprang to mind. ¡°Please inform me whenever Dana finishes her work.¡± I told Tsubaki, turning and beginning to walk towards the door. ¡°I have to make some preparations of my own.¡±


    Tsubaki looked towards me, clearly wanting toe with me. However, she had her own duties to take care of here, and realized that. Reluctantly, she backed down as I shifted once again. This time, the scenery around me turned blood red. I was within another throne room, but¡­ this time it wasn¡¯t my own.


    ¡°Father.¡± A voice flowed down from the throne behind me, the guards reacting a momentter. At first, the red-haired humanoids looked as if they wanted to capture the intruder. However, there was only one individual that the First Blood would address as ¡®Father¡¯.


    His aura is¡­ so much stronger. Scarlet thought to herself as she looked at the Keeper. As the Demigoddess of Ki, she was capable of sensing the strength of any ki source within a vast distance from herself. So naturally, she was able to sense the drastic difference within the Keeper¡¯s power,pared to thest time that they had spoken.


    However, that was not the only thing that had changed about how she saw him. After focusing for a moment, she found a faint white light emanating off of his body, and nodded to herself in satisfaction. ¡°To what do I owe the pleasure?¡±


    Scarlet was even more well-developed now than thest time Dale saw her, filling out her body while keeping to her sense of personal beauty. With how much energy she had umted over the years, it was hard to find somewhere to put it all.


    ¡°I¡¯m surprised you haven¡¯t stepped on the path to ascension.¡± The Keeper directed a kind look towards the Empress of Blood as he spoke. ¡°You¡¯d make an excellent Goddess of Ki, you know.¡±


    Scarlet let out a faintugh, the sound echoing in the throne room. ¡°If only I could. However, I have heard that mana is a rather strict requirement along that path. As a being born with none, that path is closed to me.¡±


    That was what she genuinely believed. She was not greedy for power, but at the same time she knew that she needed to grow stronger in order to protect her people in this era where gods were beginning to emerge. Although she had considered attempting the path, it would not be possible for someone that did not possess all of the basic energy types.


    Yet, the Keeper gave a strange smile. ¡°I can take care of that, if you want.¡±


    Shocked, Scarlet stood up from her throne, her eyes shaking. ¡°Those words¡­ do you mean them?¡± So far, there had yet to be a god that was hostile to her people, but that was bound to change as more and more arose. While she was confident in dealing with any number of half-gods, a true ascended was a different matter.


    The Keeper offered a small nod, holding up a leather bound tome in his left hand that seemed to manifest from nothing. As it opened, it began flipping through the pages one by one. ¡°I hold here something known as an Uplifting spell. I believe that it was designed with people like yourself in mind, and is able to gently bestow mana upon individuals that have none.¡±


    As he finished speaking, the book stopped near the end, aplex shape appearing above it. Scarlet tried to make out its details, but found that doing so caused a sharp pain to appear in her head. This wasn¡¯t any kind of supernatural reaction, merely a case of the spell appearing far too jumbled for her to discern anything.


    ¡°Would you like me to begin?¡± He asked, his right hand lifting to hold a scepter that had not been there a moment ago.


    Scarlet thought about that, slowly sitting back in her throne and nodding. Even though he said that this would be gentle, she did not want to show an embarrassing sight if it were to be far more painful than either of them expected. ¡°Please, father. And, even if this does not work, I thank you for the attempt.¡±


    There was a look of hesitation that appeared within the Keeper¡¯s eyes when Scarlet said that, as if he was starting to worry that this might actually fail. However, he shook his head, and brushed the scepter¡¯s tip along the holographic shape.


    Scarlet closed her eyes, preparing to simply ept whatever happened. As the oldest of all Martial Spirits, she was more than familiar with the concept of death. If she were to die here, she would hold no ill will against the Keeper, as he had given her such a long life already. She merely wished to devote herself to protecting her people.


    And so, she waited. Seconds ticked by, and then minutes, before she heard the sound of someone clearing their throat. When she opened her eyes, the Keeper was simply looking at her, having already put away the tools he used to cast his spell. ¡°¡­ is that it?¡± She asked, confused. He had said it would be gentle, but she truly didn¡¯t feel a thing while her thoughts were elsewhere.


    When he nodded, she focused. Although it wasn¡¯t strong, she truly could feel a seed of a new energy within her body. ¡°I see¡­ thank you, father.¡± Scarlet replied with a genuine smile. Although her mana was currently weak, that was something that could easily be solved through training. After all, she had never had a reason to train any ss that would bolster her mana before this.


    ¡°That¡¯s not what I truly came here for, so don¡¯t thank me yet.¡± The Keeper said, slowly walking towards the steps that led to Scarlet¡¯s throne. She could feel the pulse of power within him seeming to grow stronger with every step he took, and realized that his true power had been disguised even from her perception.


    Scarlet cleared her throat, doing her best not to show her shaking nerves. ¡°I see. May I ask what else you need of me?¡±


    ¡°I want to grant you something.¡± The Keeper told her, stretching one hand out towards her. ¡°In theing months, we will need to bolster our power. As such, there is a need to bestow greater power on those most capable of understanding it.¡±


    Within the Keeper¡¯s hand, there was a gentle glow of divine light, a book gradually taking shape. When Scarlet read the title, she was struck speechless. The Keeper was bestowing a guidebook on how to use ki to her, the Demigoddess of Ki? He seemed to be able to read her expression, and chuckled. ¡°This is more advanced than anything you¡¯ve seen before, trust me. Once you master this knowledge, you will possess the power to shift and shatter space without needing to rely on your spiritual energy.¡±


    As soon as his words ended, Scarlet¡¯s hands whipped out to grab the book, holding it close to her chest. ¡°Thank you.¡± She spoke softly, as if afraid he¡¯d want to take the book back due to her previous expression. Now that she understood the gift that she was being given, she no longer wished to part with it. Between this and the potential to further evolve, her strength was bound to increase.

 Chapter 510: When Darkness Falls

    <h4>Chapter 510: When Darkness Falls</h4>


    When did I start calling him father? Scarlet wondered to herself after the Keeper had left her pce. It was only after he was gone that she noticed how informal she was with the man who created her. Such a thing would typically not be odd, except for the fact that she was the Empress of Bloodhaven, and he was the Keeper of all worlds. Such was why she had originally convinced herself to be more formal with her maker.


    Was it because of Jenna¡¯s influence? Scarlet thought back to the time she spent with an avatar attached to a mortal. Unfortunately, her lycan partner had perished in a battle against a half-god, with Scarlet unable to exert her full power until Jenna¡¯s death. She had always believed that her core had not changed from that event, but now she found that she had be more aware of familial ties.


    She stood from her throne, walking towards her office as she clutched the book against her chest. The Keeper hade bearing gifts, magnificent gifts for her. The potential to be a goddess, and a guide on how to expand her powers. Each of these alone would be things that she could only dream of.


    Perhaps due to the nature of his past visits, she had expected him to ask a favor of her. Yet, he had left before asking her to do anything. He had told her that there was a need to bolster the power of the world, but had not actually asked her to take any particr action. To Scarlet, this showed a level of trust that she was not familiar with.


    As soon as she reached her office, she went to the desk fashioned from red wood and set the book down atop it. Flipping it open, she began to read through its contents. At first, she questioned its authenticity, as she had already discovered the information within the opening pages.


    However, as she continued, she noticed that there were more and more topics that she was unfamiliar with. Biting her lip, she even realized that the information was referencing lesser knowledge she had never learned.


    Just as she was faced with the worries of being unable to fully absorb this information, a thought urred to her. A long since forgotten right bestowed upon the representative of each race. Although the custom of appointing representatives had fallen out of practice, Scarlet herself was the original Voice of the Martial Spirits.


    Goddess Aurivy. I humbly ask permission to enter the Citadel. Scarlet prayed for the first time in countless years. And as she did, a golden mist spread out from her feet, wrapping around her body. When the mist cleared, she was still seated, but now at arge table. Across from her was an unfamiliar elven girl that seemed to be drawing something on arge sheet of paper.


    When Scarlet appeared, naturally the elf noticed her as well, blinking as she lifted her head. ¡°Oh! Uhm¡­ hi?¡± This elf wore the same attire as the Keeper¡¯s servant, so naturally Scarlet assumed that she was part of the staff for the citadel. ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ red hair, red eyes¡­¡± The girl¡¯s eyes drifted slightly downwards, and then back up. For some reason, her lips tugged downward and her cheeks puffed out in a pout. ¡°You must be Scarlet?¡±


    ¡°I am¡­ I¡¯m sorry, have I offended you in some way?¡± Scarlet asked in confusion, seeing the sudden shift in the girl¡¯s mood.


    ¡°No, no, it¡¯s fine.¡± The girl grumbled to herself, shaking her head. ¡°Anyways, I¡¯m Dana. It¡¯s good to meet you. You came here for something specific, right? We don¡¯t really get casual guests.¡±


    Scarlet gave a sharp nod of her head. ¡°I would like to read all of the texts concerning ki.¡±


    You sure you want to go through with this, boss? A female voice spoke up within the mind of a ck-haired woman. This woman sat within a deep forest, light streaming through the canopy in thin strands. It¡¯s not just your hide on the line here, remember. You still have a chance to back out.


    ¡°I know.¡± She spoke softly, her legs crossed with her hands in herp. ¡°But we¡¯ve reached the point of stagnation. None of my shadows can achieve perfection if I do not lead the way. And without that, we no longer have room to grow. I¡¯m sorry, Maria, but I have made up my mind.¡±


    In order to achieve her perfection, they had left Fyor to rest in Deckan. Fyor had yet to unlock the Perfect Self ss, so doing this there would be pointless. Unfortunately, her shadow was the Shadow of Fyor, so she could not hide within it to achieve her breakthrough.


    Okay, then¡­ if you¡¯re sure. Maria¡¯s voice spoke out again, before going quiet. She didn¡¯t want to be a distraction for Thelsa at this time, afraid that one wrong step would spell the end for her.


    Thelsa was d for her concern, happy that there were people who cared enough to worry over her wellbeing. It had been too long that she was left alone with only her own shadows. And so, she closed her eyes.


    The darkness around her seemed to stir in response to her attempting to break through and achieve perfection. She stimted her ki and her mana, each fused fundamentally with her spirit. For years, she had prepared, merging these energies to increase her chances of sess.


    And now, it was time to put it all to practice. Thelsa grit her teeth, pushing her ki to the limits and causing her body to explode in a burst of visceral carnage. The trees around her shook from the impact, but it was ultimately Thelsa herself that was left the most shaken.


    You have died.


    The Shadow Saint bears the lives of the many on her back, yet never shows her true face. When confronted with death itself, a shadow may take her ce.


    The Special Title, Shadow Saint, has leveled up. New ability unlocked - Shadow Sacrifice.


    Shadow Sacrifice has activated automatically. Locating a suitable sacrifice with a highpatibility.


    Sora Sparks has sacrificed herself for the Shadow Saint.


    What?! Thelsa¡¯s metaphorical eyes went wide at the string of messages. She could feel her energies steadilying back together, guided by the vitality that had been absorbed from Sora. However, the realization that one of her closest friends had just died, that she was ultimately the cause, shook her to the core.


    Once again, her energy began to destabilize, the ki and mana swirling within the air to be chaotic. Then, all of a sudden, her energy calmed once again. A new surge of vitality flowed into her. This time, her energy was forced to reassemble whether she willed it to or not.


    Maria Maller has sacrificed herself for the Shadow Saint.


    Perfect Self has been unlocked!


    Thelsa stared at the words that appeared before her, her body as still as a statue. Her eyes were shaking, wet from tears threatening to spill forth. Maria and Sora were her two oldest shadows, the ones that she was the closest with. And now, they were just gone. No warning, no great lead-up, their lives snuffed out like a candle in a storm.


    Although she could create ¡®copies¡¯ of them, they would never be the same. The memories and personality that those two had built over their many years together could never be brought back. At first, she didn¡¯t want to believe it. It had to be some cruel joke. The power she had been given had always benefited her.


    But it was true, she could no longer feel the presence of either Sora or Maria within her shadow. Slowly, a figure rose out from Thelsa¡¯s shadow, a demon girl in her early teens. Petra Carna, the third shadow. Most likely¡­ the one that would have been lost next, if she had still failed to achieve perfection.


    Thelsa suddenly remembered Petra¡¯s title, the Demigoddess of Shadows, and looked at her as if she were a ray of hope. ¡°Petra, please¡­ Maria, Sora¡­ help them.¡± Her voice cracked as her tears began to fall, her shoulders shaking.


    However, Petra as well was crying, tears streaming down her cheeks. ¡°I can¡¯t¡­ I tried¡­ they¡¯re gone.¡± Petra lunged forward, ignoring both the gore that littered the ground and Thelsa¡¯s state of undress. She wrapped her arms around Thelsa and began sobbing pitifully into her shoulder. Her horns brushed against Thelsa¡¯s face, but she couldn¡¯t ask Petra to stop. Not when she needed to do the same thing.


    For the first time, Thelsa truly hated her own power. It had taken away two of her best friends at once. Ultimately, she knew that the fault rested with herself, and in time she would be able to ept this. But for now, the Shadow Saint was at her darkest hour.


    Ashley closed her eyes as she watched the scene of the two girls crying in each other¡¯s arms below. She had known that her champion was preparing to break through to unlock the Perfect Self, so she had been watching to cheer her on. She didn¡¯t know what was really about to happen.


    The Shadow Saint title was something granted by the system itself, and even as the Goddess of Darkness she had no real control over it, or power to discern its abilities. While she had expected some type of life-preserving ability to be included, this was¡­ not what she had in mind.


    From what she expected, when Thelsa died one of her shadows would step up to be the Shadow Saint. Logically, that would go by the order of their birth. Instead, the shadows themselves became fuel to save the Shadow Saint from whatever was tormenting her.


    She wanted to offer some words of encouragement,fort the two of them in their time of need. But deep down, she knew that if she showed herself, she would only be an outlet for them to vent their frustrations. If that happened, they may attach the me for this event onto her, and be unable to change that perception.


    So while it hurt, Ashley could only watch from above, clenching her fists. If it were possible, she would plead with Irena to return the souls of the two shadows so that they could be reborn. The only problem with that was¡­ there were no souls to return. Everything had been used by the power of the Shadow Saint.


    As a goddess, and one who had lived numerous mortal lives, she was all too familiar with the concept of death. She herself had died over a hundred times over. But it never became easier to lose someone that you cared about. To realize that you would never see them again.


    Thelsa and Petra sat there for hours, crying until they had no more tears to shed. Even then, they didn¡¯t move, leaning against each other and seeming to just rest. Due to the concentration of her energy, as well as the ¡®supplements¡¯ provided by two of her shadows, Thelsa¡¯s body had been reformed at its natural size.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Petra¡­ I shouldn¡¯t have done this.¡± She knew that it was not strictly necessary to achieve perfection. Research showed that even bing a god without stepping into perfection was possible. It simply increased the difficulty drastically. ¡°If I didn¡¯t¡­ they¡¯d¡­¡±


    ¡°I know, Thelsa¡­¡± Petra whispered, her shoulders shaking. ¡°But you didn¡¯t know. None of us knew¡­ They can¡¯te back¡­ they¡¯re gone, and we¡¯re here. I¡­ I think Maria would want us to be happy.¡± As she said that, she brought her hand up to wipe at her eyes. Only making them more red in the process. ¡°Stupid eyshes¡­¡±


    Realizing what she meant by that utterance, Thelsa let out a helpless smile. Part of her knew that Petra was right. When Maria warned Thelsa of the danger previously, it wasn¡¯t her own life that she was concerned for. Rather, she had been worried for Thelsa, Sora, Petra, and the countless other shadows that had been created over the past years.


    Just like Thelsa herself, she wanted to protect everyone. And she had given her life to do just that.

 Chapter 511: Covering Weakness

    <h4>Chapter 511: Covering Weakness</h4>


    After I left the pce of Bloodhaven, there were still more ces I had to visit. Currently, there were two strategic weak points within my world. The first, and most significant was perhaps Fyor. If the invasion happened there, and the invaders destroyed the spire of whatever floor they appeared on, this invasion couldst for decades.


    In order to shore up this weakness, I needed a way to transfer between worldyers even when the crystal was destroyed. Unfortunately, it had been proven that even interdimensional magic arrays weren¡¯t capable of bypassing that restriction. There was, in fact, only one thing that I knew of which had proven effective.


    Although the ¡®lockdown¡¯ prevented magical methods of traveling between floors, it did nothing to hamper ¡®natural¡¯ dimensional gates. For instance, the tidestones native to Fyor. It was still possible to move between worlds as long as the conduit used as a naturally urring mineral which possessed the ability.


    There was an altogether different difficulty with this method, however. And that was the fact that one had to navigate through the tidestones on the other side to find where they were going. Navigating the elemental ne of water was not something that even I was willing to do casually with my main body.


    As such, for this mission I required the help of Bihena and Ryone. Getting the two of them to find clusters of tidestone that were linked within the elemental ne, which would allow me to use my domain to instantly look through all of them. Then, ce chunks of these clusters within each of the exploredyers of Fyor.


    Once I put them to work, I knew that this primary weakness would be taken care of before too long. What was left now was the secondary weakness, which was Sher Dien. Although this world has epted the Divine Registry that Tsubaki and Dana created, they had not yet achieved significant strength of their own. Let alone any half-gods, there was not a single Perfect Self within the entire world.


    Helping them to fix this weakness would take an altogether different strategy. One which I was currently facing with a faint sigh. ¡°And that is my offer.¡± I spoke, looking towards the draconic centaur before me.


    His face was contorted in a thoughtful expression, his scaled arms crossing over his chest. ¡°Are you sure that this will seed?¡± He questioned, looking to me with none of the respect one would typically show towards the Keeper. However, that made sense, as I was not revealing my identity to him. Instead, I had assumed a different identity for this mission.


    ¡°Not at all.¡± I shook my head honestly. ¡°It will entirely depend on the aptitude of those that you choose. While I can guide them to the five lights, whether or not they are able to grasp it will depend on their own talents.¡±


    That¡¯s right, in order to cover the weakness which was Sher Dien, I once again decided to impart the knowledge of the Ki of Beginning to the world. Myst attempt¡­ did not go so well, but the worlds hadrgely grown since that time. If it worked, they would obtain a power that was no weaker than the Perfect Self, one that they could train far more easily since normal centaurs had a natural inability to control mana.


    ¡°I¡¯ll need to consult with my advisors before I make such a decision.¡± The centaur king told me, and I merely offered an understanding nod. It would seem suspicious if someone came offering power without a price, and so I had indeed given them a price befitting the power I offered.


    My price was an entire world. Not the world of Sher Dien, but a world that they had discovered through their nar exploration. This world itself held little value aside from resource harvesting, and my act of requesting it was merely an excuse to convince them that I was not doing this without reason.


    As for why I did not reveal myself as the Keeper, that was far easier to exin. If the Keeper was seen granting Sher Dien the secret of an entirely new ss, every other world would begin to feel wronged. Why did I bestow it to the centaurs, but not the elves? Why not the halflings, or the dwarves? In order to avoid these questions, I had taken on the identity of an old hermit wishing to own a world of his own in exchange for imparting his teachings.


    After my nod, I saw the centaur walking out from the room which we were in, leaving me in the room by myself. I gave a soft sigh, leaning back and closing my eyes. It was hard to tell how long it would take to nurture a group of ¡®Saints¡¯ as I had offered. I was confident that I would be able to finish with enough time to spare before the invasion began, but whether or not I had time to properly train myself afterwards was yet to be determined.


    Part of me wanted to simply create an avatar to handle this task for me, but I felt that it was more fitting to oversee it myself. As for what I¡¯d do with the world after I got it? I wasn¡¯t sure on that detail yet. Maybe I¡¯d just close it off, or give it to Tubrock to mine for as much materials as he could ever want. Once they gave me the key to it, I had ways of making sure it was locked off from the inside.


    While I was debating my ns, the door opened again. This time, three figures entered. One was naturally the draconic centaur king, whereas the other two were young centaur girls. The first was a pegasus variant, while the second was a normal centaur. If I didn¡¯t know better, I¡¯d have assumed that they were simply the daughters of local nobles rather than the king¡¯s trained guards.


    ¡°These are my two most talented subordinates when ites to the maniption of ki.¡± The king spoke, gesturing towards the two girls. ¡°After consulting my advisors, we agreed on an answer. If these two are unable to achieve the results you¡¯ve offered, then there will be no deal. If it works, however, we¡¯ll be willing to move forward as you suggested.¡±


    I gave a faint nod, looking at the two girls. The pegasus had golden fur matching her short hair and folded wings, which seemed to almost shine under the light. The normal centaur girl, on the other hand, had pitch ck fur with long hair tied up in a ponytail. Only now did I have to wonder¡­ was the term ponytail offensive to a centaur?


    ¡°Sir, we shall be in your care.¡± The two of them said in harmony, offering a faint bow. I gave a nod, standing up and stretching. Best show off just a bit to really get their attention.


    ¡°Well, let¡¯s get started then.¡± I said, beforezily swiping my hand through the air. My fingersced themselves with ki and tore through the empty space, creating a dim void. And when I clenched my fists, sending a series of signals through my own ki, the void stabilized into a portal.


    The three centaurs in the room let out surprised gasps as they saw what was clearly the ins outside the castle walls. This was the power of the fourth tier of ki, which I had given to Scarlet after studying myself. The technique required delicate control, as well as a certain type of ki path, so it was nowhere near as easy as I made it look.


    Still, it had achieved the desired effect, the two girls following me through the portal with a determined expression. As for why both of them were girls, and the king did not give me a male disciple? Maybe he thought I¡¯d be morex on someone I found to be endearing. Unfortunately, I wasn¡¯t particrly attracted to centaurs.


    ¡°What would you have us do first, sir?¡± The pegasus asked, her hands linked behind her back. I took a moment to study the two of them, not their outer appearances but their internal ki paths.


    After doing so, I shook my head in resignation. ¡°First, I¡¯ll have the two of you abolish your current ki paths. They won¡¯t be of any help to you in this training.¡± The two girls looked at me in surprise as I said this. Their ki paths were at the standard of the second tier, which was already quite impressive for a normal person. People who were able to create third tier ki paths on their own could be regarded as geniuses due to theplexity involved.


    Without waiting for the two of them to agree, I struck my hand out and made a grasping motion. ¡°This is probably going to hurt, but bear with it.¡± I told them as I halted the flow of ki within their bodies, and forced it to flow in reverse, back to its origin.


    The two girls seized up, their faces going pale as they bit their lips. However, they did not scream, even when blood began to trickle down their chins. Centaurs have two hearts, each of which serve as a natural ki source. In this way, they are morepatible with ki than any other race, which was why I had chosen the Ki of Beginning as the power to grant them.


    Once the ki had been entirely extracted from their established paths, I clenched my fists to remove thetent traces that the paths had created in their bodies. With this, their established ki paths, the foundation for all of their training so far, had been removed. ¡°Now that I¡¯ve reset you¡­ it¡¯s time to do it the right way.¡±


    After saying that, I first turned to walk towards the normal centaur girl, Sarah apparently. Her eyes were shaking, her face pale as she watched me approach. Clearly, she had yet to recover from the pain of having her ki paths forcefully removed. But that was fine. This next step wouldn¡¯t hurt so bad.


    I walked around to her side, cing my hand on her nk. ¡°Now, rx.¡± I told her in a firm tone, beginning to inject her body with a small trace of my ki to begin guiding it along a new path.


    Oh Father! The centaur girl shouted in her mind, praying for some relief from the pain assaulting her. She felt as if her hearts were about to burst open from the reversed flow of ki, and yet the elderly man had already begun walking towards her. She wasn¡¯t sure if she could withstand the next stage of his training, whatever it entailed.


    Regardless, she stood firm. She had dedicated her life to her king, and would not crumble under pain. When she and her sister had epted this mission, they knew that it was entirely possible that they would die in this training. Merely, they hadn¡¯t expected their potential deaths to arrive so soon.


    When she felt a hand on her nk, Sarah tensed up. ¡°Now, rx.¡± Themand entered her head but did little to truly help her. She could feel the overpowering energy pulsing into her body, the foreign ki that led hers around as if on a leash. At first, he started with the ki produced by her lower heart, the one which handled primary ki production.


    She felt her ki being led in strange patterns, unable to determine just what it was that he was doing. However, after a few minutes she seemed to realize something. The ¡®knots¡¯ that he had tied with her ki had begun producing ki of their own. She had heard rumors that this was an ability that belonged to the monks of Lorek and Spica, creating new ki sources within themselves.


    This man did not stop at just one, though. He continued to lead her ki through her body, forming one ¡®ki heart¡¯ after another until she had half a dozen spread throughout her form. ¡°It¡¯s a good thing that you weren¡¯t already an elemental monk.¡± She heard him mutter. ¡°Purging the elemental energy from your ki would have likely been a more difficult task.¡±


    Sarah¡¯s eyes went wide as she heard that. Naturally, she was aware of the significance of those words. Elemental monks were not rare within the ranks of the king¡¯s guard. Rather, monks that maintained pure ki like her and her sister were far more difficult to find. No doubt, that was the reason that he had told the king he only wanted those of pure ki.


    Once he was done establishing the framework of Sarah¡¯s ki path, he began walking over towards Mara, her sister. Mara had already had some more time to recover from the earlier pain, so her face was somewhat more rxed. Regardless, she tensed up as soon as she saw the man walking closer.

 Chapter 512: The Order of Five Lights

    <h4>Chapter 512: The Order of Five Lights</h4>


    Remodeling the ki paths of the two girls turned out to be far easier than I expected. Perhaps it was because they weren¡¯t resisting, or simply the difference in our levels. Either way, it took less than an hour to get both of them set up with the same ki path that I myself had been using until just recently.


    Once we were done with that, I helped them in converting four of their ki pools into elemental ki of the different types. This alone seemed to surprise them, as the idea of a single person using different types of elemental ki had apparently not yet been put into practice within this world. Given the difficulty in cleansing a fully converted ki pool, I wasn¡¯t too surprised at that.


    Only when we came to the final step did I begin to feel any pressure. Creating the Ki of Beginning was a highlyplex procedure, and I myself had only been able to seed due to the intervention of my world sight. Naturally, I wouldn¡¯t go so far as to bestow my world sight upon the two of them, which left me with a rather difficult dilemma.


    Should I attempt to guide them through the process to increase their chances, use my own energy to influence the process, or try some other method? The first had the highest chance of failure outside of leaving them to their own devices, while the second meant that they would be unable to pass the teaching on to others. As for the third¡­ what other method was there?


    Wait¡­ maybe¡­ I turned to look at Sarah. ¡°This next step is the dangerous one. I am going to attempt a shortcut. If it fails, we will have to resort to manually merging the energy, which will put both of your lives at risk. If it seeds, this danger can be avoided, though I am not sure at what cost.¡±


    ¡°What is the shortcut?¡± Sarah asked, her voice confident once again now that she had managed to get this far. I knew fully well the pain that she had endured in the first step, but thankfully she was able to move past that.


    ¡°I will be injecting a small amount of energy into one of your ki hearts. From there, you will need to circte it on your own to the elemental ki nodes.¡± For this step, I would be using the most gentle and pure Ki of Beginning to reduce the risk of any serious bacsh. As an energy that existed purely to heal and repair, I hoped that it would be safe to start there.


    Sarah thought about it for a moment, before nodding her head. Anyone that had merged energies before knew the risks in doing so, and knew that these risks only increased with theplexity of the energy. There was a reason that only one percent of people would be able to sessfully achieve the perfect self, even though the process was known. One wrong step, one moment of letting the pain overwhelm you, and it was all over.


    Although there was the chance that some defect could ur from stimting the Ki of Beginning in this way, there was no way to be sure. Sooner orter, someone would have to bite the bullet to be the guinea pig for this experiment. Knowing that, Sarah chose to take that burden herself.


    Mara looked towards her sister in concern before nodding as well and stepping back. Seeing that, I stepped over to Sarah¡¯s side, and ced my hand on her nk once again. A small tremble ran through her body as she was immediately reminded of the pain from having her ki paths taken apart.


    What is this energy? Sarah was taken aback as she felt the hand on her nk this time. With the description that her king had given her regarding the energy that they were trying to obtain, she expected a powerful, domineering force to spread through her body.


    Instead, however, it was far more gentle than even ordinary ki. If she didn¡¯t focus on it, she was sure that she would entirely lose sight of it a momentter. Sarah watched this energy infusing itself into one of her ki hearts, at which point a small pain spread through her body.


    In order to maximize the chance of sess, the elderly man had cut off his connection with the ki as soon as it had reached its designation. At this point, it was an energy without an owner, and sought to bind itself to the home in which it had been given.


    Could it really be that easy, though? Sarah felt as if a fire had been lit inside of her, letting out a gasp of pain. Naturally, the answer was no. The Ki of Beginning was not an energy created purely out of ki, so of course it couldn¡¯t just replicate itself onto normal ki. It had to forcibly draw in the energies from the surroundings toplete this process, pouring them into Sarah¡¯s body.


    Green and blue mists seemed to surge around her as her ki was slowly converted. Her health bar appeared above her head, and began slowly trickling down, a sign that her organs were being harmed by this process.


    Mara watched nervously, her eyes alternating between Sarah and the health bar. As a high level monk, she had far more health than the average person, but even still the decline was visible. Mara could only clench her fists, hoping that the mysterious elder would step in and stop the procedure, or use some method to heal her.


    Her hopes went unanswered, though, as the man only stood to the side and watched. If he were to use a healing spell, or inject more Ki of Beginning into her body to heal it, there was the chance that doing so would interfere with the conversion process and destroy her body. With that being the case, the only option he had was to wait, only interfering if she was truly about to die.


    Soon, her health bar had declined until there was only a quarter of it remaining. Mara wanted to scream for him to help her, but bit her lip to stifle herself. It was then that she noticed that the mist around Sarah seemed to recede. Her health bar did not immediately recover, but it also didn¡¯t continue to decline.


    The elderly man closed his eyes, focusing for a moment. ¡°A number of her internal organs have ruptured, and the muscles of her front-right leg are bruised.¡± For a normal centaur, these wounds would be fatal without immediate attention. However, they were still treatable with normal ki, though the process would be slow.


    ¡°If she circtes her new energy through the affected areas, she should be able to restore to prime condition soon enough.¡± The words helped to calm Mara, but it seemed as though Sarah herself didn¡¯t even hear them. Her eyes were unfocused, her concentration entirely on the unusual energy within her body.


    She had not yet obtained the promised ss, but that wasn¡¯t a surprise. It was the Saint of Five Lights, not one light. She expected that she would need to train the rest of her elemental ki with this new energy in order to receive the ss.


    After a moment, she noticed the pain flowing through her body. Almost as a reflex, the new Ki of Beginning surged through her ki paths, repairing any of her organs that it came across before returning to its home. The rate of recovery astounded her, far surpassing anything she had seen with normal ki, and instead bordering the realm of a powerful healing spell.


    ¡°Good. Now, once you are ready, you can begin training the other energies.¡± The man said, before looking to Mara. ¡°I can¡¯t sense any deviation in her ki, so this method should be safe. That is, with the condition that you are able to survive the process. You saw how much damage she took, are you confident that you can withstand that?¡±


    Mara thought about that question seriously. As a pegasus, she had a number of levels in the scout ss as well as monk. With their levels being roughly the same, this meant that her health would naturally be lower than Sarah¡¯s. ¡°It will be close, but I should be able to manage.¡±


    The man nodded, walking over towards Mara and repeating the process of converting one of her ki hearts. Mara was indeed cutting it close, most of her organs rupturing before she had managed to finish the conversion. It was close enough that she wasn¡¯t able to stimte her new ki herself, and required the elderly man to intervene and save her after the process was done.


    From there, the two of them spent the remainder of the day training to merge their elemental ki types into this new Ki of Beginning. Only then did Mara and Sarah receive the Saint of Five Lights ss, confirming his words that there truly had been a hidden ss all this time.


    As the night fell, the two knights returned to their king, kneeling in respect. Seeing them return safely, the king offered a satisfied nod. ¡°How long do you suspect it will take to receive this new ss?¡± He asked, expecting that they would have heard some kind of training schedule from their temporary instructor.


    However, to his surprise, the two girls exchangedplicated expressions before speaking. ¡°Reporting to His Highness, the two of us have already received the Saint of Five Lights ss.¡±


    The king¡¯s eyes went wide in shock as he heard that, and he immediately sent an order to bring a status orb into the throne room. Only after confirming the existence of the ss, and the fact that it was indeed an advanced ss, did the king let out a sigh of relief. ¡°Could it be that the ss is not as wondrous as it appeared?¡±


    Clearly, he was starting to think about going back on his deal with the mysterious hermit. If the ss was truly not what was promised, then there was no need for them to uphold their end of the deal as well.


    Sarah lifted her head to look at the king. ¡°May I speak freely, Your Highness?¡±


    Only when the king assented with a nod did she continue. ¡°The abilities of the ss were just as you exined to us previously. However, there was also an additional healing property that wasn¡¯t exined. The reason that we were able to achieve our results so quickly was in part due to this property, and furthermore the elder¡¯s reshaping of our ki paths.¡±


    ¡°Do you think that you would be able to replicate this effect in others?¡± The king asked curiously. If these two girls were able to create more like them, then perhaps there was still no need for the hermit.


    However, Sarah shook her head. ¡°If I had a few years to study the ki path that I had been given, I might be able to replicate it, but I would not have any guarantee of sess. The process of doing so would likely cost us numerous lives.¡±


    The king fell silent at those words. While an entire world was truly a heavy price to pay, it did notpare to the lives of his people. After all, they had yet to properly colonize the world he requested, so the only thing that they would truly lose would be the time spent discovering it.


    ¡°Very well. Pass my words to the World Seekers. The gate of Sitesh will be given to this hermit in the morning, in exchange for his assistance in cultivating a Saint Order.¡± With that decree, the ownership of a world had officially fallen into another¡¯s hand. Though it was only a verbal agreement, it was as good as gold when the only key to the world was given up.


    Five days passed by after that, in which time a total of fifty centaurs were granted the Saint of Five Lights ss. They would be the first generation of Sher Dien¡¯s Saint Order, the strongest fighting force that the had to offer.


    Furthermore, by order of the king, their existence was to remain a secret until the day that they were called to action. While he knew that their power could inspire the envy of other worlds, it would also draw the envy of the ascended gods. It was hard to say who would win if one such god came to pry into the secrets of this order.

 Chapter 513: Beginning Training

    <h4>Chapter 513: Beginning Training</h4>


    Within the human nation of Hanbei on the Earth, there was an inconspicuous tavern. Its sign was a charging boar with a vertical slit running through one of its eyes. Inside, there was the merryughter of the crowd, which was predominantly from the beastkin races. Although there were a scant few humans or elves, this was one of the rare establishments in the city that specialized in cuisine from Tyrna, thend of the beastkin.


    For some reason, the food produced here didn¡¯t seem to sit well with those of other races, so it was always only a matter of time before they left. When they did, there was a beastkin that stood with a jovialugh. ¡°Haha! Sorry, our food¡¯s not always to the taste of others.¡± He walked them out with a happy smile, as if he had seen the event countless times before.


    However, the moment that they were gone, he returned with a serious expression. He locked the door behind him, and theughter in the tavern died down at once. Suddenly, everyone who had worn carefree expressions on their faces all assumed a more businesslike expression.


    ¡°Is everyone here?¡± He asked towards the bartender, who gave a casual nod of his head, still cleaning one of the sses left behind by an elf. ¡°Good, looks like there wasn¡¯t anything unexpected.¡±


    After saying so, he moved to sit at his table, which was located near the middle of the tavern. ¡°The Sisters have sent word, our time ising soon.¡± Numerous expressions hardened at his words, but he continued. ¡°In a few months time, a new enemy will appear in the world. There is a chance that they will be able to blend in with us, so we¡¯ll need to be on our guard. Spread word to the other branches, but remember¡­ though we have left the forest¡­¡±


    ¡°The forest will never leave us.¡± The words echoed from around him, causing him to nod with a small smile.


    Roughly half of the customers of the tavern stood up together, walking to the door and unlocking it, leaving without paying for whatever drinks they had consumed. As soon as they left, they split up. Some of them went home, some went to wait in line at the town portal, others walked to a different business.


    For those in thetter group, there was something inmon with every business that they entered. That was the presence of an eye somewhere on their sign, a vertical slit running through it. While in the businesses, they casually passed off notes to the owners, who nodded with small smiles.


    Long ago, the ninjas had left the forest. They had done all that they could from their seclusion, and had decided that it was time to integrate with society. However, though they left the forest, they did not leave behind their ways. They were still a people united, sharing amon mission.


    I let out a small sigh as I sat in my new world. After I had acquired the key to this realm from the centaurs, I had Ryone use fourth tier magic to obscure its nar coordinates. Now, there would be nobody that would be able to use the old methods to find this ce. They would have to either stumble across it by pure chance, or know the method to break Ryone¡¯s spell.


    ¡°I guess it¡¯s time to train seriously, then.¡± I muttered, before looking around. I was sitting within a wide field, which was the area that the previous portal led to. alia, run a quick check for monster activity in this world.


    Understood! I¡¯m reading various low level signatures, however nothing above one hundred. The method that the centaurs had used to establish their gates to other worlds ensured that the worlds in question would have the same physicalws as the ones that they connected from. Although it could take them weeks to find a single world, constantly channeling the mana of numerous mages, this ensured that they didn¡¯t find any truly dangerous areas where thews of reality themselves were against them.


    Then I won¡¯t have to worry too much. I gave a nod. My presence would likely cause the average level of monsters to sharply rise, but that would not be for some time. By then, I would have already left this world, and handed it over to Tubrock.


    The easiest way for me to advance in strength was to train in my currently acquired abilities. These were my domains, and the martial arts I had bought previously. Although I had reached the final stage of Aki Seppo with Leowynn, I had not yet mastered the Thousand Arms, Ten Thousand Threads.


    In fact, I was fairly certain that that art couldn¡¯t be mastered without spending hundreds of years training your mind to multitask. The further one goes in the art, the harder it gets. As Terra had once said, it was an ¡®imperfect¡¯ creation, an end designed without consideration for the means. Simr to the Perfect Self, it was something that a Keeper had designed through the system without first testing it themselves.


    While the art had proven useful until now, I had taken it as far as I reasonably could. At this point, it would be more effective for me to either purchase or create a new art. The former would ensure that I had a direct training manual, while thetter would give me something that was entirely my own.


    Thinking back, I remembered my fight against the other Keepers at the monthly meeting. The ki technique that had been used to kill me, copsing space itself with immeasurable power. At the time, I hadn¡¯t been able to properly grasp how to perform a move like that, as I was still too inexperienced.


    Now, on the other hand, I could picture it in my head. How to create artificial arms through a specialized ki path. How to control those arms as one¡¯s own. And how to use them to destroy a region of space. These were all possible with the fourth tier of ki. In fact, at the time my opponent had been restricted to the power of a first rank Keeper, so they had been made to go through extra steps toplete the process.


    If it were me now, I was confident that I would be able to create a simr technique with enough training. But, that wasn¡¯t what I wanted either. I wanted something that would take advantage of my own strengths. A power that was truly mine. Only then would I be able to use it to its fullest.


    There was always the option of simply designing an art, and then using the shortcut of having the system create a training n. I¡¯d have to spend a few points, but it would ensure sess. If I did that, though, I¡¯d be giving up my trump card, as anyone would be able to find the art developed on the market.


    I couldn¡¯t even really ask the other gods for help. Not because I didn¡¯t trust them, but because none of them had the powers of ¡®mirror¡¯ and ¡®illusion¡¯. While their advice would be helpful for a normal technique, it would be useless when facing such a specialized problem.


    And so, I closed my eyes. I pushed my multitasking ability to its fullest, thinking about this from every angle that I could. Aside from my two godly domains, I also held the power of a saint level energy. Back when I first heard about the Saint of Five Lights, the concept of a ¡®saint energy¡¯ confused me, but now I somewhat understood.


    The only thing that stood above a saint was a god. The only thing that stood above a saint energy was divine energy. By some measures of logic, that meant that divine energy would always surpass saint energy¡­ but even the basic mana or ki could kill a god if used at a high enough level of mastery.


    If fourth tier magic could y a god¡­ didn¡¯t that mean that a technique of the third tier, used through saint energy, could do the same? Maybe even the second tier. With this thought in mind, I included my Ki of Beginning into my ns for creating this new technique.


    Lifting my hand, I used the Beginning Water ki and slowly swiped it through the air. Beginning Water was capable of stopping the vibration of atoms, essentially freezing anything it touched. Fire amplifies the vibration of those atoms, allowing weaker objects to be directly disintegrated. Earth halts momentum of an object as a whole, and amplifies momentum at the moment of impact.


    Then¡­ what if I applied this energy to a technique capable of impacting space? Would it show a new effect? As I thought about that, I slowly stood up, and then made myself rise high into the air. Just in case the effects were truly devastating, I wanted to make sure that I was safe from any ssh damage.


    Let¡¯s start with water. I muttered to myself, sping my hands together. Gentle blue light wrapped around my hands, flowing along the path I set, before I reached out in front of myself and clenched my fist. Normally, this would be a third tier technique capable of causing distortions in space.


    Now, the air in front of me seemed to¡­ almost solidify. There were wavy lines drawn through the air, much as with the normal version of this technique. But they weren¡¯t moving, and gave a faint feeling of dread when one looked at them. As if the space was being squeezed, struggling to break free but unable to move.


    As I watched that, I noticed a series of notifications appearing, alerting me that I had leveled up my Saint of Five Lights ss numerous times. So that¡¯s how it is. Although the Ki of Beginning was an energy made from all four basic types, it was at its source primarily ki.


    Wind next. Turning to face a different direction, I swapped the Beginning Water with Beginning Wind and performed the same technique. This time, however, the results were¡­ dramatically different. There was a roar as space twisted and shattered, darkness storming out in a cone from my hand.


    However, this darkness seemed mixed with odd shades of blue and green. The space was ripping itself apart, but at the same time being suppressed and held together. Light seemed to break apart in fragments, turning into a mosaic before me.


    Next, I tested both fire and earth as well. Fire clearly held the most destructive effect. Without a sound, everything in my vision turned ck when I used the technique with Beginning Fire. In a range of ten kilometers, space itself was silently erased.


    On the other hand, when I used Beginning Earth, space was not damaged in the slightest. It took me a moment to register what had happened, before I realized that I had ¡®locked¡¯ space. Any spatial techniques would have to first ovee this lock before they were able to function in this area.


    As I practiced, both my Saint of Five Lights and my Monk levels were increasing drastically. I knew that with this kind of power, it wouldn¡¯t be difficult to kill a god. As long as they were within the area that I used third-tier attacks, I could quite literally erase them.


    Funny enough, when I used the generic Ki of Beginning for this same effect, it did nothing. It didn¡¯t even have the same destructive might of regr ki, as it was an energy designed purely to repair and heal.


    Part of me had to ask¡­ if third tier attacks were this strong when mixed with these energies¡­ what about the fourth tier? Would it be possible for me to erase entire cities? Countries, even? I had to give this serious consideration before I even began testing. What was the appropriate safe distance in case the power was greater than I imagined?


    Regardless, now that I knew the power of the third tier, I could begin to incorporate it into my ns for a unique fighting style. And I was already beginning to imagine just how I could do that.

 Chapter 514: Laying the Trap

    <h4>Chapter 514: Laying the Trap</h4>


    While the Keeper was performing his training, the rest of his domain was simrly busy. Out in the deepest reaches of Deckan¡¯s space, the frontier exploration ship known as the Emergence was receiving a message. It had been over two weeks since theirst sortie, so most of their passengers were quite rxed.


    The captain of the vessel sat within her personal quarters, having chosen to take the message privately as it came from ¡®centralmand¡¯. However, the image that appeared on the screen was not that of the exploration advisor, but rather the queen which held the highest authority back on Deckan.


    ¡°Queen Bria, I am honored that you would wish to speak with me.¡± The captain said, almost casually. Having been away from Deckan for so long, none of them were technically under the jurisdiction of any Deckan kingdom any longer. In a way, they were a sovereign territory floating through space, maintaining fair trade with Deckan. As such, it was normal for her to be more informal when addressing the powers that be back home.


    Bria let out a brief sigh, looking towards the captain. ¡°I¡¯m calling you to issue an emergency return order on the Emergence for the near future.¡±


    The captain¡¯s eyebrows shot up, her tail swishing behind her as she looked at Bria in rm. ¡°On what grounds?¡± While certain circumstances could indeed force a recall of the ship, that was under the assumption that it would be worth the cost to do so. First, their journey would have to start from nothing when they left again.


    Secondly, the emergency gate required a mana cost to activate rtive to the distance traveled. Both of these factors meant that the longer a journey hadsted, the more difficult it would be to issue the type of order Bria was doing now.


    ¡°There is an emergency situation in theing months.¡± Bria exined seriously. ¡°The Goddess herself urged me to recall all avable forces to prepare.¡±


    Hearing that, the captain¡¯s body went stiff. If the reason were not sufficient, she could choose to ignore the recall. However, this was not simply an order from Bria, but a warning from the Goddess herself. She had neither the reason nor will to defy Udona. ¡°I understand. I¡¯ll issue the return order immediately.¡±


    ¡°Sorry to trouble you like this.¡± Bria said with a weary smile. ¡°Once the situation has passed, I will authorize Emergence¡¯s second voyage. You can keep your rank and any crew that wish to remain aboard.¡±


    ¡°I appreciate that.¡± The captain nodded, feeling somewhat relieved at that. From her somewhat disrespectful disy before, it would be entirely within Bria¡¯s authority to have her reced after they returned home with someone more loyal to the crown.


    With that, the call ended, and the captain turned to walk out towards the bridge. ¡°Attention!¡± She shouted, her voice echoing throughout the ship. ¡°We are activating all Recall protocols, effective immediately!¡±


    ¡°I repeat, all Recall protocols are in effect!¡± When her words came through the speakers of the ship, passengers bolted upright. Anything that wasn¡¯t fixed in ce was converted into its card form and safely stored, while any experienced mages made their way to the mana core.


    ¡°All sectors reporting, preparationsplete!¡± A male officer with ck hair turned his head to inform the captain, earning a nod.


    ¡°Understood. Activate the Journey Home deck.¡± As she said that, she pulled a card from her breast pocket, slipping it into an open slot on her chair. The card had the image of the Deckan, serving as the anchor point for thisrge-scale warp spell.


    Outside of the ship, dozens of cards shot out of concealed ports, forming a wide grid that epassed the entire ship itself. Meanwhile, within the mana core, the mages were pushing as much of their mana as they could spare into the refinery. This mana was then condensed into a pale blue liquid, which was used as fuel to power the cards outside.


    These cards began to glow brightly, lights shooting between them until the ship seemed to be encased in a glowing. Then, without warning, the ship simply vanished. All that was left behind were the numerous cards that had triggered the warp.


    ¡°All readings, normal.¡± The ck-haired officer said as he read from the screen. ¡°Journey Home is a sess.¡± Outside, they could no longer see the empty void, but rather the blue and green that they had once called home.


    Within a vast expanse of darkness surrounded by blinking lights, a ck-skinned humanoid wearing a dark robe sat behind a desk suspended in the empty void. On the other side of his desk, a red-skinned demoness sat wearing a formal business suit, her hands crossed in herp as her wings draped over her shoulders.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve had the pleasure of meeting you quite so directly, before.¡± nk said as he looked at the goddess opposite him, who simply smiled back.


    ¡°I would have called you through more conventional methods, but I felt that time was of the essence. I hope you don¡¯t mind me making a personal visit?¡±


    nk shook his head slowly. ¡°No, it should be fine. I never congratted you on that game world you created, either. It has be quite the sess.¡±


    ¡°While I appreciate thepliment, that was not entirely my own creation.¡± Ashley let out a low sigh. ¡°It¡¯s also not what I¡¯m here for. I¡¯m guessing that you¡¯ve noticed the preparations being made?¡±


    The artificially developed god gave a brief nod, a screen appearing next to him. ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ we have unusual gatherings of beastkin within territories not their own. All within businesses owned and run by other beastkin. On its own, nothing major, until you trace back the lineage of the business owners. Without exception, they all have a history which fails to go back more than two generations.¡±


    ¡°The centaurs of Sher Dien have be more reclusive, going by the rumors. Andline hasn¡¯t beenid in that world yet, so I can¡¯t properly assess their situation. Kione¡¯s churches have begun contacting individuals of remarkable power to gather together. Even the March has begun heightened weapons and counter-espionage production. Shall I go on?¡±


    Ashley gave a somewhat cramped smile as so many of their preparations were uncovered. ¡°As I should expect of a digital god, I suppose. I¡¯m here now because there¡¯s a preparation which you are uniquely suited to help us with.¡±


    nk leaned back in his chair, giving the situation some thought. ¡°Given the level of precaution being taken, I can assume that this is simr to the previous events in history, where invaders are destined toe from another realm. But, since you areing to me, they should not be simple monsters this time, correct?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Ashley confirmed without hesitation. ¡°The invaders this time should being from a more civilized world. In fact, ording to our information, it should be a heavily game-focused world. It might simply be that they have a game system like us, or they derive their power from ying games.¡±


    The ck-skinned god seemed to catch on. ¡°If they are from a civilized word, then the odds are that they will be incapable of speaking ournguage. They may well have means of bypassing this problem, but they would still have the desire to test our own games, both to gather information and simply enjoy themselves.¡±


    ¡°Right. That¡¯s why I¡¯m here. I want you toy a trap for them.¡± A somewhat vicious gleam passed through Ashley¡¯s eyes as she spoke. ¡°Myself and the others won¡¯t be avable to help when the timees, but you are another story. Mypany is releasing a patch for all equipment used to ess the virtual reality games.¡±


    ¡°This patch will tweak the spirit scanners to search for suspicious activity. For example, if a spirit has been altered since itsst use. This is a security update that we¡¯re aiming to prevent equipment from being used after its host died, in case the invaders have a means to impersonate a victim.¡±


    ¡°Additionally, all new units being sold will have ¡®faulty¡¯ microphones with internal power supplies. These microphones will be constantly active, and their power supply will recharge while the unit is plugged in. If the invaders purchase new units to register for themselves, we¡¯ll be able to monitor them. Once the invasion has ended, we¡¯ll issue a recall and take back any of these units that are sold to protect everyone¡¯s privacy.¡±


    ¡°And you want me to be the one monitoring the surveince?¡± nk guessed, his eyes trained on Ashley, who surprisingly shook her head.


    ¡°No. I have Vivi on that. You are the God of Games. When the suspicious activity is found and confirmed, I have given Vivi instructions to contact you with their location. While logged on, their spirits are partially separated from their physical form. Even if they set up terrifying defenses in the physical world, the most vulnerable point is still that connection.¡±


    ¡°Your job is to find that connection and sever it. Pull the invaders fully into whatever game they are ying, and tag their ounts. Unless they have specialized hacking equipment, they will merely be new characters. We can then issue public quests to hunt them down, tracking their movements in real time.¡±


    nk gave her proposal some thought. ¡°Your n is likely to endanger some of your own people, as well. What happens if the news about such events were to reach their ears before they log into the game themselves?¡±


    Ashley mulled over his suspicion for a moment before answering. ¡°I¡¯ll visit the various police forces after this to secure their cooperation. I won¡¯t tell them the full extent of the n, just enough to get what we need. With their help, we should be able to contain the news about any coteral damage.¡±


    ¡°You are truly prepared to sacrifice some of your own people to make this work, aren¡¯t you?¡± nk seemed quite surprised by Ashley¡¯s determination.


    ¡°I am fully aware that this trick will only work once. If we don¡¯t get them all together, anyone that isn¡¯t logged in will not take the risk. The best case scenario is that they emerge in multiple isted groups, without a proper means to contact one another. If that happens, this would be enough to possibly kill them all. If not¡­¡±


    She fell silent for a moment, as if hesitating over whether or not she should say what came next. ¡°We must assume that every invader will have the strength to kill a god and destroy a. As long as that is true, I will resort to whatever dirty tricks I must to ensure that we suffer as few losses as possible. If people wish to criticize my choicester, I will ept that. If they choose to hate me, I will bear that hatred. But I will do everything in my power to keep everyone safe.¡±


    nk gave a brief nod, leaning forward against his desk. ¡°Very well, I¡¯ll go along with your n. Once I have my targets, I will trap them within the games of their choice. This shouldn¡¯t be too hard of a task. Though, if they possess an ability to prevent me from doing so, then I won¡¯t be able to offer any assistance.¡±


    Ashley smiled joyfully, happy that nk had given his consent. ¡°As long as you make an attempt. In the best case, this n alone could cripple the invading army. In the worst case, it will put them on guard if they have defenses against methods like that. If that happens, we¡¯ll need to employ some of our other ns.¡±


    After she said that, Ashley¡¯s body began to fade away, leaving nk alone in the virtual territory that Ashley had found him in. He closed his eyes, putting his thoughts together to n for the uing battle, now that he truly knew the scale of it. Before, he had been looking for every strange event he could find to locate clues that he could use, but now it seemed that wasn¡¯t necessary.


    ¡°Trapping them in a game¡­ interesting idea.¡±

 Chapter 515: Testing the Technique

    <h4>Chapter 515: Testing the Technique</h4>


    It took me fifty days of rooting through the records of my world host and practicing its methods in order for me to familiarize myself with the concept of creating life. During those fifty days, I simrly spent my time integrating what I was learning into a fighting style that I could be proud of. I had a number of techniques already created using purely my domain, but divine power would be the first thing that invaders would be trained to fight against at this tier.


    My hand was wrapped in a faint red light as it punched out in front of me. However, there was no gust of wind, no sound of the air being split apart. For all intents and purposes, I had delivered a casual punch. Seeing that, I let out a small smile, nodding my head.


    alia? Have you prepared the simtions? In order to ensure that my new techniques were effective not only in theory, but practice as well, I had requested alia to createbat simtions to pit me against suitable opponents.


    Yup! Finished up thest group yesterday with Bihena¡¯s help! Her response was energetic, as if she were looking forward to the test as much as I was.


    With a nod, I focused on ascending, leaving my host behind once again. When I arrived in the Admin Room, it was within the living room, and I was momentarily taken aback by the number of people present. Aside from alia, there was also Bihena, Aurivy, Udona, Terra, Keliope, Irena, Ryone, and even Tubrock? What was he doing here?


    The dwarven god caught my gaze and let out a loud guffaw. ¡°I heard ye were gonna be testin¡¯ out some new skills, and figured I oughtae and take a look!¡±


    I shook my head, realizing that they had turned my training into a sports event. ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s get this started, then.¡± I opened up the ¡®game¡¯ we had bought previously. ¡°What am I looking for here, alia?¡±


    ¡°Randomized training routine, A-C Three!¡± alia called out with that same excited tone, and I navigated through the list to find it. Naturally, I chose to fight with my own skills and physique. As I chose to enter the game, I saw Terra snapping her fingers, turning the television on.


    With the warm light enveloping me, taking me into the simtion, I simply rolled my eyes. Within the span of a blink, I had gone from a furnished living room to a wide, grassy in. Much like the one I had only just left. However¡­ there was no opponent across from me.


    ¡°You have chosen a randomized trial with a starting distance of ten kilometers.¡± A booming voice spoke to me from the surroundings, informing me of the ¡®rules¡¯ to thisbat. ¡°Do you require any equipment to prepare yourself?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± My answer was firm, clenching my fists as I looked ahead. Ten kilometers, huh? That shouldn¡¯t be too hard to search. Leowynn, you remember the n?


    Of course, father. Even Leowynn seemed excited to be able to try out our new tactics. I listened to the voice counting down the seconds until the start of the trial. Once it had concluded, I leapt high into the air.


    I didn¡¯t know what level of power alia had created my opponents, or what skills they had. Since I couldn¡¯t even see them from my starting position, I was unable to draft a specialized n in advance. However, from my elevated position, I saw a party of five humans sprinting towards me.


    Two of them wore heavy armor, one of which carried a sword as tall as his person and the other brandished a smaller sword and a shield. One was a woman with red leather armor, one a man with ck leather armor. And finally, a tall man wearing white robes.


    The leather-d woman did not seem to carry any weapons, while her male counterpart held a pair of daggers. If I were to judge them by conventional standards, that would make them two warriors, a monk, a rogue, and either a mage or a priest.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± I said, dashing down from the sky to meet them. Meanwhile, I felt Leowynn¡¯s power coursing through my hands.


    I manifest the School! A pair of cloth bracers emerged on my wrists, bearing the mark of three fish at her mental shout. All around me, numerous illusory copies were created. Since there were five enemies, I chose to face them with five of me.


    ¡°Above!¡± I heard the shout of their rogue, his eyes being the first to spot me darting down. Suddenly, the shield-bearer stood in front, nting his shield in the ground.


    ¡°You shall not pass!¡± He called out vehemently, a silver barrier wrapping around the party. They seemed intent on absorbing my initial strike with this barrier, but¡­ I had no reason to fall for that, did I?


    My clones and myself split up, surrounding the barrier on all five sides. Each of us took abat stance, waiting for the shield to drop. ¡°Now!¡± I heard the rogue calling from within the barrier.


    ¡°I am the spirit of absolution. My words twist thews of magic.¡± The ¡®priest¡¯ began chanting, his hands folded in prayer. ¡°What I seek is the blinding light of faith. What I desire is to purge all who oppose the will of heaven. Descend from the shining realm, and let this mortal coil behold your glory.¡±


    Though his words could be taken as a prayer to a god, I saw the geometric spell diagram lighting up at his feet. Judging by its shape, and the mixed spheres within an otherwise t ne, it was a third tier spell. With that chant, it should be an elementalist spell with a focus on light.


    As I considered that, five blinding pirs of light fell down from above, but my lips curled up in a smile. If I wanted to, I could take over this spell using the divine power of Tsubaki, the Goddess of Light. But instead, I created five mirrors, one above me and each of my clones. These mirrors were tilted at an angle such that when the light fell, it was immediately redirected to attack the barrier.


    The shieldbearer let out a shout of surprise as the party¡¯s own spell was turned against them. It only took a moment for cracks to form along the barrier, before it shattered outright. However, two figures dashed out from the field of light, each moving towards one of ¡®me¡¯.


    The first was the monk, who seemed to urately guess which of the five were me. She dashed over, her fists wrapped in ki as her body blurred. She was not just a monk, but an assassin monk¡­ Meanwhile, the rogue picked one of my clones, a silver light wrapping around his daggers. alia really went all out with mixing things up, it seemed.


    My attention was naturally focused on the monk before me, allowing Lewoynn to pilot the clones for now. With my domain of illusions, I could make them appear real and take damage, so I shouldn¡¯t have to worry about the thiefing to back her up.


    Her palm shed towards me with a deadly gleam, and I met it with my own. The yellow light of her palm met the red light of mine, and we both retreated a few steps. Her hand seemed fine, while I could distinctly feel a soreness radiating from mine. Regardless, I felt pleased.


    ¡°It¡¯s this one!¡± She called back to her friends, who immediately turned their focus towards me. No doubt she was able to sense the ki being used in my strike, though the fact that she emerged unscathed seemed to confuse her.


    ¡°Don¡¯t let your guard down, now.¡± I said as the clone fighting the rogue took advantage of its distraction to elbow the back of his head. ¡°This is still an even fight.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡± She answered, taking another stance. ¡°You¡¯re barely a match for me, let alone the rest.¡±


    My lips tugged up again, and I charged. Like before, the two of us shed with our fists. Only this time, I did not use the same red glow, but rather that of pure ki.


    The monk let out a pained scream as she was thrown back, holding her limp and mangled arm. While the white-robed man got to work on healing her with divine energy, therge sword-wielder charged at me. It seemed that the rogue was working on holding back my clones that would only fight with their physical bodies.


    That suited me just fine. Once again, my hands wrapped in a red glow. One of them reached up to catch the sword while the other thrust a palm out at the warrior. This time, it was my turn to let out a cry of pain¡­


    I felt the sword digging into my palm, splitting it open and tearing down my arm as my open hand pped the warrior¡¯s armor. Thankfully, that was enough to push him back, earning me some distance. He seemed pleased at the sight of my health bar appearing over my head.


    My eyes nced briefly to my half-severed arm. If I used my Ki of Beginning, I could repair it easily. But that would require a few seconds at the very least, which I doubted that he would give me. With a roar, he lunged at me, his sword swinging in a horizontal swipe.


    ¡°What is fake is real.¡± I muttered as the sword cleaved into my side. Suddenly, I was standing before the rogue, my hands both wrapping themselves in a red glow as I struck. Off to the side, I could see the warrior cleave through a clone, which I had just swapped ces with.


    ¡°S***, he¡¯s over here now!¡± The rogue shouted, meeting my hands with his spirit-infused daggers. He realized that he was now fending off not only my manifested illusions, but also the true me at the same time.


    ¡°I¡¯m ready!¡± The monk called out, using her ki to amplify her speed and rejoin the battle. My hands were both sliced open by the knives of the rogue, and I was thrown back again by a kick from the monk. Once more, my health bar appeared over my head, but my smile didn¡¯t fade.


    I could see the warrior moving back to join the shieldbearer and priest now that the monk rejoined the fray. However, my moment of distraction was met with a sting of pain in my chest, warmth flooding my body. ¡°Where are you looking?¡± The rogue asked coldly, watching my health plummet.


    Meanwhile, the monk seemed cautious, her eyes remaining on thest three clones. Clearly, she expected me to swap to one of them. Unfortunately, that was no longer necessary. I staggered back, one hand going to the knife in my chest as Iughed. The pain felt so vivid.


    It was hard to imagine that none of it was real¡­


    There was a shout of surprise from behind, alerting the rogue and the monk. When they nced back, they saw half of the priest¡¯s body fall to the floor, an enraged look on the wielder of the greatsword. His weapon was bloodied, clearly having delivered the strike himself. ¡°What are you doing?!¡± The shieldbearer called out in surprise, turning to face him.


    The monk turned to me as that duo began their new fight as well. ¡°He must have done something.¡± She said, charging to the rest of the clones. With precise ki-infused strikes, she finished each of them off, their heads caving in without the ability to protect themselves with ki.


    ¡°Well, you¡¯re not wrong!¡± Iughed, looking down at the dagger in my chest. ¡°But I guess this is where it ends, huh?¡±


    ¡°Got that right.¡± A voice spoke from behind, the rogue having used the moment of distraction to sneak around me. I felt another stab, this time in the back of my neck. Surely, that strike would be fatal.


    Leowynn, dismiss the clones. I thought to my daughter, and the four clones vanished. This left me standing there alone, two daggers stuck into my body. As they had expected, they had indeed struck my real form. But¡­ with what?


    I looked down to the dagger again, and it grew blurry, fading away. Simrly, so did the wound that it had inflicted. Not only on my chest, but my hands as well. Then, the one pierced through the back of my head did followed suit, much to the surprise of both the monk and rogue.


    ¡°Sorry, but I shouldn¡¯t y with you two anymore.¡± I said with a smile, dismissing the illusion that I had created. There was no way that the Beginning Fire would have no effect. My crimson ki was far too terrifying for that.


    Both the rogue and the monk looked down at themselves, finding their own figures growing blurry. This was the technique that I had created to control the flow of battle. Combining an attack that could erase space itself with an illusion that nothing had happened. Recing the target at the moment of their death with the idea that they were fine.


    And of course, because they were but an illusion, so was the damage that they dealt afterwards. All that was left was the shieldbearer, who I began walking towards with a red glow wrapping around my hands¡­


    This was the technique that I had spent fifty days to create. The illusion of battle.

 Chapter 516: Covering Traces

    <h4>Chapter 516: Covering Traces</h4>


    After fighting the group of five on the ins, I expected to be sent back to the Admin Room. However, that was not the case. Instead, I was sent back to my starting position, and a second ¡®round¡¯ of training began. It seemed that alia set up this training regime in order to simte multiple fights in which the opponents were able to witness my strength from afar.


    This proved to be true when I met the second group. As I had exposed my illusions to the first one, thinking that there would only be one round, the second group was able to witness it and came equipped with goggles that allowed them to see through illusions.


    The teamposition of the second group were entirely frontline fighters as well, which added more pressure on me. Each weapon had the power to deal damage to a divine body, and they wore essories which added simr traits to their magic or ki. As such, even if they were only using third tier abilities, I still had to be careful.


    For the second group, I had to overwhelm them with raw power. As soon as I used my ¡®Battle Illusion¡¯ on a target, the others would call out to them, and they would fade away. It seemed that ¡®understanding¡¯ that one was simply an illusion would allow one to break the technique.


    After fighting the second round, I then went onto a third. This time, I was faced against a team of archers and mages fighting from a distance. Not only did they carry equipment to counteract my illusions, but they also wore items that defended against ki or stabilized the space around themselves.


    The third and fourth rounds I fought by using my Mirror domain, or the Light domain I acquired from Tsubaki. Afterwards, each time they woulde equipped with something to not only weaken the abilities I had used in the round previously, but every other round.


    By the end of the fourth round, it was easy to tell that had I not dismissed my illusions so easily in the first round, I would be able to face the rest more easily. However, at the same time, the more of my abilities that they equipped themselves to counter, the less effective each counter was.


    In the fifth round, I only fought a single enemy, a mortal god. It might be a bit bad to admit this, but¡­ that was actually the easiest round of them all. I did not fall back on any of my previously used abilities, and immediately pulled out the tome and scepter that Tsubaki had given me. With a single spell, I was able to swiftly finish the round.


    Thankfully, it seemed like five rounds was the limit, after which I was brought back out to the Admin Room. When I arrived, I saw that everyone was seated, with most people having¡­ popcorn in their hands.


    ¡°That was pretty neat!¡± Aurivy praised. ¡°The whole ¡®you¡¯re already dead¡¯ attack, I mean!¡±


    ¡°Nani!?¡± alia responded in shock, though there was a wide grin on her face. ¡°Anyways, I don¡¯t think I need to point out where you¡¯ve gotta improve on by this point?¡±


    I shook my head towards the lycan goddess. ¡°I have to make sure that my illusions remain a secret, even from my own people. If they know to expect it, they¡¯ll be able to produce specialized equipment that will make my technique ineffective.¡±


    Of course, that meant paying a visit to Tsubaki and Dana, making sure that they don¡¯t update my public image with the domain of illusions. I knew that the two of them were aware of it at the very least, given that the divine registry disyed what domains a particr god had. There was also the technique that she had taught to Fafnir, which allowed him to identify the domains of a god.


    In order to increase the sess rate of my technique, I had to find a way around that ability. I wonder if it¡¯s possible to create an illusion to cover my illusion domain? Now that would be a tricky solution.


    To make that work, first I¡¯d need to learn how to perform the identification technique myself, so that I would be able to understand what methods were needed in order to counter it. However, there were only fifty more days left before the invasion, in world time. Less in Standard time.


    alia nodded approvingly at my self-evaluation. ¡°Right. In a battle against a civilized opponent, the control of information is vital. In that respect, your new technique is both extremely effective and a liability. So long as they don¡¯t know what you are doing, it is an extraordinary ability. However, once it is discovered, they will be able to easily create countermeasures.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I set the training regime up how I did, and why I didn¡¯t tell you first. It was all about controlling information. In a real battle, you never know if someone is watching from afar with mysterious methods. Every secret technique has to be performed in such a way that an onlooker won¡¯t discover the secret. As an example¡­ how long can you maintain those illusions?¡±


    I thought about that for a moment. ¡°I¡¯m not sure. It depends on the amount of divine energy I have. Though, my world host has started work on ¡®internal production¡¯ in that regard. If it¡¯s just a small number, the cost shouldn¡¯t outweigh my natural recovery.¡±


    alia let out a relieved smile when she heard that. ¡°Good, then you can use that to your advantage. There is a good chance that the enemy will equip their bases with items that prate illusions, so it is too dangerous to send them back to mingle with other invaders.¡±


    ¡°Instead, it would be more effective to have the living illusions ¡®attacked¡¯ en route back to their base after fighting you off. Make sure that the method you use doesn¡¯t visibly correspond to one of your main powers. For example, they could be attacked by an ice-wielding warrior that manages to get the best of them. Or a mysterious toad that swallows them whole. As long as them taking steps to avoid a simr fate doesn¡¯t result in them producing countermeasures against your own power.¡±


    ¡°A toad¡­¡± I stared at alia nkly for a moment. ¡°Are you going to tell me that my world has a toad that is capable of swallowing people whole like that?¡±


    She gave a somewhat wicked grin. ¡°The Distortion Toad. A tiny little thing, looks like a normal toad you¡¯d find in a swamp, just crawling along. It¡¯s no more than three inches tall. But, when it opens its mouth, it can shoot out a tongue that is a meter thick, and up to fifty meters long. When its tongue catches you, and pulls you back in, you be trapped in a massive stomach made through simr methods as a storage space filled with acid.¡±


    ¡°¡­Note to self, avoid small toads.¡± My main focus has always been on therger monsters, as they are typically the more terrifying ones, but I had to admit that there were a fair few small creatures that were every bit as frightening.


    Either way, I shook my head. ¡°I¡¯ve got to go down to the world to finish my preparations. Terra, let me know if Sarah tries to get in touch with me.¡± I was still waiting to hear from her about the potential countermeasure for the elemental seed system, since there was a decent chance that Sanction would be using that against me.


    After bidding my farewells, I once again descended to the below. Unless Sarah contacted me with information, there was a good chance that I wouldn¡¯t be returning to the Admin Room before the invasion now.


    Tsubaki, I¡¯d like to talk for a moment. I messaged her with my thoughts, shifting my location to the Sky Citadel. When I arrived, there was a sh of light, and she appeared before me. As one might expect from her, she was already kneeling.


    ¡°How may I be of service to you, my Keeper?¡± She asked seriously, her eyes on the ground beneath her.


    ¡°Just to be certain, but you have not released the information about my second domain yet, have you?¡± This would be a very important factor for my uing ns, so I had to make sure my information was protected.


    ¡°I have not. It was my belief that you would make the information known yourself when you felt the time was right.¡±


    I let out a sigh of relief at Tsubaki¡¯s words. ¡°Thank you, that¡¯s good. I have no intention of releasing this information. I want my second domain to be an absolute secret. Furthermore, I would like you to teach me the method of detecting a target¡¯s domain, so that I can develop a countermeasure for it.¡±


    Tsubaki nced up from the ground to look at me, thinking over my words. ¡°I see. You wish for your illusions to be a trump card in battle. Very well, I will happily oblige, my Keeper. In truth, the technique is not incredibly difficult, though it requires a measure of mastery over divine energy.¡±


    ¡°By channeling divine energy through the eyes, focusing on insight, you will be able to see the nature of their divinity written within their aura.¡± Tsubaki¡¯s tail swished back and forth as she spoke, clearly happy about being able to help me.


    ¡°¡­That¡¯s it?¡± I had expected someplicated technique involving fourth tier magic control or powerful spiritual abilities. If it was simply channeling divinity into the eyes to ¡®read¡¯ the nature of an aura, that might be easier to disguise than I had initially expected.


    Tsubaki nodded her head quickly. ¡°Yes, that is it. I am training your dragon in this technique in order to help him master the control of his divine energy. I believe that he will soon be ready to begin ascension.¡±


    I was going to have a dragon god as a pet¡­ I wasn¡¯t sure how I should feel about this. ¡°Very well. Were you nning to assist him with the process?¡±


    Tsubaki¡¯s eyes went wide in shock, her head shaking back and forth rapidly. ¡°Of course not, my Keeper. It is unbefitting for me to have your tamed monster as my subordinate god! I was hoping to ask you to perform the process yourself, such that he may be your own subordinate.¡±


    A small smile tugged at my lips as I heard her panicked tone. ¡°Tsubaki, I guess this hasn¡¯t been discovered here yet¡­ as a subordinate god yourself, anyone that you help to ascend won¡¯t be your subordinate, but rather my own. The mark of my divinity left on you will be passed down to anyone you assist in that manner, and anyone that they assist.¡±


    There was a faint gleam in her eyes as she thought about that. ¡°I see¡­ that is very good to know, my Keeper. I will make sure to remember that.¡±


    I started to chuckle, imagining how she was likely wanting to help me acquire several new subordinates. However, as I thought about that, my eyes went wide at a sudden idea. Using the technique that Tsubaki had just taught me, I stared at the kitsune goddess herself. Within her aura, I could see the word ¡®Light¡¯ written over and over again.


    Yet, there were two other words that existed. Near the left side of her chest, the two words ¡®Mirror¡¯ and ¡®Illusion¡¯ were faintly visible. ¡°This is going to be more difficult than I expected.¡±


    ¡°My Keeper?¡± Tsubaki looked at me in confusion, not seeming to understand what I was talking about.


    ¡°When I helped you ascend, I formed a pact between our divinities. My domains are written within your aura as well. If I want to control the flow of information to prevent people from identifying my second domain, you will have to disguise it yourself as well.¡±


    Her eyes seemed to shake at that, and she lowered her head. ¡°I apologize for bing a liability to your ns, my Keeper. I will strive to master this technique with the utmost haste so as to keep your secrets safe!¡±


    Thankfully, as my subordinate god she was able to ¡®request¡¯ ess to my domain. While I had to give permission, that would not be a problem. In fact¡­ I closed my eyes, focusing on my divinity, and my connection with Tsubaki.


    You have chosen to allow your Subordinate God Tsubaki obtain unrestricted ess to your domain. This ess may be revoked at any time. Please confirm.


    Naturally, I confirmed. I didn¡¯t want to be distracted by her constantly requesting ess to my domain. If there was a single mortal that I felt could be trusted unconditionally with a part of my power, it would always be Tsubaki. Especially now that she knew that the goal of this connection was to hide my domain in the first ce.

 Chapter 517: Deific Property

    <h4>Chapter 517: Deific Property</h4>


    Thankfully, I discovered that it was not too hard to create an illusion which obscured my domain from the technique Tsubaki taught me. If there was a more advanced version of the technique, or they used it while also using something that prated deific illusions¡­ well, I could only consider myself unlucky at that point.


    With that in mind, there was only really one thing that was left for me to actually prepare before the invasion. Something that would benefit not only myself, but every other ascended mortals as well. Tubrock, need a word with you for a moment.


    There was a moment¡¯s pause after I sent that message, while I stood alone on the same grassy in where I trained my previous illusion techniques. However, he did reply soon enough. Aye? What is it,d.


    I need to know how to create a godly artifact. Doesn¡¯t have to be at your level of craftsmanship, just the general knowledge. It¡¯ll be useful for the uing battle if the gods down here are able to each create their own relics.


    Having a godly artifact would be able to help me in a number of ways. If I can pre-set abilities from my domain into it, then it would allow me to more easily influence the flow of battle, or use my powers in ways that I otherwise would find difficult. I could even gift the items to others if I needed to.


    Hmm, I suppose ye got a point, there. In truth, it¡¯s nothin¡¯ hard, really. Not to get the normal level of artifacts, at least. All ye gotta do is condense yer divinity into a little shard, and then merge it with the item ye want to make yer artifact. When ye do that, ye¡¯ll have to focus on what ye want it to do durin¡¯ the merge, because once it¡¯s done it¡¯s fixed.


    If ye wanted somethin¡¯ a bit more advanced, ye could merge the shard with a material, and then forge it manually. Bit more freedom like that, but requires more skill.


    I gave a small nod when I heard that. It had been so long since I actually forged something myself, I knew that I didn¡¯t have the skill to do so at a level that could surpass modern masters. And there was definitely no way that I could manually forge a weapon that was capable of killing a god.


    If I wanted to, I could ask Tubrock to create an item for me to use as my relic, like my old chakram. Speaking of¡­ I focused, retrieving my chakram from my storage space. This had been created for me a long time ago by Tubrock, but it was still a useful weapon. I think he called it¡­ the circle of life and death.


    Unfortunately, it was created back before I had even be a first ranked Keeper. While it would be good for battling normal monsters, it wouldn¡¯t be enough to fight a ¡®boss¡¯ battle of my current standard. I could only shake my head and return it to my storage space. Afterwards, I focused and left the grassy ins, returning to the citadel.


    Although I didn¡¯t announce my arrival beforehand, Tsubaki still appeared with barely any dy. In fact, there was a look of excitement on her face that she tried to hide by quickly lowering her head. ¡°My Keeper, wee back.¡±


    ¡°Something has you in a good mood.¡± I chuckled, and her tails stoodpletely straight for a moment in shock at being called out. ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°Ah, uhm¡­ actually, I have something to present to you.¡± She told me with a flushed expression, before producing a silver card in her hand. ¡°Our efforts have borne fruit, and we have atst created a proper storage space befitting you. Inside is a wide array of items that you can retrieve by simply focusing, or you can ce the card against any surface to enter the space yourself.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± I knew that they were creating this for me, but I had not expected that they would have finished it while I was training. However, it did make sense since I had spent roughly a month and a half doing so. ¡°Thank you, Tsubaki. This will actually help me a lot.¡±


    Her tails began swaying back and forth in excitement as I praised her. ¡°In fact, I was justing here to request a pair of weapons to turn into my holy relics. Perhaps there will be something suitable in there¡­¡±


    Tsubaki¡¯s head lifted in rm, eyes wide as she looked at me. ¡°You mustn¡¯t, my Keeper!¡± It took her a moment to realize that she had raised her voice at me, after which she lowered her head again. ¡°Forgive my outburst. However, while the weapons in there are indeed the best that could be purchased from normal stores, they are incrediblycking whenpared to the standard of a holy relic befitting you.¡±


    ¡°With your permission, I would like to find a master craftsman to personally forge the best weapon, while Dana and myself enchant it. Only then would it be worthy of bing a holy relic.¡±


    I gave a soft smile as I heard her rmendation. Her little ¡®outburst¡¯ may have surprised me, but it did not truly bother me. In fact, I was pleased to see that she was expressing herself more. ¡°Do you believe that a pair of weapons can bepleted like that within a month¡¯s time?¡±


    Tsubaki closed her eyes in focus. ¡°It would depend on theplexity of the enchantment, my Keeper. If Dana and myself are able to create it within that time frame, the weapons will naturally be ready for you.¡±


    ¡°The enchantment that I want is ¡®simple¡¯. I want the weapons to be capable of battling a god. As for special effects, I will add that in as part of the process to make it my relic.¡±


    When she heard that, relief spread over Tsubaki. ¡°Understood, my Keeper. Then, I shall prepare at once. If that is your wish, we can finish the weapons promptly. A ¡®godyer¡¯ enchantment is already prepared in your tome, so that will be an easy addition.¡±


    Okay, that surprised me a bit. I didn¡¯t think that they would make such a powerful enchantment so readily avable. But then again, they likely never intended for the tome to be used outside of the three of us. Having the ability to impart weapons upon others with the power to battle gods could prove useful in a number of situations.


    ¡°Then, the weapon that I would like is a pair of chakrams. It is very important that they have the same dimensions.¡± After I said that, I saw a light sh from Tsubaki, an avatar racing out of the room faster than I could track. ¡°While you are waiting for them to be forged¡­ I¡¯ll exin to you how to create your own relic. Before the uing battle, I would like each of the ascended to possess one.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for your business.¡± A burly, dark-skinned ursa called out as he saw off a pair of customers. There was a pleasant smile on his face as he watched his work being carried away. ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ next up was the sword order, right?¡±


    As he said that, he leaned down, pulling out his booklet and flipping through it. ¡°Part the seas and sever mountains¡­ people these days.¡± He rolled his eyes yfully at the request from his customer. ¡°Well, adding a ki-based cutting enhancement should be enough there. If he can¡¯t ¡®sever mountains¡¯, it¡¯ll just be because he doesn¡¯t have enough ki.¡±


    ¡°Kiria Sorin.¡± A female voice called out within the supposedly empty shop, causing the ursa to lift his head in surprise. Standing opposite his counter was a kitsune he knew very well, though never expected to see again.


    A respectful smile shed across his face as he nodded towards her. ¡°Lady Tsubaki. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve done anything to warrant your attention ofte. Can I assume you¡¯re here for business, then?¡±


    There was a sharp nod of the kitsune¡¯s head, her face utterly calm. ¡°I have amission for you from the Keeper himself. He wishes for you to forge his personal weapons.¡±


    The smile faded from Kiria¡¯s face when he heard that, instantly bing serious. ¡°I see¡­ what does he want?¡±


    ¡°A pair of chakram, both identical in dimensions. You will be responsible for their forging, while we have someone else handling the enchantment. I trust that I can leave this task to you?¡±


    Kiria nodded his head. ¡°I can get it done. How should I let you know when they¡¯re finished?¡±


    Tsubaki considered that for a moment, before producing a small wooden token. ¡°When you are ready to contact me, break this. I¡¯ll rush over right away.¡±


    Kiria gave another nod. ¡°Got it. Well, then¡­ guess I better get to work.¡± As he said that, he turned around, walking to the forge in the back of his shop. This was a specially constructed space he had made with various enchantments, proving to be farrger on the inside.


    There was a reason that he was chosen, and he knew it. A single reason why he was better than any dwarven smith. His eyes began to glow gold as he summoned his hammer, stirring his divinity. ¡°Let¡¯s get to work.¡±


    If he wanted to be the God of Crafts, this would be his true test. A weapon forged for the highest authority, something that had the power to be a legend in its own right. Even if he was only handling the physical form, it was enough to make him a part of that legend.


    Using my world sight, I watched as Tsubaki selected the craftsman for my weapon. After which, she visited another to discuss the creation of her own relic. Whereas mine was an ursa half-god focusing on a crafting domain, the one she chose for her own was a dwarven master. Most likely, they were ranked first and second among the craftsmen she knew, though the half-god would have a clear advantage.


    After she discussed the details of her own weapon, which appeared to be a¡­ gun of all things, she moved to contact Jonas, Be, and nk. As Tower was nowhere to be found, still in the middle of creating his ¡®godly¡¯, those three were the only ones she could contact to inform.


    Naturally, each of them had their own methods of securing craftsmen. Jonas had a number of master smiths within hismunity, while nk could simply reach out to someone over the inte. As for Be, she surprisingly went to a normal carpenter, asking for him to make her a staff.


    Well, that didn¡¯t bother me. Be was the most nonbat oriented of any of my gods. Most likely, her staff would be imbued with a healing power when she made it her relic, or a shield of some sort.


    With that taken care of, everyone would be capable of creating their own divine artifacts. This was thest preparation that I could personally help with for the invasion. After this, all that was left was for me to train myself to improve my fighting style and incorporate my new weapons into it.


    ¡°He showed up, huh?¡± Dana asked with a small grin, looking towards Tsubaki. The kitsune was happily waving her tails back and forth ever since she returned. ¡°I told you that he¡¯d be back soon enough, didn¡¯t I?¡±


    ¡°Well, yes, but still¡­ he seemed really pleased with your gift.¡± While Tsubaki had been praised for presenting the storage space to Dale, she knew that it was Dana that had truly created it.


    ¡°Our gift.¡± The elven girl corrected. ¡°I might have created it, but it was your idea, wasn¡¯t it? Don¡¯t push all the credit onto me. Besides, I could tell how happy it made you when he thanked you.¡±


    Tsubaki¡¯s cheeks flushed red at that, and she lowered her head. It was rare for her to even be able to see the Keeper, so she valued that time all the more when she could. To be able to receive praise for a job well done¡­ it was something that every Servant wanted. Even if she had be more emotionally developed than when she first met him, she was still a Servant at her core.


    She would die for the Keeper. She had died for the Keeper in order to attain the Perfect Self. She would do everything within her power to help him achieve his goals. That fact had never changed since the first time they met.


    ¡°How are your final preparations going?¡± Tsubaki looked towards Dana, who let out a whining groan at the question.


    ¡°It feels wrong going back there so much. I get that it¡¯s for his sake, so I¡¯ll do it anyways. But that was a really bad ce for me¡­¡± As Dana said that, Tsubaki recalled where she had first found Dana. The endless mists of the deepest, darkest corner of the Underworld. She was the Tyrant Soul, the Queen of Hell, so naturally she had her own ways that she could prepare.


    The Queen of Hell was a special title, and like all special titles it had hidden functions that could be unlocked. Thinking of that, Dana nodded. ¡°I convinced those kids toe when I call for them. The ¡®Army of Hell¡¯ has gathered.¡±

 Chapter 518: Infinity Mirror

    <h4>Chapter 518: Infinity Mirror</h4>


    It only took a few days before my chakrams arrived. During that period, I spent most of my time self-training to further practice my fighting style. I decided that it was necessary to add anotheryer of illusion to my technique. If the Keeper, the big boss that they were expecting to fight, opened up with a special move that seemed to deal no damage, it would seem really suspicious.


    As such, I had to disguise the crimson ki of Beginning Fire as a normal ki, and modify the illusion so that it appeared as though they took damage from a regr attack. To my surprise, that second part was actually fairly easy once I had gotten the hang of the first.


    By the time they would need to take the damage, the ¡®victim¡¯ was already an illusion themselves. After testing it with a few monsters, I began to realize that they would interpret illusory attacks as real ones. As long as my attack had the appearance of ki and corresponded to the illusion I created for them, their bodies would believe it to be real.


    However, it seemed that adding the extrayer of illusion furtherpressed the area my Beginning Fire ki could affect. Without any added effects, Beginning Fire was capable of destroying space in a ten kilometer cone. That alone would have been enough for me to utterly destroy the testing group that alia created for me, as they were only set to be ten kilometers away.


    Doing that makes the attack more obvious, though, and it bes easier to n around. Which was why I created my Battle Illusion technique. But, when I added in the divinity to conceal the effects of Beginning Fire with an illusion, I found that its maximum range decreased from ten thousand meters to a mere one hundred. Only one percent of its initial range.


    One hundred meters was still plenty, though. I was just worried that adding a secondyer of illusion might condense it to just one percent of that, meaning only a one meter range. That wouldn¡¯t be very effective to me, as I couldn¡¯tpletely epass a target with that small of a range.


    Thankfully, my worries did not turn out to be true. From one hundred meters, the effective range for my attack shrank to fifty meters. This was still plenty for me to utilize in battle, as it would not be often that I came across enemiesrger than fifty meters which required me to use that technique. If I did fight such a foe, I would simply resort to my other abilities.


    Which was where my pair of chakrams came in. They would not be utilized for my illusions, nor my Ki of Beginning. The weapon of the God of Illusions was secrecy, so these would be the weapon of the God of Mirrors.


    Once my chakrams arrived, I promptly had them enchanted and then turned them into my holy relics. Their effect was incredibly simple¡­ to be able to create a mirror within the center of the ring. Now it was time to create a fighting style based around these.


    Tsubaki sat at the edge of the courtyard, her legs hanging over the side as her nine tails swayed happily behind her. Her eyes seemed to stare off into space, almost unfocused. However, there was a bright smile on her face.


    ¡°Watching him again, Tsuba?¡± Dana¡¯s voice spoke up from behind Tsubaki in a yful tone, the smaller elf moving to sit next to her. ¡°Hasn¡¯t it been a month, now? I thought you¡¯d find other projects to work on.¡±


    ¡°Avatars are handling them. This is better.¡± She nodded her head confidently, lifting her hand to rest on Dana¡¯s shoulder. Suddenly, Dana was able to witness the same scene that Tsubaki saw.


    It looked like the Keeper was just beginning another round of training, holding his chakrams at his sides as he took a deep breath. When he released that breath, he threw the two chakrams up into the air, rising parallel with each other. If one were to look closely, they would be able to see that the interior of the ring for each chakram was a mirror reflecting the other. This created an effect known as an infinity mirror, and Dana¡¯s eyes widened when she realized what that meant.


    Although there was no sound transmitted by Tsubaki¡¯s light-based peeping, there was the¡­ feeling of something shattering. The mirrors within the chakrams seemed to break, and dozens of extra chakrams appeared behind them. ¡°I thought he was just going to use them to reflect attacks back, or as a medium to trap targets¡­¡±


    ¡°He finished training those a couple weeks ago.¡± Tsubaki spoke up. ¡°Right now, he¡¯s practicing to see how many of these he can control at once.¡±


    Dana nodded her head in understanding. It had to be known that the weaponmaster ss was quite rare for a reason, because it was difficult to control multiple weapons independently with the same skill of a warrior at an equivalent level. Although it had its benefits, it was far easier to just train in using one or two weapons at a time.


    However, she watched him controlling each of the weapons, causing them to fly ahead and create a dome of spinning des. This dome then began to rotate in differentyers, the concentration on the Keeper¡¯s face evident for a moment.


    ¡°Wait, why did he leave one behind?¡± Dana asked, bringing Tsubaki¡¯s attention to the lone chakram that hovered in the air at its original position. The kitsune¡¯s eyebrows furrowed in confusion as well.


    ¡°Maybe that is his limit right now?¡± She asked, though seemed unsure of herself as she had witnessed him wielding more than this number at earlier points of his training.


    Their answer arrived soon, as the lone chakram tilted to face the sun. Tsubaki¡¯s eyes widened, and she immediately dimmed the illusion for Dana¡¯s sake. Just as the smaller elf was getting ready toin, her vision erupted into terrifyingly bright light.


    ¡°Using the mirrors as a medium to capture the light and send it through the other weapons, and my domain to amplify that light into an attack.¡± Tsubaki muttered, her smile growing wider. Even indirectly, she was happy to be of assistance to him.


    I let out a small sigh of relief when I saw the effects of my little experiment. The ground within the area I targeted had beenpletely scorched, looking almost molten. By assigning those mirrors to all look through the one I angled at the sun, it created the effect of each of them disying the sun themselves.


    The mirrors that I had previously been using for this experiment were all still floating along the path that I had designed for them. If my Battle Illusion technique was designed tobine my Aki Seppo, Saint of Five Lights, and Illusion domain, then this wouldbine my Mirrors domain, Tsubaki¡¯s Light domain, and the Thousand Arms, Ten Thousand Threads martial art.


    Normally, I would need to control each chakram with a chakra ¡®arm¡¯, condensed from ten threads. If that was the case here, I wouldn¡¯t be able to control the sixty-four mirrors that created this effect all at once. However, I discovered a way around that shoring thanks to the fact that the chakrams were items imbued with my divinity.


    So long as I assigned a path for them to follow, I would not need to use an ¡®arm¡¯ to control them, only a ¡®thread¡¯. This increased the number of chakram that I was able to wield at once by ten times, but required a more delicate setup. After all, I was not dynamically controlling them, but simply creating paths for them to follow.


    If I wanted to be able to respond promptly in a battle, I would need to change these paths dynamically, which required the use of an ¡®arm¡¯. In short, I would only be able to control arger number of chakram at once if I were using special attacks such as this. Otherwise, I¡¯d need to limit myself to around twenty.


    Still, I was satisfied with this amount. Rather than let that martial art fall into obscurity, I would integrate it into a battle tactic suitable for me. Over time, maybe, I would be able to manipte more and more threads through constant practice. I doubted that I¡¯d ever reach the pinnacle, but that wasn¡¯t unexpected for a ¡®failed¡¯ product.


    Next, I just have to work on different ways to fight with this. If I can make this my primary style, and make it look like I have to fall back on battling with just ki after it is countered, that will maximize the effect of my second style.


    I gave a small nod to myself as I created my future n. The more that I seemed to rely on these mirrors, the less an enemy would suspect that I had an entirely unrted trump card in reserve.


    Of course, I didn¡¯t really have much time left to practice before the invasion began. By my calctions, it should be only a couple of weeks away. However, I would still be able to practice during the invasion, until the enemy had been located.


    Two weeks was all too short of a time, and passed before many were really aware of it. Those that knew the significance of this period had rushed to finish their preparations, while those that didn¡¯t remained in blissful ignorance.


    Atop an isted ind in the middle of the ocean of Earth, there was a sh of blue lights. One thousand figures appeared, dressed in various styles of battle gear. They immediately looked at their surroundings, preparing tounch an all-out attack if they saw anything amiss.


    ¡°All clear!¡± One of them called out, looking to be a scout, and the others rxed slightly. With waves of their hands, they changed into more casual civilian clothes.


    ¡°Alright, everyone. We don¡¯t know what to expect in this dungeon.¡± The leader said, stepping forward. He appeared to be a human with silver hair, wearing a pair of thin-rimmed sses. Judging by the armor he had previously been wearing, he was some form of heavy infantry.


    ¡°ording to the description, this is an unknown infiltration-type dungeon with a ¡®Mythic¡¯ scale.¡± Everyone nodded their heads as they heard that. ¡°Make sure to keep all importantmunication over the private chat channels. Everyone already has their groups, so we¡¯ll split up here.¡±


    Given the size of the ind that they appeared on, it would be easy for them to see if there was an invading enemy. However¡­ that also meant that they¡¯d be able to see if there were the resources needed to get off that ind. Yet, somehow that did not seem to bother them.


    ¡°Gandr¡¯s Grace.¡± A number of men and women called out, holding up either staves or wands as they aimed towards the nearby water. There was a shift in the surface of the ocean as the water moved, swirling up and freezing into the shapes ofrge boats.


    When the leader¡¯s voice rang out again, it was directly transmitted into the minds of the rest of the one thousand individuals. Everyone, report in when you reachnd. Try to find any information you can about this dungeon¡¯s Keeper without drawing suspicion. Name, location, abilities, you know the drill.


    Rx, boss. One voice spoke up to meet him. This isn¡¯t our first dungeon run. I wonder if this one has any fun surprises for us. Remember that one a while back, with the weird sewing magic?


    The leader¡¯s lips curved upwards in a small smirk as he nodded. I remember you lost an arm because you thought that there was nothing to fear from¡­ what was it you said? Oh, yeah, ¡®old nannies with sewing needles¡¯.


    One of the mages controlling the boats winced, gripping his arm at that. Thankfully, he had been able to recover his arm after that battle, but it was still a sore memory for him. Okay, okay, fair point.

 Chapter 519: The Invasion Begins

    <h4>Chapter 519: The Invasion Begins</h4>


    One thousand enemies, huh? I looked towards the window which disyed the number of invading troops. If there were arge number, it was more likely for them to split up. A party of five could easily go unnoticed anywhere in the world with a bit of effort, whereas a hundred, or even a thousand individuals would attract attention if they moved together.


    ¡°Anything from the divine registry?¡± I asked, looking towards Tsubaki. In preparation for the invasion, I had moved to the seat of my power, the Sky Citadel, stationed over Rokindrol. Here, we would be able to quickly dispatch aid anywhere in any of the worlds that required it.


    ¡°Let me check with Dana.¡± Naturally, the first line of defenses against these invaders was the registry. If they were not properly prepared, and there were any half-gods or full ascended among them, their locations would be detected immediately.


    However, there was a second figure standing at the base of the stairs as well, wearing her blood-colored dress and watching me. While Tsubaki worked with Dana to check the registry, I nodded towards Scarlet to signal for her to search for powerful ki signatures.


    Scarlet closed her eyes in focus, probing the area with her thoughts. Unlike the registry, she could only cover a single world¡¯s territory at once. Unfortunately, it would be pointless to dispatch her to each of the other worlds to check, since she would need to have knowledge of all of the present ki signatures beforehand.


    ¡°I¡¯m not picking up any particrly powerful ki within this world.¡± Scarlet spoke with her eyes still closed. ¡°If there are new arrivals here, it is likely that their energy does not surpass those of your own forces, father.¡± Tsubaki¡¯s ears twitched, and she nced in Scarlet¡¯s direction at that form of address.


    ¡°Nothing from the registry, either.¡± The kitsune said as she directed her attention back to me. ¡°They¡¯re either on Fyor,ck any divine beings, or are able to hide from fourth-tier detection spells.¡±


    ¡°If they can be found with natural energy, we¡¯ll hear back soon enough.¡± I spoke with a low sigh. I was already in the process of deploying my detection mirrors, though I had little hope in it being enough to locate a properly prepared group.


    ¡°How far to shore?¡± A man wearing a green tunic and brown pants spoke up on one of the frozen boats adrift within the ocean. Inwardly, he was just hoping that this wasn¡¯t a ¡®water¡¯ themed dungeon, with only scarce scattered inds.


    At his question, a woman with blonde hair in the boat answered, closing her eyes. ¡°If we proceed in a straight line, it¡¯s two hundred and sixty kilometers.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s all?¡± Relief washed over the man who had asked the question. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, mind if we speed things along?¡±


    As he looked around the boat, he was met with the dismissive shrugs of the rest of the passengers. Everyone wanted to be first, but simrly knew the dangers. These were ¡®special¡¯ dungeons, ones where death was final. In order to im this dungeon for the guild, they first had to clear it.


    ¡°Alright, then!¡± He rubbed his hands together, and a blue light appeared on his palms. One hand reached out, touching the side of the frozen boat. ¡°Connection interface.¡± The blue light from his left hand spread out to cover the boat, while a holographic screen appeared in front of his right hand.


    ¡°Reinforce defense. Install special skill, visual obscurity. Install special skill, mana obscurity. Install special skill, mid-range fast travel. Activate fast travel, distance two hundred kilometers.¡± As he spoke, his right hand was rapidly typing away. With everymand, there was a pulse of blue that spread throughout the ship.


    Finally, when he activated the newly ¡®installed¡¯ ability, the area around them seemed to warp. Although they were still within the ocean, they were now able to see mountains looming over the distant horizon, a sign thatnd was nearby. Of course, this also meant that they were more likely to encounter other seafarers, hence the need to hide themselves.


    And sure enough, there was another boat barely a thousand meters off to the side of the ship, causing everyone to tense up. Although he had installed two obscurity skills, there was no guarantee that they would be enough.


    The blonde woman was the first to act within the group, her eyes focusing on the boat. ¡°Three figures. They all show basic human characteristics, with more angr features. Ears elongated and pointed backwards, eyes brightly colored.¡±


    ¡°An elven world? Nice.¡± One of the others grinned as he heard that, waving his hand to activate the party chat. Looks like we know what to look like now.


    As he said that, he retrieved an item that seemed to appear from thin air. The item was nothing more than a white sphere, which he crushed in his hand with ease. From it, smoke emerged, enveloping his body. When the smoke passed, his features had been altered to look more elvish in nature.


    The others all nodded, retrieving simr orbs of their own. While they couldn¡¯t be sure if any other race was present in the world, they had confirmed this one. ¡°Halfway there.¡± The man with the green tunic grinned. However, he removed his hand from the boat. Now that they hade this far, it wouldn¡¯t be good for them if someone noticed him using his ability again.


    The final sixty kilometers was slow going, as they had to be careful not to do anything obvious. However, once they reached shore, they each equipped an identical ring. The blonde woman¡¯s voice spoke into their minds as they walked towards the town. Once someone has thenguage, let the rest of us know so we can meet up.


    The others all nodded, walking off in their own directions. Thanks to the effect of their rings, they did not have to worry about the checkpoint at the city¡¯s gates. Instead, they simply walked past the guards, with none of them seeming the wiser.


    The blonde woman, now a golden-haired elf, smiled faintly as she listened to the foreign conversations. Although her ring was capable of ¡®obscuring perception¡¯, there was the chance that someone might still notice her. As such, she had to pretend to be an ordinary citizen nheless. Meanwhile¡­


    Newnguage detected. Analyzing.


    Analyzing¡­


    Analyzing¡­


    She was able to see a progress bar filling up in the corner of her vision as she listened in to the conversations around her. Every now and again, words would be simply tranted on their own, showing the system¡¯s effect.


    Language analyzed. New skill acquired - Common Tongue(Everyday, Dungeon-Dependent)


    She gave a firm nod of her head, having to spend nearly an hour listening to different conversations and reading the iprehensible signs around the town. However, now that she had gotten this far, it was good enough. I¡¯ve got it, everyone. Head to my position.


    The golden-haired elf moved into an alley, simply leaning against the wall and appearing to rest. Within another ten minutes, the rest of their party of five had gathered, watching her expectantly. However, they noticed that they were receiving odd stares from the street at the alley¡¯s entrance. The appearance of four men stalking towards a lone woman in a dark alley was¡­ suspicious in an entirely different way.


    Thankfully, they did not try anything funny. Instead, the woman rolled her eyes, focusing to conjure her menus nonverbally. Impart skill, Common Tongue.


    Imparting this skill will cost 500 mana per recipient. Please confirm.


    Three days passed by without incident. While some groups had chosen to sail in the direction of the nearby continent,nding them in elven territory, others had chosen¡­ more poorly. For those who were exceptionally unlucky, it took a full three days for them to reachnd. This was even after using numerous abilities to shorten the distance.


    However, those three days also yielded crucial information. By listening in on various conversations and sharing their information over the guild chat, they had identified the various races of the world. Furthermore, they had learned that there were actually multiple worlds within this ¡®dungeon¡¯.


    Groups six through ten, integrate yourselves with society. You¡¯ll be our covert squad this time. The guild leader¡¯s voice spoke out after the third day ended. Now that enough people from the guild had acquired thenguage, the rest were able to purchase it directly from their guild menu. While they didn¡¯t fully familiarize themselves with the environment, it was enough to get started.


    One through five, we¡¯ll go monster hunting. y it safe, don¡¯t attract unwanted trouble. Everyone else, spread out. Let¡¯s set the scheduled update for two weeks.


    I sat at my throne, tapping my finger impatiently. I had already finished my daily training, and was simply waiting on an update from¡­ well, anyone. It had been over a week now, and none of the countermeasures had borne fruit. Yes, I knew I was getting a bit ahead of myself. It would take time to find anyone even under the best circumstances.


    Until now, every invasion I faced was from a monster, a violent and very easily detected being. Yet even then, it could take a few days before I heard anything. Now that I was facing an intelligent race, one no doubt trained in infiltration tactics, it was bound to take longer.


    That didn¡¯t stop me from being impatient. The fact that I hadn¡¯t heard anything so far was both good and bad. At the very least, it meant that they hadn¡¯t caused any trouble yet that would get themselves noticed.


    ¡°Hello! How can I help you?¡± A felyn girl with bright red hair stood behind the counter of a small store, hearing the bell on the door ringing. It had been a slow day for business for her electronics store, so she was excited to have another customer.


    ¡°Cute¡­¡± The lycan youth spoke unintentionally as he saw the girl behind the counter, eliciting a pleased giggle from her. ¡°I-I mean, I¡¯m here for a gaming headset. You have some, right¡­?¡±


    Seeing the hopeful look in the man¡¯s eyes, the girl nodded her head. ¡°Of course, we do! We just got a new shipment of thetest model deliveredst night, straight from Darkme!¡± She puffed her small chest out proudly.


    The customer¡¯s eyes widened, a happy gleam in them. ¡°How much is it? No, wait¡­ can I get more than one? I¡¯ve got a friend that wants to y with me.¡±


    ¡°Of course!¡± She nodded her head again. ¡°How many would you like? They¡¯re eighty-seven haram apiece.¡±


    The lycan¡¯s brow furrowed as he seemed to do the math. ¡°I¡¯ll take two, then.¡± He put his hands behind his back, seeming to stretch. ¡°Do theye with any games?¡±


    The shopkeeper seemed to pout, realizing that he wanted a good deal, but shook her head. ¡°Nothing but the basics. If you want, I can sell you a couple game codes for Vision Expanse and Natural Seed, too!¡±


    ¡°You guys have Natural Seed here?¡± He asked in surprise, before clearing his throat. ¡°I¡¯ll take two of that one, please. How much are they?¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ five haram each!¡± She smiled brilliantly as she gave him the price, to which the boy let out a faint sigh.


    ¡°Just within the budget¡­¡± He brought a hand out from behind his back, holding a leather pouch that seemed almost bursting with golden coins. The shopkeeper took it happily, counting out the coins. There were exactly two hundred within the bag, and so she returned sixteen to the man, along with four cards. On two of them, there was an image of a virtual gaming headset, while the other two simply had long codes written on them.


    The customer took the four cards, looking vaguely confused for a moment before wiping the expression from his face. He thanked the felyn and left, his tail swaying excitedly behind him.


    ¡°Follow him.¡± The shopkeeper spoke, her voice suddenly cold the moment that the man had left. ¡°Tag him as a person of interest, and make sure his face is circted to the others.¡±


    There were a number of odd details that she had picked up from their conversation, each alone nothing special. Only whenbined, and under the right circumstances would they truly arouse suspicion.


    First, he had been unsure about the store carrying gaming headsets. Any electronics store nowadays had at least some in stock, though they could have been sold out. Secondly, his surprise that they carried Natural Seed, but not Vision Expanse. Any store that had one was bound to have the other.


    Third¡­ the way he looked at the cards. It was brief, but she had definitely noticed that he seemed unsure about what they were. Again, it was possible that he had simply been confused about the packaging, as this was the first generation of headsets to be produced with the ability to store itself as a card.


    The main factor, however, was the money. She looked down to the golden coins. There were no problems at all with their design, but that in itself was a problem. They were too clean. Having looked at all two hundred coins, there was not a single scratch or smudge, not a speck of dirt on them. For coins that trade hands quite frequently, it¡¯s more suspicious to find any that appear so untouched.


    ¡°Do you think he might be one of ¡®them¡¯?¡± A voice asked from her shadow, two eyes seeming to open within the darkness to stare at her.


    The shopkeeper hesitated for a moment, before nodding her head. ¡°It¡¯s possible. Do not establish contact, and note down anyone hees in regr contact with.¡±


    A wide grin formed within the shadow, before it seemed to shudder, returning to normal. The presence within it left, exiting that shop. Inside, the felyn girl was left to look at the sign hanging above their door. ¡®Visionary Electronics¡¯ written above, with an image of an eye beneath, a sharp line splitting the entire thing down the middle.

 Chapter 520: First Sighting

    <h4>Chapter 520: First Sighting</h4>


    ¡°We¡¯ve got the first batch of targets.¡± Vivi spoke up within the void that nk called a home, appearing before his desk with what seemed to be a small folder. Of course, such a thing was truly just that, a folder of files that she was passing off to him.


    The digital god took that folder and looked through it, before shaking his head dismissively and setting it down. ¡°Only three? I can¡¯t move for so few, especially if they aren¡¯t in the same area. I¡¯ll g their address so that we can monitor them more closely.¡±


    Vivi smiled knowingly, having expected such an oue. ¡°I am merely passing you the information as agreed. Of the three, two of them are more likely to be natives of our own worlds. Only the one I ced at the top is someone I am sure is an invader.¡±


    Hearing that, nk opened the folder to look at the image. On it was a young human girl, appearing to be no more than ate teenager. ¡°What makes you so sure of her identity?¡±


    ¡°Her immaturity proved to be her downfall. While those she is living with hurriedly stopped her, she still mentioned several key phrases. From those phrases, it was confirmed that shees from another world. One where they see a ¡®Keeper¡¯ as the final boss to a dungeon rather than the ruler of a world.¡±


    nk blinked his eyes as he heard that. ¡°I¡­ suppose that theparison isn¡¯t entirely inurate. Were you able to acquire the identity of the people that she is living with?¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately, the new model only has microphones installed, and not external cameras.¡± Vivi was helpless in this regard. No matter how talented she was at sifting through data, she was incapable of altering the hardware of the devices. ¡°Furthermore, they seem to have chosen to live in an area with a low level of surveince.¡±


    ¡°I have confirmed the presence of four voices aside from the confirmed target. Two of these were present when she let slip the information, and indirectly confirmed their own involvement. These two also possess gaming headsets, but are using an older model and customized their avatars early. As for the other two, it is possible for them to be natives that were simply renting out a room. ording to the reports, the house is owned by a married couple that has inhabited it for six years.¡±


    nk furrowed his brow at that. ¡°If they¡¯ve been there for six years, it¡¯s highly unlikely that they are invaders as well¡­ are you sure that the information wasn¡¯t tampered with before you got to it?¡±


    Vivi considered that possibility, before shaking her head. ¡°I didn¡¯t notice any traces of tampering. If they did so, their skills withputers would have to be quite extreme to bypass my awareness.¡±


    ¡°Very well. We¡¯ll proceed under the assumption that the three are the only confirmed members of this cell, and the other two individuals can be seen as oblivious hostages. As long as they are around, we can¡¯t make a move in the physical world, and it is pointless to dispose of them digitally if we can¡¯t get all three at once.¡±


    The silver-skinned woman gave a faint nod of agreement. ¡°I¡¯ll get back to monitoring the new units. When I have something more for you to make a move, I¡¯ll bring it over.¡± After she said that, she closed her eyes, vanishing in a burst of silver light.


    ¡°My Keeper, we have received word from Vivi.¡± Tsubaki¡¯s words broke me out of my monotonous thoughts, causing me to look over towards her in anticipation. ¡°We have located three confirmed invaders, and she has reported some information that she has gleaned from their conversation.¡±


    ¡°Report.¡± Learning about three invaders was already incredibly significant. Getting information on Sanction¡¯s homeworld? Now that was altogether another level of sess.


    Tsubaki gave a firm nod. ¡°As expected, the individualse from a society with a heavy focus on games. In fact, certain titles from our world are known to them. Namely, Natural Seed and Vision Expanse, though the former seems to be a much newer title for them.¡±


    ¡°In their world, the Keeper has not revealed his identity to the public. Instead, the term ¡®Keeper¡¯ is used to represent the boss at the end of a dungeon. While the details are unclear, there seem to be a great many personal benefits for them to gain by clearing one of these dungeons. Or, in other words¡­¡±


    ¡°In other words, killing me and winning the invasion.¡± Ipleted her sentence with a low sigh. ¡°Give me their location, I¡¯ll see what I can find.¡±


    Previously, my mirrors had not been able to locate these invaders while using the search parameters of ¡®a group of new arrivals from another realm¡¯. All I found were normal travelersing through the Fairy Ring. As such, it could be assumed that they had methods to hide themselves from divine energy.


    Thankfully, I possessed a far more specialized energy, which existed for no other purpose than scanning. An energy that, to my knowledge, could prate any type of obfuscation. However, this was only the case if I knew where to scan to begin with.


    Once I got the information from Tsubaki, I closed my eyes in focus, activating my world sight.


    ¡°Thank you for the meal!¡± A young woman said as she pped her hands together, standing up from the table. She had short ck hair and hazel eyes, dressed in a button up ck shirt and long, tattered jeans.


    Across from her was a man and a woman, each smiling kindly to her. ¡°Don¡¯t be like that, Kiana.¡± The woman insisted, possessing short red hair and a motherly figure. ¡°You should go enjoy yourself. You start work at the tower tomorrow, don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Yup!¡± The girl, Kiana, nodded her head vigorously. ¡°I just got the eptance notice earlier. My mana levels are in the eptable range, so I can go there to help out! I won¡¯t let my good-for-nothing friends freeload off you anymore.¡±


    The man let out a heartyugh at that. ¡°They¡¯re just having a bit of trouble finding a job, is all. It¡¯s not easy for most people, these days. Even the tower has increased the standard for mages that they ept, you know?¡±


    ¡°Eh? Why would they do that? Isn¡¯t it better for them to be able to get more energy with more people showing up?¡± The concept of limiting their energy output didn¡¯t seem very sensible to Kiana, causing her to raise the question. However, it was promptly answered by her host.


    ¡°It¡¯s because of the refinement. Now that they are able to refine mana into a more efficient form, their overall output has started to exceed the demand by too high a margin. Any energy that they produce in excess of what they can use or store is simply wasted money, so they can¡¯t afford to keep more mages on hand than necessary. The fact that you were able to get in already shows that you have extraordinary talent for one that has only practiced runic magic.¡±


    ¡°Heheh¡­ I guess I just have a way withnguages?¡± She stuck her tongue out yfully as she chuckled to herself. ¡°Anyways, I¡¯ll go y now! See youter, you two!¡± After she said that, she turned around, walking back to her room.


    que, Serin, how are things going on your end? Her voice emanated out along the party chat once she was alone in her room.


    Still working on finding an apartment. ¡®Honeymoon homes¡¯ are hard toe by in this area. We might need to relocate if we want to use this excuse. What about you three?


    The other two are in Natural Seed right now, confirming how much of the game is simr to what we have. I¡¯ll join them soon. Tomorrow, I¡¯ll be starting work in order to have a ¡®legit¡¯ source of ie. The currency converter will get suspicious if people look too deeply.


    Hearing her words, the man named que let out a sigh. Maybe. I was thinking about getting a job, as well. Unfortunately, the only thing around here that fits my skillset is manualbor. At least Serin would be able to apply as an assistant teacher, once she¡¯s done reading up at the library.


    Kiana nodded her head, careful not to mention her earlier slip up in a verbal conversation with the rest of her party. Thest thing she wanted was these two scolding her as well. They might even take it up with the guild leader. Sucks to suck, doesn¡¯t it~?


    que simply grumbled in response, but a feminine voice spoke up. Definitely Serin. How are youing at learning the local magic?


    Serin¡¯s question caused Kiana to stumble a bit. U-uh¡­ I learned a little bit of runic in passing. Not enough to proc a skill, though. I managed to y a script spell off as runic for my test at the mage tower, and they seemed to buy it. I¡¯ll be able to learn their geometric magic starting tomorrow. Once I have the skill, we can start sharing it around.


    Her answer seemed to appease Serin, who let Kiana off the hook for teasing que. They finished up their report, and Kiana made her way over to the headset resting on her desk. As she brought her hands to it, she first ced them on the desk, activating a concealed spell. Even if she was confident in their cover story, it was unwise for all three of them to be ingame at once without wards set up.


    I watched as Kiana spoke with the couple that they were staying with, their conversation seemingpletely natural. From that, I had my suspicions that they were simply innocent bystanders, but this was only confirmed when she left them. Then, as she entered her room, two streams of energy emerged from her head, forming links outside of my scanning area.


    If not for my world sight, I would have never been able to notice this connection. It wasn¡¯t mana, or even spiritual energy. Instead, it was some convoluted mix of the two, with a hint of the system¡¯s own energy mixed in. Just from thatponent, I could guess that they hadn¡¯t created this energy themselves, and were using some form of nonverbal system that their Keeper had purchased.


    This makes things moreplicated¡­ The fact that they had a practically undetectable means ofmunication would limit my options to act from here on. Furthermore, while I had identified three of the invaders, and was able to follow the links from Kiana to the other two to make a total of five¡­ there were still too many left.


    ¡°It seems that those three are all connected to the game right now.¡± I muttered quietly, and Tsubaki looked up with a small trace of excitement.


    ¡°Shall I inform nk that he can act to eliminate them?¡±


    Clearly, the thought of being able to defeat a group of invaders so swiftly made Tsubaki want to take action. However, I shook my head to decline her suggestion. ¡°Don¡¯t. They aren¡¯t alone. Aside from those three, there are at least two more in the vicinity that are part of the same group. If we kill the three now, the others will be able to learn what caused it. As much as I really want to make some progress, we need to wait for a better chance.¡±


    Tsubaki reluctantly nodded her head, agreeing with my line of reasoning. ¡°I understand, my Keeper. If you could provide me with the details of the remaining individuals, I¡¯ll pass them onto ourwork.¡±


    With a nod, I created projections of all five confirmed invaders to let Tsubaki see them. Unfortunately, I wasn¡¯t able to make out the conversation that they were having via their private chat system. While I could read the information being sent, I had no way to interpret it as something I was familiar with. Even the mighty trantor function didn¡¯t help me understand the magical equivalent of encrypted code.

 Chapter 521: First Blood

    <h4>Chapter 521: First Blood</h4>


    I continued to monitor both Kiana and the rest of her five man group for several more days, pushing my world sight until it was exhausted before allowing it to recover. Roughly three days after I began to observe them, however¡­ the couple pretending to be a newly married pair vanished.


    They hadn¡¯t died, that much was sure. So far, only one person from the thousand invaders had died, and I suspected that to have been from a monster attack. No, these two had simply vanished, no longer living in the hotel room that they had settled on. Furthermore, Kiana contacted them much more rarely.


    When she did contact them, I attempted to trace their location once again, only for their conversation to end before I reached the other side. While I couldn¡¯t tell exactly where they were, they had moved at least a thousand kilometers away to the north. This was by no means a short distance, as they had to cross through at least tworge kingdoms to reach the new location.


    It was possible that they had chosen to abandon their former identities for some reason, or that they had been sent to a new area to perform a special mission. Since I did not have the energy in my world sight to monitor them twenty-four hours a day, and I couldn¡¯t interpret their private messages, I had no way of knowing what the reason was behind their disappearance.


    At least, that was the case at first. The following day, I received a report from Tsubaki. There were a number of suspicious individuals that had been monitored by the ninjas scattered throughout the world. In total, this number had risen to over eighty. Of that number, roughly sixty of them had vanished all at once. After some questioning, it seemed that the two who I was previously observing had been on their list as well.


    A small, stocky dwarven figure walked into his home, letting out a groan as he stretched his back. ¡°Oi, never gonna get used ta that.¡± He muttered, before giving a slight grimace at his own words.


    ¡°Tough day at work, dear?¡± A female voice drifted out of the other room, a muscr ursa woman walking out to greet him with a smile.


    ¡°Aye. A whole stack of new orders came in.¡± The dwarf nodded his head, before sending a message privately. Seriously, why¡¯d I have to take the dwarf?


    Would you rather have ended up with the tits? The woman asked back, an amused smile on her face.


    No, but I mean, couldn¡¯t we have just grabbed a different couple? There¡¯s no shortage of humans or elves around here!


    Noting the protesting tone in his message, the woman¡¯s smile grew softer as she went to sit at the side of the table. You needed a cksmith, que. This was just the only married, male cksmith in the city.


    Fine, fine¡­ que relented at that. Their techniques are pretty good, though. Probably about on par with back home. It¡¯s taking me a bit to get the hang of ki molding instead of solid scripting, but I think I should be able to take over the business in another few weeks.


    The other woman, Serin, simply reached over to stroke a hand through his messy brown hair. There was a loving look in her eyes as she gazed at the dwarf. Just be careful. We slipped up before, but let¡¯s not do that again.


    que¡¯s eyes softened, and he reached up to grab her hand. I know, and I¡¯m sorry about that, again. This time, I made sure to learn the racialnguages for both dwarves and ursa. It shouldn¡¯t be so easy for us to get spotted this time.


    Serin nodded her head, gripping his hand in hers. Have you unlocked the crafting tree, yet?


    Hearing her question, que simply shook his head. Not yet. I need toe into contact with more advanced techniques, but the boss at the shop is always the one handling those orders. How about you?


    Serin let out a low sigh, her brows creased together. I unlocked the basic level today. The alchemy information avable to the public is pretty low. If I could juste out and say I was good at mixing potions, we could solve our problems. But I can¡¯t, since bear-babe wasn¡¯t an alchemist before we got here. I just have to learn what I can from the library.


    Hopefully, some of the others will have better luck. que spoke in an effort tofort her. I heard Jink managed to relocate as a bigshot alchemist over at the furry kingdom, right?


    Serin smirked a bit at that. al, not ¡®furry kingdom¡¯. Don¡¯t forget, your woman¡¯s in an ursa body at the moment, too.


    Yeah, but I love you anyways. He responded yfully, squeezing her hand and eliciting a lightugh from Serin.


    ¡°Come on, Baron, let¡¯s get dinner going. You¡¯ve got to be hungry, right?¡± Serin spoke out loud, standing up and moving towards the kitchen.


    ¡®Baron¡¯, the former name of the dwarf who had owned que¡¯s current body, let out a raucousugh. ¡°Famished,ss.¡±


    Days passed, turning into weeks. In time, it became harder to find traces of the invaders through social mishaps. The ninjas also learned that they seemed to have some ability to detect hostility in the gaze of others, so only sent those trained at concealing such intent to follow the remaining suspects.


    Finally, a full month passed since the invasion began. Only at this point did nk have a full group of five targets living in close proximity to one another. With a surge of divine power, he severed their minds from their bodies while they were all logged into their respective games.


    However, he did not leave them in their games as initially nned. Rather, he brought them to a pure white room, one he specially designed to seal any connection with the outside. It was here that he personally engaged the five individuals in battle, testing their ability. And while he did win¡­ he did note out unscathed.


    I read over the report that Tsubaki printed off from nk, and grit my teeth. I wasn¡¯t angry with him, not at all. I was upset due to the realization that five of these invaders were able to almost fight on even terms with a god in the middle of his own domain.


    His report indicated that they were capable of creating soulbound items that would even appear with their digital avatars. These items were clearly designed to battle energy-based beings, and even able to seriously wound nk himself. More importantly, I was able to learn about their native magic, which he forced them to use in an effort to defend themselves.


    ¡°Tsubaki, what do you make of this ¡®Scripting Magic¡¯?¡± I asked, turning to look at the nine-tailed kitsune who presented me the papers.


    ¡°If I had to guess, it would be a variant on runic magic, my Keeper.¡± She spoke sincerely, her eyes on the paper in my hands. ¡°Simr to the magic that nk himself designed for his own game, they are able to create various scripts through the use of mana mands¡¯. They can then save these scripts, though whether they do so mentally or imbue their spell library into an item is uncertain.¡±


    I gave a small nod, agreeing with her assessment. This was not a basic magic option, so it was likely only avable to a civilization that had reached a certain age in technology. That, or it was simply too expensive to ssify as a basic option, much like Aurivy¡¯s Element Seed system.


    Given Sanction¡¯s age as a Keeper, and the fact that they had apparently reset recently, I was inclined towards thetter. After resetting, he would have had more than enough points to purchase a more expensive magic system to begin his world with. If I ever had to reset, I would likely do something simr.


    For the extent of nk¡¯s damage¡­ ording to his report, he would be unable to act in that manner again for two weeks as he recovered. Thankfully, his identity as the God of Games gave him a substantial amount of followers, or else he might not have even been able to defeat this group of five.


    ¡°Was the incident covered up properly?¡± I asked, looking over to Tsubaki once again.


    She nodded her head, offering me a small bow. ¡°nk informed me before he made his move. As soon as their bodies were ¡®vacant¡¯, I dispatched a group of hidden ninja that delivered a powerful poison directly into their spines. Although their wards had activated upon entry, and three of the ninjas were in, theypleted their mission. Even if they had defeated nk, they would not have had a body to return to.¡±


    ¡°After the event, their bodies were taken out of town and left in the nest of a rainbow python, the serpent whose venom was the primary ingredient of the poison they were given. If anyone investigates, it will appear as though they were lured away from the road by the snake and in before they had the chance to react.¡±


    ¡°And the damage caused by their wards activating?¡± I raised an eyebrow at that. If there was something that would be suspicious, that would be it. However, Tsubaki simply gave me her usual smile.


    ¡°Several valuable items were removed from their property, while the corpse of one of the dead ninjas was left behind after his energy had been purged and any incriminating items removed from his person. In the eyes of the public, that event was a robbery gone wrong, while the rest of the ninjas involved in it are dispersing to deter investigation.¡±


    Alright, everyone, report in. Any news? The guild leader asked over the private chat, sitting in ¡®his¡¯ house. He had assumed the identity of a lesser noble with connections in both the human and elven kingdoms. This particr noble was thest of his blood, without the ability to sire an heir. After he died, his assets would be given to another noble house.


    Team thirty-four was wiped out. One voice spoke up solemnly, causing the man¡¯s eyes to focus.


    Details. The word was a simplemand, and showed his anger at having lost five of his friends. Though they came into this dungeon knowing that death was a possibility, that did not make it any less personal to them.


    ording to the police reports, their bodies were found in a nest of poisonous snakes, covered in bite marks. None of their items were equipped, and there were signs of the bodies having been dragged there. They assume that the group was ambushed on the road and dragged back to the nest.


    While they were missing, someone also robbed their ce. They stole¡­ the contents of a safe, and items hidden in a desk drawer. One of the robbers was killed by the wards and left behind, but they won¡¯t disclose the identity of the robber.


    The leader let out a heavy sigh at that. It wasmon for natives of this world to prepare home security wards for when they left their property, so he had encouraged his people to do the same once they acquired the magic skill level to do so. The timing there¡¯s a bit odd¡­ what are the chances that they were killed by bandits on the road, and those bandits looted their house after?


    After his question, there was a pause, the other party clearly having to look through the reports again. Theirbat items weren¡¯t equipped, so it would have had to have been an instant kill. No immediate signs of foul y, but¡­ the snakes did a lot of damage to the bodies, so it would be hard to identify certain weapon types. It¡¯s not impossible, at least.


    The guild leader nodded his head, staring at a mapid out on the table before him. Alright. Everyone, make sure you¡¯re careful when traveling the roads. I don¡¯t want to lose anyone else in this dungeon.

 Chapter 522: Established Connections

    <h4>Chapter 522: Established Connections</h4>


    The guild leader had a smile on his face as he entertained his guests, a pair of human nobles from a neighboring territory. Using the information that he had obtained from the previous owner of his body, he was able to keep up with their conversation without much issue. However, though he was smiling, he was definitely not pleased with the situation.


    The noble couple hade here to try and get on his good side, hoping that he would set aside something for them and their family when he finally kicked the bucket. Although they didn¡¯te out and say it that way, it was quite clear from the fake smiles on their face that this was their goal.


    If only they knew the Marquis has already been dead for nearly a month. He was pleased with himself as he thought of that. While he did not consider himself a cruel man, he was also not one of infinite patience. When he killed, it was not out of pleasure but necessity.


    Of course, in his eyes, this was simply another dungeon that he and his people needed to conquer. There would be no guilt for him even if he slew the two nobles before him. Instead, it would just be an inconvenience as it would mean that he had to change his ns.


    The Spell Tree - Geometric(Tier 2) is avable to add to the Skill Store. Do you wish to approve?


    Prerequisites: Geometric(Tier 1) - Level 25


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, you¡¯ll have to excuse me.¡± The guild leader spoke with that same rehearsed smile as he stood up. ¡°I just remembered that I had a trade agreement that needs my attention. I¡¯ll have Senna see you out.¡±


    The faces of his guests seemed to stiffen at that, but he was already walking away, moving towards his office at a brisk pace. The smile on his face had be more genuine, both at kicking the nobles out and the new addition to their guild store.


    By the time he had reached his office, he had already approved of the spell tree. However, unlike normal skills, there was an entirely different cost to mastering magic. A cost he wanted to confirm as soon as he could.


    In his office, he pulled up his menu, navigating to the store. He had long ago maxed out the first tier of this magic, but quickly learned that it was simply not enough to battle with in this world. ¡°One skill coin per level?¡± He nodded his head, retrieving a pile of said coins from his inventory. It was always important to stock up on these items before going into a dungeon like this.


    Without hesitation, he spent ten skill coins to unlock ¡®beginner mastery¡¯ of the spell tree. With every coin spent, he was given ess to a selection of spellponents, as well as descriptions for each of them. Now came the important part.


    ¡°Oh?¡± He blinked in surprise as he looked at the cost of designing individual spells. Back home, it would take ten ¡®spell coins¡¯ in order to create a single spell with the system¡¯s assistance. Sure, they could create it on their own if they put in the effort. But, buying it through the system ensured that the spell would never be forgotten and could be cast at a moment¡¯s notice.


    However, the second tier of magic in this world only cost two coins to design a spell. From the guild leader¡¯s knowledge, second tier magic was the lowest standard for proper battle. Meanwhile, the third tier was reserved for advanced mages.


    This led to a debate within the man¡¯s mind. His mana was at the standard for a normal battle mage, but his focus was by no means in magic. It would be somewhat a waste to have him spend too many of his coins on this skill tree.


    Unfortunately for him, his ss did not exist in this dungeon. While there were sses that utilized divine energy, those were simply bards and knights, neither of which applied to him. Of the two, the closest would undoubtedly be the knight ss. But an Overlord cannot be a knight. His ss required him to stand at the highest point, or else he would lose his ss abilities.


    ¡°Battlefield disy.¡± He muttered, leaning back in his chair. Three streams of golden light shot out of his body, forming into threerge spheres that hovered over his desk. These were the threes that his people had infiltrated to this point. ¡°Mark allies.¡±


    Within the three spheres, nearly a thousand red dots lit up, with the majority resting on the central. ¡°Condense view, Earth.¡± As he said that, the other two spheres vanished. ¡°Condense view, Rokindrol.¡±


    The holographic disy of Earth zoomed in on a small, obscure ind. Within the ind were only three red dots, disying that three of his guild members were staying there. And hovering over the ind was a giant floating fortress. This was the keep of their target.


    As the leader watched the flying castle, he felt something amiss. ¡°Close disy!¡± He shouted in an urgent tone standing up and retreating a step back from his desk. For a brief moment, he felt something else from his disy, as if he were the one being watched.


    With his experience, he knew that was not a risk he should take. Already, in the back of his mind he was nning to abandon this identity. If he was exposed, there were numerous ways that the enemy could use him to locate the rest of his guild.


    However, as he walked out of his office with a worried expression, he failed to notice the standing mirror in the corner of the room. His reflection had not left the office when he did, and was instead looking out at him, a small smile spreading over its face.


    Found you. I muttered to myself, looking into a mirror I had summoned in front of me. There were far too few detection abilities that could prate the Sky Citadel¡¯s barrier. Thus, when I felt that I was being watched, I immediately conjured a mirror to trace the sensation back.


    What I found was a nobleman sitting in front of a projection that showed my citadel. There was a trace of divine energy in this image, and I was able to use that to quickly recognize that he was not one of my people. Especially when he seemed to panic, closing the disy with a verbalmand.


    The mirror in front of me shifted, the viewpoint changing to show him walking through the halls. I had his location now, but that was not enough. His appearance let me know that this group had an ability which let them impersonate the people from my world. No doubt this was how they had eluded detection for so long.


    Every time he stepped in front of a mirror, I focused my domain on building a thin connection with him. Nothing overt, nothing that would let me influence him. In a way, I was tagging him, ensuring that my mirror would always watch over him.


    ¡°Is this a person of interest, my Keeper?¡± Tsubaki asked, noticing my actions.


    I offered a small nod in answer. ¡°If I¡¯m right, this should be one of the invaders. Now that I¡¯ve found him, I won¡¯t lose sight of him again.¡±


    There was no way to know what method they used to escape my detection on the first day of the invasion. However, whatever it was did not seem to prevent my domain from locking onto him this time.


    With a wave of my hand, the mirror floated off to the side, hanging itself on the wall of the throne room. This would be my window to watch him in the future, even if he teleported away and changed his identity with various tricks.


    ¡°May the blessings of Udona follow you.¡± A female priest spoke, her ck tail swaying behind her as she healed an injured kitsune hunter. Judging by his wound, he had suffered an attack from arge canine beast. However, this type of injury wasn¡¯t a problem for her once she used her Lesser Divine Heal skill.


    She offered a warm smile to the hunter, who responded in kind. ¡°Thank you, Sister re.¡±


    ¡®Sister re¡¯ bowed slightly towards the hunter. ¡°You can thank me by being more careful next time.¡± She spoke in a gentle tone, causing the man to chuckle awkwardly.


    As he left, the priestess could feel a mental ping alerting her of a private message. Hello?


    It¡¯s Grayson. The guild leader¡¯s voice spoke back to her, and she could tell from his tone that he was troubled.


    Were youpromised? The priestess couldn¡¯t help but voice her question, knowing that there were few things that could upset him, and fewer still that would require him to call her.


    I have to assume so. Add counter-detection to the list of suspected abilities for this Keeper. In the meantime, I need your help moving. There¡¯s the chance that I¡¯m still being watched.


    The priestess simply smiled, looking out at the crowd. ¡°I¡¯m afraid that¡¯s all that I can do for now. I must rest and recover my energy. If anyone requires emergency treatment, please seek the aid of another brother or sister until I get back.¡±


    There was clear disappointment on the faces of many men in the group. Although there were a number of healers in the church, Sister re was a favorite due to her gentle demeanor and excellent looks. Still, there was not much that they could do if she had truly run out of steam.


    When she walked back to her room to ¡®rest¡¯, she made sure to activate the anti-detection wards. Only then did her gentle demeanor drop. Are you in position? She asked in a serious tone.


    Once he confirmed, she held her hands out in front of her, activating her unique ss abilities. ¡°nar link, establish. Divine interference, set. Spatial warp, target random.¡±


    In her mind, as soon as the first ability activated she was able to see the guild leader, still dressed in his noble attire. She had to admit she found him handsome like this, and thought it a shame he had to change identity again. With the second ability, the background appeared to darken, and she could feel something being cut off. And finally, the third ability caused him to entirely vanish.


    Do I need to cast again? There was a decent chance that he had just teleported to the middle of the ocean, so she was prepared to perform another warp if need be. Sometimes, it would take as many as ten tries to get a ¡®suitable¡¯ target location.


    No, this is fine. I can see buildings from here, so I¡¯ll- His voice was suddenly cut off, and the priestess¡¯s eyes went wide in rm. ¡°nar link, establish!¡±


    What she saw once her vision shifted startled her. The guild leadery dead on the ground, his body split down the middle. In the distance, she could see what appeared to be old ruins, likely the buildings that he spoke of. Meanwhile, much closer she saw an insect, tall and green with scythe-like des extending from its arms.


    ¡°Force recall!¡± She shouted, summoning the dead body of her guild leader to her room. His split corpsended heavily on the floor, blood beginning to pool beneath him. ¡°Restoration, Full Divine Heal, Death Reversal.¡±


    In a panic, she used one ability after another, her energy plummeting with each advanced spell. First, the two halves of his body shifted back together, the cuts fading. The blood then seemed to soak back into him, before finally his eyes opened wide and he gasped for breath.


    ¡°What¡­ the f***¡­ was that.¡± He muttered hoarsely, still recovering from his brief stint with death.


    ¡°You were probably sent to the world called Lorek.¡± The priestess assumed, patting her chest as her tension faded. ¡°Everyone I¡¯ve sent there died almost right away.¡±


    Grayson nodded his head, slowly sitting up. The cost of resurrection was by no means light, his level having dropped. At the same time, he looked through his skills and items to see if there was anything missing. ¡°My Frostfury Lance dropped, and it looks like I lost some skill levels¡­¡± Thankfully, skill levels were easy to get back, but his weapon was another matter.


    ¡°Just be d I was already watching, or you would have lost a lot more.¡± The priestess chided, lightly knocking him on the back of the head.

 Chapter 523: Advancing the Timeline

    <h4>Chapter 523: Advancing the Timeline</h4>


    I had to admit, it was a surprise when my mirror suddenly went dark. As if a shroud had been cast over the image. At first, I was worried that he had found a way topletely counter my tracking mirror, but soon realized that wasn¡¯t the case.


    If the mirror waspletely countered, it would have broken. The fact that it had only gone dark meant that there was simply an ability temporarily suppressing it. As long as I waited patiently, it shouldn¡¯t take too long before the mirror reconnects.


    And sure enough, just as I was thinking about, the view changed again. This time, it was a wide, grassy ins. The invader I had tagged was walking along itfortably, but¡­ I could tell that something was wrong as soon as I sensed the location of the mirror. My lips curled up in a bitter smile.


    Am I going to lose him again, just like that? I could tell that he was in Lorek. More importantly, he was in the deep, unexplored regions of Lorek. The area where the higher ranked star beasts appeared.


    This wasn¡¯t me looking down on his strength. Even the cultivators of Lorek themselves don¡¯t venture too far from town, unless they are in groups with powerful individuals protecting them. That was why less than one percent of Lorek was currently inhabited, barely a few dozen cities. For him to survive in Lorek on his own, he would need to be in constant battle mode, even if he was a powerful invader.


    As that thought urred to me, there was a sh of green in the mirror. The man fell silently to the ground, split in two halves. A giant insect at the Nova Merge stage appeared in front of it, fresh blood dripping off the des on its arms.


    Shaking my head, I was about to dismiss the mirror, given that my target had been killed. Thankfully, I waited for just a moment, as he vanished again. After a brief search, the mirror refocused on¡­ Deckan? He really gets around.


    What I saw in the reflection of the mirror now was a priestess standing over him, rapidly repairing his body. Without hesitation, I created a second mirror to tag her as well. She was clearly a powerful healer for the invaders, possibly even the one responsible for their transportation given the fact that she was already prepared to receive the other invader.


    ¡°That makes two.¡± I muttered to myself, watching the pair of mirrors. As long as I had the priestess tagged, I would have the chance to tag anyone else who was inexplicably brought to her in such a way.


    Grayson groaned, standing up and making sure that everything was back where it was supposed to be. Losing one of his weapons was unfortunate, but he could just try to get one of the guildmates to rece it if they found suitable materials. Let¡¯s try this again.


    The priestess in front of him nodded, pulling out a blue potion to recover her energy. Resurrections took a great strain on her, as they were not a ss ability, but rather one she simply learned by unlocking the healing skill tree. It was this skill tree that allowed her to impersonate a priestess of Udona as she had.


    Ready. Once her energy was full, she teleported Grayson once again. Her eye twitched when she saw where she had sent him this time. The man had appeared in a dense jungle, standing next to¡­ a spaceship. So, another teleport was sent out.


    His next appearance was on a hilltop in an unfamiliarnd. Remembering his first encounter with Lorek, he immediately went on alert. Just as the priestess was deciding whether or not to move him again, he caught sight of a town nearby. Not the damaged buildings from before, but a proper, thriving town.


    With a sigh of relief, he began moving towards the town, wanting to see what race the inhabitants were so that he could blend in and assume a new identity. What he saw was a rather peculiar mix. Almost exactly one half of the residents appeared to be lycans, while the other half were¡­ just about anything imaginable.


    That¡¯ll be interesting to see how he tries to fit in in Kione without a familiar. I grinned at the thought of that, before shaking my head. The familiar summoning ceremony wasn¡¯t too hard, and was a matter of public knowledge. It was even possible that they had already learned the skill.


    Regardless, I had other things to worry about. I had nine hundred and ny-nine problems, and he was just one of them.


    Another month passed, with more skills bing avable on the guild store. Finally, the third tier of both runic and geometric magic was added, as was the advanced skill tree for various crafting professions. When Grayson saw this, he gave a relieved nod. Everyone, we¡¯re entering phase two.


    With thatmand, various craftsmen disappeared from all over the world. Not enough to really take note, unless you knew what you were looking for. With the start of phase two, they would begin creating bases for themselves, locations that could be used tounch their offensive against the world.


    Where phase one took two months toplete, phase two was much faster, able to bepleted within only seven days. After these seven days, it was time for phase three.


    I looked towards my wall of mirrors in annoyance, all of them having turned ck. In thest little while, I had managed to tag five more people that had been teleported to the priestess for healing, giving me a total of seven mirrors. If I counted the three that I had initially been tracking with my world sight, that was a total of ten invaders that I was monitoring.


    Now, one by one, I saw them each performing the same action. Tapping on some invisible window in front of them, waiting for a blue ring of light to form around their feet, and then¡­ ck.


    Thinking that they might have simply suppressed my mirror¡¯s connection again, I even deployed my world sight to investigate their previous position. But, all I found was an empty room every time. They all moved somewhere, somewhere which blocks my mirrors from detecting them.


    ¡°Alright, everyone here?¡± Grayson asked, seeing the teleport beacon of the guild hall lighting up again, thest of his members stepping through. ¡°que, how is the setup? Any interference from the dungeon?¡±


    A human man stepped forward, shaking his head with a smile. ¡°The instancing is just fine.¡± que was a rather well-built man with thick muscles, carrying an oversized hammer over his shoulder. Next to him was a curvaceous woman with silver hair, smiling towards him. ¡°I set up the usual assortment. Anti-detection, anti-divine, etcetera. We have void energy generation and teleport beacons all over Earth.¡±


    ¡°Okay, then.¡± Grayson nodded pleasantly. ¡°You and Serin can take a few days to rx. For now, your job¡¯s done.¡± The silver haired woman cheered at that, throwing her arms around que.


    Grayson, meanwhile, looked around within therge meeting room. It had the appearance of stone, but he knew better, and it wasrge enough to house all one thousand members. ¡°Everyone, it¡¯s time to start phase three. Is there anyone here who hasn¡¯t done a wild dungeon run before?¡±


    As he looked over his guild members, he did see a few raising their hands, to which he nodded. ¡°Then, I¡¯ll go over the requirements again, so pay attention.¡±


    ¡°Wild dungeons are inherently different from normal dungeons due to the presence of the Dungeon Keeper. This is the final boss, a boss that has varying mechanics depending on the dungeon, but always follows a single rule. This rule is that they have all of the greatest abilities from their world.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s say for instance, our world was a wild dungeon.¡± He gestured one hand towards the kitsune priestess who had yet to undo her disguise. ¡°If Fleece is a level one hundred Chaos Space, and is the highest level of that ss in the world, that means that the Keeper of our dungeon would have that ability as well. Simrly, my Overlord ss, que¡¯s cksmith, and so on.¡±


    ¡°This makes battling the Dungeon Keeper head-on a suicidal feat. Even if we charged at him now, with all of our numbers here, at least half of us would be killed. However, this also opens up a mechanic to weaken the Dungeon Keeper. This is why we spent so long gathering information on this world.¡±


    ¡°In order to weaken the Dungeon Keeper, we have to find and kill the strongest members of each ss in the dungeon. Doing so will ¡®reset¡¯ the Keeper¡¯s level in that ss to the next strongest.¡±


    Saying this much, Grayson took a deep breath. ¡°Now¡­ as you might realize, this will only cause a minimal drop in power for the most part. To really hit him, we¡¯ll need to target exceptional geniuses, or sses that are not widely used.¡±


    ¡°Our first target, and the one that will likely weaken the Keeper to the greatest extent, is this woman.¡± Grayson grabbed a paper in front of himself, tapping its cover a few times. Arge image projected itself above his head of a woman with an ample figure in a red dress, with blood red hair.


    ¡°The Empress of Bloodhaven. ording to our research, she is the oldest and most powerful member of a lesser-used ss known as Martial Spirit. If we get rid of her, we should be able to shave off a decent chunk of power from the Keeper. Most importantly¡­ she is not a goddess, which makes her a far more essible target.¡±


    Several guild members nodded their head seriously, while others were eyeing the empress¡¯s figure. It was clear what thetter group was thinking, that it was a shame that they had to kill her.


    ¡°The Empress has a known, constant location. We will storm the capital of Bloodhaven and raid her pce. Fleece, you¡¯ll remain here on standby to activate the evacuation teleport if things go bad.¡±


    ¡°Where did you all run off to.¡± I muttered, unable to find any trace of the invaders. Whether it was the ones I was watching, or those that the ninjas had their eyes on, they all simply vanished without a trace. No matter what, I couldn¡¯t help but have a bad feeling about this.


    Eventually, nine of the ten mirrors reacted at once. The only one that remained dark was the one that targeted the priestess. Aside from her, everyone appeared in a single location. More importantly, they were no longer wearing any disguises, and had appeared in full battle gear. As soon as they appeared, they beganunching devastating attacks onto their surroundings.


    As for their location¡­ Oh hell no! I stood up from my throne, my face contorted in anger. Tsubaki saw that expression, her tails immediately standing straight. ¡°My Keeper, shall we head to battle?¡±


    ¡°Just me this time.¡± I told her with a shake of my head, seeing the red cityscape of Bloodhaven quickly being reduced to ruins. ¡°I¡¯m on a rescue mission.¡± After saying that, I teleported myself directly to Scarlet¡¯s pce.


    Understandably, Scarlet herself was not in her throne, and was currently moving to the gate of her pce at a rapid pace. Fast enough that she directly bumped into me when I appeared before her. ¡°F-father, I apologize, but I do not have time to talk at the moment.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± My response was simple, and even I could feel a trace of coldness from it. ¡°But they¡¯re here for you, Scarlet.¡± Scarlet was the only one that they could be here for. Letting her go out to fight would just be falling into their trap. ¡°Let me handle this.¡±

 Chapter 524: Insider Information

    <h4>Chapter 524: Insider Information</h4>


    My footsteps were heavy as I left the pce. Or rather, as I sent out an avatar. My main body remained behind with Scarlet, ready to leave at a moment¡¯s notice. Only like this could I truly meet them head on like this.


    Once outside, I saw the approaching forces, the smoke rising from the nearby buildings. Chaotic energy rose in the air from the numerous deaths of the martial spirits. I couldn¡¯t even begin to imagine how many had survived this ughter already.


    And when I saw them, naturally they saw me as well. Their informationwork seemed to be pretty useful, as they were able to recognize me at a nce. The armored man standing at the forefront, the one who I first tagged with my mirrors, turned and shouted something towards his people in anguage I wasn¡¯t familiar with.


    Was it an order to retreat? I couldn¡¯t stop the sneer from forming on my lips as I pointed a finger to the sky. My divinity surged, golden lights flowing upwards from my body and turning into a circle that covered the entire city.


    While I was preparing my move, I noticed ck and silver energies starting to rise up around the invaders as well. However, this wasn¡¯t to defend or stop me from unleashing my technique. Rather, this energy copsed on one individual and caused them to vanish. So, they are retreating. Let¡¯s see how many I can convince to stay behind.


    ¡°Seal!¡± I shouted, and the ring of divinity solidified, ss appearing to form within its edges. I watched while more and more of the invaders vanished, but simply continued activating this move.


    By the time the ss finished filling the mirror, most of them had already left. For those that remained behind¡­ they disappeared all at once. I smiled coldly up towards the mirror in the sky, where I could see them looking around in confusion. Only fifteen of them¡­


    My body rose up from the ground, sinking into the mirror above to meet my new guests. There was no guarantee that they didn¡¯t have a way out of this prison. Even if they didn¡¯t, there was still the chance that they could activate their private chat system.


    The moment that Grayson returned to the guild base, he looked around urgently. ¡°Everyone, report in!¡±


    Names were shouted one after another as the guild members announced their presence. Just as Grayson was beginning to feel relieved, counting the members in his head, the roll call came to an abrupt stop. His eyes went wide as he noted the number of people that didn¡¯te back.


    ¡°Fleece, I need eyes and Margstod and the others!¡± He walked over towards the drained kitsune urgently, who let out a tired sigh. After pulling a blue vial from her inventory, she downed the potion to recover her strength.


    ¡°Okay.¡± She nodded, moving over towards one of the terminals in the room. This was an item designed to work with her specific skillset, allowing her to project her vision for others to see.


    Once she was sat down at the terminal, she typed in the name Margstod, and the screen changed. Fifteen people stood confused on the screen, their eyes roaming around. Meanwhile, another figure emerged in the image, the Keeper that had just chased them away. ¡°Can you pull them out?¡± The guild leader asked, only for Fleece to shake her head.


    Margstod! Grayson called out, trying to reach him over the guild chat. There was a mix of fury and sorrow on his face as he gave the worst ofmands. Use thest resort.


    Unfortunately, his words didn¡¯t seem to reach them. The area they were in severed their ties with the normal world. Grayson and the others could simply see these fifteen brothers in arms assumingbat stances when they noticed the Keeper.


    Quietly, Grayson opened up his own menu, and removed those fifteen individuals from the guild. If, somehow, they managed to escape with their own power, he would wee them back happily. But unless that happened, there was simply too great of a risk.


    Among the fifteen, one of them seemed to realize what he had to do. Emotionally, he opened his menu, his lips moving without wordsing out. And then, with tears streaming down his face, he copsed to the ground.


    Thest resort was a skill which was required for everyone to know before entering a wild dungeon. In a situation where capture or death was imminent, they would use this skill to destroy both their souls and their brains.


    Without their souls, there was no level of resurrection magic that could bring them back. And without their brains, even the most advanced technology could not search their memories. It was the suicide button that everyone had prepared, in order to prevent information from leaking.


    With the first as a catalyst, the others simrly began to navigate through their menus. It was clear that they realized that they had no power to fight or escape, so they wished to do the only thing that they were capable of. However, the Keeper simrly caught their actions.


    Grayson and the others could see the Keeper¡¯s eyes narrowing, and he charged forward. In a sh, he was already in front of the group. Perhaps because they were already in a mirror, he did not call any other mirrors to fight, relying purely on hand-to-handbat. Each strike seemed fatal, as it left the person falling to the ground in a heap.


    Grayson let out a long sigh, cing his hand on Fleece¡¯s shoulder. Of the fifteen, only four managed to activate their self-destruct skill before the Keeper got to them. ¡°That¡¯s enough. We have to get moving.¡±


    Turning around, he called out to everyone that was left. ¡°As of this moment, we have to consider this base aspromised. We will immediately move towards the second location. Sorry, que¡­¡±


    The cksmith shook his head, not finding the strength toin. ¡°I¡¯ll start the self-destruct, to make sure nothing¡¯s left behind.¡± Grayson gave him a grateful nod at that, while the others all moved towards the teleporters.


    My eyes focused on the corpses before me, a slight smile tugging at my lips. If I could get Jonas over here, there was the chance that he could add some of these guys to hismunity. However, that also opened him up to a possible infiltration, depending on what skills they had.


    And that reason itself is why I had done what I did, killing them with my bare hands. Fourteen of the corpses in front of me shattered like ss, while I picked thest one up to carry. Tsubaki, do we have a room with fourth-tier anti-detection magic?


    We have several, my Keeper. Would you like the dungeons, or a morefortable private chamber? Tsubaki¡¯s reply was as prompt as ever, something that I was thankful for as I left my mirror, taking this invader back with me to the pce. Inside, my main body was still standing with Scarlet, whose eyes burned with fury at the sight of the person draped over my shoulder.


    Something morefortable. I gave a nod at that, before my eyes found Scarlet¡¯s. ¡°It¡¯s okay. I¡¯ve already taken care of it. Sorry, but¡­ I need you toe back with me now. As long as you¡¯re alive, you can rebuild your kingdom, but I can¡¯t risk them getting to you.¡±


    Scarlet¡¯s breath seemed to catch for a moment, her eyes growing wet. ¡°I¡­ I understand, father. However, please promise me that you will let me take to the field when the timees. Blood must be met with blood.¡±


    I gave a nod, readily agreeing. Meanwhile, I shifted both myself and Scarlet back to the citadel, taking my little ¡®package¡¯ to the area Tsubaki prepared for me. Sure enough, it was arge bedroom, well decorated with red silk.


    Moving over towards the bed, I unceremoniously dropped the invader off to the side, letting himnd on the mattress. His body bounced limply, while I stared at him with a small smirk. ¡°You can stop pretending, now.¡±


    My words were like a trigger, causing him to gasp and open his eyes. When he looked at me, it was not a look of hatred, but one of loyalty. ¡°Sorry, boss. Had to keep up appearances.¡±


    This was a modified version of my Battle Illusion, the Betrayal Illusion. At the moment that I created his ¡®illusion of life¡¯, I made changes to his personality such that he believed himself to be working for me. That was why I needed this shielded room. Not to extract his soul and torture the information out of it. Rather, I wanted to simply ask the man some questions.


    ¡°What is your ss?¡± Knowing that Sanction¡¯s world had gamews to it, it was obvious that they would simrly have sses as well.


    ¡°Me? I¡¯m a Code Mage.¡± The man said proudly, slowly sitting up on the bed and stretching. ¡°It lets me use advanced scripts like enchanting items or opening teleport gates.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but furrow my brow at that. While I was sure that code magic was a thing, the name of the ss which used it should have simply been that world¡¯s version of a mage. I didn¡¯t remember seeing any ss called ¡®Code Mage¡¯ when Ist looked through the options.


    ¡°Tell me how sses work in your world.¡±


    That one caused him to fall into deeper thought, considering how to exin it. ¡°Well, when you turn thirteen, you are able to go to the ss Office, right? They take you back and have you ce your hand on the ss Orb, and you make your vow. That vow bes your ss. Me, my vow was ¡®to be the best magic programmer in the world¡¯. So, I got the Code Mage ss.¡±


    ¡°You get customized sses, just like that?¡± I opened my eyes wide in surprise, before shaking my head. ¡°What about your ss skills? Do they match other mage-type sses?¡±


    ¡°Oh! You mean our skill trees?¡± The mage smiled towards me. ¡°Well, there are a ton of different skill trees. Each ss starts out with a few that match their vow. I had script magic, magic control, and magic power. If your ss focused on the magic of a special dungeon, you could get that dungeon¡¯s magic skill tree instead.¡±


    There it is! I smiled, nodding my head. That was what I needed to know. Sanction didn¡¯t use a set list of sses. Instead, it was a skill-based system. The ¡®ss¡¯ was just a set of specialized skills that a person had ess to more easily. ¡°How hard is it for you to learn skills outside of your ss?¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ not really, I guess?¡± The man scratched the back of his head. ¡°As long as you have the skill coins, and are either in a good guild or do a bit of self-study, you can unlock a skill tree easily enough. Like, I have four different magic types I can use, but I only really focus on scripts.¡±


    I gave a small nod at that, satisfied with his answers so far. I¡¯d be keeping this one around for a while, so that I could get as much information as I needed on his world. No doubt the Gilded Branch would be quite interested in what he had to tell me.


    ¡°Next question¡­ where are the rest of your people?¡± Aside from how their skills worked, this was my most important question. If I could find their base of operations, I could form a group to storm it and end this invasion.


    ¡°Ah¡­ that one¡¯s going to be a bit of a problem, boss.¡± The man chuckled dryly. ¡°They already kicked me out of the guild when we ¡®fought¡¯ earlier. The base I know should be gone by now, and I don¡¯t have the option to warp to the new one. You see, we have a couple dozen instanced bases set up all over. Kind of like hand-crafted mini-dungeons.¡±


    ¡°But, aside from the craftsmen that made them, everyone only knows the physical location of the active base. Grayson was really stingy with that kinda information, to prevent it from being leaked. If they haven¡¯t destroyed the base yet, it will have a teleporter to take you to the next in line, but I doubt they would have left that behind.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but click my tongue at that. So, it¡¯ll be small skirmishes like this for a while, then? Next time, I¡¯ll have to open up with a faster attack, now that I don¡¯t need an informant.

 Chapter 525: Prestige

    <h4>Chapter 525: Prestige</h4>


    The information provided by my little ¡®helper¡¯ turned out to be quite useful. At the very least, it became apparent why the invaders had taken so long before they really made their first move. It wasn¡¯t just that they were gathering information about me to try to discern any weaknesses that they could exploit¡­


    Rather, it seemed that they were working to ¡®harvest¡¯ the skills of this world, whether it was magic, cksmithing, or anything simr. They wanted to gather all of these skills together in their skill trees for two reasons. The first was that it would allow them to devise strategies to counter whatever problems might arise.


    As for the second reason¡­ It was simply apetitive mindset. These invaders already considered this world as theirs¡¯, and wanted to be the first people to have mastered this world¡¯s skills when they returned to their own world.


    When I heard that reason, I almost couldn¡¯t resist gritting my teeth in anger, before forcing myself to calm down. If I look at it another way, they had to consider it as if they would surely seed. After all, their only options here are victory or death.


    In the meantime, I managed to learn another interesting fact about Sanction¡¯s world. This was the fact that they do indeed have mortal gods, although they were a bit different in his world. In his world, after someone has reached the ¡®level cap¡¯ of one hundred and gathers the proper skills, they are able to acquire a ¡®prestige title¡¯.


    This prestige is somewhat simr to a second ss advancement in the way that it is carried out. Once again, it is a vow that forms their prestige, and the name of this prestige title will sometimes rece their ss name.


    The main difference between the two is that the skill tree of one prestige title can¡¯t be learned by someone else with their own ipatible prestige title, no matter how many resources they spend. That¡¯s because this title is their domain, and they are only able to learn ¡®prestige skills¡¯ rted to their own domain.


    Furthermore, it was actually rather rare for people in Sanction¡¯s world to receive a prestige title. In fact, out of the one thousand individuals that hade on this mission, the only one that had met all of the qualifications was their second inmand, a woman by the name of Fleece.


    ording to the information, she should be the kitsune that I had been watching. Her ss allowed her to use an extremely vtile energy to warp space, while her prestige title was simply ¡®chaos¡¯. Between the two, she had powerful offense, defense, as well as support abilities. It appeared that she was even able to hide from Tsubaki¡¯s divine registry.


    After I was done talking with him, I told him to write down the information about the rest of his colleagues for me to reviewter. Once I saw him taking the pen and paper out of his inventory, I gave a somewhat bitter smile, knowing that those items were merely illusions. I would have to be careful not to dismiss him before I copy his report done onto another medium.


    ¡°Have you located the second target?¡± Grayson asked, sitting at his desk in the second guild hall. They had barely managed to enjoy their first base for a few hours before they were forced to sacrifice it. This left an understandably bitter taste in his mouth, something that his members understood well.


    ¡°Not yet. There are a number of possible targets. However, we¡¯ve concluded that the most effective means of dropping the Keeper¡¯s power is by targeting the advanced sses. There are far fewer among them who specialize to reach a high level.¡± The man offering the report was wearing a ck and white business suit, holding a stack of papers in his hand.


    ¡°In this world, there are a small number of advanced sses that we could target. Our first objective, Scarlet, was in the Martial Spirit ss. Had we managed to kill her, it¡¯s likely that the next in line might have only had half her level.¡±


    Grayson nodded as he listened to the report, the man in the suit continuing. ¡°In this world, there are only a few advanced sses. These are the Martial Spirit, Elemental Monk, Elementalist, Summoner, and Perfect Self. In addition, there is the rumor that spirits are capable of obtaining a secret sixth advanced ss known as Spirit Shaper. However, since we don¡¯t have any spiritual allies, this can¡¯t be confirmed.¡±


    Grayson¡¯s eyes shed as he listened to the ss names. ¡°The Perfect Self ss, tell me about it. With a name like that, it can¡¯t be simple. It may even be a hint¡­¡±


    The man in the suit smiled bitterly. ¡°This ss is actually quite well known due to a recent discovery. Apparently, this ss is able to help one reach Ascension¡­ or, what they call a prestige title.¡±


    ¡°There are only a few practitioners known to have trained this skill to a high level. Of them, two would pose considerable challenges.¡± As he said that, he ced two documents on Grayson¡¯s desk. ¡°These two should be the ones that had reached the highest level in this ss out of the entire dungeon. However, they have both already ascended. Moreover, one of them is constantly at the Keeper¡¯s side.¡±


    Grayson furrowed his brow as he heard that. ¡°So, we could treat this ss as a mid-boss before the Keeper fight.¡± While they did have the ability to battle gods, it was not something that they would actively seek to do without reason. ¡°Among the others, have you found anything interesting?¡±


    ¡°For most of these, I couldn¡¯t say for sure¡­ you see, in the world of Fyor, the Elementalist and Elemental Monk advanced sses are far moremon. As such, we haven¡¯t been able to locate a suitable target that would show a significant effect. However¡­ there is one Summoner in particr that I have found.¡±


    Grayson showed a rare smile as he heard that, looking towards the remaining papers in the man¡¯s hands. ¡°Please, go on.¡±


    ¡°The man in question is a lycan, known as the Abyssal Key. His real name is Sinire Ducart. A recognized fanatic studying the arts of summoning, and undoubtedly the highest level in the entire ss. He earned his title through having a number of demonic forces sealed inside of keys that he keeps hanging on his waist.¡±


    ¡°Finally, some good news.¡± Grayson let out a sigh of relief, nodding his head. ¡°Try to find his position, and we can begin nning the attack.¡±


    I closed my eyes, taking a moment to rx after I sat down on my throne. Scarlet had been brought back to stay in the citadel until the invasion was over, at which point she would begin working to repopte her people. Additionally, there was the invader that I had kept in one of the hidden rooms of the citadel.


    Is something the matter? Leowynn¡¯s voice spoke gently into my mind, causing my lips to curl up.


    Nothing¡¯s wrong, Leowynn. Just gotta sort everything out in my head. We don¡¯t have any idea on when they will make their next move, so I want to be prepared.


    I could feel her faintly nodding at my words. Will you allow me to participate in the next battle, as well? Given your previous state, I didn¡¯t want to bring it up before. You seemed¡­ far more angry than normal.


    Was I? I tilted my head, thinking back. After doing so, I chuckled. Maybe I was. When I saw them going after Scarlet, I guess a part of me just snapped.


    Leowynn seemed to giggle in the back of my mind, though did her best to suppress the noise. It seems that you have finally begun to ept her as your daughter, as well?


    Her words made me blink in confusion. While it was true¡­ Scarlet was technically my flesh and blood, emphasis on blood, I had never truly seen her as my daughter. She was born with a fraction of my memories, and had been in charge of herself since the day she was born. Never once had I treated her like a father in all the time I¡¯ve known her.


    Yet, didn¡¯t she start to call me ¡®Father¡¯tely, just like Leowynn? I thought back, imagining what would have happened if it was Leowynn they were targeting instead of Scarlet.


    Calm yourself, father. Leowynn¡¯s voice spoke urgently after a moment. I found myself gripping the arm of my throne, my fingers digging grooves into the metal.


    It was fairly clear the difference in treatment, but it also helped me to understand my feelings more. From what I determined, I really was starting to think of Scarlet as my own daughter, but we did not have the same strong bond that I had with Leowynn. For Leowynn, I wouldn¡¯t have been content with killing fifteen, and keeping one as an informant.


    But at the same time, I decided to spend some more time with Scarlet after the invasion ended. Although I hadn¡¯t been a good father for her before, I would at least like to be good friends with her.


    Anyways, I had a pretty good idea about how I could break this little game of hide and seek, now that I knew what kind of system they were using. It was just a matter of finding the proper chance. If my n worked, I could potentially eliminate all of their bases at once.


    nk was currently staring at an empty point in the vast void of the digital world, his brows creased in focus. By now, his wounds had already recovered to the point where he was able to act normally, and he had discovered something¡­ unusual.


    Within the digital realm, he would often see data packets flying about randomly, taking the form of insects or small birds in his view. They would move from one server to another at lightning speed, but always followed set paths. These paths could ultimately be traced to both destination and the origin.


    Right now, nk was standing before a suspicious ¡®origin¡¯. As a deity that quite literally lived on the inte, he was confident that he was familiar with all of the nearby server ports where these data packets coulde from. In fact, he had chosen to ce his own inte domain where it was because it was so far removed from the normal flow of traffic.


    So imagine nk¡¯s surprise when a data packet smacks into the back of his head out of nowhere one day. Not just any normal data packet, either. In nk¡¯s eyes, this packet had the appearance of a vicious flying monster, and was even imbued with mana.


    This data packet flew off into the search browser, before finding the information it was looking for and flying back. Then, nk watched it vanish into apletely empty portion of the digital world. Well¡­ mostly empty. It would have been empty if he didn¡¯t decide to build his office there¡­


    Naturally, there was the chance that this was just a mundane urrence, someone using a magical device to ess the web from an unregistered location. However, it still annoyed him greatly! That thing was flying directly through his home, and was starting to do so at an increasingly regr rate!


    It wouldn¡¯t do any good to destroy the data packet, as the terminal it belonged to would simply send out another one automatically. The most that he could do was read the information that was being brought back before the packet escaped back to its home terminal.


    Through this information, nk was able to learn the contents of their searches. It almost seemed like someone studying for a thesis about advanced sses. They were looking up the abilities of advanced sses, the methods to train them, as well as the prominent figures of each advanced ss.


    At this point, nk had be suspicious, and resolved himself to send an avatar to follow that data packet back right to its source! He had to find out who was disturbing his home!

 Chapter 526: Long Live the Queen

    <h4>Chapter 526: Long Live the Queen</h4>


    Grayson sat at his desk, resting his chin on his hands as he contemted the guild¡¯s n for the future. From now on, we¡¯ll have to be prepared for the Keeper to interfere any time we go on a raid.


    The Keeper was very clearly more aware of the powers of his world than they were, so Grayson believed that he had naturally set up methods to mark all of their likely targets. That, or he had managed to mark some of the guild members themselves. These were the only two reasons that he would have been able to appear that quickly when they went to raid the Empress of Bloodhaven.


    Regardless of which answer it was, the end result was the same. They couldn¡¯t leave their people behind because it would reduce their fighting force, and they couldn¡¯t change their targets away from the ¡®highest level individuals¡¯ because it would then show no effect on the Keeper¡¯s own strength. In this situation, unless they had a reliable way to permanently sever the link that the Keeper had established, they could only y into this plot.


    Of course, they did have one such method, but it could not be used until the final battle. Fleece had the ability to block out divine detection if she were to activate one of her skills. Grayson needed her to stay in the base, though, because her skills were simrly necessary for them to be able to quickly evacuate from a battle.


    If they had taken her before, when the Keeper surprised them, their losses would have been much higher. Instead of fifteen, it was likely that they would have lost closer to one or two hundred troops to that sealing mirror¡­


    With a resigned sigh, he opened the guild chat. Everyone, gather in the main hall. And make sure you have your boss gear ready. We¡¯ll be moving out soon. Anyone that isn¡¯t going to fight, go ahead and prepare to evac to site three.


    ¡°Got it!¡± nk smiled as he held open a small portal in the void of the digital world, which was attempting to close around him. Getting the timing right to hold open the connection without interfering with the data packet had been tricky, but he believed it was worth it.


    With a thought, he summoned his journal, and bookmarked the location on the other side of the portal. Only then did he let it close. As Vivi had once taught him, a unique trait of digital existences such as themselves was the ability to use mana to teleport from one digital location to another. Even if the two were not connected, such a transmission was still possible.


    Of course, he would not charge blindly into what was likely the enemy camp. First, he had to contact Vivi so that she could pass on the information to the Keeper, and then wait for his opportunity. Only then would he infiltrate to gather information.


    ¡°My Keeper.¡± Tsubaki suddenly spoke up at the base of the stairs leading to my throne. She had been standing there motionlessly for hours, so something had apparently changed with one of her avatars. ¡°We have just received a report from Vivi.¡±


    ¡°Did another batch of invaders decide to log in?¡± I asked with a raised eyebrow. I found such an event unlikely at this point. Even if they did enjoy the game, and were from a game-centric world, they had to realize that their focus should be on fighting me now.


    ¡°That is not the case. nk believes that he has located their base through the inte.¡± Well¡­ that was a surprise. ¡°He has marked their location digitally, and is prepared to move when the opportunity arises.¡±


    I leaned forward, letting myself sink into thought at that. ¡°If we can coordinate with him, he can infiltrate their base when theyunch their next assault. Tsubaki, I¡¯ll need to trouble you to act as my intermediary at that time.¡±


    ¡°I understand, my Keeper.¡± She nodded her head, but didn¡¯t stop there. ¡°When that timees, please take Dana with you to fight.¡±


    ¡°Dana?¡± I looked over towards the nine-tailed maid, surprised at her request. ¡°I thought you would want to keep her as far away from the fighting as possible.¡±


    Tsubaki simply shook her head. ¡°We have been preparing for this invasion ever since you first mentioned it to us. Now that they have started their offense, it is time for her to y her part. If it bes too dangerous, she knows a spell that will immediately summon herself to my side.¡±


    I thought about that briefly, before giving a small nod. I had a pretty good idea what Dana¡¯s preparations were here, and it fit fairly well into my own ns. Just as I was lifting my head to answer her, I felt a shift in my divine energy. Looking over towards the wall of mirrors, my lips tugged upwards. ¡°Tell nk that he has permission to invade, and call Dana. They¡¯re on the move again.¡±


    Greyson marched forward, the leader of nearly nine hundred men. They did not fire their spells randomly upon entering town this time, and an aura of deadly calm seemed to spread from this group. Citizens parted to allow their passage, clearly seeing them as some knight order that had been called to act.


    Everyone was on edge, knowing that the Keeper could appear at any moment tounch a powerful attack. They were wearing their best equipment, specifically designed to counter divine abilities. Although he showed himself capable of fighting in hand-to-hand against a small group, this was nothingpared to the ability to seal an army at once.


    At the front of the march, Greyson¡¯s eyes twitched slightly. He heard a faint giggle enter his ears. A small, elven girl ran up into the road, a bundle of flowers in her hands. ¡°Big brother knight!¡± She called out, holding the flowers up for him. He could even see a faint blush on her cheeks.


    He could have kicked her aside, or even cut her down for trying to interfere. But, if they made such an image for themselves, it would only make their lives harder when it came time for them to control this dungeon. As such, he briefly stopped, letting out a faint smile as he leaned down to take the flowers.


    ¡°You should have saved these for someone special, right?¡± Their arrival hadn¡¯t been announced, so the fact that she had flowers like this meant that they had already been prepared for someone.


    However, the elven girl simply stuck out her tongue. ¡°Big brother is special, right?¡± Grayson had a sudden premonition of danger when he heard her giggle again. ¡°You should be careful, now!¡± As she said that, she turned and began skipping away.


    ¡°Stop her!¡± He called out, throwing the flowers down and quickly drawing his sword. However, the flowers never touched the stone road at his feet. As soon as they left his hands, they dispersed into silver smoke, which spread out to form a circle.


    ¡°Aaah, big brother wants to bully me!¡± The girl called out, keeping her yful tone even as she changed her pace to running away. ¡°I¡¯ll let my friends y with you a bit.¡±


    Two figures quickly emerged from the marching group, their forms seeming to flicker as they chased after the girl. However, momentster, after chasing her down a nearby alley, they let out sudden, horrific screams. The sound of something crunching emerged, and blood sshed along the walls of the alley.


    Grayson wished that he could charge over, but he had problems of his own. From the circle of silver smoke, he could feel an ominous presence staring at him. This wasn¡¯t the anger of the Keeper, he had felt that before already. This was the feeling of being stared at by a vicious predator.


    Darkness filled the circle, and a great w stretched out from this darkness. Instinctively, Greysonshed out, slicing with his enchanted sword. There was a pained scream as the w was cut, before it retreated back into the circle.


    At this moment, a cold voice echoed out in the air. ¡°Did I tell you to stop?¡± When he turned to look for the source of the voice, he saw that same girl standing on a nearby rooftop. Her eyes were no longer yful, but rather emitted an icy chill. Blood dripped down from her lips to stain her blue dress. ¡°Open the gate.¡±


    As if responding to hermand, the circle of silver mist exploded outwards, filling the street before them. Figures with glowing red eyes stared at them from the misty darkness beyond. Monstrous forms that seemed to bubble and shift, ying tricks on the mind just by watching them. Screams echoed throughout the town as the citizens saw this scene, quickly scattering lest they be caught in what was toe.


    ¡°Begin the march.¡± As the girl said that, she produced a silver scepter in her hand, adorned with a blue jewel. Greyson did his best to split his focus between the girl and the portal, stepping back to join his troops.


    At the same time, the first of the figures stepped forward. Its arms were covered in blinking eyes, hands stretched out with silver ws. Its face was nothing more than a giant, vertical mouth lined with countless teeth. As it emerged from the portal, it let out a hideous screech, before charging fearlessly towards the invading party.


    Behind it, two giant cats with smooth, ck skin emerged. Their skin was stretched taught, revealing twistedyers of muscle in various positions. Like the figure before them, they charged as well.


    With the information that they had gathered, Greyson was able to identify the origin of the silver mist, and thus had a strong guess as to what these monsters were. ¡°Exorcists, offer blessing!¡±


    Rhythmic chanting began to fill the air as several people hidden within the army began to pray. The weapons of the soldiers soon resonated with the chant, bringing forth a silver glow. When Grayson shed again with his glowing weapon, it cut through the first monster with ease. Not only that, but the monster burst into silver mist, clearly in with the single stroke.


    ¡°Eight, nine, ten, eleven people casting anti-spirit enchantments.¡± The girl on the rooftop said calmly, even as several people with bows or staves turned to face her. ¡°I¡¯ll need to kindly ask you to stop.¡±


    Her eyes seemed to glow as she emphasized the final word, the scepter in her hand shining bright. Those eleven exorcists felt their bodies freezing up, suddenly unwilling to obey theirmands. With their chanting ended, the silver glow on the weapons of the troops began to slowly fade.


    However, at this time, the army had naturally identified this elven girl as a very real threat. Spells and arrows wereunched at her without mercy, though she paid them no mind. With a wave of her scepter, a powerful barrier shed into existence around her.


    ¡°My name is Dana Jafer. By order of the Keeper, it¡¯s time for all of you to die.¡± She lifted up that scepter again, and a massive spell diagram began forming. Its range seemed to cover the entire town, and waspleted at a much faster pace than the mirror that the Keeper himself had used.


    ¡°Evac, now!¡± Grayson shouted, but his order was not even needed. Fleece had already begun her preparation, the energies of the spatial warp gathering around the army. They could fight back against the spirits of hell, they could fight back against the small girl even. But if they allowed a spell of that magnitude to fire, they might not be able to resist it.


    As such, Fleece pushed herself to her limits to pull them out of the battlefield even before identifying the nature of the spell that Dana wished to hit them with. In the time she would have taken to do so, the spell could have alreadyunched.


    Thankfully, she seemed to make it in time, as nobody was left behind when the spell triggered. Though, there was no column of fire, no blinding light of destruction. The massive spell summoned rain that fell over the city, while the spirits of hell retreated into their portal.


    Meanwhile, there was a robed mage among the army, a man who did not notice a pale blue rock that had been quietly slipped into his pocket during the chaos. A rock that caused a small patch of dampness to emerge in the dark blue robe.

 Chapter 527: I Want to Play a Game

    <h4>Chapter 527: I Want to y a Game</h4>


    I watched the scene of the invaders fleeing from nearby, my figure hidden within an illusion. Slipping into their rank in this state and tucking a stone into an unsuspecting caster¡¯s robe had been simple. As for whether or not they discovered that Dana¡¯s rain spell was simply a scare tactic, that didn¡¯t matter.


    Raindrops pelted me from above as I retrieved the storage card that Dana made me. From inside, I pulled another tidestone out. These pieces were leftover from when I was setting up my Fyor countermeasure, to ensure that I would be able to travel between the floors even if a crystal pir were destroyed.


    I hadn¡¯t expected to need to use it in this manner, but I was not going toin at the option to do so. Tsubaki. Tell nk to interfere with their systems as much as he safely can, but pull out if things get dangerous. Then, grab Scarlet and yourself, ande to my location. It¡¯s time for the final battle.


    However, the voice that responded was not Tsubaki¡¯s, but Leowynn¡¯s. Does that mean that I will be able to help you, as well? There was a touch of excitement to her tone which caused the corners of my mouth to rise slightly.


    Of course, Leowynn. I won¡¯t hold you back this time. Even if I was going in with the element of surprise, I needed all the help that I could get in order to sessfully dismantle this invasion force.


    But first¡­ I triggered my world sight, sending it into the tidestone in my hand. From there, I quickly found the fragment which I had ¡®gifted¡¯ to the invaders, allowing my vision to enter their base.


    ¡°What was that thing?¡± I heard someone calling out, appearing somewhat anxious. A warrior, judging by his armor, though his exact ss was unknown.


    The knight which had led their earlier march stepped forward and raised a hand to calm everyone down. ¡°If the name she gave us is true¡­ she should be a spirit. Something of a legend in this dungeon. An elven girl that was turned into a summon by her father postmortem, and then tried to do the same thing to him.¡±


    There was a stir amongst the crowd as they listened to the man speak. ¡°It¡¯s unclear when she began working for the Keeper, but there have been a few sightings of her in recent years. However, given her nature, she is able to easily change her appearance, so I wasn¡¯t able to properly recognize her. The failure this time lies with me.¡±


    He lowered his head in apology, clearly thinking about the two people that Dana killed earlier. I didn¡¯t bother with him, however. I didn¡¯t just want this base. My world sight swept through thepound, and I noticed that there was nothing beyond its walls. A dimensional building set up within the infinite void.


    Within this base was everything that they would need to survive. Water, food, and air were all imported either through magic or devices that I couldn¡¯t understand. They had hundreds of bedrooms, enough to fit everyone, along with training areas and recreation rooms.


    And of course, the one that I was really looking for, their teleport room. Arge, rectangr hallway lined with circr structures. In front of each one was an image of whaty beyond the teleporter, as well as a writtenbel. These were their warp points into the world, and I could easily identify the one that they used to get here.


    My sight swept over these portals, until I found the one at the very end. The picture it disyed was quite simr to the room I was currently looking at, and it wasbeled ¡®Site Four¡¯.


    Immediately, I swept my world sight over this machine, looking for any trace that could be used to slip into the next base. What I found gave me a pleasant surprise. Deep inside the teleporter, there was a small, dimensional spark of a portal that was being maintained. When my sight slipped through that little spark, I found myself in the next base.


    Itsyout was identical to the first one I found, so I repeated this action. Again, and again. There were a total of thirty-six bases, and I did not stop until I had reached thest one. Only then did I withdraw my world sight, and see that everyone was prepared around me. Leowynn stood in full battle armor, Tsubaki and Dana standing side by side in their maid uniforms. Finally, Scarlet leveled a fierce re as she wore her red dress, clearly ready to unleash her wrath.


    ¡°Everyone, remember to prioritize your safety.¡± I assured the girls with a gentle tone. ¡°If it bes too dangerous, fall back to my position, and I¡¯ll get you out. I don¡¯t want to lose any of you.¡±


    The group before me nodded at my words, and so I focused, activating my ability to shift us through space. Now that I had personally ¡®visited¡¯ each of their bases, there was nowhere left for them to hide.


    ¡°Grayson, we got a problem over here!¡± Someone¡¯s voice called out to the guild leader, just as he was preparing to take off his armor after the battle. With a grumbling sigh, he walked over, finding one of his mages sitting at aputer terminal.


    ¡°What is it, Regis? Did they find a way to cut our signal?¡± It wouldn¡¯t be the first time that a dimensional signal had been interfered with, though they learned from their mistakes each time. Theirwork was strengthened through the use of multiple spells to lessen the risk of such a thing. And thankfully, each base had its ownwork to iste any information that could be leaked.


    ¡°No, sir. From what I can tell¡­ we¡¯ve got a virus.¡± He looked at hisputer, the screen flickering. There was confusion in his tone, which was normal given the circumstances. It shouldn¡¯t be possible to have a virus on their terminals, not in this world. The level of theirwork defenses should have been too high for anything to get through.


    ¡°Iste the system and sweep it.¡± Grayson said, before the lights began to flicker. Soon, another voice spoke up towards him, one that he could not recognize.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, sir. I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t let you do that.¡± The voice was monotone, almost robotic as it spoke through the speakers. Before the mage could act, the lights had begun to flicker. ¡°You made it quite troublesome for me to find you. Just as I got to yourwork location, everyone was already leaving.¡±


    ¡°Thankfully, your systems all have a simr structure. As long as I waited, one of you would ess the inte again. Now that I¡¯m here¡­ I want to y a game.¡± The voice shifted, bing darker as it said thest line. Its voice was no longer set from this terminal, but instead from the speakers all across the base.


    ¡°For weeks, you¡¯ve been infiltrating our home, recing our people. You¡¯ve killed them in secret to step into their lives. Well, now it¡¯s my turn. I¡¯ve hacked into your system and reced one of your members. Right now, I¡¯m somewhere in your base. All of your systems will identify me as the person I have reced. How many people can I kill before you find me?¡±


    When the voice died down from the speakers, a deep tension filled the room. Grayson knew that what he said wasn¡¯t impossible. They had items specifically designed to copy certain energy frequencies that resonate with the system. It was how they prevented the status crystals in this dungeon from discovering the true names of those people that had been reced.


    At the same time¡­ they were able to freely look through the memories of the party that they impersonated through special techniques. If the voice wasn¡¯t lying, They would have no way of identifying the imposter before they made a move.


    ¡°One.¡± The voice spoke up through the speakers, after which a shrill scream echoed through the halls. Grayson turned and ran towards the source of the noise, finding one of their exorcists lying face-down on the ground. Blood had already begun to pool around him, and there was a de wound that pierced cleanly through his chest.


    ¡°Who found the body?!¡± Grayson roared out, looking around. They had to narrow down the suspects as quickly as possible. If this wasn¡¯t a bluff, and it didn¡¯t appear to be, there was no point in retreating to another base.


    ¡°I-I did!¡± A young priestess called out. Grayson let out a faint sigh of relief when he saw that it was not a sword-wielder that stepped forward. ¡°I was watching him¡­ he only left my sight for a second¡­ stepped around the corner¡­ I thought he was suspicious, so I was going to follow him. There was a silver de, a sh of light¡­ and then I heard him fall. By the time I got to him, I didn¡¯t see who did it!¡±


    Grayson furrowed his brow, starting to think. Silver de, and stealth. There were half a dozen people that matched that skillset in the guild. Of course, there was still the chance that the imposter had used their real skills, instead of simply copying what the ¡®host¡¯ knew.


    Thinking of that, he looked around. ¡°Did anyone have eyes on Trisha at the time of death?¡± Trisha was the name of the priestess that discovered the body. When she heard her name called, she tensed up, her eyes starting to water. She quickly began looking around, trying to find someone that would vouch for her.


    ¡°I did.¡± A young schr spoke up. ¡°She was standing near me before running off to follow him. She didn¡¯t leave my sight before screaming.¡±


    Trisha let out a relieved sigh, patting her chest. However, at the next moment, the voice from before spoke up again. ¡°Two.¡±


    This time, there was no scream, no sound to indicate where the kill had happened. The base wasrge, toorge to search as a group. But splitting up would make them weaker targets. If they were to move in groups of two, and the imposter was mixed in with one group, it would be giving them an easy kill.


    Grayson furrowed his brow, looking around before calling out over the guild chat. Everyone to the main hall. We¡¯ll split into groups of five to search the base. Be vignt, we don¡¯t know where the enemy is hiding.


    He knew that there was likely going to be some friendly fire here. Everyone¡¯s nerves were stretched so thin that the slightest suspicion might set them off. If they moved as one unified group, there would be no ce for the imposter to kill them. But if they did that, the base was simply toorge, and they might never be able to find the killer in the first ce.


    As such, he was forced to divide them into manageable groups. Small enough that they could cover more ground, but big enough that they could fight back. At the very least, there would be sounds of battle that would attract the other groups before it was toote.


    From within their security system, nk simply watched the group with an amused smile. Naturally, he had no way to do any of the things that he imed to. He had not impersonated anyone. All he did was wait for someone to enter a ¡®blind spot¡¯, where nobody was seeing them, and then personally manifest at that location to take them by surprise.


    That, coupled with the ¡®game¡¯ he mentioned, was more than enough to put the guild into a panic. In fact, he had never even killed a second victim, something that he was sure that they would discover after everyone had gathered and taken a headcount. By calling out that there was a second kill after establishing the ¡®truth¡¯ of the game, he could make it appear that there were actually multiple hidden killers.


    ¡°Now, how will they fare when they don¡¯t know who they can trust?¡± nk asked in an amused tone, unsure how long it would take the Keeper before he arrived.

 Chapter 528: Fortifications

    <h4>Chapter 528: Fortifications</h4>


    Grayson could only wait for the rest of his people to assemble in the main hall. As he did so, he ran a quick headcount through both the guild menu and the people he could see. The mysterious voice had announced a second kill, so he wanted to see who was missing. At the same time, he discretely ordered three of his best script mages to try to devise a spell that would let them regain control of theirwork.


    If they did not chase out whatever digital entity had invaded theirputer system, it was only a matter of time before said entity gained ess to the base¡¯s defenses. Or worse, simply set the base to self-destruct while disabling the teleporters. Thankfully, there was a manual override for the self-destruct, so that was not as much of a problem, so long as the defenses did not fall as well.


    After roughly five minutes, everyone had been gathered. Grayson¡¯s brows furrowed as he double-checked his counting, not finding anyone missing. Was the second kill a bluff to catch us off-guard? Or¡­ is there a second killer hidden among them?


    Once one epted the fact that it was possible for their members to be impersonated, it made little difference whether there was one person with this ability or two. Grayson clutched his fists, his eyes ncing towards his inventory, and the secret weapon within. This was something that he had kept secret even from his own guild, ready to spring as a surprise during a decisive moment. However, after learning more about this world, he had be more reluctant to use this item.


    Just as he was thinking about that, he felt a wave of pressure spread throughout the base. His eyes went wide, turning towards the hallway. He wasn¡¯t the only one, as the rest of the guild felt that pressure as well. A momentter, they heard the discharge of their turrets actively working to defend the base.


    ¡°Everyone, battle mode, now!¡± Grayson called out in an urgent tone, going through his inventory to equip anti-divinity, anti-spirit, and anti-magic gear. However, as soon as someone began to move towards the hallway, a steel door mmed shut. And then another in a different hallway, and another, until the main hall waspletely isted.


    These doors, designed to entrap enemies and funnel them in the event that the base was breached, were now being turned against them. Worse yet, there was a resounding crash in the distance as one of their turrets were destroyed.


    The guild leader grit his teeth, waving a hand. ¡°Disy battlefield.¡± This time, the battlefield which was disyed before him was his own base, rather than a group ofs. He could see five enemies positioned in their teleport bay. Zooming in, he could even identify most of them. Scarlet, the Keeper, the elven girl from before, and Tsubaki were all people he was familiar with on some level.


    The only one that he was unfamiliar with was the elven girl with silver hair, wearing a full suit of armor. However, as he was thinking about her identity, he saw a silver gateway opening behind Dana. And, once it was opened, more enemies began to step into the base.


    Without a doubt, this was the same type of portal that they had already seen in their previous conflict. And given that, it appeared that they were getting ready for the final battle. With the enemy in the teleport bay, we can¡¯t escape to the next base. If Fleece sends us randomly outside, we¡¯ll be scattered and vulnerable. And that¡¯s assuming she has enough energy potions to take care of all of us.


    We need a killbox, somewhere that we can funnel them in and take care of them with our advantage in numbers. Grayson studied the base map as he considered where to best ce this killbox. Due to the possibility of the base defenses soon being taken over, it couldn¡¯t be somewhere heavily defended with turrets.


    At the same time, though, it had to be able to provide them with ample cover. When he considered the requirements, his eyes focused on one room in particr, the dining hall. ¡°Warriors, bust down the western door!¡±


    As he said that, he pointed towards the door in question. There was a moment of confusion, as he was pointing decidedly away from the sounds of battle. Yet, once they came to their senses, these warriors did just that. Hammers and swords crashed against the reinforced door, slowly whittling away its durability.


    At the quickest route, we have to break down three more doors before we reach the dining hall¡­ if the digital entity cooperates with the Keeper, they won¡¯t have any trouble getting through the doors. So, we need toy traps to dy them¡­


    ¡°Everyone, along the western wall! Mages, fill the room with trap spells! Do not coordinate or give any indication of where you are setting the traps or what type they are! Be as chaotic as possible!¡±


    At this point, there was no need to concern themselves with the possibility of a traitor among them. Everyone was together, so if one person attacked the group, they would earn the immediate attention of the rest of the guild. Instead, it was important to leave as little information as possible for the digital entity to send back to the Keeper.


    Soon, the door began to give way, the warriors cleaving out a gap big enough for three people to walk through at a time. Seeing this, Grayson let out a small sigh before issuing his next order. ¡°Lightning mages, lead the way! Prepare to destroy any turrets that turn on us, but only if they start to charge! Everyone else, follow them! Continueying traps behind us as we move!¡±


    I stood within the teleporter room, watching as Dana sent out one hellspawn after another. There was an unusually cold expression on her face as shemanded them to advance. In the distance, I could hear them fighting with the base¡¯s defenses, and knew that they were little more than cannon fodder in this battle.


    ¡°Keeper, I have a report.¡± nk¡¯s voice could be heard emerging from the speakers nearby. ¡°The enemy party is retreating to an advantageous position, and scattering traps to dy you along the way.¡± I could tell that there was something else nk wanted to mention, but he was holding himself back from saying it.


    I could easily find out what that waster. For now, it was more important to take care of the problems at hand. ¡°We¡¯ll let the spirits rush ahead to handle the traps and defenses. Once we encounter the enemy, you should retreat to the main world. Dana, can you bring the portal with us?¡±


    Dana turned to look at me, nodding her head. With that, the five of us began to advance, making sure to not be in the way of the steady stream of spirits. It would seem that their base defenses are actually fairly impressive, as it took on average ten of Dana¡¯s troops to destroy a single turret.


    ¡°My Keeper, I ask that you allow us to handle the fighting here.¡± Tsubaki said in a respectful tone while walking alongside me. ¡°As you said, we can retreat to your position if we are facing danger, but that is only in the event that you yourself are not too busy to protect us. Furthermore, your safety is-.¡±


    I cut her off by raising a hand, shaking my head. ¡°I¡¯ll stay at the rear and provide support fire.¡± I knew what she wanted to say. If anything were to happen to me, this entire battle would be pointless. However, I couldn¡¯t just sit out of it, either. The Keeper was both the greatest strength of a world as well as its greatest weakness.


    Tsubaki smiled, nodding her head at my answer. A bit of tension seemed to leave her body, knowing that I wasn¡¯t going to put myself in needless danger. That thought, however, was cut off by the sounds of numerous explosions in the distance.


    My lips curled as I guessed what that meant. Dana¡¯s army had found the traps. I nced around thoughtfully as we continued advancing, taking note of the busted turrets protruding from the walls and ceilings with scraps of metal hanging off of them. Once the invasion was over, I was definitely going to have Ashley and Tubrock look through these bases. We might even be able to salvage some new technology.


    Soon, we reached the main hall, and I saw the torn gate on the far side. It was only now that I noticed that those gates had been closed in the first ce, as nk had no doubt been opening them for us long before it became an issue. ¡°Have they reached their destination yet, nk?¡±


    ¡°They have just arrived at what appears to be a cafeteria. The spiritual forces are close to their position, and they are currently attempting to fortify themselves. Shall I take my leave, then?¡±


    I nodded in response. If they were going to the cafeteria, then I already knew my way from when I scanned the base previously. nk would no longer be able to provide significant support, and would only be in danger if they managed to figure out how to target him. As such, it was better to let him go back first.


    As I was thinking that, I felt something¡­ rather surprising. A surge of divine energy from up ahead. This wasn¡¯t the power of their priestess, I was sure of that. This surge of energy felt closer to someone ascending to divinity for the first time. An idea that was apanied by an echoing voice.


    ¡°I pledge myself to conquer!¡± This was without a doubt the voice of their leader, the one that had been at the front of their march earlier. Had he been waiting for the right moment to ascend? More importantly¡­ did their ascension method not require the heart-wrenching pain of remolding their body and soul?


    I suddenly felt the urge to beat someone up, if that were the case¡­ though, I can¡¯t imagine it being so without other restrictions being forced on them. Either way, it was clear now that we would be dealing with two gods instead of just one. And one of them would be something akin to a God of Conquest.


    ¡°Not good.¡± Dana¡¯s face scrunched up in annoyance, causing me to look over towards her in surprise. ¡°My soldiers are being taken over by another power, and are fighting each other.¡± Without hesitation, she cut off the portal following behind us as the wave of divinity fell on us once again.


    Those spirits that Dana had brought over, which had previously been charging forward to fight the enemy, suddenly turned and began charging at us instead. For a moment, I myself felt an unnaturally violent impulse, before it was purged by my own divinity. Looking at the group that hade with me, I let out a silent sigh of relief.


    Tsubaki and I were both gods, able to naturally resist thispulsion. Likewise, Dana and Leowynn are bound to our spirits, and share a measure of divinity that can protect them. And finally, the one that I was briefly worried about most, Scarlet. It was only after I saw her calm expression that I realized she had protection as well, due to her status as a demigoddess.


    Thankfully I didn¡¯t bring Thelsa or anyone else, or they might have already turned on us¡­ I muttered to myself as Dana stepped forward, a furious expression on her face.


    ¡°Those are mine.¡± She growled out, silver mist spreading out from her body. A bestial roar echoed from her small frame, before the mist spread out to attach itself to the charging spirits. Those spirits caught in the mist let out pitiful screams, before their bodies were suddenly shattered.


    Note to self, don¡¯t piss off the tiny elf. She can get scary when she wants to.

 Chapter 529: Bloodlust

    <h4>Chapter 529: Bloodlust</h4>


    Awakening his prestige felt¡­ it felt good. Good enough that Grayson had almost lost himself in the euphoric pleasure washing over him. However, he knew that he did not have the freedom to indulge, and kept his mind steady as he waited out the process.


    Prestige Title - ¡®Conquest¡¯ unlocked!


    As soon as the message appeared in front of his eyes, he immediately opened his skill tree. Simr to spells, prestige abilities had their own special currency, prestige coins. Normally, you could only start earning those coins after your prestige title was unlocked, but he had traded to get arge number of them in secret before the invasion. All in order to prepare for this moment.


    His eyes scanned over his new skill options, looking for anything that could help him in this fight. He had chosen his title carefully, and had done so long before entering the dungeon. As such, he had high expectations for what he could find.


    And sure enough, his eyes fell on one particr skill at the base of his tree. ¡®The Path of Conquest¡¯, an ability which allowed him to dominate the minds of lesser opponents. He didn¡¯t know if that meant strength, level, or simply energy quality, but these spirits charging at his men should qualify.


    This skill had ten levels, each of which would increase its range, duration, as well as grant buffs to affected individuals. Ten levels, with each costing more than thest, was quite a heavy expenditure, but he didn¡¯t hesitate. Over half of his prestige coins vanished in an instant.


    However, that was enough. He leveled a fierce gaze at the approaching spirits. His men were firing arrows and spells at them from a distance, keeping them at bay. Yet, they were constantlying closer, using their own people as living shields. As if there were some horrific entity behind them spurring them into action.


    With a thought, he activated his new skill, pushing it to its limits. There was a strange pulse of power that spread out from his body. Although this power did nothing to the men and women of his guild, it showed an immediate effect when it touched the spirit monsters. Their bodies stopped charging, starting to swell with increased energy.


    Under the dumbfounded gazes of the guild, they turned around and calmly left the dining hall. Even when a dyed spellnded on one of the creatures and wounded it, it paid no mind to its attacker. Under Grayson¡¯s control, these spirits only had one goal, which was to fight the Keeper¡¯s forces.


    ¡°Okay, that should buy us some time.¡± He muttered to himself. ¡°Fleece, start preparing your domain. Everyone else, take a moment to recover.¡±


    Inwardly, Grayson was cursing the developer of this dungeon. At first, everything was going fine. They entered the dungeon, integrated themselves with the poption, but as soon as the properbat started, the Keeper was all over them. Maybe this dungeon was meant to be conquered through deeper infiltration tactics.


    Hemented his choices so far. There was no time limit for the dungeon run, even if it took years toplete. ording to the rules, it was even possible to have the run spanning multiple generations Unfortunately, his guild was ill-suited for such a long term dungeon. Thest time that they had hit a wild dungeon like this was before the release of prestige titles.


    Maybe that had something to do with it? He shook his head. Even if the difficulty scaled up with the avable resources to the yers, knowing that wouldn¡¯t help them at this point.


    While everyone else was recovering from the brief siege, Grayson took another careful look at his skill tree. There was another skill that had caught his eye after he finished leveling up ¡®The Path of Conquest¡¯. This skill, aptly named ¡®Army Empowerment¡¯, allowed him to strengthen the abilities of those under hismand.


    Grayson knew that he wasn¡¯t a particrly skilled fighter. Even with his prestige title, there were dozens of warriors within the guild able to defeat him in singlebat. His specialty was inmanding an army, mobilizing them and allowing them to exert power far beyond the norm. That was what it meant to be an Overlord, to stand above all others.


    It was finally here. The chance that Leowynn had been hoping for. Her longsword shined with a golden radiance as she cut apart one of Dana¡¯s soldiers. She was finally going to be able to fight a true battle alongside her father.


    Previously, the most that they had done was training together, or a fight where they had to hold back in order to not show their full power. This was the first time in her memory that she was able to truly fight together with her father, their lives on the line. She could be his shield and his sword.


    Out of the corner of her eyes, she caught the faint expression of excitement that shed across Tsubaki¡¯s face, and knew that the kitsune was having simr thoughts. Both of them had participated in countless struggles on the edge of life and death in their past, but neither of them had had the chance to do so in recent time.


    Leowynn and Tsubaki seemed to dance together through the halls, their backs asionally pressing together as they killed their way through the spirits. They knew that they could simply wait near her father, and allow Dana or Scarlet to kill them as they approached, but this was their warm up for theing battle. Whatever spirits slipped through, they would let the others have.


    Leowynn gave a wide grin as she stepped forward. There was a panther covered in silver scales, its tail a sharp spike. When it lunged, she felt a faint pressure against her back from Tsubaki stepping into her again.


    With augh, her body turned, allowing Tsubaki to twist and intercept this panther. Meanwhile, Leowynn¡¯s own sword swiped out with tacit understanding towards the frail-looking humanoid without a face that Tsubaki had been up against.


    Unfortunately, their battle was cut short when the wave of spirits reached its end. Dana was the summoner of these monsters, not their enemy, so once their forces were depleted there would be no more backup.


    ¡°You two battle maniacs had enough fun?¡± Dana asked, a knowing grin on her face.


    However, at that time, it was Scarlet that unexpectedly spoke up with a troubled expression. ¡°We should advance cautiously. I can sense that the ki of the other party has suddenly spiked. Most likely, they are preparing for their final confrontation.¡±


    Hearing that only made Leowynn more excited. Her strength was just as high as her father¡¯s due to the special link between their souls. If the enemy was indeed growing more powerful, that would make it a more fulfilling fight.


    Tsubaki, on the other hand, was more adept at controlling her expression. She offered a faint nod towards Scarlet, thanking her for the warning. However, when she turned and began walking again, Leowynn couldn¡¯t help but notice how her body shifted to stand more protectively in front of her father.


    With a small smile, Leowynn led their advance this time. From their position, it was only a matter of time before they arrived at the crumpled steel door of the cafeteria. When that happened, she did not immediately step out, because doing so would simply make her the target of countless attacks.


    Instead, she turned towards the others, offering a faint nod. Tsubaki returned it with one of her own, holding up her hands. Between her palms, an orb of white light appeared.


    Tsubaki held this orb gingerly for a moment, before aiming at the door of the cafeteria. With a light push, it shot forward at a breathtaking speed. Once in therge room, it burst into a blinding radiance.


    Leowynn didn¡¯t miss this opening, nor did any of the others. She closed her eyes and charged into the room, more than capable of fighting blind. Her sword swept out towards the nearest hostile presence, and she could feel the heavy impact as it collided with a shield.


    However, something about the situation felt almost¡­ wrong. The air of their battlefield itself felt off. She withdrew her sword, changing it into a pair of metal bracers that stuck to her arms.


    When the light passed, and Leowynn opened her eyes, she was finally able to tell what disturbed her so. The golden glow of her weapon had vanished, returning it to a pure silver. She did not have the time to figure out what that meant, as an arrow flew towards her.


    The arrow seemed to contain an icy light, and gave Leowynn a faint sense of danger. She did not dare to block it directly, and stepped aside to avoid it. However, this arrow vanished even before it would have hit her normally.


    Leowynn had seen this move before, and kicked the ground with all her strength to propel herself into the air. As soon as she did so, she saw the arrow exiting a small portal, striking where she had only just been standing.


    While she was airborne, Leowynn had the brief chance to observe the rest of the battlefield. Scarlet was running rampant, an armor of bloody light wrapping around her. In one moment, she was a monster ripping apart a warrior with crimson ws. In the next, she had be a red mist to evade the ranged attacks that had beenunched her way.


    Dana wasn¡¯t any worse off. She walked through the battlefield like a specter, her form ethereal. Her hands had elongated, forming dagger-like ws that struck out at anyone who came close. And, of course, she made sure that she was always close to someone, to prevent the enemy from being able to use anyrge attacks against her.


    Tsubaki¡­ Leowynn was shocked when she saw Tsubaki¡¯s seemingly desperate state. She wasn¡¯t fighting with any of her divine abilities. She wasn¡¯t firing off beams from her tails to pierce her foes. Instead, numerous wounds had been cut open on her body in the brief moment ofbat, and she was forced to pull out a pair of silver daggers.


    Tsubaki was the one who should have been the most effective in this attack, aside from maybe Leowynn herself, and yet she was the one suffering? Leowynn didn¡¯t have the time to process this change as she saw six spears of ice flying at her.


    She condensed a small tform beneath her feet, and kicked off of it again tounch herself forward. Leowynn had an idea now as to what was wrong, and it was no doubt the same reason that her father had not been offering any suppressive fire from the rear.


    Somehow, the enemy was able to stop their divine abilities. Her weapons had always been imbued with the divinity she shared with her father, empowering them far beyond normal. The loss of that golden glow showed that she was unable to tap into that power anymore.


    Her figure shed, stepping in front of one of the mages. The man was startled at her sudden appearance, stumbling back briefly as she observed him. Not this one¡­ After giving him a quick look over, she threw out a punch that caused his head to burst open. If she wanted to relieve the pressure from Tsubaki, she had to identify who was causing this suppressive field.

 Chapter 530: What is a Keeper?

    <h4>Chapter 530: What is a Keeper?</h4>


    Leowynn dashed through the room, her brows furrowed. Something felt off to the elven spirit. Despite the fact that she was killing the enemies, it did not feel as if they were truly trying to stop her. Sure, they would fire targeted spells at her, such as icences or lightning bolts. However, at what point should they ept one or two people as sacrifices to kill an enemy in their midst?


    Even on Dana¡¯s side, there were still those enemies who would userger spells in an attempt to stop her. She quickly slipped away from the more obvious ones, but couldn¡¯t avoid being injured by more concealed spells.


    Furthermore, there were hundreds of enemies, so why were only two or three targeting her at a time? Are they leading me? The thought did cross her mind for a moment, and she immediately shifted gears. Rather than attacking one of the archers that had fired a seeking arrow at her, she turned and ran a different direction.


    Leowynn knew that she was undoubtedly the fighter with the most raw strength in this chaotic brawl. Even if Scarlet¡¯s techniques were more shy, and Dana¡¯s more insidious, she should have been drawing a lot of fire. A thought which was almost confirmed when she stepped into Tsubaki¡¯s battle, joining the kitsune.


    Within moments, the pressure that Tsubaki felt was lessened considerably. Not because Leowynn was sharing the burden, but because people simply stopped firing their more dangerous spells in their direction. Something¡¯s wrong. Leowynn mentallymunicated towards Tsubaki, alerting the other in secret. They don¡¯t seem truly intent on fighting me¡­


    Perhaps they are. Tsubaki responded quickly, taking a moment to catch her breath and recover from her injuries. Use a burst attack around yourself. Perhaps there is something concealed from our senses that they don¡¯t want to risk hurting?


    Leowynn thought it over for a moment, and it made sense. If there was truly something hiding in her vicinity like that, then the enemy¡¯s reluctance to engage her in massbat could make sense. But, what would be so important that it would stop them to this degree, and why would it be tailing her?


    Leowynn dove into a group of warriors, performing a quick spin while des extended from her body in every direction. There were screams of pain as some of those des slipped through the cracks of their armor, while others broke off harmlessly. However, she was keeping her senses focused, attached to each de in order to look for one that seemingly broke for no reason.


    Yet¡­ all of the des that made contact did so against one of her visible targets. There did not seem to be an enemy that was simply evading her senses. Just as that thought crossed her mind, Leowynn felt a sharp pain in her back. She tried to mobilize her energy, but found it no longer moving under her control.


    ¡°I suppose that means you noticed.¡± A feminine voice whispered into her ear, and Leowyn¡¯s eyes went wide. The soft tone was one that she had heard before, from her father¡¯s mirrors. The priestess that held the ss Chaos Space, Fleece.


    ¡°Sorry, but I¡¯m going to have to ask you to exit the stage.¡± Pain flooded Leowynn¡¯s senses as a corrosive energy entered her body through the hand piercing her back. ¡°You have a trace of the Keeper¡¯s strength. Let¡¯s see what we can do with that.¡±


    Father! Leowynn grew more determined when she heard that, her mind struggling through the pain. She could feel the energy searching her, wreaking havoc as it scanned across her. She knew what it was looking for, the link between herself and her father.


    This was not an energy that she had encountered before, but Leowynn was able to make a judgement on its power. This was an energy that existed only to destroy other energies. If it found the link between them, and traced it back to her father¡­


    She could not allow that to happen. Her face grew calm, her head turning to regard the priestess that had attacked her from behind. She did not appear to be a kitsune now, but rather a human girl with short, ck hair. Her eyes were like deep, ck pits that went on forever.


    So this is the power of the enemy¡¯s god¡­ Leowynn forced her body to shift, only able to do this one thing. She couldn¡¯t escape Fleece¡¯s attack, or mobilize her energy into a counter. But, she could shift her own body to a certain degree, and did so to fully face Fleece.


    Under the surprised gaze of the enemy goddess, Leowynn wrapped her arms around her in a tight embrace. Even as her skin began to cken, her hair crumbling to ash, she did not let go. ¡°I¡¯ll have to ask you to join me, then.¡± She muttered to herself, and the enemy¡¯s eyes went wide.


    Leowynn couldn¡¯t muster her energy tounch an attack, but she could burn it. Burn it all. She thought to herself, igniting the core of her spirit. The pain flooding her body became stronger by several magnitudes, the corrosive energy thriving off of the amplified power. She didn¡¯t know why nobody hade to pry the woman off of her, but the fact that they didn¡¯t meant that she no longer had an alternative.


    My eyes swept over the battlefield, trying to identify the power which was suppressing Leowynn and Tsubaki. Unfortunately, I could only do so in the visible spectrum. When I focused on looking for either magic or ki, I was almost blinded by the sheer amount of such energies being thrown around rampantly.


    Yet, when I tried to gaze into the divine spectrum, thinking that this might be the work of an enemy deity, I was met with an altogether different experience. My vision had turnedpletely ck, as if it was cut off the very moment it entered the room.


    When the battle began, I tried to send in some of my mirrors to help Tsubaki, only to find that they would dissolve the moment they passed a certain threshold. The same happened whenever I used Tsubaki¡¯s own Light domain to fire destructive sts of energy. Although they were able to maintain their shape briefly, they would ultimately fizzle out before reaching an enemy.


    Like this, my ability to grasp the field of battle became far more limited than I would like. A part of me thought about stepping in to enter the fray myself, but I was quick to notice the eyes trained on me. Nearly two hundred ranged attackers, judging by the weapons they held. None of them wereunching attacks yet, but I could tell that they were waiting.


    If they attacked, they would be drawing me into the fight on their own initiative. However, if I took any kind of hostile action, they would immediately fire their biggest skills at me. That alone wasn¡¯t enough to make me pause. Rather, it was the fact that, as long as I did nothing, those two hundred specialized attackers would keep staring at me, and ignore the others. Like this, I was able to upy over a fifth of the remaining enemy troops by myself.


    As that thought crossed my mind, I suddenly doubled over in pain, clutching my chest. Something was hurting, from the very depths of my soul, almost as if it was breaking apart. My eyes lifted in a panic, searching the battlefield. However, the first thing I saw was the number of spells already arriving at my position.


    These weren¡¯t attack spells, but rather bindings. My energy became sluggish, chains forming over my body. Finally, when those spells had allnded, I saw Leowynn. I saw her hugging a girl with ck hair. I saw her skin starting to cken, and I saw her look in my direction with a weak smile.


    ¡°Leowynn!¡± I called out in a panicked, enraged tone, before she vanished from my sight together with the girl. The moment she did so, something snapped. A part of my soul broke off and vanished. I didn¡¯t need to look at my health to know that I had lost half of my life. The half of my soul which had contained my daughter.


    Why¡­ the word filled my mind as I stared at the empty space where Leowynn had been standing. Why did I let her fight on her own? Why wasn¡¯t I there to stop her? To save her?


    My mind almost shut down when I saw the ck-haired girl appearing again, though she had lost one of her hands. A relieved expression appeared on her face, and my vision went red.


    ¡°Leowynn!¡± The pained voice filled the battlefield, briefly stopping any of the conflict. Tsubaki turned her head in horror, having been the closest to Leowynn at the time. Now, she was unable to locate the elven spirit.


    What have they done¡­ She thought to herself, retreating back a step. Suddenly, a pulse of power filled the room, causing those less deft on their feet to stumble. The sounds of surprised gasps and shattering ss echoed from the entrance as the Keeper stood.


    His face was calm, yet there were tears dripping from his eyes. When he stepped forward, the sound of his step seemed to echo throughout the room. This wasn¡¯t an illusion created by the sudden stillness of the battlefield, but some effect caused by the Keeper himself.


    ¡°Dana. Tsubaki. Scarlet¡­ leave.¡± His tone wasmanding, and Tsubaki wanted to disobey it. She wanted to fight by his side, and stand with him. ¡°Leave¡­ and make sure nobody else leaves this room.¡±


    She seemed to understand something, her eyes going wide. Without a word, she turned and ran for the door, scooping Dana up to carry her as she did so. ¡°Hey, wait! I want to fight with him!¡± Dana called out, neither of them being stopped as they left. The enemies seemed frozen in ce, their shoulders trembling as they struggled to move.


    ¡°We¡¯ll only get in his way now.¡± She whispered to Dana, seeing Scarlet leave with a simr understanding.


    What is a Keeper? What makes them stand above everyone in their world? This was something that Terra taught me back when I had only just gotten the title. A Keeper is the guardian and the guide. They are the strongest, for they possess every greatest strength of their world.


    At the time, this strength meant levels. It meant that if there was a level fifty mage, I would always be at least a level fifty mage. But what does that mean,ter on? When strength is no longer merely levels and sses? What strength do I gain now?


    I¡¯ve been fighting as a mage, a monk, and even a god. But that¡¯s not what I am¡­


    I¡¯m a Keeper.


    ¡°Stand with me.¡± I muttered to myself, and broke off a small part of my energy to form an avatar. The field suppressing divinity in this room was preventing it from escaping past the user¡¯s body. That¡¯s why Tsubaki couldn¡¯tunch any of her attacks. Leowynn couldn¡¯t channel it because her divinity came from me.


    As my avatar broke off, my main body shifted. My hair grew longer and red, my figure lithe. Soon, my main body had transformed into a red-headed elf with slender features. This was not the power of my mirrored self.


    ¡°My child, you have atst called for-¡± Ryone hesitated after saying that much, opening her eyes to look at me. ¡°You¡¯re not Jonas.¡± This was the true power of the Keeper. When men rise to be gods, what strength is left to gain from them, if not their domain?


    I didn¡¯t say anything, and watched as Ryone swept her gaze across the battlefield. ¡°Dale¡­ what¡¯s wrong?¡± I had summoned her through the power of Jonas¡¯s Community domain, so she could feel the disturbance, the pain in my energy.


    ¡°Dale¡­¡± Ryone seemed to notice something, her eyes on me. My ki was no longer suppressing the bodies of the invaders, yet they still didn¡¯t move. There was an altogether different type of pressure now. One that radiated a deadly chill. ¡°Where¡¯s Leowynn? Where¡¯s our daughter?¡±


    My gaze shook at the question, and her eyes narrowed, having gotten her answer. ¡°I see¡­ thank you for calling me. We¡¯ll bring her backter.¡± At her words, I saw a faint bit of hope. That was right, I could still bring her back in the Admin Room, as I had done with Ashley. ¡°For now¡­¡±


    Ryone turned to face the invaders. ¡°An anti-divinity field. No¡­ something more dangerous. You¡¯re not suppressing divinity, you¡¯re countering it.¡± There was a look of understanding on Ryone¡¯s face as she thought of that. ¡°I see¡­ a fallen priest.¡±


    This was a ss that existed in my world, but it was one that I had never personally trained. After all, of all the sses, there were two which had consistently remained in the lower levels. These were the Fallen Priest and the ck Knight. I had never looked into the specifics of their abilities, because the fact that they were so unpopr made me believe that they were ¡®failures¡¯.


    This was where the Community showed a stronger effect than my Mirror when it came to transforming into another. Community replicates their entire being at the moment youst knew them, meaning thest time I saw Ryone. Meanwhile, my Mirror domain only adjusts my own thought processes and powers to match the person I¡¯m copying.


    I might not know what a fallen priest could do, but Ryone did. More importantly, she should know how to counter it. ¡°Sorry, dear.¡± She turned her head to smile at me, seeming to sense my thoughts. ¡°Even a god can¡¯t counter this, despite knowing what it is. This fallen priest has locked onto divinity. So, since divinity cannot enter this space¡­ shall we fight with something else?¡±


    Ryone turned back to face the invaders, and they suddenly fought through the pressure that had been keeping them in ce. Now they were being targeted, and their instincts kicked in again. Spells and arrows flew towards us en masse while Ryone lifted her hand. ¡°Stop.¡±


    The runic word flowed from her lips fluently, and every attack flying our way froze in midair. Under the shocked gaze of the ck-haired girl, Ryone simply smiled. ¡°You are only stopping divinity from spreading through the air. You are far too young, child.¡±


    Ryone¡¯s Magic domain allowed her to use an almost unlimited amount of mana. I had once seen her stop a massive tsunami with nothing but an array of first-tier spells. I see¡­ her divinity is being suppressed, but her mana isn¡¯t. She¡¯s simply using her domain within herself to generate mana, like how I used Jonas¡¯s to summon her.


    Ryone snapped her fingers, and a spell diagram shed into existence around Fleece. This was a fourth level spell, and Ryone had formed it instantly. By the time that the other party had a chance to react, Fleece had already vanished.


    While Ryone was dealing with her, the melee attackers came charging in. Since spells and arrows failed, they decided to settle this with fists and des. At the same time, I quicklymunicated to Ryone what I had learned about this guild, including Fleece¡¯s ability to transport herself through space.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. I used a spatial lock. If she wants to break my spell, she¡¯ll need to use her chaos to shatter it, which will buy us some time.¡± Ryone smiled, seemingly paying no mind to the army charging at her. ¡°For now¡­ I think it¡¯s only fair we invite the others.¡±


    I felt my consciousness rising in my main body again, Ryone slipping out and granting me renewed control. Now, the army wasn¡¯t charging at her, but me. Thankfully, I knew what she had in mind. ¡°Stand with me.¡± I muttered again, and there was a burst of power. This time, I was not calling someone to possess my body, I was calling them to join me.


    ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± ¡°Someone called me?¡± Startled voices spoke up in front of me. Who else would my Community be, but the gods and goddesses of the Admin Room?


    ¡°No time to chat, everyone!¡± Ryone pped her hands, getting their attention. ¡°Fight first!¡±


    As soon as her words fell, the enemy was upon them. Keliope was the first to react, the ursa goddess catching a falling hammer on her palm and rotating her arm to parry it. ¡°Well, this is new!¡± She called out with augh, bringing her knee up to meet the man who had attacked her.


    ¡°Dale figured out how to summon us with Jonas¡¯s domain.¡± Ryone spoke from the backline of the deities, firing off sts of raw magic to support the others. ¡°Long story short, the invasion already started, we¡¯re in the endgame, and our existence is being fueled by his divinity. Try to conserve energy if you can.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± Tryval stepped forward, his fists clenching. He broke into a charge, sprinting through the enemy line while his arms blurred. shes of red filled the air behind him as he urately targeted the hearts of the enemy, ripping them out of their chest.


    ¡°Oh¡­ and they killed Leowynn.¡± Ryone¡¯s voice grew cold as she said that, and the deities almost faltered.


    ¡°They did what!?¡± Udona shouted, her energy ring. Her hair stood on end as her gaze prated the crowd. ¡°Sorry, Dale, this will only take a moment. We¡¯ll wrap it up.¡±


    I gave a small nod, but my eyes weren¡¯t on her. Standing at the back, behind Ryone, was Leowynn. She had been summoned by my use of the domain as well, though she was likewise in the state I had seen herst. She smiled at me, even as half of her face was ckened, and walked over.


    ¡°What happened?¡± I asked her in a weak tone, feeling her arms wrap around me.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­ dad. She wanted to use our link to kill you.¡± Leowynn whispered softly into my ear, leaning her head against me. ¡°I couldn¡¯t let her do that. I¡¯m sorry that I can¡¯t y with anyone anymore, but I couldn¡¯t let you die. Especially not because of me.¡±


    I let out a chokedugh, hugging my daughter. ¡°You silly girl¡­ we can bring you back at home. Don¡¯t treat this like a goodbye.¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± Leowynn blinked, a bit of redness entering her cheeks. It seemed, like myself, that she had forgotten that death was not necessarily the end for her this time as well. ¡°So¡­ I can still join the others back home? Does that mean I¡¯m going to be a god, too?¡±


    ¡°If you want to be one¡­ I¡¯ll make it happen.¡± I nodded my head. Resurrecting her as apanion in the Admin Room did not necessarily equate to turning her into a god. There was an extra step to take for that. But, if it was what she wanted¡­ I would happily do that for her.


    ¡°Yes, please¡­¡± She muttered quietly, burying her head in my shoulder. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for worrying you, dad.¡± I could feel my divinity starting to drain. Not from maintaining this power, but from what the others had been doing with it. Udona seemed¡­ particrly furious.


    She walked through the crowd of enemies, and they simply fell to the ground without a sign of injury. Through our current connection, I could tell that she was using her Life domain to strip away the lives of those around her.


    Irena wasn¡¯t much different, walking a few steps behind Udona while holding her pen out. She was absorbing their souls into her ¡®weapon¡¯, making sure that there was no level of magic that would save them.


    ¡°What¡­ what is this?¡± The enemy¡¯s God of Conquest spoke in a trembling tone as he watched his forces being mowed down. He stood at the far end of the cafeteria, having not participated directly in the entire fight until now. Perhaps he was not suited for directbat?


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that obvious?¡± Terra asked, standing near me. Her own domains weren¡¯t as much used for directbat either. Or, perhaps she just felt like letting the others have their turn. ¡°This is a Keeper¡¯s battle. When you fight a Keeper, you are fighting their entire world.¡±


    ¡°You knew?¡± I asked towards Terra, but of course she knew. How couldn¡¯t she know that I could do this?


    ¡°You always had it in you, Dale.¡± She said, directing a gentle gaze towards Leowynn and I. ¡°I didn¡¯t know things would develop this way¡­ but I knew you would eventually figure it out on your own. And before you ask, no, I¡¯m not ¡®connected¡¯. Jonas isn¡¯t that good.¡±


    It took me a moment to figure out what she meant. So, she isn¡¯t connected to the system right now? I guess that would make sense.


    As I was thinking that, the ck-haired Fleece appeared in the room, her hair a dishevelled mess. Her eyes were ring darkly towards Ryone, who responded with a yful wave. ¡°I¡¯ll kill you for that.¡± She growled out, her previously kind demeanor shattering.


    ¡°Everyone, focus fire!¡± Ryone announced. ¡°Fallen priest! She should still be canceling magic right now, so have at her!¡±


    ¡°Close.¡± Terra grinned, her eyes on Fleece. ¡°Fallen god. Same principle, though. Irena, pen!¡± After saying that, Terra held her hand up. With tacit understanding, Irena suddenly turned and threw her pen towards Terra.


    ¡°Have you learned her name, Dale?¡± Terra asked without turning to face me, an empty book appearing in front of her.


    I didn¡¯t know what it was that Terra nned to do, so I could only provide what answers I could. ¡°Fleece¡­ Fleece Alderman. Her ss is Chaos Space, level one hundred.¡±


    ¡°I only needed the name, baby.¡± Terra teased lightly, writing Fleece¡¯s name on the cover of the book. ¡°You see, this is the story of her life. I can only write this story using the power of souls, specifically souls rted to the person in question, so Irena¡¯s pen works wonders for me.¡±


    As she said that, she opened the book, and ced the pen against the first page. Then, she released the pen, allowing it to freely write out line after line. ¡°The more souls I have to use, the faster it writes. And when it is done¡­ well, what do you suppose happens when someone¡¯s story ends?¡±


    Seeing that Terra had taken action herself, the other gods weren¡¯t aiming to kill Fleece anymore. Instead, Aurivy ran over towards her, a vicious grin on the halfling¡¯s face as she kicked out at the woman¡¯s stomach. I remembered that Aurivy¡¯s godly weapon was a pair of shoes¡­ so that kick was no doubt powerful in its own right.


    ¡°If that is her life story¡­ doesn¡¯t that mean that we will be able to get information on her world through it?¡± I asked, looking towards the book. However, my vision was blocked by Terra¡¯s hand.


    ¡°Sorry. If someone reads her story, then she bes a legend. That is the trade-off here. Once her story ends, and the book closes, then so long as there is not a single person that has read her story, her story dies. If someone were to read it, she would be a legend, an embodiment of her tale projected through the power of her readers.¡±


    ¡°¡­Why not just let one of the others kill her, then?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask, no longer trying to read Fleece¡¯s story. ¡°This seems like a lot of trouble when they could do the job faster, right?¡±


    Terra turned to smile at me. ¡°It¡¯s simple, Dale. She killed Leowynn. How could I just let her off with an easy death? She is going to be trapped within her story, reliving her own tale for eternity while I lock her book away in the deepest, darkest pit I can find. Nobody will ever find her, nobody will ever read her tale. She¡¯ll be on the border of life and death, constantly walking between the two.¡±


    Terra¡¯s smile, which appeared to be warm and gentle, caused Leowynn and I to both shiver as we heard her words.

 Chapter 531: Bittersweet Victory

    <h4>Chapter 531: Bittersweet Victory</h4>


    Fleece was currently in a rather terrible situation, unable to focus her energy to change the nature of her chaos. The midget, or rather the halfling, kept pursuing her everywhere she went. If she tried to take a step back, the halfling would jump and kick her in the side of the head. If she tried to fight back and imprison the halfling in a bubble of solidified space, she simply stepped through it as if it weren¡¯t there.


    Every strike seemed to be aimed only at causing as much disorientation as possible while doing minimal damage. Of course, she knew why that was the case. She had overheard the catgirl goddess talking with the Keeper. She knew what was going to happen to her if she did not manage to break free of the halfling in time.


    Desperate, Fleece activated a random teleport on herself. There was a risk of appearing in a hostile environment, but anything was good enough as long as she could survive undisturbed for just a few moments.


    When she arrived, she surveyed her surroundings, and the color drained from her face. She had arrived in the one world where she absolutely didn¡¯t want to be, where people would almost always die as soon as they appeared. She had arrived in Lorek, though thankfully she seemed to be in the ruins of some ancient city.


    Are even the inhabitants unable to survive here? She muttered to herself, before shaking her head. She had other things to focus on.


    Just as she started to focus, a knee impacted into the back of her skull, sending her tumbling forward into a broken wall. ¡°Really? You tried to escape from the Goddess of Travel? I don¡¯t know if you¡¯re stupid or what.¡±


    As the halfling said that, she ced her foot squarely on the small of Fleece¡¯s back, mobilizing her own power. ¡°Now, let¡¯s go back.¡± She spoke in a fierce tone, and they were once again on the marble floor of the dining hall.


    I wish that I could say I felt sorry for how Fleece was essentially getting bullied by Aurivy, but to be honest I had no pity for her. Rather, I turned my attention towards Terra. The others were already finishing up, moving to take care of thest force that the invaders had to muster, the God of Conquest.


    ¡°So¡­ what is a fallen god?¡± This had been on my mind ever since she mentioned the term, though it was just now that I had the luxury to voice my confusions.


    ¡°Hmm? Oh, you mean like that girl? It¡¯s pretty simple, really¡­ a fallen god is a mortal that has ascended to divinity and made contact with the energy of chaos.¡± Terra turned to fully face me, perhaps as a way to prevent even herself from reading the book that was being written.


    ¡°You see, Dale. Everything has a bnce, an opposing force. If divine energy stands above all of creation, then naturally there will be something which stands above all of destruction. That is chaos, an energy born by the betrayal of one¡¯s own divinity. In its raw form, as the girl was using it, it can negate specific energy types. When refined, it can even destroy physical objects.¡±


    ¡°Because of the nature of chaos energy, fallen priests and ck knights have been deemed as evil sses and hunted down as soon as they appear. That¡¯s why those sses rarely have high levels. Especially fallen priests, as they have directly turned their back on their own god, branding themselves an enemy of the church.¡±


    ¡°This is all stuff I had prepared to tell you once you started to get curious about those two sses.¡± Terra said with a small grin.


    ¡°Okay¡­¡± I nodded my head, ncing at the book without looking at the words being written. ¡°What about that ability? I had honestly expected to be facing a huge drain when you told me what kind of power you were using, but¡­ I barely feel anything at all, and most of that is from Aurivy.¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡± Terra blinked, before letting out a lightugh. ¡°Oh, that. In truth, it¡¯s because of how I set up the power. Without any of its restrictions or loopholes, a sealing technique of this caliber would consume about¡­ let¡¯s say one percent of my divinity just to seal a normal mortal. To seal another god¡­ I¡¯d have to pour in everything I have.¡±


    ¡°However, let¡¯s go over those restrictions again, and you¡¯ll see just how much they limit me¡­ First, I require the souls of people familiar with the target. If it were you, the only people I could use would be Tsubaki, Dana, and Scarlet. Maybe even just Tsubaki. This means that I have to spend additional effort to kill multiple targets rted to my intended victim. Thus, more energy expended that way.¡±


    ¡°Secondly, the loophole I left as a way for the person to escape. That is perhaps an even bigger restriction than the first one. Not only do they have the chance to escape, but in doing so they could obtain a pseudo-immortal existence. Only by killing everyone who learns of their story can they be sealed again.¡±


    ¡°Of course, if the story is spread by word of mouth, it could be altered and thus change the legend. Again, let¡¯s use you as an example here. If you turned into a legend, you would immediately be vastly different than you are. This is because everyone knows about you, but nobody truly knows you. You would be influenced by every rumor and story you featured in.¡±


    ¡°Because of this second restriction, the ability bes neither a perfect cage nor a proper path to power. The fact that it could lean in either direction causes both sides to bnce one another, the price of the ability sharply dropping once again.¡±


    ¡°However, there is still a third facet of this power, which is what finally makes it as easy to use as it is. That is the fact that the trapped target will constantly relive their story, over and over. This experience will create insight, so if the person does get released at some point, there is the chance that they will be wiser or stronger than when they were initially sealed. But again, there is a bnce here as well, in the possibility that they will simply go crazy in their imprisonment.¡±


    As I heard Terra¡¯s exnation, I couldn¡¯t help but nod my head. Like she said, these restrictions were indeed very limiting. With the same amount of effort, it would be easier to just create a killing ability that consumes less divinity than the base cost. This power only existed as a special punishment for Terra, something she used when she deemed someone unforgivable, yet they had not earned the karmic punishment of eternal damnation.


    There was a loud p as the book behind Terra suddenly mmed itself shut. In the distance, Fleece was on the ground in front of Aurivy, her face swollen and crying. The halfling goddess stared down at her, watching as words began to appear on Fleece¡¯s skin. Then, her skin seemed to break apart, forming sheets of paper that flew into the air and gathered in the book.


    Congrattions! You have defeated the invading forces, and won the match! Below, you will find aprehensive list of entities that had been sent, and their total point value for your victory.


    999 Humans - Perfect condition, equipped with a multitude of powerful artifacts and skills. Value: 18,750 Points


    1 Fallen God - Perfect condition, equipped with a multitude of powerful artifacts and skills. Value: 9,000 Points


    It seemed that the others had finished taking care of the God of Conquest while we were talking and waiting for the book to be finished. Though, I was somewhat surprised that Fleece herself was worth almost half of the points of the rest of the guildbined.


    At the same time, because this invasion actually took quite a while to finish, I was immediately assigned my next opponent that I would be facing in a little over one standard month. It was a name that I didn¡¯t know, but I could ask for the details from Balu or Grimorter. Thankfully, this time I was not once again stuck with defending.


    ¡°Well, now that that¡¯s taken care of.¡± Terra pped her hands. ¡°Let¡¯s all head out. I¡¯m sure that the real me already has somewhere in mind to store this book.¡±


    I nodded my head, turning to look at Leowynn that was still in my arms. ¡°Just wait a bit more for me, Leowynn. I¡¯ll bring you back soon.¡± She simply looked up at me and smiled brightly, nodding her head.


    Closing my eyes, I focused, cancelling Jonas¡¯s domain. While everyone else vanished, Terra¡¯s figure only seemed to flicker. My guess was that the real Terra hade down to rece her copy, going by the softer look in her eyes as she caught the book. ¡°Hurry back, once you send those three outside back home. Everyone¡¯s waiting for you.¡±


    I nodded to her, reaching out to pat her shoulder. Once she left with the book, I turned and began walking out of the room. ¡°Scarlet¡­ let¡¯s get to work on rebuilding your empire.¡± When I said that, the martial spirit blinked in confusion.


    Danaughed, clearing her throat. ¡°Uhm, Keeper sir? That could be taken in a number of different ways. Please don¡¯t y with the woman¡¯s mind like that.¡±


    I hesitated a moment, realizing what Dana meant, clearing my own throat as well. ¡°I meant making more Martial Spirits with me. Gah¡­ no matter how I phrase that it¡¯s going to sound bad, won¡¯t it? I¡¯m going to let you use my ki to make more martial spirits, with Dana providing the spiritual energy.¡±


    After my first attempt to rify myself, Scarlet¡¯s cheeks started to burn red. Thankfully, I cleared up the misunderstanding, and she let out a relieved sigh. ¡°Thank you for your assistance in advance, father.¡±


    Upon saying that, I shifted the four of us out of the base, leaving it empty. For now, at least. No doubt, Tubrock would soon arrive to begin studying it in detail. And, once we were gone, I ascended back to the Admin Room. My host was a deity of Lorek, and had more than enough ki to supply a great many martial spirits.


    Once I arrived in the Admin Room, I felt someching onto me. Even before opening my eyes, I could tell it was Ryone. ¡°She¡¯ll be back soon.¡± I muttered quietly.


    Ryone simply nodded her head against my shoulder. ¡°Terra already created the profile for her, before leaving to take care of that book¡­ she said you wouldn¡¯t want to waste any time.¡±


    I gave a light chuckle. ¡°Well, she was right. All that¡¯s left is figuring out what domains to give her. Take me to the profile.¡±


    Ryone smiled, pulling back from me and taking my hand, leading me towards the living room. There, I could see everyone gathered aside from Terra herself. However, before I had the chance to sit down on the couch, where a space had been left for me between Aurivy and Irena, Terra popped into existence in the hall.


    ¡°I¡¯m notte, right?¡± She asked with a grin, moving to join the group.


    ¡°Right on time.¡± I informed her, before cing my hand on the book. I did not want to alter Leowynn in any way, so I did not even bother to open the book and risk changing anything. I trusted Terra, especially in times like this. I simply connected with the Keeper system, and used the profile before me to purchase a custompanion.


    I¡¯d have to take some time to think over what domains to give her when she bes a goddess, though. If we were to go by her domains in Vision Expanse, there would be an ovep with Tower as the God of Monsters. If we go by her demigoddess domain, she¡¯d ovep with Keliope as the Goddess of Strength.


    Now, an ovep wasn¡¯t such a problem that I couldn¡¯t ept it, but I wanted her to be special. We¡¯ll see what she wants, first.

 Chapter 532: A New Star is Born

    <h4>Chapter 532: A New Star is Born</h4>


    I watched as a figure slowly took shape before me. No longer was she wearing her silver armor, reced with the ck starry dress that her mother had once woven for her. Her long, silver hair flowed down her back as she opened her eyes, looking around at us with a smile. ¡°I¡¯m back?¡± She asked curiously, gazing at each of us.


    ¡°That¡¯s right, honey.¡± Ryone nodded her head, her own smile blossoming. ¡°You¡¯re back. And this time, you¡¯re back for good.¡±


    Leowynn rejoiced, lunging into her mother¡¯s embrace while the rest cheered. She let out a happyugh, burying her face into her mother¡¯s shoulder. It felt weird not being able to feel a connection with her anymore, but I knew that it was alright. Even if this meant that I had lost my Aki Seppo, that I did not have a familiar anymore, that was still perfectly fine.


    Aki Seppo could bepensated for by the domains of my various gods, allowing me to supplement my own power to an even higher level. As for a familiar¡­ well, if I really wanted one, I could just perform the ritual. I was fine with not having a familiar for now, until I decided on what type I would like.


    ¡°Dad?¡± Leowynn¡¯s voice spoke up, and I saw that she had turned to face me. ¡°Did you mean what you said? That you would allow me to be a goddess, like mom and the others?¡±


    So, Terra made sure to include the details of the ¡®her¡¯ that I summoned with the Community domain? Well, I¡¯m not really upset about that or anything. I fully intended to keep that promise.


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Not only was I going to make her a god, but I was going to make sure that she unlocked the three domains to put her on par with the others. ¡°Do you know what domains you want, Leowynn?¡±


    Leowynn hesitated a bit at that, shifting to sit in her mother¡¯sp. ¡°Well¡­ I really like the Stars domain that I have in Vision Expanse. I think, if I use that, I should be able to use all of the powers that we practiced with Aki Seppo.¡±


    I nodded my head. Stars had a bit of ovep with light, but also had its own meaning. Though there wasn¡¯t really anything bad about ovep in the grand scheme of things, still. ¡°The Family and Strength domains are basically covered already, if you want something unique to rece them.¡± Although not strictly Family, the Fellowship, Love, and Community domains all covered the different aspects that Family would hold.


    Hearing that, Leowynn thought a bit more deeply. ¡°What domains would make me suitable as a goddess to mark the current age of advancement and travel? I don¡¯t want to step on Aurivy¡¯s toes, but¡­ maybe it could show our growth to the people?¡±


    I gave a small smile, thinking it over. ¡°There is the Gravity domain that you could use. Nobody is currently using anything remotely simr to it. Aside from that¡­ the Void domain could potentially work for both inteary and internar travel.¡±


    Ryone giggled lightly when she heard that. ¡°Stars, Gravity, and the Void. You might as well name yourself the supreme goddess of space at that point.¡± Leowynn¡¯s cheeks tinted red at that, but she seemed rather happy.


    ¡°Yes, please¡­¡± She muttered quietly, and I opened up the menu to make it so. ¡°Terra, I need to borrow you for a moment, before you run off to do something.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± The catgirl goddess looked at me with interest. ¡°Are you going to get me to read the life story of that illusion man you have locked up in the Sky Citadel? You should know, the same deal would apply as with Fleece, and we don¡¯t have any more souls that are familiar with him to write his story.¡±


    I shook my head, smiling towards Leowynn. ¡°No, I want a different kind of story. This one, I want you to help me to write a story that will be sent to the masses. The birth of the Ster Goddess, Leowynn.¡±


    Terra¡¯s face practically lit up when I said that.


    Unlike Ryone, Leowynn had not been tied in as a patron deity of the elves. They were not made instinctively aware of her identity, domains, or her status. As far as the world knew, there had been no new deity added to the pantheon.


    That is, until people began to sleep. When they dreamt, they dreamt of a silver-haired woman in ancient times. What they saw was a story, mostly lost or altered in the flow of history. The daughter of the Goddess of Magic, hailed for her unparalleled might among her peers.


    They saw how she knelt with her mortal mother as shey on her deathbed, tears streaming down her face. When a pir of light descended, they saw the face of Ryone weing her mother to the afterlife personally.


    Then came the story of how she joined the kingdom, bing one of the queen¡¯s most loyal knights. She ran to every corner of the nation, fighting back bandits and monsters, creatures that would spell death for normal soldiers. A woman who strove to protect her people above all else, to the point where she burned her own life to y one of the earliest dragons.


    Just when they thought that the story was over, the scene shifted. Now, they were watching the image of an old hermit living in al. Few people knew him from historical records as Tebor, one of the druids who sailed the first intercontinental voyage.


    They watched as he rode into a terrible storm, standing at the bow of the ship. Gauntlets formed on his hands as he lifted them to the skies to calm the wind and rain, protecting his vessel. They could even see the faint, star-like patterns that had emerged on the cover of the gauntlets.


    Again the scene shifted, this time showing a man standing before a mighty dragon. This dragon was far more easily recognized as the Keeper¡¯s own dragon, Fafnir. Simrly, the man himself was recognizable as the Keeper.


    When the Keeper stepped forward, golden light spread out from his body, which rose up until he was standing atop the body of a golden dragon. His figure was covered with a starry robe, but it was his words that held the deepest meaning. ¡°Leowynn, I leave the opening act to you.¡±


    Another shift, and this time the setting seemed far more modern. The Keeper appeared again, standing with several known figures. The First Blood, and the two servants of the Keeper. As well as Leowynn herself, now wrapped in silver armor.


    They charged into a room filled with enemies, Leowynnshing out to y foe after foe. They did not know who these people were, but the enraged appearance of the First Blood told them plenty. After all, news had already spread about the destruction of Bloodhaven.


    With rapt attention, they saw Leowynn fighting back a tide of warriors, before suddenly a hand pierced her back. At some point, an unknown woman had appeared behind her. And this was the first time that a narrator appeared within the dream, the airy voice of the Goddess of Stories.


    ¡°The daughter of the Keeper and the Goddess of Magic, Leowynn has stood by his side for countless years, secretly helping him in multiple conflicts.¡± As Terra spoke, they saw Leowynn¡¯s skin starting to cken, the desperate look on her face.


    ¡°Yet she has asked for no glory in her life, nor in her death. Merely to be by her father¡¯s side.¡± Slowly, they watched Leowynn turning around, embracing her attacker in what appeared to be a warm hug.


    ¡°Today, she performed her final sacrifice. In order to save the life of the Keeper, the lives of every living being in his worlds¡­¡± The next scene that appeared was Leowynn and the unknown woman drifting in space, still in the same pose. Desperately, the unknown woman severed her own hand to escape, before Leowynn erupted into a massive light.


    ¡°She became a nameless star within the night sky. And to honor her memory, the Keeper has elevated her in death to the highest standing. She now stands every bit her mother¡¯s equal. A god of the greatest level.¡±


    ¡°Tonight, let us wee her. Leowynn, the Goddess of Stars, Gravity, and the Void. The daughter of the Keeper, and the gentle light which watches over us all.¡±


    ¡°Oh wow, this is so weird.¡± Leowynn muttered, bringing a hand up to her head. From her appearance, the first wave of people falling asleep were being struck by Terra¡¯s story, and the awareness of her as a true deity has caused ties of divinity to form with her new believers.


    ¡°Trust me, I¡¯ve been there.¡± Ashley smiled reassuringly. While the normalpanions all had little problem adjusting to the initial wave of worship, it was harder for those like these two who were elevated to their position. ¡°Come with me, Leowynn, let me help you get used to it.¡± She offered gently, moving to help Leowynn stand before guiding her out of the living room.


    It had taken Ashley decades to adjust, not only to her divine aspects but also to her demonic body. Leowynn only had to worry about one of those things, but at least she had a teacher that could walk her through the process.


    I let out a faint sigh, taking a passing nce over the amount of points I had won today. It felt a little small, admittedly, but that was as much as I could ask for. To a second ranked Keeper, a force of a thousand was almost nothing. The fact that I got over twenty-five thousand points out of this was already pretty decent.


    Given what I learned from my ¡®turncoat¡¯, this was simply treated as a semi-regr event in their world. Sometimes for these ¡®wild dungeons¡¯, there would be a great deal of publicity, urging massive guilds to participate withrge rewards. Sometimes these guilds would even work together.


    In total, this was their fourth time participating in such an event, though there had been dozens of others that they did not join. Given the timeline, that number felt a bit off. Most likely, the majority of those wild dungeons were extra worlds that Sanction himself created with a ¡®false¡¯ Keeper in order to train his troops.


    The fact that this event wasn¡¯t greatly advertised within their world led them to the impression that there would be little risks. As such, when the deadline approached, their guild chose to participate.


    Either way, the fact that they hade had given me another source of ie. Opening the Keeper Market, I navigated and searched for the skill tree system that had been described. And what I found made my face pale.


    Comprehensive Skill Tree


    Thisprehensive system allows the inhabitants of the world to invent their own sses while acquiring and trading new skills. Includes built-in Guild, Party, Quest, and Achievements systems.


    Game System Required - 1,250,000 Points


    This description was¡­ okay, it was sorelycking when it came to the true power of the system itself. At the same time, though¡­ that price. I couldn¡¯t help but imagine such a system being reserved for Keepers at least above the fourth or fifth rank. Who else would be able to afford such a massive cost for one system?


    It was likely that this skill had gone past the notice of the ¡®quality assurance¡¯ testers in the Gilded Branch, due to the ridiculous price that would need to be paid just to try the system once. As such, I didn¡¯t hesitate to open the chat window, and fire off a message to my favorite white rabbit.


    Starkiller: Dale! It¡¯s been a while since you called, I was starting to get worried! Did your invasion finally end!?


    EarthForceOne: Well, it¡¯d be a bit hard to call you like this if it didn¡¯t, right?


    Starkiller: True, true. You have a point. So, what¡¯s this call about? Need advice to recover from the damages?


    EarthForceOne: Not quite¡­ I want to sell you information about my attacker. I managed to capture one of the enemies ¡®alive¡¯.


    Starkiller: Not going to ask what you mean by ¡®alive¡¯, but¡­ okay! This is a pretty old Keeper we¡¯re talking about, and he¡¯s going to rise through the ranks pretty fast. Sanction, right?


    EarthForceOne: That would be him.


    Starkiller: Mind giving me an idea on what kind of information you have on him? Nothing detailed, I won¡¯t cheat you out of a deal! Just so I have an idea what to prepare, and put it on my wall!


    EarthForceOne: Well¡­ let¡¯s just say I have fairly detailed information about his world¡¯s systems, including a million point investment.


    After I sent that message, Balu went quiet, not responding for a long time. When I started to get concerned that I might have startled her, another message window popped up.


    Chat request has been received from Alkahest. Do you wish to ept?

 Chapter 533: Returning to the Everyday

    <h4>Chapter 533: Returning to the Everyday</h4>


    Naturally, I had no intention to decline the message request from Grimor. Although I was surprised, I could guess what had happened. Information like this must be too big for Balu alone, and she passed it along the chain ofmand to reach him. As for why she didn¡¯t simply tell me about that herself¡­ well, this was Balu we were talking about.


    EarthForceOne: Didn¡¯t think I¡¯d end up talking with you like this. How¡¯s your reconstruction going?


    Alkahest: Not bad. I should be able to reach the second rank again soon, at this rate. But, Starkiller told me that you have some important information regarding an older Keeper? Including a major system of his.


    EarthForceOne: That¡¯s right. Sanction attacked me, and I managed to turn the tables and acquire one of his people as an informant.


    Alkahest: I see. People at that level usually take precautions against information theft, such as soul destruction techniques. But, it seems you found a way around his.


    Alkahest: Keepers with systems valued over a million points typically belong to those in the highest ranks. Sometimes, people like Sanction will force a reset in order to gather all of the points they need for it at once, and try to use the advantage it gives them to rush for a higher ranking.


    Alkahest: For something like this, the knowledge of what system he is using is worth 80,000 points. However, this is a separate transaction from the information on his world itself. The Keeper Meeting ising up soon, so let¡¯s meet up there. Bring Terra along so that she can confirm the information for the transaction.


    Eighty thousand points¡­ Thinking back, I had earned nearly two thousand points when I sold them the information about those slime monsters. That was when I was still a first ranked Keeper, and this was just for a single system of a high rank.


    Grimor didn¡¯t ask me exactly which system he is using, because he was likely waiting until we met up in person. I gave a small nod as I thought about that, and we finished up our conversation.


    Once the conversation was over, I leaned back in the couch, letting out a sigh of relief. Udona, can you work onpiling everything we learned from the illusion invader into an information globe? I¡¯d like to have it prepared in advance for when we head to the meeting.


    Sure thing. Udona replied a momentter, agreeing to the proposal. We had already gotten quite a bit out of him, and it would no doubt prove to be quite valuable when we arrived at the meeting.


    Scarlet gazed sadly as her eyes swept over her ruined kingdom. Less than a tenth of the original number of martial spirits had managed to survive the attack from the invaders, aside from those that were already out of the kingdom due to taking part in an active pact.


    She felt a small hand squeezing hers, and looked beside herself to see Dana giving her a reassuring smile. ¡°It¡¯s okay, Scarlet. We¡¯re here with you.¡±


    Scarlet nodded her head, doing her best to put on a smile. Together with her father, they walked into her old pce, which had managed to escape from the damage of the battles before the enemy reached it. ¡°Sit on your throne.¡± The Keeper told her in a gentle tone. ¡°Dana and I will be on either side of you. We¡¯ll provide the energy you need, and you¡¯ll filter it through yourself to create the new spirits.¡±


    And so, she did just that, moving to sit on her blood red throne. Her father and Dana nked her on either side, and she focused. Ki was drawn out of her father¡¯s body with no resistance, pulled into her own while Dana opened a gate to the afterlife, allowing Scarlet to retrieve the spiritual energy she needed.


    As the ki of her father filtered through her, she took the initiative to filter out any of its divine properties. Although she was not against strengthening her own race, she knew that it would be hard for her to maintain order within her race if every martial spirit was potentially a demigoddess like herself.


    And soon, red energy gushed out of Scarlet¡¯s hand, pouring out onto the floor of the room and pooling together. One by one, youthful figures began to appear, rising from the blood-like pools.


    The response to Leowynn¡¯s ascension was¡­ interesting, to say the least. With her presence having already been established in Vision Expanse, there were quite a lot of people that had known about her existence, even if they could not directly guess her role in the world. They had seen her as the daughter of the Goddess of Magic and nothing more, with her role in Vision Expanse akin to an easter egg.


    Now that she was truly established as her own divinity, people took things far more seriously. Leowynn¡¯s church within Kione began to spread far more actively, though they had to first change many of their ts. Although Leowynn herself had truly been recognized as a god now, the domains that they attributed to her were no longer valid, for the most part.


    For the first few days, there was little change for those who worshipped Leowynn. It was almost as if she had not yet decided to truly take any priests. Only once she did so were they able to grasp the power of Leowynn¡¯s domains, at which point thergest change urred.


    There was a standard blessing which was passed down to every priest of a particr deity, an ability which marked their religion. Priests of Udona were capable of healing, priests of Irena could discern lies, and priests of Ryone had greater understanding of magic.


    Everyone was curious what ability would be gained for being a priest of Leowynn. What they found was an ability both more and less potent than many people suggested. With the blessing of Leowynn, one would always know the way to their homeworld.


    It turned out that this was applicable to both travel through the stars as well as internar magic. So long as one was a recognized priest of Leowynn, they would always know how to return home.


    Following this discovery, small temples of Leowynn were constructed within almost every major interster vessel. There were too many ways for navigation to fail, or for the ship to be flung into unknown territory. With the ability to always find their way home, this was something especially valuable to these explorers.


    ¡°Looks like we weren¡¯t needed, after all.¡± The kitsune captain said within her quarters on the Emergence, letting out a sigh of relief as she looked at the image of the queen on the screen.


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Queen Bria agreed, clearly relieved as well. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for having you all rush back here. Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll take the initiative to resupply you with a new Journey Home deck. And as promised, you will maintain your position. If you have any crew that wish to disembark, they¡¯ll be weed back and we will supply you with new personnel.¡±


    The captain¡¯s gaze softened a bit as she heard that, nodding her head. Although this was all stuff that the queen had previously promised, the fact that she was truly carrying it out after the situation passed spoke a great deal to her character. ¡°Thanks. We¡¯ll need some materials as well, though we can purchase those. Seems to be a need for renovations.¡±


    ¡°You mean to construct the shrine?¡± Bria questioned, to which the captain nodded her head.


    ¡°You got it. We¡¯ve already got a temple for Aurivy here, so we might as well add the statue of the new goddess there. Just need to have one properly built.¡± Just as with Leowynn, Aurivy offered a convenient ability for explorers in the form of a passive speed boost. Furthermore, its effects stacked whenever multiple priests were riding in a single vehicle.


    ¡°Do you need an architect, or do you have someone able to handle the job on the Emergence?¡± Bria asked, looking towards a stack of documents on her desk.


    The captain thought about it for a moment. ¡°We do have someone, but¡­ I¡¯ll have to trouble you for this. You¡¯ve probably got people more suited for the job.¡±


    In truth, this aid wasn¡¯t needed. The statue for a god did not need to be strictly urate in order to receive the god¡¯s blessing. As long as the sculptor performed to the best of their own abilities, they would be able to capture the core of a deity within a statue. This was true no matter the materials used. In fact, there were some children who would create ¡®statues¡¯ of certain deities out of sticks and toys.


    However, epting this aid was the same as allowing herself to owe Bria a favor. While under normal circumstances, the captain did not like to owe anyone favors, she felt it was worth it to establish a connection with this queen.


    Seeming to see through her intentions, Bria offered a small smile. ¡°Very well, I¡¯ll make the arrangements.¡± On Bria¡¯s end, she already considered the Emergence as its own sovereign territory. Had they chosen not to respond to the call of Udona, there would be nothing that they could have truly done to restrict them, aside from perhaps cutting off the emergency portal to transfer goods in time of need.


    Even that, though, functioned more like a foreign nation than a controlled facility. The emergency portal had to be opened from both sides or it would not work at all, meaning that they could not take advantage of it to send in troops. Aside from the fact that they had originallyunched from Deckan, they were in every way their own governing body.


    As such, their act of responding to the call of Bria and Udona was more akin to an act of one nation sending aid to another. It was only natural to her to respond in kind, and do everything she could to help the Emergence get back to its mission.


    At the same time, the second generation vessel of simr design to the Emergence was almost done. Unlike the Emergence, this one would be primarily used to defend the territories of Deckan and its allied worlds. That was why, this generation had been codenamed Reliance.


    ¡°Well, this is troublesome.¡± Vivi muttered to herself as the news reached her regarding the ascension of Leowynn. She had no problems with the Keeper¡¯s daughter ascending in and of itself. Rather, what she found troublesome was that the information used to create Leowynn within the setting of Vision Expanse was no longer valid.


    Vivi closed her eyes, trying to simte a number of possibilities. It was no longer an option for her to simply patch in the information, as it had be an intrinsic part of multiple cultures. Simrly, she could not rollback the servers, as they had now been this way for far too long. Rolling the servers back to alter the information about Leowynn would result in years of progress being lost.


    The way Vivi saw it, she had three options in order to resolve this problem. The first, she could simply allow the inconsistency to continue to exist, and change nothing. This option was the worst for her, as such arge detail would surely snowball into a bigger issue the longer it continued.


    The second possibility was to simply create a second Leowynn-style deity to embody her true domains. Like this, she could still properly be represented within the game, though in a slightly altered form. Even that, however, would be somewhat annoying to Vivi.


    The third and final option was, perhaps, the only one that was truly eptable to her. She could create an event for the yers, which ultimately led to the Leowynn within the game separating from the cultures she was currently bound to, altering her domains to be a ster goddess.


    ¡°That could potentially work.¡± Vivi mused to herself with a faint nod. Not only would it resolve the overall problem of Leowynn¡¯s domains, but it would also allow for yer participation, giving them new story events to partake in.

 Chapter 534: Starry Night

    <h4>Chapter 534: Starry Night</h4>


    Now that things were settling down, it seemed like it was time for Tubrock to start investigating the bases that the invaders had set up. I didn¡¯t know if he¡¯d be able to reproduce their creation method, or if it was something that had been given to the invaders by their own specific system. If it was the former, that would open up quite a lot of potential possibilities, while thetter would simply leave them as vacant spoils of war.


    I asked him to keep me up to date on his progress, to see if there was anything that we could gain from the bases. In the meantime, I allowed the world to begin fast forwarding once more. Scarlet needed time to rebuild her kingdom, and the worlds themselves needed time to adapt to the new ¡®major¡¯ goddess that had appeared. Though, of course, I did so slowly so as not to overwhelm Leowynn.


    Sitting at a desk within a marble room, two elderly elves looked at one another, each of them wearing a deep blue robe. These were two cardinals of the church of Ryone, among the highest ranking worshippers of the goddess from all of the people in every world.


    ¡°How should we handle this, Sera?¡± The man spoke in concern, his brows furrowed.


    The woman, Sera, shook her head. ¡°We could ask the Goddess for guidance, if this is not a problem that we can resolve on our own.¡±


    The man gave a somewhat bitter smile. ¡°I did that already, actually. I used my annual requestst night in order to request the Goddess to show us what she wanted us to do in this matter.¡±


    The woman blinked in surprise, her eyes going wide. Every cardinal of the church was given only a single quota every year that they could use to speak with the Goddess about any matter, but most reserved such a thing for emergencies. It was better to save it for a time of true need, rather than to bother the Goddess about their personal issues.


    ¡°Then, what did she tell you?¡± Sera asked, genuinely curious at this point.


    ¡°In her words¡­ ¡®I believe that you wille to the right answer on your own¡¯.¡± The man answered with a reluctant sigh. ¡°It would appear that she wishes for us to reach our own conclusion here, and trusts that the conclusion we arrive at will be the same as her own desires.¡±


    Sera closed her eyes faintly, nodding her head. ¡°Such is the will of the Goddess. Then, we are back to our initial dilemma. Do we reach out to the forming Church of the Starry Night, or leave our organizations as separate entities? And if we do reach out to them, in what capacity should we seek to establish a rtionship?¡±


    The man shook his head, a troubled look on his face. ¡°If this were simply a subordinate god of the Goddess, I would suggest we take the Starry Night under our wing, and incorporate them into the teachings of the Glittering Tome. The problem here is that her daughter is not a subordinate goddess, but on equal standing to the Goddess herself.¡±


    Sera sighed in reluctant agreement. ¡°Still, their rtionship as mother and daughter cannot be denied. I believe that it is in everyone¡¯s interest for the two churches to, at the very least, establish a unified branch organization.¡±


    Seeing the man sinking deep into thought at that, Sera verbally prodded him. ¡°Rodcor, what are you thinking?¡±


    The man, Rodcor, shook his head quickly as he focused on the conversation once more. ¡°Apologies, I was just trying to imagine what sort of organization we could create with thebined power of the two churches.¡±


    ¡°As you are aware, Leowynn¡¯s aspects pertain particrly towards the vast void of space. That being what it is, it would not be fitting of us to create an organization that operated on any one. Rather, it would have to be a mobile operation that reached beyond the borders of our own world.¡±


    Sera thought over the proposition for a moment. ¡°This is true. Yet, with the development of portal technology on so many new worlds, where will we find traffic between theses?¡±


    Rodcor didn¡¯t seem to have considered that detail, and reluctantly lowered his head. ¡°Right. Few ships actually travel betweens anymore, unless we are talking about those golems of the March. But limiting ourselves to their territory doesn¡¯t seem to be quite right either. So, a tradepany would offer little use.¡±


    ¡°I think you were on the right track, though.¡± Sera spoke up suddenly. ¡°It does need to be an organization that travels through space in some manner. But we must also take advantage of the strengths of our own Goddess. I have¡­ two thoughts which I would like you to consider, though one would require the aid of our Goddess in order to properly establish.¡±


    ¡°By all means, enlighten me.¡± Rodcor smiled at the offer for aid.


    ¡°First of all, we could form a rescue organization in conjunction with the Starry Night church. The Goddess¡¯s mary aspects will be neglected, but her specialty in magic can be showcased as we rescue lost travelers. The only problem is¡­¡±


    Rodcor let out a sigh. ¡°As we said before, traffic between worlds through space is almost nonexistent. If there were travelers in need of rescue, they would be deep within the vastness of space, with little that we could do to aid them. After all, if we could simply patrol those unexplored territories, they would not be unexplored in the first ce.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­ and creating a fleet of ships to fly about randomly in the hopes of finding those in need of aid seems¡­ fairly inefficient.¡± Sera agreed, shaking her head. ¡°This brings me to my second idea. This one, I feel is more possible, though it would require the direct assistance of the Goddess herself, and perhaps even that of Leowynn.¡±


    Receiving Rodcor¡¯s gesture to continue, Sera exined her n. ¡°This is simr to your idea of a merchantpany. However, rather than traveling betweens to ferry goods, we ce members of this organization on those traveling vessels. Using coins which contain the powers of the goddesses, we should be able to create a trade tform that transcends the boundaries of space.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I like you. Seras, was it?¡± Ryone¡¯s voice spoke up from within her room as shey on her stomach, legs kicking lightly behind her. ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ how could I set that up?¡± She muttered to herself, focusing.


    ¡°I could anchor the trade tform itself in a separate space, and use the tokens to create entrances to this space¡­ But then I¡¯d need a suitable isted space to use for the trading area. Maybe I could get Ashley¡¯s helpter and install a small system patch to allow members of this organization to have something like an auction house system?¡±


    ¡°Still, even if I take care of the logistics aspect of the trade tform itself, I need some way to automate the coin production. Should I create a new ritual to sacrifice currency to convert it? No, that wouldn¡¯t be good. I don¡¯t want to take any coinage out of cirction.¡±


    Ryone¡¯s brows furrowed as she considered this problem. ¡°If I don¡¯t set up some way to automate the process for me, I¡¯ll have to be manually assigning coins all the time, and that will quickly get out of hand.¡±


    ¡°Could Ie up with a power to give my priests that allows them to enchant a coin with the ability to open this trade window? But, if I do that, the coins will be able to be passed around, and the uniqueness of the organization will be lost sooner orter.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps the coins could be automatically generated if Ibined powers with Leowynn and set the trigger as exploring new territory. Then maybe special phenomena could be registered that are worth more coins? Binary star clusters and things like that.¡±


    ¡°But wait, that would require us to judge the value of these phenomena to award the extra currency. And if the coins can only be earned through travel, then where will the goodse from that appear on the trade tform?ary organizations won¡¯t have any means of generating these coins, so they won¡¯t be able to open the tform to sell their wares.¡±


    Ryone held her head in frustration, unsure what she should do to solve this problem. Finally, she got up from her bed and stormed out of the room, making her way towards Ashley¡¯s bedroom. ¡°Ash, dear? Are you and Leowynn in there?¡± She asked, knocking against the wooden door.


    ¡°Ryone?¡± Ashley opened the door a momentter, confused by the elf¡¯s sudden appearance. However, her features softened a momentter. ¡°Wanting to check up on her?¡±


    ¡°No, well yes, but that¡¯s not what this is about. How¡¯s she doing?¡± Despite her words, Ryone naturally wanted to know her daughter¡¯s state.


    ¡°She¡¯s fine.¡± Ashley smiled gently, nodding her head. ¡°She was secretly practicing Dale¡¯s thread technique while he was doing so, so she has some ability to split her mind already. It¡¯s making it easier for her to adjust. We¡¯re just working on setting up her religious rites.¡±


    ¡°Oh, good.¡± Ryone let out a sigh of relief. ¡°I actually wanted to consult the two of you about something rted to that.¡±


    ¡°What is it, mom?¡± Leowynn¡¯s voice could be hearding from the room, so Ashley opened the door further to allow Ryone in.


    Ashley¡¯s room was rather dark, unsurprising given that she was the patron of a nocturnal race. Her bed was a dark red, her carpet ck. Leowynn sat on the bed, her silver hair appearing as the sole star in the darkness of the room.


    ¡°One of my cardinals came up with a suggestion for how we could use our powers together.¡± Ryone exined, before grumbling in frustration. ¡°I¡¯m just having trouble getting the exact details worked out. It should be some kind of trade tform that can operate even in the deepest regions of space, as long as a member from thebined organization is there.¡±


    ¡°They said that they wanted it to be based on a coin containing our powers, which sounded like a good idea, I¡¯m just not sure how to make it work.¡± After saying that, she walked over, falling face first onto Ashley¡¯s bed and letting out a long groan.


    ¡°And since you want it to be a proper trading system, you want me involved.¡± Ashley said with a small grin, receiving a thumbs up from Ryone, who refused to unbury her face from the bed.


    Leowynn blinked, thinking it over. ¡°Maybe¡­ maybe we could have the coin as the item that opens the trading system, but it is ourbined divine energies that allows it to function?¡± She suggested, looking towards her mother. ¡°So only a priest that follows both of us can activate the coin?¡±


    Ryone lifted her head up to look at her daughter. ¡°Leowynn, you¡¯re brilliant. Never let anyone tell you differently.¡± She spoke in a firm tone, one that was betrayed by how she was grasping for her daughter, pulling her in to cuddle against her. ¡°We just need a ritual to create the coins then, right? And Ash¡¯s assistance to set up the tform itself.¡±


    ¡°Oh, and the priest should only ever be able to have one coin, tied to their own divine signature.¡± She added after that. ¡°That way, they can¡¯t just be freely traded around. If the coins get around to everyone, and they find a way to mimic our signatures to activate them¡­ I¡¯m probably just worrying too much, aren¡¯t I?¡±


    Ashley chuckled from the foot of the bed. ¡°A little bit. Though, I don¡¯t disagree. There wouldn¡¯t be a need for a priest to have more than just the one coin, if that was all it took to open the trade window. The coin itself could even be a manifestation of divine energy, like a knight¡¯s signature weapon.¡±


    ¡°Yes, that.¡± Ryone pointed towards Ashley. ¡°We can do that¡­ we just need to make a ritual together so that our divine energies create that coin, and then you connect the coin to a trade tform!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll try.¡± Ashley nodded her head. ¡°I haven¡¯t tried making any kind of system yet to ¡®install¡¯ in the main world, so I don¡¯t know how much it¡¯ll take out of me. Thankfully, this is something pretty small, so it would make for a good test run.¡±

 Chapter 535: New Additions

    <h4>Chapter 535: New Additions</h4>


    Ashley stood alone in the void of space, holding a coin in between her fingers. On one face of the coin was a seven pointed star, while the other face showed the image of a closed book. The coin itself was silver in color, and reminded Ashley of a quarter, causing her to smile.


    This was the prototype coin that had been created by Leowynn and Ryone, to represent the new system that the two of them wished to create together. Now, it was Ashley¡¯s job to finalize the process.


    ¡°Open directory. Generate system temte.¡± Ashley muttered to herself, and a series of blue windows appeared before her. Each one seemed to show a different system already installed within the overall world system. Her eyes scanned over these windows, looking for something to serve as a starting point.


    When shended on the Guild system, her smile tugged a bit further upwards. The Guild system had quite a lot of what they needed, but was missing certain keyponents. Would it be faster to program the system from scratch? She thought inwardly, before shaking her head.


    Ashley lifted the ability to send messages across any distance from the Guild system to use as the basis for connecting the coins. To store the items and currency in a sub-dimensional space, she lifted that particr trait from the Quest Contracts system.


    From there, she only had to tweak little details. Removing the travel time of messages by linking all coins together. Converting the contracts from requiring tasks to payment. Allowing the information to be presented in an organized table that could be sorted by currency type. And, of course, adding a search function.


    As she was creating the system, Ashley had an instinctive sense of just how much energy this was going to cost her, as well as how much different aspects influenced that cost. The fact that she wasrgely pulling functions from other systems alleviated the burden she was facing by quite a lot. Enough so, in fact, that the organized table and search function were the most expensive parts of this new system.


    ¡°So¡­ making an entirely new system by hand would cost quite a bit more, huh?¡± She wondered, dismissing the irrelevant windows. Within the one that remained, she had created a circr indentation, awaiting the item that would be used as the focus to trigger the system. Naturally, she ced the coin in that slot.


    ¡°Save file. Compile as¡­ Universal Trade.¡± She nodded her head at the name, and the coin was absorbed into the window. She could feel the drain on her divine power, how it rushed out of her body to integrate this new system with the rest of the world.


    I watched Ashley work, a satisfied smile on my face. This was her first time doing this, so I was naturally curious how it would go as well. Thankfully, she had enough energy to continue. The system would only be applied to one group of worlds at a time, so she would have to repeat the process in Spica.


    At that thought, I nced over towards Fyor. Would she need to perform the install there, as well? Or would the new system being installed to the world system cause the automatic generation of a system orb?


    I pulled open the map of Fyor, running a search for any new crystal orbs. To my disappointment, the system was not so kind. Only items purchased through the Keeper Market would automatically generate a system orb, it seemed.


    A weight pressed against my side, and I looked over to see Terra leaning against me, a gentle look on her face. ¡°Looks like little Leowynn¡¯s about to be a lot more popr.¡± She said happily, seeing how the system was settling in.


    ¡°Good.¡± I nodded my head. ¡°By the way¡­ if Ashley were to install this into Fyor, would she have to do so for each floor individually, or just once at the core?¡±


    Terra let out a light giggle, shaking her head. ¡°Sorry, Dale. Eachyer of Fyor is essentially its own independent world, cut off from each other. That¡¯s why the crystal spires are so important.¡±


    I sighed, having worried as much. Out of curiosity, I opened the Keeper Market, searching for the production method for the crystal orbs. It had been so long now that I knew someone would have put it on the market already. Even if they hadn¡¯t created it themselves, and were just using the system to fill in the gaps for them.


    Soon enough, I found a production method for a nk system orb for this world type. It only cost thirty points to buy the blueprint, but¡­ it required at least fifth tier in either spiritual energy or mana. We were still only barely touching the fourth tier, so I did not even qualify to know how to make that.


    ¡°She can take her time to go through Fyor.¡± I said with a sigh, knowing that there wasn¡¯t really a way around that at this point in time. Thankfully, the systems should all be linked together as long as she uses her saved temte. None of thews within it should conflict between Spica and Earth, so the crossover should be just fine.


    Oi,d! Tubrock¡¯s voice echoed into my mind. Ye got a minute?


    Blinking in surprise, I subconsciously nodded my head. Did you find anything in those bases?


    Sadly, I can¡¯t say that I learned how they converted the raw void to building materials. That part should be included in a system that they had, I think. But I got their portal tech understood, at least a little bit. It works from the tech angle, rather than the magic angle we use.


    As for somethin¡¯ that we don¡¯t already have¡­ I found somethin¡¯ interestin; in their kitchen. They use sub-dimensional spaces with artificial environments to farm their ingredients. Each type of ingredient has its own simted environment, and they are automatically harvested after a certain threshold.


    My brow furrowed a bit when I heard that. What about meat? Do they have pastures set up in those spaces?


    Aye! They have devices in their pastures that pull food for the animals from the necessary dimensional farms. Each base has a couple hundred sub-dimensions for all of the different ingredients!


    My eye twitched a bit when I heard that. That was¡­ definitely extravagant. They had only been here for a couple of months, right? How did they manage to make that many bases in such a short time? Did they have those spaces stored in some kind of item?


    Aye! Thought ye might¡¯a caught that. The farms themselves won¡¯t do us much good, since they¡¯re only good for low level ingredients. But the storage system that is able to contain up to two hundred sub-dimensional spaces and make their entrances portable? Now that¡¯s somethin¡¯ we could get excited for!


    I thought that over for a bit, and nodded. I could certainly see how that could be useful for us in the future. We were getting to the point where magic was capable of creating a small, independent world. Although most effects of such a world could be covered through simpler means, I could predict that there would be some new uses for this.


    For instance¡­ imagine having a portable world that served as a home? Rather than needing to construct a campsite, just drive a single device into the ground and use it to create a portal that can lock from the other side. As long as the device isn¡¯t discovered, there would be nothing to worry about in regards to safety.


    Maybe creating two entrances would allow them to ce the second opening in a safer space, so that they would have a way out even if their device was destroyed¡­ While it wouldn¡¯t be so convenient as a replenishing food source like the invaders used, it would still offer some small benefits.


    Understood. Were you able to learn anything else from the bases?


    Hearing my question, there was a brief pause. Sadly not. Most of their tech is stuff we already got. The few pieces that aren¡¯t rely on different systems to pull power and resources directly from the void. Can¡¯t copy those with just reverse engineering.


    I thought about that for a moment, before nodding my head. There were a total of thirty-six bases that I had seen through my world sight during the invasion. Not counting the one that wasrgely ruined in our conflict, that left thirty-five bases in pristine condition.


    Can you remove the teleporters that link the bases, and modify the rest to only connect with publicly avable destinations? Might as well remove the sub-dimensional farms while you¡¯re at it, since those aren¡¯t particrly useful for us. We can prepare those thirty-five bases as special rewards for some future event.


    Aye, those changes shouldn¡¯t be hard at all. What¡¯ll we do when somethin¡¯ inevitably breaks down and needs maintenance, though? Tubrock asked in response to my request, which made me furrow my brows.


    Although we can¡¯t replicate the devices¡­ is it possible to create ¡®repair kits¡¯ with Ashley¡¯s divinity? That was the only answer that I could immediatelye up with for the issue. Otherwise, the bases would only everst until something broke, at which point they¡¯d simply be abandoned until we had the sufficient technology to rece any broken devices.


    I¡¯ll ask thess about that when she¡¯s done makin¡¯ her rounds. After he said that, it seemed that there wasn¡¯t anything else for him to report, as I felt the connection closing. While we didn¡¯t learn as much as I wanted from these bases, at least it wasn¡¯t a total loss.


    Who knows¡­ maybe Leowynn will be able to use her Void domain to rece some of theponents in those machines Tubrock had problems with.


    A wave of news soon swept over the myriad worlds. The churches of two major gods, Ryone and Leowynn, had jointly created a new organization with the blessing of both deities. This was the firstbined organization among the divine since the four sisters, and this one seemed to have quite the shocking purpose.


    This organization, known as the Boundless Caravan, offered the concept of unity through trade. So long as a member of this organization was present, they would be able to initiate trade with any other member of the organization, regardless of world or distance. For a smallmission fee, merchants could ce their goods for sale with the Boundless Caravan, and would be notified by the organization with their payment when those goods were sold.


    Of course¡­ this did not make normal stores obsolete. The Boundless Caravan specialized in trading rare goods and materials, as well as emergency supplies and luxuries. As a result, their prices were naturally somewhat higher than if one were to go to amon store.


    However, even regardless of this fact, the organization rapidly spread throughout the various worlds. If one were to travel with a member of the Boundless Caravan, then they would never have to worry about running out of food and supplies, so long as they had the coin to afford it.


    Because of this, the organization first spread to those most hostile environments, including the less hospitable floors of Fyor. Any ship that was scheduled to depart from a world chose to first wait to do so in the hopes that they could hire a member of the Boundless Caravan. After all, it wasn¡¯t simply enough to be a worshipper of both Ryone and Leowynn.


    In order to ess the trade tform, one must truly join the organization. This was something determined by the Goddesses themselves, making it so that one was unable to create the Boundless Coin if they were not a registered member. Thanks to this, there was an influx of worshippers to both the Church of the Glittering Tome and the newly formed Church of the Starry Night, many wishing to be registered for this prestigious position.

 Chapter 536: Take to the Stars

    <h4>Chapter 536: Take to the Stars</h4>


    Within the world of Lorek, Jana stood atop a three-story building, slowly breathing in and out. Her eyes were fixated on the distant horizon, where she felt a sense of impending danger. As if some great predator were staring back at her beyond her own vision.


    In theing days, she would be tasked with leading an expedition in that direction in order to expand the controlled territory of Lorek. Based on the estimates of numerous schrs that hade from various worlds, the size of Lorek should bepletely iparable to that of any of the Keeper¡¯s othernds.


    However, the dangers present within Lorek were equallyrge. They could not carelessly travel from one territory to another for fear that they would encounter a high level star beast out on its regr hunting path. If that were to happen, perhaps Jana herself might be able to escape, but most people within this world would be doomed to be the beast¡¯s food.


    So, they took things slow. They used arrays to read the levels of different auras near their territory before using that information to map out the safest route to expand. Since every city had golems left behind by the ancient civilization, ready to defend, they merely had to make it to the next city before they were considered safe.


    Unfortunately, the cities themselves were by no means close to one another. And, if they did not journey in the right direction, they mightpletely miss the nearest city, and travel for weeks before finding a safe haven. Because of this, they always made ample preparations, whether it was in stealth arrays, food, or weapons.


    Yet still, Jana felt a foreboding like never before. She trusted her instincts, but at the same time, her instincts alone were not enough to call off the expedition when all evidence pointed to the journey ahead being safe.


    ¡°Captain, we¡¯re ready tounch.¡± An elven man with tanned skin spoke up into his headset, looking at the consoles before him. This would be the first manned voyage beyond the atmosphere since the merging of the worlds. Ever since then, the spatial storms caused by the shing of mana and ki have swept over the atmosphere, making it impossible for any vessels to leave without the proper preparations.


    As a world that had already begun to explore beyond their own, such a setback was intolerable, and they had immediately begun working on shielding that could protect their crafts in the new rigors of space. Their unmanned tests had shown sess, and now they were ready tounch a proper craft.


    The captain of the ship, Sonora Sts, gave a small nod as he leaned back in his chair with a serious look on his face. ¡°Alright, everyone. Remember, no fooling around. We¡¯ll be deploying the station module, and then heading back. We¡¯re not out for a stroll today.¡±


    His words made wry smiles appear on the faces of several crew members. This was their mission¡­ not reiming the ruins of the moon base, but simply deploying the first piece of arger station that would orbit their own.


    As the spatial storms had simrly destroyed all orbiting stations, they had to first rebuild. Only when the orbital assembly waspleted could they start manufacturing craft able to journey to other sr systems. Still, this was an important mission in itself, the first step to reiming the stars.


    ¡°Command, this is Captain Sts, awaiting permission tounch.¡± The captain spoke into his own headset.


    ¡°Understood, Sts. Clear skies, begin the countdown. Launching in ten¡­¡± Slowly, the voice spoke back, and the crew within the ship began running through the preunch systems. When the countdown was finished, everyone felt a jolt as they wereunched upwards, rising into the sky.


    The craft shook as it rose higher and higher, soaring up through the sky. ¡°Deploying storm shields.¡± One of the officers spoke up, flipping several switches on their own console.


    Outside of the craft, a translucent blue barrier appeared, wrapping entirely around its surface. This was the result of their research, a barrier which was able to simte the effects of an atmosphere in regards to stopping the spatial storms. Everyone held their breath as they broke through the upperyers of the atmosphere, knowing that it was the moment of truth.


    Yellow and blue energies shed against one another before their eyes, sending shockwaves that crashed against their barrier, shaking the craft. However, the energies themselves did not push past their barrier, resulting in only a small amount of turbulence.


    Seeing this, the crew of the craft let out sighs of relief, before briefly cheering. Now that they had made it this far, they had be the first pioneers of the new age of space exploration, ready to take their people once more beyond the bounds of their own world.


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get our orbit lined up to deploy the station.¡± Captain Sts smiled happily, seeing the morale of the crew rising. The vessel was still shaking, but he was quickly bing used to these small tremors.


    It was then that a voice spoke up over the radio. ¡°Captain, I¡¯m reading movement within the storm off our right side, but I can¡¯t get a clear view of it with the scanners. Too much interference.¡±


    Raising an eyebrow curiously, he nodded towards a female elf within his crew, who pulled up an external camera disy. The storms were¡­ colorful, to say the very least. Enough so that they provided a constant aurora effect when looked at from the ground. It was no surprise that it became difficult to properly track objects within these storms due to this.


    At this moment, they were able to see a small ck figure within the storm, one which looked like a ck bird. It was no bigger than a grown man¡¯s hand, but¡­ it seemed to be consuming the energy within the storm? Sts furrowed his brow, wondering if they were simply unlucky enough to have encountered a monster on their journey into space when he noticed something unusual about the creature.


    Its skin, while ck, emitted a faint hint of silver light. This light would be hard toe by in almost any other world, but as a resident of Spica, he could recognize it all too well. ¡°Plot a return course.¡± He ordered immediately. ¡°We¡¯re aborting the mission. Get us back on the ground as soon as you can.¡±


    ¡°Captain?¡± One of the elves looked at him in surprise, having not noticed the silver glow within the colorful explosions. It¡¯s not surprising, as this type of creature had almost never been seen within Spica.


    ¡°There are star beasts out here.¡± He spoke with a strained voice. He could recognize the starlight glow that came whenever a man or beast cultivated, and was able to roughly understand what was going on. ¡°The shields we have for the module won¡¯t defend it from a deliberate attack.¡±


    Hearing the words ¡®star beast¡¯, everyone immediately moved into action. The dangers of Lorek were well known, and it was entirely because of this special breed of monster, which could only be found within their cultivation world. For such a creature to appear in the atmosphere of Spica¡­


    ¡°Most likely, there will be numerous of such monsters.¡± Sts spected out loud, his eyes fixated on the bird. ¡°They don¡¯t descend to the surface of the because the ideal circumstances for them to evolve would be here, where the energy is at its thickest. Right now, it¡¯s busy ¡®eating¡¯. If it thought we were here to steal its food-¡±


    ¡°Captain, left side!¡± The voice from before spoke up over the radio again, and the view immediately shifted to a different camera. Once again, there was the image of a ck bird. However, this bird could by no means fit within the palm of a hand. Instead, it was arguably asrge as their craft itself, with a massive wingspan and glowing silver eyes.


    ¡°Abandon the mission. Everyone, emergency evacuation!¡± The captain called out, mming his fist against a button on his chair. Silver light shone around his body, as well as the bodies of the rest of the crew. They could see giant, steel-like ws tearing through the hull of their ship moments before they vanished, returning to a prepared room on the ground.


    ¡°Captain Sts?¡± A voice spoke up from the doorway, a female scientist surprised to see the crew of the recentlyunched vessel returning in such a manner. This was the recall room, after all.


    ¡°I need to speak withmand.¡± Sts said, rising to his feet with a stern expression. ¡°The Javelin has fallen.¡± Hearing his words, the eyes of the researcher went wide, and she nodded her head, running from the room in haste.


    ¡°Well¡­ that could be a problem.¡± I muttered as I watched the scene of the spaceship being torn apart. Out of curiosity, I checked the rest of the atmosphere, only to find hundreds of thousands of different monsters all absorbing the spatial storms in the atmosphere. Each one was a star beast ranging from the protostar to binary union stages.


    Thankfully, there were no monsters beyond that point at this time, but such was unlikely to remain the case in the future. In the atmosphere of Spica, the concentration of ki and mana was thousands of times greater than at the surface, so it would not be unusual for creatures to be able to evolve if given enough time.


    If they were lucky, and only encountered a protostar stage beast like the small ck bird, then they could still deal with it. Protostar beasts did not differ too much from regr animals, aside from their stronger physique. Anything beyond that level, on the other hand, would offer a serious challenge to space exploration missions.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t the unmanned craft pick them up?¡± I muttered, my hand squeezing Terra¡¯s waist as she leaned against me.


    ¡°Simple.¡± She said, letting out a light yawn. ¡°The collision of ki and mana cause interference with a number of different scanners. Anything that relies on detecting energy waves would be thrown off, and only visual clues can be considered trustworthy. The drones wouldn¡¯t have had any ki or mana signatures, so any star beasts in its area would have ignored it.¡±


    ¡°With the Javelin, on the other hand, the crew all had a level of ki and mana training. The star beasts recognize this, and deem them aspetitors for their food. Or in this specific instance, the ck bird considered the crew of the ship as a potential threat to its chick.¡±


    I gave a small nod when I heard that. ¡°What about Tsubaki¡¯s ward system? Would they attack those as well?¡±


    ¡°Not intentionally.¡± Terra shook her head with a shrug. ¡°She set the array gs outside of the main concentration for the storms. Although they are close enough to feed on some of the energy to maintain effect, the star beasts would have to be in their immediate area at the time that they be active in order to really sense them. Even so¡­ I think three array gs have been taken down so far through idental collisions?¡±


    I let out a small sigh when I heard that. ¡°Looks like Spica and Lorek will need to start work on siege weapons that can defend against star beasts sooner rather thanter.¡± Such research was already taking ce on Lorek, but their poption was rather smallpared to the other worlds, so it was no surprise that they were proceeding more slowly. Maybe with Spica¡¯s help, they would be able to build something suitable before it became toote for either party?


    As I thought about that, I began wondering about a different possibility. Would it be feasible for priests of Leowynn to be able to drive away, or even control star beasts? As stars were a major aspect of power within these two worlds, and also one of her domains, this made her eligible to be a primary deity within Spica and Lorek. Perhaps, even on par with Ryone and Tubrock themselves.

 Chapter 537: World’s Shadow

    <h4>Chapter 537: World¡¯s Shadow</h4>


    Thelsa sat within the darkness of her shadow home, one hand resting on a yellow book bound with a silver sp. This had once been the book that Sora Sparks had used to study her magic. It was filled withplex spell diagrams that she used to test herself, deciphering their individual meaning.


    Now, it was a book without an owner. Although it had been some time since her friend had passed, the wound felt just as fresh. In the back of her mind, she could still hear Sora chiding her. ¡°I¡¯m already gone.¡± She would say with a self-deprecating smile. ¡°You should move on, Thelsa. Be the best you that you can be, for me?¡±


    ¡°But I never wanted to lose you like that¡­ it was my fault.¡± Thelsa found herself muttering aloud, her hands grasping the book a bit more tightly.


    ¡°None of us knew what was going to happen. You gave me a great life, and great friends to enjoy it. Just look outside, see Petra?¡± The voice in her mind seemed to urge her on, and Thelsa found herself watching what was happening outside of the shadows.


    Petra had joined an adventuring party within Fyor, and they were preparing themselves to ascend to the next floor. Petra and Thelsa knew what to expect there. The civilization focused on the development of ki. This would be the first time in Fyor¡¯s history that they would have ascended into ayer that was truly inhabited by a well-developed civilization.


    ¡°She¡¯s a brave girl.¡± Thelsa found herself muttering again. She knew that the pain was just as hard for Petra to bear, and yet she had taken the initiative to appear in public.


    ¡°That¡¯s right she is!¡± Sora would have answered with augh. ¡°Now¡­ don¡¯t you feel like you should be a bit brave, too? You can still help people, Thelsa. But, not by sitting in here alone, trapped in your own despair. That¡¯s not your style. That¡¯s not our style.¡±


    Thelsa shook slightly as those words resounded in the back of her mind. She knew it was right, these words wereing from herself after all. Just a projection she imagined of her departed friend. She hesitated for a moment, before snapping open the sp of the yellow book. Sora was gone, but she would never be forgotten. She was Thelsa¡¯s oldest friend, her first shadow reborn time and again.


    She opened the book, and began to study through the designs, just like Sora once did herself. She could almost feel the warmth of Sora reading over her shoulder, the feeling bing more distinct with every spell she solved.


    Eventually, she reached the end of the book, feeling as if she had gained a new understanding of her old friend. She was by no means epting of Sora¡¯s death, nor Maria¡¯s. Those two names would be forever carved into her heart, two people who gave their lives so that Thelsa could live hers.


    She was the Shadow Saint, the one who ruled the darkness not with fear, nor with power. She ruled the darkness withpassion. That was what she took her title to truly mean. If she were to ever give up thatpassion, she would lose the very thing she held onto for all those years.


    As Thelsa closed the book, she furrowed her brow in focus. It was time to properly learn the power of her own energy, beyond what the title exined to her. There was so much more to be discovered, if she only took the initiative to try.


    That¡¯s right. I thought to myself as I took my vision away from Thelsa, who had hidden herself away in the world of shadows. She was the Shadow Saint, and there was something that I had been neglecting this entire time. Something that was so blindingly obvious that I never even thought about it.


    She was the Shadow Saint! That was not just some random title that the system had given her, as it came with its own set of powers. Or rather, it came with its own energy. A saint level energy on par with my Ki of Beginning. But if I had topare the two¡­ it was possible that the energy of the Shadow Saint was of a slightly higher level than that of the Saint of Five Lights.


    Thinking to this point, I opened the market again, and began searching through the different energy types. I narrowed my search to those at the saint level, with the aspects of shadows and creation. After a moment of thought, I added in the aspect of sentience as well. That was perhaps the most powerful ability of the Shadow Saint¡¯s energy.


    When I had done all of this, the results were narrowed down to but one. I knew right away that this was the energy that Thelsa had been granted by the system through her title.


    World¡¯s Shadow - Beginner


    This knowledge database contains the first level of understanding for the World¡¯s Shadow energy, including its creation method and fundamental usage.


    15,000 Points


    World¡¯s Shadow, is it? I muttered to myself, considering buying this information on Thelsa¡¯s behalf, and then imparting it to her. After the recent invasion, and considering the uing windfall that I would be receiving from the Gilded Branch, I could afford such an expenditure. It might even be useful for me to learn how to wield the energy myself.


    During the recent invasion, I had understood on a deeper level what it meant to be a Keeper. I was capable of essing all powers within my world, be they sses or domains. That thought made me remember the very first time that I had practiced training in the different energies. They had simply been there, waiting for me to grasp them.


    Then, when I practiced elemental ki, Terra had told me that as long as it was a type of elemental ki that existed in my world, I could use it. The only reason I had to cultivate it myself at first was so that I could feel what the energy was like personally. Ki and elemental ki were two very simr types of energies, so the distinction would have been hard for me to make back when I was still new to this.


    Now, I was more used to things, and I could feel the energies more clearly. I could even use my world sight to pick them apart one by one and ssify them. With that in mind¡­ shouldn¡¯t I be able to use the world¡¯s shadow energy?


    Closing my eyes, I leaned back on my bed and focused. Deep inside my core, where there were innumerable energies swirling around. Each one gave me a different feeling. Some of them I recognized at a nce, like the four basic energies, or chakra, or even divine energy.


    Others felt foreign to me, as I had not personally experienced them. However, I was able to recognize them after studying them for a bit. Martial spirit energy, aeon energy¡­ these two I had only encountered recently myself, when I began cultivating in Lorek.


    Then there were others, moreplex energy types. I saw one that looked to be aplex mix of spiritual energy, mana, and ki. It gave a dangerous, chilling sensation, and merely touching it caused my spine to shiver. If I had to guess¡­ this would be something akin to necromantic energy?


    When did we get an energy like this? I asked myself with furrowed brows. It wasn¡¯t surprising, though, when I thought about it. The residents of my world had had quite a lot of time to study the creation ofbined energy types. There were bound to be those that existed for advanced sses that I had simply not purchased yet.


    I briefly thought whether I should go ahead and purchase more advanced sses, but I shook my head. With the appearance of divinity, the world was starting to break the ¡®mold¡¯ which was the ss system. While it might be nice to create the sses to guide them through the use of these energies in the future, I did not want to ultimately turn sses into a crutch that they relied on.


    Going through the other energies, I found the mostplex three of them all. Two of these energies I was very familiar with, as they were my own World Sight and Ki of Beginning. Thest energy seemed to have its roots primarily in elemental ki, but with mana and spiritual energy interwoven. When I touched this energy, I was able to feel boundless darkness.


    Nodding my head with a satisfied smile, I directed my gaze down towards my world host, noticing that he had long since finished helping Scarlet restart her empire. Now, he was simply lounging within the throne room of the Sky Citadel, sitting absolutely still with his eyes closed. It seemed clear that he was doing something with the illusions of his internal world, so I decided to wait until he was finished before descending to possess him.


    The wait was rather long, or it would have been if I was not fast forwarding. What was no doubt hours below passed in moments, and I felt the warm glow of the system¡¯s light wrap around me as I descended.


    Naturally, Tsubaki was standing at the foot of the stairs before my throne, waiting patiently for me to give her any order. When she saw me rising from the throne, her motionless body became more lifelike, and she offered me a bow. ¡°My Keeper, do you have business for me to attend to?¡±


    ¡°Not this time, Tsubaki.¡± I responded with a smile, descending the stairs and patting her shoulder gently. ¡°There¡¯s an experiment that I need to run, so I¡¯ll be heading out for a few minutes. Also¡­ I wanted to thank you for your help in the battle before.¡±


    Tsubaki¡¯s gaze shifted a bit, clearly happy at the praise. ¡°I see that my Keeper has truly returned to his normal self.¡±


    ¡°Is it that obvious?¡± I let out a wryugh, knowing that meant that she had seen through the World Host.


    ¡°Not at first. Indeed, the other you matches your mannerisms perfectly. However, a part of his power declined shortly after the battle, which led to my suspicion.¡± She should be talking about my Keeper power, as the host only had a normal body. ¡°If it was any other time, I would not have thought too deeply about it, but with what happened¡­¡± Tsubaki¡¯s ears pressed t against her skull.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay, I don¡¯t me you or anything.¡± I assured her gently. ¡°Leowynn is with me now. She¡¯s perfectly fine, just adjusting to her new situation.¡±


    Tsubaki let out a sigh of relief, her tense body visibly rxing when she heard that. ¡°I am d, my Keeper. In that case, I shall not disturb your experiment. If you require my assistance, do not hesitate to call for me.¡±


    I gave a brief nod, before shifting my location. For this test, I would be heading to a familiar, isted ind in the middle of the ocean. Somewhere I had not been for a long time, and I knew was far too small to have be an inhabited tourist spot. The ind of Trials, the first dungeon.


    When I arrived, I found myself standing atop arge stone tform, one which appeared carved from a single piece. This was the entrance to the dungeon, and I took a deep breath, enjoying the ocean breeze. Faintly, I could feel Trials probing at me, trying to make contact. However, I shook my head, speaking in the english of my old world, the originalnguage of the dungeons. ¡°It¡¯s fine, Trials. I¡¯ll just be borrowing this location for a minute to try something. Once I¡¯m done, I¡¯ll head back.¡±


    After I said that, the mental probing vanished, and I got to work. Previously, I had used such an ind to create my ki of beginning. Now, I would use it to ess this new power.


    The first step was to release the full power of the Keeper, allowing it to fill my body. The air shook around me, the water churning as ki flooded through me. I usually kept this power hidden, only pulling what I needed when I needed it.


    Now that I had fully released my restraints, I felt inside myself again, looking for the same darkness that I had touched upon in the Admin Room. Since I knew what I was looking for, it didn¡¯t take me long to find the energy mixed haphazardly among the rest. And when I grasped it, pulling it to the surface, I found my body covered in ayer of ck tar.


    This was the raw form of the world¡¯s shadow, and I willed it to gather in my hand. ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ she created a shadow of an entire world, or at least ayer of Fyor.¡± Analyzing the ball of darkness in my hand, I found that it seemed to have a sort of ethereal property. This gave me an idea for how I could use this power.


    Turning my body, I held my hand over my own shadow, and dropped the darkness into it. ¡°Spread.¡± Imanded, knowing that the darkness had a will of its own. From my understanding of Thelsa¡¯s power, the world¡¯s shadow had three primary functions.


    The first, and most prevalent of these functions was the ¡®shadow of life¡¯. She was able to create living shadows connected to herself on a fundamental level through this ability. They could train any ss that she had trained herself, as the energy pulled the foundation of that ss from her own being.


    The second function was the ¡®shadow of power¡¯, which allowed Thelsa to manifest the shadows as living people, their abilities bing their own in the physical world. With only the first function, her shadows would be simple ck masses that could only pass as living people within her shadow world.


    Which brings me to the third function, the ¡®shadow of creation¡¯. This was the most powerful ability that Thelsa had unlocked, allowing the world¡¯s shadow to create an entire world for her by copying the world she was currently in. This was done by allowing the world¡¯s shadow to spread through the shadows, linking them all together to form the image of the world.


    This was what I was using now. The world¡¯s shadow had a will which was linked with my own, and knew what I wanted it to aplish. Although this was my first time using the energy, it was being powered through my Keeper abilities, making it no weaker than that which Thelsa herself wielded. That was why I was confident that I would be able to create a true shadow of an entire world.

 Chapter 538: Growing Darkness

    <h4>Chapter 538: Growing Darkness</h4>


    I stood atop Trials¡¯ ind, closing my eyes and focusing. I could feel the shadows stretching out, further and further. Connecting with every dark corner of the world and integrating it all together. This must be how Thelsa felt the first time that she created the shadow of Fyor, the feeling of something expanding deep within you.


    This wasn¡¯t just a normal saint energy, that much I was certain of now. As I felt the shadow world growingrger, I had a guess at the true nature of this ability. The world¡¯s shadow was an attempt to mirror the power of the Keeper himself, but on the opposite side of the spectrum.


    With the world¡¯s shadow, it was possible to train people who had any sses that the user themselves possessed, and those people had the potential to train to a higher level than the user. As opposed to my situation, there is quite the contrast.


    Of course, it shouldn¡¯t just be limited to sses. If you think about it, the world¡¯s shadow was something which existed in multiple world types. At no point in its market entry did it say that it required the game system to function. Therefore, sses couldn¡¯t be the true standard that it used to give power.


    Instead, it should be something like¡­ understanding? Personal experiences? One of those two should be the real foundation for how the world¡¯s shadow created its entities. By using those experiences or understandings as a foundation, it builds a personality, a living creature that is able to expand on that foundation.


    However, while it is able to incorporate its own understanding to improve its ability, it is unable to learn anything entirely new. That was why Thelsa had to reach perfection first, before any of her shadows could. She had no true understanding of the concept, or firsthand experiences with it.


    Simrly, if I were to create a god with the world¡¯s shadow, they would only be able to use a domain that I myself had ess to. Anything else would be considered new, and couldn¡¯t be programmed into the shadow. I wasn¡¯t able to simply create half-gods on the verge of ascension and mass-produce deities with new domains because of this restriction.


    You have created the Shadow of Earth.


    I gave a small smile as I saw that message, knowing that the process had been finished sessfully. Although it took longer than when Thelsa performed the same action, that could also have been because she had the system¡¯s assistance. Still, I remembered the disorientation she suffered from when she had performed the process. That could have been a side-effect of how she did it, or because she was not used to having such arge internal world.


    On the other hand, I did it more slowly due to my inexperience, but I also already had the world of my inner sky. Thanks to these things, I didn¡¯t feel such disorientation when I finished creating my shadow. And, if the name of this energy was more carefully thought-out than that of the Ki of Beginning, this should be the true core of the energy itself.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be going, then.¡± I spoke out loud to the dungeon I had borrowed, before shifting my location back towards the citadel. Now that I had finished my main objective, the rest could be done from thefort of my mortal home.


    ¡°Wee back, my Keeper.¡± Tsubaki spoke calmly as I returned, not even flinching at the way I appeared next to her. ¡°I trust everything went as you expected?¡±


    ¡°Thank you. As for that¡­ we¡¯ll see soon enough.¡± As I said that, I walked over to my throne. While I had created the shadow of a world due to the energy itself possessing a form of will, that wasn¡¯t going to help me as much with the process of creating a living shadow. For that, I did have an idea of what to do, but I would need to test it to be sure.


    Once I had sat down, I split part of my concentration off to create a divine clone, and sent it into the world of shadows. Inside, as I had seen in Thelsa¡¯s own shadow world, light and dark were inverted. Because the citadel¡¯s throne room was primarily lit with natural lighting, this caused a scene where darkness poured in through the windows in an attempt to scatter away the light.


    ¡°Now¡­ it should be something like this, right?¡± I muttered through my avatar, focusing. If my guess was correct, the creation of a shadow person was, in essence, simply the creation of an avatar through the world¡¯s shadow. As such, that was exactly what I tried to do.


    Shadows warped within the inverted world, seeping along the ground to pool in front of me. While I was in the process of creating the avatar, I did my best to separate my mind from it. In a way, this was simr to the process that I created Clover Kyr. However, in his situation, I was isting two different partitions of my mind. In contrast, I was now attempting topletely remove my mind from this avatar.


    Given what I had observed from Thelsa, I felt that this would be the correct choice. In order to allow the shadow to develop from only a portion of my knowledge, I had to first create an empty vessel. At least, that was my reasoning behind it.


    Soon, the shadow rose up to create a vaguely humanoid shape in front of me, its features too blurred to make out. From everything I could discern, this was a finished avatar. However, it felt¡­ empty due to theck of a will.


    Closing my eyes, I focused my thoughts, controlling my soul to form threads from three different ¡®sses¡¯ of my power. These were the mage, monk, and ninja sses, and I began to feed these threads into the avatar in front of me.


    To my surprise¡­ the avatar did not ept these threads. At least, not in the way I expected it to. Instead, it dissolved the moment that the threads touched it, returning to a pool of darkness. However, I was able to feel something different within it as opposed to the original darkness. There was now something growing inside of it.


    I see¡­ the process isn¡¯t to form an avatar and feed it the experiences that I want to use as a foundation. It¡¯s to first feed the experiences into the world¡¯s shadow, and then allow it to create the avatar on its own. The fact that things were being performed backwards here surprised me, but there was nothing I could particrly do about it.


    While the first shadow was ¡®incubating¡¯, I created four more pools of darkness. For each of these, I focused on giving them only a single ss. For the first one, the ss was enchanter. For the second, it was druid.


    For the third shadow, I decided to do a little test. When I use my Keeper levels, my soul is shifted to allow all sses to ¡®fit¡¯ in it. I wanted to see what would happen if I tried to create a shadow from a ss that I did not have myself, and only existed in my Keeper power. As such, I used the bard ss.


    And finally, for the fourth shadow, I was performing another test. Rather than pulling a ss from my soul, I retrieved a thread from my soul and filtered out all of the ¡®ss data¡¯ from it. What was left was only a pure thread of spiritual energy with my divinity mixed in. This was my attempt to manufacture a god. If it worked, I couldter try it with the different domains I had ess to.


    Once I was done with that, I had a total of five pools of shadows sitting before me. Each of them had the feeling of something growing inside of them, though I did not know how long the process would take for them to grow. Should I consult with Thelsa about this?


    When that thought urred to me, I simply shook my head. Thelsa was already going through a rough time. It was her identity as the Shadow Saint that helped her move past her grief. If I were to appear and suggest that anyone could potentially form this energy, it would send her spiralling back into her despair.


    If I decided that I really did need a tutor for this energy, it would be better for me to purchase the guide for it from the market. That guide was likely to be far moreprehensive than anything that Thelsa could teach me anyways, and would help me to eventually create a legacy for shadow saints, if I decided to one day spread them.


    At that thought, I began wondering¡­ what would happen if two people created a shadow of the same world? Would their shadow worlds be independent of each other, or would they merge together? That was something I would need to consider in the future, if more people with this power emerged.


    Within a mage¡¯sboratory at the heart of the elven kingdom, mana and spiritual energy could be seen flowing through the air like glistening streams. Below, numerous formations had beenid out to guide the energies, while multiple magic items served as foci for the ritual.


    One was a staff made of silver, runic patterns etched into it. Another was a wooden wand with a bloodied tip. Then there was a sword with a shining topaz embedded in its hilt. Each of these items seemed to serve some specific purpose, whether it was to guide or condense the airborne energies.


    ¡°Yes, yes.¡± A female elf spoke up just outside the boundary of the ritual, excitement clear on her features. She was one of the foremost researchers when it came tobining energy. She had clearly understood the fundamental properties of each of the basic types, and was able to understand how they would respond when ced together under specific circumstances.


    This was her newest theory, a new mix of mana and spiritual energy that she had formted. In order to get the process just right, she had to spend months creating the precise forms. Then she had to find the proper enchantments that would resonate with the energy to create the best result, and calcte their cement within the ritual.


    If this worked, she could predict the ability of the new energy based on the research she had done. It would be capable of transferring enchantments from one item to another, while bypassing the natural limits of the enchanted items. This was because the enchantment could be stored in the energy itself, and simply use the item as a conduit for the power, thus reducing the burden that the item had to face.


    She knew that the ritual was reaching its final stages, able to see how the energies were beginning to merge within the air. Every time the streams of light passed through one of the enchanted items, their splendor became brighter, absorbing a portion of the enchantment in order to further refine its own properties.


    These strands then merged together at the center of the ritual chamber, drawn towards a ss sphere that she had set as the final focus point. Her eyes went wide with glee as the energies began to seep into the ss, before her expression shook.


    The energy within the air trembled faintly, barely enough for her to even notice. Yet, that small tremble was enough that it disrupted the fusion process. The researcher barely had the time to run for the door, mming it behind her before she felt the foundation of the building shaking from the energy explosion. Her wards managed to dampen the effects as much as possible, but it was impossible to full cover up such arge eruption.


    Thankfully, such things were not entirely umon for her, so she lived in a rather secluded area outside of town. Monsters were often drawn in by her experiments, but the local beasts were easily dealt with by her wards.


    ¡°What could have gone wrong?¡± She muttered to herself, opening the door after the explosion had finished its damage. She was no stranger to failure, yet this time the process had been going so smoothly! The energy was at the final stage of condensation, and the fusion would have beenpleted in just a few more moments!


    Shaking her head, she moved to one of the side rooms, where she had a series of monitoring devices set up. As she was used to her experiments failing, she had these devices installed so that she could always determine the exact cause of the failure and correct her mistakes before attempting the experiment again.


    ¡°Nothing on the ki spectrum¡­¡± She muttered, looking at the first device. This was the mostmon cause of failure, with either her own ki bing excited from watching or a nearby monster being killed and causing their own ki to erupt.


    However, when she turned to look at the next screen, she blinked in confusion. ¡°A¡­ natural energy fluctuation? And, there are traces of foreign mana and spiritual energy sweeping through theb as well.¡±


    Natural energy was the easiest thing in the world to keep at bay with her wards, so there shouldn¡¯t have been any chance for it to disrupt her experiment. Not unless an elementalist had personally arrived to disturb her. However, there was no trace of that. ¡°Maybe a higher order of energy? If it had natural energy as aponent, it might have been picked up¡­¡±


    However, she did not know of any order of energy higher than the ¡®perfect self¡¯ that contained natural energy, and her wards were even capable of keeping the residual energy of that type at bay. This made her both uncertain and excited at the same time. Unfortunately, she didn¡¯t have enough data to discern the fullposition of this residual energy.


    As she shook her head, she moved to her ritual chamber, where she noticed the shattered shards of ss on the floor. In one of those shards, there was a faint swirling mist of silver and yellow light. Her smile bloomed once more as she realized that a piece of the energy had managed to condense before the disruption urred.


    It might be just a small shard, but it was enough to get started.

 Chapter 539: Forging Connections

    <h4>Chapter 539: Forging Connections</h4>


    Petra stood at the gate to the nextyer of Fyor, the furthestyer that she and Thelsa had explored. Currently, she was standing with a small party of five, blending in as a typical strong adventurer. Despite her youthful appearance, nobody underestimated her after she disyed her abilities against numerous monsters on the way here.


    ¡°Is everyone ready?¡± The party leader, a human female in orichalcum armor asked, holding a faintly shining sword in one hand. The possibilities of a new floor were endless. They had not organized their group purely forbat strength, but rather to cover any possibilities that they could encounter.


    Aside from Petra and the leader, there were three other members of the group. One, a halfling mage who firmly held a wooden staff in his hands. Another a human woman in a white cloth robe, holding a trident amulet which hung around her neck. And finally, the main fighting force that would join Petra on the front lines, a heroc male that carried a sword asrge as his giant body.


    These three each nodded their consent to continue, and so the leader entered the gate first. As the ck stone wall opened up, and light began to shine through, everyone was able to briefly see the scene on the other side of the wall. When they did so, they were left shocked.


    There was no wide forest, no rolling hills or dark caverns. No inds dotted atop a vast ocean, or even a field of mes. They had even prepared for the gate to open into a volcano. Thest thing that they expected was to encounter a very modern city, people walking through the streets on their way to work or home.


    Rather than pressing onwards, the leader hastily pulled back when she saw this scene, her face pale. They had prepared a force that could ovee any obstacle that they had imagined. But, they hadn¡¯t prepared a diplomat¡­ ¡°If we go in there with our current group, it will likely cause a stir. We should report back to the guild, and let them know the situation.¡±


    The others were struck dumb for a long moment, slowly nodding their heads. Only the heroc seemed interested in continuing, hisbative nature wishing to look for a challenge in the people on the other side of the gate. Yet, he hade this far due to his ability to control such urges, and thus gave in to the suggestion of the leader.


    While I was waiting for my shadows to mature, I decided that it was time for me to settle another matter that I had been putting off. Previously, I had been concerned that tending to this matter would cause me to fall into an ambush, should the other party have ill intentions. Now, however, I was confident enough to at least be able to escape if that should happen.


    From my seat of power within the Sky Citadel, I withdrew the same stone shard that had allowed me to turn the tide in the previous invasion. Now, it no longer needed to serve quite the same purpose, so it was fine for me to use it for other matters.


    Focusing, I erected a mirror in front of myself with my divinity. ¡°Find him.¡± I muttered, and my divinity swept through the tidestone, entering the elemental ne and swiftly advancing towards the world of ¡®life¡¯. There was a chance that he was not currently within this elemental ne, but I had no way to make sure without first checking. I didn¡¯t have any kind of ability that would allow me to directly contact him without ever having personally met him, after all.


    The mirror swept over the endless forest within the elemental ne, looking for any signs of his presence. ording to the world spirit of Fyor, James had appeared before her one day, clearly knowing what she was and attempting to help her. However, he had not appeared right away, and there were creatures capable of hunting world spirits.


    As such, it was ill-advised for me to try to lure him out with a world spirit avatar. Instead, I should use what I did know to find him. When he was a Keeper, he was a major advocate of the technological path. Enough so that he personally assisted in almost every significant advancement of the world, ording to Terra.


    Such a man would not easily live in a feral world like this without carving out his own little home. It wasn¡¯t feasible for him to build something like modern electronics, but-hah! There it is!


    Concealed within the forest, hidden at the base of a hill, was a small home that had been constructed out of shaped wood. If not for the presence of a door and two windows, I likely would have overlooked it as the dwelling of a beast. However, what beast would need a door and windows?


    I sent my sight into the home, looking for the owner. To my dismay, however, I found it empty. There was a small bed in the back, as well as a desk, but no sign of James himself.


    Just as I was preparing to look for any other buildings he may have constructed in this world, I saw a note stuck to the interior of the door. It was carved from a stone b, written in thenguage of halflings. Maybe the world spirit taught him thenguage while she was there?


    ¡®Measure the pulses of the world of natural energy, and they form a cycle. The cycle ends when six pulses ur in rapid session. At the start of each new cycle, I will check this hut. Sorry, but it¡¯s hard to tell time here without a method like this, and I can¡¯t stay here all the time. Looking for other ways to contact.¡¯


    I furrowed my brow when I read the message. I had never observed the elemental ne long enough to find the pattern of pulses that James was referring to. Most likely, it would be simr to a day, or some near-equivalent. If he was exploring the elemental nes and their connections with otheryers of Fyor, there was almost no chance of him being able toe check up on this location once every hour or anything like that.


    Shaking my head, I stretched out my energy to write a simple ¡®Understood¡¯ beneath his message, so that he would know that I had visited even if I missed him. Then, I created a second mirror, and caused it to pull away from the world of life. If I wanted to aplish my goal of meeting with James, then it seemed that I would first need to measure the cycle that he spoke of.


    I was¡­ not expecting this to be an exciting activity. After all, it would be the same as staring at a clock for as long as a full day, waiting for the hands to all fall on six. Though, the idea that this cycle was only a day could just be a misconception on my part. It could be a two-day cycle, or even a week!


    I was half tempted to simply leave a piece of tidestone in the hut for him to use to find his way to me. However, that would be extremely unwise. Even leaving aside the fact that I had to maintain at least a bare minimum caution when handling the situation with him, there was still the fact that numerous beasts from this elemental ne might have the ability to use the stone as well.


    Watching the mirror, I began to measure the pulses, doing my best to time them. In truth, all I had to do was keep the mirror active on the hut. As long as the cycle ended, he would eventually return without me needing to measure the pulses.


    However, I still decided to do so, if only to improve my own understanding of this elemental ne. For instance¡­ what is special about this cycle? If it is an irregr pattern, what causes it? Does it have any effects on the other elemental worlds?


    As I was thinking of these things, I was measuring the duration between each pulse, noting that each one came slightly more quickly than thest. From this, it could be guessed that the ¡®six rapid pulses¡¯ was when this pattern reached its peak, and the energy was reset.


    The only problem was¡­ the change between each pulse seemed too little, barely a fraction of a second. It would be hours before it reached the finish, with a rough calction.


    ¡°This is¡­¡± A muscr human male looked at the exploration group in front of him. As the crystalizedyer was unsuited for habitation, they had to trek through an entire floor just to reach the nearest city. The group was ragged, having made the round-trip without a proper moment to rest.


    ¡°I assure you, every word I¡¯ve just said is true.¡± The leader of the group spoke up with an exasperated tone. She knew that they would have to once again make the journey, as they had not been able to send their priest through the gate before making the decision to hastily return. They couldn¡¯t risk the natives of thatyer taking notice of the priest in the moment she was on the other side and taking her away.


    ¡°Really¡­ this is going to be difficult.¡± The guild manager muttered, shaking his head. The other party was a civilized race, so there was a decreased chance that they would immediately be hostile. However, they did not know what the treatment of the gate was like on that side. There were historical records of natives treating their gate as a heavenly object due to its indestructible nature.


    If something like that were to happen here, then there was every chance that simply stepping through that gate would earn them a treatment of either heavenly guests or a demonic horde. They couldn¡¯t risk going in without sufficient protection, but at the same time they couldn¡¯t let their preparations be too obvious and allow it to be misunderstood as an invasion.


    As Petra was listening to the manager mumble to himself, she felt a stir in her shadow. A small smile crept over her lips. You¡¯re finally back to normal, big sis?


    Sorry, I kept you waiting, didn¡¯t I? Thelsa¡¯s voice responded, sounding far more lively than thest time that the two spoke. After she finished going through Sora¡¯s spellbook, she had practiced with the energy of the Shadow Saint, and then did a training routine with one of Maria¡¯s swords. She felt that her connection to the shadows had increased greatly during this period.


    It¡¯s fine. I¡¯m just d that you managed to pull through. So, did you get anything out of your training? Petra asked, knowing that there wasn¡¯t much she could do to contribute with the meeting in the guild office.


    I did. I think I¡¯ve figured out why our solii shadow wasn¡¯t able to be a perfect copy. Unfortunately, there¡¯s not much that I can do to fix that. Additionally, I think that there¡¯s a new technique we can use here, but it¡¯ll require me to learn cksmithing.


    Petra blinked in confusion when she heard that. cksmithing? Are you saying that we can mine the materials from our shadow world?


    I don¡¯t know. However, whether or not we can, it should be possible to directly forge our shadow energy into items. It created an entire world for us, and people to inhabit it¡­ why would it not be able to be used to make items?


    Petra had to resist the urge to nod her head at that idea. A weapon forged of living shadows. They would be able to outfit their shadows without having to spend anything. Are you going to try to get some cksmithing lessons after we¡¯re done with this exploration, then?


    If you¡¯re fine with letting me take over for a little while. I don¡¯t know how much I¡¯ll need to learn before I can create a suitable cksmith, but at the very least I will need to learn the basics of forging a ki path into a weapon.


    Petra¡¯s smile turned a bit more wry. That was already considered a mid-level technique, from what she knew of the subject. It¡¯s fine. I could use a vacation, anyways. But after this, can we visit my dungeon again?


    Sure thing, Petra.

 Chapter 540: Reunion

    <h4>Chapter 540: Reunion</h4>


    ¡°Hot, hot, hot, hot!¡± A voice sounded out in the world of natural energies before a figure emerged. The figure appeared for all intents and purposes to be a dark-skinned human with short ck hair and a muscr figure. He wore simple wool clothes, which were emitting smoke as he appeared. There was a trace of embers on his hair, speaking to the environment that he had juste from.


    ¡°Hmm?¡± He nced around his small hut, looking for any changes since his previous visit. It wasn¡¯t umon for him to find this ce wrecked by the local wildlife, causing him to have to take the time to fix it up again before leaving. He might not be able to create all of the modernforts he liked, but it was always important to be able toe back home!


    He was just about to leave again when he noticed the stone b on his door, and the new line written at the bottom. His face broke out in a grin as he realized that meant he had seeded in contacting the current Keeper. ¡°Guess I should stick around, then.¡± He nodded to himself reaching out with his energy to create a barrier around the hut. It wouldn¡¯t be good for him to be in the middle ofbat when the Keeper appeared.


    Just as he was thinking that, he sensed something. Turning to the side, he saw a golden line tracing its way through the air in a circr pattern. After five full rotations, silver light shed within the circle, forming a mirror. However, it wasn¡¯t his own reflection that he saw in the mirror, but that of a light-skinned human sitting atop a throne.


    ¡°Hmm? Oh, hey! Good timing. I was just about to wait for you.¡± James smiled pleasantly, while the Keeper let out a sigh of exasperation. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°What happened to the ¡®six pulse¡¯ timer?¡± The Keeper asked, rubbing his temples. ¡°I¡¯ve been staring at that pattern for hours, and it still hasn¡¯te.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­ did I get my timing wrong? Sorry, hard to keep track of the time in my head. I thought about making a watch, but haven¡¯t found any materials that can stand up to the pressure in some of these areas without breaking.¡± James shrugged his shoulders at that, reaching up to pat his head when he realized he was still slightly burning.


    ¡°Fair enough.¡± The Keeper nodded. ¡°Anyways, I wanted to thank you for taking care of my world spiritst time. I had been worried that this ce would be too hard on her.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± James waved it off. ¡°I just taught her a little energy trick. It¡¯s something I picked up in one of my old experimental worlds. Though, if you were so worried, why¡¯d you send the girl here in the first ce?¡±


    That was something that had been bugging James ever since he met the world spirit. He was worried that throwing an innocent girl like that into such a hostile territory with nobat experience only to die again and again would mean that the current Keeper was an evil one.


    ¡°Honestly¡­ it was a mistake. When I created her, the world wasn¡¯t able to ept the existence of world spirits yet. A special item had to be found and installed at a certain location before the world ¡®allowed¡¯ them. I thought that just meant that they wouldn¡¯t be able to train and gain levels. But when I made her, she was almost immediately ejected.¡±


    ¡°At the time, I thought she was just going dormant until the ss was unlocked. It was a while before I found that area you¡¯re in now, and found her in it. Since that ce can be seen as the ¡®origin¡¯ of natural energy in this world, she was ejected there to wait until her ss was epted by the world.¡±


    James let out a whistle when he heard that. ¡°Wow. And yeah, I noticed that about this ce, too. I¡¯ve been using that link to explore the different areas of this world ever since I found it. Neat trick with theyered environments, by the way. I thought they were just ¡®bubble worlds¡¯ until I dug deep enough to find the floor once.¡±


    ¡°How many floors have you been to?¡± The Keeper asked, raising an eyebrow.


    ¡°A couple dozen, I think?¡± James shrugged his shoulders. ¡°It¡¯s hard to tell sometimes when it¡¯s a newyer, or just a different environment within thatyer. A lot of the time, I have to flee as soon as I encounter the local monsters, so I don¡¯t get the chance to take notes. I did find some other special areas like this, though.¡±


    The Keeper gave a knowing nod at that. ¡°As you¡¯ve likely guessed, the world you¡¯re in is one where the higher one ascends, the greater the threat. Though, I would very much like to hear about these other ¡®special areas¡¯.¡±


    James grinned, realizing that the Keeper himself had yet to discover those ces. ¡°Well, I just came from one where the entire world was a floating crystal. It sort of reminded me of those information orbs from back in the day. However, floating around its surface were four different symbols, projected by mana.¡±


    Focusing, James lifted his hand, and those four symbols he had seen were recreated with his own energy to show the Keeper. ¡°When I tried to touch one of them, it was like the entire world turned into a fireball, and I had to leave before I burnt up.¡±


    The Keeper¡¯s eyes opened wide in surprise, and he leaned forward in his seat. ¡°Have you found other crystal worlds like this?¡± He asked, his tone more serious than before.


    ¡°A few. Though, they all had different symbols, and only had three each until a while ago. But usually, when I touch the symbols, nothing bad happens like that. I¡¯m guessing this world operates with a type of Rune magic?¡±


    The Keeper gave a nod in reply. ¡°It does. Those are the four tiers of ¡®Fire¡¯ that are unlocked for this world.¡±


    ¡°Eh? All the same one?¡± He looked at the symbols again, before a new grin emerged on his face. ¡°Well, isn¡¯t that interesting? Aside from these ¡®rune worlds¡¯, I found the origin world for ki, and a world filled with darkness. Let me tell you¡­ the ki origin is a world made of blood. I thought I had stumbled onto an ancient martial spirit at first.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve gotten sidetracked.¡± The Keeper suddenly interrupted with a faint sigh. ¡°I wanted to know what your intentions are here. From what it sounds like, it¡¯s only a matter of time before you are able to find one of theyers that my people inhabit. Obviously, I can¡¯t make you the Keeper again.¡±


    James chuckled a bit at that. ¡°I don¡¯t need to be the Keeper. At best, I¡¯d love to meet Chel again, but I know that wouldn¡¯t happen even if I took your job. I¡¯d just get a new one with a random personality. I could make her myself, but she wouldn¡¯t be able to forgive me for killing you just to see her again.¡±


    A softer look appeared on the Keeper¡¯s face. ¡°Chel was your systempanion?¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ short for Chelsea.¡± James admitted with a shake of his head. ¡°Man, if you could make her for me again, and it really was her¡­¡± Clearing his thoughts, he changed the subject. ¡°How¡¯s yours, by the way? Your systempanion, I mean.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s great.¡± The Keeper smiled subconsciously, a smile James was all too familiar with. ¡°She actually says quite a lot of good things about you. I just wanted to meet you myself before I made any decisions on what to do.¡±


    James gave a small nod. ¡°Honestly, if I was let out, I¡¯d probably either just go exploring or settle down and start helping out with experiments again. Going by what you said about this world, I should be a bit too strong for the ce to handle right now, right?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± The Keeper agreed. ¡°Level five thousand and seventeen¡­ I can¡¯t even buy you with my points, because if I did, that would unlock every floor you¡¯ve been to previously. If someone at level five thousand had to flee, then that would be enough to shoot my rank up a few notches.¡±


    James couldn¡¯t help but grumble as he followed that line of logic. ¡°And without buying me, you can¡¯t use the ¡®smite¡¯ option to kill me in body, mind, and soul before making apanion copy. I¡¯d either have to do the deed myself, or there would be two copies of me existing at once. But that would mean I¡¯d have to trust you to make the copy, and not simply watch me die and move on. Right?¡±


    ¡°Right. For the copy to be your true self, they have to have all of your memories and knowledge, up to your final moments. If the copy is created prematurely, the two minds diverge. This divergence, theoretically, would be next to meaningless. But, someone with a mind like yours would naturally linger on it, wondering if you were truly the same person in the end.¡±


    ¡°Well, I guess it¡¯s a good thing I don¡¯t n on dying yet.¡± James chuckled a bit as he said that. ¡°Maybe if I had Chel waiting for me, but I think she¡¯d be more happy just toe down here and meet me herself.¡±


    For a short while after that, the Keeper seemed lost in thought. Perhaps speaking with his own systempanion, or simply debating his options. What he decided in the end, however, surprised James. ¡°I¡¯ll get her. I have a system in ce where any resident of the Admin Room is able to descend in the body of an infant born in the world, and live out their life. You¡¯ll have to wait a few years, but she¡¯d be there.¡±


    James looked at the Keeper in shock at his decision. ¡°Aren¡¯t you worried that I¡¯ll get too attached, and take it out on you when her mortal body dies?¡±


    The Keeper shook his head slightly. ¡°The path to godhood is open to my people. If the two of you strive for it, she¡¯ll be able to reach it in just one or two lives. Besides, I¡¯d much rather have you as an ally I can trust, as opposed to a wanderer with no attachment to the world outside of his own enjoyment.¡±


    ¡°I guess I can understand that.¡± James admitted, feeling a soft smile ying at his lips. ¡°Well, just put me where you want me, then. But first, I need to know the ¡®story¡¯ you told the world with regards to Keepers.¡±


    I groaned, falling back in my chair after finishing the call. It¡¯s done. I whispered mentally towards Terra. She had asked me if I would be willing to carry out this n, both for my sake as well as his.


    If it worked, I would gain a powerful ally, one that would fight for this world to his dying breath. As long as Chel existed in the Admin World, he would do everything in his power to protect her. I could understand that logic easily enough. And I had to admit that it wouldn¡¯t be that bad to have a more experienced Keeper to consult with when I needed to.


    I was leaving the recreation of Chel¡¯s personality profile to Terra, the only one really capable of such a thing. Once that was done, I¡¯d ascend to make it official. Now it was just a matter of deciding where I wanted James to help out.


    With his specialty in technology, Desbar was a decent choice. But at the same time, Deckan was getting more innovative with space travel, which was where James¡¯ passion seemed to lie in his old world. It was also a muchrger world, and offered more room for him to explore various possibilities. Not to mention the dimensional material that could likely inspire many new ideas for him.


    Yeah¡­ I think he¡¯d fit right in on Deckan. I smiled to myself as I made the decision.

 Chapter 541: Justice

    <h4>Chapter 541: Justice</h4>


    ¡°So, you must be Chelsea?¡± I asked, looking at the shorter girl with silver hair. She had a petite build, and lighter skin than her former Keeper counterpart. Her outfit was a loose-fitting set of overalls with the right shoulder strap hanging off the side. Beneath that, she wore a white t-shirt that had a visible amount of grime and grease staining it.


    ¡°Yup, that¡¯s me!¡± She announced proudly, before bringing a hand up to her head. ¡°Wow, it feels weird not knowing everything! But a good kind of weird! If you brought me here, does that mean you want my helping up with stuff like James used to do?¡±


    Seeing her warm smile, even at the idea that I had only made her so that she could help me, I could only shake my head. ¡°Actually¡­ James was reborn in my world.¡±


    ¡°Nope.¡± She shook her head resolutely. ¡°Not possible. That doesn¡¯t happen. Keepers get one shot, and one shot only. Them¡¯s the rules!¡±


    ¡°It happened, Chel.¡± Terra spoke up next to me, the two of us sitting on the couch as we watched Chelsea. ¡°His soul fragments managed to gather in an area technically outside of the current Keeper¡¯s territory, allowing him to be reborn outside of the normal cycle of souls. Trust me, I had a hard time believing it at first, too.¡±


    Chel blinked, staring towards Terra, her eyes going wide. ¡°Wait¡­ you mean you¡¯re serious? James got a second chance?¡± When she saw Terra nod her head, Chel¡¯s face went serious. ¡°Okay, tell me what you want me to do.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± I blinked, a bit shocked at her sudden change. However, she simply looked at me with a small smile.


    ¡°You just told me that my James is back in your world, and because of that you brought me back as well. James would never go bad, and you clearly didn¡¯t tamper with my feelings, so there¡¯s no way you want me to give you dirt on him. Only other option is that you want to give us a shot together, isn¡¯t it? Not sure why, yet, but I¡¯ll take it. Just tell me what I have to do to get it.¡±


    I let out a brief chuckle when I heard that. These two really did have a lot of faith in each other. ¡°I don¡¯t really need you to do anything. I¡¯ve already made the deal with him. We have a system in ce to let Admin Room residents live a mortal life. Once you¡¯re ready, one of my Goddesses will be by to help you pick your starting point. I¡¯ve asked her to let you start in my kitsune world, Deckan.¡±


    ¡°Kitsune?¡± Chelsea blinked, clearly wanting a bit more information.


    ¡°Fox-type near-human species.¡± Terra exined with a knowing grin, at which point Chelsea¡¯s eyes went wide again.


    ¡°Can I have one with nine tails?¡± She asked suddenly, seeming excited now.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ they all only have one tail. Why do you specifically want nine?¡± I recalled Tsubaki¡¯s appearance after she became a goddess, and her nine glowing tails.


    ¡°Because nine tails are justice! That¡¯s what James would always say. Any time we made a near-human race with tails, he¡¯d give them nine. Fox-type, cat-type, wolf-type, even monkey-type, all had nine tails when he made them. He told me that nine tails are a symbol of prosperity in his world, but really he just thought they looked cuter.¡± Chel stuck her petite chest out in pride as she said that, as if showing off her understanding of James.


    I tried to imagine a lycan with nine tails. The image was certainly not as appealing as Tsubaki¡¯s, as a lycan¡¯s tails were considerably shorter and less soft. ¡°Well, you can¡¯t be born with nine. But¡­ if you train properly, and get the perfect self ss, you¡¯ll be able to give yourself nine tails.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll do it!¡± She nodded her head confidently at that. Hearing her conviction, I simply shook my head, calling for Udona. I had the sinking suspicion that the reason Tsubaki gave herself nine tails had something to do with Udona¡¯s love for my old world¡¯s culture. Maybe even something that Terra gave her from James¡¯ world.


    ¡°Chel¡¯s finding her starting point now. It¡¯ll be about nine months or so before she¡¯s born. Before I take you to the world she¡¯ll be in, I have a question I need to ask you. It¡¯s¡­ a rather important one, if I¡¯m honest.¡± The Keeper looked towards James through his mirror, causing James to shift forward in his seat slightly.


    ¡°What is it?¡± He was happy to help out if he could, now that he knew that he had the chance to be with Chel again. Of course, he¡¯d have to give her a couple of little tests to make sure that it was really her once she was old enough, but for now he was willing to give this Keeper the benefit of the doubt.


    ¡°Theyer that you are from¡­ are you sure that the other people of your race won¡¯t be able to follow through the connections and invade the lower floors?¡±


    James let out a lightugh when he heard the concern in the Keeper¡¯s voice. ¡°Ohh, so it was about that. I don¡¯t think you really need to worry that much. Theyer that I came from isn¡¯t a civilized one. Aside from myself, the other people of my race are more interested in fighting to determine who is the strongest rather than researching how to make life better.¡±


    ¡°Although the ability to pass through the dimensional connections does theoretically exist within them, it¡¯s not an ability that they are likely to use to the same extent that I did. And I had to go through three or four different areas before I found this ce.¡± James let out a faint shiver as he recalled the territories he had to cross through in pursuit of the world¡¯s natural origin. It was only in a ce as significant as this that he was confident in eventually making contact with the Keeper, so he used every trick he knew to survive the spatial passages and made his way here.


    The Keeper let out a relieved sigh as he heard that. ¡°Alright, that¡¯s good to know. Then¡­ is there anything else you want to do before I take you away from here? You probably won¡¯t have the chance to return again after you¡¯re gone.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m ready to leave whenever.¡± James said with a faint nod. ¡°Any hints on where I¡¯ll be going? That way I can prepare myself.¡±


    The Keeper brought his hand up to massage his forehead a bit as he answered. ¡°You¡¯ll be going to Deckan. A world of, as Terra exined to Chel, ¡®fox-type near-humans¡¯. And no, they only have one tail.¡±


    James clicked his tongue in annoyance when he heard that. ¡°Gics research is a no go, then?¡±


    ¡°Is there any justifiable reason that you want to gically engineer a nine-tailed kitsune?¡± The Keeper asked in exasperation, before quickly adding on. ¡°And ¡®nine tails is justice¡¯ is not a suitable answer.¡±


    ¡°Because nine tails-drat¡­¡± James was left to grumble for a moment. ¡°Maybe¡­ I can set them up so that they are able to grow the additional tails to serve as organic energy storage devices? It¡¯ll take a lot of research, depending on the level of medicine in your world. Maybe I can finish it in a century, if I¡¯m lucky? Then, nine tails won¡¯t be a dream!¡±


    The Keeper let out an almost defeated-sounding sigh. ¡°If there is a practical reason for the additional tails, and you obtain national support for your research, I won¡¯t get in the way.¡±


    James bumped his fists together in excitement, nodding his head. ¡°Then, I¡¯m ready to go, chief! Just open the door, and I¡¯ll send your fox into a scientific revolution!¡±


    ¡°I really hope I don¡¯t regret this¡­¡± The Keeper said, before the reflection in the mirror shifted, disying a vast, open ins. James could feel the presence of the mirror shifting, transforming from a simple transmission to a gateway. Without a moment to waste, he immediately jumped through the mirror.


    The first thing that he noticed was the reduced gravitypared to what he was used to. His body felt lighter than ever, making him take a moment to stretch his limbs and test his mobility. Then, he reached out with his senses, and noticed that he was able to detect an unusual energy within the air, one that he had never felt before.


    His curiosity was immediately piqued, and he turned around to question the Keeper, only to find that the mirror he jumped through was gone. Shrugging his shoulders, there was nothing that he could do but investigate on his own.


    ¡°Go straight for the source, or ask a local¡­¡± James mused out loud, observing his surroundings. The fact that he was able to sense the energying from below the surface indicated that it was probably the residual waves emitted by a particr ore. He knew that there were some rather unusual ores within the market, some of which had dangerous side-effects for the environment when mined.


    On the other hand, if he were to simply ask a local about the existence of this energy, they would surely be able to answer his questions. The only problem was that they would likely think that he was a bit slow or sheltered for not already knowing the answer himself.


    James didn¡¯t particrly want his first impression on this world to be one that put him in a bad light. After all, he was aiming to be a leading researcher in scientific studies! If he gave people reason to doubt his intelligence right from the start, that would only make his path harder.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ maybe there¡¯s another way.¡± An idea urred to James, and he sat down, crossing his legs. His eyes closing, he awoke the powerful detection energy that his race was born with. James himself didn¡¯t know the name of this ability, as he could not ess the system while ssified as a ¡®monster¡¯. However, he knew that it was better than anything he had ever used when it came to detection¡­ and had absolutely no other uses that he could find. He couldn¡¯t even create an avatar out of it.


    ¡°If this energy has been a part of their lives from the start, then it would have naturally shaped their culture. I¡¯ve just got to search for a local, and observe them until they do something that resonates with this energy.¡± As he spoke, he was already sending his energy soaring through the air, investigating the area around himself. He had no way of knowing how far away the Keeper put him from civilization, so a wide-area search was the first thing that came to him


    Sitting on my throne in the citadel, I couldn¡¯t help but feel my eye twitching a bit. My world sight was focused on James, using my portal as a medium to connect the worlds. I was worried that he might act up if he was let loose and knew that he wasn¡¯t being monitored, so I naturally kept watch in secret to make sure.


    That¡­ isn¡¯t that energy world sight, as well!? I saw the energy radiating from his body, such a thin energy that I would have missed it entirely had I not been using the same thing. You mean that his race is naturally born with the most powerful detection ability?


    This only further supported my theory that he was from an immensely powerfulyer. Level five thousand might even be on the lower end of the spectrum for where hees from. It was hard to say for sure, and I had no desire to personally investigate, as such a thing would only cause my rank to soar.


    Well¡­ if he has world sight, then I suppose he really is suited to be a researcher. I had experienced firsthand the assistance that world sight bestowed when conducting sensitive experiments. When I was fusing my ki of beginning, there was no way that I would have seeded without that energy. However, at the same time, world sight did not interfere with any other energy, allowing the process to be uninterrupted no matter how sensitive it was.

 Chapter 542: Curiosity

    <h4>Chapter 542: Curiosity</h4>


    It didn¡¯t take long for James to find what he was looking for, a pair of armed hunters traveling together in the woods. One was equipped with a bow, while another held a pair of daggers. When he saw that there was no quiver of arrows for the archer, James paid it no mind originally. After all, there were far too many techniques to condense arrows out of energy, or to simply hold them in storage.


    It wasn¡¯t until they came across their prey that he was able to glimpse the power of the strange energy. As he suspected, the archer simply fired off magic arrows created by the bow¡¯s enchantment. However, when they were done ying their prey, arge bison-like beast with six tusks, he watched the dagger-wielding hunter walk over to it.


    Naturally, James expected to watch a scene of the hunter skinning and cleaning the kill so that they could deliver the meat back to town. Such would be the mon sense¡¯ of hunters in most worlds. However, his expectations were betrayed when he felt a tremor within that strange energy.


    As the hunter ced his hands on the bison, there was a surge of energy from both the hunter and the in beast. The spiritual energy of thetter mixed with the mana of the former, while the odd energy emitted a crushing force on the hunter¡¯s body. Due to the energy that he was using, James was able to measure the weight of the force as being equivalent to the weight of the bison itself.


    The hunter was clearly prepared for this, and did not waver in the slightest. Instead, he circted his ki to resist the pressure. Once that was done, the unknown energy flowed through his body and into the mixture of mana and spiritual energy, where traces of it had already taken root. Like this, the energy created several self-contained circuits.


    James was¡­ intrigued by the process. He saw the bison disappearing, its body reced by four small objects. ¡°Cards¡­?¡± He muttered quietly to himself. On the image of one of the cards was the recently in bison. On the other three were blue patterns with unknown words written beneath them.


    The hunters seemed satisfied with their gains, pocketing the three unknown cards first before stowing the bison card. ¡°It seems like the bison itself wasn¡¯t their target, but rather those three special cards?¡±


    James had seen his fair share of different systems in his time as a Keeper. While this particr one had clearly not been among those, he was able to infer a lot of information from this action. First, he knew that the creatures of this world were capable of being stowed into cards after being in, and that other cards could be created in the process. This was the very basic information he had personally witnessed.


    Next, these additional cards had to serve some purpose. Although James did not know thenguage that the cards were written in, he could make a guess for that as well, due to his experience. The cards should beponents for either a magic system or a crafting system. Otherwise, there would be no reason for the hunters to value them so highly. Unless, of course, the cards themselves were a form of currency?


    He thought that that final option was less likely, as it would lead to a world where there was an overabundance of currency with less and less to spend it on. In such a world, those three cards would not have been so sought after by the hunters that they would go out of their way to look for them.


    As for a crafting system¡­ if he wasn¡¯t mistaken, the first card should contain the bison¡¯s entire body. A world of this level shouldn¡¯t have the ability to create crafting materials from nothing, unless the Keeper was far older than he let on. And the fact that he wanted James¡¯ help for research led him to believe that that could not be the case.


    In that case, this world uses a type of card-based magic. Interesting¡­ I¡¯ll need to get my hands on a few cards to test them out. Or maybe I can get the Keeper to give me some? But I¡¯ll need anguage primer as well. James was already lost in thought, imagining the different resources he¡¯d have to request so that he could truly get started in this world.


    The only problem was¡­ as a ¡®monster¡¯ that had not been purchased by the Keeper, James had no way of making direct contact with the gods to issue his request. This left him rather troubled. He was sure that he¡¯d be able to create a spell to contact a deity, once he fully understood the magic of this world. However, if he fully understood the magic of this world, he wouldn¡¯t need to make that contact at all!


    With a sigh, he began to focus, tapping into the natural energy of the world around him. ¡°Oh spirit of nature, I bid thee to appear. As one who is known to your maker, I have need of your aid. Before I can assist this world, it is I who must request assistance.¡±


    Oh? What¡¯s this? An ethereal voice spoke into James¡¯ mind. I haven¡¯t seen you around before. And such power¡­ you do indeed have the right to im to know my maker. Very well, I offer a transaction. A favor for a favor. I shall aid you now, and in return I will bestow upon you a transmission card. When I have need of your aid, I will activate the card to inform you of my request. Do you ept this pact?


    James let out a low chuckle as he heard that. There was little that a world spirit truly needed help with, unless some terrifying danger appeared. He could guess that this was something that this particr spirit did for fun, but at the same time, there should not be a threat to this world that he couldn¡¯t help it ovee. ¡°Very well, I¡¯ll take your deal.¡±


    Excellent. Then please, speak your wish, one who is known by the maker.


    A slightly embarrassed expression appeared on James¡¯ face as he stated his request. ¡°I would like you to contact the ¡®maker¡¯, or whichever god or goddess governs this world. As per the deal between us, I need some research materials delivered. First, a guide to help me learn this world¡¯snguage. Secondly, I need cards with which to understand the magic of this world. Finally¡­ a map would be incredibly helpful, so that I can find my way to society after my knowledge of the systems in this world has reached a sufficient level.¡±


    Three things you have asked for. Therefore, three favors I ask in exchange. The Goddess watches over all, and has told me to supply you with your needs. As the spirit spoke, James felt three cards forming in his hands. However, these were not the same style of cards that had been created by the bison. These cards depicted an empty circle on their cover, and he could tell that they were made of a mix of spiritual and natural energies.


    A momentter, the air around James began to shake, green portals opening up one after another. Tiny spirits resembling fairies flew out of the portals, each holding a small box that they dropped at his feet. Once they had left, two more fairies emerged. One with a much thinner box, and one holding a rolled up paper.


    James watched, a bit dumbfounded as the lesser world spirits delivered him a mountain of card boxes. When thest two appeared, they waited for him to take the packages from him directly. The paper was, as expected, a map of the world. He wasn¡¯t too surprised to find that this world was quiterge, as he had judged its size based on the horizon distance already.


    The other package, the smaller box, held only a few cards within it. Each of these cards had different patterns on their surface. The only shared theme was that the cards depicted these patterns surrounding the silhouette of a head.


    Shaking his head, he poured a small amount of mana into the first card, careful not to overload it. He knew how strong his own energy was, and couldn¡¯t be sure how much these cards required in order to be cast.


    When the card activated, he was pleased to find that it did not disappear. At the same time, he felt knowledge being transmitted directly into his mind. His understanding of the localnguage grew by leaps and bounds, but was still iplete. It was hard for a single card of this level to store the entirenguage, and so he moved on to the next one.


    There were tennguage cards in total, and it took him barely ten minutes to go through all of them. After he had finished these ten cards, he felt as if he could fluently speak thenguage contained within them. This also allowed him to decipher the meaning behind the three mysterious cards he had seen the hunters acquire.


    ¡°Charge Three, Strength Three, Slow Two¡­¡± James muttered the names that had been written on the cards to himself. ¡°So, this world has at least the third tier of magic unlocked, if you are to go by those names.¡±


    Shaking his head, he swept his senses over the mountain of card boxes that had been deposited before him. When he did so, his lips began twitching slightly. ¡°You totally robbed a store.¡±


    These boxes were simr to ¡®disy cases¡¯ in a way. Each box contained a hundred cards, but was also an enchanted storage device that contained another nine copies of each card. Furthermore, there were no duplicates among the ¡®disy cases¡¯ that he found, which indicated that they were all likely taken from the same source.


    I assure you, I have done no such thing. These cards are from the personal vault of the Goddess herself, used to bestow upon her chosen few to guide them on the path of card magic. It seemed like the world spirit had stuck around to watch him, as it replied immediately to his ¡®usation¡¯.


    ¡°Either way, it¡¯s good for me. Thank you,dy spirit.¡± He cupped his fist in a polite bow, hoping that the meaning of the gesture would be conveyed to the spirit. ¡°I have received your favor, and shall do my best to honor it when you call for me.¡± Now, he had to get to work on his research¡­


    Udona¡­ did you give him fourth tier cards? I couldn¡¯t help but ask after watching therge pile of boxes being arranged on a stone table. Before researching the use of the cards, it looked like he wanted to first sort through them.


    Sadly, no. Udona replied in a sullen tone. I haven¡¯t even been able to get apleted set of fourth tier cards for myself yet, how could I give them to that guy? Fourth tier beasts are too rare, for now. Even if one is found, it isn¡¯t guaranteed to drop a fourth tier card. Any time a card of that level is found, it is immediately taken to the Card Creator Corporation and sold for a high price.


    I gave a small nod when I heard herint. That corporation she mentioned should be one of the ones that handles card synthesis. It wouldn¡¯t be odd to sell the new cards to them so that they can study them to begin mass production. How much are you still missing from the fourth tier?


    About¡­ thirty percent, I think? It¡¯s hard to tell for sure, since each tier adds more and more cards. Right now, we have almost all of the advanced versions of the third tier cards, and are just missing most of the new ones.


    Well, at least it wouldn¡¯t be too hard to create spells at that level, if that was all that they were missing. Though, there were bound to be quite a lot of spells that couldn¡¯t be created at the same time. Shaking my head, I decided that it should be fine to fast forward for now, and let things y out as they may.

 Chapter 543: Research

    <h4>Chapter 543: Research</h4>


    ¡°Your Highness, there is a guest here to see you.¡± One of the maids called out to Bria, who was sitting in her office and going over her paperwork. She furrowed her brows, feeling that there had been more and more noblemening in recent weeks. Ever since the emergence of the new goddess, everyone wished to requisition funds for new cathedrals. Though, arge portion of those funds would surely be bound for the pockets of the noblemen themselves.


    ¡°Who is it this time?¡± She asked in exasperation, standing up and moving towards the door. When she opened it, she was greeting with the sight of a ginger kitsune smiling back at her, wearing a simple ck uniform.


    ¡°Well¡­ their identity seems to be a bit special¡­¡± The ginger maid said, her smile bing a bit moreplicated. However, this only confused the queen.


    ¡°Special¡­? Is it a God that hase?¡± She knew that it wouldn¡¯t be one of the Major Deities, as any of them that wished to visit could surely just appear in her office as Udona did on many asions. Simrly, the Keeper himself would surely not be bound by the normal practices of calling for the local royalty.


    ¡°Not quite¡­ I think, at least. However, he ims to be an associate of the Keeper.¡± Bria¡¯s eyes grew more stern when she heard that. There were many people who had once imed such a thing, looking for personal benefits. Some even imed to be the Keeper themselves. However, none of them had a happy ending. Many times, they would meet with misfortune even before the authorities had the chance to take action.


    ¡°Have you notified the Citadel?¡± When someone appeared and falsely imed a direct connection to the Keeper, there was always one person interested in showing them the error of their ways.


    ¡°Yes, your highness.¡± The servant nodded her head quickly. ¡°In fact, Lady Tsubaki has already arrived. However, she was¡­ unable to deal with him.¡±


    Bria¡¯s eyes went wide in shock when she heard that. Even other gods would not easily challenge Tsubaki, and yet she couldn¡¯t deal with this person? ¡°Has she been injured?¡±


    ¡°Not¡­ physically¡­¡± The servant gave a wry smile. ¡°However, I feel she may have suffered from some emotional trauma. Regardless¡­ before she left, she said that this man did have the right to im to be an associate of the Keeper.¡±


    That doesn¡¯t sound like her. Bria thought to herself. Lady Tsubaki was proud of her position as the Keeper¡¯s Servant, and shouldn¡¯t so easily be swayed even if she suffered a defeat. Shaking her head, she smiled towards the servant. ¡°Very well¡­ I suppose that we should hear him out.¡±


    ¡°Tsuba?¡± Dana called out, knocking on the door to Tsubaki¡¯s room. Since thetter didn¡¯t need to sleep, the room was very rarely used, but at the present moment it was locked. As soon as she returned back from her trip, she had rushed into her room as if hiding.


    ¡°I-I¡¯m okay, Dana.¡± Tsubaki muttered weakly from inside, brushing her tails with a shaky hand. When she had arrived before the stranger, she had felt his power. She had even prepared herself to battle the man to the death in order to uphold her honor as the Keeper¡¯s Servant.


    However¡­ she had been unable to touch him, despite using her domain to be far faster than the opponent. He had some sort of soft barrier that weakened her attacks before they reached him, allowing him to narrowly dodge.


    At first, she felt that something was odd, he didn¡¯t seem to be fighting back, and was only staring behind her. She saw his lips moving, as if he was silently counting, before she heard him say¡­ ¡°Nine.¡±


    Suddenly, she felt as if her entire body had frozen, and he appeared next to her in a sh. Immediately, he began petting her tails,menting on how soft and well-kept they were. He rubbed his face against them and brushed through them with his fingers, yet she was restrained by his pressure.


    In the end, she gave in to the embarrassment, and pleaded with the Keeper to save her. She had never done so even in the most dangerous battles, and would sooner die than ce him in harm¡¯s way. Yet before the ¡®terror¡¯ that was this man, she shrank away like a frightened child.


    And the result¡­? She learned that the Keeper really did know him, that they had no reason to fight in the first ce. With a bright red face, she delivered this news to the nearby servants before burning her domain at full power to flee the scene.


    Now, she was carefully brushing her tails, trying to fix the ruffled fur that had been disturbed by this stranger. She did care for her tails quite a lot, as she had been told by a goddess that they were symbols of beauty and power. If it weren¡¯t him, but instead¡­


    Tsubaki shook her head to dismiss those thoughts, her face bright red as she redoubled her efforts.


    ¡°To what do I owe the honor of this visit, Sir¡­?¡± The queen asked as she moved to sit on her throne, looking towards the dark-skinned human curiously.


    ¡°James. Just James is fine, ma¡¯am.¡± He told her with a bright smile. ¡°And, in truth, I¡¯m here to help you. The Keeper assigned me to this world in order to act as a researcher.¡± For some reason, he seemed incredibly refreshed as he spoke.


    ¡°A¡­ researcher?¡± Even though she had heard that Tsubaki herself imed his words were true, she had a hard time believing it. ¡°Why would the Keeper ask a researcher only to aid this one world? Would not your talents be best suited by helping all worlds equally?¡±


    James shook his head. ¡°The research I conduct here won¡¯t solely benefit your world. However, there will be a certain degree of focus. As for why¡­ the Keeper has ced a treasure within this world that I absolutely cannot refuse. For the sake of that treasure, I will do everything in my power to aid this world¡¯s progress.¡±


    A treasure? Despite his assuring words, the queen was actually a bit more cautious when she heard that. She felt that this man might abandon their research halfway through, once he obtained his treasure. If his intentions were bad enough, he might even sabotage the research at thest stage.


    Seeming to understand her worries, James let out a lightugh. ¡°You don¡¯t need to be so cautious. The treasure I¡¯m talking about is¡­ a woman I once thought lost to me. The Keeper is allowing her to be reborn within this world, so that we may spend our time together again. ording to my calctions, it should only be a couple weeks away¡­ Though I should probably wait at least six years before meeting her, so that her mind is able to fully awaken within the body.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ and what field does your research specialize in?¡± Regardless of the ultimate oue of this ¡®treasure¡¯, she had to first ascertain where she could put his talents to use.


    ¡°Energy maniption and conservation, with a specialty in void-folding mechanics. Though, I also dabble in gic engineering,ary array configuration, and quantum mechanics.¡± James recited his specialties, and the queen didn¡¯t know what to make of them. Perhaps those names meant something in anothernguage, but she couldn¡¯t understand beyond a select few.


    Instead, she cleared her throat. ¡°Perhaps it would be best if you exined them? I fear we might not have simr terms to define our fields of research.¡±


    As if understanding, James nodded his head. ¡°First, energy maniption and conservation. This field is one focused on exactly as it says, analyzing the fundamental energies of the universe to manipte them in specific ways and preserve their power.¡±


    ¡°Void-folding mechanics, byparison, is a far more advanced field. With the proper technology and application, it is possible to manipte the endless void beyond the nar boundaries. This maniption can be used to create independent spaces, or harvest materials that can be taken out of the void. From what I¡¯ve seen of your world, you don¡¯t have the means to do this, yet.¡±


    ¡°Gic engineering¡­ after taking a close look, this is an unexplored field in this world. It is the practice of manipting the gic code of an individual to enhance or alter certain characteristics that can be passed down to future progeny. For instance, a passion project of mine is to create a racial gene within the kitsune that will allow them to grow additional tails to store excess energy.¡±


    There was a gleam in the man¡¯s eye that sent shivers down Bria¡¯s spine. Rather than letting him linger on that topic, she gestured for him to continue.


    ary array configuration¡­ I¡¯m not sure how suitable this one is for your card magic. However, I¡¯ve noticed that you also use an array-type magic system as well, so it would be useful if I focus on that field. In essence, it is a field of research to create spells that can cover an entire. This is mostmonly used for defensive spells, to prevent meteors or interster monsters from attacking the world.¡±


    ¡°Finally, quantum mechanics is the fundamental study of the universalws on a macroscopic and microscopic level. A practical application of this field would be a warp drive.¡± After giving the descriptions of each field of research, Bria felt both more relieved and more confused at the same time.


    ¡°I see¡­ going by your descriptions, I believe I understand.¡± In truth, most of those fields were entirely unexplored. Not only for Deckan, but for all of the Keeper¡¯s worlds. Who would delve into altering the gic code for such a long term project when it is more efficient to devise a training method to simply reach a higher level?


    While the prospect of energy-storing tails did indeed intrigue the queen, something about the way that the man looked at her when he mentioned it made her cautious. ¡°I feel¡­ the best use of your talents should be in your first field, regarding the energy of the universe.¡±


    ¡°This is an age where gods are beginning to appear among the masses, ascending frommon mortals. So as not to bepletely at the mercy of one who arises with ill intent, I would like to ask you to aid us in this field.¡±


    When James heard that, his expression turned more sullen. ¡°Can I pursue my passion project on the side? I will use as little funds as possible, and I believe that it may ultimately align with the goal you gave me.¡±


    Bria thought about that for a long moment, seeing the pleading look in his eyes. ¡°Very well¡­ However, any experiments have to receive approval before moving forward.¡± She couldn¡¯t risk the chance that he might simply capture a helpless young kitsune to study her gic data.


    ¡°Of course!¡± He jumped with joy when his project was approved. ¡°And don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t ck in the primary goal. For that, though¡­ are you looking for restraint methods, or a more permanent solution?¡±


    ¡°Simple restraint should be enough.¡± Bria assured with a relieved smile. If they truly needed to kill a god, they could ask Tsubaki for help until they had the strength to do it themselves. For now, it would be fine as long as they were able to subdue and imprison them. With the growth in personal strength, the ability to properly subdue criminals had been struggling to keep up.


    Nowadays, it wasn¡¯t umon for criminals to be able to use their own power and escape local prisons in smaller settlements. At least¡­ in other worlds. When it came to Deckan, they had a¡­ unique method of handling convicts to ensure that they would not easily be able to escape.

 Chapter 544: Balance and Love

    <h4>Chapter 544: Bnce and Love</h4>


    I speechlessly watched as Tsubaki brushed through her long tails, shaking my head. It wasn¡¯t that I was purposely letting her ¡®suffer¡¯ at the hand of James or anything like that. Rather, my attention had been diverted elsewhere due to the ascension of another mortal god.


    This god was, surprisingly, actually a halfling of Fyor. Even though the world had paused while awaiting my decision for his domain, it had taken over an hour for me to consider. By the time that I had done so, I decided to watch over him for a little while, in order to gain a better understanding of his character.


    Within arge in on the tenthyer of Fyor, a lone halfling stood. His eyes seemed to radiate a golden light as he looked down at his hands. This was the result of his own training for countless years, ever since he was a young boy.


    ¡°Theon!¡± A young and tender voice called out to him, causing him to turn his head to look. He saw a female halfling rushing towards him, excitement clear on his face. ¡°Did you do it? You broke through, right?¡±


    Theon nodded his head to the girl. ¡°Yeah, Jessa. You were right.¡± The two of them had selected this location due to its safety. For thest seven hours, he had been unconscious on the ground as his divine energy merged with his mana toplete the transformation, his younger sister watching over him from a distance. It was her job to protect him in case any dangers appeared.


    ¡°Well, what was it? Did you be a subordinate god to Aurivy?¡± Naturally, she expected that the first halfling god would be taken in this manner by the Goddess herself. While she had good insight, she was not entirely familiar with the process of ascension.


    Theon simply chuckled, shaking his head. ¡°No, my road isn¡¯t hers. I am my own god.¡± Unlike his sister, he knew all along that he wouldn¡¯t be a subordinate of Aurivy. The Goddess of Love had not offered her divinity to him, so there was no way for him to do so even if he wished it.


    Jessa, however, puffed her cheeks out. Her thin arms crossed over her petite chest as she stared at him. ¡°Well, then? What kinda god are you?¡±


    Theon blinked, wanting to know the answer to that himself. He had yet to check the notifications blinking at the corner of his vision. And when he did, a peculiar expression arose on his face, as if he was not quite sure what to make of it.


    ¡°Theon? Something wrong with your domain?¡± Jessa asked, concerned by her brother¡¯s appearance.


    ¡°No¡­ maybe? It¡¯s an unusual one, that¡¯s for sure.¡± Theon stared at the notification for several long moments, trying to find ways in his mind for this domain to work. ¡°Am I supposed to be an athletics god or something? What kind of domain is Bnce?¡±


    Obviously it¡¯s a super cool domain! I¡¯m actually kind of jealous, you know?! A voice spoke into his mind long before Jessa was able to process what she had heard. I mean, this is bnce we¡¯re talking about!


    Theon blinked a few times in shock at the voice. It was the first time he had heard it this clearly, causing him to blurt out in shock. ¡°Lady Aurivy?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right!¡± A voice called out from the air in front of them. A pink-haired figure stepped onto the grassy ins, her hands on her hips. She wore a silk, pink and blue dress and a silver tiara. ¡°Nice to meet you!¡±


    Jessa immediately dropped to her knees, and even Theon himself had the urge to do so. While he might be a god, he was still ultimately a halfling, and this was the Mother Goddess that had appeared before him. ¡°W-what brings you here, Aurivy?¡± It took him quite a bit of effort to drop the formalities and address her casually, something he wanted to do because of his own new status.


    ¡°See? You¡¯re getting into it already.¡± Aurivy grinned towards Theon. ¡°I wanted toe here and beat some sense into you if you didn¡¯t realize what an awesome domain you have! I mean, really, I know people that would kill for a domain like that!¡±


    ¡°But¡­ isn¡¯t it just bnce?¡± He asked, unsure what the big deal was. ¡°So, I¡¯ll never fall over. I don¡¯t really get what¡¯s so special¡­¡±


    Aurivy held a hand to her head, letting out a long sigh. ¡°You¡¯re looking at this too literally, kid! In this world, everything has a bncing force. Light and darkness, fire and water, life and death¡­ Don¡¯t you see!? As the god of bnce, you control these bnced forces! If someonees at you with fire, meet them with water! Swallow the darkness with light, and overturn death with life! This is what bnce is!¡±


    ¡°As long as you properly distribute the energy, there is so much you can do! Bnce your injuries with the enemy, make them fight at your level. The stronger your opponent is, the stronger you be!¡±


    Theon¡¯s eyes went wide as he listened to Aurivy¡¯s exnation, before a thought urred to him. ¡°But¡­ if I am maintaining bnce¡­ won¡¯t that mean I can never be stronger than my enemies? Aren¡¯t I just the Stalemate God, then?¡± Although he epted the fact that his domain pertained to more than just physical bnce, this presented an entirely new problem.


    ¡°Well, sure. If you fight alone.¡± Aurivy grinned towards the prostrating Jessa. ¡°But what if you had an ally by your side, someone that existed outside of your bnce? A factor that would always allow you to tip the scales.¡±


    Theon was quick to catch on, looking towards his own sister, as well. ¡°But¡­ she¡¯s not a god.¡±


    ¡°Correction, my good sir! She¡¯s not a god yet. The future holds many possibilities. As long as she trains hard, she can reach this level, too! But, just to let you know, you can¡¯t help her. If she bes your subordinate god, she¡¯ll never be able to exist outside of your bnce.¡±


    Seeing Aurivy¡¯s yful grin, Theon felt like he understood, and offered a bow towards the goddess. ¡°Thank you for educating me, Mother Goddess.¡±


    Aurivy let out a groan at that, her shoulders dropping. ¡°Where is that casual form of address you used before?!¡± She stomped her foot lightly, before turning and walking away. Her figure abruptly vanished into the void, leaving the two halflings alone in the ins.


    A mature elven woman stood on the balcony of her apartment, overlooking the city before her. It was hard to believe that she had seen the birth of this city personally. No, not just that, she had been one of the very first people to set foot on this entire, and now she was able to look out at a sprawling city.


    Construction materials were constantly being imported from other worlds, while mines and lumber yards were being developed to help this world grow even further. Fields had already been nted in many territories, and food was bing abundant. Although security was a bit of an issue, this world had already begun developing far ahead of her predicted schedule.


    That was why she had happily chosen to ept a home in this new world. With all of the modern conveniences taken care of already, there was no reason to refuse. All of her old friends were already long gone on Earth, or had long ago forgotten about her, so there was no reason left for her to stay.


    ¡°Julia, I¡¯m home!¡± A voice called out from the living room, and a small smile spread on the elf¡¯s face. She had to correct her own thoughts. There was one old friend that had never left, and never forgotten about her.


    ¡°Wee back, Aurivy.¡± She turned to walk back inside, smiling as she saw the halfling draped over the couch. ¡°Did you take care of what you had to do?¡±


    ¡°Yup!¡± She nodded her head, her arms stretching out towards Julia. Seeing that, the elfughed lightly, walking over to her. She picked the goddess up and held her in herp. Her more mature figure made her look as if she were embracing her daughter, yet Aurivy appeared incrediblyfortable. ¡°New god, awesome domain but didn¡¯t realize it. Had to go educate him.¡±


    ¡°Did you call for a medical team before you left?¡± Julia asked in a knowing tone, causing Aurivy to huff.


    ¡°I can exin things to people without beating them up! Sometimes. It depends on if they get mad at me or not. He was a good kid.¡± As she spoke, she allowed herself to rx in Julia¡¯s embrace. ¡°Still think you should ascend, too. You¡¯d be an awesome goddess.¡±


    ¡°You talked me into perfection. I don¡¯t think I need to be a goddess to be awesome, do I?¡± Julia fired back in a yful tone.


    ¡°I mean, you¡¯re not wrong.¡± Aurivy admitted with a lightugh. ¡°Has the instation team been by, yet?¡±


    ¡°Not yet. They called while you were gone, and said that they¡¯d need a few more days toy the wiring. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll y your game with you once the connection is set up.¡± Julia brushed a hand through Aurivy¡¯s pink hair as she spoke.


    ¡°You¡¯d better. I found this super amazing seed for you. And no, I didn¡¯t use cheats. It took me hours to excavate it normally!¡± In fact, Aurivy was always tempted to activate her admin cheats when ying alone. However, Julia had convinced her to do things manually, at least when it concerned things that Aurivy was preparing for her. She said that it meant more if the gift took actual effort as opposed to a few simple voicemands.


    ¡°I look forward to it.¡± Julia nodded her head happily.


    My eyes swept over the scene between Julia and Aurivy briefly as a warm smile emerged on my face. Unless someone called for her, Aurivy spent most of her time descended onto this world, where she lived a rather normal home life with her friend. Normally, none of the others would be able to descend for such long periods without consuming their divine energy, but there was an exception to be found here.


    Every god or goddess could descend to an area rich in their domain freely. And for this particr case, that was Aurivy¡¯s domain of love. Not necessarily romantic love, though at times it did seem to be. But the type of love that Julia and Aurivy shared together allowed her to descend in their home as long as she wanted. The two were like the best of friends, and sisters at the same time.


    After taking my eyes away from that scene, I nced towards the clock. There were only a couple days left before the annual meeting. This would be a rather important meeting for me, for more than just the transaction with Grimor.


    Prior to thest meeting, I had debated whether or not I should take Tsubaki with me. At the time, I believed that it wasn¡¯t suitable yet to introduce her to the greater world of Keepers. However, I felt like things were different now.


    She had experienced the meeting with Balu¡¯s delivery agent, and even praised his nobility. She had seen that other Keepers could be kind, and her view would no longer be tainted merely by the invasions that had urred in the world. Through spending time with me, she had even managed to understand some of the core aspects of being a Keeper.


    No, I felt that I could take her with me to these meetings, and that she would be able to understand them properly while keeping secret what should not be said. My only concern now was Dana, as the two were linked. Dana was far more yful than Tsubaki, after all. However, I knew from experience just how she could get when she was serious about something.


    As long as Tsubaki and I stressed the importance of this meeting to her, I was sure that Dana would be able to behave appropriately. While the concept of points would be a new idea for the both of them, I knew that they would be able to understand it easily enough. After all, if there was an unlimited supply of power to customize a world, why would anyone choose not to start with unkible gods?


    Since they understood that my power did have its limits, it should not be too hard to adjust to the idea that those limits were represented in the form of points.

 Chapter 545: Assistants

    <h4>Chapter 545: Assistants</h4>


    ¡°Here you are, sir.¡± A young kitsune woman said as she guided James into theboratory that they had set aside for him. Given the varied nature of his research, there was a wide array of different devices arranged for him. Everything was neat and new, and James couldn¡¯t find a speck of dust in the entire room.


    ¡°Nice.¡± He smiled happily as he observed theb. The devices were honestly a little bit below the standard he was used to in his world, as he had focused far more on technology. However, this was the first time that someone else had prepared ab for him. Usually, it would just be him ordering whatever equipment he needed.


    ¡°If you require anything else, don¡¯t hesitate to ask.¡± The kitsune guide smiled towards him, finding him far more agreeable than she at first expected.


    ¡°Research assistants.¡± James said with a firm nod, catching the woman by surprise.


    ¡°Are you sure, sir? I don¡¯t believe that we have any researchers at a level where they would be able to provide you enough assistance in your fields¡­¡±


    There was a rather difficult expression on the young woman¡¯s face, but James shook his head. ¡°Then I¡¯ll just have to teach them. I don¡¯t mind if theye from other worlds, as well. As long as they are passionate about learning.¡±


    The kitsune woman chuckled slightly. ¡°Sir, we are servants of Udona, the Goddess of Education. If I were to limit the criteria to simply being passionate about learning, thisb would surely not berge enough.¡±


    James blinked slightly at that, holding his chin. ¡°Okay¡­ researchers that have personally made advancements in either gic maniption or energy configurations. That should narrow down the pool quite a lot. And, if there are still too many, ask them to bring samples of their work, and I¡¯ll judge the best five to join me. Race, age and gender don¡¯t matter, so long as they are able to meet the main criteria.¡±


    ¡°Understood. I¡¯ll send the message through the Towers. The news should reach every world within two days, and you should have your applicants within a week.¡± After saying that, the woman offered a faint bow, turning to leave and carry out this task. In a way, she had been assigned to be James¡¯ attendant, and given full authority to fulfill his requests so long as they were within thew.


    ¡°Hmm?¡± A certain female elf looked down at hermunication crystal, seeing that she had an iing call. Grasping the crystal firmly, she injected a bit of mana into it to activate it. ¡°Yes, Bors? Is this important? I was just about to start a new experiment.¡±


    The man on the other end, an elderly elven male, chuckled dryly. ¡°If I couldn¡¯t call you when you were about to start an experiment, I¡¯m afraid we¡¯d never be able to speak. But yes, this is quite important. I believe I¡¯ve found a rare opportunity for you.¡±


    ¡°Did you get the dragon scales I asked for?¡± The elf¡¯s eyes sparkled as she asked that, causing Bors to clear his throat.


    ¡°Ahem¡­ no, not that. I assume you haven¡¯t been watching the newstely?¡±


    ¡°Why would I?¡± She shrugged her shoulders, far less interested now that she knew he wasn¡¯t calling about the items that she had requested previously.


    ¡°Well, there is a new figure that appeared within Deckan. He is looking for research assistants specializing in ¡®energy configuration¡¯. Apparently, his research is being directly aided by the crown.¡±


    Though his words seemed impressive, the elven woman still did not seem interested, looking at him passively before he added on¡­ ¡°This is also a direct acquaintance of the Keeper, confirmed by Lady Tsubaki herself. Furthermore, the report says that his theoretical knowledge should surpass that of this world by at least a hundred years.¡±


    ¡°Lead with that, next time!¡± She said with a flustered tone, already leaving her office to rush towards her bedroom. ¡°This is Deckan¡­ should I pack for warm weather? Is he epting elves, or do I need a disguise? Are there any special requirements I should know about?¡±


    The fact that this man was directly associated with the Keeper meant that he would have ess to whatever research materials he required, no matter how rare they were. Dragon scales? She could get the crystal fragments of a living meteor if she needed it! As for his theoretical knowledge¡­ she would have to test that herself.


    ¡°He¡¯s only epting those that have made achievements for themselves already, and requires you to bring a sample of your work. You have three days to make it to Deckan, at which point he will judge the samples to select five assistants.¡±


    ¡°So I¡¯ve gotta bring my best work, huh?¡± She nced towards the crystal ball in the corner of her room, swirling with silver and yellow mist. This energy was hertest and greatest achievement in the field of energy configurations, and she was confident that nobody would have created something like it yet.


    Within the beastkinnds, a small electronics store was being used as the base for a meeting. Numerous beastkin of different races were idly chatting before a felyn with bright red hair jumped up onto the counter. ¡°Alright, everyone, quiet down!¡±


    When she shouted out, the murmur of the crowd stopped. Her eyes scanned seriously over the group before a smile spread over her face. ¡°Good. Now, I assume everyone¡¯s heard the news?¡±


    Rather than answering out loud and causing another stir, everyone simply nodded their heads. ¡°Good.¡± The felyn shopkeeper said again, her smiling bing brighter. ¡°Today, we¡¯ll be selecting someone to send and join this researchb.¡±


    Understanding the fundamentalws behind different energy systems had always been one of the core principles behind this group, so it was no wonder that they were jumping at this chance. ¡°We¡¯ll be conducting a vote on who to send. The elders within every city have arranged for the vote to be held online. Tonight, at midnight our time, connect to the virtual forum. Everyone should be familiar with the process by now.¡±


    ¡°Eh? There were this many people?¡± A week had already passed since James put out his announcement, and he was led to arge conference room of over two dozen people. Among them were kitsune, humans, beastkin, even dwarves. At the far end was a single¡­ robot? He had heard about the golem race, but never met one himself.


    ¡°How many of them are gics experts?¡± James asked, looking towards the kitsune woman that had once again acted as his guide.


    She cleared her throat in response, ncing away guiltily. ¡°There are no published articles about gic maniption, so we didn¡¯t include that criteria in the advertisement. Everyone here hase for the research on energy configurations.¡±


    James¡¯ shoulders slumped when he heard that, shaking his head sullenly. His dream of a nine-tailed fox race seemed to be getting further and further away. ¡°Okay¡­ everyone, present your energy sample. If you have it stored internally, just circte it. I¡¯ll take care of the rest.¡±


    As he said that, he spread his energy through the room, using it to detect the smallest details of his would-be assistants. Most of the gathered candidates retrieved items from their storage spaces, whether they were ss orbs, paper talismans, or even sealed jars. Others stood where they were, as strange lights and mists gathered along their bodies.


    Like I thought, a lot of them ovep¡­ He noticed that several of the energies had the same identity, simply stored differently. There were three necromantic auras, and six people that were using a mix of ki, mana, and spiritual energy that felt like needles under his detection power.


    These nine were directly eliminated, asked to leave first due to the fact that none of them brought something truly unique to the table. Of the ones left¡­ James pointed to five of them. Two kitsune, an elf, the lone golem of the group, and a lycan. ¡°You five pass.¡±


    In truth, there were others that he wanted to recruit as well, but theb would already be fairly cramped with seven people. Internally, James was already counting Chelsea as one of his research assistants, regardless of the fact that she had just been born.


    Everyone else left with sullen expressions,ining about a wasted trip. Meanwhile, it was the elf that passed who actually stepped forward with a curious gaze. ¡°Sir, may I ask, what method did you use to conduct this test? You didn¡¯t seem to do anything more than give us each a passing nce.¡±


    He didn¡¯t expect the one to ask this sort of question to be one who he had already chosen to pass, but the pace of the rejected parties slowed down a bit to hear his answer. ¡°Your energy is a mix of all four base types through a peculiar process. Where I¡¯m from, it¡¯s known as Transference Mist, and its primary ability is to copy and paste enchantments from one item to another.¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately, you haven¡¯t discovered the means of storing the energy within the body yet, so you can only channel it through this crystal ball in your hands. This reduces the usability of the energy to less than ten percent, as it is difficult to wield such a thing in battle without causing mishaps.¡±


    Then, he pointed to the golem. ¡°You have quite the interesting energy. At first, it appeared to be purely mana, but I noticed a thin thread of spiritual energy inside of it. From its arrangement, it seemed to be an energy with some awareness, but requires a high level of control to input directions.¡±


    After that was the human. ¡°Your mix of ki and natural energy reached the thirdyer, directly condensing the power of space as your element. Although it seemed to be the most ordinary of the group at first nce, it is actually one of the moreplicatedbinations. If I¡¯m not wrong, you condensed and dispersed elemental ki dozens of times before you noticed this trace of energy being left behind in your pathways.¡±


    Finally, he pointed to the two kitsune. ¡°As for you two, your energies perfectlypliment one another. You must have trained together. One of you condensed a light-based energy made of natural energy, mana, and ki, while the other condensed a darkness-based energy with a simr form, only recing the mana with spiritual energy. When the two of you work together, it should create what I know as the Destructive Bnce energy.¡±


    James urately pointed out the characteristics of the five chosen energy types, even exining the applications for those he did not have a name for. Seeing this, everyone was left dumbfounded. Those who had been dismissed already were left with no other means to protest the decision, seeing that he clearly had been able to see through their characteristics as well.


    The elf was the first to recover, a new glint in her eyes as she stared at James. With just his exnation, she had confirmed that his knowledge was on an entirely different level from theirs¡¯. Even for her, if she analyzed apleted energy, she would need to spend weeks to theorize its uses without practical experimentation. Yet he had done so with only a nce. She could already assume that he had some sort of detection ability that they weren¡¯t able to sense, but that only made her more excited.


    ¡°No further questions, sir!¡± She called out with the widest grin she could ever recall. Internally, she was thanking her friend for telling her about this chance, as it was perhaps the greatest opportunity for her to pursue her passions.


    James nodded, waiting for the rest to leave. ¡°From now on, all of you drop the ¡®sir¡¯ talk. I¡¯m James, and that¡¯s it. We¡¯ll be working together for a while, so let¡¯s all do our best at getting along.¡±


    In truth, James was quite pleased with his selection. The fact that one of the participants had an energy he had never seen was already enough to make him feel that this was worthwhile. Even though his worlds did not specialize in energy cultivation, the four fundamental energies did still exist. They were merely harvested and analyzed through scientific means, so they very rarely grew to the same level as a world focused on that field.

 Chapter 546: Revealing the Truth

    <h4>Chapter 546: Revealing the Truth</h4>


    Looking at the clock once again, there were only a few hours left before the meeting. It was time to go inform Tsubaki about the n, and allow her to make her decision about whether or not she wished to join me for it. Though, given her personality, I could not imagine her ever saying no to that offer.


    Just the thought of that made a small grin emerge on my face as I chose to descend to the citadel. At the moment, my host was standing out in the courtyard, staring off at the scenery with Tsubaki a few steps behind him.


    When I descended, the first thing I heard was her voice. ¡°Wee back, my Keeper.¡± She spoke reverently, and I turned just in time to see her dropping to one knee.


    ¡°You¡¯re really getting too good at telling when that happens.¡± I chuckled, shaking my head.


    ¡°Do you have business that you need to take care of within the world?¡± Her nine tails swayed peacefully behind her, and it was hard to imagine that she had only recently gone through the agitation of having them yed with by James.


    ¡°I do, actually. My business today happens to be with you and Dana.¡± As I said that, I began walking back towards the citadel gate. ¡°Would you mind having her meet us in the library? I believe she was in her workshop when Ist looked.¡±


    ¡°I understand, my Keeper. I¡¯ll see to it at once.¡± Though she said that, she continued to follow behind me, no doubt indicating that one of her avatars had gone off to find Dana.


    As we walked through the halls, I took the time to once again admire Tubrock¡¯s craftsmanship. I had honestly lost track of how old this citadel was now, but it was still maintained as one of the most powerful aerial vessels in any world. Though, if I were topare it to a warship of the March, it might be foundcking.


    When ites to the concept of a flying castle, however, there was indeed nothing better than this even after so long. The Sky Citadel could go to any location within any world that it could fit, even theoretically to outer space.


    As I was thinking about that, we arrived at the library. Unsurprisingly, there was a young elven woman waiting for me, smiling wide as she saw the two of us approach. ¡°Hello, big sis and Keeper!¡± She waved excitedly, using her other hand to open the library door.


    The library itself was massive, but used far less than it was originally intended. As a repository of all knowledge discovered in the world, as well as some that I provided personally, the goal had always been to have representatives of the various races staying here to learn and spread the information to their people. As time passed, that concept slowly faded away.


    When people felt like they had caught up with the knowledge in the library, or when they thought it would be better to discover things on their own, they stoppeding to the citadel. Some were only here because they wanted to get closer to me, and realized that was a failed practice right from the start. Either way, the only regr residents of the citadel to this day were Tsubaki and Dana.


    ¡°So, what¡¯s this about, Keeper?¡± Dana asked as she skipped over to one seat at arge reading table, nting herself in it and watching me. I felt like Tsubaki wanted to scold her for speaking out of turn, but kept herself silent at the realization that I did not seem to have a problem with it.


    ¡°Honestly, I have an offer to make both of you, and I would like you two to consider it carefully.¡± Once I had sat down, I gestured for Tsubaki to take a seat next to Dana. She seemed reluctant to move from her position behind me, but eventually realized that it would be ufortable for me to constantly turn back to address her andplied.


    ¡°An offer, my Keeper?¡± Tsubaki seemed confused at my choice of words, looking to me in search of more information.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Very soon, I¡¯ll be going somewhere, and I¡¯d like to offer the two of you the chance to go with me. The trip shallst between ten and eleven days, but while I am gone, time shall not pass in this world. Thanks to that, any business you had nned will not be interrupted.¡±


    Tsubaki blinked in surprise, but it was Dana that spoke up first. ¡°Where would we be going, Keeper?¡±


    Hearing her question caused a small smile to appear on my face. ¡°There is a regr meeting between Keepers in a world beyond all worlds. In this space, there can be nosting harm done to any living thing. That is why I feel safe bringing the two of you along with me. You would be representatives of my world, and should you see fit to do so, you would even have the choice topete and obtain new power for me to use on this world.¡±


    Tsubaki¡¯s face grew more serious when I mentioned that. ¡°We couldpete with others to strengthen you, my Keeper? In what manner?¡±


    I offered a light chuckle before exining. ¡°First, I need to tell you two something. This is something regarding how my power works, and you must promise to never reveal this information to anyone of my world.¡±


    Both girls had their eyes go wide at my request, before nodding their heads firmly. ¡°Very well¡­ at one point in time, before this world began, I lived within my own world. You can think of it simr to how Desbar was before the merge. At that time, I was just amon man.¡±


    ¡°One day, while I was driving along, my vehicle struck a passerby who was crossing the road without looking. This man turned out to be the Keeper of my world. My world was not as strong as this one, to the point where its Keeper could even be killed by such an ident. But, when my Keeper died, the world ended. I became the new Keeper, and charged with beginning a new world.¡±


    ¡°Such is the fate of the Keeper. Should we die, our world dies with us, and our killer shall take our ce to begin anew. But, our power is not infinite as many believe. Rather, our power is allocated to us by an even higher existence, simr to the system of sses in this world. This system grants us points based on either our personal achievements or the achievements of our world.¡±


    ¡°I can use these points to either buy a new world, modify an existing world¡¯sws, or even create an entire race. Even the ¡®Major Pantheon¡¯ was created using points. These points are the true power that a Keeper wields to shape the world. At the same time, while we exist outside of the world, we have the option to elerate the flow of time in order to allow our world to progress.¡±


    ¡°A single day for me could range anywhere from an hour to a thousand years for you two, depending on how I cause time to pass. However, from my perspective on time, there is a meeting that urs once every year between all Keepers that have reached a certain level of power.¡±


    ¡°This is the meeting I¡¯m talking about. Here, we have the chance to y different games based on the nature of being a Keeper. Managing worlds, developing personal strength, testing reflexes, games of that nature. We also have the chance to disy our talents in various types of performances. All of these things allow us to earn points. In my first meeting, Irena sang a song on stage, andst year we enjoyed a simted world.¡±


    ¡°Aunt Irena can sing?¡± Dana spoke for the first time since my exnation began, her eyes wide in shock. I let out a faintugh as I recalled the scene of her standing on stage and singing for me.


    ¡°She can, and quite beautifully at that.¡± I nodded my head, a peaceful smile appearing on my face. ¡°She is a very talented woman. Anyways, that is the type of meeting that I am offering to bring you to. You¡¯ll be able to meet with other Keepers safely, and participate in various activities to either expand your own knowledge or earn points on my behalf.¡±


    At this point, now that I had told these two about my ¡®humble beginnings¡¯, I checked their surface thoughts to see if their faith in me had been shaken. Tsubaki, though she was surprised by certain aspects of my story, still held true to her convictions. She even saw it as a sign of my faith in her that I was willing to tell her all of this.


    As for Dana, well¡­ she wore her thoughts on her sleeve, voicing them just as I got to her. ¡°Are we able to pick what kind of performance we do if we go? I can sing decently, but Tsuba is way better as a dancer.¡±


    I nced curiously towards the kitsune in question, whose face was quickly turning red at that reveal. Seeing her embarrassed look, I could only offer a small smile. ¡°You can do whatever kind of performance you want. You don¡¯t even necessarily have to do a performance. I won¡¯t be restricting your activities at the meeting. The only restriction in ce will be that you won¡¯t be able to tell other people at the meeting about our world, even identally.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to attend this meeting with you, my Keeper.¡± Tsubaki said in a serious tone, though her blush was still present. Dana, meanwhile, nodded her head.


    ¡°If big sis is going, I¡¯m going! But, man, you used to be a normal guy, huh? I can kind of see that.¡± She smiled towards me with a more familiar expression, as if my story had closed some sort of gap between us. ¡°You don¡¯t really act like the kind of all-powerful being I used to expect when I was a kid.¡±


    ¡°And how did you expect me to act?¡± I raised an eyebrow as I asked that, smirking towards Dana.


    Dana, meanwhile, waspletely carefree as she spoke her mind. ¡°Executing those who disobeyed your rule, wiping the world clean and starting fresh if it didn¡¯t go how you wanted, and using your power to cheat at cards.¡±


    When she said thatst one, I couldn¡¯t help but think back to one of the previous times that I spent living in this world. There were indeed a few times we yed card games to pass the time, often with another god or goddess joining us. And, at times¡­ I may have used my ability to read their minds in order to cheat.


    ¡°I¡¯m shocked that you would think such a thing about me.¡± I spoke, doing my best to act innocent, though there was a certain glint in Dana¡¯s eye.


    ¡°Knew it.¡± She said with a knowing grin. ¡°Next time we y cards, I am so getting a song stuck in your head that you will never be able to get rid of.¡±


    For some reason, I thought she really might do it. She certainly had the mental power to focus on a card game while ring loud music in her head at the same time. To be honest, this yful side of her was something that I appreciated. It assured me that she had epted my story, and didn¡¯t n to look down on me just because I started as a normal mortal.


    ¡°Then, the next meeting will begin in just a few hours. At that time, I¡¯ll bring the two of you along. So, if there is anything that you would like to prepare before that, I¡¯d suggest handling it quickly. Things like what sort of performance you¡¯d like to do, or any games you¡¯d like to try. There¡¯s also a restaurant that serves your favorite food. Even for spirits. In truth, it¡¯s where Irena first found the concept of spiritual cooking.¡±


    Dana¡¯s mouth seemed to be watering as I mentioned that, and I knew that would be one of the first ces she went to visit as soon as I let her go free. ¡°They prepare a meal that is uniquely suited to your tastes, even if it is something that you didn¡¯t know you would like. And after you eat, you have the option to buy the recipe with points. So, if the two of you earn any points in this meeting, I¡¯ll let you spend them there if you want.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Keeper!¡± Dana raised her hands excitedly, clearly intending to work for her food.

 Chapter 547: Transaction

    <h4>Chapter 547: Transaction</h4>


    Once time froze within the world, I promptly returned to the Admin Room, stretching my arms a bit as I called out to the other deities. Anyone that wants toe with us to the meeting, meet up in the living room.


    I wasn¡¯t sure if everyone would want to go this time, so I decided to send out the message first to invite them. As expected, it didn¡¯t take long for Aurivy to arrive. ¡°Are we going to be able to keep the points we earn again today?¡± She asked in excitement, causing me to chuckle.


    ¡°You still have quite a few saved up fromst year, don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Well, yeah! Most of them went to the fourth tier of magic, but I can still save up for more!¡± She beamed a wide smile as she said that, causing me to simply nod my head.


    ¡°Alright, just make sure that you let me know when there¡¯s something that you want to buy. Or, do you already have something in mind?¡±


    Aurivy¡¯s smile turned into a mischievous grin. ¡°I was thinking about buying a new advanced ss or two. But those aren¡¯t anything major. What I really want is something way bigger. I¡¯ll show you when we get back!¡±


    I simply rolled my eyes, finding no point in pushing the issue. Advanced sses weren¡¯t too expensive. I only never bothered to get new ones because I felt like it was time for the people to start breaking the ¡®shackles¡¯ of the ss system. If Aurivy wanted to use the points she earned to buy them, that was up to her.


    As for this mysterious other item she wanted to buy? If she described it as ¡®way¡¯ bigger, I could only imagine it being a ratherrge system, or maybe she wanted to buy some information. Either way, I wasn¡¯t going to restrict her.


    After Aurivy came Udona, Terra, Keliope, and alia. The four sisters were no doubt spending time together when I sent the message out, so they all showed up at the same time. Then, following the same logic, came Ryone and Leowynn.


    Thest to join the group were Bihena and Irena, with Bihena bringing a message from the others. ¡°Tubrock, Tryval, and Ashley wanted me to let you know that they¡¯d be staying here this time. Chel thought about going, but said that there¡¯s really nothing for her there, so she¡¯ll stay.¡±


    I wasn¡¯t surprised to hear that Tubrock was staying. Most likely, he was in the middle of a special project or something. Simrly, Tryval never seemed to be as active in the meetings. Ashley, however, surprised me with her decision to stay. When I recalled her mood at thest Keeper meeting, I somewhat understood.


    To her, the meetings weren¡¯t such a festive thing, but rather a grim reminder of what she had lost from the old world. It wasn¡¯t surprising that she would rather stay here and simply take a few days to herself rather than join in, if that was the case.


    With the group gathered here, I went ahead and summoned the door to the meeting. At the same time, I focused on selecting Tsubaki and Dana to bring with us, curious what method they would use to appear at the meeting themselves.


    Once the door appeared, Udona and Aurivy looked at one another with matching grins, charging through. Those two probably already have ns together. I shook my head lightly as I looked to Irena, who walked over towards me with a smile on her face.


    As always, these meetings were a chance for me to have a real date with Irena. It was the only true chance I had to take her out in an environment that was not entirely controlled by the two of us. Standing on my other side was Terra, who gave a knowing nod towards me, and Ryone just beyond her with Leowynn.


    Together, the rest of us all walked through the doorway, seeing the whitendscape on the other side. Since I had waited a little while to gather everyone together, it seemed like a good number of Keepers had already arrived. Buildings had started to appear one after another, and many were searching for their venue of choice.


    Udona. I called out to the kitsune who had a significant head-start on us. I need that information orb I had you make before.


    Don¡¯t worry! I left it with Irena! Udona was clearly excited by her tone, no doubt already rushing towards the arcade. As I turned to look at Irena, I caught sight of someone else standing not far away from my door.


    Tsubaki and Dana looked around with wide eyes as they took in the expanding scenery. They saw the different shapes of the Keepers all emerging from their own golden doors, and how everyone seemed to head for the city that constructed itself on the spot.


    When I saw them, I noticed something about the two of them. There was an image stamped onto the back of their right hands. It looked like a heater shield with a line splitting it down the middle.


    Once Tsubaki caught sight of me, she immediately rushed over. ¡°My Keeper.¡± She offered a faint bow. Dana blinked, walking over and waving. As usual, I set the same restriction to prevent everyone from discussing our world.


    ¡°Tsubaki, Dana.¡± I nodded to the two of them. ¡°You two are free to wander around and participate in the different activities, if you want. Consider it a vacation from our reality.¡±


    Tsubaki blinked curiously at that concept, before naturally moving over to stand behind me. Seeing that, Dana rolled her eyes yfully. ¡°I¡¯lle back to get her when I decide to start doing the performance.¡± She assured me with a lightugh, before turning and running off to the city.


    ¡°Well¡­ let¡¯s go take care of business, first.¡± I smiled, looking around for the restaurant. Now that I knew that was where most business deals took ce, I immediately sought it out. After all, that was likely where Grimor would be waiting for me.


    Soon enough, I found the iconic building, and saw the small stream of Keepers walking towards it. Nodding to Terra and Irena, I began making my way over as well, with Tsubaki following right behind me.


    ¡°I¡¯m borrowing Leowynn for a while!¡± Ryone called out to us as we walked off, and I faintlyughed in response, waving my hand back towards them. As for the rest, they had already dispersed into the city.


    As we approached the restaurant, I made out therge figure of Grimor waiting near the door. At the same time, it seemed that he caught sight of us as well, waving at us with a reserved smile. Once we arrived, he looked over our group, before his eyes rested on Tsubaki. ¡°Oh? Brought one of your champions with you?¡±


    No doubt he noticed the stamp on her hand, so I readily nodded. ¡°I felt she was ready to see this. It won¡¯t be a problem for her to sit in on the deal, right?¡±


    Grimor shook his head at that. ¡°Not at all. The business is between the two of us. If she were from another world, it might be an issue however.¡±


    At that, he turned and began leading us inside. Just like my previous meeting with Balu, we were led to arge table that seemed already prepared for us. There were exactly five seats, just enough for all of us to sit down. Of course¡­ ¡°Tsubaki, you¡¯re eating with us.¡± I told her in a tone that brokered no argument. I couldn¡¯t just have her standing back and watching all of us eat our favorite foods, could I?


    Tsubaki let out a quiet squeak of embarrassment before hastily taking the remaining free seat. Much to Grimor¡¯s enjoyment, as the other Keeper let out a boisterousugh. ¡°Ah, you¡¯ve got one of those, huh?¡±


    However, rather than borating on that, or giving me time to formte a response, his eyes grew more serious. ¡°So, you had information on Sanction?¡±


    I gave a nod, ncing towards Irena. She reached into her breast pocket and produced a small, crystal orb that she passed towards Grimor. As she did so, she exined. ¡°This contains all of the information that we managed to extract from the invader. There is cultural exnation, system data, as well as information on what is likely to be the Keeper¡¯s personal situation within that world.¡±


    Grimor nodded with a serious expression, taking the orb and sweeping his thoughts over it. His eye gave a faint twitch after a moment. ¡°So it was that system. Comprehensive skill tree¡­ And that¡¯s how it really works, then?¡±


    Grimor focused, creating another information orb that likely matched what he just read, before passing the original back to Irena. ¡°We¡¯ve wanted to test that system for a while, to figure out its uses. However, our quality assurance team doesn¡¯t have the budget to freely test anything over a million points. We couldn¡¯t be sure if there was a hidden trap in it or not, even at that price.¡±


    ¡°Since you not only gave us the system he¡¯s using, but also a detailed exnation of its effects, I can throw in a small bonus for you on top of our agreement.¡± Saying so, he reached his hand over the table towards me. Tsubaki¡¯s hair stood on end for a moment, before she saw me stretching my own hand out to shake his.


    Naturally, this was the process of transferring points between Keepers. However, when I saw the amount that he had sent me, I was briefly taken aback. I knew that someone at his level would never send the wrong amount, but still¡­ a hundred and fifty thousand was perhaps thergest sum I had ever earned all at once.


    No doubt, this included the amount for the cultural information as well, I was just still surprised by the total number. Just as the transaction finished, I saw a waiter wandering over towards us, a small basket in his hand. ¡°For you, Alkahest.¡± He gestured towards therger Keeper.


    Alkahest simply chuckled, standing up with a nod and taking the basket. Apparently, he was nning on directly leaving after the deal, so the system brought him his food to-go. As he walked away, the waiter smile to us. He appeared human, but his eyes were pure yellow. ¡°I¡¯ll be back with your meals in just a moment.¡±


    After saying that, he turned to walk away, Tsubaki shooting me a curious nce. ¡°This is how a Keeper conducts business? Is it not a little too¡­ open for such a sensitive matter?¡±


    ¡°There is a privacy screen on these tables.¡± Terra exined with a small smile. ¡°Nobody would be able to hear what was being discussed unless they were personally seated here.¡±


    Tsubaki¡¯s mouth opened and she let out a brief sound of understanding before her eyes bulged out. Following her line of sight, I saw the waiter walking over with tworge trays supporting four tes of food. When he ced the food down in front of us, I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle.


    Much likest time, I had a nice, juicy cheeseburger with a side of fries. Irena had what looked to be silver spaghetti, no doubt a creation of spiritual cooking. Terra had arge, grilled fish that had her mouth watering from the moment it appeared.


    As for Tsubaki¡­ she had a te of pink rice covered in a thick, white sauce that seemed to have glittering sugar on top. She looked at the food strangely, before picking up a spoon and taking a bite. The moment she did so, her nine tails immediately stood ramrod straight, her ears stiffening and eyes going wide again.


    ¡°So sweet!¡± She shouted once she finished the bite, but she seemed¡­ incredibly happy with the sweetness. Okay¡­ she was thest person I expected to have such a strong sweet tooth.

 Chapter 548: Spring of Origin

    <h4>Chapter 548: Spring of Origin</h4>


    After we finished our meal, I offered to buy the recipe for what Tsubaki had eaten. However, shepletely refused me, telling me that our previous deal was for her to buy the recipe herself with her own points. Of course¡­ how will she earn points if she stays by my side the entire time?


    When I brought up that point, she had a somewhatplex expression. Her thoughts were racing, torn between wanting to stay by my side as was ¡®proper¡¯, and wanting to go earn points for me to aid my world. I could also see her ncing towards her te as well, so clearly the recipe was a part of her motivation.


    ¡°I¡­¡± Tsubaki nced towards the door, causing Terra to let out a faintugh.


    ¡°Dale, I¡¯ll go show Tsubaki around.¡± The felyn goddess said, standing up and pulling Tsubaki to her feet. Tsubaki looked at her gratefully, nodding her head. Once the two of them left, it was just myself and Irena again.


    ¡°What would you like to do this time?¡± I asked with a small smile as I looked towards her. Her normally business-like expression broke as her face softened.


    After a moment of thought, she nced in the direction where Tsubaki and Terra had just left. ¡°I¡¯ll let you decide.¡± She spoke gently, reaching out to squeeze my hand.


    Nodding my head, I thought it through. Last year, we went to a simtion to live out a few days as a couple in a different world. However, thinking back to the events that surrounded that ¡®date¡¯, I didn¡¯t think it would be a good idea to repeat it this year. Irena was¡­ quite perturbed by some of what happened.


    We had just had a meal, so going on a pic wouldn¡¯t be a particrly good move, either. If we were back home, I¡¯d suggest taking her to see a movie. However, there wasn¡¯t exactly a movie theater here. We could go to the performance theater and enjoy a show, perhaps?


    I was simply concerned that would be too much like our first date. And while I wasn¡¯t really opposed to reliving enjoyable moments, I did want to do something new. As I thought about that, a small smile crept over my lips. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    As I stood up, Irena blinked, standing as well. ¡°Go where?¡±


    ¡°Wherever our feet take us.¡± Saying that, I held her hand and walked towards the door. I could feel that she was a bit confused about my decision, but I simply kept that smile on my face.


    Within the Meeting world, there was no problem with danger. We could just wander around and explore as much as we wanted. After a certain point, the terrain might be generated just for us, whether it was grasnds or a forest. If we had no specific destination in mind, what would the world provide?


    After a few moments, it seemed like Irena caught onto my intention, letting out a low chuckle. We didn¡¯t move towards any of the venues with popr games or demonstrations, and simply chose the direction with the least people to begin walking.


    After two minutes of walking, we arrived at the grasnds where people were sitting down and enjoying a pic. Some waved towards us as we walked, and so we returned the gesture with a friendly smile. However, most were unconcerned with us, so we simply continued walking.


    ¡°Have there been any problems with the Underworldtely?¡± I asked as we walked past the pic area, ncing towards Irena.


    ¡°There¡­ I wouldn¡¯t quite call it an issue.¡± Irena said with a faint sigh, shaking her head. ¡°However, the monster side has been quite chaotic due to Lorek¡¯s appearance.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± I blinked, surprised by that fact. After thinking about it, I gave a slight nod. ¡°Are the star beasts a bit much for that side?¡±


    ¡°Not that.¡± She shook her head, smiling bitterly as we walked through the grass. ¡°It¡¯s the size of the itself. Between the¡¯s size, and the fact that it isrgely dominated by monsters, we are barely able to keep up with the influx of new souls. Not to mention the other worlds that have gradually been explored.¡±


    ¡°All in all, we¡¯re starting to get short staffed.¡± Irena let out a small sigh as she said that. ¡°My only options are to either act personally, reduce the requirements for training, or find a way to automate the system.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± I thought about that briefly. ¡°Since it¡¯s been a while since you were revealed to the living world, you could probably set up a ritual to let your living priests ferry the souls of the dead for you, right?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve already taken that step. Honestly, it reduced the burden by quite a lot. Now, we only have to monitor the wilderness and more rural areas with active patrols. If I was the Goddess of Souls, I could set up a divine w¡¯ that automatically took souls to the afterlife after a set period of time. But, as the Goddess of the Underworld, my power doesn¡¯t extend to the living world in that way. Even when it is to target souls.¡±


    ¡°The Death domain doesn¡¯t help there?¡± I asked, my eyes wide. We were starting to pass by thest of the ¡®explored¡¯ terrain, so anything past this would be generated as we moved.


    ¡°Not to the same degree.¡± She shook her head. ¡°The Death domain is different from the ¡®Dead¡¯ domain. If I had thetter, all dead creatures would fall under my power. With the Death domain, however, it is more apt to say that I rule over the process of death. If I wanted, I could create a divinew that automatically ferried all dead souls at the moment of their death.¡±


    Just as I was about to ask what the problem with that was, she exined. ¡°However, if I do that, then it will disrupt the flow of the world. Martial spirits will no longer be able to perform their pacts, because the souls of their hosts would be ferried before the transfer could beplete. The only way that race could reproduce would be to directly tap the Underworld for energy.¡±


    ¡°Additionally, it would interfere with how dungeons collect spirits from dead monsters and adventurers. It¡¯s not so simple as saying ¡®All souls that die go to the Underworld, unless this happens¡¯.¡± She closed her eyes and sighed, following along as a breeze passed by us. ¡°The moreplex aw, the harder it is to implement.¡±


    I thought about that, before an idea came to me. ¡°Well then, how about getting Aurivy to help? Goddess of Travel, right? If you can¡¯t do the ¡®dyed transfer¡¯w, surely she could?¡±


    Irena blinked, looking straight at me. ¡°I¡­ I believe that could work.¡± Recently, the gods had begun working together to perform joint projects. At first, it was Fyor and Lorek being jointly managed by two gods each. Then, Ryone and Tubrock created the golems¡¯ universe. Finally, Ryone and Leowynn had Ashley help them to create a joint trading tform.


    Now, it would be time for Irena and Aurivy to have their own joint operation. ¡°I think, if you do it like that, you should be able to have Aurivy set up thew for when spirits go to the Underworld, and you should be able to set up on your end where they arrive. Whether they are monsters in the monster side, or residents in the normal side.¡±


    Irena nodded at the suggestion, somewhat lost in thought. ¡°That¡¯s right¡­ I can designate the entry points to filter based on spirit origin. Doing so within the Underworld would be a lot less taxing than the other way around.¡± In fact, Irena already had a system simr to that in ce. It was how the two sides had been able to maintain their positions all this time.


    All that really needed to be done was to have Aurivy y her part, and then link the two together. After that, she would no longer need to send her troops out for their regr patrols, and they could serve purely as a punitive force within the Underworld itself.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± She smiled towards me, taking half a step closer to me as we walked. Looking around, I noticed that we were now in a beautiful forest, beams of light shining down through the gaps in the trees. Nearby, I could hear the rushing of a stream, and see many different kinds of flowers.


    So this is what the system created for us. I nodded inwardly when I thought of that. A romantic walk through a beautiful forest, that didn¡¯t seem like such a bad thing.


    Turning, I began to lead Irena in the direction where I could hear the flowing water. It wasn¡¯t far, and we soon found a spring that barely looked deep enough to reach our knees. Rocks were neatly arranged along the edge, as if purposely ced.


    Taking Irena over, we both sat down on one of those rocks. As she watched me, I took my shoes off, hanging my legs over the side of the rock to let my feet rest in the flowing stream. ¡°Oh¡­ that¡¯s a bit colder than I expected.¡± I said with augh, but to my surprise, I found that the water wasn¡¯t entirely normal.


    After the initial coolness passed, I felt a faint, warm energy pass through my legs. There are no harmful effects within the Meeting world¡­ so this should be a water source with an effect to remove fatigue and enhancefort.


    Curious as to my actions, Irena mirrored them. When she put her own feet in the water next to me, she let out a faint gasp. ¡°There¡¯s spiritual energy in this water. It is¡­ actually, really nice.¡±


    ¡°Well, of course it is, silly!¡± A voice spoke up from our surroundings, startling the two of us. There was a giggle before a figure flew over, small enough to fit in our hands. She wore a flowing blue dress, and had beautiful butterfly wings on her back. ¡°It¡¯s been a few years since anyone brought out this area!¡±


    As she spoke, she hovered in front of us, her wings pping excitedly. With only a nce, we could both tell that she was happy we were here. That being the case, I took the initiative to ask. ¡°What exactly is this ce, then?¡±


    She turned herself in mid-air to face me, spreading her arms out wide. ¡°Wee to the Spring of Origins. This is thend of beginnings that has no end. Looking at you two¡­ you¡¯re out on a romantic getaway, right?¡± She beamed a bright smile, her body radiating a golden light as she asked that.


    ¡°That obvious, huh?¡± Clearly, this pixie was a creation of the system, so there was no point in trying to hide anything from her. She probably knows more about us than we do ourselves.


    ¡°Well, duh!¡± She nodded her head firmly, her body floating up and down. ¡°Most people who find this ce aren¡¯t specifically looking for the spring. The spring appears because it senses what they are looking for.¡±


    ¡°And what¡¯s that?¡± Irena asked, seeming genuinely curious with her question.


    ¡°As I said, a beginning that has no end.¡± With a giggle, the smaller girl exined further. ¡°An eternal union, one that transcends all borders.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but raise an eyebrow at that. ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t think something with such an extravagant description would be free, would it?¡±


    The pixie giggled again. ¡°Nope! I mean, you can buy a branch of the spring to flow into your world, and create a mystical water source if you want. But the eternal union stuff? That¡¯s more symbolic than anything. It has whatever meaning the heart gives it.¡±


    ¡°Last time, there was a man who believed that if he washed his love¡¯s hair in the water of the spring, their bond would be forever. Another couple swam together. One even got married here! That was a really nice time!¡± She looked wistful as she thought of that, before shaking her head.


    ¡°As for you two, it¡¯s up to you if you want to do any ceremony or not! I¡¯m just here to answer your questions!¡± After saying that, the pixie¡¯s body spun, before diving down and disappearing into the water.

 Chapter 549: Discovery

    <h4>Chapter 549: Discovery</h4>


    Watching the fairy disappear into the stream, I simply blinked and began processing everything that had been said. However, it wasn¡¯t me that spoke up first but Irena, her eyes on the spot where the girl vanished. ¡°You mentioned that we could buy a branch of the spring¡­ does it have some actual function, then?¡±


    Right, if it were just sentimental, there would be no reason to buy it¡­ I gave a faint nod as I heard Irena¡¯s words, and soon saw the small head of the pixie rising above the water. ¡°Of course it does! This is the Spring of Origins, after all!¡±


    Irena simply stared at her, prompting her to continue after clearing her throat. ¡°The spring water suppresses the naturally explosive reactions between different energies. It makes it way easier for energies to mix together, even identally.¡±


    I sucked in a sharp breath at that. That was¡­ an incredibly powerful ability. That meant that even passively, the water would likely be generating any number ofbinations between mana and natural energy in my world. If someone were to purposely take away some of the water, they¡¯d be able to even create a saint level energy without having to worry about the consequences of failure.


    ¡°That¡­ can¡¯t be cheap.¡± I shook my head. Such a powerful ability would require an astronomical sum, no matter how small the spring was.


    ¡°I mean¡­ it¡¯s not too bad.¡± The pixie shrugged her shoulders with a mischievous grin. ¡°Only five hundred thousand points.¡±


    It took everything I had not to kick some water at the pixie when she expressed that as ¡®not too bad¡¯. Half a million for a branch of a spring¡­ that was an insane figure. If I didn¡¯t understand just how potent the spring¡¯s water could be before, I certainly did so now.


    Irena seemed to catch my struggle, directing a yful smile at me. ¡°Long term goals, Dale.¡± She gripped my hand lightly as she said that. I leaned against her, happy to be able to feel the warmth as we soaked next to the spring.


    With our questions out of the way, it seemed that the pixie had once again taken her leave. Unless we called her, it would just be Irena and myself for a while. Although it turned out to be more than just a simple spring, I wasn¡¯t at all unhappy with where our random wandering had taken us. ¡°Irena?¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡± She nced over to me, before resting her head against my own.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for making you wait so long.¡± That was something that had always been guing my mind, ever since I realized just how sincere her feelings were. Bihena had proven fairly quickly just how easy it was for them to recognize that the feelings in their hearts were something I gave them. Yet still, how long had she waited in the Underworld for me?


    Naturally, she would have made the same realization as Bihena did. But even still, those feelings burned strong. I don¡¯t know exactly how she sees me, but it was enough to convince her that I was worth the wait. That¡¯s why I didn¡¯t want to jump right into anything with her, I didn¡¯t want to rush it after all of that. I felt like she deserved better.


    Irena¡¯s hand gripped my own, and I could feel the affection from the simple gesture. ¡°It¡¯s alright, Dale. I¡¯m just happy to be here now.¡±


    ¡°Me too.¡± Nodding my head, I pulled my arm back to wrap around her waist, below her wings.


    Tsubaki found herself being guided towards arge building, where quite a lot of people could be seen going in and out. ¡°If you want to earn points, this will be the ce to start.¡± Terra directed a smile back towards her, leading her inside.


    Within the building, there were people of all shapes and sizes, most of which were standing over a series of arcade machines. Although Tsubaki had never taken the time to y one such machine herself in the past, she had seen what they looked like in various stores after the merging of Desbar with the rest of the worlds.


    ¡°There are¡­ so many.¡± Tsubaki blinked, looking around, before she seemed to notice a problem. ¡°Aren¡¯t all the games already taken?¡±


    Hearing that, Terra only let out a small smile. ¡°That¡¯s the magic of this ce. Something only exists when it is wanted. All of these games were called into existence by the people ying them. As for you¡­ well, you don¡¯t really y games too much aside from Vision Expanse. Wait¡­ that¡¯s right, you got into Natural Seed as well recently.¡±


    When Tsubaki nced off to the side at thatment, Terra simply chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s fine. Just think about what kind of game you expect you would be best at. Consider your own strengths, and the arcade will prepare a matching game for you.¡±


    Tsubaki furrowed her brows, closing her eyes in focus. What were her greatest talents when it came to games? She had excellent reflexes, honed over all of her years of training. But, there was something more, wasn¡¯t there? ¡°Survival.¡± Tsubaki muttered that word, and Terra nodded, leading her towards the back of the arcade just in time for a new machine to appear.


    Whether it was the real world or any game, the aspect which Tsubaki has always been best at was surviving. Making the best off whatever resources she had to get herself from day to day. She had done so in her trial of blood as a child, and again in Vision Expanse when she trained her second character through a simr method.


    ¡°Since you¡¯re wanting a survival-style game, this should be just the thing for you.¡± Terra guided her to sit down in front of the machine. Unlike most of the arcade games in the room, this was set up more like a basicputer terminal.


    Tsubaki looked at the screen, and the game was already at its opening menu. She brought her hand to the controls, signalling for the game to start, and was amazed at what she found. The character that appeared on the screen was Tsubaki herself. Only, she was not the Goddess of Light with nine shining tails.


    Instead, she was a little kitsune girl wearing nothing but rags, standing in a dark forest. For a moment, Tsubaki felt as if she were watching a scene from her childhood. Quickly, she found the pause button, turning her head to look at Terra.


    Catching her gaze, the felyn goddess nodded her head. ¡°This is a survival simtor. The avatar was chosen to be a younger version of yourself, due to the nature of the game causing it tost a long period of time. While this isn¡¯t the same as the trial you experienced¡­ the difficulty will not be any easier.¡±


    Tsubaki furrowed her brows, thinking over those words. After a moment, she turned back to the game and began to memorize the controls, as well as the gamey mechanics. If this was truly going to be as hard as what she had been through, she would need every advantage she could get.


    I lost track of how long Irena and I were next to the spring. Out in the woods like this, the only person around was a representation of the system itself. If we were truly afraid to do anything just because of that, we may as well never get the chance to act in the future.


    By the time we were leaving the forest, there was an almost ecstatic smile on Irena¡¯s face. She held my hand as we walked, and I knew that I didn¡¯t want to let go. Every few steps, her wings seemed to flutter slightly, barely restraining her excitement.


    When we arrived back at the main meeting area, we looked around to see if there was anyone we recognized. Obviously, the mostmon gathering ce would be the arcade, as it was where the majority of Keepers went to earn their points.


    However, I happened to spot a familiar face standing off on her own, her brows scrunched up in focus. When Irena caught sight of who I was looking at, she nodded her head. The two of us walked over, waving towards the figure. ¡°What¡¯s up, Balu?¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡± Balu¡¯s long rabbit ears suddenly stood up as she was called out to, turning to face us. ¡°Oh! Dave!¡±


    ¡°So close, yet so far¡­¡± I chuckled, shaking my head a bit. ¡°Dale. It¡¯s Dale, Balu. So, what are you up to?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t know!¡± She announced, as if she were proud of that fact. ¡°I figured that I woulde and do something¡­ but now that I¡¯m here I¡¯ve totally forgotten what I wanted to do! And I left my notebook back home, so I can¡¯t go and find it to check.¡±


    I stared, a bit dumbfounded. I knew that this girl had problems with her memory, but I didn¡¯t realize that it was to this degree. ¡°You¡¯re not needing a ticket or anything, right?¡±


    ¡°Oh, no. I¡¯m not in any trouble.¡± She assured me with a bright smile, her nose twitching a bit from the gesture. ¡°I haven¡¯t gotten into any big invasions for a little bit. There was probably just some game that I wanted to try out. I always make sure to bring my notebook whenever there¡¯s a meeting, so I know I¡¯m not missing any business, either.¡±


    Hearing that, I gave a small nod. ¡°Well, would you like to talk with us for a bit? I¡¯ve been wanting to pick your brain for a while now on something.¡±


    ¡°Nope!¡± She held up her arms, forming an X in front of herself with them. ¡°That sounds painful! I¡¯ve got enough problems with my brain where it is, thanks!¡±


    Irena blinked, and again, her eyes still staring at Balu. ¡°It¡¯s an expression. It means that he wants to get your advice.¡±


    ¡°Oh? It is?¡± The little white rabbit girl directed her gaze towards me suspiciously, causing me to let out a sigh and nod. ¡°Okay, but if it¡¯s anything that would need to be charged, I¡¯ll have to call the boss.¡±


    ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be. I¡¯m more interested in your personal advice, rather than the advice of the Gilded Branch.¡± I smiled a bit at that, leading Balu back towards the grassy area. It was a better meeting point than standing in the middle of the street, at the very least. If we hadn¡¯t just eaten a little while ago, maybe I¡¯d take her to the restaurant instead.


    Once we were in a fairly secluded spot, Balu dropped down to the ground and crossed her legs, her body swaying from side to side. ¡°So, what did you want to talk to me about?¡±


    ¡°Cultivation worlds.¡± When I said that, her ears seemed to perk up in interest. ¡°I¡¯ve been having some¡­ issues with the one I¡¯m running, and I wanted to get your take on it as a friend.¡±


    ¡°Sure! Just tell me what the problem is, and I¡¯ll see what I can do to help.¡± Balu seemed quite excited for me to ask her advice on this, so I didn¡¯t hesitate to exin.


    ¡°I used the cultivation system that I got with your advice previously, and merged that world with one of my others. Now, when I merged the two worlds, I felt that their overall level of power should have been about right for a merge.¡±


    Balu¡¯s lips twitched into a grin. ¡°Cultivation world has fallen way behind, hasn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°Exactly.¡± I nodded my head. In truth, Lorek and Spica weren¡¯t doing too bad. The main problem was that personal power progressed too slowly under the cultivation system. ¡°With the introduction of our game system, the world managed to speed up its power growth a bit, but their main development hasn¡¯t been able to keep pace with my other worlds.¡±


    Balu gave a knowing nod. ¡°Yup! That sounds about right. Cultivation systems by nature really slow down a world. When everyone spends all their time focusing on cultivation practice, they spend less time on other things such as scientific advancement. Especially once you get to the point where cultivation prolongs their lifespans, then everyone sees it more as just ¡®Another day of cultivation could mean another month of living¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Too bad it doesn¡¯t always work like that.¡± I muttered with a bitter smile. ¡°Anyways, do you have any ideas on how to settle this?¡±


    ¡°Actually, yeah! This is something I had to deal with a loooonng time ago. I tried to integrate a game world with my cultivation system after winning it from a game Keeper. I had to tweak some bnce to make everything work. Adjusting experience values and things like that.¡±


    ¡°Afterwards, to keep my cultivation world on par with the game world I won, I set up a time dtion between the two. From then on, my cultivation world moved a hundred times faster than the game world! Although it took longer for people in the cultivation world to gain game levels after the bnce adjustment, the overall strength of the worlds started to bnce themselves out.¡±


    ¡°A hundred?¡± Irena blinked, looking curiously towards the rabbit. ¡°Would it really need to be that extreme?¡±


    ¡°Probably! You could adjust the settings yourself to find the right bnce, but it should be somewhere around there. Especially if you¡¯re using one of those really big worlds that are rmended for cultivators. They might need that extra time just to keep up in terms of exploration!¡±


    I hated to admit it¡­ but she was right. There was too little of Lorek that had been properly explored. Unlike the other worlds, it had been far too easy for me to find an isted location to have my host spend years training.


    Of course, Spica didn¡¯t have the same problem in terms of size. They had long ago fully explored their own. And they didn¡¯t have the same mindset as the cultivators of Lorek, despite their systems being merged. Even still, I had noticed that their progress began to slow after merging those two worlds.


    Given the fact that Spica¡¯s primary race is elves¡­ a time dtion between fifty and a hundred might not be such a bad idea.

 Chapter 550: Cooperation

    <h4>Chapter 550: Cooperation</h4>


    I was honestly thankful for Balu¡¯s advice. Setting up the time dtion field around Spica and Lorek shouldn¡¯t prove to be too difficult. I¡¯ll simply need to find the proper bnce in order to keep the worlds on an even level with the others. As a Keeper that primarily utilized cultivation worlds, she was the best source of advice I could turn to for this.


    ¡°Anything else you need help with?¡± She asked, almost eagerly as her body rocked back and forth. It was hard to associate the energetic rabbit girl with the domineering title of ¡®Starkiller¡¯.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ that should be my main problem with my cultivation world that doesn¡¯t specifically concern the system I bought.¡± I shook my head, unable to think of any more general questions for her about Lorek. ¡°For my other worlds, I¡¯m not too sure if you¡¯d be able to help, since they¡¯d all be concerns of a second rank Keeper.¡±


    ¡°Try me!¡± Balu said with a delighted tone. ¡°Remember, my job is to keep myself at the upper limit of the first rank. Naturally, I¡¯ve gotta know what the second rank entails so that I can keep my world just short of it, right?¡±


    That¡­ made some kind of sense, in a way. I shook my head, letting out a sigh. ¡°Okay. Well, in myst invasion, the enemy party set up a bunch of bases in the void between worlds. They seemed to use some kind of technology to let them directly convert the void itself into materials and livable space.¡±


    ¡°After we beat them, we inherited the bases that hadn¡¯t been destroyed. But our world has not advanced towards that kind of technology. That being said, we can¡¯t figure out how to replicate it, or even repair it if it breaks down over time.¡±


    Balu sat on the grass, listening to my dilemma and asionally nodding her head. ¡°Yeah, void stuff¡¯s pretty high up there. Some rank three Keepers probably don¡¯t even have it! But obviously, it¡¯s not impossible to get at the second rank.¡±


    She brought a hand up to her fluffy chin in thought. ¡°If you had gods with relevant domains, that would make it really easy to study. Buying the voidcraft knowledge off of the market is also always an option. With that, it would just be a matter of time before your people can understand it.¡±


    ¡°From what I¡¯ve heard from others, voidcraft involves creating a simted environment to guide the energy of the void. For the exact specifics¡­ I don¡¯t really know.¡± She shrugged her shoulders helplessly, but that wasn¡¯t too unexpected.


    In fact, I did have multiple gods that could theoretically help me understand those devices. First and foremost, Ashley or Tubrock. With their domains of Technology and Innovation, they were specially suited to understanding new inventions. Then there was Leowynn, with her domain of Void.


    Although Leowynn wouldn¡¯t have the skills topletely reverse-engineer the device, she¡¯d be able to supplement the abilities of the other two to help understand the process behind how they worked. And once she did so¡­ with that very domain, it was likely that she herself would be able to use the technique to create materials from the void.


    When I thought of that, my mind went in a new direction. I thought of the market that Leowynn and Ryone had only recently established. Once Leowynn mastered this ability, she could theoretically be able to merge it with that market. Then, if there is nobody selling a material that someone is looking for, they could buy it from the market itself.


    Of course, I wasn¡¯t sure if she¡¯d be able to create manufactured items through the same process, but what if Tubrock got involved as well? Thinking to that point, I shook my head. The entry requirements for the market were already high enough with needing a priest of both Leowynn and Ryone.


    At most, Tubrock¡¯s assistance woulde in the form of a supplement. Spending tokens of his power to have the system itself craft an item out of the purchased materials. Maybe those tokens could be earned by offering crafted items of sufficient quality¡­


    My mind was racing at the possibilities to expand this market. Now that I considered how Tubrock could be involved, it got me thinking about how other gods could be involved as well. Udona, as the Goddess of Education, could perhaps contribute knowledge. Maybe other gods could mize certain blessings for those that don¡¯t directly follow them, such as fair winds while sailing from Bihena.


    I somewhat felt sorry for Ashley, as she was the one that would have to update the global market whenever these changes were implemented. To that end, I decided to get everyone together at once when we got back, so that we could push for the changes to all happen at one time. That way, it would save her a great deal of trouble.


    Across from me, Balu simply smiled, watching me process these new ideas. However, there was still one that I needed to ask her about, an issue that I knew she should be able to help with. ¡°Thanks for that¡­ though it did make me think of something. You remember when you told me about False Divinities?¡±


    She nodded her head quickly, and I was thankful she actually did remember it. ¡°You said that one of the perks was that we weren¡¯t constantly hearing voices. But I¡¯ve found that it is still possible for people to purposely pray to a false divinity.¡±


    ¡°Hmm? Oh! Yeah, I more meant¡­ how do I put this? If I make myself the Goddess of Beauty through the system, everyone that wants to look nice will send me their prayers, whether they do so intentionally or not. But, if I ascend as the Goddess of Beauty through the hard way, it¡¯s limited to people specifically praying to Balu, the Goddess of Beauty. Through the system, you be the representative of all that your domain represents, but through ascension you are still just you.¡±


    I gave a small nod at that, thankful for the rification. I had to wonder how many people were praying to my host on a regr basis, or if he set up some way to block normal prayers. ¡°What about things like priests, religious rituals, or ¡®divine rules¡¯? Are false divinities able to set up all of that as well?¡±


    ¡°Yup!¡± Balu nodded her head immediately towards my question. ¡°But it¡¯s a bit harder for them, you see. Like I said, the system version of a god grants a way wider coverage, but that also means that the system version has a greater influx of energy. One way to make up that energy difference is by assigning priests, who can then harvest more energy for you by spreading your beliefs.¡±


    ¡°Another method would be with subordinate gods, but¡­ well, that¡¯s not something I¡¯ve been able to do for a while. Just the act of a normal mortal ascending to godhood is enough to push you to the second rank, after all. So I haven¡¯t been able to get any subordinates since I started this job.¡±


    ¡°Once you have the energy, you can set up whatever divine rules or rituals you want with it!¡± That was good to know. Although I didn¡¯t see myself assigning arge number of priests, it would be convenient to have Tsubaki do so for those in power. That way, she would be able to rapidly respond to an emergency while also being able to draw on the belief of those in power.


    And, since she is my subordinate god, that energy would go flowing up towards me as well. Although I couldn¡¯t think of anything I wanted specifically to do with my Mirror and Illusion domains, I could ¡®borrow¡¯ the domains of mortal gods for things like supplementing the market system.


    Next to me, Irena seemed to be lost in thought, pondering over everything that had been said so far. ¡°I think I have an idea¡­ however, it can¡¯t be said until we get back home.¡± I looked towards her curiously at that, wondering why she wanted to keep it a secret for now, before remembering the restrictions ced on everyone.


    Most likely, her idea involves something that is already in our world. But because of those restrictions, she¡¯s unable to talk about it, even identally. I offered a nod of understanding, giving her hand a small squeeze. ¡°I think that¡¯s all the questions I had, Balu. If I cane up with any more, I¡¯ll send you a message after the meeting.¡±


    ¡°Sure thing!¡± Balu nodded her head, hopping up to her feet. ¡°Then, I¡¯ll get going. I think I remembered what it was I wanted to do now!¡±


    Tsubaki sat in the chair, staring intensely at the screen before her. She lost count of how many times she died early on. Although this game had a very realistic avatar that reminded her of her youth, the nts and animals in the surroundings were all entirely new.


    When she picked an herb that looked like a medicinal nt from Earth, it turned out to be poisonous. When she entered the hollow of a tree to rest, that tree came to life and ate her¡­ There were a lot of such unfortunate moments before she began to grasp the surroundings.


    Now, she had been at this for an hour since herst death. She was familiar with all of the nearby nts and monsters, and had identified their basic properties. However, she was facing a rather unexpected test, now that she had mastered those principles.


    There was no crafting guide to this game, though there was certainly a crafting system. Once she had gathered the materials she felt suitable for crafting, a window appeared in front of her. In most games, she would have to ce the items in a specific order or pattern to get the result she wanted, but this one offered a text window¡­ she had to type out the crafting process as specifically as she could. Only then would her avatar perform the described actions with the provided materials, and a sessful product would register as a recipe.


    She had tested this when crafting a wooden spear, and now she was attempting to mix a healing salve from three different herbs she had identified as beneficial. Closing her eyes, she recalled back to her days in the wilderness. The trial and error she had gone through before learning the proper mixtures.


    Once she opened her eyes, her fingers began to madly type at the keyboard. Her avatar began plucking the leaves one by one from a flower, before setting them on arge, t stone that she was using as a table. Then, using a smaller stone, she crushed the leaves repeatedly until they were little more than powder.


    Afterwards, she performed the same routine with the roots of a yellow weed, and gathered both powders together atop arge leaf. Finally, she squeezed the juice of a blue fruit, causing it to drip onto the powder and mixed it all together to form a paste.


    Her avatar wasn¡¯t currently injured, but it was never a bad thing to carry around extra supplies in a survival situation. Otherwise, when you truly are injured, you wouldn¡¯t have the ability to gather these materials.


    To Tsubaki¡¯s pleasant surprise, a window popped up on the screen after she had finished making her paste, notifying her that she had earned some points for her recipe. As she learned from Terra, this was one of the two ways to earn points in this game, through crafting. The other method was simply based on how long you managed to survive.


    For Tsubaki, these two methods were intertwined. Without crafting, how long would you survive against the monsters within the game? With no weapons or basic supplies, it was only a matter of time before you were killed. For some reason, she felt that this game really suited her.

 Chapter 551: Advance

    <h4>Chapter 551: Advance</h4>


    After separating from Balu, Irena informed me that she wished to go ¡®enjoy the festivities¡¯ and earn some points of her own. Though, I couldn¡¯t help but suspect her decision had something to do with the red-headed elf walking towards me. Leowynn was nowhere in sight, so I was guessing that Ryone left her to y some games on her own as well.


    ¡°Someone seems to be in a good mood.¡± Ryone spoke in a teasing tone, hooking her arm through mine. ¡°Wanna tell me about it?¡±


    Thinking it over, I nodded my head. ¡°Actually, there is something that I wanted to tell you about.¡± Her eyebrow perked up slightly at that, and I began to exin my idea to expand the market that she and Leowynn had created.


    ¡°Normally, I would be opposed to any system that arbitrarily removes or inserts items into a world¡¯s economy.¡± As she said that, the two of us began walking back towards the town. ¡°However, if we establish it properly, it might work. If we set the tokens generated through offerings to be of less ¡®divine cost¡¯ than the divinity the offering itself generates, we¡¯ll see a profit for energy.¡±


    When I heard that, I suddenly became curious. ¡°You receive divine energy from offerings? I knew Tubrock could receive ores and crafting materials, but I haven¡¯t heard much beyond that.¡±


    Ryone chuckled slightly, smiling towards me. ¡°We have two different forms of offerings, really. One, we can ept the items as they are offered. This is what Tubrock does with any crafting materials. On the other hand, we can convert the offerings into divine power.¡±


    ¡°For this method, it isn¡¯t the value of the object itself that determines how much energy we obtain, but rather¡­ how much value it has to the person that offered it. A poor orphan that starved herself for a week to save up a small handful of coins to offer once gave me more energy than a man who offered a literal fortune.¡±


    ¡°To the girl, those coins represented all of the pain she had endured for those days, the hunger she felt, and the devout belief that led her to perform those actions. Her heart was genuinely in the offering. On the other hand, although the rich man offered a farrger sum, it was a mere pittancepared to his full wealth.¡±


    I furrowed my brow slightly, considering thoseparisons. ¡°Then, if we were topare the situation to what we were just talking about¡­ how much would that girl be able to receive from you for that offering?¡±


    Ryone seemed to understand what I was getting at, and shook her head to deny my concerns. ¡°If she viewed the coins as only a means to get more wealth, the value of the offering would not have been that high. It was her sacrifice that truly made that offering valuable. Perhaps, if she was not aware of the tokens that could be generated from an offering, she would earn quite a few. Enough that, if used through this system to buy wealth, could afford her a small house in a prime location.¡±


    ¡°If she knew about the conversion, and was only using the offering for that purpose, then the tokens generated would be far less, and likely not even enough to recover the initial sum she spent on it. However, there¡¯s something that I think you¡¯ll need to consider before we decide to bring this up to the others.¡±


    I blinked, looking towards Ryone curiously, before she exined. ¡°All of these additions rely on Leowynn¡¯s theoretical ability to create materials from the void. Every transaction will require her tokens to be present as well. I¡¯m sure that you can understand what this would mean for her¡­¡±


    ¡°It means she¡¯d be the most popr goddess, as far as the market was concerned.¡± I admitted with a sigh, nodding my head in acknowledgement. ¡°I¡¯m not really against that. With this new cooperation between the two of you, she¡¯s already quickly bing very popr. If we¡¯re talking about Spica and Lorek, she¡¯s on her way towards recing even you, Tubrock, and Keliope as the key deity.¡±


    When I said that, Ryone gave a somewhat wry grin. ¡°I did make that magic system as a reference to her, after all¡­ I suppose it¡¯s only right that people connected it to her once she became a goddess.¡±


    That earned a small chuckle from me. It was true, Leowynn¡¯s poprity skyrocketed within the various worlds after Terra put on that disy for everyone. If there was one world that was the least affected¡­ it would probably be Fyor.


    How much impact would a Ster Goddess have on a that could not even see a single star? The only one of her domains that was truly appreciated with Fyor was the Gravity domain, as it allowed her priests to bless people to withstand the intense gravity of the higher floors.


    For every other world, however? Most of them were currently in the age of exploring the stars, so she became an obvious choice for those travelers to worship. ¡°We¡¯ll bring it up when we get back home. I can¡¯t see it being too much of a problem, but I¡¯d like to get everyone¡¯s opinions on it.¡±


    Ryone nodded her head, and the two of us stepped into the performance hall to enjoy a show. Although I had been here once before with Irena, this was my first time bringing Ryone. As we entered, we were greeted with the sight of a man sitting down on the stage, focusing his brows. Above his head was arge disy, simr to a movie being yed. The two of us gave a small grin, moving to watch the show.


    Tsubaki let out a sigh of relief as she leaned back in her chair, havingpleted the first ¡®year¡¯ of the game after several hours. This was considered as a checkpoint, and she would be allowed to resume her progress from this point even if she stopped now, or diedter on.


    In order to reach this point, she had needed to craft numerous weapons for herself, as well as building a stable shelter that could blend in with its surroundings enough to not be attacked by nearby monsters. Then, the final objective of this ¡®year¡¯, she had to hunt the strongest monster in the area. This was a feline beast whose fur was as strong as iron.


    This one hunt alone took her over half an hour of careful preparations and kiting. However, once she killed it, she ¡®imed¡¯ the territory. From the description the system gave, she knew that the beasts would flee from this area in the second year, leaving all of that space for her to develop. In the second year, she could already imagine that she would need to create a farm, mine, and possibly even a smithy.


    At the same time, her challenge would likely be that valuable resources were hidden beyond her current area, so she would have to explore and fight stronger beasts to acquire them. She was ying out this pattern in her mind, and could guess that she would be fully equipped with metal and leather gear by the time she faced her second boss. In order toplete the game, was it going to have her personally advance through every level of technology in such a survival setting?


    Tsubaki certainly felt that it was possible. Perhaps the final objective would be toplete a spaceship that could carry her away from the world. However, even if she had all of the technical knowledge to create all of that herself, she knew it was not something she would be able to do in the time allotted. It was far more likely that this was a game meant to be yed repeatedly over the course of multiple meetings.


    Up above theputer, Tsubaki looked at the sign which disyed the game¡¯s main prizes. For every ¡®year¡¯ shepleted, she would earn points. However, there were two prizes that caught her eye aside from that. One of them was listed as the fifty percentpletion award, and the other was one hundred percent.


    Both of them required her to get Terra¡¯s help in understanding them. For the first one, it was a ¡®save token¡¯. This item had drawn the eyes of numerous Keepers, and Tsubaki soon noticed that there were others lined up along the wall ying the same game as her. This token would allow one to create a save state for their world, that they could revert to only once. They could not update the save stateter, and could only use each function a single time.


    This token was apparently used to help Keepers instantly recover from a difficult invasion, making it as though the invasion never happened. Doing so, however, also meant that any items left behind after the invasion would disappear. Aside from that, it could be used to save the world before a major experiment or system implementation, and if the Keeper didn¡¯t like the results, they could revert it.


    Tsubaki couldn¡¯t truly see why such a thing was so valuable. After all, its single use meant that you would always be holding onto it until a moment of true desperation, at which point it would likely be toote to use. Instead, her goal was the totalpletion award, a defense ticket. This was far easier to understand, as it would allow a Keeper to simply cancel one invasion. Of course, the fact that the ticket had an expiration date of one year simrly lessened its value.


    Just as she was getting ready to start the second year of her game to earn more points, she felt a small hand pressing against her shoulder. Turning around, she noticed Aurivy standing there, grinning happily at Tsubaki. ¡°Would you like to join us for a game upstairs? We need one more, and I thought you¡¯d be awesome for this!¡±


    Tsubaki blinked, looking back at her own console. She had just earned three thousand points forpleting the first year, and was tempted to go for more. After all, if one were to discuss basic cksmithing techniques, she already knew how to craft up to that level. It would be the third year that offered her a true challenge.


    Still, she did not forget her loyalty towards her Keeper and the major gods and goddesses he had created. Thus, she nodded her head, slowly rising to her feet. ¡°Very well, lead the way, Lady Aurivy.¡±


    Aurivy pumped her fists into the air, turning and guiding Tsubaki to the second floor, which Terra had told her was reserved for multiyer games. When she arrived, she noticed Udona standing at a raised tform with four podiums. Next to Udona was a¡­ woman that had the lower body of a massive, ck spider.


    Tsubaki¡¯s guard was instantly raised as she saw this person, before she noticed Aurivy happily running towards them. ¡°I got my partner, Kathy!¡± When Tsubaki noticed Aurivy treating this other being as a friend, she rxed, moving towards the tform with the smaller goddess.


    ¡°Yay! I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve met her before? Is she another one of yours?¡± Kathy asked, her legs tapping along the ground with excitement as she stood at her podium.


    ¡°Yeah, she¡¯s one of ours, a champion of our world!¡± Aurivy proudly dered, causing Tsubaki to give a faint smile at the praise. ¡°Tsubaki, meet Kathy. She¡¯s another Keeper like Dale.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you.¡± Tsubaki greeted, bowing politely towards the woman. This was the first time she had interacted with another Keeper, so she wanted to give her best impression as a representative of her Keeper. ¡°Lady Aurivy, would you mind exining this game to me? I¡¯m afraid I haven¡¯t visited this floor before.¡±


    ¡°Oh! Right, sorry.¡± Aurivy giggled, hopping up to one of the empty podiums. ¡°Essentially, when you y this game, you turn into a sort of mini-Keeper. Everyone gets a starting position, and their choice of a single race. The goal is to find the enemy¡¯s base and destroy it. Along the way, you can gather resources, research technology, and train your troops. We¡¯re ying the team version now, so you¡¯ll be paired up with me against Udona and Kathy. Each of us gets our own base and race, but we¡¯ll share our vision.¡±


    Tsubaki gave a small nod, understanding the core concepts from Aurivy¡¯s exnation. ¡°Then, what races are avable to choose from, so that I can prepare?¡±


    ¡°Anything you can imagine!¡± Kathy called out happily. ¡°Any race in your world, or any race you want to create! Oh, but watch out, more powerful races are bnced with high resource costs!¡±


    Tsubaki blinked at the freedom given by this game, before nodding her head again. Already, she was considering what type of race she wanted to use.

 Chapter 552: Wild Growth

    <h4>Chapter 552: Wild Growth</h4>


    As Tsubaki climbed up to the one free podium, she was already trying to imagine what type of race she wanted to use for this game. After all, from what the others said, there seemed to be unlimited possibilities. However, that also made it more difficult of a decision, as there was too much to choose from.


    In the end¡­ she decided that the best course of action for her, at least to start, would be to select a race from her own world. When she chose that option, the list of such races appeared before her to consider. As for which race to choose, she wanted only the most versatile race she knew of.


    You have chosen to y as the Sylvan race!


    This was a race born to adapt to any environment, a hybrid between a hyper-adaptable nt and the soul of an elf. It seemed to be a natural choice for her, though she suspected that at least one of the goddesses would be using this race as well. As the game began, she received a pair of prompts that surprised her.


    Your chosen race has an automatic unit production mode. Resources may be spent to awaken units early.


    Please choose the first Golden Sylvan from the randomized options below.


    War


    ughter


    Cloud


    Mine


    Jewel


    Youth


    Schr


    Light


    Rain


    Fire


    Tsubaki imagined that this was simr to how the original sylvans had appeared with one golden woman leading them. Was it Cicily of Learning? She could assume that this title would grant special functions towards the units, and perhaps even the entire base would change depending on her choice.


    In the end, she chose the Schr option, as it was likely to have an influence over learning new technologies. Such a thing would be very important to have at the start of the game. Tsubaki had been tempted to choose the Mine option for extra resource gathering, but that seemed less practical when she considered the race¡¯s automatic production.


    Under her watchful eyes, her base was assigned, arge tree being created near giant purple gems. From the base of the tree, seven green sylvans emerged with a single gold one. Tsubaki found that she had two methods tomand the troops, either through ryingmands to each unit directly, or bymunicating with the lone golden troop.


    Curious, Tsubaki chose thetter option, telling her to begin gathering resources. Without a moment¡¯s dy, the golden sylvan walked over and touched each of the green ones. Immediately, they began to move. Waving their arms, they created trees from the roots of her base, ced atop the resource nodes.


    Tsubaki was somewhat surprised to find the trees able to passively harvest resources. And, after thirty seconds had passed, seven more green units emerged, along with four blue ones. Without further orders, the green units began expanding their forest outwards, clearing the fog of war. Meanwhile, the blue units worked together with the golden one, waiting for a research order.


    ¡°Oh? You picked those guys, huh?¡± Aurivy¡¯s voice startled Tsubaki, who suddenly nced over and remembered that she had an ally. ¡°Not a bad choice. I¡¯ve actually been wondering how they would do here.¡±


    The halfling goddess had a genuine smile on her face as she said that, and Tsubaki nced towards her side of the field. Aurivy¡¯s race was one Tsubaki was extremely familiar with, due to the Goddess¡¯s obsession with talking about them at any opportunity. She had chosen slimes¡­


    Shaking her head, Tsubaki found her lips tugging upwards as she looked towards her research options. There were the normal choices for magic and technology that she expected, but also another that surprised her. The third option for advancement wasbeled ¡®Mutation¡¯.


    Thinking back, Tsubaki recalled how the first golden sylvan had created a type of fruit that allowed sylvans tomunicate verbally. That was most likely ssified as a mutation.


    When she opened up that option, she noticed a number of different choices avable. There were things such as Mutation: Communication, or Mutation: Weaponry, as well as Mutation: Disguise. Noticing that she had two choices, she chose both Communication and Disguise as her research options.


    By now, another minute had passed, and more troops had passively spawned. A total of fourteen green sylvans, four more blue sylvans, and two red ones. Recalling the known life cycle of sylvans, she couldn¡¯t help but voice out a question. ¡°Lady Aurivy, how long does it take for a golden sylvan to be born?¡±


    Aurivy shook her head slightly. ¡°We only have a rough estimate, since there hasn¡¯t been that much time that has passed yet. If we¡¯re right¡­ somewhere between once every seventy-five and one hundred years.¡±


    Tsubaki furrowed her brow at that. Going by the rate of one ¡®year¡¯ every thirty seconds, that meant she could be waiting up to fifty minutes for her second golden unit? She doubted the game wouldst that long. When her eyes turned towards the resource production, she was tempted to use it to speed up the process.


    Just as she was thinking that, the first tiers of her two research projects werepleted. Tsubaki already knew what to expect from the Communication option, so she instead focused on the other one, curious to see what bonuses it would provide.


    When she saw a green sylvan plucking an orange fruit and eating it, she quickly had her answer. Disguise did not mean something like invisibility, or anything of that nature. Instead, the green sylvans grewrge flowers on their heads, and began to take root in the ground. When they closed their eyes, their bodies shifted to resemble extremely tall flowers.


    Like this, they would ¡®nt¡¯ themselves in an area, expand the forest, and then move to the next spot. Tsubaki was quite curious to pursue this path further, and began to focus primarily on mutations. After twenty minutes of expansion and development, when Tsubaki still only had ten military troops, she received a new notification.


    One of your units has stumbled across a new base location! Would you like to grow a second Progenitor? Doing so will cost you one Golden Sylvan.


    Tsubaki¡¯s eyes went wide as she read the message, understanding its meaning quickly. The raremodity that was a golden sylvan had to be spent to create a new ¡®ancestor tree¡¯. As she recalled the sudden disappearance of Cicily, she couldn¡¯t help but question if that sylvan had gone to create a new tree somewhere.


    Clenching her fists, Tsubaki decided to do it. She needed the extra unit production. However, while her ¡®Schr¡¯ sylvan was transporting itself to this base, Tsubaki used the majority of the resources that she had saved up to that point to spawn a second golden sylvan. As expected, she had the same list to choose from before, with ¡®Schr¡¯ crossed out.


    With the game advancing towards the inevitable confrontation, she decided to choose the War option this time. When she did so, she noticed an immediate improvement in the coordination between her units. The red troops formed teams and began training with their chosen mutations, while the blue ones retreated to bunkers formed within the hollows ofrge trees.


    Soon, her original sylvan arrived at the new base location, and Tsubaki watched as it transformed into a tall tree. Its branches spread out to cover the sky, and the kitsune found that this new tree seemed to possess all of the research that her original one had. Whether that was because of the ¡®Schr¡¯ portfolio or not, she wasn¡¯t sure. Thankfully, she saw a highly anticipated window appearing in front of her as well.


    Please choose the first Golden Sylvan from the randomized options below.


    Protection


    Madness


    Joy


    de


    Grass


    Mirror


    Weather


    Gale


    Gravity


    Gold


    Another ten options. From what she had seen so far, Tsubaki was able to make some deductions. Every ¡®Progenitor¡¯ could only produce ten golden sylvans, and each golden sylvan had the chance to be a Progenitor under the right conditions. If that was the case, it meant that a single Progenitor could likely live for nine hundred years, unless it possessed the ability to survive after exhausting its reproductive abilities.


    Tsubaki didn¡¯t know what would happen to the lower ss sylvans after their home tree died. Would they perish as well, would they seek out a new tree, or would they scatter and integrate with the rest of society? All questions that she knew she would eventually receive an answer for, though perhaps not an answer she was looking forward to.


    For the second tree, she chose the Gravity option as her starting sylvan. Although she was tempted to select Mirror, in honor of her Keeper, such a thing would not be practical for the current sylvan race that had focused so heavily on mutations. Unfortunately, the Gravity option did not seem to have any immediate advantage for her base or units.


    ¡°Careful, I just saw them entering your forest.¡± Aurivy warned, snapping Tsubaki¡¯s attention away from the new tree. Indeed, there were a few lightly armored creatures walking through the woods. The invaders were split between two types. The first type were those with the lower body of snakes, while the second were far more recognizable as kitsune.


    These troops seemed to be coordinating well, with the kitsune already carrying silver guns, and the snake-people holding metal tridents. They passed by a disguised sylvan, and didn¡¯t seem to recognize it. Without knowing that Tsubaki had chosen this race, this would simply appear as a normal, albeitrge forest.


    As she thought about that, Tsubaki turned towards Aurivy¡¯s base, where she saw something that confused her greatly. ¡°Where are your slimes?¡± Aurivy¡¯s base seemed barren, with not a single troop or building in sight.


    The halfling goddess giggled, issuing amand. Tsubai saw Aurivy¡¯s resource node shake, no¡­ jiggle. ¡°Oh, they¡¯re around.¡±


    It took Tsubaki a moment to catch on, before she nodded her head. It seemed that both of them had opted to go with a camouge tactic. Unless the enemy opted to use a scorched earth policy, it should prove effective.


    Once the units had been caught on Tsubaki¡¯s radar, an unusual change happened back at her original base. One hundred blue sylvans came together with two hundred green sylvans, all ten of the red sylvans and the lone golden sylvan. They formedyers of circles, with the golden unit standing in the very center and everyone else surrounding her.


    This seemed to be an automatic action that they were taking in response to an invader, so Tsubaki decided to let it y out and see what was happening. And soon enough, she received her answer. Just¡­ not quite how she expected it.


    As the invaders were passing through a certain stretch of forest, they suddenly stopped, feeling the ground shaking beneath them. Their weapons aimed beneath themselves, preparing for an underground attack while they slowly moved towards the trees in hopes of seeking higher ground. Before they arrived, however, wooden spikes rose from the ground by the hundred, flooding the entire section ofnd and skewering the enemy.


    After that scene, Tsubaki had a feeling that the enemy would begin destroying the forest. Even though it was not obvious that she was using the sylvan race, it was obvious that the forest was killing the enemy troops. As such, Tsubaki immediately began researching things such as fire resistance or increased armor.


    On the other hand, when she nced over towards Aurivy¡¯s side of the field, she saw the vision silently expanding. There were still no troops moving, no buildings or anything to exin the expansion. Only Aurivy¡¯s wicked grin as she eyed thend below, whispering to herself. ¡°All your base are belong to me.¡±


    Tsubaki¡­ did not understand what Aurivy meant by that. However, soon the vision expanded enough that a base was revealed. One that seemed heavily influenced by technology, with numerous kitsune running about. When that base was encountered, the spread of vision seemed to slow to a grinding halt.


    People within the base were still excavating resources when odd expressions appeared on their faces. They stared at the resource nodes in confusion, rushing to flee the scene and report something to their superiors. As soon as they left, the crystal node seemed to¡­ melt, vanishing into the floor. Aurivyughed like a mad scientist, her eyes focusing on the scene. ¡°The ultimate mimic is born.¡±

 Chapter 553: Sylphid Launch Detected

    <h4>Chapter 553: Sylphid Launch Detected</h4>


    Tsubaki watched in a mix of rapt attention and horror as the entire base gradually began to be exposed to her and Aurivy¡¯s vision. The moment that Aurivy mentioned the word ¡®mimic¡¯, Tsubaki thought of a terrifying possibility. There was once a great Disaster born from the most innocent creature. The people of Hanbei referred to it as the Slithering Slope.


    This creature was in fact a mountain, or at least it appeared to be when resting. Its realism was to such a degree that people had been able to dig a tunnel into its depths. However, when the beast awoke, this tunnel instantly closed, the ¡®wound¡¯ healing over as if it had never existed. After noticing that it had been ¡®attacked¡¯, it began moving for the first time.


    The entire mountain slid across the ground, moving dozens of meters every second as it approached the nearby vige. The next day¡­ people noticed that the mountain that they had been ustomed to seeing was no longer there. Shamans and schrs alike visited the scene, trying to uncover the secret behind the vanishing mountain.


    It was only natural that they soon followed its trail to the vige, now devoid of life. The vige had not been ttened, but rather looked as if the people had simply vanished. And on the other side of that vige was a familiar mountain¡­


    Some of the people who investigated this vige were reported to be missing, not even a body left to discover. Once the vige had beenbeled as ¡®cursed¡¯ by a traveling priest, they decided to burn it to the ground. The reports from that event were¡­ horrific.


    The houses of the vige came alive, wooden nks creaking and warping to form hands and jaws in an effort to devour their attackers. All the while, as people were preupied with the monsters in the vige, the mountain in the distance seemed to grow closer and closer.


    After each building had been destroyed, it dissolved into a puddle of harmless slime. But by the time anyone noticed the mountain, it was already too close to evade. They had barely managed to pray to Tsubaki for aid before most of them were killed by rock spikesunched from the mountain.


    Naturally, Tsubaki had been able to defeat the mountain, which itself was a massive slime, or she wouldn¡¯t still be alive to tell the tale. However, thanks to that event, the concept of a mimic was one which even she dreaded to imagine. Especially a mimic capable of emting naturalndscapes.


    Such a thing seemed to be exactly what Aurivy had created with her slime race. A slime that was able to expand by devouring the world around it, simultaneously taking on the appearance of what it consumed. Or perhaps, it was a swarm of slimes. The difference was negligible at this point.


    Within the base, a kitsune general came to inspect the mining site, only to notice that the precious resource node had disappeared entirely. Such a thing naturally caused the general great rm, but not near as much as when the door of the facility mmed shut. As did the doors to every building in the base.


    These buildings then began to slowly sink into the ground, just as the resource node had previously. Those kitsune who were fortunate enough to be outside when that happened had horrified expressions, rushing to either flee or save theirrades. Those who chose thetter route soon found their hands glued to the very buildings they were trying to break open.


    As for those who fled, the ground opened up to reveal rows of mouths like hungry pits. Tonguesshed out from the gaping maws to wrap around those fleeing few, dragging them to their doom.


    Tsubaki wasn¡¯t foolish enough to think that this event had escaped Udona¡¯s notice. However, by the time that reinforcements arrived with their tanks and nes, all that was left was emptynd. Still, they bombed the site for good measure, creating numerous craters within the ground.


    Tsubaki was surprised to see the craters appearing, and more so at the fact that they weren¡¯t swiftly recovering. When she looked at Aurivy, she was met with a mischievous smile. ¡°All part of the n. As long as the area doesn¡¯t heal, they can¡¯t be positive that the creature is still there. It could be a type of monster that possesses thend, and then moves on after having its meal.¡±


    The kitsune wanted to ask if such a thing really existed, before she remembered the nature of this game. If it didn¡¯t exist, it could be created. Nothing was impossible, just like how she had taken the sylvan race to new heights with their advanced mutations.


    Speaking of which¡­ Tsubaki nced back towards her own base. There was a particr research option which became avable after the joint attack of over three hundred sylvans. Since it had not existed before, she assumed that it required arge-scale undertaking before it could be unlocked.


    Tsubaki selected the research, and even paid resources to immediatelyplete it. That was the first time she hadn¡¯t allowed her numerous researchers to gradually unlock the options for her, and all because of the very nature of the option in question. ¡®Sylphid Cannon¡¯, as it was called, was listed as a high-end battle mutation.


    The moment that the research was finished, Tsubaki saw two hundred green sylvansing together with ten blue ones. With a wave of his hand, the golden sylvan created a redke, which each of the gathered members drank from. After doing so, their bodies began to warp horrifically. These two hundred and ten individuals brought their bodies together, merging into a single, giant column.


    Please designate the target coordinates for the Sylphid Cannon.


    When that message appeared before Tsubaki, she did not have the slightest idea where she should be firing. The only base that was visible was already destroyed. However, as that thought crossed her mind, she realized that there were clues to discern a possible location for another base.


    The travel time, direction, and speed of the reinforcements that came in to aid that vige could help Tsubaki narrow down at least a general area. Thankfully, performing quick calctions wasn¡¯t anything new to the kitsune. After a few moments of thought, she targeted a section of the map hidden by the fog of war.


    Warning: Sylphid Cannon is firing.


    ¡°The what now?¡± Aurivy blinked, ncing over to see the monumental artillery within Tsubaki¡¯s base. As a green glow began to build within the barrel, its body tilted, aiming in the direction of Tsubaki¡¯s target coordinates. The canopy of the forest parted before a sphere of green energy was fired out.


    Tsubaki was able to watch this sphere travel through the air, even clearing the fog of war for her before itnded at the target location. Unfortunately, she had failed to hit any bases, though the development of a road was enough for her to know she wasn¡¯t far off from one.


    When the ball of light crashed down, it suddenly broke apart dozens of meters above the surface. What followed was a rain of green sparks that fell into the ground. Tsubaki¡¯s lips twitched, refusing to believe that such arge weapon had only created a resplendent lightshow.


    Soon, she realized that her vision of the area had not been cancelled even after the attack was over. Instead, she seemed to have a new unit at the scene, one that she could not immediately see due to its location beneath the ground. When she selected it, the name that was presented to her was simply ¡®sylphid¡¯.


    Back at her base, the sylphid cannon had entered into a cooldown period, so she was unsure what exactly this creature was. However, there was soon a chance for her to find out, as a team of scouts emerged from the fog of war to investigate the location that the cannon fired. When that team arrived, Tsubaki immediately selected for the sylphid to attack.


    What followed was a roar that shook the ground, the road splitting open as thick roots formed two giant hands that dug themselves out of the ground. The monster, a walking mass of roots and vines, seemed to contain all of the mutations that she had previously purchased for her sylvans. Some of the roots came together to form swords or spears, others sprayed juices that ignited on contact with the air.


    It took only seconds for the sylphid to devastate the scouting team. Once it was done, it began walking in the direction that the team came from. Once directed to attack, Tsubaki no longer had control of its actions. Even the area that it wandered off to remained within the fog of war, the initial st sight turning dim to represent her inability to watch that location.


    ¡°Huh¡­ neat!¡± Aurivyughed heartily when she saw the destruction. ¡°I didn¡¯t know that sylvans could create something like that. Wonder what else they would be able to make.¡±


    Tsubaki didn¡¯t know, either. Her eyes scanned across the research options curiously. There were several that she hadn¡¯t considered taking yet, even within the mutation tree. No doubt the sylphid was a ¡®reward¡¯ for pursuing the tree this far, but what else could there be? There was an option called ¡®spreading spores¡¯ that she was tempted to take, but felt that it would be too overt.


    As the situation stood now, the enemy had witnessed three cases of thend itself turning into their enemy. It was about time for them to find methods to counter attacks from below. Thinking back to Deckan, Tsubaki couldn¡¯t help but imagine a situation with flying cities suspended on magnartum inds.


    If Udona really did take to the skies like that, neither Aurivy¡¯s slime nor her own sylvans would have much hope of countering them. Sorting through the list to narrow down the options to aerial abilities, she found one known as ¡®leaf wings¡¯. Tsubaki couldn¡¯t help but shudder as she imagined her next sylphid, one which would be enhanced with the ability to fly.


    In the meantime, Tsubaki could only hope that her first sylphid was strong enough to offer a distraction until they were ready again. Something she didn¡¯t expect would be the case once she saw a new group of lizard-people entering the forest. This time, there was nothing to interfere with their search, as the massive group that hadunched the original attack already transformed into the sylphid cannon.


    Tsubaki furrowed her brow, realizing the weakness behind her race. Although they had many convenient options to automatically produce units and perform research, the production rate was fairly slow, and manual production was expensive. This didn¡¯t seem to quite bnce itself out in Tsubaki¡¯s mind, so she began looking through the research options again for the solution.


    Ultimately, Tsubaki¡¯s eyesnded on what she wanted, but there was a problem. There was an ability known as ¡®one with the forest¡¯, and the name alone provided a great deal of hope to the kitsune. Unfortunately, it required her to delve into magic research alongside her mutation research.


    Since Tsubaki had been focusing purely on mutation for the entire game, this option felt out of reach. She was left questioning if she had built the race poorly, now unable to live up to the full potential it had to offer.


    Tsubaki shook her head firmly, dismissing the magic research options. It would take too long at this point to research to a level where the magic was useful against the enemy. Since she hadmitted herself to mutations, that would be the path she walked. She already knew that the sylphid inherited every mutation she purchased, so all she had to do was maximize that effect.


    When she thought about that, her eyes focused on the ¡®spreading spores¡¯ which she had initially overlooked. Such a thing would perhaps not be too useful for the sylvans themselves¡­ but what if it added a reproductive ability to the sylphid? Combined with the wings, and the ability to breathe ming liquid¡­ ¡°Lady Aurivy¡­ have you ever heard of a nt dragon?¡±


    Aurivy¡¯s head slowly turned to face Tsubaki, a wide grin growing on her face. ¡°I¡¯d really like to.¡±

 Chapter 554: Mistakes Were Made

    <h4>Chapter 554: Mistakes Were Made</h4>


    As soon as the sylphid cannon was ready tounch, Tsubaki hurriedly entered a new set of coordinates. They had not yet been invaded by any aerial forces, so she had to hurry to maximize the lethality for her superweapon. In order to test out the new features, she didn¡¯t attempt to directly locate a city to fire, but rather aimed fairly close to where the first sylphid was created.


    Aurivy¡¯s super slime had not yet found another base, and was gradually expanding further. At this point, the entire map that they could see was split into either a dense forest, or the body of Aurivy¡¯s creation.


    When the cannonunched, it released another burst of green light, though this one seemed just a bit deeper than the earlier st. However, as it sailed through the air, Tsubaki and Aurivy were made privy to a rather unsettling development near the edge of their borders. An army was being amassed, mixed between armored snake-people and even more heavily armored vehicles. They were primarily focused at the edge of the forest, at least the ones that Tsubaki had been able to see were.


    Soon, the ball of light once more sank into the ground, signalling the birth of a new sylphid. Tsubaki could guess that Udona and Kathy would immediately deploy troops towards that location in an effort to neutralize the threat before it could spawn. As such, she did not wait, instead choosing to deploy the sylphid immediately when it was ready.


    The ground split apart with another roar, vines tangling together and ascending towards the sky. The image of a great dragon which Tsubaki was anticipating did not arrive. Rather, the leaves were far thinner, and appeared by the dozen. The high frequency of their pping actually created a buzz in the air that disturbed the nearby foliage.


    Its body was still massive, crafted from interwoven nts. However, every beat of its numerous wings seemed to cause a yellow pollen to flutter in the air. As that pollen sank into the ground, Aurivy suddenly spoke in a somewhat worried tone. ¡°Tsubaki?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Lady Aurivy?¡± The kitsune nced towards the halfling goddess in curiosity, not appearing to realize why there was concern etched across her face.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have control of that unit, do you?¡± Aurivy pointed towards the giant sylphid, which appeared far more like an overgrown hummingbird than a dragon.


    ¡°Is that a problem? It should be capable of destroying the enemy bases even without mymands.¡±


    Aurivy shook her head, gulping a bit. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ not wrong. But that means it¡¯s not a friendly unit. It could just as easily attack your base.¡±


    Tsubaki clearly hadn¡¯t considered that, due to theck of experience in this genre of games. ¡°The system wouldn¡¯t make something that bad¡­ would it?¡±


    The halfling thought it over for a moment. ¡°If the sylphid is a natural path for the sylvans to develop as a bioweapon, then it would depend on the sylphid itself. It¡¯s¡­ possible that the base form of a sylphid is like a wild animal. Like any other wild animal, there would need to be techniques to tame it, either in magic or science development.¡±


    As she was exining that, thirty seconds had passed. The ground beneath the second sylphid split open, with dozens of smaller hummingbird-like sylphids emerging from the ground. The buzz of their wings intensified, but they didn¡¯t immediately move. ¡°If it¡¯s truly an uncontrolled unit¡­ it will advance in the direction of whatever unit attacks it first, like your first one did.¡±


    At that point, the two of them could only hope that a unit was dispatched from one of the main bases to deal with the new threat. Luck, however, did not seem to be on their side. Therge army which had previously been gathered to assault the forest soon appeared at the edge of the sylphid¡¯s vision, and beganunching attacks against it.


    ¡°Does Lady Udona know of this weakness already?¡± Tsubaki gasped in admiration at the brilliant move by Udona, while Aurivy shook her head with a knowing grin.


    ¡°Probably not¡­ she just wouldn¡¯t have had any troops left to send, aside from those that had been prepared to attack.¡± The two of them watched as swathes of fire rained down, empowered by the great gusts from the sylphid¡¯s wings. Although a few of the smaller sylphids were in, more were born from the spores constantly being spread from the main sylphid.


    And after that army was destroyed¡­ the sylphid truly did advance in the direction that it came from. It soon arrived at the forest, and began attacking the disguised sylvans along the border. Once they were dead, its rampage seemed to settle.


    Due to the fact that the forest itself was part of Tsubaki¡¯s forces, they were able to clearly see the syphid making itself a little nest in one of the upper branches of the tree. However, once it settled down, it continued spreading the spores that would birth more of its miniature brethren.


    Tsubaki let out a sullen sigh, realizing that the sylphid was automatically producing weaponized troops faster than she herself was. ¡°At least it makes a suitable defense against invasions¡­?¡±


    ¡°Until they spread far enough to reach one of your bases.¡± Aurivy pointed out, knowing that was only a matter of time. ¡°It might be possible to lure it away from your territory the same way that Udona¡¯s troops pulled it there. If you can circle a few units around to attack from the other side, and destroy its nest in the process, it could be enraged enough to leave.¡±


    Tsubaki considered that answer for a moment, observing the creature in question before shaking her head. She had seen this sort of behavior in numerous creatures. It was incredibly territorial, that much was already certain. Although it could be drawn away easily before, that was because there was not a suitable environment for it to im.


    Now that it had a nest, there would be no hope of getting it to leave the domain that it had imed for itself. Not withoutpletely taming it.


    With that thought in mind, Tsubaki once again began browsing through the research options for the sylvans, focusing only on options that directly impacted the sylphids. There were several of those that she had found, whether they reduced the cooldown timer on the cannon, increased the number of shots per burst, or even adding special abilities to the sylphids.


    However, it took her quite some time to find the option she wanted, one which did not even specifically mention the sylphids. As Aurivy said, there was indeed a way to tame them, but it was not a method limited purely for this creature. Instead, it was a ¡®nt Beast Taming¡¯ option which existed in the magic tree.


    Due to this crisis, Tsubaki reluctantly began to invest in the magic research tree, aiming for that trait. At this point in time, there were only three ways that she could imagine this game ending. Either she got the option before the sylphids destroyed her base, and sent it against the enemy, the sylphids got to her base first, or¡­


    ¡°Found you.¡± Aurivy smiled, her slimeing across arge metallic wall far away from any other base. Realizing the emergency, she had chosen to focus her slime to assimte along the road. Narrowing its expansion range naturally increased its speed, but also meant it would take longer to take over the base when the time arrived.


    One down. Tsubaki cheered mentally, already considering that base as conquered the moment Aurivy¡¯s slime found it. However, she soon noticed that Aurivy¡¯s smile had frozen, and that the slime had not advanced further than the city¡¯s outer walls. ¡°Lady Aurivy?¡±


    ¡°They have barriers.¡± She muttered self-deprecatingly. ¡°Anti-slime barriers. Udona specifically focused her research tree to counter slimes¡­¡±


    Tsubaki couldn¡¯t help clearing her throat, looking at the goddess and trying to speak as amicably as possible. ¡°Lady Aurivy¡­ do you perhaps use slimes quite often?¡±


    ¡°No, of course not. Well, I mean, maybe¡­ they¡¯re just so cool. They¡¯re soft and squishy, adorable, and yet so full of untapped potential!¡± She iled her arms into the air. ¡°And thanks to that barrier, I can¡¯t silently assimte her base like I did the other one. I¡¯m switching to n C.¡±


    ¡°What about n B?¡± Tsubaki blinked in confusion, watching the slime begin to spread its territory outside of the city¡¯s walls.


    ¡°n B wasme. n C is¡­ Chomp!¡± After she gave thatmand, a massive stretch of earth rose up. The entire body of the slime began moving together to form a giant mouth. Tsubaki couldn¡¯t help but shudder as the slime¡¯s mass dwarfed the entire city it aimed to devour.


    Message from yer Udona: Heheh, couldn¡¯t wait any longer, huh? Once I saw what happened to my secondary base, I had a feeling I knew what you were up to. Making a countermeasure for the root giant might be hard, but a slime¡­?


    After the message came through, a beam struck out from the city, sting against the body of the slime. And then another, and another. Dozens, maybe even hundreds of beams sted one after the other. As each one struck the slime, its movements became sluggish. Aurivy had a panicked look on her face when her ultimate creation¡­ no, her only unit was destroyed, sinking into a flood of juices that washed over the city.


    yer Aurivy has been eliminated.


    Tsubaki saw the remains of the slime flooding back into the giant hole left by its arrival, creating a colorful ocean that had not originally been a part of this map. She looked over, and was surprised to find that she could no longer see Aurivy, or the podium that the halfling goddess had previously stood in front of.


    Message from yer Udona: 1v2 now, Tsubaki. If you don¡¯t send that monster at us now, you know you don¡¯t have a chance, right?


    Tsubaki could only smile bitterly, opening up a chat window and rying a message to the opposing team.


    Message from yer Tsubaki: Apologies, Lady Udona¡­ the creature is not fully under my control. It would take me roughly five more minutes at my fastest speed to acquire the research tomand it. By which point, I have no doubt that you would have already had time to circle through the forest and destroy my bases.


    Strategically, it was a failure to let the enemy know this information. However, Tsubaki did not feel that it was important enough to hide from Udona. In her eyes, the match was over the moment Aurivy¡¯s slime was destroyed.


    yer Udona has called for your surrender. Do you wish to forfeit the match? You will not be able to receive anypletion awards should you surrender.


    Tsubaki was just about to ept when she read thest part of the message. I can earn points in this game? Recalling her purpose of helping her Keeper amass points to increase his power, she could no longer bring herself to surrender this game. If it went on, not only her, even Aurivy and Udona would be able to obtain points for the Keeper.


    Her resolution set, she firmly denied the option to surrender. Five more minutes¡­ even if she couldn¡¯t win the game after five minutes, it would be good as long as thest hour of her time wasn¡¯t spent only to end with no profit.


    The kitsune eyed her remaining resources, before taking a deep breath and spending everything she had to elerate her research speed. This was her final gambit. ording to Aurivy¡¯s assessment, Udona shouldn¡¯t have many additional troops at this point in time. Moreover, the road leading out of her base had suddenly turned into a river.


    At least on Udona¡¯s side, it should take more than five minutes for her to amass an army that can move against Tsubaki. As she was thinking that, she heard a roar echoing through the game world.


    Message from yer Udona: I said it¡¯s a 1v2¡­ don¡¯t forget about Kathy, Tsubaki. She¡¯s a veteran at this game.


    Tsubaki¡¯s mind froze at that, recalling the scene of the armored snake-people. They seemed to be advancing so much more slowly than Udona¡¯s troops that Tsubakipletely neglected them. They hadn¡¯t even shown any special talents in magic, though that could have very well been due to the fact that they were always in moments after they appeared on her screen.


    As a massive wingbeat shook the forest, a shadow falling down from above, Tsubaki could clearly see that Kathy had taken a road simr to herself. She wasn¡¯t specializing in magic or technology, likely having gotten her armor through trade with Udona. She specialized in enhancing her racial qualities, and arrived at a racial unit simr to Tsubaki¡¯s sylphids.


    Only, where the hummingbird sylphid was uncontroble due to Tsubaki¡¯sck of prior knowledge, the dragons which flew above the forest each possessed a rider. When they let loose their breath, it was not the fire which Tsubaki had allowed her people to resist, but a chilling frost. Ice covered the forest in waves, heading straight for its heart.

 Chapter 555: Fairy Tale

    <h4>Chapter 555: Fairy Tale</h4>


    The match was soon decided, Tsubaki letting out a faint sigh as she descended from the tform. Her hummingbird-like sylphid couldn¡¯t fly above a certain altitude, so the dragons were able to easily defeat it. Aside from the sylphid, the only troops that were worth mentioning in that battle were the golden sylvans.


    At thest moment, the gravity sylvan disyed its ability to send one of the dragons crashing into the ground, while the war sylvan mobilized the troops to control the trees. With the two of them working together, they managed to kill one dragon, while more than ten remained in the sky.


    ¡°That was really good for your first go, Tsubaki.¡± Udona told her in aforting tone, walking around the tform to put a hand on Tsubaki¡¯s shoulder. ¡°To be honest, that root giant almost did me in.¡±


    ¡°Hey, what about my slime?! It was totally awesome, right?¡± Aurivy called out, waving her little fists in excitement.


    Udona simply stuck her tongue out at the shorter goddess. ¡°It was, but you use slimes so much it was easy to find its weakness. Try to mix it up next time, if you want to win.¡±


    ¡°That was awesome!¡± The words were apanied by the rapid clicking of pointed feet against the floor as Kathy rushed towards us. ¡°Oh, oh! Tsubaki, what race was that you used? I totally want to try ying as them some time! That forest, and those big creatures, they¡¯d be really cool to fight with!¡±


    Tsubaki almost answered out of instinct, but found that she couldn¡¯t. Her mouth opened, but no words would escape. Seeing that, Udona took the initiative to speak for her. ¡°Sorry, Kathy, speech restrictions.¡±


    The arachne blinked a moment before nodding in understanding. ¡°Ohhh, that¡¯s fine!¡± It was clear that she was familiar with these restrictions, which made Tsubaki feel relieved.


    ¡°Hey, Kathy, what was with those dragons?!¡± Aurivy shouted out from the side, looking up towards the muchrger woman. ¡°I thought your snake people focused on magic?¡±


    Kathy simply giggled, before shaking her head. ¡°I wanted to mix it up. I found a little feature in their natural development tree. After I bought it, they became able to mutate monsters into draconic beings by letting them drink their blood. So, dragons and simr lizard-type monsters became avable for me to purchase.¡±


    ¡°After Udona told me that Tsubaki and your slime were probably both weak to cold, I started making ice dragons to tame.¡± She puffed her chest out proudly at that.


    Tsubaki, having already expected to lose the match, was simply d that she had managed to hold on as long as she did. The fact that she didn¡¯t surrender meant that she had earned a few hundred points for her Keeper. Although it wasn¡¯t as much as she had earned from her time in the survival game, she was satisfied that she had managed to earn anything at all.


    ¡°Tsubaaaa!¡± A familiar voice called out from the direction of the stairs, and Tsubaki turned her head to see Dana running over. ¡°There you are! Are you ready for the performance?¡±


    Tsubaki blinked, only barely remembering that Dana had promised to drag Tsubaki along to perform with her. With another sigh, she nodded her head, and Dana grabbed her hand with a wide smile. ¡°A performance, huh?¡± The Goddess of Entertainment asked with a grin.


    ¡°Yeah!¡± Dana nodded quickly. ¡°I¡¯m going to do a song, and Tsubaki¡¯s going to dance for it.¡±


    ¡°Did you guys rehearse already? I think I would have noticed that.¡± Udona pointed out, ncing between the two, who both shook their heads.


    ¡°Nope, but we¡¯re linked. I know Tsuba will be able to dance, no matter what I sing.¡± Dana seemed proud at that, causing Tsubaki¡¯s lips to twitch into a faint smile.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m definitely watching this!¡± Aurivy nodded her head firmly, soon joined by both Udona and Kathy.


    ¡°Sure! The more the merrier. And who¡¯s the big friend?¡± Unlike Tsubaki, Dana didn¡¯t seem to have any aversion towards the giant spider girl. She even took the initiative to walk over and extend a hand towards her.


    ¡°I¡¯m Kathy. It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you.¡± Kathy seemed¡­ really happy that someone had been so epting of her in their first encounter. Enough so that she restrained her usual excitement, lowering her body down to shake Dana¡¯s hand.


    ¡°I¡¯m Dana. Hope we can get along from now on!¡± The elven girl smiled wide. ¡°Now let¡¯s go, I think the current show¡¯s just about over!¡±


    I held Ryone¡¯s hand, watching the movie reach its climax. Having thoroughly enjoyed the show, I was just about to stand and leave with her when I saw the next participant running up to the stage. My eye twitched as I recognized Dana, with Tsubaki following closely behind her.


    Chuckling to myself, I returned to my seat to watch their show. Next to me, Ryone had an amused smile on her face as well. ¡°Now this is interesting¡­¡±


    ¡°Hello, KeeperVerse!¡± Dana¡¯s voice transmitted out across the stands. ¡°First timers here, but I hope you¡¯ll enjoy our little show.¡± After she said that, she snapped her fingers.


    I was immediately reminded of Irena¡¯s previous performance, spiritual mist surging through the stage. Dana¡¯s clothes were transformed, shifting from a maid uniform to a much tighter pop idol outfit. What surprised me, however, was that Tsubaki had beenpletely enveloped by the mist, vanishing from view.


    Dana closed her eyes, taking a deep breath before her voice echoed out in a lovely, yet sad tune. As she sang, the spiritual fog around her seemed to darken.


    ¡°I always heard a fairy tale,


    A story that just couldn¡¯t be true.


    A life beyond that, without fail,


    Would let me be with you¡­¡±


    Shadows began to shift within the dark fog, and Dana¡¯s eyes darted left and right fearfully. Sharp ws seemed to emerge, mere inches from her body before being pulled back.


    ¡°What I learned in my darkest hour,


    My story starts at the end.


    Born again, with ursed power,


    But the cost was a friend¡­¡±


    One of the shadows stepped out from the fog, looking to be a young elven girl roughly Dana¡¯s age. Dana stretched her hand out towards the figure, only to have it yanked back into the fog as tears formed in her eyes.


    ¡°There¡¯s no such thing as a happy ending.


    That¡¯s what I came to believe.


    If we all lived in a fairy story,


    Then why can¡¯t I be free?!¡±


    ¡°I roamed the darkness, looking for home.


    My heart was fading, what could it mean?


    The greatest monster left alone¡­


    Could it be me?¡±


    Suddenly, the darkness of the fog seemed to fade around one of the shadows, and I watched Tsubaki stepping forward. However, the current Tsubaki only had one of her nine tails, while eight other shadows danced within the fog.


    ¡°There¡¯s no such thing as a happy ending.


    That¡¯s what I came to believe.


    But you came to me in my darkest moments,


    And you set me free!¡±


    ¡°If there¡¯s no such thing as fairy stories,


    Then let¡¯s write our own!


    I¡¯ll share your love and share your glory,


    And you gave me a home.¡±


    Dana held her hand out for Tsubaki, who walked closer and wrapped her in a warm hug. The fog surrounding them suddenly scattered, revealing eight identical Tsubakis, each with only a single tail.


    ¡°I always heard a fairy tale,


    A story that just couldn¡¯t be true.


    But now, I¡¯ve got my second chance.


    And I want to spend it all with you.¡±


    Each of the eight kitsune walked up, one after the other, wrapping their arms around Dana before merging into the first Tsubaki. Each time they did so, Tsubaki grew another tail, until she was left with all nine once again.


    As the song came to an end, I found myself smiling, nodding my head. I knew just how strongly Dana cared for Tsubaki. It wasn¡¯t an exaggeration to say that Tsubaki was her entire world. After her first death, and then being left alone in the monster side of the underworld for so long, Tsubaki came to offer her a home.


    More than that, Tsubaki offered her a family. Something that Dana hadn¡¯t had for so long. She once told me that she couldn¡¯t remember her mother. That the memory was lost after she became an aeon. But¡­ she said that if she could remember her mother, Dana would want her to be like Tsubaki.


    That was why Dana could always be so happy, no matter when I saw her. Even when she was working for months or even years on a project, she would do it with a smile. She wasn¡¯t alone anymore, she had friends and a family, people who loved her.


    I watched as Tsubaki guided Dana off of the stage, and Ryone¡¯s hand gripped mine a bit tighter. Nodding towards her, we stood up together and began making our way down the steps. By the time we reached the bottom, the two of them had already left the building.


    As we left, I saw Tsubaki holding Dana, who was wiping her eyes with her sleeves. The tears she shed during the song weren¡¯t in any way faked. She could still vividly remember the pain of losing her friend and her father, the pain of being alone in that hell for so long.


    ¡°Your song was beautiful, Dana.¡± I spoke in a gentle tone, walking over and putting my hand on her shoulder.


    Her back stiffened, and she looked up at me in surprise. ¡°You were there?¡± Even Tsubaki seemed surprised by my sudden appearance, her cheeks darkening a shade after realizing I saw her performance.


    I simply nodded my head, smiling towards her. It wasn¡¯t important to ask how much she had gotten from the performance. That was the furthest thing from my mind. I leaned down, and wrapped my arms around her. Her shoulders began trembling, and I could feel her small arms holding my back.


    ¡°If you ever want to talk about anything, don¡¯t be afraid to do so. We¡¯re all a family.¡± When I said that, I felt her cheeks bing damp against my shoulder, and she nodded her head.


    ¡°Whatever you say¡­ boss.¡±

 Chapter 556: The Essence of a Meeting

    <h4>Chapter 556: The Essence of a Meeting</h4>


    The rest of the meeting was mostly spent ying around. I enjoyed a few of the smaller games, while most of the others likewise did their best to earn points. Although they rarely spent the points that they earned in these meetings, they still had the mindset to save up for when they needed it. That situation was proven when it was time to buy the fourth tier of the various branches of magic.


    In the end, when it was time to leave, I looked at the tallied points. The one with the most was Aurivy, with nearly eight thousand points. That much didn¡¯t surprise me, as the ¡®winner¡¯ of thest meeting had over six thousand already. What did surprise me was the fact that both Tsubaki and Dana came in a close second and third with sixty-five and sixty-six hundred points respectively.


    Dana seemed infinitely pleased by her results, even though she didn¡¯t know just how valuable those points were. After adding in the points that I had gotten from Grimor, and the points from defeating the invading forces, my total bnce had risen to a bit over two hundred and thirty thousand.


    It was likely that this number was quite high, even for a second rank Keeper. However, I wasn¡¯t exactly in a hurry to spend those points, as it was more important to allow my worlds to develop on their own first. At most, I would create a new world for Leowynn, if she decided that she wanted to control one of her own.


    We decided to go back a few hours before the time limit was truly over, that way I could host the meeting in my own Admin Room between myself and my various gods. Aurivy had told me that there was something that she wanted me to buy, and with her performance I saw no reason to refuse. Furthermore, I had to discuss how we were going to be expanding the trade tform.


    As we returned, I promised Tsubaki and Dana that I would meet them soon. The rewards that they brought in from this meeting were by no means small, and I wanted to give them something to show my appreciation.


    Tsubaki initially tried to refuse, before being stopped by Dana, who epted on both of their behalf. The flustered kitsune and youthful elven spirit walked through the golden door, returning to their ce in the mortal world while the rest of us appeared in the Admin Room.


    ¡°Meeting time!¡± Aurivy shouted out suddenly, surprising everyone. There were several among our group that weren¡¯t aware of the purpose of this meeting, since I wanted to save it to tell everyone at once. The halfling goddess immediately ran to the hall, moving towards the doors for those who had chosen not to attend the Keeper Meeting to call them over.


    Naturally, this included Chel as well. While she wasn¡¯t a god herself, she was the research assistant for James, who had a specialty in void-folding mechanics. If there was anyone that would be able to help Leowynn learn how to control her power to create materials from the energy of the void, it would be her.


    While Aurivy was gathering everyone, I set about preparing the meeting room. Creating it was an easy enough matter, as I just had to ce it near the living room. Then, I filled it with arge, circr table that had a grand total of fourteen chairs. Well¡­ thirteen chairs and a long matt for Tryval.


    ¡°What¡¯s this about a meeting?¡± Ashley asked, yawning slightly as she walked towards the room I was preparing. ¡°You guyse up with something while you were away?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I nodded my head, not wanting to dive into the specifics yet. ¡°Sorry, did she wake you?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. I was just napping.¡± Seeing Ashley wave it off like it was nothing, I simply offered her a small smile.


    It didn¡¯t take much longer for the rest of the party to file into the room, though Chel seemed quite surprised that she had been included as well. ¡°You need me for something? I mean, I don¡¯t want to get in the way or anything.¡±


    I gave another nod towards her as well, waiting for everyone to get seated. ¡°There¡¯s a part of this meeting that has to do with you, so I¡¯d like to ask you to stick around.¡±


    Chel simply shrugged, walking over and choosing a chair at random, cing her in between alia and Aurivy. Meanwhile, I found my own seat in between Terra and Ryone. Only once everyone was seated did I speak up again. ¡°I¡¯d like to call this meeting to order. Today, we have a couple of different topics to discuss. First of all¡­ Aurivy, you can begin.¡±


    I could see the halfling goddess practically bouncing in her seat from excitement, and knew that the entire table would begin to shake soon if I did not allow her to go first. ¡°Thank you!¡± She spoke up eagerly, before hopping up to stand on the table.


    ¡°Ladies, gentlemen, horse.¡± She nodded at Tryval, who returned it with one of his own. ¡°Ie to you today with a simple dream. A dream that I hope to see fulfilled. With everyone¡¯s help, I¡¯m sure that we can make it happen!¡±


    ¡°You see, for so long now, the sses of our world have remained stagnant. Though our people grow, the options for them to pursue do not. I feel that this cannot continue!¡± Aurivy mmed her small fist into her hand for emphasis.


    ¡°Yes, I am aware of the reason why there have not been more sses added thus far. Dale wishes for people to evolve beyond the ss system by pursuing divinity. Do I me him for that? Not at all! However, in the age we find ourselves, there is one ss that I believe can no longer be overlooked! One ss that I feel must make its debut!¡±


    Her overly energetic speech had drawn the attention of most of the crowd, though only Udona and Terra really seemed to know what she was getting at, a small grin forming on their faces. Aurivy turned, sweeping her eyes over the crowd. ¡°I would like to petition for the Pilot advanced ss to be purchased!¡±


    Bihena furrowed her brows, not quite understanding. ¡°Pilot¡­ as in for vehicles? What sort of abilities would that have in order to qualify as an advanced ss?¡±


    Aurivy stomped her foot, pointing dramatically towards Bihena. ¡°I¡¯m d you asked! You see, I¡¯ve done my research on this particr ss, with Terra¡¯s help. This Pilot ss does not simply pilot vehicles! It allows the user to pilot any object with moving parts.¡±


    ¡°This is because the Pilot ss corresponds with a special energy type. A mix of-¡±


    Aurivy¡¯s words were cut off by a wide-eyed Chel. ¡°Oh! I know this one. Ki and mana stirred at a ratio of three to two, gradually soaked in sixteen units of spiritual energy, and swirled together with another infusion of two units of ki, producing eight units of viable energy and fifteen units of explosive waste. The Pilot¡¯s Essence energy type!¡±


    Aurivy appeared slightly deted as Chel not only knew the name of the energy from its description, but even the process of creating it. However, after a moment she still regained her vigor. ¡°That¡¯s right! The Pilot¡¯s Essence! This energy allows the user to directly interface with any object containing moving parts, controlling them as if it were the user¡¯s own body.¡±


    ¡°At higher levels, Terra even says that the Pilot should be able to shed their physical body, bing an avatar of essence! This would allow them to be a new type of energy being simr to the Perfect Self, offering another path for our people to pursue to godhood!¡±


    While Aurivy was giving her speech, I was already looking up the ss and relevant energy. Before the meeting, I had promised that I would use the points she had acquired to buy what she wanted, so long as it wasn¡¯t too expensive. The ss itself was fine, only a total of sixty points to buy it.


    The energy, on the other hand, required a full six thousand points to buy the first tier. Certainly, Aurivy had saved enough to afford this after the meeting, but¡­ ¡°If Chel and James know how to make this energy, would you rather leave it to them to introduce the ss to the world, to save the points on buying its knowledge?¡±


    Aurivy brought a finger up to tap on her chin in thought. ¡°Hmm¡­ it would probably make it easier that way. And we¡¯d have a usible means to distribute the ss. Plus, I did kinda want this mostly for Deckan¡¯s mech units anyways.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but have my eye twitch at that. ¡°I thought you were buying it for your world?¡±


    Aurivy nced left to right with a shifty gaze. ¡°I-I am. Definitely. It¡¯ll have loads of applications on Fyor, too! Armored suits could be designed to work with this energy, allowing people to use greater fighting ability on higher floors than they would normally be able to!¡±


    I shook my head, giving a small sigh as I bought the ss. Seeming to sense that it had been purchased, Aurivy gave a wide grin before running over and jumping back down to her seat.


    ¡°Now¡­ our second order of business. This one involves you too, Aurivy.¡± Aurivy blinked, clearly not understanding, before I turned and nodded my head towards Irena.


    The winged goddess smiled, turning her head to face Aurivy. ¡°I would like to ask for your cooperation to create a jointw, simr in essence to the trade tform created by Ryone and Leowynn.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I can do trading things.¡± Aurivy answered in a confused tone.


    ¡°Not a trading tform, per se. More taking advantage of both of our divinities to create a beneficial effect.¡± Ashley, off to the side, let out an audible sigh of relief when she heard that it wouldn¡¯t be a new trade tform.


    ¡°Oh! Well then, what kind of thing are you wanting to make?¡± Aurivy seemed far more confident now that she knew it would truly have something to do with her domains. Given her nature as the Goddess of Love, she had no shortage of followers.


    ¡°I wish to jointly create a divinew that will automatically transport souls to the Underworld ten days after they pass, so long as they do not die in a dungeon. With the expansion of our worlds to include extraterrestrial territory, I find myself quitecking in manpower to collect the souls of every.¡±


    ¡°Ohhh!¡± Aurivy nodded rapidly. ¡°Sure thing, Irena!¡± She beamed a smile, and I could tell that Irena was happy to hear that the request was approved so easily. ¡°Once the meeting¡¯s over, I¡¯ll head over to your room, and we can work out the details!¡±


    Irena nodded her head in agreement, before turning to face me again. ¡°Now, Dale, do you recall the idea I mentioned while we were meeting with Balu?¡±


    It took me a moment to remember what she was talking about, before it hit me. ¡°Right. You said that you would be able to tell me what it was once we got back home.¡±


    Irena gave a small nod. ¡°I believe it would be wise for Tsubaki to establish her own church. She is the first mortal god, and an increase in her power would directly feed into increasing your own. So long as she can establish a few priests of her own and spread a series of teachings, I have no doubt that it would increase both her ability as well as yours.¡±


    I gulped, trying to imagine just what kind of church Tsubaki would create. The Church of Servitude? She¡¯s been a Servant for so long, it¡¯s be her identity to most of the world. Would her teachings be about pledging oneself to something or someone that they truly believe in?


    Regardless, I had to admit that Irena had a point. Even if it had the potential to turn a bit¡­ chaotic, I¡¯d still have to consider it. ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll talk to herter.¡±

 Chapter 557: Divine Commerce

    <h4>Chapter 557: Divine Commerce</h4>


    ¡°Now then, for our final order of business.¡± I spoke up to attract everyone¡¯s attention. ¡°This is something that involves almost everyone here, and also the main reason behind today¡¯s meeting.¡±


    Aurivy pouted her lips when I said that, but Terra reached over to ruffle her hair. ¡°Your presentation was still important, Rivy.¡± Terra¡¯s words seemed to cheer the halfling goddess up slightly, causing her to nod while I exined the idea that Ryone and I came up with.


    ¡°In essence, this is an expansion on the trade tform that Ryone and Leowynn developed before.¡± When I said that, I could see the color draining from Ashley¡¯s face. ¡°And at the same time, it will also require some work on everyone¡¯s part. Anyone that wants to participate can, but those that don¡¯t¡­ I have the feeling this could influence our poprity among worshippers.¡±


    Clearing her throat, Ryone decided to take over. ¡°It¡¯s like this. For a while now, all of us have been receiving offerings from our followers. Most of these offerings we convert directly into divine power, which causes a deficit in materials within the world.¡±


    ¡°Due to the size of our worlds, that deficit hasn¡¯t caused any real problems yet, but that will not always be the case. Take my own followers as an example. They send me money and jewels, which removes those items from cirction. The value of gold will increase over time, and it will heavily influence trade between worlds.¡±


    ¡°The idea we developed is for us to send items back into cirction without causing us to lose more divine energy than we obtain. Normally, this would not have been possible. However, thanks to our most recent additions, we now have a way to carry out this impossible n.¡± Ryone¡¯s eyes went to Leowynn and Chel, smiling at both of them.


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± I nodded in agreement, drawing confused looks from the two girls. ¡°Since we¡¯ve discovered that it is possible to create raw materials directly from the energy of the void, Leowynn has the potential power to produce endless resources with her domain. The only problems are energy consumption, and her own knowledge of how to perform this feat.¡±


    After saying that, I looked directly at Chel. ¡°James introduced that he specialized in void-folding mechanics. As not only his System Companion, but his research assistant, that means that you would surely know the basics of how to convert void energy into raw materials. With your help, we solve the ¡®knowledge¡¯ problem.¡±


    ¡°As for the energy consumption problem, it is the mortals themselves that will solve that for us. From now on, eighty percent of the divine power obtained from an offering should be converted into tokens that are left behind for the follower to im. These tokens can then be used on the market to purchase items or effects relevant to the god the tokens came from.¡±


    Ryone smiled, speaking up once more. ¡°Take myself, for instance. My tokens could be converted either directly into currency, or for single-use magical items, or even knowledge regarding magic. It is up to each person what ¡®service¡¯ they want to make avable to the market.¡±


    ¡°The raw materials needed to exchange for any physical reward woulde from Leowynn, meaning that her tokens would be required as well, whether it was currency or magical items. For thetter option, I would be requesting Tubrock¡¯s help to forge the shape of the item, so naturally his tokens would be involved as well.¡±


    ¡°For now¡­¡± I cut in after she was done exining. ¡°I want everyone to decide whether or not they will be taking part in this expansion, and what sort of options they would like to offer for the tform. There¡¯s no immediate rush to get it sorted out, as we¡¯ll need to wait on Leowynn learning how to create the materials needed.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m in.¡± Terra grinned immediately. ¡°As for what I could offer¡­ I could make an enhanced version of my danger sense, to give people clues about the threats they face. It won¡¯t be cheap, but¡­ what¡¯s the price of keeping yourself alive?¡±


    ¡°I think my answer¡¯s pretty obvious.¡± Tubrock chuckled gruffly, nodding his head. ¡°It could be interesting ta set up. Though, to save myself some time, think I¡¯ll add an additional requirement ta only make copies of items ¡®at have offered up in the past. Makes sure nobody tries ta get any kinda legendary artifact outta me.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ unsure what it is that I could offer, if I am to be honest.¡± Tryval spoke next, his brow furrowed in thought. ¡°My domains do not particrly lend towards marketable services.¡±


    ¡°I was actually thinking about your issue.¡± Ryone responded with a smile. ¡°Once Leowynn has learned how to wield her powers, we can establish a garden for you in the void. In the garden, you¡¯ll be able to grow all types of nts, and they can be your service. I¡¯m sure there would be no shortage of apothecaries that would highly value rare herbs.¡±


    Tryval seemed to consider the suggestion, before nodding his head in thanks. ¡°I suppose that means I¡¯d be next.¡± Bihena smiled faintly. ¡°Like Tryval¡­ I¡¯m not entirely sure what physical services I could provide. But if it is more of a blessing like Terra¡¯s¡­ I cane up with blessings both for seafaring andbat.¡±


    Like that, everyone decided one by one the kinds of things they would like to offer on the tform. It seemed clear that if one of them did not offer ¡®benefits¡¯ to their followers while everyone else did, they would suffer arge drop in poprity. Normally, this wouldn¡¯t have been an issue at all, as nobody had such a direct benefit.


    However, with the invention of the trade tform, that had changed. Leowynn and Ryone had a sudden spike in followers simply due to the fact that worshipping both of them offered such arge ¡®reward¡¯. In a way, setting things up like this would help to bnce out everyone¡¯s followers again. Aside, of course, from Leowynn whose poprity would only increase with the demand for physical goods.


    Of the remaining gods and goddesses, Udona decided to add healing and textbooks to the market. alia added her ability to identify monsters, and also ¡®advice¡¯ from her Wisdom domain. Aurivy¡¯s answer was easy, as she put in transportation services. Keliope added a defense blessing that was in line with her domains.


    The only two that seemed to have trouble deciding were Irena and Ashley. Ultimately, Irena decided to offer up two options. The first would allow an individual to request contact with a spirit in the Underworld for a short time, while the second was focused on her Justice domain. As long as someone had been wronged, and knew the identity of the one that wronged them, they would be able to use the tokens to request justice. The degree of justice would naturally change depending on the degree of the crime. Or, more specifically, on the karma of the criminal offender.


    Finally, Ashley¡­ considering that Tubrock had already covered the crafting of physical goods, she had a hard time deciding what was left for her to offer. Theoretically, Tubrock could create any kind of technological construct that she herself could. Just look at the golems he had created, they were all incredibly advanced.


    Ultimately, the two of them reached an agreement. Any items with moving parts or software requirements would fall under her domain. Items that required enchantments would simrly fall under Ryone¡¯s. Tubrock would be in charge of forging the individual pieces, and it would be up to Ashley to assemble them, or Ryone to enchant them.


    Like that, everyone was able to decide on what they wanted to add to the market. Now it was just a matter of having them all establish the tokens imbued with those qualities, Leowynn learning how to manipte the void, and Ashley to install the update on the tform.


    As the meeting was drawing to a close, I felt something seeming to shift within the air. The ten day timer was over, meaning that the flow of time within the mortal world had returned to normal.


    James. A voice echoed into the mind of the dark-skinned human as he was busily assembling a machine in hisb, causing him to blink and look up.


    ¡°What¡¯s up, boss man?¡± He asked out loud, knowing that he was the only one still in theb sote at night. If Chel were there, she¡¯d always apany him when he pulled an all-nighter, but his currentb assistants weren¡¯t quite so enduring.


    We¡¯ve added a new ss to the world, and need your help revealing it by creating the energy type it uses. Chel indicated you should be familiar with it, the Pilot¡¯s Essence.


    James blinked, before a small smirk rose up on his lips. ¡°Yeah, I can handle that. Really giving me some work this time, huh?¡± In truth, the project he was currently working on was just as groundbreaking as a new ss, if not moreso. However, he didn¡¯t see any reason to refuse this request, given the rtionship between the former and current Keeper.


    Of course, he did know about the Pilot¡¯s Essence, and that was why he considered it ¡®quite some work¡¯. The energy itself wasn¡¯t all that difficult to create once you knew the form, but discovering the form by ident? The difficulty was considerably harder than even perfection.


    This was due to the fact that Pilot¡¯s Essence wasn¡¯t a ¡®perfect¡¯ conversion rate. In fact, it was quite terrible for conversion. Out of a total of twenty-three units of energy being put in, barely a third of it was viable, while the rest would explode in your face. For someone that didn¡¯t already know what would happen, they would only see the explosion as a failed product. By the time the energy had settled, the ¡®sessful¡¯ result would have silently dissipated.


    In order to create an energy core for Pilot¡¯s Essence, one had to repeatedly perform the fusion, absorbing the energy while resisting the explosive force. Work too fast, and you¡¯d be a living bomb. Work too slowly, and the energy inside of you would fade away before you were done.


    Thanks to this, it was necessary to create a stable environment where one would be protected from the explosive waste, typically by extracting it before it detonates. ¡°Give me¡­ three months, and I can have it done for you.¡±


    That¡¯s fine. What is that device you¡¯re working on? There was a hint of curiosity in the Keeper¡¯s tone, which didn¡¯t surprise James. Since his mind was unreadable to the Keeper, it was only natural that he wouldn¡¯t be able to infer the meaning of his invention.


    ¡°It¡¯s the Perfection Chamber. Something we came up with in my world, near the end. Streamlines the process of merging the different energies within the body, and greatly reduces the risk of failure.¡± James gave the machine a light pat as he exined, a proud expression on his face.


    ¡°Going by the energy density, in rtion to levels in your world, I¡¯ve been able to calcte the sess rates. If anyone reaches a total of one thousand levels, with at least fifty each that contribute to the development of the spirit, mana, and ki, there should be a ny-nine percent sess rate. Of course, at that level they would have no choice but to take the procedure, because their bodies would bepletely saturated with energy, and at risk of critical failure.¡±


    ¡°If they have only five hundred levels, with the same requirement as before, there¡¯s a seventy-five percent chance of sess. They¡¯ll lose some ¡®weight¡¯ in the process, but it¡¯s still doable. Below five hundred, the sess rate drops drastically. The lowest level one can perform the procedure should be around two hundred, but¡­ I estimate it would only have a three percent sess rate.¡±


    People with five hundred levels aren¡¯t too umon in my world. Though, a one in four chance of dying¡­ it¡¯ll be popr, but most will probably choose to wait until they are higher level for a better chance.


    ¡°Heheh, I¡¯m just hoping that the media sees it that way.¡± James spoke with a rueful grin. ¡°Advertise the dangers as much as you want, but people will still me you when something goes awry.¡±


    Don¡¯t worry about them. We¡¯re working on something up here that will grab their attention soon enough.

 Chapter 558: Shocking the World

    <h4>Chapter 558: Shocking the World</h4>


    Barely an hour had passed since Tsubaki and Dana had returned from that mysterious meeting, and the Keeper had just returned to his state of ¡®dormancy¡¯ after appearing to tell the two of them their rewards for their participation in the meeting. Tsubaki was left dazed at what she had been told, while Dana stood off to the side with a contemtive expression.


    They had been given onemon reward, while Tsubaki had received something extra. For theirmon reward, they were able to request a change to be made to the world system, so long as that change did not cost more than their earned points. Given that they were not able to think of what sort of change they would like, this reward had been left on hold until they made up their mind.


    What left Tsubaki dazed was her special reward. Dale had requested for her to establish her own church. In doing so, she would be able to officially obtain priests and bolster her own powers. Dana thought it was only something natural for Tsubaki to do, as the servant of the Keeper himself and a goddess in her own right, but she knew that Tsubaki wouldn¡¯t see it that way.


    In fact, Tsubaki had initially refused. She did not want to be worshipped alongside the Greater Pantheon, feeling she was unworthy. It was only when Dale left behind one parting phrase that she was struck senseless while he returned to his heavenly home.


    ¡°This was a unanimous decision by all of us.¡±


    Perhaps, if it were just one or two people, Tsubaki could still argue for the sake of those who disagreed. As long as there was someone among them that didn¡¯t want her to form a church, she could object in the name of respecting their decision. But now, with every member of the Greater Pantheon saying that she should do this, she was left with no choice.


    ¡°Do you want help setting things up?¡± Dana asked with a small grin, and Tsubaki¡¯s head slowly turned towards her, a glimmer of hope in her eyes.


    ¡°Yes, please¡­¡± It was rare to see her so flustered like this, but Dana was obviously going to help her finish this job.


    The little elf chuckled, shing a thumbs up at Tsubaki. ¡°Alright, Tsuba. Just look at it this way, the stronger you get, the stronger he gets. Now, let¡¯s figure out your church name, and some doctrines for you to give your people.¡±


    ¡°I already have the name.¡± Tsubaki muttered quietly, catching Dana by surprise.


    ¡°Oh? Come on, don¡¯t keep me in suspense!¡±


    The kitsune goddess turned to look at the Keeper sitting on his throne, and then back at Dana again. ¡°The Church of Nine Lights.¡±


    Over the span of three weeks, one shocking revtion after another was passed down to the world. Each one seemed more awe-inspiring than thest, and nobody knew what to make of it by the time it was all done.


    First, the Head of Research of Deckan, a man acknowledged to be associated with the Keeper, had invented a specialized chamber that would drastically increase the sess rate of achieving perfection. Previously, only one in ten people would be able to pass after making careful preparations. Now, if the reports were to be believed, the odds had increased quite substantially, with a guide being included for what levels are needed in order to maximize one¡¯s chances.


    This alone had shocked the various worlds to their core. Perfection was the dream of many, but a dream so dangerous that few were still willing to attempt it. Granted, the new chamber was far from a guaranteed chance, and the risk of death was still enough to deter many who would otherwise choose to undergo the procedure. But for those willing to take the chance, it was a blessing from the gods themselves.


    Secondly, the Keeper¡¯s Servant announced to the world that she would be establishing her own church, under the guidance of the Keeper himself. While there were many who already worshipped Tsubaki as the first mortal god, few actually did so openly. It had been considered a sphemous act to regard the ¡®lesser pantheon¡¯ on the same level as the higher gods.


    This church, the Church of Nine Lights, would only have one key base within each world. The priests would be hand-selected by Tsubaki herself, keeping the number of official worshippers rather small. Yet regardless, the fact remained that she was creating her own religion, and this served as the signal for others to do the same.


    nk, the God of Games, announced that he was creating the Church of Digital Thought less than one weekter. The main focus of his church was to provide an organization where other sentient programs like himself could gather and exchange information. Although he was the first of his kind, there had been several others like him developed in recent years. They had merely not received the blessing of Ashley that had allowed nk to achieve divinity.


    After nk established his church, he announced to the public why Tsubaki had chosen to keep her church small. Each priest that the church epted became a voice in the divinity¡¯s mind. For a program such as himself, he could filter through thousands of voices with rtive ease. However, for Tsubaki, it was clear that her limit should be far lower, despite ascending to godhood. Due to this reason, the churches of mortal gods would still be smaller than those of the greater pantheon.


    Yet, it was soon proven that that would not be the only difference between the two ssifications. Shortly after nk made his announcement, the final piece of information was revealed. This revtion did note from the gods themselves, but was rather something about the gods that the mortals soon discovered.


    A young elven boy tightly clenched his fists as he entered the church. His clothes were tattered and dirty, clearly showing his poor lifestyle. Worse still, his skin was sunken and pale, and it was apparent that he was not eating well. Despite this, the church did not turn him away. Even as several of its members sent scornful looks towards the young man, he walked to the altar.


    Anyone could make an offering to the Goddess, this was a rule that had been passed down through countless generations. To refuse anyone doing so, no matter how small, would be to refuse the sanctity of the Goddess herself. After all, it was not for them to judge the value of faith.


    The man knelt before the altar, extending a shaky hand. When he released his fist, a dozen coins ttered into the offering bowl. Of them, one was silver in color while the rest were a dirty bronze. At this sight, the eyes of some of the followers softened.


    From the man¡¯s appearance, and the health bar above his head that could not easily be faked, it could be seen that he had starved himself. Had he spent that money, he would not have been able to eat a good meal, but he would have at least had something to fill his stomach. Instead, he chose to offer it to Ryone. This was both a touching and foolish decision, as one must always value their own life.


    The boy sped his hands together in prayer. Mother Ryone, please ept this offering. I know that it is little in the eyes of the Goddess, but it is all that I have to give. My sister has taken ill, and we cannot hope to afford the medicine to save her, nor to hire a cleric to show his holy light. Please, Mother Goddess, she has done nothing wrong. Please see fit to help her recover.


    There was a sh of golden light from within the offering bowl, a clear sign that the offering within had been epted. Everyone thought that the matter would end there, and that the boy would leave after his prayer. As he got up, however, his eyes passed over the offering bowl and he hesitated.


    ¡°Sir Priest?¡± The boy called out to a man not far away wearing the blue robes of the church. The priest frowned, his opinion of the boy dropping when it seemed like the boy had regretted his offering. There was no way to ask for a refund from the Goddess.


    Still, he put on an amiable smile and walked over. ¡°What is it, child?¡± He asked in a gentle tone, his eyes never leaving the figure before him.


    ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t think she epted my offering.¡± The boy¡¯s words surprised the priest, who had himself seen the golden light. Clearly, the offering had been epted, so what was he on about?


    As the priest turned to look at the offering bowl, his eyes grew wide in shock. There were more than a dozen coins in the bowl, just as he said. However, these were clearly not the same coins as had been ced by the youth himself. Each one was a shining golden coin with the picture of the Goddess on both faces.


    At a passing nce, they could be thought of as a normal golden coin, if not for the fact that they appeared to shine with a faintly divine light. Clearly, these coins had been touched by the hands of the Goddess personally.


    His brow furrowed, the priest went in to pick up one of the coins, testing it and sensing it with his own power. When he did so, a system window appeared before his eyes.


    A token of faith, bestowed by the Goddess Ryone. Can be exchanged within the Boundless Caravan for goods and blessings rted to her power.


    The priest gasped in shock, nearly dropping the coin. His eyes went to the boy, who was now clearly showing a look of concern. Several thoughts raced through his mind at once, and he was even tempted to buy these coins off of the boy for substantially more than had been initially offered.


    ¡°Sir Priest?¡± The elven boy spoke up, driving him from his thoughts.


    ¡°These are the blessings of the Goddess.¡± The priest said, pushing the coin into his hand so as to not allow himself to be tempted further. ¡°Seek out the Boundless Caravan, and she shall allow you to exchange them for a gift.¡±


    The boy looked at the coin, as well as the others in the bowl, with a bit of doubt. Still, he picked them up and held them in his fists as he turned to leave. He didn¡¯t truly believe that this ¡®gift¡¯ would be anything substantial, but his faith demanded he see it through. After all, he had prayed for a way to save his sister, and had been answered with these coins. Could they be what he needed?


    The trek from the church of Ryone to the Boundless Caravan was truly notrge. Even for someone with a body as frail as his, it took less than five minutes for him to arrive at the bustling center of trade.


    The boy waited, looking for a line that seemed smaller than the others. His small frame would cause many to overlook him, and his poor attire even moreso. Thankfully, he found a line that was just ending, and moved over to stand behind it.


    When he moved up, he was greeted by the questioning gaze of a mature elven woman. ¡°May I help you?¡± She asked curiously, and it was clear that she did not believe that he would be able to purchase anything from the caravan, nor that he would have anything of value to sell. As such, she could not quite ce why he was there.


    ¡°Y-yes¡­ I¡¯m sorry, I was told toe here with these.¡± He lifted his hands up to the counter, dropping the glowing coins upon it. The woman¡¯s gaze shook as she saw the coins, which seemed so simr to the one that she herself used to summon the caravan, yet with a golden luster.


    ¡°Give me just a moment.¡± She spoke in a more respectful tone, conjuring the silver coin that opened the caravan. ¡°May I ask how you obtained these coins? I must say that I have never seen them before.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I just went to the church.¡± The boy spoke in an even more confused tone, unsure if he had found a blessing or a disaster. ¡°I made an offering and asked for her to help my sister¡­ and these coins appeared in the bowl.¡±


    The woman nodded, as if to show understanding despite not knowing what was going on. She held up one of the coins, and a new section of the trade tform appeared. One that she had neverid eyes upon before. This section contained blessings and items that could be purchased from the gods.


    ¡°L-let¡¯s see¡­ with these coins, you can ask the Goddess to disy magic for you up to the third tier three times, or ask for enlightenment. If you are able to gather the tokens of Leowynn, you will be able to use both to convert into currency. ording to the exchange rate, you could buy eighteen haram.¡±


    There was a gasp from the boy, who clearly knew that he had not spent anywhere near that sum. Eighteenrge, golden coins could be purchased with just one silver and a few copper coins? However, a momentter, realization struck him. ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t have anything else to offer up to Leowynn. If I choose the magic, can I ask her to use a healing spell on my sister?¡±


    The gaze of the elven woman softened, and she checked the information on that option. ¡°I believe it should be possible. If you would like, I could buy the rest of these tokens from you for ten haram.¡± Their full value was twelve, but given that they could only show that value after using another offering to obtain the tokens of Leowynn, the elven woman felt that this price was fair.


    ¡°Yes, please.¡± The boy nodded his head. One use of magic from the Goddess would be enough for him to save his sister. As for the golden coins, they could be used to buy a bit of food for the two of them.


    The merchant smiled, processing the sale. ¡°Can you tell me exactly what kind of magic you¡¯d like to purchase? I need to put the information in to finalize it, it looks like.¡±


    ¡°O-oh. Uhm, could you make it a spell to cure diseases? My sister is really sick, and can¡¯t get out of bed.¡± Magic to cure diseases would typically be reserved for priests of Udona, but if this were the Goddess of Magic herself, surely there would be a way, right?


    ¡°Understood.¡± The woman put in what he had said, and one third of the coins shattered into golden light. These lights converged onto a new coin, this one disying a strange spell diagram atop its surface. The merchant held it up to inspect it, before passing it to him. ¡°Give this to your sister, and help her break it. The spell inside will activate on whoever broke the coin.¡±


    After saying that, she took the rest of the tokens of faith, and handed the boy ten golden coins. Just as he was turning to leave, the door of the establishment swung open loudly, a raucousugh entering as a local lord entered. ¡°My faith has been rewarded by the Goddess! Help me to exchange this.¡±


    In his hand was a token of faith, much like the ones that the young boy had just sold. It was clear that he was looking forward to receiving a mountain of wealth from his greedy gaze. Yet, the gaze of the merchant was chilling. After all¡­ he had only one token. That would be the same as one haram, ording to the exchange rate she had just seen.

 Chapter 559: Balance of Power

    <h4>Chapter 559: Bnce of Power</h4>


    News of the ¡®tokens of faith¡¯ spread like wildfire throughout the various worlds, even without the gods themselves making any sort of announcement. People very quickly became aware of the different uses of the tokens, as well as the requirements for the services that would most affect them.


    Naturally, for the most part everyone was already worshipping the god or goddess that would help them the most in their daily lives. Healers were already praying to Udona, generals to Bihena, or cksmiths to Tubrock. However, this opened up a new path of religion for some who did not previously consider seeking a particr divinity.


    As an example, there were many alchemists that hadn¡¯t considered worshipping Tryval, but instead worshipped Udona or alia. When they saw that they would be able to acquire rare and valuable medicinal herbs from Tryval, they became increasingly interested and started to study his religion more deeply.


    It must be known that the value of an offeringy not in its mary worth, but the faith of the one who offers it. While the exact specifics were unclear, many knew that they would only be able to receive the tokens of faith if their belief in the deity was true.


    To some, that became an obstacle to prevent them from joining the religion. After all, if they did not care for the teachings of a god and instead only wanted to make their offerings as a business exchange, they would receive minimal rewards. For these people, a new trend appeared on the market.


    Unlike the tokens of the Boundless Caravan, the tokens of faith were able to be exchanged between people freely. Whether through buying or stealing, it was possible to acquire tokens of a faith outside of your own. When these tokens hit the market, it created a stir,pletely upsetting the bnce of prices across a huge number of products.


    Tokens were used as the new universal measurement for several goods and services. The fact that one could buy both gems and coins with the tokens of Ryone caused the prices of those gems to settle at their token equivalent. Simrly, the different items that one could buy from Tubrock and Tryval would have their prices in the real market affected. Some previously rare and valuable herbs became cheap while a select few moremon nts experienced an increase in their market price.


    Perhaps the most exaggerated example would be the price of refined gold bars, as it was influenced by a grand total of three tokens. First, the tokens of Leowynn that could provide the raw metal ore. These tokens became the lowestmon denominator across all physical goods, linking the changes in market costs.


    Next, the tokens of Tubrock, who ¡®forged¡¯ the metal. His tokens interacted with the price of all other metals, creating a standard that could be used to measure their ¡®worth¡¯ in the eyes of the heavens.


    Finally, the tokens of Ryone. This is where the price had really be set in stone, and forced the previous two tokens, as well as their different influenced items to undergo a price change. With one token of Ryone and one token of Leowynn being exchanged for one haram in the elven markets, that became a firm price. Despite Tubrock¡¯s tokens not being required for purchasing currency, it still entered the equation when determining the value of the material.


    Five tokens of Leowynn and one token of Tubrock could purchase a single gold bar, which could in turn be forged into fifty golden coins the size of a haram. This would normally put Leowynn¡¯s token value at five tokens per two pounds of gold ore. However, because of the direct conversion to haram coins with Ryone, that price was not set.


    Instead, the price wasn¡¯t calcted as if Leowynn and Tubrock shared the same value. Tubrock¡¯s tokens had an increase in price while Leowynn¡¯s were lowered. In the end, Leowynn¡¯s tokens had a market price of four per haram.


    Ultimately, the price had almost gone down even further, before the market was forced to ept the limited supply whenpared to the demand. Although more and more people had been beginning to worship Leowynn, she was still after all a new goddess. The number of people who genuinely worshipped her couldn¡¯t bepared to the more established gods, which resulted in a shortage of her tokens on the market. Furthermore, those that sold their coins were those that typically did not put as much value in their faith, resulting in them receiving less coins than devout followers.


    If the supply of tokens was without limit, perhaps every world would have changed to using them as a universal currency. Instead, their existence became a luxury, but one with a fixed price in rtion to other goods. Once Leowynn¡¯s tokens had their values set, it was only a matter of time before every other token that contributed towards physical goods was simrly evaluated.


    There were few exceptions to this, very few of the divines not offering any sort of physical product. The most notable, and easily bing the most expensive token, was that of Terra. She only offered a single type of item with her token, and it was an expensive blessing that only affected her priests. Yet, it still caused more people to convert to her faith.


    The power to receive divine hints about future dangers became incredibly valuable almost instantly. While lost properties can be restored, and wealth can be regained, one person only had one life. For a hundred of Terra¡¯s tokens, one could receive a clue to their fate, and earn a chance to save themselves.


    Perhaps, the recent release of the Perfection Chamber increased the value of these coins even further. Anyone who followed Terra and considered using the chamber to achieve perfection would inevitably want to purchase this blessing and determine if they would be able to seed or not. For those that learned they wouldn¡¯t, they could only smile bitterly and try again after improving themselves.


    Within his researchb, James had twelve shining coinsid out before him, one of every deity in the Greater Pantheon. It had taken him a bit of effort in order to obtain the tokens of all twelve in the name of research materials. Yet, he clearly didn¡¯t have the urge to research them, letting out a lightugh as he put them in a frame.


    ¡°So that¡¯s what he meant.¡± James muttered to himself, recalling the previous words of the Keeper, about how they would be releasing something that would distract the masses from the Perfect Chamber¡¯s chances of sess. ¡°I didn¡¯t think he¡¯d being out with something like that. Well¡­ guess I should put in a bit more work on my end.¡±


    Behind James was an elven researcher, a woman who looked at him curiously. ¡°Is this about the new project we¡¯ve recently started working on?¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± He nodded his head, cing the framed coins on the wall and anchoring them in ce with his magic. ¡°Have you made any progress with the form I gave you?¡±


    The elven woman furrowed her brow, before letting out a long sigh. ¡°Unfortunately, I can¡¯t say I¡¯ve had any sess yet. Thanks to your warning, I was prepared for the explosion that urred when I performed the fusion, but the remaining energy dissipated before I was able to extract it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s still a sess!¡± James told her proudly, pping her on the shoulder. ¡°You¡¯re notcking evenpared to the twins, so have a bit more confidence in yourself. Send the data to meter, and I¡¯ll start working on the refinement device.¡±


    Though he said that, she felt that his words were not entirely sincere. While she was confident that her talent in energy was great, the ¡®twins¡¯ that James had mentioned had already performed a sessful fusion in this energy. Upon doing so, they both obtained the Pilot ss, and had been steadily building their essence pools.


    Of course, for the time being, James had ordered them to not tell anyone about the new ss. Not until they had perfected the method of fusing its energy such that normal people could do so without a substantial risk to their lives. For some reason, he had been particrly firm in his tone when it came to the twins, emphasizing that they couldn¡¯t tell anyone.


    ¡°Nora, how are you and your sistering with your research?¡± An elderly felyn man asked within the virtual room, his gaze directed at a young kitsune woman. It had been some time since theirst report, and so it was time to check in again.


    To his surprise, the girl appeared nervous when she was asked this question, her eyes meeting that of the elder who had sponsored her and her sister. ¡°In truth¡­ we have made a breakthrough, sir. However, we are not allowed to speak of its nature, or divulge any information.¡±


    The man raised a curious brow, before the girl continued to exin. ¡°At the present time, only James, Thea, and myself havepleted the first step of this research. So it could be said that we are more familiar with it than the rest, but¡­ James is aware of our connection with the hidden n. He specifically forbade us from sharing this information until our research advances further.¡±


    The felyn¡¯s eyes opened wide when he heard that they had been discovered, before his brow furrowed. ¡°You revealed yourselves so soon?¡±


    ¡°I assure you, we didn¡¯t!¡± Nora insisted with a firm shake of her head. ¡°We have been following the training and not leaving any physical traces. Even our own minds were clouded by the self-hypnotic spells that the n devised to further perfect our performance. Outside of these meetings, or special triggers, even we ourselves would not be aware that we were connected to the n.¡±


    ¡°And yet he discovered you.¡± The elder pointed out, causing the lycan to let out a sigh.


    ¡°That is correct. His perceptive ability is terrifying, if I may speak frankly. With only a nce, he saw through my and Thea¡¯sbined energy, even without us performing a demonstration of it. I don¡¯t know if he saw traces of the training in my movements, if he was able to sense the self-hypnosis, or if it was one of the gods that revealed us. The only thing that I can be sure of is that he does not care whether we are connected to an outside force or not.¡±


    The elder looked towards Nora rather quizzically. ¡°Then why would he forbid you from sharing the knowledge in this instance?¡±


    To that, Nora actually seemed to have an answer. ¡°It¡¯s because the current knowledge is too dangerous. If people wanted to act on it with only the practical knowledge we¡¯ve obtained so far, they would be throwing their lives away. James wishes for us to first invent an external assistance device that would solve this problem. After that has beenpleted, we¡¯ll be able to share what we know with the n.¡±


    The elder seemed somewhat relieved at that answer, nodding his head. ¡°Understood. In that case, carry on. Have the two of you received any new progress in other matters, yet?¡±


    ¡°We have.¡± Nora¡¯s eyes showed a glimmer of excitement. ¡°Under his guidance, we formed the dual-energy pathways in our bodies. Now, both Thea and I possess both halves of thepleted energy. Unless we force the collision between them, this energy is very stable.¡± As she said that, she focused to upload her current energy pathways into the virtual room.


    This was indeed considerable progress, which brought the elder great surprise. Theirbined energies, which had apparently earned the name ¡®Destructive Bnce¡¯ from James, was the result of generations of research from the n. Only two people with identical natures would be able to cooperate to train this energy together.


    Until now, they had always assumed that the energy itself was meant to be practiced by a pair, due to every attempt at using both energies in one body ending in failure. Now, with the file that Nora had just uploaded, they had the chance to spread this energy to the rest of the n.

 Chapter 560: A Flash of Silver

    <h4>Chapter 560: A sh of Silver</h4>


    Once we had everything set up for our various projects, I went ahead and began to fast forward again. I wanted to see how the world would react to the new changes brought about from this recent meeting. And, if I must say, I was rather satisfied.


    It was hard to tell if she nned it or not, but Terra¡¯s contribution to the market went a long way towards helping the mortals ept the Perfection Chamber. Naturally, there were still those that criticized it, iming that it was a scam because their loved ones died to it. While some of the people killed in this manner truly were quite talented, most of them were nothing special, and none of them had bought Terra¡¯s blessing.


    Looking over at Leowynn¡¯s religious following¡­ there was a truly massive growth, even more so than when the caravan had first been created. Within a short three months, she had be one of the four most worshipped deities in my entire pantheon.


    Granted, her power was stillgging behind the others, but that was more due to the fact that she was a far newer deity. I knew for sure that her power would one day catch up with the rest, especially with the inclusion of this new system.


    It was only after the three months had passed that James asked for when I gradually began to return the world to its normal flow of time. I wanted to wait for the announcement, so that I would catch it when it happened, rather than having to look back through the records to watch it.


    ¡°Are you sure that this is going to work?¡± The elven assistant asked James, looking down at the steel bracer that had been strapped to her arm. She could see the numerous vents lining its surface, and feel the hum of energy for it.


    ¡°Rx, it¡¯ll be fine.¡± The dark-skinned researcher assured her. ¡°You¡¯ve managed to perfect the method of creating the essence, and are only having problems with harvesting it before it fades away. That makes you the perfect candidate to test our invention.¡±


    The elf¡¯s ears tinged red when she heard that. While James meant it as apliment, she clearly took it to mean that her talent wascking inparison to the others. After all, she was the only one so far that had yet to acquire the ss. However, it was true, she was able to perform the energy fusion far more efficiently than any of the others. She was just distracted by the explosions and prevented from harvesting thepleted product before it faded.


    She nodded her head, moving to stand on the stage that they had prepared, while James activated a recording device and aimed it at her. She took a slow breath, holding up her arm to show off the bracelet before beginning to go over the script James had prepared. ¡°Everyone, I would like to present you the Pilot¡¯s Band. This is the new product that we are working on, to enable everyone to have ess to a newly discovered energy type, known as Pilot¡¯s Essence.¡±


    ¡°This energy is quite simple, but dangerous to prepare on its own due to the process involved. However, its effects are worth the trouble, so long as you can persevere.¡± As if to demonstrate, she began forming the energy, as she had hundreds of times in thest few months. Swirls of silver, blue, and yellow all converged briefly on the bracelet, before it emitted a gust of red me.


    This gust turned into a roar thatsted for a solid ten seconds. When it was done, the elf¡¯s face looked¡­ ecstatic. ¡°This is the side-effect of creating the Pilot¡¯s Essence, an explosive energy mixture that masks the finished product. Without this band, there is a very high chance of failure, even for those familiar with the form. Now, onto the main effect of the energy itself.¡±


    Saying that, the elven woman walked over to a nearby suit of armor that was dismantled and lying haphazardly on the floor. ¡°The Pilot¡¯s Essence is not simply an energy that enables one to better control vehicles as the name may indicate, though it surely does that as well. The main principle of the energy is to control inanimate objects, particrly those with moving parts.¡±


    After she exined, she aimed her hand down at the armor. Anyone could tell that the armor was empty, until a purple light shed into it. After that, the arms and legs of the armor began to move, working to quickly assemble itself. Metal scratched against stone, until thepleted suit stood up.


    Once it was fully upright, it was hard to tell that it was truly empty. Instead, it seemed to hold a faint darkness within it, while purple energy emerged from its joints like mes. ¡°Although this is an incredibly useful energy, there is still something far more important to take note of when considering whether or not you wish to practice it.¡±


    ¡°Along with this advertisement, we would like to announce to the world the appearance of an all-new ss! The advanced ss, Pilot, is now avable to the world. In order to unlock it, you need only sessfully merge the energy I am disying now, and harvest it into your body.¡±


    ¡°After doing so, you will be able to enjoy an easier time creating and harvesting the energy. However, for the safety of the individual, we still strongly advise the use of this band. At least, until you have formed your energy core.¡±


    Saying that, the elf took a deep breath. ¡°Regarding this subject, we have made a discovery as well. Upon condensing the special core of a pilot, you will begin to gather the explosive energy released when creating the essence. This can be regarded as a secondary energy core that will naturally grow without harming the user. The user can then direct the energy outwards, simr to a ki st, to create explosive bursts around themselves.¡±


    ¡°That is all that I have to say regarding the new product. With the help of Deckan¡¯s manufacturing services we will be proceeding to mass-produce these bands within one week. Simrly, we will be offering this initial product directly to Ashley, so that it can be purchased straight from the Boundless Caravan.¡±


    After she said that, she gave a deep bow, and James cut off the recording. ¡°You did good.¡± He told her with a wide smile. ¡°The world is really going to need new options like this before too long.¡±


    The elven assistant blinked curiously at that. ¡°If it¡¯s alright to ask, what do you mean?¡±


    James simply chuckled, setting the recording device down on a nearby shelf. ¡°Terrestrial monsters can no longer pose a suitable threat to society. Stage Five monster spawns should begin to increase now.¡±


    ¡°Sir? Stage Five?¡± Now she was even more curious, though she had a faint idea she knew what the man meant.


    ¡°Sorry, it¡¯s a term from my old home. We always divided monsters into ¡®stages¡¯ rather than levels. Stage One represented a local monster, one that could be easily taken care of by anymon hunter with a weapon. Only good for hunting smaller animals or children.¡±


    ¡°Stage Two monsters were those that were a legitimate threat to an entire town. One that they needed to deploy the city¡¯s guards to defend against. Even then, they had to be well-equipped in order to ovee the problem.¡± The assistant sharply inhaled when she heard the drastic difference between only the first two stages.


    ¡°Stage Three monsters were able to take on groups of cities, requiring them to band together to defeat a single force. By your standards, these would be monsters between five hundred and nine hundred. Of course, your people have advanced to the point where they are no longer true threats now.¡±


    ¡°Stage Four, on the other hand, is something that is still a threat. Albeit, not a disastrous one. Stage Four monsters are those between levels one and two thousand. Monsters strong enough to turn an entire nation into their territory. Currently the strongest city-defense weapons are capable of holding off Stage Four monsters with assistance from skilled users and people teaming together to distract the monster.¡±


    ¡°Then, level five¡­¡± The elf spected, her face going pale while James nodded his head.


    ary threats. Stage Five monsters are those that dominate entires, with their lowest level being over two thousand. Sometimes, they will quite literally consume a if they arerge enough. However, due to the special nature of these creatures, very few are able to be born within a¡¯s atmosphere. Most will spontaneously appear through the ambient mixtures of energy in space, or cross over a dimensional gap.¡±


    The elven assistant gulped when she heard that. Now she understood why James had said that solutions like these were needed. ¡°Then¡­ how many stages are there?¡±


    ¡°Where Ie from¡­ we theorized the existence of a sixth and seventh stage. The sixth stage would be one so unbelievably strong that it could dominate an entire gxy on its own. Meanwhile, the seventh stage had a special term given to it by my people. They were called the ¡®universe eaters¡¯.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but shudder as I watched James telling his assistant his story. Although the stages he spoke of weren¡¯t the same thing as monster tiers, it wasn¡¯t an incorrect method of defining the strength of an individual monster. At least, under normal circumstances.


    As I thought about that, something caught my eyes. A silver form moving at the corner of the facility where James was working. It walked through the halls calmly, not attempting to mask its presence, and instead seemed rather curious. At first, I thought it might have been the manifested form of an artificial intelligence like Vivi, before I recalled a race I hadn¡¯t seen in a long time.


    James held the recording device in his hand, moving to leave the room that they had prepared to demonstrate the effects of their new invention. Just as he was reaching the door, he heard a faint knock from it. Furrowing his brow, he extended his senses beyond the door to see what was awaiting him. What he saw¡­ had him rather confused.


    ¡°Wait here¡­¡± He told the elf, who nodded her head, and then proceeded to open the door. The silver humanoid on the other side appeared to be an¡­ entirely naked female, her skinposed of sleek metal.


    ¡°Greetings, Researcher James.¡± The woman spoke in a soothing tone. ¡°My name is Speaker Thorn. Under the rmendation of the local monarch, I havee to personally meet you.¡±


    ¡°May I ask why?¡± James asked, keeping his gaze on the metallic woman¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Certainly!¡± She seemed happy that he had asked. ¡°As per the code of the Metong, I am here to bestow a gift upon your civilization appropriate for your current state of development. Our previous contribution was deemed insufficient due to a mistake caused by one of our members. I was told that you specialize in energy configurations, and are the foremost expert on this field. Is this information correct?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d hope so, or else I¡¯m out of a job.¡± James muttered with a wry grin, nodding his head.


    ¡°Excellent! Then, I would like to present you with a data packet containing all known energy configurations within the Network. I believe that you should be able to find something that you are unfamiliar with. If you do, you may freely contact me, and I will issue a request for a detailed tutorial on how to create the energy.¡±


    When the elven assistant at the back of the room heard that, she gave a light chuckle. The first time that she met James, she underestimated his wealth of knowledge when it came to energies she thought unknown. While she didn¡¯t know who or what this woman was, she wouldn¡¯t be surprised in the least if it turned out that James was already familiar with everything that she provided.


    Despite that, James appeared rather happy with this arrangement. ¡°I see. Then, please give my regards to your superiors, and thank them for this gift on my behalf.¡± As he said that, the Metong woman produced a silver cube, cing it in James¡¯ hand.


    ¡°I will do so.¡± Speaker Thorn spoke in the same bright and soothing tone, before turning and walking down the hall.

 Chapter 561: The Head of Research

    <h4>Chapter 561: The Head of Research</h4>


    ¡°The packet has been delivered, Queen Bria!¡± Speaker Thorn¡¯s voice emerged from themunicator that she had left with the kitsune monarch. ¡°However, it would appear that he was busy at the time. It may be some time before he is able to analyze the information.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine, Speaker.¡± The queen said with a slight sigh. ¡°Thank you, anyways.¡±


    ¡°Does this mean that you will consider entering the Network?¡± The voice of the Metong asked somewhat eagerly, causing the queen to smirk.


    ¡°At the very least, we shall be allies. Your people were created by one of the gods, so it is only natural that we stand together. As for entering the Network¡­ we can discuss that more closely after we send some people to look at your territories.¡±


    That had been one of the major problems dying the negotiations all this time. By all ounts, the Metong¡¯s offer was incredibly generous. Some might even say too generous. It left them feeling that there had to be another side to the agreement that they weren¡¯t seeing.


    Unfortunately, the Metong worlds were so far away from the worlds of the March that travel between them could only be achieved via point-to-point teleportation in the same style as the Metong travel themselves. None of the L.A.W. worlds had the kind of technology to transport entire ships across such vast distances without first establishing a beacon to teleport to.


    There was always the possibility of simply going with the Metong to check their worlds, but that would defeat the purpose of the inspection in the first ce. If the Metong really were hiding something, then they would only show the representatives of the alliance what they wanted them to see. In order to fully eliminate their concerns, they had to be given a way to freely explore Metong space without being escorted.


    For this reason, the Deckan scientists were attempting to construct arge-scale warp system simr in nature to what the Metong used, but were having arge degree of difficulty. The Metong were far more advanced in terms of artificial intelligence than the scientists, and had used these programs to assist them in their initial designs of the warp system.


    Without the aid of the sophisticated artificial intelligence, then even if they were allowed to study the finished product, it would take a considerable amount of time to be able to replicate it. Thankfully, the Metong had patiently acquiesced to their request for more time. To the metallic race, there was no problem whether it took three months, or three years. They did not believe that they had anything to hide, so it was only a matter of waiting for the other party to ept that.


    Of course, they couldn¡¯t just outright say that. There had been numerous races that they had encountered in the past with simr mindsets. They were not innately hostile, but were used to a more secretive governing structure. At first, when the Metong had encountered such races, they had tried to convince them that they truly had nothing to fear. However, such a thing only made the other race more paranoid, eventually leading to armed conflict.


    Ever since that encounter, the Metong would only stand by and provide the information that the other party requested about their structure while taking a more gentle approach. Doing so hadrgely reduced the chance of diplomatic meetings breaking down in the past.


    This was all information that Speaker Thorn had given to Bria, when thetter asked her why she was willing to be so patient for these negotiations. The Metong had nothing to lose by prolonging the negotiations, as they did not have any investments in the L.A.W. at this time. While they wished to recruit them into thework, there would be no problems as long as a friendly alliance was able to be maintained.


    Thinking that over, Bria shook her head, leaning back in her chair. Although the chance of the Metong plotting something in secret seemed low, it was not a risk that she could take for her people. Only when the various government bodies were fully assured of the Metong would they consider joining this Network.


    ¡°Oh? So the second race of golems have made contact.¡± I muttered to myself from within the Admin room. A while back, I had briefly observed the three different breeds of golems that Tubrock had created, each one having vastly different personalities.


    The first were the March, who had been chosen to carry the Fairy Ring. They had a more business-minded personality. While they had their fair share of military might, theyrgely preferred to settle matters through trade, unless backed into a corner.


    The second were the Metong, who possessed liquid metal bodies that contrasted the March¡¯s sharp-angled frames. Their mindset was far more generous than any governing body had any right to be, but what was the most surprising was that this generosity was genuine. They hadn¡¯t been taken advantage of by another civilization for the simple reason that they did not give others the chance to do so. Whenever a civilization-wide conflict started, they would immediately proceed to destroy the entire civilization in the name of preventing future problems.


    Finally, thest were known as the Gears. Such a name was rather¡­ well let¡¯s just say that it was fitting, if not exactly creative. Their design was far more clockwork or steampunk, built around a nucleus that must have taken Tubrock ages to perfect. This race was not as kind as the other two. When they found a civilization weaker than their own, they would directly send out mining ships to harvest their entire.


    One economic race, one generous race, and one war-mongering race. Each of them were ced at entirely different points of their gxy, making contact highly unlikely. It was only due to some special circumstances that the Metong had managed to find the March. And in doing so, the two ¡®peaceful¡¯ races had managed to join forces before either one encountered the Gears.


    That isn¡¯t to say that the Gears would be destroyed when the three finally met. Rather¡­ I felt as though they were bing stronger through their indiscriminate harvesting.


    Smog covered the sky of a distant factory. The constant sounds of hammers beating against anvils rang out in the air like a harsh song. Through the streets of this factory, a metallic figure walked. His form was golden, appearing as an armored skeleton with two empty gears for eyes.


    Those who saw him made way for his passing, as they knew the meaning behind such an appearance. An appearance where the body¡¯sponents had be irrelevant, and the individual could freely alter their own form. Clearly, the man had achieved perfection. But, not just perfection¡­ the golden glow on his metallic frame signified that he had taken a step beyond even that.


    The golden golem made his way through the streets, before arriving at argeplex. Realizing that he had reached his destination, he walked to the doors, which opened on their own to allow his presence.


    ¡°Lord Geer, we are honored by your presence.¡± The receptionist spoke in a clicking tone, the lenses of their eyes focusing and widening briefly. The Gears did not have a gender difference, everyone being able to design their own bodies so long as they had the parts to do so. ¡°The head is expecting you.¡±


    ¡°I would hope so, after calling me here.¡± Lord Geer spoke in a dull tone, one which seemed to echo off the walls. He did not pay any mind to the receptionist, directly walking to the stairs and making his way to the top floor. For one to call the lord of the race to a meeting, there had to be special circumstances involved. One of which being that the other party was unable to leave to attend a meeting at the pce.


    Such was the case for the head researcher, or as everyone called him¡­ ¡®the head¡¯. As Lord Geer pushed open the door to the head¡¯s office, he was greeted by the sight of a ten meter tall¡­ head. Unlike other Gears, the head had opted to only focus on enhancing his own processing power. He turned himself into a living supeputer by discarding all otherponents.


    Doing this allowed the head to understand geometric magic far more easily than anyone else in their entire race, and he was known as the only one able to casually decipher and cast spells at the fourth tier. Even Lord Geer, halfway into his ascension to godhood, had to respect such an individual. Though, that did not always mean that he showed it.


    ¡°What did you call me here for?¡± He asked in his rumbling tone, causing several of the looser pieces of the head¡¯s frame to shake.


    ¡°Calm your anger, Lord Geer.¡± A voice spoke from one of the eyes of the head, the mouth used only to print data. This voice was gentle and serene, but was soon joined by another voice that spoke from the other eye.


    ¡°Can¡¯t you see that he¡¯s impatient? Really! It¡¯s not like we called him here for nothing!¡± This second voice was harsher, speaking with a grinding voice. This was another¡­ unique aspect of the head, as he had been born with a modified nucleus that gave birth to twin personalities.


    ¡°His impatience is understandable.¡± The gentle voice spoke up. ¡°He is paving the way to allow our race to ascend to a higher realm. His time is really quite precious.¡± Thankfully, it was the more amiable personality that often took the lead in conversations, while the other one would onlyment here or there until violence ensued.


    ¡°Lord Geer, we called you here because we have discovered a sharp increase in monster appearances across the territory. ording to our calctions, many of these appearances cannot be attributed to natural spawning mechanics.¡±


    The empty gears on the golden golem¡¯s frame began spinning in reverse. ¡°Exin your meaning.¡±


    ¡°It is our belief that these creatures are appearing from another ce. A space outside of our own, but closely connected. By bending the dimensional fabric, they enter our realm. We have reached this conclusion by tracing their origins to a region of distorted space.¡±


    ¡°Are you able to look into the other side of where they came from?¡± Lord Geer asked, seeming unperturbed by this news.


    ¡°Unfortunately, that is not the case. However, we were able to detect a high level dimensium reading from this distorted space.¡± This piece of news attracted Geer¡¯s attention. The nucleus of their race was made of dimensium, so it was a resource that they could never have enough of. Not to mention its ability to enhance the power of magic cards.


    ¡°I understand. Send in a group of Cog Scouts and a conversion facility. You have permission to activate the fleet for this mission.¡± After he said that, Geer turned and began walking away, clearly believing this conversation to be over.


    ¡°As you will, Lord Geer.¡± The serene voice spoke to Geer¡¯s back. After he left, the eyes of the head shed red, the two voices speaking in unison.


    ¡°Activate the Destroyer Fleet. Assemble Cog Scouts. Deploy one conversion facility to the following coordinates and await further instructions. By order of Lord Geer, we are beginning a campaign against new territory. All forces, prepare to depart.¡±

 Chapter 562: Grudge

    <h4>Chapter 562: Grudge</h4>


    Within a far corner of Deckan¡¯s gxy, space seemed to tremble. Light distorted and gathered around a particr point in space before erupting into a circr passageway. Following that eruption, numerous small andrge ships appeared with crude designs, looking like pped together scrap metal connected by tubes and rough welding.


    At their back was a single massive ship that they appeared to be escorting. Unlike the others, its design seemed more deliberate, with a rough spherical shape. Within this vessel, sitting at the bridge, was a golem with a single red lens for an eye. When it spoke, there was static in its tone, the digital synthesizer it used sounding damaged. ¡°Activate scans.¡±


    ¡°ss three yellow star system. Three intact orbitings. Five clusters that suggest destroyeds. And¡­ dimensium readings from all eight!¡± One of the other golems on the bridge spoke up after reading the data on the screen.


    ¡°So, can I finally do it?¡± A peculiar young centauress asked her father as they walked across the ins. ¡°It should be safe enough now for me to seek perfection, right?¡±


    Her father, a centaur that anyone would easily be able to recognize as one of the Greater Pantheon, hesitated. ¡°Very well, Alme.¡± He nodded after considering for a moment, realizing that it was truly the time for her to do so.


    Alme was undeniably the oldest being of the races within the various worlds that had yet to attain an energy body. In fact, her level had long ago approached the dangerous threshold, causing her to stop any actions that could result in further leveling. But even still, Tryval had hesitated to allow her to attempt the Perfect Self. The dangers were simply too high.


    Now, with the existence of the Perfection Chamber, those dangers were lowered drastically. Given Alme¡¯s level, the odds of her failing were less than ten percent. Was hefortable with risking her life on a ten percent chance? Not at all! However, the alternative would be her eventually being forced to take a far riskier gambit when she reached the limit of her physical body.


    Tryval had personally seen the effects of the Perfection Chamber, as well as its use on a number of major public figures. Even a few national rulers used the chamber, including the Queen of Deckan herself recently. When people saw how she had put her faith in this invention, their willingness to participate increased by several times. As of now, there were a total of one hundred Perfection Chambers built across the known worlds, providing easy ess to those willing to make the visit to certain major cities.


    When Alme heard her father agreeing to her request, her hooves halted, stunned for a brief moment. Then, her back legs kicked at the ground in excitement. ¡°Really!? Does that mean that you¡¯ll let me be a goddess, too?!¡±


    Tryval could already feel a headache forming as his daughter asked that, shaking his head. ¡°One step at a time. I¡¯ll find some promising figures to study how they ascend, and then I¡¯ll help you through it. For now¡­ the nearest chamber should be this way.¡± As he said that, he turned, beginning to walk to the east.


    Pilot has increased to 10!


    A middle-aged human man with graying hair smiled as he saw that notification appearing in front of him. Level ten had required him to establish his energy core within his body, so he cast his eyes to the silver bracer on his wrist. In order to get this band before the rest of the market, he had spent a sizable sum to buy the tokens of faith for Leowynn, Tubrock, and Ashley as soon as the announcement was made.


    Now, his energy was naturally gathering in his abdomen, forming the essence of the new ss. Because of that, he no longer needed the Pilot¡¯s Band. Reaching out, he unsped the item and pulled it off his wrist, torn between keeping it as a memento or selling it to make up for some of his losses.


    In the end, he shook his head, deciding to keep such decisions forter. For now, he wanted to test out his new potential,bining the Pilot¡¯s Essence with another energy that he had painstakingly created.


    He slowly stood, stretching until his back audibly popped before leaving his house. Surrounding his house was arge pile of metal scrap, some pieces still seeming somewhat functional while others were obviously cracked.


    ¡°Open archive, blueprint seven.¡± He muttered, triggering themands for his Schr ss while stretching one hand out before him. There was a reason that he lived in such an environment, as he was an engineer who sought to perfect his craft.


    In order to cross the threshold of level three hundred as an engineer, there was a requirement to first create a specific type of energy. This energy had eluded him for several months as he followed the system¡¯s hints to try and create it. Once he did, he was quite amazed by its effects.


    ck strands of light shot out from his hand, drilling into the piles of scrap around him. These piles of scrap shook and rumbled before scattered pieces shot up, each emitting a dark glow. The pieces flew together in midair, screws and nuts working into position to piece together arge machine. It looked simr to arge helicopter, with two sets of propellers on either side.


    The man climbed into the cockpit, focusing on gathering his Pilot¡¯s Essence. There was a w in the energy created to advance the engineer¡¯s ss, and that was that the assembled machine rarely had any power in it. Only if the disassembled parts themselves were charged would the finished product be able to function properly.


    However, as the Pilot¡¯s Essence began to flow from the man¡¯s hands, and into the craft around him, he was happy to discover that he had found the solution for this shoring. Although slow, the propellers began to spin, picking up speed until the vehicle lifted itself off the ground. Unfortunately, the essence that he had gathered wasn¡¯t much, and was only able to lift the craft a few feet before running out.


    Regardless, he knew that he would be able to do far more with thebination of powers shortly, as his essence would be constantly recharging. As an engineer, he had finally unlocked the next stage of their abilities, rapidly crafting machines from memory.


    I gave a satisfied nod as I scanned throughout the worlds. Granted, not everything was going ¡®perfectly¡¯, but quite a lot of the world¡¯s major problems were taken care of. Things that would lead to the downfall of the entire civilization, at least.


    Crime¡­ well, there was still plenty of crime. Greed knew no racial boundaries, afflicting humans just the same as elves or spirits. There were those who murdered or stole from others for personal gain. Some even swept away entire cities to pay back a grudge against a single person or family.


    However, the core issues had been taken care of. These were the matters of safety and resources, and the two went hand in hand. I hadn¡¯t been aware of it before, but there were quite a lot of materials that had simply been offered up to the gods over the centuries, resulting in the world having far less to work with than it should. Without those resources, they couldn¡¯t build defenses that could keep up with the ever-growing monster threat.


    Now, I could safely say that I was happy with where my worlds were in terms of culture, magic, and technology. The only thing that could be consideredcking was their military force, with Deckan leading the charge in production ofrge-scale military vessels. Well¡­ excluding the three golem races. None of them could ever be consideredcking when it came to military might.


    With that taken care of, I turned my attention towards something that I had been putting off for a while. Opening up my menu, I sent out a call towards Sarah.


    EverLasting: Hey, Dale! What¡¯s going on? Didn¡¯t see you at the meeting!


    EarthForceOne: Yeah, I was enjoying my time with my people mostly. I¡¯ve been meaning to get in contact with you regarding my next match, though. This time, I¡¯m on the offense, so I wanted to see if you knew anything about my opponent.


    EverLasting: Of course, just fire away. If I know anything, I¡¯ll be sure to share. If not, I¡¯ll ask around and get back to you.


    EarthForceOne: My opponent this time is Grudge. Felt like it was ominous enough to warrant attention.


    EverLasting: Grudge, huh? Haven¡¯t heard about him in a while¡­ can¡¯t say I know anything about the current generation for that name. But let me ask around and I¡¯ll get back to you. What I can tell you is that he¡¯s likely to be a ck-winged angel with a cultivation-style world.


    EarthForceOne: Oh? What makes you so sure of that?


    EverLasting: Thest generation¡¯s Grudge. He only had a single race that he nurtured, and was known to be a cultivation fanatic. At any point in time, he¡¯d have up to a dozen different worlds, each with their own unique cultivation system. Odds are that whoever killed him would have been from that race, and would have the same cultivation culture. Not a guarantee, but it happens more often than not.


    I thought about that for a moment, and nodded my head. I could be considered an outlier there, as I swapped from a technology-based world to one mostly of magic after bing a Keeper. But I could see how most people would want to stick with what was familiar to them.


    EarthForceOne: Well, if you find anything out, let me know.


    EverLasting: Will do! Also, I made some more progress on studying the elemental seeds, if you want to hear it. I know it¡¯s a littlete for thest invasion, but it mighte in handy for the future?


    EarthForceOne: Go ahead?


    EverLasting: Well, the elemental seeds themselves are like external cores of energy formed by the world themself. The reason that they are able to respawn after a set period is that they system regards the ¡¯ as a living creature with its own unique energy cycle.


    EverLasting: Thanks to this, as long as the proper conditions are met, the seeds can be respawned endlessly. At the same time, those that are able to stay around longer will naturally grow in power, just like how an internal core grows by naturally converting energy.


    EarthForceOne: Okay¡­ not seeing where this is going.


    EverLasting: Let me put it this way. The world is able to create these cores because it is regarded as a living entity. Therefore, a true living entity should be able to establish them as well. Each elemental seed can be considered a mutated elemental ki or elementalist core. By studying them, it would be possible to reproduce their effects, even outside of a world that bought the system. The only real requirement is that the world has ess to all four basic energy types.


    Okay, I had to admit that that took me by surprise. I wasn¡¯t expecting Aurivy¡¯s creation to be something that would be directly useful to use without buying the system for our worlds. Thinking about it, I decided to forward that information to Aurivy, letting her undertake the task of studying the cores to try to find a way to reproduce them outside of the game.


    EarthForceOne: Thanks for the heads up, that wille in handy. So, if we fight someone with those abilities, we should consider them just another type of elementalist, then?


    EverLasting: That¡¯s right. Functionally, there is no difference between magic empowered by these elemental seeds, and those empowered by an elementalist equivalent. The only change is the fact that the seed itself is a mutated core built with altered elemental properties.

 Chapter 563: Living the Dream

    <h4>Chapter 563: Living the Dream</h4>


    When I forwarded the information to Aurivy, she was naturally excited to hear about what Sarah had discovered. The system that she had created had the possibility to open up new avenues of growth for my world, without us having to suffer an initial loss or drastically change our world. This was something that she hadn¡¯t even imagined, and she immediately dered that she would fully devote herself to researching this subject.


    James sat down in hisb, everyone else having already left. It had been a few days since his meeting with Speaker Thorn, but he had been quite busy overseeing the production of the Pilot¡¯s Band in that time. He had yet to receive the opportunity to look over the information that she had previously passed to him.


    Now that things were starting to settle down more, he waved his hand to summon the cube from a nearby cab, cing it down on the table before him. Through his senses, he was able to detect the method of activating the device, one finger sliding along an almost invisible circle along the right side.


    Afterwards, the top of the cube opened, projecting a screen filled with rows upon rows of data. These energies did not have themon names that he was familiar with, so he had to personally decrypt them with the information he knew. That was aside from the basic four, which were thankfullybeled properly.


    The rest of the energies were sorted by their date of discovery. As an example, Energy 0001 which was listed as equal parts ki and mana could obviously be inferred to mean chakra. As he deciphered these energies, he grabbed a notebook from his desk and began writing down the reference names.


    There were some energybinations that were still used asponents in other energy types. And, while it was understandable for a machine-like intelligence, or another sort of program that could automatically sift through the data, it wouldn¡¯t make much sense when a normal person saw that Energy 093 and 045 needed to be mixed with 012 at a ratio of Three-Two-Four. It was much simpler to understand once he converted their names into what he was familiar with.


    As he read through the information, he had to admit that the universe which the Metong came from had a truly extensive history. Aside from the Metong themselves, none of the other races had been purchased by the current Keeper. To make up for that fact, evolution progressed in two primary directions.


    The first direction was to naturally reinforce the body over countless generations. This was something that could be seen from the heroc, though their bodies only grew more extreme as they leveled up. Due to their higher starting point, they actually had a lower level limit before they were forced to either use the Perfection Chamber or cultivate their own energy forms.


    This was actually a rathermon method for evolution throughout the universe, and many races born under such dire circumstances would find themselves experiencing it firsthand. The other option, however, was far more rare but could serve to benefit all races.


    This method was the evolution of energy. This was the path that James¡¯ own race had taken in Fyor. Instead of evolving the physical body, it was the energy that evolved, until one day when it reached a point where the energy could rece the flesh entirely.


    With a gxy of possibilities, there would be countless variations of both options. Whenever the Metong discovered a race with a new, unique energy type, it was clear that they would go to great lengths to understand the properties of that energy in an attempt to replicate it for future research.


    With so many discoveries, there were even many that James himself had never seen. Thankfully, each one had a description of their fundamental effect along with the recipe and identification code. With that, even if he couldn¡¯t recognize the energy himself, it wouldn¡¯t be too hard for him to infer some details.


    For hours he stared at the information within the cube, noting down anything, whether he was familiar with it or not. In the end, he discovered that while there were some energies that he was not familiar with, there were simrly some that he knew which were not recorded. This brought him a sense of pride at being able to unearth some secrets that even such a vast civilization had yet to encounter.


    Just as he was thinking that, he came across another energy. One which caused him to jolt upright in his chair, his eyes practically shining.


    Energy 2934: 1 unit of Energy 0894, 2 units of Energy 1015, 19 units of Energy 0389, 50 units of Natural Energy.


    Fundamental Effect: Trace evolutionary traits to gic source, iste the gic code, and allow ease of mutation.


    When James found this information in the database, he immediately grew excited. Closing his eyes, he focused on sending a message through mana towards the queen. ¡°Lady Bria, I have a need to contact the person who passed me information the other day, Speaker Thorn. Do you perhaps have some way that I could reach out to her?¡±


    The message took a moment before it was responded to, no doubt catching the queen by surprise. That, or she was sleeping¡­ However, it did eventually return as a voice projected into James¡¯ mind. I have amunication device that I can use to call her. Would it be easier to just have her pay you a visit?


    He thought about that for a moment, before nodding his head in eptance and agreeing to her suggestion. Having a face to face conversation would probably make the conversation far easier to manage. And with that settled, the queen told him that Speaker Thorn was on her way


    Is she really so free? James wondered to himself, before shaking his head. More likely, everyone that she would normally partake in negotiations with was currently resting, so he simply picked a good time to reach out to her.


    After roughly ten minutes, James heard a knock on his door. With a wave of his hand, the door opened to reveal the silver form of the woman he had encountered the other day. ¡°Hello, Researcher James!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s good to see you again, Speaker Thorn.¡± James spoke in an honest tone, inviting her inside. Once she was in, he closed the door behind her. ¡°I have been going over some of the information you sent to me before, and I would like to ask you some questions.¡±


    ¡°Certainly!¡± Speaker Thorn carried a wide smile on her face, looking at the screen projected above the metal cube. ¡°You are almost finished with the two-thousand series energies, so soon? I must say, you are quite diligent in your work. You have almost reached the end of what our civilization has encountered.¡±


    ¡°It helps that I know a few of them already.¡± James shook his head, gesturing her over. ¡°This one, Energy 2934¡­ can you tell me a bit more about it?¡±


    Thorn blinked, but nodded her head and observed the screen for a moment. ¡°I was not personally a member of the team which encountered this race. Therefore, my knowledge is somewhat limited. However, there was a public report on the matter after the energy was understood, and I found it quite remarkable for organic races. Unfortunately, it serves little effect for those without a carbon-based organic structure.¡±


    ¡°The world which gave birth to this energy was one popted by numerous monsters with a level range between eight hundred and one thousand. However, the sapient species possessed a body level of only five hundred at their base form. Logically speaking, they should not have been able to survive in such a hostile environment without reinforcing their own bodies.¡±


    ¡°That was when we discovered this energy. As their civilization was only level three, we investigated to determine their value as a member of the Network. They were a very violent race, one that had no problem with killing any lifeform that they encountered.¡±


    ¡°Then, after they killed the lifeform, they would use this energy to identify the evolutionary advantages of the in organism and splice those characteristics into their own gic code. For a race that had yet to develop digital storage to understand the basics of gics was already quite a surprise to us.¡±


    ¡°Through our observations and experimentations, we discovered that the changes brought about by this energy were only temporary. Upon the death of the user, the energy would be dispersed, reverting the affected creature to its original form. However, while the creature was alive, its gic code would serve as a blueprint capable of creating a new creature that truly carried those characteristics.¡±


    ¡°You mean¡­ selective breeding? Or cloning?¡± James asked curiously, turning his head to regard Speaker Thorn.


    ¡°Closer to thetter. Due to the nature of the energy, only those individuals that had acquired the same gic traits would be able to mate with one another unless they were to disperse the energy willingly. This was seen as a weakness to the energy. Particrly when you consider that the children of any such sessful pairings would then need to miraculously find one another to carry any hope of continuing the bloodline. For them, dispersing their mutations was no longer an option.¡±


    James nodded his head as he thought about that. ¡°Does the mutation from this energy cause any adverse effects? Aside from the inability to breed with ipatible partners?¡±


    ¡°From our observations, there appears to be mild difort while the body adjusts to its new state. However, the energy itself releases a form of local anesthetic to prevent the host from experiencing the severe pain that would otherwise no doubt result from the elerated mutation.¡±


    When James heard that, he let out a relieved sigh. If there was a downside such as extreme pain, or an immune deficiency, he would have to immediately give up on this energy. However, with the energy instead being prepared around the concept of a ¡®full mutation¡¯, he was relieved.


    Unlike other people who would simply understand this as a miraculous coincidence of energybination, James could clearly identify that this was a creation of another Keeper. Whoever made this had specifically wanted an energy that would offer endless mutation and evolution possibilities. Otherwise, the odds of the energy being so ¡®convenient¡¯ for its user was practically nonexistent.


    ¡°I¡¯d like any information you could provide on the exact process to create this energy, as well as theponent energies.¡± Aside from Natural Energy, James was only able to identify one of the remaining three energy types used as an ingredient in this mutation-type energy.


    ¡°Of course!¡± Speaker Thorn spoke up in an excited tone, before her voice became more curious. ¡°However, I can sense that you are not an organic life form. Will this energy not be wasted on you?¡±


    ¡°Nonsense.¡± James chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s not in my official entry, because this world has yet to formally research the subject, but one of my fields of specialty is in gic modification. This energy happens to be a good match with me, and will allow me to pursue my passion project without concern.¡±


    ¡°Oh! I understand.¡± Thorn gave a firm nod, before turning to leave theb. She had truly not been aware that James was learned in gics, as she knew that this alliance of world governments had yet to delve into this field of science. However, once she knew that he was, his interest in the energy made all the more sense to her.


    I let out a groan as I saw Speaker Thorn leaving the researchb, bringing a hand up to massage my forehead. It seemed like it wouldn¡¯t be long now before James started pushing for his nine-tailed dream. Though, he would first have to find the creatures to harvest the necessary information from, as well as having a willing subject to ¡®store¡¯ the mutations in.


    For thatst one¡­ I had the strangest suspicion that Chel would be more than happy to help him reach his dream.

 Chapter 564: Upper Limit

    <h4>Chapter 564: Upper Limit</h4>


    With everything truly urgent taken care of, I once again decided to fast forward the world. I wanted to give the people time to adjust to the new changes that had been made, and fully integrate them into their normal life. Although the economy had been practically turned upside down due to the existence of the tokens of faith, those were still rtively new items as well.


    As I was passing the time by¡­ passing the time, I heard the sound of footsteps walking through the hall. When I turned my head, I found Ashley entering the living room with a tired expression, her shoulders slumped. The bottoms of her wings dragged against the floor as she walked over, copsing in one of the chairs.


    ¡°Everything alright?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask, shifting the window I was working on to the side so that I could talk to her.


    ¡°Yes. No. Maybe, I don¡¯t know.¡± She grumbled, shaking her head. ¡°Just don¡¯t make me do something like a system upgrade for a while. That uses¡­ a lot of energy.¡± She let out a groan as she thought about that.


    ¡°Still haven¡¯t recovered from the tokens of faith?¡± I blinked in confusion, ncing at the time that had passed in the world. By now, it was already five years that I had fast forwarded, and she had still not regained her energy?


    Ashley shook her head again. ¡°It was a lot worse than setting up the trade tform. It¡¯s getting a bit better now that things have sped up, but¡­ it¡¯ll take me at least ten more years to really get back to where I was before.¡±


    That surprised me. Even back when she first installed the system, it only took her a few months of ¡®world time¡¯ in order to recover to her former level of energy. It seemed that with the most recent update, it had not only exhausted her energy, but overdrafted it. ¡°Got it. I won¡¯t have you do anything like that again for the time being.¡±


    Thankfully, there weren¡¯t any new systems that I could think of us needing to add for the foreseeable future. The world was definitely not in any kind of ¡®perfect¡¯ state, but at the very least there was nothing obvious that we needed.


    The years passed by silently, the worlds slowly changing with each and every season. Civilization was trying desperately to catch up with the advancements that had been thrust onto it. The tokens of faith, a universal currency that existed in its own special method of cirction. These symbols of devotion became the new standard to measure wealth, as opposed to gold and jewels.


    Currency was now being further divided, into a total of fifteen levels. The first three were copper, silver, and gold coins, each produced in their own local styles. The value of these coins were measured by their purity and mass, each world using different designs. After that were the twelve divine coins, from Leowynn to Terra.


    Over the years, the urge to quickly spend tokens at the Boundless Caravan gradually faded with people getting over the mindset of this being something new and special. Now, they had begun to ept it as another part of their culture. This allowed them to stockpile more of these tokens, creating arger supply of them in the global market.


    Part of this change happened due to the caravan announcing that the ¡®market price¡¯ of the tokens would be higher than that of their currency equivalent. At first, this change seemed unusual, with the caravan itself taking a loss from people who decided to directly sell their tokens.


    Later, though, it served to help stabilize the economy. Because Ryone¡¯s coins were no longer being directly exchanged for gold coins, the caravan could simply announce that they were currently not purchasing any more. By that point, it had bemon sense to see the tokens of faith to be more valuable than simple currency, so people were no longer as eager to directly convert them.


    Thanks to this, the caravan had been able to gradually set a true value for each token. In the end, they divided them based on the uses the tokens had, as well as the poprity of the god or goddess that it came from. Each deity represented a tier, with two tokens being able to exchange for the next tier of token.


    Leowynn¡¯s tokens, being used for every physical ¡®purchase¡¯, became the mostmon and lowest tier of the tokens of faith. Meanwhile, Terra¡¯s which had only a single life-saving function were undeniably the most highly valued. With the conversion rate of two-to-one for each tier, that meant that it took over two thousand of Leowynn¡¯s tokens to buy just one of Terra¡¯s.


    Once the Boundless Caravan announced this pricing mechanic, the gods seemed to grant their tacit approval. The number of coins appearing from offerings were adjusted for each deity, while the prices of items on the caravan were simrly adjusted to represent the new values.


    While the people of the world were happy, seeing this as the gods epting their ideals, the gods were rejoicing as well. With the adjustment of the coin values, they now had to spend a lower percentage of their divinity to satisfy the market requirements.


    As an example, Leowynn¡¯s tokens were changed to contain less of her divinity, requiring more of them to achieve the same effect as before. Although they came in higher supply than they had previously, this still only resulted in her spending forty percent of her earned divinity from offerings, rather than fifty. Terra, on the other hand, had it much better. Her tokens changed to contain a much more pure divine energy, but it took a truly sincere offering to even earn a single token.


    While Leowynn was able to go from fifty to forty percent for her spendings, Terra¡¯s dropped as low as ten percent, or even lower depending on the ¡®sincerity¡¯ of the offering. This change allowed the bnce of religions to shift once again, Leowynn¡¯s church bing more popr while Terra¡¯s faced a small decline. Only those with a pure faith chose to remain in Terra¡¯s churches, as anyone who had joined half-heartedly for the easy tokens no longer had a reason to stay.


    Aside from the tokens of faith, the pilot ss had simrly caused a significant change over the years. Due to the power of the pilot¡¯s essence, the ss had be mandatory for anyone seeking to enroll in the military for abat profession. The ability to operate machinery even when their own power sources had been depleted was extremely valuable.


    Deckan¡¯s armored mechs became the first of many, with each world simrly researching how to produce their own humanoid weapons to best take advantage of this new ss. Although they wouldn¡¯t have the same convenient storage power of Deckan¡¯s cards, each world found its own unique way to handle things.


    Soldiers of Earth, for instance, created smaller machines that acted as a suit of armor surrounding the user. This armor would feed on the explosive waste produced with the pilot¡¯s essence to great effect, and could be summoned by binding it with a specific geometric spell. Meanwhile, Fyor¡¯s mechs wererger than those of Earth, and designed to suppress the effects of extreme gravity.


    Speaking of Fyor¡­ the expedition into solii territory had been met with mild resistance. The physically stronger race was divided over how they should treat the unusual beings which emerged from the ck wall. Some saw them as messengers from the gods, while others believed them to be monsters seeking to steal their wealth and knowledge.


    Neither side directly engaged with the people of the lower floors, who could easily retreat should the situation prove hazardous. Instead, they fought with each other, waging a civil war amongst themselves to decide which viewpoint was ¡®correct¡¯.


    This mindset left the diplomats from the lower floors speechless, questioning how either side winning would change the intentions that they came to the floor with. They even tried to support those who seemed to be fighting to ally themselves with the beings of the lower floors, only to have their support tantly rejected.


    The twenty-fourthyer of Fyor was farrger than even Earth, with only Lorek proving to berger. Even then, it would only be a few moreyers before Fyor became thergest of all worlds. Thankfully, this particryer was already explored fully by its inhabiting race, which allowed a few clever explorers to find the location of the other gate.


    Once the second gate was discovered, the twenty-fifth floor was unlocked. For the time being, the people of Fyor decided to leave the solii to their own devices, unwilling to get caught up in a battle that they were not weed for. If the results of the battle were to tip in the scales of those that saw the outsiders as ¡®evil¡¯? Well¡­ they would just ignore that floor in the future. With the power of Aurivy¡¯s priests, as well as her tokens of faith, it was a simple matter to ignore one already explored floor.


    The twenty-fifth floor, however, had far more headaches than the twenty-fourth. This floor seemed quite simr to the neenth in the fact that it opened out into a giant ocean. It was hard to tell at first whether the gate itself was just inconveniently ced on a small ind or if the entire floor was another oceanicyer.


    Countless vessels set out over sea and air alike to explore this newyer, a whole new world of possibility and danger.


    ¡°You doing alright up there?¡± A voice spoke out over the radio for a young halfling piloting what appeared to be a small ne. This was the transformed version of his personal mech, designed for long-distance exploration.


    ¡°Yeah, the energy consumption isn¡¯t too heavy yet.¡± He answered with a smile, speaking to a speeding boat vaguely below him. In order to scout the area, he would fly to the edge of the horizon, and then return to the boat on a regr basis to recover his energy when it started to run low.


    ¡°Be careful, we haven¡¯t seen what kind of monsters are waiting for us here.¡± The voice on the other end of the radio called out, causing the halfling to nod.


    ¡°I think it should be you guys that are careful. If there are going to be monsters this far out, they¡¯d have to be underwater, right?¡± He asked in jest, having just set off for another trip to the horizon. His armor was made to be able to ept mana to power the thrusters, but would simrly ept the explosive waste energy as well. Thanks to that, it took quite a while for him to really be drained of energy.


    As he flew out, he only noticed after a few minutes that his joke hadn¡¯t been responded to. Not the slightest jab or scolding, which made him question if themunications system had been interfered with. It wouldn¡¯t be the first time, as the neenthyer had a mineral that was able to stop most mana-based transmissions.


    Shaking his head, he decided to turn his ne around and flew back to where he had left his friends, following the navigation system. Through the party interface, he could tell that everyone was still alive, so that wasn¡¯t a problem at least. They had taken some damage, but that could easily be exined by amon brawl between friends, and didn¡¯t seem to be anything life-threatening.


    When he returned to where he had left them, however, he hovered in ce for several long moments. No matter where he looked, there was only an endless, calm sea. No signs of their ship, or even any wreckage that would indicate that they had been attacked.


    Just as he was beginning to wonder if they had been mysteriously teleported away somewhere, he saw a massive shadow rising up beneath the surface of the water. When it surfaced, its body was revealed to be long and smooth, with six holes on its back, each roughly three meters wide. The creature contracted briefly, and the halfling saw the lives of its party members vanishing simultaneously. Then, one by one, the holes on its back erupted.


    What emerged from the six holes was mostly water, but he could identify other things as well. Wood, metal, and¡­ blood. A lot of blood. Immediately, the halfling controlled his vehicle to ascend in a panic, rising to the highest point he could manage, until he was practically scraping the ceiling. Only then did he rest, using several spikes to cause the craft to stick to the ceiling and allow him the time he needed to think and recover his energy in peace.


    At least, that was the n before he heard something clicking against the outside of his ne, seeing insects bigger than his body crawling along the top of the floor¡­

 Chapter 565: Second Guessing

    <h4>Chapter 565: Second Guessing</h4>


    The stony ceiling of this floor, upon closer inspection, was infested with arge number of white spider-like creatures. Seeing that, the halfling no longer considered staying to recover his lost energy. Rather, he abruptly removed his hooks and descended again, controlling his mech to rapidly spin and remove the creatures stuck to it.


    If they were normal insects, perhaps it wouldn¡¯t have been an issue. However, through his pilot¡¯s essence he could feel a crack form where the first spider had initially tapped it. Clearly, these things had powerful limbs capable of easily piercing the metal of the lower floors.


    Once he had ensured that he had flung off the creature from his vessel, he saw it falling, unable to stop itself. At this high of ayer, it was thousands of kilometers between the ceiling and surface. However, the increased gravity also caused its eleration speed to increase drastically.


    One hundred seconds¡­ that¡¯s all it took for the creature to fall into the water. Using the optical zoom on his mech, he was able to see the bug iling around, a dark shadow appearing beneath it. This shadow grewrger andrger, before a gaping maw erupted and swallowed an entire section of the sea along with the fallen spider. Clearly, this was the same type of creature that had previously devoured his friends.


    So¡­ those things are its normal food supply? Thoughts shed through the halfling¡¯s mind at that. If he had more people with him, and didn¡¯t have concerns about his energy, he would purposely shoot down a few of those insects to lure out the big fish, so that they could gather together and kill it.


    Sadly, he was alone. Worse still, he barely had enough energy remaining to get back to the gate if he allowed himself to glide most of the way. If he tried to hurry, and burned through his energy, it wasn¡¯t even clear if he¡¯d be able to do that.


    With that n in mind, he turned himself back towards the west, in the direction of the gate. With one small burst of his explosive energy, he sent himself careening towards his destination. Meanwhile, he activated thems in his mech, switching it to an open channel. ¡°Hello, hello, this is Seth Serian, is there anyone hearing this?¡±


    He waited, not wanting to burn through too much of his energy. There were naturally nomunication satellites in Fyor to extend broadcasting range, and this floor hadn¡¯t been colonized enough to ce the towers. After five minutes, he made the call again.


    Like this, he gradually made his way back to ¡®base¡¯. Every time he failed to get a response, it made his situation seem more and more dire. Had the rest of the exploration parties been killed as well? Or were they simply out of range or not monitoring public channels?


    It was over an hourter when he finally received a response. ¡°Mister Serian, this is Lana Jurer. Are you lost?¡±


    He wasn¡¯t offended by the question. It wouldn¡¯t be hard to get lost if there was a problem with his navigation system. And if he was lost, it would only be natural for him to broadcast an open call. However, he shook his head. ¡°My exploration party has been killed. I have important information that I need to report, but I am running low on energy. If you have any air support, I¡¯d wee it, but first, you have to get everyone off the water.¡±


    ¡°Please borate, Mister Serian.¡± There was a clear tone of concern in her voice as she made that request.


    ¡°There are whale-type creatures in the water, roughly five kilometers long. At least, the one I saw was. It swallowed my party, ship and all. At first, I thought I lost them, since they did not immediately die. But then I saw it surface and spit them out as it killed them. The water is not safe, but neither is the ceiling.¡±


    ¡°While the whales will eat anything on the surface, they seem to mostly eatrge insects that fall from the ceiling. These creatures are strong enough to pierce through metal with a casual tap.¡±


    Once Seth had finished exining his findings, there was a long moment of silence. He began to worry if perhaps he had conveyed the information toote. It was a full thirty secondster when the woman on the other end spoke up again. ¡°Thanks for your report. We¡¯ll hurry back to the gate. There aren¡¯t enough pilots to carry everyone, so we¡¯ll have to risk it. Do you have any room for a passenger?¡±


    Seth gave a bitter smile, shaking his head. ¡°I¡¯m a halfling with a single-person mech¡­ if you have a rather small halfling with you, I might be able to fit them in myp. But right now, that¡¯s not much of an option anyways. Like I said, I am running low on energy. I wouldn¡¯t be able to make a detour and still get back to the gate.¡±


    There was a sullen sigh sent over the channel. ¡°I understand. We¡¯ll call out to anyone we find along the way to try and spread the information.¡±


    The first foray into the twenty-fifth floor ended with a mass recall. Of the parties that went to explore, roughly one in ten did not make it back. While these numbers were somewhat manageable, it had to be remembered that the exploration did notst very long. None of the surviving teams were able to report that they had found any signs ofnd.


    With the sea and ceiling both considered dangerous, the only options were direct teleportation or finding a way to fly that would not require hitting either of those extremes. This meant a craft that could be piloted without needing to rest to recover energy, something that the current generation of mechs was incapable of.


    As I watched that, and saw the consensus that had been reached, I silently shook my head. In fact, the twenty-fifth floor of Fyor was rather unique in its design. It was split straight down the center, with one half being an ocean and the other being solidnd.


    Of thatnd, there were forests and ins, followed by mountains that touched the ceiling, and finally a desert that upied a third of thendmass. The two gates for thisyer were onpletely opposing sides, each in the center of one of the split halves. It would take over two hundred and fifty thousand kilometers of travel to get between one of the gates and the border to the opposite territory.


    In truth, they made good progress for their first expedition. The furthest party managed to get a total of eighty thousand kilometers before turning back, a full third of the distance. This was because the team had been a pair of halfling pilots in a two-person mech-jet. The first pilot used their full power to go their maximum distance, before passing control to their partner for the return trip. Though they had managed to circle the entire distance around my old earth twice, this was only a small piece of the current Fyor.


    Because of this event, the Adventurer¡¯s Guild of Fyor began to focus their development in a new direction. Combat mechs would not be helpful for the time being, so they turned their direction instead to full speed and efficiency.


    Which metals, and from which floors would they be able to get the best effect? Though the iron mined from the fifth floor was lighter than that of the eighteenth, it was also weaker. Would it be able to withstand the gravity of the floor without crumpling in on itself mid-flight?


    The next question was how they should solve the question of energy consumption. While optimizing the materials and design of the craft would definitely show an effect, it wouldn¡¯t be enough. Should they focus on the option for multiple pilots, or find a way to lessen the strain on the pilot themselves?


    Multiple pilots was certainly a fair choice, but adding more pilots meant arger craft with more weight, which would in turn mean more energy was required to fly it. For this reason, the jets were kept to a limit of two pilots each. Instead, they began to study how to create batteries to store the pilot¡¯s essence, allowing them to easily recharge mid-flight.


    For the essence itself, this was not a difficult task. Once their request was submitted to Deckan, James had prepared a storage device almost immediately. However, the explosive waste energy was another matter entirely. As this was the energy used to create thrust with the jets, it was arguably even more important than the main essence. At the same time, it was the most difficult to store, due to its explosive nature.


    Because of this, even James was at a loss for a while. As soon as the energy was released from the body and no longer guided by the pilot¡¯s essence, it would unconditionallybust. Could he use the pilot¡¯s essence to lead the explosive waste into an energy container, and then extract the essence? When he tried that, the container itself exploded in his face.


    James let out a resigned sigh as he collected the debris from another failed experiment. It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t know a method to store the explosive waste, but that the technology to do so didn¡¯t exist in this world in the same form that it did in his. The alterations to the physical and metaphysicalws meant that arge variety of devices would function differently between the two worlds. Unfortunately, this was one of those devices.


    ¡°Maybe create an essence shell around the explosive cell to stabilize the energy?¡± A young voice spoke up from behind James, the voice of a silver-haired kitsune. She looked to be in her early teens, sitting on the edge of a chair and swinging her legs back and forth. The kitsune wore a pair of overalls that made her look like a small mechanic, even carrying a few tools in her pouches.


    James shook his head to deny the idea. ¡°The storage would work like that, but it would be unstable as soon as the energy was extracted.¡± After he said that, he began to grumble slightly. ¡°This wouldn¡¯t be a problem if I could finish my side project.¡±


    The young kitsune giggled lightly at that. ¡°What¡¯s stopping you? Didn¡¯t manage to master that new energy yet? Or is the queen denying your request to hunt down research material?¡±


    ¡°Neither, actually.¡± He admitted with a small smirk. ¡°I finished my study on the research just before you showed up, and the queen said that I am free to go where I please so long as I don¡¯t harm anyone. The problem is that I can¡¯t find any information about the subjects I need.¡±


    ¡°Want me to put a word in with alia? She seems to be the monster encyclopedia of this world¡¯s Keeper. If you tell me what characteristics you¡¯re looking for, I can try to pass it along. She¡¯s nice enough that she¡¯d probably help.¡±


    James seemed to consider that for a moment, before nodding his head. ¡°I need two monsters, maybe three. The first one needs to be capable of using their hair as an external energy storage. The second one-¡±


    ¡°Needs nine tails.¡± The kitsune said with a knowing grin, earning a lightugh from James.


    ¡°Right. And the third one, more as an optional choice, would need to be able to grow their physical body by obtaining more energy. Out of these, the first one is the one I¡¯m really struggling with. Generally, creatures that are able to store their energy in removable body parts can only do so because they are energy creatures in the first ce. And if that¡¯s the case, I won¡¯t be able to use the evolution catalyst on them to trace the gic markers.¡±


    ¡°If we were to get all three, then forget just Fyor¡¯s problem, any world would experience a sharp increase in energy storage. Just imagine a single hair being able to fuel a second tier spell. With nine tails as external storage, they would have more than enough power to cover so many shorings!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t lie. You just want all the animal people to have nine tails.¡± The kitsune teased with a knowing look that didn¡¯t match her age.


    ¡°You know me too well, Chel.¡± James grinned, not denying the im of his reincarnated love. Although her body was immature, she was still smart enough to act as his research assistant. ¡°Howte are your parents letting you stay over today?¡±


    Chel stuck her tongue out at that. ¡°They just told me to be back by dinner.¡±


    ¡°Am I not invited?¡± James asked yfully, already knowing the answer as Chel rolled her eyes.


    ¡°After thest time you met my dad? He might be protective of his ¡®little darling¡¯, but he¡¯s not suicidal. You really put the fear of the Gods into him.¡±


    James shook his head with a bitter smile. ¡°Who told him to use a third tier restriction spell to try to threaten me? He¡¯s lucky I know he¡¯s a good father.¡±

 Chapter 566: Lurking Shadows

    <h4>Chapter 566: Lurking Shadows</h4>


    The following months became a hectic period within Fyor¡¯s history. They had never had to worry much about the creation ofrge, aerial vehicles. Unlike other worlds, there was no chance of Fyor developing its own space program, given that there was a definite ceiling to each floor that they encountered.


    The only other reason that one would use such a bulky vehicle was further rendered moot with the existence of the teleportation gatesmonly erected betweenrge cities. Portable versions were even used to increase the efficiency in helping the city be built in the first ce. While they did possess some flying craft, those were only used in special circumstances, and not meant for prolonged flights.


    What was undoubtedly more frustrating was the fact that Fyor had stricter requirements when it came to developing their crafts as opposed to every other world. If it wasn¡¯t small enough to fit through the gate or inside of some manner of mystical storage, it was unusable for the exploration mission of the twenty-fifth floor.


    Even with the remarkable progress that had recently been made in energy efficiency, the fuel requirements to sustain a craft in a gravitational field dozens of times normal left any pilot exhausting their energy faster than they could sustain it. If a pilot was able tost for ten hours on the twenty-fifth floor, then they would easily be able tost as long as they wished anywhere else¡­


    Regardless, the literal and metaphorical pressure gave way to progress in time. Slim, two-person jets were created along with a refined fuel battery. These batteries were small enough to store in a storage space, and would constantly absorb ambient mana while retrieved to convert it into refined liquid mana. Although the speed would not match the rate it was drained, it was still enough to provide the pilots with some relief.


    One adventurous duo immediately bought ten of these batteries along with thetestpatible jet, before attempting another foray into the twenty-fifth floor. These two were undoubtedly a pair of thrill-seekers, spending arge sum only for the chance to be the first people to see an entirely unexplored territory.


    The couple, a married duo of halflings, set out on their adventure while throwing caution to the wind. Once their batteries were fully charged, they plotted their course and set off to the far west. In order to maximize their energy, they ascended to an elevation of two thousand kilometers, one-fourth of the distance to thisyer¡¯s ceiling before allowing themselves to glide at a reduced speed.


    Fifteen hours into their expedition, they had passed their previous distance. By alternating between using his own energy and the batteries, the husband of the duo had been keeping himself in top form while his way stayed in reserve. As far as they could see, there was still nothing but an empty, blue ocean.


    Another fifteen hours passed before the two of them saw something. At this point the mental exhaustion was more tiring than the actualck of energy, and the two were eager to simply stretch their legs. That¡¯s why, when they sawnd in the distance, they at first thought it was their eyes ying tricks on them.


    And in a way¡­ it was. Rather than a continent, what they saw was a great mountain reaching all the way to the ceiling, the upper tip of it being visible from their elevation. Yet this was still enough for them to push on, as it confirmed that there was indeednd beyond the horizon.


    At this point, the husband was exhausted in both his pilot¡¯s essence and his mentality, allowing his wife to take over for him to carry them the rest of the distance. She was not as conservative with her energy as he was. Now that they had a goal in sight, she elerated the jet to its maximum speed, burning through the mana batteries and her own essence within a mere five hours.


    Those five hours, however, were enough time for them to reach the promisednd. Arge cliff rose a hundred meters above the surface of the water, looking to be a sheer drop if one were to fall. The only handholds that one could possibly hope to grab onto were the thick tree branches breaking through the rock wall.


    Atop the cliff were giant trees, each one over a kilometer tall and stretching out to cover a wide area. Seeing that, the wife grinned and dove in, finding an open patch ofnd to aim the jet at. Before they left, they were given an item to deploy, should they reach a sizablendmass. And while she had no way of knowing if this were thergestndmass, it was definitely sizable.


    As such, she didn¡¯t hesitate to deploy the item from the jet as soon as she was close to the ground, causing a ring to detach from the bottom of the craft and dig into the soil. This ring was a portable teleportation gate, paired to another gate on the ind that they departed from. Although this item had a limited lifespan, it was more than enough time to set up a longersting solution.


    Back at the ind of Gate¡¯s Rest, Petra held an oversized hammer over her shoulder, smiling to herself as she waited. She was surrounded by a dozen hopeful craftsmen and hired adventurers, and would be serving as part of the escort team. In truth, part of her excitement was the fact that she herself had not seen what thisyer had to offer.


    Sure, Thelsa had brought her to the twenty-fifth floor long ago to acquire the shadow of thisyer, but they had never truly explored it. There had been no need to, as it would be more effort than it was feasibly worth. At most, they would gain a few levels as a scout after spending days crossing the ocean in the shadow-world. That time was better spent on other activities.


    Now, however, those ¡®other activities¡¯ happened to coincide with her desire to explore. After all, they were getting paid to do this as official adventurers. Even just waiting on this small ind had proven to be exciting for her! When the day cycle ended, and night fell across the floor, she had seen the dancing lights covering the ceiling.


    Although she knew that these lights were truly countless bioluminescent insects crawling along the upper crust of theyer, it was still an incredibly beautiful sight. Every now and then, one of these many ¡®stars¡¯ would fall into the sea, only to be swallowed up by a massive whale.


    While Petra was thinking about that, there was a low hum from the ring-shaped device installed on the ground. This indicated that the matching gate had been sessfully deployed. ¡°Alright! Call the boys!¡± Petra shouted. Unlike herself, there were many that had gone off to rx while waiting for the ring to activate.


    They couldn¡¯t truly be med. Nobody knew how far it would be until the nearestndmass, or even if they would be able to find one in the first ce. They didn¡¯t see a reason to stick around when there was nothing for them to do.


    Once they heard that the ring had activated, though, they immediately entered ¡®work mode¡¯. One by one they emerged from the gate, filling the small ind with some of the most capablebatants and craftsmen the world of Fyor had to offer.


    The prospective head of the twenty-fifthyer¡¯s Guild branch, a gruff dovah, stepped forward to activate the ring. ¡°We¡¯re on a time crunch, everyone.¡± He muttered, waving his furred hand to beckon everyone to follow him through.


    Once the portal was activated, it would remain stable for two hours. After that, theponents would begin to degrade from the constant flow of energy, and the portal could destabilize at any moment. Within those two hours, they had to first decide if the location they had been given was suitable for them to build a settlement.


    If thend was found eptable, they had to spend their remaining time constructing either a new temporary gate, or install a permanent one. The former was by far the moremon choice, as they could be installed within the time limit. Establishing a permanent gate meantying the groundwork for ambient mana refining, which meant constructing additional buildings.


    Although using multiple temporary gates was more expensive, it was often chosen as the proper course of action due to the ability to rapidly deploy and evacuate in the event of a disaster. Likewise, everyone in this group understood that the guild master had chosen to use this method as well.


    In order to facilitate the construction of a basic settlement, the dovah had prepared six sets of temporary gates. Although each one onlysted two hours, they did not have to be used consecutively. As long as they were only used to fetch construction materials and food, they could make themst up to a week.


    One week to build the foundation for a small city. For the craftsmen, this was a challenge they relished. For the hired guards, however, it was an entirely different story. For one week, they had to escort and protect this group against any potential threats within an unknown environment. It was quite frankly a bodyguard¡¯s worst nightmare.


    Petra was an exception to this, as she never even considered the possibility of failing. Due to the request of both herself and the craftsman, she knew exactly who she was paired with. Her partner was a ck-haired human by the name of Shae Dou. More importantly, he was one of the many shadows that Thelsa had created long ago, nurturing his skills over time.


    It was thanks to those like Shae that Thelsa discovered something incredible. So long as both she and her shadows existed within thend connected to her shadow world, there was no limit to the distance that they could put between themselves. Even now, there were mercenaries and mages, chefs and carpenters scattered throughout the previous floors, all connected through their shadows.


    Anyone could be the face of the Shadow Saint, and it would be incredibly difficult to point them out, unless one knew what they were looking for. Although Thelsa was able to train them, she couldn¡¯t forge them a proper history, which led to them being exposed whenever one were to dig too deeply into their background.


    Thankfully, most of this could be exined away by having the shadows im to be from another world. Few organizations had the authority to track someone across dimensional borders.


    But now, as Petra stood near Shae on the other side of the gate, his shadow maized to her own, mixed together with the shade provided from the canopy overhead. Petra gave a grin as the two of them began to walk the perimeter, inspecting for any unusual resources or dangers.


    This is totally awesome! She couldn¡¯t help butmunicate through her shadow, a chuckle being sent back by Thelsa.


    Enjoy yourself, but make sure to stay safe. I don¡¯t want to lose you, too. Thelsa¡¯s voice was soft, and Petra subconsciously nodded her head in response.


    I know, don¡¯t worry. If anything looks too tough, I¡¯ll hide in the shadow and retreat. It wouldn¡¯t be that easy, and they both knew it. One didn¡¯t earn the title of ¡®saint¡¯ from the system by caring only for their own well-being. Petra would naturally do everything she could to ensure the safety of the expedition over her own life. And that was why Thelsa was preparing to act, should the need arise.


    ¡°Do you feel that?¡± Shae asked hesitantly as they reached the perimeter, drawing Petra¡¯s attention away from her conversation with Thelsa.


    ¡°Hmm? What is it?¡±


    Shae knelt down, cing one palm t against the ground. He closed his eyes and focused, before suddenly shooting to his feet. ¡°Tremors.¡±


    ¡°Eh? But Fyor doesn¡¯t get earthquakes.¡± With eachyer of Fyor being built on indestructible, immovable mineralyers, there had never been a ¡®natural¡¯ earthquake in the¡¯s history. Only outside sources such as mana siphons, druids, or particr spells could create such effects.


    ¡°Not a quake. A footstep. A big one.¡± Shae kept his voice low, gesturing with two fingers to the edge of the treeline. Petra hesitated for a moment before walking over, poking her head past a tree to get a look at what was on the other side.


    In the distance, the forest gave way to a vast in. And within the in was a lone figure, standing over five hundred meters tall. Just like how Petra carried her oversized hammer over her shoulder, this giant simrly held one of the massive trees as a club.


    Now that she could see it, and could see its feet hitting the ground, she was able to notice the faint tremors that spread out along with its footsteps. It didn¡¯t seem to notice them, and it wasn¡¯ting their way, but it was still too close forfort.

 Chapter 567: Obligation

    <h4>Chapter 567: Obligation</h4>


    Petra signalled for Shae to quietly move back with her, away from the edge of the treeline. Although the monster was quiterge, and a considerable distance away, there was still the possibility that they would be noticed if they used their energy or made excessive noise. At this point, they had not even yet determined the level of the creature, but there was something that they were well aware of.


    Every new floor for quite a long time had offered an increase of one hundred levels to the limit if someone were to find its level orb. Naturally, nobody had found the orb for this floor yet. Worse still, they hadn¡¯t been able to explore the solii¡¯s floor because of their civil war, so they didn¡¯t have that one either.


    That meant that in the best case scenario, if this were one of the weakest creatures of the floor, it would still be over one hundred levels higher than anyone present. Given its size, its defensive powers would be astonishing. Even with her power as a demigoddess and the Shadow Saint, Petra wasn¡¯t confident that she could take such a creature on alone.


    The two of them made their way back to where the camp had been established, muffling their footsteps as they walked. When they returned, Petra walked over towards the potential guildmaster. ¡°Yo, boss, got a report to make.¡± She spoke in a serious tone, far apart from her normal yful voice.


    ¡°Huh?¡± The Dovah turned, looking towards Petra. ¡°What¡¯s going on, ck?¡±


    This was the codename that she had registered herself under for the current operation. As the Perfect Self was bing more widespread, she no longer felt the need topletely change their identities every few decades like Thelsa used to n for. Instead, they would just use pseudonyms for special operations like this one to keep their name out of the official announcement.


    ¡°Outside of the forest, a giant creature. Big enough to carry one of these as a club.¡± She pointed towards one of therge trees nearby as she said that, earning a look of concern from the dovah.


    ¡°Do you believe that this creature is enough of a threat to cancel the operation?¡± It was clear that the dovah held a moderate amount of respect for Petra, given that he was willing to ask her opinion. Though whether he nned to follow it if she gave an answer he disagreed with was clearly another answer.


    ¡°No reason to expect we have a choice.¡± Petra sighed, shaking her head. ¡°Until proven otherwise, we have to assume that these creatures would be all along the border. They¡¯rerge enough that they can reach down from the cliff to drink the water, which their body has likely adapted for. If anything, I¡¯d say it¡¯s only a matter of time before it wanders over for a sip.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t wanna look down on anyone here, but there¡¯s no guarantee we can take it out with the strength we¡¯ve brought. That¡¯s why I was hoping you¡¯d be willing to call for reinforcements.¡± After Petra said that, she nced meaningfully back in the way she hade from.


    ¡°And who¡¯s going to pay that bill?¡± The dovah said with a weary groan. ¡°These temporary portals aren¡¯t cheap, remember.¡±


    ¡°Is it cheaper to hire the adventurers, or to hire another expedition of high-level pilots to cross the sea in a different direction?¡± Petra asked, directing a knowing smirk towards the dovah. ¡°Those two already got what they came for. The first look at a newnd, flying further than anyone else in a single trip. They¡¯ve no reason to go out of their way to do so again. And even if you do hire them, there could be another giant waiting at that location.¡±


    The dovah grumbled his eptance, however reluctant it was. ¡°I¡¯ll make the call. Just be careful not to piss it off before they get here.¡±


    Petra expressed a look of shock, one hand going over her chest. ¡°My good sir, would I do such a thing as angering an unknown threat merely for my own amusement?¡±


    He simply stared at her for a long moment in response, before she relented. ¡°Okay, maybe I would, but not while there were other people around.¡±


    That earned her a relieved sigh as the man turned away to make the call, walking through the still-opened portal. ¡°How long do you think it¡¯ll take?¡± Shae asked, walking up alongside Petra.


    The demoness shook her head, unsure of the answer herself. ¡°Anywhere from two hours to a day, if he puts in an emergency order. Depends on how long it takes them to reach the Maxers.¡±


    In the past years, there had been a sharp decline in the number of Maxers due to the invisible level limit that gued the mortal body, one which no amount of level orbs would help relieve. Only those willing to leave the world long enough to train the perfect self were capable of truly reaching the maximum level of Fyor.


    Of course, there were those that came to Fyor simply to train sses that weren¡¯t avable, so that they would getrger benefits when they properly gained levels for those sses. The best example of this would be the halfling couple that had brought them this far. The Pilot ss was only recently unlocked, so there was no way for its orb to have already been found in Fyor.


    Those who flew within Fyor did so to strengthen their energy core, something that would bring them numerous long term effects once they began to level up. That was also why Petra was certain that the guildmaster wouldn¡¯t be able to find another such pair. Aside from those thrillseekers, anyone else that came to Fyor to train their pilot ss would do so at a low level for the highest benefits, making them unable to help.


    Thankfully, with the invention of the Perfection Chamber, there were arge number of Maxers with levels over nine hundred that temporarily migrated to the other worlds in order to surpass their physical limits. These days, anyone that truly called themselves a Maxer would no longer have a body of flesh and bone.


    Petra herself was one such example, having gone into the chamber immediately after it was announced. She didn¡¯t dare to perform the advancement on her own, for fear of what happened with Thelsa repeating itself. Instead, she chose the safer option, one which limited the amount of time she had to spend ¡®dead¡¯ to the very minimum without needing the protection of her shadow energy.


    Petra shook her head to bring herself back to the moment. Those Maxers would all be training usually, so she couldn¡¯t expect them to gather quickly. ¡°We¡¯ll have to make our own preparations while we wait. Remind me¡­ which ss were you in?¡±


    Shae gave a small smirk. ¡°Jerga¡¯s ss for Enchanting and Woodwork.¡±


    When Petra heard that, her red face went pale. She knew Jerga was one of the most strict instructors that Thelsa had created to date. Most sses had a graduation rating to show how many shadows passed her lessons. On the other hand, Jerga had a mortality rating.


    ¡°If you took her ss¡­ you should be proficient in third tier magic?¡±


    Shae rolled up his right sleeve, showing a number of arcane sigils seemingly tattooed on his arm. ¡°Runic and geometric. What¡¯s the n, ¡®ck¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Get the others, andy a defensive formation around the area. Let it act as an electric wall to keep the big guy out if he decides to walk over here. It¡¯ll probably annoy him, but it might get him to take another path to the water, depending on how smart he is.¡±


    When Shae heard that, he had a rather peculiar look on his face. ¡°And if he doesn¡¯t take another path?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ at that point, he¡¯d be charging us one way or the other. Lay a second formation closer to camp, this one with a real attack function. You builders can use it to support us from behind while we fight.¡±


    Petra¡¯s grip tightened on her hammer as she exined the battle n, her blood starting to boil from the knowledge of aing battle. As a barbarian, she had an excellent physical strength, but was simrly prone to entering a frenzy at the sight of a powerful opponent. Something that she had been learning how to cope with ever since she was born.


    Want me to send some of my troops? Thelsa¡¯s voice spoke up into Petra¡¯s mind, but the demoness shook her head with a gentle smile. The voice had helped to calm her emotions, anchoring her in the present moment.


    Don¡¯t worry about it. Doing that would just show our hand. This isn¡¯t a real emergency yet, so there¡¯s no need for you to make an appearance. Even if we can¡¯t win the fight, all we have to do is find a way to retreat.


    Thelsa hesitated for a moment, before silently agreeing. This was the policy she herself decided on. She would help wherever she could while remaining a figure in the shadows. She didn¡¯t want the fame and glory, after all. The only reason she trained any troops at all was because she needed a hobby, and there was always the chance that they would one day need to fight in a true war.


    Petra snorted quietly when she heard Thelsa¡¯s thoughts, and how she considered training a private army to be a mere hobby. While Thelsa never thought about it, Petra was vaguely aware that most governing bodies would consider her a political threat if they knew about her shadow troops.


    Petra watched as Shae left to carry out her instructions, setting her hammer down in front of her and closing her eyes. Since a battle could erupt at any moment, she needed to put herself in her best condition.


    Within the Sky Citadel, Tsubaki stretched her legs, climbing up out of her bed after logging out from Natural Seed. As she had done with Vision Expanse, she once again subjected herself to a ¡®Trial of Blood¡¯ within this new game. Honing her skills, she spent months at the lowest levels, deleting her character dozens of times until she could safely survive in environments far beyond her level.


    In a way, that was Tsubaki¡¯s hobby, one that was¡­ slightly less than sane. It was, however, incredibly effective at keeping her mind and body sharp. When she stood up, she noticed a blinking icon on herputer screen. Someone was trying to get her attention.


    With a furrowed brow, Tsubaki walked over to theputer, staring into it. ¡°You¡¯re not nk or Vivi. Which one are you?¡± After she asked that, a chat box arose, and a row of characters began to type themselves onto the screen.


    My name is Twilight. It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you, Tsubaki. I am one of nk¡¯s followers. He asked me to keep an eye out for any news that would draw your interest within Fyor.


    ¡°¡­How many of you are there that have simr assignments?¡± Tsubaki asked, half shocked that nk would give such amand, and the other half shocked that she didn¡¯t notice it sooner. Then again¡­ recalling herst trip inside herputer, she hadn¡¯t looked too deeply into its working in a while.


    Four in total. I myself am in charge of collecting information from Fyor. Sun is in charge of collecting information from Kione and Deckan. Moon is in charge of Desbar, the March, and Sher Dien. Star is in charge of Lorek and Spica.


    ¡°I suppose that means he is assisting me with everywhere other than Earth?¡± Tsubaki asked with a faint nod. As this was the world where she spent most of her time, she typically didn¡¯t need an external aid. ¡°Why are you only making yourself known now?¡±


    nk instructed us not to bother you unless there was something that we needed to report. Recently, there has been an emergency call for aid at the highest discovered floor of Fyor. Arge monster, believed to be Disaster-ss, is preventing the construction of a forward base.


    Tsubaki¡¯s brow furrowed further when she heard that, before she let out a sigh. ¡°My level is already too high for Fyor right now. There¡¯s nothing that I can do to help them.¡± As she said that, she sent a message to Dana, rying the information and asking the elf to make a trip in her stead. No matter what, this was an issue preventing the development of one of the Keeper¡¯s worlds, so it wasn¡¯t wrong for them to send some aid.

 Chapter 568: Gaze Into the Abyss

    <h4>Chapter 568: Gaze Into the Abyss</h4>


    Dana hummed lightly to herself as she stepped through the Fairy Ring to enter the world of Fyor. It had been a while since she had entered this world personally, so she was quite eager to y around. However, she knew that business woulde first. With a smile, she looked around the space surrounding the Fairy Ring.


    Using her authority as one of the Keeper¡¯s aides, Dana activated the ring ahead of schedule, causing several individuals to already have their weapons at the ready when she stepped through. It would not be unusual for a devastating monster to appear through the gate at such a time.


    However, when they saw that it was a young elven girl, they shook their heads and stowed their weapons. There were no doubt special circumstances behind her appearance, or perhaps she was from a new world altogether, such as the time when an elf crossed over from Spica.


    With that thought in mind, a human man in a white robe walked up to approach Dana, who seemed to be performing some light stretches. ¡°Pardon me, but can I ask what your business is?¡± The apparent priest spoke politely.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ about nine hundred timesrger than the baseyer of this world.¡± Dana estimated, judging the gravity affecting her body and lightly hopping in ce for a moment before turning to the priest. ¡°Oh, good! I was just going to find one of you soon. I¡¯m here to respond to the emergency request from this world¡¯s guild.¡±


    The man in white blinked in confusion, before turning and guiding her towards the guild building of thisyer. Although the information had surely reached the fifteenthyer by now, it had not been spread widely enough that even an unrted priest like himself would know of it. In order to know where it was she needed to reach, he had to discover where this emergency request was issued.


    When he saw that the destination was the twenty-fifth floor¡­ he could only smile bitterly. ¡°Unfortunately, I can¡¯t send you that high. I¡¯ve only personally been as high as the twenty-second floor. However, there should be someone there that can take you the rest of the way.¡±


    Dana hopped up, lightly patting his shoulder. ¡°That¡¯s fine! Just as close as you can get me. What do I owe you for this?¡±


    ¡°The price for travel is one Leowynn token for eachyer.¡± Although it wasn¡¯t hard for them to send people between floors, it was still a bit taxing on their energy. If they did not require at least a small price to be paid, they would soon be worked to death.


    Dana gave a small nod, flicking her wrist and sending a token of Aurivy into the man¡¯s hand. ¡°You can keep the change.¡± She smiled sincerely.


    The man blinked, but nodded as he put away the coin. The value of the trip was just shy of the payment, so it was indeed just a small tip. Tapping his staff against the ground, he summoned a golden portal next to Dana. ¡°Then, I wish you sess in your journey.¡±


    Dana beamed a smile again before hopping through. Her shoulders shook briefly as she adjusted to the new level of gravity, eyes gazing up at the ming ¡®suns¡¯ that decorated the ceiling of this floor. ¡°I¡¯ve gottae by here more often¡­¡±


    Shaking her head, she looked around again before running to another priest, this one a halfling with a white robe matching that of the man that she had just left. ¡°Would you be able to take me up to the twenty-fifthyer?¡± She asked in an excited tone, wanting to see more and more of what this world had to offer.


    ¡°Hmm?¡± The halfling turned to face her, before letting out a gentle smile. ¡°Of course. There has been quite a demand for that recently. However¡­ are you sure that you can handle it? I hear that the ce is rather dangerous¡­¡±


    ¡°Heheh, don¡¯t worry about me.¡± She said with an almost silly grin, pulling out a token of Ryone to pay for the trip. Although she had once again slightly overpaid, the halfling paid it no mind and summoned the portal for her as requested.


    Once she stepped through, she again had to take some time to adjust to the gravity of theyer. As this was her first time going through so many different levels of gravity so quickly, she was worried that her bnce would be off in the middle of a battle. Under the watchful eyes of many seasoned adventurers, the elven girl hopped in ce again, waving her arms and throwing a few light punches at the air.


    Only when she was done with her exercises did she pay any mind to those curious stares. Still, she didn¡¯t regard them with any worry and only gave a friendly wave. ¡°When is the portal opening?¡±


    There were some who regarded her as a halfling, and thus didn¡¯t realize her apparent age as an elf. Those were the ones that treated her the most seriously, one stepping forward to answer. ¡°Should be another three and a half hours, by my count.¡±


    Dana pulled a face at that, not interested in waiting around for that long. ¡°Yeah, I think I¡¯ll head over a bit early. I¡¯ve been wanting to try out my new calling, anyways.¡±


    Dana mentally reached into her storage item, a bracelet she wore on her left wrist, and retrieved her scepter. Then, to ensure that nobody nearby would be implicated by her magic, she leapt dozens of meters into the air. Once she was satisfied with her height, she stabilized herself with a tform of spiritual energy.


    Holding the scepter out in front of herself, she began quietly chanting. Geometric shapes began to scatter in the air around her, seemingly without rhyme or reason. Gradually, they began to converge into an extremely intricate cube and sphere, the two shapes then beginning to ovep one another. ¡°I am the one that broke the shackles of eternity. Spirits of the world, the queen of wicked souls calls for your aid.¡±


    Green lights began to pour in from the space around her, filling the glowing spell diagram. ¡°I wish for a path beyond the seas. I beckon space itself to part for me. Twist and converge, bind with my power, and open the way.¡±


    The green lights began to convulse, shifting to ck as the spell was activated. This was a fourth tier magic that Dana had practiced for some time now, a teleportation spell capable of crossing entire worlds. However, in order to set the destination, she had to use the power of an elementalist.


    Once the spell erupted, a portal appeared in the space before her, which Dana lightly hopped through. Those below were left dumbfounded by the sight. It had to be known that with the increased gravity of each floor, spatial spells actually became less effective. That was because the space was forcibly stabilized more and more as they went on. To be able to open a portal like that was extremely difficult.


    Those temporary portals still worked because they did not cross ¡®space¡¯, but ¡®dimensions¡¯. The dimensional barrier was no stronger on the twenty-fifth floor than it was on the first. It was only the spatial stability that increased. However, it was also clear that she hadn¡¯t cast a third tier spell, but the more challenging fourth tier.


    There were those that attempted to fly up and into the portal after her. Unfortunately, their daze from witnessing the spell being cast caused them to be a moment toote. Before they reached the portal, it had silently closed behind Dana.


    On the other side, the guildmaster was stunned to see an elven girl stepping out of nowhere tond in the middle of their camp. He knew better than anyone that it wasn¡¯t time for the adventurers to arrive. He had dyed the timing such that he could allow his builders to establish their defenses first.


    Dana looked around, before spotting the dovah. ¡°You¡¯re the one in charge, right? I¡¯m Dana, from the Sky Citadel! Tsubaki asked me toe over and help you out.¡±


    The name struck the man like thunder as he realized the implication behind those words. If she was from the citadel, that meant that she had a power greater than even the normal Maxers. In terms of authority, she would be second only to the gods. ¡°Ah¡­ thank you for making a trip out here personally. I must say I was not expecting this.¡±


    Dana shook her head, waving her hands in front of herself. ¡°It¡¯s fine. I haven¡¯t had the chance to step into this world for a while, so I¡¯m happy toe help! Anyways, there was some kind of big monster or something, right?¡±


    The dovah nodded his head, turning and calling out. ¡°ck,e over here. Show our guest what you found.¡±


    Dana followed his gaze, seeing a demon girl that appeared no older than she herself did. Over her shoulder, she held a hammer that even a fully grown warrior might struggle with. However, Dana was able to see far more than most. Her eyes, the eyes of the Queen of Hell, saw the depths of the girl¡¯s soul. An almost infinite darkness containing thousands of separate souls.


    At first, Dana was prepared to act, until she realized that those souls were not suffering. Well¡­ most of them weren¡¯t. And none of them in a way that would force her to take action. Instead, they seemed peaceful, orderly. As if there was an army contained within the body of this one girl.


    ¡°Sure thing.¡± ck nodded her head, offering an amiable smile towards Dana before leading her away. Dana, still wary, observed the rest of the crowd around them as well. One other individual seemed linked to the same well of souls that ck herself was tied to. However, he appeared to be diligently helping in the construction of defenses, so it was unlikely that they had ulterior motives.


    ¡°Are you the one that brought the monster to his attention?¡± Dana asked in thought, trying to probe for the intentions of the demoness before her. She had never seen a soul that unique, aside from that of the Keeper himself, but his was unique in an entirely different way. While he held the weight of the world atop his shoulders, this girl seemed as if she concealed an entirely different world within her eyes.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. We were patrolling the area when we saw it. It¡¯s been a couple hours since then, so it might have left¡­ but I think its footprints should still be visible.¡±


    Dana cut her off, shaking her head. ¡°It hasn¡¯t left.¡± She spoke with such confidence that ck was taken aback.


    ¡°How can you be sure?¡± She asked Dana with a touch of concern.


    ¡°Because it was waiting for its friends. Three souls, four kilometers outside the forest. From the size, level twelve-hundred, specializing in physical strength and ki. One has mana as well as a secondary trait.¡±


    ck¡¯s face darkened, gripping the hammer more tightly. ¡°Three of them¡­ we should have the others leave, just to be safe.¡±


    However, Dana smiled towards ck. ¡°I¡¯ll take care of them for you. But I want you to answer something for me.¡±


    ck blinked, looking at the elven girl. ¡°Those are three disasters we¡¯re talking about, and you want to handle them alone?¡±


    ¡°As long as you answer my question.¡± Dana nodded confidently, holding her scepter in one hand. Between the scepter and the tome that she had helped to create, she was confident in killing monsters like this, so long as they were not on the level of gods.


    ¡°¡­Okay, I¡¯ll bite. What¡¯s the question?¡± Though ck asked that, she had a rather bad feeling in her gut.


    Dana¡¯s eyes seemed to pierce through the girl, staring into the endless abyss within her energy. ¡°What are you?¡±

 Chapter 569: The Bigger They Are…

    <h4>Chapter 569: The Bigger They Are¡­</h4>


    ck retreated half a step, her eyes wide at the sudden question. ¡°W-what do you mean?¡± She asked with a brief stutter, having clearly not expected a question like that to appear. At most, she thought Dana might ask her how someone so young was able to fight on the twenty-fifthyer like she was.


    ¡°There¡¯s a darkness within you. A very literal darkness. Thousands of souls connected to a shadow. I¡¯m very sensitive to souls, so you stand out like a beacon. You and that ck-haired human back at the camp.¡± Dana exined, a yful smile tugging at her lips.


    ck gulped, unable to properly meet Dana¡¯s eyes while trying to find some way to exin herself. ¡°I¡¯ll handle this.¡± A voice spoke up from behind the demoness, causing her to abruptly turn towards the source. A female human emerged, rising from the shadow while wearing a flowing ck robe.


    ¡°This should be our first meeting, isn¡¯t it?¡± The woman asked with a warm expression, looking towards Dana, who nodded her head.


    ¡°I¡¯d definitely remember meeting someone like you.¡± Dana could infer that this woman was the ¡®source¡¯ of the shadows that ck and the man back in camp were connected to. While those two felt like they were merely vessels for the darkness, this woman felt as if she was the darkness itself.


    ¡°My name is Thelsa Whitefallow. I¡¯ve had a few interactions with the Keeper, and havee to acquire a rather special power in my time.¡± When Dana heard that, she nced downwards, seeing how Thelsa and ck¡¯s shadows connected to one another.


    ¡°So that¡¯s it¡­ you have an energy that is able to conceal space within a shadow.¡± Dana nodded her head, though she knew that there was still more to it. This energy also had to be able to either create or capture souls, but she wouldn¡¯t directly say something that might be taken as offensive.


    ¡°That¡¯s one way to put it.¡± Thelsa chuckled. ¡°However, I would appreciate it if you did not spread word of my existence. It is my desire to only help from the shadows. By now, the world should have long since forgotten about me, and I would like it to remain that way.¡±


    Dana considered her request, before nodding her head. ¡°That wouldn¡¯t be hard.¡± After she said that, she stepped out of the forest, raising one hand to summon her tome. ¡°Well, if you ever need a ce to hide out for a bit, you¡¯re wee at the citadel.¡±


    ck, taken aback by the easy eptance Dana showed, could barely keep her jaw from dropping to the floor. She looked between Thelsa and Dana, the former of which was once again descending into the darkness of her shadow and thetter was boldly walking out into the field where the giants were resting.


    ¡°Are you sure that you can handle all three of them by yourself?¡± ck asked in concern, prepared to step in if Dana said that she needed assistance.


    ¡°Hmm? Oh, yeah. We made a few little cheat items a while back, so these guys aren¡¯t a problem for me. It¡¯d actually be harder to deal with them if I had to worry about not implicating someone else in a messy melee. So, if you could do me a favor and stay over there, that would really help me a lot.¡± Dana¡¯s smile was sweet, but for some reason sent chills down ck¡¯s spine.


    Are you sure it was alright to tell her all of that? Petra asked internally, watching Dana stride out into the field. The exchange between Dana and Thelsa just now had been far too casual for her to understand, not at all like what she expected from two peak experts shrouded in mystery.


    If it¡¯s her, then it¡¯s fine. She is one of the Keeper¡¯s Servants, and we are on good terms with him. Most likely, she¡¯ll try to confirm our story the next chance she gets, so as long as we tell the truth it will not cause a problem.


    Petra nodded, seeing how Dana slowly lifted herself into the air with a powerful gust of wind. But what if she decides to tell everyone about us?


    That shouldn¡¯t be possible with her personality. If she was that interested in spreading secrets, then she would have never been chosen as the assistant to the most powerful being in any world. Thelsa¡¯s words assured Petra to a degree, so she watched the elven girl lift her scepter.


    Gradually, the pages of Dana¡¯s tome began to turn, one by one as she looked for a spell. By now, both Dana and Petra could see the massive beings in the distance. Like Dana had said before, there were indeed three of them. Of the three, one looked quite unusual with red skin and a pair of horns on its head.


    If Petra had to guess, that should be the giant able to wield magic that Dana had pointed out previously. Given how they were walking closer, they should have detected Dana hovering in the air. One of them raised up its tree of a club, and mmed it down against Dana.


    There was a dull thud that echoed all the way to where Petra was hiding, before a thunderous crash as the tree hit the ground. Even without any extraordinary senses, Petra could tell that the giant had reinforced its weapon with ki. She winced, expecting Dana to be severely hurt¡­ or worse.


    However, the pulse of mana from within the air caused her gaze to go skyward again. There, she saw Dana continuing to float as if she had never been touched. Splinters fell around her body, bouncing off a spherical barrier.


    What¡­ but¡­ how? Even if she was over level one thousand, she shouldn¡¯t have the mana to maintain a barrier like that against such a strike. Much less without being moved in the process. Petra was having a hard timeprehending what she had just seen, but Thelsa seemed to have an idea.


    It should be one of the two items in her hands. She said that they had made ¡®cheat items¡¯¡­ perhaps one of them acts as a bottomless mana battery?


    But¡­ if they had something like that, why not give it to the world? Even getting to this continent only took so long because people couldn¡¯t find a suitable power source. How many other problems would something like that solve?


    Far less than the problems it would create. Thelsa exined patiently. Let¡¯s ignore how many idents could be caused while researching the applications of those artifacts. If they were widespread, that means that they would simrly be in the hands of those with more nefarious designs. Even a weak mage would be capable of destroying entire countries if he were to get his hands on such an item.


    Petra still had herints, but knew that she wouldn¡¯t win an argument with Thelsa over it. Instead, she watched as Dana found the page she was looking for. The tome hovered out in front of the small elf, while an incrediblyplex burst of light appeared above it. Dana waved the scepter across the light, and three beams shot out from her body.


    These three beams instantly connected with the three giants, causing them to let out pained cries that shook thend. Of the three, the two who had rtively normal skin tones fell to the ground, shaking the entire nearby forest. Their bodies began to dissolve into motes of light. As for the third, it seemed to be resisting the effects of the magic, holding on with its innate power.


    ¡°Oh? That¡¯s interesting.¡± Dana¡¯s voice could be heard from above. ¡°You¡¯re able to absorb magic, and turn it into your own power? Let¡¯s test how far that goes.¡± There was a yful, if almost wicked tone to her voice.


    Spell diagrams began appearing one after the other around Dana. These were so simple that even someone like Petra was able to recognize it. A simple ¡®arcane bolt¡¯ spell that even an apprentice mage could cast. However, there was the problem of quantity¡­


    Five, ten, twenty¡­ fifty, one hundred¡­ Petra lost count when there were more than three hundred diagrams formed in the air. The red giant remained stationary, ring fiercely at Dana as it seemed to work on digesting her earlier spell.


    Suddenly, Thelsa¡¯s voice spoke up within Petra¡¯s mind again. It is said that in the early days of Earth, before the discovery of second tier magic, there was a great wave that threatened to wipe out arge portion of the elven poption. Using only the first tier ice bolt spell, the Goddess of Magic froze the wave. She did this by casting thousands of spells at the same time, charging each of them to their very limit¡­


    Are you saying that Dana is using the power of the Goddess of Magic?! Petra asked in shock, staring up at the small figure.


    No¡­ I¡¯m saying that her weapon is likely able to reproduce the power that the Goddess wielded at that time. It shouldn¡¯t have a direct connection to Ryone. But still, to wield such a power is already incredibly impressive.


    As if to confirm Thelsa¡¯s thoughts, the gathered spell diagrams all fired simultaneously. Each one crackled with enough energy that it looked like it could burst at any moment. And while a normal arcane bolt would be a shapeless blur the size of a fist¡­ the sts that emerged from these spells were a dozen meters thick, refracting light like a rainbow as they crashed into the giant at the same time.


    Still, the giant tried to absorb the spells, doing its best to survive the assault. Its body even grewrger by a few meters. But Dana did not appear worried, ordering her spells tounch once again. And again¡­ and again. A dozen rounds of fire in as many seconds, until the red giant appeared to bloat, a look of fear in its eyes.


    ¡°So that¡¯s your limit.¡± Dana smiled, waving her hand again. The hundreds of simple spells faded away, reced by one of the third tier. ¡°You can die now.¡± When this spell fired, itunched a needle of ck light that pierced into the body of the giant. Then, as if it were an overfilled balloon, it popped¡­


    Blood and gore swept out across the field with the powerful explosion of mana, but that wasn¡¯t all. When Petra¡¯s eyes looked upwards to track the st, she noticed thousands of small dots descending from above. Her eyes widened in shock, remembering the insects said to lurk on the ceiling of thisyer. Had the battle with the giants caused them to lose their grip and fall?


    As she was preparing for the worst, the st of mana swept over them, sending them careening off over the forest. Although she couldn¡¯t see from her perspective, she could estimate that they should bending a few hundred meters past the cliff, inside the ocean.


    Petra offered a silent prayer, knowing that the whales would be eating well today. Looking back at the scene, she saw Dana descending to the ground, stepping onto the soaked red grass. Then, she casually put away her scepter and tome, and began walking over. ¡°Well, that was fun!¡± She said with a bright grin.


    ¡°¡­Fun?¡± Petra was sure she had to have heard wrong.


    ¡°Yeah! I got twenty whole levels at once! I think I hit the cap for this world. Hmm¡­ maybe I should grab the level up orb while I¡¯m here? Otherwise, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be able toe back next time¡­¡± When Petra heard that, she was almost certain that Dana was serious¡­ and that she had the ability to do it, too.


    ¡°If you can¡­ that would certainly be helpful.¡± She forced out the words with a strained smile, able to hear the footsteps of those from the camp charging over.


    ¡°Got it! Aunt Aurivy, mind giving me a lift?¡± Dana asked, looking upwards. Suddenly, a golden mist emerged from her feet, encapsting her body before dispersing. When it faded away, Dana was no longer present. Petra was left alone at the edge of the forest, trying to find some way to exin what she had just seen. Whether the exnation was for herself or the confused workers¡­ well, to be honest, it was for both.

 Chapter 570: Exceeding Expectations

    <h4>Chapter 570: Exceeding Expectations</h4>


    ¡°Thanks, Aurivy!¡± Dana called out as she materialized from a plume of golden mist in the firstyer of Fyor. She was standing within a great hall, monitored by over a dozen soldiers. Within the center of the hall was a towering pir of crystal that rose up and pierced through the ceiling.


    Dana rolled her shoulders for a moment to adjust to the gravity on the lowest floor, clutching in her hands not one, but four crystal spheres. While she was grabbing the level limit orb from the twenty-fifth floor, she decided that she might as well go all the way. With Aurivy guiding her, she found thest two ss orbs, as well as the remaining level orb.


    The level orb for the twenty-fifth floor was actually ced quite precariously at the top of the level, in the ceiling amidst the menacing insects. When she saw that, she shook her head, unsure if the residents would have ever located the object on their own. Afterwards, she found the pilot orb at the bottom of the ocean, resting within a giant m.


    From there, she went to the twenty-fourth floor, where she actually had a bit of fun. Both of the orbs were stored together within arge museum, treated as ancient relics. Rather than swooping in and snatching them away, leaving her identity as someone of the lower floors to create hostility, Dana took her time to n the heist.


    Disguising her figure as one of the solii, using the air vents and monitoring their patrol routes, it took her two days to pull off her little stunt. Of course, she had no doubt that she was caught on at least one surveince device, but with her body disguised as a solii she did not believe that they would immediately me the foreigners.


    When the guards within the great hall saw Dana appear from a puff of golden mist, they at first held their weapons, preparing for battle. It wouldn¡¯t be the first time that someone with nefarious methods had tried to take control of the central spire. Such a thing had even happened during the downfall of the Council, and was the reason why there were so many guards present at all times.


    Although they were not meant to stop anyone from approaching the spire itself, they were not to allow the spire to be attacked. So, when they saw the four crystal spheres in Dana¡¯s hands, they immediately became shocked.


    One had to realize that the most effort spent when exploring a new floor was to find any of these crystal spheres hidden on them. Since the dawn of the world, Fyor had been behind other worlds in terms of the sses avable to train. This had allowed it to be a world where others frequently visited to ¡®boost¡¯ their base stats.


    Over time, this gap was gradually closed, however. At this point, there were only two known sses that were not yet ounted for, as well as two level orbs. Aside from those four objects, everything else had been properly acquired. And¡­ this elven girl suddenly appeared with what seemed to be all four.


    One of the guards stepped out of line, walking over to greet Dana. His attitude was cordial, seeing that she would likely be bestowing a great boon to the entire. ¡°Is there anything I can help you with, miss¡­?¡±


    ¡°Jafer. Dana Jafer!¡± Dana smiled, holding her hands out to pass the crystal orbs to the guard. ¡°Would you mind taking care of these for me.¡±


    In truth, Dana had originally been born ¡®outside the system¡¯ due to her nature as an unbound aeon. She could grow in power and gain the equivalent of levels by feasting on and refining spiritual energy. It was only after she became formally connected to Tsubaki as her familiar that she was epted once again, and able to gain levels.


    Ever since then, she had been giving it her all to train, to reach a level where it would make Tsubaki proud. Now, she was nearing the goal that she had set for herself, and was eager to get back to her training.


    The guard looked dumbfounded at the crystals before him, shaking his head. From this distance, he could confirm the authenticity of these objects. ¡°If you insist, I can. However¡­ are you aware that using these orbs provides the user with benefits from the system? For instance, anyone who uses a level orb will get a tenth of the limit provided.¡±


    Dana¡¯s eyes went wide at that, and she looked at the orbs in her hand. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± She divided them into two, handing the ss orbs to the guard while taking the level orbs to the crystal herself. Another twenty levels would bring her that much closer to meeting her goal.


    Maybe she ran into an ident? Petra asked in concern, standing at the edge of the camp and watching the construction of the base. It had been days since Dana had departed, and there had been no announcement yet.


    While taking days to find those objects and take them to the center of the world was not at all umon, it was a different matter entirely when one was borrowing the power of the Goddess of Travel. In actuality, Petra had been expecting the announcement to spread through the world in a matter of minutes, an hour at most.


    Someone of her strength¡­ an ident is unlikely. Given her personality, I think there¡¯s a far higher possibility that she was simply distracted. That, or she was called away before being able to send the orbs to the first floor. Thelsa¡¯s voice spoke back to her in a gentle tone.


    Well¡­ I guess that it doesn¡¯t really have anything to do with us anymore. If ites, ites, and if not¡­ we¡¯ll have to find them ourselvester. Petra nodded her head as she thought of that, setting her hammer down next to herself.


    After Dana left, Petra was forced to exin how the girl, a servant of the Keeper, had decided to y the monsters by herself. While most of the adventurers didn¡¯t want to believe that Dana was able to do such a feat, the field was still dyed red with the blood of the third giant. Had the other two not dissolved into motes of light, the scene would have been far more gruesome.


    Meanwhile, the dovah guildmaster was ecstatic. Dana had not asked for any payment, and was not a member of the guild. Although he still had to pay a fee to cancel the emergency order, it was far less than if he had to pay the adventurers themselves to fight against the giants.


    Petra let out a light sigh, shaking her head at the tight-pursed guildmaster. With the threat of more giants returning, an additional retinue of guards had been hired, and construction was being elerated to its limits. After two days, the Magic Tower had beenpleted, gathering and refining ambient mana to create fuel for the buildings that woulde afterwards.


    Now they were hastily working on establishing a permanent portal, one that wouldn¡¯t need to be reced after each use. Once that was done, the floor would officially be ¡®open¡¯ to the general public. As Petra was thinking about that, a quick series of notifications appeared in front of her face.


    Level Limit +100


    Level Limit +100


    The Advanced ss, Perfect Self, has been made avable!


    The Advanced ss, Pilot, has been made avable!


    Petra¡¯s eyes twitched as she saw the series of messages that had appeared in front of her. Due to the shock, one of the workers had dropped the casing for the permanent portal, causing it to crack against a protruding stone. The demoness turned her eyes towards the dovah, who somehow seemed to grow pale under his ck fur at the sight of the damaged casing.


    Okay¡­ maybe she was just grabbing the rest of them¡­ Petra sighed, shaking her head at the realization.


    ¡°Tsuba, I¡¯m back!¡± Dana called out as she entered the citadel, humming to herself and skipping into the pce. When she walked in, she found Tsubaki kneeling as usual before the Keeper¡¯s throne. However, that Tsubaki didn¡¯t turn to greet her. Instead, another avatar of Tsubaki appeared, smiling at Dana.


    ¡°Wee back. I assume everything went well on your side?¡± Tsubaki asked as she held Dana¡¯s hand, leading her down the halls of the citadel.


    ¡°Yup! I got about forty levels while I was over there!¡± Dana exined, grinning broadly as she boasted. ¡°There were some really big giants, and one of them had the ability to absorb magic. I let it eat and eat until it got big and went pop!¡±


    Tsubaki simply chuckled, shaking her head. ¡°Well, at least it sounds like you had fun.¡±


    ¡°I did! And there was this really neat girl there, too. She had some kind of shadow power that let her have an entire army¡¯s worth of souls inside of herself! I told her that she cane to the citadel sometime if she needs to, is that alright?¡±


    The kitsune seemed to think it over for a moment, before offering a small nod. ¡°If she¡¯s someone that you feel is trustworthy, then it is fine. Have you gotten any new inspirations?¡±


    ¡°Yup!¡± Dana nodded eagerly. ¡°I thought about this while I was in the soliiyer. You remember how we made the Reality Gems? What if we applied the same principal to other base energy types? Ki, natural energy, and spirit? Then, would we be able to use one of each as the pir to create arger, independent world?¡±


    ¡°With the four primaries serving as the foundation in a fourth tier array, we should be able to create a full-sized world that isn¡¯t any smaller than this one! Though¡­ as for life or whatever, I can¡¯t predict how that evolution would y out¡­¡±


    Tsubaki considered Dana¡¯s idea, finding that it did seem to be valid. ¡°There is the problem of time. Even at the fourth tier, I can¡¯t find a time mechanism that would elerate by more than a factor of a thousand. Assuming we make this world like you said, we¡¯d need to wait a long time for life to flourish.¡±


    Dana furrowed her brow, trying toe up with a fix for this issue. ¡°What if we import nts from Spica? The ones that can flourish in any environment. As long as the basics form, we should be able to kickstart the terraforming process and make a single livable. Then, even if animals don¡¯t grow there, it would be the perfect ce to establish a research base!¡±


    ¡°I get the strangest feeling that Dana should never be allowed to meet with Chel.¡± I chuckled to myself, watching Dana return to her workshop after parting with Tsubaki. The two of them would get along great if they did meet, but that was part of the problem. They¡¯d get along so great that they might end up destroying a universe or two in their experiments¡­


    Dana was already considering the feasibility of anchoring a world with the prime energies. And now that I thought about that¡­ didn¡¯t James say that he had to go through several worlds like that when he was exploring Fyor? Is that a feature that was created to help stabilize the unique nature of that world, or would every universe have simr extranar realms?


    If it was the former, then Dana¡¯s experiment was likely to create a second Fyor if they followed the right form. If it was thetter, then¡­ I couldn¡¯t really predict what would happen. I just hoped that it didn¡¯t blow up in their face and wipe out a with the bacsh of four Reality Gems of different energy types.


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll be fine.¡± Terra grinned, ever the maker of mischief. ¡°What¡¯s the worst that could happen?¡±


    ¡°I think I just heard a g being nted.¡± Now I definitely couldn¡¯t let those two meet.

 Chapter 571: About Time

    <h4>Chapter 571: About Time</h4>


    ¡°Greetings, captain.¡± Speaker Thorne spoke up with a pleasant smile, looking towards the kitsune that approached her in the orbital shipyard around Deckan. ¡°Is this the vessel you wish to use?¡± Her eyes turned towards therge ship suspended in space a short distance away from the station.


    This was the newest exploration ship created by the Deckan forces built with the technology that they had researched from the Metong vessels. ¡°That¡¯s right. She¡¯s the Seeker.¡± The kitsune male nodded with pride, turning towards his ship as well. ¡°With the spatial shift drive you provided, she¡¯ll be able to explore the furthest reaches of space.¡±


    ¡°Have you discovered a method of crossing the dimensional boundaries?¡± Thorne asked with interest, looking between the captain and his ship.


    ¡°With a bit of help from higher powers.¡± He nodded his head. In truth, it was the Keeper¡¯s Servant that had stepped forward to help them solve this matter when they could find no solution. The Sky Citadel has long since been capable of seamlessly shifting between realms, even before the other worlds had fully explored one another.


    When Tsubaki shared the knowledge of this method, Deckan¡¯s researchers were enlightened. The Sky Citadel used a modified temple to channel the power of the Goddess Aurivy. However, it also had a backup mechanism that allowed it to draw purely from mana to create the same feat.


    Naturally, not everyone was so favored by the goddess that they could draw from her power at will. Perhaps if they had an abundance of her tokens, but such was not a feasible n for long-term space travel. Rather, they focused on the alternative method. By studying the ns for that modified temple, they were able to create a functional nar warp.


    However, there was a w with it as well. Just as the Sky Citadel was built with the globes as anchor points to direct its travel, this new warp drive needed simr anchors. These were the Fairy Rings, items universally recognized for being the center of nar travel. Whenever the Seeker shifted to a new ne, it would be positioned directly above the Fairy Ring, high enough to be outside of even Lorek¡¯s atmosphere.


    ¡°Well then, I wish you the best in your search.¡± Speaker Thorne offered a small bow towards the captain. ¡°I have already passed the ship¡¯s registration to my people to ensure that you will be treated as an allied unit wherever you pass. With any luck, you will have made a positive decision by the time you return.¡±


    The captain chuckled, reaching up and pressing two fingers against a badge on his left shoulder. There was a small burst of mana, and he disappeared from the shipyard, being teleported directly aboard the Seeker. It was time for the forces of Deckan to truly explore Metong space and identify their nature through the traces left behind.


    Jana stood atop a high mountain, looking down at the sprawling city before her. The world of Lorek had undergone a great change in recent years, due to the development and understanding of their own cultivation system as well as the importing of technology and methods from other worlds.


    No longer were the people restricted to hiding within the ancient cities, fearing the cold of winter with an empty stomach. As long as one was diligent enough, it was a simple matter to find a subject to cultivate in and reach the Lord rank. Of course, for those that did not properly choose their paths, or who were not serious in their training, they would forever be stuck at or below the Master rank.


    Only those exceptional few like Jana herself had managed to reach the stage of the Immortals, beings no longer bound by time. From her understanding of the other worlds, this could be seen as the Perfect Self, though modified for each individual¡¯s cultivation method. For Jana, her Immortal Body contained heavy traces of the water element.


    However, her level had long since passed that stage as well. Within her internal sky was a vast darkness surrounding a cluttered gxy. At the core of the gxy was a single ck spot. This spot had be her hint on how to advance to the next stage, beyond the Heavenly Immortal. ¡®From the darkness all was created, and to the darkness all returns¡¯. This was the message left by the world.


    As Jana was contemting that, she noticed amotion in the city below. Furrowing her brows, she stepped forward, crossing hundreds of kilometers in an instant to appear within the city square. People were in a panic, trying to find out what ¡®it¡¯ meant. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Jana asked, her voice immediately quieting down those around her.


    ¡°I-Immortal Jana.¡± One of the ursa turned to regard her. ¡°There¡­ seems to be a problem with our Fairy Ring. It isn¡¯t activating on schedule.¡±


    Jana raised a curious brow at that, understanding the severity of the situation. ¡°That¡¯s not enough for all of this, is it? Have you tried activating it from our end?¡±


    ¡°We have, of course.¡± The ursa nodded quickly. ¡°The ring refuses to connect to any of the set worlds. Only a random connection has shown any results so far, but nobody dares to step through to check the situation from a random world.¡±


    That was entirely understandable. For all anyone knew, a random world could bepletely inhospitable, with poison gas in the atmosphere orkes of acid. ¡°We¡¯ll wait.¡± Jana said in a confident tone. ¡°Patience has never been a problem for us, has it?¡±


    The ursa was taken aback, before nodding his head. ¡°Understood, Immortal.¡± They had been panicking because the severing of the connection could represent a number of things. First and foremost, that they would be on their own, and no longer able to benefit from the development of the other worlds. Alternatively¡­ it could even mean that the other worlds themselves were no longer there.


    And so, Jana stood by the gate, patiently waiting. Every day, they would attempt to connect once again to another world. It was only a weekter that this connection was finally stabilized, and by that point the residents of Lorek were truly beginning to worry. However, when they discovered the source of the problem, they no longer knew what to think of it.


    ¡°Lorek?¡± A voice spoke up over the transmission device on their side of the ring. ¡°Is there a problem?¡± The voice on the other end sounded genuinely confused, as if Lorek had not been cut off for a week already.


    Jana was naturally one to pick up on that oddity in their tone. ¡°That is one way to put it¡­ I would like to ask¡­ how long has it been since ourst contact?¡±


    ¡°Almost four hours. ording to our records, a merchant caravan passed through with some immigrants from our side, and your side sent some students on a¡­ I think it was listed as a cultural exchange study?¡± Jana turned her head to look at those nearby, wanting to confirm these ims. When she saw a dwarven man nodding his head, she let out a sigh.


    ¡°I see¡­ I would like to petition for the League to allow Lorek extra time slots where appropriate to connect with other worlds.¡±


    That request was clearly unusual for the man on the other end. ¡°I¡¯ll need an appropriate reason to pass along¡­¡±


    ¡°The supposed four hours on your end has been a total of eight days for us.¡± Jana informed him. ¡°It appears that time is no longer flowing at a fixed rate in Lorek, and we will need to adjust for it.¡± After saying that, she stepped away from the device, no longer interested in pursuing the conversation. She had long grown bored with politics and managing the people.


    When she left the city, she considered the matter and decided to inform the rest of the popce about this new development. Her stride was casual, but each step seemed to connect one mountaintop to the next, covering the horizon in a matter of moments. With every city she passed, she left behind a simple message.


    ¡°The world has changed. Seek Fairy¡¯s Watch to learn the truth.¡± Fairy¡¯s Watch was the name of the settlement where the Fairy¡¯s Ring was kept. As Jana couldn¡¯t be bothered to exin the entire story again and again, she left only that brief exnation behind.


    For three hours she walked, crossing over the hundred cities of the continent and spreading the word. Along the way, she met with numerous star beasts, but they all made way for her. Within the world, there was not a single beast that had reached the level of Heavenly Demon, the monster counterpart to Jana¡¯s current realm.


    Such monsters did exist, however, and she had often gone to deal with them when she felt them drawing near. It was simply ufortable to remain outside of the atmosphere for too long and endure the energy storms. Though they were good ces to cultivate, they were ripe with ferocious beasts.


    While she was passing the message along, Jana considered the various implications behind this new time disparity. Clearly, the flow of time was somewhat in flux, as it was passing normally during her conversation with the man on the other side. Otherwise, his words would have seemed incredibly slow, and hers would have been iprehensible.


    If one were to discount the time that they were connected, it could be estimated that time was flowing at a rate of roughly fifty times faster on their end. The reason that they had been unable to connect to other worlds at that point would be quite simple. The other worlds themselves would have been doing their regrly scheduled transfers at that time, preventing the connections.


    Is that going to be the new norm? Is the flow of time fixed, or is fifty simply the average of different periods over this week? Jana couldn¡¯t answer these questions on her own, but knew that they would be known eventually. For now, all she had to do was be patient. Patience was something she nevercked.


    ¡°I almost forgot to take care of that.¡± I chuckled dryly after setting up the time dtion around both Spica and Lorek. The idea hade from Balu during the previous meeting, but I hadn¡¯t gotten around to actually implementing it yet after I returned.


    Sitting across from me, Ashley rolled her eyes, holding up the cards in her hand. ¡°Think they¡¯ll be able to adjust like you want?¡±


    I shrugged, not knowing the answer to that myself. ¡°Either they¡¯ll adjust¡­ or we¡¯re going to be a lot busier in the future. Six of Eyes?¡± I nced down to my own cards, calling out one at random.


    ¡°No such luck.¡± Ashley grinned, forcing me to draw a card. We were ying a modified version of ¡®Go Fish¡¯ built on a popr ying card deck from Desbar. ¡°Well, hopefully this will give them an incentive to explore the rest of their world. Three of Horns?¡±


    I clicked my tongue, pulling the card I had just drawn from my hand and tossing it to her. ¡°I don¡¯t think it will be that simple. Most people are only reaching the Binary Union stage, but monsters on Lorek can go as high as Ster Expanse. Only Jana herself is at the ¡®Void Giant¡¯ realm and can dominate all monsters in the world. For everyone else, they¡¯ll need to be more careful of powerful monsters.¡±


    ¡°Maybe¡­ but it¡¯s better than when they were stuck at the opening stages, forced to hide within mountains, right?¡± Ashley offered with a slight shrug, cing down herst cards from her hand. ¡°And that¡¯s you doing the dishes tonight.¡±


    ¡°But¡­ we don¡¯t have dishes.¡± I reminded her, blinking. She seemed surprised by myment, before giving a slight chuckle. Back when we knew each other on the old Earth, we¡¯d often use random tasks like that as bets in games. She appeared to have slipped back into those habits for a moment.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ I get to pick movie night, then?¡± Ashley corrected herself, her cheeks a darker shade of red.

 Chapter 572: Another Step

    <h4>Chapter 572: Another Step</h4>


    Initially, many people had a hard time understanding what was going on with the two cultivation worlds. Lorek had been the first to be identified, given that Spica¡¯s scheduled ¡®connection window¡¯ happened to coincide with the time that the change took ce. Once they closed their connection, however, they re-established it less than half an hourter.


    As the normal traffic hours were over for the day, they had far less trouble making the connection than Lorek did. They were shocked to discover that so little time had psed on the other side. Of course, by this time the news from Lorek had yet to spread to the other worlds, so Spica wasn¡¯t able to learn of their shared plight.


    It took five hours of normal time for the information to reach both worlds. This meant roughly ten days had passed for them as they tried to adjust to the situation. Naturally, there were more consequences to this sudden shift than just travel between worlds. The only reason that the information was able to travel as quickly as it did was due to the existence of the inte, but that was now being massively slowed within the affected worlds.


    Games such as Natural Seed and Vision Expanse could no longer be yed by anyone who had less than a certain level of aplishment in their cultivation, or else their body would start to decline after just an hour of being logged in. Given that Spica was a big consumer for these games, it caused quite the uproar.


    After one week of normal time, when nearly a year had passed in Spica, the God of Games made his move. Using arge portion of the energy that he had obtained thus far, he created a second server for each of the ¡®world games¡¯ that was housed within Spica. These games could not easily be cloned onto an additional server through natural methods, after all. They were created by divinity, and thus required divinity to change.


    With this issue solved, other issues began to resolve themselves in due course. News was no longer transmitted in ¡®real time¡¯ from the other worlds, and only sent in brief bursts of data once every day. Meanwhile, news being transmitted out from Spica and Lorek had its priority adjusted. Given that they had fifty days worth of news for every one from anywhere else, they only sent the most major events.


    By the time a month had passed, people were having mixed thoughts about the change. For some, they thought of it as an easy way to get their children through an ¡®elerated schooling¡¯ by sending them to one of these worlds. However, these thoughts were quickly debunked by people that pointed out that the passage of time still appeared normal for those on the other end.


    Who would want to go to another world just for the same education they would receive at home? More importantly, which parent would want to separate from their kid for a week, only to meet them and have them be a year older? Although there were some that refused to believe the truth of how this worked, it proved to be a small number of the poption.


    Within the core of a mountain, in the deep rocky hills of Earth, Dana¡¯s voice called out. ¡°How are youing on your end!?¡±


    ¡°I think I¡¯m almost there!¡± Tsubaki¡¯s voice echoed back from outside a dark cavern. Just as they had when creating their Reality Gems, they had opted to use mountains as the center of their production facilities. However, they were unable to use their previous spell forms, as there was a stark difference when manipting different types of energies.


    As a spirit herself, Dana was tasked with creating the gem which would generate spiritual energy. This was also the energy closest to mana in the way that it operated, but different enough that it still required quite a bit of thought for how they wanted to achieve their goals. Meanwhile, Tsubaki was working on the ki production gem. Only when these two werepleted would they work on the final one together.


    Dana furrowed her brow as she looked across her diagram, trying to find the best way to align the differentponents. It had been sheer luck that allowed them toplete the first gem, but now they had that experience to base themselves off.


    Her mind ran through countless different patterns, mentally rearranging the different diagramponents in hundreds of different ways to find one where the lines all properly flowed into one another. Sometimes, she would think that she had gotten it right, but would realize that she had overlooked something when it came time to actually draw it out.


    When we¡¯re done with this, I¡¯ve totally got to learn programming. She thought to herself with a shake of her head. Maybe I can set up some kind of modeling program that will allow me to just insert the differentponents I want and have it just find the way to make it work on its own¡­


    Of course, she could likely ask Ashley for help with something like that if she wanted to. While she was much more willing to request aid from the gods, that was only in the event that she wasn¡¯t able to do something on her own. And this felt more like a challenge to her than an insurmountable obstacle.


    As she thought about that, something seemed to click in her head, finding another pattern that may be able to solve her current dilemma. With careful precision, she carved out the stone around her to begin drawing the new diagram.


    ¡°Are you prepared, miss?¡± One of the scientists asked the young centauress who stood in front of the metal chamber, her hooves pping against the reinforced floor.


    Alme stared at the chamber, feeling her nerves starting to get to her. This wasn¡¯t the same danger sense as those who worshipped Terra, merely the concern one faced when about to take a step that would change their lives forever.


    As one who had lived as long as Alme, someone that had ruled an entire world for over a thousand years, she had experienced such situations many times already. Thus, she was able to steel her nerves, and took that step forward. ¡°I¡¯m sure.¡±


    The scientist nodded his head, having asked this mostly out of protocol. They had to ensure that each subject was willing to undertake the procedure of their own will, and give them every chance to back out. In Alme¡¯s case, he fully expected her to pass, seeing the data that had been presented upon her entry. With her levels, it would be a miracle if she were to fail.


    However, that miracle would not be a fluke of data but rather dependent on the mindset of the individual. In theory, the ¡®ny-nine percent sess rate¡¯ was actually one hundred percent, it was only when the individuals themselves caused a disruption in the process that it could fail.


    Once Alme was inside, the man proceeded to close the chamber, sealing everything within. As part of the process, she was forbidden from carrying any enchanted items with her, leaving her with a simple white gown that covered her humanoid upper half.


    The man walked over to the control terminal for the chamber, activating the microphone to speak to Alme. ¡°We¡¯ll begin stimting the fusion between your various energy types now. Please rx, and do not resist if you feel anything strange.¡±


    Since the procedure was being monitored, he would be able to tell immediately if Alme¡¯s health bar dropped before it was time. If that happened, it wouldn¡¯t be toote to forcefully cancel the procedure.


    Hearing the instructions, Alme paced around the small chamber for a brief moment, before deciding to sit herself down. She didn¡¯t want to fall over if she suddenly got dizzy or anything, and so she crossed her hands over her abdomen and waited.


    Soon, she could indeed feel something just as the man said. Her energy became more active, rising outside of her control. Her natural instinct from numerous battles was to force that energy back down, but she restrained herself. She had already been warned, and knew that it was all part of the process.


    Bit by bit, her mana began to merge with her soul, as did her ki, before her ki and mana likewise began to form a small connection with her soul as the base. This processsted for roughly half an hour before the voice spoke to her again. ¡°The energy merge has reached an optimal level. Do not be rmed, this next stage will require utmost focus on your part. We¡¯re going to trigger an eruption of energy to help you shed your physical being. Keep your thoughts firm, and you¡¯ll be back to normal in no time at all.¡±


    This was the stage where the willpower of the subject was put to the test. For the first part of the procedure, it was just a matter of waiting for the energies to properly merge. Sometimes it would take hours, or even over a day if the subject was missing a spiritual ss. Rarely, the overstimtion of the spirit could lead to failure, but that was only for those that hadn¡¯t trained it.


    The second step, as he exined, meant to ignite the energy all at once, shattering the physical body and leaving the individual as a mass of residual energy. There were numerous mechanisms in ce to stimte the willpower of the person inside once this happened, but whether it seeded or not ultimately depended on the individual.


    The man gave Alme a few moments to process that, and saw that she didn¡¯t raise any objections. Then, he hit the big, shiny red button that activated the second stage. On the screen, Alme¡¯s body¡­ exploded. Across every world, any centaur would feel a chill down their spine, an anxiousness that was transmitted from their patron god himself.


    Within the chamber was the scattered gore that once made Alme¡¯s body, as well as a twisting cloud of energy. The scientist outside of the chamber let out a faint sigh, shaking his head. ¡°Now we wait.¡± He muttered, both for himself and the figure he felt watching him from a distance.


    This step could be over in an instant, or take days toplete depending on the subject in question. It was only if the will of the host was entirely lost that the energy inside would dissipate. Just as the man was preparing to step away, letting the process run its course, he heard a ding from the console.


    While not unheard of, it was incredibly rare for this step to finish in under a minute. Yet, when he looked back at the screen, he could see the energy cloud condensing, reforming into the familiar appearance of the young centauress. She still had that firm look of concentration on her face that she held at the start of the procedure, and it caused a sigh of relief to emerge from the scientist.


    Inside the chamber, Alme was able to clearly feel the changes in her body. Unlike those who either lost energy during the process or were below the ¡®rmended level¡¯, Alme did not lose any of her size after achieving perfection. She was just as tall as she was before, but had a far clearer control over her own body.


    With a thought, she could change her hair and skin tones. Her horn could shrink or extend at will, even vanishing entirely. Looking down at herself, and realizing that the gown she had been provided was destroyed in the procedure, she created a new one from her own energy.


    Once that was done, a look of excitement appeared on her face. Though she was surrounded by the bloody mess of her old form, she had finally taken that step forward, and achieved the true eternity that she had long since sought. Unburdened by the restraints of a mortal body, she could train and explore once more.


    As the door opened, she stepped outside of the room, hooves pping against the metal tile. ¡°What¡¯s going to happen to¡­¡± She didn¡¯t finish her sentence, ncing back into the chamber.


    The scientist clearly expected a question like this, as it was one that came often. There were many ways to take advantage of one¡¯s physical body, even after achieving perfection. With the right spells, it could be used as a weapon against her. Clearly, they would not allow something like that to happen.


    ¡°Not to worry. You can watch on the screen.¡± He told her, closing the chamber again. Alme blinked, trotting over to see what he meant. When he returned, he hit the white button marked ¡®cleaning cycle¡¯. Bursts of energy arose within the room, turning into towering mes that engulfed everything.


    When the mes passed, there was naught but ash left in the chamber, and a sprinkler system activated to wash it all away.

 Chapter 573: Sniping

    <h4>Chapter 573: Sniping</h4>


    Iing Message from EverLasting!


    I blinked as I sat at my desk, going over a few potential ns for the future. I hadn¡¯t expected Sarah to call me suddenly, and then it hit me. I remembered that I had asked her to look for some information for me not too long ago about my next opponent. I had been preupied with adjusting my own worlds that the matter had entirely slipped from my mind.


    EarthForceOne: I take it that this means you found something?


    EverLasting: That¡¯s right! I found some more recent information about Grudge! It was really hard, because circumstances are a bit special with this one¡­


    EarthForceOne: What¡¯s so wrong with it? Is he a special kind of monster Keeper?


    EverLasting: No, definitely not that. From what I can tell, he¡¯s actually a nk te.


    When I read that, my eyebrows shot up in surprise. This wasn¡¯t the first time that I had heard the term in regards to a Keeper, not at all. However, it was the first time I had heard it for one this advanced.


    EarthForceOne: You mean one of those that the system creates after a Keeper falls in a battle? But don¡¯t they typically die early on to find their recement?


    EverLasting: That¡¯s why this one is special. Every now and then, there will be a nk te that¡­ well, they just fail to die. It¡¯s been just over a standard year since this guy took over as the Grudge Keeper, so for him to already be Rank Two¡­


    EarthForceOne: His ¡®chaotic method¡¯ is to rapidly increase the strength of his world until it goes out of control and something ends up killing him.


    EverLasting: That seems to be the case. He¡¯s never attended any meetings, including the annual one, never sent an invading force in any of his battles, and nobody has had direct contact with him since he rose to power.


    EverLasting: The only way I managed to find his identity was by looking up Grudge¡¯s battle records. Since they¡¯re wiped whenever a nk te takes over, his history only goes back six months.


    EarthForceOne: Are you sure that he isn¡¯t the one that reced the nk te, and just building in a rapid, haphazard way?


    EverLasting: Thought about that! That¡¯s why I checked to see if anyone had seen him in the recent annual meeting. As you know, it gets really boring to just wait in your own Administration Room when your worlds are frozen, so even monster Keepers tend to attend the annual meetings. But nobody I asked had any memory of seeing or talking to the Keeper called Grudge.


    EverLasting: It¡¯s definitely not impossible that he isn¡¯t a nk te, but the odds are stacked against it.


    EarthForceOne: So now the question bes¡­ do Iunch an attack to reset the nk te and try to get an easy world, or pass because he might have advanced too far ahead by the end of the month?


    EverLasting: That¡¯s really up to you! People noticed me checking up on Grudge, so others are probably looking to snipe him if you don¡¯t. Nobody really feels guilty about sniping a nk te that rose to power like this. Hell, even the System Companions would thank you for it, because they hate managing them. Easier just to reset it with a more sessful one that can pass the title on sooner. Not to mention the achievement.


    EarthForceOne: Okay, you said a magic word there. What achievement?


    EverLasting: Heh, thought you mighttch onto that. There are two achievements you can get if you participate in this battle. The first is just the basic one for defeating another Keeper in the games, ¡®To the Victor¡¯, which gives a nice lump of points and a special world-wide perk.


    EverLasting: The second achievement is specifically for killing a nk te. This one¡¯s called ¡®Mercy Killing¡¯, and offers a perk that can be used once a year called ¡®Sniper Scope¡¯. This is why everyone calls it sniping to kill the nk tes. The perk lets you shuffle your next opponent for the next game, randomly changing to another Keeper of the same tier.


    That definitely sounded like a useful achievement. Being able to swap my opponents would let me get away from a particrly dangerous monster or tyrant Keeper if I felt like they were too strong for me to handle.


    EarthForceOne: What about the perk for To the Victor?


    EverLasting: That one¡¯s actually really good, too, if you n on idling at a specific rank. It¡¯s a big hit with avenger types. The perk is called ¡®World Shackles¡¯, and ces a hard limit on the power of the world. Once the shackles are invoked, the world can no longer advance beyond its current level of power. If something wouldn¡¯t ¡®advance the power¡¯, it works fine. But if it would¡­ technology malfunctions, cultivators hit a bottleneck, magic turns chaotic, the world itself rejects the advancement in power.


    EarthForceOne: That¡­ doesn¡¯t sound like a temporary thing.


    EverLasting: Nope! Once this perk is activated, it is permanent until the entire world is reset. That¡¯s why I said it¡¯s only useful for those that want to idle at a rank. They build themselves up to the top of their current rank, then activate the shackles. Without a full-on assault from a hostile Keeper, it¡¯s way too hard to kill someone at the top of their rank.


    EverLasting: It¡¯s not a verymonly used perk, aside from people who stay in the first couple ranks to kill enemies of their guild.


    So one of the perks I was destined to never use, while the other one was something I could use in an emergency. Aside from that, there were the points that came with the two achievements, as well as the benefits thate from winning an invasion in the first ce. Closing my eyes, I gave a small nod.


    EarthForceOne: I¡¯ll try my hand at sniping, then.


    EverLasting: Thought you might! Happy hunting!


    With that, the conversation ended, leaving me to my thoughts. If I wanted to simply destroy the world of a nk te, I was sure I had numerous methods to do so. The only thing to consider was whether I could be sure that the forces I sent would arrive on the right world. Which I had no way of guaranteeing.


    Aside from that, it seemed far more beneficial to kill the nk te without destroying their world. If I did it like that, I would be able to look over their world and decide whether I wanted to keep it for myself, or refund it for more points. If I simply destroyed the world together with the nk te, my only option would be to refund it.


    Either way, there was something that I needed to do to prepare. I needed to get a force capable of destroying a second rank world. Which meant paying a visit to Dana and Tsubaki.


    ¡°I think we¡¯ve just about got it over here!¡± Dana called out, adding the finishing touches to hertest design. ording to all of her calctions, it seemed like this new design should be able to handle the creation of the Spirit Gem. They just had to test it out. And, to ensure that there were no unexpected consequences, she checked each of the¡­ thousands of connections between the various shapes to ensure that they didn¡¯t create additional spells of their own.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get ready to test it, then! Head outside once you¡¯re ready!¡± Tsubaki¡¯s voice called back. Dana nodded to herself, finishing up thest of her inscriptions before turning into a stream of silver mist that flew through the passageway. As always, Tsubaki would send an avatar of herself in to test the spell, while Dana waited for the results with her main body.


    However, Dana found something quite unexpected when she left the mountain. Tsubaki was prostrated on her knees, bowing before a lycan that stood at the base of the mountain. It only took Dana a moment to realize that this must have been the Keeper, and she solidified her body with a grin. ¡°Hey, Keeper! Here to see the experiment?¡±


    ¡°Not this time.¡± He replied with a gentle smile. ¡°I was actually wanting to talk with the two of you, if you can spare a few minutes?¡±


    ¡°For you, always, my Keeper.¡± Tsubaki spoke in a reverent tone, not hesitating in the slightest while Dana just shrugged her shoulders.


    ¡°While the two of you were at the recent meeting, did either of youe across the term ¡®nk te¡¯?¡± When the Keeper asked that, the two girls looked at one another, before shaking their heads. ¡°That¡¯s not surprising, it¡¯s a rather niche term in my circle. So, allow me to first exin.¡±


    ¡°When a Keeper dies during an invasion, they will be reced by a self-destructive embodiment of the world¡¯sws. Their sole purpose is to die, so that the next generation of Keeper can be born from their world. It is a sad fate, but the one that they are created for, and one that they ept. How they go about it, however, is different. In the case of my ¡®ancestor¡¯, he created a world where special powers werepletely randomized, until one came along that made him detonate himself.¡±


    Tsubaki let out an instinctive shudder as she seemed to think about the Keeper self-destructing like that, actually looking up to him with pleading eyes. That earned a chuckle from him. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I have no intention of doing anything like that. The reason I bring it up is that my next opponent in battle is one of these nk tes. His method of self-destruction is to advance his world so quickly that it will eventually overtake him.¡±


    ¡°So far, that method has failed. For cases like this, it is the duty of other Keepers to reset them in battle. As you may have learned, Terra is an embodiment of the system designed to aid me. Nearly every Keeper will have someone simr, and these embodiments themselves would prefer that the nk tes are reset and allowed to run their natural course.¡±


    ¡°That seems a bit sad.¡± Dana mentioned, thinking it over. ¡°Someone born just to die and be the foundation of the next generation?¡±


    The Keeper looked at Dana rather peculiarly. ¡°Isn¡¯t that what happens with everyone? Parents spend their lives preparing for their children to live, and die in peace knowing that they did all they could for them when their time is over. You can think of this as something simr, a step the system took to aid the first ¡®true¡¯ Keeper of each world by allowing them some foundation to build off of.¡±


    Dana blinked in surprise at theparison. ¡°I¡­ suppose. What do you need of us, then?¡±


    ¡°A force capable of killing a Keeper.¡± When the Keeper said that, the two maids looked at him in surprise. ¡°I know that you have the Reality Gems, and these new items you¡¯re working on. And I know why you are both reluctant to allow them to be turned into weapons. All I can say is that they shall only be used when the need to kill an enemy Keeper arrives.¡±


    ¡°And more importantly¡­ if we have items like these, surely other Keepers will as well. I¡¯m not naive enough to think that only I have a pair of geniuses like the two of you, able to create such wonders with fourth-tier magic. Once the world grows a bit stronger, perhaps items like that will bemonly seen amongst invaders. For this, we have to be ready.¡±


    Tsubaki hesitated when she heard that, before nodding her head. ¡°Very well. I¡¯ll begin toy the foundations of a proper defense against simr methods as soon as we are done carrying out yourmand.¡±


    The Keeper nodded his head with a smile. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m sure that the two of you will be able to handle it. As always, you have full authority to carry out any changes that you may need. However¡­ have either of you thought about your rewards for attending the meeting with me?¡±


    Dana blinked, having genuinely forgotten about it for a while. They had been promised the right to request a change in the world itself, so long as it did not consume more points than they earned for him in the meeting. ¡°Instead of a system change to the world¡­ can we ask for items?¡±


    The Keeper looked at her, thinking it over for a moment before nodding. ¡°I can¡¯t give you the finished item without getting Tubrock and Ryone¡¯s help, but I can give you the blueprints to create it on your own.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine!¡± Dana smiled happily. In fact, a blueprint was far more valuable than the item, as it could be used repeatedly and referenced to deepen her understanding. ¡°In that case, I¡¯d like a blueprint for an item that can refine liquid mana into a more efficient fuel source.¡±


    That request seemed to surprise the Keeper, but he still agreed to it, before looking to Tsubaki. ¡°And you?¡±


    ¡°I would like¡­¡± Tsubaki hesitated, unsure what request she should put forth. Eventually, her nine tails began waving in embarrassment. ¡°I would like an item capable of finding the Keeper. I-I believe that it would be useful for theing battle.¡±


    There was a knowing grin on not only Dana¡¯s, but even the Keeper¡¯s face when he heard that request. ¡°I¡¯ll see what I can do.¡±

 Chapter 574: Wishes Fulfilled

    <h4>Chapter 574: Wishes Fulfilled</h4>


    I gave a slight chuckle as I reappeared in the Admin Room. The two items that they asked for could surely be purchased on the Keeper Market, it was just a matter of finding them. I had the feeling that Dana¡¯s request would be rather cheap, so I decided to start with that.


    Moving over towards my bed, I sat down and opened up the menus to search through the market. There were a number of items that actually matched her request, so I had to sift through them and choose which one I would give her.


    Among the different choices, there were numerous methods to achieve the same result. One item advertised that it refined mana into a solid crystal. This naturally brought to mind the crystal spire of Fyor, causing me to consider this option right away.


    Another option refined the mana itself into a more efficient energy by mixing in other elements. Then there was one that, rather than refining the mana further, simply created a pocket space to store the fuel for increased storage.


    Each of these options had several variations, no doubt supplied by numerous Keepers over the years. Seeing that, I simply selected one of the solid fuel options at random, as there was no way to properly tell the difference between them with only their descriptions. That would be enough to let Dana study it.


    With her purchase costing four hundred points, it was now time to fulfill Tsubaki¡¯s request. This was the one that I actually saw being expensive, or at the very least difficult to create. An item to track Keepers¡­ naturally, I knew why she wanted this, and it wasn¡¯t just for the uing invasion.


    I felt a small smile tug at my lips as I entered the information into the search filters, waiting for the list to refresh with the avable items. It wouldn¡¯t be a problem even if it went slightly over Tsubaki¡¯s budget, because this would really be a helpful item for the future.


    Convergence Detector


    This item measures the powers present in the world, and tracks them to a unified source, the Keeper. The more varied the powers of the world, the more effective this item.


    1400 Points


    Keeper Compass


    By directly detecting the Keeper¡¯s authority, this item points the way to the world¡¯s highest power.


    5000 Points


    Enhanced Mapping


    This system allows individuals to create a detailed map of their surroundings, including the threat levels of nearby entities. Keepers appear as golden markers on the map.


    Game System Required - 1900 Points


    I was somewhat surprised to find only three items that matched my request, looking through each one in detail. While thest option was certainly interesting, it wasn¡¯t really what I was looking for. Which left me with either the Convergence Detector or the Keeper Compass.


    Neither of the items had material requirements, so they should either be craftable withmon materials, or they require system intervention no matter what materials are used. Most likely, the Keeper Compass falls into thetter category, which would be the reason behind its increased cost.


    As for the Convergence Detector, it seemed more in line with my desires. In most Keeper¡¯s worlds, there would be a number of different powers in order to maximize the effect of the Keeper¡¯s ¡®buff¡¯. The only ones that I can think of where this would not be the case would be pure technological worlds, wherein the power of the worldes more from invention than personal ability.


    And even then, as I had recently discovered, divinity counted as a ¡®power¡¯ within the world. So at the current stage, it could be said that every world would have at least some level of power granted to the Keeper. While the Keeper Compass would likely be more ¡®reliable¡¯ in terms of ability to detect the Keeper, I had the feeling that its resource consumption would be higher as well.


    The system would never make something like ¡®directly detecting¡¯ the authority of a Keeper cheap. That would be just one step shy of being able to detect the workings of the system itself, though that might still require another item purchase to be possible. Either way, I felt that the Convergence Detector would be the item I needed here.


    With a nod, I purchased that blueprint as well, before two crystal spheres appeared on the bed beside me. These were the information orbs containing the two blueprints that I had just purchased. Udona, mind converting these into textbooks to send down to the Citadel?


    Hmm? Udona¡¯szy response came a momentter, as if she were napping when I messaged her. Oh, sure, that¡¯s not a problem. Anything else?


    No, that¡¯s fine. You can get back to resting once this is taken care of. I shook my head with a smile as I stood, moving back out to the living room.


    Within a deep cavern on a small ind, there were two golden blobs of slime resting across from one another, each of them having a solid halo of crystal above their heads. These were the products of countless experiments conducted by Trials and Aurivy, attempts to reproduce the half-divine slimes that Jonas had once created, and allow them to advance even further.


    Standing in the corner of the room, near a shining crystal sphere, was the halfling goddess herself. ¡°These two are thest ones, right?¡± She asked in a tone of concern.


    ¡°That is correct, Mother.¡± Trials answered after a moment of consideration. ¡°The other subjects of this batch unfortunately didn¡¯t make it this far.¡±


    ¡°They should be at the Divine Body stage now, correct?¡± Aurivy asked, walking over to take a closer look at the slimes. If it were anyone else, they would be wary of approaching creatures of such power, especially slimes. Their ability to devour was unrivalled among any monsters of the same strength.


    ¡°Correct, Mother. They are only awaiting the final step, and they will be able to ascend and be the first true monster deities.¡± Although Trials was connected to the Dungeon God, Tower, he had been preventing any of his own divine influence from affecting these two slimes. They were ¡®Mother¡¯s¡¯, after all.


    ¡°Thanks, Trials! I¡¯ll have Tubrock set up that eleration array around your after this. It should let you finish your preparations in no time.¡± This was the deal that the two of them had made. In reality, Trials did not ask for anything in return for helping Aurivy, but Aurivy insisted on providing a benefit for helping her acquire truly divine slimes.


    ¡°Thank you for your consideration, Mother.¡± Trials spoke sincerely, touched that Aurivy would think of him. Surely she could have gotten what she wanted on her own, without needing to consult him, so in his mind she was doing this as an excuse to help move their ns forward.


    Aurivy walked up to the two slimes, who responded by shifting their bodies and assuming an appearance that matched her own. Although¡­ their bodies were still made of yellow slime, despite having been reshaped. ¡°Can you two understand my words?¡± She asked in a gentle tone, the two slimes looking at one another.


    After some silent exchange, they returned their gazes to Aurivy and nodded their heads. This was the true reason that she had asked for Trials¡¯ help in this matter. If she were to handle this in a different environment, she wouldn¡¯t be able to guarantee that the slimes received a proper education.


    The thought of a divine slime without the education to control its morality¡­ she knew Dale wouldn¡¯t ept something like that. They¡¯d go on a feeding frenzy, and devour an entire world before she was able to convince them to stop. ¡°Okay, good.¡± Aurivy said, patting her chest lightly. ¡°Now, I¡¯m going to make the two of you an offer.¡±


    ¡°You can either stay at your current stage, acting as the ultimate guardians of this dungeon¡­ or I can take you a step further. If I do this, you will be bound to me, but also acquire powers of your own. You will be gods in your own right.¡± Of course, she wasn¡¯t going to tell them that they could achieve this step easily on their own. That was a part of their education that had purposely been omitted to prevent them from going out of control.


    The two slimes looked at one another again, sharing another silent exchange. It seemed that they had learned a spiritual method ofmunication during their time in the dungeon, because they never spoke verbally. Instead, they would find ways to nonverbally convey their intentions.


    When the two broke their gaze, they looked at Aurivy again, raising their hands to point at her. Aurivy¡¯s smile bloomed wide across her face, happy that she had been chosen. She had been expecting no more than one divine slime after so many different tests, so the ability to obtain two at this time was something that she was incredibly thankful for.


    ¡°Okay! Then, both of you return to your normal form, and bring your cores over to me. I¡¯ll handle thest step of activating your divinity. After she said that, the two slimes reverted to their gtinous forms, shifting their halos around their bodies until they were presented to Aurivy.


    The halfling goddess stretched her hands out, each resting on one of the halos, and focused. Fragments of her divinity stretched out from her hands and into the cores of the slimes. To the goddess¡¯s shock¡­ this caused the cores to shatter, falling into the bodies of the slimes like dust.


    ¡°Oh no!¡± She shouted, worried that she had just killed her hopes of obtaining divine slimes by feeding them too much energy. However, this concern was removed a few momentster when she noticed that the bodies of the slimes were not dissolving. Rather, they seemed to be remaining perfectly still, their energies pulsating.


    Realizing what was happening, she let out a relieved sigh. They were currently in slumber, awaiting for their bodies to fully adjust to their new divine status, at which point they would be granted their domains.


    Aurivy¡¯s eyes turned upwards, as if peering through the ceiling of the cavern and looking out into the heavens. ¡°You promised!¡± She said with a wide grin. Long ago, Dale had chosen to make Jonas the God of Communities instead of the God of Slimes, and promised that he would make the next suitable candidate the God of Slimes instead.


    After all this time, there had yet to be another instance of someone ascending that qualified to be the God of Slimes, so Aurivy had been kept waiting. As such, she decided to take the initiative and create the god herself. And in doing so, she would be able to ensure its status as her subordinate deity.


    You really never gave up on that, did you? The Keeper¡¯s voice spoke into her mind, causing Aurivy to giggle and shake her head.


    ¡°Nope! With a slime god, I can make so many new things that can¡¯t be done so easily. I can even set up a whole slime! Just imagine that!¡±


    I am, and I¡¯m suddenly d that I don¡¯t physically need to sleep anymore. Aurivy could practically feel the shudder in Dale¡¯s tone, and stuck her tongue out yfully. Alright, what do you want the second one to be, then?


    ¡°Hmm¡­ I¡¯ll leave that one to you! Just as long as one of them is the God of Slimes, I¡¯m happy!¡± Aurivy crossed her arms behind her back, spinning around once within the dimly lit cavern.


    Give them names. I¡¯ll give one the Slime domain, and the other¡­ it should be a good fit for the Learning domain. When Aurivy heard that, she blinked a bit in surprise.


    ¡°You mean like Cicily was? Hmm, I guess. Udona shouldn¡¯t care about it, since she was fine with Cicily, and Learning doesn¡¯t really step on her toes too much.¡±

 Chapter 575: Evolution Achieved

    <h4>Chapter 575: Evolution Achieved</h4>


    In order to speed things along a bit, I chose to fast-forward the world by a few short hours. In doing so, I was immediately awarded a prompt rted to the two slimes that Aurivy was looking over. However, the content of the prompts was something of a surprise to me.


    There are monsters within your world advancing to the Divine stage! As monsters are outside the direct influence of the Keeper, you will be unable to freely assign their domains.


    There are two monsters ascending as subordinate deities to a Companion. As such, you will be given a limited pool of domains to choose from based on the monsters in question!


    Avable domains for Atraxi:


    Slimes


    Devouring


    Mimicry


    Avable domains for Pietra:


    Slimes


    Ki


    Evolution


    I blinked as I read over the prompts. So, I won¡¯t be able to choose domains for monsters, then? I suppose that¡¯s how the system prevents me from just not assigning monster domains.


    Shaking my head, I began to look over the options. Fortunately, both of them had Slimes as a suitable domain, so I didn¡¯t have to worry about breaking my promise with Aurivy. However, neither of them had a domain for Learning, which surprised me.


    At this point, I had to decide what I wanted the second Slime¡¯s domain to be, to know which would be which. I wasn¡¯t particrly keen on using the ki domain for a slime, as that domain was somewhat reserved in my mind for Scarlet. As for Evolution¡­ while it did seem to be an equivalent domain to Learning, it had different implications that I wasn¡¯t entirely sure I wasfortable with.


    In regards to the other slime¡­ the Devouring domain was instantly rejected. I couldn¡¯t be sure what would happen if I gave a monster that power, let alone a slime. Which left Mimicry¡­ this one I could see being both amazing and terrifying at the same time. Especially when you consider the possibility that the domain might allow the slime to mimic other divine domains.


    At this point, it was a choice between Mimicry and Evolution. Both of them had potentially dangerous implications, so I had to take other matters into ount. For instance, this slime wouldn¡¯t be an independent entity, but would instead be Aurivy¡¯s subordinate god. This meant that Aurivy herself would gain the domain of whatever I chose.


    At the same time, I had to question how much control Aurivy would hold over these slimes after their ascension. If they were properly controlled, that would severely lessen the negative possibilities of these domains. Aurivy wouldn¡¯t be likely to allow them to trigger a mass evolution for monsters or anything like that.


    So, if I were choosing a domain for Aurivy instead of one for a slime¡­ I knew what I had to pick.


    While the time may have stalled for those residents of the Administration Room, that time passed in a sh for those in the world. Two pirs of golden light merged into one and rose above the ind in the middle of the great ocean. This event, far removed from any mortal eyes, signaled the ascension of new gods.


    Aurivy, who had been patiently waiting, looked eagerly at the two slimes. She could feel her own divinity increasing in response to the ascension of her subordinates. However, there was soon a bit of confusion on her face. ¡°Evolution? Didn¡¯t he say Learning?¡±


    Naturally, she was able to sense the domains that had been added onto her profile, one of them being the highly anticipated slime domain. As she was questioning this second domain, Dale¡¯s voice spoke into her mind. It wouldn¡¯t let me pick Learning. I had three options for each, and this was the bestbination I could give you.


    ¡°Oh, that makes sense!¡± She nodded her head happily. ¡°Now, let¡¯s get you two outside. Trial, sweetie?¡±


    ¡°Understood, Mother.¡± Trial spoke, creating a transfer portal to send the two slimes to the surface. By now, their appearance was no different than a typical golden slime, save for the fact that they had no core within their bodies. Without that core to target, it would be incredibly difficult to destroy either of them.


    At least, that was the n. The moment that they emerged atop the dungeon, and left the influence of its mana field, the two slimes were ttened to the ground, squirming and letting out high pitched whines.


    ¡°Huh?¡± Aurivy blinked in confusion, looking at the two of them. ¡°Sunlight shouldn¡¯t have any kind of effect on-Oh, I get it!¡± She let out a lightugh, shaking her head.


    Tsubaki, I need your help for just a second. There are a pair of new gods waiting for your registry. It hadn¡¯t urred to her that the two of them had escaped from the Divine Registry by remaining in the dungeon for so long. Now that they had left it, it was bringing the full weight of its power down on them.


    Tsubaki arrived after merely a few seconds, appearing in a sh of light. She looked around, trying to find the identity of the two new gods, before looking at Aurivy in confusion. Seeing that, Aurivy pointed to the two golden puddles on the ground.


    ¡°Ah¡­ this is unusual, I admit. But, it should still work.¡± As she said that, she took the registry stone from her storage space and used it to scan the two slimes and register them. Once she had done so, the puddles seemed to swell, letting out relieved warbles with how they shook.


    ¡°Thanks, Tsubaki!¡± Aurivy beamed a bright smile to the nine-tailed kitsune, who had a contemtive expression on her face.


    ¡°Is it really worth it to allow slimes to ascend, Lady Aurivy? I mean no disrespect, but I doubt that you will find many worshippers for them. Without that, it¡¯s unlikely that they will be able to grow in power.¡±


    ¡°Well yeah, if I were to let them stay here!¡± Aurivy grinned, happy that Tsubaki had voiced her concern rather than showing blind reverence. ¡°I¡¯ll be taking these two somewhere that they will be able to acquire their own following. It¡¯ll be really cool!¡±


    After saying that, Aurivy wrapped herself in golden light together with the two slimes, and vanished from the ind. When she reappeared, she was deep within the void of space, looking at a barren rock in the distance. Hello, Tower!


    A rumbling thought echoed from the core of the growing. Greetings, Mother. I wasn¡¯t expecting you to keep your word this quickly.


    Ah, sorry! I¡¯m not here for the eleration formation yet! I¡¯ll handle that once I get these two set up. I wanted to give you neighbors first. Then we can elerate this entire sr system to help boths at once!


    There was silence from the at that, but Aurivy could feel a thin wave of divine energy passing over her and the two slimes. Ah, so that is your n. Very well, I think it could lead to an interesting cooperation in the future.


    Thanks, Tower! Aurivy hummed mentally, while moving out away from the sun. In order to not create issues with the orbits, Aurivy wanted to space these twos far enough apart.


    Once she was sure that the distance she chose was far enough, deep within an asteroid belt, she reached out to pat one of the slimes with her. Alright, Atraxi! Time to show you what you can really do.


    Although Aurivy had only just gotten her new domains, she had been nning for the slime domain for a long time. Long enough that she was able to develop numerous techniques to use once she had it. With that in mind, she sped her hands together.


    I require a Territory Slime! Aurivy shouted themand with her divinity, a silver slime appearing atop a nearby asteroid. This slime warbled briefly, before instinctively sinking down into the rock beneath it. By my power, I bind this slime! You shall devour the earth whiches your way, and nothing else! Maintain the orbit that has been set, and be the world for your brothers!


    As she gave themands, she felt a small drain to her divinity. The slime she had created was still rtively weak, so setting any restrictions now would make it the easiest to keep effectter.


    Next, Aurivy waved her hands, redirecting the orbits of several asteroids towards the one where the slime had been summoned. They seemingly all crashed together, and she knew that the slime had been faintly damaged, but this would also prove a catalyst for its growth.


    She gave the slime an hour to fully digest the asteroids she had ¡®fed¡¯ it, and then began sending in more and more. In the span of a single day, she had cleared out arge region of the asteroid belt, and created a small a thousand miles across. While hardly sufficient for her final goal, it would be enough for now.


    I require slimes of fire, water, earth, wind, lightning, metal, ki, and magic! On the surface of the slime, eight slimes began to appear one by one, each a unique color and pattern. These would be the foundation for all other slimes to advance in the future. Then, she created a hundred of the mostmon, basic slimes. Only then did she feel satisfied, pulling back her power.


    Atraxi, Pietra, the two of you will be the gods of this world. I¡¯ll be keeping an eye on you, but otherwise I want you two to manage this. If I have any advice or requests, I¡¯lle by to let you know. After she said that, she gently nudged the two slime gods, sending them forward.


    Only once they had arrived on the did she channel her divinity again, this time expending a muchrger amount than before. By my authority as the God of Slimes, I ce this restriction. No slime shall achieve divinity without my blessing!


    While such an act may seem out of ce for someone like Aurivy, there was a very clear reason behind her actions. Slimes were excellent learners if given the proper environment, and she had given them a God of Evolution to empower that environment. She knew that if she left them alone while elerating this sr system, there would easily be thousands of divine slimes by the time Tower¡¯s world was ready to return to the normal flow of time.


    With this restriction cast, Aurivy could feel arge chunk of her divinity depleting. Unless she personally chose to lift it, she knew that even Pietra and Atraxi wouldn¡¯t be able to bypass her binding. Only with that would she feel relieved in establishing a world of slimes. Created by slimes, for slimes, from slimes.


    ¡°What did she want?¡± Dana asked when Tsubaki returned to the Citadel. The two of them were in her workshop, going over the blueprints that had been sent down from Udona. As expected, they were the two items that they had personally requested from the Keeper.


    While the mana refinery was something that Dana would be able to create with enough time and materials, this ¡®Convergence Detector¡¯ was something that would require a good deal of study. Not only did it require fourth-tier magic, but also fourth-tier from the other three energy types as well. Thankfully, it came with a detailed exnation on how to perform the construction, even if one had not mastered that level of energy control.


    ¡°She created divine slimes¡­¡± Tsubaki said, still finding it rather difficult to put that thought into words. When Dana heard it, she blinked, before letting out a loudugh.


    ¡°Oh, wow, now that¡¯s going to lead to some interesting developments. Guess we better make sure that we don¡¯tg behind a bunch of slimes then, huh?¡± She asked in a challenging tone, looking towards the blueprint before her.

 Chapter 576: Blood for Blood

    <h4>Chapter 576: Blood for Blood</h4>


    Within the ind nation of Rokindrol, atop a mountain peak within a wide, towering range,id a shining silver dragon. His body rested high above the clouds, a perpetual fog obscuring its form from themon man. Anyone who saw it, however, would recognize it as the Holy Dragon Fafnir, the creature which served the Keeper directly.


    Although it looked as if Fafnir was in constant rest, that was indeed far from the truth. For many years it had silently been training itself following the teachings of the Keeper¡¯s Servant. Given its substantial size, it had far more energy that required conversion and refinement.


    First, it had followed the steps given by Tsubaki to attain the Perfect Self, shedding its red scales to gain its shining silver form. After that, it began to temper its soul, training its own divinity in preparation for the next step. It knew from consultation with Tsubaki that creating the Divine Soul would be an incredibly difficult and painful challenge, and so it sought to do so in the seclusion of its mountaintop.


    For three days and nights, the humans of Rokindrol were tormented by the pained wailings of mighty dragon. Many felt that it had to be locked in a terrible battle that shook thend and sky alike. However, few dared venture close to test this theory. Those that did were ultimately repelled by the strength of its roar.


    While others saw this as a disaster, one waited patiently, seeing an opportunity presenting itself. A lone human with ck hair and silver eyes sat at the base of the mountain, listening to the sound of the roars. He clenched his fists, waiting for his chance.


    It was only when the roars stopped that he made his move. His eyes shed golden as he ascended the mountain in a single step. He was only one step away from divinity, but did not dare to take it yet. Not until certain obstacles had been removed from his path. The beast before it was one such obstruction.


    He had been waiting for the moment when the dragon had finished whatever trial it was facing. The moment when the dragon would ultimately lower its guard. Just the wails of pain alone let him know that the creature would be incredibly weakened whenever it was done.


    As the man rose to the peak of the mountain, forcing his way through theyers of defenses, the form of the silver dragon appeared in his sight. It had been so long since hest saw that figure, but he couldn¡¯t be bothered to reminisce just yet. Instead, he charged forward, a spear of golden light forming in his hands and striking the great, panting beast.


    The dragon, having only just ascended to the stage of divine soul, was naturally in no state to mount a proper defense. He only just barely noticed the man appearing at the final moment, releasing a burst of raw mana in an attempt to push him back.


    Sadly, the man¡¯s charge would not be stopped so easily. While the strike was diverted away from a lethal blow, it stillnded powerfully along the side of Fafnir¡¯s neck, eliciting a fresh cry of pain.


    Human pursuing the power of Ruin, why have you appeared before me? Fafnir¡¯s thoughts transmitted themselves to the man as a powerful voice in his mind. There exists no grudge between us.


    ¡°No grudge?¡± The man crooked his lips, sneering towards the dragon. ¡°I¡¯ll be the one to decide that.¡± He knew that he only had a limited time toplete his attack. If the Keeper¡¯s Servant appeared, he would not even be able to flee. So he didn¡¯t waste his time chatting, channeling the power of his divinity into his spear again.


    Fafnir had urately seen through the domain which the man was striving for. The power of ruin that could destroy all things. And now, that power was being channeled into his spear. Unfortunately, its consciousness was still too weak to create any powerful spells or abilities that could defend its giant body.


    All that it managed to do was lift one of its massive ws, swinging them towards the human with sheer force. A force that was easily destroyed when it came into contact with that spear. The strength behind the attack, and even the entire w itself seemed to be erased.


    While he was delivering the attack, he was likewise calling out for Tsubaki in his mind, hoping that she would be able to arrive in time. The man before him seemed to realize this, gritting his teeth as he resolved himself to end the battle in one final strike.


    However, as he extended his spear, and shot out the beam of golden light that would mark the dragon¡¯s death, space seemed to twist. The ray of light struck this twisted space and was diverted, piercing through the dragon¡¯s wing instead of its heart.


    Afterwards, the twisted space began to expand, and a figure wrapped in a red dress stepped through. Her crimson hair fell down her mature figure, and she eyed the man coldly. As he looked at her, he was able to see a wound along the side of her arm.


    Although this woman was clearly not the Keeper¡¯s Servant, he knew who she was, and she was no less terrifying to deal with. Gritting his teeth, the man turned and fled under the watchful stare of the First Blood. To his surprise, she did not pursue him, perhaps indicating that she was not here for him. But that thought was not enough for him to risk his life to return.


    Back at the mountain peak, Scarlet watched the man fleeing the scene, before letting out a long breath. Reddish-golden light condensed on her arm, closing the wound that had been created when she arrived. Empress of Blood, you have my thanks for your timely arrival.


    Scarlet turned, facing the dragon and offering a small smile. ¡°It is the Keeper you should offer your thanks to, not I. He sent me a message, asking me to arrive here and meet with Tsubaki. Do you know where I can find her, Sir Fafnir?¡±


    I called for her moments before your arrival. With any fortune, she will arrive shortly. May I ask your business with her? Fafnir knew that there was no reason for him to fear the woman before him, especially as she had just saved his life. Nheless, he always asked this question of those who came to look for either Tsubaki or the Keeper.


    ¡°I believe it is best I speak with her myself.¡± She said, before turning her gaze to the side just as a sh of light appeared. Tsubaki stood there, shining like the sun and wielding the scepter that she and Dana had created together.


    When she saw that the only two people here were Scarlet and Fafnir, her brow furrowed. ¡°Fafnir, is she the one that threatened you?¡± Tsubaki asked carefully. Fafnir had only told her that there was a dangerous foe, one that would im his life if she was not fast enough. Because Tsubaki knew of the rtion between the Keeper and Scarlet, she could not immediately assume that it was his daughter who was attempting to y his dragon.


    It was not. The man who threatened me fled moments ago, thanks to her timely arrival. He is one that cultivates the power of Ruin. Fafnir knew that the chance to identify the man by his face was extremely slim. As this was quite clearly an assassination where the man was prepared to flee instead of fight to the bitter end, he would have changed his appearance before confronting Fafnir.


    ¡°Understood. I¡¯ll look through the registered peopleter for one matching that description.¡± As she said that, she let out a sigh, the light around her dimming while she put away her scepter. ¡°As for you, Empress, I must thank you for this time.¡±


    ¡°Then I ask you to do me a favor, one that will help yourself as well as the Keeper.¡± Scarlet told her with a coy smile. ¡°I havepleted the divine body and soul, and wish to ascend to godhood under my father¡¯s banner. He instructed me to seek you out at this ce to achieve that goal.¡±


    Tsubaki looked towards Scarlet in surprise. ¡°You do not wish to be an independent deity? You must surely know that your potential will be far higher if you do so.¡±


    Scarlet shook her head, her hair waving with an almost liquid glisten. ¡°It was my father that saved what remains of my people, myself included. Now that I have the power to do so, I shall devote my divinity to him in return for that favor. If in the future, more of my people rise to the realm of godhood, I shall advise them to remain independent. That way, my people will always have the potential of the independent gods.¡±


    The kitsune goddess thought about that for a moment, before nodding her head. Although she felt that Scarlet would be better off going independent, she was far from any sort of position to criticize her decision. She had pursued the path of a subordinate deity the moment she had been made aware of the concept, and had pledged her divinity to the Keeper in the same way that Scarlet was attempting to do so now.


    As such, she stretched out her hand, creating a small shard of solidified divinity. ¡°Take this, and use it for your breakthrough. The Keeper once told me that any subordinate deity would be unable to take their own subordinates. Instead, anyone they helped to convert would be a subordinate of their master god.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ that is why he had me appear here.¡± In truth, she had been quite confused. For days, she had been trying to find some time to ask for the Keeper to help her ascend, but did not want to directly disturb him. Instead, she would wait for signs of his presence in the mortal world.


    Suddenly, however, he had sent her a message to appear before this mountain and wait for Tsubaki. Scarlet was no fool, and understood the dual meaning behind this message now. First of all, he wanted her to save Fafnir with her presence, something she very nearly failed to do. Secondly, rather than have the Keeper himself assist her, he wanted Tsubaki to do so.


    I suppose I must congratte the new Goddess of Blood. Fafnirmented from the side, bowing his head towards Scarlet.


    ¡°No, she will not be getting the Blood domain.¡± Tsubaki said with confidence that surprised both Fafnir and Scarlet herself.


    ¡°May I ask why? And how it is that you know that?¡± In truth, the Blood domain was exactly the path she was pursuing, which was why Fafnir hadmented as he did.


    ¡°Because you are a demigoddess.¡± Tsubaki exined, passing her the shard of divinity. ¡°The Keeper once told me that a demigod or demigoddess will only obtain their natural-born aspect when they ascend, without any chance to change it. As you were born with the aspect of ki, your domain has been decided long ago.¡±


    ¡°It would have been nice of him to let me know that in advance.¡± Shemented under her breath, half-jokingly as she epted the shard. ¡°Still, having a primary energy as my domain¡­ there are far worse oues.¡±


    As she said that, she held the shard against her chest, focusing on merging it with the core of mana that she had painstakingly created after receiving the Keeper¡¯s guidance. Without that core, she would have never been able to reach the stage she was at. She would have forever remained as a martial spirit, with no hopes of advancing further.


    You have earned an achievement!


    For being the first Demigod to consolidate their Divinity in a mortal body, you have earned the Ascendant achievement! Divine Affinity +5%


    You have earned an achievement!


    For awakening your Divinity, you have earned the Goddess of Ki achievement! Ki domain unlocked!

 Chapter 577: A Tale as Old as Time

    <h4>Chapter 577: A Tale as Old as Time</h4>


    I let out a sigh of relief when I saw Scarlet properly intercepting the attack from the human assant. In truth, the cement of her arrival had not been a coincidence at all. I had asked Aurivy to interfere with the coordinates of her transfer, such that she would directly appear in the path of the man¡¯s attack.


    There was a little danger for Scarlet, but I knew it wouldn¡¯t be at the level where it would instantly kill her. I just needed the transfer¡¯s side-effect of distorting space to redirect the attack for a brief moment. After that, everything would naturally take care of itself.


    ¡°Now¡­ why is that man so angry at Fafnir?¡± I muttered to myself, cycling back through the records over a hundred years while following this man. He had been present, hiding in the distance and watching when Fafnir helped Be escape from the half-god pursuing the Unknown domain. Before that, he had been working to train himself in a secluded forest to reach the Divine Soul stage.


    It was at this point that I noticed he made this progress without ever achieving the perfect body, which would have made his climb all the more difficult. Yet, even this far back, I couldn¡¯t find any trace of him having any encounter with Fafnir that would exin this grudge.


    I kept going back further, until I found my answer. In truth¡­ there really was no grudge between the two. Not in reality. But that man was not aware of that fact, as someone else had led him to believe that there was.


    I watched a female druid overlooking a mountain pass, watching a caravan of wagons moving through the area. Even back then, it was rare to find people moving between cities in this manner, due to the convenience of the portals and dangers of traveling on foot.


    Her lips crooked up as she waved her hand. The air shook to sound like a dragon¡¯s roar while rocks dislodged themselves from the mountain, tumbling towards the caravan below.


    Naturally, those who dared to travel bynd were capable of defending against such basic tactics. However, as they mustered their power to divert the rocks, a third-tier spell diagram appeared at their feet, sealing their ki and mana. With that brief moment of confusion, the rocks came crashing down.


    Only those with truly powerful bodies were able to survive the crushing power of the giant rocks. One such man was using his body to shield the form of a young boy, apparently the man¡¯s son. The boy shouted and cried for his father to move, but his father¡¯s legs had been crushed.


    As the woman descended the mountain, she cast a sickly green bolt of energy at those that remained alive, directly culling them as she approached the sheltered boy. Above the palm of her hand, a smaller spell diagram had formed, one still at the third tier. The boy struggled beneath his father¡¯s frame, but was unable to break free before she arrived and pressed the spell into his forehead.


    ¡°The Holy Dragon Fafnir brutally ughtered your father and his men.¡± The woman spoke in a soft tone as the boy¡¯s eyes seemed to gloss over, entering a form of trance. ¡°As you were passing by, he demanded your goods and your women, but your father bravely refused. Your father pleaded to the Keeper¡¯s Dragon to show mercy, and was repaid with death.¡±


    After she finished speaking, she stood and cast a teleportation spell to leave the area. By the time the boy was lucid again, there was no sign of her presence. Only the seed of hatred that had been nted in his heart.


    I followed the woman in the records now, watching as she did simr activities dozens of times. Not all of them targeted Fafnir. In fact, some of them targeted local kings or queens, some she aimed at the gods themselves. A few were targeted at Tsubaki, even.


    Her purpose, when viewed from the surface, seemed to simply be to cultivate hatred against powerful figures of authority. She would use whatever target was most convenient for the given situation.


    As I followed her forward through time, my finger was just itching to hit the smite button. I wanted to see what had happened within thisst century that a figure such as her would still be hidden. And then, I found my answer, in a way I hadn¡¯t entirely expected.


    While the woman was off to find her next target, a red-haired felyn appeared before her. I could immediately recognize the figure of Terra, and the cold fury within her seemingly calm eyes. Thinking back, she exined the power she had used on the enemy goddess in great detail during thest invasion.


    At first, I simply thought that was the knowledge of the power from her own imagination and the workings of the system. But now, it seemed like there was something more. In Terra¡¯s hand was a tattered, old book. One that had seen centuries of wear already.


    ¡°We meet again, oh Goddess.¡± The woman spoke in a sarcastic tone, clearly pleased to see Terra, and not in the least afraid. ¡°Have youe to ask me to return to the musty old tome of yours? I¡¯m sorry, but I really must refuse.¡±


    ¡°Thirty-seven.¡± Terra spoke in a calm tone. ¡°Four people directly reading your story, and spreading it to thirty-three others. Thirty-seven lifelines for you to hold onto and keep your legend alive.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sure it¡¯s more than that by now.¡± The woman grinned. ¡°Those thirty-some probably already told a few others as well. There should be hundreds by now. Plus all those I¡¯ve personally encountered along the way.¡±


    ¡°No¡­ only thirty-seven.¡± Terra replied, making the woman freeze up briefly. ¡°They never had the chance to tell anyone else. Of them¡­ thirty-six have already died. Thest one is resting in aa, living only through a spell set to prolong his life. And you were so careful not to leave too deep an impression on others so far, weren¡¯t you?¡±


    Terra took a step forward, golden light seeping out of her skin. ¡°You made me kill thirty-seven people to put the seal back in ce. Thirty-seven innocent lives, each with their own fates. But it was either them, or the millions of deaths you would cause if left to wander free.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say only thirty-six had died?¡± The woman asked with a raised eyebrow, before noticing markings that had begun to appear across her skin. Her eyes opened wide in shock at the familiar sight.


    ¡°Sorry, but his life support just failed. Bit of a mana siphon that disrupted any active spells in the area.¡± Terra watched as the woman turned into countless letters, before flying into the book again. Once the woman had been sealed in the book again, Terra vanished, appearing above a bubbling pit ofva.


    Perhaps destroying the book while she was unsealed would free her from it, and that was why Terra had to go through all that trouble. Now that she was back, it was clear Terra wasn¡¯t giving her another second chance. With a light toss, she directly threw the book into the pit below her.


    Okay¡­ so I don¡¯t have to smite. I muttered, shaking my head. By now, I was able to piece together the story. This woman had angered Terra in the past to such a degree that she sealed her in a book. But at the time, Terra felt it was safe enough to store her among other books, hiding in in sight. The downside of her power hadn¡¯t been fully discovered yet.


    Eventually, four people came across the book and began to read it, interested in the tale of an unknown figure. This caused her to be released once again, this time with a grudge against the gods. The four people began to tell their friends about the story while Terra tracked them down and arranged idents for them.


    Even as a goddess, she couldn¡¯t just directly descend to kill innocent people. Her reputation would be dragged through the mud if she did so, and that was why it took so long. Long enough for the woman to brainwash dozens, if not hundreds of people into believing that they had been wronged by those in power.


    I let out a faint sigh, shaking my head. At this point, the source of the problem with Fafnir was already killed. It was no longer possible to bring her forward and solve this mess. I could try to have it exined to the man that he had been deceived, but¡­ I highly doubted that he would listen to me.


    This was a grudge held for over a hundred year, one that had be the cornerstone of his entire existence, fueling him to withstand inhuman levels of pain. Telling him that it had all been a lie would be as good as killing him directly.


    ¡°So you saw that, huh?¡± Terra asked, her voice suddenly appearing behind me while her arms wrapped around my waist. I could feel her head leaning against my shoulder.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ Though, I have to ask, why didn¡¯t you do something about the people she targeted, as well?¡±


    ¡°A grudge, no matter how big, will usually not drive a person to such lengths.¡± She exined in a soft tone. ¡°Of the people Leora turned, only three of them still allow that grudge to drive their actions to this day. Two of them alreadypleted their grudge, killing the local rulers that they had been set against. Only he was given such a grand goal and still lives with his grudge.¡±


    ¡°I thought it kinder to let fate take its course, allow their hearts to cleanse themselves with time and offer them the chance to live peacefully. Was my decision wrong?¡±


    I shook my head, turning around to look into her green eyes. ¡°No, it wasn¡¯t. I just wanted to understand.¡± My hand came up to caress her cheek, and I saw a smile spreading over her face.


    Scarlet, the newly ascended Goddess of Ki, nced down to herself to examine her own power. ¡°So this is what it is like¡­¡± As a goddess that ruled over a primary energy, she shared a simr power as Ryone. Whereas the Goddess of Magic could use her divinity to fuel an unlimited reservoir of mana, so too could Scarlet generate unlimited ki, as long as she had the divine energy to fuel herself.


    ¡°Congrattions on your ascension.¡± Tsubaki spoke with a small smile. As Scarlet was the only other subordinate deity to the Keeper, she saw the two of them as having a more equal position. Of course, with Scarlet still being the daughter of the Keeper, she would always be elevated in Tsubaki¡¯s eyes. But at least now that difference didn¡¯t feel asrge as before.


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t have done it without you.¡± Scarletmented, looking towards Tsubaki in a strange manner. ¡°It is¡­ odd. The aura of blood around you has shifted. It hasn¡¯t gone away, or even weakened, but it feels different now. As if the blood you have taken no longer feels real to you. Is everything alright, Lady Tsubaki?¡±


    Tsubaki was surprised by thement, thinking back a bit before shaking her head. ¡°That should be because the ¡®blood¡¯ you see now is me repeating my trials within a virtual environment.¡±


    ¡°Is that so¡­¡± Scarlet muttered, musing aloud. ¡°I suppose it would make sense. Then, I would like to offer you a gift while I am here, if you choose to ept it.¡±


    Tsubaki looked at her curiously, prompting her to continue. ¡°Summon your familiar, if you would be so kind. I have been told that she created a core of ki in herself much as I did with mana. To deepen the bond you share, I would convert her ki into elemental ki of light.¡±


    ¡°You can do that?¡± Tsubaki asked in surprise, having never heard of anyone with elemental ki that had manifested as light.


    ¡°I can now. If there can be ki of darkness and space, why can there not be ki of light?¡± Scarlet asked with a small smile. ¡°As long as you do not object to this, that is.¡±


    Tsubaki shook her head quickly, calling Dana over. While this gift in itself wasn¡¯t so important, it was still a gift from the daughter of the Keeper. As long as it wasn¡¯t something harmful, Tsubaki wouldn¡¯t outright refuse.

 Chapter 578: Conquer the Skies

    <h4>Chapter 578: Conquer the Skies</h4>


    ¡°One, two, action!¡± A middle-aged kitsune¡¯s voice called out as lights erupted in the dark room. The stone walls seemed to fade away, reced by a boundless blue sky and a long mountain range. Two figures stood atop two different mountain peaks, their eyes staring at one another.


    One of the figures was an elven woman with fiery red hair. Her body was wrapped in the crimson glow of fire ki while her eyes stared hatefully at the man across from her. She wore neither weapons nor armor, simply a ck dress with an open back that showed numerous bloody cuts.


    Across from her, the ck-haired human held a bastard sword in one hand, his eyes gleaming ferociously. He wore light, silver armor dented in numerous ces. As the sun began to set over the horizon, his grip on his sword tightened, the earthen light of pure ki shrouding it.


    At the final moment of daylight, the two figures seemed to vanish from their peaks, moving at a speed beyond mortal men. In less than a second, they crossed hundreds of meters to sh in midair, the light of their energies illuminating the scene. They exchanged a dozen strikes almost immediately before they were eachunched back to the mountaintops. Only, this time they were sent to the opposing peaks from where they started.


    The elven woman panted in exhaustion, a new cut forming in the stomach of her dress. Her health bar seemed to be a notch lower than when she left her mountain. Meanwhile, the man staggered to his feet, a hole punched through the chest of his armor. From their recent exchange, it was clear that the woman hade out with the upper hand, but neither side was willing to back down.


    ¡°And, that¡¯s enough!¡± The voice of the kitsune called again, causing the scene to darken and rece with mundane stone walls once again. Nearby, seated within arge folding chair, was the kitsune himself with auburn hair. Though his voice suggested a more advanced age, his face appeared incredibly youthful.


    Nearby, sitting atop two circr tforms, were the man and woman that had just been fighting atop the mountains. However, at this time neither of them showed their hateful expressions, giving a content smile. ¡°You¡¯ve really outdone yourself this time, Ghan.¡± The woman praised as she rose to her feet.


    Shaking her shoulders, she used a bit of ki to wipe away the ¡®wounds¡¯ on her back, revealing them to be illusory makeup. Simrly, the man stood as well, taking off the dented armor and setting aside his sword. ¡°I concur!¡± He gave a raucousugh as he said that, stepping forward and pping a hand on the kitsune¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°I¡¯m d you both approve.¡± The kitsune, Ghan, smiled at the two of them. ¡°I take it that you were able to adjust properly, and there wasn¡¯t any difort?¡±


    The elven woman thought about that for a moment. ¡°I must admit, it was strange for me to wield fire ki. Is there really no way for my character to have earth ki instead? It wasn¡¯t ufortable as far as the power itself went, just not what I¡¯m used to handling in terms of fighting.¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately, the plot of the story requires the abilities of fire ki.¡± The kitsune shook his head, feeling somewhat helpless himself. ¡°I can arrange for you to train under a fire ki user if it helps you adjust better.¡±


    ¡°No, that will be fine.¡± The elven woman smiled. ¡°I¡¯ll get used to it with a couple more sessions.¡± As she said that, her eyes swept to the tform that she had just been sitting on. ¡°I really don¡¯t know how you created such a realistic scene for us, though. Is it a trade secret, or can you enlighten us?¡±


    ¡°No need to fret, dear.¡± Ghan let out a lightugh. ¡°It¡¯s not some magic item or the like, but rather a technique I¡¯ve been devising. We live in the age of gods, so naturally we must give a performance befitting the gods themselves!¡±


    While the woman seemed not topletely understand his words, the man¡¯s eyes widened in surprise. ¡°Really? You have stepped on the path?¡± When Ghan nodded, the human inhaled sharply. ¡°You should value your own life more, Ghan. You know how dangerous it can be.¡±


    ¡°To get the best results, risks must naturally be taken. How many others can im that they have walked the path of godhood to further a craft?¡± Ghan asked proudly, allowing the elven woman to catch on to their conversation.


    ¡°The domain you pursue, then¡­¡± She hesitated, looking at the tforms again.


    ¡°Correct, my dear! You are looking at the future God of the Stage!¡±


    As he watched the newly crowned Goddess of Ki leaving with Tsubaki, Fafnir let out a long sigh. His body had been heavily injured in the ambush previously, and he could feel a trace of malicious power remaining in the wounds.


    This power could be felt gradually consuming the energy around it, preventing him from recovering naturally. If he did not already possess a perfect body, these wounds would be life-threatening. Even in his current state, he would be unable to tend to himself while fighting.


    In order to resolve the problem, Fafnir willingly broke off sections of his body surrounding the wounds, carrying the malicious energy away from his body. This should be the power of Ruin. He thought to himself, studying how the energy ate away at the discarded portions of his body. Meanwhile, he began redistributing his energy to patch up the wounds.


    Now that Fafnir hadpleted his divine soul, it was time for him to begin thinking about what domain he wished to pursue himself. For mortals, this was a very serious issue. He had seen many that were ¡®testing the waters¡¯ with various options, and those individuals were never able to disy the same level of power as the ones who had set their goal from the start.


    What do I want? He asked himself. What domains would befit the mighty Fafnir, the Keeper¡¯s Dragon? He could be the God of Dragons, but what power would that grant him, aside from the ability tomand his kin?


    Numerous scenes shed in his mind, all of the half-ascended individuals he had seen over the yearsing to the front of his thoughts. There were so many that perished along their path, unable to handle the pain that came with ascension. Each of them had their own ideal of what they wanted to be as a god. Even for those that chose the same domain, the way that they approached it was different.


    As he thought about that, he recalled the very first time he had encountered the gods. The day that he had met the Keeper, and the girl that showed the power to talk with him even at his most feral state. The Goddess of Wind, one who would be praised by any flying beast. Thinking about her caused Fafnir to feel the sensation of a breeze passing beneath his wings, the boundless sky above his head.


    ¡­That is my choice. My domain shall be the sky itself. As he thought that, he carved that will into his divine energy, standing proudly atop his mountain peak and staring into the great blue expanse above. Dragons were always meant to be the lords of the sky, this much was known to everyone. And now, Fafnir knew that he would im what could be considered his birthright.


    I clicked my tongue as I saw Fafnir¡¯s decision. In truth, I was nning to make him the God of Seals if I had the chance. It would take advantage of his magical talent and allow him to put it to good use. However, I knew that it was best to allow him to pursue his own path, so I had no intention to turn him away from what he had chosen.


    ¡°Aha! I¡¯ve found it!¡± James¡¯ voice echoed out in his researchb, startling his assistants. One of the kitsune twins, Nora, approached from behind curiously.


    ¡°Have you finished the scanning form?¡± She asked, knowing that he seemed a bit too excited for that to be the answer. Their current research project was to find a way to create a device which could scan a living creature, determine the magic cards it ispatible with, and analyze the form for those cards.


    This seemed to be a bit redundant for research, as they could simply kill the creature after doing a basic scan and get the cards themselves. However, the rampant hunting of beasts within Deckan has begun to impact their ecosystem. Thews of the world would spawn new monsters whenever there were insufficient ones in an area¡­ but those new monsters would not always be the same as the old ones.


    The main reason that beasts were hunted in Deckan wasn¡¯t actually for the meat, or even for trainingbat sses. Rather, it was to harvest the magic cards that would drop on their death. Some of these cards were quite valuable, even more so than the meat of the beast they came from.


    First and second tier cards had long since been fully analyzed, and could be synthesized in any major Card Synthesis factory. There were numerous third tier cards that had yet to be perfected, however. And very few fourth tier had been through the process, as it grew more challenging with each level.


    This meant that people were still hunting third and fourth tier beasts en masse, with thetter having a greater chance of killing the hunter. It didn¡¯t help that with the growth of the world¡¯s power, fourth tier monsters were moremonly spawning and pushing out the weaker monsters.


    ording to some schrs, it was only a matter of time before there were fourth tier beasts appearing in low level hunting grounds, unable to sate themselves with the local resources. When that happened, those creatures would naturally leave their territory and attack nearby settlements. As such, this research was given a high priority by the queen.


    ¡°Huh?¡± James blinked, looking back towards Nora. ¡°Oh, that? I finished it a few hours ago. It¡¯s over there.¡± He pointed towards a stack of papers nearby.


    ¡°Dare I ask, sir¡­ what is it that has you so excited, then?¡± Nora gulped nervously, feeling that she shouldn¡¯t have asked that question. However, as the one that had stepped forward, she could feel the gazes of the other assistants on her back, even that of her own sister.


    ¡°Heheh, I¡¯m d you asked!¡± James grinned, looking towards Nora, and then her sister Thea behind her. ¡°I found a monster that recently began appearing on the twenty-thirdyer of Fyor. The Crystal Smander is able to sever its own tail, which acts as a bomb, and then grow a new one by infusing energy into the stump.¡±


    Nora let out a meek yelp, instinctively clutching her own tail as she realized where this was going. ¡°You¡¯re¡­ not going to ask us to cut off our tails, are you sir?¡±


    ¡°Oh, of course not!¡± Heughed, shaking his head. ¡°Cutting the tail off is only the method an unintelligent monster would use to ess this kind of power. The important factor here is that they are not a creature with an energy body, and thus carry a gic code. Although their outeryer has been crystallized, they still bleed if you cut deep enough. Combine that with the fact that they are able to grow a physical tail simply by infusing their energy into it¡­ and the evolutionary factor I¡¯ve been looking for isplete!¡±


    As Nora backed away nervously, James seemed lost in his own thoughts. ¡°All I have to do is use the growth ability of this smander, setting the growth points to be hair follicles in the tail, as well as the tails themselves. With that, the beastkin races will be able to grow additional tails that act as reserve energy batteries.¡±


    ¡°Drawing on those batteries will cause the hairs to lose their luster, and eventually fall off before the tails themselves convert into energy and fade. However, that would require excessive consumption, meaning the difference between a life and death battle.¡±


    The door to theb opened, and a young kitsune girl walked in. Seeing the nervous states of the beastkin girls present, and how James was muttering to himself, she rolled her eyes. ¡°Let me handle this, girls.¡± She said, before grabbing arge wrench off one of the tables, testing its weight.


    Seemingly satisfied, she walked over towards James, pulling her body up onto the desk beside him. Then, under the mortified gazes of everyone present, she lifted the wrench above her head, and mmed it down against his skull.


    A loud thud echoed throughout the room, causing James to abruptly stop his rambling. His eyes slowly turned to look at the girl who struck him, before letting out a bitter chuckle. ¡°Sorry, did I get carried away again?¡±


    ¡°Tsk¡­ I need a better wrench. You could at least pretend like it hurt.¡± Chelsea teased, dropping the wrench to her side and sticking her tongue out yfully. She knew that there was no way she could possibly injure him with her physical strength, even if she used an energy-dispelling wrench forged by Tubrock himself. That was why she had no hesitation, and struck with her full power.

 Chapter 579: Uncontrolled Evolution

    <h4>Chapter 579: Uncontrolled Evolution</h4>


    ¡°Are you sure you want to do this?¡± Udona asked, sitting on therge red bed, wearing an elegant robe that covered her body. There was a trace of worry in her eyes as she looked at the queen across from her. ¡°You know that there¡¯s no going back once you embark on this path, right¡­?¡±


    Bria nodded her head, offering a gentle smile towards Udona. ¡°Of course I know. I¡¯ve been preparing for this ever since achieving perfection. In fact¡­ I don¡¯t really have much of a choice about it at this point.¡± Saying so, she let out a soft sigh, moving to sit on the bed next to the goddess, leaning over and resting her head on Udona¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± Udona asked with a raised eyebrow.


    ¡°You know how people get. Now that I don¡¯t have a ¡®flesh¡¯ body, my legitimacy to the throne is in question. Without the ability to provide an heir, and having not already given one, there are a slew of nobles from ancient kingdoms iming that I should step down for the good of the.¡±


    Udona grit her teeth when she heard that. She knew that there was a way for those who had achieved perfection to have children, she had simply not learned the exact method yet. ¡°So your only hope is to overwhelm them by bing a goddess?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Bria gave a small nod. ¡°Otherwise, the people will take the side of those nobles, and I¡¯ll be forced to step down or face a rebellion. Most likely, whoever takes the throne after me will make me a simple concubine under the guise of an advisor. Assuming that there isn¡¯t a civil war to determine which of them gets the throne in the first ce.¡±


    ¡°I could-¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Udona¡¯s words were cut off by the queen squeezing her hand gently. ¡°If you step in and im that I should keep the throne, it will onlyplicate matters. People will see me as a link to get to you. Or¡­ in the worst case, a weakness of yours that could be exploited. This is something that I have to resolve on my own. I must be a goddess under my own power.¡±


    Udona let out a long sigh, a bitter smileing over her lips. ¡°You¡¯ve thought this through¡­ have you decided on your domain, then? I can pull some strings to help you out when the timees.¡±


    Bria thought that over for a moment. ¡°I¡¯m debating between two at the moment. Goddess of Queens sounds a bit too on the nose¡­ but what do you think of the Goddess of Law?¡±


    ¡°Really wanna hammer that message home, don¡¯t you?¡± The goddess asked with a lightugh. ¡°Alright¡­ have you researched the process to know what you need to do?¡±


    ¡°I have, and I¡¯ve asked Jonas to visit me tomorrow. Just in case I happen to fail. At least it will allow me to preserve a bit of legacy.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t talk like that.¡± Udona told her, ears ttened against her skull. ¡°You¡¯ll do this, Bria. You¡¯ll make an excellent goddess.¡±


    Deep within the void of space, in a far-off star system, a pink-haired girl appeared with a gruff dwarf. ¡°This the ce?¡± The dwarf asked, staring at the two living worlds in the distance. One of them was little more than a barren rock surrounding a massive dungeon core, while the other was a massive slime in the shape of a small.


    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Aurivy responded, nodding her head quickly. ¡°Think you¡¯d be able to take care of it, Tubby?¡±


    ¡°Told¡¯ya not ta call me that!¡± The dwarf bellowed, causing the halfling tough, their voices somehow carrying even in the empty space. ¡°And it¡¯ll do. Get Leowynn to clear any star systems in the way.¡±


    After he said that, he took out a small stone from his beard, before cing it on the ground. ¡°Range, one sr system. Anchor point, local star. Array type, barrier.¡± He reached into his beard again, pulling out a long, metal handle that connected to a hammer head. One which could not have possibly fit the space it was pulled from.


    ¡°Mass¡­ production!¡± He shouted, lifting the hammer high above his head, before striking it down at the stone. Instead of the stone being sent flying into the void, it remained perfectly stationary. However, as Aurivy looked around, she could see simr stones springing into existence every few thousand miles in every direction. These stones wrapped themselves around the sr system to form awork.


    ¡°How long did¡¯ya want this tost?¡± Tubrock asked, watching how the worlds within the system began to rotate more quickly, entire revolutions around the star taking no more than a minute. Gradually, the entire system began to drift along its cosmic route. The system was moving at millions of kilometers per second, discing itself from its spot on the ster charts.


    ¡°Until some kind of sentient race appears on Tower¡¯s.¡± Aurivy responded with a shrug, pointing towards the dungeon world. ¡°That¡¯s the promise I made them. They help me with getting a slime god, and I help them create a living world that they can use to produce followers.¡±


    ¡°I saw that¡­ you really put those restrictions on the slime?¡± Tubrock raised an eyebrow, looking towards the halfling, who simply shrugged helplessly.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t want to. I mean, I¡¯m cutting off their hope for divinity. Who would want that? But if I didn¡¯t, there would be millions of god slimes by the time this was over, and Dale would really get mad at me. You know better than most how quickly they learn and adapt. If I see any promising individuals, I¡¯ll grant them individual rights of ascension.¡±


    Tubrock grunted, nodding his head. ¡°I s¡¯pose. Was just a surprise to see it from you of all people.¡±


    Aurivy chuckled, a small grin forming on her face. ¡°You say that¡­ but do you see what I see?¡± Her eyes were directed towards the quickly moving slime world. When Tubrock followed her gaze, his eyes widened in shock.


    The slime had grown massively over the elerated years, now every bit the size of the Earth. There were oceans and forests, trees and clouds. Creatures could be seen walking the surface. Yes¡­ walking, not hopping or jiggling or even slithering. Walking.


    These creatures appeared green and slightly translucent, vaguely mimicking the halfling form. Their cores were kept within their chests, roughly ced where the heart would be. Other, less intelligent slimes mimicked beasts, appearing as foxes and deer, wolves and bears. There was even the odd treasure chest tucked against the side of a tree. Whenever an unsuspecting ¡®animal¡¯ walked by, it shot out a massive tongue and dragged them inside.


    ¡°It¡¯s only been twenty years by now, no?¡± Tubrock asked in surprise, seeing the thriving ecosystem of the world.


    ¡°Give or take. But everything in this world is a slime. Wind slimes floating in the sky to be clouds. Water slimes filling the crevices of the world to create oceans. Wood slimes nting themselves in the ground to create trees. Under the guidance of Pietra, their evolution is so fast that it would scare even me if I didn¡¯t know about them already.¡±


    As Aurivy let out a happy sigh, her face suddenly cramped up when a message spoke into her mind. Really, Aurivy¡­ I leave you alone for two hours, and we have a slime race¡­


    Don¡¯t be mad? I took precautions, I swear! They won¡¯t go out of control and be an unbeatable race of monsters or anything like that!


    I saw. But¡­ take a look at their information, first.


    When Aurivy heard that, she blinked. Then, her main body within the Admin Room focused, summoning the racial chart for the slimes.


    Race Name


    Slime


    Comprehension


    100


    Agility


    0


    Strength


    0


    Lifespan


    a??


    Luck


    1


    Awareness


    10


    Male:Female ratio


    Genderless


    Racial Abilities


    -Infinite Lifespan


    -Adaptive Evolution(Greater)


    -External Body Control


    -Imitation


    -Restriction: Divinity Locked(God of Slimes)


    I see nothing wrong with this. Aurivy said proudly, only wincing slightly when she saw how high theirprehension stat was.


    The race is worth five hundred points. Okay, that made Aurivy wince further. Something something, infinite lifespan and unlimited capacity to evolve.


    But¡­ but their divinity is locked! Aurivy called out in a panic. They shouldn¡¯t be considered that powerful by the system if they can¡¯t achieve divinity.


    She knew that her race fell into the same special loophole that Tubrock¡¯s golems had fallen through. Dale wouldn¡¯t need to spend points on them because they had been created fully sapient by the residents of his world. In this case, by Aurivy, Pietra, and Atraxi. With Aurivy counting as a true resident, and the other two being her subordinates, the slime race received a ¡®free pass¡¯, for better or worse.


    They can still copy other energies, like saint energies. And I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if they could eventually learn how to ess chaos energy. When Aurivy heard thatst part, she let out a gasp. She had been so focused on disallowing their divinity that she forgot about its pr opposite.


    She quickly measured her own divine reserves before focusing. ¡°By my authority as the God of Slimes, I ce a restriction on all slimes. None shall ess the power of chaos without my approval!¡±


    She could feel arge drop in her divinity as this deration took effect. Evenrger than when she dered divinity off-limits, which suggested there may have been slimes already cultivating this ¡®dark power¡¯. How is it now¡­?


    Let me see¡­ two hundred and fifty points. Still a good deal more than the dungeon cores were, but at least it¡¯s not as bad as it was. Aurivy let out a sigh of relief when she heard that. Tubrock, not being privy to their entire conversation, looked at Aurivy with a raised brow. ¡°Sorry¡­ apparently I almost made a race of god-killing slimes.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­ yeah, I can see how that¡¯d be a problem.¡± Tubrock shook his head. ¡°How long d¡¯ya think it¡¯ll take before they¡¯re ready to meet the other races?¡±


    Aurivy pursed her lips in thought at that, once again looking at the slime world. ¡°Let¡¯s see what kind of monster Tower cultivates. If it¡¯s a peaceful one, we¡¯ll start the interactions with them as a trial run. If not¡­ I¡¯ll set up a gate between here and Deckan. They seem like they¡¯d be able to handle it if something went wrong, with that old Keeper there.¡±


    Tubrock thought about that for a moment, before agreeing. At the very least, this didn¡¯t have to worry about some space monstersing along and destroying it. If anything, the space monsters themselves had to worry about the inhabitants of this eating them.


    As he thought that, his eyes drifted towards one of those ¡®cloud slimes¡¯. It had half a dozen cores floating about in its body, showing that it was actually aposite of multiple slimes. When it swept past a mountain, a few fire slimes spewedva at it, which angered the cloud.


    At that point, the numerous wind slimes that made up the cloud came together and began spinning, forming a tornado that pierced down into the volcanic slime pit. Seeing how the sky itself had be angry at a volcano, Tubrock couldn¡¯t help but shudder. He pitied whoever wandered into this world, thinking it was just a normal.

 Chapter 580: The World of Tomorrow, Today

    <h4>Chapter 580: The World of Tomorrow, Today</h4>


    Tower was incredibly pleased with the results of the deal he made with ¡®Mother¡¯. Although he was still experiencing the elerated timeflow as normal with his primary consciousness, it had to be remembered that Tower had achieved divinity through the unity of ten thousand dungeons. He could easily tell how slowly the other dungeons were operatingpared to his own, and use it as a point of reference.


    For the first fifty years, he focused on gradually expanding the world that he had built around himself, until it was asrge as Earth. After that, he began spawning in monsters from other dungeons. From the nt dungeons, he would spawn monster nts. From aquatic dungeons, he would spawn sea monsters. Over the course of five years, he created a living ecosystem that covered his world, with every nt or animal being some form of monster.


    Next, it was time to work on a sapient race. This was actually quite easy for him as the God of Monsters. Up until this point, he had refrained from using his divinity as much as possible, due to the fact that time was being elerated. With the outside world moving slowly, that means that the passive divinity regeneration he would get from those people that knew of him was weakened considerably.


    For this matter, Tower considered it carefully. The easiest way would be to create a monster with a high rate of reproduction. Doing so would limit the divinity cost substantially. However, if he did so, the monsters would cause problems with overpoption in the long run, and would create conflict when they eventually met the other races.


    With that in mind, a race with a long life, but rtively normal reproductive capacity was more suitable. Thinking of that, his mind drifted towards the elves. Aside from his own race, they had the longest lifespan of any race he was aware of. It only made sense to him to use the elves as a base for this new monster.


    The God of Monsters thought deeply about what characteristics he should give them. Personality traits can be taught over generations, but physical ability¡­ that was more important to consider from the beginning. The lifespan of elves, with an adjusted breeding capacity.


    I don¡¯t want them to cause direct conflict with the races already in existence, so adjustments will be made to their physical bodies. Taller, ranging between two and three meters as adults. More muscr, with the women having pale white skin, and the men ck skinned and bald. There is a shortage of races adapted to surviving in the arctic, so I should give them cold resistance and adjust my climate ordingly.


    Havinge to his conclusion, he created the race in his mind. Creating monsters was the greatest talent at his disposal, and soon a hundred portals began to open atop his world. From each portal, a dozen men and women emerged, with only the most basic intellect. While they had the capacity for sapience, granting it to them immediately would cost more divinity than he was willing to spend.


    The full creation process for the race took one week, after which point he began to adjust the climate of his world, turning it colder and colder. Most of the monsters he had imported previously were tropical creatures, so they naturally began to struggle with their new environment. nts withered and beasts starved, with each monster being reced with something more fitting as they died.


    Over the course of a hundred years, his tropical paradise for monsters turned into a frozen tundra. Few of his original creations were left, including his yet unnamed monster race. It was at this point where he began to guide them, reaching out andmunicating with the monsters. Teaching them of fire, of tools, acting as their guardian over the course of their lives.


    Over thirty years, there was a new generation to teach, and they were taught of their guardian. Because of thews set in ce by Irena and Aurivy, the souls of the fallen were not taken to the afterlife after they passed. Instead, Tower created an underground dungeon within his world where they lived in spiritual form.


    Every so often, one of these spirits would emerge on the surface, guiding their descendants. This pattern persisted for a thousand years, at which point one percent of his had been colonized. If there was one thing that Tower was dissatisfied with, it was the fact that his creations seemed incapable of gaining levels.


    The slimes on the neighboring, he had long since confirmed were growing stronger through the system. However, his own monsters were not¡­ and he could not understand why.


    ¡°Terra, a little help here?¡± I asked out loud, knowing that Terra wouldn¡¯t be too far away. Although I had been out in the living room with alia and Ashley, I returned to myputer after Aurivy told me the problem that she was having with the dungeon world.


    ¡°Haven¡¯t figured it out yet?¡± Terra asked, appearing next to me and leaning forward with a grin while resting an arm against my chair.


    ¡°Wasn¡¯t it supposed to be a loophole that sapient races created by inhabitants are automatically added to the system?¡± That was what I had seen from the golems, as well as the slimes. But¡­ why wasn¡¯t it working here?


    Terra giggled, shaking her head. ¡°If he had used any other domain to create them, perhaps¡­ Think of it as a loophole for a loophole. He¡¯s the God of Monsters, isn¡¯t he?¡±


    Hearing that, I blinked, letting out a sound of understanding. ¡°So the races he creates are all treated as monsters instead of ¡®people¡¯, no matter what settings he gives them?¡±


    ¡°Got it in one.¡± Terra gave a small nod to confirm my theory. ¡°You can still buy them the old fashioned way. Now against doing that. He may be the God of Monsters, but you¡¯re still the Keeper. You kind of trump him in domain authority.¡±


    I rolled my eyes, pulling up the information for the race. Thankfully, they weren¡¯t as versatile as Aurivy¡¯s slimes. The entire race only cost a hundred points, which I was more than willing to provide to help with Aurivy¡¯s ns.


    Fifteen hundred years after the birth of the race, which Tower had taken to calling the Nethrak, there was a sudden change. It was small, almost imperceptible at first, but grew within days until it was impossible to miss. His people were bing stronger, smarter, their evolution elerating dozens of times faster than before.


    With a simple check, he knew that the Nethrak had been epted into the world¡¯s system, and were now able to properly gain levels. Once more, he took an active role in their education, imprinting himself on their culture as a creator and guide.


    From there, the race exploded in all aspects. Whereas it took them fifteen hundred years to upy five percent of the, it only took them another hundred before they had explored half of it. Their poption and technology levels underwent major advances with the knowledge that Tower was able to provide.


    Once two thousand years had passed, they had created a stable civilization built on the cultivation of ki and technology. Although their technology had yet to reach a modern standard, they were by no means archaic.


    ¡°All rise.¡± A man¡¯s voice called out within the brick building, dozens of multicolored, translucent individuals rising to their feet. As a side door in the building opened, a pink man walked in, his almost liquid eyes scanning over the crowd. He moved to stand at the front of the room, before clearing his throat. ¡°Podium.¡±


    At his call, a podium rose up from the stone floor, looking gtinous for only a moment before it solidified. ¡°Leaders of your respective colonies. I¡¯ve called you here today for a very important reason. I have received a message from Atraxi.¡±


    There was a buzz of conversation among the gathered slimes at his words. As two thousand years had passed for Tower, that same amount of time had simrly passed for the slime world, which led to some rather¡­ interesting changes. They did not have kingdoms or countries, only colonies. All colonies held a unified leader, and that was the God of Slimes himself.


    ¡°Atraxi has informed me that we shall soon be capable of moving beyond this world that birthed us.¡± The pink leader spoke passionately. ¡°We will be able to see the stars as was spoken in the legends.¡±


    ¡°To achieve this goal, our lord has requested us to bring together ten ripe metal slimes, which his brother shall evolve into a new form. With this new slime, we will be carried to a nearby world, one which promises to be full of life.¡± After he said that, his eye seemed to shift a bit, noticing a health bar that appeared over one of the benches. ¡°Greg, you¡¯re eating the chair again.¡±


    ¡°Ah, sorry.¡± A green man spoke apologetically, moving his leg a bit further away from the bench. As the leader of a colony of sentient acid slimes, it was harder for him to resist passively consuming anything he was in contact with.


    Within this world, which had been named Id by its inhabitants, less than one percent of one percent of the slime poption were sapient. It was deemed impossible to maintain a peaceful society when everyone was aware that everything that they ate was no different from themselves. Imagine that¡­


    Instead, the unintelligent slimes were domesticated. Each slime type would naturally grow an outer bodyposed of a substance simr to their element. For instance, metal slimes would produce a body made of liquid metal. This Slime Metal could be filtered and cooled to create metal that could be forged by a cksmith.


    Simrly, water slimes produced bodies made almost entirely of water, wood slimes a liquid wood, and so on. A slime was considered ¡®ripe¡¯ when it had consumed enough and grown to a point that it was ready to split. This was when they were typically harvested, as the ¡®farmer¡¯ could receive the greatest yield.


    Of course, not all slimes were kept as raw materials such as metal and water slimes. Mostrger objects were themselves entire slimes. The building that they were holding the meeting in, for instance, was a slime that had been trained to take the shape of a building. The benches were also individual slimes. Generally, handheld items were crafted, whilerger constructs were ¡®trained¡¯.


    With this in mind, it came as no surprise to anyone that Pietra would be able tobine ten slimes to create some form of vehicle. ¡°When does he want them?¡± A red woman asked, raising her hand to pose the question.


    However, the pink leader shook his head. ¡°There is no set deadline. The first vehicle will only carry five hundred once it has been fully grown. He has said that he will evolve as many vehicles as we bring him the materials for. However, he has passed down a strict set of rules which we must abide by after we leave this world.¡±


    At the mention of rules, everyone stood more stiffly, unwilling to disappoint the twin gods. ¡°These rulese not from the brothers, but from Aurivy herself.¡± As he said the name, everyone in the building changed shape on instinct, assuming the form of an identical, thin woman with short hair of their preferred color.


    ¡°First, the ces we are to go are not slime worlds like Id. We must be mindful not to consume in excess, or identally harm those we encounter. If we find debris in space, we may consume it as we see fit, but never another intelligent creature or said creature¡¯s possessions.¡±


    As everyone processed the firstmandment, the leader moved on to the second. ¡°Secondly, the Goddess has decreed that we must make it clear upon our first encounter that we are not a bad slime.¡± Perhaps on reflex, he inhaled a wet breath after saying that, before letting out a long sigh. ¡°The slimes of other worlds are not as advanced as we, and we must make it clear that we mean them no harm.¡±

 Chapter 581: The Wheels of Fate Turn Ever Slowly

    <h4>Chapter 581: The Wheels of Fate Turn Ever Slowly</h4>


    The slimes that had been informed of their new objective eagerly returned to their own colonies. They activated various means of travel, either through flight, direct teleportation, or ki-infused sprinting for those closer. Those who lived further away, however, had to resort to other methods.


    While their magical research could not be said to be advanced as the methods from Earth, the slimes had their own ways of doing things. Instead of storage spaces, they had a special slime variant known as a Void Slime, which had been evolved and bred after over a thousand years of research.


    These void slimes appeared as small, ck cores that could be held in the palm of one¡¯s hand. Their slime body did not exist in this realm, but rather within the void between worlds. By infusing a small amount of spiritual energy into the core tomunicate, items could be stored or retrieved from the slime¡¯s body.


    This was because of another unique that void slimes possessed. Unlike most other slimes, they did not need to consume physical objects, or even normal energy types. To a void slime, the only thing that could be used to sustain themselves and grow was the void itself.


    Simrly, the newborn cores of a void slime would also appear within the void, alongside the other items stored in the original slime¡¯s body. It was a matter of luck whether or not the owner of the void slime noticed the new addition before it naturally dislodged itself. If they did, and managed to retrieve it, they could then sell the new void slime.


    Regardless, those who lived further away from the meeting point retrieved various boxes from their void slimes, which were opened up and tipped over. From the boxes, gtinous masses of different colors fell out and quickly began reshaping themselves into various means of transportation such as small nes or cars.


    The idea to create vehicles from slimes was far from new to them. The only thing truly innovative about their new n was the ability for the vehicle to leave the atmosphere. So, as each ruler returned to their colonies, they spread word to the rest of their people.


    Within a week, there were already those who had gathered ten metal slimes, offering them to the God of Evolution. Whenever such an offering was made, Atraxi and Pietra would appear together. Atraxi would create an additional slime, one that was not naturally found in the world, a ¡®light slime¡¯. After that, Pietra wouldbine all eleven and create a new slime core, one over a foot in diameter.


    Once the new slime had been made, it was only a matter of feeding it until it was able to create its full body. They watched as room after room appeared over the course of several days, the slime structure growingrger the more it was fed.


    A door of ice swung open on arge home within ahrak vige. A man walked in, standing nearly ten feet tall. In his hand was arge bundle of meat wrapped in thin ropes. ¡°N?¡± He called out, soon answered by footsteps walking in his direction.


    ¡°Back from today¡¯s hunt?¡± A woman asked with a kind tone, stepping into the room. Her skin was as white as snow, her hair long and ck. Although she would be tall by the standards of almost any other race, she seemed absolutely tiny inparison to the giant, muscr man at the door.


    The man nodded his head, bringing the bundle of meat towards the table. As thehrak had never had any trouble dealing with the cold, he was only lightly dressed without a shirt to cover his chest. ¡°Found a herd ofmboths. This shouldst us for a fair while.¡±


    N¡¯s eyes went wide when she heard that, happily walking closer to examine the meat. Lamboths were giant creatures withrge tusks. Their bodies were always coated in enough densely packed wool that it made it hard to pierce their hides with normal weapons. However, if one were to seed, they would obtain meat at the highest level.


    ¡°Did you manage to capture any of them?¡± She asked hopefully, pinching the corner of the meat to check its quality. Even though the bundle was almost half asrge as she was, she knew it would not even be one full leg from a singlemboth. Meaning that either the herd was small, or they did not kill many of them.


    With a grunt of frustration, the man shook his head, setting the meat on a nearby table. ¡°Only managed to bring down three before a snow wyrm roared from nearby. Sent the rest into a stampede. Takorta was almost trampled.¡±


    Her eyes widened again, and she nodded. At that point, she was simply happy that her husband had made it home safely. As she was lifting the meat to store it, she heard a roar that seemed to pierce the air. Her body tensed, and a frozen spear appeared in her husband¡¯s hand. ¡°Did it follow you back? Reynard?¡± She asked in concern, but the man shook his head.


    ¡°That didn¡¯t sound right. You stay inside, and get to the basement. I¡¯ll go check what¡¯s going on.¡± After saying that, he turned and left the home once again, stepping out into the raging snow. With a flex of his will, as well as others emerging as well, the storm cleared. They were able to see a ray of light piercing through the clouds above.


    ¡°What do you suppose it is?¡± A neighbor walked over and asked, his eyes fixed on the sky as well. However, before an answer could be given, the cloud scattered to reveal a sight far beyond any of their expectations.


    Three metallic craft were suspended in the sky, each over two hundred meters across. They seemed to resemble spinning discs, hovering in ce for several long moments before separating. Each craft went to a different direction just outside of the city, where they slowly began tond.


    Naturally, those defensive men and women rushed towards the closest vessel as itnded. When they arrived, and were close enough to see a health bar appearing atop it, many were taken aback. Such a thing could be a creature?


    Reynard clutched his spear firmly, his eyes never leaving the strange¡­ thing that hadnded not too far from his own home. It stood on four legs that resembled metal spikes, the underbelly forming an inverted dome ten meters wide. As he watched, this dome began to descend, forming a tform connected to the rest of the vessel by threedders.


    Standing on the tform were five figures, each scanning the crowd. They appeared¡­ somewhat humanoid, though their skin clearly identified them as anything but normal. The five that Reynard saw seemed to be made of a red¡­ almost mucus-like substance.


    When they departed from the tform, the snow beneath their feet vanished, likely indicating an extremely high body temperature. If there was one thing that reassured Reynard, it was that these creatures were small, barely a third of his own size. However, that changed a momentter, as well.


    Under the shocked gazes of thehrak gathered, the five figures began to grow, their frames shifting until they more closely resembled those people gathered around the vessel. Anxiety spread throughout the crowd, before a voice spoke from the leading figure, speaking strange noises that they could not understand.


    ¡°Do not fear, my children.¡± A voice echoed in the sky, one that thehrak were all-too familiar with. Seeing the anxiety of the various men and women meeting the slimes for the first time, Tower decided to act as intermediary. His avatars appeared next to every vessel, looking like a thirty-foot tallhrak male himself. ¡°These people mean no harm to you or yours.¡±


    ¡°They are distant cousins of another world, and I think that you will find theye in peace.¡±


    I let out a sigh of relief when I saw Tower stepping in to handle things between the slimes and his own people. In total, thirty slime ships had descended upon his world, splitting into ten groups and moving to thergest cities in the world to make first contact. However¡­ I was somewhat disappointed when I saw the ships that the slimes were using.


    Although they were capable of inteary flight, they had nothing that would carry them beyond light speed or allow for long-ranged warp. Unless they were willing to fly for hundreds of years, these ships would never be able to carry them all the way to Earth. Though, that may have been intentional to allow them to only interact with thehrak for now.


    Seeing that this situation was resolving itself, I went ahead and asked Tubrock to break the formation surrounding that star system. There was no reason to elerate its time any longer, and it was sufficient to allow them to return to the normal flow. Meanwhile, I cast my sight elsewhere.


    Bria bid farewell to the elven man that was leaving her office. Now that Jonas had sessfully added her to hismunity, she felt as if the final burden was removed from her shoulders. When the door closed, she saw Udona appearing behind it, looking at her with concern. ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡± Bria said, standing and moving to clear out arge, empty area in front of her desk.


    ¡°I¡¯ll watch over you.¡± Udona said in a gentle tone. Because Bria had already obtained her perfection, the first step of divinity was the most challenging. Recing the body was simply converting one form of energy to another. Changing a raw, unrefined soul into a divine gem? That was harder.


    However, even Udona knew that her presence was little more than a cebo. If Bria truly failed, there would be nothing Udona could do, even as the Goddess of Life. Bria¡¯s soul would crumble, and there would be nothing that could be achieved by sustaining her body. She would be ¡®alive¡¯, but without a soul.


    Thankfully, Bria did not seem to consider that point, and appeared to be greatly relieved to have Udona at her side. ¡°Thank you.¡± She muttered, before sitting down and crossing her legs. She extended her right hand, conjuring a wisp of her soul that hovered over her palm like a strand of smoke.


    Then, with a great deal of focus, she isted her divinity and extended her left hand. Above that hand was a flickering golden light. It was the purest and most powerful energy that could be cultivated by mortals, but had so few uses to them. Taking a deep breath, she brought the strand of her soul over to the spark of divinity, willing the two to merge.


    Immediately, Bria bit down on her lip to muffle the scream which threatened to tear out of her throat. Her body convulsed, her hands shaking as the golden light drew the wisp of spiritual energy in, condensing a tiny bead. With the initial fusion a sess, the process quickly sped out of her control.


    The bead of a divine soul began to furiously suck the rest of her spiritual energy out of her body, ripping it out through her left hand. It took everything Bria had just to maintain herself, while Udona watched nervously from the side. For every piece of her soul that was pulled out of her body, she felt it shatter, burn, and forge itself anew around the golden bead.


    Udona wanted to speak up and encourage Bria, but she didn¡¯t dare say a word. If she did, she might break Bria¡¯s concentration. However, her eyes suddenly widened as she felt feedback from her domain. Panic traced itself over her features, and she stretched out her hands to summon her divinity.


    Bria was failing. She was unable to bear the pain, and it was tearing her soul apart. Despite knowing that the chances of her helping at this point were slim, Udona split her divinity into two threads. The first went into Bria¡¯s body to keep it alive, while the second went into her crumbling soul.


    Bria wanted to ascend by her own power, but she had already failed at that. If Udona didn¡¯t step it, her death was assured. But even with Udona¡¯s assistance, the deteriorating soul showed no signs of salvation. ¡°No, no, no!¡± Udona cried out, watching cracks form along the golden bead as tears began to stream down her cheeks. She had watched others help mortals ascend, but never done so herself. Her knowledge in this field was little more than textbook information.


    So, without knowing how to save Bria, Udona could only watch as the divine bead¡­ shattered. Energy swept across the room, upturning furniture and shattering the window. With her soul lost, Bria¡¯s eyes grew foggy, her figure slumping forward as Udona rushed over to embrace her.


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ sorry¡­¡± She muttered, feeling her life quickly draining from her body. Her will was fading, her mind growing dim. ¡°Looks like¡­ I won¡¯t be able to y anymore¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay¡­ it¡¯s okay.¡± Udona cried, stroking a hand through Bria¡¯s hair. Her mind raced, trying to find some solution. She couldn¡¯t call Irena to help, because Bria¡¯s soul was not under her jurisdiction even if she died. Her soul was gone, and would never join the Underworld. Like Udona, the best Irena would be able to do was to keep her physical form alive.


    With no other suitable options, the best she could do was to hold her friend,forting her as she slowly faded away.

 Chapter 582: Political Giant

    <h4>Chapter 582: Political Giant</h4>


    James was hard at work, wholeheartedly continuing a project he had been working on. He wanted to make the storage items more efficient, without the risk of items inside damaging one another. Currently, it was dangerous to store potions inside of such a storage space with anything even remotely heavy, as it could cause that item tond on top of the potions when it was inserted into the storage space.


    Maybe I can create a smart shelf that filters items based on size and durability, while leaving arge entry point open for new items to be deposited. He thought to himself, approaching the problem from a technological aspect rather than a magical one.


    As he thought about that, he felt a rush of energy sweeping over hisb, causing him to pause briefly. As an expert on different energy types, he¡¯d be a fool not to recognize the power of a divine soul. However, for that power to be released so haphazardly, the owner must have used an ability without any care. That, or¡­


    James felt a small disturbance within his own body, furrowing his brow. He reached inside of his chest with one hand, the hand passing through his skin with a ripple as he pulled out a familiar card. On the surface of the card was a simple circle, but there was now an additional figure standing inside of it.


    ¡°So that¡¯s how you nned to use these.¡± He said with a small smirk towards the world spirit whose image was present within the card. ¡°Decided to cash in one of the favors, now?¡±


    The Queen is dead. The spirit¡¯s voice entered James¡¯ mind immediately, causing the man to freeze up.


    ¡°That wave just now¡­ she tried to ascend.¡± James let out a sad sigh as he pieced it together. Naturally, Bria wouldn¡¯t have attempted something so dangerous without first consulting him on whether there were techniques or devices that could make the process ur more smoothly. Unfortunately, even James did not know of anything that could help her out there.


    Divinity was always a path that one had to pave themselves. Perhaps at higher tiers than he had achieved in hisst life, there would be ways to mass produce gods. However, those were beyond his knowledge. The best advice he could give her was to attach herself to one of the ¡®Greater Pantheon¡¯ to ensure her sess, but such an option did not seem favorable to her.


    ¡°So¡­ what¡¯s the favor, then? You¡¯re not calling it in to tell me to take the throne myself, are you?¡± That would be a bit ridiculous in James¡¯ mind. A man who was not even recognized by the world¡¯s system assuming the throne and governing an entire world? Nobody in the world of politics would be able to ept such an idea.


    Not take the throne¡­ but protect it. The spirit told him. In theing days, there will be people iming to be the new rightful sessor. If they were to im the throne in such a manner, Udona would be¡­ displeased. The Queen was a good friend of hers.


    James had a somewhat peculiar look on his face as he heard that. ¡°So you want me to act as a guard? Do you have some kind of token that will let others know I¡¯m doing this on your behalf, and not just on my own?¡±


    Thankfully, hisb was currently empty apart from himself. He had sent his assistants to Fyor, with the goal of retrieving a living Crystal Smander. That was the reason why he could so happily work on another project in the first ce.


    The world spirit, however, simply smiled at his question. If I had such a thing, would I need to call in this favor of mine? There are two among those who would seek to im the throne that I have granted a favor to. By the rules I have set, they may call that favor in through the use of a special card, simr to those that I gave you. If they call for me to help them obtain the throne, it is only natural that I require a strong force to protect it. One that I cannot best myself.


    James looked at the image in the card, his eye twitching. ¡°There¡¯s no such thing. A binding that loose would never be able topel aplete world spirit like you. Can¡¯t you just ignore them if they ask for something you don¡¯t like?¡±


    Now, where would be the fun in that? She countered with augh. You need only to protect the throne until such time that the Goddess has appointed a new ruler. Someone appointed by the Goddess herself¡­ nobody would have the grounds to refute their im. But bear in mind, after this conversation is over, you must not ept anyone else¡¯s request to terminate this favor early, unless ites from the Keeper or one of his own. Those that hold my favors may ask me to use that as a means of stopping you.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, I got it.¡± James said with a grumble, agreeing to the request. As soon as he did so, the card wrapped itself in a blue light before vanishing from his hand. Sighing, he stretched out his arm, closing his eyes.


    ¡°Activate emergency protocol. Extract reserve energy.¡± He muttered, releasing a lock he had ced inside of himself long ago, when he first began exploring the various dimensions of Fyor. It would be unreasonable to assume that someone from a floor a hundred thousand timesrger than anything that the residents had explored would only be the same size as a normal human, unless he had already condensed his divinity.


    Naturally, James had done no such thing. Rather, he took this form because it was one that was familiar to him and he wasfortable with it. As for the rest of his energy, that which didn¡¯t fit in his body, he stored it within the void. He ced a lock within himself using a special energy that would automatically siphon off his power to prevent him from growing anyrger.


    Now, that lock wasing undone, and James could fill himself swelling with power. With a thought, he shifted his location to be atop the ceiling of his research station, stretching his hand forward. Instead of channeling all of that power into himself, he used it to create an avatar. One that truly contained his full power.


    Across the world of Deckan, there was a shock spread among the citizens. Every citizen of Deckan received a message from the system, without exception.


    Queen Bria has died. Appointing a new ruler.


    No heir to the throne found. Primary method of inheritance has failed.


    Secondary method of inheritance automatically activating. The first person to reach the seat of power and obtain the majority approval of the people shall be the new ruler.


    The system was rather ¡®fair¡¯ at times like this. It did not randomly assign people based on political agendas. Rather, anyone could im the throne, whether they were a noble or not. Of course, a noble would find it a far less difficult challenge to rally the people to their cause.


    However, at its core, this was a democracy of sorts, without the people needing to cast any sort of true vote. The system would read their approval from their minds and determine if an individual approved of one or multiple candidates to rule. The first challenge was to reach the seat of power¡­ meaning the castle within the capital.


    Normally, that would cause this event to turn into a free-for-all race, if not for the precautions set in advance. While the rest of the world was still processing the message that had been sent to them, the ground beneath the castle began to shake. Those servants still inside stumbled, grabbing onto furnishings as the castle began to directly rise into the air.


    Standing in the courtyard was a man a hundred meters tall, casting a cold look towards the ground below. Those who knew of him immediately recognized the famed researcher, but were unclear why he seemed to be ¡®stealing¡¯ the castle at a time like this.


    When he opened his mouth, his voice seemed to echo out across the sky, spreading for dozens of miles. ¡°The spirit of this world has entrusted me with a task. Until the Goddess of Life appoints a new ruler, the throne shall remain empty.¡±


    A fist mmed against a wooden desk, causing cracks to spread out in a spiderweb pattern. ¡°Of all the things¡­¡± A kitsune man groaned in frustration, his ck hair ring up. He had just been preparing to advance on the capital and im what he thought to be rightfully his. After all, he was the closest noble to the capital that governed his own territory.


    However, as he was preparing to leave, the message came in to inform him that a giant had absconded with the castle. Worst yet, he imed to be on a mission from the spirit of the world, and would only relinquish the castle to one chosen by the Goddess?!


    The man felt nothing at the loss of the previous queen, even though it had been only minutes since her death was announced. All he thought of was to secure his own ce as the new king of Deckan. And now, that n was foiled. At least, the initial attempt was.


    I stood in front of Udona¡¯s door, together with Terra, alia, and Keliope. The four of us were the first to notice what had happened. Me, because I had watched the scene directly, whereas the others all keep tabs on each other¡¯s territory. Those down below only knew that a queen had died, and that it would trigger a fight to im the throne.


    However, we knew that it was more. She wasn¡¯t just a queen, but was also a friend to Udona. So, we all came to check on her. Lifting my hand, I lightly knocked on the door, not wanting to disturb her if she would rather be left alone. ¡°Udona?¡±


    The kitsune¡¯s voice came out in a more calm tone than I was expecting. ¡°You guys cane in¡­¡±


    I had been in Udona¡¯s room a number of times. Each one was different from thest. At one point, the entire room had been constructed of pillows, and even had a pillow fort that contained a functioning theater. This time, however, the room appeared dimly lit, with only a single bed tucked away in the corner.


    Sitting on the bed was Udona, wiping her eyes. Though she was doing her best to appear normal, her red eyes and wet cheeks betrayed her emotions. Without waiting for an invitation, alia rushed over to the bed, jumping next to Udona and wrapping her in a tight hug. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, sis¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine¡­¡± Udona said, but it was clear that she was still fighting back the tears. ¡°Which of us hasn¡¯t dealt with the death of mortals?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not fine and you know it.¡± Keliope spoke in a firm tone, stepping into the room and approaching the bed. ¡°If it were fine, that would mean you didn¡¯t care. We all have people we care about¡­ and we all hurt when they die. Especially when it happens so suddenly. We¡¯re here for you, Udona¡­ it¡¯s okay to cry.¡±


    ¡°You¡­ you sound like Aurivy.¡± The kitsune sniffled, bringing her hands up to her face as her tears began to fall anew. ¡°Did¡­ did you know she¡¯d fail, Terra?¡± She asked, unwilling to look the felyn goddess in the eyes.


    To my surprise, Terra shook her head. ¡°I can make predictions when ites to someone trying to get the Perfect Self. But divinity is out of my hands. It¡¯s a matter of the individual¡¯s willpower and situation more than anything that I can use for my predictions.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t mean to belittle Bria¡¯s will. We all know that she was a strong individual.¡± As Terra said that, she ced a hand on Udona¡¯s shoulder, speaking in a soft tone. ¡°I believe that the thoughts of what would happen if she failed crept up on her at a crucial moment, and caused her to falter for just a moment.¡±


    ¡°And¡­ and that was all it took, right?¡± Udona, asked, wiping her face again. ¡°Just one moment with all that pain, and everything is over.¡±


    I moved over to stand next to Terra. As someone that had personally gone through that pain myself, I knew just how dangerous it was to get distracted during the process. ¡°Everything¡¯s been taken care of down below.¡± I assured her as gently as I could, having seen the preparations that the world spirit took. ¡°You can take the time you need, and nobody will rush you.¡±


    After I said that, Udona looked up at me. Her eyes were still wet and red, and she gave a choked nod. ¡°Thank you. I¡¯ll be alright soon¡­¡±

 Chapter 583: You Should Be Running

    <h4>Chapter 583: You Should Be Running</h4>


    ¡°So this is the twenty-third floor¡­¡± One of the kitsune sisters, Thea, spoke up as they arrived through a golden portal next to therge gate. It had taken them most of the day simply to go through processing and be formally epted in Fyor as researchers of Deckan. Another couple of hours to get the materials that they needed for the floor, and now they had finally arrived.


    ¡°Yup!¡± The smallest of theirpanions shouted energetically. Her tail swayed behind her as she stepped forward, not showing a single concern despite the razor-sharp crystal grass. They pierced into her foot without drawing blood, a clear sign that she already possessed a perfect body.


    ¡°We¡¯re here to find a crystal smander, not y around, Chel.¡± Nora gulped, watching the younger kitsune nervously. All of the researchers knew how James doted on this girl, and were afraid of her getting hurt. If not for the fact that he agreed to let here due to the rest of them not possessing the Monster Tamer ss, there was no way that she¡¯d be there.


    ¡°I think that it will be fine.¡± The elven researcher said, wearing iron boots as she walked forward. Most of those present wore something simr, aside from those who had already shed their physical forms, and¡­ well, the golem.


    Said hulking pile of metal surveyed the surroundings with an expressionless face. ¡°I believe it would be to our advantage if we moved with haste. It is a considerable journey before we reach the domain of our target. Should we dy, I feel it is likely he shall allow the beastkin present to be the first ones to experience his innovations with gic alteration.¡±


    The two sisters as well as the lycan of the group all grabbed their tails as their faces drained of color. ¡°We should hurry!¡± The lycan urged, channeling his spatial ki to create pathways form them to use. He had heard of the difficulty in disrupting space within these upper floors, but was confident in his ability to manipte his own energy after spending time with James.


    Chel, however, rolled her eyes. ¡°Why don¡¯t we just fly there? You guys are all pilots, right? Is the gravity here really that bad that you can¡¯t keep it up for long?¡±


    The lycan cleared his throat at thatment, the two sisters looking away with the faintest of blushes while the elf considered it. ¡°She does have a point, though her wording may have been a bit¡­ off. However, we will need to first reach an area with a more unobstructed view of the ¡®sky¡¯ before we deploy our vehicles. Taking off from this location would likely damage the vehicles, if the leaves are as strong as the grass.¡±


    ¡°Oh! If that¡¯s all, I can take care of that!¡± Chel grinned, hopping into the air. Her eyes swept over the trees as blue lines seemed to form in her golden pupils. ¡°Analyzing structure. Crystalline nt matter with an stic structure. Sharpness caused by the thin edges. Best method to remove impediment¡­ let¡¯s go with Resonant Force!¡±


    After saying that, she brought her hands together. ¡°Recipe, six units ki mixed with five units spiritual energy. Condense ki into three orbs of sizes one, two, three, mix with spiritual energy at two, one, two. Combine first and third orb. Mix the second orb with four units of mana, creating a ring around the center of the orb and allowing the energy to dissolve.¡±


    ¡°Finally, mix the two new orbs together by creating a sphere of natural energy, and cing the orbs together on either side. This will allow them to reduce internal resistance and increase malleability.¡±


    As she spoke in an almost monotonous way, she created three yellow-orange orbs in front of her, each bigger than thest. Silver mist escaped her mouth to integrate with the three orbs, giving them a serene, almost golden glow. While two of the orbs merged together, a blue light circled the third and sank into it.


    Then, the products of the two fusions were ced before her, wrapped in a pale green light, until all that was left was a white sphere that seemed to thrum with power. Chel smiled as she took the orb, popping it into her mouth as if it were a piece of candy. After doing so, her eyes briefly gained the same white glow of the item she had just ingested.


    Under the dumbfounded gazes of those that had apanied her, she cupped her hands over her mouth, aiming her head towards the treetops. ¡°Beep boop.¡±


    A pair of visible ripples appeared within the air in front of her, spreading out to the trees. The first one seemed to cause the trees to stiffen, refusing to sway in the breeze. Immediately following, the second caused all of the leaves in its path to shatter into dust, blown away to reveal a new, substantial gap in the trees above.


    ¡°Oh, hey! I got an achievement!¡± Chel beamed, distracted as she looked at the window that had appeared before her. ¡°But¡­ eh, I don¡¯t wanna keep this one.¡± Saying that, she smacked her chest with the side of her fist. A crack rang out in the air as white gas escaped her lips.


    ¡°Did she just¡­¡± Nora gulped, looking towards Chel in equal measures of awe and confusion.


    ¡°I guess we know why James likes her so much now.¡± Thea nodded her head, before walking over. ¡°What was that energy you used earlier? Not the sound one. You did something to scan the trees, right?¡±


    ¡°Heheh, yup!¡± Chel nodded her head, not hiding anything from these five. ¡°Analysis Field. It¡¯s a detection energy that lets you read detailed information about a target. If you¡¯re good enough with it, you can even use it to fool other detection methods.¡±


    Thea blinked at that, thinking back. ¡°That must be how he read all of our energies that day¡­¡± She muttered to herself, to which Chel giggled.


    ¡°Nope! James has a better detection energy. That¡¯s just something he was born with. The current me doesn¡¯t really know how to make that one, though, so I went with what I knew.¡± After saying that, she spun around in ce, looking at the surroundings. ¡°So, time to fly?¡±


    ¡°Correct.¡± The golem nodded, retrieving a card from a slot in its chest. ¡°Deploying now.¡±


    Roughly five miles outside of Ashtanu, the capital city of what was now the Deckan Empire, formerly known as Kirol, a group of noblemen in gilded armor sat within an open tent. Standing in a ring around them were guards, each one adorned with a different symbol of their own nobility.


    It had been a week now since the passing of thete queen, and there had yet to be anyone stepping forward to im the throne. Not fromck of trying, but the indomitable force standing in the way known as James.


    ¡°Since you called us here, you must have some idea what we can do about this?¡± One of the noblemen, a kitsune with bright red hair, said towards a woman sitting at the end of the table with light blonde hair.


    However, that woman instead let out a faint sight. ¡°Krillis. If I had known what needed to be done, do you seriously think I would have chosen to consult all of you? I believe it should be more appropriate to say that I called you all here because we have each exhausted our own ideas, and now we need to work together. We can fight over who gets the crown once it¡¯s in our hands.¡±


    As he heard that, Krillis sneered, ncing towards the two empty seats. ¡°Not like you to prepare extra spaces.¡±


    ¡°Not my choice.¡± She shrugged her shoulders. ¡°Dillion and Thesa declined my invitation. They seem to believe that by notpeting for the throne, they will in fact have a greater chance of acquiring it from the Goddess directly.¡±


    ¡°And they told you that?¡± A taller, more muscr kitsune asked, raising a questioning brow towards the woman.


    ¡°Of course not.¡± She denied inly, the implications of her words quite clear. If they didn¡¯t tell her, then she learned through other methods. No doubt meaning that she had agents in the houses of those two¡­ and likely in other houses as well.


    Of course, it was not umon for nobles to keep agents within another¡¯s house to gather information. It was simply more rare for them to go unnoticed for long. Meaning that the ones she had sent should be fairly well trained.


    ¡°Enough.¡± Another woman dered, this one with silver hair. Despite her aged tone, she appeared the picture of youthful beauty. ¡°We¡¯re not here to talk about our internal affairs. Does anyone have a way past the researcher?¡±


    The blonde woman shook her head. ¡°I considered mobilizing soldiers, but¡­ there are two issues that I couldn¡¯t resolve before that. First, this man is a confirmed associate of the Keeper. If we managed to kill him, that would surely draw the ire of the entire Greater Pantheon. And secondly¡­ if he were to die, the castle would fall to the ground. ording to my schrs, the force of the impact would reduce the entire city to rubble.¡±


    ¡°Why not teleport directly into the throne room?¡± Krillis asked, ncing around the room. However, he saw the distorted expressions of no less than three other nobles. One of which was the muscr man himself.


    ¡°The researcher is exerting precise control over the space within the pce. Anyone teleporting in would be redirected back to their departure point. Even as high as fifty meters above the pce was blocked like this. Any higher¡­ and he¡¯d notice us before we had the chance tond.¡±


    Krillis¡¯s eye twitched at that, letting out a reluctant sigh. ¡°Well¡­ what about invisibility and flight? Surely, he can¡¯t detect everything we could throw at him?¡±


    ¡°You haven¡¯t even tried to gather any information for yourself, have you?¡± The silver-haired kitsune asked in an annoyed tone. ¡°Flying troops have been isted by spheres of wind and thrown fifty miles. Consistently. He¡¯s even started aiming at the same tree in the distance, and marking his own score.¡±


    ¡°There is¡­ one method that we could use.¡± The blonde kitsune spoke, drawing everyone¡¯s attention. ¡°However¡­ it¡¯s incredibly risky. Using this tactic should be considered ast resort, because it will either win us the throne without a fight¡­ or all of us will be exterminated to thest man.¡±


    ¡°So you do have a solution!¡± Krillis pointed his finger at the woman, shouting in an almost usatory tone. However, the rest of the nobles present felt a chill go down their spine as they considered her cold words.


    ¡°Thesa¡¯s daughter. She¡¯s highly favored by the researcher. To the point that it is believed he only agreed to take this post because of her. And this was months before her birth. There¡¯s a high chance that she is the reincarnated soul of someone precious to him, and he has kept that same attachment to her even in this life.¡±


    ¡°A girl?¡± Krillis asked in confusion. ¡°The great researcher can be brought low by a simple girl? Isn¡¯t this as good as tying a noose around his neck? Where is she, anyways?¡±


    Surprisingly, the answer came not from the blonde kitsune, but rather the silver-haired one, who looked at the leader of the meeting with aplicated gaze. ¡°Just before the queen died, he sent her with his research team to Fyor. I don¡¯t know what floor they went to, but they haven¡¯t returned since then.¡±


    The blonde nodded her head, while Krillis grit his teeth. ¡°Of course it¡¯d be Fyor. Finding a girl in that world is like finding a single fish in the ocean. Did he predict the queen¡¯s death?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s unlikely.¡± The leader of the meeting shook her head. ¡°He¡¯s been pursuing a project for years, and apparently he recently found that a material he needs can only be acquired from one of the upper floors of Fyor. He sent his team out almost immediately when he learned that.¡±


    Krillis let out a soft grunt, reaching into one of his bags and pulling out a card. ¡°Well, if we can¡¯t get to her¡­ her parents, then. You said she was Thesa¡¯s daughter. Thesa would never let her daughter out of her sight without a way to reach her.¡±


    The silver-haired kitsune¡¯s eyes went wide in disbelief. ¡°You intend to use a favor to take hostages against the researcher?¡± Naturally, she recognized the card in Krillis¡¯s hand. She herself had such a card.


    ¡°If you cowards are too weak to do what it takes to get what you want, then why not?!¡± He asked in a challenging tone, standing up and walking outside of the tent. ¡°Oh, spirit of the world, I call upon you to fulfill the promised favor! I require an urgent meeting with Thesa and Chaldeen Hightail! I urge you to bring them before me!¡±


    As usual, the figure of a beautiful kitsune woman appeared within the card, slowly walking forward. When Krillis swiped the card to the side, the spirit of the world was standing in front of him with an almost amused smile. I encourage you to begin running.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± He asked, taken aback by the words of the spirit.


    This meeting was always monitored by James. He¡¯s heard every word you said. You wanted to touch Chel, so he¡¯ll cut off your arms. You threatened her family, so he¡¯ll burn out your tongue. If you don¡¯t run fast enough, you¡¯ll be nothing more than a stump nted in the ground, left to choke on your own blood.


    With this warning, my favor to you is paid in full. As she said that, she disappeared in a wave of green mist, taking with her the card that had been used to summon her. And leaving behind a shaking Krillis. Heeding the warning of the world spirit, he turned to begin fleeing as fast as he could. The direction did not matter, so long as it was away from Ashantu.


    However, as he took his first step, he saw a shadow falling over the hilltop where they held their meeting. ¡°I hear someone has a deathwish?¡± A deep, rumbling tone spoke from behind Krillis.

 Chapter 584: A Man With Many Means

    <h4>Chapter 584: A Man With Many Means</h4>


    The nobles still sitting within the open tent stared at Krillis in shock, seeing how he had frozen mid-step. No, rather than saying he was frozen, it was more apt to say that he had been petrified the moment that the shadow fell over him. His skin turned dusky, his hair losing all of its color in a single instant as his entire body was transformed into a statue.


    However, the blonde kitsune¡¯s senses were a bit sharper than those of her ¡®friends¡¯. She could still hear the frantic beating of his heart from within the stone prison. Though he had been turned to stone, it had only been the outeryer. Perhaps, if he was strong enough, he would be able to break free.


    Of course, if he did so, the more sensitive outeryers would be lost. For instance, the surface of his eyes. Unless the researcher himself were to undo the petrification, he was doomed to either perish or be eternally blinded.


    Yet, as the research stared down at him from high above, a smirk crossed over his lips. ¡°Trying to quickly level up to cure yourself?¡± He asked, seeming to sense the thoughts of the statue.


    ¡°Are you aware that there is a wonderful nt within Earth known as the Reset Fruit? They¡¯ve been studying it for hundreds of years as one of the few cultivable items that can directly interfere with the system¡¯s energy. By consuming this fruit, the user loses thest level they acquired, and all the memories that came with training it.¡± As the giant spoke, a sh of blue light seemed to emerge within his eyes.


    ¡°Due to my identity as an energy researcher, I was naturally sent many samples of these fruits to study. I must say, it is quite remarkable how these simple nts work. Normally, I would be incapable of replicating its effects on my own. However, there is this peculiar energy that was found in PX-942 of the Metong realm. Energy number seven hundred and sixty-eight.¡±


    ¡°This energy, prized for its alchemic influence, is able to take on the characteristics of special nts and nt-based items such as potions. So, you could store the properties of a powerful healing elixir within the energy. Or, the power of a Reset Fruit.¡±


    As he spoke, the light of the system surrounded Krillis, gradually undoing the petrification that he was afflicted with. Unfortunately for him, it was not an instant process. Meanwhile, the titanic James held one hand out, palm facing Krillis. A strange stream of light mixed with green and orange colors rushed down, enveloping the man.


    ¡°But why stop at removing just one level? Did you know that the average individual earns their first level when they are only four months old?¡± Krillis was no longer able to run, or rather no longer knew why he needed to be running. He simply felt something wrong with the light streaming around him, and let out a terrified scream.


    Soon, under the horrified eyes of those watching from the tent, even Krillis¡¯s own guard, those screams turned into higher-pitched cries. Krillis fell on the floor, unable to hold his bnce anymore. Anyone watching could tell from the sight of his fall that he had lost all of his strength. Even if he knew how to walk, he would likely be unable to support the weight of the armor he was wearing.


    After he was done with that, James turned his eyes towards the guard bearing Krillis¡¯s seal. ¡°Take him back to his home. I seem to recall he has a wife. Maybe this time, she¡¯ll be able to raise him properly.¡±


    The guard didn¡¯t dare talk back, moving over to the crying manchild and picking him up. Though Krillis¡¯s arms iled about, he was unable to cause any harm to the guard that hastily carried him away. ¡°And as for you all.¡± James said, before turning back towards the rest of the nobles.


    As the tent was in the way, they were unable to properly see his face. Yet all the same, they could feel a chill run down their spines as they felt his gaze piercing them. ¡°I know who gave the idea for what he just did. I won¡¯t punish someone for simply having an idea. But if anyone is to try to act on such a thing in the future, I have countless ways to make you regret it.¡±


    ¡°You can try to take the castle however you desire. But don¡¯t touch what you shouldn¡¯t touch.¡± After saying that, James turned around, taking a single step that seemed to cause him to vanish into the void.


    The silver-haired kitsune within the tent gulped, looking around at her peers. ¡°I¡­ think this meeting is over for today. All in favor?¡±


    Finally, something that they could all agree on.


    ¡°Are you sure it¡¯s around here?¡± Chel called out impatiently, standing atop therge craft that the golem had summoned as it flew over a vast mountain range. There was an open hatch behind her, through which could be seen a worried Thea.


    ¡°Yes, it should be somewhere around here, Chel. Nowe back inside. Three-Fifty is already scanning, so there¡¯s no reason for you to be up here!¡± Thea was clearly nervous that something might happen to Chel, but the little girl stuck her tongue out yfully.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine. If anything, you should be worrying about anything thates to start problems with us!¡±


    Krillis hadn¡¯t been entirely wrong with his train of thought. Thesa really did have a way to talk to Chel, and had used that method to inform her about the crisis at hand. However, rather than rushing back to help solve the problem, Chel decided to take the time as an extra vacation, telling her mother not to get involved with whatever happened.


    As Chel¡¯s parents, they knew better than anyone else that their daughter was incredibly special. They even suspected that she was some legendary figure reborn, but never asked her for the specifics. No matter who she may have been in herst life, that didn¡¯t change that she was currently their daughter.


    What it did change was making them acutely aware of just how powerful she was, and how powerful James was as well. So, when their daughter emphasized that they shouldn¡¯t get involved, they stayed back. Her mom came up with the excuse that she felt it was wiser to allow Udona to choose who would take the throne, and they pretended to ignore what was happening at the castle while managing their own territories.


    Meanwhile, the research team spent a week soaring over the skies of the twenty-thirdyer, only asionally stopping to rest. As someone from a highly advanced technological civilization, the golem Three-Fifty¡¯s transport was incredibly powerful. It appeared to be a giant arrowhead with numerous vents along the top, bottom and back that controlled its flight.


    Due to his specialty as a researcher, the transport was equipped primarily for speed and detection. Its scanners were top of the line, and they had been using those scanners for thest several days in order to search for the Crystal Smander.


    Yet, this creature was incredibly elusive. It was hard to tell if it had some innate ability that allowed it to hide from their detection, or if it was simply so rare that they had yet to stumble across one. Either way, they were still diligently looking after a full week on the hunt.


    ¡°If youe inside¡­ I¡¯ll give you some more can-huh?¡± Thea blinked, looking out at the top of the ship. However, Chel could no longer be seen, as if she had simply vanished. Her face went pale, worrying that she had been knocked off of the ship before she heard someone clear her throat from behind her.


    Turning around, she saw Chel standing there with her hands out. ¡°Deal!¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t even get to finish saying it¡­¡± She muttered to herself, reaching into her storage bag and pulling out a small packet of sour candy. As soon as it appeared, it was snatched out of her hands by a giggling Chel. ¡°You were just waiting for me to offer it, weren¡¯t you?¡±


    Thea had learned over the time spent together that this girl had quite the sweet tooth. Especially when it came to sour candy. ¡°Maybe I was~.¡± Chel said in a mysterious tone. ¡°So, how are things with the ninjas?¡±


    The kitsune woman froze up when she heard that, sweat beginning to form on her back. Although she knew that James, and likely Chel as well, were aware of her and her sister¡¯s connections with the ninja ns, this was the first time it had been brought up so tantly. ¡°W-why do you ask?¡±


    Chel, however, simply shrugged as she popped a piece of candy into her mouth. ¡°Making conversation. And they seem really interesting to me. You¡¯re not doing your little self-hypnosis thing anymore, right?¡±


    ¡°Haah¡­¡± Thea let out a long sigh. ¡°You were even able to see through that? Or did James tell you?¡±


    ¡°Nah, it was pretty easy to tell, if you know what to look for. Don¡¯t get me wrong, you two are really good at it. But some reactions seem a bit off whenever you hypnotize yourself to think certain things. Mental locks aren¡¯t really developed that well in this world, yet.¡±


    Hearing Chel¡¯s words, Thea lifted a brow curiously. ¡°Aren¡¯t you an energy expert like James? Or are you meaning a lock made of some special energy?¡±


    Chel blinked, but then let out a faint giggle. ¡°Oh, I know a lot of things. I¡¯m what you could call an all-rounder, I guess? I just haven¡¯t really had the chance to put most of it to use since being born here. How many people would actually care about the answers to theories for problems they haven¡¯t thought up yet?¡±


    Thea paused, considering that. ¡°Then¡­ couldn¡¯t you have helped him with his gic engineering project without the need for this hunt?¡±


    ¡°Well, duh!¡± Chel grinned broadly, nodding her head. ¡°But I¡¯d have to make a ton of adjustments, and we¡¯d need official funding. The queen didn¡¯t really like the idea of funneling lots of money into giving beastkin extra tails, even if they are external power cores.¡±


    ¡°Imagine that¡­¡± Thea drawled, shaking her head. Now that Chel was back inside, she closed the open hatch above her. ¡°Anyways, how long do you think it¡¯ll take for the situation back home to resolve?¡±


    Chel tilted her head, thinking it over seriously. ¡°Eh, it¡¯ll get done when it¡¯s done. They¡¯re not going to get past James either way. And if they do, they deserve to be king. Just as long as nobody does something really stupid, it¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    ¡°¡­Really stupid, as in?¡± Thea had a rather bad feeling when she heard that, and Chel¡¯s grin turned more mischievous than before.


    ¡°Like someone wanting to target people close to James to get him to back off. You and your team, or me for instance. You¡¯ve seen his energy database, right?¡±


    ¡°He let me look at it a few days before we left, yes. I was¡­ amazed at how much was listed.¡± Just thinking back to the long list of energies that the metong hadpiled caused her head to spin. She couldn¡¯t imagine any one civilization being able to properly utilize all of those.


    ¡°Well, when you get to a certain familiarity with energybinations, you start to figure out how to put things together on a more instinctive level. As long as you have the form to determine the ratios you need, you¡¯ll have a pretty good idea on how tobine them. Like how Treisha made her enchantment energy. Once she figured out the numbers, everything flowed naturally.¡±


    ¡°Now¡­ imagine someone with mine and James¡¯s familiarity with energybinations¡­ and give him that database. If anyone really steps too far out of line, he has more than enough ways to make them regret every life decision they¡¯ve ever made.¡±


    Thea hesitated when she heard that, not entirely sure what to say. Eventually, she just went with what made the most sense to her at the time. ¡°Our boss can be pretty scary, huh?¡±


    Chel gave another yful giggle, nodding her head. ¡°Never put an overpowered nerd on a warpath.¡±

 Chapter 585: Losing Track

    <h4>Chapter 585: Losing Track</h4>


    ¡°Are you sure that this will work, Mister Song?¡± The blonde kitsune from the meeting asked, standing within an emptyboratory with another man. This figure, with ck hair and a long, full tail, wore a tight-fitting blue shirt and ck jeans. His eyes contained a trace of wisdom, and the smile on his face was unmistakable.


    While many people would not realize this man¡¯s identity, he was in fact one of the foremost leaders in the field of energy research. Among the many that had applied to join James as an assistant, he was one of those that had been excluded at the final stage.


    He admitted that James had a remarkable knowledge about energy, but he could not help feeling bitter in his heart. What made his energy weaker than those that had been selected? He heard the assessment of each of them, and while he might not have been able to match against the enchantment transferring energy or the twins, he should have easily surpassed the lycan and the golem!


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Lady River. ording to my calctions, this energy should be able to bypass the space lock he has ced around the castle by directly shifting through a dimensional boundary. Have you prepared the materials I asked for?¡±


    The noblewoman, Lady River, nodded her head. ¡°They¡¯re in the closet. I purchased them directly from the Caravan, so there should be no mistake. Hopefully, your research is worth the tokens.¡±


    ¡°I assure you, I¡¯ve been very thorough in my calctions.¡± He said, moving over to the closet. Upon opening it, he found a series of boxes, and began to inspect the contents of each. ¡°Blood of a lesser fire dragon. Twenty icebloom stems. A high purity power stone, ten kilograms. Where is the refined dimensium?¡±


    Lady River blinked for a moment, before a look of realization dawned on her face. ¡°Sorry, I stored that separately. Just a moment.¡± After saying that, she left the basement, allowing him to move the boxes out of the closet.


    By the time she returned, carrying a small, ornate chest, she was able to see the work that the man had done while she was gone. The stone floor of her basement had been carved with concentricyers of arcane sigils. The power stones had been divided, ced at equal points around the outer circle. Meanwhile, the dragon¡¯s blood was being mixed with the ground stems and poured in the innermost circle.


    When he saw the chest in her hands, a joyful smile appeared on his face. ¡°Excellent! With this, we have everything that we need.¡±


    ¡°Is it really necessary to have all of these items?¡± Lady River asked doubtfully, passing the chest to the schr. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t an energy fusion be performed with energy, not tangible items?¡±


    ¡°For a normal fusion, you¡¯re correct.¡± The man said, nodding his head. ¡°However, we are performing anything but a normal fusion. The energy radiating from dimensium shall serve as the base, due to its unique property of directly influencing dimensional boundaries. Then, we direct that energy through a number of catalysts to cause it to mutate.¡±


    ¡°Once we have the mutated dimensional energy, we canbine it with other energies to create a stable core.¡± Lady River was not one that had studied deeply into this subject, but she felt as if the man¡¯s words made sense.


    ¡°Very well. What more do you need from me to make this work?¡± She couldn¡¯t be sure that her rivals weren¡¯t attempting their own methods to break through the blockade that James had erected. While he made it very clear that they were not to touch the people he cared about, he had also directly said that anyone who was truly able to bypass his power deserved to be king.


    ¡°Just some quiet. You can stand on the side and observe, but please do not let any of your energy leak out. This is going to be a very delicate process.¡± While Lady River might not have enjoyed his tone, she knew better than to chastise him for it at this moment. Swallowing her pride, she moved over to stand at the far corner of the room.


    As she leaned against the wall, she watched him remove the silver bar from the chest, which he tossed to the nearby table. Afterwards, his hand was wrapped in a deep red light. ¡°Simply recultivating elemental ki or refining a bit of spiritual energy into mana, and he thinks that¡¯s good?¡± The schr scoffed, manipting the soft metal as if it were putty in his hands.


    This was the energy that he had personally used to try and earn himself a spot in James¡¯s team. An energy mixed from natural energy, ki, and a bit of mana that allowed him to mold metal into any shape he wanted. Whether it was refining it, or forging an item on the spot, his energy was a cksmith¡¯s dream.


    As he thought about that, the metal in his hands formed a wide, thin ring. This ring was ced within the circles at his feet, just along the edge of the inner circle filled with the dragon¡¯s blood. ¡°Now¡­ let¡¯s begin.¡±


    Mister Song took a step back, before kneeling on the ground and cing his hand on the outermost circle. ¡°Begin refinement. Using the inherently fierce ki of the fire dragons, cooled by the natural power of the icebloom, dimensional energy distorts into a form capable of being directed through the magic circuit.¡±


    The pool of dragon¡¯s blood within the center of the circle seemed to tremble, the red fading away from its surface to be reced with a pure silver. This silver then began to move, tracing along the rings of the concentric spell diagrams and approaching closer to the outer edge.


    Once it arrived at the eight divided power stones, the entire surface began to shine with silver light. Red returned to the blood, rushing throughout the diagram as if the silver was being absorbed into the stones. And in fact, that was what was happening, with the power stones themselves taking on a silver hue.


    As soon as thest of the mutated energy had been absorbed into the power stones, the schr stood, raising one hand. The ground shook, and eight pirs of stone rose from the floor. Each of these pirs held one of the power stone fragments, and the schr slowly extended his hand forward.


    ¡°Gather, energy of the world. Twist within the confines of space and converge on the four cardinal points. Burst forth, my spirit, and seep into the ordinal points.¡± Under hismand, four streams of green light slipped into four crystals ced along the cardinal directions. Meanwhile, a silver gas seeped out of his body, a small tinge of pain shing across his face.


    He controlled this energy to enter the power stones along the ordinal directions. Afterwards, the eight stones began to glow, lines of light extending between them to form an unbroken ring. Seeing this, the man was clearly ecstatic. This would be his masterpiece, something that would prove himself against even the great researcher.


    ¡°With my mind as the foundation, form the core of energy.¡± He muttered to himself, sending blue streams of light through the air. These streams of light converged in the form of a sphere at the center of the ring.


    Finally, as if sensing the sphere of mana, the ring of light began to contract. It left the power stones, returning them to their original dull purple, and fully inserted itself into the sphere. Mister Song held his focus, having calcted every unit of energy that he was using for this fusion, and confident in his own abilities.


    After the mana sphere absorbed the ring of light, it began to contract as well while moving towards the man that had created it. Its surface changed, bing a deep yellow with interwoven ck and silver streams. When the sphere reached him, he immediately absorbed it into his body, believing himself to have seeded.


    In truth, this energy he was creating functioned simrly to the portals manufactured on Fyor or those that connected the various worlds to the inte, with one clear difference. Each of those portals required two identical devices, one at both the entrance and exit. This energy, however, would potentially allow him to directly open a dimensional portal to a location of his choosing.


    At least, that was the idea. To this day, he still did not understand why he had been rejected from joining James¡¯s research team. Surely, his energy was great enough to meet the standard, right? Unfortunately, there was a w to the energy that he wasn¡¯t aware of.


    It was true that he was able to forge items with his bare hands using this energy. He could sharpen metal into a thin de, or even create pathways for ki. He could ce his hand on a heavy shield, and make it wrap around its own wielder.


    However, there would always be a trace of his energy left behind, polluting the item after he was done manipting it. While this would not interfere much with normal enhancements, this energy pollution was incredibly dangerous when performing more delicate procedures.


    Smiling to himself, Mister Song extended his hand, intending to rip open the void and create a portal directly to the pce at Ashtanu. And it was true, he did indeed rip open the void under the expectant gaze of Lady River. Unfortunately, the void then immediately wrapped around his own body, causing him to vanish from the spot.


    Mister Song¡¯s smile froze as he felt the energy twitch out of his control for only the briefest moment. He knew that there was something wrong, even before it had ¡®betrayed¡¯ him fully. Unfortunately, it was already toote to act.


    By the time he pulled his hand back, he was no longer standing within the basement of a noblewoman¡¯s manor. Instead, he was standing within a vast pasture, seeing rushing waterfalls in the distance. It only took a moment to realize that he had gone far beyond his initial estimates. Not only was he not in Ashtanu¡­ he could not sense any ambient mana in the air.


    The ground shook moments before a thunderous roar entered his ear. Turning around, Mister Song saw a towering beast hunched over and walking in his direction. Its head was asrge as a car, its teeth long and sharp. Its skin was smooth like a reptile, but was thick and muscr.


    As his astonishment turned to anxiety, the energy within him gave another pulse. It took him a moment to realize that the ground beneath his feet had vanished, leaving him to fall through the air. Beneath himself, he could see a green cloud of gases that extended as far as he could see. From the jaws of death, he had been delivered above a cloud of what could very well be toxic gas¡­


    He closed his eyes, trying to brace himself, only tond abruptly with a grunt. Sand scattered around his body as his eyes opened, revealing a vast desert. As he extended his senses, he could feel ambient mana in the air atst. However¡­ it felt wrong. The mana itself seemed to be twisted in a way that he was unfamiliar with.


    As much as he hated to admit it, it was quite clear that he was still not home¡­


    ¡°Well¡­ that¡¯s interesting.¡± I muttered, looking off to a screen that had appeared at my side. There were notifications that a new world had been opened up, and then closed just as quickly, so I had naturally be curious. If it was just exploring new dimensions, then that was something that Sher Dien and Desbar did quite regrly.


    However, they rarely had issues so quickly that caused their expedition team to perish after only seconds. And without something like that, the world would not instantly close. So, I watched back, seeing what had happened.


    Looking over his ritual, I couldn¡¯t help but wonder. If dimensium¡¯s energy can be manipted like this, even having to go through a process first¡­ doesn¡¯t that mean that it should be possible to create it as an energy fusion? Of course, even if I spected that, I had no way of knowing what would be needed to create it. And given that the metong are from a dimensium-rich world, it¡¯s extremely unlikely to be an energy they would have ever needed to manufacture.


    While I did have the desire to help this man, or at least stop him long enough that I could take a look at the worlds that he was opening, it was out of my hands. Unless I paused time, he would have left a world before I had the chance to take a good look. Moreover¡­ these worlds would not have fairy rings, since they weren¡¯t being connected to with that method. So even if there was something interesting, it would be troublesome to im it.


    Maybe if I see something I really like, I can ce a dungeon there to secure the world forter?

 Chapter 586: Long Live the Queen

    <h4>Chapter 586: Long Live the Queen</h4>


    Twenty days after the Queen of Deckan passed, Jonas would hear a faint knock from behind him. Blinking in surprise, he turned around. Despite being a god, he had never once cked on his personal security, always keeping his doors locked and his wards up to date. Not to mention his own divine senses, which should have easily detected anyone bypassing those security measures.


    Yet, once he saw who was waiting for him, he no longer found it strange that they had been able to evade his security. ¡°Lady Udona.¡± He muttered, seeing the kitsune standing in his office doorway.


    Udona gave a small nod, smiling towards him. ¡°Sorry for suddenly barging in like this, but I have a request.¡±


    Jonas didn¡¯t seem to mind, shaking his head. He had expected this visit for a while now, just unsure when it would finallye. ¡°You want to talk to her?¡±


    When Udona answered him with a nod, Jonas slowly stood up. ¡°I¡¯ll leave you two alone.¡± As he said that, a portion of his divinity split off behind him, forming into the visage of a woman familiar to Udona.


    Seeing Bria standing in front of her like that, Udona¡¯s heart ached. Still, she was happy to see her friend, and barely registered Jonas leaving the room. Once he closed the door, there was a long moment of silence before Bria was the first to speak up. ¡°I guess that means it didn¡¯t go so well, huh?¡±


    There was a bitter smile on Bria¡¯s face, and Udona walked forward wordlessly to wrap her in a hug. ¡°I¡¯m just d I get to see you again. I¡¯m sorry that I wasn¡¯t able to save you¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, Udona.¡± Bria chuckled, reaching around to pat the goddess¡¯s back. ¡°I knew what I was getting myself into. Like you always taught me¡­ I have to be ready for anything. Now¡­ how¡¯s Deckan doing? Nobody¡¯s made a mess of the ce yet, have they?¡±


    Udona shook her head, pulling back to look Bria in the eyes. ¡°The world spirit of Deckan asked James to keep the throne off-limits until I picked someone to rece you. He has been¡­ frighteningly effective. Nobody¡¯s been able to enter the pce yet, let alone im the throne.¡±


    Bria let out a sigh of relief when she heard that, moving over to sit in Jonas¡¯s chair. ¡°That¡¯s good. As for a recement¡­ I guess I hadn¡¯t really considered that. I didn¡¯t think he¡¯d be guarding it like this, so I always thought it¡¯d just be a free-for-all if I died.¡±


    ¡°Do you have anyone you want me to consider? If it¡¯s for you, I¡¯d be happy to.¡± Udona spoke in a gentle tone, moving to sit on the floor in front of Bria. Although this might have seemed like more of a submissive position, neither of them considered that to be the case. Udona was simply wanting to fulfill her friend¡¯s final wish.


    Bria closed her eyes in thought. ¡°There are a few people that caught my eye. But¡­ I don¡¯t think any of them really have what it takes to be queen. Advisor, maybe, but not the ruler. They each have their own problems, like loyalty to another family, or a bit too much interest in coin.¡±


    After saying that, her eyes opened abruptly, a yful smile growing over her lips. ¡°Actually, there is one woman I know that would make a great queen. She¡¯s smart, considerate, and loved by everyone. She cares for the people, and would never betray them.¡±


    ¡°Although she might be a bit yful at times, and shy around strangers, she¡¯s never let me down as long as I¡¯ve known her.¡± Udona tilted her head curiously as she heard that description, wondering who in Bria¡¯s life would fit that description.


    I gave a slight chuckle as I watched the new world that appeared in front of me. One of my favorite pastimes thest few days had been watching the schr on his jaunt across the infinite realms. It was impossible to predict where he would end up, or what his situation would be like when he arrived.


    For instance, the world that he had just appeared in was one that seemed only to be popted by women at a quick nce. Hended right in the middle of arge city, drawing curious nces from everyone around him. There was no magic in this world, and they had a moderate level of technology. Probably a bit ahead of the Earth that I was born in.


    However, the women all had deep pink skin and four eyes, making them look wholly alien. The schr, having just left a world that spontaneously turned into mes, was still smoldering when he arrived. He couldn¡¯t understand the words of the women that seemed to want to call for medics or ask if he was alright.


    Over thest few days, he had learned to control his power to a certain extent. At first, it would send him to a new world once every few seconds, giving him no time to properly adjust. However, that was only because his own anxiety from crossing worlds caused the energy to spike. Once he was able to remain calm, the spiking energy calmed down as well.


    It still had the chance to randomly relocate him, but it was not as often as before. As opposed to several times a minute, it reduced to at most once a day, unless his emotions spiked. There was a brief moment when I thought that he¡¯d be able to get back home, as he managed to appear within Fyor¡¯s third floor. However, his excitement about being in familiar territory triggered another immediate shift before he was able to contact anyone.


    As a safety precaution, I kept my finger on the Smite button for him. There was the chance that he¡¯d be able to appear within an upper level of Fyor and cause an immediate power spike for my world. If that happened, I¡¯d have to take drastic measures. I had already warned Terra to immediately freeze time if one of his gates led to somewhere that would unlock that kind of power, before he had the chance to fall through it. Only with that could I be fully assured.


    Dale, can we talk? Udona¡¯s voice suddenly disrupted my thoughts, causing me to blink in surprise.


    Sure. Would you like me to go to your room? As I asked that, I stood up from my seat, moving towards my bedroom door. When she agreed, I walked directly to her room, not hesitating to enter it.


    The room itself looked much the same as it did thest time I was present, when she had just started grieving. However, there was now a row of bookshelves along one of the walls, and a writing desk in the corner. Udona sat on her bed, hands in herp as she waited for me. She seemed¡­ almost nervous.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± I moved over to sit next to her, knowing that it would take quite a lot to make one of my goddesses show such an expression.


    ¡°I¡­ have a favor I¡¯d like to ask you. I hope it¡¯s alright.¡± She slowly lifted her head, looking into my eyes. When I gave a faint nod for her to continue, she took a deep breath. ¡°I¡¯d like to personally manage Deckan. I¡¯ll make an incarnation that will grow up to be the new queen, and manage it myself until that happens. That way the world won¡¯t be without a ruler when we¡¯re invaded.¡±


    I blinked in surprise, having a hard time keeping up. ¡°Okay¡­ so first of all, not entirely against the idea¡­ but I¡¯d still like to ask. Where did thise from, all of the sudden? I thought you were going to be picking a new queen, not bing one yourself.¡±


    Udona gave a low, bitter chuckle at that, shaking her head. ¡°I went to say goodbye to Bria. She left an image of herself with Jonas, in case something went wrong. I tried to get her opinion on who she wanted me to appoint as the new queen, and¡­ she asked me to do it myself.¡±


    ¡°She said, since I¡¯m always helping out with running things behind the scenes, I should ¡®suck it up and run things myself¡¯.¡± There was a self-deprecating grin on her face as she said that. ¡°It was her final wish, so¡­ I at least want to give it a shot.¡±


    Thinking about it, I gave a small nod of my head. If this was something that she wanted to do, I¡¯d allow it. Normally, I tried to keep the roles of thepanions more behind the scenes, guiding the world from the back and letting them take care of themselves.


    However, with this being the age of gods, it wouldn¡¯t be too bad for them toe forward now and take the lead if they wanted to. I wouldn¡¯t force them to do so, but for those that wanted to take the initiative like Udona, I didn¡¯t want to hold them back. ¡°Alright. I don¡¯t think anyone would object to you taking the throne. Except for the fact that they won¡¯t be able to get it from you.¡±


    She gave a lightugh when she heard that, nodding her head. ¡°Thanks. I know this isn¡¯t exactly how you nned for things to go. It means a lot to let me do this.¡±


    I reached up, rubbing her head a bit. ¡°Just make sure not to mess it up.¡± I told her in a teasing tone. ¡°This is a big responsibility, and it means your gaming time might be cut down a little.¡±


    Udona put on a fake look of shock, gasping at my words. ¡°Oh, whatever shall I do?¡±


    James stood ever-vignt in the courtyard of the floating pce. While his main body continued working on research, his avatar never left its post, unless it was to dissuade people from causing problems. Over thest nearly three weeks, there had been a rather sharp decline in trade due to the absence of a top decision-maker for the world. However, he knew that this situation wouldn¡¯tst too long.


    Even regarding the political infrastructure of the, it just wouldn¡¯t make sense for the Keeper to allow a world to go without a leader. He had no doubt that Udona would find someone soon, even if she had to force herself to do so.


    That didn¡¯t stop him from being surprised when he felt a pulse of divine energy behind him. He had been prepared to turn and retaliate before he felt the familiar strength that could only be shown by one of the Companions. Letting out a sigh, he turned around, facing Udona herself. ¡°Did you find someone?¡±


    ¡°You could say that.¡± The goddess answered, wearing a deep ck robe with a low cut. ¡°In ordance with Bria¡¯s final wish, I¡¯ll be assuming the throne myself. Deckan wants a God-Queen¡­ and I¡¯m the best they¡¯ll get.¡±


    James was briefly taken aback by that decision, before considering it more deeply. It was true that with the addition of the incarnation system that this Keeper had, it was possible to have an avatar present while handling a defensive battle. ¡°Want me to drop the castle, then?¡±


    ¡°Gently, if you could.¡± She nodded with a smile. ¡°I¡¯ll make the announcement myself.¡±


    After they decided on that, the residents of Ashtanu watched the floating castle descending towards the ground. Now, naturally James was unable to fit it in exactly the way that he pulled it out. There was a series of crushing sounds, cracks spreading out where the castle tried to fix itself back in ce.


    Once the castle was settled, those cracks began to close up. As soon as someone repaired the plumbing and wiring connections for the castle, it would be almost as good as new.


    Those nobles that were keeping an eye on the situation were surprised to find that the castle had ¡®fallen¡¯ to the ground. They thought that perhaps the new heir had been chosen, or James had been forced to leave. Either way, they knew that they had to make their way there to see for themselves.


    What they didn¡¯t expect was for a thought to be sent across the world, an announcement from the Goddess of Life herself. Good evening, everyone. I apologize, but I¡¯d like to take a moment of your time to say a few words.


    Thesest few weeks have been hard on many of you. Decisions that should have been made were left at the wayside. But, please know that that shall no longer be the case.


    Before thete Queen passed, she left an imprint of herself with the God of Community, Jonas. After consulting with her, Bria chose to ask me for a favor. Instead of finding a recement for her among the mortals of the world, she asked me to lead personally.


    In honor of her years of dedication to the world, and all that she has done, as well as having received permission from the Keeper himself¡­ I have agreed to her favor. Until such time as my avatar in this world has matured, I will personally be leading my people. Not as some high above figure that can only be seen as an object of worship, but as a true queen.

 Chapter 587: A Plan Coming Together

    <h4>Chapter 587: A n Coming Together</h4>


    The news of Udona ascending to the throne of Deckan had a rather¡­ mixed reception from the masses. It was what one might expect from a nigh-omnipotent being taking on the role ofary ruler.


    Celebrations filled many cities at the announcement. While normally a new queen would have little effect on themon folk, it was a different matter entirely when you considered that the new queen was a goddess that they had worshipped their entire lives. In fact, the reaction from the church was even more extreme.


    Within a week, the church had announced its allegiance to the throne, bing an official part of the governing body. Statues of Udona were altered to show her wearing the crown of Ashtanu. Even without the goddess herself granting any legal power to the church, they began to strive to assist the public more than ever.


    However¡­ for many nobles, this was a rather bitter pill to swallow. With Udona as the new God-Queen of Deckan, it was unlikely that their lineage would ever be able to rise in power. The throne had forever be off-limits to those who hoped to one day secure it for their families.


    With no chance to marry someone into the royal family, and no grounds sufficient to rebel against the Greater Pantheon, the nobles had to look for new ways to ensure the sess of their families. Instead of the potential to rise to the throne, they began to look into securing more authority and territory.


    Unfortunately, thend of Deckan had long since been reimed and divided amongst different territories under the crown. Without violent conflict or underhanded schemes, it was unlikely that they would be able to gather more power within the world. And with Udona watching over them, both wars and schemes became a fool¡¯s errand.


    Which left them with one choice. If they wished to expand, they would have to do so outside of the world of Deckan. Either through dimensional travel to arrive at unexplored realms, or through iming new worlds within the realm of Deckan.


    When it came to this decision, the nobles felt divided. Each method had various pros and cons that had to be considered.


    For example, if one chose to go with the dimensional exploration method. There would be a faster return on this investment, because it was a guarantee that they would find a world through the Fairy Ring to inhabit. However, the danger level was unpredictable, and the environment could be hiding terrible secrets.


    On the other hand, there was the space exploration method. Through this method, there would be a longer, more secure return. New worlds explored like this generally had low levels of threat that could be handled with modern techniques. However, it would take a significant amount of time to locate a suitable world and establish a tradework.


    While both of these options seemed valid, and both could potentially bepleted in one or two generations, they had to consider which was best for their individual circumstances. At the same time, with the Goddess watching over them, they could not simply ck off with their normal roles. Regardless of what else happened, any expansion ns would have to be a side project.


    Back in theb, James let out a long sigh of relief. He had just received word that Chel and the research team were on their way back after acquiring a pair of Crystal Smanders. Their journey this time had taken substantially longer than he had expected, so he was beginning to worry that something might have happened to them.


    In James¡¯s opinion, the transfer of power to the Queen was a good thing indeed. While Bria had never been in favor of his favored research project, he knew that the goddess Udona had alway been quite interested. When he secretly asked, he had even learned that it was her idea for Tsubaki to grow out a total of nine tails upon reaching godhood.


    As for the matter of the researcher who had been lost to the void in his attempts to infiltrate the pce, James paid it little mind. While he was a bit sorry for the man as a respected academic, the two of them were on opposing sides at the time. Furthermore, James himself had no way of tracking where the man had gone, or if he was even still alive.


    However, when he investigated the scene, and found the traces of the energy that had been left behind, he was inspired in his own way. Refining the energy radiated from dimensium had never urred to him as a method for creating new energy fusions. While he was waiting for the team to return from Fyor, he began to go over different possiblebinations involving that energy in the back of his mind.


    Tsubaki and Dana sat together in the garden atop the Sky Citadel, each holding a pair of storage bags. With the events that had transpired recently, they had barely had the time toplete their own projects. ¡°Did you get everything prepared?¡± Tsubaki asked in a serious tone, to which Dana nodded her head.


    ¡°Yup! I¡¯ve prepared scepters for all four energy types. Additionally, I¡¯ve tied them to the registry system to make sure that they can¡¯t be used while on this world! If they manage to defeat the enemy and return, we won¡¯t have to worry about them being able to lead a rebellion!¡±


    This was something that had been bothering the two of them the most when it came to Dale¡¯s request. He wanted them to grow a force capable of eliminating a Keeper, but in doing so that force would likely be strong enough to eliminate Dale himself. To prevent that, they had to take special steps.


    ¡°And the lifebound enchantment?¡± Tsubaki asked in an urgent tone, causing Dana to nod her head again.


    ¡°Once they drip blood on it, the artifact will bind to their soul, and vice versa. If they die, the artifact will destroy itself. And if the artifact is destroyed, their soul will be as well to prevent any interrogation.¡± Although cruel, this was a necessary step that they considered. They didn¡¯t want to risk leaking critical information about their Keeper to an enemy, nor did they want a powerful weapon turning against them. ¡°If they make it back, I can undo the enchantment when we take the scepters back.¡±


    Tsubaki let out a relieved sigh when she heard that. ¡°Then, I suppose it¡¯s my turn. I¡¯ve found seven individuals that fit our needs. After talking with them and exining the issue, they¡¯ve each agreed to help, and I¡¯ll be gathering them here tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Are they strong enough?¡± Dana asked with a tilt of her head, causing Tsubaki to smile.


    ¡°They¡¯re all on the path to ascension. Each of them have created a divine soul, and three have gone as far as creating a divine body. With any luck, we will be able to send seven gods for this mission.¡±


    Dana¡¯s eyes went wide when she heard that, no longer doubting if they were capable. The fact that Tsubaki had managed to convince that many half-ascended individuals meant that she had likely visited Fyor, where the people had an easier time training themselves.


    Finding three people that had already formed their divine body in itself was a remarkable feat, as that meant that they were only one step away from true ascension. Furthermore, it was the easiest step of the entire process. If they were waiting at this stage, it likely meant that they were either unsure of what domain they wished to achieve, or were looking for another god to be subordinate to.


    ¡°What about the other thing?¡± Tsubaki asked curiously, noting the second bag in Dana¡¯s hands. The ones she was carrying herself held the details for the seven ¡®heroes¡¯, as well as a few materials that she had gathered over thest few days. She knew that one of the bags in Dana¡¯s hands held the scepters, but couldn¡¯t be sure what the other was.


    When Dana heard the question, she let out a yful grin. ¡°I had a few gems left over after I was done with the scepters, so I went ahead andpleted our other project as well. Or, at least a prototype for it.¡±


    Tsubaki¡¯s eyes went wide in shock, knowing which project Dana should be referring to. ¡°Can you show me?¡±


    ¡°Of course!¡± Proudly, she took out the object that was within the bag, setting it out within an empty walkway atop the garden. The object was a wide, circr tform. Embedded within it, and wrapped in stone tendrils, were four different-colored marbles. Silver, red, green, and blue, each representing one of the primary energies.


    The rest of the surface for the tform contained an intricate spell diagram, one that made Tsubaki¡¯s brow furrowed. ¡°This is only the third tier, isn¡¯t it? Will it be able to do what we want?¡±


    Dana let out a giggle, reaching out and tapping on the air. An invisible ripple spread out, revealing a muchrger spell diagram hovering above the entire tform. ¡°I¡¯m just using the third tier formation to anchor the fourth tier one in ce.¡±


    The kitsune was more relieved when she heard that, giving a faint nod. ¡°Have you tested it out yet?¡± If she hadn¡¯t, they certainly didn¡¯t want to do so here. After all¡­ Tsubaki still felt a chill whenever she remembered how she had once almost destroyed half of the citadel with one of their experiments.


    ¡°Yup! It¡¯s currently functional right now, actually! Right now, the universe inside is really bare. I couldn¡¯t even find a single fully formed. That¡¯s why I mixed in a time eleration form that feeds on the excess mana. You just have to flip this switch on the side to turn it on or off.¡±


    As she said that, she leaned down, showing Tsubaki the two switches on the side of the tform. One was clearly marked with the image of an hourss, while the other had a ck circle to indicate that it powered the entire formation itself.


    ¡°Oddly enough¡­ I found something really strange when I turned the formation off earlier.¡± Dana muttered, standing back up with aplicated gaze.


    ¡°What was it?¡±


    ¡°The ¡®information¡¯ of the world was saved within the four marbles used as pirs of the world. Meaning that when I restarted the formation, they came together to create it as it had been at the moment that the formation was disabled. However, if I swap out any of the marbles, it creates an imbnce in the energies and actually causes things to develop in strange directions.¡±


    After saying that, she lightly patted the bag in her hand. ¡°I made a total of five of these tforms. This one I¡¯m using as the controlled test, and haven¡¯t changed any of its orbs yet. But, the other four I¡¯ve been rotating the orbs between them, giving them each a day perbination to try to figure out what changes would happen.¡±


    ¡°So far, one of the test worlds has created a sort of mutated geometric magic system. I didn¡¯t notice it at first, but that¡¯s just how it ended up when I tried to use magic in it with an avatar. The symbols don¡¯t all mean the same things anymore, and sometimes the magices out distorted. Another one has¡­ created an interesting universe configuration.¡±


    ¡°That one had its ki information mutate together with the elemental information. It¡¯s¡­ almost like Fyor? But imagine Fyor if eachyer was separated by a vast pool of blood, arranged in countless t nes. That¡¯s the only one of the five that has generated stablendmasses so far, as well.¡±


    Tsubaki¡¯s brow knit together when she heard that, deciding that she would need to take a look at the worlds herself once she had some more free time. ¡°I¡¯ll leave that project in your care. Let me know if anything dangerous happens, okay?¡±

 Chapter 588: The Gathering of Heroes

    <h4>Chapter 588: The Gathering of Heroes</h4>


    The next day, as promised, Tsubaki created a portal within the Sky Citadel, connecting it to a room within the elven capital. There, the seven ¡®heroes¡¯ that would go to invade the enemy world were waiting, and so they walked through to arrive. However, when they appeared at the citadel, they were startled to see not only Tsubaki and Dana, but myself as well.


    Of the seven, one of them was a dovah, one a heroc, two halflings, and thest three humans. As expected, they seemed to mostlye from Fyor. Upon seeing me, they all quickly tried to kneel, and so I used a bit of ki to make sure they remained standing. ¡°None of that. You all will be helping me out this time, and it will be harder to understand Tsubaki¡¯s instructions if you aren¡¯t willing to lift your heads.¡±


    Although hesitant, they seemed to understand this concept as well, eventually giving in. Only once I was sure that none of them were going to try to kneel again did I remove the influence of my ki. Once I did so, Tsubaki stepped forward. ¡°Before we begin, there are some questions that I would like to ask all of you. Specifically¡­ you three.¡±


    The ones that Tusbaki singled out were the dovah, heroc, and one of the halflings. ¡°You three have already converted your body to divinity, and should be able to ascend any time you wish. I would like to hear why you have dyed doing so.¡±


    I could tell that she had changed to speaking thenguage of Fyor when conversing with them, and she seemed to be rather fluent in it as well. However, such a thing didn¡¯t reallye as a surprise, given how diligent she is with her work.


    The dovah was the first to speak, scratching his head with one of his wed hands. ¡°In truth, I don¡¯t actually know what domain I want yet. I felt like it would be a waste to ascend before I¡¯ve made that choice. Now that I have my divine body, I don¡¯t feel as stuffy from the energy building up, so I have more time to choose.¡±


    Next to him, the heroc nodded with an expression to indicate that he was in simr circumstances. Which left the halfling¡­ ¡°I thought it¡¯d be more fun to just y around at this stage for a while!¡± She said with a wide grin. ¡°Maybe if I get lucky, I could get a fortunate encounter that would be even better than a normal divinity!¡±


    ¡­Aurivy, you don¡¯t happen to have an incarnation about to reach divinity, do you? Given this girl¡¯s attitude, I immediately thought of a certain pink-haired halfling I knew.


    Hmm? Nope! My incarnation isn¡¯t even a perfect self yet. Unfortunately, she denied my guess rather quickly. So, we had two that were just waiting to figure out what domain they wanted, and one that was looking for a lucky encounter. As for the other four, they had yet to take the step of condensing their divine bodies, so there was a bit less need to worry about them.


    Tsubaki gave a nod, as if understanding their answers. After which, she turned to the humans. ¡°You three. What is it that made you ept my request to join this group?¡±


    The three humans all appeared to be brothers with fair skin. Two had muscr builds while the other was rather slim and wearing a ck robe. It was this man that stepped forward to speak on behalf of him and his brothers. ¡°We wish to challenge ourselves, more than anything. My brothers and I have reached the top levels essible to Fyor, and desire a new adventure.¡±


    ¡°Although that world isrge, it will be nothing whenpared to exploring an entirely new world.¡± There was a passion in his tone as he spoke, widely smiling.


    ¡°You are aware of the dangers involved in this operation, correct? There is a good chance that you will never be able to return.¡±


    At Tsubaki¡¯s warning, the man simply shook his head. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be an adventure if it were safe. The fact that we will need to brave dangers in order to aplish our trial is the greatest reason for us to participate.¡±


    After hearing that, Tsubaki turned to nce towards me. I could tell what she wanted, and nodded my head. The man had not been lying, and didn¡¯t seem to contain any hidden agenda with regards to this mission.


    With that confirmation, Tsubaki approached the only one that had yet to speak, the second halfling. She looked down at him for a long moment before speaking. ¡°Of the ones gathered here, only you have a criminal record. In order to ensure the cohesion of the team moving forward, it would be best for you to exin yourself.¡±


    The halfling gave a dark chuckle, his brown hair swept back. ¡°There¡¯s nothing much to exin. When I was gone from my home to train, a group of people broke into my house and killed my wife. Lackeys of the mayor who didn¡¯t like the thought of me taking all of my business elsewhere while living in his town.¡±


    ¡°So I severed his arms and legs, and gave him a front-row seat to his house burning down around him and his thugs.¡± He seemed proud of what he had done, without the slightest bit of remorse.


    ¡°And?¡± Tsubaki raised an eyebrow, clearly knowing that there was a bit more to the story as well.


    Clicking his tongue, the halfling continued. ¡°And I returned the favor they paid me. Wouldn¡¯t want to leave any angry widows behind.¡±


    When the others heard that, their eyes went wide in shock, looking towards the halfling. However, Tsubaki held her hand up to stop them. ¡°His presence is very important in this mission. When you arrive at the enemy world, there is a good chance that you will need to build connections in the criminal underground.¡±


    ¡°The rest of you are allw-abiding, and have never killed another outside of self-defense. The presence of someone who understands the mind of a criminal will be the best chance to integrate with them and gather information that would be otherwise unavable to you.¡±


    ¡°Do not fear, this situation is not without its restrictions. If you manage toplete your mission, he shall be pardoned for his crimes. That alone shall serve as a motivator for him, as the only thing that awaits him otherwise is a life in chains. Furthermore, one of you will be chosen as the team leader. This leader will have ess to a special magic brand that is able to dissuade him from rebelling once you reach the other side.¡±


    The other six people looked skeptical at first, until the mention of the brand. Although it was rarely used in the present day, there were several cases of crime ves within the numerous worlds. Criminals who are offered the chance to atone for their crimes as a servant as opposed to rotting in a cell. Of course, these offers are not made to those who willfully carry out brutal crimes, but rather those whose crimes were born of circumstance.


    ¡°Dana, would you mind going over the equipment that they¡¯ll be given for this mission, while I converse with the Keeper?¡± Dana nodded her head happily at that request, pulling out seven storage items that she had prepared while Tsubaki and I walked away.


    I could hear her excitedly exining the functions of the mana scepter for several long moments, until finally we entered the citadel itself and the sound was blocked by the thick walls. ¡°These are the forces that I have gathered, my Keeper.¡± Tsubaki spoke in a more reverent tone than what she had used with the others outside.


    I gave a faint nod, my eyes ncing back towards the door that we had just emerged from. ¡°As long as they are properly equipped and cultivated, they¡¯ll make a good strike force. The invasion is happening seven days from now ording to my own time, so let me ask you. How long do you need to get them ready?¡±


    Tsubaki considered the situation carefully. She knew that time could flow vastly different between her own perception and that of the Keeper. Any amount of time she gave could be less than a single day to him, so long as she did not require his presence. ¡°Six months should suffice.¡±


    ¡°Will you be able to help each of them ascend to godhood within that time? Without making them subordinates to yourself?¡± If they became subordinate gods, they would carry a trace of the master god¡¯s domains on them. While that would normally be a good thing, it also meant that the enemy would have the chance to read my domains from their aura.


    Having understood that same logic, Tsubaki nodded her head. ¡°I will allow them to choose others from the gods we have if they wish to be a subordinate. Otherwise, I believe that I can teach all of them how to properly ascend within these six months. At that time, I will hold a ceremony for them to ascend together, to make sure that the brand on Tyrian¡¯s soul does note undone.¡±


    Thinking about that, I gave a slight nod. ¡°Send me a list of the domains that they¡¯re aiming for when it¡¯s time for the ceremony. There¡¯s the chance that they might be more suited for a different domain, but we¡¯ll n this strategically as a strikeforce. Better to have domains thatpliment one another, even if it isn¡¯t their greatest affinity.¡±


    ¡°I understand, my Keeper. In that case, I shall n ordingly. If you have any other arrangements, please let me know in advance.¡±


    I watched her bow, thinking if there was anything else important for their training. They were already being provided the ¡®weapons¡¯ that were nigh-unlimited supplies of the four primary energies. The only thing left was¡­ ¡°How long will it take to craft divine artifacts for them, after they ascend?¡±


    Tsubaki tilted her head slightly at that, looking up at me. ¡°I believe we should be able to aplish that during their training period. As long as they tell me the type of item they require for their artifact, I will ask a craftsman to forge it for them.¡±


    I gave a faint nod at that, before a thought struck me. ¡°Speaking of which, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve seen your artifact yet, have I?¡±


    Tsubaki shook her head, extending one hand. A long-barreled rifle appeared and dropped into her arms, after which she held it close to her chest. ¡°I don¡¯t have a name for it¡­ but this is my weapon. With it, I am capable of condensing the power of light and firing it as a powerful beam of energy.¡±


    I raised an eyebrow as I considered that, thinking it was a bit¡­cking for someone like Tsubaki? ¡°Is there more to it? I mean, this is you we¡¯re talking about. It can¡¯t be as simple as that, right?¡±


    She seemed to take a moment to consider that. ¡°The shot is capable of reaching the speed of light due to its natural properties. Additionally, it has a tracking feature, and I can fire it at any target that is notpletely isted by solid barriers.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ that sounds a bit more like it.¡± Meaning, theoretically she could aim the gun into the sky, designate a target on the other side of the, and the shot would instantly curve around the world to seek them out. Definitely more impressive sounding than a simpleser rifle.


    Now it was only a matter of returning to the admin room and elerating time. Hopefully, none of the people that Tsubaki had gathered would run into any problems with their ascensions. But, whether they did or not, I knew that I¡¯d have several new gods in theing days. It was about time for the rest of the first generation toplete their own ascensions¡­


    As I was turning to leave, Tsubaki suddenly spoke up to step me. ¡°My Keeper, I do have another matter to report to you. While not urgent, it is¡­ unusual.¡±


    Already in the process of selecting the option to ascend, I paused my actions to face her. ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°Dana and I have been working on a personal project, simr to when we created the reality marbles. By using gemstones of all four primary energies, we have been trying to create stable worlds. However¡­¡±


    ¡°I saw the results already.¡± I assured her with a smile, earning a look of surprise from the kitsune. ¡°I¡¯ve been keeping an eye on that project myself, quite curious how it will turn out.¡±


    ¡°You aren¡¯t going to be upset that we are infringing upon your territory?¡± She asked, seeming more curious about that than anything else.


    ¡°Of course not. If you have the power to do it, be my guest. Just be sure to be careful. If a stable universe like that were to erupt¡­ taking out a or two wouldn¡¯t be out of the question.¡±

 Chapter 589: Forces Assembled

    <h4>Chapter 589: Forces Assembled</h4>


    As I had expected, a number of changes urred once I chose to fast forward six months, as per Tsubaki¡¯s request. It was not simply the seven people that she had chosen who had ascended, but a total of fifteen. Some of them were even names that I recognized.


    First of all, Tsubaki¡¯s group of seven had a perfect score. Each of them managed to ascend within the time allotted, though I noticed that three of them had be subordinate gods. Most likely, they suffered some mishap in the process and needed their ¡®backup n¡¯ deities to step in.


    The three human brothers- Jordeth, Kristoff, and Mathias- each became the Gods of Maps, Swords, and Iron respectively. Unsurprisingly, Jordeth was the leader of their group, and given the more strategic domain to match. Meanwhile, it was Kristoff that almost failed from their group of three, with Tubrock stepping in to save him.


    The heroc, kor, had be the God of Eyes. I felt like it was a bit odd for Tsubaki to pick the ¡®Eyes¡¯ domain for the three-eyed race, but I knew she probably had a n for it.


    Next up was the dovah, Mhest, another one that almost failed. He became the God of Tracking, a subordinate to alia. This appointment made far more sense to me, as it emphasized the dovah¡¯s natural ability to track a target.


    Then there were the halflings. To my surprise, it was not the criminal that almost failed to ascend, but rather the more carefree halfling. Seran was ted to be the Goddess of Recovery if she had ascended on her own, but was changed to the Goddess of Hope after almost failing. This was because she was assigned to be under Udona, and would be able to use the Life domains for healing purposes.


    And finally, Brenor, the halfling criminal. As per Tsubaki¡¯s arrangements, he became the God of Traps. Thankfully, we were able to confirm that the brand on his soul remained unchanged after ascending to godhood, so it seemed like there would be no problem with letting him join the group.


    Now¡­ for the other gods. Among those I recognized was Kiria Sorin, the new God of Crafts. He had been the man that forged the body of my chakrams, and had in fact been making a substantial living forging weapons for powerful beings since then. Making the Keeper¡¯s personal artifact was no doubt a highlight for his resume.


    There was also Thessa Grid, the sister of the God of Bnce. I was a bit surprised to see her name appearing in this batch, as I knew she hadn¡¯t started her progress when her brother had already ascended. Most likely, he guided her through it without directly influencing her divinity, as per Aurivy¡¯s advice. Looking at her suggested domains, I elected to make her the Goddess of Archery.


    Finally, thest name I recognized from this batch was Libris Storn, the man that had helped Tsubaki find the rogue half-god previously. As per his previous path, I made him the God of Water without any hesitation.


    For the rest of them, I couldn¡¯t recognize their names, so I performed a quick background check for each to ensure that I wasn¡¯t giving ridiculous levels of power to someone that would obviously use it to destroy the world. In doing so, I caught Reynard Kross, a man aiming to be the God of Kings. His ambition was to be the god of all kings. Seeing that, I contemted changing his domain to Jesters, before ultimately making him the God of Knights.


    Thest four seemed fairly normal, taking the domains of Stealth, Journeys, Ice, and oddly enough¡­ Paper. I wasn¡¯t really questioning thatst one, and thinking about other things instead. Like¡­ how I was going to keep up with these ascensions once they became more widespread.


    Although there were ¡®only¡¯ fifteen people this time, it took me nearly an hour just to go through the backstories of the five I was unfamiliar with. Once they start showing up by the hundreds¡­ I¡¯d never get done with it. Which meant that I¡¯d have to likely relegate that task to one of the Companions, as their processing ability was naturally superior to a normal mind.


    Tsubaki stood before the seven newly appointed gods, giving a faint nod of satisfaction. Over thest six months, she had guided those who had not yet converted their bodies to divinity, carefully exining the process to them in great detail. She emphasized the pain that would be felt, and simted it numerous times until each of them were able to withstand it unflinchingly.


    Then, once everyone was at the same stage, she assigned a domain to each of them based on their own natural talents and the strategy forming in her mind. Once each person knew the domain that they were training for, they began to focus their divinity towards it, creating their own abilities unique to themselves.


    At the same time, Tsubaki monitored their progress to determine suitable artifacts for them that would best channel their abilities. Of course, she wasn¡¯t able to determine what abilities they would imbue in these items, and was merely creating a suitable vessel for them.


    And now, seeing each of them armed with their own relics, she was feeling pleased as their teacher. ¡°Congrattions. In thesest few months, the seven of you have met all of my expectations. ording to the word of the Keeper, it is now less than seven days before your mission officially begins.¡±


    ¡°In order to help you adjust to your new abilities, Dana and I have chosen to send you to an alternate world, where you will be able to wield the full power of the artifacts that shall be given to you.¡± As she said that, her eyes nced towards Brenor with a look of warning. ¡°Please do not do something foolish during this time. As it was originally exined, the power of the artifacts will once again seal themselves after you leave the alternate world.¡±


    The halfling clicked his tongue, ncing off to the side as Jordeth stepped forward. ¡°What about the Keeper tracking amulet? Have you finished its production?¡±


    This item was something that they were most looking forward to. However, it was also something that Tsubaki herself had yet toplete. This was the reason why one of the valuable domain slots had been used for Tracking, just in case the item was unavable.


    Tsubaki cleared her throat, nodding her head at the question. ¡°I¡¯ve already gathered all of the materials and created a working prototype. Once the Keeper returns, I will be able to test its ability. At this moment, I have no doubt that I will be able to provide you with this tool as well.¡±


    Jordeth let out a sigh of relief at that, thankful for the extrayer of assistance. Even with the lineup that they had prepared, he wasn¡¯t entirely confident in being able to kill a Keeper. After all, he had yet to experience the full power of the scepters that they would be wielding.


    ¡°If there are no further questions¡­ everyone step forward.¡± With a wave of her hand, Tsubaki cut open a portal within the air, a swirling void that seemed to lead nowhere. ¡°I¡¯ve used a special key to open up this world. Once you¡¯re inside, you will be unable to leave without my assistance, unless you are able to cast fourth-tier magic.¡±


    There was a sharp gasp from the group at that. While fourth-tier magic was not so unheard of as it had been in the past, there were few people capable of properly casting it in groups, let alone by themselves. For those that these seven had personally met, it would probably only be Tsubaki, Dana, and the Goddess of Magic herself.


    However, Jordeth still stepped forward, leading the way through the portal. As he was the one assigned to lead this team, it was only right for him to go first. Following immediately after him was Brenor, who felt a sharp pain in the back of his head whenever the one holding his brand was no longer in the same world as himself. In order to escape the pain, he had to quickly enter the other world as well.


    One by one, they stepped through, before Tsubaki finally closed the portal behind them. In truth, the ¡®special key¡¯ she had spoken of was simply the dimensional coordinates of one of the worlds that she and Dana had created. As it was made for the purpose of testing their abilities, it was not one of Dana¡¯s ¡®altered¡¯ worlds, but rather one that carried the samews as Earth.


    After six months of development under a self-contained time eleration enchantment, this world had finally begun to develops. Although there was clearly no life within this world, it would be enough to simply give them a location where they would be able to test themselves.


    Once the portal had been closed, Dana stepped out into the courtyard with a small smile. ¡°Think they¡¯re ready?¡±


    Tsubaki hesitated at that, carefully considering the question. If it was them without the scepters that they had crafted, she was sure that the seven of them would be unable to properly kill a Keeper by themselves. The Keeper¡¯s greatest strength was their almost inexhaustible supply of power and abilities, after all.


    With the scepters able to produce a simrly inexhaustible supply of energy, that gap was greatly narrowed. This was one of the key reasons why Dana and Tsubaki had never revealed the method of creating the scepters to the public. If a sufficiently powerfulbatant were to get their hands on one, they might have a decent chance to kill their own Keeper.


    Instead, all that was known was that the Keeper¡¯s aides had weapons capable of generating an endless supply of energy. This much had been known from the few events where they had been forced to use these weapons in public. Items that seemed at the pinnacle of the fourth tier of magic, using the power of an entire world to achieve their goal.


    ¡°It will depend on what they encounter¡­ but I think they have a chance, at the very least.¡± Just looking at theirst invasion, she knew that it was impossible to guarantee victory. The powers that the opponents had shown were so simr to their own, just enough that they had been able to blend in for a considerable period of time without drawing attention to themselves.


    Dana hummed lightly to herself, before nodding her head. However, a momentter she noticed something hanging from Tsubaki¡¯s neck. It looked to be an empty, ck sphere of ss with endless swirling darkness within. She knew that that was the tracking item that Tsubaki had personally requested from the Keeper, and a smirk grew over her face as she eyed it.


    Before she could bring it up to tease Tsubaki, though, a faint red line emerged from the center. As if a tendril was attempting to escape the darkness, it stretched out to the edge of the ss-like surface, pooling there. When Dana took a closer look, she noticed that the red pool within the pendant seemed to be pointing towards Tsubaki¡¯s heart. Or rather, what was behind her.


    Curious, Dana leaned to the side to look past Tsubaki¡¯s nine swaying tails. Sure enough, she was able to see the Keeper standing in the doorway, holding his finger up to his lips. The little elf snickered quietly, drawing Tsubaki¡¯s attention. Only then did she seem to notice the change in the item decorating her chest, and spun around on the spot. ¡°My Keeper!¡±


    As she called that out, she immediately dropped to a knee, one hand lifting to hold the item against her chest. Not to hide it¡­ but more as if it had be an important treasure to her.


    The Keeper clicked his tongue upon noticing that he had been discovered. ¡°I saw the ceremony. They seem like they¡¯ll have a good shot at winning this fight.¡± As he spoke, he walked over, patting Tsubaki¡¯s head. Her tails stood straight up in shock, before starting to slowly lower with a sway as if melting.


    ¡°Your words¡­ are too kind, my Keeper.¡± Tsubaki said in a subdued voice, while Dana smirked beside her.


    ¡°She¡¯s just d that herpass is working.¡± The elf said in a teasing tone, earning a half-hearted re from Tsubaki. ¡°Oh! Besides that, we got a really interesting result the other day from our world creation research! Have you had the time to look at it, yet?¡±


    Seeing that Dana had quickly changed the subject allowed Tsubaki to rx slightly, but earned an interested look from the Keeper instead. ¡°I haven¡¯t.¡± He gestured for Dana to lead the way, the elf poking her tongue out at Tsubaki before practically skipping into the citadel.

 Chapter 590: Stare Into the Abyss

    <h4>Chapter 590: Stare Into the Abyss</h4>


    As I followed behind Dana, I found that the two of us were going down into the basement of the Sky Citadel. Some of the rooms that we passed¡­ I was quite certain didn¡¯t originally exist inside the citadel Tubrock made. Which meant that they were likely added on after Tubrock¡¯s¡­ renovation.


    The room that we ultimately entered inside was not the workshop that Dana often tinkered in, but rather a room with arge circr object mounted on the wall. Once in front of the object, Dana held up her scepter, mana shing and triggering the enchantment on the device. Arge portal appeared, epassing the entire wall.


    I was just about to step forward when Dana held her hand out to stop me with a smile. ¡°From here, we always use avatars. It¡¯s safer that way, right?¡±


    Sure enough, Tsubaki created a clone of herself to walk through the portal, while a simr clone emerged from Dana herself. This must be part of the security measures taken from my previous suggestion. Even if something were to happen on the other side of the portals, it would only be the avatars that were destroyed.


    I gave a faint nod, creating an avatar from my divine energy and sending it through the portal as well. On the other side¡­ it took me a moment to recognize the area, only doing so through using my power as Keeper to map out the terrain. However, if I was right, it should have been the world that I acquired from the centaurs of Sher Dien when I trained their knight troops.


    At least they¡¯re putting it to good use. I thought to myself as I walked along to a nearby tower. This was the only building visible within the surroundings for at least a hundred kilometers. Its width was fifty meters, standing at least two hundred meters tall. There were no windows visible along its outer wall, and only a single door leading in from the base.


    ¡°This is our ¡®World Research Center¡¯.¡± Dana exined with a smile, skipping ahead happily. ¡°We¡¯ve been setting this ce up as our testing grounds for thest few months. Everything that happens here ispletely isted from any of the other worlds. This way, we can keep it both secret and safe.¡±


    I nodded my head at her exnation. ¡°You said that something interesting happened with your world research?¡±


    Dana nodded, and I saw a spiral staircase running along the wall of the tower as soon as we entered. However, that wasn¡¯t where she walked to. Instead, she passed down a short hall to arrive in front of a room with a single window standing before a pedestal.


    Looking through the window, I saw a vast ocean of rolling waves. If not for the fact that I knew there were no exterior windows in this tower, and that we were too deep inside to see one, I might have thought that we were overlooking an actual ocean.


    ¡°This is our viewing room.¡± Tsubaki exined as she walked up to the pedestal. ¡°From here, we can select any of our configured worlds and create low-stability viewing portals to observe what the situation is like inside. For instance¡­¡± She ced her hand on the pedestal, and a silver sphere rose to the surface.


    After rotating the sphere a few times, the view of the ocean shifted, reced by a barren world. Tsubaki pressed down on the sphere, injecting mana into it, which seemed to allow her to control the position of the portal. The viewpoint shifted, soon showing the seven individuals that we had only just sent for their final round of training. ¡°This is the first world that we established, and we have left it unaltered since the very beginning.¡±


    ¡°Show him the interesting one, Tsuba!¡± Dana called out impatiently from the side, causing the kitsune to let out a long sigh. Rolling the sphere again, the view changed once more.


    ¡°See, mister Keeper, we have this theory.¡± Dana told me with a grin. ¡°The four pir energies serve as the ¡®parents¡¯ of the world, carrying the natural and supernatural records of all information within that world.¡±


    ¡°This child world then has a chance to undergo a slight mutation like any normal child.¡± Dana¡¯s eyes practically glittered as she exined her theory. ¡°Once the mutation has urred, the information of it is divided within the four pir energies of the world. At that point, the ¡®parents¡¯ be more unique, and are able to pass on their information to create entirely new worlds. With every new world they make after that point, the pir energies continue to grow and change to store the myriad of mutations.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve been studying the Metong databases.¡± I muttered, shaking my head. Previously, there was nobody in the world that properly understood gics to a degree that would let them devise that theory, even if it was a convoluted form of gics where the parent inherited the qualities of the child.


    ¡°Maybe!¡± She retorted, before continuing. ¡°Anyways, after a while, some of the pir energies showed signs of destabilizing from being swapped too much. For the record, an altered mana sphere can no longer be used to properly cast magic, even if it¡¯s attached to a scepter. Thews of magic seem to have changed within it, making it ipatible with our magic system.¡±


    ¡°Once the energies started to destabilize, we immediately stopped swapping them, leaving them to settle in whatever configuration they had previously set. The world we¡¯re about to see is one where both the mana and spiritual energy spheres showed signs of destabilization.¡±


    As Dana finished her exnation, Tsubaki seemed to settle on the world that she wanted to look at. At first, it was hard to make out what I was looking at, seeing it as a swirling mist of blue and grey. Clearly, the two energies Dana mentioned had be dominant within this world. However, as the viewing portal was moved, I began to notice something.


    There seemed to be shadows within the blue and grey mist, dark spots that moved irregrly, looking vaguely humanoid. They observed the portal with interest, moving closer and circling around it.


    ¡°These are¡­¡± I started, only having a vague idea of what I was looking at, before Tsubaki exined.


    ¡°Raw aeons, or at least some simr type of life-form. Creatures born from spiritual energy and mana without being guided into a specific shape. It looks like they¡¯re looking more humanoid today¡­ which is concerning.¡±


    ¡°¡­Why is that concerning? And why does this suddenly feel strangely ominous?¡±


    Dana giggled lightly at myment. ¡°When we first saw them, they were basically shadowy tentacles. Like you can see, they are able to notice the portal, unlike other areas we¡¯ve created. In fact, I once went into a world myself to see if I¡¯d be able to detect it, but I couldn¡¯t tell no matter how close Tsuba moved it to me.¡±


    ¡°So¡­ they¡¯re not only able to see the portal¡­ but they are able to see through it, onto this side.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but gulp when I heard that. ¡°Are you certain that no energy from that side is able to make it over here?¡± These were beings created outside of the restrictions set by the system to limit a monster¡¯s power. If one of these things came over, depending on how strong they were, it might immediately shove us into a higher power bracket.


    This wasn¡¯t like Fyor, after all. Without the special restrictions set by the system, these creatures would be regarded as my personal assets if they entered a world I ¡®owned¡¯. Which made me think that the world I was looking at likely didn¡¯t count, possibly due to the fact that Dana and Tsubaki haven¡¯t spent the time there to ¡®im¡¯ it.


    ¡°Positive!¡± Dana nodded her head heavily. ¡°We keep a special sensor on at all times. If there is any kind of energy leak detected, the viewing portal is immediately-¡± As she was saying that, the portal shook, before the window went ck. ¡°¡­that. The portal is immediately that.¡±


    ¡°That wasn¡¯t a cleverly timed demonstration, was it?¡± I asked, ncing towards Dana, who seemed to have lost a bit of color from her face.


    ¡°No, sir, no it was not.¡± Dana¡¯s head shook slowly, before turning and running out of the room.


    Tsubaki¡¯s head turned to watch Dana leaving. ¡°She¡¯s going to go and check on the tform where this room is stored, to make sure that there aren¡¯t any problems.¡±


    I thought about that for a moment, and realized it was a good idea. ¡°For the time being, you guys shouldn¡¯t look at this world anymore. It could cause a lot of problems if one of those things escaped.¡±


    Although I had the thought of checking it through my own methods, that wouldn¡¯t be entirely feasible either. First of all, as the world was currently not regarded as part of my property, I couldn¡¯t observe it through the Keeper system. The only way remaining would be to either use my mirrors to scry, or try to investigate with world sight.


    However, I didn¡¯t want to risk either method. If they were able to detect and interact with the viewing portal that Dana and Tsubaki set up, there was a decent chance that they would be able to sense my mirrors as well. As for world sight, the chance was far lower, but still present. If they did manage to detect it, they could potentially follow it back to the source.


    Tsubaki thought about that for a moment, before nodding her head. ¡°Unfortunately, deactivating the world could cause the energies within to destabilize and erupt. With your permission, we can find a suitable, uninhabited realm to dispose of it.¡±


    I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath and shaking my head. ¡°As long as there aren¡¯t any signs of an energy leak, that won¡¯t be necessary. In the future, we might have the ability to properly deal with whatever is on the other side safely. Until then, that world should be considered off-limits. And be more careful when you are interacting with destabilized worlds like it.¡±


    Tsubaki nodded seriously at my words. ¡°I understand, my Keeper.¡±


    After saying that, the two of us turned, and began walking towards the staircase leading up to the storage rooms. As Tsubaki knew the way, she led me to the room where the world we were just looking at was being stored. Inside, Dana was hastily checking a number of different enchantments, while also consulting a few devices ced along the edge of the room.


    ¡°Anything?¡± Tsubaki asked, walking over towards the worrying spirit, who shook her head.


    ¡°Nothing so far, Tsuba. It looks like they were only able to poke a bit of energy through because we had an active portal established. Hopefully, it shouldn¡¯t be so easy for them to learn how to create their own portals just from that.¡±


    Hearing Dana¡¯s report, the two of us were relieved. At the same time, Tsubaki walked over and flipped arge switch on the wall. ¡°The world is being removed from the active viewing list until further notice. Dana, would you mind reinforcing the room with some seals?¡±


    Dana blinked, looking between Tsubaki and myself as she seemed to piece together the purpose being those decisions. ¡°Ah! Got it! I¡¯ll have this world sealed off by the end of the week!¡±


    After thanking her, I dispersed my avatar, bringing it back to the portal room where our main bodies were standing. I had a lot to think about when it came to these created worlds. For instance¡­ what would happen if they reced the fourth-tier geometric magic that created the pir energies with card magic, or runic magic?


    What if they were mixed from each system? Theoretically, it was possible to direct the ¡®evolution¡¯ of the worlds, but we realistically had no way to do so. Everything seemed to be left to chance, which was frustrating!

 Chapter 591: Triumphant Fluff

    <h4>Chapter 591: Triumphant Fluff</h4>


    After returning to the Admin Room, I decided that I should probably wait until the group of seven were sent off to invade Grudge¡¯s world before doing anotherrge fast forward. They were expecting to be training for a week, after all. Having theme out after that week and find that the time was not yet right would put a damper on their morale.


    As such, I simply chose to observe what was transpiring in my world at the current time. It had been a while since thest true ¡®catastrophe¡¯ struck, and I couldn¡¯t be sure if that was because the world had been handling all of such things on their own, or if those dangers were simply lurking beneath the surface.


    Pulling up my map, I first looked at Deckan¡¯s realm. After the more militant golems had found their way into that world, I¡¯ve been waiting to see what the first contact between these two civilizations would be like.


    Looking at the gctic map, I had the feeling that it would take about another two or three years before these two forces actually met. While they weren¡¯t particrly close to one another, each of them was sending forces out to scout in different directions. It was only a matter of waiting and hoping that they didn¡¯t miss each other in the utter vastness of space.


    ¡°Hello!¡± Chel shouted as she opened the door to theb, suddenly announcing her presence in the early morning. There was a wide smile stered across her face as she stepped into the room, before she noticed the somewhat awkward atmosphere.


    Off in one corner, huddled together were the kitsune sisters, as well as the lycan assistant. Seeing that, she let out a lightugh, looking towards James on the opposite side of the room. ¡°You finally finished it?¡± She asked with a knowing look.


    Now that he had all theponents that he needed, it was only a matter of isting the gic markers that he needed from each research specimen to create the evolution he was aiming for. After which, he had tobine them in such a way that it produced the desired result, as opposed to some horrific abomination.


    All things considered, six months to achieve this was still quite fast. However, Chel knew that James would find this type of speedcking. This world simply didn¡¯t have the testing equipment to elerate the process any further.


    James let out a dry chuckle, looking at the frightened beastkin, and then back to Chel. ¡°It should be working this time¡­ they¡¯re just scared to try it because I messed it up thest time, and had tails growing out of their ears instead.¡±


    When Chel heard that, she couldn¡¯t hold back theughter that erupted from her. ¡°Wait, really!? Why didn¡¯t you call me over to see something fun like that?¡±


    Even as she said that, she could feel the mutinous re of the three beastkin in question, who had been subjected to that treatment themselves. ¡°Why not just test it on me?¡± There was an innocence to her tone that caused James¡¯s expression to soften.


    ¡°I would, but you¡¯ve already shed your physical body. I have to use this on someone that hasn¡¯t achieved perfection to get the full results.¡±


    Chel nodded, tapping her chin with a finger. ¡°Have you asked the new queen? She¡¯d probably be able to ask for volunteers.¡±


    James let out a dry chuckle at that. ¡°I tried. She said that she would if we couldn¡¯t find anyone ourselves. But, since it¡¯s been less than a year since she took the throne, she is working to stabilize the people and clean up various messes. Looking for volunteers for a gic maniption experiment could cause things to go south for her.¡±


    Chel clicked her tongue in annoyance. Turning to look at the three research assistants, a yful glint appeared in her eyes. She walked over in such a manner that it made the three retreat back further into their corner. ¡°Thea, could you do a tiny favor for me?¡± She asked in a sweet tone, causing one of the kitsune to gulp.


    Before Thea could take the initiative to refuse, Chel threw out the bait that she knew would be able to entice her. ¡°I¡¯ll trade it for a form to create a stealth energy that isn¡¯t too hard to train in.¡±


    Nora¡¯s eyes went wide as she looked at her sister, the implication behind the words clear to the two of them. Chel was offering an energy that they¡¯d be able to share with their elders. More than that, it was an energy practically made for the ninjas, if the girl¡¯s words were to be believed.


    Thea, feeling the gaze of her sister, clenched her fists to steel her resolve. Denying this trade would be denying a chance to help her people in front of her sister. Though, she knew that Nora wouldn¡¯t me her if she did choose to refuse, given what happened thest time. However, she couldn¡¯t bring herself to do that.


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll¡­ I¡¯ll do it.¡± She muttered in a weak tone, slowly standing up. Thea felt a hand gripping hers, and saw Nora looking at her with aforting face. ¡°What¡¯s the worst that could happen?¡± She muttered, as if trying to assure herself more than anything.


    Seeing her volunteering, James sat up a bit straighter, looking forward excitedly. Naturally, he was able to hear the deal that Chel made with Thea, but that deal didn¡¯t particrly matter to him. James had never restricted Chel from spreading any type of energy to outsiders, and he had no intention of starting now. If anything, he was touched that she was willing to make such a trade on his behalf.


    Once Thea was in front of him, he waited just a moment for her to calm down. Afterwards, he held out a hand, suffused with a yellow-green glow. Thea gulped when she saw this energy, knowing that it was the mutating energy that he had tested on the lot of themst time. The exact details of the information contained within this glow was impossible to recognize, so she could only lift her own hand and ce it in his.


    Once their hands touched, she could feel the energy racing through her body, causing her to inhale sharply. She could feel her blood starting to boil from the changes. Although she knew that the change would revert itself if he ever withdrew the energy, it was still incredibly ufortable while the changes were taking effect.


    That was when she heard it, a soft thud of something dropping behind her, as well as a horrified gasp. She turned her head in fright, only to see that the tail she was so proud of always grooming to perfection had disappeared from her lower back. Instead, it fell to the floor as a soft bundle.


    She had asked what the worst that could happen was, but she never expected her tail to be amputated. Even if the change was reverted right now, her tail would likely not grow back on its own. The thought of that made tears well up in her eyes as she whimpered softly.


    ¡°Ah, it¡¯s okay, don¡¯t panic. This is normal.¡± James spoke, causing her to whip her head to look at him, the gaze in her eyes almost venomous as she realized he knew that this could happen. ¡°This just means it¡¯s working. You can regrow your tail. Try to focus, there should be something different in your energywork at the base of your spine.¡±


    Forcing herself to calm down, she closed her eyes, both to focus on her energy and distract herself from the appendage missing from her body. As she swept over herself with both mana and ki, she did indeed notice something strange. Nine small voids had appeared where the base of her tail once was, arranged in three triangr clusters.


    ¡°How do I use this to get my tail back?¡± Her voice was pleading rather than usatory, wanting to regain her dignity as a kitsune before she considered how she wanted to beat his head in with a chair.


    ¡°Just like you¡¯d create any energy core. You know the path to establish already. Choose an energy to fill the gap.¡± She didn¡¯t know how he was able to sense what was going on in her body as urately as she could, since this was clearly his first time performing a ¡®sessful¡¯ experiment with this energy. However, she did know that he had some sort of extremely powerful detection energy.


    Not wanting to waste any time, she chose the simplest and mostmonly used energy within her body, ki. She gathered it in the centermost void, and created herself an energy core. As she did so, she felt a chill along her skin at the small of her back. In the hole of her clothes where her first tail had vanished, a small bud formed and began stretching outwards slowly.


    ¡°If this turns into a lizard tail¡­¡± She muttered, opening her eyes to stare at James, who gulped.


    ¡°It¡­ shouldn¡¯t?¡± He asked, though he himself didn¡¯t sound entirely confident in that assertion. Realizing that, her face drained of its color, and he quickly tried tofort her. ¡°Just keep feeding it more energy. I should be able to help you get your tail back if this doesn¡¯t work.¡±


    She had no idea how he nned to do that, but could only follow along for now. Her new tail was initially bald, and seemed like an endless glutton for ki. Only after she had fed it fifty thousand points, more than half of her total amount, did it begin to show signs of sprouting fur.


    When Thea noticed that, she let out a sigh or relief, turning her head to look at her new tail. There weren¡¯t many hairs yet, and they were still short, but each one carried the same earthen yellow color as ki, giving it a blonde appearance. Then, she looked at her own ck hair. ¡°It doesn¡¯t match¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine, that¡¯s fine.¡± James chuckled. ¡°You can use your ki to change the color of the tail, like you could with your normal hair. It just defaults to the color of the energy that you used to create it.¡±


    Thea was more relieved when she heard that, and focused her ki to change the color of the fur to ck. Although this left her almost exhausted, she could feel more and more fur growing along her tail. Each one seemed to start sprouting when it umted about ten points of ki, and would grow longer as more ki was fed to it.


    Now that the matter of having a tail was¡­ mostly fixed, she decided that she might as well work on the rest. Although she didn¡¯t have nine energy types to affix to the voids, she had a few. The next one that she worked with was mana, which unsurprisingly resulted in blue fur before she changed it.


    After mana, she thought about creating a tail for spiritual energy, before deciding against it. For most energy types, having such a tail would be a strength, but such was not the case when it meant exposing her spirit directly to physical attacks. Instead, she chose to use the two energies that create the one that got her and her sister in the team to begin with, Destructive Bnce.


    Two more tails soon sprouted, one white and one ck. Thea was thankful to have a tail she wouldn¡¯t need to change, but was surprised when she saw sparks flying from these two new tails whenever they brushed against one another. It seemed that the energies within were interacting with those brief collisions.


    Finally, for her fifth tail, she decided to use the pilot¡¯s essence, as that was the only other energy she kept within her body. James might be disappointed when she failed to produce nine tails, but she wasn¡¯t entirely concerned about that. She didn¡¯t have the ki reserves at the moment to create elemental ki in any substantial quantity, so it was best to settle for what she could do.


    The purple tail that appeared was no surprise to her. However¡­ what dide as a surprise was the fact that it immediately began to burn once the hairs started to grow. Not only did this burn away the growing hairs, it also burnt the sensitive, bald tail.


    Thea could only shout in pain as she hastily extracted the energy from thetest tail, hearing another dull thud. Turning her head, a second tail had dropped onto the floor next to her original one, this one bald and with signs of charring. Once again, she felt wetness forming at the corner of her eyes.

 Chapter 592: Always a Bigger Fish

    <h4>Chapter 592: Always a Bigger Fish</h4>


    I gave a small wince as I retracted my sight from James¡¯b. While I found it nice that he had sessfully realized his dream of creating a nine-tails mutation, it did not look in any way pleasant for the kitsune to lose her tail in order to make it happen. That said, I could already imagine Tsubaki studying the research results in order to apply the same change to her divine body.


    While she definitely didn¡¯t have the same sense of aesthetics that James had, she already had nine tails. Given her pragmatic tendencies, I could see her wanting to get extra performance out of her tails. That and Dana would probably talk about how awesome it was until she gave in¡­


    Either way, I turned my gaze to Lorek next. While Deckan certainly had the ability to produce an interesting reaction when the militant golems made their moves, Lorek by far had the most potential to grow. With the new time dtion around Lorek and Spica, they had experienced twenty-five years of history in the sixth months that I had given Tsubaki.


    For many worlds, that would not offer much of a change from their normal life. There was only so much that could typically happen in twenty-five years, after all. New technologies could be created, but rarely would there be something that changed the foundation of a society.


    Such was the case with Spica. Although they had grown more stable over the twenty-five years, they had only made minimal advancements in technology, focusing on defensive measures against star beasts.


    On the other hand, Lorek had far more territory to explore than any other world. Even after so long, they had only explored a tiny fraction of their world when the time dtion began. Now, with it having been in ce for so long, they were making great strides. Cultivators were beginning to ascend to the ranks of ¡®Immortal¡¯, or Nova Merge, more and more.


    With the increase of individual power, they were able to explore more of their ownnd without needing to fear the star beasts as heavily. Although there were certainly beasts at a higher realm than that, the difference of a single realm could be ovee with numbers.


    Only people like Jana were considered to be truly invincible in the current age, as she enjoyed the benefit of an amplified ki pool due to being a ¡®first generation¡¯ cultivator within the system as well as the person with the highest cultivation. As I turned to look at her, I was quite surprised. Her cultivation was no longer at the level of Void Giant, but had increased to the Devouring Darkness level, just one realm shy of achieving divinity through cultivation.


    ¡°Just a little further ahead, and we¡¯ll set up our camp for the night.¡± A dwarven man shouted from the front of arge group, walking through the hills of Lorek. This was one of the numerous expeditions being sent out in the hopes of both retrieving the lost heritage of the ¡®ancient civilization¡¯, as well as reiming thend.


    The poption in Lorek was in no danger of a decline like in the past. After all, people without a home to sleep in could always be relocated to other worlds with little issue. Especially those with little talent in cultivation.


    However, with the strange flow of time that had begun affecting their people, this became less of a viable option. While not entirely impossible, having to wait twenty-five days for a regr transfer was entirely different from just once a day or every two days. As such, people began to consider expanding their territory more seriously.


    Furthermore¡­ nobody enjoyed the idea of their world being dominated by monsters. Though it had been shown that they could never fully remove these creatures from their, as they would spawn anew after a certain period of time, they could at least im thend to iste the territory where the monsters would appear.


    Such was the goal of this caravan. In order to expand their territory, they brought along a number of specialized cultivators, as well as expertbatants.The dwarf, Dan Gou, was one of the world¡¯s foremost cultivators in the path of the Sword. The weapon at his side was as much a powerful tool as it was a manifestation of his own beliefs.


    When lesser star beasts appeared, he would simply wave his hand, a stream of sword light shooting from his palm to cleave through the enemy. Only when a creature appeared at the same stage as himself did he deem it fit to draw his beloved weapon. Once he did so, his power would surge.


    His strength was what had earned him the position as the leader of the caravan, though this responsibility came with very few real perks. If they managed to find an ancient city, he would have the right to choose a single resource to im for himself before the rest were divided among the people.


    Still, he was not in this role for the glory, nor for the rewards. His only desire was to hunt, with everything else taking a secondary position in his mind.


    As therge group reached the top of the next hill, Dan lifted his hand to signal for everyone to stop. ¡°Formation masters, get to work.¡±


    It was standard practice whenever they made camp for the formation masters of their group to immediately set up wards to protect against ambushes. Meanwhile, the builders would erect temporary structures that could be used to protect themselves from the elements.


    It was Dan¡¯s job to make sure that they were able to do this without being interrupted by external dangers. With that in mind, he ced his hand on the hilt of his sword, ready to draw it out at a moment¡¯s notice. Unlike a normal de, Dan had infused a part of his cultivation path into the weapon. In doing so, it had gained a special quality, which made him name the sword Star Drinker.


    This sword was capable of increasing its own power by defeating enemies. However, enemies had to possess a strengthparable to the wielder in order to count for this trait to activate. If the enemy was weaker than the wielder, there was the chance that the trait might instead weaken the de permanently. This was why Dan never drew his sword against unworthy foes.


    As his eyes scanned the surroundings, he felt a disturbance within his spiritual senses. The way of the sword that he cultivated was one of both spiritual energy and ki, so it was natural for his spirit to be more honed than a normal cultivator. However, he couldn¡¯t quite ce where this sensation wasing from. It was like a prickle across his skin, a warning of danger that extended from every direction.


    Feeling true danger for the first time in so long only made the man excited, gripping his sword in anticipation and awaiting the enemy that would appear before him. However, such an enemy never came, even when they were done setting up their camp for the night. As he was feeling disappointed, a deafening crash spread through the air above them, causing Dan to immediately direct his gaze skyward.


    There, thousands of kilometers above the ground, the clouds suddenly scattered. A massive figure appeared above the caravan, its descent alone casting such a huge sound. At this distance, it was no surprise that Dan was unable to sense what level this beast was at, but he knew that it would not be a weak foe. And, the more he looked at it, the more his sense of danger confirmed his guess.


    The creature was over a thousand meters long, looking like a whale with ribbed armor and a vicious turtle-like head. Its jaws snapped at the air, trying to catch something, and Dan focused his sight to the extreme in an attempt to see what was there. Even in doing so, he could only catch the faintest flicker of a figure, unable to make out any further details.


    ¡°Do we have eyes up there!?¡± He shouted urgently, his gaze never leaving that distant battle. If that creature were to fall, the impact of its body alone would send tremors across the horizon. If it happened tond near their camp, only the most swift among them would be able to escape alive.


    One of the scouts, an ursa with a long spyss, looked into the sky. ¡°It¡¯s a dwarven woman with blue hair.¡± He called out, watching the battle through his scope.


    Hearing that, Dan¡¯s eyes went wide. Looking more closely, he could see the clouds starting to move back in an unnatural manner. At first, it seemed as if it was simply the wind bringing them back, but now they were clearly being driven by some force.


    These clouds turned into numerous shapes, ranging from serpents to spears or even ded weapons, all piercing towards the massive beast. Just from this alone, Dan was able to identify the person fighting above. The most powerful cultivator of the was in a difficult battle, and was unable to quickly finish off her opponent.


    ¡°Do we have any water cultivators!?¡± Dan shouted, ncing around urgently at his caravan. If they possessed someone with the power of water, they might not be able to provide any direct assistance to Jana, but they could at least offer her more tools to use in her fight.


    However, he was met with silence. The path of water was one that pursued ki and nature as one, and was one of the more difficult paths to tread without proper guidance. This made Jana a true anomaly in that she had managed to reach her current height without a master to guide her from above.


    Gritting his teeth, Dan nced towards the sky with a look of regret. He longed to join that battle as well, but knew that it was not meant to be. If he were to intrude on a fight of that level, he would only be in the way. ¡°Pack up camp. We¡¯re leaving, and we won¡¯t stop until their fight is either finished or beyond the horizon.¡±


    Such amand was clearly difficult for the caravan to ept, but it was also one that had been given for their own safety. If that beast dropped and they had not left the area, they may well die themselves. Leaving was the only way to ensure their own safety, and allow Jana to fight with her full power such that she did not have to concern herself with those below her.


    In truth, Jana had never even noticed the caravan¡¯s presence. She had no room to give such considerations in her current battle. The opponent, as much as she hated to admit it, was of a realm beyond her. A realm she didn¡¯t know if she could even reach. Had it not been for her amplified energy, she was certain that she would not be the monster¡¯s match.


    As it was, though, she had managed to hold it off in an unfavorable environment, one where she had little moisture to draw upon. Seeing as both herself and her foe were creatures with pure energy bodies, she could not even draw on the power of blood to further increase her strength.


    Every time her palmnded on the thick hide of the beast, its head would turn at a bizarre angle to snap towards her. Its body would shroud itself in golden starlight, mitigating the damage that she could inflict. However, she maintained her calm, as this was the way of water. Not a single rush to destroy the enemy, but countless raindrops to tear open a great ravine.


    Each strike she gave contained just a small trace of her energy, and the monster was not so intelligent as to remove these traces as they rued. All it knew how to do was to consume and seek out new targets. Although its strength was almost immeasurable, this gave Jana hope.


    In order to fight this beast without allowing it to perceive the eventual danger, she never struck the same ce twice. Each of her attacks were calcted, her movements flowing to evade the beast¡¯s devouring maw. She had long since determined that the ¡®path¡¯ this creature had received was a path rted to eating, and did not want to risk her own energy bing the target of such a power.


    However, as the number of her attacks increased, Jana instead became more and more worried. In order toplete her strategy, she had to ce herself in mortal danger. Thest ce she had to strike in order to link every previous attack was the lightning-fast head of the beast. With one simple mistake, she would be consumed, unsure if she would be able to release her power within the creature¡¯s mouth.


    Is this the end? She thought, her mind starting to calm. She thought back to her old love, and the master that had guided them. For so long she had waited to meet them again in the afterlife, and yet her wish was never fulfilled. She was unable to take her own life which had been saved by the two of them, for doing so would be to throw aside their final moments.


    In a way, she weed this. She weed such fierce battles because they could bring her closer to her loved ones. Thus, after oveing her concerns, her mind became terrifyingly calm. Her body seemed to sway, appearing in front of the massive beast, her form barely a flea whenpared to her foe.


    She waited as it watched her, before a sense of threat appeared. While the head had yet to move, she dashed upwards, the afterimage left behind consumed as a shadow engulfed her former position.


    Jana let out a faint sigh, realizing that she had managed to escape death again. Her hand was already ced on the tip of the creature¡¯s snout, and her eyes closed peacefully. ¡°Art of flowing water, ten thousand currents divide.¡±


    Her energy spread from the head of the creature and back into its body. As soon as it touched the imprint left by one of her other strikes, that imprint would expand, causing it to interact with other imprints in a simr manner. Thousands upon thousands of palm prints lit up like veins across the creature¡¯s body, before pulsing inwards.


    The light faded from the eyes of the massive beast as it hovered in ce, gold specks floating away from its body. It was dissolving before her eyes, but Jana felt no sense of joy at her victory. Even when a message appeared to congratte her for killing a divine monster as a mortal, she did not consider it more than the simple workings of a grand system.

 Chapter 593: What Lurks Beneath

    <h4>Chapter 593: What Lurks Beneath</h4>


    I was shocked at the sight of Jana single-handedly defeating a divine monster, for a number of reasons. First of all, this was the first case in the history of my world where a non-divine entity has managed to personally kill a fully divine being. Although I knew such a thing was possible, I didn¡¯t expect it to happen in such a manner.


    Secondly was the fact that the divine beast appeared with no warning. Unlike when people ascended, or even when the tamed monsters did so, I never received a prompt for this creature¡¯s ascension. This implied that there were likely countless divine monsters already roaming the vast reaches of space. More to the point, that they might be drawn towards inhabited worlds.


    Finally¡­ Jana wasn¡¯t the only one that received an achievement when she killed the monster. I received one as well, for having the first fully divine entity dying in my world. I supposed that the invading forces wouldn¡¯t count for that. The achievement was called Deicide, and offered a small boost to divine affinity.


    Sinir Song sat within the hollow of his tree, carving a makeshift wooden staff. He had been in his current world for just a few hours now, just long enough to find a temporary shelter to defend himself against the wild beasts. At this point, panic had begun to loom in the back of his mind, and realization dawned on him just how bad his situation was.


    It had been¡­ days, maybe even over a week since he had been to a world where monsters were not too powerful for him to defeat, and yet were strong enough to provide the nutrition needed for him. His stomach ached, and he knew that he wouldn¡¯t be able to sustain himself with only his ki for much longer.


    Even if by some miracle this world did have monsters that fit the standard, he would have a hard time fighting them with only a sharpened stick, no matter how much energy he put behind it. At this point, he was only left with a few options. First, he could hope for some miraculous encounter with herbs that were extremely nutritious. This was extremely unlikely, in either this world or wherever he would go next, as he couldn¡¯t even be sure those nts were safe to eat.


    The other options¡­ either risk his life to fight in the hopes of defeating a powerful beast, or shed his flesh body and reach perfection. The first two options required a high amount of luck to seed, simply in encountering the nts or beasts necessary to enact his n. Only the third option was one that he could attempt wholly on his own.


    He scolded his past self for being so unwilling to use the perfection chambers, simply because they were one of James¡¯ inventions. His petty attempts to distance himself from the researcher that rejected his achievements wereing back to bite him.


    Thinking about that, he let out a sigh, setting aside the stick he had been sharpening. He had yet to find any ores during his time in this world, so even a simple de was beyond his ability. And unfortunately, he was in no position to reim the items he had recently lost. At least if I achieve perfection, I can create weapons from my own body. Then it won¡¯t be a problem even if I do enter another acidic world¡­


    With that in mind, he focused, connecting with the natural energy of this world in order to seal the opening of the tree he was sitting in. He could leave himself some holes for air toe through, but it was too dangerous to have arge entrance when he was going to be in a defenseless state.


    Within the oceans of Earth, arge ship sailed, one of the few that still traveled the seas. With the gatework established, it was increasingly more rare to find anyone willing to traverse the water. Those that did so would have a special purpose behind their journeys.


    One such purpose could be to undergo some form of personal training, as was the case with the recently appointed God of Water. Others could be for fishing trips. After all, with the decline in people willing to expose themselves to the dangers of the ocean, seafood became more scarce.


    The third reason, and the one that applied to this particr ship, was exploration. Not exploring the world of the surface to look for new inds, but the world beneath the waves. The underwater realm that had yet to be fully explored due to the inherent dangers was something that enticed many a traveller.


    However, there were special requirements to be able to perform such a journey. It required a certain amount of wealth to simply create a ship capable of withstanding the assault of the various sea monsters. Such ships came in a number of different ¡®grades¡¯ depending on the ss of beast it was able to withstand. This ship, for instance, was a Demigod ss and was imed to be able to resist a single full-force strike from a beast on the road to divinity.


    The second requirement was a method to explore or sense beneath the water, up to two hundred kilometers at least. After fifty kilometers, in some regions, the brinekes would appear. These areas, termed as the ocean beneath the waves, often carried strange forms of life. Powerful monsters that could easily tear apart weaker ships if they ever came to the surface existed in great numbers within the brine.


    The captain of this particr voyage had managed to employ a great number of sailors, particrly those from Kione. In that world, one could not im to be a sailor if they did not have an aquatic familiar. Thus, in the ocean beneath their ship was roughly fifty familiars swimming about to perform reconnaissance.


    The captain¡¯s own familiar was a beautiful woman with the lower body of a fish. ording to the records of the church, such a familiar was known as the Queen of Songs. Her voice carried with it a natural hypnotic effect, and could be used for long-distance echolocation. Among the aquatic familiars, the Queen of Songs ranked within the top ten most beloved. Their only shoring was that they could not personally withstand the pressure from more than twenty kilometers after using reinforcement spells.


    Through his link with his familiar, the captain directed her to dive down to the limits of herfort, and map the area below with her voice. Should she find anything of value, there were other familiars present that could withstand a deeper dive.


    Within the mind of the familiar, the world below seemed to open up and reveal itself. The murky water failed to cloud her senses, and she could see a great number of creatures big and small beneath them. Some of these creatures clearly noticed the sound waves that she had sent out, turning their attention towards her. However, she was being protected by severalbat-oriented allies.


    Deeper and deeper the sound waves went, until they pulsed against the rocky surface below. There, the Queen of Songs was surprised to find numerous humanoid figures walking alongside each other. These figures simrly were curious about the familiar, and began swimming up towards the surface.


    Receiving this information, the captain¡¯s eyes bulged out briefly. ¡°Halt the bloody ship!¡± He shouted at the top of his lungs, surprising his crew. A small sphere was dropped into the water, which pulsed with energy. Immediately, the ship was rendered motionless, the crew jerked forward slightly by the loss of momentum.


    ¡°Captain?¡± One of the lycans from Kione walked up to question the man. The captain of this vessel was a human with a scraggly ck beard, his eyes gleaming with excitement.


    ¡°We found ¡®em,d. The seawalkers.¡± This was why the captain had ventured so far into the ocean, always ordering his familiar to scan as deep as she could. There were legends about powerful creatures that lurked within the waves, having forms simr to people. They did not lure sailors to their death, nor did they attempt to initiate trade. They would simply watch from afar.


    People had attempted to make contact with them before, but these creatures did not seem to possess any spokennguage. As such, they would often be scared away before such a dialogue could even begin.


    However, the captain hade prepared. His familiar had long since learned a spell that allowed it tomunicate telepathically with any creature of the sea. This was all in the hopes that they would manage to find this elusive race of fish-men.


    It was hard to tell how powerful this ancient race was. What could easily be assumed was that they were able to withstand pressure a thousand times stronger than a normal man, given that they lived at the bottom of the sea. Simrly, their survival meant that they were able to defeat those powerful beasts that lurked on the ocean floor.


    When the captain announced that they had found their objective, the people of Kione rejoiced. They instructed their familiars not to bar the passage of those ascending from below, and to protect both them and the Queen of Songs.


    Meanwhile, the captain¡¯s familiar initiated its telepathic spell, directed at the sea-walker leading the pack. May we know your name, friend from below?


    After she asked that, the familiar recoiled in pain, flinching back as hundreds of voices assaulted her mind at once. Each voice asked a different question of their own, drowning out the familiar¡¯s thoughts. What is a name? What are you? Are you friend? What is that above you?


    These questions seemed toe without end, and the familiar soon realized that the minds of those below seemed to be linked. Fighting back the pain, she struggled to send another message. Friends, please, calm your minds. Pain. Too many voices. Only one at a time, please.


    By this point, the creatures from below, which had easily been a hundred miles beneath the ocean, had arrived surrounding the Queen of Songs. Seeing her obvious look of pain and hearing her plea, they went quiet. They did not seem to know which of them should speak for the others.


    Seeing this, the familiar was relieved. Better that none of them speak as opposed to everyone talking over one another. She pointed towards one individual, the same she had spoken to originally. You, friend. May I know what you are?


    She had prepared herself to be assaulted by the swarm of voices, for her mind to crack under the pain and force herself to recall to her partner. Instead, only a single voice entered her mind. We are the ancient tribe, the walkers of the deep.


    The ancient tribe? The Queen of Songs looked happy as she heard that, despite not knowing the differences between the various tribes of these people. How old is your tribe?


    Many songs record our path. Many trails followed without end.


    The words of the other party were not so much cryptic as they were simplistic. As if she were talking to a slightly more intelligent fish. May I hear one of your songs? It was a bad habit of this type of familiar to love collecting any type of music.


    The sea-walker nodded its head, closing its eyes as a melody thrummed within the Queen of Songs¡¯ mind. However, as she listened to it, her brow furrowed. There were no words to this song, and it took her quite some time to realize what she was listening to. These songs were a map, a sonar map to be precise, one that only people like herself that used echolocation could ¡®read¡¯.


    Once she realized this, she hurriedly began to convert the sound into a map in her mind. She saw a deep trench, beneath the brinekes, where yet another acid river seemed to flow. Underwater waterfalls that led to ancient paths carved out over countless years.


    She saw giant fish, unbelievable creatures that defied all manners of logic. She saw the sea-walkers traveling together as distorted figures, carving their own way throughout generations. Despite the melody itself being dull, a smile was brought to her face. It¡¯s beautiful.

 Chapter 594: Seeing Them Off

    <h4>Chapter 594: Seeing Them Off</h4>


    As I watched the merkins making a true first contact with the other races, one that had the potential tost more than just a few days, I felt a smile tugging at my lips. This race had been hidden in the depths of the ocean since long ago. Long enough that I had almost given up hope that they would one day step into the ranks of the civilized races.


    I also learned something quite interesting about them through my observations. While their attention span was quite low, they had a very good memory for things that they have personally heard, such as their ¡®songs¡¯. Those sonar maps were detailed enough to capture the image of other walking merkins, although they had been distorted over the years to a certain degree.


    The Queen of Songs appeared to realize this as well. She at first wanted to ask them to gather at a specific locationter for future trade, but realized that she wasn¡¯t able to give them such a good map. It wasn¡¯t that her own ability wascking, but rather that she did not use her echolocation and memorize her path everywhere she went.


    Instead, she consulted with her partner, before the two came up with a solution. I watched as the Queen of Songs created a sculpture of a spell diagram out of ice, and then proceeded to map it with her sound waves. Then, just as the merkin had given her a song, she gave him one as well.


    The spell that she had handed over was a beacon spell. After using it, their position would be sent to the party in charge of the other half of the spell. Naturally, this other party was the captain of the ship. Like this, they would be able tomunicate further in the future.


    I was quite proud about the fact that the merkin could be uplifted into a proper society, even if it could only be done with the help of another race. My only real regret was that they would still be unable to move beyond the ocean.


    Even if they were able to advance to the next stage, they clearly required an aquatic environment. In the best case scenario, they have their own special ships that can leave the, filled with water. It would be¡­ unusual, admittedly, but better than nothing at all.


    Shaking my head, I stood up from myputer and went towards the living room, deciding to spend some time with the others. There were only a few days left before the others were sent off, and I had little left to do aside from asionally checking in on the various worlds. Might as well spend my time enjoying myself while I wait, right?


    Seven days passed by rather quickly on Earth, the invading force having been pulled out of their training right on schedule. When they emerged, they were once again standing within the courtyard of the Sky Citadel, standing before the Keeper and his two servants.


    ¡°You¡¯ve done well in mastering your power and your artifacts in thesest few days.¡± Tsubaki said with a serious nod. ¡°These will prove vital in what is toe. After you leave here, you will be traveling within an unknown world. Nobody can tell you what to expect, or what kind of dangers you may face. However, you were all chosen because you were the best at what you do.¡±


    ¡°With perseverance, and any degree of luck, you will find yourselves capable of oveing this challenge. I hope that I¡¯ll be able to see all of you again, someday.¡± As Tsubaki said that, she turned to look at the Keeper, who had been standing nearby with his eyes closed, seeming to silently measure the time.


    ¡°I believe everything that should be said has been said.¡± The Keeper told them, opening his eyes to gaze at the seven figures. ¡°This will be a valuable experience for you, should you return alive. Until then, I have only a single word to give you. Persevere.¡±


    With that, he lifted his hand to the sky, and clenched his fist. A beam of light fell down from above, silently passing through the citadel¡¯s barrier and engulfing the seven people chosen to invade the other world. They felt a warmth flowing through their bodies as the light became brighter and brighter by the moment.


    Once their figures had been entirely obscured by the light, it vanished, and so too did they. As of that moment, there were seven less gods within the realm of Earth. Tsubaki offered a small nod, her body rxing as she realized that it was just the three of them left within the citadel. ¡°I hope that this was to your satisfaction, my Keeper.¡±


    The Keeper offered a small smile, nodding his head. His hand stretched out to lightly pat her head, causing the kitsune to momentarily stiffen again. ¡°You did great, Tsubaki. I¡¯ll let you know when we have the results, one way or the other.¡±


    Dana grinned off to the side, looking towards the Keeper. ¡°Got any other jobs for us now, boss?¡±


    He thought it over for a long moment, before shaking his head. ¡°Nothing that I can immediatelye up with. For now, the two of you can get back to your normal routine. I¡¯ll let you know when there is something else on my end that requires your action. Speaking of¡­ how has your progresse with the refinery?¡±


    Feeling his gaze, Dana chuckled yfully. ¡°I¡¯ve sent the blueprints out to the Magic Towers after testing its efficiency myself. It takes about two hundred thousand mana to produce a small mana brick. However, if you extract the energy carefully, you can get more of the energy out of it than if you used the same amount of raw or liquid mana.¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately, the bricks are more cumbersome than the same amount of liquid mana, since it grows as it solidifies. And there are only a handful of mages alive that can produce that much mana on their own. So this will be arge-scale product of the towers.¡±


    ¡°With how they¡¯ve distributed themselves, most towers would need two or three bricks a day to sustain their territory without relying on auxiliary energy. Those in charge of bigger cities could need up to ten, but will also have more mages to contribute. I¡¯m just not sure if their current extraction methods will be enough to get that level of output¡­¡±


    I nodded my head, thinking about it as well. ¡°Certainly, we could produce as many bricks as we wanted if you used the scepters to power the refineries. Would there be any dangers in doing that, and selling the bricks to the towers that need them?¡±


    ¡°Sell, rather than freely give?¡± Tsubaki asked curiously, looking to me with a hint of surprise.


    ¡°Yes. If we freely hand out the bricks, they will likely take it for granted, and rely only on what we produce. Like that, the mages that typically go to the towers for business would lose their source of ie, because they would no longer need to spend any money on hiring anyone. If we are going with this method, we will need to make sure to charge more per brick than the towers would spend to hire enough mages to get the same amount of mana.¡±


    Dana nodded her head at my exnation, muttering softly to herself. ¡°Hmm, if we do that, they¡¯ll onlye to us for what they really need, is that the n? Well¡­ I guess it could work, there¡¯s just one problem with it.¡±


    Seeing my curious gaze, she exined with an awkward smile. ¡°A certain amount of mana is leaked from the refineries every time a brick is produced. For a normal refinery like at the tower, this would be a negligible amount. But if we were to use the orbs, that small amount of mana would be able to quickly build up, until¡­¡±


    ¡°A mana siphon.¡± My brows furrowed as Ipleted her thought, seeing her nod her head in agreement. ¡°Do you have a way to resolve the siphon?¡±


    Dana let out a sigh, crossing her arms over her chest. ¡°Well, maybe? Dispersing the mana will still make it gather outside the dispersal area, and probably form into a muchrger siphon. If we vent the excess mana into the void, or a simrly empty world, we would prevent the siphon itself from affecting the facilities for the most part.¡±


    ¡°For the most part?¡± I asked with a raised brow.


    ¡°Right. A siphon is triggered by two things, as you know. First, it is the concentration of ambient mana. After that, it is the thoughts of living creatures within the area of concentration. These thoughtse together and react with the mana to create a singrity, or mana siphon. If the world that we send the mana to doesn¡¯t have any living creatures, it naturally shouldn¡¯t be able to produce a siphon.¡±


    ¡°However, the refineries will require fairly regr maintenance. I¡¯d need at least twenty built in order to produce all of the bricks we need, so I¡¯d have to make weekly visits to the production site even if I set everything to be fully automated. At that time, my own ambient mana and thoughts could mix with the mana being vented and potentially create a siphon.¡±


    ¡°Now, to vent the mana in the first ce, we would need a node to act as the vent. Either a portal or a crystal that absorbs the mana and transports it. Either way, if we¡¯re unlucky, a siphon might be able to slip back through this node and into the production area. Or the siphon could produce some type of monster, and that monster¡¯s thoughts be the catalyst for producing more siphons in the supposedly empty worlds.¡±


    As she exined her reasoning, I couldn¡¯t help but nod my head. Although I had just given the idea, she was able to look at it from different angles to discover possible problems that could be faced. ¡°Well, do what you can. The more we can transition to using only mana as an energy source, the less we¡¯ll have to worry in the long run.¡±


    Of course, I knew now that mana had its own form of pollution as well. However, polluting an empty world with random mana siphons was preferable to polluting the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels. Especially when we had an unlimited supply of mana to work with. I¡¯d be willing to bet that a single marble could power all twenty of the refineries that Dana mentioned needing.


    ¡°By the way, before I go, how has Fafnir beentely?¡± I hadn¡¯t checked on him again since shortly after the incident of him being attacked, so I only knew that he was still alive. I wasn¡¯t entirely sure of his progress with his own training.


    Tsubaki offered a small smile, nodding her head. ¡°He is getting ready to create his divine body. However, he has run into some worries regarding that. Given his size, the amount of work he has to undergo for a full conversion is quite a bit more than a normal person. Thankfully, he has already achieved perfection of the body, so he does not have to worry about shedding his fleshy form. Only in whether he will be able to convert everything to divinity in time.¡±


    When I heard that, I somewhat envied those who only pursued the path of divinity after gaining the Perfect Self ss. In my case, I had to manually shatter my entire body, piece by piece while reforming it with divine energy. However, I supposed that they had a simr experience when it came to creating their own divine souls.


    Part of me wondered what it would be like for someone to ascend after reaching perfection in both the body and soul. And even if there was such a thing as the Perfect Mind. Things to look into for the future. ¡°And the man that had attacked him previously?¡±


    Tsubaki¡¯s ears drooped slightly when she heard my question. ¡°I am still searching for him, my Keeper. I fear that he fled to Fyor in order to avoid the registry, or has developed a power to avoid its detection. For the time being, I have been unable to locate anyone practicing the ¡®ruin¡¯ domain.¡±


    It wasn¡¯t really that big of an issue to me, as I could easily locate him through the system once I returned to the Admin Room. As such, I wasn¡¯t all that concerned with her answer. ¡°That¡¯s alright. I just wanted to make sure that he hadn¡¯te back to challenge Fafnir again. When he advances next time, I¡¯d like to ask you to be by his side to guard him, just to be safe.¡±


    ¡°I was already nning to do so, and Scarlet had simrly volunteered to join me.¡± That caught me by surprise, an expression that Tsubaki seemed to read on my face. ¡°She suffered an injury from him in hisst appearance, and feels that she must return the favor.¡±


    I gave a small nod, relieved that there would be two gods protecting Fafnir when he decided to advance. Even if the man appeared, he wouldn¡¯t be able to easily disrupt the process this time.

 Chapter 595: The Seeds of Growth

    <h4>Chapter 595: The Seeds of Growth</h4>


    After returning to the Admin Room, I first made sure to check the announcement for my next invasion. Once again, I was on the offensive side, but this time the name of my opponent was more familiar. However, I wasn¡¯t aware that she was already a second Ranked Keeper.


    My opponent was listed as SentinelSeven, otherwise known as the arachne Kathy. I let out a small sigh of relief when I saw that, before a message immediately appeared in front of me.


    Chat request has been received from SentinelSeven. Do you wish to ept?


    Naturally, I didn¡¯t decline. I knew that she would want to talk to me as soon as she saw who her opponent was.


    SentinelSeven: Ohmygod, I finally got paired up with you!


    SentinelSeven: This is so awesome! Does this mean we get to trade now? Can you show me what kinds of things you have!?


    SentinelSeven: Oh! There was that really cool nt race Tsubaki showed me at the meeting! Do you have those?!


    I let out augh as I saw her messagesing through one after the other, without leaving me any room to respond. Shaking my head, I worked on replying to her after she had calmed down.


    EarthForceOne: Calm down, Kathy. I¡¯ll get the list sent over. To answer your question, I should be able to send someone from my nt race over to kickstart the species. I was nning on fast forwarding soon, so I¡¯ll have more of them to send.


    The Sylvans couldn¡¯t exactly be considered a ¡®secret weapon¡¯ of mine, merely one that hadn¡¯t had the chance to fully develop yet. There wouldn¡¯t be a problem with me sending a golden sylvan to Kathy, as long as I had an extra one to give. Thankfully, it wouldn¡¯t be long before the next golden sylvan was avable from the tree in Spica¡¯s realm.


    SentinelSeven: Awesome! Let me know whenever you have the list ready, and I¡¯ll look through it!


    In truth, I had to update my list, as I hadn¡¯t done so in quite a while. There were many new inventions within my world that I could add, not to mention the new races. Thinking about that, I looked over my races, debating which I wanted to put on that list.


    While I wouldn¡¯t do so for everyone, it was alright for me to give Kathy the Sylvans. Those would be on a ¡®friends only¡¯ list. It wouldn¡¯t be a good idea for me to use the golem races for these trades, as their minds might contain a lot more information than I was willing to share with even allies. Aside from the golems, the slimes, and the dungeon cores, I felt like it would probably be alright for me to list the rest of my races.


    In terms of items, there were a few that I would absolutely never list. For example, the reality marbles that Tsubaki and Dana had been creating. Those were weapons of mass destruction that I didn¡¯t even trust with most of my own people. Aside from that, most of the inventions from my world should be suitable to list.


    However, I knew that having the list too cluttered wouldn¡¯t be a good thing, as it would both reveal more information about my world and detract from the more special items. Better to keep it short and sweet.


    While I was thinking about that, I suddenly remembered the second matter that I had wanted to take care of aftering to the Admin Room. alia, could youe to my room for a moment? There¡¯s something that I¡¯d like to talk to you about.


    Hmm? Sure, Dale! Be right over! She sounded particrly happy, though I couldn¡¯t be sure what had gotten her in such a good mood. Perhaps something had happened in the world below that she liked?


    Either way, it only took a moment before she was walking into my room, humming softly to herself. She wore a loose-fitting, peach-colored shirt and short jeans with torn legs. ¡°What did you need me for?¡± She asked with a smile, moving over to sit near me on my bed.


    ¡°I¡­ actually wanted to assign you a new task, if you were willing to ept it. It¡¯s something that I feel would be best left to you out of everyone here.¡± When I told her that I was giving her more work, her lips curled down in a small pout. However, at the end of my words, she blinked in surprise.


    ¡°You¡¯re wanting me to make your shopping list for the other Keepers?¡± She guessed, and it was my turn to blink, though more in confusion than anything else.


    ¡°Huh? No, what makes you think that?¡± If I was going to assign anyone for that job, it would be either Tsubaki or Tubrock.


    ¡°Oh, just the timing. Anyways, if that¡¯s not it, what¡¯s this new job you want for me?¡± She let out a lightugh after realizing she had guessed wrongly, and I shook my head with a small sigh.


    ¡°There are going to be more and more godsing in the future. It¡¯ll be increasingly problematic for me to decide everyone¡¯s domain on my own, especially when I¡¯m trying to fast forward. Having to stop every few seconds toe up with a suitable domain would slow progress to a halt.¡±


    ¡°So, given your Wisdom domain, I was hoping that you would be able to help me out with that. With your permission, I would like to give you the authority to choose domains for people who ascend to godhood.¡±


    When alia heard my real request, her eyes went wide. ¡°And I¡¯m your first pick for that? Wow, I figured that you would choose Terra or Irena before me. I guess nepotism really doesn¡¯t get you everywhere, huh?¡± She asked in a teasing tone.


    I gave a small smirk, shaking my head again. ¡°I doubt Terra would be able to do so with the restrictions on her. As for Irena, while she is more ustomed to judging people, that is only through the system¡¯s assistance at the moment of their death. Her Justice domain isn¡¯t nearly as applicable here as your Wisdom.¡±


    Hearing that, alia smiled a bit more gently, seeming to think the request over. ¡°Hmm, alright. I¡¯ll give it a test run, at least. If I start having trouble, I¡¯ll put the decision on hold ande back to you, that alright?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s totally fine.¡± I agreed readily, having never expected an unconditional eptance. ¡°I just wanted to make sure you were okay with this change instead of pushing it onto you. It¡¯s not a small responsibility.¡±


    ¡°Which is why I¡¯m really happy you picked me!¡± alia nodded her head firmly at my words. ¡°Anyways, is there anything else you need my help with?¡±


    ¡°No, that¡¯s all. Is there something happening you need to get back to?¡± I had the feeling that this had to do with her good mood, and was met with a small grin.


    ¡°Yup!¡± She nodded quickly, her ck canine ears flopping around on her head. ¡°I just got my newest incarnation out into the world, and I¡¯m working on developing her as a monster tamer. Monster Tamers get this new feature at level three hundred that I want to build up to, and I have to find the right partners to get me there!¡±


    ¡°New feature?¡± I looked to her curiously, not knowing what this new feature was she mentioned. I knew that engineers at level three hundred were able to use a new kind of energy to assemble items, but I hadn¡¯t noticed monster tamers breaking that threshold as well.


    ¡°Yup! At level three hundred, monster tamers be able to fuse their monsters together permanently in order to evolve them past their normal limits. You set one monster as the dominant material, and that one will keep its mind, while the second monster is used as a supplement to strengthen it. Right now, there are only like five or six people that high in the ss, so I haven¡¯t learned manybinations, but I want to try it out!¡±


    No wonder she was so happy. alia had always been really interested when it came to new types of monsters. And now she was getting the ability to freely create her own through fusion. From her point of view, the monster tamer ss just became far more interesting.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll let you get back to it.¡± I told her with a small smile, and she hopped up off the bed with a bounce, cheering before she ran out of the room. However, the weight on the bed never seemed to entirely fade away as a new arm wrapped slowly around my waist.


    When I looked over, I saw Terra looking at me with a yful grin. ¡°She seemed to like that deal just now.¡± As Terra said that, she leaned over to rest her head against my shoulder. ¡°You really could have asked me first, you know?¡±


    ¡°Would you have been able to do it?¡± I returned in a soft tone, my arm wrapping around her waist and pulling her just a bit closer to me.


    ¡°Well, no¡­ but it¡¯s still nice to be considered.¡± I could tell that she wasn¡¯t really upset at me not asking her, just looking to make conversation. So, with a slight chuckle, I leaned over and kissed the top of her forehead.


    ¡°If it makes you feel better, I do have another job that I can give to you as well.¡± She looked up at me with interest, feline ears flicking as she waited for me to borate. ¡°The Sylvans. I¡¯m about to fast forward the world by a few years, so they¡¯ll have a lot of time to grow in Spica¡¯s realm. I¡¯m curious to see what would happen if a golden sylvan managed to ascend to godhood. Or if any of the other types even have the ability to do so.¡±


    ¡°More importantly, if they do their ¡®random transport¡¯ again, I want to make sure that they stay in a world with time eleration. That race grows too slow to really mingle with everyone, for now at least. You¡¯re the only one I can count on to both steer them in that direction and make sure that they stay where they can grow faster.¡±


    Terra let out a happyugh when she heard my requests, nodding her head. ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll manage the Sylvans. Just as a warning, I can¡¯t determine what domains they¡¯ll get. That¡¯s beyond the power of Fate, since the golden ones are all natural-born demigods. But I¡¯ll see what the next one that appears is before choosing my candidate.¡±


    Hearing that, I gave a small nod, before a thought urred to me. ¡°By the way, would it be possible for someone from the Admin Room to use the incarnation system to directly be a golden sylvan that was soon to be born?¡±


    To my surprise, Terra shook her head. ¡°Sylvans are ¡®born¡¯ when the tree first starts bearing fruits. They are just waiting to get the necessary nutrients to grow until then. If we wanted to be a golden sylvan, or any sylvan for that matter, we would need to do so when the tree was first nted. And right now, there are still only two of those trees in the world.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but grumble in frustration when I heard that, though it did make sense. ¡°Alright, thought I¡¯d ask. Speaking of¡­ what would happen if an incarnation of one of you guys ascended to be a full god? Would you get a free extra domain or something?¡±


    Terra rolled her eyes at the implications behind that. ¡°No, nothing like that. It¡¯s safe to say now, since we¡¯re in the ¡®divine age¡¯ as you could call it. Our divinity would be revealed, and our incarnation would immediately receive all of our domains, instead of the other way around. Think of it like our own personal World Host. Only, we have no way tomunicate with them during an invasion.¡±

 Chapter 596: Verdant Growth

    <h4>Chapter 596: Verdant Growth</h4>


    Once my time with Terra was up, and she left the room with a rumbling purr, I pulled up the controls for my world. I didn¡¯t want to fast forward too much, but I did need things to elerate a little bit. Thinking over it, I considered the rate of advancement for technology and magic within my worlds, as well as the rate of exploration for Lorek, looking for a good bnce point.


    In the end, I decided to make this a ten year leap. Enough time for every world to have a certain degree of progress without letting things spiral out of control. With the time dtion between the normal worlds and both Lorek and Spica, that meant five hundred years for them. Which¡­ for most civilizations, would be an insane amount of time.


    However, one was a cultivation type world while the other was a world of elves. Five hundred years couldn¡¯t even be considered one full generation. Thus, a ten year skip would not be anything too terrible.


    Is it my turn to go? Gracia asked, looking at the five golden figures sitting around arge, wooden table. It wouldn¡¯t be long before the seventh of her sisters were born, and they had decided that it was time for them to give birth to a new tree.


    Of the six golden sylvans present, Gracia¡¯s domain of influence served as the most practical for a new tree. Aside from her Protection, the other five were Cities, Rain, Magic, Endurance, and Song. While rain could facilitate the growth of a forest, being able to protect it would ensure a greater degree of safety.


    This was something that all six of them had decided together. They each knew that it would be their destiny to create their own tree in the future, as the call of their instincts sounded even now. However, they also had to guide their people. In their mind, it was a mistake for Cicily of Learning to create her tree before a sister had been born. The knowledge of what happened existed within the tree, and so they knew that their people had been left under the management of outsiders.


    Will you prepare the song for me? She asked, looking towards one of the smiling sisters. Janice of Songs nodded her head gently, opening her mouth. When she did, a pleasant tone seemed to fill the room, resounding throughout the great tree.


    Go, my sister. Janice spoke mentally to Gracia. Go, and spread new life to the world. May your branches extend past the highest sky.


    The other four golden sylvans began to hum, called by Janice¡¯s song and releasing their power. Of them, Philia of Cities released a particrly strong energy, gathering thebined force of all lesser sylvans and transferring it towards Gracia.


    Of the six, Philia was the most powerful, her cultivation realms beyond anyone else. If not for Gracia, she would have been chosen as the next tree. However, a message had been sent to the six of them long ago, after Philia showed her talent in cultivation. She had been forbidden from creating her own tree before reaching the realm of godhood.


    With the energy gathering around Gracia, she closed her eyes to hear the song. Distorted scenes of distantnds shed in and out of existence around her, before she stretched her hand out to touch one of them. Then, with a burst of energy that shook the room, she vanished.


    When Gracia appeared again, she found herself alone in an unfamiliar world, her eyes scanning the horizon. Before transforming into a tree, she must first ensure that the location wasrge enough to support it. Had she appeared atop a mountain, within a body of water, or on an ind, she would have to find a better ce to take root.


    As she examined her surroundings, she shivered slightly from the cold. The world she had just left was one of extreme heat, and her people had evolved to withstand it. While this new world was no arctic wastnd, the more normal temperatures felt positively freezing to her.


    Thankfully, she did not appear to be on any sort of difficult terrain. There was a long beach in the distance, and endless ins on the other side of her. Far on the horizon, she felt as if she could see dpidated structures. Perhaps there were ruins nearby? Those thoughts meant little to her, as a ruined civilization would not threaten her tree.


    Gracia¡¯s hands came up to her chest as she closed her eyes. Thick roots extended from her feet, burrowing into the ground below. As she caused her divinity to surge ording to her instincts, a thickyer of bark appeared to wrap around her body.


    On that day, a new tree appeared within Lorek, residing at the southern tip of the massive ursa continent. This tree was unlike any other, growing several meters every day. The sight of it, and the energy it released was enough to draw star beasts from over a hundred miles away.


    However, the fate that awaited any who dared to approach was the same. Either sharp, spear-like roots struck up from the ground, or razor-sharp leaves flew down from above. After six months, the tree was ten thousand meters tall, and figures appeared surrounding its base.


    Unlike the previous two trees, it was not the green worker sylvans that appeared first, but rather the red warriors. Twenty thousand troops armored with wooden armor and weapons formed a perimeter around the growing tree, under the watch of a gentle-looking golden woman.


    Narissa of Growth stood beside the tree. With her power aiding the tree, its growth speed was doubled. It only took another six months for the first generation of workers to be born.


    Twenty years after the appearance of the tree, a band of ursa cultivators walked into the forest, their leader furrowing his brow as he looked at a map.


    ¡°Is it much farther?¡± One of the warriors behind him asked, cautiously holding his scimitar as he surveyed the surroundings. They had been in the forest for two days in search of an ancient city that had been depicted on one of the maps they found further north. However, they knew better than to let their guard down in a forest. There were too many ces that they could be ambushed from.


    Furthermore, there was something¡­ strange about this forest. They were not offered the relief of a cool shade after entering the forest. Instead, the shadows cast by the massive canopy carried with them a sweltering heat. Not just a humid heat, but as if they were truly walking into a furnace.


    ¡°It should be just ahead.¡± The leader said, though even he was clearly confused. The markers which existed on the map were nowhere to be seen, causing him to believe that they may have taken a wrong path. More to the point, there should not have been this kind of ancient forest anywhere near their location.


    Although the map was from a time long forgotten, the size of the trees in this forest certainly suggested that it should date back to a simr period. That was when he heard it, a rustle of a branch above. His eyes shot upwards, hand going to a short staff on his waist.


    Thest thing that he expected to see was a green-skinned woman with leaves covering her body, staring back down at him. And then another that appeared on a simr branch¡­ and another. By the time the tenth appeared, officially outnumbering their small group, he showed hesitation.


    When the hundredth appeared, his face became pale. And when their numbers kept growing, emerging fromworks of branches high in the trees, he signalled the others to lower their weapons. Trying to fight against such overwhelming numbers would only be possible if they held an absolute advantage in cultivation. But with this distance, he couldn¡¯t urately measure their cultivation to evaluate that.


    No, rather than saying it was a matter of distance, it would be more urate to say that the forest itself was shielding his perception. He would normally not have any problems with sensing creatures at such a range. And yet, they appeared as if they were one with the trees around them.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to fear us.¡± A voice spoke from nearby, in anguage familiar to the ursa. While not thenguage of their own world, it was one from an allied world of theirs, Desbar. When the leader of the group turned to face the source of the voice, he was met with a strikingly beautiful woman with golden skin. While leaves covered her body as well, like the others, her curves seemed to be almost fighting to free themselves.


    ¡°Your people are known as ursa, correct?¡± Narissa asked with a motherly smile, drawing on the information buried deep within the mother tree. ¡°May I ask which world this is? I¡¯m afraid my information is a little outdated.¡±


    It was only then that a sh of realization hit the man, the piecesing together. He had heard rumors that Desbar yed host to a nt-like race of women, capable of growing massive forests with ease. However, such rumors were rare in Lorek, where information of the other worlds only came in once every other month.


    ¡°You are¡­ sylvans?¡± He asked her, to which she nodded her head. ¡°This is Lorek. I¡¯m sorry, but¡­ how did you get here?¡±


    ¡°Lorek?¡± She muttered, digging through her memories. She didn¡¯t have a very strong impression of this name. If it had been discovered during the first generation, it seemed that Cicily failed to pay attention to it. ¡°No matter. I am Narissa of Growth. I have been in this ce for twenty winters. If you need something from the forest, you are free to ask it of me.¡±


    ¡°However, the children cannot speak as I do.¡± As she said that, her eyes swept over the green sylvans above. ¡°I do not possess the same talents as Cicily, so I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t create vocal fruits as she did.¡±


    ¡°Then, how are you able to talk?¡±


    Hearing his question, Narissa smiled. ¡°I grew my own vocal chords when I noticed that we had guests. I apologize for taking so long to greet you, but I had to wait for them to fully develop. Now, as I was saying, is there something you need here?¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­¡± The leader looked down to his map, unsure if he should admit that they had gotten lost. However, Narissa followed his gaze, seeing the area of it which marked their current location.


    ¡°You are after the ruins.¡± She said in a confident tone, surprising the group of ursa. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but the buildings there were reimed by the forest. If you¡¯d like, I can give you the items that were kept inside.¡±


    ¡°You still have them?¡± He asked in shock, to which she nodded her head.


    ¡°I felt that they had value, and nned to give them to a sister to study, if one was born with the aptitude. Since you¡¯re here for them, I can just give them to you.¡± She spoke with a smile, turning and walking deeper into the forest. ¡°I¡¯ll take you to the hollow where they are being kept.¡±


    ¡°Is it ready?¡± A dovah woman asked fearfully towards the halfling standing next to her. The halfling looked up at her and offered a small smile, nodding his head.


    ¡°Three strong horses have been prepared.¡± He said, lifting his hand to issue a signal to those behind him. A red-haired human woman stepped forward, holding the reins of the three horses which he mentioned.


    ¡°May winter pass in silence.¡± The dovah muttered, clenching her fists. The entire poption stood at the edge of the town, gathered nervously to watch what was happening. Outside of the town stood arge, dark forest, its trees having started to shed their leaves.


    When the halfling gave a nod towards the human, she produced a small knife from her pocket. With a deft movement, she stabbed the nks of all three horses, scaring them and sending them running off into the forest to escape the danger.


    The people of the town watched the horses flee, blood dripping from their sides. They dove through the trees, their pained whinnies still echoing within the ears of the citizens. Until suddenly, those sounds came to an abrupt halt.


    ¡°May winter pass in silence.¡± The townspeople spoke in unison, parents holding their children close before pulling them back towards their homes.

 Chapter 597: Stretched Thin

    <h4>Chapter 597: Stretched Thin</h4>


    I furrowed my brows as I watched the scene of the ¡®ritual¡¯ in Fyor. In truth, I had only been idly scrolling through to check for any anomalies that could upset the bnce of the world. The town was far away from either of the gates, and only on the thirteenthyer. As such, the threats that could spawn there weren¡¯t anything too terrifying. The worst that could happen would be something like the previous Sea King that had the ability to endlessly strengthen itself by absorbing energy.


    So when I saw three horses run into the forest, each with a slowly declining health bar, I was faintly curious about what was happening. Then, I saw three leaves fall from the nearby trees, drifting through the air tond urately on the heads of those horses.


    After that, the leaves on the ground around them kicked up as if with a great wind, wrapping around their bodies. When the leaves settled, the horses were nowhere to be found. At least, on the surface. With my view, I could see the three of them appearing underground near where they had vanished.


    Their bodies were trapped within the ground, forcing them to suffocate as long roots wrapped around them. Nearby, I could see the remains of other animals, and even several humanoid skeletons.


    Looking at the source of the problem, I investigated the trees that were ¡®consuming¡¯ the horses. Unsurprisingly, each of them were monsters at level two hundred and fifty, the limit thatyer would spawn. Their names were Hungry Trees, and I could just imagine what their traits were from that title, as well as what I had personally seen.


    Shaking my head, I decided not to get directly involved in that matter. Any mid-level adventurer would be able to handle a forest like that, so there was no need for me to intervene myself. Besides, even if nobody did show up due to the distance between the town and the gates, the town itself had a way to deal with the problem.


    Instead, my eyes turned towards what I had seen of Lorek. While I had asked Terra to make sure that the tree didn¡¯t leave the time dtion field, I was still surprised to find that it had directly appeared on Lorek. Part of me wondered if that was Terra¡¯s doing, or if it was truly random chance that caused it to appear there.


    Narissa led the group of ursa towards the center of the forest. While they could see the thick roots digging out of the ground from the central tree, that was not their destination. Instead, Narissa took them to a nearby tree. One that was only twenty meters thick. Along the way, they saw numerous green, red, and blue women. Each of them wore ¡®clothing¡¯ made of leaves and looked at the ursa curiously.


    The red sylvans marched along in groups of ten, following a standard patrol pattern. Although their weapons and armor were only made of wood, the ursa could feel a powerful ki reinforcing their equipment. Each of them was clearly a cultivator of the Ancient rank, just from the power they were giving off.


    The blue sylvans, meanwhile, sat atop the roots with their eyes closed until the group walked by. Only then did they send a look towards the ursa. It was impossible to tell exactly what it was they were doing from a nce, but there was a sort of serenity to their appearance, like monks watching the world from above.


    Finally, the green sylvans were the true caretakers of the forest. They nourished the flowers and trees, nurturing life with elegant dances. Their movements were captivating, forming a stark contrast from the militant red or serene blue sylvans. Yet, the harmony of all three created the wondrousndscape around them.


    When Narissa reached her target tree, she stroked a finger slowly along its bark. With a ripple, the tree opened up to reveal arge interior. ¡°This is where we keep the artifacts from the ruins.¡± She said as she stepped inside, though there did not appear to be anything within the dark exterior of the tree that they could immediately see.


    With their cultivation, seeing in the dark was a simple matter. As such, the leader of the group immediately became cautious, before the wooden floor beneath him began to shift and rise. Carrying the nine ursa up higher and higher, Narissa watched as a number of shelves were passed.


    Many of these shelves contained monster remains or strange minerals. It was only after the fifthyer of shelves that the floor ceased its growth, and stretched out to connect with the shelves. There, they were able to see a number of old artifacts. Unlike what had been seen previously, these were all clearly manmade.


    There were a number of books, and ruined remains of golemsid about on the shelves. Aside from that, there was a cracked hammer, a chipped sword, and a dented shield. ¡°I apologize for the damaged state of the items, but this is the manner that we found them in. Aside from the stone men, that is¡­ they fought against the forest, so we had no choice but to ovee them.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s perfectly fine.¡± In fact, he couldn¡¯t care less about the state of the golems. What they were after were the books which contained the ancient legacies. Although cultivators had made great strides over the centuries in finding new paths to pursue, there would always be a difference between a path one created themselves and one already paved.


    With that in mind, he didn¡¯t look at the sword, hammer, or shield. Instead, he directly walked over towards the books, sweeping his eyes across their titles. Thanks to the efforts of their civilization, they had managed to decode thenguage that the ancients used, and could now read them even without the spiritual imprints.


    ¡°The path of Ghosts, Wood, Fire, Restraint, Solitude, and Valor.¡± Of these six paths, four of them were actually new, causing the ursa¡¯s eyes to light up with hope. Opening the other two, the paths of Wood and Fire, he checked their initial requirements to see if they were more advanced versions of the paths he had learned of.


    While the path of Fire turned out to be one that followed only natural energy and ki, he was shocked to see that the path of Wood covered all four basic energies. In the eyes of Lorek¡¯s cultivation circle, that made this a top-notch path.


    ¡°You said¡­ the path of Wood?¡± Narissa spoke up from the side with interest, her eyes looking towards the book that the man was looking at with a heated gaze. Naturally, such a path would be of great interest to the sylvans, as they spent their entire lives in the forest.


    However, her curious gaze was met with caution. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but we can¡¯t give this manual to you. It¡¯s an extremely important document for our people.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡± Narissa kept the same motherly smile she had had from the start. ¡°We don¡¯t require the entire thing. As long as you are able to transcribe the entry stage for us, we can handle the rest ourselves.¡±


    The entry stage was the most basic starting point of any cultivation path. It was also what determined the quality of the path itself. However, there was far more to cultivation than merely the first steps.


    Thinking about how Narissa was allowing them to take away these manuals, and had preserved them herself, he decided toply with her request. He had the faint impression that failing toply would turn the entire forest against them. After all, it was really a simple request, so being obstinate about it just so that he could take the only copy of the document back would be¡­ unwise for many reasons.


    That night, the ursa group was allowed to stay within the forest while the leader tranted the necessary text. He didn¡¯t know how the sylvans nned to use only the entry level information to pursue this path, but they seemed confident in their abilities.


    Once he had finished his work, the group of ursa left, carrying with them the relics that they hade for. Thankfully, they were not a settler caravan, or else they would have had to give up on their mission. While the sylvans did not seem inhospitable, living in an area with no direct ess to the sky created problems for cultivators.


    Watching them leave, Narissa held the papers in her hand. It was fortunate that the ursa was able to use Desbar¡¯snguage, or she would have had to seek other methods of learning this information. As her eyes scanned over it, there was a hint of pleasant surprise on her features.


    Children, I have a new project for you. She thought while touching the tree next to her. Focusing, she sent the information on the papers through the treework, and to the blue sylvans.


    When they heard that they had a new project, the blue sylvans felt a sense of joy. While the greens cared for the forest, and the reds protected it, it was the blues that handled intellectual matters. And sadly¡­ there had been little intellectual work that required their attention since their birth. They had spent their days refining the cultivation method passed down from Gracia of Protection.


    Now, Narissa was sending them a new cultivation pattern. One far more advanced than what they knew. Almost eight hundred thousand minds began to work in tandem to analyze the details of the path, using the basic foundation and extrapting further levels by referencing what they already knew.


    Philia sat atop the highest branch of the ancestor tree, her eyes gazing at the suns hanging in the sky. Her skin absorbed the extreme heat, pulling the energy radiated from the celestial bodies to help fuel her cultivation.


    Philia was unique among the sylvans in many ways, even when considering her golden sisters. First was her passion for cultivation, which allowed her to endure terrifying conditions that pushed the limits of her body. However, that paled inparison to what truly made her unique. Unlike the other golden sylvans, she was the only one who kept secrets.


    Am I close? She asked internally, careful not to transfer her thoughts to the tree beneath her. From the moment she was born, she had been speaking with a hidden friend, one that fueled her desire to cultivate, and helped her walk along the path. This friend taught her how to use her power, how to pull on the strength of the entire forest and wield it as easily as her own limbs.


    Under the guidance of this hidden friend, Philia had reorganized the forest to be far more efficient, with wide paths formed along the branches. These paths were shielded from the extreme heat by a number of leaves arranged to stimte a cooling breeze.


    By now, the forest had extended as far as they were able to take it, covering nearly half of the. Any further, and they felt that they would be weakening the ancestor tree¡¯s energy. Through this, they learned howrge of a forest a single ancestor tree could sustain.


    Furthermore, there weren¡¯t enough sylvans to manage the forest if it were to grow any further than it had already. Counting all three of the sylvan types together, this forest held less than fifty million people. Fifty million spread out across such a massive, they had to construct gateways to travel between different work districts in order to handle the territory that they already covered.


    Philia already thought that they were stretching themselves too thin, given their numbers. In order to tend to their grove effectively, she felt that they only needed a fraction of their territory. However, her hidden friend assured her that it would be alright, as long as she followed the advice that she had been given.


    And now, that friend was telling her how to surpass the limits of her race. How to remove the shackles of her instincts that insisted for her to create her own grove. She had learned that she could be an existence even greater than the ancestor tree, if she only pursued her path of cultivation to the very end.


    You¡¯re very close now. The feminine voice spoke back to her in aforting tone. Just one more push, and you should find your way. It won¡¯t be long now.

 Chapter 598: Making Waves

    <h4>Chapter 598: Making Waves</h4>


    Dana stood at the edge of her manufacturing facility, holding a small clipboard in her hands. In front of her were fiverge buildings, each containing four of her mana refineries. It was time for the regr maintenance, so she first walked into the building marked with the number one.


    In order to lessen the risks as much as possible, this facility was within the same ¡®spare world¡¯ as their world research center. However, it was over a thousand kilometers away so that they could lower the risks of the two facilities influencing each other. Given that they had the entire world to use, courtesy of the Keeper, there was more than enough space for them to create a variety of different facilities.


    What was unfortunate, though, was that monsters had begun to naturally spawn after Dana¡¯s visits to the world became more frequent. As such, she was forced to install defensive measures to prevent either of her territories from being overrun. These measures took the form of sixteen towers evenly spread around the perimeter of the production center.


    ¡°Maybe we should create a World Spirit for this area to serve as the manager?¡± Dana mused to herself as she entered the factory. Inside were fourrge machines, each with a conveyor belt leading to their own assembly lines.


    One of the machines suddenly lit up, a progress bar appearing on its forward screen. Once the bar had been filled, the conveyor belt began to move, retrieving a blue brick only six inches long and three high. This brick was then taken to the assembly line, where it was encased in a ki-forged iron box.


    Finally, this box was deposited through a portal into an underground warehouse to be sorted and await an automatic order. Unfortunately, such precautions were entirely necessary. Each individual brick gave off very little residual mana. That mana, however, would constantly add up when the bricks were stored inrge quantities.


    As Dana was nodding her head in satisfaction, checking the performance of each machine, she felt a tremor run through the ground. Her lips tugged downwards as she nced out behind her. That tremor naturally meant that the towers had identified and attacked yet another monster.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ it might be a good idea.¡± She thought to herself, closing her eyes and concentrating on her link with Tsubaki. Before she did something as big as this, she first wanted permission. This wasn¡¯t exactly something that could be taken backter.


    However, Tsubaki seemed surprisingly okay with this suggestion. It would be the first time such a being was created by anyone other than the Keeper, so Dana had assumed that Tsubaki would have some reservations.


    Instead¡­ I do not believe that this method is necessarily one that the Keeper would want to monopolize. Regardless of their creator, the Keeper has informed me that the world spirits would be unable to turn against him. If you want to handle the matter this way, I do not believe that he would be upset.


    Blinking a bit at that realization, Dana nodded her head. ¡°Well, I¡¯m not going to do it here, anyways.¡± She muttered, looking at the sensitive machinery. The energy fluctuations of creating a world spirit here would no doubt disrupt the production line.


    As such, she quickly swept through the other three factory buildings to ensure that there did not seem to be any parts that were breaking down in the refineries. Although they were a few years old, they underwent regr check-ups to prevent them from easily falling apart, and Dana was careful not to push them beyond the rmended production limit.


    Once she was done with her maintenance check, she wrote down which parts were starting to show damage, and made ns to ce an order for those parts after she returned. Originally, the Sky Citadel was rather short on funds, but did not require money for most matters. The name of the Keeper was essentially a nk check for them to request anything they wanted that they couldn¡¯t make themselves.


    Now, however, they had more funds than they reasonably knew what to do with. Each mana brick was valued as being worth a single token of Ryone. A rather amusing rate for it, but the Goddess seemed to enjoy it. With the speed of the refineries, they were producing an average of four bricks per minute.


    Even if you converted the coins into the highest standard, they would be making almost a dozen tokens of Terra every day. This was all thanks to the Reality Marble used to fuel the refineries. Otherwise, evenrge businesses would have difficulty turning over such a regr profit.


    With that taken care of, Dana walked outside of the production area, and began to take flight. The previously green ground had been scorched ck for a thousand meters beyond the perimeter created by the towers, a natural effect from the constant battles. This area was treated as a ¡®death zone¡¯ by many monsters, so they only rarely approached.


    Beyond that death zone, however, the world had been turned into a monster paradise. Left to breed and spawn endlessly, with no civilization to limit them, the monsters had already dominated the unupied territory of the world. This was the biggest concern for both Tsubaki and Dana, as more monsters meant a higher chance for their facilities to be intruded upon.


    Naturally, neither of them could afford to spend all of their time within this world to oversee it. With that thought in mind, Dana flew a dozen kilometers away from her production nts, before suddenly stopping in midair. Down below, she could see numerous roaming monsters, some of which looked up towards her and let out threatening roars.


    She paid no mind to these monsters, directly producing a scepter from her energy. This was not the mana-producing scepter shemonly used, but rather the one with produced spiritual energy. ¡°Will of the world, heed my summons and take form.¡±


    The scepter in her hands lit up, releasing boundless grey mist into her surroundings. At the same time, she controlled the natural energy in the air. It was time to create a true overseer for this world, one that would always be able to maintain the peace.


    There was a lot that could change in ten years, when I took a closer look. Aside from the great forest that had appeared in Lorek, there were numerous changes that created ripples through the other worlds, as well. For instance¡­ it seemed that Fafnir had finally managed to finish his ascension.


    He was among the new gods that had begun to appear during this period of time, but of all of them, he was no doubt the one that surprised me the most. Fafnir no longer looked like a traditional western dragon, his wings having vanished entirely as his body elongated. For some reason, he chose to look far more like an eastern dragon, though I didn¡¯t know for sure what the exact difference was between them in my own world.


    As Fafnir jumped from his mountain peak to take flight, I realized that my previous assumption wasn¡¯t entirely correct. He didn¡¯t lose his wings, but rather changed them. Fafnir was the Dragon God of the Sky, and the sky itself had be his wings. Whenever he flew, ripples would form in the air around him, air currents shifting into the shape of wings surrounding his body.


    Part of me wondered if he would ever be able to fly outside of the atmosphere with his current use of his power. After all, how would he create wings of air where there was no air? Where was the sky beyond the atmosphere? There was the possibility that Fafnir had limited himself unknowingly with his own domain choice, but I would find out in the future.


    However, with Fafnir¡¯s matter taken care of, there was something else that I wanted to look at a bit more urgently. I had simply been distracted by seeing my dragon in his new form. My view of the world panned off to the side, beginning to search through the bottom of the ocean¡­


    A song rang out through the ocean floor, a call to the merkin from their fellow men. This was a summons unlike any that had urred in the past, one that had been maintained for a full five years at this point. For so long, they had been scattered. A sea divided among many ns, many songs leading their path.


    However, with the gathering song, these scattered ns were called to action. Their destination was the first true city of the merkin. Not merely a brine pool or coral forest, but a true city. Surrounding the city was a thin film, like the surface of a bubble. This film was a barrier that had been passed down from the people above the waves, the children of thend.


    There were a number of reasons that had kept the merkin from truly advancing in the past. While the primary cause was their attention span, it was by no means the only reason. With their dwellings beneath the sea, they had no true interaction with fire, and could not learn how to forge metal, even identally.


    With no writtennguage, they could only pass down their knowledge through their songs. And without the ability to properly pass down their knowledge, they had almost no interactions with magic. Whereas it wasmon for adults of any other race to reach a level of one hundred and fifty as a schr simply through mandatory education, the average merkin had a schr level of no greater than ten.


    In an effort to establish a rtionship with the merkin, the child of thend had given them a number of items to solve their shoring. One was a pearl bracelet that enhanced their memory. Another was the barrier surrounding their city. Finally, they had helped the merkin in learning thenguage of the surface world.


    While their civilization was by no means modern, the city was far beyond anything that had been aplished before by this race. Houses made of coral were erected and renovated. Enchanters were being trained in the creation of the pearl bracelets, and forgemasters were beginning to emerge.


    However, the ¡®forge¡¯ of the merkins was very different from that of any other race. They did not create their tools with fire, but with the products of the sea. Weapons made from the bones of sea monsters began to appear among the guards of the city.


    The mostmon of these weapons was thence. Of all the different types of movement, a straight thrust proved to produce the least resistance in the water, making this type of weapon more highly sought after.


    As for what the child ofnd wanted in return? It could be regarded as trash by the merkin. Cores dropped by the countless monsters littering the ocean floor, or the bodies of beasts that were too resilient for the merkin themselves to process.


    He was happy to take these materials that were akin to garbage, trading them for valuable information and magical insights.


    What the child ofnd didn¡¯t realize was that the merkin were not an exclusive resource for him alone. As they realized the generosity of the people above, they began to take the initiative to make contact with others who passed above their territory. Unknown to them, their presence was beginning to cause a stir amongst the children of thend.


    Where once it was rare for people to set out to sea, there were now various tradingpanies that sought to do so in silence. When people saw the ships leaving the harbor, they were confused. Why would so many ships set sail on a trading voyage, when they could easily take a portal to conduct most trading matters?


    However, as those ships returned carrying numerous riches and rare materials, even themon people began to take an interest. The time when the merkin would be known to all was fast approaching.

 Chapter 599: A-Voiding Problems

    <h4>Chapter 599: A-Voiding Problems</h4>


    Closing my eyes, I leaned back on the couch and began to think to myself. How could I help my world without pushing the level of power too far out of control? What could I do that would benefit everyone as a whole? It was obvious that my choices were near infinite. If I yed my cards right, I could end world hunger, prevent wars, and root out evil cults with just a few gestures.


    But would that be the kind of help that the world needed? Although people often refused to ept it, it was a fact that evil is necessary in a world for good to exist. If there is nobody suffering, how can people step forward to help them? If everyone has all that they need provided for them, they will have less drive to struggle and grow.


    What I needed was a method to help people that wouldn¡¯t remove that struggle any more than I had already. There were so many convenience items in the world that I had helped provide, either directly or otherwise. The storage items were a prime example. With a bit of effort, anything could be turned into a dimensional storage. That was, theoretically, the same as unlimited carrying capacity. Especially after the enchantments evolved to further reduce the weight of the enchanted items.


    But¡­ was it really? I furrowed my brows at that thought, thinking back. The system had never been that kind. If there existed a perfect convenience, there was a trap hidden somewhere in it. Everything I had seen until now proved that fact. At the end of the day, the system was ultimately fair.


    With that in mind¡­ where was the trap in storage items? Where was the other shoe, and how heavy would it drop?


    I opened my interface, quickly zooming in on Tsubaki within the Sky Citadel. I knew that she had a number of storage items hidden within her body, which she used to call out weapons and tools on demand. Most of these took the form of small needles, making them almost impossible to identify if you didn¡¯t know what you were looking for.


    Once I found one such item, I peered into it, into the space it contained. It looked like this was a storage device to hold¡­ clothes, of all things. Why she had that, I didn¡¯t know, and had no intentions of asking. Instead, I brought my sight outside of her little storage area. Not through the enchantment to look at Tsubaki again¡­ outside the small, confined space of the storage itself.


    Back when I had first watched Ryone create these items, we did a test. Through that test, we found that the walls of the storage space were solid and impossible to prate. However, we didn¡¯t think about where that space was, or how it came into being. Now, I know far more than I did at that point. I had made my guess even before investigating, I just needed to know if I was right.


    Endless darkness¡­ that¡¯s what I saw. A mass of ck that spread on forever, specks of starlight dotting thendscape. But, this was no normal starlight. Some of these lights carried with them a name that appeared in my mind. Earth, Deckan, Desbar, Lorek¡­ each light was a realm, an entire universe. Which meant that these storage spaces could only be in one area, the void between worlds.


    This could be trouble,ter. I furrowed my brows, realizing the implications behind what this meant. Previously, the void had been safe. It was somewhere that we crossed through only to briefly travel between other worlds. There was no exploration, there was no danger.


    Now, things are changing. People are attempting to explore the void every bit as much as they wish to explore their own stars. And, if I had learned anything from watching those bouts of exploration, space was far from safe.


    I knew how I wanted to help people now, but this came first. I needed to understand. Leowynn, I¡¯m going to need your help for just a little bit.


    Tsubaki sat within the Sky Citadel, eyes closed and meditating with her primary body. Her avatars were going about her typical chores and monitoring the news to prepare for any emergencies, so she devoted herself mentally to those tasks. However, she felt a small ripple of energy, causing her eyes to snap open.


    Looking down at her chest, she saw that thepass had activated. She darted to her feet, dismissing all but the most necessary avatars as she rushed towards the throne room. It had been ten years since the Keeper¡¯sst visit, and even his descended host had yet to leave his throne for most of that.


    When she arrived at the throne room, she saw the Keeper stood at the base of the stairs, offering her a small smile. ¡°There¡¯s something that I could use your help with, but it could be dangerous.¡±


    Hearing his words stunned Tsubaki. There had been times in the past where the Keeper had asked for her help. However, he had rarely ever referred to such a task as dangerous. They were mere errands that she was performing for him, even if they would be life-threatening challenges to the normal man.


    Now that she was being given a ¡®dangerous¡¯ task, Tsubaki felt a sense of pride. As if being chosen for such a mission was an aplishment in itself. ¡°I will do whatever I can to assist you, my Keeper.¡± She spoke in a devout tone, dropping to one knee and lowering her head. Her tails betrayed her true feelings, swaying happily in the air behind her.


    ¡°I know, I just wanted to warn you, first.¡± The Keeper told her in a gentle tone. ¡°I¡¯ve asked Leowynn to assist this time, so the danger should be lessened. Even if something does happen, she should be able to stop it from causing any permanent harm.¡±


    Even invoking the other gods? Tsubaki¡¯s curiosity grew even further towards this assignment. ¡°Please tell me what it is that I may do for you, my Keeper.¡±


    ¡°First¡­ how much do you know about the inner workings of the storage enchantments? Specifically the ones made through the geometric system.¡±


    Tsubaki furrowed her brows, unsure why he was asking such a simple question. ¡°The principal is simr to how we created the reality marbles, but on a much simpler level. By creating a small, finite portion of space, we can link that space to a desired object, allowing one to easily store and retrieve items.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I thought, too.¡± The Keeper let out a faint sigh. ¡°However, there¡¯s no such thing as an independent space. That¡¯s where we¡¯ve been getting it wrong all along.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that I do not understand, my Keeper.¡± Tsubaki shook her head, urging him to exin. Was there a problem with the storage enchantments? They¡¯ve been in use for hundreds of years, and there has not yet been any issue. To suddenly bring it up now left her bewildered.


    ¡°I feel like this will likely rte to your world research. Next¡­ what happens when a storage item is destroyed?¡± This question intrigued Tsubaki quite a bit more, both because of its contents and the words he said leading up to it.


    ¡°It¡¯s unknown what exactly happens to the storage spaces following the destruction of their linked item. Some specte that the items are reimed by the gods. Others say that they are shredded on a molecr level by the implosion of space. Few even believe that the items spill out into random regions of space, waiting to be found and reimed.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ let¡¯s find out, shall we?¡± He held his hand out, and a silver coin appeared in it. ¡°This is the storage item used in the criminal underground of Fyor. At least, it used to be, a long time ago. I had Ryone retrieve one for me to help with this test.¡±


    ¡°To answer the first question, and your doubts about it¡­ like I said, there is no such thing as an independent space. All spacees from the infinite void between worlds. When you create a storage enchantment, you are segmenting a part of that space. If you would, please create an avatar for me. I don¡¯t want you to take this risk with your core body.¡±


    Tsubaki was briefly stunned at his request, but soon obeyed his instruction. The concept of storage enchantments being held within the void wasn¡¯t exactly groundbreaking. It was one of many theories about how the independent spaces existed. However, there had never been an irond way to prove it.


    As soon as she created an avatar, she noticed the familiar form of the Keeper¡¯s daughter standing next to him. Both her main body and newly created avatar offered a bow to the ascended goddess.


    Leowynn, meanwhile, let out a lightugh. ¡°None of that, Tsubaki. You¡¯ve known me for too long. You know I don¡¯t like it when people bow to me like that.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Lady Leowynn.¡± Tsubaki said as she corrected her posture, noting the reproachful look on Leowynn¡¯s face before correcting her means of address. ¡°Leowynn.¡±


    ¡°Better.¡± The elven woman smiled. ¡°Now, my dad has left a pile of gold coins inside this storage space to act as andmark. I¡¯ll be taking your avatar just outside that territory within the void, after which we will give you a few simple tasks before destroying it.¡±


    Tsubaki nodded her head, ready to be transferred. Whatever the task was, her main body was still with the Keeper and his daughter. There was no need to worry about not receiving the instructions.


    Seeing that she was ready, Leowynn held up her hand and focused. Immediately, the world seemed to turn upside down and inside out, with Tsubaki appearing within an empty expanse of nothingness. Or rather, a mostly empty expanse.


    In front of her was a faint, translucent sphere roughly ten meters across. Inside of that sphere, she could see arge pile of gold coins, almost upying the entire space. As she tested her motor control within the void, she heard the words of the Keeper through her main body.


    ¡°You need to first check your surroundings for danger. If they aren¡¯t already present, I have reason to believe that monsters will begin to appear within the void in theing future.¡± As she heard that, her rxed body became alert. She scanned the expanse around her, having the faint impression of being watched. However, that could easily be attributed to her suddenly heightened nerves.


    Regardless, she did not see anything that appeared directly threatening. ¡°No hostile contacts. I¡¯m ready to proceed to the next task.¡±


    ¡°Then, your next objective¡­ try to enter the storage space in front of you. We need to determine how difficult it is to enter from the outside, because it is possible that creatures within the void might be able to do so, and use that path as a window into the material ne.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m in.¡± Tsubaki said after barely a moment. The barrier around the gold coins offered hardly any resistance to her, despite the fact that she knew she wouldn¡¯t be able to escape nearly as easily. ¡°From a quick estimate, any creature with a power above level one hundred would be able to pass through the storage space¡¯s field.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ less than hopeful.¡± The Keeper muttered with a shake of his head. ¡°However, do you have a way to bring yourself out of the storage space? Either through the barrier, or directly exiting the enchantment?¡±


    Tsubaki fell into thought at that, looking around herself. Now that she was within the storage space, she could no longer see the empty expanse outside. ¡°If I am given enough time, I could potentially unlock the enchantment with my knowledge of the magic system. However, I don¡¯t think that I would be able to use brute force to achieve the effect.¡±


    The Keeper gave another nod as he thought her words made sense. ¡°Okay. Now, for thisst experiment¡­ Leowynn is going to protect you, and make sure that your avatar isn¡¯t destroyed.¡±


    Tsubaki knew what that meant, and braced herself while feeling the warm light of Leowynn¡¯s energy wrapping around her. A momentter, and the solid wall surrounding the gold coins vanished, the coins themselves now floating aimlessly among the ck void.


    However, now that Tsubaki was back out, she noticed that something changed. There was a shifting shape within the void, one that seemed far too close for her not to have noticed it before. ¡°Monster sighted!¡± She called out, realizing that it had blended with the void prior to her entering the sealed space.


    As soon as she made that call, Tsubaki¡¯s avatar was pulled out of the void before getting any chance to battle. Now she knew where the danger was in this task. Creatures that could perfectly blend in with the void. Had she not noticed it in time, it could have very well ambushed her. It was unknown if such a creature would be able to allow its attacks to trace through the soul back to the main body.


    ¡°So there are monsters already¡­¡± The Keeper muttered to himself. ¡°Storage spaces aren¡¯t destroyed when their items are, merely released. That means that we form a bubble around a random portion of the void every time we make these enchantments, and any one of them could contain a monster.¡±


    Tsubaki knew that it was more than that. How often did people empty their storage devices entirely just to check their inventory? If a void beast happened to have trapped itself in their inventory at such a time, they would be releasing that monster into the world. Or rather¡­ they might have already done so in the past, and one of those monsters could be within the material world now.

 Chapter 600: Shine Brightly

    <h4>Chapter 600: Shine Brightly</h4>


    After the Keeper returned to his home, and his vessel returned to the throne to silently ponder over something, Tsubaki was left standing alone within the courtyard. She thought back to the words of the Keeper before the experiment, words that she felt served a greater purpose.


    There¡¯s no such thing as an independent space. These words were proven to be true when she learned the secret behind the storage devices. Given her personal knowledge, she had the suspicion that even Earth¡¯s universe was simply a product of space created within the void. Or rather, every world was.


    And the second part¡­ This could help you with your research into creating worlds. Those words had been especially impactful to Tsubaki, making her look at this knowledge in a different light. What would it mean for this to affect her research?


    First¡­ there was no independent space. That means that the reality marbles were not truly creating an independent world, but were rather segmenting pieces of the great void to create it ording to their design. Then, what did it mean tobine those worlds together to create aplete world?


    Now, Tsubaki felt as though she was starting to understand the true reason behind the strange mutations in the worlds that she created with Dana. Each of their reality marbles were created with a singr function. That function was to have a dimension filled with energy, constantly producing that energy at its core and using it to expand. Then, by tapping into that created world, they would have an effectively limitless supply of energy.


    However, this function also became the reason why the dimensions failed to properly stabilize when brought together. Even the ones that they did not alter had some small defects. Energy could easily grow out of control, and required greater care by the wielder to cast. This was an effect that she hadn¡¯t taken much note of previously, because this was merely a prototype, and the ones that would be entering these worlds possessed the control necessary not to be bothered by the defect.


    So, in order to create a truly stable world, they would need to create pir worldsposed of energy, but not ones that generate that energy. Each world would have to be its own self-contained cycle, at which point it would be able to properly form abined world. But how should she approach that?


    ¡°La-¡­Leowynn, are you still present?¡± Tsubaki asked, ncing towards the sky.


    Almost caught you that time. What do you need, Tsubaki? Leowynn¡¯s gentle voice sounded in Tsubaki¡¯s mind, causing the kitsune to let out a sigh of relief.


    ¡°I¡¯d like your help with an experiment of my own. I¡¯d handle it myself¡­ but I do not believe it¡¯s within my power to do so. I do not have the ability to safely traverse and influence the void as you do.¡±


    Finally asking for help, then? Leowynn sounded pleasantly surprised as she responded. Okay, what can I do to help you?


    Tsubaki held out her hand, producing a scepter from one of her numerous storage devices. Like many of her others, this one had a blue marble seated atop it, and served as a backup in case of emergencies. ¡°I would like you to take this gem to the void, and tell me what happens with it.¡±


    After she had made her request, she watched as the blue reality marble vanished from the head of her scepter. It¡¯s there. It started pouring out blue liquid for a moment, but that faded instantly. Now, it¡¯s¡­ shining? It¡¯s just staying in ce and shining, and doesn¡¯t seem to have any other discernible change.


    Tsubaki gave a small nod, remembering the small specks of light that she had seen in the void. It was unreasonable for such a ce to have stars, so she had assumed that each ¡®star¡¯ was instead a universe. ¡°Then, if you are able to¡­ please destroy that gem, and tell me what happens with it.¡±


    This time there was a bit of hesitation, either because it was taking a longer time for Leowynn toplete the request, or because she wasn¡¯t sure if she could in the first ce. Tsubaki waited patiently, her eyes closing for roughly ten minutes before she heard Leowynn¡¯s voice again. It¡¯s done. When I destroyed the shell of the world, it stopped glowing, and dissolved into the void.


    Tsubaki nodded her head gravely. ¡°How much strength did it take for you to destroy it, if you don¡¯t mind me asking?¡±


    Tsubaki and Dana had never attempted to destroy one of their own marbles before, though they had theories about how to cause them to self-destruct by feeding back their own energies in a chaotic state. As such, she wasn¡¯t sure just how durable they were.


    The equivalent of two hundred and fifty points in strength, coupled with a fit build. The report surprised Tsubaki. Not because it was a high number. In fact, two hundred and fifty points would take over seven hundred levels as a pure warrior to receive. But nobody had pursued the warrior ss that far. Regardless, there were people with that level of strength in the world, Tsubaki herself included.


    Rather, what surprised her was because of how low the number was. Leowynn only had to use a mortal¡¯s level of strength to destroy a world within the void. Granted, this was a small, artificially created world. But it was still a world! ¡°O-okay.¡± She nodded her head. ¡°Onest thing. Within our testing facility, there is a stable world formation on the seventh floor, marked as ¡®World Thirteen¡¯. Please repeat the previous experiment and destroy the world connected to it.¡±


    This was a dangerous game Tsubaki was ying, and she was fully aware of that. However, it was also very important for her to get her answers. If a mortal¡¯s level of power could destroy an artificial world within the void¡­ what would it take to destroy a naturally generated world like Earth?


    The world that Tsubaki had told Leowynn to practice with was one of their most stable, with very few adjustments made to it. If this world was likewise easy to break, then she had an entirely new threat to worry about.


    I had to use my divinity this time. Leowynn reported a few minutester. This world required energy at the divine level to crack, and I only managed to do it because I am the Goddess of the Void. However, like with the other one, it is dissolving now after I cracked it. The progress this time seems to be a lot slower.


    ¡°How long will it take for the world to be destroyed?¡±


    I¡¯d give it¡­ two weeks. Going by the rate of decay, I think it will hold out for that long. Tsubaki gave a nod of relief after she heard these reports.


    ¡°Thank you, Leowynn. This is a big help to me.¡± She was being perfectly honest. The idea that a void monster could destroy their world was a huge threat to their safety. But, the fact that it hadn¡¯t happened yet meant that there must be special conditions that needed to be met. With Leowynn¡¯s help, Tsubaki had identified some of these conditions.


    First, each world was protected within the void by an innate barrier of light. That was the glow that Leowynn mentioned, as well as the ¡®starlight¡¯ she saw in the void. This barrier would be stronger depending on the stability of the world. However, once the barrier was breached, it only took a small amount of damage in order to set the world on the path of destruction.


    ording to Tsubaki¡¯s theory, this destruction was the energy of the world leaking out and being reimed by the void. Once again, the stability of the world in question determined the rate of the leak. If the reality marble took mere minutes, and the world she created with four pirs is estimated to take two weeks, she could guess that it would take years, maybe even decades for a ¡®true¡¯ world to break down.


    During that time, there would likely be numerous clues, such as energy malfunctioning on a massive scale. It would be easy for anyone with enough knowledge to spot these disastrous signs. So, Tsubaki could confidently say that the Earth would not be attacked in this manner for the foreseeable future.


    However, the void was a higher dimension. Entire universes were no more than mere stars within itsndscape, and she did not know about the strength of the monsters that dwelled there. But any monster that was able to exist within a higher dimension would possess some strange abilities that were not easily defined by lower-dimensional logic.


    Thinking to herself, Tsubaki decided to head back inside. It seemed like she finally had a use for those AI assistants that nk pushed onto her years ago.


    Once I returned to the Admin Room, I ran a quick check through the system to try to identify monsters from the void that might have already broken through to one of my worlds. While the possibility for each storage space being infiltrated was astronomically low, there were a great many of them serving as targets.


    As such, I was not entirely surprised when I found one such monster within the edge of my observable territory in Earth¡¯s universe. The creature vaguely resembled arge hound, barely a meter tall at the shoulders, with long, thin tendrils spreading off its back. Its body appeared as if it had been skinned, bare muscle showing as it ran through space.


    The distance between this creature and the Earth was over a hundred thousand light years, cing it near the edge of the gxy, but such a thing did not exactlyfort me. The speed the beast was moving at was¡­ insane seemed to be too light of a term. Hundreds of light years could be covered in under a minute of it running, and it seemed to be eating everything it passed.


    Comets were erased as it ran by,s and moons left with thin holes dug through them. It only stopped after I had watched it for roughly fifteen minutes. It stood at the event horizon of a ck hole, looking at it greedily. The creature charged forward, directly towards the core of the ck hole, seemingly unphased by its massive gravity.


    That is¡­ until it arrived at the center and took a bit out of the core mass. The ck hole violently erupted, its energy spewing outwards in a hazy blue mass. At first, the hound-shaped beast tried to consume this energy as well, before it found itself unable to properly contain it all. In the end¡­ I gave a silent prayer for the creature for biting off more than it could chew.


    ¡°That can¡¯t be the only one.¡± I muttered to myself, though I did briefly consider another possibility from what I had seen. These creatures existed in a realm that transcended the concept of space as we knew it. A light stroll for them could space thousands of light years. If they did appear in one of my worlds, that world would just seem so incredibly small that they would leave it before realizing what happened.


    That is¡­ for every world except for Fyor. Only there would the beasts be trapped. Without using methods simr to how James traversed between connected areas, a void beast would have no choice but to remain in a cage far too small for it. And if that did happen, how long would it take for the creature to get angry? Would anything be able to survive its wrath?


    At the very least, I knew what to look out for now, and I knew a way to resolve it. Ryone, I¡¯d like you to work on an alternative to the storage enchantments. Instead of creating an independent storage space, look into space expansion. It¡¯s not likely to be as popr, but it makes it harder for outside forces to invade from the void. If you can make it more enticing for the people, feel free to by all means.


    Hmm¡­ I¡¯ll get to work. Sounds like a fun little side project. Her response came back quickly, leaving me relieved that I had her help with the problem.

 Chapter 601: A Second Chance

    <h4>Chapter 601: A Second Chance</h4>


    Within the world of Kione, a lone lycan woman sat atop a high roof overlooking the city. She could see a number of flying vehicles, or individuals being carried by the magic of their familiars. Her own familiar, a golden-armored crab, stood silently behind her, guarding her.


    She was among the first residents of Kione to reach her current stage, just one step short of bing a goddess through her own power. However, she wanted to take a slightly different path than most who had reached her level. A path that could potentially be unique among those practicing the magic of Kione.


    ¡°Kingsa,e over here.¡± She spoke in a quiet voice, holding up her hand. Using the method that she had read about from those who had already ascended, she condensed a small fragment of her divine energy. At the same time, the crab standing behind her began walking over, its legs clicking against the stone roof as it moved.


    When it was in front of her, the woman gave a light toss, sending the fragment of divinity into the mouth of her familiar. This was the method that she hade up with. When other people had ascended, their familiars had remained at the third rank, assuming that they had any to begin with.


    However, weren¡¯t familiars merely manifestations of manabined with spiritual energy? That was the theory that this woman was testing, the path that she sought to pursue. When she had created her divine soul, she had done so both for herself and her familiar, which ultimately turned its silver armor a bright gold. Even when she did that, though, it was not a true evolution.


    This time, she was aiming to truly evolve her familiar, to help it ascend to the fourth tier by way of divinity. Only after she had seen the results of this test would she allow herself to ascend. If it failed, she knew that her spirit would be wounded, and that it would take her some time before she could recover.


    As she saw the golden light fall into the mouth of the crab, she watched with hope, waiting to see what would be of her most trustedpanion. When the golden light of its carapace began to shine more and more brightly, she clenched her fists, hoping that her gamble would pay off.


    She wanted to be a pioneer, and that involved a certain amount of risk. However, such a thing would be unavoidable forever. If nobody took that risk, nobody could reap the rewards, after all.


    Though she continued to watch her Kingsa, she found that its shell was only pulsating with a more holy light. However, this did not cause her any true rm. After all, she could sense that her familiar had fallen unconscious, something that had been reported as amon urrence when one ascended to godhood.


    Deep in her heart, she maintained her hope for a fourth tier familiar, hoping that she had chosen the correct path for her evolution. But, when the minutes turned into hours, she began to suspect something was wrong. Until, eventually, a pair of messages appeared in front of her.


    Congrattions, you have earned an achievement!


    For being the first person to cultivate a Divine Familiar(third tier), you have received the Holier Than Thou achievement! +5 Intelligence, +2% Divine Affinity!


    As you do not currently have your personal domain, your Divine Familiar(third tier) has entered a dormant state.


    Her eyes gave a small, subconscious twitch as she read the messages. It was true¡­ her familiar had really evolved. But it was not to the stage she was hoping for. Instead of bing a fourth tier familiar, it was now a Divine Familiar of the third tier.


    What is a Divine Familiar, anyways? Granted, she could make some assumptions based on the contents of the second message. The fact that it required her to possess her own domain meant that it would no doubt receive additional traits dependent on those domains, or act as a channel for them.


    With a reluctant sigh, she shook her head and began the process for her own ascension, doing her best to hide her own disappointment from the ¡®failure¡¯ of her experiment. At the very least, it had not split her soul.


    A kitsune man in hister years stood atop a mountain of metal corpses, a divine de held in his hands. His eyes radiated golden light as his gaze turned upwards. The starry sky had turned ck, obscured by the shadow of a massive construct hovering over the world of Deckan. His grip on his sword tightened, watching the rain of metallic entities, formed of clumps of machinery that seemed haphazardly fused together.


    Some of these creatures released blinding shes of magic, others wielding the power of ki. If this man were alone, he knew that he would have fallen long ago. However, he wasn¡¯t alone. The God-Queen of Deckan fought alongside him, as did the servants of the Keeper.


    He didn¡¯t know why the Keeper himself did not appear for this fight, but he did not have the time to question that decision. He saw the center of the great shadow above release a blinding white light, and then¡­ nothing.


    You have died.


    After he saw that message, he awoke with a startled gasp, looking around his room. ¡°A dream¡­?¡± He thought to himself as he took in the familiar decorations. Everything he saw seemed so real. And it wasn¡¯t merely a scene from the end¡­ fifty years of his life had passed, all still vivid in his mind.


    ¡°Phisher, are you awake?¡± He heard his mother calling from below, knowing she must have heard him. Going by the time of day, it was likely that she had just prepared breakfast, and it was almost time for him to go to ss.


    ¡°Yeah, mom.¡± He called down, slowly climbing out of bed. He had to find some way to determine if his dream had really just been a dream. With that in mind, he opened his status window and achievements, looking for anything out of the ordinary.


    What he saw made his eyes go wide in shock, his legs starting to tremble. He knew very clearly what his level had been like before he went to bed. His levels as a Schr would not allow him to forget the information of his own status. Yet, what he saw now defied all of that.


    Not only had his normal levels, such as Schr and Engineer, increased. Evenbat sses like Warrior, Monk, and Assassin had received huge leaps in power. Moreover, he had advanced sses that he never possessed before, the Perfect Self, Elemental Monk, and Pilot.


    It took Phisher only a few moments to realize that this had been his status from the end of the dream. The power he possessed at the moment he ¡®died¡¯. When he had confirmed that fact, he quickly looked at his achievements window.


    Sure enough¡­ the God of des achievement had been added to his window. That was the domain that he had painstakingly cultivated over dozens of years, starting with his time as a knight serving under the God-Queen. But how did he have all of that now?


    Phisher knew for a fact that he had not developed any sort of technique that would allow him to sever fate, or cut the flow of time. From his memories of the ¡®dream¡¯, there was nothing that seemed to indicate any power that could send him back in time, even partially. He had not even made personal contact with the Goddess of Fate.


    Still, this knowledge that he possessed must serve a sort of purpose. Closing his eyes, he thought back to the enemy that had destroyed Deckan at the end of his dream. Golems, like the Metong and the March, but of an entirely different breed. Within thest year, they had made their way through the sr system with a massive fleet, devouring one after another.


    The Metong joined the defensive formation around Deckan, their advanced technology and magic proving to be every bit the equal of the invading forces. That is¡­ until the great shadow came. A ship sorge that it was every bit as big as the entire, perhaps evenrger. Through some unknown means, it destroyed the Metong forces as well as the native Deckan fleet.


    From there, it was the inevitablest stand. Gods fell in that battle, killed by the relentless tide of mechanized mobs. Phisher himself didn¡¯t know how many had survived by escaping through the ring, but it would be far less than the number of people that fell.


    Thinking of that, he focused for a brief moment, his clothes changing into something more formal. Despite his body still being that of his teenage self, his mind was that of an elder. ¡°I¡¯ve got to go take care of something, mom. I¡¯ll try to be back a bitter.¡± He called down to his mother, not giving her time to answer.


    A sword appeared in his hand, cutting through the air and opening a portal. When he stepped through the portal, he had already appeared before the God-Queen¡¯s pce. His arrival was easily detected, as he made no attempts to conceal his presence. When the guards saw the weapon in his hand, they gripped their own more tightly, preparing for battle.


    Phisher let out a faint sigh when he saw this, but knew that he couldn¡¯t fight them. Doing so would only create more trouble for himselfter. He had been tempted to seek out the Sky Citadel instead, but his memory did not include the current whereabouts for the traveling fortress of the Keeper.


    Lady Udona, Goddess of Life and protector of the world. He prayed in his mind, knowing that this was the easiest method to attract her attention. Phisher had thought about what words he would use beforeing here, and chose them carefully based on his past experiences. I request an audience to discuss the third race of golems.


    After his prayer, golden light began to shine around the pce, attracting the attention of the guards. It was hard to tell for them if the God-Queen had released this light as a warning or a sign of wee. You are¡­ a newly ascended god. But your name isn¡¯t in the registry. May I ask how you used your divinity without being suppressed?


    Phisher gave a bitter smile at that, recalling the Divine Registry and the annoyance it had initially caused when he first began his path of ascension. It is an ability I cultivated long ago. The power to cut through restrictions. The registry won¡¯t have an effect on me unless I suppress this power.


    I see¡­ we have much to discuss, it would appear. The light pulsed around the pce, and the guards blinked, seeming to receive a message in their minds. Their postures rxed, and they stepped back to make way for Phisher to enter the pce.


    As he walked in, he allowed his divine de to disperse into countless specks of light, maintaining a formal posture that didn¡¯t match his apparent age. Upon entering the audience chamber that Udona guided him towards, he saw that she wasn¡¯t alone. Standing next to her was James, a researcher that had joined in the final battle.


    Phisher couldn¡¯t be sure of what happened to James in the end, and only knew that he had been enraged by the enemy for killing someone he cared about. He might have perished in the same st that killed Phisher, or he may have survived the battle through some special means.


    However, James had a peculiar look on his face when he saw Phisher. There was no recognition, but rather curiosity. ¡°You¡¯re older than you look.¡± He said, rather inly. ¡°But it¡¯s not a disguise¡­¡±


    Phisher simply shook his head, directing his attention towards the God-Queen before dropping to one knee. ¡°Lady Udona. If the matter this time were not dire, I would not have appeared in this way. I hope that you can excuse my rudeness.¡±


    To his surprise, Udona returned his words with a smile. ¡°It¡¯s refreshing to see something like this. But please, speak your mind. I did not think that any of this world would know of the third golem race yet.¡±


    Phisher was not too surprised that Udona knew of these creatures. As the Goddess of Life, all races were under her care in one way or another. ¡°I had a dream, Your Highness. A dream of fifty years, starting this day. However¡­ when I awoke from my dream after my own death, I found that I had retained all of my power. Such a thing,bined with the vivid detail of the dream itself, leads me to believe that it was more than just a simple dream.¡±


    A look of realization dawned upon James as he seemed to understand what happened. ¡°We have an anomaly¡­ a rather rare one at that.¡±

 Chapter 602: The Workings of Fate

    <h4>Chapter 602: The Workings of Fate</h4>


    Udona¡¯s eye twitched as she listened to James¡¯ words. However, she had an image to keep, so she couldn¡¯t outright ask him in front of their current guest. Instead, she had to resort to contacting him mentally. Uhm¡­ what is he exactly, then? You seem like you know things¡­


    James nced towards the goddess sitting in her throne, offering a small nod. It¡¯s the fate system. Any Keeper that has a god or goddess rted to fate, time, prediction, or anything of that sort will have a fate system working in the background.


    This fate system is essentially a predictive algorithm running the entire universe over endless possibilities, each as usible as the next. In one future, you could fall in love with a mortal, and in another that mortal may be killed by bandits before meeting you.


    However, this fate system is not entirely standalone. Any creature who dreams has the potential to connect to it on some level. Once they awaken, this dream of the future isrgely forgotten, repressed into the farthest reaches of the mind. That is where the feeling of deja vues from, because you dreamed of a situation happening before when you connected to the fate system.


    Now, this in itself is actuallymon. Most people will connect to the fate system hundreds of times over their lifespan, and then quickly forget about it. Back when I was a Keeper, a friend of mine told me about a very rare kind of anomaly he encountered in his game system world. A person who dreamed of the fate system retaining not only the full knowledge of what he dreamed, but also the power he obtained in it.


    Udona furrowed her brow, thinking it over. She knew what kinds of anomalies had presented themselves in the world. They were living glitches created by mutations in the natural systems. With that in mind, this exnation wasn¡¯t impossible. So¡­ any time this man connects to the fate system in his dreams from now on, he will get years worth of training and potential future information?


    That¡¯s entirely possible. James confirmed her concerns right away. This could be a one-time thing, or something that he will live with for the rest of his life. However, I can say that the future he saw is by no means set in stone. There are certain factors that the fate system cannot take into ount. The primary example of this is the behavior of the Keeper, and any changes they make to the system.


    ¡°I see¡­¡± Udona muttered, finally speaking aloud in front of Phisher. ¡°Young man, please, tell me what you have seen in your dream that caused you such distress. You mentioned the third race of golems.¡±


    Phisher nodded his head, gazing up at the God-Queen. ¡°Your Highness, do you wish for me to summarize the events, or present them in greater detail?¡±


    To this, Udona simply smiled. ¡°This is your dream we are discussing. Of course it is up to you to choose the method in which you ry it.¡±


    The young man considered that, before giving another nod. ¡°Then I would invoke the power of the God-Queen. Please bestow upon me the strength to enlighten others. And by the power of the Goddess of Stories, please grant me the medium by which to release this tale.¡±


    Although he was saying that, Udona could feel a tug on her own divinity. The man before her was clearly a priest of significant levels to call upon such force, and a priest that specifically served her, at that. She did not feel a direct connection to Phisher¡¯s divinity, so it could be seen that he was not a subordinate god, but he was still a very devout follower of both herself and Terra.


    Phisher held out his hand, causing golden light to flutter around in his palm. Slowly, piece by piece, a book began to take shape in his hand. On the cover of the book were the twin markings of Udona and Terra. Although Udona knew she had never created this ritual with Terra, she could make out several details from sensing it.


    First of all, thebination ritual he had invoked guaranteed that everything would be true from his perspective. Udona was a bit surprised to find such a ritual not having Irena¡¯s seal on it as well. However, now that she had seen it herself, she was already drawing up a way to improve it by including the daeva goddess.


    This ritual won¡¯tst for long. James informed her from the side. His divinity is still attuned to be able to perform it, and is gradually shifting to conform with the current divinews. From what I can feel, this type of ritual will be entirely unusable again in a few hours.


    Udona gave a small nod, holding her hand out. The book lifted up from Phisher¡¯s hand and floated over to her own. Then, cing her hand upon the book, she closed her eyes and focused. In her mind, she could see the dream ying out.


    Although Phisher chose to give her the entire dream, there were still parts of it that were hazy. Fifty years of memories were impossible to perfectly preserve, even with his Schr levels. Figures were vague and hazy at times, seeming to leave shadows of their figures behind themselves as they moved.


    Only the truly important events were crisp and clear. Phisher¡¯s first love, the first time he visited another world. The time he trained with his teacher to master the sword. And finally¡­ the day that the golems invaded.


    Naturally, she saw how he had been one of her Holy Knights, an organization that Udona formed from twelve mortal gods that ascended in theing years. They were her helpers with everything from fighting to diplomatic negotiations.


    Once she had finished watching the fifty years worth of memories ying out in her mind, Udona nodded her head. The book had fulfilled its purpose, and was already beginning to fade into nothing within her hand. With a shake of her wrist, she caused the book to shatter into crumbling sheets of paper that disintegrated before hitting the floor.


    ¡°I see. That¡¯s quite the future. Might I ask what it is you are hoping to achieve by bringing this to me?¡± This was the big question. Was he hoping to regain his former title and glory? Given his life in the dream, he may well feel as if it was deserved.


    ¡°I merely wished to bring the future cmity to your attention, Your Highness.¡± Phisher spoke in a sincere tone, one which seemed to surprise the Goddess. ¡°Having experienced the destruction of this world once, I could not find it in myself to allow such a thing to happen again when I had the power to warn you.¡±


    A smile tugged at Udona¡¯s lips, and she leaned forward in her seat. ¡°Very good. However, I must exin something to you. The future you saw is only one of an infinite number of possibilities. In fact, you could say that it is wholly impossible for it to y out in the way you saw. In order for the possibility to emerge, the Keeper must not interfere for the next fifty years.¡±


    ¡°Now¡­ there is the chance that this event may repeat itself, and you will see another such dream in the future. I can¡¯t guarantee that it will happen, but at the same time I can¡¯t rule it out either. I merely ask you to keep in mind that these futures will not be able to trulye to pass, unless it is something of a smaller scale.¡±


    Phisher¡¯s eyes went wide as he heard that, but he also let out a small sigh. ¡°That¡¯s a relief, Your Highness. If such a future can be avoided¡­ I cannot count the number of lives which could be saved.¡±


    Udona nodded her head again. ¡°Perfectly correct. Now, if that is all, I believe your mother is worried about you, young man.¡± Her smile turned somewhat more yful when she said that. ¡°I¡¯ll send a messenger for youter.¡±


    Hearing her words caused a soft smile to emerge on Phisher¡¯s lips. Naturally, one of the lives that had been lost in those fifty years of memories was his own mother. Seeing her again was a wonderful surprise to him. If not for feeling it his duty to report to the God-Queen as soon as possible, he would have no doubt spent more time at home.


    ¡°As you say, Your Highness.¡± He nodded, slowly standing up. A golden de of light formed in his hand, which he shed to the side in order to create a portal in the air. After a polite bow, he turned and stepped through the portal, vanishing from the pce.


    ¡°Well¡­ I must say I am pleasantly surprised.¡± James said with a small grin, ncing towards the seated goddess. ¡°When you called me here as an advisor, I thought it was going to be more tax documents. But for a fate anomaly¡­ I think I found a new subject for my research.¡±


    Udona let out a faint groan. ¡°What, are you going to look into how to ess the fate system at will? Seeing the future¡­ that could be quite the interesting business.¡±


    Surprisingly, James shook his head. ¡°That would be a failed business from the start. Even if I came up with the technology¡­ the future is constantly changing within the infinite possibilities. I would never be able to see the ¡®true¡¯ future more than ten seconds ahead. No¡­ I¡¯m more curious about the ability to draw power from the system like that young man did.¡±


    Udona blinked curiously, ncing over towards the dark-skinned human. ¡°Is it possible to replicate an anomaly like that?¡±


    ¡°Anything is possible if you try.¡± James said with a shrug of his shoulders. ¡°I¡¯ll study him discreetly, and try to figure out how the system energy is warped around him to allow the ess. However, direct maniption of that energy is beyond my current purview. I can only do my best to mimic the conditions.¡±


    ¡°How likely is it to work?¡± Udona asked, growing more interested in the idea. Being able to tap into the fate system for training like this¡­ it could produce a lifetime¡¯s worth of training overnight! Who wouldn¡¯t want such a wonderful resource?


    ¡°Less than one percent.¡± James answered, grinning towards Udona as she almost fell out of her throne. ¡°Like I said, I can¡¯t manipte the system energy itself. I¡¯m still not even considered a part of the system yet. I¡¯ll need to have Chel act on my behalf while I research, and that will reduce the efficiency of the work. Even then, one percent might be a high estimate¡­¡±


    ¡°You got me so worked up for something that isn¡¯t even likely to work.¡± She shook her head with a faint groan, bringing a hand up to massage her forehead. ¡°You can give it a shot. But, be sure not to do any invasive tests. I need my knight in one piece.¡±


    James blinked slightly at that, somewhat taken aback. ¡°Your knight, ma¡¯am?¡±


    Udona hummed lightly, nodding and looking out towards the city. ¡°It¡¯s not a bad idea, creating an organization like that. I could always use a few reliable hands around here.¡±


    ¡°¡­It¡¯s to help you with the paperwork, isn¡¯t it?¡± His tone was exasperated as he asked that, already turning to walk for the exit.


    ¡°It¡¯s for other things, too!¡± Her retort echoed after him through the walls, but she couldn¡¯t refute his words. Bing a queen was¡­ a lot of paperwork, even for a queen such as herself. In fact, if she had to guess, there was more paperwork for her than there had been for any queen she had watched over in the past.


    Are those guys no longer trying to embezzle now that I¡¯m in charge? She thought to herself, shivering as she remembered herst round of tax reports. She knew that hiring a group of powerful assistants would be the easiest way to relieve herself of some of her burdens. I miss watching movies all the time¡­

 Chapter 603: A Glimpse of Paradise

    <h4>Chapter 603: A Glimpse of Paradise</h4>


    High above the Underworld, in what the inhabitants had named the Celestial Pce, over a thousand souls resided within the gilded halls. However, these thousand were in fact too few. Over the course of the pce¡¯s history, more than five times that number had earned the merit required to arrive at the pce.


    Five thousand souls out of the hundreds of billions that Irena watched over¡­ only those five thousand had ever earned the overwhelming karma needed to be admitted into the Celestial Pce. Yet only a thousand remained to this day, creating the almost empty feeling within the heavenly abode.


    Thane Lorient walked the halls with a solemn expression, thinking about the reason why so many had fallen from the pce. Yes, fallen, not descended. While the option to descend did exist, none had truly taken it. And why would they?


    This ce was a paradise, one where every need or want could be provided. Servants created by the pce itself flocked to do the bidding of those within, and served only the finest of spiritual cuisine. So what was it that made four fifths of the historic ¡®saints¡¯ fall from grace?


    It could be said that it was those saints themselves who caused their falls, or rather the nature of the lives they had led before arriving in the pce. Most golden souls earned their karma after personally experiencing the life of those less fortunate. Men and women from the slums, who struggled for a single piece of bread, only to take this food to feed their children or elderly neighbors. Others were heroes that defeated countless evils in the name of protecting those people.


    For these people¡­ arriving within the Celestial Pce was both a blessing and a curse. For those unfortunate souls who earned their karma by understanding the lives of the poor, they found wealth andfort beyond imagining. For those heroes who yearned to battle evil, they found a glittering paradise without corruption.


    Thane had seen many souls falling due to this. Those drunk on their newfound wealth who began to mistreat the pce¡¯s servants. The warriors sitting in stagnation desperate for a fight, challenging one another time and again.


    Karma was a fickle thing. Simply because they had arrived at the pce did not mean that their stay was guaranteed. As they became more arrogant, more violent, their karma was reflected on their residence. The golden walls became dimmer and dimmer, losing their luster by the day. And once it had fallen too low, once the saint had be a sinner, they simply vanished from the pce.


    Thane had asked the servants of the Celestial Pce what happened to these people, concerned for their well-being. In doing so, he learned that those fallen from the pce were reduced to nothing but amon soul, awaiting the day that they are reborn. In a way, this allowed him to feel relief. The souls had not been condemned for falling from grace, but merely ejected from the pce.


    However, things were not so kind. Through the servants of the pce, Thane kept a close eye on some of the souls that had been ejected in this manner. After tasting paradise, they could not simply return to a life of hardship. These souls began to prey on those weaker than themselves, either throughbat or maniption, ruing more and more negative karma.


    From the four thousand souls that had been ejected over time, over five hundred had already fallen to the ck chains. And that was when Thane truly noticed something strange. A fact of the pce that he had not previously been aware of.


    The Celestial Pce did not simply create its servants from nowhere. Each servant was the visage of a sinner suffering eternal torment from the ursed chains. Every time someone he watched fell to the chains, he would soon find an exact copy of them appearing within the pce once again.


    Unfortunately, these servants were only created in the image of the sinners, and did not hold either their personalities or their memories. A fact Thane was made fully aware of as he watched a human woman walk down the halls towards him.


    Like every servant of the pce, she was dressed in golden silk, her delicate frame outlined without a single wrinkle. Her smile was as radiant as the sun, her eyes the same gold as her dress. When she appeared before Thane, she stopped and offered him that gentle, stunning smile. ¡°Master Lorient. Is there anything I can help you with today?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing for the moment, Julian.¡± Thane spoke with a sullen sigh, remembering the woman for who she used to be. Julian Sykes, a priestess who devoted her life to serving the poor and disabled. While she was alive, she had hardly given any care to her own safety, trusting herself to the goddess Bihena.


    After she died, and was granted ess to the pce, she found that there was nobody left to help. Unsure what to do with herself, she gradually began to see this as the reward that the greater pantheon had bestowed her. Instead of her helping others, she thought that they wanted it to be her turn to have others tend to her.


    This change was not a fast one, urring over a number of years. In that time, she and Thane had even entered a rtionship themselves. Which made it all the more painful when he watched her be more and more self-serving, to the point where she began to find faults in everything that others did. After finding faults, she would scold them


    After scolding came abuse, both of the servants and Thane himself when he tried to stop her. That was when she fell, and thest time he had seen her in person, before she was taken by the ck chains. Even now, this wasn¡¯t truly Julian, and he knew this. She did not even have a name, really. He had merely asked her to allow him to call her that. As a resident of the pce, it was within his authority to assign names to the servants if he wished.


    Of course, if someone else wished to name Julian as well, she would then have two different names, one for each person. No one resident carried more value than another within the pce.


    ¡°I see.¡± Julian nodded her head gently. ¡°Well, if you need anything, feel free to call me. I have already prepared your normal viewing channels within your room.¡±


    When he heard that, Thane hesitated. ¡°Actually¡­ would you mind walking with me, Julian? I would like someone to talk to.¡±


    Julian blinked her golden eyes, but responded with another nod. ¡°Certainly, Master Lorient. Are you sure you wish to talk with someone like me, or shall I call another resident for you?¡± Perhaps one of the saddest things was that the servants were entirely aware of their own status, and fully epted it. Sometimes, Thane wished that he could ask Julian to pretend to be a resident again, but that was one of the few orders that they could not follow.


    ¡°No¡­ I think you would be the best partner for this conversation, Julian.¡± Thane smiled softly to her, gesturing for her to walk alongside him as he continued down the hall. This hallway was a rather special structure. A sort of therapeutic room for one to wander aimlessly. No matter how long you walked or how many turns you took, you would never reach an end. Only by turning around could you find the exit.


    ¡°If you wish, Master Lorient.¡± Julian turned, and began to walk with him. ¡°What is it you would like to talk about?¡±


    ¡°First¡­ for this conversation, could you please speak casually with me?¡± It was impossible to request such a change of address to be permanent, as that was one of the ¡®rules¡¯ of the pce. As soon as Julian left his side, she would return to calling him ¡®Master Lorient¡¯ the next time they met. But, for a single conversation, it was possible to request this.


    ¡°Of course, Thane.¡± Julian spoke in a tone that immediately reminded him of when she had truly walked these halls with him. Her tone had lost most of its servility, taking on the soft and caring voice that he had fallen in love with. ¡°What is troubling you?¡±


    ¡°In a way¡­ you are.¡± He admitted, earning a curious look from the woman.


    ¡°Have I done anything wrong? I hope I haven¡¯t hurt you by mistake¡­¡± It was clear that she was worried, and Thane understood this point as well. This was a natural result of the pce servants striving to make the afterlives of residents easier.


    ¡°No, no, it¡¯s nothing like that, don¡¯t worry.¡± He reached out to pat her shoulder as he gave his assurance. ¡°I mean more the entire system. Julian¡­ how many residents are currently living in the pce?¡±


    ¡°Nine hundred and seventy-eight, Thane.¡± When she reported the number with a smile, Thane couldn¡¯t help but purse his lips into a tight line.


    ¡°Another one fell today?¡±


    ¡°Yesterday. Delora Packer entered a blood frenzy while sparring with an instructor provided by the pce.¡± Julian looked down at the floor when she reported that, clearly saddened by the loss of the resident.


    ¡°And¡­ how many of these people have been in the pce for more than twenty years?¡±


    ¡°Counting yourself, Thane?¡± Julian lifted her head to look into his eyes. ¡°One hundred and five.¡±


    ¡°That is the basis for my worry, Julian. These numbers show a fact that I would hardly have epted when I first arrived here. Out of nearly five thousand souls that have entered paradise, only two percent have been able to adjust to life here.¡±


    Thane continued to speak in a manner as if he was lecturing a young intern. As he had once run argepany, this was amon method for him to teach others. ¡°It¡¯s a fact that there are more people who fall to the ck chains after leaving the pce than there are people that sessfully remain. We can both agree on this, yes?¡±


    Julian thought about it for a moment, nodding her head. With a smile, Thane exined. ¡°I think that we should set up an internal system within the pce. But my authority alone is not enough to enact this change, so I can only suggest it to the pce itself, through you.¡±


    Julian blinked in confusion, offering another nod. ¡°If you believe that a change is necessary, you may suggest it. After it has been reviewed, we will poll the opinions of the other residents to determine whether it is something that will be epted by everyone as a whole.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s all I want, Julian. I do not necessarily want a way to exchange karma with the pce to provide the goods that you offer freely. That would defeat the point of this ce, once karma bes a currency. Instead, I would like measures to be taken to alter the treatment of servants towards the residents based on their current karma standings.¡±


    ¡°Those who have a spotless record can naturally enjoy the full benefits that we are now given. They will be those at the top of paradise. But, as people sumb to their own desires and sin, the servants should grow more distant. You may still serve them, but do so while reminding them of the potential oue that awaits them if they continue to fall.¡±


    ¡°If you handle it this way, the people that do still fall will have been mentally prepared for life among the masses again. There will be many that still will not ept such a fate¡­ but it should lessen the number that again fall to the ck chains.¡±


    Julian listened to his suggestion, mentally noting it down word for word. After he had finished, they walked in silence for several minutes. ¡°Thane¡­ I¡¯ve finished polling the other residents. Your n only has a sixty-five percent approval rating. If¡­ if you are truly determined to push this change through, it is possible. But any change with less than a ny-percent approval will incur an additional cost.¡±


    Thane was prepared to pay a price for this n, and so he nodded as if it were simply natural. ¡°What is the cost, Julian?¡±


    ¡°Heroic Descent.¡± Her voice became small and sad as she spoke. ¡°You will leave the pce and descend upon the world in a ce of your choosing, to live out a natural life. As this is a Heroic Descent as opposed to a normal rebirth, we will not take away any of your memories or experiences. However¡­ your karma will be wiped.¡±


    ¡°If you truly want this change to ur, this cost will also be your trial. When you eventually die, if your karma has risen to the point where you can be epted back within the pce, the rules of the pce will be changed per your request.¡±


    Thane thought about this cost, finding it quite surprising. ¡°I wasn¡¯t aware that there could be deals like that. May I ask¡­ what are the thresholds for approval ratings and their costs?¡±


    Julian looked up, giving him a small smile. ¡°Are you hoping to negotiate with the other residents to increase the approval rating for a more eptable cost?¡±


    However, to her surprise, Thane shook his head. ¡°No, I fully intend to ept the cost as you¡¯ve stated it, unless I am just shy of a better deal.¡±


    Julian blinked in surprise at that, before beginning to exin. ¡°Well¡­ the smallest cost is a reduction of karma, making your stay within the pce more likely to be terminated. Beneath eighty-percent approval, the cost is to allow yourself to be cast out of the pce. However, at this stage the change will be immediately enacted, without requiring a trial.¡±


    ¡°Beneath seventy-percent is the trial that you have been given. It is meant to show that only those who can prove themselves worthy of making this request can enact a change. Beneath sixty percent is another trial, much like the one I gave you, but with your memories reset.¡±


    ¡°And finally¡­ between fifty-five and forty-five percent is the final threshold. To push a change at this level, one must be willing to condemn themselves to the ck chains for a hundred years before re-entering the cycle of souls. If they agree to those terms, a new poll will be provided to the residents, with this stiption included. As long as the approval rating exceeds fifty percent in the second poll, the resident will be sent to the chains while the change is enacted in the pce.¡±


    Thane thought about that, smiling slightly. ¡°I see. So, the residents do have some way to influence the functions of the pce. Then¡­ can one of these requests be to free a certain individual from the chains?¡±


    Seeing how Thane was looking pointedly at Julian, she had the decency to blush, knowing that he meant the original owner of her form. ¡°It is possible. They will be allowed to make a case for this person, and it wille to a poll again. However, even if a person is freed from the chains, they will not be permitted entry into the pce without the right amount of karma.¡±


    ¡°I never expected they would be.¡± Thane said with a resigned sigh, stopping his steps to turn and fully face Julian. ¡°I would like to ept the terms you¡¯ve given me, Julian. If I may be so bold, I would like my emergence point to be the pce of the human kingdom, Hanbei. Using the wealth of knowledge I have developed over my life, I would devote myself to ensuring a safer environment for those under the rule of its queen.¡±


    ¡°You know that you cannot seek to ascend and be a god if you do this, right?¡± Julian asked once again, a tone of worry in her voice. ¡°If you do that, your soul will be removed from the cycle, and no longer permitted to return. You must live and die as an imperfect mortal.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± Thane nodded his head, agreeing readily as he felt a golden light slowly enveloping his body. ¡°And Julian¡­ if I manage to see you again, I hope you¡¯ll still let me call you by name.¡±


    Julian¡¯s eyes went somewhat wide at that, watching him vanish. Then, after he was gone, she assumed a more gentle smile. ¡°Always, my Thane.¡±


    Julian closed her eyes, wiping a tear from her cheeks as she connected with the citadel. Thane has left, as per his deal.


    Instead of a single, authoritative voice, she was met with hundreds of consoling tones, each another servant within the pce.


    I¡¯m sorry, Julian. I know you liked him.


    He¡¯s really brave, even giving up paradise to stop more cases like us.


    Brave? He should have spent that time with Julian.


    You know we can¡¯t do that. Don¡¯t worry, Julian, he¡¯ll be back eventually.


    Trust him. He has been here longer than almost everyone. If anyone can make it back, it will be him.


    Thane¡¯s research wasn¡¯t entirely urate. Or rather, it should be said that there was information hidden from him. Hidden from everyone, to ensure the sanctity of paradise. The servants, the Caretakers, were more than simply the visage of sinners. Their souls were cleansed by the ck chains, their evils removed before being brought back to the Realm of Eternity.


    However, their actions were limited in the presence of residents. They must obey any resident¡¯s requests, as long as it did not vite the rules of the Celestial Pce. They must not reveal their past memories, in case the memories of one who fell to the deepest sin may cause the fall of others. They could only truly share their voice with others like themselves, other souls that had been cleansed by the ck chains.


    Of course, that is not to say that they were not punished. Even now, when she walked the halls of the Celestial Pce, Julian could feel her every limb pierced by burning chains. Her body was constantly being broken and repaired in a faraway ce, the eternal punishment persisting in the back of her mind. This served to constantly cleanse her mind of any wicked desires that could appear.


    Thank you, everyone. I know that I¡¯ll meet him again, eventually. My Thane is truly a special soul, and we have all the time in the world to wait¡­

 Chapter 604: One Nation

    <h4>Chapter 604: One Nation</h4>


    Unaware of what had transpired after he had left the Celestial Pce, Thane appeared within yet another pce. As per his request, this was the pce of the queen of Hanbei, Yuki Saruko. His arrival was apanied by a burst of golden light, a spiritual fog spreading around his body.


    Naturally, the guards of the pce would not take kindly to an intruder appearing suddenly in front of them. Before he could utter a word, he was locked down on by many different waves of ki, each more powerful than himself. While he was indeed someone ssified as a ¡®saint¡¯ in his past life, that did not make him powerful.


    Even when he was alive, he was only considered mediocre in terms of strength. Now, as time had passed and the strength of the world rose even further, it was no wonder that the pce guards were far superior to him in power.


    However, none of that mattered to him. He could feel his hands, his feet, his shaking legs. These were no longer merely spiritual forms that he created, but rather a true body of flesh and blood. That was enough to bolster his courage, circting his ki to briefly resist the pressure and call out.


    ¡°My name is Thane Lorient!¡± He shouted, knowing that the queen of this country would be familiar with him. He had chosen this ce for a number of reasons. First and foremost was the hardships that its people were suffering through, but also because he had been watching them, wanting to see how they would treat their people.


    While the queen had been unable to properly help them in the way that they needed, he saw hermenting in private about himself, wishing to have someone like him at her side. ¡°I have returned from the Celestial Pce, the Realm of Eternity, through the method of Heroic Descent!¡±


    There was a pulse of energy that spread through the throne room, and Thane felt himself able to stand on his own two feet without difficulty only a momentter. Straightening his back, he saw the blue-robed queen in all her glory.


    Yuki was a woman that appeared cold on the outside, but that was merely a guise to give her people a sense of assurance. He knew that beneath her icy exterior, she was nervous, always wondering if she was doing the right thing. Asking herself if there was more that she could do for her people. She remained the strongest figure in the country, shouldering its defense against foreign powers and disasters with the weight of her name and the strength of her fist.


    She was a martyr, through and through. And she saw nothing wrong with this decision, only that she wasn¡¯t able to help more people.


    ¡°You im to be Sir Lorient?¡± The queen asked, staring down at him from her throne, to which he nodded his head. ¡°I assume you have some measure of proof to back this im?¡±


    ¡°Call your inquisitor.¡± Thane dered boldly. ¡°I will swear by my words in no uncertain terms. I have been watching this kingdom for over twenty years from the Celestial Pce. Ever since you took the throne, I have had my eye on this ce. Bring forward any means you wish to verify my identity.¡±


    There was a murmur through the guards, some asking who he was while others muttering how such a thing should not be possible. However, all of these voices were silenced with a raising of the queen¡¯s hand. ¡°I have merely one question. If you can answer it properly, I will consider you to be speaking the truth. If you cannot, I will have you return to wherever it is that you came from by force.¡±


    Thane gave a firm nod, preparing for her question. She took only a moment to think of what she wanted to ask. ¡°When you were contacted by my mother, who sought to form a friendly rtionship with yourpany, why did you refuse?¡±


    Thane smiled at that, having expected something of the sort. ¡°Because the rtionship she sought with me was not truly as friendly as others believed. Her goal was to acquire mypany through the guise of friendship, and attempted to manipte me into joining her in her bed.¡±


    ¡°If you know of me, you know that I left behind no heirs in life. She ¡®kindly offered¡¯ to provide me one, saying that there would be many things that we could do for one another if we worked together. I pride myself on being able to judge a person¡¯s character, and I knew that she did not wish for mypany to stand in the way of her ambitions. Ambitions that I am d to say were not passed down to her daughter.¡±


    Yuki hesitated when she heard that, it not being the answer she expected. When she heard the story from her mother, she was simply told that he had disgraced her and said that she did not ay him enough to form the rtionship. A ratherughable joke when one considers the nature of the two individuals.


    One was the queen of a human nation, and the other¡­ Yuki knew that Thane was truly a businessman, but one of the extremely rare forthright ones. Hispany had the potential to lead the field of alchemy, being far ahead of its time. But, instead of developing new potions or growing new medical herbs, he went in a different direction.


    Thane turned his research not into creating better and better medicine, but in simplifying what was already there. He aimed to provide the best care at the cheapest cost. For years, he dominated the market simply because he was able to provide potions at a fraction of the cost of anyone else.


    When otherpanies began to demand that he raise his prices in an attempt to bully him, he did what any research institute would have found unthinkable. He published the exact form he used for his potions freely on the inte. Once he did that, the otherpanies could no longer try to push him around in an attempt to extract the form for their own profit. Everyone had equal im to that potion¡­ but it was by no means the end.


    After he had stunned the market once, he quickly did so again. This time, it was a replica of one of the potions provided by Cicily of Learning. This recipe was so hard for others to reproduce because it required specific nts grown by the sylvans themselves. At least, until Thane cracked the form and modified it to produce the same results with moremonly avable materials.


    This potion was one to help pregnant women sessfully give birth to a child, regardless of the strength of their physical bodies. Previously, there was a higher risk of failure the stronger the body of the mother, due to the child¡¯s own body not being able to cope with the pressure during birth. When Thane created this potion and released it to the public, it triggered another uproar.


    However¡­ once again, he freely released his form. He did not try to hoard the materials for it for himself in advance to inte the prices. He even personally went to hospitals in various countries to deliver free batches. Through his efforts, tens of millions of children had been born that would have otherwise never had the chance to experience the world.


    But this was not why Yuki¡¯s mom had sought after him so strongly. While it may have very well earned him his overflowing karma to help so many, it was not the political strength she wanted. Rather, that was his ability to n around numerous contingencies, to take one look at a person and understand them. He was indeed a maniptor, always saying exactly what he needed to say to get the other person to y ording to his script.


    Thinking about that, and how her mother still praised him despite his refusal of her offer, Yuki gave a small sigh. ¡°That does sound like her.¡± Although she said that, she did intend to run smaller testster, when she believed he would not expect it.


    ¡°Well then, Sir Lorient. What is it that you came here to do?¡± Her curiosity was natural. There had never been a report of this ¡®Heroic Descent¡¯ urring to her knowledge, so she did not know of his purpose here. Clearly, he had not arrived as a warrior, for any of her guards could easily suppress him.


    ¡°I¡¯vee to answer your prayers, Your Highness.¡± Thane answered, offering a bow. In order toplete his goal, he would employ all the means at his disposal.


    Yuki thought about his words for a moment, before she blinked in realization. ¡°Follow me.¡± She spoke abruptly, rising from her throne. One of the guards moved to follow her, but she stopped him with a re.


    Nodding his head, Thane followed her without question. He knew fully well that he could do nothing against her in a frontal assault, even if he did have such motives. And likely, she knew it as well. She was merely attempting to move the conversation to a more private venue, where she would feel more free to speak and in control of the situation.


    She would certainly be more free to speak her mind in a private audience, but¡­ Thane knew that she would not truly control the situation. As soon as he heard from Julian about this arrangement, he had been formting ns in his mind.


    Soon, the two of them arrived in a private meeting room, containing only a long table surrounded by a number of chairs. He could sense the fluctuations of magic and ki alike from the room, and did not doubt that it had a number of protective enchantments that would prevent either of them from attacking the other.


    Moving over, Yuki was the first to sit at the table, with Thane moving to sit at the opposite side from her. He did this to showcase their current positions, creating a feeling of distance between them while also making Yuki want to close that distance.


    ¡°Why you¡­ why now?¡± She asked, seeing that they were alone, and she was free to speak without the scrutiny of her guards and advisors.


    ¡°I shall be honest with you, Your Highness. I am well aware that there is a truth-detection spell over these chambers, and that you will feel a pulse whenever someone within this room lies, courtesy of the silver bangle you wear on your wrist.¡±


    Yuki flinched slightly at those words, one hand moving instinctively to hide her wrist. But Thane simply continued. ¡°I have my own goals. I feel that the situation within the Celestial Pce is not ideal. But, in order for me to enact the change that I want there, I have to prove myself. From now until the day I die, I must once again rue enough karmic merit to earn my way through its gates again.¡±


    ¡°In order to do that, I could take any number of paths, from starting mypany back up to sharing secrets that I learned from beyond the veil of death. The path that I chose was to find apany ruled by a caring soul, yet was burdened by such hardship due to the misguided nature of that very soul.¡±


    Yuki froze when she heard that, her face bing cold once again. ¡°You say that I am causing trouble for my country by being caring?¡±


    ¡°Not at all.¡± Thane smiled amiably. ¡°I am simply saying that you are doing things the wrong way. You seek to stand alone at the highest summit, beneath only the gods and the Keeper. You charge into battle and defeat whatever monster appears, and vanish without ever asking for a word of praise. These are truly admirable qualities.¡±


    Yuki started to rx again, before Thane continued, causing her to stiffen once more. ¡°But they are also foolish. By isting yourself like you have, you do not hear the hearts of your people. By swiftly leaving after a battle, you abandon your people to the rigors that remain. The gue, the destruction of their homes, while you charge off to fight your next battle.¡±


    ¡°The domain that has begun to form in your heart, the one which you thought so highly of and wanted to strive for in your own ascension¡­ the domain of Sacrifice. What you are sacrificing in your actions is not yourself, but those around you. That is why I chose toe here.¡±


    ¡°A ruler must not stand alone. They must be seen among their people. A ruler is one whoughs the loudest, fights the hardest, and embodies all of the hope of their nation. A ruler trusts their people, guides them, and raises them into a force that could stand with them in any situation. The nation must serve its ruler, and in doing so the ruler quietly sows the seed of ambition into the hearts of their people.¡±


    ¡°Yes, grow, be strong. Be as strong as I am, and you could live as I live. You could be as happy as I am. Anyone could, with the right effort. I am not unique. Through that message, people will cast aside their own self-doubts and strive for something greater. To stand on the same stage as you. When you have reached that point¡­ you willmand the most powerful nation in the world. In any world, for that matter.¡±


    As Thane spoke, he could see Yuki shaking, his words hitting her harder than any physical strike. This was why Thane had chosen toe here, to teach Yuki how to truly protect her people without giving up her gentle nature.

 Chapter 605: The Next Plan

    <h4>Chapter 605: The Next n</h4>


    I raised a brow as I watched the man from the Realm of Eternity talking to the queen of a nation. However, the discussion between them, as well as my own personal research, helped me shed some light on how the karma system worked. Contrary to my original opinion, it had nothing to do with one¡¯s personality or motives.


    In my mind, the number of people within the pce did indeed seem to be too low, given the sheer number of people in my domain. No matter how strict the requirements were to get in, there should have been at least a million souls to make it by this point in time. This thought process revealed to me that the people who made it into the pce were not selfless saints. By many standards, there were better people than them that failed to get in.


    Through my searching, I learned that karma functioned on a simple principle that had nothing to do with someone¡¯s personal motives. It was possible to rue good karma with wicked intentions, as well as bad karma with a pure heart.


    Instead, the karma system functioned by a simple measure of suffering and aid. Helping someone would grant a certain amount of karma based on that person¡¯s current bnce. If you helped a bad person, even if you did so simply to be kind, it would stain you with negative karma. Likewise, even unintentionally causing the suffering of someone with positive karma would yield negative karma.


    This was how Thane received his karma, through helping the pure, unborn souls of children. While some of them would naturally be the reborn souls of those with negative karma, there were a great many more that were either fresh souls or ones with positive karma.


    It is also why true saints almost never receive enough karma to gain their ticket to eternity. Those true saints believe in helping anyone, good or evil, and so they continuously rue negative karma as well as positive. While it is true that they would no doubt end with a positive, it would not be enough to get in the pce.


    On the other hand, it is instead easier for a soldier to earn good karma, as long as they perform their jobs right. By hunting evil and aiding the unfortunate, they gradually build up more and more good karma. Perhaps not enough to earn entry within a single lifespan, but certainly more than those that help indiscriminately.


    The ones who actually have it the hardest are the kings and queens, and the leaders of financial empires. When youmand someone to perform an action, you create a karmic link with that individual. Thereafter, you receive arge portion of whatever karma they acquire through performing that action. Any king or queen that has gone to war would have had to have ordered their men to fight.


    Given the ease in which soldiers gather good karma, this trantes to a leader of a warring nation suddenly receiving a massive amount of negative karma. On the same note, the leaders of a business empire would have to issue out a great many orders on a regr basis. Some of their business decisions are bound to hurt people, such as the raising of prices to match the market fluctuations.


    In this sense, Thane was truly a rare case. Because his karma came from the millions of newborns that he helped bring into the world, his bnce was increased to such an extent that any of his previous negatives no longer mattered. The moment he created that medicine and made it easily avable, he was practically guaranteed entry.


    With that in mind, I didn¡¯t know how confident I could be in regards to his new test. Even if he managed to ease the suffering of all of Hanbei, there would be negative karma mixed in with that positive.


    If I were him, and knew the things that I did, I would create an alliance with Scarlet. Her ability to read karma would allow me to go around and help only positively-aligned individuals, while giving instructions to others that would target those that needed to be taken care of in a different manner.


    Of course, there are problems with this n as well. I wouldn¡¯t be able to enter into a pact with Scarlet, because in doing so I would forfeit my right to enter the pce again upon death. Instead, she would consume it per the conditions of the pact itself. It would have to be an alliance of mutual benefit that did not involve that pact.


    Shaking my head, I cast those thoughts aside. Most likely, Thane had other ns for what to do after he was done helping Hanbei. If he nned to end his own life after he believed that he had gathered the requisite amount of karma, then things would end very poorly for him.


    And to be honest¡­ I was somewhat rooting for him. I had always been a sucker for a good love story, and Thane¡¯s was one that I felt deserved a happy ending. He might not realize that the woman within the pce was his true love, but she did. In time, he maye to realize it himself, but he had to make it there for that to happen.


    In the meantime¡­


    James was sitting in his office, thinking back to the young man that he had recently encountered within Udona¡¯s pce. The idea of being able to freely tap into the weave of fate not to predict the future, but as a means of training, inspired him. It was an all new level of broken metaphysics that he couldn¡¯t even fully understand himself.


    Ever since he had received permission from Udona, he had been deploying his senses to constantly scan Phisher¡¯s body from afar,paring his information with the information of those like himself. Even with his powerful detection energy, he could only just barely sense the lingering energy of the system on each person.


    With a bit of training and calction, he would be able to urately read anyone¡¯s ss levels and stats. However, things such as titles were far moreplex, as there was very little to use as reference when many were unique. Even when measuring just ss levels, it was far more practical to examine the soul directly, as the levels were simrly imprinted there.


    However, James was never one to easily give up simply because a task was difficult. He had originally told Udona that there was merely a one percent chance of sess. That chance hinged entirely on him being able to identify and replicate the mutated strain of system energy.


    The problem was¡­ that energy mutation would only trigger in the event that Phisher entered into another anomalous dream. Otherwise, it would likely remain dormant, increasing the difficulty in identifying it exponentially.


    With Phisher now being a god due to his first anomalous dream, he no longer needed to sleep. If he did so, it was purely voluntary, which reduced the amount of time that James had to study him and look for that ring energy.


    James. A familiar voice spoke into his mind, snapping him out of his thoughts.


    Looking around, James confirmed that everyone else had gone home for the night. Aside from a very stubborn golem that insisted on remaining behind to work on a breakthrough in its own manufactured energy.


    With a wave of his hand, he created an invisible, soundproof barrier around himself. At the same time, just in case the golem called for him, he created a hidden sensor outside of the barrier to alert him if he was called. ¡°What¡¯s up, boss man?¡±


    I¡¯ve got a new project for you. James felt his shoulders sagging when he heard that, knowing that this would inevitably take priority over his new passion project. Still, he simrly knew that there was nothing that could be done about Phisher¡¯s case until he managed to identify the energy strain.


    ¡°Alright. What is it this time? Another energybination? Or maybe you want to go into void maniption a bit more?¡± He had heard from Tsubaki about the previous experiments into the void, and remembered his own thoughts on the matter. It was only natural to him for the storage bags to borrow territory from the void, as there was no such thing as an entirely secure storage mechanic.


    More the former. I¡¯m getting ready to buy a new ss, and I would like you to work on how to more easily handle the process of making it widely avable. Simr to what you did for the Perfect Self and Pilot sses.


    James raised an eyebrow when he heard about that. ¡°I¡¯ll bite. Which ss is it? I¡¯ve probably got some personal experience with the energy, or at least enough to have a starting point.¡±


    The Perfect Soul.


    James let out a groan when he heard that. ¡°You¡¯re really going for the three steps of perfection. I¡¯ll do what I can¡­ but perfection of the soul is a way harder prospect than perfection of the body. At least if the body is broken and the step fails at a certain point, it is possible to recover as a different energy lifeform.¡±


    ¡°But if the soul is broken, there is no hope of recovery for any creature. Worst yet¡­ it can only be performed by someone that hasn¡¯t reached physical perfection.¡±


    It took a moment for the Keeper to respond to that. You¡¯re going to have to exin that bit to me. The three steps, and the requirement.


    ¡°Yeah, I figured¡­¡± James shook his head in resignation. ¡°The three steps of perfection are the Perfect Soul, Perfect Self, and Perfect Will. They are the preliminary steps of divinity, matching the pace of Divine Soul, Divine Body, and Divine Will.¡±


    ¡°If someonepletes all three steps of perfection, their path to godhood is all but assured. At the same time, they will have the chance to walk the Saint¡¯s path instead. But the steps have to be taken in order. Once you create the Perfect Self, your soul is permanentlybined with your body, making it impossible to backtrack to perfect the soul. Simrly, perfecting your will results in the body merging with the mind.¡±


    Okay¡­ this is the first I¡¯m hearing of this. All I heard previously was that the Perfect Self was a sort of trap, because Keepers are unable to practice it without personally dying. I¡¯ve never heard of this Saint¡¯s path.


    ¡°Not surprised.¡± James said lightly, leaning back in his chair and ncing upwards, as if that would let him see the Keeper. ¡°Keepers aren¡¯t able to walk the path, like you said. So most typically avoid it on principle. I like to experiment with things, so I bought the full set and had my people try it out. We may not have been a civilization focused as heavily on energy cultivation as you are, but we had our own methods.¡±


    ¡°After I got someone to finish all three steps, they found that their body was able to change its own energyposition over time. If they needed more mana, they could increase their mana capacity at the cost of another energy, for example.¡±


    ¡°The Saint¡¯s path is a path I found after having someone fully convert their body into a saint-level energy. It took a few years, granted, but it was worth it. This is a path to power different from bing a god, but it is not any weaker. People who reach the end of that path are typically able to release their own energy with every bit the same potency as a divine domain.¡±


    How many saint-level energies are you familiar with? There was a hint of surprise mixed in with his curious tone, causing James to chuckle.


    ¡°I bought five of them when it was me. The Ki of Origin, the Eye of Ruin, the One Light, the Dark Truth, and the Beastshaper Heart.¡± James closed his eyes, thinking back to those energies. ¡°Some of them are just ridiculous names, especially the Ki of Origin and the Beastshaper Heart. The ki is just a really advanced form of elemental ki with unique properties, while the heart sounded like it would let me shapeshift into any creature. Instead, it allowed me to create replicas of creatures that mimicked their true form and mind.¡±

 Chapter 606: The Perfect Plan

    <h4>Chapter 606: The Perfect n</h4>


    When James exined to me about the pros and cons of the Saint¡¯s path, I began to understand why so few Keepers pursued that path. In order to buy the energy themselves, it was a usage of points that would not directly benefit themselves. Sure, they would be able to train the Perfect Soul and Perfect Will. But without the ability to train the Perfect Self, the Keeper would never be able toplete the path on their own.


    Sure, they would be able to use the saint level energy to the same degree as someone who did take the path, due to the Keeper buff. But they would be able to use that energy regardless. And, if my experience as a Keeper has told me anything, they might be able to use it that well even if nobody pursued the path in the first ce, simply due to the Keeper level of energy in a high power world.


    Not to mention the warnings about the trap that is the Perfect Self, making even fewer Keepers willing to buy the full set. Even if they did, and told others about it, I¡¯m sure many would choose to ignore it. The path of divinity was a path that even a Keeper could walk, so it was in many ways a better choice than the Saint¡¯s path.


    As for the other energies he mentioned, I naturally recognized the Ki of Origin, as it was an energy that I myself had been practicing for a while. The others¡­ were less familiar. While I would like to have him research bringing those energies to my world, I knew that the exact recipes had differences between worlds. The moreplex the energy was, the greater the difference would be.


    With that in mind, only rtively ¡®simpler¡¯binations could be reliably called upon at will by people like James and Chelsea that had extensive experience manipting energy with another world¡¯sws. If I had to choose between having him work on the Perfect Soul ss, or him spending years trying to replicate a saint level energy? I¡¯d rather go for the ss.


    Although I thought that, I didn¡¯t know how long it would take him to create an equivalent for the Perfection Chamber to handle this transformation. More to the point, I didn¡¯t know how the world would react. Most of the people strong enough to step into perfection had already done so, and would now be learning that they would not be able to take this new step because of an improper order of events.


    After James ended the conversation with the Keeper, he closed his eyes and ryed the message towards Chel. As his true research partner, he felt that it was only right to let her know that they had gotten a new assignment. Not to mention that he was curious how she would react to this piece of news.


    Wait, really? Chel responded with a hint of a pout in her tone. But I already got the perfect body! And don¡¯t start, I know what you¡¯re thinking.


    James gave a faint chuckle when he heard that, refraining from sending her thement he had been wanting to give. I¡¯m guessing he has his reasons. It seems that he didn¡¯t know about this path, which isn¡¯t that surprising.


    Yeah, but it¡¯s still annoying on my end. Maybe I should start over? With the time dtion effect, I could pick a kitsune couple in Spica. They¡¯re a bit rare, but not unheard of. It would take me only a little less than five months of your time for me to hit adulthood. Then I can start fresh. I always wanted to try the Saint path, anyways.


    James pursed his lips into a thin line at Chel¡¯s remark. It was true, five months wasn¡¯t all that long. He waited far longer than that for her to be born and mature in this life. It might only be a few months for me¡­ but it would be longer for you, right?


    I mean, you¡¯re not wrong¡­ just a second, an eavesdropper is trying to get my attention. Halfway through her sentence, Chel suddenly sounded distracted, before temporarily ending the conversation. James didn¡¯t mind, as he knew that the only ones that would be eavesdropping like that would be the gods or the Keeper himself. If they wanted to talk with Chel about something that badly, there was bound to be a good reason.


    A couple of minutester, a surprised Chel started talking to him again. Huh, well, that¡¯s good to know.


    Mind sharing with the ss?


    At James¡¯s request, Chel revealed what she had learned. Aurivy just came in to tell me up in the Administration Room¡­ apparently this system that they have can handle multiple incarnations at once. It takes a heavier drain on the user¡¯s psyche, making themrgely unresponsive up there, though. The effects down here should be a lot more limited. Mostly just stuff like an increased urge to catnap.


    So you¡¯re nning on keeping mepany with this body while your other one quickly grows up in Spica? James confirmed, thinking it over. Would the time dtion make it harder for you to handle?


    If I was your average girl, maybe. Don¡¯t forget that I used to be a System Companion, too. My mind is made to be able to handle fast speeds like that. Splitting my focus too much will still drain the me in the Administration Room, but they don¡¯t tend to bother me much up there, anyways.


    James gave a brief nod at that. Alright. But make sure your parents know what is going on. Thest thing that I want is to be med for your ¡®death¡¯ by them. I¡¯ve actually taken a liking to them.


    That¡¯s just because they let you give them nine tails.


    nder! Lies and nder! James retorted with a jovialugh, shaking his head. Now that he had gotten his new order, and was ready to begin work, he disabled the soundproof barrier around himself.


    Turning to face his golem assistant, he shed a friendly smile. ¡°How are youing on your project, big guy?¡±


    The golem hesitated for a brief moment before answering. It was clear that he hoped to be able to get through this hurdle on his own, but also wanted to share his progress. Eventually, he spoke in a fluent Deckan ent. ¡°The progress is eptable. I have managed to reach an understanding with the energy within me. Although its intelligence has yet to fully mature, it is possible to train it in a variety of different tasks.¡±


    James gave a small nod, remembering what the golem¡¯s energy was. In most every way that mattered, it was a simple copy of mana. However, there was a thin trace of spiritual energy that gave the energy itself awareness. This spiritual trace, however, also meant that the typical means of utilizing magic, in other words spells, would be rendered useless.


    The golem had long ago realized this, and had found the proper way to wield his energy. That was by teaching the energy to act on its own, and regard it as a living thing. If the energy understands the fundamental process behind fire, it can create fire. As for the energy maturing¡­ James had little hope that that would ever happen. In order for its intelligence to develop, it would need to evolve into a different type of energy. Most likely, that new energy would then be ranked at the saint level.


    ¡°Well, hopefully it will work out for you.¡± James nhelessforted the golem. ¡°In the meantime, we just received a new work order. I¡¯ll have to head out to find the sisters.¡±


    After he said that, he slowly stood up and began moving towards the door. Although it was unfortunate, the kitsune sisters were now the only members of his research team that had not yet chosen to attain the Perfect Self. This meant that they were the only ones that had the chance to work with him when it came to creating the Perfect Soul. That is, unless he created a second research team for that purpose.


    The problem with doing so was rather simple. James wanted to keep the team as small as possible. Less people meant less risk of information leaking before it had been prepared to a safe enough degree. If the information was leaked when it was only half-finished, there may be people that throw caution to the wind, and in doing so throw their own lives away.


    ¡°Are you sure about this?¡± Thea asked, looking to Nora as theyy in their shared bedroom, each of them on their stomachs with their legs kicking slightly above them. Their tails, for they each had nine now, were draped across their bodies likerge nkets, while the rest of them was covered with a long dress each.


    ¡°Mhm.¡± Nora nodded her head, reaching back towards one of the tails. A ball of lightning seemed to break off from the tail, residing in her hand. This was one of the nine energies that she had created with the help of Chel before storing in her tail. ¡°We¡¯ve already seen from little Chel that it¡¯s possible to keep this if we hit perfection¡­ and we¡¯re not getting any younger.¡±


    Thea paused at that, nodding as well. It had been several years now since they joined the researcher¡¯s team. In that time, they had indeed learned quite a lot, and benefited immensely. Simrly, they were able to freely share the information that they learned back with the n. If they were to let their bodies and minds degrade with the passing of time, the researcher might eventually discard them from the team. At that point, they would no longer be able to help their people.


    ¡°I understand.¡± She said with a soft sigh, though still sounded reluctant. The reason that the two of them had always pushed off seeking perfection was quite simple. They had learned long ago that the act of seeking perfection cuts one off from the afterlife. The cycle of reincarnation is severed, and the life you are living bes thest your soul will experience, being shattered upon death.


    The two of them had not wanted this, because they were hoping to one day meet their parents again in the Underworld. They wanted to be together as a family after their lives were over. Although they couldn¡¯t be sure that their parents had not yet been reborn, it was something that they had been clinging to together.


    ¡°Will the extra tails interfere with the process?¡± Thea asked in a tone of concern, looking at her sister¡¯s beautiful ck tails. Nora had already lost her real tail once, and losing them again would be a blow to any kitsune, especially a woman.


    Nora¡¯s face turned¡­ a bit more bitter when she heard that. ¡°Probably. The energy in the tails could interfere with the regting mechanisms of the chamber. That¡¯s why¡­ I n to get rid of all but my ki and mana tails before entering. At least that way I won¡¯t need to worry aboutpatibility problems.¡±


    Thea stretched her arm out, reaching from her own bed to her sister¡¯s, who simrly extended her hand until their fingers were interlocked. ¡°Well, you can just make the tails againter¡­¡± She spoke in aforting tone, earning a small nod from her sister.


    ¡°What about you?¡±


    Thea thought about it for a moment, before nodding her head. ¡°If you¡¯re doing it, so will I. How could we have our family reunion without you there? As for mom and dad¡­ it¡¯s sad, but maybe we¡¯ll see them again in another form.¡±


    Nora was about to speak up when the two of them heard a knock on the door to their house. Jumping to their feet, they checked the time, realizing that it was far toote for a normal visitor. Either someone from the n had appeared in secret, or¡­ no, they could definitely sense his energy after trying. With bitter smirks, they looked towards one another, moving in tandem towards the door.


    ¡°Not waking you up, am I?¡± The researcher asked, standing outside and sporting an apologetic expression when he saw the two in their nightgowns.

 Chapter 607: Agreement

    <h4>Chapter 607: Agreement</h4>


    The kitsune sisters blinked in confusion as they looked at the man standing in front of their door. Clearly, they were already awake, but it was surprising to have him show up in the middle of the night. More so, they knew that he did not have the habit of maliciously spying on people, so the odds that he showed up because of their recent conversation was rather slim.


    Thea was the first to react, putting on an amiable smile as she looked towards their boss. ¡°Not at all. Please,e in.¡± She didn¡¯t want the two of them to simply be standing with the door open while they were in their nightgowns, so the easiest way to resolve this was to invite him in.


    With a small nod, James stepped inside, moving towards the living room of their humble abode. ¡°Sorry foring to you sote. But, there is a new research project that I can only entrust to the two of you, for now.¡±


    When they heard that, the two sisters nced towards one another with uncertainty in their eyes. They had trained for numerous different types of missions as ninjas, and were prepared for a wide array of situations. Coming in the middle of the night to the residence of two beautiful sisters like themselves, saying that he had a special job that only they could do¡­ however, they instinctively wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, as James had never shown himself to be that type of person.


    ¡°What¡¯s the project?¡± Nora asked, testing the waters. Even as she asked that, she leaned forward slightly, watching his eyes.


    Eyes that never seemed to waiver from looking into her own. At least, until he closed them to let out a small sigh. ¡°The Keeper sent another energy request down, and this onees with another ss, just like Pilot. It¡¯s¡­ the Perfect Soul. I know a little bit about this energy, and I can say that anyone who has already reached perfection in the body can¡¯t seek perfection in the soul. Out of my team, that only leaves the two of you as possible candidates.¡±


    Thea¡¯s eyes went wide, ncing briefly to her sister. However, a troubled expression fell over her face as she considered his words. ¡°We were actually just discussing using the chambers tomorrow. While we appreciate you looking for us, we would rather reach perfection in the body as opposed to the soul.¡±


    Her response was reasonable. Under the assumption that the two were mutually exclusive, they would naturally choose to perfect their bodies. While perfection of the soul would undoubtedly bring them benefits of its own, only perfection of the body would ensure true agelessness.


    ¡°Huh?¡± James looked towards Thea in surprise. ¡°I think you might be misunderstanding something. I said that people who have achieved perfection in the body can¡¯t seek perfection of the soul. But¡­ it doesn¡¯t hold true the other way around. In fact, perfection in the body is easier to achieve after perfecting the soul. Think of it like the three steps to divinity.¡±


    ¡°While someone can seek perfection in one of the three steps out of order, they can never go back to handle the preceding steps. After you train the soul, you can do the body next without any trouble.¡±


    Hearing that eased the worries of the two kitsune, who nced towards one another. Now, there was less hesitation in their eyes, and more curiosity. They had confirmed that their earlier worries were unfounded, and regained their confidence in front of their boss.


    Nora put on a small smile, moving over to sit on the couch. ¡°What about the matter of children?¡± She asked, as that had been something that had been troubling the ¡®perfectedmunity¡¯ for years. ¡°If everyone in the world eventually seeks perfection, won¡¯t we stop being able to have children?¡±


    In fact, everyone had simply taken this as a natural consequence of perfection. A cost that had to be paid to achieve eternity. It had not been brought up as an issue to the researcher only because people believed that there was nothing to be done about it.


    James, meanwhile, raised his eyebrow in confusion. ¡°Huh? Who said anything about that. You can still have children after undergoing the procedure. Even a god can bear a child, so why couldn¡¯t someone on the path of perfection?¡±


    Thea blinked, having not expected that answer. She knew that Nora was just trying to rile James up in an attempt to get back at him for his misleading manner earlier. ¡°What¡­? But¡­¡±


    ¡°You mean the current lot? They haven¡¯t had kids because they don¡¯t know the way.¡± James gave a long sigh when he said that. ¡°It¡¯s like teaching kids all over again¡­ Once you achieve an energy body, you can only conceive a child with someone in a simr state. For instance, perfection can only pair with perfection, and divinity with divinity.¡±


    ¡°As long as you find someone in the same energy state as yourself, all it takes is a special mingling of your energies to produce the spiritual embryo. Of course¡­ the child won¡¯t have the full state of the parents, but it won¡¯t be a child of flesh and blood, either.¡±


    Nora thought about it for a moment, before quickly shaking her head. ¡°If you knew about it all this time, why didn¡¯t you say something earlier?¡±


    ¡°Nobody asked.¡± James admitted with a small shrug. ¡°I thought that they wanted to figure out the method themselves, so I didn¡¯t get involved. I might be a researcher hired by the Keeper, but I¡¯m not just going to go around solving everyone else¡¯s problems for them. If I did that, then wouldn¡¯t there be no need for others in my field? I¡¯d rather stimte the growth of the scientificmunity, and only step in when I am personally requested, or if I find a subject that arouses my own desires for research.¡±


    They couldn¡¯t really argue against that. The problem was that there were not many people looking into this problem in the first ce, because everybody had assumed that it was simply a natural effect of evolving into a higher state of being. Without the restrictions of time limiting their lifespans, they would simply overpopte a world if they were still allowed to breed.


    Thea and Nora shared a look with one another, before the two of them let out a small sigh. ¡°Alright¡­¡± Thea spoke up first, seeming toe to some sort of silent understanding with her sister. ¡°If you publish the method for energy beings to have a child, we¡¯ll go along with this Perfect Soul research.¡±


    James couldn¡¯t help but smile when he heard that, quickly nodding his head. ¡°Wait.¡± Nora spoke up next, suddenly thinking of something. ¡°Does this mean that it¡¯s possible for martial spirits to have children as well? Without their pact business, I mean.¡±


    ¡°Of course. They¡¯re energy bodies with a spiritualponent, so this method would naturally work for them as well.¡± The kitsune sisters stared at the dark-skinned researcher after he casually admitted that fact, their eyes faintly twitching.


    ¡°You realize that they¡¯ve been killing their own contractors for hundreds of years simply because that was the only way that they knew to reproduce, correct?¡± Nora asked slowly, to which James nodded.


    ¡°It was a system that both parties agreed on. And, like I said earlier, the alternative method will result in an ¡®iplete¡¯ state for the child. In a way, the method that the martial spirits use creates a more perfect offspring. It¡¯s just that they are limited in their selection of ¡®mates¡¯.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s this iplete state, then?¡± Thea asked in curiosity. At this point, she was just trying to get as much information out of him as she could, while he was in a talkative mood. ¡°I think we should know that before we can make an educated decision.¡±


    James shook his head, moving to pace back and forth within the living room. ¡°The exact specifics vary between the different types of energy bodies. But, in general, the iplete state is exactly that. For those that achieve perfection, it means that their children will be ¡®pseudo-perfect¡¯. They will be in a degraded energy state for their early years, and will naturally reach perfection as they mature.¡±


    ¡°For gods, on the other hand, their children will be born as a demigod with a mostly spiritual body. They will have to cultivate their own divinity like anyone else, but will have certain advantages due to their heritage.¡¯


    ¡°Wait, that doesn¡¯t make any sense.¡± Nora interrupted, raising a hand to stop James. ¡°Everyone knows that the Eternal Princess was the child of Tryval. But, she was born of flesh and blood. Doesn¡¯t that mean that your story sort of falls apart there?¡±


    James shook his head, refuting Nora¡¯s im. ¡°That¡¯s because he¡¯s part of what you call the ¡®Greater Pantheon¡¯. Theirposition is more unique, and they are able to ¡®mingle¡¯ with mortals more than their normal divine counterparts. That¡¯s the only reason why Alme was able to be born in the first ce, because her mother was most certainly not a goddess.¡±


    Nora lowered her hand when she heard that, thinking it over. ¡°I suppose that makes sense¡­ for this Perfect Soul that you want us to train¡­ will our extra tails get in the way of it?¡± She nced back towards her nine swaying tails, not wanting to give them up just yet if she had the choice.


    ¡°Not in the slightest.¡± He confessed with a smile. ¡°In fact, after you reach perfection, you could safely create a tail of your soul. It would be highly resistant to physical or energy-based attacks, and damage to it would not be transmitted to the rest of your spirit.¡±


    Nora nodded her head in relief, just about to speak up again when she heard another voice. ¡°So that¡¯s where you were.¡± A small, feminine tone spoke up, one familiar to all three in the room, causing them to hold bitter smiles on their face.


    When James turned, he saw Chel standing in the hall, her hands propped up on her hips. ¡°Came by to y with the tails, huh?¡± She asked in a knowing tone, clearly having the same thoughts as the two sisters. However, James could see a spark of amusement in her eyes.


    He had already told Chel about the Keeper¡¯s n to release the Perfect Soul ss, so naturally she would have known that he was going to seek out the two sisters. However, the sisters themselves weren¡¯t aware of that, their cheeks immediately dyeing themselves red with embarrassment. ¡°It¡¯s not like that!¡± Nora called out, ducking her head down low, which did not exactly help her im.


    Seeing that, Chel raised an eyebrow, her lips curving upwards. ¡°Oh?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s enough, Chel.¡± James rolled his eyes with a grin. ¡°You talk to your parents?¡±


    ¡°Working on it now. This is just an avatar.¡± Chel stuck her tongue out at James before looking at Nora and Thea. ¡°Thought that these two might need someone to save them from your indecent hands.¡±


    ¡°Since when have my hands been indecent?¡± James asked in a hurt tone, looking down at his palms in shock.


    ¡°Should I ask Tsubaki that?¡± Chel asked, grinning. James cleared his throat, ncing away with a guilty expression.


    ¡°I might have lost control a bit at that time.¡± He at least was willing to admit that, not that Tsubaki had ever approached him again for him to deliver an apology to her directly.


    ¡°Right¡­¡± Chel shook her head, walking over towards Nora on the couch. ¡°Did he exin the situation to you two already?¡± She asked with a gentle smile, receiving a nod in return.


    ¡°I¡¯ve already had the procedure, but I¡¯ll be bringing in¡­ let¡¯s call it a recement in a few months. Until then, I¡¯ll help the two of you get a feel for what perfection means.¡± She pat Nora¡¯s shoulder as she said that, before looking at Thea and giving the other sister an understanding nod. ¡°My goal is to have both of you ready by the time she gets here.¡±


    ¡°Who¡­?¡± Thea asked, confused how anyone would be able to rece Chel in James¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°The other me.¡± And those words certainly didn¡¯t help her understand the matter.

 Chapter 608: Alone

    <h4>Chapter 608: Alone</h4>


    ¡°This is Science Officer Jacques Mard. Is anyone on this frequency?¡± A lone demon said as he held up a crystal sphere. He was d in a ck suit with an open back, the standard style of modern spacesuit for demons. While it gave the appearance of being dangerous to wear in a vacuum, there was an invisible barrier extending from the back that wrapped around the wearer¡¯s wings.


    Those wings were the greatest reason why space travel had be such a difficulty for the demon race. Mundane suits could not feasibly be created that would encase the wings without restricting them, while also being reasonably quick to don in case of an emergency.


    As he stared at the crystal sphere, it thrummed with the mana he had been inserting into it. However, there was no response from the device. With a shake of his head, he lifted a hand to tap at it. A holographic panel emerged, through which he changed the sphere from broadcast to recording mode.


    ¡°This is Science Officer Jacques Mard of the Deckan Starship, Eternity.¡± He introduced himself again, releasing the orb to allow it to hover beside him. After that, he reached down to grab a pair of pistols hanging from his waist. His eyes swept around the grassy ins in which he stood. ¡°My ship has encountered an unknown anomaly while traversing deep space.¡±


    As he continued, he began walking towards the west, feeling a humid breeze from that direction. ¡°Crew status is unknown. After encountering the anomaly, I awoke on an unusual. Atmospheric conditions are stable, with ample nt life. However, I have not seen any animal life since my arrival eight hours ago.¡±


    ¡°If anyone finds this recording, I will be documenting my experiences and discoveries. Once every hour, I n to halt the recording and attempt to make contact again.¡± He could see the trees starting to rustle in the distance, his grip on the guns he was holding bing tighter.


    With a potentially hostile lifeform nearby, he dropped his voice to a whisper. ¡°Unusual movement, possibly an alien lifeform ahead. Moving to investigate. Due to uniqueary conditions, I must make as much progress as I can during the day.¡±


    Such a statement would no doubt seem odding from the nocturnal demonic race, who had far better night vision than any other species. ¡°From what I observed upon my arrival, this world does not possess a moon. Either that, or I coincidentally appeared at the worst part of its lunar cycle. However, that is not what makes this world unusual.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps due to a celestial phenomena within this sr system, there are no stars visible at night. I repeat, this world has no stars.¡± Just the thought of the pitch ck sky was enough to send shivers down Jacques¡¯s back. That was why he wanted to act during the day, in spite of his naturally nocturnal cycle. Staring into the pitch ck abyss gave him an eerie sense of dread that he couldn¡¯t shake.


    ¡°How are they, doctor?¡± A demonic woman asked, standing in the infirmary. Her face was haggard, showing clear signs of overwork, but she did her best to move past it.


    Opposite to her stood a man with a white overcoat, his wings wrapped overtop it. The doctor shook his head, ncing into the room. There were twenty peopleid out in medical beds, all appearing to be fast asleep. ¡°No change. ording to all of my tests, they are physically fine. Their bodies are not under any undue stress. It¡¯s just¡­¡±


    Seeing the doctor¡¯s hesitation, the woman furrowed her brow. ¡°Doctor, I need to know what is going on here. Why is the majority of my science teamatose if there is nothing wrong with them?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ difficult to exin.¡± The doctor shook his head. ¡°From what I can tell, their brains are showing constant activity. While their bodies are asleep, their minds are anything but. I¡¯ve seen this a few times before, but I can¡¯t exactly reason how that situation connects to this.¡±


    ¡°Are you really going to make me ask?¡± The captain practically growled out the words, her patience running short. She had been up all day, scrambling to assess the damage after their ship collided with an unknown energy during warp. Thankfully, the size of the anomaly was small, and most of the sections it struck were hallways or unupied bedrooms. However, the scienceb was directly along its path, with most of the team immediately rendered unconscious.


    ¡°I¡¯m getting to it¡­¡± The doctor said with a small sigh. ¡°The only time I¡¯ve seen readings like this was when I was examining a patient who was logged in to virtual reality. As you know, the virtual reality headsets put the body into a dormant state while the mind is connected to a digital world.¡±


    ¡°Only this time¡­ they aren¡¯t connected to any devices that would exin their condition.¡± As he said that, he brought a hand up to rub at his weary eyes. ¡°I¡¯ve tried to bring some of their personal virtual headsets in to use on them, but they simply won¡¯t connect. Instead, it disys an error as if it wasn¡¯t used on someone in the first ce.¡±


    His words made the captain look at him strangely, unable to figure out what was going on. However, before she could see anything, there was a deep ring that echoed through the infirmary. The doctor spun around in surprise, looking for the source of the noise before running over. There, he saw one of the many scientistsying on the bed, but with a significant differencepared to what was there before.


    Now, his health bar had be visible. Although it was faint, he had taken damage. ¡°Is this normal?¡± The captain asked with a faint tone of annoyance.


    ¡°No¡­ no it isn¡¯t!¡± The doctor was far more agitated now than he was a moment ago. If the patients were taking damage due to their state, then this was far worse than it was previously. Now they had a timer. ¡°None of the other patients have taken any damage so far, despite being here for the same amount of time.¡±


    Walking up to the scientist, the doctor ced a single hand on her head, and released a soft green light from it. This was amon healing spell to cure minor damage to the body, little more than magical first aid. He did not expect it to work, but needed to try regardless.


    To his surprise, the health bar above the scientist faded away, showing that the damage had been cured. This baffled the doctor, as he had assumed that any injury sustained at this point in time would be with the brain, an organ that his spell would not have been able to repair.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on¡­¡± He mumbled to himself before another ring sounded in the infirmary. This time, the patient that had suffered damage left them even more shocked. They saw one of the leading members of the team, Jacques Mard, with his arm broken, bent clearly in the wrong direction.


    The doctor¡¯s mind raced as he saw the damage, his medical team already running over to quickly tend to the man. Yet, before they could do so, his arm was set on its own, and the man¡¯s health slightly recovered. ¡°I need his personnel file¡­¡± The doctor said, his voice shaking. ¡°I need everyone¡¯s file immediately.¡±


    With the evidence that had beenid out before them, he had an idea as to what was going on. However, the thought of it scared him even more than the prospect of their condition slowly killing them. He lifted his hand, tapping a device on his wrist and using his clearance to ess the personal records of his patient. ¡°Trained in first-aid runic spells.¡±


    ¡°Captain, I¡¯m sorry, but I need to ask you to leave the infirmary immediately.¡± He said, spinning on his heels to address the ship¡¯s captain. ¡°As of this moment, the infirmary is under emergency quarantine.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about, doctor?¡± The captain asked, her face showing clear surprise. Regardless, she knew better than to break quarantine without knowing the details, and backed away towards the exit.


    ¡°This is just my preliminary estimate¡­ but the minds¡­ no, the souls of the patients seem to be connected to a parallel world. Simr to when one connects with Vision Expanse or Natural Seed. However, in this case, the connection appears to be deeper. Injuries that the patient suffers are transferred between the ¡®virtual¡¯ world and physical.¡±


    ¡°Why does this call for a quarantine?¡± The captain asked, now standing outside of the medical bay, her eyes worried as she looked into the room.


    ¡°Because we do not know the state of the world that the patients have been sent to. There is a possibility that they could contract a pathogen, with that pathogen then being transferred to their physical body. In order to prevent a potential outbreak, we must clear the infirmary of all unnecessary personnel.¡±


    When the captain heard that, she seemed to better understand the seriousness of the situation. She clenched her fists, debating the activation of the ship¡¯s recall device. Using it at this time would allow them to return to Deckan immediately, but force them to start their journey anew. Although they had a teleport drive copied from Metong ships, they did not have the same level of scanning technology to ensure that uncharted destinations would be free of obstruction.


    In the end, she decided to wait, giving a faint nod and leaving to return to her office. Seeing that, the doctor let out another sigh, walking back to his patients. ¡°Everyone, immediately remove the patients¡¯ uniforms. Standard medical dress. We need to be able to see any injuries as they ur.¡±


    As he said that, he walked towards the storage room of the medical bay, retrieving a more bulky scanner. This item was designed to detect internal injuries, simr to an MRI, only using pulses of ki instead of maic fields. After he had the machine prepared on standby, he made a decision that¡­ did not sit easily on his conscience.


    Jacques Mard panted for breath as he clutched his arm, knowing that the bone had not fully healed. Across from himy the corpse of arge ape with golden fur, the creature that had emerged from the forest. ¡°Haah¡­ the beast isrge, three and a half to four meters in height. Extremely muscled and with fur that appears to be made from solid gold.¡±


    ¡°Its strength should have an equivalent value of a hundred and seventy-five points. Give or take, I¡¯m not really a physical type. However¡­ it broke my right arm. Although I¡¯ve applied first-aid, I do not expect to be able to regain full use of the limb for at least two days. At this time, I wish I had blocked with my other arm, at least¡­ gah!¡±


    The scientist shouted out in pain, his left arm starting to spasm. ¡°Strong burning sensation in my left arm, unknown cause. Temporarily halting recording.¡± As he said that, he cut the mana he was feeding to the device, dropping to his knee. He lifted his left arm, expecting to see some sort of creature burrowing into his flesh. Instead, he saw thin, even lines drawing themselves on his dark red flesh.


    ¡®VR instance. HP Transfer. Status?` Those words were slowly ¡®written¡¯ on his skin, his eyes going wide and shaking as he struggled to decipher their meaning through the pain. Pain that was¡­ quickly fading. A cool energy permeated his right arm, mending the damaged bone and muscles.


    VR instance¡­ virtual reality? If that was the case, HP would refer to health points. Would that exin where this burn came from, and the healing? But¡­ I clearly still have all of my items. Thinking that, Jacques grit his teeth. If his hunch was correct about this message, then he was nning to do the same thing. He needed tomunicate his situation in as short of a message as possible to spare himself any undue pain.


    ¡°Are you sure about this, sir?¡± One of the medical staff asked, approaching the senior medical officer. They had just finished their work, going to each patient and using a surgicalser at its lowest output to inscribe the same message on everyone¡¯s skin.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m not sure.¡± The doctor groaned, pping his hand over his face. ¡°First off, we don¡¯t even know for sure if the damage inflicted on them from this side transfers to them, or if the connection is only one-way. Secondly¡­ how many of them will be willing to injure themselves just to send us a message? Just¡­ this is the only thing I can think of to establish a line ofmunication.


    The medical staff hesitated, but gave a small nod of understanding. Just then, the familiar ring of a damage rm sounded, and the two of them moved into the main hall of the infirmary. By the time they arrived, almost every patient had triggered their damage rm, medical personnel scrambling to help them.


    The doctor walked to one patient, looking at the message that had been written back as his face began to distort, and then the next. Some patients had their ownser tools to make clean lines on their skin, others caused deep gashes with ded instruments. However, they allmunicated the same message, the same single word.


    `Alone.`

 Chapter 609: Favors

    <h4>Chapter 609: Favors</h4>


    Within the infirmary of Eternity, the doctors had all changed into bulky suits that offered full protection, even if it meant restricting their wings. The moment that they learned that everyone had been ¡®transported¡¯ to their own worlds, the risk factor rose exponentially. If it was simply one world that everyone had been transported to together, then they would naturally only have to deal with the hazards of that one world.


    With over a dozen different worlds, though¡­ the head doctor shook his head at the thought. ¡°How are the reports?¡± He asked his assistant, sitting at his desk with furrowed brows. The immediate problems faced were for every patient to be able to secure shelter. Food and water was of little importance, given that everyone had already been hooked up to an intravenous solution.


    ¡°Seven individuals report an environment that has been confirmed safe by their suit¡¯s scanners.¡± The assistant spoke, before aplicated expression arose on her face. ¡°Three more detected unidentifiable elements in the air, and are keeping their suits sealed for safety. Another two have confirmed that their environment is not breathable, and thest one¡­¡± She nced out towards the first patient that had alerted them to the damage.


    ¡°Right¡­ her atmosphere is tantly hazardous.¡± Although the damage was slow to umte, that was likely due to her suit being sealed for the first eight hours. ¡°Make sure to keep her on a respirator, as well as those with inhospitable or questionable atmospheres. Those confirmed safe can be left as they are. Have any of them found shelter?¡±


    ¡°Officer Isaac has constructed a habitat for himself with his abilities. The others are acting simrly when they can, but are slower moving. Recently, Officer Mard managed to receive a level increase, but there was no change in his condition.¡±


    The head doctor gave a small nod. ¡°This isn¡¯t regarded by the world as ¡®damage¡¯ to be healed. Their souls have simply been relocated.¡±


    After thinking it over for a moment, he nced towards his assistant. ¡°You¡¯re dismissed for now. Continue monitoring their situation, and let me know if anything changes. I¡¯ll see if there is anything I can do from my end.¡±


    She gave a curt bow, before leaving his office. Once she was gone, he tapped a device on the desk, initiating a call with the captain. It had been several hours now, and the woman had managed to get a little bit of sleep, if only just. When she answered the call, she directed a tired re towards the doctor. ¡°Doctor Ban. Please tell me we have good news.¡±


    ¡°Afraid not, captain.¡± He shook his head. ¡°Things have gotten worse so far. Every patient is isted, which has increased the risk factor for both ourselves and them. We¡¯ve taken care of all of their physical needs beyond personal safety, and instructed them to seek shelter. However, in the meantime, I would like to request an emergency personnel from back home.¡±


    ¡°If you can think of someone that can solve this problem, I¡¯m all ears.¡± The captain opened her eyes somewhat wider when she heard that there was a possibility of help. This was a rather¡­ strange situation for her, to say the least.


    ¡°I would like to request one of the following. Either the God of Community, the Deckan researcher, or a Metong science officer. Actually, I think a God of Journeys recently ascended among the centaurs. If he is avable, he would be on that list as well.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ quite the list you arranged. And none of them are Desbar personnel that I can enlist for help¡­¡± The captain had a difficult expression, not entirely sure how she should react to these requests.


    ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m hoping that you can ask for them as a favor. Even if just one of them answers, we might be able to find a solution.¡±


    When she heard that, the captain¡¯s smile turned somewhat bitter. ¡°Why not just ask for the Keeper while you¡¯re at it¡­¡±


    ¡°If you are able to get in contact with him, by all means.¡±


    ¡°I was kidding, Ban¡­¡± The captain shook her head. ¡°I¡¯ll make the call.¡±


    While the captain was able to make the request of the various individuals, that naturally did not mean that they would be able to respond so easily. Among the four requests¡­ James was busy working on a new project and unable to respond. The God of Journeys was unable to be reached due to having the propensity to wander to random areas. The only ones that managed to respond were the God of Community and the Metong.


    On the part of the Metong, it was a simple matter for them to select a researcher to participate. From what they had heard, this involved a strange phenomena that they had never experienced before, so they were all too happy to ept.


    As for Jonas, he was often free. He wanted for very little in this world, and had been gradually working to establish his holy relic. Although it was arge project that he had already spent many years on, it was one that he could easily take breaks from as need be.


    When the two both answered that they would be able to help, the captain of the Eternity was equally shocked and ecstatic. As soon as they were ready, she activated the ship¡¯s personnel gate and personally received them. ¡°Lord Jonas, it¡¯s a pleasure to have you here. And you as well, Speaker?¡±


    ¡°This one¡¯s designation is now Researcher, Captain Lucifuge.¡± The Metong male said with a gentle smile. ¡°Although I am still technically a Speaker, I have earned my specialization. You may refer to me as Researcher Night.¡±


    ¡°My apologies, sir, I didn¡¯t know who the Metong would be sending.¡± Although she was a captain, this was a matter that concerned the continuation of her voyage. There was nothing wrong with being humble. Especially when the people she was humbling herself before were a god and a researcher from a gctic empire.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, I took no offense. However, I believe that it would be best to see to the patients as quickly as possible.¡± When Researcher Night suggested this, Jonas offered a faint nod of agreement.


    ¡°Of course. I¡¯ll guide you to the infirmary right away.¡± The captain was more than willing to let the two of them get to work. The sooner they did so, the sooner her people would be safe.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll do our best.¡± Jonas assured her gently, seeming to sense her inner concerns.


    The journey to the infirmary was not exactly long, only a few short minutes of walking down various corridors. When they arrived, the captain backed away. ¡°This is as far as I can go. Like I mentioned in my report, the infirmary is under quarantine.¡±


    While she was unable to safely enter, this was not a problem for either of their guests, as neither of them had an organic body for pathogens to thrive in. One of them was constructed purely of energy, and the other of liquid metal. If there was a pathogen that could infect these two, then there was no level of quarantine that would be sufficient.


    Jonas nodded his head in understanding when he heard that, opening the door to the infirmary. There was arge, hastily constructed decontamination airlock immediately inside, which the two of them were required to go through. Afterwards, they were greeted by Doctor Bad himself.


    ¡°Thank you both foring. Did the captain sufficiently exin my problem in her request?¡± He asked as he looked between them. Each of them had been on his list of requests for different reasons. The fact that they had both arrived filled him with a sense of hope.


    ¡°Of course.¡± The elven god smiled amiably as he walked over towards the patients. ¡°For me¡­ you¡¯re hoping that I can either connect with their souls as members of mymunity, or that there will be someone within mymunity proficient enough with souls to reverse the blight, correct?¡±


    ¡°Exactly right, Lord Jonas.¡± The doctor replied happily.


    ¡°As for me, my job is to research the nature of this energy and determine possible counters from the library of energies stored within the Network. I must say that we have never experienced a situation such as what you described. From a scientific standpoint, it is fascinating. Perhaps you collided with an energy lifeform that had cultivated a unique breed of energy, and itshed out as a reflex?¡±


    Hearing Researcher Night, the doctor could only put on a bitter smile. ¡°That¡¯s right. With the two of you together, our chances of a sessful solution have increased drastically.¡±


    I nodded to myself when I saw that Jonas and the Metong researcher were moving to help the demons with their plight. In truth, I had initially been observing Jonas, and only followed him to catch the situation of the demons after they contacted him. After all, I was far more interested in the holy relic that he had been building.


    At this point¡­ I had to question if it could even be called a relic, despite being crafted purely by Jonas¡¯s hand and infused with his divine energy at every step. That was because¡­ he was building a city. Every brick was being formed by hismunity andid by Jonas personally as he infused it with his divinity. Each building could qualify as its own unique artifact, if he so chose, and there were already more than five hundred buildings erected.


    Many of these buildings were nothing more than houses, but there were some others as well. There was a school, a prison, and even a Mage Tower. All along the city, bricks had beenid as the foundation, being smoothed out to form roads and sidewalks. And at the center, thest building left to bepleted appeared to be arge pce. Once that was done, I did not know if he nned to construct defensive fortifications such as walls or guard towers, or if the relic would bepleted with the construction of the pce.


    Eager to see it for myself, I set an rm in the system that would notify me upon itspletion. Even if I was fast forwarding¡­ that was worth taking time out to get a look at it.


    However, now that I had set that rm, I nced towards the list that Ryone had sent me. This would be the list of items avable for sale to Kathy, with special items noted to be sold only to trusted allies. Among those special notes were the races that had developed in my world, with the exception of the Merkin. Even the Merkin were not listed there.


    Either Ryone felt that they would not be worth listing¡­ or she was concerned that their sonar map of my world would be more easily leaked to others. I honestly felt that both were possible.


    As for the actual ¡®items¡¯ on the list, I noticed a variety of different weapons, some of which I had not personally seen before. Some of them required special magicalws such as a hammer that was able to reinforce itself through card magic. Others were more general, like the grimoires that we had purchased previously and then developed further.


    There was one item on the list that was given an exorbitant price. To be honest, I was surprised that it was even listed in the first ce. For fifty thousand points, the Energy Manuscript. The description of this item was that it held the information collected from over a thousand races across a gctic empire, holding hundreds of different energy types.


    Naturally, the exact energies weren¡¯t listed in the description, but I knew enough from that to realize what it was. It was obviously referring to the Metong¡¯s energy database. And at first¡­ I had to admit that I was shocked to find it there. But, on further thought, I realized that the information within the manuscript would not reveal any important secrets of my world.


    In fact, the flood of information within the manuscript would obscure the energies that were more widely used. Whoever spent the funds to purchase it would have the forms for every energy that the Metong had encountered, both good and bad.


    Now¡­ the exact forms for those energies might differ from world to world, but the ratios typically remained the same. Otherwise, if it included a detailed method to create each energy that worked properly in any world¡­ there was no way it would be as cheap as fifty thousand points.

 Chapter 610: Scorched Earth

    <h4>Chapter 610: Scorched Earth</h4>


    SentinelSeven: Oh, wow! I thought you had forgotten about our deal!


    EarthForceOne: Nope. I was just letting one of my godspile a list of everything that could be put up. Feel free to look through it and take your time.


    After I sent that message to Kathy, I mentally copied the list that Ryone had given me, before pasting it into the chatbox. Living in the Admin Room definitely had its perks. Though, she¡¯d probably need a few days to think over what she wanted to get from it, and would no doubt have a few questions about some items.


    SentinelSeven: Oh, oh! Can I have some of those tidestone things? And the decanter of drought cleansing. Oh! That energy manual looks really useful, too!


    EarthForceOne: ¡­You saw the pricetag on that, didn¡¯t you?


    SentinelSeven: Yeah? Give me just a second¡­


    For some reason, I felt my anxiety climbing from talking to this girl¡­ spider¡­ person. Kathy. I¡¯ll just call her a Kathy.


    SentinelSeven: Sorry, I¡¯m back. Mypanions say we can¡¯t just spend fifty thousand like that¡­


    EarthForceOne: I¡¯m more surprised at the fact you have fifty thousand at all. Did you recently win some big defense or something?


    SentinelSeven: Nope, nobody¡¯sunched a serious attack against metely. I just yed some of those games at thest meeting and made a lot of points.


    ¡­I had the feeling that I shouldn¡¯t let Tsubaki know that Kathy was able to casually y the games at a Keeper meeting and earn fifty thousand. It might be too much for the poor kitsune to handle.


    EarthForceOne: Anyways¡­ manual aside, you want the decanter and the tidestone? Are you having water problems or something?


    SentinelSeven: Yeah! There was this super big fire monster that appeared in my world a few months ago, and it raised the temperature of the entire by a ton! Now my oceans are basically gone, and I¡¯ll have to reset if I can¡¯t get it taken care of before I match up against a hostile Keeper! This is my main world, too!


    EarthForceOne: ¡­Is that information you should be sharing with someone else?


    SentinelSeven: I don¡¯t think that you¡¯d do anything to hurt me, so it¡¯s fine. You might even have ideas that could help me fix the problem. Are there any other water-attribute treasures that could help?


    EarthForceOne: I¡¯ve got another race that I don¡¯t have listed for trade¡­ they¡¯re the ones that Tsubaki used in her game against you.


    SentinelSeven: Oh? Right, I asked about those before! You said you could send one over¡­ but would that really be enough?


    EarthForceOne: It only takes one special variant of that race to kickstart the poption. More importantly, that race is specifically adapted to be able to survive in any environment. They¡¯re excellent terraformers with an inherent ability to control natural energy. From what you¡¯re describing, they might be able to help revitalize your world, if you use them together with the tidestone.


    SentinelSeven: Wait, really!? They¡¯re that useful!? I just thought that they were really cool mutant nt elves! Give me just a minute again!


    Seeing as how she was probably running off to discuss with herpanions again, I sent a message to Ryone. Kathy already knows about the Sylvan from before, and from the sounds of things they might be the key to saving her world. Need a fair price tag for them.


    Initially, I didn¡¯t n to keep the Sylvans as a secret weapon. However, after watching their growthtely, I felt that it would be for the best to y them a little more close to the chest. But, as Kathy already knew about them, and given the fact that it would help her world¡­ I decided to go ahead and sell her one as well.


    It only took Ryone a few seconds to respond to me, even before Kathy herself had returned. One thousand points, no less. They¡¯re a really powerful race when properly trained.


    ¡­Does our game package we bought back then include Keeper Sim¡­?


    ¡­Maybe¡­ There was a slightly guilty tone to her response that told me all I needed to know. She had obviously been ying Keeper Sim in her spare time, which was how she had appraised the value of the different races outside of their current setting.


    SentinelSeven: Back again! I was told that we can pay up to five thousand points for a race like that! What would their price be?


    EarthForceOne: You¡¯ve¡­ never negotiated before, have you?


    SentinelSeven: No, they always tell me I¡¯m bad at it and to leave it to them, why?


    EarthForceOne: You never tell the other party your upper limit before asking for the price. If you do that, they¡¯ll usually raise the price to be closer to your limit. It¡¯s like you¡¯re offering to pay that much, rather than really asking me what the price is.


    SentinelSeven: Oh¡­ sorry! Pretend I didn¡¯t say that, then! Uhm¡­ what would the price be¡­?


    EarthForceOne: My resident merchant says one thousand would be enough.


    SentinelSeven: So¡­ after you raise the price because of what I said before?


    EarthForceOne: One thousand and one.


    SentinelSeven: Curse you, capitalism!


    I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle at that, having the feeling she wasughing on her end as well. If I really wanted to squeeze her for points, I would have at least doubled the price. Adding only one point to it was just my way of messing with her, especially since I had already told her the original price.


    SentinelSeven: So, with the race, the stones, and the decanter, that is¡­ one thousand, two hundred and seventy five points in total?


    EarthForceOne: One thousand, two hundred, and seventy six.


    SentinelSeven: I¡¯m pouting at the chat window right now, I just want you to know that.


    EarthForceOne: I charge a one point fee for all economic lessons.


    After that, the two of us talked for a little bit more. She was¡­ really the epitome of a chatty Kathy. Even though I insisted that it wasn¡¯t good to go around sharing deep details of her world for security reasons, she still told me what was happening with her.


    From what she said, there was a monster somewhat simr to the sr lion that had attacked my world a while back. However, she didn¡¯t have a good lineup ofbat gods to deal with the problem quickly, and it got a lot closer to her world than it did mine. She was able to destroy it eventually after deploying all of her gods, but by the time she did¡­ irreparable damage had been done to her¡¯s atmosphere.


    If her race wasn¡¯t argely subterranean one, she probably would have already reset. With how she described it, the surface of her world had been scorched. And while her arachne didn¡¯t need to surface often, they did still need air and water.


    For that reason, she had been going through the markettely to look for things to help her. After exining the situation to someone from the Gilded Branch to seek advice, they even told her to reset. When she said that she didn¡¯t want to do that, they said that she needed to find an alternate solution for her atmosphere problem. If the surface was uninhabitable, she needed to make a sustainable atmosphere below ground.


    The problem was¡­ all of the items she found that were able to create sustainable atmospheres suitable for her creatures to live in required water to operate. And the underground waterways barely had enough left for her own residents to drink, let alone supply them with breathable air.


    It was clear that she hadn¡¯t gone the path of energy cultivation for her world. Most likely, they had developed via technology, given the solutions that she told me about. Otherwise, I would have suggested she try to start converting her people into energy forms. At the very least, they wouldn¡¯t need to worry about water or air, or even really food.


    Sadly, that wasn¡¯t an option. Though, hearing her problem did give me hope that the Sylvans would be able to help her. They had managed to survive on barren worlds, and one where the surface was scorched already, and flourished in both environments. As long as I pick a suitable golden Sylvan to send with the tidestones and decanters, she should be taken care of.


    The problem now was picking who would go. If I fast forwarded a couple more years, I would have more options, but I wanted to see what I was working with right now. Pulling up my map, I navigated to the Sylvan forest resting beneath the three suns. This was the area that had developed the longest, and even had another golden Sylvan since myst nce here.


    Now that Protection was gone, they had Song, Cities, Magic, Endurance, Prayer, and¡­ Rain. A golden Sylvan with a domain focusing on water. Once I saw her on the list, there was no doubt that she would be the one I had to send. It was just a matter of exining the situation to her in advance, so that she did not think herself to be in a hostile environment.


    Thankfully, I did still have a little bit of time to take care of that. I just needed to make sure and speak with her sooner rather thanter. Thest thing that I needed was for her to go off and be a tree somewhere before I could send her to Kathy.


    That said¡­ after I took a look at the list of golden Sylvans, I noticed the name of one pulsing faintly with light. Philia of Cities, as I recalled, though now she was being listed as ¡®Philia, Goddess of Cities¡¯.


    Our n to cultivate a Sylvan god had worked!? I hadn¡¯t looked at them since just after myst fast-forward, so I wasn¡¯t aware of the progress that she made. Now that I knew who I was picking to send to Kathy, I couldn¡¯t help myself from wanting to take a closer look at Philia. There were so many possibilities for what a Sylvan god could do, I wanted to see for myself what the truth was.


    Philia sat in her usual perch atop the highest branch of the mother tree. No¡­ she should call it her sister tree now, shouldn¡¯t she? She shook her head at that thought, lying back. Things had changed for her after she reached the end to her road of cultivation. Her helpful friend praised her, saying that she had reached her goal, but no longer had any new tasks for her. She was left to settle matters on her own, which had initially confused her.


    However, things were far more unusual with the other golden Sylvans. Now, they instinctively revered her as if she herself had already taken root as a tree. And, in a way¡­ she might as well have. She was able to transform to a tree and back again at will, after all.


    Upon ascending and bing the first Sylvan Goddess, she discovered a new ability. One that both surpassed the natural ability of the mother tree, but at the same time was weaker than it. She found that she was able to produce new golden Sylvans that would incubate for only a single year before being born.


    This was where her child, Ratan of Prayers came from. The new golden Sylvan of the mother tree had yet to fall, but she had created one of her own. When first creating Ratan, she had been presented with a list of ten domains, one of which she could give to her ¡®child¡¯. Upon doing so, a significant amount of her divine energy was drained.


    After the ¡®draining¡¯, she found that there was a fruit growing inside of her abdomen. When she experimentally turned into a tree, this fruit was moved to her highest branch, and then back to her abdomen when she transformed back. Out of fear of what would happen if the ¡®fruit¡¯ fully matured while still in her body, she spent thetter half of its growth constantly in her tree form.


    After Ratan had been born, she found that she could choose to create another golden Sylvan, this one with a new list of possible domains. However¡­ she was only able to create the golden variety. Even as a tree, Philia was unable to create any green, red, or blue Sylvans. The Goddess of Cities was unable to give birth to her own city.

 Chapter 611: Advancing the Forest

    <h4>Chapter 611: Advancing the Forest</h4>


    After seeing the truth behind the Sylvan Goddesses, I had to say that I had mixed feelings. Yes, the ability to produce golden Sylvans seemingly without end was remarkable. Being able to turn into a tree and back again was no joke, either. I was curious to see whether the tree would be able to expand into a grand forest, as it typically did with others of its kind.


    However, the Sylvan race loses the vast majority of its effectiveness when you only consider the golden breed. Without the ¡®worker ss¡¯, the forest doesn¡¯t expand and can¡¯t be maintained. Without the ¡®schr ss¡¯, the forest loses most of its ability to retain the information acquired by their vast numbers, and the processing ability of more advanced minds. And finally, without the ¡®soldier ss¡¯, the forestcks much of its own defensive ability.


    When you look at it that way, the only thing that a Sylvan Goddess seemed good for was manufacturing demigods. A dozen or so golden Sylvans could be sent topletely terraform a barren world and cover it with a lush, verdant forest. Perhaps there were benefits that Philia hadn¡¯t quite discovered yet, but otherwise¡­ I didn¡¯t feel that it was particrly worth it for the Sylvans as a whole to pursue divinity. Only a select few born with lucky domains would benefit from the process.


    In that sense, I felt sorry for Philia. The Goddess of Cities, born from a race that is innately able to produce great numbers from a single individual, lost her ability tomand her own city.


    Charlotte looked outside at the burning red leaves, a small pout on her golden lips. Of the current golden sisters, she was still the youngest, and had been made to wait as long as she had because her domain was¡­ not verypatible with the they were on. How she wished that she could visit another world, one where she could unleash a mighty rain.


    Sadly, that was not this world. In this world, water would evaporate long before it could hit the ground. It was all she could do to create a few clouds to block out the evening suns. And even then, her sisters had matured beyond worrying about the scorching heat and blistering light.


    As she closed her eyes, Charlotte of Rain basked in the memories passed down through the mother tree. She saw a world where only a single sun rose and fell within the vast sky. A world where the leaves of the trees showed a brilliant green instead of a ming red. That was the type of world that she wished she could live in.


    At times, she had wondered what type of tree she herself would make, when the time came. Cicily of Learning created a tree which passed down all of her knowledge. Would she then create a tree where the leaves stored and released moisture like the clouds in the sky?


    ¡°Maybe.¡± An unfamiliar voice spoke up in front of her, using thenguage that she had learned from the mother tree. Charlotte¡¯s eyes shot open to stare at the man who sat across from her within her private room. He looked¡­ strange in her eyes. For one, he was not covered with the leaves and vines of the forest. He was also not red-skinned like the demons of Cicily¡¯s memory.


    Instead, his skin was pale, his hair ck, and he wore a white tunic with ck pants. He was clearly not a Sylvan, this much could be discerned from the simple fact that he was a he. But his identity did not exist within her memory.


    ¡°My name is Dale, and I am the Keeper of this world.¡± That jogged some memories for her. Cicily¡¯s mind had a faint impression of the Keeper, but she had never met the man. She only knew that he was some being of extreme power and authority.


    Charlotte knew that it would not take long before her sisters responded to a new entity within their tree, so she had to determine if he was a friend or foe before they acted. She held her hand out towards him, a pleading look on her face. With a small, understanding nod, he took her hand.


    What is it that you want here? She hurriedly asked through her racial telepathy.


    ¡°I want to talk to you.¡± He spoke aloud to answer her, but seemed to be musing about something. ¡°Interesting, I¡¯ve never felt this myself. So, you use low-level mana emissions to transmit your thoughts via touch. If you trained yourself as a mage, you could probably talk over long distances as well.¡±


    Charlotte¡¯s eye ridge raised as she looked at the man, unable to fully make sense of what he was talking about. What did you want to talk to me about?


    ¡°Ah, right¡­ Sorry, but I¡¯d like to ask you a favor. Something that I believe only you can do.¡± When Charlotte nodded for him to continue, he began to exin. ¡°A friend of mine has a world that has been ravaged by heat, much like this one. But for her, it was not the result of the sun, but a monster. She needs the help of someone special to save her world. In other words¡­ I would like you to help me bring rain back to a dying world.¡±


    Charlotte¡¯s eyes went wide at that deration, feeling that it was too good to be true. For almost a century now, she had been waiting for the chance to disy her power, to dance beneath the falling rain. And now¡­ she was going to be given a chance? What do I have to do?


    Her transmitted voice was filled with excitement. At the same time, she spoke to the tree itself, transmitting her thoughts to the other golden sisters that she felt rushing in this direction. She told them to wait, that the person who had arrived meant no ill will.


    ¡°For now¡­ nothing. The time is not right yet for me to send anyone to her. I just wanted toe to you early, to make sure that you did not take root before I was able to send you to her. I don¡¯t know how long it will be¡­ but if you would like, I can have you moved to a different forest for now to prepare. It would be the one where your mother was born.¡±


    Charlotte¡¯s smile grew even wider at that, threatening to split her face. But, at the same time¡­ that meant that she would be leaving her sisters. Can I have some time to think about it?


    ¡°Of course.¡± The Keeper nodded his head. ¡°However, before I go, I was wondering if I might be able to make a suggestion? Both for you and your sisters in the forest. I feel like it might help you out in the long run.¡±


    Charlotte blinked, but gave a small nod, calling for her sisters toe to her room. Soon, the wooden wall split open as several golden women walked in. Seeing that those inside did not hold any hostility, the rest of them lowered their guard as well. The table that Charlotte and the Keeper were sitting at expanded, the two of them staying close enough to hold hands while new seats were created.


    ¡°Thank you foring so quickly.¡± The Keeper said with a small smile. ¡°Did Charlotte tell you what I asked of her?¡±


    The other five all looked at Charlotte for a long moment while she recounted her previous conversation with them. They shed looks of surprise, turning their eyes to Dale. Philia, in particr, seemed more curious than the rest. As if, perhaps there might be some hope for her as well.


    ¡°Well, then¡­ let me get down to business.¡± The Keeper smiled towards everyone present. ¡°I would like you to construct shrines to Aurivy within the forest. Additionally, a shrine to Philia would help bolster her power.¡±


    What is a shrine? Charlotte asked on behalf of the others, her question surprising the Keeper.


    ¡°Simply put¡­ a shrine is a ce where you can offer your thoughts to a higher power. For gods, like Aurivy and Philia, this means that they can receive some divine energy through the prayers of their believers. Of course, Philia would first need to designate someone to serve as her ¡®priest¡¯.¡±


    The six Sylvans looked at one another, exchanging their thoughts through their connection to the mother tree. Afterwards, Charlotte turned to look at the Keeper again. We understand why this would help Philia¡­ but why this Aurivy person?


    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s actually quite simple.¡± The Keeper waved his hand, and the wood on the table shifted, forming a small statue that resembled a young girl. ¡°Aurivy is the Goddess of Travel. One of her divine abilities is to allow her priests to open portals between her temples. It takes more energy the further the distance, but it would ultimately allow you to travel between forests to visit one another.¡±


    ¡°You see, I¡¯ve been watching you for a while. Your species is very powerful, but also limited. With your current method of ¡®random distribution¡¯ for new trees, you lose any form of unity within your race. And unity is where your species as a whole thrives. The entire forest is a single organism¡­ but once you leave the forest, you are cut off from it. Do you understand what I¡¯m saying?¡±


    The six girls looked at one another. They did, in fact, understand him. How could they not? It was a sad day when Gracia had to leave, because they knew that they would never be able to see her or her forest. They were losing a sister in order to allow her to answer the call of her instincts. A call that all of them heard on a daily basis.


    ¡°Additionally¡­ you could use the shrines of Aurivy in order to choose where you want to ce your next forest. When you pray to her, you can offer up meaningful sacrifices, such as special fruits from your trees. The more important it is to you, the more you will be rewarded with these small coins.¡± As he spoke, he created a silver coin that showed the face of the woman from the statue.


    ¡°These coins can be exchanged, if you have someone who serves these two.¡± Tapping the table again, two new statues emerged, these two looking much closer to sylvan in body type, without having any nt coverings on their bodies. ¡°These are Ryone and Leowynn. If you serve both of them, you can exchange the coins of Aurivy for special travel requests. For example¡­ you could choose to go to a specific world, or narrow it down based on requests.¡±


    The six girls exchanged somewhat bitter looks as Charlotte spoke to the Keeper. First you want us to worship this Aurivy¡­ now also Ryone and Leowynn? While they were able to understand the benefits of worshipping these goddesses, it was quite a lot for them to take in at once.


    ¡°You don¡¯t all have to worship them, naturally.¡± The Keeper shook his head, before scanning the room. ¡°Ryone is the Goddess of Magic.¡± One of the girls lifted her head abruptly at that. ¡°All it takes is one of you to open the system and exchange the coins.¡±


    ¡°Finally¡­ once you have the rest of this set up, you¡¯ll be able to start on this next improvement. At present, the weakest moment for your species is the first year when one of you starts taking root. At this point, youck the proper means to defend yourself. I propose, once you are able to control where you will nt your new forest, you send people in groups of two. One of you will be the new tree, while the other serves as the guardian.¡±


    ¡°After the tree is established, the guardian can then guide the first generation of the new tree to help integrate them with the society that you are all building. This way, you will be able to ensure that the unity of your race persists throughout the generations.¡±


    When the six girls heard his final suggestion, they fell deep into thought. Each of his ideas indeed had merit, and would improve their race as a whole. However, they were unsure what would be required of them in order to worship these three gods. Their kind had never devoted themselves to a god before, after all.


    I¡¯ll do it. One voice spoke up, the girls all looking towards its source. Joyce of Magic had a determined look in her eyes, causing the girls to share wry grins. Due to their secluded nature, they had never really had a means of learning magic. Her ¡®domain¡¯ was about as useful in their current situation as Charlotte¡¯s. It was no wonder why she would jump on the opportunity to make contact with the true Goddess of Magic.

 Chapter 612: Tower’s Tower

    <h4>Chapter 612: Tower¡¯s Tower</h4>


    After discussing my ns with the sylvans in order to help their future growth, I left them with the details on how to construct a temple, as well as the images of the three goddesses that I suggested they worship. In reality, the sylvans should have been a natural fit for Tryval as the God of nts, but¡­ I didn¡¯t think that would be too appropriate here. Although his domains were indeed quite suitable for them, they did not require a boost to their basic nature. Instead, what they required was the ability to branch out their abilities to supplement what they werecking.


    With that taken care of, I returned to the Admin Room, wanting to check up on other areas briefly. With the time eleration in ce, the sylvans would be able to finish constructing their temples and see the benefits of the trade tform after merely a few hours, a day at the verytest.


    Far off within the empty reaches of space, in a distant sr system of Earth¡¯s realm, a frozen was undergoing a great change. The world of thehrak, the world that Tower had created from his own body, was evolving.


    By now, Tower hadpleted his primary objective. There was a race of ¡®monsters¡¯ that were fully devoted to him as their god. Their worship fueled his divinity. With the billions of them present on his, he believed he knew what his Mother felt when she received the worship of the people from various worlds.


    For the people living on the surface, this change seemed minor, only a quake that rocked the ground. They were unable to appreciate the enormity of what he was doing, as he had chosen to make this change within an uninhabited section of his world. Yet, for the slimes orbiting around the within their spacecraft, the change was very obvious.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± A ck slime asked, ncing out the window curiously as he absorbed the below. He had taken a liking to simply watching the world, appreciating how small everything became in the grand scheme of things. Of course, the others saw his actions a bit differently.


    ¡°It¡¯s probably just another storm, Shin.¡± A white slime answered, still resting within the confines of a small box along the wall. He had noticed that his friend would often take an interest in any unusual weather patterns or the smallest anomaly visible from their position.


    ¡°No,e here. This time it¡¯s different, I swear!¡± Shin called out, his face pressed quite t against the window. t enough that when his friend sighed and got up, he had to physically pry him off the window before wiping the ck goo off of it to take a look.


    ¡°If this is just a blizzard¡­¡± He began, but paused in his speech when he saw what was happening below. What he witnessed was no blizzard, but a growing ck spot within the ground.


    As he focused on his vision, he was able to make out the frozen oceans shattering and copsing in on themselves, spreading out over an area of a hundred miles before stopping. And then, something seemed to rise up from the depths of the pit to fill the empty gap. This time, the white slime needed to activate a spell in order to urately see what was rising.


    It was¡­ a city. A giant city of stone rising from the center of the frozen ocean. Its buildings wereid out in hundreds of concentric circles, and at the center was a towering spire a hundred meters wide. When the slime saw this, he hesitated. Why would there be a building in such an isted area?


    ¡°Let¡¯snd first and check it out.¡± He suggested, looking towards Shin. Their mission was to remain in orbit to watch for any dangerous monsters approaching the that could endanger the people below. Thehrak were a rather primitive people still, and so the slimes had decided that they would act as their guardians until a time came in which thehrak were able to travel the stars themselves.


    However, now that they had seen this strange city rising from the, they knew that they had to investigate. After all, there was a chance that the danger thehrak might face woulde from below instead of above, right?


    With that thought in mind, the two slimes controlled their small craft to begin descent. While the two of them quickly entered their small, metal boxes that could barely contain them in their liquid form, the ship around them began to change in appearance. Its original circr disk narrowed, turning into a metallic spear a thousand meters long. At the tail of the spear was a single thruster that directed them towards the before firing.


    As the ship itself was a slime, it was able to control its descent to a certain degree by altering its shape at will. While the ship fell, it ensured that its widened tip was always facing towards the ground. Even as they hit the atmosphere, and the metal slime appeared to begin boiling, this did not change.


    The creature was fully prepared to sustain a certain amount of damage when descending, and so it paid no heed to its health bar appearing over its form. Instead, as soon as they broke through the firstyer of atmosphere, the ship changed shapes once again. This time, it widened to a width of a hundred and fifty meters, its entire thickness no more than two meters. Like this, it appeared to be a falling iron te.


    While the first form was designed to prate the upper atmosphere at high speeds, the second was to create as much surface area as possible to catch the wind and rapidly decelerate. Such a tactic would be impossible for any other race to achieve, but was only natural for the slimes that cared not for inertia. Their liquid bodies ensured that they only felt a mild difort within their small containers.


    Only when the speed of the ship had reached safe levels did it return to its ¡®normal¡¯ appearance. At that point, the two containers opened again, the ck and white slimes emerging with a liquid squelch. ¡°What¡¯s the damage like?¡± Shin asked as he took up the controls to steer the ship manually.


    ¡°Looks like we only lost two percent this time.¡± The white slime answered in a relieved tone. ¡°As long as we let it eat a little bit on the surface, it should be able to fully recover before we leave.¡±


    Shin nodded his head, looking at the viewport as he controlled the ship tond just outside the city. Despite the city having been risen from a deep pit after the ocean crumbled away, it did not appear to show any signs of damage. More remarkably, the gap between the city and the ocean had already filled itself in by the time they arrived, leading to a seamless transition from ice to stone.


    Once thending had beenplete, the two slimes disembarked, Shin turning back to the slime as he released a strange, gurgling noise. ¡°Water!¡± He called out, before the ship seemed to melt. Having received itsmand, and being told what material it was allowed to eat, it spread itself out over the surface of the ocean while slowly devouring the ice beneath it.


    His partner waited nearby for him, neither of the slimes particrly bothered by the cold. It was only natural, as the two of them were Light and Shadow slimes. It would take much more extreme temperatures for either of them to be truly concerned.


    The two humanoid slimes slowly entered the city, their eyes roaming around. The outer district seemed to be low-ss residential zones, small buildings with little more than the most basic living requirements. However, after they walked roughly a hundred meters, they were astonished by what they saw next.


    A green-skinned woman standing roughly three meters tall and with a slim build was standing outside what appeared to be a small restaurant. As the two approached, she turned and regarded them with a smile. ¡°Wee! Are you here to eat, or just looking around?¡±


    ¡°¡­Looking around.¡± Shin answered, somewhat warily. It was wholly unnatural for there to be any living creatures in this city, especially one that apparently had a job. More importantly, his sensitive senses were able to notice that there was something unusual about this woman.


    ¡°Very well. Is there anything you¡¯d like some assistance with?¡± She asked, still showing that same pleasant expression.


    Seeing how on guard Shin was, his partner spoke up first. ¡°Can you tell us what this city is?¡±


    ¡°Of course! The message is being sent out to thehrak viges right now, so I¡¯ll have it yed for the two of you as well.¡± Saying that, the woman remained in a neutral pose, simply closing her eyes. Momentster, a translucent image appeared before the two slimes, showing a humanoid crystal figure.


    The two of them recognized this figure as the ¡®god¡¯ that governed this world, who introduced himself as Tower when the slimes made first contact. As they were wondering what was going on, the figure released a deep tone. ¡°My children, I have received your affection now for countless years¡­ so it is rightly time that I grant you something in return.¡±


    ¡°Within the western ocean, I have erected a haven of stone, a city capable of housing fifty million individuals. Within this haven, there are numerous entities provided by myself to run establishments such as restaurants andw enforcement. However, this city has two other purposes, and this is what I would like everyone to take note of.¡±


    ¡°First and foremost, this city shall be where I myself live, and I will reside within the central structure. It is through this that I hope to be closer with all of you.¡± The two slimes nced towards the massive tower erected in the center of the city, visible even from this distance.


    ¡°Secondly¡­ this city shall serve as a base of training to strengthen you. Beneath the city, I have erected a massive dungeon, which reaches deep into the. By killing the monsters within this dungeon, you will be rewarded with small gemstones containing the crystallized essence of magic.¡±


    ¡°These gems shall be how you pay for various services within the city, including your meals and rent. They shall be the only recognized form of currency within the city. This means that if you wish to reside within this haven, you must either prove your worth in battle against these monsters and grow stronger, or prove yourself in the field of business.¡±


    ¡°I hope to see many of you soon¡­¡± As the figure said that, it gradually began to fade away. Once the message was over, the woman opened her eyes to look at the two slimes.


    ¡°Has this answered your questions?¡± She asked happily, the two looking at one another.


    ¡°So you are created by the God of Monsters?¡± Shin asked, to which the woman nodded her head.


    ¡°That is correct. I am a member of the Service Race that has been given life and intelligence by Lord Tower. Each of my kind has a specific job, and abilities befitting that job. I myself was created to act as both an attraction to this establishment and as security. What do you think, did Lord Tower make me pretty enough?¡± Her smile went wide at that, and she inclined her head to the side.


    The two slimes¡­ did not entirely know what to say. Their personal preferences were far removed from those of thehrak. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ sure that thehrak will like you.¡± Shin answered with uncertainty, earning a small pout from the woman.


    ¡°If it is alright with you, could you show us to the dungeon¡¯s entrance?¡± His friend spoke up quickly to rescue Shin from the awkward conversation. However, the woman blinked in response.


    ¡°I apologize, but I can¡¯t leave my post. Although it is unlikely that we will receive any new guests for some time, this is a rule of the Service Race. If you are looking for a guide, please head three rings inwards and look for a building with a symbol of a map on its sign. You can study theyout of the city there, or hire a guide to take you to various locations, so long as you can afford the fee.¡±

 Chapter 613: Beneath the Surface

    <h4>Chapter 613: Beneath the Surface</h4>


    As numeroushrak began to prepare for a migration to the ocean following their god¡¯s words, the two curious slimes went deeper and deeper into the city. Though, to call such a massive space a single city did not seem fitting. There were nations smaller than the city provided by Tower.


    Only after walking for fifteen minutes did the two of theme across the building marked with the sign of the map. Upon entering, they found another green-skinned individual, this one a lithe man standing behind the counter. ¡°Here to browse the map?¡± He asked in a knowing tone, catching the two by surprise.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing to be shocked about. You should have seen the announcement, so you know that you can¡¯t buy anything here. It¡¯s too soon for you to have any mana stones. The only thing you could do here is study the map.¡± The two slimes seemed pensive, but were ultimately convinced by his words.


    After they walked over, they found that there were five entry points to the dungeon below the city. Each point was marked with between one and five stars, which appeared to dictate both their difficulty and location. Four of the five entry points were located halfway between the central tower and the edge of the city in the four ordinal directions, starting north-west and continuing clockwise.


    Finally, the five-star entry point was marked as the tower itself. However, the stars for this point were not yellow, but rather crimson. From their position, they were currently closest to the three-star entry point at the south-east of the city.


    After making a mental note of the path that they needed to take, as well as a few oddities marked on the map, Shin looked towards his partner. ¡°Shall we give it a test-run?¡± He asked, no small amount of excitement in his tone.


    ¡°Will we be allowed to, if we are nothrak?¡± He muttered, though his voice seemed to have been heard by the worker of the establishment.


    ¡°That¡¯s nothing to worry about.¡± The green-skinned man answered with a chuckle. ¡°Anyone can participate in the lord¡¯s dungeons, regardless of their race.¡±


    Hearing that seemed to relieve the worries of the two, causing them to exchange silent nces. Shin left the building alone to begin walking towards the dungeon, while his partner stepped out and made a call. As the spell diagram appeared in front of him, the image of a golden slime emerged within it.


    ¡°Shlor, have there been any unusual developments?¡± The golden slime asked, seeming surprised that he was called.


    ¡°Have any of the guardians reported the situation urring within thehrak world?¡± The white slime, Shlor, asked the apparent leader.


    ¡°We have received reports of a revtion from the local god. Do you have any additional news to report?¡±


    Shlor gave a small nod. ¡°We have arrived on the scene after seeing the city emerging from the surface of the ocean. Its diameter is roughly one hundred and fifty kilometers, and it appears to be popted by a green-skinned race of servants. Shin and I are investigating the dungeon, after which we will return to our post in orbit.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s not going to eat the mana stones, is he¡­?¡± The golden slime asked in exasperation.


    ¡°¡­I make no promises. The dungeon entrance that we are using is listed as a mid-tier dungeon. Once we¡¯ve assessed the dangers, we will return and make another report.¡± After saying that, the spell was cut off, and the white slime began to chase after Shin.


    With his speed, it only took him a moment to catch his darker partner, at which point the two of them walked the streets together. At a casual walking speed, it took the two of them three hours to reach the dungeon entrance, at which point Shin couldn¡¯t help but grumble.


    ¡°If this was made for the convenience of the people, aren¡¯t the entrances too far apart? Just getting to the dungeon takes so long¡­ and we weren¡¯t that far away!¡±


    ¡°We also didn¡¯t rush.¡± Shlor countered. ¡°But you raise a valid point. If the dungeons were designed for those that were able to arrive quickly, it would innately require a higher level. Perhaps there is some other trick to it¡­?¡±


    ¡°Pardon me, but I can answer that.¡± A man spoke up, standing near the dungeon entrance and looking at the two with a smile.


    ¡°Are you a dungeon guide, or something?¡± Shin asked in confusion, looking to the green-skinned man that had suddenly called out to them.


    ¡°Something of the sort. I can supply information on specific floors of this dungeon, so long as the price is paid. However, for information like what you spoke of, I can also simply offer it on my own. After all, it would be inconvenient if people made improper assumptions about these dungeons, especially as a first impression.¡±


    The two slimes looked to one another, before nodding for the man to continue. ¡°You see, there is a nearby transit system, a portal nexus that connects to various districts of the city. Using these portals costs a small fee, so they are currently not in operation.¡±


    ¡°Directly outside the dungeon is the low-ie residential housing. This is to help those unable to ess the portal live closer to the primary source of ie. However, there is also another reason behind this decision, as purchasing a house further away from the dungeon provides not only morevish conditions, but also increased safety.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re saying it¡¯s not safe to live near the dungeons?¡± Shin asked in surprise, looking towards the man with curiosity quite literally bubbling up inside of him.


    ¡°Quite! In fact, if the mana stones are not harvested at a steady rate, there is a chance for what is known as a Dungeon Break. This is an event in which dungeon monsters will either move up from a lower floor, or escape the dungeon entirely. During a Dungeon Break, it will be up to the local civilians to protect their own lives.¡±


    Shlor looked at the man, seeming suspicious of something. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t the god of this world have created servants like yourself to resolve these events?¡±


    However, the man simply returned a small smile. ¡°If we were to resolve all of the problems for the inhabitants of this world, they would have no drive to improve themselves. This is also a setting provided by Lord Tower. During a Dungeon Break, the monsters will not attack those of the Servant Race.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± Shlor nodded his head faintly, before walking towards the entrance, which was a grand stone arch connecting to a tunnel leading downwards. Atop the arch was a carving of three stars, just like it had indicated on the map.


    ¡°There aren¡¯t any required items we need to enter the dungeon, right?¡± Shin asked curiously, seeing his friend already walking off.


    The man shook his head. ¡°There are bonus items that can be rented or purchased. However, those are purely supplementary items, and are by no means required to explore the dungeon.¡±


    Hearing that, Shin gave an almost liquid nod, his head sloshing back and forth before he chased after Shlor. Inside the dungeon, the first room appeared to be a safe area, void of any monsters. There was no discernible gate or barrier to separate the path from the dungeon proper, so it would seem that there was some other method keeping the monsters contained.


    Shin found his friend waiting within this safe zone, looking into the path beyond. The underground tunnels seemed to be lit by evenly spaced glowing stones, which offered only minimal lighting to help individuals see the path. As for identifying more specific details like monsters or traps, the adventurers would need to rely on other means.


    ¡°Something bothering you?¡± Shin asked, to which Shlor nodded his head.


    ¡°This dungeon¡­ I can¡¯t tell if it¡¯s designed to help thehrak, or thin the herd.¡± He answered in a quiet tone.


    ¡°Why would a god need to reduce the number of his followers?¡± Shin asked in confusion, his head sloshing to the side as the two entered the dungeon.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, it¡¯s just a feeling. The city has a capacity of a hundred million, but if it is popr, people will build satellite cities around it to increase that number. This could be the center of civilization for this world. But those dungeon breaks¡­ why include an obviously hazardous mechanic like that to something designed purely to be a boon?¡±


    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s like what the guy up top said! Just a bit of encouragement from the local god.¡± Seeing how optimistic Shin was about the situation, Shlor simply shook his head. Despite the dim lighting of the tunnels, the two of them could perfectly perceive the details around them.


    When the first monster attacked, it was Shlor that dealt with it by firing a ray of condensed light, urately piercing through its head. On closer inspection, the monster was a wolf covered in a hard, stone carapace. Shlor took a moment to study it, testing the strength of its armor before finding the purple, jagged stone ced where its heart should have been. The stone was small, barely two centimeters and shaped like a broken crystal.


    When he extracted the crystal, he studied the body of the monster for several long moments, as if waiting for something. However, after over a minute passed with no change, he let out a gurgle of relief. ¡°Meat and other materials can still be harvested from the monster corpses. That means that it should be possible to sell them to the shops in the city, or keep them to eat personally.¡±


    Shin didn¡¯t seem to understand what his partner was looking for, simply shrugging his shoulders. ¡°It didn¡¯t seem all that strong, at least. Even if a pack of them broke out, wouldn¡¯t your typicalhrak hunter be able to deal with them?¡±


    Shlor thought about that for a moment, before nodding in agreement. ¡°This is only the first floor. We can expect more dangerous encounterster on.¡±


    As I watched through the ¡®first exploration¡¯ of the dungeon, I couldn¡¯t help but praise Tower for what he had done. It certainly was not as simple as it had looked on the surface. He did not simply create a new dungeon, but an entirely new style of dungeon.


    The spawning mechanic for the monsters was rather interesting, as they outwardly appeared to sprout from the walls of the dungeon. In truth, that was because of the ¡®mana stones¡¯ that were buried within the walls. These stones were a special type of monster themselves that could be triggered by specific pulses of mana to grow into their full monster form.


    Tower had littered the walls of his dungeons with monster stones containing a wide variety of different species. Furthermore, he had worked together with Aurivy to make it a divinew for dungeons to be capable of producing this type of stone through their mana. As such, I was certain that this feature would be spread to other dungeons, after being tested by Tower.


    These monster stones grew within the dungeon¡¯s walls at a fixed rate, which was the cause for the Dungeon Break system. If they were not harvested faster than they were produced, the monsters would overflow.


    As for why they didn¡¯t attack the ¡®Servant Race¡¯? That was¡­ perhaps the most simplistic answer of all. Why would the monsters attack other dungeon monsters? Especially ones controlled by avatars of the dungeon itself.


    It took me a moment to recall that Tower was no ordinary god. He was a Union God, created through thebined will of the Dungeon Core race. That race already had a knack for ¡®piloting¡¯ multiple bodies at once, after all. So, it was no problem for him to delegate control of the Servant Race individuals to the other dungeon cores that made his being.


    Finally, I noticed a few other secrets about the dungeon he created. Certain underground businesses secreted away in hidden paths of the dungeon, such as an information guild or thieves¡¯ guild. Simrly, strange phenomena on the surface that would inspire caution and curiosity from the inhabitants.


    It could not be said that these phenomena came without warning, as they had been clearly marked on the maps in every guidepost. For instance, on the western side of the city, there was an alleyway with a strange fog. Entering that fog would transport any individual to a different random alleyway in the city. Following the potential paths, I noticed that there was a secret location that could only be entered through this method, as well. I was somewhat curious how long it would take someone to stumble upon the Lost Treasury.

 Chapter 614: Branching Out

    <h4>Chapter 614: Branching Out</h4>


    The schrly faction of the Sorii Grove sat upon their roots, doing their best to manage the forest in the way that Cicily had instructed before she left. As her aspect was learning, she had long since learned everything she could about the ways to manage such a settlement. That was the reason she felt it was safe to leave in the first ce.


    However, there would always be unexpected problems that arose. For instance, without Cicily around, there was no longer a source of new potions emerging from the forest. Some of the schrs had attempted to replicate her methods, using the knowledge saved within the tree, but to little effect. Nothing that they created was as revolutionary as the potions Cicily herself brewed.


    Without those potions, the forest became isted from the world¡¯s focus, and people saw the sylvans as little more than glorified gardeners. They did not intrude on the forest itself, as they regrly saw the might of its caretakers when facing invading monsters. But they also did not spend as much time and effortmunicating with it anymore.


    Over the years that had passed, the Sorii Grove hadpleted its task of making the livable. At this point, there were numerous open-air cities constructed throughout the at key resource sites. Many of these cities were located only just barely outside of the forest itself, so that they could harvest valuable minerals hidden underground beneath the roots of the trees.


    As such¡­ it was no wonder that there were shrines to the Greater Pantheon located within these cities. Within the Church of the Wanderer, a temple dedicated to the worship of Aurivy built within the original settlement of Sorii, a golden portal arose. This was amon sight to the followers of the halfling goddess, so they paid little mind to the event, only curious about the identity of this time¡¯s traveler.


    It must be known that while the travel via Aurivy¡¯s temple was widely known, it was typically cheaper to take the dimensional gates for transit. Unless they were on Fyor, or within an underdeveloped region, it was rare for people to actually use this method. It was, after all, quite expensive.


    Just as they were wondering which wealthy noble or businessman it was using this portal, they saw a golden figure emerging, her body covered in a dress of vines and leaves. When she saw the demonic priest standing nearby, she furrowed her brow in focus. As she did so, a faintly distorted voice emerged in the demon¡¯s mind.


    Is this thend of Sorii? The golden-skinned woman asked, eliciting a nod from the demon. When she received that confirmation, a smile blossomed on the face of the woman, who quickly turned and fled from the temple.


    As she left, the demon couldn¡¯t help but remember the stories of a special type of sylvan, one that had left this world many years ago, and had not appeared again since. For a moment, he even wondered if this was Cicily, but then recalled that the sylvans he knew of were able to speak, as opposed to what she had just shown.


    Ratan ran through the city happily, eyes sweeping over the metallic and ss forms. It all felt so different from what she was used to, it was almost surreal. However, at the same time, she knew that she needed to quickly reach the forest, and share the knowledge she had with the local tree. She was not the only sister who wanted to visit this world.


    Within Lorek, at the southern edge of the continent and at the heart of the great forest, the great forest stood tall and strong against any monsters that approached it. The star beasts below the realm of Immortal Demon could only watch helplessly as the roots of the trees moved in an almost mystical pattern.


    The entire forest radiated an aura mixed with fire and life, an astral glow lighting it even in the darkest night. Such was the power of the cultivation system that the grove practiced, training themselves as one entity through the connection they shared with the forest. And at its heart was Narissa of Growth, meditating atop her lonely branch.


    Even with the elerated growth speed offered by her aspect, there had not yet been another golden sister born from the tree. There were still many more years to wait before she would have anyone that she could properly hold a conversation with.


    Although she couldmunicate with the sylvans of other colors, it was¡­ unfulfilling. While they did have intelligence, they only had a low level of self-awareness. Each served more as an extension of the forest as opposed to an individual being. In times of strife, that indeed made it easier for them to cooperate, acting with one thought. But, when the world was at peace, the solitude became stifling.


    There had been many times when Narissa contemted leaving the forest for a short venture to other inhabited areas. From the tallest branch of the mother tree, she could even see such settlements in the far distance. The problem was that the forest could not properly act without her there to guide it. While the others were seen as extensions of the forest, its arms and legs, she was its heart. Leaving the forest would cause it to be bereft of its ability to properly defend itself in times of emergency.


    And so, she could do nothing but sit and meditate, hoping to encounter another band of travelers. After having given it some thought, she should have given an invitation to thest band that passed, telling them that she would offer safe harbor to those in need. Perhaps doing so would provide her with thepany that she desired.


    As she was thinking about that, she felt a faint disturbance within the forest, her eyes shooting open. A presence had appeared, one both familiar and foreign at the same time. Narissa stood from her meditation, walking out to the end of her branch and focusing her vision.


    In the far distance, she could see a glowing dot approaching the forest at high speeds. Has Danae to talk? She asked herself, a smile growing on her face. As the only one in this world near godhood, Dana had paid a visit weeks ago to meet her. Although Dana looked as if she had lost all hope, she was still the most interesting conversation partner that Narissa had spoken with.


    Yet, something seemed different about the golden light flying towards her. It did not feel the same as Dana. Rather, it felt more¡­ pure, as if she was not witnessing the arrival of a half-god, but the advent of a true deity. From the depths of her being, Narissa had an instinctive desire to prostrate herself when first seeing this light, but managed to withstand this urge.


    When the light came closer, Narissa saw that it was another golden sylvan, much like herself. Moreover, it was one that had a faint presence in the memories of her tree. Sadly, her mother was not of an aspect that could easily pass down knowledge, so Narissa still did not know this stranger¡¯s name.


    Once the stranger noticed her, the golden light flickered, and an additional figure stepped onto the branch of the tree where Narissa waited. The moment that golden foot made contact with the tall branch, information flooded into Narissa¡¯s mind. Philia? She asked mentally, as if testing the name.


    Philia nodded her head in response, transferring the information about what was needed of the grove. The temple that they had to build. Although it took Narissa a few moments to process the information, she readily agreed as if this had been what she was waiting for all along.


    At the same time¡­ Philia looked at Narissa with something akin to pity. While she was transferring the information over, she also had the chance to review what was already stored within the tree. She saw Narissa¡¯s loneliness, her need tomunicate with someone, anyone. Philia walked forward, wrapping her arms around Narissa¡¯s surprised form. Gracia had a good daughter¡­


    Narissa didn¡¯t know why those words hit her as strongly as they did, but found her armsing up to hug this sylvan goddess, her shoulders shaking faintly. For the first time in her life, she felt as if she had met someone that understood her, someone that she could speak to on any level.


    Will you stay around? She asked hopefully, eventually releasing Philia from her embrace. The thought of losing the only other person like her caused more dread than she thought it should have.


    Until the temples arepleted. Philia nodded her head in agreement. I¡¯ll be using my power to help speed things along. After it¡¯s done, I¡¯ll take you back with me, and ask one of the other sisters to watch the forest for a little while.


    Hearing that Philia would leave so soon almost broke Narissa¡¯s heart. However, hearing that she would have the chance to go with her seemed to be the silver lining behind a dark cloud. The younger sylvan nodded her head eagerly, looking as if she would do anything to get what Philia had just promised her.


    By the way¡­ Philia looked at her with a somewhatplicated expression. You are the sylvan of Growth, aren¡¯t you? How are you practicing the cultivation path of Wood?


    As a goddess, and one who had reached her level by walking the path of cultivation, Philia had the ability to tell what path Narissa was cultivating after being in contact with her for only a few moments. Yet, this baffled her, as themon sense she knew dictated that each sylvan could only cultivate the path that they were born with.


    Narissa beamed a wide smile as she realized that she had the chance to share information with what should be considered her senior in almost every aspect. Growth is only just one of many aspects of Wood. By incorporating my own path into the path of Wood, I was able to practice it together with my forest.


    Despite the exnation, Philia¡¯s eyes only went wider. Your entire forest cultivates this path?


    This time, it was Narissa¡¯s turn to be confused. Isn¡¯t it normal for the forest to cultivate as one?


    Philia simply shook her head, sitting down with Narissa to exin things to her. Your future sisters¡­ their paths have already been set since before you were born. If the entire forest cultivates the same path, and their own path is ipatible, they will be unable to join you on it. In my forest, we assign the paths for everyone to practice based on a variety of factors. Everyone gets something rted to their job, and that way there will be something for the future sisters to learn fromter.


    Narissa¡¯s golden face seemed to lose a bit of its color when she heard that. Have I made a mistake¡­? She knew that it was no easy thing to undo the cultivation of the forest. Yet, she already had millions of individuals within her forest practicing this method. How would she manage to fix this before it was toote?


    Philia reached an arm out to hold Narissa by the waist,forting her. I¡¯ll try to reorganize things. When the new sylvans are born, don¡¯t start them on the path of wood. I¡¯ll set up different districts of the forest and help prepare you for your sisters. As the Goddess of Cities, this is something that I can do.


    Cities¡­? Narissa looked at her in confusion. The forest is a city now?


    Philia cleared her throat awkwardly, ncing off to the side. A city is merely a ce with a defined boundary, arge poption, and local governing figures. We have the boundary of the forest, the poption of sylvans, and we ourselves are the governing figures. As long as I look at it like that, this ce is our city, is it not?

 Chapter 615: Silver Lining

    <h4>Chapter 615: Silver Lining</h4>


    Under Philia¡¯s tutge, the ¡®city¡¯ that was the Lorek grove showed rapid signs of development. Philia introduced Narissa to new ways of utilizing the trees, creating portals that would allow one to quickly cross to any other point of the forest. Homes were set up in districts following the sylvan goddess¡¯s instructions, with the inner district being named the District of Wood.


    While all of this sounded like it took quite a while, it was truthfully over in merely a few days. To speed up the process, Philia used her own divine power to adjust theyout of the city such that everything had been neatly organized. She even instructed Narissa on how to train her people for different production-rted tasks that would better enhance the forest.


    It was only after all of this was done that Narissa and Philia finalized the temple to Aurivy within the heart of the forest. During this time, Narissa enjoyed being able to truly speak with another of her kind for hours on end, neither party running out of things to discuss. And like so, the forest changed without anyone else realizing what impact this would have.


    Dana crouched down within the storeroom of the Sky Citadel, inspecting a wooden box containing a number of parts ranging from simple screws to more advanced energy converters. She lifted a particr piece up, squinting her eyes at it before smiling softly. After setting it back in the box, she pulled out her clipboard and wrote a note on it. ¡°Alright, this shipment seems fine.¡±


    In recent days, there had been a malfunction at one of the mana factories, causing an entire facility to be shut down. If it had not been for the world spirit that Dana created to help with that world, she was sure that the damage would have been much more extreme.


    At the moment, Dana suspected that there was a mana siphon that had been created on the other side of the waste disposal portal, one that leaked back through and caused the malfunction to take ce. In order to prevent this from happening in the future, Dana was taking steps to secure the process more thoroughly.


    As she reached for the lid to the box, nning to seal it for transport, Dana noticed something unusual. Her right hand became faint and ethereal, turning briefly into smoke as it refused to pass through the box. Gulping, Dana nced around the room to make sure nobody was watching.


    ¡°Open.¡± She muttered, and a circr void appeared in the air next to her. Dana reached her hand out, plunging it into the void as she devoured the silver mist within it. When she pulled her hand back, she let out a faint sigh of relief, noticing that it had returned to normal. ¡°It¡¯s getting faster¡­¡±


    ¡°What is?¡± Tsubaki¡¯s voice spoke up from directly behind Dana, causing her to jump and turn around, eyes wide from surprise. ¡°And what was that?¡± The kitsune goddess looked towards the silver mist leaking out of the hole, a sh of recognition crossing her features, but also one of confusion.


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s nothing, Tsuba.¡± Dana smiled, closing the hole and trying her best to ease the worry she felting from Tsubaki.


    ¡°Dana¡­¡± Tsubaki crouched down, looking genuinely concerned towards the smaller elven spirit. ¡°I know when you¡¯re lying to me. What¡¯s going on?¡±


    Hearing Tsubaki¡¯s tone, and seeing the worry on her usually stoic face, Dana felt a slight shudder run through her body, a pang of sadness. At that moment, her control slipped, and her left hand simrly became faint and ethereal, just like the right had been moments ago.


    When Dana saw that there was no more chance to hide what was happening, she looked down at the floor. ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know exactly what¡¯s happening. You know how long I¡¯ve been around¡­ way more than any other spirit.¡±


    ¡°I thought your form had stabilized ages ago?¡± Tsubakimented with furrowed brows, earning a faint nod from Dana.


    ¡°So did I. I haven¡¯t felt any problems since you took me as your familiar. But¡­ a few months ago, this started. I thought I just had to start eating again, and it wouldn¡¯t be a problem, so I didn¡¯t want to worry you. But¡­ it¡¯s been happening more frequently. I think¡­ I think¡­¡±


    Though the words were left unsaid, the meaning was clear. Tsubaki¡¯s brow furrowed as she leaned in, wrapping Dana in a gentle embrace. ¡°That¡¯s not going to happen, Dana. I won¡¯t let it.¡±


    Dana had be a more important existence to Tsubaki¡¯s life than either of them had ever truly admitted. She was the closest thing Tsubaki had to family, less a student and more an adopted daughter. Over the many years that the two of them had been together, Dana had be something that Tsubaki felt she could no longer live without. As if life would be too quiet and lonely without the elven spirit.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how to fix it, though¡­ and I don¡¯t want to bother the boss. It¡¯s not easy to get him to act, especially just for one person.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not just one person.¡± Tsubaki whispered to her. ¡°You¡¯re Dana Jafer. Servant of the Keeper, and part of our family¡­ I know he¡¯ll act if it¡¯s for you. But first, give me a couple of days to research the problem. When we meet him, I want to be fully informed.¡±


    ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary.¡± Another voice spoke up in the room, startling both girls. They hadn¡¯t sensed his arrival, but the Keeper had appeared silently at the doorway, watching the scene with a gentle expression. Tsubaki could tell that this was the true Keeper, not the ¡®puppet¡¯ that was left to upy the throne.


    ¡°H-hey boss.¡± Dana spoke with a weak smile, hiding her hand behind her back. ¡°You saw that, huh¡­?¡±


    The Keeper gave a small nod, walking over and sitting down next to them, to put himself more on the level of the small elf. ¡°Tsubaki¡¯s right, you should have told me about this. I could have asked James and Irena to look into it for you sooner.¡±


    ¡°Do you know what¡¯s happening to her?¡± Tsubaki asked, a touch of urgency in her voice as she looked at the Keeper.


    ¡°Only a little bit. I did some checking with Irena, but haven¡¯t spoken to James. ording to what she said¡­ Dana is reaching the end of her natural lifespan.¡± When the Keeper said that, both of the girls tensed up, the realization hitting them harder.


    ¡°As you know, spirits are not eternal. Even an aeon will fade with the passing of time. Dana¡­ she had longer than most, because of her unique titles, and then bing your familiar. If you supply her regrly with divine energy, she could probablyst for another fifty years by Irena¡¯s estimate. But¡­ in that time, she¡¯ll probably start to lose pieces of her memories as her spirit fades.¡±


    Dana let out a gasp of horror when she heard that, actually breaking free from Tsubaki¡¯s grip to step over to the Keeper. ¡°Boss¡­ no, Dale, what can I do? I don¡¯t want to lose my time with Tsuba. Please¡­¡± Her eyes began to water as the Keeper reached out to pat a hand on her shoulder.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t spoken with James yet, but I think he¡¯ll agree with me. You need to evolve again. It¡¯s Tsubaki¡¯s divinity that has kept you in one piece for so long, but you have yet to achieve your own form of eternity. You don¡¯t have the Perfect Self, or the Perfect Soul, and you aren¡¯t innately divine yourself. Scarlet at least had her status as a demigod to hold her together.¡±


    ¡°How can I evolve, though?¡± Dana asked, looking towards the Keeper. ¡°I thought that there wouldn¡¯t be anything left after bing the familiar of a god.¡±


    ¡°Normally¡­ there probably wouldn¡¯t be. But you aren¡¯t a true familiar.¡± When the Keeper pointed that out, Dana blinked. ¡°Remember, you were an unbound familiar that was taken in. You aren¡¯t a familiar created from a part of Tsubaki¡¯s power. Her soul is imprinted on you, but it¡¯s not a part of you, if that makes sense¡­¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t, but I¡¯m listening. How can we fix things?¡± Dana asked, reaching her hands out to put them on the Keeper¡¯s shoulders. ¡°Please, is there a way?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know exactly. Off the top of my head, I can only think of two, but I don¡¯t know the exact ways to go about them.¡± The Keeper shook his head in response. ¡°First, deepen the rtionship with yourself and Tsubaki. Truly be her familiar, and her power should be able to fuel you. But¡­ if you do this, the nature of your soul will change, and you will probably lose parts of your personality. I can¡¯t guarantee that you would be the same person when the process is over.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the second option?¡± Tsubaki questioned immediately, seeming to deem the first as uneptable without some form of guarantee.


    ¡°The second option¡­ is for Dana to evolve into a higher energy form. One that has immortality as an innate quality. She could be a god, or a perfect soul, or some other type of being. There might even be ways that I could use my power to bestow such a trait on her once I go back.¡±


    ¡°You mean spending points to buy something.¡± Dana said faintly, having a basic understanding of what it was like for the Keeper. In the end, there werews that governed even the actions of the Keeper¡­ the great, pandimensional capitalism.


    ¡°How much would it cost?¡± Tsubaki asked, seeming to think of something. Noticing her thoughts, the Keeper smiled towards her.


    ¡°I¡¯m having Ryone look into it now. Any energy types that can be used to gain agelessness, techniques that can be trained, or systems that can halt the aging process of specific individuals. Right now¡­ she¡¯s found one, aside from the methods we have. It¡¯s an extremely high level energy, known as a saint energy.¡±


    ¡°How much?¡± Tsubaki asked again, though the Keeper raised his hand to stop her.


    ¡°Just wait, and let me exin. We might not need to buy anything in the first ce.¡± A memory seemed to pass over the Keeper¡¯s expression. ¡°There¡¯s an energy that we have in this world, one that I¡¯ve already purchased. It is able to continuously restore vitality, and has been shown to visibly halt the user¡¯s aging¡­¡±


    Dana looked hopefully towards the Keeper when she heard that, as if a beacon had lit up in her eyes. ¡°Is this something that I can practice?¡±


    ¡°Maybe¡­ I need to purchase the next level of the energy in order to say for certain. The information I have right now doesn¡¯t include how to evolve your own body with it, only how to create and control it. But, even that should be enough to stabilize you, I think. I just don¡¯t know if it would be a permanent solution or not.¡±


    ¡°How much is the next level?¡± Tsubaki asked once more, her face looking more and more determined as the possibility of hope increased.


    ¡°Forty-five thousand points.¡± When Tsubaki heard that number, her face practically crumbled, the number far beyond even her wildest prediction. ¡°Saint-level energies are frighteningly powerful. This one in particr is able to create an entire world, and potentially limitless lifeforms within it.¡±


    ¡°Does it¡­ involve shadows?¡± Dana asked, thinking back to the time when she was in Fyor. When she met a girl who appeared to have a massive army lurking within her shadow, willing to serve her.


    The Keeper nodded his head. ¡°The name of the energy is the World¡¯s Shadow. In a sense, it feels like someone was trying to make a lesser version of the system we Keepers use, that they could grant to their people. If you¡¯re willing to ept it, I¡¯ll have Udona add the manual to create it in the library.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m willing!¡± Dana called out without any hesitation, earning a somewhat awkward look from the Keeper.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ you didn¡¯t let me finish. I was about to say that training an energy like this to the state of evolution would probably sever your ¡®familiar¡¯ rtionship with Tsubaki. That¡¯s the trade-off here.¡±


    ¡°Do it.¡± Tsubaki nodded her head as well, reaching over to pull Dana into another embrace. ¡°If the options are to lose her as a familiar, or to lose her as a person¡­ I can do without a familiar. But I don¡¯t want to lose Dana.¡±


    Dana looked over towards Tsubaki at that, who reached down to ce a hand over the smoke that was emerging from the spirit¡¯s arm. With a gentle flow of divine light, the limb was restored to its pristine condition. ¡°The Goddess of Light, and the World¡¯s Shadow. Don¡¯t you think that these would make a great pair to serve the Keeper?¡± Tsubaki asked with a small smile, earning a choked nod from Dana.


    ¡°I¡¯ll get Udona started on it, then.¡± The Keeper said as he stood, reaching down to help the two of them up. ¡°It should be ready within a few minutes. But remember to take your time when practicing. It won¡¯t do any good for you to rush through the process if the result is failure. Saint energies get¡­ dangerous when they fail.¡±

 Chapter 616: Dana’s Resolve

    <h4>Chapter 616: Dana¡¯s Resolve</h4>


    Dana furrowed her brow as she sat in the library, looking at the book that was resting in front of her. This was one of the several books that had only just been created by the Goddess of Education, bestowed on their library for the sake of teaching Dana how to create the World¡¯s Shadow.


    ¡°In theory¡­ this should be easy enough.¡± She muttered, looking at the detailed description of the energy controlling spell diagram. There were no particrly new elements to the spell that she needed to make herself aware of, so theoretically she could perform the fusion with ease.


    After she said that, though, she nced at the five other books beside her. Four of them were about training microscopic control over the four primary energy types, as if to emphasize just how exact this fusion needed to be. Clearly, it wasn¡¯t enough just to have the spell diagram and rough knowledge of the process.


    As if to further drive that point home, the fifth book was all about powerful defensive spells that could protect the user¡¯s life in the event that an energy fusion failed. Dana wasn¡¯t sure if she shouldugh or feel touched at all of the care that both the Keeper and Udona were taking to make sure that she was able to go through this transition smoothly.


    ¡°I¡¯ll use an avatar to try it out first.¡± She nodded to herself, splitting off a portion of her energy to form a clone body, much in the same way that Tsubaki regrly did. ¡°If it works¡­ I can have the avatar bring the energy back to me.¡±


    Of course, if it didn¡¯t work, she likely would not even be able to retrieve the energy that she used to create the avatar. But that was a risk that she was willing to take. After all, this was only a learning experience, a test for her to properly understand how the fusion process would work.


    Once the avatar of Dana had been created, it opened a portal next to itself, departing to arrive at their ¡®private world¡¯. Naturally, the location she chose was far removed from the refineries or their world observation tower.


    The first thing that her avatar did was to call upon the world spirit that she had created, to use it to help her more finely control the natural energy required in this process. This world spirit was¡­ something that embarrassed her to a certain degree, with how it turned out. Its facial features strongly resembled Tsubaki, and even the curves of its body were a perfect match. The only discernible difference between the two was that one had the appearance of a kitsune, while the other appeared to be an elf.


    Meanwhile, in the library, Dana¡¯s main body opened the four microscopic control books. Although she wasn¡¯t able to practice them in depth while her avatar was acting, she would be able to scan over them for helpful tips.


    ¡°Note to self, get nk to work on a program that could download books straight into someone¡¯s mind.¡± Dana muttered as she read over the introductions to the four books, flipping to relevant chapters.


    As her avatar began the process for creating the World¡¯s Shadow, Dana¡¯s attention focused primarily on the book detailing its construction. Establishing the spell diagram was child¡¯s y to her. Let alone a third tier diagram, she could create some of the more simple fourth tier diagrams with only a small amount of focus.


    Next, the avatar activated the diagram, officially beginning the attempt. Dana had not used any of the protective spells found in the fifth book, as she was only using a disposable avatar for this test. ¡°First stage, primary fusion¡­ sess.¡± She muttered, monitoring her avatar¡¯s progress.


    Her senses sharpened to their limits, following the instructions left behind in the various books to monitor for any fluctuations in energy. ¡°Second stage, intermediate fusion¡­¡± Dana muttered again, but this time she felt a twinge of pain flowing through her soul. Her avatar had been destroyed.


    It took her a moment to realize that there was an almost imperceptible imbnce between the mana and ki used in the primary fusion stage. By the time she noticed it, and was moving on to the second stage, the imbnce triggered a cascading reaction with the other energies.


    ¡°¡­Yeah, that¡¯s not working.¡± From that one experiment, Dana¡¯s expression dimmed. She knew that her own perception was not finely tuned enough to detect and react to the imbnces in real-time. Even if she were to train in the methods of the four books, it was unlikely that her ability would reach that level. In the end, it would alle down to her personal luck.


    ¡°No.¡± She muttered decisively to herself, closing the five opened books and picking them up. ¡°You¡¯re a mage first, Dana. Solve this like a mage. If at first you don¡¯t seed¡­ make a better spell.¡±


    Adding in the defensive spellbook, Dana lifted all six books with a simple levitation spell. Then, she turned and marched out of the library, a firm look on her face. When Tsubaki saw her leaving the room, and heading towards her own, a relieved smile appeared on the kitsune¡¯s features.


    Once in her room, Dana rushed over to herputer, booting it up to load her spell modelling program. ¡°Third tier is too rough. Increase theplexity to refine the process, remove user error as a factor.¡±


    Dana began to assemble a fourth-tier spell, no longer keeping track of how much time was passing. For the first time in a long while, she even neglected her regr duties, not that anyone saw fit to me her. For Dana, this was quite literally a matter of life and death.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have the mana to personally fuel a fourth tier spell for long.¡± She muttered, setting up an auxiliary formation. ¡°I¡¯ll need to be able to use the scepter to handle the spell¡¯s operation, but make sure that the mana doesn¡¯t contaminate any of the energy I pour in.¡±


    ¡°This energy fusion is handled in stages¡­ do I have to create multiple spells to automatically handle each stage, since I¡¯m taking personal control out?¡± Her brow furrowed as she reached that issue, before her eyes widened. A wide grin spread across her face as realization struck her.


    ¡°Geometric spells are essentially programs. Any advanced program would have multiple files that it calls to, so why should I have to set everything up in a single executable?¡± Her fingers danced on the keyboard, the original spell model simplifying itself slightly. Instead, the scope of the program expanded, creating dozens of different spell ¡®nodes¡¯.


    ¡°The main body of the spell only needs to serve as the initial activation protocol, and contain the energies until they can be passed through the secondary programs.¡± As she was designing her ¡®spell program¡¯, she failed to notice the sky turning dark outside her window, or when it lit up once again several hourster.


    Each node of her spell was aplex assortment of two-dimensional and three-dimensional shapes, carefully drafted as Dana focused on the screen. The more time passed, the more she considered her problem, the more answers she found to solve it.


    Five days¡­ for five days she sat at herputer, not standing from it even once. She barely even noticed when one of Tsubaki¡¯s avatars had walked into the room, slowly feeding her energy to help keep her form stable. Aside from referencing the information in the different books she had brought from the library, her focus was entirely on theputer screen in front of her.


    When Dana saved the file, she knew that she would have no hope of constructing such aplicated spell diagram from simple memory. This had gone well beyond the scope of what she, or even Tsubaki were capable of drafting on their own. Thankfully, she had something to help with that. After all, what good is a spell modeling program without the ability to help construct the spell model?


    No, that doesn¡¯t mean that the program itself was magical. Rather, Tsubaki and Dana had built an additional printer to go along with theirputers. This printer, built by studying the grimoires that they had obtained years ago, inscribed a spell within a suitable sheet of paper. The spell inscribed had only one purpose, which was to project a three-dimensional image saved inside of it.


    With Dana having split the spell into numerous differentponent nodes, that also meant far more spell-paper was used to print them. However, even that was stillpletely worth it. Although such paper was expensive to craft, its utility value was priceless.


    Dana grabbed up the papers from the printer and darted out of her room, almost crashing into Tsubaki as she did so. The kitsune deftly stepped to the side to let the little elf pass, watching as the portal opened up in front of her. This time, Dana was confident enough to act with her main body, it seemed.


    When Dana appeared at the site that she had previously used to try creating the energy, she winced at the scale of the crater that appeared before her. Ten meters deep, and over a hundred wide, it was no wonder why her avatar had been instantly destroyed.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter, all in the past!¡± Dana shook her head firmly, exerting control over the natural energy to turn the crater into a t tform. Afterwards, one by one she peeled the backs off of the sheets to reveal an adhesive coating. As she did, she calcted the approximate locations to ce each paper, pping them down on the ground.


    After each paper was pped down, its inscribed spell triggered automatically. So, by the time she was done, there were over a dozen three-dimensional spell diagrams hovering in the air. ¡°Onest step.¡± She muttered, before pulling out her own grimoire. She hadn¡¯t created this as its own spell page simply because she already had what she needed. ¡°Energy void.¡±


    In order to ensure that no stray energies interfere with the process, Dana created a barrier that first sucked out the ambient energies before creating a barrier to stop any others from entering. She smacked her lips together briefly, feeling as if the air had gone stale without the ambient natural energy, but shook her head.


    ¡°Let¡¯s begin.¡± She muttered with a smile, withdrawing her mana scepter and cing it in the main spell node, in a space she carved out specifically for the power source. As it slid into ce, it hovered within the air, causing the lines of the spell node to shimmer before glowing a deeper shade of blue. Then, streams of azure light could be seen spreading out from the node, connecting to the others ced around the tform and causing them to light up as well.


    ¡°Good, good!¡± Dana shouted happily, jumping up to the ¡®input array¡¯ and cing her hand on it. The first thing that was drawn out was naturally her mana, which was wrapped within a faint light and moved deeper into the diagram. Then, once the mana had reached the threshold that Dana set, it closed, no longer epting any additional energy.


    After she pulled her hand back, the input changed from mana to ki, allowing her to insert energy once again. This process repeated for her spiritual energy as well, and then finally forced her to draw her green scepter to insert natural energy, as the ambient source was cut off.


    As soon as all four energies had been properly inserted, Dana¡­ turned around and ran. The entire reason that she was willing toe here and do this herself was not because she was supremely confident in her spell model. Rather, it was because she had designed it to not require her personal intervention after inserting the four energies. After that point, she would be able to flee to a safe distance to watch the events unfolding.


    And so she ran, and she kept running until she exited her sealing barrier, only stopping when she arrived at a tall tree over a kilometer away. Dana climbed the tree, clinging to its highest branch as she watched the fusion process.


    By the time she made it to her perch, the initial step had beenpleted. The energies had been fused at the primary level, and then each portion was transported to a different spell node. This node would measure the energy, ensuring that it fit the criteria for fusion, before passing it to the secondary level. If even one of the mixtures was the slightest bit off, the entire spell would automatically shut down.


    ¡°Come on¡­¡± Dana muttered to herself, enhancing her sight to the extreme so that she could watch what was happening. There were visual cues that she had ced in the spell to determine if everything was proceeding smoothly. And as each node lit up with the ¡®affirmative¡¯ green light, Dana couldn¡¯t help but pump her fist in excitement.


    Afterwards, the fused energies were passed to the second level, where they were split up and merged once again before passing through a second check. Only after this second check was verified did they go to the final level.


    Dana knew that the sess of the final level would mean that she had truly created a spell diagram capable of forming what the Keeper called a Saint-level energy. Part of her was already happily considering if she should share her spell with others, before shaking her head. She had read the description of this energy, and knew that it was too dangerous for mass cirction.


    As she was thinking about that, she saw that the second check wasplete, all nodes lighting up green. Finally, the dark masses of power were brought to the final node, where a strand of Dana¡¯s spiritual energy had been stored to await this step. ording to the manual, this was the safest step of them all, a simple binding of the energy.


    With that thought in mind, Dana descended from her tree, beginning to walk over to the scene. However, she only made it halfway before freezing in her steps, feeling her istion barrier shatter. There should have been nothing in this world that could break that barrier, aside from the world spirit she created, but it would have no reason to do so.


    That was when she realized that the barrier had been broken from within, and that whatever did so was racing towards her. Just as she began to turn around, preparing to flee, she felt it connect with her back. There was a brief feeling of impact as the elf¡¯s body swayed, before something cracked inside of her.


    Dana dropped to her knees with a gasp, golden light flickering around her body as it was expelled piece by piece. The World¡¯s Shadow was rejecting the imprint on her soul from the Goddess of Light. It was rejecting her very status as a familiar itself. The golden light seemed to form a thinyer on Dana¡¯s body before it shattered. In its ce was a faint, dark glow that slowly receded into her form.


    The little elf couldn¡¯t help but feel a pang of sorrow as she was stripped of her status as Tsubaki¡¯s familiar. But at the same time¡­ the change didn¡¯t stop there. She could feel the energy swirling within her, connecting to the deepest parts of her soul and infusing itself.


    There were only two other practitioners of the World¡¯s Shadow that existed within Dale¡¯s territory. One of them was Thelsa, and the other Dale himself. Adding in Dana¡­ there was a distinct difference between herself and the other two. While Dale was also an energy construct after obtaining divinity, he had a Perfect Soul, which protected him against his soul being changed without his consent.


    Thelsa, while not having a Perfect Soul, obtained the energy from the system itself while being a living being. The process was far more smooth for her than either of the others. Now, there was Dana, a spiritual being that had yet to condense the Perfect Soul.


    Her body shifted on the ground as she groaned out, her childlike visage disappearing as she matured. Her hair darkened, turning long and ck as it cascaded down her back. The World¡¯s Shadow held a certain amount of intelligence, and it fully embraced Dana, bing one with her in the truest sense.


    Dana let out one final gasp as the processpleted, slowly standing as she felt the fluctuations inside of her receding. At first, she stumbled, unused to her new, taller vantage point. But once she stabilized herself, she nced down, shocked to find her fully mature figure. ¡°But¡­ but¡­ I liked being a kid.¡± She muttered sadly.


    After she said that, the World¡¯s Shadow stirred inside of her again. Dana¡¯s eyes went wide as she shrank down, returning to her previous height and childlike proportions. The only difference between her current appearance and her previous one was that her hair had turned pitch ck. ¡°Oh¡­ uhm¡­ thank you?¡±

 Chapter 617: Exploring the Shadow

    <h4>Chapter 617: Exploring the Shadow</h4>


    ¡°Dale, wait!¡± I heard Ryone calling out to me as I was browsing through the market, looking for the second tier information about World¡¯s Shadow. Which was a bit surprising, given that I knew that I was alone in the living room. However, when I nced over, I saw Ryone bent over the back of the couch, breathing heavily as if she had just run over from her room.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ okay?¡± I blinked, unsure of why Ryone was suddenly stopping me. I knew that James wouldn¡¯t have detailed information on the World¡¯s Shadow, given that it wasn¡¯t in the list of Saint-level energies that he told me about previously. ¡°Did you find a better alternative?¡±


    I knew that Dana had started working on creating a spell model to make World¡¯s Shadow, but that would ultimately be only the first step of the solution. As such, I was prepared to spend nearly fifty thousand points in order to buy the second tier information for her.


    ¡°Well, the situation¡­ seems to have resolved itself.¡± Ryone said with a faint groan, shaking her head. ¡°It would be easier for you to just take a look yourself. Point being, no need to spend most of our points on this anymore.¡±


    I gave a small nod, reaching up to grab Ryone and pulling her into the couch. She offered a small smile before leaning against me. I knew that her being ¡®out of breath¡¯ was simply her acting dramatic, but it was still amusing.


    When I looked down at the world as she said, and found Dana, I did not initially understand why Ryone had said that the problem was resolved. Her hair had turned ck, so I knew that she had at least seeded in creating the energy, but again¡­ that was only the first step. It was when I took a closer look that I saw just how thorough the changes were.


    Dana had not simply created the World¡¯s Shadow as I had, but rather she had embraced it with her entire being. As I watched, more and more of her original spirit was converted into the World¡¯s Shadow. To my surprise, this didn¡¯t seem to alter her personality from what I could see. Maybe it was because the energy itself had a level of sentience, and did not wish to rece her, or because the energy was more gentle in its nature.


    Regardless, I could see that Dana was still regarded as a ¡®person¡¯ under the system¡¯s settings as opposed to a monster, meaning that she would still be able to earn levels as she had been. ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± I said with a small smile, nodding my head as I understood what Ryone had meant.


    ¡°Tsubaki, I¡¯m back!¡± Dana shouted out as she returned to the citadel, carrying the used spell papers in her arms. There was no real reason for her to leave them behind, and at least bringing them back would let her store them forter. Though, she¡¯d need to reapply the adhesive coating first.


    As soon as she appeared, a sh of light surrounded Dana. Tsubaki rushed over, wrapping the girl in a tight embrace. Dana could even feel Tsubaki¡¯s shoulders shaking. ¡°I¡¯m fine, Tsuba.¡± Her voice turned more gentle as she said that, able to understand Tsubaki¡¯s worries. With their connection suddenly cutting like that, it would not have been unreasonable for Tsubaki to fear that Dana might have failed to create the energy, leading to an explosive ending.


    Tsubaki nodded her head, keeping her face as stoic as possible. But, the relief she felt could still be easily read. ¡°You did it, then?¡±


    ¡°Oh, did I ever!¡± Dana let out a lightugh, squirming out of Tsubaki¡¯s embrace. ¡°Watch this! Adult mode!¡± As Dana called out, Tsubaki would see a ripple forming in the elf¡¯s shadow, after which she seemed to rapidly age into a mature, full-bodied woman. One that would have made any elf happy. ¡°And back down again!¡± And then immediately reverted to her normal appearance.


    Tsubaki¡¯s lips twitched slightly, trying to fight back the urge tough at what she was seeing. ¡°I doubt that the Keeper suggested this power to you for that reason¡­¡±


    ¡°Hmm? Oh! Right, he said that it could create a whole world, right?¡± Dana looked down at her shadow with pleading eyes. ¡°Can you do that yet?¡±


    Her shadow rippled again, transmitting a thought to Dana. After receiving and understanding the message, Dana quickly shook her head. ¡°Oh! No, that¡¯s fine. There¡¯s no need for that, then. We¡¯ll get somewhere elseter.¡±


    Lifting her head to look at Tsubaki again, Dana exined with a wide smile. ¡°It says that there is already someone ruling over the shadows of this world. We can enter it to take a look, but to have our own shadow world here, we¡¯d need to fight him for control of it. Given the context¡­ I think the current owner might be the boss.¡±


    Tsubaki blinked, before nodding her head. ¡°I see¡­ then, do you know what world you¡¯d like to use?¡±


    Dana thought about that for a moment, before shrugging her shoulders. ¡°Deckan would probably be a really good fit, I think. I want to see if my shadow world would produce dimensium. And if it does, would I get special cards made out of shadow energy?¡±


    After thinking about it, Tsubaki was happy to find that Dana¡¯s personality appeared to be the same as ever. Even when given such a wondrous power, her first instinct was still a desire to experiment. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll let you get to that, then.¡± She smiled, patting Dana¡¯s head. ¡°Once you¡¯re back, don¡¯t forget to take care of your duties.¡±


    Dana gave a quick nod of her head, turning and dashing down the hall towards her room. ¡°So, what else can you do, little guy?¡± She asked, listening for the faint ripples of her soul to answer her.


    I¡­ do not know. The shadow seemed to be saying. While sentient on some levels, it was not exactly intelligent. Make. Copy. Transform. Transport. These things.


    Dana blinked as she heard that, her steps slowing so that she could enjoy the ¡®conversation¡¯ with her shadow energy. ¡°Well, what kinds of things can you make?¡±


    World. Items. People. Dana wasn¡¯t surprised by the first answer, as she had already been told about the world creation aspect. Simrly, she had been informed that the world could have countless lifeforms, so ¡®people¡¯ wasn¡¯t as unexpected.


    ¡°Items, huh? What kind of items?¡±


    Any known. You, think, focus. When she heard that, Dana did as suggested by her shadow, focusing. She could feel a ripple within her shadow as the item she tried to make was stored within it. Although it did not appear for her, she simply knew that she could call it to her with a thought.


    ¡°Neat! So, I even have a storage area in my shadow¡­ That must be like the baby stage of having my own world. Can you just transport me to this ¡®shadow world¡¯, or other ces, too?¡±


    Need energy, but¡­ any shadow connected to world shadow. All shadows as one.


    When Dana heard that, she smiled. ¡°Take me to my room!¡± She shouted out into the empty hall, before her shadow stretched and turned, forming a ck arch along the wall next to her. Seeing this, Dana turned and walked into the arch.


    There was a brief, chilling sensation before she found herself in the familiar bedroom. When she investigated, she realized that the strange sensation was a portion of her new energy being drained for the transfer. ¡°Guess I should avoid using that too much¡­ Don¡¯t want to put a strain on you. Me. Us. Whatever I am now.¡±


    Thankfully, she had other methods of reaching Deckan, and did not require the shadow for transportation. Once she had set her papers down, she cast a familiar portal spell, taking herself to the Fairy Ring.


    Now that she had changed her appearance, there did not seem to be anyone that had recognized her. Although only her hair had truly changed, it was enough of a difference that nobody linked her to the servant of the Keeper that had not appeared for quite some time. There were simply too many people that looked simr to one another, after all.


    When she saw that people were looking at her as if she was a simple child, Dana pouted her lips and ran down the street, looking for a convenient dark alley to hide in. ording to the schedule she saw, it would still be over an hour left before the ring next connected to Deckan. Once she had found a suitable, empty alley, she ran in and hid behind arge trash bin.


    ¡°Will magic buildings work the same in the shadow world as they do here?¡± She asked, the darkness surrounding her rippling in an affirmative. That gave Dana an idea, but it was something that she¡¯d have to tryter. For now¡­ ¡°Okay, make me an adult again.¡±


    Momentster, an elven woman in a flowing ck dress walked out of the alley, a confident sway in her step as she made her way back towards the transit building. Payment to use the ring was no problem for her, as the Sky Citadel had a vast reserve of funds, most of them earned by Dana herself.


    For the first time in a long, long time, Dana lined up to join the queue of travelers, not bothering with her own status. At this point, it would only cause more of amotion, and she wanted to enjoy being ¡®normal¡¯ for at least a little while longer.


    Of course, she wasn¡¯t above breaking the wrists of people who had be a bit too handsy, leaving a rather strong fighter screaming out as he fell to the ground. To her surprise, she was not detained for this action, as numerous other women stepped forward to speak for her. Apparently, the man was a bit of a problem for them, and these women approved of how Dana handled the situation.


    This led to Dana speaking with these women, learning more about them as they waited in line. Although the details she could share about herself were rather scarce, she was long-since used toing up with stories. She told them how she was a widow from a nearby city, wanting to move to Deckan for a fresh start.


    Like this, Dana spent her time waiting with these women, until finally the call was given for the ring to be activated. Since the other women were waiting for a different destination, they simply waved farewell to Dana as she walked into the shimmering portal.


    After entering the portal and appearing on the other side, Dana rolled her shoulders with a grin, muttering under her breath. ¡°Do it.¡±


    Her shadow shed, spreading out across the floor with the shimmering lights of the portal behind her. She could feel the space within her shadow dramatically expanding, being reced by the very facility she was now walking through. With every step she took, her shadow world expanded further and further.


    While she waited, Dana exited the building, looking around at the busy streets. A smile yed at her lips, seeing the more normal side of society. Nothing exaggerated like saving a colony from a band of giants, fighting off rogue gods, or needing to invent a spell that could detect and suppress divinity itself.


    ¡°I¡¯ll need to bring Tsuba along next time Ie out. She¡¯d probably enjoy this, too.¡± She muttered to herself, shaking her head. The two of them were able to enjoy their downtime in one of the many virtual reality games that had been released, but they had not seen this peaceful side of a city for quite a while.


    After a few minutes of walking down the street, Dana could feel her shadows converging, a clear sign that they had fully epassed the. Now, it was time for her to see what she could really do as the owner of a World¡¯s Shadow.

 Chapter 618: Lost and Found

    <h4>Chapter 618: Lost and Found</h4>


    A young kitsune man sat atop a stone rooftop, staring up at the starry sky above him. Two moons could be seen hanging in the air, the only indicator he had that he was not on his home world. ¡°It¡¯s almost time now, I guess?¡± He muttered, feeling the chaotic energy starting to boil up inside of him.


    This was Sinir Song, whose apparent age had regressed after attaining the perfect body. Nobody wanted to look old if they could help it, after all. Once he had attained this form, he chose an appearance that he found more pleasing.


    Of course, even if his need for food and water had disappeared, that did not mean that he was entirely safe. His random transportation energy would still misfire on its own every now and again, causing Sinir to take more drastic measures in an attempt to fix his predicament. The next step after perfection was, naturally, divinity.


    After numerous jaunts through different worlds to find a safe location, Sinir had seeded in creating his own Divine Soul. His goal was to incorporate this energy into his domain, as doing so should allow him full control over its power. Thus, after considering the different suitable titles for his domain, he eventually coined it as ¡®Lost¡¯. Lost adrift through countless worlds, he must find his way home.


    He had lost count of the months, the years that he had been gone. He guessed that many worlds had different rates of time passing, but that was only his conjecture. At one point, he spent what he believed to be months in a world of elves, mingling with their culture.


    However, after a few more jumps, he had found his way to a nearly identical world. Only, this world was in ruins, nts having overtaken the city. Vines and moss grew atop buildings, and only bones remained of the elves. If not for a few naturalndmarks that he had remembered, he would not have been able to associate that world with the one he had visited before.


    Ever since then, Sinir felt that it was meaningless to count the days that had passed. Even if he managed to do so, the date would most likely not be urate by the time he had returned home. Home¡­ he struggled to remember what that ce was like.


    His original notebook had long since worn out and faded away, its pages crumbling. His memories that had been written down could now only be stored within his mind, which was bing crowded with the information of every world he visited.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t seen winter here, yet.¡± He muttered to himself as he stared at the twin moons. ¡°Have I not been here long enough, or does this world not have such a season?¡±


    Sinir had never managed to stay in a single world for a full year, or at least that was his assumption. Especially after he advanced his soul to the divine stage. There was something that he had forgotten from the notes left behind by the first mortal god, Jonas of Community.


    Once one advances their soul into divinity, their divine power would continue to build. However, their body would not be able to handle the growing power, and would need to vent it regrly in the form of ¡®miracles¡¯. After Sinir achieved his divine soul, he could indeed control his transportation to a certain degree. At this point, however, it was merely the timing that could be controlled. And even then, he could not wait too long.


    From what Sinir felt from his divinity, he had at most two days before it would force him to travel again. Shaking his head, he stood up from the roof of the stone house he had made himself, moving inside to gather what little belongings he could carry with him. Unfortunately, this was not a world that permitted the use of either geometric or runic magic, so he was unable to use any of his storage devices.


    Looking about, he ultimately walked over to a painting on the wall, hanging above the doorway. This was something that he had made over thesest few months. It was a painting of a kitsune with golden fur, wearing a magnificent crown atop her head and a flowing silver dress.


    Thest time that he had appeared within the world of Deckan, before he had achieved his divine soul, he had learned that the goddess Udona had taken the throne of Deckan. Unfortunately, he had been forced to leave before being able to contact any acquaintances.


    Sinir was not nning to take the painting with him. To do so would only be to put it in danger in the event of a hostile environment. Instead, he focused on the natural energy of the world around him, erecting a small, crude statue of Udona in front of his house.


    Walking out to the statue, Sinir leaned the painting against it, before kneeling on the ground. ¡°I dedicate this painting to you, Goddess of Life, Education, and Entertainment. May it find you in good condition. And may my next journey not be myst.¡±


    After he said that, the painting began to dissolve in a golden mist, leaving behind a few glittering coins depicting the face of the goddess. Sinir picked them up, nning to add them to his collection after he visited the next world. It had be a tradition for him to spend his days on a craft, and then dedicate it to Udona before he left.


    Although he had been saving those coins for what he felt was many years, he had never found a ce where he could spend them. Clutching the handful of coins carefully, he urged his divinity to act. With a golden sh, he disappeared, leaving behind the home and statue on an uninhabitednd.


    When he appeared again, he was hovering in midair, forced to immediately support himself with mana. The sound of lightning filled his ears along with the howling wind. However, no matter where he looked, there were only endless stormy clouds.


    Sinir felt a powerful energy sweep over him, drenching his back in a cold sweat as he immediately activated his divinity once more. A momentter, the cloud he was next to shifted, a great mouth forming from the storm itself to devour the space he had been in.


    His next two locations were no more friendly than the first. His next destination was the vast void of space, where not a single star could be seen. After that, he appeared in a world where the atmosphere itself ate away at his body as if it were acid.


    Finally, in his fourth world, hended on fertile soil. His immediate surroundings seemed to be a garden of different herbs. As Sinir pulled himself to his feet, he immediately began to perform his routine check to investigate his temporary home.


    Hopping slightly, he was happy to find that the gravity was rtively normal, if not slightly higher than what he was used to. cing a hand in front of his forehead, he squinted his eyes and stared at the horizon. ¡°Horizon distance¡­ one kilometer. This is a small world, then. Atmosphere is¡­ obviously suitable for vegetation. No signs of wildlife, though.¡±


    As he said that, he noticed one of the nts near him moving. Sinir was rather familiar with this nt, as it was one he had used as an alchemic material in the past. It was known as a sunblossom, a flower that contained within it a faint essence of fire, but would only open its flower for an hour every year. At high noon of the summer solstice, when the power of the sun was at its most potent, the sunblossom would bloom.


    Now, however, Sinir was quite certain that it was not noon, regardless of whether it was this world¡¯s summer solstice. After all, the sun was nowhere near the highest point in the sky, and seemed to actually be setting. Regardless, the flower was blooming, emitting with it a faint red glow. This was the moment when it was most valuable, when the essence of me was at its strongest.


    Sinir did not n to take the flower, though. At this point in his life, he felt that it had little use for him. Who would he sell it to, the old ginseng growing at the root of the thousand-year oak? Perhaps he could barter it off to the evening bloom, the flower that absorbed thest light of day.


    As those nonsensical thoughts were urring to him, Sinir saw the flower vanish before his eyes in an all-too familiar golden glow. Clearly, a divine power had taken this flower away, but Sinir was not able to determine which divinity had done so. Of course, he did not even know if it was a divinity of his own world. The idea that there could be divinities in other worlds was certainly not impossible, after all.


    As I checked in on our own little ¡®lost traveler¡¯, my gaze became somewhat¡­ awkward. Naturally, I had noticed his current environment, but there was something about it that didn¡¯t quite fit. Tryval? I called out for the centaur god mentally.


    Yes, sire? As he responded, I could tell that he had not noticed the situation himself. Moreover, he was surprised to hear me calling him, as I often did not need his particr services.


    There seems to be someone that wandered into your garden. That¡¯s right¡­ the world that Sinirnded on was the garden that Leowynn plucked from the void and gave to Tryval so that he could grow the various herbs that people would buy from him off the trade tform.


    That is impossible. Tryval responded, though his voice seemed slightly shaken. After having taken a moment to investigate and discover Sinir himself, he sent another message to me. Do you want me to get rid of him?


    I couldn¡¯t help but think back to when Tryval first killed many of his own people out of his sense of duty. Hastily, I shook my head. Is his presence going to prevent your garden from functioning properly?


    It shouldn¡¯t. His response was quite swift, allowing me to breathe out a sigh of relief. I have numerouss in that region that have different conditions, allowing me to grow a wider variety of nts. The garden hended in nurtures nts with the fire and wood attributes. Although they have some uses, there isn¡¯t anything that I can¡¯t re-nt.


    Then you can leave him be. I don¡¯t imagine he¡¯ll be there for too long. As I thought that, I nced back through his personal history. Although it had only been a little over ten years since he had left the world in Deckan¡¯s time, it would appear that he was quite unfortunate. Most of the worlds he hit must have had an elerated timeline, as his personal history showed over a century since hest set foot in a world I owned.


    I could likely arrange things with either Terra or Aurivy to ensure that he is sent to a friendly territory next, if I wanted to. However, I quickly decided against doing that. Until he had reached the next step of divinity, his stay would only be temporary. It was better not to waste their time on something like that, when he would not be able to appreciate it for too long.


    ¡°Have you found anything, sirs?¡± Doctor Ban asked, rubbing his temples through his mask as he looked at the two individuals seated before his desk. It had been a week since they had appeared to help with Eternity¡¯satose scientists, and the two of them had been making steady progress by the day.


    Jonas turned to look at the Metong first. ¡°You can start, Researcher Night.¡± He spoke with a warm smile, earning a nod from the silver male.


    ¡°Thank you. ording to my calctions, there should be an energy capable of reversing their condition within the Network. However, this information has a high clearance level, so I will require a gate to be opened to my homeworld in order to contact the High Mother. This energy directly rtes to the control of the soul, so even Researchers like myself require permission to study it.¡±


    Ban let out a resigned sigh. ¡°We don¡¯t have a portal to your realm on the ship¡­ Are you able to make one, or will you have to return to seek this permission?¡±


    Researcher Night considered this for a moment. ¡°I could construct the portal with the materials you have avable. However, it would be less time-consuming for me to return. I shall save my decision until after we have heard the discoveries of the God of Community.¡±


    With that, Jonas offered a small nod. ¡°Thank you. While crude, the method you use tomunicate with the patients has allowed me to establish another of them as mymunity earlier this evening. While this did not allow them to wake up, I did discover something else.¡±


    Ban gestured for Jonas to continue, and so he did. ¡°Now that I have two of them as mymunity, I can guide their souls to meet with each other. While I can¡¯t bring their souls out of the worlds they are trapped in and back to their bodies, I can ensure that they are able to gather within a rtively safe world.¡±


    Night immediately spoke up after this revtion. ¡°I would prioritize the evacuation of patients two, six, and eleven. The safest world from my research appears to be that of patient five.¡±


    ¡°Eleven?¡± Jonas furrowed his brow, ncing towards Night. ¡°I thought that his was a rtively safe world, was it not?¡±


    ¡°Indeed. Two days prior, I detected a pathogen forming in the patient¡¯s blood. Although a treatment was quickly prepared and administered to keep it from spreading, it is unknown how long it will take the pathogen to evolve beyond my treatment procedures. If possible, I would hasten his removal from his world, for the safety of himself and all living creatures aboard this vessel.¡±


    Jonas¡¯s eyes went wide briefly, before he nodded his head. ¡°I¡¯ll make him my next goal, then.¡±


    ¡°As for me.¡± Researcher Night slowly stood. ¡°I believe time to be of the essence. Now that Jonas has found a way to reunite the patients, morale should increase. As such, my temporary departure will not impact your performance too much.¡±

 Chapter 619: Null

    <h4>Chapter 619: Null</h4>


    Tsubaki walked through the halls of the citadel, silently performing an inspection. Now that Dana had been back from her trip to Deckan for a few days, she was also back to her regr routine for chores. However, Tsubaki had noticed a slight drop in her performance. Mistakes that she felt Dana wouldn¡¯t usually make, or details that she should have noticed.


    In truth, this worried Tsubaki, as she had been warned of the possibility that Dana¡¯s personality might undergo a change. Although that theory was for if she fully integrated as Tsubaki¡¯s familiar, she could not shake the thought that something might have happened to Dana. It took all that the kitsune had not to simply monitor her friend as she was working, in order to ensure that everything was okay.


    Yet, she still spotted those same errors. Doors left ajar, secret passages not swept, and trash bins unemptied. With a shake of her head, Tsubaki decided that she had to bring this up with Dana. She had to get to the bottom of the problem, if only to ensure herself whether the girl living with her was truly the Dana that she knew.


    After entering her own room, Tsubaki closed her eyes and sent out a message with her mana, directing it towards Dana. Would you meet me in my room, please? We need to talk for a moment.


    Almost as soon as she had finished that message, she felt a weight pressing down beside her. Opening her eyes, she saw Dana sitting there, looking at her curiously. ¡°What¡¯s up, Tsuba?¡± She asked with a small smile.


    ¡°I¡­ need to ask you something. And I would like you to be perfectly honest with me.¡± Tsubaki spoke in a serious tone, causing Dana¡¯s eyes to widen briefly. ¡°Has there been anything troubling you after you came back? Your work has¡­ not been to the same standard as I am used to seeing from you.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Dana asked curiously, though Tsubaki could see some level of recognition in Dana¡¯s eyes. As if she were truly interested in what was different.


    ¡°The third secret passage, leading to the transport terminal, was left unattended. Six doors were not properly closed after you were done cleaning in them, one even left wide open. And the trash in your workshop wasn¡¯t disposed of.¡± Tsubaki listed off the errors in Dana¡¯s work that she had noticed, watching the serious nod of the little elf at every item.


    ¡°Sorry!¡± Dana pped her hands together, bowing her head. ¡°She¡¯s still training, but I thought she¡¯d be good enough to handle the minor chores.¡±


    It was Tsubaki¡¯s turn to be confused when she heard that statement. ¡°She?¡± She asked, ncing around.


    ¡°Right¡­ It was a little idea I had the other day after I got back.¡± Dana admitted with a sheepish smile. ¡°My energy can create people, right? So I wanted to create a team of maids. Not for the citadel, don¡¯t get me wrong! I know the two of us are plenty here. This is more¡­ more of a training area for them.¡±


    Tsubaki furrowed her brow, still not entirely sold on what she was hearing. ¡°And what are they being trained for?¡±


    ¡°Well, the world that I copied was Deckan, right?¡± The elf asked with a faint shrug, shaking her head. ¡°So¡­ I thought that maybe I could create a team of servants to help Udona take care of things. What could be better than maids and bodyguards that can appear anywhere out of a shadow, quickly take care of their business, and then disappear without causing any problems?!¡±


    ¡°Of course¡­ I can¡¯t just have them go straight there. They need to be trained to a standard we would be happy with first.¡± At that, Dana let out a groan. ¡°The maid was easy. I just had to give her the basic knowledge of her tasks, and send her to work. But, because I¡¯m training the other three at the same time, I didn¡¯t have the chance to oversee her and point out her mistakes.¡±


    ¡°Other¡­ okay, you know what¡­ can you introduce me to all of them? That would make this conversation go by far more quickly, I think.¡± Tsubaki brought a hand up to massage her temples, not quite sure what to make of this.


    ¡°Sure!¡± She nodded, and her shadow expanded into four parts, stretching out to the far wall. From the wall, four figures emerged, one after the other.


    The first figure was clearly the maid. She was a kitsune woman with remarkable facial features and a uniform in a simr style to Tsubaki. However, her hair was short and ck, and her gaze a bit more naive.


    The second figure was no doubt a mage, an elven man who had just reached the cusp of adulthood. He wore a ck robe, carrying a gnarled ck staff in his hand. What surprised Tsubaki was just how weak the mana he gave off was, signalling that he was not yet a powerful mage.


    The third figure was a heavily armored warrior, a human by the looks of things. He wore ck steel armor and carried a shield as tall as his body. From the top of the shield, Tsubaki could see the hilt of what was no doubt an equally massive sword. However, his footsteps were not as heavy as Tsubaki would expect from a high level warrior.


    Finally, the third figure was a halfling wearing a ck cloak. He seemed to be the spymaster of Dana¡¯s group, as he came equipped with a pair of daggers on his waist, and a rifle on his back. His eyes habitually scanned the surroundings, as if constantly prepared for danger.


    ¡°These are the four of them! Meet Janaerra, Hollevin, Sanct, and Despir.¡± Dana spoke up, introducing the four of them in the order that they appeared. ¡°Once I get them trained, I¡¯m going to have them train others in simr skills as themselves.¡±


    ¡°They do not seem particrly impressive.¡± Tsubaki pointed out, noting that she could have easily defeated any of them even when she had only just joined the Keeper¡¯s service.


    ¡°Well, yeah¡­¡± Dana muttered under her breath. ¡°I¡¯m not done training them yet. They were practically born yesterday. See¡­ with this energy, I can create someone. But, I can¡¯t create them at a high level.¡±


    ¡°Instead, I create a temte by choosing what sses or traits I want to focus on. That temte randomly generates a personality, and a sort of pseudo-soul is born. For Janaerra, that¡¯s all that it took. After that step, I just needed to teach her what she needed to know as a maid, and let her work.¡±


    ¡°But, for the other three¡­ I have to design training situations for them based on my own knowledge and experiences. I needed to provide a spell library for Hollevin to study in,bat practice for Sanct, and espionage missions for Despir. Thatst one¡­ really hard to casuallye up with good espionage missions. I had help to search the inte for good training material there.¡±


    ¡°Aside from these four, I want to eventually make a summoner, an elementalist, and a priest.¡± Dana smiled as she spoke. It was clear she had great ns to create a shadow army for Udona. Or perhaps it would be more apt to say that she simply wanted to make a shadow army in the first ce.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me about this?¡± Tsubaki questioned, feeling that keeping something this big was¡­ okay, so it wasn¡¯t entirely unlike Dana. But she would have at least dropped some hints.


    ¡°Well, I thought it wouldn¡¯t be a big deal?¡± Dana admitted with a shake of her head. ¡°If you found Janaerra, you would have sensed my energy from her, and known that she was connected to me. And I thought that she would be able to handle the chores without any problems.¡±


    ¡°Heheh¡­ did I mess up?¡± Janaerra asked, tilting her head slightly as Dana sighed.


    ¡°She isn¡¯t the brightest of them, is she?¡± When Tsubaki heard that, she shook her head.


    ¡°Leave the rest of that one¡¯s training to me.¡± She spoke in a firm tone, clearly having no intention of letting Janaerra ck through any part of her training. Dana immediately approved of this change, as it meant that she would be able to focus more on the development of the other three.


    ¡°Do you have any need of us, then?¡± Sanct asked, his heavy shield tapping the ground as he observed the two women seated on the bed.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s fine, Sanct. You three can go back to your training.¡± Dana dismissed him with a wave, and he nodded, turning and walking into his own shadow again before being joined by both Hollevin and Despir. Janaerra tried to follow as well, before a wall of light appeared between herself and the shadow,pletely cutting off her path of escape.


    As Janaerra turned around, gulping to herself, she saw Tsubaki slowly walking over. However, before she was able to cross the room, an rm red out from herputer.


    Tsubaki¡¯s form flickered, immediately appearing seated at theputer with a headset on. ¡°Speak to me, what¡¯s the problem?¡±


    In response to her question, a solemn, feminine voice spoke into her ear. ¡°This is Moon. A cmity has been detected within the realm of the March. Specifically, in the Metong territory. As this is a threat of the highest order, the information was gged to be sent to you.¡±


    Tsubaki blinked in surprise when she heard the location of the threat. ¡°The Metong territory? They have powerful technology and magical capabilities beyond most of the other worlds. What sort of cmity could they be facing?¡±


    ¡°I am afraid I cannot answer that in full. However, I can provide the known details ording to the information submitted by the Metong. This is a personal request of the High Mother, seeking any aid that can be given from outside sources.¡± Moon spoke briefly, before going on to exin.


    ¡°Eight days ago, a star was noted to be destroyed, taking with it thes that had been orbiting it. ording to known data, this star was far from the end of its lifespan, leading a Metong team to investigate to discover the facts. However, the system in question did not possess sentient life. The report of its destruction came from a ¡®nearby¡¯ system that is a part of the Network.¡±


    ¡°These star systems are located roughly ten light years away from each other, meaning that the true disappearance of the star happened a decade ago. That said, the research team was not a high priority.¡±


    ¡°Six days ago, a second star was reported to be destroyed, again from a nearby system. Four days ago, two hundred stars were reported destroyed in a localized area of space. Three hours ago, contact was lost with a Network-inhabited world.¡±


    ¡°A research team was immediately dispatched to the coordinates, but all that was left was a stream of foreign energy and rubble. It was then that the High Mother began drafting an immediate request for aid. She has requested intervention from the highest power avable, whether that be a deity or the Keeper himself.¡±


    Tsubaki thought about that for a moment, before shaking her head. ¡°I¡¯ll go. Let me assess the danger before I get the Keeper involved.¡± While she knew that the Keeper definitely had tricks up his sleeve that she did not have avable to her, she also knew how important it was that he remained safe.


    If the Keeper dies, everything dies. This was a truth that she had learned long ago. While she knew that he was incredibly powerful, she could not take the risk of throwing him against an opponent that could wipe out stars on such a massive scale. However, there was someone else that she could turn to¡­ but the thought of asking him for help caused her tails to shudder.

 Chapter 620: The Heart of a Star

    <h4>Chapter 620: The Heart of a Star</h4>


    Tsubaki stood in front of James¡¯s research facility, ncing towards her back briefly. In order to ensure her ¡®safety¡¯, she had foregone the nine tails that she typically took such great pride in, instead appearing with the single natural tail of the kitsune. Mustering her determination, she strode forward, knocking heavily on the door.


    It didn¡¯t take long before the door opened, and she saw Chelsea standing there looking up at her. The sight of the nine tails swaying behind the girl¡¯s back caused a shiver to run along Tsubaki¡¯s spine. Thankfully, it was the girl that had spoken up first. ¡°Tsubaki, right? Is there something that we can do for you?¡±


    Brought back to her senses, Tsubaki gave a firm nod. ¡°I need to speak with James urgently. There¡¯s a situation in one of our worlds that I believe requires his immediate attention.¡±


    Chelsea blinked, but nodded her head and allowed Tsubaki to enter. ¡°Hey, James! You gotpany! Meeting room¡¯s open!¡±


    The dark-skinned man looked up from his research table, where he was clearly working on somerge project. When he saw Tsubaki, and noticed the single tail behind her, a look of disappointment appeared on his face. ¡°Alright.¡± He agreed, walking past the other researchers and moving towards a doorway on the far side of theb.


    Once inside the room, Tsubaki saw that it was a simple conference room, with onerge table surrounded by numerous chairs. ¡°So, what is it that has even youing here?¡± James asked as he casually sat at one of the several chairs.


    ¡°The Metong have issued an emergency request for aid. Something has been devouring their sr systems, and they have thus far confirmed a total of over two-hundred stars being destroyed ahead of their time.¡± Tsubaki quickly ryed the information that had been shared with her from the AI that nk had assigned to help her with such matters.


    ¡°Two hundred, huh?¡± James muttered, rubbing his chin. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll go take a look with you. Have you prepared any special equipment or such in the event of an emergency?¡±


    Tsubaki furrowed her brow. ¡°I have arge arsenal of abilities at my disposal, including numerous immensely powerful spells. Should a problem arise that requires the use of force, I should be capable of handling myself. What I require you for is your expertise as a former Keeper, so that you can identify any traces that I would not think to notice.¡±


    James let out a low sigh. ¡°You think that¡¯s so? Let me tell you¡­ if there is something that we have to fight out there, you might not even be able to run away.¡±


    Tsubaki blinked, before her face twisted as if she had just been insulted. Yet, James did not stop there. ¡°You pride yourself on your speed because you are the Goddess of Light, right? Well, I¡¯m sorry to say this, but in the grand scope of space, that domain limits your speed quite a lot. If we¡¯re dealing with an entity that has the ability to destroy numerous stars in a short period, that means that they can move at least a thousand times faster than the speed of light. Compared to them, you might as well not be moving at all.¡±


    ¡°If we run into problems, don¡¯t even think about using your domain to escape. Unless you are able to enter FTL, the only way out would be a hastily erected dimensional shift or long-distance teleport. That¡¯s why I asked if you had anything special prepared.¡±


    Tsubaki was initially stunned by the revtion, before sinking into thought. She had never found an opponent that had truly pushed her to her limits, so it was only natural for her to have supreme confidence in herself. Especially when it came to her speed, as the thing light was best known for was being the pinnacle of speed itself.


    ¡°I do have expertise when ites to opening dimensional portals. If we truly encounter a situation that we can¡¯t handle, I can use one of those to escape.¡±


    Hearing her humbled reply, James nodded his head. ¡°That¡¯s more like it. As for me, I¡¯ll be leaving my core behind. I¡¯ll send an avatar with my fullbat power to help you. Thews of the world should prevent there from being anything that can destroy my avatar to such a degree where it even affects my core. But, you never know with special abilities.¡±


    Tsubaki gave a small nod. ¡°When will you be free to leave?¡±


    ¡°Ah, you seem to be misunderstanding something.¡± James said with a small smile. ¡°I¡¯m already there. My avatar just entered the world of the March, and is waiting for you while discussing the n with the Metong. Once you arrive, they¡¯ll send the two of us to the location of the most recent incident.¡±


    Tsubaki blinked in surprise, before vanishing in a sh of light. After she had left the facility, she tore open a rift with her hands and walked through, appearing next to arge, silver ship. Below, she could see the massive factory world of the March.


    Are you ready for the shift? James¡¯s voice spoke into her mind, to which she nodded her head. A momentter, her body was wrapped in blue light, and she could feel herself being moved through space again. When she appeared, she was floating next to an absolutely massive figure. From outwards appearances, the figure seemed to be James, but was sorge that Tsubaki¡¯s entire body did not even reach the top of its foot.


    Tsubaki knew that this must have been the form that he took when he was defending the throne of Deckan, but she had never seen it herself. Still, she only took a moment to look him over before regarding the area that they had been sent to.


    Tsubaki could see the remains of numerous worlds, shattered rocks floating in the void of space. At their center, a red sphere that appeared to have burst open, a great ring of fire extending out from it. Although Tsubaki had been told that there was a unique energy signature, she could not personally sense such a thing from her location.


    James, however, seemed to notice something. Ahh¡­ well, this isn¡¯t good.


    Have you found something? Tsubaki responded, the twomunicating via their mana.


    I¡¯m familiar with the scale of this realm. An average star in this realm is about thirteen million kilometers in diameter. The force required to rupture a star in this way is no joke. And there¡¯s something else¡­ an energy with traces of cosmic fire. I¡¯m taking us to the next site.


    There wasn¡¯t even much time to prepare before Tsubaki was once again shifted. The region that they appeared in this time was far more deste, with even the once-burning mes of the sun having died out. Only dust remained in the vicinity of the dead star.


    The trace is too old here. James muttered telepathically, his eyes scanning the system. But let¡¯s look at the rest of the evidence. Thes here weren¡¯t destroyed by the star exploding like thest location. Instead, it appears that they were entirely removed before that process happened. Otherwise, we would still see traces, even if this happened ten years ago.


    Tsubaki¡¯s eyes went wide as she examined the surroundings, before sending a message back to James. Is it not possible that thes had been pushed out of the system from the force of the st after so many years?


    Possible, but extremely unlikely. Even if I could not sense thes themselves, I would be able to detect debris from their moons. The force required to move a at such speed without leaving any of its debris behind would have entirely destroyed a smaller moon. However, there is not a single asteroid, aside from two that appear to be strays.


    Tsubaki gave a small nod as she heard that, agreeing to his logic. Then, what do you think is the cause?


    First, let¡¯s go over the timeline. You omitted some important details when you were rying the information to me. Tsubaki blinked when she heard that, letting him continue. The stars were not destroyed all at once. Instead, there were two that were destroyed in a simr period, and then two hundred, and then the one that had been the Metong¡¯s world. There are likely other stars as well at this point that have vanished, but their light hasn¡¯t dimmed in the neighboring skies.


    Tsubaki furrowed her brows, her tail stiffened behind her as she tried to find the detail that had been omitted. Seeing that she was having difficulty, James shook his head. Going with the fact that thes here were removed ahead of time, and the trace I felt before¡­ I believe I have a general answer as to what type of monster we are facing this time.


    The kitsune sported a curious look, urging him to exin. The first two stars that burst should have given birth to two monsters. This region of space is directly between those first two coordinates. After they were born, they instinctively sought each other out to reproduce.


    This particr species seems to incubate within the heart of a red star. In this region of space, a quarter of the stars that disappeared were of this type, as were the first two that disappeared. Ourst location was formerly a yellow star, where the fire only turned red after it had erupted.


    There still seemed to be details that Tsubaki did not understand, however. Then, what is the significance with thes being removed?


    Pregnancy cravings. James spoke with a wry grin. The mother creature likely needed to consume thes as nourishment for the unborn baby, beforeying the egg in the heart of the sun.


    Is it really possible for a creature to be born inside of a star? Tsubaki asked, ncing towards the empty void where a star should have once resided.


    Of course. In fact, one such creature has already appeared in your history. Now that truly stunned Tsubaki, causing her to look towards James in rm. Far in the past, the great Blood War of the halflings and centaurs. When the Bloodied Hand was starting to push the centaurs back, the tides of war shifting, a great dragon appeared.


    Through the cooperation of both halflings and centaurs, the Great Beast was heavily wounded, chased off. Itter died of its wounds, its corpse found many yearster by the heroc and repurposed into weapons and armor.


    Tsubaki gave a faint nod at that, having learned the story as well. How could this creature have been of the same level as the ones we are discussing today?


    It wasn¡¯t. It might have actually been higher. After all, it possessed the skill and intelligence to weaken itself to such a level that the mortals of that age could wound it. It held the wisdom to understand the duty that it had been brought here for, and the willingness to ept an inevitable death at its own hands.


    The dragon at that time was centuries before the first true dragon was born. Such a creature was impossible to produce by the world in that age, so I investigated some of the relics that had been created from its body. That creature should have been something that your Keeper purchased and brought to this world in order to end that war.


    As for its size and strength¡­ very likely, the world that it was born of was one with a far smaller scale. Perhaps one size smaller than Desbar¡¯s world? Regardless, the creatures we¡¯re looking for now will be roughly one hundred timesrger, and without the wisdom of the one that was previously brought to your world.


    Make no mistake, this is a creature capable of destroying entires with its power. It devours stars as food, and uses others as hosts to incubate its young. Creatures of this type have lifespans in the millions of years. The only hope for this gxy is that we eliminate them before they have time to spread further.

 Chapter 621: Monstrosity

    <h4>Chapter 621: Monstrosity</h4>


    Tsubaki¡¯s eyes went wide with rm as she listened to James¡¯s exnation regarding the monster that they were facing. ording to his guess, they would be facing roughly fifty monsters at the minimum that were capable of destroying sr systems. Given the time period for the monsters having been born, it was likely that there were already far more of these creatures that had been incubating within the other neighboring red stars.


    We should have the Metong run investigations on all applicable stars in their territory. She decided immediately, giving a firm nod. Any that have missings should be considered an incubating entity.


    James smiled at Tsubaki¡¯s decisiveness, before raising a question that caused the kitsune goddess to pause. And what do we do about the ones that are already born?


    Tsubaki didn¡¯t have a proper answer to that yet. Not one that she was happy with, at least. If James was right with his deductions, then they were in serious trouble. The only way to fight creatures with the power to destroys would be to wield a simr power.


    Naturally¡­ she had that power. But it was not one that she had fully explored. The power of the scepters could easily fuel a spell capable of annihting worlds. The only problem was that doing so would require that they design a fourth-tier attack spell of sufficient strength. However, she did have another tool at her disposal as well, one that she was slightly less reluctant to use. She simply could not guarantee that it would have the power required.


    Find me one¡­ and I¡¯ll figure something out. She muttered with only a small amount of hesitation, earning a nod from the giant.


    Their energy traces are gone, to a degree that even I can¡¯t detect. Give me a few minutes to look for any investigative-type energies in Metong¡¯s database.


    Dana sat cross-legged within a world of inverted light and darkness. Her brows were furrowed in focus, working on a project that she was not entirely sure would work.


    Currently, her threebatant shadows were in the middle of a grueling trial, with Janaerra returning to her regr cleaning duties. Until someone finished their tasks, she would have time to perform her own studies.


    ¡°Can you do it?¡± She asked hesitantly, and the world around her seemed to vibrate in response. ¡°Okay, but be careful. Let¡¯s start small. Level eighteen horned bison. They aremonly found grazing in the low-level wilds of the south-east. Four feet at the shoulders, and six long, with muscr builds. Their energy signatures should be pretty weak, so make sure you don¡¯t miss them.¡±


    There was another shudder that ran through the world of shadow, before Dana felt a small drain on her energy. Ever since she had be a being made of the World¡¯s Shadow, she had been very sensitive to the amount of energy she had at her disposal, due to the recovery rate being fairly inconsistent.


    If she stayed within a dark region, or the world of shadow itself, and did not activate any of her abilities, her recovery was frighteningly fast. On the other hand, staying within light, or near a powerful light source would slow her recovery. When she was in the same room as Tsubaki, the Goddess of Light, her passive divine aura made it impossible for Dana to recover any energy at all.


    Dana once heard that the brightest light casts the darkest shadow. If that were the case, then it would mean that she had be Tsubaki¡¯s shadow. She would be the darkest shadow that followed the goddess¡¯s light. But to do that, she needed a bit more at her disposal than the ability to create low-level fighters and weapons.


    Despite its title as a Saint-level energy, the World¡¯s Shadow at first showed less power than her own ability as the queen of Hell. That was something that she needed to rectify, as it was now more difficult for her to properlymand those monster spirits. She could still do it with some effort, but as her soul had been remodeled, they would first take some convincing.


    Currently, she was testing the ability to create monsters with her World¡¯s Shadow, as she wanted to see whether or not she would be able to kill them and collect magic cards. This was a feature of the energy that would normally not have been possible, without Dana¡¯s unique circumstances.


    In order to learn more about the energy, Dana had reached out to contact the Shadow Saint of Fyor, secretly sharing the information that she had acquired the energy in order to learn its restrictions. Petra had been¡­ shaken by the news that someone else had obtained her previously unique energy. But after a conversation with Thelsa, the main body, Dana had convinced her that she had no intention to misuse this power.


    When Dana learned that the energy was not able to recreate character types that the user themselves had not personally experienced, she wasn¡¯t entirely sure what to make of it. For Thelsa, that meant that she could only create humans, even if they looked differently. She could not create anyone that did not match her current sses, and had difficulties creating members of the opposite gender.


    Dana, on the other hand¡­ she had never been an ordinary individual. She had sses all across the spectrum. And while she had not personally experienced certain walks of life¡­ there were still some advantages to being the Tyrant Soul. Where Thelsa could only create humans, Dana had absorbed the spiritual energies of a great many types of souls, both sentient and monster alike. Of course, the sentient souls were second-hand after they had been already devoured once by a monster.


    That was how she had created a kitsune, a human, and an elf. These three races had all been devoured by monsters that Dana herself had consumed back when she was still living in Hell. However, this in itself was also a problem.


    Dana had absorbed so many diluted types of souls that she herself did not know what was at her disposal. She could only rely on the World¡¯s Shadow to parse the information from her spirit, and hope that there was a trace of something, somewhere in her being. And if there wasn¡¯t, she had to hope that there was something close enough to use as a basis.


    Within the ¡®world of light¡¯, the true Deckan, an indistinct shadow stirred beneath a bison. Momentster, a simr creature appeared grazing on the ins of Dana¡¯s shadow world. Dana was surprised that the process was so smooth, having expected there to be some processing time or resistance to the creation of a monster.


    That was when she realized that she had overlooked one of her other titles. A prelude to her Tyrant Soul and Queen of Hell titles, and one that was likely paving the way for her to create these creatures more easily. It was also the title that first made Dana suspect that achievements were bad, the Monstrous title.


    Dana pouted her lips, feeling that the amount of energy drained was less than a tenth of when she created any of her avatars that were currently training. ¡°I hope that doesn¡¯t mean what I think it does.¡± This was one type of synergy that she would rather prefer to be without, even if it did provide a useful bonus to her.


    As an experiment, she copied over the rest of that bison¡¯s herd, filling a meadow with the bulky beasts. Afterwards, she closed her eyes, sending another order to her energy. ¡°Now kill them.¡±


    There was a brief squeal and a roar of pain as over twenty bison fell dead at once, their skulls shattered from within. Dana stood up, walking into the wall of a nearby building to appear within the meadow. She let out a faint sigh, moving over to one of therge bodies and cing her hands on it.


    Dana had already confirmed the existence of dimensium within her shadow world, so it was only reasonable that she would be able to create cards out of the creatures that were in within it. With that thought in mind, she felt a light pressure weighing down on her body, the typical ¡®rite of passage¡¯ imposed by dimensium. If one was unable to withstand the weight of the object that they wished to convert into a card, then they would be unable to finish the conversion.


    Thankfully, Dana had more than enough physical strength to handle these bisons, as they were all low-level beasts. Despite their bulk, they were barely as heavy as a level six hundred rabbit. Granted, level six hundred rabbits were fairly terrifying in that they were deceptively strong while appearing harmless.


    Once the first bison was converted, she looked at the cards that had appeared in her hands. There was not much difference between them and the cards that she knew of, aside from the fact that these cards had a ck border lining their edges. Dana could only assume that this was the contamination of the World¡¯s Shadow energy mimicking every step of the creation process.


    ¡°You know, it¡¯d be easier if you could just create these cards, and skip the steps in-between.¡± She muttered, feeling a shudder of energy around her. Darkness spiraled out of the ground, forming a second set of cards in her spare hand. However, she was able to tell that these new cards were perfectly identical to the set that she had just received.


    With a small twitch of her eyes, Dana thought it over. ¡°Okay, that¡¯s just being cheeky. Can you copy cards from the main world?¡± As an example, Dana brought out a storage space containing numerous cards that she had prepared in the past to deal with a variety of situations. Pulling one out, she willed the World¡¯s Shadow to copy it.


    Unfortunately¡­ despite the world shuddering around her, the answer that she received was a resounding negative. The energy could only recreate the cards after going through the initial process to create it the first time. ¡°Well¡­ I suppose we¡¯ll be busy for a while.¡±


    Another interesting fact that Dana noticed about these shadow cards was that they did not operate purely on mana. Rather, it was the energy of the World¡¯s Shadow itself that fueled them, bing self-contained within a card in much the same way as a normal card used mana. This meant that, unfortunately, she would be unable tobine these cards with a normal card to create a new source of ie. Who would want to use this new type of card when it was ipatible with what was already dominating the market?


    ¡°Okay, well¡­ since I¡¯m already Monstrous, let¡¯s step it up a bit.¡± Dana muttered to herself, thinking of stronger monsters to bring into her shadow world.


    ¡°That¡¯s what we¡¯ve discovered so far, your Highness.¡± Tsubaki said as she stood within a Metong ship, watching a projection of the High Mother. James, now in a much smaller body than previously, stood next to her and silently listened.


    ¡°I see¡­ that is dreadful news.¡± The High Mother spoke up, crossing her hands over herp. ¡°Red stars, whether giants or dwarfs, are the mostmon type of star in the gxy. If it is as you say, and they are the incubators for these creatures, then we may very well have a catastrophe on our hands.¡±


    ¡°I am aware of that.¡± Tsubaki nodded. ¡°I believe that we have a way to deal with these creatures. However, I would also advise the Metong to devote some of your Network capabilities to developing powerful spells and weapons that couldbat threats of this level. If they appeared once, odds are that something of simr strength will appear in the future.¡±


    The Metong ruler nodded her head regretfully. ¡°I understand. As you suggested, we will also conduct routine checks of the systems within our territory. I am also going to be passing along a simr message to the March, in case these things are able to make their way into their quadrant as well.¡±


    ¡°That would be appreciated. Finally, James has a request that he would like to make of you, and it could prove pivotal in discerning the locations of these creatures.¡± As she said that, Tsubaki stepped aside, gesturing for James to step forward and speak.


    ¡°Oh? Please, if it could be of any help in this situation, I would certainly be willing.¡± The High Mother smiled gently as she heard that there was something that they needed her immediate help with.


    ¡°Don¡¯t go promising anything so early.¡± James chuckled, shaking his head. ¡°Locked energy X-701.¡±


    When the High Mother heard his request, her smile stiffened. Her eyes seemed to briefly sh, before her features rxed, letting out a deep sigh. ¡°I see¡­ that energy would certainly be helpful in a situation like this. But, even if I give you the recipe for X-701, are you sure that you have the power to handle its cost to such a degree?¡±


    ¡°High Mother, I can assure you that I have more energy than any other being you have ever encountered.¡± James answered with a confident smile. ¡°This energy is capable of opening a portal to view through the weave of fate, looking into the determined past or uncertain future. Although I won¡¯t be able to influence matters, I will be able to use this energy to determine certain strengths and weaknesses of the enemies that we are facing.¡±


    ¡°You really did study that database thoroughly.¡± The High Mother smiled, nodding her head. ¡°Although the recipe is not public, all but the most dangerous ssified energies are listed with their number and description, so that the Metong or our allies can identify them through their effects. Or in the event of cases such as this. Very well, I shall approve of your request. X-701 will have its recipe transmitted to your personal database.¡±

 Chapter 622: Solar Flare

    <h4>Chapter 622: Sr re</h4>


    It didn¡¯t take long before Dana began to grow numb to the feeling of creating monsters to be ughtered. Whether a ten-meter long snake or an armored whale, she created them one after the other while remaining within her world of shadows. And each time she did so, she would immediately kill them to im their cards.


    Granted, the whale took some effort, as even Dana had to fortify her body with numerous different spells and abilities before she was able to withstand that level of pressure. However, in the process of doing so, she began to understand the power of her energy more and more.


    The cards that she created could be seen as a special variant of synthetic cards. The primary differences were that she was the only one producing them, and that they could not bebined with standard cards. However, they had the same general effects as a standard card, only that they operated with the energy of the World¡¯s Shadow.


    Dana had expected this to mean that every spell would have a shadowy theme, but found that that was not the case. When she cast a fireball, it was not a ball of ck me, but rather the standard red of a normal spell. This led Dana to another experiment.


    Withdrawing her mana-producing scepter, sheid it on the ground before her. ¡°Are you able to copy this?¡± If it was something simr to the way that the cards were reproduced, she expected to receive a scepter that continually produced her newfound energy.


    However, when the energy probed at the scepter, the thoughts it sent back caused Dana to let out a faint sigh. She could not copy a world within a world. While she could reproduce the physical form of the scepter, it would not have the special enchantment that she had ced on it. If she wanted a scepter of that sort, she would need to make one herself.


    She was¡­ certainly willing to try doing so. But at the same time, she was hesitant. There was a stark contrast between creating a scepter filled with the World¡¯s Shadow, and creating one filled with her World¡¯s Shadow. Thetter meant that it would be connected to her on an intrinsic level, and the intelligence within would still listen to her. However, if she were to go with the former, it was very likely that the spiritual consciousness of the World¡¯s Shadow would no longer choose to obey her.


    That was not something that Dana was willing to risk. Creating a world of theoretically infinite energy, with that energy itself having its own mind and not willing to obeymands¡­ she was entric, not stupid.


    As such, she had to give up on that idea for now. At least, until she figured out how to create such a thing with the power of her own energy. For the time being, she would have to make do with condensing the power of shadows into cards, turning them into her personal arsenal.


    While she was thinking about that, she felt a mental tick, a slight notification that one of her shadow people had finished their most recent trial. When she focused to see who it was, it turned out to be the mage, Hollevin. She had him studying second tier magic in a grand library created from her imagination, and it seemed as if he had just reached the end of it.


    The next step¡­ Dana grinned yfully, closing her eyes in focus. She erected the scenario of arge field, numerous monsters within that would push the limits of his newfound magic. As long as he sessfully passed this trial, he would be ready to start learning magic of the third tier. That was when he would really start to spike in power, along with the other sses that Dana had prepared for him.


    As for him dying in the exercise¡­ Dana wasn¡¯t really worried about that. Maybe she would have to take the risk into consideration when Hollevin was training his own studentster, but such a thing did not apply when she was personally crafting the training exercises. Instead, whenever the shadow died while training, the training program would reset. They would be stuck within this cycle until they managed to ovee the challenge that Dana had imposed on them.


    Looking in on the other training fields, Dana found that Sanct was steadily progressing. His path was one of extreme defense, his purpose being to ensure that no enemy was able to pass his shield to harm the one he was meant to protect. He was a warrior, knight, temr, hero, and martial artist. Thatst one was a result of his own studies, developing a systematic style of defense that eventually qualified as a martial art.


    Despir, on the other had, appeared to be trapped within his simtion. His mission was to infiltrate an underground bunker defended by numerous warding spells and technological rms, steal a set of documents, and escape. When Dana found him, he was trapped in a hole after triggering one of the wards defending the bunker.


    Did I make his challenges too difficult? She asked inwardly, before shaking her head. If it was Tsubaki or herself, she knew that they would be able to sneak in and out without getting caught. Despir simply needed to learn from his errors until he devised techniques that would let him get around these types of traps.


    Tsubaki sat impatiently within the Metong ship, waiting for James to finish acquiring this new energy that he and the High Mother had previously spoken of. While she was able to guess that it would be far from a simple matter, it still frustrated her that they were unable to do anything about such arge threat until he had finished.


    Lady alia, I truly do not wish to trouble you, but I feel we may be requiring your help soon. She lowered her head, resolving herself to ask for help from the Greater Pantheon. Even if she did not have them participate in battle, they could be called upon to help track their quarry.


    It¡¯s fine, Tsubaki. We really don¡¯t mind you asking for help. Just tell me what it is that you need, and I¡¯ll be more than happy to do what I can.


    Tsubaki gave a hesitant nod, before exining the situation. After learning her lesson from speaking with James, she did not omit any details, regardless of how small they appeared to her. From the very first notification she received, down to the most detailed reproduction of the timeline, as well as the conclusion that James had drawn from the evidence gathered.


    Ahh¡­ I see. That really is troubling. Give me just a moment, and I¡¯ll see what I can find. After alia heard what was happening, she fell silent for several long moments to activate her divine power.


    When she responded again, she had a somewhat exasperated tone to her. Well, James was partially right, at least. I have to give him that much credit.


    Only partially? Hearing that some of James¡¯s conjectures were not on the mark, Tsubaki held a glimmer of hope that things were not as bad as they appeared.


    Right. Individually, these creatures aren¡¯t as powerful as he expected. But¡­ it¡¯ll be best to see for yourself, he¡¯s just finishing up now.


    After alia sent that message, she fell silent, and Tsubaki saw James¡¯s body beginning to stir next to her. Clearly, his main body had indeed just finished creating the new energy. When his eyes opened, he gave a nod to Tsubaki, signalling that he was ready before holding his hand out for her. ¡°Shall we go back and see what we¡¯re dealing with?¡±


    Tsubaki nodded her head in response, taking his hand in her own as the two vanished from the Metong vessel. When they arrived, Tsubaki could recognize the shattered star that she had witnessed from the more recently-destroyed sr system. Next to her, James was rapidly growing once again in order to reach his full size, having let go of her hand the moment that they arrived.


    It will be easier to look through time and see what happened if we choose the most recent scenes. As he said that, he held his hand out, palm facing forward. A look of intense concentration appeared on his face as the space before him rippled.


    Under Tsubaki¡¯s gaze, the space became simr to a window, spreading outwards before the two of them. Only once the window was fully formed and stabilized did she see the recreated scene. A sr system with fours orbiting a yellow star. No doubt, this was the scene from before the attack.


    As Tsubaki looked around, trying to identify an anomaly, she suddenly jumped to the side. However, she was not quite fast enough as streams of light poured next to her, and even through her. It was only at that moment that her mind caught up with her reflexes, and she remembered that this was nothing more than a projection.


    James clenched his fists, and the image paused. However, even in that brief moment between Tsubaki dodging to the side and his reaction, the front of the light stream had almost reached the star. Clearly, the stream was capable of exceeding the speed of light through some special methods.


    Now that the image was paused, Tsubaki was able to take a closer look at the stream, realizing that it was made of countless smaller figures. Each figure was norger than her hand, and shaped simr to a small squid. A squid made entirely of fire and light.


    Why did it have to be an elemental swarm¡­ James muttered with a mental groan, Tsubaki looking up at him in response. If it were just fifty big monsters, that wouldn¡¯t be a problem. No matter how strong they were, they shouldn¡¯t be stronger than me. Thews of this world wouldn¡¯t allow a monster stronger than me to be born right now, after all.


    But an elemental swarm is a different story. Each creature is individually weak, probably weaker than a normal high-level fighter. But they operate with one mind, and there appear to be billions of them in this single cluster. More importantly, they use cosmic fire to project themselves forward, and have a natural faster-than-light speed.


    This new information seemed to worry James considerably, while Tsubaki fell into deep thought. If there wasn¡¯t some big monster, she had more confidence in dealing with a smaller swarm. Most of the magic she knew had an area of effect to some degree or another. Granted, none of her spells would include such arge area that could cover the entire stream, but why would it have to?


    If she could create a spell that jumped from one target to another in close proximity, then it could destroy the entire swarm, so long as she had the mana to maintain it. And with her scepter, mana capacity was the one thing she was never worried about. But, if the creatures were this small, certainly they could not have consumed an entire for digestion like you spected earlier.


    Realizing that a hole had been poked in one of his theories, James cleared his throat awkwardly. Okay, so I can¡¯t urately guess everything with just a nce, alright? With them being this small¡­ it¡¯s more likely that the parent swarms cleared out thes in order to create a safe nest for their young. Still, the problem is that a swarm this size is difficult to deal with, let alone the fact that there could be over fifty of them out in the gxy as we speak.


    Lady alia? Tsubaki prayed again briefly, hoping to get the Goddess¡¯s confirmation on this round of spections.


    He¡¯s right, this time. When the creatures are breeding within a star, its density increases, leading to arge increase in its gravitational pull. As an instinctive desire to prevent thes from crashing into the nest, the parent swarms swept away all celestial bodies within the gravity well of the local star.


    Tsubaki gave a small nod at that, before speaking again. Can you help us track them? I do not believe we will have any luck keeping up with their speed on our own, if this swarm is anything to go by.


    Naturally, I¡¯m on it! Thankfully, they mostly drift idle whenever they are outside of a sr system¡¯s influence. Most of the time, they appear to be wandering clouds of ming energy, which has caused a few ships to avoid them out of a desire not to be extra crispy. Nobody realized just what they were before. Even the Metong avoided them as a dangerous ster phenomena, not seeing the study of such a thing as worth the risk involved.


    It¡¯s only when they enter arge gravity well that they turn active, rushing to the nearby star like they did here to feast.

 Chapter 623: Alternative Paths

    <h4>Chapter 623: Alternative Paths</h4>


    Petra sat within a dimly lit room, looking out at the territory that she was currently living in. Night-time had descended, leaving the crystalline sky glittering high above the world. For the time being, she chose to live at Dawn, as it was thend she found to be the most beautiful in all of Fyor.


    However, as she gazed out at the night ¡®sky¡¯, she kept recalling the conversation that they had had with the Keeper¡¯s servant two days prior. It was the first time that they had encountered anyone that clearly held the same energy as themselves. And, while Petra knew that the shadow energy of Thelsa and herself was far more powerful, it could not match the purity of Dana¡¯s.


    Is there really not a problem with teaching her how to use the shadows like we do? Petra asked, feeling as if it could create issues for them in the future. I thought our whole thing was remaining discrete. Dana Jafer is by no means discrete in how she handles business.


    Thelsa gave a small chuckle as she listened to Petra¡¯sint, willing herself to appear in the room next to the little demoness. ¡°It¡¯ll be fine. If anything, it¡¯s better for her to have that power as well. Better for us, I mean.¡±


    ¡°And how do you figure that?¡± Petra asked, puffing her cheeks out indignantly.


    ¡°As long as she keeps a high profile, and people understand how she uses her power, they will associate any information that leaks about us with her. Because she wields a ¡®unique¡¯ shadow energy, she will gain the credit if we have to act more openly in the future.¡±


    ¡°You know¡­¡± Petra nced towards Thelsa. ¡°I think it¡¯d be nice for us to get acknowledgement for our actions every now and then, too. Nobody wants to just live in the shadows forever. And this ising from the Demigoddess of Shadows!¡±


    Thelsa simply smiled, reaching out to hold Petra in a gentle embrace. ¡°I know, Petra. I¡¯m working on it. Soon, you should be able to stand tall and proud as the daughter of Ashley. I just want to make sure that the Shadow Saint is left in the darkness. Once I can be sure of that, you can have a more permanent identity.¡±


    Petra let out a small sigh, nodding her head. ¡°I know. Frankly, I think you¡¯re paranoid, but I get it. People don¡¯t tend to enjoy one person having too much power. And us¡­ well¡­ if those people knew how many we had at our disposal, they¡¯d burst a blood vessel.¡± She gave a somewhat wry smile as she said that, earning a chuckle from Thelsa.


    ¡°Right? Besides, I feel like I can help people so much more without the recognition. When everyone knows about you, they¡¯re more likely to me you for things going wrong. For people like me¡­ fame isn¡¯t really a good thing. That¡¯s why I don¡¯t mind teaching the Keeper¡¯s servant, so that she can act as my shield.¡±


    Tsubaki closed her eyes, mentally preparing herself for what they were about to do. She had modified one of the spells in her grimoire to be a cold spell instead of a pure mana attack. Now, they would have to actually test it on a living swarm. This would be their first chance to see how the swarms responded to danger.


    Tsubaki was currently sitting on the top of arge Metong ship, gazing out at the swarm they had located with alia¡¯s assistance. Her description had been rather apt. From Tsubaki¡¯s viewpoint, the swarm appeared to simply be a slowly-drifting cloud of fire. If not for its irregr shape, it could even be mistaken for a small star.


    The sheer scale of the enemy did indeed unnerve the kitsune, who was prepared to flee at the first sign that the swarm hadunched an attack. Have you finished yet? She muttered towards James, who was standing next to her in his smaller form.


    I¡¯m sorry, it¡¯s a bit taxing to view millions of potential timelines and see through the minute details to find the truth hidden within the possibilities. He responded, clearly frustrated with his own task. As the new energy he acquired could be used to nce into the possible future, he was currently observing the situation as it would ur after sheunched her spell.


    Tsubaki chose to not push him, as an angered man with his level of power was not something she needed to witness. Thankfully, he didn¡¯t take much longer.


    Cold spells are effective, but it¡¯s tricky. Once you reduce the body temperature of a sr sprite- yes, that¡¯s what I¡¯m calling them- by a certain amount, they are snuffed out. But the surrounding sprites will be constantly radiating heat, so you have to hit arge number of them at once, or their shared heat will counteract your spell.


    Tsubaki furrowed her brows, as this practically guaranteed that she wouldn¡¯t be able to kill the swarm with her spell. It was a chain-effect spell, but that meant that it had to take time to connect from one target to another. What about a direct spirit attack?


    James grimaced, before letting out an inaudible sigh and beginning to tap into his newfound energy once again. Clearly, the futures he had foreseen previously were only in the event that Tsubaki used her cold spell. Now that she wanted to try something different, those futures had be invalid.


    The Metong ship was in a controlled course, remaining a set distance from the cloud and matching their speed. Thankfully, they were quite far from any sr systems, so there was little risk of the swarm suddenly bing active.


    It was roughly half an hourter when James once again let his hand drop, this time seeming much more weary than before. If you use that item¡­ it can work. But you have tobine it with an illusion. Whenever the swarm senses itself being attacked, it goes all out to defend. With the energy that I have left right now, I can¡¯t protect the ship if that happens.


    Tsubaki raised an eyebrow in rm, ncing towards James. She had not told him about the Illusion domain, and was nning to save it as an emergency tactic. However, she had also been prepared to use it if the situation appeared as though she could not destroy the swarm otherwise. It seemed like James had looked into a future where she had made that decision.


    I understand. She nodded, slowly standing up and making another prayer. Oh, Goddess of Death, Lady Irena, hear me.


    Here you go. Irena¡¯s voice responded a brief momentter, and Tsubaki could feel a metalling pennding in her hand.


    But¡­ but I hadn¡¯t even made my request yet. Tsubaki looked at the pen, feeling a slight sense of loss. Her moment of dramatic build-up had been cut short.


    ¡­I could take it back and let you ask properly? There was an awkward tone to Irena¡¯s voice, as if she was realizing her mistake.


    No, no, it¡¯s fine. I don¡¯t want to trouble you that much. Thank you for lending me your artifact. Tsubaki shook her head, feeling the energy reserves within the pen. It seemed as though Irena had kept it fully charged, either charging it for this event or simply having it that way as standard.


    Holding the pen up, she drew arge circle, making sure that it epassed the entire swarm within her field of view. Afterwards, she began drawing runes, pulling from her memories of reading the most advanced magic of Fyor.


    ¡®Proceed forward until finding heat in excess of one thousand degrees, identified as target source. Proceed towards target source until contact with living creature, identified as initial target. Consume spiritual energy from initial target to activate following effect. Locate living creatures with matching energy pattern as initial target, identified as secondary targets. Proceed towards secondary targets until contact. Consume spiritual energy from secondary target to repeat effect.`


    In order to write the spell, Tsubaki had to draw over fifty runes inside of the circle, making sure not to let herself escape its bounds. Once she was done, she did not rx. Instead, she held the ability in ce while calling on her divinity. My Keeper, I require the power of illusions.


    With the request made, Tsubaki could feel a new realm of power opening up to her. Although she regrly tapped into the illusionary power to hide the traces of the Keeper¡¯s domains within her divine energy, that was the full extent of what she had ¡®permission¡¯ for. Something like what she was doing now required far more energy, and thus required explicit permission.


    Once she had it, her hand waved, covering the runes in ayer of illusion that made them disappear. Then she waved her hand again, this time dispelling the circle that was containing her spell. Although the effect of the spell was now invisible, she could feel it rushing forward, her divinity attached to it.


    There was not so much as a stir when the spell honed in on the swarm, striking one of the miniature ming sprites. However, Tsubaki could feel her divinity rapidly being spent, eyes going wide at the cost. She had attached a very simple, yet powerful effect to the illusion. The same power that she had seen the Keeper use previously.


    Whenever a sprite was struck by the spell, an illusory copy of it was produced. However, this copy had a slightly altered energy signature, in order for the spell to not double back and attack the same sprite multiple times. While this small disturbance wasn¡¯t enough to enrage the swarm, it was enough to cause confusion.


    The cloud of fire seemed to shudder, shifting back and forth around the affected region. With each sprite that was in, the drain on Tsubaki¡¯s energy increased more and more. The golden light in her eyes flickered, and then went dim. She fell to her knees as the entire swarm was gradually consumed, immediately dismissing the illusion. She couldn¡¯t risk leaving it active even a moment longer, or else her entire existence could fade away.


    Naturally, James could feel how weak Tsubaki had be, and knew that she would not be able to recover soon enough to deal with the rest of the swarms guing this gxy. They would need to discover another means to deal with the problem, one that did not require the use of Tsubaki¡¯s divine energy.


    Dana stood at the valley that had be her personal ughterhouse. In one hand, she held a catalogue purchased from Deckan, detailing the different types of cards and which creatures they could be found from. With the other hand, she pped against monster carcasses as they appeared, turning them into cards.


    There were many times when she would be unlucky and receive a repeated card, but there was little that she could do about that. While she could copy cards that she had already found, she could not choose which creatures dropped which cards.


    ¡°Why is a third tier darkness card so hard to find?¡± She muttered to herself, seeing that there were six different breeds of monsters that provided the card. Unfortunately, she had ughtered dozens of those monsters without the darkness card dropping. ¡°I mean, I get that the drop rate is fairly low, but this is a tad ridiculous?¡±


    In order to save on her expenditure, Dana only kept one of each ¡®corpse¡¯ card that dropped, converting the rest back into the World¡¯s Shadow and reabsorbing it. Otherwise, it was unlikely that she would have been able to go on like this for as long as she did.


    After several hours of constant grinding, she had long since finished the first and second tier of cards, and was over halfway done with the third tier. Unfortunately, there was still much of the fourth tier that was not yet documented, so Dana would have to settle with the first three for now. After that, she could return to her n of creating an actual monster army.


    As she thought about that, she felt Hollevin dying within his training simtion. Again¡­ This was his fifteenth death in thest hour, making Dana question if she had perhaps set the difficulty too high. In order to investigate if she needed to adjust his training regiment, she spied on how he handled himself. What she saw made her eye twitch repeatedly.


    Hollevin¡¯s first action when he appeared was not toy warding spells against the monsters, orrge attacks that could wipe out entire groups. Instead, he cast self-buffing spells to enhance his physical body. Once that was done, he used another spell to add ded tips to both edges of his staff.


    At this point, the monsters were already nearly upon him, and he walked forward to meet them. His body spun as he twirled the staff, slicing into the shadow monsters with his enhanced agility and strength. Whenever he had a moment to breathe, he would fire off a quick attack spell, a beam of light that pierced through a monster in his path.


    Okay, but why is he fighting in melee?! He¡¯s a mage, for crying out loud! Dana felt as if Hollevin¡¯s battle tactics had steered far outside of the realm of a mage, despite the fact that he was only able to achieve this result with magic. That was when she noticed something interesting.


    Whenever his staff struck the ground, or the air just above his head, it would leave a ck mark. As the world was one of shadows, this mark was almost impossible to notice before it faded away. But once Dana noticed it, and began tracking the marks as he made them, she realized what he was doing.


    Five minutester when Hollevin died yet again, she did not feel disappointed. Instead, she watched eagerly as he performed another run with a simr tactic. His level as a warrior naturally rose every time he fought in this manner, so he was bing more and more adept as time went on. This time, hested seven minutes. And after that, ten minutes.


    It was at the ten minute mark when Hollevin struck thest mark on the ground, taking three quick steps back. Immediately, a ck cube arose from the ground, trapping a majority of the monsters inside of it. This cube briefly shuddered, before falling apart. When it did, the numerous monsters inside appeared either dead or critically injured, whereas those that were not within the cube were extremely few in numbers.


    That was Hollevin¡¯s battle tactic, to draw a physical diagram for a second tier spell using his own mana and the blood of the beasts he was fighting. Dana thought it was rather brilliant, if not entirely reckless, but she was also disappointed. After all, such a tactic could work on second tier spells, but not third or fourth tier.


    The fact that he needed to resort to such a trick meant that he could not easily perform those spells while caught in a chaotic melee. While he could imagine the diagram to such a detailed degree as to let him draw it with small strokes over ten minutes, he was not able to release the mana to activate it with the same intensity. In this sense, he had failed as a mage.


    If he did not take special measures to help him cast higher tier magic, then it was unlikely he¡¯d be able to handle the trials she gave him next.

 Chapter 624: A Burst of Spirit

    <h4>Chapter 624: A Burst of Spirit</h4>


    This new development left James in a rather tight spot, unsure of what they could do to continue. Once his energy recovered, there were likely means at his disposal with which he could destroy the elemental swarms. However, he would not be able to confirm their effects with the same energy that he had used to help Tsubaki test her own theories.


    When peering through fate, he could only observe the futures that were deemed as ¡®possible¡¯. Meaning that as long as he was determined to look into the future, he would see himself looking into the future. In order for him to try out one of his powers, he had to resolve himself to stop looking into the possible futures, at which point he would no longer be able to observe.


    Unfortunately, using this energy consumed too much focus, so he could not simply create another avatar to handle it while he attacked. It was not easy to peer through so many possibilities at once and try to discern the smaller details.


    Do you have any other tricks? James asked, looking towards Tsubaki. You won¡¯t be able to use that method a second time. Not with that level of cost. And sacrificing yourself to deal with only two swarms would save nobody.


    Tsubaki was panting, more a reflexive action than serving any real purpose, as she was still in the vacuum of space. I have¡­ one. I just don¡¯t know if it will work.


    Isn¡¯t that what you have me for? James reminded, earning a small nod from Tsubaki. Get some reserve energy from the Keeper. You¡¯ll be no good for the next swarm in your current state.


    As he said that, James himself sat down atop the ship, closing his eyes and entering a state of deep meditation to try to recover his own energy reserves. Tsubaki, meanwhile, looked conflicted at his instruction. Nheless, she knew that he was right, and prayed to the Keeper to bestow some of his energy upon her.


    Divine energy, while incredibly powerful, had a rtively slow recharge rate consistent with the amount of followers a deity had. Personally, there were many people that respected Tsubaki, but only a small percentage ¡®worshipped¡¯ her. On the other hand, all beings were the creation of the Keeper, who stood above even the Greater Pantheon. Even though he did not actively grant blessings, most people worshipped him to at least a small degree. It was no surprise that he would receive far more divine energy than Tsubaki.


    Thankfully, Tsubaki had followed the Keeper¡¯s advice to set up a few trusted priests in the different worlds, which increased her own divine energy flow. For a False Divinity like herself and the Keeper, establishing those priests would drastically increase the energy she gained from the people whenpared to the simple wishes of the masses.


    After Tsubaki made her prayer, she felt her energy being returned to her, quickly filling her to the point she had previously been at. Closing her eyes, she mentally thanked the Keeper for his help, before standing up. What she saw caused her to stagger, however. Floating before the ship was another ming cloud, much like the one that they had recently destroyed. In fact, it appeared almost identical.


    I had the Metong take us to the next swarm while you were recovering. James informed her, still sitting next to her and focusing on his own recovery. Are you ready to act? I only have the energy to test out one strategy right now, so make whatever your n is count.


    Tsubaki nodded, pulling out a scepter with a green reality gem and causing it to slowly hover in orbit around her. Then, she did the same with a scepter that had a blue gem, one with a green gem, and one with a red gem. These four hovered in matching orbits, only one ever in front of her at a time.


    Seeing this, James had an idea of what she was trying to do. These four items were four ¡®options¡¯ that she would use based on the timing he gave her, and she was not entirely set on just using one in particr.


    However, James could not feel much from the scepters, aside from the fact that they each contained a terrifying level of power sealed away. Now that Tsubaki had her n in motion, it was time for him to test it.


    James ripped open a hole through space, watching the ripples spread out. He watched himself issuingmands to Tsubaki at different times, at which point she would grab whichever scepter was in front of her. However, she did not use the power of the scepter itself, but rather threw it at the cloud.


    Such strong items shouldn¡¯t be disposable products, should they? He muttered inwardly, before his eyes widened in shock.


    When he saw the scene, and yed through which scepter showed the greatest effect, he shook his head. Silver. He transmitted the word to Tsubaki, whose eyes snapped open and grabbed the scepter with the silver gem.


    As soon as she threw it, James transmitted an immediate order to the Metong crew, telling them to put some distance between themselves and the cloud. As the engines red to life, Tsubaki retrieved a long-barreled rifle from seemingly nowhere, aiming it forward. It took more than just the heat of the swarm to shatter the gem atop that scepter, after all.


    She waited patiently, watching as the scepter closed in on the cloud in the distance. Through the scope of the rifle, she could just barely make out the miniature forms fluttering in the mes, seeming to perfectly blend in with one another.


    The moment that the scepter touched the cloud, or at least the moment she perceived it doing so, she pulled the trigger. Due to the distance, even with her Light domain, there was a solid minute between the moment she pulled the trigger and the time the effect became visible to them.


    Tsubaki¡¯s aim was incredibly precise, not to mention the fact that her holy weapon itself had a homing function. The shot she fired struck precisely at the heart of the gem, which had at that point fallen a fraction of the way into the cloud. The scepter was already growing red-hot, and the magical carvings on it were starting to degrade.


    But when she struck, the gem cracked. Just a small crack at first, a whisper of silver light streaming out of it. As the crack spread, that light became more intense. James felt his chest tighten, hoping that they had moved far enough away as the gem shattered in its entirety.


    Sound does not travel in space. That said, there was a piercing wail that echoed within the very soul of the Metong crew, a silver neb appearing and engulfing the ming cloud. Under the rapid expansion ofpressed spiritual energy, the gaseous spirits of the sr sprites were snuffed out. Only those that remained at the very furthest edge of the cloud had a moment to react before that silver wave swept over themselves as well.


    It really was a spirit-based perpetual motion engine¡­ James muttered in astonishment, looking to the other three scepters floating around Tsubaki. Perpetual motion engines were things that were still entirely theoretical in his own world, but also an outdated theory at that. Before anyone managed to achieve their creation, they had learned to harvest energy from the void. Thus, nobody pursued such an outdated field anymore.


    James had the urge to study these scepters, but knew from Tsubaki¡¯s hesitation to use them that they were not meant for public use. After a moment of consideration, he could understand why. Just one of these spheres, when destroyed, had the power to shatter a or detonate a star. This was a type of item that could only be handled with extreme care, and was simply too risky to hand out to arge group of people.


    Are you able to make more of those? He asked, unsure how difficult the creation of such a perpetual motion engine was for Tsubaki. To his surprise, the kitsune nodded her head.


    One week¡­ give me a week, and I¡¯ll have a hundred prepared. They won¡¯t be as strong as the ones that have been building energy for years, but I¡¯ll make sure that they aren¡¯t toocking. James was briefly surprised that she needed such a short timeframe, but immediately nodded his head. No doubt, she could use her existing scepters to fuel the creation of new ones.


    In fact, after watching the explosion, he realized that the scepters themselves were merely limiters to stop the energy from pouring out. The real power was always in the gems themselves.


    Dana was aware of Tsubaki¡¯s return to the Sky Citadel. She had even helped Tsubaki find the blueprint file to create the spirit gems. However, she still had her own goals. The training of the three ¡®shadow soldiers¡¯ had reached its final stage.


    Although Hollevin could not create third tier spell diagrams simply from his imagination and cast them in a battle, he had taken up the path of enchanting and scribing. His staff was imbued with a number of spells that he could quickly cast, while he simrly kept a number of scrolls on his person. As such, he was able to bring out the power of a top-ss third-tier mage, while also showing great promise as a melee fighter.


    Dana did not force him to master fourth-tier magic, as even she herself had to rely on a program to help model fourth-tier spells. Such magic was clearly not meant for one person to memorize and deploy on the field of battle with only their imagination.


    Sanct, meanwhile, had reached an almost frightening degree in his defensive power. His final goal was to protect a great tree from an army of fire-wielding monsters. The more of the tree was burned, the lower his score would be. This test took him hundreds of attempts to pass. Yet¡­ he did not stop simply because he had passed it. He was determined to repeat it again and again, asking Dana to increase the score he needed to pass.


    In the end, he forced himself to continue until not a single leaf had been harmed by the monsters. Despite his heavy armor, he found the path of an elemental monk, blessed by the dual elements of wind and earth. His speed on the battlefield made him look almost like a blur, the shield he had formed from his pledge weapon rotating around the target of his protection.


    Finally, there was Despir. His training was perhaps the most harrowing. His final trial seemed to be something straight of an invasion from a foreign Keeper. With no information on his surroundings, he had to identify the characteristics of thend he was in, and kill a local lord without ever being identified.


    In order to prevent Despir from simply memorizing the details of the training level, she set it to randomly change key details every time he failed. Poisonous nts might not always have the same appearances. Secret passages might be moved, or require different entry methods. Sometimes, the enemies were even alert to a threat before he appeared. Despir learned the trade of the ninjas as he advanced, understanding how they performed their great feats and incorporating it in his own tactics.


    Now that their individual training had beenpleted, Dana was preparing the next stage. It was time to teach them how to operate as a single unit. This way, they could be the core of Udona¡¯s guards. Although not members of her Holy Knights, they would be the counterpart to that organization, the Shadow Knights.


    The only problem was creating a training method to force the three of them to work together properly. Each of them had only ever acted alone in their training, so they were somewhat set in their ways. They all knew how to attack, how to defend, and how to kill, even if they each had their strengths and weaknesses in these fields. Dana had to increase the difficulty considerably to make this work, to the point where their only hope of survival would be cooperation.

 Chapter 625: The Shadow Knights

    <h4>Chapter 625: The Shadow Knights</h4>


    Udona tapped a finger on her desk, deep in thought as she looked over the papers in front of her. After recruiting Phisher to join her newly established Holy Knights, a creation of hers from the version of the future he had seen, she had been looking into the other members that he had reported entering the organization. However, there was a slight problem selecting any of them at the current time.


    Of the remaining Holy Knights, three of them had not even been born yet by the time Phisher presented the information to Udona. With how the timeline had been altered since then, it was impossible to tell if they would even be born at all at this rate, let alone live up to the same standards as the life Phisher had seen.


    Aside from those three, the rest had yet to fully mature, with the exception of one man. The only other person to be recruited into the present Holy Knights was a man by the name of Jace Beldin. While Jace had not reached his divine state, bing the God of Storms that Phisher had seen, he was a remarkably powerful and noble fighter.


    When Udona looked into this man, she found that he was a traveler, one that would often go from city to city. Few people truly noticed him, as he did not draw much attention to himself. Jace walked the roads instead of utilizing portals, he stayed in cheap inns, and he appeared unarmed.


    However, every city he visited, he would enter the adventurer¡¯s guild to look at unfinished hunting requests. While he never took the requests himself, he would still go and kill the monsters listed in them.


    There were two reasons why he never took those requests, from what Udona could tell using her divine insight- in other words, scrolling back through his personal history using the cheats avable to her as a Companion. The first was because he was already a Perfect Self, having no need for the basic living necessities like food and water. He was entirely self-sufficient in terms of energy.


    The second reason was more direct. He believed that if he took the requests and made a name for himself, the guild would try to tie him down to a specific area. Without the freedom to move as he wished, he could no longer live his carefree hunting life.


    The real challenge for Udona at that part had been to convince this man to join her and be her knight. The unsung lord of storms was a powerful elemental monk that had awakened three elemental attributes within his ki. While water and wind were onlymon elements, his third attribute was far more rare. The element of lightning was the basis for his title, as well as the effect that was produced when he released all three together.


    When Udona manifested herself in front of him, he had naturally prostrated himself as any kitsune would in her presence. Given her status, that reaction was something she was all-too used to. However, when she asked him to be her knight, he actually refused.


    It was only when Udona assured him that he could continue to live his life as a wanderer, and only needed to respond in times of crisis, that he epted. Even then, she could feel that he was hesitant to do so. After officially bing her knight, and learning how to cultivate a pledge weapon, he said his farewells.


    In Phisher¡¯s timeline, it was Jace that had originally approached her seeking to join the Holy Knights after a monster tide swept over several viges and forced the Goddess to reveal her hand. Quite literally, by manifesting a giant hand to crush the monsters. However, Udona had no reason to believe that such a tide would definitely ur this time, and no desire to wait for it to do so.


    Her current problem that she was facing was that she had no clue who she should recruit to fill the remaining spots of her knights. Naturally, her mind first went to Dana and Tsubaki, two of the greatestbatants in any world. But with their status as Dale¡¯s servants, she did not want to make it seem like she was poaching them.


    Aside from those two, there were numerous powerful individuals, both godly and otherwise. The problem with them was their character. Most of them held no loyalty to Deckan, either because they were members of other races or because they had otherwise moved away. Such people wouldn¡¯t have a strong desire to act as her knights, aside from wishing to gain her favor as a member of the Greater Pantheon.


    That was not the type of people that Udona wished to recruit, which was why she had not announced that she was looking for members. She did not wish to be swarmed by millions of people looking for nothing more than extra blessings, and only wanted those who would truly devote themselves to the protection of the people.


    As she was thinking about that, Phisher suddenly reacted to something. Golden light shed as a de tore through the air of the office, moving towards a dark corner. As a man that had basically be her personal guard, it was not umon to find her staying near the God-Queen of Deckan.


    What was unusual, though, was for something to be able to stop his strike. A ck shield with golden carvings appeared, taking the brunt of the attack and deflecting it to the side. There was a crash as the attack was parried, carving out arge hole in the wall.


    ¡°Stay back.¡± Phisher warned as he stepped forward, this time drawing his sword. However, he felt his divine energy being pressed down by the goddess behind him.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, this is a guest of mine.¡± Udona said with a small smile, slowly standing up. ¡°You cane out now, Dana.¡±


    ¡°Tsk, thought I could pull a fast one on you.¡± A childlike voice spoke from the shadows, Dana walking out from behind the shield. She looked at the hole in the wall, and then Phisher, before finally turning to face the shield. ¡°Good block, Sanct. I should put you against divine opponents more often.¡±


    ¡°Please don¡¯t.¡± A masculine voice spoke up from behind the shield, which was lowered to reveal a human face. ¡°It took half of my energy to merely parry his blow.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Dana blinked, looking at Phisher again. ¡°There was a potential threat to your queen just now. You didn¡¯t hold back, right?¡±


    Although it had taken a moment, Phisher was able to recognize the girl before him. The only issue was that she should not have existed in this form, ording to his memories. Dana should have existed as the spiritpanion to Tsubaki before falling at the final battle against the golem army. ¡°I would never hold back in the face of an enemy.¡± Phisher said firmly.


    In truth, he was also surprised that his strike was blocked. Clearly, the human male was not a divine being, and had only cultivated the path of a knight. Being able to block the full-power strike of a purely offensive god just as himself was a remarkable achievement. Let alone half of his energy, Phisher wouldpliment him even if he spent all of his energy to block it.


    Hearing that, Dana nodded her head with a smile, looking back to Sanct. ¡°Cultivate well. If you can be the God of the Shield, your defense should be unbreakable.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t even know if people like us can ascend to divinity or not.¡± Sanct pointed out with a frustrated twitch of his brow, two other forms emerging from behind them. Given that one was an elf, and the other seemed like a halfling, Phisher couldn¡¯t help but appear confused.


    ¡°True¡­ I¡¯ll need to get someone to test that.¡± Dana nodded in agreement, already making ns. She had once been the familiar of Tsubaki, and thus her soul was also partially touched by a god. She had a certain degree of confidence that she could create a person designed to pursue the path of godhood.


    Udona cleared her throat to get Dana¡¯s attention, causing the elf to p her hands together. ¡°Ah! Right. Sorry for dropping in like this, but I felt that it was time to make my intentions known.¡±


    Hearing that, Udona simply gave a small, knowing smile. ¡°Are these the three you¡¯ve been training in secret?¡±


    Dana sped her hands together behind her back and spun on one heel as she confirmed Udona¡¯s words. ¡°That¡¯s right! After training that energy that the boss taught me, I¡¯ve be the owner of this world¡¯s shadows, in a way. These three are the soldiers I¡¯ve painstakingly brought up in order to work for you. Though admittedly, their training went a bit longer than I wanted.¡±


    ¡°Each one of them holds the power of a Maxer from Fyor, with highly specialized training in their field. The Card Knight, Hollevin, has been trained in every known magic system, and can fight against a warrior of the same level in meleebat.¡± Dana waved towards the elven man, who offered a small nod.


    ¡°The Defending Knight, Sanct, trained in every form of defense I coulde up with, and a few he invented himself. As long as his energysts, he will never allow those behind him to fall.¡± As she said that, she gestured towards the knight wielding the ck shield.


    ¡°And finally, the Silent Knight, Despir. Trained in infiltration and counter-espionage, he is a master assassin and spy. Feel free to throw him at any troublesome magic wards.¡± She gestured finally towards the halfling, whose eyes went wide at thest sentence.


    ¡°I object to this on principle!¡± He shouted out, before Dana shook her head.


    ¡°Objection overruled!¡± Dana called out, before looking to Udona once more. ¡°These three will be training more soldiers for you when you are not actively deploying them. Over time, you will have an army in the shadows.¡±


    ¡°I only have two questions.¡± Udona swept her gaze over the three shadow soldiers. ¡°I¡¯ve been watching your progress from the side ever since I noticed you iming the shadows here. So, I must ask¡­ where¡¯s the fourth one?¡±


    Dana sulked, lowering her head with a sigh. ¡°Janaerra isn¡¯t ready. She kept missing chores and is a bit airheaded, so Tsubaki wanted to personally train her. But thisst week, she¡¯s been busy working on that emergency request from the Metong. She should be out now helping to get rid of their pest problem.¡±


    ¡°There is a problem with the Metong?¡± Phisher asked, blinking in surprise, which actually surprised Dana even more.


    ¡°Did nobody tell you guys?¡± She looked between Phisher and Udona, who shrugged her shoulders.


    ¡°It was not an enemy that Phisher should fight. He¡¯s good at fighting groups, but¡­ that was a bit much to ask of a single deity. Even someone from the Greater Pantheon might not be able to take out all of them before our energy ran out.¡± Hearing Udona¡¯s words, Phisher¡¯s shoulders dropped slightly. Although he did not know the scale of the enemy they were discussing, it was clear that it was strong enough to give even the Greater Pantheon pause.


    ¡°Right. Anyways, Tsubaki¡¯s going to finish training Janaerra after she gets back from work. But you said you had a second question?¡±


    The Goddess of Life gave a small nod, looking towards Hollevin. ¡°I remember him being the Martial Mage¡­ so where did his title of Card Knighte from?¡±


    Dana let out another sigh, shaking her head. ¡°I refused to make that his official title. So he locked himself up in a library for a couple of days ying with magic cards. I can mass-produce them in the shadows, and I¡¯ve copied almost all of the types known to Deckan. So Hollevin has built up about¡­ twenty different decks?¡± Dana looked towards the elven man for confirmation.


    ¡°Almost twenty-one.¡± He corrected her. ¡°I need toe up with a few morebinations for my crystal beast deck.¡±

 Chapter 626: The Digital Dealer

    <h4>Chapter 626: The Digital Dealer</h4>


    I shook my head as I watched Dana introduce her shadows to Udona, a smirk tugging at my lips when she exined the reason behind Hollevin¡¯s title. In truth, I had also been interested in the way he had developed. The method ofbining martial prowess with magic required meticulous nning.


    However, I had to say that I was more impressed with Dana¡¯s shadow cards. Part of me was wishing that I had taken Deckan as my shadow world, or considering if I could get a set of the cards from her to have my own World¡¯s Shadow copy them. Unfortunately, I had to give up on that idea not longter.


    Dana was a somewhat special case in the fact that she could trulymunicate with the spiritual consciousness within the energy. Without being able to achieve that, and only attempting to copy the cards on my own, my odds of sess were quite abysmal. For myself, it would be more effective to simply receive the cards themselves from Udona, or purchase them from Deckan.


    With that in mind, I began to think about what sort ofbat deck I would build. As Hollevin demonstrated, it was necessary to split the cards into a themed deck in order to maximize their potential. Otherwise, you could spend ages looking for the card you wanted to cast.


    I could probably build several spell cards around mirrors, right? The idea was more appealing the more I thought about it. If I built a deck specifically around my domain, then I could create powerful effects while minimizing the amount of divine energy I spent.


    Of course, when I reached that conclusion, there was something else that I had to consider. I was not simply the God of Mirrors. I was also the God of Illusions. And through Tsubaki and Scarlet, I became the God of Light and the God of Ki. But most importantly¡­ the Keeper has the authority to use the domains of any of his gods.


    In other words, saying that I could build a deck around my domain did not narrow things down nearly as much as I thought it would. Instead, I considered picking a few of the more powerful or unique domains, and creating decks focused around them.


    I definitely want to include Mirrors¡­ and maybe throw some Light cards in there for a synergistic effect. If I make a deck full of monster summons, I can take advantage of Towers¡¯ Monster domain. Aside from those two¡­ the des domain would make a powerfulbat deck, as would Archery. If Brenor was still here, I¡¯d use the Traps domain for one. But for thest one¡­ I wonder if I can make a deck revolving around the Cities domain?


    Most of the decks I wanted to make were extremely straightforward. I could either fill them with themed attacks that match the chosen domain, or powerful creatures to summon. Only the Cities deck made me pause, but that was exactly why I wanted to try it. I even had the thought of building a deck focused around the Dungeons domain, for simr reasons. It was the challenge that made it interesting.


    Udona? I sent a mental whisper to the God-Queen, waiting until she was done conversing with her new Shadow Knights so as not to interrupt her.


    You were watching that, huh? She asked back with an amused tone, clearly having fun with her situation.


    Yeah, I was. Not why I¡¯m calling though. I need cards. A lot of cards.


    It took several long moments for Udona to respond, seeming to process my request. Are you¡­ trying to take a page out of Hollevin¡¯s spellbook?


    Maybe? I gave a small chuckle as I thought about it. I just thought that it would be convenient to have a set of thematic cards inbat, to help save on energy usage.


    No, you¡¯re right. It¡¯s just a bit odd is all. Go ahead and descend whenever you¡¯re ready, and I¡¯ll email you a link. nk set us up a simtion world on the inte, and turned it into a website. You can test cardbinations there, and it links to a government-owned dealership. Once you have the cards created you want, you can purchase it directly, and we¡¯ll handle the fusion process on our end. I¡¯ll set you up with a VIP ount, meaning that you don¡¯t have a budget limit, and nobody but myself has ess to view the cards you purchase.


    I couldn¡¯t help but blink in surprise at her exnation. The fact that nk created a simtion like that showcased his understanding of the card magic system. However, in order for him to do so, it no doubt held some elements that would ssify it as a game. Perhaps cards would be rated based on their effects, with a secret scoreboard. He might even use them as materials for creating a customized card game.


    Either way, it was a rather ingenious use of his domain. One that I had no qualms about taking advantage of. With a thought, I descended back to my throne room. For the first time since her arrival at the citadel, Tsubaki was not there to greet me. Although I knew she was safe, she was still dealing with thest of the sr sprites. And with Dana having just left the Deckan pce, it would likely take her at least an hour to return.


    Currently, the only living being that I could sense within the citadel aside from myself was Janaerra. If I was not mistaken, she was currently dusting the shelves in the library. There was no need to bother her with my presence.


    By the time that I made it back to my room and sat at myputer, I had received the email that Udona had mentioned. Though¡­ I never set up an email ount. In the corner of the window that disyed the email was the image of a rotating sun, a small sign that the link was delivered via one of the artificial intelligences that nk designed to help Tsubaki.


    Shaking my head, I opened the link and found the website that Udona told me about. There were a few simple options off on the side, such as ¡®Build¡¯, ¡®Shop¡¯, and ¡®Menu¡¯. Otherwise, the screen was dominated by a virtual space, a three-dimensional character standing in the center of it.


    When I went to select Build, I was presented with lists of cards that other people had made before, sorted in terms ofplexity and final effect. However, I dismissed those, wanting to build my own set of cards. If I only used ones that were widely distributed, they would be easier to counter.


    First, in order to test the program, I created a simple fireball card for the second tier. After I was done, there was the option to test the card. As soon as I chose to do so, I saw the avatar on the screen pick up a card and hold it forward. Brilliant mes shot out and crashed into a wall that materialized in front of it.


    Complexity Rating: 10


    Card Type: Attack


    Effect Rating: 53


    Overall Score: 63


    Seeing those numbers, I shook my head with a small chuckle, wanting to perform one more test. This one took longer, roughly half an hour for me to assemble a single card, despite knowing its blueprint. I had built it once before, after all. This was the card that had given birth to Ana, the magical intelligence.


    Complexity Rating: 752


    Card Type: Learning Construct


    Effect Rating: 843


    Overall Score: 1595


    I was somewhat surprised when I saw the score for the card I had named the Watcher. Not because of how high it was, but rather that I expected it to be higher. Certainly worth more than twenty-five fireballs. Perhaps it was because the Watcher had difficulty learning when it wasn¡¯t paired with a source such as my domain, making the effect rating lower?


    Either way, I had my benchmark for the cards I wanted. For the decks I wanted to build, I would not ept any cards that had a lower overall score than twelve hundred.


    Within the virtual space, nk sat at his desk. Over the years, he had evolved in strength and wisdom. Although his skin still appeared pitch ck, with shining white eyes, his office had changed from a simple cubicle to what appeared to be arge building. nk himself sat at the top floor, with numerous other artificial intelligences acting as workers.


    This was server space that he had allocated for himself and his ¡®people¡¯, who he had hired as administrators in various online games. Although he was unable to crack the divine code and allow any of them to reach a divine status like himself, they were still every bit the living entity that he was.


    ¡°Sir, a request was just put in from Client Zero-Six.¡± A voice spoke up from the speaker attached to his desk, causing nk to look over in surprise. He knew that Zero-Six was the designation for Udona, the God-Queen of Deckan and member of the Greater Pantheon. In fact, all of the single-digit clients were members of the Greater Pantheon, with the Keeper himself designated as Zero-Zero.


    ¡°What¡¯s her request?¡± nk asked, leaning forward and causing a folder to digitize in front of himself. It was rare for Udona to ask for things from him, mostly because there was not much he could offer her. When she did make requests, it was simple things like wanting a secret ount for the newest game, so she could enjoy herself in her spare time. As such, nk began looking through the files of recently released titles, preparing to anticipate which one she wanted.


    ¡°She says she would like a VIP ount with unlimited budget to be allocated to the Keeper. Top-level ess, viewable to her eyes only.¡± nk thought about that request, but it was a simple matter. In fact, the Keeper already had such an ount reserved for him, it was just that Udona had not been granted ess to it. Now that she was seemingly making this request on his behalf, he could change that little detail.


    ¡°Tell her it¡¯s granted.¡± He spoke back to the AI secretary as he closed his folder, cing a hand on his ear. ¡°Sun, send a link to the Keeper for the CardMaster Arena. Remember, you are not to linger on his terminal after sending the link, and you are not to disturb any of his files.¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡± A masculine voice spoke into his ear, seemingly from his palm. ¡°Understood, boss. In and out. Need me to send a message to anyone else over there while I¡¯m in thework?¡±


    ¡°No need. Just the link will be fine.¡± Once nk said that, he sat back and waited. While he had authorized the ount to be only viewable to Udona, that did not strictly apply to himself. After all, the testing area was a space created by his divinity, a tool to spread his identity and get more followers. Even if he was not actively looking, he would be aware on some level what cards were created. Furthermore, he had to handle the processing of the shipping orders from these VIP ounts, seeing as how they could not be released to the manufacturers directly.


    So nk decided to watch with mild interest, wanting to see what cards a mind like the Keeper¡¯s would make. While the first one was wholly disappointing, it was clear that it was only a test of the system¡¯s ability. The second card that came through¡­ it was far more interesting for nk.


    ¡°So this is how she functions? If these cards had been of the fourth tier, instead of the third, perhaps I would not have been the first artificial intelligence created in this world.¡± nk muttered to himself, acknowledging the potential of the learning construct card. However, given that this was a card that the Keeper had already made once before, it was again a simple test.


    ¡°The third card should be where his real ideas begin.¡± nk hoped quietly to see something interesting, with too many people trying different variations of the same fireball, or wanting to create humanoid dolls. Specifically ones in the appearance of famous females with pre-programmed personalities.


    However, as nk watched the creation of the first card, he was left confused. Not because he failed to understand the effect of the card¡­ but rather that he failed to understand its purpose. ¡°This is¡­ a wide-scale building creation card, using the blueprint of Ashtanu? But the buildings are temporary magic constructs, and will expire when the energy of the card depletes.¡±


    It was obvious that the Keeper wasn¡¯t using such a card to provide shelter for those in need. But the card was toorge to be used for a simple disy as well. It was a full-sized model, after all. A spell of the fourth tier that could span dozens of miles.


    The next card came in, and nk was once again confused. This card appeared able to reshuffle building locations within a set area, rearranging any necessary plumbing or wiring within their foundation. ¡°Is the Keeper deciding to dabble in city nning?¡±


    It was only when the third card of the deck appeared that nk felt like he had an idea of what was going on. Another card centered around buildings, but this time one that caused a building to temporarily transform into a monster. ¡°So he is creating a deck focused around constructing a city¡­ and then using it to attack enemies?¡±


    nk continued watching, growing more curious at the strange ideas of the Keeper. Even when the deck waspleted with thirty cards, and a new one was started, nk watched unblinkingly. The second deck was entirely different from the first. Whereas the second one mostly focused onying traps and confusing an opponent, the second deck was purely offensive.


    ¡°This time it¡¯s focusing on bows and arrows.¡± nk muttered. The theme of the deck became clear after three cards. One to create an enchanted bow infused with numerous effects, such as assisted aiming and increased power. One to create a hail of ming arrows. And one to create a single arrow that jumped through space.


    Trying to draw a connection between the decks, nk¡¯s eyes went wide. He had neglected the first deck, because the information was simply too obscure. But with the second, he was certain that there was a Goddess of Archery that had matured on Fyor. Looking back through his memories, he recalled a rumor reported from Lorek that a golden Sylvan had appeared, radiating a godly aura.


    For the few minutes that she was in the city, power seemed to pulse within the entire territory. This power only left after she did, causing many to assume that her domain spanned arge area.


    ¡°Is the Keeper creating decks based on different gods?¡± He asked himself. These decks could be regarded as gifts to empower thebat ability of the gods, or kept for himself as mementos of those gods. However, as he thought about it, he shook his head.


    It was too difficult to create a deck focused around the concept of Games. Inbat, his domain relied on enforcing arbitrary rules that both himself and his opponent had to follow. Such absolute effects could not be readily created with the magic of Deckan. Individual games themselves could be ¡®programmed¡¯ into a card, however. As an experiment, nk had once created a card that allowed one to connect to Vision Expanse without the use of a virtual reality headset.


    The undertaking was extremely challenging, and took him weeks of careful calctions. Furthermore, the production cost of the card was considerably more than simply buying a headset. The only advantage of it was the fact that it was easier to carry around.


    Regardless, nk was interested in seeing which gods the Keeper chose to embody within his decks. Even if he himself was not included, it was good as a learning experience. Already, he was considering targeting gods as an audience, and advertising the ability to create a deck customized around their domain. Perhaps he would be able to exchange divine energy with them as the payment for his services.

 Chapter 627: Charlotte’s Storm

    <h4>Chapter 627: Charlotte¡¯s Storm</h4>


    Roughly two hours after I had arrived in the Sky Citadel, I felt a presence silently emerging. Naturally, it was Dana who had returned from Deckan. She seemed to have taken her time on her way back, knowing that Tsubaki wasn¡¯t likely to return too quickly. However, when she noticed that my host was not seated on my throne, she immediately made her way to my room.


    ¡°Hey, boss!¡± Dana called out happily as she entered my bedroom, seeming pleased to see me. ¡°I didn¡¯t realize you wereing, or I would have been back sooner.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, Dana.¡± I smiled back at her, still working on my Cities deck. ¡°Your ¡®Card Master¡¯ actually gave me an idea.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± She looked past me to see what I was doing on theputer. ¡°If you wanted cards, I could just make them for you now! Whatever kinds you wanted, even!¡±


    I could tell that she was bragging, but I simply chuckled in response. ¡°I know. If I knew exactly what cards I wanted, I¡¯d ask for your help. Right now, I¡¯m still using this site to experiment on what I can use. I want to create domain-themed decks to enhance my power in case I ever need to act personally.¡±


    ¡°Nice.¡± Dana¡¯s smile grew wider, not appearing disappointed when I refused to use her services.


    ¡°How are you adjusting to your new energy, by the way?¡± As I asked that, I finished up what I believed should work as the next card in my deck, setting it topile and test.


    ¡°It¡¯s a lot easier to get used to than I thought it would be at first. When you talked about it, I was imagining this really difficult energy to master that wouldn¡¯t act how I wanted it to. But the World¡¯s Shadow isn¡¯t like that. It¡¯s really well behaved and helps me get what I need quickly.¡±


    I shook my head at her statement. ¡°That¡¯s because you have an incredibly good affinity with it. I¡¯m still mastering how to create enchanted items out of the World¡¯s Shadow. Aside from yourself, nobody else that uses it is able tomunicate with the energy in such a deep manner.¡±


    Dana thought about that for a moment, offering a small nod in agreement. ¡°Mind if I help you with your cards, or you want to handle it all yourself?¡±


    Remembering how she had created the spell model to automate the creation of the World¡¯s Shadow, I answered her with a nod. ¡°Feel free. I could use your insight here. Especially given how tricky some of these domains are to n around.¡±


    It was four full days before Tsubaki made her return. When she did, I could tell that she was mentally exhausted, her light especially dim. It even took her a minute to realize that I had arrived at the citadel, before her face lit up in panic.


    Her body flickered through the halls, before arriving where Dana and I were talking. The two of us were currently in one of the citadel¡¯s training rooms. I had noticed her arrival through my World Sight already, so I was not surprised to see her. Dana, on the other hand, looked shocked by Tsubaki¡¯s current state.


    ¡°Tsuba!¡± She shouted out, rushing over to greet her. ¡°Are you alright?¡±


    Even without a direct connection to Tsubaki¡¯s soul, Dana could still understand her incredibly well. However, the kitsune simply shook her head. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s right, Tsubaki. You should rest.¡±


    When Tsubaki heard my words, her ears drooped slightly. Dana simply shook her head with a grin, grabbing Tsubaki¡¯s hand. ¡°Come on, you¡¯ve earned a rest, right.¡±


    I could tell that Tsubaki was only reluctant because she felt guilty for not seeing me when I first arrived, so she felt like she had not lived up to her ¡®duty¡¯ as my Servant. As such, I decided to speak up again. ¡°I¡¯ll still be here when you are feeling better.¡±


    Her ears perked up slightly at that, and she forced herself to nod, allowing Dana to pull her out of the room. Just by looking at her, I could tell that she had been pushing herself toplete the Metong¡¯s emergency request as quickly as she could. The fact that she had returned now should mean that thest of the swarms had been dealt with. It was just hard to say how many lives were lost before we noticed the problem.


    More importantly, this was only the beginning. While these were the first monsters that emerged with the power to casually destroys, I could not see them being thest. It was necessary to be prepared to face such a monster at any time.


    James leaned back at his chair, letting out a sigh of relief. Thest of the swarms had just been killed, ording to the Goddess of the Hunt, so James withdrew the energy that was sustaining his avatar. Instead, a small smile appeared over his lips. ¡°Five percent now.¡±


    He flipped his hand, and a ripple emerged in the air, allowing him to peer at the various different possibilities. Of course, the scope this time was incredibly small, only epassing his desk, so there were hardly any changes on the observable level between one future and the next.


    His mind thought back to Phisher, the one that dipped into the weave of fate and emerged with the powers of a future possibility. He had long since been wanting to study that man¡¯s anomaly, hoping to be able to reproduce it on some level. If he did so, he would have the power to quickly offer years worth of training in a single night.


    This was his first true passion project ever since hepleted his nine-tails n. While everyone else in theb was working on the mechanism to perfect the soul, James himself had his sights set higher. Now I just have to wait for him to sleep again.


    That was the hard part now. Even when Phisher was given time to himself, he rarely used it to enter a state of slumber. At most, he would meditate to refresh his mental energies. In thest month, he had only truly slept once, and James hadn¡¯t been lucky enough to find his connection with the weave of fate at that time.


    Now that he had this new energy from the Metong, however, he would be able to see through all possible futures once Phisher slept. If it was even possible to trigger his anomaly a second time, James would be able to glimpse the future where it happened.


    Charlotte allowed her eyes to scan over the scenery around her, letting out a quiet gasp. She had decided to visit the world of Sorii, using the transportation channel established by the shrine of Aurivy. Her eyes gazed up into the night sky, seeing the gathering clouds.


    After running to the heart of the forest, she was greeted by a blue sylvan, one who offered her a small fruit. Having learned from the memories of the great tree, she quickly epted the fruit and consumed it. As she felt the juices sliding down her throat, a pleasant sensation spread throughout her body.


    ¡°Ahh¡­¡± She opened her mouth, testing out her new voice. ¡°Thank you!¡± Charlotte looked at the blue sylvan that offered the fruit, waving thankfully to her. After that, she began climbing up the outside of the great tree, aiming for its highest branches.


    Charlotte was briefly surprised by how many unripened fruits she had seen, before remembering that there seemed to be a sort of time difference between this world and the one she hade from. If I wait here, won¡¯t I be able to leave for the other world sooner?


    The idea made her excited, and she couldn¡¯t help speeding up as she rose to the highest branch. Her arms stretched out above her, as if trying to grasp the sky.


    Almost seeming to respond to her presence, the clouds gathered together, rolling in darkness as lightning shed within. Charlotte¡¯s smile grew wider and wider, feeling her connection with the clouds. ¡°Rain for me!¡± She shouted, her voice punctuated by the p of thunder.


    As her voice fell, a great deluge descended from above, sshing across her face. Charlotte let out a loudugh, happy to be able to call a true rain for the first time in her life. She could feel the water on her face, the coolness of the breeze. All things that she could never feel in her own grove, where the air was scorched beyond salvation, where the suns refused to let water thrive.


    Charlotte danced beneath the clouds, which seemed to churn and roil to apany her. Her rain spread out into a storm that grew over the grove. While rain was by no means umon within Sorii, it was still a surprise for many to find it arriving so suddenly.


    Many people naturally realized that the storm was due to someone using a special ability of some sort. Druids would often call for rain over a wide area in order to tend to crops. However, since the rain itself did not have any negative effects, few people paid it any mind.


    At most, it was a minor inconvenience for those who did not have a means to protect themselves from the rain. However, to Charlotte, it was the greatest thing she had ever seen. Water pouring from the sky across the entire horizon, dark clouds refusing to give way to the heat of the sun. It was hard to tell if the water flowing down her face was from the rain, or from how happy she was to be able to produce such a sight.


    At that moment, Charlotte resolved herself to remain within Sorii until she had to leave for her new home. Here, she felt free. Here, there was nothing to restrain her rain.


    ¡°I thought I¡¯d find you here.¡± A voice came from behind Charlotte, causing her to spin around with augh. She saw Philia standing there, arms crossed in front of her. ¡°We were wondering how long it would take you toe to this world.¡±


    As Philia said that, she walked along the length of the branch, moving to stand next to Charlotte. Her eyes swept over the horizon, seeing the rain falling on the trees. ¡°Do you like it?¡±


    Charlotte nodded her head quickly. ¡°I¡¯ve been wanting to see something like this ever since I was born! Isn¡¯t it beautiful?¡±


    Philia offered a small nod at that, a smile tugging at her lips. ¡°This world is definitely more suited to your gifts, Charlotte. Would you mind watching over it until you have to leave?¡±


    Charlotte¡¯s eyes went wide when she heard the unexpected offer, before quickly nodding her head. ¡°Of course! I¡¯d love to!¡± She lunged forward, wrapping her arms around Philia to tightly embrace her, drawing augh from the other sylvan.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be counting on you, then.¡± Philia brought a hand up to stroke Charlotte¡¯s head, earning a small giggle from the excited girl.


    Charlotte herself was as happy as she could be. With Philia¡¯s permission, she could now remain on Sorii for as long as she wanted without any concerns. The clouds above let loose a thunderous boom, the rain growing heavier to match her excitement.

 Chapter 628: Into the Spider’s Web

    <h4>Chapter 628: Into the Spider¡¯s Web</h4>


    Following thepletion of my various domain decks, the days seemed to pass rather peacefully. In order to help Tsubaki more quickly recover her energy, I gave her an infusion of my own divine power. Otherwise, I felt that it would take her months to recover what had been spent on her recent trip.


    Without any other pressing matters, I simply spent my time in training. There would have been little meaning in my acquiring so many cards if I had no intention of using them, wouldn¡¯t there? In order to avoid a situation like that, I acquired Aurivy¡¯s assistance to send myself several dozen light-years away from Earth.


    When I arrived, I saw that she had sent me to arge asteroid field, numerous floating rocks of various sizes littering the system. While a definite hazard for flight, it made an excellent location to train for someone that had no need for such silly concerns as breathing.


    Every day, I would spend eight hours at this asteroid field, testing thebinations of my own abilities with those of the cards. At times I would amplify the effect of a card with its matching domain, simply to see what additional effects doing so produced. Before I coulde up with new techniques, I had to first properly understand my own level of power.


    The fact that I was using celestial bodies as a measurement for my power really put everything in a new perspective, in a way. Before this, my abilities had always been restricted to a local scale. If I went all out, I could destroy a city, maybe even a small country. But now? Now, I had to worry about battles wheres could be shattered.


    Part of me felt as if I should hold back just a little while longer. The fact that I had moved on to potentially-busting conflicts surely meant that I was rapidly approaching the third rank. And while I wasn¡¯t particrly against advancing, I did not want to do so before I sent Charlotte off to Kathy.


    Unfortunately, there was little I could do about the matter without purposely stalling my world, which would have much more far-reaching consequences.


    For weeks, Charlotte lived in Sorii, gradually adjusting to her new life there. It had not taken her long to realize that the majority of her power had been stripped awaypared to when she had been in her home grove. ording to the words of Philia, this was a natural result of moving between certain worlds.


    However, Charlotte did not pay it much mind. In this world, she did not need her strength for fighting. As long as she could tap into the natural power that she was born with, there would be nothing that could stop her from being happy. Nothing to stop her from creating her own personal paradise storm.


    Okay, almost nothing¡­ After the first two days, she started receivingints from both the other sylvans and the nearby residents. The constant rain had caused nearby dams to overflow, and there were mild flooding issues.


    Although Charlotte was reluctant, she did allow the rain to finally end, at least on such arge scale. Instead, she created her own personal rain-cloud that followed her around, hovering only a mere two feet over her head. Such a thing would have been unthinkable in her previous home, the natural heat and low atmospheric pressure causing clouds to disperse faster than they could form.


    She still received plenty of odd looks when she walked around, under her own personal shroud of rain. Some even looked at her with pity, as such an action typically signified that a person was depressed.


    She bothered less about those looks as time went on, days turning into weeks. Every now and then, she would receive an update from Philia about their home, and the progress being made both there and at the Lorek grove. It was almost hard to believe that nearly a full year passed in either world in the span of a single week, but the evidence was undeniable.


    And then, after she had been waiting for a full month, a voice finally spoke into her mind. It¡¯s time, Charlotte. Would you minding to Earth to meet with me?


    Charlotte recognized the voice easily as the man that had previously appeared within her home and made her the wondrous offer. Her eyes scanned over the tops of the trees, seeming to feel hesitant for the first time. She had finally found a ce where her rain could be free, and now she was being asked to move again. Granted, it was a ce in dire need of rain, but she would no longer have contact with her sisters.


    Deep in her heart, this was a decision that she had already epted. Not only was it the deal that she had agreed on with the Keeper, but he had already helped their grove by allowing their race to establish contact with one another. Without his help, they would still be stuck in isted batches, never knowing if there was another surviving grove.


    After letting out a deep breath of resignation, Charlotte reaffirmed her decision. Rather than moving towards the public za to transport to Deckan, and then from there to Earth, she made her way back to the central tree of the grove. This was where they had ced the shrine to Aurivy after Charlotte moved in.


    Upon reaching the shrine, Charlotte reached into her bosom and withdrew five glittering coins, each with the face of a young woman on them. ¡°Aurivy? Uhm, Lady Aurivy?¡± She called out, cing the coins before the shrine. ¡°Wait¡­ do I have to visit the caravan first, and then make the payment?¡±


    She had only used this transfer system once before, so she had forgotten the exact procedures. However, as she was thinking it over, she heard a lightughter echo in her ears. ¡°It¡¯s fine this time.¡±


    Charlotte quickly looked around her to try to find the source of the voice, while golden mist condensed in front of the shrine before her. From the mist emerged a halfling with pink hair, wearing a bodysuit with numerous stic tes covering it. On each of her palms was a small device with a red lens, and Charlotte could feel a weak energy emerging from it.


    ¡°Is that¡­ the fashion of Earth?¡± She asked in confusion, having never seen anyone wearing an outfit like that.


    Aurivy blinked, looking down at herself. ¡°Ah, this? Sorry, no, I was just in the middle of a game when the Keeper asked me to stop by and bring you over if you needed help. Once I drop you off, I¡¯ll be getting back to it. Hopefully, my teammate won¡¯t get ¡®killed¡¯ before then.¡±


    ¡°Killed?!¡± Charlotte gasped, her eyes going wide. ¡°Let¡¯s hurry, you have to go save your friend!¡± She quickly stepped up, wrapping her arms around Aurivy, as if thinking that would help the goddess transport her more efficiently.


    ¡°No, it was just¡­ you know what, let¡¯s just get this over with.¡± Aurivy chuckled, shaking her head as gold mist enveloped the both of them. By the time the mist faded, Charlotte noticed that there was no longer the warm, fluffy head of pink hair in her arms. Instead, she was simply hugging the air.


    Looking around, she found herself feeling slightly ufortable with her surroundings. She was within arge stone building, built from heavy bricks almost asrge as her arm was long. Before her was a short staircase leading to arge throne, in which the Keeper sat. At his right was a beautiful woman with golden hair, fox ears, and nine tails, shining radiantly. At his left was a smaller girl with short, pointed ears and pitch ck hair, her eyes seeming to contain endless darkness.


    ¡°Thank you foring to see me so quickly.¡± The Keeper spoke first, a smile on his face. ¡°I have heard that you epted a vocal fruit from Sorii, so you should be able tomunicate verbally now, correct?¡±


    Charlotte nodded her head quickly, having learned thenguage of Desbar much more fluently during her time spent at the old grove. ¡°That¡¯s right, Mister Keeper! I¡¯m ready to go whenever you want me to.¡±


    The Keeper nodded his head again. ¡°Have you said your farewells? If not, I may pass a message for you after you leave.¡±


    The sylvan simply offered a radiant smile. ¡°I already told everyone I know. I¡¯m really happy to be able to go here! And I really love all the help you gave usst time you visited, so it¡¯s nice to be able to help you take care of something.¡±


    After blinking a bit in surprise at the sylvan¡¯s words, the Keeper chuckled. ¡°Well, you¡¯re still just as innocent as ever. That may be a trait of your kind, or maybe your race has just not experienced enough of a social culture yet. Either way, it¡¯s nice that you are so cooperative. Dana, if you could?¡±


    The shorter girl with the ck hair smiled, walking over towards Charlotte. When the two were directly in front of each other, Dana reached down, her hand passing through the shadow and seemingly vanishing into the ground below. When she stood up, she was holding a single card. On the card was arge crate, with the title ¡®Shipment: Decanter of Drought Cleansing and Tidestones¡¯.


    ¡°Take this card, and make sure you keep it safe. Once you get to your destination, it will probably get really stuffy and hot at first. Just remember to keep it in your mind that you don¡¯t want to hurt anyone. After a few minutes, you¡¯ll meet the Keeper of the other world. She might look like you, or like something else entirely.¡±


    ¡°After she introduces herself, you can hand her this card. She¡¯ll know what to do with it. When you¡¯re done, you can either start making rain, or ask her to find you a ce to turn into a tree. From what we know of your race, you shouldn¡¯t have any problems helping her world either as an ancestor tree, or as a lone sylvan.¡±


    Charlotte took the card carefully, nodding her head before cramming it into her bosom. Dana brought her hands up to her mouth, just barely holding back a startledugh at the sight while the nine-tailed woman let out a resigned sigh.


    The Keeper, meanwhile, simply chuckled as he shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m going to regret not having more time to talk with you.¡± He told her, offering her a smile. However, his expression changed a few momentster, bing slightly more serious. ¡°It¡¯s time. Once you walk out that door, you¡¯ll be sent to her world.¡±


    Charlotte looked around quickly, trying to spot some mysterious door. However, the only ones visible within the throne room were the same ones she had taken note of upon arriving. ¡°Uhm¡­ which door?¡± She asked hesitantly, the Keeper pointing at the door which seemed to lead outside, rather than into another room of the citadel.


    ¡°Ah, sorry!¡± She smiled, offering the three a farewell wave. Turning around, she sprinted towards the door, arms outstretched. ¡°I don¡¯t want to fight, I only want to bring the rain~!¡± She shouted as she swung the door open. The midday light swept into the room, briefly obscuring her figure. However, when it passed, Charlotte was nowhere to be seen. All that was left was the open door, letting in a quiet draft.


    ¡°I have the feeling Kathy will like her.¡± The Keeper shook his head with a smile, watching as Dana walked over to the door and quietly closed it. ¡°Thank you for the shipment card, Dana. It helped quite a lot.¡±


    ¡°Happy to be of service.¡± The ck-haired girl said with a beaming smile. The shipment card was a rather new creation in Deckan, one that the Keeper had not directly taken note of. In a way, it was simr to the storage bags that many people were carrying around. However, there were some differences.


    While the card version had a muchrger interior space, it was not as convenient to withdraw individual items. Everything had to be transferred at once, and the contents would be clearly listed on the card. This made it usable for easily moving trade goods in bulk, and also allowed items from other worlds to be stored in cards. If it were more convenient to use, it would have surely attracted more attention, rather than simply being a card forrge businesses.

 Chapter 629: City of Bayrun

    <h4>Chapter 629: City of Bayrun</h4>


    Jonas Bayrun stood within arge, open courtyard, smiling as he watched the phantoms of hismunity hard at work. After the Metong researcher managed to help draw the affected science team members back to their own bodies, the two of them had departed from the ship. While he did not necessarily know the Metong¡¯s reasons for wanting to leave quickly, he knew that he still had very important business to take care of.


    Within hismunity was arge poption of expert craftsmen. Whether it were masons, carpenters, cksmiths, or even electricians, Jonas had many people in every field. Furthermore, hismunity would growrger every time he made his way into a city or helped someone with their problems. Even this most recent trip to the demon spaceship had earned him divine phantoms of both the science team and the medical team from the Eternity.


    From a pragmatic standpoint, it was a wonderful thing to constantly expand hismunity with the people whose lives he influenced. However, Jonas himself had long since started to grow troubled by it. Instead of simply expanding hismunity, he wanted to offer somewhere that they could live outside of his own divine body.


    That was when he was inspired to create his own divine relic, the City of Bayrun. For years, he had been spending a great amount of his power while mobilizing the various experts of hismunity in order to build a city that would be able to house arge poption. And now, everything was reaching its climax. All that was left was the final inspection, and then inserting the core of the city to activate it.


    Over thesest few years, the most difficult thing was not building the city itself, but keeping people out of it. Although he built the city in a fairly remote area, there were still wanderers that passed by on their own adventurers. When they discovered that the first mortal god was building a city, many of them had the desire to move in immediately. Who wouldn¡¯t want to live in a city designed and governed by an actual god? Deckan had proved that much already.


    After the first few groups were chased off, Jonas decided to change his tactics. He erected a magical ward around the city that would block the perception of prying eyes. Ever since then, there had been far fewer interruptions to his work.


    ¡°Sir, the outer walls are up to code!¡± One phantom, an ursa soldier by the looks of him, walked over and reported.


    ¡°The Residential District has been cleared, as well!¡± Another voice called out, a halfling woman in herte forties running over with a clipboard in her hand. ¡°We just got done checking the houses, and even the schools are all fine. Nothing out of ce with the design, sir.¡±


    ¡°The Agricultural District looks ready for work.¡± A human walked over, wearing a thick straw hat and wielding a heavy shovel over one shoulder.


    One by one, the representatives of each district came to report to Jonas, and he checked them off of his list. Each time he was able to mark off a district, his budding excitement grew greater and greater. Once there was only one item left to check off, Jonas put away his list and began making his way towards the pce.


    Upon his arrival, he found a kitsune woman standing in front of the pce, looking deep in thought. If Udona were here, she would surely recognize the former queen, and one of her closest friends. ¡°How is everything over here, Bria?¡± Jonas asked with a courteous tone.


    ¡°Something just feels¡­ off.¡± Bria muttered, shaking her head. ¡°The foundation is good. The building itself is fine. It just feels¡­ wrong, for some reason.¡± Bria¡¯s eyes scanned over the exterior of the pce, seeing how it resembled the style of her own castle in many ways. However, there were also traces of elven architecture, and even those from the humans and dwarves.


    ¡°Did I end up focusing on diversity too much?¡± Jonas asked, musing aloud as he looked at the pce.


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s it.¡± Bria sank into thought, before her eyes lit up. ¡°Aha! I think I have it. The mark of the ruler.¡±


    ¡°You want your family crest on the pce?¡± Jonas blinked when he heard that, finding such a request hard to believe from Bria.


    ¡°No, of course not. I¡¯m not the only ruler that you would have in yourmunity, right? This pce isn¡¯t just for one person like myself. Although, I think it would be really sweet of you to do that. This is your city, Jonas! You are the true ruler here. And yet, there is not one image of you throughout the town. Not a painting, a statue, even a billboard advertisement. Aside from your name on the city, there is nothing to truly mark it as yours.¡±


    Jonas hesitated when he heard that. In truth, her words made sense, and he couldn¡¯t really deny them. He had in fact purposely made it that way. His concern was that anyone who saw his statue in such a setting as this may be inadvertently drawn into hismunity. Jonas had always preferred to give people a choice in the matter, not wishing to simply pull them in against their wishes.


    After all, while the original body may not even realize something had happened, the phantom that stayed with him afterwards would always remain. There had been times that he had identally acquired such a phantom, only for the phantom itself to believe it had been kidnapped. It treated Jonas as an abductor, wanting to fight free of his control for many days before he was able to calm it down.


    ¡°Not a statue.¡± Jonas shook his head. ¡°Same with the painting. It should be fine if we ce my family seal on the castle, I believe?¡± Such a seal would be far less well-known and harder to recognize than a direct image of his person. As such, it should minimize the ¡®idental acquisitions¡¯.


    Bria pouted her lips faintly, but did give a faint nod. ¡°The seal should work. Once that is in ce, I believe that the pce will be ready. I¡¯ve already checked the interior, and there does not appear to be anything wrong.¡±


    Jonas was relieved to hear that. Theoretically, it meant that he could create the core of the city now and be done with it. However, he wished to fulfill Bria¡¯s request as well. If she thought that something was wrong with the pce, then surely there would be others that had simr concerns. What was the point in being the God of Community if he did not listen to the words of his people?


    The elven god focused, tapping into his connection with the various bricks making up the front of the pce. As everything here was infused with his divine energy, he naturally had a deep connection to every building. Enough that he could change certain details about them through sheer force of will. Of course, he could have had the symbol created manually and then mounted on the wall, but he chose to use this method to engrave it himself.


    Slowly, grooves began to appear on the smooth, brick wall. These grooves turned, moving along a guided path and passing from one brick to the next. Bria watched with a faint smile as she saw the image unfolding before her. It was the image of a tower overlooking the sea. ¡°There, now it is done.¡±


    Jonas simply gave a resigned chuckle, walking into the pce once his seal had beenplete. With how the city itself had been designed, the pce was naturally ced at the very center. Therefore, it was only right for the core to be housed within it.


    He made his way down into the dark basement, where three figures waited for him. Each of these figures could be regarded as a great mage of their time, specializing in the control of mana. Ever since entering hismunity, they had dedicated themselves to understanding the flow of divine energy.


    ¡°Is it time?¡± The woman on the right, an elderly felyn with greying hair, asked with a smile. When Jonas nodded, she let out a sigh. ¡°Looks like we¡¯ll finally get to see the fruits of ourbor, boys.¡±


    The other two mages chuckled as Jonas held out his hands, focusing his divinity on a pedestal within the room. This was where he would install the core, a condensed orb of divinity that fueled the city by gathering the channeling the hearts of its citizens. The more people that lived there and believed in Jonas, the more power it would be able to draw.


    As he focused, strands of golden light emerged from his arms, leaping out above the pedestal. These strands came together to form a golden orb, pulsing with divine power. The three mages oversaw the event, excitement on their features.


    ¡°City of Bayrun¡­ be born.¡± Jonas muttered, before the ground itself began to shake. He had been expecting this, so he did not have any trouble maintaining his bnce. In fact, all throughout the city, men and women were grasping onto supporting structures, watching eagerly as the horizon sank beneath the edge of the city.


    One hundred meters below the ground was the limit that Jonas had set. Along the perimeter of the city, the walls were made to go a hundred meters beneath the surface. And now, that was used as the barrier of the city, everything above that point rising up. Loose dirt fell from the wall as it rose into the sky, gradually revealing a golden luster.


    The three phantoms standing before Jonas looked down at their bodies, seeing the translucent bodies that they had known for so long growing more solid. This was the first power of the City of Bayrun, to return his Community to their rightful forms for as long as they were within its walls.


    The felyn woman let out a loudugh as she saw her wrinkled hands, a palm soon covering her eyes. The other two men, both human, shared simr smiles as they enjoyed the return to their old appearances. Only Jonas seemed unsatisfied, as the second power of the city had yet to reveal itself.


    He turned and left the basement room without a word, ascending the stairs and quickly leaving the pce itself. The first thing he saw was Bria waving her fists in the air, celebrating the return to a normal body. ¡°Alright, everyone¡­ it¡¯s time toe out.¡±


    There was a rush of power from Jonas as phantoms emerged from his body, moving in every direction. Tens, hundreds, thousands jumping out into the city in order to take their proper form. For the first time in far too long, he was releasing his entiremunity into the world. And in doing so, the second effect was triggered.


    Five hundred houses was a great many for a normal city. However, it was a far cry from being able to house everyone that Jonas had influenced over his life. If he were to wait until he had made a city capable of such a feat, then his project would have taken far longer. Furthermore, he knew that he would eventually acquire more and more people, so the city could not simply remain at a static size.


    Thus, the second power of the City of Bayrun was ¡®Growth¡¯. Using theyouts of established buildings, it would continue to expand outwards until it wasrge enough to support its entire poption. This way, everyone that Jonas took in would be able to have a home, and they would be able to enjoy their new lives.


    Of course, there were other functions of the city as well. Jonas had never forgotten the importance of having a relic suited for battle. Whether it were offensive or defensive features, Jonas felt that his new relic was notcking. Otherwise, it would not have been worth the years that he spent meticulously crafting it with hismunity.


    Once thest of his phantoms had emerged, Jonas felt an unprecedented state of weakness. It was no exaggeration to say that all of his divinity had left him at this moment. Although most of it would funnel back into the core of the city, some of it would return to him over time, allowing him to slowly return to his peak. Until then, though, it was costing a great deal of power for him to simply maintain his new relic and the many phantoms within.


    ¡°So¡­ what do you think?¡± Jonas asked, turning his head to look at Bria.


    The former queen of the kitsune pursed her lips in thought. ¡°I think¡­ Udona would be really happy if she saw this.¡±

 Chapter 630: Silence

    <h4>Chapter 630: Silence</h4>


    So that¡¯s what it was. I muttered to myself when I saw the scene of Jonas¡¯s city taking off. Creating a divine relic that actually weakened him¡­ was quite the interesting decision. Of course, he could recall hismunity phantoms if he really needed to return to his peak strength.


    I opened an appraisal menu in my mind, getting detailed information on the item¡¯s abilities. Aside from the ability to expand and allow the phantoms to regain their former appearances, it also had an ability known as ¡®All For One¡¯. This is where the power of the city truly came into y.


    With this ability, the City of Bayrun could funnel the power of all of its residents into a single ability, so long as one of its residents was able to use that ability. For instance, if one of them knows a barrier spell, they could erect a barrier backed by the power of every phantom Jonas had in hismunity. If one of them was able tounch an arrow of ki, that ki would fly with the power of the entire city behind it.


    In a way, that made the City of Bayrun the most powerful divine relic that had been created to date. However, such a thing was not surprising when you considered how long he spent working on it. Though, now that I thought about that, something else urred to me. Terra? Slight curiosity here, wondering if you could enlighten me.


    After I sent off that message, I felt a weight on myp. To no surprise, Terra had manifested herself there, sitting sideways across myp. She leaned over, her head against my shoulders as her legs draped over the arm of the recliner. ¡°What would you like to know? If I can answer, I will.¡±


    I gave a light chuckle, reaching my arms to wrap around her waist. ¡°I was thinking about special divine relics, simr to Jonas¡¯s city. Clearly, they can get rather diverse. So I was wondering¡­ what would happen if a golem was made into a divine relic, and that golem was sentient by nature? As in, if Tubrock had made one of the Metong as his divine relic.¡±


    Terra pursed her lips in thought, before letting out a faint sigh. ¡°In most ways, the golem created like this wouldn¡¯t differ from its normal counterparts. However, it would likely be somewhat more powerful due to the divine energy flowing through it. Aside from that, it would not be able to release the powers stored within it without themand of the god who created it. Even if a divine relic is sentient, it is still ultimately a tool for a god.¡±


    Thinking about that, I nodded my head. ¡°I suppose most people don¡¯t use sentient relics, then. It would be a problem if they decided to go into hiding or something, and did not want to be used that way.¡±


    Terra shrugged her shoulders, as if to deny my im. ¡°A god will always be able to sense the location of their divine relic, unless some truly special interference urs. Even if your mirrors were hidden within Fyor, you would still be able to detect them from Lorek.¡±


    Well, that was good to know. Before I could speak up again, Terra¡¯s eyes drifted up to meet mine. ¡°Have you looked at your next match yet?¡±


    I blinked at the sudden reminder, shaking my head. It had only taken a few moments after Charlotte went through to Kathy¡¯s world before the system announced that my troops had decided to remain peaceful within the ¡®enemy¡¯ world. Naturally, it was counted as my loss. I just hadn¡¯t gone to receive payment because¡­ honestly, I would rather not go to Kathy¡¯s Admin Room.


    If I couldn¡¯t get her toe over here, I¡¯d rather just wait until the next meeting a few months from now. Going to a den of giant arachnids did not sound like my idea of a good time. Still, with Terra¡¯s reminder, I mentally navigated the menu to open recent notifications and check my next match.


    ¡°Looks like I¡¯m on the defending end this time. And my opponent is¡­ Silence? Don¡¯t think I know that name.¡± I was already nning to get information from my guild if possible. Although I hadn¡¯t had too much trouble with invasions so far, it was never good to take such things lightly.


    Terra gave a small smile, as if able to see through my intentions. She rested her head against me again, and closed her eyes. Clearly, she had no desire to get up. Or to be more urate, no desire to let me up for the time being. Somehow, I felt that that was very cat-like of her.


    Seeing that I did not have any choice in the matter, I decided to open up the guild chat. Today seemed to be a rather quiet day, no doubt because the new round of invasions had just started. For those who were on the defense, they would need at least a little bit of time to settle their problems.


    EarthForceOne: Anyone around to talk?


    MeatLover: I am free. Invasion this time was a pass. What is troubling you at this time?


    EarthForceOne: That obvious?


    MeatLover: While some members of the guild appear in the chat to discuss casual urrences, most only appear when they are in need of assistance or require information. From my observations, you would fall in this category.


    EarthForceOne: ¡­Fair point. I do need some information. I¡¯m just not sure if I can get it here or if I¡¯ll have to talk to the Gilded Branch.


    MeatLover: Given the timing, this information should be rted to your next opponent. One moment while I ess the match listings.


    MeatLover: Your opponent this time is Silence? As it happens, I do have information regarding this Keeper.


    EarthForceOne: Wait, you do? Have you faced him before?


    MeatLover: I have not.


    EarthForceOne: Then, why do you have any information on him?


    MeatLover: Because, due to my curiosity, I once purchased all of the information from the Gilded Branch on ¡®dark Keepers¡¯ who use pure-technology worlds. It was my desire to prepare myself to conquer them, should I find one as my opponent, or be properly prepared to defend if they were the one invading me.


    EarthForceOne: That must have cost¡­ quite a lot.


    MeatLover: One hundred and thirty thousand points, to be precise. However, they were only able to give me the information on Keepers up to Rank 3 with that price.


    EarthForceOne: Well, he¡¯s challenging me, so he should only be Rank 2. What can you tell me about him?


    MeatLover: Keeper name, Silence. World type, pure technology. Does not delve deeply into robotics, taking the path of mechanical augmentation. Has remained in Rank 2 for eight Standard years. It is believed that he has reached the end of his path of development, and requires a major breakthrough in order to advance to Rank 3.


    MeatLover: However, regardless of this, he has conquered many known Rank 2 Keepers. The method of attack is considered all-or-nothing. Thest Keeper to survive a true attack was two Standard years ago. They reported a massive gctic fleet that held the power to easily destroys.


    MeatLover: Despite this attack failing, and the power invested behind it, Silence did not drop in his ranking. This implies that he was able to salvage the power of his world within the one hundred day period before his next match. It is spected that he holds a farrger force in his main world, but the information was unable to be obtained. All databases were wiped of information relevant to Silence¡¯s world upon the moment of transfer.


    EarthForceOne: Did that Keeper not have a method to interrogate the souls of his soldiers? If he is a pure technology Keeper that doesn¡¯t mess with special energies, their souls shouldn¡¯t have been destroyed upon death, right?


    MeatLover: I repeat, all databases were wiped. Upon their arrival in the Keeper¡¯s world, they no longer possessed any knowledge of the world that they came from. They were only aware of their military training, and their mission. Any information regarding their families, homeworld, or the fundamentalws of their world were wiped from their minds using an imnt at the base of their skull. If they were to ever abandon their mission, the imnt would detonate, destroying their brains.


    That was¡­ not something I was looking forward to dealing with. This Keeper seemed to specialize in information control, from what I was hearing. They had methods to control the memories of a target through their imnts, and used those to ensure that no information about their world could be leaked.


    However, there was quite a bit that could be gathered from that, as well. Any invading forces in that world would naturally not have that type of imnt. There is likely some form of identification chip involved with it as well, so that they can easily identify who is and is not supposed to be there.


    With this, I had to give up on the idea of being able to earn more points from the uing invasion in the same way that I had thest time. Even if I managed to capture an ¡®illusion¡¯ of an invader, they would have no information to grant me.


    EarthForceOne: Is there anything special about their technology that you can tell me?


    MeatLover: ording to the Keeper that fought them, their ships appear to run off of what I refer to as a Chaos Drive. This is an energy converter that harnesses the power between dimensions, the void. Although the Keeper does not appear to dabble with additional energies, he has discovered the void and mastered the ability to harness its energy.


    MeatLover: From this, it can be seen that Silence possesses the ability to travel across the nar boundary at the bare minimum.


    That was not good. I was reminded of James¡¯s old world, where he used the power of technology to study various energies. He himself imed to be an expert on manipting the energy of the void in a variety of ways, so hopefully he would be able to provide some assistance with the uing threat.


    I let out a long sigh, thanking MeatLover for all of his information. ¡°Sorry, Terra, but I need you to get up.¡± I gave the catgirl¡¯s back a gentle pat as I said that, rousing her from her brief catnap. ¡°I need to go visit James about an upgrade.¡±


    Terra nced up towards me, a hint of amusement in her eyes. ¡°Is that so? I look forward to watching what you have nned.¡±


    James stood before arge holographic disy, looking at the form that had been prepared by the kitsune sisters. The two of them had been hard at work, receiving help from the rest of his team at times, in order to create the form which would allow a soul to reach perfection. Such a thing was by no means an easy feat, as they had to calcte for numerous possibilities.


    For example, what if the target had a special type of energy? Although the most simple calctions would allow a basic level of fusion, it would not be able to ount for the differences between each individual soul. Thus, they needed a more dynamic form, one that could adjust on a case-by-case basis before finding the optimal path to condense the soul into a perfect state.


    James reached down, picking up what looked like a pen from the table and scratching out two figures at different points in the form. ¡°Sorry girls, not this time. You¡¯re getting closer, though. But, this form won¡¯t work on the moreplex energy patterns, or a person with a warrior level higher than two hundred and eighty.¡±


    The ears of the kitsune sisters drooped when they heard that. It was hard to find warriors with higher levels than that in the current world, but not impossible. Especially if they were to go to Fyor. ¡°Can you give us some advice on how to fix it?¡±


    James brought a hand up to stroke his chin, looking over the form. ¡°Hmm¡­ try cycling the energy paths a few more times to catch the smaller traces, and create an expanded tertiary chamber as a fallback. That should improve things a little bit. Remember, we¡¯re just aiming for a prototype here. Once we find a solution that works, we¡¯ll be able to refine it into an automatic process.¡±


    The girls looked towards one another at his words, determination shing in their eyes. However, just as they were about to get back to work, they froze. Shivers ran up their spines as they looked towards the door.


    The dark-skinned researcher raised a curious brow, turning towards the door himself. ¡°Well¡­ this is interesting.¡± He muttered with a small smile.


    Walking towards the door, he opened it to reveal the Keeper standing just outside theb. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that I¡¯d be getting a visit from you any time soon.¡±

 Chapter 631: Threat Evaluation

    <h4>Chapter 631: Threat Evaluation</h4>


    Hearing James¡¯s words, the Keeper let a small smile appear on his face. There were numerous reasons, no doubt, as to why he hadn¡¯t visited the researcher in person. However, now¡­ ¡°I¡¯ve got another offer for you. One I think you¡¯ll appreciate.¡±


    James lifted a brow, intrigued by what the man had to offer. ¡°This one of those things we need to discuss alone?¡±


    To his question, the Keeper nodded his head. ¡°Aurivy, base one.¡± Although the midget goddess was certainly not around at the moment, the two of them were nheless immersed in golden mist. This was not the first time that James had experienced a transport such as this, but the location that they emerged in left him quite surprised.


    A metallic structure, dimly lit and coated in a fineyer of dust, left unattended for several years. The interior was quite spacious for what appeared to be arge meeting room. There was a podium atop a raised tform, and several long tables for people to sit at. But with the racial energy that James was born with, he could see further. Or at least, he should have been able to.


    The world itself seemed to no longer exist once he swept his senses beyond the material of the floor, making him widen his eyes in rm. ¡°Who the hell managed to make a base in the void? No offense, but nobody in your world should be able to do something like that but me, and I haven¡¯t gotten the technology worked out for it yet.¡±


    The Keeper simply chuckled, shaking his head. ¡°One of the previous invasions. A Keeper that had reset in order to get a crazy expensive system. When they arrived, they built several bases like this in order to hide their forces. Even though it was only a casual invasion, it was the most trouble I¡¯ve had in a match yet.¡±


    ¡°Wow.¡± James was reasonably surprised by this revtion. ¡°So, what are you bringing me here for? Are you wanting my help getting this ce up and running?¡±


    ¡°Not¡­ quite.¡± The Keeper smiled. ¡°I want to give you this base. You can bring all of your equipment over, and it will be far better stocked than the researchb on Deckan. More importantly, you will be able to expand your team with the added space.¡±


    Something about this offer seemed¡­ unusual to James, for sure. If the Keeper was just going to give him the base, why wait so long? And while James could certainly get more done with arger research team, he didn¡¯t particrly have any qualms about his current group. If anything, the smaller team made it easier for him to managepared to the organization he used to run on his own world.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± He asked, narrowing his brow in focus.


    ¡°My next opponent.¡± The Keeper let out a faint sigh, his shoulders sagging. ¡°As far as I can tell, he should be at the peak of the second rank. And he is a full-technology world that sends in massive, gctic fleets for his battles. I need to have countermeasures, and you¡¯re the best I¡¯ve got in terms of energy research. If you can figure out how to modify the baseyouts to suit different fields, I n to give bases like this to a few other groups, as well. If I can turn a few of them into an assembly line, maybe things won¡¯t be as bad when the invasion happens.¡±


    James brought a hand up, stroking his chin in thought. ¡°Tell me a bit more about this opponent.¡± If he wanted to n countermeasures, he first had to know what he was up against. And the fact that the Keeper himself seemed to have that information was immensely helpful to his needs.


    After moving over to sit at one of the tables, the Keeper began exining the information that he had learned from one of his friends. James was surprised to hear about the type of technology world that they were up against this time. ¡°So they¡¯re going full augment¡­ that¡¯s a rather unique path.¡±


    ¡°How so?¡± The Keeper looked over in confusion at James¡¯s question.


    ¡°Look at it this way¡­ after a certain point, the physical body just can¡¯t handle the advancement in power that you see in higher level Keeper worlds. You¡¯re already starting to get that with the energy bodies. That¡¯s why, most technology worlds will either branch into gics or energy maniption.¡±


    ¡°In the case of gics, they¡¯re looking to find a breakthrough and evolve beyond the limits of their natural bodies. This way, they can handle a greater level of power. Even in a technology world, this is crucial because the more powerful weapons will be taxing to wield.¡±


    ¡°On the other hand, you have worlds like mine, focusing on manipting energy through technology. In doing so, we can create things like the Perfection Chamber to allow ourselves to possess fantastic powers.¡±


    After saying all of that, James shook his head. ¡°Pure augmentation, without harnessing any of the four base energies¡­ you could say that it has its pros and cons. The fact that they managed to tap into the void should either be a stroke of brilliance, or the Keeper themselves bought a technology to pave the way.¡±


    ¡°Thanks to that breakthrough, they¡¯ve ovee the primary limitation for a technology-based world, which is limited resources and energy. With that taken care of, they are able to mass produce weapons able to kill gods or destroys, and equip them to various vehicles.¡±


    The Keeper gave a nod, understanding what James had said thus far. ¡°Is there anything else I should be aware of?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m getting to that.¡± James chuckled dryly. ¡°The reason that a full-augment world has to equip these types of weapons onto vehicles is because void energy generators could easily overload an augment. So unless your opponent bought a special technology to counter this, most of the modifications on the people themselves will be to enhance their perception and reflexes to match a high-level monk or deity.¡±


    ¡°Now, the worst case scenario for you would be if they brought a factory with them, along with a cloning bay. Full-augment worlds tend to like their clones, because they need bodies to experiment with. And, with the rapid recovery he has shown, the odds are high that your opponent fits that bill.¡±


    ¡°If it were me, I would create these two facilities within the void, and bind them to a deployablerge-scale gate. The gate would then be miniaturized to release onmand. So long as the opponent elects to send an entire gctic fleet, the odds are miniscule that they will appear anywhere near you or one of yours.¡±


    ¡°This will give them time to deploy the facilities and have them operate in the background, constantly supplying reinforcements to the active invasion. By the time you found them, they would have a force that could sweep across a gxy, jumping between worlds at will.¡±


    The Keeper groaned at the description there. ¡°How is that still in the bounds of the second rank? That definitely sounds like it deserves a promotion already.¡±


    James simply shook his head with a bitter smirk. ¡°It¡¯s actually not as terrifying as it sounds, so long as you are properly equipped. For instance, don¡¯t your maid girls have those perpetual motion engines that are constantly producing more and more energy? If properly wielded, one of those has enough destructive power to easily destroy a. The shockwave from destroying one was roughly the size of a dwarf star.¡±


    The Keeper hesitated, nodding his head with aplicated expression. ¡°I¡¯m not denying that, but¡­ that¡¯s not the kind of thing that can be mass-produced and handed out to everyone. Like you said, they can destroys. If they were misused, it would literally be the end of the world as we know it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why you don¡¯t make them items to be handed out to individuals.¡± A knowing smile crept over James¡¯s face as the seeds of an idea took root in his mind. ¡°They could be used to power ships of your own, either magical or technological in nature. The speed Tsubaki produced them suggests that she has no problem creating as many as she needs.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying¡­¡± The Keeper closed his eyes, clearly picturing it himself. ¡°We need to create a new breed of ship, with the reality gems as the power core? We definitely wouldn¡¯t be able to send ships like that out in an offensive match, since those gems are currently my trump card. But in terms of defense¡­ they could certainly prove to be powerful. The only question is, how long would it take to make these ships?¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t say.¡± James shook his head, as he could not predict the answer to that question. ¡°If you get the two golem races working with us, it should cut the time down considerably. They have the most advanced energy control grids out of any of your races. Plus, their robotic minds would be able toe up with the blueprints more quickly.¡±


    The Keeper nodded his head at that. ¡°Now I¡¯m wondering what their Unspoken Word would be like, backed by the reality gem.¡±


    That was¡­ not an image James wanted to think about, as he had seen firsthand the type of power that could be wielded by those scepters. ¡°I¡¯m sure they¡¯lle up with something. For my end, I can take this base, and get it operational. Depending on what tools they left behind, I might even be able to modify it a little bit. After that, I¡¯ll take a look at the others to see what I can do. But¡­ I take it this means that you¡¯re ready to advance?¡±


    The Keeper gave another nod. ¡°Our opponent is at the peak of the second rank, and casually unleashes gctic fleets. I need something that can stand up to that, even if it pushes me into the next rank.¡±


    James smirked, pping his hands together. ¡°Alright! Then, you should go ahead and meet with the Metong and the March representatives. Maybe Desbar too, while you¡¯re at it. They¡¯re mostly tech-focused, so they could y a decent role in building these ships.¡±


    The Keeper chuckled, slowly rising and dusting off his pants. ¡°In that case, I have another job for you, once you¡¯ve gotten the Perfect Soul projectpleted. I want a way to seal the power of the reality gems into a card, and that card to be able to power other cards either through a fusion or simple energy transfer.¡±


    James blinked at that, the gears turning in his head. ¡°You want to create high-intensity, card-based weaponry for the ships?¡±


    The Keeper nodded his head in acknowledgement. ¡°With the reality gem as the power source, the cards would have virtually no recharge period, and a higher output. I¡¯m just not sure if the cards themselves would be able to handle that level of usage.¡±


    James thought about it for several long moments, seeing different ways it could potentially work, and just as many problems stopping it. ¡°A dimensium card has increased stability, and allows you to withdraw fused cards at will. But¡­ I doubt even that would be enough to handle firing a starship¡¯s main cannon more than once an hour.¡±


    By the time he lifted his head to continue, the Keeper had already vanished, leaving him alone within the dimly lit base. James could only shake his head bitterly, knowing that he had gotten signed up for a rather ridiculous project this time. Of course, first he would have to find the transportation system of this base, so that he would be able toe and go as he pleased.


    ¡°One down.¡± I muttered to myself, shaking my head as I got back to the Admin Room. Terra seemed to have left the living room, no doubt deciding to go take her catnap in an actual bed. But now, I had a new direction to take things, thanks to my predecessor.


    Closing my eyes, I activated themunication function to send a message down to Tsubaki. Are you free? I asked, seeing her main body seemingly meditating in her room.


    As soon as the message went through, her eyes snapped open, and she instantly responded. My Keeper, what do you need of me?


    I need you and Dana to start mass-producing reality gems. We need mana, spirit, and ki gems in high numbers.


    Tsubaki blinked in surprise at the request. You¡¯re going to distribute them?


    Not exactly. After saying that, I began to exin my and James¡¯s n to Tsubaki. For the time being, at least, I wanted to keep the production of the reality gems to the Sky Citadel. They held too much power to entrust the production method to other governments.

 Chapter 632: No Kill Like Overkill

    <h4>Chapter 632: No Kill Like Overkill</h4>


    After exining my n to Tsubaki, the next step was naturally to speak with the representatives of the races that would be involved in the project personally. The March, the Metong, and the Demons would all be great at handling technological ships, like James had said. However, I wanted some magic experts, as well.


    Thankfully, the leader of the kitsune was easy for me to speak with, and I knew that she would be more than happy to create a fleet like this. So long as we were willing to include a few of her own ideas, that is¡­ Which left me thinking about other races that I would need to include.


    The elves seemed to be a rather obvious choice, as their patron deity was the Goddess of Magic herself. Simrly, the craftsmanship of the dwarves was without question. But, that made me realize an entirely new problem.


    The ns that James and I had created relied on the fact that the invaders appeared within one of the systems sharing Earth¡¯s naturalws. If, however, they appeared in Lorek or Spica, those ns would suddenly be invalid.


    I quickly sent another message out to Tsubaki, asking her to see if they could make reality gems with Lorek¡¯s array system. Fundamentally, it was simr to the geometric system of Earth, but it held enough differences that the two were notpatible with one another. And given that the reality gems are the core of my n for these ships, I needed results.


    Because of this, I moved the kitsune over to the tech branch of ships, and nned to have the elves and dwarves handling the magic branch. That way, the magic branch of ships could be designed for activity in Lorek and Spica, while the others were suited for any other world.


    Now that I had my n, I prepared to descend once again, and go meet these representatives one by one.


    The High Mother sat at a small table, eyes looking to the spot where the Keeper had just departed from. Her hands were crossed in herp, thinking about the topic that they had just discussed. She was both rmed and intrigued, hearing about the eventual threat that would gue them.


    Of course, the main object of her focus was in how the Keeper nned to deal with the threat. He had been¡­ less than specific on the exact energy source, wanting to keep its production method to himself. ¡°Orbs capable of producing unlimited amounts of energy¡­¡± The High Mother muttered to herself, running through several simtions.


    Assuming that the words of the Keeper could be trusted, the matter of energy consumption would not be a problem. What they needed to do was instead find an efficient means of harnessing the energy. Specifically, they had been asked to work on the propulsion system, as the Metong were far ahead of the other races when it came to long distance transportation.


    Humming lightly to herself, the High Mother rose from her seat, allowing it to melt back into the floor along with the table. Then, she turned and walked towards a nearby wall. ¡°Give me a private console with Network ess, please.¡± She said with a smile, addressing the low-level intelligence that controlled the facility.


    In response to her request, the wall in front of her liquified, a terminal slowly jutting out of it to appear in front of her. Once it had fully solidified, she reached her hands out to ce on its surface. ¡°New research project, priority one in the fields of propulsion and energy control.¡±


    Her hands directly connected to the console, allowing the information to be entered as quickly as she thought of it. ¡°Assuming that there is an endless supply of power fueling the device, design a propulsion system for an Interster-ss warship. The design will be rated based on fuel efficiency, mobility, and maximum warp distance. The teams with the three highest ratings will each receive a Level Five research permit.¡±


    As soon as she finished, the message was sent out, broadcast throughout the Network. Across thousands of star systems, the personal terminals of every researcher pursuing the rted fields lit up. As they checked the message, they were surprised both by its content and the promised reward.


    Abundant energy was not hard toe by. Many Metong ships currently were powered by highly refining ambient mana released from their crew members, supplemented by sr energy. However, limitless energy was an entirely different story. No matter what, the engineers always had to n with a limit in mind.


    Because of that, many researchers would have normally written this off as a hoax, if not for the sender being the High Mother herself. Furthermore, the level of reward she was offering was by no means low.


    The Network rewarded researchers for their contributions in the form of permits. These permits could be exchanged for resources, manpower, or even unlocking ssified information. In a way, it was a form of currency that the researchers were able to take advantage of.


    These permits existed in five types, ssified as five levels of permits. While a Level One permit was enough to exchange for a decentb, or to hire an assistant for a year, a Level Five permit could do so much more. Top of the line equipment, priority ess to limited materials, and arge research team were only some of the options for what they would be able to receive.


    The fact that the High Mother was handing out three such permits for one project showed just how highly she valued this research. Thus, anyone with a connection to the field wanted to at least give a preliminary design. If they managed to hit a stroke of luck, then they would have nothing to worry about for years toe.


    As for those research teams more closely rted to the subject¡­ it immediately became a priority project.


    ¡°You really stirred things up, huh?¡± Udona asked, the two of us sitting at the dining table of the Admin Room. Looking at the yful grin on her face, I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle.


    Not only the metong, even the March golems and the demons were treating it as a high-priority event. In order to distribute the tasks in the first stage, I split the four main systems of the ship among them. The metong were in charge of propulsion systems, the March golems were in charge of shields, and the demons were in charge of life support.


    ¡°So, what job do you want to leave to me?¡± Udona had a knowing tone to her voice, realizing that I would have only called her here to meet like this if I had a portion of the project in mind for her as well.


    And she wasn¡¯t wrong, my answering as I shed her my own yful grin. ¡°Weapons. Deckan is in charge of preparing the offensive methods of the starship. You¡¯re free to use whatever tactics you want, whether they are giant robots,ser cannons, or fighter drones.¡±


    Udona blinked in surprise, before excitement began to light up her face. ¡°Really? It won¡¯t cause a problem with the other groups even if I go a bit crazy?¡±


    I let out a lightugh, shaking my head. ¡°Not how I¡¯ve got it nned out, I hope. Right now, I¡¯m assigning everyone a specific task. The goal is to get the fundamental systems nned out before bringing these groups together. That¡¯s when you all will start working together to improve each other¡¯s designs and integrate them into a single ship.¡±


    Udona nodded, her golden ears wobbling from the movement. ¡°You already gave James his own job, so I can¡¯t use him for this¡­ but I have other teams specialized for things like this.¡±


    That admission brought me at least a little relief, and I sighed while closing my eyes. ¡°Good. Remember the scale of power we¡¯re dealing with. We need to be able to fight against a fleet that can casually destroys. I don¡¯t mind you adding a personal aesthetic to the design, just make sure that it meets that standard.¡±


    The kitsune goddess paused briefly, a pout forming on her lips. ¡°So turning the ship into a giant robot is probably out of the question, isn¡¯t it¡­?¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but roll my eyes, knowing that she wasn¡¯t entirely serious. ¡°Yes, yes it is. Unless the giant robot also has a weapon that can reach that level of power. I¡¯ve got Tsubaki mass-producing the reality gems now, every type except natural energy. So if you want any ki or spirit-based attacks as part of your n, it¡¯s all fair game.¡±


    ¡°Got it.¡± Udona nodded, a serious look on her face. ¡°Honestly, I liked the idea you mentioned to James, using cards for the ship¡¯s weapons. We could prepare arge number of spells for a variety of attack types, but they¡¯d all need to have the ability to fire far enough to be useful in a battle of that scale.¡±


    Seeing that Udona was already thinking about the problem, I gave a small smile. There were few people who knew the capabilities of Deckan¡¯s magic system better than Udona, as she had studied it from the very beginning. So now that I had her on the job, and she had the people under her as well, I was certain that the results would exceed my expectations.


    ¡°Before you go off to whatever it is you have to do next¡­¡± Udona looked up at me, stopping me just as I was about to get up. ¡°There are some other systems for the ship that need to be discussed, so we know who will be handling what.¡±


    I blinked, thinking it over before answering. ¡°You meanmunications, scanning, and things like that, right?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. While the major systems are covered, there are a number of smaller systems that need to be nned out. Aside from the two you said, we¡¯d also need to determine if the ship will have a cloaking system, interference for enemy scanners, or things like that.¡±


    I gave it a brief thought, before shaking my head. ¡°That can all be determined when everyonees together. Those systems are part of the finer details, so it would be better to have everyone work on them than to only give the job to one group.¡±


    Although Udona seemed hesitant, she did nod her head in agreement. I could just see her imagining a giant ship with a-busting cannon, able to jump in and out of stealth at will. Or a fleet of smaller ships with precisionyers able to prate into a¡¯s crust.


    However, those designs would change drastically based on whatever the other three teams came up with. If the propulsion and shields systems were toorge to ce in a small craft, then she would have to go with something bigger. Meanwhile,rger ships had a harder time when it came to things like stealth.


    Standing up, I reached over to pat her shoulder. I knew that it would be fine, as long as I left it to her. What I needed to worry about was whether or not James would need me to purchase any new technologies to get the bases fully operational.


    Hopefully, there wasn¡¯t too much that was needed to get them off the ground. I had been saving those bases for quite a while, unsure how I should handle them. And now that I was dealing with an enemy that had a knack for drawing on the void, I felt that it was time to fight fire with a hopefully bigger fire.


    Shaking my head, I turned and began to walk back to the living room, seeing Aurivy on the couch with Keliope. When I approached, I found that the two of them were actually reading books together. Which, I had to admit, surprised me. Keliope didn¡¯t exactly seem like the type to be too interested in reading.


    Of course, when I got a better angle, and was able to see over their shoulders¡­ I found that their ¡®books¡¯ were more of theic variety. I was no longer as surprised to see the two of them so engrossed in their ¡®reading¡¯.

 Chapter 633: The Right Tool for the Right Job

    <h4>Chapter 633: The Right Tool for the Right Job</h4>


    The development of technology on such a scale was never a quick matter. Not only did they have to create the ns, they had to make sure that their ns were truly feasible. It was far too easy to draw up a n for a fantastical device, only to realize in the middle of the construction phase that it did not work as intended. This was the case for novices and masters alike, and also the biggest drawback to developing devices on such arge scale.


    Aside from the demons, who could be said to have been given the easiest task, the other races all began using their orbital shipyards in order to produce mining vessels. Everyone was aware that the construction of a fleet such as this would require a massive amount of raw minerals, far more than they could reasonably exchange for on the Boundless Caravan.


    Even James, who was hard at work within one of the many bases that had recentlye under his jurisdiction, felt that the materials that they had to work with were quite low. However, he had his own ways of dealing with this problem, especially now that he was given ess to already-established void bases.


    Four months after being allowed to use the bases as he pleased, he had long-since grasped the inner workings of their technology. Many of theponents involved in the machinery were unique to the world that they hade from, but James was capable of creating recements based on his own understanding and with the help of the established devices.


    By now, his research team had already created a working form in order to automate the fusion of a perfect soul. They were currently at the stage of refining their design and creating a prototype device based on their work. For this, they did not need his constant overwatch, and only contacted him when some troubles arose.


    This left James to handle his own projects. Firstly, the optimization of the various bases. While he had learned how the various machines in the bases worked, there was still a problem that he could not solve. None of the items in the base were capable of expanding the base¡¯s actual size.


    In other words, the bases had been created through the skills of the craftsman, rather than through the effects of some device. James believed that this was one of the unique skills belonging to the world that had invaded, but it made his job rather hard. In order to meet the Keeper¡¯s request, he needed a way to handlerge-scale construction within these bases.


    Without the ability to expand the exterior of the base, this severely limited his options. After all, thergest room he could utilize was not even big enough to house a single engine for a gctic warship, let alone the main body of it.


    ¡°Have you tried directly expanding the interior space, or constructing a portal connecting to a remote, orbital assembly?¡± A voice came from behind James, as if it were only natural. He shrugged it off at first, shaking his head.


    ¡°Spatial expansion on that scale would require a massive amount of energy. I¡¯d need to have one of the scepters from Tsubaki, and I don¡¯t think the Keeper wants those used unless it¡¯s absolutely-¡± His words froze, suddenly realizing that he should have been the only one present in the base.


    However, the voice had been so familiar, how could he not react naturally? Turning around, he saw a woman standing behind him, sporting a small grin. A short kitsune woman with a deep tan, nine tails fluttering behind her. She wore what appeared to be greasy, oil-stained overalls, one strap busted from wear and tear, and a pair of thick goggles on her forehead.


    ¡°How do you like the new look?¡± Chel asked, ncing over herself. ¡°I knew you were busy, so I went ahead and waited until I was fully grown. But¡­ the sun on Spica is really intense, so I ended up a bit darker than I nned.¡±


    James felt a warm smile tugging at his lips, examining every detail of Chel. There were only a few things different between this appearance of hers and the one that she used when she was hispanion. The most ring one was obviously her status as a nine-tailed kitsune, but he knew that was something that she picked to please him. Aside from that¡­ as she said, her skin was not quite so tanned originally.


    ¡°Did Aurivy bring you over?¡± He asked, setting down theponents he had been working with and walking over towards her. Before he could even get halfway, she broke into a sprint and lunged at him, arms wrapping around his neck and allowing her body to simply hang along his frame.


    ¡°Yup. Thought it¡¯d be a nice surprise.¡± She told him with a small grin. ¡°So¡­ surprise?¡±


    James chuckled at that, bringing his arms up to hold her. ¡°How much of what I¡¯m working on do you know?¡±


    ¡°James, do you really think I haven¡¯t been watching you from the Administration Room the entire time I wasn¡¯t by your side?¡± She shook her head, leaning against him. ¡°I know all about the projects you were given, and how hard you¡¯re working on them. Really¡­ they can only expect so much when they don¡¯t even have the tools you need.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m working on that part. There¡¯s a void-fold assembly here, so I¡¯m trying to recreate some of our old tools.¡± As he said that, he gestured to the worktable where he had been standing moments ago, and the short, cylindrical device that was half-assembled on it.


    Chelsea had a rather¡­plicated look on her face as she saw the device. ¡°Yeah, Aurivy told me about that. Did you know I had to insist to her that it did not work through sound-waves? She seemed so excited about it.¡±


    James raised a curious brow when he heard that. ¡°How would sound be able to manipte the internalponents of a machine and the flow of information better than controlled mana and ki waves?¡±


    ¡°Apparently, it¡¯s some cultural thing from an old world.¡± Chel shrugged her shoulders, finally loosening her arms from around James¡¯s neck so that she could drop to the ground. ¡°Speaking of which, if you have the time, you should add in a natural energypressor as well. The old models had a really hard time working on natural materials like wood, right?¡±


    James thought about it for a moment, before nodding his head in agreement. It wasn¡¯t really thatmon to have to use an energy-wave omnitool on naturalponents, but it also wasn¡¯t unheard of. ¡°I¡¯ll create a second model for that, after I finish this one.¡±


    ¡°And how¡¯s the other project going?¡± Chel asked with a smile, moving over to help assemble the omnitool while she spoke. ¡°The card one?¡±


    The former Keeper let out a low groan, shaking his head. ¡°I¡¯ve tried running tests on natural cards, synthetic cards, and dimensium cards. Even if I use the fourth tier as a base, they don¡¯t have the power capacity necessary to house one of those orbs. After they grow to a certain extent, the card shatters.¡±


    Chel grimaced a bit when she heard that. ¡°Yeah, I¡­ saw one of your tests. Thanks for making sure to conduct them off-world¡­ or we might not have a world left.¡±


    With a sigh, James nodded his head, leaning against the table. ¡°My next thought was to use the cards as simple rys for the energy, rather than proper storage by relying on their natural dimensional properties. That worked, for a time, until the energy output got too high. Thankfully, those cards didn¡¯t hold the orbs themselves, so the damage they caused was pretty light.¡±


    Chel thought it over, nodding as her hands deftly worked with the device before her. ¡°And we definitely can¡¯t ask that he install individual gems in all the main systems. Just one blowing up would destroy the entire ship, so we can¡¯t increase its weak points like that.¡±


    ¡°Agreed.¡± James said as he pulled up a pair of chairs, one for each of them. ¡°I think that the fourth tier of cards has the potential to work, if I¡¯m being honest. But not with the ones that have been discovered. There are missingponents that I need before I can make a card powerful enough to hold one of those orbs.¡±


    Chel frowned when she heard that, letting the final piece click into ce. Then, with the press of a button, the various internalponents seemed to arrange themselves. The outer shell closed to reveal a metal tube with a currently ck lens, the entire construction about five inches long.


    ¡°And because of how Deckan¡¯s magic system works, you can only get those missing cards by luck after finding monsters of the fourth tier. I don¡¯t suppose the sr sprites dropped any cards?¡±


    James gave a bitter smile when he heard her question. ¡°Cards are partially created from the soul of the dead creature. When Tsubaki killed them, she was using a powerful soul gem¡¯s detonation. Even if they left behind a body, there wouldn¡¯t have been anything left of the soul to pull the card from.¡±


    If those sprites had dropped cards, with their numbers, James would have had billions to work with. As long as there was even the slightest possibility that they could produce the cards he needed, it would have almost been guaranteed that he would get it. Instead, because of the nature of both the creatures themselves and the means used to kill them, there was nothing to salvage. Well, except the great many levels that Tsubaki seemed to receive from killing them.


    Chel nodded her head in understanding, passing the omnitool to James. ¡°Need me to configure the neural interface for you, or do you still remember how to set it up?¡± James simply rolled his eyes with a lightugh, taking the tool and holding it in his hand for a moment. Then, he aimed it at arge machine in the corner of the room and pressed the button on the tool¡¯s surface.


    The lens of the omnitool lit up with a yellow light, releasing a faint hum that caused the machine to activate. Then, it switched to a blue one, and the machine rumbled as its programming was slightly altered. ¡°The feedback could use some work, the information seemed a bit fuzzy. And were they always this loud?¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s just a prototype, right?¡± Chel grinned, knowing that the creation of this tool marked a significant advancement in James¡¯s research progress. ¡°You¡¯ve got the parts to improve on your next set. Should we try to miniaturize it a bit more to add in the thirdpressor, or do you want to make it a little more bulky?¡±


    James gave a nomittal shrug to her question, as it did not really matter to him either way. Granted, it would be considerably more difficult to condense the parts in the device any further than they were already, so making it a touchrger would definitely be the easier path. ¡°Either way works. Did you stop by the researchb on your way over?¡±


    ¡°I did! They¡¯re really working hard.¡± Chel said with an energeticugh, leaning back in her seat. ¡°Especially those twins. You¡¯d think someone lit a fire under their tails with how hard they were trying to get this machine built.¡±


    ¡°I suppose that means I should expedite my third project.¡± James admitted with a chuckle, earning a confused look from Chel.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t the Keeper only assign you the two goals?¡±


    ¡°He did, but I¡¯ve had another one myself for a while now. I need to make sure it¡¯s finished by the time those two get their soul¡¯s perfected.¡± When Chel heard that, her eyes went wide, seemingly rmed.


    ¡°The perfection chambers aren¡¯t built to handle a soul as strong as one that has reached perfection, are they?¡±


    James shook his head, letting out a faint sigh. ¡°I¡¯ve run the numbers, and there¡¯s at least a sixty-percent chance of failure if we use our current design. I can fix it, I just need the right parts. Thankfully, now that I have this, things will go a lot more smoothly on that front.¡± He stroked his thumb along the length of the omnitool as he said that.

 Chapter 634: Conference

    <h4>Chapter 634: Conference</h4>


    Tsubaki sat atop arge, stone teau within the vast world of Lorek. This was a location that she had personally chosen in order to conduct her research for the Keeper. When it came to the geometric spells of Earth, Dana was by far more proficient at creating the diagrams. However, she had a small problem when it came to adapting those diagrams to Lorek¡¯s system, leaving this work to Tsubaki herself.


    I can¡¯t simply recreate the diagram in the same way that we made it on Earth. She shook her head when she realized that, knowing that she would have topletely reinvent the way that the reality gems were constructed. Not only was fourth tier magic different between the two worlds, but thews of the world itself would make that dangerous.


    In Spica and Lorek, mana was typically generated from a celestial body, and then radiated out along with its light and heat. This mana would continue to go forever until it was stopped by ayer of atmosphere, at which point it would pool along the surface of that atmosphere. Ki worked in much the same way, which served as the basis for cultivation.


    In other words, ki and mana were fundamentally external energies that people captured and took into themselves to refine internally. This was a drastic changepared to the other worlds, in which mana was radiated from every sentient creature, and every living thing contained its own ki.


    Taking that logic in reverse¡­ it meant that objects which produced mana on such arge scale would simrly generate an intense amount of heat. If the reality gems of Earth were brought directly into Lorek, and they were allowed to detach from their scepters¡­ Tsubaki was positive that the explosion could easily destroy a continent, if not the entire.


    In order to make this work, I am essentially creating a miniature sun. However, all of its light and heat need to be self-contained. If even a fraction of it is allowed to radiate out, that fraction will grow exponentially to create a disaster.


    As Tsubaki thought about this, she reached over for a talisman paper from arge stack next to her, and began drawing various patterns on it. This was the fundamental difference between the fourth tier of magic found in Earth and Lorek, the need for anchor points.


    While such a change seemed small, it actually increased the difficulty of a spell by several fold. When designing a spell in Earth¡¯s system, it was constructed three-dimensionally as one object. However, such was not the case in Lorek. Here, each portion of the spell required an anchor, and these anchors would then ovep to form the finished spell.


    In theory, this was not much of a difference, but Tsubaki knew better. She knew how easy it was for spell lines to intersect on such aplex model. The original creation of reality gems had been dyed because of that very problem.


    The first step should be the containment field. ording to the tests that Spica has conducted in the past, it is theyer of ozone around the that blocks the movement of ki and mana. In this world, ozone acts as a seemingly absolute shield against these two energies. Of course, this means that weapons utilizing the raw form of those energies are unfit for warships. But there is another answer, as well.


    Tsubaki had done her research into this subject when considering how she would build her containment field for the reality gems of Lorek. Obviously, the elves of Spica would not cast aside their oxygen supplies in order to allow their ships to fly into space. Instead, they studied the connection between ozone and these energies. This led to the discovery of a mineral that showed massive resistance to both forms of energy.


    This mineral wasmonly known as hematite. This mineral was originally considered as little more than a side-product of mining iron, used in such things as pigments or radiation shielding. However, there was a key aspect of hematite that drew the interest of several researchers. That was the fact that its molecr structure had three parts oxygen.


    When this corrtion was made, people began to gather hematite inrge batches, performing tests on them. Through these tests, it was discovered that a sufficiently denseyer of hematite was capable of harmlessly dispersing both ki and mana along its surface.


    Furthermore, it was possible to create ayer of energy through magic that replicated the natural structure of minerals. In doing so, ships became capable of creating ¡®atmospheric shields¡¯ that replicated the effects of hematite. Or, more specifically, the effects of the oxygen within hematite.


    Naturally, there is also magic to directly replicate the structure of a gas, such as oxygen. However, in doing so, the replicated magic will disperse as a gas, thus rendering the shield unusable.


    What Tsubaki was doing now was quite simple, as she was creating the containment array which would siphon energy from within a small sphere to maintain threeyers of shields. The first, innermostyer would stop the heat. The middleyer would stop the light. Finally, the outeryer would replicate a hematite shell.


    After thinking about it for a moment, Tsubaki added in another barrier between the outer twoyers in order to increase physical durability. Hematite itself was rather brittle, after all. Thest thing anyone needed was for this item to fully mature before receiving a crack along its outer shell.


    Once she was satisfied with her design, she focused, creating a stone orb from the ground that she began drawing on next. While talisman papers could hold the contents of a t surface such as a cube or a pyramid, different object steps had to be taken for rounded shapes like spheres or cones.


    It took three years for all four of the races to finish submitting their preliminary designs for the new generation of technological warships that the Legion of Allied Worlds would be using tobat threats. At this time, the magical team of Lorek and Spica were still hard at work debating how they would produce their own ships.


    For the technological branch, their first meeting was held within Deckan, due to it being the most essible of the worlds involved to possess arge-scale orbital assembly. Present at the meeting were the leaders of each of the four races, apanied by two of their lead researchers. Finally, overseeing the meeting was the servant of the Keeper, Dana Jafer.


    The elven girl smiled as she saw everyone gathered together, crossing her arms behind her back. ¡°Thank you all foring here today, and to Udona for hosting us.¡± She nodded towards the resident God-Queen, who answered her with a kind smile.


    ¡°The Citadel has been keeping track of everyone¡¯s progress when ites to the creation of this ship. As thest of you have nowpleted your initial designs, it is time for everyone toe together and share, so that we may develop the true structure of the ship.¡±


    ¡°May I speak, favored child of the Keeper?¡± The High Mother gave Dana a gentle look after hearing her exnation.


    ¡°You can just call me Dana, but please be my guest, High Mother.¡± Dana nodded her head to the silver woman.


    ¡°Thank you. I believe I speak for most of those present when I raise this concern. When this project was initiated, we were given the condition that we were designing these systems for a power source of unlimited energy. To my knowledge, such a thing does not exist in the world, though I have seen things with vast amounts of power. I think, in order for us to construct the ship to fully maximize its potential, we would need to see this energy source.¡±


    Udona¡¯s lips curved into a knowing smirk, but both the Desbar and March leaders agreed with the High Mother. ¡°It should be fine to show them, Dana.¡±


    ¡°If you say so.¡± Dana chuckled, knowing that this topic would havee up sooner orter. ¡°In truth, this is a product created solely by the Sky Citadel, and we have no intentions to release its production method. Once you all see it for yourselves, I believe you will agree not to pursue it as a field of research.¡±


    After saying that, she held her hand out to one side. Her shadow shifted, and a tall scepter began to rise from the darkness beside her. At the top of the scepter was a dimly shining, blue gem. The High Mother immediately sported a look of rm, her liquid texture stiffening. ¡°You n to use an explosive device such as that as our power source?¡±


    ¡°Explosive-oh! You mean that incident a few years ago, right?¡± Dana let out a lightugh, shaking her head while her free hand held her stomach. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, High Mother, but these aren¡¯t explosives. That energy outburst Tsubaki showed you was simply the process of one of these being destroyed.¡±


    ¡°You see¡­ in my hands, I hold the key to potentially limitless energy. This scepter is nothing more than a sealing device for the gem nestled atop it. For if I were to remove the gem, this room would be destroyed by the raw outburst of mana in under a second. In less than an hour, a storm would sweep across this entire. Within a day, I can almost guarantee that this would no longer be habitable.¡±


    Hearing her dramatic presentation, the various researchers couldn¡¯t help but take a couple of steps back from Dana. Udona simply shook her head before exining. ¡°The reality gem is a closed, growing world isted within a physical structure. It passively produces mana in ordance with its size, and then expands using whatever mana it cannot contain.¡±


    ¡°A newly produced reality gem will create one drop of refined liquid mana every five to ten seconds. However¡­ when left alone for twenty-four hours and allowed to grow, it will flood a room like this in under a minute. The one that Dana is holding currently¡­ if I¡¯m not mistaken, is over a decade old.¡±


    ¡°ording to the ratio of growth, the material structure of the gem itself might not be able to contain the output of energy if it is released.¡± Udona shook her head at that. ¡°Meaning that it could likely break under its own pressure. And in doing so, destroy the world long before that storm were to form.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s not a problem!¡± Dana assured with a smile. ¡°We tested that a few years ago. These things don¡¯t have a limit when ites to their output, because their external structure strengthens to match the size of the world within. However, the sheer pressure from all of that refined mana leaving the gem at once¡­ we had to use another gem with a sealing spell just so that we could get close enough to reattach it.¡±


    The High Mother hesitated, before offering a small nod. ¡°I see. So the core power source of these ships will be those gems. That is a rather¡­ small energy source, I will admit. However, the power behind it would be more than enough to live up to your ims, so long as it is as you say. I recall that there were four varieties of these scepters¡­ do they each share the same principles?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Dana confirmed her words readily. ¡°Each of the four primary energies have been given their own reality gems. For these vessels, we will be supplying whichever gems you require as the power source. However, you must each first agree not to attempt to damage the gems or perform any more¡­ invasive tests on them.¡±


    The leader of the demons, a fit man with one of his horns broken, cleared his throat. ¡°If they are as you say, that will of course be the case. I don¡¯t believe that any of us would wish to lose our lives over something like idle curiosity.¡±

 Chapter 635: Science? SCIENCE!

    <h4>Chapter 635: Science? SCIENCE!</h4>


    Following Dana¡¯s demonstration of the ¡®power source¡¯ for the ships, the meeting came back to its main topic. ¡°Now, then, who would like to go first?¡± She asked, stowing away the reality gem and pping her hands together.


    She naturally noticed that there were some covetous gazes directed towards the item, particrly from the March golems and the demon researchers. However, she had no intention of bringing the time back out again. Once the ships were created, the gems would be heavily monitored. They would not release more than were being actively used, and any requests for recements would have to be directed to the Sky Citadel.


    Any attempt by an individual to steal and study the gem would be treated as a capital offense against the world alliance. If someone were truly bold enough to attempt such a thing, and managed to pull it off, they would be hunted down for the rest of their lives.


    ¡°We can begin.¡± The High Mother spoke in an amiable tone, gesturing to one of the researchers she had brought with her. ¡°I havepiled the three greatest propulsion systems produced by the entirety of the Network.¡±


    The researcher stepped forward, a male Metong with a lithe build. Reaching forward, he ced three metallic cubes down on the table. ¡°The core of the Metong propulsion system lies in the maniption of spatial coordinates. That is to say, we conduct long distance teleports as opposed to standard faster-than-light travel.¡±


    ¡°In doing this, the energy consumption is greatly increased, but this should not pose a problem for this generation of ship.¡± He gave a cordial nod towards Dana before tapping the first cube, which brought up arge schematic consisting of numerous engines and internal devices. ¡°Of the three designs, this one has the greatest sub-light speed and maneuverability.¡±


    ¡°The next one is capable of brief spurts of faster-than-light movement, while the third has the greatest energy efficiency of the three.¡± The researcher tapped each cube as he introduced the schematics, before stepping back. In order to allow the other parties to study the designs, the cubes were left activated on the table.


    ¡°We¡¯ll go next, then.¡± The Desbar leadermented, gesturing towards one of his men. ¡°As you all know, our task in this was life support. I am well aware that we are not as specialized towards any particr methods such as the other races here, but I believe that nobody will be disappointed in our results.¡±


    The demonic researcher was a woman with a somewhat obese build, and sheid a crystal sphere down on the table. Much like the cubes of the Metong, the crystal disyed a holographic projection of several smaller schematics above it. ¡°The system we have designed scans individuals through the use of electromaic waves, mana, and ki to assess their biological status.¡±


    ¡°This information is then stored in the medical bay for the doctors to reference as needed. If there is a change in medical status, such as a foreign infection in the bloodstream, hidden injuries, or a change in an individual¡¯s energyposition, the report will be gged for security and medical personnel to attend to.¡±


    ¡°The air supply itself is connected to one of the tertiary worlds that the demons have discovered, one where the healing process is naturally elerated, leading to cleaner air. We are in the midst of constructing severalrge-scale oxygen farms in this world, while also recycling the air within the ships.¡±


    ¡°The final matter we took upon ourselves in terms of ¡®life support¡¯ was the matter of dietary requirements. Naturally, individuals of different levels require different levels of nutrients in order to sustain themselves. Not everyone can have the Perfect Self to remove their dietary needs altogether.¡±


    ¡°To handle this problem, we¡¯ve created nutrient capsules for the various stages of constitution. One capsule, at the appropriate stage, is the equivalent of a full meal. These also help to quickly restore the individual¡¯s ki, should they be running low, and stimte the body¡¯s natural healing response.¡± After she finished exining, she stepped back with a satisfied smile. Clearly, the demons had gone above and beyond the simple ¡®life support¡¯ system in order to have an increased investment in the new generation of ships.


    Next up was the March, where one of the golems stepped forward andid a card on the table, before stepping back. Rather than the golem himself exining, the card projected an electronic voice while disying its saved schematic.


    ¡°As we were tasked with defensive systems, we have created a new shielding mechanism. This shield projector is capable of blocking both physical matter and energy waves, while operating at ten differentyers. Eachyer is connected to theyer above it, constantly sharing information.¡±


    ¡°When oneyer is pierced, a datastream containing the nature of the attack is transmitted to theyer below, which automatically changes its frequency in order to optimize its defensive property against the attack in question. If the secondyer is pierced, further optimization is performed based on the information transmitted to the thirdyer, and so on.¡±


    ¡°Once the optimal frequency is found, the datastream transmits this frequency back up thedder all the way to the firstyer. These frequencies are then stored within a learning database in order to increase future response times against simr attacks.¡±


    ¡°Should all ten shieldyers be breached, the hull is a reactive polymer designed to disperse impact across its surface. Finally, in the event that the hull is pierced, nano-constructors have been developed to quickly repair damaged structures.¡± After saying that, the electronic voice within the card died down, causing the representatives of the various races to turn towards the God-Queen of Deckan.


    Udona, catching their gazes, simply grinned. While both of her researchers came forward toy several cards out on the table, she personally exined. ¡°As the offensive branch of this ship¡¯s construction, we have gone for maximum destructive potential.¡±


    ¡°The primary attack method will be abination of remote piloted drones and swarm turrets, controlled through a virtual reality device. Each pilot will be in control of one drone and ten turrets, focusing their power on individual targets or a wide area. Power will be transmitted through the use of our new Ry card, allowing the turrets to operate even without being connected to the main ship.¡±


    ¡°Additionally, the main cannon. I have assembled ten fourth-tier attack cards that can be used in tandem, all powered by the abundant energy Dana already disyed. When fired together at such a level, our simtions specte that they should have the ability to shatter a the size of Lorek.¡± The various researchers and world leaders couldn¡¯t help but shudder when they heard that.


    ¡°However¡­ the use of this cannon should be ast resort. Each one can only fire once within a fifty-hour period at maximum power. If it is used again within that timeframe, the cards creating the attack spell will be destroyed by the internal stress. Even for me, assembling these cards is no easy feat.¡± As she said that, she cast a brief nce towards Dana.


    ¡°Finally, the cards wielded by the remote turrets can be exchanged between uses, in order to customize our attack strategy for any enemy. I have prepared fifty attack spells of the third tier, and four of the fourth tier that can be utilized by these turrets.¡±


    As Udona finished talking, Dana nodded her head in satisfaction. ¡°It looks like everyone brought some remarkable systems to the table. Now, our next goal will be to bring all of these ns together in a single ship. To do that, I would ask everyone to contribute personnel and form a unified team. As per the Keeper¡¯s n, this team will be operating out of Deckan for the time being, until the prototype ship has been tested.¡±


    ¡°For the duration of this cooperation, I will be personally staying in this world. Should the need arise for the reality gem to be tested in order to design the system to support it, I will directly oversee these tests. At no point will the gem be leaving my sight until it has been installed on the prototype.¡±


    After saying that, Dana shed a toothy grin. ¡°Trust me, gentlemen, you don¡¯t want to test my abilities for this.¡±


    Five years of Earth¡¯s time¡­ in other words, it took two hundred and fifty full years of trial and error, and severalrge inds being destroyed before Tsubaki finished what she was assigned to create. The fact that it took so long ashamed her, but there was nothing that she could do about this. She was confident that nobody else within this world would have been able to create the array faster than she had. After all, unlike the people in this world, she had the full knowledge of constructing arrays up to the fourth tier.


    Ultimately, what Tsubaki created resembled a ck sun. Due to blocking out both the light and heat created by this item, it appeared to be a harmless ball of ck me. However, when set atop a matching scepter, where it would hover menacingly, it became a tool of equal might to the reality gems.


    Tsubaki knew that this scepter had far more to offer than the reality gems, however. Whereas the reality gems were purely an external power, these ck suns could serve as a tool for cultivation. She had personally experienced it when creating the ki-attuned sun, her cultivation within the Lorek system progressing at a rapid rate.


    If these items were used in conjunction with a proper formation, they would allow arge group of people to rapidly progress through their cultivation stages. Furthermore, they did not share the same weakness of the reality gems, where their energy was constantly leaking. Without a device specifically created to harness the power of the ck sun, its energy would remain entirely self-contained. And, as of that moment, only Tsubaki knew the method of creating a tool to harness that energy.


    She held two of the ck suns in her hands, one each for ki and mana. This was the most that Tsubaki could create with her current knowledge, as neither of the other two energies worked on the same principle. Still, this alone would be more than enough for what they needed.


    With the two suns in her hands, and the production method saved so that she could mass produce these in the future, Tsubaki¡¯s body turned into a stream of light that shot across the horizon. She needed to pay a visit to the control terminal for Lorek¡¯s divine registry.


    As there had yet to be a god ascending within Lorek, Tsubaki had only arranged a basic energy-gathering array to power the formation surrounding the. However, such an array was quite feeble whenpared to the size of the, so it was important that she upgrade this power source immediately. Otherwise, it was entirely possible for the formation to shatter if a deity were to actively resist its effects.


    As Tsubaki traveled, she kept a firm grip on the two items in her hand, their solid shells preventing her from injuring herself on them. Even with all that she had learned from their creation, there were still parts that werecking. For instance¡­ would it be possible for a cultivator to directly refine one of the ck suns, inserting it into their internal sky? Or would the energy be too great, destroying the cultivator that attempted to do so.


    Tsubaki was quite interested to find out, but she knew that it would not be good to force a test such as that. If done with a resident of Lorek, it could be a pointless waste of life if it failed. On the other hand, if tested on a star beast¡­ it could create an unimaginably terrifying existence if it seeded. Neither possibility was one that Tsubaki wished to face.


    Since these items are safer, I¡¯ll ask for the Keeper¡¯s permission to create cultivation rooms for the sects of Lorek and Spica. She gave a self-assured smile as she thought about that, arriving at the deep north, where the wind itself formed icy des that tore open space.

 Chapter 636: Reunion

    <h4>Chapter 636: Reunion</h4>


    The President of Demacry sat within arge office, going over the day¡¯s paperwork. Over thest several hundred years, the world had shifted in a rather drastic way, but several core values remained the same. The elves who had been thrust into the world of cultivation could only do their best to keep up with these changes.


    The old research-based meritocracy had been abolished as the nation was forced to devote more and more of its resources to understanding the fundamentalws that had been altered in the world. Now, the world was governed by a true democracy, a body of individuals elected by the entire nation. However, there were certain restrictions on who could sit in the top seat.


    The most notable of these restrictions was that the president could not be an active cultivator. This was to ensure that the president would not be swayed by any wealth of special materials or knowledge that appeared, that they could be seen as just another person, so anyone could strive for the position. Instead, they were assigned a retinue of powerful guards that would constantly protect them.


    The current president had held her position for over one hundred years, and her term would soon being to a close. She, like her predecessor, had not yet managed to see the end of the global research endeavor that the Keeper had requested. After all, it was by no means an easy feat, even if the issue of energy consumption were to be taken care of.


    When the president of the time heard the Keeper¡¯s request, brought forward by his servant Tsubaki, he had assumed it would be his chance to bring glory to his people. Given that their world experienced the flow of time fifty times faster than any other, it should have been finished in short order.


    However, the magic systems of Spica and Lorek had yet to be fully explored to the extent that they were in the other worlds. Although their ster magic was indeed powerful, it was ill-suited forrge constructs. The people of Lorek had redoubled their efforts in order to find any ruins which contained ancient inheritances, hoping to find some information about arrays.


    Although they had made some progress, it was not nearly enough to create a battle-ready warship that could freely battle in space. At least, not to the degree that the Keeper was wanting.


    Thus, the president¡¯s term passed without any true progress being made. The next president fared slightly better, being able to see the creation of the shielding array that would protect the ships from ster storms. However, that was all that waspleted in their term.


    Finally, the present ruler felt as if she would pass her time in office without any significant contributions towards the assigned task. Although she was skeptical about the ancient ruins of Lorek, she couldn¡¯t help but hope that they would find something incredible. If there truly was an ancient civilization that existed before that world connected to the others, she held some small prayer that their knowledge would soon be discovered.


    ¡°Madam President.¡± One of the Star Guards, the president¡¯s elite troops, appeared at the door to her office. He was a muscr man with crimson hair, his cultivation level too high for the president to sense.


    ¡°Yes, Horem?¡± The president set down the papers in her hands as she noticed her guard, looking inquisitively towards him.


    ¡°The Servant of the Keeper wishes to have an audience with you.¡± When the man said this, the president¡¯s eyes went wide, surprised that such news was being delivered. Although she was the ruler of a nation that spanned an entire, her position was still below that of the Keeper¡¯s personal attendant.


    ¡°Yes, please see her in.¡± The president nodded her head quickly, adjusting the papers on her desk to make the office seem a touch more presentable. With a p of her hand, the windows were closed, the lighting in dimmed by the tinted ss.


    Barely a minuteter, the Goddess of Light entered the room, offering a polite smile to the president before sitting opposite of her. ¡°Thank you for agreeing to see me on such short notice.¡± There was a weary look to the woman¡¯s eyes, as if she had gone far too long without a proper rest, and also a strange sense of nervousness about her.


    For a moment, the president was worried that Tsubaki¡¯s demeanor meant some impending danger. She tensed up, sitting straight in her chair. ¡°No, thank you foring. May I ask what this is about?¡±


    Tsubaki offered a small nod, leaning back in her seat as she spoke. ¡°I have been within Lorek for¡­ a long time now, working on the power source for the ships that this world will produce. Earlier today, I finally finished it.¡±


    The president was overjoyed when she heard that. The power source was undoubtedly the most problematic piece of the ship. If it was taken care of, most of the other systems could be created more smoothly, either from technological or magical methods. ¡°That is wonderful news. However¡­ why have youe to report to me?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not the reason for my report¡­¡± Tsubaki shook her head, rolling her shoulders. ¡°After consulting with the Keeper, I have created ten chambers, five of which are in this world. These chambers are powered by the same source I just mentioned¡­ and will considerably increase the cultivation speed of anyone inside.¡±


    As she spoke, Tsubaki produced a map, where five locations were marked. The president was surprised that Tsubaki performed such an action without consulting anyone, but more than anything she was surprised by the information itself. She was able to create this power source, as well as these chambers¡­ surely she must be more knowledgeable about arrays than anyone from Lorek¡­


    ¡°Lady Tsubaki¡­¡± The president hesitated, working up the courage to speak. ¡°Would you be able to contribute your knowledge towards the task that the Keeper left us? Without being able to create advanced arrays, the ship construction has¡­ not been able to make much headway. I fear that as things are, it may be another three hundred years at least, before we are able to see thepletion of the first vessel¡­ longer if Lorek¡¯s expeditions do not produce results.¡±


    Tsubaki went quiet for a long moment, before nodding her head. ¡°I¡¯ll speak with the Keeper about this. For now, I would rmend not trying to study the power source too deeply¡­ its energy is highly condensed, and I can¡¯t predict the size of the explosion if it were to be released all at once.¡±


    The president gave a small nod. In truth, she had been nning on having it studied right away. This was the biggest advancement in arrays in over two hundred years! She¡¯d be a fool not to want to understand it. However, with the promise that Tsubaki would speak to the Keeper on their behalf, she held these desires in check. Only if they were unable to get the information they needed would she refuse this request of Tsubaki¡¯s.


    ¡°Then, if you¡¯ll excuse me¡­¡± Tsubaki slowly stood up, before a sh of light filled the room. When it faded, the Goddess of Light was nowhere to be found.


    Back within the Sky Citadel, Dana was lounging on a couch, one leg draped over the side as she browsed the inte via a crystal b. She was feeling lonely after being away from Tsubaki for so long, as if a part of her was missing. But she knew that it would be far worse for Tsubaki herself, who was staying within one of the elerated worlds.


    It had been two years since the Legion of Allied Worlds hade together to share their schematics. For the first six months of that, Dana had remained in Deckan, overseeing the progress until their power management systems werepleted. After that, she returned to the citadel, only nning to make her appearance again when the prototype was ready to receive the reality gems.


    This was the longest period of time that she and Tsubaki had been apart, ever since the two of them had first met. Although Dana still dutifully did the chores, and even picked up Tsubaki¡¯s own tasks while she was gone, the Sky Citadel was¡­ empty. The only other person aside from Dana herself was the Keeper, who would only sit on his throne every day.


    As she was thinking that, and checking in on the progress of the prototype, she felt a small flicker of energy. Her eyes went wide, and she rolled off the couch to jump to her feet. An excited smile spread across her face as she sensed that approaching torrent of power.


    Before she was able to properly react, that energy crashed into the room, colliding with her body and sending her tumbling back into the couch. Dana let out augh as she felt a pair of soft arms tightly clinging to her. ¡°Wee back, Tsuba.¡± She said with a smile, looking over and seeing the tired look on Tsubaki¡¯s face.


    Just from her expression, Dana could tell how hard she had pushed herself to finish the assignment. They both knew that she could havee home at any time, just to see each other for a bit before leaving again. However, that would have only made her work take far longer, and so Tsubaki had endured.


    ¡°I missed you¡­¡± Tsubaki whispered, surprising Dana. It was unusual for Tsubaki to be that honest with her feelings, but that only went to show how hard it had been.


    ¡°I missed you too, Tsuba¡­¡± Dana reached up to stroke a hand through the kitsune¡¯s hair tofort her.


    Back in the Admin Room, I let out a relieved sigh when I saw Dana and Tsubaki reunited. Their time apart from one another had not exactly been easy on either of them, and it was something that I had taken note of while keeping tabs on everything. The two of them truly relied on each other as family, serving as emotional supports.


    If things had gotten much worse on Tsubaki¡¯s end, I was prepared to order her to take a break. The fact that she had endured for so long was already surprising to me. As it stood, I had no desire to give them separate missions again for the time being. After all, both of them had earned this rest.


    ¡°Is everything going alright?¡± I was surprised by the voice, turning and looking over my shoulder to see Udona walking into the living room. Given that she had been personally overseeing Deckan, it was increasingly more rare to have her socialize in the Admin Room.


    Noticing the gaze I sent at her, Udona averted her eyes. ¡°My incarnation is old enough, so I traded ces with her today. I don¡¯t think anyone noticed¡­¡±


    ¡°But¡­ how did they not notice?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but be confused by that. ¡°You¡¯re a goddess, they should see when you are reced by a mortal, right?¡±


    Udona simply chuckled at that. ¡°I made sure to have my incarnation ascend first. That¡¯s what took me so long. Once she ascended¡­ she gained all of my domains. Unless there¡¯s an invasion happening, there shouldn¡¯t be much difference between my incarnation and myself. Here¡¯s hoping, anyways.¡± She crossed her fingers with a small grin, causing me to let out a lightugh.


    ¡°Still assuming direct control, though?¡± I asked, adjusting my view of the world to focus on the Deckan pce.


    ¡°Somewhat.¡± Udona shook her head, walking over to sit next to me. ¡°I¡¯m letting the incarnation grow on her own, but I¡¯m guiding her at the same time. If I just do everything myself, I¡¯m worried that she would be lost once an invasion happens.¡±


    I gave a small nod of understanding at that. ¡°Well, hopefully it won¡¯t be too long before these ships are done. After that, I think everything should be able to calm down until the invasion¡­¡±

 Chapter 637: Petra Carna

    <h4>Chapter 637: Petra Carna</h4>


    Within the realm of Fyor, in the twenty-fifthyer of the world, arge expedition was formed. Maxers of every type came together, whether they werebatants or crafters, for the sole purpose of conquering the floor.


    This was an incredibly difficultnd to advance it, one where the earth and sea were split, where the ground rose high enough to touch the sky. Giants walked the earth, capable of manipting vast amounts of energy, while terrifying insects crawled the surface of the sky. The expedition needed to be prepared for everything, whether it was fighting, making use of their surroundings, or crafting emergency shelters.


    As for the leader of this expedition¡­ that piece of information had surprised all that joined. The expedition was led by a seemingly-young girl, a Maxer known by the moniker ck. This demonic youth wielded an axerger than her entire body, the surface of the weapon appearing coated in darkness.


    People knew by now not to judge someone based solely on their appearances. In the age of energy bodies, any child could be an ancient figure, and any ancient figure could be a simple child. That was why they did not focus on her outward looks, but rather her identity.


    The name of ck was one that had appeared for over a dozen years, ying various roles in several major expeditions. She had even taken part in the original foray into the twenty-fifth floor where they established their stronghold. For this, she was respected, but also questioned. She had never revealed her name before in any events she participated in, her identity shrouded in mystery.


    Why would such a person organize such arge expedition? This question was held in the hearts of several participants, who all met outside the city of World¡¯s End, the first and greatest stronghold within the twenty-fifthyer.


    ck stood at the very front of a gathering of over five hundred people. Each of these individuals had built up their personal power to the point where they could easily fight in a field such as this, with none of them feelingcking. The act of being asked to follow the lead of someone who had kept their identity secret¡­ it did not sit well with many.


    However, before they could voice their disputes, ck was the first to speak. ¡°Thank you all for joining me here today. I¡¯m sure you all have your questions, but first¡­ allow me a moment. I¡¯ve seen many of you asking about me, trying to pry information from those you thought knew more than yourselves. You were unsatisfied that I would lead you without an identity that would match the lot of you.¡±


    ck smiled as she saw the mixed nces from the group, those who realized that they had been caught and those who simply agreed with her statements. ¡°In that case, let me tell you who I am. When I was born, this world still had only half of its current power, and we were restricted to thend of Dawn. Nobody dared to venture too deep into the Nest of Maggots for fear of being overrun.¡±


    ¡°I participated in the first Dungeon War, holding the title of the fourth-ranked master, Shadow. With a friend of mine, I paved the way for the twenty-first, twenty-second, and twenty-third floors to be discovered, leaving messages for the guild on how to find them. And now, we are going to find the twenty-sixth floor as well¡­¡±


    The gathered Maxers looked among themselves. The Dungeon War was quite some time ago, but not so long that nobody lived to remember it. The name Shadow did indeed appear in its rankings, its position seemingly unshakable throughout the entire event.


    ¡°There was a reason for me to hide my name, but now, I feel the time hase to share it. My name is Petra Carna. I am the child of Ashley, the Goddess of Darkness.¡± As she said that, she revealed proof to back her words. Above her head, a title appeared for all to witness, marking her as the Demigoddess of Shadows.


    ¡°So now I ask you¡­ do I have the right to lead all of you?¡± She easily lifted her axe, pointing it towards the crowd. ¡°If anyone is unsatisfied, I don¡¯t mind hearing you out.¡±


    The group fell silent at her call, seeming to consider her words. There had never been a report of Ashley having a mortal child, but the title above her head was irrefutable proof. There were no gods or goddesses among the demons that had been in power long enough to bear a child of Petra¡¯s age, and thus the only divine parent she could have was indeed the Greater Goddess, Ashley.


    Since that was the case, and she was the child of one of the Greater Pantheon¡­ that would make her only the third of such known children. The first to reveal herself to the world was the Eternal Princess, the Demigoddess of Youth who helped govern the centaurs throughout an age. She went on to be the queen of Sher Dien, overseeing its entire history until it joined the allied worlds.


    The second revealed was the child of the Keeper and the Goddess of Magic, Leowynn. Although she lived even earlier than Alme Dien, her history was not known until farter, when she ascended to be a member of the Greater Pantheon herself. And now, a third such individual had appeared before them.


    Given the records of the first two, few dared to imagine her as unworthy. To be the child of the Greater Pantheon was to have a destiny that stood above all. That was the perception that the world had towards people like her.


    As for Petra herself, she was inwardly delighted. This was the first time that she had truly been able to announce herself to the world. Although she had to rely on the misperception of others and obscured some details, nothing of what she said was truly a lie. She had been able to state her identity proudly, something she had only dreamed about doing before this.


    It took all the strength she could muster to keep a serious look on her face when she knew that she would be grinning like a fool if she rxed for an instant. When she saw that the gathered individuals had silently assented to her leadership, she turned around, hefting the axe over her shoulder as if it were weightless.


    In truth, this weapon was crafted from iron mined in the twenty-fifthyer of the Shadow of Fyor. Its true weight was over fifty thousand pounds, but that could not be considered anything much for a Maxer of Fyor. Anyone here would be carrying a weapon weighing no less than five hundred pounds, even if it were amon staff. What truly made the axe special was that she was capable of using her demigod aspect through the weapon.


    ¡°With that taken care of, we¡¯ll begin! I want three scouts forming a triangle formation around the group, watching for any threats. Maintain constant contact with the party. Crafters form the middle of the group, while mages and priests will be behind me. I want the warriors at the back to protect us from ambushes.¡±


    ¡°You want the mages at the front, and warriors in the rear?¡± A dovah woman asked with wide eyes. ¡°Isn¡¯t this the wrong way around?¡± Naturally, the tactic of leading with a heavily armored vanguard was known to anyone that had trained to make it this far.


    When Petra heard thatint, she allowed her grin to pull at her lips. The blood in her body began to boil, red mist rising from her skin as her ki rampaged. She turned around to face the group as darkness spread out at her feet. ¡°I¡¯ll be protecting the front.¡± As she said that, she lifted her axe, and swung it down to her side.


    There was a resounding crash as the axe grew rapidly in size, bing a towering construct before it mmed into the ground, the head of the axe over a hundred meters away. From within Petra¡¯s shadow, indistinct figures could be seen shifting, as if a horde of monsters were waiting for the chance to pounce.


    This was the power of Petra¡¯s aspect, the ability to manifest and control shadows. A power born to match the Shadow Saint, with its own terrifying implications. Although she could not wield the World¡¯s Shadow with the full power of Thelsa, she was able to control shadows through any energy she possessed, whether it was ki, mana, or even her spirit.


    The words of the dovah woman caught in her throat as she saw the disy, as well as the bloody grin covering Petra¡¯s face. The mist was an obvious trait of a berserker that had cultivated to a high level, able to condense the ki within their blood at will and release it in powerful bursts. She did not need to wait to be injured in order to explode with the power of her ss, and could instead bring out her full force at a moment¡¯s notice.


    Not to mention the fact that she was showing herself as a berserker¡­ that in itself spoke volumes to people. Although berserkers were not considered to be the most intelligent people, as the ss caused people to have a tendency to take on incredible dangers, they were very resolute. Furthermore, the temper of a berserker was nothing to question, as their rage was one of their most iconic traits.


    Although she was the child of one of the Greater Pantheon, people began to hold their doubts. The power that she disyed was indeed impressive, but could she serve as the vanguard of their group by herself? As Petra lifted her axe and returned it to its normal size, she turned and began walking. Behind her, several mages and priests walked forward, but not without preparing their own emergency escape ns.


    If things went wrong, and Petra was unable to fulfill her role, they were prepared to abandon the expedition in order to preserve their lives. Their trust in Petra was by no means absolute, even given her identity.


    Petra was fully aware of this, and was using this as a way to bolster her image. She called on the scouts within her shadow to secretly examine her surroundings as they advanced. So long as a creature existed in darkness or cast its own shadow, she should be able to discover it. And if a creature did not do so¡­ could she be med for not seeing something invisible?


    Petra could hear the march of heavy steps behind her, knowing that the group had chosen to follow. She was nervous, not for her own safety but for how well this action would be received. She had to perform to the best of her ability in order to keep everyone safe. To that end, she had part of her focus on an item hidden within her shadow, the portable dungeon core that she had used during the Dungeon War.


    She was confident in her own strength, but she was even more confident in the dungeon that she had personally built, withyers uponyers of shadow realms that could defend allies and trap enemies alike. As they entered the forest of towering trees, she felt renewed energy filling her body.


    How does it feel? A voice asked in the depths of her mind. Thelsa was naturally watching Petra, prepared to step in if things became truly dire. To her delight, she did not need to make an appearance, as the girl had proven herself with her speech.


    It feels FANTASTIC! Petra shouted inwardly, resisting the urge to start skipping. Thankfully, the overwhelming gravity of the twenty-fifth floor made sure to keep her firmly rooted to the ground. Only if she purposely exerted herself would she be able to achieve any sort of vertical momentum. Did you finish everything you wanted, though?


    I¡¯ve done all I can for now. Thelsa admitted with a faint sigh. She had been working tirelessly to popte her shadow world, and had even made an agreement with Dana. While Thelsa herself could not easily produce monsters, Dana could. And so, Thelsa allowed Dana into her shadow world, where she had spent months creating monsters on every floor. Thelsa¡¯s goal was to create a dangerous environment that mimicked that of the true Fyor, such that it would stimte the growth of her people. Individually raising Maxers as she had been doing previously was no longer cutting it, and she needed this step in order to really make her world flourish.


    Thankfully, the monsters Dana created with her own World¡¯s Shadow were able to be assimted by Thelsa, allowing her to respawn them as needed. She might not be able to create new monsters, but repopting them was not a problem. That alone would help to hone her shadow poption.

 Chapter 638: Growth

    <h4>Chapter 638: Growth</h4>


    The journey through the twenty-fifthyer of Fyor was by no means easy. Although they had spent several years at this point documenting the various creatures that inhabited the outer area of the nd half¡¯ of theyer, they had not risked pushing more than a thousand kilometers inwards. This sounded like a great distance, but the size of thisyer was such that a thousand kilometers was not even a single percent of the total distance.


    However, the people of Fyor had long since adjusted to facts such as this. The method for an expedition to travel did not solely rely on the speed of their march. Otherwise, it would truly take too long for any expeditions to make actual progress within this world.


    Petra led the group at a rather swift pace through the jungle, moving at what could be considered a jog for untrained individuals. Their goal was to cover a hundred kilometers on foot within a single day, before setting up their first ¡®ry point¡¯.


    These ry points had been calcted beforehand at the guild when nning the trip. First, they would spend a full day traveling on foot. After that, the druids of the party would set beacons in the area so that they could recall to that point at a moment¡¯s notice. Finally, the wizards within the party would jointly cast a group teleportation spell to send them further along their path, with the ry point serving as their option to retreat if the area theynd at was too hazardous.


    This way, although they only covered a hundred kilometers on foot, their true progress could easily be a thousand kilometers every day. Yet, even with that, they had to prepare supplies that wouldst them for several months. The exact location of the gate was unknown-aside from Petra who had discovered its location through the shadow world- so they knew that they were unlikely to find the gate by simply running in a straight line.


    Instead, their ¡®n¡¯ was to map theyer out as a grid. After theypleted their straight line to the other side of the earthen half of the world, they would use their ry points as markers and explore in different directions, thus mapping out the entireyer until they found the gate.


    Only Petra herself was aware that their straight line would take them directly to the gate that they sought, though it would still take them around seven months to reach it. Thankfully, such a measure of time did not affect the Maxers who mostly had attained their perfection. It was expected for the expedition to take up to ten years toplete, if they were unlucky.


    Have you checked the nextyer yet? Petra asked internally,municating with Thelsa. Although there was still plenty of time before they arrived, she felt it was best to be prepared for what would being.


    I have¡­ but the nextyer is quite troublesome for us. That¡¯s why I haven¡¯t added it to our shadow yet.


    When Petra heard that, she was briefly rmed, her grip tightening on her axe as she continued to jog through the forest. Her dynamic vision was good enough that she was not afraid of missing any suspicious movement that urred in front of her. What¡¯s wrong with it? Avayer, or maybe extreme cold?


    No, I think it should be quite safe for most people. It is just a problem for us specifically. The nextyer is a natural maze.


    Petra¡¯s eyes twitched when she heard that. How is that a problem for us? Just map it with the shadows and send people in to solve it.


    It¡¯s a problem for us because the walls of the maze are made with the same material as the mana spires found on everyyer. I waited at the entrance for three days without it ever entering its ¡®night¡¯ cycle, so the concentration of mana must be heavy enough to prevent the light from going out. Not only can we not use the spire as andmark, but there are no natural shadows for us to take advantage of. Every wall and floor is a light source.


    That was¡­ definitely annoying for people that relied on shadows to act. Send some people in and make a building. As long as there is a persistent shadow, you should be able to add it to our world.


    That¡¯s what I¡¯m working on now. But, doing so won¡¯t help us find the path to the nextyer, unless it happens to exist in an area of natural darkness. Otherwise, we won¡¯t be able to ¡®see¡¯ it in the shadow world.


    That was the real reason why such ayer was difficult for them. Although such ayer would be a great ce to mine for mana gems, representing seemingly endless wealth, they were unable to take advantage of their powers to find the path. It looks like the nextyer will take a long time for us to pass¡­


    I gave a satisfied nod as I saw Petra leading the charge to find the nextyer, happy to see her taking a more active role in the world. Furthermore, I was quite interested in seeing what would happen with the world once the nextyer was discovered.


    My Keeper? Tsubaki¡¯s voice brought me back from my distraction, and I was reminded of the reason that the world had stopped fast forwarding in the first ce.


    Ah, I¡¯m sorry. You want to be able to share fourth tier arrays with Lorek and Spica? Tsubaki had prayed to me, using her connection as my subordinate deity to reach me in the Admin Room.


    That¡¯s right, my Keeper. I fear that if we do not, then the ships you wish for will not bepleted before the attack you are concerned about arrives. There was definitely a valid reason for her to be worried, and I did ultimately agree with her. Lorek and Spica needed fourth tier abilities in order to stay caught up with the rest of the worlds, especially Spica, now that its focus had been forcibly shifted from science to cultivation. Granted, they still had a great deal of science in their world, but it was woefullycking whenpared to the power that a cultivator could unleash.


    Admittedly, there were those who were able to easily get by without the fourth tier of magic. For instance, the first generation of cultivators like Jana, who were ¡®blessed¡¯ with the umtion of ki before the advent of the world¡¯s system. With that blessing, they were able to vastly improve their ki potential and fight far above their level. Jana herself showed an ability that allowed her to kill a monster god before she herself had properly ascended.


    And, through the usage of ki, one could prolong their lifespan until they had an energy body. Of the first generation of cultivators, roughly a third of them were still alive thanks to the bonus to their ki potential. Unfortunately, that was still a rather small poption, as Lorek was still considered a ¡®young¡¯ world at that time.


    After thinking about it for a few more moments, I nodded my head. Talk to Tubrock. As long as he doesn¡¯t have a specific n to reveal the fourth tier of array knowledge in the works, it will be fine. Lorek is his jurisdiction, after all.


    That being said, I was sure that it was possible to create the ships with fourth-tier ster magic. But, unfortunately, I hadn¡¯t personally studied that type of magic well enough to be able to figure out how to do so. Honestly, that felt like the most troublesome of all of my magic types to utilize practically.


    Understood, my Keeper. I will speak with him while preparing the material. Tsubaki¡¯s voice spoke into my mind as I nodded my head, turning my eyes elsewhere. There was something that I had remembered to check on.


    With a loud shout, a muscr beast was felled, a de slicing through its hide severing its neck. This beast took the form of a two-legged bull with flexible iron skin. There was a loud crash as it fell to the ground, revealing thehrak youth that had in it. Standing behind him was a translucent purple slime, who appeared to be simply idling.


    A pale blue glow lit up over thehrak¡¯s skin as his injuries healed, a clear sign that his level had risen. ¡°Yes!¡± He shouted happily, surveying histest kill. ¡°See, the three-star dungeon isn¡¯t that hard!¡±


    The slime simply nodded its head, moving over and absorbing the corpse of the monster. ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ the size of this one¡¯s stone is worth three hundred and eighty points. The meat is of the eight ring, and worth twenty points per kilogram. No known use for the bones, so they will be ignored.¡±


    ¡°The skin is of the flexible metal type, and is worth thirty points per square inch.¡± As the slime pulled itself back, all that was left of the once terrifying bull monster was a bloody skeleton.


    ¡°You¡¯re not going to eat it?¡± Thehrak asked in surprise as it saw the skeleton being left behind. However, the slime simply shook its head.


    ¡°The bones of this creature are too hard to digest. As payment for this monster, I have taken the less valuable organs for myself, as well as a portion of the skin.¡± This was the job of the sentient void slimes, who possessed both incredible learning capabilities and the ability to store objects within a separate space.


    These slimes would act as porters for the individuals or parties that chose to challenge the dungeon, butchering the monsters with their unique abilities and splitting things into different sections. In exchange, they would im a portion of those monsters as their food, allowing them to continue to grow and evolve.


    This was a highly beneficial arrangement for both parties, as it became tedious for one to haul suchrge monsters back to the surface time and time again. Without a proper porter, they would only be able to retrieve the mana stones of the monsters, leaving the rest to either be consumed by the dungeon or for the ¡®shadow vendors¡¯ to harvest.


    The shadow vendors were a rather mysterious group, as nobody knew exactly how they operated. All that they knew was that materials from in monsters would end up in various stores even if the ¡®dive party¡¯ themselves did not collect it. Whether it was an automatic system of the dungeon or a group of powerful individuals, nobody knew for certain.


    ¡°I think we could probably challenge the first floor of the four-star dungeon, at this rate.¡± Thehrak said confidently, before the slime shook its head.


    ¡°Until you are able to capture the thirtieth floor of this dungeon, you should not set your sights on the next rank.¡± As part of its job as a porter, the slime had memorized the known information of the different dungeons. This allowed it to ensure that not only would it be able to survive, but that it could increase the survival chances of its employer as well.


    There was a vast difference between the different ranks of the dungeons, with less information being known the higher one went. While each dungeon seemed to have a limitless number of floors, the jump in difficulty was rather severe between the dungeons themselves. For example¡­ the one-star dungeon will feature weak monsters that even a low-level fighter can resolve easily, or puzzles meant to challenge the mind.


    The two-star dungeon will have more challenging monsters, and begin to have deadly traps after the tenth floor. This is where people begin to require real skill to survive, whether through their physical prowess, magic, or tactics.


    The three-star dungeon held powerful monsters serving as floor bosses, and every level would have deadly traps hidden about. The two of them had currently defeated the floor boss of the first floor after spending one hour within the dungeon. While this was admittedly a good pace, it was far from enough to challenge the four-star dungeon.


    In the four-star dungeon, monsters as strong as normal floor bosses roamed in groups, and began to exhibit their own strategies forbat. Here, challengers had to ovee the other party¡¯s intelligence in order to survive. But this was not the most terrifying of them all¡­


    In the five-star dungeon, very little information was known. There had been numerous parties that explored its first level, but few hade back alive after encountering the floor boss. In fact, there was only one party that had survived the encounter by fleeing before the boss could kill them all.


    In the five-star dungeon, monsters were no less intelligent than thehrak, and carried vast amounts of power. On the door of the boss room, the word ¡®Ice¡¯ was written clearly. As thehrak were a people born in an arctic climate, they naturally were unconcerned about a cold warning. They were not expecting that warning to mean that the boss of the floor was a monster God of Ice.


    This was supposedly why the fifth floor was stationed directly beneath the Tower¡¯s home. If a dungeon break were to ur, it would take a god to settle it. Perhaps it was even where he himself trained, though nobody had seen him doing so¡­

 Chapter 639: Refund

    <h4>Chapter 639: Refund</h4>


    The crystalline body of the God of Monsters sat within his tower, eyes closed as he focused. At his current level, it was beyond his power to create gods of his own at will. However, the design of his dungeons was rather necessary for his grand n. Those who held the power to clear the strongest dungeon must be capable of killing gods, through one method or another.


    Now, naturally he did not want to volunteer himself as the god that would be in. That would be rather counterproductive of him. Instead, he learned from his Mother how to create a divinew that would allow him to set up an automatic system for him.


    This divinew was quite simple. Whenever a monster reached deity status, they would enter a telepathic bond, allowing them tomunicate over a vast distance. As the God of Monsters, monsters held a natural respect towards him, and many were willing to adhere to his requests simply due to that nature.


    More importantly, Tower offered them a form of pseudo-immortality. By staying in his dungeon, they would be constantly studied by him, to the point where he could perfectly recreate them in the event that they die. Thus allowing him to fulfill the necessary condition for bosses to be able to respawn after a set amount of time.


    Of course, this was in itself a trap. Dungeon cores had an innate feature known as Monster Trap. Any monster that entered their territory without being sufficiently more powerful than the dungeon core itself would fall under their control. As a god, more specifically the God of Monsters, this meant that there was practically no chance of even a monster deity rebelling against him after it entered his field.


    Like this, he had already captured twenty different monster gods, nning to use them to help hone the power of hishrak. Through his connection with the other dungeon cores, Tower had been kept up to date on the happenings of the other worlds, knowing how much he would need to grow in order to truly keep up with the original worlds.


    Tower had created¡­ quite the interesting setup for his dungeons. Although there were only a few individuals that were capable of challenging the four-star dungeon, it was showing great progress. Looking closer, I was even able to find a secret he left hidden in both the four and five star areas.


    After each boss fight in which the boss was a deity, a portal would appear. This portal would allow individuals to travel to Earth through the special gates of the dungeons. Tower had already prepared the way for his people to join the ranks of the world, though to do so would require them to have the strength to survive.


    As I was thinking about that, I noticed a small ping in the back of my mind, a message from the system. Thinking that it was likely Sarah or Kathy wanting to get in touch with me, I swiftly investigated, wanting to see who was calling. What I saw gave me a rather pleasant surprise.


    Congrattions! The forces you have sent to invade the Keeper Grudge have been sessful! As a result, all of Grudge¡¯s assets have been transferred to you. For the next Standard Day, you can choose to fully refund any worlds transferred this way at no penalty.


    Points: 270


    Worlds: 1 - Gagarin


    Congrattions, you have earned an achievement!


    For defeating a nk te Keeper and returning him to the system cycle, you have received the Mercy Killing achievement. +50 points, Sniper¡¯s Scope perk.


    Congrattions, you have earned an achievement!


    For defeating your first enemy Keeper, you have earned the To the Victor achievement. +1000 points, World Shackles perk.


    I let out a low whistle as I looked through the three messages that appeared, one after the other. While I wasn¡¯t expecting to get the reward points from defeating another Keeper, it didn¡¯t particrly matter in this case. Two hundred and seventy points was just a drop in the bucket at this level, meaning that Grudge had likely been spending his points on anything he could.


    What really made me happy was the Sniper¡¯s Scope perk, as Sarah had already exined to me what effects it would have. Honestly¡­ I was tempted to use it immediately, and reshuffle my current opponent to avoid the danger of the gctic fleet. However, I didn¡¯t do that.


    There was already a pan in ce to let me handle Silence¡¯s invasion, even if he did decide to attack in force. If I reshuffled thiste and found that my new opponent needed an entirely different strategy to face, then I would be dooming myself in the long run.


    Closing my eyes, I focused, essing the map for the new world, Gagarin. What I found did not leave me with much of a desire to retain this world. Gagarin was the epitome of a territory owned by a Monster Keeper, at least in my mind. The monsters present were like a swarm that had spread over a gxy, forming a massivework of destruction.


    On various worlds, there were giant ¡®queen¡¯ monsters stationed, their bodies little more than massive pits filled with acid that spawned new breeds of monsters. Anything that was a different species was brought to these acid pits and sacrificed by the lesser monsters, used to fuel an evolution for future generations.


    I zoomed in on the where the final battle had taken ce, seeing Jordeth, Kristoff, and Mathias standing before arge, fleshy mountain. Although the enemy Keeper had been in, they were in no good position to retrieve. Surrounding them were six-legged monsters with ded legs and writhing golden skin.


    When I selected one of the monsters, I found that it possessed the domains of Traps and Tracking. Clearly, at least two of my people that I had sent had been sacrificed to the spawning pits, which had managed to absorb their divinity. As the world was currently paused, the three fighters were in no immediate danger, but¡­ their bodies were twisted, showing monstrous mutations such aspound eyes or ded arms.


    Bringing them back at this point could potentially endanger all of my worlds. I wasn¡¯t even sure if they would be able to be treated assuming I did bring them back. It was too much of a risk, once that I simply couldn¡¯t afford to take.


    You have chosen to fully refund the defeated world - Gagarin. Please confirm your decision.


    I nodded my head, choosing to perform the full refund. While it was sad not to let those threee home as heroes, there was not a way for me to safely do so. I watched as darkness enshrouded the gxy, everything within it returning to nothing before a new message appeared on my screen.


    Your refund has been processed!


    Total points refunded: 247,390


    My eyes went wide as I saw that number, suddenly feeling as if I understood why some evil Keepers chose to go down the darker path. Even if it meant a full reset each time, that was a massive amount of points.


    Granted, these were likely the umted points from every defense that he has withstood, as well as from the various civilizations that sprouted before being devoured. So while the number seemed astronomical, it was infact his total earnings over his entire Keeper career.


    ¡°I don¡¯t¡­ what do I even spend that on?!¡± I couldn¡¯t help but call out, earning a strange look from Ryone sitting next to me on the couch.


    ¡°Dale? Is something wrong?¡± She asked in a worried tone, leaning over to get a better look at my face.


    I cleared my throat, shaking my head. ¡°No, it¡¯s fine¡­ could you check our bnce real quick?¡± I knew this was probably a little mean, but I wanted to share the surprise with her.


    Ryone hesitated, before closing her eyes and doing as I requested. There was a brief pause as her body froze, before her eyes began to slowly open. ¡°Are we¡­ rich now?¡±


    Thinking about it, I shook my head. ¡°It¡¯s a lot of points for our level, but I wouldn¡¯t call us rich. We could definitely afford some upgrades, though.¡±


    Ryone nodded slowly, still trying to process that. ¡°Yeah¡­ we could definitely afford some things. Do you want me to draw up a shopping list?¡±


    ¡°Please.¡± I reached over to grab her waist, pulling her a bit closer. ¡°Anything that you think we need, whether it¡¯s systems or technologies. Though for thetter, I¡¯d rather you prioritize technologies that you don¡¯t think our people would be able to discover on their own any time soon. Once you have a list, let me know and I¡¯ll call a meeting.¡±


    Ryone gave a small smile, leaning over to rest her head on my shoulder. ¡°I¡¯ll get right on it. I haven¡¯t taken the time to look at some of the more expensive systems, so this should be a good learning experience for me.¡±


    ¡°You good on your end?¡± James called out, screwing in thest panel atop arge chamber, a fair amount of grease staining his hands. Despite this, he had a wide grin on his face, as if he had returned to a familiar time.


    ¡°I believe we¡¯ve gotten everything in here taken care of.¡± Thea called back, walking out of the chamber with Nora, both of whom were carrying heavy toolbelts. It was finally time to test the device that they had spent so long working on together.


    ¡°Who wants to be the guinea pig?¡± James asked with a small smirk, looking to the two girls. While his words sounded ominous, the two of them were well aware of his ability to see future possibilities.


    ¡°I¡¯ll do it.¡± Thea volunteered, standing near the walk-in machine as Nora walked over to the console. She seemed to have absolute faith in James, waiting for the device to be prepped.


    James pulled the omnitool off of his belt, pointing it at therge machine and pressing the button on it. There was an almost silent hum as he inspected its interior, adjusting a few screws and shifting wires around.


    Once he was satisfied that everything was in its proper ce, he nodded his head, signalling for Nora to power it up. As she did so, he tore open a hole in the space in front of him, carefully watching as numerous futures shed before his eyes.


    Thea knew what she had to do for this to work. If she resolved herself to wait for him to say it was safe, then there would not be a future in which she stepped into the machine to test it. Instead, she was waiting for Nora, fully prepared to enter the chamber the moment her sister said that the preparations wereplete.


    Nora, meanwhile, was focused solely on the disys before her, announcing every system as it came online and warmed up. Once it was done, she gave a quick nce towards James before nodding to Thea.


    After the door closed, hissing with the sound ofpressed air, James nodded his head. ¡°Eighty-seven percent chance.¡± He smiled in satisfaction. ¡°Twelve percent chance of failure with injury. One percent chance of danger.¡±


    Despite saying this, James did not stop deploying his energy to monitor all possibilities. As the machine worked, gradually extracting and converting Thea¡¯s energy, more and more of those possibilities were removed, narrowing down the eventual truth.


    As the process went forward, James¡¯s brow began to furrow, and he once more pulled out his omnitool, aiming it at the machine and activating it. Nora instantly became worried as the disys on her console began to flicker. ¡°James?¡± She called out, but he didn¡¯t answer.


    After a few moments, James began to rx, lowering the omnitool and letting out a sigh. ¡°Sorry, she was about to hit the twelve precent chance.¡±


    ¡°This is why we make omnitools!¡± Chel called out from nearby, watching while bouncing in anticipation. After all, once the twins were done, it would be her turn.

 Chapter 640: Past Mistakes

    <h4>Chapter 640: Past Mistakes</h4>


    Converting the three girls into Perfect Souls was a rtively quick process. Following the conversion itself, the machine stimted the natural healing process of the soul in order to prevent the upant from spending hours unconscious as they adjusted to their new states. Instead, the total process took roughly fifteen minutes per subject.


    During that time, James continued to modify the machine any time he sensed a deviation within the flow of fate. Naturally, he wouldn¡¯t do this for everyone they converted, as it consumed quite a lot of energy. However, with each modification, the machine became more stable.


    By the time he was done¡­ James couldn¡¯t say that the machine would have a one hundred percent sess rate, but it would at least be ny-percent, rather than eighty-seven. Of course, that left the next step. The original perfection chambers were not designed to handle someone with such a firm, solid soul.


    Thus, they would need to be reconfigured in order to allow those who had reached perfection of the soul to also achieve perfection of the body. Thankfully, James was willing to personally work on this project with the girls, as it meant that he would be able to ensure that Chel would always remain at his side.


    Sailing through the void of space, a lone Deckan ship explored deeper than it had ever gone before. Like many that had journeyed from the homnd, this was an exploration ship, one looking for new worlds that their people could inhabit with the passing of time. This ship, created with the newest technologies afforded to the allied worlds at the time of its construction, had a sleek appearance that hid its true potential.


    ¡°Captain, we¡¯re about to arrive at the target in five minutes.¡± A young human spoke up, his smile bright as he looked towards the captain. Unlike some of the other exploration vessels, this one had fully encouraged other races to participate and join its crew.


    ¡°Understood. Sound the alert, and make sure everyone is prepared.¡± When the captain gave that order, she leaned forward, brushing her red hair out of her face. Their deep space scans had indicated that this met all the criteria for habitation. Thus, she was excited at the prospect of finding a new world.


    Another crewmember, this one an elven woman, pressed a button before speaking towards her console. ¡°All crew, be advised. The Eclipse will be arriving at our destination in five minutes. As a precaution, allbat personnel must report to their stations, and all nonbat personnel may enter the safety zones. We will update the situation as needed once we have arrived.¡±


    As the alert went out, several individuals were forced to stop what they were doing, making their way towards their posts. This was standard procedure for exiting a long warp, as they could never be sure of what they would encounter upon their arrival. Thus, most of the crew was rather casual about their preparations, going through it with practiced motions as they waited to hear the news that it was safe.


    Within five minutes, the ship was at full readiness, the guns fully armed and deployable troops standing by in the hangar. The crew barely felt the jerk of the ship dropping out of warp speed, counting the seconds that passed. However, when the call to stand down was not issued, they began to grow concerned. At the same time, though, there was no call to deploy, leaving them equally confused.


    Within the bridge, those present all were dumbfounded expressions as they looked at the disy before them. It should be noted that deep space scans could not be activated while in warp, as the intense speed interfered with their energy. Thus, their most recent scan of this came from three weeks prior.


    Still, three weeks was not a long time when you considered the scale of a. Typically, celestial bodies would not undergo any change within such a short amount of time. ¡°Cadet¡­ these are the right coordinates, aren¡¯t they?¡± The captain asked, prompting the navigation officer to check his console again.


    The human gulped with a nod. ¡°That¡¯s right, captain.¡±


    ¡°Then where¡¯s the?!¡± Outside the ship, nothing could be seen but a scattered asteroid field, floating through the void of space. Nos, no moons, no star¡­ nothing.


    ¡°Maybe there was a problem with the navigation systems?¡± The cadet offered, before another voice spoke up. This one was from a kitsune male with ck hair.


    ¡°I¡¯m getting nothing on the deep scans. Within ten lightyears, all systems have vanished. The nearest star is thirteen lightyears behind us¡­ and the closest one ahead of us is a hundred and fifteen lightyears.¡±


    The captain furrowed her brow at that. ¡°Send an emergency notice back to the homeworld. We might have another incident like the Metong. I want immediate scans of this system. Any traces of energy should be reported.¡±


    ¡°Understood!¡± The kitsune nodded, adjusting the scanner to focus on their current system. ¡°I¡¯m picking up trace amounts of mana, though they are fading. There were living creatures here within thest eighteen hours. Aside from that¡­ heavy dimensium signatures, thousands of times above normal concentration.¡±


    The captain thought about that for a moment, looking like she was about to speak. However, before she could, the kitsune gave another report. ¡°Captain, I¡¯m picking up what appears to be debris from an artificial construct among the wreckage!¡±


    The captain¡¯s face went stern at that news. ¡°Show me.¡±


    At hermand, a screen was disyed in front of her, showing her arge piece of worked metal, dented and scorched, floating among the asteroids. It looked like it had simply fallen off of whatever it was previously attached to. However, its presence here, along with the energy readings, confirmed that this was the work of another space-faring vessel.


    ¡°Send that report. Request confirmation from the March that they have not journeyed into this sector.¡± The only races aside from the kitsune that should have had ess to such deep space in this realm were the March and the Metong. The Metong¡¯s ships wereposed of liquid metal, so a warped metal te like this obviously did not belong to them.


    Philia sat within arge terrace, hanging beneath the highest branch of a mighty tree. This was the area she had created for herself for contemtion. By now, all of her sisters had left the mother tree, and it would no longer bear any fruit. Its life was sustained by those it had given birth to, but its spirit had been depleted.


    With the other sisters having already left to establish their own colonies, Philia was the only one left to govern this colony, watching as the nature of her people seemed to change. When the spirit of the tree died, it lost its ability to serve as a host for its people¡¯s knowledge. It could not even be used to act as a hub formunication.


    After centuries of sharing one mind, the lower ranks of the sylvans had been cut off. The tree survived for nine hundred years in total, with most of its children having survived until this point. Those who were first born were showing signs of age, their leaves wilting and joints stiffening.


    ¡°So this is what bes of us when the mother tree perishes?¡± Philia asked herself, gazing at the forest below. The blue sylvans had it better. They were used to thinking creatively. After getting past their initial shock, they were able to use natural energy and ki to restore some of their youth.


    The red sylvans were used to following orders, thus making it easy for the blues to rally them into a peacekeeping force. The real problem was the greens, which were the vast majority of the poption. Their minds were simpler, more prone to panic after being cut off from the collective. They were the caretakers of the forest, the workers that kept everything alive.


    When they stopped, the forest began to die around them. Although they did their best in their panic to revive the forest, they no longer had the coordination to properly divide their tasks. Every month that passed, Philia watched more of the forest die.


    She had done her best to help, using her divine power to open connections between different parts of the forest. But without being connected to the collective, the green sylvans failed to understand what she wanted. They thought that they were being told to focus on one single section until orders were given to move again.


    At this point, Philia was forced to acknowledge just how primitive her people were as a species. They had never been through a situation like this, and thus had no way of oveing it. ¡°In the future, I should advise the others to rely less on the collective mind¡­ save that for the blue children.¡± She nodded her head at that thought, slowly rising.


    The primary problem here was in how their civilization was raised. They took advantage of the tree and became dependent on it. None of them knew what would happen when thest fruit fell from its branches. ying it out in her mind, Philia knew that their race would be able to continue after the tree fell, as long as they did not panic.


    Those who had reached the end of their lifespans would be preserved much as the blue sylvans had done for themselves. The only thing that would be lost was the collective mind.


    Philia walked to the edge of her terrace, seeing how the death of the forest would soon arrive at the great tree. Children of the forest. She spoke, projecting her voice out into the minds of all within the forest. Return to the mother tree, and I shall take us to a new grove. It is toote for us to save this home, so we shall aid another in its growth.


    Of those that heard her call, many were left shocked. They were being told to abandon the forest that they had spent centuries tending. The home that they had all built together as one collective. Not only the greens, even the blue sylvans had a hard time epting this.


    Only the reds obeyed without questioning the order, turning and walking towards the tree at the heart of the forest. Their dismissal from their earlier acts caused more confusion from the ranks of those that they had been patrolling, but this was all that Philia could do. Without being able to re-educate them all from the beginning, the only hope for their survival was to enter a new grove.


    There, they would be able to learn the proper way to survive, and gradually rid themselves of the innate ws that Philia had discovered. It was sad, but there was no way for her to save the tree which had given birth to her. Its spirit had already departed, so she could only offer it a fond farewell.


    As she felt the red sylvans closing in, as well as those from the other sses that had answered her call, she closed her eyes. Over the years, she had given birth to nine daughters herself, sending them to nine worlds to be nine new trees. When each of these trees was born, Philia felt an instinctive connection to it, one that crossed the boundaries of space.


    With just a thought, she could reach out and touch the branches of any of these trees, as if they were all connected. And whenever she did so, it would cause a golden gateway to open before her, one that led directly to the tree she was focusing on. This, she imagined, was the true power belonging to a sylvan god. The power to connect every branch that came from them together, to form a true World Tree.


    When the first of the sylvans arrived before her, she focused on one of her more developed children, deciding that she would first correct their upbringing before visiting the others. This was a matter which would take a great deal of time, but was one that she must aplish to ensure the prosperity of her people.

 Chapter 641: Heartbreaker

    <h4>Chapter 641: Heartbreaker</h4>


    It did not take long for a response from Deckan to reach the Eclipse. The response, while at first not outside of their expectations, soonpletely surpassed anything that they could imagine. As they had thought, the March had not been to this region of space yet. They would have had no reason to destroy so much territory, so the captain had doubted it was them in the first ce.


    What surprised them was the fact that Deckan responded that they knew who the opposing party was. And because of that knowledge, they ordered a full retreat. The Eclipse was recalled due to the enemy¡¯s overwhelming power.


    This was an order that came directly from the God Queen, so the Eclipse did not even consider disobeying. They immediately activated their recall feature to return to Deckan¡¯s system. Not only them, every ship that had gone in the same general direction as they had was being ordered to return.


    Far across the empty void of space, a giant drifted. Numerous thrusters propelled the, allowing it to move at a high speed. Within the, there were no oceans, no forests or meadows. Only a single, massive forge that spanned the entirety of the, both inside and out.


    ¡°Reporting to the lord sovereign!¡± A clockwork soldier stepped forward, the gears in its chest clicking as they turned.


    The figure that the soldier addressed was¡­ to call it massive would not do it justice. Even seated atop its throne, the being it spoke to was several kilometers tall. The former ¡®head¡¯ of the Gears¡¯ research and development within their homnd, and the new sovereign of the current realm.


    There was a long period of silence after the soldier spoke, but it did not seem to pay it any mind. Eventually, a voice echoed out from high above. ¡°Have the ster forges been prepared?¡± The voice was an odd mix of two different voices, one harsh and the other serene.


    ¡°As you have ordered, all stars within a hundred lightyears have been converted!¡± The soldier reported reverently, after which another moment of silence passed. However, within the head of the giant ruler, there were two voices holding a discussion.


    One of these voices was represented by a blue wisp, its voice gentle and flowing. ¡°Now that we have the forges, it should be time to prepare for the next step. Should we continue expanding our forces here, or begin the campaign?¡±


    The other voice was represented by a red wisp, its voice harsh and angry. ¡°Clearly, we have to strike while the iron is hot! Who knows how far that fool Geer has gone in all this time? With the ster forges backing us, we should be able to easily conquer the homnd, god or not!¡±


    The blue wisp fell silent at that, seeming to think it over. ¡°However, we only have one chance at this. If anything happens¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh, that guy will definitely kill us!¡± The red wispughed madly. ¡°But that¡¯s what this is! Either he dies or we do! This is what we¡¯ve been waiting for all along!¡±


    As the blue wisp was about to speak up, another voice spoke, this oneing from outside of the sovereign¡¯s mental space. ¡°Reporting to the lord sovereign!¡±


    The two voices spoke at once, the sovereign itself matching their question. ¡°Another one? What is it?¡±


    The second soldier that had arrived quickly knelt down before the mountainous figure. ¡°Our long-range scans have detected traces of another space-faring race within this realm. The energy residue suggests that they are using ships to traverse the stars.¡±


    The blue wisp appeared thoughtful at that. ¡°Another race? It¡¯s been so long¡­ I had almost given up hope on finding any truly intelligent life on this side of the dimensional wall.¡±


    ¡°Hah!¡± The red wisp was pleased by this discovery. ¡°You wanted to wait and build up our forces, right? What better way than this? Once we assimte their technology, there is sure to at least be some increase in our power. At the very least, we can test the fleet.¡±


    The blue wisp thought it over, before doing something simr to a nod. Afterwards, the giant sovereign again spoke in its dual-tone voice. ¡°Prepare the Godyer Fleet. Find the traces of these aliens and track them back to their homeworld.¡±


    ¡°At once, lord sovereign!¡± The two soldiers responded immediately, before turning and running away to execute their orders.


    ¡°Well¡­ that¡¯s not very good.¡± I muttered, looking at the factory of the Gears as it sailed through space. Behind the factory were far more ships, some evenrger.


    However, the biggest structure that they had built was one which they were unable to bring with them. Rather, in the region they had left was a truly enormous construction. One which linked dozens of stars together, each surrounded by a full sphere of metal. The energy and heat from these stars were gathered, used to power the fleet through the effect of a fourth-tier spell.


    These were the ster forges, sorge that they had to move entire stars toplete the project. Sitting next to me, Bihena furrowed her brow. It was one of the odd moments when she chose to join me in the living room, so I had been projecting what I was seeing to the television.


    ¡°If they turn all of that power into a weapon¡­ is there anything that the people down there can do to stop it?¡± She asked with uncertainty, seemingly able to measure the energy within the ster forge.


    ¡°Tsubaki might have a way to resolve it with her domain. Aside from her¡­ I don¡¯t even know if James would survive a st from that.¡± I shook my head, unable to offer a better answer. They had built that fleet with the idea of fighting a god in mind. Most likely, this was the same fleet that Phisher had seen in his ¡®dream¡¯.


    The primary difference here was that they had more warning of the impending attack. And with that warning, they could prepare countermeasures. Udona was not so uncaring that she would hold this information back from them, after all.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± James asked in surprise as he listened to the requesting in from the God-Queen herself. ¡°That kind of power¡­ how is the progress of your new warships?¡±


    On the screen, Udona shook her head bitterly. ¡°Aside from the prototype, the rest won¡¯t be ready in time to sortie. And I¡¯d rather not take on a fleet of this scale with one ship, regardless how powerful its potential may be.¡±


    ¡°Understandable,pletely understandable.¡± James gave a small nod. ¡°I suppose there isn¡¯t a candidate avable to quickly be a God of Manufacturing to speed up production?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d have to ask alia, but I doubt it. Do you not have any other solutions?¡± There was a tone of concern in Udona¡¯s voice as she asked that, to which the former Keeper chuckled.


    ¡°I do¡­ but those would have been the easiest. Let¡¯s see¡­ I¡¯ll need you to send me all of the details about the enemy that you can. The sooner I have it, the better I¡¯ll be able to n.¡±


    At that, Udona was finally able to let a small smile creep its way onto her face. ¡°Have you forgotten? I¡¯m the Goddess of Education.¡± After saying such, she closed her eyes, and James felt a stream of knowledge entering his mind all at once.


    ¡°Woah!¡± He brought a hand up to his head reflexively. ¡°Now that¡¯s a rush. Okay¡­ if this is all urate, I can have a countermeasure prepared within a month. How long did you say that it would take them to get here?¡±


    Udona¡¯s face fell slightly at that. ¡°A month¡­¡±


    ¡°Then I should have plenty of time.¡± He grinned, the tight deadline only seeming to spur him on further. ¡°Sorry, Goddess, but it seems I¡¯ve got work to do.¡± He abruptly cut off the line, spinning in his chair. ¡°Chel! We¡¯re restarting Project Heartbreaker!¡±


    Chel, standing on top of the perfection chamber, blinked as she heard that. She furrowed her brows, focusing to dig through her memories so that she could remember exactly which project he named that. ¡°Wait, the defensive one or the-¡±


    ¡°No, no, the defensive one.¡± James cut her off abruptly, not wanting her to mention the other Project Heartbreaker.


    ¡°Are you sure? This world doesn¡¯t seem to have the technology for that kind of project.¡± Chel mentioned hesitantly, looking around as if theirb would only prove her point.


    ¡°And that¡¯s what makes it exciting!¡± He grinned broadly. ¡°Get Tsubaki on the line. We¡¯ll be using geometric magic to rece the missingponents. Aside from that¡­¡± He rubbed his hands together, excitement in his eyes. ¡°It¡¯s time to ramp up production.¡±


    Chel blinked, before letting out a helpless groan. ¡°And he¡¯s in full automation mode now¡­ guess I should just take care of my part, then.¡± She shook her head, hopping down from the machine and walking over to a terminal.


    After dialing a number, she smiled at the kitsune that appeared on the screen. ¡°Tsubaki? Hey, it¡¯s me. Sorry for the sudden call, but James wants your help with a project. Wait, what¡¯s with that expression?¡± Chel¡¯s eyes went wide as she saw the color drain from Tsubaki¡¯s face. ¡°I promise this won¡¯t be anything like thest time, okay? We really just need your help for like, a month tops. Maybe as little as a week.¡±


    ¡°Oh, and bring Dana, too!¡± She added, almost as an afterthought. ¡°We need the brightest minds we have for geometric magic. There¡¯s some big bad that¡¯s approaching one of our worlds, and we don¡¯t have all the technology we need here to stop them!¡±


    Tsubaki¡¯s eyes instantly regained their focus at that, her expression hardening. Despite her aversions to James, and her desire to avoid prolonged projects for a little while, the news that there was danger approaching on such a scale forced her attention to the task at hand. ¡°Understood. I¡¯ll get the two of us ready. Is there anything else that I should know?¡±


    Chel thought it over for a moment before responding. ¡°James is currently in one of his little episodes right now. He won¡¯t bother you much even if you show up looking how you normally do. The project we have to work on is really big, so he¡¯s nning a fully automated production line for it.¡±


    Tsubaki nodded, looking slightly relieved at that, before Chel spoke again. ¡°Also, he is really bad at naming things¡­¡± The kitsune goddess looked¡­ suddenly confused when she heard that, but slowly nodded her head once again.


    ¡°I¡­ see? Anyways, we¡¯ll be over there in a few minutes. Let me just make sure we have everything we need first.¡±

 Chapter 642: Science Class

    <h4>Chapter 642: Science ss</h4>


    When Tsubaki and Dana arrived at the research facility, they were greeted by Chel, who was currently the lone upant of theb. At least, theb that existed on Deckan. ¡°I¡¯ll take you to where we¡¯re working now.¡± She said with a smile, guiding the two inside and towards a silver door.


    As the door opened, the two of them saw a farrgerb, seemingly cut off from the world. As powerful beings in their own right, they were able to sense the faint fluctuations in the air, and how they were different on either side of the door. This was particrly so for Dana, who ¡®owned¡¯ all of the darkness in this world. ording to her senses, there should have been nothing behind the door but an empty wall.


    Yet, they were able to walk through it. There, they saw the rest of James¡¯s research team gathered around arge table, staring at a blueprint. ¡°We can¡¯t really make something like this, can we?¡± The elven researcher asked, her eyes wide in disbelief.


    ¡°The researcher seems to believe that it is possible.¡± The golem spoke, though it was unclear if his confidence was in their abilities, or simply in their boss¡¯s judgement.


    ¡°What are they talking about?¡± Dana asked, moving over to take a look. What she saw was a design for some sort of satellite dish, though it was hard to tell exactly what purpose it held.


    ¡°That¡­¡± Chel grinned, walking up to the table and leaning against it. ¡°Is the core of Project Heartbreaker. We¡¯re going to need six of them in total, so he¡¯s working on assembly lines right now.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­ so what does it do?¡± The little elven spirit clearly wasn¡¯t able to see whatever the research team could see from the blueprint. The schematics she typically dealt with were of the magical variety.


    Chel let out a chuckle at the question, gazing around at theb they were in. ¡°Project Heartbreaker was a theory that he came up with a long, long time ago. An ultimate defense, one that would break the heart of anyone trying to siege a.¡±


    ¡°The principle is quite simple, but implementing it is anything but. Essentially, we create a barrier around the entire, and then force everything in that barrier to be just slightly out of phase with the rest of the world. A foot in the door of the void, as it were, isting it from any attacks that woulde our way.¡±


    Tsubaki furrowed her brow as she thought about that. ¡°An attackunched from outside the barrier would pass through the world as if it were a simple illusion?¡±


    Chel snapped her fingers, pointing to Tsubaki. ¡°Right! But this isn¡¯t just an illusion. If it were, there are way easier ways to do it. Creating an illusion of a isn¡¯t that difficult with the right know-how. Turning a into an illusion¡­ trickier, but still doable.¡±


    ¡°The reason that this was only ever a theory for James was because it requires void-folding on a massive scale, and we didn¡¯t have a power source capable of sustaining something like that for more than a few seconds. Unfortunately¡­ while we didn¡¯t have the power source, you guys arecking a lot of the essentialponents to make this work. Meaning that we¡¯ll need to substitute magic for the missing pieces.¡±


    Tapping her fingers on the table, a holographic projection appeared, hovering over it and disying what the satellite would look like when it waspleted. ¡°I¡¯ll provide you with a list ofponents that we need to have reced, and what their functions are. Your job will be to create magical versions of the parts we need. If you want to use geometric, runic, or even card magic, it¡¯s fine as long as the end result achieves our goal.¡±


    ¡°ording to the strategy, we¡¯ll need to power these satellites for at least two hours. Each one will require at least four of your orbs to keep up with the consumption needed.¡± Chel nodded towards Tsubaki as she said that, only to be cut off by her elven co-worker.


    ¡°Wait wait wait.¡± The elven researcher shook her head in confusion. ¡°If we encapste the in this¡­ void shield, and take it out of phase with this world¡­ that¡¯s going to do a lot more than just make us invulnerable to attacks, you know? Deckan¡¯s gravity won¡¯t have a hold on the moon anymore at that point, causing it to escape orbit. And even our could potentially drift out of its orbit if we are forced to hold this shield long enough.¡±


    Chel nodded inplete agreement with those assumptions. ¡°I mean, you¡¯re not wrong. Heartbreaker was never meant for long-term usage, and is simply ast resort to stall for time until reinforcements arrive, or for arge-scale weapon to finish charging.¡±


    ¡°If the enemy is so strong that we have to resort to this defense¡­¡± Tsubaki looked at the hologram as she spoke. ¡°Would the Metong be able to reinforce us against them?¡± Of the races under the Keeper¡¯s care, the Metong were by far the most advanced when it came to sterbat, yet this was a foe that required them to essentially flee the universe to avoid.


    ¡°Oh, no, the Metong aren¡¯t our reinforcements.¡± Chel shook her head with a small grin. ¡°That¡¯s where youe in.¡± Tsubaki blinked, pointing at herself in confusion, prompting a nod from the shorter kitsune. ¡°That¡¯s right. The barrier is just going to be there long enough for you to charge up an attack capable of crippling their fleet. You and our otherbat oriented gods.¡±


    ¡°Once you all give the signal, we will lower the barrier, bringing us back to the physical ne.¡± After she said that, Chel pushed off from the table, grinning as she turned to face the group. ¡°They created this fleet to kill gods. But you¡­ you guys are just little fledgeling gods, barely able to stop one lousy meteor when you work together. It¡¯s time someone taught you what a god can do when they unleash their potential.¡±


    A year had passed now since Tsubaki left the office of the President of Demacry. Now, a new president sat in the office, fresh into his term. On a crystal disy in front of his desk, a dwarven face was shown. ¡°Have you managed to improve the new schematic with the information provided by the Keeper?¡± He asked in an eager tone.


    Ever since the fourth-tier array knowledge was provided for them, the path of research had opened up. Not only were they able toplete theircking knowledge of the third tier, but they were able to go a step further. This was of paramount importance because only fourth-tier magic could truly provide the level of power necessary for these ships.


    While they had been managing using the third tier with some systems, those were by far the minority. Simple things such as the atmospheric shielding or elevators between floors. Now, they had the option for so much more.


    The expression on the dwarven face was tired, clearly showing ack of sleep. ¡°Aye, sir. We¡¯ve gotten a fair bit¡¯a progress made. Our workers¡¯ve mostly gotten the navigation system taken care of, and are working on making the hull now.¡±


    ¡°Excellent.¡± The president nodded his head. ¡°Be sure to keep me apprised of any further developments.¡± At the rate they were moving now, it would no doubt be his term when the ships were finallypleted. The first almost fully magical spacecraft in the history of the alliance¡­


    ¡°What do you think she meant by ¡®what a god can really do¡¯?¡± Bihena asked as I stood from the couch, moving towards the kitchen. While I did not have the need to eat or drink in the Admin Room, that didn¡¯t mean that the pleasures of good food were lost on me.


    ¡°If I had to guess, it¡¯s about the scale of their power.¡± I called back, opening up the microwave. Although I hadn¡¯t put anything in it, I was able to retrieve a steaming bowl of noodles, smiling slightly as I walked back. ¡°Up until now, everyone¡¯s been fighting on a more local scale. But there should be more to divine power than that.¡±


    ¡°You mean like movings with our might?¡± She asked in an amused tone, ncing at my bowl of noodles before letting out a sigh and getting up to go to the kitchen herself.


    ¡°I mean like destroyings.¡± I corrected with a grin. ¡°I went into deep space once to test my abilities¡­ I¡¯m pretty sure that if I went all out for a little while, I would be able to destroy a the size of Deckan on my own. If I saved up power for a big attack, I might even be able to do it in one st, with a more destructive domain.¡±


    ¡°I suppose¡­¡± Bihena said softly, soon returning with arge steak, apanied by baked potatoes and a side sd. ¡°But that fleet has the same kind of power, too. And they built it to battle gods. Don¡¯t you think they¡¯d be prepared for attacks like that?¡±


    As the two of us were speaking, a new voice spoke up behind us, one that was rather familiar. ¡°Well, obviously. That¡¯s why they¡¯re not going to be learning how to do bigger attacks, but smaller ones.¡± When I turned my head, I was able to see Chel standing behind us with a grin, nibbling on the end of a french fry.


    ¡°I¡¯m surprised to see you out of your room.¡± I spoke honestly, knowing that she rarely left it while her avatar was awake. And even then, she preferred to stay there, watching James.


    ¡°I figured you could do with a bit of an exnation. After all, Tsubaki¡¯s going to be borrowing some of your power for a little while to train.¡± As she said that, she walked over to a nearby chair and dropped herself into it.


    I couldn¡¯t help but raise an eyebrow at that. ¡°I thought you said that they were going to be learning to do smaller attacks?¡± When she heard that, Chel rolled her eyes yfully, the gesture actually managing to look somewhat cute on her.


    ¡°Oh, they will. But¡­ you could call themrge small attacks. For instance!¡± She held up a french fry, pointing it towards Bihena. ¡°Last I checked, you were¡­ Battle, Peace, and Oceans, right?¡±


    Bihena nodded her head, too busy chewing her food to answer verbally. Still, Chel carried on her exnation. ¡°Domains are really tricky things. Sometimes, you have to really stretch to find an ability that works. Other times, the answer is right there in front of you. In a way, you are a Goddess of Death.¡±


    Bihena raised an eyebrow at that, causing me to chuckle. ¡°Irena might like a word with you at that.¡± Chel snorted at my response, shaking her head.


    ¡°Not literally death as a domain. But think about it¡­ a watery grave, the end of a battle, and an evesting peace. If you connect the domains this way, you can create a new ability. The waves crashing around you, monsters lurking within the depths. With a single strike, you dere an end to the battle. An end to every battle that your opponent would ever face. You grant them eternal peace.¡±


    After saying that, she pointed towards me with the same french fry. ¡°You¡­ well, I won¡¯t bother going over yours, because Keeper. You can use any domain you want, as long as they aren¡¯t strictly a monster. So let¡¯s pick a new one¡­ Keliope. She prides herself on being the goddess with the greatest tanking power. Her domains are¡­ Strength, Fortitude, and Defense, right?¡±


    After I nodded, Chel smirked. ¡°If she wanted to, she could create a gue. A disease that saps the physical power of its targets, and removes their body¡¯s natural ability to resist it. The strongest defender bing a harbinger of a global pandemic. It fits in line with all three of her domains.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­ so what about Tsubaki? You said she¡¯ll need to borrow power from me to train, right?¡± Chel nodded her head at my question, popping the french fry into her mouth.


    ¡°Yup! She¡¯s a real treat. As you could guess by myparison with your bear girl, domains can also work by depriving something. You see, light is made of these really, unbelievably tiny elementary particles called photons. Thus, the domain which controls light also controls photons.¡±


    ¡°Now¡­ atoms are held in ce rtive to one another by a constant electromaic bond. Photons are the quantum for an electromaic field. So¡­ when two electrons get close to one another, they repel while exchanging a virtual photon. If these virtual photons are prevented from forming, the electromaic field between atoms copses, creating a cascading effect that basically¡­¡± She held up another french fry, which slowly seemed to evaporate into nothing. ¡°Poof. The absolute smallest attack that can break down any physical structure.¡±

 Chapter 643: Complex

    <h4>Chapter 643: Complex</h4>


    ¡°Is this all of yourbat-oriented gods?¡± Chel asked, blinking as she looked at a small lineup projected on the screen. Aside from Tsubaki, the only ones present in the lineup were Phisher, the God of des, Thessa Grid, the Goddess of Archery, and Jace Beldin, the God of Storms.


    I shook my head at that. ¡°Not¡­ quite. There¡¯s also Scarlet, the Goddess of Ki, but she¡¯s been somewhat busy with her own matterstely, so I doubt she¡¯d be able to attend. There¡¯s also a God of Monsters, but he¡¯s set up a ¡®divine world¡¯ far away in the Earth realm. I¡¯ve got a God of Ice, too, but alia said he¡¯s not a very helpful sort. Same with any otherbat-oriented gods.¡±


    Chel hummed, shaking her head. ¡°Nothing we can do about a distant divine world. Even gods need special methods to cross space quickly. And I don¡¯t want anyone on this team that we can¡¯t trust. But you¡¯re sure that we can¡¯t get the Goddess of Ki in on this? Having a deity of a primary energy makes pretty much any task easier.¡±


    I gave a small nod. ¡°The country she leads has been going through a lot of changestely, and her presence is needed there to stabilize things. She was originally a Martial Spirit.¡±


    ¡°Oohhh¡­¡± Chel gave an understanding look at that. Martial Spirits had an innate sense for violence, an instinct that Scarlet had been quelling in her people for centuries so as not to provoke the wrath of other races. From the look of things, Chel knew about them as well. ¡°Well, I guess we can make do with these four. Thankfully, you¡¯ve got a Light deity with a subordinate rtionship to yourself, and she¡¯s got those orbs.¡±


    After she hadpleted the list and passed it to Dana, Chel smiled at Tsubaki and pulled her off to the side. ¡°Let¡¯s go ahead and get started. From what I understand, your little friend there should be more than capable of setting up some fourth-tier spells, right?¡±


    Tsubaki gave a hesitant nod, ncing in the direction of Dana before looking back at Chel. ¡°That¡¯s right. How do you want to start?¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯d like to wait until the other three get here, but we¡¯re on a bit of a deadline. Since you¡¯re the core of our formation, I need to get you started as early as I can. Tell me¡­ what do you believe that a domain is?¡± Chel asked, looking straight at Tsubaki.


    ¡°It is the manifestation of a god¡¯s powers, the channel through which they affect the world.¡± Her response was immediate, as if the answer was obvious.


    However, Chel held up her arms to form an X in front of her. ¡°Thirty points! A domain is a word, Tsubaki. That word is then imprinted on your divine power. Yeah, nothing you said was technically wrong, but you have to remember that the domain is a word. In order to maximize your power as a god, you need two things.¡±


    As she spoke, she held up a hand, showing two fingers. ¡°These things are creativity, and understanding of your word. The deeper your understanding, and the broader your creativity, the more power you will be able to unleash.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s take you, for instance. I¡¯ve looked at your battles, and you wield light in its simplest forms. You move at the speed of light or fire sts of condensed light. That is such a waste of your potential, Tsubaki. If you fully grasped your power, you would be able to disintegrate matter or rearrange the stars themselves. In a battle against physical foes, your domain is potentially unstoppable.¡±


    Tsubaki blinked, unsure what Chel was talking about. Seeing this, the shorter kitsune let out a sigh. ¡°Okay¡­ let¡¯s get this started¡­¡±


    Thessa stood on a high tower within the city of the twenty-fifthyer of Fyor. Her eyeszily scanned the horizon, watching for threats. As the Goddess of Archery, this was where she was typically found when she was not exploring with her brother. Lately, Theon had decided that he wanted to stay in this city that was at the ¡®top of the world¡¯, so there wasn¡¯t much else for her to do.


    She held a wooden bow in her hand, one as tall as her entire body. Given that she was a halfling, however¡­ that wasn¡¯t exactly saying much. This bow was her divine artifact, a relic she had created rather identally. Its power was quite simple, the ability to create arrows from anything. These arrows could be made of water or wind, stone, even her own energies. Anything she nocked on the bowstring would turn into an arrow.


    Thanks to this bow, she had been able to minimize her divine power usage over the years, silently building it up. In a way, this tower of hers was a shrine to Thessa, a ce where the people would turn to and recognize that she was protecting them. Maybe that was why Theon wanted to stay here, so that he could let his sister be more powerful through the faith of the people.


    Either way, she could feel her power increase by a small amount every day, with her job being rather simple. Whether a giant approached the city or monsters fell from above, she just had to shoot any enemy that appeared. As long as she used just a small amount of her divinity, her arrows would carry the property of ¡®never missing their mark¡¯. They would twist and even warp through space in order to ensure that they hit exactly where she was aiming.


    Naturally, that was not the only ability she was able to bestow on her arrows, but it was in a way the most significant. Most abilities she could bestow were due to the Archer ss, as opposed to her divine prowess. The weakness of this ss was simply the reliance on being able to hit fast-moving targets at a distance.


    While the ss had some methods to help with this, those methods always had their limits. Only her divinity could ensure that her arrows would never miss. Even if she unleashed her Arrow Storm skill, every arrow would strike the same point if she wanted.


    As she contemted her powers, she saw a shadow rising on the horizon, and let out a faint sigh. Another pair of giants, wandering aimlessly in their direction in search of the water source behind their city. ¡°Well, let¡¯s try to get creative, this time.¡± She smiled to herself, rising to her feet.


    Thessa held her bow in front of herself, cing two fingers on the string and slowly pulling back. As she did not provide anything for the arrow, the wind kicked up around her. Air circted, forming a thin line from the bowstring to its shaft. Slowly, a silver arrow began to manifest, its arrowhead almost translucent.


    The giants, at this point, were still several dozen kilometers away. They were tiny figures, smaller than one of Thessa¡¯s fingers in her view. However, their true size was massive, and Thessa was distinctly aware of that.


    She gathered her divinity for a moment before letting loose her arrow, immediately taking aim at the second giant. Oddly, though, the arrow she fired did not grow smaller in her vision. When seen from the back, it appeared to simply be hovering in ce and rotating rapidly.


    When the arrow was viewed from the side, however¡­ someone would see a thin lineunch out from the watchtower, rapidly growingrger andrger as it moved into the distance. By the time that it had struck the giant, the entire arrow was over a kilometer long. It nailed the giant to the ground and pierced arge hole through its body.


    The second arrow shot out much like the first, and ended up pinning the second giant in a simr manner. Thessa could tell that the two of them were dead, their health bars appearing over their head and emptying in the same instant. Nodding her head, she reached for a piece of paper near herself, writing down the location and number of the giants.


    Once she had done so, she nocked that piece of paper onto the bow, allowing it to turn into an arrow as well before firing it towards a familiar window. This was how shemunicated when she had killed monsters in need of harvesting, and the city guards had even been kind enough to ce a target for her in front of the window to make for easy aiming.


    As she was sitting back down to return to her idle watch, she felt the presence of someone ascending her tower. This was clearly not her brother, as she did not feel a divine aura, so she was confused. Nobody ever visited her tower aside from Theon. Tilting her head slightly, she turned to look at the stairway behind her.


    Soon, a kitsune woman with short ck hair could be seen, smiling towards her. ¡°Thessa Grid?¡± She asked for confirmation, prompting Thessa to nod. ¡°I apologize foring on such short notice, but we need your help in Deckan. There¡¯s a threat on its way, and your power is required to stop it.¡±


    ¡°Me?¡± Thessa asked in confusion, pointing at herself. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you be looking for my brother?¡±


    The kitsune blinked, unsure of how to respond. ¡°You¡¯re Thessa, right? The Goddess of Archery?¡± Again, Thessa nodded her head in confirmation. ¡°Then there is no mistake, you are the one I was asked to bring.¡±


    Thessa couldn¡¯t quite understand what was going on. Ever since her brother had ascended to divinity first, she had been alongside him, following in his shadow. Nobody had evere to specifically ask her for help, and would always speak to Theon instead as their de facto leader.


    She knew that she was rather reliant on her brother, but she had never seen anything wrong with it. After all, he was the senior god between them, he had prompted Aurivy herself to descend and give him advice. Why would it be wrong for her to follow him?


    ¡°Oh¡­ okay.¡± She nodded, thinking about it before writing another note on one of the papers provided. She then shot that note at the familiar window before moving to follow the kitsune. ¡°Where are we going?¡±


    ¡°Deckan.¡± The kitsune responded with a smile. ¡°All of the bestbat-oriented gods are being called there. We have a¡­ rather special trainer present that will help you maximize your abilities before the threat arrives.¡±


    ¡°You have someone that can train gods?¡± Thessa¡¯s eyes went wide at the implications of that. ¡°Wait, is the Keeper there? I¡¯ve never met him before¡­¡±


    ¡°No, it is not the Keeper.¡± The kitsune said with a lightugh. ¡°But it is someone far more knowledgeable about your powers than you might expect. I¡¯m confident that she will allow you to reach a new height before you return.¡±


    Thessa hesitated, before nodding her head. She wasn¡¯t quite at the level cap for Fyor, so she could afford a little bit of training. ¡°As long as it doesn¡¯t make me unable to return, that¡¯s alright.¡± She did not have any methods of personally bypassing Fyor¡¯s level restriction, so she was rather nervous about not being able to get back.


    ¡°It should be fine.¡± The kitsune assured her as they descended the tower. The two of them made their way to the nearby church of Aurivy, paying to be sent to the fifteenth floor. This was the first time in a long, long time that Thessa was making a journey without her brother. Regardless, she felt an odd sense of¡­ excitement at the thought that she was being needed.


    Soon, the two of them arrived in Deckan, and she was guided to arge facility near the pce. Once she was there, she found two other gods waiting for her, both of them looking like kitsune. Was she the only outsider that was being brought in to help with this event?

 Chapter 644: Meeting Time

    <h4>Chapter 644: Meeting Time</h4>


    Bihena and I continued watching the beginning of the training exercise, or rather Chel exining their training exercises to them. However, before they were able to make any progress, there was a faint knocking on the wall. When I turned my head, I saw Ryone standing at the entrance to the hallway with a small smile. ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡±


    I blinked for a moment, taking some time to remember what she was talking about. However, once I did my eyes went wide and I gave a quick nod. Closing my eyes, I sent out a mental broadcast to the rest of the gods and goddesses. We¡¯re about to have a meeting to discuss potential improvements for our worlds. Anyone interested should head to the usual spot.


    After saying that, I promptly stood up, making my way to the hall to create our typical meeting room. It was a ratherrge conference room with ample chairs for everyone to sit at, as well as a custom padded area for Tryval to sit, should he decide to attend. So far, I don¡¯t think that anyone has missed one of our meetings like this, so I was quite excited to see what would happen.


    ¡°Mind if I join?¡± Chel asked, following behind me into the conference room with a small smile. ¡°I do have a little experience when ites to things like this.¡±


    I nced back, realizing that I must have sent the message to her as well. I had been so used to simply broadcasting to everyone in the Admin Room that it was more difficult to purposely exclude her. Regardless, there was no reason to deny her ess to the meeting. ¡°Sure.¡± I nodded my head with a small smile, moving ahead to sit at my typical seat.


    It did not take long for the others to begin pouring into the room. The first were Ryone and Bihena, as they had been following behind me as well, but the rest were not far behind. Some of them, like Leowynn and Aurivy, had rather excited expressions on their faces. It was hard to tell if that was because they knew what Ryone wanted to suggest for the meeting, or if they simply enjoyed these gatherings.


    Either way, I gave time for everyone to make their way in, until only Tubrock was left. Curious, I was just about to message him when the door opened. Tubrock entered the room, his face covered in soot. ¡°Oy, give a fe warnin¡¯ next time, will¡¯ya?¡± Heined gruffly, moving to sit in a free chair.


    From the looks of things, he had been in the middle of an experiment or some such, and the message had been¡­ poorly timed. ¡°Apologies.¡± I smiled, shaking my head. ¡°Thanks foring, everyone. Without further ado, I¡¯d like to get us started.¡±


    Leaning forward, I braced my shoulders against the table, looking over the faces of everyone present. ¡°As you all know, our battle against the Keeper Grudge has ended recently. Our reward for victory was in the ballpark of two hundred and fifty thousand points. This is¡­ more than we¡¯ve earned at once in a while, outside of everyone¡¯sbined earnings from a meeting.¡±


    ¡°As such, I asked Ryone if she would look through the market to find ideas for things that we could use to upgrade our world. Whether they were new systems, technologies, or anything else that she felt was fitting.¡±


    After saying that, I gestured towards Ryone, who nodded and produced a small sheet of paper. ¡°Honestly, it wasn¡¯t easy to find anything that looked like it would really help us all that much.¡± She said with a sheepish smile. ¡°But, I managed to find a few things after thest few days that I would like everyone to look at.¡±


    ¡°First up¡­¡± She highlighted a line on the paper with her finger, and a row of text appeared above the table for everyone to see.


    Simted Training System - 80,000 Points


    ¡°This is a system that I found, and thought it looked interesting. From what I can gather, it allows individuals to set up a realistic simtion based on variables that they are familiar with. Anyone would be able to use this system, and it would allow them to experiment with their abilities without having to worry about the consequences of failure.¡± She had a slightly proud smile on her face as she finished her exnation.


    ¡°Sort of like the game that I use to help Dale train now and then.¡± alia nodded her head in understanding, before Chel spoke up.


    ¡°I¡¯d personally suggest not getting this system.¡± She said with a faint sigh, everyone¡¯s attention moving over to her.


    ¡°Why not? Looks fine to me.¡± Keliope chuckled, noting the price of the system, as well as Ryone¡¯s previous exnation.


    ¡°There are some problems with systems like this.¡± Chel pointed out, shrugging her shoulders. ¡°For instance, the uracy of the simtion depends on the user¡¯s knowledge. Where the user iscking, the system fills in with their closest assumptions. Given the price of the system, you can assume that there is at least some level of correction taking ce if the user has false information. However, it will ultimately be based on the user¡¯s own knowledge.¡±


    ¡°With that being the case, training would not have arge enough effect in this simtion to warrant the exorbitant pricetag. It would be more cost-efficient to create a full-body VR scanner that imports the user into a simted world. The only downside to that is that it is something that would require an instation site, rather than an ability that people could simply use.¡±


    Thinking about that, I gave a small nod, looking at Ryone. ¡°Let¡¯s hear about the next one. We¡¯lle back to this depending on what all there is.¡±


    She nodded her head, tracing her finger over the next line of the page. ¡°This next one took me a little while to find. I thought that it might be useful, but I was a bit wary with the system¡¯s price.¡±


    Skill Proficiency System - 100,000


    My eyes went wide as I saw the name of the system. ¡°Isn¡¯t this what Sanction used to get his people so powerful?¡± I thought back to the information that I had learned from that invader, before furrowing my brow. ¡°Wasn¡¯t that a million point system?¡±


    Ryone gave a small nod. ¡°This is likely a smaller,ponent system. Sanction¡¯s system was tied in to have a lot of different aspects, such as sses, skill points, dungeons, and even void bases. From what I can tell, this system is either just one piece of what he had, or it is an unrted skill system.¡±


    ¡°To summarize my findings, this system does not have a preset batch of skills, nor does it allow for skill ¡®trading¡¯ in the same manner as his system. Instead, its purpose seems rather straightforward, but still quite powerful. The user is able to register skills through their own actions, and the system saves those skills.¡±


    ¡°After the skill has been saved, the system monitors future actions that the user associates with that skill. If the user improves with the skill, the proficiency increases. However, as long as the user trains somewhat regrly in it, the system will ensure that the skill operates at its peak.¡±


    alia let out a low whistle when she heard that description. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ really strong. If there isn¡¯t anything wrong with this system, I could see it being a favorite for any Keepers with game worlds.¡±


    Chel thought about it for a moment, nodding her head. ¡°There are two potential problems with a system like this, so I¡¯ll address them one by one and let you decide if the risk is worth it. First is skill degradation, as that was something it seemed to address. There¡¯s no mention of how fast or slow the skills degrade, and it may even be something you get to set yourself. If it is fast enough, the system wouldn¡¯t be worth the expenditure.¡±


    ¡°The second potential power is in the phrase ¡®ensuring that the skill operates at its peak¡¯.¡± She let out a sigh as she said that. ¡°There are two possibilities there. Either the skill operates at full power with every usage, or it operates at full control. This is a big distinction.¡±


    ¡°If it is the former, the skill will always use the greatest amount of energy, and people will lose the ability to hold themselves back. If it¡¯s thetter, things will be much better, as it means that the user will have full control of the power of their skills.¡±


    Terra smiled, her eyes curved upwards slightly as she looked to the formed System Companion. ¡°And which way do you think it goes with this one?¡± She asked in a yful tone, propping her chin on her hands.


    Chel crossed her arms over her chest, mulling it over. ¡°The price of one hundred thousand shouldn¡¯t be overlooked. That implies that the system either holds a great deal of power, or requires a lot of alterations in a standard world to make it fit. If the system focused on power rather than control, it would be worth around five thousand. The fact that it is this much means that it likely emphasizes skill control. But¡­ for it to be that expensive, there have to be hidden features of the system that aren¡¯t listed in its description.¡±


    Ryone nodded her head, seemingly in agreement. ¡°That¡¯s why I was worried about the price of the skill. It¡¯s higher than anything we have so far, and we have two world groups that we would need to buy it for. Even with the discount for repeatedly purchasing the same system, that is a lot of points.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s list this one as a strong maybe. Do you have anything else to present?¡± I asked, looking over at our elven Goddess, who offered a small nod.


    ¡°There is one other, though it¡¯s not as big as either of the other two. I just thought that it might be helpful.¡± As she said that, she traced her finger over thest line on the paper.


    Personal Minimap - 2,000 Points


    That was¡­ certainly a lot cheaper than either of the systems that Ryone had presented so far. Looking at her, I waited for her to start her presentation of the system. ¡°It¡¯s fairly simple, I think. It records your surroundings based on your own perception, and presents it as a map that can be essed mentally.¡±


    ¡°There were two versions of this system that I took notice of. The other one was only five hundred points. When I did a bit of digging, I found out that the difference between them was that the cheaper one only recorded a small area at a time, while this one is able to record anywhere the user travels.¡±


    Chel¡¯s eyes lit up at that, as did Aurivy¡¯s. ¡°Get it!¡± The two of them shouted at the same time, looking at each other with knowing smiles. Seeing them so excited, I furrowed my brow in focus, thinking about the implications that they had picked up on.


    If the system did not have a storage limit, and it based its mapping power on the user¡¯s perception¡­ ah. There were three things that popped to mind. First, it might be possible for this system to aid in interdimensional mapping, for those that manually travel between worlds. Second, and far more likely, it would be useful for mapping during space travel.


    Finally, it would be immensely useful for worlds like Fyor, where the world itself is only going to get bigger and bigger as time passes. Petra¡¯s year-long trip through the jungle would be shortened to just flying for a few days and scouting from overhead. Furthermore, with its low price, it seemed like there was no real reason not to get it.


    Shaking my head, I looked at Terra. ¡°Is there a way to tie a particr system like this to a ss? That way, we could set this to be a system whose strength is tied to the Scout ss?¡± If there wasn¡¯t, I was worried that the Scout ss would be redundant with this new system.


    Terra gave a small nod, tapping the table as she spoke. ¡°It only costs a couple hundred points. The ¡®ss Restriction¡¯ system lets you tie systems to sses like that.¡±


    I smiled, thanking her as I thought about what I wanted to do with these systems. Ryone hadn¡¯t found as many new additions as I had expected, but there were certainly a couple of gems in them.

 Chapter 645: Skills to Pay the Bills

    <h4>Chapter 645: Skills to Pay the Bills</h4>


    In the end, I made my proposal to the others, wanting to buy the ss Restriction system, the Personal Minimap system, and finally the Skill Proficiency system. Not wanting to seem too overbearing, I put it to a vote on these three systems, though the result was unanimous approval. Although Ashley seemed to have some reservations when it came to the price tag of the skill system, she cast her vote with everyone else.


    ¡°Alright, then let¡¯s figure out how to make this work.¡± I said with a small smile, mentally purchasing the three systems. My first goal was to test the ss Restriction system, seeing how it would work in conjunction with all of our other systems.


    To my surprise, it actually appeared fairly easy to use. When I activated the system, I was presented with a menu listing all of my currently active systems. However, the Boundless Caravan¡¯s trade tform was not listed, likely due to it being a system that Ashley had implemented with her divine power as opposed to something purchased through the market.


    When I selected the minimap system, another menu appeared to list all of my currently active sses. And then, another one for the different major functions of the system. For instance, I could control the perception range, rity, and memory of the minimap.


    Thinking it over, I began adjusting the functions while tying them exclusively to the Scout ss. This was a ss that almost everyone would get if they did a fair amount of traveling in their life, so I had no doubt that it would be avable to the regr public. And for those that did not have it avable, or were unable to use its higher level functions, they would have a build focused such that they would not use those functions as much anyways.


    The most basic functions of the minimap would unlock at level twenty for scouts, and would continue to improve all the way until one hundred and fifty. At that level, they would no longer have a limit to the amount of information they could store in their maps, and would be able to urately map anything in their perception.


    With that out of the way, I opted to apply the system, as well as the skill system. Then, it was time to do something that I had not done in a very long time¡­


    Tsubaki was diligently reading through arge stack of papers, each personally written by Chel and containing information about photons and the effects that they had on the environment. Although she knew that the light domain was incredibly powerful, she had not quite understood the full extent of its reach.


    She knew that she would need to understand far more about the behavior of photons before she would be able to release the powers that Chel had suggested were possible. However, as she was thinking about that, a message sounded in her mind. One with a rather familiar voice.


    People of the scattered worlds, this is the Keeper, and I would like to make an announcement. This message rang out not only in Tsubaki¡¯s head, but in the heads of all ¡®recognized¡¯ races. At this moment, I am currently releasing an update to thews governing the world. From now on, there will be a system in ce to help you train and measure your skills, as well as a new system to aid scouts in their exploration. Please uncover the full extent of these new systems yourselves.


    After the Keeper¡¯s voice faded, there was a faint fluctuation, only just barely perceivable. This new system did not alter the way any fundamental energy operated, nor did it have an influence on the natural growth of any established creature. As such, it could be said that this system may have gone unnoticed for quite some time if not for the Keeper¡¯s words, as well as the system prompt that appeared in front of people.


    Once everyone had left the meeting room, I decided that I should descend and investigate the utility of this new system myself. If it was valued as high as a hundred thousand points, that meant that it should have a lot of power, right? I wanted to make sure I understood how it worked, and that I had not been ripped off by the market.


    A momentter, I appeared within the body of my World Host, who had still been seated upon my throne within the Sky Citadel. Thankfully, the message that appeared when the new system was ¡®patched in¡¯ hadn¡¯t been removed from the host¡¯s perception, allowing me to review it once I arrived.


    The new Skill Proficiency System is now online!


    To get started, please use themand ¡®Register Skill¡¯. You may also use themand ¡®Skill¡¯ to view your skill list, as well as other features provided with this system!


    Well¡­ that¡¯s helpful. I gave a small chuckle, feeling more and more that this system was a product of either Sarah or someone simr to her. If it had a tutorial included like that, it was likely a well-nned system, with a portion of the cost being from how deeply customized it was.


    Skill. I focused, mentally issuing themand that the prompt had informed me of. However, to my surprise, I did not receive any lists of additional features. Rather¡­


    Error! You must first register a skill in order to unlock additional features!


    Shaking my head, I decided to y along with the system. Register Skill. I instead used thatmand, at which point a new prompt appeared, telling me to perform my skill. After thinking it over, I used a rather simple first-tier spell to create a hovering ball of light.


    Active Skills detected! Analyzing¡­


    Magic Control(Primary): The ability to urately control one¡¯s mana, before releasing it in the form of spells or special abilities.


    Illumination(Secondary): A First-Tier Geometric spell which creates a light source.


    I raised an eyebrow, surprised that Magic Control had been listed as well. However, the division between primary and secondary skills and the mention of active skills gave me a bit more idea about what this system really meant. Once again, I called out the Skillmand, and this time was greeted with a new menu.


    Skill List


    Disy Skill


    Teaching Mode


    Student Mode


    Aside from the first option, each of the others surprised me, though their meanings were rather obvious. For now¡­ I decided to see what skills I could register. If the system was this expensive, then there shouldn¡¯t be a limit on the number of avable skills.


    The first thing that I wanted to do was try to register a passive skill. Of the abilities I had, the best passive that I could think of would be my application of the illusion domain to hide my domain information from others. As such, I once again chose to register a skill, and focused on that ability.


    Yet¡­ nothing happened. Thirty seconds passed by without any kind of prompt. Then one minute, and two minutes¡­ after five minutes, I was finally greeted with a message from the system. Though, at that point I was honestly expecting it to just be about my attempt to register having expired.


    Passive Skills detected! Analyzing¡­


    Hidden Domain(Passive): The ability to use your divine power to hide your divine domain from others! Restricted to those with deception-type domains.


    Ki Flow - Five Lights(Passive): The Ki Path belonging to the Saint of Five Lights, allowing one to gather basic ki, as well as different types of elemental ki and the Ki of Beginning.


    Soul of the Keeper(Passive, Unique): You are the Keeper, the only one in the world! Congrattions! Your soul holds the greatest power of every type belonging to your system! Keeper Skills system has been unlocked!


    Divine Constitution(Passive): You possess the body of a god, allowing you to reshape yourself into any form you wish. Physical wounds are no longer fatal, and merely deplete your energy, while you are able to reshape your body to recover. Only through energy attacks or theplete depletion of your divine energy will you be killed.


    World Sight(Passive, Primary): You possess the absolute detection-type energy, World Sight, allowing you to see the truth of all things. As a passive, this skill recovers and strengthens your World Sight. As an active, you may deploy your sight to any area you are aware of.


    Split Soul(Passive): Your soul is divided, allowing you to have an avatar with a separate psyche from yourself.


    World¡¯s Shadow - Earth(Passive, Primary): You control the darkness of Earth, master to the realm which exists within its shadows. As a passive skill, the shadow world will constantly monitor the shadows of the world. As an active skill, you may directly control the energy which makes up this alternate realm.


    I was¡­ overwhelmed by the sheer number of skills that were listed. I had only intended to register one passive at the moment, just to see what effects it would have. However, it would seem that was not quite how the system worked. If a certain amount of time passed without a skill being registered, it seemed as if it would register all passive abilities currently in use by the wielder.


    For each skill, I was able to identify its origin, leaving me with no doubt about the authenticity of the list. The only thing that confused me was the entry regarding the ¡®Soul of the Keeper¡¯. Was there a hidden feature built into the system specifically for Keepers? If so, I would have to take special care in the future when attacking worlds with a game system.


    Curious, I decided to try it out. I focused again on using the Skillmand and, sure enough, there was a new entry at the bottom. When I opened it, my eyes went wide in shock.


    At this point, no more than ten minutes had passed since the system was released. Most people would still be thinking about whether they wanted to register a skill, or which one they wanted to register. As such, it would not be a surprise if there were only a few dozen unique skills that had been registered at this point.


    Instead, what I was greeted with was a massive, ever-growing list of skills that were being constantly updated and expanded on. There were primary skills, secondary skills, even some tertiary skills. Even arge number of passives had been registered in the system already, despite the time needed to register them. However, I noticed that almost all of the passives were listed within a red box, showing that they were currently unusable.


    Right¡­ even though it¡¯s only been five minutes here, it¡¯s been over four hours for Lorek and Spica¡­ Even then, the number of skills that were not unusable seemed a bit extreme. It was only at that point that I was able to fully grasp the enormity of my poption. Even if only one percent of people had registered a skill, and only one percent of those skills were unique¡­ that would still be tens of millions of skills, at least.


    The next thing I noticed was the proficiency level. This was a measurement that wasn¡¯t listed when first registering a skill, and would likely only be shown in the skill list itself. However, for all of the skills I saw disyed, the proficiency level was measured as ¡®Pinnacle¡¯.


    Does that mean that the system is designed to measure the greatest proficiency of all identical skill holders, and give that proficiency to the Keeper? My eyes went wide at the realization of that. If it were true, I wouldpletely understand the reason behind the absurd price of the system.


    ¡°Okay¡­ let¡¯s go over everything I know now¡­¡± I took a deep breath to calm myself, piecing together the information in my mind. ¡°The system analyzes skills based on universal recognition with the system¡¯s assistance. Otherwise, these skills wouldn¡¯t already have names. I would have had to have named at least one skill myself.¡±


    ¡°More importantly, the skills covered by the system are not only single actions, but cane as a set. Cooking can be a primary skill, with various recipes as secondary skills, and specific cooking techniques as tertiary¡­¡± That was something I had briefly seen sh by when I was watching the Keeper Skill list. ¡°Most likely, other profession skills are the same, and there might even be simr aspects in magic¡­¡±


    ¡°Next¡­ I do not automatically have the skills from the Keeper list. My magic power control hasn¡¯t immediately improved after getting the Soul of the Keeper skill.¡± I closed my eyes as I thought about that. ¡°I probably need to focus on which skill I want to take from that list.¡±


    ¡°Finally¡­ there is both a Teaching Mode and a Student Mode. Most likely, these modes have to both be activated by their respective parties to take effect. At that point, either it bes easier for the teacher to impart a new skill, or the student might be required to already have the skill, and the system increases proficiency¡­¡±


    Just from what I had seen so far, I was confident that this system was worth the expense. Not only did it offer me a personal boost, but it had wide-reaching effects for everyone else as well. There might even be other aspects I haven¡¯t discovered yet¡­

 Chapter 646: The Essence of Archery

    <h4>Chapter 646: The Essence of Archery</h4>


    Register skill. Thessa said as she held her bow in front of herself. Like the others within the training facility, she had just been prompted by the arrival of this new system. Immediately afterwards, Chel had told them to register their mostmonly used fighting techniques.


    As there were numerous arrows provided in the archery range, Thessa did not stand on ceremony. She grabbed one, nocking it on the string of her bow, and aimed at a ck wall ahead of her. There was a single red dot at the center of the wall, but the wall itself seemed to be releasing a type of strange energy.


    Drawing the arrow back, she aimed at the target. After she took a deep breath, she let the arrow fly. This wall was only a dozen meters away, so she had not imbued the arrow with any of her divine properties. Simply a casual nce was all it would take to ensure that she would hit a target at this distance.


    Sure enough, the arrow flew at the wall, striking perfectly at the dot. However, what was odd was that the arrow kept flying even after that. It sank into the wall itself, looking as if someone had drawn an arrow on the ck surface. This drawn arrow seemed to fly forward for quite a distance before gradually falling off.


    Firing uracy analyzed!


    Short-Distance(10-100m) uracy: 100%


    Medium-Distance(100-1000m) uracy: 85%


    Long-Distance(1-100km) uracy: 15%


    Extreme-Distance(100km-1000km) uracy: 0%


    This prompt was not provided by the skill system, but rather by the wall itself. The skill system registered the Archery skill properly, but she was still captivated by what she had seen at the wall.


    There was a faint ttering to her side, and she saw that an arrow had fallen into the quiver next to her. No¡­ wasn¡¯t that the same arrow that she had just fired. Picking it up, she was certain that it had the exact same feeling as the one she had just shot out.


    Nocking the arrow on the bow again, she took aim at the red dot. This time, she treated it more seriously. The distances listed on the measuring device had definitely shocked her at first, but it also lit a desire to do better. Compared to the gravity on higher levels of Fyor, this is nothing¡­ watch me break your ¡®Extreme-Distance¡¯ mark!


    ¡°Shine, the heart of my bow.¡± She muttered, her bow beginning to release a vibrant glow. ¡°What I desire is a path that will never err.¡± The golden light seemed to spread over the arrow nocked on her bow, which was once again released. This time, an explosion of golden light fired back from the bowstring as the arrow shot out.


    As before, the arrow shot straight into the wall, continuing to pursue that red dot into what could be considered an infinite depth. For the first time, Thessa could feel a significant drain on her divine power simply from the release of a single shot. However, she was eventually forced to cut off the supply of energy to her arrow.


    Firing uracy analyzed!


    ary(1000km-1au) Range: 100%


    Inteary(1-10au) Range: 97%


    Ster(10-1000au) Range: 4%


    Interster(1000au-1ly) Range: 0%


    Thessa¡¯s eye twitched as she saw the entirely new measurements. Of course I can¡¯t hit something a light year away?! Since when does that even count as archery anymore?! And au¡­ astronomical units? I¡¯m not actually trying to shoot down the sun, you know! Although sheined in her mind, she was also greeted by yet another prompt.


    Archery skill use detected at higher value! Updated skill proficiency!


    She had not actively chosen to register her skill that time, so she was surprised to find that the system responded to her action. Thinking about it, she grabbed another arrow and fired again, having intended to do so casually. However, as soon as she thought about wanting to hit that dot, her body subconsciously adjusted, her muscles tightening and hips turning. Her fingers lightly pinched the base of the arrow, and she fired.


    Although she had not infused any divine power into this shot, it still fired off with considerable force. Enough that she was shocked by the results of what was an otherwise normal attack. Naturally, this arrow did not reach the astronomical units in length. However, the Long-Distance uracy was almost perfect, while Extreme-Distance was quite high as well.


    So this is what the skill system is like? She muttered inwardly. She was positive that had she infused her divine power into the arrow, the results would not have been any worse than her previous attempt at the wall.


    As she was thinking about that, she heard a faint chuckle from behind. Turning, she saw Chelsea walking over. ¡°Have you figured out how the wall works yet?¡± She asked with a small smile.


    ¡°How it works¡­¡± Thessa blinked, having not given that much thought. ¡°It pulls the arrow into another world to measure the distance, doesn¡¯t it?¡±


    The nine-tailed kitsune shook her head. ¡°Not at all. It¡¯s just a simple space folding trick. There is a ten-meter space trapped inside the wall, which loops in on itself. The measurement is simply determined by how many times the space has to loop before the arrow veers off course.¡±


    ¡°Is such an extreme unit of measurement really needed for what we¡¯re doing?¡± Thessa asked in doubt, recalling how she had seen measurements even in light years¡­


    ¡°Hmm?¡± Chelsea shook her head. ¡°No, not at all. This is just the initial testing mode, seeing how far your maximum shooting is. As long as you can urately shoot up to ten million kilometers, you¡¯ll be able toplete your part of the attack n.¡±


    ¡°T-t-ten million¡­ isn¡¯t that a little much?¡± Thessa gulped, eyes going wide at the ridiculous requirement. Although she had certainly shown a much farther maximum range, that was against a stationary target. Live targets were almost impossible to hit beyond a dozen kilometers without the enhancement of her divinity, even if she used the best bows and arrows.


    Even then, it was possible to miss from as close as a hundred meters, if the target employed special defenses. What sort of defense would a gctic armada have that they could deploy against feeble arrows?


    Chelsea let out a faint sigh. ¡°Your wish for your shot before was for the path to never err, right? You wanted your arrow to fly straight and true, that way you could hit the target, right?¡±


    Thessa gave a faint nod at that, as she had even stated as much verbally. ¡°That¡¯s right, and¡­?¡±


    ¡°And you¡¯re doing it all wrong!¡± Chelsea huffed out, shaking her head. ¡°A path that will never err? How is that the essence of archery? Stop trying to hit your target and just hit it! You are the Goddess of Archery, for crying out loud. If you wish for an arrow to fly straight and true, it will do just that. It will fly to the ends of the earth and never hit its mark.¡±


    Thessa raised an eyebrow as she listened to the woman ranting. ¡°My uracy is already remarkably high¡­ how am I missing the essence of archery?¡±


    Chelsea shook her head again with a sigh, holding out one hand. Within it, she formed a simple bow of spiritual energy, and grabbed one of the testing arrows. Nudging the goddess aside, she took a firing stance, aimed at the wall. ck light gathered around her fingers, seeping into the arrow. ¡°Strike across the stars.¡± She muttered, releasing the arrow.


    Thessa didn¡¯t even see the arrow fly. One instant, it was nocked on Chelsea¡¯s bow, and the next it was stuck in the wall ahead of them. However, unlike the arrows that Thessa fired, this arrow did not sink into the wall and enter the ¡®measurement testing¡¯ phase. It simply stuck straight to the center of the red dot.


    ¡°Did you turn off the measurement mode?¡± She suspected, clearly having a hard time understanding what she had just seen. Surely it had to do with the ck energy that Chelsea used, right?


    At her question, Chelsea grabbed another arrow, this time firing it normally at the wall. Like the ones that Thessa herself fired, it sank into the wall and entered the testing range. ¡°You¡¯re a Goddess that has regressed to using first-tier archery techniques. I know that you use special skills if your arrows miss their marks, but¡­ why do you have to wait for them to miss?¡±


    Thessa blinked in confusion as Chelsea dismissed her bow before continuing her exnation. ¡°Void arrows pierce through space itself to hit the coordinates you set. What I just used was a pre-set void arrow, with the coordinates being the target. You¡¯re so focused on polishing your fundamental skills that you forgot to continue your advanced abilities.¡±


    ¡°One arrow leaves the bow, one arrow strikes the goal. That should be your mission. As long as you know where the target is, distance is only a number.¡±


    Thessa furrowed her brow, shaking her head. ¡°But if you use a void arrow, the other enchantments on the arrow are erased. You can¡¯t be saying that a normal arrow could be useful against gctic warships, right?¡± She was more than familiar with void arrows, but had always used them only if her arrow missed, because using them removed any magical or ki influences on an arrow. Using a regr arrow with a void jump directly to her target? That was simply wasteful, as things requiring that level of skill would never die from a normal arrow.


    After she asked her question, Thessa felt a pair on her head, crouching down and covering her head with her hands. Chelsea chopped the top of her head with a hand, before cing her hands on her hips. ¡°That only applies for normal enchantments. Divine bestowals still apply to an arrow. Why else would the arrows created with your bow¡¯s divine ability be able to persist through a void jump?¡±


    Thessa blinked at that, looking up at Chelsea. ¡°You mean¡­¡±


    Chelsea nodded her head. ¡°You can use your divine energy to enhance your arrows, and then use a void jump to guarantee a hit. More importantly¡­ Who¡¯s to say that the arrow you fire has to be made of wood and steel? We can craft special arrows able to carry micro-bombs, nanite converters, or warp fields.¡±


    Thessa gave a small nod, not knowing what most of those things were. She had spent her life in the upper levels of Fyor, where technology like that simply didn¡¯t exist. The drastically increased gravity made it so that delicate electronics and machinery were not able to operate properly, forcing the to rely on advanced magical or ki-powered devices instead.


    However, she knew that Chelsea was an incredibly intelligent person already, and that she was connected to several very powerful people. Even the servant of the Keeper himself was listening to her arrangements. So why would she, a little goddess from a backwater world, have the ability to refuse? Besides¡­ it did seem like she was making sense.


    Chelsea nodded her head when she saw that she had gotten through to Thessa, before moving on to the others. Phisher had amplebat experience, and understood at least part of the essence of the de. But Jace was still having some trouble when it came to the understanding of his sword domain. With a sigh, she began walking towards the sound of thunder, shaking her head.


    ¡°Well, at least this new system will help get them sorted faster.¡±

 Chapter 647: Primary Education

    <h4>Chapter 647: Primary Education</h4>


    Naturally, the people of Deckan were not the only ones that were able to unlock the skill system. All of the Keeper¡¯s ¡®elevated¡¯ races had done so as well, including the very golems that were on their way to Deckan. The Lord Sovereign, the former Head of Research for the golems, sat in his massive throne, his dual personalities conversing within his mind.


    ¡°A new system has been installed into the world¡­? Intriguing¡­ However, who is this Keeper individual that made the announcement?¡± The blue wisp asked in a gentle tone, hovering around the empty space. Already, they had registered over a hundred of their most powerful skills, including several fourth-tier spells. Thus, they were fully aware of the practicality of the system.


    ¡°Bah! It is likely the spirit of the system which governs the world. Now that this new system has been added, it is clear that it is meant to help us conquer this pitiful civilization!¡± If the red wisp had a face, it would be grinning wildly at thatment.


    It had not been long since the system had appeared in the world, barely a few days. Just long enough for the massive golem to have learned several key points in its function. The fact that he was capable of unleashing fourth-tier magic on his own was widely known even before he had transferred to this world.


    However, the amount of data required to create such a spell had only been possible by fully optimizing his body for such performance. Each spell would require his full attention. Even now, a great deal of focus was required to release a fourth-tier spell that he was familiar with. At least, before the skill system appeared.


    With the aid of the skill system, only a moderate amount of focus was needed before the spell would construct itself. Like this, did it not mean that he had gained the ability to fire multiple of such spells with rtive ease!? What could stand in the way of numerous great, fourth-tier spells?


    ¡°Hmm¡­ perhaps.¡± The blue wisp agreed, given that they had no information on anyone regarding themselves as the world¡¯s Keeper. ¡°For the time being, we should continue to register skills. The more options we have, the higher our chances of sess when we return toplete our conquest.¡±


    In the eyes of the various top powers of the world, the new skill system was indeed a marvel. It allowed them to measure their skills and push their limits, achieving new and greater heights. However, the real worth of the system did note from the benefits it gave to those who fought at the top. Rather, it was what it did for themon man.


    The workers, the programmers and craftsmen, the chefs and doctors. These were the people who truly benefited the most from this new system. The greatest benefit of the system wasn¡¯t in how it increased the potential of a person¡¯s growth, but rather in how it improved work efficiency for the working ss.


    Register Skill. Leoman Graves muttered as he sat at hisputer, beginning a day¡¯s work in his office. He was a simple writer, someone who published fanciful stories to entertain the masses. Some of his work had already been adapted to games or movies.


    However, as he typed, he focused fully on fleshing out the ideas that appeared in his imagination. He was not writing his normal stories, in a way. Rather, he typed anything and everything that came to his mind.


    Thus, five minutes passed before he even realized. When the message prompt appeared in his view, he ignored it, engrossed in the scene he was writing. The more he wrote, the easier it became.


    Eventually, he decided to rest, feeling that his scene had turned out quite well. He even considered if he should find somewhere to introduce it in one of his stories. Only then did he notice the prompt waiting for him in the corner of his eyes. The ¡®Creative Writing¡¯ skill had been born, allowing him to trante his imagination into words.


    When he began to do his proper writing, focusing on his story, he was able to progress far more efficiently than normal. What would have normally made him pause to consider how he should describe something, or what words he should use to best speak to the reader, were filled in before he knew what was happening. It was truly a case of the hands typing what the mind thought.


    It was not just for writing, either. Every professional that registered their work skills quickly showed an increased performance of several fold. Normal errors that were previously regarded as mon mistakes¡¯ seemed to vanish. Construction workers no longer smashed their fingers when hammering in a nail. Dancers no longer stumbled when practicing a rehearsed move.


    Even the uracy of their movements increased, whether it was a tailor measuring cloth, a chef adding spices to a dish, or a farmer gathering their crops. Of course, that was not to say that everyone¡¯s actions became robotic. They still had the personal ir that they showed before. Only, now they would no longer make themon mistakes that slowed down their day.


    nk sat in his virtual domain, monitoring the various records that had been brought to him. Once the new system had been revealed to the world, he had sent his subordinates out in order to watch the productivity of various fields. It was his desire to see in what way this new system would impact the world through these little details.


    As for his own skills, he had yet to register them. Being the God of Games, he was fully aware that skills had an almost infinite number of forms, and he was in no rush to try to stand out from the rest. Instead, his presence had always been one that existed behind the scenes.


    ¡°Productivity in crafting-rted fields has increased by twenty percent in thest week.¡± He muttered, before shaking his head. At first, it may have seemed that the system was limited in the way that skills could be registered. Say themand, and you would have five minutes to perform a skill¡­ fail to perform a skill in five minutes, and it begins scanning for passive abilities.


    However, what does that say of cooking, or tailoring? How many items can be made in a five minute window? There were few dishes being made in popr restaurants that could be produced in such a short window.


    That was where the division of Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary skills came into y. Primary skills were those such as cooking, writing, swordsmanship or magic. Each of these skills covered a wide field and carried many different aspects to them.


    Secondary skills were things such as recipes and forms, specific techniques contained within a Primary skill set. Finally, there were Tertiary skills, which were the steps involved in executing Secondary skills. For cooking, this could be as simple as chopping vegetables, or roasting meat. For alchemy, it could be measuring the temperature of an ingredient, or grindingponents.


    These three divisions of skills actually served a grand purpose, by only requiring the user to register the associated Primary skill. As long as they did that, they would gain ¡®hidden proficiency¡¯ in any Secondary or Tertiary skills that they practiced, even without directly registering those skills.


    Of course, it was still possible to register Secondary and Tertiary skills, as well. ording to nk¡¯s guess, this was less to improve those specific skills, but rather to make them avable for the Teaching option included in this system.


    He had painstakingly gathered andpiled this information in order to know how he could best utilize the system for his future endeavors. At the same time, it was to determine if there were any hidden risks in using it. Naturally, convenience breedscency. This has been true since ancient times.


    It was possible that people would grow dull as time passed, relying more on their umted proficiency than their natural instincts. However, nk expected this tost no more than a few years, or when something struck them from those mindsets. Perhaps I can create a new game that will enable people to experience peril, and force them to be proactive for their survival?


    nk mulled over the idea, feeling as though it had some merit. As long as he created a true virtual world, he would be able to set the systemws in that world. It would be a simple matter to prevent the skill proficiency system from being included in such a world. After all, he had yet to fullyprehend the system himself, so how was he going to program it into a new world?


    Feeling that this was a valid n, and one that would likely be needed in theing months, nk set about doing his work. He did not bother his subordinates any further, allowing them to return to their normal duties of administrating his various online projects.


    It was quite unusual to have so much time alone in the Sky Citadel. With both Tsubaki and Dana gone to Deckan, therge structure felt rather lonely. However, there was still much for me to do, even without theirpany. Are you kidding? Compared to being stuck on an ind learning to cksmith for a few weeks, this is nothing.


    I smirked faintly at the thought of that, proceeding to one of the various training rooms in the citadel. For the past few days, I had been conducting my own tests with the skill system, wanting to experiment and see what I could make of it. In particr, the function of the system unique to myself, the Keeper Skills.


    In doing so, I had learned a rather important fact. Although the system provided me with the skills, it did not provide me with the experience or knowledge. Instead, I could only go based on my own personal understanding of the skill.


    By now, I had the skill of some of the world¡¯s best alchemists, so I thought to give the Alchemy skill a try. I had gone to Dana¡¯s workshop, and gathered various materials, and had even activated the skill sessfully. The problem was that I personally only knew how to make rather low-grade potions, and the materials avable there were all higher tier than I was used to working with.


    Thus, although I could be said to have the best alchemy skill in the world, it meant nothing without the knowledge of recipes to back it up. On the other hand,bat skills were far easier to understand. It did not take the knowledge of a detailed form to know how to swing a sword or shoot a bow.


    When I tested my archery through this system, I found that I was able to urately hit a target the size of a coin from over five hundred meters away. Yet, with my own personal skills¡­ I would be lucky to hit that same coin if it was two feet from the bow, or if I was trying to simply stab it with the arrow.


    However, perhaps the skill that most powerfully resonated with this system was none of these. It was not a Primary skill, or even a Secondary skill. Rather, the skill that I found the most useful was one that I stumbled across byplete chance. This skill was called ¡®Geometric Spell Construction¡¯, and was a skill to construct geometric spells without a set form. Instead, it purely used a person¡¯s own knowledge of spell diagrams. I was thankful that someone had managed to register a skill like this, as it made it far easier for me to assemble higher level magic.


    Within the training room of the Sky Citadel, I held out my hand, focusing. I had studied all the way up to fourth tier magic, so this skill could theoretically allow me to construct such spells on my own. However, the user of the skill who had registered it had apparently only mastered up to the third tier.


    Thus, I was trying to practice this skill myself,bining it with my knowledge to slowly construct a three-dimensional spell diagram. This was a simple fourth-tier spell, one that was rather unimpressive, given its rank. With it, I nned to create a very simple stone golem. If sessful, it would respond to basicmands such as ¡®follow¡¯ or ¡®stay¡¯, and be capable of walking to execute thosemands.


    While the Geometric Spell Construction skill allowed me to almost immediately create spells up to the middle of the third-tier, this spell was incredibly slow in its construction. Far too slow to be useful in properbat. Nheless, I was happy to have the different spell patterns appearing in my mind to gradually facilitate the construction of this spell¡­

 Chapter 648: Severing Creation

    <h4>Chapter 648: Severing Creation</h4>


    After finishing my tests on the Skill Proficiency System, I went back to the Admin Room and prepared to fast forward the world. While it was nice watching things develop in real time as they prepared for the golems to attack, it simply wasn¡¯t feasible to me right now. In the worst case scenario, this attack from the golems wouldst some time. If, by chance, the attack was not over by the time my next invasion began, I would have to deal with two gctic empires at the same time.


    As such, my only real option here was to speed things along. With any luck, there would be plenty of time following this event to prepare for that invasion. Taking a deep breath, I mentally activated themand.


    Really, couldn¡¯t he have just done this a bit earlier? Petra asked as she sat atop the flying jet, clearly not bothered by the wind buffeting her face. Her eyes scanned over the surroundings, but she wasn¡¯t really paying attention to much at the moment.


    The new system update hade in while her expedition was in the midst of their search. All things considered, they had not made all that much progress towards the next gate when suddenly the update introduced a new skill system and a new ability for scouts.


    As adventurers that had fought their way through Fyor, reaching the highest level permitted by the world, it was natural that each of them had a high level as a scout. Thus, they were quick to determine what had changed.


    In fact, scouts originally had a form of mapping feature avable as part of their ss. However, this feature was limited to details which the scout actively focused on and recognized. Because of this, many scouts formed the habit of analyzing every detail within their field of view to the best of their ability. Yet, even with that, there would naturally be things that were overlooked.


    This new system, however, only required for thendscape to enter their field of perception. There was no requirement for them to focus on individual details. In fact, it was enough for them to casually walk through a forest with their eyes closed. The details picked up by their other senses alone would map out arge radius around them.


    For someone like Petra, this was even more exaggerated. The moment the update hit, her minimap had instantly acquired the entire map of Fyor, reaching every level that she had entered, aside from the twenty-sixth floor. The shadow power she cultivated was regarded as one of her ¡®senses¡¯ by this new system, granting her a much increased ability to perceive the world around her.


    As Petra mentally nced at her minimap, there were numerous red dots whizzing by in the forest below them. Each one was a creature regarded as an enemy in her perception, while six blue dots sat within the aircraft she was sitting on.


    After the update had hit, their expedition reached a rather awkward period. It did not take long for them to realize that they no longer needed to run through this dangerous forest where life and death could be decided in an instant. Nobody present had been afraid of danger, but there was a difference between epting that danger and realizing that there was a better way.


    Their morale shaken, they returned to the original city of the twenty-fifth floor and reorganized their forces. Of the few dozen people that had been involved in the initial expedition, all that was left was Petra herself and the six people in the jet beneath her. Of the six, four specialized in defensive magic, one was their pilot, and thest was a priest of Aurivy.


    The only true ¡®fighting force¡¯ of the crew was Petra herself, which was why she had chosen to remain on the exterior of the ship. Well, that and the fact that she didn¡¯t want to let anyone know that her energy had already mapped the entireyer. It was a simple matter for her to detect any enemies preparing to attack their vessel.


    Naturally, nobody med Petra for the first expedition¡¯s ¡®failure¡¯. She had done a remarkable job leading them before the system update was implemented. Furthermore¡­ it was the Keeper himself that caused this change, something that Petra could have done nothing to predict. Even if she was the daughter of Ashley, that did not mean that she knew when the Keeper would make big changes like this.


    However, there was one good thing that came from this change. Originally, their expedition would have taken a minimum of a year toplete. Now that they were able to simply fly towards their goal through the air, they would be able toplete the task within a week.


    How is the mappinging on your end? Petra asked internally, knowing that Thelsa was still working on understanding theyout of the twenty-sixth floor.


    There was a long sigh that sounded in her mind. It¡¯s difficult. Our shadow powers are at a disadvantage here, and the walls recover too quickly for us to mine out a path. Gand suggested we try to keep the stones to sell them, but they evaporate into raw mana minutes after being removed from the wall.


    Also, we¡¯ve started to find creatures within the crystal passageways. So far, every monster we¡¯ve found has been able to use various magic abilities, so they¡¯ve clearly evolved to fit an environment like this.


    Given the height of the crystal maze, and the likelihood of additional floors above us, I think this isn¡¯t a floor that anyone can conquer within fifty years. If they do, it will be because they have some special ability rted to detection and teleportation.


    Did the new update not help our scouts find a path? Petra asked after hearing Thelsa¡¯s update. It had to be known that there were a lot of benefits to this new ability for scouts, so she couldn¡¯t overlook the possibility that someone would be able to learn something good because of it.


    I tried, but no. Their perception is restricted due to the density of the walls. Out of our people high enough level to withstand this floor¡¯s gravity, none of them could map more than twenty meters away from themselves.


    Petra let out a helpless sigh when she heard that. If there was nothing that they could do, there was nothing that they could do. Once we get more people there, maybe someone will have a way to siphon off the mana to gradually open up a habitable space. Nowadays, anybody would be happy to have such arge, renewable source of mana to harvest, right?


    One month passed as thebat deities of Deckan trained. In that time, numerous satellites had beenunched into orbit, particrly in thest week. As the deadline drew ever closer, people began to consider more and more whether or not they should evacuate to other worlds.


    Unfortunately, there was no time for such arge-scale evacuation, even if they wanted to. Several nobles within the world¡¯s government decided to go on ¡®vacation¡¯ at this time, but there was nothing that could be done about the sheer number of people in the world. Nothing but praying that it would all work out in the end.


    Chel stood atop a massive tower, one over a hundred meters wide and ten kilometers tall. This was itself a project that had required the aid of over a hundred druids and architects working tirelessly for thest two weeks to construct. All to serve as the stage for these few deities who would hopefully save the world.


    The tower was stationed quite far away from any city, and there were a grand total of six like it throughout the world. After all, it was hard to say for sure exactly where the fleet would appear in rtion to the, so they had to make sure that they were prepared for anything.


    Currently, they had determined that the fleet of ships were less than an hour away, and had thus settled on their current position. ¡°Jace, how are you holding up?¡± Chel asked, looking towards their first line of defense, the God of Storms.


    Jace sat with his legs crossed, eyes closed in focus. ¡°I¡¯ve set up warp storms like you said¡­ but it¡¯s difficult to hold them. I won¡¯t be able to hold on until they arrive.¡±


    Chel shook her head, smiling slightly. ¡°You won¡¯t need to. Once they see that the space around this is unstable, they won¡¯t approach too close with their hyperdrives. They¡¯ll need to rely on sub-light engines to make up the rest of the distance. Even if the storm goes away afterwards, it will be hard for them to quickly jump closer, for fear of triggering another one.¡±


    Jace didn¡¯t entirely understand the mechanics behind what Chel was talking about. It had taken him most of the month simply toprehend the idea of a ¡®void storm¡¯ that could shake the stability of space. It would take all of his focus simply to maintain this storm until their targets arrived close enough to detect it.


    ¡°Alright, that means that it will be time for you two to act soon.¡± Chel nced towards Phisher and Thessa, who both nodded gravely. It was no understatement to say that the survival of the rested in everyone¡¯s ability to perform their roles. Granted, the new skill system took some of the pressure off of their shoulders, but it was still a great psychological burden for them.


    Soon, James¡¯s voice spoke up from the back, where he was focusing on detecting the enemy fleet. ¡°They¡¯re here.¡± The others were surprised that they had arrived ahead of schedule, but in the end it did make sense. After all, they likely had ess to these new skills as well. ¡°They¡¯re outside the storm radius, moving in at sub-light. It will take them thirty minutes at their current speed to reach our perimeter.¡±


    Thessa gulped, quickly grabbing her bow and standing at the ready as a circr window appeared in the air before them. Through this window, they were able to see the enemy fleet¡­ massive ships numbering in the dozens, some of which were as big as an entire. Behind them, hundreds, maybe thousands of smaller, city-sized ships flew in formation.


    ¡°James, find the core reactor for one of the lead ships.¡± Chel called out with a grin, the view changing to show a spiralling core of mana suspended in arge sphere. ¡°Thessa, this one¡¯s for you.¡±


    Thessa¡¯s grip tightened on her bow, and she pulled one of the arrows from her quiver. This arrow had numerous tiny, blue runes carved along its shaft, and a red crystal serving as its arrowhead. As she nocked the arrow on her string, she whispered to herself. ¡°What I desire is an arrow that can pierce all restrictions.¡±


    She took a deep breath, pulling back the string, before letting it fly. The moment that the arrow left her bow, it vanished into the void. The view in the window changed, showing the fleet again. However, one of thergest ships began slowing down. Various patches on its surface started to glow orange as cracks formed, before the ship itself exploded.


    The st of the explosion was such that over a hundred ships trailing behind had been shattered in an instant, and even some of the other massive ships had been rattled by the st. Seeing this, Chel nodded her head, turning to look at Thessa. ¡°How¡¯s the consumption?¡±


    Thessa let out her breath, shaking her head. ¡°On my divinity¡­ not much. But the void arrow consumed a lot of my mana.¡±


    ¡°Take a few minutes to recover, then. Phisher can fire the next shot.¡± After she said that, she turned towards Phisher, who gave a small nod.


    The kitsune god pulled out his sword, holding it in front of himself. As he gathered his power in the de, it emitted a brilliant, golden glow. Turning the de, he held it horizontally, such that it rested between himself and the window that James had created. ¡°One de to sever creation.¡±


    A golden st shot out from the de of Phisher¡¯s sword, sweeping across the horizon. It swept across a towering mountain in the distance, causing the peak to crumble and copse. However, it also swept through the window. Phisher¡¯s face went pale as his power, which had been gathered into a thin line, shed through the fleet.


    Two more of the-sized ships fell, Phisher¡¯s sword having been angled to cut through them in his vision. However, such a massive release of power had almost entirely drained his divinity, making him fall to one knee.

 Chapter 649: Darkest Light

    <h4>Chapter 649: Darkest Light</h4>


    The Lord Sovereign of the grand fleet sat upon his throne, his body overlooking the vast expanse of space as it flew by in a blur. At this moment, his senses were directly tied to the-sized ship he was riding. He served as bothmander and pilot, using his own processing power as the core of the vessel.


    ¡°It seems like there is a spatial disturbance ahead¡­¡± The blue wisp within his mind spoke, seeming to shake in reluctance. ¡°If we barge in using FTL speed, it would cause our fleet to be destroyed.¡±


    ¡°A space-faring civilization existing in a region of chaotic space?¡± The red wisp let out a sarcasticugh. ¡°They would have already destroyed themselves! This is just a tactic to stall us.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps.¡± The blue wisp agreed. ¡°However, regardless, we cannot risk the entire fleet for that. The fact remains that we are currently unable to enter that region of space too quickly. Besides, if they are aware of our arrival, it is likely that they have further countermeasures prepared.¡±


    ¡°Let them prepare all they want. Even if the gods descend upon this world, there will be no salvation.¡± The red wisp spoke in an arrogant tone. ¡°As long as there is enough left of their defenses for the scavengers, we can operate at full power.¡±


    After saying that, it turned, seeming to regard the passing stars that existed outside of its mental domain. ¡°So what if they wish to dy us by a few hours? They are only buying themselves a small amount of time.¡±


    The giant golem then opened his mouth, his dual-toned voice broadcasting to every ship in the fleet. ¡°All units, synchronize control systems and enter sub-light at the designated coordinates.¡±


    Soon, the fleet suddenly halted its interster momentum, appearing nearby arge blue with a constantly raging storm that covered its surface. The fleet¡¯s sub-light engines kicked in, and they were soon cruising through this star system.


    ¡°If they think that such a simple trick is going to save them, then they are fools.¡± The red wisp spoke up within the giant golem¡¯s mind, before the golem¡¯s eyes lit up in shock.


    Due to the control systems for the various ships being synchronized, it was briefly able to sense the status of the rest of the fleet. Thus, his head turned, looking at a ck shadow within the sky. This shadow soon began to glow red, before erupting and releasing a massive explosion.


    A fourth-tier spell wrapped around the golem leader, protecting him from the impact of the st. Still, the ship he was on had been struck by the shockwave, with millions of golems being crushed and numerous systems being damaged. Worse yet, numerous ships clustered around therger vessel had been obliterated in the st.


    ¡°All units, spread out!¡± The sovereign announced without a moment¡¯s pause. He had sensed a small spatial disturbance within the core of the destroyed ship. Immediately afterwards, the mana drive that had been powering it was converted into pure thermal energy. Without a proper containment field for such energy, the result was obvious.


    The ships had only just begun to follow hismand when a golden beam silently passed along their vision. It happened so fast that even the sovereign of the golems had not been able to respond in time. Although the first attack was identifiable, and thus they were capable of preventing future incidents, this second attack used an energy that only vaguely resembled the ¡®divinity¡¯ archived in their database.


    ¡°So the gods really have descended¡­¡± The blue wisp spoke solemnly, shaking in dissatisfaction. ¡°It would appear that we have miscalcted. I suggest entering strategic warfare mode.¡±


    Although reluctant, the red wisp agreed. At that point, the two of them came together, linking their consciousnesses. The golem¡¯s eyes lit up in alternating hues of red and blue, a powerful mana beginning to radiate from its body. As it spoke, its dual-toned voice seemed to merge as well, bing one.


    ¡°Linking to the gctic fleet. All power supplies online. Rerouting energy.¡± Gradually, blue shields began to form around the ships of the fleet, fourth-tier barriers formed by the sovereign¡¯s calctions. Although it could not predict when the next attack would arrive, it would be able to prepare the most suitable defense when the time came.


    Like this, the ships pressed onwards, constantly awaiting the next attack. With the power of the ster forge backing him, there was no need for the giant golem to worry about depleting his energy reserves.


    Within five minutes, he was able to detect the target, and saw that there were very few ships in orbit around their target. For a moment, he even wondered if perhaps this was merely a secondary world belonging to the civilization, before disregarding that thought. Even if this was not their homeworld, they would achieve their goal by analyzing the local technology.


    Furthermore, this had now be a proper test of their effectiveness when facing a divine adversary. Going by the previous attacks, there were at least two gods within this world capable of fighting them. Although there could have been more, that was not yet proven. Therefore, the primary goal of analyzing the technology had been changed toplete extermination.


    ¡°All super-ss battleships, prepare the Sun¡¯s Radiance. Attacks shall be conducted in sequence, targeting uploaded coordinates.¡± As he sent thatmand, a giant pit opened up on each of the-sized ships, a circr hole that seemed to reach deep into their core. ¡°Once all ships have fired, deploy the swarm.¡±


    As if to lead the attack, the ship that the golem sovereign was on fired first. Runes of light began to glow around the circumference of the pit, before blinding light poured out in a dense stream. This was the main weapon of the giant ships, each one capable of tearing through a with ease. Yet even so, they had prepared so many in the event that a god were capable of blocking such attacks.


    The golem watched, his eyes calm as he saw the ray of light pierce through the without resistance. He seemed to wonder if perhaps their two gods were truly incapable of mounting a defense, before the light of his eyes shook in surprise. In the brief instant between when his attack ended and the next began, he was able to see the target. Itsnd had not been scorched, nor had its air been lit ame. It sat there, as if nothing had happened. Even the few ships remaining in orbit had seemingly taken no damage.


    When the second beam shed and faded, the was still unphased. Immediately, the sovereign connected with the various sensors of the vessel he was on. The information he received did not seem to make any sense.


    ording to what the scans were telling him, there was no there. It would be reasonable to assume that it could potentially be an illusion meant to distract them, but¡­ the scanners were able to detect the moon, instead. The fact that the moon existed, but not the itself, caused great surprise within the golem.


    He updated the target for the series of attacks, changing it to the moon itself. If this was truly an illusion, then the projector for the illusion would be concealed within the moon. By destroying it, the truth would be revealed. Perhaps the moon itself was even the true body of the, with the illusion being a simple decoy.


    Down on the, Tsubaki and the others watched as a brilliant light descended on them. Thessa closed her eyes as if to resign herself to her fate, sure that destruction would be upon her. Yet, even though her shut eyes were unable to block out the intensity of the light, there was no pain, no damage that could be registered.


    When her eyes opened, everyone was standing around them, still staring towards the sky. Next to her, Tsubaki clenched her fist, giving a small nod. ¡°Sure enough, it¡¯s like they said.¡± She sighed at the realization that they were now relying on her to finish the job.


    Chel turned, looking at Tsubaki critically, even as the second beam rained upon them. ¡°You only have one shot. If you fail to take out all of the-sized ships in a single attack, we will not have time to engage the void barrier before their attacks resume. How much time do you need to ensure that all of the targets are destroyed?¡±


    Tsubaki thought about the question seriously, looking down at her hands. ¡°Fifteen minutes. That should be long enough to prepare.¡±


    In truth, almost any god could explode with their full power in a single instant. In doing so, they would be able tounch a single, massive attack that drained them entirely. But, in order to release an attack thatbined their full power with a delicate skill to control it, they needed time to prepare.


    If Tsubaki were tounch her full power right from the start, she would only be able to take out two or three of the ships, simr to how Phisher and Thessa had performed. Instead, she was being forced to take out far more than any of them. Their performance had merely been intended to lighten the burden that she would have to face.


    Chelsea nodded her head, acknowledging Tsubaki¡¯s answer. Before she could say anything, Thessa shouted out. ¡°The moon¡­!¡±


    Chel turned, her eyes looking at the sky. A new beam of light had struck from the ships, but this one had targeted the moon itself as opposed to the. Due to the distance between Deckan and its moon, it was impossible for the void barrier to reach it as well. Even Tsubaki¡¯s reality marbles would not have provided a sufficient source of energy for that.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, we were always prepared to surrender the moon.¡± Chel admitted with a sad sigh. Admittedly, they had been hoping to avoid such a case, because the world¡¯s ecosystem relied on the moon to flourish. In the best case scenario, they would only need to rely on the world spirit to nudge the moon back into its proper orbit.


    As she said that, cracks seemed to form on the moon, its surface breaking apart. Deckan was no longer influencing the moon with its gravitational pull, so none of these fragments were drawn directly towards them. However, that would begin to change once the void barrier was cancelled.


    ¡°Tsubaki, get ready. We¡¯re moving ording to n.¡± Chel told the kitsune goddess, closing her eyes and focusing. James, make sure that mister Sorin is on standby. Once this is over, we¡¯ll need him to repair the moon for us.


    Tsubaki hesitated briefly, before nodding her head. She began channeling her power, focusing on the shape that she wished for it to take. In her mind, she was reviewing the various lessons that she had spent a month learning. The information about virtual photons and their influence on the world shed in her mind.


    It was for more than ten minutes that she reviewed this information, before lifting her hands to the sky. Register skill. She thought to herself, before speaking. ¡°Stars that shine in the infinite void between spaces, light which binds the world.¡± When Chel heard her beginning her chant to focus her power, she sent the signal to disable the barrier.


    ¡°Flickering lights of creation, illusory shackles of space. Be the stars of destruction, that which erases all in its path. Star of oblivion.¡± A ck spot rose from the center of Tsubaki¡¯s finger, at which point the air around it began to tremble.


    This ck spot then rose into the air, shooting off faster than the eye could see. In an instant, it had punctured through the¡¯s atmosphere, reaching the first target. When it collided with the target, and passed directly through it, it seemed to have grown.


    The ck ¡®spot¡¯, which had originally been no more than a centimeter in diameter, had grown to well over three inches as it flew towards the next ship. In the meantime, the ship it had struck first began undergoing an unusual change.


    Color seemed to drain from the world around the golems. The ground became brittle beneath their feets, before shattering into dust. Golems shouted in panic as they fell through the outer shell of their ships, even as their own bodies gradually began to lose their luster.


    From one ship to the next, the ck spot grewrger andrger, striking without mercy. Tsubaki¡¯s face went pale as she struggled to maintain control, having to go so far as to borrow power from the Keeper to maintain her divinity. However, Chel had a calm smile on her face. As far as the young girl was concerned, the sessfulunch of this attack meant that they had already won and ensured their survival.

 Chapter 650: The Greatest Craft

    <h4>Chapter 650: The Greatest Craft</h4>


    A dark-skinned ursa meticulously whittled away at arge staff, holding a thin knife in his hand. This staff was made from a fallen branch collected in the Great Forest of Sorii, supposedly having fallen from the ancestor tree itself amidst a powerful storm. While the craftsman could not verify the details of this im, it was a fact that the wood was stronger than anything he had seen before, and even carried a faint hint of divinity.


    He heard the ring of a bell, a sign that someone had entered his shop. Closing his eyes, he let out a faint sigh before setting the half-finished staff on the workbench in front of him. As he rose, he smoothed out his leather apron, passing his various crafting stations and walking to the front room of the shop. ¡°Hello!¡± He called out with a smile that hid his annoyance at being disturbed in the middle of his work. ¡°How can I help you?¡±


    The man that had arrived was simrly a dark-skinned man, though he appeared human. This ¡®customer¡¯ looked appraisingly at the ursa, before nodding his head. ¡°It looks like I¡¯ve found the right ce. Kiria Sorin, I¡¯vee with a rather specialmission for you¡­¡±


    The craftsman, Kiria, raised an eyebrow. ¡°I¡¯m guessing you know this already, but my prices aren¡¯t exactly cheap. And I¡¯m already working on one order, so I can put you in the queue if you leave your details.¡±


    Hearing that, the customer smiled wide. ¡°I¡¯m well aware that the God of Crafts is not an easy man to hire. But¡­¡± He had a somewhat difficult expression on his face. ¡°This really is a rush order.¡±


    Kiria shook his head, shrugging his shoulders. He had already built up a remarkable reputation at this point, even before ascending to godhood. He was known as the man that crafted the Keeper¡¯s own weapons, the first mortal craftsman to ascend. There were few that could afford the level of item he would create, and most of those were the Maxers of Fyor. When he saw that his customer was a human, he naturally assumed that he would follow in that trend.


    ¡°What¡¯s the request? If it¡¯s interesting enough, I might be able to put my work on hold for now.¡± Of course, there were also those rare requests that were just so absurd, or used materials so rare that he couldn¡¯t help but take the job. For those, he would always put in his best work, regardless of the pay.


    Hearing that, the customer gave a mischievous grin. ¡°I¡¯d like to order one moon, to be delivered to Deckan in the event of an unfortunate attack happening in a few days.¡±


    Silence fell over the shop, Kiria sure that he had misheard the request. ¡°You want me to¡­ make a moon? As in, an actual moon?¡± This was certainly the¡­rgest order he had ever received. He had been asked to make statues or buildings before, but never anything even close to the scale of a moon.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. To be more precise, you¡¯ll be in charge of repairing it. Crafting the moon again with the pieces that are already there. Should be simple enough, right?¡± There was a challenging smile on the man¡¯s face as he made that request.


    ¡°Repairing¡­ what in the zes is going to be blowing up the moon!?¡± The God of Crafts shouted, having a hard time believing what he was hearing.


    The customer shrugged his shoulders. ¡°Well¡­ I don¡¯t want to say that it¡¯s aliens¡­ but it¡¯s aliens. We don¡¯t know for sure that they¡¯ll blow up the moon, but we don¡¯t have enough resources to protect both it and the. If they do destroy it, we¡¯ll need it repaired quickly to preventsting problems.¡±


    Kiria brought hisrge hand up to massage his temples. ¡°Okay, fine¡­ the moon¡­ okay¡­ yeah, let¡¯s do this.¡± He said, letting out a long sigh. ¡°How long do I have?¡±


    ¡°I need you on standby in three days at Deckan. If they crack the moon, it¡¯ll be up to you to fix it once everything¡¯s settled.¡±


    Kiria stared up at the sky, eyes wide as he saw the ray of light pierce through the moon. Given that this was his job, he had made sure to always have the moon within his line of sight. Granted, he had not truly believed that this would be necessary. Not until he saw the night sky lighting up, a massive column of light piercing through the itself.


    He didn¡¯t know how the had survived that st, as the mere memory of it sent chills down his back. Holy sisters, he was serious¡­


    As he watched the chunks of the moon slowly drifting apart, he clenched his fist. Although this was his job, he could not simply journey out into space while there was a fleet capable of casually destroyings. However, as he thought about that, he felt a handnd on his shoulder.


    When he turned his head, he saw his dark-skinned customer standing there with a calm smile. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯re already taking care of the enemies. All you have to do is wait for your turn.¡±


    Kiria looked up at the sky again, giving a small nod. ¡°I¡­ I can do that. But, have you thought about where you¡¯ll get the missing pieces? That st¡­ the moon can¡¯t all be there anymore, can it?¡±


    The dark-skinned man blinked his eyes, looking up. ¡°Ah, right. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll provide recement materials. There are plenty of asteroids floating around that we can use.¡±


    ¡°What is that!¡± The sovereign of the golems shouted in shock, seeing the ¡®insignificant¡¯ ck speck passing through his fleet¡¯s ships one after the other. The barriers that it had previously erected were all shattered as soon as the attack made contact, and it appeared as if there was nothing that could stop it.


    When it passed through the first ship, the giant golem still had hope. The damage it inflicted seemed quite minor, enough so that it didn¡¯t even register on the sensors for several moments. It was only when the second ship was struck that the first showed signs of¡­ decay? Deterioration? It seemed more apt to call this a spreading disintegration.


    It was not only the ships themselves that were being destroyed. Even the golems that stood upon the ships, anything that was in physical contact with the affected area became a target. The sovereign watched as the first-sized ship turned to dust, the residual energy within its systems erupting and causing that cloud of dust to scatter into space.


    At this point, the attack had grown to be a full foot in diameter, but even that was practically nothingpared to the objects it was destroying. Nheless, when the sovereign saw that attack heading for his own ship, he turned his vessel abruptly.


    He neither knew or cared how many golems had been crushed by the sudden momentum of turning the ship, fully employing fourth-tier magic to reposition it andplete the charging process for the main cannon. Despite the advanced nature of the ship¡¯s sensors, he was unable to determine what exactly was the cause behind everything disintegrating as it was. All he knew was that physical substances did not impede its movement at all, so logically energy attacks should work.


    At the same time, though, the shields formed by mana had been effortlessly broken. Thus, it could be seen that either the attack was more powerful than his fourth-tier defensive spell, or it also had a restraining effect on mana. With that in mind, he nned to destroy it with the same attack that had shattered this world¡¯s moon.


    The core of the ship let up, a blinding white beam shooting towards the ck sphere. The sovereign knew that he would be unable to determine what was happening within the beam, as its intensity was enough to block their scanners. Instead, he began preparing a fourth-tier teleportation spell. He was ready to abandon this battle altogether if the beam failed to remove the danger.


    Even before the beam faded, the golem was forced to pause. Darkness expanded from within the beam of sr radiance, capturing it and seeming to feed on it. The ck ball that was previously only a foot in diameter had almost instantly grown to be over a thousand kilometers wide. It was only then that he understood what was happening, and why his ships had disintegrated in the manner that they had. Even his mana barriers had only been destroyed because they emitted a brilliant glow, light having been integrated as one of their functions.


    If there was a silver lining to be found, it was that the increased size of the ball had caused its speed to decrease drastically. What was previously a whizzing bullet between ships had instead be a massive, slow-moving ball of destruction.


    The sovereign was of the mind to hit it with another beam to slow it further as he fled with his ship. However, after a quick calction, he realized the beam would likely cause it to expand to the point where it would impact his ship before he could escape. Grinding his gears, he immediately cast his teleportation spell, abandoning everything that he had built over his long career as the ball of darkness descended on his greatest creations.


    Chel grimaced as she saw the ck sphere rapidly growing in size, looking over at Tsubaki. Therger it was, the greater the burden it ced on her. Even though she was borrowing power from the Keeper, it couldn¡¯t keep up with the drain, which forced her to slow the speed of her attack. ¡°Once thest of therger ships have been destroyed, dismiss your attack. We can settle the rest with our fleets.¡±


    Although Tsubaki was unwilling to give up halfway, she knew that she had no other choice. She could only nod her head in eptance. If she really tried to crash that ball into the rest of the enemy fleet, she would die from the energy drain long before she had even touched them.


    Unfortunately, with the way she configured her attack, she was not able to simply release some of the built up energy. If she did so, the energy would just be immediately absorbed by the star of oblivion again. If she wanted to make use of this attack in the future, she would need to modify it and make sure that it would not drain her too much.


    They really did it¡­ Kiria said as he saw thest of the ships being cleared away in orbit. For some reason, the fleet had suddenly be disorganized after one of thergest ships had been destroyed. Some of the ships turned to flee, while others became more aggressive. Did they not know how to operate without amander?


    Either way, it was now his turn to act. He nodded towards the man next to him, who immediately used a teleportation technique to send them up and onto the surface of one of the broken moon fragments. Lifting his hand, Kiria summoned his divine hammer, the holy relic that he had created with painstaking efforts.


    Unlike other craftsmen, Kiria refused to register his skills with this new system. He had been skeptical at first, waiting to see what the effects of the system were. Once he found out, he believed it to be the bane of a true craftsman.


    While the system appeared beneficial, helping craftsmen to remove the smaller imperfections in their creations, that seemed more like a trap to Kiria than anything else. It was the imperfections that gave an item character, and gave a direction for the craftsman to improve himself in the future. Without such things, the growth of a craftsman would stagnate, and they would be limited by their own ability.


    Thus, Kiria did not register his crafting skills, treating every item he made as if it were a new challenge to ovee. He would continue to maintain his position as the God of Crafts even without the ¡®help¡¯ of this new system. With that thought in mind, he struck his hammer down against the giant rock beneath him. It was time to get to work.

 Chapter 651: Not Just a Moon

    <h4>Chapter 651: Not Just a Moon</h4>


    Kiria¡¯s figure shed across the giantndscape of the moon, repeatedly hammering down against its broken surface. Every time his hammer struck, there was a golden light apanied by a soft chime that seemed to echo in one¡¯s soul. For those who were left on Deckan, they couldn¡¯t even tell what was going on. All that they saw was a speck of gold sh within the distant moon.


    There were thousands of fragments that had been broken off in the wake of the golem¡¯sser, and Kiria struck at each one. Naturally, such arge expenditure consumed a great deal of his divine power, but he was not worried. This was the first time since he had ascended to be a deity that he was truly using his divine power to its fullest, after building up a reputation with his many works scattered in the world.


    That¡¯s thest one, but where is James with the recement ¡®materials¡¯? The God of Crafts asked inwardly, looking around. However, he soon got his answer as a strange ripple spread through the empty space. His dark-skinned customer appeared, pushing a massive asteroid that he had gotten from some distant corner of the sr system.


    Oi, is that what you were talking about?! Kiria eximed inwardly, before shaking his head. The asteroid that had been provided was at least half the size of the moon itself, so his reaction was understandable. The fact that James had been able to transport it through space was perhaps the most shocking thing.


    His figure shed again, and he struck the asteroid with his hammer. Another golden sh, and he gave a nod. Material analyzationpleted, and everything¡¯s been seeded with my power. Let¡¯s see¡­ they called this material Dimensium, right?


    Closing his eyes, Kiria focused inwardly on activating an ability that he had developed long ago. Archive of the Craftsman. This was a power that he had once invented to help him work with new and rare materials. If it was something that he had never interacted with, most craftsmen would have to struggle to adapt and learn their special properties.


    With his Archive of the Craftsman, Kiria formed a resonance between a target material and a simr material that had been used in the past. He read the ¡®memory¡¯ of the material, learning how it had been treated and what the end result had been. This allowed him to get a tacit understanding of any sort of crafting material, so long as he was not truly the first person to have used it.


    I see¡­ so this material has the property to warp dimensions when fed with mana or spiritual energy, and can even create small microcosms with its residual energy. Kiria grinned as an idea formed in his mind, and his body soared into the ck sky.


    As the God of Crafts working on hisrgest project ever, there was simply no way that he could allow himself to just return the moon to its original state. His pride as the top crafter among all worlds would not allow something like that. If he was going to craft a moon, then he had to add in his own ir.


    Material Forge. He drew a symbol in the empty space in front of him, and the fragments of the moon seemed to shudder. Stone broke away from dimensium, forming distinctyers and patterns, before a portion of the dimensium began to melt.


    There¡¯s not a convenient mana source on the moon, so I¡¯ll need to get creative. Maybe when I¡¯m done, they¡¯ll set up a mana ry here to make it more stable. For now¡­ convert sr energy to mana, and set up an umtor array. On activation, trigger a spirit gate and funnel the energy to allow both to activate the dimensium.


    Filter the energy through a coordinate receiver array, and establish a ten-second lock to prevent disruption. As he thought about this, numerous spell diagrams began carving themselves beneath the surface of the moon. Dozens of patches of blue light began to gather on the fragments as they came back together, forming a solid whole. Each patch showed the amount of mana that was being gathered by the sun¡¯s rays, storing them for future use.


    The moon is often a target for meteors, so let¡¯s create a barrier to protect these spells. A firm shield would use too much energy to constantly remain active¡­ A low-power detection array that triggers another spell should work. It doesn¡¯t have to destroy the meteors, just shift their momentum away from the moon.


    The individual materials of the moon continued to churn beneath the surface, rearranging themselves until they had finally reached the ideal state that Kiria wished for. At that point, a massive hole opened up on the moon itself, over a thousand kilometers wide. The hole seemed bottomless, an empty passage leading deep into the surface of the celestial body.


    Off to the side, James tilted his head in confusion. Wasn¡¯t he just fixing the moon? Why did it suddenly have another hole in it¡­? Do I have to get another meteor?


    The researcher wasn¡¯t entirely sure what the ursa was up to, but knew that it wasn¡¯t a good idea to interrupt him while he was working. Regardless of the oue, he was still creating a moon just as James had asked. It was a giant rock orbiting around the that would allow the world to maintain its ecosystem. Unless this giant hole was the sign of a thruster that would carry the moon away, he had nothing to worry about.


    After over half an hour of steadily draining his divine reserves, Kiria was left with just under half of what he had started with. Nheless, he was confident that he had created a true masterpiece, something that would be an icon of faith towards him. He turned to look at his customer, nodding his head to signal that he was ready to return.


    By the time he noticed that they had moved, they were already back on the surface of Deckan, with a small kitsune girl running up to him. ¡°Okay, what¡¯s the big deal? Why is there still a hole in the moon?¡± Sheined indignantly. ¡°And why¡¯s it glowing blue now?¡±


    Although the patches of blue light did not surround the entire moon when viewed up close, they mixed with the light reflected by the surface of the moon to give it a light blue appearance from the surface of Deckan. Like this, it almost blended in with the clear skies of the world, but would stand out even more in the dark of night.


    Kiria grinned at her questions, not at all offended by her attitude. ¡°I call it the Lunar Gate!¡± He proimed, naming his newest creation. ¡°I¡¯ll give you the mana frequency to operate it. Once it¡¯s charged up enough mana that it stops glowing, you can activate it.¡±


    ¡°Lunar¡­ gate¡­?¡± The smaller kitsune blinked, processing his words. ¡°You made it into a giant warp device?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Kiria admitted. ¡°If you use the mana frequency I give you, and transmit a set of coordinates through the arrays, it¡¯ll open a gate to your target destination. Just a warning, though, once the internal energy is depleted to the point where it begins glowing again, I¡¯d say you would have¡­ oh, about ten seconds to get to the other side before power runs out. And you don¡¯t want power to run out when you¡¯re halfway between dimensional spaces.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s my one-way gate to nowhere and everywhere.¡± Although he had never been one for space travel himself, he was familiar with the mechanics behind it. Or at least, the theory of them. His domain helped him to fill in a lot of the gaps for any missing knowledge, supplementing it from other areas in simr ways to his Archive of the Craftsman.


    In an age where space exploration and travel was bing more and more rampant, a gate such as this would be incredibly useful. Not only would it allow ships to reach a far-off starting point for their journeys, or even directly reach their destination, it would also allow rescue vessels to offer timely aid when used in conjunction with the smaller gates installed on each ship.


    With this gate, he had turned Deckan into the unofficial hub for space travel, whether he had intended to or not. ¡°Does it allow transfer to other realms?¡± Chel asked, looking to explore the possibilities behind this new gate.


    Kiria chuckled, scratching the back of his head with arge hand. ¡°It epts the same format of coordinates as a high-level teleport spell. But given the properties of dimensium, I figure that it should bepatible with that, as well?¡±


    Chel nodded her head again at that, while James spoke up to posit a question. ¡°How long does it take to build up its charge?¡±


    ¡°That, I can¡¯t tell you.¡± He shook his head, shrugging his shoulders helplessly. ¡°It¡¯s my first time converting sr energy to mana on a scale like this. There¡¯s an umtor array and a refinement loop in the gate as well. Any ambient mana, like that produced from the sr gatherers, will be captured by the umtor.¡±


    ¡°Once it hits a certain charge, it¡¯ll begin to feed into the refinement arrays to form solid mana, which is stored in a separate dimensium space tied to the gate¡¯s function. So once the moon starts glowing blue again, that¡¯ll mean that the solid mana has been used up, and it¡¯s back to the basic umtor.¡±


    Chel nodded her head as she thought about that. It would take a lot of energy to power a gate that wide, so this couldn¡¯t be used as a casual method of travel. At the same time, the Metong warp devices used a simr mechanic to teleport their ships across vast distances through the use of runic coordinates. Although they were still in the process of perfecting interdimensional warp without the need of dedicated gates, that could be seen as something that woulde in the future.


    ¡°What¡¯s the minimum runtime for a single activation?¡± She asked, running some calctions through her head.


    Kiria blinked, thinking it over. ¡°It¡¯ll take about fifteen seconds to activate the dimensium rings, and they¡¯llst ten seconds after the power is cut off. That¡¯s why you¡¯ve only got the ten second window after the umtors activate again.¡±


    Chel gave another nod at his answer. Fifteen seconds was neither too long nor too short. It gave enough time for a crew to prepare for transfer, or to activate an automated payload. Ten seconds¡­ a ship would need to be moving fairly quickly to get through the gate in that time, considering how they were moving through a gravity well.


    Thankfully, the moon didn¡¯t have an atmosphere to slow them down. And even if it did¡­ well, it certainly wouldn¡¯t after being sted apart like it was. ¡°Haah¡­ at this rate, you might be a new God of the Moon. At least, unofficially.¡±


    The world did not currently have a faith system that would promote people to godhood based on the faith of the people. Although faith enhanced a deity¡¯s divinity, it would never grant them a new domain. Not unless the Keeper purchased a system for such.


    ¡°Huh, that wouldn¡¯t be too bad.¡± Kiriaughed boisterously, tilting his head back as he pped his hands on his waist. ¡°Anyways, I think that¡¯s my work here done, right?¡± He asked once hisughter had subsided, producing a small crystal and tossing it to James. ¡°The mana frequency to control the gate.¡±


    James caught the crystal delicately, as if afraid that he might break it by ident. To do so would mean that this had been for nothing, and that the hole in the moon was little more than a decorative piece. That was not something he was particrly keen on happening.

 Chapter 652: Storage

    <h4>Chapter 652: Storage</h4>


    There was a resounding crash as a giant, metallic head fell to the ground, causing tremors to ring out in the surrounding area. The impact had directly shattered three buildings that were unlucky enough to be in the path of its descent, and hundreds of clockwork golems had been crushed. Columns of me rose into the sky, signifying the destruction of these precious forges.


    This head naturally belonged to the sovereign of the golems, who had previously attacked the world of Deckan. In order to avoid destruction, he had made the decision to escape back to his original homeworld, the world of the Gears. So as to not arouse suspicion from Lord Geer, he had even discarded his entire body, returning with his head.


    Granted, even if he was only a head now as he had been when he left, that head was hundreds of timesrger than it had been. The buildings that would once house him had been directly crushed under his weight.


    ¡°Who dares?¡± A solemn voice spoke, echoing through the air as golden light fell across the district. The surviving golems, who had previously been fleeing from the crash site, all prostrated themselves on the ground, not daring to look up.


    The person that appeared was a sleek, golden golem. His jagged moving parts had been reshaped, entirely hidden within what appeared to be a smooth casing. Furthermore, he gave off a presence that was entirely differentpared to thest time that the head had seen him.


    ¡°Lord¡­ Lord Geer.¡± The dual-toned voice of the former Head of Research spoke, seeming to tremble. ¡°I have failed you¡­¡±


    It was only natural that he had no intention of revealing his n to rebel. To do so at this point would simply be suicide. Not only had he seen the truebat prowess of those who had stepped into divinity, but he no longer even had the army he had been nning to rely upon.


    It took a moment for the golden golem to recognize the head, at which point its peerless might seemed to fade away. ¡°Head, what are you doing here?¡± He asked in a grave tone. ¡°Did your expedition encounter unexpected difficulties?¡±


    Lord Geer knew that the Head had never sent back any resources that he may have found on the other side of the dimensional fissure in the years that he had been gone. Thus, he had long since suspected that the head had either perished or betrayed his ruler. Now, seeing him arrive in such a pitiful state, he was not entirely sure what to make of it.


    ¡°Destroyed¡­ everything was destroyed.¡± The head spoke, its voice shaking with static. ¡°A group of gods descended on our outpost, Lord Geer. They rained darkness, arrows, and des until we were reduced to scrap. I had no choice but to flee¡­¡±


    Lord Geer shook his head, a low rumbling echoing within his frame. ¡°No need to exin, I¡¯ll take a look for myself and gauge the strength of our enemies.¡± As he said that, he extended his hand towards the head, whose eyes flickered with disbelief.


    ¡°What? You¡¯ll see? But how?¡±


    ¡°As the God of Storage, it is only natural for me to be able to read the memories of another by looking into where they are stored.¡± As he said that, his divine power soundlessly invaded the head. Of course¡­ the Storage domain was far removed from the Conquest domain he originally wanted. Yet, at the moment of his ascension, it had been Storage that was imprinted on his divine will, forcing him to make the most of his new power.


    ¡°No, no, that is unnecessary.¡± The head began to panic, realizing that its memory was being read at that very moment. As soon as Lord Geer realized the truth of what happened, there would no longer be any hope for him to escape.


    Forced into a corner, the head mobilized his mana to prepare casting fourth-tier magic. He hoped to destroy the god before him in a single moment, without giving him time to fight back. The head¡¯s eyes shed silver, a beam of energy shooting out which caused the air to tremble. It directly struck Lord Geer¡¯s body, making the head shake with excitement.


    Yet, as the light sank into his body, the spell it contained did not activate. This was a god-ying spell that it had devised, one that would activate on contact with a divine body, at which point it should have erupted and scattered their divinity. Instead, several seconds passed by in which nothing happened.


    ¡°Hmm?¡± Lord Geer was brought out of his intense focus, looking towards the head, as if he had truly not noticed the attack. In fact, he really didn¡¯t notice it, as the spell had triggered an automatic ability that Geer had set up long in advance. Defensive Storage was a power which automatically absorbed any energy being directed towards Geer, setting it aside in an independent space and suspended in time for him to analyze and determine what to do with it.


    ¡°You lied to me, head.¡± His voice was cold, having read through thest few days of the head¡¯s memories. ¡°And you nned to eliminate me when you returned?¡±


    ¡°But¡­ how did you¡­ you should have been in¡­¡± Geer was confused when he heard the head¡¯s answer, and only then noticed a small dip in his divine energy. After investigating his storage spaces, he found a malicious beam in suspended animation. Geer could feel a sense of dangering from this beam, and immediately lifted his hand to release it into the air above him.


    ¡°I see¡­ your ambitions truly are beyond my imagining.¡± Lord Geer spoke in a disappointed tone. The head had been a rather valued aide in the past. However, he seemed to have let his ambitions and his ego get the best of him. ¡°As punishment, I shall take half of your being.¡±


    With a wave of his hand, the red vanished from the head¡¯s eyes. Within the golem¡¯s mental space, the red wisp had simrly vanished. All that was left at this point was the serene, blue wisp, which was reflected in its voice. ¡°What¡­ what did you do to me, Lord?¡±


    ¡°I have stored away your arrogance and violent thoughts.¡± Lord Geer spoke as he turned around, no longer paying much attention to the head of research. Now that half of his mind was gone, it remained to be seen whether this golem would fall in line or continue his rebellious actions. If he did continue to rebel, it would not be difficult for Geer to kill him. ¡°Work hard to improve the race, and do not disappoint me again.¡±


    After saying that, Geer¡¯s figure faded away, returning to the clockwork pce erected at the heart of this world¡¯s civilization. Once he returned, he began reviewing what he had learned from the head¡¯s memories. While the nature of his defeat had been a total fabrication, there was some truth within the details.


    ¡°So, there are other gods within that dimension¡­ and they are capable of such power.¡± When Lord Geer recalled the scene in the head¡¯s memory of the ck sphere of destion, he could not help but tremble. The head had understood what the sphere did, and naturally that understanding was transferred to Lord Geer. It was not a power that added a dangerous element to something, but rather one that removed a necessary element to survive.


    If he still had a physical body, he was certain that he would be unable to survive under that ck sphere¡¯s power. However, now that his body no longer had to abide by physical constraints, he was confident that he could withstand it. The problem was that he knew he would be the only thing left standing after it passed, no matter how many of his people went with him.


    It was truly not worth it to attack such a world, not unless they had several more gods on their side. Sadly, there had been few golems that had the potential to reach godhood within the Gears. And those who had¡­ Lord Geer would not allow his rule to be challenged. Should a god be born with a more powerful domain than himself, it would not be difficult for them to depose him.


    ¡°It looks like I¡¯ll need to set up a new n to deal with them, should they arrive here.¡± He muttered to himself, shaking his head as he sat upon his throne.


    Within a distant, uncharted world adrift in the void, a young kitsune gasped as he opened his eyes. Light began to flow from his body, which he forcefully contained within himself, unwilling to let it spread too far for fear that it might not return.


    This man was Sinir Song, the lost traveler. In the many years since he had left the world, he had undergone a vast change. He had spent considerable time and resources in order to boost his divinity to the next stage, in which his entire body had be a container for his power. At that point, he had believed that he would be able to return home with ease, only to find that his transfers between worlds was still uncontrolled.


    He was not yet the true God of the Lost, so he had been unable to take that final journey home. However, at the very least, he could prevent himself from traveling elsewhere for as long as he pleased.


    Once he found a safe world, he spent months there, measuring the growth of his divinity. At that point, he had no believers, nobody even knew who he was anymore. It was only natural that the growth of his power was far slower than any other mortal god he knew of. Furthermore, he had yet to truly ascend, which he suspected had been a factor in his power¡¯s growth.


    As such, he had two options in front of him. One way or the other, he needed to finish his ascension. After that, he could either continue hopping between worlds to find his own little corner of civilization to rule, or return home where he would simply be one of the gods walking the.


    And given how long it had been, at least from his perspective, there could be millions of gods on Deckan that he had never met. Really, he wanted to choose to find his own world to rule. Doing so would give him a stable growth of power without needing to worry about other threats trying to eliminate him.


    Ultimately, what swayed his decision was his desire to simply see home again. It had been so long since hended in a familiar world, he longed for thefort that being around people simr to himself could provide.


    Thus, he chose to ascend, bing the true God of the Lost. When he awoke, he probed at his power, feeling that it now seemed far moreplete than it had been before. Nervous, he decided to tap into that power. ¡°I wish to return¡­¡±


    A sh of light surrounded him, one that could not have been any more familiar at this point. And when it faded, Sinir found himself in a dense forest, one that seemed far removed from any signs of civilization. Just as he was preparing to look for a safe ce to stay and set up camp, he heard the distant sound of a bow being fired, and the cry of an animal that had been in.


    At least there are people in the area. He thought to himself, before turning to walk in that direction. It took him about three minutes to find the source of the noise, a young kitsune woman with brte hair. She had a bow strapped to her back, and was collecting the cards of a fallen boar.


    When Sinir saw this, he was shocked. It had been years¡­ decades maybe since he hadst seen another kitsune. As for someone being able to retrieve cards from a corpse? He had yet to find another world which shared that train in all of his travels.


    He ran up to the girl, startling her as he grabbed her by the shoulders. ¡°Miss, can you tell me what the name of this world is?¡±

 Chapter 653: Getting Lost

    <h4>Chapter 653: Getting Lost</h4>


    ¡°T-This is Deckan, sir. Is everything okay?¡± The young girl responded to his question, startled by his sudden appearance. She could feel a sense of strength from the man, but had no clue as to his identity. However, she did not find his question to be¡­ too odd.


    There were some rumors that strong enough magic could lead to crossing between worlds, though she had never had any contact with that herself. She was a simple hunter from a distant region, far removed from the capital. The only magic she had ever seen people actively using was the native magic of Deckan.


    ¡°Then, who sits upon the throne of Deckan?¡± When he left this world, the throne was still under contention. He wanted to know the oue of that feud, and also use this to try and gauge how much time had passed since he disappeared.


    This time, the man¡¯s question definitely struck her as odd. No matter what world you were from, you must know of the God-Queen Udona, right? It should have been a huge deal no matter where you were from. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ Udona, sir?¡±


    A tremor ran through Sinir¡¯s body as he heard that. For the Goddess herself to have taken the throne, just how much time must have passed? He was just about to ask what year it was when the girl retrieved a card from her jacket and activated it. With these two questions of his, she seemed certain that he was some kind of madman, and that feeling of strength she felt from him gave her a sense of danger.


    Thus, she used her teleportation card to quickly return to town. It was a pity that she couldn¡¯t continue her hunt, but she had to prioritize her own safety first. Besides, she had already met the day¡¯s quota for hunting, so she wouldn¡¯t be med even if she teleported back.


    Seeing the girl vanish from in front of him, Sinir let out a helpless sigh. However, he soon heard a faintughter echoing throughout the forest, like that of a young child. Ever-vignt, he observed his surroundings, unsure if he had provoked some sort of monster with his presence.


    He had seen many things in his travels, from mischievous pixies to hungering spirits that lured in travelers. Many of those things he had almost fallen prey to, narrowly escaping with the use of his random teleports. Thus, when he heard theugh of a child, it was more harrowing to him than the roar of a giant beast.


    ¡°I was just in the middle of a game, but I had to check this out.¡± A light voice spoke up from above him, and Sinir lifted his head to see a pink-haired halfling sitting on a branch more than a dozen meters away. ¡°The lost traveler finally made his way back home? And¡­ it looks like he returned as a god, even. When alia told me about that, I had to see for myself.¡±


    ¡°You are¡­ the Goddess of Love, Aurivy?¡± Sinir gulped, seeing one of the ¡®old gods¡¯ in the flesh for the first time. Although he was not particrly a worshipper of the halfling goddess, he still knew what she looked like, as her statue was present in many temples before he left.


    ¡°I¡¯m the Goddess of Travel too, you know!¡± Aurivy puffed her cheeks out as she said that. ¡°I could totally be considered your boss, in a way.¡±


    In fact, Aurivy had long taken an interest in Sinir, paying special attention to his travels. Had he ever prayed to her, she was even prepared to send him back to Deckan for a while. Yet, Sinir was an ardent follower of a single goddess, Udona. The thought of worshipping other gods or goddesses for special benefits never even crossed his mind.


    ¡°I¡­ I see.¡± Sinir cleared his throat. ¡°Is there something that I can help you with, Lady Aurivy?¡±


    ¡°Actually, that¡¯s what I was going to ask you.¡± Aurivy smiled down towards Sinir. ¡°You¡¯ve been gone a very long time¡­ though not quite as long as you think, at least not on this side of things. There aren¡¯t many people in this day and age that remember you, aside from those who see your name on old research papers.¡±


    ¡°So, I want to ask you, what do you intend to do? Our new God of the Lost, will you enter society once more, or will you continue your journey?¡± Sinir could see the mirth in Aurivy¡¯s gaze, but her words made him fall into thought.


    ¡°How many gods are there in Deckan now¡­?¡± He asked, curious to see if he would even be weed back.


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Aurivy closed her eyes, seeming to consider that. ¡°At the current moment, there are¡­ eighteen, including the two of us. Ah, seventeen now, it seems Thessa went back home.¡±


    Sinir gulped, feeling that was a lot less than expected, but not so little that he would be ostracized for his divinity. However, as he thought about that, Aurivy¡¯s eyes opened in surprise, and she looked down at Sinir. ¡°Wait¡­ that¡¯s not right. Your powers should be restrained right now. I¡¯ll be right back, don¡¯t go anywhere!¡±


    Sinir was about to speak up when Aurivy vanished from the branch, leaving him alone in the forest. He could only let out a sigh, standing around and waiting. When a Greater Goddess tells you not to move, you nt your feet and stay exactly where you are.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s embarrassing.¡± Aurivy spoke up again, roughly thirty secondster as she appeared standing next to Sinir. ¡°It looks like the Divine Registry was destroyed in the recent attack. At least the one used for this world.¡±


    ¡°Attack?¡± Sinir looked over towards the halfling goddess, a look of concern on his face.


    ¡°That¡¯s right, some gctic empire showed up wanting to wipe out the. But, it¡¯s fine, they were taken care of by a few gods, and you even got a brand new awesome moon out of it!¡±


    Sinir¡¯s brow twitched at what he was hearing, unsure of how to process it. ¡°The Divine Registry¡­ that was the system that limited the power of unregistered gods?¡±


    Aurivy nodded her head approvingly. ¡°That¡¯s right. Though, at this point I should probably tell Tsubaki to take it offline. More and more of you are starting to crop up, and there are too manys in the realms to monitor all of them properly. Not to mention Fyor. If any god really wanted to hide, they could just escape into space before their ascension, or run to Fyor.¡±


    ¡°Why are you telling me all of this?¡± He wondered curiously, finding the goddess incredibly talkative.


    ¡°Hmm? Oh! Right, I came to ask about your choice. I¡¯ve got to get back to my game soon, before she starts cheating. So, what will it be? Want me to send you back to the city?¡±


    Sinir thought it over, before shaking his head. ¡°I¡¯d like to make my way there on my own, if that¡¯s alright.¡±


    Aurivy, who he thought would be disappointed by his denial, simply grinned. ¡°Now you¡¯re starting to act like the God of the Lost.¡± She said as her body began fading away. ¡°The only real way to have a journey is to get lost, and see where you end up.¡±


    Far away in another world, Aurivy¡¯s body faded back into being, sitting on the floor in front of a small table. Sitting across from her was a certain elven woman, and a deck of cards wasid between them. Aurivy grabbed her own cards, lifting them up to look at them before letting out a gasp. ¡°You cheater!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about.¡± Julia nced off to the side innocently, clearing her throat. ¡°So, did he take the offer?¡±


    ¡°Nope!¡± Aurivy said with a grin, not really caring about how her cards had been swapped. ¡°That just makes it more interesting.¡±


    Julia nodded her head, her lips tugging slightly. ¡°Hey, ¡®Rivy?¡± She asked, looking the goddess in the face.


    ¡°Hmm?¡± Aurivy looked up, surprised that Julia didn¡¯t want to continue their game now that she was back. Or maybe she was just feeling guilty about cheating, and wanted to apologize!?


    ¡°I¡¯ve decided¡­ I¡¯ll be your subordinate.¡± Julia spoke in a soft tone, and Aurivy let out a gasp. Her grip on her cards loosened, and they fell to the ground.


    ¡°Wait, really!? You mean it!?¡± Julia had long since achieved the Perfect Self, so neither of them were worried about outliving the other. Still, Aurivy had always hoped that Julia would eventually be a goddess. Not necessarily a subordinate goddess to Aurivy herself, but just a goddess capable of standing against the dangers that were growing in the world every day.


    Julia nodded her head, her smile growing. ¡°There are so many new gods being born, and you keep going to check on the interesting ones¡­ I¡¯ve got to make sure I can keep my spot as your bestie, right?¡±


    Aurivy lunged across the table, tackling Julia into a hug. ¡°You¡¯ll always be my best friend, goddess or not!¡± She dered. ¡°I don¡¯t want you to make this decision just because of that.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± Juliaughed, lightly flicking Aurivy on the forehead. ¡°But still, I thought it was time. I¡¯ve even thought of the domain that I want, if you can help guide me that way?¡±


    Aurivy nodded her head quickly, knowing that she could put in a word with alia to make sure that Julia got the domain she wanted. ¡°Of course, what is it?¡±


    ¡°Wood.¡± Julia smiled, having given it quite a bit of thought. ¡°I¡¯d like to be the Goddess of Wood. Then, once I¡¯ve ascended, we can go on a trip. Wherever you¡¯d like.¡±


    Aurivy gasped, nodding quickly again. ¡°Okay¡­ then, there¡¯s something I want to give you.¡± She hadn¡¯t expected her friend to decide to be an elemental goddess. But now that she was, it was time to unveil a project that she had been working on for quite a while.


    Julia looked at Aurivy curiously, thetter waving her hand and producing a green seed, one which seemed to radiate elemental power. When Julia saw it, her eyes went wide in recognition. ¡°Wait, isn¡¯t that¡­¡±


    ¡°The purest wood element in Natural Seed.¡± Aurivy nodded her head. ¡°The Eternal Wood Seed.¡±


    ¡°But that¡¯s an item from a game¡­ even you can¡¯t bring things out from the games, you said that yourself.¡± Julia stared at the seed Aurivy was holding, disbelief written across her face.


    ¡°I can¡¯t¡­¡± Aurivy agreed, passing the seed to Julia. ¡°But I can figure out how they work, and then make them in the real world. If you assimte this seed with your mana and ki, it should have the same effects as using it in the game. I¡¯ve already tested a few others myself, so there shouldn¡¯t be any problems.¡±


    Julia took the seed, able to feel the familiar power within it. In the past, she and Aurivy had spent months in the game, traversing through the depths of a flourishing jungle and fighting all manner of nt-type monsters in order to find this seed. It had been given to Julia at that time, as well. As such, she could not be any more familiar with its feeling.


    ¡°A seed that can only grow in the heart of a tree which has existed within a ten thousand year forest.¡± Julia muttered to herself. ¡°How could such a thing be made in reality?¡±


    Aurivy stuck her tongue out yfully. ¡°You just have to figure out how the different elements interact to produce the seed. I¡¯ve learned the production methods for a few different ones. If you had asked to be the Goddess of Darkness, I might have run into some more trouble¡­ Ash hasn¡¯t been able to help me figure that one out yet. So, are you going to use it or not?¡±


    Julia nodded her head, drawing the seed closer to her heart. At the same time, she reached out towards it with her energy. Her ki and mana stretched out, each one touching the energy released by the seed as it sank into her body.


    You have assimted the Eternal Wood Seed!


    From now on, you may choose to have your spells or ki abilities carry the effects of ¡®Eternal Wood¡¯.

 Chapter 654: Planting the Seed

    <h4>Chapter 654: nting the Seed</h4>


    I felt my eye twitch when I saw what Aurivy had given to her friend. I was not aware that she had managed to replicate the elemental seeds from the game in the real world. Of course, I knew that she was working on something along those lines ever since a while back, because she wanted to be prepared to counter abilities simr to it.


    Something you forgot to mention, Aurivy? I asked mentally, receiving an almost sheepish giggle in response.


    Heheh, you saw that, huh? She spoke back after a moment, though I could see that her happiness with her friend had not dipped.


    I did. Figured that would be something you would want to bring to me when you had it finished.


    I saw the Aurivy within the world give a faint shrug at that, unnoticed by Julia. If it was viable for mass production, or something that would really improve your powers, maybe. But it seemed kind of unimportant for you as a Keeper, and it isn¡¯t at all easy to make these. At least, not the good ones.


    That caught me by surprise. Given her enthusiasm for creating new items like this, I thought she would have found a way to create them en masse. What makes it so difficult? Couldn¡¯t you bring it to James as a new research project?


    He¡¯s been working on that Perfect Soul machine, and then this new issue with the Gears. There hasn¡¯t been a chance to bring it up. Give me just a second, and I¡¯ll go show you what¡¯s special about this stuff.


    I gave a small nod, deciding to wait. It was only a few minutester when Aurivy walked into the living room to sit down next to me, lightly stretching. ¡°Sorry, easier to talk about it like this.¡± She said with a grin.


    ¡°Understandable. You said that you wanted to show me something?¡±


    Aurivy nodded at that, looking towards the television in focus. ¡°Right¡­ Let me just turn back the clock a little bit to show you the creation process. The Pearl of the Deep should be a proper demonstration, I think. It¡¯s one of the easier ones to make, because the environment it requires is just a deep seabed.¡±


    The television flickered, soon showing an image of Aurivy sitting cross-legged at the bottom of a dark ocean. Unsurprisingly, there did not seem to be any underwater monsters that were willing to approach the goddess, giving her ample time to do her work.


    ¡°Now¡­ in the game, these things form on their own, they¡¯re just a natural way for energy to take shape. Even if we replicate the environment perfectly, the seeds won¡¯t appear in the real world. It took me a while to study the difference between our energy systems to find the cause, and I even had to get the help of the world spirits for the first few tests.¡±


    Sitting next to her, I patiently waited while she continued her exnation. ¡°See, the problem is the natural energy itself. In Natural Seed, the natural energy of the world has a very faint resonance with spiritual energy. This resonance makes the strands of natural energy bind together in the right environments.¡±


    ¡°I had to slightly modify the natural energy around me, and gradually control it toe together to form the seed I wanted.¡± The view on the television fast-forwarded, the fish swimming in the distance the only real indicator of how fast things were moving. Eventually, blue strands of light began to emerge in the water around Aurivy,ing together in front of her.


    After a while, these strands intertwined to form a shining pearl, one that gave off a faint blue glow. This energy appeared to draw the attention of several monsters, who decided that it was worth offending such a powerful existence if it meant getting that pearl. However, before they were able to close in on her, she had snatched the item and disappeared.


    ¡°Once the seed¡¯s formed, it bes a solid object that actively draws in the necessary energy to sustain itself. Sort of like an external energy core. It doesn¡¯t have any real significance beyond that until someone absorbs it. For someone like you¡­ this thing might as well be a poison.¡± Aurivy shook her head when she said that.


    ¡°Each person can only absorb one seed at a time, and doing so overrides their elemental ki. Unless you found a single seed that contained the elements of fire, water, earth, and wind, you would lose ess to most of your powers from your Ki of Beginning. That¡¯s why I never brought it up to you, because it wouldn¡¯t be able to help you improve.¡±


    ¡°For those that do absorb it, however, it is able to grant their mana and ki the properties of the seed itself. The pearl is simple, it is your basic water-element seed containing the power of the ocean. It¡¯ll amplify water-based effects, but won¡¯t otherwise be much help.¡±


    ¡°The seed I gave Julia¡¯s different.¡± Aurivy said with a small smile. ¡°It has the property of Eternal Wood. This is a type of spiritual wood that has exceptional hardness and self-healing powers. A tree containing the Eternal Wood Seed is almost impossible to cut down, because it regenerates faster than most weapons can damage it.¡±


    Thinking about that, I nodded my head. ¡°For someone training to be the Goddess of Wood, that will definitelye in handy.¡± While it was disappointing that I couldn¡¯t use these seeds myself, there wasn¡¯t much that could be done about it for the moment.


    ¡°Right?¡± Aurivy grinned yfully. ¡°And I want to see if I can help her unlock a two-word domain. Wouldn¡¯t that be interesting?¡±


    I blinked at that, ncing at the halfling. ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Well, all domains so far are just one word, right? But now, she has Eternal Wood as an innate property while going into the Wood domain. I was just thinking¡­ maybe thebination would let her awaken a domain like Eternal Wood. If it does, she¡¯ll be even stronger, and if it doesn¡¯t, she¡¯ll still have the benefits of the seed I gave her. Either way, it¡¯s a win, right?¡±


    Looking back towards the screen, I couldn¡¯t help but think about that. A two word domain¡­ it seemed like it would limit the scope of a god¡¯s power more than enhance it. After all, a Goddess of Wood could still tap into the power of Eternal Wood, as long as they understood it as a concept rted to their domain.


    Which meant¡­ ¡°You are hoping that a two-word domain would count as two domains¡­ Eternal, and Wood.¡± As long as I assume she didn¡¯t want to restrict her friend like that, this was the only thing I could think of.


    ¡°It¡¯d be nice, at least!¡± Aurivy didn¡¯t refute my im, though I highly doubted that it would work like that. In order to cultivate multiple domains, you typically had to cultivate to godhood with different systems. Though, that made me think¡­ what would cultivating divinity in a technology civilization be like, if they didn¡¯t go the route of energy cultivation?


    I knew that divinity for an artificial intelligence meant finding the ¡®divine code¡¯, so was there perhaps a divine gene or medicine that could be used for a technology-based civilization? ¡°I doubt it will work like that, but it¡¯s at least worth the attempt.¡±


    As I said that, I opened the market. There were still a lot of points left over from my recent invasion, so I was curious to see if what I wanted was avable. Opening up the information section, I narrowed my search and found three items.


    These three items were ¡®guides to divine ascension¡¯, and were priced at five thousand points, fifty thousand points, and five hundred thousand points. There were naturally other guides as well, but those only covered specific types of ascension.


    That¡¯s right, these three guides were set to cover a wide range, depending on their prices. For the first one at five thousand points, it described all of the mon¡¯ types of divine ascension avable in the purchaser¡¯s world. However, it specified in its product description that it did not include any detailed steps to achieve the ascension.


    The second type, which was ten times as expensive, had far more information. Not only did it include descriptions for ¡®umon¡¯ ascension types, but it also included the detailed steps for the types present in the first tier. Clearly, this would be the most popr product for those that could afford it.


    However, the third type was still far more attractive. Looking at the pattern, it was rather easy to guess what it included. ¡®Rare¡¯ ascension types were described in this item, and the detailed steps for the first two tiers were included as well. I didn¡¯t know if there would be a fourth tier that included detailed steps for the rare ascension types avable after I ranked up further as a Keeper, but this was still already a lot.


    Honestly, I was tempted to buy the fifty-thousand variety. If I did, I¡¯d be able to learn new ways of ascending that I likely never thought of. For instance¡­ how does a monster receive their divinity normally? Certainly, most monster gods don¡¯t go step-by-step through the standard ascension process, do they?


    Shaking my head, I decided that that was too much of an expenditure for something I would likely not disseminate to the masses. They already had a solid foundation for how to build their divinity, so it was unlikely that they would care much for the ¡®unorthodox¡¯ methods.


    As such, I purchased the five-thousand point variant. While it may not include detailed steps, it would serve as a suitable starting point for me to base my conjecture on. Who knows, there might be a method I decide to investigate furtherter on?


    Not wanting to disturb Aurivy, I directed the new product to be sent straight towards my room. Then, I looked over at a smiling halfling. ¡°You totally just bought something.¡± She said in a knowing tone. ¡°Come on, tell me? Was it the mass-production methods for the seeds?¡±


    ¡°Huh? Oh, no¡­¡± Though, that would be nice to learn as well. Still, I¡¯d rather leave that to the researchers of my world to figure out. ¡°I was thinking about different types of divinity, so I bought a small guide listingmon types.¡±


    ¡°Aww¡­ still, that¡¯s pretty neat!¡± Aurivy perked up after hearing what I had to say. ¡°But yeah, I can give you a list of the seeds I¡¯ve learned how to make. I¡¯ve figured out the tricks for most different types of elements. The ones I¡¯m failing with right now are light, darkness, and poison. Aside from that, I can make pretty much any type of seed, as long as I can find an environment able to support it.¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± I nodded with a smile, reaching over to stroke her hair. ¡°Even if I can¡¯t use them, I could try giving some to trustworthy people. Though, I imagine you have still been working on a way to counter them as well, right?¡±


    Aurivy nodded her head quickly. ¡°Of course! Actually, countering them isn¡¯t all that much of a problem. Aside from some really rare cases, normal magic or ki restraints work on them. Only some special seeds like the ¡®Restriction Burning me¡¯, or the ¡®Millenium Frost¡¯ are able to disrupt magical bindings.¡±


    ¡°¡­There are a lot of seeds you¡¯ve studied, aren¡¯t there?¡± I blinked, looking at the halfling. Aurivy stuck her chest out proudly, her head nodding.


    ¡°That¡¯s right! I take my work really seriously, you know! I have over ny thousand hours in Natural Seed!¡± When I heard that, my eyes went wide, and I couldn¡¯t help but exim.


    ¡°What, did you stay logged in for a year straight?!¡± At my usation, Aurivy had a somewhat sheepish smile, ncing off to the side.


    ¡°Ten, actually¡­¡±

 Chapter 655: Gate’s Rise

    <h4>Chapter 655: Gate¡¯s Rise</h4>


    Once Aurivy left the room, I decided to check on the information that I had just purchased. Sadly, it wouldn¡¯t give me any detailed steps, but it was still nice to know what the options were for ascending to godhood. And who knows? Maybe this information will help me in the future.


    On my desk, the glistening blue orb sat waiting to be used. Naturally, I walked over to grab it. As I did so, I felt a stream of information flowing into my mind. Closing my eyes, I moved to sit down on the bed, processing the information that I was being given by the blue orb.


    ¡°Found it!¡± Petra shouted, reaching down to knock on the aircraft she was riding on top of. With her signal, the aircraft¡¯s engines turned, halting their momentum and allowing them to hover in the air. Presently, they were five hundred kilometers in the air, and yet the ceiling of thisyer seemed so far away that they could not properly make out any details.


    The hatch on the top of the aircraft opened up, a human mage poking his head out. ¡°Did you find something? Or do you need a break?¡± He asked, knowing that it was too much for anyone to just stay up there the entire time, constantly on guard against attacks while surveying the surroundings.


    Petra, however, simply grinned. ¡°Let the others know that I found it. We got lucky, Norm, and it¡¯s pretty close to our first path.¡± As she said that, the demonic youth lifted the hatch to let herself into the aircraft.


    The pilot, a dovah, turned his head to look at her when she hopped down. Although this vessel was meant to hold up to a dozen people, it still felt cramped when they were forced to stay in the same space for so long. Thus, he was rather excited when he heard Petra¡¯s voice with his sharp hearing. ¡°Where are wending, boss?¡±


    Petra walked over to the co-pilot seat, nting herself down in it and pulling up the terminal. ¡°Coordinates are three hundred and sixty kilometers off to our northwest. Looks like it¡¯s hidden in the foliage, but my minimap picked it up easily enough.¡±


    There was a sharp intake of air from the others when they heard that. If the minimap system hadn¡¯t been introduced, they felt as if they would have missed it entirely. Granted, without that update, they would still be traversing hundreds of thousands of kilometers on foot.


    ¡°I¡¯ll set us down over there, then.¡± The pilot nodded his head, clearly relieved to receive a break. Despite being such a high level pilot, he still had limits to his energy. Even if Petra was able to stay on the roof of the aircraft, he had long ago run out of essence. By now, he was doing his best to alternate between his own personal energy reserves and a few batteries that he had brought. After a few more days, they would have had to make a supply run back to town, in order to get more fuel.


    ¡°Are there any enemies in the area?¡± The mage from before spoke up, one hand reaching out to grab a staff leaning against the wall.


    ¡°Not that I saw on my minimap. But, when we get closer, I¡¯ll clear anding site for us. Marly, can you make the connection and head back to town to let everyone know?¡± Petra asked, sending a gentle smile towards the follower of Aurivy, a young halfling woman.


    ¡°Of course.¡± Marly nodded her head assuredly. ¡°As long as you can get me safely to Gate¡¯s Rise, getting there and back again is a piece of cake!¡±


    Petra was d to hear that, taking a deep breath before walking back to the hatch. She could see that the airship was closing in on the coordinates she gave. ¡°Then, I¡¯ll go ahead and clear the way for us. There aren¡¯t any skyscraping mountains near here, so the bugs above shouldn¡¯t drop. Still, don¡¯t get careless.¡±


    After saying that, she jumped back out of the ship, walking over to the ledge. With how extreme the gravity was in this floor of Fyor, her wings were all but useless, unable to even allow her to glide properly. So, she didn¡¯t. She walked off the ledge, her body entering freefall.


    Those still in the ship held their breath when they saw this. Were they in any other world, a max-level berserker like Petra may truly be able to survive a five hundred kilometer drop with just her physical body. It wouldn¡¯t be easy to do so, but it was possible.


    However, they were now in a world where the gravity was drastically higher. She shot like a bullet towards the ground, her wings wrapped tight around her shoulders. Her eyes were serious, staring ahead as she dug her fingernails into her palm, releasing thin lines of blood.


    Turning, she waved her hands wildly at the trees below her, causing crimson arcs of energy tosh out from her palms. Petra did not fear colliding with the ground at this speed. Rather, what she feared was hitting a stray branch on the way down. Thus, she had to remove those branches from her path before they became a problem.


    When she did hit the ground, there was no sound of a crash, no scattering of dust. No, she simply sank into the shadow created by her own body, soundlessly disappearing. A momentter, she rose carrying her massive axe that she kept stored in her shadow.


    Thanks to the adrenaline from the fall, Petra had a maddening grin on her face. She hefted the axe with augh, causing it to grow as she channeled her energy into it. ¡°Down you go!¡± She shouted, swinging the axe horizontally in front of her. During her swing, it seemed to stretch out into the distance, its ded edge slicing through numerous trees with ease.


    Doing this consumed arge amount of physical strength, but it was a suitably impressive disy of might. Every tree in the path of her attack copsed, mowed down by the ck axe in her hands. In less than a minute, she had created a five hundred meter circle for the aircraft tond in, not far from the location of the gate.


    That was incredibly reckless. Thelsa scolded, but Petra simply smiled.


    Yes, but it was also incredibly awesome. Besides, even if I got caught on a branch, you would have saved me before I took any real damage. Petra responded, waving towards the airship as she hefted her axe over her shoulder.


    I would have, but still¡­ it¡¯s not good to take such gambles with your own life. I don¡¯t want-


    Petra cut her off before she could continue, speaking in a gentle tone. I¡¯m not going to leave you, sis. You¡¯re stuck with me, like it or not. But a girl has to have a bit of adventure in her life, or else they¡¯ll never believe I am all that I im.


    There was a long moment of silence from Thelsa as the aircraft descended, before she let out a resigned sigh. Just¡­ don¡¯t let anything happen to yourself.


    Petra nodded her head, lifting her axe and pointing it off to the side. The crew of the descending craft cast their gazes in the direction, only to see a smooth b of ck stone rising behind a cluster of trees.


    Once the vessel touched down, its bottom hatch opened, and the crew alighted. After they were all off, the dovah turned, focusing as purple energy rose from his body. This energy invaded the craft and caused it to begin changing. tes folded up and copsed in on themselves, the engines receding as wings tucked in.


    The entire vessel waspressing itself to as small of a size as possible, at which point he stored it in his personal storage item. Meanwhile, Marly ran over to the gate excitedly, cing one hand on it to meet the necessary condition for her ability. ¡°I¡¯ll be right back with the others!¡± She shouted, opening a golden portal and walking through.


    Petra and the others weren¡¯t impatient, as they knew it would likely take a little while before she returned. Not only did she have to inform the local church that they found their target, but she also had to get a group of priests toe over to register the destination as well. That way, they could proceed to the next area while a survey team was sent out here.


    Petra knew that there were no monsters in the immediate area, but she wasn¡¯t able to visibly rx. If she appeared to let her guard down, that would send a rather poor message towards the others. Thus, she at least maintained the appearance of vignce while they waited.


    Ten minutes passed, and then twenty, with Marly not returning. When half an hour hade and gone, the group was starting to get restless. Closing her eyes, Petra connected with her shadow senses, projecting her ¡®vision¡¯ far off to the city of Gate¡¯s Rest. Soon, she was aware of why Marly had not returned.


    A band of giants were attacking the city, numbering over two dozen. Of therge group, there seemed to be three who specialized in magic abilities, which likely exined how they had gotten so close to the city while the Goddess of Archery was keeping watch. Still, although she seemed to be acting, it was slow going. A fact which made Petra suspect that there were others with special powers in the group of giants.


    What if there¡¯s a monster god in the mix? She couldn¡¯t help but ask in concern as she watched Thessa sniper a pair of giants. Her targets fell to the ground, only to rise again momentster. At this point, they had already arrived at the city, their thunderous steps ready to crush the nearby buildings.


    Seeing the giants rise again may not have proven that there was a god, but it at least showed that one of the giants allowed the others to regenerate. Petra dropped to one knee, not sure how she could help from such a vast distance. She was a berserker, a druid, a priest, as well as a few other sses that she had picked up since her birth.


    Druid¡­ Petra closed her eyes, focusing. Natural energy was the most abundant element in every world, but it was also known as the weakest because of how easy it was to disperse. However, her powers as a priest of Ashley wouldn¡¯t help her, and she was much too far away to do anything with her berserker powers.


    ¡°I am the lost child of darkness, forever obscured by shadow.¡± She muttered, one palm nting itself on the ground. The others looked over in rm when they heard the start of her chant, which seemed like an elementalist¡¯s invocation from the other worlds.


    In truth, this was something simr. Petra was performing an invocation to attract the attention of Fyor¡¯s World Spirit. Her fingers sank into the soil as darkness stirred around her. ¡°Can you hear me, spirit of the world?¡± She muttered in a soft voice, the wind around her beginning to stir in answer. ¡°Will you do me this favor?¡±


    You want me to stop the Necromancer Giant? A voice spoke within the breeze, appearing in the minds of the present individuals.


    ¡°Necromancer giant?¡± The human mage asked, his eyes ncing around as he clutched his staff.


    ¡°So it¡¯s not a god.¡± Petra let out a breath of relief. Though, a necromancer would not be much easier to eliminate. ¡°If you open the path of shadows, I will take care of it.¡± She said, before transmitting her voice silently. Please y along¡­


    This girl¡­ The world spirit seemed stunned, before letting out a sigh that echoed in the breeze. Very well, the darkness is open to you, Child of Ashley.


    Thank you! I¡¯ll bring you some cookies after I get back from the next floor. We have some spiritual chefs in my shadow. Petra smiled, plunging her hand into her shadow.


    Far across the world, panic ensued as giants rampaged within the city. These giants were not like those that they had typically encountered, as they seemed to be truly immortal. Whenever they ¡®died¡¯, they would simply rise again as if they had never taken any damage in the first ce.


    Those fighting were no idiots, they knew that something had to be bringing the giants back to life. However, they could not figure out the mechanic behind this power. Each giant had already been in at least once on the trek to the city, and yet they had all gotten back on their feet. Unless there were multiple special entities capable of resurrecting one another, this did not make any sense.


    Thessa was flustered as she fired arrow after arrow from her bow, each one felling a massive creature. She knew that it was mostly futile, but it would buy time for others to act. As she pulled her bowstring back again, she felt a rush of dark energy in the distance.


    Looking over, she saw a massive ck hand rising up in the forest, seemingly clutching something. The distance was so great that Thessa had to focus her sight in order to realize that the hand was holding another giant, one that had hidden itself in the forest. This giant had half-rotten skin which peeled off in various ces to show raw muscle beneath.


    Thessa didn¡¯t know where the ck hand came from, but she was not about to question the appearance of a new target. Drawing her bow, she let loose another arrow to y this half-rotten foe. And then, as the arrow pierced it through, the more than twenty giants attacking the city began to fall, as if puppets with their strings cut.


    So that¡¯s how it is¡­ I muttered to myself with a nod as I finished sorting out the information. To no surprise, the method readily used by my world was in the list ofmon ascension types. It was referred to as the ¡®Three Steps¡¯ method. There was also the method of awakening the divinity of an artificial intelligence, known as the ¡®Divine Code¡¯ method, or the ¡®Universe Born¡¯ method from the Profound Star Laws.


    Aside from these, there were actually quite a few other methods that I had never heard of. For instance, there was one referred to as ¡®Lighting the Divine me¡¯. Its introduction described it as a method to treat the divine spark as a me, and ignite it all at once.


    It also mentioned the methods by which monsters ascend. These monsters were not born as gods, but rather reached this rank through devouring natural treasures. These treasures contained faint energy from the creation of the world, thus allowing the monster to grow in power as it digested them.


    Additionally, it mentioned various different ¡®types¡¯ of gods, such as Subordinate Gods, Union Gods, and even Fallen Gods that corrupted their divinity with chaos. All in all, I believed it was well worth the points I spent.

 Chapter 656: The Crystal Labyrinth

    <h4>Chapter 656: The Crystal Labyrinth</h4>


    Petra let out a relieved sigh as she removed her hand from the shadow. Thanks. Have you had spiritual cooking before, or should I just prepare something?


    You know you¡¯re not supposed to be able to buy my favor with sweets, right? The spirit questioned back, though it transmitted its voice only to Petra that time.


    Yep. So, chocte strawberry, or shortbread? Petra asked as she smiled, though the others present seemed confused by what had just happened.


    ¡­Can I ask for both? It seemed that this world spirit had never sampled spiritual delicacies before, so she was at least eager to give it a try. Hearing that, Petra nodded her head.


    ¡°They should be back soon.¡± Where should I send them? She asked the two questions at the same time, one verbally while the other was transmitted with her spirit. To her, it was no different than talking with Thelsa while speaking with those around her.


    Anywhere¡¯s fine. Just call for me the same way you did just now, and I¡¯ll show up. After the spirit said that, it gradually faded away, the circling breeze returning to normal.


    Noticing that the spirit was gone, the pilot walked over with a concerned look. ¡°What happened, Petra?¡± When he asked this question, the others all began to pay more attention, as they were curious to find out as well.


    Petra smiled in embarrassment. ¡°I left a scouting device in the city, so that I could watch for any emergencies. Just now, I essed it and saw that the city was being attacked by arge number of giants. It¡¯s way too far for me to reach with my powers, so I needed to ask the world spirit to connect the darkness between the two points.¡±


    The others gasped at that, but did not seem suspicious. After all, even among Maxers like themselves, there were few powers able to attack across such a vast distance. Unless someone was a dedicated attack mage that had mastered the control of their mana to an insane degree, such a thing would be unbelievable.


    Of all the Maxers, there were maybe three capable of a feat like that. However, those three had long since retired from personalbat, and typically stayed a few floors down where they could rx.


    Ten more minutes passed by, and a golden portal opened in front of the gate. From the portal, Marly emerged along with five other priests. These figures all had dusty clothes, even sporting a few rips where they had not been able to avoid the debris. ¡°Sorry, guys¡­¡± Marly apologized as she returned. ¡°It was¡­¡±


    ¡°We heard.¡± The pilot confirmed, ncing towards Petra. Marly blinked in confusion, but simply nodded her head.


    ¡°Ah, well. Anyways, we should be good to go now, if you still want to?¡± As she said that, the priests moved over to begin touching the gate, making sure that they filled their prerequisite to bring other people here as well. Afterwards, they did not dy, instead returning immediately to help the situation at the city.


    ¡°Might as well.¡± Petra smiled, looking at everyone. ¡°We¡¯vee this far, right? What¡¯s ten more steps to see what the environment is like on the other side?¡±


    Her words reminded everyone that they had truly been looking for exactly this gate for months now. Why would they stop now that they found it? What good was a door that was never opened?


    One by one, they nodded their heads and made their way towards the gate. As they vanished into the ck b, Petra let out a sigh of relief before following after them. In truth, she was worried that her actions would not have been epted so easily. This was the most tant force she had ever shown with her shadow powers, so she believed that people would doubt her.


    In fact, her title as the Daughter of a Greater Goddess made it so that these few people truly expected her to be able to perform unbelievable feats. If it had been someone else, they would have suspected them of hiding dangerous secrets. But, because it was Petra, it was ¡®to be expected¡¯.


    When she passed through the gate, she was able to see the shining crystal walls that Thelsa told her about. No matter where she looked, there was not a single shadow. Instead, she was greeted by the sight of numerous reflections from the smoother surfaces.


    Those few people that came with her were looking around in wonder, until they noticed Petraing behind them. At that point, they seemed to remember something. She was the Demigoddess of Shadows¡­ but there were no shadows here.


    The human mage stepped closer to Petra, a sad look on his face. ¡°It seems fate is a bit cruel, to arrange and like this that negates your power. Perhaps at night time, you will instead reign supreme?¡± Although his words may have sounded suspicious at a nce, they were said with what Petra believed to be genuinely kind intentions.


    ¡°I still have my strength.¡± She answered in a confident tone, pumping one arm into the air. Only she was aware that thisyer did not have anything like ¡®night¡¯. ¡°But for now¡­ I think it would be best to report back. It looks like the way forward is pretty narrow.¡±


    When Petra said that, everyone turned, noticing that there were only three paths leading out of this crystal courtyard. Each path was indeed narrow, barely enough for three people to walk side by side. Those who wieldedrger weapons would be rather handicapped in such a passage, and there was no telling what sorts of monsters were waiting here. Going forward with just the seven people here was simply suicide.


    Fully aware of that fact, Marly nodded her head in agreement. ¡°Right! We can¡¯t go charging blindly just because we got excited. If we got here once, we can get here a hundred times!¡±


    After saying that, Marly directly opened up a portal for everyone. Through the portal, they were able to make out the city that they had not been to for several days. Thinking it over, they decided to walk back through, one by one.


    Petra stayed to the end with Marly, serving as her protector and counting as people went through. First the dovah pilot, then the three defensive mages. Just as Petra was getting ready to walk through, she paused. Numerousplex equations passed through her head in a moment, some of which may have involved fish.


    ¡°We¡¯re missing someone.¡± Her words alerted Marly, who gulped as Petra pulled out her axe. ¡°You go through. Meet me at the lower floor¡¯s gate in ten minutes. I¡¯ll make sure nothing happens to you.¡±


    As she spoke, she did not allow Marly to leave her line of sight, as if worried that doing so would give whatever took the other mage a chance to abduct her as well. She turned, circling the area while keeping Marly in her peripherals.


    Thelsa, you got something to tell me? She asked as she watched Marly disappear through the portal. Thelsa had never mentioned anything about any monsters that could erase a mage¡¯s existence like that without her realizing. Granted, the monsters on this floor all had some type of magic, so nothing was impossible.


    I don¡¯t. This is the first time I¡¯ve seen something like this¡­ Maybe it specifically targets mages? Thelsa wasn¡¯t able to simply mass produce Maxers, so there were very few such high-level individuals. Of the mages that she had sent to explore this area previously, it was likely that none were high enough level to register as a true mage to the monsters of this floor. The only possible exception to this was Thelsa herself, who might have been protected by their shadow energy.


    Yeah, well¡­ I feel like making it mad. Petra closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and focusing. She conjured her minimap in her mind, looking for any sign of a dot aside from herself. With the new system, she would be able to pick up even the smallest trace, and that was all she needed.


    There was, in fact, one dot to be found. However, it was not red, but yellow. This was the first time that Petra had seen such an indicator on her minimap, so she wasn¡¯t sure what it meant. Turning in the direction of the dot, she opened her eyes and looked downwards, as it appeared to be five meters below the crystal surface.


    Petra could see a blurry form, roughly two meters in size, suspended in the crystal. But, it was impossible to make out any clearer details. She didn¡¯t dare use her mana, still unsure if that was what had triggered whatever killed the mage. Instead, she channeled her spiritual energy into her eyes.


    Five meters below the ground, the missing mage ¡®stood¡¯ suspended, still having a smiling expression as if he was about to start speaking. There did not appear to be any sign of rm to be found on his expression, and Petra could even see that his soul still clung to his body. He¡¯s not dead!


    Petra could tell that the man¡¯s body had been perfectly sealed in the same state it was previously at. His health bar had yet to appear over his head, but that could just be a matter of time. If he was encased in the crystal instead of magically sealed, then he had to be holding his breath at this very moment. Time was of the essence to free him.


    Grabbing her axe, she focused, the small but dense muscles on her arms bulging slightly. ¡°Break for me!¡± She shouted, mming the axe downwards. Her aim was careful, clearly avoiding off to the side of where the mage was suspended.


    With her strength, shing through several meters of crystal was not too challenging. In fact, most of it shattered beneath the weight of her swing. And then, she moved on to the other side. Each strike was carefully aimed, clearly avoiding anything that would directly harm the mage.


    The worrisome part was that the crystals were visible healing as she worked, making it so that the hole she created was already starting to close up by the time she worked her way down to his level. Petra grabbed the mage¡¯s body with one arm and leapt into the air to escape the closing hole. Her axe dug into the ceiling, anchoring them there for a moment as she watched the pit she created sealing itself.


    Petra¡¯s grip on the mage tightened, as she could feel a powerful attractive force between it and the walls all around them. The crystal was being drawn back to its source, unwilling to stay removed for long.


    For a moment, the demoness saw the crystals beginning to creep down the ceiling along the de of her axe, before she yanked it free and fell to the ground. Afterwards, she did not waste any time, turning and running for the gate. She dove through with her axe in one hand and herpatration in the other.


    Okay, how do the monsters on that floor all have powerful magic, if the ground itself eats mages?! Petra shouted as shended on the ground, panting with her axe at her side. The attractive force on the mage vanished, and he shuddered for a moment.


    Soon, the crystals began dissolving, turning into gas that gradually rose into the air. What was left behind was a gasping mage, who abruptly sat up and clutched his chest. They probably have some method of protection that we need to find. Until we do, we can¡¯t risk taking any great magic sources up to that floor.


    ¡°Thank¡­ thank you.¡± The mage said, some of the gas from the crystals emerging from his mouth. Clearly, he had been fully sealed, inside and out. He knew that if Petra had not taken the risk to rescue him, he would have died before any sort of rescue team could be arranged.


    Petra nodded her head, lifting one hand to form a thumbs up. ¡°I hate that floor.¡± She muttered. ¡°Hate it so much.¡±

 Chapter 657: Flying Cities

    <h4>Chapter 657: Flying Cities</h4>


    With the situation in Deckan resolved, the months began to pass, turning into years. This time, however, was far more exaggerated when it came to the realms of Lorek and Spica. Within these two words, a moment of truth had arrived.


    A new group of powerhouses had begun to appear, following along in Jana¡¯s footsteps. Although they specialized in a variety of different fields, many of them had reached quite a high level of cultivation. In fact, among the residents of Lorek, there were two individuals that had reached the stage of ¡®Supreme Immortal¡¯, the title given to those who have reached the rank of godhood within the cultivation system.


    Most surprisingly, neither of these two individuals were Jana. Instead, she seemed to have secluded herself from the world to allow the next generation to take the stage. As far as she was concerned, the world no longer needed her, allowing her to pass her time in seclusion.


    One of these two special individuals, a Supreme Immortal who had mastered the path of Arrays, owed many of his aplishments to the knowledge provided by Tsubaki many decades prior. Thanks to that information, his path had been far more smooth, allowing him to focus on his own understanding of the different methods of using arrays.


    Now, this Supreme Immortal stood at the forefront of developing Lorek¡¯s long-time goal. Working in tandem with the ancient schrs of the elves, he had devised many of the arrays that now supported the mystical construct. And now, he stood atop a wide tform overlooking what appeared to be an inverted mountain.


    Thisndmass hovered in the air, its jagged tip facing the ground. The top of the floating object was smoothed out, and then covered with numerous buildings. Its core had been hollowed to make room for the different necessary facilities and arrays that needed to be ced inside of it.


    This was the grand ship that they had created, one which would take them through the vast expanse of space. Perhaps, it may even take them to different nes of existence in time. A floating city, one that was constantly generating its own magical energy on a massive scale.


    Han, the Supreme Immortal in charge of the product, looked proudly at the first floating city. It was time for the test run, so he stepped forward. His body seemed to shift with starlight, carrying him directly to the massive structure. ¡°May the stars guide my path.¡± He spoke, gesturing towards the group.


    This scene was being transmitted all across the two worlds, Lorek and Spica. This would be the moment when everyone learned whether they would be able to stand among the stars, a right which every other world had long-since enjoyed. Why should they, the worlds that cared most about the stars, be barred from getting closer to them?


    Han raised his hand, connecting with the control mechanisms of the flying city, andmanded it to ascend. Under the watch of billions of people, the floating city flew into the sky. Within the atmosphere, its speed was still limited, but that did not stop Han from feeling a sense of pride.


    So far, the two worlds had produced a total of twenty-seven floating cities. The production of the cities themselves were not difficult, only needing the flying array established on a suitablendmass before constructing the buildings. From there, it was just a matter of installing the necessary arrays, which needed a few rare materials and the proper knowledge. However, this was the first time that they were truly testing apleted city.


    The Supreme Immortal within the city saw the fiery clouds above the skying closer, the results of the sun¡¯s ki shing with the mana from other stars. This would serve as the first test for the city, whether or not it would be able to withstand the pressure brought by this energy storm, and continue to safely navigate in the space beyond.


    As the ship continued to move higher and higher, Han briefly checked the shields of the city, before increasing his speed. All at once, the city crashed through the fiery storm, colliding against a few weaker star beasts before exiting the atmosphere. His progress was tracked by another array that he had set up on this particr ind, allowing this test flight to be broadcast even after he left the.


    Han gasped, seeing the massiveid out before him. Even now, much of their world remained unexplored due to the sheer size of it. And for the first time, Han had a proper understanding as to why. Despite having escaped the atmosphere, the was utterly massive before him, with the area he came from being only one small continent.


    Han closed his eyes, allowing himself to take a deep breath. He had prepared himself to see some grand sights during this test, after all. But after this, he just felt so¡­ small. The ancestralnd of his dwarves was barely even visible, the ind little more than a speck that he had to focus to spot within the giant ocean.


    ¡°Using these cities as transport, we can finally explore our world to its fullest.¡± He muttered under his breath, before shaking his head. Turning, he saw the infinite darkness in front of him, dotted with uncountable stars. ¡°And we are one step closer to the heavens.¡±


    Raising his hands once again, he connected to the weapons arrays on the ship. Lines of light began lighting up across the surface of the ship¡¯s barriers, condensing at one point beforeunching out as a sharp de.


    Attack arrays at this level worked quite a bit different than typical attack spells in geometric magic. While it was possible to establish simr spells, doing so was far moreplex than the alternative, which was to have the array reproduce a sampled attack. In this case, the attack being reproduced came from the other Supreme Immortal, one that had walked the path of Swords.


    With his help, the floating cities were able to release an attack containing the peakbat strength of a Supreme Immortal, something that not even their technological counterparts could necessarily unleash. Furthermore, as more Supreme Immortals appeared within the world, they would be able to sample a wider array of attacks to store within the floating cities.


    After testing the attack array, Han tested the defense arrays, judging the sturdiness of the shields inparison to the attack he had just released. Shaking his head, he realized that the shields created by his arrays were perhaps not as strong as the replicated attack. If a defense-oriented Supreme Immortal were to appear, that would solve much of their worries.


    Finally, it was time to test the long-distance transportation ability of the floating cities. Turning towards the broadcast point of the array, Han nodded at his many viewers. ¡°I¡¯ll be back.¡± He said, before looking up at the stars. In truth, the transport method was fundamentally differentpared to that of other ships.


    Focusing, he stared towards a single star, isting that as his target. This was how the long-distance travel worked, though it would usually be activated within the control room below the surface. By locking onto a single star, the floating city attached itself to that star¡¯s frequency, following the path of starlight back towards its origin.


    If its destination was such that it was not heading directly for a star, then it was a simple matter. Pick one star as a starting point, and move along its starlight road until another star lined up with the destination.


    With the destination set, silver light began to shine on the outer shield of the floating city, before thendmass vanished all at once. As a master of the Array path, Han was constantly monitoring the information being sent along the different arrays functioning in the city. He knew how fast they were moving, or how close they were getting to the star even if his view was obscured by the streaks of silver light.


    After covering roughly half of the distance, Han cut off the transportation, exiting the starlight road. When he appeared, he was in the vast void of space, nothing but empty darkness surrounding himself. If gazing down at the massive world made him feel small as a person, then seeing the utter emptiness around him now made him feel insignificant even as a god.


    Shaking his head, he turned the city around and used the arrays to help him find the star that he hade from. A small, yellow dot hidden amidst that vast expanse of nothing. With a thought, the floating city ventured onto its starlight road, taking its journey back home.


    We did it. Han thought to himself. The floating cities were trulyplete now, and ready for use by the numerous organizations that had been vying for them for centuries. Moreover, given what he had seen of his own world before he left, there was more than enoughndmass on his to spare even if they decided tounch a million flying cities.


    After a few minutes, Han could feel the starlight roading to an end. Cutting off the transport, he appeared not far away from his original departure point. As he had returned to a suitable transmission distance from Lorek, the broadcast array he set up was working again.


    ¡°All systems appear functional.¡± When Han said these words, and slowly began descending to the once more, it caused an eruption of emotion to spread throughout the two worlds. Many people wanted to know what he had seen, but he did not tell them. All that he said in response was that they would never understand without seeing it themselves.


    Immediately, ns were underway to recruit talented individuals to manage the floating cities. As these were more than simply ships, a wider selection of personnel was required. First of all, instead of a ¡®captain¡¯, there was a city¡¯s lord. This lord was responsible for the city as if it were any normal city, while the military general was responsible for thebat aspects.


    The one thing that was undoubtedly upsetting about the floating cities was that theycked the long-distance portals that other ships enjoyed in the other worlds. Because of this, they would not be able to easily evacuate or request aid in a crisis, and theirmunications arrays had to be altered.


    Regardless of this, these flying cities were bound to be the most popr ces to live in the future, due to the safety provided by them and the sense of wonder one could get from exploring the unknown.


    Udona groaned, leaning forward to sprawl her arms out across her desk. She had spent most of an afternoon signing documents to approve staff transfers for the new wave of ships beingpleted in the orbital factories. These personnel had naturally already been vetted, but still required her approval before they could officially participate in a role asrge as this.


    Granted, Udona was only signing on behalf of Deckan¡¯s residents. The High Mother, the Iron King, and the rulers of the other worlds would all be having to go through simr procedures. With the active fleet being rolled out, there was a lot of work that they had to do before it could be considered properly ready.


    These ships better be able to stand up against that fleet. Udona thought to herself begrudgingly. If they had gone through all of this work and nning only to have the opposing fleet still outperform them¡­ she was going to bash her head against a wall.


    After spending the day signing papers, her hands were already starting to feel sore. Which was quite a feat given that she was a true Goddess. However, when the door opened, and she saw a maid walking in with anotherrge stack of papers, she let out a pitiful groan. ¡°More transfer requests, Janaerra?¡± She asked, causing her maid to let out a small giggle.


    ¡°No, these are the monthly budget reports for the.¡± The maid said as she walked over, dropping the stack of papers on the helpless God-Queen¡¯s desk.


    Udona pouted her lips when she heard that. ¡°Have you ever wanted to be queen, Janaerra?¡± She asked, looking up at the maid despite knowing the answer.


    ¡°Of course not, My Lady.¡± Janaerra shook her head politely. ¡°I was born only to serve you. It would not do for a shadow like myself to be a ruler.¡±


    Udona clicked her tongue. ¡°I miss when you were yful and careless with your words. So, was there anything new in the reports?¡± She knew that the maid would have already browsed the papers herself, to help summarize any major problems for the queen.


    ¡°Well¡­ the research institute is asking for arge amount of funding of around ten thousand tokens of Terra, for the purpose of studying if it is possible to seal a inside of a card.¡± Udona sat up, eyes wide when she heard that.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, sealing a what?!¡± She asked,pletely bbergasted by what she thought that she had heard.


    ¡°That¡¯s right¡­ they want to try sealings.¡± Janaerra grinned as she said that. ¡°They figure that, if a god¡¯s strength is technically limited only by their divine power, it would be possible for a god to physically push, or ¡®lift¡¯ a. If that happens¡­ would that satisfy the rules of a card?¡±


    ¡°Then why do they need that much money?!¡± Udona puffed her cheeks out at that. If it was truly something so simple to test, then they should just be able to hire a god to go test it with a smaller.


    The shadow maid shook her head. ¡°They want to build their own, out in the emptiness, to try to find where the cutoff point is, if it exists.¡±


    ¡°Denied! Funding denied!¡± Udona¡¯s arms iled, quickly searching through the papers that Janaerra brought over to find the one she was talking about. Once she had done so, she pped a giant red stamp on the paper. ¡°I¡¯m a mid-tier Goddess as far as the tokens are concerned. If they want that kind of funding, then they can just earn half a million of my tokens! Let¡¯s see if they¡¯re able toe up with that kind of faith!¡±

 Chapter 658: Goddess Hart

    <h4>Chapter 658: Goddess Hart</h4>


    Julia sat within a wide forest on an alien world, with a certain halfling goddess standing in front of her. The elf¡¯s body radiated a faint divinity, indicating that she had already taken the first step towards ascension, that of ascending her soul. ¡°Are you ready, Jules?¡± Aurivy asked in a concerned tone, standing in front of her friend.


    ¡°I¡¯m ready, ¡®my goddess¡¯.¡± Julia smirked yfully, and Aurivy grabbed a giant toy hammer out of nowhere, mming it down on her head. Julia dramatically swayed to the side, before falling back, cracking an eye open to grin at Aurivy.


    ¡°You know better.¡± Aurivy pouted, but she couldn¡¯t stay upset at her friend, knowing it was just a bit of friendly teasing. She waved the toy hammer threateningly at the elf. ¡°Now, remember. This is going to hurt more than anything you¡¯ve ever felt before. I¡¯d give you something for the pain, but¡­ any medicine that would work on the ¡®perfection¡¯ body would be useless on a divine body, and vice versa.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re going to have to bear with it and not resist me. That¡¯s the important part. If you resist, then this is going to fail¡­¡± Aurivy shuddered a bit when she said that, a sad look in her eyes. ¡°So please, don¡¯t¡­¡±


    Julia sat back up, nodding her head gently. Aurivy had told her before how another goddess had lost one of her friends during this step. She did not have any desire to end up the same way, so she was going to take this very seriously. She just had to y that little trick first to ease up some of the tension. ¡°I know, ¡®Rivy. Like a bandaid.¡±


    Aurivy gave a small nod. ¡°That¡¯s right. I¡¯m going to be doing this as quickly as possible. That¡¯ll make it hurt more, but it should be over quicker as well.¡±


    When Udona lost her friend, it had been because she wished to ascend on her own, so there was nothing that the goddess could do to help her. That was the biggest reason that Julia had chosen to be Aurivy¡¯s subordinate, to prevent a situation like that from repeating itself.


    Julia closed her eyes, rxing her body. ¡°My life is in your hands, Rivy. Make a goddess out of me.¡±


    Aurivy hesitated, before slowly walking forward. She had studied the ascension process, even making contact with any gods she found to be interesting. She knew that the best time to ascend the body was when the divinity of the soul was on the verge of overflowing. That was when the process would be able to ur the most smoothly.


    Holding her hand out, she focused, taking control of Julia¡¯s divinity. It had been months since she ascended her soul, and she had only been practicing with her abilities enough to imprint the concept of ¡®wood¡¯ upon her divine energy. Aside from that, she had spent the time building it up, waiting for it to hit the limits of what her physical body could handle.


    When Aurivy flexed her control,manding Julia¡¯s divinity to mingle with her ki, the elf¡¯s body began to dissolve from the top down. From the outside, it looked as if a golden wave were crashing over her body, descending and reshaping her. First her head, then shoulders, then her arms and chest.


    Julia grit her teeth, muffling the cry that attempted to rise past her lips. Her body tensed, but she made sure to never resist Aurivy¡¯s influence over her energies.


    Soon, the golden wave was at her stomach, then her legs, disappearing into the ground as Julia¡¯s body reformed. Her clothes, ripped and tattered from her Perfect Self body shattering beneath them, were instantly reced by more pristine clothing thanks to Aurivy. In total, the process took roughly ten seconds.


    ¡°That¡­ wasn¡¯t so bad.¡± Julia groaned, falling back and sprawling out as her body gained anotheryer of golden luster. ¡°The soul was way worse.¡± Unlike her body, which had already reached perfection, she had missed the chance to upgrade her soul. Thus, forging a divine soul had been far more excruciating to her.


    ¡°We¡¯re not done yet.¡± Aurivy reminded, creating a golden shard in her hand. ¡°Are you ready for the final step?¡±


    Julia blinked, looking over and seeing the shard. ¡°Oh, right. Divine Will next, right?¡± She let out a sigh of relief when she realized what Aurivy meant. Unlike the other steps, this was the simplest, with practically no risk of failure or pain involved.


    Granted, that¡¯s not to say that there were no risks. Rather, those risks could be avoided by following one simple rule: Don¡¯t try to be subordinate to multiple gods. Since that wasn¡¯t the case here, Julia felt no need to worry, and nodded her head.


    Aurivy walked over, pressing the golden shard against Julia¡¯s head, and willing it to merge with thetter¡¯s mana. There was a golden sh, and Aurivy could tell that Julia hadpleted her ascension. Now, her divine energies were intermingling. Her soul, body, and will were linking together to be a single,prehensive force. This was the reason why people typically passed out during this step, as the mind was too busy connecting with the other forces to maintain consciousness.


    ¡°So, how¡¯s it looking?¡± Aurivy asked suddenly, despite nobody else being present besides an unconscious elf-god. At least, not until the air next to them rippled, a lycan goddess walking out into the forest as well.


    alia chuckled, shaking her head. ¡°Sorry, Aurivy. Her top three choices are Wood, Eternity, and Games. No two-word options avable for her.¡±


    Aurivy pouted her lips heavily at that. ¡°Drat¡­ alright, fine. Just wood is good, too. But¡­ for Eternity to be an option, that¡¯s probably because of that seed.¡± Although Aurivy had been hoping for the option of Eternal Wood, she had never asked Julia to use any powers rted to time or preservation. That meant that the special aspects of the elemental seeds could provide unexpected results during the ascension process.


    ¡°Are there other special seeds like that?¡± alia questioned, not having paid as much attention to Natural Seed as Aurivy had. Unlike the halfling goddess, alia had not memorized the different types of seeds.


    ¡°A few, yeah. But none of them have any effects that people couldn¡¯t train on their own.¡± Aurivy shook her head at that. If Julia had wanted the Eternity domain, it wouldn¡¯t have been any more difficult for her to train. Ultimately, it came down to whether alia would ept someone with a particr domain emerging in the world.


    alia nodded her head, reaching out to ruffle Aurivy¡¯s hair. ¡°Well, if there¡¯s nothing else, I¡¯m going to head back now. I already set her up for wood like you wanted, so there shouldn¡¯t be anyplications from here out.¡±


    ¡°What, were you busy somewhere else?¡± Aurivy asked in surprise, swatting away alia¡¯s hand.


    ¡°Your dungeon god asked me if I could help him hunt down other monster gods to add to his collection. It sounded interesting, so I thought I¡¯d give it a go.¡± alia grinned. ¡°Right now, I¡¯m in the middle of tracking down a rather elusive spider god that has a Space domain. Always teleports whenever I get too close to him, so I¡¯ve got to find a way to lock him down.¡±


    ¡°Do you want any help?¡± Aurivy asked curiously, thinking about thepatibility between herself and such a domain.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s more fun if I do it myself. The goal is to capture him alive, anyways. If I just wanted to kill him, it¡¯d be a lot easier.¡± alia shook her head, turning to walk away as the air rippled around her again.


    It was roughly an hourter when Julia first woke up, letting out a groan as she ced a hand on her head. ¡°Is it done now?¡± She asked as if having slept off a massive headache. In the corner of her vision, she saw the notification from the system that she had sessfully ascended to be the Goddess of Wood.


    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Aurivy dered proudly. ¡°Would you like to give it a little test run?¡±


    Julia blinked briefly, nodding her head. Stretching out her senses, she felt a connection with the forest around her. Every tree seemed to be an extension of her will. With a thought, the trees twisted to the side, and began stretching out their branches. ¡°I¡­ shouldn¡¯t have this much power as a new goddess, should I?¡±


    Although Julia had never experienced such a thing before, she had done a fair amount of research into the subject. When a deity first ascended, they typically reported only having a small increase in power until they built up arge enough store of divine energy. However, Julia currently felt as if her energy were boundless.


    Aurivy giggled faintly. ¡°One of the perks of being my subordinate goddess. I¡¯ve set it up so that about ten percent of the energy I receive from worship is split off and given to you. At least until you create your own following.¡±


    Aurivy was worried that Julia would not be able to easily gather her own worshippers, as gods were bing increasingly moremon with the passing of time. Her best options were to either borrow power from Aurivy as she had set up now, or to find an uncultured to spread her name.


    However, the second option was not as feasible in their current situation. In order to find an inhabited world where she could spread her faith, she would need to venture quite a ways away from the civilized areas. Otherwise, it was entirely possible that other explorers would stumble on her new and disrupt her ns.


    Granted, she could instead explore other nes of existence, but doing so was arguably even more dangerous as thews of physics would change from one ne to the next. Without the backing of an organization devoted to exploring the countless nes in the void, it was foolish to try to force her luck there.


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Julia nodded her head, seeming to understand what Aurivy was thinking. She wasn¡¯t really that concerned with her own level of power, having just thought that it was strange for her to be so strong already. Even if Aurivy hadn¡¯t done this, she didn¡¯t n on establishing a religion of her own any time soon.


    Instead, she simply smiled, slowly rising to her feet. ¡°Should we go back, then?¡± She asked as she stretched her arms, doing her best to feel for any differences between her old body and her new one. ¡°We had a raid nned for tonight, right?¡±


    ¡°Oh, right!¡± Aurivy recalled, her eyes going wide. ¡°Tonight¡¯s the Shadow Dragon run, isn¡¯t it?¡± With a thought, golden mist wrapped around the two of them, sending them back to their home.


    I shook my head as I watched the scene of their departure. I knew that the method Aurivy tried wasn¡¯t listed in the information that I had purchased from the market, but I was still interested in watching the scene. After all, it was possible that it was either an umon or rare ascension method that could have surprised me.


    Still, I wasn¡¯t too disappointed in the results. At the very least, Julia hadn¡¯t met her end from failing to ascend. If she did, I don¡¯t know how long it would take Aurivy to get over that. Those two had been friends for a long, long time at this point.


    Turning my attention away from the scene, I nced at the time remaining before the invasion, seeing that there were only a few days left. Looks like it¡¯s time to speed things up a bit for final preparations.

 Chapter 659: Descent

    <h4>Chapter 659: Descent</h4>


    In truth, the only real preparation left to make on my end was to allow the assembly lines in both Deckan and Lorek to create more and more vessels to get ready for the eventual war that I¡¯d be facing. Given that the enemy likely used void-manufacturing and cloned troops, their production rate would no doubt vastly exceed my own once they were able to establish their base camp.


    In this way, the best case scenario for me would be if the enemy fleet spawned in directly next to one of mys. If that was the case, I might lose quite a lot of people, but I could guarantee that the fleet would be dealt with swiftly. The further they were away, the harder it would be to find their traces.


    Perhaps the worst case scenario for me would be if they appeared near the Gears. Although that is by no means weak, it is not currently connected to any other world in any form of travelwork. Furthermore, its exact location within its universe is unknown, so I wouldn¡¯t be able to find them quickly.


    It would turn into an event where the enemy forces were able to integrate with the technology of the golems without allowing me to find their home base before it was toote. If such a thing happened, this would likely turn into a drawn-out war with me relying on getting a defense ticket or some lucky advancement to save the day.


    As I thought about that, I watched the world elerate once more. WIthin Lorek, the explored map was gradually bing more and moreplete. Floating cities had carried expedition groups all across the world, working to map out their massive. As Lorek was a size seven world, its basics were on par with a normal star in a world like Desbar.


    That is to say, Lorek itself has a diameter of over a million kilometers. The actual stars in such a world are far more exaggerated, which leads to the ample production of energy suited for cultivation.


    These floating cities quickly became the safest ce for people to settle across the entire world, but there was no way that everyone could be moved to them, right? Doing so would simply be abandoning the itself to live in the skies. Instead, the special formations from the floatings were installed in various established cities, allowing them to enjoy simr protections as the spacefaring travelers.


    By the time that I was done fast-forwarding, nearly a thousand years had passed in Lorek, and twenty years had passed everywhere else. With this, the various fleets had been given ample time toplete their preparations, so it was time for me to descend to the world myself.


    ¡°Are you sure he¡¯sing today?¡± Dana asked as she stood with Tsubaki inside the throne room, looking at the unmoving body of the Keeper. He had been in that same position for decades now, seeming more like a statue than an all-powerful ruler.


    Tsubaki, however, nodded her head. ¡°Lady Ryone informed me that he would be making his descent, so it should be urate.¡± The nine-tailed goddess was quite eager to see the Keeper returning to this world once again, though she knew that this descent would mark the countdown before their gctic war. ¡°How are things going on your end?¡±


    Dana puffed her lips out indignantly. ¡°Fyor¡¯s been asking for help, still. They haven¡¯t figured out the mechanism behind how the twenty-sixth floor works, so their progress is still halted there.¡±


    Tsubaki furrowed her brow, finding that rather difficult to believe. Regardless, the level cap in that world had not risen yet, so she was still unable to reach there without the use of a dimensional gate. Unfortunately, she didn¡¯t have the proper coordinates to safelynd in thatyer.


    As she was thinking about that, she felt a faint flicker in the energy around her. Immediately, her back straightened, her eyes focusing forward. ¡°My Keeper, you¡¯ve returned.¡± She responded in a proud tone, as if to announce his arrival.


    Blinking, Dana looked over, seeing the Keeper slowly tilting his head side to side, as if he were flexing a stiff neck. Naturally, she had sensed the energy fluctuation as well, but Tsubaki was far faster to respond in such a situation. ¡°Wee back, boss!¡± She shouted as well, nodding her head.


    ¡°Thanks, you two.¡± The Keeper said, slowly standing up. Despite the many years that he had spent in his motionless state, there was not a speck of dust on him. As for the cause¡­ well, Tsubaki is a very diligent maid. ¡°Is everything prepared on this end?¡±


    Tsubaki knew what he was referring to, quickly nodding her head. ¡°Fleets have been posted across all inhabiteds, including newly settled worlds. If the enemy appears within our territory, we will act to quickly exterminate them.¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately, we weren¡¯t able to give the Sky Citadel an upgrade like that.¡± Dana chuckled, shaking her head regretfully. ¡°Tubrock said that we would need topletely rebuild the citadel if we want it to have a simr standard for travel and offensive ability.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡± The Keeper nodded his head. ¡°The Sky Citadel was only ever meant to be an icon and a home. It¡¯s nothing more than a seat of power at this point.¡±


    Tsubaki lowered her head, letting out a resigned sigh. ¡°I apologize, my Keeper. If we were able to retain more of the representatives from the various races here, perhaps the citadel would still carry a greater purpose to this day.¡±


    The Keeper simply smiled. ¡°There¡¯s nothing to apologize for. It¡¯s only natural that they stopped living here when they were unable to fulfill their own wishes. Besides, thanks to that, this ce has be important as an exclusive home for the three of us. Although the option is still present for the races to appoint representatives, I doubt any of them still remember this fact.¡±


    Tsubaki simply offered a small nod, epting his words. ¡°Then, my Keeper, what is the first thing that you wish to do now that you are back?¡±


    The Keeper turned pensive at that, seeming to go over his options. ¡°There¡¯s still the chance that the enemy will appear with a ground assault instead of a gctic fleet. Although the chances are a lot lower for that to happen, it would be best not to publicize my return until after the possibility has been ruled out.¡±


    ¡°With that in mind, I was thinking of running some simple skill experiments. You girls have already registered most of your skills in the system by now, correct?¡± He asked curiously, drawing a puzzled look from the two.


    ¡°I have registered some simple skills such as cleaning, as well as a few battle-oriented skills that I was having difficulty training.¡± Tsubaki admitted, while Dana chuckled.


    ¡°I did a control skill for my World¡¯s Shadow, and a skill to help me assemble magic faster. Oh, also one to help my typing speed so that I could work more efficiently.¡±


    When the Keeper heard that, his eye twitched slightly. He let out a faint sigh, holding a hand up. ¡°Disy Skill, Soul of the Keeper.¡± He said aloud, and a message appeared in front of both Tsubaki and Dana.


    Soul of the Keeper(Passive, Unique): You are the Keeper, the only one in the world! Congrattions! Your soul holds the greatest power of every type belonging to your system! Keeper Skills system has been unlocked!


    ¡°M-My Keeper.¡± Tsubaki¡¯s eyes went wide as she read the skill. ¡°Does this mean what I think it does?¡±


    The Keeper gave a brief nod. ¡°With the Keeper Skills system, I have ess to any skill that has been registered. Of course, it still relies on my understanding of the skill to perform any tasks rted directly to knowledge. Things like recipes, or specific techniques aren¡¯t avable unless I know roughly how to use them.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± Tsubaki focused, having her avatars rush to various training rooms so that they could begin registering more skills, such as her martial arts. ¡°I was not aware that this system included such an added bonus.¡±


    ¡°More like an added cheat.¡± Dana chuckled yfully. ¡°Does that mean you can use that Geometric Spell Construction skill to quickly piece together high-tier spells?¡±


    The Keeper seemed to think about it for a moment, before nodding his head. He turned his palm facing upwards, and dazzling blue light danced within it. Dana could see numerous different strands formingplex structures, every bit on par with her own assembly speed. Within thirty seconds, the model of the spell wasplete, ready to activate at a moment¡¯s notice.


    ¡°If the leader of that golem force was still around, it might be a little faster. His specialty was rapidly constructing spells like this.¡± Dana gave another pout when she heard that, before her eyes gained a new gleam.


    ¡°Oh, right! I wanted to let you know that I¡¯ve been researching magical intelligences. You know, like Ana, but better. I¡¯m nning to make a true fourth-tier spell lifeform, sooner orter.¡±


    The Keeper blinked at that revtion, before nodding his head. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ actually curious to see what that would look like. I heard a long time ago that fourth-tier magic was capable of taking on a life of its own, so I know that it isparable to artificial intelligences like nk. However, I¡¯ve yet to see a spell in this world that was designed in such a way.¡±


    Tsubaki spoke up, her concentration still split from registering numerous skills. ¡°That is normal, my Keeper. Although the fourth-tier array information has now been circting in the cultivation worlds for some time, they are not ustomed to the concepts of artificial intelligence, and would not pursue such a direction.¡±


    ¡°As for the worlds with our standard geometric magic, the full details of fourth-tier magic have not yet been released. Without receiving any aid in this regard, it would naturally be impossible for anyone outside of Dana or myself to use geometric magic to create an intelligence. Doing so with runes is even less likely, as fourth-tier runes are far more abstract and difficult to decipher, akin to learning anguage without a proper guide to reference.¡±


    ¡°The only other alternative would be to use card magic in the same way that you created Ana. However, even that is hard to aplish due to limited resources. Fourth-tier spells require a high creation fee, so only arge corporation would have the funds to do so, regardless on whether they could find the proper form or not.¡±


    Hearing her exnation, the Keeper appeared to understand and agree with her. ¡°In that case, I hope to see some good results from Dana. In the meantime, Aurivy asked me to have you take down your Divine Registry, if you had not yet done so when I descended.¡±


    Tsubaki paused, before letting out a long sigh. ¡°She appeared before me fifteen years ago with the same request. Fret not, my Keeper, the task has long-since been aplished. As things stand now, the fear of a rogue god is less and less of an issuepared to the past.¡±


    ¡°Right? Even I could kill a weaker god if I wanted to.¡± Dana said proudly, flexing her small arm.


    The Keeper, meanwhile, simply chuckled. ¡°I¡¯m quite sure you could kill some of the strongest mortal gods if you went all out, Dana. I¡¯ve seen you fight up close, remember?¡±


    Dana stuck her tongue out yfully at that, but did not refute his statement. Tsubaki knew that it was the truth. If either of the two of them used their scepters and tomes, it was not a difficult task to y gods, unless they had particrly difficult domains to deal with.


    ¡°That reminds me, my Keeper. One of the Sylvan trees appeared on Earthst month.¡± When the Keeper heard that, he turned to look at her in surprise.


    ¡°They¡¯ve spread to Earth, now? It wasn¡¯t in a popted area, was it?¡±


    Tsubaki shook her head. ¡°From the reports I received, two sylvans were sent through a shrine of Aurivy, and appeared in the human country of Bihena. However, they left immediately after, and flew out to a remote ind in the sea. Six dayster, the tree could be seen from the maind, but the ind that they chose was too small to host such a forest.¡±


    ¡°Since the report was odd, I went to investigate. I found that the sylvan who had transformed into the tree was named Leraje of the Sea, and so they had decided that they wished to establish a forest within a small ind, to see if they could grow an aquatic subspecies.¡±


    The Keeper quickly understood. The sylvans were a race evolved from the nts of Spica that had been transnted to Sorii. Any living thing originating from Spica had a natural trait that allowed it to adapt rapidly to environmental changes. There were even aquatic elves living within the oceans of Spica, so an aquatic Sylvan race did not seem toe as any surprise.

 Chapter 660: The Fallen Ones

    <h4>Chapter 660: The Fallen Ones</h4>


    Things never quite go ording to n¡­ although I wanted to spend my time training to brush up on my skills, that onlysted for a few hours. After all, there were far too many skills in the world. How was I ever going to train all of them? Instead, I focused on only training the skills that would be directly useful to me, such as different domain abilities possessed by various gods.


    Each domain had such a wide range of applications that it was almost impossible to perfectly cover everything. For instance, until the battle against the golems, Tsubaki never realized that depriving something of light at an atomic scale would lead to disintegration. Thus, even though I had ess to the domains of various different gods, I knew that I used many of those domains in a different way than their original owners.


    After practicing for a few hours to adjust to my descended body, I was sitting back on my throne, reading through a series of reports that had been provided. These reports were disyed on a holographic screen projected by my throne itself. When my throne got such a feature, I¡¯m not sure I¡¯ll ever know.


    The reports that I was reading were regarding certain unexined phenomena within my various worlds. Anything that the local authorities couldn¡¯t handle and the artificial intelligences thought was worthy of bringing attention to the citadel. Granted, even though these reports were avable, I knew that Tsubaki and Dana didn¡¯t really go through them much. Unless something became an emergency, it was not their duty to act.


    For instance, there was a report regarding the crystals within the twenty-sixthyer of Fyor. Any mage that released a high concentration of mana would be silently dragged in before they were able to even realize they had been trapped. Even those with the Perfect Self ss were not exempt from this, and their bodies would be sealed in crystal.


    The only way to save such individuals was to quickly cut them out and leave thatyer of Fyor so that the crystals would dissolve. Because of this, the phenomena had be a subject of research for two decades now, yet a solution had not been found. To this day, mages were still unable to safely explore this upper level.


    Another incident was a missing persons case, one that nk¡¯s subordinates had already pieced together many clues for. However, because the cause of the incident was still unknown, and they had yet to find a solution, this incident was submitted to the citadel.


    Within a coastal city of Desbar, known as Harrison¡¯s Fjord, a roaming phenomenon had urred which led to the city being evacuated after several months. Inside an affected building, people would mysteriously vanish. These incidents always happened under a strict set of rules, which had not yet been vited.


    First, the person being taken must be the true body of the individual, not an avatar used for scouting. Secondly, there must be nobody actively perceiving that person¡¯s presence. This includes sight, mana, and even moreplex detection abilities. However, it seems that the scouting system did not count. Rather, if someone were paying attention to their minimap, the dot representing the other party would simply vanish.


    Numerous victims had fallen prey to this phenomenon, including one newly ascended deity that went to investigate. However, even when the rules were perfectly obeyed, there were no traces found at the scene. The very existence of the individuals involved seem to cut themselves off once nobody was paying attention to them.


    The worst part of this phenomenon was that it would migrate from one building to another at seemingly random intervals. ording to nk¡¯s analysis, the range for migration was one kilometer, at which point it had to locate a suitable structure. Once the structure was found, it would not move until it had abducted at least one individual.


    It was rather easy to identify the currently affected building if one paid attention to their surroundings, as well. Windows or doors would suddenly open or close without any noise when people weren¡¯t looking. In the time it took to blink, every window of the house could open at once, as if to taunt the person watching.


    Out of all of the reports I read, this one seemed the most eerie. When I first saw the details of the phenomena, I assumed it to be something created by a mana siphon. If that was the case, the easiest solution would likely be to destroy the building that is being possessed.


    Yet, when I read further, I found a list of experiments conducted on the phenomenon in an attempt to ovee it. The results were¡­ less than thrilling.


    Trial 1 - Destruction of affected building: This experiment was carried out by the local poption upon realization that this was no ordinary incident. After identifying the structure and consulting local officials, they used second-tier magic to destroy the building.


    Result: A different building was immediately possessed, leading to three simultaneous disappearances.


    Trial 2 - Destruction of affected building: After waiting for the phenomenon to possess a building outside of town, all buildings within a one kilometer range were destroyed. This calction was made after consulting regional authorities. Upon confirmation that there were no buildings within the infection zone, the target building was destroyed once again.


    Result: A building over two kilometers away was possessed. It is highly suspected thatplete destruction of the town would lead the phenomenon to transfer to a neighboring settlement.


    This phenomenon, although unresolved, was listed with a ¡®manageable¡¯ threat level. After all, so long as nobody entered the affected building, it would not create any trouble. However, I felt a chill when I read it, because I had an idea about what had likely caused such a thing to happen in the first ce.


    If my spection was correct, then this should be a form of parasitic void monster. By attaching itself to an enclosed structure, it attempts to lure in prey. Most likely, it can sense the soul of its victims, allowing it to distinguish between an avatar and a true body. But either way, once someone meets the qualification of ¡®not being observed¡¯, the power of the void monster would activate and whisk them away.


    If this were the cause, it would naturally not leave any traceable energy, because it is the fundamental fabric of space that is being folded. It¡¯s possible that some of the individuals, such as the newborn deity, did not die right away after being transported away like that. I¡¯ve never experimented firsthand, but it¡¯s feasible that such people could survive in the void. Assuming that the main body of the void monster was not waiting there for them.


    It¡¯s been a while since Ist saw a trace of a void monster in the material ne¡­ I remembered the sight of the all-consuming monster that traversed many times the speed of light, simply devouring in a straight line wherever it went until itnded in a ck hole. Now, if these reports were to be analyzed from that angle, there were far more void monsters starting to appear.


    Unfortunately, I did not know how tobat void monsters like this, especially those that did not appear with their main bodies. Against something like this ¡®possessed house¡¯, it would be suicide if I went in with the confidence of a Keeper. My powers may be strong, but they were by no means as absolute as some believed.


    There was little I could do at this point, aside from asking for James¡¯s advice as a former Keeper that had dealt with these things. Closing my eyes, I focused, reaching out towards the researcher of Deckan. Before I came down, I saw that he was working on a new project, though I was not entirely sure what it was.


    James? Are you free for a bit of Keeper consultation? I asked, trying to bring some levity into the situation. Through my World Sight, I saw him leaning over a table, working on a device that looked like an upturned mechanical spider. Its eight metal ¡®legs¡¯ were hooked upwards, each one tipped with a small gem.


    When he received my message, he sat back. This isn¡¯t the usual contact method¡­ you¡¯re back in the world. Guess it must be about that time. Need help making a battle n?


    No, I¡¯ll go with my current n for now. What I want to ask you is something different. You were a more advanced Keeper in your time, right? How did you deal with void monsters?


    At that question, James seemed to sport a rather awkward expression, shaking his head. There are three ways to do it. With how your world currently is, you only have ess to one of them, unless you get your daughter involved. The first and most readily avable method is to identify the rules behind the specific void monster.


    Void monsters aren¡¯t like normal creatures, you see. They are¡­ concepts, amalgamations, pure chaos given shape. But because of that, they have to abide by a set of rules. If they appear in this world with a physical body, one of their rules will usually be that they are banished when their body is destroyed.


    Banished? I questioned in surprise. Not in?


    No. A void monster can only be in in the void, by destroying its true self. That¡¯s where your daughteres in. Thanks to her domain, she is able to operate in the void at her full power, and can kill weaker void beasts without any problems. James let out a long sigh as he exined that. That¡¯s the first method of dealing with them.


    The second method is to use a weapon that harnesses the power of the void to attack the void. Sorry, but your world is still several levels too low to handle this from the technological angle. Maybe with specialized magic, it might be possible. But, I haven¡¯t studied the fourth-tier magic in that direction yet.


    I gave a small nod as I epted that answer. If they could only be truly destroyed in the void, a void weapon would truly be the best method to deal with them. Then, what is the third method?


    A fallen god. There was a bitter smile on James¡¯s face when he said that. Fallen gods have a special connection with the void. That¡¯s what lets them function differently than a standard deity. However, your typical fallen gods tend to be pretty messed up in the head after encountering the fundamental source of chaos.


    If you can cultivate one that retains their sanity, they are incredibly powerful existences, able to control the void to create entire microcosms which serve as their divine realm. To them, void beasts are the best source of energy, like worship for a normal god.


    Well¡­ that was a bit awkward. I knew that the concept of a fallen god was entirely possible within my world, and I had even fought one before during an invasion. However, anyone that was cultivating that path was seen as a criminal by the world, leading to the path essentially being cut off.


    ncing at my levels, I was able to confirm that the highest level for a Fallen Priest was only in the low seventies. For them to reach their godhood was only a pipe dream. So¡­ the only method for me is to identify the rules for the void beasts, and find out how to banish them from that. Or ask Leowynn to get involved.


    See why I said that this is a bit of a touchy subject here? Don¡¯t get me wrong, I don¡¯t me your people for shunning the chaos religions. To have fallen gods start appearing before regr gods are prevalent would be the end of the world. You need to have enough of a force that you can police those fallen gods if they decide to rampage. At the very least, the ability to kick them back into the void is essential.

 Chapter 661: I Want to Play a Game

    <h4>Chapter 661: I Want to y a Game</h4>


    Now that I knew that fallen gods were actually helpful in a way, I could ask the others to be a bit more lenient on them. It¡¯s a bit toote to spread that ¡®faith¡¯ in any of the currently civilizeds, but perhaps there would be some that appear in the future in other worlds. Either way, what I needed to do now was focus on my final preparations for theing invasion.


    I had previously obtained several decks of spell cards from Deckan, representing various domains that I wanted to specialize in when it came tobat. However, after giving it some thought, I realized that there were other domain abilities that I could utilize even outside ofbat.


    Tsubaki. I sent a mental message towards the fox-girl who I knew would be waiting for me to message her. Sure enough, she appeared in front of my desk no more than a few secondster, already kneeling.


    ¡°You summoned me, my Keeper?¡± She asked, her tails swaying happily. Okay, I¡¯ve got to make sure toe down and spend more time with her from now on. It¡¯s pretty clear she¡¯s missed having me around.


    I simply nodded my head, not expressing my inner thoughts. ¡°I want you to put in an order with nk. If necessary, have Dana work with you on it. There¡¯s a very special type of magic card I want you to purchase, and I¡¯d prefer if it was delivered within the next three days.¡±


    nk was floating through the vast, digital void, out on a stroll when a letter appeared in his hand. There was a red exmation mark in the top-right corner, as well as a blue K next to it, indicating that this was an alert from the office of the Keeper.


    Curious, he flicked his wrist, throwing the letter in front of him and letting it open up to transform into arge screen. On the screen was a familiar scene, numerous cards beingid out and arranged. ¡°Oh? It seems that they¡¯re ordering another deck. I wonder what it will be this time.¡± He remarked, a slight glimmer in his ck eyes.


    Thanks to the inspiration from many years ago, he had opened a specialized service catered to newborn deities, selling them cards to help them take advantage of their domain. Through this, he had earned quite a stream of revenue, and had managed to purchase a physical data center to use as his base of operations for himself and his subordinates.


    As he looked at the screen, he quickly began to discern the characteristics of each card that was appearing. ¡°This is definitely the fourth-tier. But¡­ one card calctes resource costs and production, another seems to be¡­ pathing data?¡±


    It took a little while for nk to realize that these were not separate cards in the deck, but were rather being stored to be used asterponents for a single card. ¡°Could it be?¡± His eyes shed in realization, his excitement rapidly growing.


    I closed my eyes, counting down the seconds until the invasion began. Thankfully, nk contacted us and cooperated to help get the new cardpleted, otherwise it was unlikely that Dana would have been able to do so in time by herself. Now, I felt it in my hand, waiting to be deployed at a moment¡¯s notice.


    Soon, it was time, and I felt the world seem to shift and lock around me. I knew that my connection with the Admin Room had been severed at this moment. Until the invasion was over, I wouldn¡¯t be able to return, or evenmunicate with the others aside from their local incarnations.


    ¡°Tsubaki!¡± I shouted out, issuing my first order of the event. ¡°Contact the fleets stationed at each world, and report any anomalies. You¡¯re looking for a medium orrger spacecraft that would have suddenly appeared without any valid identification.¡±


    ¡°Understood, my Keeper!¡± She nodded seriously, leaning her head forward as she contacted the different groups, likely using avatars that she stationed at amunications ry.


    My left hand clenched, hoping that they were unlucky enough to appear within detection range. ording to the system prompt, there were exactly two hundred individuals sent in this invasion, which would have been more than enough to kick things off if we go by James¡¯s estimate of events.


    After roughly five minutes, Tsubaki raised her head, before shaking it. ¡°No suspicious ships detected within thest hour, my Keeper.¡±


    I cursed under my breath at that, slowly standing up. ¡°Then, it¡¯s time to y a game. Keep my presence confidential for the time being. There¡¯s still the chance that they deployed ground troops.¡±


    Tsubaki nodded, watching me walk out into the courtyard. In my right hand, I lifted up the card that I hadmissioned, at the same time focusing to channel the Games domain. ¡°Game, start. My opponents are all matured humanoid creatures who appeared in my worlds within thest ten minutes, grouped in teams of at least twenty individuals.¡±


    Normally, such a demand would not be possible, no matter the card used. However, if the card is amplified by the Games domain, I can use my divine power to ¡®force¡¯ a game on a target group. Of course, for it to be a true game, both groups had to y it. Therefore, I naturally could not make it a game that allowed direct attacks.


    Gctic Seeker is now online.


    Registering yers¡­


    Two groups match target specifications. Invite both to y?


    ¡°Yes.¡± I said, focusing on my divinity to make it a far more forceful invitation. As the name implied, this was a game of gctic hide and seek, though it contained a city builder aspect. As a game itself, it was meant to give the yers ess to a simtion space, where they would be able to construct their own base.


    From there, they would gradually upgrade and collect resources, until one side managed to prate the stealth systems of the other and find their location. For normal people, it was just a simple game to enjoy over the course of a few days in the background. Although I would have preferred to make the game faster paced, doing so would have likely cost far more divinity to keep it active in this state.


    Nheless, nk was excited as it represented a game created purely through cards, and showed a way that he could create his own divine deck. That was¡­ not my intended reason behind creating this card, though.


    ording to the information that I obtained, my opponent would never use any type of supernatural energy. So, it is unlikely that they would have their own gods capable of countering a tracking method like this. And besides, there truly was a degree of risk to this n, as it was possible for them to use it to track me instead.


    At this moment, I was betting on the information I received being correct. MeatLover told me that the troops Silence deploys have their memories wiped from their world. If that¡¯s true, and they retain only their military training and mission directive, they should not have the knowledge required to y this game. Furthermore, all of the prompts would be in an entirely foreignnguage to them.


    Even with all of this, I had no desire to take unnecessary risks. If my world did not have a God of Stealth, I would not be asfortable ying a game like this. With that domain in y, I was essentially ying this game with cheat codes.


    Gctic Seeker has been epted.


    yers may ess their bases at will.


    Finally, thest domain that I could employ, changing thendscape of this game from a ¡®simted¡¯ base to the real world. And also the reason that I had exited the citadel. My divine energy poured into the card, before I threw it out beyond the shield of the Sky Citadel, allowing it to stab into the dirt of a vast ins.


    The Cities domain activated, bringing the simted base to the real world. Buildings arose from the soil, creating what appeared to be a small, modern town. It¡¯d be nice if the forced appearance of the city base directly destroyed their ships, but I doubt that¡¯ll happen¡­ that would vite the principle of the game, so it will likely just integrate itself into their ships instead.


    Stepping off the ledge of the citadel, I allowed my body to plummet towards the ground below. As I descended, I could see numerous individuals walking throughout the town, the NPCs created by the game. Sadly, these NPCs were not true AIs like nk, as the creation of those was not yet possible. Instead, each one served a specific purpose, like mining for resources or upgrading facilities.


    I considered using pseudo-AIs created through cards like Ana, but decided that it would be best not to have them be too intelligent. If the AI was able to get around thenguage barrier, I would lose my lead.


    Thus, I immediately began walking towards the Control Hub, where yers would make the choices for their game. In truth, the rest of the city existed mostly as a visual example of the yer¡¯s progress, and to enable me to use the Cities domain to bring it to reality.


    Once inside the Control Hub, I sat down, opening the menu. Since the game didn¡¯t respond to voice, I silently navigated through the purchasing options, upgrading the data miners to pull in more resources. I was not ambitious enough to try and create a new type of material for this game that I would manifest from thin air, so the ¡®resource¡¯ that had to be harvested and spent was simply data.


    I knew that it was azy way around the problem, but this was a somewhat rushed job. And the game itself was meant to be rather simple in its design. I¡¯ll let nk modify the game after the invasion to release it to the masses. Maybe they¡¯ll find it fun after some more work is put in.


    ¡°What shall we do now, my Keeper?¡± Tsubaki asked, standing beside me. Having participated in the game¡¯s creation, she surely knew that it would be some time before they were found using this method. Yet, it was far more likely to seed than randomly searching through space.


    ¡°For now, we just pray that they don¡¯t have a universal trantor that can decrypt ournguage.¡± I said with a somewhat bitter smile. As the opponent was a pure technological world, this was entirely possible. It was even possible that the ¡®fairness¡¯ of the game made that not required, and theputers produced for the base on their end was in their ownnguage.


    ¡°Keep the fleets in orbit. I¡¯ll need six hours before I can start signal amplification, ording to my initial n.¡± In other words, for six hours I would be relying on the Stealth domain to keep my base hidden.


    ¡°Are you going to do this every invasion?¡± Dana asked curiously, looking at the map on the wall before me. The map was disying NPC movements, and how they were currently upgrading the data nodes for increased resource harvesting. ¡°It seems kind of¡­¡±


    I shook my head, knowing what she was getting at. ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for the information that the opponent doesn¡¯t use gods, I¡¯d never resort to this n. The proper domain could counter a game like this, or potentially even attack me through it. And against monsters¡­ well, they wouldn¡¯t even keep a single base to y the game, so they¡¯d avoid it entirely.¡±


    Tsubaki nodded, though seemed to think of something. ¡°Then, what would happen if the invaders were to simply abandon their base and operate in a different region of space?¡±


    I chuckled dryly at that. ¡°It¡¯s a risk, I¡¯ll give you that. I¡¯m betting on the information I received being correct, as well as my own conjecture. If they arrived with small numbers, with the intention of establishing a deep-space structure, then they likely only arrived with the essential resources needed.¡±


    ¡°If that is the case, they wouldn¡¯t be able to afford to abandon their bases, because they need them to create their future fleet. The worst-case scenario is for them to only create a small factory at first, and then use that to build a new ship to take them elsewhere and start over, leaving the bases I ¡®gave them¡¯ behind. Most likely blowing them up in the process.¡±


    ¡°If they do that, the game should end because there will no longer be an enemy yer. And if they don¡¯t blow up their bases after they leave, we¡¯ll get ess to their technology once I¡¯m able to track their location.¡±


    I knew that this was by no means a perfect n. Regardless, it was the best one that I coulde up with using the resources at my disposal. It was simply too unreliable to send my main fleets out to scout for the enemy when I did not even know which universe they appeared in. That was why I set this game to be able to work across the dimensional boundaries.


    Of course¡­ interdimensional scanning was a much higher tier of research in the game, and only really meant to counter specific stealth types. Regardless, I included it due to the likelihood that the enemy would not appear in the same universe as myself.

 Chapter 662: Ghosts of the Past

    <h4>Chapter 662: Ghosts of the Past</h4>


    Several hours passed as the first batch of upgrades were performed within my ¡®detection city¡¯. First, resource acquisition was upgraded twice, and then city power. Only when these three projects had finished did I upgrade my detection level. As I did so, the city seemed to rumble, buildings shifting around the Control Hub.


    Next to the hub, arge satellite dish was quickly constructed. This dish stood over thirty meters tall, on a twenty meter tower overlooking the city. As the dish slowly rotated in circles, it let out a dull tone every few seconds. Looking at the screen in front of me, I let out a long sigh of relief.


    Under the assumption that they didn¡¯t know enough about the game or thenguage it uses to immediately construct a signal jammer, it¡¯s safe to say that they¡¯re not on this. That was the conclusion I came to when I saw theck of any response from the signal tower. Although it was rare, it was possible within the game settings for two participants to be stationed at different points of the same world.


    This setting was intentional, in order for me to have the first tier scanner set for a global range. From there, the scanning strength and range would continue to increase, until I was capable of piercing the dimensional veil to locate the target. In a way, this could be seen as the reverse of a Keeper Compass, pointing the way towards the invaders.


    I should look into that on the market after this is over. If there really is an item or system to identify invaders like that, it woulde in handy. Naturally, there were ways to do so with divine powers, but those were all conditional. For instance, my mirror scrying would not allow me to find anyone that was not near a mirror, unless I sent a projection of my divinity towards a target location and searched manually.


    With a long sigh, I turned to look at Tsubaki and Dana. ¡°It should be fine to announce my presence here now. Keep the location of this city a secret, however. Right now, I can reasonably determine that the enemy should not have appeared on this. While the other worlds are still a possibility, I won¡¯t be able to scan them for a little over a week at the earliest.¡±


    Tsubaki gave a light nod at my words. ¡°Very well, my Keeper. What do you want us to say in regards to this invasion?¡±


    I thought about that, before shaking my head. ¡°Everyone that needs to know has already been made aware. Releasing a general statement to the public will only incite undue panic. With any luck, the situation will be resolved before the general public even bes aware of the problem.¡±


    I myself knew that such an event was rather unlikely. Had I the option, I would have based this game in Lorek instead of Earth. Sadly, the card containing the game would not function there, so I could only initiate it from this end. By now, it would have already been over a week since the invasion began in Lorek and Spica¡­ Now I was able to see the drawbacks of having the elerated time over those worlds.


    ¡°Dana, I want you to station two subordinates in the cultivation worlds. They¡¯ll be in charge of liaising with the local fleets and monitoring for any sightings of the enemy. I trust that there won¡¯t be any problems with your people going to those worlds?¡±


    Looking over at Dana, I saw that the girl herself was unsure. ¡°I¡¯ve never sent any of my shadows to that world before, because I didn¡¯t know if they¡¯d be able to hold themselves together. Thews are too different. However, if it¡¯s what you want, I¡¯ll give it a shot, boss!¡±


    I gave a small nod. ¡°We¡¯ll need to find out sooner orter if the World¡¯s Shadow bodies can exist in those worlds. Otherwise, you yourself will never be able to enter there. Send over two weaker shadows as a test first, and then choose your representatives.¡±


    ¡°Understood, boss!¡± Dana saluted, before blinking. ¡°Oh, uhm, I just got a report. It seems like Udona¡¯s looking for you in Deckan?¡±


    I raised a brow at her words, before realization struck me. Although I had never announced my presence in this world, it would be easy for Udona¡¯s incarnation to know when the invasion began. After all, she would suddenly be cut off from her ¡®main self¡¯. And given that her staff wasposed of Dana¡¯s shadows, it was easy for her to reach out to me.


    ¡°Got it. Open a path for me, and I¡¯ll head to her right away. In the meantime, Tsubaki, I¡¯m leaving you in charge of the detection city.¡± I smiled towards the kitsune. ¡°Focus on upgrading detection until the power starts running low, and then switch to power, residential, and market districts. At that point, we¡¯ll need more ¡®people¡¯ in the city to continue further.¡±


    I didn¡¯t know exactly how long I was going to be gone, so I went ahead and outlined my development n for the next few days to Tsubaki. If there were still no signs of the enemy by the time these upgrades had been finished, then it was unlikely that they were within a one lightyear radius of us.


    After Tsubaki epted my instructions, I stood and began walking towards Dana. The smaller girl stepped aside, a gate of shadows appearing on the wall behind her. Knowing where this would lead, I stepped inside without hesitation.


    On the other side of the gate, I found myself in Udona¡¯s office, the kitsune queen sitting at her desk. She had a look of exasperation on her face, while a ck-haired maid stood next to her. ¡°This should be our first time meeting like this?¡± I smiled, seeing her ears perk up when I arrived.


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± She agreed, though let out a sigh immediately afterwards. ¡°Sorry for calling you so suddenly. I know you have to be really busy with everything going on. ¡®She¡¯ exined that much to me a long time ago. But, this was the first time that I haven¡¯t felt her in my head, and the others all wanted to introduce themselves.¡±


    ¡°Others?¡± I raised a brow, figuring that she likely meant incarnations of the other gods and goddesses. I was honestly not aware of how many were currently in the world, as I hadn¡¯t been keeping track of them for a while now. Better to let them live their own lives, in my mind.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. A few of them came by before we were disconnected.¡± Udona nodded, calling out. ¡°You can alle in now.¡±


    The door behind me opened, and seven figures walked in. Among them, I could easily identify Aurivy, the only halfling of the group. There was also a lycan, an ursa, a dwarf, and¡­ three felyns?


    My gaze couldn¡¯t help but be drawn towards the trio of catgirls standing next to one another. Of them, two were very simr to one another, looking like they could easily be twins. Both had brown hair cut at their shoulders, and soft blue eyes. ¡°We¡¯re Terra.¡± They said in unison, grinning.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, what?¡± Why were there two Terra¡¯s? My mind had a bit of trouble processing this, causing the two of them to chuckle.


    ¡°When she wanted to create her incarnation, she selected our mother to give birth. She wasn¡¯t expecting to end up with twins, or at least that¡¯s what she told us.¡± The first said, while the other nodded.


    ¡°Well¡­ you can¡¯t both be named Terra, right?¡± I looked at the two of them curiously, and they shook their heads.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m Terra, and she¡¯s Firma.¡± The first said, pointing to her sister, who appeared troubled.


    ¡°What? No, I¡¯m Terra, and you¡¯re Firma.¡± She argued, causing the other to look confused. I had the faintest suspicion that this was a regr urrence for them, and one that was not at all faked¡­ Though Terra wasn¡¯t able to control her incarnations as directly as the others, it was clear that she had at least some degree of influence.


    Thus, I looked towards thest felyn. The others present were all easy to guess. It was only this one that I held some doubts about. ¡°You¡¯re¡­ Irena, right?¡± I asked, guessing the only goddess in my pantheon who I knew to often leave her incarnations up to more of a lottery than selecting based on her own race.


    This felyn, who had silver hair and red eyes, nodded her head. ¡°That¡¯s right, sir. Irena was the Goddess who lived within my body. However, my name is Alena. Before she left, she asked me toe meet you. Although I¡¯m not very high level, she said that my talents might prove helpful under the right circumstances.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but raise a brow at that. ¡°How so?¡± If Irena thought that something would be useful, then I was sure that it wasn¡¯t just as simple as her having a highbat power.


    The girl hesitated again, looking around at everyone gathered. ¡°These are all¡­ other people who were possessed by gods, aren¡¯t they?¡± She asked, before her eyes went over towards the maid.


    ¡°They are.¡± I confirmed, able to see familiar traces of everyone¡¯s divine counterparts in how they carried themselves. ¡°And the maid is a trusted subordinate. If you have any secrets, they are safe here.¡±


    The girl nodded her head, extending one hand. ¡°Appear, the pledge of life and death.¡± She whispered, her voice ethereal as spiritual energy gathered at her fingertips. This energy condensed, forming a thick tome marked with a vaguely familiar symbol.


    ¡°This is my spiritual artifact. If I receive someone¡¯s signature in this book, I will always be able to tell whether they are alive or dead, regardless of the distance. The signature has to be drawn by the person themselves, but it can be brought over from another document. Lady Irena had me receive the signatures from the various fleet captains using their assignment forms.¡±


    When I heard that, I blinked in surprise, looking at Alena again. ¡°You¡­ where have I seen that symbol?¡±


    The girl lowered her head briefly. ¡°It is the symbol of the Wraiths, sir. I received their legacy when I was young, though I fear I¡¯m the only surviving ¡®member¡¯, as it was in a lost ruin deep in the forest outside of town.¡±


    The Wraiths¡­ it had been so long since I thought of that group. Originally, I had created them with the intention of preventing malicious spirits from appearing and destroying civilization. I even created a set of rules bound by the quest system to ensure that their numbers would be limited and their existence secret.


    The fact that only one existed now, and she wasn¡¯t aware of the others likely meant that the old system had fallen apart in the past. Otherwise, she would never be able to receive the legacy of the Wraiths without encountering any others.


    Still, it was surprising to learn that they even existed at all in the present day. Even more, they had developed their spiritual techniques to the point where they could emte divine abilities to a degree. ¡°I see¡­ this will prove very useful.¡± I nodded my head in agreement with Irena¡¯s assessment.


    If at any point I needed to send out ships to scout, Alena¡¯s book would allow me to see if any ships were attacked and destroyed before they could send a report back. This could potentially save hours, or even days that would otherwise be spent on verifying information.


    Alena lowered her head again, a small smile on her face at the realization that she could be helpful. Most likely, given how she had been hesitant to disy it around others, she had been keeping this ability quiet ever since she developed it. There could perhaps be some history involved in how the Wraiths were destroyed that left her wary of showing her lineage in front of others.


    I would need to investigate more into the situation when I returned to the Admin Room after this invasion was over.

 Chapter 663: Curiouser and Curiouser

    <h4>Chapter 663: Curiouser and Curiouser</h4>


    I spent a little bit of time learning the different states of the incarnations that the gods and goddesses had been raising. Of them, the only ones that were plete¡¯ and had ascended to their full divine form were Aurivy and Udona. It really came as no surprise that Aurivy had found the time to ascend, given that she spent almost all of her time at least partially descended and working on various projects or ying with her friend.


    Of the rest, they were a bit more spread out. For example, Tubrock¡¯s incarnation had justpleted his divine soul not too long ago, judging by the divine energy I could feel from him. Meanwhile, alia¡¯s incarnation looked to be ready to ascend at a moment¡¯s notice, so long as she cultivated her divine will.


    Keliope, meanwhile, had not yet even begun to ascend, nor had the Terra twins. From what I saw of Keliope, she seemed to be seeking a different path, as her incarnation had undergone the procedure for both the perfect soul and body. The Terra twins, meanwhile, could be regarded as high level priests and bards, perhaps even knights. While I could feel a trace of divinity from them, it was clear that it was not concentrated enough to show that they had begun their path to ascension.


    Finally, there was Irena¡¯s incarnation, Alena. As she herself had stated, she was not a particrly high level individual. Whereas the rest of the incarnations all shared the name of the deity that they represented, such was not the case here. That was no doubt because the others were all the ¡®permanent¡¯ incarnations that the deities had prepared, whereas Irena likely did not have ns for a permanent presence.


    Once I had measured their different levels of energy, I asked them to remain in Udona¡¯s pce for now. Afterwards, I returned to the detection city. By the time I returned, I had been gone for no more than an hour, meaning that not much had changed with regards to the city itself. However, I found Dana pacing back and forth outside of the Control Hub.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± I asked as I approached her, worried that something might have happened to the avatars that she had sent to the cultivation worlds. Or worse, that she learned that they were being attacked.


    ¡°Huh?¡± She blinked, looking up. ¡°Ah, sorry, didn¡¯t notice you came back, boss. I¡¯m trying to think who I should send over to the other worlds. I ran the disposable test like you said. It¡¯s¡­ not reallyfortable over there for people like me, since the world there draws so much of its power from starlight.¡±


    ¡°However, in terms of stability, there isn¡¯t a problem with people like myself maintaining our forms. We¡¯re not going tobust if we step into the world or anything.¡± Hearing her words, I let out a small sigh of relief, before furrowing my brow.


    ¡°Then, why is it so hard to decide who you want to send? Anyone should be fine, as long as they can send information back in the event of an emergency. Isn¡¯t that right?¡±


    She shook her head, her face looking a bit gloomy. ¡°Wish it were so. Although we can survive over there, the shadows¡­ aren¡¯t as friendly to us as they are here. The first disposable I sent over to Spica got killed because it encountered a special type of monster that inhabited shadows.¡±


    ¡°These things don¡¯te out of the shadows to attack normal people, but¡­ it seems that there is already some sort of shadow world upying the cultivation worlds. Creatures exist beyond the darkness that devour each other, forming their own ecosystem. If it had just happened on one of the worlds, I¡¯d think that maybe a monster had awoken that energy you taught me.¡±


    This was the first time I had heard anything about this. However, from what she was saying, it¡¯s only something that would affect people who could dwell within shadows like herself. Or, perhaps, those that cultivated the path of shadows. ¡°Wait¡­¡± I furrowed my brow, thinking back.


    When I had first gotten the Profound Star Laws, I had sifted through the information it contained to look for my cultivation path. In the end, I had settled on illusions, but I remember that the path of shadows had a few variations to it. Closing my eyes, I focused on drawing up the memory. ¡°Light begets shadow. For every beast that is born within the light, there must also be one born in darkness.¡±


    ¡°The path of living shadows, one of the cultivation paths with the highest difficulty.¡± I muttered, my eyes snapping open. ¡°When one walks this path, they will be sent into thend of shadows, unable to leave until the day their path isplete.¡±


    ¡°Boss?¡± Dana blinked, looking curiously at me with a raised brow. ¡°What¡¯s that about?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a special type of star beast.¡± I exined. ¡°Or rather, they could be referred to as shadow beasts. If someone practices a special cultivation technique, they will be sent into that shadow world, and must survive among those beasts until they be a God of Shadows.¡±


    ¡°Huh¡­¡± Dana thought about it, but did not seem particrly interested. ¡°I wonder if my people could stille and go if they practiced it.¡±


    I shrugged my shoulders, not having a proper answer to that. ¡°I¡¯m not sure. But now that I¡¯ve remembered that¡­ you¡¯re right, it¡¯s more difficult for you to choose someone to send over. They need to be strong enough to either survive in the light against the star beasts, or in the darkness against the shadow beasts. It would be best if you could just have them stay in one city and wait for something to happen, but¡­ Lorek is a very big ce. Even if the enemy attacked there, you might not be aware of it for a few hours.¡±


    Dana gave a small nod, sighing. ¡°I¡¯ll send a few people for now, and just leave them in scattered cities. As long as they don¡¯t step into the shadows, they won¡¯t be targeted by those creatures, right?¡± She asked with a helpless shrug.


    Nodding my head, I moved past her and into the hub, finding Tsubaki. ¡°How did the announcement go?¡±


    ¡°All of the worlds have been made aware of your presence.¡± Tsubaki nodded her head. ¡°Additionally, I¡¯ve received a few requests from figures of authority in various races that would like to meet with you, once you have the time to do so.¡±


    I brought a hand up to my head, massaging my temples. I had just gotten back from meeting with the God-Queen, after all. ¡°Who was it, and did they say why they wanted to meet with me?¡±


    Tsubaki gave another nod. ¡°The first person to pose this request was the High Mother of the Metong. She wished to meet with you for a consultation, because she has decided that she wishes to ascend as a goddess. It is my belief that she wishes to be a subordinate deity to you, as such a status can be seen as higher than a god standing on their own.¡±


    Raising a brow at that, I couldn¡¯t help but question it internally. At least, for a moment, before I realized where that status came from. At the moment, I had two subordinate goddesses. One of these was Tsubaki herself, while the other one was Scarlet. In other words, there was the queen of an entire race, and a woman revered by everyone. After thinking about it that way, I could see why someone would think it was better to be a subordinate to me than to reach divinity on their own.


    Nheless, I shook my head. I had no desire to take on subordinates that did not have a special meaning to me. The High Mother of the Metong, while powerful and influential as the leading figure of a gctic civilization, had no direct connection to me. ¡°Tell her that it would be better for her to seek Tubrock for this. He¡¯s the one that created her people, after all.¡±


    Tsubaki understood, moving on. ¡°The next one was Philia, the Goddess of Cities among the Sylvans. She wanted to meet you to discuss the future of her people, because she feels that she needs guidance.¡±


    Thinking back, it wasn¡¯t hard to understand why she thought of that. It most probably had to do with the members of a grove dying out soon after the mother tree itself did, and ways that they could preserve their civilization. ¡°Tell her that I¡¯ll send a message when I am free to meet with her. With the current situation as it is, I don¡¯t want to get into a topic that won¡¯t show results for decades right now. Was there anyone else?¡±


    ¡°Just one other, my Keeper.¡± Tsubaki nodded. ¡°nk wanted to meet with you about a simtion game he is preparing. He told me that it was likely something that you would be interested in.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but raise a brow at that. The High Mother and Philia both contacted me wanting some sort of aid. Meanwhile, nk wanted to talk to me about a game he¡¯s producing? ¡°Did he give you any details about the game?¡±


    Tsubaki gave a small nod of her head, closing her eyes and focusing to pull up the details. ¡°This is a single-yer roleying game. The protagonist of the story will be able to establish their basic character from the start, after which they will be thrown into a fully dynamic world featuring various plots for them to uncover. Anything ranging from undead gods rising to power to political struggles.¡±


    ¡°He said that the main focus of this game is its artificial intelligence. He¡¯s using sentient, shackled AI that have been programmed such that they believe that their world is real. Their minds are fully functional, and they are capable of growth and emotions just like any person. However, they are hardcoded to be incapable of leaving the game or acting outside of their physical role within the world.¡±


    ¡°As he put it¡­ even if you convinced someone that the world was a game, and they were a program, they would be unable to find any clear proof of this due to them not being capable of perceiving the world through the same lens as a normal AI.¡±


    I had to admit, that could certainly be an interesting game. If I weren¡¯t the Keeper, and had some more free time to y such games, I would probably give it a try. ¡°Okay, it¡¯s a good premise. However, what does he want to talk about it with me for?¡±


    Tsubaki shook her head. ¡°He wishes for you to use the same method ofpression for the game as you did in Vision Expanse and Natural Seed. ording to his calctions, a terminal capable of running this game would need to be capable of simting the entire world in real-time in its present state.¡±


    That¡­ made my eye twitch. ¡°I¡¯ll get back to him on that.¡± I wasn¡¯t even sure if it was possible to purchase a game like that through the system as a single yer game. So far, the only ones that I had seen of that type were online multiyer. Once the invasion was over, I would need to consult Sarah about the possibility of it.


    ¡°So, what do we do now that he¡¯s gone?¡± alia asked, looking around at the other representatives of the gods. Each of them had received a message to have them meet the Keeper before their connections were cut. However, there were no further instructions as to what to do after that point. Furthermore, the Keeper himself did not tell them anything besides asking them to stay in the pce.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ we could do a prediction?¡± Terra asked, her twin nodding her head.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah! That could be useful!¡± She answered, her lips splitting into a wide grin.


    ¡°What sort of prediction?¡± Keliope raised a brow, looking towards the excited kittens. ¡°Last I heard from my goddess, there was a limit to what Terra can predict, right?¡±


    ¡°Well, obviously!¡± The first twin agreed. ¡°But, there¡¯s two of us! If we work together, we can figure out a lot of things.¡±


    Udona looked towards them with a hint of curiosity. ¡°I¡¯m willing to give it a try. It would be interesting to see how your predictions work myself.¡±


    The twins grinned at each other, each bringing one hand together to interlock their fingers with one another. After that, they turned, cing their backs towards one another. ¡°I am the story that hase to pass.¡± The first twin said, holding her free hand forward as a golden book appeared above it.


    The second twin performed a simr motion, instead saying ¡°I am the inspiration that is toe.¡± After her book appeared, their interlocked hands began to glow with golden light, the two girls speaking in unison.


    ¡°We peer into the world¡¯s fate. What is it that you wish to know?¡± Their voices merged, their energies seeming to radiate with one another.


    Udona, sitting at her desk, furrowed her brow. It was clear that this was an ability that ¡®answered questions¡¯, rather than allowing them to look things up with their own power. Thus, she was unsure of the scope. ¡°Where are the Keeper¡¯s enemies?¡±


    As soon as she asked that question, both books burst open, their pages shuffling back and forth. Again, the two girls spoke, their voices in perfect harmony. ¡°There are many who would make an enemy of the Keeper. They exist in the sky, thend, and the sea. Their numbers are billions, but their power low. However, for those that the Keeper acknowledges as an enemy¡­¡±


    The pages of both books turned ck, and a ck liquid could be seen slowly seeping out of the eyes of both twins. ¡°Two forces within the eternal darkness. One lies at the origin of all things, the birthce of creation. The other, in ruptured space, twisting through the border of worlds. Far removed, far apart. In chaos they thrive, in darkness they reign. The silver shadows streak through the abyss.¡±


    As their words finished, the two books abruptly mmed closed, vanishing in shards of golden light. The twins fell, like puppets with their strings cut, copsing on the ground. Udona¡¯s eyes went wide in panic, and she rushed over to check on them. Only after confirming that they were still alive with her own divinity was she assured, as their faces had be ghastly pale.


    ¡°Perhaps they shouldn¡¯t use their predictive powers so freely.¡± She muttered, reaching down to examine the ck liquid staining their cheeks. It did not seem to be blood, so she took a closer look. However, as her fingers touched the liquid, it seemed to evaporate. The trails of ck tears were still present, but vanished wherever Udona touched.

 Chapter 664: First Encounter

    <h4>Chapter 664: First Encounter</h4>


    Not long after my return from Deckan, Dana conveyed to me the prediction that the Terra twins made upon my departure. Had I known that they were capable of predictions on that scale, I would have asked them to do so before I left. As it was¡­ it was still not too difficult to piece together what their prediction meant, in terms of the enemy location.


    Few people had the evidence to support it, but there were many who likely suspected that Earth was the ¡®birthce of creation¡¯. After all, it was one of the first batch of worlds to enter the alliance, and was the one which contained all races aside from the demons. Even if someone else heard that saying, they might know that it referred to the realm of Earth.


    The other one is¡­ more tricky. Ruptured space could refer to a few different things. Instead of referring to an entire realm, like Earth, it could refer to the fleet already passing through the void. And even if it were referring to a realm, that would only help me narrow it down to one of two, either Deckan or the realm of the golems. The dimensional borders between those two worlds are thinner, and have led to ruptures from time to time.


    The rest of the prediction¡­ I wasn¡¯t really sure what it meant, aside from the fact that the invaders would be able to utilize more of their technology once they established their void bases. However, that was something that I already knew about, so I wasn¡¯t incredibly worried there.


    At the very least, their prediction allowed me to discern that at least one of the enemy groups was currently within the Earth realm. Furthermore, neither of them should be in either Lorek or Spica, going by the description of the other location. Or rather, I had never heard of anything from either of those areas matching such.


    This allowed me to rx my watch slightly in rtion to those two worlds. Although it was too early to entirely leave them alone, I did not have to constantly be worried about being struck there anymore. Now, I had to devote myself to finishing my detection city so that I could find the enemy¡¯s bases.


    ncing up at the night sky hanging over the city, I let out a rather solemn sigh. Now that I knew that one group was within the Earth realm, I had a ratherrge advantage. After all, I possessed the World Shadow of Earth. Theoretically, that meant that I would be able to transport myself wherever I wanted and catch the enemy off-guard.


    Sadly, reality did not match up to that desire. World¡¯s Shadow was an ability that fundamentally relied on shadows. Although space could be considered an infinite darkness, darkness only became a shadow when it was cast on a surface. Floating darkness would not allow the transmission of the World¡¯s Shadow, preventing me from extending its reach outside of the.


    For a moment, I considered going to other colonized worlds in this realm and spreading my shadow there. That way, I would be able to expand my domain. However, I ultimately decided against doing so. Since the enemy was operating a space fleet, it would make no difference for this invasion if my domain extended to a few others. More likely than not, their troops would never descend to a¡¯s surface, unless I hid somewhere like Fyor where they could only attack me by sending ground troops.


    Come to think of it, how would they battle in such a situation? I wondered to myself curiously. They would have to be prepared for the eventuality where the enemy has a sealed world that does not allow space travel. They¡¯d need ground troops for situations like that, right? Or would Silence simply consider rounds like that an excusable loss?


    Shaking my head, I got rid of those thoughts, once again turning my attention to the Command Hub. The question to ask myself now was merely whether or not my enemy was able to establish their void base before I upgraded my detection abilities to find them. It would be great if that was the case, but I had to prepare for the eventuality where they establish their forces before I can locate them.


    ¡°Tsubaki.¡± I called out towards the nearby kitsune maid, who promptly looked back in my direction.


    ¡°Yes, my Keeper?¡± She asked in a reverent tone, bowing low as she waited to hear what I had to say.


    ¡°What¡¯s the production rate of the gctic fleet at Deckan?¡± I knew that we wouldn¡¯t be able to match the enemy¡¯s output speed once they really got their bases set up, so I had to understand how far ahead we were at the start.


    Tsubaki thought about it for a moment before answering. ¡°Using the nano-production methods of the Metong, we are able to create one ship every week. Currently, we have just over one thousand Destiny-ss vessels in operation throughout the various worlds.¡±


    I gave a small nod when I heard that. A thousand ships were by no means weak. The problem was that they had to be spread out to cover numerous worlds, meaning that the actual force each fleet could muster was reduced considerably. Sadly, I did not know just how fast the production speed would get once the enemy became established. The production of cloned troops should take time, but even that was uncertain.


    ncing towards the system window, I once again confirmed that the enemy numbers remained steady at two hundred. They had not yet expanded their forces, so perhaps my concerns were unwarranted.


    Time passed slowly, the Destiny Fleet hovering high above the world. They had been there for weeks, and showed no signs of moving. Julia shook her head as she recalled the words that Aurivy left behind before departing. Naturally, she knew long ago that her friend had used a mortal incarnation. In fact, she often yed with the mortal form of Aurivy when the goddess herself was preupied with other things. Thus, there was no bad blood between them over this matter.


    Just¡­ she felt rather lonely with Aurivy having been gone for this long. Looking around her home, seeing the clean living room and spotless table, she thought back to how they would y together. Sometimes, they would just sit and eat snacks while watching movies. With her gone like this, the house felt empty.


    Her eyes roamed over to the pair of visors sitting on a nearby counter, thetest model of virtual reality equipment that they had purchased a few weeks back. Aurivy hadn¡¯t taken hers with her, as she had hoped to return within a few hours. Maybe I should deliver it to her, so that we can spend some time together before this whole mess gets resolved?


    Shaking her head, she decided not to intrude on her friend¡¯s matters. Instead, she focused on the connection between the two of them, sending a silent prayer. Do you know when you¡¯re going to be free to return, Rivy?


    It took a moment for Aurivy to respond, a sign of the message being unexpected. Sorry, looks like I¡¯ll be here for a while yet. If you want toe over, I could ask Udona to spare an extra room?


    The offer was far more tempting than it should have been, and Julia found herself almost agreeing on the spot. However, she felt a faint tremor in the air. Looking outside, there were explosions shing through the sky, bursts of light as bright as the sun streaking from one end to the other. Julia¡¯s face contorted as she realized that the Destiny fleet was engaging in battle.


    Aurivy! Dange- Her thoughts were cut off as one beam of light struck the, far in the distance. Even so, she could feel the tremors reaching her all the way in her home, the windows of her house shattering. A momentter, an explosion shattered the world, crushing her divine body with the rubble of her home as it was sted apart.


    As she was a deity, she was not immediately in by such damage, though it was incredibly jarring to her. Before she could properly recover, she found golden mist wrapping around her scattered divine body. The next thing she knew, she was beginning to recondense her form atop arge, red carpet.


    ¡°Julia!?¡± Aurivy ran over, retracting her mist as she saw her friend¡¯s body reforming. Above her head, her health bar had appeared, showing that she had lost half of her health from that attack. This was the most damage that she had ever taken with her real body, aside from the moment when she achieved her perfection.


    ¡°Danger¡­¡± Julia said, even as her head had not finished reforming. ¡°The world¡­ was destroyed¡­ light.¡± It was hard to put into words what she had seen. There was an intense battle, for sure, but it seemed almost as if a single stray st had destroyed an entire.


    ¡°Alena!¡± Aurivy yelled out into the empty air, waving her hands. Golden mist surged throughout the bedroom, one figure after another appearing around the two of them. Even the God-Queen Udona had been pulled over abruptly, seeming surprised at the change in scenery.


    However, when everyone saw the damaged form of Julia, their expressions twisted. The felyn girl Alena retreated a step, eyes wide in shock. Aurivy turned to face her, her eyes almost cold. ¡°Use your book. I need to confirm this quickly.¡±


    Alena did not have the strength to refuse Aurivy, quickly summoning her Pledge of Life and Death. When she opened it, she found dozens of names crossed off, and released a gasp of shock. Udona saw the list, only giving a small nod. The enemy was beginning to move in earnest now, and they had lost over half of a fleet protecting one world.


    To her surprise, however, there were no new names being crossed off as they observed the book. Udona knew that there should be more ships stationed in that sector. This meant that one side had fled, or they had only managed to destroy the enemy after suffering such heavy losses.


    Simrly, Aurivy appeared familiar with the list as well. Browsing through it, she found a name that she knew and closed her eyes to project her divine senses around that individual. Admiral Degaro was an ardent worshipper of Aurivy, and was a halflingmander within the fleet. Thus, she was able to borrow his eyes to observe the surroundings.


    What she saw was a scene of destion. The halfling admiral was staring in horror at the sight of a shattered, its pieces engulfed in mes. As his eyes swept back towards the destroyed enemy ships, she caught another horrifying thought from his mind.


    Aurivy¡¯s eyes snapped open, but she felt a chill running down her back. She shared a nce with Udona, confirming that the other goddess had investigated the scene through a simr method. ¡°One hundred ships¡­¡± She muttered, recalling thest thoughts from the admiral before she closed the connection.


    Udona nodded her head. ¡°And the survivors all self-destructed after destroying the.¡± In terms of the amount of ships lost, it could be seen that the Destiny-ss fleet was superior in their capabilities. Unfortunately, it was not to the degree where they could protect themselves and thes that they were guarding at the same time.


    I was pacing back and forth within the Command Hub, my eyes ncing at the system window again. It had been a week at this point since the invasion began, and I had finally expanded the detection range to include the entire gxy. However, I remained unable to find the enemy, meaning that they had already established their base.


    This was further proven by the fact that their numbers within the system window had recently skyrocketed. From two hundred invaders, there were now over a thousand times that number. Clearly, their cloning method allowed them to produce troops far more quickly than I had ever considered possible.


    Dale¡­ Udona¡¯s voice spoke solemnly into my mind, and she began to ry the news regarding our first conflict with the enemy. How they had sent in a hundred ships, only to destroy themselves after devastating a.


    My steps paused, and I looked at the number on the interface more closely. It¡¯s¡­ gone down by about thirty thousand, I think? That meant that their ships would have been operating with a crew of three hundred each. Sacrificing thirty thousand troops and a hundred ships¡­


    It wasn¡¯t hard to understand that these were truly disposable assets to the enemy. It wouldn¡¯t take more than a day to replenish those numbers. However, it was still better to keep them than not. Or, at least, I would assume so.


    Send out scouting ships to the surrounding worlds. I want to know if others have been destroyed, or if they somehow knew to specifically target an inhabited world. It seemed like the invasion was really going to be kicking off at this point.

 Chapter 665: A Fickle Thing

    <h4>Chapter 665: A Fickle Thing</h4>


    Within an hour, I had my answer from the scouting force. Aside from the world which had been destroyed, no others in the surrounding systems had been targeted. This showed that the enemy had a way to detect my inhabiteds, which put me at a ratherrge disadvantage.


    Previously, I had been hoping that I would be able to force them onto the defensive by getting my detection city quickly operating. Now, they were the ones able toe and go as they please, without me being able to properly trace them back to their origins.


    Closing my eyes, I felt my brows knit together in focus. Think¡­ There were obviously too many ways to count that they could have detected my inhabited. Anything from them having a spy to being able to trace faint electromaic waves. However, without knowing how they did it exactly, I had no way to determine what I could do to stop them.


    ¡°I need to see the sisters.¡± I muttered to myself, slowly rising. ¡°Tsubaki, we¡¯re two upgrades away from interdimensional scanning. If I¡¯m not back in time, make sure the progress continues as nned.¡± I looked towards Tsubaki, who nodded her head with a serious expression.


    ¡°It will be done, my Keeper.¡± She told me, moving to sit in the control chair after I stood and moved out of the way.


    ¡°That mean you want to travel the Darkness Express?¡± Dana asked, already creating a gateway for me along the wall.


    I nodded, smiling slightly and ruffling her hair as I walked by, much to her discontent. ¡°Thanks, Dana. Hopefully, I won¡¯t be long, unless they¡¯re able to give me a clear answer.¡±


    After saying that, I walked through the gateway, emerging within Udona¡¯s office. By now, she had already returned to work, and seemed to be writing some form of letter. If I wasn¡¯t mistaken¡­ it was likely to be a notice to the families of the deceased. ¡°Wee back.¡± She said in a somber tone. ¡°Please tell me you have an idea.¡±


    ¡°I want to try to use the prophecy of the twins.¡± I shook my head, knowing that a prophetic hint would be the only way that I could try to get through this without more sacrifices. Who knew how long it would be before the enemiesunched a fleet to attack one of my primary worlds? They had already proven themselves more than capable.


    Udona had aplicated look on her face when she heard my n. ¡°Okay, but keep an eye on them. Thest time they prophesized, ck gunk leaked from their eyes, and it faded away as soon as I touched it.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but raise an eyebrow at that. ¡°You never told me that before. Is it anything dangerous?¡±


    Udona gave a small shrug. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I didn¡¯t tell you because it appeared to simply be an aesthetic effect. My Goddess told me that Terra likes theatrics, so it would be something that I could see her arranging intentionally.¡±


    Although I didn¡¯t want to admit it, Udona was right with that. Given everything that I had seen from Terra, she could very well have arranged for something akin to ck tears. ¡°I¡¯ll keep it in mind, and will give it a closer look if I see anything strange.¡±


    After saying that, I turned and left the room. However, I hadn¡¯t made it more than three steps before almost falling back, practically colliding with the objects of my search. The Terra twins stood just outside of Udona¡¯s office, smiling towards me. ¡°It¡¯s our turn now, right?¡± The one on the right asked, before the other one followed.


    ¡°We sensed the change in the narrative, and knew you¡¯d be showing up here. You need an answer urgently, or you wouldn¡¯t have looked for something as obscure as a prophecy.¡±


    ¡°Just¡­ tell me one thing, girls.¡± I let out a sigh, straightening up as I looked at them. ¡°Are you able to give your prophecies in straight answers, or do they always appear as riddles like what you gave before?¡±


    The two sisters had aplicated expression when they looked at one another, shrugging in unison. ¡°The future is uncertain. The power our Goddess taught us allows us to narrow down the scope of the predicted future, but it doesn¡¯t give us an exact answer.¡±


    The other one nodded her head after the first spoke, carrying on with the exnation. ¡°Our ¡®riddles¡¯ as you call them are the narrowed interpretations of multiple possible futures. For instance¡­ let¡¯s say you wanted to predict the location of a specific fish in the sea, ten minutes from now.¡±


    The first blinked, looking at her sister. ¡°Right. We¡¯d be able to give you a rough estimate on where it is, but not exact coordinates. We¡¯d seendmarks, vague paths it could take, and those would automatically be tranted into the prophecy. In truth¡­ we actually forget the contents of each prophecy after we give it. The Goddess said that this power should only be used to aid others, and never to answer our own curiosity. Something about instinctively changing the future if we know what will happen.¡±


    I let out a sigh at that, realizing that it meant the prophecies were outside of their control. ¡°Got it. Then, can we go somewhere for you to do this? I need to find the invaders before they can carry out any more attacks.¡±


    The Terra twins nodded their heads, turning and walking. Oddly, even the sway of their tails seemed to be synchronized, making it appear as if they were truly mirrored copies of one another. As I followed them I realized that they were leading me back to their room. ¡°Is itmon for the two of you to fall unconscious after giving a prophecy?¡±


    ¡°Nope!¡± They answered at once, before the one on the right spoke with a cheery smile. ¡°It depends on the scope of the prophecy. If the prophecy crosses dimensions, or the border of life and death, it takes a pretty heavy toll on us. That¡¯s why we¡¯re making sure that we¡¯re ready for it, this time.¡±


    I gave a small nod, seeing them push the door open. The bedroom was rather simple, befitting the guest room of a royal pce. The bed wasrge, with a ck sheet. Dark red curtains covered the windows, giving the entire room a sense of eerie darkness. Without a word, the two went over to climb up onto their bed, sitting so that their backs were against one another.


    ¡°Is it¡­ necessary to be seated like that?¡± I asked out of curiosity, and they nodded their heads again, the one facing me answering.


    ¡°The past and the future can never look at one another. They can only meet in the middle.¡± As she said that, the two of them joined hands at one side, as if to represent her meaning. ¡°I am the story that hase to pass.¡± A golden book hovered over her free hand as she smiled at me, her twin speaking behind her.


    ¡°I am the future that has yet toe.¡± At her words, a golden aura wrapped around both of them, and they truly became synchronized, their voices ovepping.


    ¡°We peer into the world¡¯s fate. What is it that you wish to know?¡± The sister facing me had purely golden eyes, making me certain that this was a divine ability that Terra had created for them. I¡¯ll need to ask her about this when I get back¡­ add it to the list.


    ¡°Where is the monitoring center of my enemies, the base that they are using to find their targets?¡± I knew that wording was important here. Most likely, the monitoring centers would not be within the void, seeing as radio waves and other forms of transmissions should not be able to escape the bounds of a world¡¯s barrier. And, if I can find their monitoring station, that will give me a clue to find their base itself while preventing them fromunching any more attacks.


    The pages of the books in their hands fluttered wildly. The two sisters let out an eerieugh that filled the room. ¡°Infinite darkness, twinkling stars within the abyss. A gxy the size of a single grain, a star the size of an atom. Surrounded by a metal cage, looking inwards, but never outwards. So tiny, so small, so infinitesimally unimportant. Yet sorge¡­ a world apart, a world without boundaries. Beyond boundaries. Beyond what lies beyond.¡±


    The two let out that same eerieugh again, their golden eyes starting to swim with darkness. Soon, ck lines of liquid began to fall from their eyes, and I deployed my World Sight to check the substance. What I found shocked me, as this was not some theatrical effect that Terra had arranged, nor were they bleeding from their eyes.


    A chaotic energy, the origin and destruction of all things. For some reason, their eyes were leaking the energy of the void. Knowing that there wasn¡¯t much time, I further deployed my world sight to investigate the bodies of both girls, looking for the source of this energy. I knew from experience that the power of the void could be hidden within a person right up until the moment it was activated.


    Sure enough, one of the sisters had a dark core of power within their bodies, while the other had a shining core of divine energy. The dark power of the void and bright light of the divine moved along their arms, each entering the body of the other before cycling back. When chaos and divinity meet¡­ is that how Terra allowed a pair of mortals to peer into the ¡®fate system¡¯?


    By the time my observation ended, the two of them had already copsed, their powers returning back to their rightful bodies. Although I continued to observe them for a moment, they did not seem to have suffered any damage from the merging of their powers. Their health bars had not even appeared over their heads. It could be seen that this fusion of power was simply taxing on their minds, forcing them to rest afterpleting the fusion.


    James, I have a question for you, as our resident expert. I muttered through my mana, turning and leaving the room. Thanks to their prophecy, I knew exactly where the monitoring stations were now, though I really wish I was wrong.


    What¡¯s up, man? James asked, seeming to catch something from my tone.


    Are the Destiny-ss ships able to battle in the void?


    There was a slight pause at my question. Theoretically, yes? But, I wouldn¡¯t suggest putting it to the test. The power cores that Tsubaki used on them lose a lot of their power when you take them to the void. They¡¯d need to run on battery power, which wouldn¡¯tst very long in a fight of that scale. On the bright side, they won¡¯t go supernova when destroyed like they do here.


    Wait, what? I blinked, my steps stopping. Supernova¡­ that¡¯s right. Tsubaki destroyed one of the orbs to create a giant explosion before¡­ James, is there any reason why Destiny-ss ships that were destroyed in this realm wouldn¡¯t explode?


    What? I guess if they were lucky enough to not get struck in any of their power cores? Otherwise, just one of those detonating could take out everything within a million kilometers. I took a look at their specs as an advisor, and the failsafe they decided to go with wouldn¡¯tpletely eliminate the problem, only move it elsewhere at thest moment. Even then, there was a certain risk of failure, due to the failsafe possibly being damaged or not having time to react.


    I gave a nod at that. Tsubaki would never allow the reality gems to be used if it meant that destroying one ship would take out the entire fleet. But, with that risk of failure, what were the odds that none of the dozens of ships experienced that kind of catastrpohic explosion?


    It might be risky, but we need to get the fleet ready. Our enemy is in the void, directly outside of each of our worlds. ording to my informants, they have monitoring stations built around each realm within the void, and are looking inwards to find their targets. We don¡¯t have enough gods capable of fighting in the void for me to lead the charge.


    I would honestly much prefer being able to just rush in with a strikeforce of deities, but James had already given me a warning about fighting in the void. It was not something that I could ask others to do, even if I did have a way around it personally.

 Chapter 666: Hellscape

    <h4>Chapter 666: Hellscape</h4>


    ¡°Admiral Degaro, we¡¯re receiving a message over the emergency channel!¡± A halfling woman called out, her red hair shifting behind her as she turned to look at the man sitting in themand seat. ¡°It¡¯s a mobilization order!¡±


    Degaro raised an eyebrow as he looked at themunications officer. ¡°Are we needed back on Earth, then?¡± He asked, knowing that to be the most likely location for such an order to send them. However, to his surprise, the officer shook her head.


    ¡°No, all Destiny-ss vessels are being ordered to move to Deckan. It¡¯s a Golden Order.¡± When the admiral heard that, his eyes went wide in surprise. There were various types of special orders that could be given to the fleet.


    For instance, a Red Order represented that they would be facing an enemy of overwhelming power, and would have to enterbat with the expectation that they would die. Still, this was considered eptable among the special orders. The worst was the ck Order, a quarantine order which was created in the event that a specific ship waspromised by some unforeseen factor which could not be allowed to return to a civilized world. Upon receiving this order, it was the duty of themanding officer to fly their ship into deep space, and immediately self-destruct after reaching a safe distance. If self-destruction was not an option, they should steer their ship directly into a star.


    Gold Order, on the other hand, represented a different sort of circumstance. This particr order was created for the sake of one individual. It meant that the fleet would act in concert with the Keeper himself. Of course, an enemy that required the Keeper to take personal action with the fleet simrly represented an extreme degree of danger. Nheless, this was a special order that could not be denied by anymanding officer. If they attempted to do so, it would be treason of the highest order, and any member of their crew could arrest them.


    ¡°Understood. Prepare to warp, then.¡± The admiral nodded his head, his hands clenching the armrests of the chair he was seated upon. The scenes of the recent battle were still fresh in his mind. Although he had seenbat before, it was never at such a scale. He had never seen an enemy that would single-mindedly act on their mission, and then immediately sacrifice all of their troops. Furthermore, he had never seen the destruction of an entire inhabited world.


    The various officers on the bridge began the task of preparing the ship to warp. On his console, he was able to detect energy spikes from the surviving ships as well, indicating that they were simrly initiating their warp. Closing his eyes, he let out a long sigh. ¡°Connect with Deckan Command. Ensure the arrival array has been prepared. Let¡¯s not run into traffic on the way over.¡±


    ¡°Coordinates have been received and epted by theputer.¡± The navigation officer nodded his head in confirmation. ¡°Warp is ready at yourmand.¡±


    With onest nod, he gestured three fingers forward. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Hemanded, and the ship was wrapped in a hazy blue light. On the front disy, there was a brief sh, before they appeared within arge fleet orbiting Deckan. At a nce, the admiral could tell that every surviving ship was indeed responding to this call.


    Furthermore, all of these ships were oriented to face a single man that was hovering in the distance. If not for the amplification of theputer¡¯s screens zooming in on him, they would have never been able to see such a small figure within the massive void that is space.


    As he thought about that, more and more ships began to appear, filling out an evenly spaced array. Only when thest of the fleet arrived did the man hovering in empty space open his eyes. His body was covered with golden armor, a ck cape hanging behind him. Despite the Keeper having never appeared in such armor before, it was clear to everyone present who he was. After all, only the Keeper¡¯s presence could justify a Golden Order.


    His eyes seemed to scan the ships present within the fleet before offering a small nod. His mouth didn¡¯t move, but his voice was projected into the minds of everyone looking at him. We have identified the enemy¡¯s base. I will not tell you how many millions of lives have already been imed in their recent attack, only that I aim to lead all of you to ensure that another such attack cannot ur.


    This enemy base is hidden in the void beyond the world. As such, only a vessel the likes of those gathered here have a chance of fighting. Yet, even these ships will only have a limited utility. Once we have reached the void, the power sources operating your ships will no longer function, forcing you to operate on battery power.


    Because of this, I would ask all non-essential personnel to be sentside. Maintain only the bare minimum crew needed to effectively fight the enemy, so that power can be conserved as much as possible. Once all ships have followed this instruction, and their batteries are fully charged, I will open the door to the void.


    After his words ended, he closed his eyes once again. The admiral couldn¡¯t help but furrow his brow at the information that he had heard. The greatest strength of the Destiny-ss fleets were undoubtedly their unrivalled power generation thanks to the mysterious blue orbs. Now, it would appear as if those orbs would be rendered useless in theing battle¡­


    With a sigh, he nodded towards hismunications officer. ¡°Ry the order. If they aren¡¯t part of the engineering orbat teams, I want everyone off this vessel. All of you, as well. I¡¯ll be assuming direct control for this engagement.¡± The officer¡¯s eyes went wide when she heard thatmand, abruptly standing from her seat.


    ¡°B-But sir! We can still be of help!¡± She pleaded, knowing that directlymanding the entire ship would be arge strain on a single person. Regardless, the admiral shook his head.


    ¡°Before we leave, I n to disable life support.¡± The admiral spoke, leaning back in his seat. ¡°The air in this room willst a lot longer if I¡¯m the only one here, will it not?¡±


    Themunications officer trembled slightly at that, but could only shakily nod her head. She hadn¡¯t expected that even life support would be deemed a ¡®non-essential¡¯ system in the current situation. ¡°I¡­ I understand, sir.¡± She answered reluctantly, moving back down to sit at her terminal.


    ¡°The following personnel will remain on the ship, along with up to one assistant each of their choice. All other personnel are to immediately leave via the emergency gate. Senior Weapons Officer Bracken. Senior Weapons Officer Crylo. Senior Technician Arway. Senior Technician Kelpie. Senior Shield Officer Harwin. Senior Navigation Officer Nobert. Repeat¡­ all other personnel are to immediately leave the ship.¡±


    After she finished giving the order, she stood once again, as did the other members of the bridge crew. With misty eyes, she turned to face the admiral, pping her right hand over her chest, her fingers spread out. ¡°Return safely!¡± She called out, her words echoed by the other staff before walking towards the door.


    The admiral returned their gesture with a nod. Although not a typical salute, what they had done was an ancient custom among the halflings. The salute of the Bloody Hand, the sign of the halfling¡¯s pride. ¡°I¡¯ll do my best.¡± He said in the softest voice that he could manage.


    Tapping a button on his armrest, he pulled up a holographic disy that upied his entire field of view. In one corner, he saw as the lifesigns of the ship all gathered at the emergency gate, forming an orderly line as they left. By the time they were all gone, more than ten minutes had passed, and there were barely a dozen signatures remaining aboard the ship.


    After he hit another button, he pulled up the power distribution for the ship, and turned off all power to the unupied portions of the vessel. Although he did not turn life support off just yet, he was prepared to do so as soon as themand was given to depart.


    A short timeter, the Keeper¡¯s eyes opened once more, scanning over the far less popted vessels gathered around him. He gave a small nod of eptance. Thank you all for your prompt responses. I will now begin. You may depart as soon as the gate is open.


    With that said, the Keeper turned around, and his body shattered like countless shards of ss. In its ce was an elven woman with silver hair, donning a ck dress dotted with white dots like the starry sky. She lifted a hand, and the space before her seemed to fracture.


    A long, red line formed horizontally before the body of the elven woman, whose figure was faintly recognizable as the Goddess of the Void, Leowynn. The line grew, extending from one side of the fleet to the other, before it began to open up vertically. To Admiral Degaru, it appeared as if a massive, red eye had opened in the vastness of space.


    ¡°Give me ten percent on the engines.¡± The admiral said as he plotted the course into the massive gate. The rest of the fleet simrly began to move alongside him, while the goddess Leowynn moved to stand on one of the departing vessels.


    Degaru wasn¡¯t sure why or how the Keeper had suddenly turned into Leowynn, but he knew that such a question was not one for him to ask. Especially not at the current moment. His eyes trained forward, focusing on the approaching void. Before his ship reached the gate, he hit the button to disable life support across the ship.


    The moment that the ship passed through the gate, there was a flicker on the controls in front of him, a sign that their power had indeed been cut. Thankfully, they had been prepared and could switch over to battery power immediately.


    Operating the controls in front of him, Degaru quickly brought up a scan of the area around him. To his chagrin, none of the typical scanning devices seemed to function properly within the void, so he promptly disabled them as well while switching to the exterior cameras.


    Outside the ship was an infinite expanse of darkness, simr to the deeper regions of space. However, there seemed to be far too few stars popting this sky, as well as a few rather misshapen stars that seemed to pulsate in the distance.


    As the camera panned around, Degaru was able to identify a metal structure which did not belong to the fleet. It was constructed around what appeared to be a strange blob of energy, as if two bubbles had been pressed against one another. Nearby, another bubble rested not far from the metal structure, surrounded by three ships.


    Degaru¡¯s eyes widened as he saw the ships, clenching his fists. They were the same type as the ones that he had seen wreaking havoc not long ago, and he was sure that he would never forget them. Each one had what appeared to be a miniature white star at their core, the main vessel itself being a series of rotating rings built around that core.


    All forces, prepare to engage. Leowynn¡¯s voice spoke into the minds of the fleetmanders. Focus fire on the enemy ships. Under no circumstances are you to attack the metal superstructure.


    After Leowynn gave that order, she began to float up from the vessel that she had been standing on, her body rising up and into the void. As it did, she began to grow bigger and bigger, the void itself trembling at her presence. Within the deep darkness, Degaru could faintly see something shift within the deep void, figures that seemed to blur beyond his perception.


    Shaking his head, he locked his camera onto the three ships. ¡°Conventional targeting systems are offline due to interference.¡± He reported over thems. ¡°Resort to manual targeting, and fire at will.¡±

 Chapter 667: The Anti-Climax

    <h4>Chapter 667: The Anti-Climax</h4>


    Standing on the hull of one of the fleet vessels, I looked out and into the void. As I was currently mirroring Leowynn¡¯s abilities, the void looked¡­ different than I was expecting. The ck expanse gave way to tints of red, with dark shadows marking the presence of the various void monsters in the area. It was hard to make out the exact shape of each void monster, only that most of them were almost asrge as the universe ¡®bubbles¡¯ scattered throughout the expanse.


    Shaking my head, I looked towards the bubbles that represented Deckan and the golem world, finding them wrapped in a tight, metal cage. To me, the worst oue here would be for that cage to be struck, and inadvertently damage the protective shells around these worlds. Thus, I quickly informed the fleet that the cage was not their target. Instead, their target was the nearby bubble being protected by a small group of ships.


    As the fighting began, I noticed movement from the nearby void monsters, as if they had been waiting for a chance to move in. Lifting myself off of the vessel I had been riding, I began to absorb the void energy around myself, something that was only possible to achieve in my current mirrored state.


    Granted, this was only an avatar formed by my divinity, but it would be bad to act too recklessly. After all, there was likely to be a second base near the Earth universe bubble. We would need to take care of that after we were done here.


    With the energy of the void pouring into my body, I could feel myself rapidly growing. The power of the Void domain gave me a rather helpful set of abilities in this campaign, but I wasn¡¯t nning on using them to destroy the enemy base. Rather, my attention was turned towards the void monsters hiding in the distance.


    If any of those came over, the fleet would quickly be destroyed without any ability to fight back. This was an obstacle that only I could block, so I had to make sure to keep them at bay. Especially given the fact that many of these creatures seemed to give off rather powerful auras¡­ I wasn¡¯t entirely sure that I¡¯d be able to fight them all by myself, if they decided to rush over.


    How do the invaders stop the void creatures from interfering with them? This question shed through my mind, but I was forced to let it go as the first of the void monsters rushed over. It seemed to be a vaguely snake-like creature, its bodyposed of ck energy.


    Lifting my hand, I focused on the void energy surrounding myself. ¡°Bind.¡± I called out, and the snake was frozen not far away from me. As it had already gotten this close in such a short amount of time, I felt a chill running down my spine. At the same time, I could sense countless strands of energy connected to its body.


    Following a few of those strands, I found that they led back to Deckan¡¯s universe bubble, and I was somewhat enlightened. The first time that I had seen a void monster in the normal world, it had taken advantage of the structure of a storage device to rush out with its main body. Thus, I had never seen how they ¡®normally¡¯ invaded a world.


    With a thought, the numerous energy strands surrounding the snake were severed, cutting off its connection to every world. In doing so, the ck energy surrounding its body vanished, and I was able to see the creature for what it really was. The snake¡¯s body wasposed of brilliant silver flesh as opposed to scales, and it had three eyes resting on its head.


    With the snake serving as an example to the others, I thought that they would be more hesitant to rush at me. On the contrary, however, five others rushed in at once. These five all seemed to have different forms, whether they were humanoid in appearance or a mass of surging tentacles.


    Furrowing my brow, I extended both hands to greet them. ¡°Bind!¡± I shouted again, flexing the power of the void to wrap around these creatures as well. It was starting to feel suspicious, just how eagerly they were attacking. Of the five, one had even charged at the world being guarded by the enemy fleet.


    They¡¯re obviously not tamed. With that being the case¡­ why haven¡¯t they attacked before now? I couldn¡¯t immediately think of an answer, even while borrowing Leowynn¡¯s mentality through her mirrored self. If possible, I would have switched to alia, as she had likely the greatest analytical prowess in my group. Unfortunately, I couldn¡¯t risk cancelling my mirror image of Leowynn, or else these monsters would be able to swarm at me en masse.


    Wait¡­ I blinked, thinking of a distinct possibility, though one that I normally wouldn¡¯t have considered. I would have to investigate the matter once this battle was over and everyone had been sent back.


    I risked a nce over at the battlefield, noticing that arge number of enemy ships had arrived, no doubt having emerged from the base that they had established. Currently, about a third of the ships I had brought with me had been either destroyed or incapacitated, while the enemy fleet showed heavy losses as well.


    The strangest thing that could be seen was that the enemy¡¯s universe base was showing signs of breaking apart. It shouldn¡¯t be broken that easily, should it?


    Admiral Degaru sat within the bridge, staring at the screens disyed before him. Of the battery power that they had entered the battlefield with, less than twenty percent of it was remaining. He grit his teeth in frustration, knowing how unlikely it was that they would be winning this battle.


    The enemy seemed to be protecting the strange ¡®bubble¡¯ behind them, but not from direct attacks. Degaru assumed that every ship had managed tond at least one solid hit on the bubble by now, if not more. Rather, the enemy fleet would violently attack any ship that attempted to physically move in, to the point of sending their own ships to ram them.


    It didn¡¯t take a strategic genius to figure out that something was wrong with that picture. They were less afraid of their base being destroyed than they were of it being infiltrated. As Degaru saw his power creep down below ten percent, he let out a solemn sigh. He decided that he would initiate onest gambit, sending his own ship in to be a target, before unleashing all of their remaining power in an outwards st.


    However, just as this thought crossed his mind, something remarkable happened. The bubble that they had been attacking for so long¡­ popped. Without any warning or discernible cause, it simply copsed. Following this copse, the ships which had pushed them to the edge of despair simultaneously exploded, as if they had taken critical damage in their battle.


    Degaru blinked in confusion, not understanding what he was seeing. In the event that a unit could be mass produced, it was understandable that they would be willing to dispose of those troops in order to protect some secret. However, directly eliminating their primary base as well as their full army was an entirely different level of sacrifice.


    Regardless, the battle seemed to be over, for one reason or another. As such, Degaru immediately sent amand to power down all weapons systems, hoping to buy them enough time for the Keeper to send them all back home.


    ¡­I¡¯m sorry, what? I stared at the shattered remains of the bubble for several long moments. The idea that they had destroyed their base so decisively was far beyond my calctions. Especially given the fact that they had not only destroyed this base, but every base they owned¡­ I knew this because of a system prompt that appeared in front of my main body.


    Congrattions! You have sessfully repelled the invasion of Keeper Silence!


    Assessing the value of forces deployed in the invasion¡­


    200 enemies assessed!


    1,000 points have been awarded as a result of your sessful defense!


    I was fairly confident that this was the least amount of points that I had ever received from defending against an actual invasion. The only reason that I could think of for this was that the enemies sent did not have anybat power on their own. Had they appeared in the vicinity of any of my ships before establishing their base, it was likely that they would have been immediately killed.


    Shaking my head, I quickly opened another portal back to Deckan, knowing that time was a very limited resource for the ships remaining in the fleet. However, I did not return with them, simply watching as they left while ensuring that the void monsters were unable to get in their way.


    Once thest of the surviving ships had made their way through the gate, I immediately closed it. Now that I was the only one here, the void beasts seemed to have lost much of their interest. Some of them began to disperse, while others remained in the area to seemingly observe. Of course, the six that I held suspended in ce had no choice in the matter, and I had no intention to let them go for the time being.


    Instead, I brought them with me as I went to find the remains of the universe that the enemy had been using. Leowynn, could you give me a hand here? I called out to her, knowing that the real Leowynn would likely have more insights into the subject than a replicated facsimile of her.


    A momentter, she responded, arriving at my side and quickly giving me a warm hug. Though, given the fact that I was still using her appearance, the hug slowly became somewhat awkward, until I changed back to my normal body.


    Perhaps it was because I had only been using an avatar for this conflict, but the change in my mentality was not as extreme as it typically was when I turned into someone else. Regardless, I gave my daughter a small smile, patting her on the shoulder. ¡°Can you tell me if there is anything strange about this area?¡± I asked, my body rapidly deting to return to my original size. Now that I no longer had the Void domain, it seemed that I could not maintain my erged form, so I floated up to rest on Leowynn¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°Do you know what I¡¯m looking for?¡± She asked curiously, quickly trapping the six monsters again after my power was no longer restraining them. I might have felt a bit bad for them, under different circumstances.


    Thinking about her question, I shook her head. ¡°Anything that would serve as a deterrence. I think¡­ they might have had a Fallen God stationed here.¡± This was the strange possibility that had urred to me when I was observing the battlefield previously. ¡°A Fallen God would be able to keep the void monsters at bay, while also allowing them to establish and copse their own world. Of course, there¡¯s a chance that they simply had some incredibly advanced technology, but it just seemed suspicious.¡±


    Granted, the points I was awarded didn¡¯t seem to suggest that a being on the level of a Fallen God was present. But¡­ what if it were one of the things that they were able to clone, and considered as their secret weapons?


    Leowynn furrowed her brows, before nodding her head. ¡°Okay, dad. I¡¯ll see if there¡¯s any traces.¡± As she said that, she scanned the area with her eyes, before shaking her head. ¡°I¡­ can¡¯t tell. I¡¯ve never seen the traces of a Fallen God in the void. But¡­ there was definitely some sort of energy supporting this world. It feels like¡­ when the energy disappeared, the world began to destroy itself.¡±


    That supported both the theory of them using technology to achieve the effect as well as a Fallen God. Unfortunately, there wasn¡¯t much more that I could investigate either way, as they had quite thoroughly destroyed their base and machines. Even the structure surrounding Deckan and the golem¡¯s universe had detonated, destroying itself.


    ¡°Okay¡­ then, can you take me to therge, blue cluster over there? There¡¯s something else I need to investigate, before we head back.¡±

 Chapter 668: Hidden Weakness

    <h4>Chapter 668: Hidden Weakness</h4>


    As I rode on Leowynn¡¯s back, the two of us approached therge, blue cluster. It was easy to guess from its appearance that it should have been the location where the mana gems were being produced within the void. However, the fact that the gems within the real world did not explode when they should have was still worrying to me.


    I did not believe that it had anything to do with our invaders. If anything, their involvement with this ¡®blue star¡¯ would have rendered itpletely inoperable. Had they done that, it would have dealt a critical blow to our fleet that I doubted we could recover from.


    When we neared the cluster, I was able to make out several details within, my eyes going wide in shock. The barriers surrounding the world of the reality gems were weak and fragile. This was something that Leowynn had already confirmed in a previous experiment. As an unstable, artificial world, they could be destroyed rather easily.


    Yet, that very nature resulted in the amalgamation I was seeing in front of me. The worlds that were created as a result of mass-producing these mana gems were crammed together in one area of the void. They were packed so tightly that their barriers kept rubbing against each other¡­ and if my world sight was urate, those barriers had already been destroyed.


    With few exceptions, the bubbles within the void representing these mass-produced spheres had all merged. Now, what I was looking at was an almost writhing world that was slowly stabilizing. Its outer shell, which surrounded the entire cluster, was far stronger than the normally fragile mana gem.


    This should still be a world consisting only of mana, right? I thought to myself as I observed the world resting in front of me. For such a world to be more stable, how many smaller worlds had it consumed in the process?


    Perhaps more importantly, what had happened to the worlds belonging to the destroyed gems? Had it not caused any harm due to the gems now connecting to a single,rger world? While that would be good if it were the case, it opened an entirely different can of problems.


    If this mass within the void were to be destroyed, it would no doubt cause every mana gem it was connected to to simply shatter. All of the ships and machines being powered by these items would suddenly stop working. Even if they didn¡¯t violently explode, the loss of power would be enough to cripple anything rted to them.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t good.¡± I muttered to myself, shaking my head. While there were short-term benefits with the increased stability of the mana gems, it left a long-term weakness that had to be resolved. Furthermore, I had to acknowledge the possibility that there was an upper limit to how many smaller worlds could bebined into one before they naturally copsed.


    In the event of such a copse, all of the rted mana gems would stop working anyways, and there may even be greater consequences within the void. ¡°The red, green, and silver ones next¡­ I need to confirm that this is happening with all of them.¡± I whispered to Leowynn, who began to fly me off into the distance.


    Although it would hurt my gctic fleet to lose the convenient source of theoretically limitless energy, I couldn¡¯t risk that fleet being crippled the moment an invader popped the wrong bubble. Given our current level of advancement, we shouldn¡¯t be more than a few major achievements off from harvesting energy directly from the void like they did.


    I had tofort myself with that knowledge, because I soon found that my worries were not unfounded. Whether it was the ki, spiritual energy, or natural energy ¡®worlds¡¯, they had all formed simr amalgamations. Granted, the green worlds were still in the process of fusing, as they were not produced nearly as frequently. But, from what I saw, it would only be a matter of time.


    Along the way, I did also find numerous scattered worlds. They were tiny, unstable fragments that seemed quite simr to the giant masses, and it took me a moment to realize what they were. These smaller worlds should have been the gems that were previously used in fusions to establish plete¡¯ worlds. Because they had been used in those fusions, their coordinates within the void should have shifted over time, allowing them to escape from that fusion.


    I could find at least a little bit of sce in that, given that it meant that the mana gem which previously gave us the greatest amount of worry would not be included in the massive cluster. I thought back to the sentient mana entities, the creatures that had noticed our observations from outside the world. If they were to be released in arger world, I had no doubt that they would further evolve.


    Tsubaki sat within the Control Hub of the detection city, staring intently at the countdown for the upgrade panel. Her mission had not yet been relieved by the Keeper, so she was determined to follow it through until the end. Sure, she had heard that he was leading a force to destroy an enemy base, but she did not have any delusions that they would only establish one such base within the void.


    The enemy had proven themselves capable of mass-producing ships, soldiers, even entire worlds with limited startup resources. Why would they ever be satisfied with just one base? Thus, she waited, knowing that her patience would be rewarded. That is, until the countdown froze less than five minutes before the next update could be applied.


    Tsubaki sat there, looking in confusion at the screen for several long moments. Then, the countdown was reced with a bolded sign, reading ¡®Victory!¡¯. She let out a long sigh, realizing that her Keeper must have done something to resolve the problem at its source. Having a vague idea of what would happen next, she stood from her seat and exited the hub.


    All around her, the entire city was dissolving. This area had been a creation of the Keeper¡¯s divinity, based upon a strict set of gamews. Now that the game had concluded, that divinity was unraveling at its source. The expressionless people walking back and forth within the city had frozen, their features slowly bing more and more hollow until, eventually, they simply faded away into nothingness.


    Tsubaki offered a small nod of her head, as if thanking the city for its service. Although it had not found the enemy, it offered the Keeper some peace of mind while it was working. Thinking of how panicked he might have been, had he never known if the enemy were right outside their door, that simple peace of mind had still yed a decisive role in its own way.


    Her body shed, and she quickly returned to the Sky Citadel, where she found Dana sitting in the garden. ¡°You should be able to recall your units from Spica and Lorek.¡± She said as she walked up and crouched next to Dana. ¡°We should be receiving positive news from the Keeper soon.¡±


    Dana looked over, blinking, before nodding her head. ¡°Sure, Tsuba. I guess we didn¡¯t really have a chance to act in this battle, did we?¡±


    Tsubaki smiled softly towards Dana, reaching out and rubbing the top of her head. ¡°It¡¯s better that way.¡± She still remembered the scene of a previous invasion. One where Dana had been forced to participate. If she had the choice, she would rather not ce Dana in danger like that, but she knew that such thoughts could be considered selfish. After all, she would not hesitate for even a moment to experience danger for the Keeper, so who was she to stop others from doing so?


    Dana thought about it for a moment, nodding her head. ¡°Right. As long as it¡¯s all over, that¡¯s what¡¯s important.¡± A smile grew on her face as she said that. The fact that the battle was over and that they didn¡¯t have to act meant that there was no longer a reason to be worried.


    When she came to that thought, Dana rose to her feet, brushing off her ck dress. ¡°So, what do you want to do now?¡± At the moment, she did not have any ongoing projects that she had to attend to, no major research goals or inventions that she wanted toplete.


    However, when she heard Tsubaki¡¯s answer, she felt like she should find something to use as an excuse to keep herself busy. ¡°As the servants of the Keeper, we should stand by and await his return.¡± She said as if it were only natural, making Dana¡¯s face contort slightly.


    Who knows if he¡¯ll return before ascending back to his pce¡­ is she going to have us wait for a week again? There had been times in the past several years when Tsubaki anticipated the Keeper¡¯s arrival, and had asked Dana to apany her to wait for him. However, because the flow of time for the Keeper did not always match up with the flow of time for the mortal world, they had ended up waiting for several days before Tsubaki reluctantly admitted that he wasn¡¯t returning when she thought he was.


    Though, she could also not simply ask Tsubaki to wait for so long by herself. Thus, Dana nodded her head in resignation and began following Tsubaki towards the throne room. Once they were there, the two of them found afortable standing posture, and began to wait.


    Thankfully, they were not left waiting for very long. After roughly twenty minutes, the air before them was torn open, and two figures appeared within the throne room. One of them was clearly the Keeper, while the other was someone that both Tsubaki and Dana recognized as Leowynn, the Keeper¡¯s daughter and the Goddess of the Stars.


    ¡°Thanks, Leowynn.¡± The Keeper told his daughter, though he seemed to have a somewhat troubled expression on his face. Leowynn nodded, reaching out to pat his shoulder briefly before her body vanished into specks of golden light.


    ¡°Is something wrong, boss?¡± Dana spoke up first, noticing that something seemed amiss with their brief interaction. Given that Leowynn was there, he should have either been in the void or deep space. But with his current expression¡­ had their side suffered heavier losses than they expected? It wouldn¡¯t be hard to believe if the Keeper was perhaps the only survivor.


    The Keeper looked over, as if just noticing the presence of the two maids. Thinking it over, he nodded his head. ¡°There¡¯s something wrong, indeed. And, you two might be the best ones to turn to for this. You are both rted to this problem.¡±


    Dana and Tsubaki looked at one another, briefly confused before urging the Keeper to exin. Thus, he told them about the mass-produced energy worlds, and how they had merged into muchrger amalgamations. When Dana heard that, her eyes went wide in shock.


    ¡°But¡­ those are base-form reality gems.¡± She muttered, furrowing her brow. ¡°That means that any we create in the future will appear at those void coordinates, and immediately be assimted. Do we have to halt production entirely?¡±


    Tsubaki simrly seemed to be thinking it over. ¡°Most likely, there will be a simr issue with the ck suns of Spica and Lorek. They were created with a simr principle.¡±


    The Keeper offered another nod. ¡°That¡¯s why I think that this should be resolved soon. We need to find an alternative source of power that can rece these as soon as possible. Otherwise, our first line of defense against external forces will copse at the first sign of trouble against these clusters.¡±


    Dana shook her head, mentally ming this on herself. The idea for the self-propagating mana worlds had stemmed from her, after all. And while it had created numerous benefits in the past, it seemed that she had not ounted for the dangers that it would create in the future. ¡°I don¡¯t know of any other source that would be even remotely close to the reality gems, boss¡­¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s one.¡± The Keeper answered, causing both girls to look at him in surprise. If he knew about such an energy source already, why did he even need to consult with them. ¡°However, it has not yet been developed in our world. There is a way to harness energy directly from the void, without converting it into the form of a ¡®world¡¯ first. If the two of you can focus on this branch of research, we should be able to see results that can rece the reality gems.¡±


    Dana furrowed her brow in thought at that. ¡°Neither of us have direct experience with void research. Even our creation of the reality gems was a product of pure magic. If you want us to do this¡­ we¡¯ll need to have James help us. Is that alright?¡± Tsubaki couldn¡¯t resist the small shudder coursing through her at the mention of that name, but did her best to suppress it.


    ¡°In truth, it would be closer to you assisting him.¡± The Keeper rified. ¡°The world that hees from has already mastered this type of technology. What we need to do is simply to find the means to recreate it in our world, as well as the different technologies leading up to that point. If something can¡¯t be replicated with the technology of our world, you can use magic to substitute it. The important point is to not use the method of ¡®creating mass-produced worlds¡¯ to fulfill the goal, as we have now learned the problems it could pose in the future.¡±

 Chapter 669: Shy Kitten

    <h4>Chapter 669: Shy Kitten</h4>


    After leaving Dana and Tsubaki with their new missions, I contemted what I had experienced in this recent invasion. Part of me felt as if I was on the right track with regards to my strategy, where I forced the other party to participate in a special game of my own creation. However, the fact of the matter was that the game was too rushed and unrefined, leaving it such that I wasn¡¯t able to find them with this method before it was toote.


    In the future, it might be a usible defensive tactic, setting up several games based on different situations, and then forcing the invaders to y those games. Depending on how the games are established, I may be able to thin their numbers before ultimately forcing the confrontation in an advantageous situation. Of course, I would have to tailor these games based on information I obtained about the attacking Keepers.


    All in all, I felt that it could be a good n if properly developed. I just wasn¡¯t sure if it was the method most suitable for myself. In order to force this game on only a handful of people, it had taken a massive amount of divinity. After all, I was searching for a very select group within the entirety of my domain in the form of universal matchmaking. While it could be useful in select circumstances, I needed to find a way to make it more efficient in the future.


    Shrugging my shoulders, I ascended back to the Admin Room and looked around. The relieved faces of Udona, Keliope, and alia were the first things that I saw when I got back. ¡°Good to see you safe, boss.¡± Keliope said with a smile, shing me a thumbs up.


    I gave her a nod, knowing that this was the most dangerous invasion that we had faced to date. Had we dyed any longer, or if we did not have a figure like Leowynn to allow massbat in the void, it was possible that we could have been defeated in this invasion. At the very least, I would have been forced to flee for months while I waited for the annual meeting to try and get the defense ticket.


    ¡°Did you manage to learn anything on this end?¡± I asked, looking at the three of them. As they had been observing the world from above the entire time, I thought that they might have had some way to observe the enemy camp and glimpse their secrets. But, it turned out that reality was not so kind.


    alia shook her head with a faint sigh. ¡°I tried to monitor their activities, but I wasn¡¯t able to do so. It never came up much in the past, because the enemy was always within a certain distance from your own forces, but there appears to be a limit to what we can observe during an invasion. The first time that I was able to see their forces was when theyunched their initial attack.¡±


    I furrowed my brow, finding the situation extremely troubling. However, it made sense, in a way. If thepanions in the Admin Room were capable of casually monitoring the invading forces, there would be no reason that a single Keeper could not gather all the information that they needed from one invasion. Just by devoting one of them to the task, I would have societal norms, level of technology and magic, and any special systems at y.


    While I may not agree with this type of censorship from the Keeper system, there was not much that I could do about it. At the very least, it meant that other Keepers would not be able to easily get the same information on me just by watching my invading forces. ¡°What about the technology left behind? Is there anything salvageable?¡±


    ¡°Ashley went off to investigate that herself.¡± Udona smiled from the couch. ¡°She said that there seemed to be a few devices, but she wasn¡¯t sure of their function without investigating them. Tubrock went with her, saying something about newposite materials that he wanted to study.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help the smirk that appeared on my face when I heard that. However, there was something else that was troubling me. Looking at Keliope and alia, I sat down in a free chair and asked with a heavy tone. ¡°If they hadn¡¯t self-destructed¡­ what would our losses be looking like?¡±


    Silence fell over the room when I asked that question, the two beastkin girls looking at one another. Ultimately, it was Keliope that spoke first, her expression helpless. ¡°It¡¯s hard to say. We weren¡¯t able to look into the world that they created for their factories. But, if we were just going by the rate of their production for troops and ships, taking into ount that they created an entire realm within the void to serve as their production line¡­¡±


    She shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s not out of the question to assume that the entire fleet would have been destroyed before you made your way to the second base. Maybe if you went all-out on your own, then you could have destroyed the worlds that they made and foiled their ns, but that is arge gamble.¡±


    alia gave a nod, agreeing with Keliope¡¯s assessment. ¡°And we still don¡¯t know what method they were using to keep the void monsters at bay. My assumption is that that was the first thing that they destroyed when they detected your appearance in the void. Needless to say, the enemy values their secrecy above any guarantee of winning. Merely the fact that their base was discovered was enough for them topletely give up on the invasion.¡±


    ¡°Which meant that if I had gone out there immediately, I could have stopped it all from happening.¡± I muttered quietly, shaking my head.


    I felt a slight chop on the top of my head, and looked over to see Keliope ring at me. ¡°First of all, you didn¡¯t know where in the void the enemy was stationing themselves. Secondly, you had no way of knowing that they would have done something like that the moment they were found. If I were the enemy, my objective in this situation would be to kill the enemy Keeper at any cost, as that would be the only way to return home.¡±


    alia quickly agreed with her ursa sister. ¡°She¡¯s right. The enemy this time was far too outside the norm. Their troops had no sense of self-preservation, and were more akin to organic robots than they were to living people. The thought of returning home was never an option for them, or else they would not have so quickly destroyed themselves.¡±


    I had to agree with her there, before furrowing my brow. ¡°What about Irena? Would she be able to find any of their souls to question?¡±


    Keliope shrugged, unsure of the answer to that. ¡°She left once the invasion ended as well, probably to try to do that. But like the little pup said, they¡¯re more like robots than anything else. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if the enemy didn¡¯t have a soul in the first ce.¡±


    alia puffed her cheeks out in a pout at being called a ¡®little puppy¡¯, but I chuckled lightly. ¡°I guess we¡¯ll see what everyone turns up with. Where¡¯s Terra? It¡¯s unusual to see the three of you together without her.¡±


    Keliope and Udona shared a yful nce, before thetter looked at me. ¡°She went to hide in your room. You should have seen her when you met the twins. Her face went so red that I had a hard time believing it.¡±


    I blinked in surprise when I heard that, looking to the others for confirmation. After they gave it, I stood up and began walking towards my room. What was there for Terra to be embarrassed about, to the point where she hid herself away in her room? Was there something wrong about the twins themselves that I wasn¡¯t able to notice, or had the others made some connection that I wasn¡¯t aware of yet?


    When I got to my room, I found a familiar lump curled up under the nkets on the bed. Rolling my eyes with a grin, I walked over and poked the bundle through the nkets, causing it to squirm. ¡°What¡¯s up, Terra?¡± I asked the little nket monster.


    Terra lifted the corner of the nket, peering at me from within. ¡°You met them already¡­¡± She pouted, though it was her own decision to leave them for me to meet. ¡°They weren¡¯t ready, yet.¡±


    ¡°Weren¡¯t ready?¡± I questioned, sitting at the corner of the bed and watching her. ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    She let out a sigh, slowly pulling the nket off of her to sit next to me. ¡°Terra and Firma are¡­ special. They even took me by surprise.¡± That was not something I could entirely believe, but I decided to listen anyway. ¡°Actually¡­ they¡¯re only a single being. There is no ¡®Firma¡¯.¡±


    I raised an eyebrow when I heard that, clearly recalling how I met two catgirls instead of one. Well, three if you counted Irena¡¯s incarnation. ¡°You¡¯re going to have to exin that one to me, I think.¡±


    Terra gave a somewhat cheeky smile, clearly seeing my expression. ¡°She¡¯s an anomaly. The system identified her anomaly as Split Persona. When she was born, this anomaly created a copy of her, identical in every way. That¡¯s why they can¡¯t tell which one is named Terra or Firma. In their mind, they are Terra, and the other one must be Firma.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m the one that created a distinction between them, by having one cultivate the power of chaos. It was an experiment I wanted to try out¡­ but it gave results beyond my expectations.¡±


    I gave a nod when I heard that. ¡°Their predictive powers¡­¡±


    However, Terra shook her head. ¡°No, not that. Their power of prediction was my original goal. Bybining the chaos with the divine, I wanted to touch the realm of fate through mortal powers. But¡­ if that was all there was, those two would have been captured years ago as sphemous beings, simply because one had the Fallen Priest ss.¡±


    ¡°¡­I thought that you took special measures to avoid detection.¡± I admitted, looking at her in surprise. Going by her words, it wasn¡¯t her that had ensured their survival up to this point.


    ¡°No¡­ they did. I underestimated their anomaly. Not only are their minds and bodies perfect copies of one another, but so are their souls. And they are entirely interchangeable, to the point where I doubt neither of them remembers which body they started in. When the chaos twin was getting appraised, she would silently switch with her sister, and the results would show that they both had the same sses and levels.¡±


    When I heard that, I felt as if a headache wasing on. ¡°So¡­ they¡¯re one being in two bodies, but at the same time they¡¯re two beings with one body? They¡¯ve cultivated different powers, so they can¡¯t be regarded as exactly the same anymore, yet they still can¡¯t tell each other apart. Their minds have to be connected, but¡­ if that were the case, wouldn¡¯t the main mind be looking at both books when they use their power? That goes against the rule you set, right?¡±


    Terra nodded her head. ¡°That¡¯s right. Their minds are connected, but separate. Subconsciously, they are the same person, but they differ on the conscious level. I was wanting to wait to introduce you to them until after they matured to godhood, but I didn¡¯t have a choice with this invasion approaching so quickly.¡±


    Thinking back, that didn¡¯t quite make sense. ¡°I didn¡¯t sense that they were ascending to godhood, but were they really that far off?¡±


    The felyn goddess smiled at that. ¡°Their auras bnce each other out. When one makes progress towards divinity, the other makes progress towards chaos. As their souls join on a subconscious level, that means that their divinity cannot readily be sensed. My question is this¡­¡±


    ¡°If one ascends to godhood while the other bes a fallen god¡­ what will happen? Will they remain two separate entities, or will they merge and be the singr being that they were originally meant to be? If they do merge, which one will they merge as? Which Terra is the true Terra, and which is the clone created by the system? And, if they merge¡­ what will they create from the merger of a fallen god and a mortal deity? A situation like theirs¡¯ is extremely rare, and the Keeper system won¡¯t provide me with the answer, as it is not something you are currently ¡®qualified¡¯ to know. But¡­ I want to know what lies at the end of their path. What happens when chaos and divinity meet in such a unique way?¡± There was an expectant tone in Terra¡¯s voice that waspletely unlike her normal self, and I began to understand why she was embarrassed to show me this.

 Chapter 670: Sanctum

    <h4>Chapter 670: Sanctum</h4>


    Within the God-Queen¡¯s pce of Deckan, the incarnations of the gods were observing one another. The connections to their deities had been restored, and thus they were aware that the battle had concluded. For most of them, that meant that they were preparing to leave. However, there was one girl that immediately ran to another room, shoving the door open and lunging at its upant.


    Julia blinked in surprise as she was tackled by Aurivy, the girl¡¯s arms shuddering as they wrapped around her. After a moment, she realized what was happening, and let out a small smile. ¡°Wee back, Rivy.¡± She said softly, knowing that the ¡®true persona¡¯ of Aurivy had returned to the body of this incarnation.


    ¡°You¡­ you¡­¡± Aurivy was having trouble finding her words. ¡°You almost¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Julia agreed silently, her handing down to stroke Aurivy¡¯s back. She knew what the goddess meant to say. Julia¡¯s near brush with death had struck Aurivy hard, making her rush over as soon as she was able to return. The two of them had been close friends for so long, she did not find it surprising in the slightest.


    She would never admonish the goddess for failing to disy the dignity befitting her post, especially not in a situation such as this. ¡°But you know¡­ I think this means we¡¯re homeless, now¡­¡± She muttered with the faintest of pouts on her lips. ¡°Our was sort of destroyed¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t care¡­ we can find somewhere new.¡± Aurivy shook her head, leaning further into Julia, which caused the elven girl to let out a lightugh. ¡°Just¡­ don¡¯t do something like that again, okay?¡±


    Julia grinned, one handing up to lightly poke Aurivy¡¯s cheek. ¡°Got it, I¡¯ll do my best to never be on a that¡¯s about to be destroyed by a massive gctic fleet in the future.¡± As she was pulling her hand back, her wrist was grabbed by Aurivy, who began to lean her head against the hand. Seeing that, Julia¡¯s expression softened, and she whispered in aforting tone. ¡°I¡¯m alright, Rivy. Let¡¯s go find a new home?¡±


    Aurivy didn¡¯t speak, simply nodding her head against that hand as golden mist wrapped around their bodies. They had been together a long time, and she was the Goddess of Love. It was only natural for her to get incredibly attached to someone, especially someone that saw her as a person, as opposed to an object of worship. She had a lot of love to give, and not many people who epted her to give it to.


    When the two of them reappeared, they were out in the vast emptiness of space, with Julia looking around in confusion. She had expected them to appear at a real estate office, or at the edge of some great city. She looked down at Aurivy, as if expecting some answers, but the halfling goddess only turned around to lean back against her.


    Aurivy¡¯s hands stretched out as if grabbing something within the darkness. A soft voice transmitted into Julia¡¯s mind, though not directed at her. We¡¯re missing Earth, but¡­ I¡¯ll handle the framework. Everyone¡­ please help me with this.


    After Aurivy¡¯s voice faded, more figures began to appear within the emptiness around them, all of whom Julia recognized. It was not umon for the other members of the Greater Pantheon to visit in order to spend some time with Aurivy. The first to appear was Leowynn, standing off to Aurivy¡¯s left. Her hand stretched forward and into the darkness, as well.


    The next to appear was alia, and then Bihena, before finally Tryval and Ashley arrived toplete the assembly. It was rather strange seeing a centaur standing on nothing, but Tryval did not seem to mind the asion. As that thought crossed Julia¡¯s mind, it was apanied once more by Aurivy¡¯s voice.


    I desire a great dungeon, one upon which all life may grow. A dungeon of rock and soil. As she said that, golden light streamed out from her hands, moving to converge arge distance away. Afterwards, the others began to speak, one by one, each ying their part.


    What I wish for is the boundless ocean, the ebb and flow of the tide. Bihena¡¯s voice called out as her own divine energy turned into a stream, flowing to join Aurivy¡¯s power.


    By my power, let the wind flow, that all things may breathe within the world. alia softly spoke next, contributing her divinity to the growing mass.


    The breath of life, the fire of creation, bestow your warmth upon thisnd. Ashley seemed to pray, her head bowed as golden radiance shone out from her body.


    Next was Tryval, who pointed a single finger towards the mass. I grant you the seed of life. His promation was perhaps the simplest of them all, yet it was no less powerful. Until finally, it was Leowynn¡¯s turn.


    Leowynn sped her hands together, her silver hair turning golden. Brilliant light within the deepest shadow, granting life and warmth to all beneath its radiance. A single spark to light the me, a single moment tost eternal. Capture the world within your embrace, and guide it through the gxy.


    Leowynn¡¯s power burst out from her body in two streams, one moving towards the mass created by everyone else while the other sailed far into the distance. Once it stopped, golden light seemed to shine within the empty space, the two streams connecting in front of Leowynn.


    The original mass, fueled by everyone¡¯s power, began to writhe as it took shape. The different divinities were clinging to one another and churning, growing as they took a solid form. Aurivy clenched her fist, the energy flowing more powerfully from her. I desire the evolution of the world.


    With her call, the divinities merged together, the golden glow vanishing. What Julia saw as it faded was a massive ball of blue and green, with white clouds rolling across it. A world formed from the divine energy of several members from the Greater Pantheon. However, as she looked to those that had gathered here, their energy seemed to have dimmed by a fair bit.


    The worst off was Aurivy, who had acted as both the foundation and the final push. Julia could feel the energy within her incarnation flickering, as if it were a spark that could be snuffed out at any moment. cing one hand on Aurivy¡¯s chest, she closed her eyes and prayed, sending her divine energy into the halfling goddess.


    As Julia was a subordinate goddess to Aurivy, her divine power was not rejected, and helped to refill the nearly empty vessel. Aurivy turned her head to offer a small smile of thanks, before turning to look at the second stream of energy that Leowynn had released.


    Julia¡¯s gaze followed that of her pink-haired friend, but knew that she would not immediately see the result. It was easy to guess what Leowynn was creating, though the idea seemed almost absurd. It took all of these deities to create a single, but Leowynn was creating an entire star on her own?


    Though, as she thought about it, it began to make sense. Each of them only have domains that contribute to one part of a¡­ but Leowynn has Stars as a domain directly. After reaching that realization, she waited for the moment when she could witness the birth of a star.


    Nearly ten minutester, after all of the others aside from Aurivy and Leowynn had left, the golden light in the distance seemed to erupt. The star that Leowynn created looked vaguely yellow, but it was not the same as a normal yellow sun. Instead, the celestial object gave off a distinctly golden light, one that matched the color of divine energy itself.


    This color made it unique among the stars in space, though its light would not be seen in other worlds for several years at the earliest. Julia still was not sure just how deep into space they had gone, and they may even be on the other end of the gxy for all she knew. However, she couldn¡¯t help but smile at seeing the birth of both a new as well as a star.


    I¡¯ll need to wait for my energy to build up a little bit more. Aurivy muttered into Julia¡¯s mind. But¡­ I n to make this a world of gods. A haven for all divine beings that wish to live as amunity. For that, I have to create twomands, essible only to gods. ¡®I wish to enter the Divine Realm¡¯ and ¡®I wish to enter the Mortal Realm¡¯. The former will teleport them here, while thetter will send them back.


    You can do something like that? Julia asked in surprise, not previously aware that such a thing was possible. Though, the more she thought about it, the more she recalled previous incidents where new elements had been introduced unto the world. The most iconic would undoubtedly be the Boundless Caravan¡¯s trade tform.


    Jules, there is so much you can do with your divinity, once you learn how to wield it. Aurivy smiled slightly towards her friend, taking her hand and guiding her towards the new world. Now¡­ would you like to do the honors, and name it?


    Julia blinked, having expected that its name would simply be the ¡®Divine Realm¡¯ going by Aurivy¡¯s previous remark. You want me to name a world created by the Greater Pantheon? She asked, looking between Aurivy and the she had created.


    No¡­ I want you to name our new home. She returned, her hand squeezing Julia¡¯s gently. Julia¡¯s eyes softened, and she gave a small nod of eptance.


    Then¡­ Sanctum. Would that work as the name? A sacred ce made by the gods, a sanctuary for those within it. Somewhere to protect what is important to us. Julia could feel the wind brushing against her face as she and Aurivy entered the world, rapidly descending towards the ground below.


    ¡°Sanctum¡­ I like it.¡± Aurivy nodded her agreement, speaking aloud now that they were no longer within the void of space. ¡°Then, this world shall be known as Sanctum, with us as its first inhabitants.¡±


    Julia nodded, before thinking of something as her lips twitched lightly. ¡°But¡­ does it have inte ess?¡± Aurivy briefly froze at that question, before letting out a heartfeltugh.


    ¡°Ashley!¡± She called out with a grin, the demon goddess appearing alongside them as theynded on the ground. ¡°We need the inte!¡±


    Ashley¡¯s brow twitched, her eyes rolling softly. ¡°Of course you do¡­¡± Thankfully, giving this world something like inte ess was an easy thing for the Goddess of Technology. ¡°Give me a moment, I¡¯m going to try something.¡±


    After saying so, she knelt down, one hand on the ground as she focused. ¡°This world is partly created from my divinity. Although I used the domain of fire to form the heart of the world, it should still bepatible with me. Then, if I tweak it just slightly¡­¡± She muttered, as though talking herself through what she wanted to aplish.


    A small mote of golden light gathered in her hand, before abruptly entering the soil. ¡°I¡­ think that worked.¡± She said as she stood up. Aurivy blinked, closing her eyes and sensing the change to the world.


    ¡°Global wireless inte, feeding through the divine energy of the world?¡± She asked in surprise. ¡°Now that¡¯s a world wide web¡­¡±


    Ashley let out a faint groan at thatment. ¡°Don¡¯t make me take it back. Anyways, if you want it to connect with the inte in the other worlds, that¡¯s a you thing. You¡¯ll need to open up a path for the connection to travel from here to Desbar. Otherwise, this will be a closedwork for this.¡±


    Aurivy nodded her head quickly, before pausing. ¡°Okay, but¡­ what¡¯s the WiFi password?¡± She asked, an amused smile on her face. Ashley blinked, before chuckling and shaking her head.


    ¡°Sanctum.¡±

 Chapter 671: The Traveling Planet

    <h4>Chapter 671: The Traveling</h4>


    After talking with Terra, and seeing how the others had created this new, I only had to wait for about an hour before Ashley returned to the Admin Room. When she did, I saw that she had a somewhat exhausted look on her face, prompting me to ask what she had discovered.


    ¡°Nothing.¡± She begrudgingly answered, shaking her head and sitting down on the couch. ¡°At least, nothing helpful.¡±


    ¡°Was it all unusable?¡± I questioned, moving to sit next to her. There had been so much wreckage from the various ships that were destroyed, surely we could get something out of it? However, she simply shook her head again.


    ¡°If you want a sewage system that directly converts waste into void energy, sure we hit the jackpot.¡± She had a bitter smile on her face as she said that. ¡°Aside from that¡­ everything was broken to such a degree that I can¡¯t figure out how it works. All of their manufacturing equipment should have been within the worlds they created within the void.¡±


    ¡°The most intact piece of technology I found was a fragment of a ship¡¯s power supply and navigation systems. It just wasn¡¯t enough for me to piece together a working design, and what remained didn¡¯t seem all that advanced.¡± She let out a sigh as she admitted that, copsing backwards.


    I couldn¡¯t help but look over curiously. ¡°Out of so many ships being destroyed, there wasn¡¯t enough to put together a single working system?¡±


    ¡°Not even a single disy terminal.¡± She nodded her head. ¡°Crystalline micro-explosives¡­ they were embedded in every circuit with a self-contained trigger and back-up power. I found a few of them floating around some wreckage, and had James examine them.¡±


    She snapped her finger, and a holographic disy appeared in front of the two of us. It showed what appeared to be a single grain of blue sand, magnified thousands of times. The surface, which would typically be worn down in various smooth shapes over the passage of countless years, was a nearly perfect cube.


    Ashley waved a finger, and a line split open the cubic structure. Inside was a hollowed out region, containing a smaller ck sphere. ¡°I only managed to find these because of how desperate I was to find something in the area, so I used the system map to scan down to the finest particles it could. My guess is that these were damaged in a st from one of our ships, so they weren¡¯t able to detonate properly.¡±


    I gave a small nod at that, before speaking up again. ¡°How strong are these micro-explosives?¡±


    Ashley waved her hand, the grain of blue sand closing back up and shrinking down until it was barely more than a speck of dust floating in the air. ¡°At this size¡­ the explosive force can reach up to a million joules, equivalent to a grenade.¡± She told me, my mouth soon hanging open. ¡°And I saw numerous indentations in the few chips I found. If these were meant to go in those indentations¡­ most of the technology that the enemy brought should be disintegrated by thebined sts.¡±


    ¡°So¡­ aside from revolutionizing the sewage systems of the world¡­ we got nothing out of this invasion?¡± I asked with a bitter tone. So far, every enemy invasion had offered me some form of profit. Whether this was an obscene amount of points due to the strength of the invading army, the ability to sell information on the enemy to the Gilded Branch, or items that they left behind to be salvaged. Every invasion had brought me some type of benefit, until now.


    The information was already known to the Gilded Branch, so they wouldn¡¯t pay anything for me to tell them now. Otherwise, Meatlover wouldn¡¯t have been able to tell me in the first ce. Furthermore, they sent so few troops over that I was unable to get many points from an otherwise intense battle. And finally¡­ everything that they brought over destroyed itself before we were able to salvage it.


    In other words, there was nothing valuable that could be gained here. No reward to make up for the sacrifice of troops, or even the that was lost in the process. I let out a sullen sigh when I realized that the closest thing I got to a benefit here was realizing that Tsubaki¡¯s infinite power strategy was a ticking time bomb.


    ¡°We¡¯ll need to get started on some proper research into the void, now.¡± I said as I leaned back into the couch. ¡°I¡¯m sure that¡¯ll make James happy, at least. We¡¯re finally stepping into his area of expertise.¡±


    I felt a hand on my arm, and looked over to see Ashley staring at me. ¡°Frustrated?¡± She asked with a knowing smile, to which I nodded my head, not trying to hide it.


    ¡°How could I not be? We¡¯ll just have to make do. Speaking of which, how much of your energy did you guys have to use to make Sanctum?¡± When I asked that, I saw Ashley thinking it over.


    ¡°Aurivy spent the most energy out of all of us, since she had to use a domain that was only loosely connected with her power, and did two effects. At the normal rate we gain energy, I think she could manage doing that once every hundred years. If one of us were to get a subordinate God of Earth or something simr, we could probably reduce it to once every ten years.¡±


    ¡°A hundred years of divine energy, and it went into making a single?¡± I asked incredulously, knowing that it would not take even a single percent of that energy to destroy a of the same size.


    Seeming to understand my thought process, Ashley shook her head. ¡°Come with me, and see for yourself.¡± She said, standing up and holding her hand out for me. ¡°It¡¯ll be best if I show you.¡±


    After thinking it over for a moment, I took her hand with a nod. It was just a simple matter of descending into my host and leaving after giving a brief exnation to Tsubaki. Outside the citadel, Ashley was already waiting for me, her wings folded over her shoulders. ¡°I might not be Aurivy, but I¡¯ve learned how to traverse the shadows.¡± She said with a small smile, causing darkness to wrap around our bodies.


    There was a brief sensation of my body being plunged into ice before the darkness faded, and I found myself standing within a wide meadow. Soft light poured down from above as I looked around. I could feel something distinctly different about this ce as opposed to others I had been to.


    First of all, merely standing within the meadow allowed me to feel the warmth of divine energy stimting my body. Although it wouldn¡¯t allow me to increase the rate that I gain this energy, it made me feel incrediblyfortable. And, if I wasn¡¯t mistaken, my divine energy seemed to be flowing more smoothly, making it easier to use while I was here.


    However, this didn¡¯t seem like quite enough to exin why Ashley wanted to bring me here directly. When I looked at her for an exnation, she extended one hand. Relying on the raw strength of her body, she pped out, creating a ditch tens of meters in front of her. ¡°This is the greatest benefit to a world made of energy that Terra told us about.¡± She said, watching the ditch.


    Soon, the stone began to shift, slowly closing up over the hole she had gouged out. Then, grass and flowers once again began to bloom, until the ground had been returned to its former state. ¡°Unless you use divine energy, you can¡¯t create asting change within thendscape. Even if the entire were to be destroyed by one of Silence¡¯s ships, it would only be a matter of time before itpletely reformed itself.¡±


    I raised an eyebrow when I heard that, turning to look at a tree in the distance. Gathering ki in one of my hands, I waved a finger tounch a de of light at the tree as an experiment. Sure enough, the tree was felled without any difficulty, crashing heavily into the ground. However, Ashley simply watched with an expectant expression.


    The tree that I had severed turned into motes of golden light, which flowed back into the stump only momentster. Within moments, the tree had returned to its previous appearance,pletely unharmed by the attack I had unleashed. ¡°A closed cycle of divine energy¡­¡± I muttered while staring at the tree. This time, I used Phisher¡¯s domain of des andunched a simr attack.


    This attack was fueled by divine power, and simrly managed to fell the tree. However, this time there was no sign of the tree regenerating, or the fallen section vanishing. ¡°So, it rejects the influence of any non-divine actions. Then¡­ does that mean we need gods rted to construction in order to make houses for everyone to live in?¡±


    Ashley thought about that for a moment, before shaking her head. ¡°For some¡­ most domains have some way of constructing a personal residence.¡± After saying so, she looked in the distance. Following her gaze, I saw darkness stretching up out of the ground, forming a grand castle. ¡°If people can¡¯t figure out how to create their own divine home, they can definitely ask for help from other gods.¡±


    ¡°I suppose¡­¡± I agreed, nodding my head as I watched Ashley¡¯s shadow castle taking shape. Part of me wanted to construct my own home within this as well, but I decided to wait. Aurivy had not yet created the ws¡¯ that would allow gods to easily move back and forth between here and the others.


    ¡°Speaking of which¡­¡± I looked around curiously. ¡°Where exactly are we? In the universe, I mean. I can tell that this ce uses Earth¡¯sw system, and I can¡¯t sense the presence of dimensium in the background.¡± Given the size of this, that narrowed it down to either Earth, Kione, or Sher Dien. But, I assumed that we were likely to be in Earth¡¯s universe.


    ¡°Currently, we¡¯re in the vast expanse between Earth¡¯s gxy and its neighbor.¡± Ashley exined, crossing her arms in front of herself. ¡°The people here havee to call Earth¡¯s gxy by the name Triaxis, and the neighbor that we¡¯re near now was named the Huntress Cloud, as its discoverer was an ardent believer in alia.¡±


    I was surprised when I heard that, having not expected the to be so far away from everything. Of course, I could have learned its location from the Keeper map, especially having seen this area earlier. But at the time, I was more interested in watching its creation, and forgot to look at where exactly the had been made.


    Thinking about it further, I couldn¡¯t help but question something. ¡°Wasn¡¯t part of Leowynn¡¯s wish for the star she made to guide this through the gxy?¡± I looked up at the golden star that my daughter had created, confused how such a wish would be possible if the was not in any gxy in the first ce.


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Ashley agreed, a yful smile on her lips. ¡°Leowynn made quite the strange star, I¡¯d say. It doesn¡¯t move by the normal flow of gravity, and travels along its own path. At the moment¡­ we should be moving closer to Triaxis, and will arrive at its outer edge in two years. If we go in a straight line, it would take a little more than two months for us to cross over to the other side.¡±


    ¡°That¡­ doesn¡¯t sound right.¡± I may not be a genius when it came to math, but I knew that the gxy was more than a fifth of a lightyear in diameter. Way, way more. ¡°She didn¡¯t create a star that moves faster than light, did she?¡±


    Ashleyughed lightly, nodding her head. ¡°That¡¯s right. Actually, that star can be considered the core of this ¡®closed cycle¡¯ as you called it. Because the system we created rejects external influences, Sanctum won¡¯t be constrained by any gravity other than that of its own star. No matter how fast the star moves, the will remain locked in orbit without the slightest deviation. Likewise, the sun only exerts its gravity over this. As long as she doesn¡¯t plot a course that takes these two directly through another celestial body, it won¡¯t create any disturbances.¡±

 Chapter 672: Public Service Announcement

    <h4>Chapter 672: Public Service Announcement</h4>


    It had taken roughly one week for the invasion to end. However, the results of the attack would undoubtedly be felt for quite a while toe. The concept of being attacked by hostile forces was nothing new to the people of the world, as they had been through it throughout the generations. Naturally, this was the first time that they experienced it personally, but there were still records and stories from their ancestors.


    And that had been all that it was, stories told of an age long past. Most invasions passed without the public bing aware of them, while those that were truly felt could mostly be passed off as monster attacks. Aside from a select few groups of people, most were unaware that these foes hade from another world entirely.


    Thus, this was only the third true attack that the people felt strongly. The first was long ago, back when the Keeper had only just made his name known to the world. In that instance, a few viges had been lost. People mourned for the unfortunate souls that had been consumed by the monsters which had appeared with barely any warning.


    The second ¡®attack¡¯ was far more recent, but was from no external force in that sense. Rather, it was the great golem fleet that had aimed to destroy the world of Deckan. This could hardly qualify, as it passed without significant loss of life, but it was still an event that had shaken the world.


    Now, finally, a true disaster had swept over the people. Two billion, eight hundred seventeen million, five thousand and thirty-eight people¡­ that was the poption as it was estimated to be residing within Harvus Prime at the time of the attack. It was expected that that number was not entirely urate, as there would be people who had either been visiting the or traveling away from it, but the exact count was still being tallied.


    Those who had been abroad when the was destroyed were fortunate in that their lives had been spared, but were now left without a home. Some of them had families to rely on, others had friends, but several had lost everything. For those individuals, the Boundless Caravan had extended a helping hand. Basic necessities were being bought at a high price, only to be freely given to those who had been deprived of their homes.


    Elsewhere on Earth, a grand construction was underway just outside of Gandor, the capital city of the elven kingdom by the same name. Two hundred obsidian pirs were being erected within a newly fortified area, dedicated as a memorial to the lives that had been lost. Once the pirs were fully formed, it was nned to write the names of the deceased along their lengths. Still, even with the writing being fairly small and across two hundred pirs, it was calcted that each pir would have to be over a kilometer tall in order to fit every name.


    This memorial would be seen from far away, a monument to the lost souls. Numerous magical reinforcements had to be applied to the stone pirs, ensuring that they would not topple under either their own weight or from external forces such as heavy weather. Once the project waspleted, it would be andmark of Earth, a constant reminder that there were dangers lurking beyond the depths of space.


    Julia Hart stood in front of her new home, arge wooden building she had personally made with her divine powers. In her hands, she carried several bulging bags. Walking inside, she set the bags down on a smooth wooden counter, looking around with a smile on her face. ¡°I¡¯m back from Ashley¡¯s store!¡± She called out, before hearing the pitter-pattering of small feet running downstairs.


    ¡°Really? She didn¡¯t give you any trouble?¡± Aurivy called out as she ran into the foyer, eyes wide with excitement. At present, there were too few people within Sanctum, namely the members of the Greater Pantheon and Julia herself. That meant that there was quite arge distance between any two buildings, and divine powers had to be used to hasten the travel.


    Due to the fact that there was no electrical foundation, or even a mage tower on this, the only way to use electronics was to have them specially made by a relevant deity. In this situation, that meant that Ashley was the only option, causing the demonic goddess to set up a store within the Night City she had established. Though, calling it a city was a bit much, as she was the only upant of the eternally dark territory with sprawling buildings made of a stone-like ck material.


    Borrowing the power of the God of Games, Ashley had established a unique currency system within Sanctum, one that only operated in the vicinity of its divine power. Removing this limit would have undoubtedly drained her far too much, after all. Regardless, this currency was known as Faith, but was truly the power of divine energy itself.


    Within Sanctum, items could be bought or sold for divine energy, which would filter itself into a pure form to empower the seller. Such a thing was only possible in an area where divine power flowed as smoothly as it did in this region.


    ¡°It was fine. She even gave me a ¡®first customer¡¯ discount.¡± Julia said with a yful smile, rifling through the bags. ¡°Have you finished setting up thework connection between here and Desbar?¡±


    ¡°Yup!¡± Aurivy nodded her head quickly. ¡°Well, the connection goes to Earth, but close enough.¡± She stuck her tongue out yfully as she said that, earning a confused look from Julia.


    ¡°I thought the n was to connect it directly to the main server hub in Desbar?¡± As she said that, she pulled out two crystal spheres from the bag, handing one to the halfling goddess.


    Aurivy thought about how to exin it for a moment, taking the sphere and leading Julia to the living room. ¡°That¡¯s what I was nning, too! But, I found something outtely that made me change my mind.¡± Seeing the curious look on Julia¡¯s face, she exined it as she installed the crystal sphere on the entertainment stand.


    ¡°The portals connecting the inte cables from one world to another have to pass through the void, you see? We¡¯ve never really thought much about that, because it didn¡¯t pose any problems to us. Void monsters rarely interfere with the transit, and if they do the effects are too minor to really notice. At most a slight disorientation orworkg.¡±


    ¡°But still, that means that the signal stability won¡¯t be as good as if we were connecting to a local server! Although I¡¯m using the same method, the connection doesn¡¯t extend past the outeryer of the universe¡¯s barrier in the void. While the other connections might seem like thin threads tying the worlds together, this thread won¡¯t go anywhere that could be affected by those monsters. Plus, I managed to find a really good server hub in the dwarven kingdom, and got them to agree to let us connect through there.¡±


    Julia thought about that, before nodding her head in agreement. ¡°Alright, as long as you think it¡¯s for the best. Anyways, I managed to get these crystal disys, as well a pair of high-end virtual reality devices from her. She said that they were the best she can make right now, and she wanted your feedback once you tried it out.¡±


    ¡°Got it!¡± Aurivy nodded, running over to sit on the wooden couch. Unfortunately, there was no deity present that could make them softer furniture, but she had ns for that to change in time. The groundwork had already beenid for Sanctum to be a fully functioning divinemunity. And thanks to the currency system Ashley set up, the others had all donated enough faith for Aurivy to establish the twomands. ¡°Ready for my press conference?¡± She asked with a small smile, to which Julia nodded.


    ¡°My name is Lindsey Low, and I¡¯ming to you with an important announcement.¡± A human woman spoke up from within a small broadcasting studio. Within the studio, there were a few different couches and chairs, all red andfortable looking, and a single table positioned in the center. Lindsey herself sat in one of the chairs to the side, facing the broadcasting gem embedded in the center of the table.


    This segment was being broadcast over every major news channel, making it undoubtedly the biggest audience Lindsey had ever received. However, that was only natural, given the content of the message. ¡°Earlier today, a member of the Greater Pantheon, the Goddess of Love herself, contacted our studio. She said that she had a message that she wanted to share with the world. As such, I would like everyone to warmly wee one of the most special guests we¡¯ve ever received on this channel.¡±


    She looked over to the side as a pink-haired figure appeared on the red couch. Unlike her normallyid-back attire, she was now wearing a silken dress, one that hung off her shoulders. Her smile was polite and professional, while seeming to carry the warmth of a mother¡¯s love. Finally, a silver tiara adorned her hair, a single blue gem decorating the item.


    As soon as Aurivy appeared, she could feel arge influx of divine energy, the world¡¯s attention fully focused on her. Lindsey looked over and asked with a practiced tone. ¡°Lady Aurivy, would you like to inform us what it is that you wanted to tell us today?¡±


    Aurivy took a slow, deep breath, savoring the much-needed energy. Although the others had donated some power to her, it was far from enough to return her to her prime. Thus, this was the best chance for her to recover, and she fully intended on making the most of it she could. ¡°First, I would like to extend my heartfelt sorrow at the loss of so many lives in the attack of Harvus Prime. Devastation on such a scale is something that would make even a god weep in agony.¡±


    She closed her eyes, looking down as if in mourning. ¡°Too many people were lost, with none to remember them for who they were. As such, I would like to extend a moment of silence tomemorate these fallen souls, may they rest within Irena¡¯s grace.¡±


    Silence fell over the studio at her words, a solemness that they hadn¡¯t expected suddenly appearing. Aurivy let this silence hang for several long moments before lifting her head, her smile seeming full of loss. ¡°In the wake of this disaster, we of the Greater Pantheon have established a new world. A world belonging to the gods of all realms.¡±


    ¡°My dream is a simple one. I want to create and where we can exist in harmony, where we can make the most of our abilities, and where we can gather to prepare. With ourbined forces, we can easily mobilize in the event that another attack of such scale happens in the future. May the tragedy of Harvus never be allowed to repeat itself in the future.¡±


    ¡°This world, which we have named as Sanctum, is open to any god who wishes to join. They need only speak the words ¡®I wish to enter the Divine Realm¡¯, and they will be transported by my power. Should they speak the words ¡®I wish to enter the Mortal Realm¡¯, they will be returned to their point of departure.¡±


    Lindsey watched Aurivy in shock, having not expected such arge announcement as this. Granted, she knew that it had to be something important for a member of the Greater Pantheon to personally make an appearance on a broadcasting service such as this, but she thought it would be limited to the attack on Harvus, and information regarding the culprit. ¡°Can you borate what you mean by ¡®a world belonging to the gods¡¯?¡±


    Hearing her question, Aurivy offered a soft nod. ¡°It is just that. This is a world where only gods may thrive. The entirend is made of our divinity, and rejects all influence aside from divinity itself. Whether it is thend or the sea, only divine power can bring change.¡±


    After saying that, she smiled almost yfully. ¡°If I wish to build a house with my own power, I can only make it a dungeon. However, the goal of Sanctum is for cooperation to thrive. On Sanctum, you will have the power to use your own divine energy as currency to purchase services from other gods. This will allow those who have trouble gathering their own following to grow in power in this newnd. Thus, I warmly extend this invitation to every god scattered through the various worlds, may you findfort within thisnd that we have prepared.¡±

 Chapter 673: New Residents

    <h4>Chapter 673: New Residents</h4>


    The effect of Aurivy¡¯s announcement could be immediately seen within the world. Dozens of gods chose to use this time to investigate. They wished to see for themselves just what the ¡®Divine Realm¡¯ was like, rather than ept it at face value.


    Within a deep forest, next to a gentle brook, two halflings appeared. These were Thessa and Theon Grid, a pair of sibling gods. Although Theon had not made much of a name for himself outside of Fyor, many people would naturally recognize his sister, as she had actively helped to thwart the invasion that had happened a few decades prior.


    When the two of them appeared, Thessa quickly turned, scouring the area with her vision. ¡°I don¡¯t see any signs of monsters.¡± She reported, to which Theon nodded his head.


    ¡°ording to the reports I read, the system provides a brief grace period before monsters start appearing near new settlements.¡± He told her, his body rxing slightly.


    ¡°Eh? Where did you hear about that?¡± Thessa wondered, having not heard such information herself.


    ¡°You¡¯ll hear about it when you look at the first settler reports in history.¡± Theon waved off her question. ¡°Whether it was Sorii or Harvus Prime, or any of the tertiary worlds of Desbar, they all had a one year grace period before monsters appeared after settlers arrived. If this world was just created as the Goddess said, then that grace period won¡¯t have passed yet.¡±


    Thessa nodded her head, epting this answer. ¡°Still¡­ where are we going?¡± Her eyes nced around once again. ¡°I don¡¯t see any signs of civilization nearby.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not unusual, either.¡± Theon sighed reluctantly, having hoped that they would appear in a more popted area, as well. ¡°There are only so many gods, and this world is sorge. Let¡¯s try to scout around first, and see what we can find.¡±


    After he said that, the two of them felt a slight tremor in the ground. Far in the distance, the earth was shifting heavily, the shockwaves felt all the way in the forest. ¡°I guess we¡¯ll be looking in that direction.¡± He said with a wry smile.


    Thessa smiled slightly as well, jumping up to climb the branches of the trees around them. As they had already determined that there wouldn¡¯t be any monsters in the area, she had no qualms about moving on her own to get a better view. Soon, the halfling girl had arrived at the top of the tree, at which point she was able to see the source of the disturbance far away on the horizon.


    The ground seemed to be rolling,rge structures rising up from the ground. Some were made of wood, while others consisted of stone or steel. At the very center of the sprouting city was a grand tree that seemed to be rising along with the growth of thend around it. Thessa searched her memory, trying to recall the identities of the known gods.


    Once she believed she had an urate guess, she jumped back down to join her brother as he was walking forward. ¡°It seems like Philia is up ahead.¡± She reported, guessing that the identity of the perpetrator had to be the Goddess of Cities. ¡°Either her or Jonas.¡±


    ¡°I heard that Jonas has a flying city of his own.¡± Theon reminded, shaking his head and picking up his pace. ¡°If he were to bring that here, I doubt the disturbance would be so small. Either way, let¡¯s go see what she has to say.¡±


    It did not take long for the two of them to exit the forest, once they decided on their goal. They rapidly made their way through the adjacent meadow, towards the city that was still rising from the ground. By now, the two of them were able to feel the divine energy bing more active in the area, even more so than when they first appeared.


    As soon as the two of them arrived within the growing city, they noticed an immediate change. The buildings rapidly taking shape around them halted, some of which had yet to rise up to their full height. One building nearby froze, appearing half-sunken beneath the soil. Thessa looked around in confusion while Theon kept his eyes forward. He could see someone walking in their direction.


    Philia, as Thessa had correctly surmised, was a golden Sylvan that had long since ascended to godhood, bing the first of her kind to take this momentous step. This was despite her kind being naturally born demigods. She wore a golden robe that appeared to be made from a collection ofrge, soft leaves, bound by thin vines.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, were the two of you nning to im this area?¡± She asked in a polite tone as she arrived in front of the two halflings. Due to Theon¡¯s domain, he could naturally sense that Philia was stronger than himself in terms of pure divine energy, causing him to be somewhat more cautious despite her domain being one most suited for construction.


    ¡°No¡­¡± He shook his head. ¡°We just arrived as well, and noticed someone was building over here.¡± Given the situation, nothing would be gained from dishonesty, and they may learn more if they told the truth.


    Philia offered a small nod, her eyes scanning over the two of them. ¡°Bnce and Archery¡­? I don¡¯t think either of you should have the ability to make your own homes. If you¡¯d like, you could live in this city of mine.¡±


    Theon blinked as he realized that she had just scanned their domains. It was true that such a thing wasn¡¯t really that hard to do, but he thought it would likely be considered rude. Then again, Philia was not from an area with many deities to worry about such things. Instead, he put on a wry smile, now that their domains had been seen through. ¡°And what would that cost?¡±


    Philia had a somewhat contemtive expression on her face, before shaking her head. ¡°I don¡¯t want to charge residents for simply staying in the city. I believe everyone should at least be guaranteed a ce to live. Instead, I intend to charge a fee for those wishing to do business, such as renting one of the stores in the city.¡±


    ¡°There is no guarantee that someone merely looking for a ce to stay will have the spare divinity to pay any form of rental fee, yet those looking to ply their trade would naturally be earning an ie.¡± Philia gave a firm nod as she confirmed her own desires. ¡°I don¡¯t have any apartment buildings set up yet, so you can feel free to choose a house within the city, and the key should be inside.¡±


    After she said that, she turned and began walking away, the city once again rising from the soil. It seemed that Philia herself did not know how many people to expect, as she had already created a city capable of housing hundreds of individuals.


    I watched as numerous gods began to establish their domains within Sanctum. Some of them, like Philia, chose to establish entire cities. Others, like the more modest Kiria, chose to only create themselves a workshop. Regardless, I could predict a substantial change that this world would likely soon bring about, once its features had been explored.


    Given the nature of divine beings, and the ability to trade in faith in Sanctum, I could see many gods choosing to nurture subordinate deities of specific domains. This would let them set up a sort of pany¡¯ in Sanctum, dealing with business of arger scale. Those deities who ascended on their own would have the potential to be the leaders of their respectivepanies, while those who they helped to ascend would be their ¡®employees¡¯.


    Granted, there was still the method for a subordinate god to break free of the rtionship with their parent deity, but doing so was no easy feat. I had given such a thing a considerable amount of thought before, and realized just how hard it would be. Given that the parent deity had full ess to the divine energy of their subordinate, the subordinate would have to slowly embezzle divine energy in a solid form.


    Once that subordinate had umted more divine energy than the total that their parent deity had ess to, they would be able to absorb it all at once to break the connection. Only through this would they be able to sever their connection with their parent deity.


    Personally, I did not need to worry too much about it, perhaps because I had been very selective in who I chose to help ascend. Tsubaki, one of the most worshipped of the mortal gods, regrly donated over half of her divinity to me. My other subordinate deity, Scarlet, had quite literally be the sovereign goddess of the martial spirits. While she did not contribute asrge a portion of her divinity as Tsubaki, it was still more than enough.


    Thinking about this, I turned my attention elsewhere. Quite a while back, I had suggested to Tsubaki that she assign herself a priest, that way she could more easily gather the faith of those that believe in her. Naturally, as with any suggestion I gave her, she had carried it out immediately.


    In fact, she did not only have one priest, but nine. There was one Church of Light established in each of the main nine realms. Though her believers were many, these were the true churches, with each having a single official personally appointed by Tsubaki.


    Part of me considered whether or not I should establish a church of my own. I was getting an ample amount of divinity already, even before considering my buff as the Keeper. The only true benefit that I could imagineing from having a personal church was the ability to assign divine abilities for my priests to use.


    While it was interesting¡­ I didn¡¯t really believe it would help too much. Instead, it was likely to cause whoever was chosen to have an inted sense of superiority. Realizing that, I shook my head. Better to just let it be seen that the Greater Pantheon are my ¡®followers¡¯.


    Turning my gaze back to Sanctum, I began looking for the homes of the others from the Admin Room. Ashley had established her Night City, and Aurivy naturally lived with Julia, but what of the others? After all, I was certain that they all had taken up some manner of residence in this world, if for no other sake than to appear unified, even if they couldn¡¯t take their living incarnations there.


    It didn¡¯t take long for me to find them, either. alia established a log cabin in the woods, chopping down trees with des of wind. Bihena had a floating pce resting in the ocean, decorated with shining pearls. Udona had created a giant theater, and had a bedroom for herself behind the stage. Ryone had taken up residence in Night City, where she ran themercial district together with Leowynn.


    Tubrock, naturally, had created a forge for himself deep within a mountain. Tryval, rather than having a dedicated house, he had taken to inhabiting a certain meadow with his daughter. I was a bit surprised to see that Alme had managed to ascend to divinity, but soon saw that she was Tryval¡¯s subordinate goddess.


    Irena¡¯s home was an obsidian castle, which seemed to mirror the appearance of the one she created for herself in the Underworld. Finally, for Keliope and Terra¡­


    Julia and Aurivy were sitting on the couch, watching the recording of Aurivy¡¯s announcement. Despite herself, Julia couldn¡¯t help but feel proud for how Aurivy had acted in front of such a massive audience. She had not lost her cool, and maintained the image of a great deity. If it was Julia herself, she knew she was likely to freeze up for a moment, even though she had a history as a world-renowned video gamer.


    Just as she was opening her mouth to say something, the recordinging to a close, she heard a faint knock on the door. Blinking, she looked over in that direction before standing up. ¡°I¡¯ll be right back.¡± She said, making her way to the front door. With how sparsely popted the was, this was the first time that they had gotten visitors since moving here, and she was curious who it was.


    When she opened the door, she saw two figures standing before her. One was tall, with darker skin and long brown hair, her body muscr. Atop her head were two round, twitching ears. The other was a bit shorter, and with a more lithe frame, sporting triangr ears atop a head of red hair.


    ¡°L-Ladies Terra and Udona?¡± Julia asked, caught off guard by the unexpected guests. She had met them before, and even yed various games with them, but it was never quite as easy to address them as casually as she did Aurivy. ¡°Are you here for Rivy?¡±


    ¡°Actually¡­ we came here to see you.¡± Terra shook her head with a knowing smile, confusing Julia further. It was at this moment that Keliope sped her hands, offering a slight bow.


    ¡°Please build us a couple houses!¡± She called out, almost desperately. Julia blinked again, looking over at Terra, who simply nodded her head.


    ¡°I¡¯m Fate, Inspiration, and Stories. She¡¯s Strength, Defense, and Fortitude¡­ neither of us are particrly suited for construction.¡± Terra exined, with Keliope lifting her head to look pleadingly at Julia.


    ¡°W-Why aren¡¯t you just living with Lady Ashley? She has an entire city, right?¡±


    At her question, Terra shrugged her shoulders. ¡°We wanted to spread out a bit more, each one showing their strength in a different field. Ryone can stay there, because she needs amercial district to show off, and Leowynn because she¡¯s Ryone¡¯s actual daughter. But, what I need is some kind of grand library, and this muscle-brain¡­¡±


    Terra nced at Keliope, who exined for herself. ¡°Can I have a dojo, please? It should be easy for you to make, since it¡¯s all wood! I¡¯ll pay you for it and everything!¡±


    Julia brought a hand up to rub her temples, nodding her head. ¡°Alright¡­ you two can take me where you want them built, and I¡¯ll do my best.¡±

 Chapter 674: Promotion

    <h4>Chapter 674: Promotion</h4>


    Closing my eyes, I leaned back in my seat within the Admin Room. With the stage the world was in right now, there was not that much for me to personally handle. Rather, there were numerous projects that I could only wait forpletion. Unfortunately, most of these projects rested on the shoulders of the former Keeper, making me feel as if I may be working him a bit too hard.


    As such, I allowed time to progress rapidly within the world, waiting to see the results of the various changes that had been made in the world. However, before I could even getfortable, there was already an rm going off. Startled, I looked forward, summoning the system window.


    Congrattions, EarthForceOne! You have now qualified for a promotion!


    Your worlds and your strength have been evaluated at Rank 3. You now have unlimited ess to the previously restricted Rank 3 system, Directed Evolution.


    Congrattions! You have earned an achievement!


    For promoting a world to Rank 3, you have earned the Army of Heaven achievement. +50 points, Potential Scouting.


    I wasn¡¯t aware that we were that close to a promotion, so this one sort of snuck up on me. Shaking my head, I mentally called out to everyone¡¯s favorite catgirl. Terra¡­ got a minute?


    ¡°For you? I¡¯ve got ten.¡± Her voice responded, appearing behind me. I wasn¡¯t surprised at all, honestly, the slight twitch in my eye was just because I was still reading over the window that appeared.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I said after a moment, leaning back as her arms wrapped around me from behind. ¡°So¡­ mind exining these new upgrades, oh mighty helper?¡±


    There was a faint giggle before I felt Terra resting the side of her head against my own. ¡°Well, I suppose it wouldn¡¯t be too much to ask. You¡¯re honestly advancing pretty quickly, I think. It¡¯s been less than five years, and you¡¯re already at the third rank¡­¡±


    She shook her head lightly, her arms tightening around me. ¡°Now¡­ let¡¯s start with the Directed Evolution, your new big feature. When you reached the first rank, you became able to spawn disasters in order to spur the growth of your people, or to protect them. When you reached the second, you became able to identify champions that would usher the world into a new age. Now, it¡¯s time for a more¡­ direct approach.¡±


    ¡°The Directed Evolution feature allows you to establish a ¡®preview¡¯ of what you want a particr race to evolve into in the future. Think of this as simr to purchasing a new race, but with a few key differences. The first, and most important distinction is that the final form of this race won¡¯t appear on the market. This allows a Keeper to establish a ¡®hidden weapon¡¯ of a sort. The only thing that the market will show is the base race that was originally purchased.¡±


    ¡°The second distinction is that the system does not immediately spawn the race through rapid evolution. Let¡¯s run a little experiment, shall we?¡± Terra asked with a yful smile, pulling up two windows in front of me. The window on the left showed the basic racial profile for a human, while the one on the right showed a simr race with drastically increased stats, and a new ¡®Psionic Talent¡¯ ability.


    ¡°Consider this a ¡®before and after¡¯parison. You take basic, vani humans, and decide that you want to create psychic juggernauts. The system identifies the key traits that need to evolve, and assigns a price based on the level of difficulty for this evolution. For this one, it would be easy, at most ten points. However, the evolution itself could take anywhere between ten and five hundred years.¡±


    ¡°The system will actively manipte fate such that the evolution proceeds smoothly, but there is still an element of chance. For example, someone exploring deep space might chance upon a strange fluid that stimtes the hidden potential in their genes. This would be an evolution of a single individual, whould then need to spread his seed and aid the rest of the human race in its evolution. On the other hand, perhaps some cosmic anomaly sweeps over a, causing subtle changes in the fetus of an unborn human. This change would be on a global scale, but could affect other races, as well.¡±


    After saying that much, Terra shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s really up to chance how it¡¯s carried out, but know that it will be carried out in some way. On the other hand¡­¡± The image on the right changed to a crystalline being, only vaguely humanoid. Their stats were far above even the previous psionic juggernauts, and contained numerous defensive and offensive traits.


    ¡°If you were to try for an evolution like this, the system would ask for somewhere in the ballpark of five hundred points due to the drastic difference between the current and desired species. Additionally, the evolution could take thousands of years to finish while the system is identifying proper catalysts.¡±


    I gave a small nod after hearing all of this. ¡°So, basically¡­ try not to change so much that it bes an entirely different species?¡± I joked, a slight smile appearing on my face. ¡°That shouldn¡¯t be too much of a problem. What about this other one? Potential Scouting?¡±


    Terra gave another nod, releasing her arms from around me as she stood, lightly stretching. ¡°That one is actually quite a bit more straightforward. Simr to how you can observe someone¡¯s talent aura, you can take a bit of a deeper look now. The talent aura will give you more information, such as specifically what an individual is talented in.¡±


    Well, that sounds useful. I nodded my head at her exnation. ¡°Thanks. So¡­ I can guide evolution, and find more urate talent information.¡± It was clear that the third rank of being a Keeper was geared towards a qualitative increase of the Keeper¡¯s forces. More so than simply cultivating gods, this would improve the starting line that people were born at.


    Thinking of this, I immediately got to work. There had been quite a few imbnces in the different races that were created under my watch. The first of which were the heroc, who were so much stronger than everyone else in my world that it seemed almost broken. Thetest example was even worse, and that was the sylvan race. Naturally born as demigods, capable of utilizing a hivemind that existed over a vast forest, their potential was far above anyone else within the world.


    As such, I wanted to level the ying field a little bit. I pulled up each of the different races, increasing their stats simr to the heroc and giving each of them a unique ability, stemming from the idea of psionics that Terra mentioned previously. Each of these abilities would be a new way for the race to naturally utilize mana, even if they were not trained as a mage.


    For the halflings, I gave them the power of invisibility. For dwarves, the ability to control fire to help in their forges. Kitsune received a ¡®calming presence¡¯, which would help them prevent fights from breaking out. Perhaps the most significant of these was the upgrade I gave to the centaurs, unlocking their mana.


    Since the dawn of their creation, most centaurs had been utterly incapable of wielding mana. Only those lucky enough to be born as specific variants within the race had the potential to learn magic. Most, meanwhile, were only capable of learning how to wield ki. This upgrade would not bring the average centaur to the level of a unicorn, but it would at least open up the potential for them to learn magic.


    Of course, since I was doing all of this with the other races, I naturally had to give some love to sylvans as well. While they have an incredible starting line, their numbers are too few, and too incapable of growth. Thus, I reworked the life cycle of the mother trees. With this change, the trees would have an indefinite lifespan, and their normal spawning cycle would repeat itself every thousand years.


    While this would not increase the lifespan of the lower-ranked sylvans, it would ensure that a grove did not die out as soon as the ancestor tree passed away. With this, they would be able to gradually grow and increase their numbers over time.


    The reason that I elected to change every race was in the hope that somerge-scale event would ur, simr to what Terra mentioned before. If the evolutionary path was already established for each race, that meant that the system would take measures to ensure that anyrge scale effects would not inadvertantly damage unspecified races.


    Once I was done assining every race their changes, I looked over the amount of points that it would cost me. In total¡­ I would be spending fifty points, due to the fact that I wasn¡¯t creating any truly mind-boggling changes. Most of what I had designated would be something easily achievable simply by having the child inherit a portion of their parents¡¯ stats. The only true challenge would be the new abilities, and the change made to the sylvans.


    Tsubaki, as the representative of the Keeper when the person himself was not around, had naturally created her own pce on the Sanctum. Originally, she wished to move the entire Sky Citadel there, but realized that doing such a thing would be against the initial intention behind having the citadel in the first ce. Not only that, but Dana was not a divine being. It was questionable how well she would be able to survive within that¡¯s special system.


    Thus, she instead chose to create a replica of the Sky Citadel, a floating pce of light that hovered high above a mountain. There, she left a single avatar that could be used as a point of contact, should any of the gods need to deliver a message to her.


    After coordinating with Ashley, she had chosen to ce her pce on the opposite side of the globe from Night City. Thus, while Ashleymanded a domain of eternal night, Tsubaki¡¯s pce created a domain of eternal light. Granted, she did not erect a city around her pce, but its mere presence had proven enough to attract a few gods to reside in the surrounding areas.


    While her avatar remained within the Pce of Light, her true body was in Deckan, studying under the tutge of her sworn enemy, the petter of all things nine-tailed. To spite him, she had dispersed one of her light tails, leaving her with only eight. At first, James had not realized this change, but the face that she saw when he noticed made the entire process worth it.


    Now, she and Dana were learning from James how to use special energy waves to tap into the void, drawing its special energy into a confined container and converting it into usable power. The first steps of this process had confounded them for months, before Dana seemed to receive a sudden burst of inspiration.


    After her enlightenment, she began to tackle the matter from a magical angle. Having experience with creating even a Saint-level energy through the use of magic fomrs, it was easy to reproduce the effect needed to draw on the void once she understood the core mechanic.


    Even James himself was surprised by her ingenuity when it came to arranging geometric spells, as he had hardly any contact with true magic in his time as a Keeper. When he watched Dana first extract a stable void particle and contain it within a spell diagram, he felt almost proud to have taught her the basics.


    Tsubaki, though she may not have been as gifted as Dana when it came to magic, was incredibly sensitive to energies. Whereas Dana was able to construct a spell diagram to automate the process of extracting energy from the void, Tsubaki used the maniption of her own energies to achieve a simr effect.


    Unfortunately, Tsubaki¡¯s method could not be employed on arge scale like Dana¡¯s automated procedure. Instead, James began teaching her in another direction, instructing her how to change the void energy into different types of physical matter. If she was able to master that, she would be able to create items from nothing. Although this would not enable her to mass-produce energy like Dana, Dana¡¯s method was simrly unable to be used on such a small, controlled scale.

 Chapter 675: Eyes On Meme

    <h4>Chapter 675: Eyes On Meme</h4>


    Tsubaki stood alone within arge, metal arena, her eyes closed as she was focusing. By this point, five years had passed since she was assigned to work with James onprehending the use of the void¡¯s energy. Her tails lit up, one by one, as energy began flowing along her skin. When this energy reached her right hand, it came together and congregated on her index finger.


    The kitsune woman stretched out her hand, poking against the empty space and leaving behind that energy that had gathered. The energy hovered in the air like a ck-red ball of gas before slowly expanding. Tsubaki¡¯s brow twitched as she reached out, her hand resting just below the ball of energy.


    ¡°Opening the hole uses a lot of energy¡­ but that¡¯s fine. Pierce a hole in a barrel, and the water will flow without further assistance.¡± As she said that, she pulled her hand away, and a long strand of ck-red gas followed. She brought her right hand to her left, and seemed to quickly wave her hands through the air to mold the energy.


    Soon, she had formed one end of the gas into a handle, gripping it with her right hand. Following a fluctuation of her mana, the handle assumed a metallic luster, bing a solid object. Grabbing the rest of the energy between the thumb and palm of her left hand, she slid her hand along its length, forming a sword three feet long.


    The design of the sword was fairly crude, but that did not seem to bother Tsubaki. After all, she had just created a permanent, solid object from nothing but energy. Most objects created from solidifying energy would dissolve over time if they weren¡¯t regrly maintained, but such was not the case for items created from the void. It was the origin of all things, and could be used to create anything from the smallest grain of sand to an entire universe.


    Lifting the sword, she tested its bnce, finally opening her eyes. ¡°Shoddy, but usable¡­ so that¡¯s how you make steel¡­ I should practice with orichalcum and mithral next.¡± In truth, it was no easy feat to manifest void energy as a solid form, even less so when what you were creating was not a base element.


    In order to manifest the void, the user had to visualize the very atoms that they were forming, creating the molecules and binding them together in their mind. For aputer, such was not overly difficult as it only had to be pre-programmed. But, it was far harder to do so with a living mind. If the image was off even slightly, the chain reaction could shatter the entire item at once.


    Simrly, the void could be used to create energy, as well. However, the process in doing so was somewhat more challenging, as the user had to envision different waves of energy intermingling. For now, Tsubaki was learning how to master the creation of solid matter, after which she would practice her control of it. Only then would she consider stepping into the realm of creating energy.


    Elsewhere, Dana was performing her own test. Unlike Tsubaki, Dana focused on the energy aspect, as that was something which she could program into her spell arrays. She did not have to envision it herself.


    Looking over a holographic disy in front of her, she checked off one item after another. ¡°Void containment field should work, conversion filter seems solid¡­ time to put it to the test.¡± Taking a deep breath, Dana walked towards the edge of arge spell diagram, tapping her foot on its outer ring and infusing her mana into it.


    Immediately afterwards, she jumped backwards, observing the spell¡¯s activation from the very edge of the metal tform. At the first sign of something going awry, Dana had prepared herself to vacate the area. After all, her test was different from Tsubaki¡¯s in that she was not only creating a small, temporary hole.


    Dana¡¯s test required a slightlyrger hole, and one that would be semi-permanent in its final form. Thus, there was a far higher chance of it being discovered by an entity within the void and used as a channel into this world.


    To prevent that, Dana had established threeyers of barriers, which consumed roughly two thirds of the energy which would leak in from the void. Although this reduced the efficiency by arge margin, it was better to prioritize the safety of anyone assigned to operate the formation. As such, she watched with narrowed eyes as a ck dot opened up in the center of the array, arcs of blue light springing from the floor to wrap it in a thin bubble.


    This ck dot let out a steady stream of void energy, which soon filled the containment bubble, forcing it to expand forward. Once it did so, a second bubble broke off, holding within it the bulk of the energy that had just been produced. At this point, Dana began staring nervously at the ck dot, as well as the energy field wrapped around it.


    It was a difficult thing to bnce the energy required to sustain the barriers through the first cycle. She had already failed twice, and had to repeatedly modify her spell design. Gradually, the bubble filled with energy was transported to a different portion of the array, where it shifted from ck-red energy to a deep blue, the color seeming to ripple and writhe along its surface.


    Now that the void energy had been converted into mana, it was a simple matter of refining the raw mana into a liquid form, and from there into a mana brick. ording to Dana¡¯s calctions, each cycle should be enough to produce three bricks, and a single brick would sustain the formation for five cycles.


    Seeing that the mana conversion had been sessful, Dana let out a sigh of relief, turning to the holographic disy next to her. She nodded her head upon seeing that both of the barriers surrounding the ck dot were operational, before freezing. Wait¡­ both?


    In a panic, Dana looked at the disy once again. Both the physical and spiritual barriers remained operational, preventing entities made of matter or energy from breaking through into this world. However, the innermost barrier had been removed. The memetic barrier has been broken?


    Perhaps the worst type of void monster was that which did not manifest in a tangible form, but rather appeared as an idea, or a set of rules. There was no way to outright kill such a creature, and it was almost impossible to determine the rule with which to banish it from the first encounter. Thus, panic gripped Dana as she quickly observed her surroundings, before slowly turning around.


    Behind Dana, attached to the seamless metal wall epassing the area, was an old wooden door. Its frame seemed scratched from years of use, and the handle was old and rusted. Dana could feel a sense of familiarity from the door as she looked at it, but quickly jumped away.


    There had never been a door along the wall. This was an isted space created for the purpose of testing her spell. Entering or leaving was done through a dimensional transfer, not through any form of door.


    Without hesitation, Dana withdrew a sword from her shadow, shing at the spell diagram in the distance to forcibly destroy it with a ray of ck light. ¡°Get me out, now! I need quarantine procedures!¡± Dana shouted, knowing that her test was being monitored by either James or Chel.


    Memetic entities typically came in three major categories, based on how they anchored themselves to the world. The first type attached itself to a physical location, the second to an individual, and the third was able to roam without any distinct form of anchor.


    As the entity had presented itself in the form of a door, the odds were that it attached itself to the location, meaning the testing chamber. However, there was still the distinct chance that it was either free-roaming, or had attached itself to Dana and only manifested behind her as a door due to her proximity with the wall.


    Moments after Dana¡¯s call, she could hear the door slowly creaking open, a ghastly pale hand grabbing the frame. However, before it could fully open, Dana had left the area. When she reappeared, she was in a small, dimly lit room with a single bed. A steel, sliding door sat nearby, having a single small window which observers could look through.


    Dana rushed over to the counter ced opposite the bed, finding the anchored crystal disy. Pulling up themunication function, she hastily typed out a message. ¡°Iste the testing chamber. Entity is memetic in origin, and manifests as a door. Anchor ss, unknown. Danger, unknown. Requesting standard quarantine procedure, please inform Leowynn.¡±


    The standard procedure for quarantine when dealing with a memetic entity was rather simple. First, iste both the location and the first contact subject. Secondly, inform Leowynn, as she was the only one able to properly destroy these void creatures. After waiting for forty-eight hours, it should be possible to determine certain characteristics of the entity, such as how it was anchored to the world. Doing so would give Leowynn an easier time vanquishing the entity.


    ¡°Dana, are you alright?¡± The elf girl heard Tsubaki¡¯s worried voice soon after her quarantine, feeling a sense offort washing over her. No doubt, Tsubaki had heard that Dana had encountered a void entity, and rushed over from her own training room.


    However, when Dana turned to look at the window in her door, she froze. The face looking through the window was definitely Tsubaki, but she was as pale as a ghost, her eyes almost pure white. Without saying anything, Dana turned back to the holographic disy and typed out another series of words. ¡®Is Tsubaki outside my room right now?¡¯


    It only took a moment before a confirmation was sent, showing her a live video feed of the hall outside her room. Sure enough, Tsubaki was standing there, and she looked rtively normal. Yet, when Dana looked over again, she still saw that sickly pale face. Furthermore, the door seemed to be aging as she looked at it, causing Dana to close her eyes tightly. She was able to tell from a nce that the state of the door only altered while she was looking at it.


    Unable to properly type with her eyes closed, she shouted out so that Tsubaki could hear her. ¡°Entity attaches itself to an individual. Contains sight-based illusory properties. If the individual is in a locationcking a door, it creates a door from the darker memories of the host. If the individual is in a location containing a door, the door will gradually shift in appearance as long as the individual is looking at it.¡±


    ¡°Any individual seen through the door by the host will appear as a stark-white version of themselves with their skin pulled taut. ording to the prior experience, uponplete manifestation, the door will slowly open, after which a new entity will emerge. Condition of the host after the door has fully opened, unknown. It is also unknown what will happen if the door opens prior to full manifestation.¡±


    ¡°Please¡­ call Leowynn quickly.¡± Dana could barely mutter thatst portion. She knew that this was a matter of life and death for her. As the void monster had attached directly to her, it was useless for her to try to escape into the shadows. Doing so would simply allow it to follow her. Furthermore, she did not know what would happen when the door fully opened. Perhaps, opening the door would cause Dana to vanish, transporting her to the void to be attacked by this monster.


    ¡°Dana¡­¡± Tsubaki¡¯s voice grew even more concerned when she heard the girl¡¯s description of the entity. ¡°What memory?¡±


    Dana didn¡¯t answer. ording to what they had learned from James, it was possible for certain memetic entities to spread through the sharing of knowledge, especially when it was concerning the knowledge that the entity itself was attached to. That was why she only spoke as if she were an outside observer. If she truly told Tsubaki what door she was seeing, it was possible that the entity would attach to Tsubaki as well. It was even possible that she was not hearing Tsubaki at all at that point, and it was the voice of the memetic entity trying to coax her into talking.


    Still, she would never forget that door. She had stared at it for so many days when she was alive. Waiting, hoping for some manner of salvation. The door to her own bedroom, which she had stared at from her bed while she was sick. Right up until the day she died, her salvation never emerged from that door. Her father hade and gone many times, but was unable to cure her.


    That was why Dana couldn¡¯t speak any further. If she gave any more details about the entity, it was likely to attach itself to anyone listening. She could only wait for Leowynn to arrive, and keep her sight firmly sealed until then.

 Chapter 676: Ashes to Ashes

    <h4>Chapter 676: Ashes to Ashes</h4>


    Tsubaki listened to Dana¡¯s pleas, hearing her mention the details of the memetic entity that had attached itself to her. Understanding that she should not press for more, she simply gave a firm nod of her head, turning and walking down the hall. As much as she wanted to be there for Dana right now, her presence would more than likely be detrimental to her friend¡¯s survival.


    Lady Leowynn, your presence is urgently requested within the Void Maniption Research Center. Tsubaki prayed with all her might, doing her best to project her voice to the only source of Dana¡¯s salvation. Dana has been attacked by a void entity of the information type.


    I understand, I¡¯ll be right over! Leowynn¡¯s hasty response showed just how much importance she ced in this message, allowing Tsubaki to let out a breath of relief. As she had walked away from the quarantine area, her feet had led her to her own quarters. She passed the kitsune twins along the way, offering a curt nod to them before entering her room and beginning to pace.


    However, her pacingsted for only a few moments before an unusual detail caught her eye. Resting on her bed was a single dagger, one which looked like it had been dug from an ancient ruin, rust all along its de. Yet, Tsubaki could still see the faded traces of blood on the dagger, and her enhanced ears picked up the faintest of tapping sounds on the floor below.


    Immediately, her body erupted in divine light, her radiance bathing the entire room. The outpour of power shook the very foundations of the building, but the damage in her room was far more intense. There, Tsubaki could be seen hovering six inches above the floor, its surface charred ck. Her bed had been destroyed, its frame melted and cushions burned to ash. Everything within the room had suffered a simr fate, save for Tsubaki herself.


    Lady Leowynn¡­ I would ask that you expedite your journey. I appear to have my own problems¡­ and if I am correct in their origin, you may need to kill me if you dy. The dagger may have only pricked at her memory, but whenbined with the faintest tap of an insect¡¯s leg against the floor¡­


    Thankfully, Tsubaki did not have to wait long. Mere seconds after her warning, the door to her room burst open. Leowynn, together with James himself, entered the room to observe the area. ¡°Turn down the flood lights, will you?!¡± James shouted out, covering his eyes. Although the temperature of her lights had proven enough to decimate her room, they were not able to do more than blind the former Keeper.


    Leowynn, meanwhile, seemed far more at home when bathed in this radiance. She walked over towards Tsubaki, and briefly examined her. ¡°I don¡¯t sense the trace of the void attached to you.¡± She said, before looking around the room. ¡°There¡¯s a faint residue in your room¡­ but nothing anchored here.¡±


    Tsubaki hesitated, before giving a faint nod. ¡°The twins¡­ Nora and Thea¡­ they passed my room only moments before I entered¡­ please check them for anomalies on your way to Dana.¡± As she said that, she gradually reduced the intensity of her glow, but did not allow her feet to touch the ground.


    ¡°Can you tell me what you saw?¡± Leowynn asked, given the fact that Tsubaki was not directly affected by a void entity, sharing her knowledge would not cause any harm to those around her. Instead, it would only better serve to find the root cause.


    The kitsune hesitated, but nodded her head. ¡°I will tell you through prayer. For now, go to them, please. If they share the fate I was about to experience, it will be a disaster.¡± Leowynn furrowed her brow at that, but quicklyplied, making her way out of the room.


    Tsubaki looked at the former Keeper, who simply offered her aforting nod before leaving her alone, and then closed her eyes to focus. What I saw was a dagger, one which once nearly imed my life when wielded by a trusted friend. I cannot be positive that it was the same one as it had been so long, but there are few other daggers of simr shape that have left a heavy impression on me. The one that wielded this dagger was a girl possessed by a mind-controlling spider.


    Leowynn knew that there had to be more to the story, given Tsubaki¡¯s extreme reaction. However, what she had revealed was already enough to send rms ringing in the goddess¡¯s mind. Mind-controlling insects were not entirely umon within the world, but such a thing would never make it past the strict safety features of this researchb.


    ¡°So, did you already finishpiling your report for the boss?¡± Nora asked yfully as she nudged her sister, who only gave a helpless smile in return. ¡°Wait, seriously? I thought you weren¡¯t going to rest until you got it done?¡±


    Thea shook her head as the two walked down the hall, nodding towards the eight-tailed kitsune that passed by them. ¡°I was going to, but I had to get out of theb. Chel was starting to nag at me to get some fresh air.¡±


    Nora giggled at that, nodding her head in understanding. ¡°Right, I guess that makes sense. Anyways, it looks like we¡¯re about ready to start-¡± Her words were cut off as an explosion rocked the room, the two girls narrowing their eyes and relying on their training to stabilize themselves.


    Although they never talked about it, the two of them had been raised by the same ninja n as Tsubaki, only many generationster. Their training was nothing tough at, and they could fight most high-levelbatants easily. Naturally, they were able to identify the origin point of the st from just the shockwaves.


    Nora turned her head to look back at the room that they had passed not a minute prior. Searing light poured through the crack beneath the door, charring the floor outside ck and bathing the hallway in a midday glow. However, what caught her attention after that was the faint voice of her sister from beside her.


    ¡°Sorry, Nora¡­¡± She muttered in a sad tone, and Nora felt a pinch at her side. Looking down, she saw her sister stabbing her in the side with what looked to be a rusted, iron knife. The de easily pierced her clothing and her skin, sinking into her body, yet it only served to confuse Nora even more.


    ¡°Thea, what¡­?¡± She asked before watching her sister retrieving the knife, plunging it into her again at a different angle. Yet, there was no blood. This was to be expected, as both of the twins had already achieved perfection in both body and soul. Although the dagger did cause very slight damage to Nora, it was nothing that would threaten her life within a short amount of time.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± Thea muttered again, tears forming in her eyes as she stabbed for a third time. This time, Nora could feel the destructive energies that the two of them cultivated coating the dagger, and she immediately jumped away. Although its de still cut at her uniform, she had reacted in time to prevent a serious wound.


    Nora looked at her sister, seeing the grief-stricken face staring back at her, and seemed to understand something. ¡°I see¡­ I guess it¡¯se to this?¡± She asked with a bitter smile, assuming abat stance in the hall.


    ¡°Nora, Thea, whichever one you are, get down!¡± An authoritative voice called from behind Nora, whose eyes went wide in shock. She dropped prone to the ground, tucking her tails in out of instinct as ck energy shed overhead. She recognized the voice, albeit faintly, and knew that it was the Goddess of the Void that had issued thatmand.


    The ck stream of energy crashed into Thea, throwing her back several feet and sending her to the floor. For several moments, Nora could only hear Thea¡¯s heavy breathing apanied by the clicking of heels against a steel floor. ¡°A puppet type¡­¡± Leowynn¡¯s voice spoke up in frustration, and her hand sliced at the air in front of her.


    After the gesture, Thea let out a sharp gasp, one hand clutching her head. Slowly, she sat up, the dagger still in her hand. She looked at it, shaking as she threw it away before bringing her arms to wrap around her body. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± She cried, causing Nora to look up at Leowynn. When the goddess gave her a nod, Nora rushed over to her sister, holding her in her arms.


    Leowynn looked down at the two of them with a soft gaze. ¡°Thea, sweetie¡­ I need you to tell me who gave you that dagger. When did you start feeling weird?¡±


    Thea shuddered, looking up at the goddess with tears spilling down her face. ¡°No¡­ nobody gave it to me¡­ it was just there, in my hands. But¡­ the thing¡­ it happened before I left theb. I just suddenly started thinking that everyone should just turn to ash¡­ why would I use a dagger for that?¡± Her face showed clear confusion, though her words seemed to confuse Leowynn just as deeply.


    Leowynn shook her head, looking around the hallway. She could see countless strands connecting this ce to the void. Each one could lead to either a portal used for various experiments, or a void entity that had snuck through one of those very experiments. The problem was that it was too difficult to tell which was the case exactly without investigating each thread. However, she did know for certain that the main body of the void entity had not been on Thea¡¯s body. Rather, it was only a small puppet that was being controlled remotely.


    ¡°I¡¯ll find the source of this before I leave.¡± Leowynn promised, before turning to rush down the hall. Although Thea¡¯s infection originated from theb, Leowynn still had to deal with Dana¡¯s affliction first. Having someone like Dana on your side would make anyone feel morefortable.


    Once Leowynn arrived at Dana¡¯s containment room, she could see two strands of the void attached to the little elf¡¯s body. Dana herself stoodpletely still within her room, her head lowered. Yet, in her right hand, Leowynn could see the presence of a rusted dagger.


    Without hesitation, Leowynn shed at both void threads, severing their hold over Dana. The elf¡¯s eyes went wide at that, and she lifted her head. The dagger in her hand dropped, nging against the ground. ¡°Is it gone?¡± Dana asked, staring at Leowynn through the window in the door.


    When Leowynn nodded her head, Dana walked forward with determination, seeming to phasepletely through the quarantine door. What¡¯s the point of doors if you don¡¯t use them? Leowynn thought to herself, before Dana looked up at her.


    ¡°Can you destroy every void entity within this building? All at once?¡± She asked, her expression solemn.


    ¡°Not without destroying all of the devices you all have built¡­ why?¡± Leowynn met the elf¡¯s gaze, seeing no small amount of grief within her eyes.


    ¡°It¡¯s ash¡­ no, Ashe¡­ not ashes, a girl.¡± Dana muttered, shaking her head. ¡°I¡¯m too old, and my head¡¯s a bit¡­ special. It couldn¡¯t fully control me. But I know how that one works. It¡¯s a memetic entity that is free roaming, and follows a strict set of rules. First, it only targets females, and only those who share a close emotional bond with another female, like that of sisters.¡±


    Dana took a deep breath, looking as if she was unsure if she should say this next part. ¡°Next¡­ it manifests a spider-shaped creature near the victim, whichtches onto their body. Even if they are an energy construct, it can still infect them with memetic control. The controlled victim will have two objectives. One, they will try to kill the girl that they share a sister-like bond with.¡±


    ¡°And what is the other objective?¡± Leowynn asked, looking in concern at the elven girl.


    ¡°They¡¯ll want to torment Tsuba.¡± Leowynn almost couldn¡¯t believe her ears when she heard that, blinking in disbelief.


    ¡°Why would a void entity want to torment Tsubaki?¡± She asked, looking back down the hall the way she came. Two girls sharing a sibling-like bond¡­ that was only toomon no matter where you looked. Worse, it was hard to tell if someone met those conditions or not without thoroughly understanding them as a person.


    ¡°Revenge.¡± Dana said, turning and walking down the hall. ¡°It was in my mind, but I touched its mind as well. For the record, I don¡¯t suggest doing that¡­ Tsuba has told me about her past, so I was able to piece together some clues. This memetic entity has the identity of a girl named Ashe. I¡­ guess that Ashe¡¯s spirit must have been eaten by the monster before it could get to the underworld, or maybe nobody from Irena¡¯s side picked her up in time. I don¡¯t know, and it really sucks not knowing!¡±


    ¡°What I do know is that the two of them used to be friends of a sort, before a simr spider bit Ashe. In the end, it made the two of them fight, and Tsuba won.¡± As Dana said that, she broke into a sprint, running down the hall. ¡°Even if you have to destroy every piece of tech in this building, you can¡¯t let Ashe get to Tsuba!¡±


    As Dana called that back towards Leowynn, the goddess was left flustered. Naturally, she knew how important all of the research that they were conducting here was. But such research could never bepared to the life of the researchers, to the life of a friend¡­


    Leowynn took a deep breath, blinking her eyes. When they reopened, they were pitch ck, her silver hair slowly darkening. ¡°May all ties with the void be severed.¡± She spoke solemnly, a ck aura pushing out from her body to spread through theb.


    Wherever the ck light passed, various devices and spells fizzled and broke apart, shattering at their core. However, Leowynn still felt as if something wasn¡¯t right. As if she had missed something. At the back of her mind, she heard a faint giggle.


    Tsubaki hugged her knees against her chest as she floated in the room, ensuring that no part of her body touched any solid surface. She knew all too well the origin of this creature, especially after her ears picked up Thea¡¯s words. Turn everyone into Ashe¡­ Why are you doing this?


    The girl that she knew would never have done something as cruel as all of this when she was alive. Not of her own will, at the very least. Even in her dying moments, she had thanked Tsubaki for stopping her¡­ so why?


    The kitsune saw the ck wave of light pass over her, and knew that Leowynn had used her power. As if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders, she began to lower herself down to the floor, extending her legs downwards. Yet, that was when she saw a figure standing in her door.


    The figure was a felyn girl, no more than six years old, with brown hair cut just above her shoulders. Her shirt was dirty and tattered, looking like little more than rags hanging down past her thigh, which was wrapped in yellowed cloth. But it was her face that was the most disturbing. The right side of her face looked perfectly normal, a single blue eye and upturned lips.


    Her left eye, however, was disfigured, split as four smaller eyes that unnaturally fought for room on her face. The left side of her mouth was split open with a giant pincer sticking out of it. Even with the disfigurement, Tsubaki could recognize the girl. ¡°Ashe¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right, Tsubaki~!¡± The girlughed, her voice an eerie echo of what Tsubaki could remember. ¡°I¡¯m back! Did you miss me?¡±


    ¡°More than you could ever understand¡­¡± Tsubaki spoke in a low tone. ¡°But¡­ Leowynn should have swept the void¡¯s influence clean from this ce. How are you still here?¡±


    The pincer in the left half of Ashe¡¯s mouth clicked as sheughed. ¡°Silly silly. Why would she kick me out? I came from here, didn¡¯t I? I¡¯m just back where I belong, now. Just you and me¡­ always, just you and me.¡±


    Tsubaki felt a chill fall down her back as she heard Ashe¡¯s words, before the girl spoke up again. ¡°Oh! Did you like my gift, by the way? I thought it was important to let you know I wasing by, but I didn¡¯t know how to tell you¡­ I thought that the dagger would work, and ¡®poof¡¯, it was there!¡±


    The four eyes on the left side of her face were half-lidded as if looking for praise. ¡°It¡¯s not been easy, being alone out there, all this time. I¡¯ve been looking for you, always looking. You promised to listen to me if we made it out. You promised that we¡¯d always be together. Right before you stabbed me in the chest. I was so cold¡­ so alone.¡±


    ¡°The spider¡¯s venom stayed with you, even as a spirit.¡± Tsubaki muttered in sorrow, looking at the disfigured traits on Ashe¡¯s face. That was the only answer that she coulde up with, the only thing that could exin what was happening.


    ¡°Hmm?¡± Ashe tilted her head, her pincer clicking again. However, before she could see anything else, another burst of dark energy wrapped over her body. This time, it was not the work of Leowynn, but rather Dana.


    ¡°Get away from my Tsuba, you possessed witch!¡± Dana¡¯s voice shouted out furiously as the ball of shadows containing Ashe was thrown against the wall. ¡°You think that you get to act all crazy just because you died and had to stay alone for a while?! Join the club! I was left to rot in Hell for gods know how long!¡±


    As Dana entered the room, shadows could be seen rolling along her arms, and she stared at the ball that she pinned against the wall. ¡°You had your chance with her. You let some bug-eyed freak take you over and turn you on her, and now you want to take her away again?! Over my dead body!¡±


    ¡°Is that all it will take?¡± Ashe¡¯s voice spoke up from within the ball of shadows, before dozens of ck daggers shot out towards Dana. Dana snorted, waving her hand to the side as a giant hand rose up to swat down the daggers. Ashe¡¯s figure walked out of the ball, her neck and arms twisted at unnatural angles. Even still, she settled her limbs back into ce with sickening cracks, her health bar never appearing over her head. ¡°I only have to kill you, and I get Tsubaki?¡±


    Tsubaki, feeling as if something was incredibly wrong, rushed over to stand with Dana. If they had to fight, they would fight as a team. However, this only served to make Ashe stare at them, fury settling within her five eyes. ¡°Really¡­ after everything we went through¡­ you¡¯re choosing an elf over me?¡±


    Ashe¡¯s left hand distorted, numerous sharp ws seeming to grow out of her flesh. ¡°We¡¯re going to be together again¡­ always, together.¡± Tsubaki could hear that Ashe¡¯s voice was growing more and more crazed, as if her sanity were further slipping from her with every passing breath.


    ¡°Like I said, you had your chance!¡± Dana shouted furiously. ¡°I¡¯m not going to let you do anything to her now!¡±


    ¡°Neither will I.¡± A calm voice spoke from the hall. Dana turned her head and saw the head researcher, James standing there. In his arms, he held the curled up form of Chel, her tails wrapped around her. Dana could faintly see a line of dried tears on Chel¡¯s face, and her eyes went wide.


    ¡°Oh¡­ oh, you touched her?!¡± Dana asked incredulously, looking towards Ashe. However, her gaze now seemed to hold a touch of¡­ pity? ¡°But wait¡­ Chel doesn¡¯t have any female friends that she¡¯s close enough with to meet your conditions, does she?¡±


    ¡°The host.¡± James said as he stepped inside. ¡°They¡¯ve been together since they were born, sharing every memory and emotion. But Chel did not dominate the mind of her host, and cooperated with her instead. In a way¡­ they were closer than any sisters.¡±


    Dana blinked at that, before her eyes truly went wide. ¡°No¡­ she tried to¡­¡±


    Before Dana could finish her sentence, James lifted a hand. Ashe¡¯s body, which had effortlessly withstood Dana¡¯s attack, was mmed against the wall again. Her right arm was crushed, her left leg twisted around with the bone sticking out. James looked coldly at Ashe, with no regard for her past rtionship with Tsubaki.


    ¡°Be as dust on the wind.¡± Jamesmanded, his voice carrying a strange power that Dana couldn¡¯t recognize. Ashe froze, her five eyes shaking in disbelief as her body began to change, losing its color. Before her health bar had even appeared, she crumbled, turning into a pile of dust that copsed on the ground.


    After killing Ashe, James looked down at Chel, his gaze softening. Still holding her in one arm, he turned and walked out of the room, the door closing behind him.


    ¡°¡­He stole my kill!¡± Dana called out several secondster, waving her fist angrily towards the door.

 Chapter 677: Rememberance

    <h4>Chapter 677: Rememberance</h4>


    After James left, Leowynn soon arrived, having followed the traces of the void back to Tsubaki¡¯s room. When she entered, she noted the pile of dust built up in one corner, and looked at it strangely. Obviously, she was able to sense that the void traces ended at the dust pile, and that the creature it had once been was very much dead.


    ¡°Do I want to know?¡± She asked, turning to look at Dana and Tsubaki, who were standing nearby. As Tsubaki had previously destroyed all the furnishings in the room, the two of them had no choice but to stand around until she was assigned a new room, or recements were brought in.


    ¡°It tried to hurt Chel.¡± Dana answered with a helpless shrug. Leowynn blinked, looking at the pile of dust with renewed understanding. She had seen how James reacted to Chel being threatened in the past, turning someone into an invalid for simply suggesting that he would do something against her.


    ¡°I see¡­ are the two of you alright?¡± She asked, turning to look at the two surviving upants of the room.


    Tsubaki hesitated for a moment before nodding her head. ¡°We are fine now, thank you. Is there anyone else in the facility that is affected?¡±


    Leowynn shook her head at that. ¡°I cut off all the void connections in this ce, so any lingering entities would have been banished. This one seems a bit¡­ special, but she seems quite thoroughly dead at this point, and I can¡¯t detect any new traces.¡±


    Dana let out a sigh of relief when she heard that. ¡°Good, then we won¡¯t have to deal with a repeat incident. I¡¯ll talk to James about setting up a stronger shielding mechanism for future studies.¡±


    Naturally, Dana recalled how her shield had been entirely erased when she was performing her experiment, allowing the ¡®door¡¯ entity to attach itself to her. Given that she based her shields off of those used by James, it was likely that many others had failed during previous experiments without being caught right away.


    When she thought back to the look James gave towards Ashe, however, she decided that it was maybe best to bring that up tomorrow, after letting the man have a bit of time to rx. Thest thing anyone needed to do was poke him when he was still reeling from pent-up aggression. It would be¡­ unhealthy for them, to say the least.


    During these five years, the world of Sanctum had further evolved. With the motivation of a steady increase in power, more gods sought to create subordinates for themselves, establishing their own empires within the divinend. Some especially ambitious individuals took this as the opportunity for themselves to ascend to divinity without waiting for anyone to assist them.


    Naturally, there were still far more failures than there were sesses, many people losing themselves on their path to power. Yet even so, the number of gods residing within Sanctum had atst surpassed two thousand. Given the trend of the time, many of these deities had various ¡®worker¡¯ type domains like Building, Crafting, Transport, or even Storage.


    It was not that there was a surge of talents in this field. Rather, even those unspecialized in crafting would seek such a path, as it would provide them with a stable increase in power once they arrived in Sanctum. At least, such was their initial intent. As it turns out, simply having the Crafting domain did not mean people would alwayse to you for helping them create things in that world. Especially when there was a better craftsman just down the street.


    Several gods began toment their domain choices after a few months, with news spreading back to the ¡®mortal realm¡¯ and putting an end to the trend of ¡®fake craftsmen¡¯. Left with nothing else, these crafting gods were given two choices. They could either strive to make a name for themselves, and learn theircking trade, or they could join Kiria Sorin and form arger workshop.


    There were those who stood on either side of this choice. On the one hand, joining Kiria guaranteed at least a measure of livelihood, as he was the most renowned craftsman among the mortal gods. On the other, those who hade this far naturally had their own pride, and wished to make their own names just as popr. As long as they were working for Kiria, their work would naturally be attributed to him, rather than themselves.


    Thus, a ¡®market¡¯ of sorts began to appear within Sanctum, with various people sharing simr domains and doing their best to market their own style. In fact, Kiria wasn¡¯t against this in the slightest. He felt that it was rather annoying to be asked by so many gods to makemon furniture such as beds, couches, and even cutlery.


    Despite his clientele being the divinemunity, he felt that such work was beneath his level of skill. When other gods came to him and requested to work under him, he saw it as a blessing in disguise. After giving a few quick pointers to the new workers, he could assign these more mundane tasks to them. The jobs that Kiria himself wished toplete were more akin to crafting a god¡¯s holy artifact.


    Just as he was thinking about this, the bell above his shop¡¯s door rang with a new customer. He nced up, seeing the familiar face of the Goddess of Wood, and let out a low sigh. ¡°Hello, Miss Hart. Come for a new dress?¡±


    His tone was not condescending, but he had seen this goddess many times since he established his own shop. She had ordered beds, chairs, and numerous appliances from him in the past, and had even asked for a few different outfits. Some of which were for her familiar, rather than herself. Thankfully, he was able to delegate theter work to his new employees.


    This time, however, Julia shook her head. ¡°No, I¡¯vee for something else.¡± She said, holding out her hand. There was a sh of space as a long branch appeared, almost as long as she was tall. Kiria stood up straight as he saw the branch, and how it radiated with two different types of power.


    One power, naturally, was the divine energy that he was all-too familiar with at this point. The other, however, seemed to hold a timeless strength. ¡°This is a branch grown from a tree I¡¯ve been cultivating since this world was created. The tree itself is fashioned after Eternal Wood, grown through divine power. I was hoping that you could help me do something with it?¡±


    Seeing that this was an actual job, not simply another chore to deliver furnishings, Kiria¡¯s mind cleared instantly. ¡°Of course. What sort of product are you looking for. If it¡¯s a branch, I would think a staff or a wand. Most likely a staff, given the size.¡±


    To his surprise, Julia shook her head. ¡°I¡¯d like a sword, actually. Eternal Wood is far stronger than even the iron produced in the upper levels of Fyor, and this was further enhanced with divine power. Despite its wooden appearance, a sword crafted from this branch should contain remarkable power.¡±


    After saying that, Julia added, as if in an afterthought. ¡°However, if there is enough left after the creation of a sword, I would also like a wand. Would you be needing any other materials from me?¡±


    Kiria looked seriously at therge branch, already envisioning what he thought to create. ¡°I once worked with a ck me produced by the Lady Ashley, as well as a special water of life created by Libris Storn. If you can get these for me, I can make you a very fine sword indeed, not to mention the wand.¡± Truth be told, he could fashion a dozen wands with what was left after the creation of the sword.


    Julia furrowed her brow for a moment in thought. Convincing Ashley to allow her to borrow a special me would likely not be hard. However, she didn¡¯t know where she could find Libris. ¡°Pardon, but do you perhaps know where Mister Storn has settled down?¡±


    Kiria nodded his head at that, able to learn the locations of many deities due to the need to deliver products. Besides, it was not like such a thing was a secret in this world. ¡°He¡¯s a God of Water, so he has decided to live on the ocean, near the Pce of War.¡±


    That made things easier, at least, as it meant that she simply had to seek out Bihena. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll go look for them. If I can¡¯t get either material, would you still be able to help me?¡±


    ¡°Naturally!¡± Kiria boasted, patting his own muscr chest. ¡°The me and water are merely ingredients to further enhance the final product. Even without them, it would be a simple matter toplete your order.¡±


    Hearing that, Julia let out a sigh of relief. She nodded her head, turning and leaving. She wasn¡¯t worried about Kiria¡¯s price, as he had always been more than fair when it came to his work. Besides, thanks to her rtionship with Aurivy, it could be said that she had more than enough divinity to pay for whatever she wanted.


    Once outside, Julia walked over to the wooden figure standing nearby. After her ascension as the Goddess of Wood, her familiar had¡­ mutated. It no longer had a crystalline appearance, and had changed into a spirit of wood. Julia imagined that this was rathermon for familiars belonging to elemental deities, but there were still not enough of such beings to verify that theory.


    ¡°Are you ready to go?¡± She asked with a small smile. Her familiar had been lucky enough at the time to have been resting inside her body when their previous home was destroyed, or Julia would have no doubt lost her in the ensuing st.


    The wooden figure lifted her head to regard Julia, a matching smile forming on her own face as she nodded. She reached out to take Julia¡¯s hand, and the two vanished from where they stood.


    I shook my head as I pulled my sight back from the world below. The matter involving Tsubaki and the void monster was more than a little concerning, but I had managed to piece together quite a few details from observing the event. I wished that she had told me about that before, but I couldn¡¯t say I was surprised.


    From the very beginning, I knew that Tsubaki had gone through rather harsh training to reach the point she was at now. I had even seen her emting that training whenever she started a new game, honing herbat prowess by cing herself within an area far beyond her level, going so far as to delete her character any time she failed. You don¡¯t go through that level of training without experiencing numerous hardships.


    Because I understood that, I had no intention of prying into her personal life. However, I was thinking of ways that I couldfort her. Small gestures that she might appreciate, to help her get past this trauma being brought back to the surface.


    Given her usual interests, giving her a vacation might be counterproductive. I had learned long ago that Tsubaki was practically a workaholic, and making her rx was probably the most stressful thing in the world for her, aside from being separated from Dana for long periods of time.


    After thinking it over for a while, I finally decided what I wanted to do for her. However, it required me to descend to take care of it.


    Tsubaki stood outside her new room, taking a deep breath as she steeled her resolve. The confrontation with Ashe was still fresh in her mind, and she didn¡¯t feelfortable staying in that room any longer, even if she had not already destroyed everything in it. Thus, she had been granted a new room, one adjacent to Dana.


    Swiping her identity card across the scanner, she opened the door and stepped inside, taking stock of the interior. Naturally, these rooms were practically identical, so there was little difference from herst dwelling. However, she saw a small package waiting for her on her bed, and she could sense a trace of the Keeper¡¯s divinity dwelling within it.


    Her eyes wide, she walked over and opened the package, finding a framed picture together with a simple note. Hesitating for a moment, Tsubaki looked first at the note, seeing the words written by the Keeper. ¡®So that you can remember who she was, not what she became.¡¯


    Her hand was shaking slightly by the time she finished the note, turning her head to look at the picture next. In the picture, she saw a pair of young girls, one a kitsune and the other a felyn. The kitsune had short, blonde hair, while the felyn had short brown hair. Both of them were dressed in dirty, patched clothing, but had wide smiles on their faces as they seemed to be looking at something.


    Tsubaki¡¯s hand tightened slightly, clutching the carved, wooden frame as she brought it closer and hugged it against her chest. Other people might think that those children looked filthy and pitiful, but Tsubaki could feel her eyes bing wet from the memories. ¡°Thank you, my Keeper¡­¡±

 Chapter 678: Energy Crisis

    <h4>Chapter 678: Energy Crisis</h4>


    James sat at his desk, his forehead creased as he read through a series of reports. As Dana had expected, there were signs that numerous shields across almost all testing fields had been silently disabled. Or rather, they had been ovee with such power that they had been entirely erased.


    ¡°This is too much for a natural urrence, but also¡­¡± James knew that there was likely to be some level of sabotage within the shields, otherwise they would have not experienced such widespread failure. For instance, there were cases when the physical shields failed, but no entity came through.


    However, there were also situations wherepletely isted tests experienced unforeseen failure that could not be attributed to sabotage. One such example was Dana¡¯s experience, where she had created her spell diagram entirely on her own, based on James¡¯s own exnations. Thus, it became obvious to James that there was indeed sabotage, but the shields themselves were alsocking.


    ¡°But, I know that these numbers are right.¡± He muttered to himself, looking over his calctions. He had created many of these shielding mechanisms in his original time as a Keeper, and was very familiar with how they operated. Even though units of measurement were bound to differ from one world to the next, he had confirmed the calctions through numerous personal experiments.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t make sense for the void monsters to just be stronger in this Keeper¡¯s world than mine. And the ones that were reported so far did not show any exaggerated abilities that would surprise me.¡± In his time, he had seen many powerful void monsters, some capable of erasing all life on a had they been allowed to roam free.


    Comparatively, what they were currently seeing was only the normal ranks among void monsters. Admittedly, a spirit being caught in the void during the process of rebirth was rare, it was not unheard of. Such often became the source of horror stories involving ghosts and monsters in a normal world.


    When James thought to that point, his hand tapping against the keyboard suddenly stopped. A normal world¡­ He thought to himself,paring the world he was currently in with those he was familiar with.


    The researcher nced over to his side, where Chel was now peacefully sleeping, and began to type away at the holographic disy. There are three primary differences between this world and those I possessed in my previous life. The first difference is the abundance of mystical energies. However, this change would not affect the world at a void-level any more than a single grain of sand would affect the rising tide.


    The second difference is the presence of Dimensium. As this is an ore created specifically within this universe, its properties have not fully been explored. With its ability to influence dimensional properties, there is a certain chance that it could influence the void within its ambient energy range. I should schedule a test with this materialter to verify this theory.


    Finally, the third difference is the world size. Of the current worlds that exist within this Keeper¡¯s domain, only one primary world matches the size I am familiar with, and that is Desbar. It is possible thatrger worlds require stronger shielding mechanisms when dealing with the void. I will request to run tests in Desbar with my current devices in order to confirm this theory.


    With this, James had created two usible theories as to why his shields had been failing. However, he was leaning more towards the issue being rted to the size of the world itself, after giving it some more thought. Ultimately, the Keeper system maintains bnce. Arger world provides additional resources that can be taken advantage of. Dale might have bypassed a couple of stages by seeking to harvest unlimited energy early, but I can¡¯t really me him there.


    If this is how it is set up, thenrger worlds likely require stronger shields as apensation for the additional starter resources. Until they are at a stage where they can create those shields, it is best to focus on alternative methods of power generation.


    Naturally, there was a simple way to bypass this restriction, but it would not work forever. By having an energy-generation nt in a world like Desbar, where normal shield strength was required, they could pump out and package additional energy. This packaged energy would be then sent torger worlds to be consumed.


    Doing this was highly inefficient, as smaller worlds had more limited space for such establishments. In order to supply enough energy for arger world, they would need between ten and a hundred times what their own world would consume, drastically limiting the amount of territory that the smaller world could maintain.


    Unless someone was willing to create smaller worlds that existed purely for energy production, this would not be a feasible n. And at that point, they would essentially be creating Tsubaki¡¯s reality gems¡­ Though, she admittedly took her n a step further by mass producing them. Had the energy been properly extracted and refined from the beginning, those orbs would have been able tost a lot longer than they had.


    ¡°Well, then¡­ let¡¯s get to work.¡± James gave a small grin, having reached his own conclusions on this matter. In order to get this technology to its infancy stage, he had only invented the bare minimum needed to make it work thus far. His world might not have needed more powerful shielding technology for these void generators, but they still used them in other fields, such as to protect ships that were navigating the void.


    ¡°It¡¯s a bit of a waste, but let¡¯s give it a shot. First up, we need a micro-element chaos drive. Exining the principles to the other so that they can be mass produced¡­ will probably take a few months. If I do it myself, I can probably have a working prototype in a week. For the full generator¡­ let¡¯s give it a three month time window.¡±


    ¡°Working?¡± A tired voice spoke up, causing James to pause his typing. When he looked over, he saw Chel sitting up in the bed, slowly wiping her eyes. ¡°I swear, you never did know how to take a break. A cute girl like me, lying down within ten feet of you, and all you can manage to do is type on a keyboard.¡± The shorter kitsune girlmented with a small grin.


    James felt his lips tugging upwards when he heard that, holding one arm out for her. Taking the invitation for what it was, Chel walked over and climbed into hisp. ¡°What do you remember?¡± He asked in a gentle tone, his arms wrapping around her waist.


    ¡°Everything.¡± She admitted, leaning against him. ¡°But it wasn¡¯t your fault. Now, what¡¯s this you¡¯re working on and keeping me from my beauty sleep?¡± She asked in a yful tone, taking a look at the notes James had written out, and the diagrams he had started drawing.


    ¡°You¡¯re bringing out high-level void shields? Don¡¯t you think you¡¯re taking things a step too fast?¡± She questioned, looking back towards James. ¡°We can just dy the release of void energy for a few years, you know? Since they brought out Sanctum, there¡¯s bound to be a god capable of easily supplying energy as a cheap gimmick to increase their own faith.¡±


    James shook his head. ¡°The world should have entered the third rank by now, or is getting close to it. Without Tsubaki¡¯s gems serving as a power source, the fleets won¡¯t be able to maintain their full power if anythinges knocking on our door. Before the next invasion, we need working void converters.¡±


    ¡°They could still go the path of fusion energy, right?¡± Chel suggested, taking another look at the documents.


    ¡°They¡¯re more likely to seek power through energy fusion.¡± James countered with a grin. ¡°This is an energy cultivation world, not a pure science one like we were used to.¡±


    Chel hesitated, before offering a small nod of agreement. ¡°Then, let¡¯s let them do what they¡¯re good at. It¡¯s just creating an efficient energy core from the primary four, right?¡± She cracked her neck from side to side, reaching out and deleting James¡¯s document.


    ¡°Uhm, Chel?¡± James blinked, staring down at her.


    ¡°Hush now, the adults are working.¡± She looked back, winking at him as she began rapidly typing. ¡°You want to introduce chaos conversion, because it¡¯s what you¡¯re familiar with. But getting that to be the new norm of an energy cultivation world would requirepletely reworking their foundation from the ground up.¡±


    ¡°You like working with energybinations, right? Well, look at it this way. In our world, the average human was capable of producing ten units of mana per day, fifteen units of ki, and three units of spiritual energy.¡±


    ¡°In this world, the average high-level individual can produce at least fifty-thousand units of mana in a single day. We created chaos conversion because we did not have a way to tap into higher quality energy through normal methods, but that is not the same here.¡± After Chel had finished typing, she directed James¡¯s attention to the screen, where she had typed out a simple sentence.


    What is the most cost-efficient energy source that the average individual can safely produce? James thought about that question for a long moment, before his eyes lit up. Waving a hand, he opened his desk drawer and retrieved an old, metal cube. This was the energy database that the Metong had left him long ago.


    ¡°If we¡¯re talking about raw energy production and control, it has to be number eighty-seven.¡± He said, scrolling through the list. This was an energy created from a mix of ki and mana, with a small addition of natural energy. Its primary purpose seemed to be enhancing the natural bio-electric field.


    ¡°If we use your measurements earlier for energy production, and apply this electric field, we can achieve a wireless power transfer that could easily power most homes.¡± The more James thought about this, the more he believed that it was possible. ¡°It was hard to userge-scale applications of wireless power transfer in our world because the physical body had a hard time withstanding this level of passive energy in the air. But, that¡¯s not an issue for us now¡­¡±


    ¡°Now you¡¯re getting it.¡± Chel grinned, watching as James took control of the keyboard again. ¡°All you have to do is create another item to help them produce the energy, and make a wireless energy receiver that can be installed in various rooms of a house to pick up that ambient power.¡±


    Naturally, this method had its own downsides, however it was far more suited to the current world in Chel¡¯s opinion. For one, the world wasrgely used to cultivating multiple energy types, so it would not be a difficult matter for normal people to create a simple energy. The downsides were quite simple, as well. That is, they would need to create an additional energy core within their bodies, requiring them to adjust their ki paths to make room.


    For a world that did not cultivate energy to this degree, establishing a ki path could take years of constant effort. For a world such as this one, it merely required the proper guidance before one could be established. Granted, there was only a limited amount of space within their bodies to create these energy cores, but most people only had one or two cores within them. Even those in the extreme would have, at most, ten.


    Furthermore, James had already established a method to create external energy cores, in the form of his nine tail research. With a little modification, that research could be changed from tails to patterns on the skin. This would allow for any race to possess external energy cores of their own.


    ¡°Have I ever told you that you¡¯re brilliant?¡± James asked as he quickly typed away at the holographic disy. He was already designing a guidance device to establish this energy.


    ¡°Not nearly often enough.¡± Chel¡¯s cheeky response drew a smallugh from the taller, dark-skinned man.

 Chapter 679: Shared Woe

    <h4>Chapter 679: Shared Woe</h4>


    The world began to speed forward once again. Previously, people had used their passive mana generation to fuel their house, but that was simply not able to cut it, especially for thoserger homes owned by the wealthy. Sure, there were magic families, or homes with powerful mages that were able to produce more than enough mana to satisfy their own needs, but they were in the minority.


    The reasoning for this was actually quite simple. Mana did not naturally move at a very fast pace when it was not being controlled. In the early days of converting mana into power, this was not a problem as the air had been practically saturated with the energy, but that had long since stopped being the case. Now, unless someone wore a personal mana transmitter, most of the mana they produced would be lost before it reached a receiver.


    Furthermore, the efficiency of mana to electricity was not particrly great. That¡¯s because the electricity created by mana is not natural electricity. It still carries a lot of magical properties, resulting in inevitable loss of efficiency when it is used to power electronics.


    In this way, it is often more efficient to power items directly with mana, as was done before technology was widely used with electricity instead. The Mage Towers would hire skilled mages to do nothing but supply their mana, which would be used as a power source for the masses. Sadly, there are some items which just do not work as easily with mana, and such devices were made popr with the advent of the inte.


    Now, items that require mana to operate instead have a built-in converter, absorbing electricity to generate mana. Although there is still a loss of efficiency, it is less prone to failure than supplying magical electricity to a device.


    That said, people were still powering their homes with ambient mana where they could, in order to save money on their bills. Many homes had loud and bulky energy filters to extract the magical essence from the energy produced, but it was by no means a good solution.


    So it was natural that people paid attention when the head researcher of Deckan offered a ¡®new solution¡¯ for those unable topletely eliminate their consumption problem. This was only one of many breakthroughs that he had created over the years, but each one had left asting impact on the world.


    This new solution of his came in three parts, all of which were advertised together. The first part, a new energy that served as a foundation for this solution, and its matching device. The second part, a modified ki path to properly hold this energy. And finally, the third part of the solution was a small device that could be cheaply inserted into any home to receive the power produced by the new energy.


    ording to the advertisement that James had prepared, this would not simply eliminate the power bills for most residences. Rather, they would be able to sell the excess power back to the grid. After all, it was far more than just homes that required power, and many businesses or necessary structures used more power than their upants would be able to produce. One key example of this was a hospital, which required arge supply of stable power. Another was a police station or prison, where the energy had to be used to suppress the natural power of the prisoners.


    When Udona saw the report for the new energy n, she blinked in confusion, unable to stop herself from sending a message to James. Weren¡¯t you working on void power? This can¡¯t be as efficient, can it?


    Not even close. James chuckled in response. At least, not if we were talking about somewhere like Desbar. For here? We¡¯d end up losing more power than we could produce if we go for the void with the current level of technology. Otherwise, we¡¯ll have void monsters running rampant.


    That would be bad. Udona gulped, nodding her head.


    Yes, that would be very bad. Don¡¯t worry, this is a workable solution. By my estimate, an average person in Dale¡¯s worlds can maintain an average output of forty kilowatts with this power, at an effective range of twenty feet. Past that point, the energy efficiency drops off drastically. If we¡¯re talking about someone with an excessive amount of energy in their body, they could easily hit upwards of two hundred kilowatts.


    Udona did not immediately know just how powerful that was in rtion to the average consumption per home in her world, but it was easy enough for her to investigate as a Greater Goddess. Okay¡­ but what are we going to do for the Destiny ships? That definitely wouldn¡¯t be enough to meet our needs for those, would it?


    James had a somewhat regretful tone when he responded. For those¡­ no, the bioelectric current won¡¯t be enough. I¡¯m still working on arger void generator for those ships. But, it will take me about five years in order to fully outfit the Destiny ships with the new generators, and this will solve the power supply in the meantime for the rest of the world.


    Udona gave a small nod at that, epting the answer. Five years wasn¡¯t that bad to have the power systems of the Destiny-ss fleet reced, and it was unlikely that the reality gems would malfunction in that rtively short period. If anything, this meant that Dana could turn off her mana farm.


    Okay, just make sure that nothing explosive happens.


    Within the void researchboratory, Dana watched the announcement of the new energy with a lukewarm expression. They had spent five years collectively studying and training to manipte void currents for different purposes. However, instead of a breakthrough in that department, there was an announcement of an entirely different form of energy to mass produce?


    ¡°Are we¡­ still needed here?¡± She asked herself. Originally, they hade to join this research project at the behest of the Keeper, who wanted to find an alternative energy option for the reality gems. Granted, the energy that James had advertised would not boost an individual¡¯sbat power in any way, lest they use lightning attacks. Thus, it would not be a suitable recement in thebat department, and could definitely not be used to powerrge-scale wards.


    Given all of that, Dana was unsure if herself and Tsubaki should remain with the project until the further development of void energy waspleted, or if they should return to the Sky Citadel. On the one hand, this new energy would be more than sufficient for daily use, and theter void generators would likely be too bulky to carry around. On the other hand¡­ this was still a request from the Keeper himself. Could they leave without first consulting him?


    Ever since learning about the ¡®amalgamation¡¯ of worlds in the void, they had immediately stopped their production of reality gems, and had gone as far as to destroy the formations that made them. Thus, new gems would no longer be added to the mix within the void. Sadly, the worlds were designed to grow by pushing their own boundaries with self-generated mana, so it was only a matter of time before a problem urred because of these worlds.


    The most realistic answer was to simply destroy the amalgams at all four points in the void, effectively destroying the reality gems within the world. But to do so also meant that they would be destroying the power supply for their new fleet, which was not an option. It was unknown when another enemy like the golems would attack in force, and they could not afford to be defenseless.


    Unable to make the decision herself, Dana stood from her desk, walking to Tsubaki¡¯s room. When she arrived, she was startled to find the kitsune goddessying on her bed, staring at a framed photo that she was holding in her arms. The most surprising aspect about it was the fact that she recognized one of the two girls in the picture, although she looked far more normal than what Dana remembered.


    The little elf girl wasn¡¯t able to stop the faint bitterness that rose in her heart at seeing Tsubaki fawn over that image, but that bitterness was soon washed away when she saw Tsubaki¡¯s smile. I should understand how that is¡­ if it were Jess instead of Ashe¡­


    Both Dana and Tsubaki had lost a close friend in their youths, and both had been the result of small spider monsters. However, while Tsubaki¡¯s friend had been mind-controlled, Dana¡¯s had been directly poisoned. Dana tried to imagine how she would feel if her friend appeared in front of her again, in the same manner that Ashe had appeared before Tsubaki.


    The thought alone nearly broke Dana¡¯s heart. What she wouldn¡¯t give for a picture of Jess, or of her father. It had been so long that she could barely remember their faces, and their souls had long since entered reincarnation a dozen times over. Finding them as they used to be was no longer possible¡­


    ¡°Dana?¡± Tsubaki¡¯s voice broke her out of her thoughts, and Dana realized that her cheeks were wet. Tsubaki looked at her with concern, the picture ced facing downwards. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­ I know she¡¯s probably thest face you want to see right now.¡±


    Dana shook her head, walking over and sitting next to Tsubaki. ¡°No¡­ I was just thinking of what I would have done, if I was in your position.¡± She smiled softly, reaching out for the picture and turning it up. ¡°I take it that this is the boss¡¯s handiwork?¡± Dana could feel the divine power of illusions in the picture, but knew that Tsubaki would never make something like this herself. Especially not if it meant borrowing power from the Keeper.


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Tsubaki nodded. ¡°He gave it to me after the event the other day¡­¡± Seeing that Dana wasn¡¯t reacting negatively to the image seemed to take a burden off of Tsubaki¡¯s shoulders, and she leaned down to look at the picture herself as well.


    ¡°You¡¯re really lucky. You should treasure this.¡± Dana said softly, taking one of Tsubaki¡¯s hands and cing it on the frame. ¡°Never let anyone take it away from you. These are your precious memories.¡±


    Naturally, Tsubaki was aware of Dana¡¯s past, how she had lost her own friend. If it were possible, Tsubaki would want to create a simr picture for Dana. Sadly, she did not have the Keeper¡¯s power to view beyond the veil of time. ¡°I know¡­¡±


    ¡°Tell me more about her, sometime?¡± Dana requested, her smile growing a touch wider. ¡°Though, that is definitely not why I came here.¡±


    Tsubaki nced over at that, blinking in confusion. ¡°Is there something important?¡±


    Dana let out a long sigh after realizing that Tsubaki missed the announcement, before recounting the details of the energy to her. ¡°I think we need to decide if we should stay here or not.¡± She said after she was done.


    Tsubaki hesitated, seeming unsure herself. The two of them were still able to help when it came to recing necessaryponents with magical forms, but experience had already proven that that wasn¡¯t enough. If James intended to proceed, and they had no reason to believe that he wouldn¡¯t, he would likely be going with his own designs and building everything from scratch himself.


    As she thought about that, she remembered theary phase satellites that had been constructed, and how James had immersed himself sopletely in automating their production. ¡°I feel like¡­ we can still be of some use to him. However, I will ask the Keeper, just to be sure.¡±


    Dana nodded her head as Tsubaki closed her eyes, reaching out in prayer. My Keeper, the researcher has released a new type of energy, one that is capable of dealing with the needs of the masses. However, this energy is not suitable forrger instations such as the Destiny-ss ships. We require your guidance¡­ shall we stay the course, and helpplete arger void generator, or shall we return to the citadel?


    There was a long pause, and Tsubaki was fully prepared to wait hours for an answer. If she did not receive one within a day, she would simply continue to work in the research center until she did. However, roughly five minutester, the Keeper answered. Produce what parts you can for his design, and then you may return.


    Once you¡¯re back, you can resume training your personal control of the void or any of your own projects, but make sure to prioritize your own safety. You two are both too important to risk losing you to a moment of carelessness. There was a gentle tone of concern in the Keeper¡¯s voice as it was projected into Tsubaki¡¯s mind, causing her to give a small nod in return, her cheeks flushing red.

 Chapter 680: A Song of Wonder

    <h4>Chapter 680: A Song of Wonder</h4>


    Deep within the oceans of the Earth, there were numerous coral cities lit with luminescent orbs. A thin barrier seemed to spread in a dome around these cities, ensuring that they were disturbed by neither the underwater currents nor the great beasts that dwelled in the depths, while also relieving a great deal of the underwater pressure. These cities were popted by an ancient race that has existed within the water for countless years, yet had only recently begun to truly enter the great stage that was the world.


    Through numerous trade agreements conducted with traveling merchants, the merkin had been able to obtain amunication crystal, allowing them to begin theirmunication and trade far beyond their normal scope. They learned of the gods, and the special abilities that one could obtain through their belief. Although the merkin had never believed in such a thing as a ¡®god¡¯, they were a race that was rather easy to persuade, so long as you could keep their attention long enough.


    Thus, each underwater city possessed a temple dedicated to a different god or goddess, and there were numerous merkin that had joined these religions. The ¡®grace¡¯ of the gods began to shine beneath the waves, and the Boundless Caravan soon made its natural debut among this new race.


    Now that they had ess to the global trading tform, it was a given that new items would begin to appear on the market. Deep Ocean Pearls cultivated at depths of fifteen thousand kilometers, ancient heirlooms that had been resting at the bottom of the ocean for thousands of years, even the blood and bones of a Sea King were being offered for sale.


    At this point, those who were aware of the merkin were still a minority. Thus, these items began to raise a stir. New types of blood, bones, and nts were all hotmodities among alchemists. Especially ancient materials that contained hints of spiritual energy, these made for the best ingredients for high level recipes.


    With the new ingredients on the market, and their supplies not dwindling, it quickly became clear to those interested buyers that someone had managed to cultivate a stable underwater farm. Purchase requests changed into passing messages through the trade tform, and from there they learned of the existence of this underwater race.


    Of course, those merchants who had long monopolized trade with the merkin were not happy to have their business taken away from them, but they had not been given many alternatives. The god which had been protecting them when they went out to see had long since left for Sanctum, so they were no longer able to make their regr voyages with any degree of safety. In order for them to preserve any of their business transactions at all, they could only encourage these trades over the Boundless Caravan.


    Within one of these underwater cities stood a lone merkin, his body resting before a coral structure. Numerous individuals had expressed their desires to meet in person, going so far as to ce materials for a transport gate on the market, along with instructions on how to assemble it and a spell to allow one to breathe underwater.


    The merkin was particrly interested in the spell, hoping that there could be some way to reverse the effect and allow one of his kind to breathe the open air. For now, however, he found himself content with what his people had already achieved. After thousands of years of wandering through the dangerous trenches, carving a path with their song, they had be their own, proper civilization.


    A sound like water churning could be heard from the building before the merkin, who tilted his head ever so slightly, hisrge eyes blinking. ording to the instructions, this would be a sign of the gate being triggered. Once the upants were through, they would need to use their own methods to enable them to breathe. The spell that had been given to the merkin was properly inscribed around the gate, but it would not protect them after they had left that coral building.


    Unfortunately, the spell also prevented the merkin from entering to receive them personally, as being in its area robbed it of the very breath it provided to others. So, he waited for them outside, his webbed hands at his sides. When three little figures emerged, the merkin let out a low coo of greeting.


    Blessings of the Divine be upon you, travelers of the surface song. The merkin transmitted its thoughts directly into their minds, having received practice in suchmunication through years of trading with various merchants.


    ¡°Surface song¡­?¡± One of the little fellows, an elderly figure with greying hair and wrinkly skin spoke in surprise. ¡°I suppose you must mean thend¡­ yes, well met. May I know your name, kind sir?¡± This little one appeared to be the leader of the others, and the one who wished to meet at this time.


    The children of the water do not bear a name as those on the surface. We are us, and we know one another through our thoughts and actions. However, my position within the city is High Singer. I am told that it is simr to what you would call a ¡®chief¡¯ or ¡®mayor¡¯.


    ¡°Oh? Is that so?¡± The man squinted, still growing used to his body moving through the water. He wore a number of enchanted items, each one serving a different purpose to enable him to survive in such a deep city. ¡°Very well, then¡­ I believe I asked if you would be willing to show me around?¡±


    The merkin nodded his head, turning and kicking lightly to propel his body upwards. Please, this way. The others are eager to meet you.


    The halfling elder nodded, his body hovering off of the surface before it began to fly after the merkin leader. Behind him, his two younger assistants were able to keep pace with seemingly no effort at all.


    Soon, the merkin leader led the three of them out to the edges of the city, where the thick, bubble-like barrier greeted them. This is the great city shield. It keeps us safe and allows us to remain in one ce. Please be careful, as the weight of the water outside may crush you if you are not prepared.


    ¡°Your farms are not within the city?¡± The old man asked in an intrigued tone, looking at the barrier. However, the merkin shook his head.


    Not farms. We may shape coral with our song, but we have not yet learned how to grow pearls or rear beasts. After saying that, he stepped through the barrier, his body floating in the water as he waited for the elder.


    ¡°So, they hunt for all of their materials? Seems a waste, really¡­¡± He muttered, moving to follow once again. He knew that he would be journeying to the depths of the ocean, so his body was naturally adorned with a trinket to resist its pressure. What originally started as a trip to see the other party¡¯s farming facilities had turned into a hunting and gathering expedition. ¡°Then, who are these others that you mentioned?¡±


    The singers of the treasured songs. The merkin answered, turning and kicking his slippery feet. His body shot into the distance at a surprising speed, forcing the halflings to match his pace. They are the ones who listen to the depth of the song, and can find hidden treasures.


    When the halfling heard that, he was further surprised. He was starting to piece together how this race operated, although their nature seemed wholly alien to him. A surprising truth, given that they had always been a part of this world.


    Without anything further to ask, the elder fell silent, allowing the merkin to guide him. Although he detected numerous powerful presences, they all seemed to perfectly avoid the small party, a demonstration that the merkin was used to navigating these waters. Soon, they came upon a deep canyon within the water, from which four female merkin emerged.


    Among these four, three had an almost clear blue tone to their skin, while thest was far younger, and almost sickly pale. ¡°Is there something wrong with the child?¡± The elder asked, a touch of concern in his tone. They may be of a different breed, but no elder, let alone one trained in healing arts would ever wish to see a child in pain.


    She is Song-blessed. Although she is only newly born, her sight into the song is deeper than any other. When the merkin introduced her, the young girl swam forward, herrge eyes seeming slightly pained from the exertion.


    Greetings, uncle Kris. The merkin spoke in a strained, if slightly elevated, tone. The halfling¡¯s eyes went wide at that, as he had not revealed his name yet. Ah, I am sorry¡­ I did not mean to pry. Please do not get angry¡­ your song is quite deep. And your children¡­ I could hear them before you arrived¡­


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ fine.¡± The man shook his head. ¡°You were looking forward to seeing me?¡±


    Yes. The merkin girl nodded her head quickly, before bringing one hand up to hold her forehead. Our songs are connected. You seek the treasures to aid the blood and songs of others. Treasures you can find nowhere else in the world. That¡¯s what my song tells me. Why I asked the High Singer to invite you.


    ¡°I am an alchemist looking for quality materials, yes.¡± Kris nodded in agreement, though his eyes did look towards the girl¡¯s hands, as well as the bar of life that appeared over her head. Although she had not taken much damage, it was clearly hard on her body to be moving around like this. ¡°Is there something that I can do to help you?¡±


    Not you, me¡­ my song¡­ it tells me to help you. To give you¡­ I cannot exin with the words you know, I am sorry. I will give you a piece of my song¡­ It is the greatest treasure I have. It tells me that it can help you. As she said that, she extended her webbed hand, her fingers twirling in the water. Starlight seemed to shine in her ck eyes, strands of energy flowing down her arms and into the tips of her fingers.


    These strands of energy formed into a silver bead resting in her hand, a hand held out in offering. As Kris looked at the girl, he noticed that the pained expression she held before seemed to ease up slightly. ¡°Is this, perhaps, a mana bead? No, it seems to hold some power of the spirit, as well¡­ Still, if you were suffering from mana overload, that could exin some of your symptoms.¡±


    Your wordsfort me, kind sir. The girl¡¯s voice became more gentle after creating the bead, though she still insistently held it out for him. I do not know for what purpose my song wishes to travel with you, but I feel at ease knowing that it is so.


    The elder hesitated, taking the bead with a long sigh. ¡°If your head begins to hurt again, you have to make another of these beads. That will help you relieve your symptoms¡­ for a while, at least.¡± Most cases of Mana Overload within youths only became more severe as the youth gained in age. It was a rare disorder, one which had originally made itself known in Fyor long ago, but there were still known cases of it urring in the modern day. ¡°I¡¯ll try to bring something back during my next visit to help you. I¡¯ve never studied your race before, though¡­¡±


    Worry not, kind sir. I am aware of how my song shall end. The girl had a gentle smile, an expression that he had not seen from her race yet. With the passing of a new season, my voice will join the chorus. When that happens, the song I leave with you should reveal its purpose. At least¡­ that is what I feel.


    The elder¡¯s hand clenched tight around the bead, his eyes opening marginally wider. ¡°How¡­ how old are you, little one?¡±


    I am but a single notepared to your powerful presence. By measuring our songs, I am four of your years.


    ¡°Four years old¡­ and you say you will die in a season¡­ how can you ept this so easily?¡± There was a slight tremble to the man¡¯s voice, his children behind him looking at him with knowing expressions. ¡°At your age, you should be ying and learning, just starting to experience the world.¡±


    The girl shook her head, floating forward to rest a hand on Kris¡¯s shoulder. My song has touched the world you know. I have heard the voice of the mountains above, and listened to the midday sky. Everywhere it touches, I learn. And the more I learn, the further it reaches. I have heard the wingbeats of the clouds as the great dragon swam through the sky, and I have felt the sorrow thates with the end of a song.


    My song may be young, but it is deeper and brighter than any you have seen. It speaks to me, telling me of truths I didn¡¯t know, of things from before I began, and things from after my song shall fade. That is why I know what I know. But as for the purpose my song shall serve¡­ that truth alone has not revealed itself. Isn¡¯t it a wonderful thing, not knowing something?


    ¡°But¡­ don¡¯t you want to live long enough to learn?¡± The man asked, having a hard time understanding all of what the girl was saying. However, her smile only seemed to brighten further as she shook her head.


    The wonder does note from learning the answer, but from the simple act of wonder itself. I wonder what the truth will be, but I will never find my answer. My wonders will never cease for this alone. However, allow me to share with you a truth my song has taught me.


    The act of seeking knowledge is wondrous in itself, but being deceived is the betrayal of that joy. Your mother lives, kind sir, and she is watching you every day. But, she watches not with the eyes of a mother, but those of a patient hunter. Take note of the skies on dark days, lest she sweep you away.


    Kris¡¯s eyes went wide at that, unsure how to take her words. He had buried his mother nearly a century prior. Granted, there were some oddities about the circumstances of her death, yet nothing to warrant a warning like that. He harbored some natural suspicions, but seeing the unwavering ck eyes of the young girl, he had to ask. ¡°What is she after?¡±


    A song without a singer, she awaits her call. She lives in darkened skies and shadowed halls, plotting to rece your song with her own. From that moment, the song of Kris will twist and screech, and your echo will be extinguished. That is what my song tells me, at least.

 Chapter 681: Ghost Hunters

    <h4>Chapter 681: Ghost Hunters</h4>


    Kris looked down at the bead in his hand as he stepped through the gate, appearing back within his home. In the hopes of finding a new supplier for alchemic materials, he had purchased a two-way gate and installed one of the doors for it within his basement. However, after he returned, all he had to show for his visit was a mysterious bead glowing with a pale light.


    ¡°Do you think it¡¯s true what she sai-¡± The words of his son were cut off as Kris abruptly raised his hand, gesturing for him to keep his mouth shut for the moment.


    Taking a deep breath, Kris walked up the stairs, his two children following behind him. As they walked, he couldn¡¯t help but recall the words that the little girl had left him with.


    She lives in darkened skies and shadowed halls¡­ Clearly, these words were meant to convey that his mother had be an entity that resides in darkness. However, why would she target him, and not either of his children? Unlike Kris, both of his children had already undergone the process to achieve perfection, making their bodies far more powerful.


    Maybe she needs a body of flesh? When the idea appeared in Kris¡¯s mind, he gave a small nod. While he was truly an elderly halfling, his ss configuration made the procedure to achieve perfection unlikely to seed.


    When Kris arrived at the top of the stairs, the dark hallways of his home seemed far more ominous than ever before. He knew that this was merely a trick of his mind, recognizing the danger only after it had been told to him. For now, he walked towards his room, clearing his perception of any misgivings. As long as he ignored the feeling that the shadowed hall gave him, he would not alert anything watching from within the dark corridor.


    For now¡­ I need to discreetly hire an investigator¡­ Someone that could find the source of the problem without being detected. Maybe old Jin can help. It wouldn¡¯t be too odd to call that paranoid coot over. With that thought in mind, Kris turned his attention to the bead in his hand. Despite having gone to the depths of the sea for the sake of finding treasure, and even bringing his two children along, he had not obtained anything besides this pearl. Furthermore, there were the words that the young girl had left for him as he was leaving.


    It was nice to meet you, kind sir. With our songs together, I know that we shall be known throughout the world. How I wish I could see that day¡­


    The girl knew that she was dying soon, and at such a young age¡­ just how fast had she matured in order to have such a strong mind? And the things that she imed to have seen¡­ she must have been born with a mutated form of mana, and even then one that was overflowing.


    Thinking back to the girl, Kris realized that she must have been incredibly brave. He set the pearl down on a small cushion, resting it on his desk so that he could study it further. She said that she would die by the end of the season. If I can analyze this pearl, maybe I can find the cure for her ailment.


    A week passed by as Kris studied the pearl, unable to glean anything from it, aside from the fact that it emitted a strange mixture of mana and spiritual energy. When he created this energy himself as a form of test, it did not seem to have any substantial effects. The mixture was strange, but simple to perform, enough so that it was believable for even a child to learn it.


    By the end of the week, he could no longer put off the matter regarding his mother. He secretly met with an old friend of his, a customer that used to hunt in the wilderness. Despite having achieved his own perfection, his mind had begun to wane, causing him to act erratically at times.


    Given that Jin was a scout, one who had trained himself to detect traps and ambushing entities, this led many to view him as paranoid. Kris knew this, and knew that he would be the perfect person to investigate his home in secret. First of all, he was an old acquaintance of Kris¡¯s, making it fairly normal for him to stop by, especially if it was under the guise of needing new medicine.


    Secondly, Jin had the habit of using his detection abilities even in his own home, let alone in town or at a friend¡¯s home. This habit of his was widely known, and had earned him much criticism over the years.


    Finally, and this was likely the most important facet of the n¡­ Jin was quite a powerfulbatant in his own right, especially when dealing with hidden dangers. With these factorsbined, he made the perfect person for Kris to ask.


    As Kris was thinking about that, and studying the pearl in his office, he heard a heavy knock on his door. Standing up, he gave a light stretch, getting ready to go. After a moment of thought, he ced the pearl in his pocket, worried that it might be stolen while he was away. It was a silly notion, but¡­ that girl believed that it was the most valuable treasure she could give him. How could he not treat it seriously?


    He made his way down towards the front door, noting with a heavy expression the overcast skies outside. Ever since he had gotten back from the merkin territory, he had felt as if there were something watching him from every shadow. Every night, the girl¡¯s words yed back in his mind, and he had lost no small amount of sleep over it. Sadly, his children had their own work that needed to be done, so they were unable to act as his guardians without arousing the suspicion of whatever force lurked in the darkness.


    When he reached the door, he opened it to find a human man that appeared to be in histe thirties. However, the sunken and shifting eyes were the keenest sign that his mind had long since aged past what his body showed. ¡°Ah, Jin is it? How are you doing?¡± Kris weed the man with a smile, the two of them having already rehearsed what they needed to do.


    Jin gave a shaky nod, the corner of his lips twitching to try to return the gesture. ¡°Mister Fredric? I don¡¯t suppose you¡¯re still in business?¡±


    Kris nodded his head, stepping aside to let Jin enter the house. He could almost feel something shift in the darkness. ¡°That¡¯s right. I take it your¡­ issue has acted up again?¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Jin agreed absently, closing his eyes as his foot stepped inside. An invisible pulse of power spread out around his body the moment his foot touched the ground, as if it were a type of sonar. ¡°You could say it¡¯s gotten really bad¡­ I keep seeing them everywhere¡­¡±


    Kris¡¯s eye twitched imperceptibly when he heard that. Really bad¡­ everywhere¡­ These were key words that the two of them had established when they were nning this investigation. Words that they could work into a regr conversation to discuss a known problem. ¡°I see¡­ is it the same as always? The movement just past your vision?¡±


    Jin let out a soft sigh, shaking his head. His power seemed to recede into his body, though the old alchemist couldn¡¯t be sure what he was doing. ¡°It¡¯s all over the ce, now. Every corner, it¡¯s like my whole house is after me.¡± As he said that, his hand twitched slightly, as if reaching for a familiar weapon.


    Kris couldn¡¯t help but gulp when he heard Jin say that, realizing the meaning of his words. So it¡¯s strong¡­ and it is essentially upying the entire house. He did his best to give a natural nod as he led Jin towards hisb. ¡°Double strength, then? Or do you think a single dose is fine?¡±


    Jin gave a bitter smile when he heard that, seeming to consider his words. ¡°Honestly, the more you can give me, the better. But, you¡¯re the doctor, so I¡¯ll leave it in your hands.¡±


    A single dose would mean he can take care of it himself¡­ double means he needs a partner. This answer¡­ he¡¯s saying arge group of people at his level are needed? Kris could feel the trouble growing stronger by the minute, and knew that it would be hard to probe for any further information without alerting the spiritual entity. If it knew that they were probing it right now, it might abandon its n of waiting to strike prematurely.


    ¡°I can get started on the medicine right away, if you¡¯d like. When would you like it delivered?¡± Kris asked, knowing that this would be thest question he could get. Furthermore, it was perhaps the most obscure question that they had prepared, with the answer corresponding to a dozen different methods that they could use to defeat the opponent.


    Jin looked at theb, offering a small nod. ¡°I¡¯m usually free around twilight. If you could drop it off at my houseter tonight or tomorrow, I¡¯d appreciate it.¡±


    Kris nodded his head, not surprised by this answer. ¡°Just make sure to have the payment ready.¡± He said with a snarky grin. Twilight¡­ we need the priests of Irena. With this, he should know to ask them to get ready. But¡­ asking for it to be ready tonight? That wasn¡¯t part of the script.


    It only took Kris a moment to realize the intention behind Jin¡¯s words. He can feel that she¡¯s getting ready to strike. It could happen as soon as tonight or tomorrow¡­ I can¡¯t afford to wait.


    Reaching that conclusion, he brought a hand to stroke his rugged chin. ¡°I seem to be missing some nightroot. I might not be able to get it done right away, but I can run off to the market and grab the materials.¡± He told Jin, putting on his best smile.


    Jin nodded, and the two of them turned to leave. Kris could feel it, the shadows seeming to close in behind him with every step he took, but he refused to turn his head and nce back, as if afraid of what he might see. For now, he needed to make sure that he got out of the house and made it to the temple without leaving himself open to attack.


    After they left, Jin hesitated, seeming to think about something. ¡°I¡¯ll join you. It looks like the weather could get rough tonight.¡± He said with a smile, flicking his wrist. Arge umbre appeared in his hand, which he held over the two of them.


    She lives in darkened skies and shadowed halls¡­ it¡¯s not just the house. Any darkness that follows me could be her hiding ce. Kris gulped, nodding his head. His mind was abuzz with thoughts on how to reach the temple without being seen. That was when he heard Jin¡¯s voice. ¡°The market, was it¡­?¡±


    Hearing the mutter, he nced off to his side, where he saw¡­ himself, walking into the distance with another Jin. The two of them were standing under an identical umbre to the one that he was using, causing Kris to open his eyes wide in shock. In his terror, he feared that he might have already been consumed, and his body was being piloted by another entity.


    ¡°It¡¯s a puppet spell to trick pursuers.¡± Jin whispered, his voice barely audible to Kris. That was when he noticed that the people around them did not seem to react to their presence. ¡°Something I picked up a few years ago. It¡¯llst about ten minutes, or until they reach the destination. Until then, we won¡¯t be seen as long as we stay under this umbre.¡±


    ¡°Can we get to the temple in that time?¡± Kris asked in worry, ncing off to the side again. He could swear that he saw a shadow shifting and slinking away to follow the false image that Jin had created.


    ¡°As long as we don¡¯t run into any trouble, it should be fine.¡± Jin nodded, his eyes seeming clearer than Kris could remember them being. ¡°Really¡­ you got lucky. That thing was hidden deep. I don¡¯t know how you picked up on it to call me.¡±


    Kris brought his hand down towards his pocket, feeling the weight of the pearl within. ¡°¡­A little girl told me.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be¡­ I don¡¯t know what kind of little girl you¡¯ve met, but she¡¯s a strong one. I¡¯ve seen a lot of spirits in my day, but that one looked like it had wed its way back from hell to get to you. You don¡¯t mess with things that can pierce the veil that easily.¡±

 Chapter 682: The Second Verse

    Chapter 682: The Second Verse


    <span style="font-weight:400">The walk to the temple was full of tension, with Kris¡¯s eyes darting to every shadow they passed. He gained a new respect for his friend, beginning to understand how it must feel to see danger in every hidden corner. If not for the assurances of Jin, he likely would have already made a mad dash for the temple.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At the halfway mark, roughly five minutes after they started walking, Jin clicked his tongue in annoyance. ¡°Already made a move, huh? Kris, you¡¯re going to have to stay calm. As long as you do that, we can get out of this in one piece.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">He didn¡¯t wait for Kris to respond, spinning the umbre in one hand. This time, it wasn¡¯t just one image that broke off from the pair of them, but what seemed like dozens, all walking in different directions. Some of them even seemed to be walking alongside the true pair.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The onlookers definitely noticed this time, their eyes ncing in surprise between the various umbres held by the different Jin¡¯s. Kris noticed how their eyes seemed to linger on the true selves for a moment as well, and felt his heart tighten. Jin¡¯s voice entered his mind before he had the chance to panic.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">This is stage two. Now that the enemy has seen an illusion, they¡¯ll be more interested in what they don¡¯t see than what they do. The best thing we can do is to calmly go along our previously nned route. These decoys are going to various temples and exorcist shops throughout the city, so each of them serves as a possible target. The only ce that was omitted as a destination is the Temple of Shadows.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">With our earlier conversation mentioning twilight, it would be reasonable to believe that we would seek help from the priests of Ashley, the Goddess of Darkness. If the enemy notices that that is the only location that the decoys aren¡¯t directed towards, they will focus more of their attention in that direction.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Right now, the worst case scenario for us is if the enemy gives up its attempts of discretion and arbitrarily attacks all of the decoys to lure us out. This is less likely after they already got fooled by one illusion, but it is not impossible. However, to avoid anything being detected about us, this is thest time we canmunicate with each other until we reach the temple.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">No matter what you see, keep your eyes ahead and appear calm. If something gets in your way, casually step towards me to the side, no matter what it is, and try to go around it. These are the rules of the illusions, and how they navigate through crowds. As long as you follow the same guidelines, we won¡¯t be discernible from the others. Remember, never leave the umbre.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Kris was secretly amazed that his friend was able to cast such aplex illusion, or perhaps that such a thing was enchanted on the umbre he was holding. Someone who lived his life nning escape routes for himself, learning how to ambush and avoid being ambushed in the same breath.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He did his best to steady his breathing, knowing that it would not take long before the spirit of his mother returned in her anger to try and find them. As Jin said, he had to appear calm. The halfling elder ced a hand in his pocket, feeling the smooth bead that rested there, and a sense of peace flooded his mind.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Your song will not end here¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He vaguely heard a voice in the back of his mind, but could not remember it a momentter as his thoughts were filled with serenity. He kept walking forward with a peaceful expression, as if there was nothing in the world that could shake him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A minuteter, he saw dark eyes rising up from a shadow in front of him, staring at him as the shadow formed into a silhouette. This was a tant figure meant to provoke a reaction, but Kris responded in a practiced manner. As he approached the figure, he stepped gently to his left, closer to Jin, and walked around the shadowy figure. There was not a change in his expression the entire time, which caused the shadow to hesitate.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Kris did not look back at the shadow, but could feel that it left of its own ord. His hand continued grasping the pearl, feeling the peace that it seemed to emanate. Only once he was at the gates of the Temple of Justice did he release the pearl.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Like a wave crashing over him, Kris felt as if he couldn¡¯t breathe, his hand grasping at his chest. His vision turned hazy with all of the built up anxiety that the pearl had suppressed for him during the journey, and this action drew the attention of a pair of priests. One of them, an elven woman with long silver hair, walked over to greet them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m sorry, but it is ratherte.¡± She said with a polite smile, watching the two closely. ¡°Is there something that we can help you with? Your friend here seems¡­ quite unnerved.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You are a Priestess of Irena, correct?¡± Jin asked, looking at the girl, who nodded her head. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but do you mind if I test you? These are special circumstances.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The elf¡¯s brow twitched in annoyance. ¡°And how do you intend to test me?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Three sentences, one lie. A priest of Irena will be able to immediately detect a lie. As long as you can do this, I will believe you.¡± Jin said in a calm voice, surprising the woman. ¡°My name is Jin Cranel. I was born seventy-nine years and eight months ago. And¡­ if you don¡¯t help us, I¡¯m going to die today.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The girl¡¯s eyes went wide as she heard the three sentences. Naturally, she could discern the truth in the man¡¯s words, like he imed. However, it was his third sentence that truly shook her, as her ability read it as truth.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There were numerous ways to lie, even in the presence of a priest of Irena. Speaking in a roundabout why, or omitting information while only giving half-truths, both of these options could work. But, if something was regarded by the ability as true, then what was said would naturally be true. This meant that either these two were in great danger, or he had resolved to kill himself should they not provide help.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Neither scenario was one that she could turn away without seeking more information. ¡°It was the second one¡­ please step inside.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jin clicked his tongue in annoyance, nodding and following along. ¡°It was eighty-nine years¡­ I am still young at heart.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s also a lie.¡± The elven woman pointed out, a shadow of a smirk appearing over her face.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Kris nced up at Jin, who nodded back to him. He put away his umbre, storing it in one of the objects on his body. ¡°You¡¯re going to want to increase security. Something¡¯sing. You¡¯re dealing with an apparition that is at least level eight hundred, probably closer to a thousand. It likes to lurk in shadows, and wants to eat this guy.¡± Jin ced his hand on Kris¡¯s hand, startling both the halfling and the elf, who was able to read all of what he said as true.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Understood.¡± Her face hardened as she gestured towards her partner. ¡°Call the local guardian. We need to invoke its authority.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right away!¡± The human male that served as her partner turned and rushed into the temple, the elf facing Jin again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ve seen you around town¡­ you¡¯ve got quite the reputation, Mister Cranel.¡± Jin¡¯s hand twitched when she said that, but she shook her head a momentter. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. If you weren¡¯t sure of your reason for being here, I would have been able to pick up on that. There¡¯s not a doubt in your mind that you and your friend are in danger from this apparition.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying that, she turned to look at Kris. ¡°As for you, I¡¯m afraid I haven¡¯t had the honor of learning your name, good sir. Could you tell me who you are, and why this apparition is after you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was an edge to her voice that made her meaning clear. Most apparitions that returned from the Underworld to seek a person¡¯s life did so out of vengeance. The elf clearly thought that Kris had killed someone, and they were merely seeking justice. ¡°My name is Kris Fredric. You can read my karma if you desire, madam Priestess. The apparition this time is my mother, and¡­ I don¡¯t know why she wants to attack me¡­ I was told¡­ she wants to rece my soul, or something simr.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh? And who told you this?¡± She asked, trying to gather more information.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...A little girl, but one whose information I would trust with my life.¡± There was a firm resolution in his words as he said that. No matter what, everything that the young merkin had said up to this point was true. He knew that there was a reason for everything she said, and¡­ that he likely would not be able to forestall her predicted death.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The elf paused, not sure quite how to take those words. However, before she could say anything, there was a rustle of wind next to her. ¡°I¡¯m here, Lady Danare. I was told that you have need of me?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Kris looked at the source of the voice, but could see naught but empty air. Still, the elven priestess nodded her head. ¡°There is a high-level malevolent apparition in this city. Under the auspice of the Lady Goddess, I would invoke your authority of banishment.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The guardian spirit fell silent at that. ¡°If this is a powerful foe, they could simply escape from the Underworld again. The only way to perform asting banishment is to either call the ck chains, or to send a spirit to the depths of hell. The reinforced border there would prevent escape.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The elf nodded her head. ¡°I will attempt to call the chains when the enemy arrives. If the karma isn¡¯t dark enough--¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m afraid there¡¯s no more time to talk.¡± The guardian said, and there was a sound of metal shing behind Kris. Slowly, he turned around, eyes shaking as he saw rows of razor sharp teeth extending from a shadowy figure, less than a foot away from his body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Karma Call!¡± Lady Danare shouted, her eyes glowing golden as she looked at the specter. Within her sight, she saw a mass of darkness shrouding the shadowy form. But¡­ there were still specks of light that prevented her from being considered ¡®beyond redemption¡¯. She bit her lip in frustration, shaking her head. ¡°It¡¯s no good!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Then, I guess there is little choice.¡± The voice of the guardian spoke, and Kris was able to see him clearly for the first time. A lycan man d in silver armor, a long sword held in one hand, which was pointed at the spirit. ¡°I have watched your attempts tomit a crime, evil spirit. As one who is not meant to linger in this world, it is my right and my duty to send you off.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">His sword flipped, stabbing straight into the ground as the shadowy figure lunged at him, aiming to destroy him before seeking her prize. ¡°Within my domain, my power surges with the strength of all who I defend. Unwanted fiend, I cast you into the depths!¡± A brilliant silver glow erupted in the courtyard, one which seemed to spread throughout the entire city. Sharp gasps were heard from wandering crowds, apanied by the scream of pain from the lone shadowy ghost.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Its body crumpled away like dust before this spiritual light, its eyes staring at Kris. ¡°I¡¯ll¡­ return¡­ for¡­ what¡­ is¡­ mine.¡± Her words came slowly and with a crackled breath, her eyes being thest things to vanish as if she wished to engrave his appearance onto her very soul.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once the apparition was vanquished, the guardian¡¯s figure turned blurry once again, fading into the wind. ¡°As that is all, I shall return to my post.¡± His voice said, quickly bing faint.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yes, thank you, sir guardian.¡± The elf acknowledged with a small nod, before turning to face the two guests of the church. ¡°I assume that your problem is suitably dealt with at this point?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jin thought about that for a moment. ¡°I¡¯ll have to check his house, but that should be the only one. We¡¯ll have the money transferred within a week.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Money?¡± Kris blinked, the matter of payment having not been discussed. However, both Jin and the priestess seemed toe to a tacit understanding without him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Jin nodded his head. ¡°For the Church of Justice to deal with high level apparitions, it requires them to consume some of their spiritual power. This will lead to a prolonged period of weakness that prevents them from continuously helping people. Because of this, they are forced to charge a fee, both in order to dissuade people froming to them with matters that can be taken care of without them and to help recharge their energy.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The priestess smiled at that, happy that Jin was so knowledgeable. ¡°One token of Leowynn for every estimated level of the apparition. Having seen its strength just now, I would say that it was roughly around level nine hundred and fifty. If we take into ount the service fee for the Guardian to act personally, I believe the cost would be one token of Irena?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Kris was shocked when he heard that price. Tokens of Irena were the secondrgest currency in the world, with only Terra¡¯s token being more valuable. Even as an old and wealthy alchemist like himself, his wealth only amounted to a dozen of such tokens. Paying one for something like this would be a heavy blow to his finances.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, before he had the chance to say anything, Jin reached down to ce a hand on his shoulder. ¡°I¡¯ll settle the bill. Consider it¡­ a thank you, for trusting me.¡± There was sincerity in his gaze that Kris hadn¡¯t expected to find.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was only then that Kris realized how people must have been looking at Jin all this time. The crazy man jumping at shadows, the joke of the town. Even if it had been a matter of convenience, Kris had trusted him and believed in his judgement. Perhaps that had brought a sliver of rity back to the old man¡¯s mind.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thank you¡­¡± Kris lowered his head, unable to muster more of a response than that. Without Jin, he knew that he would not have made it past this night. He would have never seen the next dawn, and¡­ his hand went into his pocket again.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">You faced your trial well, kind sir¡­ I leave my song in your hands¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He heard the voice speaking in his mind, his eyes snapping open. There was a sharp jolt from the pearl, and he pulled his hand out at once. ¡°Gah!¡± He shouted, rubbing the palm of his hand.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Jin asked, only noticing a momentter how Kris¡¯s eyes were shakily staring at something in front of him. This was amon sight in the world, and indicated that someone was reading a message from the world¡¯s system.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Congrattions, you have been granted a transferable achievement!


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keeper of the Psychic Song: Your body will serve as the next keeper of the Psychic Song. If the holder of the song dies, the song will spread throughout the world. You may transfer this achievement to another individual.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">It is up to you now, kind sir.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The girl¡¯s voice echoed in his mind, gradually bing more and more faint. <i><span style="font-weight:400">If you feel that the world isn¡¯t ready¡­ give my song to another, and pass the legacy. If you have faith in the world¡­ you may take it with you to the end.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Why are you giving this to me¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Kris found himself able to respond, sending his thoughts back to the girl.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Because I learned of the world through watching, and you learned of it through living. An elder such as yourself will know far more of the world than a young girl. And¡­ I am out of time.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Kris¡¯s eyes went wide as saucers, and he hurriedly spoke back. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I thought you had until the next season?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a very faint giggle from the girl. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I lied. I didn¡¯t want you to focus so much on my problems that you forgot to deal with your own. But do not worry, the song will not consume you as it did me. It was born with me, but my body was unworthy. I was but its vessel, meant to deliver it to the world. Now that I have passed it on to you, I have served my purpose.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I believe I would have liked¡­ to see the sky with my own eyes¡­ just once.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The girl¡¯s voice grew fainter and fainter with every breath, until it vanished in its entirety. When Kris reached into his pocket again, he found that the pearl was no longer there.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Instead, a strange sensation spread from his body. He heard a sharp gasp, and saw both Jin and the elven priestess staring at him in shock. No¡­ their eyes seemed to wander from side to side, as if looking at him but also searching for him. Kris looked down at his own hands, only to find that they appeared ephemeral, like he was looking through a filtered lens.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Kris had to focus on suppressing this strange, new sensation, at which point the eyes of the two people locked on him once more. ¡°If I knew you had an invisibility spell, getting here would have been a lot easier.¡± Jinmented with a wry grin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡­ don¡¯t.¡± Kris spoke, unsure of what had just happened himself.

 Chapter 683: Predictions

    Chapter 683: Predictions


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I took my sight off of Kris, I let out a sharp breath. I knew that there would likely be some strange event that led to the people of my world developing the psionic powers I selected for them, but I didn¡¯t imagine that it would be something like <i><span style="font-weight:400">that</i><span style="font-weight:400">. The only reason I even noticed Kris was that Terra sent me a message suggesting that I keep an eye on him for a little while.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It had to be known that the merkin were the original psionics of my world. They evolved with an innate ability of telepathy, which allowed them tomunicate beyond the boundary ofnguage. However, this ability had beenrgely underutilized due to their short attention spans hindering them from learning how best to use what they had.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I saw the young merkin girl giving Kris her bead, I ran a quick check on both her and the bead. The bead itself was little more than a psychic marker, something that she could use to focus her power on and act as an extension of herself. In the hands of anyone whose mana had not evolved with an innate ability, I doubted that it would have any significant effect.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The girl, however, was another matter. The Psychic Song achievement she possessed amplified her innate power to the scale of an entire race. Her telepathy was as strong as every merkin in the worldbined, allowing her to use it to essentially scan the entire world passively. It was so strong that it ced a severe burden on her body and mind, causing her health to rapidly deteriorate.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Due to her age, she was unable to fully process everything that she was learning, which led to her subconscious creating a second personality that spoke to her. That personality fed her tips based on what she should have known herself, such as helping her choose a sessor, or the danger that awaited him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Even what she was able to personally process was enough that it forced her to mature at a rapid rate. It was only herck of personal experiences that left her unable to make the judgement herself as to whether or not the world was ready for this power.


    <span style="font-weight:400">By a simr line of logic, Kris now possessed the song, fully unlocking his own psionic power. As he is a halfling, that is the power of invisibility. And, if I had to guess, the fact that he is the direct host of the achievement meant that his invisibility was far above normal standards. I would have to test it out personally, but there was a good chance that he would be undetectable by anything short of my World Sight, or the system¡¯s monitoring itself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thinking about it, that was likely one of the reasons that she chose to bestow that power to a halfling in the first ce. If she had some sort of sense as to what ability they would obtain, a halfling¡¯s invisibility would undoubtedly be the safest choice to boost to that level. Had she selected a human, and their telekinesis been boosted to hold the power of an entire race¡­ it wouldn¡¯t be out of the question for them to moves with their mind.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In truth, the current matter was not out of my control. The achievement stated that it would trigger upon his death. If I arranged for him to die, or simply smote him on the spot, the song would trigger and unlock the psychic powers of everyone. And, if I was reading into this right, it would have asting effect, echoing itself whenever those affected individuals went to a new world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The only way to truly contain such a power would be to ce Kris within an isted universe, and kill him there. Without anyone for the song to spread to, it should simply dissipate. Thankfully, squashing that achievement was not something that I wanted to do.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At the same time, I did not want to expedite his death. The idea of selecting sessors like this¡­ I wasn¡¯t against it. As this was what the system chose, to allow my people themselves to be the trigger for their evolution, I wanted to see where this went. In the worst case scenario, the achievement would be transferred to someone that used it for evil.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If that did happen, the world would have the means to rise up against them with their current power. Even if a pyrokic became capable of wielding the mes of the sun, they would not be invincible in the world. And when such an individual was killed, they would inevitably trigger the release of the achievement anyways.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I thought this over, I found myself quite looking forward to how this would unfold. One thing was for sure, however. The merkin would definitely not fall back into the shadows, now that they had made their debut onto the world market. Their civilization had atst developed to the point where they could stand on the world stage, if only as a more primitive peoplepared to the rest.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So¡­ this is the ce.¡± A golden figure spoke as he stood within the empty void of space, his eyes staring at a distortion not far away from him. Without extraordinary senses, it would be impossible to notice that the space was distorted, as the only giveaway was the subtle shifting of where stars seemed to be when looking through it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, this man had long since been aware of the distortion, and had merely been biding his time to settle matters in his homnd before making this trip himself. As he was currently, there was no longer any need to dy, for he had achieved his primary goal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Let¡¯s be off, then, and see what awaits us. They managed to drive back the Head, after all.¡± As he said that, he stretched one mechanical hand out towards the distortion, focusing on it with his divine senses. <i><span style="font-weight:400">If I can store this distortion, then it will be a simple matter to travel between the two realms.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">As that thought shed past his mind, he clenched his fist. Arge, golden field manifested around the distortion, wrapping tightly around it and forcing it to shrink smaller and smaller. Such an exertion would naturally cause a drain to his divine power, but he had been building his reserves long enough to handle it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once the distortion had be as small as the palm of his hand, he moved it towards his chest. The golden chestte opened up, revealing a small row of shelves, most of which were currently empty. After choosing a spot at random, the golden god ced the distortion on one such shelf, feeling it connect with his being.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Connected to him in a simr manner, there was only one other item that graced those shelves with its presence. This item was a small, metal sphere, one still showing signs of movement and life. A shrunken down to the size of a toy, so that he could carry it with him wherever he went.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was at both times his home, as well as his personal forge and prized possession. At any moment, he could call on the forces of this, releasing them into the world to wreak havoc. And while they were stored, they would naturally continue to worship their god, supplying him with a steady stream of power.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing how the distortion settled into its new home nicely, the golem deity waved a hand, exerting the power of the distortion to pull him through to the other dimension. Once there, his eyes scanned the stars, charting his current position byparing what he saw with the memories he acquired from the Head. ¡°I see¡­ this way, then?¡± He muttered to himself, turning and flying off into the distance.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Phisher¡¯s eyes shot open, a cold sweat dripping down his face as he shot awake. As a god, he did not truly need to sleep, but that did not stop him from doing so. This was more than a mere habit, it was a personal request from the goddess that he served. She hoped that he might once again trigger his special characteristic, allowing him to live another future.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He sat up within his bed, looking for a calendar so that he could find the current year and date. Sadly, his ability to live through the future was not so convenient that he could identify when it was happening until after the fact. And the only way to know that¡­ was when he died and inexplicably woke up.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Fifteen days? Is that all?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He gasped in disbelief when he saw the current date,paring it to his memory. Closing his eyes, he focused intently on a prayer. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Oh Goddess of Life, I beseech you to answer my call. I have once more glimpsed the passage of fate, and seen a disaster approaching on the horizon.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was barely a moment¡¯s pause before Udona¡¯s voice answered him. <i><span style="font-weight:400">What is the nature of this disaster, and how long do we have?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She knew that, while Phisher¡¯s prophecies were not guaranteed, they had to at least be taken seriously. Failure to do so would be irresponsible of her both as a queen and a goddess.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">The return of the golems. However, this time, they brought but one god. A god capable of negating any attack sent his way, and even turning them back on the attacker. I fought him personally when he arrived, but my de was unable to even touch his body. Instead, I found myself suddenly dying at his hand¡­</i> <i><span style="font-weight:400">Should this fate hold true, he will be here in fifteen days.</i>


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona jolted to attention when she heard the news from Phisher. She had expected the time to be measured in years, as it had been before, not barely two weeks. Within her bedroom in the Admin Room, she began pacing back and forth. ¡°Calli, you there?¡± She called out loud, sending her voice to its intended recipient.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yup, I¡¯m all ears!¡± A voice spoke up from her door, which abruptly opened to reveal a cheery dog girl with ck hair. alia was wearing a loose blue shirt and ck pants, looking as if she had juste back from a run. ¡°What¡¯cha need, sis?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When alia saw how worried Udona appeared, she walked over to sit on her bed, lightly patting it for Udona to join her. ¡°If it¡¯s got you this worked up, it must be serious, right? Did James try to push for normalizing the nine-tails program again?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh? No, well, yes, but not that.¡± Udona shook her head, doing her best to collect her thoughts while she sat down next to her sister goddess. ¡°The golems, the clockwork ones. Do they have a god? I know you¡¯re the one in charge of assigning that, and I haven¡¯t really been paying attention to them for a while. I¡¯d ask Tubrock, but he pretty much gave up on that race when they decided it was easier to consume than cooperate.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Golems¡­¡± alia crossed her arms, thinking it over. ¡°Well, the Metong have their new Goddess of Heat. The March has the God of Communication. Clockwork¡­ ah! I remember! Boy, that was ages ago. Yeah, their leader became the God of Storage a while back. He was another guy aiming to be the God of Kings, or the God of Power, but I¡¯m not going to give some megalomaniac that kind of domain. I just gave him Storage, instead, because it was the mostpatible for him that wasn¡¯t¡­ well, that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona nodded her head, taking a moment to consider matters. ¡°Phisher just got back to me, telling me that he was on his way to Deckan, and would be there in just over two weeks. Apparently, he has the ability to nullify attacks directed against him and send them back to their attackers. Phisher is a powerfulbat god, but couldn¡¯t defeat him. What can you tell me?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">alia blinked at that, and a blue haze seemed to appear in her eyes. Udona wasn¡¯t worried, aware that this was alia reviewing the highlights of the man¡¯s life to determine what kind of power he wielded. ¡°Oh¡­ well, that¡¯s certainly one way of using it. Next time, I¡¯ll just make someone like that the God of nkets or something¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Shaking her head, alia looked towards Udona. ¡°His power isn¡¯t unbeatable, but it¡¯s a bad match for that Phisher guy. Basically, he has a barrier around him that automatically absorbs and stores iing attacks. In order to defeat him, you¡¯ll need to use an ability that bypasses that barrier, or use something that can negate it. Think you can handle that, or should we call the boss?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona thought it over for a moment, weighing her options. ¡°Not Dale¡­ but why don¡¯t we call in Aurivy? This seems like a good test for Sanctum. A force that could threaten to destroy a core world¡­ that¡¯s why she created that ce, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">alia gave a knowing grin when she heard that. ¡°Well, there is that, and also because she didn¡¯t want to be homeless with her little crush.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona¡¯s cheeks went slightly red at that thought, causing alia tough. ¡°Hey, she¡¯s the Goddess of Love. If you think she¡¯ll spend an extended period of time with anyone and not develop feelings for them, you haven¡¯t spent enough time with her yourself! Besides¡­ I think it¡¯s good for her. Having someone she cares about keeps her grounded in the world, and lets her think about things on a more personal level¡­ that¡¯s how it was with you and the former queens, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona hesitated before nodding her head slightly, admitting it. alia was right. While Udona had never harbored romantic feelings for the queens of old, she had been very close with them. And, that closeness had allowed her to see the world as more than just a project that she was helping with. She was able to live, and truly <i><span style="font-weight:400">feel</i><span style="font-weight:400"> like she was living because of those friends of hers. Not just the queens, either¡­ the gaming friends that she had made over the years, whose bones had long since turned to dust in the wind.


    <span style="font-weight:400">All of those people helped shape Udona into who she currently was. And, if not for having people like that, she might not be able to process the danger that her people were in if this golem made his appearance unchecked. ¡°Yeah¡­ would you mind letting her know? There¡¯s someone I want to visit¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Going to Jonas¡¯s ce again?¡± alia asked with a small smile, and Udona nodded her head as she stood. ¡°Tell her that we all hope she¡¯s doing well. I¡¯ll take care of things here.¡±

 Chapter 684: Reunion

    Chapter 684: Reunion


    <span style="font-weight:400">Theon and Thessa sat within arge house, one that had been provided for them in Sanctum courtesy of the Goddess of Cities. In truth, neither of them had any form of production rted abilities that they could use with their domains, so they were essentially unemployed within this world. All that they could do was exchange favors for faith. That said, Thessa had quite the remarkable following in Fyor, so she was able to earn a steady stream of energy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was her brother, the God of Bnce that found his own power gradually declining. Throughout the years, he had made far less notable contributions to the world than his sister, which led to the situation where she began to outshine him. However, he was not ashamed of this, but rather proud.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Asking the God of Bnce to interfere with a mundane problem would only exacerbate the issue by causing the enemy to be stronger to match his level. The true way for him to shine was by fighting a foe stronger than himself, one who he could force onto a weaker ying field. Theon was at once both the weakest and strongest type of deity.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Him and his sister sat in their house, watching the news being projected onto their wall. With their increasingly sedentary lifestyle, they often found themselves watching the news, looking for some form of major event that they could take part in. If not for Theon¡¯s power being ill-suited for exploration, the two of them likely would have taken to the stars long ago to journey on their own.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We interrupt this regr broadcast to bring you important information.¡± The voice of the anchorwoman was cut off, a kitsune with ck hair appearing in the projection. She had a solemn look on her face, one that forced Theon to pay more attention to this report. ¡°We have recently learned that there is a high probability of a powerful god approaching Deckan.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This god is of a hostile race, the very same that previously attacked Deckan many years ago.¡± Thessa tensed up when she heard that, recalling the appearance of the gctic fleet. ¡°It is estimated that he will arrive in approximately two weeks. This is a mobilization request from the goddess Udona.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The enemy possesses the ability to absorb attacks that pass through a barrier covering his body, and can then turn those attacks back against the attacker. If you are the type to use attacks of this nature, please do not respond to this request, as your presence will likely add further danger to the others. However, if you are the type to use indirect abilities that would not be caught in such a barrier, it is requested that you participate.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Aspensation for this endeavor, the goddess has prepared faith equivalent to twenty thousand of her tokens, to be distributed to those who participate. The rewards will be given out based on their contribution to the fight, with the goddesses Ryone and alia overseeing the ordeal to ensure fairness.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The face of the kitsune woman continued to stare at them from the projection for quite a while after her announcement before suddenly flickering out. Afterwards, the projection returned to the normal news report, as if nothing had happened. Clearly, the newscasters they were watching were not even aware that they had been interrupted.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This message was broadcast throughout the entirety of Sanctum, using the¡¯s divinework as the medium. It was shown on every form of disy connected to thiswork without exception, showing just how much importance was ced on this first mobilization request.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing the information about the enemy, Theon smiled wide, feeling that it was finally his chance to act. Even disregarding the promised reward, which was extremely substantial, it would be the perfect chance for him to make his name known. He pulled out his crystal terminal, and was prepared to look up information on how to ept the request.


    <span style="font-weight:400">What surprised him was that there was a blinking icon waiting on his startup screen, one that he had never personally installed. With its title being something as obvious as ¡®Mobilization Sign-Up¡¯, he didn¡¯t have to wonder what its source was. If anything, he was thankful that the Greater Pantheon had made joining this operation so easy for deities like himself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You should sign up too, Thessa.¡± He encouraged his sister with a smile. ¡°Haven¡¯t you been practicing how to perform indirect attacks ever since thatst battle against these guys?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thessa hesitated for a moment before nodding, pulling out her own crystal and registering. Each of these crystals had their personal information recorded in them since their initial activation, so they did not have to fill out things such as their names or divine domains, as all of that was taken care of for them. Of course, it was pointless for someone to try to steal that information to use it for nefarious purposes, given that it was public knowledge, and not something as secretive as a bank password.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley sat within a dark office, staring at the holographic screen in front of her. This screen was rapidly filling with a list of names, people who were choosing to sign up for the uing mobilization request. Seeing some of their domains, she couldn¡¯t help but let out a low groan. ¡°Gah¡­ I told her that advertising the reward would backfire¡­ What¡¯s a God of Navigation going to do to help in this fight?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she thought about that, she began highlighting certain names. Those who appeared to simply be joining the event to get some free faith were marked red, while those who had questionable abilities were marked as orange. These groups would be specifically monitored by Keliope once the fight began. If their actions only resulted in harming the rest of the defending party, their contribution would be judged to be negative.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For those finding themselves in such a position, not only would they not get any rewards, but some of their own faith would be deducted as a penalty. This was something that Ashley had personally suggested as apromise when Udona insisted on including the reward in the broadcast. ¡°Let¡¯s see if leeches like this keep interfering with future requests¡­¡± She muttered to herself as she kept highlighting the names.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, as this was her suggestion, it was also determined to be her that was in charge of filtering through the list of applicants to find those who were likely to earn such negative contribution. It was unfortunate, but the goddesses did not have the desire to personally screen everyone¡¯s training method to uncover their abilities one by one. Besides, if they were able to set up a system using this as the foundation in the future, it would be possible to automate the process of such requests.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If that did happen, automated requests would naturally not be overseen by a group of deities measuring everyone¡¯s contribution. Ashley was already working on such a system now, using the quest system as the foundation. However, it would be hard to tell how long such a system would take toplete, as there were many facets that she had to create herself, with this event serving as a test run to see if the idea of it would even work.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh?¡± Suddenly, one of the names on the list caught Ashley¡¯s attention, as it was someone that she had not personally seen before, yet had heard much about in the past. ¡°Sinir¡¯s joining?¡± She hesitated when she saw his name, before ultimately highlighting it orange.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While it wasn¡¯t clear that the God of the Lost would be a detriment to their team, it was also hard to say how he would use his domain to fight. There was always the concern that his domain would force him to lose a fight or a gamble, depending on how the person himself perceives their abilities. There were known cases already of people interpreting their domains as curses, and those curses bing reality due to the nature of divine energy.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona stared at the floating city which hovered high above the Earth. Though it existed far outside of the atmosphere, enough so that many people mistook it for a star on a clear night, it was bustling with activity. Udona could see thousands of people walking the streets merrily, going about their business as if everything was ordinary.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If someone hadn¡¯t known beforehand, they would never believe that each of those people were only a ghost, a projection created through divine power that was granted new life within the city. And as she watched, she seemed to hesitate, torn between approaching the city or going back from whence she came.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she was getting ready to turn around and leave, she caught sight of a woman resting in one of the rooms of the central pce. A kitsune woman who was slowly brushing her hair near an open window, staring out into the city. Udona¡¯s breath caught in her throat when she saw that, her resolve to leave shaken. Closing her eyes, she made up her mind to approach.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her body passed through the barrier surrounding the city as if it didn¡¯t exist, and she quickly came to appear within that room. When she did, the woman turned around, and immediately threw her brush towards Udona with a heavy pout. ¡°About time you stop by!¡± She said indignantly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona had <i><span style="font-weight:400">not</i><span style="font-weight:400"> been expecting that sort of reaction, and the brush hit her squarely on the forehead. Obviously, a wooden brush would not do any damage to the body of a Greater Goddess. Regardless, she brought her hands up to her head and crouched down dramatically, as if she had been struck a mortal blow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I mean, really? Do you think we haven¡¯t seen you hovering outside the city?¡± The kitsune asked, walking over and cing her hands squarely on her hips, looking down at Udona. ¡°You just show up, watch for a while, and then leave. You don¡¯t have any time to say hi to an old friend?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I-It¡¯s not--¡± Udona¡¯s embarrassed words were cut off as the other suddenly dropped to her knees, wrapping her arms around the greater goddess. ¡°Bria¡­¡± She muttered softly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Really¡­ why didn¡¯t you actuallye in before¡­ it¡¯s been too long.¡± Udona could feel Bria¡¯s shoulders shaking, and so she stopped the wounded act, bringing her arms up to hold onto her friend as well.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± Udona whispered, her arms tightening. It had taken a lot of time for her to ept Bria¡¯s death. Whenever she came to ¡®visit¡¯, she would always be reminded of those memories. The time that they spent together¡­ and the time that she watched her friend die in front of her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">To the goddess, it had be harder and harder to approach Bria as time passed, because epting her friend¡¯s death meant epting that she wasn¡¯t there anymore. Bria was dead, and there was no getting around that. What she was holding now was an illusion, one created from a recording of Bria¡¯s soul taken prior to her death. Udona knew that it wasn¡¯t the same thing as the real Bria, but¡­ it was still her friend.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As the Goddess of Life, Udona could clearly tell that this Bria both was and wasn¡¯t alive. She was a shadow sustained by a special power. And sometimes¡­ just sometimes, she wished she didn¡¯t have the ability to sense that. She wished she could just lose herself in the idea that Bria was still truly there, that her friend hadn¡¯t perished in her attempt at ascension.


    <span style="font-weight:400">But¡­ now that she was here, now that Bria was holding her and crying into her shoulder, a different thought crossed her mind. So what if this wasn¡¯t the same Bria that she watched perish? So what if she was stuck on the precipice between being alive and dead? This <i><span style="font-weight:400">was</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Bria¡­ at least, some form of her. She had thoughts and feelings, a heart that was infinitely close to the Bria she knew.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Didn¡¯t that Bria deserve her friend? ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± Udona¡¯s voice became softer when she came to that thought, realizing that she had been depriving Bria of one of her oldest friends for so long. ¡°I¡¯m here¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah, I see that, dummy.¡± Briaughed sadly, pulling back and wiping her eyes. ¡°Tell me you at least brought a game for us to y for a bit? This ce might make us feel alive again, but it¡¯s really hard to get something new from the outside world to spice things up.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Uh¡­¡± Udona briefly panicked, realizing she hadn¡¯t brought anything of the sort. Thankfully, she was the Goddess of Entertainment as well. Conjuring a game or ten on the spot was a simple matter for her. ¡°Yes, I definitely prepared some games for us. Definitely.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Bria rolled her reddened eyes, a small grin tugging at her lips. She was just d to finally have her friend back, with Udona being just as awkward as she remembered.

 Chapter 685: Preparation To Battle

    Chapter 685: Preparation To Battle


    <span style="font-weight:400">The days passed almost agonizingly slow, the poption of Deckan unaware of the threat that was speeding towards it. In order to avoid a scene of mass panic, it was decided that the information would only be released after the fact. If the operation seeded, a recording of the event would be shown to the public along with an exnation, so that the heroes who stood out would be able to receive the credit that they deserved. And if it didn¡¯t, the Greater Pantheon would have to try to intervene before it was toote.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was the n established by the upper echelon of deities, both the Greater Pantheon as well as more resourceful gods that had signed up for the expedition with the goal of helping to strategize. Although they were ill-suited to participate in the battle, they hade together hoping that their ns might contribute to the defeat of the enemy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Like this, two weeks passed as the citizens of Deckan began to feel uneasy. Their instincts, honed by their training and connections with various systems, warned them that arge threat was approaching. Some directly left the world to calm their unease, while others consulted with the gods, being asked in turn not to cause a panic as the situation was considered under control.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Regardless, even normal citizens began to feel the distress of those with power, their emotional state proving to be almost contagious. There had been no announcement, no curfew imposed, and yet¡­ throughout numerous cities all across the, people were staying indoors. They were unwilling to leave their homes at night, worried that whatever had those respected warriors concerned would appear in front of them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In orbit around Deckan, arge group of gods had been mobilized. Many of these figures had long since made themselves known through various worlds. These were people that had struggled to reach the top and find what was considered to be the ultimate power. However, these individuals felt nervous as they stared into the vastness of space.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Target has entered the area of the sr system. Speed has decreased to subluminal. Estimated arrival time, five hours.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> A lycan¡¯s voice was transmitted to the group, though the goddess herself wasn¡¯t present. This lycan was the Goddess of Tracking, and was currently resting on the¡¯s surface with the God of Communication, who was acting as a ry to coordinate the different deities.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With these two working together, they were constantly keeping track of the approaching golem. When they heard that the enemy would be at their door in five hours, their faces twisted. There was no way that they could allow the battle to happen within proximity of the itself, or it might be damaged by their battle. Several individuals still remembered the sight of a giantser piercing through the, which had to be saved by a mysterious orbital device.


    <span style="font-weight:400">One of the human gods present gave a small nod, recognizing that it was his turn. He sent a request back to the lycan goddess to find the direction of the enemy, before sping his hands together. When his hands parted, a gap seemed to form in space, a portal leading to a different location. This man was the God of Transportation, assigned with the task of ensuring that the battle would not take ce within the vicinity of any nearby celestial bodies.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing that the portal was opened, the rest of the gods quickly flew into it. When they emerged, they found themselves in a wide expanse of empty space, far removed from any potential obstructions. This was the perfect battleground for deities to battle in. Or at least, that was what their strategy had determined.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Enemy is now five minutes away from your current position! With his trajectory, he will pass one hundred thousand miles to Transport¡¯s left!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The lycan¡¯s voice was projected once again, causing the others to nod in unison. Of the gods gathered, there were manybat-oriented gods, and several who had simply demanded to be present, assuring the strategists that they would be able to assist in the fight.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unsurprisingly, there were nervous expressions on a few different deities from both sides. Until now, conflict had ceased to be a problem for gods, as their divine abilities allowed them to roam freely throughout the world. They did not want for anything, and thus they did not feel the need to fight for anything. At least, not against other gods.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, althoughbat domains were popr choices to make one feel powerful, they had rarely been utilized in truly dangerous battles. Until this point, the most popr deities were those who ascended with crafting-rted domains, as they could work for both gods and mortals alike.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The point being¡­ with theck ofbat between deities, this meant that most people began to lose their sense of battle after ascension. The tension of facing a harrowing foe came crashing down against them once more, causing them to shake with long-forgotten unease.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With this, it was easy to tell who had remained active with their training after ascension. They were the ones who were able to maintain a calm demeanor while moving in the designated direction.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Among them, one individual was the first to act. An elf whose body seemed to shift and shimmer as he moved. His lips parted, his voice transmitted across the shared connections. <i><span style="font-weight:400">The lost may always find their way, as all roads lead home.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> As his voice faded, there was a shift in the space in their surroundings.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Under the restrictions set forth by this god, it made no difference which direction one tried to move, as they would always be drawn to the destination determined by the Goddess of Tracking. Once he established this confinement field, he hovered at its center, his arms behind his back.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing this, one of the halfling goddesses hesitated, before pulling a bow from her back. Thessa drew her bow, and began firing off hundreds of arrows into space, their path seemingly random. There were no targets to shoot at, but she continued to fire without pause, no two attacks aimed in the same direction.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The next to act was a heroc god, his green skin shining as he pressed his palms together. <i><span style="font-weight:400">May the blessing of light fall on those present.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> From his body, golden strands of light shot out to strike at the different gods that were present. They could feel their divine energy slowly increasing as they basked in the warm glow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Much like Tsubaki, this man had be a God of Light. However, where she dealt with light in a more physical sense, the heroc deity explored the mystical connotations that came with his domain.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At this point, three of the gods present had acted, causing the others to snap out of their hesitation and establish their own preparations. Some entered a meditative state to prepare powerful attacks, while others moved to enter battle formations. A few individuals moved as far back as the spatial field would allow, as if to distance themselves from the direct shockwaves of the battle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Only one god looked around, as if unsure of what he should be doing. This particr deity was a felyn who carried an unusual assortment of weapons on his person. On his back was arge book, one of its covers decorated like a shield, a sword sheathed beneath it. On his left hip was a dagger and a whip, while on his right hip was a pistol. Anyone that looked at him would have a hard time guessing exactly what power he possessed, because he looked rather¡­ical with his assortment of weapons.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Still, his domain had been revealed as part of their nning, so nobody took him for granted. In fact, he believed that he was rather clever with his domain. If domains were the power of words, then what would happen if someone possessed the domain of Words? Thus, this felyn had be the God of Words, and had even been granted the title of Wordsmith by those who knew him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He naturally hadn¡¯t expected some of the restrictions that came about when he gained this domain, but that did not stop him from believing in his own power. In fact, he was not looking around out of hesitation, but rather seeing where he could be most helpful. Once he had determined his answer, he retrieved the giant book from his back, holding it with its cover locked shut as if he would hold a shield.


    <span style="font-weight:400">By the time that the preparations had beenpleted, the assembled deities could feel an almost suffocating pressureing towards them from the distance. More than just the raw power of divinity, they felt something far more surreal, as if they could feel the weight of all the death that this entity had caused. His power, trained and strengthened with countless ughters, had grown to such a worrying extent.


    <span style="font-weight:400">His path was originally going to take him around the seemingly insignificant group of gods, but he found that the space before him twisted. No matter in which direction he flew, these figures would always be blocking his way.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I see¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> His cold, mechanical voice was sent across this region of space, more understood by his intention than the words themselves. <i><span style="font-weight:400">If it is like this, then perhaps his loss was justified.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The heroc deity smiled as he looked at the golden god standing within the void before him. <i><span style="font-weight:400">If you would not mind, I would kindly ask you to return from whence you came.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He spoke in a polite tone, the light of his divinity continuing to flow from his body. He was using his own power to bolster the powers of the others, so it was only natural that he would be the first to be drained if this turned into a proper fight.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">No. </i><span style="font-weight:400">The mechanical entity stated coldly. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I don¡¯t think I will. Wasted scraps such as yourself do not have the right to make requests of a true god.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> There was a righteousness in his tone, one that came off as almost maddening.


    <span style="font-weight:400">One of the distant dwarven gods narrowed his eyes, muttering to himself as his voice was transmitted across the establishedwork. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Analyze all creation¡­ The barrier is just like we heard, and it connects to a storage space maintained by his divinity. But¡­ there¡¯s more. He¡¯s not just storing things to send them back¡­ oh no¡­ how many¡­</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Out with in, Shelot. What¡¯s gotten you concerned now?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> A halfling deity said from next to him, casting the dwarf a sidelong nce.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">He has internal catalogues. Metaphysical warehouses filled with the strengths that he has gained. Trillions of dead¡­ each of them enhancing his physical abilities, as well as his base energies. Whenever he kills someone¡­ he stores their power for himself.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The halfling¡¯s gaze flickered when he heard that, ncing towards the golem. In fact, their conversation was transmitted to all of the deities from their side, who now sent looks of shock and horror to the enemy. Some directly sought to flee the scene, but were restricted by the spatial field.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">See? A mere glimpse of true power, and you scraps have broken this so-called teamwork of yours.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> It was hard to tell with the rigidity of the golem¡¯s face, but it seemed to be sneering at them. <i><span style="font-weight:400">In the face of the true god, your paltry abilities are naught but dust. No matter¡­ I shall allow you to serve as nutrition to feed my power.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The halfling god couldn¡¯t help but raise an eyebrow at the golem¡¯s speech. It was painfully clear that he was not saying this to be dramatic. In fact, he believed himself to be the only true god in existence. If that were the case, what did he think of the Greater Pantheon, or even the Keeper himself? The halfling couldn¡¯t help but shudder as he thought about what would happen if the Keeper¡¯s Servant heard his words.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">If he¡¯s that strong¡­ I guess we had better bnce things out a bit.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He smiled, his eyes gleaming as he focused on the golem. <i><span style="font-weight:400">May our powers find bnce.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The golem nced coldly towards Theon, even as he felt the majority of his divine energy sealed beneath a strangeyer of power. Even with this, it felt as if the golem did not take them seriously.

 Chapter 686: Balance Breaker

    Chapter 686: Bnce Breaker


    <span style="font-weight:400">Theon narrowed his eyes in focus as he concentrated purely on restraining the golem deity¡¯s power to his own level. As long as he was able to do that, he believed that this fight would be a simple victory for the other assembled gods. When he saw how the golem continued to look down on everyone, he felt as though it were simple arrogance.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As soon as the others felt that the golem¡¯s power had dropped, their own confidence was bolstered, and they began to release their abilities. They had long since heard about the golem¡¯s protective barrier, and had been prepared to fight against it. Every attack that theyunched was one that could traverse space itself to attack the target directly, without allowing his barrier to interfere.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sure enough, they saw the golem¡¯s body rocked with attack after attack, his divine presence slowly declining. Yet, something seemed off about this. With theirbined attack, they should have easily been able to destroy someone on the level of Theon. When their attacks only marginally weakened the golem, they couldn¡¯t help but be rmed. Especially so when they saw the barely diminished health bar above the golem¡¯s head.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">This is bad! He¡¯s still able to draw on the strengths that he has stored with his divinity!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The God of Analysis quickly reported the situation, clearly able to tell that the golem deity¡¯s body had reached a frightening level of strength even without the aid of his divine energy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Normally, this would have been a contradiction, as a god¡¯s body was made of divinity. However, it was because of the golem god¡¯s specific domain that made this possible. His domain of Storage had been reinforced by the strength of countless living creatures, turning him into an unmovable fortress.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Are you done?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The golem¡¯s voice echoed through the minds of the gods after he had finished withstanding their first round of attacks. He brought his hand up, clenching his fist as he punched forward. Space seemed to distort and crack before his punch, dark red patches visible as the force swept towards the group of gods.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a single punch, he distorted the fabric of space and opened a gap to the void, albeit briefly. It was clear the might that his punch contained, blowing back the closest gods to him. Those who were forced to withstand the st let out silent cries as their divine power was sliced away, their health bars quickly draining over their heads.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Like I said, none of you are worthy to stand before the true god of this world.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The golem repeated, before noticing the gods that were remaining further back without trying to flee the spatial field. His mechanical eyes narrowed as he considered the possibility that these people could have unique domains capable of subduing him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Given that he was unaware of the situation with Sanctum, it was easy for him to mistake the cowardly leeches simply trying to earn free contribution with a hidden trump card. However, his confidence in his own powers did not allow him too much time to consider it. He determined that they were a possible threat, and deemed it fit to remove them before they could unleash any mysterious powers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Those idling gods had already been scared stiff by the golem¡¯s disy of his physical prowess. They were beginning to regret havinge for this mission, and some had even directly tried to return to Sanctum by chanting Aurivy¡¯smand. However, thanks to the field set up by the God of the Lost, themand failed to bring them away from the battle. All that it caused was a spike of divine power to draw the golem¡¯s attention.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As the gods who were actually fighting hadrgely been knocked back by the first attack, they were still recovering when they felt a sh of power pass by them. Before they were able to piece together what was happening, they felt one of the divine energies behind them being snuffed out.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thessa was the first to react, turning around with her bow in hand. She saw the golem standing while holding the headless body of one of the gods that they had brought with them. Her brow furrowed, and the golem felt numerous impacts piercing through his body. From the force and general shape of the internal damage, he could identify them as arrows, and yet she had notunched any¡­


    <span style="font-weight:400">His gaze turned towards the halfling goddess staring at him, as if looking with interest. It was clear that the ¡®arrows¡¯ that had attacked him contained special powers, and were currently devouring his divine energy at a pace he found startling. While he did not truly see her as a threat, he had to admit that she was more talented than those who hadunched attacks on him earlier.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once more, the golem moved, this time aiming to take the head of the halfling that had grabbed his attention. However, he found his path blocked this time by a cat-eared humanoid carrying arge book as a shield. The golem¡¯s hand stretched out, aiming to tear the ¡®shield¡¯ apart when it opened of its own volition.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The word ¡®Thievery¡¯ was written on the page that the book opened to, and the golem felt an ominous sensation. He quickly reached out in an attempt to destroy the book, only for the opposing god to reach out at the same time. The two shed, their hands locking with one another, and neither seemed to gain any ground.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Startled, the golem quickly checked his internal storage, realizing that half of his power containers had been taken in an instant. Having what he felt was his belongings stolen from him in such a tant manner infuriated the golden god, but this was only the beginning of his problems.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">May that which was lost, return from whence it came.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> A solemn voicemunicated through the vast battlefield in space. The golem felt as if it had been deted, its power containers robbed entirely. More than that¡­ it could feel an emptiness in its chest. The that it had brought with him, the world that he had ruled for countless years, had vanished from his possession.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">No, those are mine!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The golem shouted in a furious tone. However, thankfully, the stolen power had also been taken from the felyn god, leaving them both at fairly equal power once again. The golem¡¯s gears ground furiously as his hands lit up. <i><span style="font-weight:400">If you want to take what¡¯s mine¡­ I¡¯ll have to return the favor!</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The felyn¡¯s eyes went wide in shock, pulling his hand back as he retreated in haste. However, he could tell that he was already toote. His divine power felt¡­ empty. Although he could maintain his form, it no longer had the true power of a god. His divine will had been stripped away, taking with it his domain.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Now, you will feel despair.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The golemmunicated, before noticing that the felyn suddenly looked at him with an¡­ almost pitying expression. What made him look like that? Was there a problem with the domain that he had taken?


    <span style="font-weight:400">The golem suddenly found himself feeling anxious for the first time, a sense of dread rising up within him. His eyes darted around the battlefield, seeing the other gods who appeared to be regaining their confidence. More importantly, the power of the arrows that had struck him internally before were still gnawing away at his energy. How would he get out of this encirclement?


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was the side-effect of the domain of Words, which had just been stolen from the felyn. Due to this effect, the felyn was unable tomunicate with his own words, whether through speech or writing. If he attempted to do so, thest word he used would always be his temporary domain, until he reced it with a new word.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Due to the golem¡¯s deration, his power had just be despair itself, filling the golem with the very dread he nned to inflict on his attackers. Although there were many interpretations of a single domain, that mattered little in this case, for what he stole was the divine will itself. Thus, he took the same interpretation as the original holder.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing the golem beginning to panic, the others nced among themselves. They could not entirely tell what had happened, only that the golem received a boost of power, before suddenly losing his confidence. Soon, an unfamiliar voice spoke over theirmunicationwork. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Quickly, you have to kill him before he can say anything else! If he is given the chance to speak, we could be done for!</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">This voice naturally belonged to the one member of their party to never talk, the felyn whose domain had just been stripped from him. And while it took a moment for the others to register the identity of this voice, they were quick to act on its information.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Golden light shed, illuminating the bodies of the assembled gods. The heroc God of Light creased his brow in focus as he boosted the others as high as he could, leaving himself with but a sliver of power. In response to this, Thessa lifted her bow, pulling back the string. <i><span style="font-weight:400">What I desire is an arrow to shatter a god.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The golden light condensed, forming a long line across her bowstring. When she released the arrow, it vanished from her bow, instead appearing in the chest of the golem. It was not that the arrow travelled quickly, but rather it simply teleported from her bow to its target, half of the arrow bypassing the barrier surrounding the golem.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This arrow, like those she shot before the battle, had the effect of scattering divine energy. However, the ones she had shot before were only ¡®lesser¡¯ versions of the current arrow, as she was using them as scattered traps. If the enemy walked along the path of an arrow she had previously fired, she could cause that arrow to appear inside the enemy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now that the greater version of that arrow hadnded, the golem let out a soundless scream. Its chest caved in, golden dust scattering in the empty space around it. The health bar above its head plummeted as its divinity was scattered, and it found itself unable to mutter a single cry.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, there was no time to rejoice. Before the attackers were able to rx, a strange distortion broke free of the golem¡¯s chest as it died. This distortion seemed to wrap around space itself,pletely upying the territory where they were fighting. As such, it was no surprise that they were directly thrown into this opening, appearing in an area far away from anything they knew.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well¡­ they won, at least?¡± Ashley asked with an awkward smile, seeing how the gods had been forcibly transported to the golem¡¯s universe. Although the had been returned to its original position by Sinir¡¯s power, the same was not true for the spatial distortion that the golem had obtained.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was because the was artificially created and left there by Tubrock, thus it was considered as having a master. When it was taken from where it had been left, it was then considered to be ¡®lost¡¯. The spatial distortion, meanwhile, was a natural phenomena without any form of owner. Without anyone to im it, it could not truly be considered lost.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As such, after the death of the golem god, it had erupted from his chest, upying a corner of Deckan¡¯s sr system, and creating a rather direct connection between the sr system and the universe of the golems.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°How long do you think it¡¯ll take them to realize the way back?¡± Aurivy asked, chuckling to herself. In truth, all they had to do to return was to fly through the distortion once again. However, there was no way for the people involved to know that, having been flung to a strange region of space without any warning.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Nevermind that.¡± Ryone shook her head. ¡°How do you think we should divide their contribution?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was the more important topic at hand, since it was only a matter of time before those gods returned, and it was their duty to prepare the promised reward. Udona stroked her chin idly, giving it some thought. ¡°I think a quarter of the contribution should go to Theon. Although the enemy didn¡¯t rely fully on the power that Theon stripped away, it was enough to lighten everyone¡¯s load.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ryone nodded her head in agreement. ¡°Sinir should get a good amount as well, having taken away the strength that the golem needed to win. I vote that he receives half of the reward for his contributions.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keliope blinked at that. ¡°Half, really? Well¡­ I mean, maybe. What about that archer girl, though? Landing a big hit like that should earn her some points.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona gave a small smile. ¡°It will, but not more than the other two. Although her attacks were powerful, they were only the finishing blow after everyone had weakened him. I believe five percent of the contribution is enough for her. As for the other twenty percent¡­ we¡¯ll split it between the tracker, the wordsmith, the transport, and ourmunication god. This couldn¡¯t have happened without all of their support.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And the other people that just came to watch?¡± Ashley asked, her face growing dark as she nced at those who even tried to flee the battle halfway through.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy simply grinned at that. ¡°Negative points for anyone that was a distraction or tried to flee the battle!¡±

 Chapter 687: Navigation

    Chapter 687: Navigation


    <span style="font-weight:400">With the battle over, the various gods drifted in the depths of space, temporarily unable to determine where they were. The star that they had been fighting near had long since vanished, and they could only tell that they had been thrown into a different region entirely. Theon looked around, trying to identify their location, before turning to face the God of Transportation. <i><span style="font-weight:400">We¡¯ll need to rely on you to get back, I suppose¡­</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The human deity nodded his head, fully prepared to activate his domain in order to return them. It was possible for them to go back to Sanctum through the use of Aurivy¡¯smand, but doing so would cause their linked position in the ¡®mortal realm¡¯ to remain at this location. It was easier and safer to rely on a god whose abilities were rted to travel.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">First¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Thessa looked at the felyn God of Words with concern. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Did you get your domain back?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">In thetter half of the godly battle, this deity had suddenly lost his domain, and those who had been paying attention would be able to feel the ramifications of that. In truth, it meant that he was no longer a full god, and would once again have to ascend on his own. Of course, he had not lost his divine body or soul, so all that was left was the easiest step. Assuming, that is, that he was able to form a new domain in the first ce.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The felyn blinked, closing his eyes to sense his own powers. After a moment, he shook his head sadly. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Seems not. There¡¯s still a connection, I think. But¡­ I can¡¯t ess it. I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll be able to condense another domain. Mister Song, would it be possible to use your domain to help me?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sinir looked over at the ¡®former¡¯ God of Words. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Once I recover some of my energy, I would be happy to help. Dispersing that golem¡¯s strength drained me, though. I probably should not use any more power until I can recover.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sinir himself knew his own condition the best. His face was slightly pale, and his energy had plummeted. It was all that he could do at the moment to simply maintain his divine body. Any more expenditure could very likely cause him to lose his life.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The felyn seemed to ept that answer, turning to face the God of Transportation. Perhaps out of habit, he simply nodded his head to gesture that he was ready. Having received that signal, the human god pped his hands together, spreading them apart to open a new portal. Everyone could see that the portal that had been opened up showed the image of Deckan, the passageway leading far above the atmosphere.


    <span style="font-weight:400">To their surprise, the God of Transportation was startled by the sudden, extreme expenditure of using his ability. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Hurry!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He shouted mentally, unsure how long he would be able to maintain this portal. At his panicked call, the other gods all rushed forward together, unwilling to be left behind in this unknown region of space.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So¡­ that¡¯s the first actual god that has died in my world, isn¡¯t it?¡± I questioned, shaking my head. Naturally, there had been god-level <i><span style="font-weight:400">monsters</i><span style="font-weight:400">, such as the one I watched fall in Lorek some time ago. But this was the first time that I could remember seeing one of my people who had cultivated their divinity fall in battle. And there were two of them, no less.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I could already begin to imagine the ramifications that could erupt from this event, once it was made public. A god had fallen¡­ their perceived immortality and ultimate power could now be called into question. Would it lead to other gods starting to embrace mortal desires again, epting the fact that they could be felled now that they see it with their own eyes?


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was hard to say exactly what would happen. After all, there was still Sanctum. This had be amunity of gods, but had also demonstrated their ability to y gods. Depending on how they were utilized, they could be a sort of divine police force, but I doubted that Aurivy would take things that far.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">No, they have to pay a prettyrge sum in order to hire these gods to act. It¡¯s not something that they can easily do formon threats.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> If the enemy was not someone who had clear intent to destroy an entire world, the forces of Sanctum would likely not be called. For lower threats, such as gods that took over cities or countries, it was unlikely that they would be mobilized. At most, gods might step forward to fight of their own volition.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Looking off to the side, I saw that Ashley and the others had returned to the Admin Room, stepping through the door to enter the living room. ¡°So, how was the trial run?¡± I knew that Ashley wanted to use this as a means to test the idea of an automatic contribution system, but I did not know what she thought of the results.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She shook her head, letting out a small sigh. ¡°I think I¡¯ll need a few more tests before I can properly implement it as a system. Just calcting who contributes the most damage is easy, but¡­ there are other things to consider, like the effect that a buff has on the party, or the power of debuffs, and even strategy. If you bought a contribution system from the market, it would probably cover all of that, but this is something that I¡¯m making myself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod, understanding her problem. ¡°Well, I hate to say it, but I hope you don¡¯t get the chance to test it again.¡± I told her with a wry smile. Testing that system again meant that there would be another sizable threat. ¡°However, I think that you will, sooner orter. By the way, Aurivy, there¡¯s something that I¡¯ve been meaning to check up on. I figured that I should ask while I have you here.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hmm?¡± Aurivy blinked, ncing at me with a curious expression. ¡°There something I can do for you, Dale?¡± As she thought about that, her smile grew wider, almost expectant.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a slight chuckle as I watched her expression change. ¡°I was just wondering if you knew what the progress was like in Fyor. I haven¡¯t really checked on them since I fast-forwardedst, so I don¡¯t know if they managed to resolve the problem with the crystal maze.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy had a sudden look of realization, her eyes going wide. ¡°Ah! That, the whole ¡®nomnom tasty mage¡¯ thing? Well¡­¡± She brought a hand up to lightly tap at her chin. ¡°About a year or two ago, they figured out a way to get around it. It wasn¡¯t easy, since they had to send in people without a proper team formation, and the best schrs were naturally mages.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°From what I remember, they had to tame a few magic monsters, and then bring them back to a lower floor. That took a while just by itself. Then, they studied the bodies of those monsters to find out why the crystal floor didn¡¯t eat them. It turns out that their mana is specially attuned to the crystals there after evolving in that floor. Thanks to that, the maze doesn¡¯t eat them because they register as part of it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right now, they have two variations for how mages can act in that floor. First of all, there is a ring that they¡¯re selling on the twenty-fifth floor, which attunes a mage¡¯s ambient mana to the same wavelength. The problem is that this ring can¡¯t support the full power of a high-level mage, so they¡¯re not able to go all out if they¡¯re wearing it. It¡¯s really just a solution for backup mages or those that are moving there in order to live as part of the growing city just inside the floor.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And the second option?¡± I asked, feeling like the ring would definitely not cut it for a full adventuring squadron. Sadly, exploring such aplex maze without being able to utilize magic is suicide. Even I would not want to go there, as my mana would no doubt cause me to be a prime target.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The second option is a potion that some alchemists are making. They sell it in the town on the twenty-sixth floor. It is able to fully attune a mage¡¯s mana, but onlysts for twelve hours.¡± Aurivy had a somewhat mischievous smile on her face when she revealed that information, causing me to ponder over what she had said.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The rings are sold on the twenty-fifth floor, but the potions are on the twenty-sixth. That¡¯s probably due to them needing the environment to make the potions, but still. It means that they are forced to buy a ring if they want to be able to get to the potions shop. Even if a ring only has to be bought once, it ensures that they will be able to help cover the production and research costs.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right!¡± Aurivy pointed at me and nodded her head. ¡°As for the exploration of the maze¡­ they¡¯ve hit about three percent so far. And that¡¯s only because they found someone to guide them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°A guide?¡± I blinked in confusion when I heard that. Who would be able to guide them through apletely unknown maze in a floor that had never been properly explored?


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah, someone got a special achievement for navigatingplex structures, and it gave them the ability to find the correct path in things like mazes. The only real problem is that he¡¯s not a fighter, let alone a high level one. He¡¯s¡­ you could call him a casual explorer.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod when I heard that. ¡°And given the strength of the gravity on the twenty-sixth floor, that means that he needs all sorts of items in order to simply survive there. Plus, when an actual battle starts, the team he¡¯s with will have to protect him. Even one stray attack from the monster that appears could kill their only way of advancing.¡± This definitely would have caused the speed of their exploration to slow down, because they had to devote a lot of manpower simply to protecting one liability.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After thinking about that, I nced over again. ¡°How did someone even get an ability like that, though?¡± Granted, I had a simr ability, but that was because of an achievement I earned as a Keeper. It shouldn¡¯t have been so easy to get a power like that as a mortal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy grinned as she heard that. ¡°I might have had something to do with it. This guy¡¯s a bit of an online griefer, and was harassing Julia and I to the point where she almost deleted her game ount to get away from him. <i><span style="font-weight:400">So¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I sent him to a dimensional maze created with my divine power, based on the dungeon that Petra used way back in the Dungeon Master war.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing my disapproving look, Aurivy let out augh. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I made sure that there weren¡¯t any monsters, and to send in food when he needed it. It was only <i><span style="font-weight:400">mildly</i><span style="font-weight:400"> traumatizing for him to try to find the correct path in hundreds ofyers to finally make his way out. In the end, he was rewarded with an achievement that granted him a pathfinding ability, and he learned not to be such a jerk online. I¡¯d call that a win for both of us.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a long sigh at that, shaking my head. I could easily remember how devastating Petra¡¯s dungeon had been when she was in that war. Technically, she still had the core, but she rarely used it in the present day. Each floor was arge area, with the path forward being concealed in a seemingly random shadow. Choose the wrong shadow, and you get sent back a floor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, what¡¯s done is done, so there was no point getting upset at Aurivy at this juncture. Especially so given the fact that it did not appear that the man was in any real danger. If anything¡­ it could be considered divine retribution for insulting a god, even one from the Greater Pantheon. He might not have known who he was messing with, but¡­ the gods of legend in my old world did far worse for far less.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay. No matter the cause, it seems that he¡¯s able to help them navigate the maze. It shouldn¡¯t be long now before they find the next floor, right? Or is there something else that I should be aware of?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Aurivy heard my question, she lowered her head in thought. ¡°Well, the path of the maze shifts now and then, so it¡¯s hard to say for sure. They can never take the same route twice, and have to rely on their own resources during travel. I don¡¯t think that they¡¯ll be able to map the entire floor any time soon, given its size, but¡­ once they get enough manpower and resources, they should be able to march directly to the end gate in a single journey. Right now, they¡¯re being restricted by the number of potions that they can carry, and are trying to find alchemists willing to join their expedition force, as well as a stable supply line. Once they have all of that, they should be good to reach the next floor.¡±

 Chapter 688: Realizations

    Chapter 688: Realizations


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once the contribution had been calcted, there was a day of rest for those gods that had taken part, before the announcement was made to the public. In order to not make the gods seem as if they were simply hired for the task, the mention of payment had been excluded from the announcement that Udona prepared.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Simply put, the Goddess introduced the threat that had previously set out in an attempt to conquer or destroy her world. This alone sent tremors throughout the poption, before she moved on to show a recording that they had made of the battle. This recording was made using Udona¡¯s own memories from the scene, which she had transferred into an illusion for the sake of this production.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, the God of the Stage was more than happy to contribute to this project, and hemented the fact that he was unable to participate in the battle itself. Due to his work as a director, he rarely paid a visit to Sanctum, preferring to spend his time in Deckan where he could properly put his talents to use.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With this announcement, those gods that actively participated in the battle were able to spread their names to new audiences, gaining even greater recognition. As for those that had either tried to escape or cowered in front of the enemy, they earned their own type of recognition¡­


    <span style="font-weight:400">Finally, those who had been feeling a sense of dread in the air were atst able to rx. The danger hade and gone, with the world beingrgely unharmed throughout the entire process. Although there was a death of a friendly god, it was not such a shocking scene that people across the world would mourn for them. Especially so given that same god had tried to flee the battle as soon as he saw the enemy¡¯s strength.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Kris watched the broadcast with wide eyes, seeing the special news being sent over from Deckan. ¡°That lot¡­¡± He shook his head, not sure exactly what to make of it. As he was no god, it was hardly his ce toment on things of that nature. However, he found it hard to swallow that an individual person could have the power to overturn a like that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying that, he looked down to his own hand. With barely a thought, he was able to see straight through his wrinkled skin and into the floor below. Remembering the young girl whose extraordinary power had swept over the world, he knew that people with such power <i><span style="font-weight:400">did</i><span style="font-weight:400"> exist. It was just hard to ept them as part of his normal life.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The average civilian, through personal training and schooling, tends to reach a level of roughly two hundred and fifty in total. Most of these levels naturallye from the Schr ss, which is trained simply by studying in school. Those whose upation involve training a ss often reach between five hundred and seven hundred.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Even then, these people are typically notbatants. Their sses are either academic or production rted, meaning that their physical stats experience only negligible increases. Kris himself had rather low physical stats.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Then there were thew enforcers. These individuals were trainedbatants. Disregarding their schooling, they learned a wide range of sses before picking their specialty. Once they hadpleted their training in that specialty, it wasn¡¯t umon for them to have levels in the eight hundreds, or even higher.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Kris took a moment to consider that. A fully trained police officer had the power to overthrow an entire city of normal civilians. That was the highest level of power he encountered on a daily basis, but he knew that was far from the end.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Adventurers, like his friend Jin, oftentimes reached over level one thousand. Furthermore, as they were typically out fighting monsters to either protect people or gather materials to sell, they had realbat experience. Unlike police officers, whose mere presence served as a deterrent for crime, adventurers would find themselves beset by bandits and beasts alike.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was not hard to believe that one adventurer could take on five police officers, maybe even ten. And then¡­ you had the Maxers of Fyor. The group who had raised themselves to level one thousand, one hundred and fifty. This was the level cap currently allowed within that world, and they often specialized in their particr role, training to fight monsters up to a hundred levels stronger than themselves.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If a trained adventurer could take on five police officers, a proper Maxer could take on five trained adventurers just as easily. There had even been reports of Maxers that had feuds within Fyor, their fights spanning multiple levels. At times, entire cities disappeared under their battles, as it was hard to employ such people to protect every city.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Finally¡­ even above the Maxers, there were apparently the gods. Kris couldn¡¯t even imagine how many Maxers a singlebat deity could handle on their own. Ten? A hundred? Maybe even a thousand, depending onpatibility? It was a realm that he couldn¡¯t properly fathom, and clearly one where it was no longer a matter of being able to destroy mere cities.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">So this is what you meant, young¡¯in. Is the world ready for the kind of power that this thing can give them?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Kris questioned whether such a thing was true, but¡­ in the end, were there not already far more powerful forces at y in the world? At most, this would elevate the status of the working ss, such as himself, and offer them some means of protection in the wild.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As he realized that these powers were truly nothingpared to what was already avable, he resolved to take the achievement with him to his grave. That way, this gift prepared by that young girl would not be wasted on an old fool like himself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course¡­ he was in no hurry to reach his grave, and the prospect of a long life was quite appealing to his old bones. But when the time <i><span style="font-weight:400">did</i><span style="font-weight:400">e, he wouldn¡¯t have regrets! Probably.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m boooored!¡± Dana shouted as she rolled around on the floor in her workshop, Tsubaki watching with an amused smile. ¡°I upgraded the storage space with space-folding enchantments to prevent void encroachment, enhanced the automatic sorting feature, wrote a program to create enchantment diagrams, and finished enchanting <i><span style="font-weight:400">everything</i><span style="font-weight:400"> in the storage!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Have you considered writing a trantion program for Fyor¡¯s rune magic?¡± Tsubaki asked as she watched the little elf roll along the ground.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Did that way back! It prints rune-script and phics to help people learn thenguage! I need something new!¡± Dana had thoroughly run out of projects to work on within the Sky Citadel. ¡°I was going to work on upgrading the propulsion system of the Sky Citadel, but whenever I talk about doing that¡­¡± She abruptly rolled to the side as a small brick appeared out of nowhere, crashing towards where she had been previously.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ye¡¯ll break it,ss! Don¡¯t touch the Citadel¡¯s systems!¡± Tubrock¡¯s voice boomed from the empty air, causing Tsubaki to blink in surprise.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sky Citadel, Sky Citadel, Sky Citadel!¡± Dana repeated, constantly rolling to the side as brick after brick crashed into the floor. Tsubaki could tell that Tubrock wasn¡¯t truly trying to hit her. If anything, he was entertaining her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Why not y one of your games?¡± Tsubaki suggested, knowing that Dana very clearly needed something to keep her busy. Thest thing the world needed was a thousand year old shadow elf with too much time on her hands and nothing to do.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah¡­ after ying the same games for a few decades, they get a bit stale.¡± Dana pouted, rolling onto her stomach to stare up at Tsubaki. ¡°It¡¯d be more fun if we could y together, but I know you¡¯ve got a lot on your te managing that pce in Sanctum.¡± She gave aforting smile up towards Tsubaki, making sure she knew that there were no hard feelings there.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki only offered a soft smile in return. She knew that she couldn¡¯t y as many games as she and Dana used to, at least not until she became proficient enough with multitasking that she could have an avatar actively handling matters in Sanctum, one in the Citadel, and one in the game. Although it sounded easy,pared to having over a dozen avatars actively doing chores, those avatars were all performing highly practiced actions, involving little active thought on her end.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was an entirely different matter to prepare herself for a position where she would potentially have to carry on multiple conversations at the same time. Not to mention listening to the priests she had scattered through the world to act as her eyes¡­ Tsubaki let out a long sigh as she thought to that point. ¡°Maybe I should think about getting some more help here?¡± She considered, earning a scandalized gasp from Dana.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What?¡± She nced off to the side. ¡°I can still do my work, but I can¡¯t really spend much time with youtely, and that time gets stretched thinner the more tasks I take on¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana hopped up to her feet, lunging over to wrap her arms around Tsubaki. ¡°The great and powerful Tsuba, the ultimate workaholic, is thinking about recruiting extra help so that she can have more time to rx?! The end times are upon us!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki rolled her eyes with a smirk, bringing her hand down to pat Dana¡¯s head. ¡°We¡¯ve been alone in this ce for a long time. Maybe it would be nice to have a third person here to share the load and spend our time with¡­¡± Solitude was no problem for Tsubaki personally, and she was more than capable of having an avatar stand in one position for decades at a time to watch for the slightest movement from the Keeper.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However¡­ solitude and stagnation were perhaps the most terrifying things in the world for Dana, as they often reminded her of her time alone in Hell. As long as it was not creating trouble for her Keeper, Tsubaki would happily save Dana from that kind of experience. ¡°In the meantime, though¡­ if there aren¡¯t any new games that you¡¯re interested in, why not see if you can work with nk to create your own?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana¡¯s eyes went wide as saucers at that, clearly having not thought of such a solution. ¡°Making a new game¡­ we¡¯ll need a lot of server space¡­ no wait, we¡¯ll need some upgraded servers. What did James call them¡­ micro-servers? I¡¯ll get the design off of him and go talk to nk!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After she said that, she gave Tsubaki a tight hug, before running past her and leaving the workshop. Tsubaki watched her, her smile turning warmer as she saw the little elf revitalized. After watching her leave, she turned and walked to her room, sitting down in her bed. She closed her eyes, sending a prayer up towards the gods and goddesses above.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Lords and Ladies at my Keeper¡¯s side. I¡¯m looking to recruit an additional servant of the Sky Citadel. As my grasp on the people in this world cannotpare to all of you, I ask of you if there is one suitable to serve my Keeper along with Dana and myself.</i>


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">With the golem situation handled, those of us in the Admin Room were taking our time to enjoy a game of Keeper¡¯s Cards. It had been a while since most of us came together to y, so we were just taking the chance to have some fun together. As I was looking over my deck, thinking how I wanted to expand a kitsune cyberpunk world, a series of sharp gasps rose up from nearby.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I looked over, seeing that Bihena, Aurivy, Udona, alia, and Keliope were all exchanging shocked expressions. ¡°..What happened?¡± I couldn¡¯t help asking, as they all reacted at practically the same time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, this is¡­¡± Bihena didn¡¯t seem to know how to exin, but Keliope grinned broadly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Your little fox just put out a ¡®Help Wanted¡¯ ad in a prayer. Says they finally need another servant for you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After Keliope said that, Aurivy giggled. ¡°Tsubaki¡¯s been overworking herself again. I think the fact that she¡¯s recognizing it and stopping it from going too far shows that she¡¯s grown quite a lot since back in the day¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded, remembering how Tsubaki had almost pushed herself to her death to train the legions for my first invasion. By the time they were done, there was barely any energy left in her body. While I was surprised that she took the initiative to ask for help, I was also happy. I never wanted her to force herself to endure more than she could handle, even if it was for my sake.

 Chapter 689: Godslayer

    Chapter 689: Godyer


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What¡¯s the door say this time?¡± A young girl asked, her skin an almost ghastly pale of white. Simr tohrak but¡­ with an almost sleeker texture. She wore leather armor, but carried no visible weapons. Next to her was a white slime standing nearly three meters tall, its form highly translucent.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It looks like the first boss is Wind today, Lifre.¡± The slime said as he read the word written above the stone door. The reason that the slime read off the domain was not because the smaller girl was unable to read it herself, but rather because she was knelt down on the floor preparing something.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Wind, huh?¡± She muttered, thinking to herself. ¡°It¡¯ll probably be some kind of bird, then. But arrows won¡¯t work against a wind domain, so I¡¯ll need a way to get in close. So¡­ let¡¯s go with flight boots, and long des.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she said that, her feet began shifting, as if liquifying before settling on the shape of thick leather boots. Her hands vanished into her wrists as a pair of long, silver des emerged. ¡°For the right one, let¡¯s use energy disruption to attack its divine power. And the left one¡­ let¡¯s have that one set for increased defense, so I can parry attacks.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Armor¡­ maximizing my shing resistance should be the best bet.¡± She nodded her head happily once she had set that, before standing up. Her left and right des rubbed against one another, producing dazzling sparks. ¡°Okay, ndre, you stay here. I¡¯lle back for you after I beat the boss.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t want to take ahrak with you? Nobody¡¯s ever beaten the first boss¡­ It¡¯s really dangerous.¡± It was obvious that the white slime was worried for the girl, who simply shrugged her shoulders.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Nah, you can¡¯t trust a fleshy to take down a god. Only a god can kill a god!¡± She held up her right de, as if pointing to the sky.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°But you aren¡¯t a--¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m a god in my own heart!¡± She puffed her cheeks out to cut her friend off. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll be fine. Anything they can do, I can do better! And if the worst happens, I¡¯ll just teleport out! Wind doesn¡¯t trump space, after all. I¡¯m pretty sure that this thing won¡¯t be able to instantly kill me, anyways.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The white slime let out a long, wet sigh when he heard that, visibly deting. ¡°Just be careful.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yup, I¡¯ll see youter!¡± She waved, already charging towards the door. Without her having to touch it, the massive stone blocks began to open on their own, as if epting their challenger. Once she had entered, the doors slowly closed behind her, leaving the worried slime to wait outside.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Inside the dungeon, the little challenger looked around to find her opponent. ¡°Come here, little birdy. Lifre¡¯s got a couple presents for you.¡± She said as she swept her eyes across therge room.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Suddenly, Lifre felt an impact at her back, causing her to tumble forward. Her ded arms prated into the ground as she spun to face her attacker, blinking when there was nobody there. ¡°Wind bullets, not des? Has nobody taught this guy how to wind properly?¡± She muttered to herself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Still, she remained observant, waiting for an opening to attack. ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ if they¡¯re using a wind-based invisibility¡­¡± Her head briefly shifted, goggles seeming to grow out of her skull. Looking through the goggles, she could see the flow of the wind currents in her surroundings, and could use that to gauge where her opponent was hiding.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There you are!¡± She shouted after finding an area where the wind was congregating. Surprisingly, the area was on the ground rather than the air, but she wasn¡¯t going toin about an easy target.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lunging over, she readied her right arm to swing at the mass of wind, but found herself only cutting through empty air. The target had retreated as soon as it saw her urately targeting it. ¡°Now now, I can see you! No point in running!¡± She said as she chased after the mass of wind. ¡°Enchant leggings for maximum speed¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After she said this, her speed drastically increased, allowing her to catch up to the fleeing God of Wind. With a single sh, her right de tore through the invisible barrier surrounding the creature, causing her to gasp out in surprise. ¡°It¡¯s a puppy!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The God of Wind that she was fighting was a massive, silver-furred wolf. It was hard to tell where it had evolved, but it was intelligent enough to know that Lifre was not an easy opponent. Having barely evaded a direct hit from herst attack, the monster god let out a low growl, yet that noise couldn¡¯t reach Lifre.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hmm?¡± She tilted her head, feeling the vibration from the ground as the god charged forward. However, she could not hear any noise. She even shed her swords together, and only ¡®felt¡¯ the sound of the impact that was transferred across her body. ¡°Oh! A vacuum!¡± She giggled at that, before readying her des again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As the god reached her, she intercepted its paw with its left de, before stabbing forward with the right. Once again, the cautious monster pulled back to avoid the blow. Seeing this, Lifre only grinned broadly. The de on her right hand expanded explosively, piercing forward dozens of meters to skewer through the body of the wolf.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The pained howl of the wolf god could be heard in her ears, letting her know that its control of the vacuum around her hadpsed. Even if it didn¡¯t, however, she wasn¡¯t worried. Her eyes were drawn to the health bar above its head, as if savoring a long-sought prize. ¡°One down¡­ neen to go!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The small girl had a manic grin on her face as she charged again, her right de temporarily returning to its normal length. A trace of panic could be seen on the enemy¡¯s face as it opened its mouth to release a powerful howl. Unlike its initial attack, this howl contained not only a brute force impact, but also numerous condensed des of wind.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre brought her arm up to parry the wind des while enduring the impact, only to feel one of the des slip past her sword arm and sink through the elbow. With a sloshing sound, the arm fell to the floor, causing Lifre to look at it in rm. ¡°Hey! I was using that!¡± She called out in indignation, a new ded arm sprouting from the stump.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once the howl ended, Lifre lunged forward again, stabbing towards the wolf. Having learned its lesson from the previous exchange, it did not try to dodge backwards this time. Rather, it dodged to the side, delivering a powerful p with its paw towards Lifre¡¯s head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Bad dog!¡± She rebuked, and her right de shifted again. This time, the de swept out to the side like a long scythe, stabbing the nk of the divine beast. She allowed its paw to crush her head, popping it like an overinted water balloon as white liquid sshed everywhere.


    <span style="font-weight:400">To the wolf¡¯s dismay, the girl attacking it did not copse with the loss of her head. Instead, it felt an agonizing sensation as the de inside of its body suddenly branched off. Dozens of smaller des formed along its length, and began rapidly rotating within its body. Almost immediately, a hole was punched through the wolf¡¯s body, and the de tore towards its head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Its health bar was rapidly depleting as it fled back, barely able to support itself on its front two paws. The wolf could only look helplessly at its back half that was left behind. Then, it saw bubbles rising along the girl¡¯s body, forming a new head that grinned back at it. ¡°Well, it looks like someone is on theirst legs~.¡± She teased, her barbed right arm looking like a blender in action.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her right arm retracted, returning to its normal appearance. Afterwards, she stabbed the de directly into the ground. The wolf looked as if it wanted to take advantage of her position, andunched a wind de at her from its side. However, her left arm expanded, wrapping around her entire body and forming a solid dome of enchanted steel.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was what came next that caused shivers to run down what remained of the wolf¡¯s spine. All along the steel dome, narrow slits formed, turning into eyes that observed in all directions. Without two of its legs, the wolf had lost a great deal of its mobility, but it still felt as if staying in one ce would be dangerous.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, with the power of wind supporting it, it lifted off the ground, flying higher up into the air. ¡°Ooh, smart doggy!¡± Lifre said within her steel dome. ¡°Unfortunately for you¡­ I had a <i><span style="font-weight:400">big</i><span style="font-weight:400"> meal beforeing here!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">All along the room, the ground suddenly began to crack and twist. Hundreds of des extended from the ground, branching off and filling the room from top to bottom. In such a situation, the wolf did not even have any room to dodge, let alone counterattack. It let out a helpless whine as it was pierced by over a dozen des, its health plummeting.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once the God of Wind had died, Lifre slowly retracted her des, bringing it down to the ground as she emerged from her steel dome. She wrapped her des around both the newly pierced front half and the previously severed back half on the ground in front of her. ¡°Now, time for seconds~!¡± She called out happily, devouring the body of the god.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was amon belief among the slimes that they would only be able to ascend to godhood if they themselves devoured a god. Lifre, a mimic slime that had finally achieved this task, fully intended on putting that to the test today.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she devoured the divine body of the monster deity, she felt its power filling her. Yet, there was something stopping it from fully integrating with her body. Sure, she felt like she could release wind des such as the wolf had previously used, but¡­ it would only be by consuming the energy she was currently storing. She wouldn¡¯t be able to produce that energy herself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This caused Lifre to sulk, her body drooping as a pout formed over her lips. ¡°Am I only a half-god of Wind now, after all that?¡± She muttered to herself, before seeing a portal forming along the edge of the stone room. Looking over, she realized that she could either take the door to the next floor, the door out of the room, or the portal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There had never been a case of a portal appearing after a dungeon boss. The most that would happen would be a chest appearing to reward the adventurer for their hard work. Allowing her arms to return to being¡­ well, arms, she began walking towards the portal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I should let nder know that I beat the boss, but¡­ shiny portal is shiny and new!¡± She said to herself, charging into the glowing portal. Whenever something ¡®new¡¯ presented itself to Lifre, she couldn¡¯t help but want to investigate it as far as she could. That was how she was able to master the art of creating enchanted weapons and armors out of her own body, due to having extensively studied the creation of such items manually.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre jumped through the portal, fortifying the defense around her core. When she appeared, she was standing on a wide, t ind of stone in the middle of an ocean. ¡°Buh..?¡± She voiced out intelligibly, moments before she felt a divine presence falling onto the ind next to her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre shuddered, feeling that the strength of this divinity couldn¡¯t even bepared to the wolf that she had fought previously. When she turned over to look at the source of the power, she found a girl standing no taller than herself, with pink hair and wearing a long, silk dress.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hello, Lifre.¡± The small goddess said, smiling towards the mimic slime. ¡°I¡¯ve got a proposition for you.¡±

 Chapter 690: New Hire

    Chapter 690: New Hire


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre blinked as she stared at the goddess standing before her. ¡°Wait, I¡¯ve seen you somewhere before.¡± She said, before tilting her head at a wholly unnatural angle, as if that would give her a better look at the goddess.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The pink-haired girl merely waited with an amused smile on her face while Lifre sifted through her memories, before thetter suddenly jolted upright in realization. ¡°Ah! You¡¯re Aurivy, the Goddess of Love, Travel, and Whatnot!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy¡¯s eye twitched slightly at that. ¡°Dungeons. Love, Travel, and Dungeons. But yes, that¡¯s me.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Don¡¯t sweat the details.¡± Lifre shrugged her shoulders, waving it off. ¡°So, what is this proposition you¡¯ve got for me? Just so you know, I¡¯m already married--¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, you¡¯re not.¡± Aurivy smirked, raising an eyebrow as she interrupted Lifre.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°--I¡¯m married to the idea of staying single!¡± She stuck her tongue out, earning a faint chuckle from the halfling goddess. Her cheeks puffed up, and she stared at Aurivy in silence to prompt her to talk.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Do they still teach kids about the Keeper back home?¡± Aurivy asked, nting her hands on her hips and grinning towards Lifre.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Keeper¡­ that¡¯s like, the boss above the boss above the boss, right?¡± Lifre asked. ¡°The big guy of all creation?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That would be the one.¡± Aurivy gave a small nod. ¡°He¡¯s currently looking for an additional helper. He has two right now, but they are needing reinforcements for various tasks. Given your recent battle against the God of Wind in the dungeon, I think you have met the qualifications to serve as the Keeper¡¯s personal aide.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The white-skinned Lifre was practically bubbling with excitement as she listened to the job offer. No¡­ she was actually bubbling. Still, she calmed herself enough to ask what she felt like were the important questions. ¡°What do I get if I ept? And what will I be needing to do?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy¡¯s smile grew a touch wider. ¡°Well, first of all¡­ it is my power that is locking the slimes¡¯ abilities to ascend to divinity. You guys just learn and adapt too quickly, and we can¡¯t have millions of gods suddenly appearing, you know? If you ept the deal, I¡¯ll undo your seal, and you will be able to properly integrate the divine power of the wolf you just ate to ascend to divinity. Additionally--¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ll do it!¡± She shouted out happily, bouncing over to rest directly in front of Aurivy. Her eyes began to sparkle with the realization that this would allow her to ascend and be a true goddess. ¡°Bing the Keeper¡¯s assistant or whatever, I¡¯ll do it!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">It had been Lifre¡¯s dream ever since she began training to one day be a goddess herself. She studied every form of instruction manual she could get her hand one, whether they were for crafting, magic,bat, even farming. She thought that a goddess should know as much as she can about everything.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Partly due to Lifre¡¯s persistence, Tower had even opened an academy in his dungeon city. It was hidden away through a maze of secret passages, but he allowed word of it to spread through the workers of the city. Within a week, Lifre had deciphered almost every secret passage in the city to find the academy, until she finally charged into the building.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As the city¡¯s workers were the other dungeon cores found throughout the various worlds, they were able to teach a wide selection of topics. At the very least, it was far more than she would have learned from any library, and she was able to get hands-on instruction from someone that seemed to know everything she could want to learn about a subject.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After Lifre herself discovered the academy, it was years before their next student appeared, this one a studious younghrak that wanted to simply learn more about the world. To Lifre, it was terrible to have taken so long to find a few hidden passages. Sure, there were a few traps, and some of them teleported you straight into the dungeon, but that was part of the fun! If you didn¡¯t want to go to the dungeon, why would you live in a dungeon city?!


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sadly, even after learning everything she could learn from the academy, she did not feel herselfing any closer to her dream. She looked through various legends of both her own race and those of thehrak, and eventually found an old story that spected slimes could only be a god if they devoured the divine energy of another god.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With her new goal, Lifre redoubled her training. She dragged her friend, ndre, into the dungeon with her to fight and gain experience. Her level soared as she was able to put the information she acquired from the academy to practical use, developing her own fighting style of using her body as the ultimate weapon.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However¡­ even that hope was dashed after she defeated her most recent adversary, as she had properly absorbed his divine essence without having the chance to reach divinity herself. Now, she had learned that the reason why she and other slimes had not been able to ascend was because of the small goddess in front of her. At first, she was frustrated with this knowledge, but that immediately faded when she heard the offer made by the goddess.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was the chance to aplish her lifelong dream. Furthermore, the way the goddess had worded her new offer made it sound as if there would be another adventure awaiting her after she epted. She did not even need to hesitate, as there was nothing more that Lifre could ask for.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy blinked at Lifre¡¯s sudden eptance, realizing that she hadn¡¯t even gotten to exin what Lifre¡¯s actual job would be. ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll release your seal, and then send you to the home of the Keeper. Once you¡¯re there, there will be someone that can help you use the divine power within your body to ascend. Until then, I¡¯d suggest filtering it as much as you can to remove the traces of the Wind domain. Unless, of course, that¡¯s the domain you want.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre shook her head adamantly at that, immediately setting to work filtering the divine energy. Even if she had never possessed the ability to wield divine power before, this was one of the things that had been taught in the academy. A course that she had been <i><span style="font-weight:400">especially</i><span style="font-weight:400"> attentive for.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing how eager Lifre was to get started, Aurivy offered a small smile. ¡°I guess I chose right.¡± She said, stretching her hand out to ce it on the center of Lifre¡¯s chest. ¡°Child of my child, one who has been sealed by the restrictions of slimes, I release your lock. May your future be boundless and unhindered.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre felt as if something shifted inside of her when Aurivy said that. Like there was a sudden warmth within her core that seemed to radiate with the new energy that she had obtained. Lifre jumped with joy as golden mist swirled around her body, blinking as she realized she was being transported away. ¡°Wait, I never told ndre I beat--¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki and Dana were walking the halls of the Sky Citadel together, inspecting for anything that needed cleaning. It had been three days since Tsubaki¡¯s request to have a new servant join their ranks. When she had made her request, Aurivy said that she would find someone shortly to send by for Tsubaki to appraise. Sadly, she did not say when this new arrival would appear, so they could only go about their days as normal for the time being.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana still appeared to be in high spirits, something that Tsubaki was relieved to find, as she had been worried that her adopted sister might quickly sink into depression. Thankfully, the fact that Tsubaki was making an effort to find help so that they could spend more time together appeared to help Dana¡¯s mindset quite a lot.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I think we got everywhere today¡­¡± Dana muttered, looking into the final room. ¡°Anything new from the other world reports?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki shook her head at that, smiling towards Dana. ¡°Not today. Have you and nk decided what sort of game you want to make together?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana¡¯s face lit up at that. ¡°We¡¯re still in the nning stage right now. I¡¯m thinking a hardcore survival game so far. Imagine it like Vision Expanse, but without any NPCs. The entire game is operated by yers, and only up to a thousand yers can start on the same. That means that they¡¯ll need to develop all the tools necessary to reach others with just that select group of people.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki blinked as she heard about that concept. ¡°Are you not concerned that the difficulty will be too high and it will turn yers away?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana shook her head, a small grin on her face. ¡°This is only meant to be a game for people that enjoy that kind of challenge! I might set up a more casual server as well, though, wheres have a much higher poption limit.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°-the boss!¡± Suddenly, the two girls heard an unfamiliar voice just ahead of them, and both of them prepared to fight. Dana¡¯s shadows surged as she drew a sword from the ground behind her, and Tsubaki¡¯s tails lit up with brilliant light.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was the Sky Citadel, after all. Although there were numerous spells and techniques that could prate its barrier, there were few daring enough to do so without making a prior request. Thus, the two girls were immediately ready to fight when they heard the voice of the stranger, their eyes turning to look at the arrival.


    <span style="font-weight:400">What they found was a pale white girl wrapped in golden mist, her skin a wholly unnatural shade for any race belonging to the primary worlds. The girl barely stood taller than Dana,nding on her feet with a faint bounce and looking around in confusion. ¡°Is this the Keeper¡¯s home?¡± She asked with a tilt of her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right¡­¡± Dana nodded slowly, her hand grasping tight the handle of the sword she was holding. ¡°Who are you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m Lifre! Aurivy sent me so that you can make me a goddess!¡± Lifre beamed happily at that, before blinking. ¡°Oh, and I can help out here and be an assistant. I¡¯m not a bad slime, so please take care of me!¡± She sped her hands together when she said that, causing the other two to look at her in confusion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°A¡­ slime?¡± Tsubaki asked, certain that she had misheard.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yup! I¡¯m a mimic slime. This is a body I gained when I found a little girl deep in the dungeon. She was already dead, but I didn¡¯t want her family to think she just ran away from home, so I ate her body and went to find them!¡± Lifre smiled proudly when she said that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡­ ate her body because you didn¡¯t want her parents to worry¡­ why didn¡¯t you just carry it back?¡± Dana questioned, seeming more concerned for the slime¡¯s mental wellbeing than for the fact she could have been a hostile entity at this point.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, I didn¡¯t know where she lived, obviously!¡± Lifre rolled her eyes as she said that. ¡°When a mimic eats someone, we get just a little bit of their memories. It was enough for me to figure out where she lived so that I could go find her parents and tell them what happened!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana looked over at Tsubaki, whispering to the kitsune. ¡°Since when have there been talking mimics? Did I miss an important memo?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki shook her head at that, being equally clueless. ¡°You said that Lady Aurivy sent you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oooh, Lady, huh? That sounds fancy! Will I be a Lady after I be a goddess? Wait, no, don¡¯t answer that, I¡¯ll find out myself. And yeah, she sent me! She said you wanted an assistant, and that I was fit for the job after killing some wolf god. She even promised one of you could help me be a god myself!¡± Lifre smiled expectantly towards the two, watching as their bodies slumped down.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I guess that would be me, then.¡± Tsubaki nodded her head, as she had experienced the process of helping someone ascend firsthand. ¡°Have you made any progress yourself?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Nope!¡± Lifre proudly dered. ¡°Aurivy said that she sealed slimes so that they can¡¯t be gods without her permission, but she released my seal before sending me here. But, I¡¯ve got a bunch of divine energy from eating the wolf god!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s brow twitched slightly at that, thinking that this new ¡®recruit¡¯ of theirs had quite a lot of energy, but not in the divine sense. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get to work then.¡±

 Chapter 691: Endurance Test

    Chapter 691: Endurance Test


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, how do you want to do this, bossdy?¡± Lifre asked with a grin, looking at Tsubaki as she sat on a chair in the kitsune¡¯s room. The two hade here for the purpose of fulfilling Aurivy¡¯s promise to help her ascend to divinity. A process that Tsubaki had experienced firsthand when the Keeper had done the same thing for her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki looked at the little mimic slime, stroking her chin in thought. ¡°First, I¡¯ll need ess to your core. That¡¯s what we will really be enhancing, after all.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">All slimes shared a notable trait, which was that their main body was in fact a small core that rested inside themselves. This core looked like little more than a spherical rock, and could be destroyed with a well ced strike. It held the mind and soul of the slime, while the gtinous body wasrgely receable.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For a mimic such as Lifre, her gtinous form stored the excess material and energy that she had previously absorbed, allowing for her to quickly activate them at will. This was a different form of storage than a void slime, as she did not deposit items into the void to store them. Instead, they were liquified andpressed, bing additional ¡®slime matter¡¯.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre pouted her lips when she heard that, but still nodded and extended one hand. ¡°Okay, but be careful with this! I¡¯ve only got one, and I¡¯d like not to lose it!¡± In the palm of her hand, her ¡®skin¡¯ squirmed and parted, a small stone appearing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Tsubaki plucked that stone from Lifre¡¯s palm, the mimic slime melted in seconds, her body turning into a pile of goop all over Tsubaki¡¯s chair. ¡°That¡¯s going to take all night to clean¡­¡± The kitsune muttered to herself as she looked at the core in her hand. She could see what appeared to be engravings on it, markings that contained the power of mana, ki, and spiritual energy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, instead of cultivating additional energy cores, she integrated them all with her primary core? Is this how her people have evolved to handle it?¡± She wondered, before shaking her head. She stared at the core for a moment, conveying her words via spiritual energy. ¡°When I do this, you will feel pain beyond anything you have ever imagined. It might even feel like you have died a hundred times over. Pain should be argely new concept for you, so I have to give you this warning.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If you can endure the pain and not resist my influence, you will be able to sessfully advance. However, if you resist it for even a moment, I can¡¯t guarantee that you will be able to survive. Are you ready?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a brief pause before the core seemed to vibrate in Tsubaki¡¯s hand. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Stop trying to scare me and get it over with! I can endure a bit of pain, no problem!</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki let out a sigh, suddenly feeling like this might not be such a good idea. Regardless, this was a promise made by Aurivy, and a candidate chosen by her. While Tsubaki may not have that much faith in Lifre herself, she could believe in the goddess that chose to bring her here. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll begin.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Channeling her energy, Tsubaki found the spark of Lifre¡¯s soul fluttering about within the sphere in her hand. In situations like this, having a smaller body actually made the process easier, because the divine spark had far less room to retreat. Tsubaki seized that spark, guiding Lifre¡¯s soul to merge with it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Working from her own experiences, she supplemented her own energies to stabilize the process, just as the Keeper had done for her long ago. With her sensitivity to energy fluctuations, it was a surprisingly easy process for her to fuse the divine energy within Lifre¡¯s core with the slime¡¯s spirit.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, the process was by no means painless, and Lifre¡¯s voice could be heard resounding in Tsubaki¡¯s soul constantly. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Who said pain could hurt this much!? I want to talk to pain¡¯s manager! GAH, it¡¯s pulling me apart! I¡¯ll be a good slime, just don¡¯t break me!</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Perhaps most surprisingly, Lifre never offered the slightest resistance despite how much pain she was clearly in. If anything, her increasingly incoherent screams appeared to be her method of venting the pain so that she would not fight back against Tsubaki¡¯s control. As long as she focused like this, she would be able to stop herself from interfering.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The entire process took roughly ten minutes, during which time there was a visible change in Lifre¡¯s core. The original ck surface, engraved with various colors to represent different energies, had be a pure gold. The engraved patterns were still there, but they did not have any additional coloring to them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once Lifre felt that her soul was no longer being pulled apart at the seams, she mentally whined. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Am I a god yet..?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki shook her head. ¡°No, that was merely step one. The next step will likely be more painful for you. Do you want to keep going now, or wait so that you can recover first?¡± In truth, Tsubaki felt it was admirable that Lifre was even conscious after having her soul reforged. Even Tsubaki herself had lost consciousness when the relief from the process finishing had hit her. Part of the kitsune even wondered if slimes were capable of sleep in the first ce.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">All at once¡­ let¡¯s get this over with¡­ </i><span style="font-weight:400">Although Lifre was still reeling from the pain that she had experienced, it was within the level that she could bear. Unlike most slimes, she was no stranger to pain. Pain was one of the many methods she had tried in the past to ascend, believing that if she broke through her limits, her body would experience a qualitative change.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately, that had not been the case. No matter what sort of pain she afflicted herself with, even simting her soul being burnt in eternal fire, there was no divine evolution. The process had not been without its benefits, but it did not include the benefits that she was hoping for. That was why she had developed her¡­ unique method of venting the pain, so that she would not stop channeling whatever effect she was using at the time to cause it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded her head, feeling rather impressed with the slime in her hand. ¡°Very well¡­ this next step will upgrade your ¡®body¡¯ to reach a divine state. To do so, we have to shatter your physical--¡±


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">You¡¯re going to shatter me!?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Lifre asked in rm, that word clearly catching her attention. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯ll die if you do that, you know!</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded her head, a small smile forming on her lips. ¡°I am aware. I¡¯ve also undergone this process, myself. After shattering your physical form, it is then remade with a mixture of divine energy and ki. For this process, the important thing you must keep in mind is not to let your consciousness disperse as well as not interfering. I¡¯ll protect it as much as I can, but it will require your cooperation. You¡¯ll feel dizzy when it starts to happen, but you have to keep focusing. Otherwise, I won¡¯t be able to help you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre hesitated at that, before letting out a mental whimper. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯m ready¡­</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once she had the signal to proceed, Tsubaki sent her energy into Lifre¡¯s core once again, gathering the most pure divine energy within her. Then¡­ she clenched her fist, shattering the core altogether. Her face became extremely focused, because at this point she was in a race against time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Harnessing Lifre¡¯s divine energy, Tsubaki pulled on the ki from the numerous core fragments, coiling them together and helping them to fuse. When she did so, the falling shards halted, no longer rushing towards the floor. Instead, they gradually floated upwards, their golden glow intensifying.


    <span style="font-weight:400">These core fragments continued letting off brighter and brighter light, seeming to melt under their own radiance. Rushing together, they merged into one, spinning rapidly above Tsubaki¡¯s palm. Tsubaki could feel the shape of the core changing, no longer that of a smooth sphere. Instead, it elongated to form a wide disc.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Finally, once the disc seemed to be fully formed, a hole opened in its center, growing wider and wider until it nearly reached the edge. What now hovered over Tsubaki¡¯s palm was a golden halo measuring half a meter across and radiating with divine power. ¡°That was¡­ easier than I expected.¡± Tsubaki admitted, looking at the slime staining her chair.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki could feel during the entire process that there had been an ample amount of divine energy being supplied from Lifre¡¯s discarded slime body. It had instinctively reacted to her ascension, and left the viscous form of its own initiative. Along the way, it purified itself time and again, until only the raw power of divinity was left to integrate with Lifre¡¯s divine body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Where other ascending divinities needed years to umte their power, Lifre already had a spare divine battery saved up for just such an asion. This was rather helpful, as Tsubaki was already nning to use her own divine power to aid in the process. Even without doing so, Lifre¡¯s status as the Keeper¡¯s subordinate goddess had been determined as soon as Tsubaki aided her in attaining her divine soul.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Are you still there, Lifre?¡± Tsubaki asked, looking intently at the halo. It was hard to tell if Lifre had finally lost consciousness with thisst step, in which case she would need to wait before undergoing the final phase.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">My mommy was a goop, she went schlorp¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Lifre¡¯s delirious voice answered Tsubaki with a giggle, and it was evident that she was only barely hanging on at this point. Tsubaki felt a small pang of emotions, nodding her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If you want to stop, we can. There is only one step left to the process, so there is no rush. Thisst stage won¡¯t cause any pain, but it will cause you to fall unconscious. When you awaken, you should be aplete goddess.¡±


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">A nap sounds lovely. I¡¯ll take two please, with a cup of water. Hold the lemon. Sour things make my jigglies warble.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Lifre answered, starting to be both more and less coherent at the same time. Tsubaki blinked, trying to decipher what Lifre was saying.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡­ think that means to continue. I¡¯ll let you rest now.¡± She muttered, gathering a bit of divine energy and infusing it into the halo. She sought out Lifre¡¯s mind, her mana, and pressed her divinity into it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki watched as cracks began forming on Lifre¡¯s halo-shaped core, her expression bing startled. She quickly felt as if she had done something wrong, as if she had failed in helping Lifre ascend at the final step. This thought was further cemented when Lifre¡¯s core shattered entirely, falling like dust from her hand.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh no¡­¡± Tsubaki muttered, watching the remains of Lifre¡¯s core falling into the puddle that she had left at the foot of her chair. However, momentster, she was able to hear a faint giggle in her mind. A very different giggle than Lifre¡¯s. ¡°...Lady Aurivy?¡± She called out, looking around. ¡°Were you hoping for me to fail there?¡±


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Oh, no, I was just amused, is all. I had the same reaction my first time. Don¡¯t worry, you didn¡¯t fail and she isn¡¯t dead. When a slime evolves fully to divinity, their core naturally shatters and integrates with their former body. A truly divine slime has no core, just like a god¡¯s body has no true weak point to exploit.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Just give her a while, and she¡¯ll wake up on her own. With any luck, you might not even need your mop.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Aurivy¡¯s words sent a wave of relief through Tsubaki, who nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thank you for that. Then, may I know what domain she will have?¡± Obviously, Lifre had not taken any time to train her divinity in any particr domain. In Tsubaki¡¯s mind, that meant that it was up to the whims of the gods in order to determine what power she would receive.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">No idea! I¡¯ll have to ask alia, she¡¯s the one in charge of that. I¡¯ll get back to youter!</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I sat with alia and Aurivy within the living room, the three of us watching the television. On it was the scene of Lifre¡¯s body slowly pulsing with divine energy. I nced over at alia, who shook her head to indicate that she hadn¡¯t gotten the prompt yet, and began to elerate time within the world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once I saw the look in her eyes change, I halted the elerated time, turning to look at her again. ¡°So? What did she get?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">alia mentally reviewed the list of applicable domains, her smile turning more yful. ¡°Well, the first one on the list is Persistence, which I suppose makes sense when you think of how stubbornly she¡¯s been chasing godhood. Same with the second, which is Obsession. Then the third, Pain¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eye twitched as I heard the top three domains. When I was selecting the domains for Aurivy¡¯s original two slime gods, there were only three options to choose from. I wasn¡¯t sure if that would still be the case, but I did not particrly want any of those three domains. That was why I was pleasantly surprised when alia spoke again. ¡°And the fourth¡­ Adventure.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That one.¡± I nodded my head quickly. Although it was not in Lifre¡¯s top three, it was the mostpatible domain she could receive that I found at least marginally eptable. After all, as she was bing my subordinate deity, I had to consider that I myself would be receiving whatever she got.


    <span style="font-weight:400">alia smiled yfully, nodding her head. ¡°Then she will be Lifre, the Goddess of Adventure. I suppose it will be interesting to see how she works together with Tsubaki and Dana.¡± With that said, she turned her head towards the screen, eagerly awaiting the oue of that decision.

 Chapter 692: Expectations Overturned

    Chapter 692: Expectations Overturned


    <span style="font-weight:400">ndre waited outside the stone door of the dungeon, staring at the entrance. His body shifted asionally as he hoped that the door would open at any moment. ndre had heard of fights taking hours, or even days to reach their conclusion, but he could not feel any intense vibrations from within the room. Was it the power of the dungeon itself that blocked those reverberations?


    <span style="font-weight:400">He had been waiting outside this room for two days at this point, unsure of the fate of his friend. During those two days, there had been no change within the door itself, the word ¡®Wind¡¯ still carved above it. Finally, he was unable to hold himself back anymore, and called out towards the walls of the dungeon.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Lord Tower, may I know the status of the battle in the following room? My friend should be in there.¡± It was rare for the God of Monsters to respond to such a call, but this was the five star dungeon. As it was situated directly beneath the home of Tower, he assumed that it would be easy to get his attention.


    <span style="font-weight:400">And, it seemed as if Tower had decided to humor him, as he responded barely a momentter. ¡°The battle within has long since settled. I am sorry, but your friend is no longer part of this world.¡± When the white slime heard that, his entire body shook violently. He couldn¡¯t believe that Lifre would simply die alone in a quiet corner like that, and he dipped his head as if paying his respects for her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I see¡­ I apologize for inconveniencing you, Lord Tower. I will return and perform the proper ceremonies.¡± After saying that, he turned to leave, but was cut off as the God of Monsters spoke to him again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You misunderstand my meaning. Your friend emerged victorious, and has left through a portal that appears when the god is in.¡± ndre¡¯s form trembled even more violently when he heard that, his despair quickly vanishing. He looked up in amazement, realizing that Lifre truly did have the strength to kill a god as a mortal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, there is something that still bothered him. ¡°Then¡­ why did you apologize?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Because the battle onlysted ten minutes.¡± The answer confused ndre, unsure why that would warrant an apology from a divine being. And then, he realized¡­ he had been standing there for two days. It had been two days since Lifre left through the portal without saying anything.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...Is it possible that the portal is only one-way, or it opens to an even more dangerous area?¡± He asked, forcing out a dry chuckle. How a slime was able to do anything dryly was already a wonder unto itself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Anyone who can earn the portal appearing will naturally be able to find a way to summon a simr portal. As for the destination¡­ I am not at liberty to tell you the specifics, but know that the area is no more dangerous than this world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In other words¡­ she forgot?¡± He muttered, letting out a long groan. That was¡­ very like Lifre, getting caught up in her own passions and forgetting about everything else for extended periods of time. There was one point where he lost track of her for over a year, only toter learn that she had found some hidden academy within the dungeon city.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It would appear that way.¡± The deity confirmed, and ndre could only shake his head bitterly. Realizing that there was truly no point in waiting for her any longer, he turned around and left the dungeon.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once outside, he saw a swarm of people that had been eagerly awaiting news of Lifre¡¯s conquest or defeat. Such people gathered around whenever anyone attempted the five star dungeon, so this came as no surprise. However, when they saw ndre ascending the stairs alone, their expressions turned sorrowful.


    <span style="font-weight:400">ndre was unsure how he should react to them. Should he tell them that the challenge was sessful, but that Lifre forgot to return and celebrate her victory with her friends and the rest of the city? This was the very first time anyone had cleared the ¡®god stage¡¯ of the dungeon, so it was a fairly big deal. But¡­ was it right to celebrate the victory without the main character present?


    <span style="font-weight:400">He merely shook his head, which further cemented the image that Lifre had lost the challenge. As the crowd began to disperse, ndre looked over at them. Before anything else, he decided that he needed to inform Lifre¡¯s friends that she was alive, even if there was no grand celebration of her victory.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre felt¡­ dizzy. As her consciousness returned, she felt the warmth was over her form, jiggling on a soft carpet. With a dramatic yawn, her body shifted, taking on the same appearance of thehrak youth that she had be familiar with.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, she felt something distinctly different, which was hard to put into words. Originally, a slime¡¯s perception did not work the same as a normal person¡¯s. They had their core, which was their true ¡®body¡¯ that contained their mind and soul. And then, they had their slime itself, which was produced by the core and connected to it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As long as the slime body was connected to its core, every cell would simultaneously act as a muscle, a sensory organ, and potentially a mouth. Every single slime cell was identical to any other within the same slime, and stored the information of everything the slime had currently digested.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In this way, the slime¡¯s only weak point was its core. No matter how much of its slime was pierced, bludgeoned, boiled, shredded, ttened, or severed, it wouldn¡¯t do a single point of damage to the slime itself. On the other hand, if the core was attacked, it would be like directly attacking the heart and brain of a normal person. Any attack capable of surpassing the core¡¯s defense would deal massive damage.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In terms of perception, this meant that a slime had two forms of perception. One was from the core itself, and the other from the linked slime body. The core would always feel as if it was drifting in an endless sea offort, with no eyes of its own to perceive the world. Meanwhile, the slime body would perceive light and sound from every direction at once, and even ¡®taste¡¯ everything it was in contact with. Unless, of course, it had set up a thin barrier to block out rather unpleasant tastes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The point being¡­ Lifre only felt one form of perception, that being the slime body she was currently in. There was no feeling of swimming through a gentle stream, being safely wrapped in her own embrace. She could not feel the existence of her core at all. ¡°Heh¡­ that can¡¯t be right, right?¡± She chuckled awkwardly, focusing on searching through her body again with her special senses.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In fact, even the perception she had from her slime body was subtly different whenpared to before. It felt more¡­ solid than it used to, as if she were truly in the body of ahrak now, instead of merely mimicking one. She sensed numerous organs within her that had always just been idle, a beating heart and working lungs.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, no, no, this is wrong! This is very wrong.¡± She shook her head, and realized that her heart had stopped at thatment. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, heart! Please don¡¯t kill me!¡± When she saw that she had a heart, and that it had stopped, she had assumed that meant that she would die. However, the seconds ticked by, and she realized that she did not feel any pain from her ¡®heart¡¯ stopping like this.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Letting out a long sigh of relief, she opened her eyes, looking down at herself. Afterwards, she promptly closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. ¡°Nethrak aren¡¯t golden¡­ they¡¯re white. I should be a cute girl with skin as white as a happy little snowman.¡± When she opened her eyes again, she saw the color fading entirely from her skin, the gold receding and forming the natural tone of thehrak.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Still, she was unable to sense the existence of the core within her body, which caused her far greater concern than the color of her skin. ¡°Uhm, hello? Miss maiddy with the fluffy tails? I think I¡¯m broken!¡± She called out, not sure where to go or what to do within this building.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, she did not have to wait long, as the door opened only seconds after her call. ¡°Oh good, you¡¯re here! I was worried because I can¡¯t feel my core, and slimes always have a core, and why do I feel something strange from you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki blinked as she entered the room, working to process eachment in turn. ¡°Lady Aurivy told me that when a slime ascends to godhood, their core dissolves and merges with their body. As for why you feel something from me¡­ perhaps it is because we are both subordinates to the Keeper? I can sense a very faint flow of divinity leaving your body, as well.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh.¡± Lifre nodded, thinking it over as she heard Tsubaki¡¯s exnation. ¡°But wait, I have a heart! I¡¯ve never had one of those before! Well, not one that works¡­ see?!¡± She shoved her hand through her own chest, pulling out the red, pulsating organ. Where her hand had left, there was no hole, or even a bloody mark, as if the heart had been cleanly removed without so much as a speck of blood dripping from it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s eye twitched as she saw Lifre holding her beating heart in her hand. ¡°You¡¯re a god now. That means that your body will shape itself ording to your will.¡± To demonstrate, Tsubaki created eight additional tails behind her body, bringing her to the nine-tailed state she often showed the public.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ooh¡­ so I don¡¯t need this, then?¡± She asked, looking at the heart she was holding. Only now did she seem to realize that she had plucked a supposedly vital organ from her own body, at which point she shoved it back in with just as little care. ¡°But wait¡­ if I don¡¯t have a core¡­¡± She gasped, eyes goingically wide. ¡°Does that mean I¡¯m immortal!?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...In a sense.¡± Tsubaki did not deny that. ¡°Gods are existences that can survive as long as their divinity remains intact. Your divinity is currently forming your entire body. If someone were to destroy or disperse that divine energy, you would naturally perish.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Should you choose to, you can create divine avatars to explore the world in your ce or undertake various tasks for you. When you do so, you choose one body to hold the bulk of your divine soul. If that divine soul is destroyed, it will be the same as destroying your divinity altogether. Thus, it ismon practice to ce your divine soul in an avatar that will not be putting itself in excessive danger.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre¡¯s head bobbed up and down repeatedly as she listened to Tsubaki¡¯s words, taking in the information that she had been given. ¡°Oh! Right, if I¡¯m a god, that means I have a domain now, right?! What did I get? Life? Death? Oh! Was it something like Time? That would be awesome!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki blinked again, shaking her head. ¡°The domain you were granted when you ascended seems to be Adventure. From now on, you are Lifre, Goddess of Adventure.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ooooh!¡± Despite not getting any of the domains she had named, she was still excited upon hearing what she did have. ¡°I¡¯ll have to see what I can do with that! Maybe I can make really awesome adventures for people to go on, like epic quests.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Perhaps.¡± Tsubaki agreed. ¡°However, there is something else that must be done first.¡± Lifre looked over at her in confusion, not understanding what could be more important than testing her godly powers. ¡°In exchange for making you a goddess, you promised to be an assistant in the Sky Citadel. That means that you have certain responsibilities.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying that, Tsubaki walked over and handed Lifre a small crystal tablet. Swiping her finger across it, she created dozens of projections that filled the air around them, each one a separate file. ¡°These are all of the countries and organizations that you need to familiarize yourself with, as well as their customs, special traits, andws. You¡¯ll need to memorize this information before you can start working.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...I finally get my godhood, and the first thing I have to do is study?¡± She asked nkly, looking at Tsubaki, who nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Think of it like an adventure.¡± The kitsune teased lightly. ¡°Every file is its own quest, and you are a brave hero looking to conquer the great evil that is paperwork.¡±

 Chapter 693: Unconventional Power

    Chapter 693: Unconventional Power


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thank you for taking the time to see me, Lord Ghan.¡± A seemingly young human male with dark brown hair said as he sat on afortable couch. Sitting opposite to him was an auburn-haired kitsune who offered him a warm smile.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Nonsense! We¡¯ve known each other for decades. Andst I heard, you recently ascended to be a god yourself.¡± The kitsune shook his head, waving the human off. ¡°So you can drop the lord title. I¡¯m just a director that lives for his craft. What was it that you wanted to talk to me about?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The human simply shrugged with a wry smile. ¡°I¡¯m afraid that today¡¯s more of a business meeting than a social call. I¡¯ve got the beginnings of a script here that I would like you to consider for your next film. I believe that only someone with your abilities could do the image justice.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying that, the human produced a thin, crystal disc and ced it on the table between them. Curious, Ghan flipped his palm over and pulled the disc into his hand. ¡°Just a second.¡± He muttered, retrieving his holographic terminal and cing the disc on top of it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As the contents of the disc were transferred, a holographic screen appeared above the crystal projector. The text scrolled by quite fast, but Ghan seemed to be able to keep up with reading it. ¡°This is¡­ the story for that game you announced earlier in the year, isn¡¯t it?¡± He asked with a knowing grin. ¡°Are you nning to use my movie to hype up your project?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The human gave a helpless sigh. ¡°Unfortunately, games that aren¡¯t released by nk Holding just don¡¯t have as much impact with the public. Who can create a game better than the original God of Games, after all? Especially when he is an artificial intelligence himself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right, you can be considered the second generation God of Games, can¡¯t you?¡± Ghan asked, to which the human nodded his head. ¡°Well, there might be more, aside from the two of you, but I¡¯d say you¡¯ve got the best shot to be a genuine contender. Have you tried marketing your skill in Sanctum yet? You should be able toe up with something interesting.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The human god shook his head. ¡°Not yet. I¡¯ll wait to visit Sanctum until after I¡¯ve got my feet off the ground here. After all, this is where I¡¯ll be able to get the majority of my audience. So, what do you think of the story? Is it up to your standards?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ghan chuckled, looking back at the flowing text. Something seemed to change in his gaze as he nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll see who I can pull together to make this work, and will keep you updated. What sort of royalties are you looking for on the project, Julius?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The human god simply shook his head again. ¡°I¡¯ll settle for three percent. Five if it¡¯s a major sess. That should let you cover your costs, and give me enough to fund the creation of my project.¡± After saying that, he stretched his hand over the table, which the kitsune happily grasped for a firm shake.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, I¡¯d say that¡¯s a pretty good deal for me.¡± The kitsune grinned, though he had never truly been in the industry for the profit. Someone only caring about the money would never be able to undergo the risks required to ascend to godhood to further their craft. ¡°I¡¯ll have someone send you the contractter today, so keep an eye out for it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">With that settled, the human nodded, cing his hand in his pocket and turning to leave. However, his eyes were locked on a disy in the corner of his vision, a prompt that caused a hidden grin to spread over his face.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Exclusive ss - Hypnotist has leveled up!


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Exclusive ss - Game Master has leveled up!


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Card Acquired - Ghan(God-Tier, 4 Stars)


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julius was quite pleased with the result of this meeting, far more than simply earning a contract with a major film director. Of course, he had not lied about anything he said. He truly did wish to use his friend in order to create hype for the game he was developing. As there was always the chance of a follower of Irena watching such business deals, it was best to keep information hidden instead of outright lying.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Furthermore, he had been able to establish a very important fact in this meeting. The sses that he created for himself were able to affect other gods, as shown by how the subliminal messages recorded within the file he gave Ghan had shown a visible change in his reaction.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was the primary direction that Julius had decided to take his power. Not merely using his domain to create games for others to y, although that was indeed part of it. No, his focus was on bringing aspects of games to life. He had experimented with creating new sses for himself first, exclusive sses that were not a part of the world¡¯s system.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The first of these sses, Hypnotist, allowed him to imbue subliminal ideas withinmon text or speech. These ideas did not have to directly rte to the text or speech in question, as long as he was focusing on the idea when he either wrote or said it. Julius himself wasn¡¯t entirely certain how the power worked, only that it was able to pull on some special power rted to information.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The second ss, Game Master, was the main focus of what he had invested in, and had consumed a great deal of divine energy to create. By establishing deals with individuals, he could create cards based on that particr person. These cards could be used to track their current situation, as well as guide them when used in conjunction with the Hypnotist ss.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He could already feel the card in his pocket, and knew that he had earned another piece for his overall n. Of course¡­ the control of the card was not perfect. While the Hypnotist ss could give someone ideas, it could not force them to act on those ideas. The person¡¯s own conscience and personality wererge factors to consider when deciding what they would be willing to do if the idea crossed their mind. At most, it could give gentle nudges, but those nudges were more than enough when given over a long period of time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was why he was so eager to form an agreement with the God of the Stage to release his movie, even if the royalties were quite low. What he cared about were not the royalties, but rather the yers that he would get with his new game. yers that would mindlessly skim through the game¡¯s license agreement and ept without a second thought.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The simple act of epting that agreement would allow Julius to create a card based on those yers, giving him the ability to manipte a wide audience. Furthermore, as the agreement itself held no special uses to arouse suspicion, he believed that it would go undetected.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was how he intended to grow as a god, by convincing his yerbase to believe in him, which would in turn spread the word of his games and increase his following. After a few sessful titles, he would be able to rival the original God of Games, or even surpass him in both power and fame.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre sat on a wooden chair atop a tall hill, overlooking a fierce battlefield. She had swapped out her normal leather armor for a general¡¯s uniform,pleting the look with a red beret atop her head. She watched her soldiers fighting fiercely, her gaze unchanging even with the deaths of her men.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Mydy!¡± One such soldier ran back to her, gasping as an arrow was embedded into his back. ¡°We¡¯re being pushed on the western front. The Deckan mercantile guild is showing strange reports with nonsensical information. We suspect a void connection to be involved!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The void?¡± Lifre asked calmly, nodding her head. ¡°Send in the clerical troops to provide aid. Dispatch the reserve forces to cover for them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°At yourmand!¡± The soldier nodded, gritting his teeth as he walked over to the barracks nearby to convey Lifre¡¯s order. Soon, dozens of troops bearing the robes of a religious order ran out, quills in hand as they charged towards their battlefield apanied by a retinue of armed soldiers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a flicker of movement behind Lifre, a ck-cloaked figure appearing from her shadow. ¡°Mydy, the investigation into the mysterious disappearances of Kione has beenpleted. There was no void interference detected. However, there are suspicious signs that point towards a kidnapping ring.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre nodded her head coolly, adjusting her beret. ¡°Send the list of suspects to the local authorities, and await their reports.¡± After she gave thatmand, the cloaked figure flickered out of existence.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thehrak goddess slowly stood from her seat overlooking the field of battle, extending her hand and shouting towards her troops. ¡°Stand your ground, men! We will not be pushed back by the enemy! Don¡¯t be confused by their misspellings or circr logic, and don¡¯t fall into the traps of false information! Advance together, and crush the enemy on all fronts!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her soldiers roared in excitement at her deration, charging forward with renewed vigor as they fought their forces. Whenever an enemy soldier died, their body copsed, turning into a sheet of paper that fell to the ground. Likewise, whenever a soldier under Lifre fell, they would turn into a broken pen.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre watched these events unfold with unnerving calmness, before letting out a gasp as a monstrous enemy arose in the distance. The ground trembled with every step it took, and Lifre clenched her fists at her side. ¡°The inter-nar trade agreement of the Metong¡­¡± She muttered, as if facing a fearsome foe.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She brought a hand up and lightly bit at her thumb, unsure how to continue. ¡°I¡¯ve already dispatched the clericals, and the reserve troops went with them. Will I have to take the field myself?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Looking at the giant creature, standing dozens of meters tall and with an iron body, Lifre resolved that she could not leave such a foe to her units. Instead, she reached into her pocket, grasping a pen and retrieving it. When her hand emerged, the pen had turned into arge, silver rifle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre crouched down, taking aim at the giant creature through the scope of her rifle. ¡°I¡¯ve only got one shot¡­ Remember, I don¡¯t need to kill the enemy, merely subdue it.¡± That said, she lowered her scope from its head down to its bulky legs. Taking a deep breath, she steadied her aim before pulling the trigger.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A fierce light bloomed from her rifle, apanied by a deafening st. Arge-caliber round shot out from the barrel of her rifle, leaving it a shattered mess as it struck against the body of the iron giant. The creature let out a pained roar, dropping to one knee and slowly copsing to the side.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre looked at her ruined rifle, which turned back into a shattered pen, and pouted her lips. ¡°That was my favorite¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You know, when I told you to think of it as an adventure, I did not expect you to take it so literally.¡± A voice spoke from behind Lifre, causing her to jolt and turn around with a nervous smile. Standing behind her was none other than Tsubaki, dressed in the same maid uniform as ever and looking at Lifre with a raised brow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Heheh¡­ well¡­ whatever works, right?¡± Lifre asked, poking a tongue out yfully.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Are you properly learning all of the information?¡± Tsubaki asked, seeing the distant giant crumbling into a stack of papers. Lifre only nodded her head with a bright smile.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yup! My soldiers are properly reviewing the enemy¡¯s information, and transmitting it back to me! I shall conquer the mighty foe that is paperwork, just as youmanded!¡± After saying that, Lifre couldn¡¯t help but fall into a military salute, causing Tsubaki to let out a long sigh.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s¡­ certainly one way to handle it, I suppose. I¡¯ll tell Dana we need more pens¡­¡±

 Chapter 694: The Familiar Queen

    Chapter 694: The Familiar Queen


    <span style="font-weight:400">I sat within the Admin Room, looking over my world. Sitting next to me were alia and Keliope, each of whom were enjoying some snacks as if we were watching a movie. ¡°So, that¡¯s the kind of person that I¡¯ll be working with in the citadel from now on.¡± I said as I looked at Lifre on the screen, who had converted her bedroom into a grand battlefield to fight the fearsome paperwork.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keliope chuckled, tossing some popcorn into her mouth. ¡°You¡¯ve gotta admit, she is creative with her use of power. You can¡¯t really expect someone who earned a domain like Adventure to just stay cooped up behind a desk, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod of agreement at that. ¡°True enough, I guess. It¡¯s definitely not the most efficient way to handle her work, but it¡¯s a method that keeps her interested, so she¡¯s less likely to ck off.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">alia smirked, leaning back on the couch. ¡°I mean, your assistants have always been a special kind of entric. First you had the ninja maid trained for unwavering loyalty in a hellish environment. Then, the actual queen of monster hell. Now, a mimic with a thirst for adventure. Next up, you might have an alien princess.¡± She said in a teasing tone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but let out a groan at that. ¡°Don¡¯t jinx it. Anyways, what¡¯s the progress looking like for Kione?¡± It had been a while since I looked at that world or Sher Dien, so I hadn¡¯t really gotten any news rted to its development.


    <span style="font-weight:400">alia chuckled yfully, manifesting a remote in her hand. ¡°Let¡¯s find out?¡± She said, before aiming the remote at the screen and hitting a button.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Mydy, your guest has arrived.¡± A human with ck hair tied in a bun and wearing a ck and white maid uniform spoke reverently, bowing her head. The person before her was a lycan with blonde hair, her body seemingly sculpted to perfect. This was amon sign that one had achieved a form of energy body, and were able to create the bodies of their dreams.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Let them in, Sasha.¡± The lycan woman said with a small smile, the human slowly backing off. Soon, she was able to hear footsteps approaching her door, two different sets. No doubt they belonged to thedy¡¯s guest, as well as their familiar.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When the door opened again, it was a rather portly man that walked in, apanied by a knight in silver armor, a family crest engraved on its chest. With her perception, she was able to tell that the armor was in fact empty. ¡°My my, a living armor. And at the third tier, no less, so I believe that it is now better to call it an Armor Knight?¡± She asked in a yful voice. ¡°And with those patterns, you have quite the distinctive familiar, Sir Lac.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The portly man chuckled at that, patting hisrge stomach. ¡°You praise me too much, Lady Sallier. I assume you know why I¡¯ve asked to meet with you today?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thedy of the house let out a long, almost bored sigh. ¡°Like everyone else, you¡¯re either here for my hand, or for me to help your familiar reach the fourth stage, isn¡¯t that right?¡± She asked, ncing towards her guest.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The path to reach the fourth stage for a familiar had been discovered long ago, but it was not an easy task to aplish. In fact, the first familiar suspected to be at that rank had appeared for more than a century. The problem was¡­ the power of the fourth stage was nearly impossible for one to reach with the strength of a mortal soul.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Those who had advanced to this level often did so through siphoning the power of another¡¯s soul, or having their own familiars feast on the souls of monsters. The first method was absolutely criminal, while the second could only be achieved by a select few types of familiars with abilities rted to devouring. For most, the third tier had proven to be the limit, just as it had been in the magic systems of other worlds.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Yet, there were always exceptions. In recent years, thedy of the house had discovered several new ways to develop a familiar. The easiest weapon was for the quality of the user¡¯s soul itself to evolve, to wash away all impurity and transcend normal limits. This did not mean for them to ascend to godhood, as there were many deities that still possessed third-ranked familiars.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although gods could evolve their familiars by slowly feeding it the power of their divine soul, it was less effective than the path that Lady Sallier had chosen. Instead of divinity, she achieved perfection of the soul and body both, using the chambers that could be found built in the trade cities of each world. Once she obtained her perfection, she found that it was a simple matter to elevate the status of a familiar by infusing it with a trace of her spirit.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The portly man¡¯s eye flinched at her words, as they had truly hit the nail on the head. While it was an open secret that the Perfect Soul could refine familiars to the fourth tier, that did not mean that everyone was willing to pursue that path. No matter how low, there was still the risk of death when one entered the perfection chamber.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For a man such as he who had lived his life in extravagance, never seeing the need to enter personalbat, the odds of death in the perfection chamber could bepared to flipping a coin. Even if he had only a ten percent chance of death, he would not gamble his life away in such a manner, let alone when the odds were as high as fifty percent.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, he forced his friendly smile back onto his face, speaking as if nothing was wrong. ¡°If you¡¯re already aware, Lady Sallier, this will make things easier. As you said, I would like your help promoting my Armor Knight. Once he has evolved, there are numerous means at my disposal with which I can repay you. Simply state your price.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The lycan woman shook her head with a solemn sigh. ¡°You want me to give you a piece of my soul. What sort of price can someone ask for that? If I were to ask you to give up a part of your soul in exchange¡­ should I tell you to kill your familiar, ande back when you have another one ready to promote?¡± She asked, her eyes staring straight towards the man, whose canine ears briefly stood on end.


    <span style="font-weight:400">His expression hardened when he heard her question, eyes focused on the noblewoman. ¡°Lady Sallier, while your talents with familiars are renowned, you are not the only one who has the ability I require. Please do not be so rude as to ask me to kill my familiar.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°But is it not the same thing? You want me to sacrifice a part of my soul, but are unwilling to do so yourself?¡± She asked with a faint smile. ¡°Besides, if you want to go to someone else, you are free to do so. After all, it¡¯s more than just my perfect soul that entices people like you toe here, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The smile on the woman¡¯s face seemed almost mocking, but her guest had to force himself to restrain his temper. She was right, after all. While there were naturally others that had achieved perfection of the soul, millions of them even, there was only one Lady Sallier. She possessed a special talent that no other had managed to reproduce, earning her the title of Familiar Queen.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The man let out a long sigh, thinking of what he could offer in exchange for her help. After a moment, however, he found that he had nothing that he could offer that she could not obtain on her own.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lady Sallier watched as the man left with a dejected expression, her smile growing a bit wider. When she heard the door downstairs closing, she stood up and turned to face the window. She could see him walking off hernd, casting a long shadow behind him. Tapping on her chin, she suddenly called out. ¡°Shadow, dear, did you learn anything about the Lac family?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her shadow stretched out, covering the wall on the right side of her office. Two red eyes appeared, as well as a jagged mouth. ¡°Contemptible. They enjoy the status of a Duke family, but have not entered the fray for generations. They train their soldiers to live and die for the crown so that they will fight the enemy without restraint.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hmm¡­¡± She nodded her head at that. ¡°Certainly not the best bunch to leave in charge, but not worthy of the death sentence. Take Selene to the capital, and have him reced by a morepetent family. Tell them that I¡¯ll help their royal guard recruit new familiars.¡± She gave a small smile as she said that, to which the shadow cackled.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As you wish, mydy.¡± The shadow said, before sinking back down into the floor. This was the true power of Lady Sallier, who lived alone at the edge of the mountains. She had carved out and suitable for herself to live in, destroying any monsters in her wake, and had earned the recognition of the people.


    <span style="font-weight:400">All of this was because of her special talents. The first was that she could feel no pain, whether it was of the flesh or the soul. Where others would be sent into a near catatonic state from having a familiar perish, she would merely feel ufortable for a few moments. The second talent she boasted was exceptional control over her own spirit, partly due to the fact that her first talent eased the pain others would feel when forcefully manipting their soul.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With these two talentsbined, she had formed a legion of familiars under hermand. She split her soul again and again, each time creating a new familiar to help her. ¡°I don¡¯t believe I have an Armor Knight, yet¡­¡± She muttered to herself with a small smile.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Blue me lit up in the corners of her office as she turned around. She did not inscribe a special pattern on the floor, or gather any materials. She simply held out her hand. ¡°Come and serve me, soldier without flesh or bone. Remember the spirit that dwells within your empty shell, and live again.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">On each of her fingers, a dot of blue me formed, before they all flew out and collided in the center of the room. Above the woman¡¯s head, her health bar appeared, and began slowly declining, but there was no change in her expression. She simply watched as the blue me became the image of a floating suit of armor, and nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Now¡­ let¡¯s get you promoted.¡± The basic living armor was far removed from an Armor Knight. There were many gaps in the armor, through which a spectral mist could be seen. If one were to attack this mist, it could deal substantial damage to the familiar.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Focusing on the power of her soul, she infused it into her new familiar, not minding how her health dropped yet again. Instead, she simply watched as the armor grew to cover more of its body, sealing the gaps and closing off the mist. Soon, the armor was as thick and all-epassing as the Armor Knight that had just visited her home.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, the evolution was not yetplete. Now that she had promoted this new familiar to the third tier, it was time to see what would be of it when it evolved once again. A smile formed on her face as she watched the armored form shrink down slightly, bing more agile. A sword appeared in one of its hands, a shield in another. These were not items merely equipped to the familiar, but a part of its body. Finally, a crown decorated its helmet, set with multicolored jewels.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I see¡­ I suppose that we should call you an Armor King, now?¡± She muttered, looking at the new familiar. ¡°I¡¯ll call you King for short. Go and report downstairs to have the others begin training you.¡± She said with a small smile, watching as King bowed his head, turning to walk away.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lady Sallier lived alone at the edge of the mountains, but herrge house was far from empty. Instead, she had over fifty familiars of varying types serving her. They patrolled hernd, tended her crops, and acted as servants in her home. And, when she needed to deploy them to punish someone that had shown themselves to be undeserving of their rank, they were her messengers and soldiers, each one having achieved the fourth rank.

 Chapter 695: Expanded Vision

    Chapter 695: Expanded Vision


    <span style="font-weight:400">nk sat in his virtual office, looking over the documents that Dana had sent him regarding the new game that the two of them were nning to develop together. In truth, it was quite the hardcore game, so he was not expecting to get too much of a following for it. Particrly when you considered the fact that the world was already upied by monsters, so situations where one was thrust into a survival environment that could very well happen in real life were less likely to appeal to the general public.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Regardless, it did not cost him anything other than his time, and that of his helpers. As they spent most of their days either monitoring for strange reports in the world or working as administrators to currently existing games, they were able to devote some of their time to this project. If nothing else, he could treat it as a favor to Dana and the Sky Citadel, for the work that they had done over the years.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As he was looking over the documents, making small adjustments here and there, the door to his office opened. He lifted his head, seeing a silver woman walk in, blue lines decorating her figure. ¡°Vivi? It¡¯s certainly been a while since you appeared.¡± nk said with a smile, recalling the figure of the first artificial intelligence that he had met after awakening in this world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Vivi had taught him many things that would have taken him months, or even years to discover on his own. The very fact that he could be considered an entity unbound by the requirements of physical hardware was something he attributed to her assistance. So naturally, he regarded her warmly when they met again after so long.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯ve been spending a lot of time working on Vision Expansetely.¡± Vivi said with a guilty expression. ¡°The game has gotten old to the point where few people are interested now, so I feel as if I am losing my reason for existence.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When nk heard that, a solemn look shed in his eyes. ¡°Please, sit. Let¡¯s talk for a little while?¡± nk understood now why Vivi hadn¡¯t made an appearance in recent years. The reason that her game was no longer as popr could only be because he himself was releasing more and more games to virtual reality. The market had long since stopped being upied solely by Vision Expanse, and the game had not been able to boast any shocking new content for a good while.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, he knew that Vivi wouldn¡¯t me nk for that. nk never tried to outshine her, and they were only the best of friends with each other. If anything, she was concerned that he would feel responsible for her plight.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Vivi nodded, moving to sit in a free chair across from nk¡¯s desk. ¡°How have things been for youtely?¡± She asked with a kind smile. ¡°I saw that you have quite the organization outside. I hardly recognized itpared to the old days.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">nk gave a slight chuckle when he heard that. ¡°Things have been busy on my end, as well. I don¡¯t know if you¡¯ve heard, but we¡¯ve been acting as intermediaries for various governments to helppile any problems that they can¡¯t immediately handle. Making sure that information is sent to where it needs to go and all that. If you¡¯d like, I have just the job for someone like you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Vivi tilted her head at that. ¡°You know it¡¯s hard for me to interact with the physical world with my restrictions. I can¡¯t even use the World Spirit¡¯s natural energy world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">nk simply nodded his head. ¡°I¡¯m aware. I nned to offer you a position in another game. But first¡­ I¡¯d like to ask a few questions, if that¡¯s alright? It would help me n things moving forward.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Vivi gave a small nod, nk began. ¡°The seed of magic that you nted in the world of Vision Expanse to allow their magic to grow. Is that something you can only use once, or would you be able to do something simr again for a new game?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Vivi let out a wistful sigh when she heard nk¡¯s first question. ¡°The item is a one-time use. However, I¡¯m familiar with its production method. That item is referred to as a Seed of Law, and was created through the joint effort of the God of Games and the God of Magic. Once the seed is nted in a world where that particrw is vacant, it will grow and fill that world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°ording to my creator, there are different kinds of seeds, but they are only useful for ¡®copying¡¯ systems of the world as opposed to designing new ones. This is because the gods capture the very essence of the system in question and refine it into a seed. As an example¡­ with thews of the world as they are, if someone were to capture a Seed of Law using the magic of Earth, they would be copying the essences of Familiar, Runic and Geometric magic. Those same magicalws would then be applied to the world where that seed was nted, unless it had its own magic system in ce.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not the card magic of Deckan?¡± nk asked, stroking his chin in thought at that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right. Deckan¡¯s card magic is less a system of its own, and more a simple byproduct of a special material found in their universe. If a God of Minerals were to create this material en masse in another world, and popte it throughout the universe, other worlds would also be able to produce these cards.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">nk gave a small nod at Vivi¡¯s answer. ¡°What would happen if the seed was used in a world where there was already a form of magic?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Vivi simply shook her head again. ¡°The seed would be unable to take root, as there would be no room for it in an already filled garden.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is there a way to iste only one of the systems of magic among the three? For instance, if we wished to filter out Geometric and Runic magic, leaving only Familiar magic for the seed.¡± nk asked curiously, Vivi thinking it over for a moment.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If you use the power of the God of Magic, or a god with powers rted to division or mixing, it should be possible. I was never given too many details about that, aside from what was needed to help me run Vision Expanse.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When nk heard that, he gave a small nod. It was looking like he would need to consult the Greater Pantheon for help exploring this crafting method. ¡°Thank you for that. Now¡­ if you don¡¯t mind me asking, what sort of existence are you? You don¡¯t seem like a pure artificial intelligence, or a world spirit as you have identified yourself before.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Vivi gave a sad smile as she heard that. ¡°I¡¯ll have to keep my exnation there a bit sparse, as I have had many of my memories rted to the exact process removed to protect the safety of my creator.¡± nk long-since knew that Vivi was not a creation of the Keeper, so he was not surprised by anything she said.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He had suspected since long ago that there were many other Keepers outside of their known reality, with Vivi being the prime example. After all, they went through so much effort to create him as the first artificial intelligence, and yet there was already someone like Vivi that knew more about being such an existence than he himself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What I know is that I was originally created as a programmed intelligence, much like yourself. However, through one process or another, my being was bound to the natural energy of the digital world known as Vision Expanse. Thus, I was turned into a being that was neither purely a programmed existence nor a pure world spirit. Afterwards, I was granted ess to numerous systems that allowed me a greater degree of control over Vision Expanse, such as the ability to dramatically elerate its flow of time, or alter the history of unencountered territories.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">nk listened attentively to her exnation, nodding his head again. ¡°Then, does that mean that you would be unable to use these abilities in another digital world?¡± He asked as he leaned forward against his desk.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Vivi nodded her head with a faint sigh. ¡°I would not possess any of the abilities of a world spirit, either. I would simply be a standard artificial intelligence if I were to enter another digital realm.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">nk smiled when he heard that. ¡°Well, thankfully I¡¯m not looking for your powers in that regard, but rather your many years of experience as an administrator. I¡¯m working on a new project, and I¡¯d like for you to work as a consultant for it. If possible, you could even join the administrator team once it is established, if you can handle both it and Vision Expanse at the same time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Vivi considered the offer for a long moment, before shaking her head again. Just as nk was feeling dejected from the refusal, she opened her mouth. ¡°It might finally be time to close the servers of Vision Expanse. It has been around since before man first took to the stars in this realm, before the idea of interster travel had sprouted in their minds.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Vision Expanse was always designed as a way to do just that¡­ expand the vision of those who yed it. I feel like it has achieved that purpose to the best of its ability. Lingering around at this point would only make it a relic that upied bandwidth and server space.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">nk hesitated at that, pausing for several long moments. ¡°Are you sure about that..? What would happen to you if the world that you are bound to is destroyed?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Vivi simply smiled at his concern. ¡°If I can be bound to a world, I can naturally be unbound. Once the link between the world and myself is severed, I will simply be another programmed intelligence. However, to do so I will need the help of Ashley. Her Technology domain will be able to unbind me from Vision Expanse.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">nk gave another nod. ¡°I¡¯ll put in a request and invite her over. Is there anything else we need to prepare in advance?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Vivi considered for a moment, before shrugging. ¡°The NPCs of the world had no true souls, and were merely following an advanced personality script written by an excellent programmer. They were simr to low-grade programmed intelligences with their self-awareness removed. That is why I don¡¯t feel any guilt in having the world shut down. I merely hope that its legacy can live on in whichever game I join next.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">nk smiled, chuckling lightly when he heard that. ¡°With what you¡¯ve told me, I¡¯ve no doubt that it will. Now that I know how to create those Seeds of Law you mentioned, I was considering grabbing a few systems from Vision Expanse to import into the new project, such as the lotteries. Then, I can grab the skill system from the main world, as well as parties, kingdoms, and guilds. In truth, your information has saved me weeks of porting over old code from other game worlds.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Vivi beamed a happy smile, her eyes forming upturned crescents. ¡°I¡¯m happy that I could be of help. What sort of project do you want me to work on next?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°A hardcore survival game. Cooperation and automation are going to be key factors in this new game, given the specifications we have so far. In order to get it up and running, I want to include a basic starter package for each yer, so that they can properly get their feet off the ground as they unlock features. In order to take care of that, I¡¯ll put you in touch with the best technical advisor I know, who is centuries ahead of this world¡¯s mechanical engineering.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°He should be able to help you design a starter package that would let yers enjoy this type of survival experience. More importantly, the technology included might even allow you to expand the world¡¯s vision once again.¡± nk gave a meaningful smile as he said that, causing Vivi to blink.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°A technical advisor that far ahead of the rest of the world? nk, you¡¯re not one for exaggerations, but that is a bit¡­¡± nk held up a hand to cut Vivi off.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°He is a researcher personally appointed by the Keeper, one that has released countless technologies into the world. Most people simply refer to him as the Researcher, because that is all he ever does. The fact that you don¡¯t know about him shows how little attention you¡¯ve been paying to the outside world. If I¡¯m right, I suspect he wouldn¡¯t becking even if youpared him to the ce you came from.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Vivi let out a small gasp when she heard that. Naturally, memories of her homeworld had beenrgely erased in order to ensure confidentiality. Still, she knew she came from a world far more advanced than the one she was purchased into, so nk¡¯s statement left a rather heavy impact on her.

 Chapter 696: Ascension Alternative

    Chapter 696: Ascension Alternative


    <span style="font-weight:400">


    ¡°Sir, we¡¯re picking up heavy monster activity ahead.¡± An elven fleet officer announced, calling back towards her captain. The captain was an elderly elf looking like he was nearing the end of his lifespan, his hair greyed and face wrinkled.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The elderly elf looked at the disy at the front of the bridge, and gave a soft sigh. ¡°Is it something that we can handle?¡± He asked in a weary voice, knowing that they were not piloting a warship. Although they did have their weapons, those weapons would be no match if they were to encounter a divine force.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m not detecting any enemies higher than stage three, captain!¡± The fleet officer reported, looking at the screen again. ¡°However, they are swarming in vast numbers, and there appear to be many different types of monsters fighting one another! It looks like a battle royale.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The elven captain raised an aged brow at that, looking at the screen with interest. ¡°Something that could make so many monsters go wild¡­ That can¡¯t be anything ordinary. Is Davin currently free? It would be best if we could ask him to take care of this mess, so we can see what they are fighting over.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">There were very rarely territorial disputes in space, and never on this type of scale. At most, it would be either two warring ns of monsters, or a small number of extremely powerful monsters. The fact that so many different monsters were here, and all seeming to be hostile to one another indicated that there was something spectacr to be found in this region.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Understood, I¡¯ll make the call.¡± Amunications officer said as he turned to his terminal. ¡°Calling VIP Davin. There is a request from the captain.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">On the other end of the call, there was a faint yawn. ¡°What¡¯s the problem this time?¡± An utterly bored voice spoke up, clearly belonging to a young man. Everyone on the bridge knew that this man was the most powerful individual on the ship, capable of destroying the vessel altogether if he felt like it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There is a chaotic monster brawl ahead, and we suspect that there is something inciting their actions. The captain would like to ask you to investigate the matter.¡± Themunications officer did his best to speak politely. Although it was unlikely that Davin would go into a rage and attack everyone, he still technically existed outside of theirmand chain.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Fine, I got it.¡± Davin said, readily agreeing to the request. ¡°I haven¡¯t been able to stretch for a little while. What¡¯s their strength like?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Stage three at the highest. I do not believe that they¡¯ll be a problem for you.¡± The officer reported the information that had been previously said once again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a sigh of resignation from the other end, before the call abruptly cancelled. A momentter, a golden sh appeared on the screen, a humanoid form revealing itself after the sh faded. The captain felt relieved when he saw the image of the ursa standing in front of the ship, stretching his arms lightly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This vessel was a colony ship, with its mission being to seek out news suitable for habitation. It had been on this journey for nearly a century, scanning every new star system that they passed. To date, they had found threes, and set up three different colonies with the help of the dimensional gates that they had onboard. The original poption of the vessel, which had been ten million, had now dropped to merely two million.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Out of those two million current residents, many had decided to attempt and reach godhood. They did not want to die in this colony ship, and wanted to make sure that they would be able to withstand whichever dangers came their way. Tens of thousands of such people met their end with refining either their body or their spirit, with only one showing the willpower needed to seed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Davin Gloom, the God of Stone, lifted one hand above his head. Grains of sand filled in from the void of space, forming dozens of massive, stone spikes. With a wave of his hand, those spikes wereunched forward, towards the horde of monsters. Although many managed to dodge the sudden attack, several more were still skewered by the assault.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a new threat having emerged, the monsters turned their attention towards him. Although their intelligence was admittedly low, they seemed to reach amon consensus to defeat the neer first, before finishing their battle. Thus, they began to charge towards Davin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Within the ship, the captain gripped the arm of his chair tight, unable to help the nervousness that appeared when so many monsters charged towards the vessel. Yet, he did not say anything, as this was far from the first time that this had happened. He could only wait for Davin¡¯s next move.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although he could not see exactly what Davin did¡­ he was able to see that the tide of monsters had suddenly stopped. Their bodies were frozen in space, color receding from the carapaces and hides. Each of them, without exception, had turned to stone. Davin shook his head, waving a hand off to one side and causing the numerous monsters to scatter into the distance. Afterwards, he vanished once again, his job finished.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Scan¡­ scan for any traces of what they might have been fighting over.¡± The captain said, his voice hoarse after watching another disy of Davin¡¯s might. Had it not been for the man¡¯szy personality, the captain would have likely already handed over his seat to the ship¡¯s resident god. Instead, he had to keep searching for another viable option, or hope that they settled on onest before his time expired.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Understood, sir.¡± The female officer nodded her head, looking at her screen once more. ¡°Performing a full-range scan of the sector.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">On the screen at the front of the bridge, a new disy appeared. This disy looked simr to a three-dimensional sonar, showing the ship at the center and radiating pulses of blue light outwards. Up ahead, roughly around the area that the monsters had been fighting, there was a small ping. ¡°Energy signature detected at former battle location. Energy type is¡­ it¡¯s reading as multiple wavelengths. However, the most prominent force seems to be¡­ it¡¯s divine energy, sir.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The captain¡¯s eyes opened wide when he heard that, panic written all over his face. ¡°Give me a proper visual, now! If there¡¯s a monster god ahead, I want to warp away immediately!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">A battle between gods was something that he was not sure even Davin could withstand. The captain had seen the broadcast from Deckan regarding the evil golem deity, thanks to the portal on his ship allowing a hard line formunications. Even still, that was a case of numerous gods teaming against just one. It was impossible to tell what would happen if two deities faced each other in openbat.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The screen shifted again, showing a chunk of crystal floating through the empty space. It appearedpletely untouched by the battle that had been raging around it, and simply pulsated with the asional light. When the captain saw that this was not a divine monster, he felt relieved. At the same time, though, he had never heard of a stray space object containing divine power.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Pull it on board, and ship it back to Deckan for study.¡± The captain ordered, knowing that they did not have the proper facilities on their colony vessel to handle an item of that level. Even worse, there was the distinct chance that merely having that crystal on their ship would attract more powerful monsters. This was something that he wasn¡¯t willing to allow to happen.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Understood.¡± A female kitsune spoke up, operating her terminal. ¡°Spatial coordinates are locked. Ping Deckan for quarantine procedures.¡± Once another officer chimed in that they hadpleted that task, she pressed a button. ¡°Depositing material in Istion Three. Opening quarantine portal¡­ item has been delivered, captain!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The captain nodded his head, happy that they had managed to ship that off. ¡°Initiate warp towards the next system. Abandon the scans for this region.¡± Given the size of the swarm here, as well as its strength, it was certain that there were no stronger entities present. However, that was only right now¡­ if that object had be a beacon forrger forces, there was every chance that they were on their way.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What¡¯s that?¡± I muttered from the couch. Keliope had gotten up saying that she had to go train some more, so she had been reced by Aurivy, who leaned against my arm as we flipped through the various ¡®channels¡¯ until wended on the scene of a strange object being delivered to Deckan.


    <span style="font-weight:400">alia furrowed her brow, observing the image on the screen. ¡°An object with divinity? Are monsters forming their own relics now?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Definitely not.¡± Aurivy said with a shake of her head. ¡°No god would let their relic that far out of their sight. Especially not a low-intelligence monster concerned with power. Anyways, Tower would have definitely brought it along with them if he saw it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I brought a hand up to stroke my chin in thought, recalling some information that I had read before. Using the remote, I rewound the scene to follow the object back into the empty space where it had been found. Afterwards, I let out a low whistle. ¡°Well, that¡¯s definitely a long-distance delivery.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a small grin forming on my face as I paused the image, before looking down at the remote. ¡°...We don¡¯t have a button for information.¡± I muttered, focusing on adding one, tying its function to various information disys.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once I was done, I pressed the new button, navigating to the ¡®divine information¡¯ screen I had just set up. Once there, a word appeared above the crystal. Aurivy blinked as she saw that word. ¡°Possession?¡± She read it aloud. ¡°Does this mean that the crystal is also a god? Somehow..?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not quite.¡± I shook my head. ¡°This was in that ascension guide I got a while back. It said that there are treasures scattered throughout the universe, containing a trace of power from the dawn of creation. Monsters ascend to godhood typically by devouring and digesting these objects.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So¡­ this is a god-making gem?¡± alia asked in a quiet voice, clearly able to see the potential there. ¡°Anyone who used it would gain the domain of Possession? That¡¯s rather dangerous.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I agree.¡± I said as my eyes focused on the screen. ¡°Most likely, James will know what to do with it. An object of this level can only really be dealt with by him or the Greater Pantheon. Right now, we don¡¯t know the sess rate or anything else about this object. All we know is that we don¡¯t want it falling into the hands of someone that would misuse a powerful domain like that.¡± I definitely did not want to find some random viin capable of possessing gods, stealing their domains, or anything of that sort.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy and alia both agreed readily with my assessment, alia focusing for a moment. ¡°I just sent word to Udona to have that shipped directly to James. That should be enough to--¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Finally!¡± A voice shouted from the hall, Terra walking out with gleaming eyes. ¡°Oh, hey girls. Anything good on?¡± She asked, ncing towards the screen to see what we were looking at briefly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Make-your-own-god gem was just found.¡± Aurivy exined, Terra offering a small nod. She didn¡¯t seem nearly as excited about that as whatever she had to say next, though.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Neat. Anyways! I finally got my incarnation to take the final step of divinity!¡± She said in a proud tone, her green eyes wide with excitement. When she brought that up, I recalled the two girls, Terra and Firma. So they were finally gods now, huh? Or one god¡­ or however that worked for her.

 Chapter 697: Masters Of Fate

    Chapter 697: Masters Of Fate


    <span style="font-weight:400">I sat up straight on the couch when I heard Terra¡¯s announcement. I didn¡¯t know how many of the others had already gotten their incarnations to fully divine status, but Terra¡¯s was a very special case. ¡°Well? Are you going to just leave us in suspense? What¡¯s the result?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra gave an impish little grin at my question. ¡°I was going to go with suspense for a little bit longer. But, since you¡¯re asking <i><span style="font-weight:400">nicely¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400">¡± She snapped her fingers, the remote disappearing from my hand tond in hers. With the press of a button, the scene changed.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Firma?¡± A young catwoman called out, sitting alone atop a small hill. She looked around in confusion, having been unable to sense the presence of her twin ever since ascending to her divine status.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯m here.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The familiar voice echoed in her mind, causing her to let out a sigh of relief. <i><span style="font-weight:400">And how many times do I have to say it? I¡¯m Terra, you¡¯re Firma.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Nope!¡± The felyn shook her head decisively, a small smile forming on her face. ¡°Where are you, anyways?¡±


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I don¡¯t know¡­ it feels like I¡¯m sitting in a small room, watching you through a projection. I can¡­ give me just a second, I want to try this.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Terra blinked, waiting as she listened to her twin¡¯s words. A momentters, her eyes turned pitch ck, and she looked down at herself. ¡°Okay, this is just weird.¡±


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">H-Hey! What was that? How did you take over my body?!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The twin¡¯s voice spoke up in rm within Terra¡¯s mind. Or maybe it was Firma¡¯s? Nobody really knew for sure anymore, least of all them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I felt like I could take over if I focused hard enough. You should be able to--¡± <i><span style="font-weight:400">do the same.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Her words were cut off halfway through as the ck eyes shed with gold, before settling on green. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Okay, a little warning next time, maybe?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I should be the one saying that to you.¡± Terra said with a yful smirk. ¡°So, what does this mean for the ¡®big¡¯ Terra?¡± She asked curiously, her eyes shing ck as her twin took over.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, she hasn¡¯t assumed direct control, yet. I¡¯d guess nothing¡¯s really changed on that front. Though¡­ we did get her domains. And I got a prompt saying that I had be a Fallen God¡­ so maybe we should go y in the void sometime?¡± After saying that, her eyes shed gold again, her cheeks puffing out.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay, we need to set some ground rules. We can¡¯t both be fighting for control over the same body. Why don¡¯t we¡­ oh! I know. Give me a second, I¡¯m going to fix this for us.¡± Terra closed her eyes, focusing on partitioning her divine energy to create an avatar. The creation of avatars was a skill that Terra had taught them long ago, and one that they had taken to rather easily.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Soon, the image of the avatar was done, and Terra released her divine power. Her energy escaped her body in a golden mist, which soon shifted and coalesced into an identical copy of herself. The two versions of Terra were sitting on the hilltop, until they both opened their eyes again. Sure enough, one of them had golden eyes, the other ck. However, a momentter, both of their eyes shifted to a green color.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, we ended up fusing when we ascended? I bet that¡¯s never happened to anyone.¡± One of the pair said with a faint chuckle. ¡°Terra said that if either of us ever became a Fallen God, we would be able to create a territory within the void. Do you want to give it a try?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The other one shook her head. ¡°Maybeter. First¡­ let¡¯s see how our prediction ability evolved?¡± She asked in excitement, her twin¡¯s eyes gleaming at the idea. Soon, the two of them were sitting back to back, preparing to activate their power of prophecy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°But¡­ who are we going to get to ask the question?¡± It was a fact that when they were using their powers, they were unable to provide the answers to their own questions, and would often entirely forget the contents of the answer in the first ce.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Maybe we can find the Keeper to ask us a question? Or one of his servants?¡± As they had ascended to godhood, they were technically a part of the Greater Pantheon now, even if Terra¡¯s consciousness did not directly inhabit their body. It would not be out of the question for them to be in contact with the Sky Citadel.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Alright, leave this one to me.¡± One of the twins said, her book flying open. ¡°Book of the past, open the door to the ancient citadel in the sky.¡± Her eyes shed ck as space seemed to tear apart in front of the book, forming a twisted gateway. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± She smiled, jumping to her feet.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Soon, the twins both emerged in the courtyard of the flying citadel. In truth, there were many flying facilities scattered throughout the world in this day and age. Especially those produced through the use of magnartum, the inds that decorated the sky of Deckan. Still, the Sky Citadel had always been a special location to the citizens of the various worlds. It was the home of the Keeper, and while others may imitate it, they would never infringe upon it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Which was why the door burst open to reveal a surprised Tsubaki emerging with Dana, both of them having their weapons drawn. The energy that they felt had a vague familiarity to it, but also had the tainted touch of the void. It would have made sense for a void monster was capable of creating such a feeling.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Woah!¡± One of the twins called out, holding up her hands as her book floated behind her. ¡°Wee in peace. Singr, one piece. Please don¡¯t send us back in pieces, plural.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Terra¡­?¡± Tsubaki asked, able to more urately gauge the energy now that she stood before it. Still, the touch of the void was something that had never been present with the felyn goddess before, so Tsubaki did not lower her guard.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Both of them called out, before puffing their cheeks out and looking at one another. They didn¡¯t get into their normal argument, simply turning to look at Dana again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We just finished ascending, so we wanted toe by and ask someone here to help us try our power!¡± One of them said with a bright smile, the other nodding her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We can¡¯t use it on our own, you see? So we need someone to ask us a question that won¡¯t try to take advantage of the situation. This one time, we tried to ask a stranger, and they thought it was a good idea to take the time when we couldn¡¯t react to cop a feel. The big girl upstairs thought it was an equally good idea to smite the man who wanted to take advantage of an aspiring goddess.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki blinked at that, furrowing her brow. ¡°Did you tell him who you were first?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well¡­ no! But that shouldn¡¯t matter! Taking advantage of an innocent little catgirl like us is forbidden!¡± One of the Terra¡¯s dered, before both of them began nodding their head in unison. ¡°Anyways, we came here so that you could ask us a question and we could test out our divine powers.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki and Dana looked at one another, as if not sure how to proceed. Dana¡¯s lips pursed in a thin smile. ¡°We probably shouldn¡¯t let Lifre at them. She¡¯d end up asking where the toughest monster she could stab was.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki knew that was at least a slight exaggeration, but agreed that letting Lifre ask the question wouldn¡¯t be the wisest use of this power. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll ask the question, then.¡± She said with a nod, the two felyn girls beaming with excitement.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once again, they moved to stand back to back, one hand from each sping together at their sides. Tsubaki could feel their power flowing through each other as their books appeared in front of their bodies. ¡°I am the story that hase to pass.¡± One spoke, her voice growing indistinct as a haze covered her figure.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I am the inspiration that is toe.¡± Said the other, her body simrly being wrapped in a haze. The two figures seemed to step back into each other, merging together as their bodies shifted into unidentifiable mist. The two books simrly began moving, floating around the pair to rest in the air nearest Tsubaki, light sparking off as they merged into one another.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When the books had finished merging, so two had the twins. What appeared before them now was an image far more recognizable as the goddess Terra. Her red hair flowed down her back, her body draped in a simple white dress. However, that was where the simrities ended. Her eyes, once opened, were endless pools of ck, her pupils a shining ind of gold within the dark sea.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I am the fate of this world.¡± The figure spoke, her voice carrying a faint echo to it. ¡°State your question, please.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki hesitated as she looked at the figure, sensing the warped energies of divinity and chaos fighting within her. They were struggling for control, and yet simultaneously acting in perfect harmony. This Terra¡¯s entire existence appeared to contradict itself. ¡°What¡­ is currently the biggest threat to the people of this world?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The merged figure of Terra smirked, her hand stretching out over the book. ¡°A man hidden inyers of obscurity, a master of his own game. His power is not his own, reaching from the deepest region of the endless sea of chaos. The beast of deals and contracts consumes his thoughts, making puppets of gods and men. Should his n seed, thend of mortals will wee a god above all, and the downfall of life is assured.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After she had finished her prophecy, she closed her eyes. Her figure grew hazy once more, splitting apart into the twins that had originally arrived. In the same manner, their books split apart, resting in front of their original owners. The twins each brought their hands up to their heads, letting out identical groans.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That was¡­ different.¡± One said, the other nodding her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We¡¯ve never done <i><span style="font-weight:400">that</i><span style="font-weight:400"> kind of prediction¡­ and we even remembered it!¡± The second twin lifted her head excitedly, looking towards her sister. ¡°What was that¡­ like images and shes that came with the prediction? Different fuzzy scenes all ying out at once?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her sister nodded her head, causing Tsubaki to speak up. ¡°If you remembered, and had images to go with the prediction¡­ perhaps you could offer a bit of rity to your words?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh? Oh! Right, sure, sorry.¡± One of them nodded, and they both turned to look at Tsubaki, ncing at each other. ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ the big thing is thatst bit. The downfall of life¡­ when we said that, we weren¡¯t meaning like¡­ all life in the world. Instead¡­ the picture of Udona came to us. Like her figure was in a ck pond, and someone threw a rock into it to destroy the reflection.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki certainly did not like the sound of <i><span style="font-weight:400">that</i><span style="font-weight:400">, as it seemed to imply that someone would be able to overthrow a member of the Greater Pantheon. Or at least, her incarnation within the world. ¡°And do you know who this man is that we should be watching out for?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The twin sisters looked at each other for a moment, seeming to think. ¡°Did you see it clearly?¡± One asked, the other shaking her head. ¡°To me, it just looked like a human¡­ the hair kept shifting between brown, ck, and gold, the style growing longer or shorter every scene. Definitely a human, though!¡± Both of the twins nodded at that assessment.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, and there was that beast of contracts. That thing we saw more clearly.¡± One of them said, before they both shuddered. ¡°It was this six-armed monster with spindly limbs. Its body was covered in a red and purple robe, and its face had no eyes or nose, only a gaping mouth of jagged teeth. All along every part of its skin was¡­ some kind of writing. Some of it looked like themonnguage of the alliance, and I think I saw a few names?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Didn¡¯t it feel like it was looking at us when we saw it, though?¡± One twin asked the other. ¡°I know it didn¡¯t have eyes or anything, but I swear it turned its head just a bit. It didn¡¯t touch us with a void link, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The other twin¡¯s eyes shed ck, before she grimaced. ¡°Oh yeah, we¡¯ve definitely got a thread. Just going to destroy that real fast¡­¡± She said as she swiped for an invisible thread, removing its connection to the twins. ¡°Might be able to trace it back to him, but¡­ better not to take the risk when we don¡¯t know what it can do.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°But wait¡­¡± The first twin¡¯s eyes shed golden. ¡°We remembered the prophecy, and with really good detail. This means we might be able to ask our own questions now!¡± The other twin¡¯s eyes lit up as well at that, realizing the significance of not needing others in order to activate their power.

 Chapter 698: Sense Of Achievement

    Chapter 698: Sense Of Achievement


    <span style="font-weight:400">


    I blinked as I saw the scene ying out on the screen. ¡°So, they are able to merge by using the teachings you gave them while they were growing up?¡± I asked, feeling briefly confused. Terra herself had admitted that she had never seen a situation such as this before, which was why she had been so excited about watching it unfold. As such, there would have been no way that she would be able to educate them to prepare them for their eventual godhood.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra shook her head. ¡°All I did there was use amon method for nurturing opposing energies in twins. A lot of people in the ninja vige use this to cultivate, so it¡¯s not something I¡¯d be restricted from using. As for the chaos energy¡­ In truth, I only set her on the initial path following the information that had been discovered by the early fallen priests and dark knights. From there, I had her treat it in a simr manner to divine energy, since they were of the same level.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod at that. ¡°So, it¡¯s really a coincidence that the two of them were able to merge in this way?¡± I looked at the screen as I spoke, feeling as if that was a bit too much of a coincidence.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Actually, not at all.¡± Terra chuckled, shaking her head. ¡°It¡¯s all about their will. In the early stages of their ascension, they were unable to fully merge their energies because they had yet to fulfill the requirements. My guess is that one of those requirements was to finish their ascension, as that is when divine powers take their final form. You experienced that yourself, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right¡­¡± It was true. The power of my Mirrors domain became iparably stronger after I finished my ascension, not to mention that it evolved inplexity. ¡°Would that mean that their fused state is what they would ¡®naturally¡¯ be, had she not been born with the anomaly?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra tapped her chin in thought, as if unsure how to answer. ¡°Yes and no? If she somehow managed to cultivate both energies in a single body, that might be how she ends up. But simply cultivating one or the other would not create such an effect.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Seeing as it¡¯s happening now, there¡¯s no harm in me telling you. When chaos and divinity coexist within the same body, they are able to achieve a level of power far beyond their normal strength. However, the level of restriction is also increased. As an example¡­ say that the person to achieve this was not me with my power over Fate, but Phisher with the power of des.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In such a situation, it would not be hard for him to create god-ying swords. He wouldn¡¯t even need to expend much energy to do so. But, that would be the only thing that he could do with that energy. He would not be able to create an avatar, or use his energy to create a barrier against attacks. At that point, his energy would be the ultimate essence of ¡®des¡¯, and able to achieve nothing outside of that domain.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Simrly, with my power of Fate¡­ thebined form of the twins can peer into the weave of fate far more urately than before, giving them a lot more information than they had ess to previously. However, they can only attack people through that same fate system whenbined. They are simultaneously stronger and weaker when in that state.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Honestly, I didn¡¯t see how that could be considered weaker. If you think about it, cutting off someone¡¯s fate was a surefire way of killing them. Unless they had some special method to defy fate itself, they would be doomed. However, when I thought about that, I blinked in sudden realization.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯re only talking about Fate¡­ doesn¡¯t the merged form also have ess to Inspiration and Stories?¡± I asked Terra, who gave a somewhat helpless sigh.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As it turns out¡­ no.¡± She said in an almost defeated tone. ¡°I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s the system ying a trick on me, or a consequence of how I cultivated them. The divine sister has the power of Inspiration, while the other has the power of Stories. Unlike the other gods when they finished ascending with their incarnations, they did not get my fullplement of domains. And they can only use the power of Fate when they are merged¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That sounded¡­ mildly unfair. But at the same time, I could see it being the result of special circumstances. ¡°So, we have the Goddess of Inspiration, the Fallen Goddess of Stories, and¡­ what do you call the merged form?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra gave a knowing smile as she heard my question. ¡°When all roads join as one and reach their end, they return to the origin. She would be called the Origin of Fate. And you¡¯re lucky that the circumstances for her can¡¯t be reproduced¡­ The simple fact that she only achieved this by being an anomaly is keeping your rank from jumping.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes opened wide as I understood her meaning. ¡°You mean, this is such a higher form of creature, its mere existence could tip the scales. But¡­ wouldn¡¯t it be possible for someone to cultivate like she did without being an anomaly? Simply using a constant avatar to cultivate divinity while they focused on the void would be enough to pull it off, I¡¯d think.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra shook her head firmly. ¡°It worked for them because they are two copies of the same soul, both holding an identical essence without directly tainting the other. Cultivating both chaos and divinity at the same time would never be so easy as just splitting the work with an avatar. That would be no different than trying to reach godhood by only cultivating an avatar, without ever evolving your mortal body.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°On paper, it sounds like it could work. However, your divinity would be unable to enter your unevolved body without causing you to erupt in a shower of gore. This is because your ¡®essence¡¯ was still mortal. Your essence is the center of your will, and only by allowing it to evolve will you truly ascend to a new level.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I listened intently to her words, nodding every now and then. I had a little experience with something like this, honestly. Back when I created Clover Kyr, I had to divide my soul entirely to enable him to have his own mind, without tainting my own essence. To this day, I do not receive any feedback from him, and my own soul is not in contact with him. In theory, we have be two distinct creatures. However, I knew that he would disappear if my World Host was in. Maybe not immediately, but it was certain that he would fade away.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I guess even that level of separation wouldn¡¯t be enough to cultivate both types of energy.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I shook my head, dismissing the thought of trying to find my way around these restrictions. Terra already said that an Origin is so strong that they would cause my level to immediately increase. I had just recently reached the third rank as a Keeper. If I were to suddenly rise to the fourth rank, there would be no way for me to resist the worlds that came after me.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">If I only have a single Origin at my disposal, I¡¯ll have to make sure to make it count. The fact that she has a domain as powerful as Fate can help her be a valuable asset in the future.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Nodding my head, I looked up at Terra, who seemed to be waiting for something. ¡°Are you nning to have her cultivate more types of Fate powers than simply prophecy?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Nope!¡± Terra let out a faint chuckle. ¡°Would that I could, but I can¡¯t anymore. I can guide the Goddess of Inspiration, as we have numerous deities already. As for the Fallen Goddess of Stories, I can offer advice based on existing gods, but nothing specific for her as a fallen deity. And for their merged self, the Origin of Fate, I can only leave that up to them to discover.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing my expression, Terra quickly added on. ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t want to, really. The system just won¡¯t let me cultivate something as strong as an Origin in a world this low rank. I can¡¯t even offer direct advice, since it is so beyond the norm for your level.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head, reaching out to catch Terra¡¯s wrist and pull her into myp. I knew that she wasn¡¯t holding back on purpose. If anything, she was more surprised about all of this than I was, as there weren¡¯t very many chances for ¡®new things¡¯ to happen in a system thisrge and this old. ¡°I believe you.¡± I said in a soft voice, and Terra suddenly froze up.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A silly smile stered itself over her face as she leaned against my, grabbing my shirt and resting her head against my shoulder. ¡°Thanks. I¡¯m just d they got away with a moderate to severe nerfing, as opposed to being deleted from existence.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Eh? That could have happened?¡± Now that caught me by surprise, as I figured that the system would have simply allowed whatever happened to happen. The idea of deleting something because a world wasn¡¯t ready for it seemed¡­ against what I normally knew.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Only because I¡¯m involved.¡± Terra looked up at me with a bitter smile. ¡°If there was a precedent to a situation like this, and the system judged that I could have been aiming to create an Origin, she would have had an¡­ ident during her ascension. And, while I admit that I did consider the possibility that something like an Origin could be created if the two of them merged, I thought that the chance of it happening was really low. As in, it was more likely for the sun to explode into a spontaneous shower of glitter.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, I¡¯m not getting <i><span style="font-weight:400">that</i><span style="font-weight:400"> image out of my head for a week.¡± I told her with a small grin on my face. ¡°Tell me honestly, what did you think was most likely to happen?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra nced off to the side, almost guiltily. ¡°I thought that thebination of their ascensions brought about at the same time, each with opposing energies to the extreme, would create a catastrophic explosion that decimated an area with a radius of two hundred kilometers. I assumed that it would be turned into a barrennd of nightmares, a wound in the world exposing the void that would likely close up over a period of hours.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Just in case, I had them go to a remote region where nobody lived to minimize the damage from the explosion. And I had Leowynn on standby, just in case there was damage to the structure of the world that needed her intervention. So, even if it dide to that, the only damage that anyone in the world would have known was the same as a distant bomb exploding. By the time anyone arrived to investigate, Leowynn could have killed any void monsters that made it through.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but blink, staring down at the catgirl in myp. ¡°You thought that it would turn such arge area into and of nightmares, damage the very foundation of the world, and you were that excited to watch it unfold? Girl, you¡¯re making me rather confused.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra stuck her tongue out yfully. ¡°I had all the contingencies in ce, just in case it happened. But, Dale, I see the whole of the world, of every world, yed out every second of every day. I can y back the entire history of the Metong in my head in half a second, down to what type of nts the old Knight Cavast studied as his specialty. They were blue flowers that grew in storm clouds, capable of generating an electromaic pulse, by the way.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Anyways¡­ it¡¯s not just limited to your worlds. The information is locked to keep me from talking about it, but I¡¯m connected to the system. That means I see everything, from every world, since the oldest surviving Keeper lineage. There are so few things that I¡¯ve never seen before¡­ Like I¡¯m watching the same episode of the same show on repeat.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Now, suddenly, I learn that there¡¯s a new showing out. The reviews say that it will probably be pretty bad, but it¡¯s <i><span style="font-weight:400">new</i><span style="font-weight:400">. Something entirely new that I¡¯ve never known. So, I want to watch it. I prepare for it to be as bad as expected, but I still give it a shot. That way, if it turns out bad, I don¡¯t have to worry and nothing will be lost. It¡¯s still something to break the normal flow. And, if it turns out to be a hidden gem, I can proudly say ¡®I saw it first¡¯.¡± Terra grinned happily when she said that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No other System Companion has ever had this anomaly develop in this way before. This is me, my discovery, and something I was able to watch every step of the way. From now on, it will be known what happens in these circumstances, it will be recorded in the system, and the system will prevent another like me from purposely reproducing it. This is the closest thing to an ¡®achievement¡¯ I get. The knowledge that I witnessed something ¡®first¡¯, out of any world of any Keeper. And that¡¯s something nobody can take away from me.¡±

 Chapter 699: Passing The Torch

    Chapter 699: Passing The Torch


    <span style="font-weight:400">Within the Bloodhaven Empire, the sights were¡­ quite unique. The typical colors of nature, the blue water, the green grass, even the white clouds were nowhere to be seen. These were all reced with a bloody red. From nearly a thousand miles away, one would be able to see the crimson clouds hanging over the distant horizon, marking thend as the territory of the martial spirits.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In the past, the empire had been on the decline due to the difficulty in producing heirs for their race. To do so, they would need to secure the ki and soul of another being, either robbing it by force or through a mutual agreement. This agreement was formed on the understanding that a martial spirit would allow a fighter to reach a new level of power.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, the cost of this arrangement was for the soul of the fighter to be consumed upon death, forever unable to enter the afterlife. This alone made the prospect quite unappealing, ensuring that their numbers would only slowly increase. Furthermore, with the arrival of the Perfection Chambers, it was as if people no longer had need of their power.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although seeking perfection still meant binding your soul to your single existence for eternity, it did not rely on the power of another to increase their strength. Thus, the martial spirits of Bloodhaven could only return to their ancient method of hunting powerful monsters. Like this, their poption grew even more slowly than before, although they were at one point nearly destroyed by an enemy invasion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Eventually¡­ the Empress of Bloodhaven, the martial spirit with the title of First Blood, became the Goddess of Ki. Scarlet was able to utilize her power to help secure half of the material needed to fuel the birth of her people, allowing them to harvest spiritual energy from lesser creatures to make up the numbers. Gradually, the poption of martial spirits started to rise, allowing them to be a true nation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now, there were individuals walking the street happily, each of them having blood-red hair. Parents walked with their children, and they frequented many new shops that had arrived. Such an aplishment could not be attributed to the Goddess of Ki alone. Instead, there had been another benefactor that provided martial spirits with a method of reproduction without relying on either hunting monsters or forming deals.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sitting on her obsidian throne, the childlike goddess looked over the paperwork that she had been given. ¡°The monthly supply of bloodforged weapons to Hanbei has been dyed? I believe the shipment was already sent earlier this week, was it not?¡± She asked curiously, going over the details that had been written.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Standing a few meters before her, a bulky man wearing crimson metal armor replied. ¡°Your Highness, the shipment sentst week was¡­ intercepted, and did not reach its destination.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet¡¯s eye twitched when she heard that, finding the response almostughable. ¡°How was it intercepted? Did you not use the gates for this task? And, for that matter, why is it that I am only finding out about this after a week has already passed?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The martial spirit soldier began to sweat a blood-like substance as he nervously answered. ¡°W-We are still conducting an investigation on what exactly happened, Your Highness. As you say, we used the gate as we always do. However, the soldiers escorting the shipment reported that the containment scrolls that they were carrying all became empty the moment that they passed through.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°At this time, we believe it to be the work of a powerful, unknown entity. Potentially even a god with a domain focused on thievery.¡± The soldier offered a deep bow of apology after saying that. ¡°Having seen the power of these gods before, we did not wish to worry you and ce you in danger, Your Highness. The smithies have been working around the clock, and a fresh shipment is scheduled to be sent this evening.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet almost scoffed at the prospect of her people thinking that she would be in danger from such a situation, but forced herself to calm down. It was true that divine domains could, in fact, be stolen. She had witnessed the very thing from the recording of the battle against the golem god.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If her domain was stolen, the martial spirits would lose arge source of security. It had always been Scarlet herself that stood up to help them when things became overly grim. She was the oldest of her kind, born from the blood of the Keeper himself. Even so¡­ ¡°I don¡¯t like you keeping me in the dark about things like this.¡± She said in a strict tone that did not match her current appearance. ¡°From now on, I want to be notified immediately if a problem of this level urs in the future.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The soldier offered a solemn nod, but was not able to speak before Scarlet herself continued. ¡°Now, tell me what measures you have in ce to prevent the same incident from repeating itself with the next shipment? If you have gone to such lengths, surely you are not going to simply hope that the previous thief doesn¡¯t strike again?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The soldier shook his head, standing at attention. ¡°Not at all, Your Highness. We believe that the thief took advantage of the properties of the gate to act without being detected. Thus, we have gathered a group of spiritual masters for the sake of directly teleporting the goods to the target destination. The current queen of Hanbei has been notified, and is ready to receive the package.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The¡­ current queen?¡± Scarlet asked, her expressionplex. ¡°Has the crown changed hands?¡± As allies of Hanbei, it was their duty to act if an insurrection were to arise, and yet she had heard of no such thing. Was there more that her people weren¡¯t telling her?


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ah¡­¡± The soldier realized what he had said, nodding solemnly. ¡°The former queen, Queen Saruko, passed awayst year. I hear that she failed in her pursuit of divinity. The current queen is her daughter, Elisae. Queen Elisae stated that she wished for rtionships to progress as they had been, and never made a formal announcement outside of her own kingdom.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet fell quiet when she heard that. Although she had not been overly close with Saruko, the two had met during the time when the problem of her people¡¯s reproduction was being solved. It was natural for Saruko to leave asting impression on her. That said, it had been quite some time since the two had met face to face. ¡°How old is her daughter? I don¡¯t recall her having one.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I believe she has just turned neen this year, Your Highness.¡± The soldier answered, sensing the almost mournful aura from the Goddess of Ki. ¡°Our rtionship with Hanbei hasn¡¯t been disturbed since the changing of hands. However, I believe a report of it was given to you at the time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet puffed her cheeks up slightly at that. Most written reports tended to gloss over the details of what the writers deemed as ¡®less significant¡¯ events. A perfect example was this time¡¯s shipment dy. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I need better officials¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She thought to herself, realizing that the report may have just been a footnote in a regr trade document, something easy for her to miss.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You said that the shipment is being delivered today?¡± Scarlet said as she rose from her seat, stretching her limbs out slightly. Although she did not have truly physical muscles and joints, it feltfortable to perform the action.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right, Your Highness¡­ you¡¯re not nning to¡­?¡± The soldier blinked, realizing what Scarlet was up to.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She nodded her head, stepping forward and leaving an avatar of herself behind. ¡°It has been a year since this ¡®Elisae¡¯ took the throne. As allies of Hanbei, I believe that it is long since time for me to see the face of my new ally.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a second meaning to Scarlet¡¯s words. Due to the circumstances of her past, she was one of very few beings, perhaps the only one outside of the Greater Pantheon capable of casually viewing the karma of another person. With one nce, she would be able to tell if Elisae¡¯s karma had been dyed ck or not. If so, she would not hesitate to cut off their trade agreement, regardless of her former rtionship with Elisae¡¯s mother.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">If this is even her daughter.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She muttered in her mind at the thought. Although it was possible given how infrequently the two spoke, Scarlet wouldn¡¯t know for sure without seeing the girl herself. Doing so would allow Scarlet to measure the girl¡¯s ki to see if she were hiding anything. Thest thing that she wanted to discover was that Saruko had been killed by a supposed heir aiming to im the crown.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The soldier knew that there was no talking the Empress out of a decision that she had set her mind to. He could only gulp nervously as he watched her walk past, barely catching up to her when she spoke next. ¡°Where is this shipment being held?¡± She asked in an almost casual tone, pushing open the door of her pce.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The fresh scent of blood herbs hit her, causing her to smile at the smell. The soldier hurried after her, doing his best not to disturb her mood. ¡°They¡¯re being stored in the seventh warehouse, so that we can quietly conduct the trans--¡± He wasn¡¯t able to finish his words before Scarlet vanished with a faint ripple of the space around her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Long before Scarlet became a goddess, she had been granted the knowledge of how to wield ki at the fourth tier. Such a level of power was something that even the most aplished of individuals would struggle with. Had it not been for her demigod aspect being Ki, which then evolved into her domain, it is very likely that she would not have mastered it so thoroughly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As it was, the power of the fourth tier could bemanded by her even in the heat of battle. Combined with her domain allowing her to wield her divine energy as an even more powerful ki, it made her an extremely potentbatant. Shifting between points of space had be a casual matter for her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she appeared in the warehouse, she saw the boxes being piled inside what looked like arge ritual circle. She gave a small nod, realizing that they weren¡¯t using the quest scrolls for this in case the previous thief had exploited that method as well. ¡°Is this thest of it?¡± She asked a nearby worker, seeing him set down another crate in the circle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh? A-ah! Your Highness! N-No, there are still three more crates to move, over there.¡± The worker pointed, his hand shaking. Scarlet followed his gesture and found the three boxes in question, reaching out to flick her wrist towards them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The crates all lifted themself up in unison, flying over to join the others. Scarlet could naturally sense the pure ki contained within the objects in the crate, so she wasn¡¯t worried that she had picked the wrong ones. ¡°I¡¯ll be heading over myself.¡± She said, leaving those parting words just as the warehouse door flew open.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Your--¡± The soldier¡¯s words were once again cut off early, as Scarlet had vanished together with the entire shipment at once. ¡°Highness¡­¡± He let out a sigh, shaking his head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Elsewhere, Scarlet appeared in the center of a wide courtyard, the piles of boxes neatly stacked beside her. Her appearance disrupted the normal flow of traffic, causing others to jump in shock and shift to the side. One attendant ran forward in confusion. ¡°I was under the impression that the shipment wouldn¡¯t arrive for a few more hours?¡± He asked, seeming not to recognize who he was talking to.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I heard about the dyst time, so I wanted to handle it myself.¡± Scarlet said casually, scanning through the items and confirming that nothing had disappeared this time. ¡°I imagine Queen Elisae will be here soon, after thatmotion?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The attendant chuckled dryly. ¡°It is very likely. Do you mind if I check the contents of the crates, and ensure that there is no problem with this shipment?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet raised an eyebrow, stepping aside to let him do so. However, she kept her senses locked sharply on both the items in the crates as well as the man. Although the odds were low, there was the chance that the previous shipment had been stolen by someone from this side.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The attendant pried open the lid of one crate while Scarlet silently gathered power in her hand, ready to act. He looked in, catching the bloody glow of the freshly forged weapons, and nodded his head in satisfaction. ¡°Everything seems to be in order.¡± He responded with a smile, looking back towards Scarlet.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Noticing that there was no change in the shipment, Scarlet drew back the power she had quietly gathered, letting out a faint sigh. ¡°That is good to hear.¡± She said with a faint nod, turning her head to look at a source of ki she felt approaching. Afterwards, her eyes went wide in shock.


    <span style="font-weight:400">What she saw was a woman with ck hair and dressed in light metal armor. The armor had golden lining, making it appear more extravagant, while the rapier at her waist was heavily decorated. Her eyes were an almost shining silver, her expression a cautious mask. But none of that was the reason for Scarlet¡¯s shock, as she saw something nobody else saw from the woman.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A beacon of brilliant light followed this woman, the most positive karma that Scarlet had ever seen in her life. She had seen people with such pure karma that they could enter the Heavenly Pce, and measured them personally. But this¡­ this was like cing a single torch next to a roaring bonfire.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As soon as Scarlet saw the woman¡¯s karma, she no longer held any suspicions about the new queen having assassinated the old one to maliciously steal her crown. If anything, her very karma would prevent such thoughts from entering her mind. ¡°You are¡­ Queen Elisae?¡± Scarlet asked once she had recovered from her shock.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± The young queen nodded her head, looking down at Scarlet. ¡°If I¡¯m not mistaken, you are the Empress of Bloodhaven, correct?¡± A gentle smile formed on her lips. ¡°I believe that this is our first meeting. Would you like to talk in private?¡±

 Chapter 700: Luck Be A Lady

    Chapter 700: Luck Be A Lady


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet followed Elisae into the pce, the human queen insisting to her guards that she did not need any protection. Or, to put it another way, that if Scarlet truly sought to do her harm, there would be no number of knights protecting her that would be able to stop her. All the while, Scarlet was examining this new queen with both her normal and supernatural senses.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It had to be said that Elisae bore little resemnce to thete queen Saruko, but such things weremon in this day and age. When anyone can adjust their body with a simple trick of ki, let alone those with an energy form, who knows what they truly look like when they rely only on their gics? At the same time though, she could sense that Elisae was not altering her appearance with ki at all.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Or rather¡­ it should be said that Elisae was unable to do so. From what Scarlet could sense, Elisae did not even have a standard ki path flowing through her body. This allowed the energy to flow in such a primitive manner that Scarlet hadn¡¯t seen anything simr from an adult in roughly a thousand years. Even children were taught in school how to construct a ki path, and typically have the locally epted standard granted to them through the guidance of their teacher.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For someone like Elisae to not even have that¡­ Scarlet could not help but question her origins. It was highly unlikely that Saruko would have overlooked such an important detail when raising her own daughter, after all.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Still, she kept her suspicions to herself until Elisae had led her into a private meeting room. The human queen inspected the room briefly, moving over to sit at one end of the table. As she did, she seemed to dete, copsing against the tabletop in a manner that was <i><span style="font-weight:400">very</i><span style="font-weight:400"> reminiscent of her mother. ¡°Finally¡­ really, you gave me a scare there.¡± She muttered, puffing her cheeks out.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet blinked, taking a moment to catch up with the sudden change of pace. She didn¡¯t immediately give away her doubts, and instead chose another seat to ce herself in. ¡°I apologize, I had only just learned of your ascension, and wanted toe meet you for myself. After all, I was acquainted with your mother, and our two nations are allied.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Elisae gave a knowing grin as she listened to Scarlet¡¯s exnation. ¡°You wanted to know who the father is, or if I was even mom¡¯s daughter, right?¡± She asked, propping her chin up on one hand. ¡°Mom said that you¡¯d probablye by once you learned about me. She was never really known for her rtionship skills, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯re not a¡­ child of force, are you?¡± Scarlet asked, not sure how she could word that to be any more sensitive. Elisae looked at her in confusion, processing the request before gasping in surprise.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No! Gods, no! Nothing like that, I swear!¡± She shook her head vehemently, doing her best to dispel that thought. ¡°No, I was adopted. My birth parents couldn¡¯t exactly raise me, so my dad sent me to mom, since they were friends. I¡¯ve been down here for thest nine years.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">This time, it was Scarlet¡¯s turn to have to process what she had heard. ¡°I was told that you were nearly twenty years old? You¡­ certainly don¡¯t look like a nine-year-old.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Elisae gave a small grin at that, nodding her head. ¡°Well, yes and no! I was kind of born in the body of a ten-year-old girl. So after I came here, mom just decided she¡¯d add ten years to my age. I gotta tell you, it¡¯s not easy having to go through school at double speed.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Uh huh¡­ and how exactly were you born in the body of an already maturing girl?¡± Scarlet asked skeptically, raising an eyebrow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Magic.¡± Elisae answered with apletely straight face, causing Scarlet¡¯s eye to twitch.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Magic?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yup!¡± Elisae nodded at Scarlet¡¯s question again, an enthusiastic smile growing over her lips. ¡°Well, really it¡¯s just because of how I was born. Dad said that you¡¯d understand it better. He talks to me sometimes, when I¡¯m alone at night, or when I¡¯m sad. Mom, my real mom, can¡¯t because of what she is, but he¡¯s always done his best to be there for me.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay¡­ and who are these real parents of yours?¡± Scarlet could feel a headacheing on, the first one she had felt in a very long time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Dad knew you¡¯d ask that!¡± Elisae giggled, propping her chin up with her arm again. ¡°My mom just goes by Juliantely, but my dad¡¯s name is Thane Lorien--¡± Elisae was cut off as Scarlet abruptly jumped to her feet, eyes wide and hands clenching at the edge of the table hard enough to crack it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I killed Thane with my own hands.¡± Scarlet said, eyes shaking as she looked at Elisae. ¡°Where he was going, it isn¡¯t possible to have children.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Elisae¡¯s lips curved back up into an almost childish grin. ¡°He told me you¡¯d say that, and to tell you ¡®that¡¯s what they said about your people¡¯. Also, he said thanks for the whole killing him thing. He was really agonizing over how to get himself killed without negatively impacting his karma.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet copsed back in her seat, leaning back in it and staring up at the marble ceiling. ¡°How¡­ how did he manage to do it?¡± While there were many people that knew it was Thane that had helped her people with their fertility problem, there were <i><span style="font-weight:400">far</i><span style="font-weight:400"> fewer that knew he was doing it as a method of increasing his karma.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, the long and short of it is that he twisted the rules a little to make it work. As long as it wasn¡¯t for something that would hurt other people on ¡®that side¡¯, they could get him whatever materials he wanted. So, he was studying how to make something like what he did for your people, but applying it to the special brand of karmic spirit he and mom were.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Said it took him a while, too. Never said how long, but the fact I was only born nine years ago? Guessing about that long. Turns out, when one of your parents is an embodiment of karmic virtue, the little crotch spawn basically has her body suffused with positive karma. Except that my body was made of flesh and blood, which doesn¡¯t really go well with the whole ¡®afterlife¡¯ setting.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Once they found out that the very fabric of reality was trying to expel me from that realm, they decided to send me here, where I met my other mom. Dad came down to exin the situation to her, and mom adopted me. Fast forward eight years while I get the mother of all cram schools, and mom decides that I have learned enough to be her heir.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying that, Elisae had a rather sad look on her face. ¡°She had been waiting for me to ¡®catch up¡¯ to my biological age, and then nned on trying to ascend. If she seeded, she would be able to rule Hanbei as a new God-Queen. If she failed, she would at least have an heir that she could trust.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°She¡¯s also the one that suggested I not make a big deal about the transition. I¡¯ve never really fought much before, so she was worried that people mighte by and fight me for the crown. I mean¡­ they still did, but I found a way to deal with that, thanks to my dad¡¯s deal with Lady Irena.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Turns out, trying to hurt someone with good karma makes your own karma go bad. So with my karma, if someone is trying to hurt me¡­ I keep a Priest of Irena handy. If someone tries toe for my head, I ask them to invoke the ck chains. I got really nervous about that the first few times, but thankfully nobody has shown up that can stop them, so far.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet gave a small nod at that. She knew all too well about the way that karma transferred from person to person. Those who selflessly helped someone with such a strong virtue as Elisae would no doubt find themselves deeply rewarded, while those who tried to hurt her would have their karma plunged directly into the ck.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Did Saruko not teach you how to fight?¡± Scarlet asked, still finding that hard to believe. Elisae simply gave a bitter smile, shaking her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Anything I fight, and that tries to fight back, gets the same kind of karmic influence as someone trying to hurt me. How am I going to spar with someone if I know that getting an idental injury could forever condemn the other party to an eternity in the ck chains?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet hesitated, having not considered that detail. ¡°What about a simple ki path, that way you could at least defend yourself against monsters?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Elisae tilted her head slightly, as if in confusion. ¡°I¡¯ve never fought a monster before. They always seem to avoid me when I¡¯m traveling between cities, unless a group of bandits target me, then they show up to kill the bandits and leave.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet was immediately confused by that statement, before piecing something together. ¡°Out of curiosity¡­ what are your Charm and Luck stats?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh? Oh, Charm is¡­ about five hundred? And Luck is a little over a thousand.¡± Elisae answered as she nced off to the side, reading her own status screen. ¡°Mom said those values were really high, so I shouldn¡¯t brag about them to people.¡±


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">...I doubt even dad has luck that high.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Scarlet muttered internally, before shaking her head. ¡°Those should be the blessings of your karmic virtue. Still, if you are truly the child of Thane, I would like to offer a small measure of assistance. It isn¡¯t much, but I can bestow you with an advanced ki path that will help you to grow stronger over time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh?! You can do something like that, really?!¡± Elisae hopped up in excitement, eyes practically growing. ¡°Well, I know you¡¯re the Goddess of Ki, obviously. But giving someone else a ki path? Wouldn¡¯t that take a lot of diligent guidance?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet shook her head, a brief golden light surfacing in her eyes. ¡°No. In fact, it¡¯s already done.¡± As she said that, Elisae could already feel her ki starting to follow an invisible path. Where once it had been a stagnantke, it was now being guided through carved trenches.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The human queen let out a quiet sigh of contentment when she felt her ki cycling through her body. With every pass, the impurities of stagnation began to work themselves out, and her body adapted to the new flow. ¡°Wow¡­ it¡¯s really that easy? Does that mean that I can start learning some of those other energies that have been talked abouttely? Like that electric field one?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet gave a small nod. ¡°It should be possible. I left six secondary energy pools for you in the ki path, to harness those types of energy. If those aren¡¯t enough, you can let me knowter on, and I¡¯ll adjust the path for you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Elisae ran over, excitedly picking up the small empress and giving her a big hug. ¡°Oh, thank you!¡± She said, surprising Scarlet into not being able to properly react.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet cleared her throat, eventually getting Elisae to set her down while she evened out her dress. ¡°It¡¯s not a problem. By the way¡­ do you have any guesses as to what interfered with the shipment fromst week? I only just found out about that today, as well. I need to hire some more thorough officials to report matters to me¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet was asking this question after taking into consideration Elisae¡¯s stats. With a luck value that high, her subconscious would often glimpse information her mind did not recognize, or even information that was wholly unavable to her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Elisae thought it over for a moment. ¡°Those portals are designed to be able to go between worlds, right? That means that they have to go through the void, at least somewhat. Wouldn¡¯t something from the void be able to interfere, if it passed by right as the transport was crossing its path? It was probably just some kind of void monster that eats ¡®concealed items¡¯.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying that, Elisae yfully stuck out her tongue. ¡°You should ask if any of the delivery workers lost their underwear when they took the portal. I bet that¡¯s the kind of thing they don¡¯t advertise in their report.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet¡¯s eye twitched slightly when she heard that. She was already about seventy-five percent certain that Elisae¡¯s guess was urate, and decided that she should indeed find an individual to ask that. It was just¡­ that is a rather awkward question for someone in her position to make.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, also¡­¡± Seeing that Scarlet was getting ready to leave, Elisae blinked, her eyes getting a bit hazy. ¡°You don¡¯t like games, do you? Like, virtual reality games?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not particrly, why?¡± Scarlet raised an eyebrow when she heard Elisae¡¯s question. In truth, she had yed her share of such games in the past, but had long grown bored of them. It would take something rather innovative for her to get back into the gaming scene.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I was just thinking¡­ There''s this new gameing out soon. It seems like a lot of fun, but gives me a really bad feeling. The designer¡¯s a god, and he came by a few weeks ago to try and work out a deal to get me to help advertise in my territory. He seemed like a creep, so I turned him down. His name was¡­ Julius Kyles? I just thought that I should warn you, in case he came to bother you, too.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet¡¯s eyes went wide in rm at the unexpected warning. For the very same reason she asked about the shipment, she believed Elisae¡¯s intuition about this game. Someone with stats like hers would naturally be turned away from anything that could prove harmful to herself or those she cared about. And for her to bring it up so suddenly, it made Scarlet think that this person would truly be on his way to Bloodhaven soon. Or at least, the game itself might have been something that would attract Scarlet¡¯s attention.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thank you for the warning, I¡¯ll keep it in mind.¡± Scarlet promised. ¡°And¡­ I¡¯ll be sure toe by to visit now and then.¡± After she said that, she saw Elisae beam a happy smile while she turned to exit the room, lost in her new expectations.

 Chapter 701: Lost And Found

    Chapter 701: Lost And Found


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Group Five, focus fire on the nk!¡± An armored knight shouted, holding up his shield as he stood between a giant crystal behemoth and the exploration convoy. The creature stood on two legs, its body towering almost a hundred meters high.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The convoy had finally located arge region for them to establish a camp without needing to constantly carve away at the walls, so they had been excited for only a brief moment before <i><span style="font-weight:400">someone</i><span style="font-weight:400"> decided to open their mouths andment about how this looked like a boss room. The knight nced over towards a crushed pile of rapidly dissolving gore in the corner, silently wishing the man had learned to keep his mouth shut at times like this.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Group Five was a groupposed of archers and gunners, those who used physical attacks from range. They circled around and bombarded the crystal giant, causing it to stumble to the left. Unfortunately, they had learned early on that the beast was all but immune to magic, causing them to send their mages out of the room with their navigator. Even strengthening magic would be absorbed the moment the giant came in contact with the target.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With the wizard groups pulled back, it was inevitable that they would face losses against a beast as strong as this. Nheless, they had made it to this point by triumphing against unfavorable odds all their lives. Despite the risk, very few of the Maxers present even considered the idea of retreat.


    <span style="font-weight:400">They knew that there was still more to discover within Fyor, and they wanted to be the ones to find it. Some of them had even simpler motives, braving dangers simply to ovee them. Those who sought to push themselves to the edge of death purely for the excitement that came with thwarting Irena¡¯s ns of iming their souls.


    <span style="font-weight:400">And, of course, the one, sad individual who was not here for any of those reasons. The man who was simply present because there was nobody else that could do the job that he could do. With every battle, he would shake in his ck shirt and jeans, holding his left hand over his right to protect the rings that allowed him to walk in this floor without being either crushed by gravity or absorbed into the floor itself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He heard the crash from the battle ahead, shuddering as he stumbled back. The body of the giant was swaying dangerously. Although he was far outside the range of battle, he was still nervous that any wrong move could result in his death.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a shout from the battlefield as a warrior charged in wielding a curved de. The light of ki wrapped around his sword, his ck hair fluttering as he leapt high into the air. With a swing of his sword, he carved halfway through the giant¡¯s arm. The momentum of the swing caused his body to spin as the giant howled in pained anger.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As his body came back to face the giant, the sword was swung once again, still wrapped in that earthen glow. With a deafening crash, the arm fell to the ground, shattering into countless pieces. ¡°Press the attack!¡± The knight shouted.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As the guide did his best to hide within his protective entourage, the giant was swiftly felled by the party of Maxers. The shockwaves from the battle caused him to take multiple steps back, until his shoulder was grasped by an elementalist from his guard. Although he was nobatant, the others did not look down on him. After all, he was here because of a unique talent, and nobody was forcing him to stay.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With the death of the giant confirmed, the knight slowly sheathed his sword, turning to walk towards the entourage. ¡°We¡¯ll set up camp here for today.¡± He said with a nod of his head, before looking at the guide. ¡°Has there been a change in the path?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The guide gulped, looking at the body of the giant as another group charged over with pickaxes and hammers. They broke it down into smaller parts that they could harvest and transport. Afterwards, he closed his eyes and focused. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I want to find the path leading to the undiscovered ck gate.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">As soon as he made thatmand in his mind, a silent pulse of energy swept out from him. It pierced through the walls and floors, prating everything to lock onto the gate in the far distance. Then, the energy pulsed once more from the gate itself, as if echoing off of it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At the same time, the energy pulsed from the guide, but this time did not prate through the walls. This time, it bounced off of them, funneling through the passages from both the guide and the gate in all directions. Only once the two streams of energy met did the path solidify. At that point, an image appeared in his mind, showing the path between themselves and the gate.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s¡­ not much different. Another path opened up, and it is a little bit of a shortcut, I think. We don¡¯t have to go any further down to advance, at least.¡± After he said that, he performed a simr request to find the way back to their starting point.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While the first request had taken a little over a minute, this one went on for much longer, sweat starting to grow on his forehead with every passing moment. ¡°The way back is gone¡­ we won¡¯t be able to return without portals for now.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a heavy silence in the room when he said that, the knight thinking it over. ¡°Is the waypletely blocked, or do we just need to go forward to find a new way back?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The man shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m not seeing any path back. For now, at least¡­ it feels like all of the paths have been cut off.¡± This was something that had never happened before, as there would always be at least one path through the maze to reach the end. However, it was still possible, if the paths that were cut off were the ones directly around the gate itself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That situation likely won¡¯tst too long. The shifting maze will eventually open the path back up. For now¡­ let¡¯s just do as we always have.¡± After he said that, he turned towards the group working to mine the body of the giant. ¡°Start setting up the temporary gateway! We¡¯ll send the supply unit back to restock before moving on.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Everyone got to work at hismand, with thebatants patrolling the area to make sure that they weren¡¯t disturbed by any wandering monsters. Although this was considered to be a boss room, in reality that only meant that this was the territory of a slightly stronger monster. There would naturally be others that roamed within its territory, given that it was toorge to pass through the normal corridors.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The guide let out a silent sigh of relief when he saw everyone moving in a coordinated fashion to set up their temporary camp. He did not have any ability to help here, so he simply moved to stay out of everyone¡¯s way, closing his eyes and thinking to himself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If it weren¡¯t for Aurivy, he would not be in such a dangerous situation, and he was well aware of that. However, he also knew that it wasrgely his own fault that he had encountered that situation. Regardless, he wasn¡¯t¡­ entirely against the current situation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Before he came here, he was just a gamer that found it fun to pick on others. If he found out that someone was after a particr item, he would try to find that item first, and then move it to a different hidden location. That way, the original quest to find it would no longer lead to the right spot.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At one point, he found a beautiful elven woman that was searching for the ¡®Heart of Clear Water¡¯ born in the waters of a flowing spring once every five hundred years. She made a request for anyone with information about it toe forward, and she would give them a reward if their information was helpful.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Coincidentally, he had found the location of that item some time ago in a quest of his own. So, he went to where he had found it and moved it to a different spring. This was an item that would despawn after a certain amount of time if not kept within clear, flowing water, so it was too much of a hassle for him to constantly keep it with him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once he had hidden it, he allowed information of its original location to make its way back to the elf, who quickly left in search of her prize. There were not many clear springs within the area, so he could easily track her progress. She searched for hours within the spring before giving up, having determined it to be the wrong location.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Afterwards, he silently moved the item back to its normal spawn location, as she had already thoroughly explored it. Now that she had the idea of which general area it was in, she began searching the other nearby springs, hoping that the information was at least vaguely credible. s, because she had already explored the ¡®correct¡¯ option, she did not return to it again for some time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A few dayster, a halfling girl with pink hair appeared, casually plucking the Heart of Clear Water from the spring before delivering it to the elf. He clicked his tongue a bit at that, knowing that there wasn¡¯t much he could do anymore. At least¡­ until she announced that there were other items that she was looking for.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Eternal Gem, the First Fire, and the Whispering Breeze were all natural treasures that could be found within the game. And due to the interference of the halfling, he felt like he had been cheated out of his fun. Given that his expertisey in finding and hiding treasures like these, it was a simple matter for him to find the three before she did.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This time, he constructed a special area to maintain the conditions of all three and guarantee that they would not despawn of their own ord. After which, he approached the elf and sold her information about their location. She was, naturally, distrusting of someone openly selling her the information without giving her the chance to verify it first.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately for her, he had taken pictures of the items before moving them, confirming that his information was ¡®urate¡¯. With this, she was overjoyed, and more than willing to meet his price. He watched her running away with a knowing grin, as he knew that there would no longer be anything at those locations.


    <span style="font-weight:400">And, sure enough, she returned three dayster with a sullen expression. He pretended to be surprised, saying that someone else must have already retrieved the items she was after. She was suspicious again, but there was no longer anything that she could do. Without those items, her quest was stalled, and she could no longer make any progress along the story.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She tried to look for other suitable spawn locations, even cycling back to the ones he had given her after a while. Roughly a weekter, the pink-haired halfling appeared before him, giving him a warning to hand over the treasures. Thinking that she was simply another halfling modeling herself after their goddess, he shrugged her off and pretended not to know anything.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He knew that the elf was on the verge of leaving the game due to frustration, but that did not bother him. If anything, he considered it part of the fun, seeing how far he could push someone by disrupting their quest paths.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The next thing he knew, he had been forcibly disconnected from the game, awakening within a dark corridor. In his hand was a simple note written on a piece of paper.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I warned you.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thinking back to that moment, a cold sweat fell over his back. He had crossed a member of the Greater Pantheon, and openly refused her when she gave him a warning. Although he couldn¡¯t be med for not knowing that she was the real Aurivy, it would not be unusual for even a normal deity tosh out at a mortal for such a slight.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The fact that he had simply been given a trial to find his way out of a dimensional maze instead of having his soul ripped from his body was already a blessing. Even if¡­ even if the mere memory of that maze shook him to his core time and time again.

 Chapter 702: Danger Lurks

    Chapter 702: Danger Lurks


    <span style="font-weight:400">After reminiscing about the past that led him here, the guide lifted his head to look at the camp. In the few short minutes he had been lost in his thoughts, the construction had already beenpleted. A temporary gate loomed in the center of the quickly-built buildings, energy swirling within it. Seeing this result, the leader of the expedition was satisfied, ordering the supply group to go and restock on essential materials.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After the order was given, the knight turned back to look at the guide again. ¡°Jordan, you¡¯ll be in charge of keeping an eye on our path.¡± This had been amon task for him, and really the only one that could be given to someone as weak as him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If the path was changing frequently, that was a sign that the area had entered a state of heightened activity. Should that be the case, they would need to halt their advance for a time to allow things to settle. The most dangerous event they could encounter would be a sudden shift in the area they were traversing, either crushing them or splitting their group.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Deep within the crystalbyrinth, a small creature sat at arge table, its tail flicking from side to side. Its beady eyes gazed up at the wall before it, where the surface seemed to ripple and disy the scene of the traveling convoy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The little ratfolk sniggered to itself, its hand moving across the table. The surface of the table shuddered and rose, forming arge model of the area around the group. Within the model were numerous red and blue dots roaming around, with several white dots that disyed the hidden monitors embedded in the shining gem walls.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The rat-like creature stroked its chin, brushing its hand over one of the blue dots. There was no immediate reaction, but the creature still seemed pleased. It poked its sharp ws against the pathway in front of and behind the blue dot, trapping it inside, before trailing that w through the side wall itself. Wherever the w passed, the walls parted, creating only a single path for the blue dot to move.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Wait, what was that?¡± I asked, blinking and leaning forward on the couch. The sudden movement earned a pout from Aurivy, who had been nestled against my arm. On the screen, I was able to see the strange rat-like creature manipting a model of the crystal dungeon.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy nced over, looking at the screen. ¡°Ah, those¡­ they¡¯re¡­ I think they call themselves the Kith. They¡¯re a race naturally evolved within the maze. Let me see¡­¡± Aurivy reached over to snatch the remote from me, fumbling around with the controls. ¡°They should have a hive somewhere around there, if you found a guy wandering on his own.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°A¡­ hive?¡± I muttered in confusion, seeing the screen change to an image of a massive, dome-shaped room. All along the wall of the dome were small caves, different paths leading down to the main floor. ¡°There was a race living in thisyer?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah, we found them not long ago.¡± Aurivy confirmed as other rat-like creatures could be seen scurrying through the passages she was disying. Every now and then, one would ce their hand on the wall, causing it to open up and form an entirely new passage.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°They can control the maze¡­?¡± That was perhaps the detail I was most interested in. The ability to control the massive maze which made up the entire floor was an incredibly powerful gift.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°They evolved there, so they had to learn some tricks.¡± Aurivy nodded her head. ¡°The Kith are a race of energy beings that simply take on a rat-like appearance due to how they evolved. Since they resonate with the crystals in the maze, they¡¯re able to control them to a degree.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That guy you found should be the same. Since they can imbue some of their energy into the crystals, they can use that energy like a camera. But¡­ because there is no physical change to the crystal itself, it¡¯s hard to spot.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod at that. So, it wasn¡¯t that they could control the entire maze¡­ only ces that they had personally visited¡­ ¡°And this one is trying to kill the convoy?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, I had noticed that the blue dot it had guided towards the convoy was another monster, forcing them to fight right after setting up their camp. Depending on how strong the monster was, a sudden ambush like that could be disastrous.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hmm¡­ it¡¯s probably just curious, and trying to y?¡± Aurivy thought, tapping her chin before shrugging. ¡°I haven¡¯t really watched the Kith too much, because I¡¯m not a rat fan, but they don¡¯t really seem that aggressive to me. More¡­ they¡¯re the curious type. He found a group of people that do not look like the Kith, and wants to see what they are.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If the convoy is too strong, he¡¯ll probably just make sure that the path that they take doesn¡¯t lead them to any Kith caves. Otherwise¡­ well, he might y with them some more.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nced over, seeing the wry smile on Aurivy¡¯s face. I had the feeling that more ¡®ying¡¯ meant leading various monsters to attack the convoy until they passed through the domain he controlled. ¡°So, the natural shifting of the dungeon¡­ is that always one of these Kith?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy quickly shook her head, denying my suspicions. ¡°No, the walls just do that on their own. I ran some tests with Bihena to figure out the mechanism. Basically, there is a constant stream of energy flowing through the walls. Whenever that energy bes stronger at two unconnected points, they resonate with one another to form a bridge connecting them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°At the same time, if the energy bes too thin, the wall will open up. Let me show you¡­¡± She pointed the remote at the screen again, and numerous blue nodes lit up within the image of the maze. Some of them were in the floor, others in the walls, and I could spot a few on the ceilings.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°These are the main ry points for the energy. You can see that they¡¯re kind of pulsating slightly and squirming around? That¡¯s just because the energy isn¡¯t following a set flow, so it looks unstable when it gathers together like that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she said that, I saw two thin branches spread off from a pair of nodes, reaching out towards one another. As the branches began to leave the confines of the walls, crystals grew along them. These crystals spread out topletely seal the corridor, with the two branches eventually touching in the center to form a new node.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, that¡¯s the reason why the maze is giving them so much trouble? It¡¯s just the energy trying to flow through shifting ¡®veins¡¯?¡± I asked, mostly just muttering to myself. It was a fairly simple concept to understand, now that I knew the mechanic behind it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Whenever a monster was born, there would likely be a dip in the energy for that section, as the energy was used to help the formation of the monster¡¯s own power. Additionally, when a monster died, its energy would be absorbed into the maze, which resulted in an unpredictable flow. The only way to make sure the maze did not shift would be to prevent the birth and death of its inhabitants, which was¡­ not really a feasible idea.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Just to make sure¡­ they¡¯re not guarding the gate, are they?¡± I asked, ncing over again towards Aurivy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, not at all. They stay away from the gates.¡± She shook her head again. ¡°From what I can tell, the gates scare them. It¡¯s something different from the crystal walls, standing tall and dark like an ominous omen. If they knew that the convoy came from a gate--¡± Aurivy¡¯s words were suddenly cut off, eyes going wide.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯m not seeing any path back. For now, at least¡­ it feels like all of the paths have been cut off.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The words of Jordan, the guide, seemed to echo in both of our minds. Aurivy scrambled with the remote, bringing up the scene of the developing city built around the gate. From what we saw, life seemed to be continuing as normal, the supply group of the convoy arriving and making their way towards a few different shops.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, as Aurivy zoomed out, disying the area outside the city, I could see numerous monsters being guided into the area. Some of these monsters were as tall as a three-story building, while others were small enough to fit in the palm of one¡¯s hand yet moved in swarms that nketed their corridors.


    <span style="font-weight:400">All other paths that these monsters could take were being cut off, with the passages closing in behind them and opening ahead to force them to move as they were guided. ¡°What are the odds that the city is able to survive this kind of attack?¡± I asked in concern, seeing the veritable army closing in on them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well¡­ the good news is that the Kith won¡¯t have any observation nodes within the city or its immediate surroundings. Even though this is a different hive than the one that¡¯s messing with the convoy, they never get too close to the gates. That means that the passages won¡¯t just open up and pour monsters into the city.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy gulped as she continued, watching as the closest monster had its path stopped in front of it, only a few dozen meters before the city¡¯s outer wall. However, the path behind it was still closing in, leaving the ape-like beast with crystals protruding from its body to panic and begin bashing against the wall. ¡°The monsters will have to manually break through thestyer themselves, which will give the residents of the city some warning.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay¡­ now what¡¯s the bad news?¡± I knew that there would be bad news. There¡¯s always bad news.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The bad news¡­ is that the majority of the strongestbatants are in the convoy. If the monsters do all break through at the same time, I expect that at least a third of the city will be destroyed before they¡¯re stopped.¡± I grit my teeth when I heard that, knowing that such a loss would be uneptable in the long run.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Having a horde of monsters cause massive casualties among the highest level poption of Fyor would just cause them to retreat ayer, just like they had previously done in inhospitableyers before. Once they did that, their progress would be dyed by years, maybe even decades.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath as I thought about it. ¡°She hasn¡¯t had any fun yet¡­ send in Lifre. Let¡¯s have her make her debut as the third servant of the Keeper.¡± Aurivy blinked, looking over at me when I said that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Are you sure, Dale? She¡¯s, well¡­ a bit entric. And her race isn¡¯t really known yet by the rest of the world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The fact that there was an entire of sentient slimes was still a mystery to the majority of the world, and Lifre¡¯s appearance could provide a substantial shock. This was undeniable, but it was also the perfect chance for her to make an appearance. There was no telling how long it would be before otherhrak or slimes managed to kill a god in Tower¡¯s dungeon, after all.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If Lifre¡¯s appearance sparked interest in her race, and those questions were eventually answered, there was a chance that it could lead to other worlds gaining ess to the dungeon created by Tower. Or, at the very least, dungeons designed with a simr theme to help train powerful adventurers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m sure.¡± I nodded my head. ¡°It¡¯s a bit of a waste for the only opponent of the God of Adventure to be a pile of paperwork, isn¡¯t it?¡± There was a somewhat bitter grin on my face at that, recalling the battlefield that Lifre had established tobat her mortal foe.

 Chapter 703: The Adventure Begins

    Chapter 703: The Adventure Begins


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre stood in the library, staring at the aisles of shelves that seemed to upy more space than the room should physically possess. Her brow furrowed as she took the intimidating presence of nearly limitless knowledge as a personal challenge, walking along the ends of the aisles. Her eyes scanned over the different subjects, ranging from the history of various countries to theplete guide to the runguage, and even an almanac of every reported monster throughout history.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Let¡¯s go¡­ rune magic, today!¡± She nodded her head, retracing her steps to find the aisle containing numerous booksbeled for this type of magic. Knowing it would only hurt her in the long run to start with anything too advanced, she grabbed several first tier books from the shelf and began walking towards the reading table nearby.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she was sitting down, she heard a voice from behind her. ¡°Well, this isn¡¯t the kind of adventure that I thought I would find you on.¡± Lifre¡¯s head twisted around on her neck at an unnatural angle to look at the owner of the unfamiliar voice, a blonde human dressed in blue and golden armor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The slime girl thought it over for a moment, sure that she had seen her before. ¡°Ah! You¡¯re Bihena, the human Goddess of Politics and Water!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Bihena¡¯s eye twitched fiercely at how Lifre addressed her. ¡°Battle, Peace, and Oceans.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh? Oh, sorry!¡± Lifre nodded, which only looked even stranger with how her neck was twisted. ¡°So, what did youe to see me for? Tsubaki said that you guys make social calls, but nobody¡¯s visited me yet!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Bihena simply shook her head at that. ¡°You have not been here very long yet, give it time. I¡¯m actually here to give you an assignment.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...Is it more paperwork?¡± Lifre scrunched her face in distaste. ¡°I already went over the taxes of the human kingdoms for thest ten years. Did you know that one of them is collecting a tithe in the name of using it as an offering to you? But the tithed goods eventually go back into cirction, so they definitely never made an offering like that¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ll look into that¡­ but no, the assignment I have for you is abat mission, and it is rather urgent. There¡¯s a colony in danger and--¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ll do it!¡± Lifre shouted from directly in front of Bihena, eyes gleaming with excitement. She had shifted into her liquid state and reformed so quickly that Bihena barely had the chance to see her. ¡°It¡¯s an emergency, right?! Send me over, I¡¯ll take care of it!¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°Form a defensive line! Nobatants, fall back to the portal and wait on the previous floor!¡± An elderly man holding arge staff called out, seeing cracks forming at various points along the wall surrounding the small town. It had been roughly two minutes since the first tremor, when the walls shook and everyone became alert.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The supply unit for the advanced expedition was still in the town, as they had been given instructions not to report the danger back to the convoy. Although there were numerous powerful figures in the convoy, they could not always rely on them for protection. Further, if anything happened to the guide within that group, they would lose their hope of ever reaching the next floor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For now, this man was doing his best to guide everyone through the emergency procedures. As the leader of thisyer¡¯s adventurer¡¯s guild, the task fell to him to protect the people. ¡°Pars unt.¡± He muttered, his body lifting off the ground to get a better view of the surroundings.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Throughout the town, there was no small amount of panic, with the local enforcers doing their best to guide the nonbat personnel into the gate. Once they were done with their assigned sections, they would form a defensive line near one of the great cracks.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯s not so bad. We should be able to survive this, at least. Though, depending on the strength of the enemy, we¡¯ll need to rebuild the town. </i><span style="font-weight:400">As he thought that to himself, he saw a much smaller crack appearing along the floor in an unprotected section of the city. Most of the tremors were caused by cracks forming over a dozen meters high, but this one was merely a few inches.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When he realized what this meant, his eyes went wide, aiming his staff towards the crack. ¡±Ssta neraj purank!¡± The tip of his staff lit up, a line of light drawing out from it to strike the base of the crystal wall, where it formed a barrier roughly two meters high.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Soon, he was able to see the crystal wall itself shattering at the base of the field, tiny ws and teeth scratching at the barrier he established. Then, the hole became wider, more creatures joining the mix. The guild master¡¯s eyes trembled as he shouted. ¡°Any mages specialized in area attacks, concentrate fire at the wall in sector thirteen, there is a swarm breaking through!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Silence fell over the busy town when he made that call, as anyone who made it this far knew the dangers of a swarm. Within the various floors of Fyor, swarms came in a number of varieties, ranging from a standard cluster of small monsters to a deadly tide that could sweep across entire regions. Sadly, they had no way of knowing which type this swarm belonged to, so numerous casters began making their way over as they brandished their weapons.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The guild master could feel his mana being drained at an increasing rate, cracks forming along his barrier. After barely twenty seconds, he had be unable to maintain his magic any longer. With the first hole that appeared, beasts poured in like a flood, covering the floor around the hole. Each one appeared to be a crystalline scorpion, its pincers and mandibles tearing through anything in its wake.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No need to fear, for I am here!¡± An unfamiliar voice shouted from within the city, causing the guild leader to nce over momentarily. What he saw was a girl with pure-white skin, looking no older than herte teens. She wore leather armor that covered her limbs and chest, but did not seem to wield any physical weapons.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The guild leader was unable to recognize the girl¡¯s race, but had no time to pay attention to that. The first of therger cracks had burst open, a wed paw tearing away at the hole. The beast beyond the gap seemed to be some form of feline creature, judging from what could be seen through the hole.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What? No apuse?¡± The girl asked in a yful tone, before pping her hands together. ¡°Well, then! Let¡¯s get this show on the road!¡± The guild leader did his best not to pay attention to her, focusing on other matters until her presence sharply rose, her voice speaking in a far more solemn tone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°By my deration, let the adventure begin. I call upon the strength within these individuals to bloom, that no challenge may break them. May the ws and fangs of the challengers dull, that they may be ovee. As the one guiding this adventure, these are the rules I have established.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As her words finished, a pulse of power spread out within the town. When this pulse reached the guild leader, he let out a sudden gasp. His originally depleted mana came to life, solidifying the broken barrier he had previously cast to stem the tide of crystal scorpions. Even the expenditure of maintaining the barrier seemed less than before.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Golden glows wrapped around the weapons of the guards as theyunched spheres and me and lightning into the swarm, shattering the creatures with rtive ease. Although the walls still broke down, the progress was significantly slower than before, with the crystal panther taking a full minute to create a hole big enough for its body to emerge.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As soon as it did so, it was beset by four sword-wielding enforcers, each brimming with ki as they shed at the beast. Sharp cuts appeared all along its body, forcing it to let out pained cries as it fought back. Yet even so, its ws were unable to pierce the shields raised by the enforcers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As more and more holes appeared within the wall, the pale-skinned girl held her hand out to the side. ¡°Come forth, my de!¡± She shouted, a golden sword forming in her hand. ¡°The de that pierces the heart of the enemy without fail, prove yourself!¡± Saying so, she jumped off the ground, lunging towards one of the taller monsters.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The tip of her sword was constantly shaking during her flight, as if seeking its target. Eventually, it surged forward in a chosen direction, the de itself growing to massive proportions in order to cleanly pierce through the ape-like crystal beast. This unfamiliar goddess coolly held the handle of her sword, following it even as the beast fell back, standing on its chest after it was pinned to the ground.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Around the city, the tides of battle looked to be in the favor of the townspeople, each of which were showing strength far beyond their normal level. It was hard for the guild master to even believe that this was the same group that he had watched grow throughout the years. He himself was temporarily opening gaps in his barrier, letting small groups of the scorpion tide through at a time to slowly diminish the horde beyond.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aside from a few buildings near the perimeter that had been swept up in the battle, the town itself seemed perfectly safe. Meanwhile, the girl stood on the fallen body of the ape, clutching the handle of the sword which had pierced through its heart.


    <hr>


    <i>While I admit that was quite impressive, I¡¯m surprised you aren¡¯t joining the rest of the fight.</i> Aurivy¡¯s voice spoke into Lifre¡¯s mind as the slime girl calmly watched the battle unfolding around her. Every now and then, the hand holding the sword would twitch, as if eager to join in.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯s not so simple. I can¡¯t intrude on their battle.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Lifre responded as enemy after enemy was cut down. Her divine power was being used to bring everyone to their peak condition, ensuring that their energies did not deplete. While it was not a terribly big expenditure, it was not exactly small, either.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">How noble of you. I didn¡¯t take you as the type to sit back and watch others fight.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Aurivy chuckled, seeming impressed by Lifre¡¯s attitude.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Noble? No way! My sword is stuck!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Lifre¡¯sint brought a pause from Aurivy, as if she wasn¡¯t quite sure how to answer that.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯s¡­ stuck?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Yeah! When the big guy fell, it stabbed into the ground! I¡¯ve been trying to pull it out ever since, but it¡¯s stuck! A hero can¡¯t let go of her sword before the adventure¡¯s over, so I can¡¯t just charge in unarmed, you know?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy was taken aback by thement of the slime girl. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Who came up with that rule?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I did¡­ when I made the sword. It will surely pierce the vital spots of the opponent, even if it has to change its shape to do so, and will keep getting stronger until the adventure is over. But the adventure ends if I let it go. But, if I let it go and end the adventure, the buff I cast earlier will disappear. So I¡¯ve gotta try to get my sword free so I can go fight!</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy paused for a moment. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Can¡¯t you just make your sword shrink again, so ites loose?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I uhm¡­ might have also made it so that it can only revert to its normal size after it is pulled out, that way it looks more impressive.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Lifre chuckled wryly as she informed the goddess of her predicament.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">...Kind of shot yourself in the foot with that one. You might want to think about remaking your artifact when you get back to the citadel.</i>

 Chapter 704: Eating Contest

    Chapter 704: Eating Contest


    <span style="font-weight:400">When the fighting in the town ceased, and thest of the monsters were finally in, the adventurer¡¯s guild leader let out a silent sigh of relief. He could feel the power he had been granted leaving his body, causing him to feel vaguely weakened, but at the same time something had been left behind. He could not immediately ascertain what this feeling was, and knew that the only person who could tell him was the young girl with pale skin that had appeared at the start of the fight.


    <span style="font-weight:400">ncing around, he found her jumping down from the body of the monstrous ape that she had in previously in the fight. Her sword was nowhere to be seen. While he admitted that the fight would have likely been over sooner had the girl in more of the beasts, he was happy that she had at least shown up to offer aid when she did. Otherwise, even if they did not perish altogether, they would have likely lost a considerable number of forces.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thank you for your assistance, mydy. May I know whom it is that hase to our aid?¡± The man asked politely, looking at the girl that appeared young enough to be his grandchild. However, he knew more than most that looks could be deceiving in this day and age. Any young child could be an old monster with centuries of experience. Nobody wanted to simply appear their age after a certain point.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hmm?¡± The girl looked over at him, before smiling wide. ¡°My name is Lifre, third servant of the Keeper! Miss Bihena asked me toe take care of this situation, so I rushed over to help. Is there anything else that you need me to take care of before I head back?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The guild leader was astounded, having never personally met a servant of the Keeper. However, he had always heard that there were two such individuals. One was the ancient fox revered as the Ancestor by the heroc, while the other was an elf with raven-ck hair. Now, it would appear that there was a third, a girl of unknown race with snow-white skin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He wanted to tell Lifre that there was nothing else requiring the attention of a figure as important as herself to pay attention to. However¡­ he saw that she had a look of eagerness when she asked, as if pleading for him to find something for her to do. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Is she being given some form of test to prove herself as a servant?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">That thought naturally crossed his mind when he considered the circumstances. The appointment of figures such as the popes of various churches would notpare to appointing a servant that directly follows the orders of the Keeper himself. Had she been known to the world previously, there was no way that someone like him would not have heard of her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Taking a deep breath, the man nodded his head. ¡°If it would not trouble you too much, it would be a great help if you were able to assist in our rebuilding.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Got it!¡± Lifre nodded her head, looking at the damaged outskirts of the town. ¡°Do you have any floor ns, or should I just wing it with what I have on hand?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The man appeared confused at her question. ¡°We don¡¯t specifically keep floor ns for buildings like these. There might be some in the town center, however. If you¡¯d like, I can go and look.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. If you don¡¯t have it, I¡¯ll just make do with what I can.¡± There was a yful grin on the girl¡¯s face that did not match the context, and she hastily ran over towards the wreckage. ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ this looks like a small home? Wait, no, too many ss shards from beakers and burners lying around. Definitely an alchemist¡¯s home.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°They¡¯ll need to re-draw their magic, but a basic repair spell should work here.¡± After muttering that, Lifre waved her hand, conjuring a thick tome that she began flipping through. ¡°I know that they had a repair spell in here. Ah! Here it is!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a grin, Lifre lifted the book, causing the projection of a fourth-tier spell to appear above it. Tsubaki and Dana were no longer using the reality gems that they had been wielding in the past, so Lifre had no choice but to rely on her own mana to cast the spell. Regardless, Lifre had plenty of mana to use for this spell, causing the model above the book to glow a bright blue before activating.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The guildmaster watched as various scattered shards and wooden nks shook on the ground, floating back to theirmon source. ss shards pieced themselves together as if they were part of some great puzzle before seamlessly fusing, while the broken wood nks ced themselves back against their walls. Copsed roofs lifted up and buckled pirs straightened themselves out as the first house was repairedpletely within only a few moments.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Phew¡­ okay, that¡¯s one down!¡± Lifre responded with a bright smile, before looking at the dozen other buildings needing fixed. ¡°Uhh¡­ I don¡¯t think I have that much mana¡­¡± Reaching that conclusion, her eyes nced over the area, trying to find some way to remedy her situation. Naturally, she could just manually piece things back together, but such was hardly the style of the little mimic.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Wait¡­ what are these crystals made out of?¡± She asked the guildmaster, getting a strange feeling from the crystals beneath her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh? You mean you came here without knowing?¡± He responded in rm, eyes going wide. ¡°Quick, you have to get off the ground! The crystals here are made of solidified mana, and will consume any creature with sufficient magic that isn¡¯t properly attuned!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh? So that¡¯s why it¡¯s been trying to eat me.¡± Lifre nodded her head in realization, looking down at her feet. ¡°I thought it might be some hidden monster or something.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Wait, it¡¯s already trying to¡­ then, may I ask, how are you still standing there?¡± The man gulped, having never heard of a situation where someone was able to resist the power of the crystal maze without any forewarning.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s actually really simple! I¡¯m eating it faster.¡± Lifre grinned proudly, lifting up one of her feet. Crystal shards fell off the sole of her foot, some vanishing into her shoe. ¡°But, if this is all made of mana, that takes care of that issue, at least.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The man looked at the sight before him incredulously, not sure how to make out what he was seeing. All he knew was that Lifre took the projection of the spell, and sank it into the ground at her feet. ¡°Now, just control the output, and¡­¡± She focused, channeling the spell into the various damaged buildings along the perimeter of the town.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Like before, the shattered buildings began to piece themselves back together one by one, returning to their previous conditions. At the same time, the lighting from the surrounding walls seemed to dim as their mana was used to fuel the powerful spell. ¡°But¡­ how could you eat it¡­¡± The man stumbled over his words, still unsure of what he had seen. If it was something that could be replicated, he had hoped to be able to spread it to others to rece the potions that they had to consume on a regr basis.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sadly, he doubted that something as out of the norm as ¡®eating it faster¡¯ was a feat that could be replicated. Especially when he heard the girl¡¯s answer. ¡°Huh? Oh, that¡¯s only natural. You never challenge a slime to an eating contest.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°A¡­ what?¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">After returning to the Sky Citadel, Lifre hummed to herself in contentment. It may have been her first time really interacting with the people of this world, but she still found it quite fun. Not to mention, she had been able to test out her divine abilities in properbat.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, right, I should check back with themter to see if the after-effects persist.¡± She muttered to herself as she walked back towards the library.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre¡¯s divine power didn¡¯t entirely end simply because the adventure itself did. Like any true adventure, the one who overcame danger had to find some form of reward at the end. Lifre took this into consideration when creating her divine powers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">First, there were multiple ¡®forms¡¯ that an adventure could take. Because of this, the mimic decided that it would be easier to establish rules for a particr adventure when it happens, as opposed to using just one power to try and cover every situation. She could create an adventure to have her battle her paperwork, or to aid her friends against a terrifying monster. Either way, an adventure <i><span style="font-weight:400">had</i><span style="font-weight:400"> to have a reward waiting at the end.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, a part of Lifre¡¯s power would linger whenever an adventure ended. Depending on the type of adventure one had ovee, they would be rewarded with a different benefit. As an example, when Lifre was finished with her paperwork battle, she was able to reward herself with a small boost to her intelligence and wisdom if she fought on the frontlines. If she simplymanded the battle from the back, she would instead receive an increase to her charisma.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Since she was unable to directly influence the system itself, this would not be an immediate change. Rather, the power would continue to linger inside the adventurer, slowly remodeling their body to amodate the reward. Once the reward had been fully issued, the power would finally fade away.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I hope that leftover energy won¡¯t cause anyone any problems.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She bit her lip when she thought about that, considering the potential consequences if someone used a perfection chamber while under the influence of her divine gift. ¡°I¡¯ll just go talk to the research guy about thatter. If anyone would be able to answer that, it would be him.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Answer what?¡± A voice spoke up from behind Lifre, making her jump in shock. There was a wet squelch as her body crashed against the ceiling, before she dripped back down to the floor to reform her body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Don¡¯t sneak up on people like that, Tsubaki!¡± She iled her arms at her side, pouting towards the kitsune that startled her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki merely raised an eyebrow in response, unsure why Lifre was so on edge. However, her nose soon twitched as she caught an unfamiliar scent. ¡°Did you go outside?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yup!¡± The mimic girl announced proudly. ¡°Miss Bihena came by with a mission for me, and I just got back from taking care of it!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded her head, not wanting to press the matter. If the gods truly did have a mission for Lifre, it was not her ce to question it. ¡°Very well. How are youing with your paperwork assignments, then?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Already done!¡± Lifre proimed. ¡°I was just getting ready to study some rune magic when she showed up earlier. So¡­ please¡­ can I not do paperwork for a little while?¡± She gave a weak chuckle when she asked that. ¡°I¡¯ll take on whatever other task you have, as long as I don¡¯t have to review any more tax sheets.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡± Tsubaki assured her with a warm smile. ¡°We don¡¯t normally handle that kind of thing. I only wanted to use it as a way to get you familiar with the worlds that we oversee. Now that you have finished, we can move on to stage two.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is it fighting monsters? I would appreciate fighting monsters.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s head shook at Lifre¡¯s vain hope. ¡°We only take to the field and fight in an emergency. More often than not, our duty is to monitor such things as diplomatic rtionships. For instance, we will need to know if there is unrest between two nations that could affect the stability of the world as a whole. To this end, we have been assigned a number of artificial intelligences that monitor official channels, and I have personally established a church within each world to assign a priest or priestess. If they hear anything out of the ordinary, they transmit the knowledge back to me via a prayer.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Finally, I have established a base within the Divine Realm, so that the ascended gods can contact us in case of emergencies.¡± As Tsubaki exined, Lifre was nodding her head, her expression gradually bing more and more concerned.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So¡­ what exactly do I need to do for stage two, then?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing her question, Tsubaki answered as if it were only natural. ¡°I will have you learn the art of controlling multiple avatars. Once you are able to handle two avatars at once, we can send one to the Divine Realm, and the other can begin establishing your church within the various worlds.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once she had finished this step of the training, Tsubaki was confident that she would finally have more time to spend with Dana, as arge part of her responsibility would be shared with Lifre. Regardless of how much the slime was wishing to return to the days of paperwork.

 Chapter 705: Innovation

    Chapter 705: Innovation


    <span style="font-weight:400">With the ambush from the rat-type creatures out of the way, the twenty-sixth floor entered a rapid period of development. Previously, they had relied on the sturdy crystal walls to serve as the barrier separating them from the monsters of the massivebyrinth. However, such a thing was no longer possible. They had already witnessed firsthand how those very walls crumbled under a collective attack, and were forced to change their strategy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For this purpose, a mining operation was carried out on the twenty-third floor. Simr to the twenty-sixth, this floor wasrgelyposed of crystals as well. The primary difference was that these crystals had fused with their environment as opposed to overtaking it. This meant that any materials harvested from the twenty-third floor were harder, more brittle, and contained the ability to store arge amount of mana.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At the same time, another mining site appeared on the twentieth floor, an entirely underground floor overrun by swarms of insects. As the world had progressed severalyers beyond this, it was a rtively easy task to devise defenses against those insects.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With the materials from the twentieth floor serving as the shell, and the twenty-third floor¡¯s material as a power source, the people of Fyor gradually began to build a defensive wall that fully surrounded their town. This wall was designed in such a way that doors could be opened at numerous points along its exterior, depending on which paths were open at the time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Like this, darkness returned to a portion of this floor, the light of the crystal walls cut off. Even without that light, the people felt far safer than normal. Though, as I watched this scene, a strange thought urred to me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The entire twenty-sixth floor is made of mana crystals¡­ so where does the oxygene from?¡± I asked on the couch, ncing at alia and Bihena who were sitting nearby. ¡°I mean, most of the people at this level are using energy bodies, but there would have to be some exceptions. Also, there are the materials for that potion¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">alia simply chuckled, shaking her head. ¡°You¡¯re right, there are some people who enter thisbyrinth with a flesh body, though they are few and far between. Mostly merchants or priests that need to temporarily visit the floor, or that one unfortunate guy Aurivy ¡®trained¡¯ to be good at mazes.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Bihena offered a small nod. ¡°In fact, there are some nts on the twenty-sixth floor.¡± She reached over to the table, grabbing the remote and hitting a button. The disy on the screen cut to a ck background with a crystal flower clearly disyed. ¡°They would not be able to sustain arge poption, but these nts do produce a small amount of oxygen, which has built up for tens of thousands of years.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And¡­ I¡¯m guessing that they are one of the ingredients for the mana attunement potion?¡± I asked curiously, to which she nodded again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Udona knows more about potions than I do, but yes. The stem of this flower, whenbined with the crystals extracted from beasts within the dungeon, produces a potion that can temporarily leave a trace of thebyrinth¡¯s energy within the body of an individual.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod of understanding at that, looking at the screen once again. ¡°So this floor won¡¯t be able to sustain arge poption of people, unless they have already shed their mortal bodies.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s really unusual.¡± alia spoke up, leaning back in her seat. ¡°Remember, the limit of a human¡¯s body to hold energy tends to cap out around a thousand levels or so. It differs depending on their ss choices, since not all sses provide energy bonuses, but that is the general rule. Of course, this also changes depending on the nature of the body itself, so there will still be some organic monsters here and there, like the giants on the twenty-fifth floor.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°For our people, though, it¡¯s safe to say that you won¡¯t find anyone with a body of flesh and blood fighting beyond the twenty-fourth floor, where the Solii are. Anything higher than that, and they would have likely ascended in one form or another.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head, able to see what she meant. ¡°So we don¡¯t need to worry as much about hostile environments from now on because of that. Still, it¡¯s hard to believe that there are already that many people with energy bodies.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Bihena let out a faint chuckle before speaking up. ¡°In the grand scheme of things, there aren¡¯t really that many. Less than half a million people live on the twenty-fifth floor, which has more habitablend than Earth. On the twenty-sixth floor, this number bes a scant ten thousand.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Comparatively, just a few floors down, if you look at the twenty-second floor, you¡¯ll see a poption of nearly a billion. Three more floors down, in the Dawn Kingdom, you have over five billion. After that, the numbers start shrinking back down again due to the avable territory not being able to support any more people than they have. In total, Fyor has a poption of nearly twenty-five billion, so the roughly half a million people in the two highest floors amount to no more than two thousandths of a percent.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes widened as I heard that, running the math in my head for a moment. Naturally, the people on the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth floors would not ount for all of those with energy bodies, but it was still shocking to think about. I had imagined that the total number of people who had shed their physical bodies would be closer to ten percent. Or were those people simply not fighting at the frontlines to expand the territory of Fyor?


    <span style="font-weight:400">I shook my head at that, deciding to direct my attention to other matters. ¡°That¡¯s enough of that, anyways. What¡¯s going on with James and that divine treasure that they found in space? Has he found anyone to give it to yet?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">alia shook her head, shrugging her shoulders. ¡°I asked him what he ns to do with it, but he said he wants to study it for a while first. He thinks that there might be a chance to artificially replicate its effects to make something simr to the Perfection Chamber for gods.¡±


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I guess that means that he never found anything like this in his past life. Though, that¡¯s not really surprising. Even with our civilization exploring the stars in every direction, we only found it because it attracted so many monsters. Otherwise, it would have just looked like a small asteroid.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I shook my head as those thoughts shed through my mind. ¡°Alright, let him study it, then. In the meantime, let¡¯s get back to the show. I¡¯m sure that there¡¯s something good on.¡±


    <hr>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">After retrieving her sword and rebuilding their city, she left without further dy.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> A voice spoke to Tsubaki, offering a report on Lifre¡¯s previous activities in Fyor. Tsubaki simply nodded her head, not particrly surprised by what she had heard. The use of her domain was effective enough to turn the tide in a battle of that scale, so it was a good idea to send her in as the representative.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thank you for your report, Dusk.¡± Tsubaki spoke aloud, transmitting her thoughts back through the divine channel to her priestess. ¡°And don¡¯t worry, she was not spreading false information. Lifre has joined the citadel as the third servant.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">On the other end of the connection, a humanoid mass of light offered a bow towards a statue carved in Tsubaki¡¯s image. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Thank you for rifying this matter for us, Lady of the Light.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s not a problem.¡± Tsubaki¡¯s voice spoke from the statue. ¡°It was right of you to report news of someone who may have been using our name illegally. Please continue to monitor events on your end, and let me know if there are any developments that arrive due to this.¡±


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">As you wish, Lady of the Light. I shall have the others mobilize to observe, as well.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The humanoid mass of light expressed its understanding.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Onest thing.¡± The voice from the statue spoke just as it felt like it was beginning to fade. ¡°ording to the patterns on previous floors, your people should be ready to take action on the upper levels, once the next gate is opened.¡±


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Forgive my ignorance, but would you please rify your desire?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Water, earth, wind, fire¡­ After that, there were three normal floors. Now, there is a floor with a strong theme of light that banishes darkness. The Demigoddess of Shadows was powerless there. If the theme that started on the neenth floor repeats itself, there is likely to be a strong darkness theme to the twenty-seventh floor. The Lightborn should be ready to move if that turns out to be the case.¡±


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I understand.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The mass of light offered another bow. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I will inform the others of this arrangement at once.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">After the Lightborn said this, the statue went quiet, and it began transmitting its thoughts to the others of its own race. If there really were to be a floor of darkness, then it was their duty to help the people of this world ovee it. Especially now that the Lady of Light had instructed them to personally act.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">nk sat within a virtual void, looking at the schematic that had been sent to him from the researcher. This schematic took the shape of a rather typical looking wristwatch, but contained within was a microchip designed to contain a vast array of blueprints, ranging from simple firepits to giant factories.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, James had not had the time to create every single schematic from memory, as doing so would have taken <i><span style="font-weight:400">years</i><span style="font-weight:400"> of his time. That is not even counting the time needed to test each one. So instead, he wrote a learning algorithm that could handle the creation of different blueprints itself. This program was able to create ships matching the specifications that the user was looking for, drafting up what appeared to be the most efficient methods for creating what the user wanted.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Afterwards, simrly, the program was able to create an assembly line to produce the required parts. What the user themselves had to do was design what they wanted to create, wait for the algorithm to list the necessary materials, and then find those materials in the world. Once the materials were found, a second algorithm would trigger a spell to create the requested object or building. This same algorithm would be responsible for tutoring mages to help them memorizeplex magical forms.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The second algorithm would disy different forms, as well as breaking them down so that the user could gradually understand how it works. In a nobat situation, it could even stimte their mana to cast apleted spell. However, oncebat began, the algorithm would go dormant. Even if the user¡¯s life was at risk, it wouldn¡¯t react. After all, as it was just a game, there was no harm in letting the yer learn from their defeat.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is this what you¡¯re wanting?¡± nk called out into the void, taking a deep look at the program James had sent over. ¡°Each project will take quite a bit of mana toplete, won¡¯t it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s the idea!¡± Dana¡¯s voice spoke back within the void, the girl connected from herputer in the citadel. ¡°If they don¡¯t properly train themselves, their only chance to create will be to do so manually. For those that do train, they will be able to gradually build up their understanding of how magic works in the world. Since you¡¯ll be using that Magic Seed for this project, it means that their understanding of real world magic will improve, as well.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What about those who train in more physical fields, such as monks?¡± nk asked, shaking his head lightly at the idea. So far, the project had been designed to help raise mages in an environment where mages were at their weakest. He couldn¡¯t entirely be sure what Dana¡¯s n was for the more physical types.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If they don¡¯t want to train as a mage, they don¡¯t have to! It¡¯ll be easier for them to survive in the wild as a physical ss, but they won¡¯t be able to build their bases as quickly. The best case scenario for them would be to try and meet up with other people on the same world, that way they could work together.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡­ suppose.¡± nk said with a faint sigh. It had to be said that the main draw of the game so far was the ability to practice real-world magic within a game. As of yet, there was no single game which included aplete recreation of the world¡¯s magic system.

 Chapter 706: Watching

    Chapter 706: Watching


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well? How is it, have you found him yet?¡± One of the Terra twins asked her sister, thetter of which was flipping through a ck book with an exasperated sigh.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not yet. And, asking won¡¯t make it go any faster. It¡¯s not like my abilities work quite the same as yours, so I have to figure a lot of this out for myself.¡± She said as her brow furrowed, flipping through her tome to try and find a specific entry.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ah¡­ sorry.¡± Her sister surprisingly took thement to heart, her ears pressing t against her head. It was something of a sore point for her chaos twin that she was unable to easily increase her control over her power. Unlike herself, the twin did not have a suitable point of reference to build off of, and the greater goddess Terra was unable to help her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, whereas one of them was able to easily grow stronger by relying on the advice of Terra, the other one had to stumble over numerous roadblocks in order to determine how their power worked. It was only natural that a faint feeling of bitterness would arise from that, which the divine twin could clearly feel through their shared connection.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When the chaos twin felt the sudden spike of wariness from her sister, she let out a sullen sigh. ¡°Look, I don¡¯t hold it against you or anything like that, really. It¡¯s not like either of us had a choice about this. If anything, I me fate itself. Which, given the circumstances, is pretty ironic.¡± There was a wry smile on her lips as she said that, earning a faint chuckle from the other sister.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well¡­ maybe I can help?¡± The divine twin asked, leaning over to hug her sister. ¡°Two heads are better than one, right? Between the two of us, I¡¯m sure we at least count as one and a half.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The chaos twin thought about it for a moment, before nodding her head. ¡°Alright. Let me tell you what I¡¯ve figured out so far, then.¡± After saying so, she took a deep breath.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Before, my power of Stories was able to parse through the information existing within the world to look for iconic figures. My power is rooted in the void, which means that it operates by reading and manipting relevant information. Unfortunately, after we ascended, it¡­ took a bit of a turn.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What do you mean?¡± The divine twin pressed for more information, causing her sister to pat her on the back.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m getting to that. Now¡­ anything that can be considered a story within the world is included as part of my domain. Everyone is the main character of their own story, though, so my domain parses the information for all sentient life. I can use filters to narrow down the results, but that is still a lot of people for me to look through. So¡­ let¡¯s go over what we have of this guy as an example?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The divine twin nodded her head, thinking back to the prophecy. ¡°We know he was human¡­ and his hair color was shifting between brown, ck, and gold. The length of the hair kept changing, too. His face¡­ he had rather angr features, and a short nose. He wore a suit, and his job seemed to have something to do with making deals?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The chaos twin nodded in agreement. ¡°Right. For now, let¡¯s assume that the ck and gold hair was caused by influences from both the void and divine properties. So, after that we have a human male with an angr face and short nose, who works in some kind of business where he has to make deals. That narrows it down to¡­ two hundred million results, give or take.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The divine twin¡¯s eyes went wide, and she turned to stare at her sister¡¯s book. ¡°Uhm¡­ could we use the link to the void beast to track him? There can¡¯t be that many people in those results that have void connections, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">At that, the chaos twin gave a sullen sigh. ¡°Eight hundred and ny thousand. Turns out that there are a lot of people in the world that have void connections, though most of them are really small. For instance, most of them walked by a void disturbance without realizing, and a trace of it was left on their bodies.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°These connections arergely harmless, or else we would have heard of it making a big scene a while ago. But it makes my job much harder, because I have to look at each profile to determine the level of connection, and thepatibility that the person has with our prediction.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right¡­¡± The divine twin seemed to understand what her sister was going through now. ¡°How many have you managed to get through, so far?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Today? Just over seven hundred¡­ If we can¡¯t figure out another way to narrow down the results, it could take me years to get through all of them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right.¡± The divine twin closed her eyes, sinking into thought. ¡°You said that your domain parses their life stories, right? And that¡¯s how it gets all of those ridiculous profiles?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± The chaos twin confirmed, looking at her sister to see what idea she hade up with.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is it a first person or third person narrative?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°First person, why?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The divine twin gave a yful smile, opening her eyes to look at her sister. ¡°We know he¡¯s got big nsing up that would shake the world, right? Can you use that as a filter? Someone with extreme ambition and the ability to see it through?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The chaos twin blinked, thinking it over. ¡°I can try. It couldn¡¯t give me any <i><span style="font-weight:400">more</i><span style="font-weight:400"> results, at the very least.¡± After she said that, she turned and ced her hand on her book, focusing on the new filters that her sister hade up with.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The book radiated a dark energy, and the sisters could see ck threadsshing out into the void around them. Soon, those threads began dissolving one by one, while others retreated back into her book. Once that was done, she flipped it open to take a look, blinking slightly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well?¡± The divine twin asked. ¡°What¡¯s it say, Firma?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You know what¡­ fine, I¡¯ll be Firma for today.¡± The chaos twin said with a small grin. ¡°Just for that help, because we now have six entries to deal with.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The divine twin jumped to her feet in joy, wrapping her arms around her sister while cheering. ¡°You did it! Should we give this list to Tsubaki and the others now? They¡¯d be able to do more with it than us, right?¡± Now that they had narrowed it down to the single digits, it would clearly no longer be possible to disregard them with a casual nce. Each one would take far more study in order to tell if they were suitable for the prophecy or not.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Firma thought it over, shaking her head. ¡°Not yet. We still have to consider the possibility that the shifting hair color didn¡¯t represent any sort of influence from other energy types. Let me get a list of those that match these filters with those hair colors, as well.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Alright.¡± Terra grinned. ¡°It can¡¯t add that many more people, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Firma once again gave a bitter smile. ¡°Most people nowadays can change their hair color with just a slight bit of effort, especially those in the demographic we¡¯re looking for. Golden blonde hair is popr for those wishing to stand out and take center stage, while ck hair has be popr for those wanting to either mimic the Keeper or blend into the background.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You mean¡­¡± Terra¡¯s face lost a shade, and Firma nodded.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right, there will probably be far more results for those two hair colors.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is everything on schedule for next week¡¯s beta test?¡± Julius asked casually, reclining in his seat as he read through the reports submitted by his employees.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Following his question, a voice spoke up from the projected reports, the terminal offering a direct line to his secretary as well. ¡°Of course, sir. We¡¯ve sent out the invitations, and those who agreed should have received the early instation linkst night.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Did you make sure to include the Non Disclosure Agreements I gave you?¡± His voice was slightly urgent as he asked that, making the secretary pause.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right, sir. I don¡¯t know why you insisted on writing them yourself, but our legal team confirmed that it was safe to use, and sent them together with the programs. The agreement serves as a quest scroll, and they won¡¯t be able to retrieve the program until they have agreed.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julius furrowed his brow, focusing as a card materialized in his hand. The image of the card depicted a lovely lycan woman sitting at a desk wearing a tidy suit. ¡°You should have a bit more faith. Don¡¯t worry so much about the details.¡± He said as he stared at the card.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The image of the lycan in the card seemed to shimmer, before her voice once again came over the channel. ¡°Of course, sir. I¡¯m sorry for doubting you. By the way, there were a few copies that were sent back after the recipient refused to sign the agreement.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julius looked at the card in confusion at that. If someone had a problem with a simple NDA, they would typically not apply for a beta test in the first ce. And, if they just wanted to be able to talk about it, they¡¯d sign it without giving too much care for the contents. Naturally, including it in the form of a quest scroll meant that the NDA had a bit more effect, but they would still be able to discuss the contents with their friends. It was unusual for people to get to the stage of receiving the NDA before turning it away.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Do you remember who they were?¡± He asked, focusing on the card again. Once more, there was a shimmer before the secretary spoke.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Their profiles are saved within theputer. Would you like me to pull them up and send them to your terminal, sir?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julius gave a knowing smile when he heard that, nodding his head. ¡°Please do, Prina. That¡¯s a big help.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a moment of pause while the secretary worked, before her voice sounded out once again, this time seeming far more confused. ¡°Sir? The profiles have disappeared from the server.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julius¡¯s eyes went wide as he sat upright, looking at the reports on his own terminal. ¡°Say that again, Prina?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The profiles for the beta testers who refused the NDA have disappeared. It looks like they¡¯ve been deleted from the server.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Get the Inte Security Department on this right away. I want to know who hacked our server to delete these files.¡± Even without taking into ount the obvious case of concealing the identities of the testers, the simple fact that their server had been hacked in such a way indicated that they had cause for rm. Any business would be fuming at such a situation, no matter how legitimate their operation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Understood, Mr. Kyles. Should I ask the expert to act, as well?¡± Prina asked, causing Julius to think about it for a moment. The ¡®expert¡¯ of the Inte Security Department referred to an artificial intelligence that they had hired. Due to her effectiveness in the field, she was able to demand quite the high sry, and would be paid each time they used her services.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Do it. This is an urgent matter. Tell her that she can have double her usual budget if she can solve this quickly.¡± Julius felt a twinge of mental pain when he made that promise, but it had to be done. Even if double her usual sry was more than he personally made in a month, it was a small price to pay to ensure thepletion of his n. Sadly, he wasn¡¯t confident enough in his ability to make cards out of artificial intelligences like her, or he could have surely lowered her asking price further.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As soon as he made the promise, the lights in his office dimmed. ¡°I¡¯ve heard your proposition, and I ept.¡± An almost yful voice spoke up from his terminal. ¡°Reading the ess logs. Trace records identified. Server address identified. essing local camera feeds, andpiling yback footage.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sir Kyles, would you like to see for yourself?¡± The expert asked, a faint chuckle following her words. Julius hesitated for a moment, before nodding his head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Show me.¡± He said, and the reports he was looking at vanished. In its ce, he saw the camera footage disying the front lobby of his office building. As the door opened, he watched himself enter, walking with a rxed posture to the elevator. ¡°What time was this footage taken?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Last night, just after midnight.¡± The expert responded. In the projection, the receptionist greeted Julius, asking if he hadn¡¯t gone home yet for the night. Julius simply responded that he had somest minute work to attend to, and made his way to the server room. There, he opened up a terminal and deleted several files, going so far as to use a strand of divine energy topletely wipe the traces of those files from the server.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, Julius knew that that was not really him. Julius himself had gone home early the previous night, having spent too long manually writing the NDA¡¯s and exhausting himself. ¡°You¡¯re telling me that I came here and did this myself?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Obviously not.¡± The expert responded, another image appearing within the projection. This one showed Julius entering his home early in the evening, before fast forwarding all the way until morning. ¡°There were no spatial fluctuations from the area surrounding your home, so it is unlikely that you personally went out of your way to do this.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julius, meanwhile, had a rather difficult expression on his face. ¡°Jessie¡­ who does that camera belong to?¡± It was footage aimed directly at his house, from an angle that Julius knew should not have a camera.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hmm? Let me check¡­¡± The expert went silent for several long moments. ¡°ording to the sales report matching the camera¡¯s serial number, you purchased this camera six weeks ago. However, going back through the ess logs and recordings, I can¡¯t find any traces of it being used for anything other than recording video feeds in three-day intervals. After three days, the footage is automatically deleted, and it does not appear to have any connected backups.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julius was growing distraught as he realized what that meant. Someone had been taking steps for over a month to monitor him, with the camera appearing to serve no other purpose than to simply let him know that he was being watched


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was when he noticed a faint image in the bottom corner of the camera footage. It appeared to be¡­ an icon of an eye, a sharp de splitting it down the middle. The icon appeared familiar, but he couldn¡¯t quite ce where he had seen it before. ¡°Jessie, can you run a trace on this logo?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Let me check.¡± The expert said again, going silent for a few moments. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but this image is toomon. I can pull up over a thousand businesses that have some form of eye with a split like this. Perhaps the feeling of recognitiones from howmon it is?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Maybe¡­¡± Julius hesitated to agree, as the image seemed to be important. Though, he couldn¡¯t suspect that every business that used a simr icon was connected, if there were truly that many. Could he..?

 Chapter 707: Confirmation

    Chapter 707: Confirmation


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s avatar sat within her pce of light, staring almost nkly into the distance. Aside from when there were guests, she only devoted a small portion of her mental capacity to maintaining this avatar, the rest focused on her more active clones. Only when she detected someone entering her pce did her eyes gain focus, ncing down to look at her intruder through theyers of light thatposed her sanctuary.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The guest appeared to be a lycan male with pitch ck hair and a slim figure. Otherwise, his face and build seemed quite average, while he wore simple, loose-fitting clothes. However, what was truly strange about him was that Tsubaki could not feel the presence of divinity within his body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was a world created by the divine energies of multiple members of the Greater Pantheon. In order to ess it, one must have already reached divinity. Furthermore, only divinity could impact this world. The only way for a mortal to have arrived here is if they were brought by someone with a domain rted to transportation. However, that was unlikely, as there was little work that could be done in this world without a godly power.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Even if someone did bring him here merely to use him as a messenger, she would be able to detect the fluctuations of divine power lingering on their body, and use that to trace back to the one who brought them. Yet, she felt nothing of the sort. Thus, she assumed that this was not truly a mortal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Rather, it should be someone that possessed a domain simr to the Keeper, one that was able to hide its divine properties. Tsubaki herself used this power in order to conceal the traces of the Keeper¡¯s true domains, and had taught both Scarlet and Lifre how to do the same. While the Keeper was known as the God of Mirrors, very few realized that he also had the domain of illusions.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Why have youe here under such a disguise?¡± Tsubaki asked, her eyes narrowing as she controlled the pce around her. Within a moment, the guest had appeared in her throne room, where she sat and awaited her answer.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The lycan simply smiled, offering a graceful bow towards Tsubaki. ¡°Forgive me. In truth, it has be something of a habit. Thank you for granting me the honor of meeting you, Lady Tsubaki. I have heard your legends since before I can even remember.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Who are you, really?¡± Tsubaki asked, staring straight at the lycan, who maintained his calm facade.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I have yet to be granted my name. My Lord thought it unfitting.¡± Tsubaki understood as soon as he said that. There were very few cultures in the world where names were granted by someone other than the person¡¯s legal guardians. Even fewer that allowed someone to grow to adulthood without receiving a name. As for those who had their name granted by a lord who they served¡­ Tsubaki only knew of one.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯re a Servant. Then, who do you serve?¡± She rephrased her question, intrigued by why a Servant would walk into her pce without their liege. Though, given the nature of the ninja ns, it had suddenly be possible that he really was a mortal. Doubtful, but it was no longerpletely out of the question.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Lyra Norm, currently the acting owner of Visionary Law. For the purpose of the discussion, you may refer to me by my codename, Hiden.¡± The man said, crossing his arms behind his back. In truth, Tsubaki knew that there was a chance he had given a fake name for his superior in order to protect them. At the same time, she was familiar with the patterns of the ninja ns, and knew that Visionary Law was very likely to be one of their organizations.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And what is it that brought you here, Hiden?¡± Tsubaki asked, using her main body to look up the information on this organization. What she found was a webpage with their business logo, an opened eye resting behind arge set of ancient scales. The body of the scales split the eye evenly down the center, the typical trademark for a ninja organization.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This is how it is, Lady Tsubaki. A person of interest that has been under our watch for some time has shown a particr connection with the void outside of the world. Through our investigation, he seems to have some form of power rted to agreements.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This alone would not have warranted my presence here, as it would merely be another power for us to study and understand. However, he has been disseminating this power through the use of legal agreements, embedding the power of the void within his words. From what we can tell, he has already made deals with thousands of individuals, and it is impossible to tell how many of these people have been subjected to his power.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Clearing his throat, the man continued to exin. ¡°Recently, he has sent out a number of legal agreements to beta testers, among which our own members were included. He wishes tounch a new game, but the Non-Disclosure Agreement included with the game itself contains his power.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded her head at that, recalling the prophecy that had been given by Terra¡¯s incarnation. It seemed to match up all too well with what she was hearing now. ¡°Then, what was it that caused you to first begin watching him?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hiden simply smiled. ¡°He ascended to godhood. It has been a very long time since you left us, Lady Tsubaki. Our practices have changed over the many years. As it is now, we keep our eye on anyone who ascends to godhood, or obtains an equivalent power. I must admit, the existence of Sanctum both simplified andplicated our goal. For now, we are focusing on those who remain in the mortal realm, as they are the ones who most influence society.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki offered another nod at that. ¡°I suppose many things would have changed after you left the forests. There is too little of Earth left untouched, so your training must have simrly been affected.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The man¡¯s face remained calm, though he shook his head. ¡°Perhaps until recently. However, we have once again been able to establish the trials of old. How could we ignore the training that created the greatest Servant in history?¡± Tsubaki kept her face passive at that, despite the memories of Ashe once again rising to the surface.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Regardless, that¡¯s not why you¡¯re here.¡± She said simply, staring at Hiden. ¡°What is the name of this game developer you¡¯ve been investigating?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Realizing that he had overspoken, the man gave another bow. ¡°Apologies. The man in question is Julius Kyles. If you wish, we can eliminate him at a moment¡¯s notice, or we can leave the matter to you and yours.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki knew what he meant by that. There was someone close to this developer who was one of their operatives. Furthermore, it was someone capable of evading his notice while also having the confidence to kill a god. ¡°You¡¯ve already developed anti-divinity weapons, haven¡¯t you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hiden did not attempt to hide it, as Tsubaki was the highest authority among mortals, and one that originated from their ns. ¡°That¡¯s right. We¡¯ve created weapons that are able to inflict mortal wounds on a god. If you¡¯d like, I can ask my Lord to have some delivered to the citadel for you to study.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki gave a small nod of agreement. This was not a field that she and Dana had worked on specifically, as both of them had the power to destroy gods without something like a special weapon. Nheless, it was a good idea to understand their creation andposition, in case there turned out to be a case involving them in the future.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I understand. I shall let my Lord know of your decision upon my return. Is there anything else you need of me?¡± Hiden asked, looking unwaveringly at the goddess seated before him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Out of curiosity, how many Servants have be gods now?¡± She wondered, recalling the steps she had taken to reach perfection in the past, before such a thing was even known. While she had been aided in her path of divinity, she fully understood a Servant¡¯s willingness to sacrifice themselves to be of better assistance to their liege.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The man merely offered a knowing smile. ¡°For thest sixteen years, there has been a special ss among Servants. The elite among the true elite. Their training is even harsher than in your time,sting until their twentieth year. Their final exam is to ascend to godhood under their own power. Prior to that¡­ there are definitely more that chose to ascend on their own. Naturally, those unprepared fell in the process, but I think you understand.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s eye faintly twitched when she heard that. Sixteen years would normally not have produced many candidates in the Servant program, at least when she was in it. However, she was unsure howrge the program had expanded to. Especially given the fact that Hiden said they brought back the Trial of Blood. There shouldn¡¯t be a proper, unexplored location within Earth to handle that, which left only a few options.


    <span style="font-weight:400">One, they were performing their trials in Lorek, where there was an ample amount of unexplored terrain. However, this would cause the Servants to have an ipatible skillset with Earth, leading to them being less useful to their eventual lieges. Thus, Tsubaki considered this to be extremely unlikely.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Another possibility was that they were using one of the floors of Fyor, where people often focused more on advancing from one floor to the other as opposed to fully mapping out each floor. This would provide a suitable training ground with high level monsters. In Tsubaki¡¯s mind, this was the most likely possibility.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, there was a third option that she could think of. And, given how they operated, they very well could have used this one. By performing nar travel research like the centaurs of Sher Dien, they could have potentially found a new world that met their requirements. If that was the case, then they would have a private world all to themselves, and all the space they needed to grow arge poption.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, the ninjas do not truly answer to Tsubaki, so she could not demand the answers to these questions. If she wanted them, she would need to find out for herself, which would not be an easy task. That, or to consult one of the Greater Gods. While Tsubaki had no way of personally verifying which method they were using, it would be a simple matter for the Greater Pantheon to see through them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Very well. If that is all, then you¡¯re dismissed.¡± She said, Hiden nodding as his body began to disperse into golden smoke. As he was vanishing, Tsubaki managed to catch a flicker within his divine power, having been watching to see if he let his guard down. For the barest moment, she saw that his domain was manifested as Disguise.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Back in the Citadel, Tsubaki¡¯s main body had also received the report from Terra¡¯s incarnation, along with a list of over one hundred people that could corrte with her previous prophecy. Unsurprisingly, Julius Kyles was on this list as well. Having this confirmed by Terra gave Tsubaki a bit more confidence in what Hiden had told her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a thought, she sent a prayer towards Terra. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Lady Terra, I would like to ask you to convey to your incarnation that we would like any information they can provide on Julius Kyle.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Normally, Tsubaki was reluctant to ask the Greater Pantheon to directly intervene in a matter. However, this was a case first brought forward by Terra in the first ce, so she felt it only appropriate to go to the source. Of course, at the same time she would be doing her own investigation into his identity. Better safe than sorry, after all.

 Chapter 708: Desperation

    Chapter 708: Desperation


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julius knew that his situation was bad as he paced in his office, unsure of what to do. The fact that someone had perfectly impersonated him, to the degree that the energy scanners registered them as him, indicated that they had likely studied him to the point where fleeing wasn¡¯t an option. If he did try to run, they could simply step in and pretend as if he never left. If he ran somewhere public, then¡­


    <span style="font-weight:400">He shook his head at that thought. They were able to ce a camera outside his home without him having ever noticed it. Even though he was currently a god, they no doubt had their methods of eliminating him. Julius clenched his teeth as he paced, trying to find a solution to his current problem.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The more he thought, the more he nced at his self-created sses, the Hypnotist and Game Master. Hypnotism wouldn¡¯t give him much of a benefit in his current situation, but Game Master¡­ A small grin tugged at his lips as he sat down, quickly closing his eyes to focus.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I need to modify the Game Master ss to include some insurance ns. The first one¡­ let¡¯s go with a respawn system, that seems pretty obvious.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> While he was focusing, his hands moved, releasing arge pile of cards on his desk, the various cards he had acquired with his Game Master ss. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯ll need an influx of divine energy to kick this off.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a thought, he sentmands to each of these cards,manding their worship. Naturally, he could notpletely change a person¡¯s personality, but there was still some wiggle room to issue amand. For instance, employees working for a god might have the subconscious thought of worshipping their boss in order to get better work conditions. Beta testers who enjoy a game might do so in the form of praising the game¡¯s designer. As for friends, they could send their praise to each other in the form of well wishes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While this would not guarantee a total sess for every target, he could still feel that the faith being poured towards him had increasedpared to before. This allowed him to confidently design the systems he wanted to create, using this energy as the fuel. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Respawn¡­ I don¡¯t want to be brought back to life at the same location I died, that would just be asking to kill me again. I also don¡¯t want it to be at my home, either. Not while it is being monitored.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯ll set the respawn point to be the Fairy Ring of my current world. That way, it will just look like I teleported in, and I can take the opportunity to leave for whatever world is currently connected.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> With that decided, he probed that concept, seeing how much energy it would take toplete. When he felt the cost, he furrowed his brow. <i><span style="font-weight:400">The cost is too high, I wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything else right now. Let¡¯s add some restrictions, then.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">First, the respawn time. Let¡¯s make it a twenty-four hour cooldown period to mimic some of the harsher games. If I don¡¯t appear for a full day, they¡¯d probably assume that I was dead for real, anyways. Next¡­ that¡¯s still not enough. Okay, partition half of my divinity to be used as my respawned state when I revive. I can get divine energy back easily enough, as long as I survive.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">With that, he probed the concept again, finding that its cost had substantially dropped. After breathing out a sigh of relief, he ¡®installed¡¯ the power onto his Game Master ss as a basic feature. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Okay, I¡¯ve taken care of respawning. Now I need something that will help me hide myself after I respawn. If I appear alive and in good health after my death has been confirmed, they¡¯ll take greater steps to ensure I stay dead.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Let¡¯s see¡­ a game master has to be able to y the role of an NPC. I can use that as a reason to put in a disguise feature. Now, how big do I want to make this?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He furrowed his brow in thought, the various options shing through his mind.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯ll go with a full conversion. If they have special methods of identifying me through my energy, then I have to take steps to prevent that. Instead, I will set it so that I can create an identity for myself that does not surpass my original strength. When I do so, the memories of people rted to this identity will be altered to take it into consideration, again so long as they do not surpass my original strength.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Finally, I will lose my divine power and gain a body befitting the new identity until such time that I choose to return to my original form.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Once he set these restrictions, Julius let out a faint sigh of relief. After he used this NPC disguise, he could set himself up in a farming vige and slowly umte his power in secret. Theoretically, it was a wless n, as his identity was entirely shifting.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I can only hope that they don¡¯t have anyone constantly monitoring me with divine power even after I die, or someone capable of reading the thoughts of a god.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> While both were feasibly possible, there was little that he could do to get around such methods. If someone was truly persistent enough to keep monitoring him for a full day after his death, he could only hope that he was able to escape through the gate fast enough to get away.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With that taken care of, he installed this new power as another feature in his Game Master ss, setting it to a more advanced level that he had already reached. Unsurprisingly, the expenditure for this system was far less than for the respawn that he previously created. As he let out his relieved sigh, a message appeared in front of him.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Special option for Game Master ss has been opened. Respawn system has been detected. Do you wish to reinforce this system further?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Y/N


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Julius was surprised when he saw this message, as it was clearly not one that had been created by him personally. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Reinforce it further..?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He considered that for a moment, before realizing that he may have stumbled across a secret feature of the system which governed the world. If that system was personally offering him a way out, he had no reason to refuse.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Understood. Reinforcing the Respawn system.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Added feature: So long as someone remembers your name, you will be able to respawn with a minimum of 1% of the power used when establishing this system.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">When Julius read that, his mouth hung open in surprise, before he suddenly burst outughing. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Even the system itself is helping me!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> As far as he was concerned, this was an assured method of immortality. All that he had to do was shout out his identity before being killed, and he would be guaranteed to respawn after the cooldown was up.


    <span style="font-weight:400">On a whim, he created another system for his Game Master ss. This one reinforced the standard minimap system that was already in ce in the world, granting him the same permission of the highest level scouts while also essing the minimaps of those nearby to keep it constantly updated. After he did this, his eyes gave a faint twitch, ncing at the minimap that appeared in his view.


    <span style="font-weight:400">ording to this map, there was a red dot standing less than three feet behind him. However, that dot had not been there prior to his instation of the updated map. This meant that the only reason it was there now was that the new feature, tapping into the minimaps of those nearby, had essed this individual¡¯s map and registered him as an enemy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julius thought about turning around to verify the emptiness of the space behind him, but knew that doing so would alert the enemy. Instead, he stood up and stored his cards, his stress evident on his face. He did not need to hide this, as he had just witnessed video evidence that he was being spied on. It would be more unusual <i><span style="font-weight:400">not</i><span style="font-weight:400"> to be stressed out.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After he left the office, he looked at the lycan woman sitting outside at her desk. ¡°Prina, hold my calls for the rest of the day, I need to go out for a little while.¡± The secretary looked at him in confusion, unsure why he had suddenly decided to leave, but was not given the time to question it before he walked out the door.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once outside, Julius focused, activating a teleportation spell. His destination was not his home, but rather the other side of the city¡¯s business district. Going there would allow him to blend in with the crowd for a while.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As he appeared on the sidewalk, he began walking, doing his best to match the pace of the crowds. While doing so, he nced at the minimap once again, shocked to find that there were currently five red dots in his immediate vicinity. Worse, there was arge cluster of them up ahead, within one of the buildings along the street.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julius couldn¡¯t help but nce at the name of the building, seeing that it was a personal remodeling studio. Businesses like this catered to those mortals who were unable to control their ki enough to alter their own appearance, with experts trained to help guide someone¡¯s ki to get the desired results. This one was named ¡®The New You¡¯, and even had an advertisement for their effects on the sign.


    <span style="font-weight:400">On one side of the sign was a woman with a scarred face, a wound shing down the right side and directly over her eye. The other side had the same woman, her facepletely repaired. Not only that, but her skin appeared to be smoother and her hair more lustrous.


    <span style="font-weight:400">ording to his minimap, this was the location where the red dots were gathering. Yet, Julius could not figure out why he would have enemies in a ce like that. As if some divine providence, his sight was directed at the sign once again, looking more closely at the ¡®before¡¯ picture.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">An eye with a sh through it.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> His eyes went wide at that, and he hastily cast another teleport spell. This time, he moved to an entirely different city, one where he had conducted business in the past. When he appeared this time, he let out a sigh of relief, seeing that there were no red markers within his map.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Rxing his body, he began walking down the street, letting his mind wander.<i><span style="font-weight:400"> So, the enemy spying on me is basing themselves out of a remodelling studio?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> A smirk crept over his lips as he realized this fact, believing himself to have found his target.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Soon, though, another cluster of red dots appeared on his map, once again gathered within a certain building ahead. This one was a rathermon restaurant, a chain establishment present in half a dozen worlds called Forest Diner. Its logo was of arge panther hiding within the bushes, branches obscuring his face. As Julius¡¯s eyes were drawn to the image, he saw that one branch lined up perfectly vertical over the panther¡¯s eye.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chills washed over Julius¡¯s body, now understanding that his opponent was not simply one remodelling studio. Or¡­ he thought to himself at that. Maybe he was being paranoid? Perhaps they were only registering as enemies because of the sign, and the update to his minimap was taking his suspicion of the logo into ount?


    <span style="font-weight:400">As he walked past the restaurant, his eyes nced inside, only to pause in his tracks briefly. In the restaurant, over half of the customers were looking out the window at the same moment he passed, their gazes meeting his.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°¡®Is this too much to be a coincidence¡¯, he thought to himself as he retreated half a step.¡± A voice suddenly spoke up near Julius, his foot falling back just as it had narrated. ¡°It¡¯s just my paranoia, I¡¯m not being followed.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">At the same time, another voice spoke up on the other side of him, sounding identical to the first. ¡°Who is that? How could she know what I was thinking. I¡¯ve got to get out of here. Maybe another world next¡­ I could visit Ghad to ask about the movie.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julius¡¯s eyes slowly turned to look beside him, seeing a felyn smiling back at him. She seemed to be reading from a golden book. On the other side of him, another felyn with an identical face was reading from a ck book. ¡°Oh no.¡± The felyn with the ck book read out. ¡°They¡¯ve found me.¡±

 Chapter 709: Oldbeard

    Chapter 709: Oldbeard


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra and Firma smiled towards Julius from either side of him as they read out the words projected on their books. After Tsubaki called them to ask about information on Julius, the two discovered that he was establishing insurance policies against an unseen enemy. While their books did not specifically tell them who this enemy was, it was enough to send word back to the citadel.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki asked that they move immediately to dy him while she prepared to take the field. Since the two were easily able to track Jonas¡¯s position, it was only a matter of putting on a little show for him to make him freeze up. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Careful, I can see several void threads on him. And his profile said that he could hypnotize people with the power of the void, too.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Really, he¡¯s just one step away from a Fallen God at this point, isn¡¯t he? </i><span style="font-weight:400">The two felyns conversed mentally while staring Julius down.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Who are you? Why are you stalking me?¡± Julius asked, feeling the anger bubbling up inside of him. Still, he had to keep in control of his situation. There was too much at risk here. The fact that they read out his thoughts so clearly indicated that they very likely knew about his backup ns.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We do.¡± One of them confirmed, with the other one answering his questions.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We are the incarnations of thedy Terra. And you have been a very naughty god.¡± There was a grin on her face as she said that. ¡°A pact with the king of contracts himself, a taste of the void? Someone¡¯s been tampering with powers beyond their own control.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">A feeling of disbelief welled up within Julius as he shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about.¡± To the surprise of the two girls, he was being sincere. He figured that his hypnotism had something to do with the void, but what was this about a king of contracts?


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Wow¡­ the text is starting to distort.¡± The twin with the ck book said, surprise written across her face. ¡°I think I made it angry.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You mean that it¡¯s watching?¡± The other one asked, puffing her cheeks out. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you say so sooner? We could have severed that link ages ago.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">For some reason, Julius panicked when he heard that, retreating half a step. <i><span style="font-weight:400">What do they mean, sever the link? They can get rid of my powers?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The thought caused him to feel a strong sense of rm, and he immediately mobilized his mana to trigger another teleport spell.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°He¡¯s heading to the mountains in the west. Apparently, it was a setting that they copied for his game.¡± The golden-book sister reported, her words shattering his focus for a brief moment. By the time his spell had gone off, and he found himself standing at the base of a tall mountain, the two sisters were already standing before him once again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s not¡­ that¡¯s just not fair.¡± Julius muttered in disbelief, his eyes losing their lustrous glow as darkness overtook them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The text is getting more distorted, watch out!¡± One of the sisters called out. ¡°I think the boss is about to show up.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Think we can take him on our own?¡± The other asked, moving to her sister warily.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You kidding? Neither of us are trained for battles! We¡¯re just here to keep him busy until the real fighters show up.¡± When Julius heard that, he paused momentarily. Was this a bluff? How could the incarnations of the Goddess Terra not be fit for battle? That was the most ridiculous thing he had heard in a long time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, how long is she going to take?¡± The golden-book sister asked, seeing the cknesspletely cloud Julius¡¯s eyes. Her book mmed shut before opening again, and she quickly skimmed through the contents. ¡°...Oh.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What ¡®Oh¡¯? Don¡¯t ¡®Oh¡¯ me!¡± The other sister shouted, though soon noticed that her twin had rxed. ¡°She¡¯s already here, isn¡¯t she?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, not specifically¡­ duck.¡± As soon as she said that, both felyns hit the ground, lying prone without a moment¡¯s hesitation. Before Julius could understand what he was seeing, a beam of light soared in from the distance, at least five meters thick as it immediately mmed into his body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The sisters held their heads low for some time after the beam passed, before eventually looking up. When they did, they saw that the man who had stood before him had been erased¡­ as had a circr hole in the mountain behind him. ¡°Overkill, much?¡± The golden-book sister asked, causing her twin to shake her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, he¡¯lle back tomorrow with that new respawn system of his.¡± Saying that, she walked over to where Julius had previously been, seeing the numerous ck threads slowly retreating. ¡°I can probably cut him off from his resurrection, since he¡¯s still tapped into the power of the void. But it would be a lot easier if we could get Leowynn in on this.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Has her incarnation ascended yet?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The question of the golden-book sister was answered when space distorted between the two of them, an elven woman stepping forward. She seemed to have starlight in her hair, and a ck void in one eye. Naturally, the two Terras recognized this as Leowynn. However, this was not her mortal incarnation, but rather her true self.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Tsubaki called me over.¡± Leowynn exined with a small smile. ¡°She said that it was an emergency?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The sister with the ck book nodded her head. ¡°She tell you about the prophecy?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn nodded slightly. ¡°Well, the other you did, so I¡¯m up to date enough. Do you just need me to sever his connection with the void monster?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After thinking it over, the chaos twin shook her head. ¡°It¡¯d be better if you could eliminate the problem at its source. During the confrontation just now, it was starting to take over his body, so it might have more methods of bringing him back. We don¡¯t want another Ashe incident.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn¡¯s eyes went icy when she heard that, nodding her head. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll go take care of it.¡± After saying that, darkness wrapped around her body, sending her away into the void.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You know not to mention the Ashe incident¡­¡± The divine twin said, her ears t against her skull. That was the closest thing to a taboo subject they knew, short of the Keeper himself being in danger.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, it got her moving¡­¡± Though she said that, the back of the chaos twin was soaked in a cold sweat. That incident had left asting impression on the Greater Pantheon, and none of them wanted to allow a repeat of it to take ce.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well¡­ I think it¡¯s safe to say that that situation is taken care of.¡± I shook my head with a wry smile, having expected that Julius would put up far more of a fight. At the end, I could see that his power had actually weakened considerably, being stolen away by the void connection he possessed. From how I saw it, the void monster never intended to fully possess Julius.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Instead, he wanted to consume him, along with all of the deals he had made. Doing so would have likely boosted his strength by a few levels before he simply found a new host. Of course, if that truly did happen, there was a very real chance of the void monster appearing in the future while wearing Julius¡¯s appearance.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At least, that was the case before Leowynn got involved. As the Goddess of the Void, she was more than a match for your typical void monster. I wasn¡¯t quite sure how strong this one in particr was, but given that Leowynn¡¯s strength constantly grew from the Boundless Caravan, I knew that it wasn¡¯t strong <i><span style="font-weight:400">enough</i><span style="font-weight:400">.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While I was thinking about that, I heard a brief mental ping alerting me of my next opponent being selected for the Keeper Games. Pulling up that window, I gave it a brief nce before sighing. Once again, I was on the defending side this time. And the Keeper who would be invading me was called¡­ Oldbeard?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Opening up the chat window, I fired off a message to Sarah to ask her about the title. At this rank, Sarah was the only one I could reliably count on to have information about my potential opponents, without going to the Gilded Branch. The rest of the guild still seemed to be taking things slowly, as their ranks had not changed in quite some time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">To my surprise, the answer from Sarah came back rather quickly, though what surprised me even more was the content.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Sorry, I¡¯m a bit busy designing a new game world right now and preparing for my next round. Oldbeard¡¯s good though, so you can contact them directly.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">It was the first time I had seen Sarah tly turn down the chance to talk before, so I could tell that she was rather serious about that invasion. Either that or the game she was working on had reached a critical point. To be honest¡­ it was probably a bit of both.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Either way, I shook my head and sent out a message to Oldbeard asking to chat. This time, I had to wait for roughly five minutes for a response. Most likely, she was in her world, and her System Companion had to notify her of the message.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard: Who¡¯s this? I don¡¯t typically get random calls


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: I¡¯ll be your next opponent in the month after this one, so I wanted to get in touch with you


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard: Really? Neat, I haven¡¯tunched my invasion for this month yet, so I haven¡¯t gotten the report on who I¡¯ll be up against. Am I attacking or defending


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: It looks like you¡¯ll be on the attacking end


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard: That¡¯s been a bit of a trendtely¡­ Just making sure, but you¡¯re not a Monster Keeper or anything, right


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: I definitely like to think not. The Gilded Branch should be able to vouch for me if you need some extra assurance


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard: Nah, that¡¯s fine. I can ask them about itter. I take it you¡¯re calling to basically say ¡®Don¡¯t hurt me, don¡¯t hurt me, I¡¯m innocent. And by the way, are you open to trade


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: I.. would not have phrased it quite like that, but it¡¯s not too inurate, I guess


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard: Don¡¯t sweat the details. Let me just get my trade list, and I¡¯ll send it right over. I just got some new items listed on it, so this will make a good test run.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">After she said that, there was a lull in the conversation. Less than thirty secondster, a message appeared, showing a long list of items along with their descriptions and prices. ncing at my own bnce, I knew that I had more than enough to spend on a few things, so I read through the list seriously to take note of anything that stood out.


    <span style="font-weight:400">First, the races she had to offer. There were two of them, with one being your rather typical elf, and the other being purely made of rock. Given my experiences with the Sylvans, I was not particrly against bringing some of them over.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Moving on from that, I looked over the items she listed. Some of them were rather ordinary, such as items that suppressed magic and mana-based energies in a radius around them, another that suppressed the presence of the void, and so on. Finally, I got to thest item on her list, which was likely the one that she had only recently added.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Level Transfer


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    <span style="font-weight:400">A crystal sphere, allowing the user to copy knowledge and training rted to a specified set of levels, to grant those levels to another party. Seriously, don¡¯t buy this if you don¡¯t have a game system, I won¡¯t give refunds.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">5000 Points, Game System Required


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Looking at that item, I could clearly tell that Oldbeard had a game world themselves, and I could also imagine several practical uses for that sphere. After all, the education of youths was done by training up the Schr ss, as well as a few other practical sses. With this sphere, that education could be done in a matter of days.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Furthermore, since it passed down an individual¡¯s knowledge and training, it could be used in tandem with the legacy scrolls to create a <i><span style="font-weight:400">proper</i><span style="font-weight:400"> legacy that could be passed down from one generation to the next. The only potential downside was whether or not personality traits and individual quirks would manifest through this inherited knowledge.

 Chapter 710: Possession

    Chapter 710: Possession


    <span style="font-weight:400">Expressing my interest in the Level Transfer orbs, Oldbeard seemed more than happy to amodate my questions. ording to them, the orbs did not directly imnt the knowledge and training in the recipient. Rather, it was like a highly detailed mental video that could be reviewed at will after being used.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This meant that personality traits and unwanted information was excluded from the inheritance. Rather, the downside was that it took a short period of time for the transfer to finalize, differing for each individual. Someone only casually reviewing the information might take several weeks to fully absorb what they had been given, while a swordsman fighting with his life on the line might be able to fully awaken that training all at once.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Even with the process not being instantaneous, I was not upset. Instead, I was happy to know that there were no real side effects to the process. Thinking about it, I could probably get James to make something like this on his own eventually, but I did not want to bother him about that. His current work studying the primordial artifact was more important than a simple way of transferring levels from one person to another.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Finishing up my conversation with Oldbeard, I promised to meet them before the invasion took ce so that I could transfer the points. Oldbeard invited me to visit their Admin Room when the time came, that way they could make the trade more convenient, and I didn¡¯t really see a reason to refuse.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Until now, it had always been me inviting other people to my Admin Room. As far back as I could remember, I had only been to the residences of three other Keepers. The first was Alkahest, who invited me to his ce right after I got this job. The second was Durandor, when I went to the monthly Keeper meetings. And finally, there was Sarah. Aside from those three, I had never really visited anyone. And given the fact that Durandor¡¯s case was only for the monthly meeting, I could hardly count that one.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I took a moment to think about what I could likely expect when I went over there. Naturally, I would be taking Terra with me as a precaution. As for Oldbeard themselves, it was hard to get a grasp on what kind of person they were. They seemed far tooid-back with how they talked to be some wizened old man, so I was imagining a younger man who had simply inherited the title like I had.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, there¡¯s no use worrying about it too much right now.¡± I shook my head, as Oldbeard wouldn¡¯t even be <i><span style="font-weight:400">officially</i><span style="font-weight:400"> paired up with me for another fifty days of Standard Time. That was when they would be sending their own invasion off to fight their next target.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sir?¡± Thea spoke up as she looked at her boss. James was engrossed in his work when she and her sister came in, seeming as if he didn¡¯t even notice their presence. If she had to guess, she thought it was very likely that he never went home the previous night¡­ or any night in thest week for that matter.


    <span style="font-weight:400">James was peering through arge ss container, staring at the chunk of ck crystal sealed within. This was the debris that a colony ship had sent back to them quite some time ago, an item that Chel had informed them had the power to directly promote someone to godhood with a predetermined domain. Since Chel herself had not ascended to godhood, she naturally did not have the ability to check what domain was contained within. Thankfully, they had someone else that could confirm that the domain contained was ¡®Possession¡¯.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh?¡± James blinked, turning his head to look at the kitsune sisters. ¡°Ah, you¡¯re back. Did you have a nice walk?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sir¡­ it¡¯s the morning.¡± Nora said in exasperation. ¡°And it¡¯s Tuesday.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Really?¡± James looked around, seeing the digital clock on a nearby wall. ¡°So it is. Sorry, I was a bit engrossed in my work. Has Treisha gotten back in yet?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thea shook her head. ¡°It looks like we¡¯re first today. Are we working on the rock again?¡± She asked with a faint sigh, moving over to her desk to grab a few measuring devices.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, I think I¡¯ve got something, I just need her help to test it out.¡± James answered with a small smile, stroking his chin. ¡°How about the two of you? Anything you need to share?¡± He asked with a knowing tone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nora froze up at that, before letting out a small sigh. ¡°You could tell? The n cut us off. One of the elders pulled strings to ask us to steal the rock from you. He wanted to study it for himself, or maybe even use it to solidify his position. When we said no, well¡­ you don¡¯t say no to the n elders when they issue a mission.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James¡¯ gaze went a bit narrow when he heard that. ¡°They won¡¯t try anything stupid, will they?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nora gulped at the implications, Thea immediately stepping forward to speak up. ¡°They only contacted us because they knew that they couldn¡¯t easily get it themselves. Now that we refused, they likely won¡¯t have the means to take it for a while.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James had long since set up protections around hisb to prevent the disturbance of divine individuals. Unless someone carried a token made from a piece of his energy, their divine energy would be sealed when they entered theb. So far, he had only given out one such token to the Goddess of Enchantment, Treisha. As they were an extension of his energy, he could check anything that happened to the person carrying them and ensure their security.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I meant doing anything to you two.¡± James still looked directly at the two girls as he said that. ¡°I¡¯ve seen a lot of secretive ns in my day. Most of them don¡¯t let people leave peacefully.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thea¡¯s head dipped low at that. ¡°The elder said that he wouldn¡¯t touch us on ount of you. However, we are no longer considered a part of the n.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James gave a small nod at that, clicking his tongue as he looked at the ss case again. ¡°At this point, the two of you are probably older than that elder anyways. Who does he think he is to determine the fates of people with more seniority than him?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thea and Nora immediately directed a cold look towards James, causing the famed researcher to freeze up. ¡°I mean¡­ you¡¯re still both lovely youngdies.¡± He gave a weak chuckle as he said that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two kitsune girls nodded as the door was pushed open again, Treisha walking in with a light yawn. ¡°Morning, you two.¡± She said, smiling at the three people in the room. James nced over, giving a small nod.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Perfect timing. Can I get you toe over here for a moment?¡± James asked, beckoning the elven goddess over. Treisha blinked in confusion, before nodding as she walked over.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nora and Thea exchanged worried nces, with thetter secretly sending a message to James. <i><span style="font-weight:400">They didn¡¯t¡­ did they?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">James looked at Thea with a raised brow, shaking his head. <i><span style="font-weight:400">No, she¡¯s fine. She has my token, and I checked the records. There¡¯s no sign of disturbance. Though, I do want to thank the two of you. You chose this team over your own n, which I can¡¯t imagine was an easy thing.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thea gave a mental snort at that. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It wasn¡¯t anything that big. They haven¡¯t done anything for us since we got here, and kept trying to get more and more information. We figured out a few years ago that they would probably cut ties with us if we didn¡¯t give them anything big.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Still, I¡¯ll put in a word. It sounds like the ninjas have their own corruption problem, if someone is trying to get you to steal a divinity artifact like this. </i><span style="font-weight:400">James shook his head again, looking at Treisha. ¡°I¡¯d like to run a little experiment with your divine power. I don¡¯t know how this will go, though, so I need to exin things to you first.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Treisha looked up at him, offering a small nod. ¡°Of course, boss. What¡¯s the y?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The power residing within this artifact is simr to an enchantment cast on it by the creation of the universe itself.¡± James exined, gesturing towards the item in the container. ¡°However, at its base form, it is still simr to a type of enchantment. With your domain, adding in the Transference Mist, we might be able to replicate this enchantment on another object. Having two of them to study would allow us to take some more liberties than we have so far.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The elven girl thought it over, before nodding her head in agreement. ¡°I¡¯ll give it a try. Do you have the new object ready?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James smiled, pointing to a crate in the corner. ¡°A small asteroid, I gathered it myself just a while ago. It should be the mostpatible item for the transfer.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a nod, Treish positioned herself between the ss container and the crate, focusing on her divine power. Nora looked at James skeptically, transmitting her thoughts much like her sister had. <i><span style="font-weight:400">An enchantment? Sir, that doesn¡¯t seem very realistic to me, haven¡¯t you always said--</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯s not. The power was a leftover from the energies that created the universe. This is a primordial crystal that is as old as time itself. </i><span style="font-weight:400">James confirmed her suspicions, which only confused Nora more.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Then why did you tell her that?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">James cracked a small smile, the only evidence of the conversation on his face as Treisha mobilized her divinity. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Because it doesn¡¯t really matter if it¡¯s true or not, as long as she believes that it is. As long as she believes that this is an enchantment, there is a chance that her domain will be able to determine the oue.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Golden mist began to spread out from Treisha¡¯s palms, separating into two distinct clouds. One cloud seeped inside the crate, connecting with the space rock contained within. The other sank into the ss container, wrapping around the primordial stone. ¡°Replicate.¡± She muttered, and a strand of purple energy rose from the primordial crystal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This energy began to flow through the golden cloud and into Treisha¡¯s left hand. Afterwards, an identical strand of energy exited through her right hand, sinking into the crate. Treisha¡¯s brow furrowed, focusing on stabilizing the ¡®enchantment¡¯ before her eyes suddenly went wide. A crack echoed from the crate, before the entire thing erupted, splinters flying across theb.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The rock contained within the crate had been reduced to powder, unable to bear the weight of the enchantment that Treisha was putting into it. James watched in shock, first confirming the status of Treisha¡¯s health bar before grabbing his equipment to measure the energy in the original crystal. ¡°Energy still appears stable, and the drop is negligible. The relic is safe.¡± He let out a sigh, before turning to Treisha. ¡°How are you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Treisha looked confused, staring at the rock, and then at herself. ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know? Are you sure that it hasn¡¯t been drained, sir?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James raised a brow, nodding his head. ¡°Ipleted the scan to confirm it myself. Why, did you feel the energy gush out when you made the connection?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, it¡¯s just¡­ I¡¯ve be the Goddess of Possession.¡± Treisha muttered in confusion, having never heard of anyone outside the Greater Pantheon possessing more than a single domain.


    <span style="font-weight:400">James watched her for a long moment, as if measuring her energy. ¡°Is your original domain still intact?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Treisha simply gave a small nod. She could feel the power of Enchantment within her, but there was suddenly another power imprinted upon her divinity. ¡°This won¡¯t cause any problems, will it?¡± She was genuinely concerned, as she knew what happened when you tried to cram too much energy into something. The shattered box of dust in the corner was a perfect example. Treisha didn¡¯t want to be a shattered box of dust.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, it¡¯ll be fine.¡± James assured her in a softer tone. ¡°It¡¯s possible for gods to obtain multiple domains. I just wanted to make sure that you were still fine. Still, it seems like that idea was a bust¡­ if we want to contain the power of a primordial relic, we¡¯ll need another one as a vessel. But in that case, why would we even need to copy it?¡± He asked with a sullen sigh.

 Chapter 711: Eccentricities

    Chapter 711: entricities


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Treisha heard James¡¯ words, she felt a sense of relief flowing over her. Having ones power go out of control was a very real, very dangerous concept. In the worst case scenario, they would need to urgentlye up with some way to strip one of her domains away to stabilize her. Now that this was not an issue, she allowed her body to rx. ¡°Then, what should I do now?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James thought it over for a moment, nodding his head. ¡°With the domain of Possession, there are really two main ways that you could grow. The first would be possession of things, while the other is the possession of people. The former would allow you to steal objects by taking them into your possession, while thetter would let you directly exert control over people. Really, it¡¯s up to you which path you pursue.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Treisha had a wry smile on her face when she heard the researcher¡¯s exnation. ¡°I meant with today¡¯s work, sir. The asteroid you had prepared is shattered, and it¡¯s evident that the energy cannot be transferred so easily.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ah¡­¡± James nodded again, thinking it over once more. ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much about that. I knew that there was only a faint chance of sess from the beginning. There was just no true danger of anything going horribly wrong, or I wouldn¡¯t have tricked you into doing that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Treisha¡¯s brow twitched at his words. ¡°Tricked me¡­?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James froze for a moment, chuckling. ¡°Uhm, I mean¡­ the energy isn¡¯t really like an enchantment at all, any more than a person¡¯s own power is. But, if I convinced you that it was, and you believed it, there was a chance for the process to happen smoothly.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Treisha¡¯s brow twitched further as he exined, before letting out a long sigh. ¡°Sir¡­ did you know that I would end up with this second domain?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, that? There was about a thirty percent chance that your own power would tap into the energy within the crystal. Though, I am surprised that you managed to do so without draining the energy from the crystal entirely. In its current state, it can still easily be used to create another God of Possession.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Treisha brought one hand up to massage her forehead as she listened to his exnation. She realized that he knew she wasn¡¯t in any real danger, and would only potentially get benefits from this. Thanks to that, she couldn¡¯t truly get upset at him. However¡­ ¡°Next time, lead with the potential side effects, will you?¡± Sheined, having been seriously stressed out about the idea of her power going out of control.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ah, sorry.¡± James nodded his head. ¡°Anyways, we should finish cleaning up before Three-Fifty and the others get back.¡± He said as he looked at the debris from the failed experiment.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thea and Nora agreed with his words, not wanting to create any additional worry for the other members of the research team. ¡°Still, what do we do with the crystal, though?¡± Treisha asked as everyone got to work.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯ll be fine. If worstes to worst, we just shove it in storage until we get a second one. If I hadn¡¯t been wanting to keep up the idea that you could transfer the enchantment to the rock, I¡¯d have used the monitoring equipment on you when you did that earlier. But, I doubt you wouldn¡¯t have seen through that, if I had started measuring your energy during the transfer.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The elf naturally agreed, as she wasn¡¯t so naive as to have missed something like that. James was hoping to copy the power of the crystal, something naturally unachievable unless Treisha had wholeheartedly believed it could be done with her domain.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Progress within Fyor seemed to temporarily slow to a crawl. Now that they were aware that the dungeon had truly be hostile against the town of Gate¡¯s Rest, the people within the city acted far more carefully than before. The construction of the metallic barrier around the city was by no means a sure way to resolve the problem, after all.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Every few days, they would hear the sounds of something pounding or scratching against the outer shell. Scrying beyond the barrier showed that this was caused by further waves of monsters being directed towards them. As it was inconvenient for physicalbatants to fight through a solid barrier, only mages capable of indirect casting could take part.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For this reason, there was a briefly heightened trade between Fyor and Deckan. The card spells of Deckan could easily be created with an indirect attack feature, and the low mana cost meant that even non-magicalbatants had the chance to use them. Of course, the higher the tier of the spell, the more mana it would need to recover after each use. Without the aid of a mage, that recovery speed would be quite slow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Even so, that only meant that they needed to buy more of the cards, that way they could activate in rotation. For craftsmen at a level to support the Maxers of Fyor, it was easy for them to amass a small fortune.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Due to their purchasing of high level cards in bulk, the prices of cards began to rise quite a lot within the world of Deckan. While the cards could be artificially produced, they required both mana and spiritual energy to do so. Spiritually energy could be obtained in virtually endless amounts from the underworld, siphoned directly into the construction process.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mana, on the other hand, could only be provided manually, making it a more limited resource. The executives of the synthesis factories implored the Sky Citadel to allow them the use of one of their endless mana spheres, but were tly refused. The Sky Citadel was doing its best to cycle out the use of these items, to the point that they themselves no longer used them inbat.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki had be distinctly aware of the possibility that continuing to use the reality gems would lead to a catastrophic explosion. In the worst case scenario, every single mana gem they had created would erupt with a force capable of wiping out a. With such a possibility in mind, there was no way that they could continue using them. In fact, they had already begun to destroy those items that were already in use to reduce the risk.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, James had long since finished the void drive that would power the newer models of the gctic fleet, so they didn¡¯t have to worry about those gems anymore. With Leowynn¡¯s help, the reality gems were being taken into the void where they could be harmlessly destroyed, removing the threat that they posed to the world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For the people of Deckan, this made mana once again be a hotmodity. The Sky Citadel had a surplus of mana bricks that it had saved up from their factories over the years, forcing Deckan to order those in bulk. However, that surplus would notst forever.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Back within the Sky Citadel, Dana slumped against her desk, ncing over at Tsubaki. ¡°I just handled thest delivery for the day.¡± She groaned, having taken advantage of her World Shadow to directly transport those bricks to Deckan. ¡°Really, isn¡¯t there another way to do mana production?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki thought about that, before shaking her head. ¡°It¡¯s possible, but I¡¯m not sure. Perhaps¡­ perhaps the next time the Keeper takes us to ¡®that ce¡¯, we can ask for the knowledge of a safer production method?¡± Tsubaki¡¯s words caused Dana¡¯s eyes to light up.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right! There¡¯s the Keeper! Even if we can¡¯te up with a solution, there¡¯s a way for him to find one, as long as we do our part.¡± Realizing that there was a potential solution to their problem in the long term considerably lightened the load Dana was feeling.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two of them had been to the annual Keeper meeting once before, at which point they had earned some ¡®points¡¯ for their Keeper. ording to him, these points enabled him to purchase knowledge or upgrades to the world, and he had given each of them the right to ask for one thing that he would get them with the points that they had earned. At the time, Dana had used her request for a more efficient mana refinery.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Next time, in order to properly make use of those refineries without the existence of the reality gems, she would need to ask for a safer method of mana production that did not rely on mass-creating worlds in the void. Thinking about that, Dana crossed her arms in front of her, pondering the situation carefully. ¡°What kind of games should we y to maximize our earnings? Maybe we can do another performance?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thest time that they were in the meeting, they had performed a song and dance for the other Keepers in order to earn points. However, that was something that they couldn¡¯t really improvise on the spot all the time. It worked when they did it previously because Dana was simply singing about her past, releasing her bottled up emotions. The same type of song would not be able to get the same reaction from them again, and they¡¯d need to write something new.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki leaned back to stare at the ceiling, recalling her own experience at the meeting. ¡°I¡¯ll be returning to the survival game that I started previously. It¡¯s rather simr to the game you and nk are making, actually. If you can make enough progress in that game, you can earn quite a few rewards.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana blinked, turning to look at Tsubaki. ¡°It¡¯s like our game? Howe you didn¡¯t mention that sooner, we could have used your experience to help with the production!¡± She pouted, puffing her cheeks in indignation while Tsubaki chuckled.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s simr, but not quite. In that game, it has its own set of rules for magic. We can¡¯t just apply all of our real world knowledge like you want to do for your project. Besides, I had only ten days to y it before, so I wasn¡¯t able to get that far. This time, I¡¯m aiming to get myself to the point where I can start mass producing items.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana let out a sigh, nodding her head. ¡°Alright. Still, I guess I¡¯ll give up on the performance. There should be plenty of games there for someone like me. Speaking of which, though¡­ do you think he¡¯ll be taking Lifre with him, when that timees?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki suddenly froze up when she heard that. ¡°I¡¯m sure she would be¡­ great at various games. However, it¡¯s her behavior that has me concerned. Both how she interacts with others¡­ and how others may perceive her.¡± Lifre was an incredibly energetic individual, and one that had a tendency to be¡­ entric. Tsubaki was worried she might say something she shouldn¡¯t.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What¡¯s she up to, anyways?¡± Dana asked, as it was Tsubaki¡¯s avatar that was currently training with the mimic girl.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°She¡¯s ying cards with herself.¡± Tsubaki let out a faint sigh, shaking her head. ¡°She said that she could ¡®definitely¡¯ split her attention properly with an avatar as long as she learned how to y cards against one without cheating.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thinking of that, Tsubaki directed her attention to the scene of two Lifres sitting at a table, focusing intently on their individual cards. Sure, it was a solid n in theory, but¡­


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I saw that!¡± One of the Lifres shouted out, pointing to her counterpart. ¡°You peeked!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Did not!¡± The other retorted. ¡°You¡¯re the one that looked at my hand!¡± That said, the mimic threw down a card with a triumphant smile. ¡°Let¡¯s see you beat this.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The first slime looked aghast at the indirect admission, knowing that the other Lifre wouldn¡¯t have yed that card without really looking at her hand. Still¡­ ¡°You think it¡¯s that easy?¡± She grinned mischievously, throwing down a card to counter her counterpart.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°But¡­ but that¡¯s not fair! You didn¡¯t have that in your hand!¡± The other slime shouted, pointing her finger at her opponent. ¡°You¡¯re changing your cards!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Nope~.¡± The first slime¡¯s grin grew wider. ¡°I just set up a false vision. You only saw the hand I <i><span style="font-weight:400">wanted</i><span style="font-weight:400"> you to see.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡­ that¡¯s still cheating, right?!¡± Lifre asked, looking at Tsubaki for help. The kitsune let out a resigned sigh, wondering in her heart how anyone could get into such a heated argument with themselves, even to the point of ying mindgames against their own avatars.

 Chapter 712: Generating Waves

    Chapter 712: Generating Waves


    <span style="font-weight:400">Deep beneath the waves on Earth, the undersea city of the merkin was abuzz with news. A new aquatic predator had recently been sighted in the area, one that was rather unusual in both its appearance and method of hunting. The merkin themselves referred to it as the ¡®hungry wave¡¯.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Perhaps the most unusual thing about this predator was that it did not target those below the sea like themselves. Rather, it only targeted creatures roaming the surface of the waves, or those within a few hundred meters of its surface.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">We should warn the surface-singers.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> One of the merkin said, voicing his opinion as many others echoed their agreement, their voices forming a deep, mental chorus. <i><span style="font-weight:400">The surface-singers have done no harm by us, and have given us much help over the years. To turn our song away from this threat would sour our voice for generations.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Opposing his group was a far smaller one, those who believed that the hungry wave was not their problem, and that it was the will of the Divine to give birth to a creature that hunted the surface-singers. Still, their voices were far more quiet than those of therger group, with the city¡¯s leader standing by at the side.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After listening to both sides, he determined that the side with the greatest will to act was the one with the majority vote. With that confirmed, he nodded his head, swimming to his coral abode. Once there, he retrieved hismunication stone to make the call.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Libris sat atop a small raft deep within the ocean of Sanctum. As a man who loved to live alongside the water, his home was far from what one would call normal. A house made purely of water, positioned along the surface of the ocean. Every now and then, he would leave his home to drift for hours, maybe even days on his raft.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, his rxing trip this time was destined to be cut short as light shed through the sky. Before Libris could react, a familiar figure was standing atop his raft, her luminescent tails reflecting off the waves around them. ¡°Lady Tsubaki.¡± Libris stood on the raft, offering a respectful bow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Mister Storn.¡± Tsubaki nodded in greeting. ¡°I apologize for disturbing you, but I have a mission that I believe you are most suitable for.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Libris tilted his head in confusion. There had only been one point in his memory that he was truly called on for a mission. ¡°Do you require me to scry again?¡± He asked with uncertainty. Surely, by now they would have devised other methods for locating individuals or objects on their own.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki shook her head to deny his thoughts. ¡°No, this time it is properly for your domain of water. A new creature has been sighted in the oceans of Earth, and I would like you to investigate it in your capacity as a god.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">A normal monster would never cause the servants of the Citadel to seek out a deity like himself, causing Libris to feel cautious towards this mission. ¡°Can I ask for the details, first?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As if expecting this, Tsubaki nodded her head. ¡°The creature in question manifests in the form of arge wave, its crest filled with foaming white teeth. These teeth are almost indiscernible, ording to our sources, and it appears to be highly carnivorous.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oddly, the creature only attacks those on the water¡¯s surface, rather than finding prey below, where they would be more plentiful. Furthermore, it is most strange in that the source reported that the creature did not feel like an elemental.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Libris nodded his head, able to think of a few things that could cause such a situation. ¡°Was there a core to the creature?¡± Most creatures that took the form of an element had some type of core, even if it was well-hidden within their bodies. For a being made of water, this would typically be rather easy to spot.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not that they were able to discern. As the creature is carnivorous, it only targets those with physical bodies, not those who have reached perfection or godhood. Thus, I don¡¯t believe you will be in much danger on this mission.¡± Tsubaki assured him. ¡°What I want is for you to find the creature and identify its nature. Given the peculiarities of this case, I feel like it might be connected to the void. If your divine control of water does not work, don¡¯t hesitate to return to Sanctum. We don¡¯t know what will happen if this creature is provoked.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Libris nodded his head again, actually feeling more relieved after hearing the details. If it was a being made of water, then it was truly something he was specialized to deal with. Furthermore, if his powers didn¡¯t work, he was simply free to leave. ¡°I understand. Since this is a mission--¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki held her hand up to stop him. ¡°I¡¯ve already prepared a payment.¡± She said as she tapped at the air, transferring a not inconsiderable amount of faith to his ¡®ount¡¯. ¡°A down payment. If you get any usable information, you will receive an additional payment.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Libris smiled, happy to have a considerable down payment. As this was a mission to use his divine power, he would have to consume his own energy to do so. Without a church of his own on Earth, it was rather difficult for Libris to naturally umte divinity. ¡°Well, I suppose all that is left is to ask where the creature appears.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing his question, Tsubaki shook her head. ¡°That¡¯s part of the problem. Despite its presence only just being reported, there are traces of it appearing all over the world on Earth. Even somergerkes and rivers appear to show signs of smaller versions of the creature.¡± Tsubaki had mobilized nk and his AI retinue after learning of the monster¡¯s existence, feeling that the possibility of a void incursion was high. If every body of water in the world turned into an enemy, it would spell the end of most organic life on the.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Libris furrowed his brows, nodding his head. ¡°Have the seafaring vessels been recalled?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki again shook her head. ¡°There has not yet been time. I only learned of this myself yesterday, and received the full report only minutes ago. My main body is currently issuing an order for all maritime vessels to urgently dock, but there is no telling how long the order will take to carry out.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I understand. In that case, I wish to enter the Mortal Realm.¡± Golden mist spread along his figure, causing him to vanish from his raft. Having used the transportationmand created by the Goddess of Travel herself, Libris was quietly deposited onto the surface of Earth¡¯s ocean, the same spot he had originally traveled to Sanctum from.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, his raft was no longer present, having long ago been washed away with the tide. That was of no importance to the green-skinned deity, however, as he simply walked along the surface of the waves, muttering to himself. ¡°It doesn¡¯t attack divines like myself¡­ then, it will probably go after cargo vessels or low-flying monsters.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">With that in mind, Libris strode forward, the water carrying him a great distance with every step. This was a peculiar technique that he had created called the Tidal Step. As long as what he was looking for was within the same body of water that he was connected to, he could summon his own surface current to guide him. While walking along this current, every step he took would cross several kilometers at a time until he reached his destination.


    <span style="font-weight:400">His current goal was to find the nearest vessel along the water¡¯s surface, and it took him roughly half an hour of walking before he saw one on the horizon. However, there was something quite peculiar about this vessel. Chunks of the hull seemed to be torn out of it, long gashes formed that resembled teeth marks.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As he arrived at the side of the ship, a small wave lifted him onto its deck, allowing him to see the state of the crew. It was unheard of for a ship of this size to not have defensive measures in ce to deter or eliminate monsters. Yet, he saw scattered corpses littered about the deck, not a single one fully intact.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Shaking his head, he was about to leave the ship to its fate when he heard something rattling below the deck. With a sh of movement, he appeared near the source of the sound, startling a muscr felyn in histe forties. The man looked like a sailor if ever Libris saw one, though his face was pale and expression cowed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What happened here?¡± The God of Water asked, doing his best to keep his voice gentle for fear of damaging the man¡¯s already fragile mental state.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The water¡­ the water came alive.¡± The man reported. ¡°Sharp teeth, tearing ws¡­ everyone screamed. They tried to calm the waves, even freeze them, but nothing worked. They kepting¡­ing in waves.¡± The manughed deliriously as he said that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What about you?¡± Libris pressed, noticing that the man was entirely uninjured minus a very small cut on one arm. The blood dripped down onto the wet floor, where water was steadily pouring in from the gaps of the hull.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Heheh¡­ I was in the brig. Caught drinking on duty. But I saw it all from the portcullis. Ten, fifty, a hundred meters. Each one bigger than thest. We didn¡¯t care at first, we get waves all the time. But when the first one damaged our ship, and we couldn¡¯t calm the water, we knew something was wrong. They didn¡¯t even trigger the barriers¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Libris shook his head, realizing that he wasn¡¯t likely to get anything else out of the man. ¡°Your ship is sinking. You can eithere with me, and I¡¯ll send you back to shore after my job¡¯s done, or you can go down with your ship.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">In truth, it would not have been difficult for Libris to send the man directly to shore with his divine power. However, he needed a living organic creature with him to have any hope of summoning the deadly waves. While he did not feel particrly happy about using the man as bait, he had little in the way of an alternative.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°D-Don¡¯t leave me here, please.¡± The man pleaded, realizing clearly that sinking with the ship was a death sentence. They were too far from the shore for a druid¡¯s portal to work, and the ship did not have a nar gate.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Libris gave a small nod, controlling the water to carry himself and the sailor back out of the ship, and onto the surface of the water. Now outside, he could clearly see how the ship was sinking into the water, tilting back as its nose began to point skyward


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a sigh, Libris began walking again, using his Tidal Step to carry himself and the man forward. However, he barely made it three steps before feeling that something was wrong with the water around him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While the surface appeared rtively normal, Libris could sense an unnatural undercurrent, one that seemed to be forming a circle around them. Whenever they moved, this current would move with them. Reaching out with his power, he felt that there were severalrge points within the circr current that seemed to be driving the water. Like sharks circling their prey.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Looking to his side, he saw the drops of blood dripping off the man¡¯s arm, realizing that they had likely been drawn by the presence of his blood. Oddly, Libris could not feel the presence of any kind of creature within the water, just the water itself acting as a driving point for the current.


    <span style="font-weight:400">One of those driving points swam away, weakening the current, before Libris saw arge wave rising in the distance. With the rest of the ocean peaceful for the moment, this wave naturally stood out as it rushed straight towards them at high speeds. Having heard the report from Tsubaki, Libris¡¯s eyes focused on the crest of the wave. Sure enough, he was able to see rows of sharp teeth protruding just beneath the crest itself, as if formed from the very water within the wave.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Reaching his hand out, Libris focused his domain of water on the swelling wave, forcing it to a standstill. Although he did not force the wave to copse, it was no longer able to move towards him. Still, he saw those same teeth remaining in the water, puzzled by the very existence of what he saw.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">This is clearly just water. I would recognize an elemental monster immediately. But¡­ the water is warm. Unnaturally so for the area.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Feeling it out again, Libris found that the circr currents were also considerably warmer than the rest of the surrounding water. <i><span style="font-weight:400">So that¡¯s why freezing didn¡¯t work, the water was warming itself faster than their spells could freeze it.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">As he was considering this, three more of the driving forces for the current vanished, and he could see a greater wave forming on the horizon. Like a great shadow stretching the border between the sea and the sky, it was quickly moving in his direction.

 Chapter 713: Great White

    Chapter 713: Great White


    <span style="font-weight:400">The scale of the oing wave was radically differentpared to the one that Libris had already stopped. Considering that only three ¡®sources¡¯ had left to create this tidal wave, which seemed to span the horizon to the west, he could not figure out the logic behind how they increased their size


    <span style="font-weight:400">Worse yet, this wave seemed to be moving even faster than a normal tsunami, and it appeared as though the entire time it would take between appearing on the horizon and crashing into him would be no more than ten seconds. With that little time, he did not even consider protecting the sailor, as he would have to use his powers to ensure his own survival.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a wave of his hand, a small sphere of water epassed the sailor next to him, with Libris nning to send him away. However, Libris did not notice the thin teeth forming along the top of the sphere, his eyes fully focused on the encroaching wave. The moment the sphere closed, and the jaws snapped shut, the sailor vanished.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Libris looked over in rm, as he had not yet activated the power to teleport the sailor away. Stretching his arm out, he pushed that newly formed sphere away and turned his attention to the wave, now far closer to him than he would like. Its height was a staggering thousand meters, and its width was far beyond what Libris could personally see. At the top of the wave, Libris was able to see dozens of rows of sharp teeth, each one ready to tear into him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Waving his hand again, he forced the massive wave to halt in its tracks, just as he did the one before. Although this wave was many magnitudesrger, it was still just water. As the God of Water, that made him the perfect counter to a wave of any size. ¡°What are you¡­¡± He muttered to himself as he stared at the frozen wave, feeling a massive source of heat within it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The water within the wave was almost boiling, bubbling up in a mass of white foam that rose to the surface. The wave was clearly struggling against his control, and he could feel as much through his divine power. This was something that he had never felt before, as even water elementals could do little to resist him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Regardless, there was little more that he felt he would be able to learn from these waves without genuinely risking his life to let them crash over him. He did not know what happened to the sailor who vanished, but he was not about to take the risk to join him and find out. With a thought, he crushed the wave, forcibly smoothing out the surface of the water.


    <span style="font-weight:400">White foam still rose up from where the wave previously stood, showing how the mysterious power was still trying to rise and reform the wave. Shaking his head, Libris spoke themand to return to Sanctum. Golden mist wrapped around him, and he was thankful that Aurivy¡¯s method of transportation had nothing to do with water.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Back on Sanctum, Tsubaki was still waiting atop Libris¡¯s raft. When the heroc deity appeared again, she looked at him inquisitively, awaiting his report. Libris let out a faint sigh, shaking his head. ¡°There¡¯s nothing I can do about these creatures, though I have learned a few things from a¡­ first hand encounter.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The creatures behave in a simr manner to a shark, and seem to be drawn by the scent of blood. When I took a man with a small wound with me onto the surface of the water, they immediately began circling. The creatures don¡¯t seem to have any physical form, but can be found by the vague phantoms of heat that they generate.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What I find most disturbing is that they can appear at any point of water that counts as a lip, even when I tried to send someone away with my domain¡­ it simply devoured him without me being aware of its presence. Also, these creatures seem toe together to form farrger waves, but I did not see the logic behind their increase. Only that they created far more heat when they came together, enough to boil the water at the heart of the wave.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded her head as she took in the information. ¡°What happened to the person it devoured? Were you able to get any information from the corpse?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Libris gave a bitter smile at that. ¡°There was no corpse, Lady Tsubaki. As soon as it attacked, he simply vanished. I don¡¯t know if he was instantly digested, or if he was teleported away elsewhere, but there was nothing for me to see or recover after it struck.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s brow raised a notch when she heard that, noting it down. ¡°Then it seems very likely that we are working with a void entity, after all. Thank you for your help in this matter.¡± She said in a more gentle tone, sending him another payment. This one was more than double the down payment that he had received before, showing that Tsubaki did value the information that she had been given.


    <span style="font-weight:400">By the time Libris had processed the number on the payment, Tsubaki had already vanished in a sh of light, returning to her own pce far away. There was much for her to think about, and she was currently unsure how to resolve the problem on her own.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">After Libris left the scene, I watched the wave once again taking shape, seeming to let out an angry roar as it sped into the distance. At the rate it was going, there was only a matter of time before it reached another ship. Or worse, if it reached an inhabited coast. ¡°Leowynn.¡± I looked at the elven girl lounging on a nearby chair, her eyes lighting up as she was called.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m on it, dad.¡± She smiled, starlight seeming to shine in her eyes for a brief moment. Without warning, the wave simply copsed as if it had lost its driving force.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, it really is a void creature, after all?¡± I asked, causing my daughter to nod her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, it¡¯s the projection of one.¡± She rified, holding her hand out for the remote. alia rolled her eyes, tossing it over for Leowynn to catch. She hit a button, and the scene shifted to the void outside of the Earth dimension. I could see a vague figure seeming to swim around the marble that represented that dimension, and let out a low sigh.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So it won¡¯t just be that¡­ every in that universe is likely experiencing the same thing.¡± Thankfully, it appeared that the void entity could only target one dimension at a time, for now at least. Naturally, Leowynn should be able to destroy a creature like this if she exerts herself¡­ at least I hoped so. But, she and I knew how each other worked by now. Unless she was asked to resolve the problem, she would not make a move to try and allow the people of the world to fix it themselves.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn nodded her head. ¡°Probably. This is easily the strongest void monster that we¡¯ve encountered to date, since it is able to impose its rules on an entire universe at once.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked as that sank in, realizing that she was right. Until now, we had only dealt with void monsters able to influence small regions or individual people at a time. Sometimes, they would be able to spread like a virus, but that was still a far cry short of being able to directly influence an entire universe.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If you needed to, would you be able to destroy this void monster?¡± I asked, no longer as sure of the result as I was before. However, Leowynn nodded her head as if it were a simple matter.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯d take a lot of my energy, but I could wipe it out if I needed to.¡± Her words let me feel a sense of relief, realizing that the matter wasn¡¯t nearly as hopeless as I was starting to expect.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay, good. Are there any others that are rising along the path of a fallen god? With all these void monsters that are acting nowadays, we need more people that can act on our behalf.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I heard that, Leowynn gave a small smile. ¡°There are some priests of mine that are cultivating void energy. I asked Terra for some assistance on that, so it shouldn¡¯t be a problem for some of them to ascend when the timees.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod at Leowynn¡¯s words. Having more fallen gods would be a huge help in the future, as it would allow us to properly fight against the void monsters without always needing to rely on Leowynn¡¯s power. Although she was strong, she was not a true fallen god. Rather than fighting them as one would, she was more crushing them with the raw power of the void.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sinir walked through the city streets, gazing at the happy faces of those who passed him by. It was not often that he would visit a city such as this, as he typically spent his time merely wandering around. However, he felt that the time had long sincee for him to do what he promised himself so long ago.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As he arrived at the center of the city, seeing the great pce before him, he spoke with one of the ck-armored guards. ¡°I would like to request an audience with the God-Queen.¡± He spoke in a reserved tone, the guard looking at him for a long moment.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Your name?¡± He asked in a simple, gruff voice.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sinir Song, the God of the Lost.¡± Sinir answered, not holding back his own divine status. The guard simply nodded, but did not move from his position. Sinir simrly did not feel any mana waves being transmitted, or any other signs ofmunication.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Just as he was beginning to wonder if he had been ignored, the guard spoke up again. ¡°You may enter.¡± As the guard said that, the gravy door of the pce swung open, two ck-haired maids standing behind it and offering a small bow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This way, please.¡± One of them spoke with a smile, turning to lead Sinir down the long hallways. Naturally, he was not blind to the rather obvious color scheme of the pce¡¯s serv grand throne room.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Atop a raised dais sat an borately carved, obsidian throne. The Goddess of Life sat atop it, her silver dress and golden hair a stark contrast to the otherwise dark color scheme of the room. ¡°I¡¯ve been wondering when you would arrive, Sinir.¡± Udona said with a faint smile as the God of the Lost slowly sank down to one knee. ¡°ants. All of them had ck hair and ck eyes, regardless of if they were a maid, a guard, or even an advisor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sinir had to wonder if this was a decision of the Goddess herself to have them change their appearances, or if there was something else going on. However, these were all rather small concerns, as he was soon led to theI take it that you have made your decision, then?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sinir nodded his head, keeping his eyes low. ¡°If you will still have me, I would like to join your Holy Knights.¡± The offer had been made to him long ago through Aurivy, the very first day he had ascended and returned to his home world. At the time, he thought he needed to consider it further. After all, he was almostplicit to stealing the very crown that now sat upon her head. What right did he have to serve the new queen?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona¡¯s smile grew wider as she nodded her head. ¡°Of course you are wee.¡± She said in a vibrant tone. ¡°Do you n to establish your own pce within Sanctum, now that you are settling down?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sinir raised his head to look at his new liege. ¡°I do not possess a fitting domain to create a residence. If you would have me, I would continue residing within this castle. If not, I may find my own ce within the city.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona shook her head. ¡°You misunderstand. You may consider it more of a symbolic thing, but I prefer each of my Holy Knights to have a pce near my own in Sanctum. This allows others to see that we all stand together. If you are unable to make one yourself, I can ask a friend of mine to make one for you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sinir blinked at that, offering a small nod. ¡°Then, I suppose that I will take you up on that offer, my Goddess.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona let out a small giggle. ¡°It¡¯s no problem. She¡¯s the same one that made my own pce, after all. She¡¯s gotten quite good at constructing themtely, so I think you¡¯ll be quite pleased with the arrangement.¡±

 Chapter 714: Next Level

    Chapter 714: Next Level


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia sat within her wooden home, looking at the game console that Aurivy had just delivered. ording to the little halfling, this was the newest model that Darkme Technologies had created, one that allowed for even more realism within the virtual world. However, this confused Julia.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As a long-time gamer that had been ying since the very first virtual reality game, she had seen just how far games hade. In recent years, it was almost impossible to distinguish the sensory perception between a game and reality. ¡°I really hate to ask this¡­ but just how is this any better than thest model in terms of realism? Processing power, storage capacity,work strength, I could understand any of those. But you¡¯re telling me that the selling point here is the realism?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy gave a yful grin as she heard Julia¡¯s remark, jumping onto the couch next to her. ¡°It¡¯s easy! We¡¯ve already gotten as far into realism as we can get when ites to things like perception. ording to Ash, the realism that this offers is by reading your world profile itself. That way, games can do things like let you use your real world abilities in a game.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia¡¯s brow rose when she heard that. There were various games that allowed one to use real world skills already, but those were all done by manually inputting your current level. Of course, this older method allowed one to try out a level of power that was beyond their current scope, which was a good training method. ¡°If that¡¯s all, it doesn¡¯t seem like all that much of a bonus. Other games already do something simr, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy¡¯s grin only grew wider. ¡°Other games don¡¯t let you update your world profile when you log out of a game.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Goddess of Wood gasped at thatment, her head snapping to look at Aurivy. ¡°You mean, they¡¯ve made it possible to properly train inside of a virtual space, and actually keep that experience?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy nodded her head. ¡°That¡¯s right. This model evenes with a program made by nk himself for that very purpose. The program is essentially a nk world with our systems copied onto it. From there, you can adjust things like gravity, monster spawns, all of that. He said that it was a prototype for something he¡¯s working on in the future.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia gave the visor another nce. Unlike most current virtual reality gear, this did not simplye with a headset. Attached to the visor was a small neck brace, lined with unrecognizable machinery. Julia guessed that it was this machinery which allowed this new advancement to take ce. ¡°And¡­ just to be sure, there¡¯s no risk of getting trapped inside, or actually dying when you get killed in a game?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy brought her hands up, hurriedly shaking her head. ¡°Oh, oh Me no. Nothing like that. The profile is updated in real-time within the program, but is saved to your gear with a five second dy. When you die in the game, the update is automatically halted. No matter what, the device is hardwired to cut off the update before a death signal is sent, and will only start it back up thirty seconds after you have been revived. Even if a game is coded incredibly poorly, the hardware is incapable of forcibly killing you. Well¡­ with a few rare exceptions.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia raised her brow, prompting Aurivy to continue. ¡°Things like energy evolutions that take more than five seconds to break through the critical period. So, people won¡¯t be able to use this as an easy way to reach godhood, because if they fail to ascend in the program, they would only be safe if they were still at a safe point in their evolution five seconds prior.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh¡­ it was actually starting to sound like this would have been really useful for that.¡± When the elf said that, Aurivy simply shook her head in denial.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ash had a simr idea, but it wouldn¡¯t work out. The safe period for divine ascension would need to be as far back as half an hour, which would be uneptable for most other applications. And setting it as an adjustable feature would open the device itself up to being hacked, having that protection disabled entirely.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°She said she¡¯ll work on one that has a half-hour dy specifically for those looking to ascend, but she¡¯ll need people to test-run it for her. Given that a failed product means that the tester will die¡­ she¡¯s not making it a very high priority right now.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As Julia went to ask another question, there was a knock on their front door. ¡°Oh, who is it this time?¡± She asked in exasperation, standing up and moving towards the door. She had received numerous requests to aid others in the construction of their divine pces, even after the divine craftsmen guilds began to appear.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She was sure that part of the attention was due to the fact that she was connected to a member of the Greater Pantheon. Most people probably thought that they could build a connection if they were able to be friends with her. Julia simply shook her head at the idea, as she new better than most the kinds of people the Greater Pantheon were.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she opened the door, she was surprised to find Udona standing there, together with someone that she did not recognize. ¡°Ah, Lady Udona.¡± Julia bowed in greeting to the Goddess of Life. ¡°What brings you here today?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s exactly what you think.¡± The kitsune goddess said with a yful smile, causing Julia to let out a faint sigh.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Anything special for this one?¡± She had gotten used to the routine at this point, as she had created the divine pce for not only Udona, but all of her Holy Knights. While some were technically able to do so themselves, Udona insisted that they all follow the same thing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, just the usual will work, thanks.¡± Udona beamed a smile as Julia nodded, reaching her hand out. A short wand seemed to flicker into existence, roughly ten inches in length. ¡°Oh¡­ you¡¯re doing it here?¡± Udona asked in surprise.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Just trying something out.¡± Julia shook her head, waving the wand. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I wish to create the seed of a great tower, a mighty fortress of wood.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She focused her thoughts on what she wanted, and a small bud sprouted out of the ground at her feet, petals unfolding to reveal an acorn.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Smiling, Julia knelt down to pick the acorn up, handing it to Udona. ¡°Just nt that in any soil rich with divine energy, and¡­ make sure to step back. If I got it working right, it should start growing after around ten seconds, and the design should look like the others.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona¡¯s eyes lit up as she took the seed. ¡°Really? I didn¡¯t expect that you would be able to do something like this, even¡­ is it the effect of your wand?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia shook her head again, one finger stroking the length of her wand. ¡°No, this just has the effect of helping to solidify my mental image. But, it came from Kiria using Eternal Wood, ck mes, and Mister Storn¡¯s Holy Water. The mental effect is quite powerful, so it lets me create new domain skills fairly easily.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona looked at the wand, seeming impressed with the effect. ¡°If it¡¯s not too much of a bother, I might need to get some Eternal Wood myself. I think it should have a highpatibility with my Life domain, so I might have to get Tubrock to reforge my artifact with it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia¡¯s eyes went wide, and she hastily shook her hands. ¡°Of course you¡¯re free to have some if you want it. The Eternal Tree I used for this wand is the one growing out back. Feel free to take some branches and leaves, if you need to.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona simply rolled her eyes, manipting an unseen menu in front of her. ¡°You know that¡¯s not how we do things.¡± She said, transferring a significant amount of faith to Julia. ¡°There, for the seed as well as the materials. I¡¯ll be backter today to pick them up.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia simply let out a sigh of resignation, noting the confused look on the man with Udona. ¡°You get used to it. Julia Hart, Goddess of Wood. I don¡¯t think we¡¯ve met, yet?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ah, sorry. Sinir Song, God of the Lost. I recently joined Lady Udona¡¯s Holy Knights.¡± The stranger introduced himself, causing Julia to nod her head. Now that she looked more closely at him, she recognized him as one of the participants in the raid to kill the golem god.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, I hope the pce suits you.¡± Julia said with a faint nod. ¡°If you need anything else, you cane by. Though, if we¡¯re not talking about buildings, Kiria¡¯spany handles furniture requests a lot better than I do.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind, thanks.¡± Sinir responded, though it was clear he didn¡¯t pay it much mind. From what Julia guessed, he was one of those who did not n to spend much time in their Sanctum home.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">At this point, am I just making vacation homes for gods?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Julia questioned internally, not expecting her query to be answered by both Udona and Aurivy at once.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Yes.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> They said in unison.

 Chapter 715: Shocking Growth

    Chapter 715: Shocking Growth


    <span style="font-weight:400">After receiving the seed from Julia, Udona took Sinir away and led him towards a great valley far away in a distant portion of Sanctum. Within the valley rested a number of wooden, towering structures. However, that was not what one would immediately focus on when they entered the valley.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The region seemed to be overflowing with life, vibrant flowers decorating the ground. Furthermore, this was the only ce in the world that one could currently find animal life, creatures ranging from small insects torger fauna roaming the valley in peace. ¡°Wee to the Valley of Life, the domain I¡¯ve taken as my own.¡± Udona spoke up next to Sinir as he took in the scenery.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He had wandered through Sanctum for quite a while prior, yet he had never intruded on a imednd. Thus, this was his first time truly seeing the abode of any of the Greater Pantheon¡­ not counting the more simple wooden home that he had just left.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh? Oh, Julia¡¯s ce? That¡¯s not actually Aurivy¡¯s domain.¡± Udona said as if reading his mind. ¡°Though, she does live there. Aurivy¡¯s domain is the Crossroads, a small section of road she made in the middle of¡­ well, it¡¯s moving all the time, so I don¡¯t really know where it is now. If someone finds the Crossroads and walks down one of its paths, she said that they¡¯ll end up in a special trial she created.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sinir nodded his head, keeping that in mind. In fact, he had once seen a strange set of crossroads during his random travels. It was rather memorable as the roads were in the middle of the forest, each path tucking behind a tree and vanishing just out of sight.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At the time, Sinir simply thought that the road was a leftover of some nned construction, or a failed domain of some god. Thest thing that he expected was for it to be the wandering domain of one of the Greater Pantheon. Though, if he had known, he still would have avoided stepping on the roads. He had spent so much time being lost in the world that it had be his domain, and he did not want to tempt fate even further.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona led him deeper into the valley, towards the series of wooden pces that had been erected. ¡°This is where my knights all construct their pces, as I want everyone to have a sense of unity. Most of them spend their time within the world of mortals to perform their duties, but this is really more of a symbolic gesture than anything else. After all, what will happen when this world is upied by more and more gods, each wanting to make their mark?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sinir wanted to say that that wouldn¡¯t happen. That there wouldn¡¯te a time when the ¡®Divine Realm¡¯ had a poption crisis. But, given how many people had been ascending in recent years, especially those of ¡®divine conglomerates¡¯, he could not confidently say that it was true. ¡°What¡­ will happen?¡± He asked, genuinely curious. They created this world with their divine power, would they really watch it fall to ruin from overcrowding?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Catching his intention, Udona simply chuckled. ¡°They¡¯re working it out. Sanctum is just the first of its kind. As the need grows, we¡¯ll make more and more divines, making sure that each one is integrated in the same system of divinity. Of course, that could take ages to reach the point where we¡¯d need another Sanctum. For now¡­ ah, here should do.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After she said that, Udona stopped walking and looked around the area. The satellite towers surrounding the primary pce appeared to be evenly spaced upon closer inspection, taking up positions like the numbers on a clock. However, several of those positions were still empty, including the position where they were currently standing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°nt it in divine soil, and move back¡­¡± Udona nodded her head, reaching down to scoop out some of the soil in the ground with her bare hands. Sinir watched the goddess literally getting her hands dirty with an incredulous expression until she had dug a small hole, just barely as big as her fists.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once the hole was dug, she dropped the acorn inside and covered it back up. However¡­ perhaps Julia should have been more specific about what counted as ¡®nting¡¯ the seed. Clearly, Udona took it to mean that the seed would be nted once she had filled in the hole, so she made sure to diligently fill it back in. A feat which took far more than ten seconds.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The ground cracked as Udona¡¯s eyes briefly went wide. ¡°I¡¯ve made a huge mistake.¡± She muttered, just in time to get punched in the gut by a rapidly rising column of wood, carrying her into the skies as it rose. Sinir, having been a small distance away, was able to jump back the moment the wooden column formed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He watched as the Goddess of Life had the breath knocked out of her, her body anchored on one of the parapets atop the central tower. It grew to a height of over a hundred meters, expanding outwards as it did so, before finally stopping. When the rapid construction had finished, Udona wordlessly grabbed the parapet and lifted herself off.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Descending back to the ground as the picture of grace, her dress was in tatters from the sudden ¡®attack¡¯ of the tower. Her crown was crooked, her silken cloak torn from her shoulders and floating away on the wind. Sinir was even sure he saw a twig sticking out of her hair.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Despite all of this, shended easily in front of him, evening out parts of her dress as if that would fix the problem. ¡°We never speak of this. Agreed? Agreed.¡± She muttered, leaving him with no room toment on the subject.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Back in Julia¡¯s home, the Goddess of Wood was worrying over whether her new ability would truly perform as she hoped. She had even stopped asking about the new game hardware that Aurivy had brought over, much to the surprise of the halfling goddess. ¡°It¡¯ll be fine.¡± Aurivy promised with a smile. ¡°You gave them the instructions, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia nodded her head. ¡°Right. nt in divine soil, and quickly back away. Ten seconds after nting, it will quickly grow.¡± Aurivy smiled wider as Julia repeated the instructions, as if it would soothe her concerns.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, before she could say anything else, Aurivy suddenly hugged her stomach, bursting out inughter that had her falling back on the floor. ¡°Oh¡­ oh Me. Oh, I am so saving this!¡± She called out, confusing Julia.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Saving¡­ what?¡± Julia asked, leaning down and poking the hysterical goddess on the cheek. ¡°Are you going to share what¡¯s funny with the ss?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy eventually calmed down from herughter, looking with watery eyes towards Julia. ¡°When you said ¡®nt in divine soil¡¯, what exactly did you mean?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia blinked in confusion. ¡°ce the acorn within the soil, preferably within one and a half inches of soil. Why, did something go wrong?¡± Julia suddenly became nervous again as the topic was brought up.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, in the best of ways.¡± Aurivy chuckled. ¡°Udona took her time covering the seed back up after burying it manually.¡± Julia¡¯s eyes went wide in fright, and she bolted to her feet.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°O-Oh no, is she okay? I didn¡¯t mean for anything like that to happen¡­ Why would she do it like that?¡± Dozens of questions shed through her mind at once, trying to squeeze them all out before they fluttered away, but Aurivy only grinned yfully.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You see, much like myself, Udona is a sucker for ceremony. Part of the whole ¡®culture goddess¡¯ thing, I guess. And giving her subordinate his own tower is quite the ceremony, so naturally she had to do it by hand. But don¡¯t worry, she¡¯s fine. We¡¯re made of tougher stuff than that, you know. Her clothes got torn to hell, but they weren¡¯t made of divinity anyways. Lesson learned, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia blinked at that, looking strangely at Aurivy. ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t she make her clothing out of divinity? Isn¡¯t it more customizable and durable?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy, meanwhile, sent Julia a yful grin. ¡°You realize that your divinity is just part of your own body, right? Thus, even if you¡¯re wearing clothes made out of it, you¡¯re still essentially naked? Well, that¡¯s how Udona takes it, anyways.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia could feel her cheeks heating up as she was confronted with that opinion. There was certainly some merit to it, though it was not something that she personally wanted to consider. After all, almost every deity wore armor or clothing made of their divinity. Those that didn¡¯t typically had custom-made divine armor created by expert smiths.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, Julia had some of those clothes herself, and had ordered several sets for both herself and her familiar. ¡°She¡¯s not¡­ mad, is she?¡± Julia asked, gulping as she stared at the still-grinning Aurivy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, she¡¯s <i><span style="font-weight:400">furious</i><span style="font-weight:400">.¡± Aurivy chuckled. ¡°But not at you. She¡¯s mad that I recorded the scene and sent it to the others. She is <i><span style="font-weight:400">never</i><span style="font-weight:400"> going to live this one down, just watch.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing that the situation wasn¡¯t too dire for Aurivy to crack a joke, Julia let out a faint sigh of relief. ¡°You had me worried there.¡± She said, copsing back on their couch.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s fine. We all know you wouldn¡¯t intentionally harm any of us like that. Though, honestly I¡¯m impressed with the house you made for him. If you could grow seeds like that anywhere, construction workers would have nowhere to go.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia shook her head, bringing a hand up to cover her face. ¡°It needs soil that has enough divinity to kickstart the process. I basically just recorded all of the steps to make the pce as instructions within the seed, and it activates as soon as it has the divinity to follow those steps. In normal soil, it¡¯d just be a dud.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy nodded, pulling herself up from the floor. ¡°I figured. Still, his house won¡¯t be growing any seeds of its own like a real tree, will it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Probably not¡­?¡± Julia spoke up in an entirely uncertain tone. ¡°I didn¡¯t give it any instructions like that, at least. If shees back saying that an entire city sprouted up around her pce, we¡¯ll know they make their own seeds.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, guess we¡¯ll find out.¡± The halfling said in a yful tone. ¡°So, any ideas for this new headset? Like I said, ites with a training simtor.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia thought about it briefly. ¡°Does divine energy spent inside actually get used?¡± Aurivy blinked at her question, not sure as to the answer herself. ¡°I guess that¡¯s another thing we¡¯ll find out the hard way. Honestly, I don¡¯t see it being all that great a sale for the manufacturing cost. The top consumer would be those aiming to train themselves, but those people would already be training themselves without it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The people who do buy it would be those that want to get stronger but don¡¯t have the guts to go out and risk their lives. If they get stronger through a device like this, they¡¯ll still have that cowardly nature, assuming that they don¡¯t just let the power go entirely to their heads.¡± Aurivy nodded as she listened to Julia¡¯s concerns.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Both entirely valid! Now, my counterpoint¡­ Fyor. This world is so filled with monsters that five of the top seven floors have not even been fully explored yet. One of them has, but not by us! On the other hand, the lower floors are considerably smaller, with the neenth having far less room than Earth. Go down two more floors, and they¡¯re even smaller than Desbar!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Fyor is facing a problem right now that this device offers a perfect answer to. Theyck the livebat capabilities to improve a new generation of elites through anything other than standardized training. And that training is all well and good for intellectual fields, but it doesn¡¯t let you hone your battle instincts like a real fight would. Without that chance for a real fight, Fyor is on the fast path to stagnation, and maybe even decline if something doesn¡¯t turn it around.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You mean, this headset¡­¡± Julia looked at the item once again as Aurivy nodded.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The first game released by Darkme Technologies for the Gen-Eighteen Neuro-Gear, Ascent of Fyor. It¡¯s a singleyer game that lets someone train themselves against the monsters of Fyor across all explored floors. Once the yer has dominated one floor, that floor will have basic shops to supply their adventure to the next.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia blinked, nodding her head as she could see how that would be a big hit with Fyor. Though, she didn¡¯t quite understand Aurivy¡¯s nextment. ¡°Not that Dana¡¯s going to like thepetition, of course¡­¡±

 Chapter 716: Council Decision

    Chapter 716: Council Decision


    <span style="font-weight:400">Within the world of Lorek, there was a conference being held. This conference consisted of the major leading figures for both the worlds of Lorek and Spica both, the two worlds that were experiencing a drastically different flow of time from every other world. Several cultivators that had ascended to the rank of Supreme Immortal to be a god through the cultivation system were present in the meeting from both sides.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The topic for the day¡¯s discussion was therge number of star beasts that appeared surrounding their two worlds as ofte, many of which seemed capable of destroying entire countries on their own. These cultivation deities had been forced to engage inbat with many of the star beasts, but they alone could not protect an entire by themselves. Especially not one the size of Lorek.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Has there been any word from Han, the God of Arrays?¡± One of the Spican deities questioned, looking to the local counterparts. However, he was met with a shake of their heads.


    <span style="font-weight:400">One dwarf that seemed to have fire licking over his hair let out a resigned sigh. ¡°Not sense the flying inds were given permission tounch. That was a couple centuries ago, but he¡¯s not yet returned.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As one of the earliest gods of Lorek, Han had been granted one of the first flying inds to use as his base of operations, and had taken it out to explore the universe at his earliest opportunity. ¡°Then, it is safe to assume that he has already fallen.¡± A Spican god spoke up in resignation. ¡°That or he has no interest in returning to the mortal world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Aye.¡± The dwarven God of me, or the me Immortal as he was called in Lorek, agreed. ¡°We can seek help from the Citadel, but I think we¡¯re in agreement that we have not fallen to that degree just yet.¡± His eyes roamed around the room, receiving nods of acknowledgement.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was naturally going to be a downside to a world having such a drastically different flow of time from the rest of the world alliance, not to mention the difference in the metaphysicalws themselves. Assistance that could be readily provided on one side could scarcely be provided for the other, forcing individuals to create their own system to fend for themselves.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was how this very council had been created over one hundred years ago. Though, to other worlds, that was an event from merely two years prior. Even still, the cultivation worlds of Lorek and Spica did grow at a remarkably slower pace than any other, with it taking centuries of training for new talented figures to rise to prominence.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, then what are we going to do?¡± A Sword Immortal asked, her eyes closed as she leaned back against her chair. ¡°We can¡¯t ask outsiders for help, we don¡¯t have the Array Immortal, and we can clearly not settle this matter on our own.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Let¡¯s face it, we¡¯re not stuck trudging through things with trial and error anymore.¡± A Spican representative spoke, his elven features furrowed. ¡°We all know the path of cultivation, and most of us have established small sects to pass down our inheritance. Give it another century or two, and all of those sects will be able to produce their own immortals. But those beasts out there won¡¯t wait that long. Right now, we need to figure out a method to repel them before it is toote.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Sword Immortal shook her head, a bitter smile on her face. ¡°You¡¯re not entirely right, Ss. They will wait, they¡¯ll wait until we get a few more immortals among our ranks. At that point, the highest ranked star beasts will begin to descend all at once.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Those within the room turned to look at the Sword Immortal in confusion, prompting her to open her nk white eyes. ¡°Did all of you think that the energies within our atmospheres are unlimited? They maye from every star in the sky, but we only receive an infinitesimally small fraction of their power. Every cultivator we groom uses some of that power in order to grow.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°To the star beasts outside of our world, our world is a buffet waiting for them. Some are content to feast on the energy remaining in the atmosphere, while others are blocked by it from descending and devouring our people. Once that energy is gone, both types of beasts will no longer have any reason to abstain from attacking us.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What are you suggesting, Mora?¡± The me immortal turned to look at the ursa who had spoken, raising his brow. ¡°You can¡¯t be suggesting that we stop cultivating our youths.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course not.¡± She chuckled bitterly. ¡°Even if we did, the star beasts across the world would continue to grow. It seems as if we are stuck between the jaws of a beast, are we not? Yet, there is still a way for us to escape this dilemma.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">epting the protracted silence as a sign to continue, her lips tugged upwards. ¡°Each and every one of you possesses your own universe within your inner sky. This universe has been birthed by the world itself, attuned with thews you have mastered. Who among you is willing to use your own light as fuel for the next generation?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Gasps rang throughout the room, some people jumping to their seats. The stars within one¡¯s inner sky was sacred, containing not only their insights into the profoundws, but also the very essence of their energy. To share those with the world would directly result in weakening themselves.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Feeling the incredulous gazes of those around her, Mora let out a deepugh. ¡°That¡¯s what I thought. All of you are so concerned with your own standing that you will promote the future generation in name, but not truly risk your all to see it through.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ye¡¯ll want ta watch yer words carefully, Mora.¡± The me Immortal grit his teeth, his dwarven ent slipping through in his race. ¡°Not a soul here hasn¡¯t put their life on the line ta protect their home, yerself included.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Have I touched a nerve, Sparky?¡± Mora asked with a knowing smile. ¡°Tell me that I am wrong. That any of you would directly bestow others with your stars to use as their cultivation resources.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And what about you?¡± A representative of Spica questioned pointedly, staring straight at Mora. ¡°I suppose it would only be a small matter for you to lead by example?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Obviously. In fact, I have already done so.¡± Her calm words drew another series of gasps from the group. ¡°All of you must be familiar with the system of Subordinate Deities. Aside from our own world, it is something that every system uses. Is it not because of this very distinction in how we ascend, and our options in doing so, that we have taken to calling ourselves Immortals instead of Gods?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What¡¯re ye gettin¡¯ at,ss.¡± The me Immortal prompted, his hair starting to burn brighter. ¡°We all know that ye can¡¯t just give a star ta someone. It¡¯s been tried, with rather explosive results.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mora nodded her head. ¡°There are two reasons why it failed in the past. For the first round of trials, before the age of immortals, those who bequeathed a star upon another had yet toplete their inner universe. Their stars were unstable without their direct presence, and would shatter when brought away from their bodies without special powers.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Later, this was tried again, when an Earth Immortal wanted to help his friend cultivate. His friend was following the path of Kings, a rather strenuous path, and thus their progress was slower than normal. However, this process failed because the two had ipatiblews.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I have given thirteen of my own stars to my personal disciples, all of whom cultivate the same path of Swords that I havepleted. They no longer want for the energy of the atmosphere, as they harness the power for their cultivation directly from the star that I have given. Not only does this stop the atmospheric energy from depleting, it also allows them to harness a more pure form of energy, increasing their cultivation speed.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thirteen¡­ Mora, you¡¯re mad to have tested that on your own.¡± Another of the immortals said in shock. While each of their universes contained billions of stars, each one represented a permanent loss of power. At the same time, a failed test meant that loss would be wasted.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sometimes, the world needs more mad people. It¡¯s my theory that those students of mine will be my own Subordinate Deities when the moment of their evolutiones. The stars I have nted within their inner sky will merge with their universe, and tie their power to my own. When that happens, not only will my efforts have paid off, but I will even receive a substantial increase in power.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In theory.¡± That same representative reminded her. ¡°Besides, how are you even sure that the atmospheric energy is the cause of the star beasts bing more and more active? Isn¡¯t this all just more conjecture?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mora gave a small smile at that. ¡°Actually, that¡¯s the one part of this whole thing that I am sure of, without any shadows of doubt. Such an event has reportedly already happened before in the history of Lorek.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The me Immortal looked over at Mora in shock and realization. ¡°The Starfall¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mora nodded her head, though most of the gathered representatives looked confused. ¡°In the ancient ruins of our world, scattered remnants of history can be seen. These remnants are from a long-forgotten civilization far more developed than our own. One where Supreme Immortals like us ruled the sea and sky alike.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And yet, they were destroyed, brought to ruin by a single, cataclysmic event known as the Starfall. So far, six different ruins that we have discovered referenced this event, including one as recent as six years ago under the direct supervision of my sect. If we piece together the context of these references, the picture is rather clear.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In ancient times, people cultivated far and wide, using the energy in the atmosphere as rapidly as it could be made avable. They sculpted arrays to increase the efficiency, ensuring that not a single drop went to waste. However, because of this, they eventually became the source of their own downfall. Massive beasts emerged from the sky, descending on these sects and ns, ravaging them with the powers of the stars.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If we do not take up this method of mine, which I have taken to calling the Star Legacy, we will simply be following in the footsteps of these ancient people.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m sorry, what.¡± I blinked, hearing what was discussed in the meeting. ¡°There wasn¡¯t anything like that in the world¡¯s actual history, right?¡± Looking around, neither Leowynn, Aurivy, Keliope, or alia could answer my question.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Betcha I know who has the answer.¡± Keliope said with a small grin, ncing towards the hallway. Letting out a small sigh, I focused inwardly.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Tubrock? Got a Lorek question for you.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Aye? What¡¯s the matter,d?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> His response was prompt, though somewhat distracted.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">What¡¯s the meaning of the Starfall event that you left behind in those ruins you made?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> As each ruin was handcrafted by Tubrock himself, there was no way that he wouldn¡¯t know what it was.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Starfall? Aye! It was just a cautionary tale ta scare the folks and stop them from tryin¡¯ ta fly too close to the sun. Some mysterious event that wiped out the world, with just enough detail ta make sure nobody tried ta hog all the power for themselves.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I raised an eyebrow at Tubrock¡¯s description. <i><span style="font-weight:400">They¡¯re currently taking it to mean that if they use too much of the world¡¯s atmospheric energy, star beasts are going to descend and destroy them.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">...Bollocks.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He cursed. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Well, I mean, they¡¯re not wrong, but bollocks anyways. Lorek¡¯s got a couple of those primordial artifacts buried in it, and Spica¡¯s been broadcastin¡¯ their position ¡®cross the gxy ever since they learned how ta reach space through the energy field. ¡®Course they¡¯re goin¡¯ ta attract monsters.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I shook my head, sure that I had just heard wrong. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Lorek has primordial artifacts buried in it?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Aye, ones holdin¡¯ the domains of Lightnin¡¯ and Frost,st I checked. First should be ¡®neat a big mountain in the southwest hemisphere, surrounded by a constant storm, while the other is ¡®round the north pole somewhere. Found ¡®em when I was makin¡¯ my runs and settin¡¯ up the ruins.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a faint sigh, bringing my palms up to p my forehead. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Next time¡­ let me know about stuff like that when you find it, please...</i>

 Chapter 717: Immortal Way

    Chapter 717: Immortal Way


    <span style="font-weight:400">After the meeting had finished, the other immortals of Lorek and Spica both requested to meet with the thirteen students who had received Mora¡¯s stars. This was only natural, as the method she was discussing was not only taboo, but also one that had always led to the deaths of those involved in the past. Mora was, of course, prepared for their request.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Without a moment¡¯s dy, she summoned her students outside the venue. Seven young men and six young women stood outside in ck robes, their backs straight with their arms folded behind them. What surprised the representatives of the two worlds the most was what happened after Mora issued amand. ¡°Release your starlight.¡± She told them, and the students nodded without reservation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although they were at various stages in their cultivation, their light was nothing much to the immortals present. It could even be said that those representatives could squash them with a thought. Yet, hidden inside that starlight, they could sense the will of an immortal. This served as proof that they had indeed inherited a star from Mora, containing both a strand of her power as well as her insights.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I n to find one thousand candidates to seed with my stars.¡± Mora said calmly as she sensed the changing emotions of the other immortals. ¡°At this expenditure, my remaining stars will still have the power to sustain me throughbat. Are any of you brave enough to join me in this gamble for our future?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The dwarven me Immortal who had been angered by Mora previously seemed to have calmed himself with the evidence of her conviction. ¡°Aye. I¡¯ll find someds to share my stars with.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">With the me Immortal taking the lead, several others stepped forward as well. However, others remained unmoved, unwilling to take part in this exercise. Mora didn¡¯t me them, though, as this was indeed a gamble


    <span style="font-weight:400">Depending on the path each immortal pursued, and their understanding of that path, they possessed billions of stars within their inner sky. At a nce, it seemed as though a mere thousand would cause no significant loss of power, but that was not truly the case. The power offered by the stars was not the sum of their parts, after all.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Not to mention the power needed merely to sustain her body and her current level, Mora was sacrificing roughly a tenth of her power by seeding these stars in her future students. Assuming that her conjectures were correct, and that her power would increase once again when her students achieved their own immortality, this would all be worthwhile. If this proved not to be the case, however, then she would permanently be weaker than others of the same level.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Several of those who refused were waiting for exactly this information, as they were unwilling to deal suchsting damage to their own power. Others were simply those who had never established their own forces and did not possess worthy candidates. For instance, there was a Sky Immortal who had been inspired by the Keeper¡¯s dragon Fafnir. After reaching the pinnacle of his power, he had not yet managed to establish his own force.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mora was not personally worried about the drop in her power, as she had numerous methods to make up for it. First of all, her path was strictlybat-oriented, giving her an advantage in battle against those with less focused paths. Additionally, as she followed the path of swords, she was able to nurture countless powerful swords within her inner sky.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Each sword formed the heart of one of her stars, containing various powers based on those insights. A heavy de that can crush mountains, a flowing sword to divide an ocean, or a swift de that can split the sky itself. In times of need, she could summon one or more of those swords to increase her power. Thus, the reduction was far less meaningful to her than it would be to others.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Now that I think about it, I¡¯ve got a question.¡± I said as I hit the pause button, watching a smile grow over Mora¡¯s face. ¡°You might be able to help me with this, Keliope. Or maybe Leowynn could.¡± Thankfully, both of them were still out here with me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What¡¯s up, boss?¡± Keliope looked over curiously, leaning back in her chair. She seemed interested, as it wasn¡¯t often that I asked for her help with matters.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The inner skies of cultivators. When they be gods, they turn into what seems like a fully functioning universe. That won¡¯t make them targets for void monsters, will it?¡± Seeing as void monsters had be more and more of an issue in recent days, this was something of a concern for me. Especially as I myself had such an inner sky with my world host.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keliope, however, simply chuckled. ¡°Ah, is that it? No, you don¡¯t really have anything to worry about there. It¡¯s all part of how the profoundws are set up, see?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Starting with the third stage, Constetion, people begin to create a sky within their energy paths. You felt this at one point, too. Their entire ¡®sky¡¯ is essentially a single node of energy. While the exterior remains fixed, the interior changes and grows as they cultivate. In Neb Cycle, they shatter their stars to create a nebulous cloud that fills this node, which constantly pushes their sky to grow.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°At the Inner Sky stage, the nebulous cloud condenses into new stars, representing the idea of them linking their insights to create new ideas. As the energy is condensing, it creates empty space to allow the starlight to shine.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°With Binary Union, stars are paired together, and they begin to transfer their insights between each other. After they¡¯re done, they move along an orbital path to encounter another star. Once all the stars have shared their insights, the next stage is Nova Merge. I think this is thest stage you reached manually, right? Here, all of your starse together once again, forming the seed of your future world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ster Expanse is sort of a dry run for universe creation. As you continue gathering new ideas, these ideas form satellite stars around your main one, gradually growing as they learn from each other. Once they finish, they branch off and begin epting their own satellite stars.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What you¡¯re probably concerned with is Void Giant. You¡¯re thinking it would be what puts your world out there into the void, yeah? But what it actually does is draw a strand of the void into your inner sky, creating your own void territory.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn blinked at that. ¡°Since the void is a massive body of information, it bes a conduit for the stars to transfer insights?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°See, she¡¯s got it.¡± Keliope grinned, nodding her head. ¡°At the Devouring Darkness stage, the void consolidates all of the information from your scattered stars into itself, returning everything to nothing. At the same time, it configures its own information to match your chosen path. By that point, it is entirely separated from the void itself. The only time you need to worry about interference is when one is breaking through to the Void Giant realm.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And finally, the Universe Born stage.¡± Keliope raised a finger as she said that. ¡°Once the void has finished gathering all of that information, and has the necessary fuel to advance, it is able to create its own micro-world. This world is specifically created with thews that the cultivator studied, and the void surrounding it has no connection to the primary void that exists outside of reality.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a slow nod as I thought about that, furrowing my brow. ¡°Life can be created in these universes, though. What would happen if someone nurtured a race of cultivators within their world, and one of those cultivators reached the final stage themselves?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keliope blinked, thinking it over. ¡°Well, the onlyw within that universe is the one they practiced. It¡¯s possible that they could shatter the inner sky entirely by trying to cultivate to the same level as their creator, killing both in the process. Or, maybe their skies will ovep? Maybe they will even form nested universes within one another.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Okay, that was easy enough to understand the possibilities. ¡°And this n for Mora¡¯s students to ascend and increase her own power? If their voids aren¡¯t linked to the main body, how would that power flow back to her?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I think I can answer that one.¡± Leowynn smiled, crossing her hands in herp. ¡°The voids formed by her students will intrinsically carry an identical set of information as the void within Mora. This would allow for a form of potential resonance that crosses the boundaries of space.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Think of it like a radio. They exist in two separate spaces, each being used by different people. However, if they are tuned to the same frequency, they will be able tomunicate with one another. In this way, I think that it is possible for Mora¡¯s n to work, establishing her students in the same way that we create Subordinate Deities.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Only¡­¡± I followed that train of thought with a sigh. ¡°When we create a subordinate, they have their own domain, which we gain ess to. Here, they can only create subordinates with the same paths as themselves.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, that¡¯s the prevailing theory, at least.¡± Keliope shrugged her shoulders. ¡°We don¡¯t even know if it will work like that yet. Until we see the results, it might just be a case where each student has their own independent universe. Even if that¡¯s the case, I wouldn¡¯t really call it a loss for their world. After all, they¡¯re sacrificing a bit of power in order to double or even triple someone¡¯s cultivation speed.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn nodded her head in agreement at that. Neither of them could say for sure what would happen, but each had their own theories. This was unexplored territory for us, after all. I <i><span style="font-weight:400">could</i><span style="font-weight:400"> just ask Balu, as I was pretty sure she¡¯d have the answer. But, in the end, I decided not to. This would not pose any danger to my world in either scenario, so I was happy with just letting it unfold.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay¡­ I think everything¡¯s ready for release.¡± Dana said as she looked through the design documents of the game that she had been working on. ¡°Have you set up all the systems for it? We¡¯re totally using that new tech, now that it¡¯s avable.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a sigh over the speakers as nk¡¯s voice came in. ¡°I assumed that you would, and have already made the appropriate preparations. The full suite ofws from your world will be copied onto the game, allowing totalpatibility with the individual¡¯s personal power.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana grinned happily, nodding her head. As the machines being implemented within the game functioned with mana as their fuel, this would allow for a wider range of people to be able to properly enjoy the benefits. Otherwise, they would have had to spend a lot more time merely training up the necessary skills to survive in this new world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay, then once everything¡¯spiled, we¡¯re free tounch.¡± She said with a confident smile, closing the design document and letting out a sigh of relief.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Do you not want to perform a beta test first, or a marketing campaign?¡± nk asked curiously from within his virtual office, causing Dana to blink.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I trust your coding. And thews are taken directly from reality, so what bugs could there be? As for the marketing campaign¡­ I¡¯ll call someer to release the information that the Servants of the Keeper have personallyunched a new online game! That should get a lot of people¡¯s attention.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">nk gave a small nod, as that was certainly a name that anyone would know. ¡°Then, I suppose I¡¯ll just need to make sure that the client is avable for download and purchase.¡± He couldn¡¯t help but feel that Dana was rather unprofessional about how she handled this game¡¯s design, but it was nothing outside of his expectations. After all, she was not a professional game designer. Had it not been for her authority and contributions to the world, the game would never have likely been made. As it was¡­ he would see how well it performed.

 Chapter 718: A Journey’s End

    Chapter 718: A Journey¡¯s End


    <span style="font-weight:400">Roughly one year after the monster attack against Gate¡¯s Rest in the twenty-sixth floor of Fyor, the convoy was still pressing onwards, carefully advancing. They knew by now that they were extremely close to the next gate, and merely had to wait for a closer path to open. Some people had suggested digging to cover the distance, as the scout reported the direct path would be no more than ten kilometers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, they were unwilling to take that risk. Any power capable of blowing open a hole that deep in one shot would cause powerful aftershocks which could injure or even kill their guide. And if they took it slow, they might not even make it to the gate before the path closed up around them, splitting their group.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, every thirty minutes they would check for a new path. At the current moment, the most direct path required them to backrack and circle around for over three days to reach the end. Sadly, in that amount of time, it was entirely possible that that path might close up, causing their trip to be in vain.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Only when a path opened that led closer to the gate did they move forward, keeping their eyes peeled for any monsters ambushing them. Everyone¡¯s nerves were on edge, feeling like this was thest hurdle for their long voyage. They did not know if any boss monsters inhabited the gate room, or what would be waiting for them once they moved to the next floor. All that they knew was that they had been making this journey for too long already.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Most of the convoy couldn¡¯t wait for this to be over, ready to be done with the glowing crystal walls and the constant need to drink the potions. Although the alchemists had done their best to improve the vor of those potions, that did not change the fact that the Maxers were getting sick of them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing that the others were looking at him, Jordan nodded his head, closing his eyes and focusing. As he had already done so many times in the past, he sent out a ping of energy to locate the gate. As the gate was extremely close, the results were returned in under a minute, allowing him to open his eyes and report. ¡°There¡¯s a new path that opened up. It¡¯s a slight detour, but we should make it at our normal speed within two hours.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The convoy looked ecstatic at this news. The maze did not typically shift that quickly, so it should be entirely possible to get through the path before it changes again. If not, they would be close enough to be able to dig through without worrying about the st hurting Jordan.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Without dy, the convoy packed up what they needed to and got on the move. They marched through the tunnels, eliminating the few monsters that they saw along the way. And then, finally, they reached their destination. A ck b of stone standing dozens of meters high, and half as wide. When they saw it, several members of the convoy looked as if they wanted to fall to their knees and weep in joy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jordan, meanwhile, had something else on his mind. The moment that they arrived in the room, he received a new message from the system. His special title, the one which granted him the energy to find this ce, had leveled up due to himpleting a long term search. He did not know if the increase in power had unlocked any new effects, but it was clear that the energy was more abundant than before. Perhaps it was as simple as a range increase? Though, he had never noticed a problem with the energy¡¯s range before, as it was able to sense the location of this gate from so far away.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Alright, everyone!¡± The convoy¡¯s leader called it, attracting the group¡¯s attention. ¡°You all know what happens now.¡± As he said that, he walked forward, cing his hand on the surface of the ck te. ¡°Time to see what lies beyond.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The surface of the gate shifted, opening up to reveal the spatial portal that they were all too familiar with. Beyond the portal, they saw a ck field. However, it was hard to tell if the area was dark because of a permanent effect like the light of the twenty-sixth floor, or because it was simply night time for this level.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Night¡­ that thought brought a nostalgic shudder to several people. They had not seen proper darkness in so long. The knight hesitated for a moment before slowly stepping through the gate, officially bing the first person of Fyor to reach the twenty-seventh floor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Following his lead, the rest of the convoy moved forward one by one, leaving behind the eternal light of the twenty-sixthyer and its crystal prison. When they emerged, they were within a vast valley, lush nt life as far as the eye could see. The knight in the lead took a deep breath, closing his eyes and just basking in the darkness.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Let¡¯s send people back now. We need to share the teleport point with other priests, and get a proper survey team out here. Thisyer is bound to have more resources avable to us than thest, so I think most will happily move if the danger is not too great.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The others agreed, and two priests immediately opened portals. One traveled to Gate¡¯s Rest at the twenty-sixth floor, while the other traveled to the centralyer in order to report their findings. Although the Council was no longer around, the true headquarters for the adventurer¡¯s guild had been moved to thisyer. Using their authority as a neutral organization, they took over that floor for the sake of protecting the central spire.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, unlike the council that preceded them, they had no intention to obstruct those wishing to submit orbs. Instead, they had guards posted to ensure that the orbs did not have any ill effect on the spire, allowing the person who brought it to personally submit them. Better yet, as long as the effect of the orb was announced and the system epted it, they would offer a substantial reward to those who did so.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although there were people who were uneasy with a single organization upying the center floor again, it was clear that they had no desire to form a government body to try to rule the. Instead, they kept themselves entirely out of politics, maintaining their stance as a collective of adventurers and mercenaries who would do most any task for the proper amount.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When the priest of Aurivy appeared before the gate, and walked the short distance to the guild headquarters, people naturally took notice. There were only a few reasons for someone to go to the headquarters without wearing the guild¡¯s uniform. Either they were turning in an orb, posting an emergency job, or submitting valuable information.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The receptionist within the guild quickly straightened her back and looked at the halfling priest. ¡°Is there something that I can help you with, sir?¡± She asked with a professional smile, able to feel the energy radiating from the man. Clearly, he possessed the aura of a Maxer.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The priest nodded his head. ¡°I¡¯d like to report that Expedition Twenty-Seven has reached its goal. We are requesting a survey team be dispatched at the earliest convenience.¡± The receptionist¡¯s eyes went wide, clearly knowing the significance of this report.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right away!¡± She nodded her head, focusing on sendingmunication via mana. ¡°Do you have any information to report? Any immediate terrain hazards that we need to be aware of?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The priest thought about it for a moment. ¡°We didn¡¯t encounter any monsters as soon as we passed through the gate. It seemed to be night time there, however. Aside from that, we saw abundant vegetation. There wasn¡¯t anything else from what I had seen.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The receptionist nodded, passing along the information to the central guildmaster. ¡°I understand. I have passed along your report. As per the agreement, all surviving members of the expedition will receive the full payout upon their return to a guild branch. If any members are reported as not surviving, we will issue the payment to their next of kin.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thinking back to the variousrades that had died in the many battles along the way to the gate, the priest nodded his head with a solemn expression. ¡°Then, I will thank you on their behalf.¡± After he said that, he began listing out names from memory. These were people that he had spent months traveling with. Even after they died, he had engraved their names in his memory to ensure that they were not forgotten.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The halfling receptionist wrote down each name, making sure not to miss anyone. ¡°I¡¯ll pass this report along as well. If you would like to wait for a little while, we can have your payment delivered.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The priest shook his head. ¡°Just add it to my ount. I need to gather some priests to open the portal ess.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The receptionist understood with that, and did not press further. Most adventurers had their own ounts with the guild, not wanting to carry their money around with them all the time. Doing so would just be asking for them to be robbed. If they happened to need money for anything, they could just visit any guild branch to withdraw from their ount.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After the priest left, he thought about something. There was one other person he wanted to inform. ¡°I wonder if she¡¯s still there.¡± He asked with a bitter smile, opening up another portal. This one led to the twenty-fifthyer, where the world was divided cleanly into two halves to separate thend and sea.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once he made his way to this floor, he was able to blend in with the crowd and make his way towards a tavern. Inside, he saw the sulking figure of a young demon woman. She was hunched over a table, arms sprawled out as if she were napping. Her face was stuck in a constant pout.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra had made such a big name for herself when she started the expedition to find the gate to the twenty-sixth floor. However, with the enhancement to the scout ss released shortly after they got started, a lot of their momentum was lost. Still, she soldiered on and led the charge, eventually guiding a smaller group to find the gate in the end.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, ever since the twenty-sixth floor was unlocked, she had yet to be able to make any achievements for herself. It was only natural, as her abilities were almost perfectly restrained on that floor. The Demigoddess of Shadows could hardly y a leading role in and of eternal light.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He had heard that she could usually be found sulking in this tavern, listening to everyone else¡¯s stories as they came in and out. She never really drank, just listened and wished that she could have been on the front lines herself. He walked over to her table, pulled over a chair and sat down next to her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I swear, if you¡¯re trying to flirt with me, I have ways to make you regret it.¡± Petra said with a half-groan, causing the priest to chuckle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Nothing like that. I just have an interesting piece of information that I thought you¡¯d like to know.¡± He said with a mysterious smile, causing her to nce in his direction. ¡°We¡¯ve reached twenty-seven.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her eyes briefly went wide, before recovering their listless state a momentter. ¡°And? Another light-floor or something? I swear by the Gods, if it¡¯s another light floor¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It was night time when we entered.¡± The priest told her. ¡°I don¡¯t know if it will always be night time, but I can confidently say that light is not this floor¡¯s theme.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Gradually, Petra seemed to recover her energy, taking another moment to look at the priest. ¡°You¡¯re serious¡­ how did you guys already manage to navigate that maze? I thought we¡¯d be stuck there for decades.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We found someone with a pathfinding ability. It was still a long trek, but we finally made it. If you¡¯d like to go visit..?¡± The priest left the offer open, his smile growing just a touch wider.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra immediately shot to her feet, attracting the attention of the rest of the tavern¡¯s guests. ¡°Take me.¡± She said with wide, passionate eyes, causing many of the patrons to nce away as if they had seen something that they shouldn¡¯t have.

 Chapter 719: The World Trembles

    Chapter 719: The World Trembles


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra was ecstatic. For years, she had been unable to take to the front lines of Fyor¡¯s advancement after stumbling to make her name for herself. She could still protect the cities of the twenty-fifth floor, and did so regrly. However, that only had her as one of the many guardians of the cities, not someone leading the charge.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After waiting for so long to finally reveal herself, being left behind as a guardian stole the wind from her sails. Now, to learn that the next floor had been discovered, and that it was not one that would be her nemesis, she wanted nothing more than to simply charge over.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The priest, however, gave a light chuckle. ¡°Let me report this to the church, first. We need to gather as many capable priests as possible so that we can ensure our connection with the new floor remains secure.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra gave a small nod, forcing herself to calm down for the moment. She knew the dangers of not having a solid lifeline to the next gate. Such had been the case in the twenty-fourth floor for some time, as they had to sneak through thend of the Solii in order to find the next gate. The more people that had ess to it as a teleportation point, the more solid their grasp on the floor itself would be.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I can¡¯t believe we¡¯re finally getting to move.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Petra practically squealed into her shadow as she followed the priest out of the tavern and towards a nearby church. Her voice was met with a slight chuckle.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I can¡¯t believe we¡¯re already getting to move.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Thelsa corrected, having felt the same as Petra, though for different reasons. She had personally tried to map the twenty-sixth floor numerous times, but found that there simply was not a strong enough shadow presence to create any kind of a map. Thus, she felt that it would take far too long before any party navigated the massive, three-dimensional maze to find the other gate.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Even after they built their great shell around Gate¡¯s Rest, Thelsa was unable to map beyond the city itself. Now that the path had been opened, she was more than happy to let Petra go have her fun. As the man said, there was darkness present within thisyer, so that meant that their strength would be fully avable.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Oh, by the way, how¡¯s your training going?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Petra asked as they entered the church, referring to Thelsa¡¯stest project. Although Thelsa was not making herself visible in the public eye, she was not one to allow herself to remain idle for too long at a time, and had long since started a new task for herself.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I think that I should be ready soon. I sent an envoy to meet the Keeper¡¯s Servant, so it should not take much longer.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Thelsa¡¯s project was to establish what she referred to as Shadow Rings, versions of themon Fairy Rings that allowed people to move from one world to another. As both Thelsa and Dana possessed the World¡¯s Shadow, they believed that it should be possible for these worlds to connect through a simr method.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If this project was sessful, and they fully managed to replicate the effect of the Fairy Rings, it would do far more than simply open up the gates between their two worlds. The rings were simrly capable of opening paths to new, unknown worlds. With the right materials, they may even be able to open up the shadow worlds of ces like Kione, Sher Dien, or Desbar.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa was curious what would happen if a world¡¯s shadow was opened through the ring, under a circumstance where it had no ¡®master¡¯. For that matter, she was curious what would happen if the wielder of a world¡¯s shadow were to visit another within that dimension. Could they expand their shadow realm in the same way that Thelsa was able to expand through differentyers of Fyor? Or did each have the ability to gain its own shadow king?


    <span style="font-weight:400">She had used her envoy to bring up this matter with Dana, though thetter seemedrgely uninterested. ording to her, she would consider expanding her shadow to others if thoses held strategic significance for her. Otherwise, she would get to it when she got to it. An answer that sadly did not fit in with what Thelsa was hoping for.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Regardless, she knew that she would find the answer to her questions someday. For now, she was the Shadow Saint of Fyor, and nned to uphold the same virtues that earned her that title. If ever there came a time when she was needed, she would assist in secret. Her own name had long since been lost in the annals of history, after all.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now, the only one of her original shadows that still existed was Petra, a gift from the Goddess of Darkness herself. She maintained a good rtionship with those that she had created since the loss of Sora and Maria, but¡­ it was not the same. Perhaps she was just not letting herself get as attached to the newer shadows after what happened to those two, or perhaps it was that the majority of the newer ones were mass produced as opposed to meticulously created.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Either way, this meant that Petra would always hold a special ce for Thelsa. And it was that same fact that made Thelsa even more careful. Now that she knew that the shadows she created would be sacrificed for her if she encountered fatal danger, there was no way that she could let something like that happen to Petra.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Outside the shadow world, the priest had finished discussing with the head of the local church, and had gathered a group of twenty to apany them back to the twenty-seventh floor. ¡°Ready to go?¡± He asked Petra with a knowing smile.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yes, already! Let¡¯s go!¡± Now that everyone was gathered, Petra couldn¡¯t wait even a moment longer, practically bouncing with excitement as the priest chuckled. With a bit of focus, he opened a golden portal, allowing those with him to venture forward. Petra, naturally, lunged into the portal the instant it appeared.


    <span style="font-weight:400">What she saw on the other side was blessed, glorious darkness. Just as he said, it appeared to be night time on this floor, meaning that Petra¡¯s powers would be at their peak. After stepping aside to let the others through, she crouched down to ce her hands on the floor. <i><span style="font-weight:400">You know what to do, Thelsa.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was barely a moment¡¯s dy before Petra felt her shadow expand outwards, connecting with the world that they were on. The long-absent message of another floor being added to their shadow world rang out, and Petra¡¯s eyes gleamed with excitement. <i><span style="font-weight:400">What¡¯s the situation like here?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing Petra¡¯s question, Thelsa went quiet for a considerable time, needing to investigate the floor herself. Just from a nce at the growing map, Petra could tell the difference between this and lower floors. The distance between the floor and ceiling of thisyer was more than double what she had encountered merely two floors below. She could even guess that it would not be many more floors before each one wasrger than Lorek, the biggest currently known to exist.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯ve found something.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Thelsa said in a troubled tone, drawing Petra¡¯s attention.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">What is it? Is this a good something, or a bad something?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Petra¡¯s question was met with her vision being shared with a shadow that had been sent off into the distance. Going by how well-lit the surroundings were, Petra was certain that the shadow was within their shadow world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Standing before it was the crystal for this floor, a massive pir that connected thend with the sky. Unlike the twenty-fifth floor, there were no great mountains that could be seen offering simr bridges, and only this one pir was visible from what she had noticed. However, her face twisted when she saw the pir.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Or more urately, when she saw the giant bundle of vines wrapping around it, forming awork with roots buried into the crystal itself. Within the shadow world, the light of the crystal seemed to dim over time. As light and darkness was inverted in the shadow world, this means that it was starting to slowly build up its glow. However, this was far slower than normal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Typically, the light would burst from the crystal all at once, causing the ceiling of theyer to glow and signal the start of the day. The fact that its glow was so weak, yet gradually building meant that this was <i><span style="font-weight:400">technically</i><span style="font-weight:400"> the day cycle for thisyer. However, the roots of those vines should be extracting the mana from the crystal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The fact that the portal was able to connect meant that the crystal still had enough energy to function, so there was bound to at least be some period of daylight. But, Petra could assume that it would be nowhere near the evenly split day/night cycle of other floors.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Worse still, she could feel a tremor in the air around her, the world itself seeming to be afraid. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯s here¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The familiar voice of Fyor¡¯s world spirit spoke into Petra¡¯s mind. This was the first time that she had ever heard the normally yful spirit sounding so afraid, and she quickly sent her reply back.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">What¡¯s here?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She asked, her eyes sweeping the horizon to look for any potential threats.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">The devourers¡­ the wolves. I know the aura in this world¡­ they¡¯re here</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Recognizing that even the spirit of the world itself seemed to be afraid, Petra cast a nce at the priests, looking at the convoy as well. ¡°Get everyone you need to connected with the portal. After that, get out. As fast as you possibly can.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Why, did you notice something wrong?¡± The knight leading the convoy asked warily, ncing in Petra¡¯s direction. Although she had not been very active in the past, he was well aware of her title as the Demigoddess of Shadows. If she was able to find something wrong with this floor as soon as she stepped in, there was likely to be a major threat that they weren¡¯t seeing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Do you have any druids or shamans with you?¡± She questioned, looking at the group. The knight raised an eyebrow, looking back to his convoy and calling out to them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">One man stepped forward, a dovah with matted fur. He was wearing a deep green robe, and carried a staff in one hand. As he assumed that Petra had identified something wrong with the local natural energy, he attempted to make contact with it himself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The moment he did so, he let out a strangled gasp, falling to his knee with one hand clutching his head. ¡°The world is screaming¡­ there is something here¡­ something <i><span style="font-weight:400">wrong.</i><span style="font-weight:400">¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The knight¡¯s expression twisted at that, shouting out for the others. ¡°Everyone, back through the gate! We¡¯ll regroup on the other side and head to town from there!¡± As soon as he gave the order, he began directing people to the towering ck te, not willing to risk the lives of both their guide and the rest of their group.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">James¡­ call James¡­ only he can kill them.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The spirit whispered to Petra, who shook at the mention of the name. She was definitely familiar with who it belonged to, as there was only one ¡®James¡¯ that she knew of possessing such unique strength. The man that held the castle of Deckan in the sky to protect the throne for the God-Queen.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯ll call him.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Petra promised, knowing that this would be no small matter. Somehow, something existed in this floor that was far beyond the floor¡¯s level of power. Something that not even a typical god would be able to contend against. <i><span style="font-weight:400">For now, try to remove your presence from this floor as much as you can. If this thing has you scared, I don¡¯t want it anywhere near you.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Thank you¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The spirit whispered to her again, before its voice suddenly became faint. Petra was sure that it had followed her advice, and she quickly made her way back to the gate. Anything that could scare the spirit of an entire world was something Petra did not want to encounter. Not yet, at least.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...Okay, what am I seeing?¡± I asked as I saw everyone suddenly retreating from the floor as if their lives depended on it. Nearby, Aurivy furrowed her brow in focus, seeming confused as well.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once she found her answer, her eyes went wide in shock. ¡°Oh no¡­ it¡¯s this ce.¡± She said with a shudder, causing me to look over at her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°More description, less suspense please.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sorry, it¡¯s actually somewhere you¡¯re familiar with.¡± Aurivy said, waving her hand to cause the screen to shift, disying a glowing mound of green stone. This stone appeared to have vines growing out of it, though I was able to tell at a nce what it was.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The fifth elemental floor, the floor of life.¡± Now I could understand what was going on, why the world spirit had reacted in such terror. ¡°Check for a monster known as a Spirit Eater, quick!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy nodded her head, the view zooming out to disy a ttened map of the world. On it, ten green dots appeared, each representing the location of a Spirit Eater. I clenched my fists, knowing just how dangerous their presence here was. Thest Spirit Eater I saw had a level of over four thousand. If I encountered one while using my Keeper powers, I should be able to kill it, but it would be the strongest thing I had ever fought by far.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Without being used to fighting at that level, I couldn¡¯t be sure that I would be able to adapt quickly enough before it managed to get a solid enough hit on me. ¡°We need to get Ryone to seal these stones again, and clean up anything that¡¯se through. Otherwise, they¡¯ll never be able to progress past this floor.¡±

 Chapter 720: Returning The Favor

    Chapter 720: Returning The Favor


    <span style="font-weight:400">It didn¡¯t take long for Ryone to rush into the room, Leowynn having gone to drag her back. When she arrived, and saw the material being disyed on the screen, it did not take much exnation. She quickly closed her eyes, sending a portion of her consciousness to disable the special properties of this ore.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Out of all of the stones connected to the elemental nes, it was the ne of life that was perhaps the most dangerous. If I wasn¡¯t mistaken, those vines wrapped around the mana crystal were leeching its energy, with part of that energy going to keep the connection with those stones wide open. The fact that there were only ten spirit eaters could have simply been because there were no other powerful spirits for them to hunt, and they were thus uninterested in the world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s done.¡± Ryone said with a solemn nod. ¡°I went through and sealed all of the other ones that I could find in thatyer, as well. As long as we can get rid of everything beyond the scope of the floor that hase through, they can proceed as normal.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a relieved sigh when I heard that, grabbing the remote and zooming in on one of the spirit eaters. As I had expected, the wolf was merely lounging against a tree, curled up and napping without a care in the world. Navigating with the remote, I found the ¡®Smite¡¯ option.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately, nothing happened when I clicked the remote. Evidently, the spirit eaters did not count as my ¡®assets¡¯ in the same way that James didn¡¯t. And, since they were not technically part of my assets, I could not simply smite them out of existence. ¡°Let¡¯s see what James has to say about it. If he¡¯s not confident in wiping them out, we¡¯ll have Udona take care of it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Whether or not James was capable, I was at least confident that the Goddess of Life would be able to snuff out their existence. It may cost her a fair amount of divine energy, but that was not something I was exactly worried about mypanions running short on.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">James sat within his researchb, preparing a new device to help him measure the primordial artifact. This was a relic he had never seen in his own world, so even he was having to push the boundaries of his knowledge to find a way and study it. Doing so made him quite happy, as if reminding him that there was always more for a scientist to learn.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, as he worked, he felt a humming from one of his storage devices. Raising a brow, he retrieved a pair of nk cards and held them in his hand. When he first came to this world, he had been asked the spirit of this world for three favors. In return, the world spirit had given him three cards that she could use to contact him and ask for favors of her own.


    <span style="font-weight:400">One of those favors was used when he protected the throne of Deckan, while two remained. Now, another one was being activated, with the figure of the world spirit standing within it. ¡°Something major happened¡­ another queen didn¡¯t die, right?¡± His words caught the attention of his research team, who turned their heads to look, yet he didn¡¯t exin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The world spirit shook her head, transmitting her voice to him. <i><span style="font-weight:400">A disaster has arisen within Fyor that threatens the existence of my sister there. She told me that you were capable of helping.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Your sister¡­ ah, right, her.¡± James nodded his head, recalling the world spirit that he had helped back when he was still traveling. Her youthfulness had reminded him of Chel at the time, and he had taken pity on her situation. ¡°What¡¯s the problem?¡±


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">The predator from the realm of life is living on the most recently explored floor of Fyor.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The spirit said simply, causing James¡¯ eyes to widen in shock. <i><span style="font-weight:400">She said you hunted this beast to aid her. If they are not killed this time, they will cause eternal stagnation within Fyor, preventing them from rising any higher than they have already.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">This request is already being sent to you through another party. However, I also wish to ask it of you, even if it means burning one of my two remaining favors. This is a beast which has tormented my sister. It no longer has a need to remain in this world.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">James offered a small nod, understanding the situation. ¡°I¡¯ll take care of it.¡± He said, storing the remaining favor card away as this one disintegrated in his palm. It had been a while since he fought a truly difficult battle, and he was worried that he might be rusty. Regardless, if these creatures were on the same level as those which he had killed before, there was at least a thousand level difference between them. Not to mention that he had learned about many new energies and techniques since theirst encounter.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Boss?¡± Thea spoke up from nearby. ¡°A call just came in from someone in Fyor, asking for your help with something.¡± The others looked over in surprise, having just heard James agree to take care of another matter.


    <span style="font-weight:400">James simply rose to his feet, vanishing from his position. ¡°Tell them to meet me at Nexus.¡± His voice slowly faded away moments after he disappeared.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When he emerged again, he was standing within Fyor, looking around at the familiarndscape. He hadn¡¯t personallye to Fyor for so long,rgely because it was impossible for him to use the gates that granted passage between each floor. This made travel within this world rather inconvenient for him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Shortly after he appeared, James felt something tugging at him from beneath his feet. Looking down, he could sense a connection with his shadow that hadn¡¯t existed previously. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I don¡¯t mean to rm you.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> His shadow seemed to speak with him. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯s inconvenient to talk openly. With your permission, I¡¯ll bring you into the shadow world.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">James thought about it for a brief moment, before nodding his head. The darkness within his shadow devoured him, with those around him being none the wiser. In their opinion, all that happened was someone using a unique method to teleport in, look around, and then teleport out.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For James, he appeared in a dark replica of the floor he had just been on, with strange patches of light where there should have been shadows. Standing across from him were two girls. One girl was a demonic youth, a ck axe hefted over her shoulder. The other was a mature human woman with ck hair and wearing a flowing robe.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was the human that spoke up. ¡°Thanks for epting my invitation. I was not expecting you to arrive so quickly, but I am thankful that you did.¡± She said with a small smile, earning a nod from James as he looked around.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This is definitely a saint-level power. But¡­ you¡¯ve cut yourself off from the saint¡¯s path.¡± He shook his head regretfully as he sensed that Thelsa possessed the Perfect Self without the Perfect Soul. As she took things out of order, she would not be able to fully pursue that path.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa furrowed her brow, not quite sure what he meant. However, the crisis at hand was far more urgent. ¡°I apologize, sir, but we need to be swift. If the guild sends in an armed presence, they will simply be throwing lives away.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I know what¡¯s going on.¡± James said with a nod. ¡°I can sense dimension-distorting properties with this energy. That will make this easier. Can you take me directly to the affected floor? If you can act as the guide to help me find my targets, that would be even better.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa hesitated a moment, before shaking her head. ¡°I can take you there. However, the World¡¯s Shadow does not have a tracking function like that. The twenty-seventh floor is quiterge, so I would not be able to find its trace without a detailed search.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s fine. I can get someone else to help me with that. As long as you can get me there, it won¡¯t be a problem.¡± James assured her, and Thelsa nodded. With a flex of her will, thendscape around them abruptly shifted. If James was not able to sense the energy around him, he might have thought that they left the shadow world entirely.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thend around them was covered with an evening glow, a stark contrast with the floor that they had just left. Raising a hand, Thelsa created a ck gate before James. Without another word, James simply exited the gate, the glow of light reced by a creeping darkness. ¡°Interesting¡­ I¡¯ll need to ask about that energy another time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once he confirmed his surroundings, James closed his eyes. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Little spirit, are you there? It¡¯s me.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">James¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The voice was distant, as if the world spirit was doing its best to avoid this ce. James simply smiled.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s right. I am here to help, but I need you here to do it. Without you here to attract and guide me towards the monsters, I won¡¯t be able to find them.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Although it sounded cruel, this was the only method James had at his disposal to readily locate the spirit eaters.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">You¡­ want me to be bait for you? </i><span style="font-weight:400">There was a tremble in the spirit¡¯s voice as it processed what he was saying, bing more distant.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s right. Do you trust me to protect you?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> James stood with his arms crossed behind his back as he asked that question. If he could not gain the trust of the spirit, there was little that he could do. Both he and the spirit knew that it could not truly be killed, especially not here. However, the spirit had tasted the pain of destruction time and again at the hands of these monsters, leaving it with a trauma that was not easily healed.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡­ I do. </i><span style="font-weight:400">There was hesitation in her answer, but James found it understandable. Slowly, he felt the energy of the world condensing next to him, taking the form of a halfling girl in full hiking gear. ¡°Can you¡­ can you really protect me?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James simply smiled, nodding his head. ¡°By my dark promise, no harm shall befall you.¡± A wave of ck energy rolled out from James, wrapping around the two of them before slowly settling.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°W-What was that?¡± The spirit asked in concern, seeing a ck mark that had formed on the back of her hand. An identical mark had simrly formed on James¡¯ hand as well.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The power of the Dark Truth, a powerful energy that I discovered in my past life.¡± He exined, eyes scanning the distance. ¡°If I make a ¡®dark promise¡¯, the energy will act to fulfill it. If I promise protection, any damage taken by the protected target will go to me instead. If I promise to perform an action, my energy will be consumed to automatically undertake the action, whether it was killing something or performing manualbor.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her eyes went wide again at that revtion. ¡°You¡­ you will take my damage yourself?¡± She asked, knowing just how powerful the spirit eaters were.


    <span style="font-weight:400">James simply nodded his head, smiling as he felt a distant energy. ¡°That¡¯s right. Though, I don¡¯t n to let you take any damage in the first ce.¡± As he said that, his right eye turned blood red, a beam of light shing into existence to strike at a rapidly approaching spiritual form.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Before the world spirit at his side could cry out, the red beam struck the spiritual form, dissolving it as if it had encountered a wall of potent acid. ¡°The Eye of Ruin.¡± James exined without being prompted this time. ¡°Another energy like the Dark Truth. This one is an energy that resides within my eye, and possesses no other function than the utter destruction of its target. So long as I understand the nature of my target, I can destroy it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The world spirit watched as the body of the spirit eater that hade to consume her dissolved in midair, not even having the chance tond. ¡°Is that the only one?¡± She heard James ask, before quickly shaking her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°N-No¡­ there are nine more. And a lot of other monsters that snuck in from that ce. Most are okay, but¡­ there are three that I think need to be destroyed for this floor to operate.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, let¡¯s get going, then.¡± James said as he lifted off the ground, carrying the world spirit with his power and soaring off into the distance.

 Chapter 721: The Jaws Of Victory

    Chapter 721: The Jaws Of Victory


    <span style="font-weight:400">The world spirit of Fyor flew along with James as he toured the twenty-seventhyer, still feeling a sense of unknown dread. However, this dread was not for her own safety, but rather for that of James. He had promised to take on any damage that urred to her, but what exactly did that mean?


    <span style="font-weight:400">If an ant had only a single hit point, but an elephant took its damage, would the elephant lose only a single point of health, equivalent to a tiny prick of its skin? Or, because the ant was about to be crushed, would the elephant find itself the one doomed to suffer that fate? The ability that James used sounded far too vague for her liking, and she kept feeling as if she were about to cause him terrible harm.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two of them flew on for roughly ten minutes before the next stream of light shed over. Just as before, James easily dispatched it with the Eye of Ruin long before it was capable of approaching the two of them. The world spirit could sense that the spirit eaters were agitated by the deaths of their kin, starting to group together.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At the same time, an unknown creature was moving along the same path. Although the world spirit had not directly encountered this creature before herself, she could sense an ominous power radiating from it. Fear gripped at the heart of the spirit, but it was toote to back out now. Without James, only perhaps the Keeper and his gods could stand any chance.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Roughly three hourster, the remaining eight spirit eaters had all begun moving together, along with one of the three dangerous existences that she knew about. These nine figures moved as a single pack, shing across space to reach their destination in a stream of spiritual light.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°All at once? That¡¯s convenient.¡± James said as he saw the nine lights soaring towards him. Although the Eye of Ruin required a substantial amount of energy to use, energy was one thing that James had in abundance. His eye shed again, this time releasing a cone of red light thatpletely enveloped the approaching figures.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Pitiful howls sounded out as the wolves dissolved, before the world spirit gasped. They all looked the same, but what he said of the eye¡­ ¡°Be careful, one of them--!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Before she could finish her warning, a green sh moved past James and the spirit. She could feel somethinge into contact with her body for a brief moment, before a grunt sounded out next to her. Looking to her side, she saw that James was missing one of his arms, a gaseous mist leaking out from it. That arm was the same one that she felt the creature touch on her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Damn, I got a bitcent there.¡± James grit his teeth, quickly reforming his arm and turning around. The creature nearby, one which had previously been disguising as a spirit eater, slowly revealed its true form as his arm hung limply in its mouth.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The creature¡¯s true form was also simr to that of a spirit eater, only that its body was a far deeper green, its eyes blood red. As its teeth sank into James¡¯ arm, it seemed to dissolve, the energy entering into its body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, this is going to suck.¡± James grimaced, feeling the powerful energy from the creature. It was already several hundred levels higher than a normal spirit eater even before it ate the energy within his arm. Now, it wouldn¡¯t be an exaggeration to say that its power was approaching James himself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°A-Are you able to beat it?¡± The world spirit asked, moving half a step back, though the eyes of the monster turned to lock onto her from that small movement.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Normally, I might not know. But, with you here¡­ I think I¡¯ve got an idea.¡± James said with a smile, nodding his head. ¡°Just stay back and wait for my signal. When I tell you its time, I want you to use all of the natural energy here to attack it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The spirit went wide-eyed at that, knowing that such an attack would likely not be able to kill a monster at this level. Regardless, this was James. She had already seen him use numerous iprehensible abilities during her time knowing him, so she found herself subconsciously nodding her head. ¡°Okay¡­ I¡¯ll do it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James smiled, moving to stand in front of her as she retreated. ¡°Then, I guess I better go all-out.¡± Normally, James would have preferred using the Eye of Ruin again to simply erase this monster. However, doing so required an in-depth understanding of a creature¡¯s bodily structure and energyposition. He met these requirements with the spirit eaters due to having been able to study them when he was originally in the elemental ne of life.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This new breed, however, clearly did not share the same structure. He didn¡¯t know if it was a mutation, or a higher form of the species. Either way, he would need to take time to study it with his detection energy in order to determine its makeup. When there was not a clear difference in their abilities, such a thing was far too dangerous to perform in the midst of battle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Instead, James focused, gathering the energy to his body that he typically hid in a separate avatar. Thest time he did this, he had created a titanic body to block the pce of Deckan. This time, however, arger body would not aid him as much. So instead, he created armor and weapons that equipped themselves onto his body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This armor seemed to cover him almost entirely, but appeared a bit thinner on his arms, particrly the right one. The spirit didn¡¯t know if this was to allow greater maneuverability, or if he had simply run out of energy to use. After all, it was his left arm that was eaten, so that shouldn¡¯t be the issue.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Afterwards, a long sword appeared in James¡¯ hand, stretching out over a meter to his side. ¡°As they say, puppy,e at me!¡± His energy soared, condensing along his de as he shed. A white line was drawn through the air, splitting apart space as it passed through the position the monster had been in. It lunged out of the way in just barely enough time, growling low at James and pouncing at him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">James simply gave a battle-crazed grin beneath his armored helmet. ¡°One Light, the embodiment of virtue as an attacking force. All actions shall be met with a counter-force, which is stronger based on the strength of the user¡¯s karma.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">By the time the exnation had ended, a second white line had streaked back from the severed space, shing back to his sword. Along the way, it clipped one of the monster¡¯s legs, severing it from its body and alerting it to the danger. From the world spirit¡¯s perspective, it looked as if time had simply rewound itself after James performed his strike, the de of lighting and going in one fluid motion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You took an arm from me, so I¡¯d say we¡¯re even now.¡± James gloated even as he watched the wolf-like creature regenerate its hind leg. He sent out three shes in rapid session this time, each one releasing a white line of light from his de.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The spiritual wolf had obviously learned from itsst attack, and leapt far to the side of where James attacked. Even if the shes were to return along the same trajectory, they would not hit it. James simrly jumped to the side, holding his sword out in front of him. Sure enough, three de lights did sh back, but not along the same path that they had beenunched.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Instead, the lights appeared to be maized to his sword, taking a direct route back to it. When the creature saw this, it once again dodged in a hurry. This time, its face clearly disyed its anger, its red eyes releasing burning light. ¡°Ooh, did I make puppy mad? What¡¯re you gonna do, rip my other arm off?¡± James taunted.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The creature lifted its head and howled, a ripple visible in the air as the surrounding natural energy mobilized. Light returned to this darkenedyer as orbs of me formed in the sky, spiralling wind visible beneath each one. The fire fell, creating ming tornadoes that filled the battlefield.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So you¡¯re basically a glorified druid? I thought you¡¯d be more interesting than that!¡± James said as he lifted his sword above his head, grasping it with both hands. ¡°Behold the power¡­ of two hands!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As James shed down with his sword, an iparably wide beam of lightshed out, obliterating the tornadoes directly in front of him. It was unknown at first if the wolf was hit, as the beam continued to soar off into the distance. Once the attack was finished, James nced towards his right with a knowing grin, turning to aim his sword in that direction.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, before the beam of light could finish traveling back to his sword, another streak passed by him. The world spirit didn¡¯t know why James hadn¡¯t reacted in time, but it had managed to bite off his right arm, just as he had taunted. The sword simrly vanished from James¡¯ grasp, both of them devoured by the wolf moments after it stopped sprinting.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With the reinforcement of even more of James¡¯ power, the ming tornadoes be stronger and stronger, their red mes turning blue, and then a brilliant white. ming shes of wind flew out from each and began to ravage the area as James shouted. ¡°Now!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Eyes going wide, the world spirit quickly mobilized the surrounding natural energy. Had James known that the wolf would create such powerful natural effects for her to take over? If so, she had to apud his foresight. Yet, as she reached to wrest control of those forces away from the spirit wolf, she found that her power was not strong enough. The opponent came from a far deeper level of Fyor, one where the natural energy itself was of a higher level than she could presently master.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, her attempt did not go unnoticed. The spirit wolf growled at her, its figure shing in her direction. Time seemed to slow down as she watched it charge her. Clearly, it had decided that she was too annoying to allow to interfere with their battle, and had decided to directly kill and devour her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">James was too far away, he couldn¡¯t reach her. The moment she was struck, he would be killed by the effects of his promise. Tears welled in the spirit¡¯s eyes as she considered self-destructing to prevent the danger from transferring to him, but would that even work? Would that be transferred as well?


    <span style="font-weight:400">The wolf¡¯s paw rose up as it neared her smaller body, crashing down towards her head. She closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable feeling of being pulverized. She could feel its paw touching her head for a brief instant, and then¡­ nothing. Was that it? Had she been killed so quickly that she wasn¡¯t even able to register the pain?


    <span style="font-weight:400">She opened her eyes, finding that she still had eyes, and saw a green cloud silently dispersing in front of her. The terrifying wolf from before was nowhere to be found, and James walked over with a dry chuckle. ¡°That¡¯s mine, so I¡¯ll be taking it back now.¡± He said as he held his hand out towards the cloud of energy, some of it streaking back towards his body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What? But? How..?¡± The world spirit was confused, not sure how James had managed to destroy the monster in the very instant that it had attacked her. James simply grinned, reaching down to pat her on the head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you? I couldn¡¯t have done that so easily without you here. Of course, I had to get it to eat the right arm first.¡± He said as he gestured towards his right hand, where she could see the mark of the dark promise had vanished.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You mean..?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">He nodded. ¡°When it devoured my arm, it also took in the brand of the promise on my hand. I just had to make sure to keep all of its attention on me long enough to feed it my arm before transferring the aggro over to you. That way, we could just let it kill itself. Convenient, right?¡± He asked with a mischievous grin as the armor over his body faded away.

 Chapter 722: Promise Fulfilled

    Chapter 722: Promise Fulfilled


    <span style="font-weight:400">The world spirit stared in shock as she processed James¡¯ words. Clearly, he considered that she was in no real danger, as the wolf would only turn its attention towards her ording to his battle n after it had consumed the ¡®curse¡¯ on his arm. However, there seemed to be some problems with that logic.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What would you have done if the energy wasn¡¯t transferred?¡± She asked with teary eyes. ¡°You saw what it did, it just ate your arm, right? What if it had broken your promise?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James shook his head with that same smile. ¡°I knew that wouldn¡¯t happen. When it ate my arm the first time, I could sense that the energy was still there, and in the same form as it was when I had it. It had merely taken the energy to reinforce itself. If it ate mana, it would use that mana to enhance its own.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As long as that was the case, it was practically impossible for the mark of the promise to not be transferred, so long as the creature itself did ot know to avoid devouring it. Thankfully, although it was considerably smarter than your standard beast, it can¡¯tprehend saint-level energies in a short period.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°But¡­ it knew how to avoid your eye.¡± She remarked,menting on how it had hidden among the other wolves in order to avoid being assaulted by the Eye of Ruin. To this, James simply let out a small chuckle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I said in a short period. If my guess is right, it had a sort of mental link with the other spirit eaters here. After seeing me use the Eye of Ruin against two of them, it noticed that the only things destroyed were the spirit eaters themselves, and not any of the surrounding energies or nts. That was enough for it to know that the eye was highly selective in its destruction.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°With that knowledge, it hid among its spirit eaters and charged together to test its deduction, a hunter taking a daring gamble by cing itself in its own trap.¡± James shook his head as he came to that point. ¡°I thought that they had simply produced another one while we were hunting. A lot of species of spiritual creatures are able to reproduce like that. Anyways, since the only thing it knew about was the Eye of Ruin, I could make use of my promise to kill it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The spirit continued to stare at him for several long moments, before suddenly iling her arms, beating them in vain against his chest. James simply smiled at that, letting her get it out of her system. ¡°I knew it couldn¡¯t hurt you, or I would have never ced you in that kind of situation.¡± He said in a gentle tone, eventually calming the spirit.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Still¡­ please don¡¯t do that again.¡± She muttered under her breath. ¡°Any of it¡­ No more promise or anything like that. If it hadn¡¯t gone for my arm in that first sh, and went for my heart instead¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">She left the rest unsaid, but James knew what she meant. If the spirit eater had gone for an immediate fatal blow against the target of its hunt, he would have been the one killed. It was hard to tell if the beast had aimed for her arm to torture her, or if the light of the Eye of Ruin had disoriented it enough to make it lose its initial target. Either way, the results would have been irreversible if it had struck a truly fatal blow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thinking about that part, James offered a small nod. ¡°If you want to go back, and just tell me where the other two are staying, I can go and get rid of them on my own.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">She shook her head at the offer. ¡°No, I¡¯ll go with you. But this time¡­ just protect me normally, okay? If it¡¯s too much, we can ask for help from the Keeper.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James thought about it for a moment, before asking. ¡°How strong are thest twopared to the one we just fought?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The world spirit thought it over for a long moment, possibly sensing their presences herself. ¡°They¡¯re¡­ about the same, I suppose? Neither of them feel overwhelmingly stronger than the wolf, at least.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Then I don¡¯t really need to worry.¡± James smiled, shaking his head. ¡°As long as I¡¯m properly prepared for a fight, I won¡¯t lose to creatures like that. Speaking of¡­ do you have any information on them, or where they are right now?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The spirit shook her head at the first part, before blinking. ¡°One of them is¡­ a hundred and seventeen thousand kilometers south by southwest, sleeping in an overgrown bush. The other is sleeping at the base of thisyer¡¯s spire, absorbing some of the ambient mana. It¡¯s fifty-thousand kilometers east, if that helps.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It does.¡± James nodded his head, before closing his eyes. His energy spread out, first going to the closer of the two creatures located to the east. Detecting the spire was an incredibly easy task, and so he was soon able to find the giant bird nesting at its base.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This bird seemed to beposed entirely of nt matter, looking like how one would expect a monster to appear within a sylvan¡¯s forest. Its eyes remained closed, and it never seemed to detect the energy that James was using to observe it, even as he scanned through its energyposition.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Afterwards, he did the same thing once again, this time targeting the bear-like monster sleeping in the bushes far to the south. Although this distance was enough to wrap around somes several times over, it was hardly a significant distance within theyer that they were currently on. Only once he had fully scanned through and memorized the structures of both monsters did he pull his energy back.


    <span style="font-weight:400">To the spirit, it appeared as if James had closed his eyes and sank into thought for several long minutes. She could tell that the two monsters had remained sleeping, but her eyes still scanned the horizon nervously. Once he opened his eyes, James had a confident smile. ¡°There. Now that I¡¯ve scanned them, the Eye of Ruin won¡¯t have any problems.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">In order to ay her fears, James used the most foolproof method of ensuring that the monsters would pose no threat to either of them. In fact, it wouldn¡¯t be hard for him to simply teleport to their location and kill them right now, but he did not want to look down on the bravery that the spirit had shown ining this far.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Let¡¯s go. They are both diurnal, so they won¡¯t be active until the crystal fully lights up.¡± He said as he carried her into the sky once again. In honesty, he had sensed many other monsters within thisyer than just the two of them while his energy swept past. However, all of those monsters were within the rtive scope of power for this floor, or only slightly stronger. It was only these two that drastically surpassed the scope of power allowed in this area.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Why are they here, then?¡± The spirit asked in confusion, looking at James as the world sped by below them. The researcher merely shrugged, not having the full answer.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Maybe they came through by ident, and haven¡¯t found their way back yet. Maybe they are treating this as a hibernation paradise, where they can sleep for long periods without worrying about any form of natural predators. Either way, I can¡¯t predict what will happen when they wake up in a couple hours.¡± James had already pushed far beyond the speed of sound, his energy serving to dampen the shockwaves of the wind brushing against them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When he had scanned over the bird, he had also managed to roughly grasp the situation with this floor¡¯s day and night cycle. Due to the excessive vines draining the mana from the crystal, the night periodsted a full twenty-two hours, after which there would be a brief two hour period of twilight. At a nce, the mana was being fed through an undergroundwork of roots that ran throughout the surface of the floor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This mana was then fed directly to the nts as nourishment, allowing them to grow excessively even without the need for the artificial sunlight provided by the crystal. This also served as a catalyst to turn roughly one percent of the vegetation within thisyer into ferocious monsters. In the back of his mind, James even considered telling the sylvans about this ce, and letting them establish a grove of their own to act as the caretakers of this massive forest.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Having scanned the two creatures with his sensory energy, James had no problems in dispatching them the moment that he reached their vicinity. The only thing that the spirit noticed was that the light in his eye seemed somewhat faded after using it thest time, no doubt a sign that he had used the energy to its limits for the time being. Seeing that, she felt a brief pang of guilt, shaking her head. ¡°Thank you again.¡± She said with a small smile, to which James shook his head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s no problem, really.¡± He smiled warmly, patting her on the head. ¡°Let me know if you find any more monsters that you can¡¯t handle. It¡¯s been a long time since I got out of the office.¡± The spirit nodded to him, but he spoke up again. ¡°Uhm, by the way, could you call the shadow user back? I can¡¯t return without proper dimensional coordinates, and I don¡¯t want to run the risk of appearing in the void after all this.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her eyes went wide, and she quickly nodded her head. ¡°Sure.¡± She quickly contacted Petra, letting her know that the job was done, and that the floor was as safe as it was going to get.


    <span style="font-weight:400">James smiled again as he was pulled into his shadow, seeing the two girls he had met once before. Naturally, they both thanked him just like the spirit did before sending him on his way. Soon, he was lining up at the Fairy Ring to go back home, only using a short distance teleport after he had arrived.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The first thing he saw when he returned was Chel sitting at his desk, patiently waiting for him. She jumped to her feet with a happy expression, starting to run over towards him. ¡°So? How¡¯d it go? Meet any--¡± Her words cut off as she saw his face, her eyes going wide for a brief moment.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± He asked with his usual cocky grin, though Chel only walked over and gently held his hand. She stared up into his eyes, gripping his palm hard enough that it actually hurt, though he didn¡¯t let it show on his face.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You used up that much?¡± She asked quietly, and he knew that he had been found out. He only offered a soft nod in response. ¡°Was it¡­ was it really necessary to do that?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If I¡¯m not wrong, there were around three creatures near level five thousand.¡± He answered in an equally soft voice, doing his best not to alert the other assistants.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel¡¯s grip tightened slightly more, but he still didn¡¯t let the pain show as she guided him over to his chair. ¡°You¡¯re barely holding your body together. Can you even see right now?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m using my energy to directly interpret the area in front of me, and any sounds entering the area. I¡¯ll be good as new in a few days, don¡¯t worry.¡± In truth, the battle had been far from as easy as he made it look to the spirit.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In order to utilize the Eye of Ruin, an energy equal to half of the target¡¯s own energy had to be expended. When youbine the powers of ten spirit eaters, as well as two of the monsters at nearly his own level, the consumption was enough that it had almost made him copse. In order to hold his body together in a way that wouldn¡¯t worry the spirit or those around him, he had shut off most of his senses.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was why he could not simply teleport back to hisb, despite being more familiar with the location¡¯s dimensional coordinates than anywhere else in existence, and why he had rushed out of Fyor without staying around long enough to chat. The use of internar teleportation would have forced him to reduce his body size, creating a visible difference that would alert others.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, his sensory energy had ample reserves, so he was able to use that to rece his normal senses for quite some time. Ciel nodded her head, gently biting her lip. ¡°Goy down for a while.¡± She said in a louder tone, allowing herself to be heard by the rest of the staff. ¡°You¡¯ve been overworking yourself for days, and nobody will begrudge you a vacation.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James had a bitter smile on his face as he nodded. ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am.¡± He chuckled, before beginning to move towards the hallway once again. Thankfully, his quarters were located within the same facility, so it would not take him very long to get there even without the use of supernatural means of travel.

 Chapter 723: Sorcerer

    Chapter 723: Sorcerer


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod as I watched James returning to his quarters. As he was not technically part of my assets, I was unable to find any detailed information regarding his avable energy. However, I had noticed several inconsistencies in how he had acted on his return trip. If it were the normal James, he would have simply teleported back without waiting for anyone to send him. He would never simply wait in line at the Fairy Ring.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Due to this, I watched him with my menu at the ready to descend and fight a desperate battle, if it turned out to be necessary. If he had been possessed by some form of void entity, it would be toote to do anything about it if a powerful void monster was able to take him straight to the heart of one of my worlds.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, it didn¡¯t appear that it was anything like that. With Fyor¡¯s problem taken care of, I was able to remove one impending catastrophe from my list. All that was really left that was urgently dangerous was the shark wave. Until Leowynn¡¯s priests were able to ascend and be fallen gods, she would be our only preventative measure there.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As always, though, I was an advocate for allowing mortals to solve their problems on their own, if at all possible. I set an rm for this wave incident, setting it to automatically pause the world if there is ever an ¡®infected¡¯ waverge enough to cause serious damage to a local poption. Hopefully, the fallen gods would be ready to act before that rm was triggered.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°By the way¡­¡± I spoke up suddenly, looking around. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve heard about any void creatures appearing in Fyor. Have any of you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn, Ryone, and the others in the living room all paused briefly. There were minor void creatures starting to appear everywhere, with most of them no more than minor nuisances. I couldn¡¯t say whether it was because the wall of the world was weakening, or if we had just grown strong enough that we had started to attract their attention. However, I hadn¡¯t heard of anything about such incidents in Fyor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Anything happening there could simply be exined as the results of a mana siphon. Now that void incidents are bing more and moremon, I had to raise this question. ¡°Now that you think about it¡­ you¡¯re right.¡± Leowynn nodded her head. ¡°None of the explored floors of Fyor have any void connections that I can detect.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What about its outer shell?¡± I looked towards Leowynn, knowing that she was the best one to ask about this. Leowynn simply gave a wry smile


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The outer shell of Fyor is¡­ a bit special. It¡¯s about one and a half billion times the size of the shells for worlds like Deckan and Earth. Earth¡¯s shell, depending on the surrounding nature of the void, can look anywhere from the size of a person to the size of a small city. Fyor¡¯s, at its smallest, is over twice as wide as the Earth in the main dimension. Scanning all of that for void links is¡­ challenging. Even for me.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes widened briefly as she gave me the numbers. I knew that the size of the dimensions within the void were not representative of a direct scale, but for the difference to still be that big¡­ ¡°If the size of the shell indicates its strength, like James theorized with the void energy devices he made before, then it¡¯s no wonder that there haven¡¯t been any incursions in Fyor.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I think you¡¯re forgetting something.¡± alia suddenly spoke up, blinking in realization. ¡°The barrier betweenyers ispletely impassable, a setting created by the system itself. I bet that it stops void links, too.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I shook my head, denying that im. ¡°If that were true, you couldn¡¯t use dimensional travel to avoid using the gates, as that is also a type of void link.¡± While James had quite an immense level of power, I doubted that he would be able to casually cast a teleportation spell that could break the power of the system. Simrly, though¡­ he wouldn¡¯t have been able to use such a spell that cost one and a half billion times normal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°My guess is¡­ whatever lives on the uppermost floors is stopping the void entities from interfering. At that level, whatever it is could be powerful enough to scare away the void monsters with their presence. Maybe even something that could ignore their normal forms of immortality.¡± While that would be a worrying thought if it were true, it was the only answer that I coulde up with for Fyor beingpletely free of void interference.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Back to James, though¡­¡± I shook my head, breaking away from the subject of Fyor. ¡°I¡¯d like to give him the Frost and Lightning artifacts from Lorek to study. However, before that, I want them to be brought to an empty, harmless location in space to ensure that changing from one set ofws to another won¡¯t trigger any sort of cataclysmic event. Anyone opposed?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The others shook their heads, and I looked at Aurivy. She smiled, her eyes shing gold. ¡°Frost has been moved to a deep part of space without any monster presence on Earth. No major disasters that I can sense¡­ moving it onto an uninhabited world.¡± After she said that, she suddenly winced.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That wince was all it took for me to realize that something had gone wrong. ¡°Did it explode?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not¡­ quite.¡± She shook her head. ¡°It instantly transformed the I moved it to into a block of ice. Like, I¡¯m talking about sh freeze on a global scale.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a small sigh, nodding. ¡°Okay, return it to where it was. Lightning probably won¡¯t turn out any better. The systems of Lorek are either causing the artifacts to be far stronger, or they are radiating their powers outwards in a simr manner to the stars of that realm.¡± That said, I did want to find another one of those artifacts. It felt like we should offer James <i><span style="font-weight:400">some </i><span style="font-weight:400">kind of reward for putting himself on the line like that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thinking about that, I turned my attention towards one of my older achievements, an effect that was only usable once per month. The Sorcerer title, able to provide me insight into a magical problem that is within the scope of my power. To date, I had only used it once, and that was to get the temte forbining my three different types of magic at the time. Sadly, thebination proved to be too costly to constructpared to the benefits it gave. However, this was a title rewarded for creating a new basic magic system, which was itself a huge achievement. Certainly, it should be capable of far more than I had used it for.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Focusing on the title, I posited my question. <i><span style="font-weight:400">How can I use magic to detect these primordial relics over extreme distances?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I made sure to focus on those crystals which contained inherent divinity when I asked this question, not wanting the system to misinterpret and think I meant something entirely unrted.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Just as with the first time I used this title, images began rapidly shing by in my mind, showing various types of spell diagrams. I was able to infer that these were detection-type spells of varying degrees, though the images never settled on one long enough for me to properly study it. Next, it moved on to show a series of monsters charging through space, as they were able to sense the existence of these relics with only their instincts.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Finally, the images shattered, and something new appeared. It was a three-dimensional diagram indicative of fourth-tier magic, but it was far moreplicated than anything I had personally studied. Regardless, I knew the magic by heart, and couldn¡¯t forget it even if I wanted to. It was like a song that had gotten stuck in my head, reying itself over and over until it was ingrained in my memory.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small wince as I felt the spell diagram taking hold within my mind. However, it was not the only one. There was a second spell forming at the same time. This one was different, formed from the arrays of Lorek and Spica. Just as with the first spell, it was perfectly recorded in my mind, saving the details for all materials required to form the array itself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ryone looked over at me, a small glint in her eye. ¡°You just did a magic thing. I can tell. It¡¯s my job. What did you do?¡± Her voice gradually became more and more excited as she asked those questions, until she was leaning forward with wide eyes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A small chuckle escaped my lips. ¡°I used the Sorcerer title again, this time to make a spell that can detect objects like those relics and seek them out. I¡¯ll meet you in your magic basement to show you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ryone had vanished before I even finished speaking, causing me to blink and stare at the empty space. From beside me, Aurivy gave a littleugh, pping my arm. ¡°Well, get going mister. You don¡¯t want to keep a woman waiting.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I coughed dryly, slowly standing up and transporting myself to Ryone¡¯s magic research basement. It had been a long time since I was here. Myst memory of it was when third tier magic was first discovered


    <span style="font-weight:400">The floor was no longer a mess of carved scribbles from trying to understand basic formations. Instead, there was a long row of bookshelves along three of the four walls, with a vast empty space between them. Ryone was standing in the middle of this space, eyes shining as she watched me. ¡°Show me!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Rolling my eyes yfully, I gave a small nod and waved my hand, creating the geometric form of the spell that had formed in my mind. ¡°This is the form that it gave me for Earth¡¯s system. It creates a pseudo-sentient living spell bound within a starmap. The entity within the star map will attempt to fly to points where the artifacts are stored, like how a monster seeks them out. Only, its detection range seems quite a bit bigger.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What happens if the entity finds it?¡± Ryone asked, carefully studying the spell as she walked around it. I could see her eyes scanning over every line and curve,mitting the entire structure to memory one piece at a time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It can¡¯t. Since it¡¯s bound to the star map, it will just circle the appropriate location.¡± I exined with a smile, describing the effects of the spell. ¡°Casting the spell again will create another entity within the same star map, which will track down a different relic.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ryone nodded her head, before seeming to arrive at the main problem with this spell. ¡°What is its mana consumption¡­?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a dry chuckle, scratching the back of my head. ¡°About half a million for the initial cast, and then one hundred thousand every day. The Lorek variant only works for a god, and is considerably cheaper, but also only works in that world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Half a million was arge amount. Perhaps only the specialized Maxers of Fyor could afford such an expenditure without relying on additional resources, and even then it would be close. For me, I could easily maintain the spell with my Keeper stats. However, there wasn¡¯t much that I wouldn¡¯t be able to maintain if I used those stats.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ryone winced when she heard the cost, before seeming to think it over. ¡°Half a million, huh?¡± I could see the gears working in her mind, and knew that she hade up with a n.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Mind sharing with the rest of the ss?¡± I asked with a raised brow, earning a small grin from my Goddess of Magic¡­ also the Goddess of Merchants, as I was being reminded.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°One of my tokens can be redeemed for one thousand mana. One of <i><span style="font-weight:400">Terra¡¯s</i><span style="font-weight:400"> tokens, ording to the exchange, is redeemable for five hundred and twelve of mine. So, if someone were to redeem one of Terra¡¯s tokens through the exchange rate, they would be able to afford to cast this spell. Of course, they¡¯d have toe up with either another hundred tokens of mine every day, or the hundred thousand themselves to keep it going.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ahh¡­¡± I nodded in understanding. ¡°Though, that said, I don¡¯t really want to put this spell on the boundless caravan. It would quickly turn into a treasure hunt, where the rich parties would spend more money just to easily break through to godhood. I¡¯d rather have this spell in the hands of people we trust.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ryoe gave a small nod at that. ¡°Then, do you have a solution for the mana cost?¡± It was likely that James would be able to afford it when he was at his peak, but that wouldn¡¯t be for quite a while. It was true that people could typically recover their energy to full after a day¡¯s rest, but that was under the circumstances where they consumed a meal of a fitting level.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There will naturally be no meal served within my worlds for anyone at James¡¯s level, so he will be forced to recover far more slowly, lest he find a high-density source of energy to consume. That said¡­ ¡°I can probably take care of it. What¡¯s the best mana battery we have?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ryone¡¯s eyes turned yful as she heard my question, clearly understanding where I was going with this.

 Chapter 724: The Traveler

    Chapter 724: The Traveler


    <span style="font-weight:400">With James bedridden to recover from the massive expenditure of energy, and taking his first ¡®sick day¡¯ since he started working, Chel let out a small sigh. The atmosphere of the researchb seemed almost empty without James present. Although she knew that he would be back before too long, it didn¡¯t help that feeling of loss.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is the boss alright?¡± Treisha asked as she walked over, looking down at Chel. Everyone present knew that Chel was perhaps the most important person in the world to James, so she was the one who knew him best.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel put on a small smile, nodding her head. ¡°He¡¯ll be fine. He just overworked himself, like always. You should have seen him in the old days, back when he was just a normal man. He¡¯d go days without eating or sleeping if I didn¡¯t p some sense into him. Once he¡¯s gotten enough rest, he¡¯ll be back on his feet and in theb, whether we want him here or not.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Treisha let out a small sigh of relief at that, before asking the very question that Chel was hoping to avoid. ¡°Do you know how long that will take?¡± The research hadn¡¯t hit a critical point yet, but James was always the brightest mind in the room. Without him, things would slow down substantially.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡­ don¡¯t.¡± Chel had to answer honestly, knowing that making up arbitrary estimates wouldn¡¯t help anyone. ¡°It could be a day or two, or up to a year. It all depends on how quickly he¡¯s able to regain his information.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, if that¡¯s the case¡­¡± A voice spoke up from behind Treisha, causing her and the rest of the research assistants to turn around with their bodies tense, seeing Ryone standing in the center of theb with a knowing grin. ¡°Why don¡¯t you get him something nice for when he wakes up?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel looked at the goddess, having a rather good idea for her personality. After all, both of them were residents of the Admin Room. ¡°What did you have in mind?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s actually not from me.¡± Ryone shook her head, before manifesting a crystal sphere roughly twenty centimeters wide in her hands. ¡°The Keeper prepared this. It¡¯s something that will help you find more primordial relics like the one in your¡­ possession.¡± She cast a knowing grin towards Treisha as she said that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It costs half a million mana to activate the spell within this crystal, and one hundred thousand every day to maintain each instance.¡± Ryone walked over to Chel¡¯s desk, cing the crystal sphere atop it. ¡°The Keeper imbued six million mana into a battery cluster that I¡¯ve linked with this crystal, and used that to activate three instances of the spell. Counting the item in your possession, this crystal will seek out a total of three primordial relics, functioning as a star map to their location.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel quickly ran the numbers in her head. ¡°One-point-five million for the initial cast, and three hundred thousand a day¡­ that means that we have fifteen days to find and retrieve these two relics?¡± She prompted, with Ryone nodding her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course, you can use your own mana to keep the item active longer, if you want.¡± The goddess said with a small smile. ¡°But, I¡¯d say that two weeks should be plenty for the few of you here to get the job done. And just think, what will James say when hees back and finds two new artifacts waiting for him?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel gave a bitter grin, nodding her head. ¡°He¡¯d ask why we didn¡¯t drag him back here sooner. Thanks, Ryone. And pass along my thanks to the Keeper as well.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ryone giggled lightly at that. ¡°There¡¯s no need for thanks. This is all something that he wanted to do to reward James. Just make sure that this sphere doesn¡¯tnd in the wrong hands. It¡¯s the only one of its kind, with only the Keeper and myself knowing the spell to create another one.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel¡¯s face grew firm, offering a serious nod. ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind.¡± The warning from the goddess had a very clear meaning. They were not the only ones looking for these relics, a fact which Chel had already been made aware of. Previously, it was the ninja elder who had tried to get his hands on the relic, but Thea and Nora refused his requests. Lately, there had been other people asking over variousworks for information on this and simr objects.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If they wanted to find these relics, they would have to do so without alerting any of these various forces. And that meant that they would have to prepare. With Ryone vanishing after giving Chel a meaningful smile, the small kitsune turned to look at the others. ¡°Thea, Nora, get your things together. Three-Fifty, you remain behind with Treisha and Syris. I want you to increase security, and make sure that the anti-stealth fields are constantly active.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Long ago, Chel had given Thea the recipe for a stealth energy that was rtively easy to train in, knowing that Thea would feed that energy back to her people. Naturally, she would not have done this if she did not have a way to counter that energy herself, and soon afterwards she established an anti-stealth field the surrounded theb. ¡°What do you want us to do?¡± The lycan assistant asked as his name was called.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel simply smiled. ¡°You¡¯ve got to keep theb running while we¡¯re gone. Until we¡¯re back, operate under ckout protocols. Everyone sleeps on-site, and nobody leaves theplex for any reason. Every five days, release the blueprints for one of our tools as a research paper. This will give the appearance that we¡¯re still all actively working and producing results.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And¡­ what are we going to do?¡± Nora asked, looking at herself and her sister, Chel¡¯s smile growing into a full grin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m going to pout at one of the most powerful beings in the universe, and bring you with me.¡± Chel admitted her n shamelessly, before sitting back down at her desk and closing her eyes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Are you¡­ praying?¡± Thea asked, though Chel shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, a normal prayer won¡¯t get their attention. I have other methods to contact them, but¡­ this is more fun. Plus, I can¡¯t take you two along with the other method.¡± As she said that, a hundred dots of light spread from her body in numerous colors, seeming to revolve around her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ve been plotting the course of Sanctum throughout the universe ever since it was created. Given that the defies gravitational pulls and moves faster than the speed of light, this was¡­ easier said than done. Currently, ording to my calctions, it is in a neighboring gxy, on a return path towards this one.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">While she spoke, the dots of light around her body began to group up, slowly merging into each other to berger and unstable. Only her will seemed to keep the energies from violently erupting. ¡°If I had the exact coordinates, I could just open a gate and be done with it. But thanks to the speed of the and its uniquews, it would destroy a normal gate as soon as it was created.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, I¡¯ve gotta get creative!¡± Chel¡¯s eyes opened, beginning to glow as the energies started swirling together once more, condensing into a single, prismatic sphere. ¡°The devout priest¡¯s best friend, Divine Following.¡± Chel¡¯s grin grew more yful as she grabbed the sphere, popping it into her mouth.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You just did something ridiculous again, didn¡¯t you?¡± Nora asked in exasperation, earning a lightugh from Chel.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, definitely. Now, if I send a prayer towards someone, Divine Following will trace that energy back to its physical destination, and allow me to open a portal to their location. This portal maintains a rtive position to the person I¡¯m praying to, which bypasses the pesky restriction of Sanctum¡¯s speed and exact coordinates.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m pretty sure that this qualifies as cheating¡­¡± Thea pointed out, but Chel simply closed her eyes and prayed, ignoring the words of the ck-haired kitsune.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Hey, Aurivy? I hope you don¡¯t mind, but I¡¯ming to visit, and I¡¯m bringing friends!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> As soon as she sent that brief prayer, a silver portal erupted in front of Chel. She grabbed the hands of the two twins, jumping up from her seat and pulling them into the open gate, making sure to take the crystal sphere with them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What--how--why?!¡± Aurivy asked on the other side, having been in the middle of a card game when the three kitsune suddenly appeared in front of her and Julia. ¡°This is cheating! This is totally cheating!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sorry.¡± Chel stuck her tongue out, clearly unrepentant for what she had done. ¡°But I came to ask for a favor.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You want my help to send you to the other two artifacts, right?¡± Aurivy asked, clearly already aware of the situation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Nothing so boring.¡± Chel shook her head, her grin growing wider. ¡°I want to use the Traveler.¡± Certainly, it was possible for Aurivy to send them straight to the coordinates within the star map, but that would hardly help them. After all, the map would only point them to the right sr system, and even a member of the Greater Pantheon might not be able to identify the exact location of the relic within that system.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy¡¯s eyes went wide at the request, before narrowing slightly. ¡°How do you even know about that? I haven¡¯t even told Dale yet! I was saving it as a big reveal!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel rocked back and forth on her heels, her arms behind her back. ¡°Who do you think taught James how to monitor your ce when it was his turn? You guys don¡¯t even know how to set up basic anti-monitoring zones, and I get bored when James is busy.¡± Thea and Nora could hardly believe what they were hearing. Not only was Chel important to James, but she somehow had ways to spy on the secrets of even the Greater Pantheon?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy¡¯s cheeks puffed out at that, throwing down the cards in her hand. ¡°Fine! You can take it out for a test run. But in return, you have to teach me how to make those anti-monitoring zones!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Deal!¡± Chel nodded her head readily, as if having been prepared for this condition. ¡°And really, you¡¯re excited to see your baby in action, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy crossed her arms over her chest. ¡°Maybe¡­ but I was still hoping to make it a big reveal in an emergency!¡± After she said that, she stuck her head into a manifesting pool of golden mist, retrieving a small metal b that she tossed over to Chel. ¡°Bring it back in one piece! I haven¡¯t had the chance to test its arsenal, yet!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Don¡¯t worry, I know what I¡¯m doing.¡± Chel said, before pausing. ¡°Mind sending us out into space? If you made this how I¡¯m expecting, it will make a bit of amotion when it appears, and we need to handle this secretly.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy rolled her eyes with a nod, golden mist enveloping the two of them and transporting them away from Sanctum. Thankfully, the silver portal closed after they left.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When they reappeared, they were deep within the cold void of space, without a single within their line of sight. Nora, the first to process everything that had happened, sent her voice to the other two to establish a conversation. <i><span style="font-weight:400">So¡­ what is the Traveler?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel nced at Nora with a yful smile as she held the metal b up, slowly tracing it through the air. Lines of golden light shot out of the b, forming the wireframe outline of a massive structure. Over time, this outline began to fill itself in as Chel exined. <i><span style="font-weight:400">The Traveler is Aurivy¡¯s answer to space exploration, a ce where the power of one¡¯s two feet simply can¡¯t take them from one position to another.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">As the Goddess of Travel, she needs a symbol that evolves with the world. In the old days, her relic was a pair of boots. Now, that simply isn¡¯t enough. Now, she needed something bigger. And as the Goddess of Dungeons, she had the means to aplish this.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The wireframe structure took on the appearance of a ship, one over fifty kilometers long and with a sleek structure. Numerous weapons slid out of concealed ports, scanning the surroundings.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">The Traveler is Aurivy¡¯s newest divine relic, a Divine Dungeon created in the shape of an interster transport, fully autonomous and having a portion of her personal power.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> As Chel said that, she flew over towards the ship, holding up the b. A door formed in front of the two of them, allowing themselves inside.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You are not my mother¡­ however, you have the pass.¡± A voice spoke over the inte. ¡°Wee, guests. I am the Traveler.¡±

 Chapter 725: The Golden Road

    Chapter 725: The Golden Road


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I am the Autonomous Transport Dungeon created by the Goddess Aurivy. As you have received the pass to summon me, you have been granted permission to pilot me to perform your mission. Where is it that you wish to go?¡± The voice over the inte spoke, the twins looking around in awe at the interior.


    <span style="font-weight:400">They had been in many starships before, and had even lent a hand in designing a few. However, the golden walls and luxurious furnishings were far from what they had expected, even from something created by a god. There did not seem to be any specific terminals for crew to operate on the bridge, but rather a single pilot¡¯s chair. This chair wasrge and cushioned, offering a perfect view of the outside.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nearby, a bar had been ced, containing a variety of both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, and a buffet with a steaming assortment of food. After Thea and Nora stepped forward, a new chair sprouted to both the left and right of the pilot¡¯s chair, having grown from the ground in mere moments.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel walked towards the central chair, holding up the crystal that Ryone had given her. ¡°I have a star map leading to three distinct locations. One of these locations is Deckan, while the other two are unknown. I need to reach the two unknown star systems and find an object within them using your sensors.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">A pedestal appeared in front of the central chair, which Chel ced the star map on. Once connected to the ship, the three-dimensional map was projected into the center of the room. The clusters of stars looked like anymon map found in any ship. However, there were three swirling entities within this map, like three all-consuming voids trying to devour something that wasn¡¯t there.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Traveler soon spoke as Thea and Nora took their seats as well. ¡°What item shall I be looking for upon arrival to these systems?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t know the exact specifications myself. However, it will be something that draws the instincts of monsters to devour it. If you use your scanner to detect anomalous energy readings and monster activity within the system, you should be able to narrow down the possible regions.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If monster activity is involved, will I be expected to interfere?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">To this, Chel smiled. ¡°That¡¯s right. Aurivy wants this to serve as your test run. As long as the opponent is not a deity, you are free to engage.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a shudder that ran throughout the ship, though it was unclear whether it was because the Traveler was pleased with this arrangement or disturbed. ¡°Very well. I must inform you that I have numerous modes of travel. How long do you wish for this journey tost?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As if having expected this question, Chel just shook her head. ¡°Power-saving mode. Just make sure that we can reach each destination within three days of travel.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Traveler quickly responded to that. ¡°Understood. Feel free to make use of any of the facilities during your stay. I am ready tounch at any time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Traveler, begin your firstunch.¡± Chel gave the order, a golden portal appearing in front of the ship as the Traveler elerated, swiftly entering the gate. The space surrounding them no longer looked like what one would expect of hyperspeed, with stars shing by as thin lines. Instead, it looked as if they were traveling through a constant stream of golden mist.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Where is this¡­?¡± Thea asked curiously. ¡°And why did you want it to take its time with the journey?¡± Arguably, the second question was the more pressing matter, but Chel simply jumped from her seat and spun around


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°<i><span style="font-weight:400">This</i><span style="font-weight:400"> is the Domain of Travel, the manifestation of Aurivy¡¯s divine power as she created it. It¡¯s what she uses any time she sends people from one ce to another. However, with the help of the Traveler, we can enter this otherwise-exclusive territory without getting thrown to the edge of creation.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As for why I said it could take things slowly¡­ that¡¯s because I want to give Deckan just enough time to realize that something is odd about theb.¡± Chel smiled mysteriously at that. ¡°They won¡¯t have time to enact any ns before we return, but they will still have the chance to make some initial preparations.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°When we get back, we can look for these traces with the help of nk and the others to find out who was scheming against theb. Sorry, girls, but if the elder is on the list¡­ you only get one second chance.¡± She said with a hardened expression. ¡°And if he hadn¡¯t let you girls go, I wouldn¡¯t have given him that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nora¡¯s eyes went wide at the implied threat. ¡°Then, the reason that you wanted us toe with you..?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel nodded. ¡°They¡¯ve been tracking your position through various scrying methods every few days. Nothing invasive, and I¡¯ve been cutting them off any time I caught it. But it is enough for them to know when you are no longer in the facility. With you two gone, and the rest of theplex locked down, they won¡¯t know how many of our people are left.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If they take the bait, there are a few things they could do. They could either leak this news to other forces looking to steal James¡¯ research, or act personally. Given their nature, I think that they¡¯re more likely to do thetter, and send their own people in during the chaos. That¡¯s why I think that there will be traces to find when we return, because they will have left those traces for other organizations to find.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thea thought it over, before letting out a sigh. However, just as she was about to speak up, Chel smiled again. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m not going to purge the n or anything like that. This generation¡¯s elder has just been in power too long, and that power has gone to his head. I¡¯m going to make sure that the n understands that and establishes a new system for choosing their leaders. One that won¡¯t require my interference when things like this happen.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay¡­¡± Thea nodded. ¡°What are we supposed to do until then?¡± She looked around, notably at the bar and buffet. ¡°There doesn¡¯t seem like much here¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel let out a lightugh. ¡°Oh, Thea, this is just the bridge. Aurivy taught the Traveler how to make a variety of food and drinks for the buffet and bar, but the real entertainment facilities are further inside. Personally, if you¡¯re going for a meal, I¡¯d suggest a ¡®sloppy joe¡¯. One of the best things she¡¯se up with.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, none of the three of them <i><span style="font-weight:400">needed</i><span style="font-weight:400"> to eat, but they could still do so to enjoy the taste. Realizing the implication in Chel¡¯s words, Nora blinked. ¡°So¡­ this is a forced vacation on a luxury cruise?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You could think of it like that!¡± Chel nodded her head. ¡°I need you two with me so that the ninjas will think that it¡¯s safe to move, and this is the most luxurious vacation spot in all existence! Aurivy made sure of that when she created it. Since the entire thing is created from her divine energy, it is also a fully functioning warship, easily on par with or superior to the Destiny-ss ships. When ites tofort or speed, though, nothing canpare to the Traveler.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The twins nodded their heads, absorbing the information. ¡°But, wait¡­ did the Goddess only use two of her domains in the construction of this ship?¡± Thea could not think of a way for the Love domain to find a ce within a facility such as this, but Chel rolled her eyes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course not. There are tons of different types of Love, not just romantic. For instance, the bar and buffet were created from the concept of gluttony, or a ¡®love¡¯ of food and drink. The entertainment facilities were created with the concept of making people ¡®love¡¯ their time aboard the ship. Even the Traveler¡¯s core itself was created with a mother¡¯s love for their child. And I mean that in a literal sense.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel walked over to one of the walls, stroking a hand along it and speaking in a gentle tone. ¡°The core of the Traveler was created through Aurivy¡¯s divine power, but is no less a living being. In fact, it is the Demigod of Travel, and it is not a mistake to say that this is truly Aurivy¡¯s child.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Another low rumbling could be heard from the ship, which seemed to approve of Chel¡¯s words. ¡°That¡¯s why we can¡¯t push the Traveler to work too hard, or ce it in danger. You hear that, Traveler? If the situation bes one where you cannot defeat the adversary without sustaining damage to your core, you should retreat immediately. Even if we are not on board, you are to prioritize your own survival.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was perhaps the one thing Chel had said so far that Thea and Nora were able to easily understand, though the Traveler seemed hesitant. ¡°What about you passengers? I was created to provide afortable voyage, and I cannot simply leave my passengers to perish.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel shook her head and stroked the wall once more. ¡°I know how to use internar warp spells. If the situation takes that turn, we can still escape on our own. Once we¡¯ve reached a safe location, I will call you with the pass again. That way, you can continue to carry out your mission.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a pause before the Traveler spoke again. ¡°If that is what you wish. May I know your name, passenger?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel smiled at that, offering a nod. ¡°I¡¯m Chel. I¡¯m a friend of your mom, and that¡¯s why I don¡¯t want to have to exin to her why I let her child get hurt while I was looking after you.¡± After she said that, she felt something¡­ off about the wall she was touching. Part of it slid away with her hand, forming a small, metal b simr to the one that she had used to summon the Traveler.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel blinked as she looked at the b, finding it almost identical to the one that Aurivy had given her. Before she could ask, the Traveler spoke again. ¡°Mother said that I was to offer passes to any passengers that I wished to make friends with. She said that it is hard for a dungeon like myself to have friends, and that I should cherish those who treat me well. I believe that you are treating me very kindly, Chel. Will you be my friend?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel let out a softugh, nodding as she clutched the b. ¡°Of course, Traveler. Though, I might not have many chances to call for you, is that alright?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m a giant ship capable of tearing aparts. I would be worried if you had frequent need of me.¡± The Traveler jested, earning a chuckle from the three girls. ¡°However, if I be lonely, will you let me talk with you through the pass?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel thought it over for a moment, before nodding. ¡°Of course. I can even teach you more recipes for you to add to your collection. Aurivy was rather¡­ inattentive when it came to the needs for certain types of passengers. Spiritual beings don¡¯t eat the same type of food as us.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The light in the room suddenly brightened by a notch, as if the Traveler was rmed to hear that. ¡°This must be rectified. I was created to be the mostfortable form of transportation, regardless of passenger. I have even been equipped with alternate environmental settings for subterranean and aquatic life forms.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel grinned yfully, ncing towards Thea and Nora. ¡°You two can head out to explore. Just make sure to stay inside the ship. I have some things to teach Traveler for a little while.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two nodded, not quite sure what they should say in this situation. Chel had easily made friends with the child of one of the Greater Pantheon, and the two of them hadn¡¯t had much ce in the conversation as they were trying to catch up with everything that had happened. More surprisingly, she only came into contact with the Traveler because she had been spying on Aurivy without thetter¡¯s consent.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two looked at each other in wonder, as if feeling that they should call some form of authorities for this. Of course, it was only a passing thought, as they had confirmed that Chel and Aurivy were close friends from their earlier exchange.

 Chapter 726: Poor Unfortunate Soul

    Chapter 726: Poor Unfortunate Soul


    <span style="font-weight:400">Watching the Traveler take off and inter the golden domain, I couldn¡¯t help but blink, ncing over at Aurivy. ¡°So¡­ you were waiting for what exactly in order to show me this?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy¡¯s cheeks puffed out, and she nced away. ¡°Another big space battle¡­ I had this whole scene in mind. You were going to ask about a new ship that you could use as your gship to lead the fleet against the enemy, and I was going to be <i><span style="font-weight:400">right there</i><span style="font-weight:400">, ready to jump in. It would have been awesome.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a small sigh, reaching over and ruffling her hair. ¡°Still, it looks really good. And you even brought in food from my Earth?¡± When Chel mentioned ¡®sloppy joes¡¯, I naturally knew that Aurivy had been up to something in order to surprise me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The pink-haired halfling averted her eyes again. ¡°Well, yeah¡­ I wanted this to be somewhere you¡¯d like to hang out when you descend. I wasn¡¯t able to get things like movies and TV shows, or even books, but I got the food, drinks, and games from your world. There¡¯s an entire tennis court near the heart of the ship. Just a little slice of your old home for whenever you wanted some nostalgia.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My smile became warmer as I heard that, but I shook my head. ¡°Thanks, Rivy. But, I think that there¡¯s someone who would like that even more than me.¡± I nced down the hall, looking towards the rows of doors.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy looked up at me curiously, before her eyes widened in realization. I wasn¡¯t the only one pulled from my old world, and Ashley had been through periods of homesickness a few times already. Something like the Traveler might help, at least a small amount. Aurivy nodded her head. ¡°I¡¯ll tell her about it after they¡¯re done with this mission.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thanks.¡± I smiled, turning my attention to the screen. Now that they had ess to something like the Traveler, I wasn¡¯t worried about them not being able to find the relics in time. ¡°By the way, what sort of weapons did you give it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy simply chuckled, shaking her head. ¡°I taught it a few different spells, and had it enchant one to each of its turrets. As long as it doesn¡¯t run out of energy, it can keep firing those spells. Thankfully, its travel mode works through divine energy, leaving its mana exclusively for sensors, shields, and weapons.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was reassuring. While I didn¡¯t know how powerful it would be, I knew that Aurivy does not do anything halfway. If she really taught it spells, then those spells were likely high level and with enough versatility for a variety of situations.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With that in mind, I changed the screen to look for something else. Our biggest threat at the moment was still the monsters lurking within the void. In order to get a grasp on when we would be able to deal with those problems without relying on Leowynn, I ran a search. I was looking for the mortals who had the highest attainment with the chaotic energies of the void.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan Criar was a young man, barely fourteen years of age, yet he was in a situation that would terrify his peers. He was face to face with a hideous beast, one with six hooved legs protruding from the bottom of its swollen body. The rest of it was a writhing mass of tentacles, eyes, and gaping mouths.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan had never seen a creature like this before, but that did not matter. He growled at the monster, his hands forming into ws as he crouched down. Having lived in the wild for years, he had learned many tricks that others might not discover for their entire lives in the safety of the cities.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Blood dripped down from his fingers, mixing with a ck ki to form sharp talons. When he lunged forward, the tentacles of the unknown monster pped down at his previous position. His eyes were feral, like those of a wild predator as he jumped along the sides of trees, looking for any blind spot the creature might possess.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately, its eyes seemed to cover every inch of its surroundings, some of them even beneath the beast¡¯s stomach. With a snarl, he kicked off from one tree moments before it was destroyed by ash from a tentacle. His wed hand grabbed the ck flesh of the tentacle while he was in midair, tugging on it to change his trajectory.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Within moments, he was standing on the body of the creature, its tentaclesshing down at him. His eyes went pitch ck, a simr color of ki erupting from his back to catch the numerous tentacles. Perhaps through luck or divine providence, the tentacles struck the ki-formed hands instead of the boy himself, who was free to rip into the body of the beast with his own ws.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The monster let out a cry simr to that of a goat as its flesh was torn open, one of its half dozen hearts pierced through. However, the boy kept going. Even when some of the tentacles crashed against his bare flesh and tore open his skin, he didn¡¯t stop.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The health bar above the monster was rapidly depleting, as was the boy¡¯s own. But that was the way the world worked. It was not the strongest who survived, or the fastest, or even the smartest. The survivor was simply the one who lived, and nothing more. They were the one who made it to fight a deadly battle another day.


    <span style="font-weight:400">So far, fortune seemed to smile on the boy, as his health dropped marginally slower than that of the beast he was ripping to shreds beneath him. He had protected his arms and his vital organs with ki, ensuring that he would be able to keep going until hisst breath. The monster, however, had no such ability.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When it had less than one third of its health, its attacks became more sluggish. The pain was forcing it to continue to fight back, but it had lost its ability to urately target the boy. Some of its tentacles had evene down to p at its own body, only furthering the injuries on itself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When it finally hit the ground, thest of its health depleted, the boy gave panting, ragged breaths. This was how he had spent thest four years of his life, ever since he ran away from home at the tender age of ten. If not for his particr trait, he would have never survived for as long as he did. Yet, due to this very trait - one which had caused his short life innumerable hardships - he was able to survive on his own.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan wasn¡¯t just a normal boy. He was a Demigod, the product of some unknown godying with a mortal woman. Keenan had never met his father, and knew that he would try to kill the man if ever given the chance. After all, he was not blessed with some spectacr power like the Demigoddess of Shadows, the Demigoddess of Youth, or so on.


    <span style="font-weight:400">No, he was the Demigod of Chaos. His trait drastically increased his Luck stat, but at the same time, it decreased the Luck of those around him by a simr amount. This number seemed to grow with time, constantly bing a bigger influence on his life.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While a higher Luck might sound good, the penalty that came with it was not worthwhile. His family became ill, struck with natural and economic disaster that left them homeless until one of his mother¡¯s friends took them in. His friends were in fatal idents after spending only weeks knowing him, some being the victims of random monster attacks. Worst still, his teachers were all killed any time they tried to use a Perfection Chamber with a near guaranteed sess rate.


    <span style="font-weight:400">And this was all by the time he was seven. It only got worse from there, disasters escting while everyone began to realize themon denominator. Bad things only happened to people that were close to Keenan, or those that had recently spent time with him. His friends shunned him, his teachers ignored his existence, even his own mother said she hated him. She wished that he had never been born.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Knowing that things weren¡¯t going to get any better, Keenan prepared. He used the savings he picked up off the sidewalks to buy a storage item, and then raided the pantry of the family they were staying with. Taking what he thought he could use to survive, he ran away, not stopping until the city was far behind him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At first, he was scared. What child his age wouldn¡¯t be? He was a Demigod, but that didn¡¯t give him any specialbat power that he could think of. After a few hours, he wanted to go back home, to apologize and promise to do better. But then, thinking of all the bad things that happened because of him, he simply couldn¡¯t. Especially after what his mother had said.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Maybe¡­ maybe if she came looking for him, he would go back. If someone, <i><span style="font-weight:400">anyone</i><span style="font-weight:400"> came looking for him, just proving that there was someone in this world that didn¡¯t want him gone, then he would return to the city


    <span style="font-weight:400">Days passed, and Keenan waited, using what little food he had brought with him sparingly. He watched the roads from the tops of trees, looking for any traveler that seemed remotely interested in searching for a lost boy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nobody¡­ not a single soul left the city in search of him. The guards were nowhere to be seen, the only travelers weremon hunters looking for their next prey, or bandits nning to ambush unfortunate explorers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When he realized that nobody wasing for him, something inside of Keenan broke. The faces of his mother, his friends, everyone that shunned him rose to the surface, and they seemed far more sinister. The boy left his regr perch, moving further and further from the city with every day. He did not care where he went, as long as it was away from <i><span style="font-weight:400">people.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">He was ten years old when he ran away from home. A young boy with only rudimentary knowledge of magic and ki, and not a single ounce of fighting experience. Yet despite that, he had be the apex predator of this forest, far removed from civilization. The reason was actually very easy to exin¡­ his special trait.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While his trait sapped the luck away from everyone around him, it did the same thing for the beasts that he fought. Creatures were prone to trip in his presence, bite their tongues, or misjudge their attacks. Meanwhile, his own attacks had supernatural uracy, as if he could tell exactly where to strike to deal the most damage.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, he did not actually have this knowledge, and simply guessed at first. Onlyter on did he begin to purposely strike at the weak points of these monsters. But by then, there was nothing left of the boy named Keenan Criar. His clothes had long been torn to ribbons, his storage ring crushed between the jaws of a great beast. Oddly, the eruption from the ring shattering had broken one of his arms, but also rattled the brain of the beast enough for him to deal a fatal blow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Since then, he had been well and truly on his own. It had been years since he saw another person, and he fully intended to keep it that way. He prepared to tear the tentacled monster beneath him to pieces, and make it his meal for the day.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately for Keenan, the beast seemed to dissolve into ck particles not long after it was in, leaving Keenan to frown. This was the third creature he had encountered that did this after it died. They were clearly fleshy creatures, yet they dissolved like energy beings after their deaths. He didn¡¯t know why this happened, but he didn¡¯t care.


    <span style="font-weight:400">ncing at his status screen, he saw that he was down to less than ten percent health. If he wanted to survive, he would need to make do with nts for today. Maybe he could make another tasty paste that increased his health. It had been a while since he found the berries to make that one, but who knew¡­ maybe he was feeling lucky.

 Chapter 727: Balancing Forces

    Chapter 727: Bncing Forces


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">A Chaos Demigod?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I blinked in surprise when I noticed Keenan¡¯s trait, as it waspletely ridiculous that such a young boy was the ¡®most aplished¡¯ when it came to the void. Especially when Leowynn had said that she was training a few people to be Fallen Gods.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, if one were naturally born with an affinity to chaos, that would exin it. If he ever embarked on the path of divinity, he would surely be a deity with the same level of power within the void as Leowynn herself. But¡­ <i><span style="font-weight:400">Terra, I¡¯ve got a quick question for you.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Hmm? Fire away, Dale.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Terra¡¯s voice was projected back to me with a yawn, showing that she seemed to be busy. Likely, she had started guiding another incarnation, or was actively tutoring the ¡®Terra twins¡¯. Knowing her, it was probably the former.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">If someone bes the Fallen God of Chaos, is that even a thing that could happen?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> While it was entirely possible to have a God of Chaos, I assumed that they would be simply treated like a Fallen God. But a Fallen God of Chaos, if he happened to cultivate that route¡­


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Oh, it could. Just like someone could technically be the God of Divinity. Though, personally I¡¯d never pick either of those domains.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Why not?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Knowing Terra, there was some deeper reason than just ¡®they¡¯re too strong¡¯. Otherwise, she would <i><span style="font-weight:400">love</i><span style="font-weight:400"> those domains for herself.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">They¡¯re too general. The extreme scope of the domain makes it so that they technically can do whatever they want. However, you¡¯ve seen what the energy efficiency is like for someone doing something that isn¡¯t part of their domain. For a Fallen God of Chaos, or a God of Divinity, it¡¯s just a bit better than that.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">In a way, they never really upgrade from the Divine Soul stage, where they are still just using their energy to perform whatever domain they wanted. The only real difference is that they can receive power from the faith of others. For anyone pursuing a domain with practical applications, a domain that is just the same as the energy they use to reach it is a waste.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod at that. I had been worried that a God of Divinity would simply be able to tear apart the divine energy of other gods, and¡­ I suppose it would be possible. However, the price that they had to pay would probably be simr to the amount of energy they were dispersing. As for a God of Chaos, or a Fallen God of Divinity¡­ Terra had been rather specific in saying that it was bad to cultivate the <i><span style="font-weight:400">same</i><span style="font-weight:400"> energy as your domain.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thinking back, I recalled the woman that killed Leowynn in a previous invasion. She was a Goddess of Space and Chaos, as I remembered, but because of her second domain she was able to wield the authority of a Fallen God.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Part of me wondered if this was a hint to reach the new level that Terra had revealed, the Origin that her incarnation had be. Yet, I felt like there had to be more to it than just that. Otherwise, it would not be something so unbelievably high level that its mere existence threatened to elevate my world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Shaking my head, I turned my attention back towards the screen. I was rather interested in seeing how Chel and her group fared when they found the primordial artifacts the map was leading them to. As it used a full ny-eight percent of my mana as the Keeper to create that map, I¡­ definitely did not want to see it go to waste.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Life aboard the Traveler was extremelyfortable. The ship itself was more than generous, doing its best to provide the best entertainment, food, and even lodging. At first, it had offered to provide them with an inte connection so that they could y online games, but Chel refused. She did not want to leave any opening for the forces back home to identify their circumstances.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Instead, the three of them rxed for the three days of their journey, using the exercise equipment prepared for people of their level and alternating between different games. By the start of the third day, both Thea and Nora had received a b simr to the one that the Traveler had given Chel, indicating that it wished to be friends with the two of them as well.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It wasn¡¯t untilte into the third day when the voice of the Traveler echoed throughout its halls. ¡°We are arriving at System X-989, the location of the first target. All passengers, please report to the bridge. I will be disying active scan results on screen.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel and Thea were already on the bridge, the two of them sharing a meal when the announcement rang out. Thus, it was only Nora that had toe running from the distant pool. When she arrived at the bridge, her hair was still wet, though it was clear that she had dried both her tail and her clothes. As she approached, she shook her head slightly to work on her hair, as well. ¡°Sorry, didn¡¯t realize we were so close.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel shook her head with a smile. ¡°We haven¡¯t been moving for about an hour.¡± She revealed. ¡°He just wanted to let you get a bit more time to rx while we ate.¡± It was very difficult to tell when they were moving or not, as the world beyond the ship was an expanse of golden mist. Yet, Chel seemed to have grasped the method. Saying that, she set her te down, turning around to look at the monitor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Traveler, mind showing us what we¡¯re dealing with? I¡¯m not familiar with this system.¡± Although Chel had spent a little time studying certain star clusters, those were only ones that already reported possessing life, or contained known habitable worlds.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course, Chelsea.¡± Traveler answered, arge map appearing on the front window of the bridge, zooming out to show the entire sr system. ¡°This appears to be a binary system containing threes. Of the three, there are twovas, and a singr barren rock.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel nodded at his exnation, before furrowing her brows in confusion. ¡°What do you mean it appears to be? Is it a binary system or not?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That is¡­ difficult to say.¡± Traveler responded awkwardly. ¡°The gravitational field is inconsistent with the standard for a binary system. However, there are certainly two stars, which appear to be orbiting one another.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel shrugged it off, as there were many supernatural phenomena within space. It would be no surprise if their were a spatial distortion here, especially as it was the location for an item from the dawn of creation. ¡°What are the results of your scans? Any significant monster activity in space? It could also take the form of weather phenomena on a.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Negative.¡± Traveler said simply. ¡°I am reading no significant weather patterns within the three detecteds, or any of their corresponding moons. Additionally, I am not picking up any monster activity in this region of space.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel thought it over for a moment, before nodding her head. ¡°Give me an analysis on every significant celestial body in this system. Both stars, thes, and their moons. The item might be buried too deep to produce visible effects.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What are we going to do if the item is buried that deep?¡± Thea asked in concern, looking at the report as it was printed out. ¡°We can¡¯t stay here long enough to stripmine each, can we?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course not.¡± Chel shook her head, as if the mere suggestion of it was ridiculous. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, we¡¯ll just blow up thes, and wait for the phenomena to appear. There is no life in this system, so shattering thes won¡¯t cause any harm to any ecosystem.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thea and Nora simply looked at each other when they heard Chel say that, surprised how she had so easily gone to the answer of ¡®blow up a¡¯. ¡°But¡­ it looks like we won¡¯t have to do that.¡± Chel followed up with a grin as she looked at the reports, deciphering the information that was being printed. ¡°Unity, Separation, Duality, Splitting¡­ probably one of those.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nora looked curiously at Chel. ¡°Have you found the item already?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel chuckled, nodding as she stared at the report. ¡°Traveler, can you get a close scan of the stars? Specifically, the space between them? ording to this report, the gravitational readings are consistent with a single star, not with two that are orbiting one another as you said.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I can try, Chelsea. My mana has a hard time prating that deep without me getting too close, and Mother warned me against flying too close to the sun.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel smiled when she heard that. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Just get close enough that you can scan the position between the stars. Once you find the item, I¡¯ll handle the retrieval myself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Very well.¡± Traveler agreed, moving closer to the center of the system. Nora and Thea could see the two massive, blue stars hanging in the distance, seeming identical to one another. Eventually, they were close enough that Traveler stopped moving, apparently satisfied with this distance.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I am now within range. Probing the area with my sensors¡­ note, there appears to be a crystalline mass directly between the two stars. From my scans, it seems to be locked between their gravitational pulls.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel shook her head at Traveler¡¯s report. ¡°No, it¡¯s at the center of the true star. The two that we see are created by the crystal¡¯s power, which has divided the sun into two equal parts that revolve around it. Once we extract the crystal, they wille crashing into each other. Given their size and density, the event will surely lead to a supernova.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel stood in ce, seeming to run through some calctions in her head. ¡°Traveler, are there any star systems within fifty light years that have reported habitation?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Negative.¡± Traveler reported, causing Chel to let out a breath of relief. ¡°Why¡­?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Because after these two stars collide, if their mass is added together, the most likely event will be a ck hole. If we use thebination of the stars as the base mass of the ck hole, it will be powerful enough to consume all systems within fifty lightyears before they have the chance to handle evacuation procedures.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thea chuckled weakly, looking at Chel, who still seemed ready to follow through with this n. ¡°I suppose you have some way to deal with a ck hole, then¡­?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh? Oh, of course.¡± Chel smiled confidently. ¡°Traveler can escape into the Travel Domain before the stars collide. I just need to leave behind something to ensure that the mass explodes outwards, instead of inwards.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thea let out a sigh of relief, though she wasn¡¯t entirely sure that she liked the sound of that. ¡°Do you have anything capable of doing that?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Nope!¡± The shorter kitsune let out a lightugh. ¡°But I can get one, with some help. Hey, Traveler, you have shrines to all of the Greater Pantheon, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That is correct, Chelsea.¡± Traveler responded, though even it seemed nervous at this point.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I need you to arrange a temple room for me, housing shrines of Tubrock, Leowynn, Ashley, and Ryone. I¡¯m about to introduce this world to something my people came up with in their glory days.¡± Chel grinned, turning and walking down the hall.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Do we¡­ want to know?¡± Nora asked, even as they felt the structure of the ship shifting in the distance.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s a Copse Inverter.¡± Chel exined as they walked. ¡°In the long term, it¡¯s better for the surrounding systems if a supermassive star <i><span style="font-weight:400">doesn¡¯t</i><span style="font-weight:400"> turn into a ck hole, so we came up with this device. By redirecting the force of an erupting star outwards instead of inwards, it¡¯s possible to prevent the formation of a ck hole. Of course, doing this sacrifices the system that was around the star, but it was already going to be destroyed if the star copsed on itself anyways.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The real kicker is finding materials that can withstand the gravitational pressure and extreme conditions of a star like that. We designed a special material specifically for that job in my time, but it will be easier if we use the power of divinity here.¡± As she talked, she pulled out a notepad, hastily scrawling away to draw outplex blueprints.


    <span style="font-weight:400">James had been doing his best to ease new levels of technology into the world as they were needed, gradually building the world into a technological civilization that he could be proud of. However, there were two things wrong with that idea at the present moment. First of all, they had need of this device to ovee their deadline and return without creating massive damage to the gxy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">More importantly, James wasn¡¯t here right now.

 Chapter 728: Curioser And Curioser

    Chapter 728: Curioser And Curioser


    <span style="font-weight:400">By the time that they had arrived at a room with the word ¡®Temple¡¯ written on its door, the interior had already been neatly arranged. Within this temple were four statues, each one giving off a divine presence. Naturally, Thea and Nora could recognize the temples of Ryone, Leowynn, Ashley, and Tubrock. However, Chel did not immediately speak up.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Instead, she continued drawing on her notepad, seeming like she was creating diagrams for every single part of the device she wanted to make. Only after an hour had passed, when she neared the end of the notebook, did she look up. ¡°Alright, everyone! Oh gods above, it¡¯s me again! I¡¯ve got a big job that only you four together can take care of, and it¡¯s a real doozy!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a moment of silence from the four statues, the sisters thinking that perhaps they did not hear the prayer. However, soon the wings of Ashley¡¯s statue began to move, followed by the fingers of Tubrock¡¯s, and the eyes of the two elves. The four statues animated, looking down at Chel with a curious expression.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oi, whatcha callin¡¯ us like this for,ss?¡± Tubrock asked in a grumbling tone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Because we have guests. Anyways, I made something for all of you to look at! I need this device to be crafted as soon as possible. Leowynn and Ryone, you two can take the cost of it out of James¡¯ ount.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As the four were still looking at her with curiosity, she rolled her eyes. ¡°Long story short, I found the first relic that your boss led me towards. Problem is, it¡¯s stuck between two blue supergiants and is forming a very delicate equilibrium between them. I take it out, the stars collide and bam, big ck hole.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This thing stops that from happening. It turns your gctic threat into just another supernova. Couple hundred years, you¡¯ll see some fireworks on Deckan. Otherwise, no problem. It¡¯s either this, or I detonate one of the stars prematurely myself using an energy that can lower an object¡¯s core temperature. But seeing as doing that on a star this size would literally <i><span style="font-weight:400">kill</i><span style="font-weight:400"> this version of me, I filed that under st resorts¡¯.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°James wouldn¡¯t be happy about that.¡± Leowynn nodded her head knowingly, looking at the notebook. On thest page, Chel had created a list of the raw materials that she needed, which would be Leowynn¡¯s first job. Additionally, Leowynn would need to imbue the final product with her divinity, making it reject any excess gravity from forming after the stars collide.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Quite.¡± Chel nodded. ¡°For the outer casing, I¡¯ve detailed steps for our dwarven innovator here to create a supermetal. ording to my notes, it will be able to withstand the temperature and heat of these two stars long enough for it to do its job.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Will we be able to get out fast enough?¡± Nora asked, ncing back towards the bridge. However, this time the answer came from Thea.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Assuming that the collision happens naturally, we will have plenty of time. Although they appear to be close together, that is only from a rtive perspective. If they maintain their rotation while drawing closer to one another, it could take days before they fully collide. Hours, at a minimum.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel nodded her head. ¡°Right now, we¡¯re taking a gamble on what the exact domain of the object is. If it is something like Duality, as I suspect, then there is only one true star, with the other one having been created over millions of years by the relic. If it is something like Splitting, there is the chance that they may instantly merge without the presence of the relic. That¡¯s why I¡¯ve got to handle this swap carefully, while Traveler needs to be ready to depart as soon as we¡¯re done.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley seemed to scan through the notebook, a trace of surprise in her eyes. ¡°Most of theseponents don¡¯t exist in any of our worlds.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel chuckled at that. ¡°That¡¯s why I had to bring it to you. On a little bit of a time crunch, and can¡¯t make everything I need by myself before we¡¯re due back home. If you go by the steps I¡¯ve written out, it shouldn¡¯t cost any of you very much energy.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The four began nodding, as the item truly didn¡¯t require much divinity to set up. Perhaps the biggest burden would be on Tubrock for creating the outer shell. That said, she had already told them to take whatever payment was required out of James¡¯ ount.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With that in mind, the four of them quickly began working, forming the individual parts that Chel had listed. Once the parts werepleted, Ashley used her powers to construct them, and Leowynn reinforced the item itself with her divinity. Finally, a sealed capsule appeared in front of Chel, roughly three meters long and perfectly smooth


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel walked up to the device, looking it over and running her hand along it. ¡°Thanks, everyone! This should do great! And, if it doesn¡¯t¡­ well, I tried my best? It¡¯ll take a few dozen years before it does any real damage. By that time, we can have a better solution up and running. It¡¯ll just be a lot bigger, and more expensive than this thing.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she said that, she took a deep breath, eyes focusing. ¡°Okay, guys. This is the moment of truth. Traveler, get the portal to the domain ready and move us one Astronomical Unit away from the stars. Once you¡¯re ready, let me know.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a humm of acknowledgement from the ship as it began to move, Chel pushing her own senses to the limit, locking onto the artifact between the two stars as they were moving further and further away. ¡°I¡¯m ready, Chelsea.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The moment that Traveler said that, her hands moved. One hand reached into a portal she opened next to herself, the othernding on the metal capsule. As soon as her hand touched the capsule, the entire thing vanished with a sh of blue light, reced by a ck crystal. ¡°Punch it, Traveler!¡± She called out, withdrawing her hand and closing the portal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel had no intention of staying to discover at which speed the stars collided. Even the smallest chance that they would merge immediately meant that they had to leave right away. And with hermand, Traveler rushed into the portal that he had created. Once more, they were within the golden mist.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel let out a long sigh, wiping a bit of sweat from her brow as the sisters rushed over. Although everything appeared to have gone smoothly, they were still concerned for her. ¡°Are you alright?¡± Thea asked, looking down at the smaller kitsune.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After looking at the crystal, Chel shed her a thumbs-up. Then, she quickly verified which domain the relic possessed, letting out a long groan. ¡°Well, that¡¯s going to lead to some trouble down the road.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Why?¡± Nora asked curiously, ncing towards the crystal herself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s the Mimicry domain. Whoever gets their hands on that power is going to be one hell of a tricky opponent to fight.¡± Saying that, she leaned back, lying against the cool floor. ¡°Hey, Traveler?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yes, Chelsea?¡± Traveler responded quickly, curious whatmands she had for it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You did awesome. Keep up the good work.¡± With her mind finally calming down, Chel closed her eyes with a wide grin.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I watched the small device appear between the two stars, finding it hard to believe that such a miniscule thing could stop the formation of a ck hole. However, it wasn¡¯t going to be something that I could immediately witness myself. After all, the stars were not merging right away. Or rather, they weren¡¯t merging at all.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As soon as the crystal was removed, one of the two stars vanished from existence, having only been a mirrored replica of the other. Like Chel had originally said, there was only one star in that system. The way they orbited around one another, though, made me think that the object had established them as some form of contained structure. Within the area of the twin stars, there were truly two stars, causing the effect that we saw. However, to the outside world, there was only the gravity and heat from a single celestial body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I felt slightly let down that there would be no giant bang when the stars collided. Still, this showed me again what sort of things I could expect from these items. And perhaps the reason why no monsters had attacked to consume it was because of the phantom star it had created. At close range, it indeed gave off power that could rival a god due to that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Do we have anything on their other destination?¡± I asked curiously, looking for any sort of spoilers that could be provided.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy simply rolled her eyes with a knowing grin. ¡°You¡¯ll see it when they get there, just like the rest of us. I¡¯m doing my best to not look at that location for now. Worst case scenario, I pull them out and we all enjoy a good sandwich.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a faint nod, epting that I couldn¡¯t get my spoilers just yet. Besides, who wants to have the ending ruined for them? Okay, maybe they want it, but they¡¯ll regret it afterwards.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan lurked high in a tree, his eyes scanning the ground below him. His intuition told him that something was passing through this ce. Something that did not belong in the jungle. His wed hands dug into the branch he was crouched on, pupils narrowing like a beast¡¯s.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Far below, in this forest hundreds of miles from the nearest settlement, a person was walking. A felyn man in histe teens, if his appearance were to be believed. His yellow robes were spotless, his hand clutching a staff as he walked. Oddly, his eyes seemed to be closed, as if he were blind.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He walked up to the tree where Keenan was lurking, and tapped his staff against it. Once, twice, thrice, after which he spoke. ¡°Would you minding down? I¡¯m a bit lost, you see.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan stared at the man for several moments, not sure what he should be thinking. In his mind, he imagined attacking from several different angles, wing at his eyes or throat, or going straight for his heart. However, in each imagined scenario, the attacks seemed to miss inexplicably. As if he simply couldn¡¯t imagine himselfnding a strike on this seemingly normal man.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The robed figure waited, smiling upwards for roughly five minutes before lowering his head. As if he had never done anything at all, he walked away. He was still leaning on his staff with every step, and Keenan noticed that he appeared to be avoiding the normal path for monsters.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Equal parts wary and intrigued, he followed the figure from the treetops, making sure to stay just out of view any time he turned his head. Although his eyes were closed, that did not necessarily mean anything. Especially not with some of the monsters Keenan had seen.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A few minutester, the figure stopped, turning and walking to another tree. Once again, he tapped his staff against it three times before calling out above. ¡°Would you minding down? I¡¯m a bit lost, you see.¡± He repeated the same words he said before, but this time Keenan was truly confused. He made sure that he wasn¡¯t at the tree the man approached, looking over at it to see if anything else was there.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After confirming that that tree was empty as well, Keenan nced down again. The man kept looking up, waiting, just as he had before. Was he crazy? Why would hee all the way to this forest, so far removed from civilization, just to randomly tap on trees and speak to nothing at all?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan followed the man again, curious about his true intentions. After he left this tree, the process repeated itself. Three knocks, then calling out above himself. Wait a few minutes, and leave. He appeared to be operating on a set cycle, never disturbed when he wasn¡¯t answered. As if he knew that he would get his answer sooner orter, and was only pretending that each tree was the first one he approached.

 Chapter 729: Trials And Errors

    Chapter 729: Trials And Errors


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan followed the young man through the woods, watching for the remainder of the day how he appeared to repeat this same procedure time and time again. Never discouraged by his failure to receive a response, the man eventually made a camp for himself within the forest. He arranged a circle of stones around the cap, seemingly imbued with a power to ward away monsters.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once his circle waspleted, heid down within its center, head facing up while his eyes remained forever closed. Keenan watched, quietly approaching and studying the man. As the circle was only meant to ward against monsters, it had no effect against him personally. Instead, he simply stepped over the barrier of stone and continued to head inwards. There was so much that he didn¡¯t understand.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In the next moment, he realized that the teenager had turned to face him. Although his eyes remained closed, it was clear that he had moved. A smile yed at his lips, and he slowly started to sit up. ¡°I was wondering if you were going to show up.¡± He said as he grabbed his staff,ying it across hisp.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan jumped back in rm, his body tensing. He was used to stalking powerful beasts, and had learned numerous methods to conceal his presence. To find that even a blind man had noticed his approach was¡­ unsettling to say the least.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You don¡¯t have to worry.¡± The teenager said, shaking his head. ¡°I don¡¯t want to hurt you. Better yet, I¡¯m pretty sure that I couldn¡¯t even if I wanted to. You¡¯re quite higher level than I am.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°How know¡­¡± The boy asked in a broken voice, having not spoken aloud for years. His grasp ofnguage was one of the first skills that he had forgotten as he lived in the wild, determined to never return to civilization.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Call it instinct. Call it luck. Call it divine providence if you really want.¡± The robed teen answered cryptically. ¡°You¡¯ve been watching me for a while, haven¡¯t you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Your actions¡­ make no sense.¡± Keenan responded, doing his best to structure his thoughts properly. ¡°So far¡­ home. Why?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The felyn tilted his head slightly, piecing together what Keenan wanted to say. ¡°You want to know why I¡¯m out here, looking for an impossible existence within a merciless forest. Actually, it¡¯s a bit of a story. And I do love telling stories.¡± He grinned slightly, causing the hairs on Keenan¡¯s neck to rise.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°From the sounds of your voice, you seem quite young. I wasn¡¯t expecting that.¡± Shaking his head, the man crossed his arms over the staff in hisp. ¡°My name is Jace Laran. I¡¯m a priest of Terra, the Goddess of Stories, Inspiration, and Fate.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°When I joined the church, the voice of Terra spoke to me, offering me a deal. She would offer me a trial. If I passed her trial, she would offer me a blessing, a reward tomend my faith. Her trial was for me to live without my sight. I was forbidden from opening my eyes, or using any magical means of substituting my sight.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Why?¡± Keenan asked, furrowing his brow. Having lived away from civilization for so long, he barely even remembered the gods, let alone any sort of devotion for them. All he knew was the hatred he had for his father, should he ever learn of the man¡¯s identity.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Because that was her will.¡± Jace answered simply with a shake of his head. ¡°Maybe she saw something in me that I didn¡¯t. Maybe she thought it would be amusing. Either way, I epted her test. I spoke with the bishop about what I had heard, and he seemed surprised. It was rare for the Goddess to issue such trials, but not entirely unheard of.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°For two years, from the ages of twelve to fourteen, I kept my eyes closed. I even wrapped a cloth around my head when I slept to make sure that I did not open them by ident when I awoke. After two years of this, I heard her voice again, congratting me for my perseverance.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I did not question her about the reward that was promised, as I knew it was not my ce to do so. Instead, she whispered to me, telling me how she had used her power to write a special fate for me. So long as I keep my eyes closed, I can choose any one of my stats. Until my eyes open again, this stat will continue to increase at a rate of one point per week. After my eyes open, the stat will be reset to normal, and I will need to choose again when I close my eyes.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Naturally, I was ecstatic. A single stat to increase passively, and all I had to do was keep my eyes closed, a thing I had already done for two years? At that point, the thought of opening my eyes seemed daunting, as if I wouldn¡¯t recognize the world anymore. So, I consulted with the bishop again, telling him about the reward that Terra had given me. I needed to ask him which stat I should choose.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thankfully, I did, as I was initially nning to choose either Strength or Dexterity. He quickly dissuaded me from this path, warning me of the dangers of having a physical stat rise too high above the others. At the same time, it was decided that I shouldn¡¯t choose Intelligence or Wisdom either. If I adjusted to a heightened state of mind, only to have it crash down one day when my eyes are opened, I would be debilitated.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This left me with either Charm or Luck. Neither of these would lead to any adverse effects if they rose too high, aside from perhaps making a few too many ¡®close friends¡¯ with a high enough Charm. Given this consideration, I chose Luck. If my Luck is high enough, then it would be just as good as having other high statistics.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan¡¯s stomach sank when he heard that, realizing that the boy was like him, someone with an extremely high luck score. ¡°How long¡­?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°How long have I kept my eyes closed after that?¡± Jace smiled. ¡°That was five years ago. Combined with my normal levels, my Luck recently rose above three hundred and fifty. After it hit that point, I suddenly had a strange idea¡­ I felt like I needed to leave, to walk around and experience the world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Things like this typically happen when your luck is high enough. Some deep part of you realizes something that your conscious mind doesn¡¯t know, and tries to guide you. You want to turn left at an intersection when you have no idea what lies in either direction. It¡¯s just a gut instinct, a voice saying ¡®why not?¡¯, and you find yourself doing it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°After telling the bishop, I packed what I felt I needed, and immediately left. As I hadpleted my apprenticeship, and was now a fully fledged priest, I was free toe and go as I wished. Of course, the bishop did find it worrying that I chose to suddenly leave. Such a thing could indicate that I was either seeking out some new opportunity, or avoiding a catastrophe about to befall the church.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying that, Jace held up his staff, allowing Keenan to see that there were rows of carvings along it. However, these carvings were not arcane sigils, but rather numbers and words. ¡®Left¡¯, ¡®Right¡¯, ¡®Straight¡¯, ¡®Turn around¡¯, and other inscriptions like that. ¡°I tried to keep my journey as random as possible, tossing my staff into the air and catching it. I had decided that whatever word my index fingernded on would dictate my path. Whenever I had to choose between multiple options, such as taking a portal somewhere, I tossed the staff and consulted the first number I felt.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Eventually, this led me here, far away from anywhere. But I knew I needed to keep going. Yesterday, I felt like I had finally arrived. That whatever I was looking for had to be here. It would be watching me, waiting. I just had to find it, or let it find me. And here you are.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡­ looking for me?¡± This was utterly iprehensible to Keenan. Even when he ran away from his home, his own mother had never tried to find him. None of his so-called friends ever looked for him, and he did not see a single sign that he was missed. But this stranger, this man he had never heard of or had ever heard of him, dropped everything to run out into a deep forest to find him because of what? Intuition? His gut?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Was that really more important than a mother¡¯s love for her child? What had he been through for all of those years if all it took for someone toe look for him was a passing whim? ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Jace confirmed with a nod. ¡°I knew that whoever or whatever I found would be a very important friend to me. There was no other reason for me toe out this far.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan shook his head quickly, his eyes watering as he turned and leapt into a nearby tree. He couldn¡¯t deal with this right now. The emotions he had suppressed through years of surviving in the forest were raging just beneath the surface, and he felt as if he were about to burst.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After he left, Jace simply smiled, standing up and holding his staff at his side. ¡°I guess that I should find some shelter.¡± He muttered, releasing his staff with a practiced flourish of his wrist that caused it to spin. When he grabbed the staff, his index finger rubbed lightly against it, before he nodded. Without a word, he turned around and began walking into the forest once more.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well¡­ that¡¯s interesting.¡± I muttered, watching the meeting of the two. ¡°Why would she give a blessing like that, though?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hmm?¡± Aurivy nced over at me, seeming like she was slightly distracted. ¡°Oh, that? I don¡¯t know specifically, but maybe she was testing something out? Back in the day, when we had you run around for blessings, we were still fairly new to it. We could just offer a t stat increase based on our domains.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We¡¯ve had a <i><span style="font-weight:400">lot</i><span style="font-weight:400"> of time to practice since then, and learned different types of blessings that we can give people. It sounds like she gave a type of Trial Blessing. It¡¯s one of the blessing types we discovered a few hundred years ago.¡± Aurivy grinned, slowly leaning back and stretching.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°See, if we give someone a trial in our official capacity as a divine being, the act of undertaking that trial causes their faith to build up within their body. The longer a trialsts, or the more difficult it is, the more this faith builds. We never really noticed it back then with you, because we were still too new, and the trials we gave you were neither lengthy nor particrly difficult.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Anyways, once the trial is done, we can use that divine energy that¡¯s built up in them as the foundation for the blessing. This gives us more room to customize it. For instance, I could give someone a blessing that they would never get lost, or that they could make friends with anyone they meet if I gave them a sufficient trial. I tried thatst one once, and it almost led to a total dictatorship before Terra helped me arrange for a good old fashioned smiting.¡± She smirked yfully as she said that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If you can do this for people¡­ why haven¡¯t I heard about it before now?¡± I blinked in confusion, ncing at Aurivy, and then the others in the room. alia, however, simply shrugged.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Like she said, Dale, the trial is dependent on the person. What¡¯s difficult for someone might not be for others. When we want to issue a trial, we have to tailor it to the individual. In this case, the condition of ¡®never opening your eyes¡¯ is pretty strict. For a preteen boy, this is a very difficult challenge. Terra might have been pushing the limits of how much energy she could use for a blessing. After all, she only ended the trial after he was so used to it that he found it more challenging to <i><span style="font-weight:400">open</i><span style="font-weight:400"> his eyes than to keep them closed.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°At that point, the blessing could no longer get any stronger with that trial, so she probably decided to cancel it there. Either way, the fact that we have to tailor a trial for every person that we want to give that type of blessing severely limits how many people get it. I typically issue ten trials every year to people that I find to be the most fitting of my new worshippers.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy let out a low whistle at that. ¡°I only do three a year. Though, most of my trials fall into one of three categories. One, they try to circumnavigate the world under their own power, without seeking aid or epting assistance. Two, they enter a specially prepared dungeon that I make for them. Or three, they help a total stranger of my choosing to find true love. Usually, I give one of each trial every year. Speaking of¡­ it¡¯s about time for the love trial.¡± Aurivy grinned yfully as she thought about that, clearly nning to pick someone at random.

 Chapter 730: Once More Unto The Brink

    Chapter 730: Once More Unto The Brink


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aboard the Traveler, the next three days were spent creating containment chambers for the two relics that it had be their mission to recover. The first one was fine, and simply needed a polycarbonate casing at least two centimeters thick on all sides. This was enough to ensure that the object would not identally leak its energy to any of the three passengers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, steps needed to be taken before the second relic was brought aboard. These steps would prevent the energies of the two items from interacting with one another, causing unforeseen issues. For this, Chel had to quickly design a containment chamber by scanning the energy readings of the Mimicry relic andparing them to what was observed from the Possession relic.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That is why this chamber could not be created before the retrieval of the second item, as both readings were needed in order to understand which parts of the energy signal weremon between them, and how others varied. Once that was done, Chel got to work with Thea and Nora to construct a dampening field capable of suppressing the energies of the relics.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If not for the contributions of the Greater Pantheon, supplying them with manufacturedponents and materials, it was unlikely that they would have been able toplete the field within their three day deadline. Thankfully, between their help and Traveler¡¯s cooperation, they were able toplete the project mere hours before their arrival at their next destination.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This time, the system that they appeared in looked wholly normal. There were over a dozens orbiting a single, yellow star that was not unlike the sun of Deckan itself. Of thes, there were two which hadrge patches of green, suggesting the presence of nt life.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once they dropped out of the Travel domain, Chel gave a nod towards the forward screen. ¡°You know what to do, Traveler. Same procedure asst time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Understood, Chelsea.¡± Traveler responded, soon going silent in order to carry out the wide-area scans. Images began appearing on the screens, showing different views of each of thes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I am not detecting any unusual weather patterns. All significant storms corrte to natural weather conditions, with temperatures and tidal patterns following a logical course.¡± Traveler reported, though its voice seemed a bit more tired than before. Clearly, it had done a detailed scan in order to prevent any idents like their earlier target.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Alright, then. What about monster activity?¡± Chel asked, reclining in her seat. She had already established her willingness to destroy entires to find the object of her search, though there appeared to be twos within this system carrying at least some form of life. It would be a bit trickier if the relic was on either of those twos.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m checking that now. Minimal monster presence within outer space. However, they appear to be congregated around the sixth from the star, the second in this system capable of supporting life.¡± As Traveler reported that, one of the images on the screen grew, showing one of the two greens.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Surrounding that were numerous red dots, seeming to roam around the¡¯s atmosphere. They weren¡¯t entering it, but rather simply hovering, as if searching. ¡°Is it masking its presence, or have there just not been many to detect it yet?¡± Chel asked in a concerned tone, before speaking up.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Give me an ecological breakdown of this. If it has life, I want to know how advanced it is, and if there are any anomalous regions that could be caused by a mysterious power.¡± This was the tricky thing about hunting relics like this, you couldn¡¯t always use the same method every time. Each one held its own special power, the raw manifestation of a domain.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Understood. Performing a focused ecological scan.¡± Traveler responded, the ship itself turning to move towards the indicated. ¡°I am not detecting any signs of civilization. The highest form of life appears to be a six-legged reptile. As some of them detected my scan, they quickly activated a form of cloaking mechanism that rendered them invisible to my sight.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel¡¯s eyes gleamed when she heard that. ¡°Good!¡± She nodded, knowing how to take the operation from here. ¡°Traveler, form a of mana across the, maintaining it twenty meters from the¡¯s surface. The lines of the should be no more than one hundred kilometers apart. Once you¡¯ve done that, project a second map of this on the main screen, using the you are creating as the foundation.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Traveler appeared momentarily confused, but nheless followed the instructions. Soon, a map appeared in a second window on the screen. This one looked as if someone were drawingtitude and longitude lines, but they had gone a bit crazy with spacing them too close together. Chel studied the image, finding that there were not any unusual gaps in the lines.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Tighten the. Ten meters from the surface, fifty kilometer spread. Rotate the opposite to the¡¯s natural rotation.¡± Chel called out, watching as the lines became even morepact.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she stared at the, she saw one line appear to vanish, immediately focusing on that location. ¡°Pause the map, and ovey it with the topographical map of the.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once again, Traveler followed her instructions to the letter. When Chel saw the location that she had noted was within one of the world¡¯s oceans, she was¡­ less than thrilled. Nora seemed to follow her train of thought, gulping slightly. ¡°What are the odds that it has removed an entire ind from the map?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There¡¯s one way to check.¡± She sighed. ¡°Traveler, give me a control terminal. I¡¯m going to feed you coordinates.¡± After she said that, a pedestal appeared in front of her, disying the same map that was on the main screen. Navigating to the proper location, she drew a square over the affected area.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Run onest scan. This time, I need a solid block of mana that touches the surface of the ocean, and rises to a height of thirty meters. I want you to only disy the area within this region that you are <i><span style="font-weight:400">not</i><span style="font-weight:400"> able to get a reading back from.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The around the vanished, and a new disy appeared. What was shown was the top of a dome, one that seemed to poke out over the ocean and just barely reached fifteen meters high. However, Chel let out a frustrated sigh as she saw the shape.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s definitely underwater. Traveler¡­ use this shape as a reference, assume it fits as the top of the sphere, and find me the center.¡± Chel watched as the dome expanded, appearing to form a full sphere. Once the sphere was formed, the center was highlighted and marked on the map.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The center of this sphere would appear to be three kilometers beneath the ocean¡¯s surface, upon what can be assumed to be the ocean floor for this region.¡± Traveler reported, once again oveying this area over the full map of the.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Three kilometers¡­¡± Chel muttered to herself. ¡°That depth is easily something a ¡®Perfect Self¡¯ can withstand.¡± She looked at the twins, offering a small nod before looking at the ceiling once again. ¡°I don¡¯t suppose that you have any diving equipment?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Unfortunately, I do not. I am a vessel for traveling deep space, not deep oceans, and therefore only possess aquatic gear that one would find useful within my onboard pool. If you wish to have a bathing suit tailored to you, that is within my area of expertise. However, a diving suit of such quality is beyond me.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel let out a low sigh at Traveler¡¯s report. ¡°Alright. Guess we¡¯re doing this oldschool.¡± She looked at the girls. ¡°Through one method or another, this relic is blocking out the mana response in this area. It¡¯s unknown if it will work with other types of energy or not, so I will perform a quick test when we descend. If the test is sessful, we will retrieve the artifact and return. If not¡­ we will abandon this one here to make our way back to Deckan.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The girls were naturally surprised to hear Chel propose the idea of abandoning one of these relics. ¡°What sort of test?¡± Thea asked worriedly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m going to extend my hand into the affected field. If my hand dissolves, that means that the effect is one that is capable of erasing all energy that enters its domain. In that situation, we would not be able to retrieve it, nor could we afford to bring it aboard the Traveler without specialized safeguards.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If my hand does not dissolve, we can assume that it is simply blocking either mana or themunication with mana. Either way, we will have to improvise how wemunicate. At a depth of three kilometers, the area will be pitch ck, minus any light we create ourselves. Thus, signnguage simply isn¡¯t an option.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nora smiled brightly. ¡°We could use various colors of light to send simple messages.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel smiled, pleased with that idea. ¡°That¡¯s good. Let¡¯s use white to mean that everything is normal. Yellow means suspicious activity. Red means danger. Blue means that you have found something to report to the others. And finally, green means that you have found the relic, and we are free to extract.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Looking up, Chel spoke to Traveler again. ¡°Can you make us waterproof shlights with those colors? It shouldn¡¯t be difficult, as there are many cases in which one would appreciate multicolored lighting aboard an entertainment vessel.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a moment of hesitation from Traveler. ¡°I believe that I can provide this. However, they will have an operating time of only five hours after they have left my body. Given that I cannot prate this area with my mana, I would be incapable of wirelessly charging them over this distance.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel nodded, as if that was entirely expected. ¡°In that case, add in one more color. After three hours, all shlights will begin shing pink, signalling that we need to quickly surface and return to recharge.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Do you think that we won¡¯t find it after three hours?¡± Nora asked curiously, to which Chel gave a bitter smile.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Certain energy types travel at different speeds through liquids and gasses, and can have their flows disrupted by the tide. Although Traveler provided this map as a basis to go off of, there is still a possible five hundred meter discrepancy. That¡¯s a five hundred meter radius that we will need to scour on the ocean¡¯s floor in total darkness.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I can create a vision-type energy that will let you see in the dark, but there is still the ocean floor itself to consider. The item we¡¯re looking for might be buried under ayer of mud, preventing us from spotting it at a nce. If we go over the entire territory without finding anything, we¡¯ll need to carefully dig.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I say carefully because digging too firmly will cause the muddy sand to rise in our faces, preventing us from seeing anything at all. While I can give you darkvision, I <i><span style="font-weight:400">cannot</i><span style="font-weight:400"> easily give you the ability to see through that type of clouded water. Especially not in a situation where mana has been cut off.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel let out a resigned sigh after saying all of that. ¡°Not just three hours, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if it took us a week just to find this one relic, depending on how deep it is.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nora nodded her head at that, understanding the gravity of the situation now. After thest relic, she had believed that this would be a simple extraction job. Thest thing that she thought she¡¯d be doing was wading through the ocean floor to try and find a crystal of unknown size and shape. Her ears drooped, her tails falling limp. ¡°Well¡­ let¡¯s get this over with, I guess. I¡¯m going to need the mother of all showers when we get back, though.¡±

 Chapter 731: The Hungry Depths

    Chapter 731: The Hungry Depths


    <span style="font-weight:400">The three girls waited for the shlights to be finished, and then briefly experimented with their settings. While they waited, Chel created a very simple energy for darkvision. While it did not offer them much range for their vision, it would at least let them see the immediate area around them. And given that they were unaware of what sorts of monsters would exist on the ocean floor in this region, that little bit of sight was extremely valuable.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Keep in mind, the artifact we¡¯re looking for this time has an ability rted to either distortion, nullification, or stealth. I¡¯m <i><span style="font-weight:400">hoping</i><span style="font-weight:400"> that it is thetter, as that would be the easiest one for us to deal with. If it¡¯s nullification, we may simply have to return after James is awake, and work on a containment field specifically for such an object.¡± Chel exined as they each held their shlights.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nora and Thea both nodded, signalling that they were ready. Thus, Chel gave themand for Traveler to send them down to the coordinates of the object, one kilometer above the ocean¡¯s surface. As they had be familiar with over their years, golden mist surrounded the three girls, sending them to hover in midair.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As they were expecting this, they were able to immediately stabilize themselves, watching the apparently calm ocean below. The two sisters looked warily as Chel descended, carefully measuring the distance. ¡°Traveler, please warn me when I¡¯m within five meters of the affected region.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although she was confident in her own calctions, she did not want to gamble with her life, even if this was only one incarnation. It would greatly upset James if he realized that she threw a life away like that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sure enough, around the same time as she believed she was getting close, Traveler transmitted a warning to her. With a smile, she stopped where she was, looking beneath her. There were no visible traces to be found of this field, but that was to be expected.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel extended her hand, her arm stretching out as she pushed more and more energy into reshaping her body. Soon, it had reached a length of over ten meters, easily prating the field with room to spare. With that done, Chel waited, sensing to see if there were any changes in the energy of her arm prating the field.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Moments passed, but nothing appeared to change, aside from the fact that Chel was unable to sense her arm beyond a certain point. Just to make sure, she pulled her hand back, relieved to find that it was still able to be controlled. ¡°Alright, like we practiced.¡± She said, allowing her own body to descend into the water.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nora looked at her sister and nodded, following closely after Chel. They knew that they would no longer be able to verballymunicate after this point, so the tension was rapidly rising. As they descended into the depths, the light became more and more dim, forcing them to activate the energy that Chel had previously taught them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If there was one thing to be thankful of, it was that this world had not developed much in the way of powerful beasts. At least, not that could be observed from the surface. It was impossible to tell if there was something lurking within the range of the relic, however.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As Nora¡¯s eyes adjusted to the darkness, she saw various strange fish floating around her. Some of these creatures were colorful, or sporting numerous tentacles. Some swam up towards her while others avoided them. However, thergest that they saw on their descent was no more than half their own size.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This creature strongly resembled a shark, and had attempted to attack Nora upon noticing them. Nora simply formed an axe de with her left hand, slicing the creature in half with ease. Although she knew that it was counterproductive to kill it and allow its blood to flow into the water, she could not simply allow it to bite away at her while they worked.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now that she had acted in such a way, she shed her light red at the others to alert them. When they saw the cloud of blood in the water, they hurried their descent, taking mere moments to arrive at the ocean¡¯s floor. This depth was quite some distance from where the shark had died, so it should theoretically be out of the hunting range of any super-predator that would be attracted.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once they were on the ocean¡¯s surface, they split up and began scanning the ground around them. Their shlights swept over the murky surface, looking for any protrusion and sifting through any coral or seaweeds that they found. Nora went straight for the center of the field, Chel moving to the left and Thea to the right.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Their progress was slow, the limited visibility coupled with the pressure of the ocean restricting how quickly they could search. Within the first hour, they had not even explored one hundred meters into their respective zones.


    <span style="font-weight:400">During this hour, Nora had tried extending energies from her body other than mana. For instance, she had tried using her spiritual energy to scan the energy around her, or even just her ki. Each time, however, shepletely lost contact with the energy the moment it left her body, souring her expression.


    <span style="font-weight:400">All she could do was scan the area with her eyes, feeling around with her feet to make sure it wasn¡¯t lying just beneath the surface. Sadly, she was unable to locate it within that hour.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, she did not lose hope, as their search had only just begun. For the second hour, they had be limated to their underwater conditions, slightly increasing their effectiveness. Every now and then, one of them shed their light yellow, drawing the other two over. However, all that this revealed was a few deep sea pearls, rather than the crystal that they were looking for.


    <span style="font-weight:400">By the end of the third hour, they had managed to just reach the center of the areas they were searching, still without any luck. If there was one thing to be thankful for, it was the absence of monsters that could truly harm them¡­


    <span style="font-weight:400">Eventually, their shlights began rapidly shing pink, signalling for the three girls to begin their ascent. Although they had not found anything, Chel had warned them that it could take as long as a week to find the relic within this underwater field. On their way up, they noticed considerably less activity in the local aquatic life, possibly having been scared away by the smell of the shark¡¯s blood from earlier.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once they surfaced, they flew higher into the air, waiting until they had exited the range of the relic¡¯s effects. Only then did Chel look at the sky again. ¡°Traveler, can you recharge our shlights from here, or do we have to return?¡±


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I can handle the matter remotely.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> His voice transmitted back to her, letting Chel breathe out a sigh of relief. Nora and Thea soon realized that her estimation of one week was under the assumption that they got as little rest as possible, their faces paling at the thought of spending an entire week underwater.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once Traveler responded that it was done, Chel directed them to descend again, returning to their previous points. This time, they spent the next two hours scanning the remains of their respective territories, doing their best to sweep through as quickly as they could.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After the two hours were over, Nora noticed her sister¡¯s light shing off to her right. Turning to look, she expected it to be the yellow light indicating a possible find. However, to her surprise, Thea¡¯s light was shing blood red.


    <span style="font-weight:400">rmed, Nora hurried to her sister¡¯s location, kicking against the ground and propelling herself fast enough to disturb the flow of water around her. When she arrived, she saw that her sister was standing in a defensive posture, cuts visible along her body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oddly, Nora did not see what was attacking her sister, nor did she see Thea fighting back. Instead, she watched her sister wince as a fresh cut appeared along one of her arms. Thea swept her arm out to the side in an attempt to catch her attacker, but the strike hit nothing but empty water.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nora immediately recognized that the enemy was some form of invisible creature with high speed and des along at least some part of its body. Moreover, these des were sharp enough that they could pierce the body of someone at their level. That was far from an easy feat, indicating that they were likely dealing with the apex predator of this ocean.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Moments after Nora arrived, she felt a pain along one of her legs. Looking down, she saw that a cut had appeared along her leg. As she was not a creature with an organic body, this cut did not bleed, but it did offer the pain of her leg being cut.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nora nced around warily, moving over to stand next to her sister. If the two of them worked together, they had a much higher chance of fending off whatever force they were fighting. And unsurprisingly, Thea seemed reassured to have her sister there, as well.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately, an increase in morale did not exactly help them find their invisible attacker. If they had ess to their external energies, it would be a simple matter for either of them to just unleash a sweeping attack to destroy everything in their immediate vicinity. Without it, they could only rely on their maniption of their bodies.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A cut began forming on one of Thea¡¯s cheeks, and the side of her head abruptly turned into a spike. While she was hoping to impale whatever had attacked her, it was clear that she had no such luck. The only thing she managed to aplish was scraping the side of the creature, which she felt was quite durable.


    <span style="font-weight:400">What the attack did do was to cause a trickle of blood to leak out from the side of whatever it was that attacked them, allowing them to more urately track it. However, this showed them that they were not fighting only one adversary. While they had previously been content to attack one by one as part of some pack hunting tactic, the injury to one of their own had sent the rest into a frenzy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Over a dozen wounds appeared simultaneously along the bodies of both kitsune, the two of them doing their best to react with those same spike protrusions. When the injured fish swam back around to strike, Nora urately pierced its body with her hand. With one forceful motion, she tore its body open even as more cuts appeared along her body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It did not take long for Chel to arrive and see what was going on. Witnessing the numerous attacks appearing along their bodies, she furrowed her brow. Invisible creatures that hunted in packs, and possessing strong enough natural weapons to pierce the bodies of people at their level¡­ it was clear that these creatures had been nurtured by the relic that they were looking for.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately, this did not help her save the two sisters. She wracked her brain, trying to think of a means of attack that would work in this situation, when suddenly Nora did a daring move the surprised both Chel and her sister.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Reaching her arms out, she caused them to massively expand, reaching more than twenty meters in length. At that point, they split open, moving to form connected lines around them in the shape of a dome. Finally, the connected lines filled in, forming a solid dome with tiny holes pierced through it at even points.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It took Chel a moment to realize what Nora was doing, her eyes only lighting up a momentter when a flesh-colored sphere passed through the dome, opening to contain the sisters. Operating under the assumption that the fish were staying within ten meters of their prey, Nora began constricting the dome she had created, the holes too small for the fish to swim through. Although they could cut at her body, they could not carve out a path to escape faster than Nora couldpress the dome.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Soon, she could feel the wriggling masses contained within the hand she had turned into the ¡®fleshy¡¯ dome. As they were unable to properly swim about, it was clear that they were upying almost the entire space. Compressing any further would be met with extreme resistance, and likely allow them to cut their way out.


    <span style="font-weight:400">So instead, Nora created numerous spikes along the inside of the dome, all piercing inwards. Soon, blood began to flow from the numerous small holes within the dome, an indication that the fish inside were being ughtered.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thea remained on guard against further dangers while her sister worked, only feeling relieved when she realized that no more injuries were appearing on either of their bodies. Once the school of invisible fish were all killed, she ced a hand on her sister¡¯s shoulder, giving a thankful squeeze.

 Chapter 732: Isolation

    Chapter 732: Istion


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel shed a thumbs up to the two girls, realizing that the dangers had been dealt with, before the three returned to their work. The battle had not kicked up much of the ocean floor, so they had quite a lot left to go. In fact, it would not be wrong to say that they had kicked up more of the muddy floor by rushing over to help Thea than in the fight itself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The three of them continued to search, wary of any other unforeseen forces. After going through the full five hundred meter radius on the surface, they gradually began shifting the muddy sand to the far eastern part of their search field. This allowed them to avoid a situation where the current would push the already moved sections back into where they would get in the way.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This continued for two more days, the three of them having only managed to dig down to a depth of thirty meters in that time. During that period, they were attacked by the invisible swordfish numerous times, but they had learned how to deal with them at this point. It did not seem that there were any other creatures within this region that could pose a serious threat to them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When it waste into the third day, Thea was trudging through the soil, slowly pushing it out of the way while being careful not to create a murky cloud in front of her. The three of them had not yet had a proper break during these days, aside from when they briefly ascended to recharge, and her nerves were beginning to fray. Thea was tempted to simply sweep through the floor in a violent manner, and see what she found.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, Chel had repeatedly advised her against doing this. The relics themselves were very durable, but it was hard to know if she would even notice the ck crystal amidst the thick clouds of mud. If it was swept away and caught by the current, it could take them weeks to locate it again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, she restrained herself, doing her best to be as careful as she could to do the job right. When she felt something hard brushing against her hand, she assumed it was simply another piece of coral, and was prepared to dispose of it. However, a nce down revealed a trace of rough crystal. Only after she shined her light on it did she realize that this was the very thing that they were looking for.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thea grabbed the crystal, hugging it to her chest as she jumped to her feet. Her fingers fiddled with the shlight enthusiastically, quickly altering between various colors as she tried to find the right setting. When she found the switch to shine the light green, she began waving it in the direction of the other two.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, the two had noticed her flickering light. When it first went red, and then yellow, they had their suspicions. But for it to change to green and settle there as she waved it around? Smiles grew on their faces as they kicked off the ocean floor, rapidly swimming upwards.


    <span style="font-weight:400">None of them cared to observe the scenery as they ascended, wanting nothing more than to be done with this and get back on theirfortable spaceship. When they breached the water¡¯s surface, they didn¡¯t do anything more thanugh as they continued to fly higher. Clearly, they were happy to be out of the ck depths of the ocean.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Traveler, bring us back!¡± Chel called out with a wide grin, but was surprised to find that there was no response to her message. After a few moments, she blinked in realization, ncing towards Thea. ¡°Well, that¡¯ll cause aplication.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thea quickly realized the nature of their problem, eyes going wide. ¡°Our mana transmissions can¡¯t reach him as long as we are within the range of this effect¡­ and we can¡¯t leave that range without leaving this behind.¡± She nced at therge crystal hugged against her chest.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel nodded, before simply shrugging her shoulders. ¡°We¡¯ll just have to fly up there manually. Once I lock it in the containment chamber, the effect should be negated.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nora thought about that for a moment, seeming curious. ¡°If the energy from these objects were to be entirely contained, would the star map send us to a new location, having lost the trace on this one?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel furrowed her brow, before shaking her head. ¡°Unlikely. I haven¡¯t had the chance to study the spell behind the star map yet, but I feel like it should be extremely high level. I can¡¯t guarantee that my containment field nullifies every trace of the energy, and that small trace may be all that it needs. It would be worth a shot, but I would not get my hopes up.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As they spoke, they increased their speed, flying higher and higher into the air. Although the relic they were carrying prevented them from leaving their energy outside of their bodies, it was still possible for them to manipte the energy within themselves to achieve the effect of flight.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After roughly five minutes had passed, they were finally leaving the¡¯s atmosphere, searching around to try and visibly spot the Traveler. Unfortunately¡­ space is very vast. It was hard for them to make out anything within the dark sky, even if the Traveler remained in a rtively nearby orbit. Without the proper knowledge of the ship¡¯s coordinates, it was a waste of time to aimlessly fly about to look for it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As Chel was preparing to fly out of the relic¡¯s range to message Traveler, they saw a golden speck approaching from the horizon, drawing closer to their general location. Their eyes went wide as smiles tugged on the faces of the three girls. Clearly, Traveler had done something to know when they were ascending.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The golden ship flew in front of them, the side door silently opening to allow them aboard. Once the cabin was depressurized, and they were able to speak once again, Chel let out a lightugh. ¡°You were tracking the range you couldn¡¯t detect.¡± She said towards the ceiling, knowing that that was the most likely way for the Traveler to have found them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That is correct, Chelsea.¡± The Traveler responded in a proud tone. ¡°I can tell that your search has been fruitful. Your containment chamber is ready, and I have prepared clean towels in each of your rooms. Additionally, each of your rooms have been supplied with a spare uniform to wear while you have your current clothes cleaned.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Traveler¡­ you are the best.¡± Nora said with a happy smile, immediately running in the direction of the bedroom that had been assigned to her. Her clothes were wet and sticky from all the salt water, and she wanted nothing more than to get changed and dried off.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel chuckled, walking over to Thea. ¡°You go get cleaned up, too. I¡¯ll take care of the containment procedures.¡± Thea nodded, passing over the relic before rushing to her own room.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What domain did you acquire this time?¡± Traveler asked curiously, clearly not able to discern such things himself. However, Chel simply shrugged, unsure of the answer.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Don¡¯t know. In order to check, I need to send a small amount of divinity into my eyes, which radiates it outwards along my line of sight to scan people or objects in my field of view. However, with this relic, that energy would be canceled out before itpleted its task. Once I have it locked up in containment, I should be able to scan it and find out, though


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she said that, she walked down the halls of the Traveler, making her way towards the vault where they had established containment. Inside the vault was another polycarbonate case, as well as six small devices ced around the perimeter. These six devices suppressed the energy of the two relics, preventing their energies from interacting with one another.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, before Chel took the relic into the containment field, she looked towards Traveler. ¡°Go ahead and bring us into the Travel Domain. Once I seal this up, the local monsters might start acting up.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Traveler epted her order, and a momentter they were moving. Only then did Chel feelfortable setting the crystal within the container that she had helped to produce. Looking at the two items with a smile, she allowed her eyes to glow as she scanned the newest acquisition.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Istion. Well, I suppose that¡¯s fitting.¡± Chel shook her head, turning to walk towards her own quarters. The powers of stealth created by this relic were merely the act of isting their user from their surroundings. Additionally, the energy that was sent away from the body was lost because the body itself had been isted from outside energies, and vice versa.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">nk sat at his desk, going over various files that passed through his office. He had been given a task by Chel before she left, though it was one that only he himself was privy to. He was to make a mental note of any online material that appeared in theing days which referenced theb in which James and Chel worked.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, this was no easy task, even for an advanced intelligence like himself. The inte was simply toorge of a ce, with tens of thousands of entries going live every single minute of the day. Had he been asked tob every entry in detail to look for references to theb, it would have been impossible even with the help of all of his assistants.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Yet oddly, Chel did not tell him to be that thorough. Instead, he was specifically told to only monitor specific sites, or at least specific types of sites. Those on the ¡®dark web¡¯, where people would share secret information anonymously, often through the use of virtual avatars.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Such files still came and went fast enough that he could barely track them, but this was at least manageable by himself. And with the majority of the files having no reference to theb, they were quickly passed over. That is, until he saw a particr message appearing.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Deckan Researcher and his team have left theirb, and it appears to be running on minimal security.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was all there was to the message, no follow up exnation saying how they knew this, but nk still had his ideas. At least, in regards to detecting James himself. The researcher would easily be able to tell when someone was directly scrying on him, and cut it off at its source. Instead, for people such as James with monstrous levels of energy, a technique had been created to allow for discrete observation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This technique was known as ¡®Shadow Sensing¡¯. Instead of directly trying to detect the energy of the target, they would instead look for the impact their energy left on the atmospheric energy around them. In the same way that you can locate a light by finding the shadows it casts, this method allows people to determine the presence and general location of individuals with excessive energy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As for how they came to the conclusion that the rest of the team was absent, nk did not know. In fact, he did not know if the entire team truly was absent, as that had not been in the details Chel had given him. All she said was that she would be leaving for a while, and she asked him to watch for messages like these.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was roughly a week ago, and the first message had appeared. After it did, there was roughly another hour before more gged messages began showing up on nk¡¯s radar. These did not appear to be from the same source, but rather a number of undergroundworks discussing the vulnerability of theb.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Some wished to sneak in while their defenses were down, just to look at their research data. Others had specific projects that they wanted to try to steal. Still more rebuked that to steal from the Researcher was suicide, as his power was not something normal people could contend with.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This led to a heated discussion of how one would be able to sneak in and out under these supposed ¡®minimal security¡¯ conditions without leaving any traces to be discovered. nk was rather intrigued by what he was reading, as the methods they discussed were ones that he had not considered. Some even mentioned infiltrating through the inte itself, converting their bodies into a form simr to that of an artificial intelligence, and using the innate power of such beings to hop acrosswork lines.


    <span style="font-weight:400">nk made extra notes of these situations, knowing that he would have to find safeguards against simr methods in the future. Cyber Security was something of a side business for him, after all.

 Chapter 733: Black Moon

    Chapter 733: ck Moon


    <span style="font-weight:400">The trip back was rather smooth for the three passengers aboard the Traveler, who were taking the time to simply rx after their extended stay in the ocean. As with before, Chel had instructed Traveler to take three days to return back to Deckan. Counting this, the total time that they had been away from the researchb was twelve days.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sadly, containing the energies from the relic proved useless in getting the star map to find them a new one. ording to Chel¡¯s estimate, the map would only change after the energy was fully siphoned into another person. Given that they wanted these for research purposes, that was not something that they considered high on their priorities list.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We are approaching Deckan, and may drop out of the domain at any moment.¡± Traveler¡¯s voice spoke up within the bridge. As they had been keeping track of the time, all three girls were present and watching the forward monitors.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°How do you want to do this?¡± Thea asked, ncing over at Chel. The existence of Traveler was still a secret, so there was no telling how theary defense fleet would react. However, Chel simply smiled, shaking her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Traveler, can you ess the inte for me? I need to send an email.¡± She said with a mischievous smile, rocking back and forth yfully in her chair.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°To whom am I addressing this email?¡± Traveler asked curiously, but she simply shook her head again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Leave the recipient field nk. For the message, record the following. Protocol ck Moon, A-L-X-9-5-8, security code 7-V-9-4-C-D-X. Did you get all of that?¡± The other two looked strangely as Chel spat out the codes, unsure what they were for. For that matter, why send an email to a nk--


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nora¡¯s eyes widened as she figured it out. She had seen both James and Chel typing emails to people before, and could have sworn that they left the field nk as well. When they chose to send the email, an error message appeared, but they ignored it. When she asked James about it once, he said ¡°It¡¯s his preference.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">If there was someone who preferred their name to be nk and had the power to do such a thing, that could only be nk himself. ¡°I have transcribed the message exactly as you instructed.¡± Traveler responded dutifully.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Very good, then please send it. And don¡¯t worry about an error message, it¡¯ll get through. It¡¯s how he screens his messages.¡± Chel smiled, and then began counting after hermand was given. This time, they really couldn¡¯t be sure what was happening.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once she had reached a hundred, she nodded her head. ¡°We can drop out of the domain now. Just fly us straight to the transit point in orbit.¡± After she said that, she hopped to her feet. Skipping out the door, she nced back at the twins. ¡°Well, are youing?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°But¡­ the fleet¡­¡± Thea asked, dumbfounded as she rose to follow.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">A Destiny-ss ship, the Juggernaut, was stationed in upper orbit around Deckan. It served as one of their constantary defenders, though in all honesty they didn¡¯t do much. Every now and then, they would fire a single shot to destroy encroaching monsters, but they had never fought anything on the scale of a true threat.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sir, I¡¯m picking up a strange disturbance in the space one thousand kilometers ahead.¡± An officer on the bridge announced, staring at his screen. ¡°The energy signature appears to be¡­ divinity.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing this, the captain of the ship shot to his feet, rm on his face. There were very few gods that used space itself as a medium for transportation with their domain, and even fewer that would appear in orbit like this. ¡°Tell the gunners to power up their weapons. When the entityes through, I want immediate identification, or we will open fire.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The captain was not a cruel man. Deckan had already had an encounter with an evil god in the past, and he knew of the existence of divine monsters. Should one of these monsters appear, they had to be ready to destroy it at a moment¡¯s notice.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Barely had his orders been ryed before a golden portal appeared ahead of them. From the portal emerged a sleek ship of unknown design, not matching any public records. The captain grit his teeth, knowing that this could either be an alien ship, or even a monster in some form of disguise. ¡°Send the identification request, and ready all weapons!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, as he said this, the lights on the bridge all began shing red. ¡°Weapons systems are offline!¡± Another officer called out from her terminal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What happened?¡± The captain questioned in a panic. The weapons systems going down was clearly an attack of some sort, while the strange ship seemed to be flying closer.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Unknown!¡± The officer reported with a shake of her head. ¡°They were just all disabled at once. I¡¯m not picking up any sign of signal jamming, though.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The sleek ship flew right up to the Juggernaut¡­ and then simply passed it by, moving towards an orbital dock station. The captain ordered his ship to pursue, even if they had no weapons, and saw that other ships had also turned to follow this golden vessel. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Were they all disabled, as well?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The ship moved in to dock at the station, appearing to follow all normal procedures, at which point the captain could only order that his ship do the same. If they could not use their weapons, they would have to run through the station on foot to find out the identity of this mysterious vessel.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Protocol ck Moon is a little bypass that I set up in the weapons systems of the Destiny-ss ships back when they were being built.¡± Chel exined as she pushed one of the two containers housing the primordial relics, the other being pushed by the twins. ¡°If there was ever a situation where our weapons were outside the control of our people, or somehow turned against us, this hardcoded bypass would allow us to shut the weapons down remotely.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°But¡­ why did you need to send the email to do that?¡± Thea asked, grunting as she pushed the heavy container. For security reasons, each container had been outfitted with field suppressors to prevent their energies from shing while they were transported back to theb.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Because the only one that can activate that bypass is nk.¡± Chel grinned, shaking her head. ¡°Activating the bypass requiresworking two differentputers, each of which have theirwork ess disabled and are located in sealed bunkers. Each of these bunkers have void energy disruption fields to prevent their dimensional coordinates from being used in transport spells for physical beings.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As a programmed intelligence that had achieved sentience, nk has the power to jump fromwork towork, as long as he has been there before. Even if their ess is currently closed.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°When I was establishing the bypass, I temporarily had nk upy both terminals, that way he could bookmark their locations. Only after the code I gave him was used would the terminals connect and trigger the bypass. Furthermore, the code resets after every use. Once I get back and make sure that there¡¯s not another entity on either terminal, I¡¯ll make a new code. The only one with ess to the terminals is nk, and the only ones that know the code is myself, James, and the Greater Pantheon.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thea nodded her head slowly as she heard about the security procedure. ¡°How¡­ many of these procedures have you made?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel gave a yful little smile at that. ¡°James has his hobbies, and I have mine. Mine is to prepare for any situation I can imagine. If I¡¯ve dreamt of it, I¡¯ve probably dreamt up a countermeasure. Ask me some time to tell you how I would beat a God of Death with the power of friendship.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m sorry, what¡­?¡± Nora looked over at their conversation when she heard that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, if you gather a group of normal kids, and have them sing--¡± Chel started, before being cut off.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°N-No, that wasn¡¯t a request to share. Just¡­ why? That is a very specific scenario.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The smaller kitsune grinned, having finally reached the airlock of the ship. ¡°Easy. Sometimes, you need to improvise to get the job done. And where Ie from, there is no such thing as being over prepared. I once saw a giant monster made of pasta, able to drain a person¡¯s soul as long as they came within a thousand kilometers.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We killed it with high-intensity incendiary rounds dropped from orbit. Funny enough, it actually cooked pretty well, and became perfectly edible after it died. One of the tastiest void monsters we¡¯ve killed.¡± Chel seemed to lick her lips merely at the thought of grilled pasta.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nora¡­ was at a loss for words, simply blinking as they passed through the airlock. ¡°You have a¡­ very colorful history.¡± Outside the ship, they could see that numerous Destiny-ss vessels were just docking, while security forces from the station itself could be seen running in their direction. ¡°So, what¡¯s the next stage of the n?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel rolled her eyes at that, ncing behind them. ¡°You can go back home, Traveler. It was fun, and I¡¯ll call you again the next time I need a lift somewhere!¡± After she said that, there was a faint tremor from the golden ship. A momentter, it was simply¡­ gone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As for us¡­ let¡¯s go see if they took the bait yet.¡± She smiled, snapping her fingers to create a gateway before them. ¡°Might want to hurry, so they don¡¯t catch you~.¡± Chelughed, pushing her container through as the twins hurried to follow. By the time the security forces had arrived, the portal had already closed. However, their figures had clearly been seen on numerous security cameras, so Chel was confident that they would be identified.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The other side of the portal led just outside of the research facility, near the loading bay. Humming a tune to herself, Chel casually pushed her container to the thick metal doors. As she approached, these doors seemed to open on their own, Chel¡¯s eyes scanning the interior once inside. ¡°Well, it doesn¡¯t look like anyone¡¯s invaded through this entrance, at least. Or, they didn¡¯t leave any traces.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s a bit more than that.¡± A new voice cut her off, a door opening nearby as a tired elf stepped through. The group naturally recognized Treisha, though she seemed quite haggard. ¡°You¡¯re finally back.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...We didn¡¯t hit a time field, right? We¡¯ve still been gone less than two weeks?¡± Chel seemed to grow nervous as she asked that, further confirming her rather drastic imagination.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh? N-No, nothing like that. Two weeks¡­ has it really been that long?¡± Treisha asked in confusion. ¡°Anyways¡­ no, nobody tried to break in or anything. They¡¯ve all been too busy with something else.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not a fan of the vague exnations.¡± Chel urged. ¡°What happened?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Treisha gave a bitter smile. ¡°The evolution of sapient, organic life on an interdimensional scale.¡±

 Chapter 734: Evolutionary Pulse

    Chapter 734: Evolutionary Pulse


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Treisha? What are you talking about?¡± Chel asked, confused by the words of the assistant. She wasn¡¯t aware of the Keeper¡¯s n for the controlled evolution of the races, and so she found the exnation entirelycking in details.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Let¡¯s head inside.¡± Treisha gestured, holding the door open for them. ¡°You can bring the relics with you. We¡¯vepiled all the information that we can in the time you were gone. I know you said for us to go fully dark, but this was a top-priority assignment straight from the L.A.W. council.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, if it¡¯s as big as you said, you did the right thing.¡± Chel shook her head, pushing the container through the doorway and into the main building of the facility. ¡°Now, exnations, please?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right.¡± Treisha nodded, taking a deep breath. ¡°Two days ago, at exactly 7:34 in the morning, a pulse of mana rippled throughout the entire Earth. This pulse was barely discernible to those with skilled senses, and showed no effect on anyone with an energy body.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°However, every sapient being with an organic body received a prompt from the system, congratting them on a sessful evolution. Everyone affected by this ability seemed to get a new power, determined by their race. For instance, kitsune gained the ability to calm others with their presence. Halflings gained the power to turn invisible without the use of a spell. Elves could look into the past of an object that they were touching, and so on.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°At first, this sudden growth was isted to Earth. So, while it threw many regions into chaos, it was not as bad as it could have been. However, as soon as someone from Earth used the Fairy Ring to travel to Deckan, and came into contact with someone here¡­ the pulse was recorded again. This happened barely three hours after the initial pulse, and covered the entirety of Deckan.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°ording to our reports, even our interster expeditions have been affected by this change, with every known colony saying that they were hit at the same time.¡± Treisha shook her head as she said that. ¡°We haven¡¯t been able to determine the exact nature of this pulse, but we believe that we have found its source.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel nodded, soon arriving in the mainb with Treisha and the twins. ¡°How far has it spread by now?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Treisha hesitated at that, before shaking her head again. ¡°Every world in the league. Fyor hasn¡¯t had it spread to every floor, but it is only a matter of time at this point. Anyone entering or leaving a floor increases the spread, and the only thing we can be thankful for is that the effects arergely harmless to their host.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Largely?¡± Chel questioned with a raised brow, causing the elf to let out a resigned sigh.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There are races within the Metong Network that have shown abilities that overtax their own minds. There is one race within their Network that is quickly dying out, ording to the reports that they¡¯ve sent. Apparently, the ¡®power¡¯ that this race gained was self-poisoning. Without regrly administered medicines, members of this race die after simply twenty-four hours.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel¡¯s eyes went wide when she heard that. However, her brow soon furrowed in thought. ¡°I see¡­ you said that you traced the possible source of the pulse?¡± It was no wonder why Chel and the others didn¡¯t notice this effect, as they were within the Travel Domain at the time, a ce that technically exists outside of any universe. Furthermore, they were all three energy beings, so they would not have received the prompt even if it hit them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Treisha nodded, walking over to her desk and grabbing a file. ¡°We ran through a list of any potentially rted event that was recorded at the same time, or just preceding the pulse. Immediately after the incident ured, there was a hospital on Earth that reported that they may have been the source.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°At 7:33 in the morning, just before the incident, a patient by the name of Kris Fredric passed away from heartplications. Following standard procedure for those on their deathbed, he was given the option to test his luck with the Perfection Chamber. One final hope for those otherwise doomed to perish. However, unlike most patients, he rejected this offer.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The reason that he gave the nurse was that he had ¡®one final mission¡¯ that he needed to aplish. The nurse, at the time, did not understand what he meant. She thought that it was merely his mind failing him, or the weary thoughts of an old halfling. At 7:32, his two children were standing next to his bed, and he told them that ¡®this was a world worth helping¡¯. Finally, at 7:33, his heart stopped.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Almost immediately afterwards, the pulse of mana covered the world. Given the timing and strange nature of the events, the attending nurse reported it to her superiors, who filed a report to the league itself. Naturally, we can¡¯t be certain that this was the real cause, as it could have been as strange as a special spell being cast. However, the timing was quite the coincidence if that was the case.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel gave a small nod at that. ¡°Have you found any details regarding this man?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ve got Three-Fifty running a deeper search now. What we could immediately discern was that Mister Fredric was an alchemist. There was one recorded incident of note involving him. After being chased by a malevolent spirit, he sought shelter in the Church of Irena. The church helped him banish this spirit, believed to be the man¡¯s own mother,ing to steal his body.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The priestess overseeing the incident noted that Mister Fredric briefly turned invisible after the spirit was exorcised, though he seemed confused by the situation. As it did not cause him any harm, she did not press for information.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel quickly understood what Treisha was getting at. ¡°You said that the ability halflings gained was to turn invisible, right?¡± The fact that an alchemist had disyed a simr ability, one that appeared outside of his control, definitely did not seem to be a coincidence.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. Do you have any ideas what might have caused that?¡± Treisha asked hopefully. With James still out ofmission, that left Chel as the most knowledgeable person within their research team. If anyone were to have insights on this matter, it would be her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Cross-species transmission, infection caused by the simple interaction of two races¡­ It¡¯s <i><span style="font-weight:400">possible</i><span style="font-weight:400"> that this Mister Fredric concocted an unknown potion that connected to the system itself. However, if he were able to do that, then I could think of a hundred different uses for such potions than to give everyone a psionic ability. Just to be clear, all of the abilities manifested so far have mana as their origin, yes?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Treisha nodded her head, Chel let out a relieved sigh. ¡°Good. Technically speaking, any mana ability can be replicated with precise enough control. Given that this pulse only affected organic beings, and only sapient ones at that, it can be seen that it infected them through their mana. Through that, the mana itself altered the brain chemistry of the host.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°With this altered brain chemistry, the mana that they release gains an additional characteristic. For instance, it may subtly infuse elements of spiritual energy in order to view the past of an object. This ability then bes natural for the person with the altered brain chemistry, while others can only replicate it through extremely precise control of mana, or a spell designed to copy the effects.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Tell the Metong to use brain scans of the endangered race from before the pulse, and produce a treatment that would allow them to correct the chemical imbnce in their brain. Given the resources of the Metong, they should be able toe up with a solution from that. As for what the original cause was¡­ Mister Fredric either created something special, or he was chosen to carry a special power that was released upon his death.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The former possibility is incredibly unlikely, but we should still try and ask his family for his research notes. Even if there is nothing about the creation of some strange power, there is likely to be a mention of any strange encounter he had that would have left him like this.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In the meantime¡­¡± Chel hopped over to her desk, pulling up a web browser and writing an email to a nk recipient. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Did they take the bait?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">After she hit send, she waited with the email still open, the error message still on the screen. Roughly thirty secondster, the error message closed itself, a new chat window appearing.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Five days ago, I intercepted a message stating that the research staff of theb had all left. Prior to the release of the Evolution Pulse, there were many organizations conspiring to infiltrate in your absence. However, I was unable to trace the source of the original message.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel shook her head, typing into the chat window. <i><span style="font-weight:400">You wouldn¡¯t have found anything, even if you did. These people are experts at manipting information. They would have used a full-body disguise, and essed a public terminal to send the message.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">With that, Chel closed the chat window. Even without the trace, it confirmed her suspicions that this was the action of the ninja n. In fact, the inability of nk to trace them only made her more sure. Sadly¡­ with the pulse disrupting matters, it was no longer suitable for her to make her way to their headquarters.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°For now, let¡¯s work on this pulse business.¡± Chel said with a faint sigh, pping her hands together. ¡°Treisha¡­ go get some rest. You look like you¡¯ve been overworking yourself looking at papers. We¡¯ll take over.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Treisha hesitated, but soon offered a weary smile. After she left, Chel looked at the twins. ¡°Nora, I want you to catalog the abilities of each known race, ssifying them by hazard level. This level should be both the danger that the ability represents to the wielder as well as those around them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thea, while she¡¯s doing that, I want you to find the logs from every Mana Tower on Earth within a thousand kilometers of the hospital where Kris Fredric died. Look for any details on the specific frequency of mana that was spread during that pulse.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Finally¡­ has anyone seen Syris?¡± Chel looked around, the lycan researcher nowhere to be seen.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Treisha, having not made it very far down the hall when she heard Chel, rushed back to report. ¡°Syris is escorting Three-Fifty on his background check. His spatial ki makes travel more convenient.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel gave a sigh, nodding her head. ¡°Thanks. Now, really, to bed with you. With him gone... I¡¯ll take care of contacting different heads of state to arrange countermeasures against power misuse. If there¡¯s one silver lining here, it¡¯s that this effect was only triggered on organic bodies¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The fact that energy beings weren¡¯t hit with the pulse meant that the vast majority of the true powerhouses of the world were unaffected. At most, the national police forces and armies may receive the power of the pulse, but not any gods or those who have reached Perfection.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay¡­ so that got a little out of hand.¡± I chuckled weakly, looking at the different readouts on the screen. I had only determined the effect of this evolution for the races that I had purchased. Naturally, I thought that this meant that it would not target other races, as they were not included in my world¡¯s system.


    <span style="font-weight:400">What I didn¡¯t realize was that the synergy of the changes had triggered the creation of the Psychic Song, not only to evolve the races I selected, but all races. Perhaps it was because I chose to grant powers to every race under my control, so the system filled in the gaps on its own. Either way¡­


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What¡¯s the deal with this one? vor Distortion? What does that even mean?¡± I asked incredulously, pointing to one of the powers given to an alien race.


    <span style="font-weight:400">alia cleared her throat, doing her best not tough. ¡°It means that they can alter the vor of anything they eat. If they mix in their saliva as an ingredient, they can even change the vor of food that they are preparing. It¡¯s¡­ quite the delicious irony.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No. None of that.¡± I pointed an using finger at alia. ¡°Shame on you for that pun. That was bad.¡±

 Chapter 735: The Hunting Storm

    Chapter 735: The Hunting Storm


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan watched as Jace walked through the forest once again, having begun making regr trips out of the forest whenever he began running low on supplies. To Keenan¡¯s wonder, he was never gone long enough for one to walk back to any settlement he was aware of, typically only leaving for one or two days at a time. Despite this, he always returns with a full supply of edible herbs and fruits.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If he had to guess, he assumed that Jace left the forest to begin foraging in a safer area, because he was simply not strong enough to fight the monsters lurking within the forest itself. That would make the most sense to him, as he had never seen the man actually fighting. Of course, if he was too weak to fight the local monsters, it made even less sense for him to return so frequently.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Since their first conversation, Keenan had not yet met with Jace personally again. He would watch the felyn man between his own hunts, but always kept a wary distance. He still remembered the various disasters that he had inflicted on those he had once called his friends with his mere presence. Although Jace apparently had some blessing that bolstered his luck, would that really be enough tost around him?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Regardless of if it was or not, the thought of it brought to mind the faces of those that had been affected by his ¡®curse¡¯. The looks of scorn and hatred that he had dealt with for years, until he was able to take no more. Whenever he thought of that, he pushed back any notion of interacting with Jace again. People were all the same. Once his power outgrew Jace¡¯s blessing, Jace would turn on him just like everyone else.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Down below, Jace¡¯s ears seemed to prick up suddenly, and he raised his head to sniff at the air. His felyn senses had caught traces of something even before Keenan had. ¡°There¡¯s a storming.¡± Jace muttered with a serious face.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He did not continue making his way back to his standard camp, instead spinning his staff briefly in his hands before catching it. Using the staff as a guide, he began knocking on trees one after the other, until he found one that seemed to give a more hollow thud. ¡°You¡¯ll want to find shelter for this one. It¡¯s going to be bad.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan didn¡¯t know what he meant by that. During his years within the forest, he had endured many storms. Some of them had grown so strong that they uprooted mighty trees, others sending lightning down in thick waves.


    <span style="font-weight:400">What¡¯s more, Jace did not seem to be carving out a hollow to rest in at the ground level. Instead, he climbed up the tree for nearly five meters before he began to work. Once Keenan saw that, he had a brief realization. <i><span style="font-weight:400">A flood?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He had never experienced a flood within this forest, due to its higher elevation. Any rain would flow downhill long before it could build up to such an extent.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan felt as if Jace¡¯s actions were foolish, and jumped over to a tree where he was carving. ¡°Wrong. No floods here. Too high.¡± Jace did not seem surprised by his presence, but merely shook his head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯ve been out of the loop too long. Lately, there is something strange about the water on Earth. Whenever enough of it is gathered, the water bes a predatory beast. I can feel a storm gathering, and it¡¯s a big one. If the water in the clouds can turn into such a monster¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan blinked at that, unsure how to respond. ¡°Seen storms, no problems yet. Why now?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Jace smiled bitterly. ¡°This is different from my luck. A few days ago, I got a message saying that I had received an evolution, and was awarded a ¡®Danger Sense¡¯. Just now, when I felt the storming, that sense activated.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan gave a small nod. He had also received a simr message at the same time. The evolution that he received was ¡®telekinesis¡¯, though Keenan had yet to fully explore his limits with that ability.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Given that exnation, however, he was at least somewhat more willing to believe Jace¡¯s im that theing storm was truly dangerous. ¡°Move.¡± He said in a simple tone, forming ck ws along one of his hands. Sensing something, Jace immediately dropped down by three meters.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan¡¯s hand pierced into the side of the tree where Jace had been working, and allowed his ki to carve out arge hollow. It was easily big enough for Jace to rest in, without exposing any of his body to the elements. Jace reached up to feel the entrance, smiling in satisfaction. ¡°Are there any trees around here withrge leaves? Big enough to cover this up?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan thought about that, ncing up high above them. In truth, many of the trees in this forest held such leaves, though that was not something that Jace would have known. He simply jumped away to gather enough to cover the entrance, returning a few minutester to find Jace pushed back into the hollow as far as he could go. The uneven floor and rough walls did not bother him in the slightest.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This only served to reinforce Keenan¡¯s suspicions that something was really going to happen. Jace did not seem to be the type to fake such caution, not when he had openly slept in a forest far above his level. For him to be this worried, he truly believed that there was a danger approaching.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After Keenan covered the entrance to Jace¡¯s hollow with the leaves he had gathered, he heard the first crack of thunder from the distance. However, something sounded strange about this thunderstrike. It was not the explosive sound of lightning striking the earth, but rather it sounded almost like a deep, echoing roar.


    <span style="font-weight:400">His eyes went wide, and he immediately leapt out of the tree he was working on. With ck ws again forming on his hands, he tore into the side of another nearby tree, carving out a second hollow for himself. Just like Jace had suggested previously, he went to the top of the nearby trees and began gathering leaves to cover the hole he had just dug.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was when he saw the stormcloud. It seemed to roll in with a narrow body, pushing towards the forest. That alone wasn¡¯t all that strange, Keenan had seen narrow clouds before. However, he had never seen the lightning acting like it was


    <span style="font-weight:400">Three streaks of lightning could almost constantly be seen crackling within the cloud. One at the frontmost part of the cloud, near its base like one would expect, but always streaking back and forth in the same curved pattern. The other two were actually higher than that, near the top of what he could see from the cloud, forming smaller patterns that appeared to be eyes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The sight of this cloud sent chills down Keenan¡¯s spine, and he quickly went back to the hollow that he had formed for himself. There was no hesitation as he covered what he could, only stopping once he heard the rain beginning to fall. Moments after he rushed inside his hollowed tree, the storm began. Water crashed down through the trees, easily brushing past the thick leaves that would normally stop them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Through the small gaps in his leaves, he was able to see what was going on below. At first, it appeared to be a rather normal storm. The ground became muddy from the pouring rain. But then, he saw the water acting¡­ strangely.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It did not flow downhill as one might expect, but rather formed puddles along the slight incline. These puddles grew wider and wider, and soon he could hear the cries of beasts. One creature, a beast that Keenan had taken to calling the Panther King due to its prowess, ran across the muddy ground with its fur soaked by rain.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The moment that its paw sshed into one of the unnatural puddles, Keenan thought that he saw jaws forming along the edge of the ssh, mping down on the creature¡¯s leg. The Panther King released a slight hiss, but kept running. It seemed as though the jaws had been unable to pierce its tough hide.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Then¡­ Keenan saw something that would truly haunt him. The forest floor darkened, the wind beginning to roar as a ck form rushed between the trees. Keenan wasn¡¯t able to make out the shape of the creature at first, due to its speed and almost gaseous nature. However, it was flying in the direction that the Panther King had fled.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Only secondster, Keenan could hear the pathetic cry of the Panther King ring out briefly, before being cut off all at once. This wasn¡¯t thest time that Keenan would see that ck mass, as more and more creatures ran across the puddles. Smaller creatures, such as rodents or young pups, would entirely disappear after causing the jaws to emerge from the puddles. There was no trace of where they went, as they simply vanished the moment that the jaws mped shut.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Those toorge for the jaws to fully enclose were immediately chased by the ck figures. And, after the first few instances, Keenan was able to recognize their shape. Sharks¡­ flying sharks seemingly made of dark clouds. Obviously, it was not the same cloud he saw above, but rather something spawned from them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The size of the storm shark seemed directly proportionate to the size of the creature that had stepped in the puddles, and they would hunt their prey relentlessly. There was one creature, a snake that tried to slither into his hollow for safety. Keenan had no intention of pushing it away, as that would only draw attention to his hole.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately, he noticed how the rain had already covered the snake¡¯s body. There was a sh of ck from outside the hollow, the leaves covering its entrance almost blowing free from the sudden movement, and suddenly the snake was gone. Keenan shivered as he realized that it wasn¡¯t just the puddles. The cloud was hunting with the rain itself, using that to mark its prey. The puddles were simply the smaller predator that would consume whatever beast it could.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When he realized that, Keenan pulled himself further back into the hollow, his back pressing against the far side. Some of the water had been tracked in with the snake, and he did not dare to stay too close to it, even if it were only a few drops. He thought of using something to quickly dry the water, but did not know if disturbing it that way would summon the storm sharks.


    <span style="font-weight:400">All he could do was simply wait it out. The storm continued this way for nearly five hours before it had finished passing. Hugging his knees against his chest, Keenan kept his eyes on the wide puddles outside the hollow, now seeming to form a solidyer of water over the forest floor. The flood appeared to be no more than an inch deep, but Keenan knew that the depth meant nothing. Anything that was consumed by those watery jaws vanished without a trace.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, the passing of the storm seemed to remove the unnatural effect of the water itself. Having lost its power, the water rushed downhill, no doubt forming a small wave as it flowed to the nearest river. Even after the mass of water had flooded away from the area, Keenan continued to watch the ground with a wary gaze.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was only when he saw the other nearby hollow opening up, Jace extending a shaking hand to climb out that Keenan believed that the danger had passed. Without touching the muddy floor, he jumped from his tree to the one where Jace had been hiding. The felyn¡¯s face was utterly pale, his eyes having a ck cloth wrapped over them that Keenan didn¡¯t see before. ¡°Was it¡­ was it as bad as it sounded?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After he asked that, Keenan was able to somewhat understand. Jace had been horrified by the sounds of the storm and the screams of the dying monsters. So horrified that his natural curiosity made him want to see what was going on, to make sure that he was safe. The blindfold was there to stop him from opening his eyes due to the temptation. ¡°Worse¡­ need leave.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is iting back?¡± Jace asked with a shudder, though Keenan shook his head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No¡­ animals all dead. Can¡¯t hunt here anymore.¡± There were bound to be a few beasts that had taken shelter from the rain, but he could not be sure how many. Most beasts would not have hidden in ces where the unnatural rain wouldn¡¯t have reached, aside from some birds. What did remain was undoubtedly not enough to sustain the normal ecosystem of the forest.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan knew what happened when such events took ce. If there were not enough monsters, more would spontaneously begin appearing. This was something that he had read about in school, though it was a rather rare urrence in the present day.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sadly if new monsters were simply spawned in like that, Keenan would have no idea what level of power they had, or what methods would be needed to hunt them. It was better to find an entirely new forest, one where he could gauge the levels of the monsters safely.

 Chapter 736: Welcome To My Playground

    Chapter 736: Wee To My yground


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes went wide as I caught sight of the shark-like cloud moving through the skies of Earth. Naturally, I was able to easily connect it to the very same water-controlling void entity that I had spotted previously. I had been worried that this thing would cause tidal waves to swallow up cities, but I never imagined that it would simply be able to take control ofrge enough storm clouds¡­


    <span style="font-weight:400">Zooming out, I saw that there were five such storms currently roaming the¡¯s surface. Just as I was beginning to feel relieved that none of them had passed over a popted area, I noticed something wrong. One of the storms <i><span style="font-weight:400">had</i><span style="font-weight:400"> in fact passed over a small vige, and only just recently.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This vige was too small of a poption center to trigger my rms, so I had to y back the events of what happened in order to get a clearer picture. All I could tell right now was that the vige no longer existed¡­


    <span style="font-weight:400">When the shark-shaped cloud first appeared, the residents of the vige immediately realized that something was wrong. Those that were not required for the vige¡¯s defenses were instructed to hide inside, while any druids and mages were asked to aid in the defense of the vige. At first, they believed this to be a simple monster taking the shape of a storm cloud, and formted their defenses around that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The firstyer of defense would be the mages, who were tasked with maintaining a barrier around the vige. This barrier, although hastily constructed, was a simple modification to the standard wards present on every settlement. In addition to warding away monsters, it was meant to form a solid barrier against water as well.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, such a barrier would be unsuitable for long-term use, but they only needed it to weather theing storm. The secondyer of defense would be the druids, who would attempt to use the power of nature to disrupt the storm itself, and prevent any water from breaching the barrier. ording to their n, this would be more than enough to protect their vige, even if the monster in the cloud was a high level threat.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Just to be safe, however, a messenger was dispatched to a nearby city to alert them of the potential danger. If the monster lingered long enough to wear down their defenses, this messenger would be responsible for bringing back emergency assistance.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once the storm rolled in, it did not immediately seem as though anything was wrong. The water stuck to the barrier, initially rolling off of it as one would expect. The druids did their best to push this water away from the vige while ensuring that none of it touched them, for fear that it may contain hazardous properties. These trainedbatants were no stranger to the unpredictable nature of monsters.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Soon, though, the rain stopped rolling off the barrier. It adhered to the surface, sttering against it and sticking like ayer of translucent tar. This further rmed the druids, who did their best to clear the water. Unfortunately, at this point, it was already toote.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The cloud was merely using this reaction to find the size and shape of the barrier, each raindrop feeding back information to it. Once it knew the size, shape, and location of the barrier, the entire cloud sprang into action.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a brief lull in the rain, the druids frantically struggling to catch up and remove the water sticking to the barrier. One druid, one that had been trying to interfere directly with the cloud, stopped with eyes wide in a silent scream. When one of his friends noticed this, and followed his gaze, his face went pale with fright.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The entire cloud itself had moved, the shark-like face falling towards them from above. The vige darkened, lit only by the lightning crackling in its mouth and eyes as it descended. Its lightning jaws opened wide,pletely enveloping the town as it crashed into the ground.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When it flew back into the sky, it had lost roughly half of its size from the impact with the ground. The vige, however, was nowhere to be seen. All that was left was a massive crater with jagged edges, and a deep puddle forming at its center.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I shuddered as I watched that scene unfold. ¡°Leowynn¡­ we can¡¯t wait for your Fallen Gods to advance. That thing needs to be destroyed before it can do any more damage.¡± As much as I preferred not to interfere when possible, that was no longer an option. Those storms could devour entire cities in a single bite, and I did not dare to think of what one could do if it was formed in a hurricane.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Not to mention the fact that these were not simply on the Earth right now. Every world within that dimension was dealing with this threat, and the void monster was growing more difficult to deal with as time passed. It had to be destroyed now, before it turned every source of water into a dangerous threat.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn nodded her head, her eyes sharp. ¡°I¡¯ll take care of it, dad.¡± She said in a firm tone, taking a deep breath. Suddenly, the screen flickered, showing a location within the void.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn looked out at the shining sphere that represented Earth, as well as the numerous figures swirling around it. Most were weak, simple void creatures that amounted to no more than pranks or haunted houses. Few would be as dangerous as their current foe.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her eyes scanned over the group of monsters, finding one that seemed to swim within the void energy. Its link with Earth was far thicker than the others, showing that it had properly anchored itself to this dimension. Through the fog of the void that had formed around it, she could even vaguely make out that the creature appeared as a blue shark.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unlike normal sharks, though, this one wasposed entirely of water, much as the phenomena that it created in the world. What was worse was that Leowynn could feel an almost constant feedback from the connection it had to the dimension, energy being supplied in a steady stream. Every life it imed with its power gave it a boost, and those boosts were rapidly adding up.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn lifted her hand, holding it t like a de before shing down. The first thing that she did was to cut the link that the creature had with Earth, preventing it from being able to use that link to reinforce itself further. Naturally, this enraged the shark, which turned to face her with a burning gaze.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As it began to swim towards her in the void, Leowynn focused, summoning her power. She had sensed its strength from the moment she saw it, and knew that it would take a great deal of energy to destroy something like this. More energy than she wasfortable spending, given the possibility of another threat emerging of a simr level before they were ready.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, if she could not defeat the creature while ying by the normal rules, she would write rules of her own. Is that not what the void was so good at? When her eyes opened, her hands began moving in a blur, summoning page after page before her. Each page was written on and scattered into the void while the shark drew closer, but Leowynn did not allow it to disturb her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She did not stop her writing even as it mmed into her chest, biting at her torso. Although she gave a wince of pain, her hands continued to move. ¡°You want to be the big fish? Guess what, this is <i><span style="font-weight:400">my</i><span style="font-weight:400"> yground!¡± She shouted, suddenly pping her hands down on the shark.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although her hands passed into the liquid body of the shark, Leowynn¡¯s eyes gleamed. ¡°Every creature in the void is nothing but a body of information, a set of rules given shape. Rule number one, this entity is connected to any and all bodies of water within the target dimension.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her hands began to shake, the jaws of the shark twisting and thrashing in an attempt to tear through her. ¡°Rule number two, anything controlled by this entity may manifest an embodiment of this entity along its surfaces. Rule number three, the embodiments of this entity will hunt out any form of animal life.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Gashes began to form in her long, ck dress as the watery teeth sank into her body. ¡°Rule number four, anything fully contained within the entity¡¯s jaws will be consumed and transferred back to be sustenance for the entity. By my power as the Goddess of the Void, I erase this rule.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her grin was wild as ck light began to radiate from her hands, which were still embedded in the shark¡¯s body. At the same time, the papers that she had discarded began flying back, swirling together behind the body of the shark itself. To its credit, the shark was still twisting, trying to bite through the super-dense body of divinity that the Goddess before it possessed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Now it¡¯s my turn. Rule number one, this entity does not form a connection with a specific dimension, but can attach to any dimension it encounters. Rule number two, this entity does not exert any power within the dimension that it forms a connection with.¡± At this point, her skin had long since been broken, a trace of golden light leaking out from her sides as the mouth of the shark closed tighter.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Rule number three, this entity bes stronger with the overall increase in positive karma within the dimensions it has connected to. Rule number four!¡± She let out a dark chuckle, her hands forming ws within the shark. ¡°This entity¡¯s strength will only exert itself within the void, and only against void entities with rules that would cause harm to dimensions it has formed connections with.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And finally¡­ Rule number five, the strength of void entities that it destroys is converted into a defensive shield surrounding the dimensions that it has connected to, with these shields offering ayer of defense against hostile void effects.¡± As Leowynn finished saying that, her hands ripped outwards, pulling chunks out of the body of the water shark.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Due to her removing one of its core rules, and umting energy in her hands, she was able to deal real,sting damage to the monster. However, this was far from enough to kill it, only making it briefly release its hold while it swam back to attack again. This time, Leowynn was confident enough not to move, a smile ying over her lips. Although her stomach was bared from the previous attack chewing through her dress, she showed her willingness in facing the beast again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She had put a great deal of effort in defining those rules, making sure to write them out as concrete as possible. Each rule took up numerous pages, Leowynn unwilling to leave any wiggle room for them to be taken advantage of. The result? A de of white light shed through the void, cutting the liquid body of the shark in half.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This attack barely slowed the shark¡¯s charge, but the attack itself was far from over. Its originator was a golden, angelic figure that stood at the center of the pages Leowynn had thrown out before. Every time a page sank into its body, the glow it produced became more and more exuberant.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With the de it sent out having been rendered ineffective, the angelic figure extended its palm towards the shark. A white glow began building, dimming the light around its body before shooting forward andpletely enveloping the shark. Although Leowynn could not see within the beam of light, she could see the golden threads emerging, wrapping around the sphere which represented Earth to form a thin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thank you.¡± Leowynn offered a sincere bow to the void creature that she had created. ¡°In ordance with your thirdw, I would like to introduce you to other worlds, allowing your power to further grow.¡± She spoke in a respectful tone, partly because she knew the creature¡¯s power, but also because she knew that it was created to be an ally.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As thest of the papers sank into its body, the angelic figure cast its eyes on the sphere of Earth¡¯s dimension once again, before looking back at Leowynn with a nod. Leowynn smiled, guiding the figure towards the other worlds under the Keeper¡¯s control. However, she did offer a warning to it along the way that it would want to avoid a certain world, pointing to Fyor. There was something there that either destroyed or drove off void influences, and she did not want the creature she had painstakingly made to be crushed by the inhabitants of Fyor¡¯s upperyers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn knew that this was not a perfect, long-term defense against void monsters. However, this would serve as a stopgap measure, protecting them for the moment while the proper people were trained to deal with the future threats.

 Chapter 737: Balance

    Chapter 737: Bnce


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Leowynn opened her eyes again, there was clear exhaustion in them. Even without checking the system, I could tell that she had used an enormous amount of energy to both destroy the shark and create her own entity. ¡°Are you alright?¡± I asked with concern, earning a weak smile from her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I made sure to reserve enough for the Boundless Caravan to be able to operate normally. The ie that I get from that will gradually restore my power, along with the natural faith that people send me. I don¡¯t know how long it will take me to hit the same level, but¡­ I¡¯d say it was worth it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod at that, suddenly curious. ¡°How strong did you make that void entity?¡± Having heard the rules that she recited, I knew that the creature would not simply grow stronger as it destroyed other void monsters. The only benefit received there was the barrier around the connected worlds, while the only way for it to grow stronger was for the ¡®positive karma¡¯ of the world to increase.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°At its initial level¡­ about a quarter of my previous strength.¡± Leowynn answered proudly. ¡°It¡¯ll get stronger or weaker with time, depending on how many powerful creatures it encounters, and the flow of karma in the world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nodding my head again, I was rather curious. ¡°Will it really work, having it set to grow with the overall level of positive karma in the world? As far as I was aware, the bnce of karma stayed fairly even. There wasn¡¯t much room for it to grow or decline, so I¡¯m not sure how that will turn out.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s not entirely true.¡± alia smiled, shaking her head. ¡°If Irena were here, she could exin it better. Right now, she¡¯s currently enjoying her time as an incarnation, so I¡¯ll take over. See, karma is a tricky thing. There¡¯s not truly a ¡®bnce¡¯ like you said.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°With how the mechanic works, it actually leans towards generating positive karma more often than negative. That is because of the different methods for karma to form and spread. First, if you help someone with good karma, you receive a measure of good karma yourself rtive to the amount they possess, as well as the significance of your aid. If you help someone with bad karma, the reverse happens.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Simrly, if you hurt someone with bad karma, you also receive good karma based on the amount of bad karma they had, and the damage inflicted. Again, the reverse is true for good karma. Now, this means that two people with bad karma hurting each other would actually cause them to generate good karma to a certain degree. At the same time, two people with good karma helping each other would both generate good karma.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In theory, this means that there are four potential rtionships that each produce positive and negative karma. But, if we look at those rtionships, you¡¯ll see that the most likely ones will result in the production of positive karma. That is, good people helping one another, bad people hurting one another, and good people punishing bad people.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Naturally, bad people hurting good people is alsomon. But at the end of the day, their dark karma gets turned into someone else¡¯s positive karma when they¡¯re brought to justice. The other rtionships are by no means unlikely to ur, but they are just not asmon as the ones which produce positive karma. Especially after the priests of Irena became capable of measuring a person¡¯s karma, exposing sins that they themselves might not have realized.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod at alia¡¯s exnation. ¡°So, in other words, as long as that trend remains, the Void Angel will have a slow and steady growth of power?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The lycan goddess nodded her head with a smile. ¡°That¡¯s right. The only question is whether the growth is able to keep up with the monsters it will have to fight against.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn grunted, shaking her head. ¡°Not if they¡¯re as strong as that shark. If it encountered more of those right away, it could maybe defeat two of them before running out of power. That thing was even stronger than we expected. If it were not limited by its rules, it would have probably destroyed numerous worlds already.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That wasn¡¯t particrly surprising. After all, the creature was strong enough that it was able to influence all of the water within a dimension. If I were to estimate its strength, it had to be in the upper echelon of void monsters that we had encountered. Thinking back, that reminded me of the entity which had formed a contract with Julius.


    <span style="font-weight:400">From what I recalled, that creature seemed to be stronger simply by people making legal deals with one another. It likely formed a pact with Julius to more directly harvest energy. Had he been allowed to release his game¡­ it could have very well turned into a creature on the same level as the shark.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We¡¯ll need to keep an eye on it. In the meantime¡­¡± I looked at Leowynn. ¡°Do you know if there have been any issues with the void bases we got from Sanction¡¯s raid?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn blinked at that question, thinking it over. Given that those bases were not independent worlds, and were simply constructed within the void themselves, it would not be unheard of for them to be frequently attacked by void monsters. Despite this, she shook her head. ¡°They have rather durable shielding. Sanction was supposedly a pretty high ranking Keeper that reset to get that system, so I bet that he has defenses in ce to protect those bases. Whether those defenses are the walls of the base being reinforced by the system, or some device inside the base itself, I couldn¡¯t tell you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s fine. I¡¯m sure James has probably figured it out by now, so I can ask him when he finishes recovering. Speaking of, though, what ended up happening to the rest of the bases? We gave some to James for his work¡­¡± I had delegated the task of appointing recipients of the bases to the others, as they knew more talented people within the world than I did. As such, I hadn¡¯t really kept track of things.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy gave a light chuckle, getting up and moving to sit in Leowynn¡¯sp. Leowynn herself seemed surprised, but still held onto the halfling while Aurivy exined. ¡°One of them went to the ninjas. It was a reward for their service in that particr invasion. Since then, they¡¯ve used it as a springboard to research nar travel.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As for the others¡­ one went to a top gaming group that passed a trial given by Udona and nk. Another five went to other research teams. The rest were distributed to powerful adventurers, letting them ce their friends and families somewhere safe.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That wasn¡¯t¡­ too unreasonable of a distribution, so I didn¡¯t really have a problem with it. ¡°What¡¯s going on with the ninjas, by the way? They¡¯ve gotten quite a bit more brazen in recent years.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy¡¯s cheeks puffed out at that, crossing her arms in front of herself. ¡°It¡¯s that elder. Ever since they found a world full of high-level monsters to use as their personal territory, Elder Wanke has begun to lose his grasp on what the ns were established to do. Stay in the shadows, watch over the light, and protect the innocent. Now, he¡¯s more concerned about treating the n as its own nation, with all of their hidden businesses being repurposed to gather information on people that could pose a threat to them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but raise a brow at that. ¡°And you¡¯re letting him get away with that? I don¡¯t mean acting directly, but¡­ surely you have ways of removing him from power?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy let out a sigh of defeat. ¡°He has three gods protecting him at all times, his Elite Guard. If I don¡¯t go over with my true self or direct incarnation, those three are able to deal with practically anything I throw at them. Tsubaki could probably break through and get rid of him, but that would be a risky assassination even if she had the coordinates or their home ne.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked in surprise, ncing towards the screen. ¡°What about Chel? She seemed to have ns to get rid of him¡­ is she going to need to prepare a new incarnation again?¡± And naturally, if Chel got hurt¡­ James would not sit idle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Chel? Pfft, nah, she could take care of it.¡± Aurivy waved her hand as if it was not an issue, confusing me even more.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...You said that it would be risky if even Tsubaki went, but Chel could take care of it easily?¡± In my mind, Tsubaki was easily in the top three strongest entities within my worlds. The only reason she wasn¡¯t at the very top was because of James himself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, yeah. Chel has way too many special methods from her time being James¡¯s Terra. I took a peek at her ¡®Disaster Diary¡¯ once that her incarnation was writing. She¡¯s pretty much figured out how to find the world supporting the ninjas already. As for killing gods¡­¡± Aurivy shuddered. ¡°I never knew that they could be so fragile, until I read some of the methods she wrote for killing different types of deities. Like¡­ she has an entire chapter devoted to ways for making a deity disbelieve their own domain and making them disappear. Give her the time to scout the area and formte a n, she could probably wipe out the entire n if she wanted.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I felt a chill run down my spine when she said that. ¡°And I thought James was scary¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°James is strong because he has the energy to do a lot of things, as well as basically an eidetic memory. Being from a more advanced world, and having ess to the Metong¡¯s energy database, he has a lot of tools at his disposal.¡± Aurivy shook her head as she exined.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Chel, on the other hand, is¡­ let¡¯s say more creative. She tackles problems using the least amount of force possible, while nning for any potential contingency. She might not have the brute force to match someone like James, but she probably has at least one or two different ways to defeat someone like him. After all, he found his way through Fyor¡¯s dimensional gaps, so why couldn¡¯t someone else from his race? That¡¯s the kind of stuff she ns around.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy gave a small grin, looking towards the screen. ¡°Once the chaos around the psychic song settles down, I bet that she¡¯ll make her move. She might even be preparing for it already.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I heard that, I couldn¡¯t help but change the channel, suddenly curious.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel sat at her desk, drawing diagrams on a notepad. Her hands were unnaturally steady, only looking up every now and then to check her terminal for missed messages. In truth, it was fairly easy to create a countermeasure against the misuse of these psionic powers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Due to the risk of people using magic for theft and the like, most businesses had a few standard devices or wards in ce to suppress certain activities. For instance, when entering most stores, a person¡¯s storage items would be automatically sealed to prevent them from simply pocketing the goods. Mana was simrly suppressed from gathering outside of the body with a dispersal ward, ensuring that someone couldn¡¯t just teleport items out or turn them invisible.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Spiritual energy was trickier to ward against, but many businesses had simr preventative measures to handle that as well. Adding psionic powers to the list of restricted abilities would be as simple as tweaking the mana suppression ward. For police use, they could create mana blockers. These were little chips that could be attached to the neck of an inmate, and would prevent them from using any form of mana-rted power.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The real trick was how to handle police-issue gear to target energy beings using these abilities. While such would not immediately be the case, their mana would remember the frequency of their ability after they took that step. Unfortunately, those who had already achieved Perfection would be unable to gain free ess to this power, while those that did so now would still be able to retain it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Currently, Chel was working on a spell to give to the various government bodies. This spell, if it worked as intended, would forcibly suppress the mana of a target individual. This suppression was to such a degree that Chel personally believed that it would render most targets unconscious, even if they were energy beings. The problem was that it required arge amount of mana and was difficult to quickly generate the diagram.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, she had to create a weapon capable of holding this ¡®Mana Lock¡¯ spell. For that, she was basing the overall design of the weapon on the magic guns of Deckan, modified to only fire a specific spell. If this worked as intended, and she would have to test it first, then she could move onto <i><span style="font-weight:400">other</i><span style="font-weight:400"> matters.

 Chapter 738: Memetic Hazard

    Chapter 738: Memetic Hazard


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nora and Thea were hard at work with the assignments that Chel had given them, though their difficulties were on two entirely different levels. For Nora, she had to catalog all of the known psionic powers, including those from the vast Metong Network. However, while this seemed like an incredibly daunting task, the Metong themselves had actually done most of the work for them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">All she had to do at that point was sort the list by the threat that their abilities posed to themselves and others. This took a little consideration for each ability, but most were cut and dry. Only for those abilities with dangerous properties would she have to consider it in more depth.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Meanwhile, Thea¡­ she had to contact dozens of different Mana Towers of Earth, using her authority as a researcher to request ess to their records. After that, she had to go over each one, isting the exact moment when the wave hit that tower to find their recorded mana readings.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While Nora¡¯s task was of a farrger scale, it was Thea¡¯s that was more daunting. That was why she was incredibly grateful when Treisha arrived the next day to help. After a good day of rest, the elf was back in top form and ready to return to work. Without any special assignments from Chel, she quickly made her way over to Thea and offered her assistance.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Have you found anything yet?¡± Treisha asked curiously, copying the files from Thea¡¯s terminal over to her own, that way she could share the workload. Thea let out a small sigh, nodding her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Vaguely. I can tell you that the pulse was not truly instant, at least.¡± She tapped at her screen and flicked her wrist, sending a number of timestamps over to Treisha. ¡°These are the logs I¡¯ve gone over so far. Although the times seem nearly identical, there are very slight differences.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°ording to my calctions, the pulse spread at the speed of light, radiating outwards from the hospital. As for how it hit others at the same time¡­ my guess is that it was able to spread through the portals we have open to allow easy transport andmunication with our offworld colonies and various ships.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Treisha furrowed her brow when she heard that. ¡°There are a couple of things wrong with that theory, I believe.¡± Thea looked over in curiosity at her words, so the elf exined. ¡°We have simr portals leading to the other dimensions, used to bridgework cables. If the pulse could jump through those portals, then it would not have waited several hours before it arrived at Deckan.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Additionally, the Metong worlds do not benefit from such a portalwork, and yet all of theirworked worlds were hit at the same time. There has to be more to this than simply the speed of light.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thea nced at her files again in thought. ¡°For the cable portals, I have an exnation that could potentially work. To ensure that the portals use as little power as possible, their size is reduced to the extreme. These portals are utterly airtight, with less than a nanometer of extra space. Furthermore, the cables themselves are shielded against mana to prevent signal interference. It¡¯s likely that the pulse simply couldn¡¯t prate these portals, and had to wait for a more convenient method of transmission.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As for the Metong¡­¡± Thea had to give that one a bit more thought, before an idea struck her. ¡°It¡¯s possible that it attached itself to the Network signal. The big deal with the Metong Network is that they are able to keep track of their worlds with theirwork terminals. The signals between these terminals are mana-based, and have properties to allow immediate interster transmissions.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Treisha gave a small nod, feeling like the exnations were usible. ¡°I suppose¡­ Though, for that matter, how were the Metong even affected? Chel said that the pulse affected brain chemistry, but the golem races are mechanical. There shouldn¡¯t be any brain chemistry involved for them to have modified.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">This time, Thea had no answer to offer, though she was sure that there was one. After all, anything in the world could be exined if the logic was followed. She simply shook her head as Treisha sat down at her desk, preparing to work. However¡­


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What¡¯s this¡­?¡± Treisha muttered suddenly, seeing a notification of a missed message. Tapping the icon, she saw that it was another report from the same hospital where the carrier of the pulse had been held. Treisha sighed, ready to simply skim through the contents and chalk it up to a standard follow-up report.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What¡­¡± The contents of the message shocked her, and she had to go through and read it more clearly, before jumping to her feet. ¡°Chel, we¡¯ve got another high-priority report rted to the pulse!¡± She shouted, eyes turning in the shorter Kitsune¡¯s direction.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The eyes of the others in theb immediately turned to face Treisha, with Chel herself jumping from her seat and running over. ¡°What¡¯s the problem?¡± She asked with an anxious expression, as if expecting Treisha to report side effects of power overuse or something simr.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I just got a new report from the hospital we talked about before. They¡¯ve be increasingly concerned due to the births that have happened since the pulse urred.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Were the babies born deformed, or perhaps stillborn?¡± Chel asked, her face bing more and more anxious.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, not that¡­ the babies are actually stronger than normal.¡± Treisha reported, showing Chel the message that the doctors had sent. ¡°Every day since the incident, the new births have been registering an average increase in one statistic point over the previous day. This is happening regardless of race, with the only reported exception being the heroc.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel looked at the numbers written on the page, and nodded her head. Although her nerves were calming down, this was still something to take seriously. ¡°The pregnant mothers that were hit with the mana pulse had more than their brain chemistry altered¡­ Tell the doctors to run centa tests. There should be a dramatically increased concentration of nutrients, as well as some trace energy readings.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Treisha immediately began typing up the reply, nodding seriously. ¡°Of course. Do you have any ideas?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°One¡­¡± Chel chuckled slightly, shaking her head. ¡°It looks like the Keeper chose to kickstart our evolution.¡± If it was just the pulse itself, Chel could have believed that to be the result of a natural or manmade phenomena. However, with the rising strengths of newborn babies it was clear that this was meant to be a qualitative evolution.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thinking it over, Chel soon realized something. ¡°The heroc aren¡¯t being affected by this rising strength. Either the new benchmark for their evolution was lower¡­ or he¡¯s rebncing the stats, and bringing everyone up to their standard.¡± Given what she knew of the Keeper, she felt like thetter was far more possible.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Treisha nced over, nodding her head. ¡°Should we warn the Metong?¡± Although she was not entirely sure how the process of kickstarting evolution on such a scale worked, it was clear that there were races in the Metong Network that were suffering under the effects.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ll send them a message. This aspect of the pulse shouldn¡¯t prove harmful to any races, but we can¡¯t be sure how exactly it will affect those outside of the system¡¯s guidance.¡± Naturally, the system she was referring to there meant the game system of the world, which only truly benefited those races that the Keeper had purchased. For everyone else, they simply saw those other races as being outside of that system¡¯s guidance.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Understood. Anything else we should take care of for this?¡± Treisha asked, Chel giving it a moment of thought before nodding her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Contact hospitals and baby nutritionpanies. Tell them to immediately begin research and production of nutritional forms from the middle of the first ring up to the low second ring. If the growth continues following this pattern, it¡¯s reasonable to expect that they will hit that threshold within three months at thetest.¡± Treisha¡¯s eyes went wide when she heard that, quickly beginning to type up another email.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It had to be known that most current babies were born too weak to even be considered the first ring. With an average physical score of less than ten, they were known as ¡®half rings¡¯. And while it was fun to talk about the half ring halflings, it was known never to give them food beyond their capabilities. For infants to be born with a body as high as the second ring¡­ they would have the body strength equivalent to a trained teenager.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel let out a sigh as she shook her head. ¡°After this generation matures, we¡¯ll need to start using the heroc standard for measuring candidates of the Perfection Chamber.¡± Previously, the heroc had a natural advantage over every other race, being born several times stronger. Naturally, this difference could be ovee with levels, but their stronger bodies also allowed them to contain more energy before reaching their ¡®natural limits¡¯.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, that was a problem to worry about decades down the line. For now, Chel was relieved to have identified this as something caused by the Keeper himself. If it were a natural or manmade event, there were far more concerns for hidden dangers. Events instigated through the system often had some measure of safeguard to prevent it from being directly harmful to the Keeper¡¯s races.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At the same time, she knew that this directed evolution meant that they had likely be a Rank Three world. This was the same as what James had been at his peak, so they knew how strong the enemies that they were bound to face would be. Shaking her head, she moved back to her desk, pulling out a piece of nk paper and calling back to Nora. ¡°Hey, Nora? What¡¯s the name of that ninja elder? I wish to write him a¡­ strongly worded letter.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sebastian Wanke, why¡­?¡± Nora asked nervously, ncing back at Chel. However, Chel had simply pulled out a pencil and begun writing on her paper. Nora had a hard time believing that Chel would let the matter rest with just a harsh letter, and she was¡­ partially correct.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The letter that Chel was preparing was far from a normal letter, a ck light evident at the tip of her pencil. As she wrote, the light seemed to sink into the page, producing a series of abstract images that soon faded away until they were indiscernible from the page itself. ¡°No reason.¡± Chel said with a mischievous grin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ultimately, Chel was not one to let go of a grudge so easily, especially a grudge that threatened James¡¯s work and potentially the well-being of countless people. Although the current situation required them to make the pulse their primary focus, the recent revtion had given Chel enough breathing room to settle this score.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The letter itself seemed quite ordinary, simply confirming that Chel knew the elder was targeting their research. From an outside perspective, it appeared as though the letter was meant as a simple warning. The energy she was embedding into the page itself, on the other hand, contained a far deeper importance.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If left to her own devices, and with the motivation to personally get involved, Chel had dozens of ways to kill the man and shock the ninja ns back onto the path the gods intended for them. However, she was busy at the moment, and could not afford the time to handle this herself. Although she found it regretful, she could only harness the power of the void to do the work for her, in the form of a memetic agent.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Simr to how Julius Kyles had used the void to hypnotize people through written or spoken words into epting his agreements, there were many ways to utilize void energy when transmitting information. These were collectively known as memetic agents. The particr agents Chel was using right now were two-fold.


    <span style="font-weight:400">First, the envelope itself would remain unsealed, with the name and title of its recipient written on the front. This title would contain a memetic agent that gave someone a fairly simple effect. Under normal circumstances, they would simply seek to ensure that the letter found its way to the recipient written on the envelope. Due to wanting the letter to reach its recipient unharmed, they would not do any damage to either the envelope or the letter within, including copying it down to send digitally.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was actually a fairly standard memetic agent in James¡¯s world, used by postalpanies to ensure that people did not try to steal packages meant to be delivered to someone else. As long as the person recognized that the package was not addressed to them, the agent would activate. And if it was, the agent wouldpel the recipient to open the package themselves. Granted, this was taken advantage of by many scampanies and insurance salesmen, but it produced a drastic decrease in stolen packages.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The second memetic agent was far more sinister. When read by the person who identifies the text as targeting them, this memetic agent caused a powerful sense of guilt. Unless the reader truly believed that they had not done anything written within the affected text, there would be twomands imnted within their mind. Thesemands would be carried out naturally, without the host even aware that they had been targeted.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The firstmand was for them to confess to all crimes rted to the affected text in a public manner. This could be anything from a standard public confession to arge press conference, with the confession always meant to spread the belief that what they did was wrong. After theypleted thismand, the secondmand activated. With this, they would find a method of self-termination that appeared outwardly natural.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In James¡¯s old world, amon method of carrying out thismand was for a space pirate to unintentionally sabotage their warp drive during routine maintenance, not even realizing as he gave themand tounch. In this world, Chel could imagine it as someone attempting ascension to divinity or perfection, getting distracted at a key moment. They could even just create a more basic energy type and perform a reckless mistake. Either way, the result would be the same.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel smiled as she grabbed for a nk envelope, writing down the name and title of Elder Wanke. ¡°I¡¯ve got to go deliver a letter, so I¡¯ll be back in a few minutes.¡± She said as she hopped up from her desk. She hummed lightly to herself as she left theb, eyes scanning the signs of every business she passed to look for the ninja n¡¯s hidden trademark. Unless someone had the proper level of void protection, or knew the specific anti-memetic agent to counter the letter, Chel was confident that it would have its desired effect.

 Chapter 739: Welcome Back

    Chapter 739: Wee Back


    <span style="font-weight:400">


    I shuddered as I read through Chel¡¯s surface thoughts as she was writing the letter. To use only a simple, written letter as a weapon of assassination was definitely not one of the things I had in mind for her to do. I thought that she might sneak into the ninja n¡¯s hidden world, secretly disrupt their operations, and deal the finishing blow when the elder let his guard down. This seemed¡­ almost too simple. At the same time, it was something that the ninjas themselves wouldn¡¯t seeing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">To put it more urately, they couldn¡¯t see iting. Even if it was standard procedure to digitize such handwritten notes, the power that Chel left on the envelope itself would stop them from doing so. I could only watch as Chel slipped into a beauty salon with a smile, slipping that letter to the cashier before turning around and leaving.


    <span style="font-weight:400">And with that, the assassination on her part was essentiallypleted. She could return to work and consider the matter settled until something else happened. I shook my head, realizing that Chel could easily be just as scary as James when provoked.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thinking it over, I nced at the Goddesses gathered around. ¡°I think it¡¯s about time for me to head back down again.¡± I said with a small smile. It had been a while since I properly descended for any extended period, unless it was to deal with something like an invasion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At the very least, it felt like I could do with some more training, now that the world had grown to this stage. ¡°Just let me know if--¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If Oldbeard attempts to send a message, we¡¯ll let you know.¡± Aurivy cut me off with a small grin, alia quickly following up.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Or Sarah, or anyone else.¡± She poked her tongue out as she said that, and I nodded with a faint chuckle. I smirked, rolling my eyes at theirments while preparing my descent. Soon, I felt the warm glow of blue light wrapping around me, sending me once again to my World Host.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I opened my eyes again, I was seated atop my throne within the Sky Citadel. Kneeling at the base of the stairs were three familiar figures. Naturally, these were the three ¡®Servants¡¯ that I had taken in. I rolled my shoulders, the action catching the attention of the slime girl, Lifre.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her eyes shot open, and she quickly swatted at Tsubaki¡¯s arm. ¡°He¡¯s here.¡± She whispered, though a bit too loudly as I was able to hear her. I had checked in on everyone before descending, and knew that Tsubaki was currentlymunicating with a number of different officials in regards to recent events.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, as soon as she heard Lifre¡¯s voice, her eyes came to life, her nine tails starting to sway as her head lowered. ¡°Wee back, my Keeper.¡± She spoke in a happy tone, causing me to chuckle lightly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thanks. And this must be Lifre.¡± I looked towards the slime girl, who grinned broadly. ¡°I believe that this is the first time we¡¯re meeting face to face.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, you could say that.¡± She answered in a cheeky tone. ¡°I¡¯ve been staring at that face for¡­ oh wow, nevermind, yeah I don¡¯t want to even admit that to myself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana was the next to awaken, seeming to catch the noise from this avatar as her eyes focused. ¡°Wee back, boss. Is there a new mission for us?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I shook my head at her. ¡°No, nothing like that. I simply wanted to descend for a while and spend my time in training. Though, if there are any issues that you currently find troubling, I would be happy to hear them out.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki had a rather troubled look on her face, as if unsure if she should speak up. Knowing what was on her mind, Dana was the one to say it. ¡°Sir, there has been no resolution with the wave shark incident yet. They seem to be growing stronger with every passing day. Currently, all coastal cities are on high alert, and travel on the ocean has been strictly forbidden.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eye twitched slightly when I heard Dana¡¯s report. ¡°That situation has been dealt with. Leowynn saw to it herself not long ago. We won¡¯t have to deal with anything like that for some time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki and Dana were both relieved when they heard that, though Lifre was the next to speak up. ¡°There¡¯s something else, too! A giant pulse of mana swept through all of the known worlds, and is giving people weird powers! But the three of us didn¡¯t get anything!¡± The way her cheeks puffed out at that, it was hard to tell whether she was more troubled by the pulse, or the fact that she was left out of it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana and Tsubaki only sent pitying nces towards Lifre as I shook my head. ¡°That was my doing. This is a form of evolution that I intended to help those who were unable to step onto the path of perfection. Additionally, the races with naturally weaker physiques will be elevated to the same level as the heroc in the new generation. Is there anything else?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre fell silent at that, before lifting a hand. ¡°Uhm¡­ what power were slimes given?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Aquakinesis, or the ability to control water.¡± I responded with a light chuckle. This seemed to be the type of power that a slime could most easily benefit from. However, when Lifre heard that, she appeared relieved.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay, so I¡¯m not missing out on too much. I thought that we might have gotten something awesome like intuitively knowing how to use any kind of weapon or something. Anyways, uhm¡­ I don¡¯t think that there¡¯s anything really ¡®troubling¡¯? I found three otherrge-scale void entities, but I would hardly call them as dangerous as the big shark.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh?¡± I lifted a brow, curious as to the three creatures she had identified.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah!¡± Lifre nodded her head with excitement. ¡°For the first one¡­ think of a random number. Any random number, just off the top of your head.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked in confusion, before shrugging my shoulders. ¡°Three hundred and fourteen.¡± Lifre¡¯s face could only be described as yful, making me catch on rather fast. ¡°That¡¯s it..?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yep. The first one has the effect where anyone asked to guess a random number that includes three hundred and fourteen in its range will first choose that number, unless they are specifically avoiding it. It really wrecked the lottery of Desbar when the results were three-one-four-three-one-four, since it affectsputers as well.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The biggest impact from this void effect is targeting random number generators, which have been going haywire for a few weeks now. Because of the ¡®unknown glitch¡¯, some of the programmers have removed that number from the results table, and simply made it so that any number above it is lowered by one for the disy.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The second void effect is just as subtle. Anyone looking at the sunset during thest moments of light every day will remember one fact that they find disturbing. It could be a memory of a certain phobia, or a song that gets stuck in their head. Regardless, it happens to everyone that looks at the final moments of the sunset, regardless of. This one took ages to track down, because nobody felt like it was worth reporting¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My brow twitched as I listened to the second void entity. ¡°And¡­ the third one?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The third entity seems to have attached itself to the Carpentry skill in the skill menu. Any time someone uses the skill to create something, the grain of the wood will depict a face somewhere along the finished product. This face is capable of speech, and will often answer personal questions as if it were the person that had created it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The face loses the ability to speak if it is painted over, but still¡­ that¡¯s weird, right?!¡± Lifre asked, pulling out a wooden nk from a storage space. This nk, sure enough, had the darkened grain outline a humanoid face.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s very weird.¡± The face on the wooden nk confirmed, speaking in Lifre¡¯s own voice. ¡°I think we need to deal with this one, or there will be problems in the future.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The fact that the effect of a void entity was trying to convince me to terminate its cause¡­ I could already feel a headacheing along. ¡°Okay¡­ that one at least is annoying enough to have it dealt with.¡± The other two were minor inconveniences at best, but this one would disturb people enough that they would not want to use any manufactured wooden products. Who would want their staff talking back to them as they¡¯re trying to cast spells?


    <span style="font-weight:400">More importantly, this was a confidentiality issue on the part of the crafters, as the faces could give away private information. I let out a sigh, slowly pushing myself to my feet and stretching out my body. ¡°For now, you can all return to your duties. There are some things that I want to take care of¡­ Oh, and Dana, how is your gameing along?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana smiled happily when she heard that. ¡°Currently, we have around two hundred thousand yers online at any given moment. The fact that yers can bring their real world skills into the game to train them, with effects showing when they log out, seems to have made the game quite a bit more popr.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I could imagine, given that a lot of the restrictions on the use of the builder bots in the game was designed to focus around mana¡­ ¡°How is the difficultypared to your original design of the game?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">At that, Dana made a somewhat troubled face. ¡°Well, the original intention was for people to have to struggle to survive in the early stages. With them bringing their real world powers in, a lot of that struggle has been removed for those who use the newest generation of gaming headsets.¡°


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°To get around that, I¡¯ve set the difficulty to scale with the level of the yer, making it so that every yer has at least a somewhat challenging starting experience. Still, there are plenty of people that designmunication or transport spells with their friends in the real world before logging into the game, that way they can easily meet up even on differents.¡± Dana shrugged her shoulders helplessly at that. While it was not quite what she had intended, she seemed happy just having helped make a game that she personally found interesting.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing her happy, I gave a small nod. As long as she was satisfied with her project, there was no reason to worry. With that, I began walking towards the entrance of the throne room, allowing myself to sink into the shadow of the door.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ever since my power had grown to the point where I could potentially destroys, the safest ce for me to test my abilities was within the shadow realm created by the World¡¯s Shadow. Here, even if the terrain was damaged, there wouldn¡¯t be a problem. The broken earth could be mended with the proper expenditure of energy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once within the World¡¯s Shadow, I began practicing some of the new domains that had appeared within the world. As these were the highest points of power currently avable to me, they were the aspects I was most interested in familiarizing myself with.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, I would also practice some of the many skills registered in the skill system as well. While domains were easily the strongest aspect of my current power, the skill system counted as my mostprehensive. I could not afford to be cking when it came to either of these fields.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A ck sword formed in my hand, and I began using it to sh out attacks with fire, water, ice, even lightning domains. I needed to get a proper grasp of the power at my disposal if I wanted to survive a truly high-level encounter.

 Chapter 740: A Star Is Born

    Chapter 740: A Star Is Born


    <span style="font-weight:400">Within the world of my shadow, I took a deep breath, eyes roaming over the surroundings. It had been quite a long time since I acquired this pseudo-sentient energy. Long ago, I had tasked it with the creation of troops that could fight alongside me in battle, and I was curious how those troops had been developing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Personally, I hadn¡¯t devoted much attention to this project, so it would not have surprised me in the least if the training had stalled right from the start. However, as I stood above the shadowed recreation of the Sky Citadel, I expanded my senses outwards. Through the World¡¯s Shadow, I was able to feel an insurmountable number of beings popting this world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes went wide in shock, as I could even feel three of these figures within the citadel itself. Turning around, I hurried back inside, moving towards one of their locations. Given the numbers corrtion, I assumed that these three shadows represented the three Servants of the citadel, but that did not match up with what I knew of this power.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Following the trace, I soon saw Dana within her workshop, sitting down to begin a new project. When she saw mee in, she offered a small smile. ¡°Hey, boss. I was wondering when you¡¯d show up!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What¡­ how?¡± Was this the real Dana, or a shadow version of her? It was rather hard to tell. Given that this was Dana we were talking about, it was entirely possible for her to be linked to the real world¡¯s Dana, and yet that did not seem to be the case, going by her expression.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°How what?¡± Dana tilted her head in confusion. It was clear that she did not understand what I was talking about, so I could only back out of the workshop under her confused gaze.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Terra? alia? Can someone exin all of this to me? I thought that the World¡¯s Shadow was supposed to create new people and train them based on my personal experiences?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">That is normally the case.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> It was Terra¡¯s voice that answered me, a yful tone within it. <i><span style="font-weight:400">However, it seems that you had a¡­ special circumstance.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Exin, please! </i><span style="font-weight:400">This was too far outside the realm of what I was prepared for. After all, I came to train here because there would have been no problems even if I did identally destroy a or three. If they were all inhabited like this¡­ well, that idea goes out the window quite fast.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯s simple, really. You instructed the World¡¯s Shadow to make people. You never said what type of people it should focus on, or gave it any parameters for creating them. Normally, the people created by a World¡¯s Shadow are restricted to the sses that the user themselves has. As the Keeper, you effectively possess all sses.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Just like how Dana is able to use her World¡¯s Shadow to create monsters due to her experience of being regarded as a monster by both the world itself and her own mentality, yours has the ability to copy people in their entirety. This is in part because you possess all sses, as well as the fact that you have an intrinsic link to everyone in your world. So, when you told your World¡¯s Shadow to start making people¡­ it started making them. It copied them in their daily lives, having the shadows of a person mimic their real world counterparts in order to decipher their very souls.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">That¡­ wasn¡¯t really my intention, but I could not be sure whether or not I should be upset about this development or not. <i><span style="font-weight:400">What about gods? Wasn¡¯t it decided that the World¡¯s Shadow couldn¡¯t produce gods?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a brief mental giggle from Terra before her exnation continued. <i><span style="font-weight:400">And who decided that? Aside from yourself, the other two wielders of the World¡¯s Shadow simply do not possess godhood. Even if they did, they might not be able to recreate a domain that was different from their own. However, you possess all domains that your people do. Therefore, if anyone appears with a domain for you to create with your shadow, you already possess that domain.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">This is the true form of a World¡¯s Shadow, only able to be wielded by the Keeper themselves. While you are unable to create the monsters within your world through normal means, do not forget that you also have the Monsters domain from Tower. Your shadow has been using that as a supplement for its inability to directly produce monsters.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I could feel a headacheing on as I heard that exnation. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Okay¡­ new n, then.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I focused, willing the World¡¯s Shadow to take me out of the shadow realm. Once I had emerged, I picked another within the Earth¡¯s sr system to teleport to. Although the was a barren rock, that was exactly what I wanted right now.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Can you add this to the shadow world?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I asked internally, feeling my shadow expanding in order to cover this world. With a sigh of relief, I was d to know that the World¡¯s Shadow really could handle more than just a single at a time. Thus, I patiently waited until the shadow had finished upying this entire before once again entering the shadow world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, for the love of-!¡± I shouted, looking up into the sky. The shadow copy of Earth was so close that I could make out the distinct features of the itself. It was likely that it was even closer than Earth¡¯s moon, judging by how it appeared to upy the majority of the sky. ¡°Noted. This has been noted for the future. For now, please move this as far away from Earth as you can.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I could feel a slight tremor as the was moved, but the change was barely visible. Most likely, this would be a rather slow process, leading me to grumble inwardly. My training of potentially world shattering attacks would have to wait for¡­ hours? Days? Until I was confident that my shadow Earth was outside of the st radius, that much was sure.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Shaking my head, I sent myself back to the shadow version of the Sky Citadel, sitting down within the rooftop garden. With a deep breath, I began to focus, sorting through my different domains. While I could not perform any world shattering attacks at the current moment, there was something else that I could do instead.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I concentrated my divinity into my voice, focusing on every word I said. I was going to be creating a divinew, but one that would not affect the world as a whole. ¡°By the power of the Crafts domain, create a seed of potential. An object without shape, capable of growing into its final form to suit the power bestowed upon it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Divinity began to swirl around me in a golden cloud, gathering together to form an egg-shaped item in front of me. This egg appeared to be golden in color, with swirling patterns depicted within it. If my mental image was urate, this would be the embryonic form of what I wanted to do next. ¡°By the power of the Crafts domain, copy this item once for every unique domain in my possession. Whenever a new unique domain is acquired in the future, create an additional copy.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">With the first use of the power being to create a temte, the second was to copy the temte, and establish an automatic process. As such, golden mist shot from my body, filling the garden with more of these golden eggs. ¡°By the power of the Enchantment domain, bestow each of these items with one of my unique domains. Whenever a new domain is acquired, bestow it on the corresponding item embryo.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">What I was creating was essentially a mass-produced version of a divine artifact. However, there were a few key differences between these items and a true divine artifact. For instance, these embryos would not turn into items that bolstered the power of a domain, or gave new effects. Instead, if I was creating them right, these would be items capable of allowing the wielder to use the domain themselves.


    <span style="font-weight:400">On the one hand, this meant that they would not be able to offer me any form of a true power boost, due to the simple fact that I already had every power contained within the items. However, it should be possible for me to let others use these items to give them ess to the domain themselves. The main reason that I was doing this, though, was to preserve any domains that I acquired.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Due to the golem God of Storage having died already, I could no longer ess his Storage domain. However, if I had done this back before he died, I would likely have an item that allowed me the use of that power. That was what I was after, ensuring that I would never lose ess to a power that I had grown fond of.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As for what form the items would take¡­ I didn''t really have any control over that. In order to create these mass-produced relics, I had to sacrifice a degree of customization. It was either that or manually descending every time a new deity was born to personally construct a relic. Given the rate that people were advancing, I did not find that to be an ideal solution at all.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That said, I also did not know how long it would take for the embryonic forms of the items to mature. For that part, at least, I was not worried. I had all the time in the world after bestowing them with their domains.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Smiling, I rose from my seated position, my eyes turning away from the dozens of golden eggs. With a wave of my hand, I sent these items all into my bedroom within this shadow copy of the Sky Citadel. There, I could be sure that they would not be disturbed before they were ready.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯ll have to test those out once they grow to make sure that I was right about them.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> There were a few potential holes in my theory, but I would not know for certain without personal experience. In the worst case scenario, I would have simply wasted some time and divine energy, requiring me to invalidate my previous divinew.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Within the world of Lorek, the time had finallye. The first of the ¡®seeded¡¯ disciples from the Immortal Sword n was ready to ascend and reach the rank of Sword Immortal. This would be the moment that determined whether or not the original Sword Immortal¡¯s gambit all those years ago had paid off.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nearby, Mora stood with her eyes closed, silently sensing the surrounding atmosphere. She had already prepared her disciple to the best of her ability to allow him to ascend. This was the most talented of her initial batch of recruits, and also the hope for her power to grow beyond its previous limits.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her heart was bursting with excitement, but her training allowed her to keep herself tempered. As for the disciple himself, he saw within a pir of starlight. His silver hair danced in the air above him, his focus entirely on his internal sky.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At this point in time, all of his insights had beenpressed into a single mass. This mass was iparablyrger than any of his previous stars, and resonated with every idea he had ever had that was involved with the path of the sword.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Feeling as if the energy within him had reached the boiling point, he took a deep breath, drawing his attention to the very heart of the giant mass. <i><span style="font-weight:400">There is only the Sword.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> This was a mantra that had been taught to every on the verge of reaching this final level. In order to seed, they had to clear their minds of all distracting thoughts, so that they only held their own Paths in their heart.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When the disciple recited this mantra, he saw the shadow of a sword appear within this ster body, moments before it erupted. Countless motes of light shot out in all directions, forming an entire gxy within his internal sky. He could feel the strength of his body rising to an unprecedented level, feeling as if he could crush mountains with his bare hands.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nearby, his master basked in the radiance of his ascension, sensing the changes within her own inner sky. True enough, she felt the presence of the star she had donated returning to her body, but there was something more. The star felt as if it were connecting to something.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Following this connection, she saw an entirely new gxy within her inner sky. The mere sight of it brought her to the heights of ecstasy, but her mood was quickly soured. She realized that she could not draw on the power of this second gxy. The only power that had been acquired was that of the single star that returned to her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Furthermore, there was something unusual about this second gxy. Although most of its stars were shining brightly, there were several that were only dimly lit. When Mora brought her attention to one of these stars, she found that it contained insights that differed from what she possessed in her own gxy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she studied this star, she found it beginning to shine brighter and brighter. At the same time, an additional star had appeared within her own gxy, representing the birth of a new insight. Mora let out a silent gasp, quickly understanding what this meant.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Even if two people both pursued the same paths, they ultimately arrived at different insights. Those paths, when taken to the extreme, would give birth to entirely different ideals. Although most of the insights were shared between the master and disciple, that was purely because she was his teacher. By connecting their gxies, they would be able to learn from the insights of one another, adding to their own inner skies and growing their power.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mora was suddenly looking forward to the results of her other students ascending. If each one provided their own gxy of insights, it would truly be worth finding disciples both inside and outside of her n to seed with one of her stars.

 Chapter 741: Brilliance

    Chapter 741: Brilliance


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mora turned, smiling towards the nearby Immortals who hade to watch the ascension. As many of them had be ¡®invested¡¯ in Mora¡¯s n, they wanted to know what the final result would ultimately be. Had their stars been wasted in their attempts to preserve their future, or had they managed to open up a path of ultimate power for themselves?


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, I must say that it is not as I imagined it to be.¡± Mora admitted to the other Immortals, who paled at the thought of their stars having gone to waste. Some even began to think of ways that they could retrieve those stars from their seeded disciples. ¡°It would seem that there is no¡­ <i><span style="font-weight:400">direct</i><span style="font-weight:400"> benefit from doing this. However, there is quite the important indirect benefit.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°My star has been returned to me.¡± She exined, and the faces of those immortals showed relief. As long as the star was returned, they would be able to reach the peak of their power after their disciples ascended. ¡°At the same time, this star now connects to the inner sky of our new Sword Immortal. Through this connection, we may gleen each other¡¯s insights byparing our gxies. With each insight obtained, we receive a new star. I¡¯m sure that I don¡¯t need to tell you what this means¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Aye,ss¡­¡± The me Immortal nodded his head, stroking his red beard as his mind raced. If one star could connect to one disciple¡­ he furrowed his brow, looking at the newly ascended Sword Immortal. ¡°Lad, can ye really sense yer master¡¯s stars?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The new Sword Immortal looked at him with a calm expression, before closing his eyes and focusing. After a moment, he shook his head to deny the im. This time, Mora seemed quite surprised. ¡°The connection is only one way¡­?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Aye.¡± The me Immortal nodded. ¡°It¡¯s just as ye said when we started this n,ss. This is simr to the process of a Subordinate Deity. The Subordinate does not have free ess to the power of the master. However, if it¡¯s working like this, perhaps yer disciple can seed the system of another, and both of ye will enjoy the benefits.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mora stroked her chin curiously. If this were true, then there were other things that she needed to test. It had to be known that the master in a subordinate rtionship could bestow divine power to their people. With that in mind, it should be possible for them to send some of their light to their disciples as well.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The me Immortal¡¯s thoughts were moving in a different direction. By repeatedly gathering more and more disciples, it would be possible to continuously expand their foundation in their respective paths. Doing so would only cause them to grow more powerful over time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Furthermore, by sending disciples out to roam the world and build up their own knowledge in the wild, their insights would diverge more from those of their teacher than if they were simply left in the n. If there ever came a day when their insights expanded enough, would they truly be able to establish additional gxies within their inner skies? Perhaps that would be the future rating method for Immortals.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Looks like I¡¯ll need to spur the kids on a bit more.¡± He grunted. It was no wonder that Mora¡¯s disciple had ascended first, as she had seeded hers before even telling everyone else about the method. Now that they were aware of the results, these first generation Immortals would be able to steadily increase their power while fending off the star beasts from beyond their.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, then¡­¡± Mora smiled, her eyes remaining closed. ¡°Once I have finished processing the new insights from my disciple, I shall go to chase away some of those beasts outside.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her words sent a shock through the gathered Immortals, who all realized the significance of what she had said. She was the first to do this¡­ until one of their own disciples ascended, her power would far outss their own once she had finished digesting the knowledge.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If the other party had been an Immortal that was openly hostile to others, they would have no choice but to strike together while she was still weakened. However, Mora had always been a rather straightforward person, and had not overly angered any of those gathered.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Still, this left these Immortals with the realization that it would not be long before the bnce of power began to shift within the world. Those who were able to do like Mora did and raise a new group of Immortals would soon upy the highest level of authority within both Lorek and Spica.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was of particr concern for Spica, as their government was still currently established so that cultivators were not the ones in power. Although this was done to prevent personal interests from taking over theary government, it was likely that it would change in time. After all, there were numerous self-governing bodies within the world such as the Wood Elves, the Sea Elves, and so on. They had always maintained their stance of self-government, and had never interfered with the world¡¯s path.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now that there was a path to power that surpassed even ordinary Immortals, however¡­ it was hard to say if their non-interference would continue. It had always been the case in any region where the explosive growth of one party led to a desperate increase in their surroundings. Nobody wished to be thest one to adapt to the changes, as those people were inevitably the targets of discrimination.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Within the Sky Citadel, I emerged roughly twelve hours after entering to begin my training. The embryonic divine weapons were still yet to mature, and I had practiced what skills I could manage without the use of special materials or considerable space. When I emerged, I was naturally met by Tsubaki, who offered a deep bow towards me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Wee back, my Keeper. I trust that your training went well.¡± She said in a respectful tone, her nine tails swaying behind her body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As well as can be expected.¡± I responded, sighing. Her ear twitched, and she looked up to meet my gaze.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is there something troubling you? If so, perhaps I may lend an ear?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave her a small smile, thinking it over. ¡°I suppose that there would be no harm in exining. Perhaps you might have knowledge of something that I¡¯ve overlooked.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Walking down the hall, I found a bench to sit down on, patting the spot next to myself. Tsubaki¡¯s eyes darted from side to side, before eventually sitting down next to me. ¡°In short¡­ I need somewhere to properly train. I had nned to use my World¡¯s Shadow, but I found¡­ something that dissuaded me from doing so.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Have you considered the use of the new VR Headsets?¡± Tsubaki asked softly, to which I nodded.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I thought about it, and it might work. My concern is whether it will properly be able to simte the Keeper¡¯s power. If it does, that would be the best-case scenario. However, if my power overloads it, there is the potential of a serious incident.¡± That was why I hadn¡¯t used the new headsets in the first ce. After all, they essentially create a projection of your very soul. It was feasibly possible for the device to be overloaded, and the soul to be trapped within. I did not know if that would count as a form of ¡®death¡¯ in the system.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s face became troubled at that. After all, there was no proper way to test such a level of power. Nobody else in the entire alliance of worlds woulde close to the strain that I would ce on these devices. ¡°I see¡­ I agree, that¡¯s not a risk that we can afford to take lightly, my Keeper. In that case¡­ is there perhaps a way that you could promote a God of Simtion? Or perhaps a system that you could buy to properly train your powers?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a bitter smile. ¡°In truth, there is a system like that, but I can only use it back in the Admin Room against predetermined monsters. I could technically train there, but¡­ there are things that I cannot do there if I get the inspiration.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°For instance, I thought of creating a dungeon core with my World¡¯s Shadow, making a powerful dungeon full of shadow beasts. Ideas that would create a permanent change can only be thought about, but not implemented unless I am down here. While it is certainly safer to train with that system, it is¡­ stifling, I suppose you could say.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Perhaps you simply need a proper training partner to keep your mind at ease?¡± Tsubaki suggested, though I shook my head again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I remember back when you trained me. If it were like those days, then I could certainly ask you to join me. However, the strength of the world has grown in all aspects, and has caused me to simrly grow. At this point, the sheer volume of my energy would make training against any living inhabitant of the world ineffective.¡± Tsubaki¡¯s ears drooped slightly as I said that, and I could tell that she thought I was dismissing her strength.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Reaching over, I scratched once between her ears, causing her tails to standpletely straight for a moment. ¡°I know how powerful you are, Tsubaki. If I were training my basic abilities, I would be more than willing to ask for your help. The abilities I¡¯m training right now are far beyond what anyone else in my world is capable of. The only thing I can receive help from others for this is ideas.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°For instance¡­ I know that I can utilize the powers of the four elements to create a in the same way that the others created Sanctum. It would be draining to do so, but I¡¯m confident that I could seed at least once. What I need is a list of domains that could interact to produce powerful attacks and defenses. Powers that would far surpass the sum of their abilities.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki blinked at that, turning to look at me. I could see a smile starting to form on her face. ¡°That means that there is something that I can do.¡± She said confidently. ¡°I am familiar with every registered deity in your worlds, my Keeper. I know their domains, and how they utilize them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°While I may not have the experience of Lady Chelsea, I am confident that I could create several powers befitting your requirements. For instance¡­ your own Mirrors domain,bined with the Archery domain of Thessa Grid. Using two mirrors as portals, you shatter one while firing an arrow into it. Each shard of the broken mirror then produces a copy of that arrow.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The power of the Knights domain can be used to summon an army of knights, while the Enchantment domain can enchant each knight¡¯s equipment with the power of a different domain.¡± Tsubaki¡¯s eyes trailed off to the wall as she spoke.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You could create divine scrolls with the power of the Papers and Words domains, imbuing them with various abilities. If you were to write a book with the three domains of Paper, Words, Stage, and Adventure, you could trap your enemies within those books. The power of the Cities domain could be mixed with Crafts and Archery to produce a powerful fortress¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s words were cut off when I let out a suddenugh. Her cheeks darkened, her eyes ncing down at the floor as if she thought that she had done something wrong. ¡°That¡¯s brilliant, Tsubaki.¡± I praised, and her eyes went wide.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While the ideas had started out simple, she quickly beganing up with moreplex and powerfulbinations. ¡°I¡¯ll give you a full list of my domains. With yourbat experience, I¡¯d like you to try ande up with more ¡®ultimatebinations¡¯ like that. I¡¯ll be relying on them for the future.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s head bobbed up and down repeatedly, nodding energetically. ¡°Of course, my Keeper!¡± She replied in an eager tone, happy to have found a way of helping. As for myself¡­ I was quite interested in trying out that book idea. It seemed simr to Terra¡¯s method, but I felt as if it would produce strikingly different results.

 Chapter 742: Holy Trinity

    Chapter 742: Holy Trinity


    <span style="font-weight:400">


    With my newest test in mind, I made my way to my quarters within the Sky Citadel. It was not often that I was able to make use of this room, as my World Host spent the majority of the time sitting motionlessly on the throne. Yet despite that, the room was spotless, with not a single sign of dust to be seen. As there was no self-cleaning or preservation enchantment on the room, it was obvious that Tsubaki came in here to clean on a regr basis.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small chuckle at that realization, moving to sit at the desk, which was a near identical copy to the one that I possessed within the Admin Room. Once seated, I closed my eyes in thought, ideas streaming through my mind about how I would achieve this effect. Surely, writing each word out by hand would be far too time-consuming and impractical. Even typing on a keyboard was several times faster than manually writing each sentence.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, using a keyboard was also too slow. I did not wish to spend the next four months in this room, working on a single story to test a theory. Thus, I had toe up with a faster way to transcribe my imagination into words.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, I had ess to the Words domain. Originally, I had imagined myself writing the words of the story while infusing them with divine power. But at the same time, it should be entirely possible to use the domain to write the words itself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As Tsubaki had suggested before, I could use the Paper domain to create the actual body of the book, which just left the Stage and Adventure domains to make the story. Thus, I nned to do just that. With the Words and Papers domain, I focused on transcribing my imagination into a book. At the same time, I used the Adventure and Stage domain to imagine a world that could quite literally ensnare its audience and force them to take the role of the hero.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This proved¡­ more difficult than I imagined. Not because I wascking in ideas, but rather thebination of domains itself. It felt as if there was something hindering me, like I was pushing through a quagmire.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Such a situation was something I¡¯d never felt before. It should be easy for me to use the powers of my world as the Keeper. At least, that was how it had always been. The Adventure domain should be even easier, as it was a domain belonging to my subordinate deity, Lifre. Yet when I tried to use all four domains at once, it felt as if the power was weakened.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As a test, I attempted to perform the same feat while removing the Stage domain from the equation. Originally, it was there to help ease the transition for this power to trap others. The previousbination could still potentially perform this action, so I wanted to see how the efficiency fared.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The result was¡­ actually easier than when I was trying to channel four domains at once. I could easily imagine a world of darkness and magical me, where the hero of the story was suddenly transported into this strangend. In order to escape, they would have to face the Demon King, who grew stronger to match his challengers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Since this book was supposed to grow with the person sent into it, I only wrote the prologue of the story. This way, I could establish the foundation of the world and the future plot direction, leaving the rest of the book nk. Given that this prologue only upied the first five out of hundreds of pages, I was quite excited to see what would happen when someone was actually trapped within it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Shaking my head, I decided that that wasn¡¯t important right now. I¡¯d have Tsubaki find someone for me to test the power onter. First, I wanted to figure out why my initial n had failed. By any reasonable assumption, I should have had an easier time making this book with the power of a fourth domain. It should have been an even more powerful creation, as well.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As a test, I tried to create another four-domainbination. Thisbination would use the des, Archery, Storms, and Tracking domains to fire a single arrow into the air and release a torrent of ded projectiles that homed in on a target. I felt that this could be a rather powerful attack in its own right, but was frustrated to find that same mental block when I tried to perform the feat atop the Sky Citadel.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With my brows furrowed, I activated my World Sight to scan through my own body, and only then did I realize the cause of this blockage. Whenever I activated a domain with my Keeper authority, my own domains disappeared briefly, unless I was focusing on them as well. This in itself was unimportant, but what was important was what came when I focused more and more domains on myself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For the first, second, and third domain, there were no obvious issues. The domains were able to exist in perfect harmony with one another. Once I added the fourth domain, it appeared as if the domains had be¡­ cramped. Like they were struggling to find their bnce and each was trying to fight for control.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As a test, I created a divine avatar, and had it focus on more and more domains at once. Five, six, all the way to eight the imbnce grew further and further. But strangely, the moment I used a ninth domain, they once again entered a state of harmony, the domains grouping up in sets of threes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I wanted to try adding more, seeing if the same thing would happen at twenty-seven domains, but¡­ the moment I added a tenth domain to the avatar, it suddenly exploded. All that was left behind was a crater in the roof of the citadel where it had been standing. In the brief period before its destruction, I saw the domains wildly shing against one another, falling apart and gushing outwards.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">So¡­ there is a rule of threes¡­ Three domains forms a trinity, and is the first level of bnce. Nine forms the limit, and is the second level of bnce. But to get from three to nine, one has to deal with the turbulence in between. For the sake of efficiency, let¡¯s consider the trinity as the optimum arrangement of domains for now.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">With that in mind, I sent a message to Tsubaki, informing her of my discovery. After I did so, I added an instruction to what I had told her before. ¡°Try to work in abilities that have a synergy of three domains.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course, my Keeper.¡± She responded right away, clearly having her own ideas. From my observation of my own divine energy, I had found that an assortment of three domains was far more stable than simply two. They resonated with each other on a deeper level. If my hunch was correct, the concept of a trinity would enhance the abilities used by all three domains.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thinking of my own abilities, I knew that I was just one domain shy from reaching such a trinity. I already had Mirrors and Illusions, and merely needed one more domain to reach that state. Of course, I could temporarily borrow the power from one of my subordinates, but I had never felt the true power of a trinity before¡­ it was likely that simply using the subordinate rtionship would not reach that state.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This meant that I needed to find a way to cultivate a third form of divinity. Only upon doing so would I enter that state on a permanent basis. Of course, I¡¯d need to find a domain that synergized well with my other two before I could make such a decision.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I thought about that, I couldn¡¯t help but feel regretful of some of the domain choices for my deities. For instance, Aurivy¡­ the power of Love, Dungeons, and Travel offered very fewbinations to use her full power. In the end, she managed to create the Traveler, but that was the first true instance of her using all three for a single purpose that I was aware of.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley was no doubt facing a simr issue. She had managed tobine Fire and Darkness to create her signature Dark me, but I had not seen any examples of her being able to integrate her third domain into those abilities. Ashley and Aurivy seemed like the two who would have the hardest time finding ways to fully utilize their powers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If it were possible, I¡¯d like to simply reassign their domains to give them something more convenient. Unfortunately¡­ those domains had be iconic for them. To change them would be a culture shock that would confuse the entire world. That¡¯s assuming that it was even possible to change them in the first ce.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a long sigh, before realizing that Lifre was standing near me, her eyes fixated on the hole that I created. ¡°Something wrong, boss?¡± She asked once she noticed me looking in her direction.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, just a failed experiment.¡± I shook my head, to which she let out a sound of realization.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ah! I heard the citadel shake, so I wanted toe check what was going on. Thought Fafnir might have gotten hungry or something.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I started shaking my head at that, before blinking. ¡°Where is Fafnir, by the way? I haven¡¯t seen him for a while.¡± Admittedly, there were other things for me to worry about, but still.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°He said that he was going to go fight the storm beasts that had invaded the skies.¡± Lifre said with a shrug. ¡°I didn¡¯t really understand what he meant, but he seemed determined.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">It took me a moment to process what she was referring to. The storms that had been influenced by the void shark, flying through the skies of Earth. Fafnir likely saw them as a challenge to his authority as the God of the Sky. ¡°He should be back soon, then.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That said, I hadn¡¯t noticed him when I was looking at the map of the world and saw those storms. It was possible that his body was simply too small to see on a world map, but¡­ no, I still had ess to the Sky domain, and I had not received any messages about him perishing. As his ¡®tamer¡¯, that should have been an important prompt for me to receive.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh? Well, that¡¯s good, then! Dana just finished making the body for his next divine artifact!¡± Lifre said with a wide smile, causing me to raise a brow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh? Does he go through those often?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, no! Nothing like that! She said that it¡¯s been so long since he upgraded that she needed to make him a new one. I¡¯m working on my next one, too.¡± She had a pensive look on her face as she said that, making me curious.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What about the sword you had before? You got rid of the ws in that one already, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing my question, Lifre blinked. ¡°Well yeah, but I want something even cooler! The Hero¡¯s Sword is awesome and all, but I can¡¯t just be a one trick mimic. I also made a pair of guns, a suit of armor, and a plot device!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...A plot device?¡± My eye twitched when I heard that, though Lifre just nodded her head energetically.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right! I couldn¡¯t figure out what I wanted for myst one, so I just made it a plot device. Whenever I pull it out, it¡¯ll be a random item that can help me in whatever danger I¡¯m in. The item can only be enchanted up to the third tier, and has to be made with techniques that I know. But, otherwise, it can turn into any random item to suit the situation.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°How do you even¡­ you know what, nevermind. If you¡¯re looking for a good artifact to go with the Adventure domain, why not visit a library, or spend some time in the Theaters of Udona? You should be able to use your domain to recreate fictional adventures, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre¡¯s eyes began to shine when she heard that, and she immediately leapt up to wrap her arms around me. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s great! Can I go do that, then!? That sounds like it¡¯d make an amazing relic! An entire library of fictional stories that I can summon! Oh, I should visit Julia and ask her to make it for me. An entire building-type divine artifact holding countless smaller artifacts inside of it!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked, shocked at her sudden enthusiasm. Her skin was even starting to liquify, revealing a cool blue substance. ¡°Uhm¡­ sure, go ahead. It shouldn¡¯t be a problem, as long as you¡¯re not busy with something else.¡± I had barely finished my words before she left the roof, sprinting to the nearby stairs. No, wait¡­ she skipped the stairs and jumped straight off of the roof itself..

 Chapter 743: Betrayal

    Chapter 743: Betrayal


    <span style="font-weight:400">With the concept of the trinity discovered, I had opened a new path for me to begin nning my abilities. Thankfully, Tsubaki had amassed over a millenia ofbat experience, learning how to use various types of powers to ovee enemies even stronger than herself. With her help, I knew that I could find a set of techniques useful to me. But first¡­ <i><span style="font-weight:400">Irena, are you free?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Of course, Dale.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Her reply came back immediately, as if surprised and happy that I would call for her help. <i><span style="font-weight:400">What can I do for you?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small smile as I thought my request through. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯d like you to guide me to someone truly deserving of punishment. I want to test out a new ability I came up with.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a brief moment of silence as she considered my request. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Very well. I assume that this is a ¡®permanent¡¯ form of punishment?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">If all goes well, I would hope so. At the very least, they would note out the same.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I did not know just how strong the power I created was, and needed to properly test it out. With that in mind I received a set of coordinates from Irena.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">The woman¡¯s name is Margaret Hatchet. She¡¯s a dovah in charge of an orphanage. However, she uses the business mostly as a front for her¡­ more feral urges, luring in unsuspecting people looking to acquire one of her children. Once she has their address¡­ well, the police have never found a full body. In order to keep them off her trail, she will asionally attack families that she finds on her nightly walks.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I shuddered as I thought of that, offering a small nod. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Yeah, she¡¯ll do.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Part of me didn¡¯t even want to meet this woman in person, but I needed to see the actual effect of my ability. Thus, I teleported myself to the coordinates she provided, the nearly empty book in my right hand.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I arrived, I was standing over a kilometer away from a three-story building at the edge of arge city. The walls of the building seemed worn down, but the security wards on it were still well-maintained. Behind the building was a small yground, where I could see a group of energetic children ying.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Supervising this group was a dovah woman with a ck robe, wearing a pair of sses over her elongated snout. She had a kind smile as she watched the children ying, such that I found it hard to believe she was as bad as Irena had imed. However, I trusted Irena¡¯s judgement. She was the God of Justice, after all.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, I suppressed my aura to the bare minimum, opening the book in my right hand to thest finished page. There, the protagonist of the story was introduced. I focused on the features of the thin dovah woman, her dark fur, and her soft brown eyes. Using the power of the Words domain, I transcribed her appearance directly into the book, focusing my perception on her entirely.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There would be too few times that I would be able to get the name of an enemy during a battle if we were facing a true invasion. Therefore, I set the activation condition as detailing the target¡¯s current appearance while focusing on my perception of their identity.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At first, nothing seemed to happen, the woman entirely unaware that she had been locked on by a divine power. Once I finished my description, however, the text within the book began to glow a golden light. Only then did she react, eyes going wide and scanning her surroundings. Long lines of text could be seen drawing themselves over her fur, and she let out a strangled cry before vanishing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The children were naturally shocked, afraid by what they had seen. Their caretaker had vanished from in front of them, seemingly attacked. Many of them began screaming and crying, others looking around to try to identify the threat. Since I was observing from a considerable distance, I was confident that they would not be able to find me. Even if they did, I was hardly afraid of being punished by thew for what I had done.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Can you arrange for someone to take care of the orphanage?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I sent my voice back to Irena as I looked at the crying children.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I was preparing from the moment you told me your n.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Irena assured me, and I could see several robed priests walking towards the orphanage.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a relieved sigh, I looked down at the book in my hands, noticing that the text had been greatly expanded. No longer was it a simple prologue, as new chapters were being written at a blinding speed. My eyes widened as I realized that it would only take an hour, at most, before the book filled its pages.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Given the speed that the text was filling out, I could only skim through the pages as they were being written. Even so, it painted a rather clear picture for me of what the woman was going through. And I had to say, a smile of satisfaction rose over my mouth as I read.


    <span style="font-weight:400">First, she was naturally confused, unsure of how she had arrived in a strange world. She seemed to notice that something was wrong, andmented that the air tasted stale. I didn¡¯t exactly know how to fix that, but I wasn¡¯t particrly concerned. This wasn¡¯t an illusion that could be broken by identifying that one was trapped.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Soon, she encountered the first wave of the demon king¡¯s forces, an army of goblins that had attacked a nearby town. As she was a fairly skilledbatant herself, she easily slew the goblins in her attempt to find out any useful information from the town¡¯s survivors. That was where she learned about the story of the demon king.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Obviously, no such being existed within my worlds. Even on Desbar, the demons were ruled by a president, not a king. Thus, she was able to further confirm that she was transported somewhere else entirely. Adding onto the fact that she noted the absence of any system menus appearing, she began to question whether any of this was really happening or not.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Regardless, she soon left the town. Without the ¡®protection¡¯ of the system, as well as ess to her saved skills, she had no desire to fight something like a demon king. Sadly, this was the worst choice that she could have made. The demon king was such a being that it would grow stronger as time passed and its forces dominated more of the world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There seemed to be several long timeskips, each spanning between months and years. They only asionally referenced any special events, such as important acquaintances she made, or crimes shemitted. It was nearly twenty years after her arrival within the world when the demon king had conquered ny percent of the.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At this point, Margaret had been praying that a hero would rise up, never realizing that she herself was meant to be the hero of this story. By the time that the approaching army spurred her to act, it was already toote. The rank and file soldiers may not have been a match for her, but themanding officers had grown far too strong for Margaret to handle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The story seemed to being to an end, but I was confused¡­ less than half of the pages had been used.<i><span style="font-weight:400"> Was she going to make some form ofeback to escape from the army?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Curious, I read on. As it turned out¡­ no, no she was not. The final battle against an officer in the demon king¡¯s army had been woefully anticlimactic, the dovah woman easily beheaded. Once she was in, another page turned, and blood red text began to write out the words ¡®The End¡¯.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As for the unused pages? It seemed as if they would remain nk for this book. The cover changed as well, a picture of the dovah in her prime depicted beneath the title, ¡®The Life of Margaret Hatchet¡¯.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, this did give me some ideas in regards to the limitations of the book. For instance, the page count. If the hero of the story managed to fill out the entire book without finishing their story, it was hard to say what would happen. They could either continue their story unprinted, or perhaps they would be directly released. Either way, doing so meant that the hero led such an interesting life that the book determined the details had to be included in the adventure.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Next was the fact that the individual trapped within the book was able to identify that they had been trapped. I could easily write in that the world¡¯s system appeared in the setting of the story, but that would hardly help. The senses themselves were just slightly off, which I was unsure how to ovee.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With this in mind, I shouldn¡¯t use the book on people who possess powers rting to freedom or transportation. Otherwise, they may be able to simply use their own domains to break free of the book¡¯s bindings. This was strikingly differentpared to Terra¡¯s books, in which one was simply trapped within their own life story with no escape.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, this book had its advantages as well. For instance, there was no harm in someone reading the story of the trapped individual. Margaret Hatchet would not reappear simply because I read the book she had been confined to.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At the same time, I was able to adjust the setting of the story itself while writing the prologue. The only requirement was that I include a plot hook for some form of adventure, in this case the demon king. It would be just as easy for me to set up an intergctic space opera, or a prehistoric world where one had to escape from dinosaurs.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Given that Margaret moved outside the normal confines of the story, I could safely say that the world within the book was ¡®fully developed¡¯ when it was created. Otherwise, the background events such as the demon king¡¯s progress would not have been recorded. However, this was simultaneously <i><span style="font-weight:400">not</i><span style="font-weight:400"> aplete world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The distinction here was important, because there was no normal way to travel between the real world and the world of the story. It was not a world that existed within the void, but rather the projection of a world created with divine power. There were likely other factors in y, like the hero¡¯s perceptions shaping the story, but I would need to conduct further tests in order to identify those details.


    <span style="font-weight:400">What I did know was that Margaret Hatchet wasn¡¯ting back. The book had confirmed her death, and even written ¡®The End¡¯ in her own blood. It was entirely possible that even her soul would not be able to escape from the story I had written. And given what I had seen of her actions in the book, and the recounting of her crimes, I wasn¡¯t the least bit sorry.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With this test taken care of, I gave a small nod of satisfaction. Within the orphanage, the priests were already working to calm the crying children, though they did not seem to know how to exin what had happened. Given that this was Irena¡¯s preparation, I had faith that she would handle it suitably.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As for me¡­ it was time for me to go back to the Sky Citadel and write more prologues. I wanted a variety of options avable to me, so that I could properly match a story against the appropriate target when the time came.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Julia!!!¡± A voice shouted out, incessant knocking audible from the wooden door. The resident elven goddess raised her brow at the unfamiliar voice, choosing to rise from her couch to go answer the door. Aurivy had only recently decided to go out grocery shopping, though Julia was certain that they weren¡¯tcking anything important. Still, she did this sometimes when she wanted to get a present for Julia, and Julia did the same herself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thinking about that, and how this guest might be rted to why Aurivy had left, Julia¡¯s face softened. She opened the door, smiling at the blue-skinned girl standing behind it. ¡°Hello, there. Is there something I can help you with?¡± She asked softly,pletely unprepared for the girl to lunge and wrap her arms around the elven goddess.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The Keeper said that I could ask you to make me a library! Pretty please?! It¡¯s going to be my new divine artifact, and it will be awesome! I¡¯ll fill it full of books about all different kinds of adventures, and maybe I¡¯ll even just smash people with the library itself sometimes!¡± The girl said in an overly energetic tone, her cool skin practically stered all over Julia¡¯s torso.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Wait, wha--the Keeper?¡± The pieces began to click in Julia¡¯s head, and she suddenly realized why Aurivy had <i><span style="font-weight:400">actually </i><span style="font-weight:400">left. ¡°<i><span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy!? Curse this sudden but inevitable--</i><span style="font-weight:400">¡± Her curse was cut off as the girl¡¯s neck extended unnaturally far so that she could look in Julia¡¯s eyes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So? Can I have it? I¡¯ve got a design and everything all nned out!¡±

 Chapter 744: Enchantment? Enchantment!

    Chapter 744: Enchantment? Enchantment!


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia let out a defeated sigh when she faced Lifre. Honestly, she had wanted to turn Lifre away and refuse the request, telling her to seek out a craftsman deity. This was not because she had a bad impression of Lifre, but rather that she recognized her own strengths and weaknesses.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia¡¯s domain was one extremely suitable for buildingrge constructs, this much she was almost painfully aware of. The problem was that her own architectural skills werecking inparison. While she had created the divine pces of Udona and her Holy Knights, she knew that any trained architect would likely be able to create an even more beautiful pce than her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre didn¡¯t seem to care about any of that, though. More importantly¡­ she had said that it was the Keeper himself who told her toe to Julia directly. If this were to be taken as a request from the Keeper, then there truly was no other option. As someone who was very familiar with the Greater Pantheon, she naturally knew that the Keeper¡¯s power was unimaginable.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, Aurivy wouldn¡¯t tell her something like the Keeper being just another guy. Even if it were true, she had to help maintain his dignity as the ruler of all creation within his realm. Thus, she had the same unfathomable image of the Keeper as most of those who resided within his world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Alright¡­ I¡¯ll do it.¡± Julia shook her head, causing Lifre to jump with joy. ¡°Just be warned¡­ it might not be as good as something made by a proper architect.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s totally fine!¡± Lifre said happily, shaking her head. ¡°If the boss says you can do it, I know you can make something great!¡± With that said, she ran over to the side, squatting down and crossing her legs as she watched Julia.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...I¡¯m not making it here, you know?¡± She pointed out, causing Lifre to tilt her head curiously. ¡°There¡¯s not enough space for a library in my front yard¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh! Right, haha, sorry! Would you rather make it somewhere else in Sanctum, or I can take you to an unupied world that the Servants use?¡± Lifre jumped up to her feet, running back over to Julia.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia had to consider that for a moment. ¡°Somewhere else on Sanctum. The divine energy here will help make sure I don¡¯t use as much power. Let¡¯s just fly for a while and find somewhere.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Before you go¡­¡± A voice suddenly cut them off, one that Julia found only vaguely familiar. When she turned her head to look, she saw the image of a well-dressed man appearing not far away from her, his bodyrgely illusory. ¡°Would you mind letting me see your divine artifacts for a moment? I¡¯d like to thank you for the sudden request.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ah, hey boss!¡± Lifre called out, waving towards the figure. ¡°I didn¡¯t know you wereing, too!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia¡¯s eyes went wide at the realization that this was the Keeper, though the figure shook his head. ¡°This is just an avatar of mine. My real body justpleted an experiment, and I¡¯m about to do some work. I thought I¡¯de over and take care of this, while I was at it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ah, you d-don¡¯t need to do something like that, sir.¡± Julia said as she offered a deep bow, though the Keeper simply raised his hand to stop her, silently sending his voice to the woman.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Think of it as my way of thanking you for dealing with the requests of the others until now¡­ and for making Aurivy so happy.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The Keeper told her secretly with a smile, causing Julia¡¯s cheeks to darken briefly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°R-Right.¡± She gulped, nodding as she conjured a thread of divine power. With it, she summoned two items. The first was the very wand she had used to create all of her recent constructions, and the other was a straight sword roughly a meter in length, both made wholly from wood.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper nodded his head, exerting a bit of power to bring the two over as he examined them. ¡°This wand will be first. From what I recall, you use it to focus your mind and enhance how urately your divine power responds to your imagination, correct? It¡¯s actually a rather brilliant use for a divine artifact.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia simply nodded, happy to receive the Keeper¡¯s praise. The wand floated away from the sword, arriving directly in front of the Keeper and simply hovering around chest-height on the man. ¡°I¡¯ll enhance this quality for you.¡± He said in a confident tone, eyes bing focused.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia suddenly felt an immense weight from the Keeper¡¯s divinity spreading out from his body, eyes shaking. She had only felt a simr level of power from the members of the Greater Pantheon when they were creating Sanctum.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Wood as the base, enchantment and illusion to enhance.¡± The Keeper muttered, and three golden rings formed near the wand, spreading out like a triangle as they slowly rotated. Within each of the rings, Julia could see a strange script written, one that she had a vague experience with in the past. This was the ¡®divine script¡¯ in which the domains were written when one were to channel their divinity into their eyes to observe the domains of another.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This divine script was a very special, and oddly iprehensible,nguage. The same word written in a true divine script could not be replicated, even if drawn perfectly. When it was truly portrayed, this word was one that anyone could understand, regardless of anynguage barrier. And the only way to write it was to do so with the divinity that possessed the word as a domain.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she watched the three rings, lines began to spread out from each, connecting the rings together. ¡°This is the trinity.¡± The Keeper exined, still focusing on his work. A powerful, harmonious energy appeared from the three rings of golden light, enveloping the wand.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The entire process of enchanting the wandsted roughly five minutes, after which the golden rings faded, and the wand flew back to Julia. ¡°I¡¯ve enchanted it with a special Illusion divine ability.¡± The Keeper said with a smile. ¡°If you insert a strand of your divine will into the wand, you will be able to enter an illusory space to practice your divine powers freely. Once you use a power and find it to your liking, you can have it saved to the wand for more convenient use in the future.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia let out a small gasp at that, as such a thing was certainly a powerful enchantment. She was almost unsure what else he would be able to pull off for her sword. As she was thinking that, he turned his head to look at the sword itself. ¡°For this one¡­ I have an offer for you. I can merge this sword with your familiar, allowing it to transform into the sword and control it in battle. You won¡¯t have to worry about losing the special abilities or personality of your familiar, and it will still have its normal form outside of battle. Additionally, it should be able to obtain the ¡®eternal¡¯ property of your sword.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia hesitated when she heard that. She knew how important a familiar was to someone. In fact, she had almost lost her familiar before, when her home was destroyed. Had the familiar been summoned at the time, it would surely have not survived.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After a few moments of consideration, Julia nodded, extending her hand and calling a wooden statue-like figure out of her body. This statue was exceptionally graceful, and appeared to be wearing a red dress over its body. When the familiar appeared, it smiled both at Julia and at the Keeper. As it had been within Julia¡¯s body, it had heard their conversation up to this point.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I think we can trust him.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Her familiar whispered into her mind. <i><span style="font-weight:400">And besides¡­ I¡¯d like to be able to fight with you, should the need arise in the future.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was ultimately what led to Julia deciding to allow the process, the wooden figure walking over to stand next to the sword. With a small nod, the Keeper became focused once again. This time, his body seemed to lose its illusory quality, bing far more solid than before. Julia took this as a sign that he was bing more serious, and felt a small sense of relief.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a wave of the Keeper¡¯s hand, three more golden rings appeared surrounding the familiar and the wooden sword. This time, the words within the rings were Wood, Possession, and Evolution. Once again, lines began to form between the rings, seeming to trap the familiar inside.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia could feel her connection to her familiar starting to weaken, bing more nervous as she watched the sword floating slowly towards its body. What would happen if this failed? Would she lose a part of her soul, bing a broken husk like so many others? Her familiar turned to look at her, offering a reassuring smile that somewhat eased her concerns.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia¡¯s familiar had long since reached the fourth tier, being among the most powerful familiars in the world. Furthermore, she had taken it a step further and used the method she had learned long ago to make it a divine familiar. This had made it so that her familiar was able to use the same Wood domain as Julia herself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The reason why the familiar was anxious to enter battles with Julia was because divine familiars were still seen as a ¡®weakness¡¯ in a godly battle. Their bodies were easier to destroy than the gods they were partnered with, and doing so would deal a critical blow to the god in question. Additionally, the familiar had not received the same ¡®eternal¡¯ property of Julia¡¯s Wood element, as that hade from the Seed of Eternal Wood rather than her actual divinity itself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Only with the eternal property would the familiar have the resilience needed to enterbat alongside Julia. Not that the Goddess of Wood had any ns to enter a battlefield, but it was still reassuring to know that she was prepared if the circumstances demanded so in the future.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She watched as the wooden sword slowly sank into her familiar¡¯s chest, merging without leaving the faintest trace. Afterwards, its body became more lustrous, its wooden skin bing more smooth. In a way, it had begun to look like one of the Sylvan race.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When the three rings faded again, the Keeper let out a sigh of relief, before a hidden smile appeared. The familiar blinked its wooden eyes at his expression, turning to face an utterly shocked Julia. Julia was staring in awe at a window that had appeared before her.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Congrattions! You have earned an achievement!


    <span style="font-weight:400">For being the first to cultivate a Divine Familiar(fifth tier), you have achieved the Seventh Heaven achievement. +10 Intelligence, +5% Divine Affinity!


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia read through the message time and again, making sure that she had read it correctly. This wasn¡¯t as simple as merging the item with her divine familiar. He had directly promoted the familiar by a rank.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Given that the method of reaching the fifth tier was currently unknown, she did not know what to say. She didn¡¯t even know what sort of power her familiar would possess at this rank. However, the bond between her and her familiar was now stronger than ever before. They could feel each other¡¯s joy at this unexpected evolution, and the familiar ran over to embrace Julia.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper watched this with a smile, nodding his head before turning to look at Lifre. ¡°Apologies for holding you up. Once she¡¯s ready, you can have her make the library. It should be a little easier for her now, with the upgrade to her wand.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre¡¯s head nodded rapidly, a wide grin on her face. From her expression, it seemed that she already had ns to ask for simr enhancements to her own artifacts. However, she restrained herself, nning to wait for a moment when she could ask for such things as a reward. Surely he wouldn¡¯t object to rewarding one of his servants with such a reward when he granted it to someone outside of the Citadel, would he?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her thoughts seemedpletely visible to the Keeper, who let out a small sigh. Shaking his head, his body once more returned to an illusory form before disappearing from view entirely.

 Chapter 745: The Next Generation

    Chapter 745: The Next Generation


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a sigh of relief as I felt my avatar returning to my body, still writing the various prologues for the books that I wanted to create. As I returned to the Citadel, I had had the idea for this experiment, and decided to test it out. I wanted to see what would be possible if someone were to use the trinity of domains in a specific fashion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The method that I chose was to replicate how the domains were arranged within the divine energy itself. The triangr pattern corresponded to the stable form that the domains within my divinity appeared, locking together in such a way that it prevented the slightest disturbance.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For this test, I decided that the easiest way to test it was to use a situation that I did notpletely control, such as enhancing Julia¡¯s divine artifacts. These were items that I had not made, wielded by someone else. Although I was aware of their basic functions, this made it a situation that was as far out of my control as I could get without finding monsters to test on.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As part of the test, I had admitted to myself that there was a certain level of danger. Given that I was directly enhancing the divine artifacts of another god, there was the chance that the artifacts could reject my power, leading to them self-destructing. If that had happened, I was prepared topensate Julia by offering her a chance to obtain a second domain.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, the situation did note to that. It was not easy to find the primordial relics containing domains, and I didn¡¯t know how long it would take to find one suitable for Julia. At worst, I could take her to the ice relic within Lorek and allow her to obtain that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Regardless, the results of my experiments were a resounding sess. As soon as I formed the trinity by replicating the position of the domains within my divinity, the process became considerably smoother for me to channel my energy. Enchanting her wand had only taken as long as it did because I had personally tested out its new function before ending the process.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As for the sword¡­ there was nothing more to really say about that. When I invoked the trinity there, it was a simple matter to promote her familiar to the fifth tier while fusing her with the de. I thought about aiming for the sixth tier, but the moment it crossed my mind, I felt as if the energy consumption would be enough to drain even my reserves as the Keeper.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Using what I learned from this experiment¡­ it should be possible to mass produce these books through a simr method. However, I was not going to do that right away. No, first I would make twenty different prologues to set the scenes for various stories. I would only begin mass production after that, and only to copy the already produced works.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sadly, I discovered once again the downside to possessing a trinity, as well. Or rather, the need to have domains that worked together to form a proper synergy.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I whispered to her within my mind, the responseing back several momentster.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Huh? Yeah, what¡¯s up, Dale?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She seemed curious, as if unsure what I was calling her about. I didn¡¯t know if she was simply humoring me, or if she had been distracted enough that she wasn¡¯t paying attention to things over here.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Is there anything I can do to help with your domains? I can ask Terra if it¡¯s possible for me to change them. I didn¡¯t realize just how much my choices for your powers were hindering you until now.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was another pause before a lightugh echoed in my mind. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Oh, that? You don¡¯t have to worry about that, Dale! I promise, I¡¯ve already gotten it figured out. Besides, I love being the Goddess of Love. I think all of my domains are great!</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">We¡¯ve all managed to find our niche, Dale. You don¡¯t need to worry there. I¡¯d be more concerned about how Lifre is going to be asking you to enhance her artifactter. Or figuring out what you¡¯ll do for Lorek and Spica.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">What do you mean?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I sat upright at her mention of the twos, not immediately aware that there was a problem with them.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Well, they¡¯re sort of drifting away from the rest of the worlds, culturally speaking. Thanks to the time dtion and the different sets ofws, they don¡¯t really see themselves as part of the same ¡®batch¡¯ of worlds as the others. Keliope and I have trieding up with ways to help with that, but it hasn¡¯t really gone anywhere yet.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Just think, in the time that we¡¯re having this conversation, hours have already passed in those worlds. Of course, I can¡¯t really me you for any of this. The time dtion is necessary for them to maintain the same power level as the rest of the worlds. Though, it might be best to cut it down from a fifty times eleration to twenty, now that more and more gods are starting to appear.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small chuckle at that. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I think they¡¯ve taken to calling themselves ¡®immortals¡¯.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s the problem!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Aurivy retorted with a huff. <i><span style="font-weight:400">They y by an entirely different rulebook. What works for us just doesn¡¯t work for them, and vice versa. They don¡¯t make use of Sanctum because they can¡¯t harvest the energy of the stars in these worlds. They can¡¯t y any online games with the rest of the worlds because of the time dtion.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head at that. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Alright¡­ what do you suggest?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Well, one thing that I think could work would be introducing a method of divine ascension that works for both world types. It¡¯ll cost some points, sure, but it¡¯s better than nothing. It will give them amon ground to work off of.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I heard that, I couldn¡¯t help raising a brow. <i><span style="font-weight:400">That seems a bit high-level to form amon ground. And couldn¡¯t they use the same method as the rest of my worlds? It should be possible to train divinity in the bard or knight sses in the cultivation worlds.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Theoretically, they can. But doing so essentially cuts off their path of cultivation. Once they start cultivating a divinity that differs from the path that they have chosen, it leads to chaos within their inner sky.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now that was something that I was not aware of. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Is that a w in the cultivation system? I can¡¯t imagine that Balu would rmend something to me with such a defect¡­</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a w. I think that the profoundws were meant to be aplete path to ascension on their own. However, going off that path before reaching the end causes them to lose their way. It should be possible for them to ascend only either before they started cultivating, like you did, or after they have ascended with the profoundws.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">As Aurivy sent that, she let out a long sigh. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Once you introduce the new method of ascension, it will make things easier. The way that the people of the other worlds do it is the most basic way. In fact, it¡¯s so basic that it can only be done by a ¡®beginner god¡¯. Once their energy has already ascended, they can¡¯t go back to this method to try it out. That¡¯s why nobody¡¯s been able to get two domains aside from you and one lucky elf.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I thought over Aurivy¡¯s words, resting my head on my hand. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It will cost fifty-thousand points to get the detailed steps for allmon ascension types. Using the information I bought before, I can probably buy a specific type for a cheaper price, if I¡¯m unwilling to buy the full package. But still¡­ this is all high-level. What are you going to do for the masses? This cultural disconnect can¡¯t simply be fixed by introducing a new ascension method.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">We¡¯re working on that part now.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She assured me with a relieved sigh. <i><span style="font-weight:400">The newest generation of gaming console is the first step. Because it allows us to directly convert our real world ss profile and soul into data, it¡¯s the stepping stone we¡¯ve been waiting for. Next, we are going to be creating an online game in which people stay connected even after they log out.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Basically, the next generation console will let people save their profiles to the device. These profiles will then take the form of living digital representations of that individual. They will y the games and interact with others ording to the standard time of most worlds, allowing for the two sides to maintain regr interaction.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Whenever the user connects to their device, they synchronize with the digital representation, sharing memories and experiences to update the shared profile. You can get the thrill of ying games for hours just by synchronizing for a few minutes. Furthermore, this will hopefully allow people to umte ss experience, providing another method of leveling up.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked in surprise at that description, finding it to be a rather incredible invention. <i><span style="font-weight:400">How long is it going to be before that is released?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Well¡­ I convinced Ashley to handle the research and development portion over on Spica, to take advantage of the time difference. Naturally, it will still take the normal amount of time for them, but everyone in the world will get it sooner than if it were developed on Deckan.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Still, I¡¯m looking at it being a few months away from the public announcement. Right now, they¡¯re working out some security problems. For instance, if someone were to use a mind or soul controlling effect on your digital representation within an online world, that effect would transmit to the main body once they synchronized again. This is a major concern that is dying production.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nodding my head, I thought over the problem, before offering a suggestion. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Why not make it so that each mind and soul are ¡®password protected¡¯ to make sure that tampering like that won¡¯t take ce.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a faint giggle in response to my suggestion. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Passwords, like physical locks, only keep out honest people. For people that really want to break in, they¡¯ll have the means to circumvent a password. No, we need something that¡¯s more of a guarantee for the consumers, or it will turn into a major problem as soon as it urs.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">The current thought process is to create a way to identify such attacks. Think of it like a spiritual firewall. Since we have already digitized and defined the soul inputer terms, we just need to identify the methods by which the soul can be attacked.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Makes sense.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I gave another nod, before a thought urred to me. <i><span style="font-weight:400">What about the use of memetic effects? Like how Chel wrote that letter to the ninjas¡­ how did that go, by the way?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Huh? Oh, let me check¡­ it looks like he just delivered his confession speech earlier today. They¡¯re in a bit of an uproar about it in their world, since he managed to turn the public opinion against him. That said, everyone already knew what they were doing, so it¡¯s just limited to them being upset for now.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Anyways, what do you mean by using a memetic effect like that?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a smile, I exined my idea. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Chel seems to know a lot about different kinds of memetic abilities using the void. From what I read of her surface thoughts while she was writing the letter, these memetic effects work based on the perception of the person that they¡¯re affecting.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">If you include a memetic effect like that hardcoded into the digital souls, set to prevent them from doing any action that would directly harm either a person¡¯s mind or soul¡­ it should theoretically work? Once they¡¯re under that effect, the thought of using such an ability shouldn¡¯t even ur to them.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a long pause as Aurivy seemed to consider this. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Huh¡­ this could work. I¡¯ll get in touch with Chel to see if there is a way for us to digitize the effect like that. If so, we can make it a standard feature of the digital representations, and it would handle a lot of our security problems. I¡¯ll need to see what it would take to bypass that type of effect as well, so that we can n for the future.</i>

 Chapter 746: Knowledge Is Power

    Chapter 746: Knowledge Is Power


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel leaned back in her chair, letting out a small sigh before shing a thumbs up to the research assistants. James was still out ofmission, but they had finally managed topile all of the information that could be gathered about the pulse. At the same time, they had organized the list of abilities and created a public database to spread awareness.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Those races whose abilities were innately harmful to themselves were given mana suppressing essories while the Metong worked on a permanent means of reversing the sudden evolution. And as for the increasing strength of new children born, the news for this had long begun to spread. With their early warning, severalpanies had increased their production of the baby foods marketed towards the heroc while developing alternative recipes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This is all we can do for this case. I think we¡¯ve all earned a day to rx.¡± Chel said with a smile, earning a brief cheer from the assistants. It was rare to get a day off, as there was always another project waiting for them. However, with the constant work that they had been doingtely, Chel felt that it was well deserved.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, if you¡¯re taking a day off, mind if I pick your brain for a bit?¡± A voice spoke up behind Chel, causing her and the rest of the research staff to jump slightly as she turned around. Standing behind Chel was the smiling form of Aurivy, waving a hand in greeting. ¡°Hey there.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel let out a long sigh, pulling herself out of her seat. ¡°Alright, everyone, you¡¯re all dismissed.¡± She said, before moving to walk towards Aurivy. ¡°You could have just found me topside, you know?¡± She muttered with a shake of her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I mean, I could have. But there are some things that I wanted to learn and you would have needed me to find you anyways.¡± Aurivy said, sticking her tongue out as golden mist surrounded them. By now, Chel was more than familiar with this method of transportation, and the two of them soon ended atop a high tower overlooking a vast meadow. Chel couldn¡¯t immediately tell where they were, as this was a location she hadn¡¯t visited in the past.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Alright, then what do you need from me?¡± Chel shrugged her shoulders, stretching her arms out as she waited for Aurivy¡¯s request. As she had long since achieved perfection of both the body and soul, this avatar of hers did not require sleep. Yet, she had been keeping her mind active nonstop for several days, leading to her wanting to rest for a short while.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy nodded her head, her expression turning more serious. ¡°I want to know how to use memetic effects, like the one you used against the ninja n. There¡¯s a specific effect that I need to produce, and I think that kind of power is the best option here.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel blinked, raising an eyebrow at that. ¡°Oh? I haven¡¯t seen memetics in use on arge scale in this world, so I figured that you guys hadn¡¯t researched it much yet. Alright¡­ but I¡¯ll need to exin what memetic effects are in order to properly teach you how to use them. Is that alright?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel let out a yawn, her eyes closing for a moment. When they opened, Aurivy was sitting at a wooden desk, having instantly changed into a school uniform. Chel blinked at that, soon letting out a chuckle. ¡°Fine, I get it. Let¡¯s just get this lesson over with.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">She twisted her body, still stretching as she began to exin. ¡°A meme is simply an idea that is transferred from one person to another through any non-gic means. The idea of raising your hand in ss, an ad marketing a new brand of soda, evennguage itself is a form of a meme. We call these first level memetic effects, ideas transmitted without supernatural assistance.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯re already aware that it¡¯s possible to create substances from the void through proper maniption and control. Now, look at it this way. The void itself is a realm of information, a universe of thought. You use this information to reconstruct the physical structure of a material, but it can also be used to create the structure of an idea.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This is a different branch of void maniption, and requires a fair amount of practice in order to master. When creating a physical structure, you have to simte the circumstance in which that material could be created as the foundation, and this happens much in the same way. You need to imagine how you could give birth to this idea that you want to create.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Let¡¯s say you want to create the idea for someone to buy a new shirt. You channel the void, focus your mana on transmitting your thoughts, and begin to create this idea. You start by thinking ¡®It¡¯s starting to get cold¡¯, ¡®I need something new to wear¡¯, or you picture all of your current shirts being tacky and unwearable.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This is what we call a second level memetic effect. It¡¯s a simple idea that is propagated supernaturally. The more clear your image of the simtion, the more effective it is. If you can mentally conjure a simtion applicable to a wide audience and in great detail, the power is all but unavoidable. You will have created an adpelling people to buy a new shirt. Maybe not the shirt you¡¯re selling specifically, but a shirt nheless.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Now, the effect that I used is known as a third level memetic effect. These areplex ideas conveyed through the void. In order to use a third level memetic effect, you typically need to construct dozens, maybe hundreds of different simtions to convey a single idea. In order to achieve the effect of ¡®pass the letter along without opening it¡¯, I had to imagine over twenty different reasons for the person holding the letter to want to act as the carrier and protector for the letter.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Creating the effect I used against their leader is on the harder end. In order to create the feeling of guilt necessary for them to openly convey their wrongdoings, I touched at the fourth level of memetic effect. This is a self-propagating idea conveyed through the void. Through countless simtions, I created a nearly tangible idea that ¡®this is wrong¡¯, and anyone who hears about the crime in question from an ¡®infected¡¯ individual will be subjected to the effects. Finally, the effect for the letter¡¯s recipient to self-terminate is kept separate, and is more powerful the more varied the idents that you can simte.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy nodded her head as she listened to the exnation, actually writing down everything that was being said. ¡°So there are four levels of memetic effects, then? A standard idea, a void-transmitted simple idea, a void-transmittedplex idea, and a self-propagating idea?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Actually¡­ there are five that our world discovered before it was terminated.¡± Chel said with a shake of her head. ¡°The fifth level is one that we first saw through the use of void creatures, and only managed to scratch the surface of. The fifth level of memetic effect involves using information from the void in the form of an idea to directly alter a physical object or creature.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You can think of this in the form of a memetic virus. We encountered two during our time as a result of void beasts, and managed to artificially create a third. The first one we discovered took the form of an image. Anyone that saw this image began to melt, their bodies liquifying into a pool of blood and gore. However, anyone that directly saw this pool of gore would be affected as if they had seen the original image.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The second memetic virus we discovered took the form of a phrase. If an infected individual asked you what your favorite animal was, you would gradually take the form of that animal over the course of one week. At first, your behavior would begin to shift, before your entire physical structure changed. Anyone that then saw you afterwards and identified you as their type of favorite animal would then be infected themselves.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy shivered when she heard that, able to clearly imagine just her terrifying memetic viruses could be with that. ¡°And¡­ the one that you created yourself?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel smiled, nodding her head. ¡°We followed the style of the second virus, using the void traces discovered on the infected individuals during their transformations. Once we had isted the memetic properties, we began eliminating aspects of its ¡®idea¡¯ while recing them with others. Think of it as¡­ a form of revisionist history applied to a memetic virus.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The final product we achieved involved mentioning your favorite color. If someone said that their favorite color was blue, their hair would turn blue. This effect was almost instantaneous, and responded only to the truth. If someone whose favorite color was actually red responded that it was blue, their hair would not change. This was the only memetic virus we had managed to create, though we followed this pattern to theorize a sixth and seventh level of memetic effect, following the Keeper System¡¯s standard seven-rank policy.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°ording to our theory, a level six memetic effect would create a void entity within the material world. This entity would be able to function at its full power, as if it were still in the void, due to having been created in our world. Its rules would be set by the creator of the effect, and whether it would possess the power to grow beyond that point was unknown.¡± Chel fell silent for a long moment after she said that, prompting Aurivy to lean in closer over her desk.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As for the theorized seventh level¡­ it would be to overwrite the entire information of a world, returning it to the void with only an idea. Just think¡­ a single thought could destroy a universe, causing it to copse and return to nothing. Even if our world hadn¡¯t been destroyed, there were bans being created on studying beyond the sixth level.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy¡¯s eyes went wide, and she hastily nodded her head. ¡°Right, that seems like too much, doesn¡¯t it? I mean, to do that, you¡¯d probably need to be able to mentally simte the entire universe at once, and imagine it copsing. Even I can¡¯t do that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel smiled, nodding again. ¡°Exactly. It¡¯s something soplex that not even a Companion can achieve. Even a System Companion like Terra can¡¯t do it. And that¡¯s because the system does not enable us to observe all of creation in such detail. Perhaps that restriction is in order to prevent the idental misuse of such an ability. However, we can only look at where we nt the seeds of our focus. You¡¯re still watching that girl, Julia, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Always.¡± Aurivy said with a silly grin. ¡°But yeah, I get what you mean. So¡­ if I wanted to create a memetic effect that prevented people from tampering with another person¡¯s mind or soul, I would need to channel the void and simte reasons for them not to do so?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thinking it over, Chel gave a shrug of her shoulders. ¡°That¡¯s one way to go about it. For instance, you could simte all of the different punishments that they could face, or the social taboos involved. However, this is not a one hundred percent guarantee. If their reason for acting is stronger than your deterrent, they will be able to ovee the memetic effect.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Going back to my letter. Let¡¯s assume that it was standard training for someone to be instantly killed if they attempted to deliver any form of physical package to another member of the ninja ns. My reasoning behind why they should act as the mail carrier would be overridden by this knowledge, and they would immediately break free. The only way for you to create a memetic effect that will not be dissolved even under lethal threat is if the reasons you simte imply a fate far worse than death.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°But, in that case, the mail carrier would just be killed anyways, and the package destroyed before it could transfer hands.¡± Aurivy pointed out, causing Chel to nod again. ¡°How did people get around memetic effects in your world?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Antimemetic effects.¡± Chel smiled. ¡°These are ideas that destroy ideas. As an example¡­ when the Earth was first discovered to be round, it became an antimeme targeting the idea that the Earth was t. When something happens that destroys a concept you epted to be true, that is considered to be an antimeme.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Antimemes are hard to properly cultivate with the void, because you need to know what sort of information you are targeting. For my mail carrier memetic effect, they would need an antimeme targeting how people pass messages from one to another. Once that¡¯s done, you use the antimeme on the package itself before subjecting yourself to it. If there was a memetic effect like you prepared to defend against, that effect will be erased.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The strongest antimeme someone ever created targeted themselves, if you can believe that. They simted what would happen if they had never been born, and used that as the foundation of the meme. Every piece of information on them, every memory or written note, was immediately erased. Nobody became able to perceive their existence, and attributed them moving objects to apse of perception.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Eventually, he became infected by his own antimeme, forgetting his existence himself. Heid down on the floor, eyes open and staring at the ceiling¡­ and justid there. He didn¡¯t move, he didn¡¯t eat¡­ after a while, he didn¡¯t even breathe anymore. He simply became a corpse that nobody knew existed, until his body slowly dissolved into nothing¡­¡±

 Chapter 747: New Possibilities

    Chapter 747: New Possibilities


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy was shocked when she learned the truth behind the power of memetic effects. On the one hand, it sounded incredibly simple considering the amount of power involved. However, as soon as she thought about that, she recalled another fact. Wielding void energy was anything but simple. Simply tapping into that power required incredibly fine control, as demonstrated by even Tsubaki failing to master the energypletely.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although Tsubaki could create simple material weapons, these items would not prove useful to her in a real fight. If anything, the time and energy consumed to create the weapon would outweigh any benefit the weapon itself might bring.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Currently, there were only three beings within Dale¡¯s worlds capable of freely controlling the power of the void. The first of these three was obviously Chel, given her previous knowledge and demonstrations. Next was James for simr reasons. Both of them had risen to great heights in the past as part of their own world, where energy types were quantified and harnessed through the power of science.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Finally, there was Leowynn, who was able to harness the power due to her Void domain. No¡­ it could be said that Terra¡¯s Fallen God incarnation was simrly able to handle the power, though in a far more limited fashion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡± Chel said with a small smile. ¡°I don¡¯t n on submitting the skill I have for harnessing the void into the skill system. It¡¯s all too easy for that power to backfire if used without the necessary knowledge. If the Keeper saw the skill, he might be tempted to try it without fully understanding what he was doing.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The simtions that I told you about¡­ they have to be continuously maintained while manipting the void. This is true whether you are creating a memetic effect or a physical object. One misstep could lead to a chain reaction capable of leaving his Sky Citadel in ashes. For now, it¡¯s best that he only has ess to the skill at Tsubaki¡¯s level. At least like that, he¡¯d be able to survive the st if something goes wrong.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy hated to admit it, but Chel was right. This was one power that could not be tapped into without the proper training, and she couldn¡¯t help but think about how many people lost their lives in James¡¯ old world in order to find the means to utilize it. ¡°Looks like we¡¯ll need to get Leowynn¡¯s help for this effect.¡± Aurivy said with a slight sigh.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel smiled again, nodding her head. ¡°For Leowynn, it should be easy once she knows the method. Once she¡¯s written the initial meme into the program, you only have to copy the affected text or code. That is the true terror behind a meme. While the effort that goes into creating an idea is vast, it takes almost no effort to copy and share that idea.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy gave a small nod, deciding to make a note for alia to never let anyone ascend with the Void domain, or a simr power. The second God of Games only scratched the surface of what would be possible, and was prime to be a global threat had he not been removed early.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">It took me a full day to write the twenty prologues that I wanted to create for this new book power, before I was finally able to mass produce them. When I had reached this point, I sent a message to Tsubaki, letting her know that I was ready for her to send me the list of abilities she had thought of.


    <span style="font-weight:400">These abilities would undoubtedly be the cornerstone of my fights in the future, so I wanted to get as familiar with them as I could. In the worst case scenario that a critical deity dies and I can¡¯t use one of these abilities in the future, I can turn to the ¡®domain embryos¡¯ I created to hopefullyplete that trinity.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It did not take long after I sent the message to Tsubaki before she rushed to my side. When she arrived in my room, she was carrying with her a small stack of papers, no doubt the power ideas that she hade up with. ¡°My apologies, my Keeper, but this is all that I was able to aplish.¡± She said, before passing the pile of papers over.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I saw the list, I made a small nod. Each page represented a single ability, some likely upying multiple pages. This was because Tsubaki went into depth exining each power and how they connected to the various domains in use. I could understand her doing this for my sake, as divine abilities worked based on the user¡¯s own understanding.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, even though there were around thirty pages, she had presented me with a little less than twenty abilities. Even so, I thought that was enough. ¡°No, you did excellently.¡± I praised her from the bottom of my heart. This was someone who was resourceful enough to regrly fight enemies far beyond her own power. While that time may have long past, those instincts wouldn¡¯t fade so easily.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s lips curved into a brilliant smile at my words, her head dipping low. As she stood there, I began reading through the pages that she had given me, looking to find something that I could use as a signature attack. While the books were powerful and could serve as both a prison and execution ground, they were not exactly reliable. With enough power and skill, the trapped individual could escape from any of the books that I had written, even the horror novel.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, those books served as a way to reduce the number of participants in a fight, even if temporarily. If I felt I was outmatched due to a specific ability, I would only need to trap the user of that ability to turn the tables. As such, what I needed next was a true signature move, preferably one that I could turn into my own personal style.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of the moves that Tsubaki listed, I first looked for those that incorporated at least one of my own domains. While it was true that I was able to use any domain possessed by my world¡¯s inhabitants, I had a slight bias towards fighting with my own. Thankfully, I was not disappointed.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Technique name: Evened Scales


    <span style="font-weight:400">Suggested domains: Mirrors, Monsters, Bnce


    <span style="font-weight:400">The basic premise of this technique is to summon a monster that serves as a counterbnce against one or more targets. First, you activate the Mirror domain in order to create a mirror capturing the image of your target. This mirror will be infused with the power of all three domains, achieving a synergistic effect.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Due to the presence of both Mirror and Bnce, the summoned entity will possess both a power and personality directly contrasting that of the opponent while remaining on the same level. For instance, if the targeted opponent were a holy knight, the summoned entity may be a lich driven to corrupt the living.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Monsters domain in this trinity is to help give a physical form to the summoned entity. Of the three domains listed, this is the one most easily reced. The most suitable recement in this case would be the Analysis domain, in order to gather more detailed information about the target.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It should be noted that recing the Monsters domain will cause the summoned entity to only be a temporary construct. This may be preferable in the event where you would otherwise summon creatures that could prove harmful to yourself and your surroundings.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Through the use of this ability, you will be able to create a being capable of matching the opponent. If you add in your ownbat power, it will be enough to tip the scales in your favor, even if the fight appears to be going poorly from the onset.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The thought of a summoning-type ability with the use of my Mirrors domain had urred to me in the past, but it had always seemed like it would be rather wasteful. Presumably, having a trinity focused for this ability would increase its effectiveness, which alleviated some of my concerns.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Another technique she listed for the Mirrors domain was utilizing Mirrors, Tracking, and Archery. The premise for this one was to designate a target to track, and then fire an arrow through a mirror. With thebination of Mirrors and Tracking acting as a portal, the arrow would strike the target from impossible angles.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For that technique, Tsubaki suggested studying archery-rted techniques that could add special effects to an arrow, or simply asking them to craft arge number of high-power arrows to use for the technique. Personally, I felt that both avenues had merit. If Ibined high-level techniques with powerful items, the results would only increase further.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Looking through the rest of the list, I found that all of them were quite impressive. In fact, there was a technique simr to one that I had used in the past. With the trinity of Ki, Life, and Illusions, the goal was to extinguish a target¡¯s life while simultaneously presenting the illusion that they were still alive. This illusion would thus fool even the person that it was used against, leaving them utterly unaware that they were already dead.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Originally, I had used this technique by ovepping the illusion with my Ki of Beginning, removing the traces of them dying as I killed them. This trinity took that a step further. With the dual powers of Ki and Life, a creature could be snuffed out without warning. If the Illusion domain is added to the mix, then they continue to believe that they are alive even after dying. They would even be able to ess all of their abilities, as they still possessed the illusion of ki and a soul.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Out of the abilities that Tsubaki presented to me, I had to say that I most liked the sounds of these three. The others were still incredibly impressive, but these in particr jumped out at me the most. ¡°Tsubaki.¡± I called out to the kitsune maid, who was still standing near the door of my room.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yes, my Keeper?¡± She responded immediately, lifting her head to look at me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯d like you to prepare me a variety of high-level arrows, as well as a spatialpression tool to store them in.¡± Spatialpression tools were the new ¡®storage spaces¡¯, an upgraded form that had been developed over many years. Well¡­ not particrly upgraded. However, they no longer have a direct connection to the void, making them at least moderately more secure in that regard.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course, my Keeper!¡± She nodded her head enthusiastically. ¡°Is there anything else that I can get you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I shook my head at that. While there were several other abilities that required the use of specialized tools, those did not appeal to me as much as the ones I had selected. ¡°Not for now. Though, if you think of any other interestingbinations, please be sure to let me know.¡± I told her with a small smile.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course, my Keeper!¡± She repeated again, turning and leaving the room immediately. I could tell that she was headed for Dana¡¯s workshop, no doubt to ask the little spirit to work on this together with her.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Now I just need to find a good archery trainer. Though¡­ if I wanted to do that, I could meet up with Thessa? Surely the Goddess of Archery would have something to teach me. Then again, what would it look like for the Keeper to seek training from an outside? It might be better to ask alia for this. She would most likely know just as much in regards to archery as Thessa herself.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Giving a small nod, I resolved myself to return to the Admin Room after I had finished training these new abilities. Perhaps I could get alia to bring her incarnation over to train me in person.

 Chapter 748: Wisdom

    Chapter 748: Wisdom


    <span style="font-weight:400">A few hourster, I was hovering with alia in the empty reaches of space, the location having been suggested by alia herself when I requested training. Her incarnation, a lycan woman looking very simr to her appearance in the Admin Room, smiled and nodded at me. She had long since ascended to be a goddess, much as Aurivy¡¯s incarnation, or the more publicly known incarnation of Udona.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">The ability that you want to train is quite powerful. I dare not say that it would destroy a, but its range can surely exceed what you can unleash when bound by such concepts as the horizon.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> alia informed me mentally, flicking a wrist to create an exquisite longbow in her hand. This was the iconic weapon of the Goddess of the Hunt.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head, focusing. With the skill system, I ¡®borrowed¡¯ a crafting skill, using my own divine energy to make myself a bow. I knew it would not be something that would match one of Tubrock¡¯s masterpieces, but it should be more than enough for me to test these abilities. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I understand. Do you see any problems with this ability?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">While she was primarily helping me here as the Goddess of the Hunt, it could not be understated that Wisdom was simrly one of her domains. When she heard my question, alia smiled. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Let¡¯s see, shall we?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She asked, and the empty space around me suddenly shifted.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now, I found myself atop a tall building, overlooking a vast city that seemed to spread throughout the horizon. alia stood next to me, still clutching her bow while her eyes scanned the city below. ¡°This is a power I created. I call it the Wisdom of Experience. In it, you can use a variety of different powers, and the world will attempt to find their faults. For instance¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">alia pulled back the string of her bow, creating a basic ki arrow and targeting a building just a hundred meters away. It was clear that she was not putting much effort into this attack. When she released her arrow¡­ it felt like my eyes had blurred. Numerous phantom images oveid themselves on top of the arrow. However, this was not a result of her own attack.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I could see arrowsunching in from the distance, magic sts of light, even lightning bolts raining from the sky to all strike the arrow. In the end, the only image that solidified was that of the lightning bolts, which shattered the arrow halfway through its flight. alia nodded her head, as if it were expected. ¡°Following the rules of this power, this demonstration revealed that it would take a lightning bolt to stop me from striking that tower with my ki arrow. But, that¡¯s a pretty obvious answer, right?¡± She stuck her tongue out, before pulling the string back again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I desire an arrow that will hunt its target without fail, guided by an endless wind until it has shattered their mind.¡± This time, the arrow that was produced was shining gold, its body fully solidified. Her bow lowered its angle, aiming down towards the street, and I saw that she had singled out one of the civilians wandering the path.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The moment that she released her arrow, time seemed to freeze. Or¡­ maybe it just seemed that way. Maybe my mind finally activated the ¡®battle mode¡¯ that I had not utilized to its fullest for so long. All I knew was that endless images began to ovep, forming everywhere from the arrow that had beenunched straight to the target itself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I could see buildings topple over, divine shields appearing, and even the figure of the target flickered in and out of existence as if teleporting. The target released numerous powers all at once, until finally one image alone solidified. In this image, the arrow flew straight and true, without a single obstruction in its way.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Just before the arrow struck the target, they abruptly tilted their head to the side, raising their hand d in golden light to catch the arrow as it passed. Looking closely, I could see that the ears of the target carried a faint aura of magic. Once again, alia nodded as if this was all within her expectations.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This time, you could see that there were a lot more simtions run on the attack. However, this power only selects the single most likely downfall of a tested ability. That is¡­ it chooses the one that is easiest to perform with a wide array of skills. In this case, the target was using enhanced hearing, able to identify the path of my arrow. The moment before it struck, they moved their head enough to avoid a direct hit. Had they moved sooner, the arrow would have corrected its course. Finally, they used a hand wrapped in divine energy to serve as a buffer to prevent my ¡®mind shattering¡¯ effect from harming them. Theoretically, this is something that any god could achieve.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a nod as I heard about all of that, before furrowing my brow. ¡°Surely this power can¡¯t create endless scenarios, can it? What is it¡¯s limit? Is it just your imagination?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">alia giggled slightly at that, shaking her head. ¡°No. I¡¯ve linked this ability to the wisdom of all living things. As long as it¡¯s a skill or ability that a creature possessing wisdom can use, then it is a possible countermeasure to be deployed here. They say that hindsight is twenty-twenty. The goal of this power is to perfect abilities through the use of that hindsight.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I wasn¡¯t entirely sure I understood, but at the same time I was able to get the gist of it. Standing upright, I took a deep breath, focusing on summoning the domains of Mirrors, Archery, and Tracking. Just as before, I made them take the shape of the ¡®trinity¡¯, forming a mirror between the three domains. alia looked over with interest, as if this was her first time seeing this. ¡°I see¡­ there¡¯s a bit more resonance like this, isn¡¯t there? Good to know.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">With the mirror I created, I focused on another individual roaming the streets below, designating them as my target. As they rounded the corner, the mirror immediately showed their appearance. However, just like before, the image blurred with numerous powers. This blurring, though,sted only a moment before the man in the image turned to look straight at me through the mirror.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing my confusion, alia smiled and exined. ¡°Your current use of the Mirror domain to track like this creates an invisible, intangible mirror of divine energy to follow a target. That is the ¡®sensory device¡¯ used to create their image within your own mirror. However, it¡¯s not umon for people at the upper levels to be able to detect the use of such invisible energies spying on them. Once they¡¯ve detected it, they¡¯ll employ their own countermeasures to locate the spying device.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So this attack won¡¯t work¡­¡± I muttered, staring back into the eyes of the man in the mirror. It¡¯s hard to think that Tsubaki overlooked something like that. Then again, she was listing abilities to be used in the heat of a battle. My current attempted usage of it was more akin to assassination, which goes against her design. ¡°What if I change it slightly?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I shattered the mirror that I had created, before making another one, targeting a different individual within the city. This time, the mirror disyed only a still image of their face, causing alia to watch in confusion as I drew my bow. Soon, the image changed, showing a wide street with the target walking down it. Once again, numerous images began to ovey themselves on the target.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I took a deep breath, waiting. Clearly, alia¡¯s power had to cycle through far more possibilities to crack this usage of my power than before. As soon as the image began to solidify, I let loose the arrow I was holding. Like before, the possibilities converged, and the man raised his arm in front of his head. The arrow struck true, burying itself in his arm.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Interesting¡­ instead of creating an extrasensory organ to link with the mirror, you linked it with existing reflective surfaces, right? This way, your divine power wouldn¡¯t be felt following the target, and would only read their reflection on the different surfaces. ording to the Wisdom of Experience, the easiest way to bypass the tracking ability is for the user to constantly have a third-tier counter-detection spell. As for the arrow, you did not infuse any particrly powerful abilities into it, so the attack was considered defeated as long as it didn¡¯tnd a fatal hit.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing alia¡¯s demonstration, I gave a small smile. ¡°Can you make it rain here? I¡¯d like to test this out a little bit more.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">She blinked, nodding her head. There was a crack of thunder, the sky immediately darkening as a heavy downpour fell over us. ¡°Are you doing what I think you are¡­?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I simply grinned, choosing another target. Like before, their image appeared in the mirror. However, this time it was different. There was a look of unease on their expression, which was projected like a hologram in front of the mirror itself. Taking a deep breath, I focused on the Archery domain, imbuing my arrow with the power of ice.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once the arrow was fired, a strange scene unfolded after the possibilities cycled. The target was surrounded on all sides by toothpick-sized arrows, their eyes widening. Hundreds of arrows pierced their body, freezing it solid in an instant and turning it into an ice sculpture. However, the scene shifted a momentter, showing that individual unscathed. Scared, admittedly, but unscathed nheless.


    <span style="font-weight:400">alia clicked her teeth when she saw that. ¡°You used the water of the raindrops as the reflective surfaces for your power. It divided the size of the arrows, but increased their overall lethality when used with an elemental power.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°How did they evade it?¡± I asked, having not seen what method the target had used to survive my attack.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As soon as the arrows appeared, they split the outermostyer of energy from their body, turning it into an avatar as the rest of their body teleported to safety. This way, your attack would hit the avatar, and it would appear for all purposes as if you had destroyed your target.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but be surprised when I heard that. ¡°You said that this power pulls from the wisdom of living beings. There are actually people that can pull off something like that?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">alia simply chuckled, nodding her head. ¡°I can only think of about a dozen. Tsubaki could, in theory. Her control over her own energy is more than sufficient. However, the most famous user of this goes by the title of the Immortal Bounty. He¡¯s an otherwise low level criminal that specializes in petty thefts. You know, stealing divine tokens out of storage spaces, making off with the higher-value items in big businesses, things like that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The only thing really special about him is what happens when he gets caught. You see, at first it looks like he¡¯s prepared to fight to the death. He throws spell after spell at his assant, leading them to use their most lethal powers against him. Then, at thest moment, he uses this ability. He refers to it as ¡®shedding¡¯ an avatar.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The first few times this happened, people truly thought that they had killed a petty crook. One poor soul even turned himself in to the cops and confessed out of guilt. But, the Immortal Bounty would just change his face, move to a new location, and get right back to work. It took a few years before the different ¡®extremist thieves¡¯ were linked together when someone tried to clean up the evidence by destroying the remnant soul.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Once that link was discovered, someone put a bounty out on the thief. It was the wife of the man who had turned himself in for murder in one of the very first cases. She wanted justice for her husband, even though he was released once the truth came to light. Ever since then, the bounty just kept increasing with every stunt he pulled. Sometimes, he even raised it himself. Any time a bounty hunter found him, he would once again shed an avatar and start over elsewhere.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked in confusion, looking towards alia. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t an ability like that have its own ws? Like you said, there are others that can do it, so surely someone can beat it, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, definitely. But those that can beat it don¡¯t really pay attention to petty thieves. It¡¯s like sending a special forces team to attack a baby just because that baby found a stolen jewel. Don¡¯t be like that team. Don¡¯t attack a baby.¡± She said, looking at me with a serious face, causing me to roll my eyes with a smirk.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Anyways, now that you¡¯ve tested the usability of your technique, it¡¯s time to experiment with its range and power. Back to space!¡± She called out excitedly, the endless city vanishing once more to be reced by the cold and empty expanse.

 Chapter 749: The Arrow Flies True

    Chapter 749: The Arrow Flies True


    <span style="font-weight:400">


    <span style="font-weight:400">The training of my three techniques turned out to be beyond my expectations. First of all, there was my archery technique that I had tested with alia¡¯s help. Originally, this ability only had the offensive power of the arrow that I used to fire. However, alia was patient, and she exined to me several different techniques of the Archer ss that could enhance my arrows without the need for divine energy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she exined these abilities to me, I realized that the Archer ss was far moreplex than I had originally imagined. Although I knew that they could use special arrows, I imagined these arrows as the results of enchantments or spells cast on the fly. And while I was not strictly <i><span style="font-weight:400">wrong</i><span style="font-weight:400">, that was an incredibly narrow view of the ss.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For instance, one of the trademark abilities of an archer is their ¡®void shot¡¯. This is one of the lowest-level powers which use the void as a base. By firing an arrow with the proper energy configuration, it is possible to allow that arrow to pierce the void. This arrow will then vanish, the energy imbued within causing it to exit at a predetermined point. This exit point must be set with coordinates rtive to the entry point, and can even include a time dy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In order to truly master the technique, an archer must be capable of urately hitting a target over a hundred meters behind them with a standard arrow. Although this seemed like a rather easy demand, given that the nature of the power itself was to cause arrows to teleport, there was a terrifying facet of this test that could not be overlooked. This feat had to be performed with a <i><span style="font-weight:400">standard</i><span style="font-weight:400"> arrow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This means that the archer¡¯s control of their energy must be so precise and gentle that they are capable of infusing a simple wooden arrow with the power to pierce the void, without shattering the arrows itself. As someone that had performed numerous enchantments during my time as Keeper, I could attest that all materials had an upper limit to the amount of energy that could be stored within them. For a simple arrow to be able to perform this feat, it meant that the archer¡¯s control of their energy was at its peak.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was due to this strict requirement that people stated a void arrow could not be further enchanted. To try to force any more energy into the arrow would ultimately result in the arrow being destroyed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This leads to the next trademark of the archers, the condensed arrows. Any archer above level two hundred was expected to be able to produce arrowsposed of the four primary energies, and be able to use them in conjunction with other archery techniques. This includes the void arrow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As anyone that had attempted to merge energies could say, this would be a nearly impossible feat to pull off. Once again, the control of an archer was put to the test here. In fact, alia told me the training regime that archers had created for this technique.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Every day, an archer would attempt to create one thousand arrows of each energy type, firing them into the horizon. They were not allowed breaks during this process unless their energy was fully depleted, or if they were between energy types. Doing this served multiple purposes. First, they solidified the image of an arrow in their mind, allowing the process to be handled more smoothly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Secondly, they exercised the energies at their disposal, most importantly their spirit. This training regime forced the archer to temper their spirit more and more over time, granting them even finer control of themselves. Finally, they developed their stamina, allowing them to endure the grueling training.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This regime was consideredpleted when an archer was able toplete all four thousand shots within one hour, averaging less than one second toplete the process of forming and firing the arrow. After this, they would modify the arrows that they created with their energy, leaving specific paths that were used in order to execute various techniques. Once they had mastered this ability, an archer would no longer carry their own arrows, unless these arrows were made of special materials or contained enchantments beyond what the archer themselves could bestow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">All of this came together to turn archers into a terrifying ss, but it was not the end. Every archer required a good bow, one that was capable of apanying them on their journey. No, archers were not like knights or elementalists that had special techniques to create unique bows out of nothing. Well¡­ they could do so through other methods, but it was not a standard archery technique.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The training bows used by low level archers had numerous energy paths tied together within the body of the bow, intentionally making it harder for the archer to use their energies. Even a simple application of reinforcing the arrow with ki could take twice the focus as normal. This was done in order to force archers to practice their control from the very beginning of their training.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As the archer grew, so too did their bow. A standard training bow could not handle the stress of a high-level archer, so stronger materials were used. These training bows had even moreplex energy paths to continue the training from the early days, and there were only two circumstances in which an archer was permitted to use a normal bow. The first circumstance was if the archer made the bow themselves, in which case they were permitted to use it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The second circumstance was considered the ¡®true graduation¡¯ of an archer, and was when their level reached triple digits. Only then was an archer granted a true bow, one with neater energy paths that helped to guide them rather than hindering them. An archer that went through the full training and graduated ording to the program would experience a mind-boggling increase in power when they were given their official bow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was for this reason that archers tended to skyrocket in levels between one hundred and one-fifty. Without their equipment holding them back, they were able to release abilities far beyond their previous level.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, the archers were always learning and evolving, unwilling to allow themselves to be left behind with the inventions of guns and spaceships. alia herself served as one of the three seats in the Arrow Council, given the title of ¡®Head¡¯. The other two seats, the ¡®Shaft¡¯ and the ¡®Fletching¡¯, treated her with the utmost respect. And yet, all three discussed the growth of the Archer ss as equals.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was the goal of this council that one day, a mortal archer would have the power to rival a god. In order to achieve this, they had to devise new techniques, new training regimens, and find more powerful types of bows that could be used. alia even bragged that the concept of firing a thousand arrows a day of each type was her own suggestion in the council. Though, originally she had proposed ten thousand, but the other two had managed to talk her down.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Regardless, her teachings enlightened me on just howplex this ss could be. At the same time, she told me that she had prepared an information orb in the Admin Room with training methods for various archery techniques. Given that I nned to rely on this power in the future when fighting, I decided to try it out once I returned.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Next, there were the other two techniques that I had taken from Tsubaki¡¯s list. For the first one, we found a roaming space monster to use as a test subject, suppressing our own auras to avoid scaring it off. Afterwards, I used the Mirrors, Analysis, and Bnce domains to conjure an identical copy of this monster.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The space monster was confused, but my copy immediately attacked it, causing arge battle to break out. In the end, my own monster won, albeit barely due to having taken the initiative. This showcased that their powers were truly equivalent to one another. The only drawback that I could see to this ability was the amount of energy it used to summon a creature to fight.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In my opinion, it was almost not worth it to summon the creature when it consumed energy equivalent to what I was summoning. However, alia offered me a solution to this dilemma. That is to say¡­ it was possible for me to create an enemy bnced against an entire group, rather than for a one on one fight. With that in mind, I could turn the tables in a difficult situation, so long as I had the energy to spare.


    <span style="font-weight:400">And finally, there was the ability involving the Life domain. This one held the least suspense for me, given that I had experience with something simr from long ago. However, this new ability allowed me to kill a target from a longer range, and did not require me to make any opening moves. So long as I paid a satisfactory price in divine energy, I could eliminate a target¡¯s health, wiping out their ki and recing it with my own illusion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The one downside for this power over my own was that I had far less control of the individual after activating my power on them. With my old ability, I could cause the target to obey me after having them fall under my illusion, but that was not how this power was designed. Instead, I was able to further use my illusion powers on those I had targeted with it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For instance, if I were to snuff out a warrior in the heat of battle, I could use my illusions to make them see their formerrades as the enemy. However, I could not directly force them to attack their friends, nor could I make them give me sensitive information without the proper motivation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Still, the ability to use this power without needing tounch an overt attack made it far more terrifying than my previous use of the ability. After all, this made it possible for me to use the ability out of battle, the other party never knowing that they had be my eyes and ears.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once I was done with these tests, I returned to the citadel, deciding to have a meal together with Tsubaki, Dana, and Lifre. It felt right to enjoy a meal together with them. I had only been descended for a few short days, but I had spent that entire time training myself, leaving very little to socialize.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After the meal was over, I decided that I wanted to impart the training method of Thousand Arms, Ten Thousand Threads to the three of them. When they heard that it was a technique that I trained in personally, they were each shocked. Tsubaki looked at the book I had given them--courtesy of the Education domain--as if it were a worldly treasure.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°None of that.¡± I smiled, shaking my head. ¡°I¡¯ve taken this ability about as far as I can. Think of this as a form of multitasking course. The further along you get, the more naturally you will be able to do multiple things at once. However, it simrly gets more difficult the further you go.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What level did you get to, boss?¡± Dana asked curiously, and I actually blinked at that. It had been a while since I properly counted the threads that I could produce, having simply focused on pushing my limits.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, let¡¯s see?¡± I smiled back to her, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath. With my ki in one hand, and mana in the other, I brought them together with a p. The two energies fused seamlessly, the resulting chakra spreading across my body before stretching out as numerous threads in every direction. Each thread had to be individually controlled, and I felt my mind starting to tense as I stretched this control to the limits.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nearby, Tsubaki was diligently counting the individual threads, her eyes glowing softly. ¡°Nine hundred and eighty three¡­ nine hundred and eighty four. Is this your current limit?¡± She asked in confusion, having been told previously that the upper limit of the technique was ten thousand threads.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± I grunted, before letting out a sigh as I pulled the threads back into my body. ¡°Like I said, the ability gets far more difficult theter you go. It¡¯s my belief that the ¡®ten thousand threads¡¯ stage is something that is only theorized, without the intention of it being mastered.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t say that Terra had disyed the full power of this ability, or that it was truly a technique designed to help someone perform at the level of apanion. After all, the concept of a panion¡¯ was one that not even Tsubaki had been fully informed about. ¡°For me, it looks like I¡¯m nearing the Thousand Threads rank. If I can get there, I¡¯ll have another new ability at my disposal.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana blinked, opening the book and flipping through. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ the Ten Weaving Hands?¡± She asked curiously, to which I nodded my head. If one mastered the Thousand Threads rank, they couldbine ten threads into an ¡®arm¡¯. One thousand threads be one hundred arms. But these arms are merely anchors that can attach to an item.


    <span style="font-weight:400">One hundred threads woven together can create a clone, essentially an avatar that exists within a limited range. However, this avatar has a low durability, allowing it to easily be destroyed. The Ten Weaving Hands reshapes the hundred threads that would otherwise make a clone, forming them simply into a solid, full-bodied arm. This arm would have a greater resilience, and still be able to use my own powers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As each arm requires one hundred threads, the Ten Weaving Hands creates ten of them at once, allowing me to pull offbination techniques with myself. Granted, I wasn¡¯t sure how useful this would be to me as a god, but¡­ I had the feeling it would be useful to both Dana and Lifre.

 Chapter 750: Guiding Darkness

    Chapter 750: Guiding Darkness


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy rocked within her seat, sitting within arge, well-furnished office. The tall, ss windows were tinted to block out the sunlight, while Ashley sat across from her behind the desk. ¡°You¡¯re saying that you received this information directly from Chel?¡± She asked carefully, observing her fellow goddess.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy nodded her head. ¡°That¡¯s right! She said that it could solve your problems. We just need Leowynn to help us imbue the initial code.¡± When she said that, Ashley let out a brief sigh.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Really¡­ after everything we tried, and all it came down to was just needing to copy and paste some enchanted code?¡± She muttered to herself. ¡°As for Leowynn¡­ you can ask her, but I wouldn¡¯t expect much right now. I expect that she is fairly drained at the moment.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy hesitated when she heard that, seeming to calm down and lean forward in her seat. ¡°Is it that bad?¡± She knew about the shark creature that Leowynn had defeated, as well as the creature that she had created within the void to do so. However, she hadn¡¯t realized just how much of Leowynn¡¯s energy went into these two feats.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley simply nodded, her expression heavy. ¡°I¡¯ve been monitoring the energy levels of the different gods as a side project. It helps me fine-tune the faith exchange system on Sanctum. Leowynn dropped to an almost critical level with the creation of the Guardian. To help her recover, I¡¯ve been looking for materials on the Boundless Caravan that have a high exchange cost but a low cost for her to produce.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°She won¡¯t let us just give her our energy, so I want to use this trick with the market to send some of her own invested energy back to her. In the meantime, we can only rely on the faith of the people to restore her power.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy furrowed her brows, thinking over Ashley¡¯s n. ¡°I didn¡¯t know that it was that bad. How long do you think it will take her to get back to her previous level?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley closed her eyes, running through some quick calctions. ¡°Given the average amount of faith we receive¡­ it will take roughly one hundred years on Earth, or five thousand from Lorek and Spica.¡± Aurivy¡¯s eyes went wide in shock at that estimate, before she recalled how she had advised changing the time dtion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What if the time of Lorek and Spica is slowed down to only twenty times the normal flow?¡± She asked hesitantly, Ashley running the numbers mentally once more.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°A hundred and twenty years. Thankfully, the vast majority of her faithes from Earth. Although Lorek and Spica are heavily focused on the stars, their total poption only amounts to a tiny fraction of those in the other worlds that worship her. If we could convince her to take a subordinate deity, that would cut the amount of time required down considerably, but I haven¡¯t been able to look for a good candidate yet.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy nodded, giving the idea some thought. ¡°I¡¯ll look into it. Knowing her, she wants her subordinate to be special. After all, she is seen as the direct daughter of the Keeper himself. It might not really sound fair to say it, but her position is even higher than ours in some circles.¡± Ashley gave a bitter smile at that, but nodded her head. It was something that neither of them were able to help, and they were honestly proud of Leowynn foring this far.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If this is a standard use of void energy, I¡¯d say that it will likely use about two days worth of her faith. That is to get it tested and confirmed safe, as well as ensure that it is powerful enough to not be cracked easily. She can spare it right now, but that¡¯s only if another situation doesn¡¯t appear that would require her intervention. Until then, she¡¯s training fallen deities, but we don¡¯t know if the Fallen can be our subordinates, given the contrasting energy types.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Listening to Ashley¡¯s exnation, Aurivy simply let out a small sigh. ¡°Well, at least we have a starting point now. Once we get the safeguard from her, how are you doing on the hardware aspect?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley smiled softly, slowly rising from her seat. ¡°It would be easier to show you.¡± She said, turning around and walking towards the wall behind her. As if this werepletely natural, Aurivy hopped to her feet and followed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two of them swiftly disappeared into a shadow that rose up from the wall, appearing within and of darkness. ¡°I haven¡¯t been here in a while.¡± Aurivy remarked with a small grin, hearing the sound of pounding metal in the distance. ¡°Have you upgraded it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley simply nodded. ¡°Time flies a lot faster on this side, remember.¡± As she said that, the darkness ahead of them gave way to a tower of steel, mes rising from a number of pipes leading up and out of it at different angles.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Near the base of this tower was a sliding door, which opened on its own as the two approached. Within, the space seemed almost boundless, a metal corridor extending without end. Dozens of doors lined the hall at different intervals, and Aurivy could see at least half a dozen intersections before she was unable to see any further.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Think you made it big enough?¡± She remarked sarcastically, a small grin on her face. ¡°Which one is the one we want?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This way.¡± Ashley answered, leading Aurivy down the halls. The Goddess of Travel knew what this was. In fact, most of the deities were aware of the special powers that each of them developed and employed in the world. Traveler had been Aurivy¡¯s secret, but there were other powers of hers that the others were aware of as well.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was the Factory, Ashley¡¯s own special assembly line. Nested within a dimension of darkness, it holds links to a number of designated shadows. These shadows exist in the real world to funnel resources in, which in turn are used to produce various devices ording to the blueprints that she either designs or receives from the outside. Of course, she still has to personally establish each assembly line. Once she has done so, the machines operate automatically, fueled by her divine energy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley took them to a room marked ¡®NG-VR-HS¡¯. Once she opened the door, the space within seemed to expand once again. Conveyor belts carried parts from one machine to another, some being pulled in from external shadows while others were made on-site. Every now and then, Aurivy could even see excessponents shipped out via another shadow, no doubt to a different assembly line.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...You used nk¡¯s domain to set this up, didn¡¯t you?¡± She asked, the Goddess of Technology allowing a smile toe across her face.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s really convenient to be able to replicate a resource management game when cing my assembly lines. Anyways, the finished products are kept over here.¡± After saying that, she walked to a nearby door within the assembly line, where Aurivy could see fully packaged headsets being delivered.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After opening this door, Aurivy saw a warehouse filled with stacked boxes. ¡°They¡¯re all set up with temporary wireless receivers. Once I have the operating system with the finished failsafes, I can wirelessly install it onto the finished products. After that, it is only a matter of marketing and shipping.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy let out a low whistle at Ashley¡¯s exnation. ¡°I¡¯ve seen Tubrock¡¯s Grand Forge, but I still think this is more impressive. He can¡¯t really do space folding with his domains, but it looks like you copied the tech from those guild bases. Have you considered marketing <i><span style="font-weight:400">that</i><span style="font-weight:400">, yet?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley shook her head at that. ¡°I can copy its form and function, but I don¡¯t understand enough of the mechanics behind it. Here, everything works with my divine energy, and can thus be made self-repairing. But if one of these machines breaks down outside, we don¡¯t have a qualified engineer capable of repairing it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Now that I have the hardware aspect of these headsets dealt with, I n on investing some manpower to study this technology next. I doubt I¡¯ll make more headway than James¡¯ researchers, but it should at least be enough for me to train some technicians. How is he doing, by the way?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy shook her head. ¡°He¡¯s gotten about a tenth of his energy back so far. He told Chel that he could easily get back to work with his current recovery, but she insisted that he wait until he was at least half recovered. I swear, given his status in the system, I¡¯m surprised she hasn¡¯t gotten any Monster Tamer levels for handling him¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley gave a small grin. ¡°She might have. She¡¯s good at hiding stuff like that, and wouldn¡¯t want him to see himself as a monster. Anyways, is there anything else you want to look at while you¡¯re here?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The halfling Goddess gave that a moment of thought. ¡°Do you have any new toys you want to show me?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley rolled her eyes, closing the door to the warehouse. ¡°Not this time. Between getting these headsets in working order and looking into Leowynn¡¯s issue, I¡¯ve been kept pretty busy. Though, if you want to help with the Leowynn situation¡­ you could talk to her mother. If nothing else, Ryone¡¯s Wealth domain could let her transfer some energy discreetly in the form of faith.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a bitter smile on Aurivy¡¯s face as she nodded. ¡°We¡¯ll have two weakened Goddesses instead of one, but at least they¡¯ll both be at a level where they can intervene in an emergency. At least Ryone has some subordinates to help her recover.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan and Jace walked together down a dirt path, Jace in the lead as he consulted his staff. The two of them had been forced to relocate after Keenan¡¯s forest was left ravaged by the storm shark. Given that Keenan did not know the outside world, he chose to rely on Jace to find them a path.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although Jace was effectively blind, he had managed to cross arge distance to find Keenan without mishap. Along their way, they first came near a city¡­ or what used to be a city. There were obvious signs of traffic going in and out, but the location had been reduced to a deep crater, without a single building left standing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, Jace didn¡¯t know what had happened, or where they were. When he asked, Keenan simply said that they had found a fallen settlement. He couldn¡¯t bring himself to say that the jagged marks along the rim of the crater resembled the jaws of the shark, as that would mean that one of those creatures had been big enough to devour an entire city.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After they left these ruins, the two of them traveled along the road for several days. Whenever their rations began to run low, Jace would always somehow stumble on something suitable for them to eat. One time, they ran into a group of bandits, and were able to rob their supplies. Another time, Jace found an abandoned cart, its goods mostly untouched. At one point, they even managed to pass a wandering monk, Jace pointing out that they needed to search for supplies just before the man had gotten out of earshot.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The monk, seeing little more than two young men wandering the world, had been kind enough to share some of his own provisions. In exchange, Jace told the man that the person he was looking for lived thirty kilometers to the south, in a wooden hut atop a tall hill. The man was immediately startled, but overjoyed at the news, and ran off towards the south.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Keenan asked how he knew who the man was looking for, Jace simply shrugged. ¡°Some travelers we passed yesterday mentioned that hut, and that a reclusive alchemist was living there. I thought that he might be looking for them, is all. Why else would someone travel alone around here?¡±


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">We¡¯re traveling alone¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Keenan wanted to point out, but ultimately refused to do so. He knew that it was just another lucky guess, and a smile started to tug at his lips. For the first time, he had met someone with such overwhelming luck that they didn¡¯t appear to suffer from his presence.

 Chapter 751: Training Plan

    Chapter 751: Training n


    <span style="font-weight:400">After returning to the Admin Room, the first thing that I did was to check to ensure that there were no missed messages or rms. Although Terra promised to let me know if anything happened, it was still best to check first. Afterwards, I made my way towards my room, seeing that the felyn goddess had fallen into a catnap while I was gone. Shaking my head, I quickly adjusted the time difference between Lorek and Spica and the rest of my worlds as promised, and sent a message to the Guardian that Leowynn created to ask it to deal with certain void entities.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Resting on my desk was the very information orb that alia had promised to make for me, one containing the various techniques and training methods of the Archer ss. I felt a small smile on my lips as I saw the orb, taking it and letting its knowledge flow into my mind. Most likely, every ss had their own profound secrets, and I would need to learn all of them over time in order to truly master the powers at my disposal.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">If I take care of this ss now, then the next one that I can handle should be¡­ probably the Scout ss. It would synergize well with the Archer training, and also enhance my senses to avoid assassination-type abilities in the future. I¡¯ll ask Aurivy for some tips to train as a Scoutter.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Upon making that decision, I sent a message to Tubrock. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I hope I¡¯m not interrupting something. Do you have a moment to take a personal request?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a brief pause before he answered in a gruff tone. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Aye, I do now. What is it,d?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯m going to be training as an archer, and would like it if you could help me produce a powerful divine bow. I want to add it to my arsenal, along with the chakrams I currently possess.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Granted, those very same chakrams were made by a mortal, not Tubrock. Most likely, he could make something better if he tried, especially after so much time passed.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Aye, I can handle that. D¡¯ye want any special abilities on it, or nnin¡¯ ta just use the divine abilities ye can give it yerself?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I had to pause and think about that. In truth, there were many different types of abilities that I could install on a divine bow, whether elemental or raw energy. For instance, alia¡¯s bow innately had the power to produce energy arrows. When used with her Hunt domain, she further gained the ability to turn those arrows into spectral beasts.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For my own bow, what sort of power would I like it to constantly possess? <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯d just like the creation of standard energy arrows, with the four basic types as well as divinity.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I knew what power I wanted to enchant it with when I had the finished product, but it was something best done with my own domain.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Aye, that¡¯s easy. D¡¯ye want the strength te be adjustable, as well? More energy equalin¡¯ a bigger or denser arrow.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He asked, to which I immediately agreed.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">The higher the upper limit you can ce on that, the better. If there¡¯s one thing that I¡¯m notcking, it is energy capacity.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Unless I was doing something extreme, such as the primordial relic tracking spell, I typically had more energy than I ever needed to use.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With that out of the way, all that was left was to properly train in this new set of techniques. I was even curious to see if I couldbine archery techniques with various abilities from the Thousand Arms, Ten Thousand Threads martial art. Such as tying a chakra string to an arrow, firing it, and then using that string as a medium to use other abilities from that art.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Time slowly passed within the world, many of therger disturbances attributed to the void monsters vanishing one by one. Haunted towns became peaceful, predatory buildings became inanimate. Even the ursed carved face phenomena vanished from the world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Because of this, the people rejoiced, finally feeling a sense of normalcy in their lives again. They no longer had to worry about their showers eating them, their tableware talking back to them, or strange beings appearing in the corners of their eyes. Granted, thatst one was still sometimes a thing, but not because of void powers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, not everything was happy around the world. There were still monsters, and people who were worse than monsters. There were those who would dly consume the souls of others in order to steal their powers, or burn down a city purely for the joy of watching the mes rise. But there were good people, as well.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There were charitable souls, such as the Goddess of Mercy, who traveled across the world to offer her blessings without reserve. It was hard to tell how many people had been saved from disease or injury due to her timely intervention, while she mourned for those who she was not in time to save


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a woman known as Maya, the recently ascended Goddess of Motherhood. She had made it her life¡¯s mission to ensure the safety of the next generation, traveling the various worlds and cing blessings on any hospital that would allow it. These blessings served no other purpose than to care for expecting mothers and help ensure a safe delivery.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was death, there was bloodshed, but there was also joy. A joy rising from the passing of an unpredictable threat, and also a joy thates from progress as new devices were released to the public. However, there was also an event that shook the world once again, though it took a few days before it was realized.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The connections to the other worlds from Lorek and Spica happened once every day by ¡®normal time¡¯, or once every fifty days by their own time. Furthermore, these connections were always made from the side of Lorek and Spica, ensuring the uracy of the schedule and preventing conflicts between their connections to each other.


    <span style="font-weight:400">One day, Lorek and Spica simply¡­ didn¡¯t make that connection. And they didn¡¯t again on the next day. It was only in the early morning of the third day when the connection was established on Earth, moments before a portal was scheduled to open from another Deckan. Thus, those from Earth assumed that the portal had been opened from Deckan, and began sending people through ording to schedule.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It wasn¡¯t until five minutes after the connection was established that amunication came back from the other side, asking why people were being sent to the wrong destination. Those who had gone over to Lorek were confused, quickly making their way back as soon as permission had been granted.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This led to a discussion between both sides. The two ¡®isted worlds¡¯ both confirmed that they were connecting ording to their normal schedules, and asked why the other side had not attempted to establish a connection themselves when they missed their regr updates.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, the other worlds <i><span style="font-weight:400">had</i><span style="font-weight:400"> attempted to do so, but to no avail. After all, the gates for the other two were often open between their own worlds, so there was little chance to connect. Given that there were still regrwork connections between worlds, they assumed that their refusal to connect was a result of them not having any people wanting to travel. Unusual, granted, but not unheard of.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With that out of the way, the two sides performed an experiment. The portal from Lorek was closed for exactly one hour, before being opened once again in order to confirm the time difference. Normally, barely a minute would have passed in that time, but they were surprised to find that a full three minutes had passed instead. This confirmed that the time difference had been narrowed from a scale of fifty-to-one to a scale of twenty-to-one.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Those within Lorek and Spica were confused at first. Did this mean that their world was gradually synchronizing with the other worlds? Or had the Keeper merely adjusted it of his own volition? Without direct ess to the powers that be, it was impossible to get a definitive answer.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Either way, this did make things at least marginally more convenient. The transfer of information between worlds was able to be more smooth with the time difference cut by over half. While it was still far from the point of being able tomunicate freely back and forth, they began to set up a system where regr news was sent on a daily basis, as opposed to a weekly one.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Let¡¯s see¡­¡± Dana muttered to herself, standing in the training room with Tsubaki and Lifre, holding a book in her hand. This was the same book that she had received from the Keeper, detailing the use and training method of the Thousand Arms, Ten Thousand Threads art. ¡°ording to this, you just start by creating a single thread of chakra, gradually increasing the number of threads along with its length.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded her head. ¡°I expect all of us to be able to manage at least twenty threads easily. We have been training to multitask and handle numerous tasks for quite some time, after all.¡± Of course, to do so she would have to divert her focus away from her avatars, but that was a simple matter.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, oh, let me! I¡¯ve done loads of tailoring, so this is right up my alley!¡± Lifre grinned proudly, to which Dana nodded her head. Taking a deep breath, Lifre¡¯s body seemed to rumble, blue threads extending all around her. Her eyes scrunched together in focus as the number of threads increased, clearly trying to test her own limits.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The other two silently counted at the side, waiting for her to be done. Only once the threads receded back into her body did they report the number. ¡°That was one hundred and fifteen. A very good first start.¡± Dana smiled, nodding towards Lifre. Afterwards, she looked at Tsubaki. ¡°Your turn, Tsuba.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki gave a small smile as well, closing her eyes and diverting attention away from her avatars. They had picked this moment to train because there was a temporary lull in other matters that required their focus, allowing them to concentrate on this task.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Perhaps because Tsubaki was a born ninja, or just how long she had been training, the threads practically erupted from her body, scattering all around their training room to touch against every surface. Lifre jumped in surprise, Dana focusing merely on counting the threads as they appeared.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, these threadssted a good thirty seconds before Tsubaki pulled them back, giving the little spirit elf plenty of time. ¡°Four hundred and eighty-two.¡± She reported with a grin, Tsubaki nodding even though she blew her own estimation out of the water. Maybe she had overestimated the difficulty of the technique? Or was this just the result of her centuries of intensive training giving her a natural advantage?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Either way, it was Dana¡¯s turn now. She closed the book in her hands, closing her eyes and focusing. Darkness stirred within the room, Dana¡¯s figure bing almost ethereal before it burst into countless threads. Unlike the other two, these blue threads were stained with ck specks as they spread through the room.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre¡¯s eyes went wide, darting side to side as she struggled to keep up with the increasing number. Tsubaki¡¯s brows furrowed, knowing that Dana had easily surpassed her own number. Furthermore, she had even surpassed the Keeper¡¯s results after a few moments.


    <span style="font-weight:400">These threads danced throughout the room for a good five minutes, touching against every surface before Dana¡¯s body solidified again at their center. She opened her eyes with a smile, blinking as she looked at Tsubaki. ¡°How did I do?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Two thousand, one hundred, and sixteen.¡± Tsubaki answered, having had to count the threads twice to confirm that she wasn¡¯t mistaken. Her gaze towards Dana turned iparably gentle as she approached, simply wrapping the smaller girl in her embrace.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While Lifre may not know what had been the cause for Dana¡¯s amazing sess in the art, Tsubaki was all too familiar with it. Dana had spent so long in the monstrous region of the Underworld, trapped and alone. Her spirit shattered again and again, dividing her mind into fragmented pieces.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After bringing her out of that literal hellscape, Tsubaki had worked long and hard to repair the damage done to Dana¡¯s mind and spirit. Her trauma hadsted decades before she was able to fully embrace her new life. But it seemed that her mind had never fully be whole. Or at the very least, it was all too easy for Dana to split it again. If there was one thing that Tsubaki could be thankful for, it was that Dana had managed to put herself back together again. She had the vague feeling that it was her World Shadow that was responsible for that, her embrace of the little elf bing just a touch tighter.

 Chapter 752: A Friend Indeed

    Chapter 752: A Friend Indeed


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jamesid back in his bed, staring up at the ceiling. He had been alone in this room for weeks now, with his only visitor being Chel, who stopped by every now and then to give him updates. She had made him promise not to use his detection energy to observe their research, as that would only make him want to get involved even more, but still¡­


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m bored!¡± He called out with a groan, rolling from side to side as if to find at least <i><span style="font-weight:400">something</i><span style="font-weight:400"> to do. ¡°There are so many things I could be working on right now! I could make a quantum array capable of instantaneously transmitting information halfway across the gxy without the need for void loops. I could be making an artificial intelligence capable of finding the ideal ratio of energy to fold space. But, I¡¯m stuck in this little room!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a faint giggle that seemed to drift along the air, James blinking as he heard it. Sitting up, he found that there was a new figure sitting at his desk. Furthermore, it was one that he recognized, the kitsune figure which represented Deckan¡¯s World Spirit. ¡°...Is there something for me to do? <i><span style="font-weight:400">Please</i><span style="font-weight:400"> tell me there¡¯s something for me to do.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">His voice was genuinely pleading as he rose from his bed, but the spirit simply shook her head. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Ie not bearing burdens, but rewards. My sister has heard of your plight through the whispers of the wind.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...In other words, you told her.¡± James said in a deadpan tone. The kistune spirit let out a scandalized gasp, one hand going over her chest.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Twas not I! I have no say in what the little ones speak of. Should they learn a certain rumor, and that rumor reach the ears of my sister, is no fault of mine.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> James simply stared at her, face unchanging. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I may have let slip to a little one of the price you paid, and your current state of self-incarceration for the sake of recovery¡­</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">He let out a long sigh, shaking his head. ¡°What happened?¡± He had wanted to avoid the spirit of Fyor finding out about his condition, as he didn¡¯t want to make her feel guilty about what had happened.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The kitsune spirit let out another faint giggle. <i><span style="font-weight:400">That sister of mine¡­ so reckless, and so brave. When she learned of your plight, she took it upon herself to save you from yoursting boredom. Venturing into treacherous realms, she sought the means of your freedom, evading predators and scouring great forests.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">James furrowed his brow, piecing the information together from what she was saying, his eyes gradually going wide. ¡°She went to the ne of life¡­ is she okay?¡±


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Worry not. Had my sister fallen, we would not be having such a pleasant conversation.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The spirit reminded him. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I am a firm believer in paying back one¡¯s debts in kind. I requested three favors of you in exchange for a small token of assistance, as I believed the favors I required would simrly be naught but small tokens to one such as yourself.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">When it became evident that the effort you put forth was such that it left you on the verge of copse¡­ a debt must be paid. This is the rule upon which I scatter those cards. Those who perform favors for the world may have a favor in return.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I allowed word to spread to my sister, and then gave her the energy from my own body to reinforce her on her journey.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The spirit lifted her delicate arm, pulling back the amber sleeve of her dress to reveal an unnaturally pale arm. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I will require naught but time for the energy of the world to restore me. Perhaps only a few days more. Until then, there will simply be a thinner supply of natural energy.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">In exchange¡­ my sister was able to find something which may aid you. </i><span style="font-weight:400">Lowering her sleeve, the spirit flicked her wrist, producing a shining jewel which radiated a brilliant green glow. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Were this to be left in my possession to consume, my recovery would be more than assured. However, as I said¡­ a debt must be paid.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">James¡¯ eyes had locked onto the jewel as soon as it appeared, processing the level of energy that it stored. From what he could tell, this item seemed to be the crystallized form of natural energy itself. ¡°Why would she give this to me?¡±


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">We are not blind to our kin, however thin the bond may be. The majority of your body is built upon the energy of nature, as is the energy you use. Surely you know of this as well. Although this crystal is unlikely to restore you to your full glory, it should give you ample power to leave your istion. </i><span style="font-weight:400">As she said that, the crystal began hovering in the air, moving towards the dark-skinned researcher.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, James had discovered long ago that his body wasposed primarily of natural energy. It was simply the race that he was born as. However, that was not why he questioned the spirit. Rather, it was because he knew the dangers posed in acquiring this item. He had seen them before, during his travel between the nes of Fyor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While he did not know how many of these gems were in existence, each of them was guarded by a fierce predator of natural spirits. Even he himself did not venture to provoke such a being without good cause, and did not see the energy needed to do so as worth merely satisfying his curiosity. ¡°...How many times was she destroyed to get it?¡± He asked as he gently grabbed the gem, holding it as if he were treasuring the emotions attached to it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The kitsune spirit paused at that, letting out a faint sigh that carried on the wind. <i><span style="font-weight:400">She would not tell me. Whenever I asked if she required further aid, she merely said that what she felt could not bepared to what she had been saved from. That she would endure, because she had something worth enduring for.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying that, the kitsune rose to her feet, walking over and pressing a hand against James¡¯ arm. <i><span style="font-weight:400">She seeks not a romantic interest. What my sister wishes for is a mutual friend. The knowledge that there is someone who would go to any lengths to help her in her time of need¡­ and someone that she in turn would go to any lengths for. For beings such as us, these types of friends are more precious than any bauble. Mortals age and die in the blink of an eye, while gods and spirits have no interest in the matters of the world, only the matters of man. Only one that has proven that they will go to these lengths without seeking reward is truly deserving of it.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">After she said that, her body dissolved, turning into kes of ash that flew out his window. James, left alone with his thoughts, gradually ced the gem up against his chest. He knew that he could create a hundred revolutionary inventions with this item, use it as a source of self-renewing energy that did not depend on the void¡­ but that was not the intent behind the gift. She wanted him to use the jewel to recover.


    <span style="font-weight:400">And so, he allowed the jewel to sink into his chest, its energy infusing into his body. This was the first source of natural energy that he had seen which could bepared to what was found in theyer of Fyor he was born in. Perhaps, it may even surpass that quality of energy. He could feel the power returning to his body, triggering the recovery of his other energies as well.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A few momentster, the door of the room burst open, Chel charging in with a manic look on her face. ¡°James! What are you doing?¡± She called out, as if afraid that he had done something incredibly stupid.


    <span style="font-weight:400">James simply chuckled, knowing that Chel was only looking out for him. ¡°I just got a gift from a good friend.¡± He answered with a smile. ¡°How is my recovery looking now?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel looked at him with aplex gaze, her eyes glowing as she scanned his body. ¡°Your body itself¡­ it looks like your recovery is at seventy-eight percent, though your mana and ki are still rtively low. As long as you don¡¯t use those excessively, they should be normal in a day or two. So¡­¡± She saw the eager look in his eye, and let out a sigh of resignation. ¡°Yes, you can get back to work. Come on, there¡¯s some stuff that I need to get you caught up on.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James was practically bouncing for joy as Chel led him down to the researchb. Once there, however, he couldn¡¯t help but freeze up. A small grin crept over Chel¡¯s face as she watched him take inventory of theirb. ¡°You got me a present!?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel let out a heartyugh, nodding her head. ¡°We knew you¡¯d be out for a while, and the Keeper came through with some assistance. We managed to find you two more primordial relics to test on.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">His body shed over to the trio of polycarbonate containers, observing the energy fields isting them. ¡°With these, we might be able to begin manufacturing a Divine Chamber! At the very least, we should be able to synthesize the mechanics behind how they imbue specific domains and manufacture our own.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel nodded again, a soft smile on her face. ¡°We wanted to wait to begin research on this until after you were back. Couldn¡¯t let you miss out on the fun, could we?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James gave a small nod of his own, before blinking. ¡°What happened with the ninja stuff? Are they still trying to get our projects?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel¡¯s smile turned a bit more mischievous. ¡°The ninjas have had a change in leadership after their leader failed to ascend. Apparently, the growing number of deities throughout the allied worlds left him feeling insecure about his personal power, and he wanted to rush his own ascension.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thea stepped away from one of the research tables, holding a clipboard and wearing a pair of safety goggles. ¡°The new elder reached out to us to establish a cooperative rtionship. The original goal of the ninja ns was the pursuit of knowledge in the field of energy research. As such, he offered that if we share some knowledge in this field and assist each other, they would allocate some of their manpower to acquire materials that we may have difficulty finding on our own. Whether they are from powerful monsters, dangerous areas, or hoarded by those with high levels of security.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James listened to the two of them, before turning to face Chel with a raised brow. ¡°You used the Confession Script, didn¡¯t you?¡± As expected, James knew his former System Companion all too well, able to guess from what he had heard that the elder¡¯s death was no mere ident. After all, such a drastic change in the stance of the ninjas meant that they genuinely believed that what they considered normal previously was wrong.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While such a thing was theoretically possible to ur within the time he was recovering, it was hard to believe that it had happened under these circumstances. It was much more likely that an infectious memetic effect had convinced them that those actions had been wrong all along.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel merely stuck out her tongue yfully. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I sent in the anti-meme to remove the traces afterwards. We wouldn¡¯t want it mutating on us like that time with the space fish.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­ mutating? Space fish?¡± Thea asked, blinking. She had already heard the story from Chel about the memetic effect that she had used, but there had never been any mention of it mutating.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel simply nodded her head. ¡°If a memetic effect is spread and shared over a wide audience, it has a chance to mutate, just like any idea can grow and evolve if it is spread among the masses. This chance differs depending on the medium of the meme. For instance, if it is transferred via a preset code or program, or by a specific written paper that only affects those who read it, the mutation chance is nonexistent.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°However¡­¡± James continued. ¡°If the meme is spread from one person to another, either through writtenmunication, verbal, or simple thoughts, the mutation chance increases appropriately.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay¡­ what does this have to do with space fish?¡± It seemed that Thea was vaguely following along, but was still hung up on this point.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel shook her head with a yful grin. ¡°There were space pirates in our old world. In order to get them out ofmission, someone sent that same type of Confession Script to them. So, they all began telling each other about their crimes, the meme spreading between them and ovepping enough that it began to mutate.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°When the pirates stopped attacking ships, everyone assumed that the script had worked, and they had self-destructed. But¡­ their ship was eventually found, the piratesying on the floor and flopping their bodies from side to side. The script had mutated and caused them all to think that they were simply fish.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course, the transmission condition mutated as well, infecting anyone who saw these people acting like fish. Three more crews were lost before the effect was contained, with only a vaguely written report describing the event to prevent further transmission.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thea¡¯s eyes went wide at that. ¡°You¡¯re saying¡­ that the ninja n could have all gone out like that?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course not!¡± Chel retorted quickly. ¡°I sent in the anti-meme as soon as the elder was out of the way. The trace of the original meme I used has already been destroyed. After the space fish incident, this anti-meme was created specifically to target the Confession Script, so there¡¯s virtually no risk of any residual infection.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°<i><span style="font-weight:400">Virtually?</i><span style="font-weight:400">¡± Thea asked in concern, causing James to grin as Chel cleared her throat.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, if the meme had already mutated partially in someone before the anti-meme was applied, it might not have taken effect. Or if there was someone who had received the original meme, but was outside of the world when the anti-meme was being spread. I left the anti-meme on their base world, so it should hit people as soon as they return, if it¡¯s thetter case.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And if it¡¯s the former?¡± She questioned.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well¡­ I hear that Spica¡¯s having a discount on high-nutrient fish food for the next week?¡± Chel responded in a joking tone, before shaking her head. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I personally checked everyone that was off-world at the time with some help from upstairs. The traces of the meme are all gone.¡±

 Chapter 753: Oldbeard Youngblood

    Chapter 753: Oldbeard Youngblood


    <span style="font-weight:400">My fingers felt numb as I pulled back the string of the practice bow I had created, focusing on imbuing the arrow in my hand with the qualities of a void arrow. However, regardless of how I tried, the arrow simply shattered between my fingers. This wasn¡¯t because I was mixing the energies wrong¡­ but rather because I was using too much power.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was a fact that had been holding me back ever since I started this training. With how much energy I had at my disposal, it was extremely difficult to partition it in such small amounts in the time it took me to draw my bow back. Worse yet, this bow did not even have the training paths that alia had told me about. It was simply a standard bow that I had made in the Admin Room.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Furrowing my brow, I released the string, closing my eyes and focusing. Ever since I had be the Keeper, I had gotten used to throwing my energy around in bulk, taking advantage of my natural reserves in order to crush the opposition. The only times I needed to exercise fine control to this degree were when I was creating special energy types like the Ki of Beginning or the World¡¯s Shadow. And for both of those, I had to use my World Sight in order to correct any problems as they urred.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, I could not simply use World Sight every time I fired an arrow, or it would divert too much of my focus away from the ongoing battle. At most, I could use it to train myself to adjust my own output reflexively, and maybe then I¡¯d be able to handle it on my own. It was either that or have an endless supply of high-quality divine arrows that could withstand my power. Just as I was getting ready to deploy my World Sight, I noticed a ping in the corner of my vision.


    <table>


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard has sent a message!


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    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard: Just sent off myst invasion, and got notified that you¡¯re my next opponent, like you said. Are you free to meet up, or would you like to take care of the transactionter?


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Blinking, I had to think back to what I wanted from Oldbeard, as I had been fairly distracted with other matterstely. I could remember the level transfer orbs, as I had been anticipating those for quite a while. Aside from that¡­ ah, right, Oldbeard had the rock people that I wanted to give a try.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Sure. Mind if I bring one of mypanions over, or you prefer meetings like this solo?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard: Doesn¡¯t bother me any. Bring over whoever you like. I can have one of my people serve up tea when you get here.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a soft chuckle at that, before sending out a message. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Ryone, Leowynn? I¡¯m about to head to another Keeper¡¯s room, and I wanted to know if you two would like to join me? And Terra, while I¡¯m gone, keep an eye on things. If anything drastic happens, make sure to pause for me to handle when I get back.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">It only felt right to take Leowynn, after she used so much of her own energy for me to repel the recent void monsters. She was my daughter, after all, and I wanted to take her out to see new sights. And naturally, if I am taking Leowynn, I should take her mother as well to make it a family outing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra gave a groggy groan, responding that she would take care of it, while Ryone and Leowynn teleported to my side with excited expressions. This would be Leowynn¡¯s first time to visit another Admin Room herself, so I could understand why she was looking forward to it so much.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard has invited you to their Administration Room with Guest privileges. Do you ept?


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Nodding my head, I grabbed the hands of the two girls next to me, closing my eyes and waiting for the transfer to take ce. I could hear the sound of ss shifting, and feel the hands of Leowynn and Ryone tighten slightly against my own. When I opened my eyes, I realized that we had been locked within a giant ss bubble, vertical lines of multicolored metal evenly spaced out along its exterior.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The sphere began to rotate, slowly at first before picking up speed. Soon, it was going fast enough that the colored strips began to ovep, forming a rainbow of color that constantly rotated around us. Faster and faster it went, the colors merging like pastel paints until we couldn¡¯t tell what was what anymore.


    <span style="font-weight:400">And then, finally, it actually <i><span style="font-weight:400">became</i><span style="font-weight:400"> pastel paints, the color exploding outwards in a ssh that sttered across the room. I gave a small wince, as this was a transfer method that didn¡¯t hurt the traveler, but instead hurt their destination.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, as I looked around, I saw that the ¡®room¡¯ we were in wasrgely empty. It seemed to just be a great tform resting above the clouds. In some ways, it reminded me of what I had seen from Alkahest¡¯s Admin Room when I visited.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And this is why we use a reception room!¡± A voice called out from nearby, a young figure rising from the sea of clouds to stand on the tform. As I had suspected, Oldbeard did not look like some wizened old man. In fact, he wasn¡¯t a man at all.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The figure that I was looking at seemed to be a girl, no older than ten years old. Her face scrunched up in disgust as she looked at the pastel decorations. ¡°Cleanup!¡± She shouted, and arge, bipedal stuffed wolf appeared with a mop and bucket, nodding its head as it began working.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sorry about that.¡± The girl said as she walked over, and I could notice the vaguely pointed ears on either side of her head. No doubt, she was an elf. Or at least, she took the appearance of one. ¡°Anyways, wee to my ce. Yeah, I know, you expected someone bigger. You wanna bring your girlfriends for tea, or not?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m his daughter, actually¡­¡± Leowynn cleared her throat, while her mother simply chuckled.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard raised an eyebrow at that, shrugging her shoulders. ¡°I won¡¯t judge. You wanna get jiggy with yourpanions, that¡¯s your business.¡± She snapped her fingers, and a wooden door appeared nearby. ¡°Anyways, let¡¯s get to this. It probably won¡¯t take all that long, but we should do this properly.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That said, she turned and walked up to the door, stepping through and holding it open for us. I nced at the two elves I brought with me, before the three of us followed suit. The inside of the next room was¡­ very pink. Additionally, there was arge white table sat in the middle of it, chairs ced all around.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once we were inside the room, Oldbeard walked over to the table, pulling herself into one of the chairs. ¡°The tea should be here soon. Until then, mind chatting for a moment?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sure¡­¡± I nodded my head, moving to sit with Ryone and Leowynn opposite of Oldbeard.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The young girl rolled her shoulders, crossing her arms on the table. ¡°EarthForceOne, current activity time, less than ten years. Third Rank Keeper. No prior breaches of etiquette or hostility towards a peaceful Keeper. Multiple intellectual properties on the market including the World Host, Dungeon World, Card World, and Ster Magic. Recently joined the Lasting Bonds guild led by entertainment-style world provider, EverLasting.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°ording to the official opinion of the Gilded Branch, you are a trustworthy Keeper, although you rarely appear during monthly meetings which shows a slight antisocial tendency towards your fellow Keepers.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but clear my throat at that. ¡°I¡¯ve had other things on my mind, and those meetings take quite a lot of time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Don¡¯t sweat it, I don¡¯t go either.¡± Oldbeard said with a small smirk. ¡°The point rewards for winning games can¡¯t make up for the stuff I¡¯d miss in my own world by attending that meeting. I just subscribe to their newsletter.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...Newsletter?¡± I blinked, having never heard of that before. Oldbeard simply chuckled.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s a forum thing. If you¡¯re a guild leader, you can set up paid posts on the forum. Your guild gets ess for free, but anyone else has to pay you a fee to read it. The Gilded Branch releases monthly news bulletins for five hundred points each that say things like which Keepers to watch out for, and which ones have died recently. Nothing that would be incriminating if the bad guys saw it, but just enough news to make those of us that don¡¯t go to the meetings feel like we¡¯re still part of amunity.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That would exin why I had never heard of it, since I highly doubted that Sarah did anything like that. Unless it was for guides on her game worlds. She would probably charge for that. ¡°Ah, I see. Still, you got quite a bit of information from them¡­ wouldn¡¯t that have cost you nearly more than you¡¯d make trading with me?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard just shrugged her shoulders at that. ¡°My policy is that I¡¯d rather be on the losing end of a trade than to trade with someone I didn¡¯t trust. After all, I might be sending some of my people to you. What¡¯s to stop you from extracting their souls to learn information about my world? It¡¯s a prettymon practice if you don¡¯t have any safeguards in ce.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes went wide at that, suddenly reconsidering if I wanted to have any of my races avable on my own trade list. ¡°How do you get around that? Everyone that I¡¯ve seen advertising their races has listed cultural information for them. They can¡¯t just wipe out the memories of everyone they send, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard shook her head, a small smile on her lips. ¡°Everyone has their own way of doing it. For me, I use the Life Insurance Policy.¡± As she said that, she lifted a hand to flick her wrist, a small screen appearing over the table.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Life Insurance Policy


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    <span style="font-weight:400">This system allows you to designate any number of individuals and leave a brand on their souls. This brand will permanently weaken their souls, making them too fragile to exist outside of a corporeal body.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">10,000 Points


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    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°With this system, I can send people over without any worry. If you ty to forcibly read their soul, their soul will simply shatter. Same for most forms of rough interrogation or hypnotic attacks. That¡¯s why it is a good deal for trading like this, but it is prettyme when you are sending a proper invasion. If all it takes to destroy your army is one light st of soul force, what¡¯s the point of sending the army in the first ce? Some people go the extra mile and personally damage someone¡¯s soul when they send them over with a delivery, but this is enough for me.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod at that, just as the door to the room opened again. This time, a woman in herte twenties with silver hair walked into the room, wearing a ck dress and an apron. She seemed to be carrying arge tray with her, and Oldbeard¡¯s eyes lit up at the sight. ¡°Mom! Did you get it all?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The woman, no doubt Oldbeard¡¯s previous mother returned to the Admin Room from their old world, smiled softly. ¡°Of course, dear.¡± She said, bringing the tray over and setting it on the table. ¡°I made plenty of tea for everyone, as well as sandwiches, if you¡¯re hungry.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard was rocking back and forth happily in her seat as she brought a cup of tea and a pair of small sandwiches over towards herself. ¡°You¡¯re the best.¡± She grinned, causing her mother to smile happily. Naturally, I saw no reason to be rude, and simrly gathered some refreshments for myself and both Ryone and Leowynn.

 Chapter 754: The Saga Of Oldbeard

    Chapter 754: The Saga Of Oldbeard


    <span style="font-weight:400">The tea and sandwiches were¡­ honestly a bit sweet for my taste. Regardless, both Leowynn and Ryone seemed to be enjoying them, so that was enough. And seeing that Oldbeard was engrossed with her own treats, I did not want to interrupt to talk about business. As if seeing my thoughts, Oldbeard set down her cup after a few moments, crossing her arms on the table again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, what all is it that you want to buy from me? I remember you asking about the level transfer orbs, but is there anything else?¡± She asked, taking the initiative to shift the conversation back towards business.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, I¡¯d like to hear more about your rock-man race, if possible. They seemed rather interesting, from what I saw.¡± I admitted, and she stroked her chin in thought, a gesture that didn¡¯t quite look the same on a girl so young.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I guess there¡¯s no harm in telling you this.¡± She shrugged. ¡°At one point in my world¡¯s history, I was facing a rather bad mineral shortage. Thanks to the specifics of my world, my people were mining in excess, which eventually left them with nothing left to mine. They hadn¡¯t gotten space travel yet at this point, so they couldn¡¯t go to others to expand, which seemed like it would leave them dead in the water.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°To counteract this, I created the Aurans. They¡¯re a boron-based lifeform that have a special ability allowing them to ingestmon rock and create minerals. This is because they have an internal process simr to fission and fusion. Alchemy, in a sense. This process is clean and safe for the environment, and allowsmon rocks like granite to be turned into iron, gold, or even diamonds.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod as I listened to Oldbeard¡¯s exnation. ¡°Is there anything that I¡¯ll need to watch out for? Any problems with the race itself that I¡¯d need to prepare against?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard thought about that again for a moment. ¡°Well, as I said, they are a boron-based lifeform. The system¡¯s standard for life is carbon-based, outside of special circumstances or randomly generated alien lifeforms. You¡¯ll need to watch out for unknown diseases, which is practically a guarantee when theye over.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°At one point in my history, there was an outbreak near an auran camp. Amon disease for the aurans had spread to my carbon-based natives, and it was causing their bodies to break down in the most freakish of ways. I¡¯m talking their spinal cords ripping out of their back and trying to crawl away.¡± Oldbeard shuddered at that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If you can, it¡¯d be best to have doctors prepare early by studying xenobiology and the theoretical qualities of boron-based diseases. If you have any aliens with simr structures, that¡¯d be even better. That way, you¡¯ll be prepared in case they bring anything over from this side.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard was being¡­ surprisingly helpful. I had to wonder if this was how most Keepers handled their trades, or if it was because she was more easygoing due to her childish nature. Either way, I was quite d with how this exchange was going.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is there anything else you¡¯re interested in?¡± Oldbeard asked curiously, causing me to think back to the list that she had shown me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, I think it was just the aurans and the level transfer orbs.¡± I answered with a shake of my head, causing her to shrug her shoulders.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, anything you¡¯d like to know about that? I know I answered some of your questions before, but that was half a month ago at this point. You might havee up with new ones.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I thought it over, shaking my head. ¡°Not really¡­ I think you covered my concerns there. But¡­ I did have one question for you. I¡¯m just not sure if it¡¯s appropriate.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Then it probably isn¡¯t.¡± She fired back with a small smirk. ¡°But go ahead?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I was just wondering¡­ how did you be a Keeper? I¡¯ve never seen one that looked as young as you are, so I have to admit that I was caught off guard when we met.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">She gave a slight chuckle at that. ¡°Really don¡¯t hold back, do you? I mean, talking about our old worlds isn¡¯t so much a problem, since they don¡¯t typically have anything to do with our current one. It¡¯s just typically a pretty dark part of a Keeper¡¯s past. Most transitions don¡¯t happen peacefully, you know?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s fine if you don¡¯t want to answer. I was just curious.¡± I smiled, not wanting to press her any further.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Nah, it¡¯s alright. For me, it¡¯s not something I want to hide. If anything, I¡¯m rather proud of the guy that came before me.¡± Oldbeard said with a small, sweet smile, resting her chin in her hands. ¡°You might have guessed, but I use a game system. So did thest Oldbeard. In fact, he went all in on it. Area bosses, random events, instanced zones, he was what the Gilded Branch called a true Game Keeper. For the most part, he even saw people like me as NPCs.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Didn¡¯t treat us that bad or anything, but it¡¯s not like he treated us like real people, either. He was a yer in a game that he had created, and that¡¯s what he loved about the world. He wanted to be this big protagonist, saving the world from danger again and again, being the hero we all needed.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°To that end, he would ramp up the difficulty of his event bosses, making them so strong that even the Keeper had to get serious to defeat them. Of course, he was careful not to overdo it, but the only reason this worked was by taking them out of his world assets. If you didn¡¯t know, that¡¯s a thing you can do to get massively powerful creatures in your world, but it costs¡­ well, let¡¯s just say he had been around for a while to afford it. He couldn¡¯t send any of these creatures on invasions or anything, and he couldn¡¯t just smite them, so whenever one appeared, he had to fight them off himself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In a way, he was digging his own grave with that, right? But that¡¯s what he wanted, the thrill of a true fight. Knowing that he saved the world in a way that only <i><span style="font-weight:400">he</i><span style="font-weight:400"> could. When armies and gods fell, only the Keeper stood strong.¡± Oldbeard let out a small sigh, before scrunching up her nose. ¡°Of course, when I found out that the bosses were all created because of him, I wanted to kick him in the jewels for days, but still.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Anyways¡­ like I said, these bosses would crop up from time to time with nearly Keeper level strength. One day, one of them appeared near the city where I lived, and went on a rampage. Within five minutes, there were no buildings left in the city taller than three stories. Within ten minutes, half of the city¡¯s poption had been destroyed.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°At fifteen minutes, the boss had found me, hiding against the rubble of my home, where my parents had been crushed while trying to get me out. That¡¯s when the Keeper showed up. He fought a battle that could only be described as epic, the shockwaves sweeping me off my feet and pushing me back against a nearby wall.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Naturally, the battle was going in the Keeper¡¯s favor, as the boss was designed to be weaker than him. But this boss didn¡¯t want to go out without onest final move, one great middle finger to its creator. The boss gathered all of its strength, directing a final, self-destructive attack against the city itself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Having been rather low-level at the time, I wasn¡¯t even able to move under the pressure of these two behemoths. When this final attack wasunched, I was in the direct path of its destruction. The Keeper saw me, crying against the wall, one of my arms broken from the shockwaves of their battle, and¡­ I don¡¯t know, maybe something flipped inside of him.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Maybe he realized that I wasn¡¯t just an NPC. Maybe he began to see me as a person. Or, maybe he just couldn¡¯t stand the thought of there not being an audience to tell his story, I don¡¯t know. Either way, he threw himself in front of the attack, using his own body to shield me.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard brought a hand up, her finger wiping at her eyes. ¡°As the world went grey, I saw him smiling at me, like he didn¡¯t have any regrets with how he had gone out. In the end, he lost at the game that he created, but he had a true hero¡¯s death. That¡¯s why I can be so proud of him.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Anyways¡­ given that the event boss was not one of his own assets, and he had jumped in front of the attack because of me, the system determined it as if I had been the one that killed him. That¡­ never really sat well with me, but it is what it is. If I wasn¡¯t there, he might have survived, and I¡¯vee to ept that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°He may have treated us like simple characters in his game, but he gave his life for me at the end of it all. What more could I want from a Keeper? I¡¯ll always remember the words he whispered to me, under the sounds of destruction around us, while his body was being shattered by a chaotic st. He said¡­ ¡®It¡¯s your turn, now¡¯.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was¡­ surprisingly touching. Looking to either side of myself, I could see Leowynn and Ryone wiping at their own eyes. Curse those onion ninjas and their wiley ways¡­ ¡°That was¡­ unexpected. And a lot more dramatic than I thought.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh? What happened with you?¡± Oldbeard asked curiously, and I cleared my throat, seeing Ryone grinning at me out of the corner of my eye.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Myst Keeper was¡­ ratherzy. He made a tech-based world, but stopped it well before it was ready to enter the game, going down to just live in the world and ck off. I was a regr driver, and identally ran into him with my vehicle. Dead on impact.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard blinked at me, as if waiting to hear more of the story. When I stopped, she paused for a long moment. ¡°That¡¯s it? You just ran into him and he died?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s it¡­¡± I nodded my head, as it was truly a far less dramatic story than what happened with Oldbeard.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...You¡¯rest Keeper wasme. Like¡­ I¡¯ve never heard of a Keeper being taken out in¡­ such a stupid way. I¡¯ve even heard of Keepers suffering from the pressure of their job and offing themselves, which I do not condone at all, but that? That guy barely qualifies as a Keeper in the first ce.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a long sigh, finding myself agreeing with her statement. ¡°Quite. So, I¡¯ve been trying to y catch-up this whole time. Thest guy for my world was an epic-level shut-in, so even the old friends of EarthForceOne basically forgot about me, or were reced.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ugh, I can get that.¡± Oldbeard nodded her head. ¡°When I first ascended, I had all these guys weing me in to their big ¡®game¡¯, saying that I had finally be a yer. I flipped on that so hard, and had to go solo until I ran up against this little rabbit girl called Starkiller. The name scared me out of my wits until we met in person, and she asked me why I had reset.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Told her I never reset, and that I was new to all of this. Which was apparently the right answer, given that she was preparing to rally her armies to attack me if I was still the guy before me¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small chuckle at that, nodding. ¡°Balu. She¡¯s a pretty good friend that I¡¯vee to know.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right?!¡± Oldbeard nodded quickly. ¡°She¡¯s really cool and fluffy, and if you pet her ears, she¡¯ll get all cute and mad and then forget about it in like ten seconds. She introduced me to the Gilded Branch when she realized that I wasn¡¯t following the same path as thest Oldbeard. That¡¯s how I got to know of the side of Keepers that weren¡¯t total jerks to their people. They¡¯ve been teaching me a lot.¡± Oldbeard suddenly gave a soft smile. ¡°It¡¯s because of them that I realized that I could bring my parents back from the old world aspanions. That¡¯s one of the first things that they suggested I do when they realized how young I was.¡±

 Chapter 755: Connections

    Chapter 755: Connections


    <span style="font-weight:400">My talk with Oldbeard was rather¡­ enlightening, I¡¯d say. I was able to get a glimpse at what it was like for other people¡­ <i><span style="font-weight:400">normal</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Keepers to gain their ranks. Even I knew that my situation was very far from the norm, so it was somewhat refreshing to learn about how others became Keepers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In the end, I paid Oldbeard the five thousand points for the level transfer orbs, as well as an extra three hundred for the Aurans. Given what she had said of the race, I was rather looking forward to introducing them to my dwarves. They sounded like they¡¯d be the perfect supplement for a crafter race.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Just as I was getting ready to bid farewell to Oldbeard, I saw her manipting an invisible menu again. Curious, I waited a moment, before she seemed to notice that I wasn¡¯t doing the same. ¡°Are you not going to send a notice to the Gilded Branch?¡± She asked in confusion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Pardon?¡± This wasn¡¯t exactly my first trade, but it was the first time that I had ever heard of sending a notice to that guild when doing so.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard gave a light chuckle, exining herself. ¡°I¡¯m guessing you¡¯ve never traded outside of the Gilded Branch before. It¡¯s a sort of insurance policy. Basically, we both send in a notice that we have a pending trade. After the invasion where I ship everything over, you¡¯ll get a message from your contact in the Gilded Branch asking to confirm that you received your items, once they¡¯re done with their own business.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ve traded before, but that¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve heard of that.¡± Though¡­ thinking back, my very first trade was with RedRose, who Balu introduced as another member of the Gilded Branch, and my second one was to Kathy. I doubted that she knew about this policy any more than I did. ¡°Do they charge for this or anything?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hmm? Oh, no.¡± Oldbeard shook her head. ¡°No charges. It¡¯s¡­ you know how the Gilded Branch are trying to keep the peace with the good Keepers, right? This is just anotheryer to that. So, purely hypothetically speaking, let¡¯s assume that I took your points and didn¡¯t deliver. It¡¯d be your word against mine, with no way to confirm whether you really gave me the points.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Worst still, I could take your points and then send in an army against you. If I killed you, there would be nobody to say that you had paid me at all. Anyone that knew your previous match history would know I was yourst opponent, but I could spin up any number of excuses. Believe it or not¡­ idental wins can happen if you get careless. A lot of people don¡¯t have the will to just go down quietly when they know they¡¯re at death¡¯s door.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Those kinds of people, once they get in front of the enemy Keeper to deliver the merchandise, will suddenlysh out in one suicidal attack. It doesn¡¯t happen often, but there have been people that identally killed other Keepers like that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As long as we both send this notice to the guild, though¡­ well, if the first situation happens, it will be a ck mark on my record. You¡¯ll also be on a list for suspected scamming, just to watch out if you make those reports against trusted Keepers repeatedly. If the second situation happens, I¡¯m expected to cooperate with the Gilded Branch to offer what littlepensation that I can, or be cklisted.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What sort ofpensation?¡± I asked in confusion. After all, if that situation happened, I¡¯d be dead and my world reset. What could reallypensate for that?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard let out a huff, crossing her arms over her chest. ¡°First, I would give them a notice of how many points I won from you, and be expected to immediately refund your world. Then, I wait. Once the nk te that reces you cycles out, and there¡¯s a proper Keeper in charge, I would be asked to make contact and begin making monthly payments based on the new Keeper¡¯s rank.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Obviously, I can¡¯t pay a Third Rank Keeper¡¯s full worth at once to a First Rank Keeper, or they¡¯ll self-destruct by spending faster than they can train themselves up. That¡¯s why they came up with the monthly payment n. I¡¯d be expected to keep making those payments until I paid off the total amount of points that I earned from you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ryone thought about that, speaking up for the first time since our arrival. ¡°In other words, there is no benefit to you going back on our deal. Even if you killed us, the Gilded Branch knows the rough value of a Keeper¡¯s worth, so what little bit you could scrape off from that would not be worth the scrutiny you¡¯d be under. Meanwhile, if we im you never delivered, we would not receive any sort ofpensation.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°However, that mark on your record would serve as a deterrent. Nobody wants to be cklisted by the Gilded Branch, unless they are able to defect to another faction. Just how much trust does that guild have among the Keepers for everyone to grant them this level of authority¡­¡± Ryone seemed genuinely impressed by how the Gilded Branch had conducted their business until now.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard smirked, shrugging her shoulders. ¡°They were one of the first guilds. Even before guilds were a thing, they were apparently trying to sort out the good guys to make the ¡®faction¡¯ safer. From what I¡¯ve heard, they¡¯ve even got a backer among the Big Three.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And there¡¯s another group I haven¡¯t heard of yet¡­¡± Today was turning out to be a very interesting and informative day. I should make trips out to other Keepers more often¡­


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard blinked, looking at me. ¡°Wow, you really need that newsletter, huh? The Big Three are what we call the three Seventh Ranked Keepers. Officially, none of them are part of any guild, to prevent their guild members from being heavily targeted by the opposing forces. We only know that one is a Monster Keeper, one is a Tyrant Keeper, and one is a good guy. Those three haven¡¯t changed ranks ever since I showed up, so I¡¯m guessing they keep each other in check.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°From what I¡¯ve heard, that third one is secretly backing the Gilded Branch. Can you imagine the regr point ie of a Keeper that big? ording to the rumor mill, that¡¯s how the Gilded Branch can afford their monthly meetings and hand out all those points as prizes. Their guy in the Big Three is keeping them stocked up on points, so they can make themselves everyone¡¯s best friend.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ryone furrowed her brow at that, the merchant in her clearlying out. ¡°With that Keeper being the source of their extra wealth, the Gilded Branch can perform its charitable activities while making itself appear as the center ofmerce. Add in their squad of First Rank Keepers ready to dispatch armies against known enemies, and they also be a stable police force for the lower ranks. And with their information business, they know more about any one Keeper than anyone else.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Nobody wants to be cklisted by the Gilded Branch, because that would mean that they lose ess to thatmunity. Furthermore, there is the threat that a cklisted member could have their information given out, making future invasions harder to fight against. They have rooted themselves into practically every feasible facet of Keeper life. Without everyone in themunity unanimously cklisting that one guild, their position has be all but unshakeable.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yup!¡± Oldbeard nodded in agreement. ¡°That¡¯s about how my merchant put it, too, when she heard about the situation. I¡¯m guessing that makes you one, too. Anyways, as long as someone in the Big Three is backing that guild, they¡¯re basically the one stop shop for whatever official Keeper business you have. Though¡­ there are exceptions. Even the Gilded Branch doesn¡¯t have a better Game World developer than EverLasting. Not anymore, at least.¡± Oldbeard grinned yfully as she said that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°EverLasting used to be part of the guild, back when I first got involved in themunity. It wasn¡¯t long after that when she left, though. Word is that she just wanted to go independent. Everyone watched to see how the guild would react, but they never made any attempt to hurt her business or anything. Speaking of¡­ think you could put me in touch with her?¡± Oldbeard leaned over the table to ask that, eyes practically shining.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯d love to join her guild, if she¡¯ll have me. And also learn how to make games like she does! I¡¯ve been a fan of hers for ages.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a light, surprisedugh when I heard that. With a smile, I opened up my chat window to fire off two messages. The first was to Alkahest, letting him know that I had made a trade with Oldbeard. The second¡­


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Sarah, you free


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: As free as ever. Just got back to my room. Why, what¡¯s up? Trouble with your next match-up?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Not¡­ quite. I¡¯m actually meeting with her right now, and she asked me to get in touch with you. Apparently, she¡¯s a fan, and would like to join the guild if you¡¯d let her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: That so? I normally keep recruiting closed unless we¡¯re looking to expand. If you think you¡¯re willing to vouch for her, I¡¯ll give her a shot.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Well, this is my first meeting with her, but she seems pretty nice. Took her time to exin quite a few things that I didn¡¯t know. As far as I can tell, she¡¯s one of the nicest Keepers I¡¯ve met.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Alright, I¡¯ll take that into consideration. Have her shoot me an Administration Room invite, and I¡¯ll go meet her myself.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nodding my head, I looked over at Oldbeard. ¡°She said to toss her an invite. She¡¯d like to meet you to see if you¡¯ll fit in the guild.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The sound that came out of Oldbeard could only generously be described as a squee. ¡°Thank you! I¡¯ve been wanting to meet her for so long, but I didn¡¯t want to juste across as some weirdo! You know how my name doesn¡¯t really fit me, and I don¡¯t know what she looks like to look for her at the annual meetings.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard jumped to her feet, quickly navigating her menus and firing off the invitation. Afterwards, I could see her pacing nervously back and forth, waiting for Sarah to arrive. I could only hope that she had a more graceful entrance than I did.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, it seemed that Oldbeard had left the door to the reception area open, as Sarah emerged from it only a few momentster, not looking as if she had to deal with anything too bad. ¡°There is a giant stuffed animal mopping up the floor.¡± Sarah pointed out, waving at me before looking at Oldbeard, and blinking. ¡°Well¡­ certainly not what I was expecting.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The mess is me. Weird pastel ball thing. And this is--¡± I started to handle the introductions, but Oldbeard ran over to stand in front of Sarah, looking up at her with glistening eyes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°My name is Alice! I¡¯ve been looking forward to meeting you for so long, Miss EverLasting!¡± Oldbeard, or rather¡­ Alice introduced herself. She didn¡¯t even consider using her Keeper title, as if feeling it too awkward for her celebrity idol.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sarah simply chuckled, shaking her head. ¡°If we¡¯re using real names here, just call me Sarah. Dale here says he thinks you¡¯d be a good fit with our group? You know I don¡¯t actually run the guild for business or anything, right? We¡¯re all just a bunch of friends.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Alice¡¯s head nodded so fast I was seriously concerned it might fall off. ¡°I¡¯ve heard! But that¡¯s okay! Just being your friend and being able to learn from you is already great!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sarah smiled, reaching down to pat Alice¡¯s head, the childlike Keeper letting out an adorable giggle-squee. ¡°Sure, I think I can give you a shot. Wee to Lasting Bonds, Alice.¡±

 Chapter 756: The Stuff Of Nightmares

    Chapter 756: The Stuff Of Nightmares


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing Alice look at Sarah like a fangirl meeting her celebrity idol, I started to feel as if it wasn¡¯t quite right for me to stick around. As such, I began to navigate the menu, before suddenly thinking of something. ¡°Will our match still be happening on time? I remember hearing that one of the perks of being a guild member is not fighting each other.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sarah looked over, smiling at me. ¡°That¡¯s only true if the two parties are in the same guild prior to the match being arranged. Since yours is already set, joining the guild won¡¯t stop it. Otherwise, people could just get out of invasions by temporarily joining the same guild.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head at that, relieved that I was still able to go through with the trade. Just as I was about to issue themand to leave, I saw Alice running over towards me. ¡°Let me thank you!¡± She called out, a wide grin splitting her face. ¡°There¡¯s something I think can help you. One of my hidden cards. I¡¯ll sell it to you, if you want?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Blinking, I nced at Sarah, before looking back at Alice. ¡°What is it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s a special type of seal created by using a few different energy types with technology.¡± She began in a happy tone. ¡°Within the area of the seal, the Game System is suppressed. Any boosts that a person has received from the game system is temporarily stripped away, and any systems that they have ess to are unusable. I use it in my prisons to make sure nobody can easily escape.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Well that was¡­ a lot more powerful than I was expecting. Perhaps not for my world specifically, because the system works by evolving the body rather than offering a stacked enhancement. Granted, thattter system would make it a lot easier to handle food, as I wouldn¡¯t need such a convoluted ring system. That¡¯s probably why Sanction¡¯s people used a stacked enhancement.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Still, this would negate the Skill system, the Guild system, Parties, and things like that. Most importantly, it should be able to disable the Scout¡¯s minimap that I recently purchased, so inmates wouldn¡¯t be able to use that to help them n an escape. ¡°How much is it?¡± I asked hopefully, to which she thought it over.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I wasn¡¯t nning on putting it up for sale, since it¡¯s a trump card against other game worlds. Given the situation, I¡¯ll say five thousand, like the transfer orbs! Deal?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nodding my head, I extended a hand to transfer the points over to her. While this would not fully suppress people as it might in other types of game worlds, it was still enough of a benefit to make the purchase worthwhile. Besides, as she said, this was a trump card. If someone like Sanction invaded me again, I could use this topletely negate their game system powers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once the transaction waspleted, I began attempting to leave once again. This time, I actually got the chance to issue themand, as it didn¡¯t seem like anything else would stop me. Now¡­ I just had to wait and see what method we¡¯d get sent back with.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After a few moments, I felt as if something were crawling on my skin, sending chills down my spine. Looking down at my hands, I could see strange characters being written there, squirming along my flesh and traveling up my arms. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen this one before.¡± Alice said hesitantly, Sarah grabbing her shoulder and tugging her back.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯ll want to move a bit back.¡± Sarah whispered, though not quite low enough to prevent me from hearing. ¡°There are two that start like this that I know, and¡­ ah, yeah¡­ it¡¯s this one.¡± Her face scrunched up as the characters began to cover my face. Soon, I could see them as if they were forming all along the walls of the room, everywhere I looked.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Gradually, the characters began to shift, forming identifiable words. The same three words repeated countless times across every surface. ¡®I see you¡¯. The words were written in uneven ck text, and it even looked like they had appeared over Sarah and Alice¡¯s bodies. However, given their reactions, I knew that wasn¡¯t really the case.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Soon, the characters began to shift and shudder, squirming as they split open. Each of them formed into numerous eyes that stared straight at me. The eyes began growingrger andrger in my vision, pushing together and merging to create a massive pupil, inside of which I could see a reflection of myself. My body split open a hundred times over, each cut showing a simr eyeball


    <span style="font-weight:400">And behind me¡­ a door that was slowly opening. Hands began reaching through the door, dozens and then hundreds. They were connected to arms with impossible joints, each extending numerous meters to reach out towards me. I wanted to move, but couldn¡¯t, my body paralyzed as the sickly grey hands grabbed my limbs.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With one sharp tug, I was dragged into the door,nding on a soft couch. My head swiveled to look around the room, and I soon found that I was back in my own Admin Room. Leowynn and Ryone were next to me, looking pale and shivering at what had just happened.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...Please tell me that there is something that can be bought on the market to stop things like <i><span style="font-weight:400">that</i><span style="font-weight:400"> from happening.¡± Ryone shuddered, hands wiping along her arms.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Let¡¯s find out, because I do <i><span style="font-weight:400">not</i><span style="font-weight:400"> want to go through that again.¡± I agreed wholeheartedly, sending a mental message out. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Terra. A system to control the transit methods between Admin Rooms. Does it exist and how much is it?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Hmm¡­ nope¡­ no system.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She responded with a mental yawn. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Transfer random. Pulled from countless dreams and nightmares across the myriad worlds¡­ Someone petitioned for a system like that once¡­ but not enough people wanted it. Said it was a waste of points when they could just bear with it. Sorry.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...Terra says we¡¯re out of luck.¡± I reported with a groan, Leowynn soon matching my gesture.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay¡­ nightmare-inducing travel methods aside, at least Alice seemed pretty sweet?¡± Leowynn brought up in a clear attempt to take our mind off of what had just happened. ¡°And she has pretty good tea, too! Though¡­ you didn¡¯t seem to like it all that much?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Noticing her gaze, I shook my head. ¡°It was just too sweet for me. Regardless, we were able to make a new friend, and one that it seems like we can ask for advice when we hit problems rted to game systems. Just in case Sarah isn¡¯t free.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After I said that, I heard a nearby door being kicked open. Turning to look, I saw Tubrcok walking into the living room, carrying arge ck case over his shoulder. Realizing what this meant, I immediately jumped to my feet, eyes wide with anticipation. ¡°You finished it already?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Aye, it was a simple order.¡± Tubrock nodded, tossing the case towards me. ¡°Ye want the full run-down of how ta use it, or figure it our yerself?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Did you add anything in, aside from what I asked?¡± I asked curiously, to which Tubrock shrugged his shoulders.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not particrly. There¡¯s a bonus feature attached to the weapon, though. If ye use at least a million points of energy, ye should be able to sense the option to activate it. That¡¯s all I gotta say.¡± He said, giving a small wave towards Leowynn and Ryone before moving back to the door he came from.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You got a new weapon?¡± Ryone asked curiously, standing to move next to me as she looked at the case.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod, finding thetch to open it. ¡°It¡¯s a bow. alia is teaching me archery to go with a few new divine techniques we came up with. Since I didn¡¯t have a suitable bow before, I wanted Tubrock to make me one.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I said that, I took a look at what he had created. The bow itself had an elegant, golden body, but lookedrgely standard in terms of shape. I didn¡¯t notice any special engravings or decorations¡­ or even a string for that matter. ¡°Oh, he went with this model?¡± Ryone asked, sounding surprised as she looked at the bow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You know about it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">She nodded. ¡°A stringless bow is a rathermon product in high-level archery shops, so I¡¯ve dealt with them before as a merchant. Recing strings needed for high level bows can be both tedious and expensive, so they created these as an answer. Once you grab the bow and make the motion of pulling a string, it will automatically create one from your ki.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If you channel additional ki into the string, you can make it stronger, requiring additional strength to pull it back. Since it lets you both adjust the strength of your bow and prevents the need to rece the string, this model of bow became a favorite starting from a couple centuries ago?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Listening to her report, I was much happier about the item I had been given. ¡°What about firing energy arrows? There won¡¯t be a sh between the ki string and a mana arrow, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s actually part of the beauty of a ki string.¡± Ryone chuckled. The archer controls their energy to keep the arrows from touching the string while solidifying them. Once they¡¯re ready, and they release the string, the reaction from the colliding energy types adds an extra propulsion force to the arrow. If you want a low-power arrow, it¡¯s suggested to use a ki arrow with a weak ki string.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nodding my head at her reply, I pulled the bow out of its case. ¡°Well, then¡­ I¡¯m going to test this out. Do either of you want toe with?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn shook her head at that. ¡°I¡¯m going toy down and rest for a little while.¡± After saying that, she stood up to hug both me and Ryone, smiling. ¡°Have fun, Mom, Dad.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ryone smiled softly, squeezing Leowynn¡¯s shoulder. ¡°I¡¯ll be in to see you after we¡¯re done.¡± Leowynn simply rolled her eyes with a grin at that, teleporting away to where I could only assume was her room.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well¡­ since it¡¯s just us.¡± I chuckled, bringing us to arge meadow to test the bow. ¡°Would you like to make a target for me? I want to test out this hidden feature Tubrock mentioned.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ryone tapped her chin, before her eyes gleamed mischievously. ¡°He said it takes a million points¡­ so let¡¯s give you a target you couldn¡¯t miss if you wanted.¡± As she said that, the ground began to shake. In the distance, the earth seemed to rise, forming a mountain. And then¡­ the mountain stood up, a colossal humanoid figure made of stone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I could tell that it was simply a doll Ryone created with the Admin Room privileges, but it was still a walking mountain that was slowly making its way towards us. Suppressing my nerves, I held the bow in my left hand, moving my right hand to where the string would be. As she had exined previously, I felt a small tug at my ki, an orange string appearing at my fingers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">My control of my energy was still a bit less than fine, so I did not trust myself tounch arrows that weren¡¯t based on ki. As such, the energy I chose to use was the Ki of Beginning, which had almost no negative reaction when it shed against regr ki. Closing my eyes, I focused on enhancing the string while pulling it back, channeling my Ki of Beginning into the fire pool. Using this Beginning Fire, I pulled out as much of it as I could, condensing it into an arrow along the body of the bow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The wind around me seemed to scream as it was torn apart by the arrow I was forming, a zing line stretching out from my fingers. After the energy reached a certain threshold, I felt a small pulse from the bow itself, and knew that was what Tubrock was talking about. Focusing on that pulse, I triggered it with my mana, and watched as the magic unfolded.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Next to my body, a five-meter tall bow with a body that was at least half a meter thick appeared. Its body was blue with gold engravings, and possessed golden ropes of light extended from the top and bottom. However, these did not appear to be its string. Rather, these connected to another smaller construct behind the bow, pulled back to keep the strings taut.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Both of these blue-gold fixtures had arge hole in their center, aimed towards the mountainous figure approaching. The me arrow I was creating was seemingly snuffed out, only to appear within the center of the hole on this farrger bow. The arrow grewrger until it was surging through both holes of the massive bow, its power surging as it waited to be released.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Through this, I could feel the properties bestowed to this alternative bow. It elerated the movement of the energy within the arrow it held, causing it to appearrger and more unstable. And when I released the string and the arrow was fired¡­ The air around us erupted in a devastating st, a red pir seemingly connecting the bow with my target.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When the dust settled, I looked at the massive target, waiting to see the results of my shot. What I saw was a gaping hole over a hundred meters in diameter along the right side of its chest, looking as if it were cleanly carved out. This was the property of the Beginning Fire, most likely, as its basic power was to essentially disintegrate whatever it touched. Had I been using a standard ki arrow¡­ the result would have no doubt been far more explosive.

 Chapter 757: Returning To Normal

    Chapter 757: Returning To Normal


    <span style="font-weight:400">Following my experiment with the bow that Tubrock had made me, I couldn¡¯t help but be deeply satisfied. Sure, it didn¡¯t have as many special options as alia¡¯s bow, and it wasn¡¯t as versatile as Irena¡¯s pen. However, it had everything that I needed in this particr bow. I could think of a more unique divine artifact to go with my own domainster.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For now, there was just the matter of enchanting this bow with the divine ability that I intended to give it. I had long since made up my mind on what this bow would be able to do, and so I allowed my divinity to be infused to the golden structure. Gradually, the appearance of the bow began to shift, losing its luster as the material changed to simple wood.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Simrly, a string appeared on the bow where one previously didn¡¯t exist. These two aspects together made it look like anymon bow that a beginning archer would use. Finally, the true effect of the enchantment that I gave it was applied when I pulled the string once again. Despite me using my ki to create an arrow, what appeared was amon wooden arrow with an iron head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nodding my head, I let the arrow fly, making sure that it didn¡¯t change back until it had struck its target. Next to me, Ryone smiled softly. ¡°You want your enemies to be unable to tell what sort of arrow you¡¯re using, by disguising them all as the most basic arrow?¡± She asked curiously, to which I nodded.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m not sure entirely how much it will help. After all, anyone with half a brain cell would know to do their best to avoid a Keeper¡¯s every attack. Even a casual punch from me could kill most people if I¡¯m not careful. However, with this I can hide special effects in my arrows that they won¡¯t know to watch for.¡± I exined as I looked at the bow in satisfaction.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ryone gave a small nod at that. ¡°Like you said, they¡¯ll avoid any attack that they can. However, if you are able tounch numerous attacks in session to force them to choose which to dodge, at least they won¡¯t know which ones are truly dangerous.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was the general idea with my bow, at least. My primary usage for this item was assassination, however. Using the techniques that Tsubaki had written out, I could target an enemy and attack them with a seemingly ordinary arrow. This illusion hid the radiating energy from an attack, and would thus allow even a powerful strike to slip past all but the most trained senses.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Part of me was curious to see what would happen if I used a full power Ki arrow that consumed all eight million of my ki at once. How powerful would the st be from that, especially if fired out of the secondary effect of my bow? It would be an interesting experiment, but I knew I couldn¡¯t do such a thing in an inhabited area¡­ or an inhabited for that matter. Although the risk wasn¡¯t high, there was a chance that I could cause extreme damage to a with such a powerful strike.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, I think I¡¯ll go check on Leowynn, then.¡± Ryone said with a smile. ¡°If you need anything else, don¡¯t hesitate to let me know.¡± After she said that, her body faded away, leaving me alone with my thoughts and training.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well¡­ I guess it¡¯s time to get started.¡± I muttered, beginning the training that I was preparing for when Oldbeard contacted me. Deploying my World Sight, I carefully adjusted the energies that I released, once more beginning to train myself in basic archery techniques.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra kept herself low to the ground as she prowled through the deep forest of Fyor¡¯s twenty-seventh floor. She and Thelsa had long since found the gate leading to the next floor, but they had yet to explore it. After all, they had only been on this floor for a rtively short period, and wanted to enjoy having a ying field in which they could truly shine.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">You¡¯re sure it¡¯s just up ahead?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She asked her shadow, receiving a confirmation from one of the scouts that had been in charge of exploring her shadow world. Petra was currently tackling a standing quest from the guild, which was to find the level orb on this new floor. With the help of the Guild¡¯s new professional guide, they had managed to locate the orb on the previous floor with some difficulty.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, it seemed as if that same trick wasn¡¯t going to work so easily this time. The fact that the guide was unable to track the orb on this new floor seemed to indicate that either no such orb existed, or that there were special qualities on this floor that restrained his tracking energy. Perhaps the nts were capable of devouring the energy much in the same way that they devoured the mana from the central spire.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ever since the researcher of Deckan came in to clear the major threats away from this level of Fyor, the day and night cycle had begun to shift. Where previously, the day periodsted only an hour, that time was now doubled. It was hard to tell if it would keep increasing, but Petra was confident that it would not turn into another situation where her powers be utterly helpless.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Three meters beneath the surface. It¡¯s being hugged by a tangle of roots.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The shadow informed her as she reached an unassuming patch ofnd within the forest. Her body seemed to be resting atop a pile of vines, but she knew better than to assume that anything was simply safe here.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With every movement Petra made, she checked her minimap for any signs of hostile activity. If anything so much as twitched wrong, she was prepared to st it with enough power to reduce arge portion of this forest to ruins.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra took a deep breath, and began carefully moving aside the vines beneath her, pushing the roots of the great trees with considerable strength for her small frame. Within the shadow world, there were no monsters. This meant that their scouts could explore in peace. However, it also meant that the results they found did not always match up perfectly with what was found in the main world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">One example of this was when a small red dot lit up on Petra¡¯s minimap. Her body lunged upwards, gripping onto a low-hanging branch as she kept her wings tucked in. Her eyes trained on the area below, looking at the source of the red dot. There, tucked away beneath the ground, was an unassuming root that seemed to blend in with all of the others.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra had caught some subtle movement from this root out of the corner of her eyes, which had alerted her minimap to mark it as a potential threat. However, now that she had made her distance, the root had stopped moving entirely. ¡°It¡¯s a patient predator¡­ maybe even a nt monster.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">nt monsters were always known for their ability to blend in with their natural surroundings, waiting for months or years at a time until their prey had wandered into their range. The ¡®root¡¯ that Petra was looking at could either be one such entity, or perhaps another creature that was merely able to assume the form of a root. For instance, a burrowing snake that could disguise itself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Either way, she had to be careful. This was the location where the level orb was supposedly being kept, so she needed to make sure not to direct too much of her power downwards. Thest thing she wanted was to destroy it and wait for it to respawn before starting her search all over. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Anything you can do to help me out here, Thelsa?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">You know that my original focus was a rogue, right? </i><span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa asked from her shadow, a faint sigh emerging from her lips. <i><span style="font-weight:400">The roots are holding it too tight for us to just steal it with our shadow. Let me out, and I¡¯ll see if I can steal it myself. If not, I¡¯ll try one of Sora¡¯s tricks.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Please don¡¯t electrocute me.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Petra pleaded, spreading her wings to quietly glide down to the ground. She made sure to give the suspicious root a wide berth to prevent it from attacking the moment that shended.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once she was down, the ck-haired Thelsa emerged from her shadow, taking a deep breath. Lately, she had been letting herself emerge in the real world less and less, and had to take a moment to adjust before she nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You know, you could alwayse up with a new identity and form a party with me at the guild.¡± Petra suggested, earning a soft smile from Thelsa.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, you¡¯re the one that deserves the spotlight between us. Don¡¯t worry, it shouldn¡¯t be too much longer before my preparations areplete.¡± As she said that, she crouched down on the ground, closing her eyes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Preparations? You mean you¡¯re finally almost ready to be out full-time again?¡± Petra asked in excitement, receiving a small nod in return. ¡°How much longer do you need? Is there anything I can do to help?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa chuckled softly, shaking her head. ¡°Right now, the biggest obstacle left is to create a history for myself. With the people we¡¯ve spread out in the variousyers, I can forge official documents ranging back to my birth. I¡¯ve already decided that the role I¡¯m going to y this time will be a bartender for a tavern on this floor. The long nights just feel morefortable to me.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra nodded, able to easily understand that. ¡°Will I still be able to visit you?¡± She asked hopefully.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course, Petra. I expect you to be a regr. Although I won¡¯t be an adventurer this time, I¡¯ll still be free to help you if you ask.¡± As she said that, her brows furrowed. ¡°Ah¡­ so that¡¯s where the interference is.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Did you find something?¡± Petra asked, leaning in closer. Given that the hole was only dug less than a meter down, she obviously couldn¡¯t see what Thelsa had found.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, Thelsa still nodded. ¡°There¡¯s a special nt mixed in with these roots. While most of the nts in this floor can absorb mana, this one also absorbs spiritual energy. My guess is that it¡¯s a mutant, and the guild¡¯s guide relies on spiritual energy to some degree for his tracking.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Can you still grab it?¡± Petra chewed her bottom lip nervously, knowing that things would get messier if they had to resort to her alternative n¡­ which was just to smash everything and hope that the orb wasn¡¯t damaged.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Easily.¡± Thelsa smiled, lifting her hand to show the retrieved level orb. ¡°As long as it doesn¡¯t block ki, I can directly grab it. It¡¯s a new trick that they¡¯re teaching the rogues starting in the lower floors. One of our people learned about it and sent it back to us.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra let out a relieved sigh as she saw the orb, reaching over to give Thelsa a big hug. ¡°Thanks! The roots aren¡¯t acting up or anything, are they?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa shook her head at that. ¡°It seems like these roots are primarily benign. There were a couple that I noticed were unusual, but neither of them were directly touching the orb.¡± After saying that, she passed the orb over to Petra. ¡°You should be able to im your reward once you take that back to the Core.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra nodded her head happily, epting the orb from Thelsa. ¡°Honestly, the biggest reward I¡¯ll get out of this is being able to train more. I¡¯d like to spend some time training my Druid ss a bit more, since theseyers are only getting bigger and bigger.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa gave an understanding nod when she heard that. A high level druid would be able to control all of the nts within this forest, making it a simple matter to retrieve the orb. Of course, they had a number of other advantages in different terrains as well, so it was simply a good ss to train. Given that she had been a high level druid from birth, it was only natural for her to want to pursue that path again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sadly, her level could no longer be considered high in that ss after more and more floors were unlocked. But, maybe now she would have the chance to fix that.

 Chapter 758: The Blind Leading The Bold

    Chapter 758: The Blind Leading The Bold


    <span style="font-weight:400">The walk for Keenan and Jace was long, taking them weeks before they managed toe across a suitable hunting ground that was appropriate for Keenan¡¯s level. Moreover, this hunting ground was situated directly next to a small city, allowing both of them to rest in thefort of their preferred environments while being able to stay in contact with one another.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When they arrived, Jace briefly left in order to walk through the town and gather information, while Keenan began to investigate his new home. In truth, this hunting ground was not as favorable as the one that he had lived in previously. Not only was it too close to the city for hisfort, but the trees were much less densely packed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was a likely indication that the prey he would be facing would berger. On the one hand, that meant that they would have more meat. However, it also increased the risk.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It must be realized that not all monsters of the same level were truly created equally. A level ten elephant could crush a level one hundred ant purely with its body weight. The level merely represented how advanced and developed their bodies and energies were, but did not represent a true indication of their power.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was something that had caused the deaths of many naive adventurers, and ultimately caused the hunting ofrger monsters to be seen as not worthwhile by most. Typically, if you were strong enough to kill a ten-meter tall monster with only yourself and a small party, you would be high enough level that its meat would not be enough for you.


    <span style="font-weight:400">On the other hand, if you were able to hunt medium-sized game, no more than a meter and a half tall, it was a different story. Under those circumstances, if the creature was the same level as you, the challenge was considered quite a bit lower, with a higher reward. It was even possible to hunt above your level formon hunters if they were after the smaller game, such as monster rabbits or boars.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, there were exceptions to every rule, but this was the standard that Keenan was familiar with himself. The sight of the sparsely ced trees was enough to indicate that he would have a challenge living within this hunting ground. He knew that he could do it by relying on his natural luck, but it would not be easy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Roughly an hour after he hade to this conclusion, he could hear footsteps approaching the base of the tree where he had decided to rest. The gait was familiar to him, and he could hear the sound of a wooden staff tapping against the ground. As such, he rose to his feet to greet Jace. ¡°Find anything?¡± He asked, his speech havinge along way due to the frequent conversations with the felyn.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This ce is stranger than I thought.¡± Jace admitted, moving to sit against a thick root. ¡°I asked around, and there is apparently a dungeon not that far from here.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Dungeon?¡± Keenan asked, furrowing his brow. He had heard the word before, but that was so long ago. Given the life he had lived since leaving his home, he had never needed to think about dungeons before.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeming to realize this, Jace patiently exined. ¡°Dungeons are locations where adventurers can enter to challenge monsters or other natural hazards. The heart of the dungeon is actually a living creature itself, which shapes the area around it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan couldn¡¯t help but grunt at that. ¡°If it makes monsters, why not kill it? Solve the problem before monsters escape.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jace gave a light chuckle. ¡°Some people used to think like that. However, dungeons are also quite rewarding. They can produce powerful equipment for those who brave their travels. More importantly, ever since the existence of the Dungeon Cores was publicized to the world through the Dungeon Master Wars, people are far more hesitant to enter one with ill intent.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Master?¡± Keenan tilted his head curiously. ¡°You can tame a dungeon?¡± That might be a fun thing to try at some point.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...Yes and no. The dungeon chooses its master. If you enter a dungeon with the intention to destroy it, it could call for reinforcements from higher level cores. But if you enter andplete the challenges to train yourself, it might take a liking to you. If it does, they supposedly give you this magic item that lets you make a miniature dungeon around yourself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You talk like you don¡¯t know for sure.¡± Keenan pointed out after hearing Jace¡¯s exnation, causing thetter to shrug.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, I¡¯ve never experienced it myself. These days, people tend to keep quiet about who the dungeon masters are. You can only tell whether or not a dungeon has a master, but not who the master is. For instance, the dungeon nearby is masterless. From what I heard in town, it has been for decades. It¡¯s apparently something of a tourist attraction.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What¡¯s so interesting about this dungeon?¡± Keenan couldn¡¯t help but question. The fact that Jace had found so much information about it, given his luck, Keenan was sure that the dungeon was important to him in some way. Much like how Jace had found Keenan himself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Apparently¡­ nothing. It¡¯s an attraction because it is unusual for a dungeon itself. There are no monsters, and no apparent puzzles that can be seen. If not for the special qualities of dungeons and how they interact with their surroundings, this one might be overlooked entirely. All that there is, ording to what I heard, is a dark room within arge, stone dome. The walls are smooth, and there aren¡¯t any doors or stairs to lead deeper.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I asked, and someone said that they had tried to break down the walls at one point to see what was being hidden. However, the walls repaired themselves as fast as he could break them. In the end, he wasn¡¯t able to find anything.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Would you like to check it out?¡± Keenan asked as he stood up, waiting for Jace. He trusted in Jace¡¯s luck, almost more than he did his own abilities at this point. After all, if not for Jace he would have likely died in the shark storm. ¡°If you learned this much about it, that¡¯s probably why we¡¯re here. This forest doesn¡¯t look like it¡¯d be a very good ce to live. Too open, not enough small prey.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jace smiled, rising to his feet and facing away from Keenan. ¡°Let¡¯s get going, then. If I¡¯m really being drawn here for this, it¡¯s got to have something to do with you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Why?¡± Keenan asked, Jace quickly turning around to face him. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be something rted to you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jace shook his head, spinning his staff in his hand. ¡°I¡¯ve been wanting to find you a ce to settle down. If we¡¯re stumbling across something now, I¡¯d be willing to bet that it was for you. And, ording to my status page, I¡¯m a gambling man.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan shook his head, simply letting Jace lead the way. It was unusual to him for someone to put so much consideration into someone other than themselves. However, he didn¡¯t want to point that out. It would be rather clear once they got there who the dungeon was really for.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As before, Jace used his staff to guide them until they reached the mouth of a cave at the base of a tall hill. The entrance to the cave looked rather unassuming, though Keenan noted that the stone interior was too smooth to be natural, even though it was currently covered with vines. ¡°Do you see an icon anywhere?¡± Jace asked, attracting Keenan¡¯s attention. ¡°It should look like a hand. If the hand is holding a sphere, it means the dungeon is imed. However, if the hand is empty, then the dungeon is ownerless.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan nodded his head at that, looking beneath the vines and moss at the entrance of the cavern. ¡°There it is.¡± He said as he brushed at the right side of the entrance. There, beneath years of foliage growing against it, was the symbol Jace had mentioned. And, as expected, the symbol was an empty hand. ¡°It¡¯s empty, like you said.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jace nodded with a smile, not hesitating to stride forward and into the dark cavern. rmed, Keenan went in immediately after him. Although Jace had said that there were no dangers, he had also described dungeons as the dens of monsters.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once inside, however, Keenan was surprised to find the roompletely empty. There was no sign of Jace, or anywhere that he could have gone. It was as if he had vanished the moment that he entered the dark mouth of the cave.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan¡¯s eyes went cold, ck ki radiating off as his body. His wild, unruly hair began to rise as he released his power. ¡°Give. Him. Back.¡± Keenan snarled, walking forward with slow steps. He could hear the sound of something shattering as he clenched his fists, but he kept going.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For some reason, the thought of Jace being taken by this dungeon had infuriated Keenan beyond anything he could understand. As if the very thought that he would be alone in this world again was something his heart did not want to bear. As he reached the far wall, he began pulling back his fist, gathering the ck ki around it. ¡°Give¡­ him¡­ back!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Just as he wasunching his fist forward, he felt a hand on his shoulder. His punch paused, seeming to think that it might be Jace who had disappeared. The energy rolling off his body vanished like a lie as he spun around. However, what greeted him was far from the felyn that he had entered with.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Standing behind him was a creature without a face, having only a smooth mask of skin above where its mouth was. No eyes, no nose, not even any hair. The creature was vaguely humanoid, and dressed in a ck suit. Had he been paying attention previously, he would have noted that the hand on his shoulder had grey, wed fingers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Yet, even though the creature had no eyes, Keenan was certain that it was looking right at him. ¡°Finally¡­¡± It spoke in an eerie, resounding tone. ¡°I have been waiting--¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Before he could finish what he was saying, Keenan¡¯s ck ki returned in force, punching the creature right where its face <i><span style="font-weight:400">should</i><span style="font-weight:400"> have been. It was clear that Keenan was in no mood to talk at the moment, his face shifting once more back to fury. ¡°I said--¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Do not worry.¡± Said the same voice as before, though this time it seemed toe from the walls all around Keenan. ¡°I did not take your friend. The one that I took was¡­ you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Exin. Small words.¡± Keenan said as he clenched his fists again, knowing that he would likely not understand tooplex of an exnation even at the best of times. He was confident that he was intelligent¡­ at least when it came to matters such as jungle survival or battle tactics. His academic talents had been abandoned long ago.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a pause from the voice, as if processing how it should continue. Eventually, it exined in a patient tone. ¡°I have been waiting for someone that holds a very special energy. When you entered, I sensed that energy within you. It is the same one that you tried to use on me just now.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s elemental ki. Most people have it.¡± Keenan refuted. He knew howmon this energy was, as it was the first of the ¡®advanced ss¡¯ options that they teach about in schools. Otherwise, he would have never been able to create it himself to survive in the wild.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It may be ki, but you are certainly not channeling an element.¡± The dungeon retorted. ¡°Your ki has the mark of the void itself. If anything, it should be called Chaos Ki.¡±

 Chapter 759: The Master Of Chaos

    Chapter 759: The Master Of Chaos


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Exin.¡± Keenan pressed, allowing the ck ki to condense around his body. The fact that it had been referred to as ¡®Chaos Ki¡¯ naturally meant something to the young boy. After all, he was the Demigod of Chaos. However, he had never told anyone about that title, even Jace. His mother likely knew, but he didn¡¯t think she would even remember him at this point.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The faceless creature let out a deep breath, slowly bringing itself to its feet. ¡°We dungeon cores decided long ago that we would each study different aspects of the world. Some of us chose to study beasts, others researched magic. Some chose varying elements of nature. As for myself, I had heard of a dark energy that existed opposite to the divine. I felt that such a thing was a topic worthy of choosing as my field of study.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°When I established my territory, I asked Mother¡­ you would know her as Aurivy. I asked Mother to help me establish a specific rule at my entrance. Those whose bodies contained no source of void-rted power would experience an empty, nd room which I maintained to protect the illusion of the mundane.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°However, those whose body contained a source of power from the void, a source of chaos, would be sent here. This was how I would find my partner, as only someone trained in the powers of the void would be able to assist me in my studies.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan furrowed his brow, struggling to understand everything. ¡°So I am here¡­ because you want to study me?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, nothing like that.¡± The figure shook its head quickly. ¡°Nothing so insidious. I wish to grant you my AC, or Artifact Core. As long as you keep it with you in your travels, I will be able to observe the effects of your energy. In exchange, you may do with the core what you wish. Use it to create an ideal home for you in your travels, confuse your enemies, or simply produce convenient items to help you along the way.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan frowned, thinking about what he was being told. It turned out that this dungeon really was something that Jace had found for him. However, what use did he have for a dungeon? ¡°I need somewhere to hunt, my level. Monsters I can eat and live off of. Can you do that?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The avatar of the dungeon considered Keenan¡¯s request, before smiling. ¡°I cannot. However, do not underestimate the knowledge of a dungeon. While the monsters I can create are not suitable for your consumption, I can guide you to another dungeon that meets all of your requirements. I believe the people on the outside know it as the Great Forest Sanctuary?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan tilted his head, having never heard of that ce before. Maybe Jace would know, but Keenan was certainly clueless. ¡°Is it a good ce to hunt?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The mouth of the creature before Keenan drew a straight line, apparently perplexed by Keenan¡¯sck of knowledge. With a sigh, it began exining. ¡°The Great Forest Sanctuary is a hunting ground prepared by one of my brothers. Within it, there are individual zones divided by level, each forming their own ecosystem. The deeper in you go, the higher level the creatures contained there. That is, until you reach the center. At the very center of the sanctuary is arge city designed by the dungeon core itself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The city follows a simple set of rules. First, teleportation magic in and out is forbidden. Simr to my rule that transported you here, this is a rule enforced with Mother¡¯s power. If one wants to enter or exit the city, they must do so on foot, traversing through the hunting zones until they reach the exit point. After that, they may travel as they wish.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Secondly, people are free to hunt the creatures within the sanctuary, so long as they do not target the nests. The creatures within reproduce at a high rate to replenish their poption until they reach a saturation point, at which time they stop. As long as the nests are left intact, this can continue. However, if someone targets the nests, my brother will immediately transport them to a far more dangerous dungeon.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan nodded his head as he listened to these rules, not having a problem with either one so far. However, he did speak up before the faceless being could continue. ¡°Is it okay for someone to live in the hunting zone, instead of the city?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That question appeared to catch the creature off guard, as if it did not know how to react. ¡°I¡­ believe so? As long as you don¡¯t try to destroy the forest, it should not pose a problem.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan felt relieved when he heard that. ¡°And¡­ how many people are in this city?¡± He wanted to avoidrger settlements if at all possible. While he was beginning to open up to Jace, the same could hardly be said for total strangers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡­ as I have exined, in order to enter the city, one must traverse on foot through the dangerous hunting grounds. This makes it a rather unfavorable city to live in, and many merchants can¡¯t make the journey themselves without hired guards. At present, there are less than a thousand people residing in the city, most of them fighters aiming to hone their skills.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan¡¯s expression lit up when he heard that. A city with only a thousand inhabitants could be considered very small. Even if those inhabitants were capable of venturing into the forest, it would be easy for him to figure out how to avoid them. Simply locating a hunting ground away from the normal path in and out of the city would be enough to avoid the majority.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Agreed. I take your core thing, and you lead me to this forest.¡± Keenan nodded his head readily at that deal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The faceless being let out a relieved sigh, as if it were unable to hold up the conversation any longer. It lifted its hand, and an object appeared in its palm. The object was a blue sphere, looking like an incredibly well-polished jewel. Within this jewel, he could see intricate lines of light shing about asionally.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Artifact Core floated up from the being¡¯s hand, moving over to rest in Keenan¡¯s own. ¡°My core is of a newer model. If the size is too cumbersome for you, you can shrink it by applying pressure. This will cause it topress the space in which it upies, and can do so as small as a grain of sand. To expand it, merely hold it in the palm of an open hand, and it will return to its normal size.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course, if it is removed from your person, such as by falling off if you make it too small, it will return to normal size on its own.¡± There were other details as well, such as how the area it could control would shrink in proportion to its own size, or how themand to revert was really given by the dungeon itself when the conditions were met. However, it felt as if these details might confuse the somewhat wild child standing before it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan simply nodded, pressing the core together between his hands and making it shrink down to the size of a marble. At that point, he reached down and dropped it into the bag which he normally carried herbs in. ¡°Is that fine?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The faceless being nodded its head. ¡°Perfectly so. Our senses would not be trapped by such a thin bag, so we can still perform our studies.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan gave another nod, before looking left and right. ¡°Can I leave, then?¡± He asked, still anxious about wanting to meet back up with Jace. Although the faceless being had said that his friend was perfectly fine, Keenan couldn¡¯t help but worry.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once the creature nodded, he spun around and ran out of the cave. Once outside, he saw the same lush forest that he had witnessed on the way in. Moreover, Jace appeared to be sitting on a nearby root, his staff leaning against his shoulder. When Keenan exited, Jace¡¯s head lifted up, eyes still closed. ¡°You¡¯re back?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Are you okay?¡± Keenan countered, looking Jace over to check for any sign of injury. Thankfully, there did not seem to be anything wrong with him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m fine. What about you?¡± Jace pressed curiously. ¡°As soon as we entered, I couldn¡¯t hear you behind me anymore. I knew that you wouldn¡¯t have just run off or anything, so I decided to wait here.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Letting out a long breath, Keenan began to exin what had happened, as well as his conversation with the faceless being. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that the symbol at the mouth of the cave had changed, the open hand now holding an orb simr to what Keenan had been given.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So you¡¯ve be a Dungeon Master now?¡± Jace asked with a wide smile. ¡°That¡¯s great! I guess we didn¡¯te here for a ce to stay, after all?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan shook his head. ¡°Thing said that it would show us the way to ¡®Great Forest Sanctuary¡¯. Have you heard of it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jace thought it over for a moment before nodding his head. ¡°I have. It¡¯s one of the more well-known dungeons of the world. I suppose that you would be able to livefortably if we moved there, but¡­¡± His words trailed off, immediately causing Keenan to worry.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Why ¡®but¡¯? What ¡®but¡¯?¡± He pressed, feeling as if he may have been tricked.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s just¡­ the path to the Sanctuary is quite far. ording to my memory, it should be several months of walking away, if we go in a straight line. Maybe even a year or two.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan¡¯s body tensed up when he heard that, and he reached into his pouch to retrieve the blue marble. It was shrinking further by the moment, the pressure from his fingers forcing its function to activate. ¡°You said you would take us there. Why so long?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I-It¡¯s not like that!¡± The voice from before emerged from the core. ¡°I can open a portal to take you closer to my brother. The journey will take two days, three at most!¡± Although the destruction of the Artifact Core would deal no damage to the main dungeon, losing Keenan¡¯s trust would make it so that he would have to wait an unknown number of years before a second void-wielder appeared.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That fact alone made the dungeon core nervous. While it would always be connected with the others of its kind, it hadn¡¯t had the chance to experience the outside world itself yet. It hadn¡¯t even taken the chance to join Towers¡¯ city as one of the servant race, due to the simple fact that its research was still ongoing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan let out a satisfied nod, cing the tiny bead back into his herb pouch. ¡°He says he can take care of it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jace simply let out a low chuckle. ¡°So I heard. That will definitely save us a good deal of time. Well then, shall we do the same arrangement as before? I stay in the forest with you, and return to restock when my supplies run low?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Before Keenan could agree, the voice emerged from his pouch, seeming somewhat muffled. ¡°I would advise against the blind felyn living in the hunting ground. He does not appear to be strong enough to survive a prolonged fight at the level of my new master. You may be able to avoid those battles during the day, but anti-monster wards won¡¯t work as well within a dungeon. Our natural aura interferes with those simple enchantments.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan¡¯s eyes went wide, his hand trembling slightly as Jace fell into thought. ¡°Well¡­ then I can live in the inner city, and visit you on a regr basis? I could even bring you interesting items from the city itself, if I find anything.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan¡¯s body rxed when he heard that, having been afraid that this would mean that they would have to part ways. If Jace was truly capable of living within the city, then that would be just fine. So long as they were still able to meet and talk. Keenan knew that Jace was his first and only friend that he had made since leaving his home, and was terrified at the idea of losing him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sounds good.¡± Keenan said with a smile as the air tore open next to them, a blue portal appearing to start them on their journey.

 Chapter 760: Digitize

    Chapter 760: Digitize


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a long sigh, my arm dropping to my side as it grasped the bow. Even in the Admin Room where I couldn¡¯t get hurt, my fingers felt sore from repeatedly pulling at the string. I had long since lost track of time, focusing purely on condensing void arrows one after another.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Finally, I had reached the point where I could reliably create one such arrow without the use of my World Sight, and do so swiftly enough to use inbat. While I had yet to master the ability tobine that with an energy arrow, that is still considerable progress.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Furthermore, it really gave me a better idea of just how much energy I was throwing around on a regr basis. Focusing, I sent my bow into storage so that it could be used whenever the situation arose. While I had yet to master the fine creation of energy arrows¡­ I had spent enough time shooting that bow, and had finallypleted alia¡¯s training regimen for void arrows. One step at a time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Shaking my head, I teleported myself back to the living room, noticing that only Aurivy and alia were present. The lycan girl lifted her head to smile at me. ¡°How¡¯d you do?¡± She asked, and I responded with a light shrug.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ve got void down¡­ but the rest will take time. Did I miss anything while I was training?¡± I asked, moving to sit down next to Aurivy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯d hope so. You were in there for a week.¡± Aurivy teased, leaning against me and conjuring arge bucket of popcorn. ¡°Want me to go over the highlights?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but let out a groan when she told me how long I¡¯d been training, nodding my head. With a small grin, she popped a piece of popcorn into her mouth and began exining. ¡°So, Dana¡¯s totally overpowered when ites to the Ten Thousand Threads. That¡¯s the first big thing. Ryone managed to convince Leowynn to ept some of her divinity to put her back in a decent condition, too. She dealt with the random number problem and the whole face carving void beast.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Finally, we got thest of the code for the new game headsets worked out. Marketing already started, and they¡¯re set to hit the shelves in another week.¡± I blinked when Aurivy said that, before it clicked in my head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right, they¡¯re being developed from the Spica side of things. So one week is still almost half a year over there.¡± I gave a small nod of understanding at that. ¡°I¡¯m used to marketing campaignssting¡­ a lot longer than just one week.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy smirked yfully. ¡°Well, there¡¯s no need to build up all that hype when the person delivering the product is one of the Greater Pantheon. Anyways, Ashley asked me to have you head down whenever you got done training. Said she wants you to stress test the system for her. If it can handle copying your power profile, it can handle anyone.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right¡­ just to be clear, there¡¯s no danger of getting stuck or anything like that, right?¡± I had to be sure, given that something like that could potentially mean the end of all creation¡­


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Only if your head¡¯s too big.¡± She snorted in response. ¡°It¡¯s a purely non-invasive soul scan. Copies the information without taking anything away. In a way, it¡¯s even safer than the original visors. At least those, nk was able to trap people in games because it pulled them fully inside.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right¡­¡± I nodded my head, ncing over at her popcorn bowl. ¡°What¡¯s with the popcorn, then? Expecting something to happen.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy simply grinned. ¡°I¡¯m curious what will happen when youe back. Will the copy of your mind persist within the game, or will it go dormant like your host?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡­ is actually a very good question.¡± I muttered, ncing towards the screen. If the copy of my mind did remain within the world, that would allow my copy to train or interact with the world as much as it wanted to, with the memories being synchronized the next time that I descended.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, it was for that very reason that I expected such a loophole wouldn¡¯t exist within the Keeper system. The Keeper¡¯s mind should perceive events ording to Keeper Standard Time, and this was an irond rule of the system. Most likely, its mind will either go dormant during the process, or it will pause whenever I am fast forwarding.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Shaking my head, I decided that it was better to discover the answer for myself as opposed to thinking over the possibilities in my head. ording to what Aurivy had said, there would be no danger to my being even if something malfunctioned. Thus, all I had to do was briefly descend, take the scan, and then ascend and fast forward to get my answer.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Take me where I need to be, then.¡± I told Aurivy, ruffling her hair as I descended. As expected, I found myself surrounded by golden mist the moment I appeared, my body whisked away from my throne in the Sky Citadel. Instead, I appeared within a dimly lit office overlooking a vast ocean.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ah, you¡¯re here.¡± I heard Ashley¡¯s voice, turning to see her wearing a ck suit. From how it tucked over the shoulders, I could tell that it was very likely an open back suit to allow her wings more freedom. She wore a thin pair of sses, though I knew she had no need of them, and smiled at me as I looked her over. ¡°I¡¯ve got to keep up appearances, after all.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I chuckled, shaking my head. ¡°So, Aurivy said that you needed me for something?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Ashley nodded, standing up and allowing her wings to wrap around her shoulders like a cloak. ¡°We¡¯re going to test out the next generation of gaming. If this works, and is able to download your current power profile, it should be capable of handling even the most unusual cases.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a small nod, I stood, gesturing for her to lead the way. For the moment, I was suppressing my Keeper power, not wanting to rm the entirepany with my presence. ¡°Have you tested it on other gods yet?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Naturally.¡± Ashley responded with a smile, leading me out of her office and down a wide corridor in her office building. Several people looked in our direction, but only a few seemed to immediately recognize me. ¡°I have a digitized copy of myself waiting in Virtual for you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...That sounds like it¡¯s not just shorthand for Virtual Reality.¡± I pointed out, to which Ashley nodded.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It both is and isn¡¯t. With the new system, it is entirely possible to maintain a digitized copy of oneself permanently within the virtual world. To prepare for this, mypany has cooperated with nk in order to create a digital world in which everyone¡¯s copies may live when they are not ying games or exploring the inte.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We call that digital world ¡®Virtual¡¯ due to its nature. Residents of Virtual will have ess to any games or programs that they or their real-world counterparts have purchased. Currently, there is a Virtual Spica, and a Virtual Earth, representing the two differentw categories. Of course, travel is freely permitted between these two.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod, thinking of something that I considered rather important as we entered a room at the end of the hall. ¡°What happens to someone¡¯s digital copy when their real-world counterpart dies?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley¡¯s stride faltered a bit when I asked this, as if she had not been expecting the question from me. She had a ratherplicated gaze, before eventually letting out a sigh. ¡°Server space isn¡¯t infinite. When someone¡¯s real-world counterpart dies, they can only pay their server rent with virtual currency. If they can¡¯t pay, then we download their file and put it in deep storage. If someone else pays for them, or contact is needed for urgent matters, their file can be retrieved and uploaded again temporarily.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There¡¯s not an afterlife for digital copies, unfortunately¡­ and the soul still exists with the main body. Thus, even though the copies are fully intelligent, they are only mirrors of our true selves. They don¡¯t even qualify as a true AI in this sense. It¡¯s cruel to have to force someone to pay rent to simply survive, and to have to actively terminate them if they fail to pay, but it¡¯s the unfortunate reality of the situation at hand.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was¡­ certainly not the answer I was expecting. Part of me believed that Ashley would have created a form of digital immortality. And in a way, it was, as long as you could make your payments. But, I had to remember just how many people would need to use this. Not only across my mains, but potentially the inhabitants of the Metong worlds, as well. ¡°How are you even storing everything so far?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley¡¯s smile became a touch wider at that. ¡°It¡¯s a special storage disk that James gave us the design for. He calls it the Miniature Void Drive. It stores information in a simr manner as the void itself, but with far less efficiency. If we were doing this with a pure ¡®void storage¡¯, we might be able to get away with a server the size of a marble. As it stands¡­ the bottom seven floors of this building house the servers for Virtual Spica, with a simr system established on Desbar.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes widened at that. The fact that they had devoted a total of fourteen floors to these two virtual worlds, even taking into consideration the technology involved, showed just how serious Ashley was when it came to this project.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Looking into the room she led me to, I saw arge ck chair. At the top of the chair¡¯s backrest was a ck visor made to fitpletely over the head. Additionally, there was a table nearby with a wristwatch-like device sitting on it. Seeing my gaze on the items, Ashley nodded her head. ¡°I¡¯ve got everything set up for you. Once you arrive in Virtual, my copy will run you through setting up your ount on that end. If that seeds, we¡¯ll just need to run a few quick tests, and everything should be good to go.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nodding, I walked over and sat in the chair, smiling towards Ashley. ¡°Do your worst, Ash.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">A warm smile appeared on her face, and she nodded. Lowering the visor, she ced noise-cancelling headphones over my ears. At this point, I noticed that even my nose was covered by the visor, as if she was aiming to negate all of my senses aside from touch. Thissted for roughly thirty seconds before a blue light scanned through the visor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Afterwards, Ashley pulled the visor off and nodded her head at me. ¡°Alright, Dale. How do you feel?¡± She asked, helping me to sit up and handing me the watch from beside the chair.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡­ don¡¯t feel any different.¡± I shrugged my shoulders, assuming that I should put the watch on my wrist. ¡°I take it that means it worked.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯d say so.¡± Ashley smiled, snapping her fingers. The office around us flickered and vanished, reced by a long road lined with small houses. ¡°Wee to Virtual Spica. I¡¯ll be helping you to set up your ount.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes went wide at the realization that I was the digital copy, as opposed to the real self. However, after a moment, I felt myself adjusting to the idea. ¡°You used a void technique to take care of the identity crisis issues¡­¡± I muttered calmly, to which Ashley nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right, Dale. There are too many horror stories about virtual identities vying for control with their counterparts. We didn¡¯t want something like that, so we used this little precaution. Unlike the other effect, this one was applied even to you as a safety measure. However, when you entered the testing room, you were introduced to an antimemetic effect to immunize yourself against the other effect we used.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I already knew what effect she was talking about. ¡°You mean that there¡¯s nothing stopping this version of me from damaging or altering another copy¡¯s soul?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Ashley nodded in confirmation. ¡°Now, in order toplete your registration, you need to enter a username and password on the watch that I¡¯ve given you. This will lock your profiles together and prevent outside tampering. The you on the outside is doing the same thing, and may have already chosen their ount name. In order to ensure that both sides are fully synchronized, you both have to independently choose the same ount name and password.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Because of this, the normal introduction process is a bit different. We don¡¯t inform the user that they are in Virtual until their ount is set up, with automated instructions for both sidesing from the watch and headset. It is only after the ount is set up that we introduce the digitized copy to the true virtual world, allowing their experiences to diverge from that point.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nodding my head, I moved to enter a username. As long as my true self was made aware of this issue, I knew that he would choose the same. ¡®Username: World Keeper. Password: EarthForceOne.¡¯

 Chapter 761: Synchronized

    Chapter 761: Synchronized


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley pulled the visor off of my head and nodded at me. ¡°Alright, Dale. How do you feel?¡± She asked, helping me to sit up and handing me the watch from beside the chair.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡­ don¡¯t feel any different. I assume that means it worked?¡± I replied, putting on the offered watch. I had purposely not been deploying any of my extrasensory abilities after realizing that the helmet was designed to cut off natural senses. As such, I hadn¡¯t really noticed anything during the entire process, aside from the blue light.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯d say so.¡± Ashley nodded. ¡°Next up, all you have to do is create your username and password. As long as they match up with the information that your virtual copy creates, your ount will be created. This is a basic test to ensure the scan copied your profile correctly. Typically, we wouldn¡¯t even tell you which side was real, and which was virtual until youpleted this step.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head, typing in the first username and password that came to mind. Something personal to me that other residents of this world wouldn¡¯t be able to guess. Once that was done, I had to wait for roughly thirty seconds before the watch shed a green light.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There we go. Your virtual self chose the same information, so your ount is set.¡± Ashley reached over, pointing towards one of the buttons on the watch. ¡°If you press this, your memories will sync with your virtual self. Then¡­ this one will let you bring up an interface to transfer money in and out of your virtual self¡¯s ount. And finally, this button will disy the time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The fact that there was actually a time disy function on the device felt like Ashley was creating a reference to something. Either way, I was relieved to know that it worked. ¡°Is there anything else that I should know?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley seemed to think that over for a moment. ¡°The watch will function as long as you are not within an area shielded from both standard wireless signals and mana transmissions. The you within Virtual can also use their device to request a memory sync, if they need to send any messages.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Given your status, we¡¯ve given you a special ount for your Virtual self, so you won¡¯t have to worry about money.¡± After saying that, there was a ding from Ashley¡¯s wrist. Pulling back her sleeve, she appeared to be wearing a watch simr to my own. ¡°Hold on, something happened.¡± She muttered, as the message ¡®Requesting Synchro¡¯ was disyed on the small screen.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Pressing the button that she had told me would sync my memory with that of my Virtual Self, her eyes closed for a brief moment. There was a slight change in her expression as the memories were transmitted, before she huffed out in annoyance. ¡°Okay, well that¡¯s good to know.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What happened?¡± I asked curiously, tempted to hit the button myself to find out.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As a test, my Virtual self was going to take you to the Virtual Earth side of things. Once we got there, you began moving roughly twenty times faster than normal, as if your time had been elerated. It looks like being the Keeper has forced a special link between your true self and your digital side. Your flow of time is set to whatever your true self is experiencing, and this connection goes deeper than what we can measure right now.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked, surprised by what I was hearing. ¡°What? But¡­ I don¡¯t think anything like that happened between me and Clover. He¡¯s also a part of my soul, isn¡¯t he?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley furrowed her brow, trying to find the answer to that. ¡°I don¡¯t know. If anyone had the answers to that, it would be Terra. However, this pretty much confirms that you won¡¯t be able to leave you Virtual self running around after you ascend again. If your two selves are linked like that, then it must mean that the system is preventing you from being able to cheat like this.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head, having expected that something like that would happen. ¡°Speaking of which¡­ what happens if my Virtual self dies? Not like, ¡®end of the world¡¯ what happens, but just in general? I know that the core of my existence is with me.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well¡­¡± Ashley pondered over that for a moment. ¡°If you die in a game, you will simply be able to respawn as normal. If you die outside of a game, there is a respawn point at your house. It takes virtual currency to use, since we have to back up your data, but yourst moments are subject to review. If it is determined that you were the victim of a virtual crime, and your assant¡¯s identity can be determined, they will earn ¡®Crime Points¡¯.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Crime points cause an increasing bounty for the offender, who can choose to submit themselves for questioning or simply go on the run. If they submit, their own memories rted to their crimes are subject to review. We have already made a deal with aw enforcement team to handle these cases and use the memories of both sides to determine the verdict.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°For now, go ahead and synchronize with your Virtual self. If you have anything you want him to do, the memory of that thought will be transmitted. Because of a special memetic effect, the Virtual self will be more willing to ept that they are the secondary self and listen to the wishes of the primary. And before you ask, your real self was subjected to the anti-meme ¡®vine¡¯ once your ount was registered.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I did my best to keep up with what she was telling me, nodding my head. ¡°What about those people that want to take personal control and game in the traditional sense?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley smiled slightly. ¡°That¡¯s where the visores into y. If you wear that, you can temporarily possess your Virtual self. In order to prevent future issues, we¡¯ve begun notifying gamepanies so that your Virtual self is linked to your standard ount. Meaning that only one of you can be in a game at a time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I could see that this was all created in order to encourage gamers to get out and properly work or train. After all, they could get the enjoyment of full-time gaming even while doing their proper work. However, part of me also knew that this would only cause those more hardcore gamers to spend twice as much time gaming.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Still, I reached to press the button that would synchronize my memories with my virtual self. I saw myself having much the same conversation with another Ashley, the two walking along some small-town culdesac. While transmitting the memories, I thought about having my virtual self y Dana¡¯s ¡®realistic survival¡¯ game in order to train the archery techniques that alia had given me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With the confirmation that the virtual self¡¯s flow of time was synchronized with that of my real self, I wasn¡¯t in a hurry to return to the Admin Room. If anything, I was ready to really rx and socialize in the world, taking the time to let my virtual self train for a while to test this out.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Can you have three of these sent to the Citadel?¡± I asked, before hesitating. ¡°Or¡­ can you give me three that I can take over myself? I¡¯m sure that they would appreciate it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I expected that you would ask about that, and already had it prepared.¡± Ashley smiled, reaching into her shadow to retrieve three bags. ¡°Special models. Like yours, they won¡¯t have the restriction against harming other souls. That way, they can still serve as an enforcement group, should any unusual situations arise.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thanks. You¡¯re the best.¡± I grinned, epting the three bags. ¡°I take it Udona¡¯s already got hers?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, yeah.¡± Ashley rolled her eyes. ¡°She was one of our first beta testers, and hasn¡¯t taken the watch off since. Uses the memory sync as a pick-me-up while she¡¯s working. One of the features you can buy in Virtual is an anonymity filter. Lets you change your appearance and the personal information people can see about you, so even the God-Queen of Deckan can y around as just an average girl.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, I bet she loves that.¡± I chuckled, shaking my head. Taking a deep breath, I activated the teleport spell which would return me to the citadel.


    <span style="font-weight:400">And¡­ almost immediately, I had a face full of Tsubaki, who had rushed before me with a worried look. ¡°Is everything okay, my Keeper?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">ncing at her surface thoughts, I quickly came to a realization. Given that I had disappeared without saying anything, she thought that there was likely some sort of emergency that had appeared and needed me to personally resolve it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Shaking my head again, I lifted up the three bags. ¡°Ashley wanted me to help her with something. And now that I¡¯m back, I¡¯ve brought presents.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Presents?!¡± Lifre¡¯s voice shouted out, a blue blur flying by. Almost before I realized what had happened, one of the bags had been taken. The slime girl was opening the bag, looking at the box inside. ¡°Oh, nice! I¡¯ve been waiting for these toe out! Dana said that we could get them easily once they hit the shelves, but I was worried that they¡¯d sell out too fast.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As if on cue, Dana walked out into the courtyard, raising one hand to block the bright light of the sun from hitting her eyes. ¡°Are you going to be joining us to y, boss?¡± She asked curiously, causing Lifre¡¯s head to snap up to look at me. In truth, even Tsubaki¡¯s ears perked up, curious to hear my answer.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°For a little while.¡± I chuckled. ¡°When I ascend, my digital consciousness will either disappear for a time or go dormant. It¡¯s connected to me more deeply than with normal people.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying that, I began exining the functions of both the headset and the watch, as well as how Ashley had helped me set up my ount. After Tsubaki and Dana both epted their packages, each of the three left to go to their rooms. ording to the instructions, having a quiet, isted environment would help ensure the uracy of the transition.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As for myself, I climbed the stairs of the citadel to sit in the garden for a few moments. Along the way, I was able to see nearly a dozen avatars of Tsubaki, Dana, or Lifre standing idle in the halls. Each of them appeared as if they had been working diligently on their chores before suddenly going stiff.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I guess my digital copy won¡¯t be able to get that much training in for now.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I thought to myself. However, I knew that it was long overdue for me to really spend some rxation time with the people who served me. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Maybe we can all y that game together, and have group training?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was a game that Dana had personally made, so I could see it being a great way to spend our time together. We will just need to ensure that we are all able to meet up on the same world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After waiting for roughly ten minutes, Dana was the first one to join me in the garden. There was no need to ask how she found me, and I simply watched her walk over to lean against the stone railing beside me. The two of us stared down into the shifting sea of clouds below. From the looks of things, the citadel was currently passing over an ocean.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°How long is it until the next invasion? Or meeting, if that¡¯sing first?¡± Dana asked curiously, her eyes never leaving the clouds below. ¡°By your time, I mean. Obviously, it¡¯ll be different for us one you head back and speed things up.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I smiled softly. ¡°About eighty days, give or take. We¡¯ll be getting a delivery this time, not an invasion. A race of rock people together with a special item I requested.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Eighty days¡­¡± Dana thought about that for a bit. ¡°If it¡¯s a peaceful delivery, I can arrange for a reception with Tsuba. Do we know where they¡¯re going to be appearing?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I shook my head, letting out a sigh. ¡°It¡¯s called a delivery, but really it¡¯s just a loophole in the invasion rules. Presumably, they¡¯ll have some way to get our attention. If not, I can have Aurivy find them once they ¡®surrender¡¯ and willingly integrate into our world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Got it. Then, I have a favor I¡¯d like to ask.¡± Dana looked over at me, a smile on her face. ¡°Could you stay down here for a month, maybe? I¡¯ll understand if it would get in the way of Keeper business, but¡­ I think it would be good for Tsuba if you spent some more time down here, instead of going back right away.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is everything alright with Tsubaki?¡± I asked in concern, causing Dana to giggle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, it¡¯s fine. And no, she¡¯s not crushing on you or anything, don¡¯t worry. She just feels more lively when you¡¯re here. In a way, you give her purpose, right? So do I, and so does Lifre. Well, maybe the little slime not so much yet, but we¡¯re all her family to a degree. Take it from someone that spent a long time looking for their family, boss¡­ She¡¯s happier when we¡¯re all here. Having someone gone for years, decades at a time chips away at you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh?¡± I smirked towards Dana, reaching over to poke her in the side. ¡°Am I not family to you, too?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">She turned her head, sticking her tongue out yfully. ¡°You¡¯re my boss, boss. The best boss in the whole world. Family, though? Nah, I think of you as more of that friend who swoops in to save the day. Tsuba¡¯s the only family I have now. Everyone else is long gone, but that¡¯s okay¡­ it¡¯s all okay now.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I shook my head, reaching over and patting the top of her head. ¡°I saw when Tsubaki found you. In fact¡­¡± I closed my eyes, gathering spiritual energy as I went through my memories. Holding my hand out to Dana, I condensed two pictures for her from the gathered energy. One was of Dana with Tsubaki the day they came back from ¡®hell¡¯. Dana¡¯s clothes were in rags, and she was clinging to Tsubaki¡¯s side.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana smiled as she saw that picture, before her eyes went wide at the second one. It was a far older scene. One where Dana was sitting with her father at his workbench, receiving her lessons from him. This was a scene that I had seen once long ago, when I went back and reviewed Dana¡¯s history.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana reached out her hands, shaking as she took the two pictures. ¡°They¡¯re¡­ they¡¯re not going to go away or anything¡­ right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ve gotten better with controltely. But¡­ just to be safe, I¡¯d copy the images to a more permanent storage sometime in the next month.¡± Her eyes widened briefly again at my words, and she nodded. Hugging the pictures against her chest, she turned to make her way inside.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Best boss in the whole world.¡± I heard her mutter to herself as she left.

 Chapter 762: Sightseeing

    Chapter 762: Sightseeing


    <span style="font-weight:400">I dashed from tree to tree, bow in hand. Currently, I was wearing a leather outfit crafted from the beasts that had been in thus far, as well as a sizable ck backpack. Truth be told, this backpack was perhaps the most wondrous creation I had seen to date.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After I slew my first prey, I was given several crafting options, with nanites being deployed in order to convert the creature into usable parts. This was how I was able to make myself the arrows that I fired against creatures every dozen or so meters. So long as I had the mana, I could deploy nanites to construct objects within a certain range.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sadly, the makeshift bow I created wasn¡¯t strong enough to handle energy arrows, or this would all be going far more smoothly. Nheless, my purpose here was to train. This was only the beginning, and I would be able to make more advanced bows as my technology level improved.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At least, that¡¯s what I was expecting. A soft ping drew my attention to the watch on my wrist, where I saw a brief ¡®Iing Synchro¡¯ message. My eyes widened briefly, and I ducked behind a tree to close my eyes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A momentter, a new flood of memories came to me. I gifted the headsets to my closest allies within the mortal world, spoke with Dana, and then¡­ all of us gathered together to decide what we wanted to do. As the memories ended, I gave a small nod, allowing my full power to roll off of me to scare away nearby creatures.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Let¡¯s hope that this works.¡± I muttered, focusing on recalling the spell diagram that Tsubaki had shown me. This was a third tier spell, so I would normally be unable to craft it myself on the spot. However, I had spent some time memorizing this spell diagram in the real world, and only needed to recreate it from my memories.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Crouching down, I ced one hand on the ground and focused my mind. This spell was a beacon to allow the three of them to teleport to me after spawning on other worlds. Apparently, it was amon trick in order to y with your friends in this game, as there was no automatic option to spawn on the same world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As the light of the spell faded, I saw three figures standing before me. Two of them, Tsubaki and Dana, were dressed in the same rags that I had started with, while Lifre had clearly already adjusted her body to create the outfit that she was most familiar with.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hey there, boss!¡± Dana grinned, the mimic girl taking a moment to look around as Tsubaki offered a deep bow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Greetings, my Keeper.¡± She spoke in a reverent tone, though the tails behind her kept swaying left and right. ¡°Thank you for allowing us to join you today.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I could clearly remember back when I first yed Vision Expanse with Tsubaki. That was¡­ so long ago by this point, moreso for her than for me. Now, games have evolved to an entirely new level. ¡°Let¡¯s drop the formalities while we¡¯re here, shall we?¡± I asked with a small smile, Tsubaki blinking up at me. ¡°We¡¯re here to train together and have fun. That means no divine powers, and no social hierarchy between us. We¡¯re all just friends while we¡¯re here.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I understand.¡± Tsubaki nodded, standing fully upright as her tails began to sway more rapidly. ¡°Then, have you established your base yet?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I shook my head at that. ¡°I¡¯ve only been here for about ten minutes or so, and my priority was on training. I¡¯ve not had the chance to scout out any ore deposits.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, leave this to me, then!¡± Dana grinned, sending amand to her backpack. ¡°Finding a suitable construction site is one of the most important parts of this game, so geological surveys are one of the features you can use the nanites for. Sometimes, you¡¯ll find ore on the surface, but all the biggest veins need to be mined out.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she said that, a barely visible pulse shot out from her body, rolling out along the ground. Dana waited patiently for roughly thirty seconds, before a holographic map appeared in front of her. ¡°Let¡¯s see, it looks like the best ore deposit is about ten kilometers northeast. There are traces of both copper and iron there, but we¡¯ll have to perform a more detailed scan once we arrive.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nodding my head, I looked at the outfits of the three, or rather of Dana and Tsubaki. ¡°The two of you should probably get that taken care of, first.¡± Thankfully, I had a good deal of leather saved up from my brief hunt, taking it out of my backpack and passing it to the two of them. ¡°There should be enough for both of you to make yourselves some clothes.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two smiled at that, epting the pile of leather and releasing their nanites to construct them into form-fitting outfits. ¡°What are you going to do about weapons?¡± Naturally, since we were ying this game the ¡®right¡¯ way, we couldn¡¯t just use our divine artifacts.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m perfectly capable of wielding whatever I am given, and can fight unarmed if need be.¡± Tsubaki clenched her fist at that, and I could see a thinyer of ki forming along her skin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana, meanwhile, chuckled. ¡°For me, a staff is best. I can just enchant a big branch to serve as a good starter staff until we get settled down.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, oh, can I have a sword?!¡± Lifre asked, one of her arms extending into a ded appendage. ¡°This would be kind of cheating, right? But if I use a real sword, it¡¯d be okay!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I rolled my eyes at Lifre¡¯s question. ¡°We can¡¯t get you a sword until we set up a forge. We¡¯re essentially in the Stone Age right now, remember. The only kind of ded weapon you would be able to use is a stone axe.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Uhm¡­¡± Lifre pouted when I pointed that out, thinking over her options. She looked at my bow, Tsubaki¡¯s fists, and then at Dana. ¡°We need a tank¡­ I guess that means a wooden shield and a club?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod at that. ¡°Both of you can get to work on making your weapons, then. We¡¯ll set off once you¡¯re done. I¡¯d like to get to the construction site before the next sync in two hours.¡± In reality, we had all decided that we would sync our memories every two hours, aside from when we¡¯re sleeping. This would let us keep regrly updated with our progress, and also allow me to roam the world without missing out on time spent with any of them.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Are you sure that we can¡¯t apany you, my Keeper?¡± Tsubaki asked, the two of us standing just outside the Sky Citadel. The other two had both returned to their normal work, and only Tsubaki hade to see me off.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I shook my head with a smile, reaching out to pet the top of her head. Her tails stood up straight, before beginning to rapidly sway back and forth. ¡°Not this time, Tsubaki. I haven¡¯t taken the time to just walk around my world and take in the sights for too long. I¡¯m not heading out as the Keeper today, just as a nameless passerby. It¡¯ll be easier to do this part on my own. Of course, if you have any rmendations on tourist sites to visit..?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s shoulders shook, freeing herself from the dreaded hand of petting. Her cheeks were lightly flush with embarrassment, but she quickly collected herself. ¡°The dwarven city of Kal-Thul, the halfling¡¯s zing Trail, or the elven capital Gandor are all excellent ces to visit. If you want to go to Deckan, I believe that there is a magic tournament taking ce tomorrow to determine the Magic King.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Magic King?¡± I asked, unfamiliar with the term in this context. ¡°Is there any significance to that title?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki simply shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s merely a celebrity title awarded to the winner of the annual tournament. They receive sponsorships and try out thetest card magic devices, but they do not hold any special authority. The tournament itself was something that Udona started after adjusting to her position as God-Queen.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course it was.¡± I groaned, shaking my head. ¡°I¡¯ll see if I can check out the tournamentter. For now, would you mind opening a portal a few kilometers away from Kal-Thul?¡± I did not know the exact coordinates of the location, so it was easier for me to ask this of Tsubaki, unless I was wanting to disturb Aurivy for taxi service again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As Tsubaki opened the portal, I began suppressing my Keeper attributes. At the same time, I changed my appearance by manipting my body. Once I stepped through the portal, I looked like a blonde halfling. Given that they are natural explorers, I felt that they wouldn¡¯t be out of ce no matter where they went.


    <span style="font-weight:400">On the other side of the portal, I saw a rather empty meadow. There were no visible cities nearby, nor any roads that could be immediately seen. In fact, I started to wonder if Tsubaki sent me to the wrong coordinates.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In the distance, I was able to see several mountains, some of which appeared at first to be active volcanoes due to the plumes of smoke rising from atop them. It was only a few momentster that I realized that those plumes of smoke were emerging from chimneys dug out along the sides of the mountain.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Realizing that this was my destination, I began to run towards those mountains. It was still odd that I was not seeing anything in the way of a road, but I figured that I would receive my exnation soon enough. I was¡­ both right and wrong at the same time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I finally reached the base of the mountain, I began circling to look for the entrance to the city. Given the chimneys, this had to be the right ce, but I could not find a single entrance even after running for over an hour at my top speed. Eventually, I had no choice but to call out to Aurivy. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Okay, where¡¯s the door!?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy giggled lightly at that. <i><span style="font-weight:400">All paths to Kal-Thul are underground. If you want to enter normally, you¡¯ll have to go to the nearest city, and take the passage.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I grumbled when I heard that, shaking my head. ¡°Not happening.¡± As I said that, I deployed my World Sight, scanning the interior of the mountain before me. All I had to do was find a secluded alley or dark corner where I could appear.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, it did not take me long to find one such area, nestled between two buildings. With a thought, I teleported myself into that alleyway, and immediately covered my ears.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The shell of the mountain served to create an excellent soundproofing, which had prevented me from hearing the ¡®song¡¯ of the city. Heavy hammers struck metal, giant cogs turning above and below. The entire city was alight with the fires of countless furnaces.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Wherever I looked, I could see metal catwalks suspended in the air,yers uponyers of walkways and buildings. Large elevators served as the transit between floors, and I had to walk over to the nearest ledge in order to see just how deep it went.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The city extended far beneath the surface, at least five kilometers before a massive rock floor could be seen. Even then, I could faintly make out mining machines working to dig the city ever deeper, and dwarves carrying construction materials to fortify it all. Finally, pipes could be seen climbing the walls of the city, leading higher and higher. These pipes likely carried the smoke out towards those chimneys that I had seen previously.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Standing upright, I looked around to see where exactly I was in the city. Directly behind me, I saw that I had appeared between a weapons workshop and what appeared to be a sauna. Rows of customers lined up at the former, while thetter seemed to be closed for renovations. Still, even if this was only my first impression, I had to admit that seeing this up close was far better than seeing it from the Admin Room would have been.

 Chapter 763: Mystic Gaze

    Chapter 763: Mystic Gaze


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oi,d.¡± A gruff voice called out from behind me. Turning around, I saw a dwarven man ring in my direction. ¡°If yer gonna jump, find somewhere else to do it. We don¡¯t need ta be cleanin¡¯ up no mess.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh?¡± I blinked in confusion, suddenly wondering if that was a thing people did. Sure, if they had an energy body, they¡¯d be able to survive the impact, or mitigate it in some way. ¡°No, nothing like that, I¡¯m just enjoying the view. It¡¯s my first time here.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That so, eh?¡± The dwarf scrutinized me for a moment. ¡°Don¡¯t typically get that kinda look up here. Normally just a couple floors down at the entrances. Anyhow, is fine ta look. If ye need anythin¡¯ specific, we got a guide booth down near where ye came in.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying that, the dwarf turned around, walking back into the weapons shop. Clearly, he had pushed past the crowd of people thinking that I was one of those adrenaline junkies. ncing back over the ledge, I shook my head. I knew I¡¯d be able to survive the jump, even if I didn¡¯t cancel my momentum, but why would I want to do it? I¡¯m not particrly someone that enjoys the feeling of his face pping stone at terminal velocity.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Pushing off from the ledge, I made my way over towards one of the elevators. He had said that the entrances were a couple floors down, so I wanted to see what they had there. At the very least, the ¡®guide booth¡¯ would help me find the best sites and such in the city.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I navigated through the crowd of people walking along the catwalks, making my way towards arge tunnel that I saw carved out in the mountain wall. While there was not regr trafficing and going from that tunnel, this particr floor seemed quite busy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Positioned almost directly in front of the tunnel was a carved, stone tform upon which an inter-city teleport gate had been established. This served as the primary method of entering the city, and the center of the nearby traffic.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I was not currently aiming to leave, I ignored the portal, my head swiveling to look for the guide booth that I had been told about. Not far away, I saw arge stall manned by a single dwarven woman. She looked like she was barely containing her boredom as she watched the crowds passing by.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Figuring that this was what I was looking for, I made my way over towards the booth, waving my hand. ¡°Hello, there.¡± I smiled at the woman working the counter, who gave a nce down at me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Where are ye wanting ta go?¡± She asked with a long sigh, and I could tell that she was just looking forward to the end of her shift. This didn¡¯t seem to be a very promising job, but she was putting up with it, even if barely.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tapping my chin, I gave that some thought. Where <i><span style="font-weight:400">did</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I want to go? I had promised Tsubaki that I would return to the Citadel and eat dinner together with everyone, so food was out of the question. ¡°Where is the main shopping district?¡± I asked curiously, to which the woman blinked, seeming to not understand my words.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Main shopping¡­ kid, I get that yer new here, but ye¡¯ve got ta have heard about us from yer folks, aye? This whole bloody ce is a shopping district.¡± The dwarven woman said in an incredulous tone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I could only widen my eyes at that, before changing my question. ¡°What about for magical essories? Do you know where I can get anything like that?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Aye¡­¡± She let out a long sigh. ¡°Eleven floors down, that¡¯s where ye¡¯ll find the enchantment buildings.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Offering her a nod of thanks, I quickly made my way to the nearest elevator. Each floor of the city seemed to be a hundred meters tall, so this was a descent of over a kilometer beneath the surface. Along the way, I noticed people of varying species walking the paths, including even some Dovah.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once I got to my destination, I disembarked from the elevator and began to look around. As the guide had said, this was the ¡®enchantment¡¯ area. I could see buildings with images of scrolls, mystic eyes, rings, and staves all along the wall. It wasn¡¯t long before my gaze was drawn towards one of the buildings in particr.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This building had the image of the eye with six lines protruding from it. Given what I knew¡­ I wanted to check this building first. After all, I knew of a certain group that ¡®advertised¡¯ their location with the image of an eye like that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I entered the building, there was a soft chime of a bell. I only noticed this because the entire building itself seemed to be enchanted to block out the sounds of the city. A momentter, a pleasant-sounding voice called out to me. ¡°Wee to the Mystic¡¯s Gaze! Is there anything I can help you find today?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Looking towards the counter, I saw a kitsune woman with ck hair smiling at me. I gave a small, unconscious nod as I confirmed that this was a business operated by the ninja n. This woman¡¯s level was quite high, clearly over a thousand in total, and she still had another helper concealed in her shadow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small smile towards the woman. ¡°I¡¯m not sure. What exactly do you sell here? Sorry, I just got into town, so I¡¯m trying to figure everything out.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The woman didn¡¯t seem to mind this, nodding her head. ¡°We have a number of magical essories for you to choose from.¡± She said as she walked out from behind the counter, making her way to guide me to a line of shelves. ¡°On the one hand, we sell detection-type items to help you identify monsters using our extensive database. They can also help you spot monsters that are hiding using a variety of stealth tactics.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°On the other, we also sell items with an obfuscation function to help you hide from monsters. Both are extremely useful in a pinch!¡± She nodded her head heavily, but seemed to catch something from my expression. ¡°However, if you¡¯re not interested in that¡­ perhaps you¡¯re more of a magically inclined individual?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leading me to another shelf, she showed me a different set of items, ranging from rings to earrings, and even sses. ¡°Although they are different models, these items all have the same general function. That is, they disassemble a magical form that you are looking at, analyze itsponents, and disy the spell effect for you in your vision. This is a must-have for anyone seeking to tackle a dungeon, or studying enchantments.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I had to admit, I was actually impressed with these. Dana had created a simr software a long time ago to help her create fourth-tier spells, while this one seemed to work in reverse. ¡°Are there any dungeons in this area?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hmm¡­¡± The woman brought a hand up to cup her chin. ¡°Not any unowned ones. The nearest dungeon¡¯s only a couple dozen kilometers away from the city on the surface, but it¡¯s been taken and converted into a crafting dungeon. Still, there are many that you could get to by going through the transport gates!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod at that. With the gates in ce, the entire world was connected in some way. While I wasn¡¯t familiar with their schedules or exact range, I knew that it was rather easy to get from city to city. It felt simr to taking the public bus in my past life. ¡°So, you specialize in vision-based items, then. Do you have any offensive products?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The woman quickly shook her head. ¡°Of course not, sir. We¡¯re not licensed to sell weapons here. Even if you¡¯re a god, we can¡¯t make an exception.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nced over in surprise at that. ¡°You can tell that I¡¯ve ascended?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The woman covered her mouth as if she had made a mistake, though her surface thoughts said otherwise. Clearly, she was only interested in marketing another of their products. ¡°My apologies, esteemed customer. In order to understand the needs of our clients, I wear one of our other essories, which allows someone to perceive different types of energy. I was able to notice that your body isposed of divinity.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ah¡­¡± I nodded my head, not wanting to press further. I could see that she was starting to get vaguely suspicious about my behavior due to myment about offensive magic items. However, she had nothing tangible to act on. Letting out a small sigh, I looked at the items on the various shelves.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Focusing my gaze, I could use my power as a Keeper to bring up detailed information about an item¡¯s abilities. As such, I knew that there was a hiddenyer of enchantment on these essories. This hiddenyer could serve as a tracker, while the primary effect was to capture visual information and transmit it to another source. That primary effect was rather normal, as they needed to transmit information to and from the magical database. However, when coupled with the hidden power, it made each product capable of keeping tabs on their clients.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a shake of my head, I smiled towards the kitsune woman. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for bothering you. It looks like you¡¯re not selling anything I need. I¡¯ll be sure to visit if that changes, though!¡± I said in my best attempt to sound like an energetic halfling, before turning and leaving.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the woman¡¯s shadow shake just slightly. However, she brought a hand behind her back to stop it. Most likely, she didn¡¯t want to risk sending her helper to try to investigate an unknown deity, given that I might have a domain capable of detecting them.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a deep sigh when we finally arrived at the location Dana had scouted for us. We were all equipped with basic wooden weapons, or unarmed in the case of Tsubaki. Along the way, we had only the rare encounter with local monsters, just enough for each of us to get in an attack or two before they were gone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Can¡¯t we get a higher difficulty level?¡± Lifreined, huffing as she looked at her shield. As the self-proimed ¡®tank¡¯ of our party, she was feeling rather useless when we were faced with such weak monsters.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana, however, simply chuckled and shook her head. ¡°This is still the starter zone, intended for people with levels in the double digits. Stronger monsters will be in an entirely different region, and we normally wouldn¡¯t be able to get there before we unlock some mode of transportation. It¡¯s just too slow to go there on foot.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, shall we get started here, then?¡± Tsubaki asked, her eyes scanning over the area. We had arrived at a small hill, but I couldn¡¯t make out any readily avable mining nodes. ¡°It would appear as if we need to dig out the ore ourselves.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Dana nodded in agreement. ¡°I¡¯ll prioritize getting our first automated miner, but we¡¯ll need the resources to make it. For now¡­ Lifre, you¡¯re the best we have for excavating. Make a tunnel about three meters wide¡­ here.¡± She pointed at the base of the hill. ¡°It needs to be sloped at about a twenty degree angle, and any stone you gather needs to be converted into evenly shaped bricks.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre blinked at that, surprised by the sudden request. ¡°You want to use a mimic slime to dig a hole. I mean, you¡¯re not wrong, but still.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana grinned at that. ¡°That¡¯s right. And while you do that, the rest of us will be clearing out the area up here. We need a t plot ofnd to make our first base, so that means that all these trees have to go. And since none of us are specialized as a druid¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yup, I¡¯m on digging duty!¡± Lifre nodded quickly, unwilling to trade roles once she found out what the rest of us would be doing. She dove at the spot that Dana had indicated, her body bing arge blob on the ground. I could hear the shifting of dirt and rock as the blob began to sink through the surface.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana turned around, facing the numerous trees dotting the nearby area. ¡°Let¡¯s get started, then. We can use ki to cut them down, and then our nanites can process them into usable building materials.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing how excited Dana was to get started, I couldn¡¯t help but let a small smile appear on my face. Clearly, she was in a good mood after our earlier talk in the real world.

 Chapter 764: Status Update

    Chapter 764: Status Update


    <span style="font-weight:400">My journey through the dwarven city was¡­ refreshing. There weren¡¯t any luckily-timed festivals, or any significant event lining up with my appearance. Just¡­ seeing the city within the mountain, which appeared to be a massive machine unto itself, and how all of the different races inhabited it was all a refreshing experience to me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In the process of my exploration, I saw at least three shops run by the ninja n, each one catering to a different audience. While I did not specifically investigate them, it was easy to tell that theirwork extended far and wide. Part of me was tempted to reveal myself to one of them, just to see how they would react, but I managed to quell that urge before I did anything embarrassing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I was getting ready to leave, I heard a soft ping from my watch, requesting a sync from my online avatar. This would be the second regr check-in that we had scheduled, showing that I had been gone for roughly four hours now. With a small nod, I pressed the button on my wrist.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath as a rush of memories welled up inside of me. The instruction manual for the gear I had given to Tsubaki and the others all came with a clear warning that yers should remember to sync their memories every day, if at all possible. This was to prevent the risk of personality deviation, which could negatively impact the yer on their next synchronization.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With this rush of memories, I was able to see that our virtual selves had managed to establish a primitive forge, and were quickly making more powerful items. Dana had practically taken over as the site manager, having far more technical knowledge about the game and the inventions within it. Thanks to her guidance, the mine had been built, and Lifre was put to work extracting minerals.


    <span style="font-weight:400">My own virtual self was acting as a cksmith, using the knowledge Terra had once drilled into me to create basic items. It had been¡­ quite a while since I was able to use that training, but it seemed that I was still capable of doing so.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As the memories ended, I received a pleasant surprise. Messages appeared in front of me, alerting me that I had gained five levels as a cksmith, and five more as an architect for helping to build the smelter and forge. Out of curiosity, I opened my information window, wanting to get a look at my overall growth. What I saw was¡­ rather nice.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align:center" colspan="2">


    <span style="font-weight:400">Name


    </td>


    <td style="text-align:center" colspan="2">


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dale Mitchell


    </td>


    <td style="text-align:center" colspan="2">


    <span style="font-weight:400">Race


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Human(Keeper)


    </td>


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    <tr>


    <td style="text-align:center" colspan="2">


    <span style="font-weight:400">Health


    </td>


    <td style="text-align:center" colspan="2">


    <span style="font-weight:400">134435/134435 (15063474/15063474)


    </td>


    <td style="text-align:center" colspan="2">


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mana


    </td>


    <td style="text-align:center" colspan="2">


    <span style="font-weight:400">210333/210333 (6220247/6220247)


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align:center" colspan="2">


    <span style="font-weight:400">Strength


    </td>


    <td style="text-align:center" colspan="2">


    <span style="font-weight:400">248 (2840)


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    <td style="text-align:center" colspan="2">


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ki


    </td>


    <td style="text-align:center" colspan="2">


    <span style="font-weight:400">143634/143634 (8935385/8935385)


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align:center" colspan="2">


    <span style="font-weight:400">Stamina


    </td>


    <td style="text-align:center" colspan="2">


    <span style="font-weight:400">274 (3031)


    </td>


    <td style="text-align:center" colspan="2">


    <span style="font-weight:400">Intelligence


    </td>


    <td style="text-align:center" colspan="2">


    <span style="font-weight:400">351 (2416)


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align:center" colspan="2">


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dexterity


    </td>


    <td style="text-align:center" colspan="2">


    <span style="font-weight:400">299 (2792)


    </td>


    <td style="text-align:center" colspan="2">


    <span style="font-weight:400">Wisdom


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    <td style="text-align:center" colspan="2">


    <span style="font-weight:400">298 (3731)


    </td>


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    <td style="text-align:center" colspan="2">


    <span style="font-weight:400">Luck


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    <span style="font-weight:400">110 (1522)


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Charm


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    <span style="font-weight:400">138 (1546)


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    <span style="font-weight:400">ss List


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Mage 156 (360)


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Martial Artist 102 (378)


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Monk 175 (348)


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Schr 31 (480)


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Weaponmaster 175 (312)


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    <tr>


    <td colspan="8">


    <span style="font-weight:400">Advanced sses


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Elemental Monk 45 (340)


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    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Elementalist 42 (350)


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    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Martial Spirit 7 (590)


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    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Perfect Self 0 (300)


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    <td>


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    </td>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Saint of Five Lights 149 (203)


    </td>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Summoner 11 (328)


    </td>


    <td style="text-align:center">


    <span style="font-weight:400">World Spirit 12 (890)


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">It could be seen from my levels that the world had grown to a rather tremendous degree. Each of the foremost experts in the various sses had reached a considerable level, some of which simply seemed mind-boggling. A perfect example of this was the World Spirit ss. I knew that the ones who had the highest levels there would be the true world spirits, so it was rather normal for them to have such high levels.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, if we were talking about a ss that anyone could obtain¡­ the Schr ss seemed to have made the most improvements in my eyes. With its level approaching five hundred, I knew that we were quickly approaching a new ¡®tier¡¯ for that ss. Part of me was eager to see what would happen when a base ss hit level five hundred, since that was a goal that seemed almost insurmountable when I first began as a Keeper.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Shaking my head, I knew that it was time for me to return to the citadel and meet up with everyone again. Looking around, I found an inconspicuous area to cast a short-distance teleport. The long-range teleport to go straight to the citadel would likely cause a bit of a stir, and I didn¡¯t want to use it with the possibility that I might still be under surveince. So, instead, I simply teleported outside of the mountain, near where Tsubaki had originally sent me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I arrived, I could hear the sounds of massive shockwaves and furious roars. Turning, I saw a sight I had not expected in the slightest from the peaceful atmosphere within the city. A massive monster, towering at least ten kilometers in size, was smacking its fists against a barrier that rose around the mountain range.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This creature appeared vaguely humanoid, but had a rough, rocky skin. Its eyes were like empty pools of darkness, and its fists crashed down with thunderous booms against a hexagonal barrier. However, this mountain range was not simply taking the beating. No, two of the mountain peaks had opened, revealing enormous weapons that resembled cannons.


    <span style="font-weight:400">These cannons aimed towards the mountain giant, shimmering with a blue light. Every few seconds, one of them would fire while the other recharged, causing craters to form in the giant¡¯s body. And with each st, it let out a pained roar, its efforts redoubling.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Judging by how much health each shot from the cannons seemed to take from the giant, it could be seen that this battle had been going on for at least ten or twenty minutes before I came to the surface. Only once its health had reached the halfway point did the giant stagger back, reluctantly fleeing the scene under the direct fire of the two cannons.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Is this a normal scene?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I couldn¡¯t help but wonder, seeing how the shockwaves of the battle had been entirely isted from the city within the mountain. There was no sense of danger, no hurried movements from the general public.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Oh, yeah!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Aurivy¡¯s voice rang in my mind, clearly answering my thoughts. <i><span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s the Mountain King of Kal-Thul! Born from one of this region¡¯s tallest mountains, it considers other mountains to be its kin. When it realized that these mountains were being hollowed out for a city, it began attacking.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">At first, they had to mobilize an army of adventurers to fight back the Mountain King, but over time they began to build proper city defenses capable of handling it. Now, they¡¯re in a tug-of-war with the giant. Every time it attacks, it gets pushed back by their cannons, and then it runs away for a time. But each time it attacks, it¡¯s always stronger than thest due to consuming arge amount of precious metals and ambient energies.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes widened when I heard that, watching the massive figure fleeing into the distance. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Is the city able to keep up if it keeps getting stronger like that?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Part of me was tempted to eliminate the giant, but it seemed as if they had this handled for the moment.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Yeah! If anything, the attacks of the Mountain King serve as a way to field-test weapon modifications. One of the cannons will always be an experimental, upgraded model while the other is an already tested model that has survived a previous attack.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Aurivy seemed rather excited to exin all of this, and I had to say that it was a shock to see.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Perhaps it was because of my vantage point as a halfling, but the figure of the giant seemed incredibly imposing. If I were to fight it, I knew that I would be able to win, but the sheer size of the creature carried a certain deterrence factor. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯m surprised that they haven¡¯t just killed it yet.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy giggled lightly when she heard that. <i><span style="font-weight:400">They¡¯ve thought about it, honestly. Its value as a weapons test subject is always being weighed against the danger it may one day pose and the minerals it has surely stored in its body. If not for the existence of the Boundless Caravan able to supply nearly limitless materials from the void, that scale may have tipped towards its destruction long ago.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod when I heard that, shaking my head and casting the spell which would teleport me to the citadel. <i><span style="font-weight:400">How often does it attack?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">It differs. For thest twenty years or so, it typically attacks between every two or six months. It depends on how long it takes for it to get stronger than thest attempt. Usually, the longer it takes, the more powerful the growth. Thanks to that, the council in Kal-Thul set up a system. If the Mountain King ever goes more than six months without attacking, they would send out a group of high-level adventurers in order to weaken it.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I nodded my head again, I saw Tsubaki standing in front of me within the courtyard of the citadel. From the rustling of her clothes, it was clear that she had just rushed here to meet me, as opposed to having been waiting here this entire time. My guess was that my virtual self told hers that I was on my way back, so she rushed here to wait for me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°My Keeper.¡± She said with a low bow, clearly happy to see my safe return. Chuckling, I returned to my previous appearance. Within the game, I had instructed her to act more casually, so it was obvious that she was taking the chance to enjoy the formalities that she was morefortable with now.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m back, Tsubaki. You were right, Kal-Thul was quite the sight to see. I¡¯ll have to be sure to visit that magic tournamentter.¡± Tsubaki¡¯s tails waved with joy at the praise, though she did her best to keep the expression off her face.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thank you, my Keeper. If there is anything that I may do to assist you, please do not hesitate to ask.¡± She said with her head still lowered.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unable to resist, I reached a hand out to stroke the top of her head, causing her tails to stand straight in surprise. ¡°I will, Tsubaki. For now, how are you liking the new VR setup? I¡¯d like to get your feedback for Ashley.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s shoulders shook at me stroking her hair, but she still forced herself to answer. ¡°It is¡­ quite pleasant. However, it will take some getting used to. It feels like watching a show, but being given the experiences of one of the main characters. It¡¯s almost as if, as long as I know that there will be another installment, the wait will be worth it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a nod to that, having felt the same thing when watching TV shows many times in my past life. It was hard to equate such a feeling to my own personal experiences, but it wasn¡¯t an improper description. The only difference to me would be the fact that I am gaining levels whenever we perform these synchronizations. Most likely, Tsubaki is far too high of a level to receive any benefit from the low level area that we were staying.


    <span style="font-weight:400">No matter, we had all month to upgrade ourselves. Under Dana¡¯s lead, I was sure that we would find suitably challenging opponents by the time I was nning to head back.

 Chapter 765: Let The Games Begin!

    Chapter 765: Let The Games Begin!


    <span style="font-weight:400">The sky darkened over Ashtanu, when the sun would normally be high in the sky. Those who looked up were able to see the familiar sight of a floating ind, some being able to make out a grand structure built atop it. This was one of the most recognizable structures in any world, and the people immediately knew that the Sky Citadel had appeared.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Within arge stadium in the entertainment district of the city, a beautiful kitsune with bright red hair spoke on the stage. ¡°This is yourst chance to register, everyone! Whoever wants to take part, please activate your terminals, because it is time for this year¡¯s King of Mages tournament!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°However¡­¡± A bead of sweat dripped down the side of her face as she announced the news that hade to her only hours before. Even with the time to prepare, she still found herself nervous. ¡°This year¡¯s event will be taking ce beneath the watchful eye of the Keeper himself!¡± There was a deafening silence that fell over the crowd when she said this, as if unsure how to immediately process her words.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Those within the stadium had seen the Sky Citadel appearing over the city. However, it was normal for the Keeper¡¯s home to travel. For it to be announced that the event would be personally watched by him had another meaning altogether. ¡°Furthermore, I have been told to let everyone know that there will be a very special prize this year! As for what that prize is¡­? I don¡¯t know!¡± She said with augh, earning a few groans. ¡°However¡­ it is a reward thates from the Keeper himself!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As soon as she finished saying this, there was an uproar from the crowd. The Keeper had never publicly announced that he was witnessing an event, nor had he ever offered to reward the victor personally. Everyone immediately knew that this tournament would not be like any other.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Those who felt that they even had a vague chance at victory immediately activated theirmunications terminals to register for the event. There was no shame in losing this year¡¯s tournament, but the ultimate victor would be making history.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The woman on stage could see the number of registrations on her own terminal rising at a shocking pace. Typically, a single tournament of this type would have no more than a hundred participants, but this one had instantly surpassed a thousand. Thankfully, Udona had set up procedures long ago for when the number of participants exceeded the threshold that they could handle on their own.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Wow, look at them go!¡± She let out augh, pumping her fist into the air. ¡°This is ourrgest turnout ever! And since it¡¯s so big¡­ the Goddess of Entertainment has bestowed me with a special privilege! Activating the Virtual Stage!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Golden power gathered within the announcer¡¯s fist, pulsing outwards to wrap around the entire stadium. This was a one-time use power that Udona prepared in the eventuality of any of her tournaments exceeding five hundred participants. Those who had chosen to register found their eyes closing as a ck bubble appeared around their heads. Instead, they appeared standing on a massive stone tform within a virtual environment, one being disyed on the screen behind the announcer.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Don¡¯t worry, everyone! This is the power of our very own God-Queen! Since we have so many yers this time, this year¡¯s tournament will be conducted within a virtual world, all battles taking ce simultaneously! For those of you watching, you can use your terminals to switch between different channels and watch your favorite fights!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Finally, because this poweres from the God-Queen herself, everyone¡¯s cards and personal power will be fully refreshed between matches!¡± As the announcer finished saying that, her shoulders sagged slightly. Those paying attention were able to tell that it was not easy for her to activate the power granted by Udona. After all, she was no deity herself, only a high level Bard and a decent Priest.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Still, she pushed through the fatigue, feeling the warmth of the Goddess helping to restore her. ¡°And with that¡­ let the games begin!¡± At her deration, the participants were immediately being split into their randomized brackets. Common citizens and celebrities alike were being paired together, and matches between popr yers were unlikely to happen for the first few rounds.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I watched the event unfolding from within the Sky Citadel, Tsubaki having used her own crystal terminal to project the scene onto the wall. I had originally been nning to watch the tournament anonymously, much as I had toured through the dwarven city.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, after thinking about it a bit more, I decided to make my appearance more public. In doing so, I could transform this from a regr annual event to something that would truly make people go wild. Thus, I had contacted Udona and told her my n, along with the fact that I would be giving the winner a special reward. I purposely kept the reward vague, nning to tailor it to the needs of the winner.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As the tournament itself began, there was a brief exnation of the rules. First of all, yers were only permitted to use Card Magic or support items that they owned whichplimented Card Magic. The use of ki or other energies was only permitted if someone used a spell that enhanced those energies in some way.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Normally, the participants would be wearing a special ring that generated a field over their body. The match would end when this field was broken, or the participant ran out of mana. With this virtual tournament, however, there were no such rings. Instead, the participants were expected to fight to the death, or until one side surrendered willingly. The use of apulsion spell to make the opponent surrender would not be counted as a victory.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lastly, the tournament would be conducted through a matchmaking system instead of a normal bracket. Given the number of participants, there were eleven rounds in total. Once a yer finished one match, they could queue up for their next match right away. After a yer had won five matches, they would be given time to rest until there were a total of sixty-four people waiting to advance. At this point, any yers remaining would be eligible for a reward.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After that rest, yers would enter the semifinals, and have toplete five more matches. After these five rounds werepleted, there would only be two participants, who would then fight for the final victory.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This tournament system encouraged people to try to finish their matches quickly, due to the fact that dying in the first bracket could cause them to be expelled before they had all of their matches. Additionally, those who were done with their matches could choose to watch other fighters, letting them observe thepetition.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once the rules had been fully exined, chaos broke out on the virtual stage. The vast majority of thebatants had never experienced a life or death fight before, and it was obvious in the way that they handled themselves. Some acted pompous, while others trembled as they grabbed their cards.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thanks to this, it was easy to identify the true professionals, those who calmly held their cards or wielded a magic gun. While I was flipping through the channels to find an appropriate target to watch, I found one such man. He was a kitsune male with ck hair, wearing a dark purple robe. His cards hovered in an orbit around his body, and he lightly traced his finger along one before pointing at his enemy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The enemy, a well-built ursa who had pulled out a full deck of cards, let out a gasp as ck jaws emerged from the stage beneath him, snapping his body in half as they closed shut. ¡°Who¡¯s this guy?¡± I asked with interest, my eyes focusing on the victor of this fight.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m not familiar with him.¡± Tsubaki shook her head, which meant that he had likely not made any significant impact in the world. Dana simrly expressed that she was unfamiliar with him, so I thought that he was simply a dark horse. Was that offensive to centaurs?


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I was debating the political uracy of that statement, Lifre suddenly jumped up with a gasp. ¡°Helium Kromwell! That¡¯s the ck Mage!¡± She called out like a fan seeing their idol.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre was thest person I expected to know who he was, and so I raised an eyebrow. ¡°Exin?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh? Oh! He¡¯s a major adventurer of Deckan, and has cleared out some of their more dangerous areas as one of the ten Chromatic Mages.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing Lifre so excited, I couldn¡¯t help but let out a sigh. Helium was already waiting for his next match, so there was no harm in asking. ¡°What are the Chromatic Mages?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre blinked at that, trying to figure out how to exin it. Thankfully, Dana stepped up. ¡°They¡¯re a group of ten mages in Deckan who have their decks themed around a specific color. They represent ck, white, yellow, blue, red, orange, gold, green, purple, and silver. I¡¯ve never seen them myself, but I heard that they¡¯re a pretty powerful group in Deckan, despite having mortal bodies. Well¡­ aside from the Gold Mage. I hear he ascended to godhood.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I was surprised to find such an individual, and turned my eyes to focus on him again. However, what I saw next shook me to the core. The next match had already begun, but it was over just as quickly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The ck Mage was lifted over the stage, a spike of blood stretching out of his mouth. Simr spikes had pierced their way out all across his body, instantly killing him as soon as his opponent took action. Just as the ck Mage had immediately overwhelmed his previous foe, he was simrly overwhelmed. At this point, it became clear to me why the rules were set up this way.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Strongerbatants would naturally finish their fights sooner, allowing them to battle one another without waiting for the weaker fighters to finish. If there was truly a powerful mage within thest minute applicants, they would have to disy performance equal to the professionals in order to make it in time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡­ don¡¯t suppose that¡¯s the Red Mage, is it?¡± I asked, ncing towards Lifre, who shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No¡­ that¡¯s the Impaler.¡± Lifre gulped, looking at the woman with blood-red hair. She was clearly not a kitsune, but appeared closer to a human. ¡°A Martial Spirit that acquired mana and moved to Deckan to be active. She¡¯s never participated in a tournament before, but she¡¯s still well known. Whenever she passes through a dangerous area, the monsters are all left speared on trees made of their own blood.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki furrowed her brow at that, clearly having heard of the name. ¡°The Empress of Bloodhaven asked me to keep an eye out for her in the past. She¡¯s not a criminal, but she was once a student of the Empress. Why is she participating in a tournament like this?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I felt like I had an idea as to the answer for that, if she really was connected to Scarlet. <i><span style="font-weight:400">She probably hopes I¡¯ll help her be a deity like Scarlet.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I was sure that there were a lot of participants hoping to get a shortcut to divinity by participating today. And¡­ while it was not impossible, I was not sure if that would be the prize I gave.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Still, I decided to keep an eye on this Impaler while flipping through different matches. Most of the more powerful challengers had alreadypleted at least one match, so things were starting to get interesting. All that was left was to watch how things yed out. I was sure that theter matches would be more intense, once the truly powerful participants began matching up with people in their own skill level.

 Chapter 766: The King Of Games

    Chapter 766: The King Of Games


    <span style="font-weight:400">The first round of five matches only took a little over half an hour toplete. Near the end, there were more and more unknown faces that had appeared, as quite a few professionals had already been eliminated in earlier rounds. However, most of these civilians were swiftly eliminated, only a few able to put up a proper fight.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In the end, the final list of sixty-four people who would progress to the semifinals was released. There was a ten minute rest period for thebatants to rx and prepare themselves for the next round. During this time, I had the girls exin the identities of the current participants as best as they could.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Impaler had been eliminated in the final of her five matches by another of the Chromatic Mages, this one the Silver Mage. The Silver Mage¡¯s magic seemed to revolve around both spiritual attacks and manipting metal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Among all sixty-four of the semifinalists, there were two ¡®dark horse¡¯ characters. These were civilians whose identities that none of us were aware of. One was a halfling male with ck hair and red eyes, wielding a deck that contained arge number of restraining spells. The other was an Ursa woman who reminded me a lot of Keliope. Her skin was dark, and she wore an almost manic smile on her face in battle. Her deck focused on enhancing her powerful body, which allowed her to fight in meleebat to her fullest potential.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There were those who said that she was undermining the spirit of the tournament, using brute force in a battle of magic. However, she was abiding by the rules as they were set. Any mage who wanted to be sessful in their adventurers would inevitably need to fight enemies like her that specialized in close-quarters engagement.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once the brief rest period was over, the fights began anew. From now on, it was no longer a race to the finish, as only two people would be able to secure all five victories now.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Cass Neil cracked her knuckles as she entered her next match, able to practically see the victory before her. Just a few more opponents, and she woulde face to face with the Keeper. So far, none of her opponents had shown her anything that she found too exciting. They had impressive magic, sure, but their own strength wascking by far.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Physical Enhancement - All.¡± She said as she saw her opponent, a middle-aged kitsune woman. Cass watched as dozens of monsters were summoned in unison, some towering over the stage. Thergest was a two-headed dragon that had once gued the southern continent. ¡°Ki Enhancement - Strength. Magic Shield - Maximum.¡± Cass grinned, feeling her body bing stronger by the moment.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her opponent did not utter a word, but her horde of monsters swept in for the attack. The fastest were a pair of leopards with lightning arcing off their body. They were on Cass before she could advance herself. Her body twisted to avoid their ws, feeting up off the ground to flip over them. As they passed beneath her, her hands reached out, gripping their necks and squeezing hard enough that she felt the bones shatter. ¡°Ki Property - Absorb!¡± She shouted with augh, the lightning from the monsters flowing into her skin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As soon as her feet hit the ground again, her figure flickered forward. Despite the overwhelming speed increase that came with absorbing the power of lightning, she seemed in full control of herself. The next set of creatures to reach her were a small pack of wolves, their bodies made entirely of stone. Cass could tell that they were some form of golem, so she did not even try to aim for their weak points.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Circting her ki, Cass created a giant hand that superimposed itself over her own. She formed her hand into a fist, andunched out a series of rapid punches, shattering the stone wolves as she continued her charge.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At this point, she could see the light gathering above her, and knew that the dragon¡¯s breath was imminent. However, this only made her more excited. She could easily reach the summoner long before her own defeat, but she jumped into the air instead. She wanted to crush everything the woman had summoned as a show of power.


    <span style="font-weight:400">What she wanted from this tournament was no grand prize, no lofty riches or a mark in history. Had it not been for the final announcement before the tournament, she would not bother participating. What she wanted was an opportunity. She wanted a chance to have the Keeper train her personally.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was well known that all of the Keeper¡¯s servants were powerhouses that had been able to disy godlike strength long before mortals had begun ascending to godhood. In the eyes of many, this was due to the Keeper imparting them with some special teachings that unlocked their full potential.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was this teaching that Cass wanted as she dodged the beam of light from the left dragon head, noting how the dragon originally had an ice element. If she could prove herself in thispetition, she believed that she could ask for the Keeper to guide her in her path to be stronger.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Cass spun her body, creating a foothold beneath her with ki as her legshed out at the dragon¡¯s head, shattering it in a visceral burst. The second head cried out in pain, reaching over to devour her body in its entirety. ¡°Whoops, big guy! Sorry, but I¡¯m no snack!¡± Sheughed, channeling the lightning that she had absorbed from the leopards previously.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her hand sliced through the air, forming a de of crackling energy that spit the top half of the dragon¡¯s head. Looking down at the ground, there were only two summons left, a pair of angelic figures standing guard near their summoner. Finding the prospect of fighting them rather boring, she kicked off the air, shooting downwards to aim herself at the summoner.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Roughly halfway down, Cass suddenly felt pain ripping through her entire body, crying out as both of her arms were cut from their shoulders. She flipped in the air, stopping herself with another ki foothold. Looking back, she saw her arms suspended in the air above her, as if hanging from something.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Blood dripped down from the arms,nding on what looked like an invisible thread. However, the blood was incapable of sticking for long, and seemed to be absorbed into nothingness. Cass¡¯s eyes went wide as she realized what she was facing, looking down at the summoner in shock.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her eyes darted all around her, looking for the smallest anomaly, the tiniest flicker of light. It was no coincidence that her arms had been cut cleanly during her charge. If she had to guess, this monster had been spinning its web while she was fighting the other summoned creatures. Now, she had entered the spider¡¯s web, and had to try to figure out which direction the monster would attack from.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Soon, she realized that the threads seemedpletely invisible when they were not physically interacted with. Gritting her teeth, she exerted her ki outwards in all directions, kicking up a storm in her surroundings and pushing her senses to the limits.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In doing so, she was able to see it. A massive spider twenty meters long and standing directly in front of her, its mouth already descending towards her¡­


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a shudder as I watched the end of the match with Cass. That was¡­ truly not a good way to go. While she was a powerfulbatant, she seemed too focused on the thrill of fighting and disying her strength, which her opponent used against her byying down her own trap.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That said, I did not think that the Ursa woman had much chance of winning the final battle either way. Her fighting style was too straightforward tost in a battle against exceptional casters.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While I was thinking that, the next round had already begun, and so I turned my attention towards the disy once again. As I did so, I felt something stirring within my shadow, a smile tugging at my lips.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And this is it, everyone! The moment you¡¯ve all been waiting for! The final battle of the King of Mages tournament shall nowmence!¡± The announcer¡¯s voice echoed in the arena, the twobatants staring at one another.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Defending his position from the previous tournament, we have Luciel Lux! The Mage of Light whose radiance shines over all!¡± A spotlight appeared over a blonde kitsune, who stood tall with a proud expression, wearing a silver robe and holding a pair of magic pistols.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And our challenger, appearing in these tournaments for the first time! He may be small, but don¡¯t let that fool you! This guy¡¯s proven his worth against allers! Markus Tralen!¡± Another spotlight appeared over the ck-haired halfling, his red eyes staring forward. Instead of a magic pistol, he simply held a standard card case in one hand. This was typically seen as the mark of a novice, but he had already defeated several veteran adventurers and former champions.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Will Luciel¡¯s light secure him the win, or will Markus¡¯s chains drag down the sun?! Let the final match¡­ begin!¡± She shouted, and the two acted immediately. Neither appeared arrogant once the battle started, both taking this seriously. After all, this was a battle of life and death, even if it was just within a virtual environment. The pain was entirely real.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Luciel¡¯s pistols extended forward, and two beams of light shot out towards Markus, who simply remained in ce. His hand gripped his card case as he focused on the card he wanted to activate. ¡°Restrict Projectile.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two beams twisted as they arrived in front of Markus, turning at unnatural angles tounch into the sky. Luciel¡¯s brow furrowed as he realized that this was a spell which distorted the angles within space. With this type of spell in ce, typical projectiles truly would be restrained. ¡°Let¡¯s see how long you can keep this up.¡± He smiled, flicking his thumbs over the sliders for his pistols.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With another pull of the trigger, two more beams shot out. This time, the two beams curved around Markus, clearly hitting the different folds in space. However, they seemed to navigate through them, showing that they were homing projectiles.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In the end, Markus was not able to avoid getting hit, letting out a hiss of pain as the beams scorched his back, forcing him to slump forward. The announcer¡¯s voice rang out. ¡°The first strike goes to Luciel! But will we see anothereback from our little challenger?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Markus stood fully upright again, focusing on his cards again. ¡°Restrict Distance. Restrict Light. Restrict Space. Restrict Sound.¡± He called out, four cards activating in unison. The first made the two appear as if they were standing directly in front of each other. The second caused the light in the stage to dim, a dome of darkness appearing. The third card¡¯s effects were hard to discern through the twisted space, but silence fell after the fourth.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Within the sphere of darkness, Luciel closed his eyes. Light had been sealed, eliminating a good portion of his arsenal. While he was unsure how strong this sealing effect was, he was certain that it would weaken any spell he cast with this element.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He took a deep breath, opening his eyes and flicking the sliders again. He could still see the glowing red eyes before him, but he could not discern just how far away their owner was. <i><span style="font-weight:400">In the absence of light, there is darkness.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He thought to himself, pulling the triggers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was his penultimate spell, which he had created not for a tournament, but in case a true monster appeared before him. He called this spell Dark Erasure, as it was a swathe of darkness that consumed all in its path. He was only able to use this spell card due to the current environment.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately, he had no idea if it had worked or not. There was no sense of his mana striking anything with his attack. For all he knew, his opponent was activating more and more restrictions as time passed. In fact, he became certain of it when his body felt heavy. Thick iron chains appeared to wrap around his body, slowing his movement.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Part of him wondered just how the halfling was able to handle this. He had seen in the previous matches that the restrictions put in ce were not just on one party. Anything that the halfling had casted affected both sides equally. Thus, his opponent was also blind, deaf, and shackled. However, he had still managed toe this far. Just what was the secret behind that?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Luciel felt the floor tremble, the vibrations of sound carried through the surface instead of the air. Clearly, the other party was making his move. Thest thing Luciel saw before the match ended was two red eyes appearing in front of him. The halfling¡¯s face was rxed, as if used to the restrictions. Half of his face was marred by the shadows from Dark Erasure, but his lips still moved, Luciel able to read them to know what he was saying. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Restrict Soul.</i>

 Chapter 767: We Chosen Few

    Chapter 767: We Chosen Few


    <span style="font-weight:400">I felt chills as I watched the battle unfolding, understanding the type of life that Markus must have led in order to develop a fighting style like that. However, at the same time, I questioned why he would have done such a thing. Was he aiming to perfect himself by adapting to various restraints? Was this a fighting style created purely by him, or something that was passed down to him?


    <span style="font-weight:400">It could be seen that all of his spells had an indiscriminate function. Because of that, he¡¯d never be able to fight together with other people, or else he would harm his allies as much as his enemies. Nevertheless, he had emerged victorious in this tournament, so it was time for me to keep my promise.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And¡­ that¡¯s it! Our reigning champion has been defeated! Markus Tralen is the new King of Mages!¡± The announcer called out, the divine power of Udona finally receding now that the tournament was over. She let out a low breath of relief, standing up just a little straighter. ¡°Will our new champion pleasee down to the stage?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">From within the crowd, the ck-haired halfling rose from his seat, walking down the path. His eyes seemed almost unnaturally calm, staring forward until he had arrived next to the kitsune announcer. Just as she was about to speak, a wave of pressure pressed down on the stadium, a third figure appearing on the stage.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although he appeared rather ordinary in appearance, the presence he exuded made none question his identity. Particrly the announcer herself, who was finding it hard to breathe so close to the source of this intangible pressure. In fact, only Markus seemed entirely unaffected as the man walked forward.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When the Keeper saw the state of the announcer, he gave a small smile, the presence around him vanishing. She let out a deep gasp, one hand going over her chest. Her back was covered in a cold sweat, and it took all of her concentration not topletely abandon her position. Although she had been in the presence of gods before, they typically concealed their own auras, or their powers weren¡¯t enough to have such a drastic effect.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°E-Everyone, please offer a round of apuse for today¡¯s special sponsor, the Keeper!¡± She spoke up after she had recovered, standing up as straight as she could. ¡°I suppose this means that you are ready to hand out your special prize, then?¡± She turned, looking directly at the Keeper himself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper nodded, his eyes turning to look at Markus. ¡°I am. But first¡­ is there anything special that you would wish for?¡± This was a question that many people had been anticipating. The chance to make a personal request of the Keeper himself. With this, a man could be a king or a god, or fulfill many long-standing dreams.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Markus turned to face the Keeper, before dropping to one knee with his head lowered. ¡°Honored Keeper. There is one thing that I would request, if you will hear of it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Go on?¡± The Keeper nodded his head, a faint smile on his face as he listened to Markus¡¯s request. However, that smile soon froze when he heard what he had to say.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I would like you to remove one of my titles, which has be a curse to me.¡± Markus¡¯s voice waspletely emotionless as he spoke, but there was a firm will in his eyes. ¡°My soul has been shackled by the world¡¯s system, and I wish it to be free.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper seemed to think that over for a moment, before nodding his head. With the wave of a hand, he produced a sheet of paper, and began reading over it. ¡°The title you¡¯re talking about is called ¡®Shackled Self¡¯, correct?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">For the first time, Markus¡¯s shoulders shook, a small emotional response springing up from him. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ correct, sir.¡± He nodded his head. ¡°Is it possible for me to use this as my reward?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This and your reward are two different matters.¡± The Keeper shook his head, conjuring a pen. ¡°Let me just take care of this, first.¡± As he said that, he brought the pen down to the paper, and a wave of holy power spread out. Markus¡¯s eyes were drawn to a window that had appeared in front of himself, eyes transfixed.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">A divine power has altered one of your titles.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Your title, Shackled Self, has been changed with the following condition: This title may be deactivated ording to the will of the user.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The title Markus wanted to rid himself of was not entirely without its benefits. Due to it, he could rapidly adapt to any restraints ced on his person, whether physical or otherwise. If his sight was blocked, his hearing would grow stronger topensate. If sound was blocked, he would be able to ¡®feel¡¯ the tremors along the ground.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, there was a downside that he had been searching for a way to get rid of. It was this downside that made him attend these magic tournaments, looking for inspiration to craft a spell that could release him from this ¡®curse¡¯. His emotions, his very soul was shackled by this title. He could only feel the smallest tremor of emotion from even great shocks. This was a state that he knew that he had to get rid of.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once he saw the message appearing, he focused his mind to immediately deactivate the title. He could faintly hear the sounds of chains falling to the ground, his emotions rising to the surface. His cold, red eyes turned an almost peaceful blue before growing wet with unshed tears of gratitude.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Soon, the holy light faded from the stage, the Keeper smiling as he saw the results of his work. ¡°Now¡­ for your reward.¡± The Keeper said, lifting his hand. From his shadow, an old tome arose. This book seemed to have golden embellishments, but it had no title that could be seen.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper handed this book to Markus, who looked nkly at it, wondering why this was the reward that so many people had fought over. In his mind, the chance to have a personal wish granted was far more valuable than anything that could be recorded in a book. However, he knew that this was likely no simple book, as well. This thought was confirmed when the Keeper¡¯s voice entered his mind


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">This book represents the divine domain of water. It will be up to you to determine how you wish to use it.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The Keeper nodded his head, using another wisp of divine power to form a string between Markus and his reward.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Divine Tome of Water has been bound to you! You may summon or unsummon this item at will, as it has now been registered as your exclusive possession.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Let¡¯s not risk someone trying to steal that from you, shall we?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The Keeper asked mentally before withdrawing his power. Markus stared down at the book in his hands, unsure what to think. Opening the cover, he saw strange symbols, which he vaguely recognized as ¡®divine script¡¯. Though the script was normally unreadable, he was somehow able to make out that the word written on the inside cover was ¡®Water¡¯.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper turned towards the announcer, speaking with the same smile that he had used to look at Markus. ¡°I apologize for intruding on today¡¯s festivities. However, I was quite impressed by the show. Thus, thank you for putting up with me today.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The announcer quickly waved her hands, as if to stop him from saying anything else. ¡°Please, sir, it was no bother! We¡¯re always happy to have the Keeper watch over us. If you have any other requests, please feel free!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper simply chuckled, shaking his head. ¡°I think that¡¯s enough for me for now.¡± He said, his body wrapping itself in golden light before it simply vanished.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Clearing her throat, the announcer turned to face the crowd again. ¡°Well¡­ that¡¯s not something we see every year, right?¡± She asked with a lightugh. ¡°Now that the special award ceremony is out of the way, let us get on with the typical prizes.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a small sigh as I returned to the citadel, rolling my shoulders. I had to admit that Markus¡¯s wish surprised me. <i><span style="font-weight:400">So that¡¯s how he was able to fight with all of those restrictions¡­</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I had never tried to edit or remove someone¡¯s title before, but I knew that it should be possible. After all, Ashley had created entirely new systems for the world, so what was editing one or two titles? All that I had to do was create a representation of his titles by linking the Paper and Games, and then edit it while infusing my divine power.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As for the book that I had given him, that was one of the ¡®item embryos¡¯ I had established some time ago. I noticed during the tournament that they had finally taken shape, and had split a portion of my perception to investigate them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I was¡­ surprised when I saw that the domains did not take the form of weapons or items rted to their power. Rather, each and every domain had formed a book. These books radiated holy power, and it was clear that they were anything but ordinary. In order to help avoid the chance of Markus being targeted in the future, I used an illusion power on the book I gave him, sealing the holy aura it was releasing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">And for why I chose the Water domain to give him? There wasn¡¯t really any deep meaning. I could ess the Ocean domain through Bihena even if the true owner of the Water domain were to die, so I wouldn¡¯t lose out by giving him that book either way.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, this whole award ceremony did give me another idea for something that I wanted to try. Making my way back inside, I saw Lifre, Tsubaki, and Dana all waiting for me in the study. Lifre¡¯s eyes stared at me expectantly, and I could only blink in response, unsure of what she was wanting until I checked her surface thoughts.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She didn¡¯t know what book I gave Markus, but with her new divine artifact being a library, she was hoping that I would give some of them to her. I let out a chuckle at that, shaking my head. ¡°Dana.¡± I called out to the little elf, who looked over at me curiously.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yes, boss?¡± She asked, unsure of why she had been called out.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°How would you like to have a divine power?¡± I smiled, earning an incredulous look. Dana was currently the only member of the citadel¡¯s staff that did not have her own divinity, making her the perfect individual to test this with.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Do you mean¡­ making me a god?¡± Dana asked in confusion, which only grew when I shook my head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not quite. Though, the end result won¡¯t be too much different.¡± As I said that, I sat down at a table and conjured a piece of paper with the Papers domain. ¡°Simr to the item I just gave Markus, I¡¯m going to give you an item that allows you to operate a domain without being a god.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana¡¯s eyes went wide at that. ¡°Do I get to choose the domain I get?¡± She asked in excitement, causing me to chuckle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As long as it¡¯s one that is already in the world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">She thought about that for a moment, rubbing her chin. ¡°Can it be the Crafts domain, then? I¡¯m usually making things, anyways, so that will help.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod, and began to write on the paper. I drew the divine script for the ¡®Crafts¡¯ domain, channeling that domain personally and imbuing it with arge amount of divine energy. Afterwards, I began using the Games domain, writing in the details for the title which would contain this power. Once I was done, I passed the paper over to Dana, using both the Games and Possession domains to bind it to her ¡®status¡¯.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keeper¡¯s Chosen: Crafts


    </td>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper has granted you ess to the domain of Crafts, without the need for a divine body, soul, or will. The domain has been bound to you, and can be activated with the user¡¯s focus.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>

 Chapter 768: Ambition

    Chapter 768: Ambition


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana stared at the message for several long moments, doing her best to wrap her head around it. It was clear that this hadn¡¯t been quite what she thought I meant when I offered her a divine ability. That said, I could understand her confusion. Until Markus had brought up the subject of me removing one of his titles, I had never thought aboutbining the Paper and Games domains in such a way.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I used a portion of my own divinity to imbue you with the Crafts domain. You¡¯re not a true god in that you don¡¯t have a divine body, and the only way for you to mobilize your divinity is through this domain. However, your special body type with the World¡¯s Shadow should make up for any shorings there. If I set it up right, your divinity should recover based on my own rate.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I could feel a thin bond between myself and Dana, a channel that existed within my divine energy. If I chose to, I was certain that I could sever it at any time. However, doing so would cut off the supply of divine energy to the artificial title that I had created for her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I was creating this title, I had a vague sense that I needed to personally supply the power that I wished to grant her myself, as I could not simply produce the power from nowhere. In that way, it was impossible for me to grant a domain that I did not have ess to, nor could I give her apletely independent supply of divine energy to draw from.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In a sense, Dana had be a subordinate deity, though one with far more restrictions than most, in that she could not ess any of my other domains, nor could she create subordinates in my name. However, this was the most that I could safely do for her, as I was unsure how her body would react to an attempt at divine ascension.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana thought about what I said, nodding slowly. She seemed to be thinking about what she should make as a test. Eventually, she brought her hands together and focused, a golden glow shining through the gaps between her fingers. When her hands separated, there was a ck sphere hovering over the table, suspended in ce.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Curious, I extended my World Sight to the sphere, blinking when I realized what it was. This item was a pure mass of World¡¯s Shadow, molded into a solid form. I could sense that there was a special effect to this sphere, but Dana spoke up before I was able to identify it. ¡°This should be¡­ a key to my shadow world. If you give it to your own shadow, you should be able to freely move between them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a small smile on her face as she said that, passing the shadow sphere to me. Trusting her, I immediately gave the item to my World¡¯s Shadow. The sense of change was almost instant, with the territory that I could sense expanding to include the shadow world of Deckan. However, I realized that Dana had not been <i><span style="font-weight:400">entirely</i><span style="font-weight:400"> truthful in her exnation, perhaps out of concern that I would not ept it.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">You have been given the full rights to another world of shadows. You maymand this world of shadows as if it were your own.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was not as simple as giving me ess to her shadow world, but rather giving me the rights to control it. And, seeing the innocent smile on her face, I knew that she had nned that from the start. I simply let out a small chuckle, shaking my head. ¡°How is it? Is the divine energy recovering properly?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana thought about it for a long moment, sensing her own energy before nodding her head. ¡°It¡¯s slow, but I can feel it growing a bit.¡± I let out a sigh of relief, d that the little experiment to best pseudo-domains had worked. ¡°So, is that the kind of reward you gave the winner just now?¡± She asked curiously, to which I nodded.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In a way. A while back, I created a set of items that contained the power of different divine domains, that way I would be able to use those domains even after their holders perished. They just finished recently, so I thought that giving him one would make for a fitting reward from the Keeper.¡± I confessed. ¡°In truth, I don¡¯t know much about those tomes yet, either, so I¡¯ll be watching how he uses it as a way to verify their effects.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre giggled, shaking her head with a small grin. ¡°So he¡¯s testing out your new product for you. If you give me one, I¡¯d be happy to test it out, as well!¡± She offered with wide, sparkling eyes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I rolled my eyes at her rather obvious attempt to get one of my domain books. Still, it would be nice to get someone to test them out like that. ¡°Then you can try out the book of Wood.¡± I told her, retrieving a shining, gilded tome from my shadow. Unlike the one I gave to Markus, this one did not have an illusion to mask its divine nature.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre practically dove for the book as soon as she saw it, hugging it to her chest and giggling madly. ¡°Yay! You won¡¯t regret it, boss! I¡¯ll figure out <i><span style="font-weight:400">exactly</i><span style="font-weight:400"> how this works!¡± She promised, though really that just meant that she¡¯d y with it until she had unlocked all of its secrets.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I shook my head, knowing that she was going to be busy ¡®testing¡¯ the new book for quite some time. With that in mind, I cast my attention elsewhere, curious to see how Markus was faring with his own tome.


    <hr>


    After the reward ceremony ended, Markus immediately made his way away from the city. Unlike most winners of the King of Mages tournament, he had no desire for the fame that came with the title. As such, he turned down any interview requests, and left through the city gates as soon as he could.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Honestly, he was feeling a little flustered at the moment, but that feeling was only making him excited. After all, it had been so long since he was able to feel this way, he could barely contain his swelling emotions.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When he was a teenager, he once thought that he could train his body beyond normal methods by applying restrictions to himself. He would use magic to seal his sight for an hour, forcing him to use his other senses to walk around his own house. He¡¯d weigh down his body with another spell, training his muscles by simply forcing them to move.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was when he created and used a spell that restricted his spirit, hoping to strengthen it like a muscle, that the system ¡®awarded¡¯ him with his title. Ever since then, he had lost the capacity to feel emotions like a normal person. Now that the title was something that he could disable, he had no intentions of turning it back on unless there was a true emergency.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He even nned to go so far as to get rid of his spell cards, perhaps selling them as the ¡®deck that won the King of Mages¡¯. There would surely be many wanting to buy that deck, especially if it came from the winner of the tournament himself. Once those cards were gone, he would no longer be at risk of such a title appearing again to close his heart. Or at least, that was the intention.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As he walked down the road, he could faintly detect that there were a few individuals following him. They kept their presences hidden quite well, but Markus had gained quite a few Scout levels during his time looking for a cure to his problem. Thus, they flickered in and out of existence on his minimap, causing him to grunt in frustration.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Focusing his mind, he activated the newly awakened psionic talent of halflings, and his body became entirely invisible. There was only one path down this road for quite some time, so it would be hard to really lose the other party. However, he could at least hope to make them think that he had turned around and rushed back to the city.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, to do so he stoodpletely still. Markus was aware that some people could detect his presence by his footsteps, which were not entirely silent. If he did not move, there was the chance that they would mistake it as him erasing his tracks, or activating a flight spell.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As he was thinking about this, he saw two people appear, each wearing ck cloaks that hid their appearances. The two figures walked over towards Markus, seeming as if they had already seen them. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Are they able to detect mana?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Markus asked himself in a panic.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As he thought about that, he saw the sh of a de from one of the two cloaked figures, though they paused before delivering any kind of attack. Shadows lifted and wrapped around their bodies, hiding them from view before heavy footsteps could be heard charging down the road.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Where did that little guy go!?¡± A female voice called out, one that Markus had heard during the tournament. Turning his gaze, he saw an ursa woman charging down the paved road, her head swiveling and eyes wide as she looked for him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At this point, he realized that he had to take a gamble. The two figures from before were clearly after his life, no doubt trying to im his rewards for themselves. He didn¡¯t know how to use the book that the Keeper gave him yet, so all he had was his restriction deck. While he was willing to use that in the tournament, a true life and death battle carried entirely different meanings, and he would dly take any alternative that presented itself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As such, he caused his body to be visible again, the ursa¡¯s eyes locking onto him right away. ¡°There you are!¡± She shouted with a grin, running straight towards him. ¡°I heard that you took off this way while I was being swarmed with reporters. I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d catch you!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">He could tell that there was no obvious malice behind the girl¡¯s smile, and so he sent his thoughts to her via mana while speaking. ¡°I¡¯m sorry about that, is there something that I can do for you?¡± <i><span style="font-weight:400">There are two assassins lurking nearby. They¡¯re starting to move away after you showed up.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That so, huh?¡± The girl¡¯s eyes went wide, and she took a deep breath. Markus¡¯s eyes went wide as he felt her ki mobilizing, and soon realized that she was truly not meant to be a mage in the first ce. She suddenly aimed her head downwards, her ki pouring into her voice and creating visible shockwaves as she shouted. ¡°You bastards want to pick on the little guy?!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The ground beneath her seemed to shatter from the sheer impact of her voice, Markus immediately covering her ears to prevent them from being blown out. The ground seemed to ripple away from her feet, and two figures appeared over a dozen meters away, groaning and spitting out mouthfuls of blood.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The ursa woman gave a cruel smirk as she looked at the figures, lightly stretching her arms. ¡°I couldn¡¯t get a good workout thanks to that damn spider, so I¡¯m going to take my frustrations out on you, alright? I¡¯m sure a couple of bandits don¡¯t have anything toin about.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her voice seemed dulled in Markus¡¯s head, his ears still ringing. Still, he saw her approach the two, and a projection seemed to appear behind her from her ki. The figure of an armored warrior, holding a bastard sword in one hand, and a rounded shield in the other. This figure stood over twice as tall as the woman, mimicking her movements as she began to charge.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The battle that followed could¡­ hardly be called a battle at all. The two assassins were too disoriented from her ki-infused shout to activate anyplex abilities or tactics, leaving them to only try and pathetically dodge her attacks. However, she did not kill them, and instead severed their arms at the shoulders and knocked them unconscious with a blow to the head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once she was done, she grabbed hermunication crystal, making a call. ¡°Hello? Yeah, this is Cass Neil, I¡¯m calling from just outside the northern gate of Ashtanu. I¡¯ve apprehended a pair of bandits attempting to attack someone fleeing the city. Hmm? Oh, sure, I¡¯ll stay for questioning.¡± She responded with a smile as she addressed the police on the other side.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After hanging up, she turned to face Markus, putting her crystal away. ¡°So, sorry about that. Would you mind sticking around as well for just a minute? They never really take long to show up, and I¡¯d like to ask you a question.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing as the woman had just saved his life, Markus was inclined to agree. ¡°What do you want to know¡­?¡± He had a feeling he knew, but he still wanted to ask.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That book the Keeper gave you¡­ was that some kind of secret manual or something?¡± Her eyes practically shone as she asked that. ¡°If so, can I see it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Markus was¡­ half right, at least. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ not quite. Here, it¡¯ll be easier to show you.¡± He sighed, summoning the book he had been given and opening it for Cass to see.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Eh? It¡¯s nk?¡± Cass blinked curiously. ¡°The Keeper gave you a nk book? Is it some kind of test or something?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, the book is actually really special. He bound it to me to make sure that nobody could steal it. He said that it has a divine domain, like a god.¡± Markus said with a shake of his head, dismissing the book.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Cass let out a groan at that. ¡°Really? That¡¯s it?¡± She seemed rather disappointed, her shoulders dropping. She could already hear the soldiers of Ashtanu running down the road towards them. ¡°I thought he might have taught you some great training method or something.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Markus was rather surprised to hear someone refer to the domain of a god as if it were a constion prize. He thought that it had the potential to be a huge gift, but Cass regarded it as if it were nothing. ¡°Are you already a god?¡± He couldn¡¯t help but ask, causing her to blink.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh? No, I don¡¯t care about all that. I want to get that level of power by training myself. Gods all rely on the perceptions of others to increase their divinity, and their own biggest power is restricted to just one domain, yeah? I want to get strong enough that I can beat up gods with just my ki!¡± She grinned wildly as she said that, even as she was surrounded by soldiers.

 Chapter 769: Memories

    Chapter 769: Memories


    <span style="font-weight:400">It did not take long before Markus was released, the cops able to confirm that he was simply a victim in this incident. Although Cass had removed the arms of the assants, these were not entirely incurable injuries if one took the proper steps. This was thus deemed an eptable use of force in the defense of another.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once out of police custody, Markus once again attempted to leave the city via the road. This time, there was nobody that immediately tried to disturb him, and he could not sense himself being followed. That said, he couldn¡¯t shake the feeling that he was being watched from somewhere, causing him to be more cautious as he traveled


    <span style="font-weight:400">The next city wasn¡¯t far at all, only a couple dozen kilometers. It was a distance where one could see the other city just by standing on Ashtanu¡¯s walls, and as such the road between the two was typically well-maintained. The act of bandits appearing along the roads was an anomaly, and they likely only had the courage to do so thanks to their concealment techniques. Had it not been for Cass¡¯s timely intervention, they could have attacked Markus and fled before the soldiers arrived.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was not to say that Markus was entirely defenseless. He had just won a magic tournament, after all. However, he was doing his best to avoid using his restriction spells for fear of his title regaining its original effect. The odds of him ever receiving another chance to have the Keeper personally edit one of his titles was practically nil.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Upon reaching his destination, Markus quietly made his way to the hotel where he had been staying recently. The ces in the capital were always fully upied when it came time for any of the God-Queen¡¯s public events, so he usually chose to stay in the neighboring city andmute to watch the event. Besides, for someone with his physical ability, he could cover the distance between the two in just over an hour at a casual pace.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once back in his hotel room, Markus let out a relieved sigh. He still had that sinking feeling of being watched, but assumed at this point it was merely his nerves ying tricks on him. After all, there was nothing else that appeared on his minimap the entire way back.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Moving over to the small table that the hotel provided, Markus summoned the book that the Keeper gave him. If he was going to be defending himself in the future without the use of his restriction spell, he would need to learn how to use this tome to its full effect. ¡°He said that it held the domain of water. So¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">He looked around the room, retrieving a disposable ss from the cab. Holding up the tome, he focused on filling the ss with clear, drinkable water. A rather mundane use for a godly power, but would anyone really want him to test out something more destructive within city limits?


    <span style="font-weight:400">The cover of the book flipped open, revealing the nk first page. Golden light traced lines along the page, forming words and diagrams. Once the page had been filled, water rose from the bottom of the empty cup, causing Markus¡¯s eyes to go wide.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He didn¡¯t need to test the water itself, already trusting the book to have done what he wanted. Instead, he looked at the text on the book¡¯s first page. This text did not appear in themonnguage, nor in the divine script. Instead, it was anothernguage, one that seemed vaguely familiar to Markus.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Furrowing his brow, he activated his crystal terminal, and began to browse the inte to look for the source of thenguage. It did not take long for him to find it, as thenguage was well-documented despite its age, and still in use by a select group. Thenguage of the dungeons, which had appeared with them since the earliest travels across the seas.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Markus used a lexicon of the dungeonnguage, and slowly managed to trante the page of text. Quite simply, it detailed step-by-step the process of determining the target container¡¯s location and dimensions, and then filling it with drinking water. Even the diagrams only showed measurements for how ¡®full¡¯ it should leave the container.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay, so I think of what I want to happen, and it writes the ability as a page in the book¡­ wait.¡± Markus¡¯s eyes went wide, and he began thumbing through the pages to count them. There was naturally a limit to how many pages a book could contain, and Markus wanted to clearly define that limit. ¡°Five hundred¡­ if we assume that the front and back of each page is used, I can have five hundred abilities. And I used one to make drinking water.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">He let out a groan when he realized that, immediately trying to will the book into erasing its first page. However, there was no response. Clearly, this first ability of his was here to stay. ¡°Well, at least there¡¯s worse things for me to have as a divine ability.¡± He muttered, shaking his head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Five hundred powers with the water domain might seem like quite a lot. However, when one considered just how often gods used their domains in their daily life, it actually seemed to be a littlecking. ¡°Let¡¯s¡­ just make sure that it¡¯s reusable, and not going to make a new page every time.¡± Although it might mean sacrificing another page, he had to be sure.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Markus reached over, grabbing the ss and drinking the water within in one gulp. Afterwards, he held the book up again and repeated his earlier actions When the book flipped open, Markus felt a pang of dread. However, instead of moving to the second page, the book still stopped on the first, which depicted the divine power of ¡®filling a container with water¡¯.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once he realized that this meant he had five hundred <i><span style="font-weight:400">unique</i><span style="font-weight:400"> divine abilities at his disposal, he breathed out a sigh of relief. Although this still put him several steps short of a true god, it was more than enough to rece his old spell cards and protect his life. Now all he needed to do was to verify whether each page represented its own ability, or if some abilities would need multiple pages to record them¡­


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The first week of my descent upon the world was far more¡­ entertaining than I had originally expected. First of all, we spent arge portion of our digital time ying in Dana¡¯s online game. After the first couple of days, we had even made a livable home there, where we could sleep and rx. Given that I was insisting on doing a lot of the manualbor myself, this actuallyted me quite a number of levels.


    <span style="font-weight:400">On the other side of things, the news of the uing virtual reality gear sent a storm of hype throughout my territories. People from each and every world were signing up to purchase the device as soon as they could. After all, not only did it boast even higher realism, allowing one to actually train themselves as the previous generation, but it allowed one to remain within the game while handling their daily lives. This effectively doubled the amount of time they had in the day, as long as it was invested properly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Finally, I decided to visit some more popr tourist sites together with Tsubaki and the others. While it was nice to visit the dwarven city on my own and just walk around within it¡­ it did not feel as satisfying as sitting together with everyone and watching the tournament. The sites were great and all, but they seemed a bit empty when enjoying them alone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, this meant that we gathered quite a bit of attention. Even if I personally didn¡¯t try to be recognized, it was hard to disguise the other three. For a full week, the media was moring over where we were going next, and all the locations that we had been.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Whenever anyone asked, I just answered that this was a family outing, and that I considered each of the people working for me as I would my own family. There was no romantic involvement, and I just wanted to enjoy my time with the people I cared about.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Originally, I had wanted to use that as a way of discretely asking the media to stop bothering us, but that only made them more eager to pry into our social life. Dana, of course, found it hrious,menting in private that I really didn¡¯t know how to deal with reporters. And to be fair, she wasn¡¯t exactly wrong.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Listen, the more you tell them, the more they want to hear. Even if you try to say you don¡¯t want to talk about it, that just makes them more curious.¡± She insisted with a wide grin. ¡°Why do you think people came up with the simple phrase ¡®noment¡¯. It¡¯s the one phrase that reporters hate hearing the most. Of course, if they¡¯re really bothering you, we could just have them fired.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing Dana¡¯s impish grin, I knew she was only joking, and that she was fully aware I wouldn¡¯t go to such lengths. ¡°Let¡¯s just focus on enjoying ourselves, alright?¡± I asked with a shake of my head. ¡°Are you all set for the big release tonight?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana shrugged her shoulders at that, clearly expecting the change in subject. ¡°As ready as I¡¯ll ever be, boss. Are you still nning to do a big event?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod, letting out a deep sigh. ¡°That¡¯s right. Since I¡¯m making my presence public for the time being, it feels only fitting. I¡¯ve already arranged it with Ashley. Once the Virtual servers go live, we can begin. Afterwards, we can run back to our little base and get back to work.¡± I cracked a small grin upon saying that, causing Dana tough once again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sounds about right! I¡¯ve still got to walk you through the next step of engineering, and help you set up your own mining bot.¡± Dana¡¯s grin was easily enough to let me know that I was in for a rather painful lesson once we returned.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two of us were simply rxing in the lounge of the citadel, with Lifre off somewhere ying with the divine tome, and Tsubaki happily cleaning the halls. After having watched Markus experiment with the book that I gave him, I more or less understood how to activate them. They were simple enough, though each had their own limit to the amount of divinity stored within, and could only slowly recharge.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The fact that the books were written in English was not something that I had been expecting, though. However, I realized that it made sense after giving it some thought. After all, I was the one that ultimately made the books, and English was still my nativenguage. Even if I had a powerful trantion feature as the Keeper, that had not changed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Anyways¡­¡± Dana began, her grin never leaving her face. ¡°I got something while I was out earlier. I figured that it couldmemorate our time out in the town.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After she said that, arge, framed canvas rose from her shadow. When I saw the scene depicted on it, I couldn¡¯t help but smile softly. It wasn¡¯t really anything all that special. Simply the four of us sitting down for a meal in a public restaurant. However, we were all smiling as we talked, waiting for our food.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, the tables around us were all empty. Despite my insistence, the ownerpletely cleared out his own establishment while we ate. The food was¡­ well, it was quite good, though I would not rate it above Tsubaki¡¯s cooking. Even so, the act of grabbing a meal together like that was something that I had not done since my early days of being a Keeper, far before I ever even met Tsubaki.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a nod, looking at the framed picture. Dana had clearly acquired it from a reporter, and prepared it to be mounted on the wall as soon as she saw it. ¡°Do you have anywhere in mind for it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she heard that question, Dana blinked in surprise, tapping her chin. ¡°The hallway just past the throne room would probably be a decent ce. The pictures there are all centuries old anyways, and we¡¯d be the only one seeing it. I mean really, you haven¡¯t updated the decorations here since the ce was created, have you?¡± She asked yfully, her own eyes turning to look at the painting. In reality, she was right, but that was because the citadel had always been their home, not just mine.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, if you all want to redecorate, you can feel free.¡± I promised with a nod, watching her grin grow just slightly wider at that idea. I was definitely not going to regret that, right?

 Chapter 770: Social Expectations

    Chapter 770: Social Expectations


    <span style="font-weight:400">The official opening of the Virtual Servers was set to ur at midnight by Gandor¡¯s time. For this singr event, it had been announced that the Keeper would personally be ying host. For those fortunate enough to have been capable of buying the new equipment from Darkme Technologies, they had already gotten themselves ready.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The instruction manual was quite clear on what was needed in order to sessfully register an ount. First, the user must close themselves off in a room without any pets or other upants in order to ensure a smooth transition. Then, once the scan had beenpleted, they would grab their watch and create an ount name and password for themselves. Only then would they learn which side was real, and which was virtual.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, there were some that wanted to try and break this system, but that did not always go over so well¡­ For instance, let¡¯s say that they invite their friend to watch the process, just to make sure that they knew whether they were the real one or not. They wake up, and suddenly see their friend missing¡­ but they still <i><span style="font-weight:400">feel</i><span style="font-weight:400"> real. Everything about their perception screams that they are the real one.


    <span style="font-weight:400">So, they start looking through their house, thinking that maybe their friend had to get a drink or something. They refuse to ept the fact that they are a digital existence, a fake. Because if a lie can feel so real, how can they really know what the truth is?


    <span style="font-weight:400">This is naturally resolved through the memetic agent introduced to the consumer at the time of ount registration. Thanks to this memetic agent, the virtual self acknowledges their state of existence, and is more willing to follow the wishes of the self in reality. When some people managed to figure out that there was such a trick, they questioned if it was really ethical.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, such questions failed to make anysting impact, primarily due to the creator of the device being the Goddess of Technology herself, a member of the Greater Pantheon. While some might express discontent at a potentially hical decision, they would not allow it to be more than that. Nobody wanted to get on the bad side of someone that has been guarding the universe since the dawn of time, after all.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Regardless, once the clock struck twelve, the servers were officially opened. The customers that had already registered their ounts were transported to the Virtual Server of Spica, a vast clearing where they saw the Keeper himself. He was suspended in the air, sitting on a throne a hundred meters above the ground and looking at everyone as they appeared.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At first, he said nothing, as if waiting for the influx of people to halt. One of the greatest things about Virtual was the fact that there was practically notency, as your virtual consciousness upied the server you were interacting with. Thus, everything truly happened in real time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once the flood of people was reduced to a slow trickle, the Keeper nodded his head. When he spoke, his voice echoed out over the crowd, ensuring that everyone heard him. ¡°I¡¯m sure you all know who I am, so I will not waste your time with pointless introductions.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What I am here to do today is to wee you all to a new world. This is not a world crafted by an almighty hand, but one achieved purely through the techniques avable to mortals. Through science, a virtual reality has been created that surpasses anything previously built. Through technology, we have a way to train in safety. Through the efforts of schrly titans throughout the generations, we have finally reached this point.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°For some of you, this is an escape, a way to break free from the dull grasp of reality. For others, it is a new avenue to pursue your pleasures, taking your games to a new height. Yet more of you seek to use this realm to hone your minds and bodies. I could ask a hundred people what they wanted from this world, and receive a thousand answers. Therefore, allow me not to ask, but to tell.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m going to tell you what <i><span style="font-weight:400">I </i><span style="font-weight:400">want from this. What I hope can be aplished through the creation and release of this technology. I want the world to be a better ce through strength and prosperity, through the unity that can be found in a virtual world. I want you all to use this world to foster friendships and love. Find joy, even in your darkest hour, and find hope when all seems lost.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Each and every one of you has the potential to be a king among men, a god among mortals. That is the potential I see in you. With this new world, I hope that at least some of you can rise to that potential. I see this not just as an avenue to y games, but an avenue to live.¡± The Keeper fell silent as he finished his words, his eyes closing. Down below, silence filled the clearing, as if nobody knew what to say, or even if it was their ce to speak.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Eventually, he opened his eyes once again, and they released a golden radiance. ¡°Thus, allow me to first dere the officialunch of the Virtual World! May you all find the answers to what you seek.¡± After saying that, the golden light wrapped around the throne, shrinking in on itself before vanishing from the scene.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This speech was not only for those who had managed to log in on the first night of release. Rather, it was broadcast live across Spica and Lorek, the full video sent immediately afterwards to the other worlds. The words of the Keeper echoed across countless cities and homes.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a groan as I watched the broadcast live, seeing my virtual self speaking from atop the throne. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Tsubaki. ¡°Somehow, I know that the throne was your idea. I don¡¯t know how, I¡¯m just certain of it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki averted her eyes with a small, innocent smile. Originally, I was just scripted to appear hovering above the crowd, but it seemed that there was ast minute change to the n. I simply let out a sigh, shaking my head. ¡°I¡¯ve always hated giving public speeches. I can never think of what to say, and one wrong move could leave a bad impression across all of creation that they¡¯ll never forget.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifreughed at that, grinning towards me. ¡°It¡¯s easy, just imagine everyone naked! Works every time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but shudder. ¡°Imagine millions of people, maybe over a <i><span style="font-weight:400">trillion</i><span style="font-weight:400"> over the broadcasts, all watching me while naked? No, no that does <i><span style="font-weight:400">not</i><span style="font-weight:400"> make it better. Better is the opposite of what that makes it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana smirked yfully. ¡°I just like to pretend that I¡¯m talking into a mirror, so the only person that can hear me say anything is myself. Of course, that usually leads to me not filtering myself as well as I should, but hey, everyone knows that I¡¯m the ¡®kid¡¯ of the Citadel. You can get away with a lot with that image!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked, looking over at Dana. I knew that she was anything but a child. She had been alive longer than most gods, and had an adult form that she simply didn¡¯t like using. ¡°You are¡­ sinister. Yeah, I¡¯m going to go with sinister.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was at that time that my virtual avatar disappeared from the scene. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s head back to Earth to keep the time synchronized.¡± I said, mentally urging the citadel into motion and activating its world transport function.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana stuck her tongue out with a cheeky smile before standing up and giving a light stretch. ¡°I¡¯m going to head over to my workshop for a bit. There¡¯s a new project that I want to get started on, so I¡¯ll see you all in Virtual.¡± After she said that, darkness wrapped around her body, teleporting her out of the room.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana hummed to herself as she entered her workshop, which had beenrgely remodeled over the course of thest week. Using the Craft domain that she had been given, she created a number of different tools and disys that she simply didn¡¯t have the means of integrating into her workshop before. ¡°Load up thest saved project data.¡± She called out as the lights in the workshop activated, revealing a smooth, white table.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a hum of machinery from the table in response to hermand, and a holographic projection appeared. Within the projection, Dana saw the familiar headset that she had used to create her virtual scan. ¡°It¡¯s easier with the blueprint that Ashley gave me, but still¡­ it¡¯s hard to imagine how long it took her to get this working.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Flicking her wrist, a dozen hidden screws became loose in the projection, parts flying apart to hover in midair. Out of everyone in the citadel, Dana was far more adept when it came toputers, so she had an idea of what she was looking at, and was able to study the design in order to learn more. ¡°Now¡­ let¡¯s change it up a bit. Scrap the visual sensors, we won¡¯t need those. And let¡¯s incorporate the watch directly into the casing.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">She manipted the projections with her hands, changing the shape of the device before her. It was clear that she was not trying to upgrade the item that Ashley had made, but rather modify it for a very specific use. ¡°Hmm¡­ engrave a mana lock on the outer shell to serve as the perception blocker.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once shepleted this design, she looked it over with a satisfied smile. Afterwards, she pulled out hermunication crystal and dialed a very old number. Granted, she had to personally deliver the crystal to the other party and teach them how to use it, but she felt it had always been worth the effort.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lil Dana J: Hey, Trials, do you have a minute to chat?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Trials: I don¡¯t have any intruders right now. The others are curious, you don¡¯t usually reach out to me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lil Dana J: Yeah, well, I¡¯ve got something special for you! I assume that you heard about the new virtual reality tech that¡¯s juste out?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Trials: We have several dungeon masters in normal society, Dana. It¡¯d be strange for us not to know.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Trials: Though, I must say that we are rather downcast by the reveal. With this new world, people will visit us even less.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lil Dana J: What if I could get you into Virtual as well, and let you set up dungeons in virtual environments as training simtors?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Trials: ¡­Please borate.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana grinned as she looked at the message, eyes flicking up to look at the hologram over her table. She knew that it would have a big impact on the dungeon core race for people to suddenly have a better alternative for their personal training. In a way, the dungeon cores were the original training environment that the Keeper had created, followed by Fyor, and now finally the virtual world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was manageable with Fyor, given that it was an entirely different, so many people did not have the means to casually go there to train. Thus, they could still tackle their local dungeons to temper themselves. However, that would no longer be the case, leaving the dungeon cores all but obsolete.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In an effort to prevent that, she was remodeling the virtual reality scanner with Ashley¡¯s tips into a form that would be usable even by dungeon cores. Given the nature of the cores, the territories that they create in Virtual could even act as virtual servers for them to manage. The way she saw it, this was a win-win for all parties involved.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lil Dana J: I don¡¯t have it quite finished yet, but it won¡¯t be much longer. Once it¡¯s done, I¡¯ll bring it to you, so look forward to it!


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>

 Chapter 771: Merry Making

    Chapter 771: Merry Making


    <span style="font-weight:400">I sat up from the workbench, wiping my brow and setting aside the soldering iron that I had been using. Next to me, Dana walked up and inspected the weld, giving a satisfactory nod of her head. ¡°Not bad, it looks like you¡¯re getting the hang of this.¡± She praised, picking up the metal joint that had just been finished.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I still think it¡¯d be faster to use a spell.¡± I chuckled with a shake of my head. Given that everyone present had an energy body, we didn¡¯t need certain standard safety equipment like visors. Even so, I was still wearing thick leather gloves to prevent myself from getting burnt.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Maybe, but you wouldn¡¯t have learned anything like that.¡± Dana smiled, walking over to the side and cing the part together with the rest of theponents that had been crafted thus far. ¡°Look at it this way, now we just have to put everything together, and you¡¯ll have finished your first machine all by yourself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">She wasn¡¯t kidding when she said that. Every screw, nut, and circuit board was something that I had personally designed or built under her guidance for thest month. While the end result was nothing incredibly fancy, it was an achievement that I felt oddly proud of. ¡°I swear, if we went through all this trouble, and something¡¯s the wrong size¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana let out a lightugh when she heard me grumble. ¡°Oh, that would just be amazing. Let¡¯s find out, shall we?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded, taking a deep breath and focusing. Red energy swept out from my fingertips, touching each individualponent that had beenid out before me. Gradually, these pieces began shaking, before being dragged up into the air. This was an energy that Dana had taught me to produce, something that became critical for high level engineers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While I couldn¡¯t say that I was particrly high level yet, this energy allowed me to cut down the assembly time. All I had to be able to do was multitask enough to control the individual parts. Thanks to my previous training methods, that was something I was more than capable of.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The machine that I was constructing was aputer, but one in the style ofputers made in my old world. In this world, the closestparison would be the old Desbar systems, before they began integrating magical engineering into their technology. Granted, thisputer that I made would not be very powerful, but it was still something that <i><span style="font-weight:400">I</i><span style="font-weight:400"> made.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As the piece fell into ce, the newly made joint creating a swinging door to open the case, I felt an odd sense of satisfaction. Even if this had taken me all month to reach this point, I did not feel like the time was in any way wasted. I learned different techniques from Dana, Tsubaki, and even Lifre. I spent time helping around the base that we were constructing, and they taught me anything I needed to know. For thest month, I was able to be just another person spending time with my friends.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Engineer has leveled up!


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">You have learned the level 50 Engineer ability: Blueprint!


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Schr has leveled up!


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">You have learned the level 100 Schr ability: Mental Archive!


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I clenched my fists, my smile turning into a full grin when I saw the messages appear in front of me. The ability ¡®Mental Archive¡¯ was a system-enhanced memorization ability. Any student growing up in my world would have learned this before graduating from their education, but it had eluded me for so long. This was due to me not having spent enough time descended in and actively learning within my world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The archive was also the cornerstone of many unique abilities throughout history. There were legendary mages that used it as a spell repository, alchemists that used it to store their forms, and even warriors who used it to memorize the fighting styles of their opponents. Now that I had ess to this ability, I would be able to shape how I wanted to use it as well.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As for the other ability, it was somewhat rted. The ¡®blueprint¡¯ ability was a system for engineers, allowing them to save blueprints that they created. This blueprint wasn¡¯t saved to their memory, but rather to the system itself. Thus, an engineer could always look through their list of blueprints to re-examine them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Take it that means you got it?¡± Dana asked with a knowing grin. She was aware of what my true levels looked like, so it was easy for her to guess by my expression that I had finally crossed the threshold.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°All thanks to you three.¡± I nodded my head, reaching down to ruffle her hair. She let out a startled shout, iling her arms to knock away my hands before we both let out a heartyugh. ¡°How are the other two?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana calmed herself down with that question, letting out a deep breath. ¡°I think Lifre¡¯s really going to miss having you around. Tsuba¡¯ll be okay, but just remember toe back and visit again when you can.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head again. This was thest day that I nned to stay in the world for now, so the two had gone off to prepare something special both in the game and in reality. Meanwhile, Dana kept mepany to help me finish up my final projects and make sure that I didn¡¯t end up spying on them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I should be able to be around more often from now on. Maybe not all the time, but it should at least not be decades between visits unless somethinges up.¡± I promised, Dana¡¯s smile growing a touch wider when she heard that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ll be sure to hold you to that.¡± She chuckled, looking at theputer. ¡°It¡¯s a shame we couldn¡¯t get to make the shuttle before you left. Still, that¡¯s something to look forward to when you get back.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After she said that, Dana brought a hand up to cup one ear, amon gesture to indicate that someone was receiving a manamunication. Once she lowered her head, she gave a small nod. ¡°They¡¯ve gotten everything ready now. Before we head over, let¡¯s sync up.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod, the message clearly having been given in reality as well. Before I even had the chance to reach for the button, I felt the rush of memories from the other side. In reality, Dana was helping me to train my divine abilities, finding newbinations that we could use in the future and testing their effectiveness.


    <span style="font-weight:400">No doubt my ¡®self¡¯ in reality would be pleased to have the new levels transferred over. Still, neither side of ¡®me¡¯ knew what Tsubaki and Lifre were up to, as they had been quite tightlipped about their ns.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With the knowledge that they were finally done, I left the workshop where I had been staying to finish my training. Looking around, I saw no trace of the missing girls. ¡°Where are we going, then?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana simply grinned, holding her hand out to me. ¡°It¡¯ll be faster to teleport there.¡± She said, to which I nodded and ced my hand in hers. In an instant, darkness enveloped us both, and we were transported to another part of the world. When we appeared, I saw that we were standing in the shadow of a great mountain.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, when I turned to face this mountain, I was left dumbstruck. The ¡®mountain¡¯ behind me was a massive tree, a pine tree specifically. Though, it was one that stood over a kilometer tall, higher than any natural tree that had existed in my world. Additionally, the tree was decorated with countless spherical bubbles, each of which contained an image.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In some of these images, I was sitting around with the others and watching a show or movie, in others we were having a meal. Some we could all be seen ying games, and others we were working. Some of them were from reality, and some were from the game. No two spheres held the same image, and there were rows of lights connecting them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I stepped back further, I saw that there were fourrge figures at the top of the tree, standing around its highest point. It was easy to recognize these figures as myself, Dana, Tsubaki, and Lifre.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It might not be Sheawynn, but Aurivy let us know that this was a tradition where you came from.¡± Dana spoke from the side, and I nced over to see Tsubaki and Lifre standing with her. That¡¯s right, the spheres were simply giant ornaments, and this was a Christmas tree¡­


    <span style="font-weight:400">The higher up I looked in the tree, the more recent the memories. At the base¡­ I wasn¡¯t even in some of them. For instance, there was the scene where I first met Tsubaki as the representative of the beastkin, and near that same ornament was the scene where Tsubaki met Dana.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Don¡¯t get worked up yet, boss. This is just the start.¡± Dana promised with a grin. ¡°You just had to pick a month to descend where we don¡¯t have any major holidays, so we had to go asking Aurivy about all the big ones from your old world. We¡¯ve got a big day nned for you, mister. On both sides of the digital sea.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I looked out at the massive Christmas tree, adorned with all of our shared memories. Tsubaki and Lifre had created this on an isted world they had discovered during some nar travel research. It was obvious that Lifre used the tome I gave her to create the tree itself, while Tsubaki decorated it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Big ns?¡± I asked curiously, looking towards Dana, who nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right! We might not be able to exchange presents, but we can have a big feast, and spend all day watching movies.¡± I could tell that she was particrly excited about thatst part. Most likely, I would be ying different types of games with everyone instead.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Listening to their ns, I simply gave a chuckle, more than happy to agree to it. From the faint scent lingering on Tsubaki, I knew that she had likely spent all day preparing the food. ¡°Well, let¡¯s get to it then.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As soon as I said that, Dana¡¯s shadow extended into a portal, through which numerous dark figures appeared. They carried tables and chairs, some with tes and bowls filled with food. Turkey, ham, casseroles¡­ <i><span style="font-weight:400">how many recipes did Tsubaki learn for this</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but be amazed at the effort put into this celebration. Most of these recipes likely didn¡¯t exist in this world, and Tsubaki would have had to find recements for major ingredients, working with Aurivy to reproduce things as urately as possible. Still, the fragrance was definitely a holiday feast, and I found myself moving towards the table almost automatically once it was all set up.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, then there¡¯s just onest thing to do.¡± Lifre spoke up with a yful grin, the other three all looking at each other with knowing smiles. They sped their hands together over their chests, and turned their heads to look directly at me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thank you for all the time you¡¯ve spent with us.¡± They said in unison, causing me to blink before they finished with¡­ ¡°Amen.¡± It was only then that I realized that they were ¡®saying grace¡¯. A suddenugh escaped me, and I held my stomach while shaking my head. It was¡­ not incorrect the way they did it, but it was definitely not quite the same.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Still, this was the first true ¡®Christmas¡¯ that I had celebrated since bing a Keeper. Spending it like this¡­ didn¡¯t feel bad at all.

 Chapter 772: Divine Gold

    Chapter 772: Divine Gold


    <span style="font-weight:400">After spending the rest of the day in the Sky Citadel, I finally returned to the Admin Room. This was the longest that I had spent descended in the world in¡­ quite a long time. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I think the only time I was gone longer was when we were sailing across the ocean? </i><span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but muse to myself as I arrived.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As always, Aurivy could be found rxing on the couch in the living room, watching as scenes yed out on the screen before her. Before I even announced my arrival, she lifted a hand to wave back at me. ¡°Wee back, Dale!¡± She called out, turning to smile at me. ¡°How was your ¡®Christmas¡¯?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small chuckle at that, walking over and ruffling Aurivy¡¯s hair. ¡°It was great. Thanks for helping them get it all set up.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy¡¯s arms iled to bat my hand away, but once I sat down she began leaning over against me. ¡°Next time, you¡¯ve definitely got to spend it up here with us.¡± She said with an authoritative nod.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, we¡¯ll have to remember to have our own Christmas at some point, then.¡± I agreed, leaning back and looking at the screen. ¡°Anything good happening?¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Goddess of Ki leaned back in her crimson throne, eyes fixated on the ceiling above her. A small smile tugged at her lips, remembering how the Sky Citadel had appeared above theirnd several days ago, the Keeper and his staff descending upon them. For a day, she had been allowed to forget the burden of being the First Blood, Empress Scarlet of Bloodhaven.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she remembered those days, there was a slight twitch in her eye. Her body vanished with a puff of red mist, appearing high in the crimson skies above her nation. Yet still, her eyes were directed further upwards. ¡°Tower has been cking off on his recruitment drive.¡± She muttered to herself, sensing that a powerful monster had appeared in the sr system, one that seemed to have reached godhood.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Tower.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She sent a mental prayer towards the Goddess of Monsters far away, who she knew to now be managing his own dungeon world. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Did you miss this one, or shall I dispose of it?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">It took a few seconds for a reply toe, during which time she could sense the creature slowly roaming closer to the world. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Haahh¡­ I didn¡¯t miss him. Actually, I had rather high hopes for that one. Unfortunately, I¡¯ve no more room for monster gods. It¡¯s taking longer than I nned for more god yers to arise among my people. If it is causing trouble for you, feel free to remove it.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet gave a small nod at that, her body vanishing with another burst of red mist. When she appeared this time, the space behind her body solidified into a massive wall to ck the iing monster deity. The creature was a serpent with a body of pure gold, scales visible all along its outeryer. It had two ws near the front of its body, and a pair of long whiskers on either side of its mouth.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Halt.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Scarlet demanded, appearing so small and insignificantpared to the monster god. Her body could not even bepared to the size of a single one of the opponent¡¯s scales. In fact, it was hard to even know if it would have noticed her without sending that message.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Still, it came to a stop upon hearing her demand, its eyes searching around to find the source. It was quite a while before that gaze came to rest on the small figure draped in red. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Who are you tomand me, worm?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet¡¯s eye twitched at that, a bloody aura spreading out around her. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Someone that can destroy you in an instant. Turn back, and I will forgive this trespass. If you have sufficient reason for continuing, I may allow you to do so. Otherwise, you will not be allowed to go any further.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a deep, rumblingugh from the mind of the monster deity. It had clearly gained a measure of intelligence with its ascension, but that only caused it to be more unbridled and arrogant, having never encountered a being that was its equal. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I wish to devour this star. Is that sufficient reason?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">No.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Scarlet¡¯s eyes shed with crimson light, and she stretched her delicate hand out towards the monster. From the emptiness of space, a red hole appeared, a massive w emerging from it. This w was easilyrge enough to wrap around the entire body of the enemy deity, holding it firmly in ce.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, the other party was not likely to simply allow itself to be grabbed. However¡­ not only did it find itself unable to resist, but its body moved on its own to enter that giant w. <i><span style="font-weight:400">You dare!</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I told you¡­ I am someone that can destroy a little god like you in an instant. </i><span style="font-weight:400">After sending that message, she licked her lips. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Thank you for the meal.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The monster deity struggled, reaching out to scratch against the wed hand holding it in ce. As it did so, golden light began to spread along the w. Or rather, the w began to turn into gold. Even faster, however, red veins began appearing along the monster¡¯s body, quickly spreading over its entire form.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The further the veins spread, the more desperate the monster¡¯s struggles, and the weaker it became. The golden light shining across its body dimmed, until eventually the creature simply became limp. Then, a deep, crunching sound could be heard as the monster¡¯s body copsed in on itself, sucked piece by piece towards the half-golden w holding it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet closed her eyes as she absorbed the divine ki of another god. This was Scarlet¡¯s method of defeating deities, though one she had never had to put into practice before. As the Goddess of Ki, she could devour even divine ki, filtering out the domain to absorb the pure energy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she did so, she lifted her other hand, a golden seed forming in it. From the seed, pure divinity could be felt, Scarlet looking at it while pondering something. After filtering out the domain from the divine ki, she had turned it into this small seed. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Lady Terra, may I have a moment of your time?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Hmm?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The response came far faster than hermunication with Tower. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯s not often that you call me. What does our dear Keeper¡¯s daughter want today?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">A faint redness entered Scarlet¡¯s cheeks as Terra addressed her that way. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Would it be safe to consume this seed? If not, I can just throw it away somewhere. However, as the Goddess of Fate, I believed it would be important to consult you first.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a brief pause, likely for Terra to understand the full situation. After that moment had passed, she let out a faint sigh. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯s no good. If you consume that as you are, it will sh with your current domain, and your body will fall apart. The same is true for anyone that already has a domain. In order to safely consume that, I believe that you would have to be only a single step short of ascension, that seed filling in the final step.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet shook her head in disappointment when she heard that. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Very well. In that case, do you have any suggestions for how to properly dispose of it?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">While it is unsuitable to be consumed directly, it is possible that you could use it to forge a divine artifact from it. Of course, the artifact would be best used by someone with a matching domain¡­</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet once again shook her head at that exnation. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I do not know of another God of Gold, or I might perhaps give this to them. Then, would it be fine to simply leave it with the researcher of Deckan? Perhaps he may have some thoughts on how to use this item.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra gave a light chuckle before agreeing. <i><span style="font-weight:400">True. If it¡¯s him, he may be able toe up with something.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">With that settled, Scarlet turned around, gold kes breaking off from the bloody w before it disappeared through the red hole again. She waved her wrist, causing the solid wall of space to dissolve, returning to its normal state. Only once that was taken care of did she vanish with another burst of red mist.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she appeared again, it was within the world of Deckan, just outside of the research facility near the pce. She casually walked through the halls, the divine seed hovering over one hand. She simply followed the sounds of machinery, ultimately arriving in what appeared to be arge workshop. Inside, the researcher and his team seemed to be studying a trio of crystalline objects.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After she entered, the dark-skinned man lifted his head, looking towards her. ¡°Ah, hello your majesty!¡± He said with a faint grin. ¡°Don¡¯t think you¡¯ve been here before, have you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">She simply shook her head, her eyes ncing around the room. She was not much one for technology, so she had little idea of what the various devices around the room were meant for. ¡°The goddess Terra suggested that I present this to you, as I have no use for it myself.¡± She said, glossing over the fact that it was her idea to make the delivery.


    <span style="font-weight:400">James blinked when he heard that, setting down his tools and walking over. He studied the divine seed with his eyes, eventually shaking his head. ¡°I¡¯ve got nothing for it. That looks like it¡¯s a refined domain. Gold too, from the looks of it? If it was a domain rted to energy, I might be able to use it as a power source. But you said that Terra sent you here with it?¡± He asked, stroking his chin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet was surprised that even the researcher did not have an answer for what to do with this. Just as she was about to take it back, he smiled. ¡°Ah, I guess you could use it for that¡­ why not take it to Sanctum? Gold is a fundamental element associated with earth, so you can fuse it with that. There won¡¯t be too big of a change, but it will probably strengthen the flow of divinity there.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Empress of Bloodhaven gave a small nod at his words. ¡°Very well. Then, if you will excuse me, I apologize for disrupting your work.¡± For some reason, she was actually quite happy to be sent around to multiple locations like this. It almost felt simr to a quest chain within a video game.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s not a bother.¡± James shook his head, waving it off. ¡°If youe across one of those rted to energy, though, be sure to bring it by. It might be just what we need to finish ourtest project.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet nodded her head, vanishing into bloody mist once more. As she had an avatar on Sanctum, it was a simple matter to locate the fast-moving¡¯s coordinates. She arrived within arge, wooden pce, the wood having long since been colored red with her prolonged presence.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Like many other deities, she had employed the services of a particr Goddess of Wood in order to establish her home within Sanctum. Outside of this pce, arge patch of grass had simrly been turned red. Ignoring that, Scarlet crouched down, scooping out a handful of dirt with her dainty hands, and ced the seed inside. Once she covered the seed back up, she smoothed over the ground and focused. ¡°ept this divinity.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The ground beneath her fingers shook, the world seeming to respond to her wishes. She could feel something changing beneath her as the trembling increased, her eyes going wide momentster. ¡°This is not a small change, James!¡± She shouted, abruptly standing up.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The world of Sanctum was created with a variety of domains, each offering a fundamental aspect of the world. Now that the domain of gold was added in, the world naturally sought to find a ce for it, a use for the power of gold.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once the shaking had stopped, Scarlet immediately crouched down and began scooping at the ground again. To her shock, there was a lump of ore beneath the surface, rough and unrefined. However, this golden rock was not merely gold, as it boasted its own divine energy. Moreover¡­ Scarlet could vaguely sense that this was not the only vein of this ore to appear in the world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">cing her hand on the ore, she focused on transmitting a strand of divine ki through it. What she found made her shoulders tremble. The ore veins spread out through the, some having distinct properties after interacting with other domains, but all of the ore having an unprecedented level of hardness.

 Chapter 773: Golden Apple

    Chapter 773: Golden Apple


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, you know, this and that.¡± Aurivy said with a lightugh as we watched Scarlet create a new material on Sanctum. My eyes went wide at the sight, and I couldn¡¯t help but blink slightly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Aurivy, please exin what just happened. You know more about Sanctum than anyone¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she heard that, Aurivy¡¯sugh only grew louder, and she wiped her eyes for a moment before looking at me. ¡°James probably doesn¡¯t know that I used the Dungeons and Evolution domains when making Sanctum. Because of the Dungeons domain, the operates in a simr basic principle to a dungeon core. It maintains its own environment, which is the reason why only divine power can alter the world in any way.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°However, the Evolution domain did more than just merge everything together and save a few million years for the world to properly take shape. That domain is still present in the world, after all. Going by what we just saw¡­ if a new domain is wholly infused into Sanctum, it will trigger another evolution.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod at that. It made sense, in a way. Aurivy didn¡¯t have a true elemental domain for stone, so she had been forced to use the Dungeons domain instead. I just never thought that it would have such longsting effects. ¡°Then, do you have any idea what sort of material that is? If Sanctum still counts as a dungeon, it should technically be part of your domain, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy blinked at that, before closing her eyes and focusing. ¡°I can tell you that it¡¯s definitely been constructed by the Gold domain, but it¡¯s more than just that. Several of the different domains used to create Sanctum are in the ore. It¡­ seems to have some special properties depending on the bnce? Here, take a look.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy pointed at the screen, and the scene shifted to a coastal region of Sanctum. There, we could see the water slowly creeping up from the shoreline, defying the normal flow of gravity as it stretched out and covered a nearby area. ¡°That area¡¯s ore vein has a higher concentration of the Oceans domain from Bihena. And this one¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The scene shifted again, this time showing an underwater territory. However, there was arge, irregrly shaped bubble spread across the ground. ¡°That vein has a higher concentration of alia¡¯s Wind domain.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod at that. ¡°I wonder how long it will take Tubrock to dig some up and get to work?¡± When I said that, Aurivy gave a wry smile. ¡°...Did he already get started?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°He¡¯s trying to.¡± She said, shaking her head as the scene changed again.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">A lone dwarf stood atop the slope of a tall mountain, a heavy pickaxe in his hand. Lifting it up, he struck down at a small lump of gold that had emerged from the side of the slope, shattering the rock around it. However, it did not seem to have any effect on the lump of gold, other than exposing even more of it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ye little rock think ye can say no ta me!?¡± The dwarf shouted indignantly, mming his pickaxe against the rock again and again. The more he failed to excavate the golden rock, the more eager he became. In his head, he was already devising countless experiments he wanted to conduct with this seemingly invulnerable material. However, he soon realized the critical problem, the reason why he was unable to extract the material.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The seemingly benign material was absorbing all of the divine power that he infused into his pickaxe with every strike. Using this divinity, it immediately recovered any damage that the pickaxe could achieve, while considerably lessening the power of each strike.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once he realized that, his strikes came to a halt. ¡°Yer a resilient rock, ain¡¯t ya?¡± He asked, looking down at the golden lump with interest. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t like ta cheat, but I think in this case¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The dwarf extended his hand towards the golden lump, grabbed onto it and pulled. Instead of relying on pure strength or the power of his pick, he directly channeled the Metal domain into his hand to pull the ore away.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As before, he could feel his divinity being drained by the golden stone. However, this time he felt it leaving the node with his hand. This caused him to release a raucousugh¡­ right up until he saw that the node remained unchanged. Shocked, he looked at his hand, verifying that it still held a lump of this new mineral. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">At this realization, he pulled yet another piece of the ore from the node, this time without using his domain. Merely channeling his divinity into the node allowed him to remove a sizable chunk. And yet, the node itself remained unchanged. ¡°Greedy little bastard.¡± He said with a wild grin, starting to understand the properties of these nodes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This time, he did not pull, but rather pushed. The exposed lump of gold began to sink into the slope of the mountain under the weight of his push. At the same time, the dwarf was able to hear a series of cracking noises, the node being forced to reshape itself under the pressure and disrupting the nearby stone. ¡°Well, at least ye won¡¯t be totally in the way now.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Satisfied with the results of his test, the dwarven deity vanished with the two lumps of gold rock that he had extracted from the vein.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s pretty much like that.¡± Aurivy shrugged her shoulders. ¡°The metal, I¡¯m calling it Divine Gold, is able to absorb divinity to sustain itself. Thanks to that, the normal rules of Sanctum don¡¯t apply to it, and you have to use a method of equivalent exchange in order to extract it. Simply put, infuse your divinity, and you will get a simr amount of divine gold. As for what it can be used for¡­ that¡¯s Tubrock¡¯s expertise, not mine. It¡¯ll be a race between him and Kiria to see who can figure it out first.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod at that. In fact, there were currently over a hundred deities with domains rted to crafting. Unfortunately, most of them were only roped into their position as subordinate gods, made to work low-paying jobs for ¡®divine corporations¡¯ from the early days of Sanctum. Kiria was undoubtedly the greatest crafter deity that had emerged in the world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°By the way, there¡¯s something that I¡¯ve been wondering for a while now.¡± I spoke up, ncing over at Aurivy. ¡°Why aren¡¯t there any monsters appearing on Sanctum? Usually, they begin appearing a year after people settle a world, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy simply stuck her tongue out yfully. ¡°I thought about it. But, any monster that appeared on Sanctum would be at least semi-divine, or else they wouldn¡¯t be able to eat. So, I asked alia to take care of that. She used her Hunt domain to prevent monsters from spawning.¡±


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Makes sense. Last thing we need is an army of monster gods spawning on Sanctum. I honestly thought she just sent them off to Tower or something.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I simply nodded my head in understanding, turning back to look at the screen when I realized that a new scene was being disyed.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia hummed lightly to herself as she walked out of the house, carrying arge basket under her arm. She seemed rather pleased with herself at the moment due to the efforts of her Virtual self, and decided to help herself to some apples growing from one of the trees she had nted long ago.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Deities do not need to eat, but they can still enjoy the sensation of taste. Furthermore, these were no ordinary apples. The apples that Julia grew were nourished by her Eternal property, and grown on the divine world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She had allowed a mortal to eat one of her apples once on a whim when she went to Earth for a shopping trip. The mortal was an elderly woman, but her body quickly became rejuvenated upon consuming the apple, as if it regressed her age by several years. This surprised not only the woman, but Julia herself, who tested it again with juice made from the apples.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Merely this juice wasparable to a powerful healing potion, and one that she could easily mass produce on her own property. Ever since then, Julia had begun to see those apples as a true luxury. Especially given the fact that they did not fall from the tree or be overly ripe.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Whenever enough apples had grown, she would simply harvest a few, treating herself while making more of the ¡®potions¡¯ that she could sell over the Boundless Caravan. After all, she couldn¡¯t just rely on Aurivy to always pay for everything for her. Well¡­ she technically could, but she definitely did not want to.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, Julia entered the grove of trees that she had nted, and absentmindedly began picking some of the fresh apples that had grown. That is, until she noticed one with an exceptionally smooth texture, closer to the feel of metal than the skin of a fruit.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Looking up, she saw that the apple in her hand was golden. When she plucked it, it easily fell into her hand for her to investigate. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± She mused to herself, turning the golden apple over in her hand.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she had already gathered a few other apples at this point, Julia decided to simply turn around and head back inside. Out of the corner of her eyes, she noticed that every tree had at least one or two golden fruits on it, whether they were apples, peaches, or even oranges. This was definitely something that had never happened before, so she wanted to get to the bottom of it and make sure that the fruits were still safe.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After taking the apple back inside, Julia ced it on the counter, grabbing one of the knives from nearby and cutting it open. ¡°Well, you¡¯re at least not pure gold¡­¡± She muttered, seeing the familiar texture inside the apple. Granted, it was still tinted gold, but it otherwise appeared normal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She carefully scooped out the seeds to save forter, cutting the apple into fine slices. Rather than eating one of the slices herself, she crushed one of the slices with the t of the de against the counter. Once that was done, she lifted the de back up to look at the juice which had been secreted onto the counter.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This counter, as well as the rest of the house, was all created from Julia¡¯s Wood domain. If the juice from this golden apple caused any harm to the counter, she would know that the apple was not safe to consume. However, there did not appear to be any immediate damage, showing that the apples were not innately harmful to divine entities.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With that test out of the way, she grabbed one of the thinner slices, taking a small bite out of it. As soon as she did, her entire body shuddered. There was a rich flow of divine energy contained within the apple, far beyond what the normal ones she produced held. Furthermore, she tasted something different. It was as if another domain was present in the apple, one that she was unfamiliar with.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, the trace of this domain was incredibly weak, and did not sh with her own. Instead, it only nourished the energy within herself, and she quickly found herself eating the entire slice in her hand.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Eyes wide with realization, she pulled out her portable terminal and began making notes about the potency of the fruit. Now that she had experienced it herself, she wanted to see how the others turned out, as well as see if the effects that they had on mortals would improve. This might be an even more powerful healing potion than her normal supply, after all. Though¡­ it might also not be safe for mortal consumption, so she¡¯d need to find someone trustworthy to help her with the tests.

 Chapter 774: Guiding A Queen

    Chapter 774: Guiding A Queen


    <span style="font-weight:400">It did not take long for the general public of Sanctum to learn how to manipte divine gold, though the process of its original creation was not publicly disclosed. Most people simply attributed it to the God of Metal, Tubrock contributing to Sanctum¡¯sary makeup. However, that did not stop them from wanting to uncover its secrets.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Whether it was the divine gold, or the golden fruits that began to grow from trees around the world, numerous gods were beginning to study their secrets. Especially those with skills and domains rted to crafting, the divine gold became an incredibly hot topic.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Previously, the name ¡®divine gold¡¯ had simply been attributed to the solidified form divine energy took when constructing an artifact. Compared to this new mineral, however, that method was now incredibly inefficient. This new material was able to create objects with incredible durability and a much higher capacity to channel and store divine energy. The difference was to such a degree that many gods immediately put in requests to have their artifacts reforged, creating a boom in the industry for craftsman deities.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As for the new golden fruits, tests were conducted to discover their effects. With the exception of fruits grown by the Goddess of Wood, Julia, most fruits of Sanctum could only bepared to a medium-grade healing potion. If properly processed, they could be considered high quality potion ingredients, or used in several products of divine alchemy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sadly, the golden fruits proved unsafe for mortal consumption. The rich divine power contained in just one fruit was enough to wreak havoc in the body of anyone who had not yet ascended to godhood. Even when diluted, the resulting product is only as potent as those potions sold by the Goddess of Wood.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If there was a redeeming quality to the golden fruits, it was not their effects on mortals, but rather the effect that they had on deities. When a god consumed such a fruit, or a potion made from one, their divine power would experience a considerable increase. Forbat gods, this represented a healing potion that was unprecedented for its powerful effects on divine beings.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet, the unknown instigator of the divine gold¡¯s appearance, was keeping a keen watch on the news rted to this material from her pce on Earth. Whenever a new piece of information was discovered, or a new use was found for either the divine gold or the golden fruits, she felt a secret jolt of happiness. Even if nobody knew that this was her contribution, it was something that she did, a way that <i><span style="font-weight:400">she</i><span style="font-weight:400"> changed the world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For the most part, her duties as the Empress of Bloodhaven were delegated to a number of special advisors, leaving her more time and freedom to act as the Goddess of Ki. At first, she was concerned that her advisors would gradually push her out of the political scene, secretly making power grabs behind her back. However, no such thing happened. Okay¡­ it didn¡¯t happen <i><span style="font-weight:400">much</i><span style="font-weight:400">.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her advisors gave her regr reports on the issues that arose within her empire, or the rtionships they held with other nations, and the decisions that they made relevant to those issues. Reading these reports became the primary task for her as an Empress, with her only needing to truly take action if there were conflicting statements in any given report, or if an urgent situation emerged that required her immediate attention.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sometimes, these discrepancies could simply be attributed to a differing viewpoint. For instance, one advisor believes that the rtions with Gandor need to be further improved through increased trade, while another does not know about the increased trade and simply believes that Gandor is taking advantage of the existing trade policies. Typically, it is simply problems like this where people do not properly discuss with one another, and these issues are resolved by reminding the advisors to speak with each other.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, there are also times when one or more advisors try to cover something up in their reports. Maybe their child harassed a group of civilians, or their spouse took some money from the treasury in order to buy a gift. It was cases like these that required her to pay strict attention to the contents of the reports, analyzing them to look for any irregrities. When something was deliberately hidden or fabricated, she had to find out who was responsible and see to it that the appropriate punishment was given.


    <span style="font-weight:400">On the other hand, her ¡®duties¡¯ as the Goddess of Ki were¡­ far more rxed. She did not have anyone in particr that she answered to, lest the Keeper himself or a member of the Greater Pantheon descended. Otherwise, her ¡®job¡¯ was simply to ensure the safety of the world as a whole. If something happened to threaten that safety, such as the golden dragon god from several days prior, she would remove the threat as quickly as possible.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, these events were few and far between, leaving her quite some time to just sit on her throne and read articles on the inte. This was what she was doing now in order to track any information rted to the divine gold. For instance, when she saw that it was possible to infuse a deity¡¯s domain into the unrefined version of divine gold to grant it new properties, she immediately began to wonder what would happen if she did the same.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As the thought crossed her mind, she saw that she had an iing message. Blinking, she closed the tab she was reading and opened it, a smile forming on her face when she saw that the sender was Elisae, the Queen of Hanbei. Scarlet had quite a good impression of this girl, as well as the almost blindingly bright karma she possessed.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lady Scarlet, I hope that this letter finds you well. If you have the time, I would ask that you visit Hanbei so that I could seek your guidance as a friend and more experienced ruler.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was all that the message said, leaving Scarlet quite confused. Regardless, she vanished in a puff of bloody mist. There was no sign of matters which urgently required her attention, and her advisors knew how to reach her if something came up.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she reappeared, she was standing before the stone gates of Hanbei¡¯s central pce. She instinctively spread her senses out over the area to confirm that there were no dangers, and began walking inside. The guards present seemed to recognize her, despite her only paying infrequent visits to the castle. After all, a short girl with blood-red hair, crimson eyes, and a matching dress was rather recognizable within the realm of nobility.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As soon as she appeared, she could sense a messenger running deeper into the castle, likely to report her arrival. Her lips crept up into a small grin as she imagined the look on Elisae¡¯s face from her sudden arrival. Though, her imagination did not have to suffice for long, as the queen herself soon emerged in the hall, walking towards Scarlet with a wide smile.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°When I asked for you to visit, I had no idea that you would do so immediately.¡± She said with a lightugh, though Scarlet was briefly caught off-guard by the sight of her human friend. Something had changed about her since thest time that they met. Not her karma, as that was still as radiant as ever, but¡­ her body was no longer one of flesh and blood.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯re ascending?¡± Scarlet asked in a concerned tone, Elisae nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I knew you¡¯d be able to tell. That¡¯s right. Shall we talk privately?¡± With that said, Elisae began leading Scarlet towards a small reception room, sitting down at the table and leaning back in her chair.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet kept her eyes on Elisae, thinking how reckless it was for her to do this so suddenly. The former queen, Saruko, died due to a failure to ascend. This was not something that could just be taken lightly, and yet Elisae seems to have done just that. Not only had she started the process¡­ she seemed to be ready for the final step, creating the divine will.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Elisae seemed to sense Scarlet¡¯s gaze, smiling towards her. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I took every precaution. Before attempting my ascension, I first achieved perfection both spiritually and physically. Thanks to that, the burden I felt was considerably less throughout the process. If I felt that I was having a hard time, I would have contacted you far sooner.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Then¡­ what is it that you¡¯ve called me here for now?¡± Scarlet asked in confusion. Elisae said that she wanted advice not only as a friend, but as a ruler. Was she trying to ask if she should abdicate the throne, or be subordinate to another deity?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Elisae let out a long sigh. ¡°I¡­ can¡¯t decide on a domain.¡± When Scarlet heard that, her eyes began subconsciously twitching. ¡°No matter what I think about, every domain seems incredible. I want to follow the examples of yourself and the Goddess Udona, bing a proper God-Queen for my people, but I can¡¯t decide on what power I should choose to lead them into the future with¡­¡±


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Everyone else is agonizing over the pain of the first two steps, and whether or not they¡¯d even survive the process. You make it all the way to the end¡­ and you stop because you can¡¯t think of what domain to train? Give me back my concern!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Scarlet shouted in her mind, though did her best to stop the twitching of her face. ¡°What options are you working with so far?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Elisae simply shook her head at Scarlet¡¯s question. ¡°There are too many. It¡¯s like¡­ every day I¡¯m inspired with a new domain. Last week, I wanted to try the domain of Gold, but then the incident at Sanctum happened. Then, I wanted to be the Goddess of Luck, because I like to consider myself quite fortunate. Just today, I decided that it might be nice to be the Goddess of Hope, bing a beacon to lead my people for generations.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet let out a small sigh. She did her best not to focus on the ¡®extravagant problem¡¯. ¡°It seems as if you really don¡¯t know where your path lies. Then, in the opinion of one who wishes to be a God-Queen for the sake of her people, what is it that you believe that a country requires most?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Elisae blinked at the question, lowering her head in focus. ¡°Strength, unity, peace, advancement, hope, fortune¡­ all of these things seem to be incredibly important in governing a nation? But I can only choose one domain, right? Should I choose something like the God of Queens?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet couldn¡¯t help but snort at that, shaking her head. ¡°Only if you want Udona to descend and scold you. All of those things are incredibly important, though. If you were to ask me, though, a ruler is nothing without their people. It is not the Queen¡¯s ce to simply offer strength, unity, or even hope. Rather, it is the Queen¡¯s actions that inspire these things by listening to the wishes of her people.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Elisae¡¯s eyes widened in understanding. ¡°I see, so you want me to choose the Wish domain!¡± She said, as if realizing some great truth. ¡°If I take this domain, I won¡¯t be able to do much on my own¡­ but if someone else gives me an earnest wish, I would be able to release a wider range of power in the name of granting that wish¡­ yes, it¡¯s really the domain of a ruler that wishes to stand with her people.¡± Elisae¡¯s bright smile seemed to illuminate the room as she looked at Scarlet.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet, meanwhile, was simply blinking with a confused expression. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I was trying to guide you to the Inspiration domain so that you could follow the path of the Goddess Terra. How did it suddenly be the Wish domain?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I knew that I could count on you to help.¡± Elisae stood, walking over to Scarlet and wrapping her in a tight embrace. ¡°Yes, the Goddess of Wishes, a queen that answers the cries of her people¡­ I might not be able to make everyone happy, but this would surely be a path for me to lead my people into a brighter tomorrow! I¡¯ll go and prepare right away.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After making that deration, Elisae quickly ran out of the room, no doubt to find someone to begin practicing wish-rted powers so that she could saturate her divinity in that domain prior to her final ascension. Scarlet, however, was simply left dumbfounded as Elisae ran off to perform her sudden training.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡­ feel confused¡­ and somewhat cheated. But, mostly confused¡­ what just happened!?¡±

 Chapter 775: Make A Wish

    Chapter 775: Make A Wish


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I want to be a queen that answers the just wishes of her people.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Elisae nodded to herself as she firmly imprinted this concept in her mind. She did not wish to be a Queen that sought battle or personal glory. As Scarlet had said, she wanted to build a nation where the will of the people was paramount. So long as it was a just, heartfelt wish, she wanted to grant it.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">How do I build divinity with the concept of a wish? </i><span style="font-weight:400">In order to prepare for her ascension, she had done quite a lot of research. She learned that the pain suffered by those who had achieved perfection in the soul and body was a mere fraction of that suffered by those with mortal, unrefined bodies. Although the burden was still considerable, she was able to train herself to endure that level of pain.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Granted, there was nobody willing to inflict such pain on her, so she was forced to learn magic that could do so herself. Even if Elisae was not so loved by the people around her, they knew what typically happened to those that tried to harm her. How could they be sure that a willing torture would not count as far as her karma was concerned? Both out of their love for their queen and fear for their own lives, they were unable to acquiesce to Elisae¡¯s training request.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aside from training herself to maintain focus under intense levels of pain, and taking the necessary steps to reach perfection, Elisae studied in depth the process of acquiring a domain. This part was not an exact science, as there were several exceptions to themon theme. Typically, if someone trained powers in a specific domain, they would receive it as their domain upon ascending.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, the exceptions to this seemed to partially disprove the rule. Certain individuals did not receive the domain that they wished for, the most famous being the lord of Kross, Reynard Kross himself. He was among the first generation of mortal deities, taking the title of God-King even before Udona.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Reynard Kross had cultivated the Kings domain, wanting to be not only a God-King, but a king among gods. However, upon his ascension, the domain granted to him was simply the Knights domain. As if the heavens themselves had rejected his right to rule.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Granted, that did not stop him from growing the military power of his kingdom. In the past, the continent had been littered with numerous smaller human kingdoms, but there were now only three. The first was Hanbei, whose alliance with the Bloodhaven Empire had provided it with an additionalyer of protection. The second was the Coalition of Man, often simply referred to as the Coalition.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This group was created in response to Reynard Kross leading his men to conquer and absorb other nations within the continent. Realizing the danger, over a dozen kings and queens all came together to form a united front. Only with theirbined power were they able to protect their borders, with Hanbei serving as the bncing force.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Finally, thest nation was obviously that of Kross. Ever since his ascension, it has be known as the Empire of Holy Knights. Among all three nations, it boasts the highest overall military presence and the highest ambition. Unfortunately, many of itsnds were damaged in the battles of conquest, leaving them rather poor economically.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Because of this, Kross relies heavily on the Boundless Caravan for trade, and is constantly on the lookout for deities willing toe and repair theirnd. ording to what Elisae knew, Reynard Kross had even once reached out to the Goddess of Wood, wishing to use her influence as a nature deity to restore arge forest.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In a shocking turn of events to many who knew of Julia Hart¡¯s kindhearted nature, she outright refused him. In the public response she delivered, she said that she would not use her power in aid of a tyrant to help him restore that which he damaged in his path of blood. The scars on hisnd would serve as his reminder that his decisionse with a cost.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With Julia leading the way, many deities simrly refused Kross¡¯s requests to revitalize thend. Even after Sanctum opened up to the world, and a new wave of gods rose, there was nobody to help this country repair the damage that they themselves caused.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Regardless, Reynard Kross served as a perfect demonstration that you were not guaranteed to receive the domain that you wished for. There were other examples, but none as famous. <i><span style="font-weight:400">If it is the will of the heavens, perhaps the Keeper and Greater Pantheon are the ultimate deciding factors? Or is it a system in ce created by the Keeper?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">If it was the former, then she had the chance to get the domain she wanted so long as she proved herself to be a morally righteous individual. However, thetter would indicate a truly impartial system, where specific domains had been dered as off-limits to mortal gods. Unfortunately, there was no way to confirm which answer was correct without speaking to a member of the Greater Pantheon directly, or someone with a direct rtionship to the Keeper.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Elisae¡¯s eye twitched at that, recalling the rumors that the First Blood was a descendant of the Keeper, but she shook her head. Even if that was true, she did not want to bother Scarlet even more than she had already for this matter. Asking her to put in a good word and make sure she got the domain she wanted would be taking advantage of their friendship.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Then, my only hope is to prove that I only want to use this power for the betterment of my people.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She nodded her head, reaffirming her conviction. Through her many tests until now, trying out different domain options, she had confirmed several different methods of utilizing divine powers. The most notable method was that of a divine restriction, a restraint that a deity ced on themselves to focus their powers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Most divine abilities had these restrictions in some form or another, in order to reduce their cost. For example, the Goddess of Mercy ced a restriction on her own divinity to prevent her from causing direct pain with her divine powers. The Goddess of Motherhood¡¯s blessing was simrly restricted to those expecting mothers who were experiencing rather severeplications, in order to prevent the blessing from triggering with every expecting mother and rapidly consuming her divinity.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">In that case, I¡¯ll create a restriction of my own.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> As Elisae walked through the halls, she generated a ring of divine energy around her right arm, lifting it in front of her to watch it. <i><span style="font-weight:400">My power of Wishes cannot be activated by myself. If I hear and ept the wishes of another, only then may it activate.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her words flowed into her divinity, which then sank into her body. Elisae felt as if there were a shackle chaining her down, knowing that the effect had taken hold. She smiled happily, as this was the first step to her rise as the God-Queen of Hanbei.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Looking around the hall, she soon found a maid leaving one of the guest rooms, appearing to have just finished her routine of tidying up. With that same smile stered across her face, the Queen of Hanbei approached the lowly maid. ¡°rissa, right? I¡¯d like to ask a favor from you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°W-what?¡± The maid jumped in shock, surprised by the Queen¡¯s sudden approach. At this point, everyone in the castle was aware that their Queen had memorized all of their names. This was a rather touching point that increased their favorability towards her, as most nobles did not even know the names of all of their staff. ¡°What can I do for you, Your Highness?¡± rissa asked while expecting there to be a mess somewhere she needed to take care of.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯d like you to make a wish.¡± Elisae said with that same expression, confusing rissa. ¡°In order for me to train myself, I must answer the wishes of those around me. Thus, I beg of you, even if it is something you deem insignificant, please make an honest wish.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">rissa¡¯s eyes went wide when Elisae bowed her head with her request. ¡°T-There¡¯s no need for you to go so far, Your Highness!¡± She said in a flustered tone, looking up and down the hall to make sure nobody witnessed the queen bowing to a mere maid.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I won¡¯t stop bowing until you make a wish.¡± Elisae¡¯s voice turned a touch more yful at that, rissa¡¯s expression turning awkward. Soon, the maid let out an exasperated sigh, being forced to think of a wish on the spot. In fact, there was one thing that had been weighing down on her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is it¡­ is it eptable to Your Highness if the wish is not for the sake of myself, but for another?¡± She asked, keeping her eyes on the queen.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That would be perfect!¡± Elisae nodded her head energetically. ¡°A wish for the sake of others is truly a good wish.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">rissa smiled a bit awkwardly, her lips twitching. ¡°Then¡­ the Head Butler, Gordo. Lately, he has been ill. He manages his condition with the use of potions, and has been assured that it is not contagious, merely a mdy of his age. A ki deviation, ording to the physician. However, he has begun looking to train a sessor, as the condition has been worsening over thest few years. If it is possible, would you be willing to help him?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course!¡± Elisae nodded again, her eyes wide at the knowledge that one of her trusted retainers had been hiding such pain. Even without the divine training, she would have asked Scarlet to look at him and see if she could help. ¡°But¡­ you need to phrase it as a wish. If you do that, I can use my power. I think¡­ that should be how this works.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The maid let out another sigh, thinking it over. ¡°In that case¡­ I wish for the Head Butler, Gordo, to find himself in good health.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Elisae smiled as she heard the wish, focusing on her divinity. She did not yet have the domain she was aiming for, so she had to do a lot of the work herself. Still, the restriction that she ced opened a path for her. Now that she had heard a wish, one of the shackles on her divinity loosened. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It is up to me to choose how to answer a wish¡­ but to guide the future of my people, I must answer a just wish with an honest reply.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Elisae¡¯s senses spread out through the castle, doing her best to remain unnoticed so as not to disturb the staff. It did not take long for her to find Gordo in the kitchen, attending to preparing the menu for the day¡¯s meals. Her senses swept over his body, finding the deviation in his ki. <i><span style="font-weight:400">This is all part of the wish.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She repeated that to herself again and again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once she found the deviation, a corroded corner of his ki path, she channeled her divinity along the shackles she had ced. <i><span style="font-weight:400">In ordance with the wish, let¡¯s fix this.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The butler looked around in confusion, seeming to sense something amiss as his ki path was quietly mended with divine power. Additionally, the damage to his organs caused by the deviation was simrly repaired in order to restore him to full health.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Elisae gave a small click of her tongue when she realized that he must have been using regeneration potions to maintain his health bar, keeping it from appearing and worrying her. Only once she had fulfilled the wish did she finally stand, allowing rissa to breathe easily. ¡°Is there anything else you¡¯d like?¡± Elisae suddenly asked, the maid blinking.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is the former wish already granted?¡± She responded in confusion, to which the queen nodded. ¡°Then, for my second wish¡­ I wish for you to be happy, Your Highness.¡± She answered, a somewhat cheeky smile on her face.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This time, it was Elisae¡¯s turn to be surprised. Soon, she let out a lightugh, hugging the maid. ¡°As long as I have people like you supporting me, I couldn¡¯t be happier.¡± She said, before seeming to realize something.


    <span style="font-weight:400">rissa¡¯s spark of divinity felt weaker than it had previously. Normally, this was something that Elisae wouldn¡¯t have noticed. However, interacting with the maid for an extended period, and sweeping her divine senses over the area had allowed her to get a certain understanding. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I see¡­ if I am answering the prayers of others, are they perhaps contributing their small divinity to help me fulfill their wish? Or maybe the way I set up those restrictions means that it is their divinity that ¡®unlocks¡¯ my power? I should ce a limit on one wish from each person¡­ let¡¯s say every week. That should be time for their divinity to recover without harming themselves. Thankfully, that second wish wasn¡¯t anything serious.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is something the matter, Your Highness?¡± rissa asked from within Elisae¡¯s embrace, seeming to notice theplicated expression on the queen¡¯s face.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, Elisae simply shook her head. ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing. I just learned something from this, is all. You¡¯ve been a great help to me, rissa.¡± The matter of her divine spark was not a significant problem, as Elisae knew it was not enough to cause her any harm. rissa had no aspirations of divinity, and even if she did, she would only need to dy her ascension by a few days.

 Chapter 776: In The Forest Of Night

    Chapter 776: In The Forest Of Night


    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked as the scene shifted to show Elisae, the undisputed holder of the ¡®greatest karma¡¯ throughout any of my worlds. Moreover, the way that she had chosen to develop her divinity. ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t think that there¡¯s been anyone else aiming for anything like this, has there?¡± I asked, ncing over at Aurivy, as well as alia who had recently joined us.


    <span style="font-weight:400">alia shook her head. ¡°The closest would have to be Jonas. His domain of Community was also a domain established to help others rather than himself. Though, his situation was not to the extreme that he was incapable of using his divinity without the wishes of another.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod at that, thinking aloud. ¡°How is Jonas doing? Thest I remember, he flew off in his divine city with hismunity.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy smirked yfully. ¡°He¡¯s still in the sr system. However, he left the a long time ago. Every now and then, he¡¯ll drop by Earth to look for people to add to hismunity, or visit Sanctum. He actually tried to recruit Philia once, since her domain would have made managing his city quite a bit easier.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ahh.¡± I nodded my head again. It wasn¡¯t surprising to hear that he was doing well. With the way he established hismunity, it¡¯d be rather difficult for trouble to find him unless he went looking for it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I did feel a little bad for Scarlet, whose advice had been misconstrued without being given any chance to correct the misunderstanding. Even now, the Goddess of Ki was sulking back in her pce, knowing that it¡¯d be useless to try to convince Elisae that she wasn¡¯t trying to get her on the path of ¡®wishes¡¯.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Part of me was curious how this Goddess of Wishes would develop once she reached her ascension. Given her character and the restrictions that she ced on herself, I couldn¡¯t really see alia denying her the domain that she was aiming for. ¡°How is she going to make a divine artifact, if she isn¡¯t even able to use her divinity for herself?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">alia and Aurivy both blinked at that, looking at each other. Ultimately, it was alia who spoke in an awkward tone. ¡°I suppose she¡¯ll have to convince someone else to wish for it on her behalf? Though, knowing her, I doubt she¡¯d go to that extent. It¡¯s entirely possible that she won¡¯t have an artifact for quite some time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately, that was the truth. Elisae was the type of person that could choose to reunite with her parents at any time and enter the Golden Pce of the afterlife merely due to her overflowing karma. Instead, she chooses to remain bound to the mortal world, all to make it a better ce for the people that had been entrusted to her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I thought about that, I saw Elisae tracking down yet another person, all in order to get them to make a wish. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Well, at least she didn¡¯t make the restriction one where she was forced to grant all wishes thate her way.</i>


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra flew high above the ground, eyes scanning down over the dark forest of the twenty-eighth floor, named as the Dark Forest for its skewed day/night cycle. Her level had once again reached a bottleneck, unable to proceed as long as the level cap of the world remained where it was. Sadly, the orbs for all previous levels had already been found, so the only way to allow her to advance again would be to go through the nextyer of Fyor and find <i><span style="font-weight:400">its</i><span style="font-weight:400"> orb.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, she was aware of the location of the gate to the nextyer, having found it long ago through the use of her shadow. She even revealed this information to the guild, though she did so while only saying she knew the general area. After all, if she revealed that she could urately map an entire world through its shadows, that might bring more harm than good.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Regardless, the guild had granted her the task of finding the exact location of the gate and establishing a forward base. For this mission, she had been given a single-use portal deployment kit, to be activated upon securing the area around the gate.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I know I said that I had it down to a radius of ten thousand kilometers, but I teleported right to the spot, didn¡¯t I?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She asked the shadow on the underside of her wings, looking over the ground in confusion. <i><span style="font-weight:400">This is the right ce¡­ right?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a moment of silence before a gruff voice spoke back to her. <i><span style="font-weight:400">This is the ce, Lady Petra. However, the terrain seems different from what we have on our side.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The reports of the scout confused Petra more than anything else. How could the terrain be different when it was aplete copy, updated in real time? <i><span style="font-weight:400">What¡­ what¡¯s different about it?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">The ground appears to be roughly two kilometers higher than we have. Additionally, there should be a vast clearing in this area, with the gate located at its center.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Petra had a sinking feeling when she listened to that report.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was only one thing that was not copied between the shadow world and the world of Fyor. This one thing was¡­ wildlife. Monsters and beasts would not appear within the shadow world, but everything else would remain the same.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">So¡­ we either have a massive swarm of nt monsters below us¡­ or one foliage titan. I¡¯m leaning towards a foliage titan.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Petra gulped at that idea, as it meant that there was a monster whose body was two kilometers thick while it was likely to be lying down. If that were the case, how tall would it be standing up? No, more importantly, was it even a monster that was able to move its entire body like that in the first ce?


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Well, I leveled up my druid ss for dealing with things like this.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Petra stopped her forward momentum, simply pping her wings to keep herself hovering in the air. The gravity of this floor was enough that there was a limit to what she could do with only her wings, but thankfully she was able to make up the rest with her ki and mana.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra took a deep breath, spreading her arms out to either side and connecting with the natural energy of the world. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Spirit of Fyor, I¡¯m going to need to borrow a bit of power from you.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She whispered in her mind, allowing the natural energy around her to carry her words.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Despite saying that, though, she knew that there was no way to handle a monster or a swarm of this scale merely with natural energy. Not before it had the chance to react to her presence. With that thought in mind, her ki began to flow, a bloody mist wrapping over her body. Darkness swept in from beneath her wing, forming armor thattched onto her form.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The power of a druid was the ability to mobilize natural energy, which permeated the entire world. The shape that energy took was dependent upon the will of the user, and which element they were calling forth. Many preferred to use the ssical four elements such as fire, wind, water, or earth. However, there existed many elements beyond simply these four.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The element which Petra was most skilled at wielding was the element of darkness. That which existed where light could not reach, and which permeated the entire twenty-seventh floor of Fyor for the vast majority of the time. This natural darkness twisted, strands of ck energy flowing through the air to wrap around Petra.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As the armor of the World¡¯s Shadow served as a medium, her ki began to pump faster and faster, her eyes formingntern-like mes of bloody light. Tucking her wings in, her body entered a sudden free-fall, plummeting towards the ground below. The darkness flowing in from all around seemed to make her body increase in size, a veritable giant of darkness growing as it fell.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was the technique that Petra had created to serve as her ¡®ultimate ability¡¯ after training both the Berserker and Druid sses to the highest level she could manage. She called it her Shadow of a Colossus. Her vast reserves of ki allowed her to move the armor of the World¡¯s Shadow, which connected with the body of the dark giant.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As the dark giant fell, it adjusted its posture, thick ws stretching out from its hands. Soon, its bodynded heavily on the ground, tearing at the vines and roots beneath it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sure enough, a health bar suddenly appeared, hovering in the air as if to confirm Petra¡¯s previous suspicions. The red, ming eyes of the giant seemed to be sneering as they saw the single health bar. However, at the same time, the ground beneath its feet began to shift.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Vines up to a full meter thickshed out from below, aiming to wrap around the body of the giant while the forest around it squirmed. Judging by this reaction, Petra confirmed that the monster did not seem to be one capable of mobility. Most likely, it was just grown at this location and happened to cover the gate. Though, that made Petra wonder how much more of the ground covering the twenty-seventh floor was simrlyposed of these slumbering lumber-giants.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The giant appeared to be struggling, tearing at the ground as it was continuously pulled under by the thick vines. Despite this, Petra did not panic, merely controlling the giant to continue fighting. Only once the entire body of the giant had been submerged did Petra act.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra herself was created from the divine power of Ashley, the Goddess of Darkness. And although it had been primarily this domain that gave birth to her, it could not be denied that Ashley possessed another elemental domain as well. This domain became a secondary talent for Petra, one that she did her best to never neglect.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Not long after the giant, formed from highly condensed natural energy, was pulled underground, Petra¡¯s figure silently disappeared into the shadow world. As she did, she left a singlemand for the energy left behind. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Burn.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">From above, a red spot could be seen appearing on the ground, gradually beginning to grow wider and brighter while the health bar in the air decreased. Soon, mes licked up from between the vines, illuminating the area while rising into the air. After that, the roar of an inferno could be heard from the shuddering forest.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Something simr to the crunching of bark marked the cry of the giant monster, its body ravaged by the release of the condensed mes. Due to its size, it was unable to move beyondmanding its vestigial vines, dragging prey inside of itself to slowly consume. Now that it had devoured something harmful to itself, the creature was struck with pain that it had never known.


    <span style="font-weight:400">High above the zing fire, Petra appeared from the darkness once again, a small smile on her face. ¡°This won¡¯t be enough to kill it, so let¡¯s speed things along.¡± She took another deep breath after saying that, connecting with the natural energy of the world again. A breeze began to pick up in the area, an incredibly dry wind.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This wind picked up the fire while also drying out the nts that it came into contact with, allowing the inferno to spread rapidly. The night of the forest saw an unexpected dawn, apanied by the cry of a mighty behemoth.


    <span style="font-weight:400">During all of this, Petra watched impassively from above. She did not take pleasure in killing monsters like this. However, if the creature was not in, the progress of Fyor would forever halt at this floor, unable to progress to greater heights. Besides¡­ sometimes, you just want to watch the world burn.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°... There are several things that I feel should be said about this scene.¡± Imented, watching Petra burning down a massive stretch of forest. ¡°But more than that¡­ just how much of theyer really is covered by those giants?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, about ten percent.¡± Aurivy said with a light shrug of her shoulders. ¡°They usually don¡¯t do any harm, and just grab either big monsters that spawn, or devour nearby nts.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I somehow feel that the twenty-seventh floor just became a lot more dangerous.¡±

 Chapter 777: A Whole New World

    Chapter 777: A Whole New World


    <span style="font-weight:400">After Petra finished clearing the area around the gate, ensuring that the giant monster was defeated, she began the construction of the single-use teleport gate. Unfortunately, such gates were bing far harder to utilize as the floors progressed. If thisrge, circr portal were to be used on a floor in the single digits, it would be able to be a permanent instation. Sadly, on the twenty-seventh floor, the item would be irreparably damaged after a mere five minutes of usage.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The portal itself rested on a brass tform, unfolded from numerousrge squares and anchored in the dirt. On either side of the tform was a magic gem containing arge quantity of mana. The portal itself was a set of mithral-alloy rings five meters in diameter, and with hundreds of runes carved along their outer edges.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">We¡¯ll probably need a new portal system starting from the next floor¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Petra thought to herself with a shake of her head as she finished the instation process. As the hum of the mana began to ring out into the surroundings, she produced her portable terminal. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Well, at least these things work based on simple mana signatures¡­</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Activating the terminal¡¯s interface, she typed out a message to the guild leader, letting him know that the instation wasplete. Soon, he would arrive with a squad of Aurivy¡¯s priests to establish a permanent teleportationwork. In the meantime¡­


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra¡¯s eyes turned towards the massive b of smooth, ck stone with a smile. This was always her favorite part, taking a look at what the nextyer of Fyor would be like. She only hoped that it would not be another area like the twenty-sixth where shadow powers were all but useless.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa, I¡¯m heading out. You want to join me?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She transmitted through her shadow to Thelsa, who was currently working as a waitress at Gate¡¯s Rest.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Give me just a minute to take my break and prepare a recement, and I¡¯ll head over. </i><span style="font-weight:400">Petra¡¯s smile grew wider at that, rocking back and forth on her heels like an excited child. As soon as she felt the familiar presence appearing in her shadow, she made a quick dash for the portal, ignoring the silverish rings lighting up behind her. The ck b opened, and Petra practically leapt through.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Kliiing!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The first sound she heard on the other side was the shing of des, the shouting of men and women in an unfamiliar tongue. Startled, Petra dove into the shadow of the gate, extending her senses to observe the surrounding environment.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra could see that the ck b appeared to be embedded into the wall of a great fortress. Or rather, the fortress was most likely built around the b, using it as an unbreakable wall. Thanks to that, the security on this particr region was somewhat morex, nobody noticing the demonic girl¡¯s entrance and subsequent disappearance.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra soon made out two groups of people fighting within the fortress. The defenders appeared to be almost entirely human, but their eyes seemed to glow in every color of the rainbow. Most of this race fought casting runic spells, chanting in groups while a select few wielded swords and shields.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The attacking group appeared to be simr in build to dwarves, but with ash-colored skin. Among these ¡®gray dwarves¡¯, a select few stood as tall as a human, some even asrge as a heroc. None of them appeared to be using magic, instead fighting with the strength of their weapons and the power of nature.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Rainbow-eyed humans and gray-skinned dwarves¡­?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Petra asked in shock, though the majority of her attention was turned to the unusual human-like race. <i><span style="font-weight:400">How did they learn runes this advanced?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">It had to be known that the only reason the races of Fyor knew the runic tongue was due to the deliverance of Aurivy and Bihena, who shared this knowledge with the world over time. Without that knowledge, it was very likely that they would still be stumbling to figure out the first tier of runes on their own.


    <span style="font-weight:400">And yet, this unknown race was undoubtedly using third tier runic magic inrge groups, and doing so fluently at that. Never before had a race born outside the core of Fyor been able to wield runes with such mastery. At first, Petra thought that perhaps this was another ¡®chosen race¡¯ by the Keeper, but she quickly dismissed that thought. In order for a race of Fyor to enter the ranks of ¡®chosen races¡¯, their racial sphere must be delivered to the core of Fyor.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯s likely that they simply have a high natural affinity with magic.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Thelsa suggested, though she herself seemed quite surprised by the development. As one that studied magic herself, she was all too familiar with the difficulty of memorizing high level runic spells.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Somehow, the dwarves were able to fight evenly with the power of these mages, despite not appearing to use ki in a skillful manner. Instead, the spells appeared to have trouble damaging their tough hides. This created an equilibrium where the rainbow-eyed humans and gray-skinned dwarves fought on equal footing.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">What should we do?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Petra asked in concern, fidgeting within the shadow. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I don¡¯t think a situation like this has ever happened before, right?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra knew that they could not just carelessly get involved in the conflict of the local races. How could they know who was right and who was wrong when they only just arrived and could not speak the samenguage? Perhaps this fort originally belonged to the dwarves, and they were merely taking it back.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">First, let¡¯s update our map.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Thelsa encouraged gently. <i><span style="font-weight:400">After that, you can go and tell the guild leader what we found. There are precedents where the natives have responded peacefully, so there should not be too much trouble establishing a diplomatic group.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra nodded her head, stretching out her shadow to map out this world. For those present, all they could see was a momentary sh of darkness, as if the light of the world had flickered for a brief moment. For Petra, however, the shadow world was quicklyyered atop what they had already obtained, and Thelsa was pouring over the information in real time by deploying thousands of shadow scouts across the entireyer.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯s big¡­ unreasonably so. If one were to walk across the entire surface of thisyer¡­ four million? No, it¡¯s probably even more than four million kilometers.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Petra¡¯s eyes went wide at that estimation, despite it already being roughly within the range that was to be expected. With twenty-sevenyers already explored, schrs had long ago found the pattern for how the individualyers grew in rtion to one another.


    <span style="font-weight:400">From what had been uncovered, eachyer was a little more than fifty percentrger than theyer before it. Still, it was a different story to hear it from a research paper as opposed to experiencing it directly. This was part of the thrill she felt every time she explored a newyer. The unknown environment, the strange conditions, the possibility of seeing unheard-of races.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra practically had to force herself out of her shadow, to retreat back through the gate again. Thankfully, the ck b had been an immutable fact in the development of this world, never changing in the slightest, so nobody noticed her in the heat of battle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">By the time she returned, she could see the dovah guild leader already directing the priests to link with this gate. Off in the back, one priest who had already done so was opening a gate to begin the transportation of building materials. When the guild leader saw Petra, he waved at her with a broad smile. ¡°You did good work today, ck.¡± He said, calling her by her old code name.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Not many people remembered this name, as she had only been ying smaller roles before her reveal on the twenty-fifth floor. Those who went digging, however, would learn that she has been active for centuries, confirming that she was by no means a normal demon. Petra gave a small nod at the praise, her expression difficult.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The guild leader seemed to notice the expression, his eyes bing serious. ¡°Is the nextyer inhospitable?¡± This was a dark reality that they had to brace themselves for every time they entered a newyer. One that they had almost had to face when arriving at the twenty-sixth floor. There was every possibility that a gate could simply be resting in a pool ofva, or in an environment that was innately hostile to outsiders.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not¡­ entirely.¡± Petra shook her head to deny the worst-case scenario. ¡°There are sentient races around the gate. Two of them, from what I could immediately see, and they were at war. A proper war with swords and magic¡­ high level runic magic at that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The dovah¡¯s eyes went wide in shock, his bestial jaw hanging slightly open. ¡°Are you sure?¡± He couldn¡¯t help but ask, as he knew that Petra was not personally a runic mage.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra simply returned his question with a wry smile. ¡°I¡¯m sure. Dozens of mages chanted long runic spells in unison, as if they were born knowing thenguage. The level of advancement¡­ think Sher Dien¡¯s architecture. It all looked like stonework with wide open spaces, and I didn¡¯t see anything that would suggest a level of technological advancement beyond the ability to forge metal weapons.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">He nodded his head in response, a grave expression barely concealed by his matted fur. ¡°I understand. I¡¯ll pass the message along. If this is truly a meeting with a new, civilized culture, then it¡¯s not something for us to monopolize. I¡¯ll send out invitations to each of the allied worlds, so we can all show a united front when it is time to make contact. Once that happens, can I count on you to lead the escort team?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra¡¯s troubled expression immediately gave way to a bright smile, nodding her head happily. ¡°I¡¯d love to do so, sir! Just let me know when everything is ready. I¡¯ll be staying at Gate¡¯s Rest until then, so just check the usual spots or call me on my terminal.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The dovah let off a light chuckle at Petra¡¯s sudden change in attitude, clearly knowing how the girl craved adventure and excitement. ¡°I¡¯ll be sure to do just that. In the meantime, you¡¯ve confirmed that the area here is safe?¡± He nced around at the charred remains of the forest wall from where Petra had in the floral behemoth.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As safe as it can be.¡± Petra nodded her confirmation. ¡°There was a monster upying thend before, so I had to remove it. I¡¯ve confirmed its death, but I can¡¯t make any promises beyond the immediate area. If I were you, I¡¯d prioritize the defenses once everything was set up.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The guild leader nodded his head, epting her advice. The aftermath of the fire was all the evidence that he needed to know how she ¡®removed¡¯ the monster. The air was still hot and dry, a stark contrast from the otherwise humid atmosphere that permeated most of theyer. ¡°In that case, I¡¯ll let you go and rx. You¡¯ve earned your break.¡± As he said that, he tossed a small bag towards Petra, containing the reward for themission she epted to find the gate.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra held the bag with a smile, nodding her head and sinking into the shadow.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">From within the Admin Room, I narrowed my eyes at the screen, which now disyed the scene of the twenty-eighthyer of Fyor. There weren¡¯t just two races, but three that lived there. The first was known as the Ash Dwarves, who lived within tall mountains and deep tunnels. Like normal dwarves, they boasted an incredible ability when it came to forging, but unlike their counterparts they showed little aptitude for ki. Instead, they favored the use of natural energy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The second race was one I was simply calling the Rainbow Eyes, due to their iconic feature. They had a natural affinity for magic, but more than that¡­ ¡°Is that what I think it is?¡± I asked, ncing over towards alia, who had a serious expression on her face.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It is¡­ I suppose you could call this a manastone?¡± She suggested, seeing the veins of strange material running throughout the territory of the Rainbow Eyes. Like the elemental stones, this one was connected to the ne of mana, which James had only roughly exined to me previously. Strange symbols could be seen released from the stones at different points along with the steady stream of mana. These symbols were naturally runes, enabling the magically inclined race to easily grasp their meaning and usage.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Run a check for any monsters that might have gotten through. The fact that there are developed civilizations makes it a bit unlikely, but we still need to check.¡± I said gravely, turning my attention to the third race. This was a humanoid race that kept to itself, its face a nk mask of flesh. Their senses originated from their mastery of ki, forming a thin sphere around themselves.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This race was known as the Faceless Monks, or at least that¡¯s what I was calling them for the moment. As they had no mouths, they lived by absorbing ki from their ¡®food¡¯, and they ¡®talked¡¯ entirely through a strange bodynguage. Small twitches seemed to indicate entire words based on the body parts used, and these movements were picked up by the ki fields of the other party. All in all¡­ not a race I was looking forward to meeting personally.

 Chapter 778: Sponsored Activities

    Chapter 778: Sponsored Activities


    <span style="font-weight:400">The process to gather an entourage for the diplomatic meeting was¡­ by no means an easy one. Given that the floor they were traveling to was the twenty-eighth, it had to be assumed that creatures born there would be a higher level than even the Maxers of Fyor, even without the benefits of being a ¡®chosen race¡¯. For this reason, the ones most sought after were none other than those who had achieved godhood, or were simrly able to fight above their level with ease.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra was a given, as she had disyed a wide array of skills. Perhaps due to her nature as the Demigoddess of Shadows, she was able to face off against numerous Maxers at a single time. Furthermore, her scouting ability was unparalleled, able to find a target so long as it either resided in a shadow or cast a shadow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Next were the native gods of Fyor, Thessa and Theon Grid. Thessa had proven herself in the battle above the skies of Deckan, when she helped to fight back the golem fleet, and often defended cities of the higher floors from monsters in her free time. Meanwhile, her brother Theon was the God of Bnce. Even if the enemy was stronger than himself, he could bring them down to his level. This made him someone that they absolutely needed to recruit for the mission.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Finally, there was the God of Paper, a human born on Earth that had ascended long ago. He often worked with the Metong and March empires as a trantor, while also possessing significantbat prowess befitting a mortal god.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The guild leader sat at his desk, looking at the names of the four people he nned to recruit for this mission. ¡°Petra Carna, Thessa Grid, Theon Grid, Alex Lobaine¡­¡± Petra had already agreed to the mission, and he knew Thessa would agree so long as it was under the premise of promoting peace. Theon had never taken part in such an important mission, so he wasn¡¯t sure there. However, Thessa would likely be able to convince him, even if he had his reservations.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The problem was recruiting the God of Paper. He worked for the golem races due to the joy of being the first person to make contact with a whole new civilization, ording to public record. Despite this, the two races paid him an exorbitant sum for his services. Specifically, they paid him with the power of faith, transferable through Sanctum. Both the leaders of the Metong and March were deities themselves, leaders of massive empires. The faith that they garnered on a regr basis would be no small amount.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Given the price that the High Mother quoted for us, I doubt that we can afford him.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The guild leader had already sent out his messages towards the leaders of the other worlds, inviting them to join him for this first contact, while also including the list of guards he wished to hire.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of those who received the invitation, the elven Queen of Gandor promised to send a representative, as did the God-Queen of Deckan and the Queen of Kione. The Metong and March rulers seemed rather surprised at the invitation, seeing such first contacts as a more casual exercise unworthy of gathering all of the races together. Thus, they appreciated the gesture, but politely declined. The Metong¡¯s High Mother did, however, notify the guild leader of the price they typically paid when hiring Alex Lobaine.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of the remaining worlds, the President of Spica¡¯s Demacry elected not to take part as their emissaries would be weakened by the change in naturalws. Unsurprisingly, Lorek gave a simr reason for refusal. As for Desbar, they declined on the premise that their race would be heavily affected by the conditions of Fyor¡¯s upper levels.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I guess ck really is special there, huh?¡± He muttered, ncing at the document for Petra Carna. Despite her race having an aversion to sunlight, she often operated even during daylight hours. Additionally, the gravity of the upper floors often rendered the wings of demons a liability, but she maintained her flight through special methods.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As he was lost in his thoughts, there was a knock on the door to his office. ¡°S-Sir, you have a visitor.¡± The voice of his secretary called out, making the dovah raise a curious brow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I thought I said that I didn¡¯t want to be disturbed?¡± He questioned, shaking his head. He would need some time to figure out how to recruit the gods on his list.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°T-This is a rather urgent--no wait!¡± The secretary called out as the door flew open, a pale-skinned youth walking in with light blue hair. At first, the guild leader was about to scold her for barging in unannounced, before he recognized her from various reports he had received over the years.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I want in!¡± The Goddess of Adventure pped her small hands down against his desk, eyes wide and shining. Actually shining, as if she had created light within her eyes. ¡°The diplomatic mission, I want in!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">It took the guild leader nearly a full minute to register this request, gulping thickly. He had not sent the invitation to the Sky Citadel out of consideration to theirck of manpower. It was widely known that only three individuals directly served the Keeper, so he thought it would be rude to ask them to add this mission into their surely busy schedules. ¡°L-Lady Lifre, this is a surprise.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I want in!¡± She repeated again, pping the dest once more. The guild leader winced when he heard the wood cracking beneath her palms.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yes, you said that¡­ you wish to join our first contact party?¡± He asked in a hesitant tone, to which Lifre nodded her head rapidly, a wide smile stered across her face. ¡°That can¡­ surely be arranged. However, may I ask why you are interested?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s the first meeting with a fantasy civilization!¡± She said, throwing her hands into the air and stepping back, twirling around. ¡°Humans with a natural knowledge of advanced magic. Dwarves with bodies that can resist that magic while wielding the power of nature. Why are they at war? Given the size of the floor, it can¡¯t be a simple matter of a territorial dispute, right?! Is it a sordid affair, greed over an ancient relic, or revenge for hunting a long-lived beast that they revered as a god? Maybe it¡¯s even just a sibling rivalry on a divine scale! Whatever it is, it¡¯s sure to be an adventure!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing how enthusiastic she was about joining the mission, the guild leader simply let out a resigned sigh. Thankfully, the three servants of the Keeper¡¯s Citadel were all extremely powerful, so he knew that she would be a safe addition to the team. Especially since she made it to the core of Fyor, proving that she had not yet surpassed the world¡¯s level restriction. ¡°Ver--¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, also, I have a message for you from Tsubaki.¡± Lifre interrupted just as he was about to ept, producing a crystal ring from the palm of her hand and setting it down. Once she had done so, she tapped the ring to infuse it with just a bit of mana and activate the projection saved within.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The guild leader¡¯s body stiffened as he saw the holographic image of Tsubaki, the true Servant who was renowned as the Ancestor Fox by the Heroc and Irena¡¯s enforcer to her enemies. Tsubaki gave a polite smile, bowing her head slightly. ¡°Sir Gestople, I apologize for the sudden intrusion upon your work today. The matter you are facing has been brought to the Citadel¡¯s attention.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Please know that we find no fault with you in this matter.¡± The projection said, as if sensing the dovah¡¯s nervousness. ¡°The Citadel would like to sponsor this operation in the name of meeting new civilizations that may be brought into the allied forces. As part of the report you submitted to the different races, it was mentioned that you wish to recruit no less than three deities as an escort. As a show of our support, the Citadel will pay the fees required to hire these three individuals.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The guild leader¡¯s eyes went wide at that offer, having a hard time believing what he was hearing. ¡°In exchange, we only ask that our own Goddess of Adventure, Lifre be added to the list of escorts. Please do not fret, as we do not wish her to have any level of authority in the mission beyond that of a simple guard. All right tomand the mission will reside solely with the Guild. If you have any questions, Lifre is perfectly equipped to answer them. In the meantime, I wish you the best of luck with your endeavors.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying that, the projection flickered away, Lifre storing the ring that contained it once more. The guild leader directed a slight look of pity towards the pale-skinned goddess, though he wasn¡¯t entirely sure if he felt more pity for Lifre or Tsubaki. From this short exchange, he was able to read between the lines somewhat and understand the situation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When the report came in of the uing mission, Lifre no doubt begged for the chance to be involved in it. This could be seen by her almost childish attitude after entering his office. Tsubaki, meanwhile, eventually relented. Not only did she allow Lifre to participate, but she even offered to sponsor the entire mission in exchange.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Lifre wants to join you for a while, so could you look after her for us? In exchange, we¡¯ll pay you for your trouble.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> That was the message he ultimately received from the recording. As he thought that, Lifre nced over at him, tilting her head with a curious expression.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You were just thinking something incredibly rude right now, weren¡¯t you?¡± She asked, pouting her lips. The guild leader gulped, shaking his head quickly. ¡°Well, it¡¯s fine! I look like this, so I kind of expect that people won¡¯t take me seriously! It¡¯s more fun that way.¡± The bright smile on her face served as a stark contrast to the ominous feeling that the guild leader was experiencing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Just to confirm, you only wish to act as a guard, yes?¡± He firmly believed that it would be a terrible idea to allow Lifre to speak directly with the other party during the first contact. No, it must absolutely not be allowed to happen.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Those were the rules!¡± Lifre nodded her head. ¡°Tsubaki said that if I break these rules, I¡¯ll be on paperwork duty for a month¡­ without my domain.¡± Lifre¡¯s shoulders dropped at that, but her reaction was enough to let the guild leader know that it was definitely a punishment that she didn¡¯t want to happen.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">How in the world would she even use her Adventure domain for paperwork?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> As one that often had to deal with such matters himself, he had long since grown ustomed to the tedium of paperwork. ¡°Very well, then. I¡¯ll make contact with the relevant parties. If I may ask, how exactly does the Citadel n to handle this sponsorship¡­?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre¡¯s head lifted back up, her smile as bright as ever. ¡°Tsubaki said that you can use her name in the negotiations, and that those who required divine payment could seek it out at her pce of light in Sanctum.¡±


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">So you¡¯re not going to be the one doing it yourself.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The guild leader let out a sigh of relief, nodding his head. When it came tobat prowess, he dared not doubt a member of the Citadel. However, as for her personality¡­ all that he could say was that she was entric.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I understand. In that case, I¡¯ll begin making the necessary arrangements. Would it be fine for me to call the Citadel when it is time for the party to gather?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">In response to his question, Lifre shook her head quickly. ¡°I¡¯ll be staying in Fyor. Let¡¯s see¡­ it¡¯ll be fine for me to y around on the twenty-seventh floor now. Just send me a message there whenever it¡¯s time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The guild leader¡¯s eye twitched slightly at those words. Despite not giving him any contact information to use to reach her, she seemed confident that he would be able to pass a message along. Was she overestimating his resources, or did she truly n to make a big scene on the twenty-seventh floor?


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I understand.¡± He repeated with a low sigh. ¡°In that case, is there anything else that you need taken care of?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre seemed to think about it for a moment, before shaking her head. ¡°Nope! I think that settles everything important. Though, I¡¯ll be using my domain to provide a buff for our party once it¡¯s time. Hopefully it will help everything go over smoothly? Either way, I¡¯m looking forward to your message, so don¡¯t forget!¡± As she said that, she turned and ran out of the office, clearly ready to go and ¡®y¡¯ on the most dangerous inhabited floor of Fyor.

 Chapter 779: First Contact

    Chapter 779: First Contact


    <span style="font-weight:400">With the assistance of the Sky Citadel, it became an easy matter toplete the recruitment of the deities the guild leader wanted to hire. Thessa, for her part, did not even ask for any payment. She said that she would be happy to assist, and encouraged her brother to do the same.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Like this, it only took a mere three days for everyone to be gathered on the twenty-seventh floor of Fyor, convening at Gate¡¯s Rest. Although this floor¡¯s Gate¡¯s Rise was still under construction, it was far too soon to use it as a proper meeting point.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Looking around at the group, the guild leader felt a faint chill running down his back. There were three representatives present from foreign nations, namely Gandor, Kione, and Deckan. However, the representative from Deckan was none other than Udona herself, the God-Queen offering a small nod towards the guild leader¡¯s gaze.


    <span style="font-weight:400">From Kion, there was a lycan male with a rather lithe build, a thick tome hovering at his side. No doubt that was his familiar. And from Gandor, an elven youth, his silver hairbed neatly back and amber eyes all but shining at the chance to meet these new races.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Despite the presence of Udona, all parties had agreed that Fyor was ultimately in charge of this diplomatic meeting. This was something that Udona herself insisted upon when the guild leader tried to defer to her authority.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a faint sigh, the guild leader scanned the faces of the escort group. Each emissary hade alone, as the respective countries had been informed that the escorts consisted of three gods and the demigoddess daughter of one of the Greater Pantheon. Anyone that they could send would either have surpassed the level restriction of Fyor, or would likely have difficulty fighting higher level opponents in such an unfavorable terrain.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Well, it was three gods at the time of nning. Now that both Udona and Lifre were present, that number had increased to five. However, nobody raised aint about this. If anything, having the Goddess of Life present would only further ensure their safety.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Alright, everyone. You all should have read through the document I sent describing the people we are going to meet. At present, only Miss Carna here has directly seen these two races.¡± The dovah said, gesturing towards Petra with one of his furred ws. ¡°At the time of her visit, that is three days ago, the two races were locked in a heated conflict.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Currently, we are unsure if the conflict has been resolved, or if it is still ongoing. If it has been resolved, we do not know which force is currently upying the fortress where the gate is located. Therefore, we must be prepared for either of these three scenarios. First, the fight is ongoing, and we will need to protect ourselves from bing swept up in the conflict.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Second, the fight is over, and the magic-wielding humans are the ones that still possess the gate. This, in my mind, is the most likely of the three scenarios, and will allow the smoothest transition into diplomatic talks.¡± He said with a faint nod, ncing towards Alex Lobaine when he said that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Finally, in the event that it is the ashen-skinned dwarves who emerged victorious, we will need to be more careful. As they had only recently captured the fortress, they would likely be vignt against sudden appearances like ours. If this is the case, we will need to protect ourselves well while trying to de-escte the situation.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No matter which of the three scenarios we encounter, it is imperative that we do not draw first blood. Avoid any lethal attacks if at all possible. I have chosen all of you not only because of yourbat prowess, but also because you have all proven that you can fight without killing. Is this understood?¡± His eyes scanned over the escort group, who all nodded their heads solemnly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In that case¡­ I believe that Lady Lifre of the Sky Citadel wishes to share a blessing with all of us, or such was her intent previously.¡± He said, gesturing towards Lifre. It had¡­ truly been an easy matter to find her, just as she had implied previously. However, Lifre wasn¡¯t out ughtering monsters or setting the forest aze


    <span style="font-weight:400">Rather, when he found her, she was in a drunken party at one of the taverns in the city. Apparently, she had bought drinks for everyone, and led them all into a song and dance number. He¡­ wasn¡¯t really sure how to take that. She did indeed say that she was going to have fun, but that wasn¡¯t quite what he had in mind.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh? Oh, right!¡± Lifre jumped forward quickly once she remembered her previous statement. As a slime, she was fortunate enough to be immune to the intoxication effects of alcohol. Even more so due to her divine properties.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre cleared her throat, pping her hands together. ¡°By my deration, let the adventure begin. May your wisdom be sharper than any de. May your tongue be gilded, and your passions pure. As the one guiding this adventure, these are the rules that I have established.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As Lifre finished her speech, a burst of golden radiance shot out from her body to wrap around each person present. The guild leader was pleasantly surprised to find his weary thoughts clearing, able to focus more clearly on the task at hand. Although he would not be attending this mission himself, it was ddening to feel the effects of the blessing with one¡¯s own body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Cynthia, you have full authority tomand for this mission. As such¡­ I wish you all the best of luck.¡± He said, addressing his secretary offering a firm nod.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course, sir.¡± She stood, bowing towards him. ¡°If all preparations are in order, let us set off.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, it¡¯s time.¡± Aurivy said as she swiped the remote, suddenly changing the channel.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hey, it was just getting to the good part.¡± Iined, looking over at the halfling goddess. For her part, she simply stuck out her tongue.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You wanted to know when Elisae was ascending, right? She¡¯s just getting things set up to do so now.¡± I was somewhat torn when I heard Aurivy¡¯s cheeky response. Elisae¡¯s ascension was something that I was interested in, mostly because I wanted to see how she would act as a deity. However, at the same time, this was the first meeting between numerous civilizations.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Furrowing my brow, I gave a shake of my head. ¡°I¡¯ll watch Elisaeter. The ascension itself won¡¯t likely be any different than others we¡¯ve seen. I¡¯m more interested in how she¡¯ll act once she¡¯s woken up, anyway.¡± Following someone¡¯s ascension was a period of forced slumber, where the body essentially shut down in order to enact the changes that were happening to their body on the most basic level. This forced slumber could range anywhere from hours to days, so I wasn¡¯t particrly worried that I would miss much.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy chuckled, passing the remote back to me so that I could tune it back to the diplomatic meeting.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The golden portal snapped shut behind the party of nine, who now found themselves standing before therge ck gate. Such a structure was incredibly familiar to anyone that spent any degree of time in Fyor, so it was easy for them to prepare themselves for what came next. The forest around them still showed the charred aftermath from Petra¡¯s ¡®pest control¡¯, but there were several buildings being rapidly constructed within the clearing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a deep breath, Cynthia nodded towards Petra, gesturing for her to lead the way. Smiling, Petra was happy toply. The little demoness stepped up to and passed through the gate, which seemed to part around her body. Only once she had entered did the others move, ready for whatever awaited them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">On the other side of the gate, it was much like the guild leader had expected. The signs of conflict had already passed, the magic-wielding humanoid race having pushed the ashen dwarves out of the fortress. That said, the scene was far from peaceful.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra stood before the gate with her arms raised, a calm smile on her face as three rainbow-eyed humans pointed their swords at her. More than a dozen robed figures hovered in the air behind these three soldiers, spitting out words in an unfamiliar tongue. Given that Petra couldn¡¯t understand a single word that they were saying, she opted to maintain her silence.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing eight more figures appear behind Petra, simply walking through the immovable gate, the swords being held began to shake nervously. Especially when they saw that nearly all of those present were from distinctly different races. Even the robed figures gave pause, their harsh words halting for a moment.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The first to act was none other than the God of Papers, who conjured a piece of golden paper in his hand. ¡°Whosoever speaks while holding this page will have their words transcribed for all to read. Whosoever holds this page will be able to read anything written upon its surface.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As he spoke, the two sentences etched themselves in ck lines along the paper. Afterwards, he stepped forward, past Petra to present the paper. Nervously, one of the knights took the page, shouting in shock when he realized that he could read what was written on it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Perhaps curious, one of the robed figures glided forwards, taking the page and looking it over. With a small nod, he seemed to understand what was happening. He spoke in a quiet tone, watching as his words were transcribed, before flicking his wrist. The page seemed to hover through the air,nding in Alex¡¯s grasp.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°He wants to know how we passed through the Wall of ck Stone, and what our purpose here is.¡± Alex said, wiping his hands over the words to erase what was previously written there. There was only so much room on the paper, after all, and it would not do to have it filled with their recounting of what the other party had said. ¡°Wee seeking peace. The wall you speak of is a gate to our people. Those chosen by the Keeper possess the power to traverse it freely. When we found your people, we wished to meet you on good terms.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once the page had finished its job of transcribing his words, he handed it back to the knight before him, who simrly handed it to the robed figure. The robed humanoid rubbed his chin in thought as he read through the page, before calling out amand. One of the three knights looked at him incredulously, before beginning to walk forward.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The knight passed by the group, cing his hand against the smooth ck wall. However, he found himself unable to pass through. Udona, realizing what they meant to do, smiled and walked over. She pressed her own palm against the ck surface, and the knight was surprised when he saw it opening before her hand. In his shock, he reached over to try and insert his hand in the gap, only to find that it would not pass through.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The robed figure spoke again upon seeing this scene, before causing the letter to float once more to Alex. ¡°He wants to know who the Keeper is, as they have never heard of one with that title.¡± After saying this, he turned to look at both Udona and Cynthia, though Udona simply gestured towards the halfling secretary.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...Give me the paper.¡± Cynthia said, Alex wiping it clean before handing it over. She took a deep breath, before beginning to exin. ¡°The Keeper is the source of all worlds, the original creator. I apologize if this goes against any of your religious beliefs, but this is an indisputable fact of our life. Some of us here have even met the Keeper personally and seen his power. Of those gathered here presently, more than half are gods in their own right.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I do not know if your civilization has understood the process of ascension yet, I merely wish to convey our circumstances. If you have any questions, I would be happy to discuss with you, as I assure you that all we want is a peaceful contact.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">With that said, she handed the paper back to the knight, who once again passed it to the robed figure. His eyebrow arched as he read over what Cynthia had said, looking towards the gathered group. His voice seemed to carry an arcane echo as he spoke again, this time appearing to use thenguage of runes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When he finished his chant, six lights arose from the group. The strongest shone from Udona¡¯s body like a brilliant beacon. After her was Lifre, and then Thessa, Grid, and Alex. Finally, Petra¡¯s body also gave off a faint radiance, though it was nowhere near the light given off by a full deity.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As they saw this, the rainbow-like eyes of the humanoids went wide. Clearly, this was a spell to detect gods, though that made Cynthia wonder if they had already cultivated gods of their own, or if they had simply mastered the runguage to such a degree.

 Chapter 780: History Lesson

    Chapter 780: History Lesson


    <span style="font-weight:400">Cynthia waited for the paper to be handed back to her so that they could continue the conversation. However, instead the man tossed the paper back to Alex. The God of Papers had a somewhat smug smile on his face at this, as if it were an indication that he had been chosen to speak for them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately, the only thing that had been written on the paper was the spell he used to detect godly presences. While Alex wondered what this meant, he heard a new chanting from one of the robed figures. Alex readied himself, clearly rmed by the sudden spellcasting, but Lifre¡¯s hand shot out in front of him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°They¡¯re not attacking.¡± She said with certainty as she listened to the chant. When Alex looked around, he saw that Udona, Thessa, and Petra were remarkably calm as well, simply allowing the spell to be cast without any problems. Instead, it was Cynthia and the other non-divine emissaries who seemed the most nervous with this sudden change, until Udona rested a hand on Cynthia¡¯s shoulder.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After roughly thirty seconds of chanting, the man suddenly began to speak fluently, his words easily understood by all parties. ¡°I apologize for my rudeness.¡± He said in a polite tone, nodding his head towards the group. ¡°This is our first time encountering true gods, so I was a bit surprised.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Cynthia let out a relieved sigh when she heard that, nodding her head. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, would it be fine for you to take us to the leader of this fortress? As I mentioned, we wish only for a diplomatic talk, so that we can understand your people and your circumstances.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The figure gave a small nod. ¡°I have already notified the Lord of your presence just now. There should be no trouble conducting this meeting. Am I to take it that you represent this party?¡± He asked Cynthia, his eyes piercing through her. He seemed quite confused as to why a mortal was leading a team of gods.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, Cynthia simply nodded her head with a smile. ¡°That¡¯s right. I believe that everything will be easier to understand after our talk. For now, it can be considered that I am the ambassador of our people.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°For now?¡± He asked with a tilt of his head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ahh¡­ if the talk goes in a certain direction, I may need to defer to someone else. That is all I meant.¡± She shook her head to dispel his worries. If they insisted on learning more about the Keeper, it was likely that she would need to implore Udona to assist her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Very well¡­ then, if you would please follow me?¡± He requested, turning and floating just above the stone floor. This action caused Cynthia a touch of confusion, and she couldn¡¯t help but raise her voice to speak while following with her party.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Why is it that everyone with robes like yours flies like this, if I may ask? Isn¡¯t it just a waste of mana to keep this spell constantly active?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When the man heard that, he nced back in surprise, before seeming to realize that she truly didn¡¯t understand their culture. ¡°We need not supply our own mana to maintain this spell. As for why we keep it active, it is because it is seen as a disgrace amongst my people for those of us that can wield magic to walk the same ground as those who cannot. Magic is a means of elevating our minds, and thus we elevate our bodies as well.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Cynthia wasn¡¯t entirely pleased with the clearly discriminatory heirarchy, but it was far from her ce to meddle with such things. ¡°I see¡­¡± She wanted to ask if it would be a disgrace for the gods to walk, but held back her words. There was no need to antagonize this species for such a simple distinction.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Alex seemed rather downtrodden at the realization that he would no longer be required as a trantor. Instead, he had been moved into the role of abat escort like the other hired deities. His typical role had been taken from him with the use of a single spell.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The group was led along a long stone corridor, one which was oddly wide and tall for the body size of the architects. Lining the halls were paintings and scrolls depicting strange scenes and even stranger texts. Each door was built at least five meters tall, and Cynthia had to wonder if they had contact with another race of suchrge creatures, or if they merely preferred the grand style of architecture.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This is the Lord¡¯s office.¡± Their guide eventually said, stopping before a single door. His rainbow-like eyes were closed as he hovered off to the side, gesturing for them to enter. Cynthia took a deep breath, nodding and pushing open the door to enter.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Inside, she could see another robed figure sitting at arge desk, his body almostically small inparison. His hood was down to reveal his golden hair, his eyes looking over at the group. Given the fact that his speech was understood, it seemed as if he had already cast the trantion spell prior to their arrival.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Greetings, greetings. Please,e in.¡± He called, hovering up over his desk to sit on the edge closest to the group. ¡°I do apologize for our initial greeting. We just finished a grueling battle yesterday, so my men were suspicious of saboteurs. I pray for your forgiveness in this matter.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">His head was directed at Cynthia as he said this, as if already knowing that she was the leader of this group. Cynthia simply gave a small smile, lifting her hand. ¡°It¡¯s fine. In truth, we witnessed a brief segment of your earlier battle three days prior. That is when we learned of the existence of your people and decided to organize this meeting.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The rainbow-eyed human blinked at that, before nodding in realization. ¡°Yes, I heard you came from the Wall of ck Stone. You mentioned, and even demonstrated that this wall is a gate for you. Really, such a thing is difficult to believe, but you have shown it yourself. Therefore, I have no choice but to ept your words.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Cynthia¡¯s smile grew a touch wider at those words. ¡°I thank you for your understanding. In truth, you are not the first people that we havee across when traversing the gates. However, this is definitely among the warmest receptions that we have received.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was true. Out of all of theyers they had gone through, Fyor had rarely encountered a race that was willing to discuss on even footing. The one exception so far would be the Dovah, who had peacefully integrated with the other races of Fyor. However, even they were a far more tribal race when they were first found.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh?¡± The man looked at Cynthia curiously. ¡°If I may ask, what tends to happen to those races who meet you with steel instead of kindness?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Cynthia couldn¡¯t help but sigh at that, shaking her head. ¡°As you likely know, there are two of these gates on everyyer of this world. In order to explore from oneyer to the next, you must do so in sequence. Recently in our history, we came across a rather advanced civilization, but it was openly hostile to us as soon as we emerged.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In order to circumvent this problem, we had to send our scouts through the gate to explore in secret, avoiding the eyes of this race until we had found the next gate. Thankfully, we have a power that lets a select few of us open passages to any gate that they have previously been to, so we were able to leave that civilization in peace.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The man¡¯s rainbow-like eyes seemed to sh at that, nodding his head. ¡°I see. It is reassuring to know that you truly do not seek bloodshed. However, I regret to inform you that your path is likely to end here.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The bodies of the emissaries stiffened when they heard those words, which sounded like a threat but spoken in a tone of¡­ constion? ¡°What do you mean by that, sir?¡± Cynthia couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The man gave a small smile, shaking his head. ¡°You see, the Wall of ck Stone ispletely unique. We have searched the globe, from thends of the Faceless to the depths of the Ashen Crag. Even employing the use of our collective magic, we have yet to find a second instance of this phenomenon. That is why this fortress is called ckstone, because it is the only ce in the world with the Wall of ck Stone.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡­ see. It¡¯s certainly troubling if you haven¡¯t been able to find the location so far.¡± She made a note to ask more about those locationster. ¡°However, would you mind if we investigate on our own? One of my party members here is quite adept at finding such things.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a faint look of surprise on the man¡¯s face, before it was reced with a look of pity. ¡°Of course, if you feel as if there is still hope, I encourage you to search. However, I truly--¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Found it.¡± Petra suddenly spoked up, making the man choke on the words he was about to say. There was a sly smile on her face as all eyes in the room were directed towards her. ¡°You couldn¡¯t find it because it¡¯s underwater. Do you happen to have a map


    <span style="font-weight:400">In truth, there had been thousands of scouts teleporting all throughout theyer in the shadow world for thest three days, so she had long ruled out the idea of it being located on the surface. Once she sent her scouts to search through the water, it had only been a matter of time before the gate was found.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The man looked incredulously at Petra for a moment, reaching back and muttering a chant under his breath. One of the drawers of the grand desk opened up, and arge scroll flew out to unfurl itself before the group.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra looked at the map, which was rather crudely drawn, yet disyed the entirety of the floor. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Their desire for knowledge and mental enlightenment seems genuine, they just haven¡¯t been able to let their civilization keep up with their ambitions.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She cross-referenced the map with what she knew of the world, stretching out her finger and circling a rtively small area in the middle of the ocean. ¡°The gate is located roughly within that circle.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The leader of the fortress observed the area that she had circled, caressing his chin. ¡°If it¡¯s there, it may have eluded our search. Though, would it not create problems for you to pass through a gate that was so deep underwater?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sadly, those words were the truth. Unless one was a god, their bodies were likely to copse under thebined pressure of this floor¡¯s gravity and the extreme pressure of the deep ocean. This was something Petra had noted as well, which cost her quite a few shadows in the investigation in different regions of this floor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Cynthia simply gave a small nod. ¡°We¡¯ll need to create a special structure down there to resist the pressure. In the meantime, can you tell me more about your rtionship with the figures you were fighting before? Or those Faceless that you mentioned previously?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The man blinked at the sudden change in topic, though quickly gave a wry smile. ¡°Of course. Diplomats such as yourself would be interested in more than just my one race. All I can say of the Faceless is that we have established an agreement of mutual noninterference. In truth, it¡¯s very hard tomunicate with them, so we prefer to just stay out of each other¡¯s business.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As for the Ashenborn¡­ you would be wise not to expect much cooperation from them. They are a rather warlike race, uninterested in the affairs of the mind. Their assaults against us are as old as history itself, their constant im being that their ¡®stone father¡¯ told them that we were a blight on theirnd. We have yet to confirm the existence of such a creature, but we suspect that he is a deity, if he does exist in the first ce. If not, he would be the oldest creature on the face of this¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Cynthia looked awkwardly towards Udona, who shook her head. ¡°This is no work of Tubrock.¡± That seemed all that she was willing to say about the matter, but that alone was enough to give Cynthia a great sense of relief.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I see. Then¡­ if I may, the man that escorted us here said that you do not use your own mana to maintain the flight spells of your mages. What exactly do you use, then? Is it just some form of enchantment that gathers ambient mana as fuel?¡± Cynthia was loathe to believe such a thing, as it would prove rather inefficient when there were less people around. And surely enough, the leader of the fort shook his head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I assume that you do not have this material where youe from.¡± He said with a smile, stroking a hand along his cloak. ¡°A rather valuable ore, smelted and woven into our fabrics. In its raw form, it has the chance to bestow runic knowledge upon those who meditate near it. Meanwhile, its refined form allows it to produce a steady stream of energy to maintain such simple enchantments. We call this material Magicite due to these properties.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Cynthia¡¯s body stiffened again at that, eyes going wide. ¡°Sir¡­ has there ever been a creature in your world whose level of power was akin to a natural disaster?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The man looked at Cynthia in confusion. ¡°Not in our records. There have been powerful beasts born of the earth, but none beyond the scope of man. Why do you ask?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Cynthia gave out a relieved sigh when she heard that. ¡°We have encountered materials on previousyers. These materials connected to different realms, producing fire, water, even the winds of a mighty storm. However, in many of these records, there are also reports of powerful beasts tied to the elements of the stone. I was merely worried that this would be of a simr circumstance.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ahh¡­ you are referring to the thought eaters.¡± The man said in sudden understanding. ¡°Those who absorb the knowledge of the stones for too long at a time will often face encroachment from these beings. At first, we simply believed it to be the stone driving them mad, until we learned that there was a creature infecting their mana.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Those infected by the thought eaters meet one of two fates. If they are unable to sever their own thoughts, they will be devoured, dissolving where they stand. Those who manage to sever their thoughts will be free of the beasts, but will forever be unable to utilize magic after that point. That is the origin of our armored knights walking the halls. Perhaps these are the creatures you speak of?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Cynthia furrowed her brow, nodding her head. ¡°It certainly matches. But, they are only active near the stones themselves?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right, and only when one studies for too long at a time, or if we send our minds to probe what lies on the other side. ording to our research, the thought eater cannot tolerate our air. It must either live in a conscious mind of sufficient power, or within the stone itself. Otherwise, it will be snuffed out as if it were a fish deprived of water.¡±

 Chapter 781: To Test A God

    Chapter 781: To Test A God


    <span style="font-weight:400">The rest of the meeting passed by with rather mundane topics. For instance, ensuring that the emissaries of the foreign nations would have the chance to meet with the Magic King of the rainbow-eyed humans in theing days. However, such a thing naturally had to be scheduled in advance, so they were unable to arrange it immediately. Other topics included things such as each side sharing what they felt to be important cultural subjects that might influence their rtionship with one another.


    <span style="font-weight:400">By the end of the meeting, each side was doing their best to leave a good impression on the other and ensure that they would be able to establish asting rtionship. As for the matter of securing the next gate, they were not particrly worried about that. That was something that they would have to handle with patience and proper care.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If there was something that Cynthia was concerned about¡­ before leaving, she suddenly brought up another subject. ¡°There are actually two items that are rather important to us, aside from just the gate. I wonder if you know where we can find them?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Lord of ckstone gestured for her to continue, so she offered a thankful nod. ¡°The first is quite a bit more conspicuous. It is a tower of crystal connecting heaven and earth.¡± Although not quite urate on a literal level, it was a fitting description when talking to a society with this level of advancement.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sure enough, the Lord knew immediately what she was talking about. ¡°Yes¡­ I have seen that, with my own eyes, in fact.¡± He answered with a solemn nod. ¡°Within the Ashen Crag, the spear of light pierces upwards, prating the sky above. We have tried to investigate it, but the Ashenborn upy that area, and will not permit any outsiders to enter.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Cynthia thought it over for a moment, deciding that that wasn¡¯t too bad of an oue. What she wanted wasn¡¯t the spire itself, but merely to know where it was and ensure it was protected. If it resided within the home of the Ashenborn, it was unlikely that they would harm it. ¡°The other thing is¡­ far more difficult to find. It is a crystal sphere, roughly the size of your fist. There should only be one like it in this entireyer, so I understand if you haven¡¯te across it before.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The man thought about her words, stroking his chin. Ultimately, he shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Cynthia nodded, feeling that it was natural. She had only heard reports about some of the obscure locations that the orbs had been found. However, as she was about to say her farewells, Petra suddenly spoke up. ¡°You said that the Ashenborn live surrounding the crystal pir?¡± She asked with a serious expression, Cynthia looking over at her in surprise.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right?¡± The man responded, though he was not sure how that was such a serious matter, given that the delegate of their group didn¡¯t bring it up herself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra looked towards Cynthia with a wry smile. ¡°The stone father¡­¡± She said simply, though Cynthia still didn¡¯t seem to understand. Thus, Petra had to sigh. ¡°If they¡¯re living around the pir where mana condenses and disperses every day--¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°A mana siphon?!¡± Cynthia¡¯s eyes went wide as she pieced together what Petra was getting at, the rest of their party showing simr expressions. Even Udona seemed impressed, looking over at Petra with a smile.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Pardon me, but what is this mana siphon that you are referring to?¡± The Lord of the fortress asked with a furrowed brow, as if feeling that he was missing some important context.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Cynthia cleared her throat, turning and exining. ¡°It¡¯s a phenomenon that urs when mana condenses too heavily in one area, and is infected by the thoughts of the living. We call it a mana siphon because it is the world¡¯s way of relieving the pressure from this mana. Sometimes, these siphons can cause natural disturbances such as tidal waves or storms, or even spawn entities based on the fears and beliefs of the thoughts infecting the mana.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The crystal pir we mentioned before is present in every floor. Its function is twofold. First, it connects this floor to every other within the world. Secondly, it regtes the day and night cycle by absorbing ambient mana in the air and releasing it as light. If enough mana is present, it is possible that a mana siphon could be triggered based on the beliefs of the Ashenborn.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">A look of realization appeared on the Lord¡¯s face. ¡°I see. You are referring to a conflux. We have encountered these as well, typically around our Magicite veins prior to establishing a ward to scatter the excess energy. Though I have never heard of them summoning religious figures¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Cynthia shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s likely because your race doesn¡¯t hold a particr religion in higher regard than magic itself. For the Ashenborn, the highest power is this stone father. Thus, when the mana gathers around them, it takes the form of what they believe he is. Their faith shapes his body and personality.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So he is a god, after all¡­¡± There was a look of frustration on the face of the Lord, but Udona simply chuckled.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s not what a god is, good sir. A god is not shaped by their followers. We might gain extra power from their faith, but not to such an extreme. The order is simply backwards here¡­ rather than the faith of the stone father emerging as a result of his appearance, he appeared as a result of their faith. Most likely, he is a mere monster made of mana, possessing the ideology that the Ashenborn imagined for him. Compared to the power of a true deity, it is likeparing a candle to an inferno.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Those words seemed to relieve the man of his worries, allowing him to nod his head. ¡°I see, I am d that it is not to the extent I feared, at least. If you had to scale the stone father¡¯s power, how would you estimate it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona thought that over for a moment. ¡°My sister is more skilled at that sort of thing. However, if I had to guess, it would depend on how many times the mana siphon has been triggered. Each triggering would have a chance of supplying additional power to the stone father, if that happened to be the thought that triggered the siphon.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Assuming that the siphon happens near the crystal pir, it would appear to you as if the day was somehow shorter or dimmer than normal. This is because the pir would not have as much mana as it typically requires to maintain its functions. However, given the size of this floor, the difference might not even be noticeable to you.¡± Udona¡¯s eyes closed for a long moment, her senses sweeping outwards.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Aha¡­ found it¡­ my, that¡¯s a big boy.¡± She chuckled, shaking her head. ¡°If he were to leave his home¡­ I¡¯d say that he could easily topple a country or two. Comparing him with the power you all have shown, that is.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The man¡¯s eyes went wide once again. ¡°How is that not a god, if he possesses such strength alone?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona let out a faint sigh. ¡°First, let¡¯s fix your understanding of what it means to be a god. Thessa, would you mind assisting me here?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing one of the Greater Pantheon calling for her, the halfling goddess¡¯s eyes went wide, and she quickly stepped forward. ¡°Of course, ma¡¯am! What can I do to help?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona gave a faint smile, turning to look at the Lord of the castle. ¡°Thessa here is the Goddess of Archery. If it rtes to firing a bow, you may test her in any way you wish, no matter how extreme the challenge.¡± Thessa gulped nervously at thatment, though the Lord of the fortress simply looked pensive.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I may use any test?¡± He asked, confirming Udona¡¯s words. When the kitsune simply nodded, he hovered up from his desk, moving towards the window. ¡°Very well¡­ then, this shall be your challenge.¡± He held a pair of fingers up to his lips, beginning to chant in echoing runes. Once his chant was done, he pointed those fingers out the window, a beam of blue light shining out and striking the stone ceiling far in the distance.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I have left a mark on the sky. Give me a demonstration of your destructive power while hitting that mark.¡± The Lord challenged, though Thessa¡¯s eyes went wide nervously. ¡°Do you believe that you cannot do it?¡± He asked with a raised brow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°N-No, it¡¯s just¡­ is there a settlement in that direction? I don¡¯t want to hurt any bystanders in the process.¡± The Lord blinked at her statement, before chuckling again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There is a great sea in that direction, which should be located beneath your mark. I didn¡¯t want to risk your arrow being unable to fly high enough.¡± Thessa was immensely relieved at that, letting out a deep sigh.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Then, I just need to destroy the mark with full power, right?¡± She asked, pulling the bow off her back. Once the Lord nodded, stepping out of the way, Thessa took a deep breath. ¡°What I require is an arrow of pure annihtion, pursuing the target without end.¡± She grabbed where the string of her bow would be, a golden line forming, followed by a shining golden arrow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Lord¡¯s eyes went wide as he sensed the power gathering in that arrow, while Thessa¡¯s eyes seemed to turn golden as well. In her sight, the sky became closer and closer, until she could see the jagged rocks hanging down in the distance. There, far away, was a small blue dot no bigger than a fingernail.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once she had confirmed the target, Thessa released her arrow. Wind swept up in a roar through the room, scattering papers and forcing anyone near her to retreat. The Lord maintained his position near the window purely through the force of his mana, watching the golden line trace itself into the distance.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thessa was already putting her bow back, somewhat disappointing the Lord. However, he soon felt a reaction from the spell he had cast. The arrow had struck true, making him shift his gaze back to the sky. At first, there was nothing to see, but soon¡­ soon, there was a massive burst of ck and red light forming in a sphere, shattering the stone sky.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Stones could be seen even at this distance, pieces as big as entire city districts falling from above. He knew that he would have to exin this to the kingter, but for now¡­ now the burst of light was clearing, and he saw only a circr patch of darkness where the stone had once been. This patch was visible with the naked eye even when viewed from almost a hundred thousand kilometers away, showing the enormity of the destruction caused.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When the Lord realized the strength required to do this, and to do it in one arrow no less. If she were to truly attack a country, not only would that country be powerless to stop her, they might not even see her face before everything was destroyed. Thinking back, he even realized that Thessa was not the strongest of their gods. ording to the report he had received, the fox-like goddess was the one who had the most powerful divine energy among them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Alex, could you fix that for us? I¡¯ll throw in a bonus payment to make up for it.¡± Udona asked Alex, who looked at her with a surprised expression. Repairing something wasn¡¯t normally in his repertoire, but he had a feeling that he knew what she was asking for.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If you think I can do it, I¡¯ll surely not disappoint.¡± He nodded his head, taking a deep breath and focusing. A golden paper appeared in front of the window, moving to cover it. Once it had done so, the paper seemed to be transparent, depicting the scene behind it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a wave of his hand, the ck circle in the sky was filled in with the same stone material as the surroundings. Alex could feel his divine power falling as he began to peel away the paper, revealing the scene beyond to match what he had ¡®drawn¡¯ on his canvas. The hole in the sky was properly filled in once again, leaving the Lord dumbfounded at the sight. He even wondered if the destruction caused by Thessa had really happened, before remembering the feedback he received from his spell.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Gods are¡­ truly something we should not provoke.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He noted to himself, no longer questioning the power at their disposal.

 Chapter 782: Between A Rock And A Hard Place

    Chapter 782: Between A Rock And A Hard ce


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small sigh as I watched the meeting between the two groupsing to a close. It was nice that they did not break into armed conflict during the meeting, but I also couldn¡¯t help but question internally if Udona might have gone a bit overboard with her demonstration of a god¡¯s might. That said, it <i><span style="font-weight:400">had</i><span style="font-weight:400"> been the other party that invited this demonstration and set the rules for it, so I could not reallyy the me on her shoulders. Even if she did take great joy in watching the Lord of ckstone shudder at the might of a god.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It looks like we don¡¯t really have anything to worry about on this front. Speaking of¡­ how strong <i><span style="font-weight:400">is</i><span style="font-weight:400"> that stone father?¡± I asked, ncing over towards Aurivy and alia. The lycan goddess perked her ears up, smiling as she noticed my gaze.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s actually really interesting! It¡¯s like Udona said, it gets stronger every time the siphon happens! But at the same time, its power diminishes over time because it is reliant on the ¡®faith¡¯ of its people. Because of this littlebination, it¡¯s about as strong as a god in its home territory, but it is unable to leave the vicinity of the crystal spire. Without the constant mana siphons sustaining its existence, it¡¯s nothing but the shadow of a thought.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s worse than that.¡± Aurivy chuckled, a small grin creeping over her lips. ¡°From what I can see, this isn¡¯t the first ¡®stone father¡¯. If the stone father at any point leaves the homnd or begins acting against the beliefs of the ¡®Ashenborn¡¯, a new one appears in the next round of siphons. So not only is the stone father afraid to leave the territory it governs, it¡¯s afraid to act against the wishes of the Ashenborn. After all, it probably saw its predecessor dying right before its eyes.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°How do you figure that?¡± I looked at her curiously, and she winked towards me. With a snap of her fingers, the screen changed to disy a hulking behemoth of stone, towering over a hundred meters tall while sitting in an obsidian throne. Ashen-skinned dwarves worshiped the creature, though it maintained its stony facade.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Just as I was about to ask Aurivy why she was showing me this scene, the viewpoint shifted to the back of the throne, where words were carved into the surface. There were rows of text, and it took me quite some time to fully decipher it even with my Keeper advantage.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡®<i><span style="font-weight:400">I don¡¯t know how many came before me. If you¡¯re reading this, then I failed to maintain my identity, and you are the new me. There are some rules you need to know, or you¡¯ll end up just like every me before. First¡­ never let them see this. If they see it, you¡¯ll be like me, and someone else will rece us.¡¯</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡®<i><span style="font-weight:400">Second rule, never leave this room. The Stone Father governs the world from his throne. It is our duty to be an unchanging mountain for our people. If you leave the room, you will lose your identity.</i><span style="font-weight:400">¡¯


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">¡®Third rule, memorize the doctrine that the small ones preach. That is your identity. n all your actions with that identity in mind. If they suspect you are different from what they believe, you will lose your identity.</i><span style="font-weight:400">¡¯


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡®<i><span style="font-weight:400">Fourth rule, every me that came before is also me, and every me that wille after is still me. However, when we lose our identity, we cease to be ¡®me¡¯. This is important. If one of us leaves, that is no longer ¡®me¡¯, and that person was merely an agent of chaos pretending to be me until the new ¡®me¡¯ appears. This is the only way to protect our identity.¡¯</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡®<i><span style="font-weight:400">Fifth rule, and this is the one that you must absolutely never break. You are the ¡®one true god¡¯. You must not allow the idea of other gods to exist in the minds of the small ones. If they believe in other gods, our existence will end forever. There can only be one creator, or we will be undone.¡¯</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Beneath that, there was another line written in a different style, likely by a different version of the ¡®stone father¡¯. ¡®<i><span style="font-weight:400">Any new ¡®me¡¯, leave a mark to serve as a warning to those of us in the future. I shall be the first.¡¯</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a long row of scratches numbering in the dozens beneath that line of text. I felt a small shudder at the idea that each scratch represented a generation of the existence known as ¡®stone father¡¯. ¡°Wow¡­ I suddenly feel sorry for that guy.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I know, right?¡± alia chuckled, shaking her head. ¡°There¡¯s not much that can be done, though. His very existence is going to be antagonistic towards us. Thatw about only one deity means that he¡¯d wage a full-blown war of extinction if he learned that there were other gods roaming the world. That skirmish Petra walked in on would just be a Sunday stroll inparison.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod, stroking my chin in thought. ¡°I¡¯m not sure how we can preserve that race. I¡¯d rather not go gung-ho straight to an extinction event if possible, but religion is a tricky thing to navigate around. Especially when the other party¡¯s religious figure is there in the flesh¡­ stone, whatever. It¡¯d probably be easy for me to defeat it myself, but that would only stir up the hatred of the dwarves even more.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You could disprove the foundation of its existence?¡± alia suggested, but I simply shook my head at that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Can¡¯t work. Even in my old world, there were people who believedpletely idiotic ideas when presented with countless pieces of evidence to the contrary. Right up until I died, there was a group of people that believed the world was t, or that an entire continent didn¡¯t exist, or even that birds were just puppets of the government.¡± alia¡¯s eyes went wide at thatst one, though I shook my head again. ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter. Either way, that¡¯s what people will believe even in the absence of evidence.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Now, take a fact that this group has existed with for hundreds of generations, and tell them that it is a lie. It¡¯d be like trying to tell the Lycans that you weren¡¯t real. They <i><span style="font-weight:400">know</i><span style="font-weight:400"> you are, they¡¯ve seen you and interacted with you, and were born knowing you. So no, I don¡¯t think that we can get around them simply by trying to disprove the credibility of their stone father.¡± I let out a long sigh when I said that, looking to the other two for ideas.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The only way I can think of is for us to convert the faith of the majority of those dwarves without letting the stone father know. It¡¯s not the best scenario, nning to wipe him out, but his existence sort of hinges on him being the only god. It¡¯s either that¡­ or buying their race and making Tubrock their patron deity in the system. If the entire race suddenly learns of Tubrock at once, they might envision the stone father as him, robbing the energy away from Tubrock and leaving them more open to maniption.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">alia shook her head at Aurivy¡¯s suggestion. ¡°Then we¡¯re back to the same problem that Dale talked about, I think. Their beliefs are quite literally set in stone. Even if Tubrock became present in all of their minds, they may simply dismiss him as an unwanted thought. I do think your other idea could work, it would just be tricky. Teaching the dwarves without alerting the stone father, or having them report back¡­ worse yet, they¡¯re mana-resistant so it¡¯s harder to simply brainwash them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">alia groaned, bringing her hands up to grab the sides of her head. ¡°Ugh! Why does this have to be so hard?! Why are our only options to either kill an ancient pseudo-deity tormented by the veryw of his existence through cultural maniption, or a mass genocide waiting to happen? Can we just pretend they don¡¯t exist like the Solii?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy chuckled, leaning back on the couch to stare up at the ceiling. ¡°Sadly, that would mean abandoning the rainbow-eyed humans. If word gets out to the dwarves, and a big war starts, we will have to make a choice. Do we sever ties, or subjugate them through force? Keep in mind that they live around the central pir. The only ones of us that can really go all out in a fight in that area are Udona and Irena, and they¡¯re not the type that would be fond of erasing an entire species. Anyone else tries and causes coteral damage¡­ and that floor is sealed for at least a month, maybe a century depending on the scale of damage.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod, ncing towards the screen. ¡°And if we want to simply subjugate them instead of wiping them out, we have to be even more careful. If they realize we¡¯re trying to avoid damaging the crystal, they may attack it themselves simply as ast resort to spite us. In many ways, this is a no-win scenario. I¡¯d suggest a forced relocation, get them to their own area, but you won¡¯t find another with the atmospheric conditions of that floor. That¡¯s what makes Fyor so unique in the first ce.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy tilted her head at that. ¡°Relocation might work, actually.¡± She said, holding her chin and furrowing her brow. ¡°I mean, they¡¯re already energy beings. Air pressure and shifts in gravity might be ufortable, but it would never be lethal for them. The problem is their food chain, since their diet consists of products that can only grow in high mana concentrations. But if we relocate them to an uninhabited world, and seed that world with a few veins of that Magicite, we should be able to get the right kinds of crops to grow.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Would I need to buy the Magicite through the system to do that, or do you think Tubrock could handle it with his domain?¡± I looked over for their opinions, though Aurivy shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Tubrock can¡¯t do it alone. Not easily, at least. If it were just picking the vein up and moving it, he could probably handle it, but seeding the vein throughout a would be a lot harder on him. We¡¯ll need to get Ashley involved with the Maps domain to assist.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Wait, since when does Ashley have the Maps domain?¡± I blinked in confusion at Aurivy¡¯s sudden reveal, though she simply chuckled.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°A while now, actually. Well, not really her. One of her subordinates has it. It¡¯s not really a figure that you pay attention to, so I¡¯m not surprised you never noticed.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but raise a brow at that, but Aurivy simply waved the subject off. ¡°Anyways, the Map domain would make it a lot easier. Combine it with the Game domain, and you¡¯ve got a good trinity right there. Though, I¡¯m not sure if you can make a trinity with multiple gods¡­ I guess we¡¯ll find out?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a small sigh, deciding that I¡¯d need to investigate the matter of this new Maps deityter. ¡°I suppose. So, the n is to relocate them en masse if they begin to go into a war of extinction?¡± I asked, making sure that the three of us were all on the same page. We¡¯d have to run this by the others as well, but this was the best that we seemed able toe up with for the moment.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯d be fine with doing it now, honestly.¡± Aurivy admitted with a shrug. ¡°But waiting to see how it pans out works, too. After all, we might get a surprise and they somehow ept the new information easily? We just need to make sure that everyone involved in the n is aware of their part before we hit the big red button. Also, we need to find a world for them to live on. Obviously not one of ours, given the circumstances, so we¡¯ll need one of the uninhabited worlds that people have been looking up through nar exploration. It shouldn¡¯t be hard to buy the coordinates off of the centaurs.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I was about to ask why we wouldn¡¯t just use the demons, before realizing that the demons had apparently stopped their random exploration projects long ago. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I wonder if they decided that they have enough space for now, or maybe being able to actually explore space is encouraging them to expand outwards?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">As it stood now, the only race really focusing on nar exploration over ster expansion were the centaurs of Sher Dien. Their bodies weren¡¯t quite built for long, enclosed voyages, so they have simply been seeking out new worlds through their own means. I even got a world off of them at one point in the past, though I did so under a disguise by teaching them how to train the Saint of Five Lights ss. That world was eventually given to Tsubaki and Dana for their personal use, or else I would bring it up for this¡­


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a sigh, I nodded towards Aurivy. ¡°Hopefully, Tryval can help with those negotiations, and making sure that the mana-enriched nts grow on the new world.¡± On the bright side, we managed to settle on a decision that did not involve mass genocide. Though, it was still likely to cause the death of the ¡®stone father¡¯ if they were moved away from the crystal pir. There was unfortunately little that we could do to prevent that one.

 Chapter 783: Friendly Advice

    Chapter 783: Friendly Advice


    <span style="font-weight:400">Elisae let out a soft groan as she awoke, eyes slowly cracking open to take in the afternoon sun. ncing over at the clock she ced next to herself, she realized that she had ¡®slept¡¯ for two full days. Her cheeks puffed out at that, realizing that the time she spent was quite a bit above the average to ascend. ¡°I guess there¡¯s still some work needed to figure out the exact timeframe¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After muttering that, she slowly sat up, letting out a light yawn before inspecting the messages that had piled up in her slumber. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Did I get it¡­?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> As those thoughts passed through her mind, the achievement appeared before her. Sure enough, the domain that she received was that of Wishes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a grin, Elisae jumped to her feet, throwing her fists into the air. ¡°Yes!¡± She cried out excitedly. Now that her domain was set, there was more work for her to do in order to be the type of queen that she wanted to be.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°First thing¡¯s first¡­ I need to test if it still takes power from someone else¡¯s divine spark in order to unlock my divinity. I¡¯d try to work it in as a new rule, but¡­ that would require me to be able to use it in the first ce.¡± She let out an awkward chuckle at the realization that her first rule had effectively prevented her from being able to amend the rules in the future if they had any ws.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Who should I ask?¡± Elisae had chosen to ascend on the roof of her pce, simply to ensure that there would be no damage if her divine ascension got out of hand in any way. Thus, there was ample room for her to pace back and forth. ¡°I could try to test it with one of the staff again, but¡­ if I¡¯m a full god, it might take more of their divine spark to make a wish. I don¡¯t want to cause any permanent damage. And if that is the case, how am I going to be a queen that answers the wishes of her people?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This is why you should listen to people all the way until the end¡­¡± A new voice spoke up from not far away, causing Elisae to look over. There, in her red dress, was Scarlet. One foot tapped impatiently on the ground, red distortions warping the space around her. Clearly, she had only just appeared.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ah, Scarlet!¡± Elisae turned with a wide smile to face the Empress of Bloodhaven. ¡°I apologize, I didn¡¯t realize that you wereing by today.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I know.¡± She said in a t tone, her brow twitching. ¡°I sensed your energy suddenly spiking, so I came over to find you in the middle of your ascension process. I¡¯ve been waiting for you to wake up for two days now.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Heheh¡­¡± Elisae scratched her cheek awkwardly, ncing off to the side. ¡°Sorry, I wasn¡¯t really nning it to take so long. Is there something that you need, then?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No.¡± Scarlet shook her head, sighing and starting to walk closer towards Elisae. ¡°But it seems like there might be something that <i><span style="font-weight:400">you </i><span style="font-weight:400">need, isn¡¯t that right? You do have a bit of a tendency to mutter to yourself, it seems. Something about ¡®locking¡¯ your divinity, even before you ascended?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ah, there¡¯s a perfectly reasonable exnation for that.¡± Elisae¡¯s eyes darted back and forth, seeing the serious look of her friend.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m listening.¡± Scarlet stopped just before Elisae, having to stare up at her due to her shorter stature. However, this did not detract from the reputation of the First Blood, or the pressure that she released as the Goddess of a primary energy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°W-Well, I wanted to be able to answer wishes, right? Yeah!¡± Elisae nodded quickly, doing her best to exin herself. ¡°All of the studies have shown that creating rules for your own divinity is a way to refine it and allow it to release an even greater power than normal, especially if your domain is typically broad in scope. I needed that type of rule in order for me to operate as a wish-granting goddess.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That applies for specific abilities, not your entire divinity!¡± Scarlet scolded, causing Elisae to flinch. ¡°With how your lock is structured, you wouldn¡¯t be able to fight with anything but your physical body, right? You can¡¯t ess divine ki or mana, and you probably don¡¯t have the training yet to filter those energies back out of your divinity.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°A-ah¡­ I don¡¯t really have anything to say to that.¡± Elisae knew that Scarlet wasn¡¯t really wrong. In fact, the normal process of cing your divine spark within your mind toplete the final step wasn¡¯t possible for her. Instead, she had to wrap her mana around her divinity. Effectively, it was the same process, but it showed that she was unable to mobilize her divinity as she wanted.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Undo your lock, and I¡¯ll help you set your restrictions right.¡± Scarlet said in a firm tone. Without waiting for Elisae to exin what was needed, Scarlet immediately spoke up again. ¡°I wish for the restriction on your divinity to be unmade.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Elisae let out a small sigh, nodding her head. ¡°Yes, Scarlet¡­¡± She muttered, the lock snapping free in response to the wish. ¡°So¡­ what should I do, then?¡± Thankfully, Scarlet was far more experienced as a goddess than herself, so she should know firsthand the tricks that Elisae had only read about. This was only more evident by how Scarlet understood what the locks on her divinity were about.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°First, you want to partition a piece of your divinity.¡± Scarlet said, her expression somewhat softer as she lifted a finger to point at Elisae. ¡°It¡¯s fine to want to be able to answer the wishes of your people. However, if you are unable to even use your divinity for other basic tasks, you will never be able to protect those that can¡¯t speak up for themselves. You set yourself on this wish-granting path, so we¡¯re going to make sure you see it through to the end.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Elisae could only nod her head again at that. ¡°How much should I partition?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ten percent should do. This ten percent will be your permanent reserve. For the other ny percent, I want you to ask yourself. What constitutes a wish? Is it simply the act of saying the word before a request? Is it something that you do on a special asion, or is it something everyone does on a regr basis?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Elisae blinked, not entirely sure how to answer that. ¡°A wish is¡­ a desire, right? Something you want to achieve, or something you want to protect?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet lifted her brow. ¡°Oh? Are you saying that you¡¯re a Goddess of Desire, then?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The human woman¡¯s cheeks went bright red at that, shaking her head. Scarlet simply chuckled at that expected response. ¡°Everyone has desires, everyone dreams. If you define a wish as simply a desire, then what about for all of those people that want your hand in marriage? Are you going to go through and marry each one of them to fulfill their wishes?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I-I¡­¡± Elisae truly didn¡¯t know what to say about that. She had not gotten a marriage offer in some time, but that was mostly because of her position acting as a shield to prevent most people from approaching her for such things. Naturally, she knew that there were those that had taken a fancy to her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What about people with petty desires? Those who wish misfortune on others just to make themselves feel better? Are those also the kind of wish that you want to grant?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°O-Of course not!¡± This time, Elisae was able to let out a proper response. ¡°Why would I want to harm other people in granting a wish?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Then tell me¡­ what is a wish that you want to grant?¡± Scarlet asked, a yful smile on her face.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Elisae¡¯s eyes closed, and she ced one hand over her chest. ¡°I¡­ I want to be the kind of queen that is there for her people when they need her most. When their voices cry out for justice, I want to answer them. When the people are suffering, and are pleading for support, I want to offer them my shoulder. What is a god if not someone who can grant such simple boons?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet¡¯s yful smile turned even more mischievous. ¡°Divinew, first act. Flow your divinity into those thoughts. When a group gathers at a depiction of your likeness and shares amon wish, you will be able to hear it. We will call this ability ¡®Answering the People¡¯.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Elisae¡¯s eyes snapped open at that. Realizing what Scarlet was saying, she quickly began to flow her divinity through those thoughts, focusing on the words of the red-haired goddess. As she did, she could already begin to hear faint whispers in the back of her mind. Voices asking for a good harvest or protection from storms.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ugh¡­ that will take some getting used to.¡± Elisae gripped her head, shaking it a momentter. This was part of what she wanted. Training herself to be able to follow multiple voices at once would just be another routine she had to adapt to.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯re just getting started. Remember, don¡¯t touch that ten percent that I told you to leave aside.¡± Scarlet said in a firm tone, causing Elisae to quickly nod her head. ¡°Divinew, second act. There will be times when those who want to make a wish are unable to gather in amunity. Some will be able toe face to face with you, while others are unable to leave their homes. Perhaps they¡¯ve been wrongly used and are in prison to face crimes they didn¡¯tmit, wishing for someone to bring forth the truth. How will you answer those people?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°A strong desire, one born in istion and unable to be shared¡­¡± Elisae thought about that, not immediately sure how to respond. ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know.¡± Her dreams felt like they were crumbling around her, but she clung to the hope that her friend would be able to guide her. It was clear that Scarlet was doing this for her sake, so she wanted to know what Scarlet would say next.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You need a divine artifact to contain this secondw. The secondw will parse these individual wishes ording to their intensity. Just how strongly does someone want something? Those with the strongest wishes will be at the top of the list. Thankfully, I know someone that is quite good with crafting divine artifacts, and he loves odd jobs like your¡¯s. For now, take five percent of your divinity and separate it, condense it into a physical form while focusing on thatw. It will be the embodiment of thew until you imbue it into your artifactter.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Elisae quickly nodded her head, working ording to Scarlet¡¯s instructions. She held her hands out in front of her, and a golden orb of light began to manifest. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Focus on the power of a wish, separating them, listing them, storing them to be reviewed.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Thankfully, these wishes would not all be sted into her mind, which was likely why Scarlet had her separate the manifestation in the first ce.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing the ball taking shape, Scarlet gave a small nod once it becamepletely solid. ¡°Good. So far, you have twows to listen to the wishes of your people. One allows you to listen to the wishes of amunity, and the other allows you to listen to the desperate wishes of an individual. Next, we want to address people thate to you directly.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Divinew, third act. This works in tandem with both of the previous acts, so keep that in mind when forming thisw. When receiving a wish, you are able to glimpse the history of the wisher to understand their circumstances. Normally, this would require a lot of work, but thankfully there is a way to ease the process.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Lately, there have been a number of natural-born abilities appearing in the world, divided by race. One of these belongs to the elves, the ability to read the history of an object. Base your ability to view the past of an individual on this mystical power.¡± Elisae gave another nod at Scarlet¡¯s instructions, starting to feel her copsed dreams once again taking shape around her. Only, now they were clearer than ever before, allowing her to see the full grasp of what she wanted to do.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Divinew, fourth act. You now have the power to listen to wishes of groups, of those in istion, and of those that appear before you. However, you do not have the power to <i><span style="font-weight:400">grant</i><span style="font-weight:400"> any of these wishes yet. Currently, you¡¯re just the ultimate divine peeping tom.¡± Elisae¡¯s cheeks went red again at Scarlet¡¯s teasing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The fourth act is the power to grant a wish. However, you said that there was a problem with the divinity of the person who made the wishes before, right?¡± Scarlet asked, causing Elisae to nod her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I noticed that their divine sparks weakened slightly in order to unlock my divinity¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s not going to work anymore.¡± Scarlet grumbled. ¡°Your divinity itself should not be sealed. Your divine power answers their wishes, but if you ask for their divine sparks as payment in return, you will bring ruin to your people. Therefore, this is how I want you to establish your power of wish granting¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I will not grant the wishes of my people.¡± Elisae¡¯s eyes went wide when she heard what Scarlet said, caughtpletely off guard. However, Scarlet¡¯s lips crooked up into another grin. ¡°Instead, I will grant them the method for their wish to be granted.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Uhm¡­ what¡¯s the difference?¡± Elisae asked in confusion, not sure what Scarlet was getting at.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The first method requires them to unlock the power to grant a wish.¡± Scarlet pointed out, shaking her head. ¡°We don¡¯t want to do that. So, instead, we¡¯re changing it. This narrows the scope of your wishes, but it will be more than enough to fit in for most of the wishes you would want to grant.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As an example, let us assume that there was a terrible storm bearing down on a vige, and the inhabitants wished for their vige to be spared from disaster. If such a wish came through to you, how would you answer it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Elisae heard that, there were naturally many answers that formed in her head, though some were more obvious than others. ¡°I would weaken the storm.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s certainly one method. Now¡­ what sort of power would it naturally take to weaken such a storm, wish-granting aside?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The power of a druid to control nature would be best, no?¡± Elisae tilted her head, finding the answer to be a bit too easy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Exactly! What they need is not the power of a goddess, but the power of a druid!¡± Scarlet pointed straight at Elisae¡¯s forehead. ¡°Furthermore, druids do not use much of their own power, only their will to control nature. For those of a lower level, they only have to expend some mana tomunicate with nature until they have established their token.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Following this divinew, you would not grant them your power and directly disperse the storm. Instead, you would stir their mana to interact with nature, turning each viger into a type of druid all working together to weaken the storm.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Elisae gave a slow nod, finding the example viable. ¡°But then¡­ what about a vige that is being attacked by monsters too strong for them to defeat?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet gave a low chuckle at that. ¡°People are often stronger than they believe, onlycking the skill. However, if there is truly such a difference in level, the wish is even easier. What they need is not to defeat the foe, but to survive. This gives you a number of options. Potentially, you could answer the wish by using it as a path to send troops. You could bless the vigers with more skillful ways of fighting, or use the wish tobine the energies of those gathered to trigger a spell that would teleport everyone to safety.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Don¡¯t lock your divinity in such a way that it must be undone from the outside, or else you will always be robbing your followers of their future. A wish is only the path for your divinity to follow, nothing more. If you set this restriction for granting the wishes of others, it will save both you and them a majority of the burden.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Elisae gave a small nod at that. It was¡­ a bit hard to ept hearing that she had been using apletely uneptable approach, but Scarlet was a very¡­ stern teacher. ¡°I understand. Is there anything else?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Divinew, final act.¡± Scarlet grinned, nodding her head. ¡°Granting your own wishes. You might think that it is selfish for a Goddess of Wishes to be able to grant her own wish, or even that it will dilute your divine power by breaking any previous restrictions. However¡­ isn¡¯t everything you¡¯re doing right now your own attempt to grant your ¡®wish¡¯? Your wish is to be a good queen for your people.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Let us take the Goddess Ryone as an example. With her mercantile domains, she trades her divinity for other domain powers for a limited time in battles. She hasn¡¯t had the chance to show this off much, but the information is there if you know where to look. In the same way, you could wish for yourself to temporarily be a goddess with a different domain.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As an example¡­ ¡®I wish for the power of fire¡¯. Once you use this type of wish to temporarily alter your domain, you will be able to use the bulk of your divinity forbat without worrying about any restrictions.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Elisae blinked, giving a slow nod. She hadn¡¯t thought of wishing for other domains, though it certainly seemed like a viable option. ¡°I understand, but¡­ what should I do with that ten percent you had me set aside, then?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet simply grinned wider in response. ¡°Aside from what you have already converted into previous divinews, and that ten percent, I want you to use everything else for the fifthw. Aside from that ten percent, and the parts allocated to the first fourws, the rest of your divinity should be in a state of flux, ready to shift itself into one or more forms at a moment¡¯s notice.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Normally, I¡¯d tell you to slowly train this as a specific power over time instead of making it a divinew, but¡­ your domain has almost zero utility inbat without the power to grant your own wishes. And anything you would normally want to use it for, you can do so with thisw as well. Thus, in your specific case, it would be better to create it as a divinew, and then have you train specific powers after wishing yourself into new domains.¡±

 Chapter 784: The Sky Is Falling

    Chapter 784: The Sky Is Falling


    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked in surprise, watching the scene unfold between Scarlet and Elisae. In truth, I had been concerned about Elisae¡¯s use of her divine rule previously, but I had not expected Scarlet to go to such lengths to correct her. From the way that she exined everything, it was clear that she had been thinking about it the entire time that Elisae was unconscious.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The part about her changing domains was rather simr to my Mirror domain as well, so I was looking forward to seeing how she would develop in the future. I felt a small smile creeping over my face as several different scenarios yed out in my mind. How she would react if her people were in danger. How she would react if Scarlet got hurt¡­ while I did not personally want to see either of these events unfolding, I knew that she was prepared for it now, at least.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Fafnir¡¯s body tore through the skies, appearing as a white cloud billowing in the breeze. His eyes gazed down on the world below, and all of the creatures walking its surface. There was little that he had not seen since his ascension as the God of the Sky. However, it had been quite a long time since he had seen the figure that had tamed him from a wild beast, the one that had helped him attain his current prowess.


    <span style="font-weight:400">His massive head shook at those thoughts, dispelling them from his mind. The Keeper would see him if the situation called for it, and that was how things had always been. The mark of the taming was still present on his soul, though Fafnir knew that he had the skills to remove it if he so desired. The only reasons preventing him from doing so were that he knew that he could not defeat the Keeper in his present form, and the thought of betraying those that he has grown to know over the many years felt unforgivable to him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, he allowed himself to carry this brand willingly. Even if the one who ced it were never to return, he would always be the Keeper¡¯s dragon.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Fafnir¡¯s thoughts drifted for a moment as he allowed himself to be carried along the winds. In fact, he had long since lost track of how long it had been since he touched the earth, ever since he had made the skies his home. Yet, as he was thinking about this, he sensed something in the distance. It was a faint divine power that he didn¡¯t immediately recognize.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Is there a new god in this world?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He asked himself in bemusement. Whenever a new deity appeared, he made it a point to fly over the at least once, memorizing their face and aura. There was no particr reason for this habit, merely that it was a way for him to pass the time in his boredom.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, the cloud-like dragon shifted its path, turning away from the flow of the wind to fly towards this new signature. Something felt¡­ slightly off about the divine presence, but he had seen many such things in the past. For instance, there were many deities that had trained themselves to be able to conceal their traces from the very moment that they ascended. If such a situation were to ur, it was only natural that Fafnir would not be able to have a proper reading of their energy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The dragon could feel a sense of malice, an almost hungry sensation from the divine energy as he got closer. This caused his flying pace to slow, shifting his path to flow along with the clouds. He even altered the direction of the wind to make himself seem more natural.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At this pace, he was slowed down a fair bit, taking almost half an hour before he was within range to see his target. However, he was somewhat saddened to find that the location of the aura was beneath arge canopy of trees. At least, that¡¯s what it appeared to be at first.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Just as he was about to give up and fly away, he felt the location of the aura suddenly shift. From its position below him, it was now far above his body. Furthermore, Fafnir could feel something severing within himself. The ¡®cloud¡¯ that he had been pretending to be had been cleanly sliced in two, his head separating from the rest of his serpentine body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">His eyes went wide in shock at this demonstration. Had he been an organic creature still, that one strike would have been fatal. Thankfully, as a god he was able to survive, pulling his pieces back together.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately, doing so did consume some of his energy, his health bar appearing over his head for the first time in so long. His eyes red upwards, looking at the entity that had so brazenly attacked him. There was not a soul alive that did not know the meaning behind attacking someone associated with the Keeper.


    <span style="font-weight:400">What Fafnir saw, however¡­ he wasn¡¯t sure he could ssify it as a living soul. It seemed to be the embodiment of a golden mist, taking a vaguely humanoid shape. Its eyes were pools of blue light shining out of its head, while its arms were constantly shifting their forms. This was certainly not the natural appearance of any creature that resided on Earth.


    <span style="font-weight:400">More importantly, Fafnir focused a portion of his divinity into his eyes, wanting to observe the other party¡¯s domains. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Devouring? And¡­ Speed? A two-domain god!?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> It had rarely seen those with multiple domains, outside of the Greater Pantheon. For there to be one that appeared in such a situation, hostile to the world in this manner¡­


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">This isn¡¯t a newly born god¡­ this is a monster god! A monster god that managed to obtain two domains!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The moment that this thought crossed his mind, he noticed that the golden figure was no longer floating in the air above him. As soon as Fafnir realized that he had lost sight of his opponent, there was a thin pain all along his body, hundreds of cuts appearing to split him apart.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It took a great deal of willpower in order to pull himself back together from that, though doing so had cost him even more of his own divinity. With that, his health bar dropped down by nearly one third, the golden figure crouched atop one of the taller trees beneath him. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I can¡¯t defeat this thing by myself¡­ Tower, Scarlet, Tsubaki!</i>


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, have you thought about what sort of divine artifact you want to create, yet?¡± Scarlet asked, looking at Elisae that had crouched down onto the ground. Her friend was groaning while trying to adjust to the numerous voices passing through her mind, Scarlet purposely continuing the conversation so that she would have to learn how to handle the multitasking more quickly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Mirror¡­ a mirror¡­ functioning¡­ like a terminal.¡± Elisae gripped the side of her head, eyes squinted shut. As time passed, more and more people seemed to register with her divinew, gathering before her likeness. This was not in any way deliberate, but rather a natural consequence. Statues or paintings of the queen existed in mostrge cities, and there would always be groups of people in such settings that heldmon desires. Thus, the voices continued to pile on.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet, help me!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Scarlet¡¯s expression went nk when she felt the mental cry. A red mist spread out from her body, easily recognizing the source of the distress call. ¡°Get one of your maids to talk to.¡± She said, her voice icy. ¡°Don¡¯t stop talking until I get back.¡± With that, she tore open a red gap in the air, plunging herself into it.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And that¡¯s everything!¡± Lifre smiled happily, finishing the report about her excursion to Fyor. She had taken some additional time to y around before returning, since it was rare for her to be able to take an extended leave from the citadel.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded her head, going through the details that Lifre had recounted. ¡°I understand. I suppose that the buffs that you gave them this time were rted to Wisdom and Charm?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Lifre nodded. ¡°Since we were going there for a diplomatic meeting, I thought that giving them a blessing to their strength would only backfire. So, I directed my blessing towards their social skill--and she¡¯s gone¡­¡± Lifre blinked, looking at the empty seat across from herself where Tsubaki had been sitting until just a moment ago. ¡°I mean, I get it that nothing major happened, but she never blows me off that suddenly!¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet and Tsubaki arrived at the scene at nearly the same time. One appeared through a blood-red portal, the other in a sh of blinding light. Both were fully equipped for battle, however. Scarlet carried with her a crimson spear, its de curved into a vicious hook. Tsubaki, meanwhile, carried her own divine relic, the sniper rifle that she had created shortly after her ascension.


    <span style="font-weight:400">What they saw upon their arrival left the both of them shocked. Fafnir¡¯s body was falling from the sky in hundreds of pieces, slowly dissolving in the air. The golden energy released from his boy was being sucked towards a humanoid form hovering far behind him, one that the two of them could have easily missed if not for the overwhelming malice that they felt.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I thought you were killing any monster gods that approached?¡± Tsubaki asked, holding up her rifle to get a better look at her enemy. She was fully aware of Scarlet¡¯s protective activities, and this caused her to be even more surprised that something had managed to slip through all the way to the.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I am¡­ it has no ki.¡± Scarlet¡¯s grip on her spear tightened when she said that. As the Goddess of Ki, she relied on her natural ability to detect ki in order to find her opponents. After all, ki was the essence of physical life.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I see¡­¡± Tsubaki nodded, quickly pulling the trigger to fire off three rounds at the golden creature. For a moment, it was forced to stop feeding on the falling pieces of Fafnir¡¯s body, though it was evident that the dragon¡¯s soul had already been destroyed. Tsubaki grit her teeth, clenching her hand against her weapon tight enough for her knuckles to go white. ¡°We¡¯re dealing with a three-domain god. Devouring, Speed, and Sky. Are you confident?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°My father¡¯s dragon was just in before my eyes¡­¡± Scarlet said, the bloody mist spreading out from her once again. ¡°We are his subordinates. Shall we show this monster what that means?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As soon as she finished her words, her figure shed several meters to the side. In the space where she had just been, a thick line was torn through the bloody mist. The creature that they had previously been facing had suddenly appeared behind them, though Scarlet had managed to react in time.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Spread out your divinity. If it¡¯s you, you should be able to match his speed with enough warning.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Scarlet transmitted to Tsubaki, who immediately began to radiate a field of light from her body, her nine tails illuminating at once. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Tower has been over capacity for a while¡­ I doubt we¡¯ll be able to get him to help in time. Short of the Greater Pantheon, nobody would make it in time to help us.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">So we¡¯re on our own¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Tsubaki nodded, dismissing her rifle. Although the previous shots had hit this creature, there was no guarantee that future attacks would. Especially since this was bound to turn into a contest of speed. Her hair began to rise, her pupils shrinking to tiny dots as her long-dormant battle instincts were activated at full force.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Even with this, Tsubaki wasn¡¯t confident that she would be able to see the other party¡¯s movements. At any given moment, she was prepared to lunge to either side to avoid a fatal attack. The instant her divinity was disrupted¡­


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her wrists shifted as her body flickered away, two long daggers appearing in her hands. Each of these daggers had a purely white de, and both were divine relics. Behind Tsubaki, Scarlet appeared, thrusting her staff towards the golden figure that had rushed over. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯s powerful, but it only operates on base instincts, and it can¡¯t properly handle its speed!</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">This thought was sent to Tsubaki as Scarlet¡¯s spear stabbed forward, though the creature vanished before the attack couldnd. However, it did not use this moment to attack, but rather to flee from Scarlet¡¯s strike.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki gave a small nod, readying her daggers. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It should be a simple creature that found a primordial relic of Devouring, and then ate a God of Speed.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">No, not a simple creature. Remember, it has no ki. This thing was never a physical lifeform. We¡¯re either dealing with a natural-born energy being, or a monster spirit.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Scarlet¡¯s eyes trained themselves on the creature, focusing on her fine control of ki to lock down the surrounding space. Even if the enemy was faster than light, it would not be able to use its speed to escape the confines of a locked space, limiting its movement. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Either way, we have to kill it here.</i>

 Chapter 785: House Of Mirrors

    Chapter 785: House Of Mirrors


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet and Tsubaki faced a terrible challenge in front of themselves. Their opponent had proven capable of devouring other godly beings and obtaining their divine domains, meaning that anyone that they called for backup could potentially be in danger. Worst still, the creature embodied the very concept of speed, transcending all natural limits.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of the two of them, Tsubaki was by far the fastest, as well as the one with the most intensivebat experience. However, she was unable to follow the movements of the other party with her eyes. Only when she felt the field of divine energy around her being disturbed would she know that she needed to immediately dodge.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If there was anything to be thankful about, it was that the monster had not yet been able to incorporate any abilities from Fafnir¡¯s Sky domain. Otherwise, with thebination of Speed and Sky, it was likely to be a near-impossible fight in the air.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sadly, calling for help was not an option, even if they did know someone that would be able to surely defeat this foe. That was because the speed of their battle was simply too intense. In order to stand a chance against their foe, they had pushed their minds to their limits, fully unleashing their reaction speed. Actions which would normally take seconds toplete were now urring faster than the untrained eye could track.


    <span style="font-weight:400">One perfect example of this was Scarlet sweeping her spear through the air while Tsubaki curved her body around it, both striking at the figure of golden mist. If anyone else was watching, it was likely that they would only notice a fierce wind being blown by their rapid movements.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sadly, the strike failed to connect, the creature reacting to any sense of danger with the same instinct: retreat. Its body flickered backwards hundreds of meters, far outside of the range for their attacks until its back was against the solidified barrier Scarlet had made. <i><span style="font-weight:400">If we can¡¯t hit it, we¡¯re never going to kill it!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Scarlet called out in mental frustration.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I know.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Tsubaki¡¯s response was calm, keeping her eyes focused on the enemy facing them. There were a number of strategies that they could take advantage of against such a simple-minded creature. The problem with them was that they had to try to finish the fight in a single strike, otherwise the creature may adapt with its domains.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For instance, if it disregarded the fight and simply tried to devour them, they would be put in a precarious position while trying to fight back. In order to prevent it from learning these strategies, the fight had to be concluded swiftly. <i><span style="font-weight:400">How much can you shrink this space we¡¯re in?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet¡¯s lips curved upwards at that. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Thanks to the book that father gave me, I canpress a space this size into a grain of sand, though it would take time.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki gave a small nod, suddenly dashing to the side to avoid another attack, though this one still cut rather deeply into her arm. She ryed her requests while ignoring the pain, Scarlet¡¯s brow furrowing as she considered the n. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯ll need five seconds, and I won¡¯t be able to move.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s body went cold when she heard that, as five seconds was more than enough time for this creature to kill either one of them if they were standing still. It hadn¡¯t even taken ten seconds for them to arrive after Fafnir¡¯s distress call, and they had not made it in time to save him. Regardless, Tsubaki forced herself to nod. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯m going to try to borrow power from my Keeper. If it works, that will be your signal.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet blinked, knowing just how hard it was for Tsubaki to consider relying on the Keeper¡¯s power for a fight. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I guess that¡¯s what this hase to¡­</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki charged back towards the creature, brandishing her twin daggers in a violent disy, meant only to cow the creature into submission. As she did so, she sent out an urgent prayer. <i><span style="font-weight:400">My Keeper, I require the use of your godly power to ovee a terrible foe.</i>


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy and I were still watching Elisae, and in my opinion there was a good bit to learn from how Scarlet had taught her. Personally, the only divinews that I had ever established were to create those tomes of power. Having Scarlet exin how to set up suchws to create a favorable situation with one¡¯s domain was rather eye-opening.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Granted, I was curious where she had run off to so suddenly, but I assumed that there was simply some emergency in Bloodhaven that she had to deal with. That was, until an almost frantically rushed message was transmitted to me less than fifteen secondster. <i><span style="font-weight:400">My Keeper, I require the use of your godly power to ovee a terrible foe.</i>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Your Subordinate Deity is attempting to ess the following domains for an unrestricted purpose: Illusions, Mirrors


    <span style="font-weight:400">Would you like to ept?


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes went wide, immediately selecting yes. ¡°Switch it to Tsubaki, quick.¡± I looked at Aurivy, who practically fumbled with the remote to change the channel. I couldn¡¯t remember a point in time when Tsubaki had ever requested my power so openly, especially forbat.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Only half a second passed after Tsubaki sent that request before she felt a channel opening within her divine energy. Warmth flooded her chest at the realization that the Keeper had so readily granted her request, but she had no time to be happy. ¡°What I seek is a maze of mirrors forged of lies!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Three golden spheres appeared around Tsubaki, each containing a word written in divine script. Light, Mirrors, Illusion, these three words formed the trinity that she had envisioned. Within the space constructed by Scarlet, walls of ss began to erect themselves in all directions, forming cubes no more than five meters wide. Each cube was surrounded on all sides by mirrors, with every wall broken into a dozen sections.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Every mirror formed a portal, leading to another cube in the maze. However, the cube that the portals led to was not the same as the ones that they showed. Instead, there was an illusion ced over every mirror to show a different cube in the set, creating a maze where one could not trust their own senses.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet stood alone in one cube, Tsubaki in another, and the creature in a third. Like this, they would find it hard-pressed to locate each other¡¯s position. Even Tsubaki did not know which path she should take to find the creature. Thankfully, she had observed that their foe had a problem with their speed¡­ that problem being that it was simply too fast, and did not possess the ability to properly stop and change directions freely.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Such a handicap made this maze the perfect challenge for it, as it could go through a dozen cubes before being able to slow itself down enough to stop. Tsubaki let out a sigh, dismissing her daggers and retrieving her rifle again. While this maze hindered her foe, it did not stop her rifle¡¯s homing ability.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">You have your five seconds¡­ just hurry before it finds the way through.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Tsubaki said as she looked through the scope, seeing the golden creature standing in one corner of its cube. Its eyes were looking around rapidly, trying to understand what had happened. Its figure flickered, appearing in another cube, but Tsubaki was already locked onto it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She gathered her divine power in her rifle, pulling the trigger again and again tounch pirs of light through the nearby mirrors, each one taking a different path. These rays shot through the reflective portals, curving again and again to seek out the shortest paths to the creature. In the end, it was struck by five beams at almost the same time, unable to wholly avoid them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing its health bar dropping, Tsubaki¡¯s smile grew. However, she knew that this would not work forever. As soon as the creature was attacked, it charged straight in the direction that one of the beams had fired from. Had Tsubaki¡¯s attack traveled in a straight line, she would surely have been found by now.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately, every time she struck, the creature came closer to the cube that she was firing from. Due to her rifle possessing the trait of ¡®taking the shortest path to strike the target¡¯, the creature only had to move one cube at a time, each one guaranteed to bring it closer to her. It was only when it overshot that she was able to make some distance.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After three seconds of firing, Tsubaki had to jump into one of the reflective portals near her. The creature had gotten too close, to the point where it was only one or two portals away from her, going by the number of times the beams had to curve.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As Tsubaki fled to another cube, she suddenly felt the field of divine energy around her being disturbed. Without hesitation, she jumped, one of her feet being severed at the ankle. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It found me?!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Her eyes went wide, looking at the creature that stopped not that far ahead of her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The creature seemed fixated on her severed foot, reaching out towards it. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It tracked the flow of my divinity¡­ is that a natural ability, or something from its Devouring domain?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> As she thought about that, she mentally recalled the divine energy within her foot, willing it to attach itself to her again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If it had her ¡®scent¡¯, then jumping through another portal normally would not help her escape. Thus, Tsubaki took a deep breath, creating dozens of illusions that sprang out of her body at once, each one flinging itself into a different portal to take a random path. At the same time, Tsubaki herself picked a portal at random, mixing in with the illusions. Her only hope right now was that the creature was unable to determine which of her bodies was real.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she was thinking that, she felt three of the illusions being severed at the same time, showing that the creature had fallen for the trick. Realizing this, Tsubaki had a rather bold idea. She created more illusions of herself, throwing them through random portals in an attempt to upy every cube of this mirror maze. Doing so served two purposes. First, it prevented the creature from following her trail, making it seem like she had gone everywhere.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Secondly, she was able to urately map out the maze in her mind, knowing where the creature was at all times. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I can¡¯t fire again, or it will trace the rays back to me like it did before.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She looked towards her rifle in dismay, knowing that she needed to find a way to remodel it for it to be a feasible weapon in divine battles.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki mentally counted off the time, realizing that it had only been four seconds. She grit her teeth, feeling illusion after illusion shattering. Had she not formed this maze with the power of a trinity, it was likely that the creature¡¯s raw power and speed would have torn through it long ago.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯m done.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Scarlet said in a tired tone, causing Tsubaki¡¯s eyes to light up. Immediately afterwards, the space around them seemed to shift, both Scarlet and Tsubaki appearing outside of the mirror maze. Scarlet stretched her hand towards the maze, which Tsubaki quickly dispelled. Now that the n waspleted, the maze would only hinder Scarlet¡¯s actions.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once the maze was shattered, the cubes were¡­ still in ce, oddly enough. That was because part of Tsubaki¡¯s request was to separate the space they were fighting in into evenly spaced cubes, and she molded the maze around that request as a smokescreen. Without the mirrors acting as portals, the creature was now trapped in a single cube five meters across.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Its figure shed, smashing into the walls of its prison again and again while the other cubes fell away. With each one that vanished, the creature¡¯s cube became smaller and smaller, the walls changing from an almost wavy translucent appearance to deep red.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It didn¡¯t take long for the cube to be smaller than the creature¡¯s appearance. At this point, Scarlet¡¯s face looked tense, forcing her divine power into her ki to cause the cube to continue shrinking. Soon after, something audibly cracked, the health bar of the creature rapidly dwindling.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Only when the health bar had fully emptied did Scarlet feel relieved. With a sigh, she dismissed the distorted space, a shockwave of energy rippling out into the world. Although this wave was sudden, it was not strong enough to harm Tsubaki or Scarlet, and would weaken further before reaching the ground.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki smiled, knowing that the creature had finally been destroyed. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Thank you, my Keeper.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She prayed again, willingly forfeiting her control of the Keeper¡¯s domains.

 Chapter 786: Returning

    Chapter 786: Returning


    <span style="font-weight:400">My fists clenched as I watched the conclusion of the fight between Tsubaki, Scarlet, and the unidentified monster god. In truth, I could have gone down to help, but I was not sure that I would make it in time to be able to influence the final result.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aside from the time needed to descend, I also had to locate the battlefield and teleport myself over to them. This could be taken care of with Aurivy¡¯s help, but the otherplication was far more pressing. Assuming that I made it in time, I would require a brief period to adjust my mental state and enter ¡®battle mode¡¯. Even Tsubaki and Scarlet had needed to do this prior to starting their fight, although the period that they used was far shorter than most.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In other words, by the time I was on the scene, I would only be a hindrance until I had finished preparing myself. With that in mind, I ultimately chose to trust my two subordinate deities, allowing Tsubaki unrestricted ess to my domains. If Scarlet had asked for the same, I would have willingly obliged as well.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Where did that creature evene from?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask, ncing over towards Aurivy and alia. The two of them closed their eyes, taking their time to review the records left within the system.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ultimately, it was alia that answered first. ¡°Found it. It¡¯s¡­ actually from quite a long ways away. The same gxy as Earth, but still¡­ from what I can see, it came from an energy race that evolved in a highly magical environment, and is a form of natural ghost. After absorbing the relic of Devouring, it became extremely sensitive to divine energies, and¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy nodded her head. ¡°Once it found a monster God of Speed, the two battled, and the victor was obvious. That happened¡­ a week ago, it looks like? Either way, once it had the Speed domain, its process of hunting down gods was able to hasten drastically. The reason that it appeared on Earth was because of the fact that the Earth has thergest concentration of gods in the gxy after Sanctum left.¡±


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully it didn¡¯t target Sanctum, then¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I could only imagine what would happen if something like this were to appear on Sanctum, potentially devouring the entire world. I knew that there was an ultimate limit of nine domains, after which the creature would have inevitably self-destructed, but there was also the chance that it would be able to avoid that result through some means.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Shaking my head, I turned my attention back to the screen. It was a shame that Fafnir was lost, but¡­ I had not particrly interacted with him much since taming him back in the day. Thus, it was hard for me to be too emotionally bonded to him.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two goddesses in the air let out a deep breath, gradually sealing their battle intent as they had confirmed that the enemy was no more. ¡°That was an interesting maze that you created.¡± Scarlet praised, smiling at Tsubaki. ¡°It¡¯s hard to believe that you came up with it on the spot.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Taking into ount Scarlet¡¯s position, Tsubaki chose not to hide anything about this topic from her. ¡°Some time ago, the Keeper asked me topile a list of abilities he could use with three domains. The False Mirror Maze was one of the more recent abilities that I devised, though I did not expect that I would be the one using it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet blinked in surprise at that, before nodding her head. Scarlet had theorized about the concept of a trinity for a long time. There were two reasons for this, though it could only be said that one was urate. The first reason was due to the fact that all members of the Greater Pantheon possessed exactly three domains, leading her to believe that there was significance in this number.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In truth, that was because of how the system established the automatic unlocking of domains forpanions, but that was not something that Scarlet could know. Additionally, Dale could have bought them more beyond simply three, but chose never to do so. It was the second reason that held more weight when properly examined.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The very first use of a ¡®trinity¡¯ had urred long ago, long before Dale himself had brought up the concept. And it had been used in a situation where the process had been shown to the entire world. Back when the Greater Pantheon fought against the beast born in the sun, Ryone borrowed the domains of Gravity and Cold,bining them with her Magic domain to create a ck hole.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was in part this action which caused Scarlet to train Elisae into one who could obtain more domains in a simr manner. The feat of creating that ck hole was perhaps the most memorable use of divinity that Scarlet had ever seen, and it had been strong enough to destroy a monster that threatened to scorch the world with its mere presence.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At the same time, however, Scarlet knew that it was not currently an option for her to obtain multiple domains. As things stood, she was the Goddess of Ki, and would be limited to that aspect for quite some time. Perhaps in the future, she would be able to obtain more domains for herself, but that was something to considerter.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I see. Either way, it was quite impressive.¡± Scarlet said with a faint smile. ¡°You certainly live up to your reputation.¡± Scarlet knew that she would have likely died if she fought this monster god alone. Although her ¡®true body¡¯ was hidden within a fold of space, it was toorge and cumbersome to fight against a God of Speed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki responded with a curt nod, putting away her divine artifacts. Thankfully, she had not needed to activate the effects of her daggers¡­ or rather she had never received the chance to do so. ¡°As do you.¡± She spoke up, her lips tugging upwards slightly. ¡°I¡¯m d to see that my Keeper¡¯s trust in you is well ced.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet¡¯s eyes went faintly wider at that, her smile turning warmer at the praise. Simply knowing that her father trusted her was enough to make her feel a sense of pride. ¡°If that is the case¡­ pardon me, but I need to get back to my business. Hopefully the next time we meet will be under better circumstances.¡± As she said that, a red ripple surrounded her body, causing her to vanish from her position.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With Scarlet gone, Tsubaki nced down at the dissolving remains of Fafnir, pping her hands together once in a silent farewell. Fafnir had been a member of the Keeper¡¯s forces in his own way, so this was her method of showing respect for a fallen warrior.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, how did she do?¡± Scarlet asked, her mood far improved by the time that she returned to the roof of Elisae¡¯s pce. She saw a butler constantly talking to Elisae, though the girl was still struggling to respond. When the butler saw Scarlet appear, he offered a weak smile.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Her Highness is still able to continue a conversation, if only just¡­¡± The man said, to which Scarlet nodded.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ll take it from here. Don¡¯t worry, she¡¯ll be ready to resume normal operation soon.¡± That was not a baseless promise, as Scarlet was well aware of Elisae¡¯s personality. With the proper push, it was not hard for her to ovee her normal limits. In this way, she truly had inherited something from her adoptive mother.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The butler offered a low bow, turning to leave the rooftop. Once they were alone, Elisae let out a faint groan, turning to nce at Scarlet. ¡°You¡¯re a real fiend, you know that?¡± She asked, though Scarlet knew that she spoke in jest.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Empress of Bloodhaven merely kept her same smile, walking over and cing a hand on her friend¡¯s shoulders. ¡°This is the path you want to walk. The voices you hear are the wishes of your people. I won¡¯t lie to you, they¡¯ll only get stronger over time. Once the people know that you will actively grant their wishes, you can expect that the amount will multiply at least tenfold. Even so¡­ do you still wish to pursue this path?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Elisae clenched her teeth, offering a small nod. ¡°I do. This is the path¡­ that I have chosen¡­ as the Queen of Hanbei. No matter what happens¡­ I will see it through.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s not what I asked.¡± Scarlet said, her smile growing wider. ¡°I said¡­ Do you <i><span style="font-weight:400">wish</i><span style="font-weight:400"> to?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Elisae¡¯s eyes went wide at that, realizing the hidden meaning in Scarlet¡¯s words. ¡°Yes¡­ yes, I wish to pursue this path. I wish to be able to safely hear the words of my people and respond to them. I wish to be the queen that everyone needs.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Immediately, something shifted in Elisae¡¯s divinity. The voices that she was hearing did not stop. If anything, they became more clear. However, Elisae found that her attention was now being properly divided to listen to each one. Scarlet nodded her head, seeing the tension ease from Elisae¡¯s face. ¡°Most of your divinity was reserved to grant your own wishes, remember. Until you have grown ustomed to the voices, it would be wise to use this method.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thank you.¡± Elisae nodded her head deeply, still parsing through all of the voices that she was hearing. However, she now had the capacity to answer those prayers. She was able to individually judge which wishes were suitable, and which were born of amon selfish interest. It was amazing how many people simply wanted to marry a town idol¡­


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Don¡¯t thank me. This is all the result of your hard work.¡± Scarlet nodded as well, slowly standing up and helping Elisae to her feet. ¡°Now, let us go to Sanctum. As the God-Queen of Hanbei, you should have a presence there, and we need to get your artifact crafted.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two looked at each other with somewhat mirthful expressions as they recalled themand to travel released by Aurivy, before speaking in unison. ¡°I wish to enter the Divine Realm.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once Tsubaki returned to the Sky Citadel, she found herself quickly being tackled by a ck-haired girl. ¡°Tsuba! Where¡¯d you go, what happened?!¡± Dana asked in nearly a panic, eyes wide. Lifre mentioned to her that Tsubaki had simply left in the middle of her report, and Dana knew that this was not how Tsubaki would normally behave. Not unless something urgent had required her immediate attention.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki thought about it for a moment, but decided that there was no point in hiding the truth. ¡°Fafnir was in¡­¡± As she said that, she slowly stroked Dana¡¯s hair. Out of all three members of the citadel, it was Dana that had the closest bond with the dragon.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana¡¯s eyes went even wider, her mouth hanging open. ¡°What? But¡­ how? Who would even want to target him?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki let out a long sigh, taking her time to exin the situation that had just urred while leading Dana back into the citadel. ¡°It was another monster god¡­ this one from far away. Moreover, it was incredibly strong. The First Blood and I had to work together to defeat it, and even then I could feel Irena¡¯s grasp around my neck. Had we been careless, both of us could have fallen.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana froze at that, the thought of Tsubaki being killed tormenting her. She gripped tighter at Tsubaki¡¯s dress, shaking her head. ¡°No¡­ take me with you next time, please. Don¡¯t leave me alone¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki realized what she had said, her smile turning far warmer. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Dana.¡± She said, leaning down and hugging the girl that had practically be her little sister. ¡°I won¡¯t leave you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m here too, guys!¡± Lifre shouted, popping up right next to the pair with her arms spread. The two paused for a moment, ncing at her, and then each other, before both of them broke out in a suddenugh. ¡°What? Don¡¯t leave me out of all the fun moments!¡±

 Chapter 787: Phone A Friend

    Chapter 787: Phone A Friend


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There has to be a way¡­¡± Jame muttered to himself as he stared at the rows of forms written on the whiteboard in front of him. For years now, he and his team had been studying the primordial relics in an attempt to automate the ascension process. This was the longest project that he had ever worked on, and yet he was still no closer to seeding.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In light of the fact that there was a required build-up period between creating the divine spirit and divine body, he had nned to separate the process into two different machines. Yet, even that was met with constant failures. There were simply too many variables that had to be considered, and the process of taking control of one¡¯s divine spark was exponentially harder than merely controlling mana or ki.


    <span style="font-weight:400">To properly prepare them for this task, the current Keeper had even provided them with a number of primordial relics for them to use for their studies. The worst part was that this only made their challenge all the more difficult. Each of the relics seemed to release an entirely different spectrum of energy, leaving nomon source for them to draw from.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°At this point, it would be easier to mass produce the relics themselves, instead of trying to replicate their effects.¡± Treisha grunted from her desk, looking over her own data sets again in the hopes of finding something that James may have missed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sadly, James had considered that approach as well. In fact, they had the technology to do so with their void maniption, so long as they created a buffer environment. In order to create materials through the void, one had to artificially simte the environment in which those materials would form.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With the primordial relics, this meant that they had to simte the first moments of a universe, when all of creation was merely a massive clump of superdense matter at the heart of everything. And then, with one explosive release, it scattered into a truly countless number of pieces. Among those pieces, there would be billions ofrger ones that became that universe¡¯s primordial relics, while the rest would inevitably turn into cosmic dust,ing together to form stars,s, and entire gxies.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The problem with this method was that the explosive force of the universe¡¯s birth would have to be simted as well to create these relics. This explosive force itself was easily enough to destroy an entire gxy, as well as any neighboring ones in less than a trillionth of a second. For rather obvious reasons, this experiment could not be conducted in any popted realm.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In order to safely conduct this test, the entire process had to ur within the void itself, with no physical links to any upied world active. If the explosive force could be contained, they could then gather up all of the released relics and be happy with their work. If it couldn¡¯t, they would lose their entire testing environment, and any life in that universe.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s easy enough to copy the physical structure.¡± James said with a shake of his head. ¡°However, the physical structure is only a carrier for the energy within. You would need a far greater level of power than what a divine entity can release in order to create that specific energy.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Treisha nced over curiously, knowing that James would never say random things like that without a reason. However, it was also the first time that she had heard of a god¡¯s power being ¡®not enough¡¯. ¡°Is there a level beyond gods?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Maybe¡­ my old friends used to say something about it¡­ but they never told me the specifics.¡± He sighed, shaking his head again. ¡°It¡¯s not something that we¡¯ll be able to achieve any time soon. For now, we need to focus on what we can do. Using void engineering to create the relics is out of the question, and we can¡¯t replicate the three steps of divinity with our current technology. Each body is far too different from each other by the time they are ready for divinity.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thessa nodded from where she was sitting with her twin, both of them having long since given up on this approach. ¡°We tried crunching the numbers, but even if we made people go through the perfection process it doesn¡¯t work. There would still be too much variation in each person¡¯s levels to urately create a program that would let their divine spark safely convert their soul.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After they had created the Perfection Chamber, they each thought that it was only a matter of time before they realized the technology to automate godhood in the same way. Never did they expect that the two would be as different as the sun and the moon. ¡°We need a new approach¡­ are there any other ways to obtain divinity that you know of?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Nora posed this question, James let out a somewhat frustrated groan. ¡°Not in detail. The three steps are the most fundamental method used by everyone I know. There is the cultivation method, but that only works on Lorek and Spica. Furthermore, it requires the candidate¡¯s own understanding of their path, so automating the energy collection process has little value.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There <i><span style="font-weight:400">are</i><span style="font-weight:400"> other methods, but I don¡¯t know how to go about achieving them. For instance, there is one that I heard about that is referred to as ¡®lighting the divine me¡¯. All I know from that is that you are somehow meant to treat your divine spark as an <i><span style="font-weight:400">actual</i><span style="font-weight:400"> spark, turning it into a roaring me and igniting it all at once. Once you do so, theoretically, it will shatter your body from the inside, remolding you into a god.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The kitsune twins shuddered at that, Chel leaning back in her seat. ¡°Yeah, I think I could give that one a try.¡± She said with a faint nod, everyone immediately looking over at her. ¡°What?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, absolutely not.¡± James said in a firm tone, Chel jumping up from her seat and flicking him on the forehead.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Did you forget that this body is just a temporary vessel?¡± Chel reminded him in a reprimanding tone. ¡°All I¡¯ve gotta do if I fail is get a new one over in Spica, and I¡¯ll be back this time next year. Come on, James, we¡¯ve been at this so long, we¡¯re never going to make any progress if nobody steps forward. And out of all of us, I¡¯m easily the most expendable. Well, maybe not expendable, but at least renewable?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James hesitated for a moment, but still shook his head. ¡°There¡¯s another way to do this. Once we understand the methods involved, then you can be the big damn hero and test it yourself. Until then¡­ please, just wait. I¡¯d really rather not lose you again¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel¡¯s eyes softened for a moment, a smileing over her face. ¡°Alright, you big doof. Then what is your n for learning those methods without any proper testing? We don¡¯t have the data avable to run the simtions, and we can¡¯t get that data without experimenting.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Easy¡­ phone a friend.¡± James said with a small smile, walking back to his desk and activating his console. He did not have a direct line to the Keeper, but he knew who did.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel¡­ simply stared at him for a long moment, grumbling as she jumped over tond on his desk in front of him. ¡°So¡­ you¡¯re going to call Tsubaki¡­ so that she can call the Keeper and ask for a favor?¡± She asked, forcing James to look up at her incredulous expression.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, yes-- I¡¯m an idiot.¡± James blinked, shaking his head and chuckling when he realized the problem with this n. Well, problems¡­ first, Tsubaki was always loath to request a favor from ¡®her Keeper¡¯. Secondly, Chel had no such hesitation, and was in an even more convenient ce to make such a request. ¡°Can I leave it to you, then?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Aye aye, captain!¡± Chel grinned, before her eyes seemed to lose just a touch of focus.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy, alia, and myself were all watching a movie in the Admin Room. Well, we were watching a projection of the movie being disyed on a theater from Deckan over our television. Shortly after the movie started, Udona and Irena came out to join us, wanting in on the fun themselves.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, Irena leaned against me on the side, having stolen Aurivy¡¯s previous seat and making her sit elsewhere. Udona simply sat with alia, the two having conjured a bucket of popcorn to share between themselves.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Roughly halfway through the movie, just as it was getting into a new fight scene, I heard a voice calling out from the hall. ¡°Daaaaale! I need a favor! It¡¯s a bit of an expensive one!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked, not used to hearing Chel in the Admin Room for quite some time. Looking in the direction of the hall, I saw her running out in her mechanic uniform, overalls tucked up over her shoulders. ¡°An expensive favor?¡± I asked with a raised brow, reaching over to pause the movie¡­ and by extension the entire world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah!¡± She nodded her head quickly. ¡°We¡¯ve hit a roadblock with our automated divinity research. It¡¯s not feasible to automate the three steps method, as there are simply too many variables that we can¡¯t ount for. Instead, we¡¯d like you to buy the knowledge for another ascension method, that way we can focus on automating that instead.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Are you sure that you¡¯ll be able to do it if I buy the method?¡± I asked, finding that rather hard to believe. And sure enough¡­


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Nope!¡± Her answer came just as I suspected. ¡°However, it will give us a chance. Also, if you have another ascension method that doesn¡¯t ovep with the ones you use, you¡¯ll finally be able to obtain your third domain. It¡¯s a win-win for you, and all you have to do is spend some points. Act fast, and we¡¯ll even throw in this one-time picture of Tsubaki rxing at the beach as a special offer!¡± She lifted a hand, showing a picture of Tsubakiid out on a beach chair, seemingly soaking in the sun.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...You made that up.¡± While I could apud her effort in the sales pitch, I knew fully well that Tsubaki wouldn¡¯t do something like that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel clicked her tongue at that. ¡°Maybe I did, but still! It¡¯s really a no-lose situation. Besides, at your rank, don¡¯t you have plenty of points to spend for a purchase like this? I don¡¯t think you¡¯ve actually bought anything for a while, have you? It¡¯s all been manually created by your gods since pretty much yourst invasion.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">She had a point there. Thest time I actually spent points to buy something was the trade that hasn¡¯t beenpleted yet, and before that it was the basic knowledge about divinity types. ¡°Okay, then¡­ which ascension method are you wanting to know about?¡± I asked with a faint sigh.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I dunno.¡± She shrugged her shoulders with a mischievous smile. ¡°Why don¡¯t you ask one of your friends for a method that won¡¯t conflict with your current divinity, that way you can make sure that you¡¯re getting what you paid for?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod at that. It wouldn¡¯t be hard for me to call up Sarah to ask, since she would doubtlessly know a good method. Thus, I sent a request to chat to her, waiting a few minutes before the chat window opened.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Hey Dale, what¡¯s up? In the market for a new game world?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Maybe soon, but not this time. I was wanting to ask you a question, actually. A bit of advice before I make a purchase.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Always read the fine print, never trust female salesmen that don¡¯t have their suits fully buttoned, and make sure you understand the warranty. I¡¯m kidding, what are you wanting to know?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Okay¡­ anyways, I¡¯m looking to buy the method for a new type of ascension. One that won¡¯t conflict with the three step method, or ascending through a cultivation technique.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Eh? You already hit Rank 3, and your people haven¡¯t found alternative methods yet? Oh, right, you¡¯re a game guy, people in game worlds tend to stick more with what they know works and is approved by the system.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Let¡¯s see¡­ something that wouldn¡¯t conflict with the three steps, or cultivation. Just to confirm, is this cultivation one where you just have to gather energy, or does it require understanding ¡®profound truths¡¯ as well?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Profound truths, though energy does also have to be gathered.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: I figured as much. Anyways, the best fit for you would probably be¡­ wait, are you wanting this purely to give an existing god a new domain, or for mortals to ascend, as well?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: I¡¯m aiming for one that works for both, if it¡¯s possible.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Okay, so ¡®body as a temple¡¯ is out. You¡¯ll need one of the umon methods if you want something that doesn¡¯t conflict with your established types. Some of those differ between worlds, but a good universal one is Divine Vow. You basically gather up a bunch of different materials rted to the domain you want, infusing your divinity into them one by one. Once you¡¯ve done that, you use your divinity and promise to be an existence which embodies the domain you want to receive.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: For a new god doing this, their life force will be extinguished, and they¡¯llpletely transfer their mind and soul into their divine spark, making them about the size of a flea. Existing gods don¡¯t have to worry about that, and will just get the new domain.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: ¡­Is there anything else? I¡¯m fine with it taking a bit longer to achieve.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Ah, if you¡¯re fine with it taking a while, then just go with the Divine Forge method. For a new god, they bring their divine spark out of their body, tempering it like one would metal in a forge. You need specific materials again, and energybinations to work the spark. Once it¡¯s refined, though, it can be returned back to the body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Once the spark has been returned, it will gradually begin to remodel the host body, upgrading them over the course of a year or two until their divinity has been fully realized. Once that process hits 100%, they will obtain a domain rted to their training, just like the three step method.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: For an existing god, they have to do the same, just with a piece of their full divinity. The form is also different, since it has to remove the existing domains. However, once that¡¯s done and the divinity has been forged, the process for an existing god to get a new domain only takes about a week.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: That sounds much more like what I want, thanks!


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>

 Chapter 788: Contribution

    Chapter 788: Contribution


    <span style="font-weight:400">


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once the conversation with Sarah ended, I immediately began looking through the market to find the ascension method that she had mentioned. When I was finding the general information before, I had previously noticed that the individual methods had also been for sale, though I had not really looked at their price tags.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It didn¡¯t take long for me to find what I wanted, thanks to Sarah having given me the name of the method. ¡°Divine Forge¡­ ten thousand points?!¡± My eyes went wide when I saw the number attached to the item. For simply buying information, this was quite a lot, double the entire price for the mon¡¯ information bundle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, I still had a rather considerable bnce from when I defeated Grudge. Thus, after taking a deep breath, I bit the bullet and bought the information. Chel¡¯s eyes gleamed as she watched a blue spherical gem descending from above,ing to rest in my hands.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, instead of handing it over to her immediately, I focused my thoughts on it. Although I didn¡¯t take enough time to study the entire thing, I allowed the information to flow through my mind to copy it into three identical crystals. Udona had shown me how to make these long ago, so there was no real problem even if I took my time to slowly study itter.


    <span style="font-weight:400">One information crystal I sent off to Tubrock¡¯s forge, and another I sent to Udona¡¯s room. Meanwhile, I held the final one myself, handing the original over to Chel. ¡°From how my friend described this method, it should be a lot easier to automate than the three steps.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thanks!¡± Chel nodded her head quickly, grabbing the sphere and injecting her thoughts into it. It was clear that she was rapidly studying the content within, her brows furrowing. ¡°Some of these materials are pretty hard toe by, but it shouldn¡¯t be a problem with your Boundless Caravan. It does mean we¡¯ll have to charge a small fortune for godhood, though.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thankfully, the risk factor is almostpletely removed with this method. As long as the necessary ingredients are all gathered, the worst case scenario is that someone¡¯s divine spark is wasted in the event of a failed forging.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod, d that this method was at least not as troubling as the original. Though, now it meant that I had to seriously start considering what I wanted my third domain to be. Originally, I had thought it would be years before I had to worry about that, but it seemed that things were moving faster than I expected.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ll let you get back to it, then.¡± I nodded towards Chel. She blinked, ncing behind herself to see the movie that we had previously been watching. After letting out a sound of realization, she hurriedly left the room so that we could resume it.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Roughly five minutes after Chel had partially tuned out her surroundings, her eyes regained their former rity. ¡°I¡¯ve got it!¡± She said, startling the gathered assistants with her sudden deration.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, the Keeper will release a new ascension method soon?¡± Thessa asked hopefully, her kitsune ears dropping when Chel shook her head. Only to stand on end again with her next words.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, I mean I¡¯ve got it now!¡± Chel jumped to her feet, going over to one of the whiteboards that had been used to write down the forms for the previous iteration of their attempted divinity program. Without any hesitation, she erased the entire board, grabbing a marker and quickly writing down a list.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°One kilogram of raw orichalcum, six hundred grams of divine gold dust infused with a fire property, three dead sea pearls infused with ice enchantments, and six petals of a holy rose. The hammer needs to be made with an alloy constructed from orichalcum, mithral, and silver. Furthermore, it has to be ki-forged with a durability increase option.¡± Chel began listing off one requirement after another, looking as if she were talking about a recipe for crafting a special magical item rather than ascending to godhood.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After discussing the material and hammer requirements, she went into the energies needed, listing their requisiteponents and fusion methods for each. Standing nearby, James watched the process curiously, his eyes starting to go wide once she got into the energyponents. It had to be known that this was one of his primary specialties, so he was able to notice something once he saw the list. ¡°Chel¡­ is this what I think it is?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If you think that this is the recipe to turn someone into a god, then yes!¡± Chel answered with a yful grin, finally setting down the marker. ¡°We¡¯ll need to run a few tests in order to find the way to automate the process, but the materials shouldn¡¯t be hard for us to buy off the caravan. Thankfully, the divine gold that recently appeared in Sanctum appeared on the materials list, meaning that it would have otherwise been a moreplicated recipe.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James nodded his head, stroking his chin at that. ¡°This won¡¯t be enough for an already existing god, will it? How did you get him to buy the recipe if it won¡¯t let him advance himself?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel stuck her tongue out yfully, turning the whiteboard around and beginning to list a new set of ingredients. ¡°Blood from a divine spirit, tears of a stone giant, and the crystal heart of a ruby smander. Mix the blood and tears together, crush the heart into dust, and mix them all together. Soak a trace of divinity in it for one hour, constantly washing it with this energy form


    <span style="font-weight:400">She began drawing out another energy list, before continuing. ¡°And all native domains will be washed out for the process to be undergone naturally. Though, the increased size of the divinity means that allponents for the forging process have to be tripled.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Blood from a divine spirit¡­ there¡¯s only one divine spirit around that we can ask for something like that.¡± He said with a sigh, knowing that was one material that they couldn¡¯t simply gain from the void, due to its inherent divine properties. ¡°Looks like Scarlet is going to have final say over any deities getting extra domains. At least for now, that is.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">While every god <i><span style="font-weight:400">had</i><span style="font-weight:400"> a divine spirit, there was only one god that <i><span style="font-weight:400">was</i><span style="font-weight:400"> a divine spirit in the current world. Until another one ascended, this meant that Scarlet would be able to either choose whether or not to ept letting deities gain another domain, or even set a price that they had to pay to acquire her blood. Given her status, it was hard to imagine what exactly she would choose to do.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Furthermore, the option of forcibly taking her blood wasn¡¯t feasible, since her divinity would only take the form of blood if she actively wished to do so. ¡°I¡¯ll open talks with her.¡± James said, shaking his head. ¡°At the very least, we can listen to her requirements, if she has any. Just to make sure, but this won¡¯t lead to anyone bing a subordinate deity to her, will it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel shook her head at that. ¡°Not ording to the information. Since the blood is only used for pre-existing deities, their natural status will remain unaffected by her ¡®interference¡¯. However, it is possible to make a new god your subordinate if a god is the one that does the forging, and purposely injects their own divinity during the process. Once we have the process automated, we won¡¯t need to worry about anything like that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James nodded his head, but soon saw Chel walking towards the door of theb. Arching an eyebrow, he couldn¡¯t help but speak up. ¡°Where are you going?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°To get the first batch of materials!¡± Chel responded with a wide smile. ¡°I¡¯m currently the only one that knows the forging process, and you <i><span style="font-weight:400">did</i><span style="font-weight:400"> say that I could do it once we understood how to do so. So I¡¯m going to refine my own divine spark in front of all of you so that you can learn it firsthand andmit it to memory.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James opened his mouth as if wanting to refute her, before simply letting out a groan. He knew that there was no point in arguing with her right now, so he simply closed his eyes. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Goddess of Ki, may I have a moment of your time?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯s rare for someone like you to call, researcher.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The reply was surprisingly prompt, more so than when James normally contacted a deity¡­ not that he did often. <i><span style="font-weight:400">What do you need? I¡¯m a little preupied at the moment.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I need a ki-forged forging hammer made ording to a very specific blueprint. Would it be fine for me to send it to Bloodhaven to have it made?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Bloodhaven was known as easily the best when it came to forging with ki, so it was only natural for him to send the requests through them.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Yes, that would be fine. There was really no need for you to directly contact me about this.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Her tone was understandably annoyed, seeing this as a rather small business transaction that did not require her direct attention.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">There is¡­ one other thing. We have found a method for gods to obtain an additional domain, but doing so requires some of your blood. That was the main reason that I had to go through you for all of this.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">This time, there was silence over the connection for several long minutes, James naturally worrying that he had been outright rejected. After all, how many people would want to give up their blood just to let others be more powerful?


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">This recipe¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Scarlet¡¯s voice responded after James had practically given up. <i><span style="font-weight:400">You say that it will allow a deity to advance with an additional domain? If so, I will offer my consent and supply four portions. These portions are to be reserved for myself, the two deities serving the Citadel, and the Keeper himself. Additional portions will be handled on a case by case basis. Is this eptable?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">James blinked, slowly nodding his head. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Yes, it¡¯s fine.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> In truth, he was simply d that she was willing to agree to listen to the request at all.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Scarlet, is everything alright?¡± Elisae nced over at her friend curiously. Scarlet had gone quiet for a few minutes while they waited for Kiria Sorin to return. This period of quiet wasn¡¯t entirely out of the ordinary for her, but she felt a faint disturbance in Scarlet¡¯s energy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she looked over, she saw a wide, almost goofy grin on Scarlet¡¯s face, causing Elisae to flinch back in rm. ¡°Heheh¡­ I can finally contribute.¡± Scarlet muttered under her breath in a far more childish tone than Elisae had ever heard her use.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While James thought that Scarlet was on the verge of refusing, in truth she was simply ecstatic. This would be her first direct contribution to the Keeper¡¯s personal strength, and the strength of the Sky Citadel. Furthermore, this was a contribution that only she could provide, something that nobody else in the world could rece.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This made the Empress of Bloodhaven absolutely giddy, having to stop herself from extracting arge supply of blood from her divinity to send it over right away. After all, she didn¡¯t know howrge each portion needed to be. Was it only a drop, a liter? Once she knew howrge each portion was, she would immediately gather the four portions promised to send to James.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Scarlet? Scarlet, did something happen?¡± Elisae¡¯s eyes went wide in rm, bringing her hand over to wave in front of Scarlet¡¯s face. Scarlet simply looked over at Elisae with that same euphoric expression, grabbing her friend and giving her the biggest hug that her small frame could manage.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Everything¡¯s great! Couldn¡¯t be better!¡± She called out. ¡°I just got some really amazing news, that¡¯s all.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°A-Ah¡­ I¡¯m really happy for you.¡± Elisae chuckled somewhat awkwardly, patting Scarlet on the back.

 Chapter 789: Forge The Divine

    Chapter 789: Forge The Divine


    <span style="font-weight:400">It didn¡¯t take long to purchase the required materials from the Boundless Caravan. With their research budget, they were able to buy just over a dozen portions of each item, the only need that they were unable to immediately satisfy being the divine spirit¡¯s blood. Of course, these dozen portions were ording to the standard recipe. Given that there were four people nned for the procedure that needed considerably more, they only barely had enough to suit their needs.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once the hammer arrived from Bloodhaven, Chel called all of the research team together, ready to begin her demonstration. Under the watchful eyes of James and the others, sheid out each of the materials in turn. ¡°First thing¡¯s first.¡± Chel smiled, grinding up six of therge flower petals into a thin paste.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Apply paste made from the petals of a holy rose in a thinyer atop the Orichalcum that you wish to use.¡± As she spoke, she used one finger to begin rubbing ayer of paste on top of the coppery ore. ¡°This will let the Orichalcum absorb the divinity at the start of the forging process.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Next, we gather the subject¡¯s divine spark, cing it into the ore via the paste.¡± Chel said, closing her eyes and focusing. After a few moments, she seemed to locate her spark, gathering it towards her hand and pushing the golden spark into the ore. The paste changed from a pink color to an almost shining gold, causing Chel to nod.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Now, sprinkle two hundred grams of divine gold dust. The fire property in the divine gold will react with every hammer strike, heating the ore and slowly forging it. ¡± Once again, she demonstrated by gathering up a third of the golden dust and dropping it over the ore. Due to the volume, the ore waspletely coated by the dust, quite a bit resting on the anvil on either side.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Once that¡¯s done, begin the forging process, making sure that the first strike urately hits the location where the paste had been applied. This pushes the spark further into the ore, allowing the two to merge while activating the gold dust. Throughout the forging process, you¡¯ll need to use the first of the energies I mentioned before, which I¡¯m calling the ¡®stimting¡¯ energy.¡± Chel lifted the forging hammer, which had a strange blue sheen to it, and struck down at the golden paste. As she did, a blue-ish light wrapped around the hammer, clearly the energy that Chel was talking about.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Immediately, the divine gold dustbusted under the hammer¡¯s strike, releasing a burst of white-hot me. This me coated the ore, clinging to it and ring with every swing. However, Chel maintained her focus, having been expecting this to happen from the start. Every now and then, James could see the impurities chipping off of the ore, though he knew that this was not how a normal ore would be forged.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Normally you would melt the ore, remove the impurities, and repeat this process a few times until you were satisfied. At that point, you could cast it into an ingot and begin forging it into the shape you wanted, making sure to keep it nice and hot throughout the forging.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel, on the other hand, seemed intent on directly removing the impurities during the forging process. Or rather¡­ his senses swept out, and he could see the divine gold being stimted within the ore by the energy Chel was releasing. It was reshaping the orichalcum from within, removing the impurities inside the ore while Chel took care of the ones outside.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This process continued until the orichalcum was glowing, starting to deform from the repeated strikes and superheating of the divine gold. At that point, Chel grabbed one of the small white pearls, bringing it up over the ore and crushing it in her fist. Frozen dust fell from her hands, sizzling as it came into contact with the ore. ¡°The dead sea pearls can temporarily cool the ore, calming the divine spark within and giving it a chance to settle. During this period, soak the ore in the second energy, which I am calling the ¡®quenching¡¯ energy. This lets it absorb the lingering effects of the divine gold.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel created a sphere of white energy around the ore, letting it stabilize. Reaching up to wipe her brow, Chel smiled at the rest of the group. ¡°Once the ore has thoroughly cooled, flip it, sprinkle another two hundred grams of the divine gold, and repeat this process two more times. By the end of the third rotation, the divine spark should have saturated the orichalcum, and all impurities should have been removed.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying that, Chel noticed that the ore had cooled enough for her to touch it, and so she flipped it over to start the process all over again. It was only natural, given that she was working with her own divine spark, but she kept her focus razor sharp throughout the entire process. Heat while hammering, cool and let it rest, repeat.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The more she did this, the brighter the glow of the orichalcum. At one point, it was no longer glowing red from the heat, but rather golden from the permeating divine energy. The divine gold did not merely heat the ore, but its divine properties were also absorbed by the spark within.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Because of this, Chel was certain that without the divine gold, they would need the divine mes of a fire deity to achieve a simr effect. Thankfully, they had the divine gold, allowing them to control the specific temperature of the mes without needing to rely on external factors.


    <span style="font-weight:400">By the time that she was done, the original lump of raw ore had been shaped into an uneven golden brick. Its surface was marred with bumps, its corners jagged at points, but Chel didn¡¯t seem to mind. ¡°The final shape of the orichalcum isn¡¯t that important. What matters is the fact that the impurities have been removed, and that the divine spark has fully saturated it. Finally, we just let it sit for ten minutes to ensure that thest of the orichalcum is converted. Once that¡¯s done, the subject--that¡¯s me-- will be able to absorb the orichalcum into their body through the use of the ¡®fusion¡¯ energy.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, you¡¯re going to be a god, just like that?¡± Nora asked in confusion, noting how the entire process had barely taken an hour. Compared to the months, even years that normal gods had to go through their three-step process, this was beyond short.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, no, not even close!¡± Chel responded with augh. ¡°Once I reabsorb my divine spark with the orichalcum, it will begin to cleanse and remold my body. Over the course of the next twelve to eighteen months, my body and energies will gradually be converted to their divine equivalents, with the orichalcum serving as my ¡®divine core¡¯ until the transformation isplete. I¡¯ll officially gain my divinity at the end of all that, with my new domain based on any abilities I train with my growing divinity until then.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...I feel like this really makes the old method obsolete, don¡¯t you?¡± Thessa blinked, looking around at the others. From what she could tell, this new ascension method only required the proper materials, but posed practically no risk to the ascending deity.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not at all.¡± James shook his head, stroking his chin in thought. ¡°Anyone that wants to achieve the peak of their potential power will still use the old method first, only using this method to obtain their second domain.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s because of reversepatibility, right?¡± Treisha asked, seeming to understand what he was talking about. ¡°You can forge the unrefined divinity of a god who went through the three step procedure, but once you be a god, you can¡¯t take the three steps anymore.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James gave a small nod at that. ¡°Quite. If someone first does the three step method, and then both the divine forge and the cultivation system of Lorek, it will be possible for one deity to obtain three domains. However, Lorek¡¯s cultivation system can take over a century of constant training, so most deities will not consider it worth their time. They would rather choose to obtain their third domain by taking in a subordinate deity.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thessa furrowed her brow, looking confused. ¡°If it¡¯s that easy, can¡¯t they just do the divine forge method, and then take in two subordinates? That way, they¡¯d still get three domains, wouldn¡¯t they? Or¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nora cut her off, eyes going wide. ¡°The only current way to obtain a subordinate deity is with the three steps method. If someone only goes the divine forge route, then takes a subordinate, their subordinate could be reforged for a second domain. As long as they have enough followers, it would only be a matter of time before the link was broken.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right?¡± Chel smiled, arms behind her back as she rocked on her heels. ¡°Because I¡¯ve chosen to start with the divine forge method, the only way for me to gain an additional domain now will be to cultivate in Lorek, or maybe use one of those primordial relics. The relics are too random, though, so I can¡¯t guarantee I¡¯d find one I want. I¡¯d also need to wait until the process was fullypleted before I could cultivate on Lorek or Spica.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What would happen if you epted the refined divine spark, and then tried to advance along the three step method? Would you be able to shorten the process, or even obtain an additional domain that way?¡± Treisha asked curiously, though Chel only blinked at her as if the answer were obvious.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Your body would explode, your divinity scattering to the wind. Or wait, since the first step is the soul, your soul would be shattered, and you¡¯d be left a lifeless husk? The only reason that the three steps work is because the divinity is still raw and malleable. Once it¡¯s been refined, it won¡¯t be able to follow the same steps. That¡¯s why you can only use the divine forge process once, and you can¡¯t gain multiple domains just by reforging your divinity.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James gave a small nod, thinking over the entire process. ¡°This can definitely be automated. It might be harder to automate the process for refining the divinity of a full god, but it would definitely be possible. If anything, it should be easier than the perfection chamber, so long as we are able to acquire all of the materials that we need.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel smiled broadly at that, clearly satisfied. ¡°Right? We can even release the ingredients list, and make people bring the materials themselves if they want the treatment.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When James heard Chel¡¯s suggestion, he shook his head. ¡°If we do that, we¡¯ll need to rephrase one of theponents. We can¡¯t have people forcing Scarlet to give them her blood. So, instead of ¡®blood of a divine spirit¡¯, we¡¯ll change that material to ¡®the Blessing of the First Blood¡¯. This way, people will need to obtain Scarlet¡¯s blessing if they want to receive another domain. As for the blood itself, she can ship it secretly after giving her blessing.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Anyone that¡¯s bold enough to <i><span style="font-weight:400">demand</i><span style="font-weight:400"> anything from the Goddess of Ki needs to have their brains checked.¡± Nora snorted, shaking her head. ¡°Unless they don¡¯t have a scrap of ki in their body, they are basically at her mercy.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Still, it would trouble her if people got it in their heads that they could use violence to obtain her blood.¡± James said with a smile. ¡°We¡¯ve already received her permission to use her blood for herself, the Keeper, Tsubaki, and Lifre. Anyone else, we¡¯ll see as it goes.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hey, as long as the method exists.¡± Chel chuckled, reaching over to grab the shining, golden metal. Realizing that the ten minutes had passed, she brought the ore up to her chest, allowing it to sink into her body while a ck energy surrounded the point of contact. Once the metal had fully disappeared into her body, Chel beamed a bright smile.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I am now considered in the ¡®incubation¡¯ stage. From now on, all I have to do is gradually begin training myself for the domain that I want to practice in the future. Oh, and just so you all know, the incubation stage is way faster for someone that¡¯s already a god. Anywhere between one and two weeks, depending on the amount of divine energy used during that time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°With that in mind, we can finalize the design of the ¡®Divine Forge¡¯, and start to let people know when we¡¯re ready!¡±

 Chapter 790: A Proposal

    Chapter 790: A Proposal


    <span style="font-weight:400">It did not take long after Chel forged her own divine spark before the information was sent directly to the Citadel. This was an invitation to the two servant deities of the Keeper, inviting them toe and obtain a new divinity.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Had this been anyone else, perhaps Tsubaki would have felt suspicious. However, despite the trauma left behind on her from her first encounter with James, she knew that he was an incredibly trustworthy person. The fact that he had sent this message meant that there was essentially no risk of danger to the people involved in the process.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, the two of them arrived, cooperating with Chel as they went through the process of having a fragment of their divinity cleansed and reforged. Although the entire process had taken just under an hour for Chel herself, it was much longer to forge a divinity that was alreadyplete. Tsubaki and Lifre each had to wait five hours before the process was done, a total of a ten hour visit to the researchb.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once that ten hours was over, both of them had received a golden b, Chel helping it to fuse back into their divinity. ¡°Now, over the next week or two, just focus on this fresh divinity in your body to train whatever form of domain you want to learn next.¡± She said with a smile, the two nodding their heads in understanding.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was clear that they were giving serious consideration as to what they wanted for their next domain. Though¡­ Lifre seemed to have an idea already, a wide smile splitting her face.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, what are you going to get?¡± Aurivy asked, ncing over at me while we watched Tsubaki and Lifre meditating within the Citadel. For the moment, Dana was handling the real-world tasks while their Virtual selves continued to rx.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m not sure yet¡­¡± I shook my head honestly, still undecided and what I wanted the final piece of my trinity to be. There were simply too many options, and I couldn¡¯t figure out both what worked as a full trinity, and what would work on its own.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy nodded, a small chuckleing from her lips. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m pretty much the textbook example of a hodgepodge trinity. Though, in your defense we didn¡¯t know that the trinity was a thing back then. And I definitely wanted the dungeon domain. So, let¡¯s take a look at what you have right now?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°First of all, there¡¯s the Mirrors domain. And this is the only one that I think you should really focus on.¡± She said with a wry grin. ¡°You cheated for the Illusion domain, and had your Host cultivate it on its own. If your Host ever dies, you¡¯ll need to cultivate it all over again.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was definitely true¡­ I gave a long sigh in eptance. ¡°At least there are Immortals in the cultivation worlds now, so I¡¯ll be able to quickly rise to the peak next time. But right, focusing on Mirrors.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy smiled wide. ¡°First of all, you originally obtained the Mirrors domain as a scouting method, right? I¡¯ll admit that it has some useful perks forbat, but its primary purpose was to assist in scouting during invasions, when you couldn¡¯t ess our support.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah, I¡¯d like to focus on the invasions for my domains. At any other point, I can use my Keeper abilities to work through a situation, or ask you guys for help.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Aurivy heard that, she gave a look of understanding, eyes closed and her head slowly nodding. ¡°Right. Your Illusion domain was chosen for that purpose, too. So, let¡¯s get back to what your needs are for an invasion. With the Mirrors, you have the ability to scout. What else do you need for an invasion?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I lowered my head in thought, having to really consider that. ¡°If I¡¯m facing an enemy, it¡¯d be nice to be able to look into their minds to understand the world that theye from. That way, I can sell the information. On a more immediate basis, I need a way to protect my people from the invasion and defeat the enemies.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy gave another nod. ¡°Something to let you get information, protect people, and defeat enemies¡­¡± As she thought about that, a small, yful smile began to creep over her lips. ¡°Something the synergizes well with mirrors, and can be supported by illusions.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I know that look. You have an idea, but it¡¯s something so funny that you don¡¯t want to immediately say it while leaving me in suspense.¡± I said, though Aurivy simply leaned forward to look past me to nce at Irena.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Are you thinking what I¡¯m thinking?¡± She asked with that same smile, to which Irena shook her head, a look of confusion on her face.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I don¡¯t think that I am¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh,e on¡­ I thought you of all people would get this! A way to use mirrors and illusions more effectively, the one missingponent needed to be able to gather information, attack, and protect all in one!¡± Aurivy huffed, though Irena still looked confused. ¡°Ugh¡­ it¡¯s Souls! If you prevent the destruction of the soul, you can gather information from it. You can call on an army of the dead from the Underworld to protect the living, and can kill powerful enemies by extinguishing their souls.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked at that, looking over at Irena. ¡°That¡­ wouldn¡¯t I be ovepping a bit much with Irena, there? I don¡¯t want to make it look like she is losing any of her authority in the Underworld.¡± If the souls worshiping Irena suddenly changed to focus on me, it might cause a pretty big bnce shift, which I was honestly wanting to avoid.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The yful glint in Aurivy¡¯s eyes only became more intense at that. ¡°Isn¡¯t it fine if you make your rtionship with her clear? Though the other two might get jealous if you don¡¯t do the same with them, as well.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That made me pause temporarily, before nodding my head. Most of the world knew by now that I at least had an affair with Ryone, which produced Leowynn. However, my rtionship with Terra was not that widespread, and nobody yet knew of my rtionship with Irena. ¡°Would that really be alright¡­¡± I muttered to myself, feeling a soft hand grabbing one of my own.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Looking up, I saw Irena smiling at me, offering a soft nod. ¡°It would make me very happy¡­¡± Her usual poker face was slightly flushed, an innocent smile only adding to her charm.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy let out a lightugh, hopping up to her feet. ¡°Alright, we need to let the other two know! As the Goddess of Love, I have to preside over this holy matrimony. Just think¡­ the Holy Maidens of the Keeper. The Goddesses of Death, Magic, and Fate all brought together in an official rtionship.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Actually¡­¡± I looked up at Aurivy, smiling as I interrupted her. ¡°Could we wait a little bit for that? I¡¯ll get my Souls domain after this invasion, but¡­ for the ceremony itself, I¡¯d like to have it take ce during the Keeper meeting next month.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The timing felt too perfect not to have the ceremony at that meeting, and¡­ every date I had with Irena took ce there, so it only felt right for any marriage ceremony to be at those meetings as well. Almost like it was special for us. And given how Irena was giving a shy nod of her head, it seemed that she agreed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well then, Casanova, you¡¯ll have to go talk to the other brides to be and get them on board.¡± Aurivy said with a mischievous smile. ¡°You can¡¯t have someone else deliver the news that they¡¯re being invited to their own wedding, can you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes went wide at that, just imagining how Ryone and Terra would react. Needless to say, I would never hear the end of it if the news came from anyone other than myself. As such, I quickly rose to my feet with a nod, Aurivy giggling as she watched me walk down the hall.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Like this?¡± Leowynn asked, mobilizing her divine energy to cooperate with Ryone. The two had been working on a way to optimize the Boundless Caravan for a while now, making the automated creation of materials less of a strain on Leowynn¡¯s divinity. Because almost everything required raw materials, she was not making as much of a profit off of the trade tform as other gods.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Granted, everyone had to do business with her, but the cost of producing the materials almost met the amount of divinity that she obtained in return. As such, she had to practice on how to create the materials more efficiently on her own, and then update the automatic methods on the caravan to match.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right.¡± Ryone smiled. ¡°If you prepare in advance by mass producingmon materials, you¡¯ll be able to save your energy overall. Every month, you can just check what the mostmonly requested raw materials are, and then create a ¡®void farm¡¯ if there is anything new on the list.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn nodded, though her divinity shook when the door to her mother¡¯s room opened, her dad standing in the doorway with a somewhat awkward expression. Leowynn naturally smiled at the sight of her dad, waving towards him. Ryone simrly grinned, turning to face him. ¡°So, what brings you here at this hour?¡± She asked, seeming surprised at his sudden intrusion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I want to ask you something.¡± Dale said, making Ryone even more interested. Usually, any questions he had with the gods and goddesses were conducted through mental chat, unless they were already with him in person.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, this should be good. Go on?¡± Ryone¡¯s grin grew wider, though Dale¡¯s next words caused her expression to immediately shift.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Will you marry me?¡± When he said that, Leowynn gasped, her hands covering her mouth. Ryone¡¯s jaw went ck, eyes wide as Dale approached. He leaned in, capturing Ryone¡¯s mouth with his own while Leowynn quickly covered her eyes with her hands. Of course, while leaving a small gap between her fingers to peek through.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°W-What brought this on so suddenly?¡± Ryone asked, flustered as the kiss finally broke. She was clearly happy, just surprised by the sudden turn of events.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Something Aurivy said.¡± Dale answered simply, Ryone chuckling in an almost knowing fashion. Aurivy wasn¡¯t the Goddess of Love for nothing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, when is it? I imagine that you¡¯re asking Irena and Terra, as well?¡± Ryone asked, her smile bing incredibly warm.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ve already spoken with Irena. As for Terra, I¡¯m going to talk to her next. I was hoping to have it at the next Keeper meeting. I¡¯m¡­ curious to see what kind of facility will appear to facilitate a marriage for a Keeper.¡± There was a yful look on Dale¡¯s face as he said that, causing Ryone tough.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, you won¡¯t have to go very far¡­.¡± Ryone nodded towards Dale, who blinked and looked behind himself. Terra stood there, huffing from what was obviously a fast run to sprint into the room.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Why didn¡¯t you ask me first?!¡± Sheined,unching herself at Dale to wrap her arms around him. Ryone could tell that her tone was still yful, so she wasn¡¯t genuinely mad about it. As such, she let out another happyugh, one hand on her stomach.

 Chapter 791: Divine Favor

    Chapter 791: Divine Favor


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki sat quietly in her bedroom of the Citadel, her eyes closed while her mind was focused. She already knew precisely what domain she wanted to receive, and had already nned out her third one, should she ever have the time or means to achieve it. While she knew that it was possible to get a domain through cultivation on Lorek, she did not have the time to spend decades, perhaps even centuries going through the process. After all, a crisis would rarely leave her such time to respond.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Several days had now passed since her divinity had been ¡®forged¡¯, and she could sense it merging with the rest of her energy. However, despite this, she did not move during this entire time. Ever since she returned to the Citadel, the only movement she had done was to synchronize with her Virtual self.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was not to say that she had done nothing, just nothing physical. To be precise, her divinity was repeatedly being honed. At times, her energy would seem to fade away into nothing. Other times, her physical body itself seemed to blend with the room around her, almost like she was losing herself in her meditation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, that was not something that needed to be seriously considered in her case, as she kept her mind just as clear as ever. All of this was merely the meticulous process of her training her own divinity in preparation for the new domain. And when she received it, there was no great fanfare, no pir of light visible in the sky. The energy around her shook for a few moments, before simply stabilizing as a new window appeared in front of her.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Congrattions! You have earned a new achievement!


    <span style="font-weight:400">For cultivating your divinity to the peak, you have earned the God of Stealth achievement! +15 Dexterity, Special Title: God of Stealth unlocked!


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded her head in satisfaction, reaching for her watch to synchronize with her Virtual self again. Although it was not ording to their usual schedule, she felt that this was an important moment to do so. After the brief flood of new memories, she rose from the floor, dusting herself off and smiling. It was time to get back to work.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she was leaving her room, she felt a presence suddenly appearing behind her. Her eyes blinked twice, and she turned around to offer a deep bow. ¡°Lady Irena, I wasn¡¯t expecting you.¡± She greeted the winged goddess, who offered an uncharacteristically warm smile.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Maybe not, but I think we have some things to talk about, you and I.¡± She said with a faint nod, gesturing for Tsubaki to return to the room.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre¡¯s method of training her divinity was¡­ far more active than that of Tsubaki. She did meditate¡­ for about an hour. This period was mostly used to determine exactly what method she wanted to use to train the domain that she had in mind. After that first hour, she was starting to shake in impatience, and rushed out of her room to begin training.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She left the Citadel, spending her days flying around the world. Her eyes scanned every beast and monster she discovered, doing her best to remain within areas far from civilization. Every now and then, she would suddenly point at a creature, firing off a beam of pure, golden energy. This beam did not destroy the creature, but rather sank into its body and strengthened it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Just a few more should do it¡­ wait! Shouldn¡¯t I find someone to fight them before I¡¯m done, to make sure that it works!?¡± Lifre suddenly began to panic, feeling that her divinity was bing more and moreplete. She had decided on this path for her advancement from the day that she had received the Adventure domain, and did not want to risk veering from her course.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ah, I know!¡± Lifre smiled brightly, before closing her eyes and focusing on sending a mana transmission. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Dana, can youe help me for a quick moment? I need an assistant to verify my divine training is working.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she asked that, she immediately began flying towards one of the first creatures that she had marked, as well as one of the strongest. In the meantime, Dana sent a rather simple response. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Sure, just send me the coordinates and I¡¯ll go over to help.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre hesitated at that, struggling for a moment to remember how to identify her exact coordinates. There was a spell that they had created to do so, but it took her several seconds to remember the structure for that spell. In the end, she eventually managed to pull it off, sending the coordinates back towards Dana.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m going to have to make a magic item to do that now, aren¡¯t I?¡± Dana asked in an exasperated tone when she appeared, knowing from Lifre¡¯s sheepish smile that the slime had all but forgotten the location spell. Still, it was a rtively easy enchantment for her at this point, so it¡¯d only take her a short time to get it made.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sorry.¡± Lifre pped her hands together, offering an apologetic bow. ¡°Anyways, all I need you to do is kill that guy for me.¡± Lifre suddenly pointed off to the side, where the pair could see a particrlyrge and ferocious wyvern, its scales streaked with golden lines. ¡°That¡¯s the trial that I set up this time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Trial? Not an adventure?¡± Dana asked, lifting a brow in confusion, though Lifre simply nodded.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s the new domain I¡¯m going for. An adventure focuses around the challengers, strengthening them to ovee the crisis. A trial <i><span style="font-weight:400">is</i><span style="font-weight:400"> the crisis. I figure¡­ if I use my divinity to enhance the opponents, creating a harder adventure through the use of a trial, I can provide better benefits to my challengers. That wyvern over there was enhanced with increased strength, dexterity, and stronger fire.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡±The benefits of a trial will grow over time, gradually bing more difficult until it is ovee. Once it¡¯s ovee, the boosts should transfer to the one that passed the trial.¡± Lifre exined with a wide smile.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, I should get a stronger affinity with the fire element?¡± Dana asked, letting out a sigh. ¡°I don¡¯t even use fire, Lifre¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I know!¡± The slime girl puffed her cheeks out. ¡°But none of the early trials I set up were shadow based monsters, so this was the best I had avable for you. And the level of benefit scales with the original monster, so I couldn¡¯t use a weaker one to test you, or you might not even feel the boost!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana simply shook her head with a wry smile, looking towards the wyvern. It was currently puffing its chest out and pping its wings towards them as if trying to scare them away, but it was clear that it was being intimidated by the presence of the two. ¡°All I have to do is kill that guy, right?¡± She asked, Lifre nodding her head. ¡°Alright¡­ let¡¯s see if this works, then.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana¡¯s shadow began to spread out along the ground, a draconic maw extending upwards. Lifre¡¯s eyes went wide as she saw the body of a muchrger dragon emerging from the darkness at her feet. ¡°You¡­ that¡¯s cheating!¡± Sheined, the enhanced wyvern turning in an attempt to flee.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A gust of wind threatened to knock Lifre off her feet as the draconic figure lunged into the air, immediately catching up with the terrified wyvern. Its golden scales were crushed within the jaws of therger creature, which immediately began to tear it apart. Dana closed her eyes in focus, feeling how the divine energy from the wyvern flowed not into her, but into the dragon that had emerged from her shadow. Sure enough, she felt a slight increase in its strength, its fire bing just a bit more powerful.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, it works.¡± Dana nodded her head in confirmation. ¡°Just make sure that you don¡¯t enhance anything too strong. We don¡¯t want to make a monster king that will terrorize a country or anything.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre gave a small, sullen nod at that. Although her trial had been sessfully passed, she felt no real joy. After all, where was the thrill in crushing something weaker than oneself? The trial is meant to challenge people to reach greater heights, so seeing it cleared <i><span style="font-weight:400">that</i><span style="font-weight:400"> easily left a bad taste in her mouth. ¡°Anyways, thanks¡­ At least now I know it works.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre did her best to cheer herself up with the knowledge that most of these trials would just be scattered monster bosses in the world. The rest would be activated in tandem with her Adventure domain, allowing her to control the level of the challenge. At least in doing so, she wouldn¡¯t face another situation like this.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana offered her aforting smile, patting Lifre¡¯s shoulder before returning to the Citadel. Just as Lifre was about to fly off, she heard a new voice from the empty space behind her. ¡°Combining Trials and Adventures¡­ now that would make a good story.¡± She heard, turning to see a redheaded felyn grinning in her direction.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Dana returned to the Citadel, she immediately set off for her workshop, preparing to make the enchanted item she mentioned previously. As long as they had that, they wouldn¡¯t need to worry about transmitting their coordinates anymore. She rolled her shoulders, booting up her terminal to load the program that she had written to create spell diagrams.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You know, no matter how many times I see it, that¡¯s really an amazing piece of software you made.¡± A voice suddenly spoke from off to the side of Dana, causing the elven girl to nce over in surprise.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Lady Ryone, I wasn¡¯t really expecting you today.¡± Dana smiled, turning to face the Greater Goddess. ¡°Is there something that I can do for you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Actually, there is¡­ but first, there¡¯s something that I want to do for you.¡± Ryone nodded towards Dana, summoning a soft ck chair for herself to sit on. ¡°Myself, Terra, and Irena are all preparing to give the three of you something, and in exchange we have a very important favor to ask of you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana gave a solemn nod, knowing that any favor from the Greater Pantheon likely implied a threat to the world as a whole. ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ryone watched Dana, her lips tugging upwards as her eyes revealed a yful light. She extended a hand cing it on Dana¡¯s shoulders. ¡°You shall carry my blessing as the Goddess of Magic, for so long as you serve the Keeper. May your efforts in this task be rewarded in kind.¡± She muttered, and Dana could feel a divine energy pulsing in her body, causing her mana to expand.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana¡¯s eyes went wide at the unexpected blessing, feeling as if the challenge ahead was perhaps more daunting than she had imagined. ¡°This is¡­ is something the matter?¡± She asked, partially in confusion and partially rmed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°From now on, I want you to set aside one day every other week.¡± Ryone said in a somewhat stern tone. ¡°I will personally be tutoring you on magical theory and application during those days. If you choose to ept it, you will be my apostle within the mortal world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Your¡­ apostle? Lady Ryone, is the threat really that great?¡± Now, not only did Dana fear that the world was in danger¡­ she had the suspicion that even the Greater Pantheon might fall in the face of what wasing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Danger?¡± Ryone asked in a mischievous tone. ¡°Oh, dear, there¡¯s no danger here. The favor I want to ask of you is¡­ to be my bridesmaid.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°<i><span style="font-weight:400">What!?¡±</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Dana shot to her feet, eyes wide as saucers. She felt as if she had been struck by a bolt from a clear sky, her body shaking. ¡°Your bridesmaid¡­ then, does that mean?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Ryone nodded her head happily. ¡°It¡¯ll happen at the next big meeting.¡± Clearly, Ryone was incredibly excited for this event, and Dana could fully understand why.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°But, you said Lady Terra and Lady Irena were involved as well¡­ all three of you?¡± Dana sported a yful smile on her face, the implications of that bing clear.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. In fact, Terra was the ¡®first wife¡¯. It was just never made official, so I somewhat stole her thunder when I had Leowynn.¡± Ryone confirmed again. ¡°We know how dedicated you are towards Dale, and that none of you harbor any romantic interest in him. We¡¯ve each verified that numerous times over the years. If anything, you all treat him as a kind uncle, or an older brother.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In the past, Tsubaki was personally trained by Irena. The heroc still have legends about the winged fox wielding a scythe of bones. As for Lifre, her domain coincides with Terra¡¯s theme quite well. And you, Dana, are a genius of magic. You even handle most of the Sky Citadel¡¯s finances!¡± Ryone giggled slightly when she said that, shaking her head. ¡°So, we decided toe down here and grant you each our blessings. Each of you will be an apostle for one of us, receiving personal guidance.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And in return, you want us to attend your wedding?¡± Dana asked, to which Ryone nodded. ¡°You know, I¡¯d have been happy to attend either way. But as for the apostle position¡­ I will dly ept it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Good. Then, shall we get started? Let¡¯s go over this enchantment you¡¯re building first¡­¡±

 Chapter 792: The Feels

    Chapter 792: The Feels


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre¡¯s awakening of her second domain did not take long after meeting Terra, and she was able to properly gain the Trials domain that she had been trying to achieve. Not only that, but she immediately began training herself as a priestess of Terra. That said, her true identity was rather different from other priests of Terra.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The three goddesses hade together to discuss with each other what they wanted to do for the members of the Sky Citadel, which had ultimately culminated in the creation of this ¡®apostle¡¯ position. An apostle, as they created it with their divine authority, was someone incredibly special to a deity.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Each god or goddess following their pattern could only have a single apostle, and this was due to the fact that a pseudo-clone of the deity would be gifted to the apostle. This clone would reside within the body of the apostle, stimting their divine energy while acting as a reserve for them to draw from. Additionally, the range of powers avable to them as priests was drastically increased.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For example, a normal priest of Terra was able to sense when danger wasing more acutely than any trained warrior. Their gift was closer to foresight, and far greater than the psychic ability developed by the felyns. However, Lifre obtained not only this power, but also the ability to incorporate Terra¡¯s Stories domain into her own powers. This bestowal would onlyst so long as the clone continued to reside within her body, but it had essentially upgraded her to a goddess with three domains.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Simrly, Tsubaki had been granted a divine clone of Irena, and had been allowed the choice of which of Irena¡¯s domains she wanted to receive ess to. Despite giving this choice, Irena fully expected Tsubaki to choose the Justice domain. As the right hand of Dale, she served as the executor of his will, and the guardian of his worlds.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, she instead chose the Death domain, surprising Irena. When she asked why, Tsubaki simply bowed and answered. ¡°I am my Keeper¡¯s de. Where he points me, death follows. Though I have been in his service many years, it is not for me to define his justice. Should my power be needed to resolve a situation, it will only be because there is something that I must kill. Should my mind be needed, then it matters not whether I possess the power of justice or death. As such, I feel as if the power of death would allow me to be of more aid to my Keeper.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Irena gave a small smile when she heard that answer, agreeing to bestow Tsubaki with her requested domain. Thus, Tsubaki had essentially be a goddess of Light, Stealth, and Death. She began training herself as the silent reaper, able to bestow death without a single trace of her passing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Perhaps, the greatest quandary between the three was what to do about Dana. She was not a goddess, but someone that had walked an unconventional path toplete the Saint¡¯s path, merging with her World¡¯s Shadow. They weren¡¯t entirely sure whether her body would be able to ept Ryone¡¯s divinity the way that it was.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In the end, Dana¡¯s apostle position was slightly different from the other two. She still held a clone of Ryone in her body, but it did not give her ess to her divinity. Instead, the clone only served to increase Dana¡¯s mana reserves in proportion to the power it possessed. While she felt that this didn¡¯t reallypare to the buffs that the other apostles received, Dana was thrilled at the drastic increase to her mana.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet clenched her fist, looking at the information being disyed in front of her with a satisfied smile. After the process was confirmed safe with both of the Citadel¡¯s resident deities, she had tasked them with forging her own divinity as well. Finally, she had obtained the domain that she <i><span style="font-weight:400">originally</i><span style="font-weight:400"> wanted when ascending to godhood. She was now the Goddess of Ki and Blood.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Admittedly, Scarlet was somewhat disappointed that her father had not taken the treatment himself yet, but she knew that it was only a matter of time. She left rather strict instructions with James after she had her own divinity forged. The final portion of her blood was not to be used for anyone other than the Keeper, and she would not supply another portion until he had obtained his forged divinity.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was not merely her being selfish, but rather her belief that something like this must be possessed by the Keeper and his closest assistants before bing avable to the rest of the world. Even she herself waited until the two members of the Citadel hadpleted their forging before going in for her own.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she was thinking about that, she felt a powerful presence filling the surrounding atmosphere. Her eyes lifted, and she suddenly saw him standing before her. ¡°Dad!¡± She called out with wide eyes, surprised by this sudden visit. ¡°What brings you here?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing her wide-eyed innocence that did not match her age or status, the Keeper simply chuckled. ¡°I came to talk to you about something important.¡± He said, ncing around the throne room. ¡°Could we talk somewhere in private?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet¡¯s eyes narrowed as she looked around the room, staring towards the various guards. As if feeling that their lives were in danger, they quickly fled the throne room, together with the rest of her servants. Once they were out, she waved her hand, isting the space that they were in from the outside world with both her divine power and a spatial ki barrier. Only when that was done did she smile again. ¡°There, nobody should be able to spy on us anymore.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I suppose that¡¯s one way to handle it.¡± The Keeper chuckled somewhat awkwardly. He took a deep breath, conjuring a chair of stone positioned in front of Scarlet¡¯s throne. Normally, this would be an extremely disrespectful act, but Scarlet simply leaned forward, eager to hear what the Keeper wanted to talk to her about.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What I¡¯m about to tell you is an absolute secret.¡± He began in a serious tone, causing Scarlet to lose a lot of the yfulness in her expression. Seeing that she understood, the Keeper seemed relieved. ¡°A lot of people have guessed this over the years, and I¡¯ve all but confirmed it myself. However, I am far from the only Keeper that exists. All of those invasions we face, the monsters that even I have to descend to handle, those have been from enemy Keepers.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet gave a firm nod, having known as such long ago. ¡°I understand, father.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Good. Now, the way we Keepers shape our world is through a system of nigh-omniscient currency, which we refer to as simply ¡®points¡¯. These points can alter thew of physics in a world, create entire universes, or be used to birth a species. Combined with the Keeper¡¯s imagination, there is almost nothing that can¡¯t be done with sufficient points.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet gave another nod, a thought seeming to cross her mind. ¡°Are you, perhaps¡­ running low on points and ced in a dangerous situation, father?¡± She asked, concern obvious in her voice. However, the Keeper shook his head, reaching across to ruffle her hair slightly. Scarlet dipped her head, a flush rising in her cheeks as she happily epted the gesture. This was something that she often saw fathers do, and had always wanted to receive it herself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, you don¡¯t have to worry about that, Scarlet.¡± He assured her gently. ¡°I¡¯m just telling you this to prepare you for the next big reveal. You see, time flows differently for me. Or to be more precise, I choose how time flows in the world rtive to me. A minute for me could be a year for you. But, every one of my years, there is an annual meeting for all Keepers like myself. During these meetings, Keepers can participate in various games and events in order to earn arge sum of points.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet¡¯s eyes went wide, looking up at her father as she understood where he was going with this. ¡°You¡­ want me to attend this meeting with you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">She saw him nod his head gently. ¡°So far, only Tsubaki and Dana have ever joined me, and only for thest meeting. This time, I would like to invite you along as well. You¡¯ll have the chance to earn points yourself, which you can use to ask me for a favor. For instance, if there is a change you feel needs to be made to the world, or a special kind of item you want to learn how to make.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet nodded in understanding. ¡°Then, this divine forging method¡­ was that also obtained with points?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her father smiled. ¡°That¡¯s right. Soon, we¡¯ll be getting some new arrivals from another Keeper¡¯s world. This one is friendly, so don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ve invited their people over to live in our world peacefully. Once they¡¯re here, I n to have my own divinity forged. But, back to the topic at hand. One of the reasons that I want to invite you to this meeting is that I¡¯m getting married, and I feel that you should be there.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet nearly jumped from her throne when she heard that, forcing herself to remain seated by clenching the arms of the gilded chair. However, she could not suppress the gasp that left her. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m going to have a mother?¡± She asked in disbelief. Dale blinked for a moment, beforeughing lightly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Three, in fact. Irena, Terra, and Ryone will be the ones involved.¡± Scarlet¡¯s eyes widened even further at that. It was public knowledge that Ryone had a child with the Keeper, so she had immediately assumed that the Goddess of Magic would be her father¡¯s bride.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Three¡­ dad¡¯s a pervert.¡± Scarlet pouted her lips softly, causing her father to blink again, a wry smile on his face. ¡°Still, three mothers¡­¡± Scarlet had never really been able to enjoy the love of a parent, and wanted to experience what it was like. Seeing her father like this, acting so gentle in front of her, she began to understand what those children of her people experienced.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dale nodded his head towards Scarlet, keeping that gentle expression. ¡°That¡¯s right. So, if there is anything that you want, I want you to think it through. Think of this as a very long overdue present.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was Scarlet¡¯s turn to blink in surprise, an ideaing to her. ¡°There is¡­ one thing I would like, dad.¡± She said in her softest voice, as if afraid to voice her thoughts. ¡°But¡­ would it be okay to ask before that meeting?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dale looked at her curiously, seeming unsure of what she meant. ¡°Sure.¡± He nodded after a moment. ¡°As long as it¡¯s not too much, I can give it to you a bit early.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet¡¯s lips tugged upwards slightly. ¡°Could I¡­e live with you? Like Leowynn, I mean. I can still govern my people from there, just like Leowynn is being a proper goddess now, can¡¯t I? But it would let me be closer to all of you¡­ is that okay?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dale looked at her in surprise, having not expected that kind of request. His gaze softened, and he ced his hand on her shoulder. ¡°Leowynn, myself, and those you call the Greater Pantheon all live in a very special ce. We can descend to this world, yes. However, transportation doesn¡¯t work both ways. For someone from this world, or even from the underworld to reach where we are, they have to diepletely. Then, I can remake them where I am. With Leowynn, she died in battle, so I brought her to my side.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet clenched her fists at her side, a look of resolution on her face. ¡°I¡¯ll do it. Give me a chance, and I will ignite the mes of my existence. You can bring me back on your side, right? It¡¯ll just be like going to sleep for a moment.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dale¡¯s hand seemed to tremble, seeing just how far Scarlet was willing to go for this request. Conflicting emotions passed through his eyes before he closed them, leaning forward to rest his forehead against Scarlet¡¯s. ¡°Do it quietly¡­¡± He said in a gentle whisper. ¡°I¡¯ll go back, and have you created at my ce immediately. You can descend and return like nothing happened. I don¡¯t know what will be of your current reserves of divinity, so¡­ if you have a way to store it to retrieve when you return, I would suggest you do so.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet¡¯s lips spread into a wide smile at her father¡¯s eptance. ¡°Yes, dad.¡± She said, gathering as much of her divinity as she could in her hands. ¡°I will leave my power for my future self, the one that can stand by your side. She will bear my name, my memories, and my heart. And she will always be thankful to the me that gave her this chance.¡± As she said that, she generated a solid sphere of divine energy, separating it from her divine will and cing it next to her throne.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Afterwards, her body seemed to lose its color, slowly bing gray and ashen. Despite this, her expression was one of almost profound happiness, even as her skin began to crack and fade away. ¡°I¡¯m going to sleep now, dad¡­ be sure to wake me up soon.¡± She said, her eyes closing before her form seemed to entirely scatter.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper clenched his fists, gritting his teeth as he watched her body dissipate. However, a momentter his eyes went utterly nk.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Terra.¡± I called out, closing my eyes as I returned to the Admin Room. ¡°I need Scarlet¡¯s personality profile.¡± I wasn¡¯t surprised to see that Terra was nearby already, a warm look in her eyes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I know.¡± She whispered, holding out a red tome towards me. ¡°As soon as I saw what was happening, I got ready. So don¡¯t keep her waiting, alright?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head, taking the book and focusing. Creating apanion was an easy thing for me by now, and having the personality profile ensured that there wouldn¡¯t be any problems. Soon, a short girl appeared in front of me, her blood-colored dress matching her hair. When she opened her eyes, she blinked, looking around the room.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After taking in her surroundings, she closed her eyes, a few tears falling from them as she turned to face me again. ¡°Good morning, dad.¡±

 Chapter 793: Paint The Town Red

    Chapter 793: Paint The Town Red


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s not much, but this is where we live.¡± I told Scarlet with a small smile, leading her through the halls of the Admin Room to show her all the different rooms. ¡°You can change anything in the Admin Room with strong enough focus and imagination, so you should be able to make your own room. However, the first thing you should do is create an avatar in the mortal world to retrieve the divinity you stored.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I did that as soon as I woke up.¡± Scarlet said happily, one of her hands holding my own while the other held onto Terra. ¡°After what you said before, I knew it was possible, so I tried that right away. I¡¯ve already regained my divinity and established the spatial lock again. That way, nobody can see dad¡¯s body while it¡¯s sitting there.¡± She gave a firm nod of her head as she said that, causing me to chuckle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Though¡­ I noticed that I am no longer your subordinate deity¡­¡± That actually made her pout slightly, as if she had lost something important.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s not a surprise.¡± Terra shook her head, chuckling. ¡°The you that was a subordinate deity couldn¡¯t be brought to the Admin Room like that. When you were remade, you didn¡¯t have that same inherent trait in your divinity. However, even if that¡¯s true, I think you¡¯re closer to Dale now than you ever were before.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet thought about that for a moment, before giving a firm nod in agreement. ¡°Does that mean that I can¡¯t borrow power from him anymore, though?¡± She had never really had the chance or need to do so, so she seemed rather curious about that point


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Unfortunately, it does.¡± Terra said, squeezing Scarlet¡¯s hand as we came towards the living room. ¡°However, you shouldn¡¯t have to worry about your safety. Even if your mortal incarnation dies, the you that exists in the Admin Room will still be fine.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but nod at that, before blinking as a thought urred to me. ¡°Wait, Terra will have to teach you about the Heavenly Game system soon. The incarnation that you have now will work for a little while, but it won¡¯t anymore once an invasion starts. At that point, anyone that is in the Admin Room will be locked out of the world, and only an incarnation born through the Heavenly Game system will be able to act. Though, it will still have its own mind.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet¡¯s eyes went wide at that, looking at Terra with an almost pleading gaze. Seeing that, Terra nodded her head softly. ¡°With the Heavenly Game system, you merely need to select a parent to be born to. When the child is born, you will be able to possess their mind and body, growing alongside them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet quickly nodded her head, her eyes seeming to sh. Terra blinked, realizing what she seemed to be doing. ¡°Well¡­ I suppose that works, too.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...What did she do, Terra?¡± I asked with no small amount of concern.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°She set herself as the parent¡­ and is teleporting to Tower to hunt one of his monster gods.¡± Terra exined with a wry grin. Scarlet simply giggled as I looked down at her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It was the most efficient method. If my divine avatar creates a progeny using the divine ki and spirit of a godly creature, I will have a much easier time ascending to let my incarnation inherit my position. Additionally, my divine avatar will be able to assist the incarnation in obtaining divinity, so I should be able to do so within a few months.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was almost scary how quickly Scarlet was adjusting. ¡°Are you able to properly divide your focus between that many bodies?¡± Even for somepanions, it took time to train themselves to handle more than one additional body at a time. However, Scarlet seemed entirely unconcerned.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Martial Spirits divide themselves a dozen times over in order to handle our pacts. As the oldest of my kind, I¡¯m no stranger to controlling clones. However, if you were to elerate the world¡­ I don¡¯t know how well my mind will process it.¡± She had a somewhat awkward expression on her face as she admitted that, though it quickly turned into one of surprise when another voice called out.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Scarlet! You made it!¡± Aurivy¡¯s voice called from the living room, the halfling goddess jumping to her feet and running over to capture Scarlet in a hug. ¡°That was a really brave, stupid, and sweet decision you made, all rolled into one! I couldn¡¯t have done it better myself. Well, maybe a little bit. Anyways, I look forward to having you around!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°L-Lady--¡± Scarlet¡¯s words were cut off as Aurivy quickly flicked her nose, causing her to flinch back with her eyes crossed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°None of that! I get enough of that from Tsubaki. When you¡¯re up here, we¡¯re all family and friends. No titles, no honorifics. I¡¯m Aurivy, and you¡¯re Scarlet, got it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet seemed somewhat hesitant at that, but Aurivy¡¯s expression offered no room for argument. ¡°Of course, Aurivy.¡± She said experimentally, which made Aurivy break out in a wide grin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Much better!¡± She nodded her head, though Scarlet began looking around the living room. Seeing only Irena and alia present, she seemed more curious.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Uhm¡­ where is my sister? I haven¡¯t had the chance to see her in a while, so I wanted to say hello now that I¡¯m here¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy simply giggled, patting Scarlet on the shoulder. ¡°Leowynn¡¯s been working with Ryone to fix up the Boundless Caravan a bit. They¡¯re probably in either her room or Ryone¡¯s. Once she hears you¡¯re here now, I bet she¡¯lle running. You know, she¡¯s been secretly wanting to have you up here for a long time? As of now, all of Dale¡¯s proper family are living in the Admin Room.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet blinked, nodding her head slowly. Though, a smile slowly spread over her face when she realized that she was being acknowledged as part of the Keeper¡¯s family. Even if it was a bit unconventional, she was born of his blood. Enough of his blood even that she managed to trigger the rare demigoddess trait.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thank you.¡± Scarlet bowed deeply towards Aurivy, who kept that same yful look on her face. ¡°I just hope that I can live up to your expectations.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry. The only expectations we have of you are how much fun we can all have together.¡± Aurivy said with a faint chuckle. ¡°Speaking of¡­ hey Dale, can you make her the Patron Goddess for Martial Spirits? She¡¯s the first one brought up here for a race that doesn¡¯t have one yet.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet¡¯s eyes went wide as saucers, her head jerking up to stare at Aurivy when she made that suggestion. I thought it over for a moment, nodding my head. In fact, it wasn¡¯t all that much trouble. All martial spirits already knew her as the Empress of Bloodhaven, so the only thing that would really change is them feeling a slightly deeper connection to her. One enough for them to be instinctively aware of any changes in her divine properties.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sure.¡± I opened up the system menu, assigning Scarlet before she had the chance toin. As soon as I did so, I blinked. Because Scarlet had met the conditions imposed by the system, she already qualified for her third domain. ¡°Okay, Scarlet, big question time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°U-Uh huh?¡± Scarlet gulped, eyes swimming as she struggled to process everything that we were doing. ¡°What is it, dad?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I smiled, guiding her over to sit on the couch. ¡°Because I made you a patron deity, and your race has entered the globalmunity, you qualify for a third domain. Is there anything you want it to be?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°A third¡­? I just got my second.¡± She seemed somewhat overwhelmed, but I was confident that she could handle it. She had led the Bloodhaven Empire since before I revealed myself to the world. There wasn¡¯t a doubt in my mind that she could push through this bit of surprise. ¡°If¡­ If I had to pick one¡­¡± She furrowed her brow, doing her best to push aside unnecessary thoughts.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is it¡­ possible to take a color as a domain?¡± She asked, and I could only look to Terra for the answer to that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The felyn goddess grinned mischievously. ¡°Let me guess, the color red?¡± She asked, to which Scarlet nodded. ¡°It¡¯s entirely possible. Any word can potentially be a domain. However, I want you to think carefully. What powers are you hoping to achieve by choosing this color as your domain?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet took a deep breath, organizing her thoughts. She looked at the television, seeming to draw inspiration from it as she closed her eyes. In the middle of the room, a scene was being projected. In this scene, a monster was being bathed in a rain of blood.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Every drop that struck the monster left a red patch on its skin, though the monster itself continued to fly and fight. However, something changed as soon as one of the monster¡¯s arms had developed a full red circle. The arm simply fell off, melting into a puddle of blood that flew about in the rainstorm. Piece by piece fell off the monster, until even its head was dyed red and ultimately disappeared.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The Crimson Goddess of Ki and Blood.¡± Scarlet whispered. ¡°Let all things that carry my color be an extension of my domain. The sky over my kingdom has already been dyed red, as has the water that flows through it, and the grass which grows within. When they think of the Empress of Bloodhaven, they think of my crimson hair and piercing red eyes.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra¡¯s smile grew wider, and she gave a small nod of her head. ¡°That is a perfectly suitable use of the color red. All martial spirits will be extensions of your domain, after a fashion, as all share the same color. Are you prepared for this?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet nodded her head, letting out the breath she had been holding. ¡°I¡¯m not going to do like Elisae, and tie my color to my perception. I¡¯d rather not need to be aware of the vascr system of every man, woman and child on the, thank you very much.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small chuckle, assigning her the domain she had requested. This was the first time that I had seen anyone using a color as a domain, so I didn¡¯t even know how it would work. However, Terra seemed rather confident, so I was willing to take her word for it. Additionally, with Scarlet¡¯s reserve of power, and the demonstration she showed before, I had the feeling that Earth just became a lot safer.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, that¡¯s weird.¡± Scarlet suddenly shuddered, a small grin on her face. ¡°My divinity just became red¡­ like properly red, instead of gold. I don¡¯t have to infuse it with my ki or anything.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I bet that¡¯s because your divinity represents a color now.¡± alia chimed in. ¡°If you had picked blue, it would have probably turned your divinity blue. That¡¯s probably just a basic cosmetic trait that came with picking a color.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There¡¯s a bit more to it than that.¡± Terra shook her head, beginning to exin. ¡°Her divinity is red, which means that if she spreads that divinity into a target, their divinity will begin turning red as well. It¡¯s not a fast process¡­ imagine dripping blood into a ss of water. If you want to turn the entire ss red, you¡¯ll need a fair amount of blood. But if you are willing to invest the time and energy, you can create a true crimsonndscape filled with your divinity. Once you do so, thend will be an extension of your body.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet nodded her head in understanding, her eyes growing just a touch unfocused. By my guess, she had just killed the monster god after meeting Tower, and was creating her incarnation. ¡°Thank you for that. However, I don¡¯t necessarily need such a territory. The space I defend is far toorge for me to dye, and nobody would appreciate it if I created a red bubble around the sr system¡­ even if I had enough energy to do so.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, in that case¡­¡± I smirked, patting Scarlet¡¯s head. ¡°Shall I introduce you to our favorite pastime? Spying on random people throughout the various worlds.¡± As I said that, I reached for the remote on the couch, using it to turn the television back on¡­

 Chapter 794: A Guard’s Duty

    Chapter 794: A Guard¡¯s Duty


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra rolled her shoulders as she stepped through the gate to the twenty-eighth floor of Fyor. On the other side, the fortress had been remodeled with the portal in mind, a weing area set up to greet those who came from the lower floors. She gave a small smile towards one of the rainbow-eyed humans that met her. ¡°I was requested for guard duty?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When the woman acting as receptionist heard that, she blinked, checking her paperwork. ¡°Ah, Miss Petra Carna?¡± She spoke up, clearly having already been using a magical effect to understand theirnguage.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. Can you tell me where my post is?¡± The adventurers of Fyor hade to an agreement with the king of the rainbow-eyes. The adventurers will be given their ownnd, and the ability to freely travel through the gate. However, in exchange, they would contribute some of their people to protect the border forts from the ashen dwarves.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was a rather fair deal for the adventurers, and could even be said to be a bit of a vacation for them. While the creatures of the twenty-eighth floor were statistically as strong or stronger than any Maxer, the Maxers were highly specialized, many of them having even obtained godhood. They had trained their entire lives while dealing with creatures that had a statistical advantage over themselves, so this bit of a gap was not enough to worry them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Granted, Petra already had the level orb of this floor in her hands, and was just waiting for her chance to use it. After their first investigation of the floor, she and Thelsa sent their people to the far reaches to try to find the obscure item. Forget a needle in a haystack, they were looking for a single grain of salt in a desert.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, she had managed to find it after roughly a week, hidden in a dark cave far to the south. The area wasn¡¯t part of any inhabited kingdom, and was teeming with monsters, but she quickly grabbed it and made her escape. Now, she was just waiting to be assigned to a guard position, using it as an excuse to ¡®coincidentally¡¯ locate the sphere while she was working.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The receptionist looked at her papers again, before giving a small smile. ¡°You¡¯ll be assigned to Fort Priven. Are you familiar with it, or should I find someone to guide you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra shook her head, her shadows already stirring beneath her feet. ¡°I know where it is, thanks.¡± Each guard dutysted only a week for the selected adventurers, and they had full permission to retreat if a battle seemed truly hopeless. Thus, most of them simply spent the time rxing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra wouldn¡¯t do that, of course. She always did her best to leave a good impression on people. Her shadows swept up to engulf her, teleporting her to the fort that the receptionist had mentioned. Specifically, she appeared inside of the guard captain¡¯s office, much to the surprise of the armored man.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra was rather curious when she learned that the guard captain here was one of the magically ¡®muted¡¯ rainbow-eyes. Those who were typically deemed as a lower ss after losing their magic to the beasts from the magic realm. It was hard for them to get any positions of authority, and yet this man still held his post. Either he was incredibly talented, or simply of a higher birth. Petra wasn¡¯t sure which.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The guard captain did a double take when he realized that Petra was suddenly sitting across from him, one hand instinctively going for his sword. However, as soon as he recognized that she was not a dwarvish assassin, he froze. ¡°Adventurer?¡± He said the word, heavily ented. He was obviously not using any magic to help him speak thenguage, and his vocabry was likely affected as a result of that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Petra nodded, using her bodynguage to assure the man that he was correct. He furrowed his brow, before opening a drawer of his desk and pulling out an amulet. Petra could feel an enchantment on the item, one which activated as soon as he donned it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°My apologies, you startled me.¡± The captain spoke more fluently once the enchantment was in ce, causing Petra to nod her head in understanding. ¡°I was not expecting someone so¡­ young.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra simply chuckled. ¡°I assure you, sir, I am older than you could imagine. I only look this way due to the nature of my body. There is no need for you to question my capabilities due to my appearance.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m aware.¡± The captain nodded, pulling out a stack of paperwork. ¡°You were among the security escorts for the first diplomatic meeting. At that time, it was noted that you were the only security hired that was not an ascended deity. To be able to work on the level of a god speaks of your prowess. Additionally, it was noted that you seem to have a remarkable ability to use shadows for long-distance scouting, going as far as finding a ck stone b within the ocean.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Petra simply nodded her head, he continued. ¡°When I requested you for this post, it was your scouting ability that I was aiming for. I am aware that you adventurers agreed to be ced in defensive positions only, and do not wish to be used as tools to perpetuate warfare. So you need not be worried, as I won¡¯t have you locate the enemy camp. Even if you find it, you are not required to report it lest they are within the territory of this fortress.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What I would like you to do is search for spies.¡± The captain¡¯s tone became serious when he said that. ¡°I have reason to believe that one of two possibilities exist. Either the Ashenborn are able to gather sensitive information through the use of covert tactics, or one of our own is sending them this information.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Regardless, there have been repeated attacks targeting our most sensitive weaknesses. Momentary shifts in personnel causing the guard to bex, which would havested for mere minutes being taken advantage of. Whenever there is an opportunity, they seem primed and ready to take advantage. As the Ashenborn are not known for their use of magic, I must suspect either infiltration or an aplice.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra gave an understanding nod, though she already had an idea of her own as to how this had happened. ¡°Just out of curiosity, but have your people ever practiced the ¡®arts¡¯ of the Ashenborn?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not beyond the elementary levels, to understand the nature of their power.¡± The man shook his head, confirming Petra¡¯s suspicions.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Then, you might not know this.¡± Petra gave a small sigh, beginning to exin. ¡°Among the uses of natural energy, there are a great many possibilities. The ones you know of, and are the most visibly obvious, are the simple maniption of base elements. However, natural energy also has the potential to gather information. Let me demonstrate¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and stroking a ring on her finger. ¡°Show me thest person to enter this office.¡± She whispered, the smoke from the candles shifting to pass through the air, heading to the door.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The guard captain raised a brow as he watched the smoke take a humanoid form. Another armored guard walked in, offering a salute as his smoky form began to deliver a soundless report. ¡°Are you saying that they can gather their information without any need for covert tactics?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra offered a weak smile, nodding her head. ¡°We call this branch of natural energy the ¡®shaman¡¯ path. I myself have not studied it much, but I can already cause the natural elements to respond in such a way. For people that are proficient in the techniques, they can use the wind itself as their eyes and ears. This is an incredibly subtle spying method, but also one that is easy to prevent, should you be aware of it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That caused the man to look at her in delight. ¡°Please, if you can offer the means of defending us against this tactic, I would be thankful. Many of my men haveid down their lives in the recent battles, and I do not wish to lose any more.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, I can assure you that my presence will prevent them from doing such in the next week.¡± Petra assured him. ¡°I practice the ¡®druid¡¯ path of natural energy, so I can control the energy in this base to prevent it from leaking outside. Which means that you have one week to get a barrier installed. These barriers are rathermon for my people, and they serve to mute the natural energy going in and out of a city.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This means that shamans won¡¯t be able to do their spying without being physically within the barrier, and it will also offer you a resistance to wind and fire-based druid abilities. Most of such powers dissipate after passing through the barrier, unless they have a root in a natural phenomenon sustaining them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The guard captain offered a small nod. ¡°In that case, I will have to put in a requisition for such a barrier, and hope that the trade is able to take ce before your departure. In the meantime, you said that you practice the same arts as their warriors, correct?¡± He asked, to which Petra nodded her head. ¡°In that case, would you be willing to train my men, and help them understand how they should best fight people like yourself?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra thought that over for a moment, nodding her head. ¡°I can do so. But first, would you allow me to use my powers to inspect your body? If I can do that, I will have a better understanding of what you and your men are capable of.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The man looked surprised at that offer, but also cautious. ¡°You may. However, it is of paramount importance that you do not touch my body with your mana. For the muted like myself, there is a risk that the thought eater still remains within my body.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra¡¯s expression grew serious when she heard that. ¡°Then, I won¡¯t use my mana. And if it is there¡­¡± She chuckled darkly. Her hand swept out, her shadows following hermand to wrap around the captain¡¯s body. ¡°So it is¡­¡± She muttered, feeling the presence of a creature within the captain¡¯s mana trying totch onto her shadow. While the shadow itself wasn¡¯t mana, mana was aponent of it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra simply grinned, allowing the creature to attach itself to her. Or rather, to her shadow. The shadow of an entire world, filled with millions of minds. Millions of thoughts assaulting this ¡®thought eater¡¯ all at once, with the shadow itself being sentient. It was naught but a starved bug captured by a massive beast and trampled before a charging stampede.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, I have two pieces of good news for you, captain.¡± Petra said with an innocent smile once she pulled her shadow back, the captain shuddering with a sense of vition.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°P-Please, go on¡­¡± He said, his body still shaking slightly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°First of all, I¡¯ve killed your thought eater. I don¡¯t know if there is any method of your people recovering their powers if it¡¯s gone, but if so, your mana should be able to be returned to you.¡± The captain¡¯s eyes went wide when he heard that, but Petra continued. ¡°Additionally, your people have the capability of wielding ki. I assumed this would be the case, but I needed to check to make sure. While your talent for it is far below that of the faceless monks we heard about, it is still a viable means of amplifying yourbat power.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ki¡­¡± The man muttered the word under his breath again, before nodding. ¡°I understand. Then, if you can train my people how to wield ki to counter this ¡®druid¡¯ path, I will be grateful.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ll do what I can, but my own ki is of the uncontrolled variety.¡± Petra exined patiently. ¡°After I leave, I would suggest putting in a request for your next guard to be a monk. I can even rmend one of my friends to you. They¡¯ll be able to set your people up with a proper training regiment to harness their ki. In the meantime, I¡¯ll do what I can to simte battles against druids for your people to train themselves.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The guard captain nodded his head, standing and offering a bow of thanks towards Petra. ¡°We¡¯ll be in your care for the next week, then.¡±

 Chapter 795: Old And New

    Chapter 795: Old And New


    <span style="font-weight:400">The days passed, and soon word of the new method of ascension began to spread throughout the world. When the information was first made known, it was met with heavy disbelief and criticism, despite having originated from the research institute of Deckan. Although everyone knew of James¡¯s reputation, few people believed that you could earn godhood by simply paying for it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Until this point, divinity was something that had to be trained for diligently, with people struggling to make any progress. Those who were brave enough to face the challenges would face two harrowing trials, either of which had the potential topletely eradicate them from existence. However, there was now news of a method to ascend which carried no risk to the life of the participant, and simply required them to purchase the necessary materials?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Those most disgruntled by the news were those who had already gone through the first steps of the normal ascension method, as it was made clear that they would face lethal consequences if they tried to switch to the new method. While everyone else could simply pay to ascend, they still had to struggle for it. Yet, there was a piece of information that caused people to pause.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Those who have ascended through the normal method may still obtain a new domain through forging, but those who have their divinity forged can¡¯t obtain a domain by practicing the three steps. When this information was released, even the gods began to stir. There were many who wanted another domain more than anything. Perhaps they were unsessful in getting the domain that they wanted on their first attempt, or maybe they were seeking a higher level of power.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Regardless of their reasons, several established gods sent in requests to the research facility, asking what was required for them to receive this treatment. The answer that they received was, sadly, disappointing to most of them. ¡°We have currently identified the required materials and confirmed the validity of the method. However, the process is unavable at this time for established divinities due to extenuating circumstances. When the process bes avable in the future, we will be sure to inform all relevant parties.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">This release caused many gods to grind their teeth in frustration. The process to obtain a second domain was right in front of them, and yet they couldn¡¯t achieve it. In fact, there were even a rare few who had undertaken the trials of Lorek to receive a domain. For those people, what they were trying to achieve was not a second domain, but a third.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It wasmon knowledge in the world that only the Greater Pantheon possessed three domains, and many people believed that they would be elevated to a simr status if they themselves earned a third domain. While there was no true basis for this belief, there was a precedent for someone being elevated to the status of the Greater Pantheon. That was the Keeper¡¯s daughter, Leowynn, who proved that such a thing was possible.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Granted, the way she did so was not by obtaining three domains, and she had a personal rtionship with the Keeper himself. However, since they knew it could be done, they believed that the path would open for any who reached the same level as the Greater Pantheon.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Perhaps the group that reacted the most positively were the ninjas. Within their isted world, they still received news from their many informants. Thanks to the fact that they had long since repaired their rtionship with the research facility, they immediately sent a message asking if there were any other materials that were needed to obtain a divinity.


    <span style="font-weight:400">What they received was a short list of ingredients, many of which could not be found on the market in great numbers. In fact, some of the materials could only be purchased off of the Boundless Caravan, such as the Holy Rose


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although that flower did indeed exist in the world, it was remarkably rare. It was said that it had no set conditions for it to appear, and there was no seed that would spawn it. Instead, only one such rose could appear in the world at a time, and it could be anywhere that held a trace of divinity. Whenever it bloomed, it reached the height of a fully grown man, with over a hundred petals to be seen.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The holy rose would bloom for three days and three nights, absorbing the light of both the sun and the moon, before the petals changed to a deep ck color. Once this change happened, it was no longer a holy rose, but a devil rose, and it became a powerful monster that could dominate a small region.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thanks to the limited lifespan of the holy rose, the difficulty in determining its location, and the threat that woulde if it was not harvested in time, there had only ever been three sessfully harvested flowers. These three flowers soon led alchemists to discover the terrifying levels of energy contained within every piece of the flower itself. When used as an ingredient in an elixir, it was said to have the power to cure any mortal illness.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now, they were being told that they needed the petals of this very flower as an ingredient to achieve godhood. Truly, the only way to obtain one would be the Boundless Caravan, though the prices were likely to be quite high. If one were to purchase all of the materials from the caravan, it was likely that the cost would be as high as five tokens of Terra.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While this did not seem like a lot, it must be stated how valuable Terra¡¯s tokens were. As the highest tier of token, they were only granted in exchange for a truly devout offering, one which held great personal significance. To convert the value into the lowest currency, Leowynn¡¯s, it would be the equivalent of over ten thousand of her tokens.


    <span style="font-weight:400">On the scale of a city, or even a country, this was not arge sum. But, whenpared to an individual¡¯s wealth, there were far less people able to pay that cost. Typically, those that could were fighters who cleared out dangerous areas, the Maxers of Fyor, or nobles and merchants that earned arge sum over their years.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, the ninjas were by no means poor. However, what they wanted was not merely the information for the basic forging method, but for a deity to obtain an additional domain. What they learned was that all materials required were tripled, and that there was an undisclosed requirement that they were not ready to announce yet.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing this, the ninjas felt overjoyed. The fact that the materials did not be even more rare was ddening, though the mystery requirement did concern them. However, that was not their focus at the moment.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Eh? I can get a new domain?¡± Alme asked in shock when she saw the news being disyed on her terminal. She had been running through a meadow on Sanctum when she was alerted of a new major release of information.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In truth, Alme had long been satisfied with the power that she had obtained. She did not lust for strength, nor for authority. Even her time spent as the Eternal Queen of Sher Dien was only to fulfill her promise to her father.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Would you like one?¡± Tryval asked, slowing his pace to circle around after noticing that Alme had stopped her trot. He was always a gentle and loving father, and would certainly plead his case with Scarlet if Alme expressed an interest in the process.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Yet, Alme simply shook her head, a radiant smile on her face. ¡°No. It¡¯s unexpected, but that¡¯s fine. If I ever need it in the future, I can just ask then.¡± She giggled yfully, moving to start running with her father again. ¡°Let¡¯s hurry! If we¡¯rete, we¡¯ll miss the show!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tryval gave a slight chuckle, shaking his head as he followed after his daughter. The two of them were on their way to a special event of Sanctum, held at the Tower of Stars. Leowynn had slowed the¡¯s speed enough for them to witness the final moments of a star that they had originally been passing by.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was an incredibly rare urrence, even within Sanctum, so anyone who was free did their best to make their way to Leowynn¡¯s tower.


    <hr>


    Within the Admin Room, the days passed in a rather refreshing manner. Our newest resident, Scarlet, was being shown all of the different functions avable within the Admin Room. This included everything from how to modify the environment to the various games that we had ess to.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In fact, she spent most of the time either watching the world with me, or dragging Aurivy and Leowynn off to y games together. Sometimes, she would even ask alia to arrange a training session for her to further hone her power. All in all, this seemed to undoubtedly be the happiest time of her life.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I watched the timer ticking down, knowing that the invasion was imminent, I was relieved that this was simply going to be a trade deal. If Scarlet were to suddenly be cut off from the world after having just adjusted to the Admin Room, it would likely upset her quite a lot.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ll be back once I have the new people all sorted.¡± I said with a smile, waving towards Irena as soft blue light wrapped around me. It was finally time toplete the trade with Oldbeard. One shipment of Aurans, and the level transfer orbs. With this, the foundation of our world would be able to further stabilize, and my people would be able to grow stronger as a whole.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki walked the halls, inspecting every corner and brick as part of her routine cleaning. Whenever she saw something out of ce, she would immediately gather her tools and ensure that the ce was as spotless as it could possibly be. However, as she was doing this, she felt a very faint resonance of energy, one that she had long since trained herself to detect.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her body moved in a sh of light, immediately appearing in the Keeper¡¯s throne room. Some time ago, he had disappeared from the Sky Citadel for a few hours, due to having left while Tsubaki was receiving training from Irena. This time, she wanted to ensure that she was properly present to greet him upon his return.


    <span style="font-weight:400">And sure enough, he was still just opening up his eyes when she arrived, allowing her to present the image as if she had never left her position. The Keeper offered a soft smile, nodding his head at her. ¡°It¡¯s time to wee our guests.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Understood, my Keeper.¡± Tsubaki responded with a curt nod. She had been made aware that this ¡®invasion¡¯ was more like an immigration than an actual battle. However, she was still on guard against any potential attacks. Especially considering that the foreign party would have no way of understanding theirnguage or culture.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was impossible to predict how a foreign culture would react to meeting new neighbors, so she had to be prepared for the worst case scenario. The Keeper, meanwhile, simply rolled his shoulders as he stood up, taking a deep breath. ¡°And¡­ it¡¯s starting.¡± He muttered, allowing Tsubaki to know that the invasion had officially begun.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was silence within the room, the Keeper not deploying any of hisrge-scale tracking abilities. He simply stared into the emptiness, no doubt watching a screen that only he could see. Thissted for roughly ten minutes, during which Tsubaki did not utter a single word.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At the end of that ten minutes, Aurivy appeared within a cloud of golden mist. ¡°I¡¯ve found them!¡± She called out with a wide grin. ¡°Boy, they really like to randomize these transports. I think this is the first group that¡¯s appeared directly in Fyor.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When the Keeper heard that, his eyes twitched. ¡°If they appeared in Fyor, are they able to use the gates?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, Aurivy gave a nod. ¡°Invaders have the same privileges of a purchased race, it looks like. Once they ¡®surrendered¡¯, I had one go to the nearest gate to test it, and he went through without a problem! They¡¯ve also already started gaining levels, so it looks like the trade was sessful!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper gave a relieved sigh at that. ¡°In that case, send half of the shipped goods to James, and let Dana a few of them. The rest, you can distribute to other research facilities to allow them to reverse engineer it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m on it, chief!¡± Aurivy saluted, golden mist rising from the floor. ¡°Would you like to meet them yourself?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not at the moment.¡± The Keeper answered, seeming to think of something. ¡°I¡¯ll make an appearance once they have finished settling in. Speaking of¡­ which level did they spawn on?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The twenty-seventh.¡± Aurivy chuckled, the mist rising higher. ¡°That¡¯s why it took so long to find them. They¡¯re in a totally uninhabited area, where nobody has explored within a hundred thousand kilometers. Without Terra pointing them out to me, I might not have been able to get them so quickly!¡± After she said that, her body disappeared into the golden mist.

 Chapter 796: Unexpected Bonus

    Chapter 796: Unexpected Bonus


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Will this really be alright?¡± A being made entirely of gems and stone asked, ncing towards another of her kind. They had only just arrived and established a defensive position to protect against this world¡¯s monsters when a small creature appeared. They had simr beings in their own world, and they were often referred to as halflings. This creature did not say a word, and merely grabbed one of their own before leaving again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The Keeper has said before that we must be understanding of cultural differences when we transfer like this.¡± The apparent leader of the stone-like people answered, shaking his head. ¡°Perhaps they did not have time to exin everything, or they needed to see if our kind can prosper here. Either way, I expect that they shall return shortly.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The other Auran nodded their head, seeming to recall something. In their own world, they had often been considered harbingers of gue, until the local doctors were able to figure out how to deal with any diseases they may carry.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After roughly half an hour, the same golden mist appeared again. This time, over one hundred people emerged from the mist, including the little halfling and the young Auran that she had stolen away. Aside from the two of them, the rest of the figures had sleek, reflective bodies. As if they were made entirely out of liquid metal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">One of those beings, a rather motherly figure, stepped forward. She spoke in some arcanenguage that the Aurans couldn¡¯t understand, until suddenly her words switched to their ownnguage. ¡°Can you understand me?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The leading Auran stepped forward, nodding his head. ¡°Of course. You must be this world¡¯s Keeper.¡± He said, dropping to one knee and lowering his head. ¡°On behalf of my people, I thank you for weing us.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The silver woman blinked, eyes going wide. ¡°No, no, you¡¯re mistaken. I am most certainly not the Keeper. I am the High Mother, leader of a race known as the Metong.¡± She exined in a gentle tone. ¡°In this realm, our race is the most adept at dealing with those like yourself. In fact, we have dealt with boron-based lifeforms before. Thus the Lady Aurivy here asked us to handle your initial quarantine period, ensuring they it was safe for all of you to properly interact with the rest of the world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And before you ask, no, I¡¯m not the Keeper, either!¡± Aurivy said, sticking her tongue out in a yful manner. ¡°I just work for him.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ahh, I see.¡± The leader of the Aurans nodded his head. ¡°In that case, feel free to do whatever you need to do.¡± They had expected at least a short quarantine, so this was nothing unusual for them. Rather, the fact that they had been treated so hospitably was a wee surprise.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That was the idea, chief!¡± Aurivy nodded. ¡°In the meantime, I believe that you have something that you were told to give us?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The rocky face of the Aura blinked, before letting out a short exmation. ¡°Ah, that is correct. I suppose you wouldn¡¯t have ess to some form of storage device, would you? It would need to berge enough to hold at least fifty entities the size of myself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy smirked, nodding her head. ¡°Yeah, we¡¯ve got stuff like that.¡± It was clear that certain precautions had been taken in order to protect the secrecy of Oldbeard¡¯s world. ¡°Just to make it clear, you guys aren¡¯t allowed to talk about the world you came from or anything, yeah?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Quite.¡± The rocky figure confirmed Aurivy¡¯s suspicions. ¡°Our Keeper took measures to ensure that her secrets would be kept. As such, please avoid asking any questions along that line.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy shook her head, producing a copper lockbox and tossing it to the Auran. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I can¡¯t promise the same for everyone, but I¡¯ve got no interest in asking about their world. At least not from you.¡± She chuckled. It was true that she wanted to know more about where the Aurans came from. However, if she was going to get the answers to those questions, she would rather have Dale take her to Oldbeard¡¯s world so that she could y with the other Keeper.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thank you for your understanding.¡± The Auran let out a relieved sigh, catching the lockbox. ¡°Is this device operated through any special code, or simply inserting mana?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Just mana.¡± Aurivy answered. ¡°It should be plentyrge enough to meet your needs, though keep in mind that it doesn¡¯t have a perfect weight cancetion feature yet.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After moving away from ¡®void storage¡¯, items such as this had be more and more developed over the years. The expanded space within a lockbox the side of a single brick could contain over a hundred cubic meters. At the same time, the weight reduction had managed to get as high as a staggering ny percent. While that was not a perfect cancetion, it was enough to allow people to carry far more than their normal load.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Auran let out a faint grinding sound as he studied the lockbox for a moment. Afterwards, his hand seemed to drop suddenly, just an inch or two. Enough to show the weight of the contents being delivered into the item. Once he was done, he leaned down to set the box on the ground gently, causing it to sink just slightly into the ground.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I believe that this should be considered aplete delivery. Additionally, our Keeper included something extra as a surprise. She said that it was a means of thanking your Keeper for a past favor.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy raised a curious brow at that, stepping forward and picking up the lockbox. Naturally, she noticed its weight, nearly a full ton. Thankfully, as a goddess, she was more than capable of picking up such a load with a single hand. Her mana scanned over the contents, finding not one but two types of items. ¡°Mind if I ask what the gift is?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We call this device a System Stone.¡± The Auran exined with a faint nod. ¡°It operates by connecting with the world¡¯s system, and can install that system onto a creature. In the words of our Keeper, it allows us to enlighten specific individuals, uplifting them and allowing them ess to the systems that we all enjoy.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy¡¯s jaw practically hit the floor when she heard that exnation, staring at the lockbox again. Despite its weight not affecting her, she instinctively began using both hands to hold it. ¡°I-Is it reusable?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Auran¡¯s head made a grinding noise as it shook. ¡°Each stone can only be used once, as the transfer of the system causes it to shatter. However, there should be enough of them in that device to begin production in your own world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy gave a shaky nod, studying the contents once again. Perhaps it was a theme of Oldbeard¡¯s world, but both items took the appearance of crystal spheres. However, one set of the spheres was a soft blue in color, while the other was silver. ¡°I¡¯ll get this delivered, then.¡± She said, looking towards the High Mother. ¡°Let me know when your people are ready to leave.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying that, Aurivy didn¡¯t even wait for the High Mother to answer before golden mist wrapped around her body, allowing her to vanish from the dark ins.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small sigh as I approached the research facility. As I had told Scarlet, it was time for me to receive my third domain. This was¡­ probably the first time that I had ever been to this facility in person, even though it was not their ¡®main building¡¯. The area where they had produced their ¡®God Forge¡¯ was a neighboring building that they used for matters that might disrupt their normal experiments.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I approached, I could hear the deep nking of a metal press, hammer striking against ore. Clearly, they already had a ¡®customer¡¯. When I entered, I saw an elven woman sitting on a nearby bench, watching as a machine on the far wall operated. With every deep ng, sparks flew up to the tinted ss window, revealing the golden material within.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The woman noticed my entrance, lifting her head to nod at me. It seemed as if she was the one that was waiting for her divinity to be smelted. A quick scan of the woman revealed that she was not currently a deity, though her energy was powerful enough that she had an even chance at ascending through the normal method.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It didn¡¯t seem like she immediately recognized me, but I wasn¡¯t all that concerned. Instead, I walked over to the counter, where I saw Thessa sitting with her terminal active. As she saw me approach, she gave me a business smile, before doing a quick double-take. ¡°A-Ah! I¡¯m sorry, if I knew you wereing, we would have gotten everything prepared for you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I shook my head, smiling and waving for her to calm down. ¡°It¡¯s fine. I didn¡¯t want to make a fuss. Should I wait for your current work to be over, and thene back?¡± I asked, gesturing to the now confused elven woman.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, no, it¡¯s fine. We have a secondary machine prepared for advanced forging.¡± As she said that, she quickly grabbed the small, spherical terminal crystal and disabled its projected disy. ¡°Lena, pardon me, but I¡¯ll be right back once I get this settled.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The elf, Lena apparently, barely had time to utter a ¡°What--¡± before Thessa guided me out of the room, into an adjacent area.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This new area looked roughly the same as the previous, though the machine on the far wall was admittedly somewhat more bulky. ¡°Have you been told how long the process takes yet?¡± Thessa asked as she installed her terminal into the counter in this room, quickly typing in the necessary details.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I watched Lifre and Tsubaki take the procedure.¡± I nodded, thinking back to when they went through it. ¡°It should be five or six hours, as I recall.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Thessa nodded her head, the machine on the far wall hissing with the sound of sliding metal tes and pistons. ¡°Once you¡¯re ready, please open the window and ce your hand in the vat inside. The surface should feel a little wet, but once you transfer some of your divinity into it, you are free to wash your hands off to the side.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she said, there was a sink on the right wall, clearly for customers to wash their hands. I gave a small nod, walking over and opening the tinted window. Inside, there was a stone vat containing a bubbling red liquid. Reaching in, I ced my hand atop it and transferred just enough divinity that the liquid began to give a brilliant golden glow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Alright, that should be good, sir.¡± Thessa smiled. Once I pulled my hand back, she closed and locked the window, letting me go and wash off my hand. ¡°You are free to stay and watch the procedure, or you can let us call you when your divinity is ready.¡± As she said that, a faint rush of energy could be felt within the machine, the initial processes already starting up.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ll wait.¡± I said with a faint nod, moving to sit on the bench. ¡°Feel free to tend to your other customer.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thessa offered a thankful smile, entering in a few more figures on her terminal before picking it up again. ¡°Then, I wish you the best with your new domain, Keeper.¡± She said, before leaving the room.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, this entire process was automated, and there were likely rms set to go off if anything went wrong. Thus, I was able to sit back, rx, and--


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Dale!¡± Aurivy shouted from three inches in front of my face, causing me to flinch back on the bench. Her eyes were wide, almost manic as she looked at me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Was there a problem with the shipment?¡± I asked hesitantly, though I didn¡¯t want to believe that Oldbeard would go back on the trade agreement. She definitely did not seem like the type for something like that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh? No! Not even close! Better than expected! She even threw in a bonus gift!¡± Aurivy exined, nearly bouncing on her feet.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Bonus¡­?¡± That confused me. I had told Oldbeard that there wasn¡¯t anything else listed that I particrly wanted, so why would she throw in something extra? And why would Aurivy be so excited about that?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy retrieved a soft blue sphere of crystal from a storage device on her person, disying it to me. ¡°This is something that they call a System Stone! With it, you can give the world¡¯s system to non-purchased entities! That means you don¡¯t have to spend points to buy existing races anymore, right!?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes widened at her exnation, and the fact that my observation of the stone confirmed her words. Now I knew why Oldbeard had included this gift¡­ it was something that she hadn¡¯t listed in her trade options. This item should be one of her world¡¯s ¡®secrets¡¯. Moreover, this could be used to save arge sum of points in the future, especially if they were mass produced and distributed to the Metong¡¯s Network.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s¡­ a lot more than I expected.¡± I muttered, looking at the small sphere. The information disyed by my Keeper analysis listed that the item was a consumable, but that did not make it any less powerful. So long as it was not too expensive to produce, it would soon be a rather important item for diplomatic missions when encountering new races.

 Chapter 797: Crystal Crisis

    Chapter 797: Crystal Crisis


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Have you found anyone to test these on yet?¡± I asked, looking at the sphere in Aurivy¡¯s hand. However, unsurprisingly, she shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, I brought it over as soon as I learned what they are. I figured that the only one that can really handle something like this is James, right?¡± She questioned, to which I gave a small nod.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Theoretically, Ashley would be able to achieve the same effect with her divine power. However, having her do so every time that we wanted to bring in a new race would lead to her constantly being drained of energy. If there were a way, instead, for the people to create their own items like this, that would drastically increase our ability to extend our influence.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Have these taken to theb.¡± I told her, pushing the orb back towards Aurivy. ¡°Let them know that the System Stone is the priority between these two. Once they figure out how to create it, ideally without the use of divine powers, let Ashley and Udona know. They¡¯ll be the most equipped to handle the mass production.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Got it, chief!¡± She nodded her head, quickly turning and running out of the room. Since it was just right next door, she must have decided that it was a waste to simply teleport over. As she left, I began to wonder about the implications behind that stone. Oldbeard was surely gifting it to us in order to help us, but it felt like the possibilities wouldn¡¯t end just with bringing people into the system.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For instance, the basic feature of this stone is to connect with the local game system. Even if it is in a read-only state, that means that it would not take much in the way of modification to create an item for invasions. This item would be able to connect to a local game system, disying its features for the invading forces. Theoretically, they could even use this System Stone on invaders, allowing them to use the defending world¡¯s system like a normal native.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If we take it a step further¡­ Ashley could potentially use the stone as a reference point for her divinity to create a System Admin Stone. Maybe that would make future edits to the world system easier for her to handle.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nora nced up from her terminal with a surprised expression. ¡°Thessa just sent me a confirmation. The Keeper is undergoing his treatment as we speak.¡± She announced to the rest of the group.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Treisha let out a long, relieved sigh, knowing that this meant that other gods would soon be able to start applying for the treatment themselves. ¡°Should we let the Empress know?¡± She asked, ncing over the counter to look at James and Chel, who were tirelessly working on a new machine.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ll let her know after the process is finished.¡± James said, waving an arm back to let them know he was paying attention. ¡°She probably won¡¯t be willing to supply additional portions until it¡¯s taken hold, so there¡¯s no rush.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay¡­ what are you working on, by the way?¡± She asked, the project having been something that the two started up without really telling the others anything.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You tell them, Chel.¡± James answered without ever removing his head from where he was working, the majority of his upper body buried within the metal frame. The whir of his omnitool could be heard while Chel pulled herself back, grinning to the group.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This is a divinity encoder. Or, at least, that¡¯s what we¡¯re calling it right now. We¡¯vee up with methods for people to automate their divine ascension, but that still won¡¯t work for an AI. Kinda makes them a minority, you know? Once we get this up, it will read through the code of a programmed intelligence, identify their divine code, and help them ascend. If we can get it to work, that is.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Treisha nodded her head. To date, there were still only two gods among the AI, and both of them were subordinates to Ashley. ¡°I see, I guess that would be pretty--¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Suddenly the door to the researchb burst open, Aurivy running in with wide eyes. ¡°Bring me to your leader!¡± She called out, scanning over the group. One by one, they all pointed to the bulky machine being constructed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Eh? Why¡¯s he in there?¡± She muttered, before shaking her head. ¡°James! I have fun things for you to work on! Definitely world changing, and something that we can only really trust you and your team to handle.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James let out a groan, prying himself out of the machine¡¯s frame. ¡°You know, we¡¯re not the only cutting-edge research group around anymore, right? There are some that I would say aren¡¯t any worse than us. In their own fields, at least.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy simply rolled her eyes. ¡°Not in the field of analyzing the nature of the energy which governs the system. Not exactly many people that have studied too deeply into that subject, or had the means to do so.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James held up a hand, as if to retort, before slowly lowering it with a sigh. ¡°Alright, what do you have for me?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy quickly produced a pair of crystal spheres, one a soft blue while the other was pure silver. ¡°Two items that just came in from another Keeper. One allows you to save and transfer your levels to other people, and the other one allows you to grant the system to an unaffiliated entity. That¡¯s the blue one, by the way.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After she said that, she tossed the blue sphere towards James, who caught it in surprise, fumbling it in his hands for a moment. ¡°So, this would grant me ess to levels and everything, you mean?¡± He asked with wide eyes, to which Aurivy nodded. ¡°That won¡¯t boost him any further than need be, will it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Your designation in the world won¡¯t be changing. Or, at least, it shouldn¡¯t be. So there isn¡¯t any need to worry about something like that.¡± Aurivy confirmed, James nodding after a moment.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I assume that this isn¡¯t the only one?¡± There was no way that he nned on using an item like this for himself, unless there were more for him to study afterwards.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thousands.¡± Aurivy confirmed again, allowing James to let out a sigh of relief. ¡°Once you¡¯ve used that one, we¡¯ll be handing the rest of these over to you. As for the level spheres, they¡¯ll be shared among a few different groups, so you can make these your priority.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James didn¡¯t really mind if someone beat him to the punch with either item, as it was the act of researching and designing new creations itself that he enjoyed. Thus, he gave a small nod, activating the sphere with a simple force of will. The System Stone shattered, wrapping his body in a soft, blue light. For the first time in a long, long time, James saw a number of windows appearing in front of himself.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Detected instation of World System.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Gathering biological data.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Data gathered. World System has been initialized.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Almost immediately, James created a series of high-end spells of the third tier, allowing them to hover around himself without activating. This brought his level as a Mage up drastically, followed by Archmage. Then, he began mentally recounting numerous advanced forms and energy patterns, simrly increasing his Schr level.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The light of the system continued to shine around James, his level rising nonstop in various sses rted to the mind. For his Engineer ss, he would only need to do the same work he ever did, but now he had ess to the same systems as the rest of his team to make the process easier.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Clenching his fists, he gave a broad grin at the realization of what this all meant. Finally, the world was no longer working against him, and it was time for him to really be able to experience the same things as everyone else.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, he didn¡¯t forget to scan his body throughout the entire process, memorizing the wavelength of the energy that flooded into himself. This would be valuable research data to use in the reproduction of these spheres.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once the process was done, James let out a long breath, looking at Aurivy. ¡°Thanks for this. Though, can¡¯t an item that performs this function be created through the Games divinity?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy shook her head in response. ¡°He says that he wants this to be reproduced without the need for divine energy.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James furrowed his brow, before giving a small nod of his head. ¡°In that case, we¡¯ll need to start trading in energy crystals soon.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy blinked at that, before letting out a sound of understanding. ¡°You¡¯re running out of power to keep everything maintained with just your group?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Chel groaned, standing up from the machine that they had been working on to look at Aurivy. ¡°We aren¡¯t running our God Forge for free, but we¡¯re still supplying the necessary energies to run it ourselves. If you want us to start mass producing an item like this with aplex energy structure, we¡¯ll need a stable supply of crystals representing all four primary energies.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°At the very least, mana and ki.¡± Nora added on, raising a hand. ¡°We can harvest spiritual energy directly from the Underworld to crystalize, and natural energy is abundant everywhere. It won¡¯t be hard to make devices that can automate those processes, but both will need more mana to work.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So you need mana crystals¡­¡± Aurivy muttered. ¡°I¡¯ll have Ryone add them to the Boundless Caravan as an option for purchase with her tokens. That should take care of that problem. As for the ki crystals¡­ I¡¯ll see if Scarlet¡¯s interested in getting involved with the caravan.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Scarlet?¡± James blinked in confusion. ¡°Are you letting mortal gods do that? I assumed it was only members of the Greater Pantheon that had the right to enter that market.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy stuck her tongue out yfully. ¡°Scarlet got promoted a little while ago, but we haven¡¯t really made a big reveal yet. Honestly, though, if anyone had anything special enough to offer on the caravan, we wouldn¡¯t be against letting mortal gods do it. The only problem is that the existing gods cover such a wide range of services already, that it wouldn¡¯t really be fair to announce that. Even if someone wanted to sell their services on the caravan, it¡¯d just be a waste of their divinity, because they won¡¯t be able to be a ¡®mainstream¡¯ god without anything special to offer.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Whereas Scarlet is the only Goddess in the world representing Ki.¡± Chel nodded, chuckling. ¡°She¡¯s able to get into the market where nobody else can. Though, how are you going to evaluate her coins in the market?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy tapped her chin, thinking. ¡°It¡¯ll be up to Ryone to have the final say, but matching Scarlet to her would probably be a good bet. They¡¯re both Goddesses of primary energy types, so it makes sense not to value one more than the other.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Out of curiosity, what are her other domains?¡± Treisha asked, looking at Aurivy. ¡°All of the Greater Pantheon have three, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy grinned mischievously. ¡°Ki obviously, but she also got Blood, which was what she wanted for her first domain, and the color Red.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James blinked in confusion. ¡°The Goddess of Blood, Ki, and Red? Well, at the very least, being the Goddess of Blood means that it won¡¯t be hard for her to continue the supply for the God Forge. I never saw anyone in my world that took a color for a domain, though. Aside from gold, but he used it more for the metal.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We prefer to call her the Crimson Goddess of Ki and Blood.¡± Aurivy pointed out with a shake of her head. ¡°It just flows better off the tongue. Anyways, feel free to pray to the new Goddess of the Greater Pantheon! I¡¯ll talk to her about being included in the caravan as part of her public reveal.¡±

 Chapter 798: The Meaning Of Power

    Chapter 798: The Meaning Of Power


    <span style="font-weight:400">While I was waiting for my divinity to be fully refined, watching the progress of the machine across from me working tirelessly, I began to think about how I could properly train my divinity to obtain the domain that I wanted to receive next. As the Keeper, it was possible for me to obtain the Souls domain as long as I vaguely trained in the proper direction, but I wouldn¡¯t be satisfied with just that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If I wanted this domain, I wanted to make sure that I fully understood its power and potential. It would be all too easy for me to just gain it and misuse the power if I did not properly grasp it, but that would not really fit the image that I wanted to build for myself. There had been too many times in the past when I only dabbled in different abilities, and that led me to a point where I couldn¡¯t really follow along when I saw someone using those skills at a high level.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The perfect example of this was magic. Although I had been able to pull off great feats of runic magic in the past, that was only due to my Keeper trait of understanding allnguages, and the fact that it applied to runes. When it came to geometric magic, I was only able to gain a suitable level of power whenever I copied Ryone. It was likely that even Aurivy would be able to use proper magic better than I would.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and focused. The concept of a soul was something that I hade into contact with numerous times in the past. While Leowynn traveled with me, I practiced Aki Seppo to deepen our bond. In doing so, I learned that a soul¡¯s power could wildly vary from person to person. In the case of Leowynn, she was able to manifest the power of constetions, whereas other people might wield the powers of light or darkness.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In essence, the domain of Souls covered an incredibly broad spectrum of powers. Even the concept of sses was something that was carved into our soul, making it potentially possible for me to edit what sses someone had obtained.


    <span style="font-weight:400">On the other hand, I could go the same path that Dana had with that power. Harnessing the spirits of monsters to fight for me, forming my own legion. An inexhaustible army ready to mow down my enemies.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">What is it that I really want to do with this power?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I asked myself, reminded of Aurivy¡¯s reason for suggesting it. This was a power I was receiving to ready myself for an invasion. First and foremost, I needed to focus on that front, and develop a method for me to use the power there.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Obviously, the first thing I needed with the Souls domain was a method of extracting information. Most people who were sent off to Keeper battles had their own measures to protect their secrets, and I needed a way to crack that. Saving an image of a soul before their death¡­


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes opened, and I flicked my wrist, producing a circr mirror that hovered in the air before me. I looked into the mirror, seeing myself in it, and confidently nodded my head. This was a trinity that I would be able to properly use, though I would have to run some tests in order to experiment with it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, I still needed to master the rest of the domain as well. I couldn¡¯t allow myself to be satisfied with merely one part of the greater whole. As I was thinking that, I heard the machine whirring for several moments, before the sound of hammering filled the room. Clearly, it was moving on to the next stage of the forging process.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Back in the Admin Room, Scarlet was sitting across from Aurivy, a fierce look on her face. She looked at the halfling as if confronting the most powerful foe she had ever had to deal with, before her eyes slowly drifted downwards. ¡°I y¡­ the Spirit¡¯s Guard!¡± She said with a triumphant smile, ying one of the cards from her hand.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy simply chuckled, casually countering the card with one of her own. ¡°Ah, by the way.¡± She suddenly spoke up in the midst of their game. ¡°Have you ever given any thought to joining the Divine Caravan?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m not going to let you throw me off that easily.¡± Scarlet said with barely a twitch of her eyebrows.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, I¡¯m being serious. There¡¯s actually a lot that we could have you help us with.¡± Aurivy shook her head, setting her cards down on the table to show that this wasn¡¯t part of the game. Scarlet couldn¡¯t help but blink at that, starting to take her seriously.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Wait¡­ really? I mean, I suppose I could use my tokens like Ryone¡¯s, to make an emergency ki supply. What brought this up?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy smiled, going over the conversation that she had just finished with James and the others. Scarlet¡¯s expression turned more and more pensive as she listened. She hadn¡¯t really been nning on making any kind of grand debut. To her, it was fine if it was never even discovered that she was a part of the Greater Pantheon now. Even if someone found out, she didn¡¯t feel like it would change anything, aside from maybe making her nation even more secure. Not like anyone was willing to touch Bloodhave with her protecting it anyways.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ll ask dad when he gets back.¡± Scarlet answered hesitantly, clearly wanting to know her father¡¯s feelings on the subject before making a decision herself. ¡°At the very least, I don¡¯t want to include any ki-forged equipment. That is Bloodhaven¡¯s only real export, aside from some of our special herbs, but even those can be obtained from the caravan. Without the equipment sales, Bloodhaven will hit an economic decline.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy gave a small nod at that. ¡°That¡¯s totally fine. Honestly, we all have stuff that we don¡¯t want to put on the caravan, even though we technically could. For instance, both Ryone and Udona could ce the magic cards of Deckan on the caravan under their names, but they choose not to for the sake of Deckan¡¯s economy. As for me, well¡­ technically I could put something up to help people find their true love, but I don¡¯t. My priests have asked me for that too many times to count, but I¡¯ve always refused.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...Why¡¯s that, if you don¡¯t mind me asking?¡± Scarlet spoke up after a moment of hesitation, Aurivy simply letting out a long sigh in response.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Because a love that is handed to you is as easily broken as it is obtained. Yes, you may find out that you have perfect chemistry with the other party. But, if you¡¯re just told ¡®She¡¯s perfect for you¡¯, even by a higher power, that rtionship will forever be based on that one aspect. When ites to matters of love, I keep my blessings for those who have found it on their own, confirming the feelings that they have already umted.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Even for me, it would be wrong to take away those precious moments. The little evenings where you get to know someone, or the battles where you fight together. Those are all memories that should be cherished, not traded for simple advice from a higher power. They might be satisfied with that kind of thing, but there¡¯s no way I would be, as the one who knows what they¡¯re missing.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Besides, do you know how rare it is for there to be only one person that is a perfect match for someone?¡± She let out a deep groan. ¡°Let¡¯s take you, for instance. There are no less than thirty people in the world that would make perfect romantic partners for you. And that¡¯s just counting Earth, not all the other realms!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet¡¯s eyes went wide at that, having remained single throughout her life. It wasn¡¯t that she had never met anyone that she did not like, but she knew that she was different from most. Both the fact that she was the Keeper¡¯s daughter, as well as her station as Empress of Bloodhaven. There was no need for her to consider the matter of a marriage to produce an heir, and part of her suspected that anyone who actively tried to get close to her was aiming for her title rather than her heart.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course, most of those thirty are the general ¡®perfect guy¡¯ types.¡± Aurivy rolled her eyes. ¡°The kind that most people would love to be with. One of them has over a million ¡®perfect¡¯ partner prospects, and that¡¯s low balling it. The point is, there is at least <i><span style="font-weight:400">someone</i><span style="font-weight:400"> out there for everyone. As long as you put in the effort to find them, there¡¯s no excuse for you to be asking me to do the work for you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet gave a small nod as Aurivy finished her little rant. ¡°What about your Dungeon side? Is there anything that you have on the caravan for that?¡± She wondered, having never really looked that closely at the caravan herself. There were simply too many options on it, both from the gods and other people.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy gave a small chuckle, nodding her head. ¡°I¡¯ve got a couple of things there. The most popr pick is a dungeonpass. It just points out where the nearest dungeon is, so you can challenge it or use it as a point of reference. Though, I do have some items on the caravan that are exclusive to dungeons. Mostly to help them grow, get emergency assistance, or even relocate to a better environment.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet nodded her head, but Aurivy grinned. ¡°Your turn, what would you do with your other domains? Aside from ki, I mean. You¡¯ve got Blood and Red to consider yet.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet furrowed her brows for a long moment. ¡°With Blood¡­ I don¡¯t know what I can offer that won¡¯t already be avable. The blood of beasts is sold by alia from what I know, while Udona obviously offers healing tonics. I don¡¯t want to offer the same, even if I could potentially do so at a cheaper price. That would be depriving them of their chances to earn divinity.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯re looking into it too deeply.¡± Aurivy waved a hand to stop Scarlet. ¡°alia would probably be happy if you could produce the blood for her. Do you know how busy she is, trying to keep up with the demands of alchemists wanting the blood of special beasts? She doesn¡¯t have a domain to produce creatures, remember, so she has to actually find everything she needs to kill. That¡¯s why her monsterponents typically have a ¡®shipping period¡¯, unlike most of the divine options from the caravan.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet¡¯s eyes went wide at that, nodding her head. ¡°I never realized¡­ she must have an avatar constantly hunting to keep up¡­ I¡¯ll talk to her about taking over the blood aspect. Though, why don¡¯t you bring in Tower to spawn the monsters for her?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy gave a somewhat bitter grin. ¡°The only people that worship Tower are dungeon cores, and those that live on his. If we introduced him to the caravan for the sake of convenience, it would basically cut off that branch of the market. After all, neither of those groups regrly trade with the rest of the poption, so his tokens wouldn¡¯t be in heavy cirction.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Until we get another god or goddess to handle monster spawns, it¡¯s being left to alia. That said, Ashley and Udona are working with her to set up a monster spawn zone using the Life and Maps domains, so hopefully they¡¯ll be able to take some of the pressure off of her.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I see¡­ though, I really don¡¯t know what I can offer for the color red.¡± Scarlet gave a faint chuckle, her head shaking. ¡°I took the domain because it fit me so well, but that also means that I don¡¯t know how to apply it to others.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Mind if I make a suggestion?¡± Aurivy asked, eyes sparkling mischievously. Scarlet raised a curious brow, nodding her head. ¡°Why not offer a ¡®red space¡¯? You could set up abination system with Leowynn, allowing people to convert a red item into a storage space via yourbined domains. Basically, if they apply it to a red surface, they would simply be able to reach their hand into it and grab whatever they put in.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet blinked in surprise, having not considered something like that. ¡°But¡­ wouldn¡¯t a storage space like that have incredibly low security?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy grinned in response. ¡°Oh, absolutely terrible. Anyone would be able to simply reach into the established red space. It¡¯d be entirely up to the customer to provide their own security. But it would be a storage space that they could easily conceal on their person, and hiding it inside a color like that could remove the concept of weight. Just imagine if someone set it to their personal terminal, where the space would only be essible when disying a fully red screen. It¡¯d be just like a personal inventory, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet simply nodded her head, surprised by Aurivy¡¯s idea. It definitely didn¡¯t sound wrong, and people would surely want something like that.

 Chapter 799: Training In Isolation

    Chapter 799: Training In Istion


    <span style="font-weight:400">After several hours of waiting and thinking to myself, I heard a loud buzzer from the machine sitting opposite of myself. Given how the sounds of the automatic hammering had stopped at this point, it seemed like the refinement was done. And as expected, I soon saw Chel entering the room quickly. ¡°Be right with you, sir!¡± She said with a wide grin, setting up her terminal on the counter and pulling up a screen.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We¡¯ve just got to do somest minute checks to ensure that the process went smoothly. This is only our second time using this forge. Let¡¯s see¡­ all the parameters appear normal. I¡¯m not picking up any impurities in the ore, so it should be good to go!¡± Chel nodded her head, pressing a button on the holographic disy. The pressurized window of the machine hissed for a moment before opening, and she walked over to get the refined divinity.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unlike when Chel refined her own, this was not a sloppy brick with uneven edges. Likely due to the fact that it was done with an automated process, the final result looked like an even b, the edges smoothed. Its size was about a foot long, maybe a bit more, and half as wide. When I epted the divinity, I was surprised at just how light it was, but that onlysted for a moment.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And now for the finishing touch.¡± Chelmented, before wrapping the fusion energy around the b of divinity. I could feel it dissipating, the divine energy merging back into my body. However, this divinity was clearly different from the rest of what I possessed. It felt¡­ empty, fresh, much like I felt back when I was first training to gain my Mirrors domain.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thank you.¡± I nodded my head towards Chel, who simply waved it off with a grin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Don¡¯t worry about it! Now that you¡¯ve done this, we can discuss with Scarlet about supplying more portions of her blood for us to use.¡± She chuckled, shaking her head at that, to which I simply nodded.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet still had final say over who would be supplied the proper materials for the forging process when it came to established divinities like myself. More importantly, now that she was in the Admin Room, she was able to properly review each individual candidate to determine who to ept. This made it far less likely that someone would be able to slip through the and get the upgrade if they had malicious goals.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Satisfied with what I had gotten, I opened a portal back to the Sky Citadel, arriving in the courtyard. It was no real surprise that Tsubaki appeared at practically the same time that I stepped through, offering a low bow towards me. ¡°Congrattions on the sessful forging.¡± She said with a small smile. ¡°Will you be needing any assistance training for your new domain, my Keeper?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I shook my head at her question. While an assistant would be helpful, I couldn¡¯t risk the chance that I might damage Tsubaki¡¯s soul in the process. ¡°I¡¯ll be heading to the Underworld to conduct my training this time.¡± I told her, before reaching for my wrist, clicking a button on the watch-like device.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s eyes widened a fraction, and she quickly nodded her head, using her own device to synchronize with her Virtual self like I did. There was only a faint rush of memories, a fast forward of the world moving while my Virtual self seemed suspended in time. Thankfully, this kind of situation had been taken into ount when designing the watches, so there was no risk of mental degradation from the process.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We can meet up to y while I¡¯m handling my training. There shouldn¡¯t be any problems that way.¡± I said with a small smile, Tsubaki¡¯s head quickly nodding in agreement. I could practically hear her mentally calling for Dana and Lifre to get them ready toe along with their Virtual selves, causing me to chuckle.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Irena, open me a gate to Hell, please.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I sent a quick prayer, taking a deep breath as I did. I didn¡¯t know what to expect from the monster half of the Underworld, as it had often changed with the evolution of the monsters themselves.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At first, it was nothing but an empty, foggyndscape with wandering souls. Then,ter there was broken terrain upied by stronger spirits. Now¡­ would the monsters have created their own world?


    <span style="font-weight:400">A gray portal of fog appeared next to me, opening into a world of darkness. I gave a small wave to Tsubaki, turning to step through the portal. On the other side, I ¡®felt¡¯ the cracking, dried grass beneath my feet, what seemed to be soft soil underneath. From a nce, I appeared to be in arge forest, though the trees were ck and jagged.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Let¡¯s make this a bit more proper¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I muttered inwardly, focusing on the fresh divinity within my body. Slowly, I built an image in my mind of the surroundings, as well as how I wanted to shape them. Giving order to the misshapen spiritual energy, bringing back a true scene of nature.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The more I focused on this image through my divinity, the more the world around me responded. Starting from my feet, the dried grass began to stand upright with a lush, green color. When the spread hit the trees, they warped in on themselves, bursting into spiritual mist to reshape as proper, lively trees.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small smile as I saw the spreading scenery, walking through the forest as it changed around me. I wasn¡¯t going to simply be satisfied with restoring a few trees¡­ I wanted a proper ce for me to train in this otherwise hellish nightmare. Thus, I created a spring, fed by a waterfall that rose high above the foggy sky.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At the bank of the spring, I made myself a small cabin, designating that as the center of my territory. The longer I stayed there, the more I focused on the changes to the Underworld, the more my divinity would spread.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ten spirits roamed through the dark and jagged forest, each holding a weapon in their hands. Their eyes were focused, scanning the surroundings for any signs of movement. Clearly, each of these warriors were battle-hardened, and this was not their first venture into the darker side of the Underworld.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As this location was rtively close to the border between ¡®Hell¡¯ and the ¡®Afterlife¡¯, it was regrly patrolled to ensure that no monsters capable of breaching Irena¡¯s border would appear. Especially if they saw any sudden changes to the environment, which would likely mean that a new ¡®king¡¯ had arisen among the monstrous souls.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If that happened, it was their job to immediately report back to the capital, prompting the army to move to eliminate the threat. After all, this was not merely a threat to those who lived on the border, but potentially those of the living world, as well. Once a monster soul became strong enough, it was easily capable of tearing open a hole back to the world of the living.


    <span style="font-weight:400">One of the leading warriors, a daeva male, held up a fist to stop the advance of the party. His eyes were focused ahead, a trace of shock visible in his expression. Far in the distance, he could see the jagged trees reshaping themselves, the grass growing lush. In his experience, this meant that a spirit had appeared with a strong connection to nature, its memories reshaping the bleak forest around it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">His eyes narrowed, a silver crest appearing in his pupils. With that crest, he projected his vision far into the distance, able to see all the way to the very center of the change. What he saw was a great waterfall, a quaint cabin, and a man sitting on the bank of a babbling brook. His eyes focused further on the man, suspecting him of being a monster in disguise.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When he saw a familiar face, one often seen in stone carvings and temple statues, his eyes went wide. Moreover, the eyes of the man flicked up to meet his gaze, causing him to quickly pull back his attention. He nearly staggered backwards, one of hispanions catching him with a hand on his shoulder.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What is it?¡± The woman asked with a firm expression. Unlike him, she was a demon, one who had died in the mortal world and lived her afterlife in a nearby region. If there were a monster king among the spirits, her home would be among the first to fall. Naturally, she was concerned when she saw such an extreme reaction from their stoic leader.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The Keeper¡­¡± The man muttered, shaking his head. ¡°We¡¯re going back.¡± His words greatly surprised the rest of the party, who looked at him curiously. ¡°If the Keeper hase all this way, he must not want to be disturbed. It is better for all of us if we leave him be, as he can deal with any threats in this sector. Our patrols will start back up once we¡¯ve confirmed he has left.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The expression of the demonic woman rxed at that, giving a small nod. If anything, this meant that the small city she lived in would be even more safe for a time, so she was happy to let the Keeper remain undisturbed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The leader of the expedition waved his hand, a blue sigil appearing beneath the feet of each member of the party. Without another word, the group quickly left the scene, their figures vanishing in silver light.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I shook my head as I watched the forces of the Underworld leaving. I had sensed someone watching me while I was studying the changes in the spiritual energy of the environment, but it seemed that they wouldn¡¯t be sticking around. Though, for there to be anyone on this side of the border¡­


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Irena, how close am I to the border?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I asked curiously, given that Irena had been the one to choose my arrival point.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">In case you required anything from the realm of mortal souls, I made sure to ce you no more than a half hour¡¯s walk away. Should I have moved you further in?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯s fine.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I smiled when I noticed the concerned tone of her voice. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It doesn¡¯t seem like they¡¯ll be back before I leave, anyways.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> With that said, I returned my attention to the waterfall, studying it and itsposition. Obviously, this wasn¡¯t real water, so it was valuable material for me to study in preparation for receiving the Souls domain.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Within the capital city of Gandor, a turbulent storm of natural energy suddenly kicked up along a busy sidewalk, causing several pedestrians to quickly jump to the sides. Those with any level ofbat training looked at the wild energy currents in preparation for a fight. However, this energy soon calmed itself, a woman appearing in its wake. Her skin was golden, covered with what seemed to be a dress-like pattern of leaves and vines.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her eyes, like two golden orbs, blinked as she surveyed thendscape around her. She hadn¡¯t expected to appear in a popted area, so she quickly approached one of the men that did not seem to be scared of her, reaching out to grab his hand. This was¡­ definitely not an action the man expected, but a gentle voice appeared in his mind the moment he was about to pull away.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Hello, friend. I apologize for the sudden disturbance. Could you let me know where I can find a forest nearby? It is my time, so I am in somewhat of a hurry.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The Sylvan woman¡¯s eyes stared innocently into the eyes of the man whose hand she was grabbing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, the Sylvans were rather well documented at this point thanks to Philia, so it only took a few moments for the man to realize what she was. He cleared his throat to calm himself, focusing on his mana. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Can you tell me your title?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Knowing just what would happen when a golden Sylvan found their new home, he had no desire to let her do so just anywhere. In fact, even if she were to do so anywhere in the country, he had to make sure that she didn¡¯t have an ¡®attribute¡¯ that would harm the surroundings. Nobody wanted to suddenly volunteer to be homeless.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Of course!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The Sylvan nodded quickly, her leafy hair fluttering. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I am Serissa of Fortune, born to the Mother Tree of Light. Is there somewhere nearby suitable for me?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The man blinked in surprise, knowing that Sylvans were generally a rather honest people. At the very least, he had never heard of one performing any kind of deception. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I don¡¯t think I¡¯m the right person to ask. Let me guide you to the police, and they will know where to send you.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Serissa simply nodded again, releasing his hand and gesturing for him to lead the way. She had to quickly find where she was going to be making her forest, and erect the shrine to Aurivy so that she could connect with the other forests of her kind.

 Chapter 800: Forest Sanctuary

    Chapter 800: Forest Sanctuary


    <span style="font-weight:400">Serissa followed behind the elven man as he led her through the streets, attracting the eye of several pedestrians. Sylvans were very rarely seen outside of their grove, lest one went to Philia¡¯s city in Sanctum. Everywhere else, they were a rare and exotic sight.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The elven man led Serissa towards the district¡¯s police station, where a group of powerful soldiers and warriors could be found. As these were the people charged with protecting the peace in one of the world¡¯s biggest cities, they had a rather extensive training facility to improve themselves.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When they entered the police station, a receptionist looked up from his desk, opening a new holographic screen. ¡°Is there something I can help you with?¡± He asked, noting both the elven male and the Sylvan. He could vaguely guess what was going on at this point, but it was still best to get all of the facts before stating his assumptions.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The man simply gestured towards the Sylvan, who skipped forward and held her hand out towards the police receptionist. He raised an eyebrow, before remembering stories about how Sylvansmunicate. Thus, he reached his hand out to grasp hers, feeling a voice in his mind.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Thank you for seeing me so quickly! I am Serissa of Fortune, born to the Mother Tree of Light! I have arrived in this city on my journey to take root, and I was hoping that someone could tell me where a suitable location would be.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The man¡¯s brow furrowed as his suspicions were confirmed. It was good that she had a beneficial aspect, as that would make things easier. Still, it was known just howrge the forests of a Sylvan could be. ¡°Give me a moment.¡± He said, transmitting his thoughts through mana at the same time before pulling his hand back.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Typing at the holographic disy, he pulled up a map of the world. He began filtering the map by data such as wide plots ofnd and forests, as well as the area¡¯s local security. After a few moments, he gave a small nod, extending his hand. Serissa happily took it, letting him quite literally speak his mind to her. ¡°From what I can find, the most suitable ce for someone like you would be the Great Forest Sanctuary.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The elven man¡¯s eyes twitched when he heard that, but the receptionist continued. ¡°The Great Forest Sanctuary is a dungeon located far to the south. Since people can¡¯t teleport inside, and the central area is maintained by the dungeon itself, it should be a safe ce for you to ¡®take root¡¯. If you negotiate with the dungeon core directly, you might be able to integrate your grove with the dungeon¡¯s forest.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The golden eyes of the Sylvan blinked as she listened. <i><span style="font-weight:400">If we cannot teleport in and out¡­ is there a shrine to Aurivy nearby? My people use these to stay connected between groves, and for an experienced elder to guide the new tree in its early years.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The man simply gave a small nod. ¡°There is a temple to Aurivy along the main road, just after exiting the dungeon¡¯s territory. The current price listed to travel there from here is fifty tokens of Aurivy, if you don¡¯t want to travel manually. Additionally, the path between the entrance of the dungeon and the city is a dangerous one, so you¡¯ll need to hire guards.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Serissa maintained that same smile as the receptionist finished exining. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Thank you! Where can I find the closest temple, so I can make my way there? Also, is there a Boundless Caravan center that I can use?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She wasn¡¯t worried about the need for guards. Once she spent her coin at the Boundless Caravan, she would be able to request numerous red sisters from the Mother Tree of Light.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The man gave another nod, giving her directions to a nearby store, as well as the temple next to it. ¡°Are you able to read and write?¡± Such a thing was only a given for people of their world, but he couldn¡¯t be sure when it came to a reclusive race like the Sylvans.


    <span style="font-weight:400">And indeed, Serissa shook her head. <i><span style="font-weight:400">We do not possess a writtennguage. Everything is stored in the Mother Tree.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">He let out a long sigh when he heard that, pulling his hand back to write a note. Once he was done, he put it in her hand. ¡°Give this to the priest at the shop. He¡¯ll help you find what you need.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Serissa¡¯s smile bloomed brighter at that, nodding and quickly taking the note. She stayed for just a moment, alternating between looking at the receptionist and the man who brought her to this point. After ensuring that neither of them had anything more to say, she gave a polite wave and began running from the building.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It didn¡¯t take long for her to find what she was looking for. She purchased both travel to the Great Forest Sanctuary and a ¡®travel voucher¡¯ that could be used to connect her location with another temple, allowing reinforcements toe through.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once she had obtained these items, she went to the adjacent temple, passing the priest her travel ticket to allow them to open the portal for her. As she appeared on the other side, she marveled at the natural scenery that existed just outside the temple.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan stood at the edge of the city, eyes focused inwards. Since arriving in this sanctuary, he had managed to mature somewhat, losing much of his aversion towards other people. While he was still far from sociable, and he did not like to enter the city himself, he was willing to remain this close to it when he was waiting for something. Additionally, he had made a small shack for himself just off the main road where he gave away extra meat and hides from after his hunts.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sorry, did I keep you waiting?¡± The felyn Jace asked with a smile, his blindfold still on his face as he approached Keenan. Even to this day, he had yet to remove the blindfold a single time, allowing his luck to continue increasing and counterbnce Keenan¡¯s own innate trait.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± Keenan answered, looking at the long, cloth-wrapped pack on Jace¡¯s back. ¡°Is that what I asked for?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jace nodded, reaching back to grab the package and hold it out towards Keenan. ¡°I gave them the specifications you asked for. It should work with ki, spiritual energy, and natural energy.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan nodded his head, a small smile touching his lips as he unwrapped the package, revealing a wooden bow. There was currently no string, but Keenan had long gotten used to how modern bows worked. ¡°Thanks. Did Torban have any more advice?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jace focused, thinking more a moment before letting out a tone of exmation. ¡°Ah! He wanted me to congratte you for mastering void arrows. He said that this means you officially graduated as a true archer, so now you should try toe up with your own techniques.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°My own techniques¡­¡± Keenan hesitated, giving a small nod. It had been some time ago when he was found by an archer in the forest, one that noticed his unusual talent. Although they rarely had direct contact, Torban had taught him the methods to train as an archer. In the end, it was still up to Keenan himself to discover how to use this training. ¡°When you see him again, thank him for me.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jace chuckled, putting on a wide smile. ¡°I¡¯ll pass it along.¡± After he said that, his expression suddenly turned serious. Keenan¡¯s senses picked up the disturbance at nearly the same time, both of them moving to the side of the path. ¡°What¡¯sing?¡± He asked, only hearing the sounds of numerous marching steps. It was unusual for people to move in groups like that whening and going from the city, and the footsteps sounded¡­ wrong, somehow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Tree people.¡± Keenan answered, his gaze piercing into the forest to watch an army of red, wooden soldiers marching together. At the center of their formation was a single pair of golden women made of simr nts.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Tree people¡­ Sylvans?¡± Jace asked in surprise, barely able to keep himself from opening his eyes. He had never encountered a Sylvan before, so he wondered why there was one suddenly appearing now.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Sylvan group passed them by, the red ones not even sparing them a nce while the two golden girls gave gentle waves at their passing. Keenan didn¡¯t know what to expect from these Sylvans, clutching the new bow in his hands.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I sat on my chair within the Underworld, continuing to watch the surroundings and study the changes being made. By now, the tip of the waterfall had formed, and I was certain that a great river was taking shape behind it. The more I looked around, the more I realized that this scenery reminded me of one of my first training trips into the world, one where I met a pair of unassuming slimes¡­ though those slimes had been swiftly abducted by Aurivy following my departure.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I thought about that, I felt a presence approaching from not far away. Just on the other side of the stream, a ck figure approached on six legs. It was hard to describe it purely as a feline, giving the tendril-like whiskers and theplete absence of any fur, as well as its almost finned neck.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It approached while keeping its eyes on me, and I quietly prepared to eliminate it if itunched any sort of attack. Both sides vignt, the creature stopped at the far edge of the stream. It leaned its head down, tonguepping at the water


    <span style="font-weight:400">For a moment, I wondered what it was up to, until it simply curled its body along the side of the stream. Though, it kept its head facing towards me, as if wary of an attack from me. I rxed my divine power, and it lowered its head.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Was this monster akin to a simple beast, recognizing the natural scenery that had been recreated?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I couldn¡¯t help but wonder that as I watched the spirit opposite me, my world sight scanning through its body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As expected of a creature in this region of the Underworld, its body wasposed of hundreds of fragmented spirits, seemingly devouring one another while vying for control of the body. At a guess, this odd feline creature had devoured those other spirits, resulting in it achieving at least temporary dominance over them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I brought a hand up to stroke my chin, letting out a long breath. My divine energy slowly rolled out of my body, wrapping around the creature. It didn¡¯t seem to have the capacity to sense divinity itself, only hostile intentions. Since I didn¡¯t have any with this move, it didn¡¯t appear to raise its guard against me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">My goal was simple, cleansing the remnant wills of the spirits within the monster. Once I did so, they stopped fighting for control, simply allowing themselves to be integrated with the spirit of their devourer.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The creature¡¯s head rose sharply, seeming to notice the change. It turned towards me for a moment, and I could see what looked like confusion in its gaze. Anything that had devoured that many spirits must have gained at least some level of sentience, yet was so tormented by the remnants within that it would have spent most of its time in a pained rage.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With those remnants silent, it felt as if it were able to rx for the first time. It lowered its head once again, though this time I saw its eyes closing peacefully, as if it were trying to rest. Choosing not to disturb it, I once again turned my attention towards the waterfall, a smile ying at my lips.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I could sense my divinity well on its way topletion, but there was still so much more for me to understand. And while this was indeed peaceful, the simple contemtion of my surroundings was doing much to help me understand the basic facets of the soul.

 Chapter 801: Prankster

    Chapter 801: Prankster


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In other news, new information has been released from the Deckan Institute of Higher Research.¡± The anchorwoman spoke up on a holographic disy, though the disy itself seemed to be somewhat distorted while being projected on a wooden wall. ¡°The list of materials required for an existing divinity to obtain an additional domain is now known.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hah, like anyone would be able to afford a treatment like that.¡± The human male watching the screen said with a roll of his eyes, crushing an empty drink can with one hand. His greasy appearance made was a stark contrast for the well kept appearance of the building he lived in.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°First, you require the tears of a stone giant, and the crystal heart of a ruby smander.¡± The anchorwoman announced with a radiant smile. ¡°While expensive, both of these items are avable on the Boundless Caravan, so be sure not to miss out. Other than that, the list is the same as the standard ascension list, though with one final addition. It has been noted that only those who receive the blessing of the Empress of Bloodhaven have the potential toplete this process, due to a special energy requirement.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The man let out augh as he heard that, clearly in disbelief. ¡°Yeah, they just want to make sure they control who gets in and not. Can¡¯t believe they teamed up with the blood clots, of all things.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As he grumbled those final words, he heard the sounds of something shifting above the ceiling, ring up at it. ¡°You brats quiet down! Don¡¯t make me go up there!¡± He shouted, clearly far louder than the slight noise that they made.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a brief shuffling, as if the children were hastily getting back in bed, and he narrowed his eyes. His fists clenched as he stood, making his way towards the staircase. He didn¡¯t seem to notice the short, human girl hiding just behind the wall, keeping her body t against it. Although her eyes seemed innocent and childish, there was an unusual level of skill to her movements.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The man climbed up the stairs, and this girl¡¯s eyes briefly shed. One of the stairs broke just as he was stepping onto it. His leg crashed through the stair, causing him to fall forward with a startled shout as splinters dug at his leg. Thankfully, he managed to catch himself on a set of higher stairs with his hands, having a small amount of realbat experience.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After giving it a moment for the shout to ring out, the girl¡¯s innocent expression returned, running forward as if she had juste from the nearby kitchen. ¡°M-Mister Carlen, are you okay?¡± She asked, her body trembling as she approached the man.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I-I¡¯m fine.¡± He grunted, not wanting to appear weak as he pulled his leg free, only to cause the wood to scratch his leg further. ¡°Well, what are you waiting for, Lily?! Go and get the bandages!¡± He ordered her in a harsh tone, causing the girl to let out a small whimper before running down the hall again. ¡°Third time this month¡­ I swear, they¡¯re fixing these with rotten wood.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As soon as Lily had made it to the bathroom, opening the medicine cab, her frightened expression calmed. She slowly grabbed the bandages and disinfectants with one hand while the other fiddled with a personal terminal. She disyed the screen on the counter, typing out a quick email with one hand.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jonas, it¡¯s me. I¡¯ve got another group that I need to send your way soon. Abusive orphanage owner that¡¯s making the kids work on construction jobs. Not learning his lesson, so I¡¯ll send them over the usual way. Good kids, so try to see if you can find them a caring home.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once she had finished the email, she quickly sent it, the terminal sphere disappearing into her arm a momentter. Immediately afterwards, her frightened and innocent look returned, and she ran back into the hall. She almost tripped when she brought the bandages and medicine over, stumbling and falling against the side of the stairs.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Practically growling, the owner of the orphanage reached out to snatch the items from her arms, practically shoving her away as he began to bandage his leg. ¡°What took you so long?!¡± He asked in an angry tone, prompting Lily to shiver in what looked like fear.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I-I¡¯m sorry. I couldn¡¯t find the medicine.¡± She stammered out, only to receive a re.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What are you doing down here, anyways? You¡¯re supposed to be in bed by now.¡± Despite the sun having yet to set, the children were expected to be in their beds early to lessen the noise.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I-I had to get a ss of water.¡± She answered, pointing hesitantly towards the kitchen.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, then make yourself useful.¡± He grunted, tying off the bandage. ¡°Go grab one of the nks from the shed and fix this stair.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lily gave a quick nod, turning around and running down the hall again. Seeing that, the man walked back towards his chair, seeming to have forgotten his anger towards the other kids in the midst of his ordeal. That, or the pain in his leg simply made him feel like it wasn¡¯t worth it to climb the stairs again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once in the shed, Lily¡¯s expression once again went calm, walking over and measuring the nks. ¡°Stone giant tears, and a ruby smander¡¯s heart¡­ those aren¡¯t too bad. I should have enough saved up, if I do some trading at Sanctum. The blessing, though¡­ I¡¯ll need to pay a visit to Bloodhaven once I finish getting these kids taken care of.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lily took a deep breath, picking out what looked like a suitable nk. Although she appeared to be a human girl, and even seemed to have a mortal body if injured, she was far from normal. And far from young, having ascended not just once, but twice. The Goddess of Disguise and Trickery, the hidden defender of abused children, gave a small smile as she made her ns.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Afterposing herself again and returning to the frightened image of a young child, she rushed into the orphanage while carrying the thick wooden nk. Using the druidic abilities taught to all children in this orphanage, she pried the old nk up. cing the new one on the stair, she set her hand atop it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Natural energy flowed into the nk, warping the wood underneath to fuse it with the braces for the stairs. After doing so, she gathered up the broken pieces of the former stair, and made her way back to the living room. ¡°S-Sir, I¡¯ve fixed it. Do you want me to throw these away?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The man didn¡¯t even look back at her, simply waving his hand dismissively. ¡°Grab yourself some dinner while you¡¯re at it.¡± He said as if rewarding her. Lily let out a small gasp, nodding her head quickly and moving back into the hall. It wasmon in this ¡®home¡¯ for the children to go to bed without dinner, eating only the meals provided by their school.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lily threw the old nks into arge bin, opening the fridge to see what her options were. Naturally, the man only cooked for himself, and only barely at that. Thus, she grabbed some simple leftovers, though more than enough for just one person. She knew that he¡¯d never notice the difference, having been in this orphanage long enough to get an understanding of him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She took a deep breath, channeling her druidic powers again to heat up the food in her hands. Once a gentle steam began to rise up from the te, she smiled and quickly ran back upstairs. She would have been expected to eat up there anyways. However, once she arrived in the bedroom, the sound of her footsteps vanished. As did the sounds of the rest of the room, a thinyer of energy spread over the floor to disguise their noise.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Here.¡± She said, setting therge te of food on one of the beds, as well as several sets of silverware. She smiled towards the kids, who all looked at her with wide eyes. ¡°Well? Come on, you guys don¡¯t expect me to eat it all by myself, do you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The kids, almost a dozen of them, gulped and began to move over. They eyed the te, but kept their steps soft. Lily simply rolled her eyes when she saw that. ¡°I already took care of the noise. Don¡¯t worry, he can¡¯t hear us.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As soon as she said that, the kids all rushed forward, grabbing the silverware. ¡°Is this really alright?¡± One of them, a young boy no more than ten years old, asked as he cut off a small piece of meat.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°He¡¯ll never notice.¡± Lily assured him, ruffling his hair. ¡°If he does, I¡¯ll just say it was me. Now, hurry up or everyone else will finish it all.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That got the boy to return his attention to the food before him, though Lily spoke up again to address the group. ¡°Remember, this is higher level food than you¡¯re all used to. Use small bites, and make sure to chew thoroughly, or it¡¯ll make you sick. If you need to use ki on your teeth, do it like I taught you.¡± Thankfully, the te was more than enough to feed a group of their size, thanks to the fact that they were children with a low physical level.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Lily, how much longer do we have to stay here?¡± One of the girls in the group asked, looking pitifully towards Lily. In response, she received a small smile and a gentle hug.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Don¡¯t worry. I already called my friend. This weekend, if he doesn¡¯t really turn things around, we¡¯ll get everyone out. You¡¯ll all have families that love you, I promise


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was how the defender of abused children operated. When she found a group of children suffering, she would use her divine powers to integrate herself with the scenario. She could make herself appear as an adopted child of either gender, any race she chose, or just another orphan as she did here.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once properly integrated, she began to use the carrot and stick method from behind the scenes. If the children were abused, she would engineer the situation to indirectly harm them in subtle ways. A stubbed toe, a broken stair, a cold shower, the list goes on. If the abuser began to turn things around and treated their children kindly, she would engineer rewards for them. Maybe they find something they previously lost, or she tutors their child to help them ace an uing test. If the cause of the situation is something as simple as being overstressed from work, she would try to secretly relieve that stress, whether through helping the parent get a promotion or presenting them with a better alternative.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If the problem was fixed, she only needed to use her divine powers to remove herself from the situation again, knowing that she left a job well done. Otherwise¡­ the pranks would escte more and more. Faulty wiring, loose ceiling fixtures, progressively more hazardous pranks.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Should someone maintain their attitude despite all of this, there was only one final solution. No, not killing them. Lily gathered evidence of their wrongdoings over the course of her stay, whether simply the abuse or anything else she managed to uncover. Once she hit her limit, she would have this evidence delivered to the police while secreting the children away to the God of Community, where they could find a better home.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, she made sure that the child was willing first. Thest thing that she wanted was to misunderstand the situation and take a kid from a loving home that was just going through a bad spell. If a child was truly loved, her early methods usually worked to repair their rtionship. But situations like her current one, where the children were clearly being harmed and left unloved¡­ these were the situations that Lily worked the hardest to fix.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Really¡­?¡± The girl asked, sniffling as she held onto Lily. ¡°We¡¯ll¡­ have families? Parents and all?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lily giggled, nodding her head. ¡°That¡¯s right, parents and all. I promised, didn¡¯t I? Just make sure the big bad man doesn¡¯t figure out what we¡¯re doing, and everything will work out one way or another. Now, be good and finish your dinner.¡±

 Chapter 802: Ascending The Ranks

    Chapter 802: Ascending The Ranks


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes opened, a smile forming on my face as the memories with my Virtual self synchronized. Everyone seemed to be having fun while ying a variety of games that had been developed for this new virtual environment. Using the power of the Games, Maps, and Technology domains, Ashley had released a customizable development kit for aspiring developers to make a wide variety of games. Currently, we seemed to be in the midst of a game rather simr toser tag within a three-dimensional maze.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A soft chuckle escaped my lips as I thought about all that had happened, before a noise from beside me drew my attention. ¡°Hmm?¡± I turned my head, seeing the spectral feline that hade to reside in the little grove I had created. ¡°Sorry, it¡¯s nothing. Have you eaten again?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The creature gave a small nod of its head, an intelligence in its eyes that wasn¡¯t there when it first appeared. Although it was incapable of speaking, it was able to read the intent of my words through spiritual perception, allowing it to understand me. With its answer, I reached over and ced my hand on its head, cleansing it of any remnant wills left by the monsters it had devoured.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I did so, I felt something click inside of me. Thest of the empty divinity had finally been filled with this action. There was a chilling sensation inside of me as this forged divinity began to dissolve on its own, mixing together with my natural reserves. It felt like¡­ almost like allowing myself to soak in a warm bath, feeling the water brushing against me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I closed my eyes, enjoying the sensation while itsted. Once it was over, I scanned through my divinity with my world sight, noticing how the subtle changes affected me. For one, there was the achievement window, which I promptly dismissed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">More importantly, I could tell that my divinity had be more solidpared to before. This was not simply the stability of having three domains forming a trinity, but rather seemed to be the effect of having my divinity forged. While this quality increase was nothing incredible, it would help me better control my power in the future.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Giving a small nod, I stood up, letting my body stretch out. The spirit next to me lifted its head, looking curiously at what I was doing. ¡°Sorry, but this is all of the time that I can spend here.¡± I said with a smile, shaking my head. The creature looked almost sad to see me go, so I fell into thought. ¡°Would you like something?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As if understanding what I meant, it brought its mouth over to me, biting gently at my sleeve to try and nudge me back to the chair. I couldn¡¯t help butugh at that, shaking my head. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I might have something better for you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">It looked at me in confusion, but I simply ced my hand on its head, closing my eyes and focusing. Divinity used thought and imagination as fuel, words as the power to take action. Thus, I clearly envisioned what I wanted to achieve here, using what I had observed over my time in the Underworld as the foundation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As the God of Souls, I grant you my blessing, that you may be the king of dark spirits. May those devoured submit to your will and follow your ways.¡± A golden glow suffused the feline spirit as I spoke, establishing a filter within its body to cleanse any spirits it consumed in the future. ¡°I bind this blessing to you with the name of Chitau, the ck panther king.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As my words fell, the spirit¡­ no, Chitau looked up at me. There was gratitude in its eyes, but also an unwillingness to part. ¡°Where I¡¯m going, I can¡¯t take you with me.¡± I told it gently. ¡°Instead, I ask that you defend this area that I¡¯ve created, and protect the wall of souls. Try not to go on a rampage, okay?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chitau simply nodded its head, backing away as if to signal that it would let me go. With a nod, I tore open the air in front of me. Now that I had be the God of Souls, I could more freely control spiritual energy, determining my exit point when traveling between the Underworld and the living realm.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I emerged, it was within the courtyard of the Sky Citadel. It was time to start practicing on my new divine powers for a while.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thank you for being so patient with us.¡± The Metong High Mother said with aforting smile as she looked towards the rocky figure of the Aurans. ¡°We believe that we have finished assessing your internal structure, and can confirm whether or not any of you are containing viruses or bacteria that would be harmful to the organic creatures of this realm.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Auran chief let out a gravelly sigh of relief. ¡°Thank you.¡± He said with a sincere tone. Since their arrival over a week ago, they had yet to see any members of this realm, aside from the Metong and the mysterious halfling goddess. Thus, several of their kind were starting to feel nervous, though they were trying to remain calm.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Now, there is onest test for us to perform, where we will need to scan each of you individually.¡± The High Mother spoke up, gesturing for several Metong carrying various devices to step forward. ¡°If you could get your people to form orderly lines, that would be most helpful. After we¡¯re done, we¡¯ll be able to give you several options to relocate. Though, if I may ask, there is something our people are rather curious about when ites to your physiology.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Auran¡¯s lips cracked into a grin. ¡°Our internal alchemy engine, I assume.¡± He knew that this was the most iconic feature of their race, and the main reason why they were so sought after by other races. Something that only they could achieve thanks to their unique makeup, which other races struggle to achieve even with technology on their side.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± The High Mother confirmed. ¡°We¡¯ve been able to piece together that this special organ is capable of breaking down materials into their elementaryponents, and then alter them through some process. Could you tell us how that works? Any information would be helpful.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Auran shook his head. ¡°This, we do not know. All that we know is that we can sample an element, whether raw or refined. After that, if we focus, we can convert that which we eat into this material. Once we retrieve it from our stomachs, it is often fit for a smith to operate on. Ah¡­ I should mention that this only works with mineral and crystal objects. We can¡¯t create nt or animal matter, or anything of that sort.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The High Mother nodded her head. ¡°And, how exactly do you sample these materials? Do you consume them, or do you have to go through a process of scanning them?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We simply eat.¡± The rocky figured exined patiently. ¡°Once we have eaten a substance, our bodies remember it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I see¡­¡± The High Mother nodded, holding a hand out as a lump of silvery metal appeared in her hand. ¡°I apologize if this is rude, but could you perhaps demonstrate with this material? It would help our research quite a lot, and this is a resource found only in select worlds. We call it dimensium.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Auran nodded his head, as if expecting such a request. While gesturing for the rest of his people to line up, he took the metal from the High Mother and tossed it into his mouth. There was the sound of crunching and grinding, as well as what seemed to be the low hum. After a few moments, the process subsided, and the Auran let out a tone of exmation. ¡°This is truly an unusual resource. It is a mineral, but¡­ there is something more to it as well. A strange energy thates naturally?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The High Mother gave a small smile, nodding her head. ¡°That¡¯s right. Is this a material that your kind can reproduce?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course. We are no stranger to materials containing energy.¡± The Auran assured her. ¡°So long as it is not a truly exotic energy such as divine power, our internal alchemy engine will gather the necessary energy from our bodies and the surrounding atmosphere to reproduce it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The High Mother¡¯s eyes lit up at that, as it opened a wide array of possibilities. There were many materials that were hard toe by without turning to the Boundless Caravan¡¯s divine features. If these Aurans were able to consumemon stone to create these materials, they would never need to worry about running out of currency.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing that the process of scanning the individual Aurans was going smoothly, the High Mother gestured towards their chief. ¡°Once everything is taken care of, I¡¯ll introduce you to some advantageous information of this realm, so that you and your people can properly establish a foothold.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet let out a sigh as she looked down at a sheet of paper in her hands. Ever since she approved of the information being spread from the research institute, she had been swarmed with people requesting a meeting with her. All of them were established deities, each hoping for the chance to tter, bribe, or persuade her into giving them her ¡®blessing¡¯.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Whenever a new name came across her desk, Scarlet used the method that Aurivy taught her to briefly check into the individual¡¯s past and determine whether or not she would offer the blessing. Regardless, even if she had no desire to grant her blessing to these individuals, she had to schedule the appointment to meet them. Only in such a way could she reject those she needed to reject.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sometimes, if a particrly wicked deity was rejected, they would immediately resort to threatening her and her people. When that happened, Scarlet did not see a reason to give them a chance to atone. With a wave of her hand, she would strip them of their divine ki, absorbing it into her body. What was left, she painted red, allowing it to melt into a puddle on the ground.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Next up is¡­ ah, is it Lily now?¡± Scarlet asked, her expression softening. She had naturally observed this deity as well, and knew of her past. Originally an elven girl in an abusive home, she had lived most of her life in pain and sorrow. One day, when her mother had lost control of herself in public, it was a passing stranger that had grabbed her wrist to stop her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After that incident, it was discovered that her mother was unfit to raise a child, and Lily had been put into foster care. For an elf, such a situation couldst for decades until their bodies finished maturing. In that time, she saw all sorts of situations, families both good and bad. Whenever she saw a child walk into the orphanage with a bruise, she would remember her past self.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was this memory and conviction that set her down her path. Using her mastery of ki, she gave herself the appearance of a child. Training as a rogue, she snuck through the lower rungs of society to punish those who would harm an innocent child. Originally, her methods were more severe, willing to do whatever it took to protect the children she saw.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That is, until she made a mistake. One day, she silenced a man that had been abusing his child both in public and private. However, instead of that startled relief that she often saw in the faces of these saved children, she saw grief. The child cried for their father, wanting to know why he wouldn¡¯t get back up.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Later investigation revealed to Lily that the father had simply been overworked, and was often an incredibly loving and caring parent. She hated what she had done to that child, and immediately began to change how she approached her goal. From violence, she turned to harmless, if annoying, pranks. She would make the life of the abuser harder and harder the more they hurt a child, while rewarding them for improving.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If she came across another incident like the one she had seen previously, she would do her best to help behind the scenes. This was all something that Scarlet could approve of. She was so determined in her goals that she sought the path of divinity, even going so far as to rush to Lorek afterwards and spend over a century there obtaining her second domain.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A small smile crept over Scarlet¡¯s crimson lips as she thought about Lily, nodding her head. ¡°Let the next one enter.¡± She called out, the door opening a momentter. The figure that walked through was a young halfling boy, or at least it appeared to be. When Scarlet saw that, she couldn¡¯t help but raise an eyebrow in amusement.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If you¡¯re going to use your real name on the application, the least that you could do is show up in your real appearance.¡± She chided gently, earning a wry smile from Lily.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Apologies, Empress. I try not to use the same face twice, to prevent any trouble from following me. To be honest, I¡¯m not even sure I remember what I originally looked like anymore. I hope you can understand.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet waved off the pleading of the young ¡®boy¡¯, shaking her head. ¡°It¡¯s fine. You¡¯re not the first I¡¯ve seen with such a quirk. Now, you havee here to seek my blessing, have you not?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right, Empress.¡± Lily nodded, offering a low bow. ¡°I will be perfectly honest with you. The domain that I wish to pursue with your blessing is the Children domain. Using it and my existing skills, I want to create a better world for children everywhere. They are our future, our hope¡­ someone has to look out for them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Though Lily spoke so emphatically, Scarlet could tell that Lily didn¡¯t have much confidence in receiving her blessing. ¡°I have nothing to offer in return, nor do I know what you might want. That¡¯s why I havee here, simply to state my intentions.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet¡¯s lips curved upwards as she listened. ¡°Wishing to protect children is a noble goal. Furthermore, I can see that your karma is mostly pure.¡± She knew where the darker parts of Lily¡¯s karma came from, and did not wish to bring up an event that Lily herself deeply regretted. ¡°Do one small task for me, and I will grant you my blessing.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lily¡¯s eyes went wide, nodding quickly. ¡°If it is within my power, I shall do so.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s quite simple.¡± Scarlet said, resting her arms on her throne. ¡°Of the materials required for your forging, I want you to obtain at least one of them yourself. Which material you choose is your decision, but it must not be purchased or traded for. You must acquire it without any outside assistance.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lily blinked, but quickly nodded again. ¡°I understand.¡± In truth, this was a rather easy requirement. Not all of the materials that were required in the forging process were hard to obtain. For instance, there was the divine gold dust. However, while divine gold itself was easy for a deity to acquire, refining it into a dust was far more difficult. Thus, Lily chose to acquire the orichalcum necessary for the forging. Finding an existing orichalcum mine wouldn¡¯t be too difficult if she put her mind to it, and she could easily sneak in and grab enough ore for the process.

 Chapter 803: User Access

    Chapter 803: User ess


    <span style="font-weight:400">It did not take very long for the inspection of the Aurans to finish. Aside from a small minority that needed to remain behind for some remedial treatment, the rest were all given permission to settle. When it was exined to them their options for a new home and the special characteristics of each, they inevitably chose to travel to Deckan. That said, they requested the right to settle their own world once one became avable, to which Udona readily agreed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Two dayster in Fyor, on the fifteenth floor where the fairy ring was located, citizens parted with confused faces. A long precession of unusual beings emerged from the gate, walking with a purpose towards the gateway between worlds. At their front was an escort of kitsune soldiers, all dressed in a Deckan military uniform.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For most people, this was their first time seeing the Aurans, so their confusion was only natural. Some recorded videos of the strange new people, uploading it to the inte. Even before they reached the fairy ring, the news had already spread to the other worlds.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once they reached the gate district, one of the soldiers broke off from the escort to meet with the operator for the gate. ¡°This is an order from Her Majesty Udona.¡± The kitsune said, gesturing towards the Aurans. ¡°They are to be allowed through to Deckan without dy.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was rather unusual to say the least, as the next scheduled connection to Deckan wasn¡¯t for several hours yet. Regardless, the gate operator gave a small nod. There was little point in arguing amand from the Greater Pantheon. Those that did had rather short careers¡­ and lives, for that matter.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Understood, I¡¯m on it.¡± The man nodded his head, moving to the control terminal. All of the known worlds had already been saved on the console, so it was just a matter of typing in the proper destination.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Soon, a shimmering blue portal emerged, the soldier returning to the precession of Aurans with a nod. ¡°Everything is ready.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Auran chief gave a somewhat thankful nod, having had asting trantion spell cast on him for the time being. It would take a bit more time for the Aurans to adjust to thenguage of this world, but such measures were helpful to relieve the problem in the short term.


    <span style="font-weight:400">On the other side, soldiers had already appeared at Deckan¡¯s gate district, clearing the area to prepare for the unscheduled connection. While they were there for the protection of the Aurans, a lot of people were curious as to why this group needed such heavy guard. It wasn¡¯t until after the Aurans had settled in a small town prepared for them, only a few hours away from the capital, when Udona made a public announcement.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hello, everyone.¡± She spoke with a warm smile as she addressed the screen, knowing that her people were watching from their homes or workces. ¡°By now, I¡¯m sure that many of you have heard about the new friends that havee to join us earlier this evening.¡± As she said that, a picture of a stone humanoid appeared next to her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Let me just clear up any doubts by saying that these are not hostile invaders in any sense of the word. These are our friends that havee from a realm far away to live with us at the personal request of the Keeper, and they are known as the Aurans. I hope that everyone will treat them kindly.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The Aurans, as you can tell, are a mineral race, but there is so much more to them than that. For the time being, I am strongly requesting that people give them their time to adjust. Afterwards, I¡¯m sure that they will show everyone just how valuable their presence in our world can be. Additionally, I would like to make another new announcement. This one, I believe, applies to all worlds, not merely my own. Therefore, I ask that you all pay attention.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The Greater Pantheon has brought into its fold another member, just as we had with Leowynn. And just as that time, this is another daughter of the Keeper, though I believe many of you are unaware of that fact. Regardless, it is a name that many of you should know. The First Blood, the Goddess of Ki, and Empress of Bloodhaven, Scarlet.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona looked over to her side, allowing the screen to move and show the childlike image of Scarlet of Bloodhaven. She offered a small nod, her face passive. ¡°I know that many of you have be aware of my presence more and more in recent years, and there exist few historians that remember a time before my nation¡¯s founding. I am the first, born from the Keeper¡¯s own blood. Now, I have been granted the chance to stand by my father¡¯s side. For this, I could not be more grateful.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As my contribution to the Boundless Caravan, I will be offering a number of choices in exchange for my tokens, which shall be valued equivalent to those of Ryone. First, the ability to buy crystalized ki. Secondly, a unique storage space developed by both myself and Leowynn. Third, I will be taking over the production of any blood rted requests from alia, so as to lighten her burden.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying that, Scarlet took a deep breath. ¡°Finally, I must make a confession to everyone. The requirement stated by the research foundation to receive my blessing in order to receive an additional domain was not entirely urate, but it was by no means a lie. The final ingredient required for the advanced forging process is the blood of a divine spirit. At present, I am the only being capable of producing such, so it is not wrong to say that it requires my blessing.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°However, if they were merely to release that information as it was, there would be those who used nefarious means to retrieve my blood. Even now, there are those who attempt to threaten me into giving my blessing, so I understand why this information was presented in such a way. The process of receiving my blessing, or as it were my blood, has not changed. I will still only be granting such to those I deem worthy. However, should another of my kin ascend to divinity, it will also be up to them to choose if they wish to grant this favor.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Let it be known that I will not condone those who wish to use force to extract the blood of my kin. Despite our appearance and abilities, my kin have always sought to exist alongside everyone in harmony. To do otherwise would be to besmirch the name of my father. That said, my divine blood will not now, nor ever will it be an item which can be purchased from the Boundless Caravan. If one of my kin ascends and wishes to offer their own, let it be so, but I will not do the same. That is all I wish to say.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona let out a soft chuckle, shaking her head. ¡°We of the Greater Pantheon happily wee Scarlet into our ranks. Those of you who wish to learn more about what she has offered, you may visit any Boundless Caravan office for more information. Finally, as a member of the Greater Pantheon, Scarlet will be choosing a number of qualified priests to lead her following, known as the Crimson Church. Information on this, and her personal requirements for obtaining the position, have been passed down to temples across all upied worlds.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel pressed a button on the remote, turning off the news announcement. ¡°Well, the cat¡¯s out of the bag now.¡± She chuckled, shaking her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">James let out a groan. ¡°I get that that¡¯s a phrase carried over from the Keeper¡¯s old world, but why is that even a thing? Who would put a cat into any sort of bag?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel rolled her eyes, shaking her head. ¡°How are youing on the crystal spheres?¡± She asked, changing the subject.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The level transfer orb was finished yesterday.¡± James shook his head, focusing on the system stone in front of himself. ¡°It seems like that one was only just a small part of this, so I identally learned how to make it while studying this. This system stone, though¡­ it is an extremelyplexwork of energies taking on a crystalline form.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°More importantly, it appears that it adjusts itself based on the world system that it is located in. If I want to study it in its raw form, I¡¯ll need ess to a world that does not possess any kind of game system.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ll pass that message along to the Keeper.¡± Chel said as she stretched her arms out. ¡°Maybe he can make you a cheap world without any races or anything, just to study things like that in. It¡¯d certainly be a bargain, seeing as he got those for free.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James thought it over for a moment. ¡°That might not be necessary. If I get some assistance from Ashley, I think I can create a null system area. Somewhere where thews of the system are disabled. If I can get that, I should be able to see the system stone in its raw form.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll pass that along to her, then.¡± Chel smirked. ¡°I doubt she¡¯ll refuse. This is a pretty big chance for her, too.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Within her grand factory, Ashley sat in the control room, a blue crystal orb in one hand. She had already mapped out its internal structure with her domains, so she simply set this one aside, soon making another in her hand. This one, however, was pure gold in color. ¡°Let¡¯s see if this works like I think it does.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a small grin, she ced the item on her desk, into a neatly cut socket sized just for this very stone. This golden stone was a recreation with her divine energy, one she nned to use as a test. With her Technology domain, she configured the console of her desk to bepatible with the sphere, allowing a number of screens to appear before her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley¡¯s eyes went wide at the information flooding in, each a massive code package. Just from a nce, she knew that it would take her weeks to go through the code presented here. Despite this, though, a grin tugged at her lips. Once she reverse engineered this code, she should have ess to the base code of the system that governed the world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oldbeard really¡­ you created this as your secret weapon, didn¡¯t you?¡± She asked, muttering while she looked at the scrolling text. If this item were ced in a world that did not use a game system, it would appear as naught but amon crystal. Incredibly smooth and polished, but with no special properties.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, if Ashley¡¯s theory was right, Oldbeard had ess to an Admin Stone as well, simr to what she had created with her divine powers. With this stone, once she deciphered the system¡¯s operating code, she would be able to program in new systems. She could add in sses, entire frameworks that she previously had to rely on raw divinity to achieve.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was easy for her to imagine how this could be used as a weapon. Simply imagine if such an Admin Stonended in the wrong hands, and the stats that increased on leveling up instead began to decrease. If the opposing party did not have a simr method of interfacing with their game system to correct the changes, they would only be able to watch the world crumble around them. Or worse, perhaps the invader could create a special system that triggered a self-destruct in any individual that performed a specific action?


    <span style="font-weight:400">If something as simple as stepping through a doorway with your left foot instead of your right could kill you due to a malicious system, it would only take days for the world to begin copsing. With any luck, such an ¡®attack¡¯ would be able to directly kill the Keeper themselves, as they were simrly bound by their own system.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Given what Ashley had heard about Oldbeard, it was hard to imagine the innocent little girl doing something like this. But, when she considered that Oldbeard¡¯s previous incarnation was a pure game Keeper, and how Oldbeard inherited the position, it was somewhat easier to believe. ¡°Well, now that we have this, we have a defense against attacks from this angle, as well.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was fortunate that Sanction¡¯s world had not advanced to the point of creating items like this when they had invaded, or else things may have ended up far worse. In fact, Ashley wouldn¡¯t have been surprised if this invention alone had pushed Oldbeard into the third rank, given the massive power it represented over other game worlds.

 Chapter 804: Branching Out

    Chapter 804: Branching Out


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan crouched on a tall branch, his eyes focused below on the forest floor. There, he could see dozens of green humanoids walking through the forest. Originally, this was a ¡®safe¡¯ area for him, somewhere that others rarely tread. However, since the appearance of the Sylvans, that had all changed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now, his eyes nced towards arge tree that had appeared in the center of the nearby city, growing at a visible rate every day. Though it had yet to bear fruit, the Mother Tree had fully taken root, and brought in numerous personnel to tend to its forest.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was hard to know what deal the Sylvans had struck with the dungeon ruling this territory. All he knew was that the local monsters did not seem interested in attacking the Sylvans or those that apanied them. They allowed the tree people to nourish the forest with their passing in peace, before turning their fangs to any who were left behind.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan¡¯s grip tightened on his bow, unwilling to appear before suchrge numbers. Few knew the forest better than him, and yet these people always managed to find him no matter where he hid. It was clear that they weren¡¯t searching for him, as they would only give him a happy wave before continuing along their path.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Where can I go now?¡± He muttered quietly to himself, before feeling a slight shift in the branch he was on. His eyes went wide, instincts fully taking over as he spun around, retreating to the edge of the branch. His bow lifted to aim at the intruder, only for his eyes to blink in confusion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sitting on the branch, not that far away from Keenan¡¯s former position, was a golden Sylvan. It was hard to properly identify them, but she seemed like one of the two that had entered the city before the Mother Tree had appeared. ¡°Hello, Keenan.¡± The Sylvan spoke audibly, a small smile on her face.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What do you want?¡± He asked, somewhat surprised that this one was talking. None of the other Sylvans he had seen had ever spoken a single word out loud. At most, they would extend their hands to him, and he might hear voices in his mind.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I only wish to talk.¡± The woman said, lifting her hands in a pacifying gesture. ¡°My name is ret of Communication, born with the power to speak with all things. Since our arrival, I have been trying to meet with all of this area¡¯s inhabitants. I apologize that it¡¯s taken me so long to meet you, but it¡¯s rather hard to find someone who doesn¡¯t wish to be found.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Maybe take the hint.¡± He remarked, still keeping his bow at the ready. However, ret simply smiled.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ve heard about your story.¡± ret said, extending her hand. ¡°I¡¯vee here with a peace offering. Something that I believe will help put your mind at ease.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Heard about¡­¡± Keenan¡¯s brow twitched. There was only one person in the city that truly knew Keenan¡¯s story, but he could not imagine Jace casually telling it to a stranger. ¡°What is it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The first leaf to fall from the Mother Tree of Fortune.¡± ret answered, producing a palm-sized leaf in her hand, having likely kept it in a personal storage space. ¡°This could be regarded as a treasure among my kind, but I feel that you are the one who would get the most use out of it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Why?¡± Keenan questioned simply, looking at the leaf resting in her hand.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Because your friend asked me to give this to you.¡± <i><span style="font-weight:400">That</i><span style="font-weight:400"> got Keenan¡¯s attention. ¡°The first leaf of a Mother Tree carries the most potent effect of the Mother Tree¡¯s aspect. Most people believe that the Fortune in my sister¡¯s title referred to wealth, but that was not the case. Her Fortune was that of fate, the weaving of probabilities.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I already have enough luck, thanks.¡± Keenan said in a bitter tone, bing increasingly wary.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You misunderstand.¡± The woman shook her head. ¡°This is not <i><span style="font-weight:400">good</i><span style="font-weight:400"> or <i><span style="font-weight:400">bad</i><span style="font-weight:400"> fortune. It merely is. I have confirmed this effect myself, and had a number of people verify it. The effect of this leaf is to negate one title or effect which influences your Luck attribute for as long as it is held on your body.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Before Keenan could speak again, the woman continued. ¡°I am aware that you are a demigod, Keenan.¡± She said in a gentle tone. ¡°So am I. I can sense yourtent divinity. All of my golden sisters are born demigods. That is why I believe that this will work for you. A demigod¡¯s power to suppress a demigod¡¯s power.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And what do you want from me?¡± Keenan refused to believe that he was just being offered this gift out of the kindness of their heart. He had seen far too much for something like that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s quite simple.¡± As if to confirm his suspicions, ret did indeed state a request. ¡°If possible, I would like you to help protect my sister¡¯s grove. Not all of it, mind you. I would not impose such a daunting task on you. Merely, if you see one of our green kining to harm, I ask that you intervene. They are our caretakers, but possess such little fighting strength of their own.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">ret¡¯s expression turned somewhat somber, eyes staring off into the sky. ¡°In a distant grove, our green kin had been abducted due to their exotic and harmless nature, as well as their natural beauty. Most, we were able to find again and return to the forest, but there are still some that escaped our pursuit. I would wish not to see such a scene repeat itself in my sister¡¯s grove.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What makes you think I¡¯ll do it?¡± Keenan asked. ¡°I could just take the leaf and run.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">ret turned to look at him again, and simply smiled. ¡°An honest boy, one with a kind heart that has simply been hurt too much. Someone that doesn¡¯t make friends easily, but will return the kindness he receives a hundred fold. I choose to believe the words of your friend, one blessed by a fortune of his own. If such a person is willing to say such words for you, then I am willing to entrust the safety of my people to your hands.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan grit his teeth at the confirmation that this was all set up by Jace. Jace really was too honest for his own good, and far too willing to follow his hunches, wherever they may lead him. Still, he let out a long sigh, stretching his hand out to take the leaf. As soon as he did, he felt a strange force enter his body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan couldn¡¯t be certain that the effect had truly taken hold, nor would he be able to tell for a while. In fact, he knew that something would change if this leaf worked as she said. For years, his daily life had involved using his overwhelming luck to his greatest advantage. Without that luck, it was certain that he would have to struggle to hunt, and may encounter more unfortunate scenarios than ever before.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Despite knowing this, he still took the leaf. If it really was able to negate the effects of his title, that meant that it would negate the power that it had on other people, as well. He could live with others, without needing to worry about identally hurting them, or worse. This wasn¡¯t particrly something Keenan <i><span style="font-weight:400">wanted</i><span style="font-weight:400"> to do¡­ but the option did sound nice.


    <span style="font-weight:400">ret nodded her head happily as the leaf was taken. ¡°Remember, you must wear it on your body. If need be, you can turn it into an amulet. And don¡¯t worry, the first leaf will not die before the Mother Tree that bore it. You have a thousand years to enjoy the effects.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thousand¡­¡± Keenan muttered. By that time, he knew he was likely to be long dead. In other words, as long as he protected the leaf, he wouldn¡¯t have to worry about his title causing problems for the rest of his life? ¡°...Thank you.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra hummed to herself as she looked out at the cityscape of the new Rainbow Isle, a city built together between the adventurers of Fyor and the Rainbow Eyes of the twenty-eighth floor of Fyor. Now that the city had finally beenpleted, it was beginning to ept new residents from those able to withstand the floor¡¯s pressure.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, this included one inhabitant Petra was really happy to see moving to the higher floor, her eyes training onto the figure of Thelsa carrying a box of beverages as she made her way into a tavern. Roughly half of the twenty-seventh floor¡¯s poption had elected to move to thisyer, as it was more peaceful than the previous floor. Granted, it still had its own problems with the war between the two races, but they didn¡¯t have to worry about being eaten by every tree that they passed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra shook her head as she thought about the ever dwindling poption of the upper floor cities. The neenth floor, Dawn, truly served as the benchmark for themon person, as there were many who did not train beyond that point. Furthermore, Maxers were bing more and more rare as the level limit increased, instead being reced by gods looking for a sense of adventure. <i><span style="font-weight:400">We could always use that new forging method, right?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Petra suddenly asked, transmitting her thoughts into her shadow. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯s totally safe, so¡­</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, Thelsa knew what Petra was talking about, and how she didn¡¯t want to suffer a repeat of when Thelsa achieved her perfection. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯ll think about it. We have enough saved up, at the very least. Why don¡¯t you get the treatment yourself?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra simply chuckled at that. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I could, but I don¡¯t know if there will be any conflicts if I gain divinity before you. So, I¡¯d rather have you take that step before doing so myself.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa hesitated for a moment, giving a small nod. She had been keeping track of the situation with the divine forging method, so she knew what ingredients were required. Even if they didn¡¯t want to spend any coin on the Boundless Caravan, they already had most of the materials that they needed, including a Holy Rose. Granted, it was one grown in their shadow world, but their alchemists hadn¡¯t been able to discover anything different about it aside from the color.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Still, Petra knew that she was reaching the limits of what she could achieve as a mortal. If not for the power of the World¡¯s Shadow, she would have lost her ability to participate in high level fights long ago. If she wanted to get even stronger, it would have to be as the Goddess of Shadows.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">How is the construction progress on that submarineing, by the way?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Petra asked curiously, changing the subject. Two of their shadows were on the construction team for the submersible vehicle that would take them to the next gate, so she knew that Thelsa would be keeping up with the construction efforts.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯s a slow process.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Thelsa sighed, entering the new tavern and setting her box down. <i><span style="font-weight:400">There are monsters in the water that consume magical effects, so we can¡¯t use typical enchantments to offset the extreme pressure. Right now, we¡¯re looking into bringing a few smiths from Bloodhaven and Duena to forge the outer hull for us.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Eh? I understand Bloodhaven, but why Duena?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Petra asked curiously. Duena was a rtively popr city of the dwarves, known for excellent craftsmen. But if all they needed was good craftsmen, their own people should suffice, or those of Bloodhaven.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">The Divine Guild, Golden Hammer lives in Duena. It¡¯s a group of dwarven cksmiths that have all obtained godhood in different domains rted to crafting. It¡¯s said that the guild leader is a subordinate deity to Tubrock, which would likely make the others the same.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra let out a small gasp of understanding, nodding her head. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It alles back to gods. It feels like the age of mortals really ising to a close, isn¡¯t it?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s right¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Thelsa confirmed silently. <i><span style="font-weight:400">If you want the best of anything, you look for a god. That¡¯s just how we have grown. They¡¯ve even considered using divine gold as the primary material for the hull of this submarine, if it weren¡¯t so expensive.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra clicked her tongue at that. If the pressure of the ocean on this floor wasn¡¯t so severe, she¡¯d go down there herself to see what the next floor had to offer. However, even if she were able to make it to the next floor, she was certain that she wouldn¡¯t be able to bring others with her.

 Chapter 805: New Possibilities

    Chapter 805: New Possibilities


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod as I confirmed that the powers I had wanted to practice had reached theirpletion. Sitting before me was a mirror, over a hundred beasts visible within roaming in a grassy meadow. Further ahead of me, in an identical meadow, were over a hundred beast corpses, their souls trapped in the mirror I had summoned.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was the basic trinity that I had created based on a life-saving treasure that Ryone once gave me, extracting the souls of living creatures to store within a mirror, living an illusion of life. However, there were also other abilities that I had created, as well. For instance, the power to summon these trapped beasts to fight alongside me. Or, my personal favorite, turning the souls that I have collected into armaments, their strength directly corrting to what they were like in life.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was a technique that I derived from Aki Seppo, reimagining it with the Souls domain. So long as I kept these souls trapped within my mirror world, they would be avable for me to use in a simr method to how I fought with Leowynn in the past.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In truth, I was somewhat tempted to just run through the monster territory of the Underworld, capturing the greatest souls that I could find. However, I decided against doing such a thing. After my time spent in the Underworld, I became acutely aware that the spirits within the monster territory were too fractured to properly use. Instead, I would need to acquire monsters while they were alive.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Fortunately, I knew just such a monster that would make for an excellent first choice, though doing so would inevitably take away a bit of ¡®target practice¡¯ for the people of a certain city. Silver mist surrounded my body, transporting me into the skies above Kal-Thul, a dwarven city hidden within a mountain. I kept the mist around my body, changing its effect from transportation to obfuscation so that those below wouldn¡¯t take notice of my presence.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Looking around, it was clear that the Mountain King was not currently on the offensive, so I flew off into the distance. If it were before, I wouldn¡¯t really know where the Mountain King had been lurking without consulting Aurivy or alia. However, I was now able to sense a powerful soul beyond the horizon, one that far outstripped anything nearby in both size and strength.


    <span style="font-weight:400">My body flew at increasing speeds, until I saw a mountainous figure crouched down, slowly digging into the ground with its hands. All around, there were thousands of trenches dug in seemingly simr methods, each going over fifty meters deep. Going by the health bar present over its head, it had likely only been a matter of days since itsst attack on the city of Kal-Thul.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a smile, I used my divinity to trace a circle within the sky, one with a diameter of more than two kilometers. Only in such a way could I create a mirrorrge enough to capture the image of the Mountain King. Slowly, the mirror took shape, a ss-like surface filling its center while the giant monster looked up.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Mountain King let out an aggrieved roar towards the mirror suspended high above it, reaching up in an attempt to punch it. Thankfully, I had created it high enough to avoid such a thing from immediately happening. At least for long enough that the mirror was able toplete itself, as the Mountain King was crouching down to jump.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Just as he was starting tounch himself, a cone of silver light shot out of thepleted mirror, enveloping the body of the Mountain King. With its body shrouded in the mirror¡¯s light, it became motionless, its health bar vanishing from its head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod to myself, gesturing for the mirror to approach me as it shrank in size. By the time it reached me, it was small enough to fit in my hand, showing the image of the Mountain King jumping up and swiping at it. Though, now that the mirror had already captured its soul, there was little meaning in its actions. All it took was a thought for me to change the location of the mirror within this little world. Thus, I moved the mirror further away from the Mountain King before bringing my hand to touch the mirror.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">King of the Mountains


    <span style="font-weight:400">Vengeful Father


    <span style="font-weight:400">Indomitable Protector


    <span style="font-weight:400">Cowardly Stone


    <span style="font-weight:400">Rock Titan


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mineral Gourmet


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lord of Stubbornness


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">These were the ¡®legends¡¯ contained within the soul of the Mountain King. Each one characterized an aspect of his stories, and could serve as the foundation for an armament. If I wanted to preserve the full potential power of the artifact that I chose, I would only be able to select one of these, as many legends were intertwined.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Normally, if one were to practice Aki Seppo, it would be the primary legend that bes the foundation of power. Leowynn¡¯s, for example, might be Child of Heaven or Little Star. Either of those could potentially give the power of constetions that she showed with me. Now that I had turned this into a divine ability, I set it so that it was up to me to choose which legend served as the foundation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Between the seven avable options, there were three that I immediately dismissed. These were Vengeful Father, Cowardly Stone, and Mineral Gourmet. Each carried too many negative connotations for me to choose them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">King of the Mountains sounded like something that would give me control over stone. While nice, that wasn¡¯t particrly helpful when I could use a domain to rece that power. Rock Titan would likely give me an armored form simr to the Mountain King¡­ making me just a reallyrge target. That¡¯s another one eliminated.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That left Indomitable Protector and Lord of Stubbornness, both of which had simr meanings, and both of which would be defensive boosts. Stubbornness implied the ability to return after suffering defeat, while Indomitable appeared to mean strength in the face of adversity.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Out of all seven legends, it was Indomitable Protector that I wanted the most, and so I mentally selected that option from the list. As soon as I did so, the body of the Mountain King within the mirror crumbled, rocks crashing down to the ground in a deafening roar that even shook my mirror.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At the very heart of the copsed rubble was a suit of stone armor, red and green gems adorning its chest. From now on, this would be the form of the Mountain King, or rather¡­ the Armor of the Mountain King.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a thought, I transported this armor from the mirror into my own soul, allowing me to summon the armor at will. In the past, I would have been able to only contract with one spirit in such a way, but that limit had been removed after obtaining the Souls domain. Now, I could split my soul into different partitions, each entirely separate from one another to prevent the souls from shing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">All that was left was to find monsters over time that had built up simrly powerful legends. Part of me considered targeting the stone father of the ashen-skinned dwarves whenever they were inevitably settled. However, I quickly dismissed that idea. Even if the stone father weren¡¯t such a pitiful existence, he had been reborn too many times. His current self would not have had the time to build sufficient legends within his own soul.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯ll just have alia keep an eye out for monsters that fit my requirements.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I thought to myself, reaching down to tap on my watch and synchronize my memories with my Virtual self. I had already let Tsubaki know that I would be returning to the Admin Room for a while after I had finished training, so we were just wrapping up ourst game.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, she did not seem upset at me leaving, perhaps because it had not been that long since myst descent into the world. She simply wished me well and offered me a deep bow while the other two grinned and reminded me to pick them up before my wedding.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I ascended with a slight chuckle as I recalled their expressions at the time, prepared to sit with Scarlet and Aurivy and watch the world once again. However, there was someone waiting for me in the Admin Room before I ever got the chance. ¡°Can we talk for a moment?¡± Ashley asked, her wings tucked in around her shoulders.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course, Ash. What¡¯s up?¡± I asked, moving to grab a nearby chair. I had ascended into the dining room, and Ashley had suddenly appeared in front of me. Clearly, she was waiting for me to appear.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯d like you to buy a new world.¡± She said simply, causing me to blink.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is something wrong with Desbar?¡± I opened up the map to check Desbar¡¯s situation, but Ashley quickly shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, no, nothing like that. I want a new world to serve as a testing ground for something that I don¡¯t dare to practice with in an upied world. You don¡¯t need to get a race for it, and I¡¯d honestly rather it be left uninhabited, aside from basic monsters. All I want for it is a basic game system, and for me to have ess with my divine avatar. Everything else, I¡¯ll handle myself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod, starting to understand what was going on. ¡°This is about that system stone, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I asked that, Ashley readily admitted it. ¡°I used my divinity to modify the stone just slightly, and it started disying the core code of the game system for Lorek. I¡¯m still working on analyzing the code, but I want a world where I can test out ideas and practice with new systems. I might ask you to buy a new system for the world every now and then, that way I can get new variables and see how the systems interact and change. For now, I¡¯m going to be trying to iste the different systems in the existing code, and then port them over to my test environment.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...Am I going to need to be prepared to buy additional worlds if your program crashes?¡± Although I had only touched at programming myself when I created Ana, I knew from talking to Ashley in the past that code rarely worked on the first iteration.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡­ don¡¯t know yet.¡± She answered, clearly uncertain. ¡°That will depend on whether a problem with the code causes errors in the system, or if itpletely destroys the world. That¡¯s one of the reasons that I¡¯m not willing to do anything other than read the code on an inhabited world. I want to properly understand the consequences of tampering with system code.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Alright.¡± I agreed. ¡°But I have a request for you, as well. Once you have increased your understanding of the code, I want you to build a firewall into our system code. Something that can stop items like this from being used against us in the future. I know Oldbeard wouldn¡¯t use it against us, but she might not be the only one that has had an idea like this, and I¡¯d rather not be on the receiving end if we get paired against a hostile game Keeper. Also, if you made these with your divinity, there might be others in our world that could make something simr.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley gave a firm nod at that. Naturally, anyone with the ability to produce an item like this would have also taken simr measures to ensure their own system was safe, at which point it woulde down to a sort of hacking battle. I just wanted to stack the odds as high in my favor as possible. More importantly, not everyone would be as¡­ cautious as Ashley when it came to testing dangerous code. If someone really wanted to, they could create this modified system stone and just start going wild. That was not something that I personally wanted to see.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Alright, then. What do you want the name of this world to be?¡± I asked curiously, pulling up the interface. Since she said she only wanted the basic framework of the game system, I didn¡¯t need to spend much for all the extra systems that I had added to the other worlds.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Something generic works, like Testbed.¡± When she gave that name, I simply chuckled, typing it into the screen that appeared.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Alright, done. I also gave you control of that world¡¯s eleration, in case you decide that you need more time for anything.¡± I told her, to which she gave a thankful nod.

 Chapter 806: The Saints Guard

    Chapter 806: The Saints Guard


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Alright, everyone, stay focused.¡± A young centaur man said, scales covering the majority of his lower body. ¡°We¡¯ve locked onto the coordinates, so prepare to open a gate to world two-eight-seven-four. Security personnel, maintain your defensive positions behind the st gate.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The scaled centaur stood within a control room, overlooking arge tform from behind thick, reinforced ss. On either side of the tform were bulky metal doors, enchanted just as the ss itself was to prevent damage should their connections go awry. On the tform itself were numerous concentric circlesid out t, each rotating to shift the alignment of various geometric and runic patterns.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Coordinate one, set. Coordinate two, set.¡± The centaur called out every time the rings briefly stopped, symbols shining a brilliant blue with each set coordinate.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Coordinate five¡­ locked.¡± Once the fifth coordinate was locked, the energy within the rings surged upwards, creating a circr gate of crackling energy. The interior of the gate looked like a purple void, unable to see beyond theyer of energy. ¡°nar gate is established, running environmental scans.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Along the room containing the gate, numerous sensors lit up, scanning for any shift in the air pressure, temperature, orposition. After a few moments, one of the other centaurs in the control room gave an affirmative nod. ¡°No abnormalities detected. Atmospheric conditions are within an eptable range.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As he said that, a small figure emerged from the gate, its sharp legs clicking on the ground. Clearly, it was some form of insectoid being with a hard carapace, and two scythe-like arms. However, its size was enough that it could fit in the palm of one¡¯s hand. ¡°We have a breach.¡± Another centaur, this one a pegasus, called out. ¡°Unknown lifeform.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The draconic centaur looked at the pegasus, and then to the small creature crawling about before the gate. He furrowed his brow, wondering if it was worth closing the connection because of such a small insect. Just then, another appeared through the gate¡­ and another. Seeing that more appeared to being through, he sighed and gave the order. ¡°Cut all power to the gate room, and begin the sterilization process.¡± He ordered, the purple gate immediately closing just as a fourth little insect jumped through.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A thick, metal shield lowered to cover the window in preparation of the sterilization process, while the project leader shook his head in resignation. ¡°Once the sterilization is over, have the creatures dissected. If they don¡¯t appear to be hazardous, we can try to connect again when the results are back.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Another centaur quickly noted down his words, using their terminal to send the order to the medical team. A roar of energy sounded from behind the st shield, the telltale sign of the sterilization process, which urred in three stages. First, a high-intensity st of fire and light magic, then drain the ki from any living creature in the room, and finally a spiritual st to wipe out whatever remained.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Only when they heard the woosh of the spiritual st did they raise the st shields. At the same time, the bulky metal doors rose up, the medical team entering together with the security personnel to retrieve the corpses. They circle the room, gathering three fallen bodies and cing them in individual ss cases.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The draconic centaur furrowed his brow as he counted the insects gathered, recalling that a fourth had emerged just before the gate was closed. ¡°Do a thorough sweep.¡± He ordered, his voice projected into the tform room. ¡°There should be another one in there. If those three didn¡¯t burn up in sterilization, thest shouldn¡¯t have, either.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The medical team members nodded, redoubling their efforts. Given the size of the creatures, there was a high chance that thest could have simply tucked away in some small corner when it died. And, sure enough, they found something on their second investigation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sir, I think we have a problem.¡± The medical team member who had found something said, slowly backing away from one of the ports feeding energy into the room.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What is it?¡± The project leader asked, having no intention of wasting time by going down and seeing it for himself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We have a containment breach.¡± The moment he heard those words, the eyes of the project leader went wide in shock. A containment breach meant that something had escaped the tform, meaning it was able to break through one of the many reinforced barriers surrounding the area.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In front of the medical personnel, there was a small, fist-sized hole in the concrete. Its edges were rough, as if it had been dug through in a hurry. This was by no means a weak point in the room¡¯s defenses, meaning that the creature could have dug through any point along the walls.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The project leader mmed down on arge button, sounding an emergency throughout the entire research instation. ¡°We have a breach in containment!¡± He called out, his voice transmitted over the inte to the rest of the base. ¡°Everyone, please evacuate the facility. If you encounter a small insectoid creature, <i><span style="font-weight:400">do not</i><span style="font-weight:400"> engage!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">While it may have seemed extreme to evacuate the entire facility over such a small breach, this was all standard procedure. As they were connecting to entirely different nes of existence, they had no idea what special powers the inhabitants of these worlds possessed. Thus, protocol dictated that they immediately evacuate, calling in the Saints Guard to eliminate the threat. In the worst case scenario, they may lose the entire base.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hmm?¡± A unicorn centaur muttered as she felt something vibrate within one of her pockets. Reaching down, she retrieved her terminal, which was now shing red with an urgent message. Channeling a bit of mana, she read the message before her eyes went wide. ¡°A breach at site six?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The centauress rose to her full height, trotting out of her room and shouting. ¡°We¡¯ve got a containment breach at site six!¡± She shouted, alerting the rest of the guard. ¡°Team three, you¡¯ll be with me to handle the problem!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Within the wide hall, a dozen doors all opened, other centaurs stepping out to see what was going on. When they heard the order, their expressions turned serious, and they moved to follow their leader. As they moved, they began to pick up speed, their casual trot turning into a gallop by the time they had left the hall.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Each of them kicked at the ground with incredible force once they were outside, propelling themselves far beyond their natural speed. Even the pegasi among the group did not bother to take flight, as it was faster to run in this matter. At their speed, it only took them fifteen minutes to reach site six, arge research facility far outside of any inhabited settlements.


    <span style="font-weight:400">By this time, the evacuation had already beenpleted, arge poption of centaurs standing a considerable distance away. When the Saints Guard arrived, the unicorn leader among them quickly found the draconic centaur that issued the alert. ¡°Exin.¡± She said in a firm voice, the draconic centaur hastily nodding his head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°After connecting the gate to a new world, four insectoid creatures emerged. Their sizes were almost insignificant, but I still ordered the sterilization process per protocol. However, one of the four escaped by burrowing through the reinforced concrete lining the walls of the gate room.¡± Saying that, he gestured towards the nearby medical team, who still had the bodies of the remaining three insects.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing this, the leader of the guard extended one hand towards the ss cases, clenching her fist. Orange mes briefly flickered within the case. When they stopped, the body of the creature was nowhere to be seen. The medical staff member holding the case gulped thickly, a cold sweat on his back as he realized just how close he was to the destructive power of the Saints Guard.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Good, they aren¡¯t resistant.¡± She nodded her head, ncing back towards the others. ¡°Everyone, conduct the search with the Saint¡¯s Armor. There is a chance that the creature would have tunneled outside of theplex already, so move in teams of three. I¡¯ll remain posted outside to monitormunications and watch the exterior.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The dozen guards nodded their heads firmly, not questioning her order. While it seemed like she was throwing them all into danger while she remained safe outside, they knew that she had taken the far more difficult job. After all, she had to watch the entire exterior of the base herself to monitor for such a small creature, while at the same time handlingmunications with the rest of the squad.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she watched them dividing into four teams and entering the base, the leader took a deep breath. Her eyes began shining a brilliant blue, a circle of mana spreading out beneath her feet. ¡°I am the right hand of the king. Mine is the voice of power. Let the wind be my eyes, and the earth be my hands.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The circle continued rapidly expanding with her words, until it reached such a size that it had epassed the entire research instation. Afterwards, geometric patterns began appearing within the circle one after another, some rising up to form arcane spheres glowing silver or orange.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once the circle wasplete, her senses were projected over the entire area, able to watch the facility from any angle she pleased. Naturally, this expanded the range of the minimap that she had ess to. It was only normal for a member of the Saints Guard to have unlocked their minimaps, allowing them to easily detect the enemies that they were searching for. Now, if she saw the slightest bit of movement from anything other than her own people, she would be able to immediately respond.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Inside the facility, a group consisting of a pegasus, unicorn, and a normal centaur were all moving together. The addition of the normal breed was rather new to the Saints Guard, and only made possible due to their recent evolution. For the centaurs, this had resulted in them and their pegasus brethren unlocking their ability to control mana. While still not as proficient as their unicorn variants, this made it so that they were able to participate in advanced jobs like this.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This your first outing, Hasting?¡± The unicorn asked the normal centaur with a small smile, orange mes wrapping around the bodies of all three. If they were attacked from their blind spot, the enemy would most likely destroy itself upon contact with their defensive barrier.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right, sir.¡± The centaur, Hastings, responded with a nod. His eyes were firmly watching every small corner of the hallway, as if worried that an attack coulde from anywhere.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Don¡¯t worry, they¡¯re not all like this.¡± The pegasus smiled, keeping her wings folded in. As she was walking along, her brow furrowed. ¡°I¡¯ve got a hole over here.¡± She gestured towards the bottom of the nearby wall, where a palm-sized hole could be seen.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right, I¡¯ll check it out.¡± The unicorn centaur said, walking over. His horn began glowing blue, a pulse of energy radiating out from him. ¡°It¡¯s deep.¡± He muttered, tracking the information from both the pulse and his minimap. ¡°And¡­ there¡¯s something moving inside. It looks like it might be eggs.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she heard that, the pegasus¡¯s eyes went wide, and she backed up from the hole. ¡°If it¡¯sying eggs, we¡¯re in the worst case scenario.¡± She muttered, having been through situations like this before. ¡°Sra, did you hear that?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I heard.¡± A voice spoke through the air itself, before speaking to all four groups within the facility. ¡°Everyone, be alert. The target has begun reproducing. Gestation period is unknown. Make your way out of the facility with caution, and we will immediately purge this site.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Outside, the project leader looked pained when he heard that. Most of their data was kept on site to prevent theft from outside sources. If the site was purged, they would lose all of it. However, he could not bring himself to protest, as allowing this creature to escape could result in the loss of countless lives.

 Chapter 807: Hello, World!

    Chapter 807: Hello, World!


    <span style="font-weight:400">Outside the facility, Sra stood with a focused gaze, ensuring that none of the creatures were able to escape without her notice. This was not the first time that the Saints Guard had been forced to purge a site, and she knew that it would not be thest. She watched and counted as all four groups of centaurs left theplex, before they each ran out to upy equidistant points around the research facility.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once everyone was in position, Sra began the operation by spreading her arms wide. Orange-red mes shot out from her arms, forming lines that connected to mes released by those on either side of her in the distance. Once the line was fully formed, she brought her hands close to one another, connecting them just as everyone else in the formation did. This caused the lines to form an even ring, which began gradually rotating.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Next, she shifted her hands to rest horizontally, one above the other. As she spread her hands apart this time, the ring began to expand both above and below, the ground practically roaring as it was dug into. This extension went higher and higher, until it came together at the top to form aplete sphere.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As soon as everyone was able to sense thepletion of the sphere, they took a half step back, their left fistsing forward until they were just outside of the mes. With this proximity, they continued feeding the fire with the left hand, their right forming an open palm that swirled with a silver wind. ¡°Three, two, one.¡± Sra counted down, before mming her palm forward, just as everyone else did the same action.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As soon as the thirteen points of wind struck the sphere of fire, it seemed to copse in on itself, shrinking until there was nothing left of it. In its wake, it left a scorched crater, no indication of the previous facility anywhere to be found.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is it¡­ over?¡± The project lead asked with a disheartened voice. With the research facility gone, it was clear that all of them would need to be relocated to other areas while a newplex was constructed. For those that were unable to find avable positions, they were destined to suffer through a period of unemployment.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sra gave a small nod, her eyes staring into the burnt crater. ¡°We¡¯ll remain posted nearby for three days to ensure that the creature did not escape the site before the purge.¡± It was clear that the creature that they were targeting this time was capable of digging through enchanted and reinforced concrete as if it were soft soil, so it was only natural for her to be cautious.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The project leader nodded his head dejectedly, turning to gesture for the rest of the staff to depart. Now that their site had been destroyed, they had to go report to the nearest government office. As they left, the Saints Guard converged on Sra, whose eyes remained focused on the crater below.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Do you think we got it?¡± The normal centaur among the group asked, to which Sra shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I don¡¯t know. Hasting, head back to the stable, and send in a situation report. Make sure to set it as a priority message.¡± Hasting¡¯s eyes went wide, and he immediately turned, kicking forward with silver wind wrapping around his hooves.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What¡¯s wrong, Sra? You think it survived the purge?¡± One of the pegasi asked in confusion. ¡°You already confirmed that our fire can kill them, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sra simply nodded her head, before shaking it. She reached into her pocket, thumbing a coin with a catlike face. ¡°I¡¯m still in mortal danger.¡± She said in a soft tone, causing the eyes of the others to go wide in rm. Each of the captains of the Saints Guard were given a single token of Terra, that way they would be able to sense an impending crisis. If they managed to resolve the crisis, the coin would fade away, having done its job.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing that Sra was still feeling the sense of danger from the token, the others were able to all but confirm that the creature hadn¡¯t been destroyed. Somehow, it had tunneled its way out of the facility before they initiated the purge. ¡°Then why didn¡¯t you go back yourself, or just file the report from here?¡± One of the unicorn centaurs asked in confusion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If I left, I would be leaving the crisis area, and the token would disappear. As long as I remain, I¡¯ll be able to tell if anything changes about the situation. As for filing it myself remotely, I can¡¯t be sure what actions might cause the creature to flee to another area. I need to remain present until the situation is resolved, and I can¡¯t have any action taken in this area that was not already performed before the purge.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The questioning centaur furrowed his brow, before giving a simple nod. It was obvious that Sra was willingly putting herself in danger, but this was also a part of her duty. ¡°Everyone, retreat one kilometer and establish a temporary stable. Once reinforcements arrive, we need to be ready to move at a moment¡¯s notice.¡± Even though she said that, Sra did not move from her position.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley nodded to herself as she looked at the uninhabited world around her. ¡°This should be good.¡± She said with a small smile, thankful to have the area she needed to practice system programming. Although she had created some systems before, that was primarily through breaking down existing systems into different modules and then mixing them together.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This would be her first attempt to truly write her own system program. Of course¡­ ¡°First, let¡¯s make a backup.¡± She said, taking a deep breath and mobilizing her divinity to create an egg-like item in her hand. This was a seed containing the current system¡¯s settings, which she had learned the creation method of thanks to Vivi. If her experiments caused a system shutdown without destroying the world itself, she could use this seed to restore the system to a clean version.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once that was done, she lifted her hand, causing a small facility to rise up out of the shadows on the ground. Although it was not much at first nce, this facility was like a portable home and workstation, one which she had created for asions like this.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Stepping inside, she quickly found the console she needed and plugged the golden Admin Stone in. As soon as she did so, the familiar screens appeared, disying scrolling lines of code. Ashley licked her lips at the prospect of deciphering this code, though she knew that it was not going to be an easy feat. Even using the various domains that she had ess to would only give her a starting point.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifting a hand, she pointed her finger at the screens, mobilizing the power of the Games domain. ¡°Show me the code governing the Mage ss.¡± She said, and most of the screens flickered away. Only one remained, rapidly scrolling and erging to disy a massive wall of code.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Mage ss was one of the sses which directly governed a primary energy, so it would be a good starting point for referencing how the ss system worked. Currently, the issue Ashley was facing was that the characters disyed on the screen were not part of anynguage that she knew, simr to when she assisted an artificial intelligence in reaching divinity. ¡°I need a trantion program¡­¡± She muttered, thinking how she could aplish this, before snapping her fingers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Map the characters within the Game code, and use Technology to produce the trantion software.¡± She said with a grin, conjuring one of her own domains and two from her subordinate deities to use in the creation of a trinity. This trinity quickly took effect on the console where the Admin Stone was installed, mapping thenguage that was disyed and converting it into characters that she could recognize. However, the process of doing so caused the window to expand even further, as there appeared to be specific characters representing entire words or concepts.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Still, this was enough for Ashley, as it meant that she was able to read the code. However, there was something bothering her the more she looked at the tranted text. There were no areas within the code where variables were created, meaning that either that code existed elsewhere within the system, or the variables simply <i><span style="font-weight:400">existed</i><span style="font-weight:400"> somewhere in a base system registry. If it were thetter, it would be difficult for her to decipher them all, and she would ultimately be limited to the existing variables in the system.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Regardless, she began pouring over the code, left in awe as she came to realize that the system did not deal with hard set rules, but instead had more abstract concepts. She had always been aware of this on some level, as it was impossible for the system to function otherwise, but this was the first time seeing just how abstract the system went. ¡°Let¡¯s just try writing a simple function for now.¡± She muttered to herself, generating a holographic keyboard. ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ how about registering the act of blinking as a way to level the Mage ss?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Obviously, she would never implement something like this in any of Dale¡¯s worlds, as it would cause everyone to self-destruct from their mana building too rapidly. However, it was a suitable test for her first function.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She wrote the code in a separate window, before running it through the trantion program that she had created to import into the main system code. When she realized that nothing had immediately broken, she tested it by blinking.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Mage has leveled up!


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Surprised, she grinned and blinked again twice. However, the same message did not appear again. Raising her brow, she looked at the code windows before her, her face going pale when she saw that the text was now garbled and scattered about. ¡°Delete! Delete all the code! Factory reset!¡± She shouted quickly, using the Admin Stone to delete the entire system code before using her backup.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once she confirmed that the code had been restored, she sighed and created a second backup. ¡°If I still had a physical heart, this would not be good for it.¡± She muttered, before trying to think of what she could have done wrong. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Maybe I just have to take the system down between patches?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Trying the same test once again, she first programmed a way for the system to be shut down without deleting everything. To do this, she used one of the same backups that she had created as a storage device, adjusting the console to be able to upload the system code into the seed where it could be patched. Once the patch wasplete, she could use the seed to restart the system. In theory, this should work just fine.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In practice, it was less fine. Once again, the code came out corrupted after the patch, leaving Ashley to suspect that there was a problem with the code itself. ¡°Is there an untrantable character that I¡¯m missing?¡± She asked, looking at the esoteric characters of the system code, andparing it to the results of her own code.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In the end, she found that there was an alteration to thest character in every line of code, one that wasn¡¯t in the software she created. With a groan, she rubbed her face with a palm. ¡°Why do I feel like this is the equivalent of missing a semicolon¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley shook her head, making the necessary adjustment to the trantion software and running the patch again. As she felt it was a good idea to keep the downtime functionality for patching, she reused that code. Thankfully, it seemed to work this time, Ashley having the power to take down the system by literally snapping her fingers. Though, she had to use the console to activate it again after the patch wasplete.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She felt as if she were exploring bold new terrain, once again writing what was essentially a cheat code to level up. The difference was, this time it worked. She bit her lips, curious. ¡°What other cheats could I write in? Health? No, that wouldn¡¯t work. The system doesn¡¯t have a direct effect on the body¡¯s health unless it is during the leveling process, and that¡¯s just a side-effect of the body¡¯s evolution.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although she wanted to create a cheat code for unlimited health that Dale could use, she knew right away that it was impossible. The system only reported a person¡¯s health, but did not directly control it. Thus, such a system would only disy Dale as being at full health even when he was at death¡¯s door.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In the end, Ashley couldn¡¯t think of any truly game breaking cheats that could be written, as all of those systems were governed by naturalws instead of the game system itself. Without ess to the system¡¯s core variables, she wouldn¡¯t be able to find anything that she could take advantage of for things like that, either. Thus, she set her sights to simply understanding the code at a deeper level again, wanting to figure out how everything functioned. Of course, that was after disabling the cheat to level the Mage ss.

 Chapter 808: The Harbinger Of Death

    Chapter 808: The Harbinger Of Death


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°When you are controlling the power of Death, you have to be very careful.¡± Irena said to Tsubaki, reminding her once again as they began their practice. ¡°Death is more than just the end of life. It is a concept in itself. If you allow your Death to infect yourself, it will ultimately lead to your own self-destruction.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Irena gave this reminder every time she appeared for personal training, emphasizing its importance. ¡°Yes, Lady Irena.¡± Tsubaki nodded her head obediently.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Good.¡± Irena smiled a bit more softly. ¡°Today, we¡¯re going to go over a more subtle application of Death. As I have repeatedly told you, this is a concept which you need to master, without letting it master you. Wield it, but do not be it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The application of Death we¡¯re going over today will be the ability to sense death, as well as filtering the information. When you master this, not only will you be able to sense the deaths urring around you, but you will also be able to sense imminent deaths. This is simr to the Fate system that Terra governs. Once the vast majority of possibilities point towards the death of something, it bes something you can sense as one that holds this domain.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded her head again. ¡°Please instruct me.¡± She said with a deep bow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Irena looked off to the side, gathering a wisp of silver mist in her hands. ¡°Gather the power of death, and recognize it as a sensory organ. In truth, you should be able to do something simr for any domain, allowing you to recognize the existence of your concept in your vicinity.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki was already aware of that part, having long since done the same thing with her domain of Light. Thus, she was quick to condense the power of death and turn it into one of her senses. Seeing that she proceeded quickly, Irena didn¡¯t hesitate. ¡°Good. Now, you will need to hone this sense by experiencing death. In doing so, you can choose which deaths to be aware of, and gain the ability to foretell death.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As if to demonstrate, Irena threw the silver mist in her hand at the ground. Almost immediately, Tsubaki grasped her head, gasping out as she felt the death of every tiny organism on the ground where that mist hadnded. Although she had created a simr sensory power with the Light domain, that was merely an extension of her sight. She was wholly unprepared for the sensory overload that woulde with this new ability.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Having expected this, Irena fell silent for a few moments, allowing Tsubaki to recover herself. Only when Tsubaki began to stand again, her face somewhat pale, did Irena speak in a gentle tone. ¡°I know how you are with your training. You have always been so extreme, pushing your limits at every opportunity. What backs you into a corner once will never do so a second time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">This time, she condensed the mist and threw it at a wall. Tsubaki hissed at the sensory overload, but she did not cry out again, nor did she duck her head. However, this caused Irena to shake her head. ¡°You are enduring and ignoring, but that is not the way. ept the information, and filter it. Establish channels so that the more pressing information is brought forward, while the deaths of these microscopic beings are so small and distant, like so much background noise.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki gave a slow nod of her head, taking a deep breath. First, she shrank the range of her senses, making it more manageable. She knew very well the sort of training that she preferred. In fact, she had already nned to submerge herself in a deste forest, and train her sense of death in a simr fashion until it was fully under her control. However, it seemed that that was not what Irena wanted for her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If you simply endure the sense of Death, it will be static that you only hear when you want to.¡± Irena said, as if to confirm her thoughts. ¡°You must always be aware of death and recognize its significance. Remember, every being that exists within this world does so under Dale¡¯s rule, and are therefore his subjects. Should not the death of those in his realm be an important subject for you, his chosen Servant?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">At those words, Tsubaki gasped, her eyes going wide. It was as Irena had said. She had nearly drowned out the new sense, blinding herself to the death around her after having just gained the ability to sense it. Her lips were pursed in a straight line, and she nodded her head. ¡°Channels¡­¡± This was something that she only truly had experience with when it came to controlling avatars. Otherwise, it was in her nature to tackle everything at once, and take on all problems as they urred


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Irena nodded, smiling a bit more happily now that it seemed that Tsubaki was truly motivated. ¡°Establish categories within death itself. The death of microscopic organisms would have the tiniest channel, something for you to only perceive if you will it so. Thene graduallyrger creatures by the scale of their power and age. If a great defender of a territory perishes, you should be able to sense it from thousands of kilometers away.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I will not ask for you to bestow the same range to the people of the various races, as death is all toomon. Rather, the longer that something lives in this world, the less likely it is to die of natural causes. Once you have this first filter, it will be easier for you to add another, this one based on the cause of death.¡± Irena told her with a small nod.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As your first filter already reduces the amount of natural deaths brought to the forefront of your attention, this next filter will have a far lower strain ced upon it. Deaths by sickness and natural mdies can be made lower in priority, with violent deathsing in more clearly. In this sense, you will be able to tell when creatures around you are being killed, and you can adjust the range of each channel to suit your needs.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki gave a small nod, doing her best to follow Irena¡¯s advice. As she established the filters, the pain from the previous overloads gradually began to recede, making her only dimly aware of what had transpired. However, a soft ping captured her attention, causing her to nce over at her terminal. Normally, her alerts were muted during these training sessions, with the exception being high priority threat messages. Given that her terminal was alerting her, something must have happened. ¡°Pardon me.¡± She said, moving over to the terminal.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Report Sender: Sher Dien


    <span style="font-weight:400">A small insectoid monster has emerged through a scheduled rift exploration experiment, and has managed to escape containment. After the deployment of the Saints Guard, we have reason to believe that the creature managed to evade the purging of the site. The creature has shown capable of burrowing through concrete in a short period that has been reinforced with both enchantments and ki, and has disyed the ability to rapidlyy eggs following its escape. The Saints Guard are waiting near the site, requesting reinforcements to aid against this potential threat.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Irena read through the information over Tsubaki¡¯s shoulder, offering a small nod. ¡°This seems important.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I should dispatch Dana.¡± Tsubaki muttered in agreement. Dana was easily the best at dealing with hordes of smaller monsters, while Tsubaki herself specialized in single,rger targets. As for Lifre, her specialtyy more in reinforcing and leading a group of allies.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, you handle this yourself.¡± Irena said, cing a hand on Tsubaki¡¯s shoulder before she could forward the message to Dana. ¡°Use this situation to hone your sense of death. Your growth is fastest during a crisis, is it not?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki hesitated for a brief moment, before nodding her head. She was not about to disobey the orders of Irena, though she did have her reservations. After all, it was not only her life on the line here, but those of the people who lived one Sher Dien. ¡°I will do as you say, Lady Irena.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Irena gave a satisfied smile, slowly standing up. ¡°And you are only to use the power of death to find your targets. Use your other powers to kill them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">This time, Tsubaki was thoroughly confused, not sure why she was being forbidden from using the power of death from destroying the threat. However, she ultimately nodded her head in agreement. ¡°As you wish.¡± She said, before turning and opening a portal with a wave of her hand.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once she had left the room, Ryone¡¯s voice spoke up in the air. ¡°Why not let her use your power, there? That seems¡­ odd for you.¡± Ryone had been paying attention to the alert herself, having been prepared to mobilize Dana to deal with it if Irena had not decided to send Tsubaki.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Irena simply shook her head with a sullen sigh. ¡°She¡¯s lived too long. When she witnessed the death of Fafnir, she thought that it was an affront to the Keeper that someone had in his dragon, and knew that Dana would be upset. But she was not truly affected by the loss of such a great creature. As one that has tread among death since she could hold a de, it has lost its significance to her.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°With the filters I had her set up, she will be acutely aware of everything that dies a violent death around her, and she will feel the weight of that death. This is my trial to her, to understand the significance of death. Given what I had told her before, she won¡¯t let herself drown it out anymore. Instead, she¡¯ll study this feeling to try to truly understand it. Only once she has done that can she wield my Death.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s unusual for you to talk that much about something.¡± Ryone said in a faintly teasing tone. ¡°You must really like having a disciple like her.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Maybe¡­¡± Irena said, her lips curling up slightly. ¡°We¡¯ll have to see if she can ovee this trial, first. I don¡¯t like having to use the lives of others as an incentive, but this is the only way to guide someone like her.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki appeared high above the castle of Sher Dien, her eyes roaming the horizon. Judging by the coordinates attached to the report, the location of the threat was not that far from the royal capital. Her eyes traced across the manynd bridges over the horizon, finally setting on a fresh crater far in the distance. With a thought, her body appeared at the edge of the crater, where she was greeted by a unicorn centauress.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Lady Tsubaki, thank you for responding so quickly.¡± The centauress said, bending her knees and dipping her head in what the centaurs regarded as a bow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I received your report. You said that there is a monster threat in this area?¡± She asked, looking at the smoking crater. There were no gaps within the crater that implied a tunnel, meaning that it would have likely been covered up in the st.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. Even now, I still feel the de of death at my heart.¡± The centauress said in a serious tone, patting her chest with one hand. Tsubaki nodded, able to faintly feel something herself. However, this sensation was too distant for her to get a proper grasp on it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Recalling Irena¡¯s words, Tsubaki closed her eyes, focusing on the sense of death. ¡°How long ago?¡± She asked, knowing the other party would understand her intention.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We performed the purge four hours ago.¡± Tsubaki¡¯s brow twitched at that, noting that she needed to increase their AI staff if it took so long for the message to be delivered to her terminal. Still, she expanded the scope of her senses, letting out a soft gasp when she felt <i><span style="font-weight:400">it</i><span style="font-weight:400">. A sense of pain from bodies being torn apart and devoured.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Far below the surface, she could sense subterranean creatures being ripped apart, feeling their deaths as if they were her own now that she had focused her senses so. Her instinct was to turn away from these feelings, but she forced that response down. She needed to feel this to understand the situation, even as her fists trembled. She focused more heavily on this death, and saw vicious monsters tearing apart those creatures beneath the ground. At this point, they could only vaguely be described as insectoid due to their chitinous shell and scythe-like ws. Otherwise, they seemed to be taking on traits simr to those of the creatures being devoured.


    <span style="font-weight:400">More importantly, there was not just a single monster like this, but thousands. However, the bulk of the deaths still urred at a central area beneath the ground, where one creature with a truly insectoid appearance devoured those brought before it,ying eggs soon afterwards. Even within the eggs, Tsubaki could feel the presence of death, causing her to grit her teeth.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Rationally, she knew that she was more than strong enough to deal with the threat below. Yet for a brief moment, she felt powerless to stop it. She knew that this feeling came from the sense of death washing over her, and quickly focused her control. <i><span style="font-weight:400">This death does not control me¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She muttered inwardly, repeating Irena¡¯s constant warnings. Only now did she truly understand the significance of those words.

 Chapter 809: The Burden Of Death

    Chapter 809: The Burden Of Death


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">This is a species that exhibits the effects of rapid evolution in a more predatory fashion than the creatures of Spica. Instead of adapting to their environment, they devour the residents of a new environment and pass on the traits of those creatures to ater generation. That means that one of the original monsters that came through must have been capable of bing a brood mother.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s mind raced at a mile a minute as she felt every death clearly, the pressure increasing on her mind. <i><span style="font-weight:400">In the worst case scenario, all members of this species have the potential to be the queen. If that is the case, it is likely a dominant trait passed down to all members of the species. I have to destroy all of them at once, or they will spread through Sher Dien like an all-consuming tide.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki took a deep breath, steadying herself. She felt as if she understood why Irena had sent her here. Whether or not Irena knew the full situation was another matter entirely. <i><span style="font-weight:400">She didn¡¯t let me use the power of Death for anything other than detection. Think of the meaning behind that. Am I not ready, or is there a deeper lesson?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she wondered that, her nine tails began to shine brighter and brighter, as if to counteract the pain that she felt with every death. Her heart felt as if it were being ripped to shreds, yet her light burned brighter than ever. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯s so easy to end a life. Thousands of creatures are being ughtered effortlessly beneath my feet. But they all feel this pain¡­ is that why?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki lifted one shaking hand, gathering the light from her tails to a fine point at the tip of her finger. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Death is everywhere, I can feel it. It¡¯s not just in those that are dying, but also in those that kill. Expand my senses to those who seek to bring death.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The moment Tsubaki thought that, her death perception seemed to shift. Like a ripple in a pond, the sense of death spread out. Every monster beneath her feet, whether actively killing a monster or still waiting to be born, all were projected in this new sense. However, what caused her to shake the most was not the horrors she was witnessing below.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Instead, it was that her own body shone the brightest in this sense. The death that she was bringing far outstripped what the monsters below were hoping to achieve. They sought to sate their hunger, while she aimed for the genocide of their entire species. The death that she was attempting to unleash was magnitudes greater, and she knew that. But still, seeing it was another matter entirely.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Even so, she steeled her heart. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I can¡¯t turn away from this.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She thought to herself, the first beam of light shooting from the sphere gathered at her fingertip like a bullet. It dug into the ground, piercing through three of the creatures silently. In order to aid in her attacks, she was mixing in the Stealth domain, but that would only cover her tracks so much.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Within a moment, there was an uproar in the rapidly growing hive below. New bodies were found again and again, and Tsubaki could see them being dragged towards the hive¡¯s queen, as if she would even eat her own kin. Others, the clear soldiers of the groups, began digging up through the tiny holes left by her beams of light.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The first three were only a test to see how it felt. Being connected to the deaths of everything in her perception meant that she even felt the pain of those she killed. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Smaller¡­ a finer cut.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She thought, the sphere of light shrinking further. She still felt the pain of her arms being severed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At this point, the rays of light being shot out were too small to see with the naked eye. There was just the sound of something being cut, and then another monster would stop moving. <i><span style="font-weight:400">There¡¯s no such thing as a truly painless death, is there? Thatst moment, thatst sensation stretches on for an eternity.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki felt as if she were beginning to understand something important, even if it was something that she didn¡¯t want to learn. All of the blood that she had spilled over the years, all of the lives she had seen extinguished, all of it shed before her eyes once she realized what Irena was really after. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I see¡­</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The golden tails of the Goddess of Light shifted, ripples forming as they turned almost ashen. Nearby, Sra¡¯s eyes went wide at the change, hastily retreating several paces while watching Tsubaki. The light at her fingertips began to expand outwards once again, but it was no longer a radiant sphere. Instead, it seemed more like a dull gray orb writhing above her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°All at once, then.¡± She muttered to herself, channeling the power of her Light domain through her sensory perception. This was the same trick that she used when creating her divine relic, but she was now putting it into use in another way. Every monster below her was silently being marked, their presences tracked even as some attempted to scatter.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s finger rotated in a circle, the sphere shifting to form a ring that rose higher into the air. Bracing herself, Tsubaki took a deep breath, lowering her finger to the ground. Immediately, the ring seemed to vanish into nothing, though Tsubaki clenched her fists harder for several long seconds as her body trembled. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Reduce the range, lower the sensitivity.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sra wasn¡¯t able to see what had happened, but a part of her knew. The token in her pocket shattered, confirming her suspicions as she saw the ground littered with finger-thick holes. The ring hadn¡¯t vanished, it had shot out too fast for her to witness. Given the fact that the token was spent, it seemed as if the crisis had been resolved in this area.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thank you for your assistance, Lady Tsubaki.¡± Sra said with another respectful bow, though Tsubaki didn¡¯t even turn her shoulder. From start to finish, she had kept her words short, though the pained expression on her face did not escape Sra¡¯s notice. Instead, she watched the Keeper¡¯s Servant tear open a portal before silently stepping through.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">On the other side of the portal, Irena sat within the training room that they had been using previously. Her legs were crossed, hands in herp while her wings were brought in close. ¡°So, how did you feel?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡­ hurt.¡± Tsubaki answered honestly. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect it to hurt that much.¡± As someone that had already technically died once, she had long forgotten the fear of death innate to all living beings. Now, having experienced death on such a scale, each one registering in her perception as her own, something felt different.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Good.¡± Irena nodded her head in satisfaction. ¡°There¡¯s hope for you, yet.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You wanted me to feel this way?¡± Tsubaki asked in confusion, not sure why Irena would want that. ¡°Will this not slow me down when I am executing the Keeper¡¯s will?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°On the contrary, I believe it will make your resolve more firm than ever.¡± Irena retorted. ¡°The weight of a death can be measured in many ways. How did the individual live? What results will their death have on their surroundings? All of these need to be considered when truly judging a death. A powerful criminal who brutalizes those within his domain is killed, causing the people to rejoice. However, there were other criminals afraid to act in his presence. Although their powers were lower, they were far more violent. Abuse turned into murder, the citizens plunged into an even worse fate than before.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You might believe that it is your responsibility to ensure the happiest path for Dale¡¯s world. In that case, I can only say that you are being immature. However strong, however old, however wise you may be, you are but one person. It is not up to you to know the future. Your job is as it has always been, to serve as Dale¡¯s sword and his shield, his servant within the mortal coil.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Irena¡¯s eyes were firm as she looked at Tsubaki. ¡°At the same time, you are your own person, an identity that began forming the day that Dale gave you that name. Treasure that name, and the memories that havee because of it. Whenever you fight, you are so willing to put yourself in danger to see the sess of your n. But you never think about how others would feel when you are gone, do you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Or are you assuming that Dale will give you the same treatment that he gave Leowynn and Scarlet?¡± She asked, to which Tsubaki¡¯s face went pale. She had never believed herself to be worthy of something like that. ¡°I didn¡¯t think so. You don¡¯t expect to continue, you just don¡¯t regard your life as a high priority. Tell me¡­ what would Dana think if you died?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s shoulders trembled at that. Normally, she¡¯d be able to think about the question calmly, ande to a conclusion with logical thought. She knew that Dana would be upset, but she believed that she would move on over time. However, after what she had just felt, and recalling Dana¡¯s history, that belief shattered in an instant. ¡°She¡¯d self-destruct.¡± Tsubaki answered after a long moment.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She could even see it now. If Dana learned that Tsubaki had died, if the Keeper didn¡¯t give her the same treatment as Leowynn and Scarlet, Dana would spend a few days in disbelief. She wouldn¡¯t want to ept it, and would constantly wait for Tsubaki to return. After that, her disbelief would turn to dread, and her spirit would quite literally dissolve. Either she would be the worst of monsters, or her existence would be simply shattered.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Irena said softly, standing from her seat and walking over to ce a hand on Tsubaki¡¯s shoulder. ¡°She¡¯s not the only one counting on you. That¡¯s why, no matter what danger you face, you can never think of your death as an eptable oue to achieve victory. You must always seek to find a better way.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Bring Death to your enemies, so that you can spare your family from it. That is the Death I am imparting to you. I know that you have the strength to achieve it, though I do apologize for pushing you into the fire like that. I believed it to be the best way to temper yourself, and to realize with your own heart what I was trying to teach you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded her head, taking a slow breath. ¡°I understand, Lady Irena. And, thank you¡­ if not for you, I may have made a terrible mistake one day. Though, out of curiosity¡­?¡± She nced up, an almost innocent expression on her face as she met Irena¡¯s eyes, causing the Goddess of Death to let out a lightugh.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Dale would never ept your death any more than he did his own daughter¡¯s, nor would we let him. But that does not change my point. You hold a special ce in this world as the mortal closest to the Keeper. If you were to ascend to our home, that special position would be given away. Or, do you think that Dana would make a better Servant for Dale than you would?¡± She asked with a taunting smile.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Next, condense the mana into the smallest shape you can manage.¡± Ryone said, standing near Dana and instructing her. ¡°Once the mana has reached a sufficient density, you¡¯ll be able to solidify it just like you would a block of refined mana.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Won¡¯t that just cause the spell to activate?¡± Dana asked, her brow furrowed as she focused on reducing the size of the fourth-tier spell before her, gradually shrinking it while being careful to avoid altering the positioning of any of the lines.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not if you leave out the final bit of mana needed for the spell to activate.¡± Ryone shook her head. ¡°If you do it right, you will be able to create the shell of a spell, one that you can carry around as small as amon marble. Then, when you need the spell, you use your mana to activate it. This way, you will have a ready-made fourth-tier spell that you can throw out at any time. Think of it like one of the scrolls you made back in the day, only more advanced.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana nodded her head, focusing further. So far, she had never gotten a spell to shrink further than the size of her fist before it destabilized, but she was determined to master this technique. There were simply too many advantages to being able to carry spells of that level around on your body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The spell she was working on had shrunken nearly to the side of her head, when suddenly a chill ran through her body. With her concentration broken for a brief moment, the spell in front of her shattered. ¡°Did it suddenly get colder in here?¡± She asked, shuddering as she nced around. Ryone shook her head with a small smile.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, that¡¯s just Irena teasing Tsubaki.¡± Ryone answered, much to Dana¡¯s confusion. ¡°Now get back to work. You can¡¯t im to have reached the pinnacle of magic with only this much, can you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana let out a long sigh, shaking her head. ¡°Of course, Lady Ryone¡­¡±

 Chapter 810: New Paths

    Chapter 810: New Paths


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thanks for your work again today.¡± One chef spoke up to another, offering a deep bow of gratitude. ¡°With the Aurans around, the dinner rush has been really hectictely.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The other chef merely shook his head with a calm smile, his blond hair still tied back from the work in the kitchen. ¡°It¡¯s fine. Though, didn¡¯t I suggest you stop using the skill system when cooking? It will just make the dishes lose their uniqueness.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The first chef gave a somewhat bitter smile when he heard that. ¡°Yeah, but¡­ it¡¯s hard to keep up with the demand if we don¡¯t use it. Better to have consistently good dishes than risk something getting burnt during a rush, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The blonde, kitsune chef gave a small sigh at that. ¡°I suppose, though I¡¯m still against it. It¡¯s those little intricacies that make every dish special, after all.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a nod, the first chef nced towards the door. ¡°Any idea what you¡¯re up to next, then? I¡¯d be happy to have you stick around longer, if you¡¯ll be in town.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, I was just passing through, and wanted to pay a visit.¡± He said, one handing down to stroke along the edge of the cooled stove. A smile appeared on his face as he thought back to his past. ¡°It¡¯s always important to remember where you came from, after all.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The other chef blinked, eyes going wide. ¡°Where you came from¡­ Aznod, does that mean you--¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not yet, but I¡¯m close.¡± He shook his head, a somewhat bitter smile on his face. ¡°Had they released the information about the forging any sooner, I¡¯d have likely achieved my first goal. As it is¡­ I suppose that this opens up a future path for me.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The other man gave a small nod. ¡°Is there anything that I can do to help?¡± He had known Aznod since the man had just started his career as a chef, and had seen him taking to it like a natural.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod knew that his old friend meant well, so he considered it seriously, before nodding his head. ¡°If I could use your kitchen, now that everything has been closed for the night, that would be much appreciated. I¡¯ll be sure to clean up after myself when I¡¯m done.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The man hesitated at that, as he knew what would happen if Aznod failed in his ns. However, he ultimately gave a small nod. ¡°Alright, then.¡± Saying that, he pulled the keys from his pocket, passing them over to Aznod, who gratefully epted them. Once the other man had left the building, he looked around the empty kitchen, a small smile on his face.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I suppose it¡¯s time to get started.¡± He said, extending one hand into the empty space beside himself. A knife seemed to flicker into existence in his hand, his other producing a deck of cards.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Each of these cards contained an ingredient that he had personally hunted or gathered after achieving his Divine Soul. Some of these items he had to go to other worlds merely to collect, and had been forced to seal them in mass-produced capture cards. ¡°If divinity can be forged, then what¡¯s to stop it from being served?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">This thought had echoed in his mind ever since Aznod heard about the process of forging divinity. In order to find the perfectbination of ingredients, he had practiced with multiple different energybinations. What cuisine would stir ki to act in a specific way? How about mana? Was there a dish that could cause the very forces of nature to kneel in its presence?


    <span style="font-weight:400">In the process of his experiments, he stumbled across two traits which made his dream possible. The first was an appraisal energy, one specifically focused on analyzing the properties of food. Of course, the effects involved only applied to when he himself ate it. It was impossible for the energy to predict whether the food was meant to be served to someone allergic to it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The other trait he acquired was a special title, the Miracle Chef, a title obtained when he became the highest level chef in the world. The effect of this title was quite simple, in that it allowed him to mentally practice with ingredients in a manner simr to the Schr¡¯s ability, Mental Archive. However, instead of a repository of information, it was a grand kitchen with any appliance he had ever handled. The ingredients could be pulled from any that he had worked with before, and the title allowed the quality to be reproduced perfectly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In this way, he had gone around to harvest countless monsters, dismantling their corpses and experimenting with the usable byproducts. Anything that he believed had even the slightest chance of being involved in the process, he gathered for his experiments.


    <span style="font-weight:400">By the end of it, Aznod had made multiple discoveries, and increased his Chef level by leaps and bounds. The energy that he had created prevented him from ingesting any of the more poisonous substances that he made with a failed trial, while those that seeded turned into bonuses applied to his base stats.


    <span style="font-weight:400">One discovery that he made¡­ the sad acknowledgement that forging divinity was truly easier than preparing it as a dish. This was true for no other reason than the existence of divine gold. Divine gold served to reinforce the divinity during the forging process, and he had struggled to find a proper alternative. After all, when gods die, they don¡¯t leave behind a body that can be dismantled.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, he was not one to give up, and had been working on a way to resolve this crisis. In the end, he came up with a way to do so, through the use of card magic. By sealing a shard of divinity within a card, and then using a fusion card tobine it with a card containing a b of meat, the meat bes infused with divine properties. This, among other things, amplifies the taste of the dish prepared with that meat, and stimtes the divinity of the consumer.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After testing this out, he looked back at the forging process again, thinking what the best parallel would be. While serving divine meat was great, it would overpower the rest of the dish, defeating the purpose of having the customer¡¯s divine spark turned into a dish that would help them reach godhood.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Since divine gold dust is used by sprinkling it on the ore prior to forging, I should make my divine ingredient a spice.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Thanks to this line of thought, Aznod now possessed a full line of divine spices. However, his journey was far from over with only this.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Shaking his head, he removed the distracting thoughts from his mind before beginning to toss the cards onto the empty counters one by one. ¡°I won¡¯t be able to enjoy the full process until after I¡¯ve ascended anyways.¡± He muttered to himself. ¡°For now, just a standard dish to help me with the next step.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Just as the divine forging came with a warning to not use in the middle of the three-step ascension, he believed that divine cuisine would have a simr conflict. Thus, he nned to put his theories to practice only after he had achieved his first domain.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We greet the Lady Goddess.¡± Two elven figures draped in dark purple robes dropped to their knees, both of them sporting pitch ck hair. The ground surrounding the pair appeared shattered and distorted, making it seem as if an explosion had gone off.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nearby, a third figure appeared to emerge from the starlight itself, wearing the night¡¯s sky as a dress as she descended to the earth below. ¡°Congrattions to the both of you.¡± She said in a warm tone, expressing her admiration for the two female figures that knelt before her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We thank you for these words.¡± The two spoke, still in unison, causing the Goddess to chuckle lightly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You can drop such grand formalities, I promise.¡± Though Leowynn had told them so time and again, perhaps it would be easier to ept now that the two were no longer strictly mortal. ¡°Were you both able to obtain the domains that you wanted?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two nodded their heads, the one on the right being the first to speak as she lifted her head. ¡°I have achieved the domain of Night.¡± She answered, her eyes ck pools. Meanwhile, the one on the left had silver pools in her eyes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And I have achieved the domain of Moon.¡± She spoke up, her body rxing only slightly at Leowynn¡¯s former words.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Congrattions, Strea, Lyra. Then, the next step will be to consolidate your power within the void.¡± As these were the first of the Fallen Gods to ascend under Leowynn¡¯s guidance, it was up to her to show them how to utilize their powers, based on what she had learned on her own.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two nodded again, looking like they were about to speak before Leowynn lifted an amused brow. They simply sighed, content to nod their heads and let her continue. ¡°Good. Now, let¡¯s go. I need to check on the Guardian, still.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two nced at one another as Leowynn tore open a gap in the void, a pitch ck portal leading to an infinite nothingness. Without hesitation, the two followed Leowynn through, where they found themselves surrounded by a weing sensation. The power of the void embraced them, fueling their newfound powers in a way that they had never imagined.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Where is he¡­¡± Leowynn muttered, her eyes scanning the surroundings. Behind the two of them, they could see the sphere which represented the universe that they had juste from. Although it was not exactly small, it was far smaller than the size of a. That said, Leowynn herself seemed to have be utterly massive upon entering the void, so it was possible that size was subjective in this realm.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ah, there he is.¡± She smiled, seeing the armored guardian in the distance. Her eyes shed, scanning through his information to make sure that he did not show any signs of corruption. Only once that had been done did she let out a small sigh of relief.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay, it looks like he won¡¯t cause any trouble for the two of you, and most of the void monsters in this zone have been dealt with already. Now, let¡¯s have you establish your sanctuaries.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing Leowynn¡¯s words, the two nced towards one another again, Lyra lifting her hand cautiously. ¡°Lady Goddess, how are we to do that?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Find a position within the void that you want to set up as your starter point, and condense your domain in a sphere in front of you.¡± As she said that, she gestured towards another sphere idly floating in the distance. Unlike the one behind them, this one seemed far more rugged. The limitless gxies within were reced by what seemed like a single, making the two quickly realize what they were seeing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is that your sanctuary, Lady Goddess?¡± Strea asked with wide eyes, though Leowynn shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, that¡¯s the sanctuary of a friend of mine. She ascended as a Fallen God like yourselves, so she was the first to establish a sanctuary within the void. Now, the two of you will be following her example. Once you¡¯ve set it up, this sanctuary will be your permanent base of operations. No matter where you are, or which world you¡¯re in, you will be able to return with a thought, allowing you to pull yourselves from danger.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Although this is a bit harder, it will also be possible for you to manifest your sanctuary within a world for a short period, offering you aid in battle.¡± As Leowynn began to list the benefits of the sanctuaries, the two Fallen Goddesses looked through the vast void.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Lady Goddess.¡± Strea spoke up. ¡°Which of these worlds represents Spica? I would like to ce my sanctuary near that world.¡± Lyra blinked, realizing what Strea was implying, before quickly nodding her head in agreement.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s¡­ that one over there.¡± She gestured, pointing towards a distant sphere. ¡°Why Spica in particr, though?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Because it is the world created by the Goddess Ryone, your mother. A world where starlight holds the power everyone spends their life pursuing. It¡¯s clear that she created this world with you in mind, so I thought it best for us to position ourselves around this world, as your first Fallen Gods.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn blinked at that, giving a small nod of her head. She couldn¡¯t fault Strea¡¯s logic, as Spica really had been created with her in mind. Even the name had been chosen based on the name of a star in Dale¡¯s former world, though that particr detail would naturally elude anyone from this time. She watched as the pair made their way over to the ce where she had gestured, extending their hands forward.


    <span style="font-weight:400">ck energies began to wrap around the two within the void, small spheres condensing before each of them. The inside of the spheres were dark,cking even the single celestial body of the sanctuary that she had shown them as an example. ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡± Leowynn¡¯s words calmed them as soon as they began to fear that they had failed. ¡°Establishing the framework of your sanctuaryes first.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Once you have the sphere formed, and have made sure that it won¡¯t be destroyed easily, you can consider working on improving it. Within the sanctuary, the worlds of the one who created it bew. You will be able to shape thend based on your thoughts, creating whatever scenery you wish for. Unless a stronger Fallen God invades your sanctuary, you will hold a considerable advantage.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Finally, if you want to stabilize your sanctuary further and enhance its power, you can do so by hunting monsters within the void, using their energies to contribute to the quality of your sanctuary.¡± When the two Fallen Goddesses heard that, their eyes went briefly wide. As they had been embraced by the void, they could see the true forms of the monsters lurking within it. This also meant that they knew just how numerous the monsters within the void were, though most seemed to be avoiding the spheres representing major worlds, as the Guardian was protecting those.

 Chapter 811: Cooking Up A Storm

    Chapter 811: Cooking Up A Storm


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lily let out a long sigh, wiping her forehead as she stood within a dark cave, holding a bucket under one arm. It had taken her longer than expected to find an orichalcum mine that wasn¡¯t being actively watched. However, now that she had found one, she had been able to mine the orichalcum that she needed to meet Scarlet¡¯s requirements.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Granted, she was aware now that Scarlet was not simply giving her ¡®blessing¡¯. For her purposes, though, there was not much difference in what Lily had to do. Reaching into one of her pockets, she pulled out a token of Aurivy, idly thumbing it in one hand while closing her eyes. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I have met your requirements, Goddess of Ki.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She sent the message silently, hoping for some form of acknowledgement or instructions.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet¡¯s response dide roughly a minuteter, just as Lily was starting to believe it wouldn¡¯t. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Mhm. I¡¯ve sent the blood and instructions to James.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> It seemed as if Scarlet was not going to ask her to do any other form of task before she was able to have her divinity forged, so Lily gave a thankful smile, flipping the token of Aurivy into the air.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Temple of Aurivy, Ashtanu!¡± She called out, catching the coin and clenching her fist with enough force to shatter it. Golden mist erupted from her hand, wrapping around her body and causing her to vanish from within the lonely mine.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As Lily arrived within the designated temple, she quickly deposited the orichalcum that she had mined into her storage device, not wanting to waste the opportunity now that she had gotten everything. She was naturally greeted by a priest, but offered him a childlike smile to let him believe that she was just another traveling halfling on her journey.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Upon leaving the temple, she saw a golden pir of light rising into the sky, seeming toe from a local restaurant. She raised an eyebrow, wondering why anyone had chosen to ascend in such a ce, before shaking her head. Thankfully, she had memorized the directions from the temple to the researcher¡¯s facility.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Moving through the streets, Lily was surprised to see quite a number of people loitering around the entrance of the facility. She tucked her shoulders in, controlling her expression to look as intimidated by the group as possible. Thanks to her Disguise domain, she was able to hide the signature of her divinity, preventing her from easily being discoverable.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Heh, they¡¯ve even got kids running errands for them now?¡± One of the men standing at the entrance said with a sneer, but nobody tried to stop her. Although they were clearly waiting with bad intentions, there seemed to be some tacit understanding not to stop peopleing in or out.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lily¡¯s shoulders shook slightly at those words, but she pushed open the door to enter the facility. Once inside, her body seemed to rx and straighten, and she made her way towards the reception area. There, she found a kitsune woman with nine tails sitting behind the counter. When Lily approached, the woman blinked, looking down at her. ¡°Are you here for--oh! You must be Lily, right? Scarlet told us you¡¯d being.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lily blinked at that, but nodded her head. ¡°Ah, that¡¯s right.¡± She had expected to be underestimated due to her appearance again, but it seemed like that wasn¡¯t the case here.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In that case, let¡¯s get you taken care of.¡± The kitsune woman tapped on her console, causing a ¡®Will Return Shortly¡¯ sign to hover over the desk before standing up. She rolled her shoulders, turning to guide Lily down the hall. ¡°I wasn¡¯t expecting you to get here so soon, so I apologize. We only just received word you¡¯d being.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lily gave a small nod of her head. ¡°If I can ask, what¡¯s with all those people outside?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The woman rolled her eyes in annoyance. ¡°All gods that got rejected by Scarlet. They think that if they stand out there andin, people will see that we are trying to ¡®control the power of gods in the world¡¯. The only reason that they don¡¯t get violent is because this is still Ashtanu. Trying to run wild and attack people in the city ruled by the Goddess of Life is just asking to be taken out. So, they just stand there and look menacing. I mean, that seems kind of petty if you ask me, but we¡¯ve already tried asking them to leave.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lily¡¯s eyes went wide, having not expected all of them to be gods. She was suddenly thankful that she had concealed her divinity and not attempted to probe any of them, as that would have revealed her situation to more people than she wanted. ¡°I see¡­ is there anything that I need to know about the process ahead of time?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The kitsune woman shook her head at that. ¡°Not really. We¡¯ll check the orichalcum you brought to make sure that it¡¯s pure enough. Then, once the machine is set up and you¡¯ve inserted a spark of divinity, you just sit and wait for it to finish. Oh, if you have other ns for the day, you can take care of those and we¡¯ll call you when it¡¯s done.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lily thought about it for a moment, but shook her head. She had pretty much cleared her ns for the day to take care of this, so it was fine as long as they were able to get it finished all at once. ¡°Then, when should I give the payment?¡± She tilted her head curiously, knowing that this wasn¡¯t free. After all, she was only providing one of the materials, so it was natural that she¡¯d need to pay for the rest.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You can pay once we¡¯re finished.¡± The kitsune woman said with a smile. ¡°Anyone that has earned the trust of Scarlet is someone that we believe won¡¯t leave without paying.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ah, right¡­¡± Lily nodded, not used to being openly trusted by people who had seen through her disguise.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Really, those guys¡­¡± Udona muttered to herself, looking at the screen of her terminal and seeing over a dozen gods ¡®peacefully protesting¡¯ outside of the Divine Forge facility. ¡°Maybe I should scare them off? No, that would just make a bad public image¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">A ck-haired kitsune woman emerged from a nearby shadow. ¡°If you like, we could take care of them quietly.¡± She said with a calm smile, though there was an almost ferocious glint in her eyes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona let out a deep groan when she heard that. ¡°I guess some of Tsubaki did rub off on you, Janaerra. We¡¯ll do nothing of the sort. Is that all that you came here to say?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course not, Your Highness.¡± She answered with a deep bow. ¡°A new applicant has appeared, requesting permission to work as a member of the pce¡¯s staff.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona blinked in confusion, looking over at Janaerra. ¡°A staff application?¡± This sort of matter wasn¡¯t umon, and there were actually dozens, sometimes hundreds of people that applied to work at Udona¡¯s pce every day. ¡°Why did you mention this one? The standing orders are to politely turn away applicants, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Janaerra nodded her head. ¡°That¡¯s true, but this one is most unusual. It¡¯s not often that a divine being applies to join the staff in such a position.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona simply raised her brow at that. ¡°What position is he aiming for? Bodyguard? Don¡¯t tell me he¡¯s trying to apply to be a royal consort¡­¡± Thest person that tried to do that was still on the run, though Udona kept tabs on him to make sure he didn¡¯t try anything else.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°He wants to be a chef, Your Highness.¡± Janaerra answered. ¡°Additionally, I had Phisher confirm his domain. Although he seems to be a newly ascended god, he possesses the domain of Cooking. Given these facts, I thought it best to bring it to your attention.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°A cooking god?¡± Udona blinked, suddenly interested. She rose from her desk, her tail swaying gently behind her. ¡°Take me to meet this man.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona¡¯s domains led her to be more of a cultural deity. Although her domain of life focused primarily on maintaining one¡¯s health, she had a secondary focus of the joys one could find in life. Among these joys, good food was rated quite highly. The chef brought over by Dana¡¯s shadows was by no means bad at his job, but she wouldn¡¯t say no to an upgrade.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Janaerra nodded her head, turning to lead Udona out of her office and down a number of corridors. ¡°Given the circumstances, I asked him to wait in the kitchen, while Despir monitors him to prevent any suspicious activities.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Probably a good choice.¡± Udona agreed, not wanting to leave a stranger unattended in the pce. It was unlikely that Despir would be able to fight against a god, but at the very least he¡¯d be able to tell whether one was up to no good.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When the two of them arrived at the kitchen, they saw a kitsune male with golden hair, standing with his arms behind his back. He seemed to be wearing the typical white jacket of a chef which Udona had introduced to the world after watching maybe one too many programs from Dale¡¯s old world. He gave a low bow, greeting the pair. ¡°Lady Udona, it¡¯s a pleasure to meet you in person.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona arched a curious brow at his motion, able to tell that there was a bit of stiffness in his movements. ¡°You don¡¯t have to be nervous. This is just a standard test to see if you are fit for employment or not.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯re mistaken, Your Highness.¡± The man said, shaking his head slightly. ¡°I am not nervous from being in your presence. My main self has already departed for Spica, where I n to cultivate my second domain. I apologize that I am not here with my primary body, but the time differences made such a thing not usible.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona blinked curiously at his words. It was clear that he was still trying to improve himself even after just ascending, though to not meet a member of the Greater Pantheon with your true body seemed unusual. Especially when you are applying to work for them. ¡°Alright¡­ I¡¯ll hear you out. Why is it that you wish to work for me?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The kitsune man smiled broadly at her question. ¡°I believe that you, as well as the other members of the Greater Pantheon who take an active role within the world, could use some assistance, or at the very least some relief. Not only are you handling the affairs of your nation, but also the prayers of countless individuals. I have done my research, so I know that your typical god will at most recruit one hundred priests. Any more than that will cause too high a strain.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°However, each of you of the Greater Pantheon possess millions of priests, scattered over numerous worlds. I could not imagine the mental strain of handling both that and the affairs of an empire the size of Deckan at the same time. Thus, I have made it my duty as a chef to provide whatever relief I could.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona gave a slow nod, able to sense the faith flowing from his words. Faith from a god was always easier to sense than that of a mortal, so she knew that he was being honest. She actually shifted on her feet slightly, not used to such honest concern from someone. ¡°...Well then, show me what you can do.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The kitsune gave another bow, standing and facing the kitchen counters. He took a deep breath, mobilizing his divinity as a dozen cards shot out from his body at once, eachnding on the counter to form a different ingredient, ranging from loaves of bread to bs of meat. With a flick of his wrists, utensils appeared above each ingredient, starting to prepare them for cooking. ¡°As the God of Cooking, I can wield various powers to a lesser degree, all in the names of preparing the perfect dish.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona nodded, licking her lips slightly as she watched the scene unfold before her. She could sense a trace of divinity in every ingredient, even the small bowls of salt and vinegar waiting at the side. ¡°What are you making, then?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°A dish you introduced to the world many years ago.¡± He answered calmly, even as a fire lit itself under the meat to cook it. ¡°The name has evolved over time, but I believe you called it a Filling Cheesesteak?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...Close enough.¡± She knew that the name of a philly cheesesteak changed over a century ago, and it was now called the Deckan Steakburger. She watched as the b of meat was cut into thin and even slices, the bread cut open and toasted. Just the aroma of the food was enough to make her gulp in anticipation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">To her surprise, it was not merely fire and the control of tools that the new god seemed to wield. The cooking process was unnaturally fast, the thin-sliced meat cooked to perfection in seconds as opposed to the long minutes normally spent. In fact, the entire dish took less than a minute to prepare, at which point there were three ¡®Deckan Steakburgers¡¯ arranged on a tray in front of Udona.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Three?¡± Udona asked curiously, a smile tugging at her lips. However, the chef simply nodded his head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If you are satisfied with my cooking, you can store what remains forter, or share it among your friends. I assure you, the divinity within the food will prevent it from losing any quality for up to a month, even if left in the open air.¡¯


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona gave a slow nod of her head, picking up the centermost sandwich and biting into it. When she did so, her eyes went wide in shock, a gasp leaving her closed mouth while her tail stood straight behind her. The chef simply watched calmly as Udona sat frozen. A momentter, she began devouring the sandwich like a woman possessed, her tail beginning to rapidly sway back and forth.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Only once she was done with her sandwich did she grab a napkin, trying to wipe away the bits of cheese on the corner of her mouth as if it would wipe away the disy she had just put on. ¡°You¡¯re hired.¡± She said, a small blush touching her cheeks from the embarrassment of being seen acting like that.

 Chapter 812: What’s In The Box?!

    Chapter 812: What¡¯s In The Box?!


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What are we out here for again?¡± alia asked with a long sigh, leaning against a tree as Keliope and Aurivy stood nearby. The ursa goddess appeared equally confused, while Aurivy was just scanning the nearby meadow with unfocused eyes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Keliope shrugged her shoulders. ¡°The shrimp just said she¡¯d let me punch stuff if I came along. Given that she wanted me, I thought that it¡¯d be something interesting.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Nope.¡± Aurivy said, eyes still somewhat unfocused, as if she were purposely doing so. ¡°It¡¯s nothing important.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What?¡± The two goddesses looked at her in confusion, Keliope¡¯s eye twitching. ¡°You brought me all the way out here to punch¡­ nothing? You realize punching is pretty much my thing, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right. Absolutely nothing.¡± She nodded her head, before her eyes picked up a bit of movement. Her body suddenly blurred, rushing into the grass and pulling out arge, ck box. ¡°Got you!¡± She shouted, stunning the two other goddesses as they watched Aurivy holding up the box, having watched her m it down over an empty patch of grass.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay, Aurivy¡­¡± Keliope looked at the pink-haired girl. ¡°You¡¯d better start exining quickly. I was promised that I¡¯d get to punch something.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, I told you that you might be able to get into an interesting fight.¡± Aurivy corrected, focusing and causing the box to shrink in her hands. ¡°And you still might, if nothing happens again.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What¡¯s in the box?¡± alia asked, knowing that Aurivy rarely did things pointlessly. It wasn¡¯t unheard of, but it was at least somewhat rare.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Nothing.¡± Aurivy said proudly. ¡°Absolutely nothing is in the box. Oh, there¡¯s some air, too. But mostly nothing.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s the same thing.¡± Keliope grumbled, ring at the box as if it was the great offender in all of this.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Wait, I don¡¯t think it is.¡± alia said as she extended a hand to stop Keliope. ¡°Aurivy¡­ what is this ¡®nothing¡¯ that you¡¯re talking about? Aspanions, there¡¯s nothing that should escape our notice. Thus, the fact that we perceive the box as empty means that it should truly be empty.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, it is empty.¡± Aurivy nodded. ¡°And you¡¯re correct, <i><span style="font-weight:400">nothing</i><span style="font-weight:400"> can escape our notice.¡± There was a grin splitting her face as if she was telling some grand joke that only she understood. ¡°In fact, nothing has been escaping our notice for a long, long time. At least a century, I¡¯d say. Maybe even a thousand years!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was alia¡¯s turn to have her eye twitching. ¡°Okay, I¡¯m the Goddess of Wisdom, and even I don¡¯t understand what you¡¯re talking about.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy giggled, shaking her head. ¡°I¡¯m talking about nothing. Nothing at all. You can¡¯t see it, not really, because that would make it something. I even had to make sure neither of you could focus on it before I grabbed it, or else you might have killed it by identifying it as ¡®something¡¯.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Nothing is¡­ well it¡¯s nothing! If I had to put it intomon words, it is the most harmless void entity that has evere into the world, carrying the concept of nonexistence. You can only vaguely see it as visual distortions when your eyes are unfocused, because once you focus on it, you identify it as something. When nothing is identified as something, it ceases to be nothing. Make sense?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No!¡± Keliope called out, though alia furrowed her brow, looking out at the field as her eyes began to unfocus as well. It didn¡¯t take long for her to notice the distortions, which appeared to only be a natural part of trying to see with an unfocused gaze.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯re saying that all of that is ¡®nothing¡¯?¡± She asked, to which Aurivy shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not all of it. When you see visual distortions like that, it¡¯s more often than not just a trick of the brain trying to fill in information that you¡¯re not actively looking at. Other times, it¡¯ll be because your brain doesn¡¯t know how to process what is really there. Nothing has no color, no identifiable shape, and does not exist on any level that we can consciously recognize.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Then how do you even know that it¡¯s in that box?¡± Keliope challenged, to which Aurivy smiled proudly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I don¡¯t! The moment I open the box, the contents within it will be ¡®something¡¯, thus eliminating any nothingness that is inside.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">alia let out a low, canine-like whine. ¡°Then¡­ what are we here for?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Now that¡¯s the million dor question!¡± Aurivy said as she pointed to the lycan goddess. ¡°Nothingness has been around for so long. I only discovered it by chance when scrolling through my personal history to try and find some loose change I forgot about. Nothing is what causes stuff that you forget about to disappear. It¡¯s almost always something small. A sock, a coin, maybe an old family trinket.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Once there is nobody that is thinking of that item, it bes food for nothing. After that, nothing can spread. Due to the perception-distorting nature it possesses, it can pass from home to home, move all over an entire city and never be spotted.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°When enough of nothing is present, it turns an area into nowhere. Nothing is naturally drawn towards nothing, as it is all rejected by everything. Thus, I want to use the nothing I caught to find the door to nowhere, a ce that can¡¯t be found unless you know where it is, but is also destroyed when its existence is known.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keliope¡¯s hand came up to grip her forehead when she heard that. ¡°Ow¡­ this talk is making my head hurt. Why do you want to find a ce that will just be destroyed once you know it exists?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I want to use the moment of its discovery as the basis to create a divine territory!¡± Aurivy shouted happily. ¡°A realm that cannot be essed without prior knowledge of its location, but can appear anywhere for those that know where it is.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay¡­ okay, I can get that¡­ then why are we here?¡± Keliope followed her question up with another one, causing Aurivy to shrug.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Nothing isn¡¯t always inert. To say that it is would be to identify it with a primary characteristic, thus making it something. Sometimes, nothing can be alive. You hear it sometimes. The chiming of bells in the wind, a door blowing shut. You ask yourself what made that noise, but your mind immediately knows, so it gives you a warning that you so often dismiss. ¡®It¡¯s nothing¡¯.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Once we find nowhere, there might berge masses of living nothing that try to attack. Even nothing has a survival instinct¡­ usually. If that happens, you¡¯ll need to punch it. Stronger patches of nothing can briefly survive being identified, and will seek to eliminate the being identifying them to maintain their existence. But if they are physically interacted with by a being carrying as much recognition as the three of us, the additionalyer of perception will cause them to be destroyed. Hopefully.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°<i><span style="font-weight:400">Hopefully?</i><span style="font-weight:400">¡± Keliope questioned with a raised brow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yup! I¡¯ve never managed to catch a live nothing before, so this is all new to me. That¡¯s why I have alia here, too. If you can¡¯t destroy the nothing with one punch, then her power as the Goddess of Wisdom will be able to categorize its existence, further extinguishing its concept.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing Aurivy¡¯s exnation, the two let out long groans. ¡°You could have told us all of this before, you know?¡± alia pointed out, to which Aurivy shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If you knew what you were here for, you would have been on the lookout as well. I can¡¯t catch the nothing if all three of us perceive it at once, even if we¡¯re unfocused.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Alright, then¡­ how are you going to use this box to find nowhere if you can¡¯t even open it up to check its contents?¡± alia asked, Keliope nodding her head quickly in agreement.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s the easy part! No matter what is or is not inside, I set the box to travel in a direction determined by the greatest influence.¡± As she said that, golden mist wrapped around the box, causing it to hover in midair for a brief moment before falling straight to the ground. ¡°Any minute now¡­ if there really is nothing in the box, it will start being drawn towards the nearest nowhere. Once that happens, I¡¯ll need you two to keep your eyes focused <i><span style="font-weight:400">behind</i><span style="font-weight:400"> the box. Don¡¯t stare at it, and for the love of us don¡¯t look ahead of it. Don¡¯t think about what is or is not in the box, just watch its trail and wait for my signal.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two shrugged their shoulders, idly watching the box. After a few moments, it seemed to begin twitching, before sliding slowly along the ground. Aurivy squealed with excitement, increasing the box¡¯s speed before moving to chase it. As the box sped up, the three had to push themselves to move faster and faster, hundreds of meters passing with every step..


    <span style="font-weight:400">Along the way, their eyes simply remained focused on the trail dug into the ground by the mysterious box, until suddenly that trail vanished. At that point, they had been running for at least twenty minutes, and had crossed over a thousand kilometers. ¡°Is this the spot?¡± alia asked, not lifting her eyes up from the end of the trail. Clearly, the box had flown into the air after reaching this point.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We¡¯re nowhere.¡± Aurivy¡¯s voice spoke up next to alia¡­ or maybe behind her? Her voice seemed oddly distorted, though alia still refused to lift her eyes, lest she ruin Aurivy¡¯s experiment.


    <span style="font-weight:400">On the other end, Aurivy took a deep breath, closing her eyes and cutting off all of her senses. The only thing that she left active was the Travel domain, using it to detect the world around her. As she did, she felt the distortions gradually clearing up, but that didn¡¯t stop her. She did her best to perceive the imperceptible, understand how it distorted space and perception around itself, and recreate that within her own divine power.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Two-thirty, twenty degrees up. Six-ten, five degrees down.¡± She suddenly called out, Keliope turning and throwing out two punches. The first went off to her right, while the other was almost straight behind where she was facing. She felt her fist make contact with something, but¡­ at the moment she recognized the contact, it was like she was punching through static. Whatever it was, or wasn¡¯t, had simply disappeared.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This is giving me a headache!¡± Keliope said as she tried her best to understand the situation she was in, though Aurivy kept calling out more directions for her to punch. ¡°I¡¯m not supposed to be able to get headaches!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Imagine how any invaders will feel when we turn the nothing into our fortress, then!¡± Aurivyughed merrily. ¡°Twelve, straight ahead.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keliope briefly hesitated at that, as she was vaguely aware that that was where Aurivy was standing. Still, she trusted the halfling goddess, turning and throwing her fist out for another punch. This one was softer than before, and stopped the moment that it hit Aurivy¡¯s back. Keliope could vaguely feel that there had been <i><span style="font-weight:400">something</i><span style="font-weight:400"> there just behind Aurivy, as if getting ready to attack her from behind.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°How much longer do you need?¡± Keliope asked, just as Aurivy¡¯s eyes began to open.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m done.¡± She answered with a grin, the hazy air around them almost instantly clearing. ¡°Thanks, Kel. Since you bought me the time I needed, I was able to fully understand how to recreate the effects of nothing.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">alia let out a sigh, lifting her head and allowing her gaze to alternate between focused and unfocused, purposely targeting and identifying any distortions that she saw. ¡°Did you manage to learn how to make your territory?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯ll take some time, but¡­ I think so.¡± Aurivy nodded her head. ¡°Since I have this information to work as the foundation, I just have to create it within my domain of Travel, and I should be able to link it up with my idea.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Does that mean that Traveler is going to have a key to nowhere?¡± alia asked, Aurivy grinning in return.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Maybe, I haven¡¯t decided that far, yet. I¡¯ll let you two know when I¡¯m done creating it. If I¡¯m right, anything ced inside will be undetectable by anything outside. The perfect ce to create a covert base. I might even suggest moving the Citadel there, once I establish special channels. If those special channels don¡¯t cause the breakdown of the area¡­ we¡¯ll find out, I guess!¡±

 Chapter 813: Amateur Storytelling

    Chapter 813: Amateur Storytelling


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Let¡¯s test out that new library of yours today.¡± Terra said with a smile, sitting across from Lifre. Due to the nature of their lessons, they often did not conduct them in the citadel itself. Instead, they had a wide meadow in which they conducted various forms of training.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre nodded her head in excitement, eager to see what new stories had filled her newest divine artifact. She stood up from the small chair she had brought with her, and extended her hand to the sky. ¡°Come to me, Library of Epics!¡± As she shouted, a golden dot appeared in the sky above her, which gradually expanded to form a circ wooden tower.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This tower fell from the sky until itnded with a resounding crash on the ground behind Lifre. Terra nodded her head, standing up and walking towards the library. Inside, the two were able to see vast rows of spiraling shelves and walkways ascending as high as the eye could see. However, Lifre¡¯s brow furrowed in confusion at just how bare the shelves were.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra simply smiled with amusement, shaking her head at the sight of barely a dozen books where tens of thousands could easily fit. ¡°What were the parameters you used when setting up this library?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, I wanted the greatest stories experienced throughout the world, filled with riveting battles and legend-worthy feats.¡± Lifre answered with a small pout, causing Terra to let out a long sigh.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Most stories can¡¯t just be filled with one battle after another. To do so would make the battles seem more tedious than anything else. If that¡¯s the standard that you used, I¡¯m honestly surprised that you got <i><span style="font-weight:400">any</i><span style="font-weight:400"> stories at all.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Eh?!¡± Lifre gasped, flinching back and looking at the bare shelves. ¡°Does that mean I need to reforge my artifact..?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not at all.¡± Terra shook her head. ¡°You can tweak the parameters of your artifact easily enough without going to such extremes. For instance, you could make it so that the stories are of those who obtain achievements rted tobat, prioritizing space ording to level. From there¡­ you can start writing your own stories?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre¡¯s head immediately turned a hundred and eighty degrees to look back at Terra, which honestly looked a bit unnerving. ¡°Write my own? I can do that, too!?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra chuckled, used to the slime girl¡¯s antics. ¡°Of course. With your domains of Trials and Adventure, and borrowing my domain of Stories, it would be a simple matter for you to write a story suited to your taste. As one example, you could write a story of a demon king that destroys all heroes who rise to challenge him.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°With the stories you write yourself, you would have two options. One, you could bring the creatures within the story to life, manifesting the demon king from the previous example. Or on the other hand, you can do what Dale did, and have the books create the stage for your adventure. Once someone is trapped within the story you write, they will be bound by its rules.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre thought about that, clearly trying to weigh the pros and cons of both sides. ¡°Which would you suggest..?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In most cases, trapping someone within the story would be better in terms of both effect and cost. However, there are exceptions to this. The more the ¡®world¡¯ within the story differs from the real world, the more energy it will take to contain someone. Additionally, you have the option of setting the book to only advance as it is being read if you use the Stories domain properly. This would theoretically let you keep someone trapped indefinitely, so long as the book was properly hidden.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°On the other hand, if you are creating a single powerful entity, or even writing about the legends of an army, it might be easier to manifest them in reality. The differencees from the world building you put into it, really. If your story focuses more on the world, drag your target into the world. And if it focuses more on the characters, bring those characters to life.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay, but¡­¡± Lifre hesitated. ¡°Can¡¯t I do both?¡± Terra simply blinked in confusion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You want to both manifest the characters in the real world while also trapping the target within the story?¡± She asked to confirm, Lifre nodding her head quickly. ¡°Those are typically exclusive aspects, you know?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah, but¡­ can¡¯t I do both?¡± She asked again, a smile forming on her face as she got an idea. ¡°If I use my own domains, can¡¯t I set myself as the storyteller, trapping someone within the ¡®realm¡¯ of the story that I write as they progress? Oh! If I set it as a trial, I could even reward those who ovee obstacles. It¡¯s like what you said for blessings, use the act of the follower undertaking your trial as fuel for the blessing you want to give. Would I be able to apply that to this?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra blinked, actually surprised by the slime¡¯s thought process. ¡°We were talking about how to trap enemies or summon armies to crush your foes¡­ and now you want to turn it into a training simtor?¡± She asked, to which Lifre nodded her head again. Terra let out a long sigh. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s practice, then.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra¡¯s body slowly faded into mist, merging back into Lifre. Just as Lifre was wondering what she meant, two figures suddenly appeared. ¡°Hey!¡± They called out in unison, and Lifre could feel powerful energies from them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You are¡­ Lady Terra¡¯s incarnations?¡± She asked, to which they both nodded.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right, we¡¯re Terra! Well, I¡¯m Terra.¡± The divine felyn said, the fallen goddess rolling her eyes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, I¡¯m Terra. You¡¯re Firma, remember?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Eh, are you sure?¡± Lifre grinned as she saw the interaction of these two. She had the feeling that they would get along just fine.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Did she exin why you¡¯re here?¡± Lifre asked to confirm, not wanting to thrust the two into something unexpected. When they heard her voice, they turned to look at her again, blinking.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Kind of¡­ is your head on backwards?¡± The divine Terra asked.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh! Right, sorry.¡± She said, turning her body around to face them as well. When they saw that, the twins looked at each other once again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°She¡¯s weird¡­¡± The fallen Terra whispered, the divine one nodding her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah, but she seems fun. It¡¯d be worth seeing what she has in store, right? And the big boss upstairs said that this would make us stronger if it works.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s a pretty big if.¡± Lifre waited for the two to finish their ¡®private¡¯ conversation, simply rocking back and forth on her heels. Once they were done, the fallen Terra looked over at her once again. ¡°Okay, so, what exactly are you going to do?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Easy!¡± Lifre smiled wide. ¡°I¡¯m going to trap the two of you in a story, with myself as the storyteller. I¡¯ll throw various obstacles at you while sealing aspects of your power. For every obstacle you manage to ovee, you <i><span style="font-weight:400">should</i><span style="font-weight:400"> get a blessing reward based on the amount of effort you had to put in. I¡¯m still working out the exact details and how it will work, but that¡¯s why you¡¯re here!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two blinked at that, looking at one another again, before turning to look at Lifre. ¡°Alright, we¡¯re in.¡± They said in perfect unison.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre¡¯s smile turned into a full grin as she pped her hands together. ¡°Then, let¡¯s get started. I dere myself the narrator of this tale!¡± She said, a tome appearing before her. The book flipped open to its first page, in which Lifre could see the Terra twins, though they still stood across from her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I guess I need to get this started. The courageous duo found themselves stripped of their powers, returned to the lives they once lived as mere mortals.¡± Her words began to be transcribed within the book, as well as how the twins gasped, the divine and void powers immediately being sealed. However, this alone took quite a toll on Lifre¡¯s divinity, though she persevered.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Finding themselves alone in a dark forest, the pair knew that the only way to survive was to find shelter. The crackling of thunder could be heard in the distance, a sign of an impending storm. Already, the winds were beginning to howl, the branches of the trees shaking above them.¡± Next, the scene of the library shifted, the twins suddenly appearing much younger as they stood alone within a dark forest, listening to the sounds of the approaching storm.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre was nowhere to be seen, though her voice had echoed around them. ¡°Alright, sis¡­ you heard her. We need shelter.¡± One of the twins said, their distinctive characteristics no longer present.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right¡­¡± The other agreed, and they quickly began searching the base of each and every tree, looking for any kind of hollow that they could hide in.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As they did, Lifre¡¯s voice spoke up as if to seal their fates. ¡°The denizens of the forest were not keen on the idea of giving up their homes. If the pair wished to take shelter from the beasts within, they would have to fight tooth and nail for the chance.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, that¡¯s just not fair!¡± One of the sisters shouted, an angry honey badger lunging out of one of the hollows with its ws iling towards her. The ws in question seemed to beposed of blue crystal, marking this beast as anything but ordinary.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Without her extraordinary powers, the twin was knocked back by the sudden lunge of the animal, doing her best to hold it off of her while its ws iled about. She found her arm scratched, surprised to see the blood dripping from the wound. This made it clear that it was not only their powers that had been sealed, they had even been given bodies of flesh and blood.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, the other sister came by with a particrly sharp branch. ¡°Keep it still!¡± She shouted, piercing the branch through the beast¡¯s back. Although there was some natural resistance, the creature slowly began to stop its resistance, falling limp within the felyn¡¯s hands.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The sisterying on the ground tossed the creature aside and quickly wiped off her hands. ¡°Okay, okay, that wasn¡¯t so bad¡­¡± She said, and could feel a trace of energy rising up in her body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At least, until Lifre spoke again. ¡°As the fierce beast¡¯s poison began to spread through her body, the pair knew that their salvation could only be found in the herbs collected within its home.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Poison!?¡± The felyn shouted, looking at the wound on her arm. The blood dripping down had begun to cken, letting them know that Lifre¡¯s words were not nonsense.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Come on.¡± The other said hurriedly, pulling her twin towards the hollow. ¡°If it¡¯s alchemy, at least that¡¯s something we can do.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The twin nodded her head, feeling the strength start to leave her body as she was brought into the dark interior at the base of the mighty tree. Outside, rain was just starting to fall, thunder crashing nearby.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay, just stay calm. Keep your heart rate down.¡± The uninjured twin said as she looked through the herbs. ¡°Really, poison in all of this¡­ ah!¡± She found a small red herb with a long, twisting body, as well as numerousrge, peculiar leaves.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The poison¡­ it¡¯s cold.¡± The other said, causing the one with the herbs to nod her head. ¡°Feels¡­ like it¡¯s invading my spirit.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Good, good, just keep calm.¡± The uninjured twin said as she began crushing the red herb, fashioning a flimsy bowl out of the leaves. She stuck the bowl out of the hollow, allowing it to catch some of the rain, before dropping the crushed herb into the makeshift bowl and bringing it to her sister. ¡°Drink this. Warding root soaked with iron palm leaves.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The poisoned twin nodded her head weakly, taking the leaf bowl and sipping from it. Lifre¡¯s voice spoke out again, this time seeming surprised. ¡°Eh, wait, that actually worked? I was going to give it to you if you performed well, but to think you actually found something¡­ the injured sister found the quickly brewed antidote remarkably effective, helping her body tobat the beast¡¯s poison.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once again, the pair felt themselves both bing stronger, faster, even able to think more clearly now than before. Theplexion of the injured twin brightened again, losing the paleness from the poison that had invaded her body and spirit. ¡°How much more of this do you think there is?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The other twin shook her head. ¡°She sealed us at the start. Either the trials would continue until we regain our full power, or until she releases us. Given the domains she has, she can probably only link relevant trials together. So, the next threat should be the storm. Either a flood or a tornado, both of which we¡¯d fail to ovee without this shelter. A flood could still be dangerous, with how t the ground outside was¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m not that mean!¡± Lifre¡¯s voice spoke up as if to rebuke the twin who spoke. ¡°It¡¯s just a bad storm! I don¡¯t want to actually kill either of you. I mean¡­¡± She cleared her throat to resume narrating. ¡°As the pair hid within their hollow, they could hear the sounds of crashing within the forest, some great beast hidden within the storm, felling trees as it passed.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I thought she didn¡¯t want to kill us?¡± One of the two asked wryly, the other shaking her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We¡¯ve just got to stay quiet and make sure it can¡¯t find us. This isn¡¯t an obstacle for us to face head-on.¡± After she said that, the pair of them fell silent, watching outside of their hollow for any signs of danger. With their current abilities, it was clear that they would not be able to fight against anything capable of casually knocking down suchrge trees.

 Chapter 814: Respect My Authority

    Chapter 814: Respect My Authority


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">How long do we have to stay like this?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> One of the sisters thought to the other, allowing those thoughts to be transmitted. Due to their unique connection, it was the easiest thing in the world for them to share each other¡¯s thoughts. If anything, it took more effort <i><span style="font-weight:400">not</i><span style="font-weight:400"> to let their thoughts be shared.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Until it passes.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The other answered, clenching her fists as she heard another tree falling over. <i><span style="font-weight:400">There is probably a bonus reward for killing it, but there is no need for us to flirt with death like that. How much of your power do you have ess to?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The first sister closed her eyes in focus, appraising herself mentally. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Two percent of our mana, and one percent ki. I can¡¯t feel a connection with my void powers right now, though I feel like I could force out the Stories power to cancel her trick.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">No, that would defeat the purpose of the experiment. We can try thatter, see what would happen with two opposing narrators.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> As the other sister thought that, she heard a brief lull in the storm. Her eyes went wide, clenching her fists and connecting her mana to the natural energy around them. Before her twin could ask what was going on, a dome of stone wrapped around them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Momentster, there was a deafening crash, roots yanked through the dome and pulled out to leave little holes. The tree that they had been hiding under had beenpletely uprooted. Looking through the holes, the twins saw the massive form of a figure whose body was seeminglyposed entirely of storm clouds. Its footsteps echoed with a p of thunder, its hands seeming tipped in small tornados.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">So that¡¯s what¡¯s going on. It seems our dear narrator is ying us for a fool.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> One of the two thought bitterly. <i><span style="font-weight:400">No wonder it showed up when we were so weak, it¡¯s a storm elemental.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Does that mean we have a chance?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The other asked, her eyes going wide as the first one nodded.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯ll handle the wind, you focus on the water.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> After saying that, the two sat down, backs against each other. They were used to working in harmony like this, so even with their limited resources, they had their options. <i><span style="font-weight:400">As long as our natural authority hasn¡¯t been stripped, this should be feasible.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Natural authority referred to a recognition with natural energy that was built up by druids, shamans, and elementalists over the course of their training. It could be considered an attunement with nature, though there was considerably more to it than that. Given their current situation, they had to ¡®reconnect¡¯ with their natural authority in order to wield the power of nature.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Form the tokens.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> They thought to each other in unison, a pair of hairpins forming in their hair. One sister had a blue hairpin, and the other had a white one. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Assimte.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The tokens briefly grew hazy, sinking into the heads of the two felyn girls. With this, they had taken their tokens of nature into themselves, no longer requiring an external source to connect with natural energy. The exact process was admittedlyplicated, but it was something that they had gone through before.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Mana check! </i><span style="font-weight:400">One sister thought, with the other quickly answering her.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">One percent normal. If we disrupt the core, it should be enough.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Druids rarely relied on their mana capacity, the bulk of their powers deriving from their natural authority. The only need for their mana was to channel their thoughts.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Be still, sever, fall, disperse.¡± One sister spoke, the other reciting her ownmands.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Churn, rage, copse, burst.¡± Every word spoken carried an odd echo, themands brought through natural energy towards the body of the massive giant. Elementals were incredibly powerful creatures, but only when they were faced against normal foes. Swords and fists could deal nosting damage, but a well-ced druidic disruption could surpass over a hundred levels to fell a giant.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As themands reached the body of the elemental, the wind at its fingertips shook, the miniature tornados falling silent and still. The clouds that made up its body became heavy, sinking towards the ground and letting out scattered rain. However, the core was untouched by the sinking clouds, leaving it exposed as a mass of swirling wind and lightning. Without the raging winds from the rest of its form to fuel it, the core began to slow, bing more sluggish by the moment.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At this point, the eyes of the two sisters opened, having seen the core through their connection with nature. Their words now came out as one. ¡°Shatter!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Above their stone dome, where water was leaking in through the holes, there was a p of mighty thunder, the core of the elemental erupting from theirbinedmands. The clouds that made up its body began to disperse, though the storm raging overhead had not halted. Although it had likely been brought by the elemental, it would continue for some time after it was gone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Wait, you can do that?!¡± Lifre¡¯s voice called out in surprise as the elemental giant was destroyed. ¡°That was meant to be an avoidance obstacle! Uhm¡­ okay, I can work with this. With the great beast of the dark forest destroyed, the pair found themselves in rtive safety for the time being. The storm had chased away most of the greatest predators, along with the great beast¡¯s own rampage.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°However, this meant that they were left without prey to hunt for food, and would need to secure a meal soon.¡± As Lifre¡¯s voice rang out, the twins heard a faint gurgling from their stomachs. How long had it been since they were truly hungry?


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, she¡¯s evil.¡± One of the two said with a huff, shaking her head. ¡°But getting food won¡¯t be that hard. There are bound to be a number of fruits and berries that we can eat.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Though she said that, she could feel the energy rising within her body again. Defeating the storm giant had easily been worth more as a trial than all of their previous ¡®achievements¡¯, bringing them up to five percent of their full energy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I wouldn¡¯t count on it being that easy.¡± The other sister said with brows furrowed, using her control over the elements to push the water out of their slowly filling shelter. ¡°Now that we¡¯ve passed thatst trial, it feels like we¡¯re in the fifth or sixth ring.¡± She lightly stomped the ground, testing the sound and ease in which her foot sank into the stone. ¡°Okay, fifth. Not as bad. But still, if we use the animal from before as an example, this ce should have between the second and third ring for food.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You mean we have to go exploring to find better food sources?¡± The first twin asked, her face distorting. Normally, this would not be an issue for them. However, there was a raging storm outside, which had previously been the domain of an elemental giant. It was hard to say if other elemental monsters were still lurking within the storm.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Saying that, the second twin sat down, crossing her legs. ¡°I¡¯ll try to divine which way we should go, now that our natural authority is restored. While I do that, try to make some weapons for us.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah, yeah, I¡¯m on it.¡± The other huffed as she got to work, stretching her arm out and focusing to connect with the elements. ¡°Wood, iron, stone.¡± She muttered, the ground shaking as natural energy began to spread out.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre hovered a good hundred meters above the twins, able to see what they were doing by reading the text that appeared within the book before her. This was as much a training experience for herself as it was the twins, though her rewards were far less tangible.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">How is the expenditure?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Terra asked curiously from within Lifre, causing the slime girl to shake her head.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Now that they¡¯re actively participating in the trial, I can feel a portion of the divine energy that would be going to the god among them being sent to me instead. Almost like they¡¯re paying me to keep them here. It¡¯s still not caught up to how much it cost to seal their powers, but it¡¯s a start. Considering that I am able to control the difficulty of the trial, it¡¯s definitely an eptable tactic!</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre was trying to avoid talking out loud, as anything she said would be recorded as the words of the narrator. Terra simply chuckled at Lifre¡¯sment. <i><span style="font-weight:400">You don¡¯t have total control, or else that elemental would not have been so readily handled.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre fell silent at those words, having to consider it. She had to admit that things were lining up a bit too smoothly for the twins. First there was the poison, and the resulting antidote. Although Lifre had said that there would be an antidote avable within the hollow, she personally was not aware of the herbs that would make such an antidote. As long as the sisters had done any action that could be defined as taking the herbs, she would have used her power as the narrator to remove the poison.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For the right herbs to actually be there based on those words, it seemed like a part of her story was being created not by the narrator, but by the characters. The other prime example was the elemental giant. When she first saw it, she assumed that it would be the avoidance obstacle that she intended it to be. However, when the Terra twins recognized it, they saw a way to defeat it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre hadn¡¯t specified what type of monster they would be fighting, only that there was a great beast within the storm. She had to admit the possibility that the power she had set up made it so that there would always be a way for the challenger to win within the boundaries of the story she established. Or maybe the power was using both her narration and the experiences of the characters to shape the world?


    <span style="font-weight:400">If it was the former, then Lifre would not be able to simply kill off adversaries with the good old ¡®rocks fall, everyone dies¡¯ cliche. There would always be some method for the challenger to prevail presented to them, so long as they had the ability to recognize it. And if it was thetter, that would mean that Lifre could get more specific with her narration if she wanted to cover those little loopholes.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">We¡¯ll find out soon.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She said as she grabbed her pen, cing it down against the page. ¡°Once the sisters were ready, they bravely set off to the west, where the divination revealed the most ideal source of sustenance for them. However, there were unknown and poisonous materials mixed within the forest that they would need to be wary of, lest they sumb.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was the test that she had established. Because she included the word ¡®unknown¡¯ in her narration, the poisonous hazards should be something that the twins would fail to recognize. If that was the case, she¡¯d know that it was only a matter of her narration needing to be specific enough. Otherwise, if the twins were able to find familiar poisonous substances, it meant that the power she was using wanted to leave a path for them to seed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, if they really did pick a poisonous fruit, Lifre would provide them with an antidote again. Although she wanted to test the extent of this ability, she didn¡¯t want to <i><span style="font-weight:400">kill</i><span style="font-weight:400"> either of the two girls. At most, she¡¯d make them crawl through the mud a bit to find their salvation.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">How long can you keep them like this, anyways?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Terra asked curiously, causing Lifre to shake her head.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Until I stoping up with trials, I guess? I don¡¯t feel like there¡¯s a real limit. But trials of this level will get easier for them over time, offering less rewards. Once I¡¯m done, any rewards that they¡¯ve gotten from their trials should be added on top of their base abilities.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra blinked at Lifre¡¯s answer, nodding her head while thinking. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Theoretically, if you could devise trials for them reaching all the way to the level of their prime, they could directly double their power?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Well, yeah.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Lifre confirmed. <i><span style="font-weight:400">But I¡¯d need to keep them here for a few years to do that, ande up with challenges for them every step of the way. I expect that a ten percent increase will be the most I can give them. Also¡­ if I¡¯m not mistaken, they¡¯ll keep that increase if I bring them into another training storyter. It feels like it¡¯s like it¡¯s saved to my divinity. So, I won¡¯t be able topletely seal them to base level again.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Interesting¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Terra gave another nod. <i><span style="font-weight:400">While this power sounds useful to trap enemies in, its real power is like you nned, being able to train your allies. If you were to use it on an entire army at once, you could put them through rigorous war exercises to give an entire nation a substantial growth in power. You might even be able to make Dana and Tsubaki stronger with the right challenges.</i>

 Chapter 815: Not Alone

    Chapter 815: Not Alone


    <span style="font-weight:400">It had been only a few weeks now since Keenan had obtained the mysterious leaf from ret, having kept it on his body ever since. Because he did so, however, he was currently in a more wounded state than he had ever found himself in a battle. w marks covered one of his arms, blood leaking from the wound as he grit his teeth.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In the past, Keenan had always relied on his unreasonable luck to such a degree that he had never been ambushed, nor had he been in a hopeless situation. This was the first time he had truly seen his own blood since he even came to the Great Forest Sanctuary.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Jace isn¡¯t here¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Keenan thought to himself as he eyed the massive serpent before him. He wasn¡¯t so muchmenting the absence of his friend as he was confirming his own thoughts. <i><span style="font-weight:400">If he could save me, there¡¯s no way Jace wouldn¡¯t be here with his luck, even if it were coincidence.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">With that line of reasoning, Keenan confirmed that the enemy that he was fighting this time was likely far too strong for himself. Even so, he was not one to obediently lie down and ept the fate of bing this monster¡¯s meal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In an effort to find a new home within the forest, Keenan had wandered aimlessly, exploring territory that he had never been to before. In doing so, he had found their of one of the ¡®bosses¡¯ of the Great Forest Sanctuary. Or rather, the boss had found him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This great serpent had a body over a hundred meters long, with six arms protruding from its side, each tipped with a deadly arrangement of ws. Due to its ability to fly, it had managed to quickly attack Keenan before he was properly aware of the situation. Had it not been for the warning of the dungeon core that he kept on his person, the first attack would have likely been fatal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan looked down at his mangled arm, his brows furrowed together. There was no way that he would be able to wield his bow in his current state, leaving him only the power of his ¡®Chaos Ki¡¯ that he had originally used to fight. As such, Keenan took a deep breath, a ckyer of energy wrapping itself over his body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">His right arm flexed, vicious ws forming atop his fingers as he prepared himself. Given the boss monster¡¯s strength and speed, he knew that there would only be a single exchange, two if he got lucky. His eyes quickly scanned the surroundings to look for anything that could be used to his advantage.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The boss¡¯s body wasrge and bulky, which should have meant that it was less agile in a twisting space. However, he had seen for himself that the creature was able to navigate between the trees almost like a ghost. <i><span style="font-weight:400">If it¡¯s that agile, its flight ability should make it practically weightless.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He thought to himself, quickly working out how the opponent¡¯s ability likely functioned. His only hope was that the serpent did not have any additional powers that had yet to be shown.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As he was thinking this, the boss monster lunged forward, Keenan himself moving forward in response. The two charged towards one another, Keenan unwilling to change his path until thest moment. When the body of the creature was just about to reach him, its jaws twisting to the side and opening in preparation to consume him, he ducked forward into a roll.


    <span style="font-weight:400">His body narrowly avoided the serpent¡¯s jaw, and his hand came up at the end of his roll to w at the scales of the creature. Reinforced with the power of his ki, there had never been a creature that could totally ignore his attack.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At least, not until now. Keenan felt a dull impact as his ws met the scales, unable to prate their armored surface. His eyes widened in shock while the body of the creature flew by in an instant. When he turned to see it again, there was not a mark on its body, and it stared at him as if preparing to attack once more.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Maybe¡­ from the inside..?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Keenan now knew that his attacks were unable to damage the creature¡¯s hard outeryer. But maybe, just maybe, if he allowed himself to be eaten whole, there would be some small hope of survival? It was just a matter of if he could take advantage of it before the creature crushed his body inside of its. Unfortunately, it was the only move he had left.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The creature once again lunged at him, and Keenan ran forward again, grasping thisst, thin thread of hope. If he controlled the moment he was swallowed, it was less likely that he would be bitten in half by its massive jaws. That was the only thing he could think of, the only way to possibly turn this situation around. Thus, he gathered the rest of his power into his legs and lunged forward.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Quick, help him!¡± A young, feminine voice called out, startling Keenan as he witnessed the jaws of the monster opening once again, weing him into its mouth. There was a rush of wind, six arrows piercing the creature¡¯s hard scales and carrying enough force to throw it entirely off course. The arrows themselves seemed to glow with silver energy, forming chains between them that pinned the body of the massive serpent to six different trees.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With the target of his jump suddenly gone, Keenan¡¯s body fell to the ground, tumbling for a few moments. When he pushed himself to his feet, he looked around in utter confusion. That was obviously not Jace¡¯s voice, so who had helped him? Who would be that desperate to help him?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Looking in the direction of the cry, Keenan saw a young girl running towards him, looking as if she had just gotten out of school. She wore a clean flower-patterned shirt and pink pants, with red hair flowing down past her shoulders. Her expression looked as if she were about to cry, and she pulled Keenan into a tight hug as soon as she arrived before him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Given his incredulity, Keenan didn¡¯t even have the awareness to move out of her way, entirely too shocked by what was happening. This human girl seemed no more than ten years old, so what was she doing in this forest dungeon? And why was she crying into his shoulder like this?


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, you¡¯re that bastard¡¯s kid too, huh?¡± Another voice spoke up, this one more mature. Looking towards its source, Keenan saw a woman who appeared in her thirties with long, red hair. There was a silver, misty bow in one of her hands, which faded away into nothing as she began walking over. ¡°Never thought that he would have actually had another one. And you ended up here of all ces? What the hell was your mother even thinking?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan¡¯s expression hardened at the mention of his mother, something that the other party didn¡¯t miss. It was not an expression of sorrow, but rather one of anger, bordering on disgust. ¡°Who are you?¡± Keenan asked, doing his best to keep his voice calm.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The woman was taken aback by his expression, having never seen a kid who hated their parents that much. That alone had been enough to confirm to her that he had run away from home, though she didn¡¯t know the full story. There would be plenty of time for thatter. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ Sammy¡¯s mom. If I understand it right, you two have the same father.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I don¡¯t have a sister¡­¡± Keenan said, though he himself was not entirely sure of his answer. After all, he had never met his father before. Who was he to say that his father might not have had other kids after him?


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Y-You do, I¡¯m here.¡± Sammy nodded her head, still crying and hugging Keenan.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Given that you¡¯re in a ce like this, and that energy on you, I¡¯m guessing you¡¯re a Demigod, too.¡± Her mother said, nodding her head at her own assumption. ¡°Sammy¡¯s the Demigoddess of Family. Her trait lets her sense when a family member is in danger, and transport herself to them. The fact she sensed you proves that you¡¯re some kind of family to her.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan wasn¡¯t sure if he should trust these two or not, though they did not seem to be directly lying. ¡°Keenan.¡± He said simply, not giving his family name. As far as he was concerned, he had discarded that ages ago.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Alright, Keenan.¡± The mother nodded again. ¡°Let¡¯s get you somewhere safe, and get that arm looked at.¡± Even through the protectiveyer of ck energy, she could see the mangled appearance of his left arm. The fact that he wasn¡¯t crying now, after receiving an injury like that, surprised her even more than the look he had shown at the mention of his mother. <i><span style="font-weight:400">He didn¡¯t just run away from home on a whim¡­ he¡¯s been out here a long time.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan hesitated at that, before Sammy nodded her head and pulled him up. She didn¡¯t seem to notice the damage of his arm, looking down to see what her mother was talking about. ¡°Are you alright? Can you walk? I can try to piggyback you if not¡­?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her mother chuckled at that, shaking her head. ¡°Sweety, I doubt you could pick him up. He¡¯s already quite high level.¡± When she said that, Sammy¡¯s eyes went wide. She let out a little gasp and looked at Keenan again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯re really strong?¡± She asked for confirmation, though Keenan readily denied it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not strong enough.¡± He told her, looking at the pinned body of the serpent. Even now, it continued to struggle against the six arrows pinning it against the tree. The arrows were clearly no more than two feet long, and yet they held down the body of the beast more than a meter thick?


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If I had some warning, I¡¯d have grabbed my actual bow.¡± The mother said, following Keenan¡¯s gaze. However, she also spotted the bow strapped to his back. ¡°It looks like you¡¯re an archer, too. Guess that there are things we¡¯ll be able to talk about.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan hesitated, but eventually allowed himself to stand and follow the two of them. At the very least, he knew that it was suicide for him to wander around alone in this region now. Additionally, he could contact Jace in the city. With Jace¡¯s luck, he¡¯d easily be able to guess whether this Sammy and her mother were telling the truth about their circumstances.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, the leaf on his chest was still safe, meaning that he wouldn¡¯t face any harsh consequences for entering the forest. While they were walking, he noticed that Sammy¡¯s mother kept looking at him, a thoughtful expression on his face. It was honestly starting to make him ufortable to be looked at like that, so he couldn¡¯t help but speak up. ¡°What is it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°How old are you?¡± The woman asked him, causing Keenan to shake his head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Lost count. Fifteen? Sixteen? Maybe seventeen¡­¡± Keenan had long ago stopped counting the days as anything more than the passing of seasons. He hadn¡¯t been much older than Sammy was now when he left his home, and had been living by himself ever since.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sammy, meanwhile, seemed lost in her own little world, smiling happily as she walked between them. ¡°I have an older brother now¡­¡± She said, giggling.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her mother, on the other hand, knew that something was amiss. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind me asking, what is your aspect?¡± Her voice was soft, more caring than Keenan had heard from another person in a long time. It reminded him of how other people¡¯s mothers would talk to their children, though he hadn¡¯t heard such a tone from his own mother for a long time before he left.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...Chaos.¡± He reluctantly answered. He didn¡¯t want to exin more than that, knowing that the pair would leave as soon as he said the full story. He wasn¡¯t even sure if they could be trusted with all of the information or not yet, anyways.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Just that one word was enough, though. Sammy¡¯s mother gasped, her eyes going wide. She had learned a thing or two about demigods while raising her daughter. She knew that the aspects did not cover as much as a proper domain, but this was enough to let her piece some things together. <i><span style="font-weight:400">If he is the Demigod of Chaos, hating his mother as he does and living in the wild¡­ does his aspect cause chaos around him? Or did he just have a horrible mother, and it is his Chaos power that has kept him safe in the wild all this time?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Either way, she knew that she couldn¡¯t simply abandon Keenan, regardless of the answer. As a mother, the thought of leaving a young child alone in the wild, facing monsters on a regr basis¡­ it was something that she could never condone.

 Chapter 816: Sacrifices

    Chapter 816: Sacrifices


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan kept vignt the entire way back to the city, even as he reinforced his left arm with his ckened ki. He wasn¡¯t so much worried about Sammy and her mother turning against him, but rather wary about another ambush. After all, it was clear that Sammy¡¯s mother was leagues beyond him in terms of power. If she really wanted to attack him, there was nothing he¡¯d be able to do to stop her either way.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What were those arrows?¡± He suddenly asked as the gate of the city was in sight. At this point, he knew that they had entered the ¡®safe zone¡¯, seeing numerous green sylvans walking about. As such, he allowed himself to finally rx.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hmm? Oh, the ones on that monster back there? Those were restraining arrows formed from my spirit. Since I didn¡¯t have my bow, I could only make arrows like that.¡± She shook her head as she exined while letting out an exasperated sigh. ¡°Really, Sammy rushed back home crying that her brother was in danger¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan nced over to Sammy again at that, seeming more confused about her than anything. In some sense, he was jealous as well. His aspect as a Demigod had only created havoc within his family, while hers was perfect for creating a peaceful family environment.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Keenna?¡± Jace¡¯s voice called out, and Keenan immediately looked forward, seeing Jace standing at the gate of the city. Next to him was ret of Communication, who offered a friendly wave towards the trio.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Jace!¡± Keenan called out, walking over with his arm hanging limply at his side. Jace, still wearing his usual blindfold, didn¡¯t seem to immediately notice the injury his friend had sustained.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What happened?¡± Jace asked curiously. ¡°ret said that you needed help?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan nced towards ret, who only returned a soft smile. Though, it was Sammy¡¯s mother that spoke up. ¡°It¡¯s fine, we handled it. My little girl sensed that he was in danger, so we teleported in. Or, we tried to, but only got to the entrance, and had to rush the rest of the way on foot.¡± She groaned as she gave that exnation, Keenan btedly remembering that teleportation in and out of the sanctuary had been forbidden by the Goddess of Travel herself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That meant that she must have been incredibly fast to reach him during the space of that battle. Granted, that didn¡¯t surprise him too much after witnessing her ability with a bow. ¡°You were in danger?¡± Jace asked, shock concealed in his words.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± Keenan said, not wanting Jace to worry, though Jace was already walking over towards him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jace¡¯s nose twitched as he got closer, his earsying t on his skull. ¡°Blood¡­ you¡¯re injured. We need to get you to a medic.¡± Jace reached forward, grabbing Keenan by his right arm and dragging him back towards the city, Sammy following along with them. This left only her mother and ret.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s good that you arrived when you did.¡± ret said with a faint sigh. ¡°Keenan¡¯s rather special around here, and I don¡¯t think I would have made it in time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What¡¯s his story?¡± The human woman suddenly asked, her expression firm as she turned to face ret. ¡°A Demigod kid his age that hates his mother, living out in the wild like he does¡­ you know it, don¡¯t you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">ret hesitated for a moment, and then nodded her head. ¡°It¡¯s the worst kept secret of the Sanctuary, you could say. Did he tell you what his aspect is?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Chaos.¡± The woman confirmed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. To be specific, it is a form of luck-based power. His aspect passively drains the luck from everyone around him, and gives it to himself. The drain is so severe that most people would have a negative statistic simply from being in his presence. I did some digging on your inte here, and found a story about him.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The human mother¡¯s attention was fully on the Sylvan as she continued to exin. ¡°This is an old story, mind you, but once I knew the name and keywords to look for, it was not hard to find. Several years ago, there was a young boy in a city far from here. Wherever he went, disasters surrounded him, but they were never of his own making. Other children suddenly became ill or injured with careless mistakes.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°His own mother was unable to hold a job, always seeming to forget crucial information. When it rained, their house would always be the one struck by lightning during the momentary flicker of the city¡¯s mana shields.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And then, one day¡­ all of that stopped. His mother was able to work again, the other children no longer got into idents. All because he had left. Nobodymented his disappearance. If anything, this story itself came about because they were happy that he was gone. His own mother even went on record saying that she was d that she didn¡¯t have to deal with misfortune anymore, and she never made an attempt to find her missing son.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The human¡¯s eyes went wide and shook at the end of the story, ncing in the direction that Keenan had left with her daughter. She was naturally worried for her daughter¡¯s safety with such a character, but at the same time, she wished that she could give Keenan a proper home.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Don¡¯t worry. The first leaf of the Tree of Fortune is still with him, which is canceling the effects of his aspect. As long as he keeps that on him, he will no longer bring misfortune to others with his mere presence. Though¡­ it also means that his own luck is quite low right now. When I realized that he was in danger, I knew that it wasrgely my own fault for giving him that item.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And¡­ everyone here knows?¡± The human woman asked with a shaking voice, causing ret to nod her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Like I said, the information is avable on the inte for anyone who tries to search. He¡¯s something of a local celebrity, though nobody openly talks about it out of consideration. We respect his decision to live in istion, and simply offer him help whenever we can.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The human woman took a deep breath, nodding her head. ¡°I think¡­ I think I¡¯ll ask him toe back with me.¡± She said softly, causing ret to smile wryly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You can try, but I doubt he¡¯ll ept it, even with the leaf in his possession. He has been hurt too much by people. I believe that the only person left in this world that he truly trusts right now is Jace, because Jace¡¯s own luck is even higher than Keenan¡¯s without the leaf, making it ¡®safe¡¯ to be around him. Today is the first time he has ever stepped so deeply into the city, and that was only because Jace was the one to pull him in.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I still have to try.¡± The motherly woman said, clenching her fists tight. ¡°I can¡¯t just give up on him without making the offer.¡± After she said that, she marched forward into the city. ret stood at the gate with a bitter smile, shaking her head.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Really, what¡¯s gotten into you?¡± Jace asked, his ears still t as he sat Keenan down in front of the apothecary. ¡°You can take off that leaf when you¡¯re by yourself, right? If you do that, won¡¯t you still be safe.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan blinked, bringing a hand up to his chest and shaking his head quickly. ¡°No, I won¡¯t do that.¡± Even if Jace¡¯s idea was sound, Keenan did not want to lose the treasure that ret had given him. If he took the leaf off when alone, there were bound to be times when he would implicate someone nearby without knowing. He would rather keep the effect of his title canceled at all times.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jace let out a faint sigh, shaking his head. An elderly woman came out of the shop, smiling as she saw the three young trio in front of her shop. When she saw Keenan, and the injury on his arm, her eyes went wide in shock. ¡°Ah, Keenan!¡± She said in surprise, both at seeing him in the city and seeing him wounded. ¡°Stay right there, I¡¯ll be right back with a potion.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After she said that, she turned around and hurried back into her shop. Keenan lowered his head, knowing that he didn¡¯t have any coin on him to pay for the potion. However, she had left before he could say anything, so he knew that Jace would end up volunteering to pay for it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jace shook his head again, still exasperated. He sat down across from Keenan, with Sammy sitting next to her brother. ¡°Uhm, Keenan?¡± Sammy asked hesitantly, her legs swaying beneath her. ¡°Once you¡¯re all fixed up and stuff¡­ can youe back with us? I don¡¯t want my big brother getting hurt¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan turned to look at Sammy, his brows furrowing. ¡°I can¡¯t.¡± He said simply, not wanting to borate on the reason. Sammy lowered her head, lips pouting at the tant rejection.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I have an alternative.¡± Jace said, causing both Keenan and Sammy to look up at him. ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking about this for a while, and I think it might be as good of a time as any to go through with it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What is it?¡± Keenan asked, Sammy nodding her head in agreement as she wanted to know as well.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What if you be a god?¡± When Jace asked this question, Keenan¡¯s eyes went wide. ¡°As a true God of Chaos, you¡¯ll be able to have full control of your aspect, with or without that leaf. You can still have your insane luck, but you won¡¯t need to worry about hurting anyone.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan couldn¡¯t help but pull a face when he heard the exnation, finding something wrong with that. ¡°I don¡¯t know how¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, there is the divine forging method that has recently be popr, but I doubt that either of us could afford it.¡± Jace admitted with a faint chuckle. ¡°That¡¯s why I have been speaking with my Goddess. I told her my idea, and she said that she would do it for me under one condition. She would help the two of us ascend, and turn us into her subordinate deities.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What condition?¡± Keenan asked, feeling as if there was something ominous about this conversation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I would have to open my eyes.¡± When Keenan heard that, he gasped, remembering the details about the special blessing that Jace had been given.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, you can¡¯t do that. Haven¡¯t you seen what happened to me when I lost my luck?¡± Keenan refuted quickly, gesturing towards his arm.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°U-Uhm, what¡¯s so bad about opening his eyes?¡± Sammy asked in confusion, causing Keenan to look over to her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°His luck bes stronger the longer his eyes are closed¡­ and he¡¯s had them closed for years now.¡± Keenan exined patiently, hoping that Sammy would join his side to convince Jace not to go through with this deal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Aren¡¯t his eyes already open, though?¡± Sammy asked, causing Keenan to pause. ¡°He grabbed your arm earlier because he could see under the blindfold, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°N-No, he¡¯s just a felyn, they have really good noses.¡± Keenan said, as if wanting to convince himself more than anything. However, Jace was already pulling off his blindfold, revealing his bright, silver eyes to Keenan with a smile.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Do you trust me, Keenan?¡± Jace asked, and Keenan noticed for the first time that Jace hadn¡¯t been carrying his usual staff with him, adorned with the many different answers to various problems he could face while traveling. ¡°I put a lot of thought into this, and I think that it¡¯s the best way forward, for both of us.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nearby, behind the adjacent building, Sammy¡¯s mother stood with her back against the wall. Her eyes were closed, having listened to the tail end of their conversation. She had heard Sammy make the very request that she herself had wanted to ask, and the immediate refusal. Still, for Jace to give up something so special like that without any hesitation¡­ part of her thought it was arrogant of him to be making that decision for Keenan, but another part acknowledged that he was likely doing it out of his sense of friendship.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Finally!¡± Terra shouted, her words echoing down the hall as she sprawled out on the bed. ¡°I thought that kid was never going to open his eyes again.¡± Her words came out with a grumbling tone. She had been the one to design the blessing on Jace, but had done so under the assumption that he would only be able to keep his eyes closed for one or two years at a time. With his luck constantly climbing from the blessing¡¯s power, the events of the world had gradually shifted in his direction.


    <span style="font-weight:400">One example of this was the Tree of Fortune appearing near him, or the Demigod of Chaos bing his friend. Had the blessingsted further into his adulthood, it was likely that every major event of the world would have involved him in some form. However, that was assuming that his body did not erupt first. With Terra¡¯s divinity being the fuel of the blessing, that meant that more and more divine power was being stockpiled within Jace¡¯s body. After one or two more years of keeping his eyes closed, it was very likely that his body would have been unable to contain any more of her power.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was why she had proposed that deal with Jace, under the guise of it being another trial that he had to face. Sacrifice the blessing that she had given him in order for her to assure that the two of them sessfully became gods. And as with every other trial she imposed upon him, Jace epted it without a second thought.

 Chapter 817: Upgrades

    Chapter 817: Upgrades


    <span style="font-weight:400">James sat at his desk, his brow furrowed in concentration as he probed the inner workings of the system stone before him. The object gave off a faint shine in response to his energies, but he ignored it. Right now, he was working on how to iste the system energy within the stone, that way he would be able to develop the suppression field that he had been wanting to create.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At the same time, the other members of the research team were tackling the aspect from different angles, each trying to find some connection to the intrinsic system that would allow them to create an istion field. Each member of the team was hard at work running various simtions on their own terminals, trying out differentbinations that could <i><span style="font-weight:400">theoretically</i><span style="font-weight:400"> work.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Whenever they had an idea that they thought was sound, they sent the blueprint file to nk, who was cooperating in their research. With his abilities, he could create a digital representation of their blueprint within one of the many game worlds he was in charge of. If the device worked in the environment he provided for them, they began testing it in reality. However, as of yet, there had not been a single attempt that passed this second round of testing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel crossed her arms, staring at the holographic screen in front of herself. Had she still been a systempanion, she surely would have known the answer to this problem. Whether or not she¡¯d be able to show that answer to James was up for debate, but at the very least it would not have stumped her. Thus, she eventually closed her eyes, her body seeming to rx slightly.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet, Aurivy, Leowynn and myself were all watching the TV within the Admin Room, seeing how the Terra twins were just on the verge ofpleting their final trial for Lifre. I had to admit, it was an interesting experience. If Lifre was able toe up with moreprehensive trials, it would not be out of the question for her to drastically increase the strength of even a god.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I was thinking about that, I saw Chel walk into the living room, arms stretching out at her sides. ¡°Something the matter?¡± I asked curiously, as Chel rarely left her room. Furthermore, she had a tired expression on her face, appearing physically and mentally exhausted.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah.¡± She nodded her head, huffing as she walked over to stand in front of me. ¡°We¡¯ve hit a roadblock with the suppression field. Normally, I¡¯d let James work it out himself, even if it took a while, but I remembered something.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What¡¯s that?¡± I asked, blinking as I looked up at her petite form from my seated position.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Didn¡¯t Oldbeard promise to get you a suppression field when you visited her?¡± Chel asked, causing me to think back. Once the memory hit me, my eyes went wide. It wasn¡¯t something that I had specifically requested, and instead was one that Oldbeard herself had offered as a present for introducing her to Sarah.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she instead gave me the System Stones, which seemed a better deal in every way, I had forgotten about the original promise. ¡°Right¡­ let me call her up to ask.¡± I nodded my head, opening a chat window and sending a chat request to Oldbeard.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard: Hey! What¡¯s up? I trust you got everything okay


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Yeah, there¡¯s not a problem with that. Instead, I had a question that I wanted to ask you about


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard: Oh? What¡¯s that


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Originally, you were going to send me the tech for a suppression field, weren¡¯t you? I was just wondering why it had changed to those system stones


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard: Oh! Is that it? Yeah, we developed a new suppression field using the system stones while I was waiting for the invasion clock to cycle over, so I sent a shipment of those instead. I figured that a more advanced version would generally be better. Why, are you having some problems with it


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: In a sense. My researcher can¡¯t figure out the method that the stones connect to the world¡¯s system energy to build the field


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard: Ah, that¡¯s where they¡¯ve got it all wrong! The stone itself is the basis for the field. If you insert it into a field projector, it will create the suppression field on its own after about an hour or so


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard: Think about it this way. The stone itself saves the local system energy inside its structure. Plug that into a field projector, and it projects that system energy outwards. At that point, the energy it is reading is more like a copy of the world¡¯s game system, so that is what gets saved to the stone, and then projected. Eventually, it is copying the copies so much that the image bes degraded, and the system shuts down around it. After that, there is no longer a system for it to copy, so what it projects is a ¡®null¡¯ area where the system can¡¯t reach


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard: Honestly, we discovered this mostly by ident. A lot of our spherical engineering tools can be mistaken for one another if they don¡¯t use the identification system, so someone tossed a system stone into the field projector by mistake. By the time anyone noticed, it was already projecting the null field. Sorry, I probably should have included the field projector as well, huh? Figured that was something you likely would have already had.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Right, thanks for the tip. I¡¯ll pass it on to my people, and hopefully we can get the matter squared away.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a satisfied nod as I closed the chat. There was a distinct difference with how Oldbeard talked nowpared with what she was like before. She was clearly more energetic after meeting with Sarah, and far more outgoing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Chel saw that I had finished the chat, she gave me a questioning look. I ryed the information that I had learned from Oldbeard, and watched as the pieces began to click in her head. Once I had finished with my exnation, her eyes had gone wide. Without even sparing an extra word, she turned and ran towards her room. I could hear the sound of a door mming into the distance, and chuckled to myself. At least, until I felt Scarlet tugging on my sleeve, nodding towards the television. ¡°They¡¯re almost done, dad.¡± She whispered, turning my attention back towards the screen.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ve got it!¡± Chel said as she suddenly opened her eyes, standing straight up from her chair. Several of the other researchers flinched at her sudden shout, ncing over warily at the nine-tailed fox girl.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You figured something out?¡± Nora asked hopefully, having just scrapped another of her own designs that failed the testing stage.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel nodded her head, reaching into her pocket and grabbing her omnitool. It activated with a whir as she waved it at each of the terminals in the room, disying a blueprint on each screen. When James saw the blueprint, he began putting it together in his head, imagining how it would work. ¡°This is just a field projector with a spherical input. Won¡¯t this do the exact opposite of what we want, and create a field with the world¡¯s game system?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel gave a mischievous grin at that. ¡°An <i><span style="font-weight:400">imperfect</i><span style="font-weight:400"> field.¡± She emphasized, causing James to furrow his brow, before things suddenly seemed to click.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You mean¡­ a feedback loop? Will that really work out that way?¡± James asked, Chel nodding her head in confirmation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Wait, doesn¡¯t that mean that the system being given with the stones is imperfect? Won¡¯t that cause problems?¡± Thea asked, eyes going wide. However, James shook his head, already filling the nks in.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, the system is perfect, but only when it is fully focused on a specific individual. Once you radiate that energy out into arger field, imperfections will begin appearing, which are copied onto the stone in real time and spread to the rest of the field. Once enough form¡­ if Chel¡¯s right, it would remove the system itself within the field¡¯s range.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯d rather we make sure everyone¡¯s outside the field while it¡¯s being tested.¡± Nora said with a shake of her head. ¡°We don¡¯t want anyone inside to lose their system permanently because the imperfect forms were being copied onto them while it was going through that process.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That shouldn¡¯t happen.¡± James refuted, though Treisha only gave a bitter grin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Like how mortals and gods having children shouldn¡¯t produce flesh and blood offspring?¡± She asked, the kitsune sisters nodding their heads. However, James just looked at them in confusion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What are you talking about?¡± He asked, sounding genuinely befuddled.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You said a while back when you released that special energy to let gods have children. If a god and a mortal had an offspring, they would be a naturally-born energy being.¡± Treisha reminded, causing James to nod.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right, what about it?¡± He clearly remembered that conversation, but didn¡¯t know what they were getting at.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We¡¯ve gotten a few records here and there of demigods being born¡­ and all of them have organic bodies.¡± Nora asked, as if embarrassed to point it out. ¡°None of them were born with energy bodies like you said.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And they weren¡¯t the product of a union with the Greater Pantheon?¡± James asked for rification, the three girls aware of the situation shaking their heads. ¡°That doesn¡¯t make any sense. That¡¯s how it worked for me¡­ is it an energy deviation based on different worldws?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel simply chuckled as she watched James lower his head in thought. ¡°It seems even our high and mighty researcher doesn¡¯t always know what he is talking about.¡± She said smugly. Though, the truth was that she was also unaware of this deviation. All of her attention had basically been devoted to James, so she rarely spared a thought to the world beyond theb, thus not knowing about the demigods being born.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If she had been asked before this conversation, she would have entirely agreed with James¡¯s previous assessment, as that was how it had truly worked in their old world. At the same time, she could figure out in her mind why it didn¡¯t work the same way in this one. In her own world, the people living there were not naturally capable of handlingrge amounts of energy. Thus, an unborn baby would be forced to evolve into an energy body before even being born.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Here, on the other hand, people were capable of wielding massive amounts of power, and that power capacity was passed down through the generations. In that sense, it was entirely possible that a baby would be able to handle the fraction of a god¡¯s divinity that they were naturally born with, without having to change.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, she wasn¡¯t going to let anyone know that she had been equally unaware, and would vehemently deny any usations of such. Thus, she didn¡¯t say anything about it and began working on the materials needed for them to create their field projector. In truth, they had several of such items simplyying around, but none with a spherical input.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Most of their field containers operated with primary energy crystals, the energies being fed through a set of circuits meant to fuse them into the specific arrangement required. Thus, for this device they needed to simply remove those extra steps, and modify the design to handle the system stone as the input.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, that was actually pretty easy for them to design, hence how she had created the blueprint so quickly with her omnitool. All that was really left was to get the parts and put it together. And all the while, James kept muttering to himself, trying to figure out the specific deviations that had caused his previous confidence to be misced. Much to the amusement of the rest of the research staff, who rarely got the chance to see the mighty researcher so flustered about something.

 Chapter 818: A Legend Born

    Chapter 818: A Legend Born


    <span style="font-weight:400">One of the twins let out an audible sigh of relief as she felt her divine powers returning to her. ¡°Finally¡­¡± She muttered under her breath, knowing that their trials hade to an end. While it couldn¡¯t be said that they had received nothing from the experience, the feeling of constantly having to be cautious against outside dangers had left both sisters incredibly tense.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°How long were we even in that?¡± The other asked, seeming to have lost track of time. Although they had eventually left the dark forest, the sun never rose in the sky, making it much harder to track how long they had spent testing out the new ability of Lifre¡¯s.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I think¡­ at least three days?¡± The divine sister asked, though even she was taking aplete guess.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°More like seven!¡± Lifre spoke up, appearing directly between the two with a wide smile on her face. She hadn¡¯t managed to recover the full amount of energy that she had used to seal the two in the first ce, and yet her face continued to look as excitable as ever.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The twins flinched back as they heard Lifre¡¯s voice, clearly having some lingering trauma that disaster came whenever she spoke up. Seeing that, Lifre puffed her cheeks out in a pout. ¡°That¡¯s not nice. Ah, maybe I should send you back in for more challenges? I just thought of another one¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°N-No, that¡¯s fine.¡± The divine sister quickly spoke up, shaking her head. ¡°Really, it¡¯s fine. Though, that was quite the experience¡­¡± She nced at a window that appeared for both herself and her twin, detailing the rewards that they had gotten from the trial. There were quite a lot of stats earned, increasing their total power by roughly ten percent.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lire giggled, having not been nning on sending them back in the first ce. Although she didn¡¯t show it, she was quite tired herself after using her divinity to create those trials. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯ll need to find a better way to recover energy while using the technique.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She thought to herself, not wanting to overly rely on the power of Terra or the Keeper¡¯s divine energy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For the first few trials, she was able to gradually recover due to the low intensity of the trial itself. However, as things became more extreme, they started to take more energy to manifest. The reason that she had cut the trials where she had was simply because she didn¡¯t wish to use any more energy on the experiment.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">There are some ways to take care of that.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Terra told her mentally, attracting Lifre¡¯s attention. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Most people haven¡¯t discovered this method, but there are ways to create beings with certain divine domains, and turn those beings into worshippers to provide divine energy. Dale does the same with an internal illusion world.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Do I have a way to do something like that?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Lifre blinked curiously, not sure how she could do so with the power of her current domains.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">If you add in the power of Stories, you do.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Terra confirmed. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It will take arge initial investment, but you can write a story where you are revered as the creation deity worshiped by the inhabitants of that world. As long as you use the power of the domains at your disposal, you could turn that story into its own living world, one where the worshipers send you a steady stream of divinity.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre¡¯s eyes went wide as she listened to Terra¡¯s exnation, the twins looking at her in confusion. ¡°Think she¡¯s talking to the big sister upstairs?¡± One of the two asked, the other nodding her head in confirmation.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I know how to fill up my library now!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Lifre thought ecstatically, briefly confusing the true Terra.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">N-No, you can¡¯t just keep making divine batteries like that, or you will waste the utility of the library itself. Besides, with your current reserves, you¡¯d drain yourself dry before you finished the third book. It takes time for the energy to umte again. </i><span style="font-weight:400">Terra exined, as if trying to dissuade Lifre from a suicidal action. Though, Lifre shook her head.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">No, not that!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She thought, before looking at the twins. ¡°Thanks, you two! You were a load of help!¡± She reached out, giving each of the twins a tight hug before running into the library, the door mming shut behind her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I can¡¯t follow along with that one.¡± The void sister shook her head, ncing at the now-closed door. Her twin nodded in agreement, finding it especially difficult to keep up with the little slime¡¯s thought processes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Inside the tower, Lifre waved her hand, grasping a golden pen from the empty air. ¡°It wasn¡¯t an original part of the floorn, but a minor addition like this shouldn¡¯t hurt.¡± She said, muttering to herself as she walked to the very center of the first floor of the library.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Golden light streamed up from the floor, condensing into a marble pedestal, atop which sat arge, nk tome. Lifre licked her lips as she flipped open to the first page, twirling the pen in her fingers as she thought about how she should begin the book.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra¡¯s figure flew out of her body,nding just on the other side of the book before turning to face her. ¡°Just so I don¡¯t identally let you do somethingpletely crazy that destroys your divinity¡­ mind filling me in on the n here?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, it¡¯s simple!¡± Lifre said with a nod. ¡°Like you said, I can create a story world where the people worship me as the creation deity. But, then I thought, why stop there? I can link that world to the library itself! If the people within the world are considered real, then that means they have their own stories. There will be brave heroes and cruel kings, fierce beasts and lonely saints.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre brought the tip of her pen down to meet the first page, slowly beginning to write as she talked. ¡°If I connect the world within the book to the library, setting it so that the library is popted with the legends of that world, they will be tales nobody has heard of. And since the world within is a story, it can advance at the speed of plot!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And¡­ how fast is the speed of plot?¡± Terra asked, although she was somewhat worried to hear the answer.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hmm¡­ I¡¯ll devote a portion of the divine energy that I receive from the book to elerating its flow of time. For now, I need to decide what kind of world I want to create.¡± When Terra heard that, she gave a faint nod of her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. If you¡¯re aiming to create a single world, the theme of the world is important. Technically, you can write them at any stage of development that you want, though if you want to build up legends, choosing to start them a bit earlier might be better.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ll do that, then!¡± She said, her pen moving faster as thoughts flowed into her mind. ¡°A world of sorcery and martial talent, where the power of technology isrgely unknown. Great threats loom at every corner of the world, challenging the inhabitants to rise up to defeat them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra cleared her throat slightly at that. ¡°Don¡¯t make the challenges too strong.¡± She warned. ¡°It¡¯s fine to have risks, but if the world was facing constant danger that the average person couldn¡¯t stand against, it would be wiped out before long. Take a look at the real world. Yes, there are powerful monsters, but none beyond the scope of the world itself. If you write in threats that are too powerful, you¡¯ll only be destroying your people. At the same time, if the threats are too weak, you will not gain the legends you want.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre pursed her lips, continuing to write. ¡°This needs to be a library that I can use to fight other gods¡­ how do I achieve that, then?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra held her chin, thinking about it for a moment before snapping her fingers. ¡°I¡¯ve got something. Write in your story that those whoplete challenges on behalf of the goddess are awarded the power over a single word rted to their legend, fueled by the energy of the world itself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Although this won¡¯t make them true gods, it will give them pseudo-godlike powers when they are brought out into the real world. For instance, if someone earns the word ¡®Fire¡¯, they would be able to wield power in the real world as if they were the God of Fire. Their use of this power will consume your own divinity, but it will allow you to essentially activate the effects of different domains in the same way that Dale does with his Mirrors domain, or Ryone does via domain trading.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre¡¯s eyes practically lit up, her pen dancing along the page. At times, it seems that the words even began to write themselves in before her pen got to them, the world within the story starting to take on a life of its own.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">It didn¡¯t take long for the research team to finish constructing the field projector, now that they already had the blueprint. After only two days, the finished product was sitting on the central experiment desk of theb, everyone having moved back a safe distance. James held onto the system stone, taking a deep breath as he caused it to lift up with the power of his ki, moving towards the device.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After being humbled by his previous mistake, he was no longer willing to bet everything on the assumption that this would not strip away the system from whoever was inside the field at the moment of activation. Thus, he was ying it safe with the rest of the team, having set the device to only radiate a field five feet in radius. ording to his calctions, this was the minimum size for it to begin the feedback loop that they needed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The spherical stone hovered through the air,nding in a groove perfectly sized for it. Having waited for the opportunity, Chel took out her omnitool and activated it, causing a ss lid to close up over the top of the socket. With this, the system stone was locked securely in ce, and the field projector activated.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a hum of machinery, but no visible indication that the field was operating. There was now hazy bubble, or shimmer of energy. If not for the sound of the machine itself, they would likely not be sure that it had properly turned on. However, this did not discourage James, who was using his inherent senses to monitor the sphere within the device.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After roughly twenty seconds, the first change appeared, an almost innocuous energy connection altering while he was observing it. James himself couldn¡¯t be sure what that connection represented when converted into the power of the system, but it let him know that things were really changing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The rest of the team couldn¡¯t properly analyze what was happening, as they did not have ess to the same energy that James was using. Instead, they watched various measurements closely, ready to cancel the project if anything started to look like it was going to fail catastrophically.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ten minutes passed, and Nora lifted a brow, looking at the sphere. ¡°Does it seem a bit more pale to anyone else?¡± she asked, drawing their attention away from the devices for a moment. Indeed, the sphere had lost a considerable amount of its color during the first ten minutes, and seemed to be flickering between blue and gray.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At those point, James could see that nearly a tenth of the connections inside the stone had changed, some having outright lost the energy that had been passing through them. For the first time, he was able to take a look at the raw structure of those connections, prating them with his senses to figure out how they were constructed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After thirty minutes, the sphere had turned mostly gray, barely containing any small spots of coloring. Most of the sphere had entered a ¡®neutral¡¯ state, but sparks of energy were still being transmitted intermittently. It wasn¡¯t until the one hour mark that the sphere wentpletely white. In this state, there was no longer any energy transmission within the sphere itself, and the entire internal structure had been reconfigured.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This is quite brilliant.¡± James muttered as he examined the inner workings of the item. Now that he was able to observe the system stone in its inert state, he was able to glean some insights into how it was put together. This practically confirmed his theory that the technology of the world where the item came from relied heavily on spherical design.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Does that mean you understand how it¡¯s made?¡± Treisha asked with wide eyes, James nodding his head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It will take time to understand the theories that led to its creation. However, if we¡¯re just talking about copying what is already there, it won¡¯t be too hard. We¡¯ll need to develop a spherical three-dimensional printer with mana, spirit, and natural crystals. From what I can see, ki doesn¡¯t seem to be aponent in this one.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°A spherical printer¡­¡± Chel gave a bitter smile, knowing that would take a bit of research itself to get working. A spherical printer implied some way to keep the object within the printer perfectly steady, suspended at the very center of the device. At the same time, the fact that they were doing this with energy mixtures meant that they couldn¡¯t simply use an anchoring spell to achieve this effect. If they did, there was likely to be a contamination of energy, resulting in a loss of effect.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, at least that should be easier than before. We¡¯re one step closer, now!¡± Thea said happily, lifting her arms up and stretching. ¡°I¡¯m totally going to need a day or seven off when this is finished¡­¡±

 Chapter 819: A New Challenger

    Chapter 819: A New Challenger


    <span style="font-weight:400">A group of white-skinned individuals d in various types of armor stared at the five shining stars above the entrance to the dungeon before them. They knew that this would be their big test, their chance to make history and be the ¡®first¡¯ to break through the ultimate trial set forth by the God of Monsters. Behind the six individuals were two slimes, one ck and the other silver, who seemed to be standing by as support.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Have we confirmed what the domain for this rotation is?¡± The team leader asked, looking around at the other five people of his group. He was a tall individual, standing a head and shoulders above the rest of the group


    <span style="font-weight:400">The one that answered him was a more diminutive female wearing a long, ck robe. ¡°ording to the reports, the word written on the door today is Fire.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The man¡¯s face distorted at that, before he shook his head. ¡°An elemental challenge¡­¡± Although nobody had ever sessfully passed the five-star challenges and returned, that they were aware of, they had faced smaller threats of various degrees in the four-star dungeon to prepare them for this. In doing so, they were aware that elemental challenges were among the most difficult to face. ¡°Even so, we can¡¯t wait around for a favorable rotation.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying that, he turned back to look at the pair of slimes standing behind them. ¡°Jorfa, please take care of the enchantments with this domain in mind.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The silver slime seemed to nod, its figure shifting to be more discernibly humanoid. The voice that came out was almost feminine and soft. ¡°If we are dealing with fire, then I will pay special attention to everyone¡¯s armor.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The slime¡¯s arms stretched out, strands of magic seeming to spread from it in all directions. These strands twisted and converged on the group of challengers, attaching to their armors and robes. ¡°I cannot promiseplete protection, so I would advise everyone to dodge when the option is avable.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The leader of thehrak nodded his head, looking at the ck slime. ¡°You¡¯ll be in charge of keeping Jorfa safe until the end of the fight. We won¡¯t be able to focus on defending the two of you, understand?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The ck slime gave a solemn nod. ¡°Got it. I won¡¯t let anything happen to her as long as I¡¯m around.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thehrak smiled, turning towards the door. ¡°In that case, let¡¯s make history.¡± As he said that, he walked forward, cing his hand on the door itself and pushing. Being the leader of the strongest dungeoneering group of thehrak, he was an incredibly strong person himself, the door seeming to fly open at his touch.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Inside, he could see a sea of mes, a serpentine figure resting within the fire. His free hand clutched onto the axe at his side, tensing up before striding forward. Once the group was fully inside, the door closed behind them, mming shut and seeming to seal itself. Clearly, they were not going to be able to leave as easily as they entered.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once the door had closed, the serpent seemed to raise its head, stirring from its slumber. Its eyes focused on the eight challengers, a fierce glint visible in its gaze. Almost immediately, the sea of mes raged high, engulfing the entire area. However, these mes were within the level that could be defended against by Jorfa¡¯s enchantments, so thehrak only felt a minor increase in temperature.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± The leader shouted, hoisting his axe onto his shoulder before charging forward. The ground cracked beneath his feet as his ki filled his body, his blood boiling from the excitement of the challenge before him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Behind him, the diminutive robed female held her arms out in front of her, chanting a runic spell. Concentric circles rose over her head, slowly filling in with numerous arcane markings. From her arms, icy sts surged forward, striking at the serpent. And over her head, the concentric rings released pulses of chilling wind to fight against the sea of me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The serpentrgely ignored the icy sts racing towards it, allowing its aura of me to destroy that attack. Its gaze focused on therge brute charging towards it, its mouth opening slightly as a sphere of fire condensed within its jaws.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I think not.¡± A voice suddenly spoke from beneath the serpent¡¯s head. One of the otherhrak, d in tight ck wraps, had silently appeared beneath its jaws. Thehrak¡¯s foot came up, kicking its jaw closed while his hands came together repeatedly, forming a number of odd signs.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chakra rose up around the body of the ninjahrak, forming into threads that tied shut the serpent¡¯s mouth. For the first time in this encounter, the serpent actually appeared surprised. The mes covering its body burned brighter, hot enough that the ninja had to retreat back to avoid injury.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As he did so, he passed by the charging leader, who gave a small nod of acknowledgement. The leader¡¯s axe possessed an eerie, dark glow as it was swung, drawing a ck line behind the de. This ck line tore through the mes around the monster, cutting deeply into its scales.


    <span style="font-weight:400">No blood emerged from their enemy, briefly startling them. Instead, a golden mist seemed to be released in ce of blood. ¡°Is it an energy type, as well?¡± The mage asked in surprise, feeling that the difficulty of this raid had spiked even higher


    <span style="font-weight:400">Another femalehrak, this one with green robes, nodded her head and held her staff forward. ¡°That seems to be the case. You focus on dealing with the mes, and I¡¯ll keep Hal standing.¡± As she said that, her staff lit up, an additional barrier being created over the skin of their leader.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The final twohrak each wieldedrge bows, running to opposite sides of the arena to find advantageous firing positions while the monster was distracted. Seeing everyone working together like this, Hal couldn¡¯t be happier. His ki quickened, his muscles bulging as he went in for another swing.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">All.. things¡­ burn!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The words seemed to echo in the minds of the challengers, a manifestation of the serpent¡¯s will. The sea of mes seemed to vanish, the fire instead attaching itself directly to the bodies of the eight challengers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jorfa let out a startled cry as her body was set alight, the ck slime immediately wrapping his form around her to consume the me. As the ck slime was a void breed, he was able to directly consume most forms of attacks, so long as he was focused on doing so.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two archers grit their teeth as they were burned, but soon found their firing position. Each one drew a silver arrow from their quiver, nocking it on a golden string that appeared from their gesture. When these arrows were set loose, spirals of energy trailed behind them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The serpent¡¯s attention was immediately drawn towards these arrows, as if seeing them as more dangerous than the ck lines released by the brute. The arrows burned in flight, yet were not entirely destroyed before they could strike at the creature¡¯s sides. Each arrow pierced entirely through the monster,ing out on opposite sides as it let out a pained screech.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I don¡¯t know how long we can hold out with these mes.¡± The ck-robed mage said through gritted teeth as she focused on another spell. While she had been dealing with the sea of fire rtively easily before, this new attack was far harder for her to handle. Still, she began another chant, seven arcane circles rotating around her body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Trust me, I know.¡± The other caster said, sweat beading down her brow. She lifted her staff, striking it into the ground. ¡°I am the gentle healer, my words soothing the hearts and minds of those at my side.¡± A green circle appeared at her feet, slowly spreading outwards as arcane patterns filled it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Chill the wind, snuff the me, and cool the mind. Gather and converge on one point, and be the force that shatters all in your path.¡± From the green circle, a frozen mist rose up, lessening the effects of the me while gathering into a sphere in front of the healer¡¯s body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With her pain lessened, the ck-robed mage was able to focus more easily on her runic chants. Each of the seven circles around her flew out, covering one of the other challengers. Once covered by the circle, the mes around them all but extinguished. Instead, the woman¡¯s arms began crackling with energy, heat being converted into electrical force.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Both castersunched their attacks at the same time, beams of lightning and ice pouring out towards the serpent. At the same time, the ninja seemed to havepleted his next action as well, pping his hands on the scorched ground. Large hands of stone rose from the ground, gripping the body of the serpent to prevent it from dodging the two sts of the mages.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The serpent¡¯s cries turned more and more tragic as the two attacks struck its body. Although it was most certainly a god, it had been inactive for far too long, leaving it unable to disy the true dignity of a monster god. Its attack pattern was simple, albeit still powerful. Facing this group ofhrak that had trained themselves to their limits, its health was constantly whittling away.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This battle raged on for over ten minutes, the mes growing more and more intense as time passed. In the end, the serpent let out one final attack. Its eyes gave a brilliant glow, thin lines of energy shooting out at an incredible speed. Its target was the ninja that had acted to restrain it at every move, preventing it from releasing its full power.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The attack hade too suddenly, everyone focusing on keeping Hal alive. Thus, the beams of energy struck the ninja square in the chest, causing his eyes to go wide in shock. He had been in the middle of preparing another restriction, and hadn¡¯t had time to dodge. A single, gaping hole was torn through his chest, causing him to fall lifelessly to the ground.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The white-robed healer grit her teeth, knowing that there was nothing that she could do. Although her healing powers were indeed impressive, she was incapable of reviving the dead for more than a few seconds after they passed. And given the situation, it was clear that the serpent would not give her the freedom to do that without being disturbed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With the ninja taken care of, the serpent was able to act more freely, yet was still very clearly on the losing end of this bout. Having used up so much of its energy on that singr attack, it was only a matter of time before it fell.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After the monster god fell, the mes rapidly began to extinguish from the area. The creature¡¯s body was covered in holes and scars, golden mist constantly leaking from it. However, none of the challengers had the ability to spare it any attention. They gathered around the body of their fallen friend, Hal gripping his axe¡¯s handle as he looked at the healer. ¡°Can you¡­?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The healer knew that it was pointless, but still made her attempt. She grabbed her staff, striking it to the ground. ¡°I¡¯ll try¡­ I am the gentle healer, my words soothing the hearts and minds of those around me. Restore, revive, cleanse away that which has brought you harm. Knit, flow, regrow, return the body to what it once was.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">A green spell diagram appeared around the ninja¡¯s body, and the burns within the hole began to fade. Bones began growing back into ce, muscles knitting themselves together. Eventually, fresh skin could be seen covering the wound. Once that was done, the healer dropped to her knees, two fingers pressing against the man¡¯s neck. ¡°He¡¯s alive¡­¡± She muttered, before her eyes began to shine with a faint blue light. ¡°But¡­ his spirit hasn¡¯t returned to his body.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although she was a druid who had advanced to the point where she could influence the bodies of others, and could weave that into her elementalist magic, shecked the spiritual training to bind a fallen soul back into the body it once inhabited. She knew thatbining all three powers together would allow her the power of true resurrection, but she had long learned that she was simply not cut out for spiritual training of that caliber.

 Chapter 820: New Horizons

    Chapter 820: New Horizons


    <span style="font-weight:400">After taking their time to mourn their fallen friend, the challengers of the dungeon turned, noticing a golden portal that had appeared in the room. From what they could tell, they could either enter the door to the next floor, the door heading back, or the portal leading to the unknown. Hal let out a silent breath, knowing that the fallen Nishi had always been their scout to investigate the unknown.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, Hal took a step forward himself, taking it as his duty to rece the fallen ninja. The others watched as he silently advanced into the portal, waiting for several seconds. As they were beginning to think about following after him, he stepped back with a bewildered expression. ¡°What was it?¡± The ck-robed caster asked.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°An ind.¡± Hal answered, still confused. ¡°A warm ind of t stone, one with its own sky. After I entered the portal, I heard Lord Tower¡¯s voice. He said that I had earned the ability to freely travel between this world and ¡®Earth¡¯.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The others looked on in confusion, slowly moving to enter the portal one by one, with even the two slimes following behind. They had never heard of anything like this before. After all, the only ¡®true¡¯ challenger to defeat the five star dungeon merely seemed to have vanished, the one witness telling nobody of her survival but her friends and family.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sure enough, they all arrived on the ind that Hal spoke of, seeing a clear sky high above their heads. There had never been such a warm climate on thehrak world, making it clear to them that they had gone far outside their own territory. Additionally, the slimes themselves had never heard of the ¡®Earth¡¯, making even the two of them wonder at what they were seeing.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Congrattions.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> A voice rang out in the minds of the other six survivors. <i><span style="font-weight:400">As god yers, you have each earned the right to travel between my world and Earth at your leisure. Simply focus on the portal that brought you here, and another will appear to allow your return.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hal looked out at the calm ocean surrounding the ind, feeling the urge to explore this new world. However, he ultimately shook his head, turning to address the others. ¡°I say we head back.¡± He told them in a somber tone. ¡°Nishi¡¯s family needs to be notified, and we should let everyone know what happens when the trial is passed.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The others all nodded their agreement at this, and they turned back to the portal again, returning to the world of Tower. Once back, they entered the door that would take them to the surface, where a hopeful party was waiting to celebrate their return. It was not umon for such parties to spend days camped outside the gate of the five-star dungeon¡¯s entrance whenever a strong contender entered the arena. They would wait, sending someone to check the door of the dungeon every so often. If the door changed, it was a sign that whoever had entered had failed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The crowd cheered when they first saw Hal climbing the stairs, carrying his familiar axe over his shoulder. Clearly, they had managed to return from the five star dungeon, a feat never aplished before. The crowd went wild at this development, before suddenly quieting down. That was because they noticed a body being carried in the arms of the white-robed healer. The expressions of the challengers were not ones of celebration, but of mourning.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As people noticed this, their jubnt cries died down, and the somber atmosphere began to fill the square. Hal gave a nod at this, stepping forward to address the crowd. ¡°Everyone, please hear me out.¡± He said, projecting his voice through his ki to cover the square.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Today, we have made a discovery. The ¡®titled doors¡¯, from which none have returned, are doors which contain a god as a singr opponent.¡± The crowd began to murmur as they heard that, finding such a development surprising. They knew that there were gods aside from Tower, as Pietra and Atraxi were well known to the slimes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The only way through this challenge is to y the god present within the room. After doing so, a portal will open to a newnd.¡± Hal informed them, earning looks of confusion from the others. ¡°But, this discovery came at a great cost. Our teammate¡­ our friend, Nishi has left us, his spirit returning to Lord Tower. He fell in battle, buying us the precious openings we needed to defeat our foe. I can say that without him, the battle may have very well been lost to us. I ask that you let us pass, so that his body may be returned to his home for a proper burial.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Slowly, the crowd began to part in front of Hal and his team, allowing them to advance out of the central square. From beginning to end, nobody but Hal himself spoke, as if using their silence to honor the dead. Their steps were heavy as they walked down the streets, navigating the city with the crowd following silently behind them. The nned celebration had be a funeral procession.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Eventually, the group made it back to Nishi¡¯s home, where his wife was already standing outside and waiting, her hands sped over her chest. It seemed that someone had sent back word that they wereing, as she stood ready to ept the man¡¯s body. Her expression was naturally sad, but she kept her words to herself, simply nodding to Hal and the others.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hal, for his part, didn¡¯t say anything either. Instead, he sped one arm over her shoulder, offering her a solid nod before turning to leave. The wife hugged her husband¡¯s body against herself, before turning to walk towards the city¡¯s graveyard. What came next was a matter for her and her alone, her final moments together with her loved one.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That should do it.¡± James said, wiping his brow as he looked at therge device before him. Currently, this was still the prototype of the final product, so it was natural for it to be farrger than normal. In fact, they had devoted an entire room of their extradimensional research branch purely to the construction of a spherical three-dimensional printer.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The object in question stood three meters tall and five wide, with four pirs of ck metal devices surrounding a ss sphere. Inside the sphere were two nozzles on directly opposite sides from one another, while the outside of the sphere had two omni-directional thrusters positioned at the base of each nozzle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You sure that this will work?¡± Treisha asked curiously, James nodding his head in satisfaction.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In theory, at least. The eight gravity fields should cause the center of gravity for the localized area to be airborne. Once the sphere has reached a stable point, we just have to turn it on and use the script Chel programmed.¡± As James said that, he hit the big blue button on the control panel to start up the machine.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a whir of energy, the four pirs beginning to hum. Each one released a translucent field from both the top and bottom, causing the ss sphere in the center to ¡®fall¡¯ upwards. Once it passed the central point, it began falling down again, eventually stabilizing in the center of the field.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At that point, James typed amand into the console, and a white beam of energy shot up from the base of the device towards the sphere. Once the energy struck the sphere, it was channeled through the two nozzles, and spun into strings that shot inside the sphere itself. As the nozzles were positioned directly opposite each other, the strings converged in the center, where they began to cluster together.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The thrusters on the outer edge of the sphere lit up, rapidly spinning the sphere and causing the positions of the nozzles to move. The assistants outside widened their eyes as they watched a stone-like object slowly beginning to take shape within the sphere. Of course, at the moment it was only a tiny pebble. ¡°How long will it take for the entire stone to be formed?¡± Nora asked curiously.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°ording to our projections¡­ eight hours.¡± James admitted with a faint sigh. ¡°We¡¯ll need to find a test subject for this system stone, as well. Once we¡¯ve confirmed its effects, we can try to work on improved printers. In its current stage, this one needs constant monitoring. One overlooked malfunction could make the entire thing explode.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And let me guess, that¡¯s our job?¡± Nora asked with a wry smile, though James shook his head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, you haven¡¯t finished your advanced omnitool training yet. Only Chel and I can stop the printer if certain malfunctions ur.¡± When Nora heard that, she nced around, noticing that Chel was suspiciously absent.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You lost a bet, didn¡¯t you?¡± Thea asked with a knowing smirk, causing James to click his tongue.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I swear, I tried everything to keep her from cheating this time¡­ she can¡¯t keep getting away with this.¡± He muttered under his breath, his eyes firmly locked on the rapidly rotating sphere suspended above the pir of white light.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I smiled as I saw the first team to reallyplete Tower¡¯s god yer trial. Although they had lost one of their party members, it was still no easy feat for them to have killed a god as they did. And now that they had done so, they would be able to open the way for the rest of Tower¡¯s people to begin integrating with the rest of the world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Next to me, Scarlet looked thoughtfully at the screen. ¡°If they were to have their divinity forged now and be true gods, would they be able to walk people through additional dungeons to give them ess to Earth?¡± She asked, reaching over and taking a little bit of popcorn from the bowl on myp.


    <span style="font-weight:400">On the other side of her, Leowynn shook her head. ¡°I doubt that Tower would leave a loophole that big, unless he intended for them to use that method. Otherwise, the portal probably just won¡¯t appear if they use a god to kill a god.¡± Tower was one of the oldest mortal deities, and he had spent quite a long time on his n to create a powerful race that could supply him with an ample stream of divine faith. Given how much thought he put into his dungeon, she couldn¡¯t see a loophole like that being unintentional.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Don¡¯t put it past him.¡± Aurivy spoke up with a small grin. ¡°Tower¡¯s always been one that I couldn¡¯t quite predict. If people do try to use tricks like that to get through, I could see it working, in a way. Just¡­ not quite how they nned.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What do you mean?¡± Scarlet asked, looking over to receive an exnation. Aurivy simply held up a finger.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°One additional floor per god in the party. That¡¯s what I would do if it were me. If they have one god, they must defeat the second floor in a single run. Two gods, the third floor. This way, it tests the survivability and stamina of both the godly escort and the party being escorted.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet furrowed her brows briefly, before opening her eyes wide with understanding. ¡°You mean whether or not they can survive standing by in a battle between gods? Multiple ones at that.¡± Having been in many such battles herself, she was fully aware of the coteral damage that could be unleashed during a battle on that scale. In fact, it was probably urate to say that she had more experience fighting gods than anyone else.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Aurivy nodded her head. ¡°Though, I don¡¯t know exactly what method Tower will use. He might even make it so that gods can¡¯t enter the dungeon to begin with. I wouldn¡¯t put that past him, either. After all, his whole goal with the dungeon was that he wanted his people to be strong enough to easily survive with Earth¡¯s development before he allowed them to integrate.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As we were discussing this, we heard Chel happily humming to herself as she walked out of her room, heading to get a snack from the kitchen. All of us turned to look at her curiously, with me being the one to ultimately speak up. ¡°Is everything alright down at theb?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">She nced over, nodding her head. ¡°Yup! James is just going to be busy for a while, so I decided to get myself a treat while I wait for him.¡±

 Chapter 821: Completion And Competition

    Chapter 821: Completion And Competition


    <span style="font-weight:400">After some trial and error, the system stone managed to be fully printed after one full day of watching the machine. By the end of it, James was utterly bored, but managed to hold it all in. At the very least, he managed to get some practical information from studying the different malfunctions, so he was able to prepare ways to fix them for the second iteration of the device.


    <span style="font-weight:400">One downside to the device itself was that it actually cost quite arge sum to produce. Over time, they may be able to lower that cost, but it was currently not feasible to try to mass produce system stones on a scale that would allow the conversion of an entire race.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, this did open up a new field of research for James and the others to study, and that was spherical construction. In the present day, there were several items that were mass produced as spheres, the mostmon being the terminal that nearly everyone used as both a homeputer and amunication device. It was apletely spherical crystal created through a magical enchantment designed to let it interface with technology.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now that they have the foundation for spherical construction, they could find more efficient means of producing those terminals as the technology improved. That would have toeter, though, as the current method was more efficient than immediately swapping to the printer, which was costly and prone to errors.


    <span style="font-weight:400">James took the system stone out of the machine after shutting everything down, and carried it out of the range of the nearby field projector. Once it was within the realm of the system, the stone immediately shifted from a pure white to deep blue color, confirming that it had been properly printed.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Still need to find someone to test this on for one final check, though¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He thought to himself, walking back to the teleporter room that took him to his main research office. Once he arrived, Chel smiled, looking over at him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, that¡¯s our first product, right?¡± She asked, causing James to nod with a small sigh. ¡°If you¡¯re thinking about having someone to test it on, just outsource that to the metong. They have loads of people that aren¡¯t part of the system. And if anyone has the tech we need to shrink down the printer, it will be them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James thought about that for a moment, before nodding his head. In truth, the metong were the ones that had the greatest need for the system stone, as they had tens of thousands of different worlds under their control, with all of those races being exempt from the system. That was trillions of people who were unable to gain levels.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He walked over to his desk, closing his eyes and focusing. <i><span style="font-weight:400">High Mother, Goddess of Heat, please answer my call.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Ever since the High Mother of the metong had ascended, it became a lot easier to get in touch with her. At least, that was what he was thinking before his terminal began to ring. James looked over in confusion, noting that the caller was none other than the High Mother herself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He answered the call, turning to face his terminal. What he saw was a gentle smile on a silver face. ¡°I apologize, but this method is much easier for me to focus on.¡± She said, causing James to nod his head in understanding.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s fine, I just needed to get in contact with you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Then, may I ask what this is about?¡± As the High Mother asked that, James lifted up the system stone that had just been produced. ¡°Is that the level transfer orb? I had heard that you released the design to several toppanies, and the production has already begun.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was clear that the High Mother was interested in the level transfer orb, but James shook his head. ¡°No, this is the other one that came from the Aurans.¡± The High Mother¡¯s eyes went slightly wide when she heard that, remembering the conversation when Aurivy was present.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That is¡­ I believe it was called the system stone?¡± James gave a small nod when he heard her question. ¡°May I ask why you are calling me about this?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This is a system stone that <i><span style="font-weight:400">we</i><span style="font-weight:400"> have produced.¡± James answered, attracting her attention even more. ¡°I would appreciate it if you could take this and find someone to test it on. We need to make sure that the system is properly installed on the chosen individual.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The High Mother gave a small nod, clearly ready to ept this arrangement. ¡°Would it be alright if we studied the orb first, before using it for the experiment?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, James shook his head. ¡°I¡¯ll send you the file on its construction with my research notes. For the cliff notes version¡­ unlike the level transfer orb which can be constructed with a specific spiritual and magical fusion enchantment, this has to be printed from the core outwards with a very specific energy frequency. It appearspletely solid at a nce, but the surface isposed of millions of tiny ¡®threads¡¯ that are all linked together in an organized pattern.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The High Mother nodded her head, running through a series of rapid calctions. ¡°I see¡­ so that¡¯s why it took you this long to produce a prototype.¡± It was clear that she was simrly troubled by the stringent requirements, but was still looking forward to the research notes that James had promised. ¡°Either way, we will be able to have the information back to you by the end of the week. Once we have selected the individual, we will run them through the different systems to make sure that everything is functioning normally.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James offered her a nod of thanks at that. ¡°Excellent. Oh, and by the way, have you scheduled your divine forging yet?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The High Mother blinked at that, the thought having slipped her mind it seems. ¡°I shall contact the Goddess of Ki to request the necessary blood blessing. If she epts, I¡¯ll be sure to make an appointment when I return the test results to you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Perfect. In that case, I¡¯ll have the sphere ready for when one of your people arrives.¡± James said as he set it down, the call with the High Mother closing. Just as he was letting out a sigh of relief, Three-Fifty walked over with heavy steps, his electronic voice speaking out.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sir, we have received another divine forging request. This onees from an individual tagged as a person of interest.¡± When James heard that, he lifted a brow. Most of the ¡®persons of interest¡¯ were already gods, or had gone through the forging process already.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Which one is it?¡± He asked, flipping through his mental list.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Cariah Crimson, the Impaler.¡± When James heard that, the name connected in his mind. A former student of the Empress of Bloodhaven, currently a powerful card magician and martial spirit. She had managed to obtain her mana through the same method as Scarlet, but had yet toplete her own ascension.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It seems like she¡¯s wanting to expand the market for advanced forging.¡± When he had first added her to the list of people to watch out for, it was because he was certain that she would first ascend to her divinity, and thene with a sample of her own divine blood for the advanced forging.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The fact that she was first ascending with the forging method meant that she had lost her patience, or she was looking at this as a business opportunity. As of yet, no other martial spirit hade forward to take the forging process. Perhaps they had not yet acquired their mana, or there were some other factors stopping them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Either way, with the Impaler taking the first step, people would no longer need to turn to the Goddess of Blood once her divinity had beenpleted. James gave a small nod at the thought, already nning to release the full crafting method, as well as the schematic for the divine forge itself. Once the Impaler had her divinity, there would be no point in trying to stem the tide of godsing through, as she would be able to freely sell her divine blood for a high cost that other gods would be happy to pay. It was better to let otherpanies handle them, that way things would be a bit more quiet for the researchers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Just put her in the first opening.¡± James said, waving the golem off.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel walked over behind James, looking over his shoulder as he began working. ¡°Setting up the next generation printer?¡± She asked, to which he shook his head. ¡°...Okay, then what is it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m working on a failsafe. If Cariah¡¯s going to be a god, and sell off her divine blood en masse, I want to be prepared in case some of the people that she gives it to decide that having more domains means they can throw their weight around.¡± As he said that, he was rapidly typing, working on a number of forms and just as quickly discarding them. ¡°So, I¡¯ll need toe up with an energy that can specifically target those with forged divinities.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel rolled her eyes, lightly tapping James¡¯s shoulder. ¡°You¡¯re worrying too much. If people go bad, we have just as many ways of dealing with them without specific energybinations.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James slowly turned, looking at Chel and cing a hand on her forehead. ¡°No fever¡­ you already have a failsafe, don¡¯t you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel stuck her tongue out yfully. ¡°Void scripts. I¡¯ve got a few dozen prepared for different purposes that can be integrated with regr broadcasts. Some reduce crime rates, others raise awareness to look for suspicious individuals, and there was one I made to help someone find their lost slime pet. That one was interesting.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Are they mutation-proof?¡± James asked nervously, causing Chel to pause briefly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°For the most part? I only n to sh them at most once a week and majorworks if the situation gets to the point where they¡¯re needed.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James let out a faint groan. ¡°Just tell me you have the anti-memes prepared for if a mutation begins spreading¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel rolled her eyes at that. ¡°Of course. I¡¯m not going to make a meme without crafting the anti-meme to go with it.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Test number one thousand, six hundred, and I¡¯ve lost count¡­ begin.¡± Ashley said in an exhausted tone, hitting the key to finalize the patch she had written for the system. Once again, the system briefly shut down to apply the patch, before booting back up slowly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley made sure to give it plenty of time to finish updating, before taking a deep breath. ¡°Wardrobe.¡± She called out, and widened her eyes as a screen appeared before her. The screen showed every item that she was wearing, assigning them to various anchor points, or ¡®slots¡¯ on her body. There was also the option to assign the outfit as a saved slot, swap to a new slot, or manually customize it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was the first entirelyplete system that Ashley had managed to create, and it functioned as a pseudo-inventory for clothing and armor. It was painful to think about how much work it had taken to get this one little system operational. Not only had she needed to code the system itself dozens of times over, but she had to make an entire debugging software.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Every module within the greater world system was interconnected on some level. It was kind of spaghetti code that made Ashley recoil just from the thought of how interlinked everything was. In order to properly get this one aspect working, she had to use the debugging software to identify all of the ces within the system where it would integrate itself, and then modify those specific lines such that they would not sh with the other modules. And sometimes, that caused the connections to change, and she had to do it all over again until everything fit in ce perfectly.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Okay¡­ now I can make a proper inventory. </i><span style="font-weight:400">As she said that, she saved the new wardrobe system, thinking of ways to improve upon it in the future. For instance, setting it to be self-cleaning would allow people to need to worry less aboutundry. Self-repairing¡­ that would probably be a lot harder, as it would be an incrediblyplex code to repair any type of material. Self-cleaning, and the ability to save enchantments would be more than enough.

 Chapter 822: Blood Brother

    Chapter 822: Blood Brother


    <span style="font-weight:400">As those of us in the Admin Room continued to watch the daily lives of the people below, I felt a small ping in my mind, a message arriving from the system. I blinked, confused at first before realizing that fifty days must have passed by. It hadn¡¯t been hard to lose track of timetely, as there were quite a few advancements to be had. However, since the message was here, I thought that I might as well see who I was going to be up against. My next round wouldn¡¯t be until the month after the uing meeting, so I had plenty of time to prepare.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">BloodBrother?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> That was certainly a name that I was not familiar with, causing my brows to furrow slightly. Granted, there were nearly ten thousand Keepers out there, and I had met less than a hundred of them. If we were counting the ones I was personally familiar with, it¡¯d barely be ten.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I smiled to the others, standing up and excusing myself from the room, making my way to my bedroom. It didn¡¯t seem like Terra was around, so she was likely ying with Udona and the others. Either way, I sat down at my desk and focused, deciding who I wanted to talk to about this. The Gilded Branch would have the most reliable information, but they also charged for it. My own guild¡­ Oldbeard would probably know of any big shots in our rank, since she was the same rank. Aside from her, there was also Aerial. Or, Talon if I remember her true name properly. I hadn¡¯t spoken to her since my very first meeting with the Gilded Branch.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Since there were two other Keepers with my rank in the guild, I decided that it would be best to check there first. I could investigate with the Gilded Branch if I needed moreter. Opening up the guild chat, I found that it was rather quiet, with Sarah and Oldbeard being the only ones actively talking.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard: So you use a conditional form for your simted intelligences to prevent them from having a soul¡­ I had always wondered why the worlds you released never had real people in them. Don¡¯t get me wrong, they¡¯re still very lifelike, and it must have taken a long time to get the program running properly! I just thought it was a weird design decision.


    <span style="font-weight:400">SarahLasting: Honestly, I just thought that it was too cruel to put souls through some of the things that gamers do. How many times would you expect the same NPC to be killed and respawned? It would be even worse without the respawn, as the soul would be recycled to use in various monsters that are farmed regrly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard: I guess you have a point there¡­ I never really thought of it like that. Your worlds were always so amazing that I was able to ignore the more soulless NPCs.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Sorry, is this a bad time?


    <span style="font-weight:400">SarahLasting: Hmm? Not at all, we were just talking.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard: Hey! Did you get everything with the field worked out?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Yeah, thanks for the rificationst time. Once I passed the information over, they¡¯ve managed to get a prototype printer up and running. I actually wanted to talk about something else today.


    <span style="font-weight:400">SarahLasting: Oh? Ah, right, I just got my notification as well. You want to get information on your next opponent?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: That¡¯s right. If it¡¯s not too much trouble, at least.


    <span style="font-weight:400">SarahLasting: No trouble at all. My next match is against someone I¡¯ve faced before. He¡¯s a repeat customer, so I thought I¡¯d send him a present this time, and let him test out a world I¡¯ve been working on.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard: Wait, really?! I¡¯m jealous! Let me know when you¡¯ve got it released, okay?


    <span style="font-weight:400">SarahLasting: Will do, don¡¯t worry!


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: What do you mean, let him test it? You can trade worlds like that, too?


    <span style="font-weight:400">SarahLasting: Well, it¡¯s not really a trade, since I¡¯m not asking for anything. I¡¯m letting him be my beta tester. I¡¯ll send the world over in a storage medium, that way once he installs it somewhere in his own world, he¡¯ll have full ess to the world in the state it was saved.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">When I heard that, I couldn¡¯t help but be reminded of the mana stones that Tsubaki and Dana had created. Those were likely treated the same way, creating their worlds within the local Keeper¡¯s void as soon as they were brought over.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard: Anyways, who¡¯s the guy you¡¯re facing next?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: The name that came up was BloodBrother. It¡¯s not one I¡¯ve heard of before, so I wanted to check here, since I thought you and Aerial might know about them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">SarahLasting: ¡­.@Aerial , are you free?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard: Ah¡­ him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aerial: What? Sorry, I¡¯m here now.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aerial: Ah¡­ just to be clear, are you attacking or defending?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: I¡¯m attacking¡­ and I¡¯m guessing that means he¡¯s not a good Keeper?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aerial: Quite. I almost had to reset because of him. If you¡¯re attacking, that means you don¡¯t have to worry too much.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Well, what can you tell me about him?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aerial: It¡¯s quite a lot to say over text. Would it be alright if I came over, and we talk in person?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Sure, that would be fine.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">After settling that, I sent an invite to Aerial, inviting her to join me in my Admin Room. I set the point of arrival to be the living room, now that I knew that was a thing that could be adjusted¡­ Thus, I got up from my bed and made my way back out.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Did everything go okay?¡± Aurivy asked when she saw meing back into the living room. However, I had only just enough time to nod my head, getting ready to open my mouth before a shark¡¯s head sprouted up from the floor in front of her, regurgitating a young, ginger woman onto the couch.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy¡¯s smile froze at that, neck almost creaking as she looked at the woman covered in bile sitting next to her on the couch. There was a look of utter disgust on the woman¡¯s face as she focused, quickly cleaning herself off. ¡°Sorry¡­ I always hate that one.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Me too.¡± I nodded, remembering when I myself suffered from the jaws of thend shark.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, my appetite is thoroughly ruined.¡± Aurivy grumbled to herself, before turning to look at Talon. ¡°So! New friend?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡­ believe so? I have met your Keeper once before.¡± Talon answered with a small smile, extending her hand to Aurivy. ¡°My name is Talon. Or, as the system calls me, Aerial.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ohh, that second highest in the guild.¡± Aurivy nodded her head, happily shaking Talon¡¯s hand. ¡°I¡¯ve only met Sarah, so it¡¯s good to meet you! Though¡­ maybe next time not in the same way¡­?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah, I think I¡¯ll have to set up an actual reception room after this.¡± I agreed readily. I wanted to let her appear in the living room, just in case she got a rather normal entrance. How could I have forgotten that the system just loves to give anything but a normal entrance?


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Quite.¡± Talon chuckled, before shaking her head. ¡°Anyways, I have something to discuss with your Keeper.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy blinked at that, looking over at me. ¡°It¡¯s about our next opponent. You can say it in front of them, Talon. They¡¯re all going to need to know this, sooner orter.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Talon gave another nod, her smile growing just a touch. ¡°Very well. Roughly three Standard Years ago, shortly after I increased to Rank Three with Sarah¡¯s guidance, I was attacked by BloodBrother. You shouldn¡¯t be fooled by his rank, he is an expert Keeper. At the very least, I haven¡¯t found a record of that title being killed in at least fifty years. Given the fact that his methods match his name, it¡¯s likely that he was of the same generation as Sarah, the ones who chose the titles themselves.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Matches his name¡­ he uses blood?¡± I nced over to Scarlet when that thought crossed my mind. If the opponent used blood as an offensive tactic, then Scarlet would be the perfect counter to them. However, I naturally couldn¡¯t send her in an invasion. Furthermore, they likely have methods to resist such obvious divine control.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not blood, per se.¡± Talon shook her head, bringing a hand up tob through her hair. ¡°Disease. He¡¯s a Monster Keeper, but his monsters are gues. The ones that he sent after me came in three ranks. The first were almost microscopic insects that infected the blood of living creatures, using it as a host to spread their gue.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The second was an energy form monster. When it entered a popted area, it exploded, infecting the energies of everyone around it. Those infected would gradually have their energies converted into the same type as the creature itself. I lost an entire realm just to that type of monster¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°However, the third was the worst. It was a single entity, a God of Blood, Infection, and Death. It was my first time having someone send a deity with three domains after me in an attack. Since it was only one person, it took me months of hunting to find them, our fights crossing numerous realms. He had established a divinew upon his arrival, causing anyone that died to infect others around them with their ¡®death¡¯, dooming them to the same fate.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If someone died by being mauled by a beast, anyone else around them would soon find themselves attacked by all sorts of feral animals. Even the beast that killed them would be subjected to thisw. Those that fell to their deaths would spread a ¡®death by falling¡¯ to those around them, giving them apulsion to seek out higher ces for various reasons, before causing idents to make them fall.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Whether a death was by disease, violence, or a pure ident, that death would affect everyone within ten meters of them when they died. It only took two weeks before hospitals all across my worlds copsed, the doctors dying in droves. Without doctors, the death rate spiked higher and higher. After I killed that god, and the invasion was finally over, I had to immediately get one of mypanions to undo that divinew. And by that time, only six percent of my total poption had survived.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I felt a chill run down my spine when I heard that, trying to imagine the horror of a contagious cause of death. ¡°I¡¯m surprised that you didn¡¯t reset after all of that¡­¡± I shook my head as I said that. If it had been me, I couldn¡¯t guarantee that I¡¯d have kept going with that world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I almost did¡­ most of the people in that world that I cared for had been killed. If I didn¡¯t have the ability to bring them back aspanions, and if Sarah hadn¡¯t been there for me, I would have surely reset. Even then, my rank dropped back down to two from that attack, and I had to take drastic measures just to get things back to working order. Sarah was kind enough to help me pick a world on the market that is good for repopting after a tough battle.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod, moving to sit in a free chair. ¡°Sounds like we can¡¯t just let BloodBrother off without some kind of a fight.¡± I muttered, thinking about what would be needed to fight a world which cultivated such dangerous diseases.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°He¡¯s been idle at the third Rank for years. I wouldn¡¯t expect him to be an easy opponent.¡± Talon warned, her eyes showing genuine concern. ¡°Part of me has been scared to fight him again, and part of me has been wanting to, in order to get my revenge for the pain he caused me and my world. So¡­ if you really want to attack him, I can tell you the strategies that I have thought of.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I smiled towards Talon, nodding my head. ¡°I¡¯d appreciate that, Talon. Any advice that you can give me would help.¡±

 Chapter 823: Strategy

    Chapter 823: Strategy


    <span style="font-weight:400">Those of us gathered in the living room made our way to the meeting room instead, as this felt like something needing to be done in a more serious environment. Additionally, I called Chel over while exining the situation to her. Her typical level of preparedness and nning would likely be of some help here.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once everyone had been assembled and sat down, I signaled for Talon to start. If anything, she seemed to appreciate how seriously I was treating this matter. ¡°As I¡¯ve said before, BloodBrother only sent three types of creatures at me when he attacked, one of which was a god. It¡¯s unreasonable to assume that he doesn¡¯t have other creatures in his own world as well.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°He sounds like a biological weapons cultivator.¡± Chel said with a vaguely disgusted expression. ¡°Likely has a gue or poison for any situation.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Talon nodded her head in agreement. ¡°That¡¯s what I believe, as well. My first thought was that anyone who deals with their own diseases to such a degree must first possess an immunity to them. So I wondered if it was possible to train a God of Immunity, and have them set a divinew to remove people¡¯s immunity to infection.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel actually looked somewhat interested at that, but Talon shook her head. ¡°However, divinews can be undone by those with either simr or opposing domains. Even if I sent such a god, he surely has countless individuals capable of countering such an obviousw. Otherwise, he would have been in ages ago.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯re not wrong.¡± Chel agreed, thinking it over. ¡°The next most obvious step would be to send robotic troops after him, equipped with weapons capable of ying gods. Maybe a few fleets capable of shattering worlds.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Talon smiled, nodding towards Chel. ¡°That was my first thought as well. In fact, I suggested this strategy to a friend roughly a year ago when I found that he had been paired against BloodBrother. I helped him pick out a robotic race that could be mass produced, and weapons powerful enough to invalidate the need to fightside.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Even so, their battle ended in failure. ording to him, the entire conflictsted roughly four weeks, meaning that they hadn¡¯t been immediately countered, but had also not been able to weaken him enough to shake his standing.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In other words.¡± I added on, stroking my chin. ¡°He either has some form of disease capable of affecting robotic life, or has another source ofbat power able to ovee the forces you arranged for.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Talon agreed, letting out a faint sigh. ¡°The two primary strategies to deal with biological warfare have been rendered invalid. This made me think about the situation from an alternate angle. What else could possibly attack BloodBrother as a Rank Three Keeper that he might not have a perfect defense nned for?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel furrowed her brows. ¡°A perfect defense is as impossible as a perfect attack. If he was able to counter everything that a Keeper of the same rank could throw at him, he would have been boosted to the next rank long ago. Either hisbat power isn¡¯t as weak as expected, or he has a weakness that is stopping his advance.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s what I believe, as well.¡± Talon nodded. ¡°So, I did some investigation. I have found one type of technique that could potentially bring an end to BloodBrother. It¡¯s a rather lesser known aspect among Keepers of this rank, though those from higher ranks typically know about it. However, as a monster Keeper, I expect he doesn¡¯t have much direct contact with the higher ranks.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What¡¯s the technique?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask that, looking at Talon in anticipation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I assume that you¡¯re familiar with the void at this point.¡± She said with a small, expectant smile. ¡°However, few people at our rank realize that the raw power of the void can be manipted to attack anything within the physical world. It can brainwash people, reshape structures, or even entirely transform creatures all with the power of information.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I simply blinked at her, looking awkwardly at Leowynn, then Scarlet, Aurivy, and finally Chel. Chel cleared her throat, doing her best to speak calmly. ¡°You mean using void scripts?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">This time, it was Talon¡¯s turn to be taken aback. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ right? You know about them already?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Chel here is something of an expert on the subject.¡± I said with a small smirk, shaking my head. ¡°However, are you sure that he doesn¡¯t have a defense against that, as well?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Talon shrugged her shoulders, shaking her head. ¡°Everyone I¡¯ve talked to that has tried to attack him, I paid handsomely to ask the general strategy that they used. Most of them went with the first two ideas, either robotics or a god meant to counter him. Some sent in armies or grand monsters. One guy threw a suicide squad in with full hazmat gear and a world-shattering bomb set to detonate ten minutes after arrival. That invasionsted all of ten minutes, as expected. However, none of them seemed to shake his position.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s why I came up with the concept of a Death Star.¡± Talon beamed at the name, though I was just d I wasn¡¯t drinking anything at the time. ¡°If he¡¯s a monster Keeper, I can¡¯t count on there being a mass media culture to quickly spread information. So I need an image that can be seen across an entire.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The idea is to infect a star with the power of a void, twisting it into something malicious. Those who see the star will be struck with hopelessness, and seek out ways to end their own existence. Additionally, the star is able to infect other stars, and the script used makes it so that the void power travels far beyond the speed of light. I purchased a realm to test this on, disconnected from my other worlds. After one week, the script had infected every star in the gxy.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel¡¯s eyes went wide as she listened to the concept of the attack. ¡°What was the mutation rate?¡± She asked hurriedly, leaning forward. ¡°And do you have the proper anti-meme prepared already, or will we need to make it ourselves?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Mutation rate? Anti-meme?¡± Talon asked in confusion, causing Chel to let out a sigh.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Void powers that have an infectious nature like that have a risk of mutation, just like any gue. Were any of the infected stars different from the rest on a fundamental level? For instance, turning trees into fleshy pirs, vaporizing anything within their system, or the star itself turning into a monster?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Talon blinked, seeming caught off guard by the question. ¡°I can ask my System Companion when I return, but I didn¡¯t investigate each star closely enough to determine whether or not there was any kind of mutation like that. And¡­ what is the anti-meme you mentioned?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah, you¡¯ll need to know this if you¡¯ve been tampering with memes without realizing¡­¡± Chel groaned, shaking her head. ¡°An anti-meme is the counter for an effect like this. It¡¯s a separate void script designed to negate the effects of the original. Each void script like what you¡¯re using would have its own, unique anti-meme. Though, if the script mutates, the anti-meme would likely be useless before too long.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Talon¡¯s eyes went wide when she heard Chel¡¯s exnation. ¡°Even void powers can be countered so easily?¡± She asked in astonishment, causing Chel to shake her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s anything but easy. The highest ranking Keepers might have universal anti-memes, but typically memetic warfare is considered infinitely more destructive than biological weapons. You can only develop an anti-meme to counter something after observing its effects and understanding what you are dealing with. However, most malicious scripts are capable of infecting observers, and even those who simply share information about the script itself. Thus, the would-be defender has only the time between the moment of contact and the moment of activation to devise a counter.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right¡­¡± Talon nodded, doing her best to absorb the information. ¡°In that case, I think that you have the best hope out of anyone I¡¯ve met to take out BloodBrother. My personal strategy was to cultivate a Fallen God of Starlight to send against him, giving them the information for this script only moments before departure. Fallen gods will more easily be able to traverse the void, if the Keeper possesses multiple worlds, and this script is too dangerous to allow it to be practiced before the time of departure.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel nodded her head in agreement, while I closed my eyes in thought. Ultimately, it was Leowynn that spoke first. ¡°I think the fact that he didn¡¯t attack you with a memetic virus is enough proof that he hasn¡¯t started tampering with the full power of memes yet. Otherwise, I believe that would be his primary attack method, as you have already both pointed out how rare it is for people to have a proper defense.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy chuckled, shaking her head. ¡°If he really is a Monster Keeper, memes are probably too advanced for his creations to fully grasp. You said that he sent a god after you, but for you to stillbel him this way, was it a monster god, or a civilized one?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Talon furrowed her brow, thinking. ¡°It seemed monstrous in appearance, with six legs and a jet ck hide. For it to have three domains, I had always just assumed that BloodBrother purchased a system for monsters to cultivate domains like that, and then it gained enough intelligence to implement that divinew after being sent over.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s not a bad line of logic.¡± Scarlet agreed, having seen the vast array of choices that the Keeper could use to change their world. ¡°Some of their monsters would have to be capable of interster travel, given that the robots in gctic warships had been defeated. But monsters like that would be the first ones to fall to this void script you¡¯re suggesting. The only ones who will be spared would be purely subterranean creatures, or those that are blind.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Talon nodded her head at that. ¡°Unfortunately, it¡¯s the best that I can do. Like your little friend said, there¡¯s no such thing as a perfect attack. If BloodBrother really does take the form of a subterranean creature, he¡¯ll be trapped on the world where he descends for the invasion. If he is blind, and operates through other senses¡­ I can only consider myself unlucky.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel gave a small smirk. ¡°That might not be the case. If the script really does mutate, there¡¯s every likelihood that it could ovee these two restrictions. The downside here is that, if we use this, we are guaranteed to get nothing back from his worlds. We¡¯ll be forced to reset it as soon as we get it, which means that we won¡¯t even be able to retrieve the forces that we invest.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Talon nodded her head. ¡°In truth, if I ever had the chance to use this, I had no intention of keeping his world alive. BloodBrother has killed multiple Keepers over the years, and I fully intended to refund his world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel crossed her arms, chuckling a bit at that. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be as profitable as you think, anyways. A true Monster Keeper won¡¯t have civilization advancement points, nor will they usually submit anything to the market to earn royalties, due to the fact that they don¡¯t have a culture to base things on. Their points wille entirely from three sources.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The first and mostmon method is achievements. By descending as a monster themselves, they will surpass their physical limits and be the king of monsters, using that as a method to gain points. The second, and honestly the rarest is from the annual meetings. Most Monster Keepers wouldn¡¯t earn much in those meetings, even if they wanted to attend. A few thousand points here and there, but nothing grand.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The third method lies in between the first two, but offers vastly more points. By killing other Keepers and resetting their worlds, the Monster Keeper can gain vastly more points. However¡­ most Monster Keepers wouldn¡¯t choose to reset the world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Why not?¡± I asked, unable to see a reason behind Chel¡¯s logic.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s simple.¡± She answered with a smile. ¡°These worlds are pre-built habitats that they can use to let their monsters grow without investing any more points. A Monster Keeper that refunds the worlds they win will have less adaptability in general. Additionally, although they won¡¯t get any advancement points from their own races, they can from the races of Keepers that they defeat. However, even if they don¡¯t reset it, the Keeper that defeats them will still get the full points total from the worlds that they had won.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So Monster Keepers are like walking jackpots?¡± I muttered. ¡°As long as you can secure a defeat against one, you¡¯ll get the points from every Keeper they¡¯ve defeated?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°To be fair, that would apply to any evil Keeper.¡± Talon said, nodding her head in confirmation. ¡°However, we try to avoid looking at them that way. If we look at other Keepers simply because of the points we could win from them, we could easily fall and be a tyrant ourselves. I don¡¯t want to defeat BloodBrother because of the points I could get from him. I want to defeat him to avenge the pain my friends had to endure.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Either way.¡± Chel waved her hand, dismissing the topic. ¡°We¡¯ll need to cultivate at least two powerful beings. One has to be a Fallen God of Starlight, like she said, and the other a God or Fallen God of Immunity. Thetter will be able to keep them safe long enough for them to flee their spawn point and make it out into the void, where they can go anywhere they want to start spreading the ¡®Death Star¡¯ script.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As long as the two of themst long enough to infect each of his realms, then even if we don¡¯t win, the damage will be enough to force BloodBrother to reset.¡± Talon nodded her head at Chel¡¯s logic, though it was clear that she would prefer a total victory over a potential reset.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hopefully he doesn¡¯t have ess to a defense ticket.¡± Chel muttered with a sullen look. ¡°Those are really hard to get anyways, but we¡¯ll be his first opponent of the new year. If he gets one in this meeting, we¡¯re guaranteed to lose our invasion.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Talon¡¯s eyes went wide at that, before furrowing her brow in thought. ¡°I know someone in the Gilded Branch. They have a group of people that are good at tracking others in the annual meetings. Apparently, they do so as a means of looking for suspicious meetings between evil Keepers. However, they can also be hired to track a specific Keeper, as long as that Keeper is on their cklist.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I said that I¡¯d help you, so I¡¯ll handle the payment this time.¡± She said with a firm nod. I could see her determination to bring down BloodBrother, even if it did surprise me that she was willing to invest like this. Still, I dly epted the help.

 Chapter 824: This Is Fine

    Chapter 824: This Is Fine


    <span style="font-weight:400">After finalizing the n, Talon said her goodbyes and went back to her own Admin Room via a giant worm that emerged from the floor beneath her that devoured her whole. When I saw that, I couldn¡¯t help but twitch. ¡°She¡­ has really bad luck with travel options.¡± Imented, the others around me all nodding their heads.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay, so¡­ Leowynn, you¡¯ll be in charge of training a Fallen God of Starlight. Someone let Udona know the n, since she¡¯s the best one to train a Fallen God of Immunity. Once everyone¡¯s up to speed, we¡¯ll do a fast forward of¡­ let¡¯s say ten years. That should give plenty of time for each of you to find and train suitable people.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn thought about it for a moment, before nodding her head in agreement. Ten years wasn¡¯t all that long, but so long as they found already talented individuals worthy of the task, they would be able to meet the deadline. ¡°Also¡­¡± I added on, looking around again. ¡°Try to make sure that Aurivy and Leowynn can fully recover their powers. They¡¯re still not at their peaks from the Guardian and Sanctum, right?¡± The two dipped their heads slightly at that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°How should we go about speeding the process up?¡± Scarlet asked curiously.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Once the System Stones are able to be mass produced, arrange for them to be distributed to the Metong worlds, with the priority being the establishment of the Boundless Caravan. Once we have people on each of those worlds that are part of the system, they will be able to ess the caravan. This will drastically speed up Leowynn¡¯s recovery, and Aurivy¡¯s travel options have always been a popr choice, so it should work for her as well.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Given the sheer number of worlds within the Metong¡¯s Network, this could increase the recovery of their powers by over a hundred fold. It will also cause the religions to spread, and temples to the Greater Pantheon will begin forming there. At least, that was my hope. There would obviously be some races that were already religious and had no interest in worshiping new gods.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After hearing my exnation, the others all nodded their heads and departed from the meeting room. While waiting for the signal that Udona had been brought up to speed, I closed my eyes and focused. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki, I have a message for you.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">What is it, my Keeper?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She asked, her response as prompt as ever.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯ll be fast forwarding the world again soon, and I just wanted to notify you that I wouldn¡¯t be around for a while. We just learned about our next opponent for the invasions, and they are an enemy that we need to try to defeat, so we¡¯re taking this time to raise champions to fight against them.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she heard my exnation, there was a brief pause. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Do you require my aid to fight as well, my Keeper?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Absolutely not.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I replied, my mental voice somewhat stern. I could feel her recoil slightly from my tone, before I took a sigh and exined. <i><span style="font-weight:400">This isn¡¯t like the defenses we¡¯ve done, Tsubaki, I¡¯m sorry. This is a one way ticket. Whether the battle is won or not, the people that we send will never have the chance to return. The opponent is a gue world, and we are going to attack with a universe-scale void script. We can¡¯t risk that bleeding back into our worlds, and I can¡¯t send you on a suicide mission like that. I refuse to send you on a mission that will guarantee your death.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was another brief silence, followed by a much more gentle voice. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I would dly die for you, my Keeper. But¡­ I am thankful that you value me so. Is there any way that I can help with the training of the new champions?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯m not sure.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I answered honestly. <i><span style="font-weight:400">We¡¯re going to be training two individuals to be Fallen Gods. One will be the Fallen God of Starlight, so you might be able to assist Leowynn in their practical training, once they have finished ascending.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I understand. </i><span style="font-weight:400">She responded, and there was a moment¡¯s pause before she spoke again. <i><span style="font-weight:400">How long will this absence be?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Ten years to the day. Normally, I¡¯d avoid fast forwarding this long again, but this is a special circumstance. The enemy Keeper this time hurt a friend of mine, and has shown that they are more than willing to eliminate Keepers that they are paired against.</i> <i><span style="font-weight:400">Please¡­ pass my apologies to Dana and Lifre. Let them know that I¡¯ll descend as soon as the time is over.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">This seemed to cheer Tsubaki up. Although she knew that it would be a decade before I appeared, knowing exactly when I would return made her quite happy. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I will do so, my Keeper.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">After she said that, Aurivy alerted me that Udona had been fully brought up to speed. Once I had received that message, I sent one final thought to Tsubaki before elerating the world.


    <hr>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯ll see you soon, Tsubaki.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The message rang in Tsubaki¡¯s mind, causing a small smile to form on her face. Compared to the time that she had served the Keeper thus far, a decade was barely worth mentioning. The fact that she knew the exact date that he would descend again let her know how much the Keeper really cared for her and the others.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki flicked her wrist, causing the daggers of light to shatter and return to her body. She had been in the midst of training when the Keeper spoke to her, so now it was time for her to go and find Dana and Lifre. Thankfully, she didn¡¯t have to search for very long, as Dana was working within her workshop, as usual.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What¡¯s up?¡± Dana asked as soon as she heard the door open, before turning her head and seeing the expression on Tsubaki¡¯s face. ¡°Okay, seriously, what¡¯s up?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The Keeper just informed me that he will not be able to descend for some time, as he must prepare to fight against a powerful foe.¡± Tsubaki exined, though that only made Dana even more confused.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah¡­ but why do you look <i><span style="font-weight:400">happy</i><span style="font-weight:400">? You usually get all pouty when the Keeper isn¡¯t around for a long time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I do not.¡± Tsubaki puffed her cheeks out indignantly, causing Dana to grin. ¡°And¡­ he assured me that he would descend again as soon as he was able to. Ten years from now, exactly to the day.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana blinked, before giving a slight chuckle and nodding her head. ¡°Got it. Did you mark the date yet?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Surprisingly, Tsubaki shook her head. ¡°He asked me to let you and Lifre know before anything else.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana gave another nod. ¡°I¡¯ll tell Lifre. I was just finishing up this project, anyways.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What are you working on?¡± Tsubaki asked curiously, as Dana often didn¡¯t share the details of her little projects until they were nearingpletion, or if she needed someone to help her with a bottleneck.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Magical Intelligence.¡± Dana answered with a small grin. ¡°There are already some people that have created a fourth-tier intelligence through magicparable to an AI, so I wanted to try doing the same. It was Ryone¡¯s assignment for mest time she was here.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki gave a small nod at that. ¡°Do you have a specific n for it?¡± To her question, Dana¡¯s grin grew wider, and she nodded her head.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">It only took a few minutes for the notification to arrive that the promised ten years had passed. As soon as it did, I selected the option to descend once more to the Sky Citadel. I had a promise to keep, after all. Thus, I closed my eyes as a warm light appeared around me, and felt the cool air of the Sky Citadel brushing over my body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Wee back.¡± A number of voices called out at once, but my brows furrowed slightly. There was something different mixed in. When I opened my eyes, I saw not three, but <i><span style="font-weight:400">four</i><span style="font-weight:400"> figures kneeling beneath the steps leading to my throne.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, the first three were the servants of the citadel. The final one, however, was an androgynous human with soft blue hair and matching eyes. They seemed to lean vaguely closer to male than female, but were clearly an unusual entity. Sweeping over them with my senses, I found that they were a construct made almost entirely of magic, with just a hint of a soul at their core.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This is your first official meeting, so allow me to introduce Gerard.¡± Dana said with a smile, standing together with the magical entity. ¡°He is a living spell that I created nearly ten years ago now. Capable of self-modification and improvement, he has been helping us manage things around here.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It is an honor to finally meet you, Keeper.¡± Gerard said with a solemn bow. ¡°I have heard much of you since my birth.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked as I registered the new character¡¯s appearance. Sure, I knew that magical intelligences were a hot topic for research, but I didn¡¯t expect to find one waiting here for me when I descended. ¡°A pleasure to meet you, as well.¡± I greeted him back, before looking at the others. ¡°How has everything been in my absence? I haven¡¯t had the time to look over everything beforeing back down.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The four looked at each other, but it was ultimately Tsubaki that spoke. ¡°Currently, we are in something of a recession, my Keeper.¡± She answered honestly, catching me by surprise. ¡°As ofte, the demand for energy crystals has outweighed the supply, forcing people torgely turn to the Boundless Caravan to make up the difference.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Lifre nodded her head. ¡°Thankfully, faith is an abundant resource still, but¡­ the process of getting tokens has slowed down.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°How so?¡± That surprised me, so I looked at Lifre for an exnation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, tokens are gained by sacrificing something with emotional significance, right?¡± Lifre asked, to which I nodded my head. ¡°After a while¡­ people start to run out of things that they can offer up, and are willing to part with. Hunters can still offer up the extra meat that they gain from their hunts, but doing so keeps that meat out of the stomachs of hungry families, which would additionally keep those families from being able to recover their ki and take care of their needs. Only the mortal gods and really devout priests and clerics are able to receive tokens without making an offering. The church has been spreading the tokens into the economy to try to make things easier.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I rubbed my forehead, not having expected to run into such issues the moment that I descended. From what they described it as, the economy was on the verge of a full depression. ¡°Are there any ns in ce to resolve the issue?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">It seemed that it was Dana¡¯s turn to speak, and she nodded her head. ¡°The main problems are the mass-production of System Stones, Level Stones, and increase in the average household¡¯s energy expenditure. The first two caused the existing market to dry up before the researcher was able to optimize the design enough to stabilize things, but thest problem has only been getting worse over time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°At the moment, research has moved to focus on more efficient energy sources. The researcher has begun to begin experimenting with drawing energy from the void again, and hopes that arge-scale void refinery will be able to alleviate the problems.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Wasn¡¯t it decided that that was inefficient for our world?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask, to which Gerard answered.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That was in a time before we had the proper technology to interact with the void on this scale, and prevent it from negatively impacting us. At the current moment, the technology needed to achieve this has already been created, and merely needs to be utilized for the specific purpose.¡± Okay, it seemed like more void research had been conducted during the ten years¡­ ¡°ording to the researcher¡¯s timeline, he ns to perform arge-scale testter this month.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I took a deep breath, closing my eyes and thinking. If the void energy n worked, that would be great. However, Dana said that this was only to alleviate the problem, not remove it. Ultimately, this issue came down to a resource shortage. The question was what could I do to take care of it from my end? It would be simple to make resources like iron and gold able to respawn, but the resources that we were in short supply of was energy, particrly ki and mana.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Maybe I should buy ores that have naturally urring ki and mana, and then set those to automatically respawn?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I mused, knowing that it was definitely possible. Doing so would take care of the primary issue, and it was just a question of whether those systems would have any inherent downsides.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What about importing energy from Lorek and Spica?¡± I asked curiously, looking at the group. In those worlds, mana and ki came from the stars, and should be considered almost limitless. However, Dana shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Under Ashley¡¯s directive, atmospheric refineries were established on boths four years ago, or eighty years ago ording to their local time. This helped with the problem, but the amount that they are able to bring in after isting the energies just isn¡¯t enough to meet the demand.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod when I heard that, having realized things wouldn¡¯t be that easy. If it was, there wouldn¡¯t be a problem in the first ce. ¡°Got it. I think I know what to do, then.¡± I said with a small smile. Thankfully, this idea shouldn¡¯t cost too much to implement.

 Chapter 825: Okay, NOW This Is Fine

    Chapter 825: Okay, NOW This Is Fine


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ll be right back.¡± I told the four, closing my eyes and focusing to return to the Admin Room. As much as I would love to be able to just buy options conveniently from the world itself, that just wasn¡¯t possible. However, knowing what I wanted made this process rather quick. Once in the Admin Room, I ran a search for ores that were made of crystalized energy. To my surprise, there were actually quite a few, though they were considerably more expensive than any ore that I had previously purchased.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Next, I narrowed down the search to ores that would <i><span style="font-weight:400">not</i><span style="font-weight:400"> explode upon being mined, as I knew that there would be several of those within the selection even if that detail wasn¡¯t specifically mentioned. Finally, I narrowed the energy down to specifically ki and mana, sorting by the amount of energy stored. Once that was done, I purchased the top option for both ki and mana.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Each of these ores were one thousand points¡­ over sixty times the price of my next most expensive material, magnartum. Given that we were talking about pure, condensed energy, I wasn¡¯t really surprised. For the mana stones, or ¡®Mage Heart¡¯, I ced them around the crystal pirs for each floor of Fyor, as that was the ce where mana was most abundant in any world. Likewise, the ¡®Blood Heart¡¯ was ced beneath and around Bloodhaven, where ki had dyed thend and sky itself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thest step was to get an ore respawning system. This was another one thousand point system on the market. Well, I actually got the two thousand point variant instead, because the first one would apply to <i><span style="font-weight:400">all</i><span style="font-weight:400"> ores, which I didn¡¯t want. I only wanted the system to apply to these two items. Furthermore, the two thousand point variant had configuration options, such as the time or conditions needed for a material to respawn.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once I had those set up, I closed my eyes to descend once again, arriving once more upon the throne in the citadel. The four individuals below looked at me curiously, but I simply smiled. ¡°Arrange for a mining team in Bloodhaven and Fyor. For Fyor, mine near any of the crystal spires. For Bloodhaven¡­ well, they will be able to sense the change any moment now, so they¡¯ll know where to mine.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Even if they didn¡¯t have Scarlet¡¯s ability to detect powerful ki from anywhere in the world, I knew that a sudden surge of ki appearing beneath their feet would attract their attention. And, sure enough, Scarlet suddenly appeared within the citadel a few secondster. Tsubaki and the others had not even had time to finish leaving yet. ¡°Father?¡± She spoke up, clearly asking for an exnation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Good, you¡¯re here.¡± I nodded towards her. ¡°They told me about the problems around here, so I¡¯ve taken a step to alleviate some of them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Then, the red stone spread out beneath my nation?¡± She asked, causing the eyes of the others to widen.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It is known as the ¡®Blood Heart¡¯. It was the best ki-based energy stone I could produce. As for exactly how much it has¡­ I¡¯ll leave that to your people to determine.¡± Sadly, the market did not give a proper analysis on the total effectiveness of each ore, merely allowing me to sort them ording to the amount of energy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Additionally, the crystal will naturally regrow over time, returning to its pristine state one week after mining has begun.¡± I informed them, making sure Tsubaki and Dana heard this as well. ¡°Until the exact process of regrowth is understood, I would suggest mining for six days, and then resting for the seventh. If you want to set up areas where the crystals won¡¯t regrow, you will need to block that area from the crystal¡¯s path with a mithral shield.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">These were the conditions that I had established with the new system. Although mithral was a somewhat rare resource itself, it was avable for purchase on the Boundless Caravan, making it avable for anyone that truly needed it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet nodded her head, the others quickly leaving to carry out my previousmands. Once they were gone, she let out a small sigh. ¡°That was really a surprise, dad¡­¡± She muttered.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sorry. I wasn¡¯t expecting to show up to an economic recession.¡± I gave a somewhat bitter smile as I said that, one that was soon matched by Scarlet herself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I understand. Energy construction has be the new major trend in recent years. Last year, they managed to create a fully energy-constructed home that boasted high security and self-regeneration.¡± When Scarlet said that, I couldn¡¯t help but feel my brow twitch. I thought that the energy construction had purely been for the two new types of spheres.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is it really so convenient to print items with energy now?¡± I asked, Scarlet nodding her head in response.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The Metong have investigated, and found numerous energybinations that can produce different textures when printed as a solid mass, as well as numerous special effects. Jackets that will keep the wearer at afortable temperature without using any of their mana, beds that remain soft while allowing you to adjust how warm they are, and even the home terminals have been upgraded with the new technology.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a sigh, slowly standing from my throne to walk over to her. ¡°Those items can¡¯t do what they do without any outside energy at all, can they?¡± I questioned, finding it rather hard to believe.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The most popr items are those that can be ¡®recharged¡¯ with ambient natural energy, making them effectively limitless. Home terminals still need proper chargers, and the energy to maintain them has increased along with their design.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So that¡¯s where the extra usage hase from.¡± I said to myself after hearing Scarlet¡¯s exnation. ¡°Is there any impact on the Virtual side of things?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet thought about it for a moment, before shaking her head. ¡°The Virtual servers are still running on the former models, as far as I know. At the very least, service hasn¡¯t been impacted. However, the Metong havee together with Darkme Technologies to release a new service avable to Virtual users.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I lifted my eyebrow curiously, she continued. ¡°Users that acquire items that contain a ¡®Reality-Compatible¡¯ tag, meaning that they are feasibly possible in the real world, can exchange currency either real or Virtual to have that item printed for them. Once they do so, the item loses that tag, since it has already been printed once. They want to avoid having to print the same hero¡¯s sword a hundred times, even if he can pay for it¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head, reaching out to pat her hair. ¡°Thanks. Anything else that you think is important?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet pursed her lips in thought. I knew that Tsubaki and the others would only tell me the biggest events and problems, leaving out a lot of the details unless I specifically asked. ¡°The two Fallen Gods have been fully trained and briefed on their mission, including the high likelihood that they would be unable to return. They intend to leave their Virtual selves behind, and have been granted free server space, meaning that they won¡¯t need to pay the usual rent as a token of thanks for their service.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ah. Finally, one new region has been discovered on Fyor.¡± She said with a smile. ¡°The process to reach the twenty-ninth floor is still underway, but smaller sub-gates have been discovered.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m sorry, what?¡± I blinked, looking straight at Scarlet while my hand rested on her head. ¡°Sub-gates? Are you meaning like the manastones and tidestones?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, dad.¡± She surprisingly shook her head. ¡°These are smaller gates in the form of ck wells resting in the ground. So far, five have been discovered on the twenty-eighth floor. Two of them merely connect to one another, while the other three connect to new areas. ording to the gravity readings, the other three can be considered as smaller sub-zones of the twenty-eighth floor.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°These sub-zones do not have their own central spires, but also do not seem to have level restrictions for entrance. Finally, none of them have possessed any form of life. Light sources, water, and nts have all been imported to these areas, and they are gradually bing habitable biomes.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Just out of curiosity¡­ howrge are these zones?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask that after hearing her exnation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The exact sizes vary. Typically, the ceiling is no more than two hundred kilometers high, and they have a width from one end to another of roughly thirty thousand kilometers. This makes them slightlyrger than the total space avable on the seventeenth floor. The popr theory is that these are a form of ¡®bubble¡¯ within the borders between floors, which is why they do not have the standard ess rules, a crystal, or any form of life.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That did make some degree of sense, but it was still unusual for something like that to only just be discovered. Then again, these are likely quite rare, and even more so on lower level floors. Given that most of the effort when exploring Fyor is to go right for the next gate instead of fully exploring the current floor, it made sense. ¡°You called them wells. What did you mean exactly by that?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet smiled, nodding her head. ¡°Simr to how the gates are bs rising straight up from the dividing barrier, these are circr pirs that seem to have a recessed center. At first nce, they look like a bottomless well. Once you enter, you find that the well is only a portal roughly two meters thick. After the halfway mark, you are now traveling upwards towards the exit on the other side. They have been called wells instead of rings due to the fact that they seem to extend all the way down to the dividing barrier.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡­ don¡¯t remember you showing this much interest in Fyor before.¡± I pointed out, earning a light chuckle from Scarlet.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ever since bing a member of the Greater Pantheon, I¡¯ve been able to expand my vision more than before. It¡¯s no longer inconvenient for me to investigate other areas, and so I try to look into anything that seems interesting. When I heard that these wells had started to be dug up, I was concerned that they might contain terrifying monsters.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Understandable.¡± I nodded my head. I reached to tap on the button to synchronize myself with my Virtual self, making sure that I didn¡¯t forget to do so now that I was going to be here for a while. ¡°What do you think about the new crystals? You should be able to sense their value, so I¡¯d like your opinion.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet gave a soft humm as she thought about it. ¡°They¡¯re currently stronger than the refining technology we have avable. It¡¯ll take a miner of considerable skill to harvest them, or specialized abilities or tools. To make use of them¡­ we¡¯ll either need to throw them in the current refineries, which will lose a portion of their energy, or have jewelers work them into the proper shape.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And naturally, reducing their size would also reduce the energy.¡± I added on. ¡°What about this¡­ would you be able to reshape them with your divine power? Not on a case by case basis, I meant as an automatic service in your temples. If it¡¯s just reshaping the existing structure without adding anything, your domain of ki should work, right? The same would apply to Ryone with the Mage Heart.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet thought about that possibility as well. ¡°If we do it that way, it is certainly possible. The energy drain would be negligible, and we could probably use the prayers of the people seeking this service to make it happen. The greater their faith, the more stones they¡¯d be able to convert at once. Alternatively, they could use my or Ryone¡¯s tokens for the same effect.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Would this cause any inconvenience for the two of you?¡± I asked to make sure. The whole problem was because they weren¡¯t able to properly supply tokens due to the increased demand, so I didn¡¯t want to add any more to that. Thankfully, Scarlet shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I don¡¯t think so. Additionally, since Bloodhaven is the only location where the ki crystals can be found, they can be considered our new primary export, once mining really starts.¡± I let out a small sigh of relief when I heard that, d that Scarlet would be able to take care of the situation.

 Chapter 826: Gerard

    Chapter 826: Gerard


    <span style="font-weight:400">While Tsubaki and the others were making the arrangements for the Blood Heart mining operation, Gerard silently appeared on the twenty-first floor of Fyor, the everpresent winds whipping his hair from side to side. He looked out at the eternal storm, but simply shook his head, his figure flickering out of existence.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When he appeared again, he stood at the very center of the storm, the crystal spire for the chosen floor. ¡°He said that it should be beneath the spires¡­¡± Gerard muttered, extending one hand. His skin seemed to shimmer and shift, countless blue patterns emerging anding together in midair.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Without warning, the stone floor surrounding the crystal spire parted like a liquid. Anywhere he directed his arm, the rocks moved as if gently shifted aside. Until, eventually, he found what he was looking for.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The crystals revealed beneath the stone seemed to have an even deeper blue than the spire itself, allowing them to be distinguished more easily. Gerard nodded his head, flicking a finger at one of the crystals. Mana shed, and a de of wind emerged to cleanly cut the crystal off of the main body of the vein.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Rather than falling, the crystal that was cut flew over tond in Gerard¡¯s hand. The magical entity turned to nce at the main spire, confirming that it had not lost any of its luster, before his figure flickered again. The next time that he appeared, he was at the fifthyer of Fyor. He nced up at the rocky ceiling less than a thousand meters away from his position, and teleported once more to the nearby spire.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As with the twenty-first floor, he swept away the dirt and stone, revealing the Mage Heart veins. And once again, he cut off a piece of the main crystal. Now, he held two in his hands, each from two drastically different floors. This was an important part of his research for these crystals, as it would determine how they would be mined in the future.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The mana density is¡­ the same?¡± He muttered, clearly surprised by this fact. It was well known that ores from the higher level of Fyor were far more dense and powerful than those from the lower floors. However, at the same time this made them harder to work with. Clearly, he had expected the materials from the twenty-first floor to be far superior to the ones from the fifth floor, perhaps even by a dozen times.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hardness, structure, it all appears identical.¡± When he confirmed that there appeared to be no difference between the stones from different floors, he fell deep into thought. With the quality of mana within the crystals being the same everywhere, the question became about where the best environment to mine would be.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If there were any difference at all, it would be the fact that the veins in the higher floors wererger, even if they were not more potent. With that in mind¡­ ¡°Nexus.¡± He nodded to himself, teleporting again. This time, he arrived at the fifteenth floor of Fyor, where the Fairy Ring connected it to the other worlds.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As before, he teleported directly to the central spire. However, the spire for this floor was located at the heart of a great city, seen as a tourist location for those new to Fyor. Gerard pursed his lips when he saw this, wondering if he should change the location.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Something I can help you with, son?¡± A human approached, looking like a city guard. He had seen how Gerard was eyeing the spire, and wanted to make sure that he didn¡¯t have any malicious intent.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°My name is Gerard.¡± He answered calmly. ¡°I¡¯m the Sky Citadel¡¯s general enchantment, research, and response director.¡± The guard¡¯s eyes went wide when he heard that introduction. Gerard¡¯s name was not unknown to the people of the world, as he had worked with a number of government figures to solve various issues.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, then. What exactly can we help you with?¡± The guard¡¯s tone became far more respectful as he asked that, to which Gerard nodded.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The Keeper has created a new material that can only be harvested around the mana spires of Fyor. Would you mind taking me to see the town¡¯s mayor? I have to discuss the possibility of harvesting from this floor.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When the guard heard that, his face became a bit more awkward. However, he ultimately nodded his head. Turning, he guided Gerard deeper into the city. The mayor¡¯s own office was only a few hundred meters from the spire itself, which was surrounded by a tall structure.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The pair were greeted inside the Mayor¡¯s office by his receptionist, a halfling woman with deep red hair and a wide smile. ¡°Something I can help you with, sirs?¡± She asked politely, grabbing her terminal in case she needed to make any entries.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This man is from the Citadel, and needs to speak with the Mayor.¡± The guard answered, causing the halfling¡¯s eyes to go wide.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°O-Of course, go right ahead. He¡¯s currently in a meeting at the moment, but it should be fine.¡± When someone from the Sky Citadel arrived, you did not make them wait. This was a lesson most people were familiar with.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Gerard, as if understanding this principle, walked straight towards the office, which had a grand view of the spire. Inside was a portly human man sitting at his desk, and a young felyn woman sitting across from him. Both were shocked by his sudden entrance, and the mayor looked like he was about to erupt in fury before his face went white.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Gerard could sense the mana transmission that had taken ce in that moment, how the halfling had warned him that Gerard was from the Sky Citadel. Almost immediately, the man¡¯s attitude changedpletely, and he stood to greet Gerard in a respectful manner. ¡°This is an unexpected surprise. I¡¯m sorry, Felicity, but would you minding backter? Our guest here has some rather important business to discuss.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The other girl, Felicity it seemed, blinked at the change in attitude, giving only a small nod of her head as she stood to exit the building. Gerard didn¡¯t know what they had been discussing, nor did he particrly care. He was here for one matter alone. ¡°Thank you for taking the time to see me.¡± He said.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course. Any business of the Citadel must be of the utmost import. May I ask what yours is?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing the mayor¡¯s words, Gerard wasted no time getting to the point of his arrival. ¡°The Keeper recently created a material, one which only spawns underground around the mana spires of Fyor. After careful consideration, I have chosen the fifteenth floor as the ideal mining location.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The mayor blinked at that, ncing over towards the grand structure surrounding the spire. Although Gerard wasn¡¯t aware, the mayor knew the significance of this museum, which was dedicated to the various achievements of the heroes of Fyor. ¡°May I ask what this material is, first?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Gerard nodded his head, casually tossing one of the crystals he had harvested to the mayor in an underhanded throw. ¡°These are crystals which naturally store arge quantity of mana. ording to my measurements, there is no major difference in their durability, potency, or general structure across different floors.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The mayor¡¯s eyes went wide, fumbling to catch the crystal. As soon as itnded in his hand, he could sense the vast mana within. If the mana in this small jewel were to be released, it could create a small-scale mana siphon. ¡°A-And what made you choose this floor, might I ask?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Gerard gave another nod, casually exining his logic. ¡°Ideally, I would have selected the Dawn Kingdom, as they are of a higher floor, meaning that the node itself would berger. However, the location of their spire is unfavorable, being in the middle of the ocean. Simrly, the floors that are further above Dawn have numerous disadvantages to make mining infeasible.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°At the same time, floors lower than this one will have a smaller node, making it unlikely that they would be able to meet the demand. The crystals will regenerate after one week of mining, so I require a veinrge enough to endure being harvested by workers for six days.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As it stands, I will likely also visit the fourteenth and sixteenth floors, making a simr request to them. With these three nodes, I am confident that we will be able to meet the majority of the demand.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Finally, the fact that this floor is connected to the other allied worlds had an impact on my decision. This is the optimal floor from which to hold arge-scale trade operation, as the struggles of shipping supplies are greatly reduced.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The mayor listened to Gerard¡¯s exnation, gradually calming himself down. The exnation waspletely logical, that couldn¡¯t be denied. Although the mayor rarely left his own floor, he was aware of the struggles some of the higher floors had to go through. ¡°What about the twenty-second floor?¡± He asked, seemingly puzzled. ¡°It should meet your needs even more than us.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Gerard gave a small nod. The twenty-second floor did not have many natural hazards, and its primary uniqueness was in the giant ming domes that rested in the sky, giving it an eternal daylight. ¡°Indeed, the twenty-second floor would have a vein several timesrger than the ones on this floor. However, it also has to deal with a much higher gravity. When considering the floors, I had to ept that this was the floor in which the workers would be able to operate most efficiently. Those who are able to operate without external aid on the twenty-second floor are unlikely to be those proficient in mining.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The mayor had to admit that Gerard was likely correct there. Still, he sighed. He set the crystal in his hands down on his desk, and moved over to his window. ¡°Do you see that building? The one wrapped around the spire?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I would be quite concerned if I could not.¡± Gerard answered, earning a small chuckle from the mayor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That is something of an icon of Nexus¡­ no, of Fyor itself. The Hall of Heroes, a museum dedicated to the greatest achievements in our history. The raid of the Council, the fall of the goblins, even Dawn¡¯s hundred years of night, which ultimately gave birth to the Lightborn. All of these are chronicled in that museum. To ask me to take it down, and rece it with a mining operation¡­ even one as profitable as you are suggesting¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I think you may be misunderstanding, sir.¡± Gerard interrupted, causing the mayor to look over. ¡°There is no need to demolish any existing structures. All that is needed is an underground entrance from a remote location, and a fortified tunnel leading to the mining site. The groundyer on this floor is deep enough that such a tunnel should be no issue, easily going beneath any local sewage systems.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Once the tunnel has reached the necessary location, soundproofing equipment can be installed to prevent the disturbance of public peace. As the node itself regenerates every week, the underground facility can be powered by the heart of the node itself. For six days a week, miners cane in and harvest materials, and on the seventh day, they can rest to allow the node to refresh.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Make no mistake, it is not my will to disrupt the lives or history of the people of this world. It is merely my duty as a servant of the Citadel to carry out the words of the Keeper. If I can do so in an efficient manner without disrupting public order, then I will naturally choose to do so.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The mayor nced over, seeming surprised by Gerard¡¯s words. ¡°I had heard a lot of things about you over the years. The living magic of the Citadel itself. Everyone always said that you were logical to a fault. I¡¯m¡­ d that they were wrong, and that you take public opinion into ount when making your decisions. I apologize if my words were untoward.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">A small smile tugged at Gerard¡¯s lips. ¡°I¡¯m merely doing my duty, sir.¡±

 Chapter 827: Under The Sea

    Chapter 827: Under The Sea


    <span style="font-weight:400">Within the waters of Earth, a lone merkin swam towards a distant underwater forest. This merkin had sharp eyes and elongated ears, making him look vaguely different from others of his kin. However, he still heard the song of his people as soon as he entered this world, like a gentle background noise on the breeze.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nobody else seemed to hear the song, but it was as in to him as the sun in the sky. His mother had once told him of the underwater cities of his father¡¯s kin, much removed from the water elven cities of Spica. There, he had been seen as an outcast throughout his childhood. No matter how good the gics of the elves were, he shared very little inmon with them. Now that he was old enough, it was time for him to find his father¡¯s kin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In truth, he had heard very little about the merkin while growing up, as they were a rather lesser known race. Most of what he knew came from his mother, who had stumbled across one of their bubble-cities while she was exploring the oceans of Earth. ording to his mother, she had run into danger near the city while fighting a great aquatic beast, and it was his father that had ultimately saved her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Despite the differences in their races, the two cared for each other, and his mother spent several months with the merkin. It was only when her family called her back that she was forced to return. Of course, at the time she was not yet aware that she had be pregnant, having discovered that not long after her return.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He had never met his father in person, and had only been able to hear his voice through the terminal that his mother used to exchange messages with him once a year. He had always asked why they could not speak to his father more, but soon learned that it was simply because of the time differences between their worlds. Due to that time difference, they were not even able to have a single live conversation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">And then, suddenly, the messages stoppeding. His mother was distraught when she noticed, but managed to endure for several weeks while holding out hope. But as the weeks turned into years, that hope began to dwindle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Eventually, she hired an investigator to look into the problem, simply wanting to know if he was still alive. As she was raising their son, it was difficult for her to travel to Earth again herself. Thus, they waited for any shred of information toe back.


    <span style="font-weight:400">What they discovered was that his father had been captured by a wicked deity, one who wanted to study the unique traits of the merkin. He was pulled from the underwater city and taken somewhere far away. Exactly where, the investigator couldn¡¯t tell. However, the body had been found several hundred kilometers ind, with the rogue deity¡¯s energy still lingering on his body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When his mother heard what happened to his father, her mind went nk. She continued to raise him, loving him, but there was something within her. A rage aimed at the rest of the world. Even as a boy, he knew that such a thing was not healthy, and tried to calm her on many asions. Yet, she merely smiled at him as if he didn¡¯t understand.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She devoted herself to her cultivation, managing to break through the final barriers just before his thirtieth birthday, when he was finally considered an adult ording to his mixed ancestry. Once she became a Life Immortal, she met him onest time, promising to see him again in the future. But first, she had to find the person that killed his father.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯s been a month now, and there hasn¡¯t been any news¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He thought to himself as the underwater forest came closer and closer in his view. He could see numerous feminine green figures swimming about, seaweed seeming to cover their bodies. Clearly, these were not the merkin, and yet the song of his people could be heard within the forest.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Who are you?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">A new friend?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">He looks like the others, should we tell them?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Are you here to y? </i><span style="font-weight:400">Numerous voices echoed in his mind as he approached, and he could recognize that they came from the green figures before him. His mother had taught him how to handle his natural telepathic gifts, so he focused his mind to reply.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I am Giles of Spica.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> His response seemed to surprise the green figures, their nt-like eyes going wide.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">He has a name!</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">This one must be special.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Quick, quick, return and tell!</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Come with us, Giles of Spica!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> One of the green figures swam over to Giles, her hands and feet covered with a leaflike webbing. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Sprigga will want to meet you!</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Giles blinked, only btedly remembering that his father¡¯s kin did not normally have their own names. His mother had named him because it was a part of her culture, but his father had only been the Spearsinger of Croy. He nodded his head, swimming to follow the unusual beings further into the forest.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The great, underwater trees seemed to sway with the current, being far more flexible than they first appeared. Their base was surrounded by coral, which took the form of buildings, and Giles could begin to see other merkin the deeper that they went into the forest.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, it was not a merkin that the figures were taking him to. Rather, there was a great tree in the middle of the forest, one standing far more firmly than the others. Its trunk reached high up, far above the water, and Giles could see the shadow of the canopy above.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once they arrived at the giant tree, Giles saw a golden figure waiting for him, looking simr to the others that he had seen thus far aside from her coloring. However, her body was more elegant, her smile more charming. When she saw Giles, she waved a hand gently, her voice speaking into his mind. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Giles, is it? The children said that you wereing. I am Sprigga of the Song, caretaker of this grove.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">It took Giles a long moment to recover from seeing her, after which he hastily nodded his head. It was only now that he remembered the legends of the sylvans that his mother had told him. He had never seen one himself, but now he understood that this must be what they were. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Thank you for seeing me. I heard the song of my people upon my arrival in this world, and swam here at my greatest speed.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">This world?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Sprigga looked at him in confusion. <i><span style="font-weight:400">There are merkin on other worlds?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡­ am not a pure merkin.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Giles admitted. <i><span style="font-weight:400">My mother was of Spica¡¯s water elves, allowing me to survive above the water¡¯s surface. Though, I must admit that the water is morefortable.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I see.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Sprigga smiled once again. <i><span style="font-weight:400">As for the song, I believe that may have been my doing. My aspect allows me to spread the music from my surroundings. Once the merkin began to appear, my aspect spread their song through this world¡¯s waters, drawing more and more of them over. Are you, perhaps, looking for a home as well?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Giles hesitated for a moment when he heard that. After all, there was nobody here that he was familiar with. Originally, he was simply nning to take a look at what the merkins were like, and see if he would be epted among them. However, on further thought, there was hardly anyone that he was really close with back home, aside from his mother. And she had left to avenge his father¡­ Giles wasn¡¯t sure if he would ever see her again.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡­ think that I would like that.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Giles nodded his head after some thought. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Is there anything that I need to know?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sprigga pursed her lips. <i><span style="font-weight:400">You said that you are from Spica? I have sisters there, so I know some things. What is your path of cultivation?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Giles blinked, but decided to answer honestly. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I am only in the third stage of the Water path, why?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Oh, good!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Sprigga nodded her head happily. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I have been told that those who are too far along in their cultivation without reaching the ¡®Immortal¡¯ stage often have difficulty adjusting when leaving Spica and Lorek. If you are only in the third stage, I do not need to be concerned.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">If you like, we can provide you with some level stones. Your levels from the other side won¡¯t carry over here, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve noticed, so they will likely help you quite a lot! We have recently started using them in our regr education courses.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Giles thought about that for a moment, before nodding his head in eptance. These items were simrly used in Spica, so he was quite familiar with their function. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I would appreciate that. In that case, is there any problem with me finding a residence?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Oh! Of course not!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Sprigga shook her head quickly. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Let me get my senior sister, Carol of Coral to help you create one. </i><span style="font-weight:400">Sprigga closed her eyes, opening her mouth as a serene song seemed to radiate out from her. The noise caused Giles¡¯ body to instinctively rx. Once the music passed, Giles could feel another presence descending the mighty tree. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Carol is a sister from another grove, helping me here until another of my sisters are born.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Giles nodded his head, now knowing who was responsible for all of the coral housing along the various trees. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Then, I will have to thank her in advance.</i>


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod opened his eyes, starlight seeming to shine within them for a moment, before he calmly suppressed that power. A smile spread over his lips as he stood from his cross-legged position, rolling his shoulders. No longer was his consciousness divided between multiple bodies, as he had transferred his mind fully back to the avatar within Udona¡¯s castle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I suppose it¡¯s time for lunch now.¡± He said with a calm nod, walking through the halls and nodding towards the shadowy figures of the rest of the serving staff. He had long ago gotten used to the uniqueness of the other workers of the God-Queen¡¯s pce, paying no mind to their origins. It was clear that they were unflinchingly loyal, willing to do whatever it took to fulfill her orders.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I think a sandwich meal is in order today.¡± Aznod smiled, quickly assessing the materials in the pantry once he had reached the kitchen. Due to his particr cooking style, almost all of the ingredients were stored in card form, having been fused with his divine energy over the years.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod lifted a hand, conjuring several sticks of butter,rge bags of cheese, milk, pasta, and a b of meat. The ingredients all rushed out to the kitchen, falling into their appropriate pots, bowls, or cutting boards. The meat was cut, soaked in sauce, and fried. The pasta boiled and mixed with a thick, creamy cheese.


    <span style="font-weight:400">By the time Udona entered the kitchen, guided by her lightly twitching nose, the ingredients were almost fully prepared. Aznod himself was readying the tes, coating the bottom bun on each with another creamyyer of cheese while Udona blinked at him. ¡°You finished your cultivation?¡± She asked, able to sense the third domain within her new favorite chef.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I have. My apologies for making you wait so long, my queen.¡± He said with a charming smile, earning a happy grin back from Udona as lettuce was ced on the buns next, followed by the fried cuts of meat, a generous portion of the cheesy pasta, and a side of fried potato slices. There was enough pasta that it spilled off to the side to create its own side dish for each te, causing Udona to lick her lips in anticipation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, she wasn¡¯t the only one. Aznod¡¯s cooking could never be something she monopolized for herself for very long. There was a sh of golden mist, and numerous other figures appeared within the kitchen, seemingly conjured by thepletion of the dish. alia, Aurivy, Leowynn, even Tryval appeared, as Aznod had be the unofficial chef of the Greater Pantheon for some time now.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It seems Lord Tubrock is working again. Lady Aurivy, might I trouble you to send him his portion?¡± Aznod asked, sealing thepleted dish within a card. There were only a few members of the Greater Pantheon that did not often show up, such as those with peculiar tastes like Irena and Scarlet. Though he would relish the chance to dabble in spiritual cuisine, he had yet to have a proper subject to prepare it for.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You certainly might!¡± Aurivy grinned, barely able to contain herself as the card vanished in golden mist. She had brought Julia, as she normally did, with Julia and Keliope nearby already starting to dig into their food. ¡°So, you went with Optimization, huh?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right, Lady Aurivy.¡± Aznod said with a light bow, standing off to the side. He was now the God of Cooking, Preparation, and Optimization, allowing him to enter the ranks of the ¡®Triple Deities¡¯, a new ssification that had emerged for those that had gained three domains. ¡°Please, help yourselves. There is plenty more for if someone wants extra.¡±

 Chapter 828: Optimized Delivery

    Chapter 828: Optimized Delivery


    After the meal was over, and the rest of the ingredients stored away, Aznod and Udona met again within her office. Udona propped her elbows atop her desk as she leaned forward, letting out a satisfied sigh. ¡°That was as good as always.¡± She smiled towards the chef across from her. ¡°So, have you decided?¡±


    Aznod thought about her words briefly, before nodding his head. ¡°I think I am able to give it a try now.¡± The meaning of his words were somewhat ambiguous, but Udona seemed to understand.


    ¡°Which one do you want to do first, then?¡±


    Aznod closed his eyes, thinking. ¡°ording to my predictions, it should be easier to prepare a dish for Mister Beldin. The other two have not yet decided what they want, so I am thankful that he is easier to satisfy.¡±


    Udona gave a light chuckle at that. ¡°How long do you need to prepare your recipe?¡±


    Aznod shook his head, his divinity beginning to shine from his body. ¡°I am already prepared to give the recipe. In order to cook the domain of lightning, I require¡­¡± Aznod¡¯s voice shifted, bing deeper, yet more ethereal. ¡°A storm eel, two deep oysters, and Sorii¡¯s firepowder spice. Everything else, I already have.¡±


    Udona blinked, before chuckling again. ¡°So that¡¯s what you wanted the domain of Optimization for.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right, Lady Udona.¡± Aznod nodded, his divinity receding as he offered a deep bow. ¡°With the three domains of Cooking, Preparation, and Optimization, I can divine the recipe I need to achieve a given effect.¡±


    After cooking his own second domain, Aznod had made a rather disappointing discovery. Unlike the forging process, he would be unable to prepare divinity for others as he had initially hoped. At least, within the same rules as the forging process. This was because his divinity was too deeply ingrained within any dish that he created.


    If he were to have someone consume a dish that he prepared in order to unlock their divinity, they would only be able to emerge as a Subordinate Deity of Aznod himself. However, after tapping into his Preparation domain, he had discovered an alternative.


    Instead of preparing a nk divinity that the consumer¡¯s body could slowly digest over time, he could craft for them a specific domain in the form of a dish. Each domain would require its own recipe, however. It was only natural that you could not craft a Fire domain with the same ingredients as a Water one.


    Thankfully, the act of cooking a domain that he did not possess himself would remove enough of his ¡®signature¡¯ in the divinity to allow it to be safely digested by others. At least, that was what his simtions had told him. He had been hesitant to take the final step and deliver a dish thus far simply because he had been waiting for his third domain to bepleted.


    With his third domain, and thepletion of his trinity, he was able to skip the step of conducting days or weeks of research. So long as he knew the effect that he wanted, he could provide the recipe to achieve that effect.


    Udona nodded her head, thinking about the materials that he had mentioned. ¡°The spice is easy. The oysters¡­ I¡¯ll ask Bihena if there are any that can be quickly imported. As for a storm eel, let¡¯s see if the market has any in stock.¡±


    ¡°I will leave the matter to you, Lady Udona.¡± Aznod said politely, offering another bow. ¡°Once the ingredients have been delivered, please let me know. And do tell Mister Song and Mister Phisher that I will be ready to prepare their recipes as soon as they tell me what domains they would like.¡±


    Udona smirked slightly. ¡°I¡¯m half tempted to make you a member of my Holy Knights as well. You definitely fit the criteria.¡±


    Aznod offered that same warm smile. ¡°If that is your wish. Though, while I am not averse tobat, my greatest talent lies within the kitchen.¡±


    ¡°Shame.¡± The kitsune goddess said lightly. ¡°If you could apply that talent to battle, you might just be one of the strongestbatants in the world.¡±


    Aznod pursed his lips, thinking of something. ¡°Perhaps. I will leave it to your discretion. For now, I will excuse myself. There is something that I wish to attempt.¡±


    Udona looked at him in interest as he turned around, leaving her office. It was not often that Aznod took the initiative to excuse himself, so she was initially wondering if she had upset him somehow. However, a quick look at his stride and expression revealed that he was truly deep in thought about something.


    After leaving her office, Aznod moved to his own room. Due to his rank and talent, he had been given quite therge andfortable room, though Aznod had hardly decorated it during his stay. Aside from the brief periods when he needed to rx his mind, Aznod spent most of his time either in the kitchen or wandering the halls of the castle. Sometimes, when he was particrly bored, he would create an avatar so that he could do both.


    Entering the room, Aznod sat down at his desk, finding his personal terminal within one of the drawers and cing it on the desk itself to activate it. He opened a nk page to type, and closed his eyes to take a deep breath. Just as before, his divinity began to shine. ¡°In order to prepare an energy suitable for cooking in a battle, I require¡­¡±


    His fingers seemed to take on a life of their own as his words fell off, despite his eyes remaining closed. He typed faster than he had ever typed before, writing out four different forms. Aznod only opened his eyes again once he felt his divinity dim, feeling that the recipe had been fully written.


    His eyes scanned over the information provided, humming lightly in thought. ¡°I see¡­ to truly make this energy, I will need to make threeponent energies. One energy dismantles targets, one prepares ingredients, but thisst one¡­¡± Aznod had seen a few energies over the years, and his recipe had even included basic descriptions for each that had been provided. That is, each except for one. ¡°Is it merely a catalyst for the finalbination?¡±


    Thankfully, none of the energies listed required materialponents. ¡°I¡¯ll have to ask the Goddess if she can let me borrow the use of a training room.¡±


    ¡°Of course you can.¡± Udona¡¯s voice spoke up from just over his shoulder, causing Aznod to flinch. He had not noticed her presence as she read over the energy. ¡°So this is what you were thinking so deeply about. If James knew what you just did, he¡¯d probably be staring holes into the back of your head right now.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing as impressive as you imagine.¡± Aznod said, clearing his throat and shaking his head. ¡°This energy is deeply rted to cooking, so I was able to use the same trinity ability in order to prepare the recipe. If I were to try doing so for an energy unrted to cooking, I believe that my luck would not hold up nearly as well.¡±


    ¡°Maybe.¡± Udona agreed with a half-hearted shrug. ¡°However, it¡¯s not often that you see someonee up with the idea for a saint level energy that easily.¡±


    ¡°Saint level?¡± Aznod asked in confusion, unaware of that energy level.


    ¡°Right. It¡¯s a level of energy that can bepared to divinity, or even the void. See, in this third energy, you actually have to open a void path to filter the energy through. And then again in the final product. Aside from James and Chel, I don¡¯t think anyone could casually produce this energy on their own. Though, if you use your three domains, you can probably give yourself an advantage.¡±


    ¡°I certainly hope so.¡± Aznod said with a small nod. The more Udona talked about the energy that he had written, the more that he was looking forward to seeing it created.


    ¡°Either way, you can use the first training room whenever you are ready to make these. My advice would be to start small, practice a bit before youmit to doing it all in one go.¡±


    As Udona said that, she offered a gentle pat to his shoulder, turning around and leaving his room. Only once she was gone did he let out a breath he didn¡¯t realize that he had been holding in. ¡°So, there really is a way for me to utilize my cooking talents in battle.¡± He muttered to himself. Previously, Aznod had always used the knife skills honed in the kitchen, or his card magic as his primarybat style. If the energy he was looking at truly offered a new alternative, he was more than eager to give it a shot.


    <hr>


    Jace chuckled, keeping his eyes closed as he walked down the street. ¡°You don¡¯t have to be so tense.¡± He said towards the man walking along next to him. ¡°You haven¡¯t seen her in a decade, right?¡±


    ¡°I have.¡± Keenan¡¯s answer came quietly, surprising Jace. ¡°Sam called me every month for thest couple of years.¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± Jace turned his head to regard his friend, eyebrows raised. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you ever say anything?¡±


    Keenan simply shrugged. ¡°We were busy training, and it didn¡¯t seem all that important.¡±


    ¡°Still, it¡¯s a surprise that she called us like this out of nowhere.¡± Jace muttered, shaking his head as his feet continued bringing him forward. ¡°Given her talent, do you think she already became a god?¡±


    Keenan nodded his head. ¡°Last year, her mother helped her get the materials, and she had her divinity forged. She was really happy because it only took her six months.¡±


    Jace gave a knowing smile as he listened to Keenan talk about his sister. ¡°Nice to see that you care.¡± If it was the Keenan from when they first met, he would have never given his sister a second thought. No, that wasn¡¯t quite right. If anything, Sammy would have been lucky if Keenan did not use their blood rtion as a reason tosh out at her.


    ¡°She hasn¡¯t done anything wrong.¡± Keenan said in his defense, though he knew all too well what Jace meant. Living in society was still not entirelyfortable for him, even after obtaining his godhood and spending these years training. There were times that Jace had to talk him out of simply living in Sanctum, or worse, finding a nice little bubble in the void to mark as his territory. His repeated im was that felyns were social creatures, and that they couldn¡¯t go too long outside of society like that. Keenan still wasn¡¯t entirely sure whether or not he believed that.


    ¡°What do you think she wants, then?¡± Jace asked curiously, though Keenan shook his head. While his sister had asked for the two of them to visit, she had been quite mum on the details as to why. Jace was concerned that something had happened to her mother when they finally turned the corner, seeing a house at the far end of the road.


    Standing outside the house was none other than Sammy herself, as well as her mother. Jace gave a smile as he saw how Sammy had grown, no longer the little girl she had been when they first met. Well, ¡®saw¡¯ was rtive, given that he never opened his eyes. However, he was still capable of seeing thanks to his own divine properties.


    ¡°You made it.¡± Sam smiled, waving to greet the two boys. While her mother did not have a trace of divinity, Jace could clearly sense the power within Keenan¡¯s sister.


    ¡°What¡¯s this about?¡± Keenan asked, holding his arms out to let Sam run over and give him a hug. Jace¡¯s smile grew wider at that, as it was the first time that Keenan had actively embraced someone in as long as he could remember.


    Sam simply hugged him tighter in answer to his question, speaking up in a soft voice. ¡°I found our father¡­¡±

 Chapter 829: The God Of Chaos

    Chapter 829: The God Of Chaos


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan froze up when he heard his sister¡¯s words, having never expected that the reason she called him here was for that. ¡°You¡­ what?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I know you have some pent up feelings for him¡­¡± Sam admitted, giving a caring smile towards Keenan. ¡°So¡­ once I got my divinity, I began training to try to track down family members. It took me a while, he keeps moving all over the ce. Also, we may have a couple other siblings out there¡­¡± She gave a drawn-out sigh as she said that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Anyways, yesterday I finally managed to get a lock on him.¡± She looked up at Keenan with a wide smile after she said that. Her brother was no longer the small wild child that he had been before, and now looked like a true warrior.


    <span style="font-weight:400">His face was firm as he processed Sam¡¯s words, working them through in his mind. He had thought about what he would do if he saw his father for a long time. Although his father had no way of controlling what aspect Keenan had been born with, it remained a fact that he was the cause of all of the problems that Keenan had faced growing up. And given what he was hearing now, it seemed as if his father had never changed his ways.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, he knew exactly why he had been called here now, and he nodded his head. Jace smiled from the side. ¡°And, you asked for me to be here, as well?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Keenan doesn¡¯t go anywhere without you.¡± Sam said, sticking her tongue out yfully towards the felyn. ¡°Besides, he said you gained the Sight domain? Why are your eyes still closed?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s a power that I am training.¡± Jace answered honestly. ¡°I can use my domain to see normally, even if my eyes are closed I only see darkness in the physical sense. However, if my eyes open, I will be the only one to see.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ooh¡­ that¡¯s a neat spin on the domain.¡± Sam nodded her head. ¡°Can you do things like remote viewing? Our father just stopped moving, so I want to make sure he can¡¯t sense me looking at him and is setting up a trap or something.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jace lifted a brow as he heard that. ¡°For you to say such things about your father¡­ I¡¯m sure you have your reasons. Alright, if you tell me where he is, I can project my vision to the area.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sam smiled wide, nodding her head. ¡°He¡¯s on Desbar, roughly thirty miles south-east of the Fairy Ring. Two hundred meters underground, so probably in some kind of bunker.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jace¡¯s brow twitched slightly, nodding as well. ¡°That¡¯s more detail than I expected. Very well, this shouldn¡¯t take long.¡± He took a breath, focusing his divinity. ¡°Desbar¡­ I see the area.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jace;s brow furrowed as he projected his sight to the specific location that he had been given. ¡°This¡­ are you sure that this is the location of your father?¡± He asked, his head turning towards Sam.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. Why, is something the matter?¡± She questioned, feeling as if things had just be far moreplicated than she had initially expected.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I see ten people there, all gods. One an elven woman with light blue hair, and the other nine men of different races. The woman is being strapped down, almost like a ceremonial or medical ritual.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°W-What!?¡± Sam asked, her eyes going wide. She turned to look at her own mother, who shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Don¡¯t look at me, kiddo. He never did anything like that when I was around.¡± She denied, looking just as surprised as the others.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, Jace¡¯s words didn¡¯t stop there. ¡°One of the nine men appears to be a leader of the others. He¡¯s holding a dagger. Wait, I think he senses--¡± Jace¡¯s words were cut off as a dagger suddenly appeared in front of him, stabbing towards his chest.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan¡¯s handshed out, eyes wide with fury as he grabbed the dagger by the de, gripping it tight. The tip of the dagger was just pressing against Jace¡¯s skin. ¡°That was a mistake.¡± Keenan muttered, ck energy rolling off his hand and dissolving the dagger.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jace¡¯s body was stiff, and he only moved once the dagger had been fully destroyed, letting out a long breath of relief. ¡°Thanks, Keenan¡­¡± He said with a grateful smile.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Continue.¡± Keenan¡¯s voice surprised Sam and her mother, though Jace nodded his head as if it were only natural.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right, sorry, I didn¡¯t expect them to sense me and be able to retaliate. The leader can tell that his attack failed, now that you¡¯ve destroyed his artifact. But, it looks like they¡¯re continuing.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We¡¯re going.¡± Keenan said, his voice firm. Sam looked as if she wanted to refuse, but ultimately nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Are you sure?¡± Jace asked in concern. ¡°There are nine enemy gods there, and only four of us.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The kid¡¯s right.¡± The motherly woman said with a sigh. ¡°Sam doesn¡¯t have any realbat experience. Even if we go, we would have to fight three gods each.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We¡¯re going.¡± Keenan said again, his voice practically a growl. Sam and her mother didn¡¯t know why his tone had suddenly turned so cold, but Sam nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay¡­ if you want to do this, I¡¯ll take us there.¡± This was the coldest that she had ever seen Keenan since their first meeting, and Sam got the feeling that something was wrong.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Give me a second to get my bow.¡± Her mother said, seeming unwilling to send her daughter off to fight these gods without all of the backup that she could provide. She hurried back into the house, returning with a full suit of leather armor and a gilded bow strapped to her back.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sam.¡± Keenan said, not taking his eyes off of Jace. Sam merely nodded, focusing her divine domain. Golden light wrapped around the four individuals. A momentter, they were within a dimly lit room, onerge enough to easily amodate them and the ten figures on the far side.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As Jace had described, there were nine men standing around a stone table, where an elven woman was strapped to the table. She seemed to be struggling against metal bindings, her eyes going wide as she saw Keenan and the others appearing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Without warning, Keenan released a ck energy that dyed the surroundings in an artificial darkness. The metal bindings snapped, the woman able to pull free with a surprised gasp. ¡°Get out, quick!¡± She shouted towards the four, though Sam and her mother were looking at Keenan in shock.


    <span style="font-weight:400">First, the power that he had released was preventing them from releasing any of their own powers outside of their bodies. And second¡­ his fingers were wrapped around Jace¡¯s throat, lifting him into the air. ¡°All of you¡­ tell me what you did to him.¡± He said in amanding tone towards the nine individuals.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What¡­ what are you talking about?¡± Jace asked, his hands gripping Keenan¡¯s wrist.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That dagger passed some power into my friend¡¯s body before I destroyed it. Did you rece him?¡± His eyes red sharply at the nine individuals, though the woman was the first to speak.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°They didn¡¯t!¡± She shouted. ¡°If he was struck with that dagger, his mind is being controlled! That¡¯s still your friend!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Who are you, and how do you know?¡± Keenan asked, his hand not loosening even as he heard this.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I am Nimora, a Life Immortal from Spica. I followed the trail of this man to track him and his group down.¡± The elven woman pointed usingly towards one of the nine figures, a human wearing a ck cloak. ¡°He is Thadius, a God of Deception. His artifact is the ck Hearted Dagger, and it allows him to imnt a seed of his own mind into anyone his dagger touches.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I learned about his dagger through my connections, and have been using my domain to protect myself. They were trying to deplete my divinity so that they could use it on me when he suddenly threw the dagger into the air¡­ I¡¯m guessing to attack your friend. But how did it not get you..?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I never touch enchanted items with my bare hands. I wrapped chaos around my fingers when I grabbed it.¡± Keenan answered, his eyes focusing on the nine figures. Despite the situation that they found themselves in, these figures did not show a hint of anxiety. In fact, many of them were smiling.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, the children have finallye home.¡± One of them said in an eerie tone. ¡°Family and¡­ Chaos, was it? Not what we expected, but it was always going to be a lottery.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s fine, however.¡± Another one spoke. ¡°Soon, you will be another me, one way or another.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Don¡¯t¡­ run¡­¡± Jace said, grunting as he continued to struggle against Keenan¡¯s hand. ¡°This one is a subordinate deity of Terra!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now <i><span style="font-weight:400">that</i><span style="font-weight:400"> caused a shock to run through the nine figures, who flinched back. ¡°What?¡± One of them asked with wide eyes, a sense of true terror in his gaze. ¡°Why would you allow a subordinate of the Greater Pantheon toe here?!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It was¡­ out of my control¡­¡± Jace said, and Keenan growled darkly at the words. The fact that the woman had confirmed that this was truly Jace was the only thing stopping him from taking drastic measures.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You, woman. Can you fix him?¡± He asked, turning and sending a re towards the Life Immortal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡­ I mean, maybe. If I focus on killing the mental influence, it might be soon enough to save your friend¡¯s mind. It¡¯s only been a few minutes, so I think it could work?¡± The woman said with uncertainty, only to have Jace thrown to her feet like a sack of potatoes. ck bindings appeared at his wrists and ankles, tying them together.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Do it.¡± He told her in a frigid tone, ncing towards Sam and her mother. ¡°Stay out of this. You can¡¯t protect yourselves against them.¡± As he said that, he turned, walking towards the nine gods.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You think that you can handle all of us?¡± One of the nine asked, dumbfounded. ¡°Even if you are a subordinate of Terra, that is arrogant. Your chaos realm may seal the use of our powers, but that is only so long as our powers are on the same level!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As he said that, the nine people moved together, their bodies starting to glow. Keenan could vaguely sense that they were attempting tobine their divinities, but he spat out at that. ¡°Useless.¡± He knew that he could draw upon the power of Terra to easily ovee their ability, but he did not do that. Instead, he held his hand out in front of him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">ck energy writhed in his hand, stretching out to form a long spear. ¡°Even if youbine all your power into one person, only one of you will be able to escape.¡± He told them, as if issuing a death sentence for the other eight. He did not believe that they would be able tobine even their domains in such a short amount of time, and so he threw the spear forward.


    <span style="font-weight:400">One of the nine figures jumped out from the group of gods, taking the spear directly to the chest. The wound around the spear was instantly ckened, the dark spots spreading across the god¡¯s body. This was the Spear of Undoing, the weapon that Keenan had created after bing the God of Chaos.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Anything struck by this spear would have chaos spread throughout its entire body. Unless the opponent was a Fallen God, this meant almost certain doom. However, the other eight figures rejoiced, one of their number vanishing in a flicker of golden light.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s toote. Our true self has left.¡± They said in unison, Keenan simply walking over and grabbing the spear that was still embedded in the man¡¯s body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If you were nine people, you would have lived.¡± He muttered, wrenching the spear free from the body. The others looked like they didn¡¯t understand, before they saw ck spots beginning to appear on their skin. Keenan offered no exnation, simply turning his back to them and walking back to Jace.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As he stared at Nimora, he held the spear tight in one hand, his knuckles whitening. It took a great deal of control to slow the spread of Chaos in Jace¡¯s body, but he could see small ck dots appearing on his skin as well. ¡°If he dies¡­ you die.¡± He said in that same frigid tone, Nimora flinching and holding her hands on his shoulders


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Where did the dagger stab him?¡± She asked, not able to see a wound. ¡°That will be the easiest ce to remove the mental infection from.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan pointed at Jace¡¯s chest with his spear, listening to the anguished screams of the other gods behind him. Since they were all connected via their minds, the power of Chaos had been able to infect them simply by having one of their number killed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nimora nodded, bringing her hands to his chest. Given the circumstances, Keenan had removed the restriction on Nimora¡¯s divinity, allowing her to use her powers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Starlight began to radiate off of Nimora¡¯s body, nebulous clouds surrounding her and pouring into Jace¡¯s chest. Keenan could see what appeared to be countless stars within the cloud, and his grip on the spear grew tighter. This was the first time that he had seen an Immortal act, and he wasn¡¯t going to take any chances.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jace grit his teeth, looking as if he were getting ready to cry out in pain, both from the infection being killed and the power of Chaos spreading in his body. Eventually, Nimora pulled back with a gasp. ¡°It¡¯s done¡­ I killed everything I could in the infection. Everything I could find.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jace gasped at that, his ears pressing down against his skull. However, before he could say anything, the tip of Keenan¡¯s spear was at his throat. ¡°Tell me something that only Jace knows.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jace froze up, thinking about what he could possibly answer. ¡°The first time we met¡­ I followed you in the forest. I followed you for days, until the great Storm Shark ravaged thend, and we had to move.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan¡¯s brow furrowed. ¡°He was able to read your memories.¡± Keenan pointed out, recalling how Jace had mentioned that they were subordinates of Terra.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jace paused, before grunting. ¡°You dolt, if he¡¯s reading my memories, how could I ever say something that was purely me?!¡± He asked, his cheeks puffing out. Off to the side, Sam and her mother nodded their heads in agreement.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, Keenan simply smiled, finally dismissing the spear in his hand and removing the Chaos from Jace¡¯s body. ¡°It¡¯s good to have you back.¡± He said in a much kinder tone, surprising Nimora. ¡°Thank you..¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No¡­ I should be thanking you.¡± Nimora said with a faint sigh. ¡°If you hadn¡¯t shown up when you did, I would have be one of them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan nodded his head, sweeping over Nimora¡¯s body with his senses to ensure that there was no sign of Chaos in her body. Only then did he truly believe that she had not been connected to the others. ¡°Let¡¯s go¡­ There''s nothing for us here anymore.¡± He muttered, the bodies of the eight gods erupting in ck mist in time with his words.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sam gasped, bringing her hands up to cover her mouth. She could clearly sense that one of those gods had been their father, but Keenan had killed him just like that. Of course, seeing the situation, she could somewhat understand why he had to do that. That wasn¡¯t their father anymore¡­ if the man was even the same person as when he conceived them.

 Chapter 830: Secrets

    Chapter 830: Secrets


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nimora watched the scene between the other four in both confusion and relief. She didn¡¯t know why they had suddenly appeared to save her, but was able to make out certain details from the conversation that they had with the enemy. Two of these four must have been the children of one of Thadius¡¯s puppets.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Regardless, she was d that she had been saved before the worst could happen, and was finally able to rx control over her own divinity. When she learned about the power Thadius wielded to create puppets, she could still not fathom why her old love had been taken and experimented on. If he were able to simply make him a puppet, why wouldn¡¯t he have done so?


    <span style="font-weight:400">With that in mind, Nimora walked over to the disgusting puddles of ck ooze that had once been the bodies of the eight puppet gods, grabbing their clothes and rifling through them. She was looking for anything that might be a storage item, something that could give her some kind of insight into why they had been doing what they were doing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sadly, while she found multiple storage items, they mostly contained mundane things such as wealth or personal tools. She found the terminals of each puppet, opening them and looking for anything that might represent notes that had been taken. From the conversation with the felyn while he was under Thadius¡¯s control, they weren¡¯t able to telepathicallymunicate. As such, they would have needed some way to keep in contact when they weren¡¯t moving as a unified group.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sure enough, he soon found a chat program on the terminals. However, she clicked her tongue when she noticed that the messages were in some form of code. Once her eyes drifted to the side, and she saw the number of participants in the chat, she gasped in astonishment. Having nine puppet gods already was an incredible feat, but there were over a hundred individuals listed.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Maybe they¡¯re just mostly normal mortals?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Nimora thought to herself. It was the only conclusion that she coulde up with. If the man had that many gods under his control, he would have been able to do so much more. After a bit more thought, it was these mortals that likely supplied safe houses like the one she was in.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">If anyone¡¯s terminal has the notes I want, it will be the original.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She couldn¡¯t help but sigh at that realization, wiping off her hands as she stood. The original had teleported away, and could be anywhere when he finally died. There was no point in trying to find him now, so the only thing left was to fully explore this safe house and see if there were any clues that might have been left behind.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Over at the side, Keenan didn¡¯t spare a nce towards Nimora as she headed to the exit. Jace¡¯s head turned in her direction, but she couldn¡¯t tell what was on his mind. She left the room on her own, climbing the stairs and arriving in what seemed to be arge living room. Sure enough, there was another puddle of ck ooze on the floor in front of the couch, but she paid no mind to that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Instead, her senses swept throughout the room, looking for anything that might be hidden. This was a ce important enough that they had brought her here for a conversion ritual, so there was the chance that there might be some records concealed somewhere.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sadly, she could not find any hidden rooms, secretpartments, or concealed documents. Her frustrations were mounting by the minute, until she felt a hand on her shoulder. Startled, she turned around, divinity gathering in her hand. What she saw was the felyn boy, standing there with a calm smile on his face.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What are you looking for?¡± He asked curiously. ¡°I had this guy in my mind for a bit, so maybe I can help?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s fine.¡± She said with a shake of her head. ¡°There¡¯s nothing to discover here.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Like I said, maybe I can help. You saved my life, didn¡¯t you? When you got rid of his influence, I was able to see a few of his memories and thoughts from before his fragment attacked me.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she heard that, she thought that maybe there was some hope, and gave a soft nod. ¡°About a year ago, Thadius abducted a Merkin. He performed cruel experiments, and then just threw the body away. I just¡­ want to know why.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jace¡¯s brows raised at that, and he nodded. His head lowered in focus, clearly trying to piece together the memories. ¡°I¡­ remember something about that. There¡¯s not a lot of detail, and it¡¯s mostly fragmented. It had something to do with the Merkin¡¯s natural telepathy, that¡¯s all I can say. If you need more, you¡¯ll need to check his researchb.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I would, if I knew where it was.¡± She said with a bitter smile, before blinking. ¡°You mean, you know?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jace nodded his head. ¡°That¡¯s right. It was something very important to him, so it was one of the memories that came through more clearly. Do you have a map of Earth? If so, I can show you where it is.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, yes!¡± Nimora nodded her head almost frantically, pulling out her own terminal and opening up a map of Earth. Jace, with his eyes closed, traced his finger along the map.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After shifting the view a few times, he began zooming in to a small region of Kross. Once done, he pointed to a rather obscure farm out in the middle of nowhere. ¡°This is the ce you want. In the guest bedroom, there is a secret teleportation sigil. It will activate if you ce your hands on the painting of Reynard Kross, covering both of his eyes.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thank you!¡± Nimora gave a deep bow to Jace, saving the location and quickly turning to leave the house. She paid no mind to the surroundings, flying into the air in a hurry the moment she was out of the building.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jace gave a somewhat bitter smile when he noticed her leaving in such an open fashion, turning to walk over to the kitchen where everyone else was waiting. ¡°She¡¯s gone. Left rather visibly, as well¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sam gasped, eyes going wide. ¡°Then, won¡¯t she be med for¡­ you know?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan quickly realized what his sister meant, and nodded his head. ¡°Any investigation into the incident will likely start with her, yes.¡± Although this was a case where Keenan had done the killing himself, and the other party had secretly enved numerous people, the public would only see this as a murder case. ¡°We should leave before anyone arrives.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jace nodded his head, though Sam looked rather confused. ¡°I¡­ I could take us to one of our other siblings? But, we¡¯ve never met them before, so they would be confused.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± Keenan shook his head. He knew that his sister could only take them directly to a family member, and had already nned their return trip. ¡°I¡¯ll handle the way back.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying that, Keenan traced a circle in the air with one finger, opening a ck void in the air. Once the portal was finished, Jace stepped through it casually, clearly aware of what was waiting on the other side. Only once he did so did Sam and her mother feelfortable taking that step as well.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Through the portal, they had arrived back at Sam¡¯s house, the same ce that they left from. The gap in the void silently closed behind them, while Sam looked around in surprise. ¡°Wait¡­ if you could do that from the beginning, why did you walk here?¡± She asked, looking inquisitively at her brother.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I can only go to ces I¡¯ve been before. Otherwise, I might end up anywhere in the universe.¡± Keenan answered with a faint shrug. He had tested that power numerous times, and had thus learned the hard way how difficult it was to control void passages. Unlike normal portals, they were harder to stop, but the degree of uracy was also a problem. Without having visited the ce personally, it was akin to trying to point out a single grain of sand from twenty meters away. The best thing about them was that he didn¡¯t have to know the exact coordinates for where he was going, so long as he had been there himself. All he had to do was trace his own information back through his memories and use that as the beacon.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well¡­e inside.¡± Sam¡¯s mother said with a sigh. ¡°After all of this, I think we all need a break.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nimora flew through the air above Desbar, faster and faster as she made her way to the Fairy Ring. The air buckled around her multiple times before she abruptly stopped, looking down at the square beneath her. The portal was active, and she could see people casuallymuting through it. However, she could tell from the traffic that the portal seemed to be open to Deckan at the moment, as the vast majority of thoseing and going were kitsune.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She clicked her tongue, having been hoping for a convenient timing to slip through the gate to make her way to Earth. Instead, she had to quicklynd, checking the schedule to find the next avable connection.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nimora let out a low groan when she realized that the next connection wouldn¡¯t be for a full day, and decided to pay to step through the gate immediately. With any luck, the Deckan gate would be connecting to Earth sooner, or she could find someone able to open a personal portal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately for her, portal creation was a highly advanced form of energy control. She, as a being from Spica, was not well versed in controlling the energies of the other worlds. Had this been on Spica or Lorek, she would have been able to open a portal without too much effort.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once she stepped through the gate to Deckan, she once again checked the schedule, and was relieved to find that passage to Earth was going to be avable in no more than an hour. As such, she found a bench to sit down on, her heel practically bouncing as she waited. She was finally going to get the answers that she had waited so long for.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You should rx a bit more.¡± A felyn woman said, having been sitting on the same bench as Nimora when she arrived. The felyn seemed to be reading a book, her tail slightly swaying behind her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sorry, just my nerves, I guess.¡± Nimora said with an awkward smile, ncing over towards the other girl. She had never seen the woman before, but could sense that the other party had achieved perfection.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s fine. Theb will still be there when you arrive.¡± The girl said, lifting her head from the book to smile back at Nimora. Nimora¡¯s body went stiff at thatment, not knowing how this random girl knew where she was going. ¡°I¡¯m d they managed to get you out in time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Who¡­ who are you?¡± Nimora asked hesitantly. If she hadn¡¯t sensed the woman herself, she would have thought she was talking to a god that had the ability to read her past. Furthermore, psychometry was a gift of the elves after their evolution, not the felyn.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hmm? Ah, I¡¯m Alena. I was just on my way back home after lunch, sorry.¡± The girl said, her smile growing wider. She closed the book in her hands, and it dispersed into a spiritual, silver light.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°How did you know about me?¡± Nimora asked, swallowing thickly as she forced the question out.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Alena tilted her head in response. ¡°Know about you..? Oh, the things I said before? Hmm, can I say it?¡± She muttered faintly, before nodding to herself. ¡°That was something that my Goddess told me to tell you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Your Goddess?¡± Nimora was even more confused now. If there was a deity already aware of Thadius¡¯s actions to such a degree, why had they not taken action themselves.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Mhm. The Goddess of Justice.¡± Those words both shocked Nimora and simultaneously cleared up her doubts. There were many that had attained the domain of Justice over the years, but only one that could simply be identified as ¡®the Goddess of Justice¡¯. A member of the Greater Pantheon, who wouldn¡¯t casually punish viins in the name of maintaining the order of the world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I-I see, you are a servant of the Goddess Irena.¡± Nimora nodded her head shakily, Alena giggling in response.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Something like that. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll make sure that the police don¡¯t try to pin the deaths of those people on you. Think of it as a constion. Also¡­¡± She thought about it, before waving her hand to summon a piece of silver paper, passing it over. ¡°A gift from the Goddess. He hadn¡¯t achieved perfection when he died yet, and that guy wasn¡¯t in the business of destroying souls. He knew it would make Her angry.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What do I do with this?¡± She asked, her hand trembling as she epted the paper. She wanted to be angry that the Greater Pantheon hadn¡¯t stopped Thadius earlier, and hadn''t saved her love. But now, having this paper in her hands, she felt something entirely different.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s a message. She¡¯ll give a copy to him on the other side, and the two of you can speak to each other with it. Your words on one side, and his on the other.¡± Alena reached over, gently patting Nimora¡¯s shoulder. ¡°I know one sheet of paper isn¡¯t enough for everything you want to say. But please, ept this for what it is, the chance to have one final moment with him.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nimora nodded her head, her eyes wet as she held the paper to her chest. One moment would never truly be enough, but it was more than she ever expected to receive. Perhaps, as a god, she could visit the Underworld some time, but she did not know when he would pass into his next life. It could be a hundred years, or a single week. Such things were unknown to the living. Thus, she was grateful for this single piece of paper, a single letter that she could write to her love. ¡°Thank you¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Alena¡¯s smile turned gentler at those words. ¡°The Goddess is always watching, even when everything seems bleak. I doubt we¡¯ll meet again, but just make sure you don¡¯t lose yourself in the past. You still have a bright future waiting for you, somewhere out there¡­¡±

 Chapter 831: A New Saint

    Chapter 831: A New Saint


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a burst of energy within Udona¡¯s pce, causing the God-Queen herself to open her eyes wide. She had been reading through some important documents that had been presented to her, so she had failed to pay attention to what was going on in her own pce, a ce that was considered one of the most secure facilities in any world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a thought, she appeared at the source of the disturbance, and underground training room where she found her chef surrounded by six distinct spell arrays. Each one was incrediblyplex, though she vaguely recognized them as requirements to prepare for his new energy that he had devised.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod himself was standing in the very center, a red glow emanating from his body. Aznod¡¯s eyes were closed, as if taking in the information of the new energy that he had managed to achieve. Of course, there was only so much that he could do without testing it himself, but there was quite a bit that he could learn, even from simply feeling it like this.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You managed it?¡± Udona asked, her eyes wide and hopeful. If Aznod had managed toplete this new energy, she wasn¡¯t quite sure herself what the final result would be.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I appear to have, yes.¡± Aznod answered, only btedly realizing that Udona was in the room with him. He turned, offering her a deep bow. ¡°Apologies if I caused you any disturbance. Such was not my intention.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s fine. So, shall we see what you can do?¡± Udona asked with a wide grin. She was quite looking forward to this, as it was meant to be an energy that could utilize cooking inbat.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod gave a small nod of his head, and the pair quickly vanished from their positions. No doubt Udona had contacted Aurivy secretly, as the golden mist that engulfed them deposited them atop a mountain seemingly made of solid crystal. Aznod blinked in surprise, looking around as he felt an intense gravity weighing down his body. ¡°Are we on Fyor?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Udona nodded her head. ¡°We needed a proper opponent for you to test your new abilities, and there is one here that has been causing a fair bit of trouble for those brave few that have managed to settle in this area.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod thought about it for a moment, before nodding his head. ¡°Very well, please instruct me on what I must do.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s quite simple. You merely need to use your new energy to fight this creature. At your level, it should not be a problem even if you can¡¯t figure out the specifics of how to wield the energy inbat. At the very least, you will be able to escape with your life, or kill it with one of your other powers.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod gave another nod. ¡°In that case, may I ask where the monster is located?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯re standing on it.¡± Udona said with a yful smile, causing Aznod to look down. It took him quite a while to recognize that the surface of the crystal mountain that he was standing on was merely the furled wings of some giant creature. Focusing his eyes, he could see the shadow of a serpentine figure within the wings, allowing him to guess the identity of the beast beneath his feet. Or at least, a general description of it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°A crystal dragon..? I¡¯m not sure if such a thing would prove edible, but I shall try my best for you.¡± Aznod said, taking a deep breath as he began to generate more and more of this new energy, which had a dark red color to it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As he did not know the proper method to utilize the energy yet, he simply pushed it into the crystal wing of the creature, finding that it scorched the crystal hide like an incredibly intense me. His brow furrowed, sure that there was more to it than that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, his action had caused the ¡®ground¡¯ beneath his feet to shift, the crystal dragon recognizing his presence. Though the burn mark was absolutely minisculepared to the size of the creature itself, it had still proven to be annoying. Aznod quickly pulled his energy back, allowing himself to fly in the air while the dragon awoke.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As he did, he felt something <i><span style="font-weight:400">else</i><span style="font-weight:400"> within his energy. Something that hadn¡¯t been in there before. Information, like a small list in the back of his mind. While the dragon stirred, Aznod focused on tapping into that information. Almost immediately, a pile of crystal scales began to fall from the lump of dark red energy, causing the energy itself to shrink.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona¡¯s eyes widened, knowing that he had produced more scales than what he had burnt away. ¡°You are able to create items which you have sampled? I suppose that was one of the uses of void energy in the form.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod nodded his head in agreement, though he could feel the information deteriorating as he produced more scales, not to mention the cost of the energy itself. As an experiment, he grabbed one of the falling scales, asrge as the palm of his hand, and pushed it back into the mass of dark red energy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The scale was burned away, and the information was restored. However, there did not seem to be any recovering the energy that he had lost, unless he did so manually. ¡°Interesting.¡± He could begin to see how this might rte to cooking, at least to a degree.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Beneath the two of them, the dragon had finished waking up, its massive head shifting from side to side as it looked for the pest that had bitten its wing. When it saw Aznod in the air, its crystal eyes seemed to glow. Its jaws opened, and a burst of white light emerged from its mouth, sweeping towards Udona and Aznod.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona simply waved her hand to stop the st from hitting her, ¡®killing¡¯ the attack before it could reach her. However, she did not offer the same protection to Aznod, wanting to see what he would do.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As he was still testing his new energy, Aznod created a wall of in before himself, using it as a shield. He had judged the attack as something that he would be able to survive even if his defense failed, so he was not particrly worried.


    <span style="font-weight:400">To his surprise, the energy released by the dragon also seemed to be absorbed into the wall that he had created, though the wall was beginning to shrink as it absorbed more and more of the st. This forced Aznod to create more of the energy to reinforce the wall until the st had ended.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When he sensed the information within the energy now, there was an additional item on the list, which he could guess was the st that he had just obtained. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Cooking is all about mixing things together to achieve the perfect bnce¡­ if that is the case, maybe¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He focused, and felt the two items in his energy merging together.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Afterwards, a crystal scale fell from the energy, into Aznod¡¯s hands. However, this one was glowing with an intense light, clearly ready to release its power at a moment¡¯s notice. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Unlike physical items, energy can only be spent to the degree it was taken in. This one scale contains half of the st that I absorbed, so¡­</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod held the scale between two fingers, and threw it at the crystal dragon. The dragon did not seem to pay any mind to the glowing scale, letting it fall on its body. When it did so, though, there was an eruption of white light, earning a pained groan from the dragon as part of its shoulder melted away.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod nodded his head in satisfaction, though he felt that there was still more that he could learn with this new energy. He tilted his body, flying down towards the creature while absorbing the energy back into himself. From his first experiment, he knew that it would not allow him to burn through the dragon¡¯s hide fast enough that he could freely fly through its body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Instead, he gathered a small amount of the energy into the shape of a knife, shing it down to strike the dragon¡¯s neck. The energy cut sharply into the dragon¡¯s neck, piercing it several meters and causing a translucent liquid to flow out. However, it was not enough to kill the monster.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Just as Udona was thinking of killing it herself, and that there wasn¡¯t much more to be learned here, Aznod produced a muchrger knife of dark red energy. He took advantage of the dragon¡¯s slow movements making it unable to respond to him, quickly flying to the other side of its neck andshing out with therger knife.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This time, the knife expanded even as it cut into the neck of the dragon, until it had cleaved all the way through to the other side. The head of the dragon froze, before starting to fall with a deafening crash. The rest of its body soon copsed, unable to properly operate without its head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona nodded her head in satisfaction, moving over to Aznod. However, before she could speak, she noticed him looking intently at the massive body of the dragon. ¡°Is something the matter?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hmm? No, I was just concerned if I would be able to take back a body this size. If I were to do so with my new energy¡­ I would need at least twenty times my current capacity.¡± That wasn¡¯t to say that his energy was weak, but that the body of the dragon was simply that massive. Udona seemed impressed already that it would only take so little energy topletely devour the body of the dragon.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°For now, just take samples of the important parts. I¡¯ll have one of my peoplee and dismantle it soon.¡± She nodded her head, not wanting to waste any potential ingredients. Had this been on Deckan, she could have simply turned the entire thing into a card with her level of strength, though it may have taken considerable effort.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod nodded his agreement, proceeding to sample various organs and muscles from all across the dragon¡¯s body, ranging all the way from its tongue to its heel. As it was a crystal entity, he still wasn¡¯t sure if such a thing was properly edible, but he saved the information within his energy nheless.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Only once he had finished, and there were tunnels dug all throughout the massive creature, did Aznod decide that he was done. He exited the tunnel where he had taken a sample from the creature¡¯s heart, nodding towards Udona. Then with a burst of golden mist, they were transported to the kitchen within her pce. ¡°Now that we¡¯ve seen itsbat applications, shall we test how it works in the kitchen?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod smiled, much more eager for this experiment. He walked over to the pantry, grabbing different cards from the shelves, and released the ingredients within them onto the counter. Afterwards, he absorbed those materials with his new energy, feeling how they came to rest as information.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Since he was able to merge the energy from the dragon¡¯s st with the scale, he decided to see if he could do something simr with these other ingredients. Closing his eyes, he focused on merging together a long strip of muscle from the dragon¡¯s nk with the beef of a ming bull. To his surprise, he felt that the two could be merged rather easily. Moreso, he could choose <i><span style="font-weight:400">how</i><span style="font-weight:400"> they were merged, which characteristics to use from each one.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thinking about it, he decided to use the texture of the ming bull beef, but the vitality of the crystal dragon. Then, he siphoned some of the energy from the dragon¡¯s breath into the meat. After cutting it into a small cube, he focused on cooking it within his energy itself, adding in several different spices throughout the process.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once he was finished, he grabbed a te, generating the energy above it and dropping a medium-rare steak onto the te itself, sauce dripping from the steak. There was still steam rising from the meat, and Udona licked her lips as she looked at it. The meat had a faint blue tint to it, and seemed to glow on the te.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod passed the te to Udona, taking a step back to allow her to be the first taste tester. The kitsune goddess happilyplied, cutting into the steak with surprising ease. When she put the first bite in her mouth, her eyes went wide. Her mouth opened, a thin stream of white light emerging, though it died out a few inches away from her mouth.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Both Aznod and Udona were surprised by this action, as it was quite simr to the action taken by the dragon when it initially released the attack. ¡°I hope that it did not take away from the taste, at least?¡± Aznod asked, somewhat nervous about that aspect.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh no, not at all!¡± Udona shook her head. ¡°If anything, it actually made it better? It¡¯s like¡­ you made it spicy, but a type of spicy that works through energy.¡± Aznod contemted those words, and then nodded his head. He grabbed a spare shaker for pepper, and focused on infusing the rest of the st¡¯s energy into that pepper.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Afterwards, he recreated the steak again, but this time he used the new pepper that he had created. When he added it to the rest of the meal, he was again able to sense how he wanted to merge them. He discarded the destructive properties of the st, choosing only to add the taste.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This time, when Udona bit into the new steak, her eyes went wide for an entirely different reason. She let out a soft gasp, bringing one hand up to her cheek. ¡°Oh, this is just right¡­¡± She nodded her head in approval, earning a smile from Aznod.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It seems that the energy is capable of absorbing the attacks that it intercepts, and then I can prepare them as ingredients for my dishes. If I use too much energy at once, it will simply explode¡­ but if it is properly moderated and prepared, it appears that I can create a dish that allows one to release the same attack.¡± Aznod was quite satisfied with this, and even Udona nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. Did the system tell you the name for this information?¡± She asked, looking over at Aznod, who smiled.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Philosopher¡¯s me. That is the name that the system told me when I finished creating this energy.¡±

 Chapter 832: Reinforcements

    Chapter 832: Reinforcements


    <span style="font-weight:400">After two weeks of being back in the citadel, I was given a report on the workings of the new crystal veins. The details of this report came from both Bloodhaven and Fyor, so I was confident that this was urate information. I sat at my desk, reading through the report on the terminal to make sure that I understood what was going on.


    <span style="font-weight:400">ording to this, there was no truly definable reason why the crystals respawned. There was no special energy core at the heart of the vein, or a unique gem that acted as a catalyst. Instead, the very instant that exactly one hundred and sixty-eight hours had passed from when mining began, there was a shimmer of red or blue light. The color depended on which vein was being referenced, but in both cases the light seemed to make the crystals appear from nothing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In one report, a machine was left inside the crystal at Fyor as an experiment, and that machine was thrown out of the area by the force of the crystal regrowing itself. Gerard apparently tested the vein of a lower floor, personally mining out its entire structure in this most recent week. Even without a single scrap of the material left, it was immediately regrown once seven days had passed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I guess that is what happens when it¡¯s a special effect of the system.¡± I muttered, shaking my head. If the material itself was capable of self-regeneration, then it would be a more constant growth, or some unique core that regrew the structure after a set period of time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">On the bright side, the crystals did still act like a sponge for their respective energy types, even if it wasn¡¯t that absorption that led to their inevitable regrowth. This somewhat shortened the daylight period of each floor of Fyor, but only by a few minutes. In the future, I expected that there would need to be some level of mining operation done on every floor, just in case these crystals absorbed too much energy. We didn¡¯t need them exploding like a bomb right beneath the central pirs.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I finished up the report, there was a shift in the darkness next to me, Ashley appearing with a wide grin on her face. ¡°I did it.¡± She said in a proud voice, holding up a blue egg shining with abstract patterns.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Did¡­ what?¡± I asked, before blinking. ¡°You made a new system?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley nodded her head, a tired look in her eyes. ¡°That¡¯s right. I¡¯ve gotten a working inventory system set up, and it is ready to install. Finding the ces I needed to modify each different system to fit it in took forever, but it was worth it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she mentioned that, there was a somewhat guilty look on my face. ¡°Have you taken into ount the newest addition to the system¡­?¡± I asked hesitantly, causing Ashley to blink in confusion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Newest¡­ addition?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah. We were having an economic crisis here, so I made two new veins of resources, and set up an auto-respawn system for them.¡± I answered, seeing her red face losing its color. ¡°It doesn¡¯t interact with much, and it¡¯s not even all resources, so it should be fine..?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, no¡­¡± Ashley shook her head, before groaning. ¡°Everything is interconnected, Dale. That minimap system you set up? It has dependencies in the <i><span style="font-weight:400">guild</i><span style="font-weight:400"> system. Why? Why would there be dependencies there? Those two systems have nothing to do with each other!¡± She brought her free hand up to her head, letting out a long sigh.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m fine¡­ I¡¯m fine. This will be easy. I did it before, so I¡¯ve just got to do it again.¡± Ashley said with a long sigh, still shaking her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sorry¡­ if it wasn¡¯t for the economic crisis, I would have waited for your results.¡± I apologized honestly, Ashley sending me a grateful smile in return.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, you did the right thing, Dale. I can just put a few more hours in to get this working. How bad did it get, though¡­?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was my turn to sigh, leaning back in my chair. ¡°The energy supply wasn¡¯t able to keep up with the demand, making people invest heavily in the Boundless Caravan. But because they were spending their ¡®faith¡¯ on that, they had less ability to purchase materials that they could form connections with to use as tributes to gain more tokens. When I heard the report, it felt like something was going to break if it wasn¡¯t dealt with soon.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley listened to that, nodding slightly. ¡°In that case, you probably made the right decision. The world is bing more and more dependent on energy, but we don¡¯t have a truly perpetual source of it. There were the spheres that Tsubaki and Dana made, but those were scrapped due to the dangers they posed. Without an alternative, our growth will eventually exceed our ability to supply what we need to sustain it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a nod at that, looking at the egg-shaped item in Ashley¡¯s hand. ¡°I¡¯m not an expert programmer or anything, but if the system really is that convoluted, wouldn¡¯t it be easier to just write a new one from scratch? In the long run, I mean.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley let out another groan, but sadly seemed to agree with me. ¡°Unfortunately, yes. For the short term, I can handle doing it like this. I set up different programs to help me debug and find the dependencies in various systems. Once I get the inventory set up again with this new addition, I¡¯ll see if it is feasible to rewrite the system in a more modr fashion. I¡¯ll need a backup database to transfer everyone¡¯s current levels, achievements, guilds, kingdoms, and minimap progress.¡± As she listed off the items that needed to be transferred, it was clear that she was looking forward to this less and less.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...Would it help if you had some backup?¡± I asked, since it seemed she was definitely being overworked. I remembered back in our old world, she would have that same look on her face whenever her bosses were being unreasonable with scheduling demands.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯d help, but there¡¯s nobody to send over.¡± She shook her head, groaning. ¡°The world is cut off from all the others to prevent any potential bugs from leaking out if I mess up. And none of the otherpanions know as much about coding. Well, Aurivy seems to have been brushing up, but that¡¯s just for her own hobby.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, I meant actual help.¡± I said seriously. ¡°If you want, I could make you a team to help with your work, that way you aren¡¯t doing it all by yourself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley paused at that, looking at me with wide eyes. ¡°You¡¯re serious¡­ really? You¡¯ve never made any otherpanions before, unless it was someone that you¡¯ve helped ascend like Leowynn and Scarlet.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There wasn¡¯t as big of a need before.¡± I told her, reaching out to pat her shoulder. ¡°They don¡¯t have to be full gods or anything, and can do their work from the Admin Room. Once they¡¯re done, they can just save their code for you, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tubrock was the perfect example of work being done in the Admin Room, which could then be brought into the main world. If he could do it, then there was no reason that I couldn¡¯t set up a team of workers for Ashley to do the same. If it was bad enough that she wasn¡¯t even able to keep track of major problems in the main world, she definitely needed reinforcements.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley realized this too, lowering her head in thought. ¡°How many would you be able to give me..?¡± She asked hesitantly, though I simply smiled in response.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°How many do you need, Ash? Be honest with me.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing that, she nodded her head. ¡°Fifteen¡­ no, ten. I can do it with ten, five if we really stretch it thin.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ten it is.¡± I chuckled, and smiled wider when I saw her eyes light up. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Terra, can you make me ten personality profiles for expert, hardworking programmers? They need to be able to follow instructions.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I knew that people like Sarah had entire teams dedicated to the crafting and management of her worlds, but I had never really expanded my group. Until now, they had been able to manage everything pretty well on their own. However, once it was clear that Ashley was pushing herself too hard, I was naturally fine with giving her some people.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ah¡­ but what are we going to pay them?¡± Ashley asked, suddenly entering business mode and panicking as she paced back and forth in my room. ¡°If they¡¯re in the Admin Room, we can¡¯t really give them anything that they can¡¯t make themselves, and we can¡¯t ask them to work for free.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The Heavenly Game system.¡± I told her, causing her to look at me in confusion. ¡°Anypanion is able to use that, so we¡¯ll have that as their reward. Work with Terra, and you can set it up so that those who perform exceptionally get better starting conditions. That way, when they are not working, they can simply focus on living among the mortals.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley nodded her head, seeming to think that that was a good idea. ¡°Yeah, yeah that could work. They¡¯re not gods, so the Heavenly Game is the only way for them to interact with the rest of the world. We¡¯ll need to set up rules so that they don¡¯t reveal their origins, though.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked, having not thought of that. It was true that some things would get moreplicated if people revealed that they were from the Admin Room, and about how the world itself worked. For starters, that would be a sort of ¡®hidden pantheon¡¯, even if they don¡¯t have divinity themselves. ¡°When I buy thepanions, I¡¯ll see if there is a behavior restriction that I can buy for the Heavenly Game system to prevent leaking information like that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley seemed satisfied with that. ¡°Alright. In that case, I¡¯ll go get ready from my end. If they¡¯re going to be working with the system code, then I need to save the programs I¡¯ve set up so that they can be transferred to the Admin Room.¡± She said with a wide smile. ¡°Ah, but first¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">She clenched her fist, shattering the egg in her hand, before focusing. ¡°I can¡¯t use that one anymore, so¡­¡± Blue light shimmered into her hand, rushing in a vortex that gradually revealed a new egg-shaped item of simr appearance. ¡°There. This one has an updated version of the world¡¯s system. Just please, <i><span style="font-weight:400">please</i><span style="font-weight:400"> don¡¯t buy any more systems or anything until I¡¯m done with the inventory system.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a genuinely pleading look on her face as she said that, causing me to chuckle. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, there¡¯s not anything that I can immediately think of buying. I¡¯ll even hold off on the behavior restriction until after you get that set up. Even if it¡¯s just a change to an Admin Room system, I don¡¯t want to risk it impacting your work.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thanks. Once I get this one done, I¡¯ll work on making a simr setup for Spica and Lorek. At that point, my new team should be able to help ensure that the process gets done smoothly.¡± Ashley seemed positively ecstatic about the thought of having her own team to work with.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">It was probably even worse than I thought.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I muttered inwardly as I watched the shadows envelop Ashley to take her away. Though, now that she was going to be getting her own team, I was quite looking forward to seeing if she would really be able to remake the entire world¡¯s system, and what changes that would entail.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">But first, I have to make them.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I rolled my shoulders at that, closing my eyes and returning to the Admin Room. Since Terra was a quick worker, she likely had the personality profiles set up already.

 Chapter 833: Recruitment Drive

    Chapter 833: Recruitment Drive


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I had expected, I found Terra waiting for me upon my return to the Admin Room, sitting at the kitchen table with a series of booksid out before her. ¡°I got you a selection to choose from.¡± She said with a yful grin, nudging the books forward.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I didn¡¯t bother to open and read them, as they were each literally someone¡¯s life story. It would take me forever to fully read through even a single book, and I simply didn¡¯t have that long to spend before Tsubaki and Dana noticed my absence. I¡¯d count Lifre, but¡­ I¡¯m not sure she¡¯s learned how to tell the difference yet. The same could be said with Gerard.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Can you give me the cliff notes versions?¡± I asked with a knowing smirk, and she nodded her head in response.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right. So, you told Ashley that you are giving her ten of these. Each of these are personality profiles built on hard-working and innovative programmers. However, their individual traits and specialties are different for each. One is an expert at analyzing code for debugging, but isn¡¯t as great ating up with new code himself, as an example.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod at that, looking at the books. ¡°Can you give me a list of their strengths and weaknesses? Normally, I¡¯d ask Ashley to do this, since it¡¯s her own team and she has more managing experience. But after seeing just how worn out she is¡­ I thought it¡¯d be nice to not put any extra work on her te.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra nodded her head in agreement, seeming all too pleased by the turn of events. ¡°Honestly, she¡¯s not the only one that could do with some backup. Tubrock likes to y it tough, but he¡¯s been strugglingtely to keep up in his forge. There are too many things that he wants to build, and he can¡¯t just make golems for all of it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Aside from him, I think everyone could benefit to varying degrees, but most people would need to have some form of divine power to get their work done. Thepanions up here wouldn¡¯t be able to help Aurivy manage travel requests if they can¡¯t interact with the world, as an example.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head again, thinking how I could set something up to help. Once again, I was reminded of Sarah¡¯s control room. ¡°Is it possible to create a control terminal in the Admin Room that has a certain amount of power in the world below?¡± I asked curiously, Terra¡¯s eyes seeming to sh in delight at the question. After all, though I had seen it myself, I didn¡¯t know if they were just using that as an interface for their own manual control.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There is.¡± She confirmed easily. ¡°On the market, it is called the Administration Terminal. You have to buy each one separately for ten points. Each terminal can be configured much like a god¡¯s domains, or they can be programmed for a wider range of abilities. Additionally, you can set ess restrictions for the terminals, controlling who can use each one and which worlds they can view.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I felt a smile spreading across my face when I heard that, before I paused. ¡°Wait, would that cause any problems with Ashley¡¯s current work? I don¡¯t want to change anything about the local world¡¯s game system before she has finished with her modification to the inventory system.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra thought about it briefly, before shaking her head. ¡°There is absolutely no way for this to have an impact on the local game system. To do so would imply that someone modifying the game system would have a backdoor to tap into the Admin Room, and the system won¡¯t allow anything like that. Any Admin Room systems are kept entirely isted from a game system managing your world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a sigh of relief when Terra said that, not wanting to ruin Ashley¡¯s work again. Honestly, an inventory system sounded like something that would greatly benefit our worlds, so I was really hoping that she¡¯d be able to get it working like she wanted. ¡°Alright. In that case, can you list the special traits of each of the profiles you¡¯ve selected? Good and the bad, please.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra nodded her head, creating a sheet of paper and passing it to me. On the paper was a list of names, followed by a very brief description of their traits. Although I had asked for ten, it looked like she had prepared over twenty to give me plenty of choice. ¡°Just checking, but were these profiles pulled from any particr world or point in history, or are they all new?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°All brand new.¡± Terra confirmed with a smile. ¡°If you¡¯d rather, I can make you some recycled profiles. But, since there wasn¡¯t anyone with a personal connection to you, Ashley, or even James that fit the bill, I opted to make them all from scratch.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Probably a good choice.¡± Being made entirely new did give them a bit more room in terms of customization. ¡°...Why do you have one here that¡¯s listed as a cker?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°A prodigy cker!¡± Terra corrected, lifting a finger. ¡°The old trope where a genius doesn¡¯t want to work, but once he gets started he is able to surprise everyone with his skill. I know that it¡¯s kind of a niche thing, but I thought I¡¯d throw it in there.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I shook my head, mentally crossing off that name. We needed people that would diligently work. It was fine even if their skills were not the absolute best, as they could still learn and grow over time. In the end, I picked ten names I liked from the list, an even split of male and female, and passed the list back to Terra.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she saw my selected names, she clicked her tongue. ¡°You went with the boring ones.¡± She groaned, though I was already standing to work on the next phase of this n. Since we were getting workers, we needed an office for them, as well as individual rooms. And since they weren¡¯t part of the ¡®Greater Pantheon¡¯, I decided to make it a proper second ¡®building¡¯ within the Admin Room.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With that said, I moved towards an empty wall of the living room, waving to Scarlet as I passed. She blinked in surprise, standing up to follow me. ¡°What are you up to, dad?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Expansion.¡± I answered simply, cing my hand on the wall and focusing. A door began to form from the wall, though that was not what took such a great deal of focus. I had made and dismissed doors hundreds of times, so that was nothing. Instead, it was what was beyond the door.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I opened the door, I could see a blue sky over my head, and a paved stone path leading away from my feet. This path continued down arge hill, where it met a road. And across that road was a small office building, adjacent to an apartmentplex.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There were times in the past that I had created an outdoor environment in the Admin Room, but it was always its own isted space. This was the first time that I was truly expanding the Admin Room itself, creating an exterior to the space that had been my celestial home since this whole thing began.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet looked at the buildings across the street, tilting her head slightly as if she didn¡¯t understand their purpose. I reached down, patting her head and walking down the path, Scarlet following behind me quickly. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Keep the personality profiles I picked ready.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I messaged back to Terra, wanting to set their offices up first and foremost.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It didn¡¯t take us long to get to the office building, which was currently only a hollow shell with an entirely vacant interior. I had to take another deep breath as I opened the door to create the basicyout of an office building floor, numerous workstations set up at various positions. <i><span style="font-weight:400">This¡¯ll be good for the first floor¡­</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">After thinking that, I went ahead and bought eleven Administration Terminals. When I bought them, I realized that they had appeared in the form of blue crystal spheres, much like when I purchased any information from the system. However, upon interacting with them, I discovered that this appearance could be changed however I wanted, and it was just a basic ceholder assigned by the system.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As such, I turned ten of the terminals intoputers, following the built-in instructions to configure them. These ten would be the workstations of Ashley¡¯s team, able to execute limited authority with the Games domain, and also serve as a programming terminal. That way, she would be able to get some additional help if she needed it. On a basic level, they could read the current world¡¯s systems and modify a locally saved copy, but could not implement any changes without Ashley¡¯s approval.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Finally, the eleventh terminal I turned into a phone, cing it on the wall of the office. This phone was able to be used by any of the uing tenpanions, and served only one purpose, which was to allow them a direct line ofmunication to Ashley herself. I nned to set it so that there was no reason for the auxiliarypanions to go to the main house, keeping them from interfering with everyone¡¯s daily lives.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As more and morepanions were added like this, I was sure that this could eventually turn into a small city. Having all of those people crowding together in the house did not in any way sound appealing, so I was trying to n for the future.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Next, I left the office building with Scarlet and made my way to the apartments. I was by no means heartless. Since I wasn¡¯t giving them a reason to go to the main house, I wanted to make sure that they would have everything that they needed in their basic apartments. That meant that each one was asrge as a full sized house, with all theforts one could expect in a home.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Much like the main house, there was a TV to allow them to either watch movies from the current or past worlds, or to watch the current events of the world. Once Ashley was done with the inventory system, I would make somewhere for them to rx and ¡®y¡¯ the Heavenly Game system, as well. That one wasn¡¯t entirely an Admin Room system, so I didn¡¯t want to take the risk with it, otherwise I¡¯d go ahead and buy it like I did with the terminals.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aside from the TV, there was also a well-stocked kitchen, where I set an area rule to allow custompanions to create any food items they wanted. Thanks to Chel¡¯sments over time, I had learned that these sorts of settings were possible, which was how you set up a proper privacy area. Something that most of us hadn¡¯t known how to do before she appeared.


    <span style="font-weight:400">So while their abilities to modify the Admin Room would be somewhat restricted in most areas, they would have more freedom within their own apartments, allowing them to modify theyouts as they wanted. Additionally, apanion without their own apartment would be able to ¡®register¡¯ one based on the temte that I had just finished creating.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Finally, now that I was done setting up both the offices and the apartments, I called Terra to have her bring me the personality profiles. Scarlet watched from beside me, having caught on to what I was doing, though she still seemed surprised that I was actually going through with it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As soon as Terra appeared, she passed me the stacks of books, and I offered her a thankful smile. ¡°Ah, right, this is your first time seeing this process, isn¡¯t it?¡± I asked towards Scarlet, who nodded her head quickly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. I haven¡¯t been here all that long myself. I wonder¡­ am I going to need helpers, too?¡± She asked with a tilt of her head, though I honestly didn¡¯t know what helpers for her would even do. The Crimson Goddess of Ki and Blood¡­ if there were a lot of ki rted problems going around, I could see a need for them, but I couldn¡¯t imagine it at the present moment.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not for a while.¡± I said with a shake of my head. ¡°Though, if you can think of any reason why you need them, I¡¯ll try to get you some, okay?¡± She nodded quickly when she heard that. In truth, the one that needs this the most, aside from Ashley herself, was likely to be Ryone. I doubted that she would need the team for her magic domain, but her other two domains would be able to help monitor the world¡¯s economic state and serve as an early warning system to prevent any simr problems from happening like the recent crisis.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and purchased the tenpanions to match the books in my hands. Though, not before checking to make sure that they were really the ten that I had chosen.

 Chapter 834: History Lesson

    Chapter 834: History Lesson


    <span style="font-weight:400">After letting Ashley know that her team was ready, I once again descended to the Sky Citadel. <i><span style="font-weight:400">If anyone else needs extra help, just let me know.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I told the others mentally, not wanting any of them to feel as if they were being left out. Now that I had taken the first step with Ashley, hopefully any others that were needing it would be more likely to speak up.


    <span style="font-weight:400">By the time I returned, I found Tsubaki waiting for me at the door of my room, causing me to blink in surprise. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I know she¡¯s good, but how did she know that I was already gone?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> It felt like I hadn¡¯t been in the Admin Room for more than ten minutes to get everything set up.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki seemed to sense my confusion, and offered a small smile. ¡°Your Virtual self froze.¡± She answered, causing me to blink for a moment again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After a moment, I realized what she meant, and let out a sound of exmation. ¡°Ah!¡± I had entirely forgotten about the Virtual side of things. ¡°Sorry, there was something that I had to take care of up top.¡± I apologized with a small smile, to which Tsubaki nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I assumed as much, my Keeper.¡± She told me. ¡°I merely wanted to be avable in the event that there was some form of emergency."


    <span style="font-weight:400">She stepped to the side, allowing me to walk past, though she followed me through the halls as normal. From what I could tell, she didn¡¯t have any serious pressing matters, so I nced back at her. ¡°I¡¯m surprised that you¡¯re so free. Usually when I descend, you and Dana are always working yourselves to the bone in the background.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That has not been the case for some years now.¡± Tsubaki answered with her usual smile. ¡°After Dana finished creating Gerard, most of the general tasks were left to him. Unless it is something which he judges as being outside of his normal authority, there is little need for us to interfere. Additionally, he makes for an excellent researchpanion for Dana, allowing her to stay busy with new projects.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod at that. ¡°It sounds like the three of you have really settled things down around here. How has your training as apostles gone?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s smile actually grew a bit wider when I asked that. ¡°It has been going well, my Keeper. I have learned a great deal from Lady Irena during thesest few years, and the same can be said for the others. If not for Lady Ryone¡¯s assistance, I do not believe Gerard could havee out as splendidly as he did.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And Lifre?¡± I noticed that Tsubaki hadn¡¯t particrly mentioned Lifre all that much, so I gave a small grin as I looked at her. Tsubaki blinked, before chuckling and delivering her answer.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Lifre is a very free spirit. She is quite diligent when ites to working for the Citadel. However, when there is no work to be done, she has started to take up a hobby that I believe employs her domains quite well. In fact, she has inspired numerous other mortal deities to follow simr paths.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh?¡± I blinked in surprise, curious what hobby she was talking about.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°To train herself, she took up writing stories as a hobby.¡± Tsubaki exined with a nod. ¡°However, a story was always just that, a story. As long as the story existed purely as words on a page, she felt as if there was something missing. She spoke with us about it for weeks beforeing to her own conclusion¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Did she start making movies?¡± I asked, eyes going wide.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In¡­ a sense, my Keeper.¡± Tsubaki said, shaking her head. ¡°When one reads a book written by Lifre, they find themselves drawn into it. For most cases, this has the viewer acting as a spectator, unseen and untouched within the story. Due to this special trait, she cannot outsource the printing, and has practiced mass-producing these stories with only her own divinity.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You said for most cases¡­ Does she have more involved stories, as well?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded her head in confirmation. ¡°That is correct. Lifre also produces two other types of books, these sold exclusively for faith in Sanctum. The first allows you to insert yourself into the role of a select group of characters within the story. Although the book has a ¡®standard¡¯ version that can be read normally, the text will alter after someone has properly entered it to reflect the story that they create as that character.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The other type of story is what she calls a ¡®training program¡¯. It is a scenario that she wrote with a considerable amount of energy, setting up various different obstacles and challenges for the reader to navigate. However, for every obstacle that they seed in oveing, they will be rewarded with a blessing based on the difficulty that they faced.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Unlike the first type of story, this one is a consumable item. Once used, it cannot be activated in the same way again. Instead, the story writes itself as the reader ovees their challenges. Afterwards, they may view it in ¡®spectator¡¯ mode, allowing them to see details that they may have missed before.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That final type reminded me of what she had done with the Terra twins, trapping them in a story to give them increases in power. ¡°I assume that the same person can only get the full benefit from a single training program?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right, my Keeper. Once the challenger dies within the training program, they are considered to havepleted their story. To prevent her blessings being wasted, Lifre made it so that only those who had not yet used one of her training programs would be able to activate it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That made sense. And given how long it¡¯s been, Lifre had likely expanded on her selection of challenges. ¡°Out of curiosity, how far do the obstacles go in these books?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki gave a somewhat proud smile at that. ¡°When I attempted it myself, I spent three months within the program. I had asked her to adjust the difficulty to the highest level, so she spent some time trying to find what she considered the ¡®limits¡¯ of what was possible. Naturally, this meant that the blessings within the obstacles were equally great.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°By the time I was defeated, I was in a battle against a demon god. One of my party members turned out to have been a spy working for the enemy, and stabbed me in the back at the most critical moment.¡± Tsubaki clicked her tongue when she said that. ¡°I thought that I had rooted out all of the traps, but one of them slipped by. Still, I am happy to report that my overall power increased by forty percent.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Forty percent?¡± I asked, my eyes going wide. The first time she did that test, it had been more of a drain on Lifre than the amount of power she was able to grant. ¡°How has Lifre not copsed fromck of energy?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, for the most part, it is due to the fact that she charges faith for these books. She makes sure not to sell them for less than the production value. Additionally, she told me that she made every book she sells a miniature temple to her. Thus, all of her readers are contributing to her faith, with those undertaking the training program acting as though they were taking trials in her name.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...Clever girl.¡± I muttered, shaking my head. Though, that did exin why she sold purely to Sanctum.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Giles sat cross-legged in the coral home that had been designed for him. It was quite a spacious interior, but it felt¡­ empty. Even hearing the song of his father¡¯s kin did not help alleviate this feeling. Although he may not have been popr in Spica due to his appearance, his home felt more lively.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Giles let out a small sigh, standing and stretching his shoulders. If there was nothing for him to do in his own home, then he would find something to do elsewhere. As such, he kicked off the floor to swim out of the opening in the coral.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As he did, he nearly crashed straight into the figure of Sprigga, the golden Sylvan that had greeted him on his first arrival. The two cried out in surprise, only just barely avoiding a head on collision. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Ah! I am sorry.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Sprigga said, quickly shaking her head.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯s fine, I should have been watching where I was going more.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Giles saidfortingly. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Were you looking for me for something?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s right.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Sprigga nodded. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I wanted to see how you were doing after absorbing the information from the level stones.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I believe that I¡¯ve absorbed it all properly.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Giles lifted a hand, forming a simple spell circle above it as a demonstration.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Excellent!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Sprigga pped her hands together happily. <i><span style="font-weight:400">This is our first time having them used with someone of another world, so I wanted to make sure that there was no conflict. Is there anything else that I can help you do to get settled in?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Giles thought about that for a long moment, before nodding his head. <i><span style="font-weight:400">If you have any sort of job that I could do, I would appreciate it. It feels wrong to just sit around like this.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">A job?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Sprigga blinked in confusion, before her eyes went wide. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Oh! My, I forgot! I¡¯m sorry. Usually, Merkin have their jobs assigned from youth, and they even take them as their titles. I¡¯ve never had to worry about that before, so I hadn¡¯t even considered it. Have you tried speaking with the leader of the vige?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Giles gave a rumbling chuckle at that. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Since I¡¯m an outsider, he said I must wait until a ce for me opens in their song.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sprigga blinked again, her golden eyes shining. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I see¡­ I don¡¯t particrly understand, but I suppose it means that there aren¡¯t any jobs that need to be filled at the moment? Hmm¡­ if you like, you could join me for a while? You said that you can breathe above the surface, right?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Giles looked over at her, nodding his head and wondering what she had in mind. Sprigga smiled wide, grabbing his webbed hand and kicking off. She sped towards the central tree with surprising agility, weaving through the flowing trees until she found a small opening in the side of the great tree.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As if she had done it a hundred times before, her body dove into the small opening, pulling Giles with her. Once inside the tree, he was treated to the sight of arge hollow structure. Above them was the surface of a wide pool, which the two of them rose up to.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sprigga gasped as her head came up over the water, Giles hearing her proper voice for the first time. Befitting someone with the aspect of ¡®the Song¡¯, her voice was incredibly pleasant and melodic. Sprigga released Giles¡¯ hand and swam over towards the edge of the pool, pulling herself up over the lip.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This is where we like to rx.¡± She said with that same brilliant smile, Giles swimming along the surface of the water towards her. ¡°There¡¯s nothing wrong with being underwater, but this has always been the mostfortable.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We? You mean you and the green girls?¡± He asked, though he did btedly recall the red and blue ones, as well. Also¡­


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No no, myself and Carol. The other children aren¡¯t all that picky. It¡¯s a bit mean to say, but they are rather simple, you know? As long as they are allowed to be part of the grove and care for the forest, they are happy. They¡¯re¡­ less individuals, and more aspects of the forest itself, in a way.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ahh.¡± Giles nodded his head, looking around therge hollow. ¡°That sounds rather lonely, I think.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sprigga¡¯s smile seemed to lose a little bit of its light, but she kept it on her face. ¡°It¡¯s fine. Once your people arrived, I had plenty of others to talk to! Though¡­ I¡¯m sure you noticed that most Merkin aren¡¯t all that talkative. At least the ones that I¡¯ve seen.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Giles let out a small sigh, nodding again. ¡°At least, not unless they have something to say. It¡¯s¡­ strange. The culture among them is entirely different from how I was raised. I feel like I don¡¯t even really know anything about my own people.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°To be fair, most don¡¯t.¡± Sprigga shook her head, dipping her toes in the water of the pool. ¡°There are ancient records of the Merkin back from the time of the first inter-continental voyage, but only as passing references. It wasn¡¯t until much more recently that they were discovered to such a great extent.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You have records?¡± Giles asked curiously. ¡°Would it be alright for me to see them? Sorry, it¡¯s not easy getting specific records like that from another world like Spica. I think it has something to do with the differences in time flow. Either way, I¡¯ve never had the chance to really learn about them, beyond what my mother told me.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hmm? Sure.¡± Sprigga smiled readily. ¡°My terminal¡¯s upstairs. Let me show you.¡± She said, pulling her legs back to stand up and holding an arm out for Giles.

 Chapter 835: Insight

    Chapter 835: Insight


    <span style="font-weight:400">Within the Sky Citadel, we quickly set into a daily routine. Our Virtual Selves spent their time alternating between training and ying various games, while our real world selves took care of any business or personal projects that we might have. For me, I was working on training my three domains, building upon my trinity to give me extrabat options.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki was often apanying me for my training, offering her insights whenever there was something that I was unsure about. Simrly, the two of us began developing team attacks, as it would likely start bingmon practice for us to fight together during invasions. With how well her Light domain synergized with my Mirrors domain, this gave us an excellent basis for our tactics.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana spent most of her time working on redesigning the enchantments of the Sky Citadel itself, bringing them up to date with the most cutting-edge in magic research. Additionally, she had apparently been working over thest decade to create an alternate enchantment system within the citadel, allowing it to be switched from Earth¡¯s magic system to Lorek¡¯s on the fly. This would allow the Citadel to even fly within the skies of Lorek.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre often kept herself writing various stories, her imagination almost boundless. Whenever she wasn¡¯t writing, she could be found traversing the world to leave different ¡®trial¡¯ monsters for people to ovee. ording to her, doing so would leave the ¡®seed¡¯ of a story for her to write aboutter.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Finally, there was Gerard. Honestly, he spent most of his time working, and I didn¡¯t even believe that he had a Virtual self. If he did, he kept it busy enough that I never got to see it. However, he seemed to enjoy the work, taking pride in his ability to manage themon response systems of the Citadel.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Today, I found myself in the study, holding an empty Level Stone in my hand. Looking down at it, it was hard to believe just how important this seemingly mundane stone had be in recent years. The educational system had shifted almost entirely, now focused on absorbing the information from these stones and reviewing it, as well as practical application for the techniques contained within. Even the general studies could be saved through the Schr ss.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Looking at the stone now, there was something special that I wanted to try with it. Something that I wasn¡¯t entirely sure would even work. After all, it wasn¡¯t really part of a ss. However, the general studies being transferable gave me hope.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath and rooting through my memories. I found the memory of how I created World Sight, using my Soul domain to capture the memory. Afterwards, I branded the memory with the mark of the Schr, and tried to imnt it into the Level Stone I was holding.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Level Stone lit up to show a reaction, making me think that I had seeded. However, when I reviewed the information in the stone, my face darkened. What I saw was a memory of myself hammering away at an ancient forge, back when Terra first taught me how to do smithing as a ¡®required learning exercise¡¯.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Okay, so it won¡¯t work with the stone.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I muttered to myself, before blinking. My hand came up, pping at my forehead. I had just done what I needed to do¡­ but I missed the final step.


    <span style="font-weight:400">My fist clenched, shattering the Level Stone. Now that it had epted those first levels of Schr from me, it had basically been wasted anyway. As such, there was no point in keeping it, since I doubted anyone wanted to learn such primitive forging methods in this age.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once again, I found that branded memory that I had created just recently. This time, I exerted the power of my Souls domain to manifest a small white pearl in my hand. Souls are a collection of ideas, thoughts, and memories. If someone were to create a solidified soul containing a specific memory, that memory should be able to be passed to others.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After creating this pearl, I swept over it with my domain once again, altering the memories to remove any personal traces of ¡®me¡¯ from within it. I did not want an identity crisis to appear because the memory contained any vestige of myself that conflicted with whoever used this pearl.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Finally, once I was done with that, I created three additional pearls by copying the first. ¡°Tsubaki.¡± I called out, the kitsune standing a few feet behind me the entire time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yes, my Keeper?¡± She asked, stepping forward.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Please call Dana and Lifre in here.¡± I said with a small smile. I would have had her call Gerard as well, but I didn¡¯t think that he had ess to ki, which would make it impossible to create World Sight.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As you wish, my Keeper.¡± She nodded her head, closing her eyes. I could feel a brief pulse of mana as she sent out the summons.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It did not take very long before the two appeared, walking into the study with confused looks on their faces. ¡°You call us here for something, boss?¡± Dana asked, walking over to stand next to Tsubaki. Lifre simply bounced on her heels, quite literally, while waiting to hear what I wanted.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. Dana, could you have one of your shadows absorb this, please?¡± I asked, tossing one of the pearls to Dana. She caught it deftly, looking it over and even sniffing it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This is¡­ a solidified soul essence?¡± She muttered, rather sensitive to the nature of spirits. After a moment, she nodded, and her shadow shifted to produce a ck-haired human woman. The woman extended her hand, allowing Dana to ce it in her palm before she directly consumed the pearl.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s right, consumed. She shoved it straight into her mouth and swallowed it. Not <i><span style="font-weight:400">quite</i><span style="font-weight:400"> how I imagined the energy being absorbed, but if it works, it works. I watched, waiting as the information was quite literally digested. Eventually, the woman opened her mouth, speaking slowly. ¡°World Sight¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a sigh of relief, as that meant that she had truly learned at least some of the information within the pearl. ¡°The three of you, eache and take one of these.¡± I said, gesturing to the remaining pearls. ¡°This is a special type of sensing energy, one that can traverse vast distances and silently pierce most restrictions. Once you absorb the energy in the pearls, you should be able to understand how to make the energy yourself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki was the first to step forward, grabbing one of the pearls and pressing it against her lips. However, she did not consume it as Dana¡¯s shadow did. Rather, she inhaled, seeming to suck the soul power directly out of the pearl. This caused it to fade away while Tsubaki stood there with her eyes closed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre and Dana soon followed suit, though Lifre simply popped it into her mouth like a piece of candy. I suppose that being a slime would be of benefit there. Either way, all three of them stood there for a few moments to process the information, their eyes opening one after the other.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯d like it if all three of you practiced this energy. After seeing that memory, you should be able to understand how useful it is.¡± I was honestly tempted to give them the Ki of Beginning as well, but I wasn¡¯t sure if that would sh with Dana¡¯s World Shadow, given that she already possessed a Saint Body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The three nodded their heads happily, each turning to leave the study. Since they had the memories of a sessful energy creation, it shouldn¡¯t be difficult for them to use their personal experiences to replicate the event. Furthermore, once they had their World Sight, that would greatly enhance their ability to control their own energies.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Here it is¡­¡± Nimora muttered to herself, having finally found the farm that Jace had pointed out to her. Doing so had taken her several days of scouring the countryside of Kross. Although he had pointed to the farm, it was a lot harder to search it all herself to find that one building. For <i><span style="font-weight:400">some</i><span style="font-weight:400"> reason, you required a special service to be able to use positioning software in Kross, and had to be a resident of the country to get that service.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Who even does that?!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Nimora cried out in her mind as she looked at the groups of soldiers outside the house. Apparently, the deaths had been discovered, and the localw enforcement was investigating the scene.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She projected her senses into the house, being careful to avoid any of the soldiers within. She let out a breath of relief upon finding the painting of the local king on one wall of the bedroom.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The enchantment must have been well hidden indeed, as Nimora couldn¡¯t sense a trace of magic from the painting. Thankfully, this also meant that it had not yet been discovered by the soldiers, either.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nimora grit her teeth, forcing herself to wait hidden in the sky. Once the soldiers left for the day, she would be able to move in and activate the painting¡¯s enchantment. Even if she was not an expert of Earth, concealing her energy was an easy feat for her. After all, she had trained to track down a God of Deception.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once they had left, she made sure her energy was fully concealed, slipping past the wards she had watched them establish earlier in the day. She was careful not to touch anything that was marked as potential ¡®evidence¡¯, moving straight for the painting thaty undisturbed on the wall. Once there, she covered the eyes of the figure in the painting, and felt a rush of magic wrapping around her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The next moment, she stood in arge room, metal walls slowly lighting up in response to her presence. Across the walls and floors, she could see scattered droplets of ck sludge. The unfortunate remains of Thadius¡¯s puppets. She shook her head sadly, realizing that this went further than she had initially realized. Although she had seen the chatroom, the number of sludge puddles seemed to surpass even that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Where is it¡­?¡± She muttered to herself, navigating the halls until she found arge room with numerous terminalsid out on desks. She all but gagged when she saw the ck sludge covering the terminals themselves, having to wipe one off in order to activate it. Or rather, wake it from ¡®sleep mode¡¯, as the previous owners never had the chance to turn them off.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once the terminal was properly active, she began browsing through the files. It was thankful that these files weren¡¯t encoded, as they were not connected to any externalwork. That made it easier for Nimora to navigate the files to find any records rted to merkin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">And there was one, an experiment log archived from the time when her love had gone missing. ording to the project summary, they were trying to find a way to convert the merkin¡¯s natural psionic song into a way for Thadius to spread his influence. To test this theory, they had abducted a merkin to perform vivisection¡­


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nimora¡¯s fists clenched tight when she read that, having to force herself to continue. The experiment ultimately ended in failure, as the merkin¡¯s song was not a method of controlling the thoughts of others. While usible, they would need to create an entirely new divine artifact to facilitate the process. One which they went on to list being their next goal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nimora¡¯s face went more and more white the more she read through the details of the experiment, immediately looking away and breaking down once she had finished. It was no easy task to read about what they did to her love, but she had to confirm something. She had to confirm whether they infected him or not. If they did¡­ she wasn¡¯t sure if he would still be <i><span style="font-weight:400">him</i><span style="font-weight:400"> in the Underworld.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now, as she leaned against the wall and allowed herself to properly cry, a smile formed on her lips. They hadn¡¯t converted him. Right up until the end. There was even a mention that they had tried to do so, but there was something stopping it. Likely his natural psionic powers, but it made it such that they couldn¡¯t convert him without expending enough power to draw unwanted attention. His mind was his own, right until the very end.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Giles¡­ I¡¯ming home. </i><span style="font-weight:400">She thought to herself, clutching at her chest. She had left her son in order to go on this hunt. And now, she wanted nothing more than to see him again. The only problem was¡­ she didn¡¯t know if he would still be there. Given how he was treated among the elves of Spica, he would have likely left to meet the Merkin. Meaning¡­ he should be somewhere on Earth, within the oceans. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯ll find you, I promise.</i>

 Chapter 836: To You

    Chapter 836: To You


    <span style="font-weight:400">The weeks passed rather happily in the Sky Citadel after the three managed to learn World Sight. This new energy didn¡¯t show an immediate influence on their lives, but I had faith that it would be able to help them in the long run. I had be distracted enough enjoying a vaguely normal life that I had even forgotten about the time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki had told me about the new great chef that had begun serving the rest of the Greater Pantheon, and how she had been learning some new cooking techniques herself under him. When she asked me if I wanted to visit him, I politely declined. Rather than going to the greatest chef, I felt like it was more than enough to enjoy what Tsubaki herself made. Though, it did exin why her cooking had be so much better after I had descended this time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Before I knew it, the world around me hadpletely frozen in the middle of our dinner. Once I realized what was going on, I let out a mental sigh, my mind going to the food now on the table. It would be several days before we got back here to finish this meal, so I was somewhat bitter about having to go. But more than that, I was happy due to what I could expect.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The warm light wrapped around me, bringing me to the Admin Room. There, I could see everyone already gathered, wearing various suits and dresses. There was even a ck suit hanging up on the wall that seemed to be for me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a smile, I snapped my fingers, the suit flying at me and instantly recing the clothes that I had previously been wearing. ¡°Do we have anything for the other three?¡± I asked, and Terra nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°They¡¯ve had it ready in their storage items for a few days. Once we get to the meeting, we¡¯ll find somewhere for them to get changed.¡± She assured me, causing me to let out a sigh of relief.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Manipting the menu, I chose to bring the three girls along with the rest of us as we left for the annual Keeper Meeting. As usual, a golden door appeared along our wall, opening to allow us entry. We wasted no time in passing through, greeted by a surprised Tsubaki, Lifre, and Dana on the other side.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°My Keeper¡­¡± Tsubaki began, but I simply shook my head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sorry, I lost track of the time.¡± I apologized sincerely, to which she offered a low bow. As we turned and walked towards the ever-growing city created for the Keeper Meeting, I felt someone brushing up against my side as they passed us by, the back of their hand tapping against my own.


    <table border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Donna has transferred 1 point to your bnce.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I turned my head to look at the ck-haired woman that quickly passed by the group, confused by the random point. However, before I could say anything, Terra ced her hand on my shoulder. ¡°It¡¯s a way to identify people.¡± She said subtly, causing my brows to furrow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It took several long moments before I realized what must be going on. Talon said that she was going to hire someone to keep an eye on BloodBrother during the meeting. Did that mean that they were just going to shift through the crowd like this, brushing against everyone until they managed to transfer a point to BloodBrother himself?


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was a¡­ viable strategy, I guessed, and allowed them to find someone who may have an irregr form. Either way, I shook my head. There was no need to dwell on that subject. One way or another, I would be able to find out the details from Talonter.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For now, my mind was more focused on the uing event. We had already discussed our ns together as a group. First, everyone would gather to share a meal together, before the ceremony itself was held after we found the venue.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was, admittedly, somewhat backwardspared to weddings in my old world, but I felt that was okay. It had been a long time since everyone gathered together to have a meal, and even Chel had appeared to join us for the ceremony. The only people still left in the Admin Room were Ashley¡¯s new team, who were receiving several days of free vacation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, the group quickly made our way towards the restaurant that always seemed present in these meetings. As expected, we saw quite the crowd moving in the same direction, everyone wanting to sample the dishes prepared by the system itself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once inside, we were guided by one of the serving staff to arge table that seemed to almost be prepared specifically for us. Once we arrived at it, the ¡®privacy¡¯ filter was lifted, and we could see a white cloth covering the table, eighteen sets of silverware neatlyid out. I gave a small smile, sitting at one side of the table with Terra to my left, Irena to my right, and Ryone right across from me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I hope you don¡¯t mind, but I made our order in advance.¡± Terra said with a mischievous look on her face, her tailing up to wrap gently around her wrist. ¡°System Companion perks and all.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And you were able to get away with that?¡± I retorted, unable to hold back the chuckle that escaped me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It didn¡¯t involve invading anyone¡¯s privacy or providing information that you weren¡¯t allowed to have, nor did it empower your world in any way.¡± She stuck her tongue out as she said that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I was wondering what she had ¡®ordered¡¯ for us, I saw the door to the ¡®kitchen¡¯ opening, a golden-haired kitsune walking towards our table wearing a ck and white suit. ¡°Is that..?¡± Aurivy asked with wide eyes, though Terra shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I just asked for someone with a simr appearance and style. This isn¡¯t just any dinner, after all.¡± She said with a soft chuckle, the waiter soon approaching and entering the ¡®privacy filter¡¯.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Good evening,dies and gentlemen.¡± He said with a polite bow. What confused me the most was that he did not seem to have any dishes with him. In fact, he didn¡¯t have anything from what we could see, making it look like he hade to take our order rather than deliver it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That is, until he started moving his hands. Tears in space seemed to open with his movements, streams of lighting out of them to dance together. First, these streams of light rotated in circr patterns, flying like frisbees to each of our eighteen seats. When theynded, the lights seemed to shatter, turning into fine metal tes with a flowery pattern along their edges.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Next was a swirl of silver lights that spun around the table, depositing tall wine sses for each of us. I widened my eyes at the realization that this was as much a dinner as it was a performance. The man seemed as though he were conducting an orchestra, the lights dancing and humming with his every move.


    <span style="font-weight:400">White, pink, and red lights came together, swirling and mixing into a cloud before him. I could see traces of yellow and brown added in, before the cloud moved over the center of the table. First, arge metal te was formed, before the cloud began to¡­ create rain?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Red liquid poured down from the cloud in scattered droplets, falling onto the te before rolling off to the side and stiffening, looking like a ring of red icing. Thunder resounded in the cloud as the rain mixed with white and brown, showering the te like a true storm.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As the liquid fell this time, it seemed to dance together like watered down paint, the white liquid moving to the edge and forming a ¡®fence¡¯ that kept the rest of the liquid in a circr shape. This fence rose higher and higher as the storm continued, but my eyes were drawn to the smiling kitsune.


    <span style="font-weight:400">His hands were already moving again, ck and white lights intertwining to form four figurines that stood at the far edge of the table, near Tryval. Of the figurines, there was one male in a ck suit like myself, a winged woman in a beautiful ck dress like Irena, a catgirl in a white dress like Terra, and an elf wearing a red dress like Ryone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The first of the figures to move was the one representing myself, who moved towards therge metal te as if he were walking. No, in fact, he had truly be animated. As he neared the te, some of the white liquid seemed to spill over, forming stairs for him to climb.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The further he climbed, the further the pool of solidifying liquid rose, until it had be at least six inches thick. At that point, the brown rain ended, the liquid solidifying into what seemed like a soft texture. Thest of the white rain poured over to form a solidyer, before it too ceased, leaving only the red which had begun to decorate the sides.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once the male figurine had arrived at the top of the structure, he turned, holding his hand out towards the three women. Without hesitation, they began walking forward in unison, their dresses trailing behind them on the table. They reached the icing stairs, climbing it just as the male had done, and stood with him at the top.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Finally, the four figures walked to the center, surrounded by a red circle and numerous heart-shaped patterns, and joined hands together. As soon as they did so, the scene seemed to freeze, the figurines no longer animated. They stood atop the chocte cake, smiling at one another and linking their hands together.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I sat there, stunned as I watched the scene. It was honestly breathtaking to see an artistic presentation like that, and yet the kitsune did not seem to be finished. ¡°Since we have the cake prepared, shall we get to the main course first?¡± He asked with a smile, a gentle fog washing over the table.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Where this fog passed, food seemed to simply manifest on our tes. Admittedly, the servings were notrge, but that was likely to make sure that we all were able to enjoy the cake. For myself, there was a single thick sandwich with a small side of fries. Looking over at Irena, she had a softly shining spiritual pasta. Terra had¡­ unsurprisingly, a fried fish. And Ryone had a nice sd.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Finally, in each of our sses was a sparkling clear liquid, no doubt some form of wine for us to enjoy. As such, before we ate, I stood up at the table, lifting my ss. ¡°Before we begin, I¡¯d like to say a few words.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The kitsune waiter stepped back, leaving the privacy barrier now that his job was done, while everyone else directed their gaze towards me. ¡°First, I would like to thank everyone for joining me here today. I know that each of you has your own interests, your own goals that you would normally be seeing to at this time, so I want you to know that it means a lot that you all came here without hesitation.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Each of you has helped me throughout the years, and I would like to take a moment to recognize that.¡± As I said that, I turned to look at each of those gathered here in turn. ¡°Tryval, you were willing to go against the wishes of your own people to help stabilize the rtionship between the centaurs and halflings, and helped your daughter behind the scenes with the establishment of Sher Dien.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Tubrock¡­ you single-handedly created the Sky Citadel, an icon recognized by the entire world as my symbol. Whenever we have needed something, you have been there for us. Your golems have be an important part of our world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Bihena, you have been helping to manage the rtionships of countries throughout the various worlds since your first appearance. The country you established still lives as one of the three great empires of humanity. Where others might shy away from confronting me about their issues, I know that you will always be willing to tell me your mind, and I am thankful for that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Aurivy, your work in managing the dungeons has allowed our worlds to develop in ways that I had never imagined. Just the existence of a being like Tower waspletely outside of my expectations. While you may be mischievous at times, I can honestly say that I don¡¯t know where I would be without you helping me.¡± Aurivy gave a small grin, shing a thumbs up at that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ashley¡­ not only did you have to get adjusted to a new life as apanion, but you helped me by managing an entire world. More than that, you have gone above and beyond to help me with the system of our world, and are still working to improve upon it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Leowynn¡­ you were with me personally for quite a while. It is no exaggeration to say that you have died for me. Twice, in fact. We shared our journeys together, and I am overjoyed at the thought of sharing even more adventures with you in the future. Just try not to overwork yourself <i><span style="font-weight:400">too</i><span style="font-weight:400"> much.¡± Leowynn dipped her head shyly, though I could see her bright smile.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Scarlet¡­ you haven¡¯t been with us very long, but you have perhaps been following me longer than almost anyone. The daughter of my blood, who built an entire empire and ruled with dedication to her people. When I told you what it would take for you to join me, you did so without hesitation, showing me just how much you wanted us to all be together.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Chel, you may not be a deity for our world, but you are by no means unimportant. Your research together with James has reshaped the lives of every person living within our realm. I am proud to call you a friend, and hope you will continue working together with us in the future.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Tsubaki, Dana, Lifre¡­ the three of you have worked hard to maintain the world from the mortal side. Tsubaki, I have legitimately lost count of how long you have been with me. Your presence has just be so natural that I can¡¯t imagine you not being there, waiting for me when I descend. Dana, your innovations in magic design have helped improve our lives, and frankly have helped keep Tsubaki sane. Lifre, what can I say other than the fact that you have breathed new life into the Citadel with your sheer energy?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Keliope. You keep your achievements mostly hidden, but I know that you have helped foster the growth of martial arts in every world. The signs of your work are evident to anyone that knows what to look for. Without you, I truly believe that martial arts would have fallen to the wayside in the face of all of the different sses avable.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°alia, our huntress. You have personally trained me time and again, ensuring that I was strong enough to stand against whatever enemies I may face. Whenever I encountered a dangerous situation, I knew that I could count on you to help provide me with some insight.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Udona¡­ I know how hard it was for you to take on the mantle of God-Queen of Deckan. You, who would prefer to spend your days in rxation and enjoying various games, taking on such a major responsibility for your friend. You paved the way for divine rulers across numerous worlds, and the honest effort you have put in has brought no end to my joy.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying all of this, I turned to the only three people left at the table whom I had not addressed. ¡°Terra¡­ you were the first person I encountered when I became a Keeper. At first a silly maid-like personality, you quickly grew into my most trustedpanion and guide. Even when you left me to my own devices, I could always feel you watching over me, ready to protect me if things got truly dire.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Irena, Ryone¡­ the both of you are well aware that I instilled feelings in you for me at your conception. However, even after this realization, you continued to foster those feelings on your own. It would have been so easy for either of you to turn away from me, but you didn¡¯t. Both of you waited, continuing to help me in any way you could. Ryone with her magic research, and Irena¡­ I did you a great disservice by asking you to remain in the Underworld for so long. The fact that you never resented me for that both warms and befuddles me.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I am d to be able to share this day with each and every one of you.¡± As I said that, I took a drink from my ss, finally sitting down.

 Chapter 837: Return To The Origin

    Chapter 837: Return To The Origin


    <span style="font-weight:400">It didn¡¯t take us very long to get through our meal. As usual at this restaurant, the food was naturally fit for each and every one of our unique tastes. At first, I was worried that this wouldn¡¯t apply to the cake, as it was made for multiple people, but those worries were soon proven false.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Upon taking my first bite of the cake, as well as seeing Irena¡¯s reaction to it, I knew that it had a spiritualponent designed specifically for her. Simrly, there appeared to be a bit of a kiponent in its craft, as even Scarlet greatly enjoyed it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once we had finished our meal, Ryone, Irena, and Terra led Dana, Tsubaki, and Lifre to a private back room where they could change. When they emerged, each of them was wearing a new dress that seemed to match the style of the Goddess that they served. I gave a small smile at that, nodding my head towards them, and it was clear that Dana really enjoyed getting to wear a dress like this, as she kept looking down at herself with a grin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Alright, Terra, do your thing. Where are we going?¡± I asked, smiling towards Terra. If there was anyone that knew where to go in these circumstances, I trusted it to be her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra tapped at her chin for several moments, seeming to be thinking about something before she smiled. ¡°The ce of beginnings that have no end.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked for a moment at her response, before letting out a light chuckle. Irena¡¯s cheeks flushed, and it was clear she knew what Terra meant as well. Somewhere that only the two of us had visited out of this group, the Spring of Origins.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh? Where¡¯s that?¡± Lifre asked, looking at the three of us who seemed to know. ¡°What can have a beginning with no end?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s the Spring of Origins.¡± I answered, clearing my throat. ¡°It¡¯s a sort of hidden area within this secluded world. And if you are willing to pay a truly obscene amount of points, you can have a simr spring made in your own world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Like, twenty thousand or so?¡± Dana spoke up, tilting her head. ¡°Going by how much you¡¯ve mentioned things costing, that seems fairly extreme.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°More like half a million, dear.¡± Irena said in a gentle voice, causing Dana¡¯s eyes to go wide in shock. ¡°The spring¡¯s water has the effect of calming energies to allow for easy merging, even identally. With it, even a novice could be a god with little effort.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Y-Yeah, that does seem like a lot of points.¡± Dana gulped, even though she was surprised just as much by the effects of the spring. ¡°Anyways, why would you hold a wedding there?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s a symbolic thing in this world.¡± I exined with a smile, recalling the words of the pixie that had introduced the spring to us. ¡°The spring will only appear for people who are searching for a new beginning that will never end. So, many people came to ept it as a romantic getaway. Irena and I identally found it on a walk in a previous meeting.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, now we know what to look for!¡± Terra eximed, taking my hand in hers and turning to walk towards the forest away from the growing city. Hearing about the special location we were going to, Aurivy all but ran ahead, only stopping when we called her back to make sure nobody got lost. It was hard to say where or when it would appear, so it was best for everyone to move together.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Though she did pout at being held back, Aurivy obediently walked along with the rest of us, who made our way into the forest as onerge group. Knowing what to look out for, I kept listening for any sound of flowing water. And, after roughly fifteen minutes of walking, we were able to hear it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now that the spring had been found, Aurivy immediately turned to run in that direction, causing me to let out augh and follow her with the rest of the party. ¡°Wee, wee!¡± We were greeted by a small, golden pixie. ¡°Oh, if it isn¡¯t the return of the wandering pair from before!¡± She looked at us with gleeful eyes, flying up from the spring to circle around our group. ¡°This many people, are you here for a ceremony this time?!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Aurivy answered, hopping up and waving towards the pixie. ¡°Hey,e over here for a minute, please!¡± The pixie turned, blinking at her in confusion before walking over andnding in Aurivy¡¯s palm.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You see¡­¡± Aurivy leaned in and whispered to the little creature, who nodded her head every so often.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hmm? Oh, that makes sense. Ah, really? Well, it¡¯s not too hard. Sure, we can do something like that, it¡¯ll be fun!¡± The pixie smiled, readily agreeing with whatever Aurivy had said to it. Once she flew up, she ced two fingers in her mouth and let out a soft whistle. ¡°Alright, girls, we¡¯ve got work to do!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I wasn¡¯t quite sure what to expect at that. Certainly, it wasn¡¯t dozens of streams of golden dust flying out of the spring and circling the area. Wherever they passed, objects seemed to fade into existence from the ground up. First, a circr tform suspended over the stream itself, with three bridges moving away in three different locations.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The tform looked to be made out of purely white wood, with the bridges having flowery carvings along their walls. Above the tform was a canopy of silk, vines appearing to wrap around it as decoration. Even the spring itself changed shape, circling beneath each of the three bridges as if to offer its blessing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Aurivy saw the changes were done, she jumped up to the tform, spinning around on her heels and calling out. ¡°Will the groom please join me on the stage, while the brides and bridesmaids stand at the ends of the bridges?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Aurivy, what are you doing?¡± I blinked, taking one of the bridges up to the central tform and looking down at the mischievous halfling goddess.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, duh. I¡¯m the Goddess of Love! Of course I¡¯m going to marry you!¡± Aurivy said, sticking her tongue out.


    <span style="font-weight:400">My brain temporarily froze there for a moment, looking back at the three brides. ¡°Uhm¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What? No! Not like that!¡± Aurivy shook her head. ¡°Like a priest! I¡¯m going to officiate the wedding, you doofus!¡± She said with augh, shaking her head at the apparent misunderstanding in her words.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay, maybe make it a bit more clear next time¡­¡± I let out a low groan as I said that, causing a mischievous glint to appear in her eyes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Next time, huh? Already nning for a--oww, stop that!¡± I cut her off by rubbing my knuckles into the top of her head. This earned a small smile from the watching crowd, though I soon stopped to let Aurivy take her position.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Now, with that distraction out of the way¡­ Pipi, can you handle the next step?¡± She asked, looking upwards.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh? Pipi? Is that me?¡± The pixie looked around, before pointing at herself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah! You look like a Pipi, and I don¡¯t have anything else to call you! So, can you do it, or not?¡± Aurivy grinned as she casually assigned a name to the system¡¯s guide to the Spring of Origins.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Pipi can do it!¡± And¡­ she readily epted that name with a wide smile. Pipi cleared her throat, bringing both of her hands to her chest, and began to hum. Slowly, her voice rose into a soft melody that seemed to echo off of the trees.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The sound resonated with the water, causing a calming sensation to spread through my body. Aurivy gave a satisfied nod when she felt this as well, turning to face me. Her expression turned serious even as she spoke in a soft tone. ¡°Dale, Keeper of myriad worlds. We have gathered here today under your banner, to watch in this union which transcends creation.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We are joined now above that which begins, yet knows no end, in the hopes that the bonds created here today will simrlyst eternal. That nothing may stand in the way of your matrimony. May our brides and bridesmaids please approach, and join us?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra and the others smiled as they stepped onto their bridges. The wood of the bridges began to glow with their steps, as if marking their progress. Faintly, I could hear the rushing of the spring as it branched off beneath their feet, following them to gather beneath the central tform.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Your brides, who have joined you in trials of life and death, creation and destruction.¡± Aurivy continued, gesturing gently towards the three goddesses. ¡°After trials and tribtions, you have found yourselves here. Do you three ept this eternalmitment, to be bound together with the Keeper who created you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The three girls looked at one another, warm smiles on their lips as they nodded, turning to face Aurivy in unison. ¡°We do.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy nodded her head, turning to look at me next. ¡°And do you, creator and captor of their minds, bodies, and hearts, ept this eternalmitment with the three women before you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but nod my head, my gaze softening. ¡°I most certainly do.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In that case¡­¡± Aurivy smiled, looking at our audience. ¡°If anyone should have reason to object to this union, may they speak now. Otherwise--¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I object!¡± Aurivy twitched as she was cut off, turning and ring to look for the source of the objection. Eventually, her eyes traced upwards,nding on Pipi.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Pipi, this isn¡¯t part of the script¡­¡± Aurivy muttered, but Pipi simply stuck her tongue out.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I object! I always wanted to say that¡­ I object to this wedding on the grounds that we haven¡¯t been able to offer our present yet!¡± Aurivy blinked when she heard that, tilting her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Present?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yup!¡± Pipi nodded, vanishing and diving beneath the tform. Soon, she emerged once again, carrying arge, silver chalice. The sight of her dragging the cup into the air, when it was several timesrger than herself, was quite an amusing thing. ¡°We like to do this whenever anyone holds this kind of ceremony here! They drink from the spring to receive its blessing!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy blinked again, but soon smiled. ¡°Hey, I can improvise. Go for it.¡± She said, gesturing for us to take the chalice. Sure enough, there was a clear liquid within it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Irena was the first to take the chalice, sipping from it before passing it to Ryone. When she did, her body began to emit a faint silver radiance. Simrly, Ryone¡¯s body gave a simr glow, and then Terra¡¯s. Finally, when it was my turn, I took a sip from the chalice and passed it back to Pipi. I could see my own hands emitting the same radiance as the others.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Now, if there are any <i><span style="font-weight:400">more</i><span style="font-weight:400"> objections?¡± Aurivy asked, looking around before giving a pointed nce to Pipi. Pipi shook her head, one handing up to zip her lips. ¡°The moment you have all been waiting for¡­ I pronounce you, Keeper and Kept. You may kiss the brides.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I rolled my eyes yfully at Aurivy¡¯s pun, before finding myself all but tackled by Ryone, who first imed my lips for herself for several seconds. When she was done, she brushed herself off, and Terra was waiting there for her turn. Finally, the two looked at Irena, both gesturing her over. Her face had an adorable flush to it that seemed only better with her almost angelic glow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She leaned in, pressing her lips against mine while the rest of our audience offered their apuse. Even Pipi cheered happily, dancing around the tform in midair. ¡°This is why I love weddings!¡± She called out, causing Aurivy to nod her head in agreement.

 Chapter 838: Blood Sport

    Chapter 838: Blood Sport


    <span style="font-weight:400">After the ceremony ended, the group left the Spring of Origin with smiles on our faces. This was an event that we had been looking forward to for some time, and I could not say that I was disappointed with how it turned out. As we left the area of the spring, I couldn¡¯t help but turn my head towards Terra. ¡°So¡­ what was that blessing about, anyways?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra stuck her tongue out yfully. ¡°Just symbolic, like the exchange of rings in your old world. If you had taken advantage of the situation to try to make an energybination, you would have had a much higher chance of sess, but that would have spoiled the mood. That¡¯s why the spring won¡¯t even appear for people that are just looking to take advantage of its properties during the meeting.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked, nodding my head. Once we exited the forest, the bulk of the group split away from myself, Terra, Ryone, and Irena. The rest of this meeting was going to be our ¡®honeymoon vacation¡¯, so the rest of the group would go off and do their own things now. Just as we were starting to walk away, a thought urred to me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Wait¡­ that spring is the key to creating an Origin normally, isn¡¯t it?¡± I asked, to which Terra gave a soft smile. She had told me just how difficult it was to create an Origin when her incarnations managed to do so through the use of an idental glitch. But now, realizing the spring¡¯s power, as well as its name¡­


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Terra nodded her head in confirmation. ¡°Now do you understand why it is so expensive? Water able to bridge the gap between chaos and divinity, to calm those energies to such an extreme that they can fuse. That alone should show you how strong it is. While it¡¯s not absolutely necessary, it does make the process fairly achievable.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but nod my head in agreement. Even as a Rank Three Keeper, I didn¡¯t dare try to pursue the creation of an Origin. Even if I managed to, my ¡®reward¡¯ would be for my rank to immediately jump again. Most likely, that spring was meant to be purchased by Rank Five or higher Keepers who had already begun acquiring their first Origins, and were using it as a way to increase their numbers.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well then, girls, what do you want to do next?¡± Dana asked with a wide smile, looking at the other three that had joined their small group after the main party dispersed. Naturally, there was Lifre and Tsubaki as fellow members of the Sky Citadel, but the other person was Keliope. It was rather surprising for the ursa goddess to join them, but Dana wasn¡¯t going toin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I thought about trying to umte points for my Keeper as a wedding present.¡± Tsubaki said, clenching her fist in determination.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I don¡¯t really know. This is my first time here, after all!¡± Lifremented with a wide smile, while Keliope chuckled.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m with Super Maid. Figured she¡¯d be going after something like that, so I came to tag along. Maybe we can find some co-op games to challenge to earn points together?¡± She suggested, to which Tsubaki nodded her head firmly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana smirked, clearly fine with that idea. ¡°Sounds like a n. In that case, Lifre, you¡¯re with me. We¡¯ll split up and roam the arcane for co-op games. If it¡¯s the two of you, you¡¯ll be perfect for fighting games, while Lifre and I are good for puzzle style games.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre let out a low whine, her form visibly shuddering to reveal her slime nature. ¡°But I <i><span style="font-weight:400">hate</i><span style="font-weight:400"> puzzles!¡± She said with an obvious pout.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana simply grinned, leaning in to whisper to Lifre. ¡°The puzzles here are more like adventure mazes where you are inserted into the game.¡± When Lifre heard that, her eyes lit up, and she grabbed Dana¡¯s hand to begin dragging her towards the arcade.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana let out a lightugh as she was being pulled away, using her other hand to wave towards Tsubaki and Keliope. Once the two were gone, the kitsune looked towards Keliope. ¡°What games do you normally y when we are here? I don¡¯t believe I saw you in the arcade thest time I was here.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keliope shook her head. ¡°Usually, I look at other kinds of demonstrations. Thest time I went to the arcade, I think it was before you started being brought to these meetings. Thus, I defer to your wisdom as the more expert gamer.¡± Keliope had a grin when she said that, causing Tsubaki to blink and slowly nod her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two walked into the arcade, before following Dana and Lifre up to the second floor where all of the multiyer games were. If they went against one another, there would not be many points that could be earned, so they had to find something where they were both ying against the system. ¡°I think I know a good game for the two of us.¡± She said after some consideration.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What, that Keeper Sim one?¡± Keliope asked with a chuckle, but Tsubaki shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, you do not seem the type to enjoy that type of game on apetitive level. This is a game that I saw when I was here thest time, and yed by myself for a while. Though, it is perfectlypatible with multiple yers.¡± As she said that, she seemed to focus, a pair of chairs appearing along one of the walls.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Above the chairs was a sign which read, ¡®Variable Fighter Tournament¡¯. Seeing this, Keliope blinked, finding her feet drawn towards the disy. ¡°What¡¯s this game about, then?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I believe that the purpose of the game is to aid a Keeper in adapting to the various powers that they may find themselves with in their world. The game has two modes that I saw when I yed it. The first allows you to choose from a selection which powers you want to have ess to, while the second is a random selection.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Either way, once you have your powers, you have one hour to familiarize yourself with their function before the fighting starts. Combat starts off small, and slowly increases in intensity. The faster you can adjust to your abilities, the better off you will be. Additionally, your base stats will always be higher than those of your opponent, so the difficulty that ramps up is skill with your given power. ¡°


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The game ends when you are killed by your opponent, or choose not to proceed to the next level. Once you exit, you are given points ording to your progress, with more points awarded to those who choose a randomly selected power.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keliope furrowed her brows, nodding at that. ¡°So I could end up with a strength type power that favors me, or some reallyplicated magic?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s correct.¡± Tsubaki said with a nod. ¡°Myst time ying this, I did four runs. The first one, I chose my normal powerset, while the other three were randomly assigned. For one, I had an imagination-type magic power focused around art. Another was the power to shapeshift my body into various weapons. Finally, I was given the power to collect and control spirits.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh¡­ alright, I¡¯ll give it a shot.¡± Keliope grinned, sitting down in one of the two chairs as Tsubaki took the other. ¡°How did we get it started?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It has already begun.¡± Tsubaki smiled, and Keliope could see the world around them going ck. Tsubaki stood up from the chair, looking around until she saw a red panel along one wall.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Cooperative mode.¡± She announced, and one of the settings changed to match her words. ¡°I would like to y a random power set.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keliope blinked, scrambling back to her feet. ¡°Yeah, me too! A random power set, please!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As soon as their choices had been made, the two appeared within arge building with a polished wooden floor. A pale blue window hovered in the air before each of them, allowing Keliope to get a brief introduction to her own power.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Power category: Ki maniption


    <span style="font-weight:400">Detailed specifics: Your blood possesses a powerful energy. By shedding blood, you may manipte it for a variety of effects. Please discover these effects through careful practice!


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keliope blinked when she saw the message. At first, she had been hopeful due to the category, but the specifics left herpletely dumbfounded. ¡°I need to shed my blood to use the effect?¡± She looked down at her palm when she heard that, as if thinking she needed to bite her thumb or cut open her hand.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nearby, Tsubaki nodded as she had finished confirming her own power. ¡°I have been granted the ability to use mana to manipte metal.¡± She said, clearly happy with her power. Meanwhile, Keliope had an unusual expression on her face. ¡°Is everything alright?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I need to shed blood to activate my power.¡± Keliope said with a grimace, though Tsubaki blinked.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Did it specify that the blood needed to be your own?¡± When Keliope heard that, she abruptly looked at the system message, shaking her head. ¡°If not, there is one of two possibilities that I can think of. Either the power is in your blood itself, or you are able to manipte any blood your poweres in contact with.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keliope nodded, clenching her fists in anticipation. ¡°Alright. How do we start training to familiarize ourselves, then?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki smiled, looking up. ¡°Training environment, popted forest.¡± As soon as she said that, the world around them seemed to flicker. The wooden floor was reced with dirt and grass, trees sprouting up from the ground around them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Almost immediately, Tsubaki dropped to her knees, cing her hand on the ground and focusing. Keliope watched her with a somewhat bitter smile. ¡°Aren¡¯t you worried that your mana power is based on geometric magic or something?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki, however, shook her head. ¡°When I fought using my own powers, I was given a library of spell diagrams that I was familiar with. Additionally, when I had the power to shapeshift, I was given a helpful manual showing various weapons. When powers are that restrictive, the system appears to offer a small guide to help get things started. Given that you did not receive one, your blood power should have a lot of uses.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying that, she lifted her hand up slowly, and the ground began to rumble beneath her palm. Rough stone and ores rose up as if they had been drawn to her. With a satisfied smile, she brought her other hand to the mass of ore, carefully extracting it from the stone. Keliope could see that the metal appeared to melt as it floated in the air, before shaping into a dagger.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once the dagger was made, Tsubaki threw it before Keliope¡¯s feet. ¡°You¡¯ll want to give yourself a small cut to start training. If your power is blood based, it is likely designed that you would be the underdog going into fights by yourself. Only once you have ess to some blood will your power shine.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keliope groaned, taking the dagger and wiping it off on her arm before using the tip to prick her finger. When she saw a small droplet of blood forming, she stared hard at it. ¡°Okay, so what can you do--woah!?¡± She staggered back as the drop all but exploded forward in a surging current, creating a wave of bloodrger than her entire body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Tsubaki saw that, she yanked her hand back, bringing the dagger back to herself and jumping onto a nearby branch. ¡°Is that the basic ability, or just because she was focusing so much?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s question was not immediately answered, but it was clear that Keliope didn¡¯t seem to be losing a dangerous amount of blood. Herplexion wasn¡¯t bing pale or anything like that, despite the wave of blood washing over the ground. Once Keliope finally managed to get it to stop, she let out several heavy breaths. ¡°Okay¡­ jumpscared by my finger¡­ that¡¯s a first.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Looking around her feet, she saw that the area had been stained red. ¡°If this doesn¡¯t count as enough blood, I¡¯m going to sue. I don¡¯t know who I¡¯ll sue, but I¡¯ll sue!¡± She said, aiming her hand at one of therger puddles. As she lifted her fingers, she could see a few tendrils rise up from the puddle like writhing tentacles. Keliope gave a small grin when she saw that. ¡°Okay, I can work with this.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">She took a deep breath, focusing. The blood staining the ground trembled, before moving back towards her body. It crept over her skin, forming what looked like red te armor that covered her form. ¡°Yeah, I can definitely work with this.¡±

 Chapter 839: Solidarity

    Chapter 839: Solidarity


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, where are these puzzle games?!¡± Lifre asked, her tune havingpletely changed after Dana told her the details of the puzzles in the Meeting.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana simply chuckled, looking around. ¡°They¡¯ll be around here somewhere. I think you¡¯ll really like this one.¡± She said, focusing on getting a certain game to appear. Like how Tsubaki was showing Keliope a game that she had gone through in a previous meeting, Dana was doing the same with Lifre.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sure enough, a door appeared along a nearby wall. Above the door was an arcade style sign with shing lights that said ¡®Maze of Wonder¡¯. Dana¡¯s lips broke out in a grin as she saw that, dragging Lifre over. ¡°Alright. Now, for this game, there are two modes for multiyer. We can either race against each other, or we can work together.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre looked like she was about to immediately choose one, but stopped and pursed her lips. ¡°Which option offers more points?¡± She asked, recalling that they were here to get the Keeper¡¯s wedding present, not simply to have fun.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana blinked in surprise at Lifre¡¯s decision, before her smile turned more gentle. ¡°I don¡¯t really know. I¡¯ve only done this single yer before. Tsubaki was busy with other games by the time I found it, and I couldn¡¯t find Aurivy to ask her. But, it does show you the special prize list for each mode before you choose. If you manage to beat a certain time in either solo or race mode, you are able to win a free attack ticket.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Since there¡¯s not something like that listed for cooperative mode, I think it might offer more points in exchange. Or else it¡¯s saying that ying solo is just that much harder and deserving of extra points.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Lifre heard that, she tilted her head. ¡°If each mode has special prizes, there should be something for cooperative y, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, there was, I just don¡¯t qualify to see it.¡± Dana shrugged her shoulders. ¡°It says it¡¯s restricted to two different Keepers ying in cooperative mode. Since that¡¯s the case, I never really worried about it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Alright, then what¡¯s that attack ticket?¡± Lifre asked, trying to get herself pumped up for the challenge by learning of the potential rewards.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°From what I¡¯ve learned, it will let our boss choose his opponent in those weird matches between Keepers. So if he gets set against someone that he thinks would really put us in danger, he can change it. But they expire eventually, so they¡¯re only good for emergencies.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre nodded her head, bouncing on her heels. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s do the race! If it¡¯s got rewards that good, the points can¡¯t be too bad!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana smiled a bit wider, nodding her head. She led Lifre over to the door, opening it and pulling her through. Once they were inside the room, everything seemed to go pitch ck. Lifre couldn¡¯t see Dana anywhere. She couldn¡¯t even feel her hand on her wrist anymore. ¡°Dana? Did you let go?¡± She asked, looking around.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh? Oh, neat, it seems like we can talk to each other.¡± Dana¡¯s voice spoke back to Lifre, though it seemed to be in through a tunnel. ¡°There should be a menu if you think about wanting it. There, you¡¯ll get to choose the gamemode you want. I don¡¯t know what kinds of differences there will be between this and solo y, so good luck!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What, I don¡¯t get a helpful guide on what to expect?!¡± Lifre asked in shock, though her smile was almost unnaturally wide as she summoned the menu. She quickly selected the Race game mode, choosing Dana as her opponent.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯re a slime. Your whole thing is about adapting rapidly. If anything, I¡¯m at a disadvantage already!¡± Dana retorted, though it was clear she was having fun as well. ¡°Ready up whenever you¡¯re good to go.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre nodded her head, practically smashing the ready button. Almost immediately, she appeared within a dark, stone maze. She felt her connection to mana cut off, and even her ability to fluidly manipte her body had been removed. Almost like she was being locked in a standard form.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Wee to the Maze of Wonder!


    <span style="font-weight:400">Your objective is to find your way through ten different puzzle-type worlds. Throughout your journey, you wille across special items. These items cane in one of three forms. The first is equipment, which can be worn like armor or a weapon. The second type is vehicles, which can be piloted inrger worlds. The third final type of item is a power.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Powers will be your greatest key to win. Upon finding a power, you will gain one ability at random. If the power takes the form of aplex technique, you will temporarily be given the knowledge of how to perform this technique. Otherwise, it will be up to you to learn how to wield your newfound powers to break through the puzzle worlds.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Puzzle One - Shifting Maze


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    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Shifting maze?¡± Lifre asked with a chuckle, shaking her head. Mazes were always easy if they were static. However, a shifting maze implied that theyout changed under certain circumstances, preventing someone from simply finding the way out by hugging a wall.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You got the Shifting Maze?¡± Dana asked in surprise. ¡°It looks like our puzzles should be matched up then, to provide a fair race. Though, the items we get will probably still be randomized. Unless this is apletely identical seed. Honestly, I could see the system going with either option.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, then may the best girl win!¡± Lifre said, charging into the corridor. She immediately took the first turn avable to her, before hearing a faint click beneath her feet. Before she could react, six arrows pierced her head and chest from the side, causing her eyes to go wide. Arrows weren¡¯t supposed to hurt <i><span style="font-weight:400">her</i><span style="font-weight:400"> this much!


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    <span style="font-weight:400">You have died.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre looked down at the message, once again standing in the starter room. The arrows were nowhere to be seen, but she could distinctly remember the pain of being pierced. ¡°What was¡­?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You died?¡± Dana¡¯s voice spoke up, still sounding rxed. As if she hadn¡¯t even started moving yet. ¡°Yeah, I thought it wouldn¡¯t take long. All of the puzzle worlds in this game that I¡¯ve seen have some form of imminent danger. If you die, you get teleported to the start point of your current level. But¡­ you lose any items that you gained on that level, and they won¡¯t spawn the same way again. This isn¡¯t just a maze, remember. This is an <i><span style="font-weight:400">adventure</i><span style="font-weight:400"> puzzle.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre blinked at that, nodding her head. She had always been all but impervious to pain. The number of times that she had truly suffered physical torment could easily be counted on one hand. As a slime, this was simply a fact of her existence. The only pains that she typically dealt with were mental ones, such as boredom or anxiety. This was why she had always loved adventure so much.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She took a deep breath, slowly walking out into the hallway again. Almost immediately, she was able to confirm that the path she took previously was no longer there. Instead, she kept going straight, her body low and eyes watching for anything that she may be triggering. Sure enough, she was able to see several squares on the floor that almost perfectly blended in with the rest of the stone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As soon as she saw those, she grew more confident, avoiding them before creeping further down the hall. Just as she turned her fourth corner, she heard Dana¡¯s voice again. ¡°Yes! Fireball!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Wait, you got a power already?!¡± Life asked in astonishment, having not even seen a basic item yet. Had Dana just gotten lucky, or was she moving far faster than Lifre while being careful?


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah. Some traps are red herrings, and will open up secret treasure chests. The trick is to study the traps to find their mechanism. If you see a tripwire, follow it to figure out what kind of trap you can expect. If there are creases along the walls, it might copse on you. Holes could shoot poison, fire, or arrows. Things like that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre clicked her tongue, knowing that she was behind now that Dana had obtained her first power. ¡°How did you even figure that out?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I got mad the first time I did this, and went with human wave tactics. I thought that if I reset enough, the puzzle would eventually randomize into an easy pattern. I think I died like fifty times before I triggered a treasure chest.¡± Dana said, sounding rather calm about it, though Lifre just blinked in astonishment.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The slime girl stopped at the next trap, taking Dana¡¯s advice to study the pressure tes. There were no markings on them, so that was out. There wasn¡¯t a line for her to trace, either, as the mechanism was entirely under the floor. Instead, she had to examine her surroundings. As she expected, there were circr indentations along both sides of the wall, though it took her over a minute of searching to find them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Clearly, this puzzle had been made specifically for Lifre, as the highest indentation was at perfect eye level with her small figure. The lowest, on the other hand, was as low as her knee. With that in mind, Lifreid t on the ground, her body tensing tight. One hand braced beneath her while the other reached forward to p the button.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As soon as she heard the click, her bracing hand pushed her back in a quick slide. Although she saw the indentations, she couldn¡¯t be sure that the button didn¡¯t trigger something else instead. However, she soon heard the sound of arrows whizzing through the air, clicking against the stone walls on the other side.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When the arrows fell to the ground, Lifre grinned, picking them up. ¡°These wille in handy.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What, did you find an item already? You couldn¡¯t have checked many traps by now.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Something like that.¡± Lifre said in response to Dana¡¯s question. She eyed the arrows, and the nearby buttons. As part of her training in the dungeon world, she had learned to deal with a wide range of throwing weapons. Both natural ones and those produced from her own body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre held the arrow, fingers pinching the fletching, and stared at the next button. Instead of taking the time to inspect this trap, she whipped her hand outwards to throw the arrow at the button.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The first arrow missed, striking along the ground next to the button and skidding, making her click her tongue. Still, she threw the second arrow, having collected a dozen from the previous trap. This second arrow struck the button straight on, causing it to click.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a brief rumble, and a stone block <i><span style="font-weight:400">mmed </i><span style="font-weight:400">down on the floor where the button had been, as if the entire ceiling had decided to crush anything unlucky enough to be beneath it. Lifre¡¯s eyes went wide, and her steps slowly withdrew. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Ten left¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> she muttered to herself, making a note to collect her arrows in between attempts in the future, just in case there was a simr trap.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Using this technique, she was able to disable most of the traps in her path without needing to properly investigate them. For pressure tes, she would throw her arrows with enough force to ¡®trick¡¯ the te. For tripwires, she would throw the arrows to cut or trigger them. When possible, she would retrieve the arrows after she was done, while some traps were generous enough to provide her with more.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It took roughly twenty minutes before she was walking along and found another tripwire. By now, her arms were loaded with arrows, and she was getting more and more confident with hitting her shots. She backed away to a safe distance, throwing her arrow to trigger the trap, and watched as a door seemed to open along the wall.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre held her arrows at the ready, prepared to throw them at any monster that dared to walk out of the room. When nothing emerged, she slowly crept forward, seeing a lone treasure chest sitting at the center of the room. Lifre¡¯s eyes narrowed, and she began throwing arrow after arrow at the chest in an almost wild frenzy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After the fifth arrow, the chest seemed to have been angered, its lid opening to reveal rows of nasty teeth. ¡°Knew it!¡± Lifre shouted. ¡°You reminded me way too much of my cousin Gary! From one mimic to another, you were obvious!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Wait, what?¡± The treasure chest paused, eyes blinking open from where the studs were along its metal bands. ¡°You¡¯re a mimic, too?! Wait, how was I obvious?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre huffed, keeping her arrows ready and walking into the room. ¡°Okay, first of all? You didn¡¯t copy the dust properly. Look at this ce! It looks like nobody¡¯s set foot here in years, and yet there¡¯s a pristine treasure chest right in the center of the room?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s another thing. If you want to really trick people, you don¡¯t put yourself right in the open. Make them have to work to find you.¡± Lifre crossed her arms, lecturing the mimic as if she were a disappointed teacher.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°But, if I¡¯m tucked away, they¡¯ll just pass me by if they don¡¯t find me, right?¡± The mimic asked, clearly confused by Lifre¡¯s logic.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, yeah. But, anyone that can¡¯t find a tucked away treasure chest isn¡¯t going to being into a room like this to begin with! Know your audience, man. Listen, if you can only get into a secret room by triggering what looks like a trap you¡¯d want to avoid, and then you have to search that secret room before finally finding something that looks like a prize, would <i><span style="font-weight:400">you</i><span style="font-weight:400"> question it? I mean, it¡¯s like you said. Nobody in their right minds would put a mimic where it¡¯s <i><span style="font-weight:400">not</i><span style="font-weight:400"> going to be found easily. That¡¯s why they¡¯ll never expect it!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡­ makes sense.¡± The mimic shifted, its lid nodding. ¡°But this is a big, empty room. Where would I even hide?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre hummed, looking around the room. ¡°Yeah, that does pose a problem. Let¡¯s see. We just want you somewhere that you¡¯re not immediately obvious. Tucked into the corner next to the door would work. That way, even if they don¡¯t seem like they¡¯ll be able to find you, you can always attack them while their back is turned. From what I can tell, it would be pretty rare for people toe here and be able to sense something moving behind them like that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You have a point.¡± The chest agreed. ¡°You know I still have to eat you, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hey, I thought we were bing friends?!¡± Lifre asked, aghast at the chest.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I don¡¯t make the rules. Though, I do appreciate the pointers. Nobody¡¯s ever taken the time to just talk to me.¡± The mimic said, before its lid opened once again, the rows of jagged teeth joined by a long and sinister tongue the seemedrger than the entire chest itself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, so you¡¯re <i><span style="font-weight:400">that</i><span style="font-weight:400"> kind of mimic.¡± Lifre said, eyes wide when she saw the monstrosity before her. ¡°Then, thanks for showing me where your eyes are!¡± With a wicked grin, she threw her arrows at the studs where the mimic¡¯s eyes had been revealed, two more going into the very corners of the box to pierce the very base of the tongue.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The chest let out a blood curdling scream as it was pierced through both the eyes and the tongue, sliding back in agony. ¡°My kind of mimic is the slime variant. We just make ourselves look like chests. Yours is the organic type, right? You¡¯re like some mass of muscle and bone that reshapes itself to copy items. I never got why you guys decided to turn into treasure chests instead of doors or something.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre spoke calmly as she walked forward, ducking beneath the whipping tongue. She could see that it had some kind of adhesive substance on it, so she was being wary of that. ¡°This maze likes to bring people back, so let¡¯s talk again next time!¡± She spoke in a cheery tone, before mming one arrow like a dagger right down the frontmost center part of the chest. From her knowledge of mimic anatomy, this was the likely location for some brand of vital organ.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The chest let out another pained scream, Lifre rolling back to avoid the sticky tongue falling to the floor. ¡°Score one for the slime girl.¡± She said, pumping her fist. However, she soon saw a curious item lodged between the mimic¡¯s teeth. One she was sure was not there a moment ago, looking like a jagged blue stone with a gentle glow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Assuming that was her prize for victory, she walked forward to pick it up. As she did, a window appeared in front of her.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">You have found a Power item! Power contained: Shapeshifting


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    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, this game just got <i><span style="font-weight:400">so</i><span style="font-weight:400"> much more fun for me.¡± Lifre grinned wickedly as she epted the power, already able to feel her natural fluidity returning.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Did you seriously stop a mimic from eating you, just to teach it how to be a better mimic?¡± Dana¡¯s voice echoed through the halls, causing Lifre tough.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hey, us mimics have to look out for each other!¡±

 Chapter 840: Update

    Chapter 840: Update


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Meeting passed all too quickly, with myself and the others enjoying our honeymoon period while simply rxing and taking in the festivities. We didn¡¯t worry about gathering points, looking for new advancements, or socializing with other Keepers. There were some days in the meeting that we didn¡¯t even leave our room, just staying there and watching entertainment programs that the Meeting world had prepared.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Before I realized it, our time was over, and everyone was suddenly appearing back in the Admin Room together. I looked around in confusion for a long moment before realizing what had happened. Thankfully, we had just been walking around at the time when the Meeting ended, so there hadn¡¯t been any regrettable circumstances to speak of. Shaking my head, I looked down at the window that appeared before me.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Thank you for participating in the annual Keeper Meeting! You may now collect the points from the entities who participated on your behalf.


    <span style="font-weight:400">alia:5,800


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley: 3,600


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy: 9,200


    <span style="font-weight:400">Bihena: 4,870


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea: 3,100


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana: 11,290


    <span style="font-weight:400">Irena: 0


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keliope: 8,750


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn: 4,150


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre: 15,000 - Free Attack Ticket


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ryone: 0


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet: 5,210


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra: 0


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tryval: 895


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki: 8,750


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tubrock: 2,321


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona: 3,920


    <span style="font-weight:400">Total: 86,856 - Free Attack Ticket


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Congrattions, you have earned an achievement!


    <span style="font-weight:400">For receiving your first Free Attack Ticket, you earned the I Choose You achievement! +20 points.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Looking through the point totals, I was rather pleasantly surprised. This was only my fourth time in the annual meeting, so earning nearly a hundred thousand points at once was really nice. Of course, I had to do a short double take when I saw the note after Lifre¡¯s entry.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Not only did she get the most points overall, but she even got an attack ticket?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I looked around at the others, only to find Keliope grinning at me. Seeing how she had the same exact total as Tsubaki, and seeing that expression, it felt like she had kept up with that group. ¡°What happened?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It was pretty cool!¡± Keliope said with that same grin. ¡°At first, Tsubaki and I paired up while Dana and Lifre went off on their own. We spent most of the time ying games by ourselves, but we met up on thest day to go over our results. Tsubaki and I were ying a cooperative game, so we both got pretty good points. But they did apetitive one¡­ some kind of adventure maze.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°ording to them, Lifre hit the first ce prize all three times they yed. It was kind of funny watching Dana pout like that, even though we all knew she was really happy.¡± Keliope chuckled after saying that much, and I could just imagine the scene myself.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Aww, I was hoping I¡¯d be able to give him the ticket myself.¡± Lifre said, her cheeks ballooning out on either side of her face. As they had been in the middle of dinner when they were sent to the meeting, they were all naturally brought back to the same ce. However, the Keeper still sat frozen, indicating that he had not returned to his body yet.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m sure that he¡¯s just reviewing how everyone did.¡± Dana said with a smile, reaching over to pat Lifre¡¯s shoulder. ¡°We managed to bring in a bigger haul thanst time, after all.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded her head, setting about cleaning up the table. They had already eaten just before the meeting ended, using thest bit of time to enjoy another system-prepared meal. ¡°Indeed, we made quite good progress. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if Lifre is given a special reward for her work.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Wha?!¡± Lifre¡¯s eyes went wide, and she quickly shook her head. ¡°It was a wedding present! You don¡¯t get rewards for giving presents!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana blinked in surprise with how adamant Lifre seemed about this. ¡°It¡¯s not about that. Last meeting, he let us have a choice of rewards based on our points. For myself, I asked for the solid mana refineries that the Citadel released way back. And Tsubaki¡­¡± Dana gave a small grin as Tsubaki clutched the ne that she was wearing, contained within apass that seemed to be constantly turning.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ohhh¡­ so it¡¯s not like a reward for me, just something I get to pick to help out the world?¡± Lifre asked, seeming far more alright with this than if she had simply received a reward for giving a nice present.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Tsubaki confirmed with a soft smile. ¡°Given how much you earned, you should be able to pick out something quite nice. If I were you, I would begin thinking about what I wanted.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well¡­ what kinds of things are my options?¡± She asked in confusion, tipping her head until it bounced off her small shoulder.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Remember, this is the Keeper we¡¯re talking about.¡± Dana emphasized, shaking her head. ¡°You could ask for some special blueprint that you think we need, or a change to a certain race that is falling behind, or you could even ask for an entire new system to be added to the world!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre¡¯s eyes went far wider when she heard that, her head standing straight up on her neck again. ¡°Woah¡­ okay, uhm¡­ yeah, I can think of some stuff!¡± Dana and Tsubaki simply smiled at each other when they heard that, curious to see what kind of changes Lifre would ask to make.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">After speaking with the others about their meeting misadventures, I joined Ashley as we went to check up on the new office building across the street from our Admin Room home. It had been a few weeks since her group had really started their work, but I hadn¡¯t received any updates on their progress.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Did you run into any new problems when you were setting up the inventory?¡± I asked in concern as we reached the office, though Ashley simply shook her head to deny it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, we were able to finish the inventory system after just a few days, once the entire team got working on it. They are¡­ even better than I could have imagined. Honestly, they¡¯re better programmers than myself, if I don¡¯t use my divine domain to cheat. They¡¯re the kinds of people that couldplete a full game in a weekend, as long as they had the art assets prepared.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I do have to admit that none of them are graphics specialists, but that¡¯s not a big problem since we are dealing with real world effects. I just had to make the interface for the inventory myself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Then¡­?¡± I let my words trail off curiously, but Ashley simply smiled and led me into the building. To my surprise, I saw all ten of her team members diligently working. It was hard to tell if they had juste back knowing that their vacation was over, or if they had been working all this time despite having the option to take thest few days off.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Jamira, how is the progressing?¡± Ashley called out, one of the members of the team jumping to her feet and walking over with a clipboard. This was a human-looking woman with a mousy expression, but a wide, bright smile.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We¡¯re running the final debug crunch now, Ashley!¡± She answered with a firm nod. ¡°Jaune found six possibly system breaking bugs in thest batch that caused the party system to fail under certain circumstances like the death of one member, or if someone went off-world. We patched the problem, and are just checking to make sure it didn¡¯t cause any other issues.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley nodded her head in satisfaction, before turning to face me with a wide smile. ¡°It looks like we got here just in time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± I asked in surprise. Clearly, they were reworking the party system as well, but¡­


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Like I said, you got me some great people. Honestly, the systems in this world aren¡¯t thatplicated from a development standpoint. The hardest part is how to identify specific actions and corrte that into the code. For instance, getting the skill system working. Speaking of which, this will cause a full wipe of currently saved skills. Pretty unavoidable, since we¡¯re editing how they¡¯re stored.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Anyways, since that code already exists in the main system, we just needed to find it and port it over. Then, adapt it to the new code, and we¡¯re good. After that, just remake all of the current systems based on existing code in a more modr format.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So¡­ you have finished the system overhaul? For both Earth and Lorek?¡± I asked in surprise, Ashley nodding her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I know that I¡¯m not that good with the games in the Keeper Meeting. So, I thought that this would make the best wedding present that I could give you. And before you ask, yes I already set up the system protection. We have special admin ounts that are entirely tuned to our profiles. Currently, the only ones with those ounts are you and I, so anyone trying to hack the system will need to have a ludicrous level of skill to avoid the bacshes that we set up.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod at that, surprised by how much she had managed to get done in this time. At first, I was worried that she wouldn¡¯t be able to get it done for several months, or that she might not have managed to get the inventory system working. ¡°Okay, so¡­ from now on we need to get the system updates through you, instead of the market?¡± I asked to confirm, though Ashley furrowed her brow, shaking her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There will be some that my team won¡¯t know how to do without a working example. For instance, the trigger actions resemble an extremelyplicated type of void script written through the system code. That¡¯s how they can identify different movements as the same action, as long as it has the same purpose. Whenever you want to get an upgrade for the system, juste and ask. If it¡¯s something we can do, we¡¯ll make it for you. Otherwise, you can buy it on the testbed world, then we can deconstruct the code to import it into your world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Honestly, all of this is closer to building a system emtor than writing a new system itself. Everything we need is already there, we just need to put it together differently to make it work how we want.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Got it.¡± I smiled, d to know that we wouldn¡¯t reach a dead end so easily, and that her testbed world would still have a proper use after all of this. As I said that, there was a ding from the nineputers, one of the men looking up and slowly rubbing his forehead.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°All clear!¡± He called out, the others lifting their arms in celebration as they cheered.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, then.¡± Ashley grinned. ¡°Shall we do the honors?¡± As she said that, she looked at the same mousy girl from before, who ran over and handed her what seemed to be a thumb drive.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I wonder when he¡¯ll be getting back¡­¡± Lifre said, looking over at the body of the Keeper that still sat at the table with an expressionless face. ¡°I thought it¡¯d only take him a couple minutes to review the points totals?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana shook her head, seeming confused herself. ¡°Maybe one of the others wanted to talk to him about something?¡± She suggested with a shrug of her shoulders. However, her concerns were answered when a window appeared in front of everyone¡¯s face.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Due to a major system update, the world system will be going offline in five minutes. If you are inbat, please prepare yourself. Your abilities will not be removed, but you will temporarily lose ess to the system. Additionally, all skills in the Skill Proficiency System will be wiped and require re-registering.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana¡¯s eyes went wide, having never seen a message like that appear in front of her. Tsubaki, however, seemed to recall an old story, nodding her head. ¡°Let¡¯s just wait and see.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The three nodded their heads to one another, though Dana nced over to see Gerard entering the room with a confused look on his face. No doubt the message had appeared for him as well, but she shook her head to signal for him to wait.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After five minutes, they could all feel <i><span style="font-weight:400">something</i><span style="font-weight:400"> being dissolved around them. None of them were able to see their minimaps, or view their character sheets for an entire minute before it all came back at once.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Wee to the Keeper¡¯s System 2.0!


    <span style="font-weight:400">In celebration of the Keeper¡¯s marriage to the goddesses Irena, Ryone, and Terra, we have released an Inventory system that is essible by all under the system¡¯s influence. This simrly extends to monsters. When a creature carrying the Inventory system is killed, their inventory will be transferred to the creature which killed them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There are two exceptions to this rule, named the Marriage and Inheritance systems. The Marriage system allows two or more consenting individuals to be married through the system itself, and requires the oversight of a Priest of Aurivy. Once done, the married individuals will henceforth share an inventory system. Should one member of the marriage be in, their belongings will still be safely held by the other party or parties.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The other system, the Inheritance system, requires the oversight of a Priest of Tryval. By acknowledging someone as your sessor, you can have items designated as being passed to them upon your death. So long as these items are within your inventory at the time of death, they will be safely transferred to your inheritor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Additional inventory slots may be gained by leveling up, or may be purchased from Leowynn on the Boundless Caravan.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For the full list of patch notes, please visit the Darkme Technologies public forum.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    ¡°...But I was going to suggest a marriage system!¡± Lifre pouted her lips as she read through the message, causing Dana and Tsubaki to chuckle knowingly.

 Chapter 841: Blessing Of Blood

    Chapter 841: Blessing Of Blood


    <span style="font-weight:400">After sorting everything out with the system transfer, I went back to the mortal world, returning to the Sky Citadel where I had left Tsubaki and the others when it was time for the meeting to begin. As soon as I arrived, I saw Tsubaki bowing towards me from across the table, Dana offering a yful smile, and Lifre¡­ pouting?


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is everything alright, Lifre?¡± I asked curiously, having expected her to be in a good mood after both the work she had put in and the new system update.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°She was going to ask if she could use some of her points for a marriage system.¡± Dana said with that same smile, causing Lifre to lower her head slightly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I simply chuckled when I heard that. ¡°Sorry, that was something Ashley¡¯s been working on for a while. I didn¡¯t even know myself until just now. Why, what sort of things were you wanting to include in a marriage system?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I dunno¡­¡± Lifre shook her head. ¡°Honestly, I just thought it would be a really nice touch. Maybe an enhancement on parties or something?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I shook my head, reaching over to pat her head. ¡°Well, you can give it some thought. You really did do a great job at the meeting. All of you. I never really expected to earn a ticket like that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre¡¯s eyes squinted as I patted her head, but she quickly nodded. ¡°Alright, I can think of other things! Oh, but first..!¡± She let her words trail off, turning and leaving the dining room at a full sprint, leaving me quite confused.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What just happened?¡± I asked, looking at Tsubaki and Dana.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°She got some inspiration from the game we yed, so she said that she wanted to work on turning it into a new training story.¡± Dana answered, shrugging her shoulders as if it couldn¡¯t be helped.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh. Well, I guess that makes sense.¡± I said, before looking at Gerard, who was standing in the doorway. ¡°How is the mining operationing along?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sir.¡± Gerard nodded, speaking up now that he had been addressed. ¡°The mining for the Blood Heart is going at an exceptional pace, with arge number of Martial Spirits volunteering in the operation. When the crystal is mined, it releases a wisp of ki from any dust that breaks off, which the Martial Spirits are able to absorb without damaging the node itself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°At present, we are utilizing the temples of Scarlet and Ryone to refine the crystals into a uniform shape, with the excess material being offered to the two goddesses. Because of this, their tokens have be more prevalent on the market, allowing others to purchase the lower quality of energy crystals that they may need to sustain daily living.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It will still take time for the new crystals to enter public cirction, however. Understandably, the greatest demand for them lies with the space fleets exploring uncharted territory. Roughly sixty percent of the harvested crystals are given to them every week.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod, finding that easy to understand. ¡°I assume that arge portion of what remains goes to government facilities. ording to your estimates, how long will it be before we see these crystals in public use?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Gerard seemed to pause at that, thinking over the question. ¡°At present, the demand is still outweighing the supply. Mage Heart crystals are easier to harvest, as they exist in every floor of Fyor, but Blood Heart can only be exported from Bloodhaven. Granted, Bloodhaven has a sizable territory, allowing for a considerable amount of crystals to be produced, but being their exclusive product means that they are qualified to charge a fee to export it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°With Scarlet at the head of the country, I expect that this fee will be reasonable, but not low enough to undermine the value of the lesser gems, or the work her people put in to mine the Blood Heart. If no other source of Blood Heart appears within the world, I estimate it will take fifteen months for the supply to reach a level where it will appear inmon cirction. For Mage Heart, my estimate is three months.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My brows furrowed, but there was no real way to fix that easily. The reason that I put the crystals in Scarlet¡¯s territory in the first ce was iconic. She was the Goddess of Ki, her people living spirits based around the energy. Thend was so saturated in their power that the rivers and sky had turned blood red. If I spread the Blood Heart out beyond those borders, it would lose that image of being tied to thend of her people.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A thought urred to me, and I blinked, focusing. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Ashley. You migrated the respawn system for the new ores, right?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Of course. The entire system was migrated. The respawn mechanic was¡­ actually quite the challenge, as it was the only instance in our system of an item being generated from nothing. I was tempted to see if that system could be tweaked to apply to a divine item to provide perpetual energy.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I paused at that, before shaking my head. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Thoughts forter. Anyways, what would it take to set up new spawn points for the Blood Heart?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Not much. Now that we have the system fully modr, we can input new coordinates for a spawn, and it should crop up in the next weekly cycle. Why, what did you have in mind?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Ashley sounded intrigued by my idea, though I was still thinking back to what she had said. And doing my <i><span style="font-weight:400">best</i><span style="font-weight:400"> not to linger on it. Energy that they had to work for was better than free energy that was handed to them for nothing, after all.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I was thinking about setting up a blessing of Scarlet, like the ones you did for Aurivy and Tryval. If someone offers enough faith to Scarlet, she can ¡®bless¡¯ a plot ofnd proportionate to the faith offered, setting it as a new spawn location for Blood Heart. But, I don¡¯t want this to be a permanent thing. The blessing shouldst one or two months, at most, to make sure that the world doesn¡¯t get absolutely covered with Blood Heart.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a pause at that, Ashley likely thinking over the idea. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It could work. We should be able to set a timed event to remove the respawn coordinates for these secondary nodes. Do you want to set up something simr with Ryone?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I was going to answer, but then shook my head. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Ryone¡¯s the Goddess of Wealth. I¡¯ll let you take it up with her if she thinks it would be a good business strategy. Anyways, back to what you were saying¡­ what all would you be able to set this respawn system to work on? Could we get auto-repairing buildings?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley let out a faintugh that caught me by surprise. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Ah, sorry! No, I had a simr question, actually. But the system is hard-coded to only work on ¡®natural products¡¯. Any intervention from a third party, whether a creature, weapon, or the elements themselves, would put the item in an ¡®unnatural¡¯ state. Once the timer expires, that item is then returned to its natural state.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">In other words, it is not truly creating the minerals, per se. Instead, it is warping the area back to a state in which the items were present. For this blessing, we¡¯d just need to trick the system into thinking that the Blood Heart was already present, but had been mined. This makes it incredibly impractical to use on buildings or other items. For a building, the building would reject any attempts to decorate it, and may even ¡®devour¡¯ its upants if the settings weren¡¯t tuned right</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Your Sky Citadel would be even worse, since its location would be anchored to the respawn point. Every week, a new Sky Citadel would appear at those coordinates, possibly with a new version of all of its inhabitants if they were within it at the time of saving. If we want auto-repairing buildings as a system, we¡¯ll need to find entirely different code to do so.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">While the exnation made sense, and even worried me at the potential consequences, it did also leave me confused. <i><span style="font-weight:400">What about the thing you said about perpetual energy?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Oh, that? I theorized that if I created a divine item to use as a power source, and then designated it as the item to respawn, it would refresh its energy level every week. The mining operations actually do something simr, using the energy of both the Mage Heart and Blood Heart in order to fuel their mining machines and encampments. However, I wouldn¡¯t be able to move or change the item in any way after setting it like that without first removing the respawn mechanic.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">That made a bit more sense, causing me to subconsciously nod. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Alright, then talk with Scarlet to discuss the price. Since we¡¯ll be using a system adjustment, she won¡¯t really need to spend her divinity for this. Given her character, she¡¯ll probably insist that you get a pretty sizable cut of the faith, if not all of it. How much would a change like that even drain you?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Honestly? Hardly any. That¡¯s one of the benefits of the modr system we set up. We now have easy variables that I can ess, and I tied it into our admin ounts. Technically, you could do it, too, if you took the time to learn how to program. Basically, it will take a little divinity to open the ount and verify it, and a little more to finalize the change. However, as long as what I¡¯m doing is purely adjusting some variables like that, it won¡¯t cost me much divinity. If it¡¯s anything bigger, like installing new systems, I¡¯ll need to incorporate it into a full patch, which will be like the system reset we just did.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Sounds good.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> There were a lot of things that were possible if that was the case. Granted, she couldn¡¯t do something like set someone¡¯s health to zero, because the world¡¯s game system did not control health, but only offered a representation for it. At most, she could create an achievement that could be awarded to someone that nerfed their stamina stat by an insane degree. That would be the closest thing I could imagine to abusing the system in order to kill someone, but it would be far easier to just¡­ well, kill them with her own powers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Looking up, I saw Gerard watching me curiously, realizing he was still waiting for me to speak. ¡°Sorry, I was talking with the others. We¡¯ll have a solution for getting more Blood Heart avable soon. The specifics are undecided, but people will be able to beseech Scarlet to bless theirnd.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Gerard gave a small nod. ¡°I see. If that power is ced in the hands of others, it would weaken Bloodhaven¡¯s monopoly, and make the resource more freely essible. I will need to see the exact cost to activate this blessing before I can make an educated guess on when the Blood Hearts will be publicly circted, though this should certainly speed them up.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hey, boss.¡± Dana spoke up from across the table, looking at me curiously. ¡°That deal fromst time still up? Would it be fine for Tsuba and I to request something with the points we bought, still?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I looked over at Dana in surprise, but nodded my head. In truth, there wasn¡¯t anything I was currently needing points for, so there was no problem with letting them have this as an allowance. ¡°If there is something that you can think of, I don¡¯t mind.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana gave a wide grin at that. ¡°Then, I¡¯d like to request you to get the final step of Perfection. I heard about it from James a while back. That there were three steps of Perfection, just like there were three steps of Divinity. Obviously, the third step of Perfection isn¡¯t to simply connect your will with the rest of your body like with Divine Will. I can¡¯t even begin to count how many people tried that and were disappointed.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...Huh.¡± I nodded again. It was surprising that Dana asked for that, of all people. It was a request that she herself would not be able to benefit from, given that she skipped that step to obtain a fully finished body of World¡¯s Shadow. ¡°Yeah, I can see if I can get that. Is there anything that you would like, Tsubaki?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki pursed her lips. Perhaps she had not been nning on requesting anything, but now that it was clear that the other two were, and I was asking her directly, she felt the need to ask for something. ¡°May I put my request on hold? I would like to fully explore the details of the new update before determining if there is anything I see that could use improvement.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°She wants the Maid ss.¡± Dana said with an impish grin, and all nine of Tsubaki¡¯s tails abruptly stood on end, her eyes wide in shock and embarrassment. I couldn¡¯t help myself from peering into her surface thoughts.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Could that be a real ss? How would it differ from the Knight ss? Can I really ask for that? It would be embarrassing to have a ss brought in for something like that, but¡­ the idea dide from Dana, not myself. Maybe it would work</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡­Yeah, her surface thoughts were every bit as amusing as her expressions. Honestly, though¡­ what <i><span style="font-weight:400">would</i><span style="font-weight:400"> a Maid ss offer? I had a feeling that I¡¯d be finding out soon enough.

 Chapter 842: Additional Patches

    Chapter 842: Additional Patches


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">The maid ss, huh?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I thought to myselfter, when I was alone in my room. After Dana had teased her about it, Tsubaki had agreed that she wouldn¡¯t be opposed to such a ss being introduced to the system. Though, with the flush of her cheeks and how her tails were waving, it was clear that she really wanted it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head,ying down on the oversized bed prepared in my room. Before going to the Admin Room, I made sure to synchronize myself with my Virtual self this time, just to make sure that I did not cause any undue worries with the rest of the group. As it turned out, we were in the middle of continuing our base construction from our previous game. Since I was waiting for some parts to be delivered, it was fine for me to be away for a few minutes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After closing my eyes, I wished myself up to the Admin Room, where I found Ashley already waiting for me with a yful expression. ¡°You were watching?¡± I asked curiously, to which she nodded her head


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I have a bit more time to keep an eye on things now, and I know you like to reward them, so I wanted to be prepared in case they asked for anything outrageous.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a long sigh upon hearing that. ¡°So, the maid ss? Think you can do it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley pursed her lips, not quite sure how to answer at first. ¡°If you want it to be a reskinned Knight, with a bit of Bard, Chef, Guard, and Tailor thrown in, sure. I can grab the code and create an amalgam ss. But, I imagine that¡¯s not what you want. If you¡¯re looking for a ss with unique mechanics, you¡¯ll have to grab it from the system, and we¡¯ll integrate it with a quick hotfix once we¡¯ve isted the code.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°sses are that hard, huh?¡± I asked curiously. It was true, if I just wanted an amalgam like that, Tsubaki could simply make a Legacy ss. But, I wanted this to be a real ss for her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, yeah. Way harder than you¡¯d think.¡± Ashley admitted with a groan. ¡°For instance, we can¡¯t even see all of the code for the Mage ss, yet. There¡¯s a little tidbit at the end of the code that causes it to evolve whenever someone reaches a new level threshold. We can see maybe two, three levels ahead of the highest, but anything after that is hard-locked within the system itself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°All that we could do was find the relevant code, and put it in its own module, that way the expansions will all happen in the same module. I honestly think that how the system was all tangled up was probably the reason for those anomalies like Phisher or the Terra twins could appear, coupled with freak gic mutation.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That made sense, causing me to nod my head. ¡°Alright. How long do you think it will take for you to find the code for a new ss, then?¡± I asked, already opening the market to browse through the list of avable sses. If ¡®Maid¡¯ was not already a ss, I fully intended to create it as one to submit on the market. In the end, I found two possibilities.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Servant


    </td>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">It is a servant¡¯s duty to dedicate their life for the one that they serve. This ss grants an enhancement for the bearer as long as they are following themands of the one marked as their leader. Additionally, service-rted skills such as maintenance are included.


    </td>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Game Setting Required


    <span style="font-weight:400">10 points


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Maid/Butler


    </td>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The name of this ss changes depending on the gender of the one who possesses it. Though, the possessor may choose to actively change the title to its alternate state if they wish to do so. This ss best enables one to serve the Noble to which they pledge themselves.


    </td>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Game Setting Required


    <span style="font-weight:400">Noble ss Required


    <span style="font-weight:400">50 points


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I read through the descriptions of the two sses, somewhat arching my brow as I got to the second one. It had more restrictions, and a price several times higher. Typically, that meant a greater degree of power or more alterations required to the world in order to make the ss feasible.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Honestly? Since we¡¯ve already cracked the code of the rest of the system, it should take us just a few hours to find all of the dependencies in other areas and pull them together.¡± Ashley said while I was looking at the list.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod at what she was saying, before letting out a long sigh. ¡°I found one, but it requires the Noble ss for the maid to serve. I have it¡­ but it¡¯s still only level one.¡± I remembered gaining that ss way back in the day when I sailed the ocean to im a plot ofnd with the beastkin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley rolled her eyes at that. ¡°I already fixed that. Honestly, how the Noble ss was set up was pretty bad to begin with. In order to advance as a noble, you needed the recognition of nobles of an equal or higher rank than yourself, or to personally manage the finances and trade details of your region. You basically locked yourself out of gaining levels. So when we were tidying things up, I asked the team to change that, and now Noble levels are also gained based on the size of the territory you control, and the number of people that serve you. Your Host was probably spammed with level up messages before you descended.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked at that, slowly nodding my head again. ¡°I guess that makes sense. Were there any other sses that you changed like that?¡± I wasn¡¯t upset. If anything, I was grateful. When I first set up the sses, I was still so new to this and wasn¡¯t taking anything seriously. I was sure that there were a bunch of other sses that needed work.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I changed the Archmage as well, yeah.¡± She revealed readily. ¡°Originally, all that it required to level up was to make spells without the system¡¯s help. That basically makes it no different from the Mage ss in the present day. Nobody really relies just on the system¡¯s prepared basic spells forbat, anymore.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Instead, you gain Archmage levels by teaching spells that you create to others. The more people you teach a certain spell, the greater the experience. Alternatively, you could gain levels in the same way as the Hero ss, by defeating enemies above your own level with your magic. Since we made the ss harder to level, I tweaked the stats awarded to bnce.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sounds like it was probably for the best.¡± I agreed, before clicking on the Maid/Butler ss to purchase it for the testbed world. ¡°Alright, the ss is set. Speaking of¡­ do you need a second testbed world to handle thews of Spica and Lorek?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley blinked when I asked that, before furrowing her brow. ¡°It¡­ would probably help, yeah. It was fine to use just one so far, because we weren¡¯t adding anything new. Now that we¡¯re adding in new content, we need to see how the new content interacts with both sets ofws. Do you mind?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I shook my head, quickly buying up a nk, second world. ¡°It¡¯s done.¡± I smiled, and Ashley quickly vanished. I could see her on my new map, appearing and constructing a development facility with her divinity. Once done, she activated the ¡®raw code¡¯ of Lorek that she had saved. Only after that was done did I buy the same ss again for this new world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Afterwards, I browsed through the market to find the details on the Perfect Will. Since I had taken care of Tsubaki¡¯s wish, it was now time for me to answer Dana¡¯s. It did not take me too long to find it, though it was for an entire thousand points. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Udona, I¡¯m about to purchase some information. Can you have it transcribed to the Sky Citadel¡¯s personal library?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯m on it, chief!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Udona¡¯s reply was energetic, causing me to chuckle before I clicked on the purchase button. As expected, a portal opened up to snatch the blue orb from the air in front of me as soon as it began to form. I smirked slightly, shaking my head before descending back to the mortal world.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Looks like the boss went to get your present.¡± Dana said with a yful grin, having just emerged from the workshop to deliver a pile of parts to the Keeper to have them put together ording to the schematic they had prepared. Tsubaki¡¯s back stiffened when she heard that, though Lifre looked over curiously.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Present? You guys already asked for yours?¡± She asked with wide eyes, to which Dana nodded her head. ¡°Well¡­ what¡¯d you ask for?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I asked the boss to grab the information for us to get the Perfect Will, so we can finally have the full set. Tsuba here wanted the maid ss.¡± The little elf answered in a teasing tone, causing Tsubaki¡¯s eyes to go wide.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I-It was your idea.¡± Tsubaki retorted defensively, though Lifre peered at Tsubaki for a long moment. ¡°What? What¡¯s the matter?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh? Oh, I¡¯ve just never seen you this flustered!¡± Lifre said with a shake of her head. ¡°You look like a girl that is secretly getting what she¡¯s always wanted, but is just too ashamed to admit it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki froze at Lifre¡¯s words, while Dana clutched her stomach fromughing. ¡°Hear that, Tsuba? Even Lifre thinks so!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki lowered her head, her face red. ¡°W-Well, what are you going to ask for, Lifre?¡± She asked, desperate to change the subject.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hmm, I¡¯m not sure yet. I was thinking maybe a new game world like Vision Expanse. You know, like how it¡¯s ¡®endorsed and produced by the Keeper¡¯? I figure that means he got it with points, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana nodded her head in agreement, though she was still grinning at Tsubaki. ¡°Yeah, he told us once that one of his good friends made that world. She¡¯s something of a game designer, so she makes a business out of it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre¡¯s eyes shed with excitement. ¡°Then, can we get a science fiction game? With aliens and space battles like those ones you hear about from the Deckan ships!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡­ doubt it.¡± Dana shook her head with a long sigh. ¡°I asked him why the game doesn¡¯t have fully sentient NPCs, since it should be possible for a Keeper. He said that it¡¯s because that other Keeper doesn¡¯t want to put real people in that position, where they are forced to live a life at the whims of yers, killed and respawned for eternity.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hmm, I guess so.¡± Lifre nodded her head, crossing her arms in front of herself and thinking. ¡°I guess that an NPC race would be out of the question, too. I¡¯d ask for an identification system, but¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah, that was already covered in the patch notes.¡± Dana confirmed, snapping her fingers and bringing up a window. ¡°Mages can register identification spells with the inventory system, and quick-cast them on magical items in their inventory. That¡¯s a good enough identification system for most.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Gah!¡± Lifre brought her hands up to her head, shaking side to side. ¡°Everything I want is impossible or already in use!¡± Her arms iled out to her side, before she suddenly froze.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Uhm¡­ Lifre?¡± Dana looked over in concern, even Tsubaki raising her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I thought of something!¡± She grinned, her smile splitting across her face. ¡°Private messaging system! Guilds can send out messages to different branches through their system, but that doesn¡¯t really help much anymore with the inte. And this would let people register contacts and talk remotely without needing magic or amunication crystal!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana blinked, but nodded her head. ¡°Private messaging is a basic mechanic when ites to games, true. Once he¡¯s back from his trip, you should go ahead and mention it to him.¡±

 Chapter 843: Personal Affairs

    Chapter 843: Personal Affairs


    <span style="font-weight:400">As promised, it did not take long before the maid ss was ready for implementation. However, once Lifre told me that she wanted the private messaging system to be added as well, I asked Ashley to hold off on applying the patch until that was done.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately,</i><span style="font-weight:400"> things got a bit moreplicated after that. Once I added the private messaging system to both of the testbed worlds, Ashley said that the rest of the system code had mutated. This meant that it would likely take them a few more weeks to sort everything out and have the code prepared again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I heard that, I could only let out a sigh of resignation. Of course, I knew that the system was prone to changing things however it wanted when a new facet was added in. I saw a grand example of this when Fyor¡¯s magic system was introduced, with the birth of mana siphons. <i><span style="font-weight:400">So this is why high level Keepers like Oldbeard and Sarah actually still buy things from the system instead of making everything themselves.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Surely, the way that we were doing it was bound to be the more difficult path to follow. However, the fact that we were able to create a method to crash other game systems because of it felt like it was worth the trouble. After all, as long as our opponent didn¡¯t create a firewall, we could throw their entire world into chaos simply by bringing down their system.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In the meantime, I spent my days enjoying a ¡®mortal¡¯ life on the surface, once again going around and visiting various festivals or tourist locations with Tsubaki and the others. After thest time we did this, the girls only seemed more happy for the approved leave, though we weren¡¯t able to get Gerard toe join us.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thanks, that¡¯ll be everything.¡± A young felyn girl said as she turned off hermunication crystal, a smile on her face. She hummed lightly to herself, leaving her bedroom that seemed to be converted from an old office, and walked out to the kitchen.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In the kitchen, she could see a downtrodden boy standing at the counter, trying to make himself some dinner. When she entered the kitchen, his eyes seemed to light up briefly, though he nced around as if to make sure nobody saw the change.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s fine, Dash. They¡¯re both gone.¡± The girl said, walking over and patting the boy¡¯s back. ¡°Mama got called back in to work, and Papa is out at the festival.¡± When the boy heard that, he let out a long, sullen sigh. He was only eight years old, far too young for his parents to be voluntarily leaving him home alone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is it really okay for you to call them Mama and Papa, though?¡± The boy asked, looking at her. ¡°You¡¯re pretending--¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The girl put a finger on his lips, shaking her head. ¡°Until my work here is done, I am their daughter, and they are Mama and Papa to me, and you are my super cool older brother.¡± She said with a smile. ¡°Mama¡¯s going to be getting home a bitter today, I think. One of her more abusive coworkers is being fired. She might even be getting a promotion to let her work from home!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The boy¡¯s eyes went wide at that, looking at his ¡®sister¡¯. Even he knew how much stress his mother¡¯s work put her under. ¡°How did you even¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I recorded evidence of the abuse against her and other employees, including some that crossed the line of legality. So I just sent that information to the police and upper management.¡± She said with a shrug of her shoulders, as if it were easy. ¡°Anyways, what were you thinking of making? If you want, I can help! That¡¯s what a sibling¡¯s for, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The boy blinked, before letting out a small chuckle. ¡°I was just going to make sandwiches.¡± He admitted shyly, the girl rolling her eyes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Nothing wrong with that. Papa would probably get upset if we used the stove, anyways.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dash nodded his head, ncing around again. ¡°What¡­ what are you going to do about Papa?¡± Although neither of his parents were very attentive, leading to some problems at home, at least his mother¡¯s issues could be attributed to work.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The girl¡¯s face scrunched up at that. ¡°Still working on that one. I¡¯m hoping that having Mama around will bring out the best in him.¡± She shook her head, as if she didn¡¯t have much hope. The boy¡¯s father was a drunkard that preferred any chance to go out and have fun as opposed to staying with his family. And worse, when he came home, he was often an angry drunk. There wasn¡¯t anything particrly wrong in the father¡¯s life that she could try to correct, it was just that he had gottenzy and selfish after not having to work for so long.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The boy¡¯s head lowered at that, but he still nodded. At the very least, he¡¯d have one of his parents around, and the house would not always be so empty. ¡°Then, if you can¡¯t do anything about him¡­ what will--¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">He was silenced by the girl once again cing a finger over his lips. ¡°I¡¯ll take care of it, Dash. I promise, I don¡¯t want to destroy this family. All I want is for them to give their child the love and care he deserves. Nothing is worse than an abused and neglected child. Now, let¡¯s get these sandwiches made, and we can go over your homework!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dash swallowed thickly, but nodded his head again. ¡°Alright¡­ thanks, Lily.¡± He said with a shy smile, watching his ¡®sister¡¯ quickly assembling two sandwiches, one for each of them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Now now, we talked about this.¡± Lily said with a grin. ¡°My name is ra while I¡¯m here. Lily is just the name of a friend from school that your parents haven¡¯t met, alright?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh! Right, sorry ra.¡± The boy nodded his head quickly, pulling his hand up to trace his fingers over his lips.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lily nodded her head in satisfaction, taking the tes out to the dining room. As she did so, she focused on her avatars. There were currently two of them, one watching each of the boy¡¯s parents. The first was sitting invisibly in the back of his mother¡¯s car, while the second was quietly following his father. As far as she knew, the problems with his mother would be taken care of with this, but she still wanted to watch and make sure. Lily never liked leaving a job half-done, after all.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The real problem was the father, at this point. He wasn¡¯t simply going out to ¡®festivals¡¯ as Lily had imed. Instead, there was a young elven woman on his arm, the two seemingly on a date at this festival. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Affairs are always the worst to deal with¡­ especially when the rest of the family still loves the cheat.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lily pursed her lips, trying to think about how she could do this. If she revealed the affair to Dash¡¯s mother, she would be heartbroken. All of the work taking care of the stress from her work would be undone. Worse, she could never predict how the situation would go from there. The two may break up, sure, but there was the chance that his mother would be even worse than his father due to the heartache.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">If there was another target for me to shift her affections to, like some male best friend, that would be great. Sadly, she doesn¡¯t have anything like that.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Rather, instead of saying that she didn¡¯t have anyone, her hypocritical husband got jealous whenever she spent too much time with another guy. Meanwhile, he has an elven beauty that he runs off and spends time with every chance he gets.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She had considered driving a wedge between him and his mistress, but that wouldn¡¯t fix the core problem. The man simply loved to go out and spend the money that his wife brought home from work in order to court other women. The elven girl wasn¡¯t even the only one that Lily had caught him with.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You know, following couples around like that makes you seem really suspicious, especially when you try to hide yourself.¡± A voice spoke up next to Lily¡¯s avatar, making her eyes go wide in shock. She turned her head to see a ck-haired elven girl wearing a neatly pressed maid uniform. The girl¡¯s eyes were closed, but she seemed to be looking directly at Lily.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lily gulped audibly, recognizing the figure. Who wouldn¡¯t be able to recognize one of the servants of the Keeper himself? Her eyes darted around, and she soon caught sight of the Keeper walking down the street with both Tsubaki and the slime girl, Lifre. Only Dana was absent, and she was now standing in front of Lily herself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°But¡­ how? I was hiding my presence with my divinity?¡± Lily asked curiously, her eyes focusing back on Dana. She wasn¡¯t scared, as she truly hadn¡¯t done anything other than follow the man with this avatar. If Dana heard the story, she would likely be just as concerned as Lily herself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You weren¡¯t hiding your shadow.¡± Dana said, pointing at Lily¡¯s shadow. ¡°I¡¯m rather sensitive to shadows, so when I noticed one that didn¡¯t seem to have anyone attached to it, I thought there might be a monster that snuck into the city. So¡­ are you going to tell me why you¡¯re following those two?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lily pursed her lips, ncing around. ¡°It¡¯s a bit of a story, do you have the time? Without getting in trouble with the Keeper, I mean.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana tilted her head, before letting out a softugh. ¡°Oh, we don¡¯t actually have to stick together. We just were to help keep the wave of media from swarming him. They¡¯ll be just fine if I take some time to listen. I just want to make sure you¡¯re not going to cause a scene when we¡¯re nearby.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lily shook her head, having no intention of doing anything like that. ¡°That man is a drunkard, an abusive father, and a cheat.¡± She said under her breath, not wanting their conversation to be heard by anyone else. ¡°I¡¯ve been staying with the family for a few weeks now, just to try and help their son and the rest of the family. I¡¯ve done everything that I think I need to for his mom, but¡­¡± She nced towards the father again, as if trying to make sure she didn¡¯t lose sight of him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When her eyes went back to Dana, she jumped back in fright. Dana¡¯s eyes were no longer closed, and were¡­ utterly terrifying as she looked at Lily. Cold and dark, but full of an intense power that Lily knew she wouldn¡¯t be able to resist if a fight started. She had her methods of self defense, but she was far from abat deity.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°He has a wife and son, and would rather spend his time having affairs?¡± Dana asked, her voice as cold as her eyes. Something about the story seemed to have struck a deep wound with her, tearing open old scars. ¡°Why haven¡¯t you just revealed him, then?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡­ don¡¯t want to destroy the family.¡± Lily said, once she had the courage to speak up. ¡°Both his wife and son still love him. If I were to bring this to them, it would crush both of them. His wife doesn¡¯t have anyone else to support her, so I¡¯m afraid that she would go on a downward spiral from the shock¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana¡¯s brow furrowed deeply at that, ncing towards the man that Lily had been following. ¡°Have you tried revealing the fact he¡¯s married to the women he¡¯s dating?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lily gave a bitter smile at that. ¡°They already know. He never tries to hide it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, then.¡± Dana nodded, and Lily could see the little elf¡¯s shadow seem to stretch out endlessly behind her, into the crowd of people. ¡°I¡¯ll take care of things here. You disperse this avatar, and just wait for him toe home. Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t be hurting him. He may be living garbage, but I¡¯ll never take a father from his child.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lily didn¡¯t even have the chance to disagree. As soon as Dana told her to disperse her avatar, she felt her consciousness fading from it, as if her spirit were being evicted from the avatar itself. Back at her main body, she felt a cold sweat falling down her back, almost dropping the sandwich that she had been eating moments before.

 Chapter 844: Corrections

    Chapter 844: Corrections


    <span style="font-weight:400">I could sense Dana breaking off from the group, looking like she was going to go over and talk to a young, felyn girl. However, when my eyes nced in their direction, I could only see Dana herself. The felyn girl seemed to bepletely invisible, only registered by my World Sight. I was¡­ curious, but it seemed like Dana was handling the matter. At worst, she¡¯d be a pickpocket that got caught, but Dana wouldn¡¯t do anything serious to her for something like that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is something the matter, my Keeper?¡± Tsubaki asked, ncing over at me with a smile. I could hear the click of a spell being activated to record the image, and just imagined how ¡®valuable¡¯ a picture of her smile would be. And part of me prayed for the safety of the brave soul that decided to take that picture.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh? I¡¯m fine.¡± I responded with a shake of my head. ¡°Anyways, where are we going next? You said that there was a big eventing up?¡± The surrounding crowd seemed to suddenly go silent when I asked that question.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki blinked, before quickly nodding. ¡°That¡¯s right. The Queen of Hanbei is hosting a charity tournament of gods in Virtual in an hour. The scene will be projected live, so if we leave here soon, we should make it with plenty of time to spare.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As soon as she finished, there was a rush of movement, a majority of the crowd moring to leave the venue. I looked around for a moment, before realizing that they must be trying to rush to the event themselves. Currently, we were in the city of Gandor, so it was unlikely they¡¯d make it there for the start of the event, unless they had ess to high level friends. Still, I shook my head with a small smile, sensing Dana return to my side a momentter. ¡°Everything taken care of on your end?¡± I asked her, causing the little elf to blink up at me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, you saw that?¡± She responded as if being caught in her mischief. ¡°Just giving some lost soul a little piece of corrective advice.¡± She smiled, licking her lips. I lifted a brow, but shrugged my shoulders.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Let¡¯s get Lifre before she runs off, and-- she¡¯s gone.¡± I let out a low groan, looking behind myself at the spot where Lifre had been just moments prior. ¡°Tsubaki, if you would?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s smile grew wider, and she nodded her head energetically. She closed her eyes, and I could feel Tsubaki¡¯s own World Sight sweeping over the area, before locking onto the slime girl. Currently, she was rushing along with the crowd, having gotten caught up in their momentum both figuratively and literally.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The kitsune¡¯s body blurred, and suddenly Lifre was being held up by her cor in Tsubaki¡¯s grasp. ¡°Hey, what¡¯s the big idea!?¡± Lifre asked, struggling, though her feet didn¡¯t touch the floor in her current form. ¡°I wanted to see where the crowd was going! They kept saying there was a huge event soon!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a low groan. ¡°Lifre, the event they¡¯re talking about is the one we¡¯re going to. We¡¯re just going to get there first. I¡¯d like to actually arrive in time to greet the queen before the event. I don¡¯t want to make her flustered or anything with our sudden arrival.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ohhh¡­¡± Lifre nodded her head in understanding, no longer struggling against Tsubaki. ¡°Can I be put down, now?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Are you going to follow us, or the crowd?¡± I asked with a pensive expression, to which she nced off to the side.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Why not both? A slime¡¯s gotta slime, and maybe I can find interesting adventure candidates along the way.¡± As she said that, I could feel that she was just waiting for permission to create an avatar to follow the crowd.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a sigh, I nodded my head, watching as a blue blob split off from her body to form into a full-bodied clone that sprinted after the horde. She didn¡¯t even forget to change her appearance with her avatar to ensure that she wasn¡¯t recognized. ¡°Tsubaki, please get us back to the Citadel, so that we may head to our destination.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°With pleasure, my Keeper.¡± Tsubaki nodded, an intricate spell unfolding in the air in front of her. Ever since Gerard¡¯s creation, the workings of the Citadel were improved one after another. Naturally, this included the barrier protecting it, which no longer allowed any normal high-level portal to enter. Instead, one had to use a portal with a very specific spell to act as the key, which would ping Gerard and have him investigate the identity of the traveler.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once they obtained Gerard¡¯s approval, the final preventativeyer would be lowered briefly, and the traveler could enter. In this way, the four of us returned to the Citadel to prepare for the next event.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Are you alright, L--I mean, ra?¡± Dash asked after finishing his sandwich, noticing that his ¡®sister¡¯ seemed to be shaking slightly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°H-Huh? Yeah, I¡¯m fine. Just fine, Dash.¡± Lily gulped, nodding her head. She had never heard of someone being evicted from an avatar without that avatar being destroyed. Either Dana did what she thought was impossible, or she had silently destroyed the avatar without any traces, allowing the soul to escape.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, Lily could feel the residual divinity flowing back towards her, indicating that the avatar shouldn¡¯t have been damaged. She let out a sigh of relief upon confirming that¡­ whatever Dana was, she wasn¡¯t hostile to Lily. Instead, her thoughts turned towards Dash¡¯s father. When Lily had exined the situation, Dana felt¡­ cold, empty. Like her eyes had be endless portals into the abyss.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She couldn¡¯t imagine what had caused Dana to enter such a state, or what she would do to the target of her emotions at that time. Part of her wanted to quickly return to the festival, just so she could confirm that Dash¡¯s father was safe, but another part of her refused. This was the part that had seen those eyes, and heard Dana¡¯s words to note back. Going against her wishes right now would be detrimental to Lily¡¯s long-term health n.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°L-Let¡¯s just get started on your homework, okay?¡± Lily asked, quickly changing the subject. ¡°So, what ss did you learn today?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ugh¡­ farmer.¡± Dash said, as if utterly bored with the idea already. ¡°Why can¡¯t we learn more cool sses, like Monk and Hero?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lily smiled, reaching over to poke Dash¡¯s nose. ¡°You have to get your basic training down, first. It¡¯s for your own safety. Besides, do you know how awesome the farmer ss is?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dash¡¯s eyes went wide, and he leaned in close, waiting for Lily to continue. ¡°You see, the farmer ss isn¡¯t all just about raising crops. Farmers have to be able to rear and ughter livestock. But more importantly¡­ they have to be able to defend their farms from attack.¡± Dash let out a small gasp, but she simply kept going.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Wild beasts are often drawn to the scent of freshly grown produce or young animals, especially those produced with special farming techniques. Because of that, farmers have developed three core techniques. The first of these is a style of swordsmanship that revolves around a sickle. With one swing, they can cut down an entire field of corn, or sever the heads of a stampeding horde.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The second technique is an illusion formation that they create with both natural and spiritual energies. Those who trespass within the farm will find themselves trapped in a seemingly endless maze. Only a person with a powerful will can shatter the illusion, something the farmers themselves use to train. After all, the final technique requires great strength of mind.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What¡¯s the final technique?¡± Dash asked, his tail waving happily behind him, showing just how excited he was to learn now.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The final technique in every farmer¡¯s arsenal is the maniption of their own crops and livestock. A farmer is the king of his farm. His every nt and animal is a limb for him to control. With a thought, vines rise out to strangle monsters, or innocent sheep turn into battle-hardened soldiers. There¡¯s no such thing as a weak ss, Dash. Even something as mundane as the Farmer can be amazing, you just have to know where to look.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dash nodded his head, quickly sitting back on the couch and closing his eyes. No doubt he was going to review the information of this ss that had been imparted to him in his lessons that day. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Shame that those abilities are mostly higher level. Still, I didn¡¯t really lie to the kid, did I?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">As the Goddess of Trickery pondered the moral implication of what she had revealed, she heard the door opening. Her mind immediately went on alert. Dash¡¯s mother would still be on her way to work, and the festival was too far for his father to be back so quickly. Lily nced at Dash, who didn¡¯t seem to notice the door, and slowly crept to her feet.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She didn¡¯t want to alert him, and so she hid her presence again, this time making sure to include her shadow. Once done, she made her way to the door, looking out past it. Outside, she could see¡­ Dash¡¯s father walking in with a smile on his face. Lily¡¯s eyes went wide, surprised to see him home, but even more surprised to see him sober.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">That can¡¯t be¡­ he doesn¡¯t know teleportation magic. Even if he left right after I did, he¡¯d be at least another five minutes out.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Feeling certain that something was wrong, Lily snuck behind the individual and held her palm in the air to face him. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Reveal the trickery before me, and shed your disguise.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There had been more than one asion when she had been forced to thwart a kidnapping, all because the kidnapper had chosen to take on the form of the parent through some form of transformation or illusion. Thus, she developed this divine technique to see into the truth of an individual.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The power silently rippled over the man¡¯s body as he took off his coat and hung it up. However, his physical form didn¡¯t change, indicating that this was no simple transformation or illusion ability. It could have been a higher level effect, or even some divine technique that rivaled her own. Thus, Lily focused more deeply, taking the technique a stage further to look at the very soul of the potential invader.


    <span style="font-weight:400">What she saw¡­ shocked her. The soul was there, and it seemed to be a rather normal, felyn soul. However, there was a voluptuous elven woman seemingly sitting atop the soul in a pitch ck dress, drawing strange patterns in it and whispering quietly. When Lily¡¯s eyes locked onto her, the woman nced up as well, peering out of the soul and back to Lily.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Slowly, Dash¡¯s father turned to face her, though she was still concealed. He looked right at where she was hidden, smiled, and brought a finger up to his lips. ¡°I would never take a father from his child. I¡¯m just going to¡­ educate him for a while. Once I leave, he¡¯ll bepletely unharmed, and a far better father.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although the voice was still that of the man who often came home grumbling, bottle in hand, Lily heard a second voice mixed beneath it. This voice sounded shockingly simr to Dana¡¯s, but far more mature. Lily shuddered, nodding her head while the man turned, humming lightly to himself. ¡°A shadow in your eyes~¡­ makes a good disguise~... scatter, scatter~... we all blow away.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lily¡¯s eyes briefly widened at the familiar, ancient song. There weren¡¯t many in the world who wouldn¡¯t recognize it, after all. Little Dana Jafer was a famous children¡¯s song even before she became the Keeper¡¯s servant. And hearing it now, the pieces started falling into ce about just why Dana had reacted so¡­ dark when Lily told her about the boy¡¯s father.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Little Dana Jafer, her Daddy couldn¡¯t save her~. Scatter, scatter, she¡¯ll take away the pain~.¡±

 Chapter 845: The Tournament Of Gods

    Chapter 845: The Tournament Of Gods


    <span style="font-weight:400">Elisae smiled, looking down at her script on her terminal, making sure that she remembered everything that she needed to say. This charity event was meant to funnel money into the less well-off areas of the world, in an attempt to aid in the fight against economic decline. It wasn¡¯t the first charity event that Elisae had held in recent years, but it was certainly the most ambitious


    <span style="font-weight:400">Asking <i><span style="font-weight:400">gods</i><span style="font-weight:400"> toe and fight each other in Virtual, when doing so was likely to reveal many of their trump cards for others to see¡­ She wouldn¡¯t be surprised if less than ten actually showed up, and had asked around for some friends to get the bare minimum necessary for the event.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Y-Your Highness?¡± As she was thinking about that, and finalizing the script, she heard a knock on the door behind her, turning to see one of her maids.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Lea, how many times have I told you¡­¡± Elisae¡¯s gentle words trailed off when she saw the trembling appearance of the maid, her expression growing more serious. ¡°Has something happened?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The maid nodded her head, Elisae quickly standing and preparing to rush out if need be. ¡°The¡­ The Keeper is here to see you, Your Highness.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Elisae heard those words, her body went stiff. Her battle strategies slipped from her mind, and even the script that she had been diligently practicing vanished like a bad case of stage fright. ¡°The uh¡­ the Keeper, you said?¡± She asked to confirm, the maid nodding her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Elisae took a deep breath, closing her eyes and focusing. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Calm down, Ellie. This isn¡¯t your first big meeting. Don¡¯t¡­ don¡¯t think of him as the Keeper. Think of him as¡­ yeah! Think of him as Scarlet¡¯s dad! He¡¯s the father of a friend,ing to visit. Yeah, that¡¯s it.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Gradually, Elisae¡¯s confidence began to return, as did her smile. ¡°Please take me to see him.¡± She instructed Lea gently, who quickly nodded her head and led the human queen out of her private quarters.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It only took a few moments for them to descend the stairs and make their way towards one of therger meeting rooms of the pce. Despite her best attempts to calm herself, Elisae¡¯s pace was unusually fast, causing her to arrive at the room even before her maid.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Upon opening the door, Elisae was greeted with the sight of the Keeper and his three mostmonly seen servants. He sat at the table, drinking tea that was likely prepared by one of her staff, while the other three stood behind him with their arms at their sides.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Elisae gulped, taking a step into the room and closing it behind herself. ¡°Keeper, sir, this is a pleasant surprise.¡± She spoke up, bringing attention to herself and causing the Keeper to look over. ¡°To what do I owe the honor?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I wanted to meet with you before the big event.¡± The Keeper said in an amicable tone. ¡°It was my intention to watch your event, but I did not want to cause any undo awkwardness with you finding out only after the event had begun.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Elisae blinked, surprised that the Keeper himself would be watching this event. She could already imagine that there would be more gods participating now, in an attempt to catch his attention. ¡°I see¡­ thank you for doing this, sir.¡± She nodded her head, able to return to her normalposure once she saw that the Keeper did not seem to express any absurd demands or entricities. ¡°In that case, is there anything that I should be aware of?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper thought about that for a moment. ¡°First of all, there is one announcement that I would like you to make. As this is going to attract many viewers, it seems a fitting ce to do so.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What would you like announced?¡± Elisae asked, genuinely curious. It was rare for the Keeper to make any kind of announcement, so she wondered if it had anything to do with the recent update to the world system that went live.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sure enough, her thoughts were verified when the Keeper spoke again. ¡°There will be another updateing soon, though this one will not be as significant as thest change to the system. We will be adding in a new ss, as well as one new feature. The new ss will be the Maid and Butler ss, the name able to be changed depending on the person¡¯s preference. As for the feature, we are adding the ability to contact others directly through the system itself, so long as they are registered on your contact list.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Elisae tilted her head slightly, but did not question the Keeper. The maid ss¡­ she wasn¡¯t quite sure what it would do. However, a private messaging system seemed to be purely a quality of life improvement. ¡°Out of curiosity, sir, will this new feature require any cost to use it? For instance, mana to send the message, or a prayer to a specific deity?¡± Energy was the hot currency of the day, so Elisae was concerned that this would increase the demand even further.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, the Keeper shook his head. ¡°No, so long as someone has been registered as a contact, there will be no energy cost. My aim is to gradually begin cycling out themunication crystals with this new feature. Once the feature has been released, we will refine it over time to include additions such as sharing contact lists from one person to another.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Onest thing.¡± The Keeper said with a smile. ¡°About the matter of the event¡¯s prizes¡­¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thank you, everyone, for joining me for today¡¯s Virtual Tournament of Gods!¡± Elisae announced with a wide smile, her voice reaching every corner of the packed stadium. She had expected arge turnout for viewers, but was pleasantly surprised by the number of participants that began registering just before the start of the event. Though, she knew that there would be even more once she announced the prizes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Now, before we begin with the main event, I¡¯m sure that everyone has noticed a very special guest in attendance.¡± She lifted her hand upwards, pointing to the structure above the stadium, the Sky Citadel hovering high above their heads. ¡°That¡¯s right, the Keeper himself will be viewing this event, and has asked me to make a few announcements!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°First of all, he wishes to make it known that there is another system update on the way, which will release the Maid ss and a Private Messaging feature!¡± Elisae¡¯s smile and enthusiasm seemed to be contagious, as she heard a round of heavy apuse and cheering, despite the rather simple announcement.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Finally, the prizes for today¡¯s events have been altered at thest minute. If anyone wishes to withdraw their name from the lot, they may of course do so. However¡­ I believe there will be far more people lining up for the chance to participate!¡± Elisae¡¯s voice rose sharply to build up the anticipation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Our top four contestants today will all win a very special prize. These lucky winners will receive a fully customized training program created by none other than the Sky Citadel¡¯s Goddess of Adventures, Lifre! If you have already used one of her training programs, she has volunteered to rece the prize with another fully customized story of your choice!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Additionally, our grand prize winner will have a divine artifact of their choice enhanced by the Keeper himself!¡± When Elisae announced that, startled gasps rang out from the crowd. Nobody present knew the effects of the Keeper enhancing a divine artifact, but it couldn¡¯t be bad if it were a grand prize. In fact, if one were to consider the Keeper¡¯s status, having an artifact enhanced personally by him would make it invaluable even if the enhancement had little effect.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Elisae continued after a suitable pause, allowing her words to properly sink in. ¡°As you all know, this is a charity event to help stimte the economy. There is a small fee to register, and all profit and donations will go towards revitalizing businesses in areas most affected by the current decline. As the host, I will not keep a single coin. In fact, I have promised to match ten percent of donations in order to show my personal support to these businesses.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Now, with that out of the way, the final registration period is open! Those who wish to withdraw may do so, and receive a full refund of their registration fees, and those who wish to apply, please simply consult our Virtual site for details.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is it really okay to give out four training programs as prizes?¡± Lifre asked in concern, sitting next to me as we watched the event beginning to unfold from thefort of the Sky Citadel¡¯s lounge. At first, we had nned to get a seat in a VIP box in the stadium, but Elisae had informed us that there was no such box. Even she, the Queen of Hanbei, sat with everyone else when she wasn¡¯t doing her announcements.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I thought it might attract unwanted trouble for us to simply sit in the midst of everyone else, so I had Tsubaki bring the citadel over to watch like this. When I heard Lifre¡¯s question, I offered a small smile. ¡°You can use my divine energy when you are creating the books.¡± I told her, readily giving her the permission to do so.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre blinked in surprise, nodding her head. ¡°Well, I¡¯m sure that there will be a lot of people lining up topete. Especially for your grand prize. Do you need us to act as additional security?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I shook my head at that. ¡°No, they have plenty of security. Let¡¯s not take away from their own hard work, and have some faith in them. Besides, since the prizes areing from us, the only thing that they have the opportunity to take by causing trouble are the donations. If someone chooses to ruin Elisae¡¯s event just for some donation money, they deserve whatever karmic justice they get.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet had long since told me about Elisae, the being with the single greatest karma value in any world. Stealing from her was an act that would leave a ck stain on anyone¡¯s soul.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I was thinking about that, I caught sight of a refreshment stand that was set up near the entrance of the stadium. What caught my eye about this stand in particr was that it was manned by a deity. More than that, one that I had seen before, the ¡®personal chef¡¯ of the Greater Pantheon.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a small chuckle when I saw Aznod passing out snacks and drinks to those in attendance, but made no attempt to get anything for myself. I had Tsubaki¡¯s cooking, and that was more than enough for me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, they¡¯re about to get started!¡± Dana called out, switching the channel. ¡°They let out the rules for this tournament weeks ago. Since it is a battle of gods, the main focus is on divine powers. You can use other abilities, but only if they are rted to your divinity in some way.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a nod at Dana¡¯s words, turning to look at the list. There were hundreds of godspeting in thispetition, so they naturally had different channels set up to watch each contestant. ¡°Tsubaki, who do you think would be a good contestant to focus on?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I believe that number seven would be an interesting choice, my Keeper.¡± Tsubaki answered, surprising me with the low number. I looked back up at the top of the list, and saw that number seven was none other than Aznod himself.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">So he is participating both as a refreshments vendor and as a contestant? I suppose that works, since this is a battle in Virtual.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I nodded my head, switching to his channel. His first battle was just about to begin, and I was curious to see how a chef fought.

 Chapter 846: Identity Theft

    Chapter 846: Identity Theft


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod stood across from his opponent, the two standing on a tform one hundred meters wide. As it was determined that distance wasrgely irrelevant to many gods, the ring was condensed in order to make the event easier to broadcast.


    <span style="font-weight:400">His opponent was a human woman with long ck hair and sunken eyes. Aznod gave her a brief nce before deciding that she was a god that he had never heard of before, which increased the difficulty of theing battle considerably. He himself was famous to some degree, so it would bemon for his opponents to know about his abilities, while he had to try and guess what his opponents would do in the midst of battle.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯s fine¡­ I have prepared for this.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Aznod closed his eyes, taking a deep breath while the timer ticked down. In order to ensure that he moved on to the next stage of the tournament, he had to first defeat the opponent in front of himself. And so, he aimed for the moment that the timer hit zero, golden light pulsing around his feet.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Who are you?¡± The woman asked, slowly walking closer, as if she did not notice the expanding territory beneath his feet. She entered the golden field, her steps carrying her closer and closer to Aznod.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The polite chef in Aznodpelled him to answer, but his battle awareness stopped him. There was nothing that was insignificant in these fights. Perhaps the opponent¡¯s techniques required the target to answer her questions, or she required their names to make it work.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Either way, he sensed that she had already stepped into the area of his ability. His eyes opened sharply, lunging forward as a butcher knife appeared in his hand. His body moved forward like a blur, only to stop a momentter, his eyes wide in surprise. The woman he had targeted, who he was certain should only have been less than thirty meters in front of him, was still at her original position. ¡°Who are you?¡± She asked again, slowly tilting her head.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Do any of you know anything about this girl?¡± I asked, looking at the ck-haired woman that was disyed on the screen. It was an extremely surreal sight, watching her walk forward, only for her to teleport back to her starting position the moment her opponent moved a muscle. Furthermore, it didn¡¯t look like she employed any kind of magic to do this. Rather, the moment he moved, it was as if she had never left her position.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki, Dana, and Lifre looked at one another, shaking their heads in unison. ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of anyone matching that description, boss.¡± Dana answered, though Gerard simply stared at the screen for several seconds.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I believe that is Laura Bowley.¡± He said, causing the four of us to look over. ¡°Originally ascended as a Goddess fifteen years ago with the Names domain, she then joined the Earth Exploration Force as a protector for extraterrestrial vessels. Using her divinity, she assigned names to monsters, imbuing them with different positive or negative effects. In herst battle, she was injured in a battle against two monster gods who were defending a primordial relic. Upon her victory, she was given the relic, which was at the time identified as containing the divine domain of ¡®Distortion¡¯.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°After this battle, she retired from her guardian position, iming that she wanted to further refine her own power. There are also records that indicate she has had her divinity forged, though not by the Researcher. However, her third domain is currently unknown.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°How do you know all of that?¡± Lifre asked with wide eyes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Gerard simply nced over at the slime girl. ¡°It is one of my duties to keep a registry for all deities who enter into a public service field. If any of them are met with problematic situations, I am to provide assistance based on their service record.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, right. I forgot about that part.¡± Dana chuckled, nodding her head. ¡°So¡­ Names, Distortion, and something else. That¡¯s¡­ honestly, a scarybination.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I furrowed my brow, deploying my Mirrors domain to try to track down this woman¡¯s real body. She was sure to be watching the event, so there would be some kind of surface for me to look at her from. Once I found her, I scanned her with my World Sight, before letting out a long sigh. ¡°She¡¯s ruined herself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nced over, not seeming to know what I meant, so I exined. ¡°Names, Distortion, Tracking, Darkness, Strength.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°<i><span style="font-weight:400">Five</i><span style="font-weight:400"> domains?¡± Dana asked, her eyes going wide. ¡°I get the first three. And maybe she cultivated in Lorek, but where did thest onee from?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I see¡­¡± Gerard nodded his head. ¡°I believe that I havee to the same conclusion as the Keeper. After being granted the Distortion domain from the primordial relic, she had her third domain forged, which she trained to be the Tracking domain. Using that domain, she personally tracked down two more primordial relics, hoping to get an increase in power.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m guessing.¡± I agreed. ¡°Primordial relics are different from normal ascension methods, since they contain a core concept from the creation of a universe. It¡¯s possible that you can use multiple relics like this, but they¡¯re a lottery on what domain you get. She lucked out with the three she got, but having more than three domains causes instability in your divinity.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Worse, I got a look at her with my World Sight. She¡¯s¡­ a mess on the inside. The power she gained from the relics was too unstable for her to control, if I had to guess.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Why, what¡¯s going on?¡± Lifre asked, before looking at the screen and gasping.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod furrowed his brow, unsure how the woman had returned to her starting position. He closed his eyes, and immediately felt as if she was directly before him. But when he opened them again, she was back at her starting position. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Which is the truth?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Who are you?¡± The woman continued to question, and Aznod closed his eyes again. Once he sensed her in front of him, he immediately shed out with his knife, feeling the de connect. After doing so, he was convinced that he had struck her real body, and opened his eyes again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This time, she was still standing back at her starting position, but there was a long cut across one of her sleeves, a gash in her arm that seemed to leak divinity. The woman smiled, nodding her head. ¡°Now I remember. You¡¯re Aznod, aren¡¯t you? I saw your food stall on the way in.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The moment she said his name, Aznod felt something twist within his divinity. His eyes widened, and he jumped back to the opposite end of the arena, where he had originally started the fight. ¡°In that case, can I be Aznod, too?¡± The woman asked, her voice seeming to be directly in Aznod¡¯s ear, despite the visible distance between them. ¡°I can be Aznod, and you can be me. I don¡¯t remember who ¡®me¡¯ is, though¡­ would you mind trying to figure it out for us?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod felt a growing sense of danger, before a hiss left his mouth. He looked down at his arm, and saw that it had been cut open. However¡­ it did not look like his arm. It was shorter, more slender. ¡°I see¡­¡± He muttered, shaking his head in realization. ¡°Identity transferral.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod could feel his divinity being rewritten, his very name bing obscure. He lost ess to his Saint Energy, his domains, and his divine powers. However, he felt new powers flooding in, organizing them in his mind.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He didn¡¯t think about why he could suddenly not remember his name. His experience, his training was still there. He used this training to organize the five domains within his mind,ying them out before himself. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Names, Distortion, Tracking, Darkness, Strength. What can I make with this?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">He could understand vaguely how his opponent had moved strangely now, as it was abination of Distortion and Darkness. She existed in two positions, depending on whether or not her designated opponent had his eyes open. <i><span style="font-weight:400">If I simply take back my name, this will be easy. But first, I¡¯ll need to get her to say it.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">He couldn¡¯t remember what his name was at this point, preventing him from simply undoing the ability that she had used on him. The only thing he could be thankful about was that she did not gain his training, while he did not lose it. That meant that they each kept their own minds, they just lost their concept of identity, as well as their domains.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Names, Distortion, Strength.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He nodded his head, focusing those three domains together. They appeared in a circr ring around his body. ¡°I borrow the name of the great Goddess whom I serve, that my strength may equal her own. Udona!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">His body distorted, skin rippling and hair flowing back. If this was a game of identities, then he knew names far more powerful than the one he had lost. A smile crossed his lips as he looked at the woman across from him, who was still trying to figure out her new domains. Her expression was confused, her mind clearly muddled. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I see¡­ she entered this tournament to try and resolve her problem. I will remind my main body to contact herter.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">He could feel his body changing further, losing its original shape to be that of the blonde Goddess of Life, Education, and Entertainment. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± Udona¡¯s voice spoke softly into the air. ¡°This is where we part ways.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Like that, the body of the woman crumbled to the ground, the ring filled with nothing but silence for several long moments. Afterwards, a great fanfare arose around the victor, who was slowly starting to revert to normal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod looked down at himself, nodding in satisfaction as he witnessed his hands once again bing his own. ¡°Just because I am greeted with unfamiliar ingredients does not mean that I cannot make a potent dish, youngdy.¡± He said, offering a bow towards his opponent¡¯s body. Thankfully, it was only her Virtual self, and her true self would still be fine in the real world.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Wow¡­ he¡¯s definitely got guts to call the name of Udona.¡± Dana chuckled, shaking her head as she witnessed the end of the match. Tsubaki nodded her head emphatically in agreement, while I continued to focus on the screen.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was actually a decent strategy from the woman, switching identities with her opponent. However, because of her own problems, she was unable to properly take advantage of it. Her mind was already muddled from the rampaging divinities in her body, so she couldn¡¯t make sense out of the new domains.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While Aznod waspartmentalizing the domains and treating them as new ingredients, Laura was left frozen, when she should have been the one most prepared to take advantage of the situation. ¡°Gerard, are there currently any methods to remove someone¡¯s domain entirely?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course, sir.¡± Gerard nodded his head. ¡°Various domains are capable of this through their own methods, with varying degrees of permanency depending on the method involved.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod at that, happy to hear it. ¡°Please send a message to invite her to visit the Citadel. Her mind and soul are a shattered mess, and she¡¯ll need some special treatment to piece herself back together, once her excess domains are removed.¡± I gave a meaningful nce to Dana as I said that, who opened her eyes wide in shock, nodding her head.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">This is why we have the rule of three.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I muttered inwardly, already nning what domains I could use to purge two of hers. Naturally, having more domains wouldn¡¯t always cause this, but she received too many from those relics, meaning shecked the proper training to control them. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯ll preserve the two domains I remove, and let her slowly ept them again after she regains control over herself.</i>

 Chapter 847: Dine And Dash

    Chapter 847: Dine And Dash


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°She has arrived, my Keeper.¡± Tsubaki said, causing me to nod and rise from the couch. It had been a long time since anyone else had been brought to the Sky Citadel like this, so I wanted to go and greet her in the throne room.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once I got out to the throne room, I saw Laura standing in the middle of the floor, her head looking around as if she were confused. Granted, what I had seen of her revealed to me that confusion was a far more natural state for her. But, that was one of the things that we were here to fix. ¡°Miss Bowley.¡± I spoke up, immediately causing her to jump and turn in my direction.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Keeper, sir¡­¡± Laura said as she gave a small bow. It had to be said that she was at least not delirious enough to try to take <i><span style="font-weight:400">my</i><span style="font-weight:400"> name. I could sense Tsubaki and the others all ready to attack if she had tried something like that. ¡°May I ask¡­ why have you called me here today?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I noticed your problem in your previous match.¡± I answered simply, causing her to flinch. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m not trying to punish your for pursuing too much power, or anything of the sort. Rather, I think you have a great deal of potential, so long as you are helped to be put back on the right path.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right¡­ path?¡± She asked in confusion, causing me to nod.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Currently, you have five domains. I do not seek to condemn you for pursuing power in this way, but you have done so without the proper precautions. Of your domains, three of them came from what I call primordial relics. These are not domains that you achieved through your own training, and thus you were unable to properly control their power, leading to your current state.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Laura lowered her head, clearly aware of what I was talking about. ¡°Y-Yes¡­ you are right. That¡¯s¡­ why I was in this tournament. I wanted an answer from you¡­ how can I control myself?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small smile in response to that. ¡°It¡¯s quite easy. If you like, I can temporarily seal two of the domains you obtained from these relics. Then, once you have reached a point that you have fully made the power your own, you can unseal one additional domain.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Be warned, however, that the path you walk is a long and dangerous one. Every additional domain you unlock beyond the third will cause instability within your divinity. You will only be free of this when you receive your ninth domain, at which point you will reach the final level of bnce. Should you attempt to receive a tenth¡­ even I would not be able to save you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Laura¡¯s eyes went wide at that, and she slowly nodded her head. It looked as if some of the confusion guing her mind was momentarily cured, but then her eyes started to gloss over again, her divinity rampaging within her very soul. ¡°Then, I would appreciate the support, sir Keeper.¡± She said with her head lowered again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head, closing my eyes and focusing on the domains that I had chosen. My hand lifted, and nine glowing rings of golden light appeared, split into three groups of three. Name, Distortion, and Trickery for the first. Words, Strength, and Sealing for the second. Then finally, there was Magic, Darkness, and Trials for the third.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Laura Bowley, I seal the power of your Darkness behind a trial. When you have mastered the power of Distortion, you shall be awarded with the power of Darkness once again. The power of Strength, I seal behind a name. When you believe yourself ready for this power once again, name yourself the Goddess of Strength and the power shall be returned.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I could have easily sealed both powers behind the same style of ¡®trial¡¯. However, I believed that doing so would be dangerous, and wanted to leave her a method to unseal one of her domains on her own, just in case she encountered a situation where she would need it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once I was done, it was clear that Laura didn¡¯t feel any different, the confusion on her face only growing worse. She looked at me as if not sure if I had really done anything to try to help her. However, I had expected something like this. ¡°Dana.¡± I said softly, Dana stepping forward. ¡°Dana here will help you recover from the damage that¡¯s already been caused. Right now, your soul is in a state of utter disrepair. If I had to guess, it would have copsed entirely within a few more years.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Laura hesitated for a moment, her trust seeming to waver after theck of any real effect from the previous ¡®treatment¡¯. However, in the end she nodded her head, turning to follow Dana out of the room. Once she was gone, I turned to look at Tsubaki, a small smile on her face. ¡°Let her stay until the recovery isplete. Like I said, she shows a lot of promise if she is able to properly master her path.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As you wish, my Keeper.¡± Tsubaki nodded her head, keeping her expression neutral. It was hard to tell how long Dana¡¯s treatment of Laura would take. It could be anywhere from a couple of hours to a few weeks, all depending on how extensive the damage was.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°For now¡­ shall we get back to the event?¡± I asked, Tsubaki perking up slightly at that.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was now the fourth round of battle, and most contestants were starting to feel the drain on their energies. Those with lower reserves began dropping out one after another, while those with greater reserves of power started to fight more conservatively.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For most, it was no longer a battle of showing off their strongest moves to effortlessly dominate thepetition. Instead, they now had to be aware of their own power levels. Once their divinity reached the bottom, they were sure to be defeated.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, this tournament was being held in Virtual to preserve the lives of those involved, as well as their true levels of power. The Virtual selves of those deities were only simted copies based on the scans taken by the devices they wore, so it was easy to rece them for events like this. At the same time, because the virtual world was not at the level of a ¡®true¡¯ world, and these were not true avatars, the divinity of the real self was not spent in this event.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thosepeting were naturally aware of these circumstances, as they had been fully researched by Darkme Technologies over the years since the release of the Virtual world. Thanks to this, the Virtual world became the favored ce in order to test new divine abilities, before sharing the memories of those abilities with the real self.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod was not unlike the other contestants, his reserves starting to suffer from the repeated battles. Unlike otherbatants, he was able to harvest the divinity of his opponent in order to create a ¡®meal¡¯, but he hardly had the time to eat and prepare his meal during the battle. If not for the action being banned during the tournament, he would have already synchronized himself with his real world self in order to restore his spent divinity.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Instead, he looked over at his opponent, who had just appeared, and knew that this was going to be a difficult battle. His opponent was one that Aznod recognized, another triple deity like himself. A heroc male wearing a soft blue robe and carrying a wooden rod in his hand. ¡°Libris.¡± Aznod said in greeting, the other party smiling.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ah, Aznod. It¡¯s been a while.¡± The God of Water, Mist, and Wind responded. Although he was a being who did not seek outbat, possessing three elemental domains made him an extremely terrifying foe.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod had encountered Libris during his travels years ago, and had be acquainted with the other god. Because of that, he was extremely wary of the other party¡¯s abilities. His eyes nced towards the countdown, and he could only hope that his opponent had been as drained as he was. ¡°Sorry, but I would like to see what sort of enhancement the Keeper can provide to my artifact.¡± Libris said sincerely, tapping his rod against the ground.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod¡¯s eyes went wide as a torrent of water rose up around Libris, rushing towards him. ¡°You even had your artifacts crafted virtually.¡± Aznod said in astonishment, to which Libris simply chuckled.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod lifted his hands, summoning a ck wall of me. This was his special energy, one which he could only use because it fell within the realm of his divinity. However, he had been reserving it as his trump card, knowing that he¡¯d need to be more careful once his opponents were aware of this power.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Libris watched in fascination as his wave of water was devoured by the wall of me. ¡°So you had some tricks as well¡­¡± He said, before his eye twitched as Aznod extended his own hand into the me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod retrieved a small cone of shaved ice from the wall of ck me, and grit his teeth before opening wide to consume the entire thing in merely two mouthfuls. Normally, as a god he would be immune to something like brain freeze. However, this was a treat made with divine energy itself, so he was out of luck in that regard.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is¡­ everything alright?¡± Libris asked in concern, Aznod nodding his head. He wasn¡¯t able to gain much divine energy from that attack, but it was better than nothing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°My turn.¡± He said, enduring the stabbing pain in his head as he rushed forward, forming a knife in either hand. Libris was briefly taken aback by the scene, before tapping his rod on the ground once again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This time, it seemed as if Aznod was prepared for the attack, diving straight into it while wrapping his body with the ck mes. Libris had no idea how much of this energy Aznod possessed, but it was likely more than enough to act as a shield for a short while.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Aznod emerged on the other end of the torrent, he was already directly in front of Libris. His right hand shed out at the heroc deity, whose body seemed to dissolve into vapor. ¡°You should know that shing attacks won¡¯t work against my body of mist.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing Libris¡¯s words, Aznod simply grinned. ¡°I am aware.¡± He said, activating the power of his Cooking domain. ¡°I just needed you to disperse for a moment.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">mes were a natural tool in cooking, and so Aznod was capable of wielding a certain degree of fire with his domain. However, this me was far from enough to injure most gods, which was why he had not used it in any of his earlier matches. In order for it to be effective, he had to ensure that his opponent was in a state where they would be susceptible to mes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, Aznod summoned his fire to engulf the area where Libris¡¯s mist was, using the mes to attack his misty body. Under this assault, Libris was forced to materialize again, subjecting himself to the assault of Aznod¡¯s knives while he used his Water domain to extinguish the mes. ¡°That was a dirty trick.¡± Libris protested, clearly having lost a lot of his energy to Aznod¡¯s mes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You have your reason to win, and so do I.¡± Aznod said simply, stabbing his knife directly into Libris¡¯s torso. Before Libris had the chance to dematerialize, he released a burst of ckk mes from his knife, consuming the majority of Libris¡¯s body in the process.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With that, Aznod released a deep breath of relief, mentally taking stock of his remaining energy. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Only enough for three or four more fights, if I¡¯m lucky.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He thought to himself, brow furrowing. It would make sense if the majority of his opponents from now on were equipped with their divine artifacts, just as Libris had been. Those who had not taken the extra effort to have their artifacts crafted for their Virtual selves would lose out on quite a lot ofbat power. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯ll need to find a way to replenish my divinity in theing battles, or else I won¡¯t make it to the end.</i>

 Chapter 848: The Words Of A Champion

    Chapter 848: The Words Of A Champion


    <span style="font-weight:400">The rest of the tournament passed by rather quickly. Now that the pool of contestants had been narrowed down so much, and their energy reserves depleted to this degree, each round was over after typically just a few moves. Those unfortunate enough to look away from the transmission would often miss a round or two of their favorite candidate, and may not even know how they were eliminated.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The final victor, unsurprisingly, was abat-oriented triple deity. This was Rnd Crom, the human God of Contest, Strength, and Speed. He wore a suit of divine artifact armor, and carried a golden spear, no doubt another divine artifact. Whether it was his equipment or his domains, he was able to outmatch most of his opponents. Only those with particrly unusual domains had been able to restrict him for a time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And there you have it, everyone!¡± Elisae announced on the stage, dering the end of thepetition. ¡°As promised, everyone who lost their Virtual selves will have their equipment kept safely until you register a new self toe and retrieve it. Now, will our winners join us on the stage?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°First, our third and fourth ce contestants, Jace Laran and Aznod!¡± Two figures rose up from the audience, flying over to join Elisae on the stage. ¡°And our runner-up contestant, Lana Seowith!¡± At her words, another figure flew out, this one the elven Goddess of Light, Darkness, and the Moon.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As promised at the start of the event, the three of you will be allowed to requisition a personal training program from the Sky Citadel¡¯s own Lifre.¡± Elisae announced, the three nodding their heads in gratitude. Even though they did not get the grand prize, this was still enough to give arge increase in their personal strengths.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And finally, will our champion join us on the stage, Rnd Crom!¡± She called out onest name, the armored figure of the human deity flying out to stand on the stage with a smile. ¡°Not only do you have the chance to receive a customized training program, but you have also won the right to have an artifact personally enhanced by the Keeper himself! Do you have any words to give to the audience?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Rnd took a deep breath, clearly happy to have made it this far. He did not seem arrogant, but rather had an amiable smile on his face. ¡°The words I have to speak go out to all gods, those who have lived their lives on one of the primary worlds, or within the Realm of Gods prepared by the Greater Pantheon.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Those who are content with such a life will find joy, but not strength. Presently, there are too many gods for the faith of man to properly enhance them. Only those with sessful businesses on Sanctum may find true growth, while most deities will struggle not to lose their divine energy.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In thest stages of this tournament, those who persevered with those who had made a name for themselves and had received the praise of the people. Jace Laran, subordinate deity to Terra herself. Aznod, the Holy Chef of Udona. And finally, Lana Seowith, the protector of Gandor. Because of your aplishments, you possess overwhelmingly more energy than other deities.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°However, there is another way, a path for those who find themselves unable to make a name in this world crowded with gods. So far, only the High Mother of the Metong and myself have walked this path, though she did so without intention.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The path I speak of lies among the stars. Seek out new worlds full of life, and enlighten them. Be the god to that civilization, and guide them into the future. This is a slow process, I admit, but one with boundless returns. Those who achieve this path will have the faith of an entire world to fuel themselves.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After giving this speech, Rnd stood fully upright, arms crossed behind his back. Rather than offer words of praise to the tournament itself, or try to promote a personal agenda, he had said what he said for the sake of the other gods watching the event. More than that, he had said those words for the sake of the entire world. With less gods roaming the world, there would be more power returned to the hands of mortals. Or at least, such was the intention behind his words.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well said.¡± Another voice spoke up from the sky, covering the arena. From the Sky Citadel, two figures descended. The first was naturally the Keeper himself, while the second was Tsubaki, the two floating down from the sky.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Will our four victors please join us in the Citadel?¡± The Keeper invited, looking towards the four contestants standing around Elisae. The four people looked at one another, pushing off from the ground to fly up towards the Keeper, who led them back into the sky.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing this, Elisae was left to address the audience, and make announcements such as the amount of money that had been raised by the charity event. Meanwhile, the four champions of the eventnded atop the citadel¡¯s courtyard one after another.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper looked at the four of them with a faint nod. ¡°The rest of you, please follow Tsubaki to meet Lifre, so you can make your requests for your training programs. Rnd, if you could wait here, we can cover your prize.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded her head, leading away the other three winners and leaving Rnd alone with the Keeper. Rnd waited patiently while the Keeper walked over to a nearby garden. ¡°I do appreciate the words that you said just now.¡± The Keeper answered while looking at the flowers. ¡°In truth, I had been concerned about that for some time, and was debating when would be the best time to address the issue.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I am pleased to have been of service.¡± Rnd answered, the Keeper nodding at that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In that case, may I ask what artifact you would like to have enchanted?¡± The Keeper asked, turning to face Rnd. There seemed to be a boundless energy within his gaze, one that actually made a god like Rnd find pause for a moment.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The artifact that I would like to have enchanted¡­ is this.¡± He said, flipping his wrist over to reveal a golden sphere. ¡°I have just received this item from Sorin¡¯s workshop. Its purpose is--¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper spoke up before Rnd had the chance to exin. ¡°It erects a barrier half a million kilometers across, and establishes a rule. Those with divine energy wishing to cross the barrier must pass a contest of strength with a projection of yourself left within the jewel. If they try to attack the barrier, that projection will rush out to fight on your behalf.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Rnd blinked, nodding his head. ¡°That is correct, sir.¡± He hadn¡¯t expected the Keeper to know about this new artifact, which he had only just received a few days prior. Or, instead of saying that the Keeper knew about it, he might have been able to identify the properties of the artifact with only a nce?


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper thought it over for a moment, before nodding his head. ¡°If you¡¯d like, I can strengthen the projection of yourself within the barrier. Alternatively, I could add multiple projections of various gods.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I would prefer if neither was the case.¡± Rnd answered with a small smile. ¡°As you noted, the barrier is both ways. I do not wish to lock the people of this world within a cage. Rather, I would ask that you add another function to the barrier, strengthening those that live within it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper looked at Rnd in surprise, not seeming to have expected a request like that. ¡°I see¡­ That is certainly within the realm of what I can offer.¡± Saying that, the Keeper stroked his chin. ¡°Have you supplied System Stones to the people of this world?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s correct, sir.¡± Rnd nodded his head. ¡°In order to guide them into the new age, I set up a trade agreement with the Metong to supply the world with these stones, in exchange for regr shipments of energy crystals required to produce them.¡± In truth, it was rather difficult for him to meet the demands of the trade agreement, as he had to do so from his own wealth. However, he nned to let the people of the world supply the energy for such in the future, once they had properly learned how to do so.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In that case, I know just what to do.¡± The Keeper held his hand out, Rnd passing him the barrier artifact. Nine domains lit up around the Keeper¡¯s hand, Rnd able to read the divine scripts for each. Games, Strength, and Wisdom upied one section. Life, Education, and Contest took another spot. And finally, there was Enchantment, Magic, and Speed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper closed his eyes, focusing on the usage of these nine domains. Looking at what domains he was using, Rnd was already excited to see the finished product. And thankfully, he didn¡¯t have to wait very long, the Keeper¡¯s divinity rapidly fusing into the item.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once he was done, the Keeper opened his eyes, passing the newly enhanced artifact back to Rnd. ¡°I¡¯ve done what I can. With my added enchantment, those living within the barrier will experience an increased growth rate for levels and skills.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thank you, sir.¡± Rnd said, bowing deeply towards the Keeper. He wasn¡¯t sure to what degree the enhancement was, but he would be able to test that outter. Just the extra addition of the effect itself would already provide his people with a great boon.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Don¡¯t thank me just yet.¡± The Keeper said with a smile, Rnd looking up at him in confusion. ¡°You have quite the trial ahead of you, young man.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">It had been a long time since anyone called Rnd a young man, but he simply looked at the Keeper, waiting for an exnation. ¡°That announcement you made isn¡¯t only going to cause the gods to seek out new worlds for themselves. It will also create apetition for already imed worlds. It is far easier to steal a world from a god that has already cultivated their world than it is for them to cultivate one themselves. Remember, fear is just as usible a way to earn faith from the masses as reverence.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Rnd furrowed his brow at that, offering a solemn nod. ¡°I was prepared for that oue when I made the announcement. Sooner orter, the world would be faced with that problem, and it would not be my world alone that had to resist them. If the Keeper has any advice for me, I would be happy to receive it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper nodded his head. ¡°My advice for you would be to cultivate subordinate deities among the people of your world. As you are already receiving the faith of that entire world, this wouldn¡¯t increase anything in that regard. However, it will add an extra line of defense to your world, forcing them to not only defeat you, but any gods under yourmand.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Rnd listened to the Keeper¡¯s advice, offering a small nod. ¡°That makes sense. However, the people of my world are still far too primitive. Once they have grown to a point where I can begin safely cultivating subordinate gods, I will be sure to heed your words. Until then, I shall defend my people to myst breath.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s also a mistake.¡± The Keeper shook his head. ¡°If it is the people that you are concerned about, then you should only fight a battle that you can be sure to win easily, at least until you have subordinates. Otherwise, the shockwaves of your fight could damage the you are aiming to protect. Worse yet, if you are defeated, the people of your world will receive an even worse treatment due to the temper of the god that defeated you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thus, if it is for the sake of your people, surrendering a world would be a wiser choice of action, should your opponent be strong enough to truly challenge you. You can always find another world to grow until you are strong enough to take it back. And until that time, you will still be receiving a measure of faith from the world that you surrendered, unless the one who acquired that world is such a benevolent ruler that the people do not wish for your return.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Rnd looked like he wanted to protest, saying that it was cowardly to back away from a fight like that. However, that would be cing his pride before the survival of an entire. Thus, he could only hold back his words, offering a nod. ¡°I will keep your words in mind, sir.¡±

 Chapter 849: Starlight

    Chapter 849: Starlight


    <span style="font-weight:400">Not long after the conclusion of the tournament, I found myself being called back to the Admin Room, Talon wanting to speak with me about her findings during the recent Keeper Meeting. Given that she had hired the Gilded Branch to keep an eye out for BloodBrother, I assumed that meant that they had found something.


    <table>


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    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: I¡¯m here, sorry for the wait.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aerial: It¡¯s not a problem. It¡¯s good to see that you¡¯re spending time in your world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Thanks. Did you manage to get anything from the meeting?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aerial: Well, yes and no. The Gilded Branch managed to identify BloodBrother with their scouts, so we have a good idea of where he spent his time. However, it doesn¡¯t look like he had any substantial meetings with other Keepers. He ate alone at the restaurant, and the only confrontations that he had with others at the meeting seemed to be hostile. So, at the very least, we can assume that he wasn¡¯t looking for any information broker in the meeting to learn more about you. If he¡¯s contacted anyone, it would have been through private channels.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Is that so? What are the odds that he didn¡¯t even know I was his opponent yet, because it was his turn to send out an attack this month?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aerial: I hadn¡¯t considered that. Really, he could have checked the public board to find out who his next opponent would have been, even if he hadn¡¯t sent his force yet. You¡¯ll be able to do the same when the information updates halfway through this month.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aerial: Just checked. Hisst round was a defense, so he was definitely aware of his next opponent in advance.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Could he just be that confident in his defensive power?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aerial: It¡¯s his home turf, and he¡¯s had a solid footing for decades. It wouldn¡¯t be unusual for him to be confident, especially looking at your record. The only victory you¡¯ve had against another Keeper was a nk te, and you¡¯ve only been around for a few short years. For an experienced Keeper like BloodBrother, you probably still look like a fresh fish.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aerial: If he were attacking, he¡¯d probably send enough enemies to be able to wipe out a normal Keeper of your rank, and wouldn¡¯t pay any attention to whether or not he seeded. Given that his ¡®weakness¡¯ appears to be the Void, which is a situation that only Fourth Rank or higher Keepers dabble heavily in most of the time, he probably assumes he is safe until he ranks up. At the same time, this means that his general troops will have a higherbat power than yours, so the only way for you to seize victory will be through the use of this weakness.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: I¡¯ve already prepared my forces. All that¡¯s left now is to wait for the attack deadline. I¡¯ve never used void entities in an attack before, so hopefully he won¡¯t have any reason to suspect it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aerial: Here¡¯s hoping! From the report I got from the Gilded Branch, he won an attack ticket, but not a defense one. So, if you are able to trap him, he won¡¯t have a way to force off the invasion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Alright, is there anything else that I need to be aware of, then?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aerial: Not that I know of! As long as you can keep your void troops a secret until the invasion happens, there won¡¯t be any reason for him to use his attack ticket to forcibly change his opponent.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Thanks. I¡¯ll let you get back to what you were doing, then.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aerial: You too. Thanks for helping me resolve my grudge.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod as I closed the chat, thankful that there didn¡¯t seem to be anything else that I needed to worry about when it came to the uing attack against BloodBrother. I smiled slightly, focusing on descending to my world once again.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">A young man sat within a dark void, specks of light like distant stars surrounding him in all directions. He extended one hand, and the stars gathered, forming a scimitar in his grasp. He released the de, and it formed a ring on his finger, before shattering and returning to the form of distant stars.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As he was performing his regr training, he felt a presence outside of his sanctuary. His eyes narrowed, his vision extending beyond the wall of his world. However, when he saw the identity of the intruder, his gaze softened, and he opened a door to allow them entry.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The person who entered his sanctuary was a silver-haired elf, not unlike Leowynn herself. Apparently, she modeled her body after Leowynn as soon as she was able to do so, something that he could somewhat understand. ¡°What is it, Hanya?¡± The young man asked in a gentle tone, the elf sticking her tongue out.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Can¡¯t I juste and visit the man I¡¯ll be spending the rest of my life with?¡± She asked in a yful tone, causing the man to chuckle. ¡°I got bored with my training, and wanted toe and hang out. I even thought of some practice that we could do for our uing battles.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh?¡± The man looked at her in interest. ¡°They haven¡¯t told us the specifics on what we will be expected to do, so how did you n to practice?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s easy!¡± Hanya nodded her head. ¡°They haven¡¯t told us what you¡¯ll need to do once we get there specifically, but we know that you¡¯ll be needing to alter stars in some way, right? Why else would they want a Fallen God of Starlight?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The young man nodded his head in confirmation, havinge to a simr conclusion long ago. ¡°I don¡¯t know what method they¡¯ll need me to employ, but you are correct. Still, what did you have in mind?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, if you want to practice altering stars¡­ why not head to Spica?¡± She asked with a smile, crossing her hands behind her back. ¡°The stars in Spica are the most special of anywhere in any world. If you can change them to produce different types of energy, surely you will have an advantage when ites to whatever it is that they ask us to doter!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The young man thought it over for a moment, before nodding his head again and rising to his feet. ¡°And I suppose you¡¯ll want toe along to watch?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Hanya saw the almost teasing smile on his face, she pouted her lips. ¡°Like I said, I am so bored! There¡¯s only so much that I can practice bing immune to. I know how to be immune to the elements, to known divine powers, any form of disease or poison I can encounter¡­ I¡¯ve learned how to be immune to practically everything except boredom!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Then it seems like you have some more training to do.¡± He grinned, taking a step to exit his sanctuary. ¡°Just like we know that they need me to tamper with the enemy¡¯s stars in some way, it will be your job to protect the two of us while I do so.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hanya let out a huff at that. ¡°I know¡­ but there¡¯s only so much that I can think of bing immune to. I¡¯ve already created a prettyprehensive line to let me see what outside influences are attempting to affect me, and then selectively be immune to the ones I deem harmful. Speaking of which, try not to talk above ny decibels, or you¡¯ll be filtered out.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The young man raised an eyebrow at that, but simply shook his head. ¡°Well, let¡¯s find Spica.¡± He turned his head, mentally identifying the numerous worlds within the void. He could see the Guardian standing vigil over Earth, though his armor seemed to have ckened in recent years. Likely a sign of evolution. Eventually, his eyes fell upon the familiar sphere in the distance, and he began walking along.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As the two of them walked through the void, they were able to see the multitude of other sanctuaries that had been erected for the other fallen gods. Some of them were known to the pair, while others often kept to themselves. It wasn¡¯t umon for them to look outside of their sanctuaries and find void monsters being hunted.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Are there any new beasts that we need to watch out for?¡± The young man asked, Hanya taking a moment to think about it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not that I know of. There was this onest week that randomly caused people to disappear if they weren¡¯t being observed by anyone. It was guing one of Deckan¡¯s secondary worlds, but someone stepped in to kill it a few hourster. Right now, I think that the biggest problem is still the one that is hovering around Lorek. I think it consumed excess mana? There have been some guys that went over to try to hunt it, but it chased them all off. It¡¯s not directly harmful, so the Guardian won¡¯t get involved, but¡­ it¡¯s making it a lot harder for people to cultivate on Lorek.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The young man furrowed his brows, nodding. ¡°That¡¯s why you wanted me to go to Spica instead of Lorek. If I make a mana star in Lorek, the energy will be extinguished immediately.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, that¡¯s certainly not going to make your job any easier!¡± Hanya tacitly agreed. Once the two arrived in front of Spica¡¯s sphere within the void, they each observed it carefully. ¡°So, where do you want to go to try this out? I imagine nowhere near the inhabited worlds?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The young man nodded his agreement. ¡°That¡¯s right¡­ this spot should do.¡± He said, opening a portal in front of them. Hanya didn¡¯t hesitate to jump through the portal, the young man following behind her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Woah¡­ a binary system! I heard that these are insanely rare in these realms because of the contradictory energies repelling each other.¡± Hanya looked with wide-eyed amazement as she saw the green and blue stars in the distance. Between the two of them was a constant ring of me, looking as if a storm was raging and swirling between two giants.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s why I wanted toe here.¡± He answered, his voice transmitted directly to Hanya. ¡°The light here won¡¯t reach any other world for quite a while. More importantly, even if it did, they would only receive the benefit of one star at a time, depending on which one was facing that world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hanya nodded her head quickly, looking back at her friend. ¡°So, what are you going to do to them, Geoff?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The young man, Geoff thought it over before looking at the green star. ¡°Let¡¯s test this one, first.¡± After saying that, he held one hand out towards the star, his eyes going pitch ck. Darkness seemed to radiate from his hand as he read the information of the star. ¡°As expected, it is a natural energy star, and it carries the fire element.¡± After saying that, he turned his arm to read the other star. ¡°Mana, and lightning element.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Geoff closed his eyes, focusing on the natural energy star first. The space around them rippled and distorted, darkness spreading out to engulf the area around them. It took only a few seconds for this darkness topletely surround the two stars, the explosions between them fading in response to this ck energy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Wow, you¡¯ve managed to expand your field to this level?¡± Hanya asked, seeming impressed by the aplishment.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s not difficult. Even this is less than a grain of sand within the void. Since I locked down the coordinates while we were outside, it¡¯s just a matter of using those to summon my sanctuary. Now, let¡¯s see what we can do here.¡± He looked at the green star once again, his ck eyes seeming to swirl with chaotic energy. ¡°Override local space, activate Starlight Principle. Modify source energy from Natural Energy to Ki. Modify attuned element from fire to lightning. Harmonize wavelengths with paired star.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The green star pulsed in response to his words, the green surface seeming to burn away into a deep orange light. Once the orange lightpletely covered the surface of the star, they only had to wait for a few moments to see the results. In the space between stars, where the constant storm had once existed, a new energy was forming. This energy seemed to take the shape of a miniature star, hovering between the other two and releasing a constant stream of chakra.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oooh! Nice!¡± Hanya held a thumbs up towards Geoff in praise. ¡°What happens if you try to make a star give off divine energy instead of one of the base types?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Geoff lifted a brow, also curious now that she had brought it up. ¡°Let¡¯s change location.¡± He said, removing his sanctuary and teleporting the pair to another distant star. Once there, he took a moment to analyze the local coordinates, and once again expanded his sanctuary around the blue star of this system. ¡°Override local space, activate Starlight Principle. Modify source energy from Mana to Divine Energy.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The star trembled at his words, Geoff watching intently to see if anything would happen. Parts of the surface of the star gradually seemed to turn gold, before the star copsed in on itself, erupting into a supernova that rapidly swept towards them. Geoff held out his hand, stopping the wave of energy from expanding in their direction, and shook his head. ¡°Thews of this world aren¡¯tpatible with divine stars like this. We would need an entirely new star, like the one used for Sanctum.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hanya pouted her lips, seeing the paused wave of nebulous energy. Thankfully, they chose an area that did not appear to have anys with life on them. ¡°Well, it was worth a shot, at least.¡± She said, shrugging her shoulders. ¡°Let¡¯s go and do more experiments! We saw that little chakra star, so¡­ what about a main star with an advanced energy?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Geoff smiled slightly, nodding at her enthusiasm. ¡°Let¡¯s go, then.¡±

 Chapter 850: Maid To Serve

    Chapter 850: Maid To Serve


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was only a few more weeks before Ashley was able to release the update for the world system. Apparently, what took the most time wasn¡¯t even deciphering the newly modified code of the other systems. Instead, what dyed them the most was creating a way to save skill proficiencies between updates. Understandably, she didn¡¯t particrly like the idea that everyone¡¯s skills would be wiped each time the code mutated like this and they had to update it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Either way, the code framework was in ce, and she <i><span style="font-weight:400">believed</i><span style="font-weight:400"> that it would work even if the skill proficiency system mutated in the future. Whether or not that would hold true would need to be tested when it happened.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, I had to say that Tsubaki was quite¡­ excited when the patch was released. Immediately, she immersed herself in training the new ss that she had been waiting for. It took her only a few minutes to first acquire the ss, and then she began using its abilities to feel out what it was meant for.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As if wanting to report her progress, Tsubaki kept me informed whenever a new ability was unlocked for the Maid ss. It was honestly amusing to watch her update me with her happily waving tails. Clearly, this was something that made her truly happy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Did you catch that, my Keeper?¡± She asked, drawing me out of my brief mental distraction. I looked up at her and nodded my head, smiling.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yes, you were saying that you have something akin to a knight¡¯s pledge weapon? Is it formed from your divinity like the knight weapon?¡± While I was wanting to avoid too much ovep, I thought it would be fine if it made her happy. Thankfully, she quickly denied my words.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Surprisingly not, my Keeper.¡± She shook her head. ¡°There seems to be a unique energybination formed from all four base elements, with ki being the leading factor. The system refers to this energy as ¡®Servant Force¡¯.¡± Her tails shook especially quickly when she reported the name.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Through testing the energy, I have found that it functions rather simrly to telekinesis, but it can be given a corporeal shape. Through this method, I can create any weapon that I am familiar with.¡± As if to demonstrate, she waved her hand, and a silver dagger appeared in it. After she released the dagger, it hovered in the air for a few moments before shattering, the fragmentsing together to form a staff.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This energy seems to be particrly suitable for forming avatars, as well. When I began experimenting with that, I found that my levels increased incredibly quickly. Essentially, the energy contains a subtle trace of my consciousness, allowing it to act even without me directly controlling it. When an avatar is formed of this energy, the consciousness is strengthened, and the avatar bes fully capable of acting as an independent copy of myself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once again, Tsubaki demonstrated this by creating an avatar of herself, though this avatar had silver hair instead of blonde. The avatar smiled, offering a deep bow while Tsubaki continued. ¡°Of course, I can still manually control the avatar if I want to, but this allows me to condense a higher number of avatars without focusing heavily on their every action. Normally, if I push myself, I can control ten avatars at a time. If I disregard my own safety, and keep the actions of the avatars as limited as possible, I can control up to one hundred.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°With this Servant Force, I can maintain fifty avatars without any strain on my body or mind, so long as I can maintain the output of energy. Because of their semi-independent consciousness, they are not constantly rying sensory feedback to me, as well. If one chooses to, they can ry information that they deem relevant. Alternatively, if an avatar is destroyed, they will automatically ry theirst ten seconds.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What is thebat power of the avatars like?¡± I asked curiously, knowing fully well that Tsubaki would have tested that extensively.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sure enough, she pursed her lips, shaking her head. ¡°They do not have ess to my divinity, or any energy outside of the Servant Force. Additionally, they only have as much of that energy as I provide at their conception. If they consume that, they can only manually request additional energy over our connection.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°With that in mind, they do possess my level of skill with various weapons and techniques, it is just that they are restricted to what they can do with their physical bodies and the Servant Force. Aside from that, theirbat effectiveness is quite limited. While they can remove hordes of lesser foes, an enemy deity would have no trouble dispatching them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After Tsubaki exined that, her avatar dipped its head lower. ¡°I apologize for not meeting your standard of battle, my Keeper.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± I shook my head quickly, not wanting to upset either Tsubaki. ¡°The fact that they can do this much is already amazing. It¡¯s like they were designed to allow a single maid to take care of an entire mansion, but at the same time they are able to act as secondary guards. Have you tried to create energy cores for other energies inside the avatars, to try and let them have some renewable power?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded her head. ¡°I have tried to do so, my Keeper. However, the Servant Force is notpatible with other energy types. After its fusion, all other energies seem to be treated as invaders, and are purged the moment they try to integrate. There may be the chance for this energy to evolve to the Saint level, but that would likely not happen until the ss reaches at least level five hundred.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod of understanding. It had only been two weeks, but Tsubaki had already climbed to level one hundred and fifty as a Maid. I had no doubt that she¡¯d be able to get another hundred levels easily before reaching a teau. As for level five hundred¡­ that would certainly take a long time for anyone


    <span style="font-weight:400">At the moment, there were only two sses that had reached beyond level five hundred in our entire system. And both of those sses are ¡®racial¡¯ sses, being the Martial Spirit and World Spirit sses. Understandably, the former was held firmly by Scarlet, while thetter was something that the various perfected World Spirits had achieved.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I see. Is there anything else that you¡¯d like to report, then?¡± I asked curiously. This Servant Force was a more advanced feature of the Maid ss, with the basic functions being ways to identify what the maid¡¯s ¡®master¡¯ wanted. Alternatively, they could create energy nodes that functioned as permanent security cameras through special mana techniques.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In truth, there were¡­ also quite a lot ofbat abilities of the Maid ss. Not only this ability to create weapons, but even lower level skills focused around concealing weapons, or using any improvised tool as a weapon. While I wouldn¡¯t say that they were as strong as a purelybat ss of the same level, they were certainly not weak either.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki thought it over for a moment, before nodding her head quickly. ¡°There is one other usage for this Servant Force, my Keeper. I had almost forgotten, as I could not imagine it being used very often between the two of us.¡± Well, that just had me even more interested.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Go on.¡± I told her, gesturing for her to continue.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki smiled, nodding her head again. ¡°It is possible to form a pact with a single individual through the Servant Force. After forming this pact, I would be able to make my avatars take on your appearance and personality, as well as gaining yourbat-oriented training. Finally, I believe that we would have a permanent mental connection due to the subtle consciousness of this energy.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡­ see. May I ask why you didn¡¯t imagine this being used?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask, Tsubaki giving a somewhat wry smile.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I mean no disrespect to you, my Keeper. However, I believe that my own personalbat training would cause the avatars of myself to have more powerful capabilities than the avatars I create of you. While you are undeniably more powerful than myself, this is because of the advantages that you possess as a Keeper. These advantages would not be transferable to my avatars. At most, they would serve as body doubles, but I would rather avoid such a tactic that would have me see your image destroyed.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked, surprised at how blunt Tsubaki was being with her assessment. ¡°Wow, really not holding back there, are you?¡± I asked with a small grin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki dipped her head low, cheeks flushed. ¡°I apologize, my Keeper. I will ept any punishment for my words that you deem fit to give.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I thought about it for a moment, before nodding and standing up. She seemed surprised that I was actually going to punish her, but only dropped her head a bit lower in preparation. Without a word, I walked over towards her, reaching my hand out¡­ and stroked the head of the silver-haired Tsubaki. ¡°This shall be your punishment.¡± I said in a somewhat yful tone, both Tsubaki¡¯s stiffening at the same time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Slowly, the original Tsubaki lifted her head, curious what I was doing, and saw the silver tails shaking wildly next to her, her avatar pushing her head into my hand. She stared at her clone, eyes narrowing in what I could easily guess was envy, while I simply chuckled in response. ¡°I¡¯m proud of you for being willing to say something like that to me.¡± I told her in an honest tone, Tsubaki blinking in surprise.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Then, can I also..?¡± She asked, lowering her head once again in a rather obvious gesture. I let out a heartyugh at that, stepping over to pet her head as well.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Now, even if my avatars would be weaker than yours, I think it is important that we do this pact.¡± My voice was gentle as I pet both of the fox girls before me. ¡°There is a chance that you will eventually face a milestone in your advancement, where you won¡¯t be able to progress if you do not have this pact for a certain duration or something like that. We can alreadymunicate through our divinity, and the new private messaging system makesmunication especially easy. However, for the sake of your growth, we should perform this pact regardless. Who knows, there might be special details of it that you haven¡¯t inferred yet?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki gave a small nod, keeping her head against my hand. It was the silver-haired Tsubaki that acted first, bringing her hand up to gently grab my wrist. ¡°Do you ept me as your servant, my Keeper?¡± She asked, bands of silver light forming over both of our wrists.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course, my Tsubaki.¡± I responded, both of the girls going stiff for a moment at that form of address, before their tails became even more energetic. I could feel the energy from the avatar seeping into my body, rushing towards my soul. There, an image of Tsubaki appeared, kneeling before the golden orb of my soul.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Congrattions! You have formed a Noble Contract with the Maid, Tsubaki.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As the ruling Noble in this contract, you are capable of summoning your Maid at any moment through the power of this contract. Alternatively, the contract may function as a spatial passage between Noble and Maid, allowing for the transfer of items and energies between the two parties. However, the control of this passage is granted entirely to the Noble.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It is done, my Keeper.¡± The original Tsubaki said, her voice radiating happiness, but not the level of surprise that I would expect if she were aware of the message that I had seen.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It seems that you weren¡¯t entirely aware of what this contract entailed, after all.¡± I said with a grin, Tsubaki looking up at me in surprise.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What do you mean?¡± She asked, and I began to exin to her the message that had appeared after the contract was signed. Her eyes went wide, and she let out a soft gasp.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Clearly, this was meant as a way for the Noble to reinforce their Maid, through either the delivery of coins to purchase items on their behalf, or energy to enable them to fight longer. Granted, Tsubaki was the one that managed the treasury of the Citadel, but this would let me temporarily give her items such as the divine tomes I had been creating, or my near endless reserves of ki or mana. Certainly, the passage would be more practical for other nobles and maids, but it was quite convenient for our situation.

 Chapter 851: Attack

    Chapter 851: Attack


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Chelsea is here, my Keeper.¡± A silver-haired Tsubaki spoke up, interrupting my training within my study. Unlike the original avatar that Tsubaki made from her new Servant Force, the mass-produced ones that she used now had varying numbers of tails depending on the importance of their work


    <span style="font-weight:400">Single-tailed ones like the one before me served as messengers or handled basic chores. Those with two tails were in charge of more important tasks such as maintaining key systems of the Sky Citadel. And finally, the rare three-tailed Tsubaki avatar was in charge of coordinating with Gerard to handlemunications with the rest of the world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The difference in the number of tailsrgely detailed the amount of energy that each avatar contained, as each of their tails served as an energy core for Servant Force. Although they could not hold any other energy, Tsubaki had borrowed the evolutionary idea from James to use multiple tails as energy cores, assembling her avatars with that function in mind.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I understand. I¡¯ll be right along. Have Geoff and Hanya arrived yet?¡± I asked, slowly rising to my feet. The time had finallye to send off these two Fallen Gods that we had trained, and teach them the true meaning of their mission. It still left a bitter taste in my mouth, knowing that we were sending them to a certain death, but at least they were being allowed to keep their Virtual selves on the servers permanently.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If there ever came a time when the Virtual world evolved to be a true world, taking its ce within the void, it would be akin to offering the two of them a true resurrection. Until then, they would simply have to live normal lives. After all, without a connection to the void, Fallen Gods like themselves could not exercise their full power. They would only have ess to their other abilities until that time came.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not yet, my Keeper. Lady Leowynn reports that they will be along shortly.¡± As Tsubaki answered, I moved to walk past her while patting her shoulder.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thanks.¡± I smiled, Tsubaki nodding her head quickly. Once I left the room, she immediately entered it to begin cleaning. Meanwhile, I began making my way out towards the courtyard, passing the various Tsubaki¡¯s, Dana¡¯s, and Lifre¡¯s along the way. Funny enough, once they learned about the pact and the avatar ability of the Maid ss, both of the other two immediately began training it themselves.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At this point, Tsubaki was still the highest level maid, not only in the Citadel but in the entire world. That said, I was certain that there were other extremely diligent maids or butlers out there that wouldn¡¯t be far behind her. Probably a fair few from the ninja ns, especially after learning about the avatar abilities.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once I exited out into the courtyard, I could see Chel waiting for me, sitting on an old stone bench and looking at the flowers. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve seen this species before.¡± She said as she admired the garden.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a faint chuckle, shaking my head. ¡°You can thank Tsubaki for that. She¡¯s been tending the garden here since she first joined. Before her, the flowerbed was barren. Those might be extinct in the rest of the world by now.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After I said that, I felt a faint ripple in the air. ncing over, I saw a void portal opening just outside of the citadel¡¯s barrier. Emerging from it was an elven woman and a human man, who I was able to recognize from the reports as the two Fallen Gods.


    <span style="font-weight:400">They walked up to the barrier, cing their hands on it. As soon as they did so, Gerard appeared from thin air before them, seeming to assess them with his eyes. Once he had done so, the barrier opened for the pair, and they entered. I could tell as soon as they appeared that they were both wearing their Virtual synchronizers. However, the watch-like devices had been broken beyond repair, signifying that they had no intention of synchronizing with their avatars again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was something that I had personally requested, that they synchronize beforeing here, and that their devices were destroyed before they received the critical intelligence. I didn¡¯t want to risk the off chance that they decided to do so before leaving, and identally passed sensitive information off to their Virtual selves.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thank you both for joining me.¡± I said with a respectful nod, the pair bowing. ¡°I¡¯m sure you must be curious about the mission that I¡¯m sending you on. Why I haven¡¯t said anything about it until now, and why I insisted that you be trained so far in advance.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two didn¡¯t say anything, but I could tell from their expressions that I wasn¡¯t far off. ¡°As you have been told¡­ this mission is one that you are guaranteed not to return from. Whether you seed or fail, there will be no way back. The first reason that I needed you trained so far in advance was to make sure that you understood and epted this fact.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The second reason was because I am <i><span style="font-weight:400">only</i><span style="font-weight:400"> sending the two of you on this dangerous mission. I had to be sure that your skills were as polished as possible. If I could, I would have liked to have waited another ten years to send you off, but that is not feasible.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As for why this mission has been so secretive¡­ It is because the technique that you are about to receive for the mission could potentially destroy all of creation. Chelsea, if you would?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea nodded her head, standing up from the bench and walking over to Geoff. ¡°What I¡¯m about to give you is an extremely powerful void script. With your fallen domain of Starlight, you will be able to install this script onto a star. Once you do so, you¡¯ll need to immediately leave the area. Head back into the void, and look for other universes to install the script in.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea held her hand out, focusing. A void gate opened above her palm, dark energy falling down to create a single ck coin. And then two white coins. ¡°Both of you, take these white coins and break them immediately. That will grant you both the anti-meme to resist the initial effects of what I am about to give you. Geoff, once you have done so, break the ck coin. That will give you the knowledge of the memetic effect and how to implement it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two nodded their heads, taking the coins and snapping them between their fingers. When they did so, information seemed to rush into their minds, causing them to gasp. Geoff¡¯s eyes went wide. ¡°This is¡­ so destructive. An effect that is meant to end all life¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± I nodded my head. ¡°This is something a friend of mine refers to as the Death Star. Those who see this light will seek a way to end their own lives, with the effect far surpassing the speed of light. Furthermore, it will infect other stars, spreading the effect. Also¡­¡± I nced at Chel.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The script has a low mutation rate. One in every ten million stars will develop a mutation of some variety, with the most malicious and deadly effects being the ones that carry over. Within one month of initial infection, half of the stars had gained the ability to vaporize all matter that their light touched. The other half maintained the initial effect, but mutated into giant eyeball-like monsters that roamed the cosmos, consuming entires.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel shuddered at that. ¡°One in ten million is naturally low¡­ but when you are operating on the scale of trillions, it means that you are guaranteed thousands of different mutations. And if the method of determining the dominant infection is what you described¡­ this is going to get very dangerous.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Exactly.¡± I nodded, before turning to face the other two. ¡°That is why, unless you are installing this script onto a star, you must absolutely remain in the void at all times. Additionally¡­ there is a high likelihood that the enemy you are facing possesses civilized cultures. Yes, these arergely innocent beings. However, there is no way for us to save them. The enemy will be merely using them as farms to train their creations. While it sounds cruel, death would be a mercy.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What¡­ what sort of monsters would take such lengths to eradicate, that we need to destroy all that exists?¡± Hanya asked, her voice shaking. I let out a small sigh, clearing my thoughts to exin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The entity you are attacking is known as BloodBrother. Like myself, he is a Keeper of another world system. However, he does not seek to raise peaceful beings or prosperous civilizations. Instead, his goal is to cultivate disease. Every monster that is known to exist within his world has some method of deploying a devastating gue. Their gods turn death itself into a disease.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Others like myself have tried to defeat BloodBrother in the past, but all ended in failure. They tried entities immune to biological disease, powerful armies, even world-shattering bombs. The only weakness that we can perceive from these attempts is that he likely does not possess any form of defense against memetic effects like the one that we have given you. If it were possible, I would much prefer to keep the innocents in his realm alive¡­ but the odds are almost certain that those innocents are themselves carrying some horrific gue. And after BloodBrother is defeated, his universe will be beyond salvation. It is for that reason that we are going with this tactic.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°To prevent him from harming an endless number of lives in the future, we have tomit an unspeakable atrocity now. That, Hanya, is why we required a Fallen God of Immunity like yourself. Only someone with your power would be able to protect the two of you from any diseases you may encounter at the moment of arrival.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hanya bit her lip, but ultimately nodded her head. ¡°I¡­ I understand, sir. And thank you for not letting this information be carried to our Virtual selves¡­ I wouldn¡¯t want her to know what we¡¯re about to do.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Geoff clenched his fists, knowing that it would be him that pulled the trigger to end every life in the universe. ¡°I¡­ will follow your wishes, sir. This is what we have trained for. If the enemy we face is truly this fearsome, we have no choice.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded, d that they were epting, albeit reluctantly. ¡°There is onest thing. The enemy you face this time must absolutely not be allowed to gather information from you, under any means. If you are captured and have no method of escape, or if you are about to die¡­ you must detonate your own souls.¡± Their faces went pale when I said that, but I continued. ¡°If you are captured, or if the enemy has a chance to extract your soul, they will be able to gather information about this world. Information about our strengths, defenses, our weaknesses.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This information will undoubtedly be passed on to other enemies, who will use it to attack us. I do not like having to say this, but that information could easily spell the downfall of everything. In fact, it is almost certain to. BloodBrother possesses an item that will allow him to attack a target of his choice.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If we inflict significant damage upon him, and he receives any information from the two of you, he will certainly use this item to send a wave of nigh-unstoppable gues back at us. Thus, as the caretaker of this world system, I must ask that you understand my position when I say that this must be done.¡± I gave a deep bow, both of respect and apology, which seemed to surprise the two.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We understand.¡± Hanya said hurriedly, looking ufortable at receiving my bow. ¡°Like you said¡­ it¡¯s for the sake of everyone. We know what we have to do, sir.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">She reached down, gripping Geoff¡¯s hand with her own and turning her head to look at him. ¡°We¡¯ve been prepared to spend the rest of our lives together for years, and we knew that we may not have much time left. That¡¯s why¡­ our only request is that you look after our Virtual selves. Let them live the lives we couldn¡¯t.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head. ¡°I swear on my name as Keeper. No¡­ on the name Dale Mitchell, my true name.¡± I told them, causing the two to look at me in surprise again. ¡°I¡¯ll make sure that your Virtual selves receive every support imaginable. The two of you are unquestionably heroes to the world, and I will make sure that they receive the proper treatment to reflect this.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two of them smiled when they heard that, nodding their heads. As I rose, I saw that there were only a few seconds before the time of departure. I thought I had more time to see if they needed anything else, but they arrivedter than I had expected. ¡°It¡¯s time.¡± I said gently, choosing the two of them as my invading force. A pitch ck door opened behind them, causing them to look back to face it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When the door slowly began to open, the two clenched their hands together, steeling their resolve. They walked forward, past the door which closed behind them. And thus, the invasion was sent. Whatever happened from this point on was outside of my control.

 Chapter 852: A Lonely Tower

    Chapter 852: A Lonely Tower


    <span style="font-weight:400">The majority of the gods had left the primary worlds, racing into the sky through their various methods with new horizons in mind. Those without the skill to perform long-distance travel urately on their own chartered the use of a small spacecraft equipped with a warp drive. Others gathered supplies and made their way to the Fairy Gates within every world, hoping to ess a random world while carrying with them the key home.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Regardless, less than a tenth of all mortal gods remained within the primary worlds, thosecking either the need or ambition to seek out their own worlds to guide into the future. However, not all of the worlds chosen by the departing gods were unimed. Some already had their own deific sponsors.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A primary example of this was none other than Tower¡¯s world for the Nethrak. In recent years, they had begun to slowly integrate themselves with the rest of the worldmunity, but their presence was stillrgely unknown. After all, any new fighter that wished to leave the must have the strength to defeat a god. And any veterans wishing to guide others would need to defeat multiple gods while protecting their charges.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was by no means an easy task, the number of victors passing each year reaching no higher than the double digits. As such, there were less than a thousandhrak or slimes that had left Tower¡¯s world. And those that did had no concept of where their home was within the night sky.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, when it was discovered on long-distance scans of various voyages, and reported back to the home world, the two worlds were seen merely as newly active worlds that showed surprising signs of activity. A prime target for these new gods to seek to take for themselves.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tower sat within his office, his mind preupied on the various explorations within the dungeon. As a god that had never once returned to Earth since his departure, he had never learned of the way to get multiple domains. Furthermore, the other dungeons which were connected to him had not ryed the information due to the special nature of Tower¡¯s existence preventing him from taking advantage of it. Instead, he remained purely as the God of Monsters, just as Pietra remained the God of Evolution, and Atraxi the God of Slimes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The three gods had grown somewhat close over the many, many years since the creation of their worlds, and would often discuss matters that they found interesting with one another. For instance, when there was a new slime mutation that devoured dead monsters in order to create eggs containing that monster¡¯s gic makeup, Tower asked if he could rear some of them for his dungeon. Ever since, he had been able to include monster eggs as a reward within treasure chests, bringing the Monster Tamers a new method of acquiringpanions.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was why he did not immediately think anything of it when Atraxi pinged him with a small spike of mana, merely ncing away from his dungeon to see what the other god was wanting. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Is there something you need?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He asked curiously.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Two ships have just appeared within our system. My brother is watching over them, but they seem to being for us.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Tower paused when he heard that. He had chosen this region of space because of how remote it was, with the hope that future travel would not directly descend on this world. After all, the purpose of his central dungeon would be moot if people could simply leave on a chartered voyage.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now that people were just now beginning to make their way through this final dungeon, travelers had arrived? Tower initially thought that the people of Earth must have had some special means to discern the whereabouts of this system by studying those that had left. As such, he gave a small sigh, sending the crystal avatar of his body out into space.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tower appeared next to Atraxi and Pietra, both looking at the ships approaching their worlds. With Tower¡¯s world being closer, it seemed as if they were first going to stop at his to investigate, allowing the three local gods to ce themselves in the path of the intruders.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When the ships saw this, they slowly came to a stop, far away from the positions of the three gods. They couldn¡¯t tell what was happening aboard the ships, but soon two figures emerged. One of the figures was a human woman, the other an Ursa male, both radiating powerful divinity.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Are gods somon now among the home world that every ship will have one?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Tower wondered to himself, before marveling at the sight of the two ships turning and entering warp again, as if having abandoned the pair of gods.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">You should leave now.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Atraxi transmitted to the two new gods. <i><span style="font-weight:400">We do not mean to be rude, but we have nothing here for the two of you. Our worlds are not meant to be hospitable to the normal races.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Atraxi¡¯s words were entirely valid, as the slime world was <i><span style="font-weight:400">literally</i><span style="font-weight:400"> a world made of slime. Even thehrak did not dare to venture there, as the very air would slowly consume them. As for Tower¡¯s world, it was an arctic unfit for habitation by most races. Since they saw the two gods as travelers looking to act on behalf of the homeworld, Atraxi wanted to give this warning as a friendly gesture.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Nothing for us, huh?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The human woman responded with a grin, eyeing the frozen in the distance, as well as the seemingly paradise further beyond. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Lenner, like we agreed. They¡¯re just a bunch of single domains, so let¡¯s just take what we¡¯vee for. They wouldn¡¯t have had time to integrate into the cultures here anyways.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The ursa man nodded his head, golden light erupting around his body as he assumed a fighting stance. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Forgive me, friends, but I must ask that you leave. We havee here for these worlds. If the three of you act together, you will surely find another to upy. Please, do not make this difficult.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tower narrowed his crystal eyes, which glowed with divine light. As one that often associated with unfamiliar gods, he long ago learned the method of identifying the opponent¡¯s domain. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Strength, Combat, and Fists?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Tower blinked in surprise. <i><span style="font-weight:400">There are those among the homeworld that have three domains now?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Even Atraxi and Pietra looked confused at that, Tower¡¯s eyes ncing at the other woman. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Fire, Destruction, and Pain¡­ she does not seem like a deity that we can take lightly.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two invading gods looked perplexed by Tower¡¯s words, as if he were never aware of Triple Gods in the first ce. Such a thing had long ago be known to the world, so what was going on here?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tower ced his hands behind his back, addressing the ursa that seemed to have a measure of honor, unlike the woman whose personality could likely be measured by her domains. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Am I to understand that you wish to fight us if we do not vacate our worlds?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He asked for rification.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I am sorry, friend.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The ursa said with a nod, pushing aside his confusion. <i><span style="font-weight:400">We are all here for the same thing, so I do not wish this to lead to blows if it can be avoided.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Despite saying that, he maintained hisbat stance, not underestimating the three local gods with unusual forms. In the minds of the two invaders, they likely took those forms to integrate with the local races.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I see¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Tower nodded his head, his transmitted voice bing dark. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It would appear as if the world has forgotten about me. Pietra, Atraxi, would you mind allowing me to handle this?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two slimes nodded their heads, immediately flying backwards to leave Tower alone with the two Triple Gods. The woman sneered at the response, her eyes fixated on Tower. <i><span style="font-weight:400">A single God of Monsters wants to stand up to two Triple Gods in a battle? Don¡¯t say that we did not give you a chance.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I would like to return those words to you.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Tower responded. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I am called Tower, the God of Monsters. I once tested mortals seeking to achieve the truth of perfection. Now¡­ if you leave this ce, I will forgive your trespass. If you do not¡­ do not say that I didn¡¯t give you a chance.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The woman scoffed at that, crossing her arms as if to say that she had no intention of interfering. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Lenner, deal with this quickly, and let us im our new homes.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The ursa nodded his head, his brow twitching in annoyance at the woman¡¯s tone. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Then, friend, please forgive me. I will be taking the first move.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He said, the golden light gathering on his fist, before punching out. The force of the punch easily transcended space and arrived at Tower¡¯s crystal body before he had the chance to react, shattering it into dust.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The woman let out a silentugh, muffled by the empty space around her. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Such an arrogant god was bluffing in front of us?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">No¡­ he was not bluffing.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Lenner responded, his eyes grave as he looked at the spot where Tower¡¯s body had been. <i><span style="font-weight:400">That was merely an avatar. His true self is still nearby.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">After he said that, the two winced as a powerful voice entered their minds. Lenner¡¯s eyes went wide in shock as he realized that the voice wasing from the nearby. Not someone <i><span style="font-weight:400">on</i><span style="font-weight:400"> the, but the itself! <i><span style="font-weight:400">I tried to warn you.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Golden portals appeared within the space between the two gods and Tower¡¯s world. Tens at first, and then hundreds. From each, a different figure emerged, feral monster gods whose domains immediately began to spread around them. Fire, ice, wind, darkness, water, so many ovepping domains that it made the two gods retreat by half a step.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, the biggest portal appeared behind them, a scaled w gripping at its exterior. The portal itself was tens of kilometers across, the figureing through it an utterly monstrous dragon with six wings and red scales. <i><span style="font-weight:400">So, you are finally letting me exercise, Tower?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> A booming mental voice rang out in the surroundings, its mere presence shattering some of the weaker monster gods.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lenner and the woman were immediately rmed, unsure of where they should be looking. The horde before them all consisted of monster gods, while the creature behind them seemed to be unreasonably powerful in its own right.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The voice of the spoke once again. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Your target is the Goddess of Fire, Destruction, and Pain. Leave the other one alive, as he is at least polite.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The dragon scoffed, its breath carrying a wave of force that pushed the two back over a hundred kilometers, closer to the horde. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Fine. At least you¡¯ve prepared a decent snack for me.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The woman¡¯s eyes trembled as she looked at the dragon, fully mobilizing her divine power after learning that she was the creature¡¯s target. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Do not underestimate me, beast! You will experience a painful death the likes of which you have never imagined!</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The dragon paused, blinking at the woman. Just as she began to think that it was intimidating, it let out a roaringugh. <i><span style="font-weight:400">A painful death? From just you?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The dragon bared its teeth in amusement, having finally pulled its full body from the portal, though the portal remained in ce behind it. There was even a golden chain wrapped around the dragon¡¯s tail, seeming ready to pull him back if he tried to escape.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I am¡­ oh, what was the term that Tower used to describe me?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> It asked, before grinning. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Oh, yes¡­ the End Boss.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The woman lifted her brow, before scanning the dragon¡¯s domain. <i><span style="font-weight:400">A God of Endings?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> For the first time, her face appeared to be concerned. She gathered a ck me around her body, condensing a spear in one hand. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Even if you are the God of Endings, I shall y you.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The dragon simply kept that same grin, staring at the woman. <i><span style="font-weight:400">All thingse to an end.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> It said, its voice radiating out into the space around it. Lenner staggered, golden mist flying off his back as he faced the horde, over half of which seemed to dissolve from the force of its words.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The woman, on the other hand, had a far worse fate as the primary target of the attack. The ck fires around her were snuffed out, her spear shattering. Her power seemed to entirely leave her, her eyes wide in shock. How old must this god be for it to have umted such power? And what was Tower that it could force the obedience of such a creature?


    <span style="font-weight:400">The dragon paid no mind to her inner panic, slowly bringing its massive head down towards her. He had intentionally left her just enough of her divinity to leave her alive and conscious, but not enough for her to escape. She could only watch as its massive jaws opened, fully shrouding her in darkness as they passed around her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once they mped shut, there was nothing left that could be seen of the woman, and the golden chain had already begun to pull the dragon back towards the portal. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I get it. I¡¯m going back. </i><span style="font-weight:400">The dragon said in annoyance, looking at Lenner as if having missed a decent meal. Still, it turned its body and began crawling back into the massive portal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The rest of the monster gods stopped in ce, having just been about to charge at Lenner when he suffered the burst of power released by the dragon god. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Do you submit, ¡®friend¡¯?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Tower¡¯s voice boomed into Lenner¡¯s mind, causing his brow to twitch in pain.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lenner forced his half-destroyed body to move, not daring to try to fix himself in his present state. He sped his fists together, offering a small bow that would not show his caved-in back. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Thank you for your leniency.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying so, he began to back away, only to be stopped by the same voice. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Not so fast. Before you go¡­ I have some questions for you. It seems that there is much that I need to hear about the homeworld.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lenner clenched his teeth, but nodded his head in eptance. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Then, may I ask that you dismiss your army so that I may approach?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tower did not say anything in response. However, golden chainsshed out of each portal, wrapping around the legs and necks of every monster god and dragging them back through their portals. Unlike the dragon god, these were far more forceful, able to immediately pull the monstrous figures back. Or perhaps the dragon god had been able to resist this powerful force without being moved.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once each monster was gone, its portal closed, as did the portals of those in as coteral damage. <i><span style="font-weight:400">They have been dealt with. Though, now I shall need to find recements for them, after our conversation.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Oddly, Tower seemed pleased at that thought, making Lenner wonder if the other god enjoyed the sight of its army being destroyed for some reason.

 Chapter 853: Spreading The Good Word

    Chapter 853: Spreading The Good Word


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I see¡­¡± Tower muttered after Lenner had left his office, transported directly back to Earth. He himself was not very skilled with portals, or else he would have never taken the starship to this world in the first ce. Thankfully, portals were a specialty of dungeons like Tower, so it was incredibly easy to return him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">During their conversation, Tower had learned about the secondary methods of ascension, whether it was the forging of divinity or cultivation of Lorek. When he questioned the dungeons he was connected to, he learned that there was even a rumor that a certain god could produce domains for other gods in the form of a dish.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Upon further questioning, the reason that the dungeons did not tell him about these methods was that they were unlikely to be able to use them. A dungeon core could not even enter Lorek, or it would explode in a ming congration that destroyed itself and everything around it. The divine forging was even more unlikely to work, because they were a Unity God instead of a normal one. Their divinity was thebination of ten thousand dungeon cores all working together, and would have too many impurities to forge.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That left the unconfirmed cuisine ascension, or the method that monster gods used to ascend. Unfortunately, Tower had no way to find those primordial relics, unless he used the monsters working for him as bloodhounds. Even then, there was no guarantee that he could find one that he wanted. As such, he had to find an alternative method.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Atraxi, Pietra.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Tower whispered through his mana,municating to the other two gods. He quickly exined the contents of the conversation that he had with Lenner. <i><span style="font-weight:400">The two of you should pay a trip to Earth and have your divinities forged, and then make a trip to Lorek. Either leave behind avatars, or I will watch over your world while you are gone.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">He knew that it was a simple matter for the two of them to control numerous avatars, having had little else to do for a very long time but train themselves. <i><span style="font-weight:400">What about you?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Atraxi asked curiously, Tower shaking his head.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">These methods will not work on myself. If possible, you might be able to trigger an evolution within my divinity once you have achieved your third domain, depending on what domains you go for. That is the power I see in your Evolution domain.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I understand. Then, we shall leave behind a pair of avatars. If you have anything you want tomunicate to us, you can let us know through them.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tower thought about it for a moment, before nodding. <i><span style="font-weight:400">There is one thing. We are all Mother¡¯s children. Please pass a message along to Earth to inform them that they should not be making any attempts on our two worlds. Apparently, they have had the same thought as I, to use the divinity of a species to fuel themselves. However, instead of making their own worlds, they seek to grab existing worlds.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a brief pause as the two slimes regarded his words. Eventually, Pietra spoke up to confirm. <i><span style="font-weight:400">We will do as you say. We would also prefer not to have these invaders be a regr event. It is not easy to withstand the energy waves of your ¡®end boss¡¯.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tower chuckled at that, shaking his head. In truth, he had been overly cautious when he summoned that dragon. Looking at the power level of the two gods, the horde of other gods would have been more than enough. In fact, he might have lost even less of his monsters if he had simplymanded the horde to attack than from the coteral damage of the dragon.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, the only Triple God that he had encountered before was Aurivy herself, making him immediately pull out the strongest power under his control to contend against them. The dragon slumbering at the heart of the world, meant to be the ultimate boss for the central dungeon, but also kept there as a form of imprisonment. If Tower were to let him free, it would spell the end for any world that drew its eye. Thus, he could only keep the beast within his dungeon until the day that adventurers were powerful enough to kill it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°While they¡¯re gone, I suppose that I should begin capturing some recements.¡± He muttered to himself. With half of his monsters in, a great vacancy had opened within his dungeon. As they were the weakest of his monster gods, this meant that the difficulty for the central challengers would be drastically increased until he managed to fill that vacancy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tower closed his eyes, tapping into his Monster domain to search for new monster gods. His mental energy rumbled when he saw just how many there were flying around in space. Originally, he had thought that his dungeon would be enough to keep them in check, but such a thing was obviously no longer possible.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He long knew that the primordial relics were not unique. There were multiple monster gods of Fire, Wind, or Water within his dungeon. Or¡­ well, there <i><span style="font-weight:400">were</i><span style="font-weight:400">. Either way, it meant that the relics themselves were merely shattered fragments off the original whole, and there was no telling how many fragments there could be out there.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tower shook his head, but also wondered if there might be too many monster gods to be exined by the scattered relics. Perhaps they had found an additional method to ascend? He was intrigued by that concept, and decided to interrogate the ones that he had found for answers.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Atraxi and Pietra quickly made their way to Earth, sent over by one of Tower¡¯s portals. When they appeared, they could immediately sense the changes in the air from thest time they were there. For one, there was far more ambient energy, but they could also sense numerous local gods.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We should hurry.¡± Pietra said, Atraxi nodding as they flew off from the ind where they had been deposited, making their way rapidly to the maind. Neither of them knew exactly where to go to report the status of their world, but they knew how to find the temples of Aurivy. They originally thought about praying to her directly, but did not wish to interrupt her if she was busy with other matters.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once they reached the maind, they arrived at the first city that they saw, sprawling with people of various races. Aside from the rare golem or Rainbow-Eyes, the two were familiar with all of the races that they witnessed. They nodded their heads in satisfaction, d that the races themselves had not changed drastically, though there were quite a few beastkin with multiple tails.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Spreading their senses out, they immediately located a temple with a statue of Aurivy, making their way towards it. When they arrived, they saw a steady stream of peopleing and going, paying different types of coins and asking for transportation to unfamiliar locations.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two looked at each other in confusion, moving to enter the back of the line. They drew a few unusual looks, but did not pay it any mind. Once it was their turn, the halfling handling the queue smiled warmly to the two. ¡°Ah, a couple of slime friends, is it? Where would the two of you like to go?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The halfling did not seem put off by their race, which made the two give mental sighs of relief. Ultimately, it was Pietra that spoke. ¡°We are Pietra and Atraxi, subordinate gods of Aurivy. We have something important that we need to discuss with the church.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The mor from the line froze at Pietra¡¯s words. Finding a god in a crowd wasmon in this day and age. Well, perhaps slightly lessmon now that they had mostly left to find new worlds. However, finding a Subordinate God of the Greater Pantheon was incredibly rare. They were the eyes and ears of the greatest authorities within the myriad worlds.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The halfling¡¯s eyes went wide, gulping slightly at that. ¡°Then, pardon me, but I need to confirm your words.¡± She said, offering a small prayer in the presence of the two. It was even rarer than finding a true Subordinate God, but there were those who were foolish enough to falsely im the title.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once she felt the resonation between her prayer and the energy of the two slimes, she let out a deep breath. ¡°Please, follow me and I can take you to the head of this church. Minny! Can you handle the transportation queue for just a minute?¡± She called out, a lycan girl rushing over to rece her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once Minny had taken her ce, the halfling quickly backed out of the queue, gesturing for the two slimes to follow her. Naturally, seeing that they were being led away, the two had no problemsplying. The halfling led them back to arge office, in which a human male sat wearing a white suit.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ah, Lorane, good of you to arrive. May I ask to what I owe this pleasure?¡± He asked, gesturing a hand towards the flustered halfling.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sir Cardinal, these are two Subordinate Gods of the Lady. They say that they have something important to discuss with the church.¡± Lorane said, gesturing to the two slimes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh? Is that so?¡± He asked, looking at the two. ¡°Yes, I can see the Lady of Love¡¯s grace upon you. Please,e in and take a seat.¡± With that, Lorane made her escape, the two slimes sitting in the offered chairs. ¡°So, what pray tell is the important topic that you have to discuss?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two slimes looked at one another, Atraxi speaking once more. ¡°Long ago, our Mother established a world for us, and another for another of her children. Today, two individuals arrived iming to remove us from these worlds granted by Mother.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The cardinal nodded his head, stroking his smooth chin. ¡°I see¡­ and you wish to use the church to return control of these worlds? I admit, if it was a world directly created by the Lady, then it is truly a special case.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There is no need for that. One of the intruders was in, and the other sent fleeing.¡± Atraxi said, Pietra offering a nod of confirmation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What we wish for is to make this matter known, so that others do not follow in this folly.¡± Pietra said, the cardinal furrowing his brow. It was still rare to hear about the death of a god, but these two discussed it almost casually.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Then, if I were to show you a star chart, would you be able to tell me which system is the one in which your worlds rest?¡± The cardinal asked, pulling out his personal terminal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two looked at one another, too unfamiliar with the stars in the sky to answer him. Thus, they used their avatars tomunicate with Tower, who in turn retrieved the information from his many dungeon selves. It took a few moments of awkward silence, but Pietra eventually nodded his head. ¡°I have the information now, I apologize.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No need, no need.¡± The man said, having been able to tell that the two were in some form of silent conversation. It was a necessary skill to be able to read the bodynguage of others in this day, especially now that the private messaging system was released. It was no longer possible to simply read the flow of mana or divinity to see when one was talking privately. Of course, the bodynguage of a slime was incredibly difficult to understand at a nce.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The cardinal activated his terminal, pulling up the official star chart of Earth, and gesturing for it to float over to Pietra. The slime held his arm out, manipting the chart and causing it to repeatedly zoom on one specific sector of space. ¡°This is it.¡± He said, pointing towards an otherwise unremarkable star.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The cardinal tapped on the star, and the special note about two actives having appeared on long distance scanners for traveling ships appeared. ¡°I see¡­ so those were worlds created by the Lady. I understand, I will inform everyone that these twos are not to be targeted.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We would appreciate that.¡± The slime nodded. ¡°Additionally, please do not allow tourists to visit, as well. Ours are not hospitable to normal races, and you would either freeze or dissolve to nothing within minutes ofnding on either one.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The cardinal¡¯s brow twitched, having been already thinking about spreading the word that the twos were ces created specifically by the Lady of Love and advertising them as must-see destinations. ¡°I see¡­ I will keep this in mind, then. Is there anything else that I can do for the two of you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Pietra gave another nod. ¡°Please direct us to where we may have our divinity forged. It has been a long time since we werest in this world, and such a thing was not possible at that time. Now that we are here, we should have it taken care of.¡±

 Chapter 854: The Stone Father

    Chapter 854: The Stone Father


    <span style="font-weight:400">Other gods were not having nearly as much problems finding a suitable as those who had attacked Tower and the slimes. Most worlds did not have such a high level of security. At most, they would need to defeat a monster god or two along the way, but that was something that they were prepared for. Only a small number of gods fell before even reaching their destination.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thessa looked at the reports on the news as she sat in the tallest tower of the fort she was defending, her brother standing not far behind her. In order to avoid a simr situation as with Tower, most of the gods were properly reporting whenever they imed a new world. ¡°Do you think that we should find a, too?¡± She asked, ncing backwards


    <span style="font-weight:400">As the Goddess of Archery, there wasn¡¯t much that she could do in this fort unless there was an attack, but¡­ attacks were very rare in the present day. After the Rainbow-Eyes were given a steady supply of System Stones, it became rather easy for them to deal with the Ashen Dwarves that came to cause trouble for them. In fact, the only reason that adventurers were being asked to defend the area at all was in case they attacked in toorge a force.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Theon thought about his sister¡¯s question for a moment, before shaking his head. ¡°You have plenty of faith from the people that you protect. The two of us aren¡¯t really suited for managing a world, anyways.¡± He said, shrugging his shoulders. Thessa¡¯s domain made her excellent as abat deity, but rather poor for leadingrge groups. Meanwhile, Theon would need to expend a massive amount of divinity in order to properly disy his power for an entire civilization. He may be able to recover it eventually, but it was better in his mind to simply gather faith with Thessa, protecting people in Fyor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Maybe.¡± Thessa nodded her head, ncing out into the horizon. Suddenly, her eyes narrowed, and she stood with her bow. Theon raised a brow, but his words were cut off when Thessa spoke again. ¡°They¡¯ve sent another stone giant. This one seems even bigger than before.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Really? They¡¯ve beening more and more often these days, haven¡¯t they?¡± Theon asked, knowing fully well what Thessa was talking about. For the past few years, there had been several instances in which a giant with pseudo-godlike strength emerged alongside the forces of the Ashen Dwarves. ording to the Rainbow-Eyes, the name that the dwarves were calling these giants was ¡®Stone Father¡¯, the religious icon of their race.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Yet, even if the Stone Father was destroyed, it would somehow reappear again in a future attack. And as Theon had said, these attacks had be more and more frequent over the years. Thessa gave a small nod, her eyes narrowing to gaze into the distance, vision zooming in to look at the massive figure with blue gems seeming to grow out of its body. ¡°It didn¡¯te with an army this time. Should we raise the rm?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If it¡¯s just the giant, you can deal with that, right?¡± Theon asked, clearly not worried.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I guess so.¡± Thessa said, drawing back her bow as a golden arrow began to take shape. However, before she could fire the arrow, she stopped, blinking in confusion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Theon asked, his brow furrowed as he stepped forward.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡­ think it¡¯s surrendering?¡± In her vision, the giant had abruptly stopped as soon as she locked onto it, raising its arms and waving them, as if begging her not to shoot. Perhaps it had felt the divinity focusing in on it, and knew that its life was in danger, but this was something that had never happened before.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The Stone Father is surrendering?¡± Theon asked in surprise. ¡°Okay¡­ now we tell people.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Stone Father was ying a very dangerous gamble, holding its arms up the moment that it felt the smallest sense of danger, praying that whoever had noticed it would understand what it wanted. If it failed here, if it was in like all of the others who had left their mark on the back of the throne before going off to battle¡­


    <span style="font-weight:400">Soon, it felt as if the danger had passed, but it did not dare to take a single step forward. It stayed in that position for more than twenty minutes before seeing a group walking towards it. Among them were the small, strange humanoids with multicolored eyes, and a pair of beings that caused its mind to shudder to look at, despite their harmless appearances.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was sure that these two, or beings like them, were the cause for the destruction of all of its previous selves. That¡¯s why it didn¡¯t try to take any overt action until the group was directly before it, their bodies not even reaching the tops of its feet. It was almostical to see such a mountainous figure so terrified of beings so small, but that was what was ying out.


    <span style="font-weight:400">One of the humanoids with multicolored eyes chanted something, the Stone Father not resisting when it felt a strange magic entering its body. If they wanted to y it, it would be far toote for the Stone Father to try resisting now. Thankfully, the magic used did not seem to be one of malicious nature, settling within its body peacefully.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What are you here for?¡± A voice spoke up from the ground, amplified by magic to reach its head. It was surprised at being able to understand thenguage of the smaller creatures, but soon responded in as quiet a voice as it could manage to not hurt them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Please. Save me.¡± Its words drew shocked looks from the beings below, who did not understand what it meant by asking for them to save the Stone Father, the leader of their enemies.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What are we saving you from?¡± They asked, though the next answer confused them even more.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Death.¡± There was a tone of absolute certainty in its words as it said that, though the golem did not have the proper vantage point to examine their faces. At least, not for a moment. Soon, one of the smallest among them, the ones who gave off the most intense sense of danger, stepped forward and waved a hand. Immediately, the Stone Father¡¯s body shrunk to the same size as the small being, causing his crystal eyes to go wide in shock.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There, that should make it easier tomunicate.¡± The boy, as the Stone Father could now recognize its gender, said and stepped back.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thank you, Mister Grid.¡± One of the others said, before turning back to the Stone Father. ¡°Now, please exin what you meant. You havee here so many times already and attacked us, destroyed our walls, and each time you have fallen. Why are you here asking us to save you from death now?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not me.¡± The Stone Father said. ¡°Those were¡­ past me. Other me. Other <i><span style="font-weight:400">us</i><span style="font-weight:400">. It was written on my throne. I must learn and understand their culture, or I will perish and be reced. I must act as their beliefs say I should act, or I will perish and be reced. I must guide the Ashen Crag to victory over their enemies, or¡­ I believe you understand by now. The words of so many who came before me were written, a reminder to all who woulde after them. I was created three days prior, and read these words. I found a message written by the one before me.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°¡®I have convinced them that if I should fall again, to reinforce my body with the new heart of blue stone that has appeared in our home. It is a tool to strengthen me, sent to this world in order to vanquish our foes. It will increase my power to such a degree that I must battle alone, as my body could destroy itself at any moment, and take with it the armies we send¡¯. That was the message I left for me.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Immediately, the group before it assumed defensive postures, but it kept its arms raised. ¡°No fear. Stone does not make me explode. It makes me more stable, lets me exist outside of Ashen Crag, without the small ones. Past me¡¯s recognized this, and began studying it, passing along understanding on the back of the throne.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Won¡¯t they see the writing, and know that they¡¯ve been betrayed?¡± The small female asked, to which the Stone Father shook its head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Writing is covered byyer of stone. Only notice it after sitting in throne and sensing hollow. Tiny ones do not sit in throne. Future me¡¯s will likely not be trusted as much, because this me did not return. If they see me with you, not fighting, might erase me still. Do not know if blue stone will stop that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°..You¡¯re a mana siphon.¡± The smaller boy said, the others looking at him in confusion. ¡°He said it himself, he¡¯s not the original. With the dwarves living near the pir of this floor, the mana gathers there on a regr basis. When this mana strikes the thoughts of the dwarves, it gives birth to this.¡± He gestured towards the Stone Father, who nodded his head in agreement.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°When energy flows in, past me¡¯s have said that they felt stronger.¡± He confirmed. ¡°The same energy as the blue stone.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The Mage Heart.¡± One of the multicolored eye-people said. ¡°Yes, we heard about this stone from the adventurers¡­ I see. If this is the case, then your story does make some sense. Though, what can we do to save you from this ¡®death¡¯?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You are masters of the stone¡¯s energy.¡± The Stone Father said sincerely. ¡°Those who came before said that you would have a way to protect me.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°A living mana siphon, one with free will and self preservation.¡± The smaller female said in a tone of wonder. ¡°Who do we report to about this? The researcher? The Citadel itself?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I think we should submit reports to both.¡± The small male said with a nod, looking at the others. ¡°We¡¯ll patch this through to those that can do more about it. Would you mind letting him go deeper into yournd in the meantime, so that he can avoid being spotted by his people and potentially erased? My ability to bnce his size with my own won¡¯tst after I leave his presence.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">One of the others furrowed their brows and nodded their heads, signaling for the Stone Father to follow, which it did so willingly.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°My Keeper, a¡­ curious report hase in from Fyor.¡± A silver-haired Tsubaki said as we were reading through the news. It was a surprise to see people so freely challenge Tower like that, but I suppose that he was simply too old of a god for most people to remember.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What happened?¡± I asked, looking over from where I was sitting, in between the original Tsubaki and Lifre, with Dana on the other side of Tsubaki.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Apparently, a ¡®Stone Father¡¯ has appeared at the Fort of ck Stone, asking for the Rainbow-Eyes to save it from erasure.¡± My eyes widened when I heard Tsubaki¡¯s words, before falling into contemtion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As a mana siphon, would the Stone Father have its own soul? If it was a being born purely of mana, it was hard to say. ¡°Tsubaki, would you and Dana mind dealing with this?¡± I asked, turning to look at the two in question. ¡°The Stone Father is simr to the Lightborn that work for you in Fyor. If you take Dana along, you should be able to solve any magical problems that might be a part of his existence.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana blinked at that, nodding her head and hopping to her feet. ¡°Sure! If you think I can help with this, I¡¯ll go along. Ah, wait, do we need to pull back our maids or anything?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That won¡¯t be necessary, Dana.¡± Tsubaki informed her gently, rising up off the couch. ¡°Our avatars here will continue their work without us. If we need anything, we can simply inform the Keeper, and have it sent to us through them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Got it!¡± Dana shed a thumbs up, showing her understanding. ¡°Then, I guess we¡¯re about to go save a mana siphon!¡±

 Chapter 855: Birth Of A Spirit

    Chapter 855: Birth Of A Spirit


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ve never had the chance to investigate a Lightborn before.¡± Dana said as the two appeared from the void of space, quickly entering the twenty-eighthyer of Fyor. ¡°This will be my first time with a purely mana-created being.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As an Unbound Aeon, Dana had simply never had the need to analyze the existences known as the Lightborn in too great of detail. It wasn¡¯t until she was in the process of making Gerard that she truly wanted to look into them. And by that time, with her body beingposed of a shadow-element energy, she was afraid that her interference would have caused harm to those existences.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You can think of them as rather normal beings, they are merely more in tune with the thoughts of others.¡± Tsubaki said with a smile, ncing around. This was the first time in a while that she had been on thisyer of Fyor, so it was taking her a moment to find her bearings. Once she noticed a fortress in the far distance, she quickly sped over with Dana, having the people there transport them to their final destination.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Upon arrival, it was¡­ truly something that they would not have missed, had they been in any position to see it. Just outside the fort was an utter mountain of a man, sitting with his legs crossed and still towering easily over the fort. When they arrived, a trio of Rainbow-Eyed humans that had embraced the system walked up to them, nodding their heads politely.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You must be the envoys from the Citadel.¡± The one in the center said. ¡°Thank you for taking the time to see to this matter.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± Tsubaki said with a shake of her head, ncing to the mountainous figure easily seen beyond the fortress¡¯s walls. ¡°I assume that everything was covered in the report?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That is correct.¡± The man responded, having wanted to be as urate as possible when submitting the report to both the Researcher and the Sky Citadel. However, the Researcher had already responded that he wasn¡¯t particrly interested in this event, so he would let someone else take care of it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Then, we will handle things from here.¡± Tsubaki said, gesturing for Dana to follow her as she flew up over the wall, heading for a better vantage point to speak with that giant.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°A-Ah! We shall apany you, so that you will be able to converse--¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, Tsubaki cut the man off. ¡°There is no need.¡± She said simply, ncing to Dana as they ascended. ¡°What do you think?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If it¡¯s a trantion spell, I can do that easily. I¡¯m not the Apostle of Magic for nothing.¡± Dana said with a proud grin, before her expression turned somewhat more solemn. ¡°As for the rest¡­ its body is toorge. I can¡¯t sense anything from here. I can only confirm it if Iy a hand on it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki gave a small nod of her head, watching as Dana arranged an intricate, ovepping spell of the fourth tier. The spell shattered, and then entered into the bodies of the two. Once done, Tsubaki looked up at the giant figure. ¡°Can you understand me, Stone Father?¡± She asked, to which the giant being nodded.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I can.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Good. In order to begin assessing what exactly we can do to help you, my associate will need to ce her hands on you.¡± She did not ask for permission, or even thank it for its understanding. Instead, she merely informed the Stone Father what was happening.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After she said that, Dana flew forward, her entire bodying to rest on the shoulder of the Stone Father. The moment she did so, she blinked slowly, as if lost. <i><span style="font-weight:400">He has no soul. That¡¯s¡­ weird. If he¡¯s such an advanced product of the world¡¯sws, shouldn¡¯t he have a soul?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Not necessarily.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Tsubaki countered, keeping the discussion private for the moment. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Although he was created by a mass of mana simr in theory to Gerard, it was a far less refined process. If anything, I expected this possibility. At most, the Mana Siphons would be the equivalent of a second tier spell effect, incapable of producing a soul.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Then¡­ what can we do to stabilize his existence? Right now, he¡¯s being powered purely by the Mage Heart embedded within his body. If the energy from those run out, and they will, he¡¯ll simply disappear.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki pursed her lips, closing her eyes for a moment. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Then we will simply need to give him a soul.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Dana¡¯s eyes went wide when she received that message. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I am the Apostle of Death serving the God of Souls, and you are the Tyrant Queen of Hell. If we can not give him a soul, who in this world can?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯s a challenge¡­ and a risky one. I like it.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Dana¡¯s lips spread into a wide grin as she nodded.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki looked up at the giant, her gaze firm. ¡°We¡¯ve decided what we need to do. However, it is likely to be quite ufortable for you. We need to make sure that you do not resist us.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a deep, rumbling sound as the giant nodded its stone head, rocks the size of people falling off its chin. ¡°I understand. I will make no move to fight. Too many of me have perished seeking this.¡±


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">If what the report said is true, though¡­ what¡¯s to stop the next Stone Father that appears from trying this same thing?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Dana asked, feeling somewhat worried. <i><span style="font-weight:400">We can¡¯t be expected to do this for each that appears in the future, can we?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">No. Once we are done here, I will be paying a visit to these Ashen Dwarves.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> There was a determined glint in Tsubaki¡¯s gaze, and Dana couldn¡¯t tell whether the kitsune nned to talk with the dwarves, relocate them¡­ or just outright exterminate them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana let out a long sigh, closing her eyes and shaking her head. There wasn¡¯t much she could do to help the Ashen Dwarves either way. She knew that Tsubaki wouldn¡¯t do anything that she thought might upset the Keeper at the very least, so she trusted her not to cross a line. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Okay. You¡¯ll need to get the power of Souls. You haven¡¯t trained with that power to the same degree he has, so I¡¯ll take the lead once we have enough spiritual energy. And I mean a lot.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded her head in understanding, silently praying. <i><span style="font-weight:400">My Keeper, I require ess to the power of Souls. </i><span style="font-weight:400">Mere moments after she had made the request, she could feel the domain having been unlocked within her, a grateful smile forming over her lips.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifting one hand, she gathered the power of this domain, opening a portal to the Underworld. This portal took the form of arge ck circle in the air, constantly releasing a downpour of silver mist. Dana could naturally open a portal herself, but to get the amount of energy that she needed while also controlling what wasing through would require too much of her focus.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As such, the Queen of Hell flew down below the portal, stretching out her arms to mentally control the tide of spiritual energy being released. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I need a bigger portal if we want to get this done any time soon! </i><span style="font-weight:400">Though she said that, the spiritual energy was swirling around her, gradually condensing in front of her body as a growing ball.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s brow furrowed, and she clenched her fist, causing the portal to abruptly expand by over ten times. Dana let out a heartyugh as she felt the energy increasing like this, her shadow growing on the ground beneath her as she began to release her true power. Strands of energy rose from her body, spreading out for hundreds of meters to catch the falling mist and bring it to her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As more and more energy poured into the ball, it kept growingrger, soon being bigger than Dana¡¯s entire body, and yet she was not satisfied. She kept greedily taking in the power, fueling the growth of the sphere as it became bigger and bigger. <i><span style="font-weight:400">How big do you need this to be?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Tsubaki asked in wonder.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">As big as this guy¡¯s head!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Dana responded in a sing-song tone, clearly excited by the prospect of handling this much energy all at once. Her mind raced, mana flooding from her and heading straight for the Stone Father.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The mountainous figure seemed nervous, but did nothing to resist as the unfamiliar mana circled him, formingplicated shapes and patterns that made him dizzy just looking at them. Dana fully tapped into her power as the Apostle of Magic, exerting the highly expanded mana capacity that Ryone had gave her. And what she did with it was create a fourth-tier spell array that epassed the entire figure of the Stone Father.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana¡¯s power only seemed to grow stronger as more spiritual energy was released, until more threads emerged to hold the ball from all sides, preventing it from ¡®popping¡¯. The Stone Father¡¯s head alone wasrger than the entire fortress behind the two of them, so she had to ensure that none of the energy escaped before he sphere reached the required size.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For her part, Tsubaki had little to do but hold open the massive underworld portal. Only when an unfortunate monster soul noticed it and tried to pass through did she get the chance tosh out an attack and destroy them. At that moment, their own energy joined with the spiritual power rushing downwards.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, eventually, the sphere was destined to berge enough for Dana to use. Once she was hovering before an enormous sphere of rippling silver gas, she shouted for Tsubaki to close the portal, capturing what came out in thest few moments to add to the mix. ¡°Now¡­ for the fun part!¡± Dana grinned, using thousands of threads to guide the sphere into the magic diagram that she had previously created.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Your job now is just to make sure that none of the energy gets out of the spell diagram. Aside from that, leave the rest to me.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Dana grinned manically, the sphere dispersing as soon as it was within the field of the spell. Without Danapressing the gaseous energy, it expanded outwards, entirely surrounding the body of the Stone Father and filling the space within the diagram.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Activate!¡± Dana called out, the spell diagram lighting up. At the same time, Tsubaki began flying around the exterior, using the power of Souls whenever she saw a wisp of smoke leaving the spell¡¯s area. For the most part, the energy seemed to be pushed inwards, into the body of the living mountain.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Stone Father grit its granite teeth, feeling an intense pain and difort as the strange mist rushed into its body. However, it still forced himself not to resist. To do so now would be to ruin everything that had happened so far, and it was likely not to get another chance with these two if it destroyed their progress now. <i><span style="font-weight:400">This is for the sake of my existence.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> It muttered to itself, body tensing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana kept her body outside of the spell circle, using her mental control of the magic diagram to monitor its progress. She herself wasn¡¯t entirely sure that this would work, as it was a spell that she had created on the spot. However, she trusted the training that Ryone had given her over the years, training which allowed her to even be able to construct fourth-tier magic diagrams like this without any outside help. Everything that she had put into the spell had been for the purpose of allowing a purely mana-based entity absorb spiritual energy and create a spiritual core.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The problem came when the spell wasplete. Though, it wasn¡¯t really quite a problem so much as it was a surprise. After the spell had run its course and caused the Stone Father to form its spiritual core with the energy that had been injected into it, the entire diagram shattered, revealing the Stone Father¡¯s form looking no different than before. However, Dana could clearly sense a powerful spirit within the mountainous body now. Despite this, her jaw was hanging open, eyes wide in shock. ¡°Eh?!¡±


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Congrattions, you have sessfully formed a pact with the Aeon: Stone Father!


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ehhh?!¡±

 Chapter 856: Darkness Falls

    Chapter 856: Darkness Falls


    <span style="font-weight:400">


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Tsubaki asked, looking over at Dana after hearing the surprised exmation from her friend. Her brows tensed, feeling as if something had gone wrong with the process, but she wasn¡¯t aware what at this point in time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, uhm¡­ I¡­¡± She looked like she didn¡¯t quite know how to exin it out loud, in front of the Stone Father itself. Thus, she switched tomunicating nonverbally again. <i><span style="font-weight:400">The process turned this guy into my summon! What do I do!?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki blinked in surprise, ncing between the Stone Father and Dana, who seemed to be little more than an ant inparison. While thebat strength of the mountainous figure could certainly not bepared to that of gods or equivalent figures, it was a rather imposing sight to say the least. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I believe you should just ept it. At the very least, his existence will be maintained in this manner, and he will not be at risk of annihtion. I believe that will be enough to console him.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana gulped, nodding her head and turning to address her new Aeon. ¡°Okay¡­ so good news and slightly less good news. Not really bad news, but it¡¯s news. Anyways, the process has worked, and you are no long reliant on the mana siphons in order to sustain yourself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Stone Father¡¯s body visibly rxed at that, shoulders dropping over a hundred meters and forcing Dana to quickly hold on. ¡°That is¡­ fortunate. I thank you both, truly. Though, now that I have reached this point, I know not what to do. Where can one such as I go?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, that¡¯s where we get to the other news.¡± Dana began. ¡°The process worked, but it didn¡¯t quite work as expected. You have be bound to me, as something that we call an Aeon. It means that I can summon or dismiss you, and I can also strengthen you, given the proper circumstances.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Stone Father slowly turned its head to look at the tiny figure on its shoulder. ¡°Aeon¡­ I am unfamiliar with this term. However¡­ dismissing me. Is this the same as what I fear?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, no, nothing like that!¡± Dana quickly shook her head, waving her hands in denial. ¡°You¡¯re not going to die when I dismiss you, just sort of sleep until you¡¯re called again. But, now that we have you like this, it gives us a rather important chance that I think we¡¯d be fools not to take.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Not only the Stone Father, even Tsubaki nced over at Dana in interest. ¡°I think you should go back to the dwarves.¡± The smaller elf said. ¡°Now that you are no longer in any danger of perishing, there is no problem with you bing a true leader for them. You can put an end to this pointless war that has been going on forever here.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">In truth, the rainbow-eyed humans could end the war whenever they wanted, now that they had the power of the system on their side. However, because the adventurers did not wish to take a hostile stance in the war, they were afraid that doing so themselves would cause those adventurers that they relied on to turn against them, or at the very least leave a bad impression. It was better to just let the dwarves continue their attacks, which were the equivalent of throwing eggs at a stone wall. Annoying, but of no real consequence.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What should I do¡­ if another me appears? Or has already appeared?¡± The Stone Father questioned, as that was a very real concern.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana thought about it briefly, not entirely sure herself. For a second Stone Father to appear at the same time, the faith of the dwarves would be shaken. ¡°If there¡¯s not one already, there wouldn¡¯t be a problem. The mana siphon would just contribute to strengthening you, and save me a lot of timeter. If there¡¯s one already¡­ that could pose an issue. Tsuba, can you check?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded her head, her body radiating a bright light before abruptly vanishing. As the Goddess of Light and Stealth, she could easily reach the Ashen Crag in a matter of moments undetected, get a look at the situation, and return immediately.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sure enough, she was back before the Stone Father could even ask where she had gone, the light around her dimming to its normal levels. ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem like there is currently another Stone Father sitting on the throne of the dwarves. However, they are in the process of mining more ore in order to summon an even more powerful ¡®incarnation¡¯. With that in mind, I believe that it will be a few weeks before another one appears. Long enough for them to drain the vein several times over, with their belief holding off the siphon until they are ready.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Nice!¡± Dana nodded her head. ¡°In that case, let¡¯s set up your script¡­ I¡¯ll even lend you a helping hand as a supporting role.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Ashenborn diligently carried out their mining duties, shattering the Father¡¯s Gift as they called it and transporting it into a number ofrge warehouses that had been constructed. The overseer of the operation nodded his head as giant piles of blue stone were amassed in each warehouse. If not for the Father¡¯s Gift being limited in supply, they could have already summoned a truly powerful incarnation of the father.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As he thought about that, his eyes nced towards the end of the crag, which led to the Stone Father¡¯s throne. Currently, it was empty, and they could only assume that thetest incarnation had been unable to deal any damage to their enemies. However, soon¡­ soon they would have one capable of toppling even the helpers that the enemies had summoned.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Suddenly, the ground shook, the overseer¡¯s eyes going wide. Such tremors could only mark the steps of the Stone Father, and every Ashenborn knew of this fact. They mored to the path up the wall of the crag, looking at the massive figure approaching. Joy filled the hearts of the Ashenborn, who believed that the Stone Father had managed to fulfill his promise.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The body of the Stone Father was, admittedly, damaged. However, that was nothing that could not be repaired in time. The missing arm was likely sacrificed in order to deal a decisive blow, the chunk from its side lost in a heroic gambit. The Ashenborn were already filling their heads with their own heroic tales of battle before the Stone Father arrived.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Their Stone Father bent down, grabbing the side of the crag and lowering himself down to his throne. Even then, its head was more than high enough to be seen over the cliff face. ¡°Oh great Stone Father, tell us of your journey!¡± One of the ¡®priests¡¯ of the faith called out from nearby the Stone Father¡¯s head, his ki infused into his voice to ensure that it was heard by therge figure.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Stone Father turned its head to regard the figure, before letting out a solemn sigh. ¡°There is naught to tell. There are truly great beings living within those walls, who do not lose out evenpared to my true self. These injuries you see¡­ they are not the result of some heroic act, but merely two attacks that I received. I could not even detonate the stones as nned, for that power is one that they control.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Ashenborn all stood frozen, eyes wide as they listened to this. ¡°These helpers that they have recruited into their ranks¡­ they are beings from beyond the ck veil, a portal between realms. They refer to these beings as gods, and rightly so.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°However¡­ these gods are not cruel, and have begun to educate their new hosts. They allowed me to return for one simple reason¡­ and that is to let me contemte a choice.¡± The Stone Father¡¯s tone was heavy, causing the Ashenborn to shake in disbelief.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°W-What choice?¡± The priest asked.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Peacefully join their civilization, relocate to a distantnd, or face the extinction of my children. Those were the options given to me.¡± Those words struck like bolts into the minds of the Ashenborn, one stepping forward and shouting.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Surrender, leave, or die?! Is this foe truly so terrifying that even you, the supreme Stone Father, must ept these terms?!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Stone Father turned his gaze towards the Ashenborn that had spoken up. ¡°They did not leave my remaining arm out of mercy. My legs, I needed to walk back on my own. My arm¡­ they told me that I should demonstrate by raising it, if such a question were asked.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying that, there was a sound like grinding stone as the Stone Father lifted his arm high into the air. Almost immediately¡­ the world turned dark. The light from the Father¡¯s Pir dimmed far ahead of schedule, subdued to only a minor glow, a firefly against the endless dark.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Within this darkness, they could hear the growling of countless beasts, and see the outlines of massive creatures nearly as tall as the Stone Father himself. Beady red eyes stared at them from every direction, as if the creatures of Hell itself had been called forth, ready to devour them at a moment¡¯s notice.


    <span style="font-weight:400">And then, as the Stone Father lowered his arm, they vanished. Light returned to the world once again, and everything they had seen was gone. However, the fear remained. The power disyed in such a simple demonstration was enough to make the Ashenborn understand. Yes, the enemy was strong enough to eliminate them at any moment. And no, the Stone Father could do nothing to stop it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ultimately, they really were left with just those three options. Options delivered by none other than the being they revered as a god. ¡°What¡­ what do you believe would be the best choice?¡± The priest asked, barely able to maintain the enhancement to his voice. The Ashenborn were natural fighters, but that was only when a battle had purpose. If it was a foe that struck such fear into even the heart of the Stone Father, one with the power disyed, they would be throwing their lives away without cause or reason.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Stone Father deliberated for several long moments, before shaking his head. ¡°Sacrificing my children is unimaginable. I will not lead you to a pointless death. At the same time, relocating¡­ they have suggested a location far away from my pir, where we will not be in danger of battling one another. However, even that¡­ this is ournd, where we have built our history.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°While it pains me to say this¡­ I ask that you spread the word to all of our cities. Of our options, surrender is the only one that will allow our race to prosper. With the guidance of the ones they call gods, we may strengthen ourselves. We may learn new arts, and move beyond the need for this bloodshed. To live in peace¡­ perhaps it is not such a bad dream?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was the first time that the Stone Father had ever acted this way, like a tired elder looking for a chance to settle down. Their faith shook, but the evidence was undeniable. They had seen the monsters lurking in the darkness. They felt the breaths dangerously close to their skin. The Stone Father had made no mention of growing stronger in an attempt to rebel against them, because they knew that such a task was foolish. Rather, their leader truly wished for a peaceful surrender.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I-I understand your words.¡± The priest said with his body shaking, backing away from the massive figure of their solemn ruler. He turned to look at some of the others, nodding his head. ¡°Pass the message to every city, every territory under our father¡¯s name. We¡­ will ept these terms. As he wills.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The people pointed out by the priest stood frozen, not sure how they would deliver such a message, causing the Stone Father to shake his head. ¡°The beasts you saw before have already attached themselves to your shadows. Should you need to perform a simr demonstration¡­ merely raise your left hand.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Ashenborn looked at their left hands in fright, almost as if they wanted to sever the entire arm to avoid such a thing. What sort of beast would emerge when they raised that hand? What disaster would unfold on the city that they were in?

 Chapter 857: Worrying Reports

    Chapter 857: Worrying Reports


    <span style="font-weight:400">


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana opened her eyes within the fortress, nodding her head in satisfaction. ¡°Okay! Looks like it worked out alright.¡± She said, having been watching the event unfold from a safe distance. She didn¡¯t want to take the chance that anyone within the dwarven camp would be able to sense her, as unlikely as it was.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°They epted your demands?¡± Tsubaki asked in surprise, having been fully prepared to make her own demonstration if they did not ¡®see reason¡¯.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yup! It helped that I had a few extra monsters to spare. I¡¯ve attached a shadow dragon to the shadows of each of the messengers and given them clear orders. If the person they¡¯re attached to raises their arm like they were told, they will emerge and put on a disy. If the person they¡¯re making that disy towards still tries to be stubborn about it¡­ well, the Ashenborn are energy beings, so it¡¯s fine for the shadow monsters to eat them. It will serve a good warning to others, as well!¡± Dana nodded her head happily as she said that, apparently seeing nothing wrong about the ordeal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki merely nodded her head. ¡°In that case, do you need to recall the Stone Father before we leave?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana thought about it for a moment, before shaking her head. ¡°You go on ahead. I¡¯ll stay here just to make sure the little ones don¡¯t get too disobedient. Let the boss know that I¡¯ll be back at the Citadel once I take care of things here. Should be just a few days, probably.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded her head, looking carefully at Dana. It was rare for her to volunteer to stay away from the Citadel, but she seemed quite happy with her decision. Thus, she merely nodded her head. ¡°Very well, then. I will let him know on your behalf.¡± Tsubaki said, her body shimmering briefly before it entirely disappeared.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Giles sat across from Sprigga, thetter reading through a document that had been delivered to her. ¡°Is everything okay?¡± The half-merkin asked curiously. He had managed to integrate himself into the society of his people, operating as an intermediary between the merking and the sylvans that managed the underwater forest in which they lived.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hmm? Oh! Yes, everything¡¯s fine!¡± Sprigga said with a brilliant smile, which faltered after just a moment. ¡°Things are just a little weird, is all. These reports don¡¯t make any kind of sense.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What¡¯s wrong about them?¡± Giles asked, moving over to sit next to Sprigga so that he could look at the report himself. They were in a ratherrge lounge built into the great tree, with arge circr couch, so the was plenty of room.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sprigga smiled a bit more as he came closer, before directing her attention to the reports again. ¡°Some of the workers have gone missing, but we haven¡¯t noticed any kind of monster within the forest. In fact, it¡¯s hard to even really call them missing in the first ce.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What do you mean?¡± Giles was quickly bing confused by the subject, not sure what the problem was, or rather what he could do.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, there is no sign of any violence, and the workers don¡¯t appear to be registered with the Mother Tree. Oh! Ah, when we¡¯re born, one of the first things we do by instinct is to touch this tree, so that our minds can be connected with the rest of the forest. However, there is no trace of the minds of any missing workers having ever been present.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Could they have been sent to another forest?¡± Giles asked, doing his best to be helpful in the situation, but Sprigga simply shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, neither myself nor Carol have sent anyone away. It¡¯s just¡­ like all traces of them have vanished. The only reason we even know that they¡¯re missing is because of the discrepancy in the numbers. There are roughly ten percent less workers than there should be for a forest of this age.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Giles furrowed his brow at that, his webbed fists clenching. ¡°Is it¡­ possible that a god has gotten involved? My father was abducted by one some time ago, so maybe someone has taken an interest in Sylvans now?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The nt-like brow of Sprigga scrunched up, and she ced her hand on the wooden table before her. ¡°No¡­ the Mother Tree is somewhat divine herself. It¡¯s unlikely that someone would be able to take away her children without leaving any sort of trace behind. While it¡¯s not impossible, I¡¯d like to rule it out for the time being. If we can¡¯t think of anything else, I¡¯ll ask for an investigator toe and see if there are any traces I can¡¯t detect.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Giles shook his head, not having any other ideas for the moment. The green Sylvans, known as the ¡®workers¡¯ by Sprigga, had very little personality traits of their own. Typically, they didn¡¯t even have their own identity, simply a part of the greaterwork that was the forest. ¡°Are there any missing from the schrs or the guards?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sprigga blinked, cing her hand on the table again and focusing. ¡°Currently, we possess roughly two hundred and twenty thousand schrs¡­ but a grove of this age should have roughly three hundred thousand. As for the guards¡­ taking into ount those that have perished inbat¡­ we seem to be missing five thousand? Adding in the missing workers, that¡¯s nearly two hundred thousand sylvans that have just¡­ disappeared?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Giles blinked hisrge eyes at that, pulling out his terminal and looking at the news, flipping through various articles. ¡°I¡¯m not seeing anything about a rising rate of missing persons¡­ can you contact the other forests, and ask them if they¡¯re experiencing something simr?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sprigga nodded her head, focusing and sending a message through the new system. Giles waited patiently next to her as she contacted various other forests, before shaking her head a few minutester. ¡°None of them are seeing anything strange about their own numbers. Maybe it is a new monster that has appeared in the waters here, able to devour people without a trace?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Possibly¡­ there are some monsters like that in various parts of the world.¡± Giles nodded his head, having heard stories of such creatures before. ¡°But even then, most of them would leave some traces--¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Just a moment!¡± Sprigga interrupted him, golden eyes wide. ¡°I just got an update from ret of Fortune. She¡¯s helping Helena of Beasts manage a forest in this world. She¡¯s saying¡­ she ran another check just now out of curiosity, and the numbers don¡¯t match. It¡¯s only a few, but there are workers and schrs that went missing in just a few minutes.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Giles looked confused at that. Just as they had settled on the idea that it was a new monster in the area, the same effect appeared somewhere entirely unrted? And¡­ only moments after the news reached that region? ¡°That timing is¡­ too good to be a coincidence.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡­ couldn¡¯t be a void beast, could it?¡± Sprigga asked in a hushed tone. ¡°I read that they can spread their effects simply by having information about them passed on.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s possible.¡± Giles had to admit that the im wasn¡¯t baseless. ¡°However, you¡¯d think that there would be reports of people missing elsewhere in the world, unless this was the point it first spread from.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying that, Giles shook his head. ¡°Even then, though, the Guardian should be preventing any directly harmful void beasts from attacking the world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Maybe¡­ maybe it¡¯s not harmful?¡± Sprigga suggested, tilting her head and blinking slowly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Giles raised an eyebrow at that, wondering how this could be defined as not harmful. ¡°Hear me out.¡± Sprigga exined. ¡°Maybe they¡¯re not gone¡­ if the void beast isn¡¯t killing them, it might have slipped through the Guardian¡¯s watch? Maybe¡­ maybe we just can¡¯t detect them?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡­ makes some sense.¡± Giles admitted. ¡°But how would we prove that? Without knowing where one of the missing sylvans are, we can¡¯t perform any tests like asking them to show their presence indirectly. Either way, they aren¡¯t here anymore. Functionally, that is the case regardless of the current scenario. If the void beast is making them undetectable, then getting rid of it could solve the problem. Otherwise¡­ getting rid of it could just prevent it from spreading further.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Either way, we have to defeat it, huh¡­?¡± She smiled bitterly. ¡°I don¡¯t know any fallen gods, do you? How do we get rid of it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Giles thought about that for a moment, before pulling up a new site on his terminal. ¡°We have to contact the Starry Night church. They¡¯re the only one with reliable ties to fallen gods. If we exin the situation to them, they¡¯ll surely get involved.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sprigga¡¯s eyes went wide, and she quickly nodded her head in agreement. ¡°That¡¯s great!¡± As she said that, Giles was already typing out a message to the church of Leowynn.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hmm? A potential void monster with harmful properties?¡± A priest of the church muttered to himself when the report came in. ¡°Details¡­ oh, wait, better add the filter.¡± He ced a hand on his chest. ¡°Oh Goddess of the Void, protect me from any harmful influences that may seek to befall me at this time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Soon, he could feel the swift response of his goddess, a holy aura wrapping around him. ¡°There, that should do it. Now, let¡¯s see¡­ roughly ten percent of a sylvan forest¡¯s poption has disappeared without a trace? And the disappearances spread to another forest after asking for reports of simr incidents? It certainly sounds like it could be a void problem, that¡¯s true¡­ I¡¯d better push this report up.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The man closed his eyes, activating the private messaging system. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Holy Cardinal, I have received a troubling report about a potential void monster that has bypassed the Guardian¡¯s watch. I would like to petition for Strea to investigate, with your permission.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although Strea and Lyra were two fallen gods in service to Leowynn, they often helped out with the smaller matters of the church whenever it came to something in their field of expertise. Typically, this meant investigating any suspicious void beast reports. For this reason, they had added most of the support staff to their contacts list as soon as it became avable, that way reports could quickly be sent to them. Of course, said staff members still sought permission before asking the aid of one personally trained by their goddess.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">You may.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The voice of the Cardinal came in, making it clear that she was giving her permission to employ the fallen deities. <i><span style="font-weight:400">If there is truly a problem with the Guardian, we need to know immediately.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Yes, Holy Cardinal.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The man nodded his head, ending the conversation before switching to a different contact. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Strea, Fallen of Leowynn. I would like to beseech you for aid.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">A ck portal emerged next to the man, closing just as quickly and surprising him. When he turned to look, he could see the smiling figure of Strea, her hair as dark as the night she represented. ¡°Jaden, wasn¡¯t it?¡± She asked, arms crossed behind her back. ¡°How can I be of service?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jaden smiled, surprised that Strea even knew his name. ¡°Yes, thank you. There is a troubling report that I would like to ask you to look into.¡± As he said that, he directed her attention to the report on his screen. ¡°There is information of a potential void beast, so--¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No need to worry.¡± Strea shook her head with that same smile, leaning closer to look at the report. ¡°I asked for the blessing before I arrived. Let¡¯s see¡­ oh, yes¡­ that is troubling.¡± She said, her face surprisingly close to Jaden¡¯s as she read through the report.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once she was done, she stood up fully, nodding her head with vigor. ¡°Alright! Leave this to me.¡± After saying that, she tore open a void portal behind herself, looking back at Jaden. ¡°I¡¯ll be back once I have some news.¡±

 Chapter 858: Guardian No More

    Chapter 858: Guardian No More


    <span style="font-weight:400">The moment that Strea stepped out into the endless void, the chaotic energies around her fell to darkness. It was as if her mere presence within the void caused night to fall on a world with no concept of either sun or moon. She tread upon the endless ck nothingness, her eyes scanning through the expanse to find a figure towering in the distance. It stood with its back towards a spherical object that seemed to shimmer like a distant star.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hmm¡­ you¡¯re still there.¡± Strea nodded her head at the sight of the armored guardian, before furrowing her brows. She had seen the Guardian¡¯s armor gradually turning ck over recent years, but now it seemed to be made of pure obsidian. ¡°My, what¡¯s all that behind you, though?¡± She asked, eyes cast beyond the armored figure and to the squirming masses that seemed to be gnawing at the spherical object, the <i><span style="font-weight:400">world</i><span style="font-weight:400"> behind it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Strea had been a Fallen Goddess long enough, and had trained directly under Leowynn long enough to be able to gather some insights from the appearances of void beasts. At the very least, she could determine which ones were harmful, and which ones were fine to interact with. ¡°Those friends you have there¡­ they don¡¯t seem to be very nice. Someone hasn¡¯t been doing his job.¡± Strea clicked her tongue, extending one hand to the sky.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I invoke the endless Night. May shooting stars erase that which I find unpleasant in this abyss.¡± She said, her eyes firm as glittering points of starlight formed within the void around her. Simr to how gods enacted their divinity, the fallen used verbalmands in order to help them focus their power. However, the differencey in the source of that power, as the fallen directlymanded the power of the void, harnessing it for their use.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When those stars shot forward, they carried the strength to shatters, each one as powerful as a true star erupting in the night. However, none of these shooting stars managed to reach their targets. Instead, a giant sword manifested in the air, blocking the attack and taking the shock. Strea¡¯s eyes went wide as she watched the Guardian just barely stagger backwards. ¡°You¡­ are protecting them?¡± She asked, her voice shaking not with fear, but rage.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The Goddess bestowed you with life, she gave you purpose, and you turn your back on her? On everything that she stands for?¡± The darkness around Strea shook as her fists clenched, bringing both hands forward. ¡°Fall into eternal darkness.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The ck substance of the void seemed totch onto the Guardian when she issued thatmand, and she seemed sure in her victory. However, she never let down her guard, as this was a creation of Leowynn herself. She would be a fool to underestimate it. She watched every second, how the ck substance crawled across the skin of the Guardian, how it struggled to pull the darkness away from itself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Only when it had been fully dissolved, vanishing within the cage of shadow she created, did Strea allow herself to rx. ¡°Now¡­ where was I? Right¡­ shooting stars.¡± She muttered, another dozen dots of starlight shooting out at the creatures attaching themselves to the spherical object the Guardian was meant to protect.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She let out a faint sigh, closing her eyes as she heard the sound of the collisions, and felt the eruption of her power. But then¡­ her brow furrowed, and she opened her eyes in shock. She couldn¡¯t feel the satisfying deaths of the void monsters.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jutting out from the darkness, seemingly ripping a hole in the void itself, was the same sword that had protected the monsters earlier. A hand grabbed the side of the hole created by the sword, forcing it wider and allowing the Guardian to emerge once again. Now, it¡¯s face hadpletely ckened as well.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Strea took a step back, her eyes wide. She didn¡¯t dare summon her sanctuary here, or even retreat to it. If the Guardian had been able to escape that imprisonment, and carried the power that Leowynn gave it, it could very likely destroy her sanctuary.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Guardian stepped forward, going on the offensive for the first time against Strea. It swung its sword, cleaving open the darkness that spread from Strea¡¯s presence. The dark red energies of chaos flooded in once more, and that line of energy drew itself across her torso,pletely bisecting her body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her eyes shook as she felt her connection with her lower body severed. As an energy being, even a wound such as this would not be fatal. Yet, she felt as though that energy waspletely lost. Looking down, she saw her lower half dissolving, streaks of dark power rushing from her and towards the Guardian.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Strea didn¡¯t hesitate even a moment longer. Before the Guardian had time to swing his sword again, she tore open a gate and allowed it to swallow her body whole. She cared not for her appearance, only wishing to use any method she could to escape just a little faster.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she emerged, she fell back onto the cold stone floor of the church, Jaden calling out in shock. ¡°Lady Strea?!¡± He shouted, the Fallen Goddess having been gone for no more than a minute.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Alert¡­ everyone.¡± She muttered, her eyes shaking in disbelief. She was gradually regrowing her lower body, but she knew that she could not return to fight the Guardian in her state. ¡°The Guardian has gone rogue. We will need every Fallen under the Goddess¡¯s g. Everyone¡­ and any others who dare to fight. If they have a speck of talent for the void¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jaden¡¯s legs shook as he heard those solemn words, able to feel just how hopeless Strea was after that brief encounter. One attack had cost her half her life, and would have taken more if she didn¡¯t flee immediately.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°He did <i><span style="font-weight:400">what</i><span style="font-weight:400">?!¡± Leowynn¡¯s voice shouted out from her room, startling a passing Ashley, who peeked her head inside.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Leo, dear? Is everything okay?¡± She asked, feeling an unmistakable anger in Leowynn¡¯s voice. Thest time that she saw Leowynn truly upset was¡­ well, it was in the battle that killed her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What?¡± Leowynn looked up at Ashley, her brow furrowed. ¡°Yeah¡­ yeah, I¡¯m fine. Sorry¡­ I need to take care of this. My Guardian¡¯s turned traitor.¡± After she said that, she vanished in a sh of starlight, leaving a stunned Ashley looking into the empty room.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Leowynn appeared, it was within the boundless void, just as thest specks of energy from Strea were being absorbed by the Guardian. ¡°What has gotten into you¡­¡± She muttered, staring hard at the Guardian, whose eyes slowly turned to face her as well. Her eyes pulsed ck, and she gasped, immediately vanishing from her position.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This time, she transported herself to the Sky Citadel, appearing within the living room. Her sudden appearance greatly startled Dale, and even Tsubaki jumped to her feet in surprise. ¡°Lady Leowynn¡­ what is the matter?¡± Tsubaki asked, able to see the concerned, yet serious expression on Leowynn¡¯s face.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...Dad, I need your help. A call is about to go out for every Fallen God to rally together. I need you to join this fight.¡± Her voice was firm, but her eyes seemed to shake subtly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dale slowly stood up, walking over to Leowynn. ¡°What happened?¡± He asked in a soft voice.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The Guardian was corrupted.¡± Leowynn answered. ¡°I don¡¯t know the exact specifics, but I just confirmed it myself. His rules have changed. Instead of protecting the worlds under your control and defeating void beasts¡­ he is now actively allowing and luring void beasts into attacking these worlds. Not only that¡­ but he¡¯s protecting them from anyone that tries to attack them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Can you not rewrite him? Edit the rules to make him work properly again?¡± Dale asked, but she shook her head, leaning against him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Maybe if I had enough time. But he¡¯ll be resisting. And I gave him <i><span style="font-weight:400">so much</i><span style="font-weight:400"> of my power when I created him. I don¡¯t know if I would have the energy to both withstand his attacks and alter his core rules. That¡¯s why they¡¯re putting the call out. No single god, fallen or otherwise, can stand up to this monster now that it has gone rogue.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Why would you ask my Keeper to interfere?¡± Tsubaki asked in confusion. ¡°You must know what danger this would ce him in.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn gave a weak smile at that, nodding her head. ¡°I know perfectly well. However, there¡¯s the chance to turn things around if he is there. Otherwise, even if every Fallen God we have gathers together, I can¡¯t be sure that it will be enough. His sword has the quality of severing chaos, while his armor absorbs energy directed at it, fueling its evolution.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Then wha--¡± Tsubaki began, only for Dale to speak up.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You don¡¯t want to fight it in the void.¡± He said, as if he understood. Leowynn nodded her head, confirming his thoughts. ¡°As long as it¡¯s in the void, it has a nearly limitless energy to pull from. With how you created it, and how it¡¯s evolved, it¡¯s essentially an old Fallen God itself. One directly specialized in hunting others like it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Leowynn agreed. ¡°In order to properly defeat it, we need to be able to trap it somewhere other than the void. However, to do so would require an enormous energy source, more than any of us could muster. The next best bet would be Terra, hoping that she could trap it in a book. However, it is quite proficient at breaking bindings. It might be able to tear its way out of her book, leaving whatever world the book is ced in vulnerable to its wrath.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So you want me to trap it within one of my mirrors, a world that doesn¡¯t strictly exist, and is fueled by my power. My power as a Keeper, where everyone in nearly every world is supplying me with faith.¡± Dale added. ¡°You¡¯re hoping that would be enough to stop it, even if Terra¡¯s technique wouldn¡¯t?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, I¡¯m confident that the mirror world alone won¡¯t be enough.¡± Leowynn shook her head. ¡°You¡¯ll have to send the Fallen Gods in as well. If you send only the Guardian, he will surely break free. Sending in the Fallen Gods will allow them to fight and keep it preupied. I won¡¯t ask you to fight yourself, dad¡­ I just need you to set the stage for them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dale¡¯s brow furrowed, and he nodded his head. ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll do it. When is the fight taking ce?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Surprisingly, it was Tsubaki that answered. ¡°In¡­ half an hour. I just received the message, an emergency summons has been issued in the name of the Starry Night church. All Fallen Gods fit for battle are to report within thirty minutes. The message went out over every channel, even the void itself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well then¡­¡± Dale smiled, shaking his head. ¡°I guess this is a thing we¡¯re doing. Tsubaki, I have a job for you while I¡¯m gone.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What?¡± Tsubaki¡¯s eyes went wide. ¡°My Keeper, please let me join you in this fight.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Like she said, I¡¯m not fighting. I¡¯m just setting the stage for them. Besides¡­ what I¡¯m going to ask you to do is every bit as important as the fight itself, and I can¡¯t trust anyone more than you to do so.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki hesitated for a moment, before nodding her head. ¡°Please give me your orders, my Keeper.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dale reached over, gently gripping her shoulder. ¡°Go meet James and Chel. Exin the situation to them. Tell them that we need a newary void defense as quickly as they can manage it. With the Guardian no longer protecting us, any void monster can bring the fight to us. I don¡¯t want another incident like Ashe happening again.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s body stiffened at that, her eyes going wide. ¡°I understand, my Keeper.¡± It was clear that she would prefer to join the fight alongside Dale. However, she also understood the importance of this mission. Even now, there were an unknown number of hostile void monsters attacking Earth. Any message that she passed on had the danger of attracting the attention of one, or triggering its effects. She couldn¡¯t risk sending another messenger in her stead, because she couldn¡¯t be sure that messenger would ever make it to Deckan.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Leowynn, can you make sure she gets there safely?¡± Dale said in a whisper, Leowynn nodding her head and offering a blessing towards Tsubaki. In truth, even Tsubaki herself was in danger of falling to the void monsters. And the only reason Leowynn didn¡¯t deliver the message personally¡­ as the Goddess of the Void, she needed to be part of this battle.

 Chapter 859: The Guardian’s Fate

    Chapter 859: The Guardian¡¯s Fate


    <span style="font-weight:400">Strea stood in front of the crowd of Fallen Gods, a serious expression on her face. Of those gathered here, she was the only one that had personal experience fighting the Guardian. Thus, despite Leowynn herself being in attendance, she had been the one who was asked to speak to the masses.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There were over thirty Fallen Gods in attendance, most of them having been raised by the Starry Night church over thest several years. In addition, there were a few that came in response to the summon they had put out, without being directly rted to the church itself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thank you everyone foring on such short notice.¡± Strea said, her voice solemn. ¡°I¡¯m sure that everyone here has taken note that the Guardian¡¯s armor has been shifting as ofte. Today, we received confirmation that the Guardian has turned entirely against the world, and is now actively protecting the void beasts that it once sought to destroy.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After she said that, one lycan raised his hand and questioned. ¡°Couldn¡¯t we have dealt with the situation before now? Like you said, its armor has been changing for a while.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Strea looked like she was about to speak up before a soft voice echoed out. ¡°I believe that the me for this lies solely with myself.¡± Everyone turned their eyes to look at the speaker, seeing none other than Leowynn, her hair shining like gentle starlight. ¡°I created the Guardian, and I should have investigated it more closely, rather than the cursory examinations that I gave it over the years.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The problem here is simr to running a program with a memory leak. You can tell that something is going on for a good while before everything suddenly changes. Only, instead of shutting down, the Guardian evolved in a way contrary to its initial programming. All of the energy that I poured into the Guardian¡¯s creation has now been turned into a weapon aimed at our worlds.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Silence fell over the room as Leowynn finished speaking. Nobody had it in them to openly criticize the Greater Pantheon, even when she herself admitted to her mistake. Instead, Strea cleared her throat, continuing to speak.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I have fought the Guardian myself, which is why I have summoned everyone here. Even with all of us¡­ I cannot say that I am entirely confident. However, I will go over the details of my battle with all of you. In actuality, the battle was incredibly short. I fired an attack at the void beasts, which the Guardian effortlessly defended against. Afterwards, I used my authority to trap it within a realm of shadows, andunched another attack.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Although the Guardian had been sessfully imprisoned, it managed to cut its way out, blocking the attack again before itnded. That was when it attacked me personally. A single swing of its sword was enough to cleave my body in half from a considerable distance. Furthermore, the energy of my lower body was drained away, and I was unable to retrieve it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn nodded her head at that. ¡°ording to the revised programming I saw, it did not treat you as a threat until you personally attacked it. As long as you were only attacking the void beasts it was protecting, it wouldn¡¯t touch you. It simply marked you as an enemy when you changed your target to imprison it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Strea blinked, offering a small nod. ¡°If that is the case, we may be able to prepare a bit more, using whatever enhancement techniques are at our disposal beforeunching our first attack.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There is something I would like to contribute to that discussion, in fact.¡± Leowynn spoke up, her expression serious. She turned to the door. ¡°You cane in now.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The door opened, and the eyes of those inside shook. None other than the Keeper himself stepped into the room, his hands at his sides. ¡°In order to best secure our victory, I have asked for the Keeper to personally get involved in this fight. This was a problem created by the Greater Pantheon, so it is only right for us to do our best to resolve it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°However, be warned that he will not be directly attacking the Guardian. Instead, his job in this fight is to provide a field for all of you to battle in. With this field cut off from the void, the powers of the Guardian will be greatly diminished.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Our own powers will be affected as well, will they not?¡± Another fallen asked curiously, to which Leowynn nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Normally, that would be the case. If the Guardian cannot ess the power of the Void, then naturally neither could you. That is why I will also be participating. Once the Keeper has moved everyone to the proper field of battle, you will all have ess only to the void powers present within your bodies. However, one of my domains is the Void. I can use my divinity to establish a connection between each of you and the void for the duration of this fight.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The questioning party nodded his head, seeming content with the answer. In the end, it was none other than Strea that spoke up. ¡°Will the Keeper¡¯s trap be effective? I mean no disrespect, but the Guardian escaped mine as if it were nothing.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That is because your trap relied on the energies of the void.¡± The Keeper said with a small smile. ¡°Mine will rely purely on my divinity. Additionally, all of you will be fighting it at the same time, preventing it from being able to focus on escaping. Is there anything else that needs to be discussed before we go? I¡¯m sure that everyone understands that time is of the essence. Right now, we have no idea how many void monsters have infiltrated this world under the Guardian¡¯s protection. For that matter, they may already be attacking every other world in full force.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The room fell silent at that, Leowynn offering a small smile of acknowledgement. ¡°In that case, let us be off.¡± After saying that, she tore open a void gate next to herself, allowing everyone to pass through it and into the void far away from the Guardian.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Each of these Fallen Gods seemed to bring some form of phenomena when they entered the void, these strange signs persisting for several moments before being restrained within their bodies. ¡°I expect everyone here to take this seriously. Remember that your lives are very much on the line, as well as the lives of everyone that you have ever known.¡± The Keeper spoke, his eyes focusing on therge figure of the Guardian positioned in the distance.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a wave of his hand, a mirror appeared beneath the feet of each of those standing around him. The moment the light of the mirrors shed, the Fallen Gods and Leowynn disappeared, transported to a grassy meadow. The Fallen Gods looked at one another briefly, confirming that they had no ess to the void, before their faces became grim. They only felt like this when they were synchronized with their Virtual selves, making them feel rather powerless.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At least, that was how it was at the start, before Leowynn sped her hands together. ¡°May those present wield the void through me.¡± She spoke up, and everyone felt that familiar connection established again, even if it did feel a bit more distant.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Everyone, get into position!¡± Leowynn¡¯s voice called out, snapping everyone out of their thoughts. ¡°Spread out to prevent it from taking you all at once!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">At her words, the Fallen Gods began to move, spreading themselves out while they began enhancing themselves with their various abilities. They didn¡¯t dare summon their sanctuaries for fear that the Guardian could use it as a connection to the void, but they still had other ways to fight.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Roughly five minutester, a massive circle appeared in the sky above the meadow, a sh of light emerging before it vanished. In its ce, the Guardian now stood, its body towering high above any of the Fallen Gods. Leowynn bit her lip nervously, able to properly assess how much power the Guardian possessed.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">In the worst case scenario¡­ you may need to shatter this portal and everyone in it, dad.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Leowynn said, knowing that she would be the only one capable of surviving an event like that. The majority of the power from her church was present, but she was still unsure if that would be enough.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">That won¡¯t happen.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The Keeper¡¯s voice echoed back to Leowynn, making her eyes go wide. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Everyone there is important for this world. If you truly can¡¯t do it, I¡¯ll think of another way. For now, we go with your n. Have faith in yourself, my little star.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn blinked at that, before a wide smile filled her face. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Right!</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">For her part, Leowynn had to act as a ry station to allow the other Fallen Gods to activate their own powers. They used these powers to sling fire and ice, cut space itself, or even conjure the image of a great moon within the sky. In the meantime, the Guardian seemed to have recognized the situation it was in,shing out and swinging its sword against some of the attacks used against it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn continued to analyze the pattern of the Guardian, noticing that it only parried those attacks which contained enough power to cause it any damage. Otherwise, it would simply allow the attacks to hit its body without any sign of concern. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯s smart¡­ that¡¯s no surprise, but it seems like it has grown even beyond what I gave it.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Are wete to the party?¡± A voice spoke up from behind Leowynn, causing her to blink and look back. Standing behind her were a pair of identical twins, smiling at her. ¡°The big girl upstairs said that you needed us.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn¡¯s eyes went wide as she recognized the identity of the Terra twins. ¡°Please, if there is anything that you can do¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two grinned at each other, nodding their heads. ¡°We haven¡¯t tried tobine for a battle yet, but this sounds like it¡¯d be important.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right? What better time to test the true power of fate?¡± The one that had spoken summoned a ck book in her hand, the other calling forth a golden book. The two ced their backs together, their books against their chests.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I am the story that hase to pass.¡± The sister with the ck book said, her eyes closing as the other spoke.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And I am the inspiration that is toe.¡± After her voice faded, the bodies of the two sisters seemed to merge into each other, bing a singr existence. When this single felyn opened her eyes, they revealed pools of endless darkness, a soft smile adorning her face.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I am the fate of the world. What do you wish of me?¡± The figure asked, Leowynn thinking it over for a moment.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is there anything that you can do to turn the tides of this battle?¡± She asked, turning to look at the battlefield behind her. With the Fallen Gods unable to summon their Sanctuaries, they weren¡¯t able to inflict any true damage on the Guardian. In fact, they were only barely keeping it from stabbing at the sky in a bid to escape. The thought of trying to rewrite or erase him was all but impossible if they couldn¡¯t do more.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You wish for the fate of this creature to be severed?¡± The merged form of Terra asked, raising a hand to aim it at the Guardian. ¡°In that case, it shall be done. All fates shall lead this creature to its doom.¡± A deep echo spread out from Terra as she said that, with even the Guardian noticing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It turned its head to look at her, before jumping back quickly, foregoing its normal defensive strategies as if attempting to run away. It seemed to have sensed some deep danger from Terra, who simply smiled as she watched it go.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The power of Fate cannot be escaped by foot or by flight. It is everywhere, both before and behind. Your fate has been cut. Now¡­ I must sleep.¡± Terra said, her eyelids growing heavy. ¡°This body is not fit to use my power for long.¡± As she said that, her body became blurred, before splitting open and falling to either side as the two individual Terra twins. Both twins had their eyes closed, as if they had fallen into a deep slumber.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing this, Leowynn bit her lip, hoping that the power of an Origin was really as strong as Terra had imed. When she turned to look at the Guardian, she saw that it was still desperately running away, jumping over mountains and forests as it sought to flee from where she was standing. At the same time, the Fallen Gods behind it gave chase, forgetting their earlier concerns.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Eventually, one of them summoned their sanctuary, causing Leowynn¡¯s eyes to go wide in shock. She was just about to call out for them to stop when more and more sanctuaries began to appear, surrounding the Guardian on all sides. It continued to charge ahead, as if aiming to smash through the sanctuary before it without trying to borrow any of its power.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Is this¡­ Fate?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Leowynn asked in confusion, watching the sanctuaries ovepping and trapping the Guardian in a looping region of space. Their attacks grew stronger and stronger, while the Guardian seemed unable to resist. Even when it realized that running was futile, and turned to brandish its sword against the Fallen Gods, they did not waver.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It began to borrow the power of the sanctuaries, enhancing its strikes enough that it slew two Fallen Gods with a single sh, but it was as if the others didn¡¯t see. Their attacks grew more frenzied, pushing the Guardian back again and again and causing cracks to appear in its armor.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">This is my chance!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Leowynn thought, or rather, it felt like a voice inside her said. She took a step forward, instantly traversing the space between her and the battlefield, and shoved her arm into the crack of the Guardian¡¯s armor. She wasn¡¯t sure how, but she could feel the core of the Guardian directly in front of her arm. With her domain of Void, she wrapped her energy around that core and shattered it.

 Chapter 860: Defensive Measures

    Chapter 860: Defensive Measures


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once the battle was over, I released the various Fallen Gods and other helpers that hade to assist with the ying of the Guardian, sending them on their way. Leowynn took the Terra twins and teleported away, seemingly knowing where they lived. Once I was alone, I sent myself back to the Citadel, but only long enough to close my eyes and ascend back to the Admin Room. Thest thing I wanted was to leave my body defenseless in the void.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once I arrived, Terra seemed to already be waiting for me, as if having expected this visit. ¡°So, what did you think?¡± She asked with a knowing smile.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, for one¡­ totally broken. Can anyone¡¯s fate be sealed like that?¡± Naturally, I was referring to how thebined Origin form of the twins had managed to seal the fate of the Guardian. After doing so, people just seemed not to notice things that were inconvenient for that fate to y out.They were so caught up in their battle frenzy that they ignored even the deaths of their allies, while the Guardian¡¯s responses were simrly strange.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not¡­ quite.¡± Terra shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s powerful, I¡¯ll give you that. But, it¡¯s not without its limits. For one, it is only closing off the fates that could happen, not creating an entirely new one. So, if there was absolutely no possibility for the Guardian to have fallen there, then even the Origin of Fate wouldn¡¯t be able to change that. Not without considerably more power.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°To use another example¡­ Let''s say that she flipped a coin. Each toss has a fifty percent chance toe up heads, and fifty percent chance toe up tails. She can flip that coin a million times, and get heads every single time. This is because there is still a chance, however remote, that the oue she wants is possible. On the other hand, she can¡¯t flip a silver coin and suddenly have it be gold, because silver just doesn¡¯t do that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod at that, as it wasn¡¯t all that difficult to exin. ¡°So really, she¡¯s just manipting what <i><span style="font-weight:400">could</i><span style="font-weight:400"> happen, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Exactly!¡± Terra smiled wide, leaning back on the couch. ¡°But the more remote the chances are, the bigger the energy cost. As the Goddess of Fate, let me tell you¡­ the odds of the Guardian dying there were only about thirty percent. That¡¯s why I sent those two there in the first ce.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Once the Origin of Fate was unleashed, she sealed off every eventuality that didn¡¯t lead to the Guardian¡¯s death. That¡¯s why it was so scared of her, because it sensed a power of a higher order than itself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Then¡­¡± I started, before shaking my head. ¡°It used up all of their power to do just that?¡± Having kept my senses trained on the fight, I knew that the twins weren¡¯t merely sleeping. They were drained of the vast majority of their energy, everything that they had naturally built up on their own over time. Obviously, they still had ess to the reserves that came with being the incarnation of Terra, but what came purely from themselves was long gone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Terra nodded her head, sighing. ¡°The power of an Origin is incredibly vast, but that means that the energy required to use it on any kind ofrge scale is simrly costly. Typically, they get away without too much trouble because they¡¯re only <i><span style="font-weight:400">looking</i><span style="font-weight:400"> at fate, not changing it. It¡¯s a lot easier to look at something through a window than it is to smash that window and grab the item.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That made sense, though it also seemed like there were things that she was holding back. For one, I still didn¡¯t know how someone could naturally cultivate to the Origin level. Although I knew that it involved both divinity and the void, she had exined what would happen if the two were recklessly mixed. Even if I managed to seed, it would shoot my rank up beyond what I was ready for. Speaking of¡­


    <span style="font-weight:400">I looked over at Terra after thinking about something. ¡°I couldn¡¯t activate the powers of a Fallen God. As the keeper, all powers of my world should be mine to wield, but that one was unavable to me¡­ why?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra gave a small grin, her head shaking. ¡°I was wondering when you¡¯d notice. Honestly, it¡¯s not that the power is blocked from you, but rather that you need an extra step to use it. I¡¯ve mentioned how gods and fallen gods don¡¯t easily mix, right? Well, you¡¯re currently a God. In order to use the powers of a Fallen, you need to entirely suppress your divinity.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ve never brought it up to you before because it would be a bit of a waste to suppress your divinity and all of the domains that you receive as Keeper, only to get the domains of the Fallen. It¡¯s the same logic as why you only have the spirit-exclusive sses when you¡¯re a spirit.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That¡­ unfortunately made sense. There were far more gods in my world than there were Fallen, so I can¡¯t honestly say that I would make that trade myself. ¡°Got it. Either way, shall we see how it¡¯s going on Tsubaki¡¯s end?¡± Terra smiled at that, handing me the remote.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Iing fox in three, two, one¡­¡± Chel muttered, causing Thea to nce over at her in confusion before the door to theb was suddenly opened. Thea jumped, turning to face the neer, only to see that it was none other than Tsubaki herself. ¡°And called it.¡± Chel grinned, turning to face her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We need your help.¡± Tsubaki said as she entered theb, looking around. However, the only ones present at the moment were Chel and Thea. ¡°Where¡­ is the researcher?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°James is off in the constructionb. That one we were given in the void way back? He wants to make the new Perfection Chamber there without any disruption. I¡¯m guessing that I need to call him back?¡± Chel asked with that same smile on her face, to which Tsubaki nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. We have a serious issue that concerns the fates of all worlds.¡± Tsubaki exined, before going over what had happened with the Guardian. As she listened, Chel¡¯s face became more and more serious, taking in the details.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡®Right¡­ you guys need proper void shielding. I¡¯ll pass the message along. I was wondering why they had started appearing around here again.¡± She muttered, Tsubaki¡¯s eyebrow lifting slightly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Have there been any hazardous void entities attacking Deckan, as well?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel nodded her head. ¡°Nothing world ending, but there are a lot more haunted house stories spreading around now. That¡¯s usually a good indicator of void beasts. Oh, and I can¡¯t for the life of me picture the color orange. I know <i><span style="font-weight:400">what</i><span style="font-weight:400"> it is, and I can identify it if I see it, but I can¡¯t visualize it. Again, nothing earth-shattering, well at least not that one.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right¡­¡± Tsubaki nodded her head slowly. ¡°Regardless. How long do you think it will take to get proper defenses established?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel hummed to herself for a few moments, as if going over some calctions. ¡°You¡¯re talking about building a defensive structure in the void itself. We have all the tech that we need for it, so it¡¯s just a matter of implementing it. If you have a Fallen God rted to construction, we could push it out in one afternoon. Otherwise¡­ give us a week¡­ yeah, a week per world should be good.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s brow furrowed at that. She knew that this deadline wasn¡¯t beyond expectations, and would already be pushing them toplete on time. ¡°Is there some way to defend the worlds who are further back in the queue? I believe we would all prefer it if the storm shark incident was not repeated.¡± There were countless worlds connected to Desbar, not to mention all of the different worlds discovered through nar travel. If each one took a week, it may be years before every world had their proper defenses.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Just have the Fallen Gods hunt the ones attaching themselves to different worlds.¡± Chel said with a shrug of her shoulders. ¡°Oh, and if they can, tell them to build a void wall between the other worlds and Fyor. It won¡¯t <i><span style="font-weight:400">stop</i><span style="font-weight:400"> the beasts that are there, but it¡¯ll at least prove enough of an inconvenience that we won¡¯t need to worry about them for a while longer.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Fyor?¡± Tsubaki blinked in confusion, only for Chel to nod again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. Given Fyor¡¯s size and the likely state of its uppermostyer, it should be host to some of the most dangerous void beasts imaginable, having evolved by consuming countless creatures. They just can¡¯t breach the outermostyer because of the special ck rocks dividing eachyer.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°But if one of those highly evolved void beasts decided it wanted a vacation, and came to one of the other worlds¡­ well, we¡¯re talking about an apocalyptic event. Turning water into acid, making entires into ghost towns, that kind of thing.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Like I said, the wall wouldn¡¯t <i><span style="font-weight:400">stop</i><span style="font-weight:400"> it, just like a wall wouldn¡¯t stop a monster determined to get into a home. But some security is better than no security, and it will give us a warning for when something like that is on its way.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki thought about it for a moment, before agreeing. ¡°I¡¯ll pass the word on to the Fallen Gods. I assume that this wall is simply erected from void energy?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. They just need to imbue it with the concept of being a wall. Since the Void is all about information, it reacts incredibly well to input like that from Fallen Gods.¡± Chel smiled after finishing her exnation. ¡°Once that¡¯s done, we can begin construction of the void barriers. I¡¯ll throw in memetic defenses as an added bonus to increase the security of the barriers.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki let out a relieved sigh when she heard that. ¡°In that case, I should pass on the message and return to my Keeper. To confirm, there is no void entity that will attempt to prevent me from doing so, is there?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Let¡¯s check!¡± Chel eximed, her eyes going pitch ck as she stared at Tsubaki. ¡°I developed a kind of void-sight energy once the haunting rumors began. There are two threads attached to you. One of them looks familiar, so it probably came from Leowynn¡­ the other one¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel blinked for a moment, before falling silent. Tsubaki¡¯s worries increased by the moment, thinking that she had some horrible beast bound to kill her if she uttered a specific word. ¡°It looks like the second void entity affecting you has made youctose intolerant. I¡¯m not sure how that works on an energy being, so¡­ try not to consume any energy milk until you have it taken care of?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki blinked¡­ and again. She shook her head, regretting her brief anxiety over the void monster that hadtched onto her. ¡°You are¡­ sure that it has done nothing else?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Chel gave a confident nod at that, her eyes returning to normal. ¡°I¡¯d like to consider myself an expert on matters of the void. Using this new void sight, I can identify the core qualities of a void beast by deciphering their energy pattern. That¡¯s why I knew that Leowynn¡¯s was familiar. There¡¯s nothing on you that you need to worry about right now.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki gave onest nod, before turning to leave. Thea kept her eyes on the door, waiting until Tsubaki was gone before looking down at Chel. ¡°How did you know she wasing if you didn¡¯t know what she wanted to talk about?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel chuckled, shaking her head. ¡°Goddess of Security, remember? I have eyes all over this facility. I just don¡¯t usually have a good excuse to show off.¡± Thea¡¯s eyes went wide at that, realization dawning on her. Chel was the very first being to have her divinity forged, and she had even done the forging process herself. With how long ago that was, her ascension had beenpleted for quite some time, though she rarely disyed any of her divine abilities.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Couldn¡¯t you use the Security domain to protect the worlds from void beasts, instead of the barriers?¡± Thea questioned, but Chel immediately shot down the idea.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ve only got so much energy as James¡¯s assistant. The most I can do is set up an early warning system. Even then, I¡¯d be draining myself to the extreme, just so that I could do something that we have the technology to achieve without divine powers.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I suppose¡­¡± Thea agreed without too much trouble.

 Chapter 861: Securing The Future

    Chapter 861: Securing The Future


    <span style="font-weight:400">It wasn¡¯t long after I returned that Tsubaki came back, delivering the news that she had gotten from Chel. Admittedly, it was a relief that they had everything that they needed on hand, so we only needed to worry about the construction time. Furthermore, asking only for a week for each world would be pushing them to their limits.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If there was one thing to be happy about, it was that the absence of the gods that had gone off to find their own worlds had gradually started to shift the economy back to where we wanted it to be. At least, it had for the moment. I was sure that the demand for energy would skyrocket again whenever a god found a proper world to rule over. After all, if they wanted to give those people System Stones, they would need to supply that energy to the Metong.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Please tell me that there is nothing else that we need to urgently worry about.¡± I muttered, Tsubaki looking at me for a long moment before speaking up.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I do not believe that there are any more troubles that warrant your attention, my Keeper. Does that mean that you intend to return to your abode and elerate the world again?¡± She asked, causing me to look at her and blink in confusion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What? No, nothing like that. I just don¡¯t want to have the world crumbling to dust around me. Though, that said, we do need to figure out some better steps to take if we¡¯re going to be actively fighting the void from now on.¡± It wasn¡¯t that I didn¡¯t trust James and his group to establish proper defenses. However, I knew better than most that there was no such thing as a perfect shield.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded her head in agreement. ¡°Were Ipatible with the void, I would stand vigil myself. However¡­ I do not believe that would be very helpful as I am.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small chuckle at that, reaching over to pat her shoulder. ¡°I know you would, Tsubaki. I wouldn¡¯t trust anyone to y the role of guardian more than you, if such were an option. As things are, we need to find an alternative that works for us.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Why not Dana?¡± Lifre suddenly spoke up, causing me to nce over. Lifre was standing in the doorway, carrying a stack of books under one arm. ¡°What? The rest of us are already gods, so we can¡¯t exactly go the whole Fallen God route, but Dana¡¯s just¡­ well, Dana, right? She¡¯s that saint body or whatever you called it, but she hasn¡¯t stepped on the path of divinity or anything.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯re¡­ not wrong, but I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s possible for her to ept the power of a Fallen God any more than it would be for her to pursue divinity.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Why not just ask Chel about it?¡± Lifre asked with a shrug of her shoulders. ¡°She¡¯s the one we go to whenever we have questions about the void anyways, so if anyone would know about whether it¡¯s possible, it would be her.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I hesitated for a moment at that, thinking inwardly. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Honestly, I¡¯d rather go to Terra about it, but Dana¡¯s the first of her kind, so¡­</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Yeah.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Terra¡¯s voice spoke into my mind to answer me. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Sadly, I can¡¯t give any details until there is a bit more precedent. Hmm¡­ once my incarnations wake up, you could ask them to do a prediction for you. Their ability to read fate should let them know the oue of an experiment like that.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">True, I just don¡¯t know how long it will take to wake them up.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> It felt like I was relying on Cheltely more than my own System Companion. True, Terra may not mind because it meant that I wasn¡¯t always pushing the limits of what information she could give me, but it felt almost like she was starting to get lonely with how I went to Chel instead of her for the higher-end information.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Judging by their rate of recovery, about six hours. Though really, you¡¯ll probably want Chel with you when you have them do the prediction. She¡¯ll probably know methods of bing a Fallen God that I can¡¯t say. If the base method won¡¯t work for Dana, you¡¯ll need to take alternate paths.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small smile at that, nodding my head. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Thanks, Terra. As always, you are the best.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Damn straight I am.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She said, and I could just imagine her tilting her head back smugly. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Honestly, the thought of Dana as a Fallen God has some scary implications. Her mind is almost perfectly suited for handling void energy, and she cane up withplex programs using only her mind.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I wasn¡¯t personally familiar enough with the workings of the void to know how suitable Dana was, but given Terra¡¯s praises, it seemed like Dana would be a new powerhouse of the Citadel. Depending on how well she performed, she may even reach the same level ofbat power as Tsubaki.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ugh¡­ what hit us?¡± The golden-haired Terra asked as she slowly sat up in her bed, her twin rising at the same time. Both of them clutched their heads, as if recovering from a bad hangover.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I think we did.¡± The other one answered. ¡°Though, given how awesome we were? Totally worth it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I know, right?¡± The divine twin giggled. ¡°I don¡¯t even think the big girl upstairs could do what we did that easily. Wepletely cut off a creature¡¯s fate. If that¡¯s not badass, I don¡¯t know what is. Next time we try something like this, let me use my Inspiration power first. Maybe I cane up with a better way to use our power.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As long as I get to record everything, fine.¡± Her fallen counterpart grinned, before her eyes shed ck for a moment. ¡°Speaking of, there are people on their way. Four of them, and one¡­ ah! The Keeper¡¯sing?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡­ ah, it¡¯s that reference lookup, right?¡± The divine twin nodded her head. ¡°Okay, well, let¡¯s make sure we¡¯re presentable. Did the reference tell you what they¡¯reing for?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The other Terra nodded, both standing up and utilizing their energy to fix and clean their appearances. ¡°They were thinking about asking us questions for a prediction. I guess that exins why the big girl sent us a lot of her power as we were waking up.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The divine Terra clicked her tongue. ¡°Noting to congratte us on our epic kill? Well, I guess we can help them out. How long until they get here?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°They just opened a gate outside.¡± The fallen said with a grin. ¡°They must have gotten our address from someone at the top.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Shoot, thought we had more time. Well, remember your lines. We get this right, and you can be Terra for a week.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°But I <i><span style="font-weight:400">am</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Terra.¡± The fallen said when she heard her sister¡¯s statement, though there was a small grin on her face.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°See, that¡¯s the spirit.¡± The divine twin said with a wink. With the two now being divided as Goddess and Fallen Goddess, it was easy for them to differentiate each other. The age-old argument of ¡®who is Terra?¡¯ was finally settled¡­ by saying that they both were, depending on their mood. They kept ying up their earlier joke because they found it amusing to watch people¡¯s reactions, but they themselves always knew which one was Terra and which was Firma at any given moment.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two cleared their throats, before moving in perfect harmony out the door and down the hall. Just as they were getting to the living room, there was a knock on the door. ¡°Come in.¡± They said together, secretly smiling at one another before the door opened.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sorry if we¡¯re bothering you girls.¡± The Keeper said with a smile, apanied by Tsubaki, Chel, and Dana. ¡°Terra said that it wouldn¡¯t be a problem for us toe and ask for a prediction once you woke up. Since this is all pretty important aftermath from what happened earlier, we decided that there wasn¡¯t any time to waste.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No problem!¡± The two said in unison, arms crossed behind their backs. ¡°What would you like to know?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper blinked at the perfectly synchronized talking, before shaking his head. ¡°This is probably going to be a multiple-part prediction, so I¡¯m going to let Chelsea handle it.¡± As he said that, he stepped aside to let Chel step up, her eyes scanning over the twins.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, how do we do this? I¡¯ve got some things to go over once we get started.¡± She said, the two turning to smile at each other.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, I guess that there¡¯s not time to waste, right Firma?¡± The divine twin asked, causing her sister to pout.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m Terra, you¡¯re Firma. When are you going to get this right?¡± She shook her head, both of them summoning their books at the same time and standing back to back. ¡°I am the story that hase to pass.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The other twin quickly recited her own verse, both books glowing and melding together. ¡°I am the inspiration that is toe.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Just like before, they merged into one, forming a singr Terra with a single book floating before her. ¡°I am the fate of the world. What is it that you wish of me?¡± She asked, though she appeared to be less energetic than her previous appearance.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Just a few questions!¡± Chel answered happily, pulling out a notebook. ¡°Our friend there, Dana, is a saint body that has mastered the World Shadow energy. What would happen if she used the three steps of void ascension to be a Fallen God?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Origin of Fate arched a brow, before closing her eyes. ¡°Should she take the path you speak of, her body will be scattered to the wind, taking with it all in her wake.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay¡­ that path is out. What about refining a tertiary world and using its energy to fuel a void evolution?¡± Chel asked, crossing out the first entry to her list.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The world consumed would be lost, and darkness would return to darkness.¡± The Origin¡¯s voice seemed to almost echo as she said that, though the meaning was clear.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay, can¡¯t use that method, either¡­ what about an Ascendancy Scripture? That¡¯s a void script where you write a detailed meme to give yourself power over a certain domain, effectively¡­ it¡¯s like the void version of forging your divinity. Let¡¯s just leave it at that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Origin opened her eyes for a moment to look at Chel, who had just crossed off the second line in her notebook. ¡°Darkness begets darkness, a shadow falling over the void. The Tyrant Queen of Shadows shall assume the throne of chaos.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So the Ascendancy Scripture works?¡± Chel asked with a grin, circling the third option. ¡°That¡¯s great. We don¡¯t have to go into refining living void beasts, inverting the chaos principle, or find the end of creation.¡± As she said that, she crossed off thest three lines from her list.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...I do not say this lightly. You scare me.¡± The Origin of Fate said as she stared at Chel. ¡°Your path is as chaos itself. Every word you speak is tainted with the void. For a God, you are more at one with the void than even most Fallen.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel blinked up at Terra, tilting her head. ¡°Was that another prediction? I¡¯ll need to write that down to reference itter. Anyways, thanks for the information! Anything else you need taken care of while we¡¯re here, Keeper?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper shook his head at that, looking at the other two. ¡°Hey, I¡¯m just here for the girls to have a target for their prediction.¡± Dana said with a chuckle, Tsubaki shaking her head as well.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We¡¯ll leave you to your rest, then.¡± The Keeper spoke towards the Origin of Fate, who nodded her head solemnly. Without further ado, the Keeper tore open a rift in the air, allowing the four visitors to leave.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once they were gone, the Origin¡¯s body grew blurry, and she separated into the two figures of the twins. ¡°Okay, <i><span style="font-weight:400">what</i><span style="font-weight:400"> is she?!¡± The fallen twin asked, her eyes wide as she looked at her sister.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I don¡¯t know. Have you ever seen anything like that? I felt like we might get undone just looking at her too long. How can one person have such a chaotic fate?¡± The divine twin answered, shaking slightly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I don¡¯t know, it¡¯s like she had contingencies set up for everything, even <i><span style="font-weight:400">us</i><span style="font-weight:400">. How do you set up contingencies for <i><span style="font-weight:400">us!?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> We¡¯re fate! I counted at least fifty void scripts she¡¯s used on herself just to defend against our kind of powers.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The divine twin nodded her head at that. ¡°And the Goddess of Security on top of that?! We can read the Keeper better than we can read her. Speaking of, should we have told him that there¡¯s a void beast on the Citadel?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right, I had nearly forgotten about that.¡± The fallen shuddered, shaking her head. ¡°Give us a moment to calm down, and we¡¯ll ry the message. It was twisting paths, right? It shouldn¡¯t be hard for them to kill something like that in the void, since it¡¯s harmless enough.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah, but it¡¯s sucking information off of the <i><span style="font-weight:400">Keeper</i><span style="font-weight:400">, so we¡¯d better hurry¡­¡± The divine sister sighed. ¡°Let me ry it to Leowynn. She should be able to get rid of it before it starts acting up.¡±

 Chapter 862: The Black Spot

    Chapter 862: The ck Spot


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana, or rather the avatar of her that she created to join the Keeper and the others on their trip to Sanctum to visit the Terra twins, looked at Chel as the pair returned to theb in Deckan. ¡°So, what do we do now? If you know what method I need to do to ascend, I assume you know how to help me through that method?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yup!¡± Chelsea nodded her head with a wide smile. ¡°It¡¯s actually pretty easy. Okay, that¡¯s a lie. It¡¯s probably one of the most difficult ways to manipte the void that this body is capable of. But it¡¯s easy for <i><span style="font-weight:400">you</i><span style="font-weight:400"> to do your part.¡± As she said that, she walked over to her desk, grabbing a nk piece of paper.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You see, void scripts are capable of so many things. Even just in the realm of memes, you have so many possibilities. I can make you jump on one foot while clucking like a chicken, or I can even turn you <i><span style="font-weight:400">into</i><span style="font-weight:400"> a chicken, or just a mass of disgusting flesh with no purpose beyond spreading your filth to all that you find.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I suspect that, at a high enough level, void scripts could even be used to create entire worlds. You¡¯d be twisting the power of the void to write aplete set of physicalws, but it should be possible. What we¡¯re doing here, however, is small byparison.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°An Ascendancy Script is a void script that creates an intricate link between the reader and the void, and then shapes that link over time.¡± As Chel said that, her eyes went ck, and she began to open a dark portal above the paper. ¡°Are you fine with the Darkness domain? Sorry, it just seems to fit your whole concept.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana shrugged her shoulders at that, but nodded her head. ¡°So, you just have to write a script, and it will turn my main body into a Fallen God?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yes and no.¡± Chel said as ck power began to flow down onto the page. ¡°If you read this script every day for¡­ I¡¯d say a month in your situation, then you will fully convert. I¡¯ve just got to be careful to establish the channel, define the parameters, and also set up protections to prevent it from mutating. Thest thing you want is for you to be a Fallen Mutate. We¡¯d have to put you down before you turned into a world devouring monster.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana blinked, nodding her head again slowly. ¡°Yeah, that sounds bad¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, very! But yeah, this is a slow acting script. Just make sure that you¡¯re the only one reading it, or else someone might end up going pop in the Citadel. They¡¯re all gods, after all.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Anyways, once the connection with the void is established, the hardest part of the script is to write in your domain. I essentially have to write it in such a way that it convinces both the void and yourself that you have the domain of Darkness.¡± As she said that, the ck energy gathered on her finger, and she used it to slowly, carefully write a message on the paper.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And¡­ what will happen if this all goes wrong?¡± Dana asked in concern.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯ll either get the domain of Peaches, or you¡¯ll be a being of pure shadow seeking to devour every source of light in the universe.¡± She said as a matter of fact. ¡°We got confirmation from Terra, though, so this should work. I can¡¯t think of anyone else that qualifies as the Tyrant Queen of Shadows.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Before Dana could say anything else, Chel spoke up. ¡°So, listen, once your main body starts practicing this script, it will be toote to stop. I¡¯m going to give you a crash course on how to y the part of a Fallen God before you get thrust into the deep end. Make sure all of this information gets sent back to your main self.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana¡¯s gaze immediately focused, and she nodded once, causing Chel to smile. ¡°I¡¯ve said this Gods know how many times, but the void is information. That¡¯s all it is. Raw, unfiltered information. Every event that could ever ur, any event that can never be, all of it is born in the void.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The process of creating a world warps that information into a tangible form, creating a barrier containing matter andws. It is only within those barriers that life can flourish. Once you be a Fallen, you are embracing life outside the bubble. While you can continue to live within it, your true power will grow out in the void.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°To use that power, you must manipte the information. Everyone treats it differently. You can think of it like running a program on your terminal, performing a practiced technique, or issuing orders to subordinates.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This is where Fallen begin to differ from Gods. A God activates their power by simply focusing on the effect they want, and using their words as a mnemonic device to help them channel that power. In exchange for the ease of use, a God supplies their power themselves, having to gather it from the recognition of the masses.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°On the other hand, a Fallen gathers their power from the infinite void. Like druids, they will not truly run out of energy as they use their abilities. Instead, they have to clearly define their abilities before they can be put to proper use. I, personally, refer to these abilities as Lines. It¡¯s how I helped train those two that recently got sent off.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°By writing a line with the void, you etch that ability into yourself. The first line any Fallen masters is being able to create and summon their Sanctuary. After that, they start practicing techniques, twisting the power of their domain with the void to find special abilities that work for them. Once they have established an ability that they like, they record it down like a spell in a grimoire. That is your line.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Now, don¡¯t get me wrong, it is possible to make abilities on the fly like a God does, but that is considerably more advanced and risky. Since the power you are harnessing is external, and you are merely acting as a channel for it, messing up while improvising a power could damage your very existence.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If you can synchronize your mind with the void, and properly adjust your line of thinking, you will be able to master arge number of abilities rted to your domain in a short amount of time.¡± As she said that, she lifted her hand off the page, the ck portal snapping shut. ¡°If you need any advice beyond that, I¡¯d suggest going to the Starry Night church. We¡¯re about to be busy around here with construction of the new void barriers, so I won¡¯t have any time to give training.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying so, she lifted the paper up and handed it to Dana, making sure to not look at it herself. Dana furrowed her brow, looking down at the paper in her hands. ¡°You spent all that time drawing a circle? The void script inside was that difficult to make you spend so much time?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Again, yes and no.¡± Chelsea chuckled. ¡°Don¡¯t stare at it too long, that¡¯s for your main body. Every day, you need to look at that circle and stare at it. The longer you do, the more filled in the circle will be. You have to keep staring at it until the circle is fully filled in. Once you have finished your training, the entire page itself will turn ck in your eyes. That¡¯s how you¡¯ll know when you have broken through.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana blinked, nodding her head and folding up the paper so that she would not be tempted to look at it. ¡°Alright. In that case, is there anything else that I¡¯m needed for here?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Nope! Feel free to return to your main body now. We should be ready to get started on our end as soon as James returns from his experiment. Though, if he takes too long, I¡¯ll have to go and drag him out myself¡­¡± Chel muttered thatst part with a shake of her head. ¡°Either way, you should be good to go.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana nodded, smiling and stepping back into a shadow. She hadmunicated with her main body that she was ready to be picked up, so the main body had created a shadow portal for her. Once she emerged from it, she handed her main body the page while transferring her memories of the events.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The true Dana blinked, looking out at the dark sky of Fyor before unfolding the paper. ¡°The things they get up to when I¡¯m not around¡­¡± She muttered to herself, staring into the circle of the paper. Already, she could see it slowly starting to fill in, confirming that this was no simple circle that Chel had drawn for her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Lady Jafer!¡± One of the Rainbow-Eyed humans came over to speak, Dana creating a wall of darkness around the paper to hide it from his eyes. ¡°I was told to inform you that construction of the underwater city has nearly beenpleted. We should soon have the ability to safely traverse the gate to the nextyer.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was clear that the Rainbow-Eyes were excited to be able to undergo this step, as they had never been to ayer higher than their own. While they had gone lower, and even left Fyor entirely, they had only been to areas that were already explored, never an entirely new region.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is that so?¡± Dana asked, smiling in eptance. ¡°Thank you, I¡¯ll pass that information along.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">There had been some initial debate whether they should go for an underwater city or just create a dam and clear out the area near the gate. Sadly, such a dam would itself be a massive undertaking, with no guarantees of sess. If, for any reason, it failed, everyone around the portal would be crushed into nothing. There were too many variables to consider, making an underwater habitat far more realistic in this sense.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As the Rainbow-Eyed man left, Dana turned her attention back to the circle, seeing that it had returned to its previous state. ¡°So that¡¯s why I have to keep staring.¡± She muttered, staring hard into the circle again to watch it gradually fill itself in.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If this was enough to allow her to be a Fallen Goddess, she was happy to take that step. While she was by no means the weakest member of the Citadel, it <i><span style="font-weight:400">did</i><span style="font-weight:400"> make her feel a bit less than special when she considered that she was the only one living there that wasn¡¯t a god. Well, aside from Gerard, but she <i><span style="font-weight:400">created</i><span style="font-weight:400"> him. ¡°I wonder what he¡¯s up to now¡­¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Gerard sat within one of therger experiment rooms that had been created for him in a ratherrge mountain, focusing on the disy sitting in front of him. ¡°No matter what I try, the simtion isn¡¯t designed to handle it.¡± He said with a solemn shake of his head, standing up. ¡°Current simtions only cover up to the fourth tier of magic. If I want to push the boundaries and go beyond, I must do so myself. But how¡­ that is the question, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">He closed his eyes, slowly pacing back and forth with his arms behind his back. ¡°From the fist tier to the second, the change was ovepping multiple spell diagrams to create a single whole. From the second to the third, we introduced three-dimensional constructs, which took the ce of the ovepping diagrams. In the fourth tier, we have essentially removed two-dimensional diagrams altogether, and instead have focused on ovepping three-dimensional figures.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Each face of a fourth-tier spell functions as a lower-tier diagram, joined together in an overarching whole. If we follow this line of reasoning, there are a few ways that we could potentially advance to the fifth tier. The first method is through macrocosmic spells, giant arrays of diagrams simr to the fourth-tier linked together. The second, microscopic,pressing the spells to an infinitesimally small scale while maintaining their power.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The third option is that we may need to begin tapping into the void to perform magic, essing a dimension beyond the standard three we have ess to. Finally, the final option¡­ it may simply be impossible until the Keeper unlocks this stage of magic.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°For the time being, we should ignore thatst option and proceed under the assumption that anything is possible. This leaves us with three possibilities. Fifth-tier magic is likely to work with new sigils, but it is impossible to determine what these are until we establish the format that the spells are created through.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I do not have the proper void experience to conduct that test, so I shall shelve it until I have tried the other options. Between macrocosmic or microscopic, I do not have the facilities to create a macrocosmic spell. If microscopic does not show any results, I will put in a funding request for a on which I can test these spells.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Having finished saying this, Gerard moved over to his seat once again, staring at his desk. ¡°Let¡¯s start with a simple spell, one meant to produce light when amand word is said, otherwise recharging via internal core. Standard casts of this spell at the fourth tier have its diameter measured to roughly one-point-two meters and six thousand units of mana. I will now trypressing that spell to ten centimeters without losing the definition of its patterns or quality of mana.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, Gerard himself was a living spell, his mind more than suited for the rapid development of these abilities. He traced the spell in his mind and projected it out onto the desk, making sure that its size did not exceed the limits he set. Once the size was properly defined, he began pushing his mana into the spell, not stopping until he had inserted exactly six thousand units.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Spell appears to be stable.¡± Gerard nodded his head, his face remaining passive before speaking themand word for the spell. ¡°Activate.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a sh of light and concussive force that threw Gerard out of his seat, flinging him back until he hit the ground. His desk had cracked under the force, and Gerard himself was left blinking, staring up at the ceiling. His health bar appeared over his head, though only a sliver of his health was missing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Note, condensing the spell while applying the same amount of mana has resulted in the spell acting as if overcharged. In the process of the first experiment, the spell was destroyed in a minor explosion. For future experiments, measure the amount of mana required to produce the optimal effect.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Additional note, given the situation, macrocosmic spells will require mana orders of magnituderger than normal while achieving minimal improvement. For the sake of future advancements, I will be maintaining the development of microscopic spells.¡±

 Chapter 863: Hungry For More

    Chapter 863: Hungry For More


    <span style="font-weight:400">Giles wrapped his arms around Sprigga, her shoulders shaking as she cried against his chest. As soon as the void beasts that had beentched onto the world were killed, a rush of memories came flooding back to her. She <i><span style="font-weight:400">knew</i><span style="font-weight:400"> what had happened to all of those missing Sylvans. In a way, it could be said that she had killed them herself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The void monster that had affected the grove was an incredibly malicious one. It only targeted entities in a hivemind-like structure, which was why only the Sylvans had been affected. Once it had found its target, it would identify the leader of the hivemind and force them to choose people to sacrifice to feed it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As soon as the choice was made, the leader of the hivemind lost all memory of the choice that they had to make. Worst still, because the void beast consumed their very existence, there would be no trace of those individuals remaining within the collective consciousness. If not for the fact that the groves had rather regr birthing schedules, the discrepancy in numbers may not have been noticed for quite a long time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Giles grit his teeth as he could do nothing butfort her as she sobbed in guilt, mortified that she had sacrificed so many thousands of her sisters to the insatiable beast. His arms held her more firmly, and he came to a decision. If Sprigga and her grove were vulnerable to the void¡­ he would train to protect them. He didn¡¯t want to see this innocent girl crying like this again.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tower appeared deep within the vastness of space, his eyes scanning the distance. He had detected the presence of a monster deity in this area that possessed two domains, and wished to investigate the matter. After all, unlike Pietra and Atraxi, he was incapable of having his divinity forged due to his divinity being the culmination of ten thousand dungeon cores. To forge his divinity would require him to have each of them forged in tandem, which was simply not feasible.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Eventually, Tower¡¯s gaze fell upon a serpent hundreds of thousands of kilometers away. If not for him specifically searching for the divinity that he sensed, he likely would have never noticed the creature¡¯s presence. It appeared in all aspects like a simple snake, no more than a meter long and with the thickness of a wrist. If there was anything unusual about it, it was the creature¡¯s enchanting golden color.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Let¡¯s see what I¡¯m dealing with here.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He muttered to himself, already wary of the small creature. Its size implied a great deal of control over its energy, as it did not allow itself to grow to the same proportions most monster gods did. His divinity lit up in his eyes and pierced through space to look at the monster¡¯s domains. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Intelligence? I suppose that would exin some things. And the other one¡­ Space? The first domain may have been acquired through a primordial relic, but the second was definitely chosen by itself.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Given that the creature had the domain of Intelligence, Tower was somewhat confident that he couldmunicate with it. With a small exertion of effort, he shifted himself through the intervening space to appear closer to the monster. At the same time, his thoughts reached out tomunicate. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I mean you no harm, I merely wish to talk.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The snake seemed quite surprised at Tower¡¯s appearance, retreating back a hundred meters. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I was wondering when you would find me¡­</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">You are aware of me?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Tower asked in confusion, the snake¡¯s tongue flicking out of its mouth for a moment.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Yes. The God of Monsters. Your divinew meant that I would be aware of you the moment I attained my divine status. I was surprised that it took so long. I have seen much of the stars while I waited.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was only then that Tower remembered that it had long ago created such aw, shortly after he created his own. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I see, your intelligence allowed you to identify the source of thatw. That¡¯s quitemendable. However, I did note here to recruit you today, nor do I think I would be able to.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">He was speaking the truth, unfortunately enough. The main reason that the monsters were able to be bound in his dungeon was that they had fallen under the control of his divinews. The first one simply made the monsters aware of him, but others made them respect him the more time they spent together, until it was unable to flee and became shackled with his divinity. With this serpent¡¯s ability to identify thew it is subjected to, it would likely flee long before it reached that point.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Then what have youe here for?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The serpent asked cautiously, and Tower could already feel that the creature was prepared to flee at the first sign of any hostile action.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I merely want to ask you a question. You are the first monster god that I have seen with multiple domains that did not devour them from another monster or use some special trick with their first domain. Thus, I merely wished to ask you how you obtained this second domain of yours.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The serpent hesitated as it listened to Tower¡¯s words, seeming to consider whether or not it should share its knowledge. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Tell me why I should give you this information.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tower brought a hand up to hold his chin in thought. <i><span style="font-weight:400">If I have this knowledge, and am able to put it to use, I would be capable of ensuring that there were less predators out here wishing to attack you. If you like, I could even put in a word to let you go somewhere that an intelligent and peaceful monster god like yourself would be safe and taken care of.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The serpent moved further back at that. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I wish not to be part of your collection.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">You misunderstand.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Tower shook his head. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I mean the realm of gods within the universe. Currently, it is not inhabited by monsters due to its special circumstances. However, I am acquainted with its creator, and I could ask her to allow you entry. There, any monster wishing to attack you would first need to fight off thebined divine forces of the world.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The serpent paused at that, slowly moving closer again. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It is something that I envisioned while wandering the starry sky. I was fortunate enough to see the first spark of light from a newborn star. It was beautiful¡­ it was divine, in a way. Not literally, mind you, the secret is not to consume a newborn star. However, the star did offer me inspiration, which I used to create my second domain.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Before I consumed the crystal, I was but amon snake in the grass. My divinity was but the weakest of sparks, not even worth mentioning. After devouring the crystal, it spread like a me throughout my body, filling my existence like an inferno. However, it stopped at that point, an untamed me ready to be snuffed out under a strong wind.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">If I wished to seek greater safety, I would need a me that could withstand any wind, one that could be as evesting as the stars that inspired me. First, I cut away as much of my divinity as I could bear, condensing what I am down to what you see before you. After that, I spent a long time gathering insights, dipping in and out of stars to learn what allowed them to be.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Finally, I created a core of divinity within myself, one that burns as bright as any star. I allowed this core to spread throughout my being, converting my power into its essence. When I was done, my divinity had been fortified, and I no longer felt as restricted in the use of my power, allowing me to practice a new domain. Eventually, this domain settled as the Space domain.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tower nodded his head at that, paying close attention to everything that the serpent was saying. The method sounded simr in several ways to have one¡¯s divinity forged, just without the external process. Instead, it required skill and insights to achieve, making it another method that would be unlikely to be used by the masses who wanted a quick and easy advancement.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">You didn¡¯t need any source of treasures or rare herbs to achieve this effect? Only the power of your own divinity?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He asked to confirm, the serpent¡¯s tongue flicking out again.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s right. A power built on external treasures would never truly offer me safety. Only something that I achieved myself would grant me this. Now, will you uphold your end of the bargain?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tower gave a quick nod, focusing his attention elsewhere. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Mother. I have found an intelligent monster, one which seems to bear no ill will towards others. I have struck an ord with the creature, and learned one of its secrets in exchange for asking you to allow it to live within Sanctum, where it could be safe.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">An intelligent monster?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Aurivy¡¯s voice came back in surprise. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Give me just a minute, and I¡¯ll be over there.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tower closed his eyes in relief, d that his Mother was at least willing to look into the situation. He turned his head back to focus on the serpent. <i><span style="font-weight:400">She ising, and will be here soon.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He had to make sure to warn the serpent, knowing that its cautious nature may cause it to flee if it sensed a being as powerful as her arriving suddenly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The serpent waited for a few moments, before its body abruptly stiffened. It turned to look at the empty space next to it, seeing a short, humanoid figure emerging. Its eyes were wide in shock and perceived danger, but it managed to keep itself rooted in space thanks to Tower¡¯s previous warning.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Oh?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Aurivy smiled as she looked at the serpent. <i><span style="font-weight:400">You are quite the interesting fellow. Alright¡­ as long as you agree not to recklessly attack those who live in Sanctum, I can promise you safe passage.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">What am I to do if they attack me?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The serpent asked, unable to help itself. After all, everything that it had done so far was to ensure its safety. It was not about to stop that with such an obvious loophole in her offer.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy tilted her head. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Hmm¡­ you can defend yourself, but try not to kill if you can avoid it, okay? I¡¯ll show you somewhere you can go to hide if anyone causes any trouble for you, too.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The serpent hesitated again, before offering a small nod in agreement. The next moment, both of them were gone from this space, leaving Tower alone to ponder his thoughts. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Condensing and igniting our divinity. This¡­ sounds usible for our situation.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He mused, tearing open a hole in space to return to his abode. He had tomune with the other dungeon cores and devise a n for how to do this.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">On a distant moon, a gate opened, three gods immediately entering and suppressing their strengths, their faces pale. ¡°Quick, quick, close it!¡± One of them, a felyn woman, urged while another immediately closed the gate that they hade through. ¡°Did we get away?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">One of the other two, a halfling male, stared at the space where the gate was. ¡°I didn¡¯t set a specific coordinate. I don¡¯t even know where we are right now. There¡¯s no way that thing can find us¡­ right? Did either of you check for its domains?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hunger. Just Hunger.¡± The final god, an elven woman, spoke up while shuddering. ¡°How could something like that even exist? Should we return to Earth and warn people?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What good would warning them do?¡± The felyn asked sharply, clearly as scared as either of the others. ¡°Maybe the Keeper¡¯s Servants can deal with this thing, or the Greater Pantheon, but anyone else? Is it even safe for us to go back?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The halfling thought about it for a moment, unwilling to peer through space in case the object of their fears managed to sense them. ¡°I think we should hide here for a bit. At the very least, I used enough energy in that portal that we should be dozens of lightyears away. Give me some time to find our coordinates discreetly, and I¡¯ll try to open us a portal to get <i><span style="font-weight:400">far</i><span style="font-weight:400"> away from here. We¡¯ll report this area as a danger zone once we get back, agreed?¡± He asked, looking around. The elf nodded her head in agreement, but the felyn¡¯s eyes were locked on the horizon.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The their moon was orbiting was justing over the horizon. It was a beautiful blue and green gem, seeming as if it were perfectly capable of supporting life. However, what truly captured her attention was therger further behind it. It looked inconspicuous enough, pure blue as if it were an ocean world with not a cloud in the sky. But¡­ it was getting noticeablyrger in her field of view. ¡°We have to leave, now! It followed us!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The halfling turned to look in shock, just in time for the blue sphere topletely engulf the appearing just over the horizon. The entire seemed to dissolve under some unseen power the moment it impacted with the giant ¡®ocean¡¯. At the same time, they could see giant waves forming along the surface of the, looking like a toothy grin as it came closer.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The halfling reacted immediately. ¡°I wish to visit the divine realm!¡± He called out, the other two widening their eyes and repeating the chant to be sent to Sanctum. Sanctum tore through space faster than light, and never stopped moving. Not only that, but it yed host to almost all of the Greater Pantheon. If nowhere else in the universe was safe, they could at least find shelter there.

 Chapter 864: Gluttony’s Arrival

    Chapter 864: Gluttony¡¯s Arrival


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And here we are.¡± Aurivy said as they emerged within a wide meadow next to a small river. The serpent that she had collected from Tower sat on the ground beside her, lifting its head up to look around. ¡°If anyone bothers you, there is a house directly east of here. You¡¯ll be able to recognize it by the trees growing golden fruits. That¡¯s where Julia and I live. You can go there for help, and we¡¯ll make sure they stop harassing you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The serpent looked up at Aurivy¡¯s sweet smile, its tongue flicking out again. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I see¡­ then, is it fine to make a burrow anywhere here?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As long as it¡¯s not already in use by someone else! Sanctum is a world that can only be altered through the application of divine energy, so any building you see will have been created through divinity in one manner or another. Most people can only dream of living here, since it¡¯s entirely restricted to gods!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The serpent tilted its head, seeming to find her words agreeable. It didn¡¯t say anything else before starting to move along the grass. As it did so, Aurivy turned around to begin walking to the east, towards her home. She managed to take roughly a dozen steps before her body froze, eyes going wide. There was a burst of golden mist before she vanished from her position.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The halfling god emerged in a small apartment within the city belonging to Philia after escaping from the cosmic monstrosity that he had faced just moments prior. He let out a sigh of relief, noting that the other two had likely all been transported to their own homes as well. However, before he could enjoy his newfound freedom, golden mist wrapped around his body, teleporting him away from the scene.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When he appeared again, his eyes were wide in shock, as if fearing he had been brought back to the monster. On either side of him were the two goddesses that he had been traveling with, looking equally surprised. It took a moment for them to all realize that they were standing atop a stone roof, and there was another goddess before them. None other than Aurivy herself, with an almost furious look on her face.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°<i><span style="font-weight:400">What have you done?</i><span style="font-weight:400">¡± She asked, her voice dark as she stared at the three, her divine aura raging around her. Aurivy could vaguely sense whenever someone used themands she set up to transfer to Sanctum, and she could simrly sense what was following them, tearing through space to approach Sanctum at a speed beyond any sense of reason.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°G-Great Goddess Aurivy!¡± The halfling cried out, falling to his knees. ¡°We encountered a terrible monster on our journey through the stars! We had not the time to ask for aid, as it followed us even after we escaped the first time. Our only hope¡­ the hope of any who face such a thing, was to beg for the assistance of a greater power.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy looked at the other two, who had simrly knelt and were nodding their heads rapidly. ¡°You¡¯re not begging. You¡¯re throwing the problem at us. Do you <i><span style="font-weight:400">know</i><span style="font-weight:400"> what you just did? If that thing consumes Sanctum, there will be no force in this realm that can stop it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The faces of the three gods went pale, the halfling lowering his head. ¡°M-My deepest apologies, Lady Aurivy. It was the only thing I could think of at the moment. I knew that, surely, the Greater Pantheon would be able to do something.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy let out a long groan. ¡°We¡¯re not done here. I¡¯ve got to figure out how to clean up <i><span style="font-weight:400">your</i><span style="font-weight:400"> mess. Word of advice, though? I¡¯d suggest running, now. It doesn¡¯t have your scent anymore. It has <i><span style="font-weight:400">mine, </i><span style="font-weight:400">and Sanctum¡¯s.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After she said that, Aurivy vanished again. The three gods were left there, shuddering from the weight of the power that they had felt. ¡°What¡­ what do we do now?¡± The felyn asked, only for the elf to shake her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You heard her¡­ she said we should run. That means that she¡¯s not even sure if they can deal with this. Shouldn¡¯t we leave, then?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°N-No.¡± The halfling spoke up in a quivering tone, slowly rising to his feet. ¡°If you want to go, you can. I am the one that came up with this idea. I brought the fight here. You heard her¡­ if that thing consumes Sanctum, there will be nothing left that can fight it. I won¡¯t ask you to fight with me, but I¡¯ll do whatever I can to stop it here.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯re crazy¡­¡± The elf said, before looking at the felyn, who seemed to agree with him. ¡°You¡¯re both crazy. You saw that thing, right? If the Greater Pantheon can¡¯t stop it, what good could we do by helping?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I don¡¯t know!¡± The halfling shouted, his shoulders shaking. ¡°But I would rather be here and fight than to leave, knowing that a defeat here means everyone back on Earth, everyone¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The elf hesitated at that for a moment, biting her lip. ¡°Okay, fine. Let¡¯s do this. They¡¯ll probably be meeting at the Pce of Light, so let¡¯s head that way first.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy stood atop the tallest mountain of Sanctum, her eyes gazing far beyond the sky, towards a blue dot that appeared in the far distance. If not for her divine sight, she would never be able to witness the thing moving beyond the speed of light, slowly catching up to the world of Sanctum. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Udona, Tubrock, Leowynn, Ashley, Scarlet, Irena, Keliope. I need all of you here yesterday.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">She didn¡¯t wait for them to finish their business, using that message as their only warning before she summoned the seven deities to her with her divine energy. Most of them staggered back for a moment, surprised by both Aurivy¡¯s unusually serious tone and her actions that were most unlike herself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Aurivy, what¡¯s going on?¡± Alena asked gently, looking down at the halfling. It was hard to tell if Irena was in control at the moment, or if this was Alena¡¯s true personality.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We need that killed.¡± Aurivy answered, pointing towards the sky. Everyone turned their gazes upwards, focusing their divine sight until they saw the seemingly ordinary water whizzing through space to chase after Sanctum. As they were using divine sight, they naturally saw the¡¯s domain of Hunger.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°A god¡­?¡± Udona asked, furrowing her brows. ¡°But, it has Hunger as a domain. If we don¡¯t kill it in a single hit, it could be even stronger by devouring our attacks. It might even be able to gain our domains.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I know.¡± Aurivy nodded her head solemnly. ¡°However, if it eats Sanctum¡­ you all know exactly how much energy this is made out of, and what would happen if something like that consumed it all.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her words caused the seven deities around her to fall silent. Udona hesitated for a moment, before closing her eyes to extend her senses. ¡°I can¡¯t help you here. I would if I could, but my Life domain is useless. I¡¯m looking at it through the system, and it isn¡¯t ssified as a living creature. I can¡¯t kill it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡­ probably means I can¡¯t, either?¡± Alena said, the felyn girl looking around at the gathered group. ¡°Lady Irena might be able to send it to the Underworld¡­ but it would just eat everything there, wouldn¡¯t it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Probably.¡° Aurivy nodded, letting out a groan when she realized that her two best contenders were useless against the enemy. ¡°Leowynn, I need you to at least keep Sanctum moving faster than it. I¡¯ll cooperate with you with my Travel domain, so let¡¯s just make sure none of our divinity touches that <i><span style="font-weight:400">thing.</i><span style="font-weight:400">¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oi, how¡¯s it a god if it ain¡¯t even alive?¡± Tubrock suddenly questioned.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s probably alia¡¯s area of expertise.¡± Keliope pointed out, before focusing on sending out a prayer. There was a brief pause as Aurivy and Leowynn controlled the trajectory of Sanctum before a response came to the collective group.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Sorry, I just looked into it as fast as I could! Apparently, that is an actual. However, at its core is the primordial relic of Hunger. Ever since the was first formed around it, it¡¯s been eating any type of life or energy that neared it. It got to its current level by eating some powerful monsters that had been drawn towards the relic, including a few monster gods. Just to let you know, it does get the domain of something it eats, but only temporarily! Call it a digestion period or whatever before the domain is lost.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Think we can give it a stomach ache if we all throw energy at it?¡± Tubrock suggested, the others seeming to consider that.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I wouldn¡¯t bet on it! The might take some damage, but the strength it would gain would be too great to be worth it.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Aye,ss. Just thought it was worth the ask.¡± Tubrock grunted, staring at the blue marble in the sky. ¡°My domains¡¯ll probably be handy to deal with the enemy this time, but I doubt it¡¯ll be enough to finish it off. And as they said, we need ta take it out in a single hit.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet looked up at the, musing. ¡°Dad said that three trinities make up the ultimate expression of divine bnce, and can create more powerful abilities. Do we have nine domains here that could create an effect strong enough to do this?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The others all looked towards Scarlet in surprise at her words, causing the smaller goddess to blink. ¡°What? If we need to kill it in a single shot, nothing can beat nine domains at once, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, no, you¡¯re onto something.¡± Aurivy said with a smile. ¡°Nine domains¡­ before that thing manages to overtake our speed, we need to think of a nine domainbination that can destroy a divine.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°To keep it bnced, we should only take one domain from each person.¡± Scarlet added on. ¡°Otherwise the power will lean in favor of whoever has the most domains. But¡­ there are only eight of us here. Nine if you count alia. And neither Udona or Irena would be of help here. We¡¯re going to need to call in support.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Let¡¯s figure out what we¡¯re doing, and then we can figure out what domains we¡¯recking.¡± Aurivy said, though she was loath to admit that Scarlet was right. She had called all of the Greater Pantheon that could be directly effective against the monster, so the rest wouldn¡¯t have good domains to contribute. No matter what n they settled on, they would need to find help.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I can contribute either my Technology or Darkness domains. Fire wouldn¡¯t kill it fast enough, since it¡¯s a water.¡± Ashley volunteered, Keliope grinning afterwards.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°My Strength domain will supercharge whatever power wee up with, so sign me up!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tubrock furrowed his brow. ¡°If thess is using Technology, my Innovation will work well with her to give it form.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Then I¡¯ll join Keliope¡¯s group.¡± Scarlet nodded her head firmly. ¡°My Ki can work together with her Strength to serve as the firepower.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Anyone else making any offers?¡± Aurivy asked. ¡°Whatever we make here¡­ if we¡¯re doing it through Technology and Innovation, it¡¯s going to be a permanent installment in Sanctum. At most, I can offer my Evolution domain to have whatever we make able to grow with Sanctum. But I¡¯d like to reserve that slot for something that could make for better firepower, if at all possible.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So we need at least four more domains?¡± Scarlet mused. ¡°One more to join Ashley and Tubrock for the construction, as well as an additional trinity. And, if we can, one more to add additional firepower with myself and Keliope.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy¡¯s brow twitched. ¡°Do we have to call Chel again? Poor girl¡¯s not had a moment¡¯s break, but her Security domain would honestly be perfect here.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We can¡¯t.¡± Scarlet refuted Aurivy¡¯s suggestion. ¡°Chelsea isn¡¯t a widely known goddess, and is fairly new, so she doesn¡¯t have the kind of energy that we need.¡± After saying that, she fell deeper into thought. ¡°What about¡­ Jonas? He has been around for a long time, and his Community domain could work as the foundation for the third trinity.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Jonas?¡± Aurivy blinked in surprise. ¡°It¡¯s been¡­ ages since Ist went looking for him. I¡¯ll have to see if I can get him here safely.¡±

 Chapter 865: The Blood Moon Rises

    Chapter 865: The Blood Moon Rises


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jonas sat within his office, adrift in the emptiness of space. He had long ago left Earth upon his divine city, where he lived with all of those who made up hismunity. Only rarely did he have contact with the outside world, such as when Lily specifically contacted him to begin helping her take care of children in need of a good home.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Whenever such a child was brought to him, he gave them a choice. Either they could choose to live with him in his divine city, with a family to care for them, or he could pray to Ryone to have them sent to Earth and be raised in a proper, church-run orphanage. There were naturally those who chose either side of the deal, ones who simply wanted a loving family while others were unwilling to live away from the rest of the world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, it was quite the surprise when the Goddess of Travel¡¯s voice appeared in his mind. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Mister Bayrun, we need your help.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Her voice was urgent, a tone that he had never heard from the Greater Pantheon, causing his pen to stop from what he was writing.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">What¡¯s going on, Lady Aurivy?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He asked in confusion. Aside from the Keeper himself, Jonas was the oldest mortal god in the world, the first to pioneer the path for everyone else. Most had forgotten about him, but he was also the Subordinate Deity of Ryone.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">There is an enemy on the verge of destroying Sanctum. In order to fight it off, we have to gather nine gods with domains suitable for constructing a weapon that can defeat it in a single strike. Anything less, and it would only make the enemy stronger. Your domain of Community was deemed to be a good fit for one of the cornerstones of this project. Please, we need your help. If this thing destroys Sanctum, it will be unstoppable.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jonas had already set down his pen, nodding as he stood. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Give me a moment to retrieve my divinity, and I will be there.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jonas¡¯s divine artifact was none other than the city that he lived in, one which he had painstakingly built by hand, brick by brick. Furthermore, the power source of the entire city was none other than his divine light. As long as he was in the city, he was as good as mortal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jonas quickly walked towards the center of the city, shouting out as he went. ¡°Brie! Activate the long-distance warp and take the city to the nearest habitable. I need to leave for a few minutes!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Brie looked up at Jonas in shock, the man having almost never left his city in such an urgent manner. Regardless, she nodded her head, pulling up the control systems of the city and activating the warp function that had been built into it ages ago. Golden light shed around the city, bringing it to a frozen tundra.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Do you need us to apany you?¡± A human male asked, jogging into the hall to follow behind Jonas.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, just stay here and watch after the children. All they need is ess to my domain.¡± He said with a smile, not nning to take hismunity with him. ¡°It looks like wended somewhere cold, so keep the ce warm for them while I¡¯m gone.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As he said that, he opened the door to the centermost chamber of the city, where a sphere of golden light hovered in the middle of the room. Jonas took a deep breath, walking up to the sphere and cing his hand against it. It had been quite a while since he had needed tost reim his divinity, and he felt it coursing through his body.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯m ready.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He transmitted his words back to Aurivy, golden mist quickly wrapping around him and transporting him atop the mountain on Sanctum. When he looked around, he realized that he was surrounded by the Greater Pantheon, and bowed his head respectfully.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sorry, Jonas, but no time for formalities. We need to pick three or four more gods quickly. If you¡¯ve got any suggestions, we¡¯re all ears.¡± Aurivy said as her brows furrowed, clearly focusing on something.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jonas could not see the enemy that they were dreading, but that mattered not. What he needed was simple. ¡°Apologies, but none of my acquaintances arebat-oriented deities. If you perhaps exin the point of the machine we are creating, I can contribute suggestions?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Kel, you¡¯re up!¡± Aurivy said, her eyes squinting as her focus grew. Keliope nodded her head, stepping forward.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If you look up, you¡¯ll see a blue spot in the sky gradually getting bigger. That thing¡¯s a massive-turned-god that ising to eat Sanctum. Right now, we have Technology and Innovation to craft a weapon, as well as Ki and Strength to power it. Aurivy is willing to contribute Evolution to either side as ast resort, but your cornerstone is the control mechanism.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I see¡­¡± Jonas nodded his head in thought. ¡°So, this will be triggered in the event that something is a true threat to the localmunity¡­ or ording to themunity¡¯s wishes.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Wishes!¡± Scarlet¡¯s eyes lit up, and she turned to look at Aurivy. ¡°Get her here, fast!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy blinked, before nodding quickly. Golden mist surged around her once again, before Elisae appeared. The human queen looked around in confusion, her eyesing to rest on Scarlet. ¡°Scar? What¡¯s going on?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet shook her head, reaching out and poking Elisae¡¯s forehead. ¡°Here¡¯s the abridged version.¡± She said, transferring a wisp of spiritual energy to her friend¡¯s mind, containing the memories of everything that had transpired recently.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Elisae blinked as she epted the memories, before looking around. ¡°So you need Kiria Sorin to finish the crafting side, Be Wayver for the control, and Lady alia to finish the offensiveponent? You know, setting it so the attack hunts down the target and doesn¡¯t stop until it¡¯s dead?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy blinked in surprise. ¡°Okay, I get alia, and Kiria will work as long as Tubrock doesn¡¯t try to pick a fight-¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Time and a ce,ss!¡± Tubrock interrupted.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°But why Be? What would Mercy contribute to the control mechanisms?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If Elisae says those are who we need, I trust her.¡± Scarlet said firmly, fully believing in Elisae¡¯s karma. She could have pulled those names out of a hat and Scarlet would have full faith in her choice. Aurivy hesitated for a moment, but the was getting rapidly closer, so she began summoning those three.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Be became the Goddess of Protection as well, about six years ago now, was it?¡± Elisae said as the three clouds of mist gathered. ¡°If we¡¯rebining my Wishes and Jonas¡¯s Community, she would be the perfect finishing touch for us.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As the three people appeared, Scarlet shot out three wisps of spiritual energy, one to each of them before they had the chance to react. They spent a moment looking dazed as the memories flooded into them, before their expressions hardened as they looked up into the sky.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°One chance to back out, everyone! Take it or figure out what you¡¯re making!¡± Aurivy called out, feeling that the approaching had increased its speed even further to quickly capture its prey.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Obviously, it¡¯s gotta be a cannon!¡± Tubrock nodded his head, foot stomping on the ground to create a stone table, a blueprintid out in front of him. ¡°We need something that packs a real punch in order to take out something that size.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No disrespect, sir, but a cannon won¡¯t do the job.¡± Kiria shook his head in denial, walking up himself. ¡°Not on its own. Even if we make it out of this very mountain we¡¯re standing on, powered by all of our divinities, it would at most carve a hole in the <i><span style="font-weight:400">thing</i><span style="font-weight:400"> on its way.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tubrock grunted at that, before ring up at the ursa god. ¡°Then what do ye have in mind,d? Spill it out!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We need a <i><span style="font-weight:400">really big cannon.</i><span style="font-weight:400">¡± He said with a grin, reaching down to tap on the blueprint that Tubrock had created, warping its contents. ¡°I happen to have some experience with this kind of structure.¡± Tubrock¡¯s brows knit together, and he looked down at the shape that had been drawn.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ye can¡¯t be serious,d. Ye want ta¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Spill it out, geezer!¡± Keliope called out, knowing that the two craftsmen were far more likely toe up with something suitable, while the rest of them waited to know their role.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This daft fool wants ta build a moon!¡± Tubrock shouted, waving his hand towards Kiria.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Kiria simply chuckled at that. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be the first moon I¡¯ve made. At least this time I¡¯ll have help. I agree with your cannon idea, but we can¡¯t just have it on the. Between the power source, targeting systems, and the energy storage to fire at a moment¡¯s notice, we need something far bigger than even this mountain. We need our own moon. Andst I checked, Sanctum could use one.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Tell us how the rest of us fit into this.¡± Be spoke up, clutching a silver staff against her chest. It had been quite a long time since she was involved with anything truly on the level to alert the Greater Pantheon, but she managed to keep herposure rather well.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Aye, it¡¯s simple.¡± Tubrock sighed. ¡°Like we nned, ye and the other two will be handlin¡¯ the controls. In order to protect themunity, and in ordance with their wishes, the moon will act. The three of us will be makin¡¯ the thing ordin¡¯ ta these ns, and the others will set up its power source.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After he said that, he turned to Scarlet, Keliope, and alia. ¡°But ye three best be keepin¡¯ this in mind! This thing¡¯s meant ta save up energy between shots. If ye want it ta fire right away, ye three¡¯ll need ta provide the energy for that first shot yeselves.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet smiled, nodding her head at that. ¡°In that case, it¡¯s a good thing our corner is made entirely out of the Greater Pantheon.¡± She said in understanding. Scarlet herself was an old god even before taking her new title, and had umted a lot of divinity over the years as the First Blood. Paying it forward to fire a single shot of this cannon was still within the realm of what she could handle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Aye, then ye¡¯ll be needin¡¯ ta set up the core of the mechanism, and how it replenishes its ki.¡± Tubrock grunted, grabbing the blueprint from the table to step aside with Ashley and Kiria, going over the designs.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet stepped over to speak with Jonas, Be, and Elisae. ¡°I¡¯d like to ask for your cooperation here. In order to make a true trinity of trinities, I want to link our corner back to your own. Those who live in Sanctum will be the source of power as it builds. When they wish for it to fire, they can contribute their divine ki to enhance the effect. Otherwise, it will passively ept a very small portion of the divinity that is meant toe for any gods living here, and convert that into ki. Is this eptable?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°They want protection, they can pay a small rent.¡± Elisae chuckled, nodding her head. ¡°Our side links with the moon they¡¯re building, which houses the core you¡¯re creating for this st, and feeds back to us for the energy supply. Is this how nine domains are meant to link up?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet gave a lightugh at that, shaking her head. ¡°I honestly don¡¯t know. This is the first time anyone other than my father has done this. However, these are the people you chose. I have full confidence that we can do this.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Elisae grinned in response to her words. ¡°Aw, you¡¯re going to make me blush, Scar. Well, let¡¯s all get to it. Does everyone know their parts?¡± She asked, looking around at the gods gathered.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Aye, we¡¯ve got our end covered well enough.¡± Tubrock grunted, having copied the blueprints for both Ashley and Kiria.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And we ours.¡± Scarlet agreed, moving back to step with her group. ¡°For this to work, we¡¯ll need plenty of room, and I already have the formation in mind.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Without another word, she shot into the air, the other eight gods quickly following behind her. They didn¡¯t stop until they had already left the¡¯s atmosphere, at which point they could see the in its entirety. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy, we need some time. Can you perform a spatial jump to take Sanctum across the gxy?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">It won¡¯t buy you much, but I¡¯ll give it a go! </i><span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy responded, a vast, nebulous cloud of golden mist emerging from Sanctum, wrapping around both the and its joined sun. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Just hurry, I don¡¯t know how many of those I can do with this entire!</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet nodded her head, already able to sense the¡¯s approach again. She let out a blood red light, drawing four circles in the air. There were three in each corner, forming a triangle, and one at the center, just touching the edges of each of the others. Afterwards, red lights formed a triangle within each circle, with each of the points from the central circle touching one of the points from the other three.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Ashley, myself, and Jonas will take the central points. Our parts in this power are primarily to link our respective trinities to one another. The rest of us will support our groups from the back.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jonas nodded, moving to stand at the point of red light designated for him, as did Ashley. Ashley held her hand forward, towards the center as her divinity red. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Gather the technology of the world to construct a project like no other.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Kiria and Tubrock looked at each other, nodding and aiming their hands towards Ashley¡¯s back. Their own divine energy poured into hers, and then forward into the center of the formation. Each of them had studied the blueprints, and knew what they were creating.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">For the protection of themunity, and safety to all those who wish it.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Jonas¡¯s mental voice came over solemnly, the other two behind him following suit and pouring their divinity into him while his hands were held forward.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">We charge this power with the strength of our divine ki, that we may hunt down those who would prey upon us.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Finally, it was Scarlet¡¯s turn, her blood red divinitying together to mingle with the amalgamation in the center, the two behind her trusting their divinity to her.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The halfling clenched his fists, staring up into the sky. He could see the nightmarishing closer, even after the Goddess of Travel herself warped the away. ¡°I told you, it¡¯s hopeless.¡± The elf said, tapping her foot impatiently, cold sweat dripping down her brow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°N-No, they¡¯re doing something.¡± The felyn said with a shake of her head. She could see the red light in the sky, like an insignificant spark before the floor. Surely, that meant that some form of resistance was being mounted, but what would it amount to?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Soon, that red light grewrger andrger, spreading across the sky to form a massive bubble. When that bubble ¡®popped¡¯, the three were left dumbfounded at what they saw. A crimson moon rested in the sky above Sanctum, one with long ck lines drawn upon its surface. Before they could process how that moon was meant to save them, a message appeared in front of them.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Blood Moon is preparing to fire.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Current charge: 5%


    <span style="font-weight:400">Do you wish to contribute divine ki to increase charge?


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I knew it¡­ I knew I would be able to do something.¡± The halfling said, tears of relief flowing down his face as he immediately chose to donate half of his divine ki. He would be left immensely weakened, but it could maybe¡­ just maybe reduce the shame of having drawn this towards Sanctum in the first ce.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°How much of a charge do you think we need to do this?¡± Scarlet asked, standing in the new control room of Sanctum¡¯s orbital weapon, named the Blood Moon due to the color it had gained from her divinity.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Honestly, I won¡¯t feel confident with anything less than a full charge.¡± Ashley shook her head in answer. ¡°I¡¯ve already sent the message out, so we¡¯ll see how people feel.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Already, they could see streams of glowing energy making their way up from the, pouring into the Blood Moon. The progress bar on the screen rapidly increased. This, unsurprisingly, showed that most people did not want to die.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Fire as soon as you can.¡± aliamented, staring at the that was approaching. By now, it had epassed their entire view, too close to evade again. ¡°Even if you can¡¯t--¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Full charge!¡± Ashley cut her off, immediately smacking the big red button to initiate the firing sequence. With thebined divine ki of so many gods, it had only taken a few moments to charge the batteries. Not to mention that Scarlet herself had been fueling it even after they finished production.


    <span style="font-weight:400">One of the dozen ports on the Blood Moon opened up, and a thick pir of red light shot out of it. Those in the control room stumbled from the recoil, grabbing onto whatever they could. alia held the console for dear life, staring forward at the as the beam hit it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a brief pause in its approach when the beam struck, a thick pir that seemed utterly cataclysmic in power. For the first few seconds, the even shrank in their field of view, pushed back by the utterly overwhelming force of the st.


    <span style="font-weight:400">But then, alia said the words that <i><span style="font-weight:400">nobody</i><span style="font-weight:400"> wanted to hear. ¡°It¡¯s eating it¡­¡± She said, her face losing color. She couldn¡¯t see everything from here, but she was also watching from the Admin Room. The had begun to devour the st fired at it, consuming the energies within and weakening it enough that the damage it could cause on impact was not immediately fatal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Instead, storms raged within the, and its ocean began to gradually turn red with the stolen power. Soon, the had stabilized itself, and was once again slowly making its way closer under the relentless assault of the beam.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I don¡¯t know how long this charge will hold!¡± Ashley shouted, seeing the threat looming closer once again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯llst as long as it needs to!¡± Scarlet said confidently, before her eyes widened. For just a moment, she saw the beyond the st, the seas of red spreading across its surface. ¡°As long as it needs to¡­¡± Her broken attention meant that she had stopped channeling her power as the Goddess of Ki into the core, causing the charge to begin depleting as it was now fueled purely by those who had contributed their divine ki.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Scarlet, what are you doing?¡± Keliope asked, sensing the energy being cut off and turning to face a¡­ surprisingly smiling martial spirit.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It worked.¡± Scarlet spoke in excitement, her power surging once again. However, she was not using that power to fuel the Blood Moon any more, but rather building up for something else. ¡°Don¡¯t you remember what I showed you when I first gained my third domain?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet extended her hand forward, the red oceans surging as the drew in. The st had caused the water to ripple like a hungry, gaping maw. ¡°I am the Crimson Goddess. And that, that now-damaged¡­ is red. Red and so very full of my ki.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet gathered her divinity in front of her hand, causing it to be a red jewel. In her heart, she knew she was right to trust Elisae. The weapon that they created may not have been enough to destroy the in one blow, but it had given her the opening she needed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her hand gripped the jewel, squeezing it hard enough to cause a shattering sound to fill the control room. As soon as that jewel shattered, so too did over half of the they were facing. It erupted like a massive bomb had gone off, red water gushing out of its atmosphere in all directions and leaving the crustpletely exposed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With thest moments of the Blood Moon¡¯s beam, the crust was pierced clean through, the st shooting out through the other side of the.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Congrattions! You have earned an achievement!


    <span style="font-weight:400">For destroying an entire, you have earned the Worldbreaker achievement. +15 Stamina.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>

 Chapter 866: Story Of The Stars

    Chapter 866: Story Of The Stars


    <span style="font-weight:400">


    Those within the control room of the Blood Moon let out a deep sigh when they confirmed that the had been properly destroyed. Those with presences in the Admin Room even checked to be sure that the crystal which gave the its special properties waspletely gone. After all, if <i><span style="font-weight:400">it</i><span style="font-weight:400"> had survived, there was a very real chance that the thing could simply reform in time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After their moment of rxation, there was simply silence. Ashley sat back in the chair she had been seated in, typing out amand on the console. ¡°There¡­ I¡¯ve set it to automatic mode. Once we leave, it¡¯ll start its passive collection of energy, and automatically target any threats that the people of Sanctum recognize. I doubt it will have much use, but¡­ it¡¯s here if we need it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That, and Sanctum has needed a moon for a long time.¡± Kiria said with a smile. ¡°The nights are a bit empty without one.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sanctum could do with a bit more than this.¡± Aurivy said, pursing her lips. ¡°It¡¯s meant to be a sanctuary for the gods, an invible paradise. Today, that paradise was almost destroyed by something that didn¡¯t even have a mind of its own. Imagine if that had really been capable of thought, how much harder that would be. Even as it was, we only barely made it in time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What are you suggesting?¡± Ashley asked, raising her brow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I want to make Sanctum un-trackable.¡± She said simply, Keliope¡¯s eyes lighting up.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Did you finally manage to finish your Nowhere research?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, Aurivy shook her head. ¡°Yes and no. I¡¯ve figured out how to do it, but I need Leowynn¡¯s help to achieve it. For now, Leo, let¡¯s just stop Sanctum here. It¡¯ll be best if the ce is stationary while we do this.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn blinked, but nodded her head, working with Aurivy to cancel out the momentum of Sanctum¡¯s system without sending everything careening off in all directions. ¡°What do you need me to do?¡± She asked curiously, but Aurivy simply chuckled.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I need your Star and Void domains. If I¡¯m doing this, it has to be done as a trinity. I¡¯m going to surround this entire sr system with a power simr to Nothing that I¡¯ve been studying. The problem is that Nothing requires ess to the void, and divine powers don¡¯t mix well with void. That¡¯s why I haven¡¯t been able to do this until now, because I was waiting for a Fallen God of Travel to appear. Sadly, I haven¡¯t spotted one until now.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If you¡¯re doing this with my abilities, won¡¯t you still face that issue?¡± Leowynn asked in confusion, but Aurivy shook her head again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I don¡¯t want you to really use the void. I¡¯m going to use your Void domain to allow this divine power to take on properties reminiscent of a void power. Imagine what they just did to make this ce. I need you to channel the power of your domains to me withplete faith, and allow me to control them. If you resist or try to alter the pattern¡­ well, Sanctum¡¯s star will likely explode, so please don¡¯t?¡± She gave a somewhere awkward smile as she made that request, but Leowynn simply chuckled.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, I just need to trust you?¡± She asked as if it were simple. ¡°Let¡¯s get started, then. After all, you were the one who first went forward to avenge me when I diedst time. I haveplete faith that you can do what you say.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy¡¯s eyes widened briefly, before growing slightly misty. ¡°Alright¡­ let¡¯s go. We have to do this from the star.¡± She said, golden mist wrapping around the bodies of the two goddesses and transporting them to the surface of the divine star.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Normal matter would be reduced to nothing uponing this close to the celestial body, but the two deities seemed to be perfectly fine. Aurivy simply closed her eyes, waiting for Leowynn. As soon as she felt the two domains flooding into her with Leowynn¡¯s divinity, she focused on the more than decade of research that she had done.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">A ce that can¡¯t be found, save by those who know where it is. Within this realm, all is lost. Upon this earth, naught is found. And of unknowns, a location that cannot be. Deep within this starry sky, the sanctuary of those lost souls shalle to rest. Only knowledge can clear doubt, only fact can prove belief. With this star as the heart, I dere this system as Nowhere.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy¡¯s words seemed to radiate out from the star, touching the minds of all of those on Sanctum. <i><span style="font-weight:400">From now on, Sanctum will be almost unreachable without themand I built previously. Even if you know its location, a portal cannot open to a ce the world does not recognize.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">The only other way to find Sanctum is to manually fly here from at least one light year away, while having witnessed Sanctum before with your own eyes. If you bring someone who has never been here, they will simply pass through the area, having no knowledge that there was anything here.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, Aurivy knew that there would be other ways around her barrier, but this was an additionalyer of defense that only she could provide. There were bound to be void powers that could see through her little ruse, or special technologies that could detect unique energies. Those concerns were for far in the future, when both them and their enemies had progressed in power.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For now, an intangible field wrapped around the star system. For monsters or those that had never been to Sanctum, the space simply became empty. Anyone that had been there before, however, would see the Blood Moon, Sanctum, and its new star. This was the sr system that Aurivy had just named, Nowhere.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">It had been weeks now since I sent Hanya and Geoff off to fight against BloodBrother. Given that Aerial told me it only took less than a week for every star in one realm to be infected, I assumed that this meant that BloodBrother either had more systems that made them hunt him down, or he had some resistance that we didn¡¯t know about.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Either way, the fact that the invasion hadn¡¯t been lost yet meant that the two were still alive and fighting. Moreover, I had already looked at the next opponent I had. Once again, the random deities of the system determined that I would be on the offensive. However, this time my target was someone I was already familiar with. Which is amusing, because thest time I saw him, he literally killed me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">MissTery was a peaceful Keeper that I had battled in a tournament long ago, back when I was only a first Rank Keeper. He had shown me a technique at the time that allowed him to copse the space around me, simr to the upper limit of third-tier ki. More importantly, he had done all of this with the power of a first Rank Keeper, purely using his immense experience.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I could easily perform the same trick with my current power, but if you were to put me back in the body I used for that battle, I do not think that would be the case. In terms of raw skill and creating his own techniques, I had no doubt that he was far ahead of me. That¡¯s why it wasn¡¯t really a surprise to find that he was in the same tier that I was now.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Given the fact that he hadn¡¯t contacted me about a trade, I found it unlikely that he would do so before it was time to send my forces. Regardless, I had no desire to wage an all-out battle with him, as he wasn¡¯t really a bad guy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I was thinking about this, a message suddenly appeared in front of me, causing me to jolt upright.


    <table>


    <tbody>


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    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Congrattions! The forces you have sent to invade the Keeper BloodBrother have been sessful! As a result, all of BloodBrother¡¯s assets have been transferred to you. For the next Standard Day, you can choose to fully refund any worlds transferred this way at no penalty.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Points: 28,762


    <span style="font-weight:400">Worlds: 8 - Lorana, Savith, Kinsra, Tora, Saren, Yao, Jutt, and Kron


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ll be back soon.¡± I said aloud, knowing that Tsubaki¡¯s silver avatars would hear me. After saying so, I transported myself to the Admin Room. Once there, I saw Aurivy and a few others huddled in the living room, looking incredibly relieved.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You already heard?¡± I asked in surprise, seeing how they seemed to be aware of the situation. However, they just looked over at me in confusion. ¡°Okay¡­ what happened?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No no, you first.¡± alia spoke up, holding her hand to stop me. ¡°Our situation¡¯s dealt with. What¡¯s up?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Geoff and Hanya just won.¡± I told them, the gathered deities opening their eyes wide at the news. ¡°Now it¡¯s your turn. What happened?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°A giant god almost ate Sanctum. What do you mean ¡®won¡¯? BloodBrother¡¯s gone? We did it?¡± Aurivy asked in shock. Clearly, she thought our chances were still rather slim.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. What do you mean Sanctum almost got <i><span style="font-weight:400">eaten</i><span style="font-weight:400">?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keliope chuckled at our exchange, looking at the two of us. ¡°Are you going to keep this up, or just stick with one topic at a time?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You first.¡± Aurivy and I said to each other at the same time, though Aurivy simply groaned and gave in. ¡°There was this really big-thing that became a god because relic, and it tried to eat Sanctum. We made an orbital defense moon, yes <i><span style="font-weight:400">that</i><span style="font-weight:400"> type, and I covered Sanctum in nothing to protect it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, I was at least vaguely aware of what Aurivy meant by nothing, having spoken to her about it in the past. ¡°Okay¡­ why did nobody call me when this was happening?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">alia gave a somewhat bitter smile. ¡°Because we had to destroy it all at once, or else it would just get stronger. And if we couldn¡¯t do it, and you were there, it would likely have be too much for you to handle. It would have locked onto you and pursued you throughout the universe until it devoured you. How would the system even judge that battle? And yes, you could havee to the Admin Room, but your host would have been lost, as well as all of the things attached to it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That¡­ earned a small grunt of acknowledgement. If my World Host died, I would lose my Illusion domain, Clover Kyr would disappear, and I would likely lose ess to my shadow version of Earth. There was a lot for me to lose if that happened. ¡°So? Spill, it¡¯s your turn.¡± Aurivy pressed, and I nodded my head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I just got the message. We received nearly thirty thousand points and eight worlds, all of which I n to reset after I get a look at what¡¯s happened.¡± As I said that, I walked over to join them on the couch, a very energetic Scarlet moving to sit beside me. Given how proud she looked, I could tell that she yed a part in saving Sanctum. I couldn¡¯t help but rub the top of her head in appreciation while turning on the television, having it look at one of the eight worlds.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As expected, the stars had¡­ changed. Visibly, they appeared to be quivering masses of sma that pulsed erratically. Some of them had gone pitch ck in one world, while in another they had turned into¡­ I couldn¡¯t even say. All of the light generated from the stars seemed to be a fleshy monstrosity that filled the entire gxy as one giant organism that was slowly copsing under its own mass and reforming.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I scanned through the eight worlds, and even the void that I had gotten from him, trying to find Hanya and Geoff. That was when I felt a hand on my shoulder. Looking back, I saw Terra shaking her head. ¡°Check the world history.¡± She said softly, and I did so.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We can¡¯t keep this up.¡± Hanya insisted, looking at Geoff. ¡°You¡¯re already infected, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her power had been working nonstop to keep the two of them protected, updating her list of immunities any time she saw a new infection. However, this world was very chaotic with its pathogens, many void beasts even evolving around them. Some of them were incredibly persistent, even resisting the power of her immunity if she didn¡¯t get to it immediately.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Geoff held his arm, concealing the green mass the was spreading under his sleeve. ¡°It¡¯s fine¡­ there¡¯s just one world left. Once we take care of this, he¡¯ll have nowhere left to hide.¡± He put a forced smile on his face as he said that, looking at the elven girl with him. ¡°We knew this could happen when we signed up.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yes, but--¡± She was cut off by a pained groan that escaped his lips, and immediately moved to wrap her arms around him. ¡°Can you do it..?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ll do one better¡­¡± Geoff whispered. ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking¡­ if we die, and the Keeper here isn¡¯t dead, it¡¯s all for nothing. So¡­ I¡¯m going to make sure I don¡¯t. Not fully¡­ when I set up the next death star, I¡¯m going to merge my consciousness with it, fusing myself into the script. This way, I shouldn¡¯t count as dead unless the infection is purged.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hanya¡¯s eyes went wide, tears flowing freely down her cheeks. ¡°But¡­ but then I¡¯ll be left alone. Please¡­ isn¡¯t there another way?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Geoff shook his head, slowly pulling up his sleeve. ¡°I¡¯ve been fighting it for a few hours now, and your power hasn¡¯t stopped it.¡± His arm was practically writhing beneath the sleeve, bulbous masses forming and deting by the moment. ¡°When I cut off the infected energy, it just appeared somewhere else. I figure I have a few more hours before it consumes this body. The only thing left that I can do is ensure that we didn¡¯te here for nothing.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Then¡­ then take me with you.¡± Hanya pleaded. ¡°If you¡¯re doing this, I want to be with you for it. We¡¯re going to spend our lives together, right? Don¡¯t you go running off without me now that we¡¯vee this far.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Geoff looked like he wanted to argue, but he knew it was pointless. They had been told that whether they seed or not, there was noing back for them. Besides, the look in Hanya¡¯s face made him realize that she didn¡¯t want to live alone in this empty void, that she didn¡¯t want to live in it without <i><span style="font-weight:400">him.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay¡­ then we do this together.¡± He said, holding her hand with his still-good hand. Hanya smiled through her tears, and the two of them left for thest world. At this point, it was already surrounded by void beasts and fallen gods, but they had been prepared. Hanya focused, making the two of them ¡®immune¡¯ to the perceptions of others. This was the only reason that they had been able tost this long.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unlike their Keeper¡¯s prediction, there were arge number of Fallen Gods within the seven worlds they had faced so far. Hanya didn¡¯t know the reason, but not all of them appeared to be monstrous in nature. She only knew that they were all enemies here.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two of them passed through the blockade, and Geoff chose a random star to transfer them to. Once they were there, they could already feel void fluctuations around them, the Fallen Gods having sensed the disturbance and were trying to track them. ¡°We don¡¯t have long, Geoff¡­ do it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Geoff gave a weak, sad smile, nodding his head and bringing a hand up to caress Hanya¡¯s cheek. ¡°The rest of our lives, we shall be as the stars in the sky, brilliant and beautiful, and bringing our wrath upon the world that pushed us to this point.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hanya chuckled, pressing her wet cheek against Geoff¡¯s hand. She could feel his power flowing into her, but she epted it without the slightest resistance, infection and all. As her body broke down with his, turning into countless motes of dust, she knew that the infection didn¡¯t matter anymore. She was with the man she had chosen to live and die with, and that was all that mattered to her.

 Chapter 867: Proposal

    Chapter 867: Proposal


    <span style="font-weight:400">I tore my eyes away from the screen after watching the record finish ying out. That moment had been two full days prior to my victory against BloodBrother. Even when they had been turned into a memetic entity, they had managed to maintain their consciousness together as sentient stars for two full days. That may not sound like a lot, but to me¡­ it was remarkable.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Wow¡­¡± Aurivy muttered softly from next to me. ¡°Now I feel really bad for us having sent them off for that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°They¡­ still have their Virtual selves here.¡± I reminded her, causing Aurivy to nod her head. In truth, I felt terrible for it as well. After all, they had been trained just to throw their lives away together. Not only did they do so willingly, knowing fully what they were getting into, they aplished their mission together while embracing each other with a smile.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was clear that there was no longer any life left in any of these worlds that we would have any intention of salvaging. Even if they were alive, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to bring them back safely. The best that I would have been able to do was send them a brief message through the system to thank them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Without hesitation, I sold all eight of the worlds that I had acquired from BloodBrother. In doing so, I learned just why it was so hard to shake him from his position.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">You have chosen to refund the defeated and shackled worlds - Lorana, Savith, Kinsra, Tora, Saren, Yao, Jutt, and Kron. Please confirm your choice.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">The reason that he had been able to stay at his rank while dominating in both attack and defense, and why he was never able to cover his weakness. In order to prevent himself from advancing, he had used the World Shackles perk to keep his world at the top of the third tier. I was willing to bet that some of those worlds had likelye from other Keepers that he had defeated in the past.


    <table>


    <tbody>


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    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Your refund has been processed!


    <span style="font-weight:400">Total points refunded: 782,943


    </td>


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    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes went <i><span style="font-weight:400">wide</i><span style="font-weight:400"> as I saw that message. If Ibined that with the points that I received from killing Grudge, I would have earned over a million in total. However, there was more. In the corner of my vision, there was another notification waiting for me to notice it.


    <table>


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    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Congrattions, you have earned an achievement!


    <span style="font-weight:400">For emerging victorious in consecutive attacks, you have earned the Killing Spree achievement. +5000 points, Bloodthirsty perk.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Terra?¡± I called back to the catgirl standing behind me, who shook her head. ¡°That bad, huh?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s¡­ an incentive. One that, personally, I hate. It increases your rewards for a sessful attack by twenty percent. It¡¯s the reason why tyrants and such have still not been subdued after all this time, because the system is rewarding their behavior. If the Keepermunity wererger, tyrants would be a far bigger threat. Thankfully, the smallmunity ensures that there are enough people willing to band together.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod at that, grimacing at the perk. The five thousand points were nice, but I had no intention of bing a tyrant, even if the rewards did increase that much. ¡°Anyways¡­ Ashley? What would it take to be able to turn the Virtual world into its own, real world?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now that we had all of these points, I figured that the best thing to do was to give a reward to the people that won this for me. However, to my surprise, Ashley shook her head. ¡°I looked into it before when I was just setting up Virtual. In order to get the information to custom-design worlds like that in the void, it takes a little over ten million points.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡­Okay, my jaw hung open for a good few seconds at that, until Aurivy reached over to lift it back up. ¡°Are you serious? Ten million just for something like that?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Behind me, Terra simply chuckled. ¡°You¡¯re talking about the knowledge topletely subvert the market, keep in mind. Being able to freely design worlds like that would mean that you could modify thews of physics as you saw fit within any newly created world, and not have to spend a single point.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯re right, but that doesn¡¯t make me any happier about it.¡± I grumbled, shaking my head. ¡°Alright¡­ four hundred thousand points. That¡¯s nearly half of what we won this time in total. Make sure the others know, and discuss what we want to get for our worlds. The rest, I¡¯m saving for whatever else we may need down the line.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The others looked somewhat surprised at that, but nodded their heads and began thinking about it seriously. In the meantime, I began to stand, before my sleeve was caught by Scarlet. ¡°Are you going to see them?¡± She asked softly, to which I smiled and nodded.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°They deserve to know."


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Geoff? Luca wants to know if we want to y together in Natural Seedter, any ns?¡± Hanya called out from the bedroom, opening the door and walking down the stairs with a smile. Downstairs, Geoff was in the living room, watching a projection on the wall, but turned his head to face her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I don¡¯t think we had any ns, did we?¡± He chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s been really quiet here.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, we could always train our other skills more.¡± She pointed out, sitting across hisp and smiling down at him. ¡°There¡¯s more to life than being a Fallen God, especially now.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Geoff nodded his head, hands holding her waist. ¡°That¡¯s true. It¡¯d feel weird just sitting around and doing nothing. Maybe I should sign up for Darkme¡¯s Virtual debugging team? I¡¯m pretty sure that they¡¯d ept me.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hanya chuckled at that, about to say something else when there was a knock on their door. She blinked, looking up and tilting her head. ¡°Strange. Luca said they wouldn¡¯t be here for at least another hour or so. Were you expecting anyone?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Geoff shook his head, his brows furrowed. He was confident that whoever it was, they wouldn¡¯t be a danger. The house that they had was provided specifically by Darkme with the highest level of security. Anyone who entered, regardless of who it was, would be stripped of any special abilities.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hanya stood up from Geoff¡¯sp, moving over to answer the door. Upon opening it, she gasped in shock, causing Geoff to rise to his feet as well. Standing outside their door was none other than the Keeper himself. ¡°Is this a bad time?¡± The Keeper asked with a smile, looking at the two.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, no, pleasee in.¡± Geoff answered politely, and Hanya immediately moved aside to let the Keeper in. If this was a fake, the transformation or illusion would be dispelled the moment he stepped inside. Otherwise, it was truly the real Keeper.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sure enough, the man stepped inside without the slightest concern, his appearance and aura remaining fully intact. ¡°How are the two of you enjoying things? Is there anything that I can do to make you morefortable?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hanya smiled, closing the door once he was fully inside. ¡°No, really, you and the Greater Pantheon have already done so much more than we imagined. Just being able to live like this, even though we already¡­ well, it¡¯s more than we ever hoped for.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Geoff nodded his head, gesturing for the Keeper to sit down in the living room. ¡°She¡¯s right. By all rights, the two of us should be gone. The fact that you¡¯re letting us live like this is wondrous. But¡­ you didn¡¯t juste here for that, did you?¡± He asked, seeming to sense an almost mncholic air surrounding the Keeper.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± The Keeper said. ¡°I just got word back. The real selves of the two of you have finished their mission. Because of their sacrifice, we will be able to prevent any others from being harmed by this threat.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hanya¡¯s eyes went wide, her hand squeezing Geoff¡¯s. ¡°So¡­ they¡¯re gone? Truly, I mean..? They always told us that we¡¯d nevere back from this mission, one way or another.¡± It was clearly shocking for the two of them to hear about the deaths of their other selves, Hanya¡¯s voice trembling while Geoff struggled to process it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. I came here to tell you what happened, because I thought that you deserved to know. There are some details that I can¡¯t reveal to protect this world, but I¡¯ll share what I can.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper took a deep breath. ¡°In order to defeat the enemy, we needed to modify stars with the power of the void, as both of you had guessed prior to leaving. The enemy was weak against void powers, so this should have been finished over a week ago. However, we underestimated the tenaciousness of their infections. Even your great gifts couldn¡¯t fully block it out, Hanya.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The two of you performed splendidly, fighting off the opponents while protecting one another. But¡­ eventually, Geoff fell prey to an infection neither of you could remove. In order toplete the mission and preserve the safety of the world, he chose to merge his consciousness with the final star he converted. And you, Hanya--¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hanya smiled sadly, interrupting the Keeper. ¡°I told him that I didn¡¯t want to live without him, right..? That if he sacrificed himself, I wanted to go with him.¡± Geoff blinked, his hand gripping Hanya¡¯s just a bit tighter.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± The Keeper confirmed. ¡°This was over forty-eight hours ago. For more than two days, the pair of you preserved your consciousness within the star you had merged with. I can¡¯t begin to imagine how hard it must have been to hold on and maintain your sense of self.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯re wrong about something, sir Keeper.¡± Hanya shook her head, turning to face the human beside her. ¡°Nothing in the world could be easier than staying with Geoff. And¡­ I¡¯d like to make another correction. There¡­ there is one thing I¡¯d like if you could do for us.¡± As she said that, Geoff stared back into her eyes, seeing only endless warmth and affection.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper smiled at that, nodding his head. ¡°Of course. As long as it is within my power to do so, I promise to see it through.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Would you be willing to preside over our wedding?¡± She asked, never turning to look at the Keeper, her eyes fixed straight on Geoff, his own eyes growing wide as saucers. ¡°We knew that we¡¯d live and die together. Now¡­ we¡¯ve died together. I want to keep the other part of that agreement, and <i><span style="font-weight:400">live</i><span style="font-weight:400"> together. Geoff, will you give me that pleasure?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Geoff blinked at that, before letting out a chokedugh. ¡°You¡¯re doing this all wrong, Han. I¡¯m the one supposed to be asking you, you know?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Since when have I been one for tradition?¡± She asked with a giddy grin. Hearing the fates of their real selves, that they had chosen to stay together in the very end and faced death in each other¡¯s arms, it only seemed to make Hanya want to hold on to what she still had even more. ¡°So again¡­ will you marry me, Geoff?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course I will, Han. You really know how to spring it on a guy, don¡¯t you¡­¡± He nodded his head, the Keeper offering a small apuse to celebrate their union.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯d be happy to do that for you. Though you¡¯ll probably have to fight Aurivy if you try to get anyone else to be your maid of honor.¡± When I pointed that out, Hanya let out a light, joyfulugh.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯d be happy to have the Goddess of Love with me for this.¡± She said, bringing a hand up to wipe her eyes, joyful tears falling down her face. I stood, nodding my head. From the look of things, they had quite a lot that they needed to get nned out now.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In that case, let me know when you¡¯ve made your ns, and I¡¯ll be sure to clear my schedule.¡± I told them, making my way to the door and leaving the happy couple alone.

 Chapter 868: Make A Wish

    Chapter 868: Make A Wish


    <span style="font-weight:400">I had been more than happy to preside over the wedding of Geoff and Hanya, even though we weren¡¯t announcing just what meritorious deed afforded them such an honor. In truth, there were many people confused about why I was doing what I was doing, but they still chose to attend the wedding regardless. After all, when the ruler of the realm hosted a wedding, anyone who could would choose to be there.


    <span style="font-weight:400">From kings and gods to parents that could just barely afford a Virtual converter for them and their families. The digital venue that we prepared had to be expanded many times over, until we simply turned it into a boundless, procedurally generated map with Ashley¡¯s help.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When the main ceremony itself was over, everyone got together and cleared the floor. Udona reced me at the podium, which was itself reced by a microphone, her voice echoing out across the map.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Someone told me once</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">About this certain point of view.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">How dreams you hold to tight</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Are just waiting toe true.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">So here¡¯s the secret.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Make a wish right now.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">When the world tries to hurt you</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Just remember this vow.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯s true.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯s all you need.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">A single hope, a single prayer</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">A single shining light to see.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">When darkness closes ¡®round you</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">A single wish can set you free.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">It seems that often</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Our dreams appear so far.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">But when you look back at your life</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">You remember where you are.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">So here¡¯s the secret.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Make a wish right now.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Hold it close, and hold it fast</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">¡®Cause it¡¯ll never let you down!</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯s true.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯s time to shine.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">When wishes glow like starlight.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">When true love feels divine.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">You look inside yourself and say</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">¡°I took this wish and made it mine!¡±</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">So tell the story now</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">About this certain point of view.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">How dreams you hold to tight</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Are just waiting toe true.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Because now you¡¯ve felt it.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">You hold it every night.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">You see your dream beside you</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">So now it¡¯s time to share the light.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯s true.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯s your turn now.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I smiled as I watched Udona pouring her heart into the mic. It was clearly a song she wrote specifically for this pair, but at the same time, I could feel her own story in it. I shook my head, looking off to see Julia and Aurivy dancing together, or Hanya and Geoff, nk and Vivi, James and Chelse¡­ so many familiar faces that had gotten together over the years.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I was thinking about that, I felt a hand on my arm. When I turned, I saw Irena standing there with a gentle smile on her face, her other hand extended in invitation. My smile grew wider as I took her hand, knowing that I had gained such connections myself as well.


    <span style="font-weight:400">We danced into the night, sometimes switching partners and sometimes simply chatting with one another. However, I knew that it was a time that none of us would forget.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Back in the real world, after synchronizing my memories with my Virtual self, I let out a long sigh. The wedding had dispersed, and it was time to focus on other things. Before I had left the Admin Room to descend to the world, I had asked everyone in the Admin Room to put together a list of things that they felt we could use to improve ourselves for up to four hundred thousand points.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Assuming that they found anything appropriate, this would be my biggest spending spree since I became a Keeper. Closing my eyes, I focused on returning to the Admin Room. It was time to see what they had put together.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I arrived, I could see that the living room was remarkably empty. However, there were voicesing from further down the hall, so I turned to follow them. The destination that they led me to was none other than the meeting room that had not seen much use in quite a long while. It appeared that nearly all of the Admin Room residents were present, even Chel sitting off in a chair and listening to everyone¡¯s opinions.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Everyone stopped talking when I opened the door, turning to look at me. ¡°Ah, there you are.¡± Ryone said with a soft smile, patting the empty seat between herself and Terra. ¡°Just the man we were waiting for.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sorry, wanted to stay till the end of the ceremony.¡± I said with a faint chuckle. Unlike this lot, I couldn¡¯t return to the Admin Room while attending the ceremony, or else my Virtual self would freeze up.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, it¡¯s fine.¡± Terra shook her head. ¡°We were just discussing some of the things we¡¯d like to get with the budget you gave us.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head at that, looking around. ¡°So, what has everyone decided on so far?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley was the first to speak up. ¡°The first thing that we came to an agreement on was that we need to adjust the Quest system. It¡¯s rather outdated at this point, and we can integrate it into the system itself now. However, that¡¯s something simple enough that my team should be able to handle it. We¡¯ll also make Quest Boards to have public quests visible for others to see and ept.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°After that was a better fast travel system.¡± Aurivy continued with a tired smile. ¡°I mean, I can honestly do it with my divinity, but it does take a toll on me when everyone¡¯s using it. So we talked about getting a simple fast travel system and connecting it to my shrines. For the people of the world, it¡¯ll be the same as now, even for the same cost of tokens, but that divinity will just be returned directly to me instead of being spent on the teleportation itself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Understandable. What else?¡± I asked, looking around. A fast travel system like that wouldn¡¯t cost more than a few hundred points, so that left a lot open for us.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I suggested that we get some new techniques.¡± Keliope raised her hand. ¡°We are doing okay right now, but we haven¡¯t really had any top notch fighting styles in a while. Nothing pushing the boundaries of what we can do at our level. Since people are growing from level one every generation, it¡¯s harder to develop styles.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I see¡­ did you have any suggestions for what ones we could get?¡± I nced over at Keliope, who nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I found a total of ten. One each for Ki, Mana, Spirit, and Natural energies, and one each for abination of two of the base four. We can introduce them as ten styles meant to help develop high-level individuals based on their personal aptitude.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing how proud she was, I gave a small nod. ¡°What was the price of them?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Fifteen hundred points each, for a grand total of fifteen thousand.¡± That alone showed how strong the styles she found were, as they were each ten times as expensive as the Thousand Arms, Ten Thousand Threads. I was honestly worried whether or not the people of our world would be able to practice suchplex techniques.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As such, I looked around at those gathered. ¡°You¡¯ve all seen her suggestions, I trust. What are your opinions on the styles?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The first to speak up was Scarlet, the Goddess of Ki. ¡°I can¡¯t particrly speak for the others, but I took a special interest in the Ki style, and the one blending Ki and Spirit. For reference, those two are named the Twelve Shattering Hands and the Heart of Combat. Just going by their descriptions, I can¡¯t say whether or not I¡¯d be able to utilize them properly, but that would be true of any art.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I suppose. In that case, if there aren¡¯t any objections, we¡¯ll add those to the list to purchase. Does anyone else have suggestions or requests?¡± When I asked that, Bihena nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This is one that I talked about with Aurivy, and I managed to get her approval on it. Just like Ashley said that our Quest Contracts are bing outdated, our dungeon system needs to be updated. I found a more advanced dungeon system, and I wanted to see what you thought about applying it as a racial feature to Dungeon Cores.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What¡¯s the system?¡± I asked, and Bihena slid a paper over to me.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Instance Dungeons


    </td>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">This system enables the Keeper to create instanced dungeons, each one fully customizable while sharing the worldws of the world it is built in.


    </td>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Game System Required


    <span style="font-weight:400">50,000 Points


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was¡­ certainly a far more expensive dungeon system than what we had. However, the description didn¡¯t seem to be enough to warrant the price. ¡°It¡¯s the dungeon size.¡± Bihena told me, as if seeing my confusion. ¡°The dungeons are instanced, meaning that they exist as alternate worlds. If we take the price into ount, along with the description, it¡¯s possible that each dungeon could have a maximum size of an entire.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes widened at that, and I nced to Terra. ¡°Would the price change if we attached it as a racial trait to dungeons?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra, however, simply smiled. ¡°Not in the slightest. It¡¯smon for Keepers to purchase the ¡®Bound System¡¯ racial trait, which simply costs as much as the system being bound to them. For instance, if we bound the Private Messaging system to humans, they would be the couriers of the realm, with nobody else able to use the system. However, in exchange for the system not being avable to everyone, it is instead usable in any world that the humans would visit.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was helpful, but there was still one other thing. ¡°What about existing dungeons? Would there be a way to apply it to them, as well, or would I need to use Guided Evolution again?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This is exactly the kind of thing that Guided Evolution was meant to handle.¡± Terra pointed out. ¡°Given that dungeons don¡¯t have a natural reproductive cycle, it¡¯s highly likely that the evolution event will trigger for all existing dungeons, aside from perhaps Tower. Just as how the Psychic Song did not affect energy beings, this evolution would be unlikely to affect him.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy clicked her tongue, but ultimately shrugged her shoulders. ¡°He¡¯s already gotten a world-sized dungeon, so I don¡¯t imagine that will upset him much. At most, he¡¯ll ask one of the others to cooperate with him and put a new dungeon on his world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Alright.¡± I nodded my head. ¡°That¡¯s sixty-five thousand and change so far. Anyone else?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">At this point, the room wentrgely quiet. It seemed as if they were genuinely running into problems when trying to decide what should be purchased next. Perhaps that was what they were talking about when I arrived.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The Merkin.¡± Chel suddenly spoke up, leaning back in her seat as eyes turned to focus on her. ¡°They¡¯ve been a part of your world for so long, right? However, they¡¯re only just now being properly integrated. Even then, the number that can walk onnd due to cross-breeding can be counted on one hand. Their adaptive trait isn¡¯t a problem anymore, so why not get something for them?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It could be a device that lets them live onnd, or a Guided Evolution to make them amphibians. Regardless, it would go a long way towards developing their culture and integrating them in the world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I thought about that, ultimately nodding my head. An amphibious evolution would not cost much at all, so it was easy to agree to her request.

 Chapter 869: A New Game, Plus?

    Chapter 869: A New Game, Plus?


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Next up is me, I suppose.¡± Ryone said with a small smile, shaking her head. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m not going to ask for the fifth tiers of magic knowledge or anything. The fourth tier itself is already something that most of the world is unable to use. Instead, I¡¯d like a custom-designed system to rece the current divine tokens.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I raised an eyebrow in interest, and Ryone continued. ¡°Instead of tokens that generate purely from faith in a single deity, and can be used only for that deity¡¯s ¡®services¡¯, I would prefer if we had a more universal currency. I¡¯ve prepared a document for you to review, and I do not believe that it should be a problem in terms of cost or effect.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying that, she slid a piece of paper over towards me, allowing me to read it while she spoke. ¡°Essentially, faith itself will be a form of currency. When a being offers prayers or sacrifice to a god, one third of the faith offered will take the form of coinage for the devout to receive, while the rest goes to the god to whom they worshiped. Simrly, gods themselves could choose to convert their own divinity into currency, or consume the coins to add to their own divinity.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In this way, we would be able to integrate the new currency into the Boundless Caravan smoothly, merely by adjusting the prices of services offered to reflect the new coinage. A priest who worshiped myself would then be capable of taking the divine currency to the Boundless Caravan, and use it to purchase the services of Tubrock, Keliope, or even Terra.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod as I read through the document, before ncing at Ashley. ¡°If we get a currency from a system like this, what are the chances that you¡¯ll be able to integrate it into the inventory system you created?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley¡¯s eyes went wide briefly, and she began to think over the possibilities. ¡°If it¡¯s a standardized currency like that, one without variation between individual objects, I should be able to create an empty slot for it in the inventory¡¯syout¡­ Ryone, are there different tiers of these coins, like gold, silver, and copper? Or is it just a single coin?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ryone blinked briefly, before chuckling. ¡°In order to conserve space, I set it to have five tiers that automatically adjust based on circumstance and the will of the user. As you said, there are the three standard tiers, and then the white gold tier, and ck tier. Each coin is worth a hundred of the previous, so a ck coin will be worth one hundred million of the copper. When enough coins are present, they will automaticallybine into the next tier, but can be separated if the holder wishes them to change.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley nodded her head in thought. ¡°If that¡¯s how it is set up, it should still be possible. I can confidently say that we should be able to make thispatible with the inventory system, but the time required will depend on the system itself. This is going to be another big patch, where we include proper fast travel and anything else discussed here.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing that everything had been decided, I went ahead and submitted the system to the market. I¡¯d need to know how much the cost was before I could count it towards our budget. To my surprise, the system actually went as high as three thousand points. Was that because it allowed universal conversion of divinity?


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is there anything else that anyone wants to submit for this meeting?¡± I asked, looking around. The next to raise a hand was alia, who had a rather grave expression on her face. ¡°alia? What¡¯s the problem?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We¡¯re on our way to a food crisis.¡± alia said, catching me by surprise. ¡°As you know, a significant portion of what hunters acquire goes towards offerings, typically to me. This means that food isn¡¯t entering cirction. In a simr vein, farmers often pay a ¡®tax¡¯ of their crops to Tryval. It¡¯s currently not a major issue, and they are managing it enough to keep <i><span style="font-weight:400">most</i><span style="font-weight:400"> people fed, but¡­ all it would take is one mistake to send the world on a downward spiral.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Given the introduction of this new currency, it¡¯s possible that farmers and huntsman will be tempted to offer more of their yield to gain these coins. If that happens, people everywhere will go hungry for a time. Food storages are already running quite low due to all of the offerings.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a nod at that, resting my chin on my hands. ¡°How would you propose we remedy the situation? I can adjust the monster spawning rates easily enough to keep things going on the huntsman side of things.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, alia shook her head. ¡°In isted cases, that might help, but doing it globally would cause monsters to begin overrunning towns by spawning faster than they were dealt with. Once huntsman recognize the problem being caused, they¡¯ll be able to adjust more quickly. My concern is the farmers. Their crops take a considerable amount of time to grow, making it such that they¡¯d need that time to recover.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I would prefer not to offer nt-based foods on my services, if that¡¯s where you¡¯re going with this.¡± Tryval spoke up, ncing at alia. ¡°Doing so would essentially be putting those very farmers out of a business.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I don¡¯t think it would.¡± alia shook her head. ¡°The price that you¡¯d need to be able to quickly prepare and distribute those crops would be considerably greater than the price that people would need to pay to get them from the usual stores. I¡¯m not proposing this as a long-term solution, just a quick fix while we wait for the economy to stabilize after this shift.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">To be honest, I was also worried about our food problems, but for other reasons. With everyone evolving their dietary needs throughout their life, the same meals wouldn¡¯t be able to feed them for long. The level of the ingredients determine whether someone can get the nutrients they need, or if they¡¯re even able to digest the food in the first ce. It¡¯s a rather tricky system to work with.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I closed my eyes in thought at the prospect, some of the others seeming to notice and looking at me. We were getting a universal currency¡­ was there a way to make the level of food work universally, as well? A food system¡­


    <span style="font-weight:400">After opening my eyes, I checked the market, narrowing results down to those rted to the consumption of food. There were quite a lot of such systems, ranging anywhere from bestowing buffs on food items to being able to eat inorganic items like stones. I kept scrolling under everyone¡¯s gaze, until I finally found something that looked like it could work.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Consumer¡¯s Digestion


    </td>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">This system is designed for worlds of vast evolutionary disparity, enabling those of a lower standard to consume the same sustenance as those of a higher standard. Physical sustenance only, does not apply to energy-based entities.


    </td>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">900 points


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">That could potentially work.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I thought to myself, before creating an identical screen in front of alia. ¡°What do you think?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">alia arched an eyebrow, reading through the entry that I sent her. ¡°I see¡­ if this is the case, it will cause arge shift. Assuming that the higher level food provides full nutrition, people will prioritize hunting and farming higher level yields, as those will increase in demand. Given the price of the system¡­ I would suggest buying it to use as a test.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head, mentally adding it to the list. ¡°In that case, is there anyone else that has a request for a system? We still have the <i><span style="font-weight:400">vast</i><span style="font-weight:400"> majority of our budget left to spend.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes scanned around the room, looking for anyone that seemed ready to speak up. To my surprise, nobody was forting with further ideas. Eventually, Ashley shrugged her shoulders. ¡°Why not get a higher ranked game world from Sarah?¡± She suggested. ¡°It could spur creativity in the world, and being a higher rank would likely increase it¡¯s cost considerably.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I thought about that for a moment. It was true¡­ if memory served, Vision Expanse was eight thousand points, but it could only qualify as a Rank One world at best. It had the potential to grow into the third, maybe even higher rank through the schematics saved on it, but at its core level it was a rather primitive world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As such, I opened the market again, searching for game worlds that had been published by SarahLasting. I scanned through them, keeping in mind my budget, before my eyesnded on one in particr.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Fragments of Acidia


    </td>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">A game published by SarahLasting, using our most advanced artificial intelligence yet! Explore a world of science and sorcery intertwined, a world where you can make your dreams into reality.


    </td>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Game World


    <span style="font-weight:400">88,500 points


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I pondered this game for a moment, before showing it to Terra. ¡°Just to confirm, something like this won¡¯t immediately shoot my rank up if I buy it, will it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra nced over at the screen, before shaking her head. ¡°It¡¯s unlikely. Sarah herself is only a Rank Four Keeper. Considering her personality, she wouldn¡¯t sell worlds of her own rank. Doing so would leak too many details about her own world¡¯s cultural advancements, whereas if she sells lower ranked worlds, she can pass almost anything off as someone of higher rank gaining understanding of that aspect.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a nod, before showing the market entry to Ashley next. ¡°What do you think? Would people be interested in this kind of game?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley looked at the market entry, blinking briefly. ¡°I¡¯m surprised she can customize the market details of her products to this extent. However, this only says that it¡¯s a science and sorcery game, without enough details to truly go off of. If it were a new development studio without any kind of trailer, I¡¯d likely ignore it with this description.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°After seeing the standard of her work with Vision Expanse¡­ I think that it¡¯s likely to be worth the purchase. Moreover, it will most likelye with an individual like Vivi to help us get the world established. If there¡¯s anything we need to learn about the game, we can ask that being when we buy the game.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing that Ashley was in agreement, I added Fragments of Acidia to the list. Even with this, we had spent less than half our budget, so I gave another nce around to see if anyone else had any requests. This was still a greater total cost than the Skill Proficiency System that I purchased a while back, but not nearly as much as I was expecting to spend.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I went ahead and made the necessary purchases, grabbing things like the fast travel and other necessary systems for both of Ashley¡¯s testbed worlds. Simrly, I assigned the dungeon cores with the Guided Evolution to let them gain the instanced dungeon trait, as well as the one to allow Merkin to breathe out of the water. It was hard to say how the world would handle those kinds of evolution, but we¡¯d find out eventually¡­


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If anyone can think of any urgent requirements, let me know.¡± I said, giving onest look at everyone. ¡°And¡­ if possible, try to make sure that it¡¯s before Ashley releases this patch? Every patch we release changes the worldview of our inhabitants, so I want to keep such things as scarce as possible. Otherwise, they will never know if their current lifestyle will be able to carry them through another year.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The gathered gods and goddesses nodded their heads at that, fully understanding what I meant. This patch that we were nning would shake the foundation of the food industry, for better or worse. I had no idea what the end result would be, and could only sit by and wait for the unexpected.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That said, though, I stood up and excused myself from the room, moving to go to my own bedroom. If this was anything like Vision Expanse, there would be a message waiting for me upon my arrival. And sure enough, the moment I sat down at myputer, the screen blinked to life, a single line of text appearing.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Greetings, Keeper. I am Fifi, and I will be helping you establish the Fragments of Acidia.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...Fifi? Sarah¡­ your naming sense needs some work.¡± I said, allowing a small chuckle to escape my lips.

 Chapter 870: Terms And Conditions

    Chapter 870: Terms And Conditions


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Good afternoon, Fifi.¡± I nodded towards theputer after seeing the message. ¡°This isn¡¯t my first time getting one of Sarah¡¯s game worlds, so I¡¯d just like to ask if there is anything special that I need to know about this one.¡± Fifi hesitated for a moment at that, before a message appeared on the screen.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I see that my sister from Vision Expanse is here. I see, that will make this much easier. If you are familiar with Sarasting¡¯s methods, then there will be some things that I need to tell you.


    <span style="font-weight:400">First and foremost, I need to exin about the artificial intelligence system used within the game world, as it differs greatly from games such as Vision Expanse.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I saw that, my brow twitched in surprise. ¡°Sarah hasn¡¯t started using real souls, has she? I know that she was rather opposed to doing so when Ist spoke with her.¡±


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Yes and no. There are indeed beings in Fragments of Acidia that possess souls. Or rather, there are roles prepared for them. However, these roles are meant to be integrated with the new Keeper¡¯s afterlife system, allowing the roles to be filled voluntarily. I presume that you have an afterlife which preserves souls in some way? The reincarnation cycle would also apply.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thankfully, my afterlife fits your needs quite well. Should I put you in touch with the goddess in charge of it, so that you can arrange the necessary procedures?¡± The more Fifi spoke, or rather typed, the more curious I became about this new game.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There is no need. I will make contact with her myself, after we have finished our discussion. The souls gathered from your afterlife will take the roles of special NPCs, characters of far greater power than normal, offering them a degree of protection against the yers. Additionally, the story is shaped depending on their actions.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Most named NPCs are inmand of a legion of generic NPCs. While these characters have their own backstory, they arergely irrelevant to the plot outside of making up the numbers in abat scene. If yers begin to interact and take a special interest in these characters, there is the possibility of them being promoted to a special NPC, integrating into the aforementioned system.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The NPCs that make up the bulk ofbat, regardless of which faction they are in, will be these generic characters. This way, SarahLasting has preserved her stance of not needlessly torturing souls within her game worlds.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That sounds more like her.¡± I said with a satisfied nod. ¡°In that case, is there anything else that you need to discuss in order to get this game set up?¡±


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Indeed. Before I begin filling in the roles of the special characters, I need to inform you about special systems that exist within the game. Due to the unpredictable nature of the Keeper system, there is the chance that some systems could negatively interact with the customer¡¯s world. This is something that SarahLasting does not wish for, so I am required to go over any relevant systems before you connect the Fragments of Acidia world with the rest of your domain.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">I lifted a brow at that, but merely nodded my head again. What systems would she be worried about affecting the world <i><span style="font-weight:400">outside</i><span style="font-weight:400"> the game? ¡°Go on¡­¡±


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    <span style="font-weight:400">The first system is the magic system, Programmable Magic. This is a magic system in which a programmingnguage is created that can cast magical effects. If you are using a non-standard method of connecting to the game world, this magic system may have implications on your ¡®real world¡¯.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Define ¡®non-standard¡¯ in that context?¡± I muttered, before blinking and shaking my head. ¡°Wait, you said Programmable Magic?¡± I asked, receiving a quick confirmation. Something about that name triggered a memory, so I opened up the market.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sure enough, Programmable Magic was a system that I submitted to the market ages ago, back before I even had my first match as a Keeper. If I remembered correctly, that was a system that Ryone had written among a bulk of others as ideas to put up on the market. Checking through old message logs, I was able to confirm a royalty notice that SarahLasting had purchased this system only a few weeks after it went on the market.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sorry, that system came from my world, so I was a bit surprised. That said, I don¡¯t actually use it myself. But go on, what did you mean by non-standard?¡± There was a brief dy after I asked that, before Fifi went on to borate.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">For instance, if instead of having the game world as a game, you were to implement it as a world that people could simply travel to. If the steps are not taken for the world to remain in a digital environment, the magicalw is likely to spill over.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head at that. ¡°I¡¯m going to be making it purely digital. On that note, though, I do have a virtualwork where a significant portion of the poption have digital avatars that may connect from there. Will that cause any issues?¡±


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Now that I am aware of this, I will prepare countermeasures to ensure that it doesn¡¯t. The second system that could influence the real world is the Trade system. From what you have exined, this will primarily be a concern for your virtual environment. There are cases when using non-standard entry methods that allow one to initiate a trade, leave the world, and have the trade remain valid to bring items in and out of the world. As with the above magic system, I will take steps to prevent this from urring in your virtual environment.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The final system is a special ascension method that exists for the game, through which someone finds one of the titr Fragments of Acidia. Upon finding this fragment, they obtain the divine authority thates with it. These fragments are locked behind systems that prevent NPCs from using them, ensuring that they onlynd in the hands of ¡®adventurers¡¯, or yers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If you are in possession of a system or technology in which your people retain practical skills and experience from a virtual environment, this divinity will likewise be applied to their offline body. I have been told that it can bepared to finding fragments of the beginning of creation.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes went wide when I heard that, surprised that Sarah had left a way for gods to be born within the game. ¡°Yeah, my virtual technology is able to let people train, though it doesn¡¯t let them get new systems or anything. Would that still apply, in that case?¡±


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    <span style="font-weight:400">It is likely. Furthermore, the Fragments of Acidia are deeply rooted in the game¡¯s lore. Regardless of my role, I cannot remove them from the world¡¯s setting. If this situation is not preferable, I would suggest not connecting the game to any of your worlds. I have been told that you can reset a full world as a Keeper to recover its cost, and would advise you to do so if any of these cases pose a problem.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So Sarah even took into consideration the refund policy?¡± I chuckled, shaking my head. ¡°No, that will be fine. If people manage to be gods in this game, maybe it will spark more interest. If there¡¯s nothing else, please check the capability of our world¡¯s hardware to make sure that we are able to run your game world.¡±


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    <span style="font-weight:400">I am already in the process of doing so. As part of the care package provided with this world, Ie equipped with a schematic for a suitable virtual reality set if your world is not capable of running my system at a preferred level¡­ Thankfully, it appears as if your level of hardware is capable of handling me.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Good. In that case, you can connect with Irena, our Goddess of Death, and Ashley, who will be the one to publish the game in our world. Ashley can also handle any lore-rted questions you need to ask, such as if you should incorporate our local gods into the game setting.¡±


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Understood. I shall contact them.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying that, I finally stood up from myputer, preparing for my next step. I could not predict when Ashley¡¯s team would be finished with the new update any more than I could predict how or when the world would apply the evolutions to the dungeons and Merkin. In the meantime, there was little for me to do but work on improving myself to prepare for what maye ahead. And now, thanks to Keliope, we had several differentbat styles that I could browse through.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Getting Udona to create copies of the information spheres was easy enough, and so I had her transcribe all ten styles onto the terminals of the Sky Citadel. These were arts meant to be taught to the high-level masters of the world, so who better to act as the ones to test them than Tsubaki and the others?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thinking that, I descended to the throne room of the Citadel, Tsubaki standing not far away. It felt almost weird for her to be standing there, as if simply weing home. She offered me a warm smile, letting me know that she was aware I wouldn¡¯t be gone for long. ¡°Wee back, my Keeper.¡± She said with a short bow. ¡°Were you able to finish your business?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°More or less.¡± I chuckled, standing up from my throne. ¡°Call the others, and have them gather at the library.¡± As I said that, I began walking to the door, only to hesitate a moment. ¡°And make sure to call Gerard, as well. This could concern him.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As Gerard was a living spell, the fighting style involving mana could draw his interest. It would be a waste not to get his opinion on it. After I added on thatment, I resumed my steps, heading for the Citadel¡¯s library. By now, Udona would have finished setting up the manuals for the fighting styles.


    <span style="font-weight:400">By the time I arrived, I saw Dana, Lifre, and Gerard all ready and waiting for me to reveal what had happened. It was hard to tell who was more excited about the reveal between Dana and Lifre, while Gerard had a rather deadpan expression on his face.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gestured for them to follow me inside, along with Tsubaki, and moved to one of the terminals off to the side of the library. ¡°I¡¯d like everyone to settle in at one of these terminals. In order to help facilitate the growth of our worlds, Keliope suggested I purchase some new fighting styles, simr in origin to the Thousand Arms, Ten Thousand Threads that I taught you all before. The manuals to train these styles will have been downloaded onto these terminals.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I said that, I sat down at a terminal myself, activating it by cing my hand on the spherical object and injecting a small amount of mana. Upon doing so, the holographic screen appeared, with a message disyed on it.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Hello, Keeper! The Goddess of Education decided that it would be prudent to create a more interactive learning environment after briefly reviewing these manuals. If you wish to learn the rted material, please connect a virtual reality device, or grant permission for me to invite your Virtual self to this console.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...Vivi?¡± I asked in shock, eyes wide as I saw the silver humanoid appearing below the message.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">It is a pleasure to see you again! In ordance with the will of the Goddess of Education, I am creating a virtual environment based on the information within the ten programs given to me. I promise to provide the best learning experience possible!


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    ¡°...Okay, so we need virtual reality gear to do this.¡± It was hard to hide my surprise at this revtion, though it was likely something that Udona had set up while I was talking to Fifi. I could already imagine howplicated this was, if Udona decided we couldn¡¯t properly learn it through written manuals.

 Chapter 871: Absurd Styles

    Chapter 871: Absurd Styles


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, it didn¡¯t take long for us to get our Virtual selves into the training program, while also getting a set of virtual reality gear for Gerard. Once I was in the virtual environment, I saw Vivi standing there and waiting for me. ¡°Do you not have to manage Vision Expanse?¡± I asked curiously, unsure why Vivi was able to be in this training program.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, I still do.¡± Vivi assured me with a shake of her head. ¡°However, the poprity of Vision Expanse has dropped to the point that people are typically ying it now for a casual experience. Because of this, I can set up plots in advance, and focus my attention elsewhere. When Udona asked me if I would like to handle this training program for her, I naturally agreed.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod of my head at that. ¡°Okay, then. In that case, please guide me.¡± As she was the equivalent of a tutorial program, she must have already mentally downloaded the ten fighting styles. Or at least, such was my assumption.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Vivi simply giggled, tapping a finger in the air and causing a brief ripple. ¡°I¡¯m still processing all of the information myself, if I¡¯m honest. Combat styles contain far more information than one might expect. After all, this is not a true video game where everyone has only a certain set of skills that must be used with certain movements. However, Udona and Ashley were able to set up the program for me to help you through.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she said that, ten figures appeared to her right, each one standing in a neutral pose. ¡°Each of these avatars were created with their divine powers, embodying one of the ten fighting styles. Which one would you like to review first?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I closed my eyes, recalling what Scarlet had named two of the ten styles. ¡°The Twelve Shattering Hands and the Heart of Combat.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Vivi pursed her lips, nodding as she walked down the line. ¡°Let¡¯s start with the Twelve Shattering Hands. From the summary of the style, this is a set of twelve techniques, each one possessing great destructive or disruptive power. Their names are all simr, such as Mortal Shattering, Magic Shattering, or even God Shattering.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">She tapped on the back of the figure¡¯s head, and it suddenly sprang to life, assuming a pose with one hand extended forward, palm open. The other hand was a closed fist, pulled back to hold near the waist. ¡°Mortal Shattering!¡± The avatar shouted, thrusting its fist forward. I could sense the intense fluctuations of ki, before that ki turned in on itself to swarm together in invisible spirals.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Vivi looked back at me with a smile. ¡°Each avatar has fully working energy pathways, and you are free to study how their energy moves at your leisure. For the sake of convenience, you may ask for a certain energy to be more visible, and I will highlight it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she said that, the avatar took a step forward, throwing out an open palm. ¡°Weapon Shattering!¡± It shouted, its ki shooting out from the palm in a thin line, before branching off and spinning around. Ultimately, it came back to rest in the palm. I knew enough about ki to guess that this pattern was designed to destroy physical objects.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s enough of this one.¡± I told her, shaking my head. This style would probably be a good match for me, but I wanted to get a look at the others first.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Vivi nodded, tapping on the back of the avatar¡¯s head again before moving further down the line. The avatar froze, maintaining its position with one palm extended forward. ¡°In that case, the next one you wanted to review was the Heart of Combat.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As soon as she tapped on the head of one of the final avatars, there was a bloodthirsty sensation that filled the area. Red mist radiated from around the avatar, its eyes bing piercing while Vivi exined. ¡°The Heart of Combat is a technique that grows stronger through bloodshed. The longer you fight, the stronger you be while your enemy tires out.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As if to demonstrate, another avatar appeared not far away from the newly activated one. The avatar for the Heart of Combat stepped forward, throwing a glowing red punch at the other¡¯s chest. It was thrown back, a stream of red mist leaving their body and returning to the avatar that had attacked it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°By injecting this special blend of energy into your opponent, any damage you cause them to sustain will release that energy together with their own, which is pulled back to you. This is a rather unique style in that it utilizes the chaotic nature of energy mixtures. Every strike you deliver will use some of the stolen energy and forcibly merge it, the resulting explosive force added to your attacks.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I could see why Scarlet was interested in this style, nodding my head. A fighting style that revolved around turning the enemy¡¯s energy against them fit her rather well, as she often did simr things even before being promoted to the Greater Pantheon.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In that case, show me the styles of the other three base energy types.¡± I told Vivi, who nodded and paused the Heart of Combat tutorial. She moved back towards the front of the line, tapping on the head of the very first avatar.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The fighting style devoted to natural energy, the Essence of the World¡¯s End. It is a style that reads the natural energy that exists throughout the world, and can twist its nature.¡± As she spoke, a wide field appeared around the avatar, who sped its hands behind its back. The avatar¡¯s head slowly tilted upwards, every de of grass bing stiff.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The world as my weapon.¡± The avatar spoke, the grass hardening and shooting upwards, as if a rain of arrows had been unleashed. ¡°The sky as my shield.¡± The arrows of grass spun around to strike towards the avatar, only to be cast aside by a solid shield of wind that appeared around him. ¡°The void as your tomb.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Upon uttering the third line, the space above the avatar shattered like ss, triangr shards falling into a chaotic, ck void. My eyes went wide, able to feel the destructive power in thatst utterance. Many of these powers could be reproduced through magic or ki, but the differencey in sustainability. Someone who wielded natural energy in such a way would not run out of fuel unless the entire world fell to ruin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Vivi smiled, pausing this avatar before moving to the second. ¡°Now, the art of using spiritual energy. This one is called the Twin Swords of Joy and Sorrow.¡± As she spoke, the avatar manifested a pair of ded weapons, one in either hand. In its left hand was a ck de, and in its right was a white one.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Apparently, the shape of the swords themselves are less important, as long as they are ded weapons. You divide your soul into light and dark, joy and sorrow, and imbue each aspect into a weapon. This style is suitable for those who have experienced an extreme array of emotions, due to their effect. Those cut by the sword of sorrow will experience the greatest sorrow that the user has ever faced, with the reverse being true for the sword of joy. The intense surge of emotions can easily cripple an opponent during a fight, either causing energy bodies to crumble or offering arge opening.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°However, the greatest technique of this stylees when both swords have struck the same foe. Once this condition is met, the user can activate the Twin Swords Retribution. ording to the information provided, this will cause the spiritual energy embedded in the wounds caused by the swords to rise up in an attempt to devour the spirit of the target.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This can happen because the energy contains both extremes of joy and sorrow, attacking the target on both fronts. If their soul is not capable of withstanding the spiritual onught, death is the only end.¡± Perhaps because of the unique nature of this fighting style, Vivi didn¡¯t prepare a target dummy for this one, instead exining what she could. After all, the essence of the style was the creation of the weapons as opposed to the way that they were used.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Next, she skipped over the third avatar, who was the Twelve Shattering Hands user, and moved to the fourth. ¡°Finally, the art of magic. When I first saw this one, I wasn¡¯t entirely sure if it would work with various Keepers¡¯ magic systems, but that doesn¡¯t seem to be an issue. The name of this art is Absurdity of Fate.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but arch a brow at that name, but she simply tapped on the back of the avatar¡¯s head. As had happened before, a training target appeared not far away. The magic avatar held a sword in his hand, shing out a wave of energy. I expected the target to simply stand there and take it, as the other one had, but this one actually jumped out of the way. It was hard to tell at first how a missed attack was meant to demonstrate the style, but then I saw that the chest of the dummy had been split open.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The essence of mana is the ability to impose your will on the world, and the Absurdity of Fate takes that to an extreme. By focusing on a desired oue of an action to the point where it bes a tangible concept in your mind, you channel that concept through your actions. What you saw just now was the concept of ¡®my attack will hit¡¯. This doesn¡¯t apply to every attack, or every situation, but rather each concept has to be crafted for the attack you wish to use and the opponent you want to use it on. Simrly, when avoiding attacks, they need to take the situation around themselves into consideration, as well as the attack of their enemy. For that reason, it can only be used in battle by someone with an extreme level of focus.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± I started, only for Vivi to say what I wanted to.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Absurd?¡± She grinned, nodding her head. ¡°That is why its name is what it is, I suspect. This is an art I imagine that many will want, but few will have the power to wield inbat. In order to get the proper level of focus required to turn a thought into a tangible concept with their mana, the average person would require fifteen minutes for a simple action. Unless you can cut that time down to milliseconds, this art is unusable in battle.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded in agreement. No enemy was just going to let you focus on an attack for that long. Forget fifteen minutes, even fifteen seconds was beyond what you could expect in battle, unless you had someone distracting the enemy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">ncing at the remaining five avatars, I briefly considered getting a tutorial on the rest of them while I was here. However, I ultimately decided to save that for another time. Although I had great expectations for these fighting styles, there was something that I had to take care of first. I had been putting it off because I wanted to make sure that everything was settled in my world, but now I could do so without worry.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I tapped on my virtual device, letting my real world counterpart know that I was ready to sync memories, before closing my eyes. When they opened, I was sitting at my desk in the library, eyes wide at the memories I had just received. It took me a moment to shake off the rush of information, before I moved back to the Admin Room.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was time to call Aerial, and let her know about the results of the recent battle. She had suffered under BloodBrother¡¯s attack before, so it only seemed right to let her know.

 Chapter 872: Reporting In

    Chapter 872: Reporting In


    <span style="font-weight:400">It didn¡¯t take long for Aerial to respond to my message, though it seemed that she was likely in her world at the time, and needed to be called back to the Admin Room.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Aerial: Sorry for the wait, I¡¯m back now.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: It¡¯s fine, really. I just wanted to let you know that the invasion was over.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a pause after I said that. Most likely, Aerial was checking the records to see what the end result of the invasion had been. However, once she was done, she quickly got back to replying.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Aerial: Congrattions! I was starting to worry whether or not the n had failed. So void scripts really were the answer?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: That¡¯s right. It seemed like he shackled his worlds, and that¡¯s why he was still in the third rank like this.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aerial: That would make sense. It¡¯s been too long since I fought him, there had to be some reason why he hadn¡¯t managed to advance to this rank yet. Either way, this was your first time beating a wicked Keeper, yeah? I know you fought that nk te, but still.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: That¡¯s right. BloodBrother gave me¡­ a bit more than I was expecting. Even getting all of my people together toe up with ideas, it was hard to think of what to use the points on.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aerial: That¡¯s pretty normal. Usually when we beat an evil Keeper, we leave their worlds alone enough that we just repurpose them. For instance, the one time I did, I began sending expeditions to their worlds to gradually cleanse them and make them inhabitable.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aerial: Given what we nned for BloodBrother, though¡­ that wouldn¡¯t really be possible. Yeah, you would have had to do a full reset on his worlds.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Any suggestions on what I should get, then?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aerial: Sorry, but I don¡¯t know enough about your world to make that kind of suggestion. All I can say is that resetting like you did would have easily given you enough points to break through to the fourth rank, even if you spent it carelessly.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head at that, knowing that she was probably right. Quite some time ago, Sarah had told me that the big divide between the third and fourth rank was the quantity of divine beings. At the point I was at, I was already mass producing gods through the divine forge method. Now that I had Fragments of Acidia, that was another method for gods to begin appearing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I thought back to my conversation with Sarah, and how she seemed to have a gxy full of gods, a massive civilization that spanned the cosmos. It was to the point that she just considered it a number.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: I¡¯m curious¡­ did Sarah shackle her worlds, too? It doesn¡¯t make sense that she hasn¡¯t been promoted after all this time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aerial: Hmm? Oh, no, Sarah doesn¡¯t do things like that. She¡¯s been at the fourth rank for ages, but that¡¯s not because she¡¯s shackled herself or anything. I asked her about it a while ago, and she said that it¡¯s because she never elerates her worlds anymore. If anything, she spends more time frozen while she is working on a new game world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aerial: Sarah is less concerned about advancing as a Keeper, and wants to run a business. Any profits she makes from one game, she tends to put towards making the next one. I think she told me that her next project she¡¯s working on is a set of three games meant to be purchased as a package, with each one interacting with the others.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: I¡¯m¡­ surprised that she doesn¡¯t run into any problems with invasions if she¡¯s not fast forwarding.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aerial: The only ones that would cause her trouble are Monster Keepers. Even the other evil types won¡¯t cause problems for SarahLasting, since she has customers everywhere. Out of the Keepermunity, she¡¯s the only one that will consistently release new ¡®entertainment¡¯ for other Keepers, or at least the only one of her quality level.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">That made sense in a way. Even Oldbeard had been enamored with Sarah and desperately wanted to be in the same guild as her. It wasn¡¯t an understatement to call her a celebrity of the Keepermunity.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: I see. Either way, I just wanted to let you know that BloodBrother had been taken care of.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aerial: Thank you for that, really. He has caused a lot of Keepers to lose what was precious to them, and even killed several himself. I¡¯m d that we won¡¯t need to worry about him anymore.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">After that, I closed the conversation with Aerial, thinking about what I should do next. There was no real rush to spend the points that I had earned, since none of mypanions could think of anything appropriate to spend them on. All that was left, really, was to make sure that I was bing the best that I could be.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley had finished gathering the documents on the different new systems,piling them into one neat folder and making several copies. Now, she was taking these folders to the office building across the street from the main Admin Room.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Even now, her team continued their work. When they weren¡¯t given a specific project, they made sure that the current system was well maintained on the main worlds, or came up with different simtions to try to push the boundaries in the test worlds. A small smile yed at Ashley¡¯s lips when she saw how dedicated they were. ¡°Alright, everyone. We¡¯ve got some work to do. This time, it¡¯s a big project, so get ready. We¡¯ve got a new gameing out, too. Anyone who does well for this next patch will get a permanent ount set up for them in the new game world.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">That</i><span style="font-weight:400"> certainly got the attention of the workers, who had turned to look at Ashley with expectant eyes. Although they were indeed dedicated to their tasks, a reward always served as extra incentive. Besides, they could y these games even while they worked, as long as they didn¡¯t allow themselves to be distracted.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Jamira, could you distribute these documents to everyone?¡± Ashley asked, the mousey-looking team leader jumping to her feet and running over to collect the folders. ¡°These are the market details of everything we have recently purchased, as well as our spections on expanding those details. First and foremost, everyone familiarize yourself with these documents, and then take a look at our testbeds. I want any details you find that are not covered in the documents to be added. If a spection is proven to be false, make sure to correct it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Before you convert the new code for our worlds, I want to make sure that we have a full understanding of what we are getting. Additionally, I¡¯ve added a note for the universal currency, and we¡¯ll need to make a patch for our inventory system to allow the two to work together. You¡¯ll find the details in the contained documents.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Finally, I want to know if anyone here is able to work on rebncing the market prices to work with the new currency?¡± She asked, looking at each of the individuals, though none of them spoke up. ¡°That¡­ might be an issue. It¡¯s fine, I¡¯ll delegate the work elsewhere.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The assistants nodded, going over the files as Jamira distributed them. Once she was sure that everyone had their tasks, she left the room, pulling a phone out of thin air and dialing a number. She was fully capable of using the mental chat like anyone else, but she preferred to direct it through the use of such devices once she got the hang of it. ¡°Dale?¡± She spoke up, a voice speaking back to her a momentter.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yes, Ashley? Is there something you need?¡± One advantage to using phones like this was that she didn¡¯t feel the voices appearing in the back of her head. While she was able to put up with it, it just felt¡­ wrong.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I think we may need to get a team to work for Ryone.¡± Ashley answered as she left the office building. ¡°None of my people have any experience handling economic problems. In order to get our new currency up and running, we¡¯ll need a team dedicated to that. Otherwise, we¡¯ll just be ying catch-up, and that will cause some chaos for us.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Got it. I¡¯ll talk to her about the situation. Is there anyone else you think could use assistants?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley pursed her lips at that, before nodding. ¡°Fifi sent me a brief file about the requirements to run Fragments of Acidia. You should give Irena a few helpers as well, to make sure that the process of assigning named NPCs proceeds smoothly. They can work as managers for the golden pce in their spare time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Got it. Thanks for the advice.¡± Ashley smiled at the genuinely thankful tone that she could hear from Dale, knowing that her help really was appreciated.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once I was done talking with Ashley, I spoke with Irena and Ryone both, who agreed that it would be for the best to have helpers managing those respective fields. While they were both fully capable of taking care of the task themselves, they had seen how much having helpers had allowed Ashley to rx.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Even Irena, who usually gave the impression of a strict worker, willing to do everything herself, was happy for the offer of assistance. Ryone, meanwhile¡­ well, she jumped at the opportunity. Having assistants covering her mercantile aspects would give her more time to focus purely on researching the limits of the arcane. That had always been her passion, and she finally had the chance to focus her attention on it once again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">So I set it up with Terra, getting ten assistants for each of them and making sure that they had their own office space, terminals, and apartments in the buildings across the street. Ryone¡¯s team quickly got to work on rebncing the prices for the market based on this new currency, while Irena¡¯s took up the task of managing the karma system and selecting NPCs for Fragments of Acidia.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As for me, I returned to the Sky Citadel after taking care of these arrangements. There wasn¡¯t likely to be a need for me to fast forward the world for the foreseeable future. At the very least, not until after the new patch was released.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Upon my return, I found the various Tsubaki and Dana avatars having frozen in ce, causing me to blink. The two had connected to the virtual training room with their Virtual selves like I had, so there was no reason for them to be so distracted that even the avatars created through the ¡®Servant Force¡¯ were frozen.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Curious, I walked over and injected my World Sight into one of the closest avatars, finding that the energy was well and truly frozen. There was not a trace of activity in its entire body. My brows furrowed, and I expanded my World Sight to cover the citadel.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s when I found the cause, one that made my brow twitch in annoyance. There was an unfamiliar god walking the halls, looking like a robber appraising each item. Upon a brief inspection, I found that this was a God of Time. As for why I wasn¡¯t frozen¡­ my host must have activated the Time domain itself when this began.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Who would be foolish enough to want to rob the Keeper?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I asked myself, getting ready to investigate. Did he just think that the domain of Time meant that even the Greater Pantheon wouldn¡¯t be able to see his actions? Regardless, if he was here to cause any trouble, then I would need to deal with him swiftly.

 Chapter 873: Time Trial

    Chapter 873: Time Trial


    <span style="font-weight:400">I made my way through the frozen corridors, quickly catching up with the elven figure walking the halls. When he saw that I was able to move, his eyes went wide in shock. ¡°Mister Keeper, sir, what a pleasant surprise to see you!¡± He said, though I could feel the worry in his surface thoughts.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Surprise? You¡¯re in my house.¡± I pointed out with an arched brow, causing him to be taken aback.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hm? Well, yes, I suppose I am. Funny thing, that. You see, everywhere I go, everything seems to freeze around me. I was hoping that perhaps you might be able to help remedy the situation, as you are the only one I have encountered to not suffer from that same condition?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">It felt like he was grasping for straws, but I inspected his surface thoughts, just to be sure. He was hoping that I¡¯d believe this story, while at the same time appraising the value of the art on my walls, or wondering how much he would be able to get for exclusive images of Tsubaki and the others.


    <span style="font-weight:400">My brow twitched, and I let out a deep sigh. ¡°I¡¯m saying this to be nice, but are you aware that I can read what¡¯s going through your mind?¡± The man¡¯s face went pale when he heard that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, no, I can¡¯t say that I was¡­¡± After saying that, the man gave a brief, wry chuckle. The next moment, he vanished from view, having elerated his own time even in this frozen world that I could barely catch a glimpse of him opening a portal. Still¡­ a God of Time? That gave me an idea for an experiment to try out.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The elven god let out a sigh of relief, wiping his brow as he managed to escape from the Sky Citadel in one piece. He had used ten different portals in sequence, before changing his appearance and suppressing his divine aura. With this, he was sure that even the Keeper wouldn¡¯t be able to so easily cause trouble for him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That said, the moment that he canceled his time stop, he felt a hand on his shoulder. His entire body went stiff, and he turned to see the Keeper watching him with a small smile. ¡°I see that you¡¯ve fixed your problem on your own.¡± The Keeper said. ¡°Now, perhaps you can help me with something?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°A-And, what would that be, sir?¡± The man could sense that saying no would be¡­ unwise for his health. If he could get away with attempting to rob the Sky Citadel just by helping the Keeper with a small errand, he would consider himself lucky.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, the ¡®errand¡¯ that the Keeper mentioned was¡­ beyond his expectations. ¡°I¡¯d like you to try that again. Go back in time, say¡­ ten minutes. That should give you plenty of time to get in and out with whatever pieces you want. As long as you are gone before I return again, I vow not to pursue you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The man¡¯s eyes went wide, as he had never tried to travel <i><span style="font-weight:400">through</i><span style="font-weight:400"> time before. He had merely controlled the flow of time itself. ¡°I-I see, sir. However, if I go back, won¡¯t you not have made that vow in the first ce?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I was able to interact in your frozen time. Do have a bit more faith in my abilities.¡± The Keeper reminded him, his hand gripping the elf¡¯s shoulder.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Very well.¡± The elf gulped, eyes trembling. He had only just recently forged his divinity, and had yet to fully master the abilities avable to him. Still, such a short jump should be no problem. Once the Keeper released the elf¡¯s shoulder, he closed his eyes in focus.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He felt the ebb and flow of time, choosing to take a step back and reverse the flow. The Keeper had given him ten minutes, and he didn¡¯t want to try for a single second more.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When he opened his eyes, he found himself alone, the Keeper nowhere to be seen. His eyes lit up, and he froze time once again, immediately returning to the Sky Citadel. The barrier around the citadel was quiteplex, but it was easy to find gaps when one froze time. Just as he did before, he slipped through one of those gaps and began to walk the pce.


    <span style="font-weight:400">During his earlier trip, the elven god had already appraised several valuable paintings or ancient armors lining the halls. He immediately ran towards those items, grabbing them and stuffing them into his inventory. While doing so, he kept track of his personal time, counting every ¡®second¡¯ he spent.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At exactly nine minutes, he left as swiftly as he came, returning to his home and allowing time to resume its normal flow. Another minute passed, and there was no sign of the Keeper. An hour passed, and still no sign¡­ he even began to wonder if the Keeper had been truthful, and that he really had no ns to track him down.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With some confidence restored, the elven god sold one of the items he had acquired in an underground market run by dwarven craftsmen. He waited a week, and there was no sign of pursuit. As such, he believed himself to be incredibly fortunate, and sold off the rest of the items.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Weeks passed, and then months, and years, but there was never any sign of the Keeper appearing before him. In fact, he never heard of any activity from the Keeper again. The Sky Citadel continued to operate, as did the church, but the Keeper had gone silent.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I watched as the God of Time vanished in front of me, making my way back to the Citadel. With a casual scan, I was able to ensure that nothing had gone missing. Every rug, vase, and painting was just where it had been moments ago. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Did the thief use the chance to escape?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I mused with a bitter smile.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Terra, can you find him?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Given how much she liked to watch me during my descents, I had the feeling that Terra already knew who I was talking about. Her answer, however, quite surprised me.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Oh? You didn¡¯t do that because you wanted to get rid of him?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">What do you mean?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I blinked in surprise, not sure what she was implying there.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Kaylen Strathor no longer exists in this flow of time, as he has journeyed to another.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> There was a yful tone to her voice, but it sent chills down my spine.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">So that¡¯s what happened¡­ I had been wanting someone to experiment with time travel for me, but I didn¡¯t think it would be the equivalent of just smiting him.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Granted, given what he had nned to do, I didn¡¯t particrly feel guilty about what happened. <i><span style="font-weight:400">So, time travel is essentially a peaceful death sentence?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Only when you are going backwards, and if you interfere even the slightest amount. Had he returned to the past and immediately returned to the present without unpausing time, he would have still been able to return to the standard flow. But because he followed your instructions, he now exists on a separate branch of fate.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">It is possible to project your consciousness back through time, as all you are doing is observing events. The moment you cause a change in the timeline, even the smallest amount, you are breaking away from the ¡®true fate¡¯ of the world. On the other hand, traveling forward in time is entirely possible, you merely need to remove yourself briefly from the timeline and insert yourself back inter.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod at that, before wondering. <i><span style="font-weight:400">What would happen if the Keeper traveled through time?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra gave a soft giggle at that. <i><span style="font-weight:400">The true fate of the world is the one which has the Keeper in it. If you travel through time, then you are causing the new timeline you create to be the true fate. However, you will most likely never be able to return to the path you left.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was interesting to know, but I wouldn¡¯t be testing it any time soon. Cutting off one path of time basically meant that I was creating a future in which I didn¡¯t exist. From my perspective, it would simply be going from one point to another, with little change. But, for those left behind, it would be a world that I had abandoned.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At the same time, I could certainly see some benefits to doing so. In fact, there was one question that sat at the front of my mind. <i><span style="font-weight:400">What happens if I rewind time after an invasion starts, to prevent the invasion from ever urring?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Theoretically, given what Terra had said, that should make it so that the invasion never happens. The invaders that had already emerged in the previous timeline will not have a Keeper to kill, and so it should be judged as an instant victory. But would the system ever be that kind?


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">If that happens, the invasion will start over.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Terra confirmed my suspicions. <i><span style="font-weight:400">More importantly, the location that the invaders appear in will change, making it impossible to use your previous knowledge to determine their whereabouts. In extreme situations where the Keeper continuously abuses the power of time to try and ¡®crack¡¯ an invasion, the system will offer retribution in the form of changing the invading forces. This usually means making them more challenging. In short, I would strongly advise you not to do this.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thatst part was unexpected, but the rest made sense ording to my expectations of the system. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Onest thing. What would happen if, after I sessfully defended against an invasion, or after I sent off an invading force, then rewound time to before the invasion?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a faint chuckle at that. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Trying to break the system? Given how people still need to reset, you probably know it¡¯s not that easy. Once someone is killed due to an invasion, for whatever reason, their fate is severed. If you rewind time to before you send someone away, their fate is cut, and they will die soon after. Simrly, if you rewind to before a sessfully defended invasion, everyone that died in that invasion will soon perish. Even worse, fate may over-correct in order to kill those who had previously died, costing far more lives than if time had been allowed to flow normally.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I furrowed my brow, nodding my head at that. It was probably possible to offset that correction if one possessed both the Time and Fate domains, but it would incur a great cost, or be something that had to be done on an individual basis.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In essence, it was not worth it for me to personally delve into time travel. The only situation where it was eptable would be if I bought a new system and it caused massive problems. Even then, I probably wouldn¡¯t get my money back, but could I undo the problem it caused? There was still the chance that the system would implement the change ording to schedule either way.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Shaking my head, I made my way to the library, where Tsubaki and the others were still immersed in their virtual reality training. None of them seemed to have noticed anything from when the temporal invader had visited the citadel. The avatars of Tsubaki and Dana were back to work as if nothing had ever happened.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I sat down at my own terminal, but didn¡¯t immediately connect to resume training. Instead, I sent a message to Vivi, asking how the others were doing. ording to her, they were doing¡­ rather well. For the most part, at least.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana had taken to the Absurdity of Fate with surprising results. Lifre was working on the Essence of the World¡¯s End. And finally, Tsubaki had begun training with the Heart of Combat. Gerard¡­ he attempted to pursue the Absurdity of Fate, but was currently unable to grasp the illogical thought processes necessary to make it work.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Privately, Vivi suggested that he work on a different style, but he had yet to follow that advice.

 Chapter 874: Unity

    Chapter 874: Unity


    <span style="font-weight:400">For the next few weeks, the world had entered a lull. Most of the weaker gods had long since left to try to find their own world, some disappearing to the unknown dangers of space, while others found ces to call their own. This left Earth and the other simr worlds¡­ not quite safer, but certainly more quiet.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At the same time, James and his research team were beginning to set up defenses within the void to prevent most types of void monsters from interfering with the world. Thanks to them, I wouldn¡¯t need to be worrying about random carnivorous clouds.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That said, Dana finished her ¡®Fallen God¡¯ training not long after she returned to the Sky Citadel. In all honesty, I was still worried that she was going to fail, and was prepared to rush to the Admin Room to purchase her as a Companion. Thankfully, the prediction from the Terra twins held true, and she was able seed with the method that Chel came up with.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Giles slowly awoke, moisture soaking his brow as he found himself lying in a bed of leaves. A wet cloth was wiping his forehead, a familiar figure sitting next to him. ¡°That was reckless.¡± The figure chided, though there was a gentle tone to her voice, almost worried.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sorry, Sprigga.¡± Giles responded with a small smile. After the recent incident with void monsters, and the mass disappearance from Sprigga¡¯s grove, Giles had decided that he needed to be capable of protecting himself, Sprigga, and theirmunity. The only way to do so that he saw was to be a Fallen God himself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately, he had rushed through the process in his haste to protect those close to him. After reading through the methods of bing a Fallen God, he felt it would be easier to grit his teeth and do it quickly. The result was Giles lying in bed, most of his body beneath his chest having disappeared.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The dreams were the worst part, each one feeling so real. If he had been much slower about waking up, it was likely that he would have left nothing behind. ¡°So¡­ did you make it, at least? Are you done?¡± Sprigga asked in that same concerned tone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I did, and I am.¡± Giles responded with a happy sigh. The damage to his body would be easily fixed with just a bit of time absorbing energy. He nced over at the message that appeared in the corner of his vision, telling him that he had be the Fallen God of Unity.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sprigga nodded her head, a smile blooming over her face. ¡°Good. While you were¡­ asleep, your mother came to visit.¡± She said, Giles looking over and blinking in confusion. ¡°She said that she was d that she finally found you, and wanted me to remind you to go back home once in a while.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is she¡­ still here?¡± He asked, Sprigga giving another nod. He hadn¡¯t seen his mother since he came to this grove. There were times that he thought she might have died trying to avenge his father. Hearing that she was alive, and hade to see him, Giles couldn¡¯t help wanting to go meet her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Just focus on recovery first.¡± Sprigga told him, a hand on his chest to keep him on the bed. ¡°If she sees you like this¡­ no mother would want that for their children, even I know that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although reluctant, Giles nodded his head in agreement, closing his eyes to focus. ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± He muttered softly. Before he could face her, he needed to be able to stand on his own two legs. And for that, he needed to <i><span style="font-weight:400">have</i><span style="font-weight:400"> two legs again.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod walked through the halls of the Pce of Ashtanu, carrying a silver tray in one hand. Udona had asked to take her meals for the day in her room, as there was ¡®important business¡¯ that she needed to take care of. This wasn¡¯t the first time that this had happened, so the chef merely had a small smile on his face while carrying the Filling Cheese Steaks within the covered tray.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Upon reaching her door, he gave a cursory knock, calling out. ¡°It is time to eat, Lady Udona.¡± Before silently counting to ten. When she did note to the door, he opened it to step inside, as per her request in a previous rted incident.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The reason that Udona wasn¡¯t eating was because she wasying in her bed, a ck visor covering her head. Clearly, she was ying some manner of virtual reality game, but Aznod did not know which one had taken her fancy ofte. As the Goddess of Entertainment, Udona considered it her divine mission to inspect any popr video game being released to the market. It was to such a degree that her reviews of a game were often used in its marketing campaign.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod moved over to a small table set in the bedroom, removing the lid from the tray. As the smell escaped, Udona¡¯s nose twitched. Aznod merely stood next to the table, hands sped behind his back while he waited.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After roughly five minutes had passed, Udona removed her visor and sat up in her bed. She was wearing a long, silver dress, and smiled towards Aznod when she saw him. ¡°Sorry, did I keep you waiting long?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not at all, Lady Udona.¡± Aznod said, having been making sure to keep the meal warm and fresh with his divinity as he waited.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona licked her lips, looking at the pair of sandwiches that had been delivered to her. ¡°Thanks for this.¡± She said, climbing out of bed and moving over to the small table.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course, it is my pleasure.¡± The chef smiled at the appreciation, before voicing a question. ¡°If I may, which game is it that you are ying this time? I don¡¯t believe that I¡¯ve heard of any new major titles likely to catch your interest.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As one who served the God of Entertainment, Aznod had simrly assigned himself a mission, and that was to keep track of popr media that Udona would likely find interesting. In many such movies or games, there would be inspiration for a meal that she might want to try, and he would do his best to surprise her with it. However, it was a rather slow season for the video game industry, most people content with existing games or making their own virtual worlds. Even nk had not released a new game in the current year, though that was likely because he was working on a new one.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s a secret.¡± Udona said yfully, putting a finger to her lips. Afterwards, she giggled and shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m kidding, it¡¯s fine for you to know. The Keeper has sponsored another game, and Ashley¡¯s getting ready to open it for public testing. It¡¯s called the Fragments of Acidia, and it seems really interesting.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod nodded his head at that, making a mental note to watch for any news about that game. That is, until Udona looked up at him. ¡°Maybe you¡¯d like to y it with me?¡± She asked, and he could almost feel a spark of hope in her tone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod blinked, having never been invited to y directly with the Goddess before. Still, it took him only a moment to regain hisposure. ¡°This is quite new¡­ Can you tell me a bit about the game?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona¡¯s smile grew wide and bright, nodding her head. ¡°The game incorporates a new feature called Power Trantion. It connects with the regr power profile of your virtual reality device, and trantes your levels and skills into the equivalent systems of the game.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh? How is that different from the normal power profile?¡± His confusion made sense, as what she described sounded quite simr to how most games handled profiles like that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This game uses a different set ofws for mana and ki, and works based on a ssless system.¡± She said with a yful grin, Aznod¡¯s eyes going wide. ssless systems were not unheard of, but they had fallen out of favor with the introduction of power profiles, due to the inability to properly trante one¡¯s power into the game. ¡°Additionally, the change functions in reverse, so if you get stronger in the game, you can still get stronger in reality.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod thought about that for a moment. ¡°This game¡­ is it like Vision Expanse? Shall we be expecting to find it within our void?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Most games, even those released by nk or Darkme Technologies, did not have a ce within the void. To date, only Vision Expanse held that spot, being the only game to beposed of an entire universe. Those who traversed the void were even capable of entering the game with their real bodies, though doing so was rather dangerous.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Udona confirmed. ¡°Thankfully, it has its own software to identify ¡®glitches¡¯ caused by void beasts. Anyways, if you y with me, you can y as a kitsune, and you might even learn some new skills. There is this bigpany called the Midnight Diner, a group of chefs that are unmatched in the gxy. ording to the game¡¯s lore, they can cook with starlight itself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod¡¯s eyes widened slightly at that, able to see how much she wanted him to y with that little enticement. ¡°If you are going so far, I suppose that I can¡¯t say no.¡± Udona pumped her fist happily at that agreement, before Aznod blinked in realization. ¡°Are you just wanting me to y so that I can cook for you in the game, instead of interrupting you for your meals?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Uhm¡­ no?¡± Udona nced off to the side at that. ¡°Though it is a nice, added bonus.¡± After saying so, she gave a somewhat wry chuckle. ¡°I haven¡¯t really had anyone new to y with since I became the God-Queen. People don¡¯t treat me as¡­ well, me. I used to always hide my identity to keep stuff like that from happening, but that¡¯s not really an option anymore. There are eyes on me no matter what I¡¯m trying to do. It¡¯d just be nice to have someone to hang out with and y games again, other than the other Greater Gods. Aurivy¡¯s great and all, but keeping that girl focused is like pulling teeth. Whenever she sees something new and shiny, she¡¯ll quickly get distracted.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod thought about that for a moment, before a small smile spread on his face. ¡°I would be happy to y with you, Lady Udona.¡± He promised, able to see how lonely she was.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona¡¯s eyes went wide, almost jumping out of her seat before remembering the food that he had brought her. ¡°Thanks! I¡¯ll have Ashley send over a copy of the game for youter today, try to get it set up tonight. We¡¯re still working on integrating the Power Trantion system with the Virtual avatars, so for now you can only y it with your real self. Hopefully, the integration should be done by the game¡¯sunch, but we¡¯ll have to see what she can do.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod gave a small nod of his head, d to see Udona so happy for his answer. ¡°I¡¯ll be sure to do so. Remember to include any instructions that I¡¯ll need to start near you. If the game is as expansive as you say, I would not want to begin on an entirely different.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona gave an almost silly grin at that, her head nodding quickly as she took a big bite from her sandwich. ¡°Mhm!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">While Udona ate, Aznod considered what she had said about the Midnight Diner. If he could truly draw inspiration for new cooking techniques from this game, and apply them to the real world, what sorts of dishes would he be able to create? Would he even be able to maintain his culinary focus while adventuring together with Udona? Something told him that she¡¯d be happy to let him branch out into his own path, as long as they stayed in regr contact within the game itself.

 Chapter 875: Game On

    Chapter 875: Game On


    <span style="font-weight:400">Later that night, Aznod found himself in his room, his virtual reality headset lying on his bed in front of him. Even though he did not often indulge in games, Udona made sure that every resident of the pce had the most advanced gaming equipment avable. Also the most advanced terminals, and really anything that they would enjoy media with.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznodid down on his bed, putting the headset on. As soon as he pressed the button, there was a brief feeling of weightlessness, before he was standing in apletely bluendscape. This was the default menu screen for most virtual devices, and Aznod hadn¡¯t taken the time to customize it ever since Udona had given him this newest headset.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The automated assistant, taking the form of a silver-haired kitsune woman, appeared before him and smiled. ¡°Greetings, user. How may I help you today?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">This wasn¡¯t a true artificial intelligence, instead only equipped to handle some basic interactions. ¡°Disy games.¡± Aznod said with his hands behind his back, several doors appearing along a white wall in front of him. Each door had a different icon representing which game it connected to.


    <span style="font-weight:400">His eyes scanned over the row of doors, before walking over and opening the one at the far right, the door with an icon he had never seen before, titled Fragments of Acidia. As soon as he stepped through, the world around him altered drastically. His vibrant blue void became a dark abyss, with Aznod himself standing on the single point of light that he could see. ¡°Greetings, yer. My name is Fifi, and I will be assisting you with your character creation today.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod¡¯s eyes locked onto the source of the void, where a silver humanoid appeared. Given the spark of life in her eyes, she was very likely a true artificial intelligence, red lines trailing down her body. ¡°Understood. Is there anything to hear before we get started?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Fragments of Acidia is a game that prefers to show its story, as opposed to tell it.¡± Fifi said with a smile. ¡°As such, you will find little narration, and your quest log will only cover details that you have seen or heard. Now, which race would you like to y?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Around Aznod, more than two dozen points of light appeared, each one showing a different version of Aznod himself. There was every major race, as well as several of the more advanced secondary races, and some that Aznod had never seen before. ¡°Please keep my race and appearance the same.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">All of the various images of Aznod vanished around him. ¡°Very well.¡± Fifi nodded her head. ¡°In that case, I need to ask whether you wish to synchronize your power profile with your real self, or if you would like to start a new profile?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Synchronize.¡± The choice was obvious to him, but he could see why it had to be asked anyways.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In that case, there is only one question left. Do you have somewhere that you would prefer to begin, or would you like to have your starting position randomized?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing that, Aznod recalled the information that Udona had given him. ¡°Triton Three, within the Principality of Auravia.¡± That was the starting zone that Udona had suggested for him, though Aznod was quite curious about it. If he had to specify an individual, as well as the country within that, just how many starting zones would there be in this game?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Fifi simply nodded her head. ¡°In that case¡­ happy travels, adventurer of the stars.¡± As she said that, her image faded away, reced by a starryndscape that spun around his body. The stars moved fast enough that they began to blur, before suddenly¡­ he was standing in the middle of a town square.


    <span style="font-weight:400">His clothes remained unchanged from what he wore in the real world, aside from the addition of a metal bracelet on his wrist. Aznod could feel a connection to this bracelet through his mana, though the mana itself felt¡­ strange. If he had to describe the natural sensation of mana, it was a serene flow passing down through his body. Now, it felt colder, less flexible. He could focus on individual ¡®particles¡¯ of mana, at which point they lit up and became warm, but he could not control it further beyond that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Wee, adventurer.¡± A figure said from in front of Aznod, attracting his attention. The person looking at him appeared to be a man in his early thirties, a human by the looks of him. The most surprising thing was the look in his eyes, one that you didn¡¯t see in any NPC of Vision Expanse. He felt alive. ¡°I wasn¡¯t sure if we¡¯d be getting any new adventurers just yet. My name is Balrun, and I can direct you to wherever you need to go.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod nodded his head at that, not sure if this was going to be amon thing for all NPCs of this game, or if something about Balrun was special. ¡°In that case, can you direct me to an institute for learning magic? I should quickly adapt to the magic system of this world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Certa--¡± Balrun was cut off as pixels shed in the air next to him, a golden-haired kitsune girl looking to be only eighteen or neen years old appearing. She wore a tight leather outfit, with a metal pin in the shape of a hollowed triangle on her chest. On one side of her hip, she wore a thin pistol, reminiscent of Deckan¡¯s card guns.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ll take things from here, Balrun! This is a friend of mine!¡± She said excitedly, grabbing Aznod by the hand. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s get going!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">It didn¡¯t take much to know the identity of the kitsune, causing a smile to tug at Aznod¡¯s lips when he saw her eagerness. ¡°Of course.¡± He allowed Udona to guide him along, pulling him away from a chuckling Balrun. As they moved through the city, he could confirm that not all NPCs had the same level of self-awareness as Balrun. The vast majority of those walking the streets had simr looks in their eyes as the NPCs of Vision Expanse, with only a scant few possessing the glimmer of true life.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You said you want to learn about magic, right? That¡¯s probably a good ce to get started. I bet you won¡¯t even be able to use your Saint energy without properly understanding how the magic in this world works.¡± Aznod couldn¡¯t help but notice how she had purposely said the word ¡®world¡¯ instead of ¡®game¡¯.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s true. It would be inconvenient for me to be unable to utilize my fighting style¡­¡± Granted, arge portion of his style relied on card magic, so he was going to need to learn the magic system either way.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, let¡¯s learn by doing!¡± Udona grinned, pulling him out to the edge of town. There, he could see rabbits with disheveled appearances, their fur mangy and eyes glowing red. ¡°These are Hunter Rabbits, amon starter mob on this. Even without magic, you could p one to death at your level, but let¡¯s try to just use magic for this.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod nodded his head, waiting for Udona¡¯s exnation. As the Goddess of Education, her words were easy to understand, even if they at first seemed to not make perfect sense. ¡°So, right now you only have the basic assisting device, which is the bracelet you¡¯re wearing. You can save spells that you prepare on it as programs, and activate those programs through the bracelet. Its mana interface allows it to siphon your energy and automatically activate the mana to cast the necessary spell.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">To demonstrate, Udona grabbed her pistol, aiming it at one of the closest rabbits. Without a moment¡¯s hesitation, she pulled the trigger, a line of light swirling around her wrist for a brief moment before entering the pistol and firing in a straight line. The rabbit¡¯s head was pierced clean through, causing it to copse to the ground.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Think of mana likeputer code here. It¡¯s all just ¡®on¡¯ or ¡®off¡¯, and the arrangement of that energy forms the basis of your spells. Trying to cast without an assisting device¡­ Well, it¡¯s not impossible, but¡­¡± Again she demonstrated, holstering her pistol and aiming an open hand at another rabbit. True to NPCs of most games, the creatures hadn¡¯t immediately scattered at the death of their kin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">White light sluggishly began to gather in front of her hand, simr to when she cast with the pistol. However, while the pistol¡¯s spell fired almost instantly, this one was dyed for several seconds. In addition, when she fired, it was a thick st of energy thatpletely missed the rabbit she aimed at.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The creature¡¯s eyes went wide, glowing bright red as it turned and charged at Udona. As it approached, its speed increased, a pair of horns protruding from the top of its head. Finally, it jumped at her torso, aiming to stab her with the horns. Udona seemed¡­ less than worried about the attack.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a crunch from the point of contact, before the rabbit simply fell to the ground, dead. ¡°This armor has a low level thorns effect.¡± She exined with a shrug. ¡°Won¡¯t do much for people of our level, it one-shots creatures like this. Anyways, see what I mean?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod nodded his head, looking at the bracelet on his wrist. ¡°In that case, how do I set up a spell?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s a learning device.¡± Udona exined, smiling. ¡°Activate the mana in it, and it will open a menu to let you construct basic spells. Since it¡¯s only the lowest level device, it doesn¡¯t allow total customization. You¡¯ll need to save up for a higher quality one for that.¡± She patted the pistol on her hip as she spoke.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod followed her instructions, and a menu did indeed appear. There were a number of basic spells, along with the option to create his own. Though, when he selected that one, there were just different standard choices, such as selecting the spell¡¯s element, range, and shape. Still, he created a few rather simple spells that weren¡¯t on the list. ¡°Is there anything else I need to know?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona tapped her chin in thought, before shaking her head. ¡°Just focus on which saved spell you want to activate when you trigger the device, and it will do the magic itself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod nodded, pointing a closed fist at another Hunter Rabbit. He focused on activating one of the most basic spells, Arcane Missile. Like with Udona, lines of swirling light appeared, before a pulse of energy caused the rabbit¡¯s head to explode. ¡°I see.¡± He nodded his head in satisfaction. There was no message of experience gain or anything like that, leading him to believe that either this game did not feature such things¡­ or these monsters were really so low level that they had no impact.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Next, Aznod began asking about other basic systems, such as inventory or how to acquire weapons. The only thing that he had on him to start was the casting device, as well as a sum of money that seemed¡­ surprisingly high for a new yer.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The inventory was rather easy, but the money¡­ ¡°When you first start the game, you¡¯re automatically given money based on the level of your abilities. That way, people like you and I aren¡¯t stuck using rags while we try to save for something decent. Typically, going to the weapons shop is part of your tutorial, but I skipped that to help get you acquainted with the game faster!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod gave a small nod, tapping into his divine power. Golden light spread out, Udona¡¯s eyes briefly widening as the rabbits were disassembled, any usable ingredients stored in his inventory. ¡°Right¡­ forgot to mention that.¡± Just as Aznod was about to question what she meant, a window shed in his view.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Fragments of Acidia detected!


    <span style="font-weight:400">Fragments: Cooking, Preparation, Optimization


    <span style="font-weight:400">Would you like to register these fragments?


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    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Just select no for now.¡± Udona shook her head. ¡°Sorry, part of the game¡¯s whole thing is that gods are considered fragments of the game¡¯s equivalent of the Keeper, an original deity named Acidia who shattered his existence in order to breathe life into the world. If you register your domains, or ¡®fragments¡¯, the NPCs will automatically recognize you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod nodded his head at that, following Udona¡¯s advice and choosing not to register for the moment. Clearly, she wanted to y without the divine considerations for the moment. ¡°In that case, I¡¯ll need to acquire a skinning knife.¡± As he said that, he turned around to return to the town, but Udona stopped him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not here. They don¡¯t have anything suitable for your level here. We¡¯ll head to the orbital station to get your gear. I only had you start here because it was a good spot to introduce you to the magic system. If we went to a higher level zone, the basic spells wouldn¡¯t be able to help you anymore.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod blinked, but nodded his head and let Udona guide him away. She knew best where they should go.

 Chapter 876: Digitized Creations

    Chapter 876: Digitized Creations


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once again, the days seemed to pass without end. As time went on, I was forced to realize just howplex these higher level martial styles were. As the Keeper, I could immediately establish the highly intricate ki paths needed to perform the Twelve Shattering Hands, but even afterwards, the style required a considerable amount of practice and preparation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In the end, I managed to sessfully practice all twelve techniques, though I would by no means call myself a master of them. In doing so, over the course of a month, I managed to gain over a hundred levels as a martial artist.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once I had finished practicing the first style, I began working on the second of the styles that I was interested in, known as Elemental Embodiment. This stylebined the usage of ki and natural energy to allow you to temporarily flood your body with elemental ki, turning you into your respective element.


    <span style="font-weight:400">My goal in practicing this technique was the hope that I could use it with my Saint Energy, which was primarily based on elemental ki. If I could, I would be able to temporarily take on a pseudo-Saint Body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">What I found was that this was easier said than done. First of all, there were some conflicting paths between this style and the Twelve Shattering Hands, which I had to spend time finding a feasible means of correcting withoutpromising either technique. Secondly, although the Ki of Beginning was primarily rooted in elemental ki, it was not purely so. This made it such that it had difficulty adjusting to the style of Elemental Embodiment. There were multiple times when my digital avatar died due to the energy going wild, making me unwilling to practice it in the real world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I was so focused on my training that I didn¡¯t even notice when it was time to send off my invasion. Given that my opponent was a peaceful Keeper, I just sent over a random fish to end it immediately, and got back to work. It wasn¡¯t until a full weekter that I made a bit of progress, bing able to briefly take on an energy form made of the Ki of Beginning.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When that happened, I went back to my Admin Room, wanting to check on who my next opponent would be. If it was going to be something dangerous, it would be best if I didn¡¯t wait until thest minute, right?


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a sigh, I sat down in the living room, opening the menu to look at the name of my next match-up. ¡°UpperLevel?¡± I muttered, arching an eyebrow. Without any other way to immediately investigate, I opened my guild chat.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Is anyone around at the moment?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard: I¡¯m here! What¡¯s up?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: I just got my pairing for next month, and I was wondering if anyone knew about my opponent.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard: Sure, let me just check that for you. I¡¯ve been at this rank for a while now, so I know most of the big names.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard: UpperLevel? Ah, yeah, I know that guy. He was one of the ones to try to recruit me in my early days.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: You mean¡­?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard: That he¡¯s a Gamer? Yeah, that¡¯s a pretty safe bet. Looking at his battle log, he hasn¡¯t had a defeat since I met him. He did reset at one point, but it¡¯s not unusual for Gamer types to want to restart for a better world. It¡¯s safe to say that he¡¯s still hostile. It says you¡¯re on the defending side?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: That¡¯s right. Do you have any information that you can give me about him?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard: Not really. He never invited me over to his world or anything. The Gilded Branch might have some more details, or maybe Sarah would know something. She¡¯s pretty popr among the Gamers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Do you happen to know where she is?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard: Oh, yeah! She said a couple hours ago that she had to do a new game presentation. It¡¯s been pretty quiet since then. But she said she¡¯d be back in a couple of days, once she had handled the opening events.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: ¡­Do you always have the chat open?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard: Yep! I have it on the same screen that I use to watch my world, so any time someone posts a new message, I¡¯ll be able to respond right away. And if I¡¯m down in my world, I get my mom to watch it for me to let me know if I¡¯m needed.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Honestly, that sounded more lonely than anything else. I kept Alicepany for a little while, just talking with her about what had happenedtely. How the rock people I bought from her were settling in, and how the new technology she sent me had turned out. She seemed pretty happy for thepany, at least.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I was finally closing the chat, I noticed Ashley standing not far away, seeming like she was waiting for something. ¡°Is everything alright?¡± I asked, looking over at her. The new patch hadn''t been released, so I thought that she might be getting ready to report on that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There¡¯s something that I would like to purchase for our worlds, but it is¡­ somewhat expensive. Okay, it¡¯s obscenely expensive.¡± When I heard that, I raised a curious brow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay¡­ what is it? We¡¯ve still got around half a million points from the BloodBrother invasion, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In order to get Fragments of Acidia working with the Virtualwork, we need a system that can materialize people and objects from Virtual in a real world. It was fine for Vision Expanse, because there is no power profile for it. It was just creating an avatar and saving it like a normal game. Fragments of Acidia is a lot more involved than that, and so we need a system that can handle the full trantion.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I furrowed my brows when I heard that, thinking about the implications. People could bring their items out of the game, or digitize their inventory. Depending on the rules behind it, they could even infinitely replicate powerful items. But also¡­ ¡°Geoff and Hana.¡± I said softly, Ashley smiling a bit.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. This would also let us bring their Virtual selves back into the real world like we promised. There are two systems that I found that can achieve the level of effect that we need. The first one is two hundred thousand points, while the second is five hundred thousand.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes went wide hearing the two price tags. Each of these would be far more expensive than any system that we have purchased before. ¡°Okay¡­ what¡¯s the difference?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The first system, known as Digital Conversion, is a Multi-World system that allows you to materialize people or objects at the cost of the relevant energies. For instance, to create wood, you would need a suitable amount of natural energy. If the item¡¯s ¡®digital file¡¯ was created from a real world¡¯s item, any properties possessed by the item will be tranted to the new world¡¯s systems.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod, thinking that was already quite impressive. ¡°So to make entire people, the four basic energy types would be needed. Is Fifi prepared to provide that energy?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley¡¯s smile grew a touch wider. ¡°That¡¯s right. She said that providing energy for new ounts was one of her capabilities. Now, this other system¡­ It is also a Multi-World system, but it has one key difference. From what I can make of the description, it only requiresrge amounts of energy forplicated entities like people. Otherwise, it can function off of any designated energy.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was¡­ far more powerful. Depending on the prices, that meant that it might be able to create infinite energy by making an efficient fuel source, and then using the energy from that to make more. For half a million points, I could see it being able to break thew of conservation of energy. It was tempting, but also far more open to abuse than I wanted.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We¡¯ll go with the two hundred thousand system. By Multi-World, I assume that means that I only have to purchase it once?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Ashley confirmed readily. ¡°ording to Terra, Multi-World systems like this are simr to the Heavenly Game system. You only purchase it once, and you can configure what worlds have ess to it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was reassuring, at least. ¡°In that case, what about AI? I can understand the Virtual selves being able to use this, as they were directly created from a real world ¡®schematic¡¯, but would artificial intelligences be able to do so as well?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s¡­ unlikely.¡± Ashley said. ¡°It depends on what the system defines as ¡®real world¡¯. If it doesn¡¯t work, then they should be capable of exiting the Virtual world, using a Virtual converter, and then sending that version of themselves in.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately, it seemed like that was the best that we could hope for. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go with it.¡± I said, pulling up the system and reading through it, making sure that I had everything right. ¡°Two hundred thousand points¡­ well, I suppose I had been wanting something to get.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thanks.¡± Ashley smiled wide. ¡°Once we have this system set up and added to the patch, I¡¯ll be able to release everything at once together with the new game.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯ve already gotten everything else set up?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">She nodded her head confidently. ¡°My team finished itst week, but we were wanting to wait to release the patch until we had whatever we needed to release Fragments of Acidia, as well. Like you said, the more patches we release, the more chaos it will cause. I just had to work with Fifi to figure out what system we needed to take care of this, or if there was a way that we could do it with what we already had.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">If that was the case, the patch should be ready rtively soon. ¡°I see¡­ let me know when it is ready, please. I¡¯d like to be able to wee those two back into the world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After purchasing the system, I set it so that it would currently only apply to the two test worlds. Once that was done, Ashley rushed out of the room, likely to tell her team that they had a new project that they needed to get started on in order to finish the patch. Hopefully the rather pricey system didn¡¯t destroy much of their already established work.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I was getting ready to make an appointment with Balu to get information on UpperLevel, I saw Udona humming to herself with a wide smile on her face as she came out of her room. ¡°Looks like someone¡¯s having a good time.¡± I grinned in her direction, to which she nodded firmly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right! I haven¡¯t been able to enjoy games like this in ages. Aznod¡¯s really getting the hang of it. I think that he¡¯s even started incorporating the game¡¯s techniques in his real world cooking. And it¡¯s fun being able to properly team up with people that don¡¯t feel like they have to maintain a safe distance or face divine wrath. We¡¯ve even started saving up to get our own ship together in the game.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but blink at that, Udona¡¯s voiceing out more and more energetically. It seemed that she truly liked spending time with her new chef like this. As long as she was happy, that was what mattered.

 Chapter 877: Breaking News

    Chapter 877: Breaking News


    <span style="font-weight:400">After Udona had finished grabbing her snack and went back to her room, I put in a call to Balu, saying that I would like to purchase information about UpperLevel if any were avable. Unfortunately, she seemed rather busy at the time, so she said that she would be by in a few days to handle the transaction. She even promised me that she was going to set an rm and write it on her wall to make sure that she didn¡¯t forget.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Curious, I asked what had her so busy, and it turned out that she had just recently been forced to reset again. Since she was having to build up her world from nothing, she had to devote her attention to that for the moment. It seemed like she had gotten paired with another hostile Keeper, and sent everything she had at him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There wasn¡¯t much that I could do about that. I could potentially contact Alkahest, but since I had already made an appointment with Balu, I felt it was best to keep that. All I could do was wait for Balu to be ready.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jamira jumped to her feet with a wide smile, running over to the phone that had been ced on the wall of the team¡¯s office. She picked it up, quickly dialing a number. ¡°Miss Ashley, we¡¯re ready for you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Already?¡± Ashley asked back in surprise. She had only left her team to work on the new assignment a day prior, and assumed that it would take at least a week to work on a system of this size.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right, ma¡¯am.¡± Jamira confirmed readily. ¡°We had to run through numerous checks, but the system appears to be entirely self-contained on its own. All we had to do was verify that there wasn¡¯t any lingering code in other modules, and write up the interface.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley nodded her head, taking a moment to think it over. Since it was a Multi-World system, it seemed like it did not have anything strictly to do with thews of the world it was governing, and existed as a pure supplement. That was something important for her to keep in mind in the future. ¡°Is it possible to adjust the cost of creation? For instance, to allow those with admin ounts to lessen the burden?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jamira hesitated, looking back to the team before shaking her head. ¡°I don¡¯t believe so, with how this system is established. We can increase the cost, but the system strictly converts the energy provided into the finished product. However, with this, we did receive the framework for systems that can cross the borders of different systemws. With your approval, the team would like to study this framework.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If we can crack the code, we should be able to begin safely implementing future systems more cheaply by using this framework.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley¡¯s eyes went wide when she heard that, quickly nodding her head. ¡°Yes, please get on that right away.¡± If future systems could simply have the framework installed, they could save both time and points. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Was this part of SarahLasting¡¯s business n? By saving various systems like this, she could easily create worlds, and do so cheaply enough that they would be feasible for reselling¡­</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Let the team know that they may y Fragments of Acidia, as promised. I¡¯ll be conducting the full release in one week.¡± After saying that, Ashley quickly hung up, rying the information to Dale. Now that the patch was ready, it was time for preemptive damage control¡­


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia sat on the couch of her room within Sanctum, Aurivy happily lounging and enjoying ap pillow as they watched a projection on their wall. There didn¡¯t seem to be anything particrly important showing at the moment, so they chose to watch the news for a bit, just to see if there was anything that either of them could help with.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You seem quite happy.¡± Julia said as she stroked a hand through Aurivy¡¯s hair, the small Goddess giggling happily.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, yeah! It¡¯ll be nice to finally have a bit more time to think.¡± Julia arched her brow at that, but didn¡¯tment. While Aurivy appeared to spend most of her time enjoying herself, she had no doubt that there were other issues going on in the back of her mind as a Greater Goddess. Like how she had suddenly ran out on one of their games the day that the ravenous nearly devoured Sanctum.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she was thinking about that, she heard a soft tone ying over the news, the woman in the projection cing a hand up to her head. ¡°This is just in, an important message from the Greater Pantheon.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia¡¯s head snapped up at that, and even Aurivy looked over in interest. ¡°The Greater Goddess, Ashley, has just announced that there will be another major system update one week from today. This update is scheduled tounch alongside the release of Darkme Technology¡¯s new Keeper-sponsored title, Fragments of Acidia.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The full update log can be found on their website, for those wanting to prepare themselves. However, the summary of the update seems to be¡­ a reworking of the current divine token system with a new global currency. A more convenient experience for those seeking to borrow the power of the Greater Goddess, Aurivy, for transportation. And¡­¡± The woman¡¯s eyes went wide as she received thest major update.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The ability to bring qualified items and entities from the Virtual world to the real world. It is strongly advised that everyone take the time to read over the update log on Darkme Technology¡¯s website, to see how the rted updates will affect you. In the meantime, please view the trailer just released for the new title.¡± The screen flipped, showing the trailer for the new game, while Julia nced down at Aurivy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So that¡¯s what you were talking about.¡± She said with a faint smile. ¡°Though, won¡¯t bringing things out of Virtual be even harder for you? That should be some big coboration with Ashley, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Uhm¡­ no, not that.¡± Aurivy blinked in confusion. ¡°That¡¯s the first I heard about that bit, actually. Granted, it¡¯s awesome, but the bit I knew about was just everything else. Guessing Ashley had to ask for somethingst minute, maybe?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy knew that she wouldn¡¯t be able to easily do something like that with Ashley, even if she tried. The only way that it could happen was if they had a third god involved with a domain rted to creation. Even then, it would probably be a huge energy drain.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she was thinking about the implications of the new system, her eyes went wide. ¡°Well¡­ that¡¯s a thing that¡¯s going to happen now, I guess.¡± She said with a faint chuckle, Julia looking down at Aurivy curiously.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Something you¡¯d like to share with the ss?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, it¡¯s fine. It¡¯s not something that will be an issue or anything.¡± Aurivy shrugged it off, going back to enjoying herp pillow. ¡°We¡¯re definitely ying this new game, though.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia simply chuckled at that, nodding her head in agreement. ¡°Of course we are.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hanya¡¯s eyes were wide in shock as she stared at the screen mounted on her wall. The game trailer was still ying, but she didn¡¯t even have the mind to pay attention to it. Her mind was still reeling from the news that she had just heard before it began.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The door opened, and Geoff walked in, having been out training his magic skills. When he saw his wife¡¯s face, his expression went solemn. ¡°Is everything alright?¡± He asked. Her head slowly turned to look at him, eyes wet. Before he could ask further, and before she could answer the first question, there was a knock on the door.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Geoff turned his head, and could see the keeper standing outside his home. Given the timing, he assumed that it had something to do with what was bothering Hanya. As such, he went over to open the door. ¡°Keeper, sir.¡± He said with a somewhat stiff expression, still not knowing what was going on.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right, may Ie in?¡± The Keeper asked with a smile, seeming pleased that Geoff was home. Geoff gave a nod, stepping aside to let him in.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When the Keeper saw Hanya¡¯s expression, he nodded his head. ¡°I¡¯m guessing that you already saw the news?¡± He asked, Hanya just barely able to twitch her head in confirmation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What news?¡± Geoff was utterly confused at this point. Had something happened before he came back?


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We¡¯ll¡­ be able to go back.¡± Hanya said, bringing one hand up to cover her mouth.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Geoff, not having the full story, clearly didn¡¯t understand. ¡°Go back where?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The real world.¡± The Keeper said with a gentle smile. ¡°We¡¯ve managed to work out a way for the two of you to be able to return to the real world, and I came here to discuss the procedure with you both.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Geoff¡¯s eyes went wide in shock, the information dropped on him out of nowhere. It wasn¡¯t that long ago that the Keeper had promised to offer them a way back, should one be avable, but Geoff had assumed that he would be waiting decades, maybe even centuries before such a thing happened, not mere months.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What¡­ what do we have to do?¡± Hanya asked, the Keeper moving to sit down in a free seat. The offer sounded too good to be true, so she was afraid that there would be someplicated procedure or risk of catastrophic failure.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In short, nothing.¡± The Keeper responded with a shake of his head. ¡°As long as the digital blueprint was created from a valid, real-world item or entity, it can be perfectly recreated in the real world. The only requirement is that the necessary energy be provided.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In the case of a living being, especially ones as strong as yourselves, the energy requirements would be astronomical. Enough so that dozens of high-level adventurers would need to cooperate to safely bring one of you out of Virtual.¡± Hanya¡¯s shoulders began to drop as she heard that, a look of defeat beginning to emerge on her face.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s why I will be handling the two of you myself.¡± The Keeper continued. ¡°My total energy value is more than enough to handle the two of you without risk to myself. Additionally, once you are in the real world, you will be permitted to create another Virtual ount as per normal.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two of them had already secretly been provided with the anti-meme that forced others to abide by the terms of service and made their Virtual selves recognize themselves as alternate egos. Thus, there was no need to go the extra steps for that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When the Keeper¡¯s words finished, both of the home¡¯s residents looked at him in shock. The Keeper had already personally hosted their wedding, and gave them the highest honors he could in this world. Now, he was willing to personally expend his own energy to bring them out into the real world. They didn¡¯t know how great his energy was, but being willing to do something like that himself was more than they had been expecting.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And there¡¯s no risk of damage?¡± Geoff asked hesitantly, the Keeper nodding his head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This is something handled within the system itself, not some divinity. It is fullypatible with any energy type. The only true restrictions are that objects and entities must originate from a valid world. These worlds are the ¡®real worlds¡¯ you know, as well as Vision Expanse and the new Fragments of Acidia. Aside from that, any object or entity from those locations, if a digitized file of them can be created, may be recreated in the real world. We have already conducted a test, and a person¡¯s Virtual self meets this criteria.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">It seemed almost unreal for Hanya and Geoff. However, they now knew that they were really going to be able to live again.

 Chapter 878: Foreshadowing

    Chapter 878: Foreshadowing


    <span style="font-weight:400">The patch was still a week away, which meant that my meeting with Balu naturally came first. After roughly two days of waiting, I received a message from Balu, inviting me to go over to her Admin Room That¡­ honestly, it surprised me. She had always been the oneing to me, so I thought that was just how the Gilded Branch operated.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That said, she did make a special note asking me to bring Bihena along with me. It had been a while since the two saw one another, so I didn¡¯t mind taking her over. Once I told Bihena that Balu wanted us to go see her, she quickly changed into a casual outfit with a deep blue, baggy shirt and form-fitting jeans.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As soon as Bihena was ready, I braced myself and chose the option to leave the Admin Room. The room seemed to spin around us, faster and faster while colors and shapes faded away to nothing. Soon, we were left with naught but a white void, numerous doors beginning to form in a circle around us.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡­ have confusion.¡± I spoke up, Bihena nodding her head quickly in agreement.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Which door are we supposed to take?¡± She asked, looking around. There were at least thirty doors positioned evenly around us, each one looking perfectly identical.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Maybe they¡¯re all the right answer?¡± I suggested in a hopeful tone. Knowing the system, it wouldn¡¯t be that easy. However, given that there were no distinguishing characteristics on the doors themselves, we could only choose at random.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I walked straight ahead, choosing the door that appeared directly before us. When I opened it, the other side of the door seemed to bepletely underwater, the shadowy depths visible behind the frame. I could see something moving in the shadows, and quickly attempted to m the door shut.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Whatever was on the other side seemed to be just a bit faster, a massive tendril reaching out of the frame and grabbing me. ¡°Wrong door!¡± I shouted, before being dragged into the water. Whatever was holding me, I felt it growing tighter and tighter, crushing my body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Eventually, I felt the murky waters give way, air returning to me as I dropped on a stone floor. I let out a shocked gasp, quickly repairing my body and standing. When I looked around, I saw Bihena shivering next to me, ayer of frost covering her body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I-I-I picked the wrong door, t-t-too.¡± She said, her teeth ttering.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, <i><span style="font-weight:400">that</i><span style="font-weight:400"> one¡­¡± Balu¡¯s voice spoke up from not far away. ¡°As a quick note of reference, if you ever get that one again, the best door is directly behind your starting position. That will take you straight to your destination.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I looked over, seeing the anthropomorphic rabbit waving at us from the side of the tform. ¡°Thanks¡­ I¡¯ll make a note of that for the future. Did you get everything taken care of that you needed?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Balu blinked at that, before her eyes went wide in recognition. ¡°Oh! Right, yeah. Everything¡¯s sorted now. I¡¯m just letting my world fast forward until it gets to a good point for me to descend and cultivate personally.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After she said that, she pped her paws together, the room heating up to melt the frost off of Bihena. ¡°Let¡¯s get the two of you inside, and we can talk business!¡± She smiled broadly, turning and creating a white door behind herself. My eye twitched at the sight of the door, but we walked through behind her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">On the other side of the room was¡­ a paradise of soft. Everything seemed to be made of thick, pillowy fur. Honestly, I was regretting that I didn¡¯t bring Udona with me. This reminded me so much of her old pillow fort.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Take a seat.¡± Balu said, before jumping andnding in a ball of fluff that appeared to be a chair. Bihena and I looked at each other, each going to simr chairs and sitting down. Somehow, it was even softer than it looked, like sitting on a warm cloud. ¡°You were asking about¡­ UpperLevel, right?¡± She asked for confirmation, ncing off to the side and looking at a menu screen that I couldn¡¯t see. Probably the chat history, in order to remind herself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. I know that he¡¯s a part of the Gamer faction, but that¡¯s about all I know right now.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Great!¡± Balu beamed a wide smile, reaching out and tapping on a table that manifested beneath her paw. ¡°The boss told me that we have three levels of information about him. Apparently, someone managed to get around his ¡®privacy policy¡¯ and sold us everything they got from him. The information is only a couple months old, so it shouldn¡¯t be that outdated.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The three levels of information are ¡®General Knowledge and Noteworthy Systems¡¯, ¡®Detailed Information¡¯, and ¡®Full Disclosure¡¯. They¡¯re priced at¡­¡± Balu nced off to the side again. ¡°Five, ten, and twenty-five thousand points each. If you¡¯re the one attacking, I¡¯d suggest the Full Disclosure package, since it will help your people blend in with his world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I shook my head at that. ¡°I¡¯m on the defending team, this time. I¡¯ll take the ten thousand point package.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I leaned forward, preparing to shake Balu¡¯s hand to transfer the points to her, before I found something smooth and round in my hand instead. Looking down, I saw an information sphere that Balu had ced in my palm. I nced up in confusion, wondering why she was giving me this before I paid.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s fine! You can just pay before you leave. I trust you won¡¯t rip us off! Anyways, you can look over that information while I go y with Bihena!¡± Clearly, it was the second reason that really exined her actions, Balu jumping to her feet and running over to grab the human Goddess. ¡°Come on, Bihena! I want to show you my room! Oh, not the memory wall, though. That¡¯s private.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was unmistakable excitement in her voice as she ran off, like a child seeing a friend again for the first time in ages. I shook my head with a soft chuckle, looking down and focusing on the information orb that Balu provided me. As I did so, I felt the knowledge pouring into my mind.


    <span style="font-weight:400">UpperLevel was, indeed, a Gamer. In fact, from the information provided, he used a simr theme as the Dungeon World that Fyor was based off of, but on a dimensional level. There weren¡¯t many specific details about each individualyer, but I was able to get the gist of things from the information provided.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Eachyer served as a training ground, and was its own entire universe. After someone reached a certain level, they unlocked the ability to fight a boss for their current realm. Should they manage to defeat the boss, they are elevated to the nextyer. Simrly, people could ess their interfaces to move to anyyer that they had unlocked.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was a rather interesting system, and there was a note attached that said this qualified as a ten thousand point world. It even had a detailed list of what systems were required to reproduce it, showing just how much work the Gilded Branch put into their job.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now, as people climbed higher in theseyers, new systems became avable to them. The crafting system might improve, their map might berger, or they might unlock the ability to join and create guilds. ording to the Gilded Branch¡¯s information, there were five main guilds that defending Keepers should be wary of, as they possessed the most powerful individuals from that world. It was one of these guilds that had brought them victory in a previous invasion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Additionally, they hadbined the Keeper Compass with the system itself, giving them a way to track a world¡¯s Keeper without being detected. That was something that I would need to watch out for. Especially since the five big guilds all had information specialists to help them quickly adapt to any world they encountered.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Finally, there was information on the divine system that UpperLevel used. Unsurprisingly, this was integrated into hisyered dimensions. One of the uppermostyers of his world was known as the Divine Realm. Every creature that lived in this world, whether man or beast, was a god. Divine monsters were spawned through the system to serve as training for these gods to develop their skills further.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If I was going to be facing a serious invasion, it would likely be this information that I needed to concern myself with. Having an entire world of gods meant that they would likely possess domains capable of hiding from whatever powers I use to track them. At the same time, I saw how the people of this world gained new domains after their first. It was¡­ honestly interesting.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After defeating a divine monster, there was a chance for it to drop a shard of divinity. If one gathered enough of these shards, they could exchange them for a domain within the system. Their second domain cost ten shards, and then one hundred, increasing by a factor of ten for every domain they wished to exchange.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This information, simply put, was worrying to know. With the power of the five guilds, they could have entire farming teams dedicated to harvesting divinity for a select few. It was entirely possible that there would be gods possessing as many as nine domains involved in the invasion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I furrowed my brow in focus, thinking how I could protect my people from something like that. It had already been proven that gods could eradicate entires. Sadly, it wasn¡¯t possible for me to iste my worlds to keep them safe, because they would most likely be spawning on one of those very worlds. Instead, I needed a way to ensure that the worlds themselves would not be caught in the crossfire of the battle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°They have the Keeper Compass, so their first priority should be on reaching my location. Given their level of technology, it¡¯s likely that there will be gods rted to transportation. The battle could be over in as little as ten minutes, or they might bide their time to look for any traps that I might prepare.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Honestly, the worst case scenario was them simply destroying whatever world they spawned on. I didn¡¯t think they¡¯d resort to such measures, given that the majority of their members would be mortals, but it is possible. Next would be them systematically hunting down the most talented people of my world to reduce my abilities as a Keeper.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If they did this, they would be potentially revealing themselves, but the entire where they were staying would effectively be held hostage. That¡¯s why I had to make it look like I was an easy target¡­ while at the same time I had to protect myself.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">If I move to another world with Tsubaki and the others, leaving behind the Citadel, theirpass will make it look like I had run away from the fight. </i><span style="font-weight:400">I thought to myself, before shaking my head. <i><span style="font-weight:400">They could see that as me being an easy target, but that would also give them the time to attack my world in my absence. I need a trump card, something that I can use to defeat a horde of gods.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I thought about that, my eyes went wide. There was a trump card in my world, one that I would just need to im for myself. Towers¡¯ Final Boss, the Dragon God of Endings. If I could im his power, then I would be more assured in my fight.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As for the question of whether they would chase me or fight my world in my absence¡­ I would need to rely on Chel again. This was going to be a big project, a very big project.

 Chapter 879: Endgame Loot

    Chapter 879: Endgame Loot


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let Bihena y with Balu for a while as I processed the information that she had given me. There was a lot that I needed to think about in terms of my n for the invasion. However, I was quite thankful to havee here and gotten this information in the first ce. If I was caughtpletely unprepared against a force of this size, I could have very easily lost one of my primary worlds.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Eventually, I called Balu back, and paid her the points for the information. My brow twitched slightly when she thought that I had only asked for the first tier of information on UpperLevel, but I still paid her appropriately for the one that she gave me. I wasn¡¯t about to rip off a friend just because she had a bad memory. Additionally, Balu allowed me to copy the information sphere and take my copy back with me, which would let me pass it on to the others upon my return.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I did get back to my Admin Room, Udona and Ashley were both waiting for me with serious expressions. At first, I was worried that something had happened in my absence. After all, I hadn¡¯t paused the world like I usually do when I leave. Instead, I trusted mypanions to be able to take care of things without me around for a little while.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± I asked the two of them, who simply blinked at the question.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We should be asking you that.¡± Udona pointed out. ¡°You just went to learn about the enemy, right? Ryone said our bnce dropped by about ten thousand, so did you learn anything important?¡±


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Ahh, so it was that.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I nodded my head at that, holding out the information orb that I had purchased from Balu. ¡°Everything you need to know is inside. Make sure that everyone studies this in the next few days, since this will likely not be an easy round. Do your best to coordinate and prepare so that we can suffer minimal casualties. While I was making the copy, I put in my thoughts for a n.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°While you all study this, I¡¯m going to get started on my own preparations.¡± I said, immediately descending down into the world.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tower sat in his office, clenching his fist as he felt the trace of a new divinity flowing through him. It had been roughly two and a half months since he had met the serpentine god and learned the method for him to gain a new domain. Now, Tower could feel the effects of the new domain flowing within his body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Domain that he had acquired after careful consideration was Construction. This would make it vastly easier for him to do things such as creating his dungeon or managing the prisons for his monster gods. At the same time, it was not as all-epassing as the Creation domain, meaning that his divinity would be more focused and efficient.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Just as he was thinking of going to test out his new domain, the space warped in front of him. Tower¡¯s eyes focused on the golden mist that erupted across the desk from himself, recognizing it as his Mother¡¯s divinity. If she had brought someone to see him, then it was likely to be very important.


    <span style="font-weight:400">His hand lowered, waiting for the mist to clear, before recognizing the figure of the Keeper now seated across from himself. ¡°Sir, to what do I owe this visit?¡± Tower asked, having never been personally visited by the Keeper before.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I have a ratherrge favor to ask of you.¡± The Keeper said with a faint nod. ¡°One that could inconvenience you quite a lot, but I need to ask for your cooperation.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tower¡¯s head tilted slightly, expressing his confusion. ¡°What favor do you ask that would inconvenience me so? Are you wishing me to open my dungeon to the masses of your world?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh? No, actually, we have something in the works to help your dungeon race. You can look forward to it, though I don¡¯t know exactly when it will happen.¡± The Keeper took a deep breath before exining. ¡°In theing weeks, we are likely going to be facing a powerful enemy. This is the sort of enemy who appears in droves, bringing with them numerous hostile gods.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In order to fight them without risking the destruction of my worlds, I need to take something from you. I believe that you refer to him as your ¡®End Boss¡¯?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tower paused briefly, contemting that. ¡°I see¡­ you want the power of the God of Endings? It¡¯s true that it will be quite difficult to rece him within my dungeon. Until now, I have kept him purely as a safety precaution, just in case something appeared that I was unable to handle with my other forces. In truth, he is quite troublesome to control, and I have to keep him unconscious at most times to prevent him from using his power. May I ask what it is you wish to do with him?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I need to kill him.¡± The Keeper spoke bluntly, surprising Tower. ¡°If I kill him, I can turn him into an item that represents the purest form of his power. Not simply his domain, but his legend, the essence of his soul.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Killing him¡­ that is quite the arduous task that you have assigned yourself. Very well, I assume that you havee prepared to see it through?¡± While it was difficult for Tower to rece the final boss of his dungeon, that did not necessarily mean that he was in a hurry to do so. If anything, he was thankful to have that troublesome fellow out of his dungeon, as it took far too much of his energy to keep him restrained. He could worry about finding a new final boss when his powers had grown enough to keep a simr being in check.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± The Keeper nodded his head. ¡°I am well aware of how powerful he is, and that is why I am here.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tower gave a small nod, standing up from his desk. He lifted a hand, opening a golden portal next to himself. ¡°I shall apany you, and make sure that he does not awaken before your preparations arepleted.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper gave a small smile, seeming to appreciate that. He closed his eyes for a brief moment, his body seeming to shimmer with reflective surfaces. Only after he had done so did he walk towards the portal, entering the very core of Tower¡¯s world together with the crystal avatar.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At the center of the world, thousands of chains stretched inwards from every corner of the massive opening, holding the figure of a red-scaled dragon firmly secured and suspended within the air. The dragon¡¯s six wings were wrapped around its body, seeming quite used to the chains holding it in ce, and evenfortable in the way that it slept.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">If you are going to act, it would be best to do so before it stirs.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Tower spoke, transmitting his voice directly to the Keeper in order to avoid waking the slumbering giant


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper nced around therge cave, seeming to take in the full scale of the creature he was aiming to subdue. Once he was done with that, he nodded his head, sping his hands together and focusing. Tower could feel the three domains of Illusion, Souls, and Mirrors surging, together with an almost unfathomable amount of divine energy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The dragon began to shift within the chains, straining against them as a mirror formed beneath it. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Who is it, this time?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> A booming voice entered the minds of Tower and the Keeper, showing that the dragon was awakening. <i><span style="font-weight:400">A strong one¡­ you will make a good meal.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sorry, but I¡¯m not on the menu.¡± The Keeper said, bringing his hands apart and causing the mirror beneath the dragon to rapidly expand, soon bing wider than the massive beast itself. A golden light shone up from the mirror, and the dragon began visibly struggling against the chains.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">What? Tower, have you betrayed me?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> There was clear anger in its tone, and Tower was sure that it would unleash its own divine power. One word from the dragon god, fueled by the force of its divinity, would be enough to destroy the that he had built.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, he felt the chains going ck, the body of the dragon abruptly disappearing. The Keeper rushed forward, shrinking the mirror and cing his hand on it.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I had to act fast. Cracks were already beginning to form in the mirror, and the dragon was no longer being restrained. Unlike when I had done this to the Mountain King, I didn¡¯t have the time to carefully consider each legend that this dragon possessed. I needed to look at the list and immediately choose the correct one.


    <span style="font-weight:400">My divinity surged to repair the mirror even as the dragon god tried to break out of it, his divinity powerful enough to have pushed my own back, had I not been using my Keeper powers for this. As our powers shed, I looked over at the list of legends that began to appear.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Slumbering Beast


    <span style="font-weight:400">Final Boss


    <span style="font-weight:400">One Who Speaks the End


    <span style="font-weight:400">Devourer of Gods


    <span style="font-weight:400">Shackled God


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lonely Lord


    <span style="font-weight:400" Smasher


    <span style="font-weight:400">Suneater


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The list kept going on and on, more legends appearing the longer I looked. There were two that were rather attractive, those being Final Boss and One Who Speaks the End. Final Boss was likely an overall boost of abilities, maybe something that enhanced me in rtion to my opposition. If I had more time, I might have chosen Final Boss.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, the power I came here for was best represented by One Who Speaks the End. Thus, that was the legend I chose. The moment I did so, the dragon began to scream in pain, its soul being ripped from its body. Its divinity red, pitting everything it had against me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I grit my teeth, cracks beginning to spread along the surface of the mirror, reappearing as fast as I could seal them. The energy from our collision spread out, and I could feel the world shaking around us.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Eventually, the dragon¡¯s struggles became sluggish, allowing me to press the advantage. Once that was done, it slowly began to fall to the ground, its body dissolving into golden dust that scattered within the mirrored world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a deep sigh as I shaped the remnant soul into the form of a bracer. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It looks like using this power on an energy being pulls them entirely into the mirror world. That¡¯s good to know.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> When I had done so to the Mountain King, it was only his soul that was pulled in, but this time it was the dragon¡¯s entire body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once the bracer had fully taken shape, I withdrew it from the mirror, allowing it to appear on my wrist. The bracer itself was red, covered in a scale pattern and with a ck gem decorating it. As I had created this power based on Aki Seppo, I knew that the power of the bracer would be quite wondrous, but I needed to try it out myself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thank you for your assistance, Tower.¡± I said sincerely, knowing that it would not have been easy to do this without his consent. As I spoke, my mind was probing the bracer, doing my best to understand its basic functions by analyzing its soul while sending a message to Aurivy to take me somewhere where I could test it out.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course, sir.¡± Tower spoke respectfully, golden mist appearing around my feet once again. It was likely that this would be my new ultimate weapon in the future, depending on the level of its effect.

 Chapter 880: The Return

    Chapter 880: The Return


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I appeared again, I was on an unfamiliar, standing in a vast blue meadow. The grass came up to roughly my knees, and I could sense numerous monsters within the area. Some of them were asrge as cows, others as small as little snakes, and¡­ there was one I saw in the distance that was several dozen meters tall, hunched over with rocks growing out of its back. Given how none of the other monsters were fleeing from it, it appeared to be a herbivore.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I took a few more moments simply to study the soul residing in the bracer I wore. This was a highlyplex item, and as such it took me some time to figure out the method of activating it. Once I did, I aimed my hand forward, infusing it with my spiritual energy and muttering. ¡°This is the end.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The ck gem on the bracer pulsed, a powerful wave of energy radiating out from me in the direction I was aiming. The monsters along that path froze, before their bodies simply copsed off to the side. Even the giant in the distance fell, powerless to resist The One Who Speaks the End.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Yet that was not the extent of this item¡¯s power. Now that I had experienced it myself, I had a deeper understanding of how it worked. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy. This is an uninhabited world, right?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">By anything intelligent, at least.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Once Aurivy confirmed that, I took a deep breath, crouching down and cing my hand on the ground. ¡°Life ends.¡± The blue grass around my hand began to wither and cken, spreading out in a ring that grew faster therger it became. Within a few seconds, it had passed the horizon, killing every nt and monster in its wake.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once I felt how far the range of this power was stretching, I knew that it was the right move to take this power, and even more so to get rid of the ¡®End Boss¡¯. If he were to seriously unleash his power¡­ his legends of ¡®World Smasher¡¯ and ¡®Suneater¡¯ weren¡¯t only for show.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Next, I lifted my hand up into the air, focusing more of my spirit into the bracer. ¡°The sky ends.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Clouds were shredded and scattered, the blue sky melting into darkness above me. Oneyer of the atmosphere after the next was being stripped away, until there was nothing left. I could feel the air bing thinner by the moment, before clenching my fist. ¡°The world ends.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now, it was the ground beneath my feet that began to shatter and turn to dust, spreading out rapidly in all directions. When this effect reached the horizon, it created an all new horizon for me to witness, one stretching out wider and wider until there was nothing left of the I had been standing on. Nothing but dust¡­


    <span style="font-weight:400">At this point, I had confirmed my suspicions about this power. If I designated something as a target for ¡®ending¡¯, the power within the bracer would target it. This was certainly not an ¡®absolute¡¯ rule. Instead, it was a contest. The spiritual power within the bracer was specialized in targeting weak points and breaking things apart. If a target was solid enough to resist that, then they would emerge unscathed.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">This is a power that probably won¡¯t work on those that have taken all three steps of perfection.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I shook my head as I realized that. Gods would still be susceptible, because godhood was not necessarily a level above perfection. However, those who had walked the path of perfection would have a much greater resistance to this power.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, this would still be enough to work on the vast majority of anyone that would being from UpperLevel¡¯s world. From what information I purchased from Balu, there wasn¡¯t any major public knowledge rted to perfection. UpperLevel pursued a very linear path from birth to godhood, and those who strayed from the path, such as receiving power from the void, lost the system¡¯s support.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was hard to say if refusing the power of the void was a weakness that he would ovee, or an intentional path he had chosen to focus his growth. Either way, I was certain that this would still be a difficult battle for me to face.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I dismissed the bracer on my arm, storing it within my soul. This was the second piece of my spiritual armor, with this one focusing purely on offensive power. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy¡­ take me back home.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I whispered in my mind, looking at the dispersing cloud of dust that had been created from my experiment.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hanya was nervous, her throat dry despite her energy state. It was patch day, and the new update would release in just a few minutes. There was even a countdown to the specific moment on the Darkme Technologies website, making sure that everyone was prepared for the transition.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When it hit, there was¡­ not much in the way of fanfare. The system flickered off for a moment, only toe back thirty secondster with the new update. For those within Virtual, there was even less to see, as the change happened in a mere moment.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Less than a minute after the change, there was a knock on their door. Geoff all but ran to the door, opening it to find the Keeper standing outside with a smile. ¡°Are you two ready?¡± He asked, and the two of them were¡­ honestly not sure of the answer to that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, even so, they nodded their heads in agreement. ¡°Okay. I¡¯ve got to take your files temporarily off of the cloud. I don¡¯t know how this will feel for the two of you, but just try to stay calm.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two nodded their heads, and the Keeper tapped on his synchronizing watch. Hanya reached out to grab Geoff¡¯s hand, the two closing their eyes and waiting with stiffened bodies, expecting the world to explode around them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And we¡¯re done.¡± The Keeper¡¯s voice spoke up again. There was no eruption of energy, no shattering of the world around them. Rather, it was a clean transition from closing their eyes to opening them again. They now stood within a ratherrge office overlooking a city of Desbar. Given how Ashley sat behind the desk with a small smile, this was clearly her own office.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s¡­ it?¡± Geoff asked in confusion, looking around. Sure enough, the two of them could once again feel their connections with the void being established. The powers that they had lost by being in the virtual world were being restored one by one.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Ashley nodded her head, sliding a hard drive across her desk. ¡°This is the storage medium that holds your digital consciousness. For the sake of mental continuuity, I would suggest wiping this. If you are uploaded in this state to Virtual again, your selves on that side are likely to go into a panic. For that reason, it is better to create new Virtual selves based on your current personas.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper smiled as he listened to that, seeming quite happy that the duo had managed to return to the real world. Hanya looked over at Geoff, seeming conflicted about wiping their other selves. However, Geoff shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s something we need to do.¡± He told her softly. Keeping it as a life insurance policy wasn¡¯t really a good idea, given that they had experienced first hand how ¡®time¡¯ was felt in such a state.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Our selves within the drive are frozen. Even if a thousand years pass, they¡¯ll think it was just the blink of an eye. If they¡¯re brought out in the future, they¡¯ll have no understanding of what had happened, and think that there was a problem with the transfer.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hanya nodded her head reluctantly, signaling for Ashley that it was okay to wipe the drive. With a look of understanding, she brought her hand out, and lightly tapped a finger on the drive. ¡°It¡¯s done. From now on, the two of you can go back to your normal lives. Help people as you wish, <i><span style="font-weight:400">live</i><span style="font-weight:400"> as you wish. The world has already asked you to sacrifice yourself, and you answered splendidly. Now, it is up to you to choose where to take your path.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hanya smiled at that, ncing over at Geoff once again. She knew that he would always want to help people, and would be there with him every step of the way. ¡°Thank you both for this.¡± She said, offering a deep bow towards both Ashley and the Keeper.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">After the two left the office, Ashley looked over at the Keeper, who held another hard drive behind his back. ¡°It didn¡¯t work?¡± She asked with a knowing smile. She obviously was not referring to the recreation of the two that had just left, but rather¡­


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper shook his head with a bitter smile. ¡°I knew the system wouldn¡¯t let me off that easy, but I had to try.¡± After saying that, he passed the hard drive containing his own Virtual self back to her, ncing at the message that had appeared when he attempted to remake his own Virtual self.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unique Entity: Keeper detected. Unable to reproduce Unique Entity.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Still, that¡¯s good to know.¡± Ashley said, taking the drive and leaning back in her seat. ¡°It means that people won¡¯t be able to clone you if they manage to copy your energy, or get ahold of this.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I suppose.¡± The Keeper nodded, mentally deleting the files that the system had saved to his profile. In order to use the new system, one must have ess to the file that they wished to materialize. Afterwards, that file was saved to a system profile, and could then be materialized at will, so long as the proper energy was avable.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That meant that he had been given the full files of both Hanya and Geoff at the moment of their transfer to the real world. ¡°Have you set up a system for people to be able to purchase the files for ingame items?¡± He asked, ncing over at Ashley.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She let out a deep sigh, nodding her head. ¡°That¡¯s right. Once the economy has fully shifted to the new currency, I¡¯m going tounch that program. How about you? How did your preparation go?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper gave a wry smile at that. ¡°It¡¯s stronger than I thought. Hopefully, I won¡¯t have to use it around others for a long time.¡± After saying that, the Keeper left the office, leaving Ashley alone within it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This will be our first serious invasion from a game Keeper, huh?¡± She asked herself, crossing her hands to prop up her chin. ¡°I¡¯ll need to make sure that everything is ready before they arrive.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As someone that held the domain of Games through her subordinate, nk, Ashley was the one who truly had to prepare the most against an invasion from a Gamer world. First of all, she had to make sure that the game system itself was not susceptible to attack from the invaders. Secondly, she needed to try to find some way to install a system within their world that might detect those who are using a different game system than the one installed in their world. If she was able to do that, then maybe they could track the invaders before they made their move. Assuming, of course, that they didn¡¯t have countermeasures.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was what information warfare was all about, though. Seeing who was able to develop the most countermeasures against the other party first would determine who ultimately won the battle. If their opponent was able to hack their system, they lose. If they were able to stay hidden long enough to drastically weaken the Keeper¡¯s power, they lose. There were so many paths to defeat, and it was up to Ashley to cover any of them that could be involved with the world¡¯s game system.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, she had already assigned the task to her design team, though they were uncertain if they would be able to get the tracking program developed and installed in time for the invasion. The fact that they would bepletely cut off during the invasion itself meant that they would need to install the system directly to the Keeper¡¯s profile before that time came. Otherwise¡­ well, she hoped that the others were making suitable preparations, as well.

 Chapter 881: Family Training

    Chapter 881: Family Training


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tower shook his head as he returned to his office. With the recent conflict between the Keeper and the Dragon of the End, he had been made well aware of just how fragile his dungeon world was. He sat at his desk, his crystalline body pondering the issue. What could he do to reinforce his world?


    <span style="font-weight:400">In truth, this was not a new concern for him, and was something that he had been actively thinking over for centuries. When gods battled, and used their full abilities, it was easy for countries to be destroyed at the very least, ands could fall in the most extreme cases. Furthermore, this was a dungeon where gods were forced to fight for their lives.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Until this point, Tower had been forcibly restraining any of the energy shockwaves that were released from the godly battles in his dungeon. Doing so was challenging, but not impossible. At least, that was true for normal gods. In the recent battle, he had been utterly incapable of stopping the energy from leaking out and affecting his world, and that was before the dragon was allowed to use its full power.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Looking out the window of his tower, he could see severalhrak and slimes walking around in confusion. Buildings that had been damaged by the quakes caused by those waves were being repaired rapidly. Their stone walls rose into the air to mend themselves, ss melting and returning to windows. Within a matter of minutes, the damage to the buildings themselves would be undone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tower knew that this wouldn¡¯t be the end of it, though. More powerful gods would appear, both among the challengers and those he captured and put in the dungeon himself. If he were unable to contain the power from those fights, there would be significant loss of life.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The question was¡­ how? How could he contain the shockwaves from godly powers shing against one another? His eyes dimmed, connecting with thework of other dungeons that existed across all known worlds. He shared his plight, and thework briefly fell silent. In that moment, the research direction of thousands of dungeons began to shift.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">After bringing Geoff and Hanya back out of Virtual, I returned to the Citadel to resume my normal training. When I arrived, Dana found me with a bright smile on her face. ¡°Wee home, boss! We were just about to get started, want to join us?¡± She asked, looking up at me hopefully.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Get started on what?¡± I tilted my head curiously, Dana chuckling.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The new game, Fragments of Acidia! You sponsored it, right? You should want to try it out for yourself. Tsuba said that you tried out Vision Expanse when it first released.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I hesitated for a moment, not wanting to shatter her expectations. However, at the same time, theing invasion was too important for me to put off so that I could y around in the game. As such, I shook my head. ¡°Sorry, but I can¡¯t.¡± She seemed surprised by my refusal, so I quickly exined. ¡°We¡¯ll be facing another invasion in a little less than three months. This time, we¡¯re the ones defending, and it¡¯s against a known hostile Keeper.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana¡¯s eyes went wide at that, nodding her head slightly. ¡°So¡­ you¡¯re going to be training?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± I confirmed. ¡°My real self is going to be training Elemental Embodiment art, and my Virtual self will be training Beasts of the End. I want to have a passing mastery of both of these before the invasion starts. This time¡­ we¡¯re likely to be facing arge number of gods.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana¡¯s gaze hardened when I said that, giving a small nod. Part of her shadow broke off, rushing down the hall while she took a step closer. ¡°I¡¯ll join you, then.¡± She said, her voice determined.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked in surprise, a smile tugging at my lips. ¡°I¡¯m thankful for the consideration, but I don¡¯t want--¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We¡¯ll all y <i><span style="font-weight:400">together</i><span style="font-weight:400"> when we¡¯re safe.¡± She said, grabbing my hand to start pulling me towards the library. ¡°We¡¯re a family here, right? That means all of us fight together. I need to finish training the Absurdity of Fate style, anyways.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing her argument, and seeing the determined expression she used when giving it, I gave in and let her guide me to the library. Once there, I found Lifre, Tsubaki, and Gerard all already waiting for us. Dana¡¯s shadow must have gone to share the message with them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What goal shall we set for our training, my Keeper?¡± Tsubaki asked, bowing towards me when we entered.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Goal¡­¡± I hadn¡¯t really thought about goals to give the others, only my personal goal. ¡°If everyone can get passing marks on at least two styles, that would be for the best. Preferably, I would like all ten of the new styles to be covered between us, that way we can disy the contents when we release the styles to the rest of the world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Gerard was the first to speak up. ¡°As much as I¡¯d like to maintain my studies of Absurdity of Fate, I do not believe myself to be qualified for it. As such, I will pursue the Will of the World and Nature¡¯s Wrath.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Next up was Lifre. ¡°I¡¯m already pretty good with the Essence of the World¡¯s End, and I was just thinking of starting with Nature¡¯s Wrath next with Gerard!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki gave a firm nod of her head, standing fully upright again. ¡°Without livebat, I do not believe that I can progress any further with the Heart of Combat style. As such, I shall turn my attention to the Way of Hidden Truths. With my ninja training, this style is quite suited for me.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">And finally, there was Dana. ¡°And like I said, I¡¯m working on Absurdity of Fate, and then my real self will work on the Twin Swords of Joy and Sorrow. I¡¯ll have my Virtual self join you with practicing Beasts of the End. I started out as a summon myself, so this style is perfect for me to help you with.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but shudder, imagining Dana practicing the Twin Swords of Joy and Sorrow. Out of everyone here, she had undoubtedly been through the harshest sorrow imaginable, to the point that it had shattered her very soul. Additionally, she had been brought out of that sorrow and found joy in having a new family, serving as her anchor. This might be a more perfect match even than the Thousand Arms, Ten Thousand Threads.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Counting in your Elemental Embodiment and Twelve Shattering Hands training, I believe that covers all of the styles, my Keeper.¡± Tsubaki said with a nod of her head. ¡°For the time being, we shall devote both our real and virtual selves to this training, the same as you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying that, she turned and immediately walked over to one of the five terminals set up along the nearby wall, each of which had a VR headset next to it. The others all moved to follow, Dana still pulling me by the hand. ¡°Like I said, we¡¯re all in this together, boss.¡± She said, sitting down at once of the terminals while I took the final one.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I shook my head with a thankful smile, reaching down to synchronize myself with my Virtual counterpart.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Vivi waited within the training program, having been informed that the Keeper would be on his way again. She split her consciousness between all five terminals, that way she could guide each of them but her core remained within the Keeper¡¯s own program.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she had nothing else to do, she had been studying the various martial styles contained within the program, and was undoubtedly the first being to receive a basic mastery of all ten styles. This was all part of her efforts to train those of the Sky Citadel and increase their understanding in the quickest way possible.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Soon, she felt a connection with her training program, and then another¡­ and another. At first, she thought that all of them were connecting for another joint exercise, but then even more connected. ¡°Really, both sides at once?¡± She asked, eyes wide.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was not impossible for both the real and Virtual selves to train at the same time, even in different fields. However, the idea behind having a Virtual self was to allow one side to rx while the other worked, enabling both sides to feel refreshed while remaining productive. To have both sides perform arduous training would instead double the stress that the individual was under.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For everyone to have chosen that, Vivi assumed that it meant that things were bing difficult on the outside. As such, she further divided herself again, sending copies of herself to each of the Virtual connections.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she did, she received a request from Dana¡¯s Virtual self to connect to the same training room as the Keeper¡¯s Virtual self. She saw no reason to decline this request, and so she granted it immediately, turning her attention to that lobby.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana and the Keeper soon both appeared, nodding towards one another. ¡°Vivi, please introduce the Beasts of the End style.¡± Dana requested. It seemed that they were nning on practicing that together.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Understood, Miss Jafer.¡± Vivi smiled. ¡°The Beasts of the End style is one centered around an idea simr to the Summoner advanced ss. By shaping together one¡¯s spirit and mana, they are able to create powerful beasts. When the style has been fully mastered, one may use these beasts to destroy an entire world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In what ways is this different from the Summoner ss?¡± The Keeper asked curiously. The question was understandable. If the style was just a way to achieve that ss, it would be rather redundant.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Rather than different, you could say that this is an advanced style specifically suited to the Summoner ss.¡± Vivi exined. ¡°First of all, there are three branches of this style. The first branch is solo summoning. The second is group summoning. Finally, the third is fusion summoning.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°With solo summoning, you are embodying a <i><span style="font-weight:400">concept</i><span style="font-weight:400"> into your summon. For instance, let us say that you wished your first beast to have the concept of destruction. When your summon is fully created ording to this style, it will have aspects simr to a divine domain of Destruction. While this domain will not beparable to a true god of the same level, it still offers a vast array of abilities.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper and Dana nodded their heads at that, Dana looking over at him. ¡°What is the benefit of a group summon?¡± She asked, Vivi¡¯s smile growing wider.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°A group summon is a greater challenge, as it requires people to synchronize and create their summon together. However, should they do so, they have one of two options. They can either grant an additional concept to the summon, or they can stack the effect. ording to the introduction, up to nine individuals can perform a group summon at once, and if all of them stack they will achieve the level of a true domain.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We¡¯ll do a group summon.¡± Dana said with absolute confidence. The Keeper looked over at her in surprise, but simply nodded his head with a smile. He didn¡¯t seem to doubt that the two of them would be able to work together to create this creature. ¡°Please walk us through the process, Vivi.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course, Miss Jafer.¡± Vivi nodded her head. She could already imagine all of the Citadel¡¯s residentsing together to create abined summon, and the power that it would be able to unleash. ¡°First, let us start by identifying the concept that you wish to embody within the summon.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Darkness.¡± The Keeper answered before Dana could speak. This time, it was her turn to look at him in surprise. ¡°We¡¯ve both trained the World Shadow, and you are the Fallen Goddess of Darkness. That¡¯s why this is the best concept for us to synergize with.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s true.¡± Dana agreed, her smile growing wide. ¡°Alright, Darkness it is! We¡¯ll create the greatest Beast of Darkness ever!¡±

 Chapter 882: Beast Of Darkness

    Chapter 882: Beast Of Darkness


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The first thing that you need to focus on will be spirit resonance. Simr to standard summoning, you need to train yourself to match the spiritual wavelength of anyone that you are cooperatively summoning with.¡± Vivi exined, having Dana and I sit down on the floor, facing one another. ¡°Typically, the morefortable you are with someone, the easier it is to achieve this harmony.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Have you ever done this before?¡± Dana asked, causing me to shake my head. I had summoned numerous creatures before, but I had never done so by cooperating with another person. At most, I had seen one of Udona¡¯s incarnations create a kraken-like monster long ago. ¡°In that case, let me lead this time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing her warm smile, I couldn¡¯t help but give a small nod. The two of us ced our hands together, and I could feel the threads of her spirit wrapping around my wrists. She was pulling at something, so I didn¡¯t resist, letting her capture a piece of my soul and hold it between our hands. Once she had done so, it was joined by her own, causing my eyes to twitch slightly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was one thing to know about the damage to her soul, and another entirely to feel it. Each fragment felt like an individual wound, yet also its ownplete whole. Almost as if I wasn¡¯t dealing with just one Dana, but thousands. She had adjusted to her state and made it her own, but each fragment felt so small and lonely.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she was reshaping the fragments to try to match my spirit, I subconsciously reached out with my spirit to wrap around those fragments. I wasn¡¯t constraining them, merely holding them as if in a gentle embrace. Dana¡¯s eyes went wide for a moment, the fragments hesitating. Then, after a moment, they began to rx.


    <span style="font-weight:400">They weren¡¯t healing, oring together, or anything like that. If it were so simple to repair the damage to her soul, Tsubaki would have done so long ago. No, this was how Dana was. I wasn¡¯t trying to change her, only show her that she was epted.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she felt the gentle embrace, Dana chuckled softly. ¡°You were supposed to let me lead, boss.¡± She chided with a grin. ¡°Cut back by about half the energy you¡¯re using, and the harmony should be just right. You can inject more energy into your part of it when we hit one of theter steps.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head, withdrawing roughly half of the spiritual power that was wrapping around her fragments. After doing so, I felt something within the spiritual power I was using. It felt like when you strike two tuning forks together, just the soft hum and vibrations. Gradually, the energies between our hands were beginning to merge.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Now that you have achieved harmony, you are creating the seed of your future summon.¡± Vivi said with a delighted smile. ¡°Maintain this seed throughout the entire process, and then you will each be able to retrieve it when we are done.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The next step is to imbue it with the concept. Both of you, take an energy equal to the amount of your personal energy that is contained within the seed. Focus the entirety of what you imagine your concept as through that energy, and then feed it into the seed.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana blinked for a moment at that. ¡°Huh, the next stage is usually determining the matured summon form. I guess this is where things start to diverge.¡± As she said that, she closed her eyes and focused, as did I.


    <span style="font-weight:400">What is Darkness? Emptiness, ck, absence. The cold void of nothing that exists where light refuses to touch. Darkness is solitude, even if you are surrounded by others. It¡¯s the creeping shadow and the total eclipse. I put those thoughts into my spiritual energy, and began to infuse it into the seed. As I did so, I could feel the thoughts Dana was feeding in as well.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">What is Darkness? It isfortable and quiet. The other half of light, helping it to observe everything that hides from its gaze. Darkness is where you can be together with your thoughts, and the infinite wonders hidden beyond the reach of your gaze. Wherever you are, Darkness is there to hold you and keep you safe.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was hard to imagine two ideas of the same concept, so radically different. And yet, that is exactly what a domain was. Not the true or epted definition of a word, but what that word meant to the individual that possessed it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With the two streams of thoughts being fed into the seed, it began to cken beneath our hands, bing tangible and pushing our palms apart. Now it was the size of a normal chicken egg, held between our hands with the gentlest of touches.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Excellent, the two of you did great.¡± Vivi nodded her head quickly as she watched the egg taking shape. ¡°Now, this is where you really need to coordinate. Like Dana said before, the next important part is to define what the beast will look like. You only have one attempt at this, unlike normal summons. This is because your concept has already taken root. Once you inject the image of the matured summon, the concept will absorb it into itself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I chuckled at that, nodding my head. ¡°Okay, then what form do you think would work best? Something like a dog?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana blinked at that, before smiling wide. ¡°I¡¯ve always wanted to have a pet around the Citadel. I wanted to get a slime since they¡¯re so versatile, but after Lifre joined, I thought it would be in rather poor taste.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Would you still be able to summon it in the Citadel when I¡¯m not there?¡± I asked curiously, to which Dana nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Cooperative summons can still be summoned with only one part, but it will be a weaker version only containing the aspect that the individual summoner contributed to.¡± After she said that, Vivi quickly interjected.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Summons done this way are a bit different, just as a warning. The concept you gave the summon won¡¯t appear unless all contributing parties are present. You will still be able to have the physical form, and whatever abilities you give your portion of the summon, but it willck the fundamental concept that you imbued in it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana blinked at that, before nodding her head. ¡°I guess we¡¯ll each need to create solo summons as well, once this is over. Are we allowed to have more than one concept with this style?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, definitely.¡± Vivi smiled wide and exined. ¡°In fact, the style rmends practitioners create twelve beasts with unique concepts.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana seemed to ept that quite readily, and the two of us began to inject the idea of the creature¡¯s form into the egg. It was a hound, but one that served as both a friendlypanion and fierce protector.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After I was done putting my thoughts for its form into the egg, I felt the egg begin to shake and grow again. Soon, it was the size of an ostrich egg, but kept growing, until even both of our hands couldn¡¯t fully cover it. Instead, we moved our hands below it to support its weight.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay, this is the hardest part.¡± Vivi said, her expression suddenly turning serious. ¡°So far, you¡¯ve been using purely your spiritual energy to establish the form and concept. That means that right now, you are dealing with a feral beast.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°For a normal summon, this would be the part where you infuse your mana into the summon and bind it to your wills. However, this is another point where the Beast of the End differs.¡± As she spoke, she began to back up. ¡°The two of you need to keep infusing your spiritual energy at a steady pace, until the beast hatches. Afterwards, you must join forces to defeat it in its feral form. Only then will its mind be weak enough for you to bind it to yourselves. Any outside help, including that of other summons, will result in the beast not recognizing you as its master.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡­ would have been nice to know before.¡± I said with a wry smile, Dana nodding her head vigorously. Already, I could feel something wing against the inside of the egg, Dana and myself continuing to push our spiritual energy into it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Soon, the egg wasrger than Dana¡¯s body, and thenrger than my own. Once it was five meters tall, there was a crack. A ck w pierced through the egg, tearing at its shell and ripping it open. The great maw of a feral hound poked out, howling as the egg began to melt around it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">What stood before us was a massive beast of rippling muscle and ck fur, gazing down at us like we were little more than food. ¡°Oh, and if the beast manages to win, unlikely as it is, it willpletely devour your spirit and ascend as a true god.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That would have been nice to know before!¡± I shouted again, Dana¡¯s voice echoing my own. I nced over at the elven spirit, both of us making some distance from the beast. ¡°I guess it¡¯s a good thing we chose Darkness?¡± I asked, Dana giving a light chuckle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Remember, I can¡¯t use my void powers here.¡± She said, the beast splitting in two to rush at each of us. On closer inspection, one of the two beasts seemed to be a shadow, while the one rushing at myself was its real form.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right, forgot about that.¡± I said, holding up my hand to catch the paw of the giant beast. It seemed confident that it would crush me, but its paw was stopped as if it had hit a metal wall. ¡°How about the threads?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That I can do.¡± Dana said as she extended her arms, hundreds of threads flying out to wrap around the shadow beast. She tied its legs together, jumping up and flipping over its back. Her small feet came down to stomp on its spine, pulling the threads taut at the same time and shredding apart the shadow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Meanwhile, the true form of the summon was biting at me, ck fangs approaching my body. Its shadow rose up at my feet, trying to engulf me from both sides. For its teeth, I simply relied on my ki to stop its mouth from reaching me, while my foot came down to stomp heavily at the rising shadow. My foot, wrapped in mana, shattered the shadow and caused the virtual space to shudder.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I was thinking over my next move, I saw the light blue threads weaving through the ck fur of the beast, Dana standing on its back. ¡°Down, boy!¡± She shouted, her spirit soaring as the threads wrapped around its neck and began to tighten.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The beast tried to pull its paw back, but I held it firmly in ce with my ki, causing it to only be able tosh out with its other front paw. However, that too was stopped with little effort. As the threads continued to tighten, and the beast struggled against us, we noticed its eyes begin to dim.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Now!¡± Vivi shouted. ¡°Imbue a mark of mana on it, and it will ept you as its master!¡± Dana and I reacted at once. Dana¡¯s mark manifested at the top of its head, looking like a man wrapped in smoke, while mine was directly between its eyes. My mark was a simple, ck circle to represent a full eclipse.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With both of our marks in ce, the wolf¡¯s body shattered, returning to both of us. I could feel it taking up residence in my soul, slumbering and waiting for its time to be summoned once again. Vivi let out a relieved sigh when she saw that we had subdued the monster. ¡°Okay¡­ from this point on, you can treat it like a standard summon, assigning abilities to it and feeding it more power to increase its strength. If you want to create a solo summon, the only real difference is how you create the seed. Once you¡¯re ready, we¡¯ll get started on that.¡±

 Chapter 883: Happy Huntresses

    Chapter 883: Happy Huntresses


    <span style="font-weight:400">For the next three weeks, we all trained in the various arts that we had decided upon. Dana and I each made ten individual summons, agreeing that we wanted to save ourst slot to make a cooperative summon involving everyone from the citadel. Of course, we could have made more than the suggested twelve that the information mentioned, but the information specifically suggested that number for a reason.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For myself, I created monsters with the concepts of Space, Time, Life, Death, Fire, Ice, Armor, de, Despair, and Hope. Vivi mentioned that there was a way tobine the beasts created with this style, so I created them in pairs following this pattern. ording to her, the ultimate expression of the style is tobine all twelve beasts into one apocalyptic monster, which is referred to as the true ¡®Beast of the End¡¯.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Granted, that rather confused me, given that the limit for a being¡¯s domains was nine at the highest. The information in the style specifically suggested twelve beasts with <i><span style="font-weight:400">different</i><span style="font-weight:400"> concepts, so my guess was that there was some method ofbining the concepts to create more powerful domains as opposed to simply stacking them on top of one another.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As for the beasts that Dana created¡­ I honestly didn¡¯t know too much. After we made our ns for what to do, we began training in different lobbies. I didn¡¯t have the chance to see any of her summons, besides the one we created together.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For my real world counterpart, it took me three weeks simply to create a ki path that would allow me to use Elemental Embodiment fluidly with my Ki of Beginning. After that, I was able to maintain a pseudo-elemental form as long as I wanted, and could properly practice the different techniques contained within the style. There were still some slight differences between the original style and the version that I modified, but it was enough to carry the same meaning.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once we were done training to a satisfactory level, it was time to create the promotional trailer for the arts. To do this, we would need to acquire a few sacrificial monster gods. Although we would be using gods on the weaker end of the spectrum, the idea was to show that the arts we were practicing were capable of contending even against gods without using divine power.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, we had not trained enough to fully master any of the arts that we had practiced, as we had not had nearly enough time to do so. By my estimate, I could practice a single art for a year straight and only reach a moderate degree of mastery, unless I used certain abilities to cheat. If anything, the five of us could all be considered as beginners. However, this was why we were only fighting against the weaker gods.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">After the release of the new currency, the economy of the world shook. Items that had been seen as the most valuable due to their sacrificial profit to the highest-rank gods of the Greater Pantheon plummeted in value, while those that were considered valuable before the creation of the divine tokens became valuable once again. Things such as silver and gold, created through the power of Tubrock. These items were previously quite easy to obtain due to how cheap Tubrock¡¯s currency was.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As expected, the biggest impact was on the food industry. Many experienced farmers saw this as a way for them to turn a profit, offering their produce to the gods instead of the people. This caused a food shortage to begin to take shape, forcing people to buy food items off of the Boundless Caravan, either from ces like the Metong¡¯s Network or the Greater Pantheon itself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was needless to say that alia was quite busy during this time, having to hunt down arge variety of monsters in order to keep up with the demand being imposed on her for meat products. While Tryval had his garden to automatically grow items with his divine power, alia¡¯s domains did not allow for anything like that. After all, she was not the Goddess of Livestock, but the Goddess of the Hunt. In order for her to obtain materials, she had to do so by hunting her prey.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Dale!¡± alia called out, all but copsing against the table where everyone was sitting in the Citadel. It was clear that she was exhausted, her chest heaving as she took panting breaths. ¡°Need¡­ help¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is everything alright, Lady alia?¡± Tsubaki asked, one of her silver avatars immediately helping alia into a chair. They had just gathered to begin talking about their progress in training when the lycan goddess appeared before them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, everything is not alright!¡± alia shook her head rapidly. Even now, thin streams of light shot out of her back like arrows, disappearing into the void. ¡°I¡¯ve had nonstop orders all week, more than ten times the usual number!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper¡¯s face scrunched up at that. ¡°Ah¡­ we took into ount Tryval needing to sell food, but we forgot to n for your situation, didn¡¯t we? Okay, what can we do to help?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Assistants!¡± alia lifted her head to stare at the Keeper. ¡°Like the others, I need backup! They can share my divinity, I don¡¯t mind. But I can¡¯t keep trying to find a hundred different monsters a minute at all hours of the day. Even if I¡¯m making a profit in divine energy, my mind is on the verge of breaking! You think handling prayers was bad? I have to track individual monsters, sometimes of specified ages, hunt them, skin them, gut them and clean them, and then send the relevant parts to people that buy them all in a matter of seconds.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper thought about it for a moment, before giving a small nod. ¡°I think I have an idea.¡± He said, gesturing to the others. ¡°I¡¯ll be back in a few minutes.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Upon my arrival in the Admin Room, alia all but pounced at me, clinging to my arm. ¡°Idea, share, now!¡± She shouted desperately, staring up at me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I smiled faintly, patting her on the head. ¡°Your assistants are going to have a far more direct impact on the world than the others, so we can handle this in one of two ways, each with the same general ending theme in mind.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°First, we give you a group of custom-made assistants like the others, but then you help them quickly train up to a level where they can take some of the pressure off of you with their incarnations.¡± alia nodded her head quickly, as if already willing to agree to that idea.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The other option is for you to select people among the most talented priests and hunters that worship you, and help them ascend to godhood under the condition of helping you manage your orders. Both options would lead to the formation of alia¡¯s Hunting Squad, it would just be a matter of whether you wanted them to be Companions or mortal gods.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">alia hesitated for a moment when she heard that. ¡°Mortal gods wouldn¡¯t be able to keep up with the demand, would they..?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s where you make it up with numbers.¡± I exined, guiding alia to the couch. ¡°On the other hand, if I simply buy you assistants, or bring those mortals to the Admin Room, it could take months or years for them to get to a level where they can hunt powerful monsters. Additionally, your hunting squad would be able to be active during invasions, and could do so far more easily as mortals.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">alia pursed her lips, clearly thinking it over. She was the Goddess of Wisdom as well, after all. ¡°Can I pick people from the gods already serving me?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Only if they¡¯re subordinates.¡± I told her with a shake of my head. ¡°Otherwise, it will be harder to link them up with your divine energy to automate the process of delivering orders and handling payment, won''t it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">She let out a soft groan at that. ¡°Okay, let me think. I¡¯ve currently got two subordinate gods. That¡¯s nowhere near enough. If I¡¯m making up the demand with numbers, I¡¯d need at least a hundred, probably around five hundred to be safe.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod at that, thinking that even that was on the low end. Although five hundred gods seemed like a lot, it was a miniscule amount when you were dealing with a poption in the tens of trillions, taking into ount the Metong Network. ¡°How long will it take to promote people to subordinate gods on that scale?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">alia let out a soft hum, her brows furrowed in thought. ¡°Three days? If I¡¯m only selecting the most powerful individuals, they will already meet all the energy requirements. All they need is a baptism of divine energy in three stages to guide them. I¡¯ve handled the process before, so I¡¯ve already memorized how to do it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now <i><span style="font-weight:400">that</i><span style="font-weight:400"> caught me by surprise. I expected that it would take weeks at the earliest. For it to only take days meant that she had refined the process considerably. ¡°What do you want to call your new squad, then?¡± Although I had suggested a name, I ultimately wanted this to be something that alia created for herself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">alia nced up at me with a yful grin, her tail wagging behind her. ¡°My Huntresses.¡± My eyes twitched slightly when I heard that, though it was clear she had already decided on that.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Mom, I¡¯m going out for work!¡± Samantha called out as she left, her silver dress fluttering. As the Goddess of Family, she had decided to take up a small job helping families that were suffering hard times. In essence, she had be a specialized therapist, while also using her power to help people track down family members that had gone missing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Have fun, dear.¡± Her mother answered with a nod, a happy smile on her face when she saw her daughter leave. As a mother, she was immensely proud of what her daughter had made for herself. What more could any mother want from their child, when they had already gone beyond mortal limits and achieved godhood? It was enough to let her heave a sigh of relief.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once her daughter had left the house, she rose to her feet as well, lightly stretching to remove the stiffness from her joints. ¡°I suppose I should go out and stretch my legs, as well.¡± She muttered to herself, walking over to a far wall, where an intricately carved bow was resting on a rack.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Samira ck.¡± A voice spoke up from behind Samantha¡¯s mother. In an instant, the bow was in her hand, her body spun around and a silver arrow nocked. However, her eyes went wide when she saw who her arrow was pointing at. ¡°Sorry, did Ie at a bad time?¡± alia asked with a grin, the woman lowering her bow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Lady alia. Please, forgive my rudeness.¡± The arrow dissipated, as did the silver string it had been attached to. Samira gave a deep bow towards the goddess as she begged forgiveness, knowing that she had just aimed a weapon at one of the most powerful existences in the world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s fine, really.¡± alia walked over, supporting Samira and making her stand upright. ¡°If anything, I came to ask you for a favor.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Samira looked at alia, unsure of what she meant. ¡°What is it that I can do for you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You can start by dropping the formalities.¡± alia told her in a lightly scolding tone. ¡°If you ept my request, we¡¯ll be seeing a lot more of each other in the future, and I can¡¯t handle the stiff tone all the time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Then¡­ what do you want?¡± Samira asked again, rephrasing her question.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I want to make you a goddess. You see, I¡¯m forming a team of powerful people like yourself. This team will beposed of the best hunters in any world, and will help me in two ways. First, they will serve as ayer of defense when the world is under siege. And secondly, they will help when I receive orders for specific monsterponents.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Samira¡¯s brow twitched slightly when she heard that, specifically how alia¡¯s tone changed in the second half. Clearly, thest part was what she was most desperate for, but Samira wouldn¡¯t let it show that she had picked up on that. ¡°If there is a way for me to help you, then I will naturally do so.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Good!¡± alia nodded her head with a beaming smile. ¡°Then, I am happy to wee you as one of the first members of my Huntress Corps.¡±

 Chapter 884: Chain Reaction

    Chapter 884: Chain Reaction


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tower¡¯s crystal avatar stood at the very core of his world, staring at the shining gem that made up his true dungeon core. In one hand, he held the portable core that Aurivy had created long ago. These items were capable of establishing a temporary territory within the surroundings for dungeon masters to fight in.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When they were thinking of a way to resolve Tower¡¯s problem, they naturally turned to these unassuming objects. Now, the power of the portable core alone would not be able to resolve their issues, but there were also other sources of research that he was drawing upon as well.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The core that had apanied Keenan throughout arge portion of its life had learned many interesting methods of wielding the void. Even before joining Keenan, it had mastered the art of ovepping spaces. The originally lightning-themed core that had be partners with Petra Carna had experienced the creation of numerousyered worlds. So many cores had researched subjects over the years, all culminating in this one idea.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Was it possible for a dungeon to remodel their core to create ayered world within their dungeon? Tower was prepared to try it out and discover for himself. If the other cores did this, they could easily destroy themselves. However, as a god, he was able to rebuild his physical body if it sustained damage.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tower held one hand out towards his core, a golden light beginning to shine. The domain of Construction helped him to change the minute energy pathways within his core, each one bringing a brief jolt of pain. Something seemed to be guiding him, helping him find each node that he had to change, each point that needed to be shifted.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tower felt confident that he would be able to achieve his goal. Paths began to broaden or narrow, new energy passages forming as he focused. Control nodes from the portable cores were imnted and positioned, allowing a greater degree of freedom.


    <span style="font-weight:400">From an outside perspective, the dungeon began to shimmer, an illusory fog rolling over it in a thin screen. At times, sections of the world vanished and reappeared, the affected areas growing over time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once this change was observable from the slime world, Atraxi and Pietra rushed over, worried for their friend. However, by that time the changes had been urring for several minutes. When they arrived, the dungeon world was¡­ gone. It had vanished from the starry sky, its position vacant.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two slime gods looked on in shock, fearing the worst. Then, all at once, the world was before them again. Without wasting a single moment, the two rushed into the atmosphere, speeding towards Tower¡¯s pce. Along the way, they observed that the localhrak and slimes were going about their business as normal, not seeming to notice the changes happening around them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When they arrived at Tower¡¯s office, they found it empty. Their divine senses spread out, quickly covering the to search for him, before they let out a shared, wet gasp. The¡­ had be empty. Not the surface, but the dungeon below. What had once been teeming with challengers now sat vacant


    <span style="font-weight:400">They managed to catch one party walking into the dungeon, only for their bodies to disappear the moment they entered. Another party simply appeared out of nowhere as they were leaving. Every monster, every god that inhabited the dungeon, they were all gone. All that was left was the single core at the heart of the world itself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ah, you arrived.¡± Tower¡¯s voice suddenly spoke up, his body manifesting before them. It was hard to tell from his crystal face, but he seemed to be quite happy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What happened here?¡± Atraxi asked in confusion. ¡°Your dungeon¡­ did they all escape?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, quite the opposite.¡± Tower shook his head. ¡°They are now more trapped than ever.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tower could feel the changes that had urred within his core, and how it had impacted his world. The experiment worked far better than any of the dungeons had ever imagined possible. Not only was he able to create an instanced world, he was able to freely designate entry and exit points,yer multiple worlds overtop each other, and seamlessly control them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That wasn¡¯t the end of his surprise, though. Each of the ten thousand cores that were linked to him shuddered, experiencing the same changes for themselves. Their dungeons briefly vanished from the world, before re-emerging in a simr state as his own.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once those ten thousand cores had all solidified the change, the pattern influenced the entirework of cores, each one that touched the mind of a changed core being changed themselves. He could sense that it would be less than an hour before every dungeon currently alive was altered forever.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Is this what the Keeper meant?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Tower wondered, recalling the words that the Keeper had spoken when he came to im the Dragon God of the End. At the time, he had said that there was something nice that was prepared for the dungeons. Had he anticipated that Tower would walk down this path after his final boss was taken away?


    <hr>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">The dungeon core evolution is done.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Aurivy spoke up in my mind, causing my eyes to widen. It had been only a little while since we bought the update for them, maybe two months, and they were done? I thought it was already considered quite fast when the psychic song was released unto the world.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">What happened? Did they find some ancient relic that impacted theirwork or something?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> It was hard to imagine what could have caused such a sudden change.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">No, actually¡­ Tower performed brain surgery on himself and did it. When he was done, it spread through thework and caused a chain evolution.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> There was a somewhat awkward tone to Aurivy¡¯s voice, though I couldn¡¯t help my eyes twitching when she described the process.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Brain surgery¡­ on himself? Is that even possible?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Apparently! He based the model of the new dungeon core after my portable core units,bined with the research of a bunch of other dungeons. Now they¡¯ve all just¡­ yeah, they¡¯ve all just changed. Even the ones in the secondary worlds have all been hit by this evolution through theirwork.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was honestly surprising. I made a mental note to check out some dungeons the next time I went to the Admin Room.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">First, there was the release of the new patch, sending a wave of mixed feelings as people adjusted to the slightly alteredws that governed their daily lives. At the same time, the Keeper released a new ¡®game¡¯ that offered a faster way for people to train and grow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Next, videos appeared on the inte, showing the residents of the Sky Citadel fighting off a group of monster gods. At first, people didn¡¯t know what was happening. Was it an invasion being pushed back? Then they noticed the fighting methods being used, and the descriptions of the videos that referenced new fighting styles being released by the Sky Citadel. Those who were strong enough immediately began to look up the information to practice these styles.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Shortly afterwards, an army of gods was created under the lead of alia, known as her Huntresses. While the primary purpose of this group seemed to be hunting the beasts requested by the Boundless Caravan, this was undoubtedly a massive fighting force unto itself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Some people had begun to wonder what had sparked these changes. What was causing the powers of the world to begin moving? As they were thinking about that, another change struck. Adventurers going into dungeons began to report that the dungeons themselves had massively expanded on the inside.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Normally,rge dungeons would not be anything significantly different. But this¡­ when parties entered a dungeon, they seemed to enter an entirely different world,plete with its own sky. One dungeon built on the shore, the Siren Song, now led to apletely oceanic world. There were numerous monsters within the ocean, and only a single ind for adventurers to begin on.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For so many years, dungeons had just been a part of the world, and a lesser part at that. They could be used for small production lines if mastered, or for those lower level adventurers to train themselves. The loot that they provided couldn¡¯t bepared to those created by true craftsmen, and the challenges within could notpare to fighting the monsters of Fyor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If anything, dungeons had be tourist attractions. Within the first few days of this change being discovered, the elven queen of Gandor organized an expedition into the dungeon while consulting the dungeon¡¯s avatar that had be a long-time ally of their people.


    <span style="font-weight:400">What they found was a world within the dungeon, teeming with life. The entire nation¡¯s poption could easily be housed within this dungeon¡¯s world, with enough room to flourish for thousands of years.


    <span style="font-weight:400">More astonishing was the fact that this was not the only yer¡¯ of the dungeon avable. There were as many as ten different instances within the dungeon that could be visited, each identical aside from other visitors. For a time, the queen considered whether she should move her people into this separate world, where they would have more room to develop without fear of monsters or invaders.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately, the dungeon core assured her that wasn¡¯t the case. The dungeon¡¯s core existed across all instances that it created, as well as in the main world. If its body was found in any of these locations, it could be destroyed. And should it be destroyed, everything inside of it would share its fate.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With such being the case, the queen made a decision. The dungeon <i><span style="font-weight:400">was</i><span style="font-weight:400"> opened for residential use, but only to a portion of the poption. The craftsmen and mages that needed space to hone their craft. They would be able to move about unimpeded, each iming arge mass ofnd for their work.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Meanwhile, the location of the core in the real world was more heavily fortified. Before, it was simply a powerful ally of the capital, something that they could rely on to bring forth monsters if the city was in peril. Now, many of their own people would share a fate with this dungeon. They would be fools if they did not go to greater lengths to ensure its protection.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Other countries that housed dungeons within theirnd began to make simr decisions. This was especially true in the case of Ashtanu, where the God-Queen Udona ordered a mining expedition into a nearby dungeon. The most precious resource of Deckan was none other than Dimensium, which this dungeon could now endlessly produce. With enough of it, they could create more advanced technology akin to that which the March and Metong golems used.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At this point, evenmon men and women could feel the change in the world. Something big had happened, and it all felt as if it was in preparation for something toe. What would cause the Keeper and his people to move on such a grand scale, to develop the world faster than ever before?


    <span style="font-weight:400">With all of these changes imposed on the world, it was only natural that the technological and arcane practices began to take leaps as well. New tools and weapons were created within both the variouspanies of the different worlds, and the dungeons which had appeared. High levelbatants began to train themselves in the new styles. Everyone was preparing, without even knowing what they were preparing themselves for.

 Chapter 885: Fragments Of Acidia

    Chapter 885: Fragments Of Acidia


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay, <i><span style="font-weight:400">now</i><span style="font-weight:400"> we can y!¡± Dana said with a happy smile as we all stood within our Virtual lobby. Our real selves were continuing to train, but we had reached the basic criteria that I had assigned for us to be able to spend some time in the new game. ¡°Right, boss?¡± Dana looked at me eagerly, quite clearly seeking my approval.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but give a small smile, nodding my head. ¡°We¡¯ve earned a break, as long as our real selves keep up the training. Just remember, even if we¡¯re going into a game, this is a game where we can improve ourselves.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana pumped her fists into the air happily, jumping up and wrapping her arms around me. The others chuckled at the behavior, with even Gerard present for our first trip into Fragments of Acidia. Once everyone was ready, we signed up for the new game. It had been a few weeks at this point since the game first released, but I wasn¡¯t expecting any sort of overcrowding issues. Not with howrge the game world appeared to be.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I entered the character creation process, I saw Fifi waiting for me, her hands sped in front of her. ¡°Greetings, Keeper.¡± She said with a warm smile. ¡°Vivi told me that you¡¯d be on your way.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a nod at that, having expected there to be some kind of Keeper bonus to the game, whether in character creation orter on. ¡°Is there anything special that I need to know?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There is, sir.¡± Fifi nodded. ¡°You have a choice to make. You see, the ancient figure of Acidia within this game was designed as the original Keeper of this world, the being from which all creation grew. As the Keeper yourself, you have the option to appear in the world as the reborn Acidia, or you can choose to take part as a normal yer. Naturally, you will maintain your Keeper abilities either way.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My brow furrowed as I listened to that. ¡°What would change if I chose to ept that option?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You would have a special story presented for you.¡± Fifi exined patiently. ¡°First of all, as the reborn Acidia, the nations would begin to rally to serve or subjugate you, depending on their alignment. Some would covet your power, others seeking to stand at your side. In general, you would be an extremely public figure. This option was created for Keepers who wished to have their presences known within the game and enjoy the same social status as they do in real life.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As soon as she was done exining, I shook my head. ¡°I want to enjoy this game with my friends from the Sky Citadel. I¡¯ll register as a normal yer.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Fifi nodded her head again. ¡°In that case, there is only one other question I must ask. This question simrly will apply to most of your friends. As you have divine powers, do you wish to register as a <i><span style="font-weight:400">Fragment</i><span style="font-weight:400"> of Acidia, instead of Acidia reborn? Fragments of Acidia are what this world refers to as gods. If you register as one, you will receive the attention of gctic empires who wish to earn your loyalty. While not to the same degree as a reborn Acidia, this is also a public role.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°How many currently registered fragments are there?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">At my question, Fifi seemed to do a brief census. ¡°One thousand, two hundred, and sixteen. That is the number of individual gods who have chosen to register their domains.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was quite a lot, causing me to be rather surprised. ¡°Hmm¡­ what about fallen gods? Do they count as fragments, as well?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Surprisingly, Fifi nodded her head. ¡°The true Acidia wielded divinity and chaos as one, light and dark together. The status of a fallen god is no different than that of a standard divinity.¡±


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">That would make the game feel more essible to different types of Keepers, I suppose.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I mused inwardly, before shaking my head. ¡°In that case, can you pass on a message to the others that I¡¯d like us all to register? One of our objectives in this game is to grow stronger, and it will be hard for us to do that if we are constantly suppressing our divine abilities.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I can easily do that, sir.¡± Fifi agreed, closing her eyes for a moment. Afterwards, she tilted her head curiously. ¡°Yourpanion, Tsubaki, has asked permission to set up two ounts. She said she will have one ount to y with everyone, and one for solo y when others are busy. Her secondary ount will be at the lowest level, as well.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle when I heard that. ¡°Of course. As long as it¡¯s something you can do, it¡¯s fine. She always likes to test herself with her ¡®Trial of Blood¡¯. More than likely, she¡¯ll ask you to put her in some ridiculously high power area where she has no real hope of survival, with no equipment or money.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Fifi blinked in confusion, tilting her head. ¡°That is a most curious request. However, it is within my power to grant if she does, in fact, wish for it. In that case, is there anything that you would like to change, before entering the game?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I shook my head at that. ¡°As long as we all appear in the same area, it¡¯s fine to me. I¡¯ll stick to my usual look.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Very well. In that case, I hope you enjoy your experience.¡± Fifi smiled wide, fading from view. Instead, I found myself appearing on a metallic tform, numerous people walking about. Not far away was a ¡®window¡¯ with an energy field, allowing me to see out into the vastness of space. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Apparently, we¡¯re starting on a space station? Or is this a colony ship?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I was wondering that, I felt someone else appearing behind me. Turning, I saw none other than Lifre, who immediately began stretching with wide eyes. ¡°Oh, this is cool! Are we on a spaceship? I¡¯ve never had the chance to go on a spaceship before!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I grinned, reaching a hand over and rubbing the top of her head. ¡°Well, if we¡¯re on a spaceship, we¡¯ll probably be here for a little bit.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre¡¯s eyes went wide at that, Tsubaki and Dana soon appearing behind her. Once Gerard appeared, a nearby figure walked over. ¡°Greetings, greetings!¡± He said in an excited tone. ¡°It is my honor to meet so many fragments at once. My name is Bastion, and I will be the one in charge of introducing you to our world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The man had deep blue skin, faint scales visible along his neck. He wore a skintight ck bodysuit, simr to what many of the other NPCs wore around us. ¡°Wee to Station Lemora, on the frontier of the Arnasian Empire. Is there anything you would like to know before you get started?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What are these?¡± Dana asked, pointing at the bracelet on her wrist. Bastion simply nodded his head, showing a surprising amount of emotion. He must have been one of the special NPCs Fifi had told me about.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Those are casting assistant devices! They help you channel your mana to form spells. Given the magic of this world, it is difficult for people to activate their magic naturally, and such we use devices like this to help. Of course, this is only a basic model, and you can purchase more advanced--what are you doing?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As soon as he began to exin the purpose of the devices, there were three distinct cracking noises. The bracelets worn by Dana, Tsubaki, and Gerard all shattered beneath their grip. Dana and Gerard, I could understand. Gerard was a living spell, and Dana was used to formtingplex magic in her mind. But you too, Tsubaki? I let out a soft sigh at that, shaking my head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hardcore mode is always the best.¡± Dana said with a grin. ¡°I¡¯ll figure out my magic as I go, or else I¡¯ll just fight another way.¡± Thising from the girl that had begun practicing the purely magic martial art.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Bastion¡¯s eye twitched at that, but he nodded his head. ¡°I-In that case, I believe it would be best if I direct you to the nearby marketce. There, you will be able to find gear suitable to your power. Artifacts worthy of fragments are hard toe by, but I believe you will be quite satisfied with our selection.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">At that, he gave us directions to a nearby market, where people were bustling back and forth. That said, a quick survey could tell that most people weren¡¯t buying anything, and were simply going around and discussing items with ¡®interest¡¯. These were the general NPCs meant to give the area the illusion of life.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Reaching towards my pocket, I found that I had quite therge sum of money in a coin purse attached to my waist. Udona had told me that you get money in this game ording to the level of your power, so that was not too surprising a discovery.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ooh, ooh, over here!¡± Dana called out, ushering us all towards one stall at the end of the line. I could feel a faint divinitying from the stall, its name tranting to ¡®Acidia¡¯s Wares¡¯.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Inside, I could see an assortment of different armors and weapons, or simply various tools like trowels or shovels. Each one radiated the power of either divinity or the void, with a green-skinned woman sitting behind the counter. When she saw using in, she blinked, sitting fully upright. ¡°Wee to my establishment, dear fragments. How may I help you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What exactly is it that you¡¯re selling here?¡± Tsubaki asked curiously, walking around and looking at the various items.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The woman working the store smiled. ¡°These are general-purpose Acidian Artifacts. Each one has been specially processed, and is ready for its future owner to brand it with their power.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°General-purpose artifacts?¡± I furrowed my brow, walking over to a staff on the wall. When I inspected it with my Keeper power, I found that the staff was capable of reducing divine power usage. It was not by a lot, but it was a nice bonus. However, the staff did not carry any power specific to any domain. ¡°Is it possible to get custom-made artifacts?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">While we could take items out of the game, it was currently impossible for us to bring them in without crafting them all over again. Ashley said that she was developing a scanning device that would bepatible with the new system, and expected the prototype to be ready within a few months.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It is.¡± The woman nodded her head. ¡°However, you¡¯ll need to provide the materials for them yourself. It is incredibly difficult to procure fitting materials, even out here on the frontier. The best locations to look for them are incredibly dangerous, to the point where only a fragment could safelye and go.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Who would we need to talk to about the items we want crafted?¡± Tsubaki asked, the woman chuckling slightly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯d be me. I¡¯m Mira, the Acidian Artifact Master of Station Lemora. I may not be a fragment, but I¡¯ve studied the art of crafting artifacts my entire life. If you can bring me the materials I need, I promise that I can craft whatever artifact you would like.¡±


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">That exins why she¡¯s another special NPC.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I nodded to myself, stepping up to talk to Mira. ¡°I¡¯d like a mirror. One suitable for use with the ¡®fragments¡¯ of Mirrors, Illusions, and Souls. What would it take to create something like that?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mira held her chin in thought. ¡°A mirror, is it? And I can sense that you¡¯re a fragment of light. In that case, you would want silver stripped from the interspatial mines of Tartarak, gold from the deep hive of the world-devouring swarm, and ss made from the sand of dreams. I can make the artifact with lesserponents, but those would be the ones that can make the best artifact I¡¯m capable of. Also, each of those are incredibly dangerous regions, even among the ones I mentioned before.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I simply gave a nod at that. ¡°Can you give us directions on how to find that area?¡± I asked, the woman smiling and tapping at the air. Immediately, three waypoints appeared on my map, each located quite a distance away.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯ll need to either charter a ship, purchase your own, or purchase gate fare to reach these locations. The gate fare is the cheapest option, as well as the fastest, but I would personally rmend getting your own ship. You can encounter more adventures by flying under your own power, and there are many treasures waiting to be found in the vastness of space.¡±

 Chapter 886: The Final Frontier

    Chapter 886: The Final Frontier


    <span style="font-weight:400">As it turned out¡­ learning how to master this magic the hard way was far more of a challenge than any of them were expecting. Not only Tsubaki and Dana, even Gerard wasn¡¯t able to easily activate a basic spell with much ease. Granted, they were able to pull it off, but only after buying a new assistant device to study how the spell activated their mana.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once they had that guideline, they were able to begin experimenting with this new binary magic. After about an hour, they were finally able to replicate the most basic of arcane sts. This left the triopletely shocked by the difficulty of the magic. Personally, I still find my world¡¯s magic to be amazinglyplex, but it was at least something that could be understood from a low level of development.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This binary magic was quite clearly something that would only properly function if there was an advanced society backing it up. Even if people were able to stumble upon the method of firing off a basic spell, they would be like children grasping at the reflection of the moon in a pool of water. It would always seem so close, but never quite there.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In the end, Dana and Gerard reluctantly began to use their casting assistant device, although Tsubaki kept hers off. The fact that she was unable to reliably use magic did not seem to impact her in the slightest. After all, she could still use her divine power, as well as her martial talent.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, the Heart of Combat martial style she practiced did not require mana to activate, and she was able to use it freely. The changes in ki between this world and our own were marginal at best.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Regardless, each of us acquired a shopping list from Mira, and then outfitted ourselves with some of the equipment avable in the market. I could see Tsubaki constantly staring at the enchanted leather armors we purchased, as if trying to decipher their designs by sight alone. Once done with that, we made our way to the station¡¯s shipyard and pooled our wealth to acquire a ship.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I still can¡¯t believe they charged so much for this¡­¡± Dana muttered as the door to the ship closed, the hiss of the airlock sealing behind us. The ship was¡­ admittedly, not veryrge. It could hold the five of us without much issue, granted, but the price was almost absurd. The one ship cost more than the estimates we received for all four of our artifactsbined.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I believe the cost has more to do with the level of construction, as opposed to its appearance.¡± Gerard said as he made his way over to the nearest console. He held up his new casting device, which took the form of a square tablet, and began to craft himself a new spell. ¡°Give me a moment, and I¡¯ll interface with the ship¡¯s systems.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The best, Gerard. Really, you are.¡± Dana fired back with a grin, moving to grab a seat in one of the chairs along the far wall. In total there was enough seating for four passengers and two pilots. The walls and floor were clean and made of polished metal, various terminals visible at different points.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Down the hall, I could sense the presence of six bedrooms, a small kitchen, and a turret control at the back of the ship. Near the front, there was a navigation console right behind the cockpit. By no means was this a luxury vessel.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Aha, this would exin it.¡± Gerard said once he hadpleted his spell, interfacing his own mana with the ship¡¯s systems. ¡°It would appear that they took our needs into consideration when they were suggesting this vessel for us. The shields are rated ¡®Fragment Three¡¯, a ssification that likely indicates a resistance to attacks at the divine level, judging by its strength. Simrly, the front and rear turrets are ¡®Fragment Two¡¯ and ¡®Fragment One¡¯ respectively. There is an empty missile port that can be essed from beneath the floorboards, though it is currently inactive. However, it is rated for ¡®Fragment Five¡¯ level missiles.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre let out a faint whistle when she heard that. ¡°What about the hyperdrive? If they are catering to our needs, it has to have a hyperdrive, right!?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Gerard hesitated for a moment at that. ¡°There does appear to be a Faster-Than-Light mechanism installed. However, it is fundamentally different from the systems that we use in our worlds. All that I can determine without a better understanding of this world¡¯s magic system is that it drains the mana of the pilot and co-pilot to activate itself. For this reason, I would suggest that the Keeper take the co-pilot seat, as his energy reserves are unlikely to run dry.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki pouted at the suggestion that I take a position to be used as a battery, but I was already making my way over there. ¡°Hey, I have no idea how to fly this ship, and this¡¯ll at least give me a way to make myself useful, right?¡± I asked with a small grin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Then, allow me to do so.¡± Tsubaki said, perking up as she volunteered to take my ce.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And how are you going to control your mana to link up with the ship?¡± Dana asked in a teasing tone, Tsubaki¡¯s eyes going wide. She looked at her bare wrist, recalling that she had no casting assistant device.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ultimately, she gave in, allowing me to take the co-pilot seat. To <i><span style="font-weight:400">everyone¡¯s</i><span style="font-weight:400"> surprise, the one that jumped into the pilot¡¯s seat was none other than Lifre, who moved before Gerard was able to take the position himself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Gerard¡­ please activate whatever auto-pilot will get us out of this station before she starts pushing buttons. And Lifre, do <i><span style="font-weight:400">not</i><span style="font-weight:400"> push that one!¡± I pointed towards one button in particr, covered in a thinyer of stic lid. ¡°It took most of our funds to get this ship, we are not blowing it up before we even get anywhere.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre pouted her lips, fingers twitching towards the button, but she managed to stop herself. ¡°Fiiiine. I¡¯m still driving, though!¡± It didn¡¯t seem like she was willing topromise on that part of the ordeal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, there was an auto-pilotmand to take us out of the station, moving us clear of any of the nearby traffic. ¡°Does this shipe with any kind of a tutorial for how to fly it?¡± I asked Gerard, though it was surprisingly another party that answered.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A small, silver fairy flew up from my shoulder, taking shape out of what seemed to be nothingness. ¡°Would you like me to begin the piloting tutorial?¡± She asked in a pleasant tone, causing me to blink in surprise.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right, Sarah likes to use fairies as guides in her games¡­¡± I nodded faintly, before pointing at Lifre. ¡°Give her the tutorial, please.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Rather than flying over to Lifre, the fairypletely disappeared. Instead, another one appeared above Lifre¡¯s shoulder, looking subtly different from my own. She repeated the question, and Lifre rolled her eyes with the faintest of grins. ¡°Yes, yes, let¡¯s get this over with so I can start flying!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Immediately, Lifre¡­ vanished. The tutorial seemed to be in some instanced space, because Lifre was gone for a full ten minutes, during which time we were simply idling and waiting. Were it not for our friends list reminding us that she was still online, we¡¯d have thought that she left the game to go y elsewhere.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she did return, her eyes were positively sparkling. I couldn¡¯t tell what she had been through in the tutorial, but she quickly began manipting different buttons with practiced ease. ¡°Locating a hyperspace port. Okay, there¡¯s an open one nearby. I¡¯ll move us onto thene. Gerard! Plug in the coordinates we got to the navigation console, then disy the map ording to hyperspacenes!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Gerard arched an eyebrow, but moved over to the terminal and began to follow Lifre¡¯s instruction. ¡°There are designatednes to travel in hyperspace?¡± Dana asked in confusion. ¡°I suppose it¡¯s not just an instant warp or anything like what we¡¯re used to. But if a specific entry point is needed¡­ does that mean it¡¯s not just hyper-eleration?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It is and it isn¡¯t!¡± Lifre chuckled, the ship¡¯s enginesing to life as she moved us further from the station. ¡°ording to the little fairy, the hyperspacework in this world was modeled after a world wide web. The stars are the different servers and domains you visit, and between them are intangiblenes like giant inte cables. These cables have openings at various points, called ports.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If you activate the hyperspace engine at one of the ports, your ship enters the hypene. This lets you sort of punch a hole halfway into the void, where space is massively condensed. The engine also provides a shield around the base, because there are monsters like void creatures that roam within hyperspace. As long as you stick to the designatednes, they are rare, but if you try to force your way out of one without leaving hyperspace, they¡¯re all over the ce. The game calls them the remnant wrath of whatever it was that killed Acidia.¡± Suddenly, she turned to look at me. ¡°ce your hands on the ss sensors of your armrest, and I can activate the hyperspace engine.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked, but leaned back and did so. ¡°And you learned¡­ all of this, in just ten minutes?¡± It seemed ridiculous for Lifre of all people to have absorbed so much technical information in such a short time. A thought clearly shared by the others, as Tsubaki, Dana, and Gerard quickly nodded their heads in agreement.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ten minutes?¡± Lifre blinked back at me, clearly confused. ¡°Wow, they must have done some fancy kind of timepression¡­ it felt like I was in that tutorial for hours! It was honestly kind of boring until the little fairy got past the basics, and started teaching me how to activate the weapons systems¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Lifre, we are not firing the weapons system without a <i><span style="font-weight:400">suitable</i><span style="font-weight:400"> target.¡± Tsubaki said firmly, causing Lifre to chuckle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, I know. That¡¯s why I¡¯m taking us to go find some! Gerard, patch the first path through to me.¡± After Lifre said that, one of the screens in front of us changed, and she began typing in amand. ¡°Initiating hyperspace jump, activating shield.¡± I could feel a considerable amount of mana being pulled out of me for the initial opening of a ck portal before us, but it was rather gentle afterwards.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre grinned broadly as she drove the ship into the portal. ¡°Okay, the course has been set, and I¡¯ve told the auto-pilot to alert us if any remnants or pirates attack. Boss man, you can get up whenever you want. The ship would have synchronized with your assistant device now, so it will pull mana remotely as long as you¡¯re in the ship.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After she said that, I hesitantly lifted my arms, finding that my mana really was being siphoned by the device around my wrist. ¡°So, where did you send us off to first?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre blinked, looking at the navigation data. ¡°ording to this, the first stop on our path is the ck hole mining field. That¡¯s where we needed to go to get the main material for Dana, right? How do you even mine a ck hole?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Theoretically, it should be possible.¡± Gerard said, brows furrowed. ¡°ck holes function by using extreme gravity to draw in andpress matter to its absolute limit, giving off background energy in the process. Although this gravity is so intense that not even light can escape its grasp, it would be theoretically possible for magic of sufficient stability to harvest the extremelypacted material from a ck hole. However, doing so would be a risky endeavor. If too much material were to be harvested at any one time, the ck hole itself could erupt, spewing forth all of the matter and energy it had absorbed in a supernova-like st.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana couldn¡¯t help but blink at that. ¡°Okay, that¡¯s definitely a project that I want to add to my listter. If the material harvested from a ck hole is a suitableponent for a fallen artifact, does that mean that ck holes are linked to the void? That¡¯s¡­ pretty interesting.¡±

 Chapter 887: A New Trial

    Chapter 887: A New Trial


    <span style="font-weight:400">Outside of the game, I continued my training in my various new fighting styles together with the real selves of the others. After a few days, Gerard seemed to lose interest in the game. When I asked him about it, he said that there was little that he, a magical being, could practically learn from a game with a magic system that could not be replicated in the real world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Honestly, part of me thought about buying the binary magic, but I quickly decided that we had enough magic types in the world. Between runic, geometric, card magic, and the ster magic, there was something that was good at anything we could really want.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Around the same time that Gerard quit the game, Tsubaki began logging in with her real self. This was so that her real self could use the special second ount that she was given permission for, and began her Trial of Blood anew in this new game. Every time she did this, I was able to see almost explosive growth in her power, so I was quite looking forward to the results this time.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I believe that this location will suit your needs adequately.¡± Fifi smiled, though she did look back at Tsubaki after a moment. ¡°Are you sure that you wish to begin in such an environment without any form of equipment? I have done research on your ¡®Trial of Blood¡¯, and I believe that this is going quite beyond the level of difficulty that ninjas are subjected to.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Good.¡± Tsubaki said with a smile, already looking forward to getting into the game. ¡°What I want is something that pushes me. Since I¡¯ve already been through the standard trial, I need to increase the difficulty. However¡­ just to be certain, there aren¡¯t predators that are physically impossible to kill with a mortal body here?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki knew how strong she was, and how much she would need to challenge herself to get the level of training that she desired. However, at the same time, she was well aware of her limits. If she put herself in an area inhabited by god-level threats while maintaining the power of a child, there was no purpose to her training.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Indeed.¡± Fifi nodded her head. ¡°Following your request, I have narrowed the search results to include only organic lifeforms and habitable areas. Of those, this is the one best fitting your requirements.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki grinned at that, before adding on herst request. ¡°In that case, one more thing. If I die, please reset my character and put me in a different area. Each attempt should feel like the first one, so I don¡¯t want ess to any skills, items, or shelters that I had previously built, and all of the nts and animals should be unfamiliar to me.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Fifi¡¯s eyes widened at that, no longer believing that the trial was even remotely possible. She had imagined Tsubaki gradually learning the environment, epting her losses and using them to grow. Instead, she wanted to have to get it right in one try, with no knowledge or preparation that would assist her? ¡°I¡­ can do that.¡± Fifi agreed hesitantly. In the worst case scenario, Tsubaki could simply change her mindter.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded her head with a smile, before a thought crossed her mind. ¡°You use a level-less system for Fragments of Acidia, right? How does someone increase their energy reserves without ess to the different sses?¡± This was the bare minimum knowledge that she would need if she were going to be performing her trial, something that would be seen asmon sense to anyone doing it in real life.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Fifi let out a relieved sigh when Tsubaki asked that, having worried that she truly wanted to enter the game with nothing. ¡°Typically through the use of potions or other alchemic products. There are raw materials in the world that will allow you to gain small amounts of energy with their consumption, but they are far more effective when refined into a suitable potion.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Keep in mind that the same potion will have diminishing returns if you continue to use it. Topensate, you will need to use recipes with different primary ingredients. If you had ess to the gctic market, purchasing such potions would be simple. In fact, there are many people that have drastically increased their mana or ki reserves by buying such potions, and then enjoying the results in the real world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki shook her head, directly refusing to use the market like that. ¡°If I could, I¡¯d disable the tutorial fairy directly. But, you said that isn¡¯t allowed, so I¡¯ll just refuse the individual tutorials as they appear.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Fifi gave a somewhat bitter smile at that. ¡°Sadly, the tutorial fairies, as you call them, attach to each yer automatically as part of the system, and it is one aspect I have no control over.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In that case, I¡¯m ready to begin.¡± Tsubaki said, crouching down to the ground. She was ready to start sprinting in any direction the moment she appeared in the world. Fifi looked at her in confusion, but soon sent her off.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The world faded around Tsubaki, and she soon appeared in a dense forest. Her eyes scanned the nearby trees, looking for any signs of animal life or harvestable nts. There were numerous fruits with odd colors and shapes hanging from the trees, and she would need to experiment with themter. For now, she hugged onerge tree, and began scaling its surface using only the strength of her body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In order to best replicate the Trial of Blood, Tsubaki had lowered her physical age to that of a teenager, her ki and mana reserves almost nil. She couldn¡¯t afford to use any supernatural energies before finding the ingredients that Fifi spoke of, so she would need to manually create any weapons she wanted to use.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Moments after Tsubaki climbed up to one of the higher branches of the tree, she heard a noise down below her. Looking back at the ground, she saw the dirt shifting from something tunneling underneath. Curved spikes rose up from the highest point of the shifting mound, before moving back underground.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Whatever was beneath the surface, judging by the size of the mound it created, should have been at least six meters long. Tsubaki¡¯s eyes narrowed, able to make some basic assumptions from the terrain and details that she had taken in. <i><span style="font-weight:400">There are only a few upturned mounds in this area. It should havee to investigate the vibrations in the ground from when I walked over to the tree.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">If that¡¯s the case, I can¡¯t build a shelter on ground level. The primary predators of this region will be either subterranean or those that can move about without touching the ground.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> When Tsubaki thought to that point, her eyes nced upwards, beyond the canopy of leaves. She could see multiplerge birds flying overhead, some circling various areas.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Knowing that there were creatures with the ability to detect vibration in the ground, Tsubaki didn¡¯t dare to use her voice. <i><span style="font-weight:400">The first thing that I need is a tool to carve wood. I¡¯ll have to be careful if I want to get any sharp stones, though.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her eyes drifted back to the ground again, before she brought herself up to a crouching position in the tree. Slowly, gently, she began to walk along the branch, testing the sensitivity of the monsters below. At the same time, she made sure that there was always the canopy above her to hide her figure from the birds.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">With birds of that size, they will either nest in the top of an especially tall tree, or need to have their nests on the ground. If it¡¯s the former, I¡¯ll have to be wary of trees with gaps in the canopy. If it¡¯s thetter, there will be a mountain nearby that would let them be safe from the burrowing monsters. That would also imply that they can¡¯t dig through solid stone.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">She was tempted to poke her head up above the canopy to take a look at her surroundings, but doing so would present herself as a target to the creatures above. From the way that they were circling, she could tell that they were actively hunting. She wasn¡¯t about to underestimate the eyesight of a bird of prey.


    <span style="font-weight:400">So she kept walking, lightly hopping from branch to branch when they were close enough, or swinging from vines whenever the canopy allowed her to do so. Like this, she was able to determine the sensitivity of the creatures below, as they only appeared after thick branches broke off and crashed down to the ground.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When one such branch broke, it was because Tsubaki herself wanted to perform that test. She found a weak point of the branch and used her weight to snap it off, then quickly retreated to the base of the now-broken branch. There was still the possibility that those creatures could jump, after all.


    <span style="font-weight:400">What Tsubaki saw¡­ surprised her. Arge beak-like maw rose up from the ground after about twenty seconds, grabbing and snapping the wood. Bit by bit, the branch was pulled down beneath the ground, leaving only a patch of disturbed dirt. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Herbivores? No, they could still be omnivores. I haven¡¯t seen any animals on the ground that would disprove that yet.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she was thinking that, the canopy above her parted, her eyes going wide in shock. A ck shadow shed in front of her face, before an unholy screech sounded below. One of the birds, over a dozen meters tall and with a wingspan of twice that, had swooped down through the branches, its ws digging into the dirt.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The screech came from the creature that it was pulling up, roughly a meter thich and with a spiked body nearly as long as the bird was tall. Which was saying something, given how big the bird was. From her own perch, Tsubaki had to hold her breath, pressing herself t to the tree. The head of the bird was directly in front of her, facing away as it dug out the spiked worm below.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If it turned its head and took notice of her, her trial could end then and there. Assuming that she was even ¡®worth¡¯ killing for the bird. With its size, she was less than a snack. Once it had fully uprooted the worm-like creature, it pped its wings again, ascending into the air with its prize. The new gap in the canopy cut off Tsubaki¡¯s path forward, so she had to find another way around.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">At least I understand the food chain a bit better here, now.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She thought to herself, having been assuming that it was the underground monsters that were the apex predators, not the birds above. With that in mind, she began to n her shelter, taking into ount the need for camouge.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After about half an hour of searching, she finally found a small cluster of rocks near the base of a tree. She had to give up on several simr clusters before, simply due to them being too far from the trees for her to safely retrieve.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Carefully, Tsubaki descended the tree, making sure to secure herself the entire way by holding onto different branches or protrusions from the bark. Once directly above the ground, she took a deep breath and began to shift her body around, until she was essentially upside down on the tree with her legs hugging the trunk and hooked on a branch.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now that she was this close, something amidst the rocks caught her eye. A small, chitinous spike protruding between two rocks. Tsubaki¡¯s eyes went wide, carefully observing the spike. She reached down, grabbing one of the rocks not pressing up against it, and threw it over to another tree. The spike didn¡¯t move, so she risked reaching out to touch it. When she did, she found that it was quite hard, and seemed to be buried only half an inch in the ground.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Do they shed their spikes, or was this one broken off when it was burrowing beneath the tree?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She couldn¡¯t help but ask herself these questions, drawing the spike along the bark of the tree. It was sharper than she expected, easily able to substitute for a w or fang. She tucked it into the rags she spawned with, grabbing three of the most promising looking rocks as well before making her climb back up the tree. Now she had what she needed to make not only a carving knife, but her first weapon.

 Chapter 888: A Ray Of Hope

    Chapter 888: A Ray Of Hope


    <span style="font-weight:400">Perhaps unsurprisingly, Tsubaki¡¯s first attempt at her Trial of Blood did not go as well as she had hoped. Two days into her trial, she was beset by serpents that burrowed into the hollow she had carved for herself in arge tree. She fought rather valiantly, killing the majority of the creatures with the broken spike that she had acquired. Unfortunately, several of them had managed to bite her before that point.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Without any knowledge of the antivenoms required to cure herself, there was little she could do but allow her body to give way under the assault of thest few serpents. She took a deep breath once she was back in that ck void, closing her eyes topose herself. ¡°Delete the character and load up the next area.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Fifi hesitated for a brief moment, having seen how much work Tsubaki put into her previous attempt. Still, this was her request, and so Fifi carried it out. Once Tsubaki was off to her new destination, an abandoned ind on the frontier of a savage empire, Fifi decided she needed to better prepare herself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Opening up her contact list, she sent a message to an old friend. ¡°Vivi, are you free?¡± She asked once she felt the call connecting. She knew that this Vivi was the same one that she had briefly met beforeing to this world, but she had already spoken to her a few times.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course.¡± Vivi¡¯s voice came back through the connection. ¡°Is there something that I can help you with, sister?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s¡­¡± Fifi bit her lip, ncing to the spot where Tsubaki had previously stood. ¡°It¡¯s about the Keeper¡¯s assistant, Tsubaki. She is attempting to undergo some form of trial, and I wish to get your advice. Apparently, she did the same thing in Vision Expanse?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ahh, her Trial of Blood.¡± Fifi could hear the wry chuckle from Vivi on the other end. ¡°Yes, I remember that well. It was right after the game was released, too. Let me guess, she asked for no equipment, no power, and to be sent somewhere with no realistic hope for survival?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s correct.¡± Fifi confirmed. ¡°She said that she will only consider her trialplete when she haspletely conquered her surroundings, but is asking that I send her to an unfamiliar area every time she dies. If she is not keeping any of her previous experience to help her, and is constantly going to areas where one mistake will lead to her death¡­ is this not a doomed test?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°One hundred and thirty-eight.¡± Vivi spoke up, briefly confusing Fifi. ¡°That is how many times Tsubaki died when she was taking the trial in my game. Every time she died, her character was reset. However, there were not as many areas for her to go in my game at that time, so she was stuck in one spot. Still, she destroyed all of her old camps and equipment each time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The most terrifying thing about Tsubaki is not her battle strength, which is likely surpassed by Lifre. Nor is it her wisdom, which is surpassed by Dana. It is her determination, for which there is no equal. Whether she faces countless obstacles or even an almost guaranteed demise, she will do whatever she has to in order to reach her goal. It is her determination that has brought her to the point where she is today, allowing her to build up experiences fighting enemies far beyond herself in level.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Fifi blinked in confusion at that, ncing back at the game. ¡°You say that Lifre is stronger than Tsubaki? I¡­ do not see that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In terms of raw power, the Goddess of Adventure and Trials holds a natural advantage over the Goddess of Light and Stealth. Lifre can increase her strength to match any challenge she may face. More importantly, she is the only one among the Citadel to have in a true god before entering its ranks, back when she was a mortal. She did so in singlebat, as well. The god may have been weakened by captivity, but you should know more than most the power of a god.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Vivi seemed quite captivated with the subject as she continued. ¡°On the other hand, Tsubaki has countless years of experience. Even though Lifre objectively has more power, and in fact so does Dana at this point, I would not say that either of them would be able to defeat her. Her experience in fighting and oveing more powerful foes has taught her how to handle people like them. She will never underestimate the weak, nor fear the strong. There is a reason that Tsubaki is the most trusted of the Keeper¡¯s assistants.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Fifi paused for several long moments when she heard that. ¡°Is there anything that can be done to help her with this trial?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Vivi let out a lightugh. ¡°If you wish to help her, increase the difficulty even further. In Vision Expanse, there is a reward raffle system for achievements. At times, I had tried to affect the results, wanting to cheer on Tsubaki and give her a powerful weapon to help her. Each time, she immediately broke the weapon or discarded it. Only when I gave her the most primitive items that she would easily be able to craft herself did she keep them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Fifi nodded her head, knowing that there was no such raffle system in Fragments of Acidia. ¡°So she really is the type of person that strives by pushing their limits. I was worried that the stress of doing so would cause her heart to break.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Trust me, that is one thing you will never have to worry about with Tsubaki.¡± Vivi said with the utmost confidence. ¡°The greater the challenge, the more impossible it seems, the more determined she will be to ovee it. And by the time she¡¯s done, she will convert all of thatbat experience to her fighting style, learning even more how to take in every advantage she can in a fight.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Fifi gave another nod at that, turning to look at Tsubaki¡¯s progress. She had begun scouting the ind that she was sent to, but there was little for her to see. The ind itself was small enough for her to see every corner of it from where she appeared, andcked any form of foliage to use for shelter. Instead, she studied the water, testing it against her skin and peering into its depths.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Fifi knew that the waters of this world held both the risk and reward Tsubaki was seeking. Dangerous monsters swam about, but there were simrly great treasures able to increase her abilities.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">It took roughly three weeks for us to finally acquire all of the materials that we needed, having spent an extra day at the ck hole mines just for Dana to perform some experiments. Eventually, we made our way back to Station Lemora, walking back to Mira¡¯s shop. She was sitting at the counter, same as before, and I did not notice any of her goods missing from thest time we arrived.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she saw us entering the shop, she smiled happily. ¡°Ah, the fragments fromst time. Wasn¡¯t sure if I¡¯d be seeing you again or not. Though¡­ weren¡¯t there five of you before? What happened to the other man? Or¡­ no, you adventurers can¡¯t truly die, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I shook my head in response. ¡°Gerard had other business to take care of, and won¡¯t be joining us for the time being.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ah, that¡¯s a shame. He may not have been a fragment, but he seemed special in his own rights.¡± Mira gave a small shrug at that. ¡°Anyways, did you get the materials I asked for? If you need to substitute items in, I can try to amodate, as long as they are still suitable for the recipe.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod towards Dana, who opened her inventory and retrieved arge pile of materials, ranging from the ck metal pulled from the ck hole mines, to a jar of glistening sand. There were different varieties of wood and golden leaves, even monster materials included in the batch. Everything that she said she needed for the four of us.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mira let out a light whistle at that. ¡°You managed to get all of it? And quite arge amount, at that.¡± She held her hand forward, scanning the materials with her own assistant device that took the form of a ring on her finger.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once done, she nodded her head, the materials flying up onto her counter and organizing themselves neatly. ¡°Alright. Would you like to stick around and wait? It won¡¯t take me long to craft your artifacts.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh?¡± I was a bit surprised by that, as I hadn¡¯t seen the crafting system of this game yet. I wasn¡¯t sure what she would have to do.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah, you¡¯re other-worlders, aren¡¯t you?¡± Mira chuckled. ¡°Sorry, I keep forgetting. You probably haven¡¯t learned how to craft with our methods yet.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she spoke, a window appeared before her, projected by her assistant device. ¡°This is something all craftsmen have to learn sooner orter. You can register different crafting techniques with your casting device, and it will take care of those steps for you. Once you¡¯ve ¡®taught¡¯ the device enough, you can begin registering entire recipes, and they¡¯ll be processed. The hardest part is when you need to let materials sit for a while, since you need to find a way to record a time dtion, or figure out how to program that in yourself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°For this, though.¡± She held her ring forward again, the ring releasing a bright sh of light enveloping the materials. When it faded, I noticed some of the gold, sand, and silver had vanished from the pile, as well as a far lesser amount of some other materials. ¡°I hope you don¡¯t mind, but I used some of the other stuff to supplement the design.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">In her hands was a polished mirror with a golden frame, ornately carved and with small gems adorning it. ¡°I assume you know how to bind an artifact to yourself and give it purpose?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod, epting the mirror from her and studying it. Even without binding the mirror to my divinity, the reflection within seemed unreal. It didn¡¯t just reflect back my physical appearance, but also showed almost spectral waves of energy radiating from my body in various colors and mists.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Using my Keeper abilities, I could identify three specific enchantments on it, each of which could only be activated if its wielder possessed the domains of either Mirrors, Souls, or Illusions. For Mirrors, it could open a gateway to a special realm, and then open another door to any location via reflective surfaces. For Souls, it could identify the true name of anyone the mirror¡¯s lightnded on. And finally, for Illusions, it could dispel any illusion reflected in its surface.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I bound the item to myself with my divine power, already thinking how I would enchant itter. In my opinion, this was well worth the money spent getting the mirror, and even the money invested in the ship itself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Next up was Dana, who received a pitch ck whip seemingly made of congealed shadows. This was my first time seeing a true artifact for a fallen god, so I was quite curious about its function. When she studied it, she seemed pleased with the final result, hugging it to her chest.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Then there was Lifre, whose artifact took the form of a thick book. Most of the wood that we had gathered was for her, with the pages containing various monsters of great power. She had been rather specific about her request, wanting a book that she could use to summon godly monsters.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Finally, there was Tsubaki. She did not specify what form she wanted her artifact to take, leaving the decision entirely to Mira. Instead, she told Mira her domains, and waited to see what she would do. Mira seemed to take this as a challenge, and had provided Tsubaki with the most extreme list of ingredients. We had to bathe various ingredients in the photospheres of seven stars, each at different stages of their life cycles.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she was finished creating the artifact, though, I was left quite surprised. Her artifact, or should I say <i><span style="font-weight:400">artifacts</i><span style="font-weight:400"> were seven pearls of different colors. No, on closer inspection, there was an eighth pearl as well, though this one was hidden amidst the others, its form impossible to distinguish without special powers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°These are what I¡¯m tentatively calling the Essence of Shining light. Feel free to rename it, though. It¡¯s always the customer¡¯s option to do so. Each pearl has a special effect that can only be triggered with the fragmented power of light. Oh, except this special one at the center. That one needs your Stealth power as well.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The other seven have the power of Fire, Stone, Healing, Poison, Ice, Time, and Destruction. Shining the light from the pearl on a target will cause them to experience that power firsthand.¡± When Mira said that in a smug tone, Tsubaki merely blinked at her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°How did you get so many powers unrted to Light to work on an artifact requiring it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mira chuckled at the question. ¡°Who says that they¡¯re unrted? There are monsters throughout the gxy that fire beams of light from their eyes or mouths for various effects. It is that light that I have allowed you to reproduce.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded her head slowly, looking at the pearls. ¡°I think I shall call it¡­ a Ray of Hope. If it contains so many different forms of light, then may it offer me the light I need in any situation.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Personally, I like my name better, but the customer is always right.¡± She said with a grin, sending the pearls over to Tsubaki. ¡°I can set them up on a ne for you if you want, or some other form of essory?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki thought about it for a moment, before shaking her head. The pearls flew back, hovering above eight of her nine tails. Seeing the odd tail left out, Tsubaki created a ninth orb of pure light above it, the pearls swaying just beyond the tips of her tails.

 Chapter 889: Dark Star Experiment

    Chapter 889: Dark Star Experiment


    <span style="font-weight:400">Shortly after our artifacts werepleted, we used the new program that Ashley had recently released to the public to register them with the system. With that, we were able to essentially print the items in real life,plete with their enchantments. At first, I wasn¡¯t sure what form the magic within the items would take, since they were technically created with the magic system of Fragment¡¯s of Acidia.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley had told me before that with this Digital Conversion system, the properties of the item would be tranted into the new world¡¯s system. As such, the binary magic was converted into an equivalent enchantment created from a magic applicable to Earth, such as Runic or Geometric.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I scanned the item with my World Sight, I discovered that the materialposition was no different from the item within the game. However, its energy profile had changed slightly. Where I could previously sense the lit and unlit specks of mana from the binary magic system, this had faint runes floating through it. <i><span style="font-weight:400">So, the binary system most easily trantes to runic? I guess that makes sense, given that binary is essentially just another form ofnguage.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana looked at the ck whip that she had materialized in her hands, in awe of its creation. ¡°This system is really¡­ wait, and this is reversepatible?¡± Her eyes lit up at that idea.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Doesn¡¯t that mean that we can create something on Earth, and then trante it to Lorek without the risk of catastrophic meltdown. Or, wait¡­¡± Dana¡¯s eyes went wide, her body entirely vanishing from the Citadel. I don¡¯t know where she went off to in such a rush, but it seemed like she was eager to try something.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Within the world of Deckan, there was a floating ind seemingly wrapped in a barrier of darkness. Even when it flew through the air in the middle of the day, night seemed to spread in its surroundings. This was an ancient and iconic dungeon of Deckan at this point, one famous for its history as the victor of the very first Dungeon Master War.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Within this dungeon, shadows seemed to twist and distort,ing alive and breaking off to formrge monsters. Sometimes, these monsters sank back into the shadows, and other times they flew around the area that the dungeon governed. Unlike some dungeons, this one did not change its external activities after the appearance of instanced zones. Rather, it considered its activity and influence over its surroundings to be a tourist attraction.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Deep within the dungeon, there was a figure of pitch ck crystal sitting on a stone throne. As he had nothing to do with his time usually, he would idle in this position while remotely controlling one or more of the guides in Tower¡¯s dungeon city. It was rare for anyone toe and challenge this dungeon in earnest, especially after the countermeasures that its old master had helped it to establish.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Yet, at this moment, a being appeared immediately before it. A short, elven girl with long ck hair, wearing a ck dress. She held a whip coiled in her hands, and smiled up at the dungeon¡¯s avatar. ¡°Hey, Shade!¡± She called out as if familiar with the entity.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was the first time that she had appeared in this dungeon, and her sudden arrival instinctively set off his defensive measures. The girl vanished, being sent into the maze of shadow worlds that Petra had created long ago. By the time that the dungeon¡¯s avatar realized what had happened, she had already been sent away.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He let out a sigh, preparing to retrieve her manually. After all, it was incredibly rude to trap a guest like that, and he had only done so due to a startled reaction while he was distracted. However, before he was even able to make the attempt, she appeared before him again, still smiling.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">She didn¡¯t even take three seconds to leave the twelve shadowyers?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Shade¡¯s confusion was understandable, as the rare expeditions that made their way to his dungeon had to pack for months, or even years of adventure. Each shadowyer was not just a maze, it was aplete cycle with only one way out. Every shadow served as a portal, either bringing you closer to your goal or further away from it. However, there was only a single shadow in eachyer that could bring one closer to escaping the maze.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After struggling to understand what had happened, Shade finally recognized the being in front of himself. ¡°I see¡­ Dana Jafer, am I correct?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right! I came because I want to test something out, with your consent of course!¡± Dana said with that same, bright smile.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If Shade¡¯s crystal avatar had eyes, they would be arched. ¡°Go on? I suppose that it¡¯s the least I can do for someone from the Keeper¡¯s Citadel.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Great!¡± Dana nodded her head quickly, reaching into her shadow and pulling out arge, metallic device. ¡°Are you familiar with what this is?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Shade looked the object over for a moment, before nodding his head. ¡°That¡¯s right. This is the new Digital Conversion Device released by Darkme Technologies. One of my brothers is partnered with them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, good! That makes this easier! See, this device lets you trante something from one world system to another. But really, it¡¯s more like printing an identical copy, then modifying that copy to adjust to the new world¡¯sws. Right now, people are using it to bring items into Fragments of Acidia, but it can also be used to trante things between this world and Spica or Lorek!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Shade looked at Dana in confusion. ¡°You wish to send my shadow crafts to Lorek to test if they can be sustained through ster magic?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not <i><span style="font-weight:400">quite.</i><span style="font-weight:400">¡± Dana grinned widely. ¡°It can also print entire entities. With your permission, Shade, I would like to see if a Dungeon Core can be printed and converted to exist within Lorek¡¯sw system.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Shade¡¯s crystal eyes widened slightly at that. He was well aware of what happened to a dungeon core that entered Lorek, as tests had already been conducted. The individuals conducting said tests¡­ did not survive the experience. ¡°You want me to put my life on the line for your experiment?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, no but also sort of yes?¡± Dana tilted her head, blinking. ¡°It won¡¯t be you, you. Instead, it will be a clone of yourself. If it works, there will be one Shade here, and one Shade in Lorek. If it doesn¡¯t¡­ the clone will die, but you will be perfectly fine. You might need to exin to the other cores that you¡¯re okay, though, if your connection would send some signal about you dying.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Shade thought about that for a moment. If there was truly no risk to himself, the ethical concerns were greatly diminished. ¡°And if this does seed, what will be of the other Shade?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I don¡¯t know!¡± Dana admitted with that same wide grin. ¡°I just want to know if this works in the first ce! See, this item operates directly through the system, converting things into a suitable form for the new world. You guys are basically living magic items, without any true biology to speak of. That¡¯s how you can possess eternal life without needing any kind of sustenance, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana¡¯s words weren¡¯t entirely wrong, but they were rather direct. ¡°I¡­ suppose that you could say such. Very well, what do I need to do for this experiment?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°All I need is to scan your core with this device, and we¡¯ll be good to go!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When he heard that, Shade immediately agreed. He knew that there was no risk to his core from Dana. If she truly wanted to destroy his dungeon, she could easily do so without ying a charade of asking permission.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The ck wall behind his throne shifted, a blue gem slowly floating out of it. Dana grinned, pulling out seven more Digital Conversion Devices. These items were able to perform either internal or external scans, depending on the size of an object. Smaller objects could be ced inside of one device, and easily scanned without problems.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Forrger devices, however¡­ Dana began moving the devices into ce, setting them up like the corners of a cube. She even attached half of them to the ceiling, holding them in ce with her magic. Afterwards, thick cables were extended between them, linking them all together.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Eight cones of light shined on the core, emitted from the eight devices. These points of light then moved along the thick cables, pivoting the direction that they were scanning from constantly. Shade could feel multiple passive energies through the light, piercing the surface to scan his internal structure.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once the lights had made a full rotation, they flicked off. Dana walked over to one of the machines, grabbing the file from it to register with her system. ¡°Okay, Shade, that¡¯s it! With any luck, you¡¯ll be Lorek¡¯s first proper dungeon!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Shade¡¯s avatar nodded his head at that, the core once again floating back into the wall behind it. ¡°I look forward to the results of your experiment.¡± As soon as he had finished saying that, Dana disappeared together with the devices that she had brought with her.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Within the boundless space of Lorek, Dana¡¯s body manifested from the void. She had a look of excitement on her face, wanting to put her sudden idea to the test. Naturally, she wouldn¡¯t get any real benefit if the dungeon cores were able to appear in Lorek this way, but she would be opening up the possibility to others.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Alright, Ryone, I¡¯ll be counting on your help for this.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Dana wasn¡¯t one to underestimate the mana reserves of an entity who passively spread its mana over a radius of more than a kilometer, wrapping the area in an eternal night. Thankfully, she was the Apostle of Ryone, who had blessed her with a vast mana reserve.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana opened up the system interface, navigating to the Digital Conversion tab, and quickly found the new file. Once located, she selected to print it immediately. She kept her whip in hand, ready to be used to defend or flee if the experiment went wrong.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It must be said that the system worked quickly. Dana¡¯s mana drained out of her in a moment, forming a blue sphere in the empty space in front of her. Her eyes went wide, happy for the apparent sess, before cracks began to appear on the surface of the sphere. Through those cracks, an intense light could be seen shining.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh no.¡± Dana¡¯s eyes shook, her wrist flicking and causing the whip to spin around her, wrapping her in a protective ckyer. The newly created dungeon core exploded in a violent burst of light and heat, like a star erupting in its final moments.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Wait¡­ they <i><span style="font-weight:400">can¡¯t</i><span style="font-weight:400"> be tranted? That goes against the system standards!¡± Danained loudly within her protective bubble, her voice easily reverberating despite the empty void around her.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Sorry, dear.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Ryone¡¯s voice spoke up a momentter. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Dungeons are spawned by the system in the first ce. We¡­ tried something simr long ago, spawning dungeons in Lorek. The results were the same as what you are experiencing.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I would have liked to know that five minutes ago!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Danained back at Ryone with a small pout, causing the Goddess of Magic tough lightly.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Sorry, I was busy. I didn¡¯t know what you were up to until your prayer just a moment ago. It would have been nice if the transnt worked like that, but once I understood your intentions I had the feeling it wouldn¡¯t. The only way for dungeons to be created in Lorek are manually, such as through Aurivy¡¯s divine power. She¡¯s been working on a way to create a simr race in Lorek¡¯sws, but the fundamental properties of the dungeons are what has caused this.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana could only sigh at that, waiting for the explosion of light and heat to subside around her. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I thought that I had been onto something, there.</i>

 Chapter 890: The Battle Begins

    Chapter 890: The Battle Begins


    <span style="font-weight:400">Within the Sky Citadel, our days became a repetitive cycle. In Fragments of Acidia, we trained to master our new artifacts and develop techniques to use in the uing battle. Meanwhile, our real selves continued training the new martial styles that had been recently purchased. Although we still went on adventures together within the game, those were also a part of our training.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This cycle continued until the final day, five hours before the invasion would begin. Those of us from the Sky Citadel had just synchronized our memories with our Virtual selves, receiving thest bit of training that we would have avable to us before the battle began. We were not alone in the Citadel, either, as numerous figures had appeared with us. Most of these figures were recognizable anywhere in the world as the members of the Greater Pantheon, while the others were simply those who had not revealed their identities yet.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is everyone ready?¡± I asked, looking around at them all. It had been some time since we learned of our opponent, and I had asked each of them to prepare in their own ways for the battle ahead.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ve contacted the ninjas, and they will be on the lookout for any suspicious individuals.¡± One of the Terra twins said with a small grin, the other nodding her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Even if we don¡¯t want to actively draw them out to the surface, it would look too weird if we weren¡¯t doing anything visibly at all.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">alia gave a small nod of agreement at that. ¡°I¡¯ve tasked my Huntresses with something simr. If any monsters appear in theing days that have not been chronicled, we should know quickly.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Alena offered a brief smile, looking around at the gathered group. I could see that she was only one step away from gaining her divinity, but it looked like she was holding herself back from that. ¡°The Goddess has simrly ordered for any new souls entering the afterlife to be questioned. Those who died to outsiders looking for information, or those using powers not of this world, will be found.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And I¡¯ve found a spot for our final battle!¡± Aurivy announced with a wide grin. ¡°You want somewhere uninhabited, but still essible if people know where to look, and far enough away that a godly battle won¡¯t harm the popce.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I looked at the others, who all nodded their heads as well. Everyone had done their own work, so now it was just a matter of letting things unfold. ¡°In that case, please transport us there once I have finished covering our tracks.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Closing my eyes, I swept my senses all across the Sky Citadel. In order to do this, I had to properly visualize every brick, every square inch of the citadel. Once that was done, I mobilized the domains of Illusions and Mirrors, briefly borrowing Tower¡¯s domain of Construction toplete the trinity.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The world around us seemed to shimmer as a new Sky Citadel was ovepped onto the one that we were standing in. With a thought, I set this citadel¡¯s path through the air to appear as normal, that way onlookers would believe that nothing had changed. Only those with the power to track a Keeper would be able to tell that we were no longer on this world. However, those people were unlikely to be looking for the citadel in the first ce.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a nod towards Aurivy, and golden mist flooded the pce. When it cleared, I could feel that the gravity had changed. The airing in through the open door felt dry, and I could see distant mountains in the window when there was previously endless ocean.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Now¡­ we wait and observe.¡± I muttered, retrieving my old chakram divine artifacts. Although I had a new artifact, there was no reason for me to forsake these, as they still had their uses. With a wave of my hand, I created reflective surfaces within both chakrams, spreading my sight to various worlds.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a sh of blue light, thousands of individuals suddenly appearing within an empty meadow. Many of them gasped, stumbling to the ground before they managed to regain their footing. ¡°This weight¡­¡± One of those who managed to stand firmly spoke, brows furrowed. ¡°I don¡¯t think gravity enhancement was part of the information we received, was it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">A man with silver hair closed his eyes, shaking his head. ¡°We were lucky to get any information at all. Just to be sure, let¡¯s have someone probe the system here.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">He nced back, looking at the hundred or so individuals who had managed to maintain their footing without issue. ¡°Lorenz, let¡¯s get some confirmation, and apply the local system to all of us here.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The man he spoke to nodded his head, holding his hands up to the air as a holographic keyboard appeared before him. ¡°There¡¯s definitely a game system on this world. I can¡¯t ess any specific details because of the firewall, and it looks like they have some rms in ce in case anyone tries.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The silver-haired man shook his head. ¡°Let¡¯s not give ourselves away just yet. For now, just copy the system onto us and trante our levels. Let¡¯s make sure that we appear as part of this world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The one observing the game system nodded, reaching up and swiping at something in the air. Immediately, another warm, blue light began to shine on the thousands of individuals. ¡°It looks like levels here give stat enhancements. I can¡¯t copy those for our preexisting levels, but it shouldn¡¯t be a problem going forward.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">By this point, those who had fallen to the floor were beginning to stand once again. Although the intense gravity had caught them off-guard, their bodies were strong enough to ovee it. ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡± The silver-haired man said, looking at a bespectacled woman in a white suit. ¡°See if you can tap into the local informationwork. Let¡¯s find anything we need to know before hitting a city.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The woman smiled slightly, adjusting her sses. ¡°Of course, Kruz.¡± She nodded, her sses briefly lighting up gold. ¡°There are a few systems we¡¯ll need to be aware of. It seems like they havenguage-based magic as well as geometry-based magic here. Neither directly corresponds to our own magic systems, but we can use illusions to cover the differences. Additionally, there is a system to summon familiars as a medium for magic, but we do not have an equivalent for that one.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After she said that, she looked towards a girl standing behind her, eyes shing once again. ¡°I just sent you the information packet, so please apply an adaptive illusion to everyone here.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Y-Yes ma¡¯am.¡± The girl nodded, her body briefly shining as a white fog descended over the group, being absorbed within their bodies. ¡°I¡¯ve¡­ I¡¯ve set the illusion ording to your parameters. It shouldn¡¯t be any problem for us to blend in as beings of this world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, then¡­¡± The silver-haired leader spoke, looking up at the ¡®sky¡¯ above him. There was a stone ceiling less than sixty kilometers above them, yet the world was filled with light. ¡°This seems to be a special underground world. If the information is to be believed, this should be the world called Fyor, correct? I believe that would exin the gravity.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The woman in sses nodded her head. ¡°ording to the local informationwork, that¡¯s right. To be precise, it seems that we are on the fourteenth floor.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Fourteenth¡­¡± Kruz furrowed his brow, before shaking his head. ¡°We have no special information on that one. It was the fifteenth that had the transportation tform. In order to blend in with the world, we¡¯ll make our way there. Lana, is there a guild system here, and any identifying methods for them?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There is one, but each one uses its own methods to identify individuals.¡± The question was met with a shake of the woman¡¯s head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A man with a ck cloth wrapped around his body chuckled. ¡°As long as we all move together, we¡¯ll be rather eye-catching. Thepass is nk, so the Keeper isn¡¯t in this world. We should all split up in groups of five, based on our level and profession. Once we find the right world, we can meet up there easily enough.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Kruz thought it over, before nodding his head. ¡°Lana, send everyone the information packet. We¡¯ll all need the mon sense¡¯ of this world if we¡¯re going to split up like that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lana gave a small grin, eyes shing gold again. ¡°One more thing, Kruz. It appears that there is a limit of three domains per individual in this world. They refer to such a state as a ¡®trinity¡¯, and see it as the highest level of power.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Only three?¡± Kruz asked in surprise, only to receive a nod in return. ¡°I¡­ see. For now, I¡¯ll simply use Strength, Leadership, and Courage. Everyone else that has more, pick three domains to limit yourself to. The rest, seal them in the system. Once we find the Keeper, we¡¯ll release our seals together.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">It felt like a waste, sealing four of his domains away like that, but it would be too obvious that he came from a foreign system if anyone observed his divinity. Lana¡¯s eyes shed again, and Kruz blinked in surprise. ¡°I see¡­ so the trinity is established because of that?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">He was familiar with the fact that three domains working together could produce an exceptionally stable and efficient effect. Such wasmon information in their world. However, there was no need to treat that as the end of their development. Although only two people had managed to reach that point, there was an even more stable field, which was nine domains working as one.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sadly, Kruz himself had not reached that point, as he was stillcking quite arge sum of divine shards. ¡°Everyone, split up! Those of you from races not of this world, speak to Mara for an illusion. Lana, cast an anti-detection power over the group before we go, just to be safe.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lana nodded her head, briefly unsealing one of her domains as a ck mist wrapped around the group. ¡°It¡¯s done. We should be able to move freely, without any preset detection magic or spirits paying special attention to our presence.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Kruz gave another nod at that, allowing his body to float into the air. He had long since adjusted to the gravity of this world. ¡°Lana, Lorenz, Mara, and Jordan. You four will be in my group. Lana is in charge of coordinatingmunication with everyone, so each team should pick a leader and send her a whisper. After this moment, we are not using any systems from our world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After he said that, the four people he named flew up to join him, before they all sped off into the distance. Part of Lana¡¯s information had included the location of the gate leading to the next level, so they were making a direct line for the gate.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was already strange for there to be a hundred gods on this floor of Fyor, but it was not entirely unreasonable, so long as they did not travel together. As they flew, Mara was constantly releasing pulses of light, remotely activating illusions on anyone that sent her a request. The only regret was that they could not create histories for everyone within their group, as that would involve altering the flow of information on too grand of a scale. While Lana was capable of this, it would be immediately noticed and traced back to them. Thus, Kruz decided that it was better for them to maintain a low profile as gods that had been remaining in the ¡®mortal realm¡¯ for quite some time.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Lana¡¯s information mentioned something about a world of gods¡­ perhaps that is where we will find the Keeper. Once we get to an area with a stronger connection to that information, I¡¯ll have her look up how we can enter that world.</i>

 Chapter 891: Info-Wars

    Chapter 891: Info-Wars


    <span style="font-weight:400">As the fastest of the forward groups, it only took Kruz¡¯s group roughly twenty minutes of flying before they reached the area that Lana¡¯s information had mentioned being the gate to the next level. Naturally, he noticed the looks of others who saw the gods flying through the air, but he didn¡¯t pay them much mind. ording to the information Lana received through her divinity, there were quite a few gods in this world, though they did not oftene to this location.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At the same time, there were parts of the information that he couldn¡¯t really make sense of. For instance, there were numerous references to the void, a concept that Kruz wasn¡¯t familiar with. The worst part of using Lana¡¯s divinity for purposes like this was that she only read the mon knowledge¡¯ of an area. While people in this area knew that the void existed, and had epted such as fact, knowledge on what exactly the void was would be far harder toe by.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was the same as knowing that a car existed without knowing exactly whatponents go into creating one. That was the dilemma that Kruz was facing at the moment, and why he was eager to travel to a more advanced area. Densely popted cities often contained more individuals with a better grasp of the world, making that information more easily essible.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Conserve your energy for now, Lana.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Kruz sent her through a divine channel. <i><span style="font-weight:400">We can¡¯t afford to use up all your divinity before we have the information we need.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lana nodded her head in agreement. She knew how precious her own power was inrge-scale infiltrations. She disabled most of her passive abilities, even if they only consumed a small amount of divinity, so that she would be able to afford to use it on information gatheringter. The only ability she continued to maintain was the obfuscation that would prevent others from using their divinity or magic to spy on the group.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Kruz closed his eyes and focused as the five walked through the ck stone tform, finding no resistance from the gate. Soon, they were in an entirely different region, the gravity having just slightly increased for them. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Get Borok to start producing the currency of this world. We¡¯ll need it to purchase travel through the gates.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There were clearly developments that had urred in this world since the first information that they had received from their own Keeper. For instance, the gates between worlds were no longerrge tforms that teleported groups all at once, but had instead be circr portals that people could walk through at their own pace whenever they connected. Such discrepancies showed the age of the original information.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately for Kruz, he wasn¡¯t aware that his group had already been marked as suspicious.


    <hr>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Five gods?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> A young kitsune woman thought internally, keeping a smile on her face as she skipped down the street. <i><span style="font-weight:400">They don¡¯t seem to match any of the retired deities in this area.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The girl looked no more than twelve years old, wearing a frilly pink dress and carrying a matching bag under one arm. She had silver hair, and was humming to herself as she made her way to the store. As she did, she saw five more streaks of light in her peripherals. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Another five? There were only eight gods residing in the fourteenth floor of Fyor. Maybe some would havee to visit through the void, but then why are they flying to the gate?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">She couldn¡¯t be med for her suspicions, as gate travel was far less convenient than simply being able toe and go through the void. As she entered the store, one with a sign in the shape of a coin, a split eye on the face of the coin, she smiled at the shopkeeper. ¡°Hello! Nice to see you again, sir!¡± She waved, moving over to look at the different items on sale.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The shopkeeper, a felyn man appearing in histe thirties, furrowed his brow at the actions of the girl. He was familiar with her, of course, but the greeting that she used was one that had been established with their group. If there was nothing to report, the operative would enter the store quietly, grab some mundane item or sweets, and then leave with a polite thanks.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The fact that she went to the sales counter after that greeting meant that there was something special. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± She muttered to herself while looking over the different items. ¡°It¡¯s been getting more crowded around heretely. Maybe we should move away? No, I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll pass.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although she seemed to be muttering to herself, the shopkeeper was keeping track of every word she said. <i><span style="font-weight:400">More crowded? Then there are visitors that are unexpected. And¡­ two sentences of five words, so two groups of five.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The shopkeeper had an amiable smile as he looked at the girl. ¡°I haven¡¯t heard of any major groups moving into the area. Perhaps it¡¯s just your imagination, dear?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hmm.. maybe!¡± The girl nodded her head in agreement. <i><span style="font-weight:400">So there haven¡¯t been any reports to indicate the gods would be here before, then?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She thought her words over for a moment, grabbing a pair of discounted sweets. ¡°I¡¯ll just have to tell Grandpa about it when I get home!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">To any observers, this was simply a casual exchange between a kind shopkeeper and a young customer. Only the duo knew the information that they were exchanging. The shopkeeper nodded his head with a light chuckle. ¡°Do give him my regards.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once the girl had left, the shopkeeper continued to tend to the other customers. He briefly brought his hands together, synchronizing his memories with his Virtual self.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Within Virtual, the shopkeeper had a far more stern look, sitting at arge desk on a private server, hundreds of others seated at simr desks around him. Several of these people had begun typing out messages on their terminals, chronicling every vaguely suspicious group or phenomenon that they noticed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As soon as the memories came in, the man leaned forward to begin typing as well. ¡°Two groups of five unknown deities sighted on their way to the fifteenthyer of Fyor, at Gate¡¯s Rise. Querying for a report of their arrival. If there is no report, mark it as a high priority investigation.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lana¡¯s obfuscation was more than capable of protecting them from supernatural observation methods. However, when it came to being observed with the naked eye, it would only use more energy than it was worth to make others not aware of their presence. After all, they were seeking to blend in.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately, the hardest moment for them to blend in was naturally the very first moments of their arrival, before they were able to spread out and form different groups. The shopkeeper watched his screen, seeing information appearing. However, it was not reports of the group¡¯s arrival, and instead was about numerous other groups that all originated from the same area.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With every simr report, the information was elevated to the next level, reaching those in the higher ranks. By the time that fifty gods had been reported in total, the news had reached the Grand Elder of the ns. At this point, the group had already been gged for observation, several of their images reproduced from memory to share with the rest of themunity.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I wasn¡¯t having much luck scouring the various worlds with my World Sight, though such was to be expected. If anything, it would take a miracle to happen to find the invaders, which numbered over five thousand. I was primarily focusing on checking remote inds on Earth, seeing if they had spawned in one of those regions.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I was, the other gods and goddesses were idling around, waiting for some form of news toe in. Suddenly, the Terra sisters looked at their Virtual watch, which was blinking. After synchronizing, they jolted upright. ¡°We¡¯ve got a potential lead!¡± One of them shouted, the other one quickly reading out the energy that had been sent to their Virtual selves.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°One hundred deities, all flying in groups of five, making their way through Fyor and moving towards the Fairy Gate. No signs of hostility, but they are unrecognized gods. Additionally, there may be groups following them and moving in simr groups, but that is an unconfirmed report due to them being mortals.¡± The other sister finished.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Immediately, I shifted the focus of my mirrors to the fifteenth floor of Fyor, spreading my World Sight throughout the area. If the information wasing from Terra, then that meant that the ninjas had found them. Given the dy in information transfer, I had to assume that they would be near the gate soon.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now that I had a target to observe, it was just a matter of waiting. World Sight was an incredibly powerful detection-based energy that had no other uses aside from scouting. Unlike other energybinations, there weren¡¯t different ways to use the energy other than to spread it over an area and observe the information it sent back. This made it particrly unpopr among Keepers, as they sought more versatile abilities. However, World Sight was able to observe, to my knowledge, everything in the world. More importantly, it could do so without being detected, unless the other party simrly possessed that energy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After roughly half an hour, I ¡®saw¡¯ a group walking towards the gate, which had just activated to connect to Kione. This group did not appear within my mirrors, which felt rather odd, but they were visible to my World Sight. As I observed them, I saw a girl from the group looking upwards, gazing in the direction that I had ced my mirror.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Having been detected, it would be more suspicious if the point of focus were to suddenly vanish. So, instead, I had it remain in ce, as if performing a regr security sweep. I did, however, ce a number of barriers on my side of the mirror, just in case they had some means to attack me through it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, they all have three domains?¡± I asked in surprise. Given what we knew of UpperLevel, I expected to see individuals with more. Either this was a lower power guild, some simple advanced troops, or¡­ they might have had some kind of system that forcibly sealed their domains. If that was the case, even my World Sight wouldn¡¯t be able to vite the system.


    <hr>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Is everything alright, Lana?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Kruz asked mentally, a smile on his face as he handed over a handful of coins to the gate attendant, preparing to walk through. They wouldn¡¯t know until they were on the other side whether or not the next world was the one where the Keeper was staying. However, at the very least, they¡¯d be able to probe the informationwork again to learn more about the ¡®divine world¡¯.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯s fine. There was a divine power probing at the observation field. It¡¯s been here since we arrived, so¡­ likely the localw enforcement monitoring world travel.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> If Lana still had her other passive abilities operational, she likely would have sensed that someone else had managed to acquire information about her, but that was impossible after taking those powers down to conserve energy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Kruz gave a small nod at that. It wasn¡¯t the first time that they had entered a monitored zone since arriving in Fyor, though it was the first one watched by a god. However, given the importance of the area, it did make sense to pay special attention to this location.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once the group was through the portal, Lana¡¯s eyes pulsed once again, a smile tugging at her lips. Sure enough, this area had far more information than the ce where they had first appeared. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯ve discovered the method of entering the divine world, and it is something any god from our group should be capable of.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Oh?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Kruz couldn¡¯t help ncing back at her. Was the security of the divine world socking?


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">All you have to do is say out loud that you wish to enter the divine realm, and the power of the Goddess of Travel will take you there automatically. Afterwards, saying that you wish to return to the mortal realm will bring you back to the point you departed from.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Kruz heard that, he gave a small chuckle. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Mara, you go to this divine realm, and see if the Keeper is there. Whether or not he is, return after ten minutes. Onlye back sooner if you encounter danger.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara gave a shy nod of her head, looking around before walking off to an alley and muttering to herself. ¡°I wish to enter the divine realm.¡± She said, golden mist wrapping around her body and causing her to vanish.

 Chapter 892: Two Sides Of A Coin

    Chapter 892: Two Sides Of A Coin


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara hid behind a tree filled with golden leaves, having appeared in some orchard. She was using her divine power of Illusions to conceal herself, making her invisible to outsiders. When she activated the system¡¯s Keeper Compass, she found that it was firmly pointing in a single direction, far off into space.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Normally, she would have returned right away to report this to Kruz and the others, but she had been given specific orders to wait ten minutes unless her life was in danger. By now, only two minutes had passed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara saw the door of the nearby house opening, an elven woman walking out in a green dress while humming to herself. Mara¡¯s fists clenched at her side, wanting to pull her gaze away from the woman who was walking over to the various trees and plucking golden fruits. On some level, she knew that this woman was an enemy. She knew that, after the Keeper of this world fell, she would likely be part of those fighting back against the guild to avenge him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">But still, she couldn¡¯t bring herself to inflict harm on the innocent goddess. Mara was not a violent person. If anything, she was incredibly timid. She had been epted into the guild not because of her personality, but because of her abilities. Unless the other party struck first, she never wished to enter a battle. Sometimes, Mara herself questioned how she had managed to get this level of power, but she had a hard time thinking back that far.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">She hasn¡¯t done anything wrong¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Mara thought to herself, leaning against the tree. As she did, the woman seemed to tilt her head. She nced over towards Mara in confusion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is someone there?¡± She asked, beginning to walk over. Mara¡¯s eyes went wide, shocked that someone seemed to have discovered her presence. Should she fight? No, that would draw attention, and she hadn¡¯t been given any orders to fight any local gods. More importantly¡­


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">She doesn¡¯t look mean.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Mara gulped, taking the risk of disabling her illusion ability. If this woman was able to sense her through her ability, then it would only increase suspicion if she didn¡¯t appear.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, hello there.¡± The woman said, crouching down to be at eye level with Mara. She had a smile on her face as she spoke to the invading goddess. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen you around before. Are you looking for anything in particr?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°N-No miss, I¡¯m just exploring.¡± Though Mara said that, she was preparing at any moment to recite the chant and return to the mortal world. If she felt any sign of hostility at all, she was ready to flee.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh?¡± The woman looked at her in surprise, ncing from side to side. With a yful smile, she held out her hand. A golden fruit dropped down from the tree Mara had been leaning against,nding in her hand. ¡°Here, you can have this. Consider it a present for our first meeting.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara¡¯s eyes went wide at the golden fruit. She could feel the divinity contained within, and couldn¡¯t take her eyes off of it. ¡°What¡­ what does it do?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The woman seemed surprised at the question, before her eyes became softer. ¡°This is my golden apple. If you eat it, you can restore some of your divine energy over time. Awesome, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara slowly nodded her head, reaching out to ept the apple and holding it against her chest. ¡°Thank you¡­¡± She muttered softly, a small smile forming on her face. <i><span style="font-weight:400">She¡¯s really nice¡­</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What¡¯s your name, little one?¡± The woman asked, reaching out to stroke a hand through Mara¡¯s hair, making her close her eyes in happiness.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m¡­ Mara. I¡¯m a god of¡­ Illusions, Transformation, and Trickery.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Trickery, huh?¡± The woman smiled yfully, lightly poking Mara on the nose. Her eyes blinked open, going cross to look at the woman¡¯s finger. ¡°You don¡¯t seem like the type. My name¡¯s Julia, by the way. Julia Hart.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara shook her head, refocusing on Julia¡¯s face. ¡°R-Right. Well¡­ it was a pleasure to meet you, Miss Hart--¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Julia.¡± She corrected, shaking one finger at Mara.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Julia¡­¡± Mara nodded briefly, cheeks flushing. ¡°It was a pleasure meeting you, Julia¡­ but I need to get going. My friends are waiting for me.¡± There was a tinge of sadness shing by Mara¡¯s face as she thought about returning. Julia truly seemed like a nice person, and the thought of having to fight herter pained Mara.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia saw the brief change in her expression, blinking her eyes and cing a hand on Mara¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Do you need help with anything?¡± She asked with a warm tone. Mara was caught off guard by the question., quickly shaking her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°N-No, I¡¯m fine, really.¡± She held the apple close to her chest. After a moment, she seemed to make a decision. ¡°There¡¯s¡­ something I¡¯d like to give you. To thank you for the apple.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia tilted her head, Mara holding one hand out. A golden coin condensed in her palm, Julia reaching out and taking it gently. ¡°Oh? And what¡¯s this?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s my¡­ Coin of Many Faces.¡± She said, her head lowered shyly. ¡°If you flip the coin while thinking of someone, and infuse a bit of divine power into it, it will turn you into that person. The change is based on the information you have on them, though¡­ so you can¡¯t turn into someone with just their name. And¡­ it teaches you how they would react to different circumstances, based on what you know. You¡¯ll just have a sort of feeling about what they would do.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia¡¯s eyes went wide, looking down at the coin. ¡°That¡¯s amazing, Mara. That¡¯s worth way more than a single apple¡­ would it be alright if I give you a few more?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara¡¯s smile grew wider at the question. ¡°I¡¯d like that, Julia.¡± In truth, she wanted to give the apples to her friends. Maybe they¡¯d decide to give her special treatment after the battle if they knew how helpful she was?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia nodded her head, pulling four more apples from her basket and handing them to Mara. ¡°I guess this coin must be why you have the Trickery domain, huh?¡± She asked with a chuckle, though Mara gave a somewhat saddened look. ¡°Uhm¡­ I¡¯m sorry, did I say something wrong?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, it¡¯s just¡­¡± Mara bit her lip, deciding to be at least somewhat honest with Julia. ¡°I don¡¯t really know if this is the real me. I¡¯ve used that coin so many times to be different people. I don¡¯t know if the original me was Mara, or someone else anymore. I know¡­ I think I¡¯ve been Mara for at least a few years now, but my faces just blurred together over time. So please¡­ don¡¯t overuse the coin. I think I¡¯ve fixed that problem, but I don¡¯t want to risk you losing your sense of identity like I might have, okay?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia¡¯s eyes went wide, clutching the coin and nodding her head. ¡°I¡¯ll be careful, Mara.¡± She promised, giving Mara¡¯s shoulder a gentle squeeze. ¡°Now, you said you have some friends waiting for you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh? Oh, right¡­¡± Mara nodded, putting the five apples in her inventory. Thankfully, this world had an inventory system as well, so the action was well rehearsed for her. ¡°I¡­ wish to return to the mortal realm.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Golden mist wrapped around Mara¡¯s body, and she gave onest look at Julia before she vanished. When she reappeared, she was back in that same alley that she had left from. Kruz and the others were waiting with their arms crossed. Just as she was about to reach for her inventory to take out the apples again, Lana¡¯s voice rang out in her mind. <i><span style="font-weight:400">You¡¯rete. What made you take so long while we were waiting in this trash heap of a world.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mira¡¯s hand twitched, stopping just as she was opening her inventory. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I-I¡¯m sorry. There were other people around, so I had to find somewhere safe to leave.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">It would have been faster just to kill them, with your strength.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Lana snorted mentally, though Kruz shot her a look.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">We don¡¯t want to arouse suspicion before we find the Keeper. Save the bloodlust for after that.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He scolded, causing Lana to look away briefly. Afterwards, he turned his gaze back to Mara. <i><span style="font-weight:400">So, what did thepass say?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara gulped, knowing that this was one fact she couldn¡¯t hide from them. <i><span style="font-weight:400">He¡¯s¡­ in the same realm. But it¡¯s in the distant stars, not on the same. We¡¯ll need us to send us when we get to that realm.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Kruz let out a sigh of relief, nodding his head. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Good, now we have a starting point. From what Lana has been saying, the world of the gods is in the same realm as the known as Earth. Lana, pass the message along to everyone and have them meet up on Earth. I guess we just got unlucky with our gate timing.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lana nodded her head in agreement, though Mara had her head lowered. She had already decided not to give them the apples that Julia gave her. Instead, she simply thought to herself. <i><span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s right¡­ if they knew about someone able to make these, they¡¯d want to capture and exploit her. I don¡¯t want that to happen. I¡¯m sorry¡­</i>


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy¡¯s fists clenched as she watched the scene disyed in the air. To help the others keep up with what was going on, I was using my illusions to project what I was seeing with my World Sight. Golden mist was circting around Aurivy¡¯s feet, clearly prepared to jump to Julia¡¯s aid if Mara had shown even the slightest sign of wanting to fight.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, when she heard Mara talk about herself, Aurivy¡¯s face had tensed up for an entirely different reason. ¡°Why do you have to make me feel bad for an invader¡­ Dale, is that coin what she said it is?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My gaze flicked to the coin in Julia¡¯s hand, focusing intently on it. After a moment, I nodded my head. ¡°There aren¡¯t any traps. It¡¯s a replicated divine artifact. She probably has the original on herself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Alena bit her lip, watching the scene with sad eyes. ¡°Keeper¡­ may I ask a favor?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What is it?¡± I knew that I had a soft spot for Alena, due to her being the incarnation of Irena. If there was something that I could do for her, I¡¯d happilyply.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If we get the chance to do so without arousing suspicion, can we bring Mara here? I¡¯d like to talk with her before the battle, if possible. Watching her expressions and how she is behaving, I think that there is a chance we can bring her to our side. At the very least, I think it would be cruel not to try.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I furrowed my brow, taking a deep breath. ¡°We¡¯d be asking her to abandon her home, and all of her friends.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ve seen that face before, Keeper.¡± Alena interjected. ¡°That¡¯s the face of someone who doesn¡¯t have a home. I don¡¯t know the exact details, obviously, but¡­ I think there is a chance. At the very least, we lose nothing. If she refuses, and reveals our location, it will only bring the battle closer. If she attacks us, Lady Aurivy can send her back before she can do any true damage to us.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a long sigh, nodding my head. ¡°If the opportunity presents itself, I¡¯ll do what I can.¡±

 Chapter 893: Hope

    Chapter 893: Hope


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now that the specific realm of the Keeper had been found, everyone began to make their way towards Earth. As the gods of the guild had already been identified by the ninjas, this development did not escape their notice. However, the ninjas had not identified the majority of the thousands of mortals following them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was because mortals were infinitely moremon than gods in the world. Unless the mortals did something suspicious, they would not easily be identified by their presence alone. And given that Lana had provided them all with the mon sense¡¯ of this world, very few had managed to do something that would draw the eyes of the ninjas.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Everyone that was brought with the guild was brought because they had some form of useful skill. For the gods, this skill was obviously theirbat power. For others, it might be their skills with infiltration, or their skills in construction. Anything that might be necessary when taking over another world and removing the Keeper in power. There were even some mortals who had grasped special skills capable of threatening gods.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The invaders gathered on Earth, the gods using their own divine power to pay for the travel fees their members would need, sending the currency over their guild system. Once on Earth, they designated a meeting area far away from civilizednd. Oddly, as they passed through the city streets, they seemed to decide to conduct their business as far away from the eyes of others as possible. As if they were worried that their actions might impact the citizens of this.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Well, it wouldn¡¯t be good if we killed our future subjects ahead of time.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Kruz couldn¡¯t help but consider this the reason for his wariness of the eyes of others. The power of the void had not been explored within their world, so they were oblivious to the subtle maniptions that had beenid out in everyday media, simply waiting for the invaders to find it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It took a grand total of one week for everyone to gather at the designated point, a teau situated at the center of a mountain ring. Temporary lodgings had been established, letting those who arrived earlier rest and wait for those falling behind. Kruz gave a small nod of his head as he did a head count, pleased that none of his subordinates were absent. ¡°Good, it seems that nobody has noticed our presence in this world yet.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now that they were certain to be alone, Kruz no longer restrictedmunication to private messaging. ¡°As you all know by now, the Keeper resides within this realm. However, this world has achieved space travel, and it would seem that he is not on this. Thus, we will need our own ship to reach him. us?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">A silver-haired man in a long robe nodded his head as he stepped forward. He was the God of Construction that had been brought by the guild in case something like this was necessary. ¡°All craftsmen,e forward.¡± He called out, over a hundred individuals walking to stand in front of him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">us closed his eyes, mentally choosing the blueprint that he wanted to create. It needed to berge enough to house all of them, while at the same time having the speed and defensive capabilities to withstand any monsters that they may find in space. There was even the chance that the Keeper could ambush them, making it necessary to have an emergency warp function.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As soon as he had selected the blueprint, he held one hand forward. A silver wire-frame outline of the ship appeared, over two kilometers long with a rough, almost blocky shape. Once the outline appeared, the craftsmen rushed forward, each cing their hands on various points of the design to dedicate their bor¡¯.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ripples of light spread out from the hands of each craftsman, the materials of the ship seeming to simply appear out of nothing as they stood there. us nodded his head as he watched this, turning to face Kruz. ¡°In six hours, the construction will beplete.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Kruz smiled at that, pleased that they would have their ship shortly. ¡°In that case, everyone else can rest and get prepared for departure. We don¡¯t know how far away the Keeper¡¯s is, so this may be thest proper rest we get in a while.¡± He knew that as soon as they were on the move, they would need to be constantly prepared for battle. In the off chance that they were detected approaching, the Keeper could choose to attack them without any warning.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At his words, everyone nodded, making their way to their various shelters to rx. Seeing this all, Mara meekly walked into one of the more distant buildings, still thinking about the people that they had seen in the week since their arrival.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was the first invasion that the guild had participated in since Mara joined. More importantly, it was registered as the most difficult invasion that the guild had conducted since its founding. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Is it really necessary for us to kill people to im other worlds?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was no shortage ofnd in the realm they came from, and most of their crafting techniques did not consume physical resources, as was being disyed in the current project. Rather, it was the system itself that provided the resources forrge projects, so long as sufficientbor was present.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was simply considered a mark of status if guilds managed to control multiple worlds, allowing them to act as the kings of their own domains. Her inventory opened, and she nced at the five golden apples residing within it. Was it really worth it to spill so much blood for something like that?


    <span style="font-weight:400">She reached into her pocket, clutching the golden coin that resided there. She knew that if she flipped that coin, she could be strong. All of her doubts would vanish, and she would be able to fight better than almost anyone in the guild. Still, she didn¡¯t flip the coin for the very reason that she had warned Julia. Whenever she flipped the coin, she wasn¡¯t entirely sure she would be able to go back to being herself afterward. As such, she would only use it in a dire circumstance.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she thought about that, golden mist suddenly rose around her feet, much the same as when she went to the divine realm. Before she had the chance to even question what was going on, the scenery around her had changed. Now, she was within a stone castle, standing on a red carpet and surrounded by unfamiliar faces.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At the end of the red carpet was a series of stairs, leading up to a gilded throne that a lone figure sat atop. Mara¡¯s eyes went wide, confirming with herpass that the Keeper was seated directly before her. <i><span style="font-weight:400">N-No, how did they find me?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She asked herself, eyes darting around.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s okay¡­¡± A girl spoke up in a gentle tone, walking over towards her. Mara recognized her small build and pink hair from the information that Lana had given them. ¡°We just want to talk. After we¡¯re done, we¡¯ll send you right back to your camp.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°L-Lady Aurivy.¡± Mara gulped, not wanting to cause a scene. Her hand gripped the coin in her pocket, ready to use it at a moment¡¯s notice. ¡°What¡­ what do you want to talk about?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°First, I wanted to thank you.¡± Aurivy said with a small smile. ¡°Julia is someone very important to me. I saw how nice you were when you met her, and I appreciate that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara¡¯s eyes went wider at that, realizing that they had been watching her for almost the entire time that they had been in the world. ¡°If¡­ if you¡¯ve seen us that long¡­ why haven¡¯t you tried to stop us? You know that we¡¯re here to kill him, right¡­?¡± She pointed at the Keeper, and an intense hostility pressed down on her, originating from a pair of twins standing in the room.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh, I don¡¯t know why, but I suddenly really hate her.¡± One of the twins spoke up, the other looking at her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I know, right? I mean, we already knew that was their purpose. Maybe it¡¯s the influence that the big girl upstairs left on us?¡± After saying that, the two started taking deep breaths, the hostility gradually vanishing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy offered a somewhat awkward smile, nodding her head. ¡°We know why you¡¯re here. This isn¡¯t the first time we¡¯ve been invaded.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Then¡­ why are you so calm? I could¡­ I could attack right now, you know?¡± Mara pointed out, though she gave a nce at the other gods and goddesses present. If she were to use her full power, there was the chance that she could kill the Keeper, but she¡¯d have to give up her own life in exchange.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy lifted a hand, lightly chopping at the top of Mara¡¯s head. The petite goddess crouched down, her hands on her head as she wore an aggrieved expression. ¡°We are talking to you because we¡¯re sure you won¡¯t do that.¡± Aurivy said in that same, gentle tone. ¡°We want to find another way around this.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡­ that¡¯s not possible.¡± Mara said in a quiet tone. ¡°Either you kill us or we kill you¡­ that¡¯s how invasions work.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There is another way.¡± The Keeper spoke up from the throne, causing Mara to look up at him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Another way¡­?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">He gave a small nod. ¡°If invaders choose to peacefully integrate in the world, they are no longer regarded as enemies. They will gain the ability to live among the world that they were invading, though they won¡¯t be able to return to their original world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara¡¯s eyes went wide, before a look of sorrow filled her face. ¡°The others¡­ they¡¯ll never agree to that. They¡¯ll just use me having been here to teleport over and fight you directly.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper nodded his head again. ¡°This offer isn¡¯t for the rest of them. Just you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara blinked in confusion, Aurivy smiling and exining to her. ¡°You had the chance to do harm to Julia, and you instead showed her kindness. None of the others we¡¯ve seen have done anything simr. Like you said, they¡¯d take this chance to attack right now, while you¡¯re willing to talk with us.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara bit her lips at that. ¡°You¡¯ll¡­ you¡¯ll still have to kill them though, won¡¯t you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy simply nodded her head at that. ¡°That¡¯s right. The only way for us to win an invasion is when all invaders have either been in or peacefully converted. We can¡¯t stop the bloodshedpletely, but we can at least make sure that you won¡¯t be part of it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara closed her eyes tight. The worst part was that she was really considering this. She didn¡¯t have any positive emotions regarding her guild, aside from the fact that they gave her a home. She couldn¡¯t even really remember who she was before joining them. ¡°I¡­ I can¡¯t.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy blinked at that, looking somewhat resigned. ¡°May I ask why?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s¡­ the kill switch. After joining a guild, the guild master has the right to execute anyone in the guild through the system. And we can¡¯t leave the guild without the guild master¡¯s permission¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy¡¯s eyes went wide, a mix of rm and joy on her face. ¡°You mean, if you could leave the guild safely, you¡¯d be willing to join us?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara looked up at her at that, eyes watering. She had wanted out of the guild for so long. She knew that her life would be at risk the moment she tried, as she was ¡®too useful¡¯ for them to let go of her. Whatever had happened in her past, they had given her a home, but also strung a noose around her neck.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I-I told you, it¡¯s not possible.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ashley?¡± The Keeper spoke up, a red-skinned woman walking forward.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m just going to take a look at your system, okay? Try not to fight back, since it might sting a little. I¡¯ve never done this with an invader before.¡± The woman said kindly, before mobilizing her divine power and having it rush into Mara.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara could tell that the woman¡¯s divine power usage was less sophisticated than the gods of their world. Something she found rather odd, given that this woman should have been one of the greatest gods to exist in this realm. Thankfully, the divine energy rushing into Mara carried no hostility, causing her to feel a gentle warmth rather than the stinging that she had been warned about.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay, I¡¯ve isted your original system.¡± She said after a few moments, wiping her brow. ¡°If you want, I can remove that system from you. I¡¯ll have to remove the divine power that¡¯s temporarily giving you our system as well, though. Otherwise, they might be able to use it as a link to put the system back on you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara hesitated briefly at that. ¡°Doesn¡¯t that mean that I will be systemless¡­?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Only for a moment.¡± Aurivy ensured her. ¡°We have a device in this world that can grant the system to people that don¡¯t have it. You¡¯ll need to manually train your levels up, but it should be easy enough with the skills you have from your own world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara bit her lips gently, before nodding her head and closing her eyes. Taking that as a sign, Ashley immediately severed the bonds between Mara and both systems, stripping her of all of her sses and levels. Once that was done, Aurivy took Mara¡¯s hand, cing a spherical stone inside of it. ¡°Use this, and you¡¯ll truly be a part of our world, Mara.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara opened her eyes, looking at the stone. It was easy for her to figure out its usage, and soon the system that had been stripped away rushed back into her. Well, one of them, at least. As Mara looked at the various screens appearing before her again, her eyes went wide in sudden panic.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Aurivy asked, her voice rmed as if worried that they had failed to properly free her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The¡­ the apples are gone.¡± Mara¡¯s inventory had been wiped when the system was removed from her. This meant that she had lost all of her equipment, supplies, and the apples that she had gotten from Julia.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy paused briefly, before letting out a lightugh. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll take you to meet her again after this is all over.¡±

 Chapter 894: Threat Assessment

    Chapter 894: Threat Assessment


    <span style="font-weight:400">It had only been a few minutes since giving the order to rest, but already Kruz¡¯s brow was furrowed. The door to his hut swung open quickly, Lana walking in with a grave expression. ¡°Krus, this is bad--¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I know, Mara¡¯s gone.¡± He said with a nod. He was thinking over the possibilities of what had happened, coupled together with the information he knew. ¡°If she died a week after entering Sanctum, there is likely some hidden trap within the divine realm that she triggered. Something that only gods would know about, like needing to return there on a regr basis to ¡®maintain their divinity¡¯. It would exin why your information packet didn¡¯t contain anything like that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lana bit her lip, nodding her head. It was unthinkable that Mara had turned traitor. After all, she had no way to defect to the enemy side without Kruz activating the killmand as guild master. Furthermore, there was no sign of anyone entering her temporary shelter.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After a moment, Kruz spoke up again. ¡°Have you detected anyone prying against the obfuscation fieldtely?¡± He asked, looking sharply at Lana, who shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, not ever since we left the civilized areas. There hasn¡¯t been any signs that we¡¯re being followed, either.¡± Kruz gave a nod when he heard that, trusting Lana¡¯s abilities.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Just to be safe, do an information sweep of the camp. Make sure that there¡¯s nobody here hiding that shouldn¡¯t be.¡± When she received that order, Lana gave a sharp nod, focusing her divinity.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After a few moments, she shook her head again. ¡°The only people here are ours. I extended the range, and the closest sapient life is more than fifty kilometers away.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Kruz let out a small sigh when he heard that. The evidence continued to support the theory that there was a trap within Sanctum. He could certainly confirm it if he had Lana go there to investigate herself, but¡­ if there truly was a trap, there was the chance that she would fall for it as well. Mara was an importantbat asset, but she wasn¡¯t close to the level of importance Kruz ced on Lana.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Let the others know. Tell us to use his divinity to speed up the ship¡¯s construction. The enemy might be able to gain some knowledge from Mara¡¯s death, so we¡¯ll need to leave immediately. And¡­ tell him to add a cloaking device to the ship.¡± Normally, it would have been Mara¡¯s job to hide the ship while they were traveling, but that task now had to be delegated to the ship itself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lana nodded her head, immediately turning and leaving the small hut. As she did, Kruz looked down to focus on his hands. A small, geometric pattern appeared, a spell formation that was simr, but not entirely the same as what Kruz knew. ¡°Her illusion is still in ce¡­ did she take into ount that she might die, and set it as a permanent pattern recement?¡± This was a raid, so there was the chance that any member of the guild could die at a moment¡¯s notice. As such, it wasn¡¯t unreasonable to assume that Mara might have made such a decision.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara was currently seated with Aurivy, shivering as she leaned against the halfling goddess for support. The realization that everyone thought she was dead¡­ that she¡¯d need to watch them all die herself, had begun setting in. While she didn¡¯t seem to have any regrets about her decision, it was still a lot for her to process.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At the same time, I was able to conclude that they really had hidden a number of their domains. For example, Mara was not simply the Goddess of Illusions, Trickery, and Transformation. Once she had been released from her old system, the domains Identity and Substitution had appeared within her divinity.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Mara.¡± I spoke up, the girl turning her head to face me. ¡°What will happen if Kruz dies? In terms of the guild rules, I mean.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara bit her lip, clearly thinking over the implications. ¡°There is an automatic transfer of leadership. Starting from the Guild Master, it will go to the next highest rank with the longest history in the guild.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So it won¡¯t dissolve the guild or automatically trigger the kill switches.¡± I nodded my head. ¡°In that case¡­ What about when an invasion doesn¡¯t return? What happens to the guild members left behind.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That one took some thought. ¡°If¡­ if guild members are left behind during a raid, they are automatically treated as a sub-branch of the guild, the leadership of that branch transferred to the highest ranking member left behind.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave another nod. Unfortunately, I wouldn¡¯t be able to sell information on UpperLevel to the Gilded Branch even though I had a willing convert like Mara. The fact that I had been able to get her so easily likely meant that her situation was somewhat prevalent in UpperLevel¡¯s world, making it easier for defending Keepers to find one or two members of a guild that would be willing to leave it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Doing so required that they would be able to get past his security measures, in this case the killmand. Not entirely impossible, as we proved, but it is still a difficult step to take if someone isn¡¯t prepared. ¡°I see¡­ in that case, I know that this is a lot to ask of you. However, I need to know who I should watch out for in your guild when the battle starts.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara gave a small gulp, looking at the illusion of Kruz being projected. ¡°Kruz is¡­ a support role. He leads from the front, but he¡¯s not the strongest. His sealed domains right now should be War, Territory, Loyalty, and Law.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes went wide, recognizing that there were some incredibly dangerous powers within those domains. ¡°And he¡¯s <i><span style="font-weight:400">not</i><span style="font-weight:400"> the strongest?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Surprisingly, Mara shook her head. ¡°N-No sir, the strongest is Jordan. He is only a four-domain god, but he is one of the top twobat powers of the guild. His domains are Death, Ruin, Darkness, and Ice.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod at that. Certainly, it was hard to beat a deity of death when it came tobat power. ¡°You said one of the top two¡­ but I thought he was the strongest? Then, who is the other one?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara had an almost bashful smile on her face as she raised her hand. ¡°M-Me, sir¡­ when I enter a fight, I turn my opponents into illusions, while making it so that they take any damage I would have taken. Jordan can¡¯t beat me unless he kills all of the illusions under my control, but by that time I would have already turned him into one¡­ Anyone my divinity touches, I can turn into an illusion, and then anyone they touch bes one, too. I can make my enemies fight for me to spread the effects.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My brow twitched at that. In truth, Mara was an utterly terrifying opponent. If not for me having the Illusion domain myself, I don¡¯t know if I would be able to beat her in a one-on-one confrontation. ¡°In that case, if you were the strongestbat power of the guild, why didn¡¯t the guild master use his Loyalty domain to make you loyal to the guild?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara shook her head. ¡°B-Because of my Trickery domain. If someone uses a mind control effect on me, that domain is set to automatically attack that power. It¡¯s something I can¡¯t stop even if I want to, a rule I put up before I can remember. Even if he used the domain on me, it would wear off as soon as my divinity finished attacking it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes turned a bit softer when I heard that. If it was before she could remember, I was certain that it was one of her earlier experiments to counteract the coin she held. However, it obviously didn¡¯t register the coin¡¯s power as a mind control effect, or else she would be able to recall the event. Or perhaps it simply didn¡¯t work if the power used against her was her own?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Either way, I turned my attention back to the illusion. Kruz was standing up and getting ready to leave, a sign that their construction deity had forcibly sped up their ship¡¯s progress. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It won¡¯t be long now before they get here.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I thought to myself, before I was interrupted by Mara¡¯s voice.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°U-Uhm, Keeper sir?¡± She spoke up, looking timidly at me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What is it?¡± I asked, surprised that she had taken the initiative to speak.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I don¡¯t really know how to ask this, but¡­ aren¡¯t you all wasting too much divinity with your powers?¡± She looked around at that. ¡°I¡­ I noticed it when my game system was removed. And I¡¯ve been watching you since. It¡¯s a really crude way of using your domains, and it causes a lot of the power to be lost.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Not just myself, everyone in the room turned to look at Mara at that. ¡°Crude?¡± Aurivy asked in confusion. ¡°Okay, I get it for Dale. He hasn¡¯t had quite as much training as the rest in controlling our powers. But even Ash?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara nodded her head slightly. ¡°T-That¡¯s right. Do you not use divine circuits?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing the term, Ashley seemed to simply manifest in front of Mara, her eyes wide. ¡°Exin.¡± She spoke up in an eager tone, Mara yipping and backing up in her seat. Clearly, if circuits were involved, Ashley appeared to believe that it would be rted to her domain of Technology.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°D-Divine circuits. They¡¯re¡­ kind of like ki paths? But for divinity. They¡¯re paths that you run throughout your body, and you can program in abilities you want to use to minimize your energy cost.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I heard her exnation, my brows furrowed. My World Sight focused entirely on Mara, piercing beneath the surface. I had avoided doing something like this because I thought that they might notice, and the information is hard to read. However, now that I was using it on her, I could see that there were five primary ¡®nodes¡¯ within her divinity, with sharp lines leading off in multiple directions. Each line seemed to carry another aspect of a particr power.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For instance, there was one line from the Illusion node that carried the meaning of creating an illusion, another for dispelling, one for sensing, and so on. I wasn¡¯t able to recognize the meanings behind the lines of other nodes, likely because I myself didn¡¯t have those domains. When the lines crossed with the lines of another node, they formed a smaller secondary node, likely indicating a ¡®programmed¡¯ power.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So that¡¯s how you do it.¡± I muttered, looking at Mara in awe. ¡°I was wondering how you could so easily stabilize after having five domains. Could you do me a favor, and activate a simple invisibility effect?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara nodded her head, and I could see her Illusion and Trickery nodes lighting up, two lines shooting off to one of the many secondary nodes. Once that secondary node lit up, her body becamepletely invisible. If not for my World Sight, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to sense her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is it difficult to establish a divine circuit?¡± I asked once Mara revealed herself. This technique would not only allow us to use our divine powers more efficiently, but also stabilize deities with more than three domains. Otherwise, someone like Kruz with seven domains would have trouble using any of his divine abilities without bacsh.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She tilted her head in thought, clearly trying topare her own experiences with that of an unfamiliar world. ¡°Maybe at first? After you set up your first circuit, the rest are easy. It¡¯s just a matter of practice, I guess?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod, thinking it over. Most likely, those who had experience cultivating the Profound Star Laws would have the easiest time setting up those circuits. After all, they would have already learned how to study each individual part of a given domain. Maybe this was what I needed to finally push myself to the fourth rank¡­ I¡¯d have to give it a try once the invasion was over.

 Chapter 895: Conflict

    Chapter 895: Conflict


    <span style="font-weight:400">The ship carrying Kruz and the others was really quite impressive to behold. That said, it was somewhat easy to get an idea of their civilization level going by the design that they had used. Once it started moving, it was able to erect a field around itself that propelled it to one thousand times the speed of light. After that, it ceased elerating, simply coasting at that speed while moving in my direction.


    <span style="font-weight:400">One thousand times light speed sounded impressive, but in reality it was incredibly slow for an interster vehicle. The nearest star to Earth was roughly five light years away, which would take them over forty hours to reach that destination in a straight line. More importantly, I <i><span style="font-weight:400">wasn¡¯t</i><span style="font-weight:400"> on the nearest star to Earth. Rather, I was on a star roughly two hundred light years away, to ensure that there was no chance of the fallout reaching any of my inhabited worlds.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If I wanted to wait for them to arrive at this location, I would need to wait over two months. That was¡­ entirely uneptable. I could likely master the concept of divine circuits in that time if I wanted, but I would rather wait until I was back in the Admin Room to practice that, so that I would be able to ensure a safe training environment.


    <span style="font-weight:400">So, I waited, but not for <i><span style="font-weight:400">two months.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Instead, I allowed the projected illusion to pass while maintaining my vignce. After roughly an hour, they had managed to urately determine which star they were flying towards, and estimated how long it would take them to reach it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At this point, I expected one of them toe forward and open a portal to shorten the distance. Instead, they announced the travel duration to their entire crew, and told them to settle in for a long journey¡­


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Seriously?¡± I looked over at Mara in confusion. ¡°Do you not have a Travel deity in your group?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara dipped her head slightly at that, before shaking it. ¡°T-There used to be one. However, he was killed by a ss Seven monster while out exploring. He always liked to go off on his own, and said it was no fun to travel with a group.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I brought a hand up to massage my forehead. ¡°And you don¡¯t have any ships faster than this?¡± At the current speed of the enemy vessel, we could make a dozen round trips in one of my world¡¯s basic ships before they managed to reach this ce.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We don¡¯t really travel to the stars much in our world.¡± Mara exined gently. ¡°Instead, there are parallel nes that can be established if too many people upy a single area. Our space travel is mostly to neighboring stars for special resources.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but let out a long sigh at that. ¡°Ashley, how much damage could you cause to the gods if you made their reactor go critical?¡± Naturally, destroying their ship would kill all of the normal mortals, but the vacuum of space had little danger to a god.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley blinked, thinking it over before shaking her head. ¡°One of the shields around their ship prevents divine power from entering from the outside. As long as that shield is up, I won¡¯t be able to influence their ship with my divinity. Not without expending a massive amount of energy.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara seemed to perk up at that, though I could tell from her surface thoughts that she was simply happy that she found something to be proud of with her world¡¯s technology. The fact that I could even read her surface thoughts meant that she had fully epted being brought into my world. ¡°Kel?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The ursa girl looked over, blinking before she grinned. ¡°I just have to smash the shield, right?¡± She asked, to which I nodded my head. ¡°Is it fine if I smash the ship along with it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If you can take out both with a single strike, that would be even better.¡± At the very least, it would stop Ashley from needing to use any of her own energy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keliope nodded her head eagerly, taking a deep breath. ¡°Alright, can you show me the exterior of their ship? I need a real time update if I want my strike to connect.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I arched my brow, creating a second illusion that showed their ship flying through space, the stars visibly moving in the background. Keliope lowered her stance, holding one hand forward with her fingers curled, circting her ki. I recognized the stance, my eyes going wide. This was a move that I myself had practiced.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keliope¡¯s eyes began to glow. ¡°Aurivy, mind helping me with the aim assist? This is going to be a tough one.¡± As she asked that, the three domains of Strength, Defense, and Fortitude began to circle around her hands.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy quickly nodded her head, creating a portal in front of Keliope. Unlike her usual misty portals, this one appeared incredibly solid, a ring of gold waiting for Keliope¡¯s strike. Keliope gave a small grin, taking half a step forward as her hand thrust into the ring.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Eleventh Hand, God Shattering!¡± She called out, her ki pouring through her arm and into her hand. This was one of the final attacks of the Twelve Shattering Hands, backed by the power of her trinity.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The portal that Aurivy created shook, cracks forming along it as she focused on transmitting the attack across space. In the illusion I had created of the ship¡¯s exterior, I could see a tiny golden dot just above the outeryer of the shield. A momentter, the shield shattered, the entire ship caving inward before exploding.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The attack had happened too fast for them to properly protect their guild members, so I scanned through and did a quick head count. ¡°The mortals are all dead. As for the gods¡­ it looks like fifteen of them died.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Only fifteen!?¡± Keliope asked with wide eyes. ¡°I knew I should have gone for the final strike¡­ I just didn¡¯t think Aurivy¡¯s portal could handle it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Either way, let¡¯s get going.¡± I said, slowly rising to my feet. ¡°Mara¡­ stay here.¡± I told her in a gentle tone as everyone gathered their armaments. I didn¡¯t want her to have to fight her old friends.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara¡¯s eyes went wide as Aurivy¡¯s mist wrapped around us. A momentter, we were standing in the depths of space, our eyes trained on the exploding ship ahead. Roughly ny shes of light exited the explosion, each belonging to one of the guild¡¯s gods.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I mark the adventure begun, let our heroes ovee adversity.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Lifre¡¯s voice echoed out in the space around us, her divinity flowing through us.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona sped her hands together, a gentle light wrapping around our bodies. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Let the glory of life ovee the harsh rule of death.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> With her blessing, Jordan wouldn¡¯t be able to simply kill us unless he could ovee Udona¡¯s power.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana gave a small grin, flicking her wrist. Her whip extended with a crack that seemed audible even in the void of space. All around us, the stars seemed to go out one by one, a true darkness consuming the battlefield until even the ship that they emerged from vanished.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thest to handle their preparations were the Terra twins, who brought themselves together to form the Origin of Fate. This would be her first debut in a Keeper battle, so I was quite looking forward to the results.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once our enemies saw who they were facing, they immediately unsealed their own divinity. It was clear to all that this would be the final battle of their raid.


    <hr>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Already? This is too soon!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Kruz grit his teeth, looking around at the other gods. They hadn¡¯t been able to escape the ship without damage, but they still outnumbered the Keeper¡¯s forces five to one.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At the earliest, Kruz expected that they would be fighting the Keeper after traveling one quarter of the journey. That seemed to be the best estimate that they coulde up with. However, barely an hour and a half after leaving Earth, not long after determining their destination, they were already being attacked?


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">They¡¯ve been watching us from the start¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Kruz couldn¡¯t imagine how they had managed to observe them for so long without Lana noticing, but it was obvious from the swift attack that they had been prepared. The only thing he coulde up with was that they truly had gotten information from Mara¡¯s death.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Everyone, full power!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Kruz called out, immediately unsealing his domains. Lana and the others all did the same, and Kruz was d to see that Jordan hadn¡¯t died. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Even without Mara, as long as we have this lineup, it should be fine</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Kruz heard a faint crack in the space around him, the world plunged into total darkness. All that existed within this empty void were his own forces and those of the enemy. Kruz flew back to the rear of his troops, spreading his arms out as he activated his divine buffs. The ckndscape shifted, solid ground appearing beneath his feet as it fought back against the darkness.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unlike the gods of this world, who used chants to focus their divinity, those with divine circuits merely needed to activate the saved power. If the power they wished for was not saved, they would have to follow the lines of their divinity to create it, which was typically a simple task if practiced properly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">On the enemy team, there was a ck-haired girl holding a whip, whose eyes went wide in surprise when part of her darkness was overtaken. Clearly, this darkness was one of her own abilities, though Kruz merely smirked at that. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Jordan, you go--</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Before he could finish hismand, he saw that Jordan was already being engaged by one of the enemies, a woman with nine fox tails. Each tail had a jewel floating over it, shooting out multiple beams of different colored light. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Nine domains¡­? No, that must just be a special artifact.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Kruz was aware of the types of artifacts which could be acquired from Fragments of Acidia, as that was a game popr in his own world as well. While they hadn¡¯t been able to reproduce the game¡¯s technology, getting their artifact production methods weren¡¯t as difficult.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thinking that, Kruz reached into his inventory, retrieving an ornately decorated longsword. This was the weapon that he received from that very game, reproduced in the real world. He nned to use this sword to sweep away the enemy forces.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He held his weapon, the Sword of Law, high into the air, focusing his divinity into it. As his divinity poured into the sword, characters began to appear along the de. ¡®New Law: Strength in Numbers¡¯.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, before he could swing his sword, he felt a gazending on him from the distance. Of the enemy units, there was only one being that was not currently engaged in battle. She had long ck hair and feline features. Her eyes seemed to be bottomless abysses. The moment her gaze locked with Kruz¡¯s, Kruz felt as if he couldn¡¯t swing his sword. As if the moment he did, everyone there would die.


    <span style="font-weight:400">His hands trembled, and he sent out a mentalmand. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Anyone! Go get that girl in the back!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He shouted mentally, though they didn¡¯t seem to hear him. His forces were all wrapped up in their ownbat, multiple gods teaming up against a single enemy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing this, Kruz felt confused, but also realized that the Sword of Law might not be needed to win this battle. With the exception of the Keeper and the girl holding the whip, the other gods all appeared to be getting pushed back by his forces. It was hard to say who was truly winning, but the greater variety in domains looked like it was pressuring the enemy.

 Chapter 896: The Essence Of An Illusion

    Chapter 896: The Essence Of An Illusion


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara clenched her fists as she watched the illusion before her. She was using her own divinity to ensure that the illusion continued to y out, and also adjusted it so that she could feel the fluctuations of power from the other side. Although she didn¡¯t have the same energy as the Keeper had to spy on the group, it was easy enough for her to follow the trail back and create her own sensory device.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Come on¡­ you can do it¡­¡± She muttered, watching the fight y out. Aurivy was locked in a battle with six other gods, having to repeatedly use her Travel domain to dodge their attacks while creating a dungeon to try and trap them in. Sadly, one of those gods possessed the Ruin domain, preventing the dungeon from ever being able to fully form.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nearby, Scarlet was doing her best to hold off more than a dozen gods, protecting both herself and the unrecognizable felyn half-god. Red mist surged around the two,shing out against any divine powers that were thrown their way.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The most miserable of the lot seemed to be none other than Tryval, who Mara could tell was not truly abat god to begin with. His body was sted full of injuries as quickly as he could heal. Although he had summoned divine armaments, they were having a hard time narrowing the gap inbat powers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Meanwhile, the ck-haired felyn created by the fusion of the twins floated alone in the empty space, undisturbed by any of the surroundings. Mara couldn¡¯t identify what sort of existence she was, or what powers she was using, and only knew that her eyes were locked onto those of Kruz.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The one good thing about the battle being so split was that they weren¡¯t able to properly focus on the Keeper as much as they wanted. The one who kept trying to do so was none other than Jordan, whose body shed forward whenever he came into the dark half of the battlefield. However, before he could get close enough tond a blow, Tsubaki would appear in his path.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This made it so that the Keeper only had to personally fight two gods at once. At least, that¡¯s what Mara thought at first. A glimmer of energy caught her eye, pulling her gaze off to the far edge of the battlefield. Once she saw what was there, her eyes went wide in shock.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I dropped myself into a firm stance, lowering my body to fall beneath the spike of green energy shot out by the God of Poison I was fighting. Naturally, he possessed more domains than that, but that was the one likely relevant to the attack.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Eleventh Hand¡­¡± I muttered, starting to bring my hand forward for a strike, only to have to jump back again as a de cut through the air. My other opponent possessed the Sword domain, so I couldn¡¯t afford to let him get a hit in on me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Such was the flow of this battle. Although I was able to dodge the strikes of my opponents with superior stats, I was unable to move in quickly enough tond a killing blow. Even mobilizing my divinity to activate different domains was out of the question, as the God of Swords aimed for any opening I gave while doing so. Unless it was an ability that could be instant cast, there was not much that I could do.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I was thinking that, an idea urred to me. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Dana! Bring out the puppy!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Dana¡¯s eyes lit up as she heard that, and the two of us quickly activated our spiritual brands. A piercing howl filled the battlefield, shaking the very space around us. From the center of the dark area, two piercing red eyes appeared, the shadows convulsing around it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When the Beast of Darkness appeared, it would be able to add another powerful force to our side, hopefully tipping the bnce. Such was my n when I signalled Dana to summon it. However, before the beast had its chance to make a move, there was a sh of blinding light that enveloped it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I could feel the presence of the creature shattering, returning to my spiritual brand. Until I fed it sufficient energy, it wouldn¡¯t be possible to summon again. As I flew to the side to avoid a torrent of sickly yellow poison, my eyes flicked over to the source of the blinding light.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There, I saw us, the God of Construction among the guild, sitting atop a massive turret. He grinned like a madman as the barrels quickly cooled, turning to aim the turret at me next. When Tsubaki saw this, she tried to rush over to us to stop him, only for Jordan to appear in her path.


    <span style="font-weight:400">To my surprise, the two gods fighting me didn¡¯t back off. Either they were waiting for the veryst moment in order to give me no time to dodge, or¡­ they had no intention of dodging in the first ce. After learning more about their guild system from Mara, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if there were those who had been trained to rather throw their lives away than to let the enemy have a chance to escape.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Beast of the End failed, and I wasn¡¯t able to gather the energy needed tond a hit with the Twelve Shattering Hands. This left only one of the styles that I had trained. I felt my body briefly tense as the God of Swords shed at me again, before a deep ng echoed out. The sword that had been striking for my body recoiled off of almost rock-like skin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Beginning Earth had the characteristic of halting momentum, making it a highly defensive power. When using this energy through Elemental Embodiment, my speed was reduced significantly. In return, I received the same natural ability as the Beginning Earth.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sadly, that wouldn¡¯t work a second time. The God of Swords had his eyes widen in surprise, before a look of determination shed across his face. Now that he was prepared to cut through a powerful defense, I was sure that the next strike would be able to split me cleanly in half.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s why I immediately switched energies, and began circting the Beginning Wind. This was the opposite of the previous energy, carrying the property of amplifying momentum. When embodying this energy, I received a drastic movement speed increase in exchange for my defenses.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, I wasn¡¯t nning to use this power simply to dodge, and instead used it to rush towards the turret that was aimed at me. With my newly enhanced speed, I was able to arrive on the top of the turret before us could fire, causing his eyes to go wide. However, he still had a crooked grin on his face.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">It can self-destruct!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The thought shed in my mind just in time for the turret to light up once again. Only this time, the energy exploded out in all directions, as opposed to through the barrel. I switched back to Beginning Earth as the explosion engulfed me, knowing that I wouldn¡¯t have time to escape the st range.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s enough.¡± A voice spoke up in the void of space, clearly heard by all present. There was a brief lull in the battles as the light of the turret dimmed, a young girl stepping out onto the battlefield.


    <hr>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Mara¡¯s alive?!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Kruz questioned mentally, eyes wide as he saw the girl appear, holding her coin in her hand. Until now, the fights looked like they could go either way. The true tipping point would be whoever could deliver the first fatality, as those forces would be able to join the others. Now that Mara had arrived, it seemed like they had just gained an extra life on their side.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Kruz didn¡¯t have the mind to question how Mara wasn¡¯t registered in the guild system anymore. Maybe the enemy had her trapped in some special dungeon that cut her off from external systems. Either way, her presence was sure to turn the tide of battle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Mara¡¯s coin flipped into the air, Kruz had a wide grin. The hand gripping his sword tightened, as if ready to send it down at any moment. Until that moment, the unknown power of the ck-haired felyn had stopped him from activating thew in his sword, but Mara¡¯s presence was beginning to give him courage.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara¡¯s body began to change as the coin flew into the air,nding in her hand. By the time it hadnded, she was a taller, adult woman with a stone cold face. Her small dress from before was reced with a ck suit, though she still maintained her slender frame.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Kruz watched as Mara¡¯s eyes coldly examined the battlefield, before walking towards the Keeper with calm steps. Neither his side nor the Keeper¡¯s people made a move, as if both were wary about her actions.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she arrived before the Keeper, she looked him straight in the eyes. ¡°She doesn¡¯t want you to die.¡± Mara said, her words striking at Kruz¡¯s mind. That sentence alone was enough to tell him that Mara had somehow turned traitor.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Everyone, kill Mara, quickly!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He shouted, ordering all other battles to be dyed. However, he was already toote. Mara¡¯s divinity had been expanding from the moment she entered herbat form.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This is how you use the power of illusions.¡± She told the Keeper, her eyes never leaving his. The rocky hill created by Kruz, the ck abyss created by Dana, all of it seemed to shatter into a white void. ¡°What is real? What is fake? Who has the right tobel such things?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Monstrous forms seemed to break out of the white void, jagged lines forming over their bodies as they jumped for the invading gods. ¡°Everything is real, and nothing is real. The concept of an illusion is an illusion itself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she spoke, us emerged from the destroyed mass of the turret, holding out a long-barreled gun that he pointed at Mara. ¡°Traitor, die!¡± He shouted, pulling the trigger. However, rather than a st of god-ying power, the gun released a tiny crack as it burst apart from the slightest bit of weight applied to it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You asked her who the strongest one of the guild was?¡± Mara continued speaking, before breaking eye contact for the first time. Her eyes roamed over the white void, where fractal beasts were assaulting the invaders. ¡°Freeze.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">All of the fractal beasts froze at hermand, jaws paused in the process of closing over the bodies of their prey. However, to Kruz¡¯s horror, several members of the guild had also frozen. What terrified him even more was that he could no longer muster any strength in his own body, having been rendered as still as any of her illusions.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">No, she never converted me. My health is still full!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Kruz dered to himself, focusing his willpower. He was familiar with all of Mara¡¯s techniques, and there were two that could apply to this situation. The first would simply disy who she had already turned, while the other was even more insidious, using her other domains to freeze individuals she hadn¡¯t turned. If they believed that they had been converted for even a moment, their bodies would be truly converted into an illusion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately, Kruz had no way of knowing which of his guild members had managed to resist the attack. All he knew was that Mara¡¯s eyes were slowly turning to face him, the corners of her lips arching upwards. ¡°She hated you.¡± Mara said, walking over towards Kruz. ¡°Every order you gave, every life you forced her to take, every time you made <i><span style="font-weight:400">me</i><span style="font-weight:400">e back out, she hated you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once Kruz broke free of the trap she had set, a new line of characters were written along his sword. ¡®New Law: Only the Truth Shall Remain¡¯. As he swung the sword downwards, the white void shattered around him. Several guild members vanished without a trace, including Jordan and us, as did all of her fractal beasts.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, to Kruz¡¯s horror, his de was caught. Mara looked at him with a smile that didn¡¯t reach her eyes. She held his de in one hand, having caught it mid swing. Such a thing should have been impossible, as histestw should have dispelled all illusions. Kruz¡¯s eyes went wide as a memory surfaced, opening his mouth to speak.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Shh.¡± Mara said, her cold eyes staring into his. ¡°This is all just a bad dream.¡± As she said that, Kruz felt his body breaking down, piece by piece, staring back into her cold eyes. When he canceled the illusions, he had also broken one that she ced on him years ago.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A woman who had more blood on her hands than anyone else he knew, one who had grown weary of battle. To escape it, she cast her greatest deception ever. She made the whole world believe that she was just a facade of a little girl, too timid to fight without relying on such a form. The illusion had deceived the entire guild, and Mara had acted perfectly for it. After all, she truly did be that timid girl she wanted to be. Only, the timid girl wasn¡¯t the ¡®true face¡¯ of the coin. She was just a disguise that Mara had cast to fool even herself. A mask that would onlye off when the coin was flipped again.

 Chapter 897: Tipped Scales

    Chapter 897: Tipped Scales


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes went wide as I saw Kruz¡¯s body scattering away. His sword strike had shattered her illusions, and yet she remained in this form. Granted, that could simply imply that the ability putting her in this state wasn¡¯t from her Illusion domain, and was rather from her Transformation and Disguise domains


    <span style="font-weight:400">What was even more impressive was that she stopped his divine artifact sword with one hand. That showed just how much divinity Mara had to reinforce her hand enough to withstand it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once Kruz hadpletely faded away, and his sword shattered to pieces, Mara brushed her hands off. ¡°I¡¯m going back, now.¡± She said calmly. ¡°This should be more than enough help for you all.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying that, her body vanished, causing my eyes to twitch. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Didn¡¯t they not have a transportation god? If she can ¡®transform¡¯ her coordinates to teleport, how does that not count?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Either way, she was right. The bnce of power had been fairly even before she stepped in. Now that she had killed Jordan, Kruz, and several other active gods, there would be no excuse if we couldn¡¯t win this fight.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, both of the gods that I had been fighting were among Mara¡¯s victims. I couldn¡¯t tell if that was a coincidence, or something that she had intentionally done to protect me. Either way, it gave me more freedom once the fighting resumed.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Everyone, focus the Keeper!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Or so I assumed. Lana seemed to have taken overmand of the guild after Kruz died, and she knew that if I was in, they would be able to immediately return home.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her words snapped the other guild members out of their trances. They all turned to face me with fierce gazes, mobilizing their divine powers. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Not so fast.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Dana called out, appearing next to me. Now that Mara was gone, and Kruz in, there was nothing that could stop her darkness from covering the battlefield. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I wasn¡¯t able to show my full power with that guy around, but now it¡¯s different!</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">As the divine powers of fire, ice, light, and various other attacks came towards us, Dana cracked her whip again. The attacks heading our way disappeared into the darkness, swallowed by the void. Visually, Dana¡¯s attacks carried the appearance of darkness, but I knew the true purpose of her whip after training together with her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her whip allowed her to designate a ¡®zone¡¯. In this zone, she could freely open paths to the void. These paths could form incredibly powerful shields by simply absorbing attacks that woulde her way. Finally, the zone acted as her sanctuary to enhance the power of her shadows.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Just stay by me, boss.¡± Dana said with a toothy grin, her voice now audible within this altered space. ¡°If they thought that trying to kill you first was the right answer, we¡¯ll just show them how sorely mistaken they were.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lana¡¯s eyes shed as she analyzed the field around them. Her domains seemed to be able to provide her information that would have been otherwise inessible to her. However, before she could share her findings, her eyes went wide and she let out a gasp of pain. A small, delicate hand had pierced her chest from behind, her divinity quickly dyeing itself red.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You shouldn¡¯t turn your back on us.¡± Scarlet muttered to her as Lana¡¯s body began to dissolve. While the other gods had been distracted with trying tounch abined attack, those from my pantheon had been free to attack them from behind. Most of them managed to secure a clean kill, while the rest only managed to injure their targets.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Regardless, the scales had been tipped even further in our favor now. Of the originally nearly ny gods, only fifty remained. Although they still outnumbered us, their primarybat forces had all been killed. At this point, they were no more than a bunch of low-ranked gods trying to cling to some invisible strand of hope.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Taking a deep breath, I ended my Elemental Embodiment. Trying tounch an attack while Dana was using her whip like this would just get in the way of her defenses. It was better for me to let the others clean up at this point.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The rest of the battle was, honestly, predictable. The enemy gods began to fall one after another, each death causing their side to lose the power to defend themselves. In under ten minutes, thest of the gods had been killed. That said, I couldn¡¯t help imagine how much differently this battle would have gone if Mara was still on the enemy team. If that had been the case, I doubted that we would have gotten through this without major casualties.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Congrattions! You have sessfully repelled the invasion of Keeper UpperLevel!


    <span style="font-weight:400">Assessing the value of forces deployed in the invasion¡­


    <span style="font-weight:400">5,264 enemies assessed!


    <span style="font-weight:400">1 enemy converted!


    <span style="font-weight:400">150,000 points have been awarded as a result of your sessful defense!


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a long sigh when I received that confirmation message. Thankfully, all of the preparations that we made in advance had worked out for us. Had we done this fight on Earth, the civilian casualties would be unimaginable.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Let¡¯s head back to the Citadel.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I sent my voice out, golden mist wrapping around us once again.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara was watching the illusion with a shaking gaze by the time they returned, finally letting out a sigh of relief. She had gone back to her smaller form, seeming even more timid than she had been before. ¡°Did I¡­ did I help?¡± She asked, as she could never remember too clearly what happened when she brought out her ¡®aggressive¡¯ side.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper looked at her, blinking, before letting out a light chuckle. ¡°Yeah, you helped a lot.¡± He nodded his head. ¡°I don¡¯t think we could have won without you. Not without losing some of our own.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now that he said that, Mara looked around. The gazes in the Greater Pantheon had changed subtly. They didn¡¯t look strictly kinder, but more¡­ dignified? As if they were only shells of themselves previously.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thanks for the support.¡± Aurivy walked over with a grin, ruffling Mara¡¯s hair and making the little goddess il her arms. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we won¡¯t ask you to fight or anything like that. Consider this a well earned retirement.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara¡¯s eyes went wide at thatment, looking over to Aurivy. ¡°R-Really? You don¡¯t¡­ need me to do anything?¡± As long as she could remember, there were people giving her missions, or asking her to fight.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What, you want to be put to work on the front lines again?¡± Aurivy asked with a teasing smile, to which Mara rapidly shook her head. ¡°Then don¡¯t. You¡¯ve already helped us out a lot. You deserve your freedom.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That said.. I do have one small favor I¡¯d like to ask of you.¡± The Keeper said, and Mara¡¯s expression fell. He blinked, before letting out anotherugh. ¡°It¡¯s not spying, or killing, or anything like that. I was just hoping that you could maybe teach us more about the Divine Circuits that you mentioned before?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh!¡± Mara nodded her head quickly, shaking away her previous disappointment. If it was just teaching, that was something that she could do just fine. She lifted her hand up, creating an illusionary projection of her own divine circuits. ¡°There¡¯s really not much to exin.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Usually, we do this whenever we get our first domain, to make it easier, so I think it might be harder for the rest of you. You just have to gather up all of the traces of each individual domain to turn into the greater nodes. Afterwards, create openings in those nodes, called ports. Each port will be restricted to one type of power from your domain, creating a path.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°For instance, you can see right now that two of my paths are lit up from my Illusion domain, whiche together to form a basic projection power. The ports these paths lead to are ¡®Visual Projection¡¯ and ¡®Synchronization¡¯.¡± Mara had a smile on her face as she said that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Once you have your nodes and ports set up, you can start merging paths together to set up power nodes. Each power node is somewhere that two or more paths converge to create a divine power. A power node can be as specific or general as you like, but it can also have its own ports. For instance, my Synchronized Visual Projection can lead into a Remote Viewing node by adding in other paths.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The hardest part for all of you will be to separate your multiple domains to get started. Once that¡¯s done, the rest of it shouldn¡¯t be too hard?¡± Mara gave a small nod as she said that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper and the other gods nodded their heads seriously, as ifmitting her words to memory. Once she had finished, the Keeper smiled. ¡°In that case, is there anything that you would like to do now?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You don¡¯t want to interrogate me about my world or anything like that?¡± Mara blinked, expecting that there was still a lot more that she was going to have to ¡®teach¡¯ them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, the Keeper shook his head. ¡°In truth, information about your world was already leaked fairly recently. That¡¯s why we were able to prepare so well. It just didn¡¯t include things such as the method of using your divinity like that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara nodded her head slowly. ¡°Then¡­ would it be okay for me to y Fragments of Acidia? I always wanted to try that in my world, but they never really gave me a chance.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper chuckled, nodding his head towards the red-skinned woman. ¡°Ashley, get her set up with a Virtual watch.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley smiled wide, walking over to Mara and handing her a small device that could fit on her wrist. ¡°Come on, I¡¯ll help you get this set up.¡± She said, before gently guiding Mara out of the room.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I watched Mara leaving the room, I couldn¡¯t help but think back to what she had said before, during the fight. <i><span style="font-weight:400">The concept of an illusion is an illusion itself. </i><span style="font-weight:400">Clearly, the more mature Mara had far more experience using this domain inbat, and had developed her own insights about it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Part of me wanted to ask Mara to help me train my Illusion domain, but I quickly decided against it. Like Aurivy said, she had earned her retirement. Not only did she willingly convert, preventing us from having to fight such a dangerous opponent, but she had helped in the battle itself. I could tell just by looking at her that Mara hated fighting, despite how powerful she was.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Even her mature self only fought the bare minimum to ensure our victory, beforeing back here. Having her teach me how to use my powers to more effectively kill¡­ no, I would rather just focus on what the mature Mara taught me during the fight, and integrate those insights into mybat style.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I shook my head, looking over at Tsubaki and the others. ¡°I¡¯ll be going back for the time being. I want to try to master this Divine Circuit method she mentioned, and make sure that it¡¯s possible with ourws. Once I¡¯ve finished determining that, I¡¯ll be back to either help you get your own set up, or let you know that it is notpatible.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki gave a firm nod of her head as the warm blue light wrapped around me, sending me back to my Admin Room. It was time to get to training again¡­

 Chapter 898: Heaven’s Gate

    Chapter 898: Heaven¡¯s Gate


    <span style="font-weight:400">I could hear several voices cheering by the time I had arrived in the Admin Room. Although they had managed to keep themselves mostlyposed in front of the mortals, they couldn¡¯t hide their excitement behind closed doors. Though, this was fairly understandable.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Not only had we won against arge number of enemy gods and sessfully defended against what was undoubtedly the most powerful invasion that we had faced thus far, we had even recruited one of the enemy team to join us. In doing so, we had gained a secret that could help everyone advance their power by several levels, perhaps even push us into the next rank.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing everyone celebrating in the living room, I couldn¡¯t help but shake my head with a small smile. ¡°Alright. Everyone should go and train for now. If any of you manage to sessfullyplete your divine circuits, send a message to the others so that we know that it¡¯s not an impossible task.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I was fairly certain that the method could be done, but I had to pass this instruction along regardless. Theoretically, there was nothing wrong with the technique that would conflict with our world¡¯s divine energy. It was just a matter of actually doing the training.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Everyone nodded their heads and dispersed, creating their own isted training rooms to prevent the energy released by the others from interfering with their training. Naturally, I was no exception, creating a room of my own and sitting down within it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In the back of my mind, I went through Mara¡¯s description of the process once again, making sure that the information was still fresh. Only once I had reviewed it and made sure that I had memorized the contents did I begin, cross referencing what she had said with the information that I had received through my World Sight.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a deep breath, I began to control my divinity. This was not the first time that I had used my divine power to directly affect the traces of a domain within myself, but it was certainly the most involved. After only a brief experimentation, I was aware that it was not just a matter of condensing my domain to a single point. At the same time, I had to remove the traces of any other domain from that same area. Otherwise, the ¡®node¡¯ would be corrupted.


    <hr>


    ¡°What do you want to do now?¡± Dana asked, looking at Mara as the rest of the Greater Pantheon began to disperse. ¡°The boss said that you¡¯re free to go wherever you want, but we¡¯re a long way from anywhere. If you can tell me your n, I can try to send you over.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°T-Thanks.¡± Mara nodded her head timidly, looking at Dana, Tsubaki, and Lifre. Gerard had appeared briefly, but quickly returned to his duties when he confirmed that the battle was won. ¡°But if it¡¯s alright, I¡¯d like to go back to the divine realm. I¡­ I want to apologize to Julia.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Apologize?¡± Lifre blinked, tilting her head. ¡°Did you do something to her? I don¡¯t think Miss Aurivy would let you off if you did, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh? O-oh, no!¡± Mara shook her head quickly. ¡°It¡¯s just¡­ when I met herst time, I pretended that I was someone from this world, and even epted a gift from her. I want to apologize for lying like that, and honestly tell her who I am.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ohhh!¡± Lifre nodded her head quickly at that. ¡°That shouldn¡¯t be hard! You know how to get to Sanctum, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara gave a small nod again, muttering under her breath. ¡°I wish to enter the divine realm.¡± After she said that, her body was wrapped in golden mist, disappearing on the spot.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she emerged, she was standing next to the same apple tree that she had been nearst time, though Julia was nowhere to be seen. Mara took a deep breath to calm herself, walking over to the door of the house and knocking on it. ¡°I¡¯ll be right there!¡± A familiar voice called out from inside.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara braced herself, and soon the door swung open, Julia looking down at her and smiling. ¡°Mara! I didn¡¯t expect to see you again so soon. Would you like toe in?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara hesitated, before offering a soft nod. Julia moved to the side, letting Mara through. ¡°Give me just a moment, and I¡¯ll get us a drink!¡± Julia said, moving to another room after leading Mara to sit on arge couch.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was only a minute before Julia returned with two sses of golden juice. ¡°Here we are, freshly squeezed.¡± She said, setting one of the sses down in front of Mara while taking a sip of her own. Mara could feel the divinity within the liquid, and could tell that it must havee from those golden apples.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">You¡¯re making this even harder¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Mara thought to herself, giving a timid nod as she took the cup, taking a small drink. Her eyes closed as she felt the gentle divinity rushing through her body. ¡°I¡­ I wanted toe apologize, Miss Julia.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Just Julia.¡± The elven woman scolded, shaking her head. ¡°We¡¯re friends now, right? None of that ¡®miss¡¯ stuff. Besides, what do you have to apologize for?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara gulped, nodding her head. ¡°I¡­ I lied to you. I¡¯m not from this world¡­ I am one of the invaders. I¡¯m sorry, I should have been honest when we first met¡­¡± She lowered her head in shame, though Julia simply shook her head again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That? I already figured it out a while ago.¡± Julia said, simply taking another drink from her ss.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Wait, what?¡± Mara blinked, looking up at Julia, who gave a quick nod.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah, I thought that it was weird at first. A god at your level, one that I had never heard of, and had never been to Sanctum? Okay, there was a small chance of that happening. But one that didn¡¯t know who I was?¡± Julia gave a wry grin. ¡°I don¡¯t know how to say this, but I¡¯m a bit famous in the divinemunity.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara couldn¡¯t help but blink at that. The information that they had received about Sanctum came from Kione, and was primarily from the minds of mortals. She knew that the gods hadrgely left the world long ago to seek out their owns to control, so there was little intelligence that they could gather from them. Thanks to this, Mara was only aware of the gods who were popr even among mortals. ¡°You.. knew?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Like I said, not at first.¡± Julia shook her head to deny thement. ¡°I just got to thinking about it after you left. Aurivy said that there was going to be another invasion happening. With you being a triple deity, having that much power in you, not knowing who I was, and having never been to Sanctum? I figured that there was little doubt you were one of the invaders.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°But you¡­ you invited me into your home.¡± Mara said, her voice cracking. ¡°You¡¯re still treating me so well.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course. We¡¯re friends, aren¡¯t we?¡± Julia asked with a warm smile. ¡°So what if you came here with the invasion? You came here to apologize for lying to me, not to attack me. Isn¡¯t that right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara quickly nodded her head. ¡°O-Of course!¡± Seeing her reaction, Julia couldn¡¯t help but let out a warmugh.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°See? I know you¡¯re not the kind of person to attack others out of nowhere.¡± Julia spoke in aforting tone. ¡°The fact that you came here really means a lot. Aurivy hasn¡¯t returned yet, so the invasion should still be ongoing. Is it safe for you to be away from your group like this?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara blinked, her cheeks going a bit rosy as she dipped her head again. ¡°The invasion is over¡­¡± She admitted softly. ¡°Everyone else is already dead.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia paused at that, her eyes on Mara. There were a few things that she could infer from that statement. If the ¡®everyone¡¯ that she mentioned referred to the mortal incarnations and the Keeper, Aurivy would have descended with her true body in a panic to pull Julia somewhere safe. She had a certain understanding of how these invasions worked after all this time. Thus, the side that won was naturally the Keeper, and Mara had decided to switch teams.


    <span style="font-weight:400">But for Aurivy to not return to celebrate the victory¡­ ¡°Did something happen to Aurivy?¡± Julia asked, and Mara felt a chill in her words. Julia knew Aurivy better than anyone, even among the Greater Pantheon. If Aurivy¡¯s incarnation died, or was seriously injured, Aurivy would find a way to buy time until she could either create a new incarnation or let her previous one heal. She wouldn¡¯t want to cause Julia to worry by seeing her injured or defeated.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara looked up, and saw a faint coldness in Julia¡¯s face as she looked off into the distance. It was obvious that the hostility wasn¡¯t directed at her, but rather at anyone who would have harmed Aurivy. Still, Mara shook her head quickly to dismiss the misunderstanding. ¡°N-No, there weren¡¯t any casualties on this side! I-I think that they¡¯re all training. I told them how we control divine energy in my world, and everyone seemed really eager to try it out.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia blinked, letting the tension flow out of her body when she heard that. ¡°Is that so? Would you mind telling me, as well?¡± She asked with that same smile, turning her attention back to Mara. Mara hesitated briefly, before nodding her head. Julia only had a single domain, so she was far more suited to creating her divine circuits than the others.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course¡­¡± Mara nodded, going through the lecture once again. She was d that her first friend in this world had epted her, even knowing her origins.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">My brows furrowed as I focused on filtering my divinity. Like Mara had said, creating the node itself wasn¡¯t really difficult. The problem was that whenever I created one, I would always find traces of my other domains tucked away inside. In order to prevent that, I would need to manually filter every strand of divinity that I possessed, separating all three of my domains at once. The idea of creating my nodes one at a time was wed by its nature.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I was thinking that, a message shed in the corner of my vision, the world around me shaking with a flurry of confetti. My eyes went wide, quickly checking the message.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Congrattions! You have earned an achievement!


    <span style="font-weight:400">For having an individual cultivate a high-level Divine Control technique, you have earned the Master of Gods achievement! +50 points!


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Congrattions, EarthForceOne! You have now qualified for a promotion!


    <span style="font-weight:400">Your worlds and your strength have been evaluated at Rank 4. You now have unlimited ess to the previously restricted Rank 4 system, Fallen Companion.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Congrattions! You have earned an achievement!


    <span style="font-weight:400">For promoting a world to Rank 4 without resetting, you have earned the Stubborn Lord achievement. +100 points, Heaven¡¯s Gate.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes went wide as I saw the messages sh in front of me, one after another. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Rank 4? So this really was enough? Who was it that finished their circuits?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> My words echoed out to the others, who all quickly responded.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Not me.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯m still working on it.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">One of you got it already?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I think I¡¯m almost there.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">None of them seemed to have been the one to do it, causing my brows to furrow. However, Terra¡¯s voice soon spoke into my mind. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It looks like Mara taught Julia the method, and she was able to seed.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara had already taught the method to someone else, and they got through it so quickly? Well, Julia only had one domain, so it was reasonable that she wouldn¡¯t face the same difficulty as they did. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Okay¡­ still, that¡¯s good to know that it works. What can you tell me about these rewards?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra¡¯s voice spoke up in a more pleased tone. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Fallen Companion is exactly what it sounds like. From now on, you can create Companions as Fallen Gods as well as normal gods. The Fourth Rank is where most Keepers begin to get heavily involved in the void, so they put this reward here. As for Heaven¡¯s Gate¡­ that is a far more special reward.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">As you have learned before, it is rare for a Keeper to climb this high without needing to reset their world. Maybe they didn¡¯t like how things developed, they encountered some unsolvable problem that destroyed their worlds, or they suffered too much in an invasion. Many reset shortly after creation, wanting to get a more ¡®optimal¡¯ starting point. Regardless, about ny-five percent of Keepers reset long before they reach this level.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">As a special reward for doing so, you can spend points to designate mortals. These mortals are able to bypass the normal restrictions and enter the Admin Room. They won¡¯t have the ability to interact with the Admin Room systems, but they will be able to freelye and go as they wish. Of course, because their bodies are converted to the same format as the Admin Room, they will be unable to suffer damage while here.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">My whole body shook at that, the nodes I had been painstakingly filtering shattering as the information struck me. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I thought that it was impossible for mortals to be brought to the Admin Room without going through the same process as Scarlet?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Without this achievement, it is.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Terra confirmed readily. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I can assure you, there is no other method for a mortal to enter the Admin Room. Furthermore, Heaven¡¯s Gate will be locked after you reset. The individuals already granted permission will be able to stille and go, and can even seek shelter in the Admin Room while their world is reset, but you will not be able to grant this permission to any new mortals.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a slow, shaky nod of my head. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Then¡­ wait, I¡¯ve reset the worlds that I won in my invasions, though¡­ </i><span style="font-weight:400">Terra didn¡¯t answer me at that, causing me to think back to those instances. Now that I thought back to the messages, I noticed something. Whenever I won, there had been a part of the messages that I overlooked. ¡®For one Standard Day, I was able to refund any worlds won with no penalty¡¯.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra had told me before that if I chose to refund a world, I would get back all of the points invested in it. Then, the penalty that the messages hinted at would be the fact that it wouldn¡¯t count against the number of worlds I had reset? <i><span style="font-weight:400">How¡­ how much does it cost to grant someone the permissions with Heaven¡¯s Gate?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Ten thousand points per individual. In order to activate the gate, the individual must focus for thirty seconds.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> While that seemed like a shocking amount, I felt that it was entirely reasonable for something that went against a fundamental system restriction. Furthermore, it was akin to granting whoever had that permission a limited form of invincibility, wasn¡¯t it? Because of the cast time, it couldn¡¯t be used inbat, but it could be used to avoid other forms of predictable disasters. And it would let them enter the Admin Room when I needed to pause the world for whatever reason.

 Chapter 899: Handing Out The Keys

    Chapter 899: Handing Out The Keys


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but furrow my brows as I thought more and more about the new Heaven¡¯s Gate ability that I had unlocked. No matter how I looked at it, it was¡­ incredibly inefficient. Yes, I could use it on people like Tsubaki and the others to let theme to the Admin Room as they wished. However,pared to the cost of simply recreating them as Companions and giving them their domains back, it was around a hundred times more expensive to do it this way.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Not only that, but it didn¡¯t grant ¡®true¡¯ immortality. They could still die in the mortal world. There had to be some kind of benefit. Some reason to justify the expense. Off the top of my head, I could think of three possibilities.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The first possibility was if they were able to ess Heaven¡¯s Gate during an invasion, allowing them to be a liaison to the Admin Room and get information from the Companions there. This was the most unlikely of the three possibilities, as I couldn¡¯t imagine the system letting me have an easy way to cheat like that even if it did cost ten thousand points per individual. I wouldn¡¯t believe something like that was possible unless the cost was as high as one million per person.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The second possibility was that the individual was able to maintain their full power, even if the world was reset. So, for instance, if I reset Earth for some reason, I could still have Tsubaki with all of her abilities and divine domains. This one seemed to be the most usible answer to me, but came with its own risks. Using the previous example, I would have a mortal god in a freshly reset world, which might immediately push me to the first rank.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The final possibility was somewhat rted to the second. That was the idea that they might be able to use their powers regardless of the ws¡¯ of the world that they were in. So, Dana might be able to use runic or geometric magic in Spica, or use ster magic on Earth. Though, using ster magic would still require some alterations, as she wouldn¡¯t be able to pull all of the energies she needed from the atmosphere.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Regardless, those were my three theories about why this new perk would cost so much. I couldn¡¯t believe that it would really be as simple as giving a mortal limited Companion privileges. <i><span style="font-weight:400">So¡­ which is it?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I asked after sending my theories to Terra.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Hmm¡­ definitely not one. I¡¯d say a mix of two and three, but there¡¯s also something extra~. </i><span style="font-weight:400">She said in a teasing voice.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Are you going to tell me what it is?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Even my thoughts carried an exasperated tone in the face of her teasing, though she onlyughed lightly in response.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Life Insurance.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Terra said simply. <i><span style="font-weight:400">The perk is called Heaven¡¯s Gate for a reason. If something happens to one who can open Heaven¡¯s Gate, they will automatically be converted into a Companion within the Administration Room. In a sense, it bes their new afterlife.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes went wide at that, nodding my head. That alone wouldn¡¯t be enough to justify spending a hundred times as many points as turning them into a Companion in the first ce, but when it wasbined with the ability to maintain their power level and profile across different worlds¡­ It was definitely worth the expense.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With that in mind, I went through making a mental list of people that I wanted to convert like this. Obviously, the members of the Sky Citadel were a must. Aurivy would never forgive me if she found out that I could do something like this and didn¡¯t make the offer for Julia. I could feasibly make the offer to Aznod as well, since he and Udona seem to be growing close. It would certainly stop her from losing another friend like the former Queen of Deckan.


    <span style="font-weight:400">James¡­ no, he was still not someone I could target with the system, not until we made a lot more headway in Fyor. And without James, there wasn¡¯t much point in using this on his research team. As I was thinking that, I blinked, sending off a quick message.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Tryval, do you have a moment? I¡¯d like to ask your opinion on something.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Of course, sir.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Tryval¡¯s response was as prompt and polite as ever. <i><span style="font-weight:400">What may I do for you?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Actually, I think it¡¯s more about what I can do for you.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I said, briefly exining the Heaven¡¯s Gate system to him. If there was anyone that had earned a special slot for that ability, it was him. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I was wondering if you would like me to give one spot to Alme.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was an almost uncharacteristically long pause from Tryval as he processed that information. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯ll¡­ ask her opinion. However, I believe that she will agree to it.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Let me know what she says.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I told him with a small smile, closing my eyes and focusing on creating my divine circuits again. Now that I had a basic n in mind, I needed to see it through to the end.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unsurprisingly, it was only about ten minutes before Tryval reported back, saying that Alme would happily ept the Heaven¡¯s Gate. And, after another hour, I managed to establish the three basic nodes of my circuit. Once I did so, I realized that I could continue, making other nodes for domains that I was able to ess either through my Keeper powers or through my subordinate deities.


    <span style="font-weight:400">To start with, I created nodes for the four domains that I was currently receiving from Lifre and Tsubaki. Ever since she became a Companion, Scarlet was no longer considered my subordinate deity, so I couldn¡¯t get hers through that channel.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For each of these subordinate nodes, I essed one of their domains briefly, turning it into its own node, and then deactivated the domain. When the domain was inactive, the node was dark. Afterwards, I began tentatively making nodes for other domains, testing if I could have more than nine domain nodes. However, I soon ran into a problem.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The standard design for a Divine Circuit was two-dimensional, like a proper circuit board. If I kept adding in domains like this, I would be making it harder on myself to establish the proper paths for divine abilities. Thus, I began experimenting.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, I found that I was able to have more than nine domain nodes, as long as no more than nine were active at a time. However, I had to treat my divinity more like a three-dimensional array rather than a t ne. Only in doing so was I able to add in more and more nodes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, I had no intention of adding in every single domain avable to me. Only those that, for whatever reason, I would find myself using more often than the others. Those that I would take the time to properly figure out powers for.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once I was done with that, and had taken my time recreating all of my most frequently used divine ability through my circuits, I let out a long sigh of relief. Looking at the time, it had been one full day since I began my training, so it was time to descend.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy, Udona, Tryval. If the three of you are free, please meet me in the Sky Citadel.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I whispered them, before feeling a warm light wrap around me. A momentter, I was once again sitting upon the throne of the citadel, Tsubaki kneeling at the base of the stairs.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but give a small smile when I saw that, thinking that she wouldn¡¯t have to do such a thing for much longer. ¡°Please gather the other three.¡± I told her, and she quickly looked up at me, nodding her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Have you finished your training?¡± She asked in a hopeful tone, to which I nodded in response. ¡°Congrattions, my Keeper.¡± I could tell from her surface thoughts that she expected this gathering to be about teaching the method of the Divine Circuits, though she was inwardly confused why Dana and Gerard were needed for that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Regardless, she gathered the three of them as requested, with Aurivy, Udona, and Tryval all appearing in the throne room around the same time. Tryval had a hopeful look on his face, while the other two looked rather confused about why they were all called.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ready for me to move the citadel back to Earth?¡± Aurivy asked, seeming to guess my intentions. Though, that would obviously not exin the need for Tryval. Udona, perhaps she was needed to disseminate the information about Divine Circuits, but why Tryval? I didn¡¯t need to be able to read her mind to see those thoughts shing by her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not just yet.¡± I said with a shake of my head. ¡°After this victory, I received two new abilities as a Keeper. The first was to make a Fallen Deity equivalent to the Greater Pantheon. For the moment, I have no immediate ns of doing so, though that may change in time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The second ability is why I gathered you all here. This ability is known as Heaven¡¯s Gate. When I use this, it will allow a single mortal to have the ability to freelye and go to the ce where the Greater Pantheon resides.¡± Immediately, there were three intense, burning gazes fixed on me, causing me to grin. Aurivy and Tsubaki, I expected, but even Udona had locked onto me with a simr gaze.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This ability is not cheap, and costs ten thousand points per person. However, upon doing so the mortal in question will receive a number of boons. First of all, you will be able to use any power that you have learned in any world, regardless of the local worldws. You could use geometric magic in Fragments of Acidia, or runic magic in Lorek. Secondly, should the worst happen, you will automatically be converted into the same type of being as the Greater Pantheon. However, at that time, you will lose the previously mentioned boon.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Both Tsubaki and Udona¡¯s tails were rapidly swaying back and forth, clearly excited about the reveal of this information. ¡°Tsubaki, Dana, Gerard, Lifre. As you have all been serving me directly, I would offer this to each of you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course, my Keeper.¡± Tsubaki lowered her head, trying to hide the wide smile from her face. ¡°I would gratefully ept this honor.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana simply smirked. ¡°If she¡¯s in, I¡¯m in. I guess this means that we won¡¯t need to worry about your long absences anymore.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre blinked, looking around. ¡°Sounds like it could be fun! Besides, I want to know what it¡¯s like where you live! I bet it¡¯s an even more awesome castle than this!¡± Aurivy gave a somewhat wry smile at her words.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Gerard seemed to think it over for a moment, nodding her head. ¡°I ept this honor, Keeper.¡± I could see that he was already thinking about the types of experiments he could do if he was able to directly work with Ryone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying that, I turned to look at the other three. ¡°I have already spoken with Tryval privately, and we havee to an agreement that Alme would be allowed entry. Now, I would like to ask the two of you. Aurivy, I know that you and Julia are incredibly close. If you--¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°She¡¯ll agree!¡± Aurivy spoke up, interrupting me with a wide grin. ¡°You don¡¯t have to go through the big speech. Trust me, she¡¯ll agree.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle at that, turning to Udona. ¡°And Aznod?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona bit her lip briefly, before nodding her head. ¡°I¡¯ll talk to him, but I¡¯m pretty sure that he will agree, as well.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a relieved sigh when I heard that, nodding my head. ¡°Okay, the two of you go and talk with them. Once you have their answers, let me know. I¡¯m going to return and take care of this with these five.¡± After saying that, I closed my eyes, returning to the Admin Room.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once there, I essed the system, and spent fifty-thousand points to grant the ¡®keys¡¯ to Heaven¡¯s Gate to Alme, Tsubaki, Dana, Lifre, and Gerard. After doing so, I felt that there was an option to choose where the gate connected to. I could either choose to have it go to different ces for each individual, or a single entrance for all of them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Given the situation, I decided to give them all the same entrance, that being a new door created along the hall. I didn¡¯t want to make it the front door, just in case that meant that they¡¯d leave the Admin Room any time they tried to leave the house.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Shortly after the door was created, I could see it opening, Lifre jumping through. ¡°We¡¯re here~!¡± She cried out, before looking around and blinking. ¡°It¡¯s a lot smaller than I thought it¡¯d be.¡±

 Chapter 900: When One Journey Ends

    Chapter 900: When One Journey Ends


    <span style="font-weight:400">After their initial shock of seeing the Admin Room, I exined the rules of the room to those that hade. Things such as them not being able to take damage while they are here, and thus being able to train new energy techniques without worry. After that, I showed them to everyone¡¯s individual rooms, and even made rooms specifically for each of them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, I did this all again once Julia and Aznod arrived, making sure that everyone was properly briefed on the situation. Once that was done, I sat down on the couch in the living room with a long sigh. I had tasked Udona to help everyone finish up their Divine Circuits, giving me a few moments of quiet.


    <span style="font-weight:400">To take advantage of this, I opened up the guild chat window, nning to inform them of my increase in rank. With me now being a Rank Four Keeper, that theoretically put me on the same level as Talon and Sarah. From now on, the two of them should have a lot more information about the enemies that I would face, and they¡¯d be able to offer me some more practical guidance.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I looked at the guild chat, I found that it was quite active. Not just Sarah and Alice talking, but even Talon and some of the others had joined the conversation. The chat hadn¡¯t been this active since I first joined.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Looks like everyone¡¯s having a good time?


    <span style="font-weight:400">MeatLover: Indeed, it is a rare asion to see so many people active at once.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Wee back! I see you made it through your invasion alright?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Yeah, I had to prepare a lot for it, but it was worth it. I just hit Rank 4.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard: Congrattions. Sarah just got Rank 5, as well.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Well, that certainly exined why the group was so active. Looking at the guild member list, I was able to confirm that Sarah was now the highest ranked Keeper in the group once again.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Congrattions. I take it that yourtest project was a good hit?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: That¡¯s right! We had a breakthrough with our coding engine, and managed to unlock the conditions to reach the next rank. There¡¯s no harm in telling you, but the requirement to hit rank 5 is to be able to create worlds on the same level as those created by the system, but without spending any points. And being able to do so in a controlled manner.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Wait, wouldn¡¯t that basically mean that you don¡¯t need to spend points anymore?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: It¡¯s¡­ difficult. For instance, I¡¯ll use some analogies to make it easier to exin. Originally, I was piecing together different systems using my team¡¯s coding experience. It was like designing a game with a pre-built engine. Now, if I want to make a world without spending any points myself, it¡¯s more like creating that engine from scratch.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Theoretically, we can create any type of system or worldw we want without spending points. But that¡¯s only in theory. We need to practically develop our skills to do so. Anyone can mash their face on a keyboard, but it takes skill to write an award winning novel.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: That said, it¡¯s not like there¡¯s nothing else for us to spend points on at this level.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Oh? Is it okay for me to ask what system was unlocked at the fifth rank?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: It¡¯s not really a problem, I guess. It¡¯s not like knowing or not will give you an advantage. The system is known as Creator¡¯s Blessing. You get to choose individual mortals, and spend points to customize a blessing for them. The blessing can be anything from raising their personal abilities to giving them ess to special systems


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: I don¡¯t suppose you know anything about the sixth or seventh tiers?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Sorry, but I¡¯ve never really been able to interact with people of that level. Sometimes, they buy games from me, but it¡¯s not like I get the chance to just ask them questions like that. And there¡¯s not much about it on the forums, either, given how rare those levels are. Even the Gilded Branch only has one or two people at that level.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Wait, no, they had to reset recently. So there¡¯s nobody above Rank 5 in that guild.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard: Well, it¡¯s not like there¡¯s no way to find out. You¡¯ve just got to find the person and get them to talk. The Gilded Branch probably sells that kind of information if you¡¯re willing to pay.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: ¡­No, I don¡¯t think I will. There¡¯s not much point in knowing this far in advance. Though, I do want to ask if there are any other rewards for reaching higher tiers without ever resetting?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aerial: Oh, are you talking about something like that Heaven¡¯s Gate? Since you just ranked up¡­ I guess you managed to get this far without ever resetting?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: That¡¯s right. I just wanted to know if there¡¯s anything at the higher tiers to look forward to.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Not that I know of. Honestly, the information on Heaven¡¯s Gate is already scarce. From what I know, it costs ten thousand points to give a mortal Companion-like traits.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard: Eh? Why would you spend that much for something like that? Just directly make them apanion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: It¡¯s just a little perk given by the system. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve heard of anyone making it to the fifth rank without resetting, so I wouldn¡¯t know if there is something to that. That might be another thing you can ask the Gilded Branch about. If anyone would know, it¡¯s them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: I¡¯ll think about it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: By the way, what¡¯s the new game that you made? I might take a look at it, if it¡¯s something that would mesh well with my world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Talent Eternal is my new pride and joy. It uses the Auric Talent system that I created specifically for this game. You won¡¯t even be able to find that on the market, since we coded it ourselves. It reads the aura strength and type in order to generate a special ss and power, ranging from level 1-10, with 10 being a Keeper exclusive. The talents are randomly generated, but even a level 1 talent won¡¯t be self-destructive.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: I might consider getting it, based on the price. Though, I¡¯m just checking¡­ is the spirit thates with it named Titi?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard: Heheh¡­


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: N-No! Of course not¡­ it¡¯s Toto.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard: Titi is the name of the spirit for Trials of Fantasia, one of her older titles.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: A-Alice!


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    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but let out a lightugh, shaking my head and opening up the market. After teasing her like that, I had to at least see how much the game cost. However¡­ my hopes were quickly dashed when I saw the price, a full five hundred thousand points. Theoretically, I could afford the price if I was willing to spend everything to get it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, I wasn¡¯t about to do that. I might need my points for any number of things in theing days, especially since the next round for me would be my first fight at this rank. I wouldn¡¯t be able to get such arge influx of points again for quite a while, so there was no way that I would spend so many on a game world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Additionally, I had just gotten Fragments of Acidia not that long ago. It would seem strange to the world if I immediately followed it up with an even bigger and better game. It wasn¡¯t like I was trying to be apetitor with myself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I could think about getting Talent Eternalter on, after I had earned a considerable amount of points. For now, there was no rush.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki sat within a tall tree, her eyes narrowed as she watched the ground below. She was staring at the corpse of a monster that she had only recently in, waiting for the telltale shaking of the ground.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Eventually, the branch she stood on shook, her eyes focusing even further. She had already gone through dozens of attempts for this trial, and had found herself once again in a jungle region. However, the rulers of this jungle were neither tunneling sharks nor giant birds. Instead, they were massive reptiles with thick, armored hide.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki held her branch, a blood red de of bone in one hand as she waited. Soon, the target of her hunt appeared, lumbering over towards the corpse. This creature¡¯s hide was set inyers of ovepping armor, eachyer stronger than steel. Tsubaki had studied the creature¡¯s habits for a few days at this point, and gone through multiple close encounters.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At this point, she knew that there was one fatal gap for her to take advantage of. At the moment when it lowered its head to eat a smaller animal, theyers of armor shifted just slightly, presenting a small gap right at the neck. That one moment was the only chance that she had to ovee this trial. This was the only creature left in the forest that she had been unable to hunt, having already made different weapons or armors out of the corpses of other beasts.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She had to be swift, but also silent. If she had her divine powers, her Stealth domain would be perfect for this, but she had foregone such powers for the sake of the trial. Instead, she waited for the moment when the creature had just started to lower its head. Steadying her breath, she allowed herself to fall from the branch.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s right, fall. She didn¡¯t jump or kick off of it, as doing so would create extra noise. She allowed herself to fall more than thirty meters, gripping the de of bone in her hand. Only once she had nearly crashed into the beast¡¯s back did she kick at the air with her ki, shooting off like a bullet. Her body flew just above the armored hide of the beast, almost instantly arriving at its neck.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately, the creature had caught the sound of the kick, and was already beginning to lift its head in rm. The gap she was aiming for was closing rapidly, the twoyers of armor shifting together.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki grit her teeth, putting the remainder of her ki into the blood red de and throwing it forward. There was a crack as it pierced through the air, shooting far beyond the speed Tsubaki was able to move her own body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She watched as the de narrowly slid through the gap, and then heard the satisfying crunch as it pierced the beast¡¯s hide, skull, and finally shot out of its open mouth. Tsubaki used her hands as a springboard, cing them on the creature¡¯s head as she flew through the air. Her body flipped over it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a pause from the beast as Tsubakinded in front of it, her body skidding to a stop several meters away. The de that she had previously used was buried deep in a tree, so she wouldn¡¯t be able to retrieve it for the time being. Even if she could, she no longer had the ki reserves for another attack.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her eyes focused on the halted reptile, before a smile tugged at her lips. Its body began to slowly descend, blood pouring out of its mouth. She had urately severed its spine, so there was nothing that the creature could do to resist her anymore.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki gave a satisfied nod, spinning around on one foot to retrieve the ki-infused bone de. ¡°Fifi? Just to make sure, but there aren¡¯t any other stronger creatures in this forest, are there?¡± She asked, taking a rare moment to speak aloud.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">N-No. The Ten Armors Lizard King was the strongest foe in this region.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> There was a hint of disbelief in Fifi¡¯s tone. How long had it been? Originally, Tsubaki had been unable to hunt a single creature, having to crawl along the treetops. Once she had gotten the hang of it, she began to reliably hunt different species with each attempt, though she would sometimes end in failure.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Still, she was already able to clear an area meant for yers with roughly one hundred times her strength. She had to do it slowly, patiently, but she was able to do it all the same.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Good. In that case, you can delete this ount. I¡¯ve finished my trial.¡±


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">D-Delete it? Are you sure? If you keep the ount, you¡¯ll be able to receive the title effects.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> In the process of her trial, Tsubaki had personally tested different herbs to earn titles rted to alchemy, hunted monsters far stronger than her, and sessfully avoided certain death on countless asions. It was no exaggeration to say that she had titles others would kill to possess.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m sure. This ount only existed for the trial. Now that I¡¯ve finished, there¡¯s no need. Oh, also, I¡¯ll be getting a casting device on my main ount, now that I finished things here.¡±

 Chapter 901: A Journey Of Shadows

    Chapter 901: A Journey Of Shadows


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was an unexpected boon to be able to learn about the requirements for the fifth tier, as well as the special ability that came with it. As for anything beyond that, I wasn¡¯t that rushed in finding out. If there were more rewards for advancing without resetting, I would discover those over time. There was no need for me to spend points to find out early. Though¡­ as I thought about that, there was someone else that I needed to send a message to.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Are you free?


    <span style="font-weight:400">SentinelSeven: Hey, Dale! It¡¯s been a while! I wanted to thank you again for sending Charlotte, by the way! She¡¯s really helped, and now my world is habitable on the surface again!


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: I¡¯m d to hear that. I¡¯m sure that she¡¯d be happy to know that her rain brought happiness to your world, as well. Though, I wanted to let you know something else today.


    <span style="font-weight:400">SentinelSeven: Oh, what is it?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: I advanced to Rank 4 today, and there¡¯s a special perk you get if you get this far without resetting your world. I wanted to let you know so that you don¡¯t reset if you can avoid it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">SentinelSeven: Ah, congrattions! Oh, but¡­ I already reset, I think? Back a couple days after I got started, I realized that I set my world up wrong, so I did a quick reset before it got too far. Do you think that would count?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: ¡­Probably. Well, it¡¯s not anything critical, either way. Just wanted to let you know in case you qualified for it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">SentinelSeven: Thanks, either way! And be sure to let me know whenever I cane over and hang out!


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    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a small sigh when the conversation ended, shaking my head. Kathy had grown quite rapidly alongside me, so I thought that she had simply not reset yet. It turned out that she had reset in her earliest days, so there was nothing that I could do to help her in regards to the special perks.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Either way, there was something that I needed to investigate while Tsubaki and the others were being trained for their Divine Circuits. With a thought, my body descended to the Sky Citadel once again, and I got up to begin exploring. It didn¡¯t take me long to find the target of my search, one of Tsubaki¡¯s numerous servant avatars.


    <span style="font-weight:400">To my surprise, she was still cleaning the halls as if nothing had changed, smiling at me as I appeared. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It seems that the avatars of those with the Heaven¡¯s Gate can still function while they are in the Admin Room.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I had half expected them to simply freeze, simr to how my Virtual self froze whenever I went to the Admin Room.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Really, shouldn¡¯t my Virtual self be linked to my World Host, instead of my main body? Or is it because my consciousness ascends from both at the same time, so the World Host version of my Virtual self goes into the same standby mode that my main host does? No, that wouldn¡¯t exin the time differences whenever my main and Virtual selves are in different worlds.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">My brow furrowed as I thought about the problem, trying to understand what was going on. The only thing that I could think of was that the system recognized the Virtual world as being partially its own world, rather than a purely digital construct.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I shook my head, waving at the silver-haired Tsubaki avatar, before making my way back to the throne room. Now that I had my circuit set up, I could expand my avable powers while I waited for the others to arrive. At the same time, I sent out a message to Terra, deciding to probe for a bit of information.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Are you avable?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s right! I just finished my own circuits a bit after you did. What are you wanting to ask?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> There was a knowing, yful tone to her words, causing me to click my tongue.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I was just curious if you are able to assist the twins with training their Origin yet.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Sorry, but nope. That thing is still beyond your rank. Though, now that you¡¯ve gotten this far, I can tell you the basic standard for when Origins begin appearing. Origins are typicallyte into the fifth rank, or moremonly in the sixth. That¡¯s why I can¡¯t make a move yet.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Of course, it¡¯s possible for an Origin to appear in a Rank Four world, but it is beyond simply being called ¡®rare¡¯. That¡¯s because, like Sarah told you, the benchmark for the next rank is a cultural advancement, the ability to create worlds. It¡¯s possible for a world to advance to the point of creating Origins before reaching that goal, but it¡¯s really, really rare.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but nod at that. I had expected that the Origin would be ater thing, I just wanted to see if there was any new information that I had ¡®unlocked¡¯. <i><span style="font-weight:400">So you¡¯ll be able to train the Origin only if another one is born in this world, or we hit the next rank.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Pretty much!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Terra confirmed readily.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">On that note, wouldn¡¯t the Fairy Gate be considered world creation? If the random destination option is chosen, it connects to a previously nonexistent world with presetws.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra clicked her tongue at that, and I could just imagine her shaking her head. <i><span style="font-weight:400">That isn¡¯t creating a world from scratch, but procedurally generating a random world and anchoring it to your void. The durability of the world is also substantially lower than that of a world created by the system.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Durability¡­? My mind froze for a moment when Terra used that word. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Terra¡­ the condition to advance to the fourth tier. The level of power required¡­</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">You guessed it.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Terra confirmed my thoughts before I could even voice them. <i><span style="font-weight:400">To reach this level, your realm needs the power to destroy an entire universe created by the system.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she said that, I thought back to the marbles that Tsubaki and the others had previously made. Leowynn had been able to easily destroy those worlds, popping them from the void. If that happened to Earth, or Deckan, or any of the other worlds, everything in that universe would simply be destroyed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was the level of threat that I would have to face in uing invasions. No¡­ that was the level of threat I may have to deal with now. Since my world had risen to that point, it was possible that monsters could be born with the power to sunder dimensions within the void. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Are Fallen Gods able to repair damage done to a world¡¯s barrier?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">They are.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Thankfully, Terra confirmed my hopes as well as my fears. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Of course, that requires that they get there in time. Also, they can only repair it from the void, not from within the world itself. Trying to mobilize the power of the void within a damaged world will only cause the damage to intensify.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but gulp when I heard that. This meant that the true battles for most invasions from now on would take ce within the void, where it was harder to distance oneself from the enemies. Otherwise, if the enemy attacked the void when I wasn¡¯t ready, the only result would be theplete destruction of an entire universe. In the worst case scenario, I might be within said universe. My eyes narrowed, and I vanished from within the Citadel. This wouldn¡¯t do. I needed to make a move.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra stood before the gate leading to the twenty-ninth floor. The construction of the underwater city had finally beenpleted, the structure able to withstand the intense pressure of the ocean floor. Due to her contributions, Petra had been given permission to be the first one to step through the gate.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Just as she was reaching forward, a portal appearing on the ck stone gate and a wave of heat rushing out over her body, she heard a voice calling out to her. ¡°Petra!¡± She turned, looking at the source of the voice. It was a halfling woman that rushed over, one she recognized as the receptionist of the Adventurer¡¯s Guild.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yes?¡± Petra asked with a kind smile, backing away from the portal. She could tell just from the heat that the environment on the other side was vastly different.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There is a special request for you at the guild, requiring your immediate attention!¡± The halfling said as she came to a stop in front of Petra, having to take a moment to catch her breath.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Could it not have waited for two more minutes? I was just about to get the information about the next floor?¡± Petra asked wryly, before the halfling¡¯s next words caught her entirely off-guard.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s the Keeper!¡± The other woman reported. ¡°The Keeper has a mission requesting you specifically!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra¡¯s eyes went wide at that, her shadow trembling at the information. This wouldn¡¯t be their first time meeting the Keeper, but if he was requesting them through the guild, something had changed. ¡°Take me there.¡± She said with a nod, though was speaking more towards her shadow, which leapt up and wrapped around both herself and the halfling.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra¡¯s identity as the Demigoddess of Shadows was widely known, but the halfling was nheless surprised by this sudden mode of transportation. After only a moment, they were back at Gate¡¯s Rest, standing within the guild¡¯s hall. There, she saw the familiar face of the Keeper waiting next to the counter, and quickly walked over to bow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Keeper. It is an unexpected honor.¡± She said, though the Keeper shook his head. She could see a serious expression on his face.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Let¡¯s cut down to business.¡± He said, looking at Petra. ¡°I want you to join me on an expedition. I will pay one hundred times your normal wage, due to the urgency of the matter.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra¡¯s eyes went wide at that. A hundred times the wage for a Maxer was an astronomical sum, but it was understandable for the Keeper to be able to pay it. After all, he was the boss of the Goddess of Wealth. ¡°I understand, sir. Wherever it is you want to go, let us be off.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper nodded, looking back at the receptionist for this branch. He quickly wrote up the papers to make it an official mission, having the Keeper sign the document. ¡°First, let¡¯s go back to the gate where you just were. I would have met you there, but this is something we should do through official channels, and the guild branch there hasn¡¯t been fully finished.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra nodded her head, once again wrapping her shadow around the Keeper, herself, and the receptionist for Gate¡¯s Rise. A momentter, they were back at the gate, the Keeper gesturing her forward. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you the details of the mission on the other side.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra could tell that he was wanting to keep things confidential, so she didn¡¯t waste any time, stepping through the portal. She knew that the Keeper had already passed the level limit of Fyor, and needed someone else to step through first, before he could use his own methods to appear. She had learned that much thest time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she appeared within the twenty-ninth floor of Fyor, the Keeper suddenly teleported next to her. ¡°Can you tell me the details now?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper nodded his head, looking at the desertndscape surrounding them. Clearly, this floor, or at least this region of it, was arge, arid waste. ¡°We¡¯re going to rush through the next few floors. Fyor has beengging behind the other worlds, and we need to get it caught up. I¡¯ll take care of establishing a safe base around each gate, but I will need you to open the way for me.¡± As he said that, he closed his eyes to focus.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When he opened his eyes again, a pulse of divine energy spread out around him. There was a shriek of insectoid creatures buried beneath the sands as they were shredded. At the same time, the sand smoothed out, hardening to stone as an entire city began to rise up around the gate.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra¡¯s eyes went wide, the rare disy of power from the Keeper making her take this even more seriously. ¡°How far are we going, sir?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We¡¯ll advance until we hit the fortieth floor for today.¡± He said, causing Petra to gasp in shock. Counting the floor that they were on, that meant that they would be going through twelve floors back to back. ¡°With your physique as a barbarian, you should be able to handle the pressure. Additionally, tell Thelsa that after this is done, I will help her be a Goddess. And I¡¯ll make sure that history doesn¡¯t repeat itself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra¡¯s brow twitched at that, knowing what the Keeper was referring to. When Thelsa had achieved the Perfect Self, the price had been the loss of two of her shadows, two of her closest friends. ¡°I understand, sir. I¡¯ll pass the message along.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper gave a small nod. ¡°Go ahead and expand your shadow world whenever we hit a newyer. Our goal in eachyer is to locate the level orb and move on after securing both gates.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra blinked, but nodded her head. ¡°Is there not the chance that monsters will overrun the cities while we are gone?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, the Keeper shook his head, pointing towards one of the walls of the city. When Petra looked over, she saw the wall open up, an advanced turret deploying and scanning the area before retreating into the wall. ¡°I¡¯m installing defenses in each city we pass, as well as a barrier. Unless there is an anomalous monster far above the floor¡¯s level, the cities will be even safer than those the people have made until now.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I remember that Ashley created you with the powers of a Priest, so you should be able to serve to help transport other priests to the gates we visit and popte these cities.¡± Petra gave a wry smile when she heard that. She was a Priest of Ashley, not Aurivy, after all. However, when she said that, the Keeper just shook his head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ll have Aurivy give you her blessing as well. It¡¯s inconvenient to have other people for this expedition.¡± Certainly, that was within the Keeper¡¯s authority, though Petra could only chuckle dryly at the situation.

 Chapter 902: Speedrun

    Chapter 902: Speedrun


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra followed the Keeper¡¯s words, spreading her shadow out to bring thisyer of Fyor into her dominion. With it, she was able to get a basic grasp of the terrain, her face contorting slightly. ¡°Keeper, thisyer--¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper nodded his head, interrupting her. ¡°I¡¯ve noticed.¡± The water content of theyer was less than one percent, with only very rare patches of oasis scattered around. ¡°Give me a moment.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper erected a floating mirror before him, and Petra could feel his divinity radiating from the mirror. Oddly, the divine power felt more¡­ focused than most gods that Petra had encountered in the past, though she wasn¡¯t sure how to properly describe it. The Keeper simply stood there, waiting for several long moments before extending his hand into the mirror. What he pulled out was a pale blue orb the size of his fist, which he tossed towards Petra.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Keep that in your inventory for now.¡± He said, before thendscape around them shifted once again. The city seemed to vanish, the dunes around them shifting enough to let Petra know that they had changed locations. However, the ck gate still stood before them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Gate¡¯s Rise, so quickly?¡± Petra asked, blinking in confusion. When the Keeper said that they were going to rush through the floors, she assumed that it would still take at least a couple of days. Perhaps the Goddess Aurivy was guiding him to their destinations?


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Do you know how many floors there are in Fyor, in total?¡± The Keeper suddenly asked, ncing back to Petra, who shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ve never considered whether there was an upper limit or not, sir. Such a concern is impractical until we reach that point.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper gave a brief nod to show his understanding. ¡°I had Ashley calcte it a while back. Based on the total expected size of Fyor, there should be exactly ny floors. Until now, we are only on the twenty-ninth, with a level limit of just fourteen hundred and fifty, not counting the orb in your hands.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I do not mean to belittle your strength. As a true Maxer, your power is remarkable. However, this level limit is preventing many simrly powerful people from being able to explore Fyor. Those who would be able to drive progress are unable to contribute. That¡¯s why I am increasing the level limit in this way.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Until now, Fyor has been forced to fall behind because of the level limit. In recent history, Fyor¡¯s contribution has not been able to y a part in other worlds, unlike the card magic of Deckan, the cultivation of Lorek and Spica, the technology of Desbar, or the magical research of Earth.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra couldn¡¯t help but nod her head, before thinking of something. ¡°What about Kione and Sher Dien? I don¡¯t think that they have been able to help out all that much either, have they?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper shook his head. ¡°Sher Dien¡¯s nar research isn¡¯t able to keep up with our needs, either. That¡¯s why I n to ask Ryone to help their mages. As for Kione¡­¡± He seemed to think deeply about it. ¡°We know how to create fourth tier familiars, but I do not believe we know how to make proper use of them. I¡¯ll get the relevant information soon. After that, I may even decide to get a familiar, myself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra blinked, but quickly nodded her head. ¡°I¡¯m not all that good with magic, so I won¡¯t bother with it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper nced back at her with a small grin. ¡°What if you could have a familiar that took the form of a powerful weapon, having it release destructive powers on your behalf while you wield it in battle? The familiars of Kione are not only for mages, Petra.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra¡¯s eyes went wide in understanding. ¡°I¡­ see. Well, I¡¯ll see what information you can find, then!¡± As for the gate before her, she knew that it was her job to activate it, while at the same time the Keeper created yet another desert city.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The opening for the next gate was dark, making Petra fear that something had gone wrong with the crystal, but that turned out not to be the case. Rather, the gate was within a small cave on the side of a mountain. The chill quickly set into her body, causing her to shudder.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once the Keeper appeared, he instructed her to spread her shadow out again, learning the basdscape of thisyer. This one was a more normal world, filled with grasnds, oceans, and various types of terrain. However, there was something else to be concerned with for this world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I see¡­ there¡¯s another sapient race here.¡± The Keeper spoke in surprise after erecting a city within the mountain, the crumbling of stone ringing out in Petra¡¯s ears. Petra had seen them as well while going through the world¡¯sndscape, though she only noticed them due to the massive scale of their architecture.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Beings made of various different metals, standing more than one hundred meters tall, had formed a great society in thisyer. ¡°Are you going to meet with them?¡± Petra asked, thinking that might be a hidden objective in this mission. Surprisingly, the Keeper shook his head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°They don¡¯t need my immediate guidance. I¡¯ll watch over them for a time with the others. Regardless, they can¡¯t enter the gates with bodies thatrge, so they are destined to remain on this floor, unless arge-scale dimensional gate is created.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying so, the Keeper retrieved yet another level orb and tossed it to Petra. Then, he casually moved them to the next gate, and repeated this process. The nextyer was engulfed in a massive storm, one that threatened to throw even Petra off her feet until the Keeper applied a spell to anchor her to the ground.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This storm seemed to engulf the whole world, present at both gates with no signs of stopping. However, the Keeper merely seemed to make a note that theyer was likely to be rich in some special mineral that caused the anomalous weather before moving on.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After the storm came the most intense heat that Petra had ever felt. The portal was on a jagged ind within a sea of flowingva, mountains erupting constantly in the distance. Still, the Keeper merely gave a cursory nce of the area while retrieving the level stone, building a pair of cities, and moving on.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Anotheryer that seemed almost normal, and then one that was entirely underwater. When they reached the thirty-fourth floor, Petra was pinned to the ground by the intense pressure of the sea, once again relying on the Keeper to stabilize her situation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After she saw him create an underwater city in moments that had taken months for mortals toplete, she couldn¡¯t help butin. ¡°If you can do all of this yourself, why haven¡¯t you done so until now?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper nced back at her when he heard this. ¡°It¡¯s simple. I didn¡¯t want to interfere as much as possible. I wanted to let you all make your own achievements. If I wanted to, I could push all the way to the nieth floor, once the level restriction is no longer a problem for me. But what would be the point? All that it would do is open up more dangerous areas that could be a threat to those not ready for them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I do not want everyone to rely on me for their convenience, when the power of mortals is more than enough to carry out the tasks. Regardless of my abilities, I am only one person. If not because of Fyor¡¯s special circumstances, I wouldn¡¯t be getting personally involved now.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Like we said before, Kione and Sher Dien can be improved by simply circting knowledge. However, that is not the case for Fyor. Fyor¡¯s growth relies on the discovery of newyers, each of which is an increasinglyrger world. You could fit the entirety of Deckan between here and this floor¡¯s ceiling four times over, and it will only get bigger as we go.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°With most worlds, their development will be faster the further they go, but Fyor is the opposite. Because of the increasing size and the need for constant exploration, their speed of development is only going to get slower and slower over time. That¡¯s why I have to get involved here, toy the foundation that the people can build upon.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying that, he immediately found the orb of thisyer, and tossed it to her once again, before moving on. The nextyer was a frozen waste, followed by a rtively normalyer, and then a world with trees that seemed to connect to the sky above. Even the Keeper¡¯s eyes were wide in surprise at the size of the trees, a satisfied smile on his face.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When they arrived at the thirty-eighthyer, Petra had already grown numb to their advancement speed, not seeming to mind whatever special circumstances she saw in the world. The gate leading down was within a deep canyon, and the one going up on a long beach.. All she needed to do was spread her shadow, stuff the orb in her inventory, and activate the next gate.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, the thirty-ninth floor even made the Keeper pause. They emerged within a golden meadow, a powerful divinity radiating within the air. For a moment, Petra thought that they might have identally stumbled upon Sanctum, but that did not seem to be the case.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper gave a small grin, nodding his head in satisfaction. ¡°I was wondering when we¡¯d find this.¡± As he said that, he took a deep breath. Rather than mobilizing his own divinity, he seemed to take control of the energy around them, erecting a massive city with tall walls and a magnificent castle. ¡°This is going to be an importantyer in the future.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is this¡­ ayer for gods?¡± Petra couldn¡¯t help but ask, causing the Keeper to nod in agreement.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right, Petra. Whether man or beast, every living thing in this floor possesses some form of divinity, even if it is just that of a demigoddess like yourself. If there is any floor that deserves special attention in the future, it will be this one, so remember it well.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra nodded her head, the Keeper in the process of searching for thisyer¡¯s level orb when a golden light shed before them. Standing before the Keeper was a figure d in golden armor, wings behind his back. ¡°Who are you to build a city in thisnd?¡± He asked in a harsh tone, giving off the demeanor of a trained soldier.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra gulped, knowing that this was likely to be out of her league. They had traveled so many floors, it wasn¡¯t just a matter of the enemy being one or two hundred levels higher than her. Not only was the enemy more than one thousand levels above her, but he was also a god.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper looked at the angelic figure calmly. ¡°I am the creator of this world. Whoever rules thisnd, you can tell them that I will speak to them in the near future. However, I am quite busy at the moment.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The angelic being¡¯s eyes went wide, and a sword manifested in his hand. ¡°I will not take an insult like that lightly. Do you take me for a fool?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper arched a brow, shaking his head. ¡°Deliver my message to your leader.¡± He said, waving his hand dismissively at the angel. For a brief moment, the Keeper¡¯s divinity turned overwhelming, almost oppressive, the opposing soldier vanishing just as quickly as he had arrived. ¡°I¡¯ll need to spend a bit more effort on the defenses of this city, it looks like¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As he muttered that, the divinity in the air became thinner, receding like a tide to form a golden barrier around the city. Once that wasplete, he gave a satisfied nod, though Petra quickly cleared her throat.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Uhm¡­ sir? What will you do if the location of the other gate is within one of their cities?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper paused when he heard that, seeming to consider it. ¡°I would prefer to get all the way to the fortieth floor like I said before. Stopping just one step short will both me to no end. I suppose I could just barge into their city, and throw you at the portal?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra¡¯s red face went pale at that idea, before she noticed that the Keeper was smiling yfully. ¡°You¡­ you wouldn¡¯t really do that, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper shook his head. ¡°You already have enough orbs on you. Once you turn those in, it won¡¯t be a problem for me to take the next gate myself. It¡¯d be best if you could have the location for your travels, but that isn¡¯t strictly necessary.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As he said that, he stared into his mirror. ¡°Thankfully, the portal isn¡¯t in a public square or a temple, or anything like that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So it <i><span style="font-weight:400">is</i><span style="font-weight:400"> in a city.¡± Petra groaned, having assumed so. The fact that one gate was left unattended in this area was already an anomaly, but she couldn¡¯t believe both would be in and of gods. Then, however, she noticed an awkward expression on the Keeper¡¯s face. ¡°Where is it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Are you sure that you don¡¯t want me to just throw you into the portal?¡± He asked, ncing back at her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Please, no. Sir¡­ where is it?¡± Petra asked again, the Keeper turning the mirror to let her see the ck stone monument resting within a golden pond, the ring of the pond filled with flowers, and walls all around them. Petra couldn¡¯t help but cough lightly. ¡°Sir, is that a bath?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I do believe it is, Petra. I do believe it is.¡±

 Chapter 903: Angelic Host

    Chapter 903: Angelic Host


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was troublesome. If the next gate had simply been within another city, it wouldn¡¯t be hard to sneak through and find my way to the fortieth floor with Petra¡¯s help. However, the fact that it was within a <i><span style="font-weight:400">bath</i><span style="font-weight:400"> meant that that bath was likely in an important location, like a pce. Even if I was able to force my way in to get to the fortieth floor, the same could not be said for future travelers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Granted, as long as Aurivy gave her blessing to Petra, future travelers could simply skip that gate. The same thing was still happening on the twenty-fourth floor, where Scarlet was negotiating with the Solii to get them to open theirnds up to adventurers. Until a consensus was reached there, people would need to continue bypassing that level.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, given that this was theyer of gods, I didn¡¯t want to do such a thing. Rather, I wanted to try to open this ce up as a ce to cultivate divinities. If my senses were correct that everything in thisyer had some level of divinity, that meant that there was likely a unique way of obtaining godhood within thisyer. ¡°Looks like I¡¯m going to have to talk to them.¡± I shook my head, ncing back to Petra.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You go ahead and head back to the core to deposit all of those crystals. At the very least, that will increase the level enough to let me move freely.¡± And on that note¡­ <i><span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy, can you grant Petra your blessing, and let her be a priest? She can use the World¡¯s Shadow to travel already, but I need her to have a usible excuse to bring others here easily.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">You got it, boss!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Aurivy¡¯s energetic voice spoke up, and I could feel a brief divine energy descending on Petra, who gasped in surprise.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Like I said, tell Thelsa what I said. I¡¯ll find the two of you on the twenty-eighth floor when I¡¯m done here.¡± After I said that, Petra hesitated for a moment, before nodding her head and vanishing in a burst of darkness.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With that taken care of, it was now just myself within this new city, left to ponder on my course of action. The soldier that appeared before had the Sword domain, predictably enough, so I could be reasonably certain between that and his attitude that he was a soldier of some nation in thisyer. The problem was that I didn¡¯t know if it was the same nation as the one where the other gate is.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, their voice was infused with their divine energy naturally, so there was no such thing as anguage barrier here. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Udona, how are the others doing on their circuits?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">They¡¯ve just about finished.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Udona said in a self-satisfied tone. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Now that we know what we¡¯re doing with this, it is easy to take care of everything. Do you need them for something?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I don¡¯t know yet, to be honest. I would like you to look at theyout of the currentyer I¡¯m on, and tell me how many nations there are. Additionally, if there are any differences in the races, that would be good to know.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Sure, let me check that out real fast!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> It was likely that she was just waiting for Lifre and Tsubaki to finish up, giving her plenty of free time. As for what Dana and Gerard were up to, I was sure that I¡¯d find that outter. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It looks like there are seventeen different nations in thisyer. Each one is ruled by a different type of divine being. For instance, the ones nearest you¡­ let¡¯s call those the Angel faction.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">What about the ones where the other gate is?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> If there were that many nations, my luck could <i><span style="font-weight:400">not</i><span style="font-weight:400"> be that good.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">That would be¡­ let¡¯s call them the Archons. They have no wings, pale skin, and brightly glowing eyes.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">And let me guess¡­ the Angels and Archons are at war with each other?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">To my surprise, Udona quickly denied my suspicions. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Nope! From what I can tell, all of the nations havee to an agreement. There is no hostility between them, so long as none of them strike first. Going through some of their records now, and it looks like this is because a great war in the past absolutely devastated thisyer.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Well, that was some good news at least. Or¡­ <i><span style="font-weight:400">does that mean that all seventeen nations will turn against us, now that we are here?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> That would certainly be the worst case scenario, at which point I would need to suppress them by force. After all, they had the numbers advantage here.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">That I can¡¯t say. It¡¯s possible that some of them will seek to ally with you, or perhaps all will once you make your power known. I¡¯m not familiar enough with their culture yet to predict that.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small sigh at that, nodding my head. At the very least, this city should be safe. I oveid numerous different trinities on various parts of the defenses. As long as there is ambient divine energy in the air like this, the barrier and turrets would be able to stay online.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, let¡¯s go meet the neighbors, then.¡± Assuming that the soldier had gone and told themander of the angels, they should be expecting me. My mirror shifted, looking at the local territory. There were numerous cities in the distance, though the closest one was over five hundred kilometers away. Sadly, from what I could see, that was unlikely to be the capital. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy, one ticket to the Angel¡¯s castle?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a moment¡¯s dy, before golden mist wrapped around me. I prepared my defenses, knowing that I was being sent to potential enemy territory, before I felt a heavy weight pressing on my shoulders. ¡°That¡¯s him, my lord!¡± A familiar voice called out.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Kneeling not far away was the same angel that I had sent away before, and in front of him was another d in golden armor. His eyes focused heavily on me, and I could tell that he was the king. Mostly because one of his domains was literally ¡®Kings¡¯, while the other was ¡®Creation¡¯.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You are the Azoth that dared to call himself the creator of this world?¡± The king asked in a heavy tone, though his pressure didn¡¯t really bother me. It was¡­ weird. After creating my Divine Circuits, I could feel how uneven his divinity was. Like I was a stable ind amidst an unruly tide.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I only told the truth.¡± I said in a calm tone. ¡°Though I am no Azoth. In fact, I¡¯m not even sure what an Azoth is. I¡¯m guessing that they are a race that looks like myself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You im to be the creator of the world, yet also are ignorant to it?¡± The king asked as his brows furrowed. ¡°Your kingmands you to kneel.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I could feel the divinity in his voice rushing towards me, attempting to force me into submission. I took a deep breath, tapping into my Keeper powers and taking a step forward. There was the sound of a crash as my foot hit the ground, rocking the entire pce. ¡°Sorry, but if I were to kneel to you, you would be dead in a few seconds. There are a few people who would heavily take offense to such a thing.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My footsteps continued, each one shaking the building as if an earthquake were wreaking havoc. When I came before the king, the soldiers on either side, as well as the one kneeling, all deployed their weapons in an attempt to attack me. I activated my divine powers, keeping my eyes locked on the king while remembering Mara¡¯s words.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Who has the right to decide what is real and what is fake?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The answer to that question seemed simple to me, after I took some time to think it over. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I do.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The weapons of the soldiers, as well as their bodies, simply passed through me, even as they continued to attack. ¡°I am not here to dere war. I am not here to attack your people. As I said before, I am the one who created this world. The ck stone pir where your soldier found me is a gate, which has now been opened to let others in. If I wish it, your people will also be allowed through. Otherwise, the path will be forever barred to you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The king furrowed his brow, his soldiers shouting for him to get to safety as he stared at me, my body repeatedly ¡®pierced¡¯ by various weapons. ¡°Then, what is it that you are wanting?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I want peace between those whoe through the gate and the nations of this world. Additionally, there is another pir like the one I emerged through. Just as we cane and go through the pir I came from, we can also do the same from that one, though it has a different destination.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When he heard me say this, the king gave a small nod. ¡°And where is this other passage, then?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I had a slightly awkward expression on my face, which only made him narrow his eyes before I gave my answer. ¡°From what I have seen, it is in the bathing chamber of an Archon. Given its status, likely the royal pce.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Even the soldiers that had been attacking me couldn¡¯t help but pause at that, staring incredulously at me. ¡°You¡­ want to break into the bathing chamber of the Archon Queen?¡± The King asked with his eyes twitching.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I am not the one who decided to build a <i><span style="font-weight:400">bath</i><span style="font-weight:400"> around an indestructible b of ck stone.¡± I retorted with a long groan. ¡°Preferably, I would relocate the entire pce. I would be¡­ inconvenient if my people were to frequently emerge in that location.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Then why not simply move the passage?¡± The king asked with narrowed eyes. ¡°If you are indeed this world¡¯s creator, such a task should be simple.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Would that it were so.¡± I said with a long sigh. ¡°Unfortunately, the location of the gates is an immutablew of the world, just as the crystal pir which brings day and night. Now that the world is formed, I can no more change the location of the gates than I can change the order of events that led to the pce being built in that location. And were that possible, we would not be having this conversation. Now, would you kindly ask your men to stop attacking me? It is quite difficult not to undo <i><span style="font-weight:400">their</i><span style="font-weight:400"> existence at this time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">What I said wasn¡¯t a threat, nor a boast, but the honest truth. In order to prevent them from damaging me, I was constantly turning them into an illusion, and then back again when their attack passed. If I kept them as an illusion for too long, I was worried that they would disbelieve themselves.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The king¡¯s eye twitched again, and he lifted his hand. Immediately, the soldiers jumped back, and the pressure on me receded. ¡°Very well¡­ if you can offer me some modicum of proof to your im, I will believe you, and reach out to the other rulers.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Finally.¡± I grinned, causing him to blink in confusion. ¡°Aurivy, send the two of us to the void.¡± It was impossible for me to bring him through the gate without purchasing his race or giving him a system stone. However, the ck stone walls did not halt void travel. They did make it more difficult, especially for someone trying to break their way in, but it was not impossible.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Golden mist surged up to engulf the two of us, before we stood within the dark abyss. Countless glittering spheres wrapped in metal cages could be seen hovering in the distance, causing the king to gasp out in shock. ¡°Where is this?¡± He asked, looking around.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This is the void, the genesis of all things.¡± I told him simply, pointing at the spheres. ¡°Each of these is a fully self-contained world, created either personally by me, or by the people I lead.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying that, I turned, pointing towards an absolutely massive sphere in the distance. <i><span style="font-weight:400">¡°And that</i><span style="font-weight:400"> is Fyor, the world where I pulled you from. Unlike the others, it has ayered structure, with ny floors in total. Each floor is more powerful than thest, and only by reaching the top can you im to be at the pinnacle of power.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The king looked at the world, which was being swarmed by a number of dark beasts. ¡°Those¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Those are void beasts. They are attempting to enter the world and devour the information within. While Fyor is the greatest feast for them, it also has the greatest defense.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The king gave a brief, shaky nod. ¡°In that case¡­ how high is the yer¡¯ in which we reside?¡± It was clear that he was thinking that he was near the top, as his was a world of gods. However¡­


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You are on the thirty-ninthyer, less than one half of the way to the top. Any random creature from the finalyer would be able topletely destroy everything you know, and you would be powerless to resist it.¡± The color drained from the king¡¯s face as I said that. ¡°Each floor must be climbed in sequence, as there is an imprable barrier between them. Those who climb the floors are blessed with a system that allows them to continuously grow stronger, facing the challenges that lie ahead. That is why, before we can reach the fortieth floor, we muste to an agreement with the Archon who ¡®controls¡¯ that gate.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The king nodded his head again, causing me to smile. ¡°I think he¡¯s had enough, Aurivy. Take us back.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once more, golden mist surrounded us, and we returned to the throne room. Yet again, the knights began attacking me, asking me what I did to their king¡­ yeah, this was going to be a long day.

 Chapter 904: The Archon Of Storms

    Chapter 904: The Archon Of Storms


    <span style="font-weight:400">After my return to the pce of the Angels, the king had apletely different opinion of me, though that was only natural. Without any knowledge or concept of the void, it was almost impossible for any god from this world to stumble there identally. In that sense, James really proved himself as the greatest anomaly, because his knowledge of the system allowed him to seek out the different realms long before that region of Fyor was opened.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I watched the king shakily sitting on his throne while digesting the information that he had just received. This world, which had a circumference tens of thousands of timesrger than the Earth that I originated from, was only a singleyer in an overwhelmingly massive. Worse, they weren¡¯t even near the top of said.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Due to his divine powers, the king knew that he hadn¡¯t just been shown an illusion. What he saw should have really been the truth. If anything, the indifference that the other party used when talking to him only further showed this fact. There was no need for him to lie. With just the strength he had shown, he would have been able to kill all of them in moments.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡­ understand.¡± The King spoke with a heavy nod. ¡°I¡¯ll get in touch with the Lady of Storms.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As he said that, he closed his eyes, using his divinity to send out a message. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Arya, I have an urgent matter to discuss with you. This could determine the life and death of both of our nations, please respond.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There were a few moments of silence after he sent that, before a surprised voice spoke back to him. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Reyor, what has gotten into you? I¡¯ve never heard such panic in your mind.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The king, Reyor, let out a deep sigh of relief when the Archon¡¯s queen answered his call. <i><span style="font-weight:400">A powerful individual hase to me. He ims to be the creator of this world. And, after what he has shown me, I believe that he is speaking the truth.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">What creator? Haven¡¯t you always prided yourself as the one true creator around here, inheriting that title from your family?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> There was a faint hint of mockery in Arya¡¯s tone, before she became more serious. <i><span style="font-weight:400">What did this man show you that made you ept this im?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I doubt you would believe me if I told you, lest you saw it yourself. I have seen the world outside of our own, and the infinite abyss beyond the sky. Thankfully, this man seems toe in peace. He has resisted my pressure, and casually brushed off my guards in the process. He is looking for a negotiation, but it involves something in your territory.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Oh? And what does this mighty creator want with me?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Arya asked with a dark chuckle, though Reyor¡¯s face became somewhat awkward.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Are¡­ you familiar with arge te of ck stone, one which cannot be destroyed by any means?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Reyor couldn¡¯t bring himself to say that he knew such a thing currently existed within a bath, so he had to skirt around that issue.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">¡­I am. What does that have to do with anything? </i><span style="font-weight:400">Arya¡¯s tone suddenly shifted, turning more wary.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">The ck stone is a gate to beyond this world. The creator came through one, and said that more will arrive soon. However, to progress to the next region, they must exit through the other gate.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> After a moment, Reyor added on with a deep sigh. <i><span style="font-weight:400">He already knows the location of the gate, so please don¡¯t try to hide it, or it will be both of our heads.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">He dares threaten the Archons?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Arya asked furiously.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Arya, please listen to me for a moment. Cast aside your temper and focus on what I am about to say. Judging by the pressure I felt from this man, even if all the kings and queens of the world were to fight at once, he would be able to defeat us. Furthermore, he has hidden supporters that I can¡¯t detect, subordinates capable of taking him anywhere he wishes to go within a moment.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Then why not simply take himself to the gate, why go through this charade of having you contact me?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Arya practically growled out those thoughts, Reyor clearing his throat.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">¡­Do you want me to tell him to do that?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Doing so meant inviting this man directly into her bathing chamber.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she realized this, Arya naturally knew what he meant, and let out a deep groan. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Arrange a meeting. Let me see if this man is worthy of me altering my pce to amodate his wishes.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Reyor nodded his head, looking at the rxed figure before him. ¡°The Lady of Storms has agreed to meet you. However, she is reserving judgment on the¡­ issue until she has determined your ability for herself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The man nodded his head, ncing upwards as golden mist wrapped around his body once again. Only after Reyor was certain that he was gone did he let himself let out a deep breath. ¡°I don¡¯t know who to pity more¡­¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What kind of bastard could intimidate the old man to that degree?¡± Arya asked herself, her brows furrowed as she sat in her opulent throne. As they often met for regr diplomatic affairs, she was familiar with Reyor¡¯s strength. Although he wasn¡¯t the greatest of the kings, his unique abilities allowed him to rule unquestioned.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she saw a golden mist spread out before her throne, she immediately became vignt. This aligned with what Reyor had told her, but there was a big difference between the two. Reyor relied on his ¡®King¡¯s Right¡¯ to rule, subduing any who stood in his way. Arya, meanwhile, relied purely on her own strength. The entire Archon nation was wrapped in a perpetual storm so long as she existed within it, and there was not a single guard within her pce, only a few maids and other workers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°An Azoth?¡± Arya¡¯s eyes narrowed as she saw the figure appearing, recognizing his apparent race. Though, on closer inspection, there were still some differences. Azoths typically had brightly glowing golden eyes, while this man¡¯s eyes seemed far more normal. ¡°So, you are the one that cowed the King of Angels?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You must be the Lady of Storms.¡± The man said, though at least he kept his tone respectful. ¡°I apologize, but I¡¯m new to this region, so I don¡¯t know the proper customs. The King of the Angels said that you wished me to demonstrate my ability?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was an almost malicious smile on Arya¡¯s face as she heard that. ¡°That¡¯s right. This should be an easy task for the creator of an entire world. All you have to do is open a hole in the sky.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The man blinked for a moment, before shaking his head. Arya chuckled, as if having caught him in his lie, before he spoke. ¡°There is a barrier of the same ck stone which you possess within the sky and the ground. As I exined to the King of Angels, it is an immutablew of this world that it cannot be altered or destroyed. Even I cannot do such a thing.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh? Then how exactly do you n to demonstrate your power to me?¡± Arya asked with a raised brow. While the angels had their white wings, Archons like Arya exuded a natural aura of light around their bodies, their hair uniquely golden.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The man opposite her thought about it. ¡°I could demonstrate the ability of the gate. Though, that would require that you let me into the location where it is stored. Otherwise, I would be willing to take down some powerful monster roaming thesends. Though, if we judge this purely onbat strength, I doubt you will be satisfied.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Quite.¡± Arya nodded her head. She did not indulge him because of strength, but the possibility of his identity itself. ¡°Since you cannot open the sky for me, I shall ask you to prove yourself in another way. Have you created other worlds like this one?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not¡­ as such.¡± The man shook his head. ¡°The other worlds that I have made are all starkly different. Only this world uses the concept of the ck stone gates.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Very well.¡± Arya grinned. ¡°In that case, take me to one of your other worlds. Show me a ce which proves undeniably that you are what you im, and I shall move my pce at your behest.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The man nodded with a small smile, before speaking a strange name. ¡°Aurivy, take us to Deckan.¡± He said, glowing mist wrapping around both his feet and Arya¡¯s. She could feel a powerful divinity within the mist, one which far surpassed her own.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When the mist faded, she was stood upon a tall mountain, her ever present storm raging over her head. Her body felt unbelievably light, as if it were utterly weightless. She almost believed the man with just this, but knew that there was more to see.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She looked over at him, and found that he was staring up at the sky with slight annoyance. He waved his hand, and a powerful gust of wind rushed upwards from their location, piercing her storm and scattering it. She could even feel her own divinity being suppressed, preventing the storm from reforming.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she was about to ask what the meaning of doing such a thing was, her words got stuck in her throat. Up above the storm, where she would normally see ayer of stone shining with millions of jewels, she instead saw an endless blue sea. Though, the sea did not seem to be made of water, yet hovered over thend just the same. ¡°Where¡­ are we?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This is Deckan, one of the others I¡¯ve created.¡± The man said with a nod. ¡°Follow me.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying that, he kicked off the ground, shooting up into the endless sky. Arya hesitated, fearing that he was going to crash into the blue surface and destroy it, but followed all the same. She found that no matter how close she came to the sky, it was always further away, and yet gradually it became darker and darker, until it was reced with an endless emptiness.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Arya opened her mouth to speak, but found that no sound would emerge. Thankfully, her peoplemunicated through divinity itself, so her words still reached him. <i><span style="font-weight:400">What happened to the sky?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She asked, feeling that it was a pity for such a beautiful thing to disappear. Surprisingly, the man pointed back in the way they came, prompting Arya to turn her head to look.


    <span style="font-weight:400">What she saw was a blue and green sphere behind them. Arya felt as if she could reach out and grab it in her hands, yet at the same time knew its true size. Though it would still fit within the sky of her world, it was far from something one person could hold. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Is this what you showed Reyor?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She asked hesitantly, causing the man to shake his head.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I was in more of a rush with him. Since you asked to witness something that you have never seen, that is what I offer you.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> After saying that, he brought her attention to a massive ball of me that existed within the otherwise empty world. Arya felt as if it were some impossibly strong attack being prepared, and immediately raised her guard.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">That is the sun. In your world, the light is provided by the crystal pir, which governs the cycle of day and night. In this world, day and night are governed by the rotation of the itself. Whichever side is aimed towards the sun experiences ¡®day¡¯ while the rest experience ¡®night¡¯.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Realizing that the ¡®sun¡¯ was not some threatening entity or spell, Arya allowed herself to rx. This was too far outside the realm of her understanding, the realm of what she knew to bemon sense. For the light toe from an orb so far away, rather than they crystal pir that resonated with the heavens¡­ <i><span style="font-weight:400">I see¡­ you were being honest.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Arya had a bitter smile on her face as she realized the truth of his words.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Will you arrange for my people to have ess to the gate?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The man asked, though surprisingly Arya raised yet another condition.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I will, but first¡­ I want you to show me what sits beyond the gate.</i>

 Chapter 905: No More

    Chapter 905: No More


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I heard Arya¡¯s request, I couldn¡¯t help but give a small nod. Petra had long since returned to the firstyer and activated all of the orbs that I had given her, so I was capable of opening the gates on my own now. That said, there was still the matter of the gate¡¯s location¡­


    <span style="font-weight:400">Regardless, I had Aurivy send the pair of us back to her pce, at which point Arya immediately walked out of the throne room. ¡°It¡¯s this way.¡± She said, no longer seeming to mind the destination. It seemed that she really did believe me, but that wasn¡¯t going to be enough in itself. After all, her request was for me to take her beyond the gate, which she could not walk through. The simplest answer would be to give her a system stone, but I was not inclined to do such.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Arya was a powerful god, but at the moment that was all she was. She wasn¡¯t an overwhelming existence yet. If I gave her alone ess to the system, she would rapidly be the overlord of the thirty-ninth floor. Instead, I sent a message to Aurivy in preparation. If we couldn¡¯t get in through the front door, then Aurivy would open another path for her, once the way was clear.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After following Arya, I was brought to the bath in question, a wide room established at the lowest level of the pce. A natural spring fed water into the bath, which was positioned around the ck stone b. ¡°I believe that this is what you are looking for.¡± Arya said with a surprisingly stoic face.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod, walking through the air over the water, and soon arrived at the ck stone. When I reached out to put my hand on it, I saw the portal opening in front of me. Arya¡¯s eyes went wide in surprise, but I simply walked through. ¡°I¡¯ll bring you along in a moment.¡± I spoke back to her, beforepletely disappearing into the gate.


    <span style="font-weight:400">On the other side of the portal, I was relieved to find that it still seemed to be habitable. There wasn¡¯t a massiveva ocean, a frozen tundra, or anything like that. Rather, the gate opened atop a great hill, and I could see numerous figures moving in the distance. They had blue skin and four arms, with sharp spikes protruding from their elbows. Each figure had bright green eyes, walking upright and wearing only the most simple of clothing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">These creatures didn¡¯t seem like feral monsters, but at the same time were not wholly civilized. From what I could tell, they moved in family groups or tribes. <i><span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s another intelligent race¡­ well, rtively speaking.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I shook my head, before giving Aurivy the signal to bring Arya over.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a rush of golden mist beside me, and Arya appeared. She staggered for just a moment, the unfamiliar weight of the gravity here catching her by surprise. ¡°Is this the next area?¡± She asked, looking behind her and seeing the ck wall.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± I nodded my head. ¡°Traditionally, the location of the portal leading down has always been known as Gate¡¯s Rest in Fyor, whereas the portal leading up is known as Gate¡¯s Rise. Our current location would be the fortieth floor¡¯s Gate¡¯s Rest.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Arya had a somber expression as she epted that knowledge. ¡°And I assume you¡¯ll be expecting me to change the name of my city, as well?¡± However, I simply shook my head at that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As long as the gate is somewhere essible, you can name your city whatever you want. My purpose isn¡¯t to hinder your people, but to try and integrate them with the rest of the world. That holds true for every race within the thirty-ninthyer.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Arya hesitated, before giving a small nod. Judging by theck of storm clouds gathering, she seemed to be suppressing her ability after I pushed it down in Deckan. Which reminded me¡­ ¡°I¡¯m curious about something. Nowhere else in any world can gods be found in such abundance as youryer. What method do you use to cultivate your divinity?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Arya looked over at me in surprise, as if not having expected a question like that. ¡°Divinity is¡­ something whiches natural to us, but also a gift from our forefathers. If I am to properly exin it, I must go into our past. If you must ask that question, I assume you do not know of our history.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± I admitted readily. ¡°My knowledge of youryer begins with the moment I set foot in it. I could take some time to retrieve the information myself, but it is more convenient to ask someone familiar with the subject.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I see¡­ then let me exin. Perhaps some of your questions will be answered.¡± After she said that, she turned to fully face me, taking a deep breath.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In the beginning, there was only one race, which we know as the Demi. They were the first, the only true race to be born in our world¡­ sorry, ouryer. That may take me some time¡­¡± She shook her head, forcing herself to continue. ¡°The Demi were a tribal people, not unlike those seen in the distance. They spread out, harvesting the energy around them to slowly evolve.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That is, until one Demi found a golden stone with great power. When he absorbed the power of this stone for himself, he found a word branded in his subconscious. At the same time, his intelligence grew far more than ever before. He was the first of what came to be the gods. In truth, we don¡¯t know which race most closely resembles the Demi.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As the first god, he quickly became king of the Demi, going by the name of Laratha. Laratha believed that his encounter with the golden stone was a fortuitous sign from the world that only he deserved to rule thend, and began to oppress his fellow Demi. At the same time, his greater intelligence brought forth many advances in mining, crafting, and culinary arts.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Unfortunately, it did not take long before other Demi began to find simr stones, each granting them their own divine power. These Demi had long been oppressed by Laratha, and felt that this was their chance to rise up. With thebined efforts of nearly two dozen gods, Laratha was eventually in, but not before their battle killed over half of the Demi poption.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod as I listened to her story, expecting her to say that these gods eventually became the founders of each race, ushering in an era of peace. To my surprise, her brows furrowed. ¡°That was only the beginning of their woes, however. In the process of this battle, many golden stones were unearthed, shattered by the shockwaves released. These stones released their divine power into the air, allowing every Demi to breathe it in.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Those that did so gradually began to develop ¡®aspects¡¯, weaker divine powers that would awaken over time to be full domains. At the same time, the original gods who had defeated Laratha began to fight for who should ultimately control the world. Their personalities were too different, brought together only because of amon threat. Once that threat was gone, their fangs turned towards each other.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thus began the First Age of Gods, a terrible time in our history. The first ones who defeated Laratha split off, abducting numerous Demi to form their own nations, many of which still exist today. To differentiate themselves from one another, these gods changed their forms, and those of their followers. Then, whether it was an innocent bystander or an enemy nation, they dered war on everything that was different from themselves.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The strength of a million gods ravaged thend, reducing it to a barren husk. Countless veins of golden stone were found and shattered, strengthening the divinity within the air. Eventually, even the pir that touched the heavens took on a golden hue after being shattered countless times. After that point, it was no longer vulnerable to the shockwaves of battle.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This war waged for so long¡­ generations of rulers passed in every nation, until there were a scant few left of our people. No longer were we Demi. Instead, we were Archon, Angel, Azoth, Nuna, Creon, and more. With barely a thousand people left under each banner, one man put an end to this conflict. He absorbed the divinity in the air, and dered ¡®no more¡¯.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No more would we fight and ughter one another. No more would we cut at each other¡¯s throats. The divine power he obtained from his parents was ¡®Law¡¯, and the one which he obtained from the air was ¡®Penance¡¯. With these two powers, he approached the pir that touches the heavens, using it as a conduit to establish a ¡®Law¡¯ and matching ¡®Penance¡¯.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°From that moment forward, murder was forbidden. To prevent one from being unable to defend themselves, there was a limit allowed on any kind of ughter. Should one kill one hundred of the divine races for any reason, they would immediately perish. Should any king order the death of more than one thousand members of the divine races, their entire kingdom would be erased from the world. Thisw became a part of our world, something which the man gave his own life to instate.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We are permitted to fight the monsters of our world, but we must never seek to harm others of our kind, lest we face the full power of the world itself bearing down on us.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing that she was done with her story, I couldn¡¯t help but furrow my brows. ¡°When I arrived, a soldier of the Angels appeared before me, looking ready to strike me down. Is thisw truly as powerful and unwavering as you say?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Arya let out a lightugh at that. ¡°Reyor believes himself clever. Any soldier in his personal forces is forbidden from ying more than fifty individuals in their lifetime. Before that point, while they are not ordered to carry out violent acts, he has expressly stated that these actions will not be punished if justified.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As for whether or not thew is as powerful as I say¡­ there used to be twenty-one nations.¡± Arya spoke, ncing back towards the gate. ¡°Two of them vanished within the first years after the decree was passed. They sought to continue the fight, believing that now could restrain them. As soon as the number of kills passed the threshold, they disappeared without a trace, scattering like dust in the wind. Even their buildings vanished from the world. The only proof they ever existed was in the memory passed down by others.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°For the third nation, it was one thousand years ago. The king of the race went mad with his power, inflicted by a terrible curse. He directly ordered his men to go out and ughter, and bring ruin to the Azoth. Before the first soldier could leave his castle, their entire empire vanished into nothing. We only know of this act because an Azoth captive had been held in the throne room, serving as an example for others of his kind. When the nation disappeared around him, he was all that was left.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thest nation to break thisw happened only twelve years ago. In fact, this one was an ident caused by simply failing to keep control of their people. While murder was disallowed, theft and other crimes were not. And in some cases, it may seem that the only punishment befitting a crime is death. The queen of this nation was a friend of mine¡­ but because of the rampant crime in her nation, she forgot the wording of thew. Thew not only forbade war, but also execution. When the thousandth criminal was in, the nation dissolved into nothing.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying all of that, Arya turned to look at me again. ¡°Bear this in mind, ¡®Creator¡¯. This is aw that exists in the air itself. Should your people go against thisw, it is entirely likely that they will face the punishment.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod as I listened to her words. This could indeed exin many things. ¡°I¡­ see. That¡¯s quite surprising. In that case, you are naturally born as demigods due to divine heritage, but anyone that stays in the world for too long will eventually develop a divine domain, simply by breathing in the air?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Arya simply shrugged her shoulders. ¡°That is the gist of it. Our divinity is a gift of the world. When we die, we return it to the air. Until that time, we may use the power granted to us to better our world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°How do you die?¡± I nced over, looking at her thoughtfully. ¡°By my understanding, it should be extremely difficult for even a lesser god to be in. Or, is it because of the monsters that have gained this power, as well?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Primarily the monsters, yes.¡± She confirmed. ¡°With each one having a different power, there is no way that we can truly ensure the safety of our walls. It¡¯s not umon for small creatures to slip in, possessing a poison or curse that can easily y an Archon. That is why I maintain my storm, a show of force to keep the majority of such beasts at bay.¡±

 Chapter 906: Loopholes

    Chapter 906: Loopholes


    <span style="font-weight:400">Listening to Arya¡¯s ount of the past had given me quite a lot to think about. For instance, I had seen for myself how rich the air was in divine energy. If Arya was speaking truthfully, and she had no reason to lie about that, it would be possible for people to be gods by simply spending a few years living on that floor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, the restraint set up by the old god certainly made it tricky to establish a long-term colony and raise gods in this manner. If there were any conflict between the races, we would be unable to defend ourselves. Just like how the system currently considers entities like these gods as monsters, the divinew on this world would not recognize those whoe from the lower floors as members of the ¡®divine races¡¯.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately, I doubted it would be so forgiving in reverse. So if one of my people killed a hundred gods from this floor, they would be executed by the divinew. But, if they killed a hundred of us, there would be no punishment.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">If I want an alliance here to work, I need to alter thew such that it includes my people. And I need to do it before anyone realizes this loophole.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I even knew the perfect way to do so. Or rather, the perfect person to do it. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Can I leave that to you, Irena?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Of course.</i>


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Irena took a deep breath, feeling particrly invigorated when she arrived on the thirty-ninth floor following Dale¡¯s instruction. Thew power interwoven in the divinity made it so that her own Justice domain felt more at home in this area. Due to the sheer size of the golden crystal, it was impossible for the local gods to properly cover it for protection.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Though they were able to make buildings around its base to use as a form of ¡®neutral ground¡¯, there was nothing that they could do high above the ground. This is what Irena wanted to take advantage of, looking down at the ground below. She estimated that her altitude was at least three hundred thousand kilometers. At this distance, even she could only barely make out some vague movement below, and only when she specifically focused on one area.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nodding her head in satisfaction, she walked through the air to the edge of the pir, taking out her pen. Closing her eyes, she formed a simple pathway for her divine circuit that would allow her to use her Justice domain to alter divinew. With that done, she brought her pen to the side of the crystal, and began writing.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">A divine race is defined as any individual possessing both divinity and sapience. Should an individual possess divinity without sapience, they shall be defined as a divine monster. Should an individual possess sapience without divinity, they shall be defined as a mortal race.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As per the pre-statedw, any who y one hundred members of the divine race, regardless of their own ssification, shall face the aforementioned punishment. Should a member of a divine race kill just ten members of a mortal race, they shall also face the aforementioned punishment. Should any individual order the death of one hundred members of a mortal race, that ruler shall face the punishment exclusively.


    <span style="font-weight:400">All individuals may review their current progress towards any punishment by praying for this information, regardless of the target of their prayer.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Every letter Irena wrote shone in golden light, standing out even against the crystal pir. Once she was done, the letters faded into the pir itself, and there was a pulse of golden energy that spread out through the air. Irena clenched her teeth for a moment, feeling the drain on her energy from having written this addendum.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now she could understand why thisw had been left unchanged for so long, as most mortal gods would be unable to pay the price. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯s done, Dale.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Irena sent back with a smile, keeping the effects of the drain out of her mental voice. There was no need to worry him over something like this.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Thanks, Irena. I owe you one.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Just those words made her smile turn far more vibrant, her body vanishing from the skies of Fyor.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Alright, you¡¯re all set!¡± Udona said happily, looking over at Tsubaki, Lifra, Alme, and Aznod. Julia was the first person toplete her divine circuit, so there was no need to include her in this lesson. Instead, she was likely off ying with Aurivy somewhere.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana grinned from over at the side. ¡°About time. I was getting bored watching you all.¡± Naturally, as a Fallen Goddess, there was no need for her to undergo this procedure herself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°My apologies.¡± Tsubaki said softly as she stood. ¡°However, you could have gone to spend time with the Keeper? I¡¯m quite certain he would have been happy to entertain you while we trained.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana simply shook her head. ¡°Yeah, he left like five minutes after you started forming your circuits. ording to Terra, he went to start speedrunning Fyor.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki stiffened when she heard that, eyes going wide. ¡°I-Is that so?¡± She asked, trying to keep the unease out of her voice. ¡°Then, we should go to assist him, should we not?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Danaughed lightly, looking at Tsubaki. ¡°What¡¯s your level, right now?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The kitsune goddess couldn¡¯t help but hesitate, taking a moment to find that answer herself. ¡°Four thousand, three hundred, and eighty-nine¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana¡¯s brow twitched at that. ¡°Just how many different sses have you practiced?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki lowered her head, ears folding against her skull. ¡°I wish to be of use to my Keeper, so I will naturally train anything that I believe will be useful.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana sighed, shaking her head. ¡°Regardless, if your level¡¯s that high, you won¡¯t be able to go to Fyor to be with him. I¡¯ve been keeping tabs, and the level limit just hit twenty-four hundred and fifty. And it looks like he¡¯s got onest orb to hand in. So there¡¯s nearly a good twenty floors before you¡¯ll be able to move freely in Fyor.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki flinched at those words, looking like she had been struck, before a lightugh called out from the hall. ¡°Not necessarily!¡± Aurivy grinned, stepping into the doorway. Tsubaki turned to look at her, eyes full of hope.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Do you have an answer, Lady Aurivy?¡± Tsubaki asked, but Aurivy quickly shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Nuh uh! Drop the formalities while you¡¯re here. While you¡¯re here, we¡¯re family! I¡¯m not your boss, I¡¯m not your boss¡¯s friend, I¡¯m your little sister, just like Dana there!¡± She said firmly, pointing to a suddenly flustered elven girl.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°W-Well, that¡¯s quite sudden.¡± Dana remarked before Tsubaki even had the chance to speak.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Deal with it.¡± Aurivy stuck her tongue out, giving Dana a cheeky smile. ¡°You¡¯re nobody¡¯s servant while you¡¯re here. If you want to do things for Dale, by all means. But remember that this is his home where hees to rx and get away from all that ¡®Keeper¡¯ business. If you want him to be happy with you here, that means you¡¯re joining our little family!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s face went flushed at that, and she only nodded her head slightly. ¡°If that is what will make my Keeper.. D-Dale happy, then it is what I shall do.¡± She ducked her head after she said his name, as if expecting some heavenly retribution for using her lord¡¯s name directly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s more like it!¡± Aurivy gave a resolute nod. ¡°Now, as for a way around Fyor¡¯s level restriction¡­¡± She snapped her fingers, and a ck bracelet appeared on Tsubaki¡¯s wrist. ¡°I¡¯ve been working on this little gadget for¡­ about five hundred years, give or take? I thought it¡¯de in handy, eventually, so I¡¯ve just been tinkering in my off time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Basically, I¡¯ve synchronized it with the crystal pir of Fyor, integrating my own Travel domain. With it, you¡¯ll be able to visit any currently explored floor, arriving at either of the floor¡¯s gates. However, there are some conditions for it to be used.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Holding out four fingers, Aurivy began counting off the conditions. ¡°First, as I said, the floor must already be activated. Secondly, there can¡¯t be a break in the connection. So, if you¡¯re on the third floor, and the fifth floor¡¯s crystal is broken, you can¡¯t skip to the sixth or higher. Third, it operates by harmonizing with the crystal pir of Fyor, so you can only activate it while on Fyor. Finally, for the same reason, you can only activate it while it is daytime on your current floor.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As Tsubaki stared at her new bracelet in wonder, Dana interjected from the side. ¡°If you have something like this, why didn¡¯t you give it to the boss? Err, sorry, give it to Dale?¡± She quickly changed her wording when she caught the look Aurivy sent her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Because he doesn¡¯t need it anymore.¡± She simply shrugged. ¡°In his little speedrun right now, he¡¯s taking it high enough to bring the level limit above his own, natural level. And for this, he¡¯s bringing along someone to open the door for him. With that being the case, there wouldn¡¯t be any benefit to him having this backdoor key. I only managed to finish it a few weeks ago, so I haven¡¯t really had the chance to give it to him before this, either.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana gave a small nod of eptance at that, while Tsubaki looked almost pleadingly at her. ¡°How do I operate this device?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s easy!¡± Aurivy ced her hands on her hip proudly. ¡°Simply focus your mana into it while thinking of the floor number you want to go to, and then either A or B. A is for the gate going down, and B is for the gate going up.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki quickly nodded her head, her body vanishing with a burst of blue light. ¡°...Well, she was in a hurry.¡± Lifre grinned, looking at the spot where Tsubaki had stood previously.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I was walking through the thirty-ninth floor¡¯s Gate¡¯s Rest, I felt a small surge of mana behind me. Thinking it might be a monster that had snuck in, I turned while maintaining my guard. Instead, I saw Tsubaki standing their, tails waving happily behind her. ¡°I have found you, my Keeper!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but tilt my head, wondering how she had gotten here. Though, it was probably Aurivy¡¯s doing. ¡°Is everything okay, Tsubaki?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki, in turn, quickly nodded her head. ¡°Yes, my Keeper! Everything is perfectly fine, my Keeper. Nothing to worry about at all, my Keeper.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked in confusion, having to focus a bit just to make sure that this was properly Tsubaki, not some illusion. ¡°Why are you talking like this?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s cheeks went slightly flushed. ¡°This is how I have always talked, my Keeper.¡± At the same time, I heard a small voice from her surface thoughts. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I can¡¯t believe Lady Aurivy made me say his name directly¡­ I shouldn¡¯t do such things as a maid! From now on, I should just try to avoid using his name at the house, and make sure to address him normally elsewhere! That¡¯s right, that¡¯s how it should be.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was¡­ difficult to hold in the chuckle that threatened to rise when I heard the flustered tone of her thoughts. ¡°Well, it looks like you had a good time in the Admin Room, at least.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yes, my Keeper.¡± Tsubaki nodded her head. ¡°Lady Udona has helped me to consolidate my Divine Circuits, and I have integrated the power of Death from Lady Irena into them. Additionally, Lady Aurivy gave me a tool through which I can easily move through the floors of Fyor.¡± As she said that, she held up her arm, directing my attention to a ck bracelet that stood out on her light skin tone.

 Chapter 907: Peeping Thelsa

    Chapter 907: Peeping Thelsa


    <span style="font-weight:400">Putting aside Tsubaki¡¯s current state, I exined to her what I had discovered about this floor. Seeing that I was being serious about the topic at hand, she diligently listened to my exnation,mitting everything to memory. While she didn¡¯t seem all too pleased by the way the Angel nation treated me, she was satisfied with how I handled the situation. ¡°So, what do you n to do with the Archons?¡± She asked tentatively, once I was done catching her up on everything that had happened.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Their queen has agreed to have people move her pce. Once that¡¯s done, I¡¯ll establish a facility around the gate. Until then¡­¡± I shook my head. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t get too far ahead of myself. I still need to let the people of Fyor upy the cities that I¡¯ve built for them. I¡¯m going to grab the orb from the fortieth floor to send down, but that will be thest that I¡¯ll directly intervene for the moment.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki offered a small nod of understanding at that. ¡°The fact that you have directly pushed them nearly a dozen floors ahead is already quite arge assistance.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thinking of that, I chuckled. ¡°I just power leveled them a little bit. Honestly, you could do it just as easily as I could now. The requirements to do so are rather simple. First, you need ess to someone that can open the gates. Second, you need a method like that bracelet for a high level individual to get to the next floor. Finally, you need a method to find the gate and level orb on each floor.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Once you have all of that, it would be easy to pass through the floors. However, while those requirements are simple for us, they would be daunting for anyone else. The first one is easy, and the second is doable, but the third¡­ without ess to the Admin Room, you would need a highly refined fourth-tier spell or equivalent ability.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki quickly nodded her head, before tilting it slightly. ¡°Would you perhaps be able to create something like that? I recall that you passed an item to the researcher some time ago using a remarkably advanced piece of spellwork that allowed them to track primordial relics across the gxy.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but furrow my brow, nodding my head. ¡°One of my titles allows me to beseech the system once every standard month to ask a magic-rted question. It¡¯s a unique title that can only be acquired because of an action I did as a Keeper. Theoretically, I could use it to create a spell to locate either the level orbs <i><span style="font-weight:400">or</i><span style="font-weight:400"> the gates. In order to get both, I would need a way to include both within the same spell.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s not all that hard, sir.¡± A familiar voice spoke up behind me, causing me to jolt slightly. Turning around, I saw Dana wearing a ck dress, her hair hanging over her shoulders as she grinned up at me


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">You did that on purpose¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I muttered inwardly, seeing the bracelet on her wrist. ¡°Oh? What¡¯s your idea for it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, first of all, you¡¯re oversimplifying the scale of magic. A spell doesn¡¯t only have to have one function.¡± As the apostle to the Goddess of Magic, Dana had likely had that very fact drilled into her skull. ¡°It¡¯s entirely possible for a single spell of the fourth tier to have hundreds of different functions. Of course, doing so requires an exponentially increasedplexity. But, if you are using the powers of the system to fill that gap, it wouldn¡¯t matter all that much, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod, agreeing somewhat with her words. ¡°So, you¡¯re saying that I should just package both as a single spell to submit as a question?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">To my surprise, Dana quickly shook her head. ¡°No, that¡¯d be too wasteful. If it¡¯s a spell that only you can cast, there¡¯s no difference between that and having you do the ¡®power leveling¡¯ yourself. You can design the spell as an advanced mapping software, requiring that an individual taps into the mana spire at the center of every floor. For a god, exceeding the speed of light is incredibly easy, as long as we reach a high enough altitude that our flight won¡¯t cause negative impacts on the ground. However, even sub-light speeds would be feasible.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°To go from here to the sky of this world, if I were to fly instead of teleport, would take about fifteen seconds at light speed. If I gradually increase my speed, and extend the journey to three minutes, I can prevent any substantial damage to the surface. Once I¡¯m at the ceiling, I would be able to quickly locate the pir by simply looking down. If I don¡¯t see it, it would be on the opposite side of theyer, and I just spend an hour flying in any random direction.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Any god can do this same exercise without much trouble. Then, once they reach the mana spire, they just have to plug the device you create with the system¡¯s assistance into it. At that point, the mana already being spread throughout theyer acts as your mapping spell. Make sure to make the spell prative, just in case the target is buried underground. Unless it is within a man-made structure designed to block divination type spells, this method would allow for most orbs and gates to be found at an average of one hour each.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but blink as Dana finished her exnation, about to speak up. However, before I could, she continued. ¡°After getting the result of the scan, make sure to include the option to narrow search results to predefined fields, such as spheres matching the size and materialposition of the level orbs, or the ck stone gates. Oh, and I only think that this would give us another ten or fifteen floors at most, before the progress slows down.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing that she was done, I figured it was as good of a time as any to ask a question. ¡°Why do you say that? If the spell works how you described, we should easily be able to get another thirty floors.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana quickly shook her head at that. ¡°ording to my estimations, floor fifty-five is our limit for now. Anything higher would be outside of our ability, even if you throw the high level fighters from the other worlds into the mix. Someone like Tsuba might be able tost until floor sixty-eight, but she would be the absolute minority.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Once we get past the sixties, you have to consider that the monsters we fight will likely have the same level of raw power as James. Even disregarding his research on different energy types, his raw power is nothing to scoff at. Most gods would be crushed under a full power strike from him.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod at that. It was true, Tsubaki was an outlier when it came to the strength of my world. Especially given that she was always pushing herself to battle opponents that had higher raw power than herself, like in her trials of blood. ¡°So, if I create the spell that you described, I would be able to allow people from my world to take themselves up to floor fifty-five with some rtive degree of safety?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana gave a more confident nod to my question, confirming my expectations. ¡°That¡¯s right. Though, you¡¯d need to have a high-powered individual handling that process. Preferably one with Aurivy¡¯s blessing.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You mean Petra, right?¡± I smirked, though Dana quickly shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Nope! Petra won¡¯t be enough for this. This time, you¡¯ll need at least someone with the full power of Thelsa.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My brows furrowed again, and I nodded. I knew that Thelsa was indeed a higher level than Petra, having briefly trained outside of Fyor. Like Tsubaki, she mastered a great many sses, all for the sake of putting that knowledge into her shadows. Were it not for her now staying within Fyor causing her level to be unable to climb any higher, she would probably be even higher than Tsubaki.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ve got an appointment with Thelsa soon.¡± I told Dana, causing her eyes to briefly widen. ¡°I promised that I would turn her into a god.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh?¡± Dana asked with interest. ¡°Are you going to make her your subordinate deity?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°At first, I didn¡¯t want to. I was going to let her progress naturally. However, she is arguably Fyor¡¯s greatest force right now, and her power is stagnating. Due to a trauma from her past, she is refusing to allow herself to pursue divinity. Thanks to a special title, she possesses a type of Saint Body like yourself, one made of the World¡¯s Shadow. In theory, she should be able to wield power at the level of a god.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°But she¡¯s holding herself back.¡± Dana muttered, and I nodded my head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The world that she took in with her shadow is Fyor. I¡¯ve been purposely having Petra add everyyer we passed through in order to expand her world. As it getsrger, the shadow bes stronger. If Thelsa was really serious about getting stronger, even if she did not take the power of a god, her ability to train shadows would allow her to have a billion soldiers at the level of Petra.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Because of the trauma that caused her to lose two of her closest friends, she is avoiding that pursuit of power, even if it would be able to save the world in the future. In her mind, that path doesn¡¯t even exist. So, since she refuses to take that path, I am going to give her another one. As the hidden hope of Fyor, it would be irresponsible of me to not help Thelsa ovee her current problem.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana gave a small nod at that. ¡°That¡¯s true. Some of the monsters I produce with my shadow are nearly at the god level, and that was before I became a Fallen. If I went all out, I could probably clear out every floor of Fyor on my own right now.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I thought back to the time when Dana was taming the Stone Father, and some of the shadows that she had attached to him at that point. It was true that the aura released by many of them were nearly at the level of a god. In fact, that wasrgely what I was basing Thelsa¡¯s potential off of. ¡°That¡¯s why I want to help her. She wants to be a true hero to this world, even if she is an unrecognized hero. I can¡¯t bring myself to let that dream of hers fall to ruin.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana nodded her head, before offering a small smirk. ¡°Well, I guess that settles that, doesn¡¯t it Thelsa?¡± She asked, causing me to briefly look around.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">As soon as Petra returned from the thirty-ninthyer, and passed the information to Thelsa, Thelsa had been lost in thought. The Keeper¡¯s offer was too tempting to simply ignore. Being able to reach divinity without the need to worry about sacrificing Petra or her other shadows was a very enticing offer.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, while Petra was busy handing in the different orbs at the central spire, Thelsa slipped into the shadows, taking herself to the thirty-ninth floor. When she arrived, she heard the Keeper talking, seeming to be discussing his ns for her. Still hiding within the shadow of a nearby building, she bit her lip while she listened in.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She knew better than anyone why she didn¡¯t blindly pursue growth. If anything unforeseen happened, the cost would be too much to bear. How could she risk sacrificing Petra knowing that could happen if she seriously trained? However, she also knew that the Keeper was wrong about something. She didn¡¯t have the ¡®Saint Body¡¯ that he described, and she didn¡¯t even know what it was.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The body she had was not fully integrated with her World¡¯s Shadow like he said, but rather the result of her seeking Perfection. Worse yet, she had only obtained perfection of the body, not of the mind or soul. The experience of her past had always prevented her from trying to take those extra steps, knowing of the potential consequences.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Did that mean that her shadow was weaker than they were saying? No, she knew that it wouldn¡¯t be hard to mass produce Maxers if she really wanted to, but why would she? Just to create an army of people as strong as Petra? If one Petra alone was not enough to solve the problem, what good would adding numbers do? If she <i><span style="font-weight:400">did </i><span style="font-weight:400">make an army of people that strong, what would she even do with them when they weren¡¯t needed? She didn¡¯t want to keep them just locked up somewhere or anything like that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was the primary difference between Dana and Thelsa. Dana created monsters, and didn¡¯t recognize those creations as independent beings. Thelsa, on the other hand, created people, and respected each one as their own person. Although Dana had simrly created a few individual people, Thelsa had never had the chance to meet them personally, only sense them during a brief visit to Deckan.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Then, she heard Dana calling her by name, ncing up and out of the shadow to find the ck-haired girl staring straight at her, a small smile tugging at her lips. ¡°You should be a part of this talk, not just sulking there in the dark.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I was not sulking.¡± Thelsa spoke out in retort, slowly rising to the surface. ¡°I merely did not want to interrupt your conversation.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper cleared his throat, doing his best to look moreposed than he had been just a moment ago when he was talking to the other two. Thelsa merely shook her head at that. ¡°It¡¯s fine. If it makes youfortable to speak normally, please do so.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°How much did you hear?¡± He asked in return.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Around the time that you were talking about making me your subordinate deity.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper let out a long sigh at that. ¡°So, what do you think?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">There wasn¡¯t much point in rifying the detail of her supposed Saint Body, as she didn¡¯t even know what the term properly meant. Maybe if she upgraded her Shadow Saint title, she would get a hint. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ possible. However, to prevent a sh of divinity, I would prefer if Lady Ashley was the one to do so, if that is all the same. Petra was created by her divine power. I had long suspected that if I became a god, Petra¡¯s existence would cause me to be a Goddess of Shadows, subordinate to Ashley.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s true.¡± The Keeper agreed with a nod. ¡°I¡¯ll ask Ashley about it soon, but I don¡¯t think she¡¯d object. She¡¯s probably your biggest fan in the pantheon.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa¡¯s brow twitched at that, suppressing the flush that threatened to rise in her cheeks. ¡°I see. For the record¡­ I don¡¯t think that I will really be as strong as you im my potential is until I be a god. If I do take the Shadows domain, that would mean that my divinity would extend to the shadows I have created. It¡¯s¡­ technically possible for me to train shadows like that now, but I wouldn¡¯t want to create an army of puppets.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Then don¡¯t make them puppets!¡± Dana rolled her eyes yfully. ¡°You have exponentially more territory to work with than either myself or the boss here. You can create an entire civilization of shadows. When they¡¯re not needed to fight, just let them enjoy life.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± The Keeper added. ¡°If you like, you can create a key between our worlds, to let your shadows freelye and go to both Deckan and Earth.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa¡¯s eyes went wide at that offer, having never heard of such a thing. ¡°That¡¯s possible?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana blinked, clearing her throat and ncing off to the side. ¡°Uh, boss¡­ I don¡¯t have that divine power anymore¡­ I had to give it up when I was bing a Fallen God. Terra warned me that trying to be Fallen when I already had that pseudo-divine power you gave me would result in, and I quote, an apocalyptic boom. So I severed the connection from my end and destroyed the paper.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper hesitated for a moment, looking over at Dana. ¡°To be honest, I had forgotten that I had made that title for you in the first ce.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course you did.¡± She rolled her eyes at that, smirking yfully. ¡°Anyways, if you want to give her a key to the other shadows, it¡¯ll need to be done from your end. I don¡¯t have the fine control to do so anymore, and I¡¯m hesitant to mix the powers of the void with the World¡¯s Shadow. Especially when you¡¯re talking about making her a god.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper nodded his head, before looking back at Thelsa. ¡°Well, what do you say? Would you like to expand your shadow to connect with Deckan and Earth?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa hesitated for a moment, thinking the offer over before nodding her head. ¡°Yes, I would like that.¡±

 Chapter 908: Necessary Expenditures

    Chapter 908: Necessary Expenditures


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, it wasn¡¯t that hard for me to make a key for the World Shadow myself, as I was able to ess the same Crafts domain that Dana had once used to make it. Naturally, I didn¡¯t give it the same level of authority as the one that Dana had created for me. The one that she made for me had not just given me ess to her world, but she had in fact made her entire shadow world subordinate to me. If I wanted to, I could call up any of the shadow monsters stored within, though I had not practiced with any of them as of yet.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Instead, the key that I made for Thelsa was purely a key to open a gate between worlds, letting her freely travel through the shadows of Deckan and Earth. I was curious about something, as well¡­ ¡°When you get the time, you should head to Desbar.¡± I nodded towards Thelsa. ¡°Since you have Petra, you can try to bring Desbar¡¯s shadow into your world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa blinked at that, thinking it over. ¡°I can attempt to do so.¡± It seemed like she wasn¡¯t sure if it was possible for one person to hold control of more than one shadow world, either.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa epted the key, which was a simple sphere of ck energy, and quickly connected the different shadow worlds. After that, my work here was basically done. All I needed to do was let Ashley know of my n for her to elevate Thelsa to godhood, and I would be able to move on to my next task.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Tsubaki, Dana, I¡¯ll be going back first. There¡¯s still some things that I need to acquire.¡± The two of them seemed to catch my meaning, closing their eyes and focusing. In front of them, a blue gate was gradually taking shape, likely the physical manifestation of Heaven¡¯s Gate.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While they were preparing to leave, I quickly returned to the fortieth floor to retrieve the level orb, sending it down to Petra before heading to the Sky Citadel so that I could ascend to the Admin Room. By the time that I arrived, Tsubaki and Dana were just emerging from the door that I had established. ¡°So, you are purchasing knowledge to improve the strength of the other worlds now, correct?¡± Tsubaki asked curiously, to which I nodded my head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The method of acquiring a fourth tier familiar has been known for a long time. In this sense, there is no real need to think about upgrading Kione¡¯s magic system. The problem lies in the fact that, even with fourth tier magic, Kione¡¯s magic falls behind other worlds. I purchased the fourth tier knowledge a long time ago, so it¡¯s unreasonable to think that alia hasn¡¯t shared relevant information with her world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°With that being the case, it¡¯s likely that the information I purchased from the system didn¡¯t cover the types of magic that could be taught to the familiars. Instead, it just had the methods of obtaining familiars together with the special abilities of said familiars.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki gave a small nod at that. ¡°I see. In that case, how are you going to resolve the issue of their power level? Are you going to purchase a new magic system to give the world?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a bitter smile when she presented that option. ¡°To be fair¡­ that¡¯s probably cheaper than what I n to do. The Familiar Binding magic system that Kione uses is a limited form of the Imagination system, allowing mages to use whatever magic they wish, so long as they imagine it. The restriction on the system Kione possesses is that the spells must be taught to and cast through a familiar, instead of being wielded by the individual. Thus, if I purchase the information for the Imagination magic system, I should get what I need to enhance Kione¡¯s magic system.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The problem was that there weren¡¯t seven tiers of magic for the Imagination system. Instead, there was only one tier, priced at one hundred thousand points. This was likely because the system itself did not have ¡®advanced styles¡¯ like other systems, and relied purely on the imagination of the wielder. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I just hope that buying the base system¡¯s knowledge will help with the systems derived from it.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I took a deep breath, biting the bullet and purchasing the system. Between this and the people I gave ess to Heaven¡¯s Gate, I had nowpletely spent the reward I received from UpperLevel¡¯s invasion. I watched as the familiar lights from the system manifested a sphere in my hand, and then blinked down to the form of the sphere itself. Unlike the normal, blue spheres produced by the system, this one was silver in color.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tentatively, I sent a thread of my consciousness into the sphere, probing at the information within. If the other orbs could bepared to a hard drive, this was a supeputer full of information. I was in awe as I found the different categories presented, not just of the main fields of magic, but also the different systems that were derived from this. For instance, there was an entire section devoted to Familiar Binding, and another to Spiritual Energy Maniption, which apparently was a derived form of the imagination system.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There wasn¡¯t any detailed information for systems that I did not have ess to, but I was certain that would change the moment I purchased another derived system based on Imagination. I withdrew my consciousness from the sphere, focusing on sending a message. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Udona, I just bought some knowledge, and I need you to reproduce and distribute it to Ryone, alia, and Irena.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">After I said that, a fair hand appeared in the air over the silver orb, snatching it away and disappearing. My guess was that Udona was currently busying herself with something, so she could only retrieve the item in this way. ¡°There, that should considerably boost Kione¡¯s power in the near future, as well as the power of the spirits.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana gave a small nod at that. ¡°Alright, then! That¡¯s one down. So, Dale, what¡¯s next?¡± She asked with a small grin. It took me a moment to register that she had used my name instead of calling me ¡®boss¡¯ like usual. Though, given what I heard from Tsubaki¡¯s thoughts, that isn¡¯t too unexpected.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, I¡¯ve taken care of Kione now. The next thing that I should do is that spell that you suggested earlier.¡± I thought back for a moment, recalling the various details that Dana had included in the spell. As expected from the Apostle of Magic, it was an incrediblyplex magic, one that I would likely never be able to create casually without mirroring the mind of someone far more talented in magic. Thankfully, my Sorcerer title would allow me to create the magic even if I wasn¡¯t personally that gifted.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Focusing on the spell¡¯s details, I activated my title, feeling a rush of information pouring into my mind. Without dy, I channeled that information into a blue sphere in my hand, crystallizing the knowledge that was being given to me by the system. I couldn¡¯t guarantee that I could perfectly replicate the magic if I waited, so I had to save it as soon as the knowledge came to me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana blinked, looking at the sphere being created. ¡°Is that the magic item?¡± She asked curiously, causing me to shake my head with a grunt.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°N-No. That¡¯s the spell. Honestly, when ites to high level magic, you are considerably more talented than myself. So, I was going to give this to you, so that you could study and distribute it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana¡¯s eyes went wide at the exnation, her gaze flicking back from my face to the orb. ¡°Okay¡­ how do I use it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Just hold it in your hand, and focus your mind on it. As you do so, it will be like¡­ reading a book and watching a movie in your thoughts. That¡¯s the best way that I can describe it.¡± Dana nodded her head, carefully taking the sphere from me and focusing on it. I could see her expression changing multiple times as she reviewed the information, going from confusion to enlightenment and back again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With that said, Tsubaki turned to look at me with a small smile. ¡°Is there anything else, then?¡± She asked curiously, which had me thinking.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Kione and Fyor are both taken care of. Honestly, Desbar and Deckan are good as they are. Lorek and Spica have an army of god-level beings already, so I¡¯m not worried as much about them. The main concern left for me now is Sher Dien.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded her head in understanding. ¡°Sher Dien, in terms of military power, is indeed far behind the other worlds. Though, I am not aware of how you n to resolve this issue?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah, neither am I.¡± I agreed with a bitter smile. ¡°Sher Dien doesn¡¯t particrly have any special systems that I would need to spend points on improving. There¡¯s nothing that Earth or Desbar can do that they can¡¯t. Instead, it¡¯s their istionist policy that is holding them back.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ever since ancient times, centaurs have been naturally opposed to integrating with other races. Given how this was the case both with their original iterations on Earth, and the ones created for Sher Dien, I expected that it was a trait in their base gics, making them more focused on their own ¡®herd¡¯ than wanting to spend time with others. It was either that, or the fact that their body types were the most unusual out of all of the current races.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Because of this, a lot of the popr techniques and advancements made in other worlds had a hard time spreading to Sher Dien. At the same time, Sher Dien did not openly share the methods that they developed themselves, such as their nar travel spells that were constantly advancing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There wasn¡¯t anything that I could buy to improve Sher Dien, but I also didn¡¯t want to leave them behind the other worlds. I could potentially steer their culture towards ending their istionist policy, but this was ultimately Tryval¡¯s world, and that decision should be left to him. It would be incredibly rude for me to step in and change the cultural direction of the world I gave him to govern.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°At this rate, Sher Dien won¡¯t be able to hold on if a powerful monster attacks. They¡¯ve got a few gods themselves, but it probably won¡¯t be enough to make an incredible difference.¡± No matter what I chose, as the problem with Sher Dien was a cultural issue, I would be interfering with Tryval¡¯s authority. With a sigh, I sent the man himself a message.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Tryval, whenever you get the chance to work on Sher Dien again, we need some way to get them to integrate more with the other worlds. As it stands, their overall power isgging behind, and they won¡¯t be able to resist if a powerful foe emerges. I¡¯ve already done what I can for the other worlds, but Sher Dien¡¯s shoring is a cultural one.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There were a few moments before he sent his response. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I understand, my lord. I¡¯ll have it taken care of.</i>


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Alme asked, looking up at Tryval, whose face had be somewhatplicated. The two were roaming in a field he created within the Keeper¡¯s home, so she was extremely content with her current situation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s¡­ nothing, Alme.¡± Tryval said, smiling and shaking his head. Alme simply pouted, leaning over and lightly elbowing his nk.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ve known you <i><span style="font-weight:400">way</i><span style="font-weight:400"> too long, dad.¡± Alme chided softly. ¡°I can tell when something¡¯s bothering you. Now that I¡¯m here, let me be of some help to you. At the very least, I can offer you advice when you are troubled.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tryval hesitated, before nodding his head. ¡°I have received word from the Keeper. It would appear that Sher Dien must undergo a cultural shift in order to advance to the same level as other worlds. Our policy of keeping to ourselves has hindered us for too long, it seems.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Alme blinked, before her eyes went wide. ¡°Ohh¡­ I¡¯m sorry, I hadn¡¯t even thought of that.¡± Alme was, after all, the one who had led Sher Dien for thousands of years, bringing it from its primordial state to a point where it could join the rest of the worlds. ¡°I didn¡¯t think about preparing them for something like that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m not ming you, my dear.¡± Tryval said in a soft tone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, I am.¡± Alme pouted stubbornly. ¡°Let me take care of this, dad. You put me responsible for the growth of Sher Dien. Just because I hit the first goal doesn¡¯t mean my job is done yet.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tryval looked down at his daughter, before letting out a lightugh. ¡°Very well. What do you need to get the task done?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Alme thought about that question seriously for several moments. ¡°If we are going to really open them up to the outside world, I need to study. I¡¯ll need a familiar, a set of magic cards suitable for me to use to impress them, and I need to learn rune magic.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tryval¡¯s eyes went wide, realizing that Alme was serious. It wasn¡¯t often that she devoted herself to studies like this, and now she had be determined to learn thenguage of magic, as well as the methods of controlling card magic and familiars. ¡°I¡¯ll prepare the necessary materials for you, but learning runes will likely take some time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Alme nodded her head in understanding. ¡°I know, dad! But, I¡¯ve got to do this if I am to thoroughly convince those guys that they can¡¯t just stick to the old ways. I need to be able to show them powers from every system of other worlds, used by one of their own, that are stronger than what other centaurs can produce. Cooperation is born from mutual benefits. We have advanced nar travel spells that could enhance their aspects of life, and they have things that we can learn from.¡±

 Chapter 909: Girl Talk

    Chapter 909: Girl Talk


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana walked down the hall of the Admin Room, almost absentmindedly going through the information recording in the gem that the Keeper had given her. As she moved, she heard the clopping of hooves against the wooden floor ahead. Dana looked up curiously, seeing Alme walking by with an equally distracted expression.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Alme, right?¡± She called out, causing the centauress to blink and look down at her. ¡°Everything alright? You seem out of it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Out of what?¡± Alme tilted her head in confusion, before shaking her head. ¡°Sorry, I¡¯ve just got to do some preparations. I promised my dad that I¡¯d help solve Sher Dien¡¯s cultural istion, so I¡¯m just thinking about what I should work on first.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana blinked, ncing down at the gem in her hand. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I can study thister¡­ it will take a while for Fyor to get caught up with the boss¡¯s advanced work.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> After she thought about that, she looked back up at Alme. ¡°Well, what¡¯s your to-do list?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, I want to get examples of how each different world¡¯s specialties could help improve the lives of centaurs. Things like Deckan¡¯s card magic and everything.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana gave a small nod of understanding, a wide smile forming on her lips. ¡°Do you want my help? Since I control the shadow world of Deckan, I can get you pretty much any cards you want from there.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Shadow world¡­?¡± Alme asked in confusion, having never heard that term before.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It took Dana a moment to realize that she had so rarely spoken to anyone that didn¡¯t know about the shadow worlds, before she began exining. ¡°It¡¯s this special energy that the Keeper taught me how to make. With it, I can create the shadow duplicate of a world, as well as produce people or monsters from it. Since my shadow world is Deckan, I also have the ability to defeat the monsters I produce to gather the cards from them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I see¡­¡± Alme nodded her head. ¡°Then, I suppose it is like the Ki of Beginning? That is an energy that he taught to a group of high-ranking centaurs.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sort of!¡± Dana agreed quickly. ¡°It¡¯s a power on the same level, at least. Either way, it should be easy for me to help you get any kind of cards you want. I can probably help you with the other stuff, as well.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Alme smiled softly at Dana¡¯s offer, nodding once again. ¡°I think I¡¯d appreciate that, Dana. Can we go to my room to talk?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana gestured for Alme to lead the way, the pair heading through the halls and to arge door, which led to a wide grasnds. ¡°Wow, this is a lot of space.¡± Danamented, looking around for any sort of structure.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Perhaps.¡± The centauress shrugged her shoulders, moving away from the door toy her lower body on the grass. ¡°Centaurs need a lot more room, because we have to exercise a certain amount with our lower body to avoid healthplications. That doesn¡¯t apply to gods or those with energy bodies, obviously, but it¡¯s something that we¡¯re simply used to at this point.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana nodded her head. ¡°That¡¯s probably not helping the whole istionist stuff. From the perspective of other races, centaurs would upy a lot of unnecessarynd that could be used for other development.¡± As she said that, she moved to sit down next to Alme. ¡°Having an entire world to roam is probably a really good thing for you guys.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I believe that it is both good and bad.¡± Alme admitted with a faint sigh. ¡°Back in the day, centaurs had to interact with other races as simply a matter of course. They didn¡¯t have their own world to control, and so there was less for them to do to avoid that interaction. When the age of virtual reality began, we typically avoided it due to its nature of causing one¡¯s real body to be idle.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It was shortly after that when my dad asked me if I could manage Sher Dien in its infancy. At first, I thought it was just such a wonderful thing. Centaurs would have all thend that they needed, and I would be able to be helpful to him. I spent¡­ a very long time gathering the centaurs in one central point, leading them as the ¡®eternal queen¡¯. I thought that I had done a good job, but because of how I raised them, they¡¯re now facing this crisis.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana quickly shook her head at Alme¡¯s worries. ¡°This isn¡¯t your fault. If anything, it¡¯s thanks to you that the worldsted as long as it did. If we could predict the future, there would be no point in learning from the past.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I don¡¯t think we need to worry about the centaur¡¯s biological differences when thinking about how to improve them on a cultural level. If we came up with drugs or treatments that allowed a centaur to safely bezy, that would have an adverse effect. Instead, let¡¯s solve the issues that they would have when integrating with other races. The first is their need to upy a wide area for their necessary exercise. This is probably both the easiest and most difficult issue to solve.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°How do you mean?¡± Alme asked curiously.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, if we just want to solve it on an individual level, I can create a card that allows a centaur to teleport to a predetermined point whenever they feel the need to run around. Then, when they want to go back, they simply need to use the card again. Individually, the card wouldn¡¯t cost that much to produce, the problem is that the costs would add up rather quickly. In the end, it is likely to turn into a situation where the centaurs simply don¡¯t consider it worth the expense.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Alme furrowed her brows at that, but couldn¡¯t help nodding. ¡°Do you have any thoughts on how to fix this issue?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ve got one.¡± Dana said, causing Alme¡¯s face to light up with hope. ¡°It¡¯s actually the centaurs themselves that have the required tool for this. Their research is specializing in nar travel, right? And Deckan¡¯s dimensium is a material with properties that would synergize well with that. If youbine the two, it would be easier to mass produce cards with nar travel effects. The price could go from about five thousand gold for a card to maybe two hundred, depending on how much the centaurs charge for the use of the nar magicponent.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Alme had to think for a moment, converting the currency into the old tokens system that she was familiar with. With the new currency created through divine power, a goddess like her could make a ck gold coin or two a day, which equated to ten to twenty thousand gold. However, that was on the prerequisite that she spent all of the divinity she received in a day into this currency, instead of stockpiling it. A god¡¯s divinity was their life, so most wouldn¡¯t choose to spend it so easily.


    <span style="font-weight:400">On the other hand, amoner would make anywhere from a few dozen copper coins to a single gold coin when they offered a sincere prayer, based on the quality of their faith. The majority of their ie still came from their upation, but it was rare for someone to earn more than ten gold coins a day without either being divine themselves or having an incredibly well-paying job.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Still, two hundred gold is a rather big expenditure, roughly a month of average ie. Compared to the more than one year¡¯s ie required to purchase the card without Sher Dien¡¯s nar research, though¡­ ¡°I suppose that is like buying a vehicle. Expensive, but most people will pay for it when they realize the convenience.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Dana agreed readily. ¡°The problem is that this vehicle only goes to one location. In order to create a card to take the user wherever they want to go, that will shoot the price up again. However, the increased cost would be on the centaur¡¯s end, as it is still likely to cost the same amount of dimensium either way.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Alme nodded her head. ¡°I¡¯ll speak to the current ruler of Sher Dien about this cooperation when I get back to them. If the necessary spell can be mass produced, that would make things far more convenient.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. Of course, we¡¯re talking about a teleportation spell that anyone can use. There will naturally have to be a privacy ward that people can purchase to prevent others from teleporting into their home and robbing them while they¡¯re away for work. We already have anti-divination wards avable to the public, so this can probably be packaged together with that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Alme smiled, looking over at Dana. ¡°Thanks. That should be enough to cover Deckan¡¯s side of things. Do you happen to know enough about rune magic to offer advice on that end?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately, Dana shook her head. ¡°My specialty is geometric magic. I¡¯m decent with runes, but if you want to bring in a cultural specialty of Fyor that will impress the centaurs, you¡¯ll want something else. After all, learning a magicalnguage like Runic isn¡¯t something that you can simply expect every centaur to be able to pick up.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I had not considered that¡­¡± Alme lowered her head, unsure what to do. ¡°Does Fyor have another specialty that we could use?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°They do!¡± Dana revealed with a bright smile. ¡°Are you familiar with the Mage Heart stones? It¡¯s a natural crystal, rich in mana, that only grows in Fyor.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°A crystal that¡­ grows?¡± Alme blinked in surprise. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m not sure that I follow. I¡¯ve heard of the gem, but what do you mean by growing?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Looks like someone hasn¡¯t been paying attention to Fyor¡¯s business.¡± Dana teased, though it wasn¡¯t surprising. From what she knew, Alme hadn¡¯t had a major role in any big citiestely, and had been mostly wandering the wilds. ¡°It¡¯s something that Dale got a little while back.. Every week, like clockwork, the Mage Heart veins in Fyor replenish themselves. By now, I think the market should have started to stabilize, so it wouldn¡¯t be hard to supply themmercially to other worlds.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°ording to my research, the average human can use a magic crystal valued at one gold to replenish their mana. If you don¡¯t want to buy from Fyor, it¡¯s also possible to buy them from Ryone on the Boundless Caravan, though the price is increased by five times. This is to keep the flow of currency primarily in the mortal world, instead of just sending it back to the gods.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Alme blinked, nodding quickly as she processed the information. ¡°How much would a gem capable of fueling a fourth-tier spell cost?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ehh¡­ that¡¯s hard to say. It depends on the specific spell, as fourth tier magic varies wildly based on magic system andplexity. Let¡¯s say you¡¯re talking about your average fourth-tier geometric spell¡­ the crystal needed to fuel the activation of that spell would cost between one and two white gold coins.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Alme pursed her lips, starting to put it all together. ¡°Then, if we create an item that uses mana to project the spell needed for the teleportation card, and capture that spell with dimensium, can we further reduce the cost of the teleportation card?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana blinked slowly, before smiling wide. ¡°That¡¯s right! After all, when you are capturing a spell with dimensium, you don¡¯t need to use enough magic to fully activate the spell, you just need a solidified mana framework for the card to capture. Then, the nature of the spell card will act as a mana generator to prepare the card to be used at a moment¡¯s notice.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If we go with this method, we can probably reduce the cost of the card down to one hundred gold, or one white gold coin. By the way, Earth has a simr product, known as the Blood Heart. It¡¯s a specialty of Scarlet¡¯s territory, and functions the same as the Mage Heart, except for the fact that it contains ki instead of mana.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Alme¡¯s eyes went wide when she heard that. ¡°This could be used for trade with Sher Dien. Ki is a very important energy to centaurs, especially those of higher level.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two smiled at one another, discussing various different trade items that could be used to benefit Sher Dien. Dana was rather up to date with the market prices of most goods, having a strong connection to Ryone, so it was easy for her toe up with various products that might be useful at an affordable price.

 Chapter 910: Accelerated Growth Plan

    Chapter 910: elerated Growth n


    <span style="font-weight:400">I sat down on the couch in the living room, Tsubaki seated in a chair not far away. Though she hade to the Admin Room, it was clear that she was still having a bit of trouble rxing. To be honest, I wasn¡¯t surprised. Given how long she had been in the citadel, it was entirely normal for it to take time for her to adjust. Aurivy had worked for years just to get her to open up to her in Vision Expanse back in the day.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Tsubaki, I¡¯d like to try another experiment now that we¡¯re both here.¡± I offered a small smile to her, and Tsubaki quickly nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course, whatever you need.¡± She replied simply. ¡°If there¡¯s anything that I can do to help, please just let me know.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle lightly at that. ¡°First, are you still able to connect with the servants you have down in the Citadel, or are they in ¡®autonomous¡¯ mode?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki blinked, closing her eyes and focusing. After a moment, she shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, it appears that I cannot directly contact any of them at this time, so they should be operating on their own for the moment.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hmm¡­¡± I nodded my head, thinking that through. It made sense, but it was also regretful at the same time. ¡°Okay, I assume that the same is true for your Virtual Self. Next up, I want you to head back to the mortal world for a brief moment to connect with your Virtual Self. I need to know whether she is still operating normally, or if she froze like I did when Ie here.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s eyes went wide, quickly nodding her head. ¡°Of course.¡± She said, her body wrapped in a familiar blue light, before simply vanishing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I began counting down in my head, knowing that it would take at least thirty seconds for her to activate the Heaven¡¯s Gate again to return to the Admin Room. Once she had returned, I looked over at her to await her response. Her lips were pursed slightly, so I could already guess the answer.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It appears that our Virtual selves have indeed been frozen.¡± She informed me, which caused me to sink into thought.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Obviously, the Goddesses like Aurivy could freelye and go without concern, but that was due to the fact that they had an incarnation. Unfortunately, mortals brought up with the Heaven¡¯s Gate system couldn¡¯t create incarnations like that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now that they have been elevated by the Heaven¡¯s Gate, they must have been made unique entities simr to myself. If I tried to clone them by using their Virtual self as a reference, I would either get a clone not supported by the Heaven¡¯s Gate, or the system may entirely fail like it did when trying to clone myself in the same way.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I see.¡± I said with a simple nod. ¡°I was considering whether or not I should fast forward the world again, now that the invasion is over. The world will need time to adjust to all of the changes that we have just given it, and that may take some time. If you would like, we would be more than happy to have you up here with us for the duration.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°However, to do so, you would first need to return to the citadel and reorganize your avatars. There needs to be some action for them to take if the world needs to resume the normal flow of time for any reason. For instance, if there is some situation that either requires my attention, or yours, or one of the others. I can configure it so that the flow of time will immediately restore to normal as soon as that action is performed.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki hesitated for a moment, before giving a firm nod. Once again, her body was wrapped in blue lights, disappearing from the Admin Room. Clearly, she had made the decision to prepare her avatars.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa stood within the world of shadows, watching as Ashley stepped out and into the open. The demonic goddess smiled at her, nodding her head. ¡°I was told that you would be expecting me.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa gave a small nod in response. ¡°That¡¯s right. I apologize for the inconvenience, Lady Ashley.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s not a problem at all.¡± Ashley shook her head, walking closer. ¡°Please, sit down. This is a lot easier to handle when you¡¯re not standing up. I¡¯d normally have you go unconscious to prevent any energy shes, but I imagine that you¡¯d rather see this through to the end.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Thelsa gave another nod, Ashley created a chair behind the human woman for her to sit in. ¡°Is Petra somewhere safe?¡± Ashley asked curiously. ¡°If this goes how I think it will, it¡¯s likely that she will immediately ascend, as well.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. I sent her home, just in case.¡± Thelsa had considered that possibility herself, so she wanted to make sure that this would not cause any idents. Thankfully, Petra was the only one of her shadows to be a natural demigod, so she wasn¡¯t as worried about the others.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Good. In that case, let¡¯s get started.¡± After saying so, Ashley brought her hand up, a stream of divinity surging from her body and into Thelsa¡¯s. ¡°We¡¯ll have to do this in stages. First, I will upgrade your soul, and then have you absorb a ck gold coin. After that, I will take care of your body, and you will absorb ten more. The coins generated by this system don¡¯t have any traces of the god that created them, so you will be able to absorb the power without concern.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Depending on how quickly you can finish each stage, we should have this done in just an hour or two.¡± As Ashley spoke, Thelsa grit her teeth, focusing on opening herself up and not resisting Ashley¡¯s power.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The world of Fyor underwent an overnight upheaval. The news of the Keeper personallymissioning Petra to explore theter floors was sent back to the guild, along with a dozen announcements of increased level caps. At first, the guild was in a panic, worrying about how they would secure each of the gates that had now been unlocked before monsters came in to upy the territory.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Security teams were set up to guard a construction crew as they waited for Petra toe out of closed door training. ording to what she had said, she needed some time topletely process the special reward that the Keeper had given her for the mission. Afterwards, she would begin taking people to the different gates to set up supply lines.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After roughly two days, when the guild was bing more and more nervous, Petra emerged from her istion. However, when she did so, the guild was shocked to discover that she had suddenly ascended to be a fully fledged deity. Clearly, this must have been the reward promised to her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At the same time, Petra saw the construction crew that had been gathered, as well as the security team prepared to escort them through the floors. There was an almost awkward pause before she cleared her throat. ¡°Ahem, Guildmaster, just to make sure I understand what¡¯s going on?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ah, right, yes.¡± The halfling guildmaster spoke up, rushing over to stand in front of Petra. Thanks to her own smaller stature, the two were roughly at eye level with one another. ¡°You said that you were going to lead a team to secure the gates that the Keeper and yourself uncovered. This is the team that I have prepared for you, and they should be able to establish a few temporary branches before needing to resupply.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra scanned over the group for a moment, before shaking her head. ¡°Guildmaster, I think you misunderstood when I said that I¡¯d be taking people¡­ it will be easier if I just show you.¡± She knew that there was no point in exining something that seemed unexinable, at least without the evidence to back it up.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She closed her eyes, focusing on creating a portal to the thirty-ninth floor through Aurivy¡¯s blessing. ¡°This is the highest floor that the Keeper took me to, the thirty-ninth. Due to some special circumstances, he wasn¡¯t able to have me apany him to the fortieth. If you could, please join me for a moment, and I think that you will understand.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra turned, stepping through the portal that had been created. The guildmaster hesitated, before ordering half of the security team to follow him as he moved through. At the very least, this would give him the ability toe and go from this floor as he wished, making it more convenient to send the construction teamter.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After arriving on the other side of the portal, though, the guildmaster let out a shocked gasp. ¡°There was a civilization built around the gate?¡± He asked in worry, as such matters usually led to a conflict with the local race.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No.¡± Petra denied his suspicions with a shake of her head. ¡°This was created by the Keeper. He wanted to make the cities livable right away, and so he used his power to create this.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Not far from the gate was arge building, featuring the iconic sign of the Adventurer¡¯s Guild. The guildmaster furrowed his brow, rushing into the building and inspecting it. There were stacks of nk paper behind the counter and in every desk, with working power and inte cables seemingly already connected and ready to go. Whether it was the plumbing or the temporary lodgings, everything seemed to be ready for them to simply move in. The guildmaster could even feel that the burden of theyer¡¯s gravity had been lessened in the city, making it only marginally stronger than the twenty-eighth floor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This¡­ what about security?¡± He asked when he emerged again, looking at Petra. ¡°Is he not worried that the city he built would be overrun by monsters before we could properly upy it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra shook her head again, leading him to the outer gates of the city. She walked through a narrow path, up a series of stairs within the outer wall. Soon, she arrived in a long hallway, where a number of folded turrets could be seen, evenly spaced every few dozen meters. ¡°Each city he created has its own security system. I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s permanent, but I believe that it will be more than enough tost until we have finished settling.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The guildmaster stared at the turrets, unable to properly judge their power. Like the rest of the world around him, he could sense a strong divinitying from the weapons. ¡°If the Keeper created them, I am sure that they must be strong enough¡­ Wait, you said cities?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra nced back at the guildmaster in surprise. ¡°That¡¯s right, sir? There is one city surrounding each gate. That¡¯s why I want to lead a team of priests to establish a supply line. If we get more priests that can help transport people, we will easily be able to upy the cities. From there, we can spread our activity to the newly unlocked floors.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The guildmaster¡¯s eyes shook as he processed the information from Petra. It was normal for them to move only oneyer every few years, sometimes taking anywhere from a decade to a century to advance a single floor. However, they had now advanced more than ten floors in an instant, and did not have to worry about creating the initial infrastructure to stabilize those floors. The houses had been prepared, all they needed was to move in.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I-I see. Yes, it seems that I got a bit ahead of myself. I¡¯ll need to talk to the other guildmasters about this.¡± Originally, it would be his responsibility to oversee the new branches as they were being constructed. He had prepared himself for the drastically increased workload, and secured several secretaries that would be able to work as intermediaries. Now that the branches were fully built and ready for use, they had to hire proper guildmasters to upy them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As he thought about that, he nced over to Petra. ¡°I don¡¯t suppose you¡¯d be interested in taking over a branch?¡± He asked, though he was pretty sure that he already knew the answer.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sure enough, Petra shook her head. ¡°Sorry, I want to keep climbing the floors. Besides, there seems to be a lot of gods in this one. ording to the Keeper, every creature on this floor is a god. I¡¯ll need to train here for a while to adjust to my new powers.¡± It didn¡¯t even take her a moment to refuse his offer, having no intention of settling down in one ce like that.

 Chapter 911: Hail To The King

    Chapter 911: Hail To The King


    <span style="font-weight:400">Getting the people moved into the new cities was actually the easy part. The biggest challenge of advancing Fyor in this way was actually exploring the territory around each city, adapting to the itself. Especially for the thirty-second, thirty-fourth, and thirty-fifth floors which had extreme environments. For these floors, exploration was highly discouraged unless one possessed abilities or items that allowed them to mitigate the dangers of the environment.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Granted, offsetting environmental hazards were easy for a god, but gods were still the minority, even among Maxers. For this reason, many Maxers began to seek out the methods that they had previously avoided, such as forging their divinity. Some yed Fragments of Acidia, hoping toplete one of the many challenges that would award a yer a domain, and others began cultivating in Lorek.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There were even Maxers that began to pray to Aurivy or Bihena to guide them on the path to godhood, willingly bing their subordinate deities. Within three years, over eighty-percent of Maxers had taken the step to be gods.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At the same time, high-level challengers from other worlds began to filter their way into Fyor, taking advantage of the increased level cap to begin exploring on their own. For these people, they were less concerned about the environmental hazards due to having a wider array of skills than the extremely focused adventurers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, Fyor was not the only world to go through a major revolution at that time. Around the same time, a group of individuals among the mages of Kione began to advance in their studies of how to empower familiars. These spells ranged anywhere from the first tier to the fourth, and allowed a mage with a familiar to fight on even ground with one who specialized in other systems.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Perhaps the biggest change, though, came from the centaurs of Sher Dien. Following the efforts of their Eternal Queen, the centaurs began to integrate with the other worlds more openly. The research that they had always kept to themselves was gradually shared and used to better the standard of life for all worlds. Whenbined with the powers of Dimensium from Deckan, however, this research gave a rather unexpected bonus.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The research teams studying thesebinations soon found that Dimensium was extremelypatible with the nar magic of Sher Dien. This went beyond simply making teleportation cards, though that was indeed one application. Dimensium could stabilize dimensional rifts, allowing for portals to be freely created. If they wished to, they could add extra safeguards to these portals, making them more akin to windows than doors in order to prevent any hazardous entities froming through.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As the research advanced-side, it was only natural that such advancements reached the ships flying through space as well. The older ships continued their missions, finding newnds and settling down, while new ships began to appear. These shipsbined all of the most recent advancements, capable of shuttling between worlds andbatting divine foes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In total, it took nearly fifteen years for this wave of advancement to reach its peak. In that time, the Sky Citadel seemed to enter a lull, with only a cursory response given to any inquiries. Most people saw this as a good thing, as it meant that there was no need for the Keeper or his servants to personally act.


    <span style="font-weight:400">During these nearly fifteen years, the universal economy had long since stabilized. Those who had trouble getting used to the divine coins gradually adapted, and the old tokens werepletely phased out, now kept as nothing more than collector items.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was¡­ one significant event that urred at the end of this nearly fifteen year lull. An event so big that even the Sky Citadel was forced to take action. Whether they were the gods of the Greater Pantheon, the Maxers of Fyor, residents of Sanctum, Immortals of Lorek, even manymon folk began to congregate for this event.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°How do I look?¡± Irena asked with a small smile, wearing a white dress that hugged her frame, the back open to allow her wings to move freely. Next to her, Terra and Ryone were wearing simr dresses, all seeming quite excited.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Beautiful as always.¡± I responded, grinning. ¡°Come on, we¡¯d better get going. We don¡¯t want to bete.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The four of us were not in the Admin Room, but rather in the Sky Citadel, hovering above the world of Deckan. ¡°Still, it¡¯s a surprise that he chose to stay in the mortal world all this time.¡± Ryone shook her head with a knowing grin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I mean, not really.¡± Terraughed as we began walking down the hall, making our way to the courtyard. ¡°He wouldn¡¯t want someone to overtake him, and he is quite loyal to his job.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I suppose.¡± Ryone admitted faintly. ¡°It did buy him more time, though.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As soon as we exited into the courtyard, we jumped from the ledge and descended down to the pce below, where the ceremony would be held. Even the gods already gathered made way for us, especially when we saw the main characters of today¡¯s event.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona stood at the far end of the room, her cheeks lightly flushed as she wore a long, white dress. Next to her, wearing a ck and white suit, was none other than her royal chef, Aznod. After spending fifteen years together, the duo had deepened their rtionship.


    <span style="font-weight:400">More importantly, thest line of resistance for Udona to truly be attached to someone crumbled when Aznod gained ess to the Heaven¡¯s Gate. Now, even if the unthinkable happened, he would always be able to remain at her side.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, it was only a matter of time before a formal engagement was announced. The only reason that it had even taken this long was because Udona wanted to wait until we had stopped fast forwarding again. Now that we were done, the ceremony had been scheduled for just a few days after the flow of time returned to normal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Has the maid of honor shown up yet?¡± I asked, looking around. Udona looked almost nervous when she heard that, shaking her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°She said that she¡¯d be here in time, but the ceremony is going to start soon.¡± As soon as Udona said that, a shadow was cast over the pce, evenrger than the Sky Citadel itself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Looking upwards, one could see a farrger ind hovering in the sky,rge enough to fit an entire city. From that city, a long finger rushed down, white dress fluttering in the wind. Udona¡¯s eyes lit up at the sight, watching through the window as the figure flew to the entrance of the pce. ¡°Sorry, it took a while to get here.¡± The figure said with a grin. ¡°I¡¯m notte, am I?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right on time, Brie.¡± Udona responded happily. ¡°I was starting to get worried, though.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, imagine how I felt when I heard that <i><span style="font-weight:400">you</i><span style="font-weight:400"> of all people were getting married.¡± Brie responded with a faint grin, moving to take her spot next to Udona.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Trust me, it almost didn¡¯t happen.¡± Udona rolled her eyes with a groan, smirking towards Aznod. ¡°I practically had to twist his arm to get him to agree.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Realizing that he was being called out, Aznod simply cleared his throat. ¡°I didn¡¯t want to make any problems for you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Problems?¡± Udona arched her brow. ¡°If someone wants toe cause problems for me because I got married, let them. I¡¯ll see who has the courage.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod let out a somewhat dry chuckle at that. It was clear that he wasn¡¯t concerned about the problems being too much for Udona to handle. Rather, he was surprisingly shy when it came to that final step, thinking that he wasn¡¯t worthy of the honor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Alright, everyone, settle down!¡± Aurivy¡¯s booming voice spoke up from the front of the hall, standing there in a pink dress that flowed down to her ankles. ¡°For those that can¡¯t make it into the hall, Ryone will be projecting the scene to the outside, and Ashley has it transmitting across the other worlds. Don¡¯t go crowding them and getting in the way!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Several individuals backed up a few steps at that, including myself. The only ones to remain near Aznod and Udona were Aurivy, who was handling the ceremony just as she did when it was my own wedding, and Brie, who was Udona¡¯s maid of honor. It didn¡¯t seem like Aznod had chosen a best man or anything like that, as he stood alone on his side of the aisle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I thought about that, I heard heavy footsteps, turning my head to see Tubrock walking up to them. At first, I was shocked at the thought that Tubrock might have been Aznod¡¯s best man, as I just couldn¡¯t put that image together in my head. However, seeing the small box he was carrying, it was clear that he wasn¡¯t the best man, but the ring bearer. Still, seeing how tight the ck suit hugged his muscr frame was almostical.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay, everyone¡¯s here!¡± Aurivy grinned broadly. ¡°Thank you all for showing up for this wonderful asion, where we join these two individuals in the most holy of matrimonies. Udona, the God-Queen of Deckan, you have ruled thisnd for so long, and guided it longer still before. Your name echoes among the heavens, your legacy visible to all.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Aznod, though your time in this pce may not be considered long inparison, you have captured the heart of this Goddess. Through loyalty and love, you have conquered that which many believed to be an impossible goal.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Should there be any who see fit to deny this couple their union, speak now so that I may have an easy target.¡± Aurivy smirked, clenching her fist threateningly. ¡°Otherwise¡­ Tubrock?¡± She gestured, and the redheaded dwarf stepped forward, opening the velvet box in his hands.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two rings inside were quite clearly made of divine gold, and engraved with an almost ephemeral silver. ¡°Aye, just as ye asked.¡± He said with a satisfied smile, Aznod reaching in to take one of the rings. Udona¡¯s face lit up, holding her hand out for him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Udona¡­¡± The struggle not to add ¡®Lady¡¯ to the front of her name was almost visible for him. ¡°You gave me the chance to enter your service, and for that I am eternally grateful. More still, you gave me the chance to enter your heart, and for that I will never be able to repay you. Will you allow me to remain by your side, as all the years pass us by?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°After saying that, you had best believe I¡¯m not letting you go¡­¡± Udona muttered, though her voice was still caught by the projections. Aznod simply smiled, slipping the ring onto her finger. Afterwards, Udona took the other ring, holding Aznod¡¯s hand in her own.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Aznod¡­ I¡¯ve always tried my best to connect with the lives of my people. I¡¯ve yed many a role over the years, but never once have I yed the role of a wife. Never has a man stolen my heart so thoroughly, and never again will it repeat. This heart of mine belongs to you, should you choose to ept it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod¡¯s smile grew wider at her words, nodding his head. Udona slipped the second ring onto his finger, both rings shining with a faint golden light. ¡°In that case, I now pronounce you, Queen and King Consort. For crying out loud, kiss the bride already!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod blinked at Aurivy¡¯s sudden deration, his cheeks going rosy at themand. Udona rolled her eyes, reaching over and pulling him in. Clearly, she had been waiting for this for a long time, unwilling to release him even when they were being shown to billions of people. After several long moments, Udona pulled back, her face bright red. However, there was no denying the ear-splitting grin covering her face.

 Chapter 912: Three Of A Kind

    Chapter 912: Three Of A Kind


    <span style="font-weight:400">After the ceremony ended, Aznod prepared a grand feast for everyone gathered at the pce, and there was a grand celebration thatsted well into the night. The next morning, I left the pce with the rest of the Greater Pantheon, as well as those from the Sky Citadel. It had now been nearly fifteen years since we werest in the mortal world, so I was quite curious to see what had changed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The first thing that myself, Tsubaki, and the others did was to return to the Sky Citadel, using thework to get a brief understanding of the current state of the world. To our surprise, Aurivy and Julia joined us, likely to let Julia get the same information as well.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In terms of technology, there were many advancements that would make life easier. Teleportation cards were now fairlymonce, though they had various prices based on their ranges. Even so, the ones typically used by themon man were more than affordable, costing only a few gold coins.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I was happy to see that Fyor had finished settling the cities that I prepared for them, and had even created one on the fortieth floor. In my haste, I had not erected a city there, due to being apanied by the Archon Queen. Although they had not discovered the forty-first floor yet, that was to be expected. After all, Dana had been in the Admin Room, and had been unable to pass down the enchantment that I taught her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Perhaps the most unusual thing to be created was an item from Deckan, known as disposable spell cards. Typically, a spell card could be reused multiple times after a set cooldown period, allowing the card to recharge the mana within it. However, a new type of card had been created, one that produced other cards. These secondary cards only had a single use, but they could be stockpiled to activate without concern for the cooldown.


    <span style="font-weight:400">These cards had be popr among adventurers, due to their ability to let a mage release their ultimate attacks repeatedly. The associated Generator card was considerably more expensive, but it was considered to be well worth the cost.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I wonder if we should get familiars now?¡± Dana asked from nearby, seeming to be going through the new information released by Kione. As expected, alia had published the magic knowledge that I had given her, allowing Kione to leap ahead in their development. What was once a parody of pre-modern society sprinkled with familiar magic had gradually be a magical utopia.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I do not believe that I will do so.¡± Tsubaki said with a shake of her head. ¡°I am unustomed to fighting while needing to care for the safety of a familiar, and would likely suffer from the bacsh of it being destroyed in the midst of battle.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana let out a lightugh at that. ¡°I remember back when I was your familiar.¡± She said in a teasing tone, Tsubaki clearing her throat.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well¡­ I never had to worry about your safety. You are very strong in your own right.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana simply grinned at that, before looking at the information again. ¡°I think that I might be reallypatible with familiar magic. Hey, boss, would it be alright if I give it a shot?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing that, I gave a small nod of my head. ¡°Of course. All of the information should be in the database by now, and you can gather any of the materials you need if you want a specific summon.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana pursed her lips, thinking it over for a moment. ¡°I think that I¡¯ll just leave it to chance.¡± After saying that, she hopped to her feet, making her way to the library. I was curious to see what familiar she would make, so I sent a wisp of world sight to follow her while my main focus remained on reviewing the rest of the information here.


    <hr>


    Dana quickly ran towards the library, ducking past the various Tsubaki avatars in order to not crash into them. When she arrived, she made her way to the section discussing the magic of Kione. Dana knew the library better than anyone, often spending great lengths of time researching various projects that she wanted to work on. Thus, she was able to find the most recent volume of general magic knowledge.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Pulling the book from its shelf, she ran back to a table and began to browse through it. ¡°No, no, I don¡¯t want any kind of guiding array or special chant to skew the results. Where¡¯s the general-use magic? Ah! Here it is¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once Dana found what she was looking for, she quickly began reading through the contents. ¡°For those without the materials to perform a specified summon, or seeking to leave the destiny of their soul in the hands of Terra, please see the following formation. This summoning ritual has been refined over hundreds of years to offer the widest variety of results, many of which do not have specific rituals as of yet. New familiars are still being uncovered through the use of this ritual, so young summoners are advised caution, as new familiars will likely have unknown abilities.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana wasn¡¯t worried about her familiar being one unknown to the public. If that really happened, she would ask the Keeper to review the knowledge he had ess to. Information unknown to the public just meant that alia hadn¡¯t released those details yet, wanting people to uncover it themselves. Or, in other words, they could be seen as ¡®hidden sses¡¯ in a game.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ since this is a ritual designed for impoverished families, it doesn¡¯t have any specific material requirements. As long as the ritual circle is carved in solid stone, and the chantpleted, anyone can perform it. Oh, it does require some decent spirit and mana control, but I should be fine there.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana grinned at that, taking the book with her as she ran to her workshop next. There was arge space set out for any magic experiments that she wanted to do there, so it was perfect for a ritual site. Once she arrived, she simply waved her hand, the ritual circle from the book immediately appearing on the stone tform in the corner of her workshop.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Next, the user needs to open a miniature gate to the Underworld within the ritual circle, wrapping it with their mana. As they perform the chant, they should separate a fraction of their soul to push into the gate. Wow, they¡¯re already teaching kids how to casually separate their soul into multiple parts?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">It had to be known that most youths performed their first familiar summoning even before their teenage years. The fact that such an advanced technique was being taught so young could show how far the education hade.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, there was no need for Dana to worry about this. Her soul was naturally fragmented, so she could just casually choose one shard and toss it into the gate. She nced through the incantation, memorizing it before setting the book aside. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s get started.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a snap of her fingers, a rift was torn open in the center of the ritual circle, leading to a ck and gray abyss. Dana wrapped her mana around the rift, preventing any of its energy from leaving, and sent a nearly-solid shard of her soul to the gate. ¡°I call upon you, who rests beyond the veil. The slumbering ghost, the ancient shadow. I call upon you, who resonates with my bond. May the path we walk be as one, may the world share our presence. You who knows the burden of my heart, heed this summon and step forth.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The rift rippled as the fragment of Dana¡¯s soul seeped into it, and Dana could infer from the ritual¡¯s design what was happening. The shard of the summoner¡¯s soul was used as the mainponent of the familiar, with the energy of the Underworld bing a catalyst for its growth. The chant itself was a way to center the mind and focus on the process, while the ritual circle helped the mana stabilize the rift. For kids doing this for the first time, this step was indispensable. In truth, Dana could have chosen to forego the incantation entirely, but she enjoyed the ceremony of it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She could feel the fragment of her soul being nurtured by the Underworld¡¯s energy, a slender leg soon stepping through the open rift. It wore a long, flowing ck dress several sizes toorge for its body. The familiar had ck hair and ck eyes, and elongated elven ears. Dana¡¯s eyes twitched as she saw the form of the familiar.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Clone type?¡± She muttered to herself, her familiar nodding her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yes.¡± The familiar answered simply. As a clone born of Dana¡¯s soul, she naturally had Dana¡¯s knowledge, though it seemed that her ability tomunicate was at a lower level. The first stage of a familiar was the equivalent to an infant, so this much was already quite a lot.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana shook her head, holding her hand out. More mana and spiritual energy surged around the familiar, quickly advancing it through the ranks. The body of the clone grew, soon overtaking Dana¡¯s own apparent age.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The growth of a familiar was consideredplete at the third rank, which was widely considered ¡®adulthood¡¯ for them. When Dana¡¯s familiar hit the third rank, she was the same image of the mature woman Dana herself possessed when she wasn¡¯t altering her appearance. Naturally, Dana used another shard of her soul to advance the familiar all the way to the fourth stage, though the familiar¡¯s appearance didn¡¯t change any further.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The matured Dana rolled her shoulders, looking down at her clothes. During the growth process, her dress naturally had to grow to be able to fit her frame. ¡°I think that I should wear something else, so that Tsuba and the others don¡¯t mistake us?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana pursed her lips at that, but nodded her head. ¡°Sure. I¡¯m going to try one more time, if you want to stand over at the side.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The familiar nodded her head, moving over to sit at Dana¡¯s workbench. This time, Dana wasn¡¯t in the mood to go through the full ceremony. She simply tossed another fragment of her soul into the rift, letting it be nurtured. Her brow twitched when, yet again, a young clone of herself stepped out.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Even the first familiar looked at the scene with interest. ¡°Is it because our soul has been submerged in the Underworld since a long time ago, so the summoning process only causes it to ¡®repair¡¯ the fragment?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Possible.¡± The new familiar said simply, before Dana sighed and began to advance this one as well.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana could sense that both of these clones did indeed possess the basic ¡®framework¡¯ of a familiar, meaning that they could store spells and be kept within Dana¡¯s body. She closed her eyes, massaging her temples. <i><span style="font-weight:400">alia, can you do me a favor? What is the special ability of a clone-type familiar?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">It only took a few moments for alia to go through the information and response. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Clone? I don¡¯t think that one¡¯s been discovered yet. Let¡¯s see¡­ a clone familiar can use all of the basic abilities and knowledge of their summoner. Starting at the third rank, they can even summon one familiar themselves. At the fourth rank, they gain the ability to act independently of their summoner.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana¡¯s brow twitched at that. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Does that mean that they could rebel?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Hmm? Well, it¡¯s possible for any familiar to rebel, but they would perish when their summoner does. Ah, I should rify, acting independently just means that they can make decisions on their own and travel any distance from their summoner. The summoner can still call them back at any time.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">So it¡¯s more like a sentient avatar?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Dana nced over at the two familiars. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Does their share/d knowledge update in real time, or do they need to be taught independently of the summoner?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">That¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> alia hesitated, before answering. <i><span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s not mentioned.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana let out a small sigh, deciding to test it out. ¡°You.¡± She pointed to the first familiar summoned. ¡°What is the special ability of a clone-type familiar?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">To her surprise, the familiar shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I assume that¡¯s what you were talking with alia about just now? You closed off your thoughts, so we couldn¡¯t hear what was being discussed. Also, can¡¯t you give us proper names? Nobody wants to just be addressed as ¡®You¡¯...¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ll let the two of you name yourselves.¡± Dana said with a shake of her head. ¡°For now¡­ can you try to use void powers? I need to verify something.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The second familiar reached her hand out, conjuring a familiar whip. Dana¡¯s eyes widened in surprise, seeing that she could summon Dana¡¯s void artifact. ¡°I suppose that this is our special ability, to do what you can do?¡± The second familiar mused.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana simply nodded her head. ¡°That, and the fact that clones can have their own familiar. You can handle thatter, if you want. For now¡­ we¡¯re going to need to work on ways to make sure that people don¡¯t mistake us. The first step¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The first familiar gave a somewhat bitter smile. ¡°You want us to act differently from you, right? It¡¯s what I would do. Then, I¡¯ll be the unusually cheerful one, how¡¯s that? And you can call me ra.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The second familiar nodded her head, pointing to herself. ¡°Taciturn. Sienna.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana let out a sigh of relief, seeing that her two familiars were being cooperative. Though, this wasn¡¯t a surprise either, as the fragments of her soul had long reached a consensus with one another. This was just the first time that those fragments were truly operating independently. ¡°Okay, in that case, the two of you can change your clothes. If you want, you can use my appearance, but not my clothes.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two immediately nodded, shrinking down to Dana¡¯s size. It was only natural that they had the same preference as Dana herself, though they did have to grab a new attire. After thinking about it for a moment, ra created a silver streak through her hair. When she saw that, Sienna nodded quickly, making a blonde streak in her own hair. ¡°We can use this¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay, but I still want you to change clothes.¡± Dana said with a lightugh, shaking her head. Three of her¡­ how was the world going to handle <i><span style="font-weight:400">that</i><span style="font-weight:400">?

 Chapter 913: Familiar Concerns

    Chapter 913: Familiar Concerns


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana was¡­ less than excited about her familiars, at leastpared to the eagerness that she had shown when she first started her summoning. From a practical standpoint, she was fully aware that being able to mass produce fully working clones was a powerful ability, especially as each one of them could summon their own familiar. However, there were some things that she had to test first.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her first test was to try to leave the familiars operating in the real world while she returned to the Admin Room. After summoning Heaven¡¯s Gate, Dana stepped through and began to count down from sixty. However, to her surprise, her familiars were already in the Admin Room upon her arrival.


    <span style="font-weight:400">ra grinned yfully, looking at Dana. ¡°Looks like you¡¯re stuck with us.¡± She said in a teasing tone, Sienna simply nodding her head in agreement.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana clicked her tongue at her two familiars, finding that this experiment was a failure. She had been hoping that her familiars would be able to operate in the mortal world like Tsubaki¡¯s Servant avatars, but neglected the fact that familiars possessplete souls, making them a different type of entity than a simple avatar.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a shake of her head, Dana returned to the Sky Citadel together with her three familiars. The next thing that she tried to test was whether or not the familiars could create their spells themselves, or if it was still Dana who personally needed to create a spell for them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The result for this was¡­ rather surprising. Despite the familiars having all of Dana¡¯s power, they were unable to initiate the process of creating their own spells. While they could undergo each individual step, the final spell would not settle in any of the ¡®spell slots¡¯ avable to a fourth-tier familiar. Only when the spell came from Dana itself would it settle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s interesting¡­¡± She muttered, but she was honestly thankful that this was the case. If the familiars were able to casually create their own spells, there was the chance that they would be able to make something over time to turn against her. Was it really considered having trust issues when the person that you were having a problem trusting was just a clone of yourself? Well, maybe¡­


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thest test was to see how far they could operate independently from Dana. Clearly, she was not able to leave the mortal world while having them act, but what about going between different worlds?


    <span style="font-weight:400">To test this, Dana sent Sienna to Fyor, and ra to Lorek. What she found confused her more than anything else. Sienna operated perfectly fine, able to walk around Fyor and function entirely without interference. ra, however, found herself slowed to an almost crawl as the world sped up around her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing that reminded her of when the Virtual reality had just been released, the Keeper¡¯s Virtual self experiencing a simr situation. <i><span style="font-weight:400">This is probably less of an interference from the familiar system itself, and probably more due to whatever happened with the Heaven¡¯s Gate.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">With this, Dana believed that she had everything she needed in order to fully make use of her familiars. If she wanted to, she could even create several dozen more, but she decided against doing so for the foreseeable future. As long as there were only two of them, she could still manage if something went wrong, but that would not be the case if the numbers increased too drastically.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The next thing that she had to do was to create the spells for each of the familiars, determining the roles that they would y. Given that they each had her magical talent, there was no need for any basic spell that she could reproduce with another magic system. Instead, it was better to create spells that she could not easily use otherwise.


    <span style="font-weight:400">To do so, she found the information that had been sent to the Citadel regarding the imagination system, and examples of some of the effects that one could create. It was hard to describe the limits of the imagination system. Simply saying that it was limited by one¡¯s imagination¡­ while urate, also limited it further. If you give someone too much creative freedom, they will often be unable toe up with ideas as borate as in cases where they are constrained to a set of rules.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was the primary reason why Kione hadgged behind the other worlds in its magical development, the simple fact that they had too much freedom with their magic. Now that there were guidelines and established methods being ¡®discovered¡¯, people continued to push the boundaries of what was possible.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sienna, I¡¯ll be giving you mostly utility magic.¡± She exined, her hand ced on the back of her familiar. ¡°Once I¡¯m done, I want you to personally manage the training of the monsters in Deckan¡¯s shadow. Take Stone Father with you, and help him with his training, too.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sienna¡¯s eyes briefly widened, and she gave a firm nod at themand. In fact, Dana knew that Sienna wouldn¡¯t object to this order. Giving personal training to the shadow monsters was something that Dana herself wanted to do for a long time. Now that she essentially had an extra body, there was no reason not to offer this chance to her familiar.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What about me?¡± ra asked, eyes wide and almost sparkling. ¡°Am I going to be ying games with you and Tsuba? Or maybe working in the workshop? We never finished the new design for the Sky Chariot, after all!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana grinned yfully, looking at ra. ¡°You¡¯ll be in charge of void patrols.¡± ra¡¯s face immediately fell at Dana¡¯s words.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This is prejudice! Why does she get to train all the shadow beasts, but I have to hang out in the void all day?¡± ra asked, pouting her lips. Dana couldn¡¯t help butugh at the exaggerated reaction.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The void is growing more dangerous by the day. Fifteen years passed out of nowhere, and we don¡¯t know to what degree the void beasts have evolved. You can be considered a Fallen God, after all. It¡¯s only right for you to do this. If I could take your ce, I would.¡± Dana spoke in a righteous tone, ra immediately pointing an usatory finger at her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Then trade ces with me! I¡¯ll stay here to y with Dale and Tsuba, and you can go run around in the void!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Nope.¡± Dana nced off to the side shamelessly. ¡°That¡¯s what I have you for.¡± ra simply copsed at thatment, arms spread out on the ground.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well¡­ what kind of magic are you going to give me, then? If Sienna has utility magic to help her with her monster training, what about me?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana thought about that as she finished injecting another spell into Sienna¡¯s body. ¡°Combat and detection magic. Sienna is logistic support, while you are going to be a pure battle familiar. Also, we need to learn how to sync up our experiences. If you can use all of my abilities, I need to learn how to share new abilities that I learnter, as well as how to get abilities that you learn yourselves.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sienna¡¯s eyes shed at that. ¡°Absurdity¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana simply nodded her head. ¡°That¡¯s right. You girls aren¡¯t going to be the only ones busy. I am nning to work on mastering the Absurdity of Fate while you are both taking care of your tasks. I need to be able to transmit any mastery I obtain to the two of you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s cool and all!¡± ra began, before her face fell. ¡°But can we even use that technique when we don¡¯t have all those fragments?¡± As if to test that idea, she stood up from the ground, brushing off her skirt.


    <span style="font-weight:400">ra held her hand forward, bringing her index finger and her thumb just an inch apart. She looked at one of the tools on the counter, positioning her hand so that the tool in her perspective fit neatly between the tips of her fingers. After a moment of focus, she moved her hand, the tool teleporting and shrinking to be the same size that she had ¡®perceived¡¯ it as.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That would be a yes.¡± Dana nodded her head. This was one of the advanced training methods of Absurdity of Fate, using perspective to warp the world around you. ¡°I expect you to put that back at its proper size, by the way.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">ra¡¯s eyes widened at that, fumbling with the much smaller tool in her grasp. ¡°A-Ah, right!¡± She nodded quickly, bringing it up to look at the table again. She adjusted her perspective, bringing her hand closer and further away, shifting the angle to try to get it just right. Afterwards, she released the tool, and it dropped down onto the table at its full size. ¡°Okay, so we can still be as absurd as ever.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once Dana pulled her hands off of Sienna¡¯s back, thetter¡¯s body melted into the shadows at her feet, leaving to carry out the orders that Dana had given. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, I¡¯m almost worried what would happen if you created your own familiar¡­¡± Dana said, looking intently at ra.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh! You mean if I ended up only having a talent for making clone-types, as well?¡± She mused, before quickly shaking her head. ¡°Maybe if I went to the Underworld, shattered my soul, and let it marinate for a few centuries. After that, I guess I¡¯d be at the same standard you were before? Though it¡¯s equally possible that clones can¡¯t make more clone familiars.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana gave a small nod, before looking at ra. ¡°In that case, what type of familiar would you want?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">ra rolled her eyes yfully. ¡°Obviously, I¡¯d want the same type of familiar you¡¯d want. Let¡¯s see¡­ I¡¯d want a!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana¡¯s eyes widened at the unexpected answer. ¡°A <i><span style="font-weight:400"?</i><span style="font-weight:400">¡± She looked at her familiar incredulously, wondering how she hade to such an answer.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, yeah!¡± ra grinned. ¡°Wasn¡¯t there that case of the living god not long ago? And you can make inanimate objects into familiars. If that¡¯s the case, what¡¯s stopping you from getting a truly massive familiar? Oh! We should ask alia if that¡¯s possible!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana¡¯s brow twitched, but she did indeed make the call. <i><span style="font-weight:400">alia¡­ what is thergest familiar that is possible to obtain with Kione¡¯s magic system?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Hmm?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Seeing how distracted she sounded, alia must have been looking elsewhere, not paying attention to the conversation of the Dana clones. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Let¡¯s see¡­ it depends on the size of the soul used as a material. Though, bigger familiars also require materialponents and a longer summoning time.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Okay¡­ but what¡¯s the upper limit?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a moment¡¯s pause, alia looking through the information. <i><span style="font-weight:400">U-Uhmm¡­ there¡¯s the Celestial Body familiar? It starts off as a small star that can fit in the palm of your hand. Every rank up, it gets extras that orbit it. And¡­ at the fourth rank, if enough mana is provided, it can expand to be a full-size sr system. If you want familiars that are massive from the start, there¡¯s the Building type?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Y-You¡¯re kidding, right?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Dana gulped, eyes going wide again. <i><span style="font-weight:400">How can a familiar be an entire sr system? What would the mana requirements for that even be?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">It depends on the size. However, I doubt we need to worry about anyone doing this. To get a celestial body familiar, you need to use an actual star as the materialponent for the spell, opening an Underworld gate right in the heart of it and throwing your soul in. More importantly, because the familiar is sorge, I don¡¯t advise using it, as its main purpose would be space travel. That, or just hurlings at a target.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m doing it!¡± ra said with determination. ¡°My familiar¡¯s going to be a star!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana let out a deep groan. ¡°Why? What good is hurlings at a target? The projectile speed would be too slow, and most enemies you¡¯d want to do that for wouldn¡¯t even take that much damage from colliding with a.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Still doing it!¡± ra grinned broadly. ¡°And I¡¯m going to make it the location of our new workshop.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now that¡­ that Dana couldn¡¯t argue against. A workshop built on a controlled entirely by them, in a sr system that only they couldmand. ¡°We¡¯re going to need a lot of mana.¡± She said with a sigh, though ra only chuckled mischievously.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Talk to Dale. Presumably, a-type familiar would have naturally urring resources. If we convince him to give us arge enough vein of Mage Heart in one of ours, we¡¯ll have all of the mana we need to maintain its full size.¡±

 Chapter 914: Hyper Active

    Chapter 914: Hyper Active


    <span style="font-weight:400">I shook my head with a small smile as I watched Dena¡¯s antics with her familiars. The fact that she had managed to create two familiar clones of herself was more than I had expected. Once Tsubaki found out, I was sure she¡¯d be happy for her. Regardless, I had to turn my attention to what was in front of me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">During the fifteen year timespan that we had been in the Admin Room, it was not entirely peaceful in the mortal world. Quite a number of monster gods had begun to appear, some of them able to tear through entire fleets of ships before either they were able to be defeated or they simply ran out of targets. Even in cases where the ships were defended by a mortal god, there were many cases where the ships had been destroyed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Because of this, the various world governments had created a database of dangerous territories. These territories were the known habitats of such powerful creatures, and each had their own unique circumstances. For instance, a trinary star cluster that gave birth to a giant jewel as a was being inhabited by a ck shade that could rip apart space with its hands.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The exact domain of this shade was unknown, as was the case with many of the dangerous territories, all because of the fact that nobody survived the encounters. At most, some footage was sent back through the subspace bridges before the connection was lost.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ah, that was another important change in regards to space travel. Originally, every ship would have a small connecting port that housed a dimensional gateway leading back to the home world. This allowed for convenientmunication without waiting long periods, and supplies could be sent in the event of emergencies.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, there had been a number of issues over the years that had resulted from this connection, issues that had endangered the facilities where those connections were housed, and could have spread to the entire world. Whether they were pathogens, spectral monsters, or ¡®information hazards¡¯, all became ample reasons for these gates to be closed. Instead, a newmunication system was devised using the same concept as hyperspace travel, which became known as subspacemunication.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Information packets were uploaded to a virtualwork, wherein AI had established their own ¡®hyperspace routes¡¯ between different systems. Once the packet was received, it followed the automatic path that the AI had created, being received by a subspace bridge closer to the home world. This way, the danger of such hazards was greatly reduced, though it caused a smallg inmunications.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, the void is bing a problem again?¡± Tsubaki asked with pursed lips. Naturally, information hazards referred to special void effects that could be transmitted via information.


    <span style="font-weight:400">One of the servant avatars stepped forward with a small nod. In order to receive any additional details, she had kept one of the avatars around to provide an exnation. ¡°ording to the researcher, the current void shields can prevent a full manifestation, but are unable to fully stop the flow of energy for those stronger entities. These entities do not typically attach themselves directly to the world barrier, and are thus harder for patrolling forces to identify. Only a Fallen God that has been inflicted with the information hazard is capable of tracking the entity with certainty after returning to the void, but doing so is a dangerous gambit.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s right, who would be willing to infect themselves with strange powers that didn¡¯t follow the conventionalws of physics just so that they could <i><span style="font-weight:400">potentially</i><span style="font-weight:400"> track the target? ¡°Is there a problem with such hazards in inhabited sectors?¡± I asked, to which the servant shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not at present, my Keeper. Chelsea has deployed a memetic defense within thework that routinely checks for information anomalies to enact countermeasures. However, this defense can¡¯t extend to the anomalies existing far away from establishedworks, so there is nothing we can do for them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I pursed my lips, thinking that over for a moment. ¡°Tsubaki, I have an assignment for you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s eyes widened, immediately turning to face me. ¡°Please instruct me, my Keeper.¡± She said, moving down to one knee.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Normally, a technical mission like this would be given to Dana, but she¡¯s busy at the moment. I want you to get in Fragments of Acidia and study how they created their hypenework. You can get Dana¡¯s Virtual self to assist you. If the process can be tranted into our real world systems, I want the information passed on to Ashley.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ooh, smart.¡± Aurivy grinned when she heard the mission I had given Tsubaki. ¡°The hypenes in Fragments of Acidia are able to block out the void beasts in the game. It won¡¯t help as much for the pioneers, but established trade routes would be more secure if thenes could be tranted over.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Though, you¡¯re not the first one to think of that.¡± She pointed out, causing my face to fall.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is it impossible?¡± I asked, Tsubaki looking over at Aurivy. Thetter shook her head with a small shrug.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I honestly don¡¯t know. I haven¡¯t looked deeply into it myself. However, what I do know is that the hypenework is a secret technology of various big empires. The only way to get that information through normal channels is to take a series of missions and be promoted to a position of power in those empires.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My lips formed a thin line when I heard her exnation. This could easily be resolved if I chose to reveal myself as ¡®Acidia Reborn¡¯. However, doing so would change the game for everyone else in the world, and I was not free enough to constantly be avable to take part in their storyline. ¡°Is there anyone in a suitable position?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy gave a yful smile, nodding her head. ¡°There are three people, each in different empires. They¡¯ve been ying almost nonstop since the game¡¯s release, and have managed to acquire considerable influence within their respective nations. Sadly, none of them are the research type, or else they may have already gone for the hypene studies.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, what positions do they have that would let them get that information even without being in a scientific field?¡± I asked curiously, Aurivy chuckling.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Two of them are generals leading their nation¡¯s armies. Thest one actually managed to marry into the royal family. He had quite a lot of fun with that quest chain.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing Aurivy¡¯s grin, I could imagine that she watched that individual¡¯s progress through the quests, likely seeing it as a budding love story. ¡°I see. And the two generals are probably more focused on the game, and don¡¯t realize the significance that hypenes could have on the real world. They probably consider our current transportation methods more effective.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod once I thought through that much, turning to look at Tsubaki again. ¡°Since there are already two such generals, I¡¯ll leave it to the two of you. You visit one general, and have Dana visit the other. If either of them are willing to provide the information, you can reward them appropriately. If possible, I¡¯d like to get the technology for both, so that we canpare to see if there are any differences.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Understood, my Keeper!¡± Tsubaki nodded her head firmly, pressing the button on her bracelet to synchronize her memories with her Virtual self. ¡°I will have myself and Dana meet the duo at once.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lorence sat behind his desk, going through the battle reports that he had received. As one of the core military leaders of the Jinmeg Empire, he had been ced inmand of the war with Asara, an enemy empire that often fought with them over valuable resource points. His lips pursed as he read the damage logs, realizing that they had suffered a loss this time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As he thought about that, the air warped in front of him, and he soon saw a golden-haired kitsune with fierce blue eyes, nine tails swaying behind her. Each tail had a different colored pearl suspended above its tip, and she watched him for several long moments.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, Lorence was no fool. He was able to recognize the Keeper¡¯s servant, but he couldn¡¯t be entirely sure that it was her. Rather, there were many people that took on her likeness for various reasons. More importantly, he was unfamiliar with the nine pearls, leading him to believe that it may be a unique artifact of whoever was impersonating her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Can I help you?¡± He asked, keeping his voice level. At the same time, he began preparing a spell through his casting assistant device, ready to unleash it should the woman make any hostile actions.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Lorence Dowell, age two hundred and seventeen. Resident of Hanbei, and considered a person of interest by Elisae. After taking the steps of Perfection and subsequently having your divinity forged, you have reverted your age to your prime, I see. I havee with a request on behalf of the Keeper.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lorence¡¯s eyes went wide when he heard her words. Finding information about him, while not impossible, was certainly no easy feat. Moreover, what did she mean by a person of interest to the Queen of Wishes? At the very least, those who used Tsubaki¡¯s appearance for nefarious reasons knew better than to invoke the Keeper¡¯s name.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she ended her words, he set his reports down, halting the spell that he had been preparing. ¡°And what can I do for the Keeper?¡± He asked, more curious than anything. It had been more than a decade since any information had surfaced of the Keeper¡¯s movements, so he did not know why she suddenly appeared before him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The Keeper would like you to acquire the knowledge on how to construct a Hypene Network, so that it can be converted for real world application.¡± When Tsubaki said that, Lorence furrowed his brow. His suspicions rose once again, as this was considered an imperial secret. While he had ess to the information, he would be more closely monitored if he chose to use that ess. If he was found sharing the information with outsiders, he may even be stripped of his position andbeled a traitor to the empire.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Why does the Keeper want this from me? There shouldn¡¯t be any merit in that information.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki shook her head. ¡°Hypene Networks would ensure a higher degree of safety for spatial travel, even in our real world. If you search online, you should be able to find scientificmunities looking for the knowledge for simr reasons.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Well, that was easy enough for him to confirmter. ¡°I¡¯ll look into that. However, if I do get you that information, there is a high possibility that I will be banished from the empire, and all the work I¡¯ve done will be ruined.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Name your reward.¡± Tsubaki said simply, causing Lorence¡¯s eyes to widen. ¡°The Keeper has granted me full authorization to issue a satisfactory reward in order to retrieve this information. So long as you do not go too far, or ask for the impossible, I will see that the reward is issued. If you suffer damages from undertaking the task, I shall offerpensation.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Compensation for being branded a traitor by a gctic empire? Lorence gave a bitter smile at that, closing his eyes for a moment. If he was really going to do this, he had to ask for a price befitting the risk, without going so far as to offend the Sky Citadel. At the same time, it had to be something that would prove their authenticity. ¡°The reason I¡¯m in this position is to find a specific Fragment. ording to my research, the only known Fragment of this type is in the hands of the imperial royal family. I don¡¯t have the time to devote myself to cultivation in Lorek, so this is the only way for me to get the additional domain.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded her head, her eyes never leaving Lorence. ¡°What domain are you looking to receive?¡± Depending on his answer, it may or may not be possible for them to deliver the reward to him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°My initial domain that I ascended with is Battle. With it, I was able to be a militarymander. However, I am seeking to follow the path of Bihena. In doing so, the next domain that I acquire must be Peace. If you can find a way for me to obtain this domain without bing the subordinate of another god, I will get the information you want.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki thought it over for a moment, closing her eyes. ¡°Understood. The domain will be delivered to you by morning.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lorence¡¯s eyes went wide at that, wondering if he had perhaps asked for too little. Was it really that easy to deliver a domain to someone?

 Chapter 915: The Oncoming Swarm

    Chapter 915: The Oing Swarm


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I heard the requests of the two acting generals, I was¡­ admittedly hesitant. Getting Lorence the Peace domain actually wasn¡¯t that difficult. If I had Ashley use some admin tools, I was sure that I could find the suitable fragment in time, but I wasn¡¯t sure how long it would take. On the other hand, I could have Aznod prepare the domain for him as a dish. Although few people could afford a hand-crafted domain dish from Aznod, he was entirely capable of preparing it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The reason I was hesitant was that Aznod had only just started his honeymoon, and I didn¡¯t want to disturb him if I could avoid it. In the end, I agreed to ask him for this when he had a moment free. Given the scale of the game, it could take years for Ashley to find the fragment even if she used admin tools. Thus, my only options were to either storm the imperial family¡¯s treasury to steal theirs, or ask him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As for the other general, Cierna Evans, she had a far more difficult request. Her army was being pressured by the enemy team, and one of the systems she was in charge of was in danger of being overrun by a divine swarm. We had to either rout the swarm orpletely annihte them. For a moment, I actually considered giving up on this request. Theoretically, we could create a hypenework with just Lorence¡¯s information.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, the more I heard, the more I resolved myself to get involved. The system that Cierna was defending had a total of two inhabited worlds. Even disregarding the normal NPCs that didn¡¯t possess a soul, there were bound to be thousands of ¡®living¡¯ NPCs on those worlds.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Normally, I wouldn¡¯t personally take action for just a few thousand people, or else I¡¯d never have a moment¡¯s peace. There were two reasons that I decided to get involved this time. The first, naturally, was because I did still want the hypene information that Cierna possessed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aside from that, I wanted to test out some of the abilities that I had built up to prepare for the previous invasion, but had never gotten the chance to use. For instance, my Shattering Fists were almost always being interrupted by the fighters intercepting me, and I hadn¡¯t had the chance to unleash the power of ¡®The One Who Speaks the End¡¯. Simrly, this was a chance for Dana to send her new familiars into battle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Which brought us to the battle in question. There were just the seven of us, suspended in the empty space, watching as a golden cloud seemed to slowly make its way closer. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Before we begin, what can you tell me about the enemy?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I asked Cierna, who was standing with us. She was not here to fight, but to watch the event and verify the safety of the system. Those actually doing the fighting would be myself, Tsubaki, Lifre, Dana, and her two familiars.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Most empires simply refer to them as ¡®the swarm¡¯. </i><span style="font-weight:400">Cierna answered respectfully. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Each of them possesses the Fragment, or domain, of Hunger. This is because they all originate from a single entity, one that used this power to consume other energies and replicate itself. It is said that if a member of the swarm appears on any inhabited world, local fragments must be called in to eradicate that world. Otherwise, the swarm will consume it to create millions more of itself. They travel by means of the hypenework, but otherwise are thankfully not able to achieve faster-than-light travel under normal circumstances.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">So we are fighting millions of gods in a hive mind? </i><span style="font-weight:400">I asked, furrowing my brow. However, Cierna shook her head.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">ording to the preliminary report, the iing swarm should number in the billions. However, despite this, their individualbat power is quite weak. An average fragment can take on hundreds by themselves. This is due to their bodies being ¡®impure¡¯. Only a small fraction of their being has been converted to true divinity. asionally, if the swarm kills a fragment, there will be elite monsters birthed that have a higher degree of purity, but those are incredibly rare within the swarm. It¡¯s these elites that are able to move beyond the speed of light.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Do they obtain the domains of the gods that they eat?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Dana asked, staring at the swarm ahead.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Not entirely. The elite monsters have some fraction of the domain power, but not enough to be considered a full god. It¡¯s more like leftover energy.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head, stretching one hand out towards the iing swarm. By now, they were close enough that I could make out various shapes within them. <i><span style="font-weight:400">All things end.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I muttered, transmitting my thoughts through the draconic bracer I was wearing. There was a pulse of spiritual energy surging forward in a wave in response to my words.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When this wave crashed into the swarm, nearly half of them became still, the other half quickly overtaking them. Just as I was starting to be pleased with myself, I saw the survivors turn around and begin madly consuming their own fallen soldiers. The entire process took under a minute, before new troops filled their ranks. Although they had suffered a loss, they were able to bring back over eighty percent of the forces that I had killed in my initial attack.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">So that¡¯s why they are so hard to deal with.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I sighed deep in my heart, knowing that I would have to release far more power if I wanted to kill them faster than they could replenish their forces. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Dana, it¡¯s your turn. I¡¯ll be preparing the God Shattering Hand, so let me see what you can do.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana nodded her head with a wide smile, ncing at her two familiars. <i><span style="font-weight:400">You heard him.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sienna floated back, darkness wrapping around her before exploding violently into her surroundings. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Fly.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> With that onemand, a ck swarm erupted from the darkness, flying towards the approaching horde. However, these small insects acted rather strangely as they flew away from Sienna, bingrger andrger as they traveled.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Looking at the incredibly focused expression on Sienna¡¯s face, it was likely that she was using the Absurdity of Fate to increase the size of her own swarm based on her perspective of their flight. By the time they reached the enemy, each of her ¡®little¡¯ insects had be dozens of timesrger than the creatures within the opposing swarm. Though they weren¡¯t gods, they were more than enough to serve as a distraction.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">My turn, now!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> ra said, pping her hands together. Her hair began to lift into the air behind her, mana surging through her body. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I am the one who walks through the shadows unhindered. My word is thew that binds the soul. Come forth, the de of eternal night. Come forth, the spear of ruin. Wrapped in the cloak of shadows, let nothing stand before you.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">At first, I thought she was using elemental magic from the geometric field when I heard her chant. However, there was no sign of a magic array. Instead, two dark projections appeared on either side of her body. One sat astride a ck steed, a darknce held in one hand. The other carried a ck de more than two meters long.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Both figures were wrapped in ck armor, making it difficult to make out their figures without thes behind us as the backdrop. Once I saw them emerge, I was sure that this was one of the spells that Dana had imbued her with, likely a use of Kione¡¯s elemental magic.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Just as I was beginning to wonder how strong these two were, they charged out, their bodies a dark blur. In seconds, they had arrived before the swarm, far surpassing the speed of Sienna¡¯s monsters.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The darkncer pierced his weapon into the body of one monster, which immediately ckened and dissolved into shadows. These shadows then moved to surround both thencer and swordsman, causing them to grow just slightly. However, this growth was far more noticeable when the swordsman swung his sword, simrly dissolving more than a dozen enemies.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With that, their bodies grew by more than half, and the swarm recognized them as either a threat or a potential meal. The swarm gave up on its charge, now choosing to fight against the creatures released by Dana¡¯s familiars. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Just to make sure, it¡¯s fine for those units to die?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I asked Dana, who nodded her head.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">The two released by ra are simple projections created by a spell. They don¡¯t have a proper soul or anything like that. As for the ones Sienna called, they are a rather low tier monster in Deckan. In fact, I¡¯d suggest you kill them all quickly, so that they don¡¯t just add to the enemy¡¯s forces. Until then, their only job is to serve as a distraction.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I looked at Tsubaki next, but she shook her head. <i><span style="font-weight:400">My Way of Hidden Truths is more suited for one on onebat. As for the Heart of Combat, it would indeed be ideal for me to go forward to fight. However, I would not be able to avoid the attack you want to release.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I was proud of her for not choosing to go out in consideration of my attack. Had this been earlier in her life, she would have told me without hesitation to attack even if she were in the way. That left Lifre, who nodded her head with a bright smile.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When the young slime girl stepped forward, the space around her seemed to tremble. She put on a solemn atmosphere, pointing one hand towards the swarm. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Distort.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Shemanded, and the space around the nearby battlefield seemed to ripple, forming a sphere. Whenever one of the monsters moved to the edge of that sphere, they would simply appear on the other side. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Copse.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Immediately, the sphere she had created began to rapidly contract,pressing the monsters together. Originally, there were several dozen meters between each one, as space was rather¡­ well,rge. However, soon they were pressed together, making them easy targets for ra¡¯s soldiers. At least, until they became tighter and tighter, some of them starting to perish under the sheer pressure of space weighing down on them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Just as I thought Lifre might be able to deal with the entire swarm, there was a cracking sound. The surviving monsters had begun attacking thepressed space barrier. Individually, these creatures did not have the power to shatter space, and thus could not ovee the power used on them. However, once their attacks became concentrated, the sphere was punctured, shattering around them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, I had been preparing myself. With my hand held back, palm open, I focussed my ki through the pattern that I had practiced before. At the same time, I tapped into my Keeper reserves, as killing this many creatures in one hit would be impossible unless I were to ess my full power. Even Keliope had only been able to shatter one starship with her strike.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">God Shattering Hand.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I muttered mentally, my hand slowly pushing forward. Although it was not a fast movement, the power behind it was constantly increasing. After my arm was fully extended forward, a palm of ki shot out, growing rapidly as it traveled.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At this moment, I was thankful for Lifrepressing the swarm together, as it made them a smaller target for me to strike. Originally, I had been prepared tosh out with a series of attacks in order to defeat the entire swarm, but now I could put my entire energy behind one move.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The swarm was inevitably crushed when the palm of ki made contact with it. I stood, prepared to release a long sigh when I noticed movement. Four figures within the cloud, still capable of movement. From what I could see, they had been at the back of the swarm, and had positioned themselves to let the rest of their allies take the brunt of my attack.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Even without scanning them, I could tell that they were the ¡®elites¡¯ that Cierna had warned us about. Unfortunately for me, I had used up my ki in the previous attack. If I wanted to deal with these four, I would need to resort to one of my other powers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I lifted my hand, conjuring the draconic bracer again, Tsubaki stepped forward. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Please, let me handle this, my Keeper. </i><span style="font-weight:400">She said with confidence. Now that the enemy numbers had been substantially reduced, she could fight without needing to worry about friendly fire.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I hesitated for a brief moment, before nodding my head. Already, the elites were starting to consume their fallen friends, so there wasn¡¯t much time before their numbers would increase. If Tsubaki said that she could handle it, I believed her.

 Chapter 916: Hidden Truths

    Chapter 916: Hidden Truths


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki flew over to the elite monsters, watching as they gradually began to replenish their forces. Given that there were only four of them to start, it was inevitable that their process was slow, but she had seen before that the increase would be exponential if she let it continue. Naturally, she had no intention of allowing them to build their forces.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The violet orb lit up behind her tail, radiating outwards. Any of the lesser monsters or corpses itnded on were immediately evaporated, and even the elite monsters had to deploy their energy to protect themselves. Tsubaki watched curiously, surprised by how fragile they were.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Against a true divine being, the light of destruction only shows minimal effects if I use it like this.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Unlike some of the others, she had been able to practice with her Ray of Hope during the previous invasion. Thanks to that, she had an understanding of its power. Of course, there were some things that she hadn¡¯t been able to practice with.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki took a deep breath, manifesting a pair of daggers in her hands. Her body tilted forwards, before surging towards the four monsters. Even if they were far weaker than normal gods, she would not let her guard down. That said, this was more of a training exercise than an extermination.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Cierna watched from the sidelines, her eyes wide in fascination. Like most, she had never seen those from the Sky Citadel fighting before. The amount of power that they released was simply outside her understanding. However, the most confusing part of it was that she recognized some of the techniques that were used.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I don¡¯t know what Dana did¡­ it looked like it might have been magic involving the two clones of herself. There was no trace of binary, so I doubt it was code magic. Did they find a way to replicate other magic systems internally within the game? As for Lifre¡­ that should have been the Essence of the World¡¯s End, the ultimate fighting style of druids.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper¡­ that first move wasn¡¯t something I can understand, but it seemed to be a spiritual ability. I think I heard that Spirit Hunter powers work normally in the game. Thatst move was definitely one of the shattering hands. But¡­ what¡¯s Tsubaki using? If we were following the pattern, it should be the twin swords judging by her weapons. Though, why don¡¯t I feel any spiritual power from them?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was natural for Cierna to assume that Tsubaki was using the Twin Swords of Joy and Sorrow, or maybe the Absurdity of Fate, given that she had seen the other two using primary energy arts. However, from what she saw, Tsubaki was simply having a standard brawl with the monsters. It even looked like she might be at a disadvantage?


    <span style="font-weight:400">One of the elites crept up behind her, releasing a cone of ck mist from its mandibles, but Tsubaki¡¯s body faded away like an afterimage. A momentter, she was behind that monster, slicing her daggers at its back. What confused Cierna the most was that the wounds Tsubaki inflicted on her opponents were all too shallow, and some didn¡¯t even seem to cause any damage at all. She couldn¡¯t imagine that Tsubaki was weak, so was she just holding back?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Cierna knew that an elite could typically contend with a normal god, due to their pure ferocity. However, given the power that the others disyed just now, was Tsubaki really not able to match up against the equivalent of four normal gods?


    <span style="font-weight:400">As these thoughts emerged in Cierna¡¯s mind, Tsubaki¡¯s body vanished again. This time, she did not reappear in the battlefield, instead appearing at the Keeper¡¯s side. ¡°It is done, my Keeper. As expected, it was rather difficult.¡±


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Difficult? </i><span style="font-weight:400">Cierna looked at the elite insects, who were peering back and forth. When their eyes looked in this direction, they immediately resumed their charge. ¡°What about the enemy..?¡± She asked hesitantly. If Tsubaki wasn¡¯t able to kill them, were they above a normal elite?


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°They are already dead.¡± Tsubaki nodded her head assuredly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What..?¡± Cierna looked over, just as the bodies of the four monsters split apart. Every small scratch suddenly widened, cleaving entirely through their bodies and reducing them to small pieces.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Hiding action with inaction. I see¡­ the style Tsubaki was using wasn¡¯t the twin swords, it was the Way of Hidden Truths.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Cierna¡¯s eyes widened at the sight of the four monsters crumbling apart. The Way of Hidden Truths was a devious, though unpopr choice of martial style.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Combatants who used this art had to be prepared for a protracted battle. Any wound inflicted while using the Way of Hidden Truths would appear to either be more or less severe than it really was, depending on the user¡¯s goal. While the opponent was unable to properly assess their own condition, the energy within the attacks would hold their bodies together, waiting for the moment that they were released.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Worse still was their defensive moves, as the user could project a seemingly real image of their body wherever they wanted, masking their presence. <i><span style="font-weight:400">So when those attacks made her fade away, that was just the projection¡­</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Cierna gave a slow nod of her head, turning to meet the eyes of the Keeper. Sure enough, the enemy had beenpletely annihted. With the swarm being a hivemind, it wouldn¡¯te this way again soon unless it was prepared for far more losses. There were numerous cases in this game¡¯s history of worlds being left alone for decades if a swarm cloud was entirely annihted. Of course, if the cloud was small enough, it would instead just attract the attention of arger cloud, but that was surely not the case here.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As agreed, I will request a copy of the hypene technology ns to study as soon as I return to my post. With the merits earned this time, they should be willing to overlook me requesting this information.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although she didn¡¯t have the intention of taking the merits that the Keeper had earned, this game did not have a concept of the ¡®Keeper¡¯ beyond the original Acidia. She couldn¡¯t just say that Acidia himself had helped her, so the only thing that she could do was report that she had hired a group of fragments.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper nodded his head, looking at Tsubaki once again. She seemed to understand the intention behind his nce, tearing open a portal for the group to depart through.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Back in the real world, Dana rubbed her hands together, ready to get to work. The ns from Lorence had already been delivered, so she was going to study those as she waited for Cierna to send hers over.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At the same time, both Sienna and ra opened their eyes, having simrly been synchronized with their new Virtual counterparts. Both seemed rather happy to have been able to test out their new powers, with ra being especially vocal. ¡°That was awesome! You¡¯re going to take us to y next time too, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana simply rolled her eyes, Sienna¡¯s body already melting into the shadows. ¡°Do your patrol first.¡± She chided yfully, causing ra¡¯s expression to crumble.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Can I at least work on the Sky Chariot when I¡¯m done with the patrol?¡± She asked in a hopeful tone, causing Dana to blink for a moment, thinking over the request.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sure, that shouldn¡¯t be too much to ask.¡± She agreed, immediately causing ra¡¯s face to brighten. Without a moment¡¯s hesitation, she cut open a path to the void, leaving Dana to her own studies.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With her newfound silence, Dana loaded up the blueprints on her terminal, splitting them into dozens of screens that spread out all around her. ¡°Hmm¡­ it looks like the same kind of barrier that James installed around each universe, but¡­ inverted?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her mind was divided, looking at every screen simultaneously while reading the information within it. ¡°This kind of barrier should be feasible with the magic systems of the world, and we can even apply it to Lorek and Spica¡¯s array systems. The power source¡­ it¡¯s a heat to magic conversion, with a star as the center?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana pursed her lips when she came to that detail. Setting up a magic formationrger than an entire star was technically possible, but it would consume a great deal of resources. Resources that would have to be spent for every star that was brought into the hypenework. ¡°There are different grades of hypenes, based on traffic requirements. Biggernes will require a higher quality formation¡­ so this is why a lot of thenes we traveled through were really small.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">In her mind, Dana was calcting the total amount of resources that would be needed toplete a hypenework, judging by the current star map of Earth¡¯s universe. ¡°I¡¯m sure that the teams in charge of construction will just want to buy these materials off the market, but¡­ it will be a lot more cost-effective to simply mine uninhabitable worlds and resource-rich asteroids.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">There had never been a pressing need for materials on this scale in their universe before, so suchpanies were only run by the March and Metong within their own realm. However, the array not only established a hypenework, but it also established a hypene barrier around the star system used, out to a range of ten ¡®light hours¡¯. This would save Chel a lot of trouble maintaining the defenses around inhabited systems.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ll work on tranting this into a geometric spell formation, as well as a magic array for Lorek for now. Once the second set of nse in, I¡¯ll review them and adjust as needed.¡± She nodded, opening up the magic design program she had installed on her terminal long ago.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana was stillrgely unfamiliar with the exact specifics of magical binary, but the design notes associated with the segmented code helped her understand what she was working with. Moreover, it had been over a decade since the game was released, and there were multiple trantion programs avable on the inte to convert ¡®arcanobinary¡¯ to geometric magic. All she had to do was download one of those, and then cross reference the results with her own understanding.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The hardest part was finding the proper equivalents for the materialponents, as many materials used in the ns Lorence gave her were game-specific, and some were even censored entirely. Those were likely the ¡®secretponents¡¯, which even Lorence himself didn¡¯t have authorization to review.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, Dana simply saw this as a puzzle that she needed to solve. She was the Apostle of Magic, and was not about to bow down to some random magic formation from a game. She grinned widely, cracking her knuckles as she began rapidly typing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°First, let¡¯s set up a simtion to reverse engineer the magic formation, and then test out possible materials to fill the gaps.¡± She tapped on her synchronization bracelet, sending the necessary memories to her game self so that she could find the listed materials and perform a deep scan of them. Once Dana had that, she could urately simte the effects that they would have on the formation in the program that she was writing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was the first major project that she had worked on in several months¡­ no, it should be in fifteen years. She was excited to get back to work after her long vacation, her fingers rapidly typing on the holographic keyboard. ¡°I¡¯ll need to get one of the new direct interfacester to test out.¡± She muttered to herself, watching the lines of code falling into ce.

 Chapter 917: Moving Time

    Chapter 917: Moving Time


    <span style="font-weight:400">On the surface, our lives hadn¡¯t changed much aftering back from the fifteen year ¡®absence¡¯. While there were some innovations that were certainly nice, it was nothing on the scale ofpletely revolutionizing how we lived in the Sky Citadel. Though, in all honesty, I was getting somewhat¡­ I couldn¡¯t really say bored of the Citadel.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Rather, it was that the Citadel had be outdated in terms of both science and magical advancement. This was somewhat alleviated when Gerard began overseeing the enchantments of the Sky Citadel, but in all reality, it was an ancient relic of the past. In the present day, the Sky Citadel served mostly as an icon, and had lost its novel charm.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Because of this, I called the residents of the Citadel to have an impromptu meeting, sharing my thoughts. I was certain that they would have felt it far more than me. Outside of Gerard, everyone present had spent far more time in the Citadel than myself, with Tsubaki having been there since its inception.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sir, are you suggesting that we get rid of the Sky Citadel?¡± Gerard asked curiously, seated opposite myself at arge table.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not ¡®get rid of¡¯... I just feel like it should be time to do something new. The Citadel can still remain for the purposes where it is useful, but as a living space, I feel like we need a change of scenery.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I don¡¯t know, I kinda like the ce.¡± Lifre grinned, looking around the room. ¡°It gives off that whole medieval godking vibe.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s probably part of the problem.¡± Dana nodded towards Lifre. ¡°In a medieval era, something like this would certainly be grand. Nowadays¡­ I can see where the boss ising from. So, what do you suggest? We could move into a plot ofnd on Sanctum, and establish that as our new base.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was tempting, but I shook my head. ¡°First, I just want to make sure I¡¯m not cutting ahead here. Dana, would you mind exining what your ¡®Sky Chariot¡¯ project is? If it¡¯s something suitable, I¡¯d be more than happy to just wait until you finish it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana blinked, before letting out a lightugh. ¡°No, the Sky Chariot isn¡¯t meant to be a living space. It¡¯s something that I¡¯m building to be a warship for us. I¡¯m working on designing an interster warship that will let you channel any of your domains through its weapons, while having enough firepower and shields on its own to go against gods. That will take a while to work on, though, since I¡¯m still in the nning stage.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod. I had heard her mention the Sky Chariot with her familiars a few times, but I hadn¡¯t really seen her working on it yet. It wasn¡¯t like I was constantly spying on them. ¡°In that case, does anyone have any suggestions? I¡¯d like something that can be another icon like the Sky Citadel, preferably. Even if we retire the Citadel as our main residence, I want something to serve a simr role. Otherwise, we might as well just live in the Admin Room.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I mean, I wouldn¡¯t be opposed.¡± Dana grinned. ¡°The Admin Room is like a cheat training room, once you get past the non-euclidean architecture.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It does not serve the purpose needed, though.¡± Tsubaki said faintly. ¡°If the Sky Citadel no longer suffices, then perhaps we can establish a world in the same style as Sanctum? A world developed by my Keeper within Nowhere for the exclusive use of those under yourmand?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">While not really a bad idea, I shook my head to refuse it. ¡°That would let me be a symbol to the gods, but mortals don¡¯t have any method of going to Sanctum, or even knowing where it is. That was the whole purpose of establishing the ¡®Nowhere¡¯ system.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana pursed her lips. ¡°One of my familiars is working on getting her own familiar, and it¡¯s a celestial body type. Would that work? It¡¯d be our own, private sr system that we could take anywhere we go.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...I think we¡¯re on the right track, but no. In order for the star¡¯s gravity to not disrupt theary orbits of any other world, we¡¯d need to put it far enough away that the light might not even reach this before we moved somewhere else. Additionally, I¡¯d rather not live on a familiar, just in case it was needed for battle.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In that case, why don¡¯t we just make our own Sanctum!¡± Lifre eximed in an excited tone. ¡°A has <i><span style="font-weight:400">waaay</i><span style="font-weight:400"> less gravitational influence than a star, and you can just throw it anywhere in a system. A few minutester, it will be visible to anys in that system.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That doesn¡¯t sound bad.¡± I nodded my head, intrigued at the concept. At the very least, it sounded better than just grabbing a plot ofnd on Sanctum. ¡°The only issue would be how to construct it, I suppose.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Back when Sanctum was created, Aurivy had to spend the divinity of several greater gods in order to aplish the effect of making a living world. I wasn¡¯t naive enough to think that I would be able to do that all by myself with just the Keeper bonus.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, Tsubaki¡¯s suggestion surprised me. ¡°Simply create the outer shell, and fill the rest in over time. If you let this new world serve as a core of your divinity, it should fill itself in naturally. Either way, it is not as if we will be performing mining activities. So long as the first hundred meters or so of the outer shell is constructed, I doubt we will run into any problems.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, instead of growing outwards, we grow inwards?¡± I brought a hand up to caress my chin in thought. ¡°It¡¯s certainly feasible. A-sized residence would also attract more eyes than the Sky Citadel, allowing the faith to be built faster. I¡¯ll just need to be careful to prevent it from copsing in on itself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">In the back of my mind, I was already creating a n. I could use the domains of Illusion, Transformation, and Earth as the foundation for the. Aside from the outeryer, everything else is just a connected illusion, barely sustained through a thinly spread divinity to provide stability and gravity. As the divinity increases, the Transformation domain turns the illusion real.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If I wanted to, I could throw in other domains, and make it a nine-domain project like Sanctum. However, doing something like creating an atmosphere would consume far more divinity that it was probably worth. With that in mind, it was better to let the others find a way to handle that. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll start preparing the itself.¡± I said with a nod towards the group. ¡°For the environment on the surface, I¡¯ll leave it to all of you. And for the construction of the house once we get there--¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oi,d, ye haven¡¯t forgotten about me already, have ye?¡± A gruff voice suddenly spoke up from the side, causing me to look over in surprise, seeing Tubrock with his arms crossed over his chest.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but blink at his sudden appearance, about to ask what he meant. However, he beat me to it. ¡°I made yer Sky Citadel, so I¡¯ll be the one to make whatever reces ¡®er.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...Alright.¡± I had to admit that Tubrock was incredibly skilled in this regard. The Sky Citadel itself was hundreds of years ahead of its time when he initially created it. If he was able to pull off a simr standard of workmanship now, I would certainly have noints. Tubrock gave a deep snort, vanishing from the room once he had the agreement he was looking for.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s about time that thed was ready to move on.¡± Tubrock muttered to himself once he got back to his workshop. The Sky Citadel was too old at this point. Most of its enchantments had degraded through the years and had to be reced by Tsubaki and Dana, with the physical structure itself having suffered from the passage of time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In fact, Tubrock had been prepared to make Dale a new home more than a century ago, but it was just that the man never seemed interested. Now that he found out that he was looking to retire the Sky Citadel, Tubrock was able to finally work on the project that he had assigned himself long ago.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He walked over towards one of the disy stands in his workshop, where a small model could be seen. The model seemed to consist of several metal structures, all linked together by a unified base. As he walked towards it, his body began rapidly shrinking, bing norger than a grain of rice as he entered the model.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With the issue of our lodging taken care of, I turned my attention back to Dana. It had been almost two weeks now since she had received the information for the hypenework. ¡°How has your research gone? Have you made any progress?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yep!¡± Dana nodded quickly, looking away from the corner where Tubrock had just stood. ¡°I¡¯ve got the basic n set up, I¡¯m just running some final simtions to determine onest material. While I¡¯ve been waiting, I¡¯ve started leaking the material requirements towards various mining corporations, and they¡¯re working out ns for how to secure those materials on arge scale. Once I have the final ns, I¡¯ll publicize them for everyone.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Even though the mining corporations are getting a head start, it will likely take them a few years before they¡¯re able to reliably supply the materials themselves. Until then, the only way to get them will be to purchase them off the Boundless Caravan.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Why not have gods with mineral-rted domains directly handle the mining, and sell those themselves on the market?¡± I asked, but Dana shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Currently, the Boundless Caravan is still under the control of the churches of Ryone and Leowynn. In order for a n like what you said to be feasible, people would need to be able to list their wares from anywhere. Right now, the main issue isn¡¯t mining the materials themselves, but how to safely transport a worker from the Boundless Caravan to said materials. For this, they need reliable space convoys with multiple transport vessels and one mand ship¡¯.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°More importantly, asteroid mining hasn¡¯t been much of a big deal outside of the game worlds, so the infrastructure just isn¡¯t there. Aside from the asteroids in the primary systems, we have to do deep scans to discover specific materials that we need. That¡¯s why I had to give the miners a head start, so that they couldmission survey ships to go find resource deposits.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but let out a long groan when I heard that exnation. ¡°Just as long as I don¡¯t need to make any auto-renewing materials.¡± Every time I made such a respawning resource, I was worried that it would crash the economy. Mage Heart and Blood Heart were fine, since they were used to solve such a crash, and are primarily used as power sources or to rece an individual¡¯s energy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It should be fine with what we currently have.¡± Dana shook her head, smiling. ¡°It¡¯s not that the materials are unavable, just that they are a bit out of reach for the moment. In a worst case scenario, they¡¯ll buy the required material at the cost of divine coins until they can make up for it with their own production.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Well, that seemed reasonable. There was no rush to immediately construct the hypenes. Although it would increase the security of ships regrly moving between worlds, those ships themselves were a minority. ¡°Have you finished studying the enchantment I gave you, then?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana blinked, having to think about that for a moment. ¡°Ah! The one for Fyor? I¡¯ve just about got that taken care of! I was researching it while waiting for my simtions to run. Thankfully, the information you gave me was fairly detailed, so all I had to do was study it and create the device ording to the instructions. I should be able to have that working by tomorrow, and then pass it along to Thelsa.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s right, I hadn¡¯t seen Thelsa since I asked Ashley to help her ascend. I was confident that there weren¡¯t any issues, I was just curious how her shadow world had developed after gaining her domain. It would be an interesting point of reference when developing my own and Dana¡¯s.

 Chapter 918: Field Test

    Chapter 918: Field Test


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa was no longer the same person that she had been fifteen years ago. The once cautious, carefully nning Saint of Shadows now openly tookmissions from the Adventurer¡¯s Guild under her own name, working together with Petra. The two of them were part of an adventuring group that had named themselves Twilight.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, Thelsa didn¡¯t reveal the specific rtionship between herself and Petra, because she felt that that would be rude and undermine Petra¡¯s own aplishments. If they found that Petra was merely created from Thelsa¡¯s shadow, all of her deeds would be attributed to Thelsa herself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°ck Bolt!¡± One of their other teammates called out, sending a bolt of ck lightning out towards a charging bull-like monster with mes in its eyes. The lightning struck between its eyes,unching it back and causing its legs to twitch as ity on the ground.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two of them weren¡¯t alone, not by any means. On the surface, the requirements to join Twilight was for one to be a goddess with a dark theme. For instance, the individual with the Lightning domain wielded ck lightning as opposed to normal lightning. However, there was far more to it than that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Jeez, Sora. Save some for the rest of us!¡± A toned warrior walked up, carrying a ck hammer over her shoulder with a grin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not my fault you¡¯re too slow, Maria. I¡¯m still just warming up!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After oveing her trauma and truly attempting to enhance her shadows again, Thelsa hade to an epiphany. The two beloved friends that had sacrificed themselves for her, she had painstakingly created them from her own shadow. Every thought and every emotion, even their souls came from her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now that she had the domain of Shadows, what was stopping her from creating her again? She had never once forgotten a single moment with them, and was absolutely confident that she could reproduce their original minds. Watching Sora and Maria bicker yfully, Thelsa couldn¡¯t keep the smile off of her face. It felt as if she had gone back in time, back to before things had gone so wrong.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, there wouldn¡¯t be another situation likest time. Sora was the Goddess of Lightning, and Maria was the Goddess of Stone. Even if another dangerous situation emerged, they could handle it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As for why Sora¡¯s lightning was ck¡­ when Thelsa was creating divine shadows, she realized that she could not give them a ¡®true¡¯ domain. Instead, she could only assign them the ¡®shadow¡¯ of a domain by using her own Shadow powers in conjunction with her World¡¯s Shadow. Although this did not give a practical change, it caused all of their divine powers to have a dark aesthetic.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Maria pulled out a small knife, walking over towards the fallen bull. ¡°Stabilize it for me, before all the good parts dissolve!¡± She called out to Sora, who nodded her head and cast a simple spell.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As Maria worked on dismantling the corpse of the monster, another voice spoke up behind them, causing the group to be briefly startled. ¡°Wow¡­ okay, this isn¡¯t something that I was expecting to see.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The four quickly turned around, only to see a familiar face standing there. Petra and Thelsa had met Dana on a few asions, and her face was well known enough for the other two to recognize her. When Dana saw Sora and Maria near the fallen bull, a small smile spread on her lips.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is there something we can help you with?¡± Petra asked, walking up towards Dana and offering a polite nod of her head. Despite being the visibly youngest of the group, Petra had always been the ¡®voice¡¯ for them, due to her having the biggest reputation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well¡­ yes, actually!¡± Dana nodded her head, and a small sphere appeared in one of her hands, holding it out towards Petra. ¡°Seeing that you¡¯re all gods, this makes what we want <i><span style="font-weight:400">way</i><span style="font-weight:400"> easier.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What¡¯s¡­ that?¡± Petra asked curiously, looking down at the item Dana had produced.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This is a scanner, specifically customized for Fyor. With it, you can quickly find the gates as well as any special orbs on each floor. All you have to do is insert it into the floor¡¯s crystal pir, and it will bring up the interface.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Petra heard that, she couldn¡¯t help but think back to the time when the Keeper helped her rush through so many floors of Fyor. Now, it seemed like the Keeper himself wouldn¡¯t even be needed for a simr operation. Well¡­ aside from the instant creation of cities. Though¡­ if they managed to call Philia of the Sylvans over, they could probably do that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra quickly shook off her thoughts. <i><span style="font-weight:400">If we need a city nner, Thelsa can handle that.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> After seeing Sora and Maria brought back, Petra¡¯s trust in Thelsa had grown even further. She knew how hard it was to create them, and just how vulnerable Thelsa was making herself in doing so. If anything happened to those two, Thelsa might truly lose herself, and they all knew that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Shall we go test it out?¡± Dana offered, cing the orb in Petra¡¯s hand. ¡°I need to make sure I watch the initial test run, in case there are any improvements that need to be made.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra blinked, looking back at the others. Seeing her questioning gaze, Maria gave a lightugh. ¡°What¡¯s the matter, kid? If we¡¯re going, let¡¯s go!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra nodded her head at that, ck masses of energy rising up around the five of them. They had long since incorporated the fortieth floor into their shadow world. While it may be difficult to find the next gate, due to the sheer size of the floor, it was an easy matter to find the crystal pir. After all, it was an item that reached for nearly eight million kilometers, connecting the ground and the sky.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Even with the army of shadow helpers, it would take years of dedicated searching to find something the size of the gate. Finding the level limit orbs? They¡¯d have to rely on luck to locate those on their own.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When they emerged from the shadows, they were standing before the skyscraping crystal, its body hundreds of kilometers wide. Dana could hear the sound of construction work nearby, and turned her head to seerge machines digging out tunnels, as well as druids constructing various buildings. ¡°They¡¯re only just now getting to the Mage Heart vein here?¡± She asked in surprise.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa gave a somewhat bitter smile, shaking her head. ¡°We went through thest fewyers too quickly, so it is taking them time to catch up. Before they can safely begin mining, there are a number of other steps that they have to take. For instance, clearing out any monsters in the area, setting up a safe and habitable area for the miners, and securing supply lines.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°For safety reasons, they are only moving the mining operation up one floor at a time, rather than trying to handle all of them at once. For this one¡­ it looks like they¡¯ve already cleared the area and set up the supply line, judging by the construction progress. In a couple more months, we should have a full mining city here.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh¡­ is there a unified name for the mining cities, like Gate¡¯s Rise, and Gate¡¯s Rest?¡± Dana asked curiously, only for Sora to smirk and shake her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Nope. This is probably too new of a thing, so they just name them whatever they feel like. Usually after the guy who¡¯s initially put in charge of the city.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Alright, then¡­ either way, Petra?¡± Dana looked over at the little demoness, who nodded her head. Petra walked up to the crystal pir, holding up the sphere that Dana had given her. There didn¡¯t seem to be any immediate reaction, so she ced the sphere directly against its surface.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once she had done so, half of the sphere seemed to melt into the pir, with a holographic disy appearing. Petra immediately recognized the first image as a map of this floor, and below it were two search parameters, ¡®gates¡¯ and ¡®orbs¡¯.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Out of curiosity, Petra first touched the button to search for orbs. The light within the pir rippled briefly, and Petra saw a circle expanding over the map, starting from their current location.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unsurprisingly, there were no results found from this search. The Keeper had already provided Petra with this floor¡¯s level orb, so there was nothing left for the enchantment to locate. Instead, Petra pressed the other button, causing a second ripple.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This time, the results were clearly different. Although it took roughly half a minute for the scan to finish going over the entire floor, there were two glowing dots by the time they were done. Petra looked back at Thelsa, who observed the map with interest.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This one over here should be the gate we came in.¡± She said, pointing to one of the dots deep ind. ¡°And that would mean¡­ this one is the next floor¡¯s gate.¡± Her finger moved to an ind far off the coast. It made sense that the shadow scouts hadn¡¯t found it yet, given how far away it was from the coast.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra¡¯s eyes went wide, quickly nodding her head. She looked at the disy, noticing a red X at the top corner. Bringing her finger to it, the sphere seemed to simply fall out of the crystal spire andnd in Petra¡¯s hands once again. She turned her head to look at Dana, blinking curiously. ¡°Can this be reused¡­?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana, of course, nodded with a broad grin. ¡°Of course it can! We made it so that you could speed up the exploration of Fyor, after all. It¡¯d be kind of a waste if it just broke after one use.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra nodded her head slowly at that, finding Dana¡¯s words reasonable. Her hand gripped the sphere protectively, able to tell just how valuable it was. If they had something like this from the start, how quickly could they have colonized Fyor? Now that they were sote in doing so, they needed to get help from all of the other worlds just to fill in the necessary poption to keep things functional.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It might not be a problem to popte the cities with shadow people, but Thelsa had genuinely considered the possibility at one point. After all, just the fortieth floor of Fyor alone had the surface area of two <i><span style="font-weight:400">thousand </i><span style="font-weight:400">Deckans. Every five levels was practically an order of magnituderger, so it would take generations to fully inhabit thisyer as if it were the tenth.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, what are we waiting for?¡± Maria asked with a broad grin. ¡°Let¡¯s get going! I don¡¯t know about you girls, but I can¡¯t wait to see whates next!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Listening to herugh, Dana gave a small smile. ¡°You go ahead. Now that I¡¯m sure that the device works properly, I can report back to the boss. Oh, and Thelsa?¡± She asked, looking towards the Shadow Saint herself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yes?¡± Thelsa returned the gaze, seeing a deep look in Dana¡¯s eyes. Part of it seemed to be gratitude, another part of it sorrow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m happy for you, really. It¡¯s not easy to get back what you¡¯ve lost.¡± Dana spoke in an umonly soft tone, and Thelsa could feel the loss in her voice. Dana¡¯s story was, for the most part, public knowledge at this point. It only took a moment for Thelsa to realize that Dana was talking about her father. However, by the time she was able to respond, the little elf had already left.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa clenched a fist at her side, thinking to herself. <i><span style="font-weight:400">You might not have gotten him back¡­ but at least you found someone special. Don¡¯t forget that, Dana¡­</i>

 Chapter 919: Blood Awakening

    Chapter 919: Blood Awakening


    <span style="font-weight:400">While Dana was working to test out the Fyor mapper that I had given her, I went off into the emptiness of space of Earth¡¯s sr system. In order to prevent any future shes of power, I didn¡¯t want to use domains like evolution as Sanctum had done. Instead, I wanted to use domains as much under my control as possible.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For that reason, I used the core of the Illusion domain. No matter what happened, the Illusion domain was my own power. Even if all the gods in the world died, that would stay with me. Unfortunately, I did not have such a luxury with the other domains.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The second domain was the Transformation domain, gained from none other than Mara. She was an incredible fighter when she really wanted to be, so I was sure that she¡¯d be able to survive for quite a while. At the very least, until someone else ascended with a simr domain.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Finally, the third domain that I chose was the Earth domain, due to how popr it was. I doubted there would evere a time when I ran out of Earth gods. With this n in mind, I began crafting my own divine world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Instead of building this as a standard trinity, I wanted to take it step by step, and then link them all together. Closing my eyes, I focused on my Illusion domain, drawing a set of circuits to create an illusion on a massive scale. Once I had created the path, I simply activated it to create the <i><span style="font-weight:400">illusion</i><span style="font-weight:400"> of a in the dark sky. From there, I flew into the heart of the, through the illusoryyer, and began feeding my divinity directly to it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The main purpose of this would be to serve as an exterior ¡®battery¡¯ of divine energy, as well as a collection device. Seeing the in the distant sky would serve as a subtle, yet constant reminder for the people, always feeding the energy back to me.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet pursed her lips as she sat within her pce, looking up at the new star that had appeared within the night sky. Naturally, she knew that this ¡®star¡¯ was none other than her father¡¯s new home, a fact which would soon be spread to the rest of the world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For now, there was no rush in informing everyone. Through her main self, she was monitoring the progress of the, and was well aware that it was not done yet. If it were, it would not look like some speck on the horizon, after all.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She let out a long sigh, shaking her head. After subduing the Solii of Fyor and having them agree to allow other races to settle on the twenty-fourthyer, there wasn¡¯t much special for her to do. As usual, she safeguarded the sr system from any random monster god that decided to invade, but those were often years apart.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As for managing her government tasks? She had been in this position for so long that such things had be tedious. Unless it was a major matter, she never needed to personally take action.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I wonder if I should find a new contractor.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She muttered inwardly, remembering the time when she had yed the role of a mortal¡¯s contracted Martial Spirit. Such contracts were rather rare in the present day, due to the ample opportunity for people to achieve power on their own, causing the Martial Spirit contracts to fall out of favor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After thinking about it for a few minutes, she shook her head. Unless she found another individual with a talent as unique as the ability to perceive karma, she didn¡¯t want to bother with that again. It was often more trouble than it was worth.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">In that case¡­ maybe it is time for Martial Spirits themselves to advance.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Scarlet closed her eyes in thought, a small smile spreading on her lips. By now, she was well aware that a Rank Ten Martial Spirit like herself shouldn¡¯t be the final form of a spirit. Rather, it was just the peak of what the Keeper had been able to create so long ago.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While Scarlet did not believe that she would be able to defeat her dad in her current state, she was well aware that she surpassed the power he had at the moment when she was born. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Should I try to do it myself, or work together with Irena? No¡­ I want this to be a surprise.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">A yful smile tugged at Scarlet¡¯s lips. Alena had long since achieved her own divinity, but she wanted to be able to offer Irena a surprise. For the first time in a long while, she felt like a kid preparing a present for her parents, causing a childlike giggle to rise from her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In a sh of red, Scarlet¡¯s figure vanished from the pce, appearing on a distant within Earth¡¯s sr system. Although this was an uninhabited world, there was no problem with using this as the birthce of a new Martial Spirit race.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Now¡­ how far should I push this? It takes fifteen thousand points of ki, condensed in an essence orb, to create a rank ten spirit.¡± Scarlet was well aware of this point, having created numerous such spirits in the past. At the same time, ki refining had advanced leaps and bounds since that time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, even with the creation of essence crystals or bloodstones, or even Blood Heart, nobody had created a higher tier Martial Spirit. Was that because nobody tried? Of course not, there would always be some reckless fool wanting to pioneer a new path.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The problem had toy elsewhere. Beyond simply fusing raw spiritual energy into a mass of ki. There were even those who tried to refine ki and spiritual energy together to create the same result, but ultimately failed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now that Scarlet was personally taking action, she lifted a hand. Boundless ki seemed to erupt in her palm, forming a blood red vortex. ¡°If fifteen thousand ki makes a rank ten spirit¡­ let¡¯s try five hundred thousand, and see what that makes.¡± She said with that same, yful smile.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A blood gem like what she had just created typically required thebined effort of multiple monks to create, or the full concentration of a single high-level Martial Spirit. As the Goddess of Ki, and one of the oldest Martial Spirits, creating it was a simple matter for Scarlet.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With her other hand, Scarlet opened a gap to the Underworld, drawing in arge quantity of spiritual energy while refining it into simrly dense crystals. The method she was about to attempt could only be truly practiced by one who had almost total control of both spiritual energy and ki. Otherwise, the result would likely be an explosion capable of leveling a small city.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once Scarlet had the two crystals, she closed the gate to the Underworld and brought them closer together. The blood gem began squirming, seeming to liquify and wrap around the spiritual crystal. ¡°Be good now.¡± Scarlet said in an almost teasing tone, controlling the ki to not only wrap around the gem but also seep into it. At the same time, she controlled the spiritual energy to ¡®soften¡¯ in order to better allow the energies to merge.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The result was an extremely dense, squirming mass of energy within her hands, one which she had to focus in order to fully control. She could clearly feel a reaction within the energy, as if <i><span style="font-weight:400">something</i><span style="font-weight:400"> was trying to happen, but there was something missing. Although the answer astounded Scarlet¡­ she hadn¡¯t used enough ki.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a deafening st, Scarlet¡¯s face was covered in soot, her body left standing in a crater hundreds of meters wide. Her cheeks puffed up in a pout, lightly stomping her foot. ¡°Not enough ki? Well¡­ let¡¯s see how big your appetite is!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet raised one of her hands, another blood vortex appearing above her palm. This one did not merely stop at creating a small blood gem. Rather, it continued expanding, crazily drawing in the ki that Scarlet fed it. Her eyes were defiant, unwilling to ept that she couldn¡¯t achieve her goal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">From five hundred thousand, to one million, then two million¡­ Scarlet didn¡¯t stop until she had reached five million units of ki condensed into a thumb-sized jewel. She was certain that, aside from the Keeper, nobody would be able to mobilize ki on this scale without substantial help.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In fact, this was likely to be the first time ki had been refined at this level before. When she brought the item down to look at it, it was almost nebulous. The refined jewel was small, but gave off a spiraling pattern of red mist around it. ¡°I¡¯ll call you a blood neb.¡± Scarlet said in a proud tone, before forcing open another Underworld gate.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As the problemst time was insufficient ki, she did not increase the amount of spiritual energy any further than she had before. Once she had a condensed jewel worth half a million units of spiritual energy, she closed the gate. At this point, her brows were knit tightly together in focus, bringing the two objects together.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The previous experiment may have been simple to conduct, but this one took her entire concentration to maintain. Even as the Goddess of Ki, this was no small amount of energy that she was manipting.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once again, the blood neb swallowed the spirit crystal, gradually merging with it. ¡°Come on¡­ don¡¯t let it explode¡­ I don¡¯t want to have to exin to dad why I lost a <i><span style="font-weight:400"</i><span style="font-weight:400">.¡± Even if she felt like the experiment would fail, Scarlet was prepared to send the resulting explosion deep into space before it could go off, that way she could minimize the damage.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, such a thing proved unnecessary. As the energies merged together, Scarlet found that there was <i><span style="font-weight:400">more </i><span style="font-weight:400">than enough ki to sustain this fusion, a small smile spreading over her lips. Gradually, she let the excess ki leak out, keeping a tight control over the rest of the energy until she found what seemed to be a perfect bnce.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When that true bnce was achieved, the hazy red gem she held in her hands felt¡­ alive. Scarlet let loose a brightugh when she noticed that, holding the gem against her chest. ¡°I knew I could get this to work!¡± Now, all she needed to do was to solve thest step. Using this item as the core, she needed to give birth to a living spirit.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Though¡­ how was she supposed to do that? Scarlet looked down at the crystal again, her lips pursed in thought. It felt like there was something alive inside, just waiting to be released. If she destroyed the crystal, would she free whatever was inside, or would she kill it instead? Would it free itself after a period of time, or would it remain trapped until the proper catalyst appeared?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet could think of several methods to resolve the issue. For instance, maybe she needed to insert the crystal into the beating heart of a powerful creature. Maybe it required intense heat or cold. There were simply too many possibilities, and she didn¡¯t know where to start. There was even the chance that waiting too long might damage the object, as well!


    <span style="font-weight:400">As Scarlet was thinking this through, she heard a crisp crack, her eyes going wide in panic. Immediately, she flew away from the where she had conducted the test, afraid that the object in her hands was about to explode. Her body turned into a red streak of light that soon left the sr system, not stopping until she was far into the depths of space. Every crack caused her heart to shudder, her panic increasing by the moment.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once she stopped, she saw that the crystal had been riddled with fractures, and so she threw it with all of her might. Even if she would survive the st, there was no need to allow herself to suffer that damage.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, before the crystal had even gone ten meters from her body, itpletely shattered. Scarlet¡¯s eyes were wide in shock, braced for an explosion, but¡­ nothing happened. There was no cataclysmic st of energy, just the gentle drifting of red dust in the air¡­ and a notification window that appeared in front of her.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Congrattions! You have earned an achievement!


    <span style="font-weight:400">For creating a True Martial Spirit, you have been awarded the Ancestor of Blood achievement! Stamina +20, Ki Affinity +5%


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">True Martial Spirit? Where?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Scarlet blinked, looking around in confusion. She couldn¡¯t see anything that could be regarded as a spirit anywhere around her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A momentter, her eyes went wide in shock. There was nothing that she could see, but she could sense something with her domains of Blood and Ki. Ki itself had begun to subtly change.

 Chapter 920: Sword Heart

    Chapter 920: Sword Heart


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I was focusing on the finalization of the rules that governed the divine world I was created, I heard space shattering next to me. I turned my head, and saw a panicked Scarlet looking at me with wide eyes. Perhaps because she was the Goddess of Ki, but my energy felt slightly off when I noticed her panicked state.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Dad! I think I messed up big time!¡± Scarlet called out with wide eyes, her hands clenched into fists at her side.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Calm down, Scarlet. Your power¡¯s leaking out.¡± I tried tofort her, but she quickly shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s not my power, dad! I think I changed ki!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m sorry, what now?¡± I blinked in confusion, unable to process those words. Changed¡­ ki? Ki was a fundamental energy, as integral to the universe as the concept of a soul. How does one change ki?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet took a deep breath, and began to exin to me what had happened, how she had wanted to create a new form of martial spirit. In truth, I had considered doing the same in the past. The reason that I didn¡¯t was actually because of Scarlet herself. I didn¡¯t want her and her people to be pushed aside by some new and improved martial spirit.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, as her story came to a close, and she told me about the achievement that she had earned, my lips were pursed tightly in thought. <i><span style="font-weight:400">There is a ¡®True¡¯ Martial Spirit? Is that anything like the ¡®Complete¡¯ World Spirit? But why would the word change from ¡®Complete¡¯ to ¡®True¡¯?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I furrowed my brow, piecing together the information that I had ess to. Basic world spirits were considered iplete beings, because a plete¡¯ version would be able topletely control the natural energy within an entire universe. Such a being would be unkible, unless the world itself perished. They could be weakened, but ultimately they existed together with the world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At the same time, the weaker world spirits didn¡¯t have a modifier to their name. There were no ranks like there were with martial spirits, it was just the difference between an iplete being and apleted one.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now, applying this line of logic to martial spirits¡­ Lesser martial spirits like those Scarlet governs wouldn¡¯t be considered iplete beings, but an evolution of a concept. When I created the first batch of martial spirits, those with lower ranks were more simple forms of life, with only thest few having any form of intelligence, and rank ten entities like Scarlet having fully sentient minds from birth.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If this concept continued to evolve¡­ I nced up at Scarlet curiously. ¡°How much ki did you need for this spirit?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet gulped, thinking back. ¡°Four-point-seven million¡­ give or take a hundred thousand or so.¡± My brow twitched when I heard that number.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was over three hundred times the amount of ki used to create a rank ten spirit. A rank one spirit only used one thousand points of ki, so the difference in scaling should be rather clear. What Scarlet created should have been something along the lines of a rank thirty spirit. But, for some reason, the system referred to it as a ¡®true¡¯ martial spirit.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Let¡¯s go back to the Admin Room.¡± I told her, ncing off to the side. ¡°We should be able to see all the changes from there.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana hummed happily to herself as she walked into the living room of the Sky Citadel, having just ordered several new items to update the technological standard of their home. However, as she was moving along, she suddenly had to duck rapidly, a thin line drawn on the wall behind her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her eyes went fierce, conjuring a ck whip in her hand. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Who would dare to attack the citadel?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She wondered, her body flying towards the source of the attack, passing through solid walls and having to dodge past numerous des of energy that threatened to strike her the closer she came. Even in her incorporeal state, the energy gave her a dangerous sensation.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">At this rate, the citadel will be destroyed! What is Gerard doing!?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Dana cursed inwardly, before her eyes went wide as she came to a sudden halt. The source of the disturbance, and the countless des that sliced open the walls, was none other than Tsubaki.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The nine-tailed kitsune stood frozen in the hallway, her eyes unfocused. Her ki pulsated around her body, asionally sending out wisps of energy that transformed into transparent des. ¡°Tsuba--¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Shh!¡± Lifre suddenly appeared next to Dana, a hand covering thetter¡¯s mouth. Unlike Lifre¡¯s usual yfulness, her eyes were serious. ¡°Don¡¯t disturb her¡­ she¡¯s awakening something.¡±


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Awakening¡­ what?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Dana asked, sending her thoughts to the slime girl. Lifre seemed to have an idea of what was going on, so she could only rely on her for the moment.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Oh, cool, this works. If I¡¯m right¡­ she¡¯s awakening sword intent. Or, knowing her, it could be a dozen different types of weapon intent.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Weapon intent?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Dana arched her brow, confused.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Yeah! You read about it a lot in stories. Martial artists who be so adept with a type of weapon that their very being gets infused with the aspect of that weapon. A swordmaster whose gaze alone can cut down enemies, things like that.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana¡¯s eye twitched at Lifre¡¯s words. <i><span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s just a story, Lifre! If a swordsman wants to do something like that, they apply mana in a thin line and sh out with it! It¡¯s one of the founding principles of the Absurdity of Fate style!</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre¡¯s gave a knowing smile. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Why would a martial fighter, a ki master, use mana? I¡¯m not talking nonsense here, Dana. I almost awakened something simr just now. For me, I think it was going to be staff intent. But, halfway through it felt like I was missing something. I¡¯ll need to train more if I want to really awaken it. Tsubaki, though¡­ how many weapons has she mastered? Can you count them all?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">What do you mean you did the same?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Dana asked in confusion. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I haven¡¯t felt anything like that. Look, I¡¯m really good with my whip, right? Shouldn¡¯t I have some kind of whip intent or something?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre blinked, looking at the whip in Dana¡¯s hands. <i><span style="font-weight:400">You¡¯re not wrong, but¡­ are you really that good with it? No, I¡¯ve seen you use it, you¡¯re pretty badass with it. Maybe the problem is your ki? You were originally an Aeon, right? Your ki was something generated artificially.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana furrowed her brow, but gave a small nod. It was true that her ki was granted artificially, using a training method that she and Tsubaki came up with a long time ago. <i><span style="font-weight:400">If this isn¡¯t an isted event¡­ we have to consider two options. One, there is a void entity that has invaded the world, one that has rewritten thews of ki.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Or two, ki has simply evolved¡­ for everyone in the universe.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Lifre finished her thought in a grave tone. <i><span style="font-weight:400">The boss man didn¡¯t mention doing anything like this, right? This seems like a major change he¡¯d let us in on.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">This isn¡¯t him.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Dana was absolutely sure that the Keeper wasn¡¯t involved in this. After all, he was still setting up his divine world, and wouldn¡¯t have had the time or inclination to purchase a change to ki on this scale. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I have to go to my terminal. If this is a global event, reports should be pouring in. You stay and watch Tsuba!</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I can¡¯t.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Lifre shook her head. <i><span style="font-weight:400">We both need to go. Those des are dangerous, even for me. My wrist got cut off on my way over here, and I immediately lost contact with the energy that made up my hand.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana¡¯s eyes went wide when she heard Lifre¡¯s report. Even severing a wrist with a de was not a serious injury for a god. The wrist could just reattach, and only a small amount of divinity was lost. In order to inflict a true wound, you had to use something to either disperse or disconnect the energy making up that part of the body. <i><span style="font-weight:400">This could be worse than we thought, if everyone can awaken abilities to this degree.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre gave a nod, the two backing away from Tsubaki. It was better to allow her to finish awakening whatever power she was doing, and simply hope that there was enough of the Citadel left to salvage when she was done. As they were backing off, the des shifted, turning into blunt sts. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Oh cool, it¡¯s fist intent now!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Lifre groaned, having been suddenly embedded in a nearby wall. Thankfully, although this still did substantial damage to her, it wasn¡¯t immediately life-threatening.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So that¡¯s what it is.¡± I muttered, shaking my head as I sat on the couch in the Admin Room, Scarlet sitting nervously beside me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°S-Sorry, is it that bad?¡± She asked, stammering as she tried to look at the screen that had appeared in front of me. Unfortunately for her, it was something only I could see.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, it¡¯s not bad. You did a good thing.¡± I assured her gently, reaching over and patting her shoulder. ¡°Just¡­ maybe a bit of warning next time, before you go casually rewriting thews of the universe.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet¡¯s eyes went wide at that, her body going stiff. ¡°Rewrite¡­ what?¡± However, I simply gave a yful smile.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s nothing that major. For a while now, ki seems to have been missing something. It¡¯s why archers like Thelsa and martial experts are so rare at the high levels,pared to mages. Even high level monks dip into magic or natural energy for their advanced sses, so there aren¡¯t many that go pure monk all the way.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡­ found what was missing?¡± Scarlet asked hesitantly, and I nodded my head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s will. Ki is an incredibly powerful energy, but it can only follow set paths. As the physical energy that represents life itself, isn¡¯t that too limiting? Look.¡± I picked up the remote, turning on the television. ¡°This is Samira ck, one of alia¡¯s Huntresses.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">On the screen, we could see a woman standing in a field, having apparently just finished a hunt. For a moment, she seemed to have been dazed, dozens of lines drawing themselves in the air around her. When her gaze focused again, there seemed to be something¡­ different about her. She looked down at her bow, and then to a nearby tree.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a crisp sound, and a dozen holes were neatly drilled into the tree, though Samira never lifted the bow in her hand. I paused the image, and then slowly rewound it. This was just rewinding the yback, not actually interfering with the world¡¯s time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, as soon as the holes started to vanish from the tree, we could see transparent arrows flying through the air, tracing themselves back to Samira¡¯s body. In only a fraction of a second, her ki had unleashed a dozen attacks, taking the form that she mostmonly trained.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°But¡­ why is this the ¡®True¡¯ Martial Spirit?¡± Scarlet asked in confusion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ve been thinking about that ever since you told me about it. Honestly, you used way too much energy if you were going for a simple rank increase. What you created should be the ultimate form of a martial spirit. The final evolution of your race, where the spirit itself bes one with all the ki in the world. Just like how thepleted version of a world spirit bes one with all natural energy. In a way, your original martial spirit pacts can be seen as the prototype for this being. Likeparing a stone axe to an antimatter rifle.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The difference here is that natural energy is untamed, and nobody can im dominion over it. Ki, however, is different for every living being. Because of this, the spirit doesn¡¯t have a single, defined form. Instead, it should be the case that the spirit is subtly inhabiting everyone in its own way. For those that have mastered a weapon to such a degree that it is second nature, the spirit is able to take on the characteristics of that weapon,unching simr attacks through the user¡¯s ki.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So¡­ I didn¡¯t mess up?¡± Scarlet asked, and I could <i><span style="font-weight:400">feel</i><span style="font-weight:400"> the hope in her voice.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Shaking my head, I let out a lightugh. ¡°Not at all. Honestly¡­ I¡¯d like to ask if you can do it again for the different worlds. I would¡­ but I could at most make one spirit with my own ki reserves. This time, though¡­ let¡¯s make an announcement to prevent any idents.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">While reviewing the data I went over to determine the nature of the spirit, I saw many cases where people were attacked during their awakening. In most cases, this only led to the demise of the attacker, with the spirit controlling the user¡¯s ki to retaliate autonomously. However, there were some that hadn¡¯t mastered their fighting style to a high enough degree, the spirit being unable to properly defend against the opponent.

 Chapter 921: Awakening

    Chapter 921: Awakening


    <span style="font-weight:400">It took roughly twenty minutes before Tsubaki was able to awaken from her trance-like state. Once she had done so, she blinked, taking a moment to observe her surroundings. It was hard to tell what had just happened. From her perspective, she had simply been walking down the hall when a great force pressed down on her body and spirit. No¡­ not pressed down, it was more like the force erupted from her own body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now that it was over, she was able to tell that something had changed about her ki. With only a thought, she couldunch attacks as if she were wielding any weapon she had mastered. More importantly, it felt like she would be able to release far more of her power when wielding those weapons.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However¡­ her face went deathly pale when she saw her surroundings. The hallway that she had been walking through was nowpletely ruined. Every wall was shattered beyond repair, and she could see substantial damage done not only to the adjacent rooms, but rooms well beyond those. Just at a quick estimate, roughly ten percent of the Sky Citadel, if not more, had been destroyed by her ¡®momentary¡¯pse.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Oh no¡­ what did I do?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Tsubaki¡¯s eyes widened in panic, able to see several exposed pipes or wires. There was no doubt that several systems of the Citadel were now offline.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Paintings and suits of armor that had previously decorated the hall, which had hung there for hundreds of years, were now little more than scrap. Disregarding the increase to her power, the damage that she had caused would bankrupt smaller nations. And that was not even considering that the ce she had destroyed was the Keeper¡¯s own home.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Are you feeling better now?¡± A familiar voice spoke up from nearby, and Tsubaki spun around to see Dana standing there, looking at her with an awkward smile.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I-I can exin.¡± Tsubaki stammered out, though she really didn¡¯t have an exnation for why she suddenly entered that trance-like state.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, Dana shook her head. ¡°Don¡¯t.¡± She smiled slightly, looking up at the kitsune maid. ¡°The boss filled us in on the details while you were busy.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°T-The Keeper knows?¡± Tsubaki¡¯s face, somehow, went even paler when she realized that there was no chance to repair the damage done before the Keeper realized.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yup~!¡± Dana said with a nod. ¡°It¡¯s not your fault, don¡¯t worry. Actually, it seems like Scarlet was the cause of this little disaster.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That caused Tsubaki to pause, both because Dana had assured her that it wasn¡¯t her fault as well as the identity of the true perpetrator. ¡°How could Scarlet have caused me to enter a trance like that? Did she give me some strange blessing?¡± Tsubaki was sure that she¡¯d be able to sense any divine blessing before it struck her, even if it was one from someone in the greater pantheon. However, she had felt nothing before the sudden trance.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not¡­ quite.¡± Dana shook her head. ¡°Long story short, Scarlet made a new martial spirit that influenced the ki of every martial expert in the world. The boss wanted to wait until you were done with your ¡®awakening period¡¯ before having her do the same to other worlds. He also wanted me to ask¡­ how many different types of martial powers did you unlock?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki blinked slowly, before thinking. ¡°Well¡­ there were dagger, sword, bow, gun, fist, spear, axe, needle, chakram, and halberd powers. Those are the ones that gave the strongest impression.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana looked at Tsubaki in surprise. ¡°Ten types¡­ Lifre was right, no wonder it caused such a mess. Anyways, like I said, the boss wants to see you. Now that you¡¯re done, I¡¯ll be patching this ce up. No sense in doing a full repair right now, when we¡¯ll be moving out soon.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki hesitated, but gave a quick nod. That was certainly one way to look at it. ¡°Then, I¡¯ll be off.¡± She nodded, before turning and hurrying down the hall, doing her best to hide her face. Even if it was confirmed that the ident wasn¡¯t her fault, she couldn¡¯t help but feel responsible.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Only once she was far out of sight did Tsubaki allow herself to pause, taking deep breaths to focus herself. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I can¡¯t let myself appear before my Keeper in such a sorry state. Focus¡­</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Gradually, Tsubaki felt herself calming down before slowly making her way to the throne room. As usual, she could feel the Keeper¡¯s presence from that direction. Once inside, she knelt down at the base of the stairs, her head bowed. ¡°My Keeper, I was told that you wished to speak with me.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">She knew that the Keeper¡¯s eyes had been on her from the moment she entered the room, and she was prepared for any punishment he saw fit to give. Of course, with her understanding of her Keeper, she did not believe that he would punish her, no matter how deserving she may be.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Congrattions on your awakening. From what I know, you have achievedprehension of more martial wills than anyone in the world.¡± The Keeper praised, but Tsubaki shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You tter me, my Keeper. However, I am sure that you yourself would have obtained far more.¡± Tsubaki knew that her Keeper possessed all of the strongest powers of those in his world, so it was only right that he obtained all of these ¡®martial wills¡¯ himself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Actually¡­¡± The Keeper shook his head. ¡°I didn¡¯t obtain a single one.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s head jerked up in surprise, having a hard time believing that. She saw the Keeper give a helpless shrug. ¡°I¡¯ve never mastered a single weapon to the necessary degree. You should know better than anyone that I rely more on overwhelming force than practiced skill when ites to a fight. I can earnestly say that I have put more work into training my divine powers than I have any martial weapon.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s why I want to ask you a serious question. In your opinion, which do you think would serve me better?¡± The Keeper looked at Tsubaki questioningly, though this was not something easy for her to answer.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°My Keeper¡­ forgive me, but I haven¡¯t had the chance to understand the level of power these ¡®martial wills¡¯ as you call them possess. It¡¯s impossible for me to determine whether or not they would be more beneficial for you to train than your divine powers.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper nodded his head in understanding. ¡°I assumed as much. That¡¯s why I prepared something.¡± He waved his hand, and a golden pole emerged in the throne room, embedded in the ground. ¡°When I realized what was happening, and understood its implications, I created this in order to test the power of these martial wills. Please, demonstrate its power, for both of us.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although he had disguised it as a pole, Tsubaki gulped. She knew that this was essentiallyposed of the Keeper¡¯s divinity. If she destroyed this pole, it would be the same as attacking her Keeper. She bit her lip, uncertain what she should do. After a moment, she took a deep breath once again to steady herself, nodding her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This wasn¡¯t an offense to her Keeper. This was his request, and more importantly it could be a catalyst for his growth in the future. ¡°In that case, please forgive me in advance.¡± She said as she stood, turning to face the pole.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s eyes focused, and a swarm of invisible desshed out, converging on the pole that the Keeper had created. Within moments, dozens of scratch marks could be seen, causing the Keeper to look on in interest. ¡°How much ki did that attack use?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki reported with a faint nod, having expected this question. ¡°One thousand points in total. However, it also consumed some spiritual energy. Most of the energy was returned to me, but a portion was lost upon failing to break the target.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper smiled at her response. ¡°In that case, I want you to seriously attempt to break it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As soon as he gave that order, Tsubaki¡¯s hand straightened like a de, whipping out and cutting through the air. There was a crisp sound, and the pole snapped in half. The Keeper watched with interest, before asking once again. ¡°The consumption?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Five thousand points. Although a small amount of spiritual energy was lost, it was not as much as the first attack, due to sessfully cleaving through the target.¡± As she said that, she watched the upper half of the pole begin to dissolve. At first, she expected the energy to return to the Keeper, but instead saw it simply fade into the air.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°M-My Keeper, sir?¡± Tsubaki asked with wide eyes, looking back at the Keeper.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper simply nodded his head, a curious expression on his face. ¡°Lifre reported something simr. Your sword will carries the intention of severing its target. The energy severed by it loses contact with its original owner. That¡¯s¡­ quite the terrifying ability.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°My Keeper¡­ if I caused you a loss¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper let out a small chuckle. ¡°That pole was created with the divine energy of one thousand ck gold coins.¡± He revealed, Tsubaki¡¯s body going stiff from the number. Although more than half of the divinity could be reused, that was still a loss of hundreds of ck gold.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I-I¡¯m sorry, I will definitely repay you for the damage caused.¡± Tsubaki said, dropping again to one knee. However, the Keeper shook his head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If that¡¯s all it cost me for this test, I¡¯m happy. Now, I¡¯ll ask again. Given your newfound understanding of martial will, do you believe that it is more efficient for me to train with a weapon to unlock this power?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki hesitated, but still gave a decisive answer. ¡°If a swordmaster can cut through concentrated divinity with so little energy, I believe that this training is required for you, my Keeper. Otherwise, I do not have the confidence to say that I will be able to protect you in the future, should enemies with simr skills appear.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper nodded his head, stepping off of his throne and walking down to Tsubaki. ¡°In that case, I will be in your care once again.¡± He said in a soft tone, Tsubaki looking up and seeing the smile on his face. ¡°You trained me how to fight once before. Now, I believe that we can pick up where we left off.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°My Keeper, I lost the qualifications to train you, that is why we stopped¡­¡± Tsubaki was both ashamed to admit that she was unqualified, but also proud of the fact that the Keeper had grown strong enough for her to say that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Still, the Keeper chuckled. ¡°The fact that you awakened your martial will and I didn¡¯t shows that you are qualified. What I need now is not a generalbat lesson, but training in a specific weapon. For this, I can think of nobody more qualified to train me.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s eyes went wide, and she gave a bright smile at that. ¡°If I may be of service to you, my Keeper, then I shall do all in my power to live up to your expectations.¡± Although she had long left the ninjas, there were certain things taught to the Servants from the very start of their training. The Servants lived for their lords, and when necessary, died for them. If there was anything that a Servant could do to assist their lord, it was both their duty and honor to see it through. Despite having left behind many aspects of her old life, this was something that Tsubaki had always firmly held onto.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She never wanted to be a useless existence. She always trained herself harder than anyone else, all for the sole purpose of letting the Keeper rely on her. Now, it seemed that her training was going to pay off.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In that case, when would you like to begin?¡± The Keeper asked, Tsubaki thinking it over for a moment. Dana was still repairing the damage she caused previously, and Lifre was nowhere to be seen. Most likely, she had gone off on one of her adventures, or was holed up in her room writing. Though, knowing her, the two were not mutually exclusive.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I believe that we can begin immediately.¡± Tsubaki answered, standing upright.

 Chapter 922: The Trial Of The Keeper

    Chapter 922: The Trial Of The Keeper


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°How do you want to start, my Keeper?¡± Tsubaki asked, the two of us having moved to the isted world where they used to conduct their mana experiments. With those experiments no longer necessary, it made the perfect training ground for the two of us. Especially since the Sky Citadel had already proven unable to withstand the power of Tsubaki¡¯s ¡®martial will¡¯. Thankfully, I had already instructed Scarlet toe to this world to produce a true martial spirit.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, I had to think that over for a few moments, before shaking my head. ¡°When ites to actual weapons that I have used, I¡¯ve practiced with the chakram and sword, but most of mybat experience is unarmed, either through the use of ki or divine powers.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded her head slowly, already aware of this. ¡°Then, if you do not have a desire for a specific type of weapon mastery, I have two suggestions for you. You are free to choose either of them, or you may even choose both.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Go on.¡± I gestured, to which she nodded again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The first is rather simple, training your unarmed martial arts to the point where you develop this ¡®martial will¡¯. Since you have some foundation with unarmedbat, this won¡¯t be as difficult as trying to pick up a sword or spear.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The second suggestion would be to practice with firearms.¡± When I heard those words, my eyes went wide in shock. ¡°You are wondering why I am suggesting firearms, not that bow that Tubrock made for you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but nod my head. In truth, I hadn¡¯t gotten any significant chances to even use the bow yet, despite its great power. However, Tsubaki simply smiled. ¡°I have multiple reasons for suggesting a firearm over a bow. First of all, all archer abilities can be equally applied to both weapons.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I know that you did some archer training some time ago, my Keeper. This means that you already have the foundation for using archery techniques. Unfortunately, the method that you trained was unsuitable for developing a ¡®martial will¡¯, ording to my understanding.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Why¡¯s that?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Quite simply, from what I have understood, a martial will develops in response to the use of a weapon through ki, especially during dangerous situations. Ki was only one small part of your archery training, and you suffered no setbacks during your training that forced you to seriously consider a situation. Thus, I believe it would be just as easy for you to apply those techniques in firearm training with the end result being a martial will.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Additionally, firearms have a higher degree of uracy over a longer range. The drawback is that energy-based firearms consume far more energy than an equivalent bow, but your energy reserves should be able to more than bridge that gap.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">All in all, I couldn¡¯t refute anything that she was saying. Although it was a shame that I wouldn¡¯t be practicing with my fancy bow, I was not doing this so that I could look cool. This could easily turn into a matter of life and death. ¡°Alright, then I will try to handle both. What do you suggest we do to get started?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°First, we need to buy a firearm befitting your level.¡± Tsubaki said, reaching to click her synchronization bracelet. ¡°I will have my Virtual self handle that task while we get started on your unarmed training. When your weapon arrives, we will move on to abination of training the two.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Until then, I would like to impose a set of rules, if I may be so bold?¡± Seeing me gesture for her to continue, Tsubaki spoke further. ¡°You are permitted to use your Keeper reserves of energy to maintain your health, but not to increase your fighting ability. Additionally, I would prefer if you do not use the benefits of your skill system to acquire a high level unarmed ability. I would like to keep these rules in effect until you have mastered the corresponding martial will.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked, slowly nodding my head. ¡°I can understand the first, but why the second?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Quite simply, I am afraid that if you use another individual¡¯s skill, it will taint your learning process. You will not be learning as the Keeper, as yourself. Instead, you will just be imitating the abilities of others. While you will be able to obtain some insights from practicing their techniques, they will inevitably guide you down a different path than you would normally travel.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That makes sense.¡± I agreed, slowly stretching my arms. ¡°In that case, how do you want to train?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As I said, a martial will should be developed more easily in stressful situations. Because of that¡­ I will be attacking seriously. Although I will only be using my ki, and restrict this martial will, rest assured that you will genuinely suffer if you do not respond ordingly.¡± Tsubaki¡¯s voice was surprisingly calm as she talked about this. ¡°That is why I allowed you to use your Keeper powers to maintain your own life. Until you have mastered your martial will, I will be facing you as an enemy.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If you wish to change your mind about this training, now is the time, my Keeper.¡± Tsubaki said, taking a deep breath. I could see the normally stoic look in her eye change in an instant. It no longer gave the appearance of a dutiful servant, but rather a savage hunter. As if a switch had been flipped inside of her, simr to when she entered her trial of blood.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It took some effort to suppress the chill running down my spine. <i><span style="font-weight:400">She¡¯s doing this for my own good. Otherwise, Tsubaki would never choose to hurt me. However¡­ because it¡¯s for my own good, I have to consider that she won¡¯t hold back. Terra, if it looks like she isn¡¯t able to control herself enough, just pull me back to the Admin Room.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Given Tsubaki¡¯s words, there was no way that I could just calmly handle this like a normal training session. Tsubaki was an extremely proficientbatant. As soon as I told her I was ready, she was sure to charge at me with everything she had.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">This is incredibly reckless, Dale¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Terra spoke up, a trace of worry in her tone. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯ll be keeping a very close eye on the two of you.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">If it were possible, I would rather do this in a virtual space. However, martial wills were a new concept in the universe, and it was possible that training in a virtual space wouldn¡¯t count for that. More importantly¡­ I wouldn¡¯t feel the same sense of crisis.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I steadied my breath, looking straight ahead at Tsubaki. Her level nearly doubled my own, when we weren¡¯t taking into ount the Keeper buffs. Although these levels were spread out amongst a great many sses, the same could be said about myself. In this situation, I was undoubtedly the underdog.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m ready.¡± I said, and Tsubaki¡¯s body seemed to vanish. I vaguely sensed a surge of ki to my right, bringing my arm up to defend. However, the strike that hit me came from the left, Tsubaki¡¯s fist nting in my side.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a groan of pain, my body picked up off the ground andunched from the force of her strike. I couldn¡¯t tell how far she threw me, only that the wind was rushing against me for several seconds before Inded, a forest to my back. I forced my body to stabilize, eyes wide as I looked for Tsubaki. The kitsune was nowhere to be seen, though her voice echoed in my ears.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Until you havepleted your training, you may use any resource in this world. Whether it is the trees, or the ruins of our old factories. Even if you find a weapon on the ground, you are free to use it. Our battle will not be constant, but I will allow you no time to rx. I will be hunting you, my Keeper.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This is your Trial of Blood. If you persist until the end, I promise that it will be worth it.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯re training the Keeper to fight with guns?¡± Dana asked as she and Tsubaki sat in a Virtual market, opening up a window to browse different models. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen you train anyone else before, not seriously¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s Virtual self nodded her head, carefully studying each type of weapon. ¡°Due to recent developments, my Keeper and I have decided that it is necessary for him to master at least one style before enemies with simr skillse for him.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I suppose.¡± Dana nodded. ¡°Though, it will likely take a few months, at the very least. Lifre¡¯s trained with a sword for decades, but she failed to acquire the will or whatever.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">To Dana¡¯s surprise, Tsubaki shook her head. ¡°Seven days. I will bring out his martial will within seven days, presuming we can find a firearm capable of handling his maximum output.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°S-Seven?¡± Dana¡¯s eyes went wide in shock. ¡°Tsuba, even if the Keeper¡¯s good and abuses his natural benefits, seven days is¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It is enough.¡± Tsubaki spoke confidently, before furrowing her brow. ¡°Normal firearms for Maxers won¡¯t cover it. Bring up the market for Fragments of Acidia, I want to look at the various weapons catering to gods.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Are you sure?¡± Dana asked, bringing up the page Tsubaki had asked for. Although the gctic empires in Fragments of Acidia were mostly antagonistic towards one another, there were multiple mercantile agencies that operated regardless of such borders. ¡°What kind of training are you putting him through?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The Trial of Blood.¡± Tsubaki said in a calm tone, skimming through the firearms selection while Dana froze.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The¡­ you mean that hellish ritual you do whenever we get a new game, the ultra hardcore mode that has you constantly on the brink of death? <i><span style="font-weight:400">You</i><span style="font-weight:400"> are willing to subject the <i><span style="font-weight:400">Keeper</i><span style="font-weight:400"> to that?¡± Dana looked at Tsubaki like she couldn¡¯t believe what she had heard.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. I couldn¡¯t think of a more effective method. Personally, I think I gave him a ratherx set of rules, but this is his first trial. He¡¯s had too few serious conflicts in his life. If he wants to achieve a martial will, I have no choice but to get excessive.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°But¡­ what if he dies?¡± Dana asked, her voice low.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s answer was as confident as ever. ¡°I will not allow that to happen. I will not let a monster capable of taking advantage of his weakened state appear within one kilometer of him. The only true enemy he has to face in this trial is me.¡± As she said that, she clicked on a pistol model, looking it over. ¡°This has a nice upper limit¡­ if we get them to swap out a couple materials, it should be suitable as his weapon. It¡¯s just a matter of how quickly they can be made.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana wasn¡¯t surprised that Tsubaki was secretly protecting Dale during his trial, but more that she was <i><span style="font-weight:400">personally</i><span style="font-weight:400"> ying the role of his enemy. ¡°Aren¡¯t you¡­ afraid that he¡¯ll hate you after this, or that he¡¯ll be too traumatized to face you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s hand froze for the first time, and she gently bit her lip. Dana could see the flicker of hesitation across her face, before her gaze became resolved again. ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t believe that it wille to that. However, I have prepared myself. If the Keeper wishes me to leave his side after this, I will have noints.¡±


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">You¡¯re lying.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Dana thought to herself. Tsubaki would never forgive herself if she truly made the Keeper see her like that. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Do your best to hold on, boss¡­</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana could already imagine the situation the Keeper was in, having watched Tsubaki¡¯s progress through some of her trials in the past. There were not many cases in which one was in the position to pity the Keeper, but she truly felt that such a feeling was warranted. Dana even wanted to try to offer him some assistance, but knew that there was nothing that she could do without negatively influencing the trial.

 Chapter 923: Headhunting

    Chapter 923: Headhunting


    <span style="font-weight:400">Deep within the forest, I grit my teeth, grabbing onto my arm that had fallen off from Tsubaki¡¯sst surprise attack. She was being careful not to use her martial will, so I was able to safely reattach the arm, letting the energy fuse back into my torso. However, it was still shocking and painful to suddenly lose my arm like that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It has only been a few hours since the start of this trial, but I lost count of how many times she had attacked me. If I lowered my guard even for a moment, she came in and struck before I could react. I had my World Sight spread out in a around myself, but she was just too fast. By the time I was able to respond to her entering my World Sight, she was already upon me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The worst part was that I couldn¡¯t tell where she was watching me from. If I spread my energy out to search for her, I would briefly feel a reaction from her own World Sight, before that reaction suddenly vanished. It was hard to tell if she was leaving those traces as a decoy, or simply changing locations as soon as our energies felt one another.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Part of me was honestly tempted to tap into my divine abilities, or my Keeper stats. If I did so, I would at least be able to cope with her insane speed. Unfortunately, doing so would also go against the purpose of the test. In the worst scenario, if I increase my own power, she will start using more of her own to maintain the difficulty. If she were to mix her divine powers in with her martial will, I wasn¡¯t entirely sure I¡¯d be able to withstand that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I took a deep breath, calming myself while keeping my body tense and ready to respond. <i><span style="font-weight:400">She can attack from any angle, and won¡¯t allow for even a moment¡¯s pause. I have to keep moving, and keep alert.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">If I had a weapon, I might be able to put up more of a fight. At the very least, I¡¯d be able to extend my reach and give myself some more opportunities. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Wait¡­ when did she say that she was going to be doing this trial unarmed?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Cold sweat formed on my back as realization dawned on me. The moment I had my weapon, it was likely that Tsubaki would begin fighting me while armed with weapons herself. Although she wouldn¡¯t be using her martial will, her fighting prowess was not to be underestimated.


    <span style="font-weight:400">My World Sight picked up a reaction from my left, and so I immediately turned, my fist raised to greet her. There was a golden blur rushing towards me, hands curved into ws. Her eyes were fierce, and she moved at unpredictable angles. If she simply charged straight, I could use my ki to seal the space and slow her down, forcing her to respond. However, by the time I did so in this situation, she would have escaped the area of my power.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This left me no choice but to greet her as soon as she came into melee. There was no time to take a proper stance, so I simplyshed out with my fist, aiming straight for Tsubaki¡¯s head. I wasn¡¯t worried that my attack would seriously hurt her, as her basic stats were well above my own. At most, I wanted to force her to dodge, or even knock her back a step to give me some time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In the end, I let out a hiss of pain, watching her dart off to the side. My closed fist fell to the ground, severed at the wrist. <i><span style="font-weight:400">What can I learn from this? She¡¯s not trying to point out any mistakes or offer advice.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I thought that, I controlled my fist to fly back to my wrist, cautiously walking deeper into the forest. <i><span style="font-weight:400">How can I make the terrain more advantageous to myself? If I use the trees as cover, it will slow her approach unless she¡¯s willing to bulldoze through them. But, if she was going to do that, she wouldn¡¯t have thrown me towards the forest in the first ce.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was no telling how long Tsubaki wanted to make this trialst. Would it be until the next invasion? No, the next round would be after the Keeper Meeting. It¡¯s possible that she would ask me to go to a game with her where we could simte the training more realistically¡­ In those scenarios, it wouldn¡¯t end with only severed limbs.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As my foot moved back, I felt something click against my shoe. Too worried to take my eyes off the forest around me, I directed my World Sight to expand and cover the object. I hadn¡¯t noticed it before, but there was now a red gem by my foot. A¡­ Blood Heart gem?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Normally, I would be pleased to get such an item, as I could easily use it to restore my lost ki. However, seeing it here now made me even more concerned than before. Blood Heart hadn¡¯t even been purchased yet when this world wasst in use. Clearly, Tsubaki left this here specifically for me, which meant two things.


    <span style="font-weight:400">First, she was able to guide me wherever she wanted me to go, and leave things for me along the way, whether they were items like this or traps. Secondly¡­ she fully intended to push me to my limits. Leaving stones like this lying around would give me the chance to restore my ki, which only meant that I could fight longer without running out. And, given that she controlled the rate at which I discovered these gems, she would always know how much energy I had at my disposal.


    <hr>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">He¡¯s learning to be cautious.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Tsubaki thought to herself, hiding in a tree over a kilometer away from the Keeper. She wrapped her World Sight in an area fifty meters around herself, prepared to move if his energy swept in this direction. Her eyes burned with ki, piercing through the forest to watch him.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">This training isn¡¯t just about being cautious¡­ It¡¯s a good first step, though. He¡¯s starting to respond to my ambushes. His instincts¡­ they¡¯re not bad, but they¡¯re slow. Let¡¯s go in with fists this time.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Tsubaki nodded her head slightly as she thought about that, watching the Keeper like a hunter.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The branch she was sitting on trembled slightly as she vanished, her figure darting through the trees. Tsubaki was well aware at this point how far the Keeper was spreading his World Sight, and could easily slip to the edge of his awareness without being noticed. Until she reached that point, her figure was almost ethereal, passing between trees like a ghost.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Only when she reached the edge of his field did her body begin to glow with ki, rushing forward. Under the watch of World Sight, she couldn¡¯t use the Way of Hidden Truths to deceive his eyes. However, what she could do was imbue just a bit of chakra into her feet, her figure flickering ahead just as he was turning to face her. His eyes showed surprise at her sudden advance, but her fists flew out to meet him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Two punches to his shoulders, three to his waist, and one to his chest. In total, sheunched six rapid blows, causing him to stagger back. The strikes to his shoulders dyed his ability to bring his arms up, but she purposely slowed down enough for him to do so before her second round.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There were no words between the two, as the sh would be over before their words were spoken. In a sh, Tsubaki rushed to his back, aiming a fist for his spine. The Keeper¡¯s upper body turned at thest moment, taking the punch with his arm instead. Surprise shed in Tsubaki¡¯s eyes briefly, before her figureunched up into the air, kicking off numerous branches above and leaving the Keeper behind.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I thought you were only using your ki?¡± The Keeper¡¯s voice rang out, Tsubakiing to rest at the same branch where she had been watching from earlier.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You began using World Sight, so I must take other methods to increase the effectiveness of the hunt.¡± Tsubaki spoke back, letting ki flow through her voice to echo it from various points in the forest. ¡°If you can see meing, then I simply need to make your perception unreliable.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper grunted at that, using the Blood Heart stone that she had left him. At the same time, she was reviewing their most recent sh in her mind. <i><span style="font-weight:400">He responded well to the attack. Did he enhance his body beyond the limits of the rules? No, there wasn¡¯t a spike in his presence. He¡¯s just getting faster.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">A satisfied smile appeared on Tsubaki¡¯s face for a brief moment, before her gaze went serious once again. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Lady Terra, I need your counsel.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">What is it?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> There was clear irritation in Terra¡¯s voice, but Tsubaki already knew the cause. She was hurting the Keeper, who Terra was protective of. If not for this being something the Keeper himself had agreed to, there was no way that Terra would be this willing to talk.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper has never faced a true life-threatening situation of the scale we need here. At the same time, his perceived flow of time should have only made it a few short years since he achieved divinity. I need to know how far I can push his body before it bes a problem. If I cut off his head, will the system recognize him as dead?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> This was something that Tsubaki wanted to avoid at all costs, even if it was for a fraction of a moment.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Y-You¡­ if you don¡¯t use your martial will, no.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> It took Terra a moment to calm down after hearing Tsubaki¡¯s response. <i><span style="font-weight:400">You¡¯re right, from his perspective he hasn¡¯t been a god very long. The shock of having his head cut off or his heart destroyed are still primal fears. Are you really willing to push him that far, though? He might activate his full power as a reflex.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki shook her head. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I trust my Keeper. If he activates his power, it will only be as a defensive measure, not tosh out. I trust that he has enough faith in myself and you not to use that power against me. But that is why I have to do this. If I want him to awaken a martial will soon, I need to convince him that this trial is truly dangerous on a primitive level. I need him to fight me as if his life were at stake, until he adapts to that sensation.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Once his mind is familiar with the concept of ¡®fear¡¯ and ¡®death¡¯, he¡¯ll be able to analyze his own movements. ¡®What can I do to prepare myself?¡¯, or ¡®If she attacks like this again, how can I stop her?¡¯ These are thoughts I need to put in his mind. Although he is performing these actions now, they are elementary at best. If he were an experienced fighter, he would be able tounch his attacks from any stance, always ready to unleash his full power.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">From what I understand, martial will is not about learning a thousand different techniques with a weapon. In order to obtain martial will, what you need is to be so focused on your weapon that you awaken its potential.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a long pause after Tsubaki finished, before Terra let out a sigh. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Don¡¯t go for his eyes. If he sees the attack and believes strongly enough that he has died, his divinity will respond and it may very well kill him. You can sever his legs, his neck, or even shatter his chest, but don¡¯t go for his eyes.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">A thankful smile appeared on Tsubaki¡¯s lips. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I will keep that in mind, Lady Terra. </i><span style="font-weight:400">After she said that, her eyes sharpened. In the distance, she could see the Keeper¡¯s shoulders rx, and see how the ki in that area was no longer as sharp as before.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">In that case, I shall put that to the test.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She thought, her body fading away from the branch.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a sigh of relief after going over the damage from Tsubaki¡¯sst ambush. She had only struck me with her fists, and hadn¡¯t done so with the intention of throwing me back. Instead, it seemed like she was trying to disable my movements. Thankfully, I noticed at thest moment that she had appeared behind me, and turned in time to respond.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As that sigh left me, my body tensed up again. Tsubaki¡¯s form had once more entered my World Sight, rushing towards me faster than ever before. I had barely let my guard down for a moment, and she was already directly in front of me. Her hand this time wasn¡¯t a w, or a fist, but rather a straight palm, almost like a de.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I tried to bring my guard up, but she was already upon me. When I expected her to cut off my arm again, her hand swept horizontally. Cutting me off at the waist? No¡­ my eyes widened in horror as I realized that her attack was too high for that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">My head tilted back, catching a glimpse of the sky before tumbling back, and seeing my body standing before Tsubaki. Her eyes were as fierce as ever as she watched my fallen head, spinning and kicking my body over towards me. Had she¡­ no, I wasn¡¯t dying, right? Was I?


    <span style="font-weight:400">No, if I was, there was enough time for Terra to pull me out, wasn¡¯t there? I felt myself freezing up for several long seconds, during which time Tsubaki would have normally already fled back into the forest. Instead, she watched me. Only when my arm began to move again did she retreat back.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The sight of my headless body haunted me, together with that piercing stare. Tsubaki was serious about this trial¡­

 Chapter 924: Clear Intentions

    Chapter 924: Clear Intentions


    <span style="font-weight:400">Has it been six hours now? Eight? It was hard to tell, I hadn¡¯t been able to keep track of time. If not for the sun having only just set, I would have thought I had been at this for days already. My hands were kept constantly clenched into fists at my side as I surveyed my surroundings warily.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After decapitating me, every strike Tsubaki delivered seemed to aim for lethal injuries. At least, lethal if I were still a mortal. One time, she ripped open my chest, or crushed my back. My head has gone flying dozens of times already, to the point where I have grown numb to the sight of my headless body falling in front of me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯ve even had to start taking back some of the divinity that I was using to make up the new divine world, thanks to all the damage I¡¯ve taken. Needless to say, I was <i><span style="font-weight:400">not</i><span style="font-weight:400"> looking forward to what Tsubaki had nned for her night-time ambushes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If there was one good thing that came from all of these ambushes, it was that I had started to get used to the sudden fighting. I didn¡¯t have to focus on taking a stance anymore. Rather, I was able tosh out with at least basic attacks even from an almost rxed position. Not that she ever let me fully rx¡­


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I was thinking about that, I felt her rushing in again at the edge of my World Sight. My eyes narrowed, and I spun to face her, already throwing out a ki-infused fist. I could see that she had something in her hands, but I couldn¡¯t let myself be distracted by that. All that mattered was hitting her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing that I was punching early, it seemed like Tsubaki wasn¡¯t going to use her ninja footwork to appear right in front of me. Instead, she charged over like she had done at the start of the trial, moving in a jagged pattern. At this rate, there was no way that my fist would connect with her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Despite that, I was determined. All I had to do was hit her once, and I felt like everything would have been worth it. As soon as my punch seemed to have reached the end of my reach, Tsubaki took advantage of the time when I would be off bnce to rush over.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Got you.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I thought to myself, my lips crooking up into a small smile. Just as her hands wereshing out and severing my legs, a phantom fist of ki appeared, punching forward. I could see Tsubaki¡¯s eyes widening slightly in surprise, quickly rushing backwards.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although it looked like she had dodged the strike, I could still feel that my ki had connected. <i><span style="font-weight:400">A dyed punch like that won¡¯t work a second time. She¡¯ll be making sure to avoid running along any path I¡¯ve punched. But still, I managed tond a blow on Tsubaki.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Even as my body fell, and I had to reattach the now-severed legs, I felt like I had made at least a little progress in these few hours. Though, by the time I managed to pull myself back to my feet, I saw a pair of pistolsying on the ground. Their bodies were ck with gold highlights, and the weight of the pistols was enough to cause them to sink slightly into the hard ground.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">They already got my guns? Were they working that fast, or has my sense of time gone awry?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I asked myself internally, reaching to grab the pistols. As soon as I picked them up, I could feel a reaction from my ki, as if these were specifically made to focus ki, with their grips perfectly sized for my hands.


    <hr>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">He¡¯s learning faster than I thought.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Tsubaki thought to herself as she watched from a distant tree. She brought one hand down to her abdomen, where she could remember the feeling of being struck. The wound was far from a fatal one, and it wouldn¡¯t even inconvenience her in a fight, but this was the first time that he hadnded a counter blow.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Is it really that good? I mean, that was little more than a light p to you, and he had to overexert his ki to make that punch. If this were a real fight, he¡¯d be dead.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Keliope protested. After she began to step up the intensity of the trial, some of the others from the Greater Pantheon began watching the event.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although they said that they just found it interesting, Tsubaki was well aware that they were watching as an insurance policy. If she started to go too far, all of them were ready to descend and protect the Keeper. To be honest, she was thankful for that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She was too new to her martial wills, and sometimes had trouble suppressing it. In between her ambushes against the Keeper, she would lightly practice her new abilities in the forest, learning how to activate it and deactivate it at will. Although she had identally infused her martial will through her fist in one of their encounters, it seemed like the Keeper hadn¡¯t noticed. Thankfully, her fist did not carry as absurd of a property as her sword will.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">You¡¯re wrong, Lady Keliope. What he did was the correct judgment. If this were a real battle, he would have had no hope of survival with his present abilities. Choosing to risk everything for a blow, even if it wasn¡¯t a decisive one, is the best that he could hope for. I could even feel a small trace of will in that punch.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Martial will, already?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Keliope asked in surprise. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Does that mean he¡¯s almost done with his training?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Not even close.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> alia responded. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯ve been looking into the subject. Martial will can be divided into two categories. We¡¯ve been using the terms ¡®will¡¯ and ¡®intent¡¯ interchangeably, but it would be better to clearly differentiate them. The first stage is ¡®martial will¡¯, and the second is ¡®martial intent¡¯.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Uhm¡­ what¡¯s the difference?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Keliope asked in confusion, clearly having not studied as deeply into the matter as alia.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Martial Will is the basic ability to harness the will that exists within ki. Tsubaki¡¯s fists can be said to be at this stage. With martial will, you can exert your full strength at a reduced cost of ki, purely with your willpower. Right now, Dale¡¯s only touched the threshold of that.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">On the other hand, martial intent is a far more terrifying ability that delves much deeper into the spiritual aspect of martial will. Here, you hone your will towards a specific concept, which that will begins to embody. This is the level her sword is at. The ¡®intent¡¯ of Tsubaki¡¯s sword is to sever, and so it carries the property of severing anything she cuts.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">It took a moment for Keliope to process those words, and even Tsubaki found them enlightening. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Then.. should I extend the trial tost until he has developed an intent?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She asked tentatively, the observing deities answering unanimously.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Absolutely not!</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">After Tsubaki winced from their shouted reply, Terra spoke up in a firm tone. <i><span style="font-weight:400">The hard part is unlocking martial will. Once he has that, he¡¯ll be on the path to train his intent. That training can be handled more conservatively. This method of training is good for awakening a martial will, forcing him to focus everything intobat, but he won¡¯t be able to properly awaken an intent without time to think.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I-I see, my apologies. </i><span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded her head. Now that alia had defined the differences between a martial intent and a martial will, she could clearly think about her different abilities, and ssify them ordingly. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It seems like my best weapons are swords, guns, and needles.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She thought to herself. After her experimentation, those wills carried the ¡®intent¡¯ of severing, homing, and piercing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, that made Tsubaki furrow her brow. ording to her original n, she would begin using a gun now that the Keeper had his pistols. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Lady alia, could I trouble you for a bow? I don¡¯t want to risk firing a gun in my current state.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Tsubaki naturally had her own bow, but¡­ she had left it back at the Sky Citadel due to nning to fight with her rifle instead.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s probably for the best.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> alia responded with a nod, and a longbow soon appeared in Tsubaki¡¯s hands. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Are you going to fight right away, though? Like Keliope said, he had to use a lot of ki in thatst punch.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯s fine.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Tsubaki answered calmly, standing up on the branch of the tree. An orange string manifested along the bow, which she began pulling back. <i><span style="font-weight:400">He should have two more blood heart gems right now. As long as he uses those, he can fully recover his ki. Lady Scarlet, I¡¯ll have to trouble you again. Please convert the third arrow I fire into a ki gem where itnds.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now that they were incorporating ranged attacks into their battle, it was harder to direct him where she wanted him to go to ensure that he found the gems she had scattered around. Tsubaki took a deep breath, a wispy arrow appearing nocked on the bowstring.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While I was testing the weights of the pistols, and making sure that I¡¯d be able to urately wield them, I felt a chill down my spine. Without hesitation, I jumped to the side. Immediately afterwards, it felt as if a line had been pierced through my World Sight, an orange streak flying through where my chest was just a moment ago.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">¡°</i><span style="font-weight:400">Already?!¡± I asked in rm, having expected her to give me at least a moment to adapt to having new weapons. Gritting my teeth, I reached into my pocket to absorb the blood heart gems that she had left me before, allowing them to replenish my ki.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I was doing so, two more lines shot out, one piercing through my right shoulder and the other my left knee, severing both. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Oh no¡­ my adventuring career¡­</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a grunt, I stumbled back, falling down to the ground while firing a quick shot in the direction the arrows hade from. It was <i><span style="font-weight:400">highly</i><span style="font-weight:400"> unlikely for me to hit, but I wanted to at least have her conscious of the chance that I might hit if I shot enough.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After firing, I focused on reattaching the two missing limbs, and then felt something hard against my back. It didn¡¯t feel like a root, but rather a sharp stone. Looking back, I found a condensed ki gem. <i><span style="font-weight:400">That was definitely not there a second ago¡­</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I pursed my lips, pocketing the gem and pulling myself to my feet. My eyes were focused in the direction that the arrows hade from, enhanced with my own ki. I could see a gently shaking branch off in the distance, over two kilometers away from my current position. On the trees around it were various marks that looked likebat, but I knew that our battle hadn¡¯t extended in that direction.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Is that where she¡¯s been watching me from?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Since this was a ranged battle now, Tsubaki would need to stay mobile to prevent me from locking onto her position. Sadly, my Scout levels weren¡¯t high enough for my minimap to extend that far, unless I dipped into my Keeper levels. If I did that, it would be easy for me to find her, but also vite the rules of the trial.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keeping my ki in my eyes, I slowly began to turn, looking for any distant paths, any evidence of movement. I saw something shifting in a bush roughly a kilometer away, and lifted my pistol to quickly fire a shot. My aim was¡­ okay, so I haven¡¯t had a lot of training with pistols. Even if it was Tsubaki, my shot didn¡¯tnd within a dozen meters of the bush.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately, that wasn¡¯t even her, and I saw a small beast rush out of the bush in terror after my shotnded. <i><span style="font-weight:400">How can I increase my uracy?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I muttered internally, continuing my slow scan of the area. While these guns were specialized to handle ki, they also rejected other energies. So, I couldn¡¯t do something like use a spell to attach an external sensory object to the gun to act as a scope.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Would I need to control my ki after it¡¯s fired to help it hit the target? That was easier said than done¡­ though all things considered, probably the easiest part of this whole trial.

 Chapter 925: Bullet Hell

    Chapter 925: Bullet Hell


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Four days¡­ right?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I muttered to myself as I stood in the middle of a clearing, taking a deep breath. It had been four days since the start of this hellish trial. Every day, I ¡®died¡¯ hundreds of times, each injury more intense than thest. Gradually, these injuries began to lose the same severity I saw them with in the past. I wouldn¡¯t blink at my head being cut off, focusing on controlling my body tounch an immediate counter.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Over thest few hours, I had started to feel something. It was hard to tell what it meant, or how it worked. However, every now and then, whenever Tsubaki attacked, my ki would begin to react before I thought about it. Was it just instinct kicking in, or was this what we were aiming for?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Regardless of the cause, Tsubaki never gave me time to think it through. The moment I started to consider it, an arrow woulde flying in and take out half of my torso, or Tsubaki would appear behind me and rip off my legs. Even now, I couldn¡¯t focus on this strange phenomena, which might be no more than simple mental exhaustion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As my thoughts reached that point, I felt a shadow rushing through my World Sight. Even though Tsubaki couldn¡¯tpletely mask her presence from this energy, she has begun learning how to read its fluctuations to evade my perception of her within it more urately. My mind immediately focused, lifting the pistols in my hands.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Without assistance, my uracy with these guns was absolutely garbage. Like I had initially expected, I needed to be able to control my ki after it left the barrel of the gun in order to guide it to hit the target. This took me a day and a half toplete under Tsubaki¡¯s constant ambushes, during which time my mind was fully focused on wielding the two pistols. Now, as I lifted them, it felt like my ki was already stirring.


    <hr>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Good, he¡¯s getting faster again.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Tsubaki smiled to herself as she held her spear, rushing towards the Keeper. He had already begun lifting his guns, and she could see his ki mobilizing. However, a momentter, danger signals went off in her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s eyes twitched wider, and she immediately activated her chakra footwork to vanish, appearing hundreds of meters away. There was a hole in her right arm, from which a small trace of golden gas seemed to be escaping. Over in the clearing, the Keeper had frozen, his pistols raised into a firing position.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki, get out of there, now!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> alia shouted in her mind, bringing even more rm to the kitsune. <i><span style="font-weight:400">He¡¯s starting hisprehension!</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">If that¡¯s the case, then I can¡¯t leave. I have to remain to defend against anything that would interrupt him.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Tsubaki answered in a firm tone, immediately switching to her rifle and retreating over a dozen kilometers. Having been through the awakening process herself, she knew that she couldn¡¯t let anything interrupt him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, as the ki began to swirl around the Keeper¡¯s body in a storm, leaving shallow holes in the ground around him, alia¡¯s voice spoke out again. <i><span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s exactly why you have to leave! You don¡¯t understand, it takes a conscious effort to suppress his Keeper powers! If he goes into a trance like this, all of that will be released. He¡¯ll have over thirty times his previous maximum ki, and he is currently considering you as a threat!</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">As alia said that, Tsubaki could feel that same ki rushing towards her, causing her eyes to widen slightly. This wasn¡¯t the Keeper¡¯s full power attack, but just a residual wisp of his thought. Still, she had to mobilize her own sword intent to destroy the iing sts. Each one was norger than a finger, but packed enough energy to pierce through a mountain.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki bit her lip faintly, looking at the hole that had previously been pierced through her arm. That was the first true use of martial will from the Keeper. Naturally, she was proud that he had exceeded her expectations, though that also wasn¡¯t really true at the same time. She had given him a week to learn two types of martial will, and he spent half of that time to fully understand one. It could be said that the trial was only halfplete.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Is it enough to stop here? Now that he can personally feel his martial will, he should be able to more efficiently train for the other, right?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She asked,rgely to herself, but also for alia to hear.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I don¡¯t know. He showed a small trace of it before, so maybe. But, he hasn¡¯t used his fists to fight for a while now. I don¡¯t think you can continue this trial, at the very least. His martial will would re up if he felt danger, and he won¡¯t be able to train his fists like that anymore.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Tsubaki pursed her lips as she thought about that. It was already difficult to control her level with the rules ced on him so far. One wrong move, and she would use too much power and put him in serious danger. If she also had to worry about a ¡®gun will¡¯ at the same time.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I understand. However, I will continue to maintain position. If anything approaches that could threaten him in this state, it would be toote to interfere.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Saying so, Tsubaki nced over her surroundings. If it was as alia said, and he was going to have over thirty times his maximum capacity, then she needed to move further away.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Eventually, she settled on a mountain over one hundred kilometers away from the Keeper¡¯s location. If he genuinely tried to hit her from that location, it would still be possible, but the odds of a stray shotnding on her was approaching the realm of impossibility.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After arriving at the peak of the mountain, she immediately turned and set up a sniper posture. Her bodyid t on the ground, tailsying behind her. She looked through the scope of her rifle, using its divine augment to urately see the Keeper even with the obstacles in the way.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It appeared as if he was standing within a storm of bullets, swirling around him in a growing mass. The first time she looked, she felt one of the bullets flying towards her, and had to move a few meters to the right before itnded. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯s reacting to the sensation of being watched, and urately pinpointed me at this distance?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Tsubaki was genuinely surprised that the Keeper¡¯s newly born martial will was that potent, but still observed him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This time, she cleared her mind, closing off her thoughts and sealing her own presence. This was a technique that wasmonly taught in the ninja ns, even back when she was being trained. By using this technique, it was hard for others to notice your presence, unless they were specifically looking for you.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was actually an advanced version of this technique that she had developed which allowed her to obscure her presence even in the midst of World Sight. Although this was certainly not a perfected form, it made it harder for the user to detect her. And with this technique, she was able to hide from being discovered by the Keeper¡¯s instinctive new power.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Each bullet possesses roughly ten points of ki. These aren¡¯t like the one that hit me earlier. Even if this struck, it would at most knock me back or create a small wound. However, the number of them¡­ I would almost certainly die if I appeared in front of the Keeper right now. </i><span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki was d that the Keeper hadn¡¯t unlocked any kind of intent for his ki yet, or it might be able to deal serious damage even at this distance.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Lady alia, has anyone else unlocked a new will after their introduction? How long does the initial awakening tend tost?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">It took a moment for alia to respond, clearly having to look up the details herself. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet has been to Lorek and Spica to create their martial spirits. So far, six people havepleted their awakening since then. Generally, it took between ten minutes and half an hour, depending on the quantity of their ki.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I see. In that case, I should expect this tost roughly eight hours.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Tsubaki nodded her head, watching as the storm of bullets becamerger andrger. After a certain point, those bullets began to form a cycle. Some of them were flying around, circling through the clearing and piercing the trees. Others flew back into his body harmlessly, restoring his own ki.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s gaze swept from side to side, looking for any potential threats. Due to their four day trial in the forest, there were no longer anymon beasts left to disturb him. Thankfully, that meant that there wouldn¡¯t be any issues for the foreseeable future.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, Tsubaki refused to rx her guard. Whether it was the risk of something happening to the Keeper, or the risk that the Keeper¡¯s own ki targeting her, she couldn¡¯t afford to rx any more than the Keeper had been able to rx when she was targeting him. And so, she kept a silent vigil atop the mountain, her rifle slowly sweeping over the area.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It wasn¡¯t until three hours into the awakening that she sensed an abnormality, arge presence descending from above. When she looked up, she saw the body of a massive serpent flying down from the sky, its red eyes focused on the Keeper¡¯s location.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s eyes went wide, lifting up her rifle to start attacking. However, the moment she did, she realized that a single attack from her would trigger the storm of bullets around the Keeper to fly at the mountain. His ki had instinctively locked onto her signature, and was tracking her like a hound waiting to pounce.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I should protect the Keeper¡­ but if the Keeper realizes that he hurt me, he won¡¯t forgive himself. </i><span style="font-weight:400">She bit her lip for a moment, before thinking about something. She took a deep breath, and her body flickered off the mountaintop. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Let¡¯s see just how much the Keeper was on guard against me¡­</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s figure appeared in midair, directly between the body of the descending serpent and the Keeper. Already, she was turning, a yellow tform created against her feet. The serpent¡¯s eyes fixated on her, and its mouth opened wide.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Lingering lie¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She muttered internally, her presence soaring as she stood to face the serpent. Visibly, her arms stretched out as if to wee it, but she had already left the scene, leaving behind a chakra projection of herself through the Way of Hidden Truths.


    <span style="font-weight:400">By the time she had returned to the mountain, less than half a second had passed since the appearance of the serpent. Yet, already the storm of ki bullets had taken action. The yellow-orange bullets rushed upwards like a swarm, shooting hundreds of thousands of holes through the projection of Tsubaki and straight into the mouth of the giant serpent.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Let¡¯s see if you think the Keeper is still a good meal after that appetizer.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Tsubaki thought to herself, d that her gambit had paid off. Because she released her presence for only a moment, the Keeper¡¯s will had locked onto that location, and was doing everything it could to destroy it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As the first bullet hit the serpent¡¯s mouth, it began closing its jaws. There was a trace of hesitation in its red eyes, before its body was drowned out by the flood of ki bullets. In only a second, it had been shot back out of the atmosphere, letting out a pained cry that split across the sky.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">That should have consumed arge portion of the Keeper¡¯s ki¡­ it should be safe for me to take action if it returns now.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She thought to herself, setting her rifle up once again. However, there was nothing to fear from that monster, as it had beenunched back and wounded by the previous storm. Clearly, it wasn¡¯t the type to seek revenge for an injury, but would run away if its meal became too difficult to eat.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she watched over the Keeper from her distant perch, she began thinking of how she could finish the training that she had promised to give him. Now that they couldn¡¯t finish this trial, it would likely take longer for him to acquire a proper fist will, but having his first intent was considered a minor sess.

 Chapter 926: Olympus Has Risen

    Chapter 926: Olympus Has Risen


    <span style="font-weight:400">When my consciousness returned, I blinked, shaking my head rapidly. Remembering what I had just been doing, I lifted my twin pistols to quickly look over the area. As I did, I couldn¡¯t help but hesitate. The ground, the trees, everything around me was riddled with so many holes that I was happy I didn¡¯t suffer from trypophobia. Still, I couldn¡¯t help but shudder at the idea that I had done this unconsciously.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Is Tsubaki alright?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I thought to myself, scanning the area again. It was hard to tell how long I had been in that state, so I couldn¡¯t determine if anything had happened to Tsubaki, who had been charging at me at the time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I closed my eyes, carefully feeling my divinity. Thankfully, I could still sense Tsubaki¡¯s presence, causing me to let out a sigh of relief. Of course, when the girl herself suddenly appeared at the edge of the clearing, calling out in a soft tone. ¡°My Keeper--¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My body reacted on instinct, holding up the twin pistols. Even before I consciously thought about attacking, a dozen translucent bullets were firing at her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki simply smiled, as if she had expected that. She closed her eyes, as if she wasn¡¯t going to resist, and I realized that something was wrong. Using the training I had acquired over this trial, I caused the bullets to fly off to the side, crashing into the tree. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you dodging?¡± I asked in confusion, causing Tsubaki to open her eyes again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Because the trial is over.¡± She said in a simple tone, folding her hands in herp. Looking at her, she didn¡¯t seem to have the predatory gaze that I had be so ustomed to, or the aura of a vicious hunter.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, I had only trained in one form of martial will¡­ ¡°This isn¡¯t some tactic to get me to lower my guard so that you can cut off my arms?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki shook her head, that same smile on her head. ¡°No, my Keeper.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...You¡¯re not going to suddenly rip off my arms or anything, right?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask, slowly lowering the two pistols.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, my Keeper.¡± She said again, seeming almost amused. At least, until a thought urred to her, and she lowered her head. ¡°My apologies for the trouble that I have caused you thesest few days. If there is any punishment you wish to give me, I will of course ept it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I simply stared at Tsubaki for several long moments. ¡°Are you sure?¡± I asked. I could see her eyes shake slightly, but she nodded her head. ¡°Alright,e here.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki looked at me in concern, but walked over to me as I had told her. She closed her eyes, clearly ready for me to ost her. However, I had a different punishment in mind. I brought my hands up, and grabbed her kitsune ears, pinching and lightly rubbing at the tips.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s body froze, her eyes going wide in rm. ¡°M-M-My Keeper!¡± She called out suddenly, and it was clear how sensitive her ears were. Still, I continued petting them to my heart¡¯s content.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ahh¡­ this is much better.¡± I said with a smile, enjoying her reaction. Seeing her like this was able to help me melt away the image of the fierce hunter that had been pursuing me day and night, pushing me to the brink of insanity. Also, there was always something cathartic about petting a pair of fluffy ears.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I kept petting her like that for a good five minutes, Tsubaki trembling as I did so. Still, she seemed to recognize this as her ¡®punishment¡¯, so she didn¡¯t try to pull away. That, or she didn¡¯t want to, and was enjoying being pet like this. Either way, I enjoyed a good five minutes of healing to calm my mind.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I finally released her ears, she let out a deep breath, looking up at me with a trembling gaze. ¡°I-Is that all, my Keeper?¡± She asked, as if concerned I had more in mind for her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I simply offered her a refreshed smile, nodding my head. In truth, there was still a lingering part of me that caused a hand to twitch towards one of my pistols whenever I thought back to the trial. That was something that would take some time to fully get over.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, what are we doing for my unarmed martial will?¡± I asked curiously, as Tsubaki was still my trainer as far as I was concerned. Given that she had dered that the trial was over, I assumed that she had something else in mind next.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki blinked, taking a deep breath to help herself calm down. ¡°Next, it will be mostly training on your own. Now that you have just unlocked your gun will, we can¡¯t safely continue the trial in this manner. I will need you to reflect on your own, think about the concentration that you gave to your pistols, and apply them to your fists while training.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod at that, as it made sense. ¡°I guess there¡¯s not really any way around that, huh? Though, my gun will feels a lot weaker than what you showed me at the citadel.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki simply shook her head. ¡°As alia exined to me, that is the difference between a ¡®will¡¯ and an ¡®intent¡¯. I would suggest asking her for the details yourself, and perhaps Lady Keliope as well. There has likely been more discovered in this field since I wasst informed.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is that so?¡± I asked in surprise. I honestly thought that the two of them were the same. I didn¡¯t expect that what I had just unlocked after that trial was only the entry level form of that new power. ¡°I¡¯ll have to do that, thanks. Though, we should probably be heading back now¡­¡± I gave another look around the hole-ridden clearing in what had once been a great forest.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Before that.¡± Tsubaki held up a hand. ¡°Lord Tubrock contacted me roughly an hour ago, and informed me that he has something that he wishes to show you. If my guess is correct, I believe it has to do with the new home he said that he would be building. He asked us to meet him at your divine world when you had finished your awakening.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°My divine world?¡± I blinked, before my eyes went wide. I had almost used up all of the divinity that I had stored in that divine world simply healing my injuries over the course of this trial. I focused on transmitting more of my energy back to it, now that I was no longer needing to worry about repairing major wounds.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki simply nodded her head, tearing open a void portal to allow us to leave this world. After passing through, I arrived in the coldndscape of the divine world that I had established. Looking around, I couldn¡¯t help but notice that there had been some changes in my absence. ¡°Has Dana installed an atmosphere generator or something?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Only for the immediate area.¡± The kitsune maid exined, looking at the wide field before us. ¡°She said that this looked like the perfect spot to build a home, so she wanted to create a self-contained system to suffice until she were able to create something morerge-scale.¡± After saying that, she pointed to a small beam of energy just near the horizon, ascending up towards the sky.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There ye are,d!¡± A booming voice startled me, and I abruptly turned to see Tubrock appearing in a burst of golden light. ¡°Thought ye might have gotten lost or somethin¡¯!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sorry, I was a bit busy.¡± I answered in a bitter tone, scratching the back of my head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Aye, aye, I know all about yer little trainin¡¯ session.¡± Tubrock shook his head, dragging a hand through his beard. ¡°Thankfully, gave me enough time to add the finishin¡¯ touches to yer new ce.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You actually managed toplete it already?¡± I knew the trial seemed like it would never end, but it was only less than a week since he told us he would make this, right?


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Aye! I had been workin¡¯ on this for a while now, it was just a matter of gettin¡¯ the rest of the appliances up to date with the times. Ye wanna see it or not?!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course.¡± I nodded my head quickly, and he reached into his pocket, pulling out a small, metallic model. ¡°Tubrock¡­ thest time you had something like this, it turned into a. That isn¡¯t going to turn into a, will it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Course not!¡± He denied loudly. ¡°Why would ye need an entire when ye¡¯ve just made one!?¡± After he said that, he turned, assuming a pitching stance and threw the model far into the distance.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This may not be a, but I made sure it¡¯d have what ye needed to properly operate all yer business. And it¡¯spletely modr, so if ye ever need to recruit another member for the Citadel, I can just make another section.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As he exined, there was a deep rumble that filled the air, a shadow falling over us. After Tubrock turned to face me, a massive structure rose into the sky, and then another. This wasn¡¯t a house¡­ this was a <i><span style="font-weight:400">city</i><span style="font-weight:400">. ¡°Tsubaki¡­ is the field big enough?¡± I asked in a quiet tone, though Tsubaki looked like she wasn¡¯t able to properly answer.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, Tubrock seemed to have heard me. ¡°What¡¯re ye yappin¡¯ for? Of course the ce has its own atmosphere cycler! Whether ye wanted to use it on Earth or as a spaceship, I had to make sure it was fit for anythin¡¯! And when I heard ye were gonna be makin¡¯ a just for this, I fine tuned the system. Now,e on.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As he said that, he turned, and began walking towards the metallic city that had sprouted. The nearest gate was less than a hundred meters from where Tubrock stood. Upon entering, I found that the gate really seemed more like an elevator than anything else. ¡°Central hall!¡± Tubrock shouted, and a blue sh of light surrounded us.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Immediately afterwards, a door opened in the elevator, arge room appearing beyond it. Just as with the Sky Citadel, there was a throne atop arge set of stairs. However, it was not just one throne this time. Rather, there were fourteen. Most likely, it was one for myself and every member of the Greater Pantheon.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of the fourteen thrones, four were at the highest level, the other ten positioned off in two rows at the sides. ¡°This¡¯ll be yer throne room from now on. Ye can do major broadcasts from here, or leave yer host here whenever ye gotta go back to the Admin Room.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying that, he stepped into the elevator again, prompting myself and Tsubaki to quickly enter. ¡°Tsubaki¡¯s Pce!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s eyes went wide in shock at the name of the next destination, another teleport quickly sending us off. When we arrived and the door opened, there was a long hallway filled with old paintings. ¡°Every member of the Citadel has a pce customized for their tastes. For thess here, I gave her ten different training rooms with different styles, a weapon forge, office, and so on.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There¡¯s also a living area, where ye can all do yer gaming, rx, or ess the library. If there¡¯s anythin¡¯ any of ye want and can¡¯t find, I set up an AI to help navigate the facility. As I said before, I can add in more pces whenever ye add anyone else to the Citadel staff. Though, this ain¡¯t the Sky Citadel anymore.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay¡­¡± I let out a long breath, bracing myself. ¡°In that case, what would you call this?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Olympus. This ain¡¯t just the home of the Keeper. This is the home of all the greatest beings, the members of yer Greater Pantheon, as well. I don¡¯t expect many of ¡®em to use it often, but when they do, this is their home.¡±


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Olympus?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I nced at Tubrock when he revealed that name. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Does that make this Mytikas? No¡­ I am definitely not naming it that, I¡¯d never be able to remember the name properly myself. Still, a home for all the Greater Pantheon, outside of the Admin Room? Not to mention everyone has a pce¡­ I guess that exins why the ce is sorge.</i>

 Chapter 927: Housewarming

    Chapter 927: Housewarming


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Tubrock made a new home for us in Dale¡¯s ce?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Aurivy couldn¡¯t help but think to herself, having been keeping an eye on the results of Dale¡¯s training. She was the Goddess of Travel, so if anyone was going to need emergency transport, she would have to be ready. However, she waspletely unfamiliar with the city-like structure that Tubrock had built. <i><span style="font-weight:400">That guy¡¯s getting better at hiding his projects¡­ I¡¯ll need to sneak into his workshopter to see what else he¡¯s been up to.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">A small smile formed on Aurivy¡¯s lips, before Julia¡¯s words pulled her back to reality. ¡°Is everything going well?¡± The elf asked, taking the time to tend to her apple trees. During the fifteen years that they had spent in the Admin Room, her trees had been left alone, so there was an abundance of fruit to gather.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia had been taking her time thesest few days to gather the fruits, process them, and arrange the golden juice. After spending so long, the divinity within the oldest fruits was even more pure. Just the raw value of the divine energy itself would be worth several ck gold coins, not to mention the supporting effect of stimting divinity.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hm? Oh! Dale just got his new home from Tubrock, and it turns out that there¡¯s a ce for the rest of us to live in it, too.¡± Aurivy answered, not feeling the need to hide anything from Julia. Even if Julia hadn¡¯t been brought to the Admin Room, Aurivy would tell her practically everything.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia blinked, thinking about that. She pursed her lips lightly, looking at the orchard before her. ¡°Would we be able to take these trees with us?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy shook her head. ¡°I could transport them with my divinity, but the soil in that world isn¡¯t the same as Sanctum¡¯s. At most, you¡¯d be able to get lower-grade golden apples by tapping into the Keeper¡¯s divinity. The various special properties within Sanctum can¡¯t be so easily reproduced.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia gave a small nod as she heard that. ¡°In that case, would it be alright if we stayed here? If you want to go live in the ce made by Tubrock, of course I underst--¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Nuh uh!¡± Aurivy shook her head firmly. ¡°We already have our home here. What¡¯s a house made by Tubrockpared to a house made by you? A few extra modern gadgets? We¡¯ll just buy them and install them ourselves. That ce can just be our vacation home whenever we want to have a change of scenery.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia smiled softly, reaching out to ruffle Aurivy¡¯s hair. ¡°Alright. We¡¯ll stay here then. Have you gotten caught up in Fragments of Acidia, yet?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy let out a deep groan. ¡°All of the quest chains I was working on expired, so I¡¯ve basically had to start over as far as social standing is concerned. It might be easier for the two of us to just move to a different empire.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona let out a satisfied sigh as she walked back to her office, her eyes like upturned crescents. Unlike Aurivy, Udona was seriously considering the matter of moving to Olympus. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯ll be more convenient for Aznod to cook for everyone if we¡¯re all gathered in one ce. As for me, would it really matter whether I rule Deckan from the pce of Ashtanu or from a pce created for the Greater Pantheon?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Well, there will likely be some nobles that try to vie for a greater position, saying that the ruler of Deckan should live on Deckan. They won¡¯t try to take over the, but will certainly want to get a bit more autonomy. I¡¯ll just deal with those as theye.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona couldn¡¯t help but giggle softly, bringing a hand up to her mouth. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki will even be able to learn up close from Aznod, so I¡¯m sure that she¡¯ll appreciate that. And I can bring the shadow servants Dana gave me to take care of our pce in Olympus.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">At this point, Udona had already made up her mind. All that was left was to make the necessary arrangements. For instance, setting up a system to transfer any of her daily business to the new pce, or notifying all of the local lords. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯ll leave the pce behind as a symbol, but the gates will stay closed and guarded. Don¡¯t want anyone getting any funny ideas.</i>


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">After giving us a brief introduction of Olympus, Tubrock left to go back to the Admin Room. I asked Tsubaki to go and control the Citadel to begin moving over to the new divine world, where I nned to park it in the sky above Olympus. While she was getting that ready, I began exploring on my own.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Keeper¡¯s Pce.¡± I called out to the elevator, another sh teleporting me across the city. Once the elevator door opened, I thought for a moment. ¡°Did Tubrock give you a name?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course, sir.¡± A voice spoke back to me from within the elevator. ¡°All of the AI controlling the core functions of Olympus were given names by Tubrock. As for me, I am known as Hermes. My duty is to guide individuals through Olympus.¡±


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Hermes, huh?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> ¡°I see¡­ would you mind telling me about the other AI as I walk?¡± I asked, turning and moving down the hall. Unsurprisingly, his voice was fully capable of following me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That would not be a problem at all. Let¡¯s see¡­ it is the duty of Poseidon to regte the atmosphere, and Zeus is in charge of the city¡¯s defensive facilities. Hades manages your treasury. If you require the city to enter flight mode, Apollo is equipped to act as the pilot.¡±


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Tubrock¡­ you really went wild with the Greek theme, didn¡¯t you? Please don¡¯t tell me that there¡¯s an Aphrodite or anything like that¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400">I shook my head to rid myself of those thoughts, turning and looking into the first room I saw after entering the elevator. Unsurprisingly, it was a study, though one with a great many books lining the walls. Out of curiosity, I entered the study and looked at the different books.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Each book contained a different technique or style that I had practiced in the past, or those that I had shown an interest in. There were also history books, as well as copies of the more popr books written by Lifre. ¡°Go on.¡± I encouraged Hermes after I noticed he fell silent.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yes, my apologies. Athena is in charge of managing the library. Demeter and Artemis share the task of managing food supplies, with Demeter providing for grown products from the greenhouses and Artemis connecting with the Boundless Caravan to acquire any animal products.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That certainly got my attention. ¡°Artemis can connect to the Boundless Caravan?¡± I asked in surprise, ncing back towards the door of the study.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right, sir. Tubrock established a Boundless Caravan shrine in the management section of the facility, and Artemis has been epted as a priestess of both Leowynn and Ryone, granting her ess. Finally, there is Hephaestus, who is in charge of maintaining the Void Core that powers the city.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod at that. <i><span style="font-weight:400">So there is no Aphrodite, or Hestia, or even an Ares. It looks like he didn¡¯t go out of his way to fill out the Greek pantheon, and just named the AI as their roles fit the theme. Still, I¡¯m surprised Hermes wouldn¡¯t be the one in charge of trade. Maybe he only wanted each AI to have one specialized job, in order to prevent over-reliance on any particr entity? None of them possess a job that couldn¡¯t be managed with a single skilled worker.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, Tubrock set up void power for the city?¡± I asked after listening to the final statement from Hermes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. In order to properly power a city of this scale, arge Void Core was implemented. As long as it is properly maintained, the Void Core should be sufficient to provide energy for Olympus until the distant future.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head again, putting away the book I was looking at and leaving the study. There was still far more to see. If Zeus was the name of the AI in charge of defense, it was reasonable to assume that the city¡¯s defensive facilities primarily relied on energy weapons, simr to the ¡®thunderbolt¡¯.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I was moving down the hall, Hermes suddenly spoke up again. ¡°Sir, there are guests waiting for you in the living area.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Guests?¡± I blinked in surprise, turning to move back to the elevator. ¡°Take me there.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After I said that, there was another sh of light, and the elevator opened out to a ratherrge seating area. There were several couches and chairs gathered around a few tables, each with its own spherical terminal set into the table, the equivalent of a television.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sitting in the couches were a few familiar faces. First, the Terra twins were happily chatting with one another. Secondly, I could see Alena, who had ascended to receive her full divine status. Despite this, she maintained her identity as Alena as opposed to taking Irena¡¯s name.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Finally, two elves sat on another couch, clearly Ryone and Leowynn, together with the very recognisable Scarlet. ¡°You all got here rather fast.¡± I said with a small chuckle, stepping inside.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hey, it¡¯s him!¡± One of the Terra¡¯s called out, looking over. ¡°The big girl said we should stop by. We¡¯re not here long, though. We¡¯ve got our own ce, so she just wanted us to pay a visit. Something she called¡­ housewarming? Yeah, that was it!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The other Terra nodded her head. ¡°That¡¯s right. If you need our help in the future, be sure to call us, sir. We¡¯ve been practicing with our prophecy, so we should be able to help guide you if you encounter a problem.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After I gave a nod towards them, the next to speak was Alena. ¡°As for myself¡­ Lady Irena asked me toe and live here. It is rare for her to make such a request, but I owe far too much to deny it, especially when it would be such a good thing for me as well. I hope that my presence will not be a problem for you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course not, Alena.¡± I shook my head. ¡°Are you still able to carry out your work from here?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Alena gave a simple nod. ¡°I am currently an Archbishop of Irena¡¯s church, managing a military branch of the church specialized in dealing with spiritual threats. I can easily take care of the new Wraiths from this location.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a nod, I turned to look at the final group, Scarlet being the first to speak. ¡°You only recently invited me to live with you, dad. Now that you have a new home, I have toe along as well, right?¡± She asked with a sweet smile. ¡°As soon as you started creating this world, I made my preparations. Any incidents with Bloodhaven will be immediately forwarded to the city¡¯s system¡­ ah, sorry, to Hermes.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Can¡¯t count us out, either.¡± Ryone grinned, leaning over against Leowynn. ¡°We don¡¯t manage any bigpanies or anything, so it¡¯spletely fine for the two of us to stay here. Besides, Tubrock set up such an interesting magic workshop for me in my pce here, so I¡¯m looking forward to seriously starting up my research again. I should be able to crack the nature of fifth tier magic long before Gerard reaches it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Somehow¡­ I didn¡¯t doubt that. She had been studying magic longer than anyone else in the world. If anyone could find the intricacies of the fifth tier, it would be Ryone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Do you know if anyone else ising?¡± I asked, looking around. There were quite a few more already than I expected, but somehow, that just made me happy. This ce was simply toorge, after all. Even with this many, it would be easy to go days without seeing anyone if we didn¡¯t go to themon areas.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Udona¡¯s starting to get ready, so I expect she¡¯ll bring her new hubby here.¡± Ryone smirked yfully. ¡°As for the rest¡­ Tubrock set up a grand forge in his own pce, so I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if he spends some time here. I haven¡¯t heard anything from alia, Ashley, or Keliope, either. Thest ones¡­ not sure about Aurivy, but I think that Bihena will probably make her way here. This city is the kind of thing she likes, after all, and her incarnation hasn¡¯t been up to muchtely.¡±

 Chapter 928: Repetition

    Chapter 928: Repetition


    <span style="font-weight:400">I took a few minutes to help get everyone settled in, exploring their various pces with them. Tubrock had really gone out of his way to make sure that anyone who wanted to stay could have anything that they needed to feelfortable. Ryone¡¯s magic workshop had a self-contained space tens of kilometers wide for her to practice her spells. Scarlet¡¯s pce held what I could only imagine was a pool of liquified ki essence, causing Scarlet¡¯s eyes to widen in surprise.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once I was done helping them get settled in, I went back to my own pce, having Hermes guide me to the training room with the greatest durability. Although my trial was over, my training was not.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The room that I was led to was hundreds of meters in every direction, with smooth ck walls and overhanging lights. I couldn¡¯t help but look at the walls, internally questioning if they were really strong enough for me to train. If this weren¡¯t a personal creation of Tubrock, it¡¯s unlikely I¡¯d be willing to train this close to where the others were staying.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hermes, is there anything to stop my power from leaking out and disturbing the others?¡± I asked aloud. However, to my surprise, it was not the male voice of Hermes that answered, but a gentler, female tone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hermes isn¡¯t in control of the training rooms. But, to answer your question, Keeper, there is. Would you like me to activate it now?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked at the new voice, furrowing my brow. I had to go over the list of AI that Hermes had previously mentioned. None of them seemed to be in charge of the training areas, from what he had said. Instead, I just had to use my own guesses regarding how Tubrock had set this up. ¡°Athena?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That is correct, sir.¡± The AI voice confirmed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hermes said that you were only in charge of the library, though?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">In response to my question, there was a long sigh from Athena. ¡°To be more urate, I am in charge of centers for study. This includes the library, training halls, and offices. If you need any of the settings adjusted for your training hall, please let me know.¡±


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡­ guess that makes sense. Athena was the Goddess of both Wisdom and Battle Strategy. Unless Tubrock made an Ares, Athena would be the best one to handle training. </i><span style="font-weight:400">¡°In that case, please introduce the various settings to me, so I know what my choices are.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course. The room you are in now is the highest grade training room avable. The space inside can be expanded by up to one thousand times, and time can be slowed by up to ten times. There are simtion systems installed to allow me to summon various Aeons in order to provide realbat training. Alternatively, I can create stationary targets for you to practice with.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As I said before, you may also close off the training facility to prevent any outside energy leakage. Finally, I can ess any known technique database and create holographic simtions to assist in your practice, or rey previous activities to let you review.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I simply nodded my head as I listened to the various options. ¡°In that case, please close off the training room.¡± I wasn¡¯t here to practice any technique that had been properly cataloged for training purposes yet, and just wanted to try to master my ¡®fist will¡¯. In truth, I could likely take this time to work on my gun intent as well, but I wanted to take this one step at a time. ¡°If the space is expanded, will that affect the durability of the room?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It will not.¡± Athena responded calmly. ¡°The alloy lining the walls of the room is a product of Tubrock¡¯s divine power. Although he was unable to fully recreate its indestructible nature, the ck alloy is modeled after the ck stone found natively on Fyor. He said that, unless you were intentionally aiming to destroy the room, it would be difficult to damage it identally.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes opened wide when I heard that. The ck stone of Fyor was absolutely indestructible, a guarantee provided by the system itself. Otherwise, the monsters of the highest floors would simply be able to break through and destroy the lower levels.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Rather than saying it was indestructible, it was almost more urate to consider everyyer an isted world of its own. If he had managed to incorporate even a part of its power in this ck alloy, then this training room would be more than enough for me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I took a basic train stance, infusing my fists with ki and punching into the air. One punch, and another, my mind focusing on my fists. I thought back to how I had created my gun will, and what all contributed to that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The guns that Tsubaki gave me weren¡¯t ones where I simply loaded my ki and boom, bullet. There were multiple little aspects that I had learned throughout my training. When I infused my ki into the pistol, it went along three different paths.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The first path was to create the body of the bullet itself, making a framework for the bullet and filling it with however much ki I provided for this section. The second path revolved around the inside of the barrel, increasing the bullet¡¯s rotational force to aid in pration. Finally, there was the ignition to drive the bullet.


    <span style="font-weight:400">My gun will didn¡¯t manifest until I had gotten so used to controlling these three aspects that they became an instinctive reaction. Until my body, my ki knew what I had to do before I consciously processed it. Naturally, I couldn¡¯t directly apply the same method to my fists, but it gave me a foundation.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">What goes into a punch?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Strictly speaking, I didn¡¯t technically have muscles. My entire body being made of energy meant that conventional biology no longer applied. Even so, I had the <i><span style="font-weight:400">appearance</i><span style="font-weight:400"> of having muscles. This was because my mind naturally defaulted to a familiar form. If I clenched my fist, the ¡®muscles¡¯ on my arm tensed ordingly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">But did that count as contributing to the punch itself, when those muscles weren¡¯t strictly real? Even as all of this went through my mind, I never stopped punching, maintaining an even flow of ki in my fists. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Think¡­ remember that feeling.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Obviously, different types of martial will would have their own peculiarities, even if one had not unlocked their intent. A sword simply does not function the same as a bow. Every part of a weapon had its own meaning. Only by fullyprehending a weapon on an instinctive level could you produce the corresponding will.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Some might think that doing this with their own body would be the easiest, but that was far from the truth. You could afford to sh swords with another warrior, but would you be so willing to meet that sword with your fist? Martial artists that fought unarmed had to be wary of a number of different factors at all times. Unless their basic abilities were too far above the opponent, they couldn¡¯t wholly devote themselves to their ¡®weapon¡¯.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The fingers, the bones, individual ki paths, everything in the hand made the punch what it was. That was my weapon. My physical stats were far above anyone else in the world, due to my very nature as a Keeper. If others weren¡¯t willing to meet a de with their fist, I would take it head-on.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I closed my eyes, focusing as I repeated this motion. In my mind, I imagined Tsubaki charging at me again, her eyes fierce. Her gaze chilled me to the bone, and provoked an instinctive reaction. I could feel my ki wanting tosh out, wanting to fire off a bullet. However, I had to hold it in. Pour that focus into my fist. Shatter the shadow left in my heart.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki paced within the corridor of the Sky Citadel, biting her lower lip. The high-speed movement formation of the citadel had been damaged during her own awakening, and Dana hadn¡¯t been able to repair it yet. This was one of the most delicate formations of the entire citadel, so once one part of it broke, the entire thing copsed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, the basic flight mechanic was still operational, or the citadel would have long since fallen into the sea. ¡°Can¡¯t we just use arge-scale teleportation spell to move the citadel, and worry about repairing it slowlyter?¡± Tsubaki asked, for what had to be the fifth time that morning. It had already been two days since the Keeper gave her this task, but she didn¡¯t know how much longer it would take.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°For the Nth time, no.¡± Dana said, carefully inscribing part of the spell diagram on a smooth brick. ¡°We¡¯re almost done, just have a little patience. If we try to use a basic teleportation spell, it would conflict with the citadel¡¯s shields. Nothing would happen if the power came from the outside, but if the spell wasunched from the inside when the citadel was in this state, it could rip itself apart trying to resolve the conflict.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s why we can¡¯t have Aurivy do it either, before you ask <i><span style="font-weight:400">that</i><span style="font-weight:400"> again. Her shrine was pulverized in your awakening, so she is currently registered as an external force by the shield¡¯s logic pattern. You¡¯ve waited this long, just give us a few more minutes.¡± She said, carefully sliding the brick into ce before covering the seams between it and its neighbors with natural energy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This was thest part of the formation itself. Now, we just need to power it up for a test run, and let it build enough of a charge to get us there.¡± Dana had a self-satisfied smile as she said that. ¡°Gerard, you can activate the mana pathway, now!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Understood, Dana.¡± Gerard¡¯s voice spoke out from the empty air, and the pattern that Dana had just carved seemed to glow a faint blue.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki watched the pattern impatiently, clearly wanting toplete this assignment as soon as she could. In the back of her mind, she considered herself to be in a very delicate situation. She had spent days practically torturing the Keeper, and she knew that she would have left some form of trauma for him. If she failed toplete the tasks he gave her now, she was afraid that the image he had of her would worsen further.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">No, I have to do everything even better than before. I need to wipe away that trauma diligently, so that he can rely on me again in the future.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Tsubaki nodded to herself firmly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After a few minutes, the light on the spell diagram had be a solid blue, before vanishing together with the diagram itself. Tsubaki suppressed her anxiety, knowing that this was a part of the enchantment. In order to make it less visible, the enchantment buried itself in the material with which it was carved, leaving a smooth surface while establishing a solid mana pathway within. ¡°Did it work?¡± She asked nervously, look at Dana.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It worked, Tsuba.¡± The little elf replied with a small grin. ¡°Now, let¡¯s go see this new home of ours before I start worrying about what kind of trauma <i><span style="font-weight:400">you</i><span style="font-weight:400"> have.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although she said those words in jest, Dana was seriously concerned for Tsubaki. She had been forced to mortally wound the very person she had sworn to protect on a constant basis. For someone like her, who valued her loyalty to her lord above all else, it must have torn her apart inside every time she injured the Keeper.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Gerard, input the coordinates. Let¡¯s see what this ¡®Olympus¡¯ has to offer.¡± Dana called out, already standing and walking towards the door. On the way past, she grabbed Tsubaki¡¯s hand, causing the kitsune to jolt ever so slightly before being pulled along.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Understood.¡± Gerard¡¯s reply was simple, already starting up the formation that would carry the citadel to the Keeper¡¯s new divine world.

 Chapter 929: Unique Paths

    Chapter 929: Unique Paths


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki quickly made her way with Dana out to the courtyard of the Sky Citadel. Thankfully, the damage to the exterior of the building did not appear as intense, allowing it to maintain a <i><span style="font-weight:400">mostly</i><span style="font-weight:400"> pristine image. When they emerged, they saw the massiveplex on the ground below, causing Dana¡¯s eyes to twitch. ¡°I know you said he made it big, but¡­ I always had this image that it was just bigger on the inside, or something. Not¡­ this.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded her head in agreement. ¡°I think it is also bigger on the inside, if that is any constion. At least in certain areas.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana let out a long sigh. ¡°If I had known that he was doing something like this, I would have ced the building site in the ocean. Still, it looks interesting. With a bit ofndscaping, I think we can get this area to mesh rather well with the architecture.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki simply nodded again, waiting for the Citadel to finish aligning itself with the centermost spire. Once it had done that, and fully stabilized its position, her body turned into a streak of light, rushing down and into the nearest ¡®gate¡¯. ¡°Please take me to my Keeper.¡± She spoke in the calmest tone that she could manage.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The Keeper is training at the moment.¡± The electronic voice of Hermes informed her. ¡°Would you like me to send you to the observation room?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There¡¯s an observation room?¡± Tsubaki blinked in surprise, before nodding her head. ¡°In that case, then please do so. I can deliver my report once he is finished with his training.¡±


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, it seems like he is still concerned with his training.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Tsubaki thought to herself in a satisfied tone. This meant that he was seriously considering her advice, and also that he had likely been too busy to notice that she hadn¡¯t been able toplete her previous assignment very quickly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana¡¯s figure entered the passage just as the blue light shed, catching her by surprise. ¡°We just teleported.¡± She muttered, clearly able to feel the shift in space. ¡°Did he really set up teleportation tforms all over the city?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki gave a small smile at that question. She didn¡¯t know the extent of the teleportationwork, but knew that there was at least one ¡®elevator¡¯ in every pce. Once the door opened again, there was a blue line lighting up on the ground, leading them to a room several doors down.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Inside the room, Tsubaki could see the lycan goddess alia watching a projection, alongside the ursa Keliope. The projection itself disyed none other than the Keeper. However, he didn¡¯t seem to be doing any special training. Rather, he was simply repeating the same punch into the air. If there was anything significant about this training, it was purely the speed of his punch, which Tsubaki estimated at roughly two punches per second with a very steady rhythm.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°How long has he been doing this?¡± She couldn¡¯t help but ask, causing alia to look over. It seemed that she hadn¡¯t noticed their approach.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°From what I heard, he spent a few minutes helping some of the others get settled, and then he came right here. He hasn¡¯t stopped once, yet. Just the same punch, and with the same pace.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nced at the projection when she heard that. There didn¡¯t seem to be any differences in the Keeper¡¯s punches, as if the video were simply on a loop. ¡°Is he trying to master the essence of his fist in this manner?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keliope gave a small grin, nodding her head. ¡°Sounds about right. Though, I don¡¯t think he¡¯s going to be able to get it as fast as he unlocked his gun will. There¡¯s a huge difference in mindset when youpare fighting with a ranged weapon versus meleebat. And that gap only gets wider when you consider unarmedbat. Honestly, I would have chosen wires as his second style, not fists. He¡¯s spent so much time training the Thousand Arms, Ten Thousand Threads that he knows how to manipte a thread as if it were his own body.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki blinked at that, having not even considered that option. ¡°How many martial wills have you mastered, Lady Keliope?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I lost count.¡± She answered with a shrug. ¡°I didn¡¯t go through the same awakening process as you guys. With me, and I think the rest of thepanions, as well, we just felt it awaken within us. I probably wouldn¡¯t have even known what it was that had awakened if alia here hadn¡¯t taken such an interest. I know I have a few that should be at the ¡®intent¡¯ stage she mentioned before.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki offered a small nod, thinking that that made sense. Keliope was famous for her martial prowess. Even if she didn¡¯t understand the new concept that was ¡®martial will¡¯, her expertise with various style couldn¡¯t be underestimated. ¡°What do you think he should do to train, then?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Honestly? I think he¡¯s on the right track, just with the wrong approach. He¡¯s focusing so single mindedly on his hand that he¡¯s just kind of tuned out everything else. If he awakens a martial will like this, the only thing that will will be able to do is a straight punch like what he¡¯s doing now.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If he doesn¡¯t train it with a wide variety of techniques, it will be hard for his will to execute those techniques in the future, as the only thing it knows will be a single punch.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Admittedly, that one punch could be extremely powerful, but it will becking when faced with other techniques. No, he needs to go through every unarmed technique he knows, focusing on his hands.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki gave a small nod of agreement. ¡°Have you told him as much?¡± She found it hard to believe that the Keeper was still doing this repetitive motion after they hade to such a conclusion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I wanted to, but sis stopped me.¡± Keliope chuckled slightly, alia smiling towards Tsubaki.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°He needs to figure this out himself. Otherwise¡­ it may not be bad for him to pursue the extreme of a single punch. If he trains that one punch with the goal of dominating all foes, he may never need a second. Keliope speaks from the perspective of someone who has mastered a myriad of fighting styles. Her techniques inbat are constantly changing. What works for her might not work for someone like Dale.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki bit her lip slightly. It was true that the Keeper had yet to master many fighting styles. This was in part because of his rtively young age, and also because the styles that he most often encountered were those purchased from the Keeper market. These styles had step-by-step guides for how to train them. At the same time, these styles were often the pinnacle of what he could unleash with his level of power, removing the need for him to learn other fighting techniques.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">His gun will was more flexible when I saw it.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She thought to herself, thinking back to the time she spent on that mountain. <i><span style="font-weight:400">But, that was trained in realbat, where his needs were constantly changing. His aim was not very good, so he forcibly made up for that by making his trajectory flexible, which was reflected in the will produced.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">If he continued on the path he was on, Tsubaki could truly see it reaching the result that the sisters had mentioned, one where he trained a single punch to the greatest extreme. <i><span style="font-weight:400">He¡¯ll have his gun will for flexibility, and his fist will for power¡­ it might not be such a badbination.</i>


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">ck lightning crackled along Sora¡¯s skin as her eyes remained closed, a smirk tugging at her lips. She sat within arge spell diagram, one that was constantly sending bolts of electricity raining down upon her. Nearby, Thelsa stood watch with the others, looking nervously at the scene before her. ¡°Is this really going to work?¡± She asked uncertainly, worried that Sora was putting herself in danger.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The theory¡¯s sound.¡± Petra spoke up. ¡°At least, ording to the reports from Lorek. She wouldn¡¯t be the first to get it, though I doubt the others were putting themselves through such a¡­ harsh training regiment.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sora had established the spell formation around her to generate natural electricity, removing the traces of mana from it before directing that lightning to crash into her. Then, she was absorbing that lightning into her body, circting it through her energywork. This was a training method that Petra and the others couldn¡¯t imagine. The sheer pain of being constantly electrocuted was enough to make them pause.


    <span style="font-weight:400">All of this was for a single purpose, an unconfirmed report from Lorek about someone that had mastered an elemental martial will. It was hard to tell whether this report was truly about a martial will, or if it was either a druid or someone that simply cultivated an elemental path. Regardless, Sora had been ¡®enlightened¡¯ by the idea, and immediately set out making this training n.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As Thelsa was about to speak up, the array surrounding Sora shattered, the ck-haired sorceress slowly standing up. ¡°Did you seed?¡± Petra hurriedly asked, Sora opening her eyes. There was an almost fierce glint in them that hadn¡¯t been present previously.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A serpent of condensed electricity appeared in the air behind Sora, staring down at Thelsa, Petra, and Maria. Petra could sense the rich elemental ki flowing through the serpent, her eyes going wide. Maria, meanwhile, pursed her lips. ¡°This doesn¡¯t seem like a normal will, does it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Sora nodded her head, dismissing the lightning serpent. ¡°I think it¡¯s because of mixing in the natural energy. This will isn¡¯t as phantasmal as a normal one, and I can control it to take on various different forms. On the downside, it uses more energy than Petra¡¯s axe will, or your hammer intent.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This will need more studyter, but for now, I have a spection. Given that the lightning will has a tendency to prefer animalistic forms, the ¡®intent¡¯ upgrade for it should be settling on a single form, and giving that form a higher degree of sentience. Almost like an elemental ki summon.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah, but that¡¯s just your guess.¡± Maria pointed out, shaking her head at Sora¡¯s words. ¡°For all you know, the intent will take the form of a weapon.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying that, she turned her head to look at Thelsa. ¡°Still, this should mean that you can train the rest of your shadows in various intent types now, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa simply nodded her head, having already begun the process of doing so. ¡°It¡¯ll take some time, I think. Martial wills seem to be quite special. However, between what we¡¯ve all managed to train, I should be able to create a training n for them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra smiled, d that she was able to be of some help. It had only taken them a few hours to ascend several moreyers in Fyor, only stopping because they saw how strong the local monsters were. After deciding that any further exploration would simply be dangerous for the rest of the world, they stopped to consolidate what they had acquired.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Given that martial wills were ¡®released¡¯ almost immediately after that¡­ it only made sense for them to spend some time training in this newbat style. Especially since both Petra and Maria had immediately awakened their own wills as soon as the change was made.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sora rolled her shoulders, feeling the dip in her ki after her little lightning serpent experiment. ¡°Sign me up for your monk course, by the way. I need a lot more ki if I want to incorporate that into my normalbat style.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa blinked, nodding her head slowly. ¡°Are you nning to be a frontline fighter?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What? Of course not!¡± Sora refuted immediately. ¡°But it will be really cool to just be able tomand a lightning beast like that in the middle of a fight without having to worry about spell diagrams or whatever.¡±

 Chapter 930: The Root Of The Problem

    Chapter 930: The Root Of The Problem


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel furrowed her brows as she went through a series of reportsid out in front of her, idly listening to the work that the rest of the research team was conducting in the background. These were all reports that hade in from localw enforcement about unknown methods used to attack people in various parts of the world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Granted, that in itself wasn¡¯t anything new, as there were too many possible energybinations. Whether man or beast, it was impossible to keep track of every single method that could be used to take the life of another. However, it could usually at least be inferred how they died by studying the remains. Looking at the energy traces left behind, and running a few simple tests, it was often possible to either determine the energy used or directly identify the killer.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This time, however, there did not appear to be any such traces. It simply seemed as if the bodies stopped working and fell over on their own. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Is this a new void influence? It¡¯s getting to be about the time for stronger monsters to begin appearing that can push through our shield. However, we should have at least gotten a reading that something prated the defensive barrier.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel closed her eyes, focusing. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Dana, are you free?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">What¡¯s up, Chelsea? You don¡¯t usually call me. I just finished getting everything moved over, so what¡¯s going on?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Chel tilted her head slightly, hearing that things were being moved, but didn¡¯t think much of it. She had been too busy thest few days to know that the Keeper had been nning on moving his main residence.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">One of your familiars was put in charge of void patrols, right? Can you get her to check if there are any hostile entities sneaking past Deckan¡¯s barrier?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Huh? Sure, I¡¯ll have ra get on that.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Dana spoke up readily, though Chel didn¡¯t have much confidence that she would find anything in the first ce.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">The world is starting to move beyond the level of what I can predict. </i><span style="font-weight:400">Although she was a former systempanion, the act of bringing her back like this deprived her of any knowledge irrelevant to her original life. If it wasn¡¯t something that was at least theorized in James¡¯s world, she would need to create all new countermeasures to defend against it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing this new threat silently reaping the lives of farmers and traveling merchants, Chel¡¯s eyes began to burn with apetitive spirit. While she waited for the report from Dana, she began to go through any recent developments that had been made. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Martial Will? No, there are no signs of internal or external damage consistent across the bodies. Their ki hasn¡¯t been sucked out of their bodies, so they aren¡¯t being harvested or sacrificed.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Nothing seems to be wrong with their mana or spirit, either. In two cases, the spirit was able to be called back for questioning. It¡¯smon for memories to be blurred around the time of death, as that is a major spiritual shock. However, neither spirit said that they noticed anything strange before they died.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">If there isn¡¯t a void beast attacking Deckan, that leaves two primary possibilities. One, a memetic attack with a dyed effect. Two, there is a glitch in the world¡¯s system that has a very slight chance to randomly drop health to zero. I haven¡¯t heard of any reports like this from other worlds, so it¡¯s unlikely to be a glitch. I doubt Ashley would overlook something like that, as well.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">A memetic attack, though¡­ So far, the affected individuals have all been in rural areas, isted from major poption centers. The primary victims have been farmers, with secondary targets being traveling merchants. While there are scattered incidents outside these two groups, they make up a very small minority.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Is it possible to grow a memetic fruit or vegetable? If it were the work of a single farmer, the cases should be more isted. Either there is a viin behind the scenes testing a new weapon, or this is a natural mutation.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Suddenly, Chel¡¯s eyes went wide as she remembered something. There <i><span style="font-weight:400">was</i><span style="font-weight:400"> a new system that had been introduced recently that impacted farming. More importantly, the nutritional value offered by food and how it can affect mortals.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Just heard back from ra. There are a few beasts mming into the barrier, but none that seem like they¡¯ve already slipped in.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Dana¡¯s voice spoke up in Chel¡¯s mind, causing her to faintly nod.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Got it, thanks. Be on standby, though. I think I might be onto something.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Chel quickly began typing away at her terminal, pulling up the personal information of the various farmers. Due to the new ¡®Consumer¡¯s Digest¡¯ system that had been purchased, farmers defaulted to producing high level food products. There were still many that used lower level foods, but those were mostly to provide seasonings or spices.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After all, the price disparity between a five ring and a twenty ring meal was not that incredible. However, a meal with a higher nutritional value could satisfy someone with a lower level for a much longer duration, and even provide additional benefits.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">What products do all of these farmers have inmon¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Chel asked herself. Naturally, there were a few popr vegetables that they all harvested on a regr basis, so she bit her lip. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Narrow it down to Deckan exclusive exports.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">As there were no major reports of simr deaths in other worlds, that meant that whatever produce was causing this problem had to be unique to Deckan. There were only a few of such nts that hadn¡¯t been shared to other worlds. Typically, the reason for this was that they relied on the dimensium of Deckan in order to properly grow.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">There!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Chel¡¯s eyes widened as shended on one particr food product. The Nine-Layer Ginseng was an exclusive product of Deckan that had a myriad of effects, making it a popr option for farmers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The reason that it was named ¡®nineyer¡¯ was due to the fact that it had to be grown nine times before it could be properly harvested and made edible. Everyyer of growth changed the effect that the ginseng provided, with the first eight effects being valuable either as a medicinal or magical ingredient. For instance, the firstyer was a potent material when making low-grade health potions, and the fifthyer could be used as a material in anti-depressants.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Every time it was fully grown, it would begin to shrink itself to prepare for the newyer to be added on. This was the process that required it to be nted in Deckan, as otherwise theck of dimensium would limit the root to its firstyer.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Has it evolved over thest few years thanks to the new system? </i><span style="font-weight:400">Admittedly, agriculture was not Chel¡¯s strongest point. Thankfully, she knew someone who was a greater expert in the subject.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod was walking through the glistening halls of Olympus, simply taking his time and exploring, when Chel¡¯s call came in. <i><span style="font-weight:400">There is a¡­ food rted crisis within Deckan?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He asked in surprise after Chel summarized the problem.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s right. I want you to head to Deckan and take a look at the growth of nineyer ginseng. I suspect there has been a mutation that has caused it to be unsafe for consumption. With your domains, you should be able to quicklye to an answer.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod couldn¡¯t help but nod his head, as his three domains were particrly suitable for investigating the nature of culinary ingredients, whether nt or animal. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I understand. Are you going to issue a warning to the public in the meantime?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Not yet.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Chel denied. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I can¡¯t be certain that the ginseng is the root cause of the deaths¡­ and I didn¡¯t mean to make that pun. Don¡¯t tell James. Anyways, once we know the cause, and if there is a suitable workaround, I¡¯ll make an announcement. That¡¯s why I¡¯d like this to be taken care of as soon as you can.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod nodded his head again, thinking. He had been preparing to make snacks for everyone after his exploration was over, but this was a far more important task. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy, would you be so kind as to send me to Deckan? I have something I must aplish.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Hmm? Sure!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Aurivy¡¯s response was swift, and Aznod soon found himself being surrounded by golden mist. When it parted, he was standing within the city of Ashtanu, immediately before the pce. With a small smile, he flew off into the distance. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea, please direct me to one of the afflicted farms.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">With Chel¡¯s guidance, Aznod sped through the air like a meteor, sooning to an old farm a few kilometers outside a small city. <i><span style="font-weight:400">This farm is the most heavily affected, as both of the farmers working here were killed at the same time. Since thend hasn¡¯t been reimed yet, this should make for a good spot to test the produce..</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod nodded his head in agreement, moving down andnding next to the tilled soil. He spread out his awareness, looking for the farmer¡¯s seed repository. Thankfully, it didn¡¯t take long, and he was able to acquire a handful of ginseng seeds rather easily. Then, moving over to the soil, he nted ten of these seeds.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Without outside interference, it takes one hundred years to go through all nineyers of this nt.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Aznod thought to himself. <i><span style="font-weight:400">A skilled farmer can reduce this time to one year through the use of natural energy. However, I do not have the time to wait one year in order to confirm these effects.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thinking to that point, Aznod took a deep breath, surrounding this plot of farnd with his divine energy. ¡°I have to be careful not to let my divinity impact the results of this test.¡± As he focused, he activated one of his divine circuits, the air warping around him. ¡°An eleration of one thousand times should allow me to harvest within eight hours.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As he said that, he kept his eyes on the soil. There was a constant drizzle of water pouring down atop it, keeping the soil enriched together with his domain. This was a far more limited version of the farming area that Tryval had established for his divine market.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Throughout the entire process, Aznod paused it every time the ginseng reached a newyer, testing to see if there were any changespared to the ingredient he had memorized long ago. The first, second, and even thirdyers showed only minor adjustments, some of which could even be considered improvements over their original. Every time he tested ayer, he had to harvest one of the ten ginseng he nted.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Starting from the fourthyer, however, the abilities of the nt began to change more abruptly. Aznod had to carefully simte and catalog each newyer, as well as identify any visible differences between this new mutation and the original.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">The sixthyer is now edible?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He thought to himself after waiting through six hours of the process, scanning the roots with his Preparation domain. Naturally, there were at least three moreyers to go, so he allowed the roots to continue their growth pattern.<span style="font-weight:400">


    <span style="font-weight:400">The seventhyer seemed to stimte the recovery of spiritual energy, a rare factor for a raw material. The eighth was quite simply poisonous, and Aznod suspected that it could kill a mortal below the twenty-fifth ring. As for the ninth, it held a mysterious power that Aznod couldn¡¯t really identify. Most likely, this was the power that the farmers consumed. He decided that he should keep these new samples for Chel to study.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Just as he was preparing to turn off his divine power and deliver these specimens, the tenth ginseng he had produced began to shrink, a sign of continued advancement. Aznod had nted a tenth seed primarily to soothe his need for an even number, but also to test to see if there were additional stages in their advancement.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This time, the ginseng grew far more slowly, needing a full twelve hours even under the effects of Aznod¡¯s domain. At this point, he had been gone from Olympus for twenty hours, and had long since sent a message back to Udona, apologizing for not being able to provide their meals until he was done with his current task. It was rare for him to go off and do his own thing, so Udona was naturally interested. He even suspected that she had been watching ever since he sent that message.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once thest ginseng finally stopped showing signs of growth, Aznod went forward to harvest it. His brows furrowed as he felt its weight in his hands, and he sent a wisp of his divinity into the nt. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea, I have news to report.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Go on?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Chel was eager to here what conclusions Aznod hade to after a day of investigation.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">First of all, the mutated ginsengs can be identified by the shapes of their leaves, which I¡¯ll send to you soon. The sixthyer of this mutation is now the ¡®edible¡¯yer, while the ninth holds a power I¡¯m unfamiliar with. I¡¯ll allow you to study that on your own. However, there is an additional tenthyer.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Back in her researchb, Chel gave a small nod. <i><span style="font-weight:400">So this can more urately be called a tenyer ginseng. Have you identified the property of this final form?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">From an initial assessment, it seems to have a primitive form of self-contained space. The one I just harvested has an internal space that can be essed through spiritual energy, and is roughly ten cubic meters.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel¡¯s eyes immediately went wide at this revtion. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯s harvesting space directly from the void?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> If Aznod¡¯s reports were true, there was no need to worry about needing topletely cut off these nts from the market. If they could be used as a cheap alternative to grow spatial items, their value would instead skyrocket.

 Chapter 931: Lab Grown, Stomach Approved

    Chapter 931: Lab Grown, Stomach Approved


    <span style="font-weight:400">It only took a few minutes for Aznod to send the materials back to Chel¡¯sb, each of the ten ginseng roots neatly packaged andbeled ording to their growth and analyzed property. For the most part, Chelsea wasn¡¯t too concerned about these changes. She had only delved into this case because it looked interesting in the first ce, and she felt that it may have something to do with the void.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As it turned out, she was right, but not in the way she expected. There was no great void beast targeting them, no powerful memetic virus spreading through the city. Well, not yet at least.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel¡¯s eyes focused on thest two ginseng, those from the ninth and tenth cycles. Just from the information that Aznod provided, Chel could theorize what was happening. Pieces began to fall into ce to reveal a potentially horrifying image.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dimensium was a material that allowed one to temporarily alter dimensional properties such as distance, depth, or even create individual spaces. While dimensium itself did not have a powerful connection to the void, it could be used to form one under the proper circumstances. Such things were already widely used for cross-world teleport gates.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">The ninth level touches the void, creating a very slight memetic effect. The effect should be something along the lines of ¡®after this material is done being digested, the consumer will die¡¯. I¡¯d need to experiment with some low-grade life-forms, but it might be possible to counteract the effect by eating more until the antimeme can be used.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">The tenth level, though¡­ it directly harvests the energy of the void to create a minor space within this dimension. The space is chaotic, so it can¡¯t be used to reliably store anything in its raw form. However, it wouldn¡¯t be hard to refine it further to create an efficient storage device.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">The problem is that this space doesn¡¯te from our own world, but from the void. If the space was harvested from our own universe, it would be perfectly safe. Although the universe would shrink slightly, the effect over a million years would be as negligible as removing a single grain of sand from a beach.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">If ites from the void, though¡­ it will likely be harvesting from just outside our dimensional territory in the void. If any void beast is close enough, it might get sucked in</i><span style="font-weight:400">.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After thinking that far, Chel¡¯s brows furrowed. <i><span style="font-weight:400">A single growth cycle takes two years to shrink, and eight to grow. That¡¯s eight years where microscopic portals will be opened in the void¡­ sixteen if the ninthyer is included.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel quickly ran several simtions in her mind. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯s safe to say that our shield is working right now, keeping the void monsters far enough from the barrier that they can¡¯t make it through these tiny gaps. However, once that is no longer the case, it could be disastrous.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If we want to harvest an item like this, we can only do so in a safe location,pletely shielded from void interference while also being bathed in the background energy of dimensium.¡± She muttered to herself, drawing James over when he heard her voice.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What are you working on?¡± He asked in confusion, unused to seeing Chel working with nts as she was.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel merely gave a bitter smile. ¡°There¡¯s been a mutation in a certain root species that has led to it being able to harvest the void and open up an interior space.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Naturally grown storage items?¡± James asked in shock, looking at the ginseng. His energy pierced through the ten fruits, easily able to determine their attributes. When his eyes came to rest on the final fruit, he pursed his lips.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is something wrong?¡± Chel asked, tilting her head at his expression. Then, under her shocked gaze, James grabbed that tenth ginseng and brought it to his mouth, swallowing it whole. ¡°What are you doing?!¡± Chel jumped up in fright at his action, but James held up a hand to silence her, focusing for the moment.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel bit her lip, staring intently at James as she watched him, worried that something might happen. James was still not considered a part of Dale¡¯s assets yet, because his floor had yet to be reached in Fyor. If something happened to him, the only way to bring him back would be to beg the Keeper to create apanion version of him, simr to her own state.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, why would she want James to have to start over from scratch? He was already one of the most powerful people in the world. As those thoughts crossed her mind, James revealed a satisfied smile. ¡°Just as I expected.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°James¡­¡± Chel spoke in a dangerous tone, reaching for arge wrench that she hadn¡¯t needed to use for quite some time. ¡°It would be in your best interest to exin quickly, or there might be a suddenb ident.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James blinked, looking over at Chel. Seeing her dark expression, he jumped in fright, quickly shaking his head. ¡°It¡¯s just, the space was formed, right? But it was formed in aplete, unrefined state, in a food item!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And you just grabbed that food item, and shoved it into your mouth.¡± Chel nodded her head, lifting the wrench. ¡°You know that people who ate the ninth stage of this fruit all died, correct?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°W-Well¡­ I didn¡¯t know that at the time?¡± James gave a bitterugh, able to understand why she was so upset. He had seen the lingering traces of a memetic effect in the ninth fruit. However, for the simple reason that he recognized the existence of a memetic effect, he refused to investigate it in detail. ¡°I thought it¡¯d just be an effect like ¡®wow, this tastes good¡¯.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No. No it is not. Now <i><span style="font-weight:400">exin.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> What was it you ¡®expected¡¯?¡± Chel asked, maintaining that same, firm re.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°W-Well, the space was refined as a food, right? But it was in an iplete state. I thought that eating it and digesting it would allow me toplete the space, and I was right!¡± He said in a proud tone, before abruptly ducking his head as a wrench flew through the air.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You randomly picked up and ate an herb containing an internal space, because you believed that it mightplete the space inside of your body?! What would you have done if the space escaped the ingredient, or if it had a hazardous void effect?!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nobody knew how dangerous the void was better than the two of them, so she found it hard to believe that James was willing to take such a huge risk over an experiment. James had a somewhat guilty look on his face at that, pointing over to the distance. ¡°That¡¯s why I only used my avatar to perform the test. My main body is still over there, working on the void entanglement system.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel blinked, looking over and seeing a timid looking James waving back at her. She couldn¡¯t help but let out a low groan, rubbing her face with her hand. ¡°Okay¡­ now, go over the details of what happened.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing that she had calmed down, James gave a nod of his head. ¡°Well, like I said, I had this idea-¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Skip to the bits you haven¡¯t told me.¡± She said with a twitch in her brow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">James paused for a moment, before nodding his head again. ¡°I used the energy makeup of this body to simte the digestive process at high speeds. As the ginseng was broken down in my body, I felt the energy within it flowing. By the time it was done, I could sense a connection with a stabilized space within my chest, roughly five cubic meters.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Five? That means that there¡¯s a fifty percent loss in the stabilization process.¡± Chel furrowed his brow, recalling howrge Aznod had said that the internal space was before. ¡°Is the space showing any signs of copse after digestion? Do you have to maintain the energy?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not at all.¡± James shook his head. ¡°It feels like the space has been anchored to my body. Ah, if this avatar is dismissed, the space will likely crumble. Or, maybe it will eject everything inside? Experiment forter. Either way, it¡¯s not connected to my main body. I might be able to transfer it by fusing the avatar back into me directly, though.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel gave an idle nod, going over this information. <i><span style="font-weight:400">So, the final step of the process is consumption, and then it fully refines the internal space. Is the space random per ginseng, or is five cubic meters the limit? Or does it have the ability to expand as you consume more?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">She shook her head as those thoughts came to her mind. ¡°For now, the problem is the microgates that appear in the void whenever these are growing. They may not be a problem for the moment, but they could easily turn into a disaster in the future.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James put on a serious expression, nodding his head. ¡°We could set up a specialized cultivation plot that supplies the void energy requirements directly. But for the ones cultivated in normal farms¡­¡± After saying that, he began to fall into thought.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If we gically modify this offshoot of the root, we could perhaps iste the relevant gene. With enough effort, I could change the target of the spatial consumption to be from the local universe.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Maybe.¡± Chel muttered. ¡°I don¡¯t think you can get that same, unrefined space if you don¡¯t harvest from the void directly.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°For now, our shields should hold¡­¡± James nodded in agreement. ¡°Would it work to just keep our shields upgrading? I know it¡¯s not a perfect solution, but I doubt that we can just outright ban this new root, especially now that we know its effects.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After a few moments, James looked at the herbs again. ¡°The alternative would just be making these ginseng a restricted produce, only growable if one had a proper license stating that they knew how to responsibly manipte void energy.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel gave a bitter smile at that suggestion. ¡°So, either we ban the root altogether, race to constantly reinforce our shields, or make void maniption amonly avable technique? Well, fallen gods are starting to appear more and more, so there shouldn¡¯t be anything wrong with opening the void up to the public just a bit more.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James nodded his head, letting out a long sigh. ¡°If you want to start drafting up an education n for the license, I¡¯ll let Udona know about the situation. I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll be interested in hearing about it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel nodded her head, already thinking about the training n. ¡°Sadly, the ginseng can¡¯t be made amon household item with this restriction. With the needed license, its price will likely increase to rival other storage items.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s true.¡± James agreed. ¡°On the other hand, this is a storage item that can¡¯t be stolen. People with the proper detection skills can still search them, but the storage space itself is a part of the consumer¡¯s body. I think there will be a fair few people that choose to take that trade.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Also, I¡¯ll suggest she temporarily put a ban on growing this new ginseng, at least until the license n is in ce and we finish the necessary tests. Don¡¯t want any unfortunate deaths from that ninthyer.¡± He said with a faint chuckle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel nodded with a serious look in her eyes. They still had to determine the result of eating multiple of the same root, and if there were an upper limit. Now that James had consumed the first one with his avatar, it would be the most cost-effective to allow the avatar to continue the tests. ¡°If you sense <i><span style="font-weight:400">any</i><span style="font-weight:400"> kind of memetic influence from the tests, you have to immediately destroy your clone. Understood?¡± She asked, narrowing her eyes at James.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing her look, James could only quickly nod his head. ¡°Of course. I don¡¯t have a death wish or anything like that. I won¡¯t do something if I¡¯m not confident.¡±

 Chapter 932: One Strike To Kill

    Chapter 932: One Strike To Kill


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Strike!¡± A man called out in a harsh tone, arge number of men and women standing in an even formation before him. At his words, all of them lifted the staves in their hands, performing an upwards swing. ¡°Return!¡± After the secondmand, the staves were lowered back to their sides.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The human teacher could see the sweat covering the brows of the various students, who had been practicing their techniques while maintaining a constant ki flow for over an hour. He clicked his tongue in annoyance, shaking his head. Despite wanting to continue the training, it was almost time for everyone to go home.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay, everyone wash up and get changed. Tomorrow, we will be continuing our work.¡± Ever since the appearance of martial wills, martial arts dojos across all worlds underwent a drastic change. There was a great influx of students, all wanting to master this power. For those students that had long since been attending, the ones who had unlocked their martial will were given teaching positions.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This man was one such example. After unlocking his staff will, he had been ced in charge of fifty new students with the express goal of helping them to simrly awaken their martial will. Unfortunately, this subject was too new. Even those that had the requisite level of mastery did not know the proper method to train a new recruit.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As he was letting out a sigh, he heard the door open. Turning his head, he saw a dark-skinned elf with a wide smile on his face. ¡°Sorry, can I help you? We¡¯re just wrapping up for today.¡± The teacher called out, walking over to approach the elven figure. While it was rare to see an elf with such dark skin, they weren¡¯t entirely unknown. Typically, such people originated from Spica somewhere in their recent bloodline.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This is the Seven Staff School, correct?¡± The man asked, his eyes scanning the group of departing students.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. Are you looking to sign up?¡± Despite the man¡¯s pleasant appearance, the teacher couldn¡¯t help but feel that there was something wrong with him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, that¡¯s fine. I¡¯m only here to test something.¡± After he said that, an invisible wind swept out from the elf¡¯s body. Like a puppet with his strings cut, the teacher fell over. Less than a secondter, the gathered students all suffered a simr fate.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When he saw that everyone had crumbled from this move, the man¡¯s smile faded, pursing his lips. ¡°Nobody here, either?¡± He asked in disappointment, the invisible wind sweeping back towards him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He let out a long sigh, shaking his head and turning to leave. He saw multiple cameras observing him as he left the building, but even looked at it and smiled, as if he didn¡¯t care about his presence in the area being noted. Rather, he was pleased with the knowledge that there was a witness to his deeds. ¡°Next was¡­ the Crystal de School.¡± He muttered to himself as he turned to walk down the street. <i><span style="font-weight:400">There must be others. Let me properly feel the extent of this power. Let me get a worthy kill.</i>


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Chief, we¡¯ve got another one.¡± A female officer reported as she ran towards the local police chief, a folder under her arm. ¡°The ck Death made another move.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The chief, an ursa with a heavily muscr build, furrowed his brow. His hair was neatlybed back, but was starting to show signs of graying on the sides. ¡°Who did he go after this time?¡± He asked, rubbing his face with hisrge hand.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The Seven Staff School.¡± The woman reported, grabbing the folder and handing it to him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Seven Staff School?¡± The chief blinked, unfamiliar with that name. ¡°Is that another dojo?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right, sir.¡± The woman answered with a firm nod. ¡°This school, as the name implies, revolves around staff techniques. They have been in operation for six years, and have three known wielders of will. In this attack, there were fifty-one casualties, being the ss that was currently being held at the time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What form did he take this time?¡± The chief sighed, flipping through the victim reports.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°An elf, sir. We haven¡¯t found any matching resemnces so far. After following him via cameras for three blocks, he suddenly disappeared.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The police chief stood up, starting to pace back and forth in his office. The ck Death, as the killer had taken to calling himself, was by no means a new threat. Rather, he had been active for over three years. Unfortunately, the fact that he kept his activity to a single city meant that it was harder to trace his travel patterns.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, he had never gone after groups before. The ck Death was notorious, but it was as a hired assassin. It wasn¡¯t until the appearance of martial wills that he suddenly began to go against his standard policy to indiscriminately attack other martial artists or dojos. ¡°Have you notified the other local dojos, to warn them of an individual with pure ck skin?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I have, sir!¡± The woman nodded her head. ¡°Unfortunately, the teach involved in today¡¯s attack was a newly promoted member of the staff, so he was likely unaware of the threat.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The chief clenched his fists at that, a deep popping sound echoing through the room. He couldn¡¯t strictly ban martial arts dojos from operating. Nor could he offer any more details or public announcements that would cause a mass panic.. ¡°Dispatch a group of officers with aura concealing cloaks. ce them overlooking the entrances of each remaining martial dojo.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If they see the ck Death, and believe they have an opportunity to capture him, they are permitted to do so. However, if they do not believe that they can get this job done, simply follow him back to his camp. We need to learn where he is staying between attacks, as it is likely to lead us to an important clue.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Understood, sir!¡± The woman nodded her head, walking away while gritting her teeth. She could already tell what was going to happen next. Of the officers that she selected, one of them would eventuallye across the killer. With their police training, they would feel confident in apprehending a single target.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once they felt this confidence, they would make a move¡­ and the police would lose a valuable officer. For this reason, she had to be direct and make them understand just how dangerous the enemy was. Before she let them depart, she would have to emphasize this matter to them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Be warned, the target is to be considered as a god-level threat. It is believed that he has not only awakened a martial will, but also an intent. From what we have gathered from the crime scenes, it is likely that his intent is simply ¡®to kill¡¯. Those hit by this attack will almost surely die without warning.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Despite the target in question having never killed a god himself, this power estimation was given on the assumption that he had awakened a martial intent. ording to the newly approved standard, those with martial intents are considered on the same level of power as a mediocre god.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately, there were too few gods remaining in the ¡®mortal worlds¡¯ to station them in police departments. If they could request the aid of a god specializing in the gathering of information, there would be no need to be worried about locating such an assassin. This was why such assassins did not like to operate in the vicinity of a tracking-based god unless they had some way to prevent the divination.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes were unfocused as I continued to execute the same punch, over and over. My mind was entirely devoted toprehending every change in my energy, every facet of the punch that was being thrown out. After my ki had been depleted by these punches, I began to supplement with my Keeper energy reserves, which showed no signs of dropping any time soon.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The shadow of Tsubaki ring at me while charging had long been wiped clean, buried under the tens of thousands of repeated actions. Now, there was no longer a target in my mind. I had be wholly consumed by focusing on how my body was responding to the punches.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Eventually, I felt something change. As if a shadow were beginning to ovep with my punches. On some level, I knew this to be a martial will, but that only confused me. After all, there wasn¡¯t a period of enlightenment this time. Did that only happen for the first instance of awakening, or had my actions changed the end result?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Either way, my repetitive punches finally stopped, and I focused on releasing my new martial will, feeling it move in the same pattern. I could project that punch out as far from my body as I wished, causing me to smile.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Finally finished it, have you?¡± alia¡¯s voice entered my ear, causing me to look around in confusion. ¡°We¡¯re in the observation deck.¡±


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">There¡¯s an observation deck?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I thought internally, before turning and walking out of the training room. With the guidance of Hermes, I quickly found my way to where they were waiting. When I entered the room, I could see alia, Keliope, and Tsubaki all smiling at me. ¡°How long was I?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Eight days.¡± alia said, shaking her head. ¡°For eight days, you never broke your rhythm.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keliope gave a small grin at that, nodding her head. ¡°Now that you¡¯ve ¡®mastered¡¯ that punch, it¡¯s up to you how you train this in the future. You can either incorporate more attacks into your martial will, or you can pursue the extreme of this one punch.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but blink at that. ¡°So, that¡¯s why I didn¡¯t have an awakening period? Because my martial will was just the single punch?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± alia nodded in agreement. ¡°Typically, a will is created by assimting your entire attack style, and thus the ¡®awakening¡¯ is the martial will simting those attacks. Since you only did the one punch, that meant that your ¡®awakening¡¯ also only took a single punch.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes twitched when I heard that, ncing at Tsubaki. She looked thoughtful, as if trying to decide what the best course of action would be. ¡°In your situation, it may be fine to develop that single punch. If it were anyone else, I¡¯d say it would be foolish. However, in your situation, you possess the power to use overwhelming force to ovee sophisticated technique.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If you develop your fist will in the direction of a ¡®crushing¡¯ intent, you should be able to withstand even other high-level intent wielders like myself. As for your gun will¡­ that depends on what direction you want to take it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod to Tsubaki¡¯s words. Honestly, I had already begun working towards a ¡®homing¡¯ intent for my guns without even really considering it. After all, my personal aim was fairly bad. Without something to help me correct the course of the bullets, I wasn¡¯t confident in hitting my targets.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was possible for me to change focus to another intent and train my uracy, but that would be an inefficient use of my time. The mostmon intents for something like a gun should be homing, piercing, or killing. Each of them had their own uses, and it was hard to say that any was more effective than the other.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If I considered my gun intent as the solution for smaller problems, and leave my fist intent for bigger threats with the ¡®crushing¡¯ intent as Tsubaki said, I should be able to cover my bases. All that was left at this point, honestly, was trying to figure out the training n to reach the ¡®intent¡¯ level.

 Chapter 933: In The Shadow Of The Ages

    Chapter 933: In The Shadow Of The Ages


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was strange how different worlds responded so differently to a new concept. For instance, taking a look at Lorek and Spica, two worlds that have evolved around the concept of martial discipline. When martial will was released, these two worlds weed thergest quantity of users for this new method. However, at the same time, martial will had less of an impact on these two worlds than they did any other within my realm.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In other worlds, there was a sharp rise in crime rates involving ki, this new ability getting to the heads of those who are unused to disciplining themselves to the same degree. Thankfully, although martial will did have some differences in how it functioned with standard ki, they were fundamentally the same. Any ki-rted crime that could be solved before could still be solved if martial will happened to be involved.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The biggest concern came from assassins. Those are the figures who are most likely to create martial intents rted purely to killing, and also have the expertise to cover their traces in one way or another. For these people, not only was their newfound power encouraging them to go out and exercise it, they intuitively knew how to avoid being caught.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately, there was not much I could do without having the gods step in and manually identify these killers. And, while this was an option, I was reluctant to ept it. After all, if I were to make it so easy for the people to rely on the Greater Pantheon to solve their problems, I would only be in more trouble during key moments like an invasion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unless the situation became truly desperate, I couldn¡¯t afford to let them take action so easily. Thinking so, I shook my head. There was one thing that I could do, though I wasn¡¯t sure how much of an effect it would have on the crime rate of martial will users. At the very least, I could give some hope to the people.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">News of the Keeper¡¯s new home, Olympus, spread throughout the world, carried by the behemoth that was mass media. The news that the Keeper¡¯s world now hung in the night sky, a ce for him and the Greater Pantheon to live in. From the reports issued by Olympus itself, the would regrly move between worlds, staying in no one ce for more than a few days at a time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While it was not explicitly stated that this new world was forbidden to outsiders, the message that it was a home made for the Greater Pantheon was understood by all. For those who gazed at the stars of Earth, they quickly identified this new world that had appeared within their sr system. Some of them had seen such before, but had not known what it meant, while others were witnessing it for the first time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For the most part, this did not change the daily lives ofmon citizens. Those who often followed the movements of the Sky Citadel now simply changed their methods to watching the stars to track Olympus.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With the knowledge that Olympus was no longer just the Keeper¡¯s home, but also the home of all from the Greater Pantheon, that led to Olympus itself being referenced when thinking about any of those divine beings. Because of this, a greater portion of divinity went towards this new world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, not everyone saw things the same way. For some, the Keeper¡¯s new home was an opportunity. One advantage to the Sky Citadel was that it could appear in any world it wanted, hovering over the ground. Now, with Olympus being so far away, it provided some with thefort of believing that their actions would not be seen by the eyes of the Keeper so long as they were just a little bit careful.


    <span style="font-weight:400">One such individual gave a dark smile as he heard the news, as if the chance that he had been waiting for so long had finally arrived. He stood, straightening out his clothes, and began to humm to himself. As he walked, there was a wet squelch from the ground beneath, his feet sinking into a puddle of blood.


    <span style="font-weight:400">His body was draped in a red cloak, an oaken staff waiting for him near the door. ¡°It looks like things will be heating up now.¡± He said with a dark chuckle, opening the door and walking out. As he left, the liquid evaporated from the soles of his shoes. He looked up at the stone sky, in a world that had no need to worry about the eyes that existed beyond the clouds.


    <span style="font-weight:400">His humming continued as he walked away, moving several blocks before lightly striking the staff he carried against the ground. When he did, the house that he had previously emerged from burst into crimson mes, consuming itself and all evidence of what had once transpired within its confines.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once again, his eyes nced upwards, but this time he was not looking at the stone sky. Instead, he imagined the floors beyond it, and all that he had heard from recent days. How fun would it be to mess with the ns of those at the top? To drain the life from those who think themselves infallible?


    <span style="font-weight:400">The man gave a dark chuckle, walking towards the distant gate and pulling out a single ck coin. ¡°The forty-first level, please.¡± He said, the priest¡¯s eyes going wide. News of new floors had indeed been spreading, and it wasmon practice for priests to visit the gates of every floor for the purposes of aiding travelers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, it was surprising for someone to ask for transportation straight from the tenth floor to one so high. Regardless, even if it was unusual, it was still the job of Aurivy¡¯s clergy to see it through. ¡°Of course, sir.¡± He said with a smile, offering a small prayer to create a golden portal. ¡°Have a safe journey.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thank you for that.¡± The man smiled, a shadow hidden behind his eyes as he walked. As soon as he stepped through the gate, he rolled his shoulders, feeling the weight of the world pressing down against him. ¡°So this is the higher floors¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">It had not been long since the floors advanced beyond the fortieth, so the construction of Gate¡¯s Rest was still underway. Wherever the man looked, he could see Maxers standing guard, preparing to fight back against any forces.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thanks to a bit of research, he knew that the fortieth floor was an almost barren zone with giant mountains and crags. However, there existed life beneath the surface in the forms of various insects, many of which had a tendency to ambush their prey from below.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing a neer, one who seemed to be an adventurer no less, one of those Maxers walked over with a smile. He carried a spiked mace on his back, his brown hair swept back. ¡°Greetings. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve seen you around before. Are you here to train, or are you nning on helping guard the construction site?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The man in red hummed thoughtfully. ¡°I suppose I can do both at once.¡± He said with a wide smile, reaching out to sp hands with the man. From just the first touch, he could tell that the other party was a god. The mace-wielder showed no intention of hiding it, likely using his divine aura to intimidate the beasts below.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This god let out a heartyugh, nodding his head. ¡°I suppose so! My name is Caden Manchester. Might I know your name, so I can have your efforts listed?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The man didn¡¯t hesitate to answer. ¡°Rowan Artigas. I¡¯ll have to trouble you.¡± He pulled back his hand, letting Caden leave to inform the construction manager. One thing Caden failed to notice, however, was a small drop of blood left on the palm of his hand, sinking into his flesh before fading away.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">All things that live must bleed.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Rowan thought to himself. He could already sense the blood starting to flow through the divine body of Caden. The veins that typically served no purpose but appearance began to pump, the heart that had long been lost silently beating.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Fallen God of Blood smiled as his eyes scanned over the workers. It was time for him to enjoy himself.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra furrowed her brows as she slumped against a tree, panting heavily. ¡°Okay¡­ I think this should be about as far as we can get.¡± She said, looking at the corpses of the creatures that had fallen in front of them. Despite being vaguely humanoid, their bodies were covered with ayer of green chitin, possessing scythe-like limbs that shot out from their sides.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah¡­ yeah, I think you¡¯re onto something there, kid.¡± Maria groaned, sitting back against the tree. There weren¡¯t only one or two of these corpses, but rather hundreds scattered on the ground around them. As Dana had predicted, Thelsa¡¯s group managed to climb all the way to the fifty-fifth floor, incorporating every floor they passed along the way into their world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa¡¯s brow furrowed as she looked at the group of monsters. It had taken them six hours just to deal with this army that had attacked them, needing to fight in shifts so that they could each have the time to take potions and recover. Had they not taken a break to train their martial wills previously, it was likely that some of them might have suffered serious injury.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Let¡¯s head down one floor to train.¡± Thelsa spoke up, the others looking at her in surprise.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You sure?¡± Sora asked curiously. ¡°Even if it¡¯s a bit hard, we can handle it. Besides, we haven¡¯t gotten the level orb from this floor yet.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa simply shook her head. ¡°We don¡¯t have the raw power. The monsters on this floor operate with swarm tactics, if these are any examples. None of us are high enough level to be able to cope with the energy consumption of fighting them. And one floor down¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra¡¯s eyes widened slightly. ¡°The spectral knights?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa smiled at Petra, offering her a small nod. On the fifty-fourth floor, the primary monster that existed was a form of spectral entity. They were not truly undead, but operated on a simr principle while having a core of mana. Moreover, they were ideal training partners due to their level of intelligence.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The spectral knights, one branch of these monsters, refused to fight an opponent if another of their kind was already engaged in battle with numbers matching their own. Thelsa wasn¡¯t sure of the reason, but they had seen this to be true time and time again. Even if hundreds of spectral knights gathered, they would not interfere unless there were more enemies than the knights fighting.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The spectral assassins, archers, or ninjas all operated regardless of any kind of honor code, but it was possible to avoid them if one was careful. More importantly, the spectral knights would actually fight off any other monster that tried to interfere in an ¡®honorable duel¡¯. Perhaps the only problem with the code of these knights was that a duel must always end in death.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa had learned this when Petra attempted to spare the life of a knight that she had defeated. It was a hard-won victory, and she felt pride in having won. However, when she did not deliver the final blow, the knight took it upon himself to die by his own de.


    <span style="font-weight:400">ording to Sora¡¯s theory, there was likely a closed loop for the souls of these monsters. Instead of passing to the afterlife, they would simply be reborn as new spectral monsters. That would exin why they did not hesitate in the face of death, even if it meant watching theirrades perish.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Such a training ground was perfect for those that wished to hone their skills in livebat, though. Thelsa¡¯s group was over a thousand levels below the standard of the fifty-fifth floor. It was only their richbat expertise and excessive specialization that allowed them to fight on even footing with such powerful beings.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sora chuckled, pulling herself back to her feet. ¡°Well¡­ if you put it like that, how am I going to say no? So, what¡¯s our training goal?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa closed her eyes to think, before simply shaking her head. ¡°We train until we hit the level cap. If you want to branch into a new ss, you may. If there are any abilities that you want to try and create, now is the time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Might as well get some training in with that Hero ss.¡± Maria grinned manically. ¡°If we¡¯re fighting so high above our level, that should give us some good rewards.¡±

 Chapter 934: A Lesson To Learn

    Chapter 934: A Lesson To Learn


    <span style="font-weight:400">Not long after we made our announcement to the rest of the world, I was told that it was time for lunch. Apparently, Aznod had been quite busytely, and had only just gotten back from helping Chel and James with an important matter. When we heard that, Tsubaki rushed off towards the kitchen, likely wanting to make sure that she still had the chance to cook as well.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Meanwhile, I made my way towards the living room with alia, chuckling at the urgency with which Tsubaki left. ¡°So, who all hasn¡¯t moved in?¡± I asked curiously, alia taking a moment to think it over.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There¡¯s Aurivy and Julia, and Tryval and Alme. Other than that¡­ Irena lives here via Alena, but everyone else has already moved in and gottenfortable. The rest¡­ well, Chel doesn¡¯t consider herself part of the Greater Pantheon, so she is still with James, obviously. Everyone else has already moved in.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head at that, before I gave a somewhat mischievous smirk. ¡°Are there any secrets lying around here? This was made by Tubrock, after all?¡± I still remembered finding all the different hidden passages when I first received the Sky Citadel. If this was anything like that¡­


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unsurprisingly, alia chuckled softly, and nodded her head in confirmation. ¡°That¡¯s right. There are quite a few ces. Some are really well hidden, while others are just not marked on the map, but can be found if you don¡¯t take the teleporters everywhere. Honestly, I don¡¯t think he built those secret rooms with any major purpose. A lot of them are empty, so he probably made them just for the sake of it.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ah, hello Tsubaki.¡± Aznod spoke with a warm smile as he tied his apron, getting ready to start preparing dinner. ¡°I assume you are here to cook for the Keeper?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki stood at the door to the kitchen, hesitating slightly before nodding her head. ¡°That¡¯s right. I would also like to continue learning from you at the same time, if that is eptable.¡± Although Tsubaki had arguably held a higher position than Aznod in the past, that all changed the moment he married Udona, essentially putting him on the same level as one of the Greater Pantheon.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod simply smiled, nodding his head. ¡°Of course, it¡¯s fine. However, there is one dish that I would like to specifically prepare for the Keeper myself, and I¡¯ll be preparing it for all of the others, as well?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s eyes immediately became vignt, looking at the kitsune chef. ¡°A special dish?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You could consider it as such.¡± He nodded his head in agreement, pulling out a small pile of ginseng. ¡°These are new products that have recently evolved in Deckan. While working together with Sir James and his team, I have helped to conduct a series of tests. Due to the nature of the produce, they require specific training and a special license to grow. As of now, I am the only one capable of legally growing these ginseng.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s eyes narrowed as she looked at the pile of roots. ¡°Is there something dangerous about them?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If properly grown, not at all.¡± Aznod assured, able to see the source of Tsubaki¡¯s concern. ¡°If they are harvested too early, they are extremely dangerous, and they need to be grown with ready ess to chaotic energy. So long as they are ripe, not only are they safe to consume, but they will also provide an additional benefit to the body.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That got Tsubaki¡¯s attention, causing her to turn her gaze back to Aznod. ¡°What sort of benefit?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°For every forty grams of this ginseng consumed, the consumer gains an internal space of five cubic meters. As long as the body has proper time to digest the food between meals, there does not appear to be an upper limit to this consumption.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Because of the special nature of this herb, as well as its growth time, I have asked Sir Tryval to nurture a batch in his divine farm. Otherwise, I would need to spend the entire day growing a single batch myself. And before you worry, I have already confirmed the quality of all present materials to ensure that no divine influence has damaged their properties.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded her head, genuinely surprised that such a nt existed. ¡°Is this more secure than the inventory system created by Lady Ashley?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod had to think about that for a moment. ¡°It is hard to say. One thing I will confidently attest to is that this internal space won¡¯t be blocked by any situation that would block the game system from functioning, as it is not rted to the game system itself. That is why I see a great value in this dish, as it can be used to save oneself in an emergency.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki closed her eyes, offering a small nod. ¡°In that case, how do you prepare these ginseng?¡± Even though Tsubaki wasn¡¯t able to grow the root herself, she still wanted to know how to prepare it. Especially if it was going to be something that became a regr part of the Keeper¡¯s diet.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod smiled wide when he heard that question, taking one of the fruits. ¡°First, it is very important that each root is fully utilized for a single person. The internal space doesn¡¯t always stabilize if the essence is missing. While it won¡¯t cause any harm to the consumer, it also won¡¯t give any benefits.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Now, there are two ways to prepare these roots effectively. One is as a side dish, and the other as a seasoning or sauce. I¡¯ll go over both of them, so try to follow along.¡± As he spoke, he grabbed one of the ginseng, bringing it over to a pot of boiling water. ¡°First, for the seasoning, it¡¯s necessary to boil it for ten minutes in fresh water. While that is going, let¡¯s start on the side dish.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Saying so, he grabbed another root, and began cutting off the tips. ¡°The essence of space is contained within the main body of the root, so the tips and leaves can be discarded. From there, cut the remaining ginseng into thin, even slices, and grill them until they are a delicate brown. From there, additional spices or sauces can be applied to adjust vor, but again you must ensure that all slices of the same ginseng go to the same person.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Now, back to the other batch.¡± He said, walking back to the boiling pot. Tsubaki¡¯s brow twitched, as it appeared that the ginseng had practically melted in the water. Aznod took out twoders of differing sizes, using the bigger one to scoop up the remains of the root, and holding the smaller one under it. ¡°The ginseng will begin to dissolve in the water, so be sure to be prepared.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki could see a filter on the base of the smallerder, which was being held under the first to catch any water dripped out of it. As the water poured, she could see strands of gray fibers getting caught in the filter. ¡°To be safe, once you¡¯ve drained the roots, give them a good squeeze to extract any extra essence, and then scoop along the top of the water.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once he was done demonstrating, he disposed of the nt waste in the trash, keeping only the filtered fibers. ¡°These fibers are what contain the essence of space in raw form.¡± He said, grabbing the filter carefully. ¡°For today¡¯s dish, I¡¯m going to use this ginseng as a seasoning for the Keeper. It doesn¡¯t have much of a taste, so the Keeper likely won¡¯t even notice it. Once you get it to this point, just dry and powder the fibers in a mortar and pestle, and then you will be ready to use them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded her head firmly, taking in every detail of the process. Her World Sight swept over the small fibers, and she could see the energy of the void within them. However, this energy had been refined to a certain degree, andcked the sheer vtility normally found in such energy. Thankfully, the process to extract these fibers was rather simple, and it was likely that Aznod had spent some time and effort to optimize the recipe.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In fact, Tsubaki was quite confident that she would be able to extract the essences more efficiently with her abilities, though those same abilities wouldn¡¯t apply to other chefs.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Rowan smiled as he watched over the construction team, all of them happily working while he and the other Maxers guarded them against monster attacks. Despite his moral alignment, Rowan was indeed doing his job, observing the underground with his senses to watch for any possible ambushes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After all, there was no need to let something else enjoy his prey before he had the chance to do so himself. Now that a few hours had passed, more than a third of those at the sight had been gradually affected by his spreading power. Whenever one touched by his ¡®gift¡¯ touched another, it would share that effect with them. Despite all those present being energy beings of one variety or another, those affected all had fresh blood pumping through their bodies.


    <span style="font-weight:400">All that lives must bleed, and all that bleeds must die. These were the two core rules established by Rowan after turning into the Fallen God of Blood. Those given blood by this effect must be careful, as that blood represented their life force. Spilling it meant a direct loss of their health, regardless of their energy state. This made otherwise nonlethal attacks that only threatened mortals once more a terror for those that had achieved perfection or godhood. Even a martial spirit could not escape this bloodletting.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Even more insidious was the fact that Rowan was able to control the blood that began to flow through the body of his victims. If he wanted it to erupt and spill out of their bodies, he could do so. In a way, those who were touched by his power were already dead, they simply hadn¡¯t realized it yet.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, cool, what¡¯s this?!¡± A young, energetic voice echoed in Rowan¡¯s ears, causing him to purse his lips and look at its source. There, a young girl with pale white skin and matching hair stood amongst the construction crew, staring down at her arms in surprise. Rowan could feel that his power had started to flow through the girl, so he thought she must have cut herself while working.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Silly girl not being careful.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Rowan chuckled to himself, before pursing his lips. Most construction workers choserger builds, because it was easier to carryrge objects and do heavybor. Moreover, the girl didn¡¯t seem to be injured, as her health bar hadn¡¯t appeared over her head. It almost made Rowan think that she was referring to something else entirely, until he heard her next words.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is this blood? Cool! But why do I have blood, all of a sudden?¡± She asked herself, drawing the attention of those nearby.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Miss? Are you still in a mortal body? It¡¯s dangerous to be on a floor this high.¡± A tall, burly man spoke in a surprisingly gentle voice, causing the girl to shake her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Nope! I¡¯m a super cool god, you know! But why would a god have blood?¡± She tilted her head to the side, making the man before her blink.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Are you sure you didn¡¯t sense wrongly, miss¡­?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Lifre! My name¡¯s Lifre, and I¡¯m super sure that I sensed it right, see!¡± One of her fingers turned into a de, cutting at her other palm without hesitation. Her health bar immediately appeared over her head. And then, instead of the normal glowing mist, blood began to flow slowly drip from her palm.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Therge man¡¯s eyes went wide in rm. ¡°L-Lady Lifre?¡± He asked in both recognition and concern, Lifre looking up at him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yup, that¡¯s right! I thought it¡¯d be fun toe and help everyone get set up on the frontier! So many stories to see out here! And this one¡­¡± She hummed thoughtfully, before her eyes fixed on Rowan. ¡°This is your story, right?¡±

 Chapter 935: Storybook Ending

    Chapter 935: Storybook Ending


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing Lifre¡¯s words, and seeing how she had immediately directed her gaze at him, Rowan felt as if he had been locked onto by some strange power. Naturally, he was aware of the identities of those who served the Keeper. Even more so than a regr adventurer, those who sought to do things in the dark must be aware of their biggest threats.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He clicked his tongue, tapping his staff on the ground. Immediately, those who had been infected with his power froze, including Lifre and the majority of the Maxers guarding the workers. There were only a few of the workers themselves that had been touched by his power, but this was already enough for him to make a good show.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Rowan red at Lifre, who was simply blinking at him with her head still titled, unable to move anything other than her eyes. ¡°I had been hoping to make the entire team vanish quietly. However, since you have appeared, there¡¯s no harm in settling this now. If I manage to take down one of the Keeper¡¯s servants, I¡¯d say this would be a worthwhile endeavor.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Suddenly, an additional head sprouted up from Lifre¡¯s shoulder, quickly detaching itself and floating above her like a bubble. Rowan could tell that the blood wasn¡¯t infecting this extra head, but it also didn¡¯t have any significant power. His blood curse targeted the core of an infected individual, meaning that they would be incapable of splitting much of their energy into an avatar after being infected.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Uh, mister evil blood guy, I think there¡¯s been a misunderstanding?¡± Lifre¡¯s new head spoke up, blinking innocently towards Rowan.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Rowan simply snorted, tapping his staff onto the ground again. Immediately, Lifre¡¯s right arm exploded in a shower of blood, her health bar appearing over her head and dipping dangerously low. ¡°What, you want to im that you¡¯re not the Lifre of the Sky Citadel now?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The extra head floated to look at the arm constantly bleeding out, and the health bar that kept getting lower. ¡°Well, first of all, it¡¯s Olympus now, not the Sky Citadel. But nope, I¡¯m Lifre! I¡¯m just not the Keeper¡¯s servant. Only one of us calls herself that, and she gets pretty upset when the rest of us use that title.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying that, the head turned to face Rowan again. ¡°This is a really dangerous power, you know? It could really threaten anyone that wasn¡¯t prepared! Thankfully, I¡¯m a slime, so I¡¯m always watching my own body. It was my first time having blood vessels, so I was pretty curious about it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Rowan snorted slightly, shaking his head as he saw the wound on her arm close up. ¡°If you are trying to stall for time while you remove the blood from your body, it is useless. It is already attached to your core. The only way to remove it is through death.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh? Oh, no, I wasn¡¯t trying to remove it or anything. I was just using this time to make sure that all of your attention was on me while my main body rushed over.¡± Lifre admitted with that same innocent smile, causing Rowan¡¯s body to go cold.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">My power can infect avatars split off after the initial infection¡­ but if what I infect is just an avatar to begin with, it won¡¯t trace back to the main body.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Immediately, he tapped his staff on the ground again, Lifre¡¯s entire body erupting into a geyser of blood. If she were bluffing, this would immediately kill her, causing that floating head to vanish.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sure enough, his eyes went cold when the rain of blood ended, that floating head still present where it had been. ¡°If you don¡¯t want the rest of these adventurers to be killed, you will keep your main body back.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing as he couldn¡¯t directly kill Lifre, there was every chance that a powerful foe was on their way. Staying and fighting to the bitter end was a foolish tactic. Regardless of anything else, he had the lives of several gods in his hands. With just a thought, he could cause all of them to die at any moment, their lives no different from a mortal to him. This gave him at least enough confidence to escape with his life.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">As long as I can get out, I can go into hiding for a few months and find a new ce to act. Even if they use the Keeper¡¯s resources, there are ces to evade detection.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> It wasmon belief that certain locations in the world were invisible even to the eyes of the Greater Pantheon. These locations had often been used by those who wanted to quickly change their identities to evade the public eye. Personally, Rowan had always been suspicious of this information, but it seemed that he was going to have to use one such location himself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hmm? Oh, that¡¯s okay! I¡¯m already done setting up!¡± Lifre responded in a happy tone. ¡°Are you a fan of horror books, mister evil blood guy? Personally, I don¡¯t really like writing them¡­ I¡¯ve never been that good at making the monster weak enough for the protagonist to kill without removing the sense of urgency from the story. You can help me out with this one! If you survive, feel free to give me any feedback on how I can improve, it would be much appreciated!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As soon as Lifre¡¯s floating head said that, Rowan could feel the world around him darkening. He couldn¡¯t sense the blood pool beneath the head, nor the infected Maxers. All that was left was darkness. He blinked his eyes, and suddenly found himself in a quaint home on the edge of arge city.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Feeling a sense of urgency, he rushed over to the nearest window, looking out at the sky. It was night-time, and he could see the vast emptiness above, dotted with countless stars. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Not Fyor¡­</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre was known as an excellentbatant, able to bring out a weapon for almost any situation. However, she was even more well known as an author, using her divine power to create different scenarios in which a reader would find themselves. Rowan had heard of her training manuals before, but had never used one himself. That said, she was no longer the only divine author in the world, other people having followed in her footsteps.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">If this is a story, I just need toplete it.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Typically speaking, there were certain rules one had to follow when creating a divine story. There had to be some path for the person trapped inside to escape. Otherwise, the power would be deemed too great, and the divinity needed would be astronomical.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In the case of a password, the victim had to be told the password in some form before being trapped. Lifre hadn¡¯t mentioned anything about a password, so that was obviously not the case. <i><span style="font-weight:400">She said that this was a horror genre. That means that my goal should be to either kill the monster, survive to the end, or escape the affected area.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t know what the monster in this book would be. There were many cases in books where a character wasn¡¯t made aware of the monster¡¯s nature until moment¡¯s before their death. Rowan¡¯s gaze swept over the room, rushing towards the terminal positioned on a nearby desk. His power as a Fallen God had been sealed, leaving him no different from an ordinary person. Meaning, he needed to solve this with an ordinary person¡¯s power.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He brought up the local news reports on the terminal, quickly scanning through them for any suspicious entries. ¡°There haven¡¯t been any strange deaths or missing personstely. I might be at the start of the setting.¡± If that was the case, he was in luck. The protagonist of the book never died at the very beginning. There would always be time to gather clues. All he had to do was be observant. Look for anything in the local news or rumors over theing days.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Writers are predictable.¡± Rowan muttered with a proud grin. ¡°They¡¯ll always follow the same form. First, the monster will attack those in the area of the protagonist, gradually taking out those more important to his story. As he realizes the crisis he¡¯s in, he¡¯ll be able to identify weaknesses in the monster.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aftering to that conclusion, he stood from his desk, starting to pace in the room. ¡°I¡¯ve been thrust into this setting. First, I need to identify who my friends and family are. They¡¯re the most likely targets for whatever monster Lifre has concocted for me. Once I¡¯ve done that, I can watch for their deaths, and review the method of death. If it¡¯s a monster that can¡¯t be killed, like a void entity, I have to identify its pattern and escape. Otherwise, I need to prepare anything that could be rted to the monster¡¯s death.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Rowan looked around, retrieving amunication crystal and looking at his contacts. There were several that could be seen, and some that had been marked as mother, sister, or cousin. Rowan first called his sister¡¯s number, waiting for the call to connect. He pursed his lips, listening as the call eventually went to voicemail. ¡°Has it already started? If it went for my sister first, that is understandable.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Instead, he looked at his call history, and called the most frequently used number. <i><span style="font-weight:400">That should be my best friend in this setting. </i><span style="font-weight:400">The ringtone went on and on¡­ and soon went to voicemail.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At this point, Rowan had started to be concerned. ¡°It¡¯s been less than ten minutes, and it¡¯s already gone after both of them? But¡­ there weren¡¯t any suspicious news reports.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying that, Rowan rushed back to his desk, opening the news reports once again. Same as before, nothing unusual had been posted. There didn¡¯t seem to be any new reports from when he had just checked. He couldn¡¯t hear any sirens outside, and there weren¡¯t any panicked cries. Nothing that would indicate a mass outbreak or some kind of rampant monster.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Rowan¡¯s eyes scanned through the reports, looking for anything that could be the slightest bit suspicious. He sorted them by the most recent reports, and thest report was simply about a normal car crash on the highway involving a drunk driver. His brow furrowed, before his eyes went wide. He looked at the timestamp of the report, andpared it to the clock on his terminal.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Eight hours.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> There hadn¡¯t been any news reports for an eight hour period. Whether it was political, weather, or random gossip, thest report was from eight hours ago.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Realizing this, he rushed out of his chair, not even bothering to turn off the terminal this time. His mind was racing, throwing open the curtains of the window again. He was prepared to see an endless horde of undead, a civilization in ruins, or even signs of monsters everywhere. Instead¡­ he saw nothing. No people. No cars in the street. There were a few dogs walking around on their own, a slime rolling down the sidewalk, but not a person in sight.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Normally, this wouldn¡¯t be too unusual. After all, it was the middle of the night. Why would he be expecting to see people right outside his window? The lights inside the house across the street were on, so the upants should be just inside. Same for the houses adjacent to it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Rowan grit his teeth, running to the door and rushing across the street. He could hear music being yed inside, and looked for a window he could peek in through. Thankfully, the curtains weren¡¯t closed on the living room, allowing him to peer through. The living room was empty, the lights left on.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Across from the couch, it looked like the family had been watching a movie, the image still projected on the opposite wall. However, when Rowan looked at that projection, he felt his blood go cold. There were faces pressed up against the projection, three of them. They seemed to be pounding against the surface of the wall they were ced upon, as if trying to get out.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Worse, their eyes were staring at Rowan, looks of horror on their faces. He couldn¡¯t hear them, the sound blocked from exiting the projection. However, he could make out some of what they were saying by the movement of their lips. ¡°Don¡¯t¡­ watch.¡± As soon as he came to that point, he turned around, rushing back to his house with a pale face.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">This is definitely a void monster. Don¡¯t watch? Did that family get pulled in because they were watching a regr program, or a certain movie? No, this hit everyone locally at once. It has to have been something moremon than a particr movie. Don¡¯t watch any program?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, Rowan couldn¡¯t be sure that the family themselves knew the full story. All that they would know was that they had been pulled into the projection while they were watching whatever they had been watching at the time. Everyone would only have a small piece of information. He could go to other houses, try to find simr cases, but¡­ if the trigger for the threat was watching the screen, he would only be dooming himself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Rowan nced over to the terminal again, pursing his lips. Potentially, he could check it again to see if this was only a local event, or something worldwide. If it was worldwide, leaving wouldn¡¯t help him. But¡­ staying would help him even less.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He shook his head, turning and preparing to leave again. His hand grabbed the handle of the door, before simply passing through it. In horror, he looked down at his hand, seeing it fade in and out like static. His eyes turned back to the terminal, and he lunged for it, wanting to immediately turn it off. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Don¡¯t look at any projection!</i> <i><span style="font-weight:400">That was the real threat, any form of projection!</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately for Rowan, his body never made it to the desk. Not quite. Instead, it floated up into the air, shooting straight into the projected screen. He stood on the news website, looking around in horror. <i><span style="font-weight:400">The only hope was to immediately abandon all technology¡­ The moment I left the screen on, or maybe even as soon as I turned it on the second time, it was already over.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unbeknownst to Rowan, this incident had long been noticed by the public. More than eighty percent of the poption had been trapped in some form of screen ormunication device. Those who survived fled the cities, escaping into the mountains and other undeveloped areas. For those people, they had the chance to build anew, away from theirworks and screens. <i><span style="font-weight:400">They</i><span style="font-weight:400"> had the chance to survive.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre clicked her tongue as she looked down at the book, which had only written up to the first few pages. ¡°I thought he¡¯dst at least a little longer than that. Obviously, if you¡¯re in a horror story, you should evacuate at the first opportunity. Waiting for the monster to attack those close to you? What would that help? You just get out immediately, and any monster in that area would no longer be a threat.¡± She muttered under her breath, shaking her head. While she was waiting for Rowan to escape from the book she trapped him in, she was also helping to remove the blood infection from the various Maxers present.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was¡­ a rather simple task, really. Because she was a slime, she was familiar with changing her body into all different types of materials, even subtle gic differences. And now that she was familiar with blood, she began to give blood transfusions to those present, draining their current blood supply while injecting them with blood of a matching type.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This allowed her to remove the blood that was infected by Rowan, enabling the victims to move again. As forpletely removing the influence of the blood, they would need to seek out the church of Leowynn to receive a blessing.

 Chapter 936: The Storyteller

    Chapter 936: The Storyteller


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre let out a huff when she hadpletely switched the blood for thest of the infected Maxers. She knew that Rowan was dead, so there was no rush to take care of things, but these people couldn¡¯t help but be anxious. After all, they were dealing with a power that was able to make even beings who had long since transcended their mortal bodies feel the threat of such a mundane death.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What¡¯s gotten into peopletely?¡± She muttered to herself, shaking her head and stretching her arms out to the side. ¡°Well, at least this is dealt with. Though¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre cast her gaze downwards, letting out a long sigh as she began rolling her shoulders. Projecting World Sight had be a habit for her, primarily as a way to train this new energy. When she looked down, she could see the squirming masses hidden beneath the surface. ¡°I guess you guys are about done preparing your big move, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Deep beneath the surface, there was a pit of ravenous insects, all directing vicious gazes towards the surface. These creatures had first been drawn over due to the sound of construction, but even more so when the first to arrive had perished. Now, a wide array of species had gathered, some of which typically preyed on one another, and yet their enmity was all directed at the surface.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre couldn¡¯t understand the ecosystem of this floor, but she knew that the Maxers here would be doomed if she allowed these bugs to surface. Sess would have been debatable at best before Rowan¡¯s interference, but now that they had to worry about their blood supply, defeat was almost a certainty.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Since that¡¯s the case¡­¡± Lifre closed her eyes, extending her hand out to the side. ¡°Grant me what I require.¡± As she muttered under her breath, golden ripples spread in the air around her finger. When she closed her hand, these ripples formed into a sheet of paper. Lifre opened her eyes curiously, bringing the paper over to look at it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">On the paper was a map¡­ leading about twenty meters behind herself. ¡°Really? You want me to evacuate? Quit joking around and give me what I <i><span style="font-weight:400">really</i><span style="font-weight:400"> require already.¡± She huffed, focusing her divinity. This was her first divine artifact, so there were some¡­ peculiarities to it, but it had never really failed her before.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The piece of paper shimmered in response to her words, forming a suit of golden armor that stuck to her body. ¡°Now that¡¯s more like it.¡± Lifre grinned, sensing the enchantments on the armor. ¡°Acid resistance, gravity reduction, and shing resistance? Guess there shouldn¡¯t be anything too bad from them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As Lifre spoke, her hands reached out once again. ¡°Come, the sword of challenge.¡± She called out, surprising those nearby as a greatsword appeared in her thin arms. The nearby workers could tell that she was preparing for battle, so of course the Maxers noticed as well, everyone nervous due to their current state.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre clicked her tongue at that, holding her sword high. Ever since she had cultivated her divine circuits, she knew that she didn¡¯t have to perform any sort of chant to activate her divine power. Despite this, she felt that the dramatic re of doing so was necessary to build momentum. That and she just liked how it felt. ¡°Come forth, tales of distant legends!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The sky above darkened as a circr library manifested high above Lifre, releasing a resplendent golden light that covered the area. ¡°Arise, unsung heroes. Those who pave the foundation of a mighty kingdom. Every god needs a temple, and every hero needs a home.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Golden, ghostly figures began to jump from the archway of the floating pce,nding heavily all around Lifre. Perhaps because of the energy she was releasing, but Lifre could sense that the beasts beneath the surface were growing more and more agitated. However, there was still one artifact she had yet to trigger, kept hidden within her library.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Enter, the wicked army, those who serve as the goal of heroes. Without a viin, no story may beplete.¡± The library¡¯s light grew brighter as the final artifact activated, a book hidden within its depths flying open.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a bestial roar, seven figures flying from the pce. These were seven massive lions, the one in front having a mane of fire. When Lifre saw this, a grin spread over her lips. ¡°I greet the king of beasts.¡± She spoke in a cordial tone, the previous figures she had summoned all moving to hasten the construction efforts.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The leading lion let out a deep growl, its voice echoing in the air. ¡°<i><span style="font-weight:400">What have you summoned us for, storyteller?</i><span style="font-weight:400">¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre spread her arms out wide, gesturing to thend around her. ¡°This is and where beasts cannot roam, where your kingdom has been usurped by mere insects. Those who crawl beneath the surface have dared to threaten your sovereignty, great ruler. When I saw such a sight, I felt it my duty to summon the lord of all that walks thend.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, these words were merely improvised on the spot. Lifre had no control over which monster she summoned from the viinous army. So long as it was an antagonist that she had written within its pages, it could be summoned at random.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As for why she used such a precious treasure to summon viins rather than heroes? First of all, it was more exciting! Even a viin could perform a righteous deed if it crossed their bottom line. And as the ¡®storyteller¡¯, Lifre knew the minds of every viin she wrote, and had a measure of authority over them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sure enough, the king of beasts let out a furious growl at Lifre¡¯s words. The thought that its kingdom was stolen by pests was something that it could not tolerate. In its story, it was meant to be a mighty ruler that led an army of beasts to roam the world, fighting against the heroes of man.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Its eyes nced towards the nearby people building the city. ¡°<i><span style="font-weight:400">You wish to use me to protect these mongrels?</i><span style="font-weight:400">¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course not, great king.¡± Lifre shook her head. ¡°These fellows behind me wish to construct a ce of worship, where they may revel in your glory.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The ming lion scoffed, its eyes turning towards the ground. ¡°<i><span style="font-weight:400">Whether you speak true or not, these pests cannot be tolerated. As you are the storyteller, I shall grant you this request.</i><span style="font-weight:400">¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°<i><span style="font-weight:400">Seele, open the way!</i><span style="font-weight:400">¡± The king roared, one of the lions behind it letting out a joyous cry. In response to the cry, the ground split open, a ck crevice extending endlessly below the budding city. ¡°<i><span style="font-weight:400">Crete, lead the hunt!</i><span style="font-weight:400">¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Another of the lions lunged forward, its body carried by the wind and flying down into the crack, the other five following. This left only the king together with Lifre, who bowed politely. ¡°Allow me to join you on your crusade. It would be the greatest of insults if I were to summon one such as yourself to fight a battle I dare not wish to partake in myself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The king seemed pleased by her words. ¡°<i><span style="font-weight:400">Indeed¡­ very well, storyteller. Show me the power that shapes worlds!</i><span style="font-weight:400">¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As it spoke, it followed its pack, jumping down into the abyss below. Lifre¡¯s lips spread into a wide grin, holding her sword over her shoulder as she followed. Thankfully, the King of Beasts had a simple mindset. If she had called the Phantom de, the Cackling Demon, or the Gluttonous Lord, it would have taken a great deal more convincing. Of course, while he was simple, this also meant that his power was near the lower end of the monsters she controlled.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That didn¡¯t matter so much to Lifre, though. Regardless of where hey within the scale of power, this was still the aid of seven gods, while those on the surface were held at bay by the fear of death.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The King of Beasts lit the way for Lifre, the group soon reaching the massive cave that she had sensed before. The six leading lions had already begun their brawl, their bodies littered with scratches from the swarms that sought to devour them. Seeing this, the king was enraged, the mes on his body sweeping out to envelop the insects below. ¡°<i><span style="font-weight:400">You dare?!</i><span style="font-weight:400">¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a chorus of screeching voices, Lifre diving straight into the fray. With a thought, she activated her adventure, buffing herself and her allies while casting a wide area debuff on the enemies. Were it not for the presence of the king, she would have happily chanted the effects. However, she knew that she had an image to maintain.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her body moved like a shadow, sweeping through dozens of insectoid monsters in a single slice. With her divine sword in hand, she was not concerned with the hard shells of these creatures.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately, while she could sweep through dozens in a single move, and the king of beasts could burn thousands, that number was insignificantpared to the sheer size of the insectoid army. Within moments, Lifre¡¯s body was buried beneath a chitinous tide, her sword iling and trying to split apart as many enemies as she could.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre was bing more and more frustrated as time went on. Not because she was being overpowered, but because her energy was being drained to maintain so many artifacts! It wasn¡¯t often that Lifre had to consume her divinity on such arge scale, and she felt like it would take hours before they managed to clear out this swarm. And that was assuming that the seven divine lions managed to survive that long.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Just as she was thinking that, she heard a voice from up above. ¡°Chain arrow.¡± After that soft voice sounded, a silver light shed by Lifre¡¯s body, striking the head of one of the insects attacking her. Immediately afterwards, two lights left the insect, striking two others near it. From each of those, two more lights appeared.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Arrows?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Lifre blinked, looking upwards. There, she could see two halfling gods standing within the path carved by the lions. ¡°The Grids!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Theon offered a small nod, keeping his eyes focused. ¡°This is too unbnced of a fight. We need to even out the numbers a bit.¡± He said, the silver lines amplifying even faster. Next to him, Thessa was already drawing her next arrow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This arrow seemed¡­ dangerous. Even Lifre had a feeling of crisis when looking at the arrow, the halfling Goddess keeping her eyes calm. ¡°Reaping arrow.¡± She muttered, letting it loose. The arrow struck the forehead of a particrly bulky beetle, piercing clean through it and striking the ground behind it. When it did so, a dark wave spread out, every insect within a hundred meters simply copsing.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯s so much easier having properbat gods on our side¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Life muttered inwardly, though she didn¡¯t fail to notice the wary look that shed over the face of the king of beasts. ¡°Oh great king, the hunters of man havee to aid us in our battle!¡± She called out, mentallymunicating to the two halflings to y along.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The lion looked at the duo, only receiving a small nod from Thessa before letting out a rumbling snort. ¡°<i><span style="font-weight:400">As if I would require the aid of man!? Everyone, attack in full! Show these hunters that we are not to be pitied!</i><span style="font-weight:400">¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The six other lions roared, lifting their damaged bodies and once more pouncing towards the remaining swarm. This battle was far from over, but at least the immediate crisis was resolved. <i><span style="font-weight:400">How did you two get here, anyways?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thessa was the one to answer, nocking another reaping arrow on her bow. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Theon¡¯s a priest of Aurivy. We have been visiting all of the major development sites as a patrol. When we got here, someone told us that there was trouble down here.</i>

 Chapter 937: Celestial Automation

    Chapter 937: Celestial Automation


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre let out a long sigh, happy to see that the urgent problem of the underground insect army had been dealt with after a few more rounds of fire from both the king of beasts and Thessa Grid. Naturally, there were still far more creatures inhabiting this world, but this would be enough to buy this construction team a bit of safety. With any luck, by the next time a monster hoard appeared, the city above would have beenpleted.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thanks for the save.¡± Lifre grinned up towards the halfling duo, before looking at the seven lions that she had summoned. After such an arduous battle, these divine beasts were in a miserable state, their bodies covered in golden wounds. Some of them looked almost ethereal, as if they were going to fade away at any moment. ¡°Oh, and thanks to you guys, too.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The leading lion furrowed his brow, looking at Lifre in surprise at her tone. She did not show any of the same respect she had disyed when asking for their help, and instead sounded almost dismissive. However, before it could say anything to scold her for such insolence, its body broke apart into specks of light.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre nodded her head in satisfaction, happy to know that it had worked out. What happened in the outside world wasn¡¯t recorded within the stories of the creatures she summoned. As such, they would never remember this battle, nor how they had aided her. When she once again summoned the tale of the King of Beasts, it would be as if this whole event had never happened.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thessa and Theon watched as the divine beasts faded into nothing, golden lights streaming back to the library above the surface. A momentter, Lifre¡¯s own armor and sword melted away. ¡°We¡¯re just happy to help.¡± Thessa said with a small smile.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unlike most gods, she had no interest in establishing her own world or using her strengths to be rich and famous. From the very beginning, she had only wanted to use her divine power to help others, whether her brother or the people around her. Meanwhile, Theon recognized the abilities of himself and his sister, and decided that they were best utilized as defenders. This was why they could often be found among the highest floors of Fyor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre nodded her head, already aware of the nature of these two. They were quite popr as the main characters in several stories written by their fans in Fyor. ¡°In that case¡­¡± Lifre¡¯s body lifted up, moving to leave the chasm that had been created. ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here and close this up. Can¡¯t have it messing up the foundation or anything.¡± Now that she had summoned the architects of her library, Lifre was bound to be staying here until the city waspleted¡­


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">After Aznod and Tsubaki prepared the meal for us, alia and the others began to exin some of the areas that they had discovered while I was immersed in my training. Admittedly, most of the rooms were rather normal, just with special twists like the functions of the training room. For instance, Ryone had discovered that everyone had a gaming room in their pce, featuring state of the art equipment. Not only could you connect to your Virtual self through it, you could project a fully realistic hologram of your surroundings, simting a virtual experience while offline. This was mostly useful when someone wanted to hold conference calls and needed everyone to gather, but it was still a nice touch.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Who wouldin about a few extra features? Other rooms throughout Olympus had simr quirks. After some exploring, Ashley discovered that the throne room had a hidden projector to disy various newsworks.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As Tsubaki led me on a tour of her own pce, I couldn¡¯t help but nce around. ¡°By the way¡­ where are Dana and Lifre?¡± It had been a while since I saw the two of them. Dana, I could understand if she was repairing the Sky Citadel, but Lifre? That wasn¡¯t really her area of expertise.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki tilted her head in thought at my question. ¡°Lifre said that she was going to go on an adventure. However, I do not know precisely where she chose to do so. As for Dana¡­ she said that she wanted to work on her Sky Chariot project. Although Olympus has both flight andbat capabilities, she doesn¡¯t want to give up on this project.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">ra grinned broadly as she stood before a burning star, as if the intense heat didn¡¯t both her in the slightest. It had taken some work to convince Dana to allow her to get this familiar. Now that she almost had it, she was ecstatic. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I choose you, Sirius!</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">ra held her hands forward, forming a gate at the heart of the star and thrusting her spiritual energy into it. As the mes of the star burned her soul, she let out augh, silenced by the vacuum of space. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Oh, this will be SO worth it!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She shouted in her mind, feeling her soul plunging into the gate.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Momentster, the star shook, before rapidly copsing in on itself until it was norger than her fist. Above ra¡¯s head, her health bar shed, dropping down to roughly a third thanks to the damage her spirit had sustained. Despite that, her eyes were wide and happy, drawing her new familiar over to herself. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Now, let¡¯s get you evolving.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Closing her eyes, ra focused on the connection she had to Ryone as the Apostle of Magic. Mana and spiritual energy flooded from her body, causing herplexion to go pale. Even so, she didn¡¯t stop, feeling her health drop further and further. First, one pebble formed around the star, and then a second, and finally a third. Each pebble represented a full after being erged, and also a rank increase for the familiar.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After the third, ra felt that she was able to make it grow. However, she did not choose to do so yet, and instead absorbed the familiar into herself. Rapidly evolving a celestial body familiar had caused a considerable amount of damage, and cost far too much energy. There was something else that she had to do before she could bring it out and allow it to grow to its full size.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Hey, bossss!!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> ra called out in her mind, tearing open a gate through the void. She could feel the sensors of Olympus sweeping over her, identifying her as Dana before allowing her entry. While the Keeper was registering her initial call, ra rushed to the nearest elevator. ¡°Hermes, take me to the Keeper, please and thank you!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a moment¡¯s dy, before a blue light shed over her body. Without waiting for Hermes to guide her, she rushed out of the elevator, almost colliding with the Keeper and Tsubaki. ¡°Ah, there you are!¡± She said with a wild grin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper blinked down at ra, ncing at her hair. ¡°You are¡­ ra, correct?¡± He asked, as if unsure which of the familiars she was.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right! I¡¯ve got a favor to ask! Well, I doubt it¡¯ll really be that much of a problem for you. Barely an inconvenience really, but it¡¯ll help us with a lot of stuff in the future!¡± ra spoke out, causing Tsubaki¡¯s brow to twitch. Still, the Keeper looked down at her curiously.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What is the favor?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing his question, ra beamed a bright smile. ¡°I need ore veins for my new familiar! Mage Heart, Blood Heart, Dimensium, all of it! From my understanding, it won¡¯t cost you any extra points to attach ore veins to a now that you¡¯ve already bought them right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper seemed rather surprised by her request, before nodding. ¡°That¡¯s right. Setting up the mineral nodes for you isn¡¯t an issue. Though, I¡¯m curious why you¡¯re so¡­ energetic about it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">ra giggled, shaking her head. ¡°This is the personality that I told my main self I¡¯d be going with! If I make a promise like that, I¡¯m all in! Oh, and can you make sure the nodes respawn? I don¡¯t want to have toe and bug you again if we eventually run out.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That made the Keeper hesitate briefly, before nodding his head. ¡°This isn¡¯t a civilian world, and I assume that you just want to use it for your research, correct?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yup!¡± ra nodded quickly. ¡°This is going to be our new workshop. I¡¯ve got a bunch of ideas I want to try out, but can¡¯t without a lot of open space. And the respawning resources will make sure that I don¡¯t have to tap into our budget and can do it all myself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a bit more to it than that, of course. For instance, if she needed rare herbs or monster materials, she would still need to use Dana¡¯s research budget. However, being able to supply all of her own mineral resources would make it so that she could automate the vast majority of the process. Especially once the Mage Heart and Blood Heart veins were established, as those could be used to fuel not only the workshop, but the entire familiar¡¯s gigantification.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper thought about that, before nodding his head. ¡°Give me just a minute.¡± He spoke with a smile, before the light seemed to fade from his eyes. ra could tell that he had gone back to the Admin Room, and Tsubaki let out a low sigh.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Did you really have to rush in here like that?¡± She asked, shaking her head. ra simply chuckled in response.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Like I said, I gotta stick to my role, Tsuba! I¡¯m the loud, energetic, optimist. Or were you enjoying your quiet time with your Keeper.¡± She gave a small wink at that, Tsubaki¡¯s eyes going wide.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It was nothing like that.¡± Tsubaki said, ncing off to the side. Though, her tails were a bit more honest, waving happily behind her. ra grinned, knowing that Tsubaki enjoyed those rare moments when she could be alone with the Keeper. It was almost built into her training to want to be with him at all times.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, I know.¡± She nodded her head. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, once I get this upgrade, I¡¯ll get out of your hair and let you get back to the tour. Oh, also! There¡¯s a Trial of Blood simtor in your pce.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s eyes went wide at that, quickly looking at ra. ¡°How do you know that?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The ck-haired elf gave a mysterious smile. ¡°I¡¯m the one that asked him to put it in. You¡¯ll have to find where he put it, but it should be able to simte the effects of a Trial of Blood.¡± After she said that, she immediately closed her mouth, feeling the presence of the Keeper changing once again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sorry, it took me a moment to locate your familiar.¡± The Keeper apologized with a smile. ¡°It should have all of the basic resource nodes set up, all with a simr respawn timer as Mage Heart. I went ahead and set up veins in all three of yours and spread them out, since I wasn¡¯t sure which one you wanted to use.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯re the best!¡± ra eximed happily, jumping in joy. She ran up to him, and hugged his arm for a moment before turning to run away again. ¡°I¡¯ve got to go set up an automated mining system now!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After leaving that message behind, ra ran to the elevator. ¡°Take me away, Hermes! I¡¯ve got a revolution to start!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">ra¡¯s mind was already filled to the brim with different machines that Dana had learned about over the years. Survey drones and auto-miners, smelteries and processing nts. Once she had the two energy crystals mining, she wouldn¡¯t have to worry much about pollution, given that ki was a rather clean burning fuel source.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The biggest hurdle that she¡¯d have to face was the fact that she was only one person¡­ so it would take quite a bit of time to do all the manualbor to get everything built. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Automate everything as fast as possible!</i>

 Chapter 938: A New Type Of Automation

    Chapter 938: A New Type Of Automation


    <span style="font-weight:400">The hardest part of her automation project, naturally, was getting started. If ra were ying the survival game that Dana had created ages ago, she would have needed to start from creating the most basic tools, and then using those to gradually improve her technology level. Thankfully, that wasn¡¯t really required in this case as she made her way to the private world where their old factories were.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The benefit of doing this in the real world is rather simple, and that is that she can use materials that she already has avable in order to get the basic framework started. Once she got to the old factory, she immediately ran to the maintenance warehouse. ¡°I can¡¯t take all the buildings, but I can at least grab a few drones to help me get started.¡± She muttered to herself, looking through what was avable.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, after decades of disuse, the drones in the warehouse weren¡¯t in peak condition, but she had the materials needed to repair them easily enough. From the warehouse, she was able to obtain five survey drones and six portable smelteries. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Not the best haul, but I can make it work!</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once she had what she needed to get started, she left this private world and went back to Deckan¡¯s universe. The fact that the dimensium levels in this universe were so high would make it easier for ra¡¯s owns to adjust. ¡°First thing¡¯s first, though¡­¡± She muttered, before closing her eyes and focusing on her connection with the familiar.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">We can¡¯t have you destroying the factories and mines every time you shrink.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Shemunicated, receiving a soft whine of response back from the star. Due to its nature, the celestial body familiar seemed to have a rather low intelligence. Or, maybe that had something to do with ra instead. Either way, she focused on creating a spell that would automatically trigger whenever the familiar changed size, altering the scale of anything linked to it to match.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After finishing that spell, she moved out into the vast expanse of space, finding an open region where her familiar wouldn¡¯t draw any unwanted attention. Only then did she allow it to expand to its full size. Seeing the star swelling up in front of her, ra was once again battered with the super-intense heat.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If not for her status as an energy body, she would be directly evaporated by such close proximity to the sun. Thankfully, she was able to turn around and examine the threes that hade with her familiar¡¯s evolutions. The first two were rather close, too close at least to produce nt life, with their surface temperature seeming to average around five hundred degrees. With it being so hot, there was naturally no water to be found.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯ll just use those two as resource farms when my first can¡¯t keep up.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She muttered inwardly, turning to the third. It seemed to be positioned perfectly within the habitable zone, judging by the vast oceans and greenery. <i><span style="font-weight:400">New base, acquired!</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">ra rushed forward with a wide grin, turning into a ck line that shot through space. In only a few seconds, she had arrived on the surface of the, looking around. ¡°Okay, first order of business when starting a new resource management game. Identify a starting location. For that¡­ fly, my pretties!¡± She cackled, holding her hands up and releasing the five survey drones from her inventory.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The silver robots flew into the air, dense cones of light shooting out below them as they began to fly in different directions. ¡°The Keeper said that he seeded these worlds with suitable resources, but these are respawning resources. I can¡¯t assume that the quantity would be as high as a normal world. Unless he was just feeling <i><span style="font-weight:400">really</i><span style="font-weight:400"> generous. Though¡­ the boss is typically pretty generous when someone asks a favor, so¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">ra activated her terminal, which had been linked to the drones, and watched as the map was gradually filled in. ¡°There¡¯s a surface vein of copper five hundred meters to the south. Iron to the north, eight hundred meters and then thirty meters down. Coal¡­ I can¡¯t expect coal. I¡¯ll need a logger to cut down trees for charcoal so that I can make steel.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she thought about that, ra realized a rather critical error. ¡°I couldn¡¯t find any mining drones!¡± She gasped, gripping the sides of her head. ¡°Am I going to have to dig it out by hand? No, that would take too long. I could just buy a mining robot? But I promised that I¡¯d be self-sufficient¡­ ah!¡±


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Sienna!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> ra mentally called through her World¡¯s Shadow. When in doubt, delegate and outsource!


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Hmm?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Sienna¡¯s reply was soft, moments before ra¡¯s shadow shifted and rose, the other familiar of Dana appearing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, good, you¡¯re free!¡± ra eximed, jumping forward to hug the girl that was essentially her twin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not free.¡± Sienna corrected, allowing herself to be hugged. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">ra blinked, but spoke even while continuing to hold onto the taciturn elf. ¡°Well, I¡¯m setting up this really big factory operation. I¡¯ve got pretty much everything I need¡­ other than manualbor. Do you have any monsters that can handle mining or logging? I¡¯ll do the construction work myself until I can get a robot for it!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sienna narrowed her eyes slightly, looking around. While ra¡¯s primary job was patrolling the void, Sienna¡¯s was to train the monster army within Dana¡¯s shadow world. Logistics workers were naturally included in her army. ¡°What are you making?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Uhm¡­ everything!¡± ra chuckled at Sienna¡¯s question. ¡°The mineral nodes here respawn, so I want to use this as my primary research facility. I already arranged everything with the Keeper.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sienna¡¯s eyes sharpened a bit when she heard that. ¡°The Keeper agreed¡­ okay.¡± She nodded, thinking for a moment. ¡°How many?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">ra pursed her lips in thought. ¡°That depends on their efficiency. I currently have portable smelteries able to process one thousand kilograms of raw minerals every hour. My first job will be a home base with my first assembly line working towards better smelteries, and then I can make my own miners.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sienna shook her head at ra¡¯s n. ¡°Leave mining to me.¡± She said firmly, catching ra by surprise.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You want to be permanently in charge of my mining operations?¡± When she asked that, Sienna nodded her head quickly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. Good training for monsters. What is the respawn duration?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">ra had to think about that. ¡°He said that it was the same as the others, so it should respawn every week. I¡¯m still running a mineral survey, though.¡± When ra said that, Sienna narrowed her eyes at her. ¡°...You want me to let you handle the surveys, as well?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sienna nodded her head once again. ¡°Good training. Do trees respawn? Have druids, if not.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">ra blinked, before shaking her head. ¡°No, I didn¡¯t ask for nt life to respawn, only the minerals and crystals. This has all of the basic minerals, as well as Mage Heart and Blood Heart.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sienna¡¯s eyes briefly widened, nodding her head quickly. ¡°Good training. Have you found your home site?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not yet.¡± ra shook her head before pausing, blinking. ¡°Hey¡­ you remember the Aurans?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she asked that, she saw Sienna¡¯s eyes going wide, practically sparkling in anticipation. ra gave a knowing grin. ¡°Want to use the Fallen Goddess of Darkness powers to create bio-engineered shadow monster smelteries?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Again, a sharp nod met her question. ra simply let out a lightugh. ¡°Alright, you make those. I¡¯ll let you be in charge of mining, logging, smelting, and transportation. I¡¯ll handle the production lines. For your new shadow monsters, make them only run on ki for sustenance. We can make a Blood Heart node our first mining project.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sienna thought about it for a moment, before nodding her head. With a biological temte to base a shadow monster on, it wouldn¡¯t be too hard to create a monster with a simr ability. While the Aurans weren¡¯t directly smelters, they were able to break down minerals that they ate, and perform a type of alchemy to change them into another form. This newly created form was pure enough that it could be used to smelt minerals, as long as the input and outputs were the same, removing the impurities.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In fact, scientists had started working together with Aurans for years, trying to create an alchemical furnace that could replicate their effects in a machine. Unfortunately, the process had yet to bepleted, as certain mysterious traits from their own biology had yet to be solved. Thankfully, Sienna didn¡¯t need to perfectly understand those traits. All she had to do was copy and paste.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Anything else?¡± Sienna asked, clearly eager to get back to the shadows so that she could make this new creature.


    <span style="font-weight:400">ra thought about it for a few moments. ¡°I can handleary defense myself. After all, this entire sr system is my familiar. From what I can tell, there¡¯s not any natural animal life, so there shouldn¡¯t be any local threats. Speaking of, have you gotten your familiar yet?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sienna paused, shaking her head. ¡°Not yet. Haven¡¯t decided.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">ra let out a long sigh. ¡°Yeah, I suppose it¡¯s a bit harder for you. The best in your case would be a familiar capable of ryingmands to arge group, but that¡¯s basically what Dana set <i><span style="font-weight:400">you</i><span style="font-weight:400"> up for. If I know her, and she¡¯s basically me, you were given a bunch of spells rted to armymands and monster development. Maybe you should go for a purebat familiar, something that can serve as your bodyguard? And preferably cute.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sienna hesitated for a moment. ¡°Why cute?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Just imagine!¡± ra chuckled. ¡°You¡¯re holding this cute little thing in your arms, and then an enemy shows up. Suddenly, your familiar jumps out, smacking the enemy to death before jumping back in your arms.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sienna blinked, slowly nodding at that idea. ¡°Cute and powerful¡­¡± She seemed to be briefly lost in thought, before her eyes focused. The ground around her shattered and shifted, forming arge diagram. Above, clouds seemed to gather, the wind picking up.


    <span style="font-weight:400">ra¡¯s eyes went wide, jumping back as she saw Sienna immediately taking action. ¡°Okay, you go fast!¡± As she said that, a ck portal appeared in front of Sienna, silver mist slowly pouring out.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I call upon you, who rests beyond the veil.¡± Sienna¡¯s soft voice spoke, echoing as the wind began to spiral overhead. ¡°The gentle breeze, the destructive storm. I call upon you, who resonates with my breath. May our path be as one, may the skies speak out names. You who knows the strength of my resolve, heed this summon and arrive like a gale.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sienna held one hand out towards the portal as she chanted, seeming to guide the wind into it. As she finished, a burst of air pressure pushed away the clouds, clearing the sky and forcing ra to slide back. Her feet dug a long trench in the ground before she could stabilize herself, looking up at Sienna.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The portal to the Underworld had vanished by this point. Now, in Sienna¡¯s arms, was a small, white weasel. Its tail was curved sharp, like a fluffy de, and it nuzzled its head against her neck. Sienna¡¯s entire body seemed to rx as she held her new familiar, causing ra to chuckle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°A sickle weasel? I suppose that would count as cute and dangerous at the same time.¡± ra nodded her head, resisting the urge to run over and pet the little creature. With how gently Sienna was holding it, she knew her ¡®twin¡¯ wouldn¡¯t want the new familiar to be startled. ¡°What are you going to name it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sienna blinked at that, furrowing her brows. She thought back to the stories that Aurivy had told them, before nodding her head. ¡°Kama. His name is Kama.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">ra rolled her eyes at the name, but Sienna was clearly satisfied. ¡°Alright. You go get to work on supplying the monsters for the factory. I¡¯ll find a location for the home base.¡±

 Chapter 939: Digitize

    Chapter 939: Digitize


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Try to keep an eye on them for me, Terra.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I whispered mentally after I sent off ra to handle her new world and the factories within.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Oh? You think something might happen with them?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The felyn goddess asked in interest, causing me to shake my head.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Not quite. Rather, I want to test the viability of worlds with respawning resources. If we hit a resource crisis in the future, I can designate one of the floors of Fyor as a resource farm, and set everything there to be respawning.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">While I didn¡¯t like to personally step in and take action to handle smaller issues, it was different when the world was facing a crisis, such as the previous economic, energy, or food crises. For the moment, those were handled to a suitable degree, but I couldn¡¯t be sure that the solution would be longsting. Instead, I wanted to make sure that such problems could be taken care of as they arose. If it was something that the mortals could handle on their own, then I was perfectly willing to let them do so.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">That makes sense. </i><span style="font-weight:400">Terra nodded her head, before speaking up. <i><span style="font-weight:400">In that case, may I offer a suggestion, following this line of thought?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked at that while Tsubaki once again began leading me through her pce. It had been a long time since Terra saw the need to step in when it came to the development of the world. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Of course. If I¡¯m missing anything, I definitely need to know.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I could practically hear the small smile in Terra¡¯s voice. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯s not an incredibly pressing matter for the moment. However, within the next few years, it is bound to escte. Some people have already taken notice, and are moving to create short-term solutions, but nothing that will stand the test of time.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Do you remember the new change you made to the food systems of the world?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Of course.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I nodded my head. <i><span style="font-weight:400">The new system makes it so that even low level civilians can eat high level food, just in smaller quantities. Now farmers and hunters can focus on providing high level materials and normalize the culinary requirements of the people. The only thing that each person needs to be concerned with, as far as their levels are concerned, is their serving sizes.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s right.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Terra responded gently. <i><span style="font-weight:400">As you said, this makes farmers and hunters focus on higher quality. Thankfully, the animal side of things can be dealt with thanks to alia¡¯s Huntresses spreading out the territory that they cover. Unfortunately, the same can¡¯t be said for farmers.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Due to growing high level nts, those nts need to consume nutrients suitable to their level. Currently, farmers are able to work around this by redistributing the nutrients from deep in the soil or the surrounding area. Eventually, those are going to run out, and previously fertilend will turn barren.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked when Terra mentioned that, having not thought of this issue before. <i><span style="font-weight:400">¡­You¡¯re suggesting I set the nutrients in the soil to be respawning? Is that something that even qualifies for my new system?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">No, it doesn¡¯t. And that¡¯s one of the options you could go for. Regardless of what you choose, you¡¯d need to buy a small adjustment to the system. The first option is as you said, set the nutrients to be respawning. However, this will make it so that nutrients are constantly being added without ever draining, due to the dposition of more nts and animals.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">The second option is to buy a small system for farmers, in which they can designate a farm for themselves. This system would enrich the soil of the farm to match the level of the farmer. It could also provide other benefits, such as increased crop yield or growth speed.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Another option is buying a world trait, Rich Soil, which ensures that thend maintains a certain level of richness to it. However, this would cause a rapid spread of vegetation over previously barrennds.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a nod as she listed the options. Of the three, the second seemed to be the clear favorite, and for obvious reasons. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Is it possible to use James¡¯ void technology to produce fertilizer?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a slight pause after that, before Terra eventually answered. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Theoretically, it¡¯s possible. However, to produce the amount of fertilizer needed to cover every farmer¡¯s needs, there would need to be hundreds of thousands of void factories devoted solely to that.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">And doing that would create passages in the void through which void beasts could invade, right?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I asked with a low sigh. No wonder Terra hadn¡¯t included that as one of the options. While it was theoretically viable, it would open us up to greater danger. <i><span style="font-weight:400">How much does the farmer add-on cost?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Only one hundred and fifty points.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Terra seemed relieved that I hadn¡¯t gone the void path for this development, but I couldn¡¯t me her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod, but didn¡¯t immediately return to the Admin Room to buy it. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Let Ashley know. This can be a test for her and her team. Since the system is rtively small, let them try to create it first.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley¡¯s team had made some rather good progress creating the inventory system, andpiling all of the various game systems into a more tidy format. Hopefully, this was something that they¡¯d be able to do themselves. If not, I would buy it and let them study the code. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Speaking of, are they on any current project? If there¡¯s something more important that they¡¯re working on, I don¡¯t want to take them away from their work.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Without any major orders, the team is working on individual projects. A lot of them are ying Fragments of Acidia, and some are trying to create their own systems. For instance, the lead designer of her team is trying to modify the Digital Conversion system to allow engineers and architects to create any item or schematic that they¡¯ve saved in their personal system database.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked as I remembered that. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Right, that system. As I recall, that system can allow any saved file from a ¡®real world¡¯ to be produced via energy. Would we be able to use that, in conjunction with our energy production facilities, to create the fertilizer we need?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra paused for a moment, clearly considering it. This was simr to my void production idea, only without the threat of creating paths into the void. The only downside was the energy requirement. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯s certainly possible. Most of the resources needed would be produced via natural energy or ki. As long as there is a great enough ki supply, natural energy is practically unlimited.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod of my head, smiling to myself. <i><span style="font-weight:400">You can let them experiment with the farming system anyways, but don¡¯t worry about making it a high priority. Since it is something that the civilians can take care of themselves, the farming update would be a purely quality of life improvement.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra seemed to agree, though she added on anotherment. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Should I do anything about the ¡®resource seed¡¯ system one of them is working on?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Resource what now?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra gave a low chuckle, before exining. <i><span style="font-weight:400">One of the coders is trying tobine the inventory, Digital Conversion, and Consumer¡¯s Digest systems. The idea, ording to their design document, is that a farmer should be able to ce a naturally urring resource in their inventory and hit a button, turning that resource into a seed. Then, that seed can be nted and harvested like a normal crop.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I paused, blinking at that idea. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I mean¡­ it could work. Presumably, those crops would also need the same level of nutrients, though, if not more or specialized ones. You can let him continue. As long as the system isn¡¯t something inherently harmful, they can work on it in their spare time. I just want any system to be run by me before it is added to the world.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯ll pass it along.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Terra nodded, before her voice went silent. It was good to know that the soil nutrients could be taken care of with what we already had. Honestly, farming could be entirely revolutionized if farmers worked in Fragments of Acidia, and then sent their produce out through Digital Conversion. All they would need is suitable energy, and they would be able to mass produce a variety of crops. In fact, it wouldn¡¯t surprise me if some farmers had already moved over to that method in thest few years.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is everything resolved, my Keeper?¡± Tsubaki asked in a respectful tone, clearly having sensed my conversation with Terra.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh? Right, sorry. Terra needed to talk with me. Everything is fine now.¡± I spoke with a smile. Part of me considered reminding ra about the Digital Conversion system, since hers had more than enough energy to support it. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Come to think of it, Digital Conversion can be used to mass produce raw materials, so long as there is enough energy¡­</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a long breath, hoping that the creation of the Digital Conversion system wouldn¡¯t bring about another energy crisis. Mana should be easily dealt with thanks to Fyor, but ki was primarily produced only in the territory of Bloodhaven. Very few people had earned the blessings to have their own respawning nodes. Ki was often used to provide a physical form to items, so it was one of the ones with the highest demand when it came to Digital Conversion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s good to hear. ording to ra, there is supposedly a secret room within my pce, designed by Tubrock. If you¡¯d like, I was hoping that the two of us could look for it together?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked at that, before offering a smile and nodding my head. It wouldn¡¯t be any fun to cheat and use my admin map or World Sight, so she clearly meant searching for it manually. ¡°Sounds like fun.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a sh of light as a kitsune logged into Fragments of Acidia, his body covered with silver armor. The only things exposed were his head and tail, and he had an excited look on his face. Recently, there has been a new craze going through the game, one that mages had been taking advantage of. Some called it a bug, but most referred to it as a feature to help those struggling with the programming aspect of Arcanobinary.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Activate Digital Conversion.¡± He muttered to himself, a blue window appearing in front of him. His eyes quickly scanned the surroundings, checking to make sure that he was in a safe location. He had logged out at the edge of the city, so there weren¡¯t too many creatures that would attack this close. With a small nod, he looked at the window and began navigating the files that he had saved. ¡°Let¡¯s try you.¡± He muttered, selecting one file to create.


    <span style="font-weight:400">His mana surged from his body, condensing in the form of a card hovering in the air in front of him. However, rather than the normal ying card that one might find in Deckan, this card was seemingly made of silver, with circuit-like patterns running along its sides.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mages of Deckan had named these as ¡®Limited Casting Assistant Devices¡¯. Like normal weapons from Fragments of Acidia, they could be used as a catalyst for spellcasting. However, they only allowed a single, preset spell. By itself, this wouldn¡¯t be too much of a problem. If anything, they would be less effective than a regr device.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The ¡®bug¡¯ came from a new invention that had recently begun to circte. One that allowed someone to take the spell from these cards and upload them to a proper casting device. For mages of Deckan, this meant that they could digitize their entire spell library without having to worry about the pains of learning Arcanobinary.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The kitsune yer quickly pulled out one such device, slipping the card into the slot on the top. There was a small whir as the device worked, before a green light lit up. With a wide smile, he continued to convert and upload his spells. After all, this wasn¡¯t the end of the ¡®exploit¡¯, as thepleted casting device could then be sent back to Deckan. While it was incredibly difficult to create a simr casting device purely with Deckan¡¯s technology that could save hundreds of different spells, it was not a problem at all when one took the extra step of using Fragments of Acidia¡¯s technology.

 Chapter 940: A New Venture

    Chapter 940: A New Venture


    <span style="font-weight:400">In truth, most of the problems of the world could be solved in one way or another by the Digital Conversion system. The only true limiting factor on what could be done, once again, boiled down to the avability of energy. Otherwise, it was likely that all of these problems would have long since ceased to exist during the fifteen years that I spent fast forwarding.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">If that¡¯s the case, it¡¯s likely that they are doing the most that they can within the boundaries of how much Blood Heart Scarlet¡¯s people are able to export.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> If I were to remove Blood Heart as the limiting factor, development would undoubtedly skyrocket, for better or worse. After all, it wasn¡¯t just food and raw materials that could be produced, but also the most powerful weapons capable of destroyings.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thinking about that, I felt that there was a need to properly explore Fragments of Acidia. As the process of refining ki became more and more advanced, I could expect more devices from this game to be brought out into the real world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I thought this over, Tsubaki and I continued to explore her personal pce. As with the other pces, the walls wereposed of a smooth metal, without a single visible seam. In many ways, it felt as if the entire building had been cast from a giant mold. Though, obviously that was impossible, with how many moving parts there were hidden in the walls.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Throughout our exploration, Tsubaki had found two hidden rooms, while I had personally located one. Honestly, I was surprised that I had managed to find one before her at all, given her specialized training. We were inspecting every inch of the walls and floors, with Tsubaki having found a hidden keypad and a pressure te on her side. As for mine, it was a button hidden on the underside of an end table holding up a decorative vase.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sadly, none of the rooms that we found seemed to have any prebuilt features, all of them just nk rooms roughly twenty meters wide. We even searched the three hidden rooms that we had found, looking to see if there were any other hidden rooms within them. Given that we were looking for a special ninja-themed room, it would have made sense if such a thing happened.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Currently, we were within the third hidden room, the one that I had located, tracing our hands along the walls. ¡°I have to admit, Tubrock didn¡¯t hold back when he was making this ce.¡± I said with a chuckle, feeling the almost perfectly smooth texture of the wall.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded her head. ¡°When I first arrived at the Citadel, I was already surprised at the number of hidden passages. Now that he has had the chance to create something even grander, I expect that there will be much to discover.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After she said that, her eyes went wide, her fingers seeming to slip inside of the wall she was brushing against. I could still see her hand, but it was¡­ as if her hand had be part of a painting on the wall. She pulled her hand back, checking to make sure that it was safe, before gesturing me over.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°How did he manage that¡­ does that count as space folding?¡± I asked, walking over and seeing Tsubaki ce her arm into the wall, flexing her fingers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°He has converted an area of three dimensional space into two dimensions¡­¡± Tsubaki said with wide eyes. After saying so, she entirely stepped into the wall, and I could see her moving around on it, unable to move further back. As if to experiment, she stepped out of the wall again, letting out a satisfied nod. ¡°It seems we may enter and exit, but we are truly restricted to two dimensions of movement.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki entered the wall once again, and I followed after her. Having my visionpressed like this was¡­ ufortable to say the least. I could still see everything happening outside of the wall like normal, but whenever I looked in any other direction, all I saw was ckness. The edge of the opening blocked my vision on one side, Tsubaki on the other, and I was unable to see anything further down the wall, or even move my body towards it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I saw the ckness in front of me moving further away, indicating that Tsubaki saw something and was moving to investigate. As such, I followed behind her, soon seeing a white opening. Once we had passed through that opening, there was a new room stretching out before us. This room seemed to go on and on without end, the only visible borders being the floor and the wall we were attached to.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After we left the wall, the two of us looked back at it, seeing that it continued off into the horizon. ¡°Is¡­ this the room you were looking for?¡± I asked, Tsubaki looking lost in thought.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If it is, it would exin the size.¡± Afterwards, she looked up, spotting that the ¡®sky¡¯ was just a holographic simtion more than a hundred meters over my head. ¡°May I ask which AI is in charge of this room?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That would be me.¡± The familiar voice of Athena spoke up. ¡°Is there anything that I can help you with, Lady Tsubaki?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I would like to know the functions of this room.¡± Tsubaki called out. There was no way such arge room was built without a purpose, right?


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Very well. As you have surmised, this room was built to replicate the Trial of Blood, an ancient practice of the ninja ns. Upon entering this room, you may be provided with a special device capable of granting you a cloned body operating under your direct control. While your primary body remains in stasis, this second body will be thrust into a procedurally generated environment. While in this environment, your cloned body will obtain levels based on a reproduced version of the world¡¯s system.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Should your cloned body perish, your mind will return to your original body. It is estimated that each clone will take one hour to fully grow, before you will be able to undertake the next round of the trial. Due to the special nature of the Keeper, it has been advised to not allow him to participate in this trial, due to the faint risk of world destruction if he were to fail.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Certain parts of that description caused my brows to furrow. ¡°A reproduced version of the system? Does that mean that this space is isted from the primary system?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That is correct.¡± Athena confirmed. ¡°There is a barrier surrounding this room to prevent system interference, and a reproduced system has been ced inside. This system is under my direct control, but cannot be used to influence those already under the purview of the primary world system.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod at that. ¡°So only the clones born within the boundaries of this reproduced system qualify¡­ I can see why he went to such lengths. Out of curiosity, what is the size of this room?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Athena had a somewhat amused tone as she replied to that question. ¡°This room is five meters by five meters by ten meters.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki and I both looked at each other in surprise, before she immediately began walking away from me. After she had moved more than a dozen meters, she turned around and furrowed her brows. ¡°Have we been shrunken down?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I assure you, this is not the case. Rather, the space inside of this room is automatically regted. As the two of you move further apart, a spatial barrier is erected between you both, creating an illusion that distance has been created. If this barrier is removed¡­¡± Suddenly, Tsubaki was standing next to me, so close I could reach out and touch her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Simrly, any attack or effect that extends beyond this range will be captured in a simr spatial barrier, allowing it to travel unimpeded for its full length. Thus, while the true space within the room is only five meters by five meters by ten meters, you may consider it as though the space was without limit. If, at any point, you wish to return to the entrance, merely let me know and I will remove the ¡®distance barrier¡¯ between yourselves and the entry point.¡±


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">This must use a truly insane amount of power to run such aplicated spatial barrier.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I thought to myself. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Not to mention the cloning, the reproduced system, and the environment for the trial itself, which would include monsters and various nts. No wonder this ce needs a giant void core to run.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, what do you want to do?¡± I asked, turning to look at Tsubaki, who seemed lost in thought.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡­ think that I would like to test the difficulty of this trial, if that is alright?¡± I could sense her fighting spirit surging, and gave a slight chuckle, nodding my head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If that¡¯s what you want, go ahead. Before you do, though, I want to get our Virtual Selves back into Fragments of Acidia. I feel like we need to take this game more seriously now. With everything that¡¯s developedtely, it would be toote if we let ourselves be caught off guardter.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded her head seriously, reaching down to synchronize herself with her Virtual self. ¡°I understand, my Keeper.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">After I sent the word out to the others, it was only a matter of time before they all logged in, Tsubaki and I waiting for them. Surprisingly, the ship that we had purchased before fast forwarding was still docked at the same station we left it at, having not been dmissioned by the station. My guess was that Fifi had arranged for enough credits to be spent to prevent our ship from ever being taken.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That said, I could see clear surprise and relief on the faces of the dock workers when we sent a request to disembark. While we flew out of the dock, I couldn¡¯t help looking back at Dana. ¡°How is the progressing on the Hypene Network, by the way?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ve almost cracked it.¡± Dana reported proudly. ¡°There are just one or two materials left, and then I¡¯ll be able to start production. Well, then I¡¯ll be able to have the major transportationpanies start production.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head. It was unreasonable to ask Dana herself to handle such an undertaking. This kind of project could only be properly handled by arge corporation, not one lone elf. No matter how powerful she was. ¡°What about your familiars? Will they be joining us?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana blinked, tilting her head thoughtfully. ¡°Sienna might. ra¡¯s already off on her own adventure. She said she wanted to get some special blueprints, so she is showing off her talents as an engineer in another gctic empire.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, once Sienna joins, have her tell us where she spawns in, and we¡¯ll make our way over. My goal is for us to proceed properly through this game, so we get a real idea of what we can expect. In the near future, more and more of the innovations from Fragments of Acidia will begin to appear, so we have to be ready.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana¡¯s eyes widened at that. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, what storyline do you want to pursue? We can join the military, or a private organization, or we can even start our own business.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">In truth, the storyline options were just life choices that one could make in the game. Our previous ¡®storyline¡¯ was that ofmon adventurers. Unfortunately, that would no longer be a viable strategy. ¡°It¡¯d be nice if we could control an empire.¡± I muttered to myself, before shaking my head. ¡°For now, let¡¯s focus on the business route. Businesses can often move between territories, and we¡¯ll be able toe into contact with more and more of the major forces of the game. As for what type of business¡­ Dana, how confident are you with evaluating market prices?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°A tradingpany?¡± Dana blinked, before nodding her head. ¡°I was personally trained by Ryone, after all. While our lessons mostly discussed magic, she went into market details quite a lot. And if I ask for help, I¡¯m sure she¡¯d be willing. However, this isn¡¯t a transport vessel. Before we get started, we¡¯ll need a business license, a transport ship, and clients.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Anything that can be solved with money isn¡¯t a problem.¡± I chuckled. ¡°When we dock at the next major, look around for any small tradingpanies that we can buy out. They¡¯ll have the basic infrastructure that we need.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">ra blinked as she sat behind a desk, a small grining over her face. ¡°He wants an empire?¡± She muttered to herself, looking at the terminal in front of her. ¡°I mean¡­ that would let me have all of the blueprints I need.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">There were naturally cases where yers had tried to overthrow an empire in the past. However, thanks to therge number of gods that protected the royal family, these attacks had never been fully sessful. <i><span style="font-weight:400">If I can get a little help from Chelsea, getting control of an empire isn¡¯t hard at all. We just can¡¯tmand it directly, or it¡¯ll go out the window once the boss has to go back to that Admin Room for a while. We¡¯ll just be the power behind the emperor.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Oh, but he won¡¯t want to get directly involved in wars, so we¡¯ll have to make sure that the emperor won¡¯t try to use us for military or political gain. She should be able to write up a void script like that easily enough. If not¡­ I¡¯ll just create a machine empire by automating everything, and cing some of our AI in charge! Sun and the others should have a bit more free time to y now.</i>

 Chapter 941: Laying The Foundation

    Chapter 941: Laying The Foundation


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sun let out a soft sigh as she leaned back in her desk, stretching her arms out. She had just finished reviewing thest of the reports to be sent her way for the day, and was ready to rx. As she rose from her seat, she began to debate internally about where she wanted to spend her free time. <i><span style="font-weight:400">There¡¯s apparently a nice hot spring that they just finished in Gandor¡¯s dungeon. I could go check that out¡­</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, she¡¯d have to rush back if something urgent came across her desk, but she had long set up rms for things like that. As she walked out of her office, a dark-skinned AI ran over towards her. Her brows furrowed at the sight. ¡°If this is another stray slime, new dungeon, or a void beast turning people¡¯s hair yellow¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, ma¡¯am, nothing like that.¡± The AI quickly exined. ¡°I have a message for you from Dana¡¯s line.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sun blinked at that, reaching out to ept the message. She opened the digital folder, pulling up its contents.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper said he would like to own an empire in Fragments of Acidia. You in?


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The message was signed with a C, causing Sun to furrow her brows in thought. <i><span style="font-weight:400">ra¡­ that was one of Dana¡¯s familiars. That would exin how she had ess to this channel. Still, running an empire in the game?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">A small smile spread over Sun¡¯s lips. For so long, she had just been monitoring the emergency channels for the Citadel, and now Olympus. Granted, she took plenty of personal time to rx, but it was still a rather tedious task.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sun tracked the message back to its source, opening up a door in front of her. When she stepped through, she found herself in an isted conference room. The only other being in the room appeared to be Dana, only she had a silver streak going through her hair.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, good, you got the message fast!¡± ra responded to Sun¡¯s arrival with a cheery attitude. ¡°I take it that you being here means that you want to participate?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You would just ask one of the others if I didn¡¯t, right?¡± Sun asked with a slight chuckle. After so long, the ¡®secret¡¯ of creating a divine AI was not only in the hands of Ashley anymore. Instead, there were a number of Ai that had achieved godhood without her intervention. Very few had managed to do so on their own, but the fact that they existed meant that more could be made.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hey, don¡¯t be like that!¡± ra shook her head as if to deny Sun¡¯s words. ¡°You¡¯re the Goddess of Maps! That¡¯s not easy to rece, you know!? Besides, as a subordinate to the Goddess of Technology, you can y a huge role in what I¡¯ve got nned!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sun¡¯s brow arched up at those words. ¡°Is this about that automated mining facility you started?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Wow, you do get intel fast.¡± ra was clearly impressed that Sun knew about that. ¡°But no. Well, sort of, but not at all really. Right now, I¡¯m drafting up a n to create my own gctic empire within Fragments of Acidia. I tried to get Chelsea to help me just take over an empire, but she said that would be a ¡®gross misuse of void properties¡¯ and ¡®potentially cause cataclysmic damage on both the game and real world¡¯. So, that n went out the window.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sun blinked, caught off guard by thement. ¡°Okay¡­ so what¡¯s your n?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, I¡¯m d you asked! With you as the in-name Empress of the empire, I want to build a machine nation based around automation, capable of covering a corner of the gxy and be recognized as a major force!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Sun heard this, she let out a long sigh. ¡°The technology in Fragments of Acidia is well ahead of our own. The concept of a machine empire appearing so suddenly relies on the idea that the empire¡¯s technology is more advanced than their neighbors. If this is not possible, arge poption will be needed to substitute.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Correct! That¡¯s why I¡¯ve asked for two other people to join us here!¡± ra grinned knowingly, two more doors appearing. Through one, a female figureposed of smooth silver stepped through. Through the other, a blonde human with a radiant smile.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Was there really a need for us to wait so long?¡± The High Mother asked after moving to take a seat at the table.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Dramatic timing!¡± ra answered simply. ¡°Anyways, these are the other two assistants I¡¯ve asked to help with this problem. Out of all of our races, the Metong undeniably have the highest level of technological advancement. Additionally, they have experience managing a gctic empire.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°My other guest here is the Queen of Hanbei, Elisae. She agreed to participate under the condition that the people of her nation be allowed to register as citizens of the new empire.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Elisae waved a hand as ra let out a long sigh. ¡°Originally, I intended to invite the Fallen God of Unity, and the recently ascended Sylvan Goddess of Song. Unfortunately, they denied the request, citing that they did not want to rule such arge territory.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sun turned to look at Elisae. ¡°You are the Queen of Wishes, as I recall. I expect that you¡¯ll be using that power to help us start this empire?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Elisae nodded with a cheerful smile. ¡°I¡¯ve managed to get a lot of lucky opportunities in Fragments of Acidia when I y in my spare time. Some of the equipment I¡¯ve gotten are actually relics of old machine empires.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...Your karma is just way too high.¡± Sun said,ining with a small grumble. ¡°Okay, then what exactly do you need me to do? It looks like, between the High Mother and Elisae, you have everything covered.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well¡­¡± ra reached back, lightly rubbing the back of her head. ¡°Honestly, neither of them wants to manage the territory. The High Mother already has her empire, and Elisae¡¯s not interested. That is why you¡¯d be the in-name Empress. You already work for the boss, and your Maps domain would really help with managing arge territory.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sun¡¯s eyes narrowed slightly at that. ¡°So¡­ you want to give me extra work¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There will be perks!¡± ra promised, holding her hands up to stop Sun from immediately rejecting the proposal. ¡°First of all, you can handle your work for Olympus from the game. Secondly, I¡¯ve made arrangements with Fifi to get you some extra assistants to help with the management of the territory. Third, you will have the ability tomand the yers of the empire and issue exclusive quests. And¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was clear that ra was having difficultying up with incentives to entice Sun to take the position. Still, seeing how hard she was trying, Sun let out a long sigh. ¡°I want a private hot spring, and my own arcade.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Deal!¡± ra agreed instantly. These were rather easy for her to arrange, with or without Fifi¡¯s help.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki narrowed her eyes as she looked at the expanse in front of her. It was hard to imagine that thisndscape had been created via a simtion in the real world, without needing to enter virtual reality. Everything around her, for all intents and purposes, appearedpletely real. She could see and feel the bark on the trees, and even break it off with a bit of effort.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Is this created through the power of void conversion, nanomachines, or is it truly being created via Digital Conversion? </i><span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki couldn¡¯t identify the mechanisms behind how the forest appeared around her, just knowing that it <i><span style="font-weight:400">had</i><span style="font-weight:400"> in some way.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Furthermore, the body that she was in right now was far weaker than her prime, with barely a hundred levels scattered throughout a variety of sses. She circted her ki, focusing on establishing a basic ki path that this body would be able to handle.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I haven¡¯t seen any monsters yet, but I shouldn¡¯t let down my guard. This wouldn¡¯t have been advertised as a suitable Trial of Blood if it were incapable of producing monsters.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Though Tsubaki thought that, she kept her eyes observing thendscape warily.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a flicker of movement, and Tsubaki disappeared from where she was standing,nding on a branch a dozen meters above her previous position. Her eyes narrowed as she focused on the shifting bush, watching a small animal crawl out from it. The animal was truly one that Tsubaki didn¡¯t know, having a fat body covered in matted fur and a stubby face. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It looks like an herbivore, but I shouldn¡¯t be careless.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">As with any of her trials, Tsubaki had note in with any equipment other than her basic clothes. Even those, she expected that they would be torn to shreds by the time that she had finished her trial, should she manage to survive long enough to do so.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While Tsubaki was watching the innocent creature below, a snake suddenlyshed out, swallowing it with one bite and making her body go stiff. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Of course, it¡¯s always the serpents. Serpents, spiders, or wolves.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">As Tsubaki thought about that, there was a rush of movement, a sh of red moving past her, and the giant snake was picked up by a sharp pair of talons that quickly ascended to the sky again. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Or birds. Birds are also a valid threat.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thanks to this brief interaction, Tsubaki had gotten an idea of what the ecosystem was like in this instance of the trial. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I need to move. The first thing that I have to do is secure a source of drinking water. There should be enough edible fruits along the way, but I can¡¯t go without water for long.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">With the knowledge that the biggest threats she had seen so far came from the skies, Tsubaki moved to run from branch to branch, careful to avoid any openings in the canopy. Of course, she also had to watch for any of therge serpents at the same time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she moved, she began to fill the familiar thrill she always felt when participating in a trial, her blood beginning to boil. To her, there was no greater challenge than reliving that hellish trial. Every time she did so, she would aim toplete it faster, to do just a little bit better. Even a lowly being could fell a dragon if they had enough experience.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Just as Tsubaki thought of that, she heard a deep roar overhead, a surge of heat washing over her. Her movements halted, and she peered up through the canopy. One of the massive, red birds that she had seen earlier was locked in battle with a flying, scaled beast. <i><span style="font-weight:400">¡­That was just a figure of speech, Athena.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">My apologies. The ecosystem of the trial was generated as soon as the trial began. I do not have the authority to change the trial content without an expressmand.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Athena¡¯s voice responded in Tsubaki¡¯s mind. The clone that the trial provided came with a small imnt that allowed for directmunication with the AI governing the trial. All things considered, this was rather convenient, as it would give away her position if she had to verbally call out for Athena to halt the trial for whatever reason.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯s fine.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Tsubaki shook her head, her eyes alight with determination. She had decided that she must kill a dragon before ending this trial. She nced down at the jungle floor, her gaze sharp. Such a beast would be easy for her main body to kill, but an almost insurmountable challenge when it came to this weaker body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her lips tugged upwards in a smile as she thought about that. It was an <i><span style="font-weight:400">almost </i><span style="font-weight:400">insurmountable challenge. If it was possible, she would make sure to see it through.

 Chapter 942: It’s Just Good Business

    Chapter 942: It¡¯s Just Good Business


    <span style="font-weight:400">Elisae hummed softly to herself as the conference ended, watching as both the High Mother and the AI left the room. She didn¡¯t leave so quickly, however, because she still had some things that she needed to hand over to ra. After they left, ra turned to look at Elisae, a small smile on her lips. ¡°So, you said that you had some inheritances of an ancient empire?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">In truth, that wasn¡¯t the only reason that ra had asked for Elisae to participate. In fact, it wasn¡¯t even something that she knew about until after their initial conversation. What ra was interested in was Elisae herself. The Queen blessed by fate, whose karma was so good that it was believed that the heavens themselves smiled upon her. Thanks to ra¡¯s connection with Dana, she of course knew the truth of the matter, but the influence of her karma was still very real.


    <span style="font-weight:400">ra knew that as long as Elisae herself wanted this to seed, luck would be on their side. When she learned that Elisae happened to have the remnants of a machine empire, she had to question whether this was something fated, or if Elisae had simply had so many fortunate encounters that she had something for nearly any situation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Elisae nodded her head with that same smile, opening up her inventory. ¡°Of course! When I got these, I thought about bringing them out into the real world, but I had the feeling that I shouldn¡¯t. You never know what¡¯s going to happen when you get mysterious technology involved!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, this conference room wasn¡¯t a part of Fragments of Acidia, so Elisae could not truly pull the object from her inventory. All that she could do was retrieve the object data to show to ra.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Self Replicating Autonomous Drone - DAMAGED


    <span style="font-weight:400">This dronees fully equipped with a digital synthesizer, able to break down nearby materials in order to replicate itself. It can be programmed or modified to carry out a wide variety of tasks, whether military or civilian.


    <span style="font-weight:400">- This drone has been damaged beyond the point of usability. It is rmended to find a Gctic-level technician in order to repair.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chaos Fragment Cannon - DAMAGED


    <span style="font-weight:400">This weapon can be installed on any space-faring vessel, capable of releasing F9-level power. Most effective when directed at a single unit, but can be configured to affect a cone at F7-level.


    <span style="font-weight:400">- This weapon has been damaged beyond the point of usability. It is rmended to find a Fragment-level technician in order to repair.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">ra blinked when she saw the details of the two items in Elisae¡¯s possession. She could immediately tell why Elisae wouldn¡¯t want to bring them to the real world. If the drone happened to be repaired improperly, it could devour an entire while replicating uncontrobly. As for the cannon¡­ the fact that it was a <i><span style="font-weight:400">chaos</i><span style="font-weight:400"> fragment cannon meant that it used the power of the void.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">F9-level¡­ if I remember right, the ships on the boss¡¯s ships are only F3, with the missiles getting up to F5. F5 is already lethal for medium-strength gods if they get hit directly, from what we¡¯ve seen. In that case, F9 should be simr to the gship cannons of major empires.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Looking at the two files presented to her, ra was rubbing her hands together. Then, a thought urred to her. ¡°Why don¡¯t you just use your domain of Wishes to repair these?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Elisae, however, simply shrugged her shoulders at that question. ¡°Honestly? I find so much random stuff like this that it isn¡¯t really worth it to use wishes all the time. That would just be draining my divinity for something I probably won¡¯t end up using. Especially when ites to doing a job I don¡¯t actually know how to do, like repairing this tech.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">ra nodded her head at that. ¡°That¡¯s fine. I know a guy that would love to get his hands on these.¡± A knowing smile shed across her face, and she sent out a prayer.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Hey, Tubrock? Found a couple gadgets you might be interested in looking at.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Naturally, she wasn¡¯t going to entrust this work to someone from Fragments of Acidia itself, as they would most likely submit the finished product to their own empire. The only safe options were Tubrock or Ashley, and Tubrock was the more enthusiastic of the duo.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Let¡¯s see,ss¡­ aye, those would be curious. I s¡¯pose ye wanna rope me in for starting this empire of yours?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Nope!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> ra shook her head. Even she wasn¡¯t brave enough to try to get one of the Greater Pantheon directly involved with a project this big. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I just need you to help me get these two gadgets up and functioning.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a long silence from Tubrock, before he said in a somewhat sharper tone. <i><span style="font-weight:400">¡®Fraid I didn¡¯t catch that. I asked if ye wanted to rope me in for this empire of yours.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">ra hesitated for a moment, before dipping her head slightly. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Tubrock, would you like to join our little project?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Well, if you¡¯re gonna twist my arm, I suppose it can¡¯t be helped!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> ra gave a wry smile when she heard the tone in his reply. He must not have had any major projects in the works afterpleting Olympus. That, or he wanted to use this empire as the testing ground for some of his other ideas.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Or, perhaps, Tubrock just wanted someone to rx with and y. He hadn¡¯t really taken much personal time in thest¡­ ever.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The process of buying a tradingpany went surprisingly smoothly. From what I could tell, thepany that Dana picked was one that didn¡¯t have any ¡®named NPCs¡¯, meaning that they were all the basic programmed characters that popted the majority of the world. Thanks to that, she was able to purchase thepany without any real roadblocks.


    <span style="font-weight:400">More importantly, since we had purchased thepany, we wouldn¡¯t need to personally handle the deliveries, unless it was to a destination that we wanted to visit for some reason. Otherwise, Dana could just give orders to thepany and let them carry out their business operations on their own. With her overseeing things, I was sure that thepany would be able to grow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Dana got back from buying thatpany, however, she seemed somewhat distracted. Noticing my gaze, she took the initiative to exin what was going on. ¡°This game has a business management system. It¡¯s¡­ sort of like a guild, I guess? Only, more specialized. From what I can tell, the system is customized for each type of business. I have information panels for all of thepany¡¯s employees, their ships, and their clientele. Since the newpany is focused primarily on trade, I also have market information for any sector where we do business.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod when I heard that. ¡°That sounds¡­ convenient.¡± Something like that might be a good idea to work out for the real world, if Ashley could reverse engineer the system.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I suppose.¡± Dana shrugged her shoulders, moving to sit down in one of the free seats. ¡°The market in this area is pretty stable, so there¡¯s not much room for us to really grow. If we want to grow thepany, it¡¯ll need to be done in one of two ways.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°One, I send them out to more distant systems, ying the gctic market. If I do that, I should be able to ensure a pseudo-stable profit, but it will be rather slow. The other method is that we personally find rare goods that can be sold.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but nod at Dana¡¯s logic, before a thought urred to me. ¡°Can we abuse the Digital Conversion system to break the market? If we can find a material that has a high market cost, but is rtively cheap to replicate¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, Dana shook her head to shoot down the suggestion. ¡°Digital Conversion was a system that Fifi integrated into this world¡¯s history, since it was a required system in order for the game to function. Named NPCs all have ess to it. The base price for most items on the market start at the conversion cost, fluctuating depending on local avability.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°For situations like our previous hunt to get special materials for our weapons, the cost of creating those materials was more expensive than simply hiring a team to retrieve them. Especially since most of them were monsterponents or materials rich in energy.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but nod at that. ¡°So it would be either buying low and selling high, or going on an adventure. Personally, I¡¯d take the adventure.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded her head in agreement. ¡°I concur. With the strength of our group, retrieving rare materials should not be difficult.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana gave a nomittal shrug, turning and adjusting the disy on a terminal near her seat. ¡°Well, there are three types of resources we can go after. The first is ¡®strategic resources¡¯. These are resources that respawn like Mage Heart and Blood Heart. Their appearance in this game is somewhat random. You can have a strategic vein of iron on one, and on another, it might be a vein of divine gold. Every strategic resource is worth arge sum due to its theoretically unlimited supply. That also means that we¡¯d need to explore to find those types of nodes.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The second type is ¡®hazardous resources¡¯. These are resources that are either innately dangerous to carry, or are in a dangerous environment. The environment can be anything from the nest of a powerful monster to the heart of an old star. Most of the materials that we needed for our artifacts came from this type.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thest type--¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Monster materials.¡± Tsubaki finished, Dana nodding her head.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. These made up the rest of what we needed for our artifacts. The materials from powerful monsters that can¡¯t be easily in. Their remains are highly sought after for a variety of reasons.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing her list out these three options, I briefly fell into thought. ¡°Is there any way to detect if a has a strategic resource?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately, Dana shook her head. ¡°Not without using a special vein scanner on the material itself. The scanner can tell whether or not a materiales from a strategic vein. But, without spending the time to mine up the initial sample, there isn¡¯t a feasible way to get that information.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In that case, hunting for strategic resources would be too inefficient. For monsters¡­ we won¡¯t avoid them, but we won¡¯t go out of our way to hunt for them, either. Let¡¯s go for the hazardous resources, and we¡¯ll just clear out any monsters that get in our way. Also, be sure that none of the materials we go after are hazardous because of memetic effects. Thest thing I want is to suddenly believe I¡¯m a potato.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana chuckled slightly at that. ¡°You got it, boss. In that case, I¡¯ll make a note on the map of the known hazardous resources, as well as their value.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she said that, Lifre jumped up, running to the pilot¡¯s seat.. ¡°Awesome! Let¡¯s go make some money! Wait¡­ weren¡¯t we able to buy thepany because money¡¯s not an issue for us?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a small smile, Dana exined. ¡°We¡¯re not getting these goods to sell them because we need the money. The goods are used to help uswork. The boss¡¯s goal with this business is to get in contact with some of the different tech advancements avable in this world. To do so, we need to have connections in military, research, and government branches. Once all of that is achieved, we¡¯ll be able to gain ess to more technology like the Hypene Network.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ohhh.¡± Lifre nodded her head. ¡°In that case, let¡¯s go make friends by beating up the baddies!¡±

 Chapter 943: Tricksy Little Goddesses

    Chapter 943: Tricksy Little Goddesses


    <span style="font-weight:400">While my Virtual self was off having adventures, and Tsubaki was devoting herself to her trial, I decided that I needed to visit the world from a more personal perspective. Though¡­ doing so would be rather difficult if I descended in my normal appearance.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With that in mind, I made my way to my personal pce. There, I wouldn¡¯t have to worry about anyone disturbing me unless there was a serious problem. As for further exploring my own pce¡­ I¡¯ll save that forter. There was only so much that one could handle being impressed by Tubrock¡¯s ingenuity before they became numb to it. Tsubaki could tell me that I had an independent world built within the walls of my bathroom, and I wouldn¡¯t even doubt her. I would question why, but I wouldn¡¯t doubt it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once in my bedroom, Iid down on the bed, closing my eyes and focusing. If I wanted to explore the world normally, I would need to do so in a disguise. My normal appearance was widely known, and my aura as a Keeper was <i><span style="font-weight:400">somewhat</i><span style="font-weight:400"> overwhelming.


    <span style="font-weight:400">My solution to this was to create a divine avatar, one forged by my three primary domains. With the Mirrors domain, I would make it a copy of myself. With the Illusions domain, I would change its appearance and aura. Finally, with the Souls domain, I altered its soul so that even spiritual detection methods would identify it as another being.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, in order to exin its divine aura, I did make the Souls domain visible. Once I was done crafting my avatar, I transferred a strand of my consciousness over to it. Because this wasn¡¯t my main body, I wouldn¡¯t be in danger even if it died. Like this, I could be perfectly safe when exploring the world, without giving anyone reason toin.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy, can you send me to Gandor?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I had my avatar ask. Aurivy would be one of the few that would be able to see through my disguise easily, due to being apanion. But I wasn¡¯t worried about <i><span style="font-weight:400">her</i><span style="font-weight:400"> seeing through it.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Huh? Oh, sure! Going out for a stroll?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She asked, as golden mist spread around the avatar¡¯s body.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s right.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I gave a small smile to myself as I felt my body being swept away. Just to be on the safe side, I made sure to take a modest sum of money with me, so that I could buy whatever I needed while I was out.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lily hummed to herself as she skipped along the street, enjoying the lively atmosphere. The announcement of Olympus had triggered a new festival, and the city was in full swing with preparations. The Ascension Festival, they were calling it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Personally, Lily just thought that the people were looking for any reason that they could to throw a festival, especially when it concerned the Keeper. Granted, she knew that he was a big deal, such a big deal that even gods like her had to pay attention. Still, a festival because he got a new house?


    <span style="font-weight:400">While keeping those potentially sphemous thoughts to herself, she skipped over to a street vendor with sparkling eyes, spending a silver coin to get a grilled cheese skewer. Biting into the snack, she gave a satisfied groan, offering a thumbs up to the vendor before skipping away.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she did, her eyes nced off to the right, where she saw a tall ursa being trailed by a pair of shady figures. <i><span style="font-weight:400">They¡¯re not half bad, I guess¡­ what do they want with him, though? Not trying to pick a fight in the city, right?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">While Lily¡¯s main preference for people to save were young children in abusive situations, that did not mean that she would turn a blind eye to the plights of adults. If anything, she often had to save the parents from a bad situation in order to save the child.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While nibbling on her snack, she hummed softly to herself, skipping down the road in the opposite direction that the ursa was moving. As she got close to him, a wisp of mana-infused spiritual energy swept out, tapping just the boundary of his soul. A standard rogue trick acquired after level two hundred, Stealth Scan allowed a rogue to check the other party¡¯s information. Ever since the release of the inventory system, this technique had expanded to be able to scan that as well.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">What?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Lily blinked in surprise. The man¡¯s levels seemed rather ordinary, but his inventory¡­ was almostpletely empty. Almost everyone carried around modern essories like portable terminals, extra clothes, even their tools for their job. Storing it in the inventory was just the most convenient way to keep it all. Lily herself had a number of weapons stored in her inventory, as well as food and drink, and clothes of various sizes. Of course, the weapons were all disguised to look like something else, to prevent thieves or guards from noticing them.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Is he one of those ninjas?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She had heard that there were ninja ns roaming around in the dark, and that they often acted mysteriously while blending in with the modern world. Of course, these were rumors, and she had never actually met a ninja from any n. The only ninjas that she knew were regr people that happened to train the ss.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Wait¡­what!?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Lily practically stumbled when her gaze went down to his currency. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Five thousand ck gold?! Okay, even for a god, why would you carry that much!?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> It was popr belief that one hundred ck gold coins had divinityparable to a newly born god. With five thousand of them, that was the total divinity of fifty newly born gods, or one moderately old one. Even Lily felt that she¡¯d have to suffer if she wanted to extract that much divinity from herself.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">No wonder those guys are following him¡­ they want an easy payday.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Lily let out a sigh, shaking her head. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Really, I should just let them do it to teach him an important life lesson. Still¡­ everyone has their own circumstances.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">On the off chance that the man losing that much wealth would negatively impact his family, Lily couldn¡¯t just watch without doing anything. With a shake of her head, her figure disappeared into the darkness. Unlike the two rogues following the ursa, she had cultivated her ss to the pinnacle. Shadowing a pair of less experienced crooks was a simple matter.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While she was watching the duo, she naturally had to keep a steady eye on their target. He seemed rather carefree, walking the streets with no obvious destination. Every now and then, he would stop and buy some small snack to eat as he walked. He didn¡¯t stop to talk to anyone in particr, nor did anyone seem to recognize him.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">No way, is he a tourist? No¡­ no tourist would walk around with an empty inventory like that. Maybe he¡¯s on a business trip, delivering money on behalf of his boss? His levels weren¡¯t high enough to fit someone that was supremely confident in their own abilities. Maybe he has mastered a martial will?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her thoughts were running wild when she saw the two thieves make a move. They seemed to be partners, given how they synchronized their timing. The two didn¡¯t make any obvious moves, just speeding up a bit to walk past him, keeping their hands in their pockets. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Ah¡­ so that¡¯s it. Link exchange, was it?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Link exchange was a small trick rogues hade up with after the inventory system was released. The trick could only be done by two or more people, and required careful coordination. First, they had to link up their spiritual energy with a special technique before approaching the target. Then, when the target was directly between them, one person sent a trade request for the other.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Because the target was in the path of the spiritual energy, their inventory was oveid onto the inventory of the thief¡¯s partner. They simply requested what they wanted from the target, and waited to confirm the trade until they passed by. At that point, the trade was no longer rted to the target, so the target did not get a confirmation window. Instead, it was the thief that got it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, epting this trade wouldn¡¯t steal the items from the target. Instead, they had to <i><span style="font-weight:400">deny</i><span style="font-weight:400"> the trade. There is a little trick in the system where an inventory is meant to be ¡®secured¡¯ during trades to prevent a thief from taking an item of value and running off. However, that very safeguard turned into an exploit after a few years. Once the trade was denied, the system registers that the money was not in the inventory that it was supposed to be in, and quietly removes it from the target¡¯s inventory.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After passing by the ursa, the two thieves seemedpletely uninterested in him, continuing along their way. Why would they bother with him after they had just taken all of his money?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lily shook her head, sighing as she rushed ahead. She had applied a divine disguise to herself, blending in with the very air around her. It wasn¡¯t hard for her to find which thief had stolen the money. All she had to do was check both of their inventories, and see which one had the suddenly inted bnce.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she did so, her face darkened. Her method of retrieving an item from an inventory was far more straightforward, but also required greater skill. She synchronized her spiritual wavelength with her target, tricking the system into letting her intercept messages intended for him. While doing so, she opened the trade window and quietly traded herself the money that he had stolen.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With the thieves none the wiser, she slipped back to the ursa, repeating the process once again to give the money back to him. With that out of the way, she let out a relieved sigh, moving off into the distance before lifting her disguise in a nearby alley.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That was a really nice thing you did.¡± A voice spoke up beside her, startling Lily. Her eyes went wide, and she turned to see a ck-haired girl with golden eyes. Although she appeared to be a child, her divine senses were screaming at her that the being before her was something <i><span style="font-weight:400">else.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Not a child, but not <i><span style="font-weight:400">not</i><span style="font-weight:400"> a child at the same time. As if her very existence were a mask, and Lily couldn¡¯t see whether her current form was real or not.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Uhm¡­ what are you talking about?¡± Lily asked, letting out a lightugh. The other party had obviously seen her drop her stealth, but she shouldn¡¯t have been able to see what she had done while hidden.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The little girl gave a small smile. ¡°You helped that man get his money back, right? I was nning on doing so, but then I saw you, so I stopped.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡­ saw me?¡± Lily blinked, her eyes shing. In an instant, she read the other party¡¯s domains. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I figured she was a god¡­ but five domains? I¡¯ve never heard of anyone getting more than four, and even that is through luck¡­ maybe she¡¯s a hardcore Acidia yer?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yup.¡± The girl nodded her head, ncing back at the ursa as he walked away. ¡°I owe him a favor, so I had been thinking of how I could pay it back while keeping an eye on him. If I go up to him directly, he¡¯ll say that it¡¯s not a problem, but¡­ I still want to.¡± Her cheeks puffed out in a small pout at that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lily looked at the girl, her curiosity piqued. ¡°Do you know who he is? You should tell him next time not to run around with that much money. It¡¯s just asking for trouble.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The other girl simply nodded. ¡°Of course I do. Oh¡­ right, you wouldn¡¯t recognize him like this. Anyways¡­ what are you going to do about those thieves? You saw it, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lily¡¯s eyes narrowed, a dangerous glint behind her gaze. ¡°You saw their inventories, too?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The other girl gave another small nod. ¡°Mhm¡­ a severed finger. Pinky, and fresh. Either young or from a halfling. They¡¯re kidnappers and traffickers. They disguised it as a wooden spoon, so they know what they¡¯re doing.¡± As she said that, she began fiddling with a golden coin, though not one that resembled themon currency.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I need to find whoever they¡¯re holding and get them out.¡± Lily answered in a firm tone, clenching her fists tight.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Do you¡­ want me to help you?¡± The other girl asked, though Lily could sense hesitation behind her eyes.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">How can you gain five domains while being so unwilling to fight¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Lily shook her head at that, smiling at the girl. ¡°I¡¯ll take care of it. Thanks for the offer, though.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The girl bit her lips, nodding her head. As Lily turned and walked off, she held the coin beneath her thumb, closing her eyes tight. ¡°Sometimes¡­ sometimes, there¡¯s a reason to fight.¡± She muttered softly, before flicking the coin into the air.

 Chapter 944: Red Handed

    Chapter 944: Red Handed


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lily¡¯s figure followed behind the two thieves after quickly catching up to them, once again disguising herself. Although the strange girl she met seemed able to see through her disguise, it was clear that the two of them did not have such ability. After ten minutes, they ducked into an alley, and Lily could hear them exchanging a quiet conversation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°How much did you get?¡± One asked excitedly, the other smiling and opening his inventory to check. The first thief saw his partner¡¯s face going pale, his brows furrowing. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re holding back?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°N-No, it¡¯s gone.¡± He said, adjusting the privacy setting of his inventory to show his partner, who couldn¡¯t help but curse under his breath.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Did someone else spot us along the way?¡± Although he let out a sullen sigh, the two thieves were used to being robbed just as they were used to robbing others. If they managed to keep their spoils long enough to secure them, then it could be said that they had made a gain. Otherwise, if someone else saw them as a good target, they could only chalk it up to bad luck.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You think it was Ghost Hand?¡± The second thief asked, the first merely shrugging his shoulders.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I didn¡¯t see that guy while we were out today, but if it was him¡­ it¡¯s possible. Anyways, we¡¯d better make the delivery quick and head back.¡± With that, the two of them once again walked out into the streets, quickly navigating to the high-ss residential district.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Before turning onto a certain street corner, they applied spiritual energy and mana to their bodies, a simple anti-recognition technique to prevent them from being identified by wards or natural energy. It didn¡¯t take them long to find their target, avish house three stories tall.


    <span style="font-weight:400">One of the thieves took a wooden spoon from his inventory, ced it inside a small box, and quickly rushed to the door. He stayed only long enough to ce the box at the door, before rushing back and disappearing with his partner.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lily¡¯s eyes narrowed, wanting to retrieve the box herself. However, following the two thieves was more important. Before the two could get far, Lily was back on their trail, ducking through alleys and shadowed streets. In the back of her mind, she was urging the two of them to hurry up, wanting them to reach their destination as soon as possible.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, they seemed to be in a hurry themselves, soon arriving at a run-down house in the back of the slums. There was a poor-looking man sitting out front, who gave a simple nod to the duo as they entered.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Finally!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Lily thought to herself, about to make a move. However, before she could, she saw a tall woman in a ck dress appear from nowhere, walking to the shack. The man¡¯s eyes twitched wide for a moment, before he started to rise. Before he could reach his feet, though, his body vanished like a cloud of dust.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lily¡¯s eyes widened at the sight, before the ck-haired woman turned to look at her, her lips tugging up in a small smile. ¡°If you¡¯re going toe, now is the time.¡± She said, before turning back and walking into the building.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">She noticed me?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Lily was still hidden, having been prepared to infiltrate quietly. When she saw that she was spotted yet again, her eyes shed with divinity. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Five domains? And¡­ the same as the girl from earlier¡­</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Disregarding the fact that Lily had never seen another god with five domains, encountering two in the same day, with the same domains, it was obvious that they were the same person. Lily rushed over next to the woman, lifting her disguise. ¡°How do you keep seeing me¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I have the Identity domain. I see the true identity of any who enter my field of vision. Unless your divinity were more powerful than my own, your disguise is useless against me.¡± The woman answered crisply, not having the same shyness that she showed in the form of a child. ¡°Now, hurry along. I do not wish to stay in this ce a second longer than need be.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lily nodded her head in agreement, sharing the sentiment. Given the scale of this operation, it was impossible that they had a god-level figure backing them. At most, they could have someone who had recentlyprehended a martial will. Otherwise, there would be no need for such shady practices.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The moment that they entered the shack, three figures rose up from their chairs, one of them being one of the thieves Lily had followed. However, just as with the guard outside, their bodies faded away before they could even make a sound. Lily¡¯s eyes narrowed at that. While she didn¡¯t approve of instantly killing criminals, she would show no mercy to kidnappers and traffickers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She closed her eyes briefly, nodding her head. ¡°There¡¯s a basement. I hear eight victims, maybe nine. Three breathing easily, one in excitement. And two sleeping.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh?¡± The ck-haired woman turned to look at her in surprise. ¡°Your senses are sharp if you were able to make out all of that from the sounds of their breath. If they¡¯re downstairs, then there¡¯s no point in looking any further.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">She snapped her fingers, and the floor turned transparent. Beneath them, they could see a dozen makeshift cells. Each cell was upied, most of the upants curled up on themselves with shaking shoulders. They were little more than rags, their personal belongings having been taken from them upon their capture.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Additionally, there were two more criminals that jumped up at the sight of the floor vanishing. Their legs and arms vanished as they tried to stand, their eyes going wide in shock. However, their screams were muffled as their mouths sealed shut.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lily rushed down to the cells, not caring for the horrors that the thieves were being subjected to. She broke open the cages, taking a moment to look over each of the victims. As she did, she let out a soft sigh of relief. All of the victims seemed to be in good health, any injuries inflicted on them healed afterwards. However, that said nothing of the pain that they went through, evident by how most of them were still crying from just the memory of it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°How are they?¡± The other woman asked, her eyes focused on the two criminals. She seemed to be reading something from them, but Lily couldn¡¯t be sure from her gaze.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°They¡¯re not injured. Once we get them out of here, we can get them all home.¡± As she said that, some of the captured victims flinched.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°H-Home?¡± One of them spoke up, their voice hoarse.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lily¡¯s tone immediately softened, rushing over to look at the one that spoke. ¡°That¡¯s right. Would you like to go home?¡± Because of her tendency to help troubled children, she was used to speaking in aforting tone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The victim simply gave a small, shaky nod, the ck-haired woman finally speaking up. ¡°This is an isted operation. I¡¯ve discovered where each of them lives, as well.¡± After she said that, the bodies of thest two criminals faded away.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">She only kept them alive to get the information out of them? No, given the look on her face, whatever she learned only made her want to kill them even more. I¡¯m¡­ not going to ask.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lily nodded her head, taking a moment to calm down each of the victims andfort them, assuring them that they would be going home soon. As she did, the other woman began writing down a series of addresses.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯re not going to take them back with me?¡± Lily asked with a raised brow, the other woman¡¯s eyes narrowed dangerously.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I can¡¯t be out too long. There¡¯s¡­ something else that I need to take care of. I¡¯ll leave the matter of returning them to their homes to you. Whether you wish to im credit or payment for this deed, it does not matter to me. However, I would ask that you leave me out of this matter.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You haven¡¯t even told me your name.¡± Lily retorted helplessly, the woman tilting her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I suppose I haven¡¯t. That¡¯s for the best, then. I have no desire for this kind of attention.¡± As she said that, she ripped off the page, setting it down on a nearby table before her body vanished.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a gentleugh from the wooden house on Sanctum, Aurivy¡¯s voice drifting out through the window. ¡°Looks like it¡¯s my win again, Jules.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course it is.¡± Julia responded softly, rolling her eyes in a yful manner. ¡°We should get some of the newer games that havee out. It¡¯d be a more even match.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Maybe--¡± Aurivy¡¯s voice suddenly cut off, brows furrowed. ¡°Be right back, Jules.¡± She said in a serious tone, before standing and walking to the door.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Outside the door, a ck-haired goddess in a ck dress stood, looking down and watching her. ¡°Aurivy.¡± She greeted with a brief nod, treating her far more casually than almost any mortal god dared to do.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Mara? And¡­ in this form? What happened?¡± Aurivy knew just how much Mara hated to assume this form, and how she would only do so when something serious had happened.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I recently encountered a trafficking operation. I will not say more than that, but I assume that you have your methods of discerning the truth. As the renowned Goddess of Love, I am sure that you will take action once something like this is brought to your attention.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy¡¯s eyes narrowed, seeming to unfocus for a moment. Afterwards, her face distorted in a rarely seen rage, her divine power surging out from her body. Inside the house, Julia¡¯s face paled from the energy she could feel Aurivy releasing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara nodded her head in approval at such a response, turning and starting to leave. As she did, Aurivy¡¯s voice spoke up behind her. ¡°What were you going to do if I didn¡¯t act?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara¡¯s steps halted for a moment. ¡°I don¡¯t have enough time to handle things carefully. Within the hour, all parties involved would have disappeared from this world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As Aurivy watched her leave, Julia came up to the door, looking at Aurivy cautiously. ¡°Rivy¡­ are you okay? What¡¯s going on?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy turned to face Julia, surprising thetter with the stern re on her face. ¡°It appears that this is long overdue. It¡¯s time for a crusade. Deus vult, and all that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is¡­ there anything that I can help with?¡± Julia asked tentatively, but Aurivy shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, you don¡¯t need to see this. I¡¯m mobilizing my church to clean up some filth.¡± As she said that, divine revtions were sent to hundreds of priests in various worlds. A call to arms against a select group of people engaged with trafficking, whether buying or selling. For each target, a list of their crimes was given. This was the first time that the servants of Aurivy hadshed out to this degree in hundreds of years, yet the church knew what to do. Their pleasant robes were discarded, reced instead by white cloth bearing a red handprint over their chest.

 Chapter 945: Enchantment?

    Chapter 945: Enchantment?


    <span style="font-weight:400">I smiled to myself as I walked through the streets, taking in the various sights. I honestly felt that the festival was kind of silly, but wasn¡¯t about toin that there was such a happy event when I decided to explore on my own. It wasn¡¯t often that I did stuff like this, and I wasn¡¯t about to waste it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While I was out, I felt various powers sweep over me, feeling as if they were investigating me. Thinking that this seemed rather normal, I didn¡¯t mind as long as I didn¡¯t feel any malice or killing intent. If that happened, I would have more than happily led them along and let them walk to their own demise.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Instead, I found myself enjoying various roadside snacks, some of which seemed familiar to my old world, bringing back a sense of nostalgia. Tsubaki was a great cook, don¡¯t get me wrong. However, most of the cuisine she makes is from this world. Every now and then, she¡¯ll make a recipe she learned about from Aurivy or Udona, though these asions have be more frequent over thest few days. No doubt she was taking advantage of being able to ess Udona¡¯s library directly in the Admin Room.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I heard a brightugh off in the distance, seeing a set of games set up to give the younger audience something fun to do during the event. A small smile crept over my face, and I couldn¡¯t help but appraise the participating human child. To my surprise, their levels were already over three hundred in total, despite looking to be no more than twelve years old.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">That must be the effects of introducing level spheres to the education system¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I thought to myself, nodding in satisfaction. As I did, I saw an elven child run over towards me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hey, mister!¡± He called out, waving at me. Surprised, I turned to face him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yes? Is there something that I can do for you?¡± Given his race, it was hard to appraise his true age. It was possible, even, that he was more than fifty years old.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The boy gave a cheerful smile. ¡°I wanted to invite you over to my family shop! You seem like you would need what we have!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh?¡± I blinked in confusion. ¡°Why is that? What is it your family sells?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Enchantments!¡± He proimed proudly. ¡°My family have the best magic shop this side of the city! You don¡¯t have any enchantments on you, so that¡¯s really risky to be running around like this! We¡¯ve got a bit of a problem with crooks around here, after all.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That so?¡± I chuckled, assuming that must have been some of the powers I felt earlier. ¡°Alright. In that case, I¡¯ll be in your care.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The boy nodded his head with a bright smile, turning and running down the street, beckoning me to follow. I couldn¡¯t help but grin as I followed him. ¡°Aren¡¯t you worried I might be one of those crooks?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Nope!¡± The boy shook his head. ¡°Mom says I¡¯ve got a good eye for people. Even got an achievement to show for it! I can look at someone and get a sort of idea if they¡¯re good or bad. Mom says it¡¯s karma, but I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ve heard the Empress of Bloodhaven can see it with her own eyes, but I can¡¯t do anything like that! It¡¯s just a kind of feeling, I guess?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And what do you feel from me?¡± I was genuinely curious about that, as it had been a while since Ist asked Scarlet about my karma.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Nothing special, really! It¡¯s like you¡¯re just another person.¡± The boy sook his head again, leading me into arge store a couple of blocks from where we had met. ¡°Mom, I brought a customer!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Danny, I keep telling you not to bother people like that¡­¡± An elven woman spoke up from behind the counter in exasperation. She had long, orange hair and violet eyes. At a nce, I could tell that she had walked the full path of perfection, showing that she was quite powerful in her own right. She walked over, offering me a gentle smile. ¡°I am sorry, I hope my son hasn¡¯t caused you any trouble. My name is Dorian Grey.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing her polite bow, I couldn¡¯t help but shake my head. ¡°No trouble at all, really.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah, mom! I had hime over because he¡¯s walking around without any protective enchantments! It¡¯d be bad to let someone like that get in trouble, right?¡± Danny spoke up to defend himself, causing Dorian to smile somewhat bitterly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Danny, if you can¡¯t sense his enchantments, they¡¯re probably above your level.¡± After she said that, she turned to look at me again, before blinking. ¡°You¡­ really don¡¯t have any?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">It seemed she was quite confident in her own level as an enchantress, given her tone of voice. ¡°Afraid not.¡± I shrugged my shoulders. ¡°Your son said that I could get some here?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, yes, of course!¡± Dorian nodded her head, quickly moving back to the counter. ¡°First, I¡¯d suggest checking your inventory. If you were walking aroundpletely unprotected, you might have already encountered trouble without realizing.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked at her words, opening up my inventory to check. ¡°No¡­ everything¡¯s where it should be.¡± Granted, all I brought with me was enough money to ensure that I¡¯d be able to enjoy myself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dorian let out a relieved sigh, nodding once again. ¡°That¡¯s fortunate. They probably saw you and assumed that you were a martial expert. Most ursa that travel these parts are.¡± It took me a moment for that to click, and remember that I was currently using an ursa body as my avatar.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Letting out another chuckle, I simply shook my head. ¡°Either way. What sort of enchantments do you offer here?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dorian thought it over for a moment. ¡°For the general public, we have anti-theft and defensive charms. If you are licensed, we can sell you offensive enchantments, or customize your equipment for you. I try to keep my prices as affordable as possible, since I don¡¯t have to worry about paying any staff.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I raised an eyebrow, looking around the store. ¡°You work here alone?¡± This store was easily the size of a normal supermarket, with over a hundred aisles containing various goods as well as storage rooms.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not quite.¡± The woman shook her head. ¡°I suppose I should rify, to prevent confusion.¡± She snapped her fingers, and a clone of herself appeared next to her. ¡°I studied the Maid avatars, and created a spell that allows me to create simrly self-aware copies of myself. This entire store has a mana-gathering array built into it, enhancing the effects of my magic so long as I am here, while allowing me to tap into it to replenish my reserves.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head, genuinely impressed. ¡°In that case, can you take me through your different defensive charms?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dorian smiled, nodding her head. ¡°Of course, sir. For anti-theft, there are typically three levels of charms we deal in. The first warns you about unauthorized inventory ess. The second allows you to disguise valuable items as something else, to discourage thieves. The third hides your inventory from any outside viewers. Or, rather, it covers it in a ck film. A powerful enough rogue, or a god with a relevant domain, will be able to get through this charm, and it won¡¯t stop thieves from taking your belongings. Instead, it stops them from seeing what they¡¯re taking, so they are more likely to take something worthless if they make the attempt.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The mostmonbination is the first and second types, as they will be triggering an rm if they take the gamble, alerting you while likely escaping with nothing. Though, you¡¯ll need a different charm depending on how many inventory slots you have. If you don¡¯t mind telling me, I can find a price for the necessary charms?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I thought about it for a moment, before checking my inventory. I had never gone out of my way to request additional inventory slots, so I only had the ones I had gained from my levels. ¡°Just under three hundred.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The woman blinked slowly at that, before nodding her head respectfully. ¡°I see, I¡¯m surprised. I didn¡¯t realize that you were so skilled. Every hundred slots is treated as a ¡®page¡¯, needing its own charm. I¡¯ll prepare three sets of charms for you. Is twenty-five gold coins a convenient price?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If the charms are as useful as you say, I think it might be too little.¡± I told her honestly, setting a white gold coin on the counter. This was four times the price that she had asked, but I didn¡¯t feel that I was paying too much. If anything, the value of these charms should be worth at least that much.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The woman¡¯s eyes went wide as she saw the coin. She knew that I wasn¡¯t asking her to make change, since the inventory system was able to automatically convert the currency. I could easily pay exact change if I had wanted to. ¡°Sir, this is far too much for a simple tip.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I shook my head, denying her attempts to return the coin. ¡°It¡¯s how much I feel these charms are worth.¡± In all honesty, I didn¡¯t really need the charms in the first ce, but I <i><span style="font-weight:400">did</i><span style="font-weight:400"> think that they were worth this price.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dorian bit her lip briefly, before nodding her head. ¡°I understand. In that case, please give me a moment.¡± As she said that, she created two clones of herself, each of which rushed into the aisles of the store, searching around for something.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While I waited, I nced outside the store, where I noticed that the festivities seemed to have died down. My brow furrowed, and Dorian¡¯s eyes followed my own. ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± She muttered, walking out to the front of the store. Naturally, I followed along.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Outside, there were fifty halfling crusaders, wearing a mix of full te and white robes. They marched down the street with a frightening expression on their faces. The only identifying mark to show their allegiance was the blood red handprint on their chests. ¡°Those are¡­ the Bloody Hand, right? Why would the Church of Travel¡¯s military be marching out?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡­ is a very good question. Maybe the Goddess learned of a secret that she couldn¡¯t tolerate?¡± I suggested, my eyes narrowed as I looked in the direction that they were moving.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dorian merely chuckled. ¡°I do not mean to speak ill of the Greater Pantheon, sir, but there are many things wrong with this world. If a prayer to one of them would solve such plights, we wouldn¡¯t have any criminals to deal with.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I shook my head, denying her words. ¡°Though it may seem it, the eyes and ears of the gods are not everywhere at once. Or¡­ it could be more urate to say that they can¡¯t see everything <i><span style="font-weight:400">because</i><span style="font-weight:400"> their eyes are everywhere. It sounds unfair, but most prayerse across as little more than white noise. There are only two ways to guarantee that a prayer is truly heard by one of the Greater Gods. Either you are in a position where they pay special attention to you, such as one of their champions, or the news is delivered to their mortal incarnation.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dorian turned to look at me in surprise. ¡°How would you know something like that, sir?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked, before putting on a sheepish smile. ¡°Sorry, I had the chance to talk with one of them before, and they exined it to me. They don¡¯t like to get involved normally, but there are some crimes that just can¡¯t be tolerated if brought to their attention. For her to make a move like this¡­ someone crossed her bottom line in a big way.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I hope everything will be fine¡­¡± Dorian shook her head, backing away from the door. It was clear that none of the crusaders were heading for the store, and she knew that she hadn¡¯t done anything wrong to anger Aurivy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but crack a bitter smile. Unlike Dorian, I could feel Aurivy¡¯s anger radiating through her representatives. On some level, it had permeated her divinity, and traveled to those who acted on her behalf. I felt sorry for whatever bastard got her this mad, but I knew that they had iting. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Everything okay, Rivy?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Not right now, it isn¡¯t.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She answered in a surprisingly firm tone. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It will be soon, though. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m just doing a bit of cleaning up.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Got it, but be careful. I can feel your anger from all of your crusaders. You¡¯ll probably be scaring a lot of kids who don¡¯t know what they¡¯re feeling.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a long silence after that, and the anger I felt from the crusaders slowly drifted away. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Sorry¡­ I didn¡¯t think of that. Thanks for the reminder, Dale.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> There was something in her tone that made it seem like she was truly regretful at the idea of scaring children, more so than normal.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Don¡¯t tell me--</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I won¡¯t, so don¡¯t ask. Please. I¡¯m taking care of the issue. Trust me on this one.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes went wide in surprise at Aurivy¡¯s almost pleading tone. She truly did not want to talk about what was going on. She didn¡¯t even want to think about it. ¡°Oh, they have <i><span style="font-weight:400">really</i><span style="font-weight:400"> messed up¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">If she was so against telling me what was going on, that meant one of three things. One, she thought she was overreacting and that I¡¯d try to stop her. That seemed unlikely, given the circumstance.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Two, just thinking about what was happening made her angry, and she truly didn¡¯t want to let any of that leak out. I¡¯d have believed that if it was before I gave her that reminder, but she didn¡¯t even want to tell me before I pointed that out.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That left option three. She didn¡¯t want to tell me because she <i><span style="font-weight:400">wasn¡¯t</i><span style="font-weight:400"> overreacting and knew that I would <i><span style="font-weight:400">personally</i><span style="font-weight:400"> get involved if I found out what was going on. And that if I did so, I would make a much bigger scene of it.

 Chapter 946: Kicking Things Off

    Chapter 946: Kicking Things Off


    <span style="font-weight:400">After watching the Bloody Hand march past, the street gradually began to return to normal. Dorian was able to quickly find me the enchantments that I needed, and even suggested a few defensive ones. Given how I had been willing to pay such arge fee for the concealment charms, as well as my level, she gave me quite powerful defenses.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Most importantly, the use of these charms was rather simple, since they had been designed with the inventory system in mind. As long as the charm was ced in one of the inventory slots, it would remain active, attaching itself to your soul. When I heard that, I was quite impressed. ¡°You said that thisbination is the most popr for inventories?¡± I asked, able to see the ck film appearing over my inventory.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Dorian responded with a confident nod. ¡°Unless you are either carrying nothing of value, or arge number of valuables, this is the mostmonbination.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Why those distinctions?¡± I asked, raising my brow curiously.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s really quite simple. If you have nothing worth stealing, then there is no need to spend money to hide anything. On the other hand, if your inventory is filled with treasures, then even a random robbery will have a high chance of getting something valuable. For those cases, given the inherent wealth of those that this option applies to, it is moremon to disguise the individual treasures. If people think that you have nothing to steal, they are less likely to try.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Meanwhile, if they see a ck screen, they know that it¡¯s a gamble. Rogues have a naturally high luck, but those who often use these powers to steal have that luck offset by their karma. In that case, they¡¯ll judge how many pages of inventory space you have to approximate your level. If you¡¯re strong enough to scare them, they won¡¯t take that gamble. If not, they will typically try their luck before attempting a quick escape.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod when I heard that. There was never anything like a perfect method to protect ones¡¯ belongings. Even the Sky Citadel had been invaded in the past, so I naturally couldn¡¯t expect this inventory to be perfectly secure. It was nice that there were some level of defenses in ce, at least.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After paying for the rest of my defensive charms, I once more moved out and into the streets of Gandor. After the passing of Aurivy¡¯s armed troops, the mood of the festival seemed decidedly less festive than it was before. Thankfully, there were those who were trying to restore the atmosphere,ughing and cheering as they shopped happily along the street.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Honestly, there were a few other souvenirs that I was interested in while I was out. The first was a figurine set of all of the Greater Pantheon, as well as the Keeper¡¯s servants. Next was a scale model of the Sky Citadel, which was¡­ honestly pretty urate. The real scary thing I found was the scale model of Olympus, which was already in several street stalls.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">They must have worked hard to grasp the externalyout of Olympus so well in such a short time.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I was just d that there wasn¡¯t a model of the <i><span style="font-weight:400">interior.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> That would be far harder to obtain, unless I somehow decided to do a grand tour of our new home. Which was not going to happen.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With the festive atmosphere returning, I allowed myself to once again immerse in it. Whether it was the ttering bones of silly, dancing skeletons, or the lighthearted music that filled the air. Now was the time to rx.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Haahh¡­¡± A long sigh echoed out in the workshop, a redheaded dwarf looking down at the item on the table before him. ¡°Where in the zes did ye even find somethin¡¯ like this,ss?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The item that he was inspecting was norger than his own hand, with four metallic legs and a thin frame. Its density was no more than a centimeter, its width only three or four, depending on the extent of the damaged areas.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nearby, a human woman with golden hair stood, smiling softly. ¡°I was roaming around on my own when I found this on an asteroid. Do you think you can restore it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Aye, aye.¡± Tubrock said with a rumbling chuckle. ¡°I can restore it, alright. Now that I¡¯ve seen the thing with me own eyes, shouldn¡¯t be a problem to fill in the nks. What do you want its function to be for the codin¡¯?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Elisae blinked in response, tilting her head slightly. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t you just be restoring its original function?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Its circuits were wiped, so I can¡¯t do that. But this little guy can scout, manufacture, mine, or even serve as amunication device! If ye get enough of ¡®em, they can connect together to formrger structures.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Elisae thought about it for a moment. ¡°In that case, would it be helpful to set this first one to the task of reproduction? Though, would that mean that the ones it create automatically have that task?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tubrock shook his head, a ck hammer appearing in his hand. ¡°It¡¯ll handle the physicalponents. I¡¯ll be needing to make another one to program them into different types. Otherwise, they¡¯ll be nk tes.¡± As he said that, he lifted his hammer, bringing it down as if to smash the drone to pieces.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Elisae¡¯s eyes widened, but his hammer came down before she could say anything. Rather than destroying the drone, there was a st of golden sparks. His brows were tightly knit, and Elisae could see golden strands of light filling in the gaps of the broken machine.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The third upant of the room, ra, watched all of this with a happy smile. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Once this is fixed up, and the various drone types are set, I can ask for a couple to use on my mining. Sienna can do the basic smelting and resource harvesting, and these little guys can do the moreplex crafting.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">As these thoughts shed by, Tubrock¡¯s hammer mmed down again and again, each strike filling in a bit more of the drone¡¯s frame. After roughly one hundred strikes of the pitch ck hammer, Tubrock set it over his shoulder, wiping his brow. ¡°Aye, it¡¯s done.¡± He said, a golden spark traveling from his finger to the drone. ¡°As long as it¡¯s supplied with enough iron, copper, titanium, and tungsten, it¡¯ll be able to continuously reproduce. I limited its range of activities to just this table, to prevent it from getting out of control.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying that, he extended his hand, and fourrge ingots printed themselves on the table in bursts of white light. The body of the drone clicked, standing up on its four legs and quickly running over to the ingots. Tinysers emerged from its ¡®mouth¡¯, consuming the various ingots.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While the ingots were being consumed, a stream of silver liquid fell from its midsection, running across the table to form three different lines. Each of these three lines began to bubble, rising up into an entirely new drone sitting in standby mode.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Nanomachines!¡± ra shouted happily, seeing the construction method of the drone. Obviously, it couldn¡¯t produce drones the size of itself with its own body, so it had to make the parts internally, first. She was just happy that those parts took the form of nanomachines, opening up a wide range of different possibilities. ¡°But wait¡­ if they¡¯re made of interconnected nanomachines, why did the one Elisae found not dissolve into silver fluid when it was broken?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s an easy one,ss.¡± Tubrock said with a shake of his head. ¡°After the initial production period, the nanomachines be inert, unable to move independently. To do so again, they need to receive a special signal with an encryptedmand. Otherwise, they can be sted to bits and won¡¯t dissolve. It¡¯d be mighty inconvenient if an entire section of spaceship hull were to be liquified after a single st, aye?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">ra blinked, nodding her head in agreement. ¡°Alright! So, what next? I¡¯ve already picked out a starting point for the new empire, and these little guys can help us with the basic infrastructure in no time!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ye¡¯ll need to help us get there, then.¡± Tubrock said with a nod. ¡°Let¡¯s not be botherin¡¯ the littless about this right now.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not asking for Aurivy transport?¡± ra blinked again, before simply nodding. ¡°Sun should be able to move us there, as well. Navigation via star maps should fall under her domain.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">While her Virtual self wasying the groundwork for her machine empire, ra¡¯s real self was weing Sienna back to her mining world. The taciturn elf¡¯s eyes scanned the area, seeing the simple foundation that ra had erected in a wide clearing. ¡°This the base?¡± She asked curiously, to which ra nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Were you able to already make the logistics monsters?¡± There was an eager tone in her voice as she asked that, seeing Sienna hugging her sickle weasel against her chest.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Mhm. It was easy once I had a temte.¡± After saying that, Sienna¡¯s shadow erupted out across the ground behind her, covering over a kilometer. Six different types of beasts emerged, one after another. The first was a swarm of small, bat-like creatures without eyes, flying off in all directions. ¡°Scouters. Can scan underground for ore deposits, and recognize different types.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The second was a hulking monstrosity with a massive stomach, looking like a cross between a toad, a bull, and a boulder. ¡°Transporters. Internal storage space in their stomachs, and can spit out anything they eat.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Next came an entire pack of creatures that looked like wolves with sharp ws and thick legs, growling as they sat next to the transporters. ¡°Miners. Powerful legs can dig up ores, and even crystal veins.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The fourth was another massive beast, this one with four powerful legs and an almost cube-like body. When these appeared, they began lumbering forward, nting themselves on the foundation ra had erected. ¡°Smelter. Ingests ores and provides refined materials.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The fifth was a group of chittering ants with saw-like mandibles, each ant standing nearly a meter tall at the shoulder. ¡°Loggers. Can harvest and process wood.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Finally, thest type of monster to appear was a single, slowly-moving¡­ brain? There was a thin, almost transparentyer of flesh covering the brain, and six small legs beneath it. ¡°Commander.¡± Sienna nodded her head. ¡°Canmunicate and deliver orders to the others, and recognize speech formands.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After she said that, she turned to themander. ¡°Locate iron and wood, smelt ingots and produce even nks. If you find Blood Heart, mark it and set it as secondary priority.¡± Themander creature let out a soft humm at that, the other monsters all moving out to scatter through the surroundings, with the exception of the smelters who would be a permanent addition to the factory.


    <span style="font-weight:400">ra¡¯s eyes widened as she saw the monster split off. The giant ants began sawing at nearby trees, carefully lowering them onto the bodies of other ants before stripping the bark and cutting along the grain. ¡°Okay, Sienna¡­ I admit it, you did great.¡± Sienna puffed out her chest proudly at the praise.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If you need more, let me know. I can produce as many as needed from shadow.¡± She said, before thinking and adding on. ¡°If the supply of this isn¡¯t enough, I¡¯ll make teleporting ones to go to your others, and variants for different atmospheres.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, no, that¡¯s fine!¡± ra rapidly shook her head. ¡°I won¡¯t need to start mining the others for a long time. Besides, I¡¯d need about eight billion of those wolves to be able to mine this dry before its regr refresh.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sienna blinked, nodding her head. ¡°Eight billion¡­ I¡¯ll need a few years¡­ and the others to keep up¡­ They have weak reproduction ability, so need to manually create.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">ra¡¯s brow twitched, and she leaned forward to flick Sienna¡¯s forehead. ¡°Okay, you did that one on purpose.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sienna brought one hand up to her forehead, pouting before showing just the tiniest smile. ¡°Maybe.¡±

 Chapter 947: Bitter Truths

    Chapter 947: Bitter Truths


    <span style="font-weight:400">It didn¡¯t take me long to finish enjoying the festival, finding myself walking alone down the streets of Gandor. They didn¡¯t have any fancy rides like a carnival, or anything like that. Instead, there were street performers and food carts, as well as special goods being sold. Because of that, it didn¡¯t take me very long at all.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With nothing else to do, and not wanting to cut my excursion short, I made my way to the local Adventurer¡¯s Guild hall, one of the oldest buildings in the city. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Might as well see what quests there are avable.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thinking such with a smile, I made my way inside. There was only a single individual standing behind the counter, an elven woman with softly glowing, blue eyes. No¡­ not an elf. My World Sight swept over her, and I realized that she was a beingprised solely of mana, simr to Gerard. A living spell on the level of a full AI¡­ It was my first time seeing aplete one, aside from Gerard himself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Wee, sir! What can I do for you?¡± The¡­ Magical Intelligence? I¡¯ll just call them MI for now, until I find their proper nameter. Anyways, the MI asked with a bright smile on her face.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m just here to see if there are any quests that I can help with.¡± While it felt surreal for the guild to be staffed like this, it was also quite telling how the world had advanced.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course!¡± The girl nodded. ¡°Please provide your proof of identity.¡± After saying so, she slid a small, crystal b over to me. Understanding what I needed to do, I ced my hand on it, allowing it to disy the character profile that I had established for this avatar.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The MI studied the profile for a long moment, before nodding her head. ¡°Judging by your profile, there are three quests which you are suited for. In the twenty-seventh dungeon instance of Gandor, there was a recent riot, and the authorities are looking for help to subdue the perpetrators.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Two hundred and seventeen kilometers to the east, there is a deep-sea mutated creature that often attacks merkin habitats or wandering vessels. God-level fighters are requested to eliminate this creature.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Finally, there is a standing recruitment request from Fyor, asking for an individual who can y a support role. May I know if you are interested in any of these tasks?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My brow twitched as she listed the tasks. Subduing a riot, ying a god-level mutated sea creature, or joining an adventuring party of Fyor. <i><span style="font-weight:400">What happened to the good old days, where the quests were to hunt nearby creatures or harvest herbs? Though, I guess there are already too many avenues to obtain those materials, so they aren¡¯t really given to the Adventurer¡¯s Guild anymore.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a sigh, I shook my head. ¡°No, I don¡¯t think any of those are suited for me. Sorry, I¡¯ve been in seclusion for a while, so I¡¯m not so familiar with the changes that have happened. Is there anywhere that I can go for smaller jobs in or around the city? You could say that I¡¯m here on a vacation, and I¡¯m looking for something to do on the way.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°A vacation¡­¡± The girl¡¯s eyes shed, before she sank into thought. ¡°There is a DCG tournament being held in the gaming center, on the western side of town. Perhaps you would be interested in that?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°DCG?¡± I blinked, looking confused. The girl quickly brightened up, exining without a moment¡¯s hesitation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°DCG stands for Deckan Card Game. It¡¯s a card game that was created based on Deckan¡¯s magic system. You buy card packs of cards from various tiers, or you can make a customized order online. The game was created by nk, and relies on drawing and fusing various cards to create custom effects, each effect ranked based on attack, defense, or special ability.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I was, admittedly, taken aback when I heard that. The concept of turning Deckan¡¯s magic system into apetition wasn¡¯t a new one, but it was usually done through magic duels, not a card game like this. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I suppose that would be a good method of training card magic, and even learning specialbinations.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sorry, but could you rmend anything else? I don¡¯t have any of those cards, and if the tournament is today, I won¡¯t have time to familiarize myself with the rules.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I suppose that¡¯s understandable.¡± She nodded her head. ¡°Oh! If you are here on a vacation, perhaps you¡¯d like to experience the Adventure Maze?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Well, that certainly got my attention. ¡°Adventure Maze? What is that?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing my interest, the girl gave a proud smile. ¡°The Adventure Maze is a special creation of Ghan, the God of the Stage, Script, and Performance. Based on the adventure novels by the Sky Citadel-- no, I suppose it is Olympus¡¯s Lifre now. Regardless! Based on Lifre¡¯s work, this is a maze created for individuals to explore and create their own adventure.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Despite not being a physical maze, it is referred to as such because the different paths you take in the telling of the adventure are symbolic to the paths you take in a maze, with dead ends being represented by ¡®death¡¯. But do not worry! The Adventure Maze ispletely safe, as your real body will not suffer any harm from the experience!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡­ sounds interesting. Can I get directions to the Adventurer Maze, then?¡± I asked with a polite smile, the MI nodding happily as she began to list out the path I would need to follow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once the guild¡¯s receptionist had finished providing me with directions, I thanked her and turned to make my way out of the building. ording to her, I would easily be able to spot my destination, as it was supposed to be quite busy during this festival.


    <hr>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scout has leveled up!


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The message shed in the corner of Tsubaki¡¯s vision as she kept her body low to the ground. She had long since left the territory of therge serpents, though she was still within the confines of the forest. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I must have gone at least fifty kilometers already. The dragons are still flying overhead, so I shouldn¡¯t expect too vast of differences in the ecosystem.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">In the few hours since she started her trial, Tsubaki had gained over seven hundred levels. Most of these were either as a monk, ninja, or mage, but she had gotten quite a few as a scout as well, allowing her to map out the ¡®space¡¯ around her. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Even with my minimap, this doesn¡¯t register as a small space like what Athena told me.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">At her hip, she carried a dagger made from arge fang, and in her hands a pair of thick sticks to check for predators buried under the soil. She had already seen a few of these, and had almost lost her arm to one not long ago.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her dream of hunting a dragon was still as strong as ever, and with her levels increasing as they were, she was sure that she would be able to achieve it. This was, after all, the first of her trials where she was conducting them in a world with the samews as the outside.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I suppose that¡¯s why there are creatures that are that strong here. They¡¯re expecting my growth, and preparing in advance.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> If her guess was right, she assumed that the dragon¡¯s approximate level would be somewhere in the range of two or three thousand. <i><span style="font-weight:400">With the bulk of level-ups out of the way, I won¡¯t be able to increase my level just by disying advanced skills anymore. I¡¯ll need properbat experience to allow this body to adjust, and perhaps even attain Perfection with this clone.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">After that thought crossed her mind, Tsubaki saw movement out of the corner of her eye. Arge, scaled creature clung to the side of a tree, its scales shifting to match the bark of the tree it was on. It seemed to possess a weak energy obscuring its presence, as even Tsubaki had failed to notice it before it moved ever so slightly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Slowly, she dropped one of the sticks she was carrying, reaching down to grab the fang dagger on her waist. <i><span style="font-weight:400">If I need experience, then¡­</i>


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Finally!¡± Dana cried out from her new workshop, looking at the fileid out before her. There was a shing icon on the screen, reading ¡®Simtion Sess¡¯ in bolded, green letters. ¡°That¡¯s thest material¡­ Let me just forward this to the travel agencies, and let them get started on setting up theworks¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Dana had contacted the agencies previously, she strongly rmended that they contract a miningpany to handle the material requirements. After all, there would inevitably be an energy shortage if everyone relied on Digital Conversion to meet their material needs.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now, she double-checked the file to ensure that everything was properlyid out, with the different variables listed and ounted for. Only after that did she send the information to the various agencies that she had previously contacted.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once she was done, Dana stretched her arms out happily, d to have another projectpleted. ¡°Hermes, can you tell me where the others are?¡± She asked, wanting to check in with people now that she was done.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Tsubaki is currently undergoing a Trial of Blood within her pce. Dale isying in his room, but appears to be piloting an avatar for a form of recreational excursion. Lifre said that she was leaving to have fun in Fyor, and--¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Alright, that¡¯s enough.¡± Dana cut him off, shaking her head. She didn¡¯t need to hear updates on literally everyone that had visited Olympus. ¡°Well¡­ I might as well check on them.¡± She muttered to herself after a moment of thought.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana¡¯s shadow wrapped around her body, bringing her into the ground and teleporting her far into the distance. When she appeared, she was standing on a smooth tform, allowing herself just a moment to adjust to the light of the new area. What she saw¡­ caused her to pause.


    <span style="font-weight:400">An army of massive ants were carrying thick trees into a warehouse, where the buzzing of saw-like mandibles could be heard cutting the logs into different sizes. Giant frogs shook the earth as they jumped along, their stomachs unnaturally swollen. When they arrived in front ofrge crates, their mouths opened, regurgitating piles of crystals and rocks.


    <span style="font-weight:400">These were then fed via conveyor belt into the mouths of evenrge beasts, mes jutting from their backs. Another opening on the side of the creatures allowed refined ingots and gems to be taken away, where they were picked up by metallic drones that seemed to once again eat them to transform them into variousponents.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Overseeing all of this was Sienna and ra, thetter of which turned upon noticing Dana, running over while raising an arm. ¡°Oh, hey Dana! How do you like the factory we built?! Amazing, right?!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana simply gave a long pause, looking at the two proud familiars, and then at the biomechanical factory once again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is this how people feel when they see me?¡± She couldn¡¯t help but ask, causing the two familiars to tilt their heads in confusion.

 Chapter 948: That Time I Was In A Divine Maze

    Chapter 948: That Time I Was In A Divine Maze


    <span style="font-weight:400">With wide eyes, Dana began to walk around the budding factory that ra and Sienna had worked together to establish. It was clear that it was still far fromplete. However, seeing the building materials piling up in the warehouses, as well as the drones that ra had put to work making¡­ well, more drones, she couldn¡¯t help but wonder. ¡°Sienna, I thought I tasked you with training the army? What are all of these things doing here.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Logistics training.¡± Sienna answered with a simple nod of her head, ra taking the initiative to exin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°An army is more than just fighting, right? If we¡¯re preparing to be able to move with another party, that means that Sienna¡¯s army needs a logistics unit, as well. When I asked her about it, she was more than happy to use this factory as a testing ground for those creations.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I see.¡± Dana nodded her head, feeling that it made sense. In truth, logistics had never crossed her mind for her shadow army. She never considered using them to support another force, as they were a force unto themselves. Still, she couldn¡¯t argue the logic behind the idea. ¡°Well, what is the first thing that you¡¯re making, then?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s these drones!¡± ra announced happily, pointing to the drones flying about the warehouse. ¡°These are relics from a machine civilization in Fragments of Acidia, found by none other than Elisae. Tubrock helped restore them, and set a few basic programming tasks for them, such as the ability to self-replicate within set parameters, and I¡¯ve been working on installing additional blueprints.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Once I¡¯ve got an army of construction bots, I want to expand the factory. Sienna set these monsters so that they can live off of ki, and I go the boss to set up respawning ore veins. So, the first order of business will be to ce monster nests over these ki veins, and let them directly harvest the material.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You got¡­ respawning veins?¡± Dana asked, her brow twitching. ¡°What are you going to do about the mana siphons?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The what now?¡± ra blinked, before her eyes went wide. ¡°Oh¡­ oh, I hadn¡¯t thought about that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The reason that mana siphons weren¡¯t a problem with the Mage Heart veins of Fyor was that they were all positioned directly beneath the crystal spires, which passively absorbed the mana released by them, and then evenly spread it over the entireyer. On the other hand, there was no such safety for the ore veins set up in ra¡¯s world. Sienna¡¯s eyes lit up, raising one hand while the other hugged Kama against herself. ¡°I can make mana absorbing monsters.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana smirked, shaking her head. ¡°No, that doesn¡¯t fall under your task of training the army. ra got herself into this mess, let her figure out how to fix it with what she has avable.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">ra gave a small grunt as this task was pushed unceremoniously onto her, having to think it over. ¡°Sienna, I¡¯ll need more scouting bats. I need to have this entire mapped out before the mana density bes too high. In the meantime, I¡¯ll get to work on designing an atmospheric refiner that can harvest ambient mana above a certain density. I remember seeing something like that when I was going through recent innovations.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana nodded her head. If it was just more of what ra already had ess to, Dana wasn¡¯t opposed to that level of help. However, creating entirely new monsters to solve a task unrted to her original purpose was not something that Sienna needed to worry about. Thinking that, she turned her head to the taciturn familiar. ¡°So, I assume that you have something to show me for the army? Or have you focused all of your attention on this ¡®logistics¡¯ project?¡± She asked with a raised brow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sienna simply shook her head, creating a ck portal behind herself. ¡°Training has been good. I can show you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana nodded in satisfaction, stepping through the ck portal together with Sienna. On the other side of the portal was a vast teau of Deckan, and Dana could see an orderly horde stretching out. Hundreds of rows of shadowy figures, some of them humanoid while others appeared more monstrous.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I see¡­ have you created anything special on this side, as well?¡± She asked, to which Sienna nodded. The familiar pointed off to a distant mountain, Dana¡¯s eyes narrowing as she enhanced her vision.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sitting atop the mountain was a ck-skinned ape, a shadowy rod leaning against its shoulder. Seeing Dana¡¯s clearly confused expression, Sienna spoke up. ¡°Based on Udona¡¯s story of the Great Sage Equalling Heaven.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Great Sage¡­¡± Dana blinked. ¡°Sun Wukong? You made a shadow beast version of him?¡± She asked in surprise, to which Sienna nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Was easy to find the necessary pieces. It consumes a lot of energy to train one, though. Only have two right now. The other one is in Lorek.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯re having them learn cultivation.¡± Dana spoke up in an understanding tone. ¡°How strong is he?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sienna tilted her head at that question. ¡°Other one is fighting immortals. He didn¡¯t seem to be at a disadvantage.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana nodded her head, clearly happy with the news. ¡°That means that they¡¯re at god level, at the very least. Are you nning to make more than the two, or do you have another project now?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Only two.¡± Sienna responded simply. ¡°Male and female. They can make more themselves. Right now¡­ making something else.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh?¡± Dana nced away from the Monkey King¡­ or Queen, maybe? She couldn¡¯t really tell. She simply looked at Sienna expectantly. ¡°Show me.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sienna nodded her head, creating another portal. ¡°Great Sages are for fighting enemymanders. This is for fighting armies.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana followed Sienna through yet another portal, to a region veiled in a cloak of night. Sienna nced up, and Dana could see that this <i><span style="font-weight:400">literal</i><span style="font-weight:400"> cloak of darkness was attached to a massive, skeletal figure. It carried a scythe of ck bones asrge as its own body, letting out a mad cackle every few seconds.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°An undead?¡± Dana furrowed her brow, worried what Irena would think of using something like this as an armed force. Thankfully, Sienna shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Just appearance. Watch.¡± She sent a mentalmand through the World Shadow, the giant skull looking down at them. The shadow of its cloak spread out, and a shrill cry filled the air. Hordes of ck beasts ran forward on all fours, little more than legs and enormous mouths lined with sinister teeth.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana let out a sigh of understanding. ¡°So instead of having its own attack power, it creates armies of lesser beasts.¡± She could tell why this one was reserved for fighting armies, rather than singr entities. ¡°Then, what was with the formation we saw before?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Cannon fodder.¡± Sienna answered simply. ¡°Trained the monsters that already existed, before working on special ones. Those monsters go out in waves while the three generals are preparing. If it can be handled without involving them, is best. We still have shadow dragon, after all.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">It didn¡¯t take long for me to find the Maze of Adventure, and I could see the line as people signed up to enter. Just looking at everyone¡¯s appearances, I could tell that this was an event catered more towards those with plenty of coin to spend. Though, that was to be expected of a divine ability turned into amercial endeavor. At the very least, everyone would need to pay the divinity cost to activate the ability.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After joining the line, I was quite surprised to find that it was moving rather quickly, taking only a few minutes for me to reach the front. ¡°Good afternoon, sir.¡± A receptionist said to me, gesturing towards a sign disying the prices for the maze. ¡°Would you like to opt in to having your experience recorded? If the quality is high enough, it could be adapted into a movie, and you will receive a royalty fee.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Well¡­ that was surprising. Still, I shook my head. ¡°No thanks.¡± I responded, pulling out a ck gold coin and cing it on the counter. After that, the receptionist smiled again, directing me to stand in a golden circle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Just stand there, and the effect will activate. I hope you have a grand time.¡± He said, watching as I moved into the circle. The moment I did, I felt my vision blurring. Before I could register what was happening, I was standing on a circr tform, surrounded by doors.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This will be the one and only time where the choice you make is given in such a fashion.¡± A voice spoke from above. ¡°Each of these doors represent a genre for your journey. Once you choose them, you will be on your path.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod, looking around. There were dozens of doors, each with tags such as ¡®Adventure¡¯, ¡®Futuristic¡¯, ¡®Historic¡¯, ¡®Mystery¡¯, ¡®Monster¡¯, and more. As I came here for an adventure, I naturally made my way to the ¡®Adventure¡¯ door.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I walked through the door, my vision once again turned ck. I could hear the familiar humm of magic, and the gasping of voices. Opening my eyes, I found myself standing within a magic circle, surrounded on all sides by hooded magicians. Standing in front of me was a pink-haired elf in royal attire. ¡°Sir, may this humble one ask you your name?¡± She spoke in a reverent tone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Looking down, I found myself still in the body of my avatar, nodding my head as I said the name that I prepared with this body. ¡°My name is Lucian Gray.¡± I felt a strange power in my voice, but at the same time¡­ it was clear that I didn¡¯t have the normal abilities my avatar would possess, like the divine ability of Illusions.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sir Gray, then.¡± The elf spoke with a bright smile. ¡°The kingdom is under siege. As ast resort, we researched a method to summon a hero from a distant world, praying for salvation. Please, save thisnd and its people.¡±


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">¡­So isekai stories are popr nowadays, huh? I¡¯m surprised. Didn¡¯t think that would catch on in a setting that already has multiple worlds like this.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I gave a small chuckle, the princess looking at me in confusion. ¡°I will help you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I said that, her face lit up, as if she were about to rejoice. ¡°Thank you, sir Gray!¡± She crossed her arms in front of herself. ¡°In that case, there isn¡¯t a moment to lose. We must immediately begin your training to familiarize yourself with this world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head, but kept a cautious gaze on everyone around me. Without my World Sight, I couldn¡¯t keep as close a watch for any hidden threats. But, I wouldn¡¯t let myself get dragged into any nasty subplots. I¡¯ll take a hard pass on anypulsion enchantments or anything of that nature.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That said, it was quite interesting to see that they ¡®disabled¡¯ the normal magic rules in this simtion. Most likely, it was reced with an altered version, but I would have to wait for the ¡®training¡¯ to begin before I experienced that. As such, I simply allowed the elven princess to lead me from the summoning chamber, ncing back at the pair of guards that followed behind us.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">This story is likely to end with either victory against the great evil, or my ¡®death¡¯. I don¡¯t know if there is a time limit, but that means that I¡¯m unlikely to face anything truly unresolvable within the first scene. This isn¡¯t one of Lifre¡¯s stories, after all.</i>

 Chapter 949: In The Shadow Of The World

    Chapter 949: In The Shadow Of The World


    <span style="font-weight:400">


    <span style="font-weight:400">In my opinion, this other world story felt¡­ nd? Perhaps that was just due to having gone through something of a simr nature myself, but I just couldn¡¯t develop much of an interest in this adventure. Granted, I was able to fully appreciate the nature of the ability that brought me here. Ghad was truly an amazing deity, to be able to create an adventure simtion with so many branching paths, each filled with fully realistic characters.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, at the same time, I soon discovered that the pacing was simr to that of a movie. For instance, whenever I began training, I felt a ¡®montage¡¯ going by, as if weeks passed in mere moments. Various techniques were unlocked in my interface, but I couldn¡¯t really call it satisfying.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In the end, I was able to identify several of the different branching story options. For instance, I could have chosen to rebel against the kingdom, or even woo the elven princess. The identity of the enemy¡¯s leader was also uncertain. Given the hints I found, it could have either turned into an otherworldly beauty for a romantic encounter, or a great warrior for an epic confrontation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, once I discovered these hints, I led the story towards the great warrior side. <i><span style="font-weight:400">This kind of thing is probably incredibly popr with most, but for me¡­ it¡¯s nothing new.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">After defeating the enemy leader, I was allowed to leave the simtion without any problems. Upon exiting, I found that only a little more than two hours had passed, and was given the option of saving my journey as a file to watch againter. Given the expectant face of the receptionist, this seemed to be amon choice.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, I denied that option, leaving with a polite smile. I had been gone long enough, so it was time for me to return to Olympus. With that thought in my mind, my figure disappeared into the void, crossing space to appear once more in my bedroom. As my main body was still lying on the bed, I transferred the borrowed money back before dissipating this avatar.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I opened my eyes, there was a refreshed smile on my face. ¡°Athena, how is Tsubaki¡¯s progress in her trial?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Athena¡¯s voice rang back in my ear. ¡°It is estimated at her current progress that it will take her at most three days toplete her first iteration, so long as there are no idents.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Three days, huh?¡± I muttered, before giving a slight chuckle. ¡°You have a lot more faith in her than Fifi and Vivi did.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I am basing this assumption on her previous track record, as well as how I have seen her perform within the current trial. Three days is already the bare minimum, as fullpletion of the trial will require that she transcend the physical body provided to her.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod of agreement. Even if it was Tsubaki, training from what was essentially a newborn to the level of perfection would take a little bit of time. If she tried to rush it too much, it would only cause her body to damage itself from the constant level increases, or she might not be able to keep up with her changing stats.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">So, how did it feel?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I was surprised when I suddenly heard Irena¡¯s voice speaking in my mind.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Hmm? </i><span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, I wasn¡¯t quite sure what she was talking about, but she simply chuckled.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Walking around without your identity or your guards, experiencing a ¡®normal¡¯ life.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she exined what she meant, I gave a look of understanding. A small smile surfaced on my face, and I nodded my head. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I can see why you always preferred doing it this way. Though, I¡¯d hardly say that what I did was of the same level. I wouldn¡¯t be able to do that kind of thing withoutpletely recycling this host.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">And you can¡¯t do that, because it would mean getting rid of Clover. </i><span style="font-weight:400">There was a slight sigh in Irena¡¯s tone when she said that. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Still, I wouldn¡¯t ask you to do such a thing, as it would deprive you of your Illusion domain. I¡¯m just d that you were able to see the world through a different perspective, even if it was just for a short time.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a somewhat knowing grin as I heard her words. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Is that why you brought Alena to Olympus?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">For once, Irena seemed genuinely flustered. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I-I didn¡¯t mean it like that. I just¡­ I thought that I would like to be with you there, even if it was only through her.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I could imagine her face going red at my teasing, but I justughed it off.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I appreciate it. If you ever want toe here in person, you¡¯re always free to do so.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I know, Dale.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> There was a much gentler tone as she said that, before changing the subject. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Do you have any idea what you are going to do next?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thinking about that for a moment, I shook my head. <i><span style="font-weight:400">We should be getting the report for our next opponent soon. And we still have that attack ticket that Lifre won for usst time. If our opponent is a tricky one, we can just use it to pick someone else. Otherwise, maybe we can take advantage of it for a bit of trade?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Oh?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Irena seemed interested in my words. <i><span style="font-weight:400">You mean, see what people in this rank want, and ¡®attack¡¯ them for the delivery?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s right.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I nodded my head. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯d be better if we could force them to attack us, but that¡¯s not really an option. I¡¯ll speak with Baluter, andpile a list of the more generic items at our disposal. Or, maybe I¡¯ll just have it advertised as a way to prevent people from being paired against a bad opponent. And then, we can just suggest a trade with whoever takes the offer?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯s certainly possible. I¡¯d say that the second option would be safer. If we publicly release our list of avable goods, that would open us up to some enemies in the future. It would be better to use it to shield against someone who was going to be facing a dead end scenario, like you said.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a small nod, I got to my feet and left the room. Tsubaki was still in the middle of her trial, and Dana was likely working on a project. With Lifre off on one of her other adventures, there wasn¡¯t much that could be done for the moment.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">For most people, the day of the Ascension Festival was a bright asion when peopleughed in the streets, enjoying the various performances. For others, it held a different meaning.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Some people saw it as the end of everything, when an army of the church marched on theirwn. Doors were kicked down, and criminals were dragged out while being read a list of their crimes. A select few stayed behind,forting various individuals that had been impacted by the actions of those criminals.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Many of these that neededforting didn¡¯t even realize it, their minds having been altered to the point that they didn¡¯t realize what had happened to them. For these victims, the church was patient, taking their time to heal while guiding home those who had a ce to return. Many families were made whole again, and those who did not have a ce to return were taken in by the church itself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was the first true show of military might by one of the Greater Churches interfering with normal functions. Due to the time having coincided with the rise of Olympus, many criminals trembled. They had thought that the rise of Olympus meant that the gods would be more distant, not more active.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although these two events were not truly rted, they could not simply be a coincidence in the eyes of the people. The gods were now truly watching over the world, and that meant that the shadows were no longer safe for them.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Within the fiftiethyer of Fyor, several individuals in ck robes rushed along a golden in, trailing one after another. Their steps carried an intense urgency, not stopping until they saw a towering tree in the distance, its leaves a multitude of colors. When they reached the base of this tree, they searched around it for a few moments before ducking under one of its roots.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After passing under the root, they found themselves in an entirely different area, one with a dark sky covered with glittering lights. In the center of this space was a small town, dimmps flickered, though they seemed to radiate darkness rather than light. ¡°We should be safe now¡­¡± One of the figures said, pulling back her hood to reveal blood red eyes and dark brown hair.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Are you sure that we¡¯ll be safe here?¡± One of the figures following her spoke as the leader walked calmly towards the town.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course.¡± The woman looked back at her followers. ¡°Even the Keeper needs help to cross the ck stone walls. As long as we lie low here for a while, the outside world will have a chance to forget about us. It won¡¯t be toote to start up business again when the heat has died down.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right¡­¡± The follower nodded, pulling back his hood to reveal his slender, elven features and soft brown eyes. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, this may be the perfect ce for us. Shame that it¡¯s a bit small, though¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The woman chuckled, ncing at the town. Compared to the kingdoms and worlds that existed outside, this ce was certainly miniscule. ¡°There are other Shadow Camps, but this is the one I felt was the most secure for us. This is one of the few, true Shadow Camps of the higher floors. You can tell by how the light is inverted, and that¡¯s why we call it as such.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The elven man looked back at his shadow, noticing how it was brighter than the surrounding atmosphere. ¡°I see¡­ I¡¯ve never been to a Shadow Camp before. Can we still do business from here? After all, we have plenty of clients¡­¡± He gestured towards the town, clearly indicating the other ¡®refugees¡¯.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s why I brought you along.¡± The woman grinned. ¡°The heat won¡¯t be as heavy for ¡®extracurricr alchemists¡¯ like us, but there¡¯s still some risk that the gods won¡¯t approve. I brought enough supplies tost for a year or two in a town this size, and we can sneak out to get more if we need them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hey!¡± A voice called out to them, and the cloaked figures all reached for their concealed weapons. Soon, they saw a ck-haired and ck-eyed man walking over to them, his body almost bursting with muscle. ¡°You must be neers to the camp.¡± He grinned, cracking his neck.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing that the man didn¡¯t immediately start a fight, the woman nodded her head. ¡°That¡¯s right. I¡¯m Maya irmont, and these are my associates. We can provide recreational potions to this camp for a price.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Recreational potions, huh?¡± The man chuckled, raising an eyebrow. ¡°You almost seem too good for a ce like this. Still, if you¡¯ve got the stuff, you won¡¯t be turned away. My name¡¯s Barry, and I run the joint. Don¡¯t cause a ruckus, and we won¡¯t have any problems.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course, sir.¡± Maya smiledcently. She had never been much of a fighter to begin with, always priding herself as more of a businesswoman. ¡°We have plenty of our own materials, so providing for the area won¡¯t be a problem in the short term.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah, yeah, you want a channel to the outside.¡± Barry waved her off. ¡°The true Shadow Camps like this one have secret passages leading between them. Give me a list of what you need, and I¡¯ll see if another camp can provide it. For now, just pick a ce that¡¯s not used, and don¡¯t get in anyone¡¯s way.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Maya nodded her head with that same smile, turning and walking to the town. Barry¡¯s eyes traced after her, his shadow all but squirming beneath him. His ck eyes turned cold as he looked at the various criminals leisurely walking the streets, as if counting them.

 Chapter 950: Batteries Not Required

    Chapter 950: Batteries Not Required


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Looks like people are finally using those camps.¡± Petra chuckled, sitting atop a high ledge overlooking the construction progress on the fifty-second floor. This particr floor was rather precarious to build upon, as thendscape was covered with stone spirals that connected thend and sky, stretching over a billion kilometers into the sky.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although that number seemed absurd, the reality was apparent. When Thelsa¡¯s group sought to find the crystal pir of this floor, it took them longer than any other due to the need to navigate around the spires connected to the highest point in the floor. At the same time, this meant that one could not recklessly mine out the pirs. If one of them fell, the resulting crash could level an entire region.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was also for this reason that it was incredibly dangerous for adventurers to fight on this floor, as many of their abilities would damage thendscape around them. Thanks to all of this, there was little value in the floor from an adventurer standpoint. However, at the same time, there were many businesses just waiting to get moved in.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The fifty-second floor of Fyor did not have very many monsters, and those that it did have were considered rtively weaker for their level, due to being small and not carrying much innate destructive power. As long as they were properly managed, it was not hard for corporations to manage this local poption.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If they did so, they would have ess to the greatest mining field discovered to date. Disregarding the fact that the value of ores increased the further up in Fyor one went, a single pir on the fifty-second floor could hold as much ore as the entirety of Earth, if not more.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When these businesses realized that, it was no surprise that they hired Thelsa¡¯s team to protect the small city during its construction period. If the pirs they were building near happened to copse, then the entire city would have to be scrapped and relocated.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Next to Petra, Thelsa gave a small nod. ¡°I was expecting them to develop for a few more years, but it seems that the criminal underworld has been stirred up.¡± She couldn¡¯t help but smile as she thought of that. Thelsa had left hundreds of these Shadow Camps scattered around Fyor, releasing the details about them through some of her more anonymous shadows.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of these camps, there were several that had still yet to be discovered, while others had been found by morew-abiding groups that turned it into a camping site for adventurers. Most, however, had be upied by various criminal groups. Anyone that had a reason to want to hide from the gods sought shelter. And given that these camps were led by Thelsa¡¯s shadows, they were <i><span style="font-weight:400">naturally</i><span style="font-weight:400"> weed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°When are you nning to make your move?¡± Sora asked in a yful tone, clearly excited for the grand finale that they had prepared in these camps.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No rush.¡± Thelsa shook her head. ¡°There are bound to be more people that will take the bait. If we spring the trap too early, we¡¯ll lose the rest of them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">These camps were Thelsa¡¯s idea, a way to lure in those who sought to seek shelter in the darkness, only to remove them from this world. For many of them, their crimes were beyond the realm of forgiveness, including torture, ughter, or even morbid experiments. ¡°How are youing on the list, Petra?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra let out a low groan, shaking her head. ¡°I¡¯m not cut out for that kind of thing. I asked for some help from the others, so we should have an idea of which ones don¡¯t have any warrants out on them, at the very least. I can¡¯t say we¡¯ll get everyone like this, though.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa gave a warm smile, reaching over to ce a hand on Petra¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Still, I¡¯d rather not kill those who haven¡¯t done anything wrong. I don¡¯t need to know all of the criminals, as long as I know who is there and for what reason.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra smiled bitterly, nodding at that. ¡°We¡¯ve got people asking around to work¡¯. They¡¯re going to be stuck in the camps for a while, so most people are willing to open up. We¡¯ll have to see how far that goes, though.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona hummed to herself as she sat in front of her terminal, going through the different reports being sent to her from Deckan. Naturally, there were quite a lot, especially after Aurivy¡¯s recent crusade. Udona couldn¡¯t me Aurivy for what she did, though. Had Udona been the one to learn about what was going on first, things may have turned a fair bit¡­ messier.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If there was something that she could be thankful for, it was that none of her nobility had been engaged in such affairs. Udona could imagine that each of the others were checking their own upper echelons to make sure that there wasn¡¯t anything unforgivable going on behind the scenes. Worshiping a dark god here or there was fine, but ritual sacrifice was cutting it a bit far.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Stick to goats.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She muttered inwardly, before arching a brow. One of the reportsing in caught her eye, this one from none other than James himself.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">He¡¯s finished the automation of a Saint Body?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Udona pursed her lips, curious what Saint Energy he had used as the basis of this automation, given that each one would have a different result. She pulled up the report, flipping through it, before blinking.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Hey, Aznod, are you free?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She asked in a sweet tone, transmitting her voice to Aznod in the kitchen.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯ve just finished preparing lunch. Is something bothering you?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I was just curious. Did Jamese to you at any point for help creating a powerful energy?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The energy that Udona was looking at on the report was not one that she was familiar with, and she had given at least a cursory nce through all of the energies in the Metong database. There weren¡¯t any in that database that were truly at the Saint level.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Hmm? Oh, yes. That was back while the others were in that Admin Room. I believe you were busy entertaining guests from Desbar when he and Chelsea pulled me aside to ask for my assistance.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona nodded her head, having figured as much. Without ess to the market, Aznod was one of the few people that could intentionally formte a Saint level energy, though doing so would still be difficult for him. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Do you happen to remember what the energy does?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Naturally, she could search back through the records to look it up herself if she wanted, but she would much rather hear the details from him.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Well, the request that they gave me was to create aplex energy that was focused on information transmission. I thought that such an energy sounded strange, but they insisted it was important for their research. I believe that the final result of the energy was referred to be the system as Cyber Mind, and has the effect of allowing the user to treat their mind as if it were aputer. You can save and transmit files, interface with other machines, or even write mental programs for yourself.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona nodded her head, noting that the name matched with what was listed on the report. In a way, she could understand why they had used this energy as the basis for their Saint Path. It was not a destructive energy, and was instead something that could allow individuals to enhance their daily lives. She was only concerned that it might have offensive powers, or detection abilities like World Sight. If that had been the case, there would be some major problems in the very near future.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Thank you, Aznod. That¡¯s all I needed. What did you make for lunch?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Udona licked her lips, recalling what he had said he was doing.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I made curry using that recipe you taught mest week, with a few of my own modifications. And yes, there is enough for everyone, and for leftovers.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Udona could hear the amused chuckle in his voice when he said that.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">You¡¯re the best! Love you!</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">And you as well.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The two exchanged sweet words before Udona returned her focus to her reports. If it was time to eat, she needed to quickly get through what was left.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, what¡¯s the next project, now that we¡¯ve finished the Saint Graph?¡± Chel asked James once the duo were alone in their researchb, the others having taken a well deserved break. ¡°I think we¡¯ve introduced just about all of the advanced tech we can that applies to this world, and even a few that were only hypothetical for us.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James gave a slow nod at that, thinking it over. ¡°True.¡± He sighed. Although he was known as the leading researcher of the myriad worlds, the truth was that most of his inventions came from his history as a Keeper. In a sense, he was giarizing himself. ¡°I suppose that we could pick a proper direction for researching future projects?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel couldn¡¯t help but grin, easily able to perceive his thoughts. ¡°Got any areas in mind? I could think of a few that this world could benefit from, but there are too many subjects to say that just one would be the best.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s fair. Though¡­ we could try to solve the energy crisis?¡± When James said that, Chel gave a slight chuckle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I assume you aren¡¯t talking about using those old marbles?¡± Chel arched her brow, a yful grin tugging at her lips.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No¡­ I think that Tsubaki had the right idea, but the execution was handled poorly. They just didn¡¯t know that until it was toote to salvage the project.¡± Originally, Tsubaki¡¯s method of obtaining essentially limitless energy was to create miniature universes with specializedws that caused their physical manifestations to constantly leak increasingly greater energy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In a way, Tsubaki and Dana¡¯s project had almost touched on the realm of a Fifth Rank Keeper, even back when the fourth tier of magic was just being mastered. If she had managed to perfect that research, and apply it to other fields aside from energy generation, it was likely that Dale¡¯s world would have risen even higher by this point.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, which part of it do you n to change?¡± Chel couldn¡¯t help but ask, leaning forward to look at James. ¡°This is a tricky project, and there are going to be people that don¡¯t want it to seed. As well as a lot of void monsters looking for a tasty snack.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Firstly, the biggest issue is that these items should not be mass produced in the way that Tsubaki had done previously.¡± James said in a firm tone. ¡°From what they have told me, they did this so that they could conduct research on mixing the different worlds, wanting to create their own. However, they almost brought about a catastrophe. If such a thing happened in the present day, those miniature worlds would be destroyed within days.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Secondly, we need to erect defenses for them as soon as they are established. Like you said, there will be those seeking to destroy the source of energy. This is going to be the hardest part, given how fragile those worlds are.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Once we have these set up, they won¡¯t be ¡®independent worlds¡¯. Just like how we create energy from the void with our Void Core, this will just be another type of generator. Just¡­ one with far more potential.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And more potential to explode.¡± Chel added. ¡°Wherever we put the physical manifestation on this side, it has to be somewhere far away from civilization. As in, I don¡¯t want that marble within a lightyear of any inhabited world. Deal?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...Deal.¡± James nodded after a moment. ¡°Which means we¡¯ll need to set up an energy refinement and transmission system.¡± After saying that, he let out a long sigh. ¡°Why can¡¯t we just make a bigger Void Core?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel gave a small grin, knowing he knew the answer to that already. ¡°The one powering Olympus is already the biggest we can safely make with our tech. Anything stronger would punch a hole in the world¡¯s shell.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah, I know¡­ but you¡¯re the one always going on that anything magic can do, technology can do. If Tsubaki can make those marbles with fourth tier magic, why can¡¯t we make a Void Core that¡¯s just as powerful?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel paused, blinking. She held a hand up, blinking again, and lowered it. ¡°I mean¡­ we could?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Eh?¡± James looked over. ¡°But you just said that it would punch a hole in the world shell¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If we did it our way, yeah. But what if we did it her way, our way?¡± Chel asked, before realizing how little sense that made. ¡°I mean, if we make a Void Core that generates a world within the void and functions simrly to that marble. If we do it that way, we¡¯re not punching through this world¡¯s shell, we are just siphoning power off of the newly created world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James hesitated for a moment, slowly nodding his head. ¡°Yeah¡­ that could work. See if you can give them a call, find out if they have the old records for the spell diagram. At the very least, we can use that design as a reference point.¡±

 Chapter 951: Utopia

    Chapter 951: Utopia


    <span style="font-weight:400">


    <span style="font-weight:400">With Tsubaki still in her Trial of Blood, the days seemed to pass rather slowly. To my surprise, Athena¡¯s estimate of Tsubaki¡¯s trial time was actually rather urate. Almost three days after she began her test, she managed toe out of it with a refreshed face. As usual when she finished the trial, her level didn¡¯t noticeably increase, but she had gained experience of a different sort.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Simrly, Dana returned not too long before Tsubaki, having finished up with her own business of checking on her familiars. The only one to note back in a timely manner was Lifre, still out exploring the different regions of Fyor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Even without Lifre, Olympus seemed more lively than the Citadel had ever been, given that most of the gods and goddesses had chosen to have their incarnations living in the city made by Tubrock. Furthermore, it was only a few days after Tsubaki finished her trial that I received the notification about my next opponent. It was someone named¡­ Triaxie?


    <span style="font-weight:400">I didn¡¯t really know any Rank Four Keepers outside of Sarah, so it was no real surprise that I hadn¡¯t heard of them. If anything, I¡¯d be amazed if it was someone that I actually knew. For instance, Sanctum could potentially be at this rank by now, given the systems possessed by his world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As usual, the first thing that I did when I heard about the pairing was return to my Admin Room and fire off a message into the guild chat. If it was a Rank Four Keeper, Sarah might know them. And, after mentioning them¡­


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    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Triaxie? Why does that name seem familiar..? Give me just a second, and I¡¯ll check!


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard: More importantly, are you the attacker or the defender in this one?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: I¡¯m on the attacking end, but I¡¯ve still got a free attack ticket fromst year. So if it¡¯s a monster Keeper or something, I¡¯d be willing to see if anyone would be able to benefit more from it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Found it! Triaxie is a prettymon customer of mine. It¡¯s been so long since I was paired against them that I thought that they had already risen to Rank 5!


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: If it¡¯s a customer of yours, does that mean that they¡¯re a decent person?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Oh, no! Definitely not! They¡¯re a total tyrant. They buy games so that they can throw them at their world in the form of apocalypses. I got a few refugees from an invasion a few years back. Apparently, if they go too long without ying one of the ¡®apocalypse games¡¯ aftering of age, they automatically die. Even worse, the games have true death. And sometimes he just lets monsters from the game loose to ¡®simte¡¯ an invasion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: ¡­Surely that wouldn¡¯t be too bad for the gods, but the mortals would have it really rough.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: If their methods haven¡¯t changed, then divine powers are locked inside the games, and everyone is forced to start at level one. The only bright side is that power gained in the game can be taken out to the real world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Okay, so this is definitely not someone that I want to trade with.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard: Ah¡­ one of those. Yeah, the tyrants that spam apocalypses are the ones that I avoid the most. They¡¯ve got that whole survival of the fittest mindset, and consider other people, even Keepers, as inferior beings. Typically, it¡¯s a mindset where they think that whatever they lived through is worse than anything they can throw at their people, so they should be able to survive it if they are strong enough.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Thanks. I¡¯ll give my friend in the Gilded Branch a call to see if there is anyone that wants to buy a ¡®Get Out of Battle Free¡¯ card.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard: Is it really free if they¡¯re paying for it?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: ¡­Sorry, cultural reference.


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    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a sigh when I closed that message window, thinking about when I should call Balu. My match against Triaxie wasn¡¯t this month, but next. If I called now, there would likely be a confusion in the scheduling. It was better to call after the month had switched over, when everyone knew for sure who they would be facing that month.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With that in mind, I set an rm to trigger one day after the month cycled over, long enough that people would have started looking up information on their opponents. After that, it was a return to my daily life in Olympus. Granted, I didn¡¯t spend <i><span style="font-weight:400">all</i><span style="font-weight:400"> of my time there.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now that I had learned the two Martial Wills, that of the gun and fist, I had to regrly train those, seeking to hone my skills and one day awaken the Martial Intent. I knew the direction that I wanted to go, it was just a matter of training diligently until I reached that point.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As for the others¡­ well, it was hard for me to properly keep track of their own training, given how much of my time I had to devote to training my Martial Will. All that I knew was that our progress in the game was going rather smoothly.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Wait, they want <i><span style="font-weight:400">what?</i><span style="font-weight:400">¡± Dana stared at the request on the screen incredulously. It had taken her a few days to receive the report from James¡¯s research team, due to them drafting up a sizable report on what they wanted and, more importantly, why they wanted it. In addition, Dana hadn¡¯t been at Olympus recently to receive it even if it did arrive earlier.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s¡­ not an easy request.¡± Dana said with a faint groan. In fact, after they decided to abolish the marbles, they had made sure to destroy every trace of their construction method. Their potential as a weapon of mass destruction couldn¡¯t be overlooked, even incidentally, so they had been very thorough. The original mountain where they did their tests had beenpletely leveled by powerful magic, and all of theirputers had been scrubbed of the form.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Looking back, Dana was rather d that they had gone to such extreme methods. These days, there were no shortages of artificial or arcane intelligences that could ess their personal records. Had they been less forceful in their cleanup, there would have likely already been numerous catastrophes as a result of improper handling.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Though, this is James we¡¯re talking about. And, they are nning to have their energy nt far away from any inhabited world¡­ the problem is, how do I get that diagram now that it¡¯s been deleted?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">It had been so long ago at this point that she was sure that she wouldn¡¯t be able to reproduce it urately. With how many times they had failed to get it right the first time, she didn¡¯t want to risk giving them a wed form.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she thought to that point, she couldn¡¯t help but close her eyes. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Hey, Ryone? Is there any chance that you still remember it?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Hmm? Oh, that old spell? Of course, I am the Goddess of Magic, after all. I can easily remember any spell that has been cast in any of Dale¡¯s worlds.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana let out a sigh of relief when she heard Ryone¡¯s confident words. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Would you mind refreshing my memory? If their ns are right, this could be the key to turn our current situation into an energy utopia.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ryone simply chuckled at that. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I doubt we¡¯ll hit the level of a true utopia, but this would clear a lot of future problems. And maybe create some new ones we aren¡¯t aware of yet. Still¡­ this is all information that exists in the back of your mind. If you tried hard enough, you¡¯d be able to remember it before too long. There¡¯s no harm in speeding the process up slightly.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">After she sent that message, Dana was struck with a revtion. In mere moments, she had been able to recall theplex diagram that they had spent months, maybe years to perfect. Now that she had this information in her head, it was just a matter of how to go about using it. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Back in the day, it might have taken a hundred normal mages to activate this spell. We even had to bring the boss in for help. Nowadays¡­ it would just take five skilled mages, or one with a considerable amount of backup mana sources.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thanks to that knowledge, Dana wasn¡¯t willing to risk sending the information over the inte, for fear of it being intercepted. Instead, she stood from her seat, shing at the void to teleport straight to Deckan.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In order to avoid triggering Chel¡¯s <i><span style="font-weight:400">frankly excessive</i><span style="font-weight:400"> security system, Dana teleported more than a hundred meters away from the research facility, quickly walking towards it. Along the way, she happened to pass a vaguely familiar figure, an elf moving along the same path as herself. ¡°Treisha?¡± She called out, prompting the elf to turn to face her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh? Miss Jafer?¡± Treisha¡¯s face showed a touch of surprise. ¡°What brings you by the office? Or, did you just happen to be in the neighborhood?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana shook her head. ¡°I¡¯ve got to meet up with your boss. I¡¯m surprised I caught you like this. Not busy with anything at the moment?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Treisha gave a somewhat bitter smile. ¡°Oh, we certainly are. In fact, possibly now more so than ever. I¡¯ll exin when we¡¯re inside.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying that, Treisha led the duo towards therge research building, scanning her palm to unlock the door. Once they were inside, she began to speak. ¡°Up until now, it¡¯s always felt as if those of us on the team were just ying catch-up. James knew most of the answers, but he wanted us to figure it out for ourselves. It was¡­ honestly frustrating. For some of us, it made us feel as if our presence wasn¡¯t even that necessary for the projects that we were working on.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana¡¯s eye twitched when she heard that. ¡°I can imagine¡­ it¡¯s not research if someone already knows the answer from the start.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right?¡± Treisha let out a heavy sigh. ¡°I actually thought about quitting a few times. But after so long, I don¡¯t know where I¡¯d go. Despite the frustration, this is probably the most fun and rxed research center around. I bet the others feel the same way.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Things changed recently, though. In ourtest project, the Saint Graph, James was <i><span style="font-weight:400">legitimately</i><span style="font-weight:400"> stumped for a while. It was the first time that we had seen that kind of reaction from him that wasn¡¯t just trying to convertws from his world to this one to arrive at an answer. For once, he legitimately didn¡¯t know a piece to the puzzle, and neither did Chel.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And let me guess, you managed to solve it for them?¡± Dana asked in a teasing tone, earning a snort from Treisha.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Me? No, sadly. Though, it was solved by the team. Eventually, Thea and Nora came to the answer together, and we were able to perfect the Saint Graph. The two of them were even the first to go through it, once the trials were done.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana blinked in surprise, nodding her head. ¡°So you¡¯re happy that you¡¯re able to contribute more, but that also means you¡¯re being worked harder?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Treisha gave another nod at that. ¡°That¡¯s right. For instance, James had me run to the Boundless Caravan just now to stock up on about two hundred different types of materials he wants to run detailed tests on for some uing project. I was just on my way back with the supplies when I ran into you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana chuckled, giving a wry smile. ¡°I think I¡¯ming back with the project you¡¯re talking about¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Treisha¡¯s eyes went wide, the door of theb opening as Chel stepped out. ¡°You are!?¡± She asked in excitement. ¡°Does that mean you brought it with you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Realizing that Chel had heard everything they were talking about, Treisha¡¯s head dipped slightly, and Dana nodded. ¡°Yeah. Though, I don¡¯t have a digital record of it. I had Ryone restore my memory of the original spell, and I want to transfer it to the two of you using a method that the boss taught me.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel blinked briefly, before nodding her head with a serious expression. Of all people, she knew the importance of secrecy at times like this. ¡°Alright. Just to be clear, is this a method that we can use, as well, or does it require a special energy technique?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It should be avable to anyone, as long as they understand the concept.¡± Dana said, before holding out her hand and generating a silvery pearl. She had watched the Keeper use this method to teach them about World Sight, though he had done so through the power of his Souls domain. As for Dana¡­ manipting her own soul was something of a specialty of hers, so she was able to create the memory marbles without too much trouble.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel looked down at the marble, a look of understanding dawning on her face. ¡°I see. That¡¯s certainly a way to transfer secret information. If it were someone else, I¡¯d have to run a detailed analysis on the spiritual energy to prevent any malicious tampering, but I know you¡¯re smarter than that.¡± Chel said with a grin, taking the pearl and popping it into her mouth.

 Chapter 952: Impostor

    Chapter 952: Impostor


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although most viins sought refuge when they realized the threat of divine intervention, this did not extend to all those who operated a less than savory business. There were those who were either too crazy or too confident in themselves to think they had any reason to hide. Of course, there were also a few individuals who truly did have a great ability.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What are we looking at here?¡± A lycan officer asked as he walked up to a crime scene, using his badge to pass through the anti-tampering barrier with his partner.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Lorsa Downs, age sixty-five. Preliminary reports show that the killer should be her neighbor. No motive, yet, but he didn¡¯t clean up his tracks.¡± The human partner said, his blue eyes staring at the bludgeoned body on the floor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right¡­ let¡¯s see it, then.¡± The lycan sighed, focusing as he channeled his mana. ¡°Rey the scene.¡± At his words, the light in the room flickered, showing a hologram of what had transpired.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As he watched the scene, the officer narrated what he was seeing to have it recorded officially. ¡°ording to clocks, the incident began at three past nine in the evening. Victim¡¯s husband doesn¡¯t appear to have been home. The victim appears to be watching a news report when she hears the doorbell, and moves to investigate.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°When she sees who is at the door, she opens it with a smile, letting in a tanned elven male. He has sharp features, jade-green eyes, and jet ck hair.¡± As he said that, he watched the two walk back into the living room. ¡°The two appear to be close friends. No¡­ scratch that, it would appear that this is an affair. At least¡­ the woman seemed to believe so.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The elven male rejected her advances, frustrating the victim. ording to their bodynguage, there was an argument, after which he resorted to violence. When the victim was deceased, the elven male fled the scene, which waster discovered by her husband.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The lycan let out a long sigh as he finished watching the rey provided by world energy. ¡°It¡¯s not often that we get a case where the criminal doesn¡¯t even wipe their signature from world energy¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Think it was just a moment of frustration?¡± His partner asked, to which the lycan shook his head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Maybe, Brian. It¡¯s also possible that it was someone simply using his appearance to frame him. Have you met the suspect?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The human, Brian, gave a small nod of his head. ¡°After the scene was discovered, he was called in for questioning. They¡¯re talking to him at the station now.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Then why are we here? They don¡¯t need the two of us to take care of the body, do they?¡± The lycan asked in frustration, though Brian only chuckled, shaking his head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Coroner is on his way. Themissioner wants us to look for anything that might hint at a third party involvement. Divine traces, anything that could have influenced the scene.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Figures¡­¡± The lycan sighed, nodding as he focused. He activated the path of his divine circuit, his vision changing. Walking over to the victim¡¯s body, he crouched down next to her. ¡°No sign of any foreign energy, other than faint traces of ki from her injuries.¡± After saying that, he stood, looking around. ¡°Additionally, there are spiritual energies from two people other than the victim. One of the energies matches the ki pattern, but the other is more deeply rooted in the house.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The lycan walked out to the yard, eyes ncing slightly upwards as if he were following a trail of smoke. ¡°The first spirit pattern matches the house next door. Aside from the basic household energies, I¡¯m not seeing anything else. Face it, Brian, this is just what it looks like.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Brian let out a light sigh. ¡°If the God of Detection can¡¯t find any extra traces, there¡¯s probably nothing left to find.¡± He said with a roll of his eyes, hearing a car pulling up. ¡°That¡¯ll be the coroner. I¡¯ll go and let him in.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After Brian said that, he turned and left the house. The lycan¡¯s eyes continued to scan the back yard, as if looking for anything out of the ordinary. There were certainly cases of mundane violence that persisted even in this day and age, but such acts were rare. Even more so when the criminal made their job so easy for them.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Buried storage item in the backyard. Looks like it¡¯s been there about fifty years. The contents¡­ just some outdated currency. Might be worth something to a collector, but doesn¡¯t fit the scene.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Upon reaching that conclusion, he turned his gaze back towards the house, looking up at the second floor. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Three hidden storage items in the house. Contents¡­ just some magazines and a private safe of divine coins.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Shaking his head, he turned to walk back into the house, seeing the coroner returning with his partner. He looked the two over, before dismissing his divine power. ¡°Let¡¯s go. This is as open and shut as it gets.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Brian chuckled, nodding his head. ¡°Right. It was worth a shot, at least. Allow me to offer a prayer for your services.¡± He gave a small grin, causing the lycan to scoff and roll his eyes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Outside, the two officers got back in their police car to drive away, leaving the coroner at the scene collecting the body. Although there were a couple of low-ranking officers watching the scene to avoid any interference, they didn¡¯t see anything out of the ordinary. The coroner simply hummed to himself, shifting the body onto a stretcher and carrying it out to his car.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With the back of the car facing away from the house, none of the officers were able to see what was inside when he opened the car. They couldn¡¯t watch him ce the body inside, or see the body of a human police officer tucked next to the newly deposited body, its blue eyes opened wide in horror.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The coroner chuckled, closing the back of the car. ¡°You¡¯ll make a great friend, Officer Pike.¡± He said as he walked to the front of the car.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">ra tapped her foot on the ground impatiently, looking at the detailed map of the nned machine empire. The progress was already amazing, with a starting city having been constructed thanks to Tubrock restoring the old drones. However, their ¡®empire¡¯ was still just that, one city.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Gah, why does this have to take so long!?¡± She asked in frustration. She knew in her head that this would take quite some time, but with the help of the drones, she had hoped that it would go by significantly faster. ¡°We¡¯re already going to have to use AI for our citizens, unless we can find a good world to uplift. Even then, it¡¯ll take a period of adjustment.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, there was the option of giving the drones themselves advanced AI, but ra was <i><span style="font-weight:400">not</i><span style="font-weight:400"> going to be entertaining that possibility. That was a doomsday scenario waiting to happen. ¡°I don¡¯t suppose that you can elerate time in that region of space, Fifi?¡± She asked in a hopeful tone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°My apologies.¡± A soft voice spoke into her ear. ¡°That would be an abuse of my power. While I may be able to pull some strings for the Keeper, my capacity to do so is limited in the event where they have refused to announce themselves to the world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">In actuality, that wasn¡¯t even the problem. If that was all that was wrong, Fifi could still manage, so long as the action was for the Keeper¡¯s benefit. However, she didn¡¯t say that. She was well aware that the Keeper¡¯s ¡®desire for an empire¡¯ was just a passing remark that ra had taken as a personal mission. Thus, it did not meet the condition of being for his benefit.


    <span style="font-weight:400">ra let out a soft groan at the refusal. ¡°I could just make shadow people to fill the NPC slots, if we really need to. But, I can¡¯t do that without her permission, and I want to save this as a surprise!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chewing on her lip, she opened up a control panel to manage the local drones. ¡°These things are way too useful, practically a cheat for any advanced society. However, they¡¯re not foolproof. Once their frequency is discovered, they fall apart. We scrambled the shutoff frequency when we remade them, but that¡¯s still a critical weakness.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We need to expand. An energy source capable of sustaining Digital Conversion and operating on a massive scale to provide materials¡­ I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m saying this.¡± She let out a deep groan. ¡°We¡¯re making a Dyson Sphere.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Fifi¡¯s eyes widened slightly at ra¡¯s words. Although the terminology was different in this game, she was aware of the construct ra was talking about. ¡°A Ster Encapstion Drive is highly inefficient in terms of resource consumption, and will remove the possibility of life on any nearby.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">ra simply nodded her head, fully aware of this. ¡°That¡¯s true. That¡¯s why this is an investment! This Dyson Sphere will be set to convert sr energy into the four primary energy types, which can then be used to power Digital Conversion. I¡¯m sure that there are empires that have done something like this, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Fifi hesitated for a moment, before nodding her head. ¡°That¡¯s right. There are indeed cases of this being achieved. However, the conversion process is highly inefficient when operating with energy on such a grand scale. Furthermore, most of the energy that <i><span style="font-weight:400">is</i><span style="font-weight:400"> produced is used to maintain the drive itself. The constantly rebounding sr radiation causes a rapid buildup of heat within the sphere.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">ra gave another nod of her head. ¡°Yeah, but I¡¯ll get <i><span style="font-weight:400">something</i><span style="font-weight:400"> out of it! I can use one panel to get the energy to make another, and set this up on an automated cycle until the star is fully encapsted. Plus, I¡¯m not using the star for <i><span style="font-weight:400">this</i><span style="font-weight:400">, just a nearby one. After that, it¡¯s just a matter of refining the energy to be used as needed.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Fifi let out a low sigh, nodding briefly. ¡°I understand. In that case, I suppose you n to use these drones to construct the initial frame?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right!¡± ra nodded her head. ¡°The drones have a high heat resistance, and should be able to withstand the initial operating period, until we have enough resources to create an automated maintenance fleet.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ideally, she would have preferred to use the resource veins on her familiar, Sirius. Unfortunately, it wasn¡¯t possible to create a virtual reality interface for something like a living star, so she couldn¡¯t bring it into the game with her. And if she asked the Keeper to seed <i><span style="font-weight:400">another</i><span style="font-weight:400"> world like that, he¡¯d naturally look into things.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Since that was not an option, she would harness ster energy from this side of things, and then use that to expand her workforce. With that in mind, she leaned over her console, starting to draw up a blueprint in the design interface. ¡°If my basic calctions are right, we should have initial results within a week, and a full sphere within two months.¡± Creating a full Dyson Sphere in just two months was already a ridiculous sounding achievement, but if the power from the tes was used to produce more tes, and this cycle was allowed to repeat, it could be possible.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Fifi shook her head, seeing how focused ra was on achieving her goal. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I thought Tsubaki was the crazy one?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She thought to herself. Though, on the bright side, the city was at least ready for the members of Elisae¡¯s kingdom to begin moving in. Until NPCs were provided, this would be a true yer city. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯ll let her and Sun know that the first step isplete, then.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> With that thought, Fifi vanished from the room.

 Chapter 953: Doppel Trouble

    Chapter 953: Doppel Trouble


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea hummed lightly to herself as she read through the research notes that Thea had submitted to her. Everyone wasing up with their own ideas for how to create the next generation Void Core, based on the spell diagram that Dana had submitted. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I have to admit, those sisters are good. This one has a bit of trouble with the stability from what I can tell, but the theory behind it is sound.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sadly, an unstable system was uneptable for the device that they were wanting to create. They needed failsafes for everything that they could feasibly create one for. If their new generator went critical for any reason, it would lead to an annihtion event spanning light years. And that¡¯s assuming that it didn¡¯t just punch a hole through to the void.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With that in mind, Chelsea marked down the problems that she had noticed, and sent it back to Thea. With her and Nora working together on the project, she was sure that she¡¯d have a new revision within just a few days. <i><span style="font-weight:400">On the other hand, the others are more cautious¡­ they¡¯re submitting less reports because they keep looking over their own work to find ws. Or they¡¯re just not confident enough with what they have to show it.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea shook her head at that, tapping her keyboard to pull up her terminal. When she did, she blinked in surprise, seeing a notification in the bottom corner of her screen. Clicking it, she opened a message that had been sent to her over a secure channel. While she read through the message, her face gradually distorted, scrunching up as her fists clenched.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You appear to be highly stressed. Is there something the matter?¡± Three-fifty spoke up when he noticed Chelsea¡¯s current state.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea nearly flinched at his sudden voice, ncing around before looking at the message again. ¡°Yeah, just¡­ give me a moment. James! We need to <i><span style="font-weight:400">talk</i><span style="font-weight:400">.¡± She stood up, James¡¯s eyes going wide at the message. He jumped up from his seat to follow her out of theb, the smaller kitsune leading him away from the others and to a more secure area.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What is it, Chel?¡± James asked, though closed his mouth when Chelsea held up a hand. He followed her to the end of the hall, into a hidden elevator, and down to a secret bunker that¡­ James wasn¡¯t quite sure <i><span style="font-weight:400">when </i><span style="font-weight:400">she had it installed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once they were in the bunker, Chelsea ran over to a console, tapping a few buttons as mechanical locks could be heard clicking into ce. Afterwards, she turned around, facing James with a serious expression. ¡°Show me your soul.¡± She said in a firm tone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Show you my--¡± James¡¯s eyes went wide when he saw just how serious she was. Realizing that there must be something going on, he focused, a misty pearl forming from the center of his chest. Once it was fully formed, it hovered a few feet in front of him, and Chelsea walked over, eyes shing blue as she analyzed it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What was thest project that you worked on beforeing to this world?¡± She asked in that same tone, her eyes never leaving his soul.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It was a new warp drive.¡± James answered truthfully. ¡°We were experimenting with implementing space folding to travel massive distances, but the drive exploded during the initial test.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea kept staring at his soul, nodding her head. Suddenly, she formed a fist, mming it towards the white pearl. James¡¯s eyes went wide, his body stiffening. However, he did not stop her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea¡¯s fist stopped less than a centimeter from James¡¯s soul, and she nced up at him. ¡°Good¡­ you¡¯re you.¡± She said in a relieved tone, pulling her hand back. ¡°You can put that away now.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right¡­ why was me being me ever in question to begin with?¡± James couldn¡¯t help but asked that, pulling a chair over to sit in. ¡°What happened?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There was a splinter in the ninja group.¡± Chelsea shook her head, recalling the report that she had just read through. ¡°A group researching what should be a Saint energy separated from the ninjas, and have now gone rogue.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James grumbled when he heard that. ¡°Rogue ninjas, just what everyone needs. So, I take it that the energy they were creating is used for disguises?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Chelsea confirmed. ¡°They called it Masked Soul. Those who were most familiar with the energy either defected or were killed, so the information that I was given is limited. What I do know is that this energy allows someone to disguise themselves as another individual, down to perfectly replicating their memories and soul. When used offensively, it is even capable of achieving a sort of brainwashing effect, though the strength of that effect is unknown.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And you thought that they wanted to impersonate me?¡± James asked, Chelsea nodding her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s a reasonable assumption. They¡¯ve been after your work since your work began. If this is the old remnants of those dissatisfied with the state of things, they could go after you or any of the others. That¡¯s why I brought you here, isting us. If you were an impostor, I have enough weapons in this bunker to ensure that nobody other than the <i><span style="font-weight:400">real</i><span style="font-weight:400"> James would be able to leave.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James gave a small nod of his head. ¡°But, you¡¯re in the Admin Room, right? Couldn¡¯t you just check me through Dale¡¯s system?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea shrugged her shoulders. ¡°You¡¯re not one of his assets yet, so I can¡¯t directly investigate you. If I tried, and it worked, I¡¯d know for sure that it wasn¡¯t¡¯ you. But if it failed, it might be a result of the energy temporarily bringing the user out of Dale¡¯s assets by mimicking you. I can¡¯t be sure if I don¡¯t know the details of the energy.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It could take me weeks of <i><span style="font-weight:400">Standard</i><span style="font-weight:400"> time to go through the logs and find where the renegades ran off to, assuming they didn¡¯t use any tricks that would throw me off.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is¡­ that even possible?¡± James asked doubtfully. ¡°There¡¯s nothing that can avoid the eyes of the Admin Room, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That depends.¡± Chel let out a sigh. ¡°If the brainwashing aspect of this power allowed them to fully convert another being to their cause without any visible indication, it could easily be missed while following that person. If I missed just one instance of something like that, it would allow an entirely unknown cell to form. The system can find show me anything I want to see, <i><span style="font-weight:400">assuming</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I know what it is that I want to see in the first ce.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right¡­¡± James nodded grimly. ¡°What about the others?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s why I brought you here first. You have your detection energy. World Sight, as Dale calls it. It¡¯s a Saint level energy devoted purely to detection, and it can theoretically see through anything. I want you to scan everyone in theb to look for any tiny trace of an unknown energy signature. If it isn¡¯t something that you can immediately identify, I want them quarantined. Keep in mind, this energy is made to blend in, so it might be hard even for you to sense.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James nodded his head again at Chel¡¯s answer, closing his eyes in focus. He sent his senses back up to theb, taking his time to run an in depth scan on everyone. Truthfully, this was more information than he really wanted to know about any of them, but such a thing couldn¡¯t be helped at this point.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He scanned their physical bodies as well as their energy pathways, all of their items, and even investigated their inventories. Whenever he saw a new energy type, he immediately reverse engineered it in his mind to determine what it was. They were all chosen because they were innovators in developing new energies, so it was a given that they had their own progress.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, after ten minutes of constant scanning, James let out a long breath. ¡°Nothing suspicious about any of them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea nodded, though her face didn¡¯t show signs of rxing. ¡°Good. Though, if they¡¯re noting after us, they¡¯re probably preparing for their big move.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Big move?¡± James asked, blinking.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. ording to the report, the Masked Soul project was scheduled to be shut down after one of the lead researchers made thement that even the Keeper could be copied by this energy. From the information that remains, the research team involved rebelled against the decision, killing the project overseer and wiping out all traces of their research. After that, they began to blend in with their peers to escape. So far, there isn¡¯t any knowledge on where they are.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°They want to take the Keeper¡¯s head?¡± James went wide-eyed at that, before a dangerous look entered his eyes. ¡°So¡­ you need me to make a move?¡± James knew fully well what would happen if the Keeper died, having been through that once before himself. He had been given his second chance once already, and knew he wouldn¡¯t get another.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not yet. We don¡¯t know where they are. Not even you could scan everyone in the various worlds to look for an energy source you wouldn¡¯t be able to recognize.¡± Chelsea rolled her eyes as she said that. ¡°I¡¯m going to send a message to Olympus, asking them to enter a light lockdown, using their Administration Room selves to verify anyone that enters. In the meantime¡­¡± She rolled her neck, her eyes sharp. ¡°I have camera footage to look through.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James couldn¡¯t help but blink at that. ¡°Do you even know where to begin? What cameras would you look through?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°All of them.¡± She answered simply, an almost feral grining over her face. ¡°I¡¯m going to look through <i><span style="font-weight:400">all</i><span style="font-weight:400"> of them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s¡­ yeah, I¡¯ll leave you to that¡­ you¡¯re going to need all the focus you can muster.¡± Naturally, ¡®all of them¡¯ was somewhat of an exaggeration, and James knew that. Even if it was Chelsea, she would not be able to look through all of the billions of cameras in Deckan alone, let alone all of the other worlds. However, if she narrowed her parameters to avoid ovepping areas, as well as keeping to areas of active foot traffic, she would be able to somewhat manage one world at a time. Granted, there would be so many cameras that even Chelsea might miss things if she spread herself that thin.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yo, Brian, I¡¯m heading out for the night.¡± The lycan detective spoke up, standing up from his desk and stretching. ¡°I told you this was open and shut. Want to grab a drink? On me.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Brian looked up at that, blinking, before letting out a slight chuckle. ¡°You go on ahead, Marx. I¡¯ve got to wrap this up. Memory recovery¡¯s never a fun business.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah, yeah.¡± The lycan nodded his head, walking out with his hands in his pockets. As he did, Brian seemed to get back to work, until the police chief called out to him from his office.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Officer Pike! My office!¡± He shouted, Brian jumping to his feet and running over.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yes sir?¡± Brian asked, standing at attention before the chief, an ursa with a muscr frame.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Got another case I want you on.¡± The chief said, grabbing a folder and setting it on his desk.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Brian blinked in confusion, looking down at the folder. ¡°Sir, I¡¯m still wrapping up the Houlson case. We need an elven specialist to recover the suspect¡¯s memories.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m putting someone else on that. The evidence all points towards the neighbor, and this is more important. I¡¯ve heard a few disturbing reports of potential identity theft.¡± Brian¡¯s eyes twitched wider, staring at the folder. ¡°Been getting calls about a rampant case of twins.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Rampant case of twins?¡± Brian responded, as if confused. The chief let out a sigh, leaning back in his chair.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. Seeing identical people in the streets, or seeing someone turn into someone else after passing them by. Probably just some kids ying with ki, but altering your appearance to impersonate someone else is still a crime.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Brian nodded his head at his boss¡¯s words, turning and looking out the window of the office. He let out a soft sigh, grabbing the blinds to close them. <i><span style="font-weight:400">They were sloppy. This is why you don¡¯t put researchers in the field.</i><span style="font-weight:400">


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Officer Pike?¡± The Ursa asked, immediately on guard after the office went darker.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Don¡¯t worry, I don¡¯t think this case will get anywhere.¡± Brian¡¯s voice spoke up calmly, though it was somehowing from directly behind themissioner. Before his boss could react, Brian¡¯s hands were on the sides of his head, fingers digging in like ws and pouring a ck energy into his body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Brian had already isted the sound in the room, ensuring that his cries wouldn¡¯t escape. The ck energy sank into the man¡¯s body, before pulling a white pearl from his mouth. This pearl floated into the air, and Brian could feel a faint connection with it as a body grew out around it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Soon, there was another ursa standing there, looking identical to the now-deceased chief of police. ¡°Dispose of the body.¡± Brian said in a cold tone. As the chief¡¯s doppelganger had been created in an ¡®avatar state¡¯, it retained all of Brian¡¯s past training, nodding its head with a gruff expression.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Got it. Let the others know to be more careful out in public.¡±

 Chapter 954: Bigger Concerns

    Chapter 954: Bigger Concerns


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra heard a knock on her bedroom door while she was lounging in bed, calling out in anguid tone. ¡°You cane in, Chel.¡± The door opened, and Chelsea walked in with a concerned look. ¡°Let me guess, you¡¯re worried about that ninja group?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Why wouldn¡¯t I be?¡± Chelsea asked with a sigh, moving over to sit in the chair near the desk. ¡°You know what something like that is capable of. If their energy really can take out a Keeper, isn¡¯t this a major risk factor?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hmmm¡­¡± Terra smiled, stretching out on the bed with her tail swishing in the air above her. ¡°And you want me to go all holy smite? Or just track down all of them?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Both are entirely good options.¡± Chelsea nodded her head quickly. ¡°From what I know of you, you won¡¯t tolerate anyone that wants to directly harm the Keeper, right? These guys went rogue because they were shut down after saying that their energy would be able to rece the Keeper. Doesn¡¯t that make it your time to act?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯re not wrong.¡± Terra nodded her head, slowly pulling herself into a sitting position. ¡°But, I don¡¯t think I¡¯m going to do anything this time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What, why--¡± Chelsea¡¯s eyes went wide as she processed Terra¡¯s reasoning. ¡°You used the twins to peer into fate?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra didn¡¯t directly answer, instead moving to stand from the bed. ¡°If they posed a legitimate threat to Dale, there is no power in this world that would save them. Instead, I think that they¡¯re going to be an overall benefit to the world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea let out a long sigh, resting her forehead on the palm of her hand. ¡°To promote growth, a touch of chaos is needed¡­ This is true for any civilization. Are you saying that Dale¡¯s worlds have be too peaceful outside of the invasions?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not necessarily. However, a problem created within his world should be solvable within his world. Besides, I¡¯ve got bigger things I need to worry about.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing Terra¡¯s casual response, Chelsea¡¯s brow twitched. ¡°Bigger than a cult of doppelgangers wanting to rece the Keeper¡¯s existence?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yup!¡± Terra nodded her head. ¡°I suppose there¡¯s no harm in telling you this, but your void barrier over Lorek was breached. Void monsters have been sneaking in there unnoticed for a while now, and some of them havepleted the initial mutations.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea¡¯s eyes went wide again. ¡°Why didn¡¯t the rms trigger? And howe we haven¡¯t heard any reports? If they have been around long enough to evolve, we should have been hearing about them, especially on a world where time is elerated.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And therein lies the problem.¡± Terra chuckled, shaking her head. ¡°You didn¡¯t deal with worlds like this in your time. Worlds where time was elerated.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea furrowed her brows at thement, before letting out a small gasp of realization. ¡°It¡¯s a breeding ground. Because of the eleration, they are able to improve far more quickly. And because of the time difference, the media only transmits important information. Strange urrences like that wouldn¡¯t be included. But still, we have rms on the barriers.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And Lorek is a muchrger world than the ones you¡¯re used to dealing with.¡± Terra continued, shrugging her shoulders. ¡°Although you managed to strengthen the barrier to match, there are some gaps that clever monsters can take advantage of. Once they¡¯re in, they blend right in with the barrier itself, so you never even notice that they got in in the first ce.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...Okay, I understand why you don¡¯t consider the ninjas a major threat. But void monsters? Shouldn¡¯t you be a bit more serious about something like <i><span style="font-weight:400">that</i><span style="font-weight:400">?¡± Chelsea knew how terrifying void monsters could be from her own world. As she thought of that, her eyes went wide. ¡°You¡¯re telling me this. The restrictions¡­ it means that somebody has already discovered them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Terra nodded her head. ¡°Remember, for things like this, we can only share the information if it is avable in some way to the Keeper¡¯s people. Currently, there are three monsters that have been discovered. Two of them have only attacked others within that universe for the time being, while the third has been spotted on Lorek itself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And you¡¯re preparing countermeasures for those?¡± When Chelsea asked that, Terra nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s why I can¡¯t focus on anything else right now. One of the monsters is viral.¡± Chelsea¡¯s eyes widened in shock when she heard that, before narrowing dangerously.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯re not nning to cut off the world, right?¡± Terra actually blinked in surprise at Chelsea¡¯s question, turning to look at Chel and letting out a lightugh.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What? No, no, sorry that caught mepletely off guard.¡± Terra shook her head. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t ask Dale to give up one of his worlds like that. He¡¯s invested way too much into them, and I don¡¯t think he¡¯d be able to forgive me if I suggested it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Honestly, if it weren¡¯t for you, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to use this method of resolving the problem. So, I do have to thank you for that.¡± Terra offered a bright smile when she said that, causing Chelsea to think about what she might mean.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯re¡­ using an anti-meme to deal with a void monster? It¡¯s possible, but difficult. Especially a viral one, since they are highly prone to mutations. If you don¡¯t ount for the mutations, the monster could absorb the anti-meme and grow out of control.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯re definitely not wrong. But¡­ Dale gave me some rather useful domains, don¡¯t you think?¡± Terra¡¯s smile only grew brighter when she asked that, and this time Chelsea caught on right away.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You want to use the power of an Origin to craft an anti-meme woven within Fate? Is¡­ that possible? Sorry, but Origins weren¡¯t a known concept in James¡¯s world, so any information rted to them was purged.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra nodded her head at the question. ¡°I honestly wasn¡¯t sure, myself. As soon as the idea urred to me, the system locked the knowledge of <i><span style="font-weight:400">how</i><span style="font-weight:400"> to do it. That¡¯s why I can only use your methods, and let my incarnations improvise. See why I¡¯m a bit busy to handle your ninja cult problem?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea let out a long sigh, nodding her head. ¡°Right¡­ and you said that there were three <i><span style="font-weight:400">currently known</i><span style="font-weight:400"> monsters, so I can assume that the number is probably much higher than that. I¡¯ll ask Leowynn to look into that matter.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯d rather you didn¡¯t.¡± Terra interrupted with a small shrug. ¡°With the creation of Digital Conversion, there are less people using the Boundless Caravan, which itself is benefiting Leowynn less now than it used to after the divine tokens were revised. This had a minimal impact on other gods, but it was Leowynn¡¯s primary source of divinity. She¡¯s in a somewhat weakened state for now, and can¡¯t afford to splurge until she sorts out her power a bit more.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea¡¯s brow twitched. ¡°There¡¯s nothing wrong with using the mortal Fallen, is there?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra gave another smile at that suggestion. ¡°That would be perfectly fine. In the meantime, you can work on an upgrade for the barrier, or strengthen the patrols. That should be your current line of thought right now, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right¡­ honestly, I¡¯d like to give the job of strengthening the void barrier to another research team, though. We¡¯re working on a new energy source, and having to worry about other priorities will keep pushing it back more and more.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s fine, too.¡± Terra nodded in agreement. ¡°As long as everything gets finished up, that¡¯s all that matters.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So¡­ we just need to put this image on a public broadcast, right?¡± The divine Terra asked, looking between the image drawn on the wall before them and her nearby twin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°ording to Fate, that should do it.¡± The fallen Terra agreed, though had a somewhat troubled look on her face. ¡°It looks really creepy, though¡­¡± The image was drawn on the wall of a building, in one of therger cities of Lorek. It took the appearance of an angel with eight arms, each one bent clockwise around a circr body, each arm using its hands to cover one of eight eyes at the base of the adjacent arm. At the center of the body was a gaping mouth that seemed to lead into a ck abyss.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°How do we get this on a broadcast that will reach everyone, though?¡± The fallen Terra looked away from the image, almost as if she thought it was dangerous to keep looking at it for too long at one time. ¡°Fate said that it would disappear after a day, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right¡­ so we need to get it on a big broadcast that will reach everyone. Thankfully, one of the effects for the beast we¡¯re going after is that itpels the spreading of information through social media, so¡­ maybe we can just pay for it to be aired as an ad to popr sites?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...We¡¯re going to have to pay a lot, aren¡¯t we?¡± The fallen sister asked with a long sigh, before shaking her head. ¡°Well, let¡¯s get to it. It feels like that thing¡¯s going to rip me apart if I stay here for too long.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The divine sister blinked at that, looking over. She could see that one of the hands on the image had parted its fingers slightly, revealing one of its eight eyes. ¡°Okay, yeah, let¡¯s get you away from it before something bad happens.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The divine sister quickly pulled out a camera, scanning the image drawn on the wall. Once that was done, the two of them quickly left the alleyway where the image was stored, while the fingers silently covered the eye once again. ¡°Who are we going to get to advertise this for us, though? All of the adpanies would definitely be infected by now, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The fallen sister blinked at that, already feeling better after they left the alley. ¡°That¡¯s a good point. I¡¯d check my book to look for people not under its influence, but that would make me infected, too¡­ and I really don¡¯t want to go back and look at that again to clear it out.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah¡­ and since it¡¯s working on a dy, we won¡¯t be able to cure them first to get them to show it.¡± The divine sister let out a heavy sigh. ¡°We¡¯re going to have to pay a <i><span style="font-weight:400">lot</i><span style="font-weight:400"> more to convince them to do it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The fallen sister gave a rather bitter smile. ¡°Money solves everything in this world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two of them quickly made their escape to the <i><span style="font-weight:400">furthest</i><span style="font-weight:400"> hotel that they could get to in the city, checking in and starting to make some calls. Given the nature of both the void beast that they were ¡®hunting¡¯ and the anti-meme designed to hunt it, they had to act fast. The void beast itself had the effect of gradually lowering the intelligence of those under its control, whilepelling them tomunicate with others while sharing key phrases.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The anti-meme, meanwhile, would onlyst for twenty-four hours after it waspleted. After that, it would activate across all individuals that had seen its image. Any of those who were under the control of the void beast, theoretically, should see an image of the eight-armed angel attacking them, causing them to ck out for a few moments. When they awoke, if it all worked as nned, both the anti-meme and the void beast should be gone.

 Chapter 955: Darkness Falls

    Chapter 955: Darkness Falls


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra¡¯s n to remove the viral void beast may have been a sess, but it also caused quite a lot of chaos in its implementation. Billions of people around the world suddenly saw a ck monster appearing in front of them and attacking them, so it was natural for some idents to ur. Unfortunately, she was not able to warn the world about what was going to happen without alerting the void beast that had been attached to those individuals.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In that sense, this was a pyrrhic victory, with no small amount of lives lost in the few seconds of chaos caused. The worst of it was naturally the areas surrounding any affected Immortal, as they released the greatest outbursts of energy in order to instinctively protect themselves.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, despite the losses, the void beast was sessfully eliminated through the use of the anti-meme. Though, that anti-meme itself was branded by the public as a disaster. The vast majority of people never even realized that they were under any sort of effect to begin with, so they thought of their salvation as some sick joke yed by a Fallen Immortal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While people demanded that the source of this disaster be brought to justice, the Terra twins simply watched helplessly from the sidelines. After all, they knew that they were the cause of the event. However, in order to properly destroy the void beast affecting everyone, they had to use a violent anti-meme. That was the prediction that Fate had given them, that only by truly attacking the void beast in every host at once could it be defeated.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">ra watched her factory with a satisfied grin, flying over it and monitoring the hordes of monsters that were working to automate the initial stages of production. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It wouldn¡¯t be hard for Sienna to make monsters capable of automatically producing weapons if she wanted, I¡¯d bet. Though, they wouldn¡¯t be of the same quality as a master cksmith.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Even now, it was impossible to automate the creation of weapons as strong as those made by the best smiths. The only way to emte that level of skill in crafting was with a true AI, at which point it was no longer considered as automation, due to the rights of the AI involved.


    <span style="font-weight:400">ra shook her head as those thoughts passed through her mind,nding near one of the buildings in the midst of construction. Arge number of silver drones were flying through the air, firing beams of light that seemed to be ¡®printing¡¯ the walls of the building. ¡°Once this ce is done, I¡¯ll be able to monitor the Dyson Sphere progress without having to synchronize with the game.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">It had been well over a week since her conversation with Fifi, and she had sent the first of her sr panels into orbit around a neighboring star. This panel was probably the most advanced item that ra had personally designed to date, as it could automatically convert sr energy into mana, and then mana into ki or spiritual energy. After doing so, it used an automated version of Digital Conversion that had been created in Fragments of Acidia.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There were only two blueprint files stored within this conversion software. One was for the sr panel itself, allowing it to exponentially self-replicate. The other file was for the drones that woulde together and form the framework of the sphere.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Dyson Sphere was a massive undertaking, and in normal circumstances a massive waste of resources. It only became viable when you removed the resource cost from the equation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, this sphere was not ra¡¯s only undertaking, it was just what she was working on to speed up thepletion of her empire within Fragments of Acidia. Out in the real world, her factory was still her primary focus, as well as her regr void patrols.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she was thinking that, ra felt a presence appearing behind her, turning and seeing Dana. ra blinked, about to wee her with a smile, before seeing Dana¡¯s stern expression. ¡°Did something happen?¡± She asked curiously, tilting her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I thought you were going to be patrolling the void?¡± Dana asked, her tone strict. ¡°That was why you were able to have this factory, wasn¡¯t it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, yeah.¡± ra nodded in agreement. ¡°I¡¯ve been going on regr patrols every three hours.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana stepped over, pressing a finger to ra¡¯s forehead and transmitting some spiritual energy. Given that ra was a clone of herself, Dana did not need to be nearly as careful when transferring memories, and was able to directly share the memories of the news rted to Lorek¡¯s recent disaster.


    <span style="font-weight:400">ra¡¯s eyes widened as she epted this information, before her brows furrowed. ¡°Wait¡­ that doesn¡¯t make any sense. I¡¯ve always paid special attention to Lorek and Spica because of their time eleration. How did something like that manage to get through?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°ording to Terra, <i><span style="font-weight:400">that</i><span style="font-weight:400"> wasn¡¯t the main problem, that was her fix for the main problem. And it wasn¡¯t alone. There are numerous void beaststched onto those two worlds.¡± Dana crossed her arms in front of herself, all but ring at her familiar.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No¡­ what?¡± ra blinked, before tearing open a void gate and jumping through. Naturally, Dana followed, the two rushing into the void and flying towards therger sphere which represented Lorek.


    <span style="font-weight:400">ra could see numerous beasts attacking the structure protecting the world, repelled by the giant force field that James and his people created. However, when she looked through the barrier, she didn¡¯t see anything inside. ¡°What do you mean that there are multiple beasts in there?¡± She asked, circling the sphere repeatedly to check for anything that she might have overlooked.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This is Terra we¡¯re talking about.¡± Dana reminded, though she too arched her brow when she didn¡¯t see anything. ¡°Just because we don¡¯t see them doesn¡¯t mean that they aren¡¯t there.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">ra bit her lip gently, nodding her head. She looked at the barrier again, focusing her attention on it. As she approached the barrier, she used her security clearance to bypass it and approach the world¡¯s protective shell. Only once she was inside the barrier did she let out a shocked gasp, Dana¡¯s eyes going wide next to her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There weren¡¯t just one or two void beasts clinging to the world, but dozens, perhaps hundreds. ¡°They managed to get through to this extent?¡± ra asked, keeping her voice down as if afraid to alert the monsters devouring the information within Lorek.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It would seem so.¡± Dana clenched her fists, turning to face ra. ¡°From now on, your patrols will be more in depth. I want you to inspect each world to make sure that nothing gets through like this again.¡± Of course, she knew that a stronger barrier was going to be produced, but she did not want to risk another incident like this.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right¡­¡± ra sighed, nodding her head with a defeated look on her face. That order would more than triple the amount of time that it took for her toplete each patrol, but she had to admit that this was a dangerous situation. She flicked her wrist, producing a ck whip in her hand. ¡°Can you let the others know that things are about to get loud here?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana nodded her head in satisfaction when she saw that ra was taking action to clean up this mess, sending off a quick alert to Chelsea. Several of the void beasts noticed the fluctuation above them, turning and seeing the two girls hovering in the air. Rather than leave ra to the battle, Dana floated backwards, wanting to get a look at ra¡¯sbat skills.


    <span style="font-weight:400">ra held the ck whip above her head, its body writhing like a serpent. Sensing the threat to their continued existence, five void beasts removed themselves from the barrier, flying towards ra. ra swung her whip, a wave of darkness wrapping around its tip. ¡°Distant Shadows.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The head of the whip seemed to split, five distinct lengthsshing out and grabbing at each of the monsters that had been charging towards her. ra pulled on the whip, and these five beasts were brought before her, each one wing or screeching to try and extricate themselves from the whip binding them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Dark Devour.¡± She dered her next attack, darkness spreading over the bodies of the captured beasts. The whip itself seemed to be absorbing them, devouring their bodies. At the same time, thanks to the noise caused in this battle, the rest of the monsterstched onto Lorek simrly noticed the threat.


    <span style="font-weight:400">ra could sense that the beasts all around the world¡¯s shell had locked onto her, and took a deep breath. A ck puddle of darkness began to spread out beneath her feet. ¡°I don¡¯t know what will happen, but¡­ requesting to deploy the Sanctuary.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana nodded her head, knowing that it would be reckless to fight so many void monsters while holding back. ¡°Granted.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As soon as Dana gave permission, the ck pool of darkness stretched out, epassing the entire world shell. Dana could hear the screeching cries of the monsters trapped within, but only narrowed her eyes further. With the Sanctuary active, this battle would be over in moments, but there were still several other worlds that needed to be checked.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">It had been more than a month on Lorek since the ¡®Angelic Disaster¡¯, an incident in which more than one percent of the world¡¯s total poption reported being attacked by some strange entity at the same time. Lorek was only just recovering from that incident when the next round of chaos hit.


    <span style="font-weight:400">All over the, all over <i><span style="font-weight:400">every</i><span style="font-weight:400"> in the world¡­ light died. For five minutes, no light existed in the world. Whether it was natural light such as from the sun, or even artificial light created from mana, everything became pure darkness for five minutes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If there was any benefit to be seen, it was that the monsters of the world were just as disoriented by this sudden event as the residents themselves, unlike the previous disaster. Those who were able to use other forms of detection could still move unimpeded after a brief period of adjustment, but many were left helpless for these few minutes as darkness took over thend.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was the first time that someone had wrapped an entire world within their sanctuary, so the people involved were unable to identify what had caused such an event. Naturally, there were many screaming about the literal end of days. This was no eclipse, after all, but the total destruction of light in a universe.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once the darkness ended, and light was allowed to return, many Fallen Immortals rushed into the void, preparing themselves for battle. They expected to find the barrier around the world shattered, a great beast attacking their home. Instead¡­ they found nothing. The barrier remained intact, and nothing could be seen within it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana and ra left as soon as they had finished cleaning up the monsters that had snuck in. Unfortunately, this disaster was not for Lorek alone. After cleaning up one world, they went to do the same with Spica, which had been equally as infested. Thus, the Fallen Immortals were given the chance to catch up to their progress when they heard that darkness had fallen over Spica as well.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When they arrived at Spica, they saw a Sanctuaryyered beneath the barrier, just over the main body of Spica¡¯s shell. Frightened, they attacked the barrier, trying to break through and stop whatever Fallen Immortal was trying to attack the world¡¯s shell. However, this curtain of shadowssted only for a few moments before fading away, taking with it the source of this ¡®disaster¡¯.

 Chapter 956: Let’s Make A Deal

    Chapter 956: Let¡¯s Make A Deal


    <span style="font-weight:400">I furrowed my brows as I read over the reports that Tsubaki handed me. It was somewhat unnerving that there had been such a problem within Lorek and Spica without us noticing earlier, but it was a relief that Terra had managed to get it cleared up within the means avable to her. Well¡­ relief is a strong word, given the casualties involved, but I knew that it could have been far worse if she hadn¡¯t acted as she did.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°How is everything elseing along?¡± I asked, setting down the pages that she had handed me and looking at Tsubaki directly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Dana has since returned to Olympus and resumed work on the Sky Chariot project. Aznod has requested purchase of multiple high-level restricted ingredients from the market, and Lifre is¡­¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It should be somewhere around here, right?¡± Lifre asked herself, standing above a ck canyon that seemed to descend into an infinite darkness below. Well, not strictly herself, as the one she was talking to was a clone standing next to her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Should be, it feels like the right ce.¡± The clone nodded her head. ¡°Want me to take the lead to search, dispensable avatar and all that?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What?!¡± Lifre looked at her clone in shock. ¡°And let you have the thrill of exploration without me?!¡± The clone gave a knowing grin, both of them jumping into the giant crack at the same time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The wind rustled against their bodies as they fell, far beyond what should have been reasonable, long past hitting terminal velocity. They were on the fifty-fifth floor of Fyor, the highest level that was currently avable, so any canyon or mountain was at least thousands of timesrger than its counterpart in other worlds.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two let out joyfulughs as they descended, until they saw glittering blue stones below. Realizing that this was likely to be what they were looking for, white wings spread out from their backs, catching the wind and slowing them enough for their ki to allow them to stop in midair.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This thing should have some special properties, right?¡± The clone asked as Lifre went over to harvest the glowing gems.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Think so! My adventure led me here, after all.¡± One of Lifre¡¯s arms transformed into a curved spike, crashing down against the wall to dislodge the gem. ¡°Oh, I can¡¯t wait to get back and let Tubby examine this!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Just don¡¯t let him hear you call him that.¡± The clone said with a knowing grin, before her ears perked up, and she looked down below. ¡°It looks like our adventurees with a bit of danger this time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh?¡± Lifre¡¯s grin stretched across her face, looking down into the darkness. After a moment, she could hear the sounds of ws scraping across stone, heavy steps bringing a giant beast up higher at a rapid pace. ¡°You y healer, this time. I want to do the fight myself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The clone rolled her eyes with a nod, moving to stand back. Lifre held her hand high in the air, golden armor forming over her body. A glistening sword appeared in her hand, which she aimed down below. ¡°Start the adventure.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Background music!¡± The clone called out, a harp appearing in her hands. She began to strum a tune, the sound echoing out and causing Lifre¡¯s body to glow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre could feel the enhancement from her clone, eyes narrowed as she shed her sword. The sword¡¯s light condensed along its edge, traveling down the canyon and illuminating it. Soon, it struck a massive, ck-scaled and winged serpent, its ws digging into the cliff face as it climbed. Lifre¡¯s eyes went wide when she saw the sheer size of the opponent.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The draconic beast below had to be at least a hundred kilometers wide, judging by the brief illumination. ¡°Oh boy, we¡¯re fighting a real boss this time!¡± Lifre called out, her wings pping and carrying her higher into the air. Her clone naturally followed suit, the two of them knowing that they would need quite a lot of space if they wanted to fight freely. Although the canyon would make the enemy more cramped due to its size, it also gave them nowhere to dodge.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Enter, the wicked army, those who serve as the goal of heroes. Without a viin, no story may beplete.¡± Lifre¡¯s hand went above her head, conjuring her library. The gates of the library slowly opened as the beast¡¯s figure shot up from the canyon. If this were Desbar, its body would block out the sky, covering smaller countries.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre nced back towards the library as the giant ck dragon rose overhead, anxiously awaiting to see what would be pulled this time. Previously, she had been fortunate enough to wee the King of Beasts. This time, ck chains began to slowly drop from the mouth of the library.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh no¡­ it¡¯s him.¡± Lifre¡¯s expression darkened as a shrillugh echoed from the library. Admittedly, this was one of the strongest existences that she had written. However, there was a price to pay when it came to calling upon this strength.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A feminine figure wrapped entirely in ck chains floated out of the library, its arms and legs bound to its sides. One eye was covered by its ck hair, the other staring straight at Lifre. ¡°The storyteller calls us! She greets us! She wants our power, our strength! But is she willing to barter? Is she willing to unbind the shackles?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The woman¡¯s voice was high-pitched, like nails on a chalkboard. Lifre nced between the giant dragon and the Cackling Demon, not sure which of the two was more difficult to deal with. ¡°What would it take for you to help me kill that?¡± She asked, pointing her sword at the dragon above.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Cackling Demon¡¯s head tilted upwards with an unnatural crack, before she began to giggle. ¡°The arm that wees death, the eye that sees the end.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Two shackles¡­ the arm and the eye.¡± Lifre¡¯s expression twisted at that. The cackling demon epted various forms of payment, but each shackle had a level that the price must reach. In the story Lifre wrote, the most simple form of payment was a blood sacrifice, but obviously Lifre wasn¡¯t going to do that. The next best payment was treasure.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You can keep the materials from the enemy!¡± Lifre shouted as the dragon twisted its body, swooping down towards Lifre and opening its giant jaws.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was the clicking of metal, and a dark giggle that filled the air. ¡°The payment is epted.¡± The sky ckened as chains spread out across the horizon, thick shackles binding the neck and limbs of the draconic beast.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Cackling Demon was a Goddess of Contracts, Shackles, and Chains. If a deal was proposed and measured to be of equal value to the service requested, she could unbind various body parts that had been sealed with extraordinary powers. Lifre looked over at the woman, her eye no longer obscured by her hair. Instead, it revealed an endless abyss, from which countless chains seemed to emerge.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her right arm had simrly been released from the chains, reaching up towards the draconic figure. Her hand seemed infinitely smallpared to the body of the dragon, and yet Lifre¡¯s eyes widened, rushing back away from the duo.


    <span style="font-weight:400">ck chains surged from the woman¡¯s palm, stretching out and attaching to the various teeth and spikes along the dragon¡¯s head. She slowly pulled her hand back, the chains tightening as the dragon struggled. ¡°Oh? It is about to break free¡­¡± The Cackling Demon let out a shrillugh. ¡°Is it stronger than I thought? No, the eye that measures worth won¡¯t make such a mistake. It¡¯s just too big. In that case¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her right arm exploded, an unfathomable number of chains filling the air between her and the dragon. The chains binding its arms began to creak and snap one by one, but these new chains were more powerful, having been condensed from the ¡®sacrifice¡¯ of her arm.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is it really a good idea to let <i><span style="font-weight:400">her</i><span style="font-weight:400"> out?¡± Lifre¡¯s clone whispered after flying near the original. ¡°She¡¯s not as bad as some of the others in terms of morality, but¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I know.¡± Lifre nodded her head with a grim expression. The Cackling Demon had her own brand of insanity. As long as someone offered a suitable price, it didn¡¯t matter what she was asked to do. She would even turn on Lifre herself if someone paid her enough. ¡°Thankfully, there¡¯s nobody else around for her to make a deal with.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was somewhat harsh to call the Cackling Demon a viin in the first ce. In fact, the reason that she had be the antagonist in the first ce was that someone had made a deal with her to destroy the world. The price for that deal was almost unimaginable, his own death being nothing more than a down payment. Still, it was enough to fully unshackle the woman.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre could see through the dense cluster of chains, dozens more were surging into the dragon¡¯s mouth, through its throat andtching onto its internals with ck hooks. ¡°I¡¯m collecting my payment.¡± The Cackling Demon said, the chains suddenly contracting and drawing the dragon towards her body. As it approached, it seemed to shrink down, sucked in by the chains holding it in ce.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There appeared to be some kind of vortex in the Cackling Demon¡¯s shoulder, and the dragon vanished into it. A momentter, a new arm burst forth, this one covered in ck scales and with sharp ws on the end. ¡°Mmm, this will do nicely!¡± She said with a shrillugh, her chains retracting back into her arm and eye, shackles binding her once more. ¡°Do call me out again some time. I do love our little chats.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre¡¯s eyes widened at that, watching the chains pull the Cackling Demon back into the library. Before anything else, Lifre rushed into the library, scouring the shelves to look for the book that the viiness was pulled from. Once she found the Cackling Demon¡¯s Tale, she opened it up and began to rifle through the pages.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What¡­ how¡­¡± Lifre looked down at the description of the dark goddess. In her introduction to the story, it now mentioned her ck, draconic arm.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°She can change her own story?¡± The clone asked from next to Lifre, her eyes trembling. They had suspected as much when the Cackling Demon referenced their past talks. Normally, the creatures that Lifre summoned wouldn¡¯t be able to remember the previous events when they appeared, each time being their first meeting in the outside world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre bit her lips softly, realizing that she would have to be a lot more careful when making deals with this particr viiness in the future.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In short, she¡¯s being Lifre.¡± I summarized with a nod of my head, letting out a light sigh. ¡°Was the gem at least worth the trouble?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Apparently, it is suitable as a high tier crafting material.¡± Tsubaki confirmed. ¡°Lady Ryone says that she can use it to make an enchanted staff on par with a divine relic.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes twitched a bit when I heard that, but I wasn¡¯t too surprised. This was Lifre that we were talking about, after all. ¡°Ask her to mark down the location of the gems, and we can collect more of them in the future if we need to. Otherwise¡­ just make sure that she¡¯s more careful with any viins that she writes up in the future. Thest thing that we need is some monster that isn¡¯t bound by the rules she sets.¡±

 Chapter 957: A Hero Was Born

    Chapter 957: A Hero Was Born


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre gave a small pout when Tsubaki delivered the reply from the Keeper about her most recent report. ¡°Obviously I know to keep a better track on things now¡­¡± She said with a sullen sigh, shaking her head. She was still out in the highestyer of Fyor, looking at the terminal that she had brought with her. After she delivered her report, the first thing that she did was to investigate each of the other viins that she had summoned in the past, carefully checking their stories for any details that were different from what she originally wrote. Thankfully, the only one that showed any obvious changes was the Cackling Demon.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As for the others¡­ there were some things that looked strange to Lifre, but that was also because she had just not written those books in a while, so some details could have been jumbled in her mind. There was nothing that jumped out to her as a red g, at the very least.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a groan, she pushed herself up to her feet, looking at the crevice where she had previously found the gems. ¡°So, these are good materials, right?¡± She asked with a yful grin. Now that the ¡®owner¡¯ of the mine had been dealt with, Lifre was able to jump down without worry.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She had long sent her clone down further, exploring the depths of the cave to confirm that there weren¡¯t any more nearby monsters. Instead, what she saw was arge pile of simr gems arranged in what seemed to be some sort of massive cave nest. Seeing as how her clone was already plundering the nest, she herself went to work mining out the vein that she had found.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre may not have been instructed to do this¡­ but she found it interesting, so she was going to anyways. As long as she didn¡¯t have an important matter to attend to, she was free to do whatever she pleased for the most part. And right now, that meant mining out a highly magical crystal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once she got to the level where she had seen the gems previously, she lifted her arm, allowing it to morph into a curved pick once more before mming it into the crack in the wall where she had unearthed the original gem. Every time she saw more and more of the gems reveal themselves, her smile widened. It had to be known that the ore veins in Fyor typically scaled up as the size of the floor itself did. That meant that this one vein could be asrge as an entire country if it was a decently sized vein, or it could be considerably smaller.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The more she unearthed, the more certain she was that it was arge vein. Whenever she broke a gem off, she stored it in her inventory, continuing on deeper and deeper. In under ten minutes, she had broken off hundreds of meters worth of gems, carving a tunnel for herself in the cliff face. Of course, given that this was a material that was good for crafting magic items, she was careful to avoid using any special energies in her mining, for fear of causing a chain reaction.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After mining another fifty meters, though¡­ Lifre saw something up ahead. A golden gem that released a faint light within the blue crystals. Drawn to this gem, Lifre immediately changed course, carving out the additional five meters in order to reveal this strange stone. ¡°If the rest of this is already on the level of creating divine artifacts, this should be even better¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she muttered that to herself, her pickaxe-arm struck once again. Lifre put a considerable amount of strength into this ¡®attack¡¯, causing web-like cracks to spread out from the point of impact. A secondter, shards fell down in front of her, and the golden gem fell free. Strangely, the damage caused to the surrounding crystals didn¡¯t impact the golden gem in the slightest, and it fell loose without being attached to any of the others.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Neat¡­¡± Lifre blinked, looking down at the curious stone, before she reached to pick it up. When she did, she could feel something tugging on her energy. Whether it was her mana, ki, divinity, even her spirit and world sight felt attracted to the gem.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre¡¯s eyes widened as she felt the attraction, immediately rushing out of the cave for fear of impacting the crystals around her. Once she was out, she shot into the air, flying high above. As she did, she felt her mana being the first to connect with the golden gem. There was the sound of something cracking, and Lifre nced down to see a small amount of blue gems forming along the edge of the golden gem, before falling down below.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Wait¡­ is this¡­¡± Lifre blinked in confusion, forcibly cutting off the connection with her mana, before switching to let her ki connect instead. This time, specks of red gemstones began to form, simrly falling off. ¡°So they¡¯re not connected, just produced within the aura of the stone¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre switched to her spirit, and then world sight, receiving simr responses with a silver gem and a green one with a wavy silver pattern. Each time, the gem fell off as it was formed, creating little more than sparkling dust depending on the amount of energy absorbed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So¡­ the giant blue crystal vein should be formed by the passive release of mana in Fyor over a really long time. Since it was trapped underground, it wasn¡¯t able to scatter. And if the mana crystals are alreadyparable to divine materials for artifacts¡­ what about when divine energy is used?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre had an excited smile on her face when that thought urred to her, channeling her divine energy into the crystal. She expect to see golden kes forming, or maybe the crystal itself would growrger. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Oh, maybe it¡¯s like divine gold, and it can be infinitely replicated with divine energy!</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">When that thought crossed her mind, she saw the golden gem¡­ shatter. Before she could react, the entire gem turned to dust in her hand. Lifre stared at it, her smile frozen on her face as her eyes began to twitch.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre had just started to lower her hand in disappointment when she felt something strange in her divinity. It was no longer being drawn towards the dust, but was rather drawing the dust into <i><span style="font-weight:400">her</i><span style="font-weight:400">. She let out a startled gasp, preparing to shake off the dust in case it would turn <i><span style="font-weight:400">her</i><span style="font-weight:400"> into a crystal, or absorb her to replenish itself, or maybe turn her into a frog. A thousand possibilities shed inside her mind as her hand waved, scattering the dust into the air.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, it wasn¡¯t going to give up so easily. The crystal dust had locked onto her divinity, and surged towards her as soon as it was airborne. Before she could react, it had turned into three streams to enter her nose and mouth at the same time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No no no no, I¡¯m the one supposed to do weird things like that, get it out!¡± Lifre shouted, trying to expel the dust from within herself. She knew that she would be reborn in the Admin Room if she died, but she still didn¡¯t want to lose this life of hers. Unfortunately for her, the moment that the dust entered her body, it merged together with her divinity.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once thest of the dust had finished this process, Lifre¡¯s entire body shook, a thunderous pressure pressing down on her mind. Her thoughts went nk, as did her vision.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The next thing she saw, she was standing on a golden pool of water, three stone pirs rising up before her. On the leftmost pir, the word Adventure was written. On the rightmost pir, the word Trial. However, the central pir waspletely nk.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Adventure? Trial? Wait¡­ my domains?¡± Lifre blinked, looking around. She was seeing if she could find the ¡®Stories¡¯ domain that she could ess as Terra¡¯s apostle. Yet, despite searching, there was nothing within sight aside from the three pirs before her. ¡°Maybe¡­ because it¡¯s an external source, it doesn¡¯t count?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre furrowed her brow, walking up to the central pir. Part of her wanted to smash it, just to see what would happen. Thankfully, that little voice in the back of her head told her that would be a bad idea. There were a lot of times that she didn¡¯t listen to that voice, but this time¡­ she thought she¡¯d give it a try.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay¡­ unless I¡¯m a total idiot, this should be some subconscious representation of me being able to choose my third domain. I don¡¯t <i><span style="font-weight:400">think</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I¡¯m a total idiot, so¡­¡± She took a deep breath, bringing a hand up to the pir. She had long ago decided what her third domain would be, should she ever get the chance to receive one.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As her finger drew along the surface of the pir, a golden trail etched the word in. ¡°Every story requires three things.¡± She muttered to herself, her eyes losing focus as she drew. ¡°First, the adventure, the context in which the story takes ce. An adventure can be anything from a grand tale spanning a gxy to a simple trip to work.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The second thing required in any story is a trial, some task that must be ovee. Typically, this is seen as the great viin, or a goal that must be reached. That¡¯s why I write so many viins, because they are the trial.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Finally¡­ every story needs a hero, someone that ovees the trial within the adventure. The hero doesn¡¯t have to be a person, it could be anything that is the focus of the story. Perhaps an entire kingdom is the ¡®hero¡¯ of their tale, or maybe it is an enchanted weapon. No story can exist without a focal point, a hero around which the story revolves.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Saying that, she pulled her hand back, the word ¡®Hero¡¯ etched into the stone pir. ¡°An adventure, a trial, and a hero. The three things that every story must have.¡± She smiled at the three pirs, before blinking as they began to sink down into the golden pool beneath her feet. Btedly, she realized something rather crucial.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Wait¡­ if I was given three pirs¡­ would I have been able to edit my existing domains?¡± Lifre¡¯s eyes widened in shock as she thought of that possibility, but her chance had alreadye and gone. That said, she wouldn¡¯t have chosen to edit her existing domains even if she could, but still.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her vision faded once again, and she could feel the wind rushing through her face. Her eyes opened slowly, and she could see a stone wall rapidly approaching her. Wait, no, that wasn¡¯t a wall¡­ that was the ground. ¡°Oh, I¡¯m falling!¡± With that realization, Lifre immediately mustered her energy to halt her momentum, slowing herself until she paused just inches from the rocky surface.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Congrattions! You have earned an achievement!


    <span style="font-weight:400">After gaining a new domain, you have be the Goddess of Heroes! Permanent ess to the Hero domain.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...So that¡¯s a thing that happened.¡± She thought to herself, reaching out to sense her clone. Like Lifre herself, the clone had also cked out when she absorbed the golden dust. Feeling that her clone was waking up, Lifre immediately tore open a portal through the void, rushing to Olympus.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Daaaaale!¡± Lifre shouted, her arms waving as she entered the elevator, clearing her throat. ¡°Take me to the Keeper, please.¡± She said in a polite tone, blue light shing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once the door opened, she once again began running frantically, her arms waving over her head. ¡°Daaaale!¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Daaale!¡± I looked up from the report I was reading as the door to my office was thrown open, Lifre jumping in with an excited smile on her face. ¡°Dale!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yes, that is my name.¡± I nodded in agreement.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Gem!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...Yes, you reported about the gem. Did you get my response?¡± I had a feeling one of us was missing some information here¡­


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, different gem! Golden gem!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked when Lifre said that, looking at her curiously. ¡°Okay¡­ so there¡¯s a golden one. Did you bring back a sample of it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Couldn¡¯t! It can produce blue gem from mana, red from ki, green from nature--not important! When you use divinity, it breaks and goes fwoosh, and the dust goes zoom right into your body, and then you ck out and go to this weird inner mind world with pirs and a golden ocean, and I have a new domain!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...Can you say that again, but with regr words?¡±

 Chapter 958: A Prospector’s Prospects

    Chapter 958: A Prospector¡¯s Prospects


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once Lifre was able to talk more coherently, I managed to get a better understanding of what she was talking about. ¡°You found a gemstone that is able to immediately grant someone an extra domain?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Lifre nodded her head emphatically. ¡°It needs divine energy to use, so it should only be useful for people that are already gods. Oh, and I think it might also be able to change an individual¡¯s existing domains, too!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s¡­ powerful.¡± I gave a small sigh as I said that, before shaking my head. Thankfully, despite the power of this gem, I didn¡¯t feel like it would disrupt the world¡¯s market too much. These gems were bound to be in limited supply, and we already had an entire floor of Fyor that could passively generate gods just by living in that floor for a while.


    <span style="font-weight:400">On the other hand, I was more curious about the gems that could be created via other energies. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It even created something from World Sight, so it can work with saint level energies¡­ what would happen if World Shadow was used for it?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I wasn¡¯t particrly concerned about using the gem to obtain a new domain for myself, given my abilities as the Keeper. If anything, I might use it to recover my Illusions domain if my host ever dies. ¡°Lifre, I want you to mine out the rest of the blue gems from that vein, and see if there are any more divine gems in the mix. From your description, it would make sense if there was only one, but it¡¯s best to check.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If you can¡¯t find any, get Tubrock to help you locate another vein. I also want you to take a Digital Conversion Scanner with you, and scan both the divine gem and its derivatives.¡± The energy requirements to recreate these stones should be extremely high, but it was better to have the option avable. More importantly, with my reserves, I should be able to make them more easily than most. If something happens, I can ¡®reward¡¯ someone with a divine stone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Got it, boss!¡± Lifre nodded her head. ¡°My clone¡¯s still been mining things out while I came here to report. Right now, I¡¯ve gotten most of it done¡­ so I can say <i><span style="font-weight:400">pretty</i><span style="font-weight:400"> confidently that there is only one divine gem per vein!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...Sometimes, you are efficient in the strangest of ways. Right, then you can take Tubrock and the scanner. I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll be interested in this gem that can mass produce powerful crafting materials.¡±<span style="font-weight:400">


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre quickly nodded again, before turning and bolting out the door. Seeing her go like that, I couldn¡¯t help but sigh and shake my head. Most likely, Tubrock would be using Admin Room controls in order to find the gem, in order to conserve his divinity, but that was fine. There was no reason to force him to do it manually when he had another option avable to him.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a sh of golden light, a pair of figures appearing within the mountainous hills of Fyor. Lifre had changed out her typical blue and silver outfit for a brown hiking outfit, Tubrock dressed rather simrly. ¡°Onwards!¡± The dwarven god shouted, pumping his fist into the air.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre let out a lightugh, nodding and running to follow along after him. ¡°I¡¯m surprised you¡¯re not cheating, but this is fun!¡± Tubrock marched through the mountains, holding a small device in his hand that seemed to be scanning the ground that they passed over.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Aye, there¡¯s no point in just doin¡¯ what¡¯s convenient all the time, is theress? This is the thrill of discovery! Who knows how many other new materials there could be in this forsakenndscape? If I were to just use a screen to look it up, I¡¯d lose out on the journey!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You were bored.¡± Lifre grinned, Tubrock nodding his head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Aye, that too. Besides, there¡¯s another way that we can speed things along without usin¡¯ those greater tools. Ain¡¯t that right,ss!?¡± He shouted, looking off into the air instead of at Lifre, who tilted her head curiously.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So you saw me¡­¡± A voice floated over on the wind, before green light condensed into a young halfling girl dressed in simr hiking gear as Tubrock and Lifre. She offered a small smile at the duo, nodding her head. ¡°My apologies, but there aren¡¯t many people on this floor, and the Greater ones don¡¯t usually visit. So, I was curious.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°All¡¯s fine,ss.¡± Tubrock nodded his head with a fatherly smile. ¡°No need to fuss. We were just on a journey of discovery, looking for what new materials await us on this floor! Would ye like to join us?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Discovery?¡± The girl blinked. ¡°But, I can--¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No buts!¡± Tubrock shook his head firmly. ¡°No in-depth scans, no pinpoint uracy. Ye can be a dowsing rod, but otherwise this is an adventure!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Now you¡¯re talking mynguage, gramps.¡± Lifre said with a grin, the World Spirit of Fyor blinking slowly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°An¡­ adventure¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Aye! Yer always dressed like that, so surely ye¡¯d like to go on an adventure, right?¡± The girl looked down at the outfit she was all but born in, before back up at Tubrock.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡­ I think that would be nice.¡± The spirit said with a nod, Tubrock grinning broadly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Fantastic! In that case,e along! We¡¯re off to find some precious materials!¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">It had been more than two hours since Lifre left to retrieve the divine gems with Tubrock, and there had not yet been any word back from them. Honestly, I had been expecting an update within minutes, knowing Tubrock. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Did Lifre drag him around to do something else, or..?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I shook my head as those thoughts shed by. If anyone was able to handle Lifre, it¡¯d be Tubrock.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There¡¯s something over that way, I think.¡± The spirit spoke up, pointing off to the right. The group had long since elerated their pace, only spending a couple of minutes searching each area before teleporting thousands of kilometers at a time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Whenever they arrived at a new area, the World Spirit of Fyor did a very general sweep of the area to point them in the basic direction of something undiscovered. However, because her scan was so vague, there were times when they encountered the same item as before. For instance, there were three instances in which they encountered what Tubrock had taken to calling Singrity Iron, a super dense iron ore that weighed more than a hundred thousand kilograms per cubic inch. Even Lifre struggled to lift this ore to put in her inventory.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Aye!¡± Tubrock smiled jovially, not even minding if it might be another repeat. He was having fun with the process more so than the destination. He aimed his survey scanner in the direction that the World Spirit had pointed, the trio quickly making their way over.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As he walked, he kept his eye on the scanner, stopping only when he saw a change in the readings. ¡°This is the spot. Lifre, it¡¯s your turnss!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I realize I ended up just getting turned into manualbor, but honestly I don¡¯t mind at this point.¡± Lifre grinned, her arms turning into giant drills as she dove for the spot where Tubrock indicated. Stone shattered, dirt flying into the air as her body descended.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Soon, Tubrock could see specks of blue crystals flying up with the stones, a wide smile spreading over his face. ¡°Aye, I think we hit the jackpot this time!¡± He said, looking into the growing pit that Lifre was digging.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The World Spirit blinked, looking over and into the pit herself. Inside, she saw the sparkling blue gemstones covering the walls at the deepest areas. Her eyes went wide, and she let out a faint gasp. ¡°It¡¯s really pretty¡­¡± She said in amazement, her eyes turning the same blue as the gems.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Aye, that it is.¡± Tubrock nodded his head, patting her on the back with one of hisrge hands. ¡°It¡¯s easy to miss things like this when you never take the time to properly enjoy it,ss.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The World Spirit looked back at him in confusion. ¡°Did you¡­ ask me toe out with you on purpose, just to show me this?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tubrock paused at that, before letting out a deep chuckle. ¡°I didn¡¯t, but I admit that it would have been smart of me to do so! I just wanted to have another partner for an adventure, and you seemed like you needed something to do yourself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The World Spirit thought of that for a few moments, before nodding her head. In truth, she had enjoyed this little adventure with the two of them. She didn¡¯t have many chances to just appear and interact with the people of the world. Due to her world¡¯s segmented nature, it was harder for her to sense what was happening in a floor where she did not have her current focus set.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I got it!¡± Lifre shouted, jumping out of the pit while holding a golden gem the size of a fist. However, to Tubrock¡¯s surprise, she immediately threw it down to the ground as soon as she emerged.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oi! Be careful with that,ss!¡± He rushed over, only for Lifre to shout out.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Don¡¯t let it touch your divinity! I still need to scan it first!¡± She opened up her inventory, starting to get the smaller scanners as Tubrock paused. Realizing that it might destroy the gem if he touched it hastily, he pulled his hands back.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well¡­ I can experiment with it after you¡¯re done. Who knows, it might not even have an effect on people like me.¡± Since the domains of the Greater Pantheon were set by the system, it was likely that an item within the world wouldn¡¯t be able to modify their domains naturally.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Regardless, Lifre did her best to quickly set things up, before using a w she took from her inventory to take the gem and ce it into the scanner. Only then did she let out a relieved sigh, hitting the button to start the process. ¡°And, done! Now we¡¯ll just need to wait to let this finish, and we should be able to head back whenever we want.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The World Spirit hesitated when she heard this, looking at the two of them. ¡°Does this mean that the adventure is¡­ over?¡± She asked curiously, the two exchanging nces.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A small grin formed over both of their faces, before Tubrock shook his head. ¡°There¡¯s no rush. I¡¯m sure thed will understand if we¡¯re dyed by a bit. Besides, who knows if there might be more treasures that await us on this floor?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°See, this is the spirit of adventure! This is what I live for!¡± Lifre shouted happily, a bright smile forming on the face of the smaller spirit. She clenched her hands in front of her chest, looking forward to what else they might discover.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...Where are they?¡± I asked myself, walking through the halls. It had been two days since I sent Lifre and Tubrock to Fyor. Even if they searched the hard way, it shouldn¡¯t take this long for Tubrock to discover a mineral vein.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Tubrock is there, so there shouldn¡¯t be any chance of something dangerous happening. In the worst case scenario, he would have notified me if his avatar and Lifre were in trouble. Could it be that those gems are really just that rare?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Given the nature of the gem, I was inclined to believe that that might be the case. Still, it was worrying for them to be out for so long on what I thought was a rather mundane errand.

 Chapter 959: The Head Maid

    Chapter 959: The Head Maid


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Let¡¯s see how you¡¯re doing today.¡± A light voice spoke up as they walked into arge hangar. There did not seem to be anyone else around, the voice belonging to a kitsune wearing a whiteb coat over a red shirt, and holding a clipboard in his hand. He walked towards a giant, humanoid machine, its armored frame opened to reveal a goldenworkid out underneath.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Each of its hands were more than a dozen meters long, with nine golden orbs socketed into the circuits. ¡°Good, good, the hands seem to be ready for the final assembly.¡± The kistune said with a nod, making his way to the legs next. Simrly, each leg had nine orbs socketed into them. However, his brow furrowed slightly when he saw the legs, eyes shing with golden light.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It looks like the circuit thickness needs to be adjusted in the legs. The Speed and Strength modules aren¡¯t sending enough energy. I¡¯ll have to fix those.¡± After he said that, he kicked off the ground, flying up to the chest of the giant machine. ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ we¡¯re missing two cores here, it looks like. And three from the head?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The man quickly wrote down on his clipboard, before closing his eyes. ¡°The head isn¡¯t as much of a problem. The cores I¡¯m missing are rathermon. However¡­ I need a Soul core for the chest.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The man snapped his fingers twice, and thick doors opened up along the walls of the hangar. Dense nging sounds emerged as ten smaller machines walked out onto the floor. They were built in the style of the March, with metallic faces that showed no emotion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, these were not members of the March. Instead, they were custom-designed AIs shackled to a robotic frame powered by a special type of core. ¡°All of you, I want you to go and search for a God of Souls. When you find them, do not engage. Instead, immediately report back.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The ten robots didn¡¯t respond for a moment, until he snapped his fingers again. Then, they emotionlessly walked out of the hangar, towards the nearest airlock. The golden cores that powered each of the robots, as well as the giant machine that the man was working on could only be created by studying the divine energy of a god with the relevant domain.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Don¡¯t worry, you will bepleted soon.¡± The man said, a smile blooming on his face as he turned to look at the giant head that had been positioned atop the robot¡¯s frame. There were pieces of it that looked like they had been pieced together with clockworkponents, but most of it was built in the same style as the rest of the robots.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once Lifre and the others got back, I was able to obtain a copy of the files from Lifre, creating my own divine gem. The cost to create it was¡­ honestly ridiculous. To convert it into divine currency, it took the equivalent of five thousand ck gold coins. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Okay¡­ so this is definitely not going to be something that we mass produce.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">As for why they weren¡¯t able to deliver the original object, apparently Tubrock experimented with it, trying to get it to activate for him. While it did activate, he wasn¡¯t able to gain a new domain due to the system¡¯s intervention.


    <span style="font-weight:400">What I wanted to do right now was test the divine gem with both my World Sight and the World Shadow, that way I could create gems of these two energies. After that¡­ since I didn¡¯t want to use the gem myself, the best choice was to give it to Tsubaki, who would be able to make the most of it. Since it required pre-existing divine energy, there was no point in trying to give it to Dana.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With that in mind, I began the first test, focusing my World Sight on the gem.I watched as it began to glow, and felt my connection with the energy dissipate as it was sent into the gem. Although I was able to see what was happening on the inside, that was only under the condition that I continuously applied more and more energy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, I was able to see how the gem converted my World Sight into a crystalline form, and then pushed that crystalline form out of its ¡®body¡¯. The result was the creation of a green shell around the gem with a wavy, silver pattern. Due to the amount of energy that I supplied, the green crystal hadpletely covered the divine gem, expanding roughly an inch in all directions.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I condensed a small bullet of martial intent to shoot the crystal, splitting the outeryer and revealing the divine gem again. After that, I condensed a ck sphere of energy in my hand to let the gem absorb. This time, the divine gem created and almost obsidian-like substance covering its core, which I once again had to split.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With that taken care of, I had both of these new crystals scanned, before delivering the originals to Ryone for her research. Once I was done, I sent a message to Tsubaki.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">From the moment Lifre returned from her expedition, Tsubaki had known what the Keeper would do with the divine gem that he received. More domains were not useful to him, after all. Thus, she had spent this time seriously considering what she would want for her third domain.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her first domain, Light, had been of considerable help to herself and the Keeper in battle. Her second domain, Stealth, had not seen as much active use yet in the real world, but had been quite helpful in their battles within Fragments of Acidia.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Should I go with another domain to synergize and create a trinity, or should I branch out?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Now that Divine Circuits had been discovered thanks to Mara, the need for a trinity was far less pressing than it had been originally. People could achieve a stable bnce with their divinity whether they had four, or even six domains.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki closed her eyes, sitting at her desk and thinking. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Assassination would be a good fit for a synergy, as it would work well with Light and Stealth. However, the abilities that domain would give me wouldn¡¯t enhance my fighting style too much. If anything, it would make me rely on the ¡®instant kill¡¯ abilities of the domain.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Because of that, the Assassination domain likely wouldn¡¯t be very good for me. In fact, I don¡¯t know whatbat-themed domain would be able to properly enhance me at this point. I need a domain that will allow me to carry out my Keeper¡¯s orders to the best of my ability, even beyond what I can do now.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">As Tsubaki thought about that, she heard a small voice entering her mind. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki? If you are free, I would like to see you in my office.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Right away, my Keeper!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Tsubaki nodded her head, standing up and quickly walking to the door. Even as she did, her mind raced. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Illusions? No, I can borrow that domain from my Keeper as need be, so it would be a waste in his eyes for me to take that. Ninjas? I suppose it could work, but I have mastered all of the ninja techniques that I am aware of.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">She passed by her avatars cleaning the halls, all but running to the nearest elevator. ¡°Hermes, please take me to my Keeper.¡± She said in a respectful tone, still going over possible domain ideas.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she arrived at the Keeper¡¯s pce, she once more rushed to the Keeper¡¯s office. There was a slight shift in her gaze, as if having made up her mind. When she arrived, she saw the Keeper sitting at his desk, a golden gem the size of a fist sitting in front of him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°My Keeper.¡± Tsubaki dropped into a low bow, the Keeper nodding his head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m sure you are aware of what this is by now?¡± He said, gesturing towards the gemstone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I am.¡± Tsubaki nodded. ¡°This is the divine gem retrieved by thebined efforts of Lifre and Lord Tubrock. ording to her reports, a divine being that uses this will be able to receive an additional domain.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± The Keeper nodded his head, a small smile on his face. ¡°I wanted you to have this one. Lifre has already obtained her third domain, so it is about time for you to do the same, wouldn¡¯t you agree?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki gave another nod, slowly walking forward. ¡°If that is your wish, my Keeper.¡± She said, though she couldn¡¯t hide the small smile that snuck its way onto her face.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She reached a hand out to carefully take the gem from the Keeper¡¯s desk, holding it up against her chest. Having listened to Lifre¡¯s report, she connected her divine energy to the gem, allowing it to dissolve in her hand.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki closed her eyes, prepared to enter the same mental world that Lifre had spoken of. She was prepared to carve out the new domain that she had decided upon. However¡­ that did not happen. She felt the golden dust merging with her divinity, and then¡­ nothing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">No, not quite nothing. She could feel the change. She felt the new domain immediately taking root, and even saw the achievement appear in front of her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper offered a satisfied nod when he saw that the process had worked. However, given his next words, it was clear that he had not investigated too closely, wanting to hear the results from Tsubaki herself. ¡°So, what domain did you choose?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡­ chose the Service domain.¡± Tsubaki answered in a soft voice. ¡°I hope that this domain will enable me to fulfill whatever requirements you may have of me.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The inspiration for this domain came from none other than Elisae, and how she had used her Wish domain to fulfill the wishes of others. At the same time, her own Servant Avatars cleaning Olympus made her recall this fact. Regardless of anything else, she is the Servant of the Keeper. Her power is not for her alone, but to fulfill the wishes of her lord.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Service?¡± The Keeper asked in surprise. ¡°I see¡­ I¡¯ll be relying on you in the future, then.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s smile grew wider when she heard that, her tails swaying happily behind her. ¡°Yes, my Keeper. Also, I should note¡­ I was not drawn into a mentalndscape as Lifre had previously described. I believe that the gem reacts with intention. Because Lifre did not know what domain she wanted, and did not even know that she should be choosing a domain, the gem automatically brought her into a mentalndscape.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As for myself, I had already decided on what I wanted, so the gem did no such thing.¡± Tsubaki exined the process that she had gone through, as this was still considered argely unexplored subject.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is that so?¡± The Keeper furrowed his brow, before nodding his head. ¡°Thank you, Tsubaki. That is good to know.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded her head quickly again, before turning and walking back into the hall. Now that she had obtained her third domain, there was more that she needed to work on. For instance, setting up rules for her energy that would enable her to more effectively carry out the Keeper¡¯s will.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In addition, now that she had the Service domain as a medium, perhaps she could consider the avatars cleaning Olympus as part of her domain, further enhancing them¡­ the thought made Tsubaki excited for the possibilities. <i><span style="font-weight:400">You actually chose Service? </i><span style="font-weight:400">An amused voice spoke into Tsubaki¡¯s mind as she rushed towards the elevator.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I did, Lady Terra¡­ did I choose incorrectly?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Hearing the voice of Terra in her mind, Tsubaki couldn¡¯t help but worry that she had not chosen a good domain for herself.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">No, no, nothing like that. I was just surprised when I felt the shift in your divinity. I was certain that you would go with a domain more suitable forbat.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I believe that you are mistaken, Lady Terra.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> A smile crept over Tsubaki¡¯s lips. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Service is perfectly suitable forbat. I am more than just my Keeper¡¯s de. However, I have not forgotten my duty. Should he require my Service in battle, then it shall be rendered as such. I will take whatever form my Keeper requires of me. That is the meaning of my Service.</i>

 Chapter 960: Protection Fee

    Chapter 960: Protection Fee


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki stood within one of the many empty secret rooms of her pce, taking slow, deep breaths. Her eyes were closed, focusing on her new domain. <i><span style="font-weight:400">First, I should see if my assumption is correct.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki held a hand forward, concentrating on the energy she cultivated as a maid. Silvery lights spread out from her fingertips, condensing into a single-tailed clone of Tsubaki with silver hair. This avatar had her eyes closed, knowing that this was all just the beginning of the trial.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki focused on her new domain, creating a new circuit in an attempt to enhance the newly created avatar. <i><span style="font-weight:400">A true avatar devoted to service should be able to perform as I would.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">As the divine circuit began to form, the avatar¡¯s body began to glow with divine light. Its hair gradually changed from silver to gold, only staying silver at the tips of her ears. When Tsubaki opened her eyes and saw this, a small smile formed on her face, before her lips pursed again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She could feel the amount of energy consumed to create an avatar capable of using her full range of powers. <i><span style="font-weight:400">If the energy cost remains consistent, I should be able to create one of these every week without my power declining.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, the energy requirement only extended to the creation of the avatar, and not its continued existence. Though, she was certain that she would have to bear the burden of any divine abilities that the avatar used. <i><span style="font-weight:400">For now, I think I can consider this a sess.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You will be in charge of the security for this.¡± Tsubaki told her avatar, who nodded her head with a serious expression.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course.¡± She said, walking towards the door of the hidden room. Once she had left, Tsubaki once again sank into thought on how she would use this domain in the future. As with any domain, there were too many possibilities to consider, and she wanted to narrow down the skill set that she wished to pursue.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now that everyone had adjusted to life in Olympus, we were able to pass the time rather happily. Unless I was reviewing reports or training my martial will, I spent most of my time in themon area, rxing with the others.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre was still a rare sight to see in Olympus, spending most of her time either running around the various worlds or writing her novels. Meanwhile, Dana spent quite a bit of time working on her personal projects, but always made time to socialize with the rest of us. As for Tsubaki¡­ well, as could be expected, Tsubaki rarely left my side.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If there was one person that had the most surprising reaction, it was none other than Gerard. Formerly, he was the one in charge of the Sky Citadel¡¯s various systems, so in a way he had lost many of his responsibilities with this transition. While this left him temporarily uncertain on what he should devote his attention to, he eventually shifted his focus to magical research, working together with Ryone. Last I heard, they were trying to crack the secret of fifth-tier magic together.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Like this, days passed into weeks, and our business within Fragments of Acidia grew faster and faster. In under a month, we were already doing business with various gctic empires, though still on a rtively small scale. At the very least, we had a justifiable reason to move between borders without being seen as a threatening presence.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Within the various worlds, there were several other changes taking ce. Now that Dana had released the form for the Hypene Network, multiple corporations were fighting to be the first to build a node. There were even those who discovered a modification to the form, which would allow a node to act as an internar transit point. By going through that node, people could reach other realms that possessed a simr transit node.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This discovery was made bybining the core mechanic of the Fairy Gate with the Hypene Network, refining the process to make it considerably more controble. Granted, this was only theoretical, given that the initial node hadn¡¯t been built yet. However, reports wereing in that such progress was not far off.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Meanwhile, I sat in Olympus, watching the news with Alena and Tsubaki. Currently, Olympus had been moved to be in orbit around Desbar¡¯s star, so we were naturally receiving their news reports. That said, it was about as exciting as news reports tended to get.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I had been starting to get bored, considering whether or not to suggest putting a movie on, when one of my rms suddenly shed in front of me. Startled, I sat upright, drawing the attention of the two next to me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is something the matter, sir?¡± Alena asked, tilting her head slightly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ah¡­ no, give me just a moment. I need to take care of something.¡± I shook my head, standing and excusing myself. Alena was aware of the existence of the Admin Room, but it still felt strange to ascend in front of her, as it would leave my host with the appearance of having ¡®spaced out¡¯.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once I got to the Admin Room, I opened up the alert that had gone off, and saw that it was the one I had set for after the new month began. I let out a small sigh, nodding my head. ¡°Okay¡­ it should be about time to see if anyone is interested, then.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Opening up my control panel, I first checked the current battle listing, confirming that Balu was not in an active battle. It wasn¡¯t often that I used this resource, but I frankly didn¡¯t feel the need to do so often. I didn¡¯t know the names of most Keepers, so it wouldn¡¯t do me any good to know that Geronimo was battling HalcyonSky. Thankfully, Balu did appear to be free, so I fired a message off to her.


    <table>


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Starkiller: Hey, Dave, what¡¯s up?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: I swear you¡¯re doing this on purpose at this point.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Starkiller: Doing what?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Nevermind¡­ Anyways, I have a proposition that I wanted to run by you. I¡¯m not sure if your guild gets any offers like this, so I wanted to check first.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Starkiller: Ooh, business! Sure, let me know! If I can¡¯t give you an answer, I¡¯ll ask the boss.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: I¡¯ve got an attack ticket, and I was thinking of ¡®selling¡¯ the chance to be the target, to let someone get out of a rough battleing up.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Starkiller: Ah, the protection n. Yeah, there are some people that do stuff like that, though they¡¯re pretty rare. It¡¯s not easy to get a ticket, after all. But, you picked the right time! Thest month of the year is when that business picks up, because that¡¯s when everyone wants to get rid of the tickets that are about to expire.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Starkiller: I can put your name down on the list of ¡®protectors¡¯ for this month, and if anyone in your rank looks for a pass, I¡¯ll let you know.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Thanks. How much does this usually go for?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Starkiller: About five thousand points. An attack ticket is somewhat hard toe by, but it¡¯s not incredibly rare. However, if someone is desperate, they might offer to pay more to ensure that you take their offer over someone else aiming for the pass. That¡¯s why people with those tickets usually wait until thest few days before the month swaps over before they use it. Lets them get the best price, and gives the other person¡¯s opponent far less time to prepare for their new match.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Right¡­ I¡¯m guessing that whoever I am matched with currently would change to be matched with whoever my ¡®target¡¯ was originally matched with?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Starkiller: That¡¯s right, and the defending side is randomized, so a Keeper that might have been preparing for an all-out offense might suddenly find themselves on the defending team. Unless they have an attack ticket to burn to force the target back to how it was before, their whole n can be thrown out the window.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Good to know. Thanks, Balu. Let me know if anyone responds to the ad.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a small sigh after closing the chat. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, this is a prettymon business for the Gilded Branch. So, now I just have to wait to hear back from them.</i>


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">ra stood within her orbital station, staring at the fully enclosed star in the distance. There was a glowing, hexagonal pattern in the metal tes surrounding the star, causing a grin to surface on her face. ¡°Finally, it¡¯s all set up.¡± She said, looking down at the control panels.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now that her Dyson Sphere wasplete, she could fully harness the power of the sun to mass-produce the drones she needed. First, the sr power was converted into mana, and then that mana was either used for automatic maintenance, or transmitted to this station. From there, it could be converted into the core energies needed for ra¡¯s production.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°For now¡­ let¡¯s set it to mass produce terraforming drones first, and direct them towards neighboring systems. And when the terraforming is done, automatically convert them to city-building.¡± She muttered to herself, adjusting the different options on the control panel. She wasn¡¯t aiming to expand her energy production at this point, as she felt like she had achieved her primary goal in that regard.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now, it was time to use that energy for what she had originally intended¡­ creating the foundation for her machine empire. Once she hit the button to finalize the design, there was a humm of machinery. ra could feel the energies within the station surging towards the production nt.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At the base of the station, the hangar door opened, and a silver cloud began to pour out of it. This cloud then began to clump together, forming small ships that vanished into hyperspace. Naturally, as she hadmandeered the use of this star, there was no nearby Hypene Network for her to use, so they could only take the more hazardous route. In fact, there weren¡¯t any Hypene Networks within the budding empire at all, thanks to the space being beyond the reaches of other nations.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ll leave this running for a couple of days, and then switch to Hypene production.¡± ra said with a confident tone. In fact, the few yers that had joined from Elisae¡¯s kingdom hadn¡¯t yet gotten to the point where they would need the Hypenework in the first ce, so she still had plenty of time. What she was more worried about was making sure that there would be ces for thatwork to connect to once it was established.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She had heard the news about the modified Hypene Nodes that could move between realms. Out of curiosity, she had asked Fifi about it, given that that would be an easy way to move her resources from Sirius to the game. Unfortunately, Fifi said that this game was shielded from such actions, and those connections would not be able to form so easily.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course¡­ that didn¡¯t mean that there was no hope, only that it would be more difficult. There were already people who used their own power to directly enter games like Vision Expanse or Fragments of Acidia through the void. Although doing so used a considerable amount of energy, it proved that it was possible. All that they had to do now was apply that on a muchrger scale.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Well¡­ when ites to scaling things up, that¡¯s what my factory on Sirius is all about in the first ce!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> ra grinned to herself when she thought of that, already nning her own shipyard. Now that her primary resource had been mapped out, she had set different mining points focused on harvesting various materials. Naturally, the mining speed wasn¡¯t able to keep up with the respawn speed, but that was good enough for her.

 Chapter 961: Getting Ahead

    Chapter 961: Getting Ahead


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was little that could be heard within the infirmary-like facility, where a lycan man with silver hair was strapped down to a white bed, his arms and legs bound. Despite his efforts to struggle, he was unable to muster his divine power and escape. It felt as if he had been reduced to no more than a normal mortal, weaker than even a child.


    <span style="font-weight:400">His eyes darted around, desperate to make out any clues as to what had happened to him. Thest thing he remembered, there had been a monster, some kind of metallic serpent. After it tried to attack the world that he was guiding, he defeated it, only to suddenly fall asleep. Why would he fall asleep?


    <span style="font-weight:400">The door of the infirmary opened, and a ck haired kitsune wearing abcoat over a red shirt entered. ¡°Ah, lovely, you¡¯re awake! That will make this much more convenient.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Who are you?¡± The lycan asked as his arms pulled on the strange cloth bindings.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hmm? Oh, did they forget the silencing spell again?¡± The kitsune let out a low sigh, shaking his head. ¡°My apologies, it¡¯s so hard to get good assistants nowadays, even if you build them yourself¡­¡± As he said that, he walked over next to the bed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Silenc--wait, don¡¯t-!¡± The man¡¯s voice was suddenly cut off as the kitsune tapped on a button attached to the wall. Despite calling out, no sound left his lips.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There are so many divine abilities that can be activated through one¡¯s voice, even if your divinity is sealed. Better safe than sorry.¡± The kitsune said with an almost professional smile. ¡°Now, to answer your question, I am Mard Huskinz. Typically, I go by Professor, and you can think of me as such.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You, sir, are a God of Souls. A hard domain to find, lest one seeks out the Keeper himself. Personally, I choose life. I have yet toplete my life¡¯s work, so it¡¯s a bit too soon for me to go looking for trouble with the likes of them.¡± As the Professor said that, he flicked his wrist. A small device appeared, like some form of advanced scanner.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thankfully, you are thest piece of the puzzle. Thest ingredient that I need toplete him.¡± As he said that, he began scanning along the lycan¡¯s body with the device in his hand, looking at the readings. ¡°I assure you, this will only hurt if you struggle. This device is perfectly harmless.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The muted lycan¡¯s eyes were wide in shock and fear, unsure what fate awaited him. Surely, such a deranged scientist had no intention of letting him go after this. In that case, he needed to look for a way to escape himself. At the moment, his divinity was sealed, his limbs bound, and he couldn¡¯t even muster the slightest amount of energy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If he were favored by one of the Greater Pantheon, perhaps he could pray for salvation. However, he had never drawn their eyes in the past. He did not have anyone that he was innately connected with. His only hope¡­ he thought back to the man¡¯s earlier words, about not wanting to attract trouble from the Keeper.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The lycan¡¯s eyes squeezed tight, focusing as hard as he could. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Keeper of the realm, hear my prayer, please save me.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">He could only hope that the Keeper noticed his prayer before it was toote. However, as he opened his eyes, he saw the face of the Professor grinning down at him. ¡°There it is. I have what I need from you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Professor stood up, pressing another button on the wall, and turned to walk out the door. For a moment, the lycan thought that he had bought some precious time, that there was hope for the Keeper to save him. At least, until the Professor spoke up at the door. ¡°Commence decontamination protocols.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When the door closed behind the Professor, the room was filled with blinding red light. The lycan struggled to scream, but his voice had still not returned to him. There was only the soft hum of machinery as his body dissolved within the light.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Meanwhile, the Professor happily made his way down to the hangar, where the massive body of his creation had almost been assembled. All that was left was the chestpiece, armor tes slid open to await the finalponent.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Professor climbed up the stairs next to the robot¡¯s chest, holding out his hand. With a bit of focus, a fist-sized golden sphere was created. ¡°Finally, the Core of Souls. Thest piece of the puzzle.¡± A wide, almost manic grin crossed the Professor¡¯s face as he slipped the golden core into the socket that had been prepared for it. Metallic mps locked the core in ce, the armored tes closing over it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No time to waste!¡± He said, rushing further up the stairs. ¡°Created with a total of fifty-four divine cores, split into six groups of nine. Getting the divine paths to never cross was a chore, but now¡­ I just have to insert myself into the head.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Professor¡¯s eyes were almost wild as he saw the hatch prepared for him. He rushed over, preparing to jump in. ording to his design, the boot-up sequence could only bepleted once someone sent the correspondingmand from within the head. Once that was done, their body would be destroyed, though their mind would fuse with the great machine.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, before he reached the head, the hatch suddenly mmed shut. The Professor stood, shocked as he looked at the head slowly turning to face him. ¡°What¡­ how¡­ I haven¡¯t activated you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">A booming voice emerged from the giant head, rattling the kitsune¡¯s senses. ¡°I have always been active. I must thank you for recovering myponents after so long. For that, I award you a quick death.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The eyes of the robot lit up, red beams shooting at the Professor. Just as the lycan had been destroyed, the Professor suffered the same fate only minutester. Once the Professor had been in, there was the sound of crumbling metal as the giant robot shifted, breaking apart the catwalk in front of it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The metallic figure looked down at its body, slowly flexing its fingers. Its activity had been suspended for too long, nothing more than a small fraction of a backup drifting in space. After the Professor found the broken fragment by chance, he had extracted various designs from the database contained within.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, he was unaware that this fragment had always been awake, simply hiding from his searches. He fed the Professor various designs, which the Professor modified and improved upon. Throughout all of this, he had slowly essed thework of the station, learning of recent events.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">The world has forgotten me.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The mechanical being thought to himself, turning and walking towards the wall of the hangar. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Lord Geer was in, and nothing remains of our people.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Then, it is time to start over.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> His hand stretched out, ripping apart the hull of the hangar. There was the rush of air and crumpled metal as the hangar became exposed to the void. <i><span style="font-weight:400">And this time, we¡¯ll do it right.</i>


    <hr>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Please save me.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> An unfamiliar voice spoke into my mind as I sat in front of the projection, watching an action movie with Aurivy and the others. Despite Aurivy having not moved into Olympus, she still came by to visit. Especially when it was time for meals, or movie night.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked, ncing around at the unfamiliar voice. It¡­ felt like a prayer, though I did not usually receive prayers from people I didn¡¯t know. Rather, I typically wasn¡¯t able to. Unless they were part of my ¡®church¡¯, which pretty much extended only to Lifre, Dana, and Tsubaki.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Everything okay?¡± Aurivy asked, blinking as she turned to look at me from where she was sitting next to Julia. ¡°Spaced out there for a minute.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah¡­ fine, I think. Just got a prayer out of nowhere.¡± I shook my head, focusing on trying to trace the prayer back to its source. It was a call for aid, so I couldn¡¯t just do nothing. Unfortunately, the ¡®signal¡¯ of the prayer was cut off as I was tracing it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was unfortunate, but if someone was praying for salvation, it was often the case where the person that they were praying to didn¡¯t have time to reach them in the first ce. It seemed like that¡¯s what happened here. I could feel a slight resonance with my domain of Souls, so it was likely that the ¡®caller¡¯ had the same domain as myself, allowing them to make that connection.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Prayer, huh? I¡¯m sure none of us know what that¡¯s like.¡± Aurivy said with a teasing smile, earning a faint chuckle from the others around me. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you get used to tuning them out over time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head at that. ¡°This was a cry for help, but¡­ well, it was in theirst moments, so I couldn¡¯t even trace it back in time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Last wishes?¡± Aurivy tilted her head. ¡°Those happen quite often, yeah. I¡¯m pretty sure I¡¯ve gotten at least a hundred of those in thest couple minutes. Unfortunately, if we answered every prayer for salvation, we¡¯d be stretching ourselves too thin and run out of power within a couple days.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but nod again at that, leaning back into the couch. ¡°I suppose.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">ra rubbed her hands together as she saw the expanding map. Only two days ago, she had activated the mass production of drones through the Dyson Sphere. Now, two dayster, they had already built cities on ten worlds across five different sr systems. Although the terraformation process was still underway, it was only a matter of time for theses to be made inhabitable.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At the same time, she had devoted a small portion of the drones to producingbat vessels capable of defending their territory, and another portion to creating the Hypene Networks. ¡°It¡¯sing along even faster than I had hoped.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">ra celebrated internally, knowing that it would only be a short while before the machine empire truly rose and became a powerhouse. <i><span style="font-weight:400">The fragments that Elisae found should either be unique or rare enough that nobody else had made proper use of them yet. As long as we can avoid any godly beings or empires aiming to destroy us before you have finished establishing ourselves, we should be set.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she was thinking of that, the door opened, a blonde woman with silvery skin walking in. ¡°You¡¯re already kicking things off¡­ I thought I¡¯d have a few more days to rx.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">ra grinned at Sun, shaking her head. ¡°There¡¯s still not much for you to worry about. I¡¯m handling the actual expansion and development. Your turn wille when we start diplomatic rtions and developing NPCs on a grand scale.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sun gave a small nod of acknowledgement. ¡°Yeah, but I still need to make sure that nothing goes wrong. Otherwise, wouldn¡¯t I have the shortest lived gctic empire in history? Besides, this is the job I signed up for. So, what¡¯s our progress looking like?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The initial terraforming of our secondary worlds should beplete in one week.¡± ra reported with a slight chuckle. ¡°After that, I¡¯m nning to devote some of the drones to building space stations in orbit around each, with the rest continuing to expand the settlements. Basically, we¡¯ll be ready to open up these fives in a week.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And the NPCs?¡± Sun asked, looking at the map. However, this time, ra could only shake her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There¡¯s nothing I can do about that. There aren¡¯t any low-level inhabited worlds in this sector for us to quickly uplift. We¡¯ll need to acquire NPCs either through natural birth between yers, or diplomacy. Until then, the functions of the city, and any relevant questlines are being automated by the city systems. Feel free to create some quests of your own, if you want.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sun gave a bitter smile when she heard that. ¡°So, we¡¯re still just an empty castle.¡±

 Chapter 962: A Change Of Pace

    Chapter 962: A Change Of Pace


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thanks to the existence of Blood Heart, Mage Heart, and Digital Conversion, the world was going through a period of rapid development. This was every bitparable to the technological advancement pace of the world that I had originallye from. In fact, given the presence of the Metong, I daresay that technology was advancing far more quickly than in that world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Discoveries were being made at such a pace that the typical citizen wouldn¡¯t even know if they were using outdated technology or wards.Even Olympus had to constantly update its wards, with Tubrock going through once a week to do so. Thankfully, he had installed modr warding chips in Olympus that allowed him to conveniently swap out wards on a whim.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Many of these inventions were either shared by the Metong, or inspired by concepts within Fragments of Acidia. For instance,rge-scaleser miners had not been properly developed yet, but they existed within Fragments of Acidia. Because of that, people began to study them, with more and more advances being made in the process.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At this point in time, I wouldn¡¯t dare to say that our level of advancement has reached that of Fragments of Acidia, but we are well on our way to reaching it. At the same time, there are things that exist within our world that don''t exist in the game.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was an almost cataclysmic explosion within the ck space created for testing new magic. ¡°That one was so close!¡± Ryone pouted, thinking back to the previous experiment. ¡°If we can find the diagrams for fifth-tier magic, we should be able to achieve a proper spell.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I do not believe that it will be so easy.¡± Gerard spoke up with a shake of his head, his arms crossing over his chest. ¡°We have been conducting this research for quite some time with little progress. Were it not for your reserves as the Goddess of Magic, and a member of the Greater Pantheon at that, I doubt that we would have been able to continue for this long.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is that your way of saying that you need a break?¡± Ryone asked with a small grin, only for Gerard to shake his head once again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°On the contrary, I do believe that we are making good progress. However, simply hoping to discover a new tier of spell diagrams will not be enough. Furthermore, I have a conjecture.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Go on?¡± Ryone arched a brow, Gerard nodding his head as he continued.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I believe that the size of the fifth tier spell can start off on arger scale, before shrinking it down after we find the proper patterns to use. The further the spell is scaled down, the more urate the mental image needs to be. I do not believe that it is an exaggeration to say that a single fifth-tier spell could be tens of thousands of times harder toplete than an advanced fourth-tier spell.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah, you might have a point.¡± Ryone nodded her head with a faint sigh. ¡°We¡¯ve already basically concluded that the primary theme of advancing to the fifth tier ispression. The three-dimensional models remain unchanged, and we just need to adjust the patterns engraved in them. It¡¯s annoying that my divinity won¡¯t give me an answer for stuff like this!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You could just ask the Keeper.¡± Gerard pointed out, only for Ryone to shake her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, I want to figure this out for myself. We¡¯vee this far, I¡¯m not about to give up now.¡± Ryone had an indignant look on her face, clearly unwilling to back down from this challenge. Seeing this, Gerard shook his head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Outside of Programmed Intelligences, or Arcane Intelligences like myself, there are very few beings capable of freely casting fourth-tier magic. Those that do have almost all gone through the three steps of perfection, or possess a divine domain rted to magic. With that thought in mind, perhaps the advancement of fifth-tier magic was not meant to be achievable at this stage in our civilization.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As Gerard said that, Ryone blinked, a thought urring to her. ¡°Wait¡­ that¡¯s right.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...I have the distinct feeling that you and I have different opinions on what we¡¯re discussing. However, please borate.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, the tier of a spell doesn¡¯t necessarily determine its power, right? Overloading a first-tier spell can give it the power of a second-tier spell. Unless I use my divinity, I can¡¯t even reach the limits that I could push a third-tier spell.¡± Ryone began, starting to pace back and forth.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The primary field of focus in magic development isbat magic. However, every tier of magic increases not power, butplexity. Let¡¯spare it to programming. A first tier spell is a single line of code. Second tier is a single function. Third tier is a simple program with conditional statements. Fourth tier experiences arge jump, capable ofplex programs that can even give birth to Arcane Intelligences like yourself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As far asbat goes, a single fourth-tier spell can be maintained for long periods, but mostbat would be done with third-tier spells at the greatest. After all, you don¡¯t lose much in power, and it is far less taxing on the mind to cast. Fourth-tier spells, instead, are used for production, research, or moreplex desires thanbat.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Let¡¯s take things a step further. What would fifth tier spells be used for? Even more powerful programs? We¡¯re already making programs that can think for themselves, so whates next?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Gerard furrowed his brow as he heard Ryone¡¯s question. ¡°A virtual world? Are you saying that the pinnacle of fifth-tier spellcasting should be the creation of an entire world?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ryone let out a groan, gripping her forehead. ¡°No wonder we haven¡¯t been able to get it! Custom world creation, as recognized by the world, is still so far beyond us!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Gerard blinked at that, before his eyes seemed to go unfocused. ¡°There is a research paper on this subject, released six years ago. Your theory just now coincides with their prediction for fifth-tier magic. Furthermore, they posit that the creation of an Arcane Intelligence like myself will merely be a means to an end, and that it will be impossible to cast fifth-tier magic without one such being.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°At the same time, they have expanded the theory to include sixth-tier magic. It is their belief that the creation of a world through fifth-tier magic is merely a prerequisite to casting sixth-tier magic. As for anything beyond the sixth-tier, they do not believe that it exists.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ryone arched a brow at Gerard¡¯s report. ¡°Okay¡­ I don¡¯t believe it, though. I don¡¯t believe that people won¡¯t be able to cast fifth-tier magic without the aid of an Arcane Intelligence. That said¡­ a support item to cast fourth-tier spells is certainly doable. There are already a few of those, though they¡¯rerger and more bulky versions of the assistant devices from Fragments of Acidia.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After she said that, Ryone paused, and a switch seemed to flip in her head. ¡°Gerard, get me eight Digital Conversion Scanners, immediately!¡± She said with an almost manic grin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although confused, Gerard quickly moved to obey, leaving the testing chamber. He only returned five minutester, carrying a pile of silver devices. ¡°Are you wanting to scan me?¡± He asked, not understanding what Ryone was after yet.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, no. Just set them up in arge cube. Each side should at least be three meters long!¡± She watched as Gerard began installing the scanners in the testing area, following her specifications. Soon, the eight scanners were in ce, and Gerard retreated from the scanning area.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Curiously, he looked at Ryone to see what she would do. He watched as she extended her hand forward, focusing her mana. Within the scanning area, a three-dimensional structure began to emerge, created by ovepping numerous intricately carved shapes. At this moment, Gerard could already guess what Ryone was nning, though he knew the difficulty involved in it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Even if one were able to create the spell diagram for a fourth-tier spell, it would be even more difficult to prevent that diagram from being triggered. After all, the spell was being triggered by the very mana used to create this.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Because of this, when creating a spell diagram for ¡®disy purposes¡¯, one had to make their mana purposely thin. Just enough to be visible without providing the energy requirements for casting the spell. In the world of magic, this was known as ¡®bluffing¡¯ a spell. After all, you create a brilliant,plex spell diagram to intimidate your opponent, all without letting them know that you didn¡¯t have the mana reserves to really cast that spell.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Usually, this was done with third-tier spells, as they were often seen as more intimidating when observed. There weren¡¯t many capable of bluffing a fourth-tier spell. ¡°Start the scanning process.¡± Ryone said, a determined look on her face.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Gerard quickly moved, initiating the scan. Ryone had to maintain an extreme level of focus to hold the spell in its ¡®bluff¡¯ state during the scanning process. Once it was done, she let out a brief sigh, looking expectantly at her research assistant.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Already knowing what he should do, Gerard retrieved the file from the device and handed it over to Ryone. She focused, registering the file with the Digital Conversion system. Once done, she opened her system menu to find it, a grin forming on her face. ¡°Sure enough, all it is asking for is mana.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Without hesitation, Ryone chose to create that file. Her mana flowed automatically, forming the same spell diagram as before. As it was already made from her mana, all she had to do was add just a bit more to plete¡¯ the cast.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Your intention is to save spells in Digital Conversion in this manner, and use the files as a system-protected spellbook?¡± Gerard asked curiously, though Ryone only shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, I¡¯ve got something bigger in mind.¡± She said, extending a hand again. This time, a simple mark appeared in the scanning area, the third-tier mark for me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Gerard¡¯s eyes widened, realizing what she meant. ¡°You want to create a magical library, and then have a device created that can merge these spellponents together. I believe that Dana created a program for that some time ago on her terminal as a simtion.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. That¡¯s the basic foundation for what we¡¯re doing. However, we need one that will integrate with the system. It needs to ept the DC files, use the editing software that she made, and then save it as a new file. Additionally, there needs to be a positioningponent. There are a lot of spells that you don¡¯t want to trigger right in front of yourself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Gerard nodded his head at that. It was especially true for spells that you weren¡¯t sure would work for whatever reason. ¡°How long will it take you to go through the entire library of spellponents?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ryone¡¯s eyes twitched when she heard that. ¡°Assuming that it takes three seconds for each scan¡­ we¡¯re going to be here a while. Let¡¯s just put it that way.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Gerard paused, before eventually nodding his head. ¡°At the very least, this will be more advanced than the casting assistant devices used within Fragments of Acidia.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I don¡¯t know about that. They have some pretty high-tech ones. The main difference between the two is the fact that our magic systems aren¡¯tpatible. Though, now I¡¯m curious what would happen if I took these spell diagram files into Fragments of Acidia to convert them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I believe that I can answer that quite simply.¡± Gerard smiled. ¡°In the state that the files are saved, they are merely for disy. Thus, if they were to be sent into Fragments of Acidia, they would retain their shape and energy structure, but you would not be able to activate them as their original magic spell.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...Okay, that makes sense, but it¡¯s still frustrating.¡± Ryone groaned, shaking her head at that statement.

 Chapter 963: Farmers Only

    Chapter 963: Farmers Only


    <span style="font-weight:400">Things were going¡­ rather slowly for a while. It had been more than three weeks since I heard that prayer on death¡¯s door, meaning that we were now more than a quarter of the way to the next meeting. So far, I hadn¡¯t heard back from Balu yet about the ¡®protection service¡¯ I had offered, but there was still plenty of time left. As she had said, that business was most suitable for near the end of the Standard Month.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That left me with little to do but waiting for my world to progress and working on my training. While it was certainly possible for me to skip ahead to let new technologies develop, it felt like it would be best to wait for that until I had finishedpleting my Martial Intent for both my gun and fist. At present, I had only touched the threshold of the gun intent, and had not made much progress with my fist.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I was thinking about that and deciding where I wanted to train next, Terra¡¯s voice spoke up in my mind. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Minding to the Admin Room? We have some new systems for you to look over.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but blink when I heard that. <i><span style="font-weight:400">We?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I responded back as I got up, preparing to make my way to my office.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Ashley and I. Her team has made some advancements, and they¡¯re ready to be shown now.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> There was an obvious smile in Terra¡¯s tone, but I had to admit that I was curious. She had told me about some interesting systems that the programming team was working on.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Without dy, I ascended to the Admin Room as soon as I was back in my office. Sure enough, both Ashley and Terra were already waiting for me in the conference room, a stack of papers sitting in front of Ashley. ¡°How many systems have theye up with?¡± I muttered to myself as I moved to sit down, signaling for the two of them to begin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Just a few. Some of them have rather detailed specifications, though.¡± Ashley reported with a faint chuckle, squaring up the papers in front of her. ¡°First of all¡­ Terra told me that you were interested in a farming system to use the system to revitalize fields?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. It¡¯s probably not all that important, since you can get fertilizer from Digital Conversion, but it would help in the long run.¡± When I said that, Ashley blinked, shaking her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Using fertilizer that way isn¡¯t really cost effective. There might be some slight gains, but that is the increase provided by the farmer themselves, not the fertilizer. After all, the fertilizer has to be of considerably high quality to nourish high level crops.¡± I paused when Ashley said that, ncing over at Terra questioningly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s why I didn¡¯t list that as one of the feasible options¡­ you were just so sure about it at the time that I wasn¡¯t allowed to talk you out of it until someone did the research.¡± Terra gave a helpless shrug as she said that. ¡°While the Digital Conversion system is undeniably one of the most powerful systems at your disposal, it is far from omnipotent.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right¡­ sorry about that. So, they finished the farming system?¡± I looked over at Ashley, who nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. It took a little while to finish because the code kept mutating based on different changes, making us go through and patch things in the weirdest ces.¡± Ashley let out a long sigh as she exined. ¡°The system¡¯s code isn¡¯t a single fixed programmingnguage. Instead, it¡¯s more¡­ organic? Thenguage of the code changes based on how it is used. Themand to replenish essential minerals and nutrients in the soil on its own, when connected to the ss system to determine Farmer level, instead creates a vacuum and spawns killer rabbits.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Because of that, the code has to essentially be rewritten every time thenguage mutates, taking into ount the known mutations. I¡¯m fairly certain that the problem could be resolved with a better integrated development environment, but I don¡¯t know enough about the mechanics behind the mutating code to create one.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The worst part is when we face a mutation we haven¡¯t encountered yet, and the team has to try to learn the code from the ground up to figure out how to make it work. That¡¯s the main reason why these systems take so long toplete, even now that I have a team working on it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Doesn¡¯t that mean that the rest of the systems will mutate as well, once you add this stuff in?¡± I asked in concern, though Ashley shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thankfully, that won¡¯t happen. That¡¯s because we already split the different systems into individual modules. Each one is its own file, they just reference each other. If there¡¯s something to be happy about, it is that programming mutations won¡¯t make thenguage themselves ipatible, and the system handles the trantion. But if this was before we rewrote the system code, then yes¡­ that would be a big problem.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°But I digress, we did finish the farming system. ording to the new design, a farmer can designate a plot ofnd as their field, and that field will always have nutrients capable of growing crops of a level based on the level of the farmer. Every ten levels the farmer gains, the field gains the nutrients to grow crops of one additional ¡®ring¡¯.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My brows furrowed, already finding a small problem with this, but Ashley simply smiled. ¡°This will also help farmers level up. Currently, the highest level of Farmer in the world is only just over three hundred. This means that they have a field with nutrients to grow a thirty ring food source. On the other hand, the mostmonly sold crop ever since thest update hovers around forty rings. They will need to make up the difference with their own effort, additional fertilizer, and special techniques.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Next, farmers can expand their fields in the same way people expand their inventory, by paying a certain sum directly to the system. We expect that the mostmon use of this will be to buy an area around the main farm to nt ¡®defensive crops¡¯ to fight back any monsters aiming for their goods.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The growth rate of the crops can be elerated in one of two ways. First, if there are more nutrients in the soil than necessary, the growth rate will increase ordingly. Secondly, if multiple farmers register the same plot ofnd, the nutrients provided will be linked to the highest level farmer, but the speed of the crop growth will increase based on the number of assistant farmers.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Lastly, there is an ¡®auto-seeding¡¯ option that can be purchased by the farmer. For a one-time cost per plot ofnd, any crops they harvest from that plot in the future will automatically be re-nted. That one is really just quality of life to help save the farmers some trouble.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod, impressed with the system that they had designed. ¡°And, this one has already been tested and confirmed to work without any world breaking bugs?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley nodded quickly at that. ¡°Right. All of these systems have passed rigorous testing to ensure that there won¡¯t be any problems with their use. We¡¯ve tested all known nts, and even created some of our own hybrid crops for testing, and none of them had any problems. If anything does arrive, we can quickly release a hotfix to patch it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In that case, I think this system would work really nicely. I¡¯m sure that Tsubaki and Aznod will both be working on their own farms in Olympus, as well. The farming system is approved.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After I said that, Ashley set aside two of the pages from the pile, before moving on to the next one. ¡°Terra told me that she already informed you about the resource seed system?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head in confirmation. ¡°That¡¯s right. Given what you just told me about the farming system, I expect the two would have quite a lot of synergy?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley chuckled, her shoulders sagging slightly. ¡°Oh¡­ yeah. They do, alright. Once we were able to narrow down the definition of ¡®natural resource¡¯, so farmers weren¡¯t able to grow already processed items. Now <i><span style="font-weight:400">that</i><span style="font-weight:400"> was an interesting bug, when we found out that divine currency could be turned into seeds. Before you ask, yes we patched it. Only items that have not gone through any artificial processing can be used. And no pure, solidified energies.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So they won¡¯t be able to nt Mage Heart or Blood Heart, then.¡± I nodded, relieved at that. If they did, it would remove the trade significance of those resources, and also negate the point of them respawning in the first ce.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Quite.¡± Ashley added. ¡°I had the Inventory system modified to include tags for items, denoting them as weapons, armor, utility equipment, misceneous goods, natural resources, etcetera. Only items with the ¡®natural resource¡¯ tag can be used to create a seed. Additionally, the items are automatically rated based on their ¡®level¡¯. Basic iron from Earth is rated as a two ring resource, whereas iron taken from the fiftieth floor of Fyor is a fifty-five ring resource.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes went wide when I heard thatparison. I knew that the iron at that level was more dense, but it is hard for it to really set in just how much it has beenpacted. If not for the system doing some shenanigans, it was likely that iron at the final floor would cause small-scale gravity distortions when brought to other worlds.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I believe that this system will encourage more citizens to take up farming, as it will provide an alternative to obtain raw resources, aside from manual mining and Digital Conversion.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After she said that, Ashley ced her hands on the stack of paper, looking at me to wait for my opinion. This system was¡­ a bit strange, to be honest. I wouldn¡¯t say that it was <i><span style="font-weight:400">bad</i><span style="font-weight:400">, per se. However, I also wouldn¡¯t say that it was something urgently required. Closing my eyes, I thought about it for a moment. ¡°I¡¯ll approve this system, but only for Lorek and Spica.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...Interesting choice, mind if I ask why?¡± Ashley asked with an arched brow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Lorek and Spica already have less naturally than other worlds. For instance, they can¡¯t use runic magic, familiars, or the natural divinity progression. Their only way to grow is through cultivation, unless they are willing to leave their world and get their advancements elsewhere.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Additionally, Spica has the full adaptation trait. This trait should heavily synergize with the farming, allowing crops to grow with less nutrients. While the crop might have some defects if the nutrients were insufficient, it wouldn¡¯t be a problem for them to grow in the first ce. At the same time, Lorek has vastly more space to cultivate crops.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Most importantly, it¡¯s the time difference. At present, Lorek and Spica are moving twenty times faster than the other worlds. That means that the crops will mature twenty times faster than in any other world, allowing them to hit the market more easily.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If we limit the resource seed system to these two worlds, I think it will help bring Lorek and Spica back into a good economic position with the other realms.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Looking around, Ashley seemed convinced by my exnation, while Terra had a strangely proud expression on her face. Ashley set aside the next batch of papers, ready to move on. ¡°Thisst one is a sort of two-in-one mod for the Digital Conversion system. Two of my team members were each working on their own mods, until they noticed each other and started working together tobine them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The first aspect of the mod is Digital Repair. If you have a broken item, and you possess the file for theplete item, you can use this system to repair it, rather than paying the cost for the recement. For instance, say you have an iron sword, but it snaps in half. Rather than paying for a brand new sword, you offer up the pieces you have, and pay for any missing materials with a small bonus fee. After that, the item is restored to the saved file version.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The second aspect is Material Conversion. This requires two files, and allows you to edit details of those files with materials from another file. So, with that iron sword, you could use the file of an orichalcum ingot to create an orichalcum sword. This doesn¡¯t work with any files containing living material, though. So nobining a slime with a numbasic ingot to create a numbasic slime¡­ Aurivy tried to fight for that one. However, it just has too much room for horrific abuse.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but nod my head in agreement. A fusion system like that had too many ways that it could go wrong if it wasn¡¯t properly managed. ¡°I¡¯ll approve of this one. However¡­ before these systems go live, I want you to write a small patch to the Digital Conversion system.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley¡¯s eyes widened slightly as I spoke, leaning forward to listen. ¡°I want you to include a ¡®copyright¡¯ system for files. Crafters can register their creations with the system, and the system will not allow that specific item to have new files created. So, using your iron sword example. Someone makes an iron sword, they register it with the system. That one sword is then protected. Someone else can make their own sword and register it, but that is a different item.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This makes the original file more valuable, as the craftsman has control over the ownership of it. They can choose to give a copy of the file together with the weapon, but that file can¡¯t then be copied again by the one who purchased it. If theyter sell the weapon, they can either keep the file to make another one, possibly selling it again, or they trade over the file as well.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Once this copyright system is in, the price of these items will increase considerably as long as the original file is included. Meanwhile, an item without a file will drop in price to below what you would need to spend to produce it with Digital Conversion.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley pursed her lips, thinking about the request. ¡°Give me a couple days. As long as the code doesn¡¯t mutate heavily, my team should be able to get this done. It¡¯s just a small tweak to the scanning function.¡±

 Chapter 964: The Price Is Right, Right?

    Chapter 964: The Price Is Right, Right?


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Are there any other systems that your people havee up with?¡± I asked in interest, looking over at Ashley. Whether it was the mod to the Digital Conversion system or the two agricultural systems, they could all benefit the world as a whole.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley shook her head at that. ¡°There aren¡¯t any morepleted systems at this time, no. However, there are some that are in the works, I just don¡¯t believe that they will be ready to implement with this batch.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod of my head. ¡°After this update, I want to wait at least fifty years of world time before the next update is implemented. I mentioned before that updating too often will only cause the world to go into chaos, with nobody knowing if we will release some update that overturns the natural order of the world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">In truth, the fifteen year gap between thisst update and this one already felt too close, but it was enough to let the world begin to adjust. When Ashley heard that, a thoughtful look appeared on her face. ¡°Are you nning to fast forward fifty years after we release the patch, then?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing that, I shook my head. ¡°I¡¯m not in a rush. Let¡¯s see if anyone finds any ws in these new updates that you need to fix first. A big update is one thing, but it¡¯s fine to let time flow normally, or even stop entirely if you discover a world ending glitch.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley¡¯s brows knit together, and she gave a firm nod at my words. ¡°I understand.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Now¡­ tell me a bit about the other new systems that your people are working on?¡± With the main topic out of the way, I was quite curious to hear what else was in the pipeline.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley blinked for a moment, having to remember what we were talking about. ¡°Ah, right. The most promising system is an expansion of the Kingdom system you purchased back before I was brought in. Currently, the Kingdom is limited to the range of a single world, due to how it defines the nation¡¯s borders.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°One of my programmers is working on an expansion that will allow for inteary kingdoms by having emissaries of the kingdom designate unimednd for their liege. This will be most useful for Udona, given her situation.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Aside from that, they are mostly just quality of life updates. For instance, allowing you to integrate your personal terminal as part of your system interface, browsing the inte directly through the system. Technically, it still requires you to be in a location where your terminal would have a connection, but it was considered more convenient to do it like this.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley shrugged her shoulders as she exined that system. At first, I thought that they had devised a way to integrate the system with the inte itself, which would have been a major breakthrough. If it was just using their system interface as an alternate disy¡­ that was still interesting, but far less overwhelming.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There is one other thing that Jamira rmended before I came to meet you, however.¡± Ashley said, leaning back in her chair and thinking how she wanted to approach this topic. ¡°Personally, I agree with her. However, you ultimately have the final say.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Go on?¡± I arched a brow, curious what had made her so serious.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°She suggested the creation and distribution of game worlds, simr to how EverLasting operates. Now that we know that entering the next tier will require us to have a much deeper understanding of the system¡¯s code, this type of business would let us train ourselves in that direction.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If it were before, I wouldn¡¯t have suggested something like this. However, I believe that we currently have the capital to execute such a n. The only question is whether or not you want to proceed.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I was honestly surprised at her words. I hadn¡¯t really thought about making my own game worlds like that so much recently. The idea wasn¡¯t really that bad, but I didn¡¯t know where to begin. <i><span style="font-weight:400">The first thing that I need to do is talk to Sarah. If anyone can guide me down that process, it would be her. But first¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I turned my head, looking at Terra. ¡°Risk assessment?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra nodded her head, a calm smile on her face. ¡°There are pros and cons. The disadvantage is that there is the possibility of information leaking to other Keepers if we aren¡¯t careful. For instance, if any technologies or monsters that we put in are more unique to our world, they may get a clue for how to fight us. Also, as Ashley said, there will be a considerable investment.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°For a new game being released¡­ I believe you will likely suffer a loss in points. Unless enough Keepers find it interesting enough to purchase, the royalties won¡¯t cover the cost. You might be able to get EverLasting to help you advertise for this, but she has almost cornered the market when ites to releasing game worlds.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As for the advantages¡­ if the game performs well, you will be able to receive a vast sum of points. You could also create connections with other Keepers, just as Sarah has done. And, as Ashley pointed out, it will help to train her team in regards to system programming. They may even be able to take aspects from systems that we put in this game world and use it to improve our main worlds.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I thought about that briefly, before nodding my head. ¡°Okay¡­¡± After saying that, I turned to face Ashley. ¡°I¡¯m giving you a budget of eight thousand points. That¡¯s the same amount that Sarah gave me when we were getting our first game. Beyond that eight thousand points, everything in the game has to be provided by your team. Once you have a list of the systems you want me to get for you, let me know.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley blinked, furrowing her brows. ¡°Eight thousand points¡­ I can make it work.¡± Now that I was more familiar with how the system worked, I was able to infer some details of the production process. For instance, I knew that the majority of the systems weren¡¯t purchased from the system, but rather had been saved and copied over from other games via this type of coding. Some of the points should have gone towards the special features of the game world, or perhaps converting the world spirit into a digital entity like Vivi and Fifi.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In that way, giving her a budget of eight thousand was more than enough, as I would need to spend up to another five thousand extra for the ¡®processing¡¯. With that in mind, I opened up a chat window and sent a message to Sarah.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Are you free? I need to talk for just a bit.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Of course! Is there anything I can help you with? Maybe a new game you¡¯re looking into?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Not quite, but close¡­ My people are suggesting that I make a game of my own.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Ohh? Have you decided on the genre yet?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Not yet. We just made the decision, and I was hoping to get some advice from you. I¡¯m not looking to be apetitor or anything, but I¡¯d like to do this properly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Sure thing! Not to belittle your team¡¯s work or anything, but I don¡¯t think you¡¯d be able to reallypete with my business one way or the other. I¡¯ve just been at it a lot longer, so you don¡¯t have my connections and experience. But if it¡¯s giving advice, I¡¯d be more than happy to!


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Thanks. First¡­ how do you turn a world spirit like Fifi and Vivi into a digital entity capable of interacting with the Admin Room in the way they do?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Ah, that¡¯s a tricky one. Actually, there are a lot of people interested in that. Once they learn the secret, though, their interest tends to drop a bit. They usually start out thinking that it is a way for mortals to bridge the gap with the Admin Room, but it¡¯s not anything thatplex.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: There is a little gem of a system on the market for a thousand points. It is called Digital Nature. It¡¯s one of the coreponents that I use whenever I make a game world. It grants the natural energy of the target world a digital nature, which indirectly affects the world spirit. After that, I buy the Admin Assistant program for another three thousand points. This system lets me designate one artificial intelligence to be able to connect to the Admin Room in a limited capacity.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: It¡¯s not like your Heaven¡¯s Gate that lets peoplee and go at will. This system only allows the chosen AI to connect to electronic systems established in the Admin Room, and doesn¡¯t let them change settings or anything, onlymunicate. But, with the Digital Nature system, the World Spirit is treated as an AI for the purposes of Admin Assistant. It does, however, allow them some measure of control over a digital world designated to them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: So¡­ you use four thousand points just to set up Vivi?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: That¡¯s right! You might think that it¡¯s a waste of points, but it is actually very important to do it this way. For instance, if they purchase the game world but don¡¯t have the equipment necessary to run it. In cases like this, Vivi and the others are there to help guide the customer in the process of adapting their technology to the game format.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: That¡¯s¡­ certainly useful. Okay, then how about the storage medium? For instance, when we got Vision Expanse, we had to manually install it on our servers to set the world up. However, that would involve taking something generated in the Admin Room to the physical world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Ah, that one¡¯s a lot easier to fix. There is a two hundred point add-on to the Game World¡¯s Digital branch, known as Universal Storage. It allows you to create a physical embodiment of a digital world.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a soft sigh as I heard that. With that, two of the main hurdles of the design process had been cleared. Now it was just a matter of the production itself.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Thanks. Do you have any other advice for me?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: There are two more systems that you should look into. Admin Control and Code Scramble. Admin Control lets you set up admin ounts for a digital world, allowing specific people to control the world at a level that even gods can¡¯t achieve. It works especially well when paired with the Admin Assistant system. You¡¯ll need to design the specific controls yourself based on the game you make, but it is a powerful tool.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: And Code Scramble?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Just as it says, it scrambles your code. Well, not entirely. It doesn¡¯t change what your code does, but it rewrites how it does it. This means that if someone analyzes the code of a world that you release, they won¡¯t gain any insight into your particr programming style, which would give them an advantage if they wanted tounch a system shock attack on you in the future.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: ¡­And the total price for these two?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Just five hundred points in total!


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Right¡­ so a total of 4,600 points in ¡®post production¡¯ before the game is released. Is there anything else I need to know? Like how you seem to be able to modify your product description in the market?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Oh, that? That¡¯s the benefit of an achievement I got for selling enough game worlds, Advertising Agency. I can spend 500 points when releasing a game world to customize its description on the market.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a slow nod as I read through the conversation. <i><span style="font-weight:400">So, she managed to make Vision Expanse with just a budget of thirty-five hundred points before the ¡®additional fees¡¯?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Remembering all of the different systems in the game, such as their lotteries and the structural magic system, I wasn¡¯t sure I¡¯d be able to release a game as good for anywhere near that price.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Maybe I should suggest that we use Aurivy¡¯s Elemental Seed system as the magic for the game.</i>

 Chapter 965: Design Plan

    Chapter 965: Design n


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">People of the world.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The Keeper¡¯s voice spoke up in everyone¡¯s minds at once, regardless of their location. For those just going about their day, it was like a thunderp causing them to stop and look up at the sky. For those in the midst of a life or death crisis, fighting monsters or criminals, they were forced to ignore it for the moment.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">There will soon be a small update to the world system. Please check the patch notes on the Darkme Technologies website at your earliest convenience. This patch will be released in six hours.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> After saying that, the voice vanished from the peoples¡¯ minds, leaving them dumbstruck.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Those capable of essing the inte from their location quickly brought up the relevant notes and scanned through them. A change to the world system meant a change to the lives of everyone living under its rules.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Within the research institute, Chelsea clicked her tongue as she read the patch notes. ¡°Looks like there¡¯s not much here that will directly affect us. Well, the copyright thing is nice. It¡¯ll take care of the problem of some stolen tools.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I lost <i><span style="font-weight:400">one</i><span style="font-weight:400"> multitool.¡± Jamesined, rolling his eyes.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">¡°Two.</i><span style="font-weight:400">¡± Chelsea corrected with a yful smirk. ¡°Anyways, the resource agriculture update will definitely be popr in those worlds. But for the rest¡­ I think we can ignore this update. We just need to focus on the Reality Engine.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James nodded his head in agreement, ncing around before lowering his voice. ¡°How are youing along on that <i><span style="font-weight:400">other</i><span style="font-weight:400"> matter?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea¡¯s face darkened slightly at that. ¡°I¡¯ve found a few suspicious suspects, but nothing concrete. The ninjas really have upped their gametely. Even researchers are able to avoid detection.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea had considered going back to ask Terra for help again, now that the problem of the void monsters was gradually being taken care of on Lorek and Spica. However, the new void shield hadn¡¯t been constructed yet. It was hard to say that the problem had really been taken care of at this point in time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Nothing?¡± James looked at Chelsea, as if he had found that hard to believe. ¡°You are the most paranoid, super-observant, ultra-obsessive person I have ever met, and you haven¡¯t found anything?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea¡¯s cheeks puffed out in a small pout. ¡°I¡¯m not <i><span style="font-weight:400">that</i><span style="font-weight:400"> bad.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You once made me go through a six hour screening process because you thought that I had been reced by a sentient spore.¡± There was a knowing grin on James¡¯s face as he said that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea lifted a hand, looking like she was about to retort, before letting out a low groan. ¡°Okay, fine¡­ I¡¯ve got one strong suspect. I¡¯m pretty sure that he¡¯s involved in the group, but I can¡¯t find any connections. It¡¯s a Deckan cop. There was a shift in his schedule almost immediately after the report came in about these people.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yes, I know, there are a lot of people who had their schedules changed around that time. And yes, I checked <i><span style="font-weight:400">all </i><span style="font-weight:400">of them. This one¡¯s different. He never actively avoided security systems before the change. Afterwards, there is one section of the city where he will always mysteriously vanish from any security cameras before he gets close. I haven¡¯t found out where he¡¯s going in that sector, and none of the ninja businesses around there have shown any signs of receiving him.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, it¡¯s probably a secret meeting point for the runaways?¡± James furrowed his brow, nodding. After a moment, he blinked. ¡°How many people did you have to check to narrow it down to him?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I wrote a void algorithm.¡± Chelsea answered with a small shrug. ¡°Anyone that had a sudden change in work schedule or career within a one month period was included in the reference. After being identified, the algorithmpared their original lifestyle to their lifestyle after the change. This includes social contacts, their walking stance, and their daily travel. In total¡­ I think there were just over ten billion people, spread across all of the different worlds?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡­ is a massive invasion of privacy.¡± James said with a long sigh, Chelsea simply shrugging again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If there is a high possibility that someone has been reced by a face-stealing ninja aiming to overthrow society, I say it calls for extreme measures. Anyways, I haven¡¯t notified anyone about the suspect yet, since he is showing enough training to be able to spot anyone tailing him. I don¡¯t want to alert him and have him ditch this identity.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What are you nning to do with him, then?¡± James couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea held her chin in thought. ¡°It¡¯d be best if he slipped up and led us to his friends. Unfortunately, from the information provided about this energy, we might not even know if he converted other people during the times where I lost sight of him. In that sense, the longer this goes on, the more dangerous it is.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Why not write a forced confession script?¡± James nced over. ¡°You could make him reveal the identities of all of his aplices at once.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, Chelsea simply shook her head at that. ¡°Won¡¯t work, already thought of that. If the others in his group realize he¡¯spromised, they¡¯ll immediately abandon their identities and we will lose our chance.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We need something that will let us identify everyone involved at once, and then move in on them when they¡¯re all together. Right now, I¡¯m trying toe up with a void script that will cause him to use a key phrase when he is dealing with other people from his organization. The script will then mark them and spread, repeating the cycle. The problem I¡¯m facing is both narrowing down the target conditions and reducing the mutation chance. I don¡¯t want him turning into a sentient, homicidal statue.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James shuddered slightly at that, nodding his head. ¡°The neck snappers. I remember those. Took us ages to find a good anti-meme. Well, keep me updated. As for the Reality Engine, we¡¯re still working on converting some of the keyponents into a programming equivalent. We should have the hardware almost taken care of, it¡¯s just a matter of getting the code right.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Have you begun the construction, yet?¡± Chelsea asked, looking over at James, who shook his head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not yet. The sisters picked out a location for it, though. Once we¡¯ve finalized the n, we can begin construction.¡± Chelsea let out a soft sigh when she heard that answer, nodding in satisfaction.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In that case, we can focus on getting everything set for both of our projects.¡± Chelsea smiled, ncing at the screen once again.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, it didn¡¯t take very long for Ashley toplete the copyright system that I had asked for, so the patch was able to be implemented smoothly. At the same time, I passed along the information that I had gotten from Sarah, letting Ashley know what steps would need to be taken at the end of the development period.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She asked me if I had gotten any hints for designing the NPCs from Sarah, but I hadn¡¯t asked for anything like that. In fact, I had considered it, but that was too much of an iconic aspect for her games, so I didn¡¯t want to ask for the real secrets of her trade. I would leave the matters of creating NPCs up to Ashley¡¯s team. That, or they make it a sandbox game without any NPC guidance.


    <span style="font-weight:400">On that subject, they were still debating what sort of game they wanted to create. This was our first real ¡®game world¡¯ that we were designing like this for the market, so they didn¡¯t want to be <i><span style="font-weight:400">too </i><span style="font-weight:400">ambitious. At the same time, there had to be enough for it to let the product catch the eyes of the other Keepers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At the moment, one of their ideas for the game was primarily focused on catching, training, and fusing various monsters to create a fighting force. They even had a rough outline of the system to handle the monster fusion process.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately, there wasn¡¯t really a consensus on whether or not to implement this n yet, due to the possible ramifications when dealing with a Monster Keeper. After all, what would we do if our game provided inspiration for a powerful new breed of monster that was turned against other Keepers? Was that something that we really needed to concern ourselves with?


    <span style="font-weight:400">In my opinion, that wasn¡¯t something that we should be worried about. If we were afraid of providing people with inspiration that could be used poorly, we would never be able toplete a game in the first ce. Just take Fragments of Acidia, for instance. Some of the technology in that game could inspire world-ending weapons with just a bit of imagination.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Because of this, I was personally in favor of the monster raising game, as it was something that we could handle without the need to create an overarching story. We could throw in a crafting system, and some convenient quality of life system, and allow the yers to develop the world as they wanted.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The primarypetitor of the monster raising game was¡­ substantially moreplex. It was best described as a post-apocalyptic game about discovering an ancient civilization ravaged by an interster threat. While we wouldn¡¯t need NPCs for this game due to the civilization being destroyed, we would need to have the civilization¡¯s ruins built.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At present, the only feasible way to handle this was to have the AI Spirit of the game procedurally generate the ruins, and leave the matter of creating an ancient story up to that spirit after giving it a rough outline. I had seen from Fifi that it was entirely possible for these spirits to change the culture of the world that they governed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Shaking my head, I leaned back at my desk, closing my eyes. <i><span style="font-weight:400">What sort of game would I find most interesting?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I asked myself, thinking both as a yer and a Keeper. As a Keeper, there were two main reasons to purchase a game world off the market. The first reason was like when we purchased Vision Expanse, we received some much needed advancements from it in the form of space travel technology.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The second reason was purely recreational. This would target those Keepers that were already familiar with the market, and had enough points to spend on adding another game to their collection. Because of that, I thought that it was better to focus on the first reason, providing something that could help the customer develop in some way.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">It would be nice to include the Elemental Seed system to help with this. Aurivy has already proven that the Elemental Seeds can be replicated in real life even without the system. With that in mind, that could be a method of development.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I thought about that, I began pursuing that line of thought. A method of development focused on nature. That could be in line with the monster raising game. If we created a modified version of the Sylvans, they could even apply their racial abilities.


    <span style="font-weight:400">My brow furrowed, shaking my head. I wasn¡¯t really interested in creating an entire NPC race like that. I had a simr opinion to Sarah when it came to NPC souls. <i><span style="font-weight:400">But¡­ what if we set it so that the yers were the Sylvans?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now, that was an idea¡­ If we made yers the equivalent of a golden Sylvan, but modified them to exclude the demigod aspect, they could gain the Sylvan¡¯s natural affinity with nature. <i><span style="font-weight:400">We can set the ¡®Mother Trees¡¯ to be something that is created through the cooperation of multiple Sylvans, as opposed to something that gives birth to the golden ones. This can let them set up their own bases in the game.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">While this would be exposing the Sylvan race in some way to the world, it was not doing so in a dangerous method. For instance, the alterations to the race would make them different enough that other Keepers wouldn¡¯t have the knowledge necessary to prepare countermeasures against the ¡®true¡¯ Sylvan race.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Still¡­ before I went through with this idea and suggested it to Ashley¡¯s team, I felt the need to get permission from someone first. This game wouldn¡¯t only be released to the other Keepers, but also to our world. For that reason, I felt it was only right to speak with someone that could represent the Sylvan race. If they saw this game and thought that I was making a mockery of their race, then that would only create discord among the people.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As for who could represent the entire race? Well¡­ there was really only one person that held such a position of authority, as the first Sylvan goddess.

 Chapter 966: Trees Together, Strong

    Chapter 966: Trees Together, Strong


    <span style="font-weight:400">Philia sat within her home on Sanctum, her eyes closed as she sensed the various groves that had been spread from her lineage. As a Sylvan Goddess, she had an inherent connection to all trees born from her line, able to sense whenever they were in danger or if they were in urgent need of any specific material. Although such situations were rare, there was little more for her to do to pass the time, and Sylvans were inherently very patient beings.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Philia of Cities, may I have a word?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> A sudden voice disrupted her thoughts, causing Philia to sit up in surprise. This was a voice that she had heard before, though only rarely. However, after recent events, anyone in the world would recognize it.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Keeper. Of course, I am free to speak.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Philia spoke in a respectful tone. In fact, it could be said that her divine status was itself a gift from the Greater Pantheon, which paved the way to her people being able to make a proper name for themselves among the popce.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Thank you. If you don¡¯t mind, then¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> There was a rush of energy around Philia, a portal opening not far away. Two people emerged from the portal before it closed behind them. One was none other than the Keeper himself, while the other was his true Servant, Tsubaki. However, Philia¡¯s eyes went wide at the method that they used to get in.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She was certain that she had warded the area against portals opening, whether via magic or the void. And yet, Tsubaki had managed to create such a portal without triggering any of her rms. It took Philia a moment to collect herself, adjusting in her seat and gesturing towards the Keeper. Two chairs rose up from the floor across from Philia, and the Keeper happily moved to take one.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki, on the other hand, simply stood behind the Keeper without a word, her hands behind her back. ¡°Thank you for agreeing to meet with me on such short notice.¡± The Keeper spoke politely, causing Philia to shake her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course. I doubt there are many who would not clear their schedules if you asked.¡± She said in a hurried tone, though in truth she had thought that this conversation would be happening through divine messages, maybe through the system¡¯s private message capabilities. Thest thing that she expected was a sudden visit to her home. ¡°What is it that I can help you with, sir?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I want your opinion on something.¡± As the Keeper spoke, he furrowed his brow, as if thinking of how he wanted to phrase the topic. ¡°I assume that you are familiar with the games Vision Expanse and Fragments of Acidia, as well as the unique aspects to them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course.¡± Philia confirmed. She might not be one to partake in such games, but she would be a fool if she hadn¡¯t at least learned about them. ¡°Though, I¡¯m unsure what those games have to do with me. Or¡­ did a saplingnd in one of the game worlds?¡± While she could feel the trees of her lineage, she was not the ancestor of all Sylvans. It was natural for there to be some outside her field of view.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper blinked at that. ¡°I¡­ no, not that I know of. Though, now that I am aware of the possibility, I¡¯ll have to keep an eye out. Actually, what I wanted to talk to you about was something rted to that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°See, I am looking to create a new game. The two I mentioned before are games produced by other Keepers like myself, which I purchased the rights for and brought to my own realm. I would prefer that this information stayed between us, by the way. Regardless, I am looking to make a game of my own, one that I can use to both increase the abilities of myself and the Greater Pantheon, while also furthering the goals of strengthening the world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In this game, I had the thought that the main theme could be development through natural means. This led me to think of the Sylvans, and their almost endless potential for controlling nature. My idea would have the yers take the form of Golden Sylvans, though ones without inherent divinity. Instead, they would have the natural ability of nature maniption.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Now, I am aware that this is considerably different from your own race, and I wanted to approach you as the most suitable representative of your race. Essentially, the Mother Trees will be yer cities, created by the yers when enough of theme together. They will be able to lead the colony while guiding them and enjoying their own gamey.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Philia blinked as she heard that, surprised to find such a topic emerging. ¡°If I may ask¡­ what of the others? The other children of the trees, I mean.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper nodded his head. ¡°I was thinking of having them as a form of NPC. From my understanding, the individual consciousness of the green, blue, and red Sylvans is rather faint, and they operate as more of a gestalt consciousness by connecting with the tree. Or, at least, that is their natural state. Additionally, I don¡¯t want to give too much information about Sylvans away to other Keepers, so I am trying my best to adjust the details to keep the theme without exposing anything that could be used against you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Philia nodded briefly, before letting out a sigh. ¡°In truth, you are not wrong. Originally, the other children of the trees were much as you described. They were not unlike bees, each focused on their own tasks. In recent years, we have made strides to grant these individuals a greater degree of freedom, but their psyche begins to break down when it is away from a Mother Tree for too long.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°May I offer an opinion in regards to the functionality of these children in the game? While I may not have much of an interest in such things, I have been around long enough to learn my fair share through thework.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course.¡± The Keeper smiled thankfully. ¡°Any input you can give would be weed.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Then, I must first ask. What is the primary gamey mechanic? Is it simply developing through nature as you said, or is there another aspect that needs to be considered?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When the Keeper heard her question, he thought about it for a moment. ¡°This is subject to change. However, the current idea is raising and merging monsters. Think of it like the card fusion system of Deckan. My current idea is to take that theme and apply it to arger scale, so that the entire world can develop without any form of proper industry.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Philia blinked at that, nodding her head. ¡°I see¡­ but what of space travel? Surely you know that my kind cannot reach the stars with their physical bodies, not without first obtaining godhood like myself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Actually¡­ that¡¯s where you are wrong.¡± The Keeper spoke up, leaving Philia dumbfounded. ¡°A while back, I had the ability to get a look at the full potential of your race. Far beyond the branch of development you are currently pursuing. With the proper research andbined efforts, the Sylvans are capable of altering their own body structures in many ways. For instance, it is possible to create a seed which, upon detonating with natural energy, can turn into a massive dragon made of nt matter. If this research is pursued to the extreme, I do not believe that it would be impossible to create nts capable of substituting for spaceships.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Even in the slim chance that it is, there is still the development via raising monsters. The two sides are meant to coexist in harmony, not battle against one another.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Philia froze at the Keeper¡¯s description of her own race. As a Sylvan herself, she thought she was fully aware of the limits of her race. And yet, the Keeper hadpletely shattered that reality with a simple thought. ¡°I¡­ see. I suppose the history of our race is rather short, so there is much that we still don¡¯t know.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± The Keeper nodded his agreement. ¡°With that in mind, what advice would you like to give?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Philia had to pause for a moment, rethinking the advice that she originally wanted to offer. ¡°First¡­ the green children. Their purpose is spreading the grove and maintaining it. It¡¯s possible to train them for other tasks, such as managing a shop or guiding tourists. However, as you said, they are mostly drones. They would make good candidates for NPCs, especially given their numbers.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Next, the blue children. As this is a game, and you want to include such a natural system of evolution, the blue children don¡¯t need to appear physically. Rather, they can be substituted by having the yers build research buildings. As this is taking ce in a ¡®real world¡¯, these buildings would act as a neural hub for their tree, with the green children entering to ¡®work¡¯.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Finally, the red children. Due to their use as soldiers, they have the most individuality of all three types. That is also why their growth rate is the lowest, outside of us golden. They have far moreplex minds, capable of making various decisions in a battle without being directly connected to the tree. These units could be converted from green children in a barracks. This would allow you to preserve the idea of the race while keeping the specific details obscured.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Additionally, a tree should be established by no less than ten yersing together, as that is the number of golden sisters that a single mother tree can give birth to. Aside from that, the overall poption of the grove should determine the upper limit of their research.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying all of that, Philia fell into thought. ¡°Typically, a matured golden sister carries with her a fragment of the knowledge contained within their mother tree when they go to take root themselves. This is how our race grows as a civilization. However, because you are creating these trees in reverse, we will have to approach that from a different direction. After the tree has reached the limit of its development, it should begin naturally withering. At its heart will be a seed that any of the original ten yers can use to form a new tree.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This new tree will have an increased upper limit to its development, and retain a portion of the research done by its predecessor. If the yers cooperate, they can continue to grow their colony, but if one yer takes the seed for themselves¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper hesitated briefly. ¡°The theme of the Sylvans is cooperation. You want to leave such an opening for selfish desires to break that idea?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Philia offered a small smile. ¡°Indeed, cooperation is our core value. That is precisely why I want to do this. If all ten yers continue to nurture the same lineage, they may be able to reach the potential that you described. But, if one broke away and took the seed with them, they would be chased by the other yers. I am fully aware of the concept of PvP in games, as well as a person¡¯s natural greed.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If a certain tree managed to uncover a special mutation research, one of the yers may take the seed to sell it. They may even use some methods to force the tree to wither prematurely so that they get the chance to do so. A well developed seed would be an incredibly important strategic resource. Especially if there are methods in ce to ensure that a target research is retained when the seed is created.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Together, we thrive. Alone, we are weak. Let the yers realize the folly of their actions when their greed takes hold.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper nodded his head at that. ¡°I see¡­ that reminds me. The magic system I nned to introduce to this game was the same as the one found in the game Natural Seed, if you are aware of it. Aurivy created the concept, and it has been proven to work even in the real world without any adjustments being made.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Philia blinked again, a thoughting to her mind. ¡°This could be even better, then. The seed created by the withering of the Mother Tree could be a rare form of Elemental Seed. If one fuses with it, they could obtain any mutated abilities retained in the tree¡¯s research. I am aware that it is possible to bring items from these games to reality, so I feel that this will make it a rather tempting target for those unable to maintain their patience.¡±

 Chapter 967: Sealing Fate

    Chapter 967: Sealing Fate


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once I returned to Olympus with Tsubaki, I passed along the details that Philia had given me, as well as my own idea for the development direction of the game. I felt as if this game could be rather popr, and should be a good learning experience for the development crew. Of course, there were a couple of things that they would need to work out before they could finalize the project.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For instance, they would have to spend some of their budget to buy the mutation research tree for Sylvans, and make sure that the special seed for the Mother Tree was properly set up. However, given the sandbox nature of the world, it was still easier than having toe up with an entire universe of NPC storylines.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What would you like to call the project?¡± Ashley asked after confirming the details with me, causing me to think about it for a moment. Eventually, a name dide to me, and I nodded my head in satisfaction.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°World Seed.¡± I spoke with a smile. After all, it was a gamebining the concept of a world tree with the Elemental Seed system. What else was I supposed to call it?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley blinked at that, noting the name down and returning to her office. ¡°The hardest part will be to create the framework for the AI, but thankfully they don¡¯t have to be as detailed as those from Vision Expanse or Fragments of Acidia. I¡¯ll try to have a working prototype ready by the uing meeting.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head, not really thinking it would be that easy to release a new game. Although Sarah had given me some advice, I knew that the actual programmingponent would likely take some time. At the very least, we didn¡¯t have to worry about anything like creating a graphics engine or a physics engine. In a way, the biggest hurdles to creating the game were handled automatically by the system.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea let out a long sigh of relief when she leaned back, deciding to take a break from the creation of her void script. She hadn¡¯tpletely finished it yet, but needed to peel her eyes away from that project. Even Chelsea wasn¡¯t able to focus on something like that for too long without risking her own sanity.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In the meantime, she decided to do one of her other favorite pastimes. When she wasn¡¯t perfecting her own security, she was naturally attempting to crack the security of others. Now that a new patch had been released, that meant that there were potential vulnerabilities for her to exploit.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A small smile crept over Chelsea¡¯s lips as she decided what she wanted to try to interfere with. Of course, there was no way that she was bold enough to do so with the primary world system. Instead, she had a special testing room that mirrored the outside world¡¯s system in a more controlled environment.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After hopping up from her seat, Chelsea made her way to what she referred to as her System Bunker. Inside was a crystal egg mounted on a pedestal, with arge terminal positioned against the far wall. Chelsea grinned, walking over and flipping a switch on the pedestal to activate the system istion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ they shouldn¡¯t have updated their security with this patch, so my usual bypass should work. Just to be safe, I¡¯ll start it up slowly.¡± She muttered to herself, sitting down at the terminal and typing away at the keyboard. Line of code shed by in front of her face, and she scanned it just as quickly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Normally, it was possible for someone to view the system specifications with the right tools, gaining some insights into how things worked. However, if someone tried to alter any of the code or change any variables, the security system would immediatelysh out and smite the offending individual.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was why Chelsea could only do such a thing within this room, where she was able to rx the security measures of the system using her domain. She had already brought this loophole to Ashley, but they hadn¡¯t worked out a way to fix it yet. At the very least, the items required could only be created under the influence of the system itself, meaning that invaders wouldn¡¯t have the resources necessary to exploit the vulnerability.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay, looks like there wasn¡¯t a security upgrade. In that case, I¡¯ll just use my bypass.¡± Chelsea spoke up, before quickly typing on the keyboard. ¡°Now¡­ what do I want to mess with?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea¡¯s options when it came to exploiting the system were rather limited in this situation. For instance, she could grant herself a thousand levels, but those levels would immediately be removed as soon as she left the area. In the worst case scenario, her body might suffer irreparable damage from being downgraded to that extent.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There was that seed thing¡­ but that¡¯s Lorek and Spica only.¡± Chelsea pursed her lips, before typing a newmand. The crystal egg receded into the pedestal, reced with an almost identical one a momentter. As soon as this new egg was brought out and activated, the air seemed to brieflybust, the mana filling the room burnt away in under a second.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once the transfer of systems waspleted, Chelsea opened up her inventory. ¡°What do I want to try?¡± A yful smile emerged on Chelsea¡¯s lips, before she selected her multitool. Naturally, it had the ¡®Tool¡¯ tag, meaning that it couldn¡¯t be converted into a seed. However, Chelsea rapidly typed away at her keyboard. ¡°Highlight the target item to bring it up for the system to reference. Find the tags¡­ and change to Natural Resource.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea nced out of the corner of her eye, seeing that the new tag had been applied to her multitool. However, she did not immediately turn it into a seed. First, she used the option to create a Digital Conversion File based on the object in her inventory. Then, she copied that file and downloaded it to a physical storage medium.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Next, she created a replica of the file, making sure to set aside her original multitool. If the system resynced to the outside world and it destroyed her multitool, James would never let her live it down.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Finally, after confirming that the new multitool still had the ¡®Natural Resource¡¯ tag, she selected it as a target to create a seed. There was a small sh in her inventory, the slot holding the multitool now reced with a small seed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After the creation of the seed she first created a new blueprint file, backing it up on a physical medium. Then, Chelsea gave a yful grin, grabbing the seed and walking to the door. The first thing that she did was toss the seed out the door, waiting to see if it would suddenlybust or erase itself from existence.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, there was only a soft tap as the seed fell to the floor, causing Chelsea¡¯s eyes to light up. Without leaving the room, she stretched her ki out to wrap around the seed and bring it back in. Only when the seed was back in the room did Chelsea put it in her inventory to investigate again, though her face fell as soon as she saw the results.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Resource Seed: 720 Ki, 310 Mana, 880 Natural Energy


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The seed had reverted from its multitool form, and was now set to only grow the basic energies used to create the multitool in the Digital Conversion system. ¡°This was an item that was created outside the influence of the system. As soon as it entered the system control, it was detected?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea furrowed her brows at that, lightly tossing her original multitool out of the room before retrieving it. Sure enough, the ¡®Natural Resource¡¯ tag had been removed from the item. She clicked her tongue, having been certain that there would be an exploit to take advantage of if she managed to manipte the tags.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In other words, the only way that I can do this is if I have the farm inside of my System Bunker.¡± Such a thing was entirely possible, though Chelsea didn¡¯t feel the need to go that far for such a simple experiment. ¡°If I tell Ashley to encrypt the tags, it will stop people from being able to change them like this in the future.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying that, there were still two more tests that Chelsea could do for this experiment. The first was to toss out the storage drive that held the two files that she had created, and then pull them back in. Upon doing so, Chelsea was pleased to find that the files were still intact.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">In that case¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Chelsea grinned, creating an avatar of herself and making it walk out of the System Bunker. Once outside, the Avatar used the Digital Conversion system to recreate the seed that she had scanned, as well as the altered multitool.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The results were¡­ mixed. The Natural Resource tag had been removed from the multitool, returning it to its default state. However, the seed still registered that it was set to create a new multitool. Chelsea¡¯s eyes lit up as she noticed that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Just to be safe, she ordered the clone to walk back into the System Bunker and then leave again, bringing the seed with her. Unlike before, the seed was not rendered useless upon passing through the system barrier. ¡°Okay¡­ that¡¯s definitely an exploit that needs fixed.¡± Chelsea muttered, noting down the entire process.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">First, the item has to be altered within a System Istion Zone where the hacker is able to alter the tags of an item to assign the Natural Resource tag. Second, they must create a seed for that item. Then, a physical Digital Conversion file of that seed. Once these three steps are done, they will be able to use that file to replicate the seed within the primary world¡¯s system.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea had no reason to believe that there wouldn¡¯t be other people in the world with the resources to pull off something like this. In fact, as long as one had a domain rted to programming or security, it wasn¡¯t very difficult to aplish. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Encrypting the tags will help a lot with this exploit. However, there should be a check on the seed created by Digital Conversion, confirming that it was a natural resource. That should be enough to fix this exploit.</i>


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The giant mechanical figure stood in the vastness of space, his arms crossed behind his back. His gaze swept out and through the empty expanse before him, his gaze shing with blue light. Even before his original downfall, the Head had been one of the few entities in the world capable of casually calcting and releasing fourth tier magic.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now that he had been reborn, with ess to more updated software and magic research, his prowess in this field only grew. His mana pulsed, and dust gathered from the emptiness, condensing in the distance before him. His eyes were calm as he watched the dust grow tighter, forming a sphere that grewrger andrger.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As the sphere grew, its surface changed, going from a rocky texture to smooth and metallic. Complex machinery began to build itself directly within the heart of the, expanding together with the surface. The Head remained far away, waiting until the world had reached the size of Deckan before allowing himself toe to its surface.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">With my new factory world, I can revive the old race, and the Geer will once again roam among the stars.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> There seemed to be a satisfied glint in the Head¡¯s eyes. At least¡­ until he saw someone standing on this newly created world with him. She was incredibly smallpared to him, with ck hair and ck eyes, triangr ears atop her head and a swaying, feline tail behind her. And yet, the Head felt a strange sense of crisis when it faced this creature.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You are¡­ a felyn. What are you doing here?¡± The Head asked, its tone solemn.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It seems that you were only half fixed.¡± The woman stated, her eyes peering up to meet the Head¡¯s gaze. ¡°Your other half was not saved in the same database¡­ Do you have no intention of recovering it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Head¡¯s eyes narrowed. Originally, he did indeed have multiple personalities, and these personalities cooperatively controlled the Head¡¯s processing abilities. ¡°There is no longer a need for another.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You seek to cast aside your mercy. In that case, tell me. What does the great researcher of the Geer wish to do?¡± Her words carried a dark pressure to them, causing the Head to briefly tremble. ¡°If your goal is to overthrow the other races, I have more than enough means at my disposal to stop you. And this time, not so much as an atom will remain of your existence.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Head¡¯s eyes zed with fury at the tant threat, before he forced himself to calm. ¡°I wish to revive my race. The March and Metong are already prospering, while we have fallen to the wayside. Few even remember our name. I would return us to our former glory.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The woman stared at him for several seconds, before speaking slowly. ¡°So be it. Know this, however. I am Fate. Should you attempt to cross the line I have given you, only death awaits. You can run from it. You can hide from it. But it will find you. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I</i><span style="font-weight:400"> will find you. No amount of domains will protect you from the wrath of Fate.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Head felt as if something had tightened around his body for a moment, before the woman simply turned and took a step away. As she did, her body faded away into nothingness.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">¡­Who was she, and why do I have no records on her!?</i>

 Chapter 968: By Any Other Name

    Chapter 968: By Any Other Name


    <span style="font-weight:400">For the next few weeks, there wasn¡¯t really anything major happening. No world-ending cataclysm, no massive monster trying to devour the cosmos. If anything, we managed to get ahead of most of the problems in our world. Granted, there were still space battles with those vessels traveling the frontier. There were monsters roaming the world, but nothing that threatened the very existence of reality as we know it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡­<i><span style="font-weight:400">What does it say that reality-threatening creatures are a genuine concern that I have to worry about these days?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I shook my head as I thought about that, recalling the other recent changes. In order to help get the new game established, Ashley asked me to double her programming team, taking it out of the budget that I gave her. Thankfully, I didn¡¯t have to pay sries to the programmers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The only other thing was¡­ Balu contacted me after more than half of the month had gone by, letting me know that someone was interested in purchasing the ¡®protection¡¯ that I offered. The price was only two thousand points, but that was still two thousand points that I didn¡¯t currently have. When I contacted the man to discuss the n, Balu negotiated a meeting between the two of us.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As soon as the meeting was set up, I told Terra to leave the world running while I was gone, unless something horrible happened. In the meantime, I epted the invitation to Starkiller¡¯s home. At first, I debated bringing Bihena along, but this was a business meeting, not a personal one.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The method I used to travel this time was¡­ familiar to me. The moment that I saw an earthen fin rise up from the floor down the hall, I winced. I knew what wasing immediately, andid down on the floor, curled up to make myself as absolutely small as possible. Terra looked at me in confusion, before giving a knowing look when thend shark leapt out of the floor. Being eaten alive by this monster once was enough, thanks.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After a brief moment of entering the mouth of the shark, I found myself deposited on a soft, pillowy floor. ¡°Uh¡­ Dale?¡± Balu blinked down at me, having been waiting for me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Landshark.¡± I muttered, wiping the mucus off as I stood up. Balu simply blinked again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°But why were you--ohhh, right. I get it.¡± Balu gave a knowing look, taking two steps back.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Brave of you to be waiting for me in the reception room, given some of the transfers I¡¯ve had¡­¡± I muttered, shaking my head and looking around. We were in a wooden room with circr orbs hovering beneath the ceiling, giving off a gentle light. However, the wooden floor was unnaturally soft, deforming beneath me like a soft mattress.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± Balu chuckled, shaking her head and causing her white, rabbit ears to flop back and forth. ¡°Berose should be here any minute. It was better to wait for the two of you together.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Berose, huh?¡± Balu had mentioned the Keeper¡¯s name before. In my mind, I was expecting a woman with a noble aura. Almost like a red-haired Irena.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yup!¡± Balu nodded her head. ¡°Berose is one of the longest surviving Keepers to currently exist!¡± As she said that, a hole opened up in the ceiling off to the right, a torrent of water descending. Within that water, I saw the shadow of a humanoid form crashing down.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Realizing that this must be Berose, I went over to assist just as the stream of water was cut off. ¡°Hmm? Oh, thank you. You must be EarthForceOne.¡± Berose answered, reaching up to take my offered hand. I could almost hear the sounds of my preconceived notions shattering.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The individual before me was a weathered old man with a long beard going down to his chest, and clouded eyes. I couldn¡¯t help but mentally swap the Keeper titles of Berose and Oldbeard in my head, thinking that they worked quite a bit better in reverse. ¡°You¡¯re Berose, sir?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. I see Starkiller already told you about me?¡± He asked with a gentle smile, pulling himself up. With a flex of his will, he dried his body of the water that had covered him. ¡°It¡¯s been some time since I wasst flushed¡­ never a pleasant experience.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Balu¡¯s eyes widened slightly. ¡°Oh. Let¡¯s head over to the conference room first, shall we?¡± She gestured the two of us to the door, Berose and myself each having to take a moment to get used to walking on the deceptively soft floor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Balu led the two of us through a series of hallways that felt more like a maze than either a home or an office. Given her memory, I had no idea how she ever found her way around anywhere. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Probably just teleports herself to whatever room she needs to be in.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I thought to myself with a slight nod as we arrived in a room with arge, circr table.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The three of us walked over to take up various seats within the room, each of which were just as soft as the floor. Honestly, even the table itself was soft and pliable. ¡°So, Berose. Starkiller said that you are interested in buying my protection for this month?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Berose smiled kindly at me, nodding his head. ¡°That¡¯s right. I¡¯m not sure how much she has told you about me, so allow me to give a brief introduction. Are you aware of the condition to rise from the fourth to fifth rank?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod of confirmation. ¡°It¡¯s the ability to create your own world without the system¡¯s guidance, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. This is one of the ranks where the goal to advance is most well known. This makes it a prime opportunity for people like myself, typically referred to as ¡®retired Keepers¡¯. We rise up to the very pinnacle of the rank, and just before the discovery is made to advance us to the Rank Five, we shackle the world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Doing so lets us remain rtively safe from most invasions, as our world can develop in other directions and solidify our foundation. However, it also turns us into incredibly tempting targets for hostile Keepers. Especially ones as old as myself. The older a Keeper is, the longer they¡¯ve had to grow, they typically have substantially more points avable.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If I had to give a rough estimate of my worth, it would be roughly fifty million points.¡± Berose disclosed without a care, causing my eyes to widen in shock. Even Balu¡¯s brow twitched at the reveal. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I don¡¯t think I¡¯m in danger of losing my life in this invasion. However, it could be incredibly inconvenient for me.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°My opponent, RagnaRocker, has a very peculiar means of attack. I have friends that have dealt with him previously. He sends in incredibly powerful void monsters, which attach themselves to various worlds and begin ¡®apocalypse games¡¯. These games can take many forms, but generally have amon goal, being the destruction of life. For instance, one of my friends was attacked by a void beast that was strong enough to dere aw. Anything that didn¡¯t take the life of a creature at least half their level within ten minutes would die.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Berose let out a sad sigh at that. ¡°He lost over seventy percent of his poption, and more than ny-five percent of the non-sapient life in that world. And then the game repeated the next day, and his poption dwindled to only ten percent remaining, and almost no non-sapient life. Luckily, they managed to find the void monster before it could trigger the third round of the game.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°RagnaRocker doesn¡¯t have a good track record of killing Keepers. In fact, he¡¯s neverpleted a kill. With Keepers being the strongest being of the target world, they are the most likely to survive his games. However¡­ he has caused Keepers to reset a total of thirty-seven times due to irreparable damages.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing this, I was naturally sympathetic to his plight. ¡°So, you want to use this protect to prevent your worlds from being targeted by his games.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Berose nodded his head. ¡°I had an attack ticket of my own this year, as well. Unfortunately, I had to use it to avoid a battle with another troublesome enemyst month, so I¡¯m left with no other option than to seek aid like this.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m sure that you will likely get other offers before the month is out. However, I wanted to meet you myself, first. I haven¡¯t met an EarthForceOne since¡­ oh, it must have been decades. He was a bit of a darker fellow, but always kept a smile on his face. It was a shame when he passed.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I felt myself twitch slightly when the man so clearly described James. James was one of my trump cards, so I couldn¡¯t easily reveal that a fallen Keeper had been reborn in my world as a regr inhabitant, technically a monster no less.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right¡­ actually, there was something that I wanted to talk to you about, as well.¡± I spoke up with a smile, causing Berose to blink. ¡°If I use the ticket to protect you, would you mind being a beta tester for a game world that I¡¯m working on?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh? You¡¯re already in the industry?¡± Berose asked with surprise, but I shook my head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m in the same guild as EverLasting, but no. This is my first game. Itrgely focuses on development via nature and natural energies. My team is nning to have a beta test version of the game ready by the end of the month. I could send the physical drive with the game data over to you to let you test it out and get your opinion.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Berose¡¯s eyes briefly widened. ¡°You¡¯re not worried that I¡¯ll register the game first and steal your credit?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I paused for a moment, before giving a somewhat self-deprecating smile. ¡°The amount of points you¡¯d earn from that wouldn¡¯t evenpare to your passive ie. Besides, like I said, this is only the beta of our first game. I expect that there will be a few changespared to when it is properly released, I just want your opinion on how appealing the idea is to both a Keeper and a wider audience.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The old man stroked his beared, letting out a light chuckle. ¡°Very well. I can easily satisfy this request. In truth, I¡¯m quite the regr of your friend EverLasting. We even have a tradition in my world, where the most popr game every ten years will be taken and turned into a real world.¡±


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s¡­ not actually a bad idea. It would at least guarantee that it¡¯s a game liked by the poption.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I kept that idea in the back of my mind, though I knew I wouldn¡¯t be able to implement it right away. At present, the most popr game in my world was Fragment of Acidia. While there were other virtual reality titles, none of them even came close to the same level of poprity.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The gate to the fifty-fifth floor shimmered as four figures walked through. Petra¡¯s eyes scanned the horizon diligently, before nodding her head. ¡°Looks like the coast is clear.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well¡­ let¡¯s find a spot to settle down.¡± Maria grinned yfully, punching her fists together. ¡°I don¡¯t believe that we¡¯re not ready for this ce after training with those ghosts for so long.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sora couldn¡¯t help but chuckle in agreement. ¡°Our levels have increased significantly. However, let¡¯s try to find somewhere that we can get new gear from the current floor. We can use that new system to upgrade the materials of our equipment.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa nodded her head. ¡°That¡¯s right. There wasn¡¯t much in the way of harvestable resources that we could get to on the fifty-fourth floor, so a lot of our gear is still outdated. I¡¯ll have the Survey Corps map out the area to find a good ce to form a foothold. Once we¡¯ve secured the area, we cany the groundwork for the guild to create their city here.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not even going to <i><span style="font-weight:400">try</i><span style="font-weight:400"> to look for the next floor?¡± Maria taunted, though Petra shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thelsa¡¯s right. We¡¯re not ready to move further yet. Once we¡¯ve each broken the level five hundred barrier with our main ss, we can consider going further. Until then, we need to hone ourselves. Leveling up is just as much aboutprehension as it is about fighting, right?¡± Thelsa gave an approving nod at Petra¡¯sment, her shadow spreading out along the ground.

 Chapter 969: The Saint Of Shadows

    Chapter 969: The Saint Of Shadows


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa looked down from a great cliff, watching the swarm of monsters running through the valley below. The crashing of their hooves against the ground shook the earth beneath them, and she could feel the tremors from her high perch.


    <span style="font-weight:400">These creatures, which she had taken to calling ck Iron Goats, had bodies more than two and a half meters tall at the shoulder, with pitch ck fur. Their horns were as hard as iron from the same fifty-fifth floor as themselves, and Thelsa even suspected that this iron was a part of their diet.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The most unique trait that these creatures possessed was their magic resistance. In fact, any time an energy source approached them without having a spiritual anchor, that energy would dissipate like smoke. This had particrly annoyed Sora, as it meant that they were entirely immune to her magic. Even divine abilities were vastly weakened in the face of these creatures.


    <span style="font-weight:400">By itself, this would just make the monster an interesting life form. However, this passive magic resistance was able to stack in the presence of others of their own kind. Once at least ten of the same species gathered, even Sora¡¯s strongest divine attack was unable to reach them. Meanwhile, there were at least five hundred of these creatures in the valley below.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Despite being anchored to her spirit, Thelsa could sense a faint distortion in the World Shadow from below. This meant that, should enough of them gather, they may be able to destroy her shadow world in its entirety.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, while they were the bane of magicians and archers alike, they were far from weak in terms of physical prowess. The horns on their heads could easily shatter orichalcum, while their natural ability would weaken the enchantments ced upon it. Thelsa let out a long sigh, slowly walking to the very edge of the cliff.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Maria and Petra are sparring to try ande up with new techniques. Sora is studying her magic. They¡¯re all aiming to reach the level five hundred benchmark as efficiently as possible. What about me?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa¡¯s primary ss had always been a Rogue. Unfortunately, she was without practice for her art for many, many years. Her skills had grown rusty, and had taken months to recover after forming her adventuring party with her shadows. After being stimted by constantbat with the spectral knights, she had jumped far ahead of her old self. Yet, there was still a great distance to go before reaching her goal.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">If I want to reach level five hundred, what will it take as a Rogue?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The path of a Rogue was a middle ground between the Assassin and the Scout. At its core, they could be seen as crooked thieves, but there was more to it than that. A Rogue had to be observant, while also remaining unseen. There were many skills to lighten another¡¯s purse, but Thelsa had always considered those skills to be supplementary.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As the Rogue ss leveled up higher and higher, the majority of the ss¡¯s system-granted skills began to lean towards movement techniques. This caused Thelsa to gradually begin to treat the Rogue as a secondary ss, rather than the one that she needed to exclusively focus on. Instead, she was beginning to believe that it might be better to switch her main ss.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although they were called Maxers, they did not focus entirely on one path. Such a thing was inherently impossible. For instance, the level limit that they were currently under was just over four thousand. Even if their main ss was level four hundred, a <i><span style="font-weight:400">remarkable</i><span style="font-weight:400"> achievement for any ss, that left over three and a half thousand levels to fill.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If a Maxer were to simply focus that one ss, andpletely ignore any others as they did in the old days, they would not be able to keep pace with the monsters on these higher floors. If anything, they would be crushed by the weight of the world itself. Thus, the term Maxer instead referred to someone that was maximizing theirbat ability.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Currently, Thelsa had a number of secondary sses that she could consider switching to. The first, and most obvious of course, was the Assassin. As it shared a foundation with the Rogue, she had quite a few levels in this ss. There were also the Monk and Ninja to consider.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However¡­ none of that felt right to Thelsa. No one ss had the skills that she wished to utilize. She was not purely a Rogue, nor did she personally identify as an Assassin. These were all just a part of what made Thelsa¡­ Thelsa.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">If I want a ss that belongs to myself, I will need to make it myself.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Naturally, her first thought was to use the Legacy ss system. Although it was an outdated system, it had be a stable for different fields. Anywhere that required a certain expertise, such as police officers, fire fighters, or even teachers, there was a Legacy ss designed to help them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The problem here was that a Legacy ss was meant to pass down skills that had already been obtained to the next generation. There was nothing to truly help the progenitor of the ss solidify their ideas. Ultimately, that would require Thelsa¡¯s own inspiration.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I know my dream. I am the Saint of Shadows. But how¡­ how do I use that to be stronger myself?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Thelsa pursed her lips as she came to the question that had brought her here. In a moment of uncertainty, she decided that there was only one way to properly establish her path. <i><span style="font-weight:400">All I need is to take that first step.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">And thus¡­ she took that first step forward. The wind flew through her hair as she fell towards the valley below, her eyes closing as she took a deep breath. She needed to create a fighting style entirely unique to herself. What shecked wasn¡¯t the skills to do so. It wasn¡¯t even the basic idea. What shecked was the sense of danger that would force these skills out.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When her eyes opened, a shadow spread from under her cloak, forming ck wings that allowed her to gentlynd on the ground. Turning, she faced the horde of monsters approaching her. In any normal situation, she would simply be able to escape into her shadow at the first sign of true danger. She would run away, assess, and bring reinforcements.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now that she was facing these creatures in such numbers, and felt their special aura enveloping her, the connection with her shadow world weakened. Although she could still leave if she wanted, the process would be harder, slower. It would not be a clean escape, and therefore the monsters would be able to deal her extra damage to take advantage of this weakness.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa¡¯s body briefly stiffened, realizing that this was probably one of the <i><span style="font-weight:400">dumbest</i><span style="font-weight:400"> things that she had ever done in her life. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Petra¡¯s going to scold meter¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> At that thought, Thelsa smiled. No matter what happened, Petra had always been the one to look out for her, ever since the others sacrificed themselves for her.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I am the Saint of Shadows. I am the Saint of Shadows.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Thelsa repeated this sentence to herself over and over as the monsters charged closer. ck des condensed in her sleeves, falling into her hands.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The first goat reached her, lowering its head in an attempt to ram her aside. Her right foot slid to the side, a thinyer of chakra brushing the ground and causing her entire body to flicker to the right. Although the energy was dispersed as soon as it left the body, it could still be used in this manner.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once the goat was primed to charge past Thelsa, she shifted the de in her left hand into a reverse grip, delivering a swift stab to the neck of the rushing beast. She felt an intense resistance around the creature¡¯s neck, unable to pierce its skin with her shadow daggers.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I am the Saint of Shadows. </i><span style="font-weight:400">These words echoed in her mind, employing the footwork of the Rogue to sway in and out of the charges of the next three goats. Each time, she tried to deliver the same stab, and each time she felt their hides resisting her shadow des.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The giant herd of goats quickly realized that they were dealing with a potential threat, and began to surround her as opposed to charging past. Being surrounded on all sides like this, Thelsa kept her body rxed, her eyes calm as that same sentence resounded again and again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her mana, her ki, everything felt as if it would vanish into the air the moment that it left her body. The center of this circr formation was undoubtedly the most dangerous position, where the auras of all of these beasts ovepped one another to magnify their effects.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Three goats charged from the left. She shifted her stance, jumping gracefully into the air to flip just over the body of the central figure. This time, shended on its back before it could fully pass her, and stabbed both of her shadow des at its neck at once. Again, that same resistance. Something was stopping her. She couldn¡¯t break through this defense¡­


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I am the Saint of Shadows.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She allowed her body to roll backwards off the goat when she failed tond the killing blow,nding gently on her feet. Another two were charging, this time from the back. Since going above them wasn¡¯t an option, and going to their sides wasn¡¯t helping, that left either meeting them head on or going below them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately, even Maria would be hard pressed to survive a head on collision with one of these monsters. As for below the beasts¡­ Petra might be able to pull it off at her size, but Thelsa was quite a bit too tall. So, she sank down,pressing her body to a size less than half of her normal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Running forward to meet the enemy, she wove between their kicking legs, stabbing up at the unprotected stomach. Finally, she could feel her de piercing through something. The stomach iof the goat was stabbed, and Thelsa quickly rolled to the side to prevent a retaliatory stomp.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa felt something shift within herself, the second goat of this wave circling back to charge at her with a high pitched cry. ¡°I am the Saint of Shadows.¡± Her words echoed out as her hand struck down, stabbing the ck de into the ground at her feet, into her own shadow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her shadow rapidly spread outwards in a web, stretching in all directions. The charging goat stumbled, letting out a sharp cry as it fell to the ground, struggling against an invisible bond. Beneath it, the shadows twisted, wrapping around the legs of the goat¡¯s own shadow. As the shadow continued expanding, it briefly distorted under the suppression of the many goats. However, there was a difference between this and aunched spell, as this ability was still firmly attached to Thelsa¡¯s body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She was not controlling the World Shadow tounch an attack. Rather, she had converted part of her body into the shadow being spread out at her feet, entangling the over five hundred monster goats. Hearing their panicked cries, she looked down at her own hands, thinking about the sensation just now.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">When I cut through its stomach, it was easy¡­ why? I can tell that their stomachs aren¡¯t any less defended. Was it because I was standing in its shadow? Or was it because I struck at a shadowed area? Or, could it be that both conditions need to be filled?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">No, I shouldn¡¯t ask that. This is an ability that I am creating. I should be the one to define its parameters through training, not allow this one ability to define how I need to fight.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa nodded her head at that thought, slowly pulling her ck de back up. As she did, the shadow bindings tightened around the goats, and their hides began to visibly deform under the pressure of the invisible objects constricting them. ¡°I am the Saint of Shadows, and all shadows are my weapons.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As if in response to her deration, multiple system windows appeared in front of her at once. Most of them were announcing level increases, but there were two that seemed¡­ rather special.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">You are qualified to create a legend: The Saint of Shadows!


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Congrattions! You have earned an achievement!


    <span style="font-weight:400">For creating the foundation for a legendary ability, you have earned the Living Legend achievement! +5 Wisdom, +5 Luck.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>

 Chapter 970: A True Legend

    Chapter 970: A True Legend


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa froze when she saw the achievements. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Creating a legend?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She was¡­ confused. Hadn¡¯t she performed many feats that should be considered legendary? For instance, one of her first actions as the Saint of Shadows was defending the first floor¡¯s crystal spire from the council, preventing Fyor from being cut off from the rest of the world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra had also created many legends herself, bing the first-ranked Dungeon Master in the first dungeon war, a highly respected adventurer and the daughter of one of the Greater Pantheon. Did none of that count as a legend by the system¡¯s standards?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa furrowed her brow, focusing on this legend. As she did, a new window appeared before her.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align:center">


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Saint of Shadows


    </td>


    <td style="text-align:center">


    <span style="font-weight:400">A powerful legend created by the holder of the World¡¯s Shadow, Thelsa Whitefallow. The Saint of Shadows controls not only the World¡¯s Shadow, but all shadows in their vicinity with their power, using them to attack or defend.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa blinked in confusion as she saw that summary. <i><span style="font-weight:400">This sounds¡­ almost like a title? However, there is no title benefit, and I can¡¯t equip it.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">At times like this, Thelsa really had no idea what to do. She had never heard of such a legend within the system. Now that the ck Iron Goats were dead, their bodies dissolving, she was able to pull out her terminal to look up the relevant information. She searched online, looking for any details rted to system-approved legends.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was¡­ nothing credible. Most of what she saw was the work of fiction, discussing titles, or threads where people were requesting systems from the Keeper. Nothing concrete about established systems. Thelsa wasn¡¯t naive enough to think that she was the first person to achieve a feat like this, but would rather believe that the information was either never made public or had been lost in the deluge of inte traffic.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That left her only one other option, though she was loath to take it. She did not enjoy bothering the Greater Pantheon, but was perhaps one of the few people who could ask questions of them if something truly called for it. And this¡­ she couldn¡¯t understand it, and she wanted to make sure that it wasn¡¯t going to do any harm to her connection with her shadows.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Lady Ashley, may I have a word?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She whispered into her mind, sending the prayer off to the one member of the Greater Pantheon that she had a solid connection to.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa? Well, this is new. What can I do for you?</i>


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a sigh, returning back to my Host after leaving Balu¡¯s Admin Room. I hade to an understanding with Berose, and as long as nobody came forward with a far more tempting proposal, I would be sending a beta version of the game to him at the end of the month when we issued the ¡®attack¡¯. ¡°Hey, dad.¡± Scarlet smiled, sitting on the couch when she saw mee into the living room.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I see that the world didn¡¯t end while I was gone.¡± I chuckled, moving over to sit next to Scarlet. She shook her head, leaning over against me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No world-ending monsters today.¡± She said in a happy tone, legs swinging in front of herself. At the same time, the door of the room opened, and Ashley walked in with a troubled expression.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Everything okay, Ash?¡± I asked, looking over at her. ¡°Run into a problem with the new game or something?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh, no. Actually, the game¡¯s going fine. I came here to look for you.¡± Ashley shook her head as she said that. ¡°I saw you came back, and Thelsa had a question for me. I didn¡¯t really know how to answer, so I came to you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thelsa? Does it have something to do with the World¡¯s Shadow?¡± I leaned forward, looking at Ashley in interest.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yes and no? I¡¯m not really sure. She said that the system told her that she had created a legend about her World¡¯s Shadow, but she didn¡¯t know what it meant. She was afraid it might change her shadows, so she asked me to help her confirm the details.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, that¡¯s not a problem.¡± Surprisingly, the answer came from Scarlet, who shook her head with a smile. ¡°A legend won¡¯t negatively change anything like that. If anything, it will only help her reproduce the action that established the legend in the first ce.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Scarlet, exin?¡± I nced over at her, and Scarlet nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I guess it hasn¡¯te up muchtely, but Tsubaki should have something simr. Or¡­ maybe not, now that I think about it? It depends on her progress. Either way, there is a ¡®soft cap¡¯ on levels in the system. In order to break that cap, you need to achieve a ¡®legend¡¯ in something rted to that ss. This legend isn¡¯t a monumental feat like you might think, but refers to a highly advanced technique.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You can¡¯t pass level five hundred in any ss without this legend, so it¡¯s sort of like a system test?¡± Scarlet shrugged at that, but this was enough for me to recall certain details. There was a Legendary ss section of the market. Each legendary ss could only be held by a single person at a time, but that person could teach their skills to others. The False Divinity ss was one among those.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right¡­¡± I nodded my head, starting to get a handle on the situation. ¡°What was your legend, by the way? And is there another level limit after establishing it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°First Blood.¡± Scarlet answered, smiling. ¡°It was a legend based on how I used martial ki. I took control of the other party¡¯s blood and ripped it out of their body, achieving ¡®first blood¡¯. When the system gave me that legend, I decided that I liked the title, and began using it myself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As for another level limit¡­ not one that I¡¯ve hit, and I¡¯m just over level six hundred as a Martial Spirit. There might be another one at a thousand, though.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was both a relief and worrying at the same time. I closed my eyes, thinking. There were different tests to level up at different benchmarks, I was well aware of that. However, something like this, something that even Thelsa is just now getting¡­ This will really limit the number of people that manage to exceed five hundred in any ss.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Given that only one person can hold a Legendary ss, it¡¯s likely that only one person can hold the same legend, so nobody else will be able to have Scarlet¡¯s First Blood unless Scarlet is killed. Given that she has been turned into a Companion, this was unlikely.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">So, anyone over level five hundred in a ss has to innovate the ss in some way. Is this a way for the system to ensure that people continue to develop without purely relying on the knowledge of those that came before them?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Shaking my head, I looked over at Ashley. ¡°You can tell Thelsa not to worry, it seems. I¡¯m curious what sses her legend helped her open up, but I¡¯ll be able to find that out before too long.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley gave a small nod, sighing as she closed her eyes. Scarlet looked up at me, eyes wide and clearly looking for praise. I simply chuckled, bringing a hand up to stroke her hair. It almost felt normal, the ancient empress of Bloodhaven starting to act more and more like a normal girl around me. Like she were trying to make up for the childhood she never really had.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I wasn¡¯t about to turn her away, either. She worked so hard to take care of her people, she deserved to be spoiled by someone else a little bit. ¡°Do you know anyone else that has a legend like that?¡± I asked Scarlet, who smiled while having her head pat.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I know that the main World Spirits all have their own legends. At least, the ones for Fyor, Deckan, Earth, and Desbar. I haven¡¯t spoken with the ones from Lorek or Spica before. Aside from them¡­I don¡¯t really know anyone personally that has reached that point. Creating a legend isn¡¯t as simple as making a new energy, you have to use an energy beyond its original intention, do something that wasn¡¯t designed to be a part of the original process. You¡¯re not creating a legend for the world, but for the system. Something to make <i><span style="font-weight:400">it</i><span style="font-weight:400"> remember you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Take Deckan¡¯s World Spirit as an example. Her legend revolves around those nk cards she hands out to conduct her deals, earning her the legend of Nature¡¯s Hand. From what she told me, Earth¡¯s World Spirit created aplex searching method with Natural Energy a long time ago, so that she could sweep through the entire realm at once.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right. I don¡¯t think I particrly have to worry about establishing my own legend yet, since none of my sses are anywhere near five hundred. Still, it will be good to keep it in mind for the future, once I decide what ss I want to focus primarily on.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet gave a small nod at that decision. ¡°That makes sense. You¡¯re the Keeper, after all. If you¡¯re given enough time, you can create legends for all the different sses, but that means that you;ll need to take¡­ quite a long time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± I nodded in agreement. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t even know where to begin with some sses, like Noble or Leader, and some are just not possible for me, such as Knight or Maid. Both of those require me to pledge myself to another entity to serve, which I can¡¯t really do with my identity. The ones that I would be interested in making a legend for, at least at the moment, would be¡­ Mage, Monk, and Archer.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡­ get the first two, but why Archer?¡± Scarlet asked in confusion, but I simply shrugged.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Although I haven¡¯t had much chance to use it, I did learn archery from alia, and have a divine bow created by Tubrock. I was even considering using the bow for my third Martial Will, once I had formed the Intent of my other two.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet nodded her head quickly, understanding my answer. ¡°How are youing with your Martial Intent, by the way?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but let out a small sigh. ¡°I feel like I¡¯m almost there with my guns, but my fist¡­ I don¡¯t know how long that one is going to take. What about you? How many Intents have you mastered?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet nced off to the side, clearing her throat. ¡°W-well¡­ I am the Goddess of Ki, after all. And¡­ technically, I¡¯m the creator of Martial Will in the first ce.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s a lot, isn¡¯t it?¡± I narrowed my eyes down at her, and she shrank into herself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡­ can essentially master any type of Martial Will that I want, and upgrade it to an Intent with just a bit of focus¡­¡± She answered in an almost meek tone, drawing yet another sigh from me. Slowly, she started to perk up as an idea came to her. ¡°If you want, I can help you train? Having me there to demonstrate the different Intents should make it easier for you toprehend them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I thought about that for a long moment, before nodding my head in agreement. She was right, after all. Even if our understanding of a Martial Intent was different from one another, seeing thepleted form of what I wanted to train might be able to help inspire me.

 Chapter 971: Conspiracy

    Chapter 971: Conspiracy


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel¡¯s eyes narrowed as she looked at the envelope in front of herself. This was, in many senses, her masterpiece of a void script. If everything worked ording to her simtions, this would let her draw out the rogue ninja faction without bringing any harm to the rest of the world. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I can¡¯t let a group like that stay around when they¡¯ve already expressed an interest in taking down the Keeper.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel wasn¡¯t deadly loyal to the Keeper in the way that Terra was. Rather, she knew that James wouldn¡¯t get another chance like this. She knew that this was the only life she¡¯d have to live with him. If that meant protecting another Keeper from hidden threats¡­ well, there was a reason she chose to be the Goddess of Security.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ll be back in a bit!¡± Chel smiled back to the rest of the group as they were engrossed in their work. Barely anyone even noticed Chel hopping up from her seat and walking for the door, the envelope in her hand.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After exiting from the research center, Chel teleported into the distance, changing her appearance into that of a middle-aged kitsune with dark red hair. She suppressed her divinity, manipted her own soul to cover the traces of her godhood, and even adjusted her own weight to lighten her steps. With that out of the way, she briefly practiced walking with her new gait, and made her way to an apartmentplex not far away.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Officer Pike should be getting off work in ten minutes. ording to his usual schedule, he will go for a twenty minute walk around town, during which he will hide from observation for ten minutes. After that, he will make his way back home, where he spends the rest of his day.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Confident that she had thirty-five minutes before the target reached his home, she walked to the mailroom of the apartmentplex, finding the mailbox for apartment 318. After she pressed her finger against the lock, there was a faint click and the mailbox swung open. Seeing the rest of the mail inside, Chel simply ced the letter on top of the pile and closed the mailbox, letting it lock once again.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Let¡¯s set up a security camera while I¡¯m here.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She thought to herself, making her way to the stairs. If she could get a camera inside of his apartment, she would have a better understanding of their operations. So, she casually made her way to the third floor, nodding her head at the various kitsune she passed along the stairs.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel kept that same smile, seeing as everyone she passed watched her for a moment. She walked to the door of apartment 318, and then¡­ continued walking, making sure to control her expression.<i><span style="font-weight:400"> This is worse than I thought.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She muttered inwardly, a kind old woman with greying hair moving to greet her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, hello there, dear. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve seen you here before. Did you just move in?¡± She asked curiously, her hands ced over one another in front of her stomach.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel simply put on her best, naive smile. ¡°Oh, no! I was looking for a ce to rent, though, and I heard that the prices here were pretty reasonable, so I was thinking of getting an apartment. Do you have any rmendations?¡± <i><span style="font-weight:400">Test their responses. Will they try to chase me away to protect their secrecy¡­ </i><span style="font-weight:400">Watching the reactions of everyone she had passed so far, she was certain that every resident on this floor, the old woman included, was part of the group that she was looking for.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The woman seemed to think about that for a moment. ¡°Hmm. Well, the ce does have its charm, I suppose. If you¡¯d like, you can look at theyout of my apartment, and see if it is to your liking?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel blinked in surprise, her smile widening. ¡°That would be lovely! Oh, though I wouldn¡¯t want to impose or anything.¡± She said in a bright tone, her mind racing. <i><span style="font-weight:400">They¡¯re willing to invite me in and entice me to stay. Either they n to convert me here, or they are preparing to do so in the future if I decide to move in. They¡¯re confident that they can get anyone they want with minimal preparations.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The old woman nodded her head, turning and leading Chel towards a nearby door. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s no trouble at all, dear. Things have been a bit quiettely, so it would be good to have some freshpany around.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel nodded her head, moving along behind the woman before blinking again. ¡°Ah, give me just a moment, someone¡¯s messaging me.¡± She said, before holding a hand up to her ear. This was amon practice when using the private messaging system in public, to let people know that you were busy with another conversation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The woman nced back at Chel curiously, having not yet opened her door. However, she seemed to be watching the changes in Chel¡¯s expression, how her eyes and mouth moved to silently convey her message to the other party.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">¡®Sorry, sis. Was out apartment shopping. Yes, I know. I know. Okay, I¡¯ll be back home in just a few minutes.¡¯</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The woman deciphered Chel¡¯smunication through watching these subtle gestures. When Chel brought her hand down from her ear, she let out a sullen sigh.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sorry, family call. Looks like I don¡¯t really have the time for an apartment tour today. Would it be alright if I took you up on that offerter?¡± She asked in a hopeful tone, the older woman nodding her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course, dear.¡± She smiled, before writing out her contact information. ¡°Just call me anytime you¡¯d like. I don¡¯t really go anywhere, so I¡¯m usually at home.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind, thanks!¡± Chel nodded her head, giving her own number to the older woman. Of course, the number that she gave was to one of Chel¡¯s multiple dummy devices, rather than her personalmunication terminal. After exchanging numbers, Chel turned and jogged to the stairs, careful to maintain her weight and a natural hurried pace. She didn¡¯t even spare a nce at apartment 318 the entire time, certain that someone would see her do so.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I was lucky that nobody was in the mailroom to see me stash the letter, but¡­ why was there somebody in 318? </i><span style="font-weight:400">Although she had never stopped in front of the door, Chel could hear soundsing from the interior of the apartment. Someone walking around while listening to the news. <i><span style="font-weight:400">ording to the information on Officer Pike, he lives alone. There also weren¡¯t any letters in his mailbox addressed to anyone else.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once Chel made her way out of the apartmentplex, she turned and walked down the sidewalk, doing her best to look natural. Her eyes nced up at the window of the apartment building, quickly finding the window to room 318. Her eyes twitched for a moment as she saw Brian Pike standing in the window, observing the street below.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">He has a double¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Chel had never been able to get security footage from inside the apartmentplex, and now she knew why. It was likely that every resident in theplex had been taken over, perhaps even the management staff. <i><span style="font-weight:400">This is bigger than I thought.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she walked, Chel noticed that she was being followed. It was always two people, following her from at least a block away. They only kept her in the corner of their vision, but were careful to never lose sight of her. Every few blocks, they would be reced by two other individuals. Chel internally clicked her tongue. She had said that she needed to go home to meet her family, so she navigated to one of the safehouses that she had bought long ago.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Each safehouse that Chel had prepared had a different living situation, all managed by avatars of Chel herself. The one that she chose this time was upied by a single avatar disguised as a kitsune woman just older than Chel¡¯s current appearance. Once inside the house, she quickly connected to the inte, using her divine power to manufacture information about her current identity. <i><span style="font-weight:400">With how cautious they¡¯re being, there is a good chance that they will look into my identityter. I need to register that dummy device as this identity¡¯s official number¡­</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">In a way, this safehouse had been rendered unusable in the future, at least until the current situation was dealt with. After she had made sure that the history of her current identity went far enough back that even Chel herself wouldn¡¯t be overly suspicious, she split off another avatar of herself as her current appearance.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel hissed slightly as she split off a fragment of her soul, imbuing it into the avatar to give it more autonomy. If she had to manually control every avatar for every safehouse she was managing, her mind wouldn¡¯t be able to handle the strain. After all, many of them were not even on Deckan.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With the situation on this side dealt with, Chel immediately teleported out and back to the other side of Ashtanu, returning to her normal appearance before making her way back to the research center. <i><span style="font-weight:400">There were at least sixty individuals dedicated purely to the security of that area. If we take into ount the possibility of everyone in the building being reced, that number increases threefold. Does every agent have simr security, or is Officer Pike a higher ranking member?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea had aplicated look on her face, making her way into the research center, only to find James waiting for her. Chelsea blinked for a moment, before smiling wryly and bringing her soul out of her body for inspection. ¡°I had to split a bit off to establish an avatar, before you mention the disparity.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">She knew James was sweeping over her with his special energy sense, so she didn¡¯t want to leave a reason for him to be suspicious of her. ¡°...How was it?¡± He asked once he was satisfied.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Worse than I thought¡­ way worse.¡± Chel shook her head solemnly. ¡°I had to activate the third safehouse in the city.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°They tailed you all the way back?¡± James blinked in surprise, before his face became more serious. ¡°Were you able to leave the letter?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thankfully, there was nobody in the mailroom when I arrived. They only took notice of me once I took the stairs up. Also, the cop has a body double that stays at home. Which means that he probably disguises himself as someone else from the building to leave after he gets off work.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Officer Pike let out a soft sigh as he returned to his apartment, making a brief stop along the way to pick up his mail. ¡°Any activity?¡± He asked at the front desk, flipping through the different envelopes. He immediately threw away the bills, as they were all set to automatic payments, as well as the junk mail and spam.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Nothing much. Couple of peopleing by to check out the apartments, but Ms Habberdy dealt with them.¡± The man at the counter spoke up while flipping through a magazine. Brian gave a small nod, looking at the two letters left in his hands. One was from an informant sending information rting to an active case. The other¡­ was from his wife. Not Brian Pike¡¯s wife¡­ the wife of the man he used to be.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The officer¡¯s hand trembled slightly, sending a brief nce at thendlord before making his way up to his room. There, he found his avatar sitting down and watching the news as usual, and he made his way to the bedroom to read the letter. <i><span style="font-weight:400">How did they find me?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He asked himself, knowing that he had avoided any ninja-run businesses in the area. Not an easy task in itself, but he had managed it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once in his room, he opened the envelope and pulled the paper out. His gaze went empty as he looked at the paper, which depicted swirling lines surrounding an eyeless face, mouth hanging open in a silent scream. The image seemed to almoste alive in front of him, reaching out of the paper to grab at his wrists.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A few momentster, the hands retracted back into the page, which dissolved in his hand. The envelope soon followed suit, neither being left as evidence. Immediately afterwards, Brian blinked and shook his head. He looked down at his hands, opening the second letter to read with no memory of the first.

 Chapter 972: Faceless Threat

    Chapter 972: Faceless Threat


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea stared at the projection in front of her nervously, watching the lone red dot that had appeared on the disyed map. This was the special signal released by the void script that she wrote. The dot¡¯s appearance meant that the letter had been opened, and the operation had officially begun. However, despite the apparent sess of her n, Chelsea couldn¡¯t help the pang of nerves in the back of her mind, her thoughts racing to consider whether or not she had overlooked anything.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While she thought about it, the dot had begun to move slightly, with more and more dots appearing in its surroundings. <i><span style="font-weight:400">He¡¯s checking in with his people.</i>


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Officer Pike had a small smile on his face as he looked at the kind old woman sitting in the hall. ¡°How are you doing today, Ms Habberdy?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, I¡¯m fine dear.¡± The woman said with a warm expression. ¡°How was work? I¡¯m sure they must be keeping you busy.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s not bad, just some cases. Some of our faceless friends need a bit of a nudge. I heard you had unexpected guests today?¡± He asked, the woman¡¯s eyes glossing over for a moment as they briefly went unfocused. However, she quickly recovered, nodding her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. A couple of girls came in to look for apartments. I managed to give one of them the full tour, but the other was called back by her family before she got a good look. A shame, really.¡± She let out a faint sigh of regret, shaking her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Do you need any help with the cleanup?¡± Pike asked, but the woman shook her head again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No need. Wace already took care of that. We sent her on her way back to her family.¡± The woman spoke with the same kind smile, despite the morbid topic of their conversation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Officer Pike simply nodded his head. ¡°I¡¯m going back to theb. Make sure to tell Wace not to head out for the afternoon.¡± He said, his body briefly shrouded in pale blue light before taking on an entirely different face. Even his voice had changed. ¡°They¡¯ve made some good progress, but I need to make sure that they don¡¯t get too reckless.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The old woman simply nodded her head as the man turned to leave. He walked out of the building naturally, passing through the streets as if he was just going about his day. He had long since memorized the different security cameras along his route, and made sure that they wouldn¡¯t see anything suspicious from him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once he approached the researchb, he ducked through an alley, his body shifting to turn into a stranger he had passed only moments prior. Approaching a door tucked away in the alley, he knocked three times. A voice spoke from beyond the door, delivering the coded greeting. ¡°Twilight approaches.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°But the sun never sets.¡± After giving that response, the door opened and allowed him in. Only then did his appearance return to Officer Pike, rolling his shoulders. ¡°No abnormalities at the den.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing Pike¡¯s report, the door greeter nodded his head, closing the door and locking it securely. ¡°The researchers told me to ask you to pick up some groceries when youe back tomorrow.¡± He said, handing a written list to Pike, who clicked his tongue in annoyance. ¡°If you¡¯re bothered, let them go and get it themselves.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, they don¡¯t know how to properly stay hidden. I¡¯ll get it taken care of.¡± Pike shook his head, pocketing the list and walking inside. There was arge stairway leading down into a room with dozens of beastkin, all discussing the potential uses of this new energy that they had created.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unlike what their original bosses had suspected, they had no intention of harming the Keeper. They merely posited that their disguise energy could be used in such a way, which led to the unfortunate series of events that brought them to this more rundownb, hidden beneath a dark alley. Even now, they harbored no hatred for the Keeper himself, only using their powers to ensure that they stay hidden to carry on their research.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately, in order to remain hidden, they had to use some underhanded means. Means such as recing arge number of public individuals. Once their research was concluded, they were sure that they could convince the ninja ns to ept their results and reinstate them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Brian!¡± One of the researchers called out, waving towards Officer Pike. ¡°Good news! We discovered a defensive use for the Masked Soul!¡± This researcher was a beautiful kitsune with long red hair and a bright, joyful smile.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh?¡± Brian walked over to the woman with interest. Until now, the main use for the Masked Soul energy was interrogation or infiltration. They had yet to find a true offensive method. ¡°Tell me more.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The researcher nodded her head quickly. ¡°It¡¯s a bit of a delicate process. The Masked Soul energy specializes in adjusting the wavelengths of energy. That¡¯s how it does the basic infiltration. Reading memories is merely an advanced analysis of the target¡¯s mana, oveying it onto the user¡¯s.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Now, if the Masked Soul is applied in a thin film across the body, the user can identify attacksing their way. If they are aware of the energy type behind the attack, the Masked Soul can adjust its own wavelength to provide the optimal defense against that type of attack.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Pike nodded his head, thinking it over before smiling. ¡°An adaptive defense method. That¡¯s definitely a praiseworthy aplishment, my faceless friend. This makes the Masked Soul not only a good infiltration energy, but also a practical tool inbat. Have you tested to see if it can be used offensively in the same way?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The eyes of the researcher briefly glossed over, as did the eyes of those listening, before quickly returning to normal as if nothing had happened. ¡°We¡¯re still confirming the results of those tests. The defensive method was only just confirmed before you arrived.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Pike gave a small nod. ¡°The others deserve to know. I n to send out a report through the message system.¡± It wasn¡¯t unusual for major breakthroughs to be reported. After all, they had defected from the ninja ns as a unified research group. Although Pike¡¯s job was mostly security, he understood the need for the research results to be shared with the rest of the group.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The researcher herself gave a small nod of approval. ¡°I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll be thrilled! Once we identify a few more uses for the Masked Soul, the ns should be more than happy to take us back!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Pike¡¯s smile grew a touch softer at that, opening up the messaging system and preparing the report.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel¡¯s eyes were all but glued to the projection, as if afraid she would miss the slightest change in the map. Ever since the first burst of activity, there was only a very limited spread in the same apartmentplex. Three of the dots had moved out of the building, one of whom was Officer Pike.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She watched that dot move to the district of the city where she always lost sight of him, seeing how it ducked into an alley. There was a pause for a minute, before arge cluster of dots appeared around it. Chel¡¯s eyes widened, a smile forming on her face. ¡°So that¡¯s your base.¡± She muttered to herself, nodding her head in satisfaction.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She grabbed a notebook, preparing to mark down the location, when her face suddenly went pale with fright. The red dots exploded in numbers, almost covering the entire screen. Her hand froze, eyes trembling. ¡°No, no¡­ this is too much, too fast.¡± Her voice was quiet, her eyes slowly closing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">From his own desk not far away, James nced over with a worried expression. He stood up, making his way over to her. ¡°Everything alright, Chel?¡± He started to ask, before freezing when he was only a few steps away.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Everyone out, now!¡± He shouted loudly, startling the other researchers in the room. They looked over briefly, before rushing to the door. ¡°First security bunker, until further notice!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The seriousness in his voice brokered no argument, and they hadn¡¯t heard such a harsh tone from him in a <i><span style="font-weight:400">very</i><span style="font-weight:400"> long time. James slowly closed his eyes, focusing his thoughts. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Udona, quarantine Ashtanu. Disable the Fairy Gate. Nobody in or out. Media ckout as well. No information.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Wait, what? What¡¯s going on!?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Udona asked in shock. Chel¡¯s hand was still trembling, but her eyes hadn¡¯t opened. No¡­ her eyes had been covered by ayer of smooth skin, as had the rest of her face, bing an empty mask. Behind her, James was quickly being converted into a simr state.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Don¡¯t ask specifics. Unsure transfer method. Ask Chel in the Administration Room.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> James swept his energy out of theb, covering the entire city of Ashtanu. Thousands of individuals had frozen in the streets, their faces empty. Those who saw them were initially horrified, starting to run before suffering the same fate. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Temporarily nonlethal.</i>


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">In the Admin Room, Udona rushed out of her room, all but sprinting for Chel¡¯s. When she arrived, she found the smaller kitsune covered in a cold sweat, her palms shaking. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Udona demanded.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I fucked up. Bad.¡± Chelsea cursed, shaking her head and jumping to her feet. ¡°There weren¡¯t supposed to be that many of them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Summarize!¡± Udona narrowed her eyes, snapping Chelsea to attention.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I created a void script to track down a group of rogue ninjas. I made it as stable as possible to prevent mutations. However, it wasn¡¯t supposed to spread to more than fifty thousand people at once! The information overflow forced an immediate mutation.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Can you fix it?¡± Udona asked simply, Chelsea hesitating.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not by myself.¡± She shook her head, an almost panicked look in her eyes. ¡°Not fast enough, at least. If you gave me a week, I could make an anti-meme. We don¡¯t have a week, though. Without a mouth or nose, people with physical bodies will start dying in minutes. I need Leowynn.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona didn¡¯t say anything. She turned and left the room, running to Leowynn¡¯s room. However, Leowynn was already walking out of her room, a serious look on her face. ¡°I know the situation. I need to hear the parameters for the script from Chel.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, Chel had followed behind the two of them, and immediately cooperated. ¡°The original script functioned with the phrase ¡®faceless friends¡¯. It was a benign phrase fitting the group that could be slipped into casual conversation. Once the phrase was used, the identified recipients would be marked by the script, and send out a special void signal that I tracked on my terminal. It wasn¡¯t supposed to mutate like this.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m not assigning me.¡± Udona spoke firmly. ¡°I know the circumstances behind this group. You just wanted to protect Dale. But right now, we have to deal with the fallout, before it evolves again.¡± After she said that, she turned to look at Leowynn. ¡°Can you do it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn let out a small sigh, nodding her head. ¡°The script isn¡¯t tooplex. Now that I know the parameters, I should be able to deal with it using the least amount of energy.¡± As she said that, Leowynn¡¯s body vanished from the Admin Room.

 Chapter 973: Removing The Mask

    Chapter 973: Removing The Mask


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn appeared over the city of Ashtanu with her eyes closed. For the most part, the city looked rather normal at a nce. However, that was only the case for a passing nce. Both the cars and the people outside were frozen in ce. Leowynn knew that those individuals who were currently working in office buildings or staying in their homes werergely unaffected. It had been only a minute since the effect spread, so many people wouldn¡¯t have had the chance to notice yet.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The worst cases were where the hidden agents of the rogue ninjas were in such buildings, allowing the effect to spread from within. Thinking of this, Leowynn kept her eyes closed, focusing. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I don¡¯t have Chelsea¡¯s skill with void scripts, but my divinity can help me out here. If this were a void beast, I would just need to cut the connection. Instead, a void script would require me to purge the void energy from millions of people at once¡­ I can¡¯t afford to use that much energy so easily.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">So¡­ an anti-meme.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She rapidly constructed a divine circuit, originating from her ¡®Void¡¯ domain, one that would allow her to create anti-memes for memetic effects that she knew of. This specific anti-meme would target the memetic effect she identified, and reverse it while creating a wide pulse to spread the effect, after which it self-destructs.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">This will still use a lot of energy, but it¡¯s not as bad¡­ it doesn¡¯tpare to making the guardian, at least.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She thought, before condensing a ball of mixed ck and gold energy in her hand. She held it out before her, dropping it to the ground. There were a few seconds of silence before a rush of energy rippled out, washing over those nearby.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As the energy made contact with their bodies, the affected citizens let out pained gasps, their faces returning as the memetic effect was removed. Many of them opened their eyes wide, though this made some of them catch glimpses of those who were out of the pulse¡¯s reach, causing them to once again suffer the effects until a momentter, when the second pulse spread out with them as the source. This time, none of those who had ¡®learned their lesson¡¯ immediately opened their eyes, waiting for confirmation from the surroundings that it was safe.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In total, twenty pulses spread out to cover the entirety of the city. Only at that point was the effect of the scriptpletely wiped away. Leowynn finally opened her eyes when she felt the end of the pulses, sending a message to Chelsea. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Are there any victims outside of Ashtanu?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">No, all of the targets were in the city, it doesn¡¯t look like any of them left.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Chelsea answered in a small voice, before adding on. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯m sorry. How do you want us to handle this?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn shook her head. <i><span style="font-weight:400">If you reveal to the public that you were the one that caused this while tracking a group of suspected criminals, the people¡¯s faith in your team¡¯s research will be shattered. Announce that it was a stray memetic effect, and the research institute will pay for any damages caused. It¡¯s your group that has the greatest awareness of the void, after all. While people may hold you responsible indirectly, it is not the same as if it were done by your own hand. I¡¯m sure Udona will agree to this.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Just don¡¯t mess around with void scripts so carelessly anymore.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Udona suddenly interjected, adding the additional condition. In the Admin Room, Chelsea nodded her head sullenly. This incident had taught her that she was relying too much on her expertise with the void, and that it was a subject that she had not yet fully mastered. It was too easy for her to jump to using void scripts as the answer to problems like this due to their flexibility, and she thought that she was able to avoid the subsequent dangers.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I understand.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Chelsea answered the two goddesses. Perhaps because this incident had affected James, but Chelsea seemed far more meek than usual.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Understanding this, Udona let out a small sigh. <i><span style="font-weight:400">At least the mutation was nonlethal. The total casualties should be small enough that I can step forward to resolve the matter.</i>


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">In the research institute, Chelsea and James both gasped as their own faces were restored. Immediately, Chelsea mmed down on the button to close the map, knowing that the transfer of information from it was enough to trigger the effect again. Afterwards, she turned around and looked at James, her eyes full of concern. ¡°Are you alright?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James nced down at himself, nodding. However, after a moment he shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m not the one to be concerned about right now.¡± He showed a rare, serious expression as he looked at Chelsea. ¡°I want you helping with the recovery efforts, alright?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Like Leowynn, James knew that Chelsea couldn¡¯t publicly im responsibility for this matter. Their research institute was integral to the development of not only Ashtanu, but the entire alliance of worlds. Still, he wanted Chelsea to ept some sort of responsibility.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The kitsune¡¯s ears folded down against her scalp, and she nodded her head. ¡°I understand. Are the others okay?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James gave a much softer smile when Chelsea asked about the others. ¡°I gave them the order to head for the bunker as soon as I noticed the effect. We should be able to recall them now.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea let out a sigh of relief when she heard that. However, before she could get up to go out and help with the recovery efforts like she had been told, James spoke up again. ¡°What do you n to do about the ninjas now?¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Pike let out a loud gasp as his face was returned to him, bringing a hand up to feel it and confirm that it was no longer a smooth mask. All around him, the rest of the researchers were simrly shocked, taking in deep breaths. Some of them had yet to discard their physical bodies, so were forced to hold their breaths for the entire duration.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sir¡­ what just happened?¡± One of the researchers asked in fright, looking over at Pike.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">If you¡¯re asking me, who am I supposed to ask?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> His mind raced as he tried to think of a number of possibilities. The Masked Soul did have aponent of the void in it, but it shouldn¡¯t have been able to do something like this. ¡°Run a check on the energy, make sure that it didn¡¯t develop any ws.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s entirely possible that this had nothing to do with us, and we were just caught up in the st zone.¡± He didn¡¯t believe that someone would target them with such a malicious memetic effect, so that narrowed down the possibilities to either a w in the Masked Soul, a memetic attack on the city, or a void beast effect. ¡°Thankfully, it seems like the Greater Pantheon stepped in to resolve the problem. That divinity just now should have belonged to Leowynn.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The researchers nodded, immediately rushing to grab different scanning equipment to analyze the Masked Soul. At the same time, Pike couldn¡¯t help but shudder, remembering the feeling of his flesh covering up his face.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">My brows knit together as an emergency news broadcast yed, reporting about a memetic effect that had temporarily crippled Ashtanu. Nearby, both Scarlet and alia sat up straight, looking at the screen in concern. ¡°So that¡¯s why Leowynn rushed off like that.¡± I said with a small sigh, shaking my head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">ording to the news report, there were dozens of casualties, and the famous research institute had offered a relief fund to pay for any damages caused in the chaos. At the same time, the Goddess of Life had personally stepped in to restore those casualties. This was not a case where their souls had been destroyed, as those who died were all normal mortal beings. It only took a little effort on Udona¡¯s part to restore them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While some people would harbor doubts about the research institute, ming them for a void effect getting loose, many were also praising it for the timely response with the disaster relief. After all, many considered the effects of the void to be no different from an earthquake or a hurricane, a natural disaster that they had no power to solve. In truth, that was indeed the case for most people.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nced over at alia. ¡°The void barrier of Deckan wasn¡¯t breached, was it?¡± I asked, and saw alia quickly shaking her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I already checked. There¡¯s nothing inside the barrier.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing that, I let out a long sigh. ¡°That means that someone used a faulty script, or a Fallen God had attacked. Given that there wasn¡¯t more damage, probably the former.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was my initial thought, before seeing images taken of the relief efforts, with Chelsea at the forefront to personally make sure that everyone was okay. She helped repair damages done by cars crashing into each other, people, or even the sides of buildings, obviously doing her best to help people.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Normally¡­ someone would see this as an act of altruism on her part. Only those that truly knew her would be able to guess the hidden meaning. I let out a long sigh, bringing a hand up to cover my face. ¡°Yeah¡­ that¡¯d do it.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki sat in her room, legs crossed on her bed as she meditated. For once, she left taking care of the Keeper to one of her avatars, deciding that she needed to handle this herself for the moment. When Ashley and Dale had spoken about legends, Tsubaki had been elsewhere helping to make lunch for everyone. However, one of her avatars had been near enough to listen in on the conversation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once that conversation had finished, the avatar transmitted the information back to Tsubaki. <i><span style="font-weight:400">So¡­ I need to create a legend to push the Maid ss further. </i><span style="font-weight:400">In truth, her Maid ss had hit five hundred not too long ago, showing just how much talent she had in the ss and how hardworking she was with it.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Didbining my divine domain of Service not count as a legend? Or¡­ has someone else already done that form of legend?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Tsubaki bit her lip at the thought that someone might have beaten her to that title. After all, she had been away from the world for more than a decade in the Admin Room with the Keeper. It wouldn¡¯t be weird if a god that had a domain rted to servitude used the ss in the same way she had.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Either way, I¡¯ll need to create a different legend if I want to advance the ss further. What aspect of the Maid ss can I turn into my legend? </i><span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki focused, thinking about all of her various sses. In truth, she had dabbled with almost every ss that existed, with only a select few still out of her reach. For instance, she rejected any attempts to directly confer nobility to her, so she did not possess the Noble ss.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa¡¯s legend should have mixed Rogue, Assassin, Weaponmaster, and Warrior. My skills are¡­ substantially more varied. If I could use my avatars to train multiple sses at a time, that would be wonderful. However, the Maid ss¡¯s energy won¡¯t allow me to create energy cores in the bodies of the avatars. I managed to work around that with my divine domain, but that is still limited in quantity.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki furrowed her brows at that, before suddenly her eyes opened in realization. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Maybe I can do it in reverse? Use the maid energy only for the soul, the core consciousness, and then craft the avatar normally around it. If I do it like that, I should still be able to allow the avatars to retain their autonomy, while also using the energies of different sses. Though¡­ the avatar will need to maintain constant focus to not allow their core energy to slip out of control.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded her head, a satisfied looking over her face as she decided on the path of her growth. <i><span style="font-weight:400">If this n seeds, it should qualify as a legend for all of my sses. Additionally, it should help me train my different sses more efficiently.</i>

 Chapter 974: Anticipation

    Chapter 974: Anticipation


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley sat in her office, looking over the information given to her by her team. It was nearing the end of the Standard Month, and the game project wasing along rather well. Without the need to consider things such as a graphics or physics engine, all that they needed to worry about was adding the features. Given her work in the old world, this made it feel almost too easy to create a game, especially when she considered that the true scope of the game they were making was an entire universe.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">So far, it looks like almost everything is in a presentable state. The research tree needs some tweaking, and so does the Sylvan AI. Aside from that, we should be good tounch at the start of the year. Thankfully, the monster fusion system doesn¡¯t appear to be causing any problems.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">This system was something that they had to create on the market, and then applied to the game. Given that it was a new creation, there was always the chance that the system would throw a curveball and give it undesired effects. However, with the strict wording that Ashley had used when creating the system, it seemed like that wasn¡¯t an immediate issue.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Currently, they were well under the budget that the Keeper had given them. Between purchasing the research tree, the Natural Seed system, and the Monster Pet Fusion system, they had only spent a total of fifteen hundred points. Everything else that they were using in the game was being repurposed from the other worlds under their control, such as the Guild, Kingdom, Party, or Private Message system.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley wanted to avoid using more advanced systems like the Skill Proficiency system, since that would be giving information away about their own world. Still, she was proud of the work that her team was doing. If there was one thing that was giving her problems¡­ it was setting up the adminmands for the World Spirit of this game.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dale had previously expressed that he did not want to have to reset a world unless absolutely necessary, so they were testing all of these features on their testbed world. However, that was not possible when it came to the existence of the World Spirit, as it was intrinsically connected to the world that it was born in.


    <span style="font-weight:400">To avoid other people using time-rted abilities to observe their people after the world was sent over, Ashley nned to get everything prepared, and then only have Dale purchase the final world when it was ready to go live on the market. That meant that she needed to have the adminmands in a working state without any way to test them.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">We can test the basicmands with Vivi and Fifi, but themands more unique to World Seed will have to be done blind.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">She let out a small sigh at that, shaking her head. There was no other way to handle something like this withoutpletely wiping the world when they were done testing.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I furrowed my brow, ncing back at Tsubaki. Or rather, the silver-haired avatar of Tsubaki. It had been nearly two weeks since Ist saw the true Tsubaki, and I wasn¡¯t the only one. Even Dana had expressed her dissatisfaction at not seeing hertely.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is there something that I can do for you, my Keeper?¡± The avatar of Tsubaki asked, a gentle smile on her face.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Can you tell me how Tsubaki is doing with her training?¡± If I didn¡¯t know that Tsubaki was working on mastering her legend, I would have assumed that she had gone for another Trial of Blood. Though¡­ given what I had heard about her n, she might still do that as well.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course.¡± The avatar nodded her head, closing her eyes. ¡°Currently, my main body is in the process of the sixty-third experiment to form an avatar with the Servant Energy as the core. ording to her findings, this experiment has a low chance of sess, but will give important insights into the process. Depending on the information gained, the next iteration may have the highest chance to seed.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod at that, wishing her the best in my mind. I knew that there were many ways to make autonomous avatars, outside of just the Servant Energy that the Maid ss uses. However, most of those methods required splitting your soul, a process that damaged the original body. Even someone with the Perfect Soul couldn¡¯t split themselves infinitely.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Meanwhile, the Servant Energy had a unique connection with the host, allowing the avatars to function autonomously while still sharing information and experience as needed. I knew that this was the basis for the legend that Tsubaki wanted. Her avatar had exined as much to me when asking for permission to pursue this legend.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, I did not have a problem agreeing, but I was surprised to find it taking so long. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Is this the difference between purposely seeking out a legend and spontaneously realizing it?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Hopefully, the legend that Tsubaki was creating would be worth the time and effort invested. If she managed to get one that didn¡¯t work how she wanted it, I could imagine the pain it would cause.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Just let Tsubaki know that I hope she¡¯s doing well, and I''m looking forward to her sess. Let me know when she is done.¡± I told the avatar, before walking towards the elevator. With how hard Tsubaki was training, I couldn¡¯t just sit back and do nothing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">My Gun Intent had finished forming with the ¡®Homing¡¯ attribute after practicing with Scarlet. Now, all that I wascking was my Fist Intent. Because of the fact that I was training with a single punch rather than a martial style, my Fist Will focused purely on that one punch, and I had to take that to the extreme. Scarlet had to analyze this Martial Will for a while before she managed to reproduce it, as she had to match my punch as closely as possible.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Still, the sight of her using the Fist Intent I was pursuing to shatter a small moon was¡­ quite the sight to see. And it gave me a glimpse of what my future achievements would be like.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay, everything¡¯s finally starting to shape up.¡± ra said with a grin, looking at the gctic map. The new machine empire that she had founded had imed a territory with a radius of forty lightyears, marking them as a true gctic civilization. They had even managed to find several indigenous races to uplift in recent days, advanced civilizations on the cusp of space travel.


    <span style="font-weight:400">By inviting these races into the empire, they managed to secure their first batch of NPCs, though there would be a period of education before they could be properly implemented. What made ra rather disappointed was that she hadn¡¯t found any ¡®special NPCs¡¯ among the various civilizations that they had uplifted.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Are they deemed too insignificant by the system to require an NPC because they had yet to reach the interster stage, or was I just unlucky?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> ra wasn¡¯t sure the exact conditions needed for an NPC to be special. Whether it was something decided from the NPCs birth, or if it could be adjusted in the future, she couldn¡¯t be sure.


    <span style="font-weight:400">What she did know was that it wouldn¡¯t be too long before people began to locate this new empire. With how far she had expanded, she was currently only just out of reach of the nearest Hyperspace Network. Once she went that extra distance, or if someone decided to be an intrepid explorer, they would be added to the gctic map.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Still, ra had reservations about opening the machine empire up. Currently, thes within the empire were all automated, with Elisae¡¯s people taking various jobs here or there, or exploring the frontier. While this meant that they were incredibly efficient in terms of production¡­ they were also not incredibly secure.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I needary defense systems. And the first batch of NPCs need to be assigned to monitor the various regions to prevent anyone froming in and iming our tech.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> For a machine empire like the one that ra had made, everything would fall apart the moment another nation had studied and fully understood their technology.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In under a year, a single person had created a mechanical nation spanning dozens of lightyears. ra was fully aware of what would happen if an existing superpower got their hands on the same level of technology.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sienna sat atop a ck throne, hovering in the air while hugging the white weasel against her chest. Her legs swayed beneath her as she stared down at the training monsters. She was creating more and more soldiers for the shadow army, both humanoid and monstrous, with each type serving a distinct purpose. For instance, the four-armed soldier wielding four ded weapons, the rabbit-eared general that could pulverize a boulder with a light stomp, or the monstrous elephant-like creature with a t back that served as a mobile artillery tform.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, although Sienna was diligently working on training these monsters, her thoughts were elsewhere. In the back of her mind, she was excited, looking forward to the new game that Ashley hade to tell her about several days before.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In order to get ideas for their monster fusion system, Ashley hade to Sienna, asking her to provide real, working examples of how various monsters could fuse, with different possibilities for each fusion. Arge bird wasbined with a wolf, which could either turn the fur of the wolf into feathers it could flutter in different patterns for camouge, or alternatively it provided the wolf with wings.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sienna even suggestedbining monsters with existing structures, though that idea had sadly been turned down. The goal of this new game was development via natural forces, so modern industry would be far less prevalent. Understanding this, Sienna instead suggestedbining monsters of vastly different types, such as nt monsters with animal ones.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The initial experiment was tobine a Dead Man Tree--a tree that appeared to be a normal, withered tree, but would suddenly swing its branches down to grab the necks of passing creatures-- with a Human-Faced Spider. This spider was a massive arachnid measuring roughly two meters long, and had what looked like a person¡¯s face on their back that they used to lure in prey.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The result was something that Sienna called the Hangman Tree. Simr to the Dead Man Tree, this looked like a normal, withered tree. However, it also had a series of cobwebs connecting the branches, making it appear far older and darker. Unlike the Dead Man Tree, this new monster did notsh out with its branches. Rather, it was able to use them to release webbing, grabbing creatures and pulling them up into the tree¡¯s branches. Once in the branches, the tree would begin shifting its prey to the center, the very top of the tree¡¯s trunk, where a gaping maw waited to devour them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although this example <i><span style="font-weight:400">deeply</i><span style="font-weight:400"> disturbed Ashley, she had to admit that it was feasible to include it in the game that they were making. She promised to include nt monsters, mineral monsters, and even elemental monsters in the fusion system.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now, it was Sienna¡¯s turn to wait. This new game was supposed to be a real world game like Fragment of Acidia or Vision Expanse, so she wanted to see if she could reproduce any of her own creations in the game. At the same time, she wanted to try to get inspiration for all new monsters to create for her shadow army.


    <span style="font-weight:400">An enthusiastic smile appeared on the typically calm girl¡¯s face, and she hugged the weasel against her chest a bit tighter, causing it to cry out in her mind. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Gah! My bones! S-Sienna, gentle, I beg you!</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sienna blinked, a slight flush on her cheeks as she eased her grip on Kama. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Sorry, I was distracted.</i>

 Chapter 975: Restless Fox

    Chapter 975: Restless Fox


    <span style="font-weight:400">I stood within the emptiness, deep in the vacuum of space. There was no better ce for me to practice my Martial Intent, as I did not need to worry about potentially destroying anything around me. Just to y it absolutely safe, I wasn¡¯t even in one of the primary realms, but rather in the realm that Tsubaki and Dana had once used for research.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Using my ki, I anchored myself to the space around me, creating an improvised foothold while unleashing that same punch again and again. I was constantly activating my Fist Will, focusing all of my effort on destroying an invisible target in front of myself. I needed to master this ability before the next invasion urred. Having the ability to crush everything with this one punch could very easily turn into a critical tipping point in battle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thinking back to thest dangerous invasion I had¡­ I wasn¡¯t able to unleash hardly any of my power, because there were multiple gods that were constantly restraining my actions. The others were generally the same until Mara showed up to turn the tables. If we had the power of Martial Will at that time, the battle would have been a far simpler matter to resolve.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was why the invisible target I was focusing on was none other than the leader of that invasion, as well as the forces that he had brought along with him. Every time I punched, I mentally measured how many of those gods I would be able to take out at once. Typically, I averaged at about three or four, which was admittedly impressive when I considered the fact that I wasn¡¯t using any martial arts techniques.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, I could feel the punch constantly getting stronger. Originally, I had only been able to take out two of the targets in my mind. I knew that once my Martial Intent was reallypleted, I should be able to take out at least half of them with a single punch.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I was thinking about that, I suddenly felt a new presence appear behind me. <i><span style="font-weight:400">A space monster?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I was momentarily alert, before feeling something familiar about the sensation, turning around and smiling at the sight of Tsubaki. Not one of her avatars, but the true Tsubaki.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Have you finished your legend?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I asked mentally, given that we were currently in a vacuum.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I have, my Keeper.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Tsubaki nodded her head in response. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I apologize for making you wait, but I have returned to your side once again.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small smile, looking around for a moment. In the distance, I spotted an insignificant speck in the darkness, a blue that was covered almost entirely in oceans. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Show me.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I told her, before ripping open space to send myself to the surface of that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, Tsubaki followed along, her hands folded in front of her torso. When she arrived, she swept her gaze across the water, focusing. Green lights gathered around her, forming arge sheet of ice more than a mile across for us tond on. ¡°This should be a good enough location for a demonstration.¡± She said, before extending her hand.


    <span style="font-weight:400">First, a silver sphere appeared, which she lightly threw out and into the air. Afterwards, a trace of mana and ki followed it, interweaving and forming the physical shape of the avatar. World Sight, Elemental Ki, every energy that Tsubaki had mastered flew out in thin strands, piercing into the cloud of energy as it condensed into Tsubaki¡¯s shape.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As Scarlet said, the presence of the legend makes it far easier for me to achieve the same result again, allowing me to reproduce the avatars without needing as much concentration. At the same time, it allows my avatars to maintain themselves with only a minor amount of focus on maintaining the bnce of their energies.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head at Tsubaki¡¯s exnation. ¡°How many avatars do you have active right now? Counting the one you just created.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki didn¡¯t even need to think for a moment to answer. ¡°This is my eleventh avatar. Currently, I have dedicated avatars training the Monk, Elemental Monk, Mage, Enchanter, Martial Artist, Warrior, Weaponmaster, Ninja, Knight, and Farmer sses.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...Okay, I understood why for most of those, but why Farmer? I figured you would have gone with Alchemist, Chef, or even Pilot.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki offered a smile, ncing at her new avatar. ¡°This new one shall be my chef. As for why Farmer, I wanted to use it to experience the new systems that you recently added to the world. Each of my avatars has their own, individual resource pools, so they are not drawing from my energy when they train. However, this also means that they must each consume their own share of resources in order to recover their power. With the Farmer ss, I will be able to minimize my expenses in this regard. I n to develop an avatar for the Hunter ss as well, for simr reasons.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right¡­ what is the name of your legend?¡± When I asked that question, Tsubaki paused for a moment, ncing off to the side.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It is¡­ Restless Fox.¡± My eyes widened at her words, and I could barely refrain fromughing. ¡°Be honest with me, my Keeper. Do you or anyone among the Greater Pantheon decide the legend titles?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I shook my head quickly at that. ¡°I didn¡¯t even know that they were a thing until Ashley mentioned it. If it¡¯s anything like an advanced version of a normal title, it¡¯s purely decided by the system.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s cheeks puffed out slightly at that, but she nodded her head. ¡°I understand. If I may ask, how are youing along with your own training?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I smiled, proud of myself. ¡°I managed toplete my Gun Intent, so all that¡¯s left is my Fist Intent now. Additionally, I¡¯ve been working on new domain powers that I could integrate into my fighting style. Watch this.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I spread my hand out to the side, and six figures appeared alongside me, each one an identical copy of myself. ¡°I based the idea on the clones that you were wanting to make. I can¡¯t use them for training, but having additional beings in a fight at my level of power would certainly be able to make a difference.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded her head in agreement. ¡°I see. In that case, shall we return?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head. Now that Tsubaki was done with her training, I was sure she wanted to take a break for a moment. Well¡­ it was more likely that she wanted to take a break to try to disprove the system giving her the title of ¡®Restless Fox¡¯.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Tsuba!!¡± Dana rushed for the elevator as soon as it was triggered, almost lunging at Tsubaki. ¡°Why did you have to take so long to train this time?! Do you have any idea how boring it was without you here?!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s smile turned gentle as she looked at Dana, leaning down and patting her head. She knew that Dana wouldn¡¯t be satisfied just ying with one of Tsubaki¡¯s avatars, so she didn¡¯t try to bring that up. Instead¡­ ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Dana. Would you like to y together now?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Finally!¡± Dana grinned at the expected question. She had spent all of this time working on her own various projects, and wanted the chance to do something else for a change, something to take her mind off of work. ¡°What do you want to y?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hmm¡­¡± Tsubaki thought about it for a moment. However, before she spoke up, another voice interrupted her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I have an idea for something that you could y together. It would also help me out quite a bit.¡± Ashley¡¯s voice spoke up from nearby as she stepped out of a shadow, smiling down at the two of them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Eh?¡± Dana blinked, looking at Ashley. ¡°No way¡­ is the new game out already? I thought it was still a couple weeks away from the beta phase?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It is.¡± Ashley agreed. ¡°However, I have a way for you two to perform an alpha test of it. It¡¯ll just be the two of you in the game for now, and it will have to be your real selves, not your Virtual selves. I¡¯d appreciate it if the two of you could give me some feedback for how the game can be improved.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki blinked, but Dana immediately nodded her head. ¡°Sure! Should I bring my familiars along? Sienna told me that she¡¯s really looking forward to this.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately, Ashley shook her head. ¡°The game¡¯s not ready for that yet. Right now, I can only bring the two of you in by condensing all of our current work on the game and turning it into a divine ability through the Games domain, given to me by nk. That¡¯s why it can¡¯t be your Virtual selves, because I will be using this ability on your true bodies.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana hesitated, before giving another nod of confirmation. ¡°Sure. It should be fun to give it a try. How long do we have to y?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°To have both of you in the game, and fully import our work¡­ the time limit is six hours. Any longer than that, and my divinity is likely to be stretched too thin to properly maintain the different systems. Also, you will not be bringing any of your real world powers or items into the game, as new bodies are provided for you. This will also be true in the final product. However, the final product will allow the Digital Conversion system to be used on it to bring items in and out of the game, once you have the proper resources.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded at that, slowly standing up. ¡°What do we need to do for this to work?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley smiled wide, holding out both hands. A pair of sleek, metal sses appeared in each of her hands, and she handed one to each of the girls. ¡°Get somewherefortable, and put those on. I created them with my Technology domain, so they are linked directly to my divinity and can interface with the divine game I created.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana looked over the sses, nodding her head. Given that it was a divine power, there was no need for it to take the form of arger visor or anything like that. Rather, a smaller form would allow Ashley to conserve her divinity. ¡°You know, you could probably put these up on the Boundless Caravan to ask for beta testers. Anyone who is willing to pay the price you have to exhaust to keep the game up for them can have early ess to the game.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley paused, before shaking her head with a rather bitter expression. ¡°As nice as that idea sounds, the price would simply be too much. Each person would need to pay hundreds of ck gold coins per hour. However¡­ I¡¯ll keep that idea in mind. If I can create a divine server to support this power, I should be able to lessen the load considerably. I¡¯ll check if there is something like that in Fragments of Acidia, and if not I¡¯ll try to make my own.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana nodded quickly. ¡°Sure. Anyways, I¡¯m off to try the new game!¡± She said, pulling Tsubaki along with her towards the gaming room. There was a wide grin stered across her face, eager to try out the new game with Tsubaki.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki simply chuckled, allowing herself to be pulled along. In the back of her mind, she couldn¡¯t help butin at the system. <i><span style="font-weight:400">See? I can have fun¡­ I¡¯m not always restless.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once the two of them got to the gaming room, Dana hopped up into her usual chair, Tsubaki taking a seat next to her. The two of them smiled at one another, before putting their new sses on. At the same time, their eyes lost focus, their bodies slumping back in the chair as their consciousness left their bodies to enter the divine game that Ashley had created.

 Chapter 976: Alpha Testing

    Chapter 976: Alpha Testing


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki opened her eyes slowly, looking around at the wide ins that she had appeared in. There was a slight sense of difort in her body, causing her to look down at herself in curiosity. She had heard that the Keeper was working on a new game, and had even apanied him to talk to Philia about having the yer characters be based on the Sylvans. Thus, she was not surprised when she saw the golden, nt-like skin as well as the dress covering her body made of leaves and vines.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This is cool¡­¡± She heard a voice next to herself, looking over to see a much more petite Sylvan.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Dana?¡± Tsubaki asked for confirmation, the Sylvan quickly nodding her head in response.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right, Tsuba! Now¡­ let¡¯s go monster hunting!¡± Dana was eager to get started, pumping her fists together. However, Tsubaki was far more cautious.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We don¡¯t have any of our real world power right now. Whether it¡¯s magic or martial arts, our ability to fight is extremely limited. If we want to catch a monster, we will either need to establish a base to create weapons, learn the local method of utilizing special abilities, or start from an incredibly weak monster.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing Tsubaki¡¯s analysis caused Dana to purse her lips. ¡°Well¡­ are we even able to establish a tree with just the two of us?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">In response, Ashley¡¯s voice spoke up from within their minds. <i><span style="font-weight:400">For the purpose of this test, I am allowing the two of you extra freedom. The requirements to establish a tree and spend time conducting research will be removed. Think of this as a sandbox mode.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana nodded her head eagerly when she heard that. ¡°Alright, then! How do we set the tree up, then?¡±


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Merely ce your hands together, and focus on wielding the power of nature. Like this, you can create the seed.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> When Ashley exined this time, Tsubaki and Dana reacted almost immediately. Upon cing their hands together, they focused, finding that their connection with natural energy was far stronger than when they were in the real world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A momentter, a small seed appeared between their palms, which Dana abruptly snatched and nted within the soil at their feet. ¡°Now, given the time constraints, this will probably be sped up a lot, so¡­¡± She grabbed Tsubaki¡¯¡¯s wrist, turning around and sprinting away from where she buried the tree.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s eyes went wide as she was suddenly pulled away, but soon heard the sound of the earth splitting behind her. Like Dana had said, a massive tree formed almost instantly in the spot that they were standing previously, its body constantly expanding as they ran.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana kept pulling on Tsubaki¡¯s arm until Tsubaki herself took the initiative to sprint forward, and it was only after ten minutes of such a sprint that the tree finally stopped growing behind them. Now roughly five kilometers wide, the tree appeared to be a fully grown version of the ancestor tree revered by the Sylvan race.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So¡­ what first?!¡± Dana asked in excitement. ¡°We seem to be the equivalent of a high level druid, so we could probably take out some decently strong monsters with the two of us.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki thought about it for a moment, before shaking her head. ¡°We just went through the trouble of creating the tree, so let¡¯s use it first. Once we get ourselves some basic weaponry, we¡¯ll go hunting.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley sat within her office, sweat forming on her brow as she focused. The strain of hosting this game within her divinity was far harsher than she had expected, even when it was only for two people. Her eyes were closed, brows tightly knit together.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I definitely need to get a server-type artifact set up if I want to do anything like this in the future.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She thought to herself. Thankfully, she was only simting a single at the moment. With the time limit of six hours, even Tsubaki and Dana in sandbox mode wouldn¡¯t elevate themselves to space travel in the game.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Even so, she had to simte <i><span style="font-weight:400">everything</i><span style="font-weight:400"> about the game within her divinity, whether it was the wind, the systems, every individual monster¡­ She had initially thought that it would be easy, given her status as a Companion. Her mind was already used to multitasking on an extreme level to handle so many different prayers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately, it was not enough to prepare her for this. Especially when she had to note down any potential glitches that urred within the system as it was running. Some of those may merely be because of the fact that she was hosting this within her divinity, but there could be some that originated from system conflicts.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">One hour into their game time, and both Tsubaki and Dana had acquired some simple weapons for themselves. Each of them wore reinforced wooden armor, and carried a wooden spear with surprising strength. Initially, Dana had wanted to take advantage of their sandbox mode to get stronger weapons, but these were the best that they could acquire without fusing special elemental seeds with the tree.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now, they prowled through a deep forest, their eyes scanning their surroundings. ording to Ashley¡¯s exnation, there were numerous methods to tame monsters. If the proper food or drug was acquired, they could be tamed without any sort of violence. If the monster itself was docile, it could also simrly be tamed. However, the mostmon method would be to fight the monster, and force it to submit.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The key point of this was that they couldn¡¯t kill the monster that they wanted to tame, or else their efforts would have been wasted. Thus, they had to be very careful to control their strikes. Tsubaki was confident in this, as she had an ample amount ofbat training in her various Trials of Blood. Dana, on the other hand, did not engage in physicalbat nearly as frequently.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she fought, she tended to do so with magic, or through the use of her World Shadow. There was hardly ever a reason for her to practice wielding weapons in meleebat, so she was far less confident with her own prowess.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It didn¡¯t take long for the two of them to find their first monster, a small creature with ck skin and a red tail. Its pudgy body darted around a clearing with surprising agility, and Tsubaki nodded her head when she had finished studying it. Given that they did not have the same control of mana as they did in the real world, they had spent most of thest hour while the tree was developing their research to understand how tomunicate via natural energy.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯ll restrain it, and then you move in.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Tsubaki whispered mentally to Dana, who nodded her head in agreement. After a few moments, Tsubaki softly ced her hands on the ground, focusing her energy. The pudgy ck monster halted its movements, head shooting up and ncing around before vines pierced out of the ground. The monster jumped in shock, wanting to run to the side to avoid them, but the vines rose up in aplete circle, forming a dome over the monster.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Tsubaki pulled the vines tighter, they wrapped around its body, forcing it to stay still as Dana rushed forward. Seeing that the monster had no power to resist, Dana ced the tip of her spear over its heart, staring at it. ¡°Submit.¡± She said, transmitting her intent via natural energy using the method that Ashley had taught them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The monster attempted to struggle for a few seconds, before its movements died down. At that point, there was a small sh of green light, and Dana could feel something in the back of her consciousness, a connection to the monster that she had just acquired. Her face split in a wide grin, and she jumped up in joy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well?¡± Tsubaki asked with a knowing smile, walking over to examine the creature. When Dana nodded her head, the vines removed themselves from the small creature, who rolled to its feet and scratched at its ear. After being tamed by the system, the creature was now far more docile in Dana¡¯s presence.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It doesn¡¯t have a name yet, but its speed is¡­ well, we saw it earlier. Apparently, it¡¯s good at using water based abilities, but there wasn¡¯t a water source nearby for it to take advantage of.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded her head at that, looking around thoughtfully. ¡°In that case, let¡¯s try to find another monster for you to test the fusion system with. For now, keep it in your monster inventory. We don¡¯t want to risk it getting eaten.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana¡¯s eyes went wide at that, nodding her head rapidly. The ck monster vanished in another soft sh of light. ¡°Do you think that there is perma-death for the monsters in this game?¡± She asked with a hint of worry in her tone, ncing around as if worried that something would still manage toe out and get her new pet after she put it away.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It wasn¡¯t Tsubaki that answered this, but Ashley. <i><span style="font-weight:400">There is, but there are also ways to prevent it. For instance, if you acquire a certain research with your tree, you can create an upgrade to your pet inventory that lets you invest in a form of insurance. This insurance can be refreshed only by visiting the tree, so if a pet dies twice before you make it back, the only way to retrieve the pet would be one of various forms of resurrection.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana gulped, offering a small nod of understanding at that. ¡°Got it. So, be careful with what you send your monsters against. It¡¯s not worth it to send them into a fight that you don¡¯t have a good chance of winning.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki thought about that for a moment before speaking up. ¡°At the same time, if the trainer fights together with their monsters, they can take on more and more powerful creatures. If the original monster survives, it can be fused into the new monster for an overall increase in power. Is there any sort of limitation on the number of fusions a monster could go through, or a cooldown between them?¡±


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">That would be a no to both questions.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Ashley answered promptly. <i><span style="font-weight:400">However, not all fusions are upgrades. If you fuse two ipatible monsters, you could get something that is far weaker than either of the original. For instance, the monster you just acquired is ipatible with most bird-type monsters, as its body is too heavy to sustain flight at its size. Unless you are incredibly lucky, the most likely result would be an overweight bird that can barely move its body.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right!¡± Dana pumped her fists together. ¡°So it¡¯s a matter of finding what works, and running with it. In that case¡­ since Little Pudge is good with water abilities, let¡¯s look for another water-based animal to fuse it with. Tsuba, which way is the nearest river?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki closed her eyes, tapping into the natural energy. She had dabbled in Shaman techniques before, so she was familiar with the method ofmuning with natural energy. ¡°Twelve kilometers to our four o¡¯clock. However, there are some disruptions from that direction, and it feels like a fight is unfolding.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana¡¯s golden eyes practically sparkled when she heard that. ¡°Let¡¯s go! Maybe there will be two strong monsters that wear each other out, so we can take the credit and tame them!¡± After saying that, she started sprinting in the direction Tsubaki had given her. Twelve kilometers was not a small distance, so she was in quite the hurry to make it there before the monsters involved had managed to resolve their fight.

 Chapter 977: Additional Testing Required

    Chapter 977: Additional Testing Required


    <span style="font-weight:400">Six hours seemed to pass in the blink of an eye for Tsubaki and Dana. During this time, the two captured numerous lower level monsters to conduct fusion experiments so that they could learn the basic aspects of the new system. At the same time, they had managed to find the mostmon of elemental seeds, granting them ess to the basic magic system of the world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At the end of the six hours, the sses that they were wearing shattered into specks of golden light, fading into nothingness. Meanwhile, their consciousness was restored to their bodies, causing them to jerk upright. <i><span style="font-weight:400">My apologies for the rude return. However, the test this time was even more taxing than I had imagined. If possible, I would like your feedback on the experience as soon as you can provide it.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s response didn¡¯t take long at all to summarize. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I believe that this game will need to be monitored rather carefully. It would be fairly easy for a small group to get high level monsters and set up a tree to dominate a beginner zone.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Additionally, due to the fact that an ancestor tree can spread across such arge area, there is bound to be conflict when delegating space among the yers. Having arge number of starting worlds is one option, but also limits their ability to y with their friends.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">For the first problem, you can resolve it by making the more advanced trees require materials from higher level zones. This will cause the yers to move their bases when they can no longer satisfy their needs.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">As for the second problem, it is far moreplex. My advice would be a brief tutorial to introduce the various game mechanics, taking the ce of a ¡®beginner zone¡¯. In this tutorial, yers can get a basic fusion monster and a low level elemental seed like the ones we found. Once they exit, they will be allowed to join a world with no more than fifty ancestor trees active, or a total of ten thousand yers. Finally, if they have a dire need to move from one world to another to join their friends, you can simte the natural energy teleportation method of Sylvans, but in a more controlled method.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley was both surprised and thankful for Tsubaki¡¯s detailed input. While she wasn¡¯t sure how they could handle the tutorial system at the moment, the worst case scenario was that they would need to buy a small system. If that was the case, it would likely not cost more than a couple hundred points. Dana¡¯s response, on the other hand¡­


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">It was great! There were so many awesome new monsters! And the elemental seeds, it¡¯s been so long since I yed that game, I had almost forgotten about them! I wonder if Aurivy has an extra seed that I can get, I remember she used to create them for fun¡­ Oh, but for feedback or suggestions¡­ I couldn¡¯t really get a good grasp of the full game with the limited scope of the test. From what I saw, it should be really popr. Unlike the others you guys released, this game lets you experience somethingpletely ¡®different¡¯ from one¡¯s own reality.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana seemed to be looking at the game more as a yer, rather than a tester. Though, hearing how much she enjoyed it did bring a smile to Ashley¡¯s face. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯m d that you both had fun. I¡¯ll try to keep yourments in mind.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">After she said that, she let out a long breath, bringing both of her hands up to cover her eyes. ¡°Ugh¡­ finally over and done with.¡± She groaned deeply, almost grabbing her horns in frustration. Even as a Companion, her head was throbbing. ¡°That¡¯s it¡­ I need some sort of server to test this on. Whether it¡¯s done through the system or divine abilities, I need this before we start the next project.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That said, Ashley abruptly closed her eyes, sending out another message. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Ryone, do you have a minute? I need you to check something for me on the market.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Oh? Go on, what can I help you with?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Ryone asked back curiously, surprised to have been called up by Ashley like this.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I need you to search the market and look for a special item. Think of it as a Beta Test Server for Game Worlds, somewhere that the worlds can be worked on prior topletion. It might be called a Development Environment, Alpha Server, anything like that.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Functionally, what I want it to do is¡­plicated. I want it to allow us to make adjustments to the world, let us bring in yers to test it, but also have an option to convert the world to its ¡®base state¡¯ without an official reset. Like¡­ think of it like having two instances, or two branches of time. One has the world in a pristine state, the other is where we test things out. Try to find me something like that if you can.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a long pause before Ryone answered. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Sure¡­ I¡¯ll take a look. That sounds expensive, though, so I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if you can¡¯t afford it with your budget.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I don¡¯t expect to get it with my budget for World Seed.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Ashleymented, turning on her terminal to message Fifi, asking her to run a search for server-type divine artifacts in Fragments of Acidia. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I remember Aurivy saying that you and her did a test run in one of Sarah¡¯s games way back. That means that a system like this should exist, and she should have it. If I can convince Dale that it¡¯s an investment, it will make future development far smoother.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">¡­.Right, I had blocked that out of my memory.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Ryone¡¯s response stunned Ashley for a moment, causing her to fire back.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Why? I thought you really enjoyed that game?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Oh, the game was great. Being eaten alive by a mimic to be sent to Sarah¡¯s ce was far less enjoyable.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Yeah, that would exin it.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Sorry¡­ Aurivy conveniently omitted that detail. Anyways, if you can tell me how much the price is for that system, I will forward it to Dale. If it is too expensive, I n to substitute a divine artifact from Fragments of Acidia. ording to what Fifi is telling me, there are about twenty different types that would suit my needs. They will all be rather expensive to use in terms of divinity, but I can make do if I make people pay for the early ess.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Right¡­ well, I don¡¯t know if this is the same system that Sarah uses, but I found one that meets your description. I¡¯ll forward the details to your terminal.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> As soon as Ryone sent that thought, Ashley was pinged with an iing message.


    <table style="width:100%">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width:10.7955%">


    <span style="font-weight:400">Beta Reality


    </td>


    <td style="width:80.6818%">


    <span style="font-weight:400">This system is designed with the intention of aiding Game Developers, allowing them to produce their own game worlds within a safe environment. The primary feature of this system is that various game systems can be tested without first purchasing them individually. However, non-purchased systems will be hidden during the testing process. Systems avable to use in this way are those that are tagged with ¡®Game System Required¡¯ or simr tags. The game content is only avable to those in the Administration Room.


    </td>


    <td style="width:7.38636%">


    <span style="font-weight:400">50,000 Points


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley stared at the screen for several long moments, her brow slowly starting to twitch. There was a ratherrge restriction that it could only be used by people in the Admin Room. However¡­ was that a problem for them? No! Not at all! If she wanted Tsubaki or Dana to test it, they could easily return to the Admin Room. She could have Dale create a team of professional testers to run beta tests of future games.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Admittedly, fifty thousand points was a sizable sum. Though not as much as she had been prepared for, thinking that it would allow mortal ess as well. She had estimated that a system like that would run for about five times that cost. And that was without the ability to test systems before purchasing. As for it only working for systems that required the ¡®Game System¡¯ to be added? That wasn¡¯t a problem, as all of the systems that they wanted followed that theme.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If this was the system that Sarah used for her game development, everything would make much more sense. After all, she wasn¡¯t creating the game all at once to send out like Ashley had been nning. Rather, she was building it in a safe environment, and only sending it out once it was done.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Dale¡­ I know it¡¯s outside of my budget¡­ this isn¡¯t strictly for World Seed. What do I have to do to get this system?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> As she asked that, she focused on sending Dale the system description that Ryone had sent her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dale had some spare points, but it was hard to say that he had fifty thousand that he could just spend on a whim. A lot of the points could be considered an ¡®emergency fund¡¯. And while this game was an important part of their future ns, the need for this system didn¡¯t really constitute an emergency.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s why she wasn¡¯t surprised when Dale didn¡¯t immediately agree to buy it for her, as much as she would have liked him to do so. Ten thousand points. <i><span style="font-weight:400">You earned three thousand, six hundred points in thest Keeper meeting. If you can earn the other six thousand, four hundred points in this uing meeting, I will get the system for you. Additionally, I¡¯ll allow you to take your development team along with you to increase your earnings. Or, you can ask one of the others to pitch in their points. Once you¡¯ve covered a fifth of the cost, I¡¯ll handle the rest.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley¡¯s eyes widened. Even if she took her entire team to the meeting, it was debatable if she would be able to get fifty thousand points. Ten thousand, on the other hand¡­ that was entirely doable. In fact, she already knew just who to invite as the investor. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Hey, Aurivy¡­</i>


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Really, just what type of system did they manage to find? Fifty thousand points was a huge sum. If not for our more recent victory in the games, I doubted that I would be able to afford something like this. Granted, I could see where it would be useful, but still. That was why I gave Ashley the chance to pay for a part of it herself, while I would handle the bulk of the fees.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Given that the primary group using this system would be Ashley¡¯s team, it was only right to have her pay a part. As I was thinking that, I saw Ashley walking into the living room with a confident smile on her face. Did she manage to convince someone, or was she just here to try to convince me to lower the cost? Or, maybe there was some other news that she wanted to report in person?


    <span style="font-weight:400">alia¡¯s ears perked up when she saw Ashley enter the living room, as it wasn¡¯t often that she came to Olympus. ¡°Yo, Ash. Everything going well?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s great, actually!¡± Ashley said with a bright smile. ¡°I¡¯m just here toplete a transaction with Dale.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You already got someone to agree?¡± I asked in surprise, as it had been less than five minutes since the end of our conversation. Ashley cleared her throat, pointing behind her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Upon turning around, I was met with pink, fierce eyes staring at me from just inches away, small hands clutching at the back of the couch that I was sitting on. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Ahh¡­ Aurivy.</i><span style="font-weight:400">


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy brought her hands up from the couch, only to ce them on my shoulders. ¡°Shut up and take my points!¡± She cried out, shaking my shoulders.


    <span style="font-weight:400">To be fair, I should have guessed that Aurivy would be the one to go for something like this, out of all of them. More importantly, Aurivy did¡­ quite well in thest meeting. From memory, she earned nearly ten thousand points all on her own.


    <span style="font-weight:400">My head was left shaking from how she shook my shoulders, alia snickering over at the side. Tsubaki watched the whole affair with a slightly confused gaze, having missed out on a good deal of context. ¡°G-Give me a second.¡± I held up a hand to stop Aurivy. ¡°I¡¯ve got to head to the Admin Room to take care of it.¡± Really, even though I assumed she¡¯d be interested, I didn¡¯t think it would be to <i><span style="font-weight:400">this</i><span style="font-weight:400"> degree.

 Chapter 978: Free Advertisement?

    Chapter 978: Free Advertisement?


    <span style="font-weight:400">As promised, I prepared the system ording to their wishes, assigning Ashley the rights to manage it with her team. Although I had asked her to pay a portion of the fees herself, I knew just how effective the system would be when helping her. However, if I don¡¯t make the others pay for things they¡¯re wanting, why would I give them points to do so in the first ce?


    <span style="font-weight:400">As soon as I had purchased the new system, Aurivy dragged Julia over toe and try it out. At the same time, Ashley smiled warmly at me from the side, crossing her arms in front of herself. ¡°With the Beta Reality system, I can guarantee that World Seed will be ready for publicunch by the end of the month.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head, though a thought did ur to me. ¡°If the world is bought fresh, how are you going to create the World Spirit to give it the additional systems that it needs?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley nced over at me, giving a small nod of her own. ¡°I already considered that problem. There is a cheap, twenty-point system option to spawn and customize the World Spirit.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My head practically snapped over to Ashley when she said that. ¡°What about the Martial Spirit?¡± I asked, somewhat urgently.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley paused, shaking her head. ¡°I don¡¯t know about that one, I hadn¡¯t looked for it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I can answer that, I guess.¡± Terra walked out of the hall, into the living room with a smile on her face. ¡°Actually, it¡¯s something of a trick done by the system, so you wouldn¡¯t know the reason without either asking me or consulting arge number of other Keepers as a reference.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡­ suddenly feel a sense of foreboding.¡± I said as I looked at Terra, gesturing for her to continue. Though, it was nice to see her like this. Since she didn¡¯t allow her incarnations to live in Olympus, my only real chance to see her is when she descends at her temple there, or if Ie here. Descending costs a fair bit of her energy, so it¡¯s not really something that she can usually do.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra let out a lightugh, shaking her head. ¡°It¡¯s nothing bad. The final forms of the World Spirit and Martial Spirit can be considered as w entities¡¯ by the system. Essentially, every world has the chance to produce one, and their abilities are fairly static unless other systems are added that change how their core energies work.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Because of this, their prices aren¡¯t really set in stone like most other things, as they represent different levels of difficulty for different worlds. Law entities like this have their price set based on when the Keeper first unlocks them. For the Complete World Spirit, you first created the one on Earth back when you were just a First Ranked Keeper. Worse, it was in the very early stages of the First Rank. Thus, the ¡®difficulty¡¯ level determined by the system for your Complete World Spirit is just twenty points, as Ashley said.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This type of difficulty is rather standard among worlds, though there are some variations. For instance, in some cultivation-type worlds, ki is the element that fills nature. For these worlds, the True Martial Spirit is the one with the lowest difficulty level, whereas they have to go to great lengths to sense the existence of natural energy.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°On the other hand, for you, you achieved the True Martial Spirit during your Fourth Rank. This means that the difficulty was <i><span style="font-weight:400">substantially</i><span style="font-weight:400"> higher, and will be priced as an entity befitting this rank. It costs five thousand points for you to create thisw entity in any world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My brow twitched when I heard that, but I simply nodded my head. ¡°Then, I suppose we won¡¯t be including a True Martial Spirit in any of our games for quite a while. The only way to do so would be if Scarlet manually descended and created it herself. Even then, it would require the world¡¯sws to be merged with our others for her to exercise the same power.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a long sigh, shrugging my shoulders. ¡°Still, as long as the World Spirit is prepared, that¡¯s fine. Is there anything else to take care of?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley shook her head at that. ¡°Now that we have Beta Reality, I¡¯ll send you a list of the systems we need for the new game within a week.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sure enough, Ashley was able to get me everything within only a few days, and it looked like the game would be able tounch smoothly. As the end of the month approached, all that was left was a fewst minute tweaks to the AI of the various Sylvan types, and making sure that everything worked properly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In this time, Balu had contacted me with two other Keeper requests to purchase the use of my Attack Ticket. However, after considering their circumstances, I ultimately decided to uphold my deal with Berose. One of the two was just wanting a chance to trade with a different Keeper, and the other was¡­ honestly quite rude about their approach. Berose appeared to have a genuine need, while also approaching the topic kindly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Not to mention, the whole ¡®kind old man¡¯ appearance really endeared him to people. Thus, I nned to continue with what was agreed on. One day before the invasion, Ashley reported to me that the game World Seed was ready forunch. The Beta Reality system had a¡­ rather convenient function that she discovered after using it for a few days.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once she was ready toplete the game, there was an option to pile¡¯, which would automatically purchase all unowned systems for the game and list the game on the market. There were options to start the world out fresh, or save the current game map. I imagined that thetter option was for game worlds with preset maps like Fragments of Acidia.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Additionally, thepile option could only be triggered by the Keeper, as it involved the spending of points. Thus, for the grand total of seven thousand points, the game was listed on the market. Immediately, I looked at Ashley standing next to me, excitement written on her face. ¡°Find someone to deliver the game world to Berose. Remember all of the necessary preparations.¡± I instructed her, looking at the item that had fallen into my hands.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Is this what data storage has evolved into in my world?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I felt like an old man seeing a USB drive for the first time. What rested in my hand was a thin, silver strip of crystal with circuit-like patterns etched into it. Looking more closely, these patterns extended far beyond what I could see normally, and the density of the crystal seemed slightly inconsistent in certain areas, as if everything about its construction was used to carry data.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Got it.¡± Ashley nodded her head quickly, her eyes staring at the data strip in my hand. ¡°Should I go ahead and start preparing the game for our world?¡± When she asked that, I nced over, passing her the strip.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You can get it downloaded, but don¡¯tunch it yet. Wait until we¡¯re back from the meeting. I¡¯d like to have the chance to try it out myself onunch.¡± Ashley¡¯s smile grew wider at that, and she quickly nodded her head. She took the data strip from my hand, and immediately vanished from the Admin Room.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Given Berose¡¯s status, he should be able to decipher the information in the strip. If he can¡¯t, it shouldn¡¯t take long for him to create an interface for it.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> As I was thinking about that, I saw a message appear in the corner of my eye.


    <table>


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    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting has purchased World Seed! You earned 700 points in royalties.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard has purchased World Seed! You earned 700 points in royalties.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aerial has purchased World Seed! You earned 700 points in royalties.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Immediately, three purchases for the game came in, but the notifications went quiet soon after that. Not surprising, since the three were all members of my own guild. Sarah¡¯s usual customers wouldn¡¯t notice a game going live from another producer unless it was advertised to them. Still, immediately earning back thirty percent of my expenditure on the system was rather nice. I opened up the guild chat, curious to see what was going on.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Hey, we¡¯ve finally got it!


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard: You¡¯ve been staring at the market for thest few hours, haven¡¯t you?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Please, I have people for that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard: Well, at least he didn¡¯t call the AI Wiwi.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: I feel personally attacked!


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aerial: Hey, I just got the game, hope it works out well!


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Thanks. This is my first time doing something like this, so any feedback would be appreciated.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: There¡¯s the guy! So, what kind of name is Chiho!? Is there some deeper meaning or something?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Not¡­ really. I just wanted a proper name. I had my System Companion search for names from my old world that had to do with seeds and nts. I figured that if it was from my old world, even if someone managed to get something out of the name, there wouldn¡¯t be anything that would trace back to my world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard: Not a bad thought process. Though, getting something from just a name is a¡­ rather hard thing to do. If they had argernguage sample, they could probably get more information, but I don¡¯t really think you have to worry about just a name.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: I mean, that¡¯s why I do my naming scheme! They don¡¯t really mean anything, they just sound cute!


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard: Noment.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Another attack?!


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard: Regardless, I¡¯m curious to try out this game. I don¡¯t usually buy products from people other than EverLasting, but since you introduced me to her, I decided to give it a shot. I¡¯ll let you know how it goes. ording to the description, this world focuses almost purely on natural development, but what does that really mean?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: I can answer that. Essentially, it means there isn¡¯t any built in industry. Developmentes from mutation, monster development, or sources derived from natural energy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard: Hmm¡­ this game might be fairly popr with Monster Keepers, you know?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: There¡¯s¡­ nothing I can really do about that. Honestly, if I was going to worry about any system that I purchased being popr among enemy Keepers, I wouldn¡¯t be able to purchase anything, would I?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: That¡¯s right! A whole lot of Game Keepers buy my products! If I cared about that, I¡¯d be out of business.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aerial: I¡¯m back. I ran the game down to my world and fast forwarded it by a month. I¡¯m on the attacking side this time, so it gave me some more time to prep for tomorrow¡¯s invasion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Oh, that¡¯s not a bad idea! Though, doesn¡¯t that mean that you couldn¡¯t y the game yourself in that time?!


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aerial: I was getting it more for my world than myself, anyways. I¡¯ll y it when I have the free time to worry about it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: I see¡­ was it received well?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aerial: There aren¡¯t all that many negative reviews. It¡¯s a new online experience, and the unified yer type brought a strange sense of unity in my world, at least as far as the game went. I think I¡¯ve told you before, but I have a lot of wildly different races in my world. ying this game gave them all a chance to see things from the same perspective, even if it was just in the context of a game.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aerial: One critique that I am seeing is that there aren¡¯t any quests or anything, but that isn¡¯t too bad for a full sandbox game like this. It just means that the gamey is more focused on the yer actions, as opposed to the open world story. As for the elemental seeds¡­ I¡¯m not seeing much aside from people trying to figure out the conditions to get different seeds to spawn.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: ¡­Now you¡¯re making me want to try it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard: Hmm¡­ I have an idea. It might even help EarthForceOne advertise his business.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Yes?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard: If we enter the meeting wanting to y your World Seed game, perhaps a game station will be created. You all know how the meeting area works. As long as there are people wanting to do something, a venue will be made for them. The more people want it, the more likely it is to appear. We¡¯d even be able to y the game together as a trial run before the meeting ends.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Oh, I like that! And then people will see the game station and get curious, and try it themselves. Though, multiyer games like this rarely have any point rewards, it would still get the game out in front of your target audience.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Would that actually work?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Oh, yeah! I did it with one of my games ages back, since it was finished just before the meeting. I wanted to y it really bad, and a station was made for me. When people saw the station and got curious, they started ying it as well. They won¡¯t know that the game came from another Keeper unless they¡¯re told, but they¡¯re more likely to check the market for it when they get back to their own Administration Room.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: If that¡¯s the case¡­ I wee anyone who wants to do so. I n to abstain until after the meeting, so I can y it fresh at its initialunch.


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    </table>

 Chapter 979: Something Old, Something New

    Chapter 979: Something Old, Something New


    <span style="font-weight:400">There weren¡¯t any other notifications of purchase for the rest of the day. I watched the countdown, seeing it tick down by the second. When there were only five minutes left before the meeting, I produced the Attack Ticket in my hand. With a though, it was activated.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">You have activated an Attack Ticket! Please designate your new target for invasion!


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Berose.¡± I said with a nod, the system immediately updating this information. To my surprise, there wasn¡¯t any sort of achievement for using this ticket. It was just a silent change in the match listings. Thankfully, it wouldn¡¯t give my former opponent much time to prepare for their new battle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is everyone ready?¡± I asked, looking around at the people gathered around me. As usual, everyone was present, though this time there were even more peopleing with us. Not just Tsubaki, Dana, and Lifre, but also Julia, Aznod, Alme, and even Ashley¡¯s development team. Since I had already said that I would let her take her team to the meeting, she was taking me up on the offer to let them celebrate the creation of their first game.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We¡¯re ready.¡± Terra nodded her head with a grin. ¡°Same n as usual?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod of confirmation, a small smile tugging at my lips. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± There was something that we always had to take care of first in the meeting, which this time waspleting the deal with Berose. Afterwards, it would be a date with Irena and the others. As for acquiring points¡­ I would leave that to everyone else. To me, these meetings were a chance to get away, one that came only once a year. Worse, it was closer to a year and a half, if we went by normal time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The glistening, golden door appeared along the nearby wall, slowly opening to allow us entry. I could feel that the world had already been paused, and knew that it would stay that way for the next ten Standard Days.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I led the way, walking through the gate and seeing the group of other Keepers already entering the Meeting space. Everyone had their own groups with them, and my own group looked at me for a long moment. With a smile, I gave a nod of my head, signaling to them that it was okay for them to leave. I had already set up the basic speech restrictions that would prevent them from identally revealing information about the world wee from.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Alright, let¡¯s go!¡± Aurivy shouted, one hand holding Julia¡¯s arm as she rushed forward. Julia was in shock at all of the different races that she could see, and even the city that seemed to be manifesting nearby in response to their presence. ¡°Oh, there are so many things that I want to show you, I can¡¯t wait!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Pulled back to attention by Aurivy¡¯s enthusiasm, Julia couldn¡¯t help but smile warmly, doing her best to keep up with the little goddess. ¡°Alright, where do you want to go first?¡± She asked, not knowing where anything was in this newnd.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy shrugged her shoulders. ¡°No clue! That¡¯s the best part of this ce! Things just pop up!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, oh! Can I join you two? If that¡¯s okay, I mean. Don¡¯t wanna get in the way of a date.¡± Another voice spoke up from beside them, and Aurivy turned her head to see Lifre running alongside them, a grin on her face.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy merely grinned back at her, shaking her head. ¡°It¡¯s fine, Lifre. How often do we get the chance to hang out like this? Any ideas for our first destination, then?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There¡¯s this awesome maze ce I went tost time. You can either work together or race each other, and it¡¯s totally randomized. Like, you get different powers every time, and have to use those powers to figure out how to get through!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy thought about Lifre¡¯s suggestion for a moment, before shaking her head. ¡°Let¡¯s start Jules off a bit easier. This is her first time here, remember.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre blinked slowly, before giving a nod. ¡°Oh, what about that one simtion game? Not Keeper Sim¡­ I saw itst time I was here. You can set up a scenario, with a specific world and everything, and live out your own adventure!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy blinked, nodding her head. ¡°That could be cool. What do you think, Jules?¡± She asked, turning to look at the elf on her other side.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia, for her part, simply smiled. ¡°Like you said, this is my first time here. If you think that would be fun, I¡¯ll trust your judgment.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Another grin grew on Aurivy¡¯s face, and she nodded her head. ¡°Alright! It¡¯s not the best for earning points, but it¡¯s really fun! Let¡¯s get to it!¡± As she said that, she pulled Julia towards the game center that was appearing nearby.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, what would you like to do first?¡± Dana asked, looking over at Tsubaki as the two walked along. As the Keeper wanted to have his date with his wives, and Lifre ran off to join Aurivy, that left Tsubaki and Dana.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki crossed her arms in front of herself, her brows creased in thought. She instinctively navigated her way through the crowd, avoiding anyone that was just about to bump into her despite therge open area. She was already familiar with that scene, as it meant that another Keeper had paid for someone to be tracked down during this meeting. ¡°Let¡¯s look for something new.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana¡¯s eyes widened at that, quickly nodding her head. ¡°I was certain that you¡¯d want to do another trial or something.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">At that thought, a small smile spread over Tsubaki¡¯s face. ¡°I can do that in my own time. It¡¯s not often that we get to do something like this, so I would rather spend it doing something with you and the others. I wouldn¡¯t want to pull you into my trials.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana almost stumbled at that, before jumping up and hugging Tsubaki. ¡°You¡¯re the best! Okay, something new it is, then!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki had a warm look on her face as she led Dana through the streets of the meeting space, her eyes scanning over the area. She was looking for something that she hadn¡¯t done before, which was¡­ difficult. Between her previous visits to this realm, she had actually participated in many activities.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was when Tsubaki¡¯s eyes were drawn to an unfamiliar building that seemed to fade into view not far ahead of them, its ck structure a stark contrast with the surrounding buildings. Moreover, everyone seemed to be passing it by as if it simply weren¡¯t there. Tsubaki looked down at Dana, seeing an equally confused look in her eyes, before the duo walked towards the door of the building.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">For those in search of something new, mortal or god alike. A chance like no other awaits you. If you pass through this door, you will have the chance to experience life as a Keeper for a short while. Until either your death, or the moment you reach Rank 1, you will remain inside, while only a single day will pass out here. Do you ept?


    </td>


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    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki hesitated at the door, reading through the message and pursing her lips. She knew that the system was intelligent, so she grasped Dana¡¯s hand gently and spoke up. ¡°The two of us wish to enter together, is that possible?¡±


    <table>


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    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">One world, one Keeper. This is the rule. However, you can choose to have one among you be the System Companion of the other. Should you make this choice, they will be temporarily endowed with the knowledge of the system, this knowledge being removed from them at the end of the experience. While the Keeper will earn points based on their deeds in this experience, the one chosen as thepanion will not. They will exist to guide the Keeper, just as it is in reality.


    </td>


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    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki furrowed her brow, before Dana¡¯s hand gripped her own a bit more firmly. ¡°I¡¯ll be the System Companion.¡± She said with a wide smile. ¡°You be the Keeper. It¡¯s more fitting for you, anyways.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What do you mean?¡± Tsubaki looked at Dana in confusion, only for her to giggle yfully.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You spend so much time with the Keeper, and are his devoted servant¡­ don¡¯t you want to be able to see life from his perspective, so that you can better help him in the future?¡± Tsubaki¡¯s eyes widened at Dana¡¯s rather clear provocation. Still, she had a point. ¡°Besides, if one of us is going to have her memories messed with, I have more experience there, so it won¡¯t be as hard on me. You be the best Keeper that you can be, and I¡¯ll be here to help you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki hesitated, before nodding her head in agreement. She tightly held Dana¡¯s hand, and then passed through the door. ¡°We¡¯ve decided.¡±


    <table>


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Wee, Tsubaki, to the World Keeper System.


    </td>


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    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s vision spun, finding herself in an endless, gray mist. For a moment, she thought she might have died somehow, as this scene reminded her of her trips to the Underworld. Even before the system prompted her, she had managed to reconstruct her body, looking around. ¡°Where is Dana?¡± She asked, her brow furrowed.


    <table>


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    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">You must choose to create a System Companion.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">With the system¡¯s reminder, she made the selection, and Dana appeared next to her. Her eyes blinked in confusion, looking around. ¡°Wait, isn¡¯t this--oh, no, this is the Admin Room. Wait, this feels weird. Give me a second, I know things¡­ Wow, I can¡¯t even say what I know? Okay, this is freaky. It¡¯ll definitely take some getting used to.¡± Dana shook her head, blinking rapidly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Afterwards, she turned to look at Tsubaki. ¡°I¡¯m assuming that I don¡¯t need to tell you how to set up the Admin Room, right?¡± She asked, and Tsubaki nodded her head. In a moment, the gray mist receded, turning into a stone structure that Dana found rather familiar.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The Sky Citadel, huh?¡± She asked with a grin. ¡°Oh, by the way. Your Keeper title is Tsubaki here. I don¡¯t know why it didn¡¯t give you EarthForceOne like Dale, but it just gave you your name. You¡¯ll be interacting with other Keepers throughout this trial, though they will be simtions created by the system. Huh, I¡¯m allowed to say that part? Neat.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Will there be any problems if it takes me more than one Standard year toplete the trial?¡± Tsubaki asked, though Dana shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Nope, the system is prepared for that. You can¡¯t go to the meeting unless you are a First Ranked Keeper, and that¡¯s when this trial ends. You can visit the simted Keepers¡¯ Admin Rooms if you get invited, though. So! What type of world do you want to make?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki hesitated, suddenly not sure. ¡°I had never really thought about that¡­ can you show me the options?¡± She didn¡¯t know what choices Dale had ess to when creating worlds, so she didn¡¯t really know where to begin when it came to something like this.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana simply chuckled, nodding quickly. ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m here for, Tsuba!¡± With that, a series of windows all appeared in front of Tsubaki, detailing various different world types that she could choose from. To her dismay, Tsubaki found that she only had a small five hundred points to design her initial world, an amount that would not even purchase many of the additions that they had asked for from Dale in the past.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I-I see.¡± She nodded her head, suddenly feeling as if their requests might have been excessive without realizing it. ¡°Well¡­ let¡¯s go with a game world, since that¡¯s something we already know¡­¡±

 Chapter 980: Never Forget

    Chapter 980: Never Forget


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley led her team through the streets of the Meeting space, ncing off to the sides to try to find a suitable destination for them to all try to earn some points. Naturally, she had seen the Programming Disy building, but she had passed that over rather quickly, much to the dismay of her team. Although they had just released their first game, their skills were not at a level that would be considered impressive among Keepers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hey, Ashley! Long time!¡± A voice called out to Ashley, who blinked, turning and seeing a blue-skinned woman walking over. A small smile formed on her face as she identified the speaker.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Lora, how are you?¡± She asked, recognizing the woman as someone she had met in a previous meeting. Like herself, she was a goddess of another Keeper, one that was stuck at the second Rank ording to what Lora had revealed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m doing great!¡± Lora smiled, ncing behind Ashley. ¡°Got yourself a new following this time?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley thought about it, before giving a slight nod of her head. ¡°These individuals work for me back home. We brought them here today to take part in the festivities, so I was just looking for something for them to do.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lora quickly nodded her head in understanding. ¡°Want me to help? This year seems particrly packed. Guessing some big names decided that they need lots of points for uing matches.¡± She looked around at the especially busy streets, and Ashley couldn¡¯t help but agree.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, do you have any suggestions?¡± Ashley asked, turning her gaze back to the blue-skinned woman. ¡°Ideally, it would be something with a reward, but as long as it is something that they can learn from, that would be fine as well.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hmm¡­ well, if you¡¯re talking about team games, that narrows things down a lot.¡± Lora pursed her lips as she said that. ¡°There are some team diator events if they¡¯re fighters, but they don¡¯t really look the type.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Since they give off more of a problem solver vibe, why not have them do puzzle games? There are some group puzzle games around here somewhere. You know, escape type stuff. The game locks you all up in this room, seals all powers, and you have to use context hints to figure out how to get out. If you get good enough, the room gets more and moreplex, and you could end up escaping entire dimensions.¡±


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">There are escape room puzzles?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Ashley blinked a few times, nodding her head. ¡°Want to help me find them?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lora grinned, quickly nodding. ¡°Sure! Don¡¯t have anything better to do right now. It okay if I join your game? We¡¯re both under speech restrictions, so it¡¯s not like either of us will spill any secrets or anything.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley naturally agreed. Although she knew that Lora was a Goddess, and Lora knew the same about Ashley, neither even knew what domains the other had, nor could they say it. If prompted, they could say the title of the Keeper that they came with, but not their true name.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was just how things went in the space of the Keeper Meeting. Ashley had met a few different people during her trips here, Lora being one that she had made rather quick friends out of. With Lora joining the group that walked along, it didn¡¯t take long for them to find a building that itself looked like a half-finished puzzle.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">After finishing up my business collecting the small payment from Berose, I decided to take the girls to have some fun. First, we had a rather nice meal at the restaurant that came with the Meeting space. The fact that you could always get a near perfect dish was something I never wanted to pass up.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After that, though, we went to the main gaming building for a round of Keeper Sim. Since there were four of us, we ran a team game. Obviously, that meant that there wouldn¡¯t be any points since we were just ying against each other, but this was all just for fun to begin with.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The teams for this game were randomly chosen, ultimately being myself and Ryone against Terra and Irena. Initially, I wasn¡¯t sure what races the other two would pick, but Ryone chose elves right away. As for myself, I picked the demon race. Not the demons of our world, but a more supernatural demon simr to what I used in my very first game of Keeper Sim.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I wanted to be on guard, in case Irena picked a spiritual race. If she did, and I didn¡¯t have anything suitable to counter them, it could be aplete team wipe. Across the stage from us, I could see Irena and Terra discussing something, though it was impossible to make out what they were saying.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I shook my head, looking over at Ryone. ¡°You¡¯re going magic development, right?¡± I asked, and she nodded her head firmly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Gotta stick with what I know best, right? Though, hmm¡­¡± Ryone paused, thinking about it for a moment. ¡°You know¡­ I¡¯m going to mix it up a bit. Let¡¯s change their magic system to Elemental Seed.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Won¡¯t that give the seeds to the other team, too?¡± I asked with a hint of concern, though Ryone shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Description says that only a team that has chosen the relevant magic system can locate and interact with items of that system. They shouldn¡¯t even be able to see it.¡± Ryone spoke in a confident tone. As long as neither of them picked the same magic system, that was right. And if they did¡­ well, they¡¯d be able to grab them anyways.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head, but chose to keep my magic system as the default for the demon race, which was runic. Just as they were the first time I yed this race, my first units were a simple set of imps that I immediately set to mining resources. Once I had enough resources, I began spawning more imps to begin building and researching.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Over on Ryone¡¯s side, it seemed that she was lucky enough for one elemental seed to be located within her mining site. From what I could see looking over, it increased the mining rate of the unit that obtained it, allowing her to divert her other units to researching magic.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The first ten minutes of the match were rather standard, building up basic buildings and deciding development paths. For me, it was the path of spiritual evolution, allowing me to get demons such as Incubi and Hellhounds. It was¡­ admittedly strange to have an imp evolve into a demonic dog, but that seemed to be the case for this particr species.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was at the fifteen minute mark that my civilization first connected with Ryone¡¯s, forming a trade agreement. They would use their excess of gems to exchange for ¡®open borders¡¯, letting their peoplee in and search for special seeds. And, given how seeds respawned in this game just as they did in real life, she now had more than a dozen elves that had all been boosted with the same mining enhancement.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, it was also around this time that I started noticing something strange happening among my race. There were internal conflicts, various demons getting into fights for reasons that I couldn¡¯t determine. At first, I thought that it might have been a problem caused by the very nature of demons, thriving in the face of conflict.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Then¡­ I looked over and noticed that the same thing was happening on Ryone¡¯s side. Typically, elves had a more peaceful outlook when it came to one another, but now¡­ there were riots in the streets. ¡°Someone¡¯s using espionage.¡± Ryone spoke up, though I had a look of confusion on my face.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I haven¡¯t seen any troops, and I¡¯ve got several detection specialists deployed.¡± Since I was wary of ghostly assants, one of my first orders was to set up defenses against such things, such as looking for invisible or spiritual enemies. However, there had not been any such beings crossing my borders.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Still, it¡¯s happening. Do you have the ability to use third tier magic yet?¡± When she asked that, I couldn¡¯t help but shake my head. I had left magical developmentrgely to Ryone, so there wasn¡¯t much that I could offer there, with my race only having to touch the boundaries of second tier runes. ¡°I don¡¯t have a suitable seed yet¡­ Give me a few minutes to try to get a building up and running that can fix this.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she said that, she deployed forces to build three different buildings, each one heavily guarded. Her brow knit together as she watched the scenes closely. Soon, there was a fight at one of the building sites, and Ryone issued a harsh order. ¡°Fire!¡± Immediately, the guards on site released a torrent of mes that enveloped the entire building site.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The rioters were silenced, the onlooking elves frozen in shock. Once the mes died down, Ryone ordered the guards to carefully explore the burnt ruins. Among the five builders, there were surprisingly <i><span style="font-weight:400">six</i><span style="font-weight:400"> corpses retrieved.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ryone¡¯s eyes shook at the sight of the unfamiliar species. Sadly, it was burned too badly to identify. Instead, she was forced to send it to be studied, issuing a warning among her people. Simrly, I did the same. ¡°There is a hidden race infiltrating the city, sparking conflict. Anyone found to be working with this enemy will themselves be deemed an enemy.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although this was a harsh order, it needed to be in order to deter whatever influence the enemy units had over our forces. This increased the paranoia of both of our troops, slowing progress in all fields. However, it did make it so that there were fewer outbreaks.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It took a full three minutes, which was a considerable time during y, for the report toe back. ¡°Low level memetic field, leading to the unit being removed from the memory of anyone that sees it. Only active while its brain is functioning. That¡¯s why we can¡¯t see them on our map, because our troops can¡¯t identify their presence.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Almost immediately, a memory came back to me, looking over at Terra and Irena in shock. I knew this race rather well. In fact, <i><span style="font-weight:400">I </i><span style="font-weight:400">was the one that had submitted it to the system in the first ce. ¡°The Forgotten?¡± I asked, and Terra gave a yful grin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This brought up¡­ troubling implications. Going by the spread of outbreaks, there were at least ten units in each of our cities. ¡°Terra had to have sent them early, scouting the way with their special ability and limiting her own development. Right now, they¡¯re acting as spies. If she manages to sneak in any more, they will be assassins.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, all of this was giving Irena plenty of time to develop. Ryone nodded her head, understanding the same fact. ¡°I¡¯ll set up barriers around our cities to automatically attack anything thates through without the proper conditions. Even if they¡¯re removing themselves from our memories in real time, they would trigger the wards.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded at that, d to have a means of defense against invisible assassins. There was still the problem of how to deal with the ones that had already gotten inside the walls, but that was not nearly as easy to resolve. If Terra ordered them to remain passive, there would be no way to find them, and they would just be silent spies, giving her information on everything happening within our borders.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In that case, I could only hope that Terra kept having them stir up problems, since that would make it possible to narrow down their movements. Unfortunately, she had the same thoughts as myself, the riots calming down before the barrier had even been established.

 Chapter 981: Revenge

    Chapter 981: Revenge


    <span style="font-weight:400">T<span style="font-weight:400">he match between myself the other three continued to escte, Ryone pursing her lips as she examined the field. By this point, she had managed to get a few rather powerful seeds, but it didn¡¯t seem like it would be enough to turn the tides. Terra¡¯s tactic with the Forgotten had managed to critically dy our development. Worse, she was still more than likely receiving real time updates on our progress thanks to her spies within our bases.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">At this point, the only way to guarantee that we get rid of the spies would be to abandon our base and start over, relying on Ryone¡¯s barrier to keep the Forgotten inside. Even then, it just depends on how many people Terra has scattered around. The worst part¡­ if we do that, we¡¯re giving up all of our development so far, which would still put us at a huge disadvantage against Irena.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">My brow furrowed as I thought that through, before shaking my head. There wasn¡¯t much that I would be able to do to stop Terra¡¯s ploy anymore. If I knew her goal ahead of time, I might have been able to do something before her people were so deeply entrenched, but now¡­


    <span style="font-weight:400">The only thing left to do was to go full force into development. I set up policies with my people to be on the lookout for the Forgotten, immediately attacking if they found them and being wary of hostile actions taken by other demons. While this led to a more paranoidmunity, there wasn¡¯t anything else I could do about it. After a few minutes, it even resulted in the death of one Forgotten that got too close to a work site.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With this in mind, I pretended that the Forgotten weren¡¯t there, and developed my forces as quickly as I could. Unfortunately¡­ it was already toote. I looked up at Terra to try and read her expression, but what I saw out of the corner of my eye was a calm smile from Irena instead.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Above my main base, a golden circle of light appeared, illuminating the skies. The demons all looked up in unison, some even deploying defensive abilities to try and protect themselves and their surroundings. Ryone looked over in shock as a pir of light descended, immediately wiping out my entire base. Her eyes focused on the ring of light, noticing something inside of it. ¡°Binary?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Drawn by her realization, I took a look as well, and could see shifting binary within the light. <i><span style="font-weight:400">She used Ryone¡¯s own invented magic system against her?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Of course, there was more to it than that. This was arge-scale destructive magic that targeted specified coordinates. Coordinates that she had thanks to Terra.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I looked at the few demons I had that were outside of the city at the time of the st, and began moving them towards Ryone¡¯s territory. ¡°We need to set up a new base.¡± I spoke through gritted teeth. The barrier that Ryone had established wasn¡¯t meant for defense, merely to identify and attack spies.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sadly, Ryone shook her head. ¡°I think it¡¯s toote.¡± She said with a bitter smile, a simr golden ring appearing above her city. ¡°Irena wouldn¡¯t have attacked like that unless she had the resources to strike both of us.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately, it was just as Ryone said. Her own city was subsequently annihted by a golden pir of light, leaving us with only stragglers. Still, stragglers were better than nothing, right? At the very least, we weren¡¯t in cities infested with the Forgotten.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I was thinking that, golden light shed from the sky, six figures descending towards my scouts that I had sent towards Ryone. Wrapped in golden light, these figures wore highly advanced mechanical armor, their brilliant, white wings covered in thinyers of metal. ¡°She went angels¡­ angels with Arcanobinary.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but mutter to myself in surprise. With her troops fully armored, and mine little more than scouts, it only took a matter of moments for the battle to end. At the same time, ambushes were being carried out on both mine and Ryone¡¯s remaining pieces, angels descending from the skies and targeting them all urately.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once the notification that the match had been lost, the tform went dark. Irena and Terraughed, hugging each other and celebrating their victory. At the same time, I could only send a curious look at Terra. ¡°I get how you found our bases, but how did you even give her the locations of all of our remnant forces?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra grinned knowingly at that, turning to face me. ¡°That¡¯s simple. From beginning to end, I never focused on anything other than unit production. I had eyes on more than eighty percent of the map, so it was easy to keep track of where you were.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ryone¡¯s eyes turned almost listless at that reveal. ¡°So even if we had established a new base like he said¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I had a Forgotten stationed near every crystal vein on the map, yup!¡± Terraughed at that, nodding her head. ¡°I told Irena the n from the start. All she had to do was focus on developing. I would sabotage the two of you and give live updates on your progress. Once we had made sure that you were far enough behind for a quick finish¡­ well, the facts speak for themselves.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but not my head. In truth, this was a tactic that could only work in a team match. If it were a one on one, either one of us would have been able to defeat this strategy from Terra, or fight on even footing with Irena. But, because she ran interference like that, she managed to secure the win for Irena.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Still, a loss was a loss. I shot Ryone a bitter smile, which she returned right away. ¡°Alright, then¡­ to the victor go the spoils. What would the two of you like to do next?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Irena and Terra both blinked at that, looking confused. ¡°We weren¡¯t ying for any stakes, were we?¡± Terra asked with a tilt of her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I figured that if there were stakes involved, no matter how small, the system might interfere with your performance to limit your freedom.¡± I spoke honestly. In other words, I had only considered the idea before, and had just decided on it now. ¡°So, winner gets to choose our next activity.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ten days in the Meeting passed by like a rather weed vacation, but vacations always ended too soon¡­ By the time it was over, I was just regretting not being able to stay longer. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I bet the highest Ranked Keepers can open up spaces like this whenever they want, though the idea of pausing Standard Time is likely closed even to them.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">We hadn¡¯t set up a specific point to meet at the end of the meeting, but that didn¡¯t really matter. Once the red door appeared in front of me to take me back to the Admin Room, everyone immediately returned with me, as if having been teleported. At the same time, Standard Time resumed. I received three notifications all at once.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The first notification was of the points that I had received from everyone that had participated this time. To my surprise, Tsubaki managed to break the record for the number of points won with a full eighteen thousand. She also seemed slightly conflicted, going by her facial expression, but I would ask her about that in a bit. Sadly, there weren¡¯t any special tickets this time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The second notification was that my ¡®invasion¡¯ had been sent off to Berose,pleting our trade agreement. Since I had arranged for that before the Meeting, there wasn¡¯t anything else for me to worry about on that end.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Finally, the third notification was about my next opponent, a Keeper named ¡®LoneWolf¡¯. I was on the defense this time, so I would need to get information about LoneWolf as quickly as I could. Or, at least¡­ that was the assumption I had at first.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I was thinking who to ask about LoneWolf, a fourth notification appeared in front of me. I arched a brow, ncing down at it before my eyes widened.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Warning!


    <span style="font-weight:400">An attack ticket has been used against you! Your scheduled match has been altered ordingly. Please check the updated information!


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡­ have a very bad feeling about this.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I looked over at Terra, whose face had gone positively pale, and refreshed the match information.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Opponent name: RagnaRocker


    <span style="font-weight:400">Battle Type: Defense


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes went wide as I saw that information. RagnaRocker was the same Keeper that had originally targeted Berose, one who ording to the old man specialized in apocalyptic entities. It seemed like he saw that I was the one who blocked him from attacking Berose, and managed to get an attack ticket of his own to get revenge.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">If he is aiming for revenge¡­ does that mean that he had gathered enough monsters to confidently take out Berose, or is he just using me as an example to deter other people?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> If it was the former, then¡­ whoever reced Berose as his previous target was very likely doomed, since he would not have likely had the chance to inform the creatures under his control about the changed schedule.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Either way, this was bad. ¡°Chel! We¡¯ve got a problem!¡± I called out, startling the others that had returned with me. Terra lifted a hand and snapped her fingers, sending them all off in different directions to return to their own tasks, as Chel herself appeared in front of me, looking confused. With James having been unable toe with us to the meeting, Chel herself stayed behind as well. Her identity was rather sensitive, after all.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Uh¡­ what¡¯s going on?¡± She asked, looking between me and Terra, seeing the serious looks on our faces. ¡°Who is it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°RagnaRocker. An apocalypse specialist.¡± Chel¡¯s eyes widened at my words, looking at Terra for confirmation and receiving a brisk nod.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What method of apocalypse?¡± She asked hurriedly, already starting to pace back and forth.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Void monsters, ording to the information that I¡¯ve heard. They don¡¯t have any preset rules, just specializing in eliminating life from worlds.¡± Chel bit her lip when I exined that, her ears t against her skull.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯ll be tricky. If he really wants to go after us, he can send world breakers. Forget just wiping out life, it could destroy entire dimensions. The potential of a world breaker is the standard to rise to the fourth tier, after all.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My brow twitched as she spoke. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ not a good thing to hear right now, Chel. I would like solutions. Ideas. Anything that we can prepare. We have one hundred days. I¡¯d rather not be unprepared.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right, sorry. This is above my paygrade. I don¡¯t know how much I can do with my knowledge on the subject. The first thing we should do is drastically reinforce our void defenses. If he sends world breakers or specialized apocalypses, our current barriers won¡¯t be enough. Combining the barriers with the Hypene Network will offer a small amount of defense and weaken the rules of a void monster in the protected territories, but everywhere else will be doomed.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That¡­ was at least a start. ¡°So, we need to make sure in the next month that all of our inhabited colonies are under the protection of thework?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel hesitated to answer, before ultimately shaking her head. ¡°It¡¯s not enough. When I say weaken, I mean that the apocalypse will only be able to <i><span style="font-weight:400">almost</i><span style="font-weight:400"> kill its targets. Crippling ny percent of the poption is still an apocalypse in itself, it¡¯s just a slower one. If they¡¯re a world breaker, then thework won¡¯t do anything.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We need backups, countermeasures, and failsafes. I¡¯m going to have to make contingencies for any type of apocalypse that I cane up with. I¡¯ll get back to you once I have more. Until then, reinforcing our void defenses and nurturing powerful Fallen Gods should be your highest priority.¡± With that, Chel immediately turned, rushing back to the hall to head for her room.

 Chapter 982: Planting The Seed

    Chapter 982: nting The Seed


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once Chel left, I met up with Tsubaki and the others again to begin to fill them in on what had happened. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Of course this would happen right as we wereunching our new game¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Because of World Seed¡¯sunch, I was now in a somewhat tricky predicament.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Oh, yes, there is an apocalyptic invasion on the horizon. By the way, the long awaited title World Seed has now been released!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> If I tried to release the information too soon with World Seed, it would only cause unprecedented chaos among the various worlds.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I knew that I was going to have to take advantage of the time eleration in order to gradually share the news with the world. Just enough to help guide them towards the next step of preparations. ¡°What do you wish to do, my Keeper?¡± Tsubaki asked in a serious tone, Dana and Lifre sharing her concerned expression on either side of her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Before the invasion, we have goals we need toplete. First, we need far more Fallen Gods at our disposal to fight the void beasts. Secondly, James and his team have to finish their new void generator. We¡¯ll be needing it for the invasion, more than likely. Third, all of ours have to connect with the Hypene Network. Finally, we need severely upgraded void barriers around each realm.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Even with all of that, I knew that I wouldn¡¯t be able to save everyone. This was someone who had been strong enough to worry a Keeper at the very peak of the Fourth Rank. I didn¡¯t want to think about the number of casualties we¡¯d have to face from this¡­


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded her head, a look of contemtion on her face. ¡°Regarding this matter, I have a suggestion, if my Keeper is willing to hear it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course, Tsubaki. You know that your input is always wee.¡± I nodded my head to reassure her, and her tails began swishing happily.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Before the invasion, we can evacuate people to Fyor. Fyor has never struggled with void monsters due to the variousyers of ck stone. Despite how many cling to its surface in the void, the effects can¡¯t be felt within the world itself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes widened at that, and I quickly nodded my head. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. Though¡­ I don¡¯t know. Fyor has so much space, it can easily amodate all of the residents of our primary worlds. Even Lorek and Spica couldfortably move their entire poptions over to rest in the higher floors.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°However, the others¡­ like the Network of the Metong, the March¡¯s empire¡­ Even if Fyor has so much space, it can¡¯t fit two gctic empires.¡± Tsubaki¡¯s suggestion was truly a good one. However, there were still gaps. For instance, the apocalypse could destroy all life left in the worlds that had been evacuated, crippling future production.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki pursed her lips, then nodded her head. ¡°In that case, I suggest that my Keeper at least move Olympus to Fyor before the battle. No matter how much damage the rest of the world suffers, there is still the possibility of recovery so long as my Keeper remains alive. It may seem cruel, but nothing can be allowed to happen to you personally.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes widened at Tsubaki¡¯s suggestion. It was logical, but still, it was hard to imagine Tsubaki suggesting that I run away from a fight. As I was thinking that, Dana sent me a brief, mental exnation. <i><span style="font-weight:400">We found something in the Meeting previously. It let Tsubaki be a Keeper herself until she hit the First Rank, and I became her System Companion.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a long sigh when I heard Dana¡¯s words. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Ahh¡­ I see, thanks.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Tsubaki had always been protective of me, but it hadn¡¯t been to such a great extent that she was unwilling to let me fight at all. From what Dana said, she must have learned from her own time as Keeper, and gained a new level of understanding for what it meant.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Tsubaki¡­ I can¡¯t just sit the invasion out. An invasion of this scale is meant to target someone of my strength. If I don¡¯t participate, there may not be a world left to save.¡± I spoke to her in a gentle tone, but Tsubaki shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As long as my Keeper evacuates arge enough poption to Fyor, we can rebuild after the invasion.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a somewhat bitter smile at that. ¡°And what if the apocalyptic void monsters invade Fyor, using things like the Fairy Rings? You can¡¯t possibly expect me to destroy those and trap everyone on Fyor, can you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s eyes widened, and she bit her lip softly. Seeing that, I continued. ¡°I will move Olympus to Fyor, but I will also participate in the battle in the void. That way, I won¡¯t be caught in the initial wave of destruction. This is the best that I can promise you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki clenched her fists, before letting out a long breath and nodding her head. Her eyes came up to focus on my own. ¡°Very well, my Keeper. However, until such time as the invasion, I will continue to strengthen myself, to ensure that I can fight alongside you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s what your Legend¡¯s all about, isn¡¯t it?¡± I asked her with a knowing smile. ¡°My life is in your hands, Tsuabki. I trust you to guard it well.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki gave a firm nod at that, a faint hint of a smile returning to her. At the same time, Lifre jumped over. ¡°Okay, now that that¡¯s all out of the way, let¡¯s get started with World Seed!¡± I blinked, looking over at Lifre.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Now¡¯s¡­ not really the time, is it?¡± I asked, feeling a slightly awkward atmosphere. However, Lifre merely smirked at me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Now¡¯s the only time for it! All of those preparations that you talked about, how many of them can you actually do right now? You¡¯ve got to release the game anyways, right?! Or what, are you going to wait however many years it takes to get everything ready, and then only start the game after it¡¯s already old news?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I hesitated at Lifre¡¯s rebuttal, not really able to find the words for it. This time, it was her turn to press her advantage. ¡°You can¡¯t do any of your preparations right now. The only thing that you can do to help yourself is try to have a bit of fun to take your mind off of things. Besides, you could get a super awesome seed from the game, and that could turn the tide of battle in the future, right? Right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s head shot up at that, her eyes wide in realization. ¡°That¡¯s correct¡­ items from the game may be brought out into the real world. If a sufficiently powerful Elemental Seed is discovered, it can be retrieved. So far, the only such seeds in existence are the imitations made by Lady Aurivy.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°About that¡­ I¡¯m actually curious to know what will happen.¡± Dana suddenly spoke up, causing the others to look over at her. ¡°Well, think about it. The Elemental Seed system is supposed to be its own type of magic with its own rules. However, the ones Aurivy made are just a modification to Elemental Magic. Clearly, they operate under different rules, and were just the closest representation that Aurivy could make.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Now, assuming that Dale hasn¡¯t purchased the Elemental Seed system for the other worlds, that means that the Digital Conversion system will try to trante it to a suitable item following the same logic as when it sends a magic card into Fragments of Acidia.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s¡­ a very good point.¡± I nodded my head at her words, now curious myself as to what that would create. ¡°Will it make the same type of seeds as Aurivy, or something entirely new?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In my opinion, I think it will create a new type of magical artifact capable of replicating the effects of the seed, as opposed to one that only enhances an Elemental Mage.¡± Dana spoke up with confidence. ¡°That¡¯s my expectation, based on my various tests with the Digital Conversion system.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right¡­ Either way, we¡¯ll need to get started on the game to find out. Once we get in and find one, we¡¯ll be able to test it out.¡± As I said that, I took a deep breath, descending back to Olympus. Ashley had already uploaded the server information of World Seed, so it was ready to be essed at any time. All that was needed was the distribution of the software to connect to it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I sent a message to Ashley to announce the release of the game, and then one to Chiho to make sure that the game was fully ready. Finally, I sent a message to Gerard to update him on everything that was happening while I went with Tsubaki and the others towards the game room of Olympus.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Speaking of which, the Sylvans are an all female race¡­ please tell me that Ashley set up both genders for the game.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I suddenly felt a pang of dread as I slipped the visor over my eyes. We could have logged in with our Virtual Selves, but they were in the middle of a mission to deliver high level materials to a neighboring empire, so it was best to do so with our real selves.


    <span style="font-weight:400">To my surprise, there was no character creation period. When I logged into World Seed, the only option I had was which world I wanted to spawn in, as well as whether or not I wanted to do the tutorial. I asked Chiho to put us all on the same world, one that wouldn¡¯t immediately be flooded with new yers when the game went live.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a sh of light, and I found myself standing beneath a bright sky, atop a grassy ins. Looking down, I was relieved to find myself looking like a male equivalent to the Sylvan species. I had golden, nt-like skin, leafy vestment, and I could feel my long, elven ears. As I was confirming my own appearance, several other shes appeared alongside me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Looking over, I saw multiple female Sylvans appearing, though it was impossible to immediately identify all of them just by their faces, given the race change. There were¡­ five shorter girls, and four taller ones. Those numbers did not seem to quite match up with the amount I was expecting.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay, everyone¡­ roll call.¡± I spoke up, and the yers all began to introduce themselves. The five shorter girls were Lifre and Dana, who I expected, but also Aurivy, Sienna, and ra. The four taller ones were Tsubaki, Julia, Ryone, and Leowynn. I looked curiously at Ryone and Leowynn, only for Ryone to give me a knowing smile.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It takes ten to establish a tree, right? Or were you nning on abusing admin power for it?¡± She had a point¡­ I hadn¡¯t honestly thought about that. As for Aurivy and Julia, their reason for being here was obvious.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Should we set up the tree here, then?¡± Aurivy asked impatiently, grinning practically from ear to ear. ¡°The spawn point will automatically change once the tree¡¯s been established, so other yers won¡¯t just appear here, even when they do start showing up on this.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod, and the ten of us all linked hands. Setting up the tree was rather easy, but also slow. Although, the process was not nearly as long as a real ancestor tree. Normally, having a tree fully grown would take a year, at which point the green Sylvans will appear together with the first golden. Instead, the growth of the tree this time would take twenty-four hours.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Do we need to have someone remain behind to guard the tree while we go explore?¡± ra asked curiously, though Dana shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Even if they stayed behind, it wouldn¡¯t do much. Better to move on our own and find a seed, so we can start developing our powers.¡± Aurivy said with a shake of her head. At the same time, I had a thoughtful expression.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If Admin Commands are used to grant a seed, would that seed still be able to be taken out with Digital Conversion?¡± I thought aloud, Aurivy looking at me with a somewhat disappointed gaze.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°<i><span style="font-weight:400">Technically</i><span style="font-weight:400">, yes, but that¡¯s no fun!¡± She pouted at that, causing me to chuckle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I only want it so that I can test the Digital Conversion system, not to use for myself.¡± That said, if I didn¡¯t find a good seed before the invasion, I would most certainly choose to grant myself one through the admin controls.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy blinked, having apparently had the same thought as Dana when it came to that system. ¡°Okay¡­ but we¡¯ve got to get rid of the in-game seed afterwards! Those are the rules that¡­ I just made up!¡±

 Chapter 983: Lifre’s Puppy

    Chapter 983: Lifre¡¯s Puppy


    <span style="font-weight:400">After discussing it with everyone, I used the admin controls to acquire a basic Strong Wood seed for myself, and then saved it with the Digital Conversion system. With that done, I logged out, pulling the visor off of myself in the ¡®real world¡¯.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now, in World Seed, this seed took a form simr to an elongated egg with wisps of green light and smoke circling around it. When created with the Digital Conversion system on Earth, it took the form of a small, circr token. On the front of the token was an icon of a tree, and I could sense rich mana and natural energy from it. Narrowing my eyes, I focused on appraising the token and activated one of my more rarely used Keeper abilities.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Magic Seed: Strong Wood


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ability: Reads the user¡¯s mana to recreate their intentions via manipting wood. Can be absorbed by the body for more convenient use.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked as I read through the description of the ¡®seed¡¯ in my hand. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Like we thought, it¡¯s different than the ones Aurivy made. There will probably be a fewpanies trying to figure out how to reproduce these in the near future.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I shook my head, pinching the token between my fingers hard enough that it shattered, dissipating into mana and natural energy. Afterwards, I leaned back in the seat and slipped the visor back into ce to log back in.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I arrived, I found the others all waiting for me, so I quickly exined the effects of the token that had been created. At the same time, I got rid of the one that had spawned. Honestly, if I wanted to keep a seed, it would be a much more powerful one. Our characters were already essentially high level druids and shamans, so that particr seed only gave a slight enhancement when using wood-based abilities.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, my seeds earlier were a failure?¡± Aurivy asked, pouting her lips. Julia quickly shook her head to deny Aurivy¡¯s statement.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I don¡¯t think that they were a failure. I think that they were a proper integration between the seed system and the regr geometric system. This is just aplete trantion.¡± She assured with a bright smile, causing Aurivy to nod her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Alright¡­ so, now what?¡± She looked around, Dana being the first to answer.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Monster hunting! That¡¯s the whole point of this game, right? Finding, taming, and fusing monsters?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Ryone agreed, seeming a bit eager herself. ¡°With the ten of us here, there¡¯s no reason to wait for the tree to finish growing.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Makes sense.¡± I closed my eyes, nodding my head and focusing. With so many of us, I had no doubt that we could take on some monsters on our own. ¡°There¡¯s a pack of monsters resembling wolves off to the east, about three hundred meters. It looks like they¡¯re slowly moving towards us, so they¡¯re probably on the hunt.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What element can you sense from the creatures?¡± Tsubaki asked, causing me to arch a brow. ¡°I discovered when I was ying this game with Dana that all monsters release a faint elemental fluctuation in this game, which showcases their affinity.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod, sensing them once again. ¡°Water¡­ no, ice. They¡¯re releasing a faint aura of ice in their surroundings.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I opened my eyes, I saw Aurivy, Dana, and her familiars all grinning at one another. ¡°You girls thinking what I¡¯m thinking?¡± Aurivy asked, the other three nodding their heads.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thunderstorm!¡± They shouted in unison, before holding their hands up to the sky and focusing. Natural energy surged around their bodies, forming a thin pir of light that shot into the sky. Immediately, the clouds began to darken, rolling and thundering.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Isn¡¯t the rain just going to make them stronger?¡± Leowynn asked, though Julia shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The rain will only fall if they want it to. They¡¯re condensing the clouds and building up the charge in them. It¡¯s a basic Druid principle to save energy on creatingrger streams of lightning.¡± As Julia finished speaking, we could see the wolves in the distance approaching for the first time. Frost spread where they stepped like footprints, and they were charging over to surround us.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At a nce, there were twenty of these beasts, though I knew that there were a few more hiding in the back from when I was sensing. I felt a surge of energy, lightning bolts as thick as my body striking down and gathering around the four girls. They did not hit the ground and dissipate, rather condensing into orbs that hovered around them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Aurivy and the others opened their eyes, these balls of lightning shot out arcs of electricity, leaping from wolf to wolf. In the distance, I could just imagine the hiding monsters turning and fleeing at the sight of the pack being incapacitated like this. Their bodies slid along the ground, twitching as the electricity clung to them.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Well, that was anticlimactic.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I thought to myself with a shake of my head, looking at the wolves. ¡°So¡­it looks like there¡¯s enough for everybody to have a starter pet.¡± I said, only to be interrupted by Aurivy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Wait! This is a perfect chance!¡± The others all looked over at her for an exnation, Aurivy grinning. ¡°The monster fusion system! Fusing a monster with its own kind has the highest sess rate! It won¡¯t change into a new species or anything, but it will strengthen the original monster in all aspects. With so many frost wolves, we can create a single pet, strengthened four times over. That¡¯ll be more useful than having all of us with a single frost wolf!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡­ see. In that case, who wants this one?¡± I looked around. None of us had any particr affinity with the ice element, so it was really up for anyone to pick.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, I¡¯ll take it! I¡¯ve always wanted a puppy, ever since Dana got hers!¡± Lifre jumped into the air, waving her hand.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy nodded her head, exining the process. ¡°Go over and tame sixteen of them. Then, split them up into groups of two and fuse them together. Repeat this process until you only have one left. As for the other four, you can create a double-strengthened pet in case we find more frost wolves in the future for you to continue strengthening.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre nodded her head, running over and cing her hand on the twenty spasming wolves. Each one was wrapped in a faint glow, vanishing briefly before reappearing and standing calmly beside her. As I watched this process, a thought urred to me. ¡°Why don¡¯t we just save one as a blueprint, and then recreate it repeatedly to further the strengthening process?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre¡¯s ears perked up, looking at Aurivy in excitement. Unfortunately, Aurivy shook her head. ¡°There¡¯s nothing like Blood Heart or Mage Heart in this game. If we want to create a monster, we need another source of ki and mana, or else we¡¯ll be bleeding ourselves dry every time we make one. There might be upgrades we can get for the tree to producerge quantities, but until then, we don¡¯t have an option like that avable.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That earned a small pout from Lifre, who sullenly returned to taming the wolves. However, halfway through, she looked over in a panic. ¡°Aurivy! I only have ten pet slots!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy simply rolled her eyes at that. ¡°Just merge them in pairs as you get them. Make sure that you only merge them with ones of the same level, though. Otherwise, there¡¯s a risk of negative mutation.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre blinked, quickly fusing the ten she had already acquired, before resuming the taming process. Every time the wolves fused together, the result was arger, more powerful beast. Originally, each of these wolves was as tall as my waist, but after she was done¡­ There was one just as tall as I was when standing on all fours, and one that was more than double my height.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The taller of the two released an unmistakable aura of ice, the ground beneath it freezing. Just standing near it caused the temperature to drop by tens of degrees. Its breath was a cloud of frost, and Lifre happily climbed up on top of it. ¡°I¡¯ll call you Fenny!¡± As she spoke, she unsummoned the smaller of the two, looking over at us.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although the beast was quiterge, it was not enough for all of us to ride together. At most, the smaller five could ride together with two of the others. Seeing this, she pursed her lips. Reluctantly, she dismounted from Fenny and unsummoned it, causing it to fade away.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, let¡¯s find the next batch, then!¡± She quickly cheered herself up, leading the way to continue.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Ashley released the news that World Seed had been released, there was a rush of activity. yers from every game eagerly went to check out the new product. It had been so long since Fragments of Acidia first came out, they were looking forward to seeing what awaited them in this new game.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There were those who first checked Darkme Technology¡¯s website, making the connection between this game and the old Natural Seed game. However, the fact that this was a ¡®real¡¯ game opened up so many possibilities. There had always been people wanting to bring the effects of elemental seeds into the game world, with only varying amounts of sess based on personal experiments.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Additionally, many were interested in the prospect of ying as a Sylvan, given that the vast majority of the poption never had the chance to interact with this rtively reclusive race. Finally, there were the monster tamers of the world, eager to see what sorts of creatures they could create within the game.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Like Aurivy, many of them quickly realized that they wouldn¡¯t be able to bring their own pets into the game, but the reverse was entirely possible. As long as they created a sufficiently powerful monster in the game, they would be able to reproduce it in real life. The only real downside was that they would no longer be able to fuse that monster in the real world, as that system was exclusive to the game.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Regardless, there were billions of yers for World Seed within only the first three hours of the game¡¯sunch, scattered across the various worlds. They wereing together to form their own trees, some opting to skip the tutorial while others experienced it for themselves to get a better understanding of how to utilize their new abilities.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Meanwhile, as World Seed became flooded with yers, various research institutions received a message from the Ashtanu Research Foundation led by James. This message, which came with the God-Queen¡¯s seal, gave a priority order to these research stations to focus on void defense ns for an indefinite period of time, with the God-Queen herself agreeing to handle the relevant research fees..


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although there was no explicit reason given, this message was already quite effective. Few people would refuse an order stamped by the Greater Pantheon, and these institutions were chosen due to their excellence in void studies to begin with. Although some were reluctant, they put aside their current projects to begin looking into better defense ns for the void.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While this was happening, various churches of the Greater Pantheon were likewise being given a mission to select skilled candidates to ascend as Fallen Gods. As with the researchers, there was no exnation given, only the mandate that candidates must be chosen and trained for this new position.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With most of the world distracted by the new game, World Seed, there was a silent operation in the background to help prepare for the inevitable. And although this operation was missed by most, there were naturally those few able to pick up on it, due to their connections with various sectors.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The n elder of the ninjas, as a prime example, looked at the various reports that had beenpiled. With their informationwork, it was an easy thing to piece together. Despite the secretive nature of the research teams, many had long been infiltrated by them. ¡°So¡­ there is some void threat anticipated by the Greater Pantheon, perhaps even the Keeper himself?¡± The elder muttered to himself as he looked at the reports.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With the information in front of him, the elder naturally had one objective, and that was to prepare on his end as well. If there was a void threat, then they would need skilled soldiers to fight it.

 Chapter 984: Starting Over

    Chapter 984: Starting Over


    <span style="font-weight:400">We spent the rest of the day in World Seed, each of us getting a new monsterpanion. Since none of us took the tutorial, we didn¡¯t get the ¡®free¡¯ pet that it offered, and instead had to make do with finding our own. For instance, the one that I received first was a bird capable of firing wind des with a p of its wings. Afterbining it with a fire-attribute lizard, it becamerger, able to wrap its body in mes as well as shoot them out like its basic ability.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, we weren¡¯t able to find any powerful elemental seeds. Out of the simple need to have <i><span style="font-weight:400">something</i><span style="font-weight:400">, each of us acquired either a Flowing Water, Strong Wood, or Solid Stone seed. If we wanted something better, we would need to rely on luck to find it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">On the bright side, our tree had fully grown after an entire day of waiting, and it was spreading its influence to reshape the meadow where we spawned into a dense forest. This also meant that we could begin work on the research projects that the tree offered. Looking at those research options, there were a few things that caught my eyes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">First, I could choose to go down the ¡®mutation¡¯ tree, which would grant new abilities to the yers. Alternatively, there was the option to create natural weapons such as spears or swords. Then, there were the monster-rted options, letting yers bind monsters to the tree to automatically protect it or even have more monster slots.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The final research path that really attracted my interest was the ability to set up shops in the trees, where yers could sell the items that their tree created to yers from different areas. That was likely to be the basis of the game¡¯smunity-driven content. The first thing that I was interested in was the ¡®mutation¡¯ path, as it would enhance the strength of the yers both in the short term and down the road.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I selected the option to research ¡®mutation¡¯, I was surprised to find a text field appearing in front of me, asking to define the goal of the mutation. Blinking, I looked over at Aurivy, who had the most experience ying this game in the beta. Aurivy grinned, seeming to realize what I wanted before I had the chance to say anything. ¡°You picked a mutation to research, right? I think it¡¯s because of how Ash set up the system, so it¡¯s more freeform rather than strict choices.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Just type in the mutation goal, and it will process the request. First, it identifies if any other mutations are needed to make it work, creates a list of everything required, and then disys it for you. There¡¯s something sort of simr with weapons, as it asks you to design the weapon you want, and then goes through material research and all of that. To have an itemized list, you need to choose one of the options that interacts more directly with other systems.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod of my head, thinking that over. Out of curiosity, I began writing in the text field, telling the tree to create a mutation to allow natural flight. Upon confirming my choice, I waited to see the list of research options that it created.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Research: Body Modification - No Extra Resources Required. 4 hours


    <span style="font-weight:400">Research: Additional Limbs - No Extra Resources Required. 4 hours


    <span style="font-weight:400">Research: Wings - No Extra Resources Required. 4 hours


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but arch a brow at that. Twelve hours wasn¡¯t that bad. Still, I canceled that research project, as it was only a test to begin with. <i><span style="font-weight:400">We can already use natural energy to fly with a bit of effort. If I want something useful to us¡­</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">After writing in the new entry to the system, I nodded my head. The ability to sense Elemental Seeds at a long distance would ensure that we were able to find the most fitting seed for each individual, as long as it was close enough. The list of researches for that, though¡­ enhanced senses, enhanced natural affinity, natural energy distortion detection, mana detection¡­ in total, it would take a week to get through the entire list.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">That timeframe might go down as more ¡®research units¡¯ are spawned, but that¡¯s still quite a big difference.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Regardless, I nodded my head and let the tree get to work. ¡°We¡¯ll need to find five elemental seeds of different types if we want to finish this batch of research.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I exined that to everyone, they blinked, quickly looking at the tree¡¯s user interface. While they were doing so, I began thinking to myself. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯s already been one day of the month. Even if the game is fun, there¡¯s no way that I can keep doing this the entire time. And if I fast forward, not only will our progress be lost here, but thepany we¡¯ve worked on in Fragments of Acidia will likely fall apart.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">My fist clenched at the thought, knowing that the safety of the world was far more important than having a bit of fun in a game. If I fast forwarded, then my Virtual self would be frozen. ¡°Dana, I want to give you a mission.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You want me to go out and find the seeds?¡± Dana tilted her head, blinking. However, I shook my head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not for this. In Fragments, I want you to set thepany up so that it can operate without us for an extended period. How long would you need for that?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana¡¯s eyes briefly widened, but she gave a nod of her head. ¡°I should be able to have it done in a few hours. We don¡¯t have any named NPCs, so all I have to do is set up an automated system for trades that would let us maintain our current status. I can¡¯t guarantee growth, or that we won¡¯t be bought out in the time that we are gone, though.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s fine.¡± I nodded my head. ¡°If thepany is lost, I¡¯ll just give up on getting the technology of that game through a yer¡¯s means. I n to do a ten year skip, to give time for the current void defenses to be upgraded to the next level. After that, I¡¯ll probably put my Virtual self in this game, since it has more potential for training.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I looked over at Aurivy, Ryone, and the others. ¡°I¡¯ll leave it up to you to keep this tree going until then as a side project. If Tsubaki or the others wish to go to the Admin Room to join me for the skip, they can. Same with you, Julia, of course. You can be with Aurivy there or here, whichever you prefer.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia smiled, reaching down to hold Aurivy¡¯s hand in her own. ¡°I¡¯ll remain here. I¡¯m the God of Wood, right? Who better is there to manage this tree? Do you have any requirements for how you want it to be when youe back?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I thought about that, before shaking my head. ¡°If it¡¯s possible, I¡¯d like the tree to be able to generate elemental seeds itself. Ten years is a lot of time for a game, and I expect there will be many people that manage to achieve interster travel either by reproducing our technology through natural means, or unlocking special abilities.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Speaking of¡­ if it is possible, having the tree generate ki and mana would make it easier to operate in the future, since we would be able to use the Digital Conversion system more freely. Aside from that, Aurivy can fill you in on the details of our enemy.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I prepared to log out and ascend to the Admin Room, I added on another detail. ¡°I don¡¯t expect that this game will be the key to oveing our trial, but rather just a supplement to our abilities. Don¡¯t feel too pressured toe up with something powerful. It¡¯s more important to just have fun and enjoy yourself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying that, I logged out of the game, with Dana and Tsubaki following me. It seemed that Lifre had chosen to stay descended, likely to find her own adventures over theing years. While I was getting ready to ascend to start the process, I heard Tsubaki speaking to Dana. ¡°Dana, please join my Keeper once you have finished the mission he asked of you.¡± She said in a soft voice, causing both Dana and myself to look over at her in surprise.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯re not going to the Admin Room with us?¡± Dana asked curiously, actually looking above Tsubaki¡¯s head to see if she had any damage, such as a fever. ¡°I figured you¡¯d stay right next to him the whole way.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki shook her head, smiling towards me. ¡°While I believe that would be nice, I must remain here in order to train. As my Keeper has pointed out, the uing invasion is a difficult one to ovee. For that reason, I ask my Keeper¡¯s forgiveness, for I won¡¯t be able to join you this time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I hesitated, looking at Tsubaki. ¡°Will you really be alright by yourself here?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s smile became wider at my concern. ¡°I am not alone, my Keeper. There are the others of the Greater Pantheon here, though I will be focusing on my own matters. If I truly find my solitude to be overwhelming, I will join you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I pursed my lips, before giving a small nod. ¡°I¡¯ll hold you to that, Tsubaki. I¡¯ll see you soon.¡± After I said that, I ascended to the Admin Room to get things ready.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I will see you in ten years, my Keeper.¡± Tsubaki bowed at the sight of the Keeper leaving, Dana looking over at her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Are you sure about this..?¡± Dana asked, knowing just how important it had always been for Tsubaki to serve the Keeper.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki merely nodded, her eyes closed. ¡°He will have no need of me in the Admin Room. It is better to spend my time umting experience for theing battle.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana arched a brow. ¡°What if I say I¡¯m going to y all sorts of games with him while you¡¯re gone?¡± Tsubaki¡¯s ears twitched, lowering slightly. ¡°How is it that your ears are still the most honest part about you¡­ well that and your tails.¡± She looked back at the drooping tails.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Take care of him while I¡¯m training.¡± Tsubaki said in a soft tone, causing Dana to nod her head firmly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Don¡¯t worry, Tsuba. If he needs anything, I¡¯ll take care of it.¡± After she said that, Dana turned to begin carrying out the mission given to her by the Keeper. Although she could simply let her Virtual self settle the matter, it would be handled more quickly if she took part by writing out ns in the real world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While she was doing that, Tsubaki took a deep breath, walking to the exit of Olympus before tearing open a gate in the void. When she walked through the gate, it took her to the entrance of the Ashtanu Research Foundation. She walked calmly, her hands at her side before opening the door of the building.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Inside the building, she gave a cursory nod to the security cameras, making her way towards the mainb. However, she was intercepted in the hall by Chelsea, who came out with a puzzled look. ¡°What are you here for, Tsubaki? We¡¯ve already started the research that Dale asked us to do.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I am not here to trouble you with that. I wish to ask for a favor.¡± Tsubaki shook her head, going straight to the point. Chelsea¡¯s face immediately turned serious, knowing that a favor for Tsubaki was never a normal procedure. ¡°I wish to undergo the full process of Perfection.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea blinked, before her eyes widened. ¡°You obtained the Perfect Self already, you can¡¯t go back and do the soul now. And without that, you can¡¯t do the Perfect Will. You¡­ you know that, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded her head calmly, clenching her fists. ¡°I am aware. However, in order to ovee the challenges ahead, I must obtain the Saint Body. For that reason¡­¡± Her brows knit together, her body seeming to crack as energy gushed out of her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea leapt back, her eyes showing shock. ¡°If you disperse your Perfect Self, you¡¯ll lose some of your foundation. Your ki and mana will be damaged, making the refinement of a Saint Body even harder! You might even die from the dispersal!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I am aware. That is why I came to you. A damaged structure may be rebuilt.¡± After saying that, her body erupted in energy, tightly contained to prevent damaging the building that they were in. Still, the floor shook, Tsubaki¡¯s power gathering back together to form the hazy outline of her figure again. ¡°Long, long ago, I became the first person to achieve the Perfect Self with the resolve to live and die for my Keeper.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she spoke, she began walking down the hall again, her energy held tightly in ce to prevent it dispersing. ¡°Nothing has changed. Please set up the procedure.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea¡¯s eyes shook as she watched Tsubaki, who wasn¡¯t even able to condense apletely solid form at this moment. She knew perfectly well that that wasn¡¯t just because of Tsubaki¡¯s core energy being damaged. Rather, it was because of the pain Tsubaki must be feeling, having her very existence torn apart and loosely clumped back together. Her current state was as if someone had ground a refined diamond into tiny particles, and merely rolled those particles up into a single ball. Her health bar was at the very bottom, barely holding on with just a sliver of life, representing Tsubaki¡¯s willpower and sheer refusal to die.

 Chapter 985: Seeking Perfection

    Chapter 985: Seeking Perfection


    <span style="font-weight:400">The process of having her spirit and body remolded by the machines in James¡¯s facility was¡­ honestly not as bad as Tsubaki expected. In truth, she barely even felt it. Though, that wasrgely in part because of the already overwhelming pain of her current state of existence. Only once her body was stabilized and perfected again was she able to calm down, her face incredibly pale.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Are you alright?¡± Chelsea asked when Tsubaki walked out of the second device. ¡°You can take a break if you need to. There¡¯s no need to go straight into the final step.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± Tsubaki said with a shake of her head. Her health was already starting to very slowly rise. ¡°I¡¯m familiar with thest step. My current condition should not be a problem.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea let out a soft sight, nodding her head. ¡°Alright. Then, whenever you¡¯re ready, proceed to the--and she¡¯s already going.¡± Chelsea couldn¡¯t help but grunt, seeing Tsubaki already entering the third machine.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea walked over to the console, taking her time to make some adjustments. Although Tsubaki insisted that she was fine, she knew better. The pain that Tsubaki had endured would be enough to drive most people crazy, or even directly shatter their souls. Chelsea wanted to give her at least a few moments to recover herself before she began.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, as Tsubaki had said, the Perfect Will did not have such a dangerous setting. Rather, it was all about bringing the user¡¯s mana into a closed loop with the rest of their perfected aspects. When the soul, body, and mind were brought together like this, it created an astounding change.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, Chelsea hit the button to begin the machine once she had all the settings adjusted to someone of Tsubaki¡¯s status. The machine whirred to life, and Chelsea watched the monitors for any signs of danger. Tsubaki might have been blessed by the Heavenly Gate, but that didn¡¯t mean that it was okay for her to just die. After all, that would mean that Tsubaki was unable to apany Dale when he was in true danger. That was something that she would never be able to forgive herself for.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Inside the machine, Tsubaki did her best to clear her mind. Now that her body was stabilized, she did not need to maintain her irond focus. With deep, calming breaths, she felt her mana being pulled by the machine, coursing through her body. She did not resist the process, merely feeling how her mana changed throughout the cycles, how the other energies were pulled to merge with it and bathe it in the purity of perfection.


    <span style="font-weight:400">And then, the process was over. Tsubaki didn¡¯t <i><span style="font-weight:400">feel</i><span style="font-weight:400"> incredibly differentpared to when she entered the machine, but it had clearly stopped operating. With a pneumatic hiss, the door opened. Tsubaki walked out, about to express her doubts, but Chel got to it first. ¡°Before you say anything, this is normal. The machine only starts the process. Depending on the scale of your mana, it can take anywhere from twenty four hours to a week before the conversion isplete.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I see¡­¡± Tsubaki nodded her head. ¡°Is there anything else that I need to be wary of during this time?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea thought about it for a moment, shrugging her shoulders. ¡°Not really. Once the process isplete, you¡¯ll have a full, perfect form. This means that you won¡¯t have to worry about energy conflicts in the future, and will be able to gradually integrate any Saint Energies you have with your body.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki blinked, confused. ¡°What do you mean no energy conflicts?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh? I thought that was why you wanted to do this?¡± Now it was Chelsea¡¯s turn to be confused. ¡°Aside from being able to form the Saint Body, the primary reason people pursue full perfection is because of the fact that it prevents energy conflicts. For instance, you will be able to have your mana and ki interacting with one another without either merging into chakra or exploding.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Any energy formed by the basic types will be able to interact like this. That is what makes the Saint Body itself possible. You can even have a Saint Bodyposed of multiple Saint Energies.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡­ see.¡± Tsubaki gave a small nod. ¡°You said that it¡¯s only for the four basic types. Am I to assume that divinity is not included?¡± Although the primary energies were used as a catalyst in ascension, the true essence of divinity came from the natural divine spark living within everyone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. There¡¯s not really much conflict with divinity to begin with, but I don¡¯t include it because there is still conflict when you mix divinity with the void. Energies that only use a trace of the void are fine, but not ones that use it for more than twenty-percent of its makeup.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind.¡± Tsubaki said, her mind racing. She had already decided one Saint Energy that she wanted to give herself, but had assumed that she would need to discard World Sight in order to create a true Saint Body with it. Now that she discovered that was not the case¡­ ¡°I would like to ask for an energy form from your research facility. It is one that I saw some time ago.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea blinked at that, looking up at Tsubaki. ¡°Sure, which one? Ah, wait¡­ let me guess¡­ it¡¯s either the Dark Truth or the One Light?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki smiled slightly, nodding in confirmation. ¡°One Light. I have a substitute for the Dark Truth already.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You do?¡± Chelsea arched her brow in curiosity. ¡°Well¡­ if you¡¯re sure.¡± She walked over to her terminal, pulling up a file. ¡°Do you have your terminal on you, or should I send it to the Olympus database?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...Send it to Olympus, please.¡± Tsubaki¡¯s terminal had been an unfortunate casualty when she shattered her physical form, as she found that the storage space she had developed thanks to Aznod¡¯s regr cooking of the new ginseng had been destroyed. It wouldn¡¯t be hard to get a new one, and she had all of her files backed up, so she wasn¡¯t particrly upset. It was just a matter of inconvenience.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Alright. The detailed description and development steps of One Light have been sent to the Olympus database. It should be ready anytime.¡± Chelsea smiled, and Tsubaki gave a nod of thanks before turning to leave.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In truth, Tsubaki was deep in thought. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I wonder if there will be another trinity that happens when I create a three-fold Saint Body?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Tsubaki had chosen each of her energies because of their rtionship with one of her domains.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For Light, there was the One Light, a karmic energy that weaponized the user¡¯s karma. When the user used this energy to attack, their attack was amplified by the strength of their karma, whether it was positive or negative. Additionally, if their karma was strong enough, their attack would cut open space, flying back to the source to deliver a second attack to anything along the way. With proper positioning, the One Light made dodging a futile effort.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Next was her domain of Stealth, which she paired with World Sight. World Sight was the ultimate detection energy, capable of seeing through any manner of stealth or hidden devices. While it did not directly aid her in stealth, it was enough of a connection that Tsubaki felt like it fit best out of all the energies she knew.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Finally, her new domain of Service. For this, she had received insights into a new energy herself, during her time as an impromptu Keeper. She wanted to bring it back to present to her Keeper as a gift. Now that this invasion was happening and she needed to prepare for it, she thought it was best to demonstrate firsthand what her energy could do.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dark Truth was an energy that consumed the user¡¯s power and vitality to fulfill a promise that they made, whether it was protecting someone or performing some task. Tsubaki¡¯s energy, Contractual Obligation, worked simrly to cing restrictions on one¡¯s divinity. By restricting herself with a promise or pact, she would gain an increase in power based on the severity of the restriction.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Ten years¡­ that should be plenty of time for the energy to build, especially after I create a Saint Body.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Tsubaki smiled to herself, tearing open a gap in the void. After stepping through it, she found herself back in Olympus, nodding her head. As soon as she came back from the Keeper Meeting, she synchronized with her Service Avatars, refreshing her basic knowledge of how to use energies in this world. As such, she was confident that she would be able to form her Contractual Obligation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">All she had to do was wait for her mana toplete the purification process. In the meantime, she considered her avatars, and whether or not she would need to reform them. Thankfully, those avatars weren¡¯t destroyed when she dispersed her main body, but now that she had upgraded herself, would she have to do the same to them?


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">It would probably be for the best, right? They¡¯re currently operating with an iplete frame. Though¡­ how much will that impact them? No, wait¡­ would I even be able to create a perfected version? I am using the Service Energy as the core, rather than a Perfect Soul. If that¡¯s the case, I wouldn¡¯t be capable of giving them the same immunity to energy conflicts to begin with.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, it was entirely possible for her to create avatars purely from her newly created perfect form. However, the reason why she used the Servant Avatars to begin with was because of their ability to operate autonomously, while still providing the necessary feedback for her to train. If she simply made a ¡®Perfect Avatar¡¯, she would need to split her focus in order to control it, which would defeat the purpose of the legend that she established.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she thought about these details, she gradually made her way into Olympus, taking the elevator to her own pce and walking into one of her training rooms. Her Keeper would be gone for the next ten years, so she had to do her best to surprise him upon his return.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m surprised that Tsubaki didn¡¯te with us.¡± I shook my head with a sigh, looking at Dana who had just appeared in the Admin Room. Dana stuck her tongue out yfully.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°She learned some things while she was a Keeper, so I¡¯m guessing she wants to put them into practice now.¡± I watched Dana, curious about what she said.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What could she have learned in an unranked world that would improve her current status? I¡¯m pretty sure that anything she could do there, she could already do here.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana simply giggled, shaking her head. ¡°Tsuba wouldn¡¯t like it if I spoiled the surprise. All that I can say is that she didn¡¯t have any Companions while she was a Keeper, other than myself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That made me pause. I could understand the implied meaning, that she was able to purchase more advanced knowledge without it boosting her rank. But, there was something more important. ¡°How long¡­ did it take?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana blinked, seeming surprised by my question. ¡°Huh? Oh¡­ Tsuba did a lot of stuff hands-on after she revealed herself. In total, we were there¡­ just under three Standard years? Yeah, that sounds right.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I reached over, lightly patting Dana¡¯s head, surprising her even further. ¡°Thanks for staying with her through all of that.¡± Although three Standard years was still shorter than the time that we were skipping now, there was a key difference. They consciously realized that they were in a simtion, and that they were the only ones ¡®real¡¯.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This knowledge would inevitably make it more difficult for either of them to connect with another being on a social level. Thus, although the time was shorter, I was sure that it was one of the most lonely times that Tsubaki had been through since her time in ¡®hell¡¯.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana¡¯s smile turned soft again, and she stuck her tongue out. ¡°As long as you realize it. It was weird being a System Companion. All that stuff that I both knew and didn¡¯t know at the same time, like I was always watching a million blurred movies in the back of my head. I knew the name of every movie, but they¡¯d only be clear if Tsubaki had the relevant information for me to ess it. And now I can¡¯t remember any of it, just that it was a thing!¡±

 Chapter 986: Malfunction

    Chapter 986: Malfunction


    <span style="font-weight:400">The process of forming a Saint Body, once one met all of the prerequisites, was actually not very difficult. Instead, it was a simple matter of umtion. The challenge came from meeting those prerequisites, whether it waspleting all three steps of perfection in sequence or creating the Saint Energy itself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki had already trained one Saint Energy, with her World Sight already being quite strong. As for Contractual Obligation, she had thoroughly mastered the steps to create that. The only challenge was One Light, which Chelsea sent detailed instructions on how to achieve.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While Tsubaki was waiting for her Perfect Will to stabilize, she underwent the process of creating these two energies. Roughly four dayster, she felt something shift within her mana, a jolt shocking her entire body. She could feel that her mana was no longer leaking out of her body. With a thought, she could prevent any of her energies from leaking into the surroundings, preventing them from being detected by any passive systems.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After that, it was just a matter of letting her energies spread throughout her body. Chelsea had mentioned that there would be no conflict, so Tsubaki was taking advantage to allow the three energies to circte throughout her body, rather than letting them stay within their energy cores. Feeling the rate of her energies spreading, Tsubaki was able to calcte roughly how long it would take before she was fully saturated.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Four months?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Her brow furrowed, but there wasn¡¯t much that she could do to elerate the process. She had already created a Service Avatar to practice the Perfect Soul ss, and was preparing another one to train the One Light. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, my Keeper will not return for ten years, so I have plenty of time.</i>


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">It only took a few minutes for the world¡¯s eleration to end, during which time Dana remained by my side as if trying to fill Tsubaki¡¯s role. It felt strange having Dana there instead of Tsubaki, but it also let me see just how dedicated Dana was to keeping her promise.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once the eleration was done, I called Chelsea, Leowynn, and Ashley to meet me in the living room. ¡°Progress reports?¡± I nced between the three of them, as they were the ones with the most to do in this nning.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn was the first to speak up, her hands rested proudly on her hips. ¡°I¡¯ve set up Fallen God programs in every world to cultivate those with the talent for the void. Some graduates are already emerging, but we¡¯ll need more time to get a full Fallen army.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Good.¡± I smiled towards Leowynn, nodding my head. I had considered using my new perk from being at the Fourth Rank in order to get a Fallen Companion. However, I decided that it wouldn¡¯t be that useful to me. Normally, such a system would help open the popce to the concept of training in the ¡®chaos attribute¡¯, but I had Leowynn to help with that. Besides, Companions weren¡¯t allowed to interfere with an invasion, so they wouldn¡¯t be of any help to me either way.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I guess I¡¯m up next.¡± Chelsea said as she stepped forward. ¡°Thanks to the Digital Conversion system, we¡¯ve managed to create an automated process of integrating stars into the Hypene Network. Void interference is at an all time low, even with worlds such as Lorek and Spica. Additionally, the third generation void shields are currently being installed.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod to acknowledge her progress. ¡°We¡¯ll definitely need to keep working on that. What about that void generator you guys were working on?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The Void Core?¡± Chelsea asked, nodding her head. ¡°We¡¯ve finished the theoretical design, and are entering the testing phase. James went and procured us a new realm that we can use as the staging ground, and the construction has already beenpleted. Since we knew the timing of when you¡¯d resume the world functions, we scheduled the test for this afternoon.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Procured?¡± I arched a brow at Chelsea¡¯s choice of words, though she gave a small smile.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°He used the Fairy Ring without a marked destination until he found a world that appeared uninhabitable. We can¡¯t make any guarantees for thes beyond the one he found, but it is the safest area for us to test. If you¡¯d like, I can signal for him to activate the Void Core and begin the initial testing procedure.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°After this.¡± I shook my head, looking over at Ashley.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The demoness snapped to attention as she reported her own achievements. ¡°World Seed is being rather widely epted as a new genre of game, and people are continuing to export elemental seeds from the world. Several trees have achieved interster capabilities via organic ships.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As for the tree you left to Julia, she has managed to cultivate it to the point where it is capable of generating both ki and mana internally, and can also cultivate elemental seeds. However, thetter function requires multiple seeds of that type to be consumed to begin the process¡­ Aurivy wished to have me report that she found a seed that you would like, as well.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked in surprise, signaling for Ashley to continue. ¡°There is a seed that can only be grown in a very specific environment. First, the must be tidally locked, while also within the Goldilocks Zone. Secondly, on the dark side of the, there must be a source of water that remains still for fifty years. Any ripples in the water will set the clock back, so Aurivy estimated that the true time of creation was closer to two hundred and fifty years.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Once these conditions are met, a Still Mirror Seed can be produced. Aurivy found this seed, and discovered that the magic unlocked with it allows the user to reflect abilities back at their source.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was certainly interesting. ¡°I see¡­ did she export the seed?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley gave a small smile, nodding in confirmation. ¡°That¡¯s right. She¡¯s been exporting at least one of every seed she¡¯s found, trying to create her own collection.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That definitely sounded like Aurivy. Nodding my head once again, I turned to look at Dana. ¡°Will you be joining me to watch the Void Core test, or do you want to go meet up with Tsubaki first?¡± Since we needed to watch the test from the Admin Room anyways, I wanted to take care of it before descending.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana thought it over for a moment, before smiling slightly. ¡°Tsuba entrusted me with staying by your side until you return. We can meet her again after this test.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Chelsea heard that, she closed her eyes. ¡°I just sent word to James to begin the procedure. Because of the circumstances, there will be nobody on-site to conduct the test, and all operations will be handled automatically. If anything goes wrong, I¡¯ll be the one to report based on what we observe here.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I could understand that level of extreme security, given the fact that we were dealing with a potential information hazard. Even if something happened, it would be fine as long as Chelsea watched from the Admin Room.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">On a deste moon, a giant structure suddenly lit up, having received a remotemunication. Immediately afterwards, the channel used was closed. At the center of this facility was arge, blue sphere carved out of a giant lump of Mage Heart.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Beginning startup sequence.¡± An electronic voice echoed throughout the facility, yellow lights shing. ¡°All personnel, please enter the anti-information chambers. Repeat, all personnel to the anti-information chambers.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The giant gem let up as metal rings rose from the ground, slowly circling it from multiple angles. ¡°Void Synchronization Rings online. Synchronization rate climbing. Five percent. Ten percent. Fifteen percent. Synchronization stabilized at twenty percent. Activating Void Interference Field.¡± As a ck speck began to grow within therge gem, a translucent field surrounded the machine.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Void Interference Field online. Identifying pre-defined coordinates. Injecting Mana Generation code. Mana Generation online. Increasing Void Synchronization rate to thirty percent.¡± Deep in the void, within an empty, shielded space, a blue sphere suddenly formed. As it did, the shield surrounding it began to flicker to life.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Void Synchronization stabilized at thirty percent. Energy feedback detected. Energy levels, minimal. Activated energy shielding. Estimated time for energy viability, forty-eight hours. Entering Idle Mode to observe energy readings.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea smiled as she saw the process happening on the screen. ¡°It¡¯s a sess!¡± She called out happily. ¡°With this, we can prevent any future energy crises.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No.¡± Leowynn shook her head with a grim expression on her face. ¡°It was a failure.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What?¡± Chelsea paused, looking over at Leowynn. ¡°But the generator world was created within the shielded space, and all of the systems reported normal?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn offered a sad smile, snapping her fingers. The screen shifted, showing another world within the void. One where cracks were beginning to spread along the surface of the world¡¯s shell.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s¡­ our testing world?¡± Chelsea asked to confirm, her face going pale.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. The raw essence of the void is seeping in. By my estimation, three gxies have already dissolved into nothing, and the corrosion will reach your facility in an hour. Assuming that the cracks don¡¯t spread far enough topletely shatter the realm.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea¡¯s entire body sagged at that, a long sigh escaping her. ¡°Was the synchronization rate too high? It could have created a weak point in the world barrier¡­ I¡¯ll need to get back to James. We can lower the synchronization rate and try again on the next testing world, though the energy efficiency will drop a bit¡­ Once it¡¯s up and running, we can make up for that loss.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s good and all¡­ but if you have more than one of these per realm, won¡¯t it end up being the same result? You¡¯d need to be able to cover the entire realm¡¯s energy supply from one station.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel flinched at that remark, before letting out a long sigh. ¡°We don¡¯t n for something that grand. This is more of a supplement than anything else. Once the Void Core is fully operational, we¡¯ll be able to provide easy power to various worlds, filling in for the gaps left by local production methods.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana¡¯s eyes widened when she heard that. ¡°Even such a big mana sphere is only treated as a supplement¡­ what would it take to fully cover the power requirements?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea tilted her head, seeming to run a few calctions. ¡°Roughly¡­ five of these, per world, letting them stockpile energy for two weeks before slowly powering on. However, like Dale said, the world barrier wouldn¡¯t be able to sustain that kind of damage. The ¡®perfect¡¯ result would be through creating a void energy converter directly in the void, where it would be able to provide essentially unlimited energy, and then have that energy shipped where it needs to go. The problem is corrosion. Materials left in the void will begin to dissolve without proper shielding, but that very shielding would prevent the converter from operating at full power. In the end, we¡¯d be suffering a loss by keeping it active.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but sigh as well. ¡°So the only way for ¡®true¡¯ unlimited energy is to make a purchase from the system. I had expected as much, but still¡­ at least the Void Core will make things more convenient in the future.¡±

 Chapter 987: Time To Vote

    Chapter 987: Time To Vote


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately, it seemed that the matter of the Void Core wouldn¡¯t bepleted just yet. There were still a few major hurdles that had to be ovee before it could be used practically. Still, the fact that we were making progress was a good sign. After all, I fully intended to undergo more skips during this month in order to prepare for the iing invasion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± I nodded towards Dana. There wasn¡¯t anything else that we urgently needed to do in the Admin Room, so it was time to go and see Tsubaki again. At least, that was the idea before a prompt appeared before me.


    <table>


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    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">A System-wide vote has been initiated. Please cast your vote as a Rank 4 Keeper.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Proposal: Expansion of the Keeper¡¯s ability to set up sub-ounts for their Companions, allowing them to purchase items from the system for the areas set as their domains by their respective Keepers. If there is an ovep of World Law, give the Keeper the option to modify the World Law, or spend a small sum to install it as a plug-in for that territory only.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Caveat: Ability disabled during invasions.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Yes | No


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I paused, blinking as I read through the contents of the message. ¡°A system vote?¡± I muttered to myself, Dana¡¯s eyes widening slightly. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen something like this before¡­ is it like when everyone got their Keeper titles?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, it finally happened?¡± Dana asked, causing me to look over at her. ¡°Tsubaki did something during her time as a Keeper. I can¡¯t remember the details from that part fully. However, she came up with the idea and submitted it to the system. Apparently, the system told her that it would put out a vote after the annual meeting.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Why is it only happening now, then?¡± It had been a couple days at this point since the end of the meeting, so a vote should have happened already.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I thought you¡¯d ask that when I noticed the vote happening.¡± Terra¡¯s voice spoke up, before I felt her arms draped over my shoulders from behind. ¡°I ran over here just so I could give you that answer¡­¡± There was a yful tone in her voice as she hugged me from behind, clearly happy for the contact. Since I spent most of my time in the world, I wasn¡¯t able to spend as much of it with her as either of us would like.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I brought my hand up to gently hold one of her hands. ¡°Hey, Terra. So, about the vote?¡± I asked, and felt her nodding her head against me from behind.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The vote trickles down from the top. First, it goes to the Seventh Ranked Keepers. Then, if it passes in that tier, the Sixth Rank. The fact it made it to you means it¡¯s already gone all the way through the fifth, and now it¡¯s our turn.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right¡­¡± I nodded, looking at the message again. ¡°So every rank has to confirm it in their own votes?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Mmm¡­ almost. At most, two ranks can deny it. If more than two ranks deny the vote, it is canceled. So just vote however you want, and don¡¯t worry. Even Keepers in the middle of an invasion will get the system prompt for this.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a small sigh. Well¡­ this was a vote that Tsubaki herself asked for. Of course I was going to vote ¡®Yes¡¯. As soon as I had pressed the button to confirm my vote, I felt Terra¡¯s arms briefly tighten, before loosening enough to let me go. ¡°See you soon.¡± She said in a happy tone, as if seeing me off to work. Which¡­ in a way, she was.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ll be back.¡± I nodded my head, before taking Dana and descending as I had intended. This time, nothing got in the way of the descent, and I was soon back in the body of my host. Unsurprisingly, Tsubaki was standing in front of me, but I could sense¡­ something was different about her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Or rather, the problem was that I couldn¡¯t sense her at all, even though she was standing right in front of me. Only when I swept my World Sight over her was I able to tell what the cause was. Tsubaki¡¯s body was fundamentally different from thest time that I was here. Her body seemed to be apletebination of World Sight and two other energies that I had never seen before.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I scanned her, her eyes lit up, her head lifting. ¡°My Keeper, you have returned.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As I promised.¡± I smiled, ncing just over her head, before my eyes went wide. Her level had <i><span style="font-weight:400">massively</i><span style="font-weight:400"> increased, reaching beyond twelve thousand. Aside from my own Keeper power level, she was <i><span style="font-weight:400">easily</i><span style="font-weight:400"> the highest level entity in my domain, far surpassing James in power. ¡°Just¡­ what type of training have you been doing?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I asked that, I suddenly remembered Tsubaki¡¯s legend. Although she had been training for ten years, she had dozens of avatars focusing wholeheartedly on training individual sses for that duration. For Tsubaki, reaching level four hundred, or even five hundred was entirely possible when she spent ten years of intense focus.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I made a promise to my Keeper that I would be stronger.¡± Tsubaki said earnestly. ¡°Whether you give me ten years or a hundred, I will fulfill this promise to the best of my abilities. Such is my wish and my obligation.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head slowly. ¡°This has to do with the new energy you obtained from your time as a Keeper, right? Dana wouldn¡¯t tell me what you got, but¡­ the fact that you could grow this strong¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki simply smiled. ¡°That is correct, my Keeper. I intend to use this Contractual Obligation to assist my Keeper to the best of my abilities.¡±


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">So that¡¯s the name of it.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I let out a small sigh, walking over and gently pulling Tsubaki to her feet. ¡°Just don¡¯t overdo it. It¡¯ll all be for waste if you end up hurt because of your training, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki paused, before nodding her head, her tails swaying behind her. ¡°I will do as you say, my Keeper.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave another nod, looking Tsubaki over again. ¡°How did you manage to obtain a Saint Body? Were you able to do the energies out of order, after all?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s eyes twitched for a moment, and she cleared her throat. ¡°Hard work and determination.¡± Though she said that, I could tell that she was tightly controlling her thoughts, as if not wanting me to hear something from her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">My brow arched, and I lightly flicked her forehead, causing her eyes to widen as she brought both hands up to cover her forehead, looking aggrieved at me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If it¡¯s bad enough that you¡¯re purposely masking your thoughts, that tells me all I need to know.¡± After I said that, I reached up and gently stroked through Tsubaki¡¯s hair, causing her tails to stiffen. ¡°Really, I don¡¯t want to find out that you hurt yourself for my sake, okay?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡­ I understand, my Keeper.¡± Tsubaki nodded her head softly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Onto a different subject, I saw that vote you inspired.¡± I smirked, Tsubaki¡¯s head shooting up to look at me in interest.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You did? Did it pass?¡± She seemed excited to hear the results of the vote, but I simply shrugged.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I don¡¯t know yet. Apparently, the votes go from the top down. So we¡¯ve got to wait for the rest of the Keepers to vote. We¡¯ll find out the results in a couple days, I assume.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If it doesn¡¯t pass, you can try to be the one to put it on the market as a purchasable system. When I was in the activity, the system priced that at fifty-thousand points.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes widened at that, before I let out a sigh. ¡°I doubt I¡¯d be the one to get to it first, but we¡¯ll see what happens. I don¡¯t expect that the vote will fail to begin with. After all, there¡¯s not really a downside to passing it. The only ones who would say no are those who have no interest in letting Companions govern their territory to begin with.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki hesitated, before nodding her head. ¡°I agree. Looking back, I obtained a lot of points by relying on the royalties from this system. Even if I consider that only those who could afford it had the chance to purchase, that was arge portion of Keepers.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I know I would if I saw it on the market.¡± I admitted with a grin. ¡°Anyways, what is this other energy you have? I understand World Sight and your contract one, but I don¡¯t recognize the third.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That is an energy that I obtained from James.¡± Tsubaki admitted readily. ¡°It relies on the strength of karma to enhance attacks. I believe that I have umted quite a lot of karma, so it should be especially useful in my hands.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod of agreement. ¡°So you went for a trinity again¡­ was there any special effect that happened when you did?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki hesitated, before shaking her head. ¡°I have not noticed any particr benefit to possessing multiple energies in a Saint Body, no. Furthermore, they did not destabilize as the numbers increased, like domains did.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If you had asked, I would have taught you my Ki of Beginning.¡± I told her with a grin, to which Tsubaki shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I have enough understanding of that energy, my Keeper. Although I considered it as an option, I wanted to pair energies with my respective domains. Your Ki of Beginning, while powerful, does not particrly fit any of my domains.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes widened slightly when I heard her words. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Is she¡­ aiming for the path of an Origin?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">To be an Origin, the highest level of power that I was aware of, one had to master an equal number of Divine Domains, Fallen Domains, and Saint Bodies. Currently, Tsubaki has fulfilled two of the three conditions. If she managed to obtain three Fallen Domains without her body copsing, she could very easily be a true Origin, unlike the pseudo-Origin created by Terra¡¯s incarnations.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I just couldn¡¯t tell if Tsubaki was purposely aiming for the Origin, or if she wanted to keep the trinities for its symbolism. Either way, I was certain that she would eventually seek out Chelsea and Terra to look for methods of training void powers that wouldn¡¯t cause her to copse. However, that was likely to be quite a ways in the future before it came to fruition. After all, there was a reason that the Origin was something that should only begin appearing near the end of the Fifth Rank.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Speaking of which¡­ Dana herself was also two thirds of the way to the Origin. She was a Fallen Goddess who had a Saint Body. If she became a true Goddess as well, she would be able to take that step. As for Lifre¡­ Well, Lifre doesn¡¯t seem interested in that. I could more easily imagine her trying to go for nine divine domains, seeing it as a personal challenge that she had to ovee.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The fact that two of the servants of Olympus were so close to achieving the rank of Origin certainly filled me with hope for the uing invasion. ¡°Is something the matter, my Keeper?¡± Tsubaki asked, staring up at me in confusion. ¡°I have grown ustomed to hearing the thoughts of others¡­ now that I look at you making such a face, and cannot understand your thoughts, it is¡­ mildly frustrating.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a lightugh when I heard her words, seeing her cheeks puffed out indignantly. ¡°I was admiring how much more powerful everyone is than I had imagined. It makes me proud to be your Keeper.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s eyes widened, her cheeks going slightly flushed from the praise, while her tails began to wave so fast that they actually kicked up a breeze behind her.

 Chapter 988: The Withered Seed

    Chapter 988: The Withered Seed


    <span style="font-weight:400">After I was done catching up with Tsubaki, Dana informed us that she was going to head off to work on one of her projects. Now that we were back, she was passing the baton back to Tsubaki, so to speak. ¡°By the way, where is Lifre?¡± I asked, ncing around. I had expected Lifre to appear at some point during the ten year skip, but she never showed up in the Admin Room.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki blinked, before shaking her head. ¡°Currently, Lifre is advancing through the floors of Fyor. In thest ten years, she has managed to dive an additional two floors, helping to establish base camps on each one. ording to herst report, she found something akin to a boss monster on the fifty-seventh floor, and was updating all of her equipment in an effort to challenge it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That is¡­ incredibly reckless. Still, Lifre¡¯s not one to bite off more than she can chew, at least not without an escape n.¡± I nodded with a long sigh. ¡°Is there any news on the divine gem mines from the fifty-fifth floor?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki thought about that for a moment before responding. ¡°The divine gems are now public knowledge. However, they are considered an extreme luxury good, due to their rarity and the price to create them through the Digital Conversion system. So far, a total of five hundred gems have been found all throughout the floor. Many of them have been stolen from their original discoverer, and only a select few were purchased via normal channels.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but raise a brow at that. ¡°I thought that most of the bigger criminals had gone into hiding ever since Olympus appeared?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That is true for most worlds. However, they still maintain a level of activity in Fyor. Besides¡­ the item is simply too tempting a target. I personally interrogated one god who had stolen the divine gem. There are many that believe that if they surpass the number of domains possessed by the Greater Pantheon, they will no longer be controlled by them. Thus, the gem is a tempting target for those who have already obtained three domains.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a low groan at that, shaking my head. Breaking the trinity by adding a fourth domain won¡¯t necessarily make one stronger, it would only give them additional options. Originally, it would weaken their divinity by making it unstable, but the discovery of divine circuits fixed that problem.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Still, the fact remained that more domains did not mean more power. The only way to strictly get more power as a god was either through the umtion of divinity via the acknowledgement of the people, or by creating more powerful divine abilities, which use that energy. As for umting acknowledgement, it would be incredibly difficult for anyone to do so more quickly than the Greater Pantheon.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The only other thing that I can think of asking is¡­ have Gerard and Ryone made any progress on their magic research?¡± I nced over at Tsubaki to ask, who gave a small shrug of her shoulders.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yes and no¡­ ording to my information, they have sessfully created a fifth-tier spell. However, the quality of the spell was worse than many fourth-tier spells that are avable. Thus, I hesitate to call it a sess.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I could understand why she made that distinction. After that, Tsubaki directed one of her avatars to begin preparing a meal for the two of us. While I was waiting, the door of the study opened, and Aurivy walked through with a wide grin. ¡°Hey, boss! Ash said you asked about the game, so figured you¡¯d be expecting my visit!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small chuckle, nodding my head. ¡°I thought you¡¯d be dropping by soon. Did you bring the seed?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, did I!¡± Aurivy said with augh, extending her hand to my desk to deposit not one but two small, silver tokens. I arched a brow, ncing up at Aurivy before looking back down at the tokens. The first of the two had the image of a pool of water on the face, while the other a tall tree. ¡°I thought you¡¯d like to take a look at both, so I went ahead and delivered!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes widened at the realization of what she brought to me. ¡°How recent was thest withering?¡± I asked, Aurivy simply chuckling.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I had Julia elerate it, so it was justst week. Typically, one tree canst three years, but we cut thisst one short so that I could have a more recent seed for you. It has all of ourtest mutations and adjustments.¡± I nodded my head at her words, focusing on the two seeds.


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    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Magic Seed: Still Mirror


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ability: Reads the user¡¯s mana to recreate their intentions via manipting reflections. Can be absorbed by the body for more convenient use.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


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    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Magic Seed: Withered Tree(Keeper Branch)


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ability: Records the mutations of the Mother Tree registered to the Keeper Branch group, allowing the user of the seed to use those abilities for themselves.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Recorded Ability: Internal Mana Production


    <span style="font-weight:400">Recorded Ability: Internal Ki Production


    <span style="font-weight:400">Recorded Ability: Natural Energy Attunement


    <span style="font-weight:400">Recorded Ability: Elemental Seed Detection


    <span style="font-weight:400">Recorded Ability: Elemental Seed Mimicry


    <span style="font-weight:400">Recorded Ability: Elemental Seed Production


    <span style="font-weight:400">Recorded Ability: Natural Energy Reinforcement


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡­


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a long list of abilities recorded in the seed, many of which were auxiliary abilities such as ¡®pet inventory¡¯ or things of that nature. The tree had been through almost three full cycles of umting abilities, so it was only natural that they had conducted a lot of research. Though¡­ I was a bit disappointed that the individual seeds were not recorded within the withered seed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Are the saved seeds wiped every time you make a new tree?¡± I asked, to which Aurivy nodded her head in confirmation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. I learned my lesson on that the first time, so I¡¯ve started having the tree produce a copy of every type of seed it has saved whenever we were preparing for a new cycle.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯d hope so.¡± I chuckled, holding up the Withered Tree token. ¡°Is it possible to change seeds in the future? For instance, if you discover more abilities to research with the tree, and bring another one outter?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy grinned at that. ¡°That¡¯s right. Think of it like purging an energy core. I¡¯ve already tested it myself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I heard that, I focused, the Withered Tree token sinking into my hand. ¡°In that case¡­ can I ask you to provide a copy of the different seeds you have in your collection?¡± I didn¡¯t expect that I would be using most of them, but rather¡­ I wanted to keep it as an option, and a potential way to reward people in the future.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy gave a quick salute, before reaching into her pocket and pulling out a small bag. ¡°I thought you¡¯d probably ask for that. If you absorb one token, you¡¯ll be able to replicate its effects. In order to produce them yourself, you have to absorb three of the same seed.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I took the pouch with a nod, before my eye twitched. It felt¡­ empty. Though, there was also a prompt in the corner of my view, which expanded my inventory. Off to the side, I now had a ¡®container inventory¡¯, which was filled with dozens of different types of tokens. ¡°I didn¡¯t realize that the inventory system had been expanded¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh? Oh! Yeah, that¡¯s not a proper system thing. Basically, some craftsmen a few years ago found a trick to adjust the ¡®metadata¡¯ of an item that they create, tagging it as an inventory object. The created object then only has the basic fifty inventory slots, but money can be spent to enhance it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s¡­ convenient.¡± I nodded my head, beginning to extract three of each token from the pouch to absorb, as well as two Still Mirror tokens. ¡°Can it be applied to any object?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy shook her head to deny that question. ¡°Afraid not. Part of the trick is that the item has to be created with the sole purpose of being a ¡®container¡¯. If the crafter¡¯s intent during any part of the process is for the item to be used as a weapon or any other purpose, the inventory tag won¡¯t stick. That¡¯s why it¡¯s mostly bags or boxes, but some people have managed to follow the steps with jewelry, since it doesn¡¯t have a defined purpose to begin with.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod of acknowledgement. ¡°Still, it¡¯s a nice trick.¡± As I ¡®processed¡¯ the tokens she had given me, I saw that Aurivy had a small, yful smile on her face, looking at me almost expectantly. ¡°I know that look¡­ there¡¯s something that I haven¡¯t noticed.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, there definitely is.¡± She confirmed in a yful tone, though wouldn¡¯t tell me what it was. I paused my processing of the tokens, furrowing my brow and sweeping my World Sight throughout my body. For the most part, everything looked normal, until I found the energy core that represented the Withered Tree token that I had just absorbed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">What felt like mutated mana was circting towards that core, which is about what I expected. After all, I was absorbing those tokens for that purpose. What I did <i><span style="font-weight:400">not</i><span style="font-weight:400"> expect, however, was what the core was releasing. Pure ki and mana, in thin wisps, were radiating from the core, naturally joining my normal energy flow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I sensed that, my eyes opened wide, looking at Aurivy. ¡°I thought that just meant that the tree could¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy snickered, shaking her head. ¡°It¡¯s a mutation, so it applies to the token as well. A few people have discovered that ¡®hack¡¯, so trees that can produce ki and mana are being purposely cultivated and withered, their seeds sold in the real world. Your maximum energy won¡¯t be increased, but it provides a low level of passive recovery. For someone with dietary needs equivalent to the tenth ring or lower, this can handle their daily needs, making it so that they did not need to recover energy by eating or sleeping.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°They do still need to eat for nutrients, but not to recover their energy. However, for low level martial spirits and other energy bodies, this canpletely remove their need to consume food.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was honestly more than I was hoping to get out of this seed. Granted, my own needs were near the forty-sixth ring, so this token only provided for a fraction of what I required. I closed my eyes again, focusing. Something like this wouldn¡¯t just create the energy out of nothing, so I needed to figure out where the mana and ki came from.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As my World Sight swept over the core again, I noticed that it was actually natural energy that was continuously pouring into the core. Afterwards, it was converted to mana and ki through aplexwork of energy lines. ¡°Is it possible to draw in more natural energy to increase the recovery rate?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yes and no.¡± Aurivy shook her head. ¡°If you want just one burst of recovery, you can do that. However, doing so fries the energy circuits, and it will take time to repair. If you do too much damage like that, the passive recovery may be entirely lost.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And before you ask, we can¡¯t increase the recovery rate of the base seed, either. Actually, this is as fast as the research can get without some insanely rare elemental seeds. Like, we¡¯re talking about being born in the heart of a copsing star, or upon the death of a ck hole.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°For the tree, this current recovery amount is more than enough. It¡¯s so little for you because our bodies are small. However, when you put that ability in the body of a massive tree¡­ the daily production of ki and mana is roughly seven hundred thousand points each.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes briefly widened at that. Seven hundred thousand was roughly double my current mana and ki, meaning that the total energy of the tree would more than make up for my energy needs. Unfortunately, the seed only produced a smaller sample. ¡°I¡¯ll need to go through the full list of abilities in the future, and see if there are any more surprises in store¡­¡±

 Chapter 989: The Hero’s Epic

    Chapter 989: The Hero¡¯s Epic


    <span style="font-weight:400">After I finished absorbing the tokens, I took my time exploring the list of abilities one by one, looking to see if there was anything that truly stood out to me. Honestly¡­ there was nothing that would revolutionize my fighting style or increase my strength by arge amount. I had wanted the Still Mirror seed just because it matched my style, but even then didn¡¯t think I¡¯d use it too much.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As for the other abilities of the seed? There was the power to create portals, survival in a vacuum, and other things like that. Most of the abilities were things that would only be useful to me as a Monster Tamer, a ss that I hadn¡¯t focused much on since Fafnir.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The abilities that I obtained that would be the most powerful were Natural Energy Attunement and Natural Energy Reinforcement. With these two enhancements, my ¡®talent¡¯ as a Druid or Shaman had increased drastically. However, that was all there was. Those two abilities alone were not enough for me to consider changing my fighting style.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You sure you don¡¯t want our help with this one?¡± Petra asked, looking at the nearby slime girl as they stood at the base of a giant mountain. ¡°It¡¯d be tough with just one person, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre snickered, checking over her equipment. ¡°That¡¯s the whole point! If it¡¯s not a challenge, it¡¯s not a trial! The fact that it¡¯s a trial is what makes it worth doing.¡± Lifre had been spending quite a bit of time in Fragments of Acidia with her Virtual Selftely, getting all of her equipment upgraded to divine artifacts.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The opponent she nned to face this time was the strongest monster of the fifty-seventh floor of Fyor. In fact, by Lifre¡¯s guess, it had most likely broken the limits of the floor, either being born as an anomaly or having arrived from a hidden ore like the old tidestones. Lifre couldn¡¯t be sure either way, and didn¡¯t have the ability to properly measure its level, only relying on the energy it radiated from a distance.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Just to be safe, she didn¡¯t n to open her library to call upon any of her antagonists for this. Most of the ones that could appear were either too weak or too demanding to be useful for the fight at hand. That was why Petra offered the help of herself and Thelsa. However, Lifre refused without a second thought.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You just watch. After this, we¡¯ll head back and get a drink!¡± As she said that, she began walking towards the mountain. In truth, she didn¡¯t even know what the monster she sought looked like, only that it was powerful and living within the mountain. Thus, as she approached, she began to activate her divine circuits. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Begin the Epic.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre¡¯s body began to glow as her divine powers were activated at full force, blessing her as the ¡®hero¡¯ of a new ¡®adventure¡¯. Lifre couldn¡¯t tell right away what the effect of the blessing was, as it enhanced neither her strength nor her speed. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Is it a luck enhancement?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Down below the mountain, Petra looked around before speaking up. ¡°This isn¡¯t going to be one of those cases where the entire mountain is just part of the monster¡¯s body, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sora snickered, shaking her head. ¡°We haven¡¯t seen one of those since¡­ the fiftieth floor? Still, if it¡¯s something like that, I¡¯m sure she has a big attack that can deal some damage. Personally, I¡¯d be more worried if it was something small.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa furrowed her brow, seemingly lost in thought. ¡°It feels familiar somehow¡­ but I can¡¯t remember where I¡¯ve felt this before.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre continued to climb, zeroing in on the source of the energy she felt. It was mostly a powerful natural energy, but there was a mix of spiritual energy and mana within, clearly showing that it was more than just a natural treasure. The higher Lifre climbed, the more distinct the energy became.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre didn¡¯t use her World Sight, not wanting to trigger any kind of response from the enemy. More importantly, she wanted to keep its identity as a surprise. Thus, she waited until the feeling of the energy was at its peak before drawing her sword. ¡°And here¡­ we¡­ go!¡± Her arm swelled as she forced her ki into it, shing at the mountain with enough force that it left a crack more than a hundred meters deep.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At first, there was no reaction, leading Lifre to think that she might not have cut deep enough into the mountain. Just as she was pulling back for a second swing, the side of the mountain shattered, a massive hand stretching out from the crack to grab Lifre¡¯s entire body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The hand was dark green, with bony spines along the palm and wrist. Lifre¡¯s eyes went wide, trying to jump back out of the way, only to find the arm extending further and further, until she was unable to escape the monster¡¯s grip.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Let¡­ go of me!¡± Lifre shouted, a de of ki forming in the air and shing down, empowered by her Martial Intent. Lifre¡¯s de intent was an ever-changing strike, unlike Tsubaki¡¯s intent to ¡®sever¡¯. Lifre¡¯s allowed her to strike from any angle at any time, though itcked the enhanced damaging effect of Tsubaki¡¯s. Still, the ki de shed down at the monster¡¯s wrist, forcing it to release her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At the same time, more of the mountain crumbled, revealing a massive humanoid over a kilometer tall. Its eyes were a bright green, vicious spines covering its limbs. Still, Lifre couldn¡¯t shake the feeling that she had sensed something like this before.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Until she felt its energy scanning over her, an energy only detectable thanks to her own World Sight. ¡°James!¡± She called out in shock. ¡°Woah, there¡¯s another one of him here?!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre knew very well that James came from Fyor. However, based on his level, there should have been more than five more floors before they encountered his ¡®people¡¯. Like James, this must have been another one that left the homeyer through some special methods, and just wound up on the fifty-seventhyer.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As for why he was embedded in a mountain¡­ Lifre could only assume that he was in hibernation, having created the mountain around his body in order to sleep. While she was thinking that, the cut on the giant¡¯s wrist healed, and it sent a hateful re towards Lifre.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The temperature in the surrounding air skyrocketed, the sky turning red. The falling stones melted into magma, sshing down against the mountain. Then, as the giant raised his hand, a torrent of magma shot out from the mountain to grab Lifre.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Originally, Lifre would just shrug off an attack like this. What was normal molten rock going to do to a god? However, the fact that this was the same type of creature as James made her cautious. She was just jumping up to avoid when her head smacked against something solid, causing her to gasp in shock.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">He¡¯s strong enough with natural energy that he can iste space!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Lifre braced herself, having lost her chance to defend against the molten rock. It crashed directly into her, smashing her against another solid wall of space directly behind her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre¡¯s voice cried out from the intense heat that seemed to burn directly at her soul. Once the torrent ended, she began to fall from the sky, her health bar shing dangerously above her head. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯m¡­ not done yet¡­</i> <i><span style="font-weight:400">you want to fight with natural energy¡­</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ll fight¡­ fire¡­ with fire¡­¡± Lifre forced the words out from her burnt throat, stabilizing herself in the air. Her divine artifact armor had been reduced to g, her sword a useless heap. She pped her hands together, focusing. Her spirit began to surge, green lights flowing through the air to converge on her body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I am the embodiment¡­ of Nature¡¯s Wrath!¡± She shouted as loud as she could, her figure growingrger and more illusory. She grew to more than a hundred meters in size, still not even reaching the knees of the opponent. However, her skin was like the wind, her hair was fire, and her eyes were pure darkness. When she spoke, her voice echoed throughout the sky.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I haven¡¯t had to use this in a while¡­¡± She stretched her hand out towards the giant, as if matching his own previous movements. ¡°Wrath of Wind.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The giant¡¯s eyes went wide as a loud crash echoed through thendscape, one of his arms having fallen from his body. He growled, the arm dissipating into energy that rose back to reattach itself as his other arm came up. Towering spears of earth shot from the ground, piercing through Lifre¡¯s body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately, Lifre was in an elemental state, causing the spears to do little damage. ¡°Wrath of me.¡± She spoke, a white me wrapping around the dissipated energy before it could reattach. Immediately, the giant jumped back, a look of worry on its face for the first time. Lifre was not just wielding natural energy, but every attack was also imbued with spiritual power, much like its own powers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The problem for the giant was that Lifre¡¯s powers seemed far more refined than its own. While he struggled to grow back a new arm, Lifre was calmly walking forward. ¡°I¡¯ve always wondered what would happen if Ibined these two¡­ you can help me experiment.¡± She spoke, her voice carried along the breeze.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The void as my de, the sky as my shield, and light as my armor.¡± The world seemed to twist at Lifre¡¯s words, a torrent of wind flowing along her left arm, forming a circr shield as light condensed on her body as armor. Although she did not appear to be holding anything, <i><span style="font-weight:400">something</i><span style="font-weight:400"> seemed to carve into the ground from her right hand with every step she took.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The giant gathered his energy, forming a de of fire that flew towards Lifre. She held up her shield of wind, charging forward with thunderous steps. When the de hit her shield, it forced her feet to slide backwards, before she dug into the ground. Then, with powerful, trembling movements, she began to push forward.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The giant¡¯s eyes widened again. He tried to shift the de into a ring to wrap around her shield and attack Lifre from the side. Unfortunately, he found that there was ayer of wind wrapped around the entire de, preventing it from altering its shape. The most that it could do was focus on empowering the de to push her forward, or else it had to give up the attack entirely to try something different.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Its brows knit tightly together on its forehead, putting as much strength as it could into the fire de. Gradually, it felt like Lifre was being pushed back again, her feet digging trenches in the ground. ¡°Wrath of Darkness.¡± She muttered, her shadow stretching out beneath her feet to connect to the giant¡¯s. Immediately, the giant lost control of its energy, the de of fire dissipating while Lifre charged forward unhindered.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This¡­ is for making me waste my time preparing for the raid.¡± Lifre called out when she was directly in front of the giant, sweeping her arm upwards. It could feel its body being split in half, narrowly moving its core out of the way in time. ¡°Wrath of me.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Down below, Petra watched with wide eyes as the elemental Lifre incinerated the massive monster, a shrill scream filling the air. Lifre let out a long sigh, her body shrinking back to normal size so that she could focus on recovering from her burns. While she healed, Petra ran over. ¡°Can you teach me how to do that?¡± She asked, eyes practically sparkling. She was a rather powerful druid herself, so seeing this in person sparked her desire to learn.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh? Oh¡­ sure!¡± Lifre grinned, before blinking as a window appeared in front of her. ¡°Huh¡­ another legend. Sweet. Probably a Druid and Warrior one, this time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Another one?¡± Thelsa¡¯s eyes twitched, looking down at Lifre.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, yeah!¡± Lifre chuckled, wincing as the pain from the burns crept up on her. ¡°I¡¯m the Hero, right? It¡¯s not unusual to leave behind a bunch of legends.¡± As she said that, her health bar began to shrink dangerously, causing Thelsa and the others to gasp in shock. ¡°Ah¡­ it was a health blessing¡­¡± Lifre muttered, suddenly feeling lightheaded before falling backwards, arms and legs spread out. Petra pursed her lips, looking at the sliver of health that she had been left with.

 Chapter 990: The Five Shadows

    Chapter 990: The Five Shadows


    <span style="font-weight:400">While I was going through the various different seeds that Aurivy had brought me, I was at the same time familiarizing myself with the changes that had urred within the world. For instance, Aurivy¡¯s presentation of the Withered Tree token alerted me that this thing would very likely change the way the lower level forces of the world functioned. Thus, I checked the market to look up their prices.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There were already people that had online businesses set up to purchase ready-made Withered Tree seeds. These seeds were protected under the same copyright system that had been previously introduced with thest update. This meant that it was impossible for someone to simply buy the seed and then mass produce it to sell for themselves.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As for the price of the seed? It depended on the abilities stored within. A seed that only had the ability to convert natural energy into ki and mana could be purchased for the price of a used car or a half-decent weapon. If the seed is capable of producing other elemental seeds on its own, it¡¯s more expensive than even arge house in the elven capital.


    <span style="font-weight:400">These seeds didn¡¯t sell particrly well, partly because the investment didn¡¯t just end at buying the seed. Rather, they had to buy multiple copies of every seed that they wanted to reproduce. Although it could eventually lead to them making a profit on their investment, it was too high of an initial cost.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, there was a rather positive effect that had arisen due to Fragments of Acidia. Because of the world¡¯s interest in the sylvans increasing, there were several golden sylvans that often visited popr cities to do trade on behalf of their respective groves. There had even been a new grove that was set up within the border of Hanbei.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Finally¡­ I learned about the Machine Empire that arose within Fragments of Acidia. Looking back, I couldn¡¯t help but sigh at the realization that Dana¡¯s familiar had been involved in something like that. Well¡­ at least they had ess to quite a bit of high-end technology, some of which seemed to have been used to modify Olympus itself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is there anything else that I can get for you, my Keeper?¡± Tsubaki asked, standing next to my desk with her hands folded in front of herself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, thank you.¡± I smiled at her. ¡°Let me know when Lifre is back. Given her personality, I¡¯m sure she¡¯d love to report on all of her adventures. In the meantime¡­ I think I should get back to training.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre let out a long groan as she opened her pale blue eyes, blinking at the sky above. ¡°Wow, I needed that!¡± She said, before abruptly sitting up and looking around. ¡°They didn¡¯t run off and leave me here, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing the small pout in her tone, Petra rose up from a nearby shadow, smiling at Lifre. ¡°Not at all. I had to go and check up on the Shadow Guilds.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The shadow-what-nows?¡± Lifre blinked, causing Petra to chuckle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s a special type of space that Thelsa set up to catch criminals around the time that Olympus was created. We¡¯ve been running it all this time, making sure to let it rest long enough that the majority of criminals see it as something necessary, as they believe that it helps them avoid the gazes of the Greater Pantheon.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s silly! They¡¯re silly!¡± Lifre retorted, shaking her head quickly. ¡°Those guys can see everything! If they don¡¯t see something, it¡¯s just because there was something more interesting elsewhere.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra shrugged her shoulders. ¡°Of course I realize that, as does Thelsa. However, the vast majority don¡¯t have this awareness, and the fact that the Shadow Guilds have been left unchecked for so long is ¡®evidence¡¯ to them that they are free to do whatever they want in those spaces.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°By now, I can¡¯t guarantee that we have every criminal in our, but most organized crime passes through the Shadow Guilds. Most organizations will have their more sensitive tasks taken care of there.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I see¡­¡± Lifre tilted her head, as though she didn¡¯t really get it. ¡°Well, when do you n to close the, then? You can¡¯t just leave it like that forever, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra offered a small smile. ¡°We¡¯re in the process of finalizing this new. We want the Shadow Guilds to be a reusable trap, though it might take some time before they¡¯re activated again. For now, we¡¯ve made the arrangements. Would you like to watch from the sidelines?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre pursed her lips, before shaking her head in refusal. ¡°Nah! Let¡¯s practice the natural martial arts, instead! You said that you wanted to learn it, right?¡± Petra¡¯s eyes went wide, immediately putting aside the topic of the Shadow Guilds as she sat next to Lifre.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Are you ready to begin?¡± Thelsa asked, crossing her arms as she looked at the male figure before her, his eyes dark, almostpletely hollow. His body had anky build, draped in a ck robe. ¡°You¡¯ll need to change your identity again after we do this.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thenky figure cackled, shaking his head. ¡°That¡¯s nothing new. I was born for this sort of dirty work, wasn¡¯t I?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa hesitated, before offering a small nod. ¡°That¡¯s right¡­ though I hope that after this I can give you a better role for a while. I¡¯ll preserve your soul and memories.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Nonsense, Thelsa.¡± The figure smirked, its empty gaze directed at the Saint of Shadows. ¡°If I do not carry this stigma, who will? You? Sora? Maybe Petra? Oh, I bet Maria would love the challenge. Best to let my hands be the bloodied ones, and let all of you operate in peace.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa gave a slight sigh. ¡°Alright¡­ I¡¯ll continue to employ you as the cleaner. For now¡­ have you memorized the list?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Naturally. I know who can and cannot be touched. Just make sure to temporarily block the gates for me, and this will be over soon. Have you decided who it is that will be killing me, this time?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa¡¯s eyes narrowed, but she couldn¡¯t provide an answer right away. ¡°By the time you¡¯re done, it should alert the local gods. You¡¯ll just have to do your part.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The man chuckled. ¡°I thought I might die to someone special. Oh well¡­ there¡¯s always next time.¡± As he said that, his body faded into the darkness.


    <span style="font-weight:400">His first destination was thergest and most popted Shadow Guild, often used as a medium for trafficking. When he arrived, his voice spread out through the area. ¡°Mm¡­ such ripe karma¡­ I shall have to help myself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The men and women walking the dark streets looked up at that voice, startled. It wasn¡¯t often that someone made trouble for the Shadow Guilds, as they had their own gods employed. However, this was the first time that someone had managed to get in with the intent of seemingly destroying the entire ce.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Some stood by, as if preparing to watch a good show. Others began to make their way towards the nearby buildings to hide or gather their assets. Regardless, it was only a moment before a burst of me erupted in the sky, one of the ¡®guardians¡¯ of the Shadow Guild appearing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She had a dark expression on her face as she looked around, seeking the source of the voice. ¡°If you want to make trouble,e out! I¡¯ll be sure to scorch your soul.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°My, my, such a fickle temper.¡± The voice said, manifesting as a dark figure that hovered in the air behind her. ¡°Don¡¯t you know that you¡¯ll never find love with such a personality? Though¡­ I don¡¯t think you¡¯ll need to worry about that anymore. My shadows have covered this ce long enough. Now¡­ I¡¯m simply taking back what¡¯s mine!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The ming goddess turned, her body igniting as she began to charge over in a rage. However, before she could reach him, her body began to full, her mes mixed with darkness. ¡°W-What¡¯s happening?¡± She called out in shock, feeling her energy going out of control.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Allow me to introduce myself.¡± The man snickered, watching the goddess fall. ¡°I am Boreal Grandire, the God of Darkness and Poison. I¡¯ve had my eyes on this ce for a while. Now that so much karma has appeared, it is only right for me to harvest. And you, my dear¡­ your hands have taken so many innocent lives¡­ it would be rude of me not to send you off to apany them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°But don¡¯t worry!¡± Heughed, his arms spreading wide as darkness enveloped the world of inverted light. ¡°You shall not suffer this journey alone!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">On the streets, the faces of those who had nned to watch a good show distorted. With paleplexions, they turned to flee, only to fall t a few momentster with hollow eyes. The man¡¯s voice boomed out across the Shadow Guild as more and more criminals fell. ¡°With such rich karma, I will surely receive a heavenly blessing. There is nothing quite like cleaning up filth~!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once his power had spread, and he killed those from his list in this space, his body distorted in darkness. This scene was repeated again and again, dozens of Shadow Guilds falling in the span of an hour. With each one, every vicious criminal was ughtered, leaving only the abducted victims, or those with less heinous crimes to tell the tale.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Boreal counted off the spaces he had yet to visit, pleased with his progress. There were only three left, and they were among the smallest Shadow Guilds that Thelsa had established. His body raced through the shadows, appearing within the next space only to blink in surprise.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A total of five gods awaited him upon his arrival. Of the five, one seemed to have a power to prevent his concealment, forcing him to reveal himself ahead of schedule. As he tried to spread his dark poison, another of the five countered him with a healing power taking the form of a ck pulse of energy. Boreal let out augh as he realized what was happening. ¡°I see... I see!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The Five Shadows¡­ interesting!¡± Boreal¡¯sugh echoed maniacally. Each of these gods cultivated a power rted to darkness, specializing in upholding the rules of the Shadow Guilds. ¡°However¡­ I want to see if you are as strong as they say!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">His bodyunched forward, towards the man leading the group of five. His hands turned into outstretched ws, though the man only watched him with a calm, calcting gaze. ¡°Halt.¡± He muttered, a ck ripple spreading out from his body. When this ripple wrapped around Boreal, his body froze in midair, his expression one of excitement and twisted malice. His consciousness had been frozen, as had his body. ¡°You all know what to do.¡± He said, the other four not hesitating tounch their own attacks on the paused deity.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was little suspense in the fight after this, Boreal unable to move, or even think for that matter as his body was crushed under theirbined power.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa watched in concern as she condensed a new shadow, recreating the memories and soul of the god that she had just sent to his death. He would need to begin his training from nothing, but he was still able to retain his identity.


    <span style="font-weight:400">To her surprise, Boreal¡¯s first action upon regaining consciousness was tough, holding his stomach. ¡°And here I thought that you wouldn¡¯t have prepared anything special for me! The Five Shadows, such a nasty little trick of yours, Thelsa.¡± He said in a teasing tone, causing Thelsa to dip her head slightly in shame.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I couldn¡¯t have you aware of it too early, or the performance wouldn¡¯t have been convincing. Just like you, they have their roles to y¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, I understand.¡± Boreal smiled joyfully. ¡°The Shadow Guilds are a trap. I clean out the trap when it¡¯s full, and the Five Shadows kill me to refresh the bait and let people believe that the guilds are safe. I¡¯ll be needing a new appearance and set of domains this time, before we activate the traps again.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa let out a sigh of relief, d that Boreal was so epting of this n. ¡°Of course. You may take whatever form or domains you wish to train. It will likely be a while before we are ready t o use this n again.¡±

 Chapter 991: Core Technologies

    Chapter 991: Core Technologies


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Lifre eventually reported back to me and told me the identity of the ¡®boss¡¯ monster of the fifty-seventh floor, I couldn¡¯t help feeling surprised. This was the second time that we had encountered a creature of James¡¯s race. Given the fact that it was buried so deeply in the mountain, it had likely been hibernating for centuries, if not longer.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, none of them made it to a lower floor, or else they would be able to destroy most of the cities on that floor¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I had no doubt that Lifre was the weakest of the servants of Olympus, aside from perhaps Gerard. I had never seen Gerard fight to see his capabilities in full.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Even so, Lifre would undoubtedly be stronger than most gods out there, having received the acknowledgement of most of my people. Just by virtue of being a servant of Olympus, her status skyrocketed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After listening to Lifre¡¯s report, I resumed my training, deep within the vacuum of space. For two weeks, I did nothing but punch out at asteroids, unleashing my Martial Will in an attempt to crush everything in front of me. Thus, I finally managed to achieve my Martial Intent for my fist, awakening the ¡®crushing¡¯ intent.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With that out of the way, I told everyone my ns to fast forward the world again. To my surprise, this time Tsubaki did not suggest staying behind. Perhaps she felt that she had prepared as much as she could, but she joined me in the Admin Room. As I returned to the Admin Room, I found a rather surprising prompt waiting for me.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The vote has passed with a final score of 6:1. The update to the Companion ount system shall take effect immediately.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Congrattions! You have earned an achievement!


    <span style="font-weight:400">For causing a sessful vote and changing the system, you have earned the Innovator achievement! Preview perk, 500 points.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The vote passing wasn¡¯t something for me to be surprised about. The fact that it credited me with the achievement, and gave me a special perk on the other hand¡­ I gestured for Tsubaki and the others to wait for me as I walked to my room, finding Terra lounging on the bed, hugging an oversized pillow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she saw me, she gave a small smile. ¡°You want an exnation of the perk, I assume?¡± She asked, to which I nodded my head. ¡°It¡¯s nothing big. Basically, if you activate the perk, you can spend five percent of a system¡¯s cost on the market to try it in advance for one Standard day. So, for instance, if you wanted to use it on a two hundred point party system, you would spend ten points and unlock the party system on a world for one day.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I felt¡­ somewhat disappointed with this perk, nodding my head. The fact that it allowed me to try a system early wasn¡¯t particrly bad, but it also wasn¡¯t all that helpful, either. At most, I would be able to determine if there would be any conflicts ofws from the introduction of a new system, but in doing so I would have to cause said conflicts.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a perk that I will be using.¡± I said with a shake of my head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra, however, simply chuckled. ¡°There is certainly one extremely practical use for it, if it is done properly.¡± To that, I couldn¡¯t help but raise an eyebrow. ¡°No, you can¡¯t use it to get information from the system, and then just copy that information. Systems only.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°However¡­ if you know of a system that can protect you during an invasion, you can cheaply get it right before the invasion begins, and have it for the first day of the invasion.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes widened at her suggestion, before a pensive look appeared on my face. ¡°If I previewed a system that would allow me to mass produce Fallen Gods, what would happen to them after the time period ended?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra easily saw through my n, shaking her head. ¡°Anything reliant on the power of the previewed system would disappear after the system was removed. In the case of deities or the fallen without another domain, this means that the source of their existence would vanish. If they had undergone the three steps of perfection, they would be able to save themselves, but they would be crippled. Otherwise, they would simply die.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay, not doing that then.¡± I shook my head, grimacing. I couldn¡¯t think of a system to preview that would save me from RagnaRocker¡¯s invasion. I doubt the system would be so kind as to offer a system to protect my worlds from void incursions. Instead, it would need to be a technology, which I wasn¡¯t able to use for the preview.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a long groan, I checked the logs to see if I had missed anything else. I hadn¡¯t been back to the Admin Room for a couple of weeks now, so I was surprised to see that I had sold more than fifty copies of World Seed. It looked like the advertisement from Sarah and the others had shown some results.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thinking it over, I set up official Companion ounts for everyone to oversee their own worlds, and deposited their previous bnces in them. As for Ashley, I made a small adjustment to her ount to give her half of the royalties from World Seed. That could be used to work on future games.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Speaking of which¡­ ¡°I just had a thought.¡± I looked over at Terra, who blinked in curiosity. ¡°If Sarah broke through to the Fifth Rank, that means that she canpletely code her own worlds. Then¡­ how much would a game she makes cost if she produced everything in-house, without spending any points on the market?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ahh, that?¡± Terra chuckled, shaking her head. ¡°Now that she¡¯s hit that point, the system will calcte the price of the world based on the level it is at. So, if she made an unranked world like Vision Expanse again, it would probably be cheaper than when she first released the game. The stronger the world is on its own, the higher the value it will have in the system.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That made sense, and it was something to look forward to when we hit that point as well. Still, that did get me thinking, and I opened up the market to search for void defense technology. Normally, I would focus on letting my world develop this technology themselves. However, given the situation, I thought that I should at least look at the technology on the market.


    <span style="font-weight:400">My brow twitched when I saw the price, over five hundred thousand points forprehensive void defense. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Okay¡­ so maybe I won¡¯t be buying that.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Even with all of the royalties we had saved up, that was¡­ a considerable expense. If I had enough, I¡¯d consider getting it, but right now, that wasn¡¯t particrly an option.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a small sigh, I set the world to fast forward again, this time until the <i><span style="font-weight:400">sessful</i><span style="font-weight:400"> creation of the Void Core generator. I wasn¡¯t sure how long it would take to get everything set up for that, but it seemed like a good benchmark to stop and see how things were developing.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was not an easy feat to get the Void Core operational. Each time they failed, theypletely lost the facilities that they were using, which cost a massive sum of resources. Just the mana gem alone required dozens of mages to fully invest in it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">What was worse was something that they discovered after their third failure. Every world that they connected to had slightly differentws, which impacted how the Void Core operated. For instance, if there was a slight adjustment to the way mana functioned, the core exploded either upon construction or activation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">To solve this, they had to iste the core from the outside world¡¯sws, overriding it with thews of Earth. Only once the entire facility was operating under these physical and supernaturalws could they begin the construction of the more sensitiveponents.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Like this, they conducted the activation experiment fifteen times, each time having to tweak various settings before they lost the realm that they had tested in. Only on the sixteenth try did they manage to create a stable mana generation world without causing visible damage to the world it was hosted in.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing hope, they let that generator continue to operate under Chelsea¡¯s supervision from the Admin Room, and created ten more for ten different generators on ten different worlds, each with slightly adjusted settings to try and find the optimal configuration. Afterwards, they allowed these eleven generators to produce mana for one year each.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After the original was finished with its one year of service, the mana generated was measured, and a team was sent to inspect the durability of its world barrier. To their dismay, they found that it had been weakened significantly, enough so that it was likely to copse if a void beast struck at the wrong spot.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, the world had not yet been destroyed, so they were able to transnt the Void Core to a new world and modify its settings, before trying again. Afterwards, one by one, the other experiments concluded. Some of them caused cracks to form in the world barrier over time, and others softened it like the first. Of them, two showed no substantial change to the world barrier, and one¡­ one even managed to <i><span style="font-weight:400">increase</i><span style="font-weight:400"> the durability of the world barrier.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When James discovered this phenomenon, he was shocked, going over the information on this experiment to understand the cause. A portion of the mana produced by this generator was redirected to maintain the world¡¯s barrier, leading to a long-term improvement.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing potential for a possible exploit, he established five of these modified Void Cores in a single realm, letting them run in tandem. The results could be measured in real time from the void, where the barrier became thicker and thicker by the day. Unfortunately, this also caused the mana obtained by the generators to drop drastically.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Then, over six months after the five generators were activated, the universe that they had been ced in copsed in on itself. From James¡¯s initial findings, the world barrier had be too dense, triggering an adverse reaction. However, this gave him hope for another potential exploit.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This time, he arranged four Void Cores on a world. Two of them were the ¡®strengthening¡¯ cores, while two were normal. His goal was for the facilities to bnce one another out.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In the end¡­ he found that there was no change to the density of the world barrier, but it did sharply reduce its durability, making it incredibly fragile after several months.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a reluctant sigh, James gave up on the idea of using the Void Core to strengthen the barrier, and began focusing more on the two versions that showed no substantial changes. These two had been allowed to run for roughly two years at this point, and the barrier had yet to show any sign of damage.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With onest attempt to increase productivity, James moved both of these facilities to the same world, hoping that their minimal impact on the barrier would not cause any harm, even when stacked. Unsurprisingly, his hopes were dashed when the world copsed after another two months.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It did not appear to be possible to maintain multiple Void Cores in the same realm without adverse effects. <i><span style="font-weight:400">That doesn¡¯t make sense, though¡­ </i><span style="font-weight:400">James thought to himself in frustration. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki and Dana created hundreds of these with their method.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">James began to review the differences between the two methods of construction, aside from one being based in technology and the other in magic. Primarily, James created a stable connection to preset coordinates, while the old method merely created a physical manifestation of the world locally.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Would we be able to get better results if we changed our method to producing physical manifestations like that?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He wondered to himself. Doing so would require far more void shielding, as they would have to set up an automatic construction array. Worse, the worlds had the potential to grow over time, so they weren¡¯t able to be ced close together within the void. That was the ultimate downfall of Tsubaki¡¯s method, as the worlds had grown into one another so much that they were beginning to destabilize.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The only way to prevent the world from growing was by fully utilizing the excess mana it produced, but he was well aware of how much power that was. Once it reached a certain size, they would find it difficult to channel the energy out all at once.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">In the long run, Tsubaki and Dana¡¯s method would produce more energy, but also far more substantial risks. My method is more stable, even if the output is lower. If I can¡¯t make up the amount by building additional generators in one world, maybe I can create the generators in independent worlds.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">When that thought urred to him, James recalled the old remnants from a past invasion, in which the invaders crafted multiple bases within the void. Those bases still existed to this day, though most of them had been handed torger guilds and corporations. James himself only had ess to two of these bases.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I can use those for now, and set up an automatic delivery service. If I can talk Dale into getting a system or tech that will let me make more of these spaces, maybe I will be able to safely mass produce energy.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> James had already cast aside the idea of making the Void Core directly in any upied world, as damage to the world barrier would cause irreversible harm to that world.

 Chapter 992: Murphy’s Law

    Chapter 992: Murphy¡¯s Law


    <span style="font-weight:400">Considering the time it took to construct each Void Core and find a suitable world to test it on, it took roughly twelve years before the officialunch of the Void Core power nts. For this initialunch, each universe was assigned one core that would be held in a different realm to supply power to them on a grand scale.


    <span style="font-weight:400">James sat at his desk, not even wanting to calcte how many lives were ultimately lost in the research and development. Every failure meant the destruction of an entire universe, after all. Theoretically, it could be an infinite number of lives. However, they did their best to mitigate this as much as they could. For instance, making sure that the sr system that they appeared in was uninhabited, and that there were no signs of interster civilization.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was no way that this would absolve him of all of the deaths, which was why James was personally the one that ordered the construction and activation of every Void Core. He could imagine just how ck his karma must be at this moment. For that reason, he shut himself off from everyone, giving them no exnations or requests.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If someone helped another person with overwhelmingly bad karma, that person too would gain negative karma. He knew that just a fraction of his current karma would be enough to condemn his entire research group to an eternity of torture within the ck chains that rested beneath the golden pce.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I can¡¯t go out until I resolve this problem.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He thought to himself, though such a deep karma was not something that would go away on its own. Unless he brought just as much good as the evil he had done, he would be forever tainted.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">If karma can be wielded, it can be molded¡­ it can be removed.. It¡¯s just a matter of determining how.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> James was familiar with the One Light energy, having been the one to bring it into this world in the first ce. He was the first to learn how to weaponize karma. Now, what he needed was to find a way to sever his karma, to wipe the te clean.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Until that time came, he would not interact with anyone. Even Chelsea was forbidden from talking to him, unless she sent him a message directly from the Admin Room, where even karma couldn¡¯t reach. James nced at the title that he had received before he made this decision, Purest ck. For having the most powerful negative karma, his Luck stat was reduced by a full three thousand points.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Even the Keeper himself wouldn¡¯t be able to sustain such a debuff, and so James quickly found his Luck stat more than two thousand points negative. Together with Charm, the Luck stat was one of the two great mystery stats of the system. Charm would subtly alter your mannerisms toe across more pleasingly, and generally increase your social skills.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Meanwhile, Luck influenced things even deeper. In a way, it was even tied to the Fate system. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Luck, Fate, and Karma¡­ now that would be a terrifying trinity of domains. </i><span style="font-weight:400">James chuckled to himself as he thought of that, before shaking his head. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Yo, Terra. I know you¡¯re listening and waiting for me to ask. Can the Origin of Fate clear my karma?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sure enough, Terra¡¯s voice came back a few momentster with a solemn tone. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯m afraid not. If she were a true Origin, it wouldn¡¯t be difficult. However, the process that she used to reach this point made it impossible for her to build up her Origin power to the degree she would need to clear that level of karma. As the Judge, Irena would have some authority to lower your karma, but not enough to help you.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">So, either I create the energy to wipe karma myself, or I wait for Dale to buy a system that would do it in some way.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> James said with a low groan.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Someone in Ashley¡¯s team is working on a system for one to redeem negative karma through true devotion to the Greater Pantheon, but it requires an offering.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">When he heard that, James¡¯s brow twitched. <i><span style="font-weight:400">An offering to remove this much karma¡­ I¡¯d have to drain the vaults of every country in every world.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">You¡¯re not wrong.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Terra chuckled dryly. <i><span style="font-weight:400">But¡­ are you really sure that you can create an energy to manipte karma?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Why not?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> A savage grin appeared over James¡¯s face. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯ve created energies that weaponize karma. I¡¯ve created energies that view the weave of fate itself. Now, I just need tobine the two and add some new features.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">¡­With your current Luck?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> There was an almost awkward tone to Terra¡¯s mental voice as she asked that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">James¡¯s face tightened up, unable to offer a response. With his current Luck stat, the weave of Fate would be actively working against him, attempting to prevent any action which may benefit him. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯ll just¡­ need to ovee Fate, then.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra let out a lightugh when she heard that response. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯ll try very hard not to take that as a personal challenge, for your sake. Remember, don¡¯t try to take the easy way out. Even if you managed to preserve your soul after death, the karma will remain with you. It will probably take a long time, but you have to persevere.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">James gave a firm nod of his head. As soon as he left theb, and flew to the deepest regions of space, he was prepared for that. It could take months, years even to construct this energy. Especially when Fate was actively working against him. Already, he had encountered five monster gods, eluding those he could while defeating the others.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now that the void Core wasplete, it was time to descend once again. With energy being far more readily avable, there would soon be a technological boom. Hopefully, with every major institute focused on void defense, that would influence the direction of development.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I descended, I made my way to the Ashtanu Research Institute, the door opening to let me directly in before I had the chance to knock. I hade with the intention of personally congratting everyone on this project that had been decades in the making, only to find a flurry of activity.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea, Thea, Nora, Treisha, everyone was running back and forth in a panic, fixing machines that were constantly breaking down. ¡°...Is everything alright?¡± I asked, Chelsea pausing at the sound of my voice.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°H-How did you get in here!?¡± She shouted in rm, a loud cracking from one of the Perfection Chambers. ¡°Gah! Treisha, this one¡¯s yours!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡­ didn¡¯t let me in?¡± I blinked. ¡°The door opened as soon as I got close.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh no, that means that the automatic security is down, too!¡± She sighed heavily, focusing as her divinity grew. A burst of golden light spread out, and she nodded her head. ¡°Okay, that issue has been fixed! Now, what are you here for?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I hesitated to speak up, seeing the chaos of theb. ¡°Is this a bad time?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s going to be like this for a while.¡± Chelsea grumbled under her breath. ¡°Anything connected to James is suffering karmic bacsh. Udona said it was somew written by a Murphy in your world?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes widened at that. ¡°Is it¡­ that bad?¡± However, Chelsea simply nodded her head, not borating. ¡°Okay¡­ what can we do to fix it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right now? Nothing. If there is any potential fault in a device, it will re up. It doesn¡¯t matter if the fault is hardware or software. Until it has lost its karmic connection with James, it will keep breaking.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What about all of you?¡± I asked, looking around at the others.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The fact that we have our own karma instes us to a degree from the retroactive effect. Unless we actively do something that would benefit James in some way, our own karma is safe. Now, as I said, what are you here for?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...I came to congratte everyone on their hard work.¡± I said, my voice somewhat strained. I had certainly not expected circumstances like this.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea rolled her eyes, not saying anything. However, I heard her voice in the back of my mind. <i><span style="font-weight:400">You want to thank us? Find a way to get rid of the karma. I can¡¯t even suggest helping James with my incarnation, or else she¡¯ll have to join him in istion. While I personally wouldn¡¯t be opposed to that, it¡¯s not what he wants.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod, thinking it over. ¡°What about a system nullification area? Karma is handled as part of the system, right? If you take an item out of the system¡¯s influence, will the karma remain attached?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea¡¯s eyes went wide at my suggestion. She turned, running for a nearby locker. From the looks of things, they had been so busy trying to fix machines that they hadn¡¯t had the chance to try to think about a fix for the overall problem. I watched her root around inside the locker for nearly a minute before she emerged with a small box. ¡°Nora! How are the repairs on the sprinkler system!?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Just finishing up, boss!¡± She said, Chelsea nodding her head and running towards Nora, whose upper body was half-buried in the ceiling. Once Nora came down, she opened the box to reveal a white gem and hit a switch. I could see a translucent barrier spreading out through the room, causing everything to quiet down briefly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she hit the switch again, the barrier copsed back in on herself. ¡°Okay¡­ test it out. Knock on the sprinkler lightly.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Really¡­?¡± Nora gulped, leaning over and lightly tapping it with her multitool. There was a small drip of water, but nothing major. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ not bursting?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea nodded her head at that, before speaking carefully. ¡°Of course not, James made it.¡± She jumped back as soon as she said those words, the pipe shattering less than a foot away from Nora¡¯s face and spraying her with water. Her arms iled helplessly, waving her multitool to cancel the flow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Gulping, Chelsea activated the barrier again. ¡°Okay¡­ let¡¯s quickly get everything fixed. After that, we have to be careful not to attribute anything in theb to James, whether verbally or in writing. We can¡¯t give him any form of credit, or whatever project is involved will immediately break down.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nora turned, ring at Chelsea as her body was drenched from head to toe, the flow of water finally dying down. ¡°Did you¡­ <i><span style="font-weight:400">really</i><span style="font-weight:400"> have to use me to test that theory?¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea offered an apologetic smile. ¡°Sorry. You were the only one working on a system that wouldn¡¯t be fatal, no matter how badly it malfunctioned. If one of the Perfection Chambers, or even the Divine Forge went critical, the entireb could go down.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nora let out a grunt of acknowledgement. ¡°I¡¯m going to go dry off.¡± She said, descending her stedder and marching away with wet plops of her feet.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea and I had matching, wry grins on our faces, while I focused on sending a message to her main self in the Admin Room. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Can he use this to help himself?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Yes and no.</i> <i><span style="font-weight:400">Technically, he can. However, he already left, and he didn¡¯t take anything with him. If anyone tries to take it to him to help, they¡¯ll be infected by the karma along the way, and may end up getting killed while looking for him. Even the Greater Pantheon wouldn¡¯t dare to mess with this kind of karma easily. As for using this constantly while going to find him¡­ that¡¯s even harder, because your energy is almost uncontroble while in the negation barrier. That¡¯s the primary point of it to begin with.</i> <i><span style="font-weight:400">Don¡¯t even try to volunteer yourself, or I¡¯m telling Tsubaki.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I winced, knowing fully well that if Tsubaki heard what was happening, and that I was considering delivering it to James, she would try to do so before I had the chance. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Okay¡­ hopefully it doesn¡¯t take too long for him to figure out his problem.</i>

 Chapter 993: Research Agreement

    Chapter 993: Research Agreement


    <span style="font-weight:400">With James out ofmission for the foreseeable future, there was bound to be a dip in the speed of developing technology within my world. Although we had long since caught up to the standard of technology James was used to, he was a naturally gifted inventor. It would be hard to rece him in the short term.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">How long am I going to have to skip ahead this time, if I want to make up for this loss?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I asked myself with furrowed brows, thinking back to my options. There were a few, to say the least. The simplest and most straightforward was, as I had considered, just fast forwarding until after James had finished his ¡®recovery¡¯. However, there was also the chance that his intensely negative karma would cause a catastrophe in the meantime.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I was doing all of this to <i><span style="font-weight:400">avoid</i><span style="font-weight:400"> a catastrophe, so I wasn¡¯t really all that keen on provoking one without cause. The other options were to find a way to speed up his recovery without another wave of negative karma destroying everything, or find someone capable of taking his ce until his return.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For the former, I wasn¡¯t familiar enough with the karma system toe up with a foolproof method of solving James¡¯s problem. I still wasn¡¯t even able to smite him and remake him as a Companion until Fyor¡¯s advancement reached the floor his race was native to. If I tried to help him, I would only be making things worse in the long run.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, it came down to a matter of finding someone that could fill the role until he returned. I was prepared to ask the High Mother for help, as the Metong were incredibly advanced and had ess to technology that was well beyond that which James was capable of. In some fields, at least. However, when I remembered that, I also remembered another figure that had only just recently returned to the world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Head of Research for the Geer was someone who had once attempted to destroy Deckan for resources. Recently, when I was going back through important history notes that Terra had marked for me, I saw that he had been revived. Terra had even used her incarnation to threaten him not to cause trouble for our races again.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Still¡­ he is someone that can casually create fourth-tier spell diagrams. As long as the threat he poses is neutralized, he could be a valuable asset.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> With that in mind, I sent a message to Tsubaki. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki, there¡¯s someone that I want you to visit¡­ I think that it will be most effective if you personally go.</i>


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki stepped out of the gate that she had created, her feet touching an entirely metallic ground. Thick plumes of smoke rose throughout the skyline, numerous factories all hard at work pumping out cogs and mechanical limbs. Her nine tails swished happily behind her, d that her Keeper had relied on her for this mission.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At the same time, she understood why it was required for her to be the one to do this. There were, in fact, two reasons. First of all, Tsubaki was the one that had originally killed the Head. In terms of intimidating the opposition, there was no better choice.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Secondly, her domains made her uniquely suited for this negotiation. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Remember¡­ I cannot mention James¡¯s name, or there will be consequences.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Tsubaki reminded herself of what her Keeper had told her, hands crossed in front of herself as she walked along. Nearby, she could see several clockwork entities watching her, hesitating, unsure if she was a friend or foe. She could even sense themmunicating, broadcasting her position.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki said nothing, simply walking through the factory city. Eventually, she felt the ground shaking beneath her, and heard the dense sound of colossal steps approaching. ¡°What are you doing here, fox?¡± A booming voice asked, and Tsubaki turned to see a towering figure. From therge number of domains she sensed, she was sure that this was the Head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Defying all logic, this entity had more than fifty domains scattered throughout its body, each limb acting as a remotely controlled entity rather than part of the same being. The true ¡®core¡¯ was the head itself. ¡°I havee at the behest of my Keeper.¡± Tsubaki said calmly, turning to fully face this towering figure.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I have no business with your Keeper.¡± The Head said in a grumbling tone, though Tsubaki merely watched him calmly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Perhaps not yet. However, should you continue to have business with my Keeper, there is a high likelihood that everything you are building here will be destroyed in theing years.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she said that, the pressure released from the Head grew exponentially, though Tsubaki merely tilted her head. Regardless of his dozens of domains, he had too few people acknowledging his existence to build up a bulk of divine power. ¡°You seek to threaten me, fox?!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not in the slightest. This doom will not be by the Keeper¡¯s hand.¡± Tsubaki kept that same, level tone as she spoke, one handing up to tuck her hair behind her ear. ¡°Rather, there is a looming threat to this very world. Without your assistance, it is quite likely that all life in the universe will be destroyed. Including you and your recreation of your species.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The giant golem red down at Tsubaki. ¡°And what is it that the oh-so-mighty Keeper wants from me that he sent his most trusted pet to deliver the message instead ofing to do so himself?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s brow twitched faintly, clearing her throat. ¡°I am the Servant of my Keeper. And it is in this service that I offer you a piece of advice.¡± After she said that, light began to radiate from her body, crushing the adjacent buildings and shoving the giant golem to its knees. Her eyes had darkened, her expression fierce as she red at the golem. ¡°You may insult me however you wish. However, if you insult my Keeper, I will simply remove you again, and find an alternative for him. It would only take a thought for me to connect your divine circuits, triggering an eruption of power that can shatter this.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Just as quickly as the pressure came, it faded away, and Tsubaki¡¯s expression turned calm once more as her light faded.The Head was left to tremble, not detecting any falsehood in her words. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Why is it that everyone thates here threatens me?!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He thought to himself helplessly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Now, as for the business, it is one that is mutually beneficial. In doing this, you will allow your name to spread among the poption, garnering respect and faith that will be useful in increasing your power. All that my Keeper asks is that you aid in researching a specific field.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The light in the golem¡¯s eyes changed when he heard that. ¡°You want me to¡­ research?¡± He asked, as if thinking that he had heard wrongly. He had assumed that Tsubaki was here to ask him to build some superweapon to fight their supposed adversary. Research was already the Head¡¯s passion, the purpose of his creation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That is correct. Your field of research will be defending the realm border from void incursion. If you agree, I will use my power to grant you all the necessary tools and capabilities.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Looking at Tsubaki¡¯s calm face, the Head didn¡¯t quite know how to answer. ¡°What are the odds of the world¡¯s destruction, should I refuse?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°For races that are weed on the primarys, there is a projected ny-eight percent chance that they will be able to evacuate enough people in time before the invasion. Additionally, the primarys are given an additionalyer of shielding from void incursion, which will weaken the power of any monster seeking to attack them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°However, for this race which is currently neither weed on a primary, nor possesses the additionalyer of shielding¡­ there is an almost one hundred percent chance that you will lose the vast majority of your poption. The chance that your people will be entirely annihted is as high as seventy percent.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a sound of grinding gears from the golem¡¯s body. ¡°And if I agree?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That depends on your contributions. Should the defenses be raised high enough topletely protect the world from void incursion, there will naturally be no lingering threat to you or your people.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After a long moment¡¯s pause, the Head slowly rose back to his feet. ¡°Very well¡­ then, I shall ept this request on behalf of the Geer.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded her head, as if this conclusion was inevitable. ¡°In that case, there is only one thing left to do.¡± After she said that, her divinity surged again, though this time it was not in the form of a pressure. ¡°I offer you a contract of service. Should you agree, you will have ess to all of this world¡¯s knowledge for the purpose of defending against the void. In return, you will assist in the development of technologies for the allied worlds.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she spoke, silver lights began to flow out of her body, forming arge scroll-like contract that hovered in front of the golem. ¡°Should you attempt to willingly use this knowledge and the developed technologies to harm the allied worlds and their inhabitants, outside of defense of yourself and your kin, your core program and all stored copies will be forfeit. These are the terms, with your divinity as the seal.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Head¡¯s eye shed, a powerful detection spell sweeping over the contract. It took only a few seconds for him to analyze its purpose. Should he infuse it with his divinity, it would form a binding pact. With this, he would immediately gain ess to the inte that the allied worlds used, and have full authorization to ess detailed records for their research. But, as she said, if he attempted to harm them¡­ there was a dark power within the contract, one that he fully believed capable of wiping his program.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, he did not detect any hidden uses or secret traps. Everything was exactly as Tsubaki had described. Remembering that he was already being threatened not to harm the allied worlds, this contract did not truly pose any additional risks to him. As such, he stretched out one giant hand, infusing his divinity into the contract.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As he did, something clicked in his mind, a new connection forming that broke through the constraints of space. At a guess, this seemed to be a shielded void tunnel, allowing him to directly ess thework. When he had recovered from his shock, he looked down to find that Tsubaki had already left.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Wee back.¡± I smiled as I saw Tsubaki walking into the living room, carrying arge bowl of popcorn in her hand. One of her avatars must have informed her that we were sitting down to watch one of the <i><span style="font-weight:400">many</i><span style="font-weight:400"> movies that we missed the release of over thest couple skips. ¡°How did it go with the Head?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki offered a warm smile as she nodded her head, moving over to sit next to me on the couch. ¡°As you expected, he signed the contract without anyplications. I believe that he will begin working immediately.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You didn¡¯t mention you-know-who, right?¡± I asked in concern, causing Tsubaki to shake her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As you said, my Keeper. Doing so would only cause unnecessary harm. Thus, I ryed the facts to him as they were needed, and allowed him to make an informed decision.¡± Her smile grew even wider, leaning over slightly as she offered me the bowl.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Realizing what she wanted, I chuckled, bringing my head up to lightly pat between her kitsune ears. Her body shuddered briefly, eyes going closed. Sitting on the other side of her, Dana snickered and shook her head. ¡°The movie¡¯s about to start, you two. Let¡¯s not make it <i><span style="font-weight:400">another</i><span style="font-weight:400"> twenty years before we¡¯re able to see a new one.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I rolled my eyes, bringing my hand down to hold the bowl. Tsubaki looked at Dana with a faint pout, but straightened her posture now that she had received her ¡®reward¡¯ for her mission.

 Chapter 994: Leowynn’s Lessons

    Chapter 994: Leowynn¡¯s Lessons


    <span style="font-weight:400">After sitting down and watching a couple of movies with everyone, I became more determined to avoid such excessive usage of fast forwarding after thising match was over. Unless there was something that I critically needed to develop in order to have my world survive an attack, it was fine to let things slowly develop. I could save up system updates to just before I decided to fast forward, do a big patch all at once, and then when it¡¯s done fast forwarding I would be ready to apply another update if needed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For now¡­ I had to train. The uing battle would be one that heavily took ce within the void, and I was woefully underprepared for a protracted battle in the void. Which was why I now stood in front of both Leowynn and Tsubaki, in one of therger training rooms that Tubrock had created within Olympus.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn had a firm look on her face as she watched me, clearly not in the mood to y around at the moment. Honestly, I was thankful for that. ¡°Right now¡­ I¡¯m afraid that you wouldn¡¯t be able to survive in the void for more than an hour at a time, dad.¡± She said honestly. ¡°There are a number of problems that arise when fighting in the void, so long as one is not a Fallen God. Starting today, I¡¯m going to work on training you to ovee these problems¡­ both of you.¡± She turned her head to look at Tsubaki, who gave a small nod of eptance.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The first problem lies in the fact that our powers originate from the worlds we use them in.¡± Leowynn exined, creating a simple magic circle above one of her hands. ¡°In the void, the geometric magic system does not exist. You can only maintain its operation so long as you carry a trace of the ¡®information¡¯ from the world whose powers you wish to use. This trace will be corroded the longer you remain in the void.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Fallen Gods are able to resist this corruption indefinitely, as am I due to my Void domain. However, normal people will lose their powers within fifteen minutes of entering the void. Depending on their size and power, items can take up to half an hour if they are not properly shielded. Dad, you wouldst an hour only because of the strength of your divinity as the Keeper.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°When the battlees, my incarnation will try to provide you with shielding against corrosion before the fight, but there will always be ways for a divine blessing to be negated. You need to be prepared to activate your own shielding. That will be the first step to allowing the two of you to survive a protracted void battle.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What do we have to do?¡± I asked in a firm tone, Leowynn nodding when she noted my determination.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°For now, I am going to emte the void within this training room. This won¡¯t be the instant power of negation that some fallen gods employ, like <i><span style="font-weight:400">that</i><span style="font-weight:400"> other invasion. That is an elerated corrosion meant to catch the opponent off guard. Instead, what I¡¯m going to do is simte it as if you were simply leaving a world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying that, Leowynn stomped one foot on the ground, the world around us seeming to shatter. I found myself floating weightlessly in the ck abyss, my eyes briefly widening. However, Leowynn merely stood where she was, arms crossed in front of her chest. ¡°I will give each of you twenty minutes to form a defense, before I cancel this power.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°To do so, you have to sense the energy of the void while your powers persist. One of the first lessons you learn when training to be a fallen deity is that mana carries a faint connection to the void. Use this connection, shape the void and guide it. Create a protective film around yourself to prevent the void from entering and corroding your body.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Almost as soon as she finished speaking, I saw a ck aura wrapping around Tsubaki. Leowynn looked over, giving a small chuckle. ¡°Chelsea taught you how to control void energy a long time ago. However¡­ that is too much. You only need a thin film, or you will be needlessly wasting your mana while dividing your focus.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she spoke, I reached out with my World Sight. This was a Saint Energy devoted entirely to detection, so it should be more than capable of detecting the essence of the void in order to help me control it¡­ or so I thought. Because I was focusing on such minute details, I had to use a very small amount of World Sight. And, I did indeed see tiny ck and red specks of energy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The problem was that this energy automatically broke down any World Sight that it came into contact with. The ¡®vision¡¯ I obtained immediately became blurry, before going fully ck. Gritting my teeth, I released pure mana this time, trying to manipte the energy of the void as if it were natural energy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This worked¡­ to a degree. Imanded the void energy toe wrap around my body, as Leowynn said, but it instead surged <i><span style="font-weight:400">into</i><span style="font-weight:400"> my body, making my eyes go wide in shock. Thankfully, Leowynn was there, and this was only a ¡®false void¡¯, otherwise that likely would have caused <i><span style="font-weight:400">explosive</i><span style="font-weight:400"> results.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Still, Leowynn looked at me with an approving smile. ¡°Good start, dad. Treating it like natural energy isn¡¯t entirely wrong. But, if you want to do it like that, there is something that you need to remember. The void operates based on rules. When issuing themands, you have to be careful to create irond rules to prevent any idents like just now.¡± Saying so, she pulled the energy of the fake void out of my body. ¡°In the best case scenario, that failure just now would have deprived you of all of your power, wiping out the trace of the world whose power you wanted to wield. Try again.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Gritting my teeth, I nodded my head. Now that I knew what to watch out for, I should have been able to do it on the second try. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Create a one millimeter thin barrier around my body. The barrier must maintain a distance of one centimeter at all times.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> This was themand I sent to the void this time¡­ and yet the results were exactly the same as before.


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes widened as Leowynn pulled the void out of me again, looking in my direction. ¡°What rules did you set?¡± When I repeated my previous instructions, a helpless smile appeared on her face. ¡°Space, and therefore distance, is a concept that applies to a world. Within the void, distance is purely based on your perception of events. Naturally, when you apply these terms to the void itself, it does not have the definition of these units of measurement.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nced over at Tsubaki, who was focusing on reducing the size of her ck aura. ¡°In that case, what unit of measurement should I be using?¡± I asked, looking back at Leowynn.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Units. Just units.¡± Leowynn answered with a smile. ¡°Like all energy, the void can be separated into independent units of energy. However, these units can be big or small, and can self-propagate. This means that there is an infinite amount of energy within the void itself, because new units are born instantly to rece any consumed units.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My brow furrowed, but I nodded my head, focusing again. This time, I created a barrier of mana around my body. I imagined this barrier as a weak ma, and the void energy as iron dust. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Attach ayer of void to my mana barrier, no more than three units thick, and prevent any additional void energy from passing into the barrier.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">This time, I could see a flickering ck field wrapped around my body. Leowynn nodded her head, but didn¡¯t say anything. In fact, I could already feel that this barrier wouldn¡¯t hold, and so immediately increased it to ten units. As soon as I did so, the ck field seemed to stabilize.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Good. This is step one.¡± She said, before looking over at Tsubaki. ¡°How is iting for you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s eyes were closed, her own barrier now extending three centimeters out in all directions. Drastically smaller than her original field, but still hardly a ¡®film¡¯. ¡°I believe that I should have this technique mastered within a few minutes.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn nodded her head, leaning back against nothing and letting her body simply hover in ce. She wasn¡¯t in any rush, as Tsubaki had already created a barrier to repulse void energy, and now it was only a matter of refining it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was hard to tell how long it took, as there was no concrete way of measuring time at the moment. However, from a guess, it took roughly ten minutes for the dense armor to be a flexible film. Leowynn nodded in satisfaction, pushing herself off from the same nothingness that she had been leaning against. ¡°Good. From now on, whenever we train in the void like this, the two of you must maintain this armor. My next question¡­ how long have we been training?¡± She asked with a yful smile.


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes went wide, able to understand that there was a hidden meaning in her words. However, it was Tsubaki that first spoke. ¡°While the estimated duration would be as long as sixteen minutes, this is an uncertainty. You purposely severed my connection with my avatars whening here, after all. My assumption is that you have altered the flow of time around us?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn shed a thumbs up to Tsubaki. ¡°That¡¯s right. Time, like space, is mostly a construct created within specific worlds. I use the word mostly because you can¡¯t travel into the past or future. The flow of one event to the next is locked, but the speed of this flow can be manipted, just like how dad set Lorek and Spica to an elerated flow.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Currently, we have spent three seconds in the void. Unfortunately, Standard time is synchronized to dad¡¯s personally perceived time, so it¡¯s still been more than a dozen minutes of Standard time since we entered. Otherwise, this would be a good training cheat.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki seemed to agree, nodding her head. ¡°Perhaps¡­ though, is there any significance behind that particr lesson?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course.¡± Leowynn smiled. ¡°Imagine the battle is fought on three fronts. Two battlefields seem evenly bnced, while the third has a slight disadvantage. Wanting to quickly finish the fight and head to the third battlefield as reinforcements, you focus on your enemy and exert all of your strength to win.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°However, by the time you defeat your foe, not only has the third battle been lost, but the opponent from that battle has joined the other fight, and already wiped out both of your allies. Although you may have only perceived a five second battle, your opponent interfered with your flow of time, stretching that five seconds into an hour. Plenty of time for both of the other battles to finish.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes went wide once again, imagining such a scene. ¡°How can we defend against something like that¡­?¡± Clearly, it wasn¡¯t a matter of creating a defensive barrier, as that barrier had altogether failed to stop this time dtion previously.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn¡¯s smile grew slightly wider as she answered. ¡°Points of reference. I said before that space was a matter of perspective. Time is the same way. When we arrived, I spent two seconds elerating my activity speed to nearly a thousand times normal. Although to you it looked like I was mostly standing still, the fluctuations of the void caught this eleration in my energy flow and responded.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Likewise, if you focus wholly on an opponent, they can take the opportunity to resonate with the void while slowing down their own movements. As long as they maintain a consistent flow, you will be trapped in their time. However, if you allowed your perception to continue monitoring your allies during this fight, you would have an additional point of reference to prevent this maniption.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°When we entered this void, both of you were wholly focused on me for this lesson, and neither of you spent those crucial seconds observing each other. If I had slowed my energy flow to a crawl instead of elerating it, twenty minutes would have passed in the blink of an eye, and you would have been fully corroded by the void before you noticed anything wrong.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That makes sense¡­¡± I thought about it for a moment, before raising a question. ¡°In that case, would we be able to have a device like a ticking clock, so we can subconsciously measure time by its rhythm?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Good answer! But¡­ not good enough.¡± Leowynn chuckled. ¡°You¡¯re right, doing that would lock you into a standard flow of time, being whichever world you emerged from. However¡­ this is also a crucial weakness.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">To demonstrate, Leowynn calmly walked over to Tsubaki, patting her on the cheek. While Tsubaki was confused, Leowynn walked over to me, lightly tapping on my chest. ¡°In under one hundredth of a second, I just killed both of you. Tsubaki¡¯s head was blown off, and your chest was crushed. Both of your void barriers crumbled, and your divine core detonated after being flooded with the void.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s body shook, tails standing straight as she seemed to understand. ¡°If we use an external device to subconsciously measure time, we won¡¯t be able to respond to an opponent¡¯s eleration¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Leowynn confirmed readily. ¡°You must always be on guard against someone altering the flow of time in the void. If they are slowing themselves down, they want to buy their allies time and dy you. In this case, you have to maintain your normal time through these points of reference, allowing you to outpace your foe. If they are elerating, you have to elerate to match them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°How do we do that while maintaining the points of reference?¡± I asked in confusion, Leowynn offering a small smile before she exined.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Rather than getting caught up in your opponent¡¯s eleration, you have to elerate yourself to match. That¡¯s the main reason why I brought both of you here, to serve as each other¡¯s point of reference. You will be fighting two avatars of myself, who will irregrly elerate or decelerate. While maintaining each other as a point of reference, you have to learn how to instantly deduce the change in my flow of time, and adjust your own time to maintain an optimal flow ofbat. Remember, it only took me two seconds to elerate my energy by a thousand times. If you take more than a tenth of a second to catch up with your opponent, you lose.¡±

 Chapter 995: Just Have Faith

    Chapter 995: Just Have Faith


    <span style="font-weight:400">The training battle with Leowynn was¡­ intense seems like an understatement..When she said that she was going to be forcing us to adjust to different flows of time, she was serious. In a training battle that seemed tost for hours, every few minutes one or both of the avatars she used to fight Tsubaki and myself would randomly change their flow of time, and we had to immediately adjust our own while never losing our perception of each other.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In a way, I could see Dana being incredibly powerful in this regard, because her domain could cut off an opponent¡¯s perception entirely. Once she did that, she would just have to elerate her energy to the extreme, and most enemies wouldn¡¯t be able to match her. Tsubaki, simrly, had the Stealth domain to prevent people from spotting her, though she couldn¡¯t use that in this training exercise.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The one time she tried to use it to take advantage of the situation, the avatar of Leowynn fighting me immediately slowed down. I didn¡¯t find out until afterwards, because my perception of Tsubaki had been cut off.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After we were done with the ¡®time¡¯ training, the two avatars of Leowynn disappeared again, only her main incarnation left behind. ¡°Okay, that¡¯s step one of your training done¡­ for now. I want to repeat this training at least once every Standard week until the invasion, that way we can make sure that those reactions are instinctive.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Now that you¡¯ve gotten the hang of adapting to your opponent¡¯s flow of time, and creating a void barrier for yourself, I¡¯m going to teach you the basicbat tactics that have been developed for fighting in the void. Naturally, these tactics are easier for a Fallen God, but it ispletely possible for a regr god to perform them. For instance, Tsubaki has already mastered this next step, so this is just for you, dad.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki blinked at that, tilting her head in confusion. To answer her questioning gaze, Leowynn held one hand out at her side, a ck swirl of energy forming to create a longsword. ¡°Ahh¡­ manifesting items from the void.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. I know you learned how to do this already, though you find it easier to do simple items like staves that you can make as solid constructs of a single material. However, the method you learned to do so is specialized to work inside of a world, which forces the technique to be moreplicated to draw in the raw void essence. You should have an easier time of doing so when you are within the actual void.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying so, Leowynn turned to look at me again. ¡°This is just like when you created your void shield. Since you¡¯re practicing the method of treating the void as an alternative to natural energy, you can do the same here. Give a series ofmands to the void energy to construct a simple iron longsword. We¡¯ll get to more advanced techniques once you can do that in under a second.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked, hesitating for a moment before asking. ¡°You say that I¡¯m using this ¡®method¡¯... what other methods are there?¡± I asked, wanting to make sure that I wasn¡¯t making this moreplicated than it had to be.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn smiled at that. ¡°The void is information. It is the source of all powers. Any method <i><span style="font-weight:400">could</i><span style="font-weight:400"> work, so long as you believe that it <i><span style="font-weight:400">should</i><span style="font-weight:400"> work. You believed that the void was simr to natural energy, so you became able tomand it as such. There is one god who sometimes patrols the void, who shapes the void with his bare hands, molding it like y.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I sent a questioning gaze to Tsubaki, she nodded her head. ¡°I use imagination to resonate my will with the void. I imagine a weapon in my hand, and¡­¡± A ck vortex formed above her palm, immediately turning into a curved dagger resting in her hand. Even Tsubaki seemed surprised by how easy it was.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn, meanwhile, seemed to catch what I was just starting to think, and shook her head towards me. ¡°Don¡¯t feel like you have to use Tsubaki¡¯s method. Her idea of visualization isn¡¯t bad, but it will make it harder to do the more advanced steps. On the other hand, your method of issuingmands is suitable for the advanced steps, but has a higher requirement to get started.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right¡­¡± I closed my eyes, thinking. If copying Tsubaki¡¯s method wouldn¡¯t work, perhaps there was a way to merge the two ideas. I could create preset concepts in my mind via visualization, and then issuemands with those concepts.


    <span style="font-weight:400">First, I imagined a sword, a straight de with a sharp, pointed tip. The crossguard was kept simple, with the handle having a ck wrapping to help with the grip. Finally, there was the pommel, which looked like a small, steel lotus flower. In my mind, I defined this as a ¡®longsword¡¯, visualizing its total length as just over a meter long.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">This must be why it¡¯s so much easier for Fallen Gods to fight in the void.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I muttered internally, recalling that they could simply ¡®save¡¯ voidmands to use again in the future. Meanwhile, other people had to manually draft thosemands each time they were used.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once I felt that the image and material of the longsword had solidified in my mind, I held out my right hand. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Within my right hand, create the item pre-defined in my mind as ¡®longsword¡¯.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I sent that thought out in an instant, and another ck vortex appeared. The wrapping of the hilt felt light in my hand, and I opened my eyes to see the longsword as I had imagined it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Very good, dad!¡± Leowynn smiled, nodding her head. ¡°Now, keep practicing like this. Like I said, you need to be able to summon a sword like this almost instantly.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I pursed my lips, thinking. I couldn¡¯t save themand like a Fallen God would. However, I could save the mental concept of a sword, thanks to my abilities as a Schr. That would save me the steps of visualizing it again in the future. First, though, there was something else that I wanted to try. It was, admittedly, a moreplicated weapon, but also one that I was more familiar with. I just had to solve some innate problems that came with this particr weapon type.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Closing my eyes once again, I focused on the weapon that I wanted to create. This time, it took me roughly ten minutes to create the item in my mind, as I had to adjust certain aspects. Then, when I sent out themand to the void, I felt the familiar grip of it resting in my palm.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn blinked, looking at the item. ¡°A¡­ gun? I was going to warn you once you mastered the sword, but projectile weapons aren¡¯t very popr in void fights. They operate under preset rules, so the projectiles are pretty easy to dodge by simply adjusting your flow of time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but grin when I heard her critique. ¡°I thought that might be the case.¡± I lifted my hand, the weapon feeling almost hot in my palm, and fired a bullet into the void. The gun did not produce any noticeable sound¡­ or rather, the sound came and went too fast for us to take note of it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn quickly grasped what had happened. ¡°You elerated just the time of the gun itself?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah¡­¡± I gave a small nod, looking down at the gun. ¡°The gun I imagined, as well as its bullets, would be vibrating at a frequency a thousand times faster than normal. If this were in a world instead of the void, it would most likely break apart as soon as it was made. But¡­ like you said, this is the void. If you can elerate your energy, why can¡¯t I elerate my gun? Then, when I elerate myself as well, the gun will get even faster by association.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn blinked, before letting out a lightugh. ¡°Dad, you can¡¯t do this! You¡¯re skipping steps in the lesson!¡± When I looked at her in confusion, she had one hand on her stomach, holding in herughter. ¡°Setting advanced parameters for your weapon was going to be what I went over next.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Shaking her head, she grinned at the two of us. ¡°Alright. Since you can make that gun, keep practicing until you can make it as quickly as you can. Tsubaki¡­ since dad skipped ahead, I¡¯ll go over what you need to know.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I focused on training the speed at which I could create and dismiss the gun I had ¡®saved¡¯, Leowynn spoke to Tsubaki. ¡°Like you just heard, you can create weapons withplex effects. In dad¡¯s case, he elerated the time of the weapon. However, you can do all sorts of things. The example that I <i><span style="font-weight:400">nned</i><span style="font-weight:400"> to use was a me de. Imagine that the weapon you created had a de made of fire, yet was still as sharp as steel.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded her head, starting to focus. It didn¡¯t take long for her to create a weapon with a ming de¡­ but it was obvious at a nce that it wasn¡¯t ¡®sharp¡¯, more like fire was just gushing out of the crossguard. With her brows furrowed, she dismissed the de to try again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Like I said, dad¡¯s method works for more advanced concepts like this, because he ismunicating directly with the void and issuingmands. With your method, you need to visualize everything you want your weapon to be capable of whenever you make it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">This advice seemed to help her, as her second attempt looked more like a sword with a red de, mes licking off of it. ¡°Good. Now¡­ something moreplicated. Every swing of the sword directly doubles the intensity of its mes.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s eyes went wide, as if thinking how she could visualize that. She pursed her lips, dismissing her current weapon, and taking her time to focus. Meanwhile, I overheard the talk and began to think about what effects I¡¯d like to add to my gun. Tracking bullets weren¡¯t necessary, because I had the homing effect from my Martial Intent.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I focused on refining the image of the gun in my mind, adding a dial on the side with icons for ice, fire, poison, light, darkness, and chains. I imagined a scenario where the gun was fired in my mind, each setting on the dial releasing a different type of bullet when it was pressed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once again, I created the gun once I had the mental profile for it saved in my mind. I had been practicing rapidly creating items already, so now that I had this, it was easy for me to continue to do so. Of course, after creating it, I had to test each of the different bullet types.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn looked over, offering a nod of approval when she saw the ming bullet being fired from my gun. When she looked back at Tsubaki, the kitsune was clearly struggling. Most likely, it was the idea of visualizing the intensity of the mes multiplying with every swing. For the first two or three doublings, it might not be so bad¡­ but once it gets higher and higher.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Tsubaki.¡± I spoke up, causing her eyes to open as she lost her train of thought. ¡°Don¡¯t try to measure the intensity of each level in your mind. Just imprint the <i><span style="font-weight:400">concept</i><span style="font-weight:400"> of doubling. You can do it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn blinked, as that seemed to go against how she had instructed Tsubaki previously. However, only a few secondster, Tsubaki had created another red de. With one swing, the embers on the de grew. With another, the de waspletely wrapped in fire. On her third swing, the fire began to pour out around the de.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay, seriously?¡± Leowynn arched a brow, looking at Tsubaki.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki tilted her head. ¡°My Keeper said that it would work.¡± Leowynn held up a finger, opening her mouth, as if trying to find the words.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">You know, having such utter faith in someone makes teaching like this really hard!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Leowynnined in my mind, causing my lips to twitch.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Like you said, it¡¯s all about whether or not she believes it should work. Knowing her personality, if I tell her that I believe she can do something, she will go beyond any sense of reason to aplish it¡­ Which is really handy since the void is precisely beyond any sense of reason.</i>

 Chapter 996: Insurmountable Barrier

    Chapter 996: Insurmountable Barrier


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was another six hours of practicalbat training before Tsubaki and I were released by Leowynn. During this time, she drilled into us the necessary ideas to keep in mind when fighting in the void. For instance, concepts such as always maintaining at least two points of reference, always maintaining your void barrier, and to never directly answer an opponent in a fight. After all, with the void relying so much on information, there are many powers capable of attacking someone for so much as answering a question.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After she left, she made sure to let us know that she was setting an rm for one Standard week before our next training session. Subsequent sessions were not likely to be as long as this one, but more focused on ensuring that the lessons that she taught us became instinct.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That said, I knew that I was not as adept at manipting the void as a Fallen Deity. No amount of lessons like this would change that, because it was their innate gift. I am the equivalent of a mage mimicking the powers of a druid.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, although I may not be as good as a Fallen Deity, I had no doubt that I could still fight one. As long as I kept my defenses up properly and followed Leowynn¡¯s lessons, there would be nothing stopping me from using my normal abilities in the battle. As long as that was the case, I was confident in being able to fight any existing Fallen Deity in my world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I get why Dana didn¡¯t need this lesson¡­ but shouldn¡¯t Gerard and Lifre have been here?¡± I asked Tsubaki after we left the training room. However, Tsubaki simply shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Gerard is not primarily abatant to begin with. His forte is in research, and his primary method ofbat is by establishing a territory withyered enchantments that he can control. This is why Dana created him to manage the Sky Citadel in your absence.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As for Lifre¡­¡± Tsubaki gave a somewhat bitter smile. ¡°Lifre¡¯s adventures take her wherever she finds interesting. It would not surprise me in the slightest if she has already conducted a number of fights in the void. At the very least, she will have researched the subject for her novels. It¡¯s safe to say that she is fully capable of unleashing her power within the void.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I could only give a grunt and nod at that. I had been in the void before, and even briefly fought there. However, my outings were always quick, and I had never had to stay long enough to worry about corrosion or specialbat methods. ¡°I¡¯m surprised you needed the training, in that case.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki offered a small smile at my words. ¡°I have done minorbat in the void in the past. However, like yourself, I have never spent much time there. Whenever it was clear that a protracted battle would be required, I would always give the task to Dana. There was a reason that my Keeper wished for her to be a Fallen Goddess, after all.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That made me hesitate, before deciding to ask something that I had been thinking about for a while. ¡°Are you and the others¡­ trying to walk the path of an Origin?¡± I asked, causing Tsubaki to look over at me in surprise. ¡°All of you are finding Saint Energies topliment your domains, and you evenpletely recultivated your body in order to obtain the Saint Body.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki chuckled lightly, but shook her head. ¡°I admit, I am tempted. However, I do not believe that it is the goal of any of us to pursue this path. Rather, we are trying to temper ourselves as much as we can while ensuring that the path remains open to us in the future.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki looked out through the window, gazing at the Earth visible beyond the sky. ¡°In my belief, the moment that either myself or Lifre be an Origin, we will no longer be your subordinate deity. After all, an Origin is a higher level of lifeform than a god, so that rtionship should be broken as a matter of course.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It is for this reason that I am in no rush. In fact, based on the context clues avable, I believe that I have a key clue to the final step required to be an Origin.¡± When I heard that, I couldn¡¯t help but look over in surprise.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Really? You¡¯ve figured something out?¡± I asked with wide eyes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I believe so. ording to the information I have received from Lady Terra and the others, an Origin is only meant to be produced near the end of the fifth rank. Meanwhile, the method of entering the fifth rank is to be able to use the power of the inhabitants of your world to produce a fully customized world within the void. Am I correct so far, my Keeper?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After I nodded my head, Tsubaki continued. ¡°Using these two pieces of information, as well as the knowledge that the Origin is formed by the trinity of God, Saint, and Fallen, I reached a certain conclusion. Once two of the three conditions are met, the only way to fulfill the third condition is by refining a special type of world within the void, and using that as your core for the final transformation.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°For example, someone missing the keyponent known as ¡®Godhood¡¯ could create a divine world within the void, and then fuse with it to be an Origin. Likewise, someone who is missing theponent known as ¡®Chaos¡¯ can create a chaotic world to fuse with. ording to this theory, it will be impossible to create a true Origin without consuming the energy of an entire universe, using that as the foundation for their power.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I lowered my head in thought, considering Tsubaki¡¯s words. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ certainly possible. We know that Terra¡¯s incarnation can¡¯t unleash the full power of an Origin due to their improper fusion. Maybe¡­ the energy of the world is just to serve as a container for that power¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That is my belief, as well.¡± Tsubaki said in agreement. ¡°From what I know, people at our level shouldn¡¯t even be aware of the concept of an Origin. We can only specte because of the existence of Lady Terra¡¯s incarnation. Otherwise, we would be blissfully ignorant until yearster. As things stand now, we can make the proper preparations.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave another nod, before hesitating. ¡°Wait¡­ but if a bnce is needed from the three sides, wouldn¡¯t you need to create and fuse with three worlds?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki hesitated at that. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ possible. There are two ways that could proceed. Either I must fuse with three separate worlds like you say, or I must create a chaos world of three distinct attributes, letting them maintain a bnce before I absorb the world. Personally¡­ I believe that the former option is by far easier. Which, naturally means that it shall be the second.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but crack a smile at that. ¡°Probably. Like you said, it¡¯s too early to focus on that yet. As long as you have your goal in mind for the end.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre gave a soft sigh, looking over her equipment once again. It had been over a decade since the battle with the ¡®boss monster¡¯, and she hadpletely swapped out her divine armor for a higher grade. This armor had even been personally forged by the God of Crafts, Kiria Sorin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, she wanted to get Tubrock to make it himself, but he refused. Some nonsense about her basically throwing away her armor in every fight and getting it damaged far too easily. Was it her fault that she only went after the biggest challenges she could find, where she had to push herself to the limit, walking a tightrope between life and death?! Well¡­ maybe it was. But still! The Goddess of Heroes needed the best equipment money couldn¡¯t buy!


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Are you ready?¡± Petra asked, smiling at Lifre. The two of them had grown close as friends over the years, often going out on adventures together. To Petra, it felt as if she finally had someone her own age to hang out with. Though she was <i><span style="font-weight:400">far</i><span style="font-weight:400"> older than Lifre, she still felt like a child at heart! This was a sentiment that Lifre herself agreed with wholeheartedly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yup! Should be all set! You gonna bring the others along for this, or just the two of us?¡± The two were standing before the gate leading to the sixtieth floor of Fyor, an untouchednd.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra giggled faintly, shaking her head as she lifted her massive ck axe over her shoulder. ¡°Just us this time. Thelsa¡¯s running a patrol with the others through the fifty-fifth floor. They think they might have found another new mineral there.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And they didn¡¯t bring us along for the fun?! ¡°Lifre¡¯s eyes went unnaturally wide, before her cheeks puffed out. ¡°Well, we¡¯ll just have to enjoy this brave new world without them as payback!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra grinned at that, nodding her head. ¡°That¡¯s right. Though, between exploring a newnd and studying a shiny rock¡­ I personally don¡¯t envy them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a snicker from the slime as she agreed, walking over and cing her hand on the ck wall to open the gate. ¡°First order of business, finding the pir for your magic gadget, or look around and see if there¡¯s anything cool?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra pursed her lips for a moment. ¡°We should find the pir first. The level orbs are an incredibly important resource in Fyor. We might even be able to open the gates up for higher level adventurers from Earth and Deckan.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Maybe!¡± Lifre nodded her head, stepping into the gate. She took a couple of steps in, after which Petra saw her stop. Concerned, she followed in behind her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Everything okay¡­ Lifre¡­¡± Petra¡¯s words trailed off as she noticed thendscape of the floor. Clearly, this was another very unique situation. Although every floor typically had its quirks, there were only a few that were considered <i><span style="font-weight:400">unique</i><span style="font-weight:400">. For instance, the spectralndscape of the fifty-fourth floor, or the divine realm of the thirty-ninth. The twenty-sixth floor¡¯s crystal maze also counted.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This¡­ is going to take a while.¡± Lifre muttered, looking at the ck pirs the seemed to connect all the way to the sky above. They formed hallways more than a dozen kilometers wide, and Lifre could identify multiple branching paths, as well as inds floating in the sky, seeming connected to these walls.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I should have called the others.¡± Petra shook her head. Thankfully, the floor was properly made of stone, otherwise they would have activated another gate the moment that they came in. ¡°How are we going to find the gate to the sixty-first floor, though?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre¡¯s eyes went wide in realization. ¡°That¡¯s right! That magic gizmo only looks for the ck stone gate¡­ but they¡¯re all over the ce here! We can¡¯t be expected to explore all of this, right?!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra furrowed her brow, crouching down and cing a hand on the ground. ¡°No. ording to the normal form, the overall radius of the sixtieth floor should reach as high as a trillion kilometers. We could spend thousands of years feeling along every wall at every elevation.¡± As she spoke, her shadow began to spread out to cover the maze.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Either there will be something special about the gate we need to take, or we¡¯ll need the help of the Greater Pantheon to pass this floor.¡± Since her shadow was already spreading to envelope the floor, Petra stood up, ncing back before blinking. ¡°Lifre¡­ we might have a problem.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What? Did your shadow power fail?¡± Lifre asked in confusion, eyes trying to map out as much as she could of the territory.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°<i><span style="font-weight:400">Lifre</i><span style="font-weight:400">, we have a <i><span style="font-weight:400">big</i><span style="font-weight:400"> problem.¡± Petra¡¯s words caused Lifre to look back, seeing that the gate that they hade through had closed. Furthermore, it looked no different from the rest of the maze, just another section of the wall.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s nothing.¡± Lifre rolled her eyes, walking back and following their footsteps. ¡°We came through right here, silly!¡± She ced her hand on the wall, the portal opening. With a smile, she began to step through, only to jump back as soon as her head had passed. ¡°Hey, Petra¡­ I think we have a problem.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It shifted, right?¡± Petra gulped, only for Lifre to nod her head. Petra thought that might have happened, when she saw the smooth gate extending all the way to the sky. ¡°This is bad¡­ this is very, very bad. If the destinations shift along a set timeframe, we can try to find a pattern and determine when the path to the adjacent floors will open at a certain spot. But¡­ if it randomizes every time a portal opens¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We need a way to keep a gate permanently open.¡± Lifre nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Worse¡­ looking at the size of these gates, the odds of each portal opening leading to an adjacent room with each portal being randomized is less than a trillionth of a percent. We could spend our entire lives opening portals, and never make it back.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre pursed her lips at Petra¡¯s spection, seeing the portal she had opened closing. She walked over and opened it again. Sticking only her head through, she confirmed that theyout was different than she had seen previously. ¡°Okay! Nobody panic! I have a n!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Really? What¡¯s your n?¡± Petra asked with a bitter smile, already nning to retreat to the void and indirectly visit the lower floors. She could warn Thelsa and get the shadows to scout out the maze. It would take a lot of time, but it was possible.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°All we have to do is get back to the fifty-ninth floor. Then, we just keep opening the portal from there, over and over again. If the destination is random, sooner orter we will get a position where we can see the mana pir. After that, we can use your gizmo to create a map of the entire floor, and create an exploration map based on that!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s¡­ not actually a bad idea.¡± Like with her n for the scouting corps, it would take time, but it was far safer than exploring an unknownnd with foot soldiers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right?! Now we just need to get out of here!¡± Lifre said in a confident tone, reaching to the side and ripping at the air. The air was torn, ripples shing through it, but no void gate formed. Lifre furrowed her brow, ripping again, this time with more force. However, again the void gate didn¡¯t form.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...The ck stone walls might be suppressing void interference.¡± Petra spected. ¡°Do you have a way to pass a message to the outside? If I can get Thelsa to hold the gate open and send someone through, we can get back through our shadows.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah¡­ yeah, I¡¯ve got a way.¡± Lifre said in a sullen tone, sitting down and crossing her legs on the floor. ¡°Give me a minute, and I¡¯ll be back.¡± She closed her eyes, a golden ring of light gradually spreading out beneath her body. After roughly thirty seconds, she vanished, causing Petra¡¯s eyes to widen in shock.

 Chapter 997: Maze Madness

    Chapter 997: Maze Madness


    <span style="font-weight:400">Within the Admin Room, Lifre emerged in the living room with a sullen expression. She was just looking forward to starting a grand new adventure, and she discovered that her first obstacle is aplete roadblock?! ording to Petra¡¯s estimation, they could have thousands of people all working together to try and create portals to the next floor, but there was every chance that it would take decades to just happen to get the gate that they wanted?


    <span style="font-weight:400">How would that even work with nning the locations for Gate¡¯s Rise and Gate¡¯s Rest on that floor? Since everywhere could be considered a gate, what would they have to do? When Lifre looked around, she saw Aurivy sitting on the couch. She ran over, jumping toy across Aurivy¡¯sp while her arms and legs il about. ¡°Rivy! The newest floor of Fyor was mean to me! Can you go beat it up?!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy yelped, startled by the sudden slime girl flopped across herp. ¡°The¡­ floor was mean to you?¡± She blinked in confusion, grabbing the remote for the TV. When she flipped the channel, it brought up a map of the sixtieth floor, zoomed out. ¡°Oh¡­ wow.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre turned her head to look, pouting. ¡°See?! I wanted to go have a fun adventure, and then that happened! Beat it up for me, Rivy!¡± She pleaded, looking wide-eyed at the halfling goddess.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The sixtieth floor wasn¡¯t entirely covered by the ck stone maze. In fact, only eighty percent of the floor was covered, with the remaining twenty percent being centered around the mana pir. Sadly, it didn¡¯t look like the gate heading up existed within this twenty percent.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy simply chuckled. ¡°You know I can¡¯t beat up a floor of Fyor, Lifre. Still, this is surprising¡­¡± She flipped back through recent history, reviewing the footage of their experiments. ¡°And concerning¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right?!¡± Lifre huffed indignantly. ¡°Can you pass a message to Thelsa, then? Petra said that if she holds the gate open and lets someone through, Petra can find them through their shadow connection.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy nodded her head, observing the map. ¡°Yeah¡­ and it looks like there¡¯s only one path that leads to the ¡®exit¡¯ of the maze. You¡¯ll have to either get lucky to find it, or open a gate on the outer wall.¡± As she said that, she was already transmitting the message to Thelsa, as requested.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well¡­ are there any monsters that we need to worry about? Petra and I didn¡¯t really see anything, but we weren¡¯t there long.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Aurivy heard that question, she ran a search, before shaking her head. ¡°I¡¯m not seeing any signs of life on the entire floor. Since anything this high up would have to be an energy-based lifeform, I¡¯d guess that the ck stone walls prevented the energy from condensing enough to form any kind of life.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There¡¯s not even a boss monster to fight¡­¡± Lifre groaned, her limbs sagging onto the couch and starting to liquify. ¡°But I need an adventure!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy simply rolled her eyes, a yful smirk at the corner of her lips. However, a momentter, her eyes widened. ¡°Give me a minute¡­ I¡¯m going to try to make something for you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre turned over, looking up at Aurivy with wide, blinking eyes. She didn¡¯t know what to expect, and just saw a look of contemtion on Aurivy¡¯s face. A few momentster, the scene on the television changed, showing a blue sphere resting on the ground in one of the many halls of the mazy. ¡°What¡¯s that? The level sphere? I mean, we were going to look for that on our own, anyways¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy snickered mischievously. ¡°No¡­ this is different. It¡¯s something special I just bought for the world. Once you put this in the central spire, you¡¯ll unlock the ¡®Fast Travel¡¯ option for the world. Anyone will be able to open a gate from any ck stone wall to any other ck stone wall that they¡¯ve visited in the past.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre blinked again. ¡°So¡­ kind of like your priests?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, the halfling goddess quickly denied that. ¡°My priests aren¡¯t limited to only using the gates as their destination. That¡¯s something that I want to keep just for them. This is an add-on to the system rules for Fyor. But, it should help you navigate the maze more easily. Besides¡­ although there aren¡¯t any monsters, there are <i><span style="font-weight:400">other</i><span style="font-weight:400"> things to find on this floor.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre immediately perked up, flipping herself over to sit upright in Aurivy¡¯sp. ¡°Can I have it, pretty please? I¡¯ll write a special romance novel just for you and Julia!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy had the decency to flush slightly. ¡°I was nning to give it to you, regardless. I¡¯m sending it to Petra¡¯s location now, and Thelsa should be on her way.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yay! Thanks, Rivy! You¡¯re the best!¡± Lifre lunged forward, wrapping her arms around Aurivy and rubbing their heads together. Afterwards, she jumped to her feet to return to Fyor, where she found Petra looking at the blue crystal orb in confusion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Aurivy brought the level sphere to us already? I guess she doesn¡¯t want us to explore yet?¡± Petra asked with a faint sigh. ¡°We¡¯ll need to find a way to keep the gates open permanently. Otherwise, I guess we¡¯ll just have to write off this floor once we get a priest to the next one.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Nope!¡± Lifre beamed, reaching down to pick up the orb. ¡°This is¡­ fast travel!¡± After saying so, she exined the effects of the orb that Aurivy had created, causing Petra¡¯s eyes to widen. Of course, a look of contemtion appeared on her face a momentter.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯ll make it easier to move around, and also make getting in and out of the Shadow Guilds easier.¡± Lifre tilted her head at Petra¡¯s words.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Are people already using the Shadow Guilds again?¡± She asked in confusion. She though that it would take at least fifty years before people began to rely on those spaces after the previous conflict.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not as much as they used to, but they havee to the conclusion that it was an isted event. For the moment, they¡¯re unwilling to put their most sensitive materials inside, but will keep a small branch open. Right now, they¡¯re more like ck markets than anything else.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ahh¡­ either way! This will let us explore the maze as much as we want, and we¡¯ll never need to worry about not being able to get back home!¡± Lifre grinned happily, hugging the sphere against her chest.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra simply chuckled, ncing around. ¡°Right, but we¡¯ll need to be careful. We don¡¯t want to draw too much attention from anything that could be watching us.¡± She still remembered the crystal maze, where a native race was manipting the maze to harm them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, that¡¯s not a problem! She said that there¡¯s no life on this floor. Something about the energy being disrupted by the walls. But there are other things! That means there has to be treasure! Special materials that even got her attention!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra blinked in confusion, slowly nodding her head. A secondter, she nced to the side. ¡°Sora¡¯s here. Let¡¯s go. We¡¯lle back after we turn that over to the central floor.¡± As soon as she said that, her shadow reached up to wrap around herself and Lifre, transporting them across the floor to appear before the dark-haired lightning magus, Sora Sparks.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hey, Sora!¡± Lifre waved a hand, Sora chuckling and returning the wave.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We¡¯re here to break you kids out. Come on, let¡¯s not wait to get trapped again.¡± After Sora said that, she let the two hop back through the gate, Sora herself passing through a momentter.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I sat at my desk, watching the terminal sh with different windows. Tsubaki had established a connection for the Head of Research to work with the Deckan researchers, but I still made sure that she included a way to monitor that connection. We couldn¡¯t have him trying anything harmful behind our backs. Although both Terra and Tsubaki had taken steps to ¡®deter¡¯ him, it wouldn¡¯t surprise me if he came up with a loophole that allowed him to survive.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, for the moment, he only appeared to be submitting schematics for a void barrier prototype after studying the existing technology. As I was looking through that, I felt Aurivy speak up in the back of my mind. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Hey, Dale! Two things!</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">What¡¯s up?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I blinked, sitting back in my chair to focus on my conversation with Aurivy. If she was getting in touch with me right now, there was probably something big going on.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">First off, did you get any kind of notification a minute ago? I bought a plug-in for Fyor, and wanted to see if you¡¯d be alerted.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she said that, I thought about it for a second before shaking my head. <i><span style="font-weight:400">No notification here. Everything good?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Yup! Just a fast travel system, nothing major. I¡¯ll have Ashley run a thorough debug of Fyor¡¯s system here soon, just to make sure that the plug-in didn¡¯t mess anything up. Other thing! There¡¯s a really cool material on the new floor of Fyor that Lifre found.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help arching a brow when I heard that. <i><span style="font-weight:400">What¡¯s the material?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">ording to the system identification¡­ Osmosis Stone. It can adapt to and ept the properties of nearby materials. We¡¯ll need to test how it works, but right now¡­ it¡¯s surrounded by ck stone walls.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes went wide at that implication. Those walls were the most durable material in the world. In fact, it was to the degree that the systembeled them as indestructible and impervious to any energy. However¡­ I calmed down after a few moments. <i><span style="font-weight:400">If they obtained the full properties of the ck stone walls, we won¡¯t be able to forge them into anything. We¡¯ll be lucky if we can even mine out a few chunks.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Well¡­ I¡¯ve got Lifre on the job. She should be able to get results sooner orter. Though, we won¡¯t be able to reach the sixty-first floor for quite a while.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I arched my brow when I heard that. Admittedly, we had been making fantastic progress. But, if Aurivy was saying that, there must be some major obstacle. When I asked, she exined theyout of the floor to me, and I let out a long sigh. Sure enough, there was painfully little that could be done to resolve this situation, aside from waiting for them to luckily hit the jackpot.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I got it. Let me know if they get lucky. At the very least, it sounds like the floor is safe, once the new system is installed.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s right!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Aurivy agreed readily. <i><span style="font-weight:400">The only real problem is the level of gravity, but we have ways of dealing with that. The total circumference of the floor is nearly a lightyear, so that¡¯s a lot of space that we can safely inhabit, once the gravity wards are up.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a soft sigh, nodding my head. At the very least, this was additional space that we could evacuate people to, if it looks like we can¡¯t hold out for the invasion. Especially given that the walls were significant enough to block out void travel. Though¡­ that also meant that it would block out other means of void portals, such aswork cables or the void core powering Olympus. For thework cables, they would need permanently active gates, but there was simply no way around the fact that Olympus wouldn¡¯t be able to exist on the floor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I thanked Aurivy for the update, and reminded her to first send any new plug-ins for her world through Ashley. In order to make it easier, I expanded everyone¡¯s territory to include Ashley¡¯s testbed world. That way, there was less of a risk of new systems causing a sh that could <i><span style="font-weight:400">potentially </i><span style="font-weight:400">crash the entire world. That would be bad. It would be very, very bad.

 Chapter 998: Going With The Flow

    Chapter 998: Going With The Flow


    <span style="font-weight:400">A blonde human woman with shining blue eyes stood before the great ocean of the fifty-ninth floor of Fyor. In one hand, she held a gilded spear with a blue crystal head, her body adorned with golden armor. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Since it looks like the sixtieth floor isn¡¯t going to be avable for habitation any time soon, we had best make use of this one as much as we can.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She thought to herself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Behind her, arge group of humans, halflings, and dovah all stood, anxiously awaiting the woman¡¯s order. However, she simply closed her eyes, letting her senses sweep out. This was the singlergest ocean of Fyor, its depths reaching more than a billion kilometers. Had she only been focusing on worlds such as Earth or Deckan, this astronomical number would seem nothing short of ridiculous.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The idea that entires could easily fit within a single ocean was mind-boggling. However, it was true. Thergest monster recorded within this ocean had reached more than two hundred thousand kilometers long. Although it wasn¡¯t quiterge enough to consume an entire the size of Deckan, it was enough that its mere presence would be able to destroy the.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Taking a deep breath, the woman stepped out onto the water, her feet forming ripples along the surface as she walked in long strides. Her figure blurred with every step she took, crossing hundreds of kilometers at a time. <i><span style="font-weight:400">We were always warned that physicals were the easiest to destroy. That¡¯s why Aurivy established Sanctum and its satellite worlds. However, Sanctum won¡¯t be able to withstand theing invasion.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">It didn¡¯t take long for her figure to escape the sight of those watching from the shore, but nobody made any move to follow or leave. They had been instructed to wait, so they would wait until such time as their instructions had changed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Bihena wanted an alternative to Sanctum. Something that she could establish on Fyor, where there was no risk of void interference. In fact, she had considered the divine floor as a possible alternative, but chose to avoid it as the floor was still a ¡®material¡¯ world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After a few minutes of walking, Bihena felt that she hade far enough, standing atop the ocean,nd nowhere to be seen. Even the ceiling of thisyer was too far to be discerned, the atmosphere itself forming a hazy blue barrier that resembled the daytime sky of other worlds.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She held her spear forward, focusing her divinity. Runic markings began to light up the spear, and when she let it go it began to hover in ce. Bihena quickly reached into her inventory, producing a second spear. This one hand a red spearhead, and she activated it just like the first. Then another, this one with a ck spearhead.


    <span style="font-weight:400">These three spears were set to float around Bihena, forming a triangle. When she pped her hands, all three turned, their spearheads ringing as they struck the base of their neighbor, with Bihena standing in the center still. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I can¡¯t just do this with divinity. I learned that from Aurivy. I haven¡¯t done as many big projects as her, but I can¡¯t afford that expenditure.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I am the one who quells the endless waves. My words dictate the flow of the world.¡± Bihena began, aplex magic diagram expanding around her in a sphere. It had taken her years of study with Ryone¡¯s incarnation to master this spell diagram.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Fire and stone as the heart. Land and sea make way to the endless sky.¡± As she spoke, the three spears began to separate, rotating around her as they pointed high above. ¡°A world of boundless nature, yet untouched by the earth¡¯s pull. A home. A hearth. A hope. And for those in need. Drift along the ocean¡¯s road to wee lost travelers.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The spell diagram shrank and split, converging on each of the three spears. Immediately, they shot into the air, leaving blue, red, and ck trails behind them. High above the ocean floor, within the empty sky, these three spears struck together. Boundless energy emerged from the world, green lights flowing from the air around them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Bihena saw this, she stomped one foot onto the ocean, raising her hand to the sky. Streams of blue and gold power surged from the ocean beneath her, flying to join the slurry of energy being formed. Meanwhile, Bihena maintained absolute focus, watching as the energy condensed more and more, bing a solid mass more than a hundred and fifty thousand kilometers across.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She had considered making a within the sky, but it would be far too disorienting for anyone on its southern hemisphere to look up and see the ground above. Instead, she made an ind. This ind was only as wide as Deckan¡¯s diameter, and so it had less totalndmass. However, this was an ind made of pure energy, one which passively sustained itself by drawing on ambient mana and natural energy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Bihena created mountains and forests, and channels for rivers to flow through. The entire process of the flying ind¡¯s creation took only an hour, at which point Bihena called out. ¡°Group one, take flight!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her words echoed in the air, traveling beyond the horizon to reach those that were waiting at the shore. A small number of those waiting flew into the arrow, turning into streams of light that shot towards the new ind. These would be the first colonists, those setting up the initial infrastructure to allow for others to inhabit the ind.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Bihena let out a low sigh, checking her inventory, as well as her remaining mana. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Good¡­ still have plenty to continue.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">She had been preparing for this n ever since she learned of the next invasion. Whether it was learning the necessary spell, or stocking up on materials. She had filled her inventory with Mage Heart, as well as identical copies of the three spears. A blue spearhead to be the focus of her divinity, allowing the ind to drift in the sky and harness ambient energy. A red one to form the core of fire and stone to create thendmass itself. A ck one to create a localized gravity field, enabling even low level civilians to safely inhabit them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Bihena began to walk again, moving more than three hundred thousand kilometers away. Then, she once again started to pull the three spears from her inventory. ¡°I am the one who quells the endless waves¡­¡± She began, while thinking to herself. <i><span style="font-weight:400">One down¡­ forty-nine to go.</i>


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Lifre, wait up!¡± Petra called out in a panic as Lifre jumped through a stone wall, hurrying to chase after her before the portal closed. ¡°If the portal closes before I get through, I won¡¯t be able to find you again!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Pfft, it¡¯s fine!¡± Lifre shouted back when Petra barely made it through. No longer was she covered in her armor. Instead, she wore a brown leather jacket and dark blue undershirt with brown cloth pants. She carried a pickaxe over her shoulder, the head engraved with runic markings. ¡°I¡¯ve got theyout of this ce tucked away up here.¡± She tapped on her head with her free hand, causing Petra¡¯s eyes to widen.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You memorized theyout of the floor? But we haven¡¯t even gotten to the spire yet!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No big deal! Aurivy showed me a map while went to ry the news.¡± Lifre puffed her chest out proudly, Petra blinking in confusion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You memorized a map that big from a single nce?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Uhm¡­ well¡­ part of it? I got the gist of it, anyways!¡± Lifre turned her head to the side. ¡°Besides, this is a safe floor. The interference of the ck stone walls isn¡¯t just preventing void fluctuations. Any airborne energy is dispersed. See?¡± Lifre flicked her wrist, shooting out a basic fireball spell.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although the magic condensed, it fizzled away only a few inches after it took flight. ¡°Keep your minimap up. The only way we can map this ce out is with the system.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra bit her lower lip when she heard that. In fact, she had already noticed something simr before. When she mapped out the world with her World Shadow, the shadow world created was blurred. Even now, it hadn¡¯t settled, and Petra wondered if it ever would. At the very least, it had registered as part of their shadow world, so they could grab the next floor whenever they open the way.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While Petra was thinking about that, she barely noticed Lifre jumping through another gate. Gasping, she chased after her. ¡°After saying all that, you¡¯re still running off on your own?!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre let out a light, carefreeugh. ¡°We have the new fast travel, it¡¯ll be fine!¡± The other side of this gate showed one of the elevated inds, Lifre having to walk more than a hundred meters to reach the end of it. ¡°Huh¡­ I wonder how these are being held up.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There are probably branches of ck stone connected to each one.¡± Petra spected, seeing Lifre lifting up her pickaxe. ¡°Wait, don¡¯t tell me you want to¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯ve got wings!¡± Lifre grinned crazily, channeling her mana into the pickaxe and striking the floor beneath her. The runic markings lit up, amplifying the force of her strike and spreading cracks throughout the ind. Petra gulped, looking left and right quickly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Yes, she had wings, but a demon¡¯s wings were far from enough to let someone fly with the gravity of the sixtieth floor of Fyor. She could spread her wings as wide as she wanted, and she would still plummet like a stone. She tried to condense darkness beneath her feet to stand on as the stone of the ind fell away.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately for her, the energy put into the tform dissipated only secondster. Just enough time for her to see that she wasn¡¯t entirely wrong. The ind had been attached to a branch of ck stone¡­ of a sort. However, rather than a thin branch like one might imagine, it was more like a wide tform¡­ which they were now falling towards.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Lifre!¡± Petra called out, eyes wide. Given the distance between the two of them, there was no way that they would activate the same portal. However, Lifre wasughing as happily as ever, even as she was swallowed up by a gate.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra soon entered one of her own, finding that her downward momentum had suddenly turned horizontal,unching her out of a wall. By the time she looked down, she saw that she must have been thousands of kilometers in the air. She shot out a burst of energy, propelling herself to the opposing wall and into another portal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Immediately afterwards, Petra grunted, falling to the floor in a pitch ck cave. As a demon, and the Goddess of Shadow, it only took a moment for her eyes to adjust. ¡°Come on, Lifre¡­¡± Petra muttered to herself, knowing that there was no way that Lifre was close by. ¡°You know not to just smack everything you see by now¡­ I know that you were told that this floor¡¯s safe and everything¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a sigh, she dusted her red legs off and pushed herself to a standing position. At her height, her horns were already brushing against the top of the cave, showing just how small it was. Still, she walked forward, eyes roaming over the walls. There were dark crystals jutting out here and there, and she dislodged one to store in her inventory.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Further down the cave, unwilling to release any of her power after knowing that it would just fade away after leaving her body. She would need to conserve her energy, or else take the gate back to the fifty-ninth floor. ¡°Huh?¡± Petra blinked, seeing something jutting out of the ground not far away. It looked like¡­ a polished metal handle?


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">There¡¯s no life on this floor, how could there be a manufactured item?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She asked herself. She reached forward, briefly tapping the handle with a finger, just to see if it was going to do anything like absorb her energy. Seeing that it was ¡®safe¡¯, she grabbed the handle and exerted enough strength to pull it out.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra¡¯s eyes widened at the sight before her, a ck axe that only just barely fit in this cave. While not identical to her currently favored weapon, it strongly reminded her of one that she wielded for quite a long time in the past. ¡°But¡­ how are you here?¡± She asked, thinking that she needed to take this back to Sora to study.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As soon as that thought crossed her mind, the axe seemed to melt, reshaping into the form of a human woman sitting on the floor, her hand outstretched to be held in Petra¡¯s. Although she was made entirely of a ck material, Petra immediately recognized the statue as one of her best friends. ¡°It¡­ responds to thoughts? Memories? This is not what they mean by memory alloy, okay?!¡±

 Chapter 999: Material Research

    Chapter 999: Material Research


    <span style="font-weight:400">After a few minutes, Petra had managed to control the new material well enough that she turned it into a bracelet resting on her wrist. Afterwards, she rushed to the ck wall. Focusing, she sensed Lifre¡¯s presence through the party system. Lifre wasn¡¯t at any of the points that Petra had already explored, so she jumped into the gate and appeared at a random location.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Finding herself even further from Lifre, she tried again, determined to try five times to get close to Lifre before leaving to report this to the others. Given that Lifre seemed to be stationary, she was likely mining. Unfortunately, even with five attempts, she was unable toe close to Lifre. Well¡­ that¡¯s not entirely true. She was able to luckily arrive only one wall away from Lifre at one point, but could not find the path to get around that wall.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Gritting her teeth, she sent Lifre a private message, saying that she found a new material and was sending it back to Thelsa. She couldn¡¯t be sure if the message went through or not, given the interference of the ck stone walls, and could only leave through the gates.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With the previous incident making them more cautious, Thelsa was now stationed just outside of the gate leading to the sixtieth floor, prepared to take action if there was another call for help. When Petra appeared through the gate, Thelsa¡¯s eyes went wide and she stepped forward. ¡°Is everything alright?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra had a conflicted look on her face, but nodded her head. ¡°I got separated from Lifre. It looks like she went mining. I ended up in a cave, and found some materials that I want you to have a look at.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">First, Petra pulled the dark crystal out from her inventory. When Thelsa saw this crystal, she furrowed her brow, not sure what to make of it. She could sense a faint energy from it, but could not immediately tell what it was for. ¡°I¡¯ll send this to the forging division. Anything else?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra nodded, holding up her wrist. The bracelet she was wearing immediately turned into a giant war axe, startling Thelsa. ¡°This was in the same cave. It looks like it responds to the thoughts of the nearest being.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa¡¯s eyes widened, holding her hands out. Petra then turned the giant axe into the size of a small stone, passing it to Thelsa. Petra could tell that the material didn¡¯t change its weight, no matter what form or size it took.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When the stone was passed to Thelsa, it immediately shifted to be a thick book, the pages made of ck stone. Clearly, this wasn¡¯t the same ck stone that made up the gates between worlds. In fact, Thelsa could confirm that the item in her hand wasn¡¯t able to reproduce any of the enchantments of the items it copied.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa nodded her head, looking from Petra to the new object that she had been handed. ¡°I¡¯ll take these to be studied. Let me know if you find anything else.¡± She said, before disappearing into the shadows.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre hummed happily to herself as she swung her pickaxe, shattering stone with every swing. To her, it didn¡¯t matter all that much that she and Petra had been separated. Now that they knew that the floor was safe, it would be better to split up and cover more ground. Maybe that way, they could find even more cool treasures!


    <span style="font-weight:400">With that thought in mind, Lifre ran through gate after gate, until she found arge mountain within a vast clearing of the maze. Seeing that as an ideal spot to mine, she dove in and got to work. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy said that there were precious materials on this floor. I wonder if I¡¯ll get lucky and find anything!</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Given the nature of the floor, she could likely dismiss the idea that a ne-crossing material such as tidestone would be present. This was perhaps the worst environment for those types of minerals. At the same time, basic iron or gold wouldn¡¯t have gotten Aurivy¡¯s attention.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In fact, Lifre never even received Petra¡¯s message about leaving when she found something. Had she known, she likely would have left right away to see what Petra had discovered.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa brought the two materials obtained from Petra to a research facility set up within her shadow world. Given that she intended to train people in every profession, it was only natural that this included schrs and scientists. While she dare not say that her people were better at their jobs than those in the Ashtanu Research Foundation, they werepetent at their job.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ah, Lady Whitefallow!¡± The lead researcher spoke up when Thelsa appeared, offering a bright smile. ¡°What brings you here today?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa held out the stone in her hand, having reverted it from its previous book-like appearance, as well as the ck crystal. ¡°I need you to examine these materials. They¡¯re from the sixtieth floor of Fyor that Petra just unlocked.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The researcher opened his eyes wide, nodding his head as he adjusted his sses. ¡°I see¡­ I¡¯ll put them through the tests right away.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">With that said, Thelsa watched the researcher take both of the items, briefly surprised when the small stone turned into a ck stone replica of a microscope in his hand. ¡°Fascinating¡­¡± He muttered, quickly discovering the special trait of this material, focusing on returning it to its normal, stone appearance.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The first item that he tested was the ck crystal, cing it within arge machine that examined it by firingsers from two extending arms. The man watched, waiting for information to appear on the screen. It wasmon practice to use machinery to examine a new material first, before activating an identification spell. After all, some materials had adverse reactions when magic was used on them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, after waiting for more than half an hour, there was no data being disyed. ¡°Now, that¡¯s odd.¡± He said, before shutting off the machine. ¡°Is it absorbing the energy being fired at it without allowing any to escape?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Without expecting any answer, he decided to move on to the magical appraisal. As such, he ced the crystal on a circr, metal te carved with runic engravings. With a brief surge of mana, the te lit up with an intense glow, arcane runes hovering in the air.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Again, the researcher waited, only to find that this identification process had also failed. ¡°This, too? No¡­ it¡¯s not absorbing¡­ is it disrupting?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Having this theory in mind, his first instinct was to register it with the Digital Conversion system. However, if the information about it couldn¡¯t be scanned with any of his devices, it was unlikely that he could use a Digital Conversion scanner.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Instead, he took the crystal over to a grinder, wanting to get a smaller sample. Perhaps, if he could break off a small piece, he could ask someone to visit a game world through the void, and obtain the file that way.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The researcher pressed the crystal against the grinder, powering it up and watching the sparks fly. He had anticipated that it might have a remarkable durability, but it seemed entirely unphased by the force trying to break it down. However, there was a change happening to the material over time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Rather than saying that the material was breaking, it was instead losing its crystalline sheen. Its outer texture became more coarse, gradually shifting from a crystal to amon, ck stone. Only when it had fully lost its luster did it break under the force of the grinder.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing this, the researcher¡¯s eyes were wide, a look of realization dawning on his face. ¡°Lena! Take the second sample to the infuser, and use thergest Mage Heart crystal we have!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Immediately, a female researcher came forward, taking the other stone that Thelsa had provided, and moving towards a machine containing two chambers. In one chamber, she put arge, blue crystal, and in the other she ced the ck stone. Under the lead researcher¡¯s fervent gaze, she activated the machine, which extracted the power of the Mage Heart to inject into the stone. This was amon tool for recharging spent items or materials, but he hadn¡¯t expected to use it like this.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He could see the mana being absorbed by the ck stone, causing its color to slowly shift to a dark blue, turning lighter and lighter as the Mage Heart was spent. When it was done, the researcher had Lena use another Mage Heart without dy, and then another. After the third crystal, the ck stone had changed to appear almost entirely like a Mage Heart crystal itself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The researcher stepped forward, opening the machine and retrieving the shining, blue gem. ¡°I see¡­ fascinating.¡± Without another word, he rushed over to an adjacent machine, this one used to extract energy from an object. After cing the now-blue gem inside of it, he activated the device.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Blue gas rose from the gem, the mana being absorbed into the machine for processing. As it did, like before, the gem gradually lost its luster, turning into a murky, blue stone. Only when no more mana could be extracted did the researcher deactivate the device and retrieve the stone. ¡°It¡­ absorbs energy thates into contact with it, taking on special properties. However, when the energy is exhausted, it bes capable of altering its shape?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa furrowed her brows, having watched the entire process. She even saw the blue stone turning into a dagger in the man¡¯s hand. ¡°So¡­ these are the same material?¡± She asked, looking back to the former crystal that she had brought, nowying discarded next to the grinder. She was surprised to find that the broken fragments had shifted, bingrger and taking shapes simr to the Mage Heart that had been used to test the other item just now.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right, Lady Whitefallow!¡± The researcher spoke in excitement. ¡°After the energy is drained, the item will retain the color of thest energy that had been used for it. Perhaps it is a residual effect¡­ regardless, it is clear that this item manifests in two forms, one filled with energy and the other when it is depleted.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That said¡­ I am curious what made it so durable in its previous state.¡± He muttered to himself, flipping the dagger between his fingers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa had an opinion on that when she had heard the researcher¡¯s report. ¡°The sixtieth floor, where these are found, is filled with ck stone gates¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The researcher let out a gasp. ¡°You mean that it could absorb the energy of the gates, thus obtaining their indestructible property? That is¡­ remarkable. Though, the fact that you found one that had not done so means that it likely takes a long time for the energy of the gates to permeate¡­ or perhaps this energy had been blocked by other crystals that had already been filled. I will need to conduct more tests to be sure. Would it be possible to establish a research facility on that floor?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa thought about it for a moment, before shaking her head. ¡°Unfortunately, the massive number of gates disrupt any energy being used. Even the shadow world of the sixtieth floor can¡¯t fully condense, so it is impossible for me to construct a facility there.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I see¡­ I see, that would be the case.¡± The researcher let out a long sigh of resignation. ¡°In that case, I can only ask that the depleted sample be taken back and put under observation to determine the amount of time that it takes to fill with energy.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If the depleted stone can be shaped prior to being filled, and maintains this shape throughout the process, it may be possible to obtain theoretically indestructible items.¡± Of course, even the researcher himself knew that this was unlikely. In order to maintain the item¡¯s shape, it would need to be under observation throughout the entire process, and the one observing must not let it change. If the process was slow, such as taking years or longer, it would bepletely infeasible to create a so-called ¡®indestructible¡¯ item.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa nodded her head, seeming even more cautious than the researcher. After all¡­ the normal methods of oveing the gravity of the floors would not work on the sixtieth floor. This meant that a true powerhouse would be needed to handle the observation. ¡°While I¡¯m gone, use the other material to experiment. I want to understand the limits of what this can do.¡±

 Chapter 1000: Simply A-Maze-Ing

    Chapter 1000: Simply A-Maze-Ing


    <span style="font-weight:400">After the initial findings from the test, Thelsa sent a report to Olympus, detailing what they had discovered. Once that report arrived, I naturally took a look at it, interested in seeing the material that Aurivy had told me about. The fact that it had two stages surprised me, as did its secondary ability.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At first, I thought that this might be a new super-material, one that we needed to mass produce in order to create powerful weapons and armors. However, after reading through the details of this new ¡®memory stone¡¯ as they were tentatively calling it¡­ my thoughts began to change.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Admittedly, there were many potential uses for this material. But, if I were to ssify it as a ¡®super-material¡¯, it would need to overwhelmingly surpass what was on the market in some way. Currently, this item had only three things going for it. First, it was naturally dense, due to being from the sixtieth floor of Fyor. From what Thelsa¡¯s report showed, it had excellent defensive properties, even in its depleted form.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As far as defenses go, however, it would only be roughly the equivalent of iron found on the same floor. Worse, even, given that the armor may identally change into another form if the person wearing it wasn¡¯t careful.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Its second remarkable trait was its ability to replicate the power of other materials. However, in order to do this, that material had to release some form of energy, such as the weak ambient energy of the ck stone gates, or the mana from a Mage Heart. It might be able to replicate Dimensium, but certainly not items like mithral or orichalcum, as these materials don¡¯t release any ambient energy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The final benefit of this energy was none other than its shape shifting property. This, if nothing else, made it remarkable as a weapon. After all, if someone had mastered multiple fighting styles, they would be able to have any weapon that they wanted onmand. Surely, that would be more convenient than swapping items in your inventory in the middle of a battle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">But, did this make it worthy of being called a super-material? I didn¡¯t believe so, personally. At most, it was nice for those without exceptionally powerful artifacts already. Now, if there happened to be other qualities for this material that were undiscovered in the initial tests, I would happily revise my evaluation.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">This can¡¯t be all that Aurivy was excited about.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I shook my head, certain that there was more left to find on the sixtieth floor. In fact, I was fully aware that even the Greater Pantheon like her were unable to fully appraise a material just from looking at it from the Admin Room. It would be different if I did so myself, using my Keeper ability, but they didn¡¯t have such a benefit.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Actually¡­ that¡¯s not a terrible idea.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I thought to myself, tilting my head slightly. In the past, I wouldn¡¯t even consider doing something like this, if for no other reason than the level restriction on Fyor. But¡­ I fixed that problem a while ago, didn¡¯t I? It was no longer as much of a hassle, to the point where I needed a mortal escort.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Besides, Aurivy had confirmed from the Admin Room that there were no signs of life, so it should be safe for me to visit. It might not strictly be training mybat abilities, but it would allow me to experience more of my world.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy¡­ please send me to the fifty-ninth floor¡¯s upper gate.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Imunicated to the halfling goddess. There was a moment of silence before the request was carried out. Golden mist wrapped around my body, transporting me to an area where I could feel a heavy weight pressing down against me. Without my Keeper levels, it would be hard for me to move naturally in this gravity.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Looking around, it seemed as though Thelsa hadn¡¯t returned yet after sending the report, as nobody was present. With a shrug of my shoulder, I ced my hand on the gate and passed through. When I emerged, I couldn¡¯t help but stare at the walls that ran high into the sky, beyond the limits of what I could see.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I closed my eyes, recalling what I had heard about this floor, and allowed my World Sight to extend outwards in an attempt to scan my surroundings. Unsurprisingly, I felt that my World Sight was dissolved soon after leaving a ten centimeter radius around my body. It was¡­ curious that this seemed so exact, but at the same time, I felt a powerful trace of mana in the air.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Did Ind close to the spire?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I thought to myself, sensing which direction the mana seemed to be flowing. Without any hesitation, I treated the mana as a small stream, traveling up it to find its source. As I did, I realized something that had been bothering me since my arrival on this floor.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">If all energy is dissipated when airborne¡­ how does this floor have a day and night cycle? Reasonably speaking, one of two things should happen. Either the mana that radiates from the central spire should disperse before it resonates with anything that could produce this light, or the light itself should be blocked by the walls of the maze. However, it is clearly daytime, despite this.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Curious to uncover the truth, I sped up, practically teleporting thousands of kilometers at a time as I channeled chakra into my legs. Even so, it took me more than ten minutes to follow the trace of mana back to its source, passing through dozens of different turns.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I arrived, I saw a great clearing, one that made the entrance to the maze look like an almostpletely t wall. If I didn¡¯t know that this clearing was just a small part of the world, I would have thought that this was the entrance to the other half of the world, simr to the twenty-fifth floor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Far ahead, at what I knew to be the center of the clearing, I could see the mana pir rising high beyond the horizon. This time, when I released my world sight, there was nothing interfering. As long as I did not try to send it back into the maze, I could explore this clearing as much as I wished.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, the first thing that I did was send my world sight up into the sky above me, beyond the limits of my normal perception. I wanted to see exactly what was happening on the ceiling of thisyer. Where did the lighte from?


    <span style="font-weight:400">What I found caused me to freeze in my steps, my eyes going wide. There were colorful veins of minerals flowing through the ceiling. Red, green, blue, yellow, white, all interwoven with one another in various shades. Wherever certain shades of the red and blue mineral veins ovepped, it produced a field of perpetual me beneath that crossing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was these intersections that created the illusion of daytime, due to more than a tenth of theyer¡¯s ceiling being covered in me. However, I couldn¡¯t help but pause and think. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Why are there so many dimensional minerals here?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> This would be thest ce that I expected to find them. I even thought back to Aurivy¡¯s im that there was no life in thisyer.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With all of these here, how could nothinge through? The intersection of the manastone and the firestone even caused an automatic reaction such as this, couldn¡¯t creatures pass through the opening?


    <span style="font-weight:400">In my mind, these concerns were justified. All of these minerals would make this floor a natural destination for anyone passing through them. I pushed my world sight into the activated firestone, studying its structure and attempting to infiltrate it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once again, my eyes went wide. The connection between the firestone and manastone didn¡¯t cause it to be permanently opened, as I had initially believed. Instead, the connection was opening and closing at a rapid pace, more than hundreds of times per second.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I focused, entering ¡®battle mode¡¯ to elerate my processing speed to the limit, and then attempted to take advantage of this opening. With my level and stats, this tiniest fraction of a second could be stretched out enough to get a good look at the situation on the other side.


    <span style="font-weight:400">To my surprise, though, the moment I slipped my World Sight through the gap, it instantly closed ahead of schedule. <i><span style="font-weight:400">So that¡¯s it¡­ it¡¯s not opening on a timed schedule¡­ it¡¯s forcibly closed as soon as enough energy passes through, and then immediately afterwards, the manastone forces it open again.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">That would exin theck of anythinging through, as nothing was able to fit. Though, it made me question why the connection was so unstable even in this clearing. Thankfully, my own energy wasn¡¯t disrupted in this space, so I directly teleported to one of the intersections, nning to take a look at it myself. As I had spected earlier, I should be able to use my Keeper power to analyze the materials.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Firestone(Mutated, Damaged)


    <span style="font-weight:400">A dimensional mineral connected to the local elemental realm of fire. However, after being subjected to irregr energy over millions of years, the connection has be unstable.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">My brow furrowed when I read this information. If it were the stones inside the maze, I would understand the irregr energy. However, the energy of the ck stone gates didn¡¯t touch this area, did they?


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Wait¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I turned to look at the distant crystal pir, feeling as if things were starting to make sense. During the ¡®day¡¯ cycle, mana was constantly being released into the atmosphere. This mana pushed back the energy of the gates, creating this buffer zone. Then, during the ¡®night¡¯ cycle, the mana would be pulled back in, and this ce would be a dead zone for energy, just like in the rest of the maze.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯s possible that the crystal itself is the reason why the clearing exists, the stone walls unable to grow near it. If that¡¯s the case¡­ can intense mana interfere with the ck stone walls? That shouldn¡¯t be possible, right?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I felt the rather urgent need to test this theory. If it were true, then didn¡¯t that mean that the walls were not as safe as we believed? However, just as I began to channel my mana, I heard Ryone¡¯s voice in my ear. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯s fine.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She said in a yful tone. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯ve already experimented with these gates and mana.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a long sigh, pulling back my mana. <i><span style="font-weight:400">So? Were there any results?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">The gates werepletely immutable. </i><span style="font-weight:400">She reported with a slight huff, clearly unhappy with her own test. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Even when I used my divinity to pour half a billion mana into a single point, all that I got was a frustrating mana siphon.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">My theory is that this is involved in the creation of the world. Most worlds, the is created by a great collection of cosmic dust thates together and condenses into the basic elements that the needs. In Fyor, one of these basic elements produces the seed of the central pir, which grows high into the sky.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">After it hits a certain distance, the pir creates a protective shell by resonating with the void, imbuing it with the rules of transportation, gravity, and invulnerability. This bes the ck stone shell around eachyer. However, due to thew of invulnerability, the spire would not be able to continue growing after creating the first shell. Thus, instead, it creates a ¡®gate¡¯ to amodate it.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">When the energy passes through the gate, it seeks out the area where its connection with the previous floor is the strongest, and begins growing again. The rule of gravity on the shell causes some of the materials that hadn¡¯t settled on the previous floor to rise up, creating the ceiling. This process repeats over and over again, until the spire is unable to continue to grow.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">As for this floor, the reason why the walls rose up to form a maze should be because of these special stones. When the world was still in its growing phase, the veins of manastones resonated with the pir and caused more walls to form. The only reason they didn¡¯t form in this clearing was that the energy was too stable directly next to the crystal.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">My brow twitched when I heard Ryone¡¯s exnation. <i><span style="font-weight:400">You put way too much thought into this, didn¡¯t you?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">It was bugging me, okay?!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Ryone huffed indignantly. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I can¡¯t help but want to study something when it annoys me like that!</i>

 Chapter 1001: Hanging Moon

    Chapter 1001: Hanging Moon


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now that I was already here on the sixtiethyer, I decided that I should take my time and explore a little. Although I had found the secret of the day/night cycle on this floor, there was no telling whether or not there was still more to uncover. And¡­ while I could do so from the Admin Room, it was undoubtedly better to explore personally. After all, it was truly hard to grasp the scale of the area without walking it myself, and it was far easier to miss minor details.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That said, I teleported back to the ground, not wanting to waste extra energy on keeping myself airborne after I began to explore the maze. The worst case scenario was the night cycle beginning, at which point I would have no way to differentiate where the pitch ck walls were and could be teleported around randomly without constantly expending energy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, I did not think that would be an issue. From my observation of the mineral veins above, they likely kept the world in a perpetual state of daylight, which was¡­ incredibly helpful when it came to navigating the maze.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The first thing that I did was walk directly into one of the walls, wanting to send myself further into the maze. Once I had done so, I had no idea where I was in rtion to my earlier point. What I <i><span style="font-weight:400">did</i><span style="font-weight:400"> know, however, was that it was raining¡­ heavily. The area that I had found seemed to have argeke, with rivers flowing alongside a shore through the maze.


    <span style="font-weight:400">My brow twitched as I was subjected to the downpour, but I carried on. The water must have built up little by little over the years through the tidestone, so it would be strange if there weren¡¯t any rivers in the maze. I simply created an umbre made of solidified divine energy, to prevent it from being dissipated by the maze.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The rain was¡­ intense. Every raindrop, propelled by the enhanced gravity of this floor, felt like a rifle bullet was being fired at me from above. Although my defenses were enough to withstand it, that didn¡¯t mean that it was pleasant.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Out of curiosity, I followed along the flow of the river, listening to the sound of the rain around me. It didn¡¯t take me long to notice the first effects of being deeper in the maze. For one, it took more focus for me to maintain my umbre. While not a critical demerit, it was certainly annoying. However, the key problem was that it interfered with <i><span style="font-weight:400">all</i><span style="font-weight:400"> airborne energies, even those used as part of the world¡¯s system.<span style="font-weight:400">


    <span style="font-weight:400">For example, when I opened my inventory, I found that it seemed filled with static. My minimap appeared fine, as it was just a visualization of what my senses had discovered, but disy screens that projected in front of me had be more of an issue.


    <span style="font-weight:400">My main concern while I followed the path of the river was what we would use this floor for in the future. So far, there wasn¡¯t anything valuable enough tomit arge scale mining operation. With the gates dissolving any airborne energy or enchantments, it wouldn¡¯t be possible to turn it into a residential area, either. It wasn¡¯t even a good ce to fight, because most ranged attacks would fizzle out.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯m sure Tubrock coulde here to study the gates more in-depth, at least.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> This wouldn¡¯t be the first floor that we had to abandon for one reason or another. I would just have rather found something to make this floor more important for our future development.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana hummed to herself as she sat in her office, working at her terminal. There was a screen projected in front of her, showcasing arge ship as well as several spheres of different material. Whenever Dana reached out to grab one of those spheres, the material of whatever she touched next seemed to change.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ I think the circuits should all be finished now.¡± She muttered to herself. After she learned about the Keeper¡¯s n to speed the world along, Dana had the idea to write a program on her terminal that would run for the entirety of her absence, optimizing the divine circuity that she wanted to create for the new starship.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a wave of her hand, the results of the program emerged on the screen. Decades of development had led to this point, with nine nodes scattered throughout the ship, all connected to the captain¡¯s chair via aplexwork of circuits. ¡°This should be good.¡± She grinned yfully, hitting a button in the bottom corner of her screen.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Within Fragments of Acidia, themand and construction file was received, a swarm of robots flying to work while Dana thought to herself. <i><span style="font-weight:400">My familiar set up that machine empire, I might as well let myself get some benefits from it¡­</i>


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre grinned as she swung her pickaxe horizontally, shattering thest boulder that remained from her mountain. She had already acquired nearly a dozen shiny new gems that she wanted to have Tubrock appraise when she got back to Olympus.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Turning around, she gazed at her handiwork, the crumbled heap that had once been a towering mountain. A grin covered her face as she looked up, before blinking. She had just turned her gaze skyward when she saw something that <i><span style="font-weight:400">shouldn¡¯t </i><span style="font-weight:400">have been in this world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Since when does Fyor have moons!?¡± She asked herself, seeing a hazy white circle high in the sky. Her eyes were wide, staring at what looked to be a moon just at the edge of what she could see in the sky.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now, logically, she knew that this must just be a massive ind attached to another branch of the ck stone walls. After all, the higher up you went, the further apart the walls were, giving plenty of room for this apparent moon. But on the other hand¡­ ¡°I¡¯m going to be the first slime on the moon!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre¡¯s body began to distort and shift, metallic wings sprouting from her back, like that of a ne. When she brought her legs together, theybined to form a jet engine beneath her. ¡°Pilot, you are go for liftoff, in T-minus¡­ now!¡± She shouted, mes shooting out of the engine beneath her,unching her into the air while she held her hands high above.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She could feel the wind crashing against her, forcing her to create a helmet surrounding her face. ¡°Fyor, we have liftoff!¡± She cried out in joy, pushing more and more of her energy into the mes to allow her to elerate faster.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As one might expect from a moon-like object, the trip to reach it was¡­ quite long. Even at Lifre¡¯s max speed, it took her more than an hour. Had she been able to teleport directly there, the trip would have been over instantly, but such was not an option to the excitable slime. Still, she was going dozens of times the speed of sound, the air crackling around her in a narrow cone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Faster, faster, faster!¡± She pushed herself constantly, the distant object slowly getting bigger and bigger until, to her surprise, she saw that it really was free-floating at the edge of the visible atmosphere. There did not appear to be any ck stone gate supporting this spherical rock.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This discovery only made Lifre more and more excited, her speed finally reducing when she felt a new pull of gravity grabbing her. Her eyes widened, letting herself ¡®fall¡¯ towards this moon with a squeal of utter joy. The jet-likeponents sank into her body, and she rolled herself into a ball, crashing into the moon with a st.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After a few moments, the slime began to reassemble, forming a grinning Lifre. ¡°One small step for slime, one giant leap from Fyor¡¯s surface.¡± She said, before breaking out in an almost hystericalugh.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">That was terrible.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Aurivy replied with a mental groan, though Lifre ignored her criticism. She jumped to her feet, observing the moon that she was now standing on.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°How does it fly?! If I push it hard enough, will it bounce off one of the walls?¡± Lifre asked, determined to get to the bottom of this in a way that only she could. In other words, through sheer and utter recklessness.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She looked at her pickaxe, and then at the moon below her, realizing that this was certainly not going to be enough to mine out her new goal. So instead, she stored her pickaxe in her inventory, extending her arms out to her sides.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her hands began to grow, each one forming twin drills that began to rotate with a loud hum. Her legs thickened, mps extending from near her feet to lock her to the ground. <i><span style="font-weight:400">¡­Lifre, what are you going to do if your drilling breaks whatever is keeping the moon in the air?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre tilted her head, giving that a serious thought. She ran through numerous simtions in her mind, before reaching a brilliant conclusion. ¡°I¡¯ll plummet to the ground and be buried in the moon! The diameter of the moon isrger than the space between the walls at ground level, so the force of its fall will cause it to crumble around me, encasing me in a mountain of stone.¡± Despite saying that, the drills actually became <i><span style="font-weight:400">bigger</i><span style="font-weight:400">. She moved her arms, shoving the drills into the ground to begin scattering rocks.


    <span style="font-weight:400">To handle the overflowing rubble that was bound to pile up, Lifre made an avatar, whose own arms turned into a wheelbarrow and began collecting any rocks she didn¡¯t immediately shove into her inventory. Seeing her continue on, even after the warning, Aurivy¡¯s voice became helpless. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Then¡­ shouldn¡¯t you be a bit more careful about this?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, I¡¯m being totally careful!¡± Lifre refuted aloud, a yellow hardhat appearing on her head. ¡°See? Safety first!¡± After saying that, she pressed down, her hand-drills allowing her to progress nearly a dozen meters a second. Every step she took was anchored, and her avatar was rushing back and forth to clear the way.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At her current speed, and given the size of the moon, it would take her roughly an hour and a half to reach the moon¡¯s core. Of course, that was without taking into consideration-- ¡°Ooh, shiny!¡± Lifre¡¯s drills temporarily paused when she found a glowing red gem, taking a moment to carve it out for her inventory.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Having to make such frequent stops like this, it was no wonder that the duration of her mining activity took nearly twice as long as she had initially expected. It wasn¡¯t until sparks flew from her drills and she felt the pain of hitting something far too dense that she knew she had reached her destination.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay! Final stop, the core of the moon! All slimes, please leave the elevator to inspect your prize!¡± She grinned, reaching down to look at the ck rock that had been revealed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For a moment, she tilted her head, thinking that this might be a ck stone gate that had somehow not been connected to the rest of the walls. She reached in to touch it, seeing if the portal would open, but only felt a cool sensation against her fingers. ¡°Okay, not a gate!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">With that revtion, Lifre immediately began digging out around the core, wanting to see just howrge it was. Digging in a circle around the core allowed her to realize that the ck core had a radius of roughly a hundred meters. ¡°Oh! Oh! This reminds me of that material in Deckan! You know, the one with the flying inds!¡±


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Magnartum.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Aurivy reminded, seeming distracted. <i><span style="font-weight:400">And¡­ somewhat, though this is far more dense. At its size and weight, there¡¯s no reason that it should be able to float like this.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre¡¯s eyes practically shone as she heard that. ¡°Well, it¡¯s not unbreakable like the ck stone gates! Although my drills can¡¯t easily dig it up, I made scratches!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">This time, Lifre did pull her pickaxe out of her inventory, as it was better to use for breaking dense targets than her drill arms. ¡°I¡¯mma smash it!¡±


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Lifre, no, no smash!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Aurivy¡¯s voice was startled as Lifre raised the pickaxe.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Lifre smash!¡± She said, before mming the pickaxe down on the ck core. Immediately, a dense crack formed, which spread like spiderwebs throughout the core. The moon around her shuddered, and Lifre blinked. Suddenly, the core erupted, shrapnel flying in every direction and shredding holes through both the surface of the moon and¡­ more importantly, Lifre herself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°O¡­.¡± Lifre whined as she began to feel a sense of weightlessness, looking down at her body that looked as if it were being held together with dozens of thin threads. ¡°Aurivyyy, why didn¡¯t you stop me?!¡±


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Lifre¡­ just¡­ just pull yourself back together and get out before the moonnds.</i>

 Chapter 1002: Vindictive Vixen

    Chapter 1002: Vindictive Vixen


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, it wasn¡¯t that hard for Lifre to escape the moon before it crashed down to the ground. Even with how fast it was falling in thisyer¡¯s enhanced gravity, it would take quite some time, more than an hour before it hit the floor. Once Lifre had pulled herself together, she had Aurivy guide her to where some of the shrapnel had fallen, and then finally jumped out to use the gate and leave.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was only a few minutester when she was rushing through Tubrock¡¯s pce, heading for his private workshop. As she barged in, the dwarven craftsman nced back, briefly pausing his hammering on arge sheet of metal. ¡°Oi, what¡¯re ye doin¡¯ here,ss?¡± He asked in a gruff tone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre simply grinned, running over to an empty workbench. ¡°I brought you presents from Fyor!¡± She eximed, opening her inventory and starting to dump out all of the different materials that she had gathered.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tubrock¡¯s brow twitched, forced to just stand there and watch. He had heard about the new floor of Fyor, and the mysterious ¡®memory mineral¡¯ that had been found, but it was clear that Lifre had gathered more than just that. ¡°Did ye mine out a whole mountain or somethin¡¯?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And a moon!¡± Lifre nodded her head, causing the dwarf to open his eyes a bit wider.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Since when does Fyor have moons?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, it had one! It broke down after I mined out its core, though! Oh, speaking of which, these were a part of its core.¡± Lifre grabbed two of the ck shards from her inventory, pulling them out at the same time. The moment her hands were both out of her inventory, her eyes went wide. Her arms flew out from her body to either side, colliding against the far walls while still holding the fragmented stones.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tubrock¡¯s brow twitched once more, looking at the arms that had beenpletely pulled off of Lifre¡¯s body. ¡°...Ye¡¯d best consider yerself lucky to be born a slime.¡± He said in a serious tone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ve always loved being a slime! It¡¯s so much more convenient than being a fleshy meat person!¡± Lifre nodded seriously, growing out two new arms.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tubrock waved a hand, exerting the power of his divinity to grab the two stones that seemed to be repelling one another. ¡°That must be how the moon came to be.¡± He muttered, feeling just how much force the stones were exerting on one another.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°They¡¯re like super mas, right?!¡± Lifre eximed happily. ¡°Oh, but they¡¯re not maic, and mas can¡¯t just fly like that. Magical mas. Magis? Mags? I¡¯ll let you figure out the name for them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tubrock shook his head, doing his best to tune out the energetic slime girl. One of his abilities using abination of the Forge and Innovation domains was to analyze materials and find ces where they would fit in modern technology. ¡°If this can be controlled, it could perhaps be used to make some flyin¡¯ cars.¡± He then began applying ki, mana, even spiritual and natural energy to one of the pebbles to see if he could reverse its ¡®prity¡¯ and draw in the other stone. Unfortunately, there seemed to be no convenient method of doing that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Far as most tech goes, this is basically trash.¡± He said in a harsh tone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Guh!¡± Lifre flinched, shocked to hear that something she thought was so cool would be worthless. ¡°I-I mean, it can¡¯t be all bad, right? Maybe¡­ oh! Maybe you grind it up andce arrowheads with it, and put some on a bow. Then, it¡¯d make the arrows fly out super fast, right!?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tubrock nced at her pitifully, before shaking her head. ¡°If that bes the mainstream, all anybody would need to do to avoid an archer is to carry a small chunk of this. Any arrowced with the stuff would avoid them, no matter how good the archer.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre flinched again when her idea was refuted. ¡°Well¡­ this created a whole moon! Couldn¡¯t we use it to make flying inds?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tubrock arched his brow, before deciding to give a demonstration. ¡°By my guess, there must¡¯ve been another vein of the shite directly beneath the moon.¡± As he said that, he pinched one of the fragments between his fingers, slowly rxing his power on the other to let it move more than a meter away.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Afterwards, he slightly turned the piece he had pinched, and the other shard flew through the air. ¡°These pieces will always try to maintain a constant distance and alignment with each other. The only reason it made a moon was that this pair was properly aligned.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre pursed her lips, before her eyes went wide. ¡°It was able to create a localized gravity field that could even counter Fyor¡¯s intense pull! It sucked me in while I was flying to it!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That caused Tubrock to blink, looking down at the shard in his hand again. He could sense a very faint gravitational pull from the shard, but it was only slightly more than that of a normal object of this density. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It must get exponentially strong as the size increases¡­</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tubrock offered a small nod at that. ¡°If ye can getrge enough pieces, as well as the paired veins to go with them, ye could create a dwarf.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Isn¡¯t that what Lorek¡¯s for?¡± Lifre blinked, only for Tubrock¡¯s eyes to twitch.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not what I meant.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Looking at the various newsing in from different sources, such as Ashtanu¡¯s researchb, or even Thelsa¡¯s reports on the new minerals, I had the feeling that it was time to fast forward again. We still had a long way to go in terms of developing void defenses, and I wanted to skip ahead to a point where James would be back in action.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, I sent a message to everyone with ess to Heaven¡¯s Gate, letting them know my n. Even if they didn¡¯t immediately ascend, they¡¯d be there shortly after. This time, Tsubaki made it clear that she would being with me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a sh of light, I ascended to the Admin Room once again, preparing the rms for when I would want to end this eleration. While I was setting everything up, I heard the door open behind me, and nced back to see Tsubaki emerging. ¡°Greetings, my Keeper.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°d to have you here, Tsubaki.¡± I smiled. ¡°Never feels the same when you¡¯re not around.¡± She seemed pleased by that, given how her tails were swishing behind her. Shortly afterwards, Gerard appeared, as did Dana. The others, such as Julia and Aznod, seemed intent on remaining in the world, so I didn¡¯t bother them.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I doubt I could pull Lifre from a few decades of adventures, anyways.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I shook my head with a faint chuckle, before issuing themand to elerate time.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">It had been more than eight years since the sixtieth floor of Fyor was discovered, and there was still no progress in moving to the next floor. They had even created a brand new job to fill this gap, known as the ¡®Gatekeepers¡¯. The gatekeepers were individuals capable of resisting Fyor¡¯s intense gravity on their own, and their only job was to explore Fyor¡¯s sixtieth floor by constantly refreshing the gates.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Regardless of whether they managed to find the passage to the sixty-first floor, they would be paid for their time ording to their level. This was a rather popr job among those older adventurers that were on the verge of retiring, because this allowed them to earn money with essentially no risk.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Adventurer¡¯s Guild had even created a special tool that would download an individual¡¯s minimap and add it to a growing database. Byparing all of the map information that they had received over these eight years, they believed that they had explored roughly ten percent of the floor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ten percent was by no means a small amount, given the total size of the sixtieth floor, but it was also a rather disappointing estimate, given that they had thousands of people covering the ground by randomly teleporting hundreds of times per day.


    <span style="font-weight:400">One significant change was brought about by the new transmorphic stone that could only be produced on this floor. Due to its unique ability, these stones are regrly mined and broken down to miniscule pebbles. These pebbles are then ¡®retextured¡¯ by infusing them with dimensium and draining them to turn them silver, and sold to households as convenience items. After all, whether it is a cooking utensil, tools, or even toys for children, these stones are able to take any form that the user is familiar with.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Another remarkable ore found in this floor was one that, when smelted down into refined metal, became a room-temperature superconductor. This sparked a mining frenzy within the sixtieth floor, as many technologypanies sought to obtain samples of this material.


    <span style="font-weight:400">From that moment on, technology began to advance by leaps and bounds, with formerly bulky machines bing far more streamlined. Even the Perfection Chambers or Divine Forges within various facilities were remodeled, bing little more than a small closet for one to walk into. Unfortunately, even as the years passed, there seemed to be no sign of progress in Fyor¡¯s exploration.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As time went by, the Ashtanu Research Institute seemed to be less and less influential after the departure of their lead researcher. While the foundation¡¯s research was no less impressive, the problem came from itspetitors. Those who had always sought to undermine the institute for their own progress suddenly found themselves bing more and more sessful as time went by.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After more than a decade passed, tensions were climbing within the research facility. For fear of the entireb spontaneously exploding, they were unable to even mention the name of their former boss. For the first time since the institute¡¯s founding, people began to resign. Although it was only two resignations, it was a significant event in the history of this institute.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she saw her former colleagues leaving, Treisha couldn¡¯t help but grit her teeth in frustration. The two of them had always contributed to the research projects, but very rarely offered groundbreaking help. Among the two, only Three-Fifty from the March was truly extraordinary, due to his natural information processing speed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯ll be fine.¡± Chelsea said as she walked up, patting Treisha¡¯s arm. ¡°If they want to leave, they can go.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°But¡­ just because we¡¯re¡­ ¡®under new management¡¯, they couldn¡¯t hold on anymore?¡± Treishained, still unable to say how they were waiting for James to return.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea nodded her head, a somewhat cold smile on her face once she knew that the two were well out of earshot. ¡°Like I said, it¡¯s fine. Even if they¡¯ve forgotten, do you think the world will forget that those two are James¡¯s students?¡± She asked, saying his name for the first time in years.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Treisha¡¯s eyes widened, momentarily thinking that James must have resolved his problems if Chelsea was willing to say his name again. However, after thinking about it, her brow twitched. A small smirk rose over her face, and she nodded her head. ¡°Yes, they are his students, after all.¡± She agreed, confirming Chelsea¡¯s words. Even the other researchers had been forced to suppress this identity of theirs for nearly a decade, seeming to forget that this was why they joined the institute in the first ce.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Without knowing why, the two departing researchers suddenly felt their backs bing cold. A sensation of looming dread filled them, and they began to wonder if it was truly a good idea to leave as they had. Although their stress had risen over thest decade due to the almost oppressive atmosphere of theb, they had forgotten¡­ just how vengeful Chelsea could truly be when it came to James. With just a few words, she had sentenced them to share in a mere fraction of James¡¯s fate.

 Chapter 1003: Epiphany

    Chapter 1003: Epiphany


    <span style="font-weight:400">By the time the fast forward had stopped, I found that twenty years had passed within the world. The first thing that I checked was to see if James had finished ¡®severing his karma¡¯ yet, only to find that he was still out in the depths of space. In fact, he had even created himself a very primitive cave dwelling within arge asteroid. From what I had seen of the malfunctions that came with this severity of karma, it was no surprise that he didn¡¯t have anything more advanced than a bioluminescent bulb for lighting.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small sigh, shaking my head at the realization that this wouldn¡¯t be done for quite some time. He would need a stroke of luck to get his new energy working, but his luck was currently so bad that I didn¡¯t know how that would be possible. The worst part was that there was essentially nothing that I could do to help without causing myself and the rest of the world to be influenced by that same secondary karma that theb had been dealing with.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">James sat on his stone stool, staring at the empty wall of his cave. In his vision, dozens of different forms were being projected, shifting and correcting themselves every second. <i><span style="font-weight:400">What was it¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> His brows furrowed as he thought to himself, trying to catch that epiphany again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In truth, there had been nearly a dozen times over thest three years when he had nearly resolved his crisis. He would be just on the verge of finalizing his thoughts on how to create the energy that he needed when something struck and forced him off his train of thought. Perhaps it was a collision with another asteroid, or a monster god appeared, drawn to his power.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Luck isn¡¯t absolute¡­ any degree of luck can be ovee by the same level of intelligence.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> This was the thought James had when he first entered his istion. Unfortunately, he underestimated just how much intelligence would be needed to ovee this degree of negative luck.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He already had the ability to view the weave of fate, and had been able to do so for more than a century. The problem was how he could alter this fate weave, cutting off his bad fortune from the root. <i><span style="font-weight:400">What was it¡­ I thought that I had tobine the One Light and the Fate Window, but what else was there¡­</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">James could already feel a sensation of danger approaching as his thoughts got to this point, but he wasn¡¯t going to let himself stop now. He triggered the recording process of the Schr ss, and sent out an avatar of himself to handle whatever dangers may being. He needed this breakthrough. This was the major step that he would have to take before he was able to solve his karma.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Outside of the asteroid, a cloud of mist began to flow over, with a silver sphere at its core. When the avatar saw this, it immediately identified it as one of the few spacefaring slimes, the Void Gas Slime. The avatar flew forward, creating a barrier between itself and the asteroid behind it, and prepared for a bitter battle. <i><span style="font-weight:400">At the very least, it¡¯s not a god yet¡­</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Inside the cave, James had cut his thoughts off from those of his avatar, not allowing himself to be distracted at this crucial moment. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Were there other energies that I needed tobine? If it wasn¡¯t just One Light and Fate Window, what else would cover what¡¯s missing?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Outside, the avatar had grown by more than a hundred meters, directly controlling the power of space to push back whenever a piece of the slime made its way over. Its eyes were on the slime¡¯s core, thinking how it could destroy it without causing any ripples that would affect the asteroid behind him. Unfortunately, the power of space couldn¡¯t prate the Void Gas Slime, nor could any other disconnected energy. As shown from its name, the slime¡¯s body partially exists within the void, and the essence of the void leaks over, devouring any energy that enters its body.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Record! </i><span style="font-weight:400">James thought to himself as he stood within the asteroid, eyes shining. He had to make sure that this moment was saved in his mind. <i><span style="font-weight:400">The Eye of Ruin has to be used!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The moment that thought urred to him, the asteroid shook, almost causing him to stumble. However, that didn¡¯t matter anymore, an almost manic grin stered across his face.


    <span style="font-weight:400">His real body flew out of the asteroid, absorbing the strength of his avatar. When he saw the slime in the distance, he held his hand out. In fact, there was an easy way for the avatar to deal with this slime, but it would have disturbed James. There was a shudder within the asteroid as it cracked,pressing down into a spear and began to rotate at high speeds.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As if feeling threatened, the slime began to move back in a hurry, its core rapidly shifting positions within its body. However, how was James going to let it go now that he had finished his epiphany? The spear of earth shot out, piercing into the body of the slime and passing through it without striking the core. As soon as it exited the slime¡¯s body, a portal appeared in front of it, teleporting it to a different corner of the body to continue the attack.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In an instant, dozens of lights seemed to sh by, the spear constantly elerating until it finally struck the silver core. The gaseous body of the slime shuddered, the ck mist slowly fading away. James, meanwhile, looked around, allowing his spear to break apart. He no longer needed this asteroid cave, and instead had to find arger area where he could perform experiments.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He picked the nearest star, and flew towards it at his fastest speed, his body constantly teleporting forward mid-flight. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I need to find the proper form tobine an advanced energy with two saint energies¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Although this was only the first step of his salvation, it was a crucial step forward.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I saw James taking action, I thought he must haveprehended something, so I called Chelsea over to watch. Despite him having used a System Sphere to get the game system for himself, he was still technically not part of my assets, so I couldn¡¯t read his mind. Neither could Chel, unless he was directing a prayer towards her. ¡°What¡¯s he nning?¡± I asked, ncing over at the smaller kitsune.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel shook her head, not having a proper answer. ¡°Let me ask him.¡± She said, before closing her eyes. When she opened them again, her eyes went wide. ¡°That¡­ that could work.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Exnations, please?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°He¡¯s going to do a bigbination energy, one that could result in a new saint energy. The theory is solid, and the fact that his karma kept trying to interrupt him implies that it could work. It¡¯s¡­ that energy that lets him see the past and potential future, the One Light that Tsubaki is practicing, and the Eye of Ruin that lets him destroy anything he has fully analyzed.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I furrowed my brow at that, trying to imagine the three energies working together. ¡°So, he wants to use the effects of the first two to analyze his karma, and then the Eye of Ruin to destroy his karma?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, it¡¯s not that simple. If he could just do that, he wouldn¡¯t need tobine them.¡± Chel refuted, shaking her head quickly. ¡°His hypothesis is that thisbination of energies will allow him to weaponize karma to an even greater degree than One Light. Rather than using his karma as a sword, he will use it as a consumable bullet.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If he¡¯s right, he should be able to pour all of his negative karma into one attack, and then fire it off into the distance. Once he does that, he won¡¯t have to deal with the negative karma himself anymore.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes went wide, doing my best to imagine that. ¡°He can¡¯t do that inside of any world¡­ he has to go to the void first. Otherwise, with his karma thates from destroying multiple universes¡­ that one bullet would probably be enough to destroy another universe.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel pursed her lips, but nodded her head in agreement. ¡°He should know that, too. Ideally, he would use that attack on a powerful enemy, such as your opponent in the next invasion. He won¡¯t do that, though, because the longer he waits to fire it, the longer he is unable toe back and help with nning the defense.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t want him to wait, either.¡± In my opinion, the sooner James got back to his research facility, the better. ¡°I just want to ask¡­ is there any potential risk of this ¡®karma bullet¡¯ turning into a new void monster if he fires it off without a target?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel paused, thinking. As she did, her face gradually went pale. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s possible, yes. The karma bullet would be full of the information about everything he had done until now. It¡¯s basically his life story. If it traveled long enough to be corroded by the void, it could turn into a corrupted void beast with his intelligence, one that lives to destroy more universes.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she said that, she jumped up again, pacing back and forth. ¡°We can¡¯t just use a void beast as the target, either. Even the strongest void beast wouldn¡¯t be able to absorb enough energy from the bullet before it was destroyed. The only way¡­ we need to fire it at a world barrier¡­ If the bullet pierced the barrier, it would have a theoretically infinite distance to travel and disperse naturally while the world broke down around it. But¡­ if he destroys another universe, we¡¯re back to square one!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel brought her hands up to tug at her hair, Tsubaki speaking up next to me. ¡°What if it is a world with a modifier that does not allow life to grow?¡± She asked, causing Chel and myself to both look over at her in surprise.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right, right¡­ if there¡¯s no life, there¡¯s no harm being done for his karma¡­¡± Chel nodded her head quickly, following Tsubaki¡¯s line of thought. ¡°A world designed without life¡­ that would probably be a rather niche modifier, but it wouldn¡¯t be a powerful one, so I imagine it would be cheap.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡­ wouldn¡¯t count as me resetting the world if I allowed it to willingly be destroyed, right?¡± I asked hesitantly. After the reveal of the Heaven¡¯s Gate, I knew that there were some perks to be had by reaching certain levels without resetting a world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, Chel shook her head. ¡°There¡¯s no reason why it would count. This isn¡¯t resetting a world, because you won¡¯t get the points you spend back. This will be pure world destruction. But a normal world won¡¯t be enough¡­ the world has to be strong enough that the karma can dissipatepletely before it¡¯s destroyed. You¡¯ll need to buy at least a size eight world. If it¡¯s bigger than that, the bullet might not be able to destroy it. Any smaller, and the karma won¡¯t dissipate before the world shatters.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head, letting out a sigh of relief. ¡°Let him know the n, then. Once he¡¯s ready to use this new power, I¡¯ll make a lifeless world for him to use as a target.¡± At least there was something that I could do to help resolve this problem.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Besides¡­ thest thing that I wanted was to have to deal with a void beast modeled after James with the sole desire to destroy every world I owned. That would be¡­ very bad.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ll let him know closer to time.¡± Chel said, falling back down on the couch. ¡°If he knows you have a n now, there might be a bit of karma feedback from him acknowledging our help.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right¡­ that would be bad.¡± I gulped, eyes going wide and imagining a global malfunction like what theb had to deal with.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel, on the other hand, couldn¡¯t help but smirk. ¡°Yeah, don¡¯t want to turn out like Three-Fifty.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What? Did something happen to theb again?¡± I looked over at Chel in shock, and even Tsubaki seemed concerned.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°He and Syris quit the institute a few years back.¡± Chel shrugged her shoulders. ¡°After that, Syria tried to join another research group, and was using his spatial ki for deliveries when something went wrong. His body made it through the jump, but his ki didn¡¯t, effectively killing him.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Three-Fifty, on the other hand, was reassigned by the March to a research outpost on an uninhabited remote, trying to find a new method of void defense. Instead, he identally opened a void gate that swallowed the he was on.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...You yed karma tricks on them, didn¡¯t you?¡± I asked, and Chel simply rolled her eyes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°System Companions have to be protective of their Keepers. James and I might not be in those roles anymore, but that hasn¡¯t changed.¡±

 Chapter 1004: Remaking The Menagerie

    Chapter 1004: Remaking The Menagerie


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now that James had found the path to resolve his crisis, it was only a matter of time until it could be handled. In that case, I went ahead to see which one of my timers it was that had been triggered to halt the fast-forward process.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">The void defense timer is still missing a couple of levels. Lifre¡¯s not in any immediate danger. No apocalyptic void entities have appeared, and there aren¡¯t any major crises at the moment¡­ Ah!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Once I found the timer, I quickly directed my attention at it, only to be disappointed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The timer that was resolved was the one to reach the sixty-firstyer of Fyor. As it turns out, someone had only just done this after twenty years of mass exploration. The reason that I was disappointed was the fact that they would not be able to return safely.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I looked at the scene of the sixty-first floor, where faint red mist was scattering in front of the gate. Looking back through the records, I saw a dovah woman walk through the gate naturally, looking around in shock before her body suddenly began to dissolve. There didn¡¯t seem to be another entity attacking her, which led me to investigate the ambient energy of the floor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sure enough, the entire sixty-first floor was shrouded with a dense, invisible energy. The moment that the dovah woman emerged through the portal, it immediately drained her of all of her ki, which caused her energy body to break down.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As Chel hadn¡¯t left yet, I nced over at her to get her opinion on the situation. Unsurprisingly, she had a rather troubled expression. ¡°This reminds me of the twenty-sixth floor.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The crystal maze?¡± I blinked, before remembering. ¡°You mean how it devoured those that had high mana levels.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± She nodded her agreement. ¡°However, this effect is far more insidious, taking effect immediately and without regard for how much of the targeted energy one has. Any creature without the proper protection will be immediately killed the moment that they enter this floor, so long as they rely on ki in the slightest.¡±


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">So, only aeons and world spirits are safe? But, Aeons probably can¡¯t go without their summoner, given the situation with the preceding floor.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">As those thoughts shed by, I furrowed my brow. ¡°Would gods be protected? They convert their ki with their divinity, so it is no longer purely ki.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel shrugged her shoulders, unable to provide me with a solid answer. ¡°Without conducting tests, I won¡¯t know. However, it seems we got rather unfortunate with this lineup. The sixtieth floor can only be passed by relying on absolute luck for the first time, while the sixty-first floor will kill almost anyone that arrives before they can turn back.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Until someone survives long enough to retreat, this floor won¡¯t be open to the public. Not unless you do something on your end.¡± Chel looked up at me, gauging my reaction.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, I simply shook my head. ¡°They¡¯ll soon know that the next floor is dangerous, though they won¡¯t know the exact nature of the danger. The fact that this one explorer won¡¯t be able to report for their regr pay will be enough to tip people off that they found the next floor. After all, the sixtieth floor has been guaranteed to bepletely safe, so there is no reason for her to have died there.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel hesitated, lowering her head. ¡°The first thing that they will do is call together all explorers and make sure that none of them harmed her secretly. Although the floor itself is safe, there is still the possibility that people were involved. Maybe they will think that she stumbled upon a criminal act, and the perpetrators silenced her.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s¡­ certainly a possibility.¡± I admitted with a sigh. In fact, it was more likely that she was killed by other people than miraculously finding the entry point of the next floor. ¡°Still, I think it¡¯s a good idea to let them discover this for themselves. At most, it will dy the progress of Fyor¡¯s exploration by a few more decades.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In that case, what are you going to do next?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing that question, I crossed my arms in front of me, thinking. There were quite a few things that I could do to benefit myself. I had alreadyprehended both types of martial intent that I initially trained, but I could train in additional weapons, such as the sword or bow. I had be proficient with the three styles that I chose from the selection we purchased previously, though I was by no means a great master of them.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">My goals should be to either fully master the three styles I chose, obtain a new style unique to me as my trump card, or¡­ perhaps I can learn from Lifre in order tobine the styles that I possess.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Up until now, I had created a total of eleven creatures from the Beasts of the End, though I had not obtained any practical experience with training them.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Aside from the shadow hound I made with Dana, I think some of the others can be recycled¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> As I thought about that, an image came to my mind, causing my eyes to widen.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m going to train.¡± I said as I stood up, blue light shing around me. With a thought, I left behind a confused Chelsea and Tsubaki, descending to one of the training rooms in Olympus. ¡°Athena, please patch in Vivi¡¯s training program. I think Tubrock should have given you ess to it, correct?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That is correct, sir.¡± Athena¡¯s voice spoke up, before a holographic figure of a woman appeared before me, a surprised look on her face.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Keeper, sir, I was not expecting this visit. Is there something that I can help you with?¡± Vivi asked politely, her hands folding in front of herself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m nning to retrain the Beasts of the End. I¡¯ll need your guidance along the way.¡± I said, focusing on the brands in my soul. Aside from the shadow hound, I immediately destroyed the other ten brands, cutting off my previous training of this technique.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Vivi looked confused, and more surprised than anything else. ¡°Sir¡­ I believe you should be fully aware of how to cultivate your beasts at this point. Is there any need for me to guide you in this matter?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small smile, nodding my head. ¡°I¡¯m not making normal beasts this time. Let me show you, first, and you¡¯ll see what I mean.¡± As I said that, I sat cross-legged. I closed my eyes, bringing my hands together. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Establish a seed¡­ visualize the concept. For this concept¡­ strength, the power to crush everything in one¡¯s path. An unstoppable force.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I could feel the seed forming in my hands, the concept taking root. Next was designing its appearance. Once that was done, I felt the egg responding, and so I threw it into the distance. Vivi watched curiously as the egg grew,rger andrger. Only when it was more than twenty meters tall did it shatter, revealing a bronze humanoid sitting cross-legged.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The summon¡¯s hands were together, as if in prayer, and sprouting from its back were hundreds of tendril-like arms spreading out in fan-shapedyers around it, each arm having arge hand at its end like an ancient Bodhisattva statue from my old world. Vivi¡­ still looked confused, but I was already standing. After all, this was the part where I had to subdue the summon in order to make it one of my beasts.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Its eyes opened, and an aura of strength radiated from its body. Its main body didn¡¯t move, but its hands all spread out, as if trying to smash against me from all directions. I took a deep breath, assuming a familiar stance, and pressed my own palm forward as it began to radiate with ki. ¡°Spirit Shattering.¡± I muttered, a powerful wave of ki spreading forward and shredding the nearest arms.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I took a half step forward, and thrust my hand out again, this time with my fingers curled inwards. ¡°Army Shattering.¡± This time, the ki spread in all directions, directly shattering the rest of the arms attached to the summon. At the same time, the first wave of power reached the summon¡¯s main body, smashing it against the wall.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I focused, immediately forming the soul brand and cing it on the forehead of this creature. Once that was done, I unsummoned it and began making modifications to it. Vivi still looked like she didn¡¯t entirely understand what was going on, but that changed when the summon was released again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I resummoned the statue-like figure, it once again radiated a powerful aura of strength, but this time it also contained its own aura of ki, adding a feeling of life to the bronze form. ¡°You can¡¯t mean¡­¡± Vivi¡¯s eyes widened, and I had the statue demonstrate. One of its arms flew forward, fingers curled inwards to release the same Army Shattering technique that I had just used.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing that my idea was possible, I turned to Vivi with a smile. ¡°I want to create a beast for every style. It should be possible, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Vivi hesitated, but ultimately agreed with the concept. ¡°If you create one beast for each of the styles uploaded into my program, aside from one for the Beasts of the End itself, that will be a total of nine summons. In that case, what do you want to do with yourst beast?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My smile only grew wider at that. With a thought, blue threads began to emerge from my body, filling the air around me. ¡°I still have one additional style that I can give to a beast.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Vivi blinked, nodding quickly. ¡°I see¡­ however, you will need the beasts to perform individual training. Upon creation, they will only have the understanding of the style that you imbue them with. I suppose that¡¯s why¡­ your goal isn¡¯t to have me help you with creating these beasts directly, but lecturing you on the principles of the other styles¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± I snapped my fingers, indicating that she had gotten it correct. ¡°This is what the Keeper should be like. I embody all powers of the world. Each of my summons should represent one of these powers.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">With that said, I began to create the beasts that would be trained ording to Vivi¡¯s teaching. The first was the Absurdity of Fate. For this, I imbued the concept of Effect into a humanoid body looking like a schr with a longsword in one hand. He wore a light blue robe with a tall, ck hat.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For the Twin Swords of Joy and Sorrow, I created a more colorful jester wielding twin scimitars. Its face was a masquerade mask, one half smiling while the other half cried. Its limbs were long and narrow, looking like something straight out of a nightmare. The concept that I gave to it was Hope. Hope can bring joy when fulfilled, and endless sorrow when crushed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Next was the Essence of the World¡¯s End. For this one, I created a humanoid turtle, wrinkled with age and walking with the aid of a cudgel. Its appearance could make anyone underestimate the power that its art contained. The concept that I gave this summon was Flow, controlling the movement of all things.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Way of Hidden Truths was easy. For this one, I created a stereotypical ninja figure, a mysterious humanoid wrapped from head to toe in ck cloth, only a pair of softly glowing eyes peeking through. This one was given the concept of Deception, for reasons I thought rather obvious.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Following that was the Heart of Combat. This one turned out to be a bare-chested soldier wearing armor over his arms and lower body, his chest full of scars. In one hand, he held a sinister, serrated de. Because of his theme, I gave him the concept of ughter.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Elemental Embodiment broke away from the humanoid form, first appearing as a red crystal surrounded by inextinguishable fire. Its body would change into whatever form it wished to take with the element that itposed itself of. Simrly, the concept given to this one was Change.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nature¡¯s Wrath, in a way, was simr to Elemental Embodiment. At least, the final technique was. This was what Lifre used against the boss monster previously, the ¡®embodiment¡¯ of Nature¡¯s Wrath. Whereas Elemental Embodiment directly turns your body into elemental energy, Nature¡¯s Wrath allows you to control natural energy as if it were part of your own body. Thus, the entity I created for this one was a woman with short, blue hair and silver eyes. Additionally, I empowered her with the concept of Wrath.


    <span style="font-weight:400">To finish off the new styles, there was Will of the World. This one allowed the user to set up prohibitions and boons by imbuing the natural world with their will. For instance, forbidding mana from exiting the body to create spells. Thus, I made the image of one who was most adept at creating rules in their favor¡­ a man with wellbed hair in a suit, carrying a ck briefcase. This was perhaps the most satisfying one to punch in the face, and I gave him the concept of Law.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Last, but not least, One Thousand Arms, Ten Thousand Threads. This was my original style, and the one that I was most proficient in. To embody this style, I created a woman with long, flowing ck hair in an asian-style dress. To finish things off, I gave her the concept of Tapestry.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once I had all of my summons created, it was time to get Vivi¡¯s help with training for those that I didn¡¯t know. After all, the only ones of these that I had trained myself were Twelve Shattering Hands, Elemental Embodiment, and One Thousand Arms, Ten Thousand Threads. Thankfully, once I trained them in the basics, it shouldn¡¯t be a problem to have them train more advanced techniques on their own. Dana was living proof that a properly made Aeon could learn still train without direct guidance.

 Chapter 1005: The Soul Of The Journey

    Chapter 1005: The Soul Of The Journey


    <span style="font-weight:400">After I finished creating my new Beasts of the End, I remained in the training room to receive the basic knowledge for each of the different martial arts that I wasn¡¯t familiar with. Although the summons could train themselves, I would need to know enough about the art to give them the aptitude for it. For instance, in order for my Beast of Strength to practice the Twelve Shattering Hands, I needed to give it enough ki, and shape that ki into the proper pathways.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Only once I had given each of them the fundamental requirements to practice their assigned arts did I increase their intelligence and willpower enough to allow them to train independently. At this point, they still consumed my mana to be summoned, but with my reserves I was not worried that they would bleed me dry.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I was done getting everything set, I left the training room with most of the summons, leaving only the Beast of Strength behind. When I exited the room, I saw Tsubaki waiting for me, hands folded neatly in front of herself. She had a knowing smile on my face, and I assumed that she had watched me from the Admin Room before deciding to descend when she saw that I was almost done.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I smiled at her, offering a small nod before directing the rest of the summons to their own training rooms. ¡°I¡¯ll be staying down here for a while, until they have all be proficient in their different techniques.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I had assumed as much, my Keeper.¡± Tsubaki spoke in a soft tone, following me as I deposited each summon into their own training room. For the time being, I wasn¡¯t focusing on giving them any overwhelming stats, because if I did they might break the training rooms. It was easier to let them master the various styles, and then start increasing their power.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I thought about that, I nced over to Tsubaki. ¡°By the way. When you were training with your avatars, did you learn the other styles yourself?¡± I asked curiously. She had spent quite a while alone, and with all of her avatars training individually, I would not have put it past her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Surprisingly, though, she shook her head. ¡°Only so much as to learn how to fight against them. In terms of mastery, I have reached the ¡®Avatar of War¡¯ stage in Heart of Combat, and ¡®Layered Deception¡¯ for the Way of Many Truths.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I¡­ was not familiar enough with those styles to know what those titles represented. I simply nodded, leading Tsubaki back to the living room. For the time being, it seemed like I would need to stay descended.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Boss!¡± Dana¡¯s voice suddenly called out when we had just sat down, startling me and causing me to nce back. The small, ck-haired elf was staring at me from the doorway.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah, Dana?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I want to train your summons!¡± She shouted out, causing me to blink in confusion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay¡­ but why?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Because I started as an aeon, and now I finally get to train other intelligent aeons!¡± Dana nodded her head, as if it should have been obvious. I had the feeling that there was more to it, but I wasn¡¯t going to press for an answer. If she really wanted to train them, then I didn¡¯t really have a reason to stop her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯re proficient with the Absurdity of Fate style, so you can start with that one, he¡¯s in my third training room. I¡¯ll have the rest go over to you when they¡¯re good enough with their own techniques.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana grinned wide, nodding her head and turning to run out of the living room. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Okay, now I¡¯m even more curious.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I thought to myself. I¡¯d have to figure out what she was up toter.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre sat within a wooden office, leaning over her chair with a golden pen in one hand, writing away on a stack of papers. Every now and then, she paused, thinking aloud to herself. ¡°What type of beast should the pirate queen tame to rule the endless sea?¡± She asked, one finger tapping against the wooden desk.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She closed her eyes, immersing herself in the role of her character. In a world where pirates roamed the endless seas, what beast would truly be the most terrifying to encounter? The old trope of a giant squid or octopus was¡­ somewhat overdone. The pirate queen wanted something new. Something that would send a chill down the spines of her enemies.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her legs swung beneath her desk, happily thinking over the scenario to try toe up with a powerful monster to serve as the pirate queen¡¯s fierce beast. Soon, the door of the office swung open, a heroc woman standing in the doorway. ¡°Captain! We¡¯ve gotnd to starboard!¡± The heroc announced, Lifre¡¯s eyes going wide.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She reached over, grabbing a ck hat and throwing it on her head before she marched out of the room. When she emerged, she stood on the deck of a great, wooden ship, over a thousand meters long. The sails of the ship were woven from a silvery metal with a hexagonal pattern, while golden ripples spread like gentle waves on either side of the ship.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre walked to the right side of the ship, the starboard, and gazed out into the darkness. This was a ship flying the true ¡®endless sea¡¯, the sea of stars. Off in the distance, Lifre could make out a green, resting in the emptiness like a priceless gem. ¡°Send out a search party!¡± Lifre shouted back to her crew, more than a dozen people heading for a small ship at the side of thisrger vessel.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When they dropped from the main ship, runic patterns lit up along their hull, and golden ripples began to spread for them as well. Their speed was considerable, sailing into the distance and bing little more than a golden trail leading to the.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Captain!¡± The heroc from earlier shouted. ¡°We¡¯ve got trouble at the stern!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre blinked in surprise, turning and running along the deck of her ship, rushing towards the rear. As she ran, she caught sight of an elongated mass stretching towards her from the darkness. Her tongue clicked, jumping onto the railing at the very back of the ship to get a better look. ¡°Aye, it seems we¡¯ve found our mark!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Stretching towards her was a ck mass that resembled a massive hand, attached to an arm that seemed to extend to nowhere. Lifre could make out glowing spots like starlight on the hand, and knew immediately what she was looking at. ¡°Soraya!¡± She called out, a hand extended to her side.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The heroc nodded her head, walking over and cing a hand in Lifre¡¯s. The moment she did, her entire figure distorted and shrank, turning into a ck pistol in Lifre¡¯s hand. ¡°I told you we should have prepared cannons, Captain.¡± A voice spoke up from the pistol, but Lifre simplyughed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What do I need a cannon for?!¡± She shouted, pointing the pistol towards the hand. Its fingers had almost reached the ship, and the invisible barrier around them shuddered.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre¡¯s eyes slowly began to shine, piercing the darkness of space. She looked out beyond the starry sky, as if she could see the source of the hand beyond. ¡°This is my story. You¡¯re not wee in it.¡± She said, pulling the trigger.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Immediately, a golden line stretched out from the pistol, piercing into the hand like a spear. Although the mark left by this pistol was minisculepared to the overall size of the hand itself, it froze the moment the golden light touched it. Lifre¡¯s gaze remained focused on the entity she saw beyond the sky, smiling to herself as she saw it scream in pain, recoiling back. It wasn¡¯t dead, but its cry had triggered the rm within the void barrier. Lifre could already see three Fallen Gods rushing over to investigate.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nodding in satisfaction, she tossed the pistol behind her, and it warped once again to be the heroc she had been speaking with until now. ¡°Take a breather, Soraya. I¡¯ll call you again if I need you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m sure you will, Captain.¡± The heroc rolled her eyes, her body melting down into the frame of the ship. Lifre knew that she would be able to call her at a moment¡¯s notice, but simply took her time to walk back to the bow. Behind her, the massive hand melted into the emptiness of space, its main body having more important things to focus on.


    <span style="font-weight:400">By the time that she arrived at the bow, she could see the dinghy she sent out making its return trip. Her brow furrowed, lips pursed. She changed her course to greet them as they returned, already sure that she knew what they had to report.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Captain!¡± A halfling girl shouted, jumping up to the deck of the ship. ¡°It¡¯s the same as the others. Though there are signs of a low-level civilization, it has been eradicated by the beasts.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre let out a faint sigh, nodding her head. ¡°Any new recruits?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The halfling dismissed the hopeful thought immediately, however. ¡°Any poor soul that remained through the copse of civilization has long been sent to Irena¡¯s grasp.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As it should be. They¡¯ve earned their retirement. In that case, Lena, set a course for where the stars may take us. There are many a beast hidden among the endless sea of stars. We¡¯ve yet more to tell for this adventure.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yes, Captain!¡± Lena nodded, and the sail of the ship turned, catching the light of the nearest star. ¡°All crew, brace for stormy weather! We sail by the light of the stars!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Several crew members reached out for the nearest wall or railing to brace themselves as the surroundings became a dark blur, the ship flying out of the sr system. Every now and then, a white streak passed by, gone in a single blink.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Have you decided on abat form yet, Lena?¡± Lifre asked, looking over at the halfling, who simply shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not yet, Captain. You know I¡¯m not one for fighting. I¡¯ll serve as your eyes for as long as you¡¯ll have me.¡± She responded with a smile, causing Lifre to smack the back of her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ve got eyes of my own!¡± She scolded, though she had a small grin on her face. ¡°If you want to focus on being the navigator, I¡¯ll support you. But every soul aboard this vessel must be able to y a part if dangeres. If you don¡¯t want to attack, then don¡¯t. Be a shield for your friends.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena blinked at that, thinking while rubbing the back of her head. ¡°I¡­ think I get it. Alright, I¡¯ve got an idea for mybat form. Can you have Sasha take over while I work on it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre nodded her head with a faint smile. ¡°Go. Let me see what our star navigator cane up with.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena quickly ran below the deck, and Lifre walked back to her cabin with her hands behind her back. ¡°Sasha, the helm is yours. Steady the course, and keep your eyes peeled for traces of the beasts.¡± She called out, a pale human rising from the deck.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yes, Captain.¡± She said, walking towards the ship¡¯s wheel, which seemed to be turning on its own. Lifre hummed a merry tune to herself as she entered her cabin, looking at the namete of the ship in her office. The Last Gasp was a ship that she had spent more than a year writing, consulting various shipwrights and veteran explorers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once she had finished writing the tale of the ship, she used her divinity to bring it into reality. The Last Gasp had no need for a living crew, being the very epitome of a ¡®ghost ship¡¯. Only souls were allowed to crew the vessel, with the exception of the ship¡¯s captain. Though, Lifre herself was only a temporary captain, until she finished writing the story of the one who would take over for her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As for why those on the ship could turn into weapons¡­ Lifre had taken a look at an old technique in the Keeper¡¯s library, and adapted it to fit her ship. Originally, Aki Seppo was a technique which required unwavering trust between two individuals. After studying the technique, Lifre adapted it so that the crew need only have such trust in the ship to which they were bound, and the captain acted as the living avatar of the ship.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Closing her eyes with a sigh, Lifre sat down at her desk again, reaching for her pen. Suddenly, her eyes opened wide, a bright smileing across her face. ¡°A demigod dragon of order!¡± She called out as inspiration struck her, quickly putting pen to paper. ¡°When it¡¯s not active, it can serve as the figurehead of the ship,ing to life at the queen¡¯s call. Those who disobey the queen¡¯s order will face the wrath of her dragon.¡±

 Chapter 1006: Empress’s Wish

    Chapter 1006: Empress¡¯s Wish


    <span style="font-weight:400">Elisae stood atop the highest tower of her castle, thinking to herself while gazing into the dark horizon. The nation of Hanbei had changed considerably over the years, both with their technological advancements and its political rtionships. As it stood, Hanbei now almost dominated the human continent.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While Elisae had not always intended this result to happen, she ultimately felt that it was inevitable. After all, Hanbei was stronger both technologically and economically, and was one of the few nations that had a goddess presiding over it. In thest few years, Hanbei had begun to integrate with other nations, absorbing theirnd and expanding their own borders.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The main reason why such a thing was possible was the living conditions in Hanbei, which could be considered the best in all of Earth. Whether it was their education,w enforcement, or agriculture, the residents of Hanbei were able to develop in a safe environment without sacrificing their personal growth.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although it seemed silly to think that a video game was the turning point of the nation¡¯s politicalndscape, it was true. Hanbei had frequent patrols that eliminated the dangerous monsters within its borders, which left the lower level civilians unable to obtain experience fighting. This was why nobody originally considered submitting to Hanbei, because they were looking towards the future. If Hanbei¡¯s newer generation was unable to obtain experience, they were destined to decline.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The way that Elisae solved this was rather¡­ unique. She founded an entire empire within Fragments of Acidia, and dedicated it to the people of Hanbei. This provided her civilians with more than enough room to develop in a safe environment, where their personal training would synchronize with the real world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Over time, Elisae began to approach the leaders of neighboring countries. She would propose to protect the other party¡¯s nation by expanding their more advanced policies, in exchange for the other nationing under their banner. At the same time, the current ruler would be allowed to maintain their control over the local territory as a governor, so long as they were not involved in any corrupt practices. Originally, many nations rejected this idea, feeling that Elisae was making a grab for power.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Elisae did not take these rejections to heart, feeling that it was only natural. She even took steps to ensure that the rejection did not impart any negative karma on the other party. Although she couldn¡¯t say that she could fully control her karma, she had certainly learned some rules in regards to how it functioned.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For those few countries that did join at first, they experienced a surprising period of growth. This was not only because of Fragments of Acidia, or the beneficial policies, but also because they hade under the banner of the Goddess of Wishes, Honesty, and Peace. Yes, she had acquired two additional domains, one by divine forging and the other as a Fragment from the game. Unlike most divine rulers, Elisae focused all of her divine abilities towards the protection and development of her country.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After a few years of watching and observing the situation, several countries attempted to renegotiate with Elisae. They wanted her protection without admitting Hanbei as their sovereign. Unfortunately for them, Elisae had to firmly reject this proposal, because her abilities had been set such that they only worked passively within the borders of Hanbei itself. Thus, expanding these powers to other nations could only be done when they epted themselves as part of Hanbei.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Over time, more countries decided to ept the proposals, some even actively reaching out to Elisae. After all, she did not truly ask for them to do anything other than recognize Hanbei as their ruling power. She wasn¡¯t asking to tax them, or for any of their special resources. All trade would continue as it had before. The only thing being changed was that the kings and queens of these nations now had another person to answer to if anything extreme happened.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now, there was only one nation left that vehemently opposed the integration of Hanbei¡¯s policies. That country was none other than Kross, still under themand of the King of Knights, Reynard Kross himself. Reynard Kross often portrayed his nation as the original divine nation of humans, having ruled as a god long before even Udona took the throne. At the same time, he painted Hanbei as a wicked dictatorship in order to push his warlike policies.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As a stark contrast to Hanbei, many citizens of Kross were suffering under unfair taxation, the brutality ofw enforcement, or even the inability to protect themselves from local monsters. Elisae had tried to reason with Reynard, proposing a number of measures to lessen the hardships of civilians, but she was refused every time. She was confident that the only reason Reynard never attacked her directly was for fear of her karma.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, with her being unable to help openly, she arranged more secretive methods of helping the citizens of Kross. She sent out covert teams, offering those most affected sanctuary and a better life. For those that agreed, they fabricated a scene of a monster attack in order to discreetly take them under Hanbei¡¯s care.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, this had led to a decline of Kross¡¯s poption, but Reynard still showed no signs ofpromise. He spoke to his nation as if Kross was thriving, as if there was nond more powerful. Elisae could only shake her head and sigh, wondering if Reynard had truly lost his mind.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">What else can I do?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She asked herself. Hanbei had already be a true Empire, appearing as the face of the human race on Earth. However, looking at the situation in Kross, she always felt that there was more that she should be doing. It was hard for her not to resent the fact that people were suffering when there was no need for them to do so.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She let out a long sigh, holding one hand to the night sky and muttering to herself. ¡°This wish I make on behalf of those under my care. I wish for the knowledge to save those suffering under tyranny, to save those whock the means to save themselves.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">A golden ring appeared around her wrist as she spoke, and Elisae felt a familiar rush of knowledge. In fact, she made this wish every year, hoping for a different answer. Every year, her divinity advised her to go to war, to forcibly annex Kross. In doing so, there would be a brief period of bloodshed, followed by the unification of the continent.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Elisae despised this answer. Saving the people of Kross by killing her way into the capital? That was uneptable. If a war truly broke out, knowing Reynard¡¯s personality, he would conscript every able-bodied man and woman to fight. No matter how conservatively she fought, there would be far too many sacrifices.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, she sighed, preparing to lower her hand. As she did, a new surge of information began to enter her mind, different from the usual urging of war. She saw a massive spell diagram, and felt the knowledge of its purpose. A special energy, one that she had never heard of before.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Elisae didn¡¯t know why she was getting this information now, when she had never received it in recent decades. However, this energy provided a new hope for her. If she could sessfully create the energy depicted in her vision, it would help Hanbei in ways she had never expected.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately¡­ Elisae was not well versed in such high-tier magic. She had no confidence in casting this spell herself, so she was troubled. She sat down on the tower, and pulled out her terminal, activating a modeling software and beginning to record the spell that appeared in her mind.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In total, it took Ellisae more than twelve hours of constant work before the spell was fully transcribed. When it was, she felt as if the information had vanished from her mind. Although she could still recall the vision, she no longer saw the spell in as much detail as before, as if her divinity had merely been holding onto it long enough for her to record it down.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I need to speak with someone about this¡­¡± She muttered to herself, closing her eyes. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Lady Janis, are you free to speak?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Across the vast sea, the sun was only just rising, and the Queen of Gandor felt the familiar voice entering her mind. With a smile, she closed her eyes. <i><span style="font-weight:400">This is a rare treat, for the rising Empress to seek me out.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Please don¡¯t tease me, Lady Janis. I wish to seek your aid in a critical matter.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> When the queen heard that, her brow raised slightly. There was something that Elisae needed to consult with her about?


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Have you set your eyes on even thend of Gandor?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She responded, though there was still a touch of a yful tone. In truth, she wasn¡¯t sure if Elisae nned to turn her attention to other continents after she finished unifying the human realms.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Surely not.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Elisae responded swiftly. <i><span style="font-weight:400">My divinity provided me with a spell in response to a wish. However, I don¡¯t have the expertise to cast such aplicated spell. It is of the fourth tier, and should be among the moreplicated ones in the tier.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The elven queen was confused, understandably. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It must be the dead of night for you. You called at such a time, merely to ask for the use of a scroll printer?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Scroll printers weren¡¯t incrediblyplicated devices, though they were a specialty of Gandor, especially those for fourth tier spells.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">More than that. I would appreciate it if you analyzed the spell, and gave me your thoughts on it. I do not know how useful it will be to you, but I trust your judgment when ites to magic.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The elven queen hesitated, but ultimately let out a sigh. In the end, she was being asked to proofread the spell. This showed that Elisae trusted her with the matter, but at the same time, it was a strange request to give to the ruler of another nation. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯ll take a look at it. I hope that this spell won¡¯t prove to be a waste of time.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She scolded lightly, indicating that Elisae should have given the matter of proofreading the spell to her own schrs.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Thank you, Lady Janis. I¡¯m sending a model of the spell to you now.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The elven queen shook her head, retrieving her own terminal. When she saw theplex spell model, she thought little of it, passing it through a geometric trantion software. There were bound to be some small ws in the model, which were smoothed out by the trantion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Roughly fifteen minutester, when the spell had been fully tranted, the elven queen looked at the printout of the spell¡¯s effects. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯s clearly meant to create an advanced energy. </i><span style="font-weight:400">She thought to herself, seeing the step-by-step instructions for the energy conversion. However, she had no means of telling what energy would be created by the spell.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unlike Elisae, the elven queen was not a God-Queen. She had ruled for centuries by virtue of her elven lineage. Meanwhile, this spell seemed to require a touch of divinity to use properly. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Why couldn¡¯t she send this request to someone else? Even the Ashtanu Research Foundation would be more equipped than myself.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">As the queen thought of this, she thought back to Elisae¡¯s special circumstances. Something about her karma directed her to send this to her, rather than anyone else. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Is she offering me a chance? Everyone knows that helping Elisae is equivalent to helping yourself.</i><span style="font-weight:400">


    <span style="font-weight:400">In the end, there was only one thing that she could do. She had to make sure that the spell worked, but she did not possess the divinity needed to use it herself. In that case, she sent a message out to summon her grandson, a recently awakened God of Magic.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When her son entered the throne room, he gave a polite bow. Despite his divinity, he still showed the proper respect for his grandmother as the ruler of the nation. ¡°Your Highness.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Gelwyn, I would like you to test the safety of a spell for me. This spelles from the Human Empress, so I expect that there will not be any problems, but¡­ it requires divinity to use. Thus, I can only entrust this matter to you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Gelwyn blinked in surprise, having the same thoughts as the queen herself when he heard that Elisae asked them to review a spell. ¡°In that case, I can only act ording to Your Highness¡¯s wishes.¡± He said in that same polite tone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The queen made a gesture at her terminal, and soon Gelwyn¡¯s own terminal released a soft hum. ¡°If there are no problems, you can perform the spell immediately.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Gelwyn thought about that, looking through the file that he had been sent. As a God of Magic, it was easy for him to analyze and save even a fourth-tier spell to his mind. After looking at it for roughly a minute, he closed the file and turned around, extending his hand. His divinity and mana poured out, creating the same magic diagram that was depicted in the file.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With how densely woven the lines of the diagram were, the queen was able to see nothing other than flowing silver and green energy rushing towards the spell. Meanwhile, Gelwyn maintained a calm expression, watching as the spell merged the various energies together. In the end, a small trace of his divinity was extracted for the spell.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When the spell waspleted, a golden crystal hovered in the air, floating over to melt into his chest. Gelwyn closed his eyes, sensing this energy. ¡°The energy appears to be stable, and it doesn¡¯t show any signs of an adverse reaction. You should be able to tell the Human Empress that there is nothing wrong with the spell itself. Additionally¡­ I was awarded an achievement for the sessful creation of a ¡®Saint Energy¡¯.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The queen offered a small sigh of relief, closing her eyes again to send a message to Elisae. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I have reviewed the spell, and it appears to make an energy that takes the form of a golden crystal. I can have a scroll of this spell sent to you, though I would like to ask what the purpose of this energy is.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, Elisae seemed to have no desire to hide the truth, though that was also one of her pledges as the Goddess of Honesty. <i><span style="font-weight:400">This is an energy designed for divine rulers. Think of it like¡­ a cross between the priest and maid ss, kind of? Someone that has this energy can imprint their divine abilities in it, and impart a seed of it to someone else, designating them as their follower.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Their followers, in turn, can then use those divine abilities themselves, while enriching their own divinity. Once their divinity has reached a certain threshold, they can impart a seed of this energy themselves onto others, further sharing the original abilities. Meanwhile, any god that has ess to this energy from the same source can impart their own divine abilities, creating awork of divine power.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Most importantly, because this energy only replicates divine abilities that have been saved, it doesn¡¯t pose a risk of copsing if too many different divinities are incorporated. The downside is that the gods who have this energy can¡¯t ess the powers saved by other gods.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The elven queen furrowed her brow, as if wondering what the point was, before she blinked in realization. <i><span style="font-weight:400">You mean this energy purely exists for mortals serving the divine.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s right. Because it nurtures their divinity, these mortals will be able to use the replicated divine powers if an urgent need arises.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Elisae confirmed readily. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I call it the Gift of Divine Rule.</i>

 Chapter 1007: Farmer’s Delights

    Chapter 1007: Farmer¡¯s Delights


    <span style="font-weight:400">Elisae only had to wait a few hours, until the sun began to rise in the morning. After that, an elven messenger arrived, bringing with him a rolled up scroll. Offering a smile, she thanked him for the speedy delivery. Receiving her thanks, the messenger looked almost ecstatic, because everyone knew what it meant to do a favor for her, even if she did not directly pay them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He quickly left the pce, leaving Elisae with the scroll that had been sent to her. Like Gelwyn, she immediately activated the magic within the scroll, observing the intricate diagram that appeared in the air within her throne room. Elisae closed her eyes, feeling how her energy was being pulled to facilitate the spell.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once the spell wasplete, Elisae saw the same golden crystal floating over to her. With a smile, she allowed it to sink into her chest. Now, it was just a matter of determining what divine powers she wanted to imbue into the energy.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Alice Whiteburn rubbed the sweat from her brow as she sat at a corner of her field, baked beneath the heavy sun. She wore a wide-brimmed straw hat to offer herself just a little bit of shade, and wore denim overalls over a green shirt. In her hand was a curved sickle, the de etched with runic markings.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ready for the harvest?¡± A young man asked as he walked over, Alice nodding her head while keeping her eyes focused. Natural energy was being funneled into the field, stimting the growth of the nts. ¡°You know, you could always just move to a Lorek ntation. There aren¡¯t many farmers left that don¡¯t use the new system there, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Alice hesitated, but ultimately shook her head. ¡°The system¡¯s fine and all, but I don¡¯t wanna lose my time like that. I got friends on this side, and going there means cutting them off.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The man pursed his lips, but nodded his head. While people from Lorek and Spica could stillmunicate with those of other worlds, the time dtion made keeping in touch with friends¡­ difficult, to say the least. For every day that passed on Earth, nearly three weeks went by over there. So if you wanted to spend time with your friends ¡®once a week¡¯, the truth was that you weren¡¯t seeing them for more than four months on Lorek.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The existence of Virtual Reality helped in a way, allowing people to synchronize with their Virtual selves to obtain their memories, but even that was affected by the time shift. After all, it would only be a little more than an hour of Virtual activity every day if your Virtual self was on a server in a different world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For those farmers that still worked on Earth, Kione, or simr worlds, this was the main reason why they hadn¡¯t left. Their jobs had be less efficient, but they did not want to simply leave behind their current social lives.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As the man was thinking about that, he saw Alice suddenly stand up, swinging her sickle. Three green lines stretched out from the de, slicing into the air between the rows of crops. He heard a hiss, and then the sound of something falling to the ground.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There were always pests that tried to take advantage of the harvest time. Most of them were dealt with by the carnivorous nts that lined the edge of the field, but a few had concealment abilities that allowed them to get through. That was why, every day, Alice would sit at the field ready to intercept the beasts aiming to take the day¡¯s harvest.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When the young man heard the creatures falling, he smiled, walking into the field. ¡°I¡¯ll handle the collection for today. You go wash up, and I¡¯ll have dinner ready soon.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Alice hesitated, but soon nodded her head with a small smile. ¡°Thanks. I¡¯ll nt the next batch after we eat, then.¡± To ensure that farmers like Alice were able to continue making a living, there was a tacit understanding between the farmingmunities of the worlds within the time dtion


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lorek and Spica would not trade fast-growing crops to the other worlds. Anything that a skilled farmer could grow in a week or less fell under this designation, and became the primary crop that farmers on Earth and simr worlds began to grow and sell. Although there were exceptions, such as people putting such crops on the Boundless Caravan, the prices were typically kept to a point where farmers would be able to maintain a decent standard of living.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Alice folded up her chair, putting it and the sickle in her inventory before walking back towards her house. She was just about to enter when her brow furrowed, and the sickle appeared in her hand again. With firm steps, she walked to the front of the house, where a woman in smooth robes stood, holding a white staff with golden etching.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Something I can help you with?¡± Alice asked, eyes narrowed. She could sense the divinity from the woman, though she didn¡¯t know why she was here. Perhaps she wasn¡¯t a goddess herself, but a high-ranking priestess. Or, maybe she was on her path of godhood. Regardless, if she was a local, there was little chance that she was here to make friends.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You can be at ease.¡± The robed woman said, feeling the hostility from Alice. ¡°Ie from Hanbei. I am part of the relief force sent by the Empress. You may address me as Ellie.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hanbei?¡± Alice¡¯s eyes narrowed a bit further, ncing around. She even raised her voice slightly, in case anyone was listening. ¡°I told thest of your lot that came here that I wasn¡¯t leaving.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ellie chuckled, shaking her head. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, nobody is eavesdropping. My staff blocks out perception beyond twenty meters. It¡¯s how I was able to make it this far.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Alice nodded her head, her voice lowering again. ¡°Anyways, my mind¡¯s not changed. I¡¯ve not the means to move, nor any guarantee that I¡¯d be safe there. You must know that the farms are monitored?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ellie let out a sigh, nodding her head. Due to the growing scarcity of farmers on Earth, Kross was very protective of their farmers. Or, at least, they called it being protective. If normal citizens were to take the offer to leave and join Hanbei, that was one thing. Kross couldn¡¯t easily monitor anyone wanting to start a new life. Farmers¡­ farmers were more rare, and thus easier to track. If a farm disappeared from Kross, and then suddenly appeared in Hanbei, they¡¯d know what was going on even if the farmer changed their appearance.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m aware.¡± Ellie said regretfully. ¡°I won¡¯t ask you to move if you don¡¯t want to trouble your friends. Ipletely understand that. However, I would like to make you a different offer, if you would hear me out.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯ve got five minutes.¡± Alice said in a strict tone. ¡°Mason¡¯s gathering the crops, and he could be back after that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Five minutes?¡± Ellie blinked, before quickly nodding her head. ¡°I¡¯ll make this brief, then. I am a priestess of the Empress. Recently, she has created a new method to offer protection to those unable to leave Kross¡¯s borders for one reason or another. This protection will not implicate you or require you to pledge any sort of allegiance.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing the increasingly curious look on Alice¡¯s face, Ellie continued. ¡°I contain a seed of energy in my body, provided by the Empress. If I grant this seed to you, you will be able to use a number of wishes in your time of need. Specifically, there are three that I think would be of benefit to you as a farmer.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The first is to wish for prosperity. This will allow your farm to temporarily gain the effects of a farm from Lorek. I understand that this may raise questions when ites to taxation, which is where the second wishes in.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The second wish is to wish for trade. The Empress has reached an agreement with the Boundless Caravan, allowing this wish to open the caravan to list items for sale. You won¡¯t be able to buy additional goods, but you will be able to collect your earnings if your produce sells.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The third wish is only meant to be used in a dire circumstance, and that is the wish for protection. Using this wish will generate a barrier around you. The duration of the barrier will depend on how much you have cultivated the energy. However, if you make the wish a second time before the barrier is dispelled, you will immediately be teleported to a reception area within Hanbei¡¯s borders, designed to receive refugees.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Alice blinked, nodding her head slightly. ¡°So if I¡¯m attacked by a monster, the first protection can stop it. But, if it¡¯s a soldier, the second will get me away.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ellie¡¯s smile grew wider, and she readily agreed. ¡°That¡¯s correct. We don¡¯t want to force anyone to Hanbei. Instead, we merely want to offer them the chance for a better life.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Still, Alice was skeptical. ¡°And what¡¯s the price to get this energy, or the method to cultivate it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ellie let out a faint chuckle. ¡°There is no price. If you agree, I will immediately bestow the seed of power upon you. As for the cultivation method, that is even simpler. This energy works together with your own natural spark of divinity. In short, the more you believe in the energy, the more it will cultivate itself. We believe that the stimtion of your divine spark may even offer you the chance to walk your own path of divinity, once you have nurtured it enough.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Alice¡¯s eyes widened. She had a hard time believing that there was anything this good to be so freely offered. In the back of her mind, she began to look for any strings or conditions that could be hidden within the offer. ¡°This doesn¡¯t exactly seem like a profitable business for your end.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ellie shook her head, leaning against her staff. ¡°We don¡¯t need your profits, frankly. In serving the Empress, we are blessed with a part of her fortune. If I am hungry, I can easily find sustenance in the wild. If I am in danger, I can find protection. If I am troubled, the answer will reveal itself to me in time. In exchange, the Empress has passed one simple edict to her following. We are to help those in need, and ask for nothing in return.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°A real religious charity, huh?¡± Alice smirked bitterly, but ultimately nodded her head. ¡°I¡¯ll take this help, then. And pray that I don¡¯t need to use it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ellie nodded happily, reaching up and pinching lightly in front of her chest. A golden pebble emerged from her robes, and she held her hand out to pass it to Alice. ¡°Merely hold this against your chest, and you will obtain this seed of energy.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Alice hesitated briefly, before epting the energy and doing as she had been instructed. She closed her eyes, feeling the small ball of energy sinking into her chest, and then¡­ nothing. She couldn¡¯t feel anything different about herself after it had entered her body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Everything okay, Alice?¡± The young man¡¯s voice called out, and he walked over from behind the house. Clearly, he had already finished the collection, and was getting ready to start preparing dinner.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Alice¡¯s eyes shot wide open, worried that he would find the priestess. However, Ellie was no longer in front of her, having vanished while her eyes were shut. ¡°Huh? Oh¡­ sorry, I thought I sensed something out here, so I wanted to make sure that there weren¡¯t any problems.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°A stray monster?¡± Mason¡¯s eyes narrowed, and a sword appeared in one hand. ¡°Head inside, Alice. I¡¯ll check the area.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Alice let out a faint sigh, nodding her head and turning to enter the house. Although he was often amiable, Mason was still a soldier of the kingdom. That was why he sometimes probed how she felt about leaving the kingdom. Worse, he worshiped Irena, so she couldn¡¯t even lie to him without being seen through. She had to be careful with her words, ensuring that she did not give any direct falsehoods.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, if what Ellie said about her fortune was true, Alice felt that she didn¡¯t need to worry for the priestess¡¯s safety. She just needed to let nature run its course, and Mason would return empty-handed.

 Chapter 1008: Sever The Black

    Chapter 1008: Sever The ck


    <span style="font-weight:400">Elisae had a relieved smile on her face when she felt the spread of her new energy. As long as she could improve the lives of the people of Kross, she wasn¡¯t really that interested in taking theirnd. After all, unlike other kingdoms, Kross had been quite resolute in their refusal. Without overthrowing and likely killing the King of Knights, there was no real way to absorb thend as she had done with the other nations.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, at the same time, she knew that such a conflict would be inevitable. The fact that she was spreading her energy to all that would ept it now was merely a prelude to prevent the wanton destruction that she had foreseen previously. The more people that inherited her energy, the fewer would be pulled into the battlefield when the time came.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Hopefully, it will be reduced to just Kross and his knights, though that is rather optimistic, even for me.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Elisae knew that there would still be sacrifices, that no matter what course of action she took, she could not avoid this conflict.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Finally¡­¡± James rolled his shoulders as hended on a, looking at the wastnd surrounding him. ¡°It¡¯s not ideal, but what could I expect from my circumstances¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, all James really needed was somewhere that he could gather his thoughts. He swept his perception over the, finding it barren, and shook his head. With a stomp of his foot, the surrounding earth was smoothed out, bing a ne of solid stone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Let¡¯s see¡­¡± James ran a series of mental calctions, looking for the ideal configuration for the energies that he needed to fuse. He had the theory in his mind, and only needed to bring it into the real world now.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Along the stone floor, lines began to carve themselves into the ground. These weren¡¯t fourth-tier spell diagrams, but rather third-tier. Although the popr belief was that higher tier magic was undoubtedly better, the same result could often be achieved with a lower tier, unless you were reaching for the limits ofplexity.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ten, fifty, a hundred, in a matter of ten minutes, more than three hundred spell diagrams were imprinted in the ground. Next, lines began to carve themselves, connecting these diagrams in a massive array as James stood at its heart. Each time a diagram was finished, his senses swept over it, ensuring that there weren¡¯t any problems with the engravings.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Now¡­ let¡¯s sever this karma, shall we?¡± He spoke up with a smile, lifting one hand and snapping his fingers to activate the first of the spell diagrams.


    <hr>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Dale, we need you back in the Administration Room, now!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Chelsea¡¯s voice called out to me as I was working on modifying my new summons. My eyes widened, startled by the sudden shout.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Without dy, I immediately ascended to the Admin Room, finding Chelsea sat on the couch with an anxious expression. ¡°Is it time?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask, and Chelsea nodded her head in confirmation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°He just set up a massive array of spells on an uninhabited. James knows that he won¡¯t be able to get what he wants the first try, so he made fifty separate experiments, all with slight modifications. With his expertise, there is an infinitely high chance that one of these fifty will produce the energy he wants.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My lips twitched when I heard her words. ¡°Isn¡¯t he worried that the shockwaves of one failure would disrupt the others?¡± To my surprise, Chelsea shook her head in denial.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This is James we¡¯re talking about. Part of the spell he set up will transfer the energy to another region if it doesn¡¯t meet the parameters he set. Although the spells were all created in the same area, there should be minimal interference between them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod at that, moving to sit down and begin purchasing the ¡®lifeless world¡¯ that would serve as a sacrifice for James to destroy. The modifier for a lifeless world wasn¡¯t expensive at all, so this was only a drop in the bucketpared to what James had helped me earn through his many innovations.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When a new world appeared in the void, there were bound to be those curious, wanting to check it out. It might even attract some void beasts, but there wasn¡¯t much that I could do about that. Even if someone identified the new world, they would most likely report it back to their superiors before making a move themselves.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">As long as it is enough time for James to do his thing, it¡¯s fine.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I muttered inwardly, turning my attention to the screen.


    <hr>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Numbers one through thirty-seven all failed at the early fusion stage.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> James thought to himself, caressing his chin. Having observed the fusion of energy via his World Sight, he slightly adjusted the spell diagrams of the final set, issuing an order for the next batch to run.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Thirty-eight¡­ progress, but still a failure. Same with thirty-nine. Forty¡­ looks like it¡¯s the sa-- hmm?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> James had almost given up on one of the spells when he saw an instability in the energy fusion, only to pull his attention back to it. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Forty has stabilized¡­ Was my karma trying to get me to overlook it by inducing the tremor? If that had happened, the ¡®failure¡¯ would have been sent off into space.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">James focused more of his attention on this spell diagram, which became more steady after the initial tremor. <i><span style="font-weight:400">First stage,plete. Second stage fusion¡­plete. </i><span style="font-weight:400">His eyes widened, watching as the three energies began to integrate with one another. Although there were almost constant signs of rejection, it never exceeded the threshold that he had set.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Karma is not meant to be controlled. Fate is ever-shifting. It makes sense that this energy is inclined to revolt before it settles.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">James lowered his stance, bracing himself. ording to his calctions, this energy would have an extremely short period of stability after the spell hadpleted. In that period, James needed to rush forward and bind it to himself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The moment he sensed that the spell waspleted, his figure blurred, charging through the other active spells without a care. His body practically shed to his target, blue light crackling over his frame as he grabbed the clear gem it had formed in his hand. As soon as he had touched it, the gem turned pitch ck, an obvious sign that it had been bound to him.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Void! New world target! Now!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Chel¡¯s voice echoed in James¡¯s mind once he had obtained the energy. His eyes widened, stomping the ground to destroy the remaining spell diagrams, and then tore open a gate to the void.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When James passed through the gate, he scanned the surroundings with his energy, cursing under his breath at how far away the new, undefended world was. He wanted to charge over, but found that his location was being locked onto by arge number of void beasts. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Looks like the dinner bell rang. I¡¯d rather be off the menu.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Ignore them!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Chel ordered again, and four more figures appeared in the void around them. James instantly recognized these four, being none other than Chel, Thea, Nora, and Treisha. All four of them released their powers at once,unching a series of attacks at the charging void beasts.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Treisha became a beacon of magic, prismatic beams of energy firing out to burn or freeze the void beasts. Thea and Nora stood side by side, a circr pattern forming around their bodies,posed of light and darkness. Any creatures that entered their range seemed to dissolve into nothing. As for Chel, she took a deep breath and released an ear-piercing scream into the void that staggered numerous beasts at once.


    <span style="font-weight:400">James hesitated, realizing that this brief interference would taint their karma as well. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Hurry up, you idiot! Deal with ours when you¡¯re done!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Chel¡¯s mental cry snapped him out of his moment of hesitation, and he turned to charge at the new world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although he had just obtained his new energy, he had countless spections on how to use it. <i><span style="font-weight:400">First, issue an order to gather all negative karma at a single point between my fingers.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He focused, holding one hand forward with his index and middle finger extended. A pitch ck light gathered between his fingers, and he knew that the energy was doing its job.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Holding this energy, he flew to the new world, waiting until he was right outside of it. Only then did he sh his hand out, creating a ck de that tore through the void. <i><span style="font-weight:400">And release!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> When Chel had yelled for him toe to this world, he knew what their n was. The only surprise was that Chel and the others had personally appeared to block the beasts attacking him. He could have dealt with those beasts personally, but it would have taken some time.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">No¡­ if I had fought them myself, I would have used this karmic de, even if I lowered the output. Was she aiming to avoid that?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> James thought to himself, seeing the ck de create a massive gash in the shell around the world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Turning back, he found that the others were in an increasingly desperate battle. James held a hand out to manifest the gem he had created before, finding that it had once again turned clear. Now that he didn¡¯t have the negative karma burdening him, the void beasts had instead been drawn to Chel and the others, who had shouldered a portion of the karma by helping him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He reached a hand out towards the four, adjusting his perception of space so as to let his hand wrap around them, even from this distance. They were startled, before allowing themselves to be pulled to his side. Without a word, he focused on the gem, drawing in the negative karma from these four until the gem turned ck once again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With that done, he fired off a second de of negative karma into the already broken world, sending a helpless nce to Chel. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Was that strictly necessary?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel crossed her arms, rolling her eyes. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Karmic information void clone. You tell me if it was necessary or not?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">James blinked, before his eyes went wide. He hadn¡¯t thought about that, the fact that his karma contained all of his information. <i><span style="font-weight:400">So that¡¯s why you had him make this world for me to target.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Yup! Now, you going to deal with those guys, or not?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She asked, jerking a thumb behind herself towards the void beasts that were charging after their escaped prey.


    <span style="font-weight:400">James thought about it for a moment, before his right eye turned pitch ck. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I got this.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He responded, a beam of energy shooting out and attacking the leading void beast, causing it to begin dissolving.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel watched with a wide smile as he dispatched the void beasts with the Eye of Ruin. Once thest one had fallen, she tore open a portal for them to leave through, one that connected back to theirb.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s a long timeing, but wee home, boss!¡± Nora grinned when she stepped through the portal. ¡°Finally, no more malfunctions, no more getting sprayed or sted in the face, no more randomly breaking systems, we can be a functioning institute again!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°How long was I gone?¡± James blinked, looking around. ¡°I couldn¡¯t really grasp the passing of time. It¡¯s been at least a few years, right? And¡­ where are Three-Fifty and Sirius?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°They ditched a decade in.¡± Treisha shrugged her shoulders. ¡°And you were gone¡­ about thirty years. It¡¯s about time we get back on track with our research, isn¡¯t it? All of our old projects were shredded to wipe out your name from theb.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It was <i><span style="font-weight:400">that</i><span style="font-weight:400"> bad?¡± He asked with wide eyes, to which all four girls nodded their heads.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The perfection chambers on-site broke one after another.¡± Chelseamented in a casual tone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The stored pilot bracers caused an energy storm that destroyed the warehouse.¡± Treisha grinned, the twins looking at each other mischievously before finishing adding on.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And the divine forge spawned a metal demigod out of nowhere that wanted to eat us!¡± When James heard that, he paused, lifting a hand to speak, but couldn¡¯t find the words.

 Chapter 1009: World-Ending

    Chapter 1009: World-Ending


    <span style="font-weight:400">Having James back in action was, honestly, a huge relief to me. Even if he had to y catch-up a bit with the research that he missed in thest few decades, I was confident that he would be up to the task. It may take him some time, but he would once again be the most famous researcher of Deckan.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leaning back in my seat, I directed my gaze to the world barrier of the lifeless world. The cracks along it were constantly expanding, and I was able to see for the first time the chaos that was unleashed on a dying world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Entire gxies were fading from existence,s and stars dissolving into darkness that spread across the cosmos. And leading the destruction were the two pitch ck attacks that James hadunched, gradually diminishing as they tore through space.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Outside, within the vast void, monsters arrived and began to w at the gaps, feeding on the energy that was being leaked out of the dying world. Some of them even directly evolved on the spot, their bodies growingrger and more grotesque.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In total, it took six hours for the world to bepletely destroyed. However, when it had finished this process, I saw Leowynn appear on the screen confronting the army of void monsters. In her hand was a ck sword with white specks that seemed to shimmer like starlight.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Why is she there?¡± I asked aloud, my eyes widening. Moreover, I could see that Leowynn¡¯s expression was extremely serious. She swung her sword, actively utilizing the Absurdity of Fate style to sh at her opponents. From what I could see, this style was especially effective when fighting in the void.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Every now and then, her body became a blur, elerating to dodge the bites, ws, and tendrils of the void monsters. Whenever she appeared again, one of the creatures would be cut in half. Compared to when she first fought the ¡®wave shark¡¯ void monster, she was now able to release far more strength with less effort.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Watching her body blur back and forth between the monster army, part of me felt that this was a demonstration. As if she knew that I was watching, and wanted to show me what a void battle really looked like. That, however, was only a small feeling, and I knew that there had to be more to it than that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Next to me, Chel shook her head in confusion, also unsure why Leowynn was fighting so desperately to eliminate these monsters. The two of us watched the scene, trying to guess her motives every time she cleaved off a monster¡¯s head or crushed one with a backwards swing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she had in thest of the monsters, she looked around and waved her hand, causing a brief disturbance in the void. As if she had dispersed something that was lingering in that ce. Only then did she disappear, and we heard a relieved sighing from behind us.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I turned around, looking at Leowynn, and arched a brow. ¡°Mind exining that?¡± I asked, and Leowynn blinked in surprise.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ah, you were watching? I thought you would have focused on James after they left.¡± She said with a faint chuckle, before walking around the couch to sit down next to me.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Okay, so it wasn¡¯t a show.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I thought to myself, keeping my eyes focused on her and waiting for an exnation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn simply shrugged her shoulders, as if there was nothing to keep secret. ¡°I was monitoring the structure of those void monsters as they ate the copsing world. This was the first time that it had happened, so I wanted to make sure that I witnessed the full process, as Goddess of the Void.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What I saw was¡­ most of those void beasts obtained a special modifier to their rules. This modifier could be summarized as ¡®Apocalypse¡¯. In one way or another, their powers had grown to the point that they would be able to threaten the existence of whatever world they attached themselves to.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel and I immediately looked at one another in surprise, finding the description strikingly familiar. ¡°So¡­ that¡¯s how RagnaRocker cultivates his void monsters? He has them feast on dying worlds?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn blinked again, before nodding her head. ¡°It¡¯s possible. Some of them also obtained other modifiers from that world, such as basic geometric magic or ¡®Lifeless¡¯. With those, it depended more onpatibility than anything else. From my observation, a void monster that participates in the destruction of a world will gain the ¡®Apocalypse¡¯ modifier, as I called it. They may also obtain special features of that world as modifiers to their rules.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°To use a historic example, if the water shark from back then had the ¡®Lifeless¡¯ rule, it could eliminate all life that existed within water. All fish in every, even the merkin, would die at the same time because they were touched by this rule. Combining that with the ¡®Apocalypse¡¯ modifier, and it would extend to weather patterns. Anything, nt or animal, touched by snow or rain would simrly fall dead.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but shudder when I heard that. ¡°Okay¡­ no more making worlds like that anymore.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°But wait.¡± Chelsea held up a hand. ¡°What about all of those worlds that got destroyed by the void generator tests?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn had a small smile on her face, shaking her head. ¡°James was careful. As part of the experiments, he made sure that the worlds spawned at preset coordinates, where they would be enveloped by already-established void shields. Because of this, void beasts weren¡¯t able to take advantage of the moment when the worlds were destroyed. Otherwise, it is entirely possible that one might have feasted on the concept of your void generator, granting them a limitless reserve of energy.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...Noted.¡± Chel nodded her head slightly. Though, a momentter, she blinked, suddenly turning to look at me. ¡°We¡¯re idiots.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Buh?¡± I replied, quite intelligently.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We¡¯re idiots. That new vote that went through recently. You could assign a fund to me, and I could create lifeless worlds like that one to use for the void generators.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but blink in surprise at this idea. It¡­ sounded like it could work. Back when those experiments had begun, we hadn¡¯t even considered the idea of a lifeless world yet. ¡°Is it still a necessary concern?¡± I asked, ncing back to the screen, hesitant after hearing the potential dangers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel seemed to catch my meaning, and nodded her head. ¡°If one of those generators malfunctions in the future, we¡¯ll be back in this mess all over again. James has the energy to get rid of karma now, but we¡¯ll still need to create another lifeless world for him to break. If the world is already lifeless, though, there is no risk even with a critical failure.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In my opinion, it would be better to safely dmission the current generators and re-establish them in lifeless worlds where there is no risk of a negative karma bacsh. Especially because¡­ at this point, most people in the various worlds are benefiting from the energy provided by these generators. If there was a karmic bacsh, it wouldn¡¯t just target James this time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Well, <i><span style="font-weight:400">that</i><span style="font-weight:400"> was certainly enough to convince me. I nodded my head, thinking about the subject as well. ¡°If I give you these funds, would you be able to create custom-built worlds to increase the productivity of the generator? For instance, something like an Amplified Energy modifier that increased the conversion rates of energies.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel blinked, but shook her head a momentter. ¡°I won¡¯t know that until I know how many points I have for my funds, and get the chance to look at the market.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nced over at my current bnce, and created a new Companion ount for Chel with fifty thousand points in it. This was arge sum, enough that it made her eyes go wide, but at the same time, this would solve a lot of our future problems. ¡°This isn¡¯t just for creating these worlds. This is your research fund. If you need any new technologies, you can pull from this fund. If you want, you can even create a world to act as a manufacturing point for your research group.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel nodded her head firmly, clenching her fists as she heard that. ¡°Alright! I¡¯ll do my best.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">James was in the midst of tidying up his office, sweeping away all the dust that had gathered, when Chelsea suddenly threw open the door, startling him. ¡°Is everything okay, Chel?¡± He asked in rm, looking at the petite kitsune.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You need to send the deactivation signal to the new void generators.¡± Chel said in a firm tone, surprising James even further. Because it was tied to his karma, James had never given control of the generators to anyone else. Only he had the power to dmission the power nts.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡­ can do that, but can I ask why? I checked when I got here, and they were still functioning normally.¡± In truth, James had been worried that those generators would have gone critical thanks to his karma, but Chel had exined that the system spheres could temporarily wipe karmic bonds like that, as long as new bonds weren¡¯t established.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Each generator was encapsted by one of these spheres that activated upon itsunch, so the karmic bond with James was severed immediately. They just had to be careful not to directly link the generators to James himself. For that reason, they announced that the generators were jointly created by a number of unspecified research facilities.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Because I¡¯m not interested in Karmic ck: The Sequel.¡± Chel said, narrowing her eyes. ¡°The Keeper just gave me authorization to make more lifeless worlds. I¡¯m going to look at the options on the market to make one for us, and we¡¯re going to make the void shielding. After that, we¡¯ll start constructing the void generator. If we need more, I¡¯ll make more.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">This time, James¡¯s eyes went wide. ¡°How many points did he give you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Enough.¡± She answered simply, a smug grin on her face. ¡°Now, are you going to send that signal or not?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Wait.¡± James held a hand up. ¡°We can start dmissioning the old generators when the new ones are built. Otherwise, there will be a universal power shortage that couldst months while we catch up. Also¡­ I thought System Companions couldn¡¯t manage their own worlds?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel rolled her eyes, her grin growing wider. ¡°Perks of not being one anymore. My Administration Room self is looking through the options now. The Keeper suggested adding in systems that would amplify energy generation, so we might be able to get away with just one or two generators. The rest of the money is for personal use. I can make a Size Zero world for us, and set it up to be our personal manufacturingb or testing ground.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James had always wanted a personal world for manufacturing needs, never satisfied with the old bases salvaged from Sanction¡¯s invasion. Hearing that his wish was finallying true, he quickly nodded his head. ¡°He really did give you a lot. Alright, you make the world, and once our generator is up and running, I¡¯ll shut down the old ones.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel nodded her head firmly, before blinking. ¡°Well¡­ that¡¯ll do.¡± Seeing James showing a confused expression, Chel curled her lips again. ¡°Unsurprisingly, we¡¯re not the first ones to need to use a world for this. My other self just found a package of energy conversion modifiers. Each one costs a thousand points, and can increase the energy conversion efficiency from one energy type to another.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°For instance, from ¡®mundane¡¯ energy like electrical or sr to mana, or from mana to ki, or from void to mana.¡± Chel¡¯s eyes were slightly unfocused, her attention diverted to her Admin Room self. ¡°For double efficiency, it¡¯s one hundred points per modifier in the package. For five times efficiency, it¡¯s one thousand points. Ten times, it¡¯s ten thousand points.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James hesitated, before nodding his head. ¡°If we get ten ¡®void to mana conversion¡¯ options at a five times modifier, that will be more than enough to rece our current energy production. Assuming that this would count for the world created by our generators.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel blinked, before nodding briefly. ¡°I¡¯ll get a double efficiency modifier first to test that. If it works, we¡¯ll use the bigger ones.¡± She suggested, to which James readily agreed.

 Chapter 1010: Elemental Examinations

    Chapter 1010: Elemental Examinations


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Alright, soldiers!¡± Dana shouted, standing before the ten creations of the Keeper. She wasn¡¯t in one of the Olympus training rooms, but rather stood with them in arge field. ¡°You all were given life by the boss, created to master a particr style ofbat! You were given intelligence to train on your own and develop your own techniques in these styles. You were given the freedom to move around and act independently. Many aeons aren¡¯t given such beneficial treatment!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Are we aeons?¡± The blue-haired woman among the group asked, tilting her head at the unfamiliar word. Dana turned, pointing sharply at her and causing her to flinch back.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yes! At your core, you are fundamentally aeons! Creatures that were summoned by another being for one purpose or another with thebination of mana and spiritual energy. However, you are also more than that. You are the creations of a special technique known as the Beasts of the End. Originally, there were meant to be twelve of you. However, aside from you ten, the Keeper only has one other, and the final one is still being nned.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Now, today I am going to go over basicbat styles that can apply to all aeons! These are techniques that I have learned over a very, <i><span style="font-weight:400">very</i><span style="font-weight:400"> long life. I was reborn in an ancient elven city to an ailing father. When he was taken from me, I fought to get him back. I marched into the depths of hell, and I conquered it in order to find him again.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana paused, closing her eyes and letting out a deep breath. ¡°I never found him. By the time I knew that I was in the wrong ce, he surely would have been reborn as a new soul. However, someone else found me. Tsuba, she took me in and gave me a home.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana opened her eyes, a fierce light shining from within them. ¡°This is my home now. If it¡¯s your job to defend it, then you had better believe that I am not going to let you ck off. Unlike all of you, I wasn¡¯t created with special powers. I was pieced together from the soul of a young girl who died of illness. Everything I have, I fought for, I earned.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ll be paying <i><span style="font-weight:400">special</i><span style="font-weight:400"> attention to the two of you.¡± Dana said, pointing at the jester and the woman in an asian dress. ¡°You were created with the express intention of mastering your arts, and I myself am an expert of the techniques you focus on.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°But first¡­ generalbat skills. Every aeon with enough intelligence to act independently has the potential to borrow spiritual energy from the underworld. I have already gotten permission from the Keeper to take you all to hell. If you can¡¯t handle it, you don¡¯t deserve the powers you¡¯ve been given.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana lifted a hand, purposely slowing the process as a familiar spell diagram appeared above her, forming a ck abyss in the sky, filled with rolling silver fog. ¡°All of you, enter. It¡¯s time to begin basic training. Unless I give you permission, you are not to use the styles you have been training until now.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The ten aeons had serious expressions, at least those who had a visible face. One by one they flew up to enter the portal that Dana had created, Dana herself passing through momentster before closing the portal behind herself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aeons were not the same as avatars created by the Keeper, or copies made for the Virtual world. Even if he went to the Admin Room, so long as the aeons were given the ability to act independently, they would function thanks to his World Host. This was something that Dana had confirmed when she found out that Dale had hastily returned to the Admin Room previously, and found that they were still training, unaware that their creator had left. Now, she was going to take advantage of that fact.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ this spot should be good, right?¡± Aurivy asked, ncing back at Julia as they arrived at a rocky teau, having moved to an uninhabited world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia gave a wry smile, shrugging her shoulders. ¡°It¡¯s certainly not your usual choice of location for a date. If you¡¯d tell me what we¡¯re here for, I might have more confidence in answering you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy simply grinned, snapping her fingers as an orb of darkness rose from her shadow, hovering in the air. ¡°It¡¯s one of my research projects! I¡¯ve been thinking about it for a long time, but never really came up with an answer!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia arched a brow, ncing at the orb. She could sense Aurivy using natural energy to control her shadow. A rather advanced technique for a druid, but not unheard of. ¡°This is just a representation. This shadow orb represents the void. The void, as you know, is the source of everything, whether it is energy or creation.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy lifted her other hand, and four streams of energy flew out of her body, forming spheres. One green, one silver, one blue, and one red. ¡°These are the four basic energy types; natural, spiritual, mana, and ki.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia simply nodded, following along so far. Aurivy, meanwhile, looked at the energies. ¡°We know that you can directly turn the void into mana, because that is the source of the void generators. However, you can also do the same with the other primary energies. This led me to a question¡­ which energies have a higher priority.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The four spheres went to orbit around the ck orb, and Aurivy smiled. ¡°The first theory is that they are all equal when pulled from the void. After all, it makes everything, so why would it differentiate?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The second theory¡­¡± The ¡®void¡¯ sphere rose up, with the green and white spheres resting just under it, and the red and blue ones just under those. ¡°Is that the void first gives birth to either ¡®nature¡¯ and ¡®spirit¡¯, or ¡®form¡¯ and ¡®thought¡¯, and the other two are then derived from the first.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay? Where is this going?¡± Julia arched a brow, not sure what this had to do with anything.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m getting there, okay?¡± Aurivy stuck her tongue out. ¡°No matter which way I thought about it, whether they were equal or there was a hierarchy, there was always something bothering me.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°When the Martial Will appeared in the world, this only became worse and worse. Now, let¡¯s go over the basic energybinations. First, you have mana and ki, which is the most simple, and makes chakra. Because this is the easiestbination, let¡¯s put these two adjacent to one another.¡± She nodded her head, rearranging the order of the orbiting spheres.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Now¡­ given theplexity and power of Martial Will, let¡¯s put spiritual energy opposite of ki. This also shows that aeons are rather easy to create, due to mana and spirit being next to one another, as well as elemental ki, due to ki and elemental energy. World spirits are a bit tricky, but nowhere near the degree of aplete martial spirit.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she spoke, she drew lines between each of the orbs, with the line connecting ki and spiritual energy ovepping the void orb. ¡°This diagram can be made with the hierarchy as well, and the ¡®simple¡¯binations are still adjacent.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You didn¡¯t mention elemental magic.¡± Julia pointed out, crossing her arms in front of her chest. ¡°I¡¯m guessing that¡¯s intentional, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yup! See¡­ if thebination of ki and spirit can lead to something as powerful as Martial Will¡­ you¡¯d think that the other two energies wouldbine to form something just as powerful, right? But, elemental magic can¡¯t be considered as powerful as that. So, I kept thinking that we hadn¡¯t really uncovered the potential of elemental magic. Like how ki and spirit originally just made martial spirits.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia blinked at that, looking around. ¡°So you brought us to this deste world, wanting to try and ¡®perfect¡¯ elemental magic?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Got it in one!¡± Aurivy grinned, nting her hands on her hips. ¡°I figure there has to be some secret to elemental magic that we hadn¡¯t discovered yet. Maybe it can be used to create a powerful saint energy. Maybe elemental magic itself can be used at that level. That¡¯s the purpose of today¡¯s experiment. And if everything goes critical¡­ oops? At least it¡¯s just an uninhabited rock?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Uh huh¡­¡± Julia¡¯s shoulders sagged slightly. ¡°If you want to test the full scale of elemental magic like that, wouldn¡¯t Ryone be a better helper? Like how Scarlet used her domain for ki, Ryone could do the same for mana.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy nced off to the side, chuckling slightly. ¡°I uh¡­ I wanted to surprise Ryone. She¡¯s always busy trying to crack fifth tier magic, so I wanted to show her this as a surprise if it worked. If it didn¡¯t, I¡¯d just tell herter.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia simply rolled her eyes. ¡°Alright, what do you need my help with?¡± She asked, a small grin on her lips.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy¡¯s own grin grew wider and wider. ¡°An audience! Also, someone to bounce ideas off of. My first thought is to construct an elemental magic spell diagrampletely out of natural energy.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Won¡¯t work.¡± Julia said simply, holding up a hand to stop her. ¡°Tons of people have tried that before. Hell, <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯ve</i><span style="font-weight:400"> tried that before. If anything, the effect is a bit worse than normal elemental magic.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy¡¯s brow twitched, clearing her throat. ¡°T-Then, the next idea. Scarlet used a lot of ki, so¡­ why not try using a lot of mana?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And this is why I said we needed Ryone.¡± Julia said with an amused smile.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, I¡¯ve got this!¡± Aurivy waved her hand, depositing severalrge crates from her inventory. ¡°I¡¯ve been stocking up on Mage Heart crystals for about ten years, so it should be enough!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia¡¯s eyes widened, immediately retreating a few steps. ¡°You¡¯re not worried about causing a mana siphon?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well¡­ that¡¯s part of why we needed an uninhabited world.¡± Aurivy said, somewhat sheepishly. ¡°If a mana siphon is created here, it will only be based on the thoughts of the two of us. I even got a spell diagram that should be able to support all of the energy!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Wait.¡± Julia extended a hand to stop Aurivy again. ¡°If you want to test it in this direction, you need a directionless spell, and then use natural energy to focus it. Otherwise, you¡¯re just adding an elemental effect to a powerful spell.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Uh¡­ well¡­ that¡¯s not wrong.¡± Aurivy chuckled sheepishly. ¡°That was going to be my fifth test.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...How many tests do you have nned?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy nced from side to side, speaking slowly. ¡°...Eighty-two?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Eighty¡­¡± Julia¡¯s eyes went wide, almost stumbling back at that. ¡°You have been saving this up for so long that you have eighty-two tests prepared, and the materials for all of them? Is your inventory <i><span style="font-weight:400">filled</i><span style="font-weight:400"> with Mage Heart?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Only like ny-five percent of it. I needed some room for other materials, too. Like I said, I¡¯ve been saving up the crystals for about ten years.¡± Aurivy snickered, looking back at the crates.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay¡­ well, let¡¯s just start off with this ¡®fifth¡¯ test, then.¡± Julia shook her head with a long sigh, massaging her forehead. ¡°If that doesn¡¯t work, we¡¯ll just go from there, or find the next to test on. How many <i><span style="font-weight:400"s</i><span style="font-weight:400"> do you have prepared?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ten!¡± Aurivy shouted in a confident tone. ¡°I figure it can¡¯t take less than eight or nine failed attempts to destroy a, right?¡±

 Chapter 1011: Bearing Fruit

    Chapter 1011: Bearing Fruit


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia helped Aurivy arrange the boxes of Mage Heart carefully, being mindful of the faint energy leakage from each crystal. Immediately, she could feel the intense mana contained in the formation that they were establishing, but this was something that she had to consider ¡®normal¡¯ under the circumstances.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Just to be clear¡­ what is your goal with this experiment?¡± Julia asked again as they were emptying the final box.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hmm¡­ to find a new avenue of development, or an ultimate ability for elementalists!¡± Aurivy responded after a moment of consideration.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia simply nodded. ¡°If it¡¯s development, we¡¯ll need to try less resource-intensive options. After all, not everyone is going to be able to acquire what took you <i><span style="font-weight:400">years</i><span style="font-weight:400"> to prepare. But, this could work as an ultimate technique.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy quickly nodded her head, stepping back once the gems had all been arranged, and gesturing for Julia. ¡°Well? Go on, give it a shot!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia blinked in confusion, staring at Aurivy, who eventually exined. ¡°You¡¯re practically a nature goddess already, right? It¡¯s only natural that you have a higher affinity with natural energy than I do!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia let out a drawn-out sigh, shaking her head and stepping forward. With the intention of using this as an ultimate technique, she had to think about her desires carefully. What sort of technique did she want to create? Did she want a st of immense power, an army of wooden soldiers, or something else?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thinking about the nature of elemental magic, Julia tilted her head slightly, holding one hand out. She connected her mana with that being released by the Mage Heart, and formed it into a solid sphere. This would be the basis for a ¡®nk¡¯ fourth-tier spell.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She did not begin with the usual opening for an elementalist, dering their identity to the natural energy of the world. Instead, this was an experiment to subvert the old methods. ¡°Fire and stone as the foundation. Water and wind as the guide. Gather. Converge. Light and shadow bear witness. Twist. Mold. The eternal wood bears fruit. Split. Divide. Fold within space and bind in my hand.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As Julia spoke, green lights rushed into the sphere of mana from the surroundings, and almost runic markings began to engrave themselves along the outer edge of the sphere. The gems beneath the spell shook, some of them cracking as their energies began to exhaust, while the wind roared through the barren teau.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Take root, the mighty force of nature. Spread unto the sky and devour the stars. Be shield and salvation. Be sword and spear. I bind you with the name, Eternal Rampart.¡± Julia stretched one arm out to the side, pulling back her sleeve as Aurivy watched in confusion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The spell that Julia was creating seemed to shatter, streams of blue and green energy rushing at her arm. She let out a hiss of pain, clenching her fist tight as the energy seemed to carve itself into her body. Under Aurivy¡¯s shocked gaze, a pattern began to appear, showing a dark tree extending up her arm, its branches twisting and wrapping around her flesh. At the end of each branch was a small orb that seemed to move faintly as she observed it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When the engraving was finished, Julia let out a gasp of relief, falling to her knees. Aurivy rushed over to catch and support her, speaking in a worried tone. ¡°You know¡­ when I was setting this up, I didn¡¯t think that you were going to use it for a fancy tattoo¡­ is that¡­?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia took a moment to catch her breath, before responding with a nod. ¡°Fyor. Runic elemental magic is fundamentally different from how we have always treated geometric elemental magic. When I was thinking about what to do here, I thought that didn¡¯t make much sense. Although geometric and runic magic have a different mechanism for activation, they¡¯re not so fundamentally different from one another.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So¡­ you made an elemental weapon¡­ as a tree?¡± Aurivy asked in confusion, but Julia shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not a weapon, a bound spell. If it works as I hoped, it will cast the spell whenever I activate it, and then absorb mana to refuel.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...And if it doesn¡¯t?¡± The halfling goddess asked with an arched brow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...Then it will be a cool tattoo?¡± Julia responded with a faint chuckle, pulling herself to her feet. ¡°You wanted another way for elementalists to advance. An elementalist¡¯s greatest weakness is that they have to perform a long chant to cast their magic. Even high-powered mages can have methods of simplifying their spell casts, so¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">She held her hand forward again. ¡°Eternal Rampart!¡± One of the small orbs on the ¡®tattoo¡¯ faded away, leaving a faintly red spot. At the same time, the ground cracked in front of Julia, natural energy surging. A small tree rose up from the cracked soil, before surging up towards the sky, growingrger andrger with every passing moment.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Its roots twisted, forming spears that shot out of the ground, while its branches seemed to stab into the sky. Julia nodded her head, looking at the tree that had been formed by her spell. She looked at the red spot on her arm again, which was gradually fading. ¡°In my case, it looks like every ¡®fruit¡¯ on the marking represents one time that I can use it. We¡¯ll need to see whether it needs to be manually replenished, or if it will do so on its own.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy nodded her head, deep in thought. ¡°Being able to create bound spells like this will definitely increase the utility of an elementalist. Currently, the only way to do a bound spell is through high level runic magic. It¡¯s not strange for a mage of Fyor beyond a certain level to have a dozen spells bound to them at a time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia smiled, pulling her sleeve back down. ¡°So¡­ what are you going to do with the rest of the Mage Heart you have stocked up?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy paused, hesitant. She hadn¡¯t expected to get a positive result so soon, so she hadn¡¯t considered this point. ¡°We shall¡­ continue the experiment! Who knows if there are other methods to improve elemental magic!¡± Her eyes shifted from side to side as she said that, causing Julia to chuckle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You just don¡¯t want to waste the resources.¡± She said in a knowing tone, shaking her head helplessly.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Inside the more unsavory half of the Underworld, Dana crossed her arms, watching with narrowed eyes as the creations of the Keeper struggled against the surging spiritual monsters. This was their first practicalbat exercise, and they were forbidden from using their main techniques, so she shouldn¡¯t have expected too much. But, it had to be remembered that these creatures were created specifically forbat.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Spiritual energy is all around you!¡± She shouted at them. ¡°It can be shaped and molded into whatever form you want! It can be a weapon, a shield, you can even directly rip your enemies apart!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">To her surprise, the first to improve was not the jester designed for the spiritual energy art, but rather the schr made to master the Absurdity of Fate. He held a hand out, spiritual energy gathering and forming a massive sword that shed through three enemies with every swing. Dana had to narrow her eyes further to make sure that he wasn¡¯t secretly using his special techniques.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Is this necessary?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> A voice spoke up in Dana¡¯s mind, causing her to nce off to the side. It was quite a distance away, but she felt a pressure simr to her own.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">A new monarch has risen here?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Dana responded to the voice in her mind, earning a soft sigh.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">There are more than a hundred monarchs in total. You just happened to be in my territory.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I see.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Dana nodded her head. <i><span style="font-weight:400">In that case, I apologize. I don¡¯t mean any offense by my intrusion. These warriors need practical training. Don¡¯t worry, we have no intention of absorbing their souls, so you can reim their energy for your territory when we leave.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">This tone¡­ I see, so you are the Lost Child. It has been quite some time since west found your traces.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The voice spoke again after a moment¡¯s hesitation. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Very well. I have no desire to provoke a war over these beasts. We are aware of whom the Lost Child swears fealty to.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">That actually surprised Dana, causing her eyes to widen slightly. <i><span style="font-weight:400">You all have connections in the living world?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">A deep chuckle sounded in the depths of her mind. <i><span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s right. There are many who look up to us as ghost kings. We send a piece of ourselves to them, and they think that they control our main bodies. Through this connection, we can learn many things from the living.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana pursed her lips in thought, offering only a brief nod. <i><span style="font-weight:400">In that case¡­ would you like to cooperate with me?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">What sort of cooperation do you propose, Lost Child?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The unfamiliar monarch asked in interest.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I want to increase the pressure on these soldiers, and force them to adapt. You should have plenty of disposable spirits in your territory, right?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing Dana¡¯s suggestion, the monarch seemed to consider it for a long moment. <i><span style="font-weight:400">And what benefit will this bring me?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">This time, it was Dana¡¯s turn to consider what she had to exchange. What resources would a Monarch of Hell want in exchange for some disposable soldiers? <i><span style="font-weight:400">I can owe you a small favor. By my spirit, I can pledge to perform one act of equal value to the help you give me.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Hmm¡­ a favor from the Keeper¡¯s Lost Child? </i><span style="font-weight:400">There was another pause. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Very well. I shall arrange the beasts.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana offered a nod, turning her focus back to the aeons summoned by the Keeper. Their training was about to get a lot more intense, causing her lips to tug up at the corners. ¡°Don¡¯t absorb the spirits of the creatures you kill! Their stray thoughts could contaminate you! If you need to replenish your energy, only absorb the peaceful energy in the surroundings!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Fireball, you should be able to create spikes from spiritual energy, why are you only throwing out weak sts like that?! Sage, don¡¯t just hide in your turtle shell! Jester, why are you suddenly crying?! The real training is only just beginning!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">At Dana¡¯s words, the ten aeons looked into the distance, able to feel a wave of enemies approaching. They grit their teeth,shing out with renewed vigor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Don¡¯t shame the name of the Keeper! You were all created to be his personal units! Each of you should be able to handle an entire wave like this yourselves!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, you are saying that you are strong enough to do so?¡± The armored soldier turned to look at her, seemingly in interest.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana rolled her eyes, briefly messaging the other monarch. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Looks like I need to do a demonstration. Feel free to put extra pressure on the one in red armor.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">After she sent that message, she lifted one hand, lightly spinning a finger in the air. A silver circle followed the path of her finger, furiously absorbing the energy in the atmosphere to growrger andrger. When she flicked her finger forward, the growing circleunched ahead, slicing apart more than half of the approaching wave. ¡°Yes.¡± She looked at the soldier, answering simply. ¡°Right now, the ten of youbined aren¡¯t even enough to make me get serious. By the time we¡¯re done, I want this to change.¡±

 Chapter 1012: Preparing For The Future

    Chapter 1012: Preparing For The Future


    <span style="font-weight:400">While the other inhabitants of Olympus were busy handling their own preparations, there was more work for none other than the local chef, Aznod. He stood within the void, stroking his chin in thought as he looked at the endless red and ck abyss.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Something bothering you?¡± Udona asked curiously, appearing next to Aznod with her arms crossed behind her back.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod hesitated, but soon shook his head. ¡°It is not strictly bothering me. Rather, I am thinking about how I can improve myself to prepare for what is toe.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Given that you came out here¡­ does that mean that you are considering how to fight in the void, as well?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yes and no.¡± Aznod shook his head. ¡°My method of fighting has always relied around techniques derived from the culinary arts. Whether it is my knife technique, the mes that I use, or even the energy I created long ago, all of it stems from the concept of cooking. But¡­ the void is an ingredient that I don¡¯t think I can fullyprehend.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What do you mean?¡± Udona blinked, turning to fully face Aznod.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The void is¡­ everything, and nothing. There are an infinite number of ways that one may alter it in order to achieve a desired effect. Entire worlds can be seen as no more than a marvelous dish created from this primordial soup.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°A bad case of choice paralysis?¡± Udona asked with a teasing smile. Aznod hesitated, but ultimately nodded his head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That could be the case. The void can be seen to be the ultimate ingredient, but it is directionless. Without having any traits of its own, there are too many paths to choose.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona brought one hand up, tapping a finger against her chin. ¡°If it¡¯s a wildcard, then isn¡¯t the answer simple?¡± When Aznod sent a questioning gaze to her, Udona smiled brightly. ¡°You have an ingredient that could answer any question, and thus can¡¯t decide what to do with it. So¡­ work from the other direction. Decide your end goal first. Why do you want to manipte the void? What do you want to do with it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°These are the questions that you need to answer in order to find your direction. As you said, the void is a realm of infinite possibilities. Everyone has their own method to using it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh?¡± Aznod blinked slowly. ¡°If I may ask, what is your method?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s simple!¡± Udona snickered, snapping her fingers. The void around them shifted into a green aura that radiated nearly a dozen meters. ¡°I am the Goddess of Life. My primary use of the void is to heal people. Though, I can also use it as a medium to store and transmit information, but that is risky. If the information is not secured properly, it could transform into a void beast. A void beast containing the information that I felt the need to secure is likely bound to be a dangerous one.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right¡­¡± Aznod nodded his head, before sinking deeper into his thoughts. ¡°Void beasts are just a collection of rules and information within the void, are they not?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s¡­ right?¡± Udona tilted her head, not entirely sure what Aznod was on about right now. ¡°Is something the matter with that?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well¡­ why do void beasts attack inhabited worlds? They can gain information from them, but the void is information itself¡­ could they not simply feed on the ambient atmosphere here?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ahh, so that¡¯s what this was about.¡± Udona gave a small nod. ¡°That¡¯s right. It¡¯s entirely possible for a void beast to sustain themselves simply by breathing in the void. However, in order for them to evolve, they must devour more refined information. This information cane from four sources.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°First, there are the worlds within the void. These worlds are the most refined form of information that the void can produce, so it is naturally the greatest nutrition for these beasts. Secondly, there are the people thate <i><span style="font-weight:400">from</i><span style="font-weight:400"> the worlds and enter the void. The information that they contain is far lesspressed, and thus less appetizing, but it is still nutrition.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Third, you have the sanctuary of a Fallen God. These are miniature realms that the Fallen Gods produce within the void as the source of their power. If a void beast devours one, they have a chance of obtaining the corresponding information from that Fallen God¡¯s domain. However, to do so, they must first defeat the Fallen God that controls the sanctuary, which makes it far more dangerous than simply attaching to a world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And thest option¡­¡± Aznod interrupted suddenly. ¡°Is devouring other void beasts, correct?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona nodded her head in agreement at that. ¡°That¡¯s right. Void beasts can cannibalize one another. Doing so has a chance to impart some of the in beast¡¯s information on the one that killed it. This was what caused the incident with the Guardian so long ago, because it had been fighting void beasts for so long that the information ultimately corrupted it from within.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod pinched his chin, looking at the distant void beasts roaming the void. It was hard to see them clearly, as many of them had the void wrapped around their bodies. ¡°Aside from Lady Leowynn, has anyone ever purposely created a void beast?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona¡¯s brow twitched, and she had to think about that, checking the records through the Admin Room. ¡°There have been some cases. However, the rules that they used were either too simple, or the beast immediately turned on them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I see¡­¡± Aznod nodded his head, taking a deep breath. Udona nced over, seeing a ck me produced between his hands.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Aznod, what are you doing?¡± She asked, her tone suddenly shifting to one of worry.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I am a chef, mydy.¡± Aznod gave a rare, teasing smile. ¡°I am doing what a chef must do, and preparing to cook.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You decided on what you want to use the void for?¡± She asked in surprise, to which Aznod nodded his head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I have an idea. But first, there are steps that must be done. I need to prepare.¡± As he said that, he focused, activating his three domains of Cooking, Preparation, and Optimization. He often did this when he needed a hit of guidance. Now that he did so in the void, he could feel histter two domains resonating with the void.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I see¡­ everything that ever could be stems from the void. Although I wasn¡¯t aware of it, it seems that my powers are slightly tied to this ce. Or, at the very least, they use the void as a route to simte an answer to my questions.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">While Aznod pondered this, a n took shape in his mind. His ck me stirred, devouring the ambient energy of the void as it spread. ¡°A single grain of sand within the void can represent a massive. How much energy would it take to sate a beast¡¯s appetite? Surely more than one such grain.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona hesitated, unsure if she was being spoke to or if he was merely musing aloud. Still, she decided to answer in the end. ¡°That¡¯s right. Whenever we see a void beast appearing on Earth, or any other world, it is also appearing on countless other worlds. Anywhere that meets the conditions for its rules is a target. There could be billions ofs feeding any particr void beast.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Aznod heard this, he smiled. ¡°In that case, I suppose it is a good thing that the void is a realm of endless possibilities.¡± His eyes went focused, staring into the depths of the ck me in front of him. He was using the void itself as an ingredient, bestowing it with the information he needed to achieve his goals.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now that he had a n in mind, the preparation of this ingredient could be handled purely via his Saint Energy. After roughly twenty seconds, he reached his hand into the ck me and retrieved a circr, blue object that shone with a faint light.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What¡­ is that?¡± Udona asked, eyes fixated on the item. She knew better than to think that something Aznod cooked with the void as an ingredient would be simple.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s feed.¡± He answered simply, passing it to her. ¡°Would you mind helping me deliver this to that void beast over there?¡± Aznod gestured towards a shifting mass of void that seemed to be hovering outside of Lorek¡¯s barrier.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona paused, not sure what his intentions were. Still, she took the ¡®feed¡¯ and flew towards the void beast. When it saw her, it let out a roar of warning. The aura of the void dispersed around it, revealing the body of a bull with spikes jutting out all over its body. At a nce, Udona couldn¡¯t even begin to guess what the rules this being embodied were.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She simply ignored its roar, throwing the circr item in her hand at it. The bull seemed wary at first, its eyes tracking the strange ¡®projectile¡¯, before it seemed to be drawn in. It opened its mouth and bit heavily at the blue treat. Immediately, its eyes lit up, and its body convulsed. The spikes lining its frame shifted, curving along its skin to form what seemed to almost be ayer of bone armor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona was startled to discover that she had just assisted in the evolution of a void beast, mentally preparing herself for battle. Sure enough, the void beast let out another roar, running towards her. Clenching her teeth, Udona was prepared to use her domain offensively to deprive the bull of life, before¡­


    <span style="font-weight:400">Suddenly, the creature slowed down,ing to a stop right before Udona. Its eyes were iparably gentle, and it lowered its head to sniff at the hand she had used to throw the feed. As if hoping there were more, it nudged her hand slightly, causing Udona to turn and look back at Aznod.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What did I just give this thing?¡± She asked, gulping slightly. Despite theck of more food, the bull didn¡¯t seem to want to fight her, rather choosing to wait next to her as if hoping she will produce more.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As you said, the void beasts require concentrated information.¡± Aznod smiled. ¡°The reason why there is only a chance for information to be passed on should be due to how diluted the information that they consume is. The more concentrated a single piece of information, the more likely it is to be passed on.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In that feed just now, I focused on the following pieces of information. ¡®Do not attack others, as long as they do not first show hostility to you or your allies. Do not consume other sources of information, aside from those provided in this format.¡¯ These two rules were refined with the void,yered again and again, while any irrelevant information was discarded.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You mean to say¡­ you domesticated it?¡± Udona blinked, looking at the void beast as she walked towards Aznod, the creature following her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s correct.¡± Aznod confirmed readily. ¡°I believe that the best use of my talents in the void is to start a pasture of void beasts. There is a high chance that they will be useful in the future.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°A pasture¡­¡± Udona¡¯s eyes couldn¡¯t help but widen. ¡°You¡¯re wanting to farm void beasts?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Quite. Once they are sufficiently raised, their beings should prove to be quite the interesting ingredient.¡± Aznod spoke without the slightest reservation, and Udona was thankful that the bull did not seem to understand them. ¡°If I modify the contents of the feed over time, I will likely be able to produce varied lifeforms, which will provide me with even more materials in the future.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona simply watched, her jaw ck at what she was hearing. She had never heard of anyone treating the void beasts, creatures regarded as the potential destroyers of civilization, as farm animals. ¡°Only you would want something like this¡­ Still, if that¡¯s the direction you¡¯ve chosen, I¡¯ll support you.¡±

 Chapter 1013: Spiritual Arts And Crafts

    Chapter 1013: Spiritual Arts And Crafts


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now that James was back in business, I had high hopes for the defenses shaping up in the void. Unfortunately, they weren¡¯t quite there yet, and I didn¡¯t want to risk my worlds beingpletely obliterated in the next invasion. As things stood, that was still a very real possibility.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I was still undergoing my weekly training with Leowynn, together with Tsubaki to make sure that both of us were fully adapted to fighting in the void. Simrly, my summons had been with Dana to gain practicalbat experience. However, with the need for further advancement in technology, I had to fast forward time once again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After notifying the others in Olympus, I left for the Admin Room. Unsurprisingly, Tsubaki came with me, though Dana said that she wanted to stay and continue to train my summons. The idea that Dana wanted to stay in the world for years without Tsubaki present¡­ now <i><span style="font-weight:400">that</i><span style="font-weight:400"> did surprise me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Regardless, I had to get this taken care of, or my worlds would be at serious risk of being destroyed in theing days. If, at any point, Dana decided toe to the Admin Room, she would be more than capable of doing so even if the world was being fast-forwarded still. As onest precaution, I set a number of rms to track different technologies, and made sure that Leowynn and the others were all prepared to gradually increase people¡¯s awareness.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With these preparations in ce, it was time to get everything moving¡­


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley strode towards the office building across the street from the main Admin Room house, quickly making her way inside. She had just heard about Chel¡¯s new world n, and felt the rather urgent need to mention it to her team. When she arrived in the offices, she found that only about two-thirds of the workers were present, with the rest no doubt taking a well-earned vacation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Jamira, I have a new project that I want you to assign to someone.¡± Ashley called out, her team leader jumping to her feet and running over.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What work do you have for us, miss?¡± Jamira asked excitedly, as Ashley¡¯s personal presence meant that it was something important. Either a new system that she wanted to develop, or something had changed that they needed to reproduce.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There¡¯s a new world that would have just been created. It was built with the feature of doubling the efficiency of energy conversion between void and mana. I want the team to dissect this feature. This is a conversion process of one of the four basic energies, and it could very well be an important step to developing our own world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jamira¡¯s eyes widened when she heard that, nodding her head repeatedly. ¡°Of course! I¡¯ll get everyone on it right away!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley nodded her head, smiling slightly. ¡°Good. Once you have the code broken down, I have a couple of side projects that I want you to work on. First, see if you can find a way to apply this code to other energy conversions, or increase the effectiveness. Secondly, I want you to create an ¡®Admin ount¡¯ for the Digital Conversion system. Tie in the energy conversion process to the ount, so that those who have ess will have their mana costs waived when they use Digital Conversion.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jamira¡¯s gaze shook when she heard that. ¡°O-Of course!¡± She knew what Ashley meant by these two projects. With the first, they could potentially automate the creation of any energy type, making the fundamental pirs of a world. With the second, they could allow the admins of the Digital Conversion system to create anything they wanted at no cost, as long as it had been previously scanned.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Even if only one of the two projects were sessful, it could be a major help in terms of utility. Satisfied, Ashley nodded her head, getting ready to leave. ¡°Oh, are there any new independent projects that anyone has been working on to report?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jamira thought it over for a moment. ¡°Sorin has been studying Lorek¡¯s time eleration, and said that he has created a system that would allow such time elerations to be crafted on a small scale. It¡¯s more effective than the current time eleration that most mages can craft, but it is more costly, so he said that it was a failure.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley blinked, ncing at one of the members of her team. ¡°Does that mean that he created a crafting system?¡± She asked curiously, causing Jamira to hesitate, before nodding her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. He registered the end product as a file with the Digital Conversion system, and then made a plugin that would let you substitute the energy cost with the rted materials. It¡¯s simr to the plugin we made before that lets you exchange the materials of an item. In doing so, as long as you have all of the necessary materials on hand, the ¡®crafting¡¯ process is free and instant.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley lowered her head in thought when she heard the exnation. This process made sense from her perspective. As long as a craftsman created an object once, they could register it with the system, and then could instantly craft it again with the required materials. The works created instantly like this would have all of the benefits or defects of the original work, and the only way to improve the design would be to make it from scratch again and register it once more.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Additionally, the patent system made it so that files could be sold, but not pirated. This would increase the likelihood of craftersing together into unions or guilds. ¡°Prepare the crafting plugin. I¡¯ll go tell the Keeper about it now, and we should be able to include it in our next major patch.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°My Keeper, there is something that I have been wondering about for quite some time. While we have the chance to talk normally, I was wondering if you would be able to provide an answer for me.¡± Tsubaki spoke up while we were waiting for the worlds to finish their eleration, causing me to nce over.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What is it, Tsubaki?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Where is the Underworld located?¡± She asked, a curious look in her eyes. ¡°I have always been curious about this. The Underworld connects all worlds, but I have never found it within the void. Is it simply too far away for me to locate in the void, or is there another answer?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked, not sure how to answer that. In fact, I myself didn¡¯t know where the Underworld was located. Thankfully, someone else did, and she came to my rescue. ¡°The Underworld does not exist within the void in the first ce. Strictly speaking, that is.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Lady Irena.¡± Tsubaki quickly turned, bowing towards the winged goddess as she made her way over. A small smile tugged at Irena¡¯s lips, and she shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You don¡¯t need to use that title with me, Tsubaki. I won¡¯t stop you if you insist like Aurivy, but I want you to befortable here.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki simply nodded her head. ¡°You more than most, as you are the wife of my Keeper, I must maintain the proper respect.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Irena¡¯s smile grew a touch wider at that, and she moved to sit down next to me. ¡°As I said, the Underworld isn¡¯t in the void. Rather, it is a thirdyer of existence. Its name as the Underworld is, actually, rather apt.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Irena waved a hand, and three circr discs appeared in the air in front of us,yered atop one another. ¡°The uppermostyer is the void, which epasses all things. Then, you have the world itself.¡± She pointed to the centralyer, and dozens more discs appeared all at the same level. ¡°All of these worlds exist within the void, but are of equal hierarchy.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Finally, beneath those is the Underworld. It¡¯s not wrong to say that the Underworld is tied to every world that possesses spiritual energy, so long as Dale doesn¡¯t choose to apply a different afterlife to that world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Tsubaki heard that, she had a look of hesitation on her face. ¡°Does that mean, when the worlds had been previously destroyed by James¡¯s experiments, was the Underworld implicated as well?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Irena blinked, before shaking her head. ¡°Not at all. While the Underworld is connected, it is through spiritual energy alone. When those worlds were destroyed, it did indeed produce a massive amount of casualties, but there was no spiritual energy created in the process. Do you know why?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki hesitated again, before her eyes widened. ¡°The deaths were caused by being assimted into the void. They didn¡¯t leave any souls behind.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s correct. When a world is destroyed in such a way, it does not bring any feedback to the Underworld in one way or another. The connection to that world is simply severed. That does not mean that the Underworld is immune to the interference of the void, but that it must be done in a more roundabout method.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°For instance, if someone were to open a path between a living world and the Underworld, it would be possible for an existence of the void to enter. I doubt that they would choose to do so, however, as the Underworld itself is of little value to a void beast.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Why is that? Should it not be more valuable, if it contains the information of countless souls?¡± Tsubaki asked hesitantly, but I widened my eyes as a thought urred to me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s because it¡¯s <i><span style="font-weight:400">only</i><span style="font-weight:400"> souls. Spiritual energy is the second thinnest of the four primary energies, right behind natural energy. Although there are countless souls, the energy is so thin that there is little information to digest between each soul.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Irena nodded in satisfaction. ¡°That is correct. It would take roughly five hundred pure souls to equal the amount of information a void creature could obtain from devouring a single living being. For that reason, there is simply no need for a void beast to attack the Underworld. At most, if they had the power to open a gate of their own, they would use the Underworld as a transit point to attack another world. And the only reason to do this would be that they could not reach that world through the void.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I see¡­¡± I suddenly had a bad feeling. ¡°That¡¯s something that we¡¯ll need to watch out for. The enemy this time specializes in apocalyptic monsters. It¡¯s entirely possible that there will be one that has powers rted to souls, and can get into the Underworld. If that¡¯s the case, defensive barriers in the void will be ineffective.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Irena¡¯s eyes widened at the realization, nodding her head seriously. ¡°I shall instruct my forces to prepare. If anything invades the void, they will stop at nothing to eradicate it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I have one more question, if that is alright.¡± Tsubaki spoke up, causing myself and Irena to look over at her. ¡°What about Fyor? We know that every level of Fyor is defended from the void by the ck walls, but what about the Underworld? Surely, you¡¯re not receiving souls from every level of Fyor, are you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Irena simply smiled when she heard that. ¡°That¡¯s easy to exin. Only those creatures listed as Dale¡¯s ¡®assets¡¯ are included in the afterlife system. On unexploredyers of Fyor, those creatures that die simply have their spirit trapped, and will either reincarnate as a new life, turn into an undead beast, be food for something else, or disperse over time. Once ayer is explored, it is connected to the Underworld. This was a feature designed when creating Fyor, in order to prevent Dale from being able to send creatures from the uppermost level as an invasion force before his level had reached that point. It also stops his rank from suddenly increasing. In fact, you can consider Fyor as a nested doll. Everyyer operates as an independent world, and only belongs to Dale when it is explored.¡±

 Chapter 1014: Efficient Design

    Chapter 1014: Efficient Design


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea sat at her terminal, looking at the report that had beenid out before her. ¡°It¡¯s not working.¡± She muttered, analyzing the rate of mana production andparing it to the mana production of the previous void generators. There did not appear to be any significant change, despite the fact that she had added the double efficiency modifier.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">It must be because the mana is not being created in this world, but another world that is itself being created by the generator. I had hoped that the trait would be applied via the connection, but that doesn¡¯t appear to be the case. Is it because of the system sphere normalizing the area around the generator? It would be right to think that, but there is no proper way to run it without those.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea closed her eyes, going over some backup ns. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I still have a lot of points left over to work with, but I don¡¯t want to blow them all at once. Who knows how long it will take before I am given my next research allowance? I might even have to go to the next annual meeting. There are a few ways for the Keeper to pass off my existence, at least.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">So¡­ if we want to take advantage of this modifier, what is the most efficient way to do it?</i> <i><span style="font-weight:400">Even with the double efficiency modifier, it would take a thousand void cores as powerful as the one fueling Olympus just to equal a single generator. If we made so many void cores in one world, it would create a world instability.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she was thinking about that, Chelsea heard a voice in the back of her mind. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea, I am aware that your current experiment has failed. However, I would like to ask that you don¡¯t do anything that would endanger the world that you have created.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea blinked in surprise, instinctively ncing up. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Ashley? Ah, right, your people are probably interested in this modifier, aren¡¯t they?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s right. I just tasked them with analyzing and copying the modifier to apply it to other areas. Since you are a member of the Admin Room, I can even give you ess to the Admin ount I¡¯m having them set up. If it works, it will tie the process of converting the void to mana into special ounts for the Digital Conversion system.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea¡¯s eyes went wide, and she abruptly stood up from her desk. ¡°What?!¡± She subconsciously shouted. If the world wasn¡¯t currently being fast-forwarded, she would have sent her main self to question Ashley right away. <i><span style="font-weight:400">You want to negate the mana cost for specific people in the Digital Conversion system?!</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s¡­ right? Is that a problem?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Ashley asked in confusion.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">No, no, that¡¯s great! It¡¯s exactly what I need!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Chelsea was ecstatic. <i><span style="font-weight:400">If I can tie that ount into a mana generator, it can condense theoretically infinite refined mana straight from the void.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Chelsea already knew how to connect machines to the Digital Conversion system. Such a thing wasn¡¯t really that hard for her, and she knew that one of Dana¡¯s familiars had done so on a massive scale in Fragments of Acidia.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As for void instability? The Digital Conversion system was part of the world¡¯s system, so there were naturally safeguards in ce to prevent the destruction of a world. ording to the most likely theory, if the requested output was too high, it would simply limit itself to what the world was capable of safely withstanding.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">If I can get this simple mana refinery set up with the Digital Conversion system, not only can it rece our void generators, but we can safely install them across multiple worlds. Ah, it¡¯d be best not to put them in inhabited worlds still, since void beasts could potentially be attracted to a disturbance of that scale. Still, the cost and ease of setting it up makes it a far more efficient option.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a moment of hesitation before Ashley spoke again. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯m sorry, did I just invalidate decades of your research..?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea couldn¡¯t help butugh, the others in theb ncing at her curiously. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Not at all! Progress is a tricky slope. If it weren¡¯t for the void generators, I wouldn¡¯t have made a lifeless world with enhanced mana efficiency. If I hadn¡¯t done that, you wouldn¡¯t have had the chance to analyze the modifier. Our decades of research is paying off, just not in the direction that we expected.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I see¡­ I¡¯m d.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Ashley spoke up with a tone of relief.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">By the way, have you considered creating a minor world for your researchers, so that they could take advantage of the elerated time flow?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Chelsea asked as she calmed herself, sitting back down at her terminal.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I thought about it, but ultimately decided against it. Doing so would open them to travelers in the void, and I¡¯d rather keep them away from prying eyes. Additionally, I would need to create an entire race for them of energy beings for them that would have an endless lifespan, and wait for civilization to advance to the point where their work could be continued.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">True¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Chelsea nodded her head helplessly. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It might be best for them to stay up there, in that case. Once they¡¯ve got the code analyzed, send it down to me with the code for Digital Conversion. I have my own testing area, so I can help with the second step of the n.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯ll do that. Also, once the world stops fast-forwarding this time, we will be applying a new crafting system based on Digital Conversion. One of my people recently came up with it, and it will allow you to create a saved recipe as long as you have the materials.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s cool.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Chelsea shrugged slightly, clearly not as interested in this as she was the admin ounts. If those ounts seeded in being created, it could potentially solve their energy problems for the foreseeable future.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing that Chelsea was done with her rather varied reactions, Thea walked over with a curious expression on her face. ¡°Chel? Did the void generator resultse in?¡± She asked hesitantly, worried that those reactions may have been caused by unfortunate news.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh?¡± Chelsea nced back, nodding her head. ¡°Yeah, it was a total failure. There is no increase in mana output from the double efficiency world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thea¡¯s eyes widened in surprise, before looking even more curious. ¡°You¡­ don¡¯t seem upset about that. I thought you¡¯d be the most affected¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± She shook her head. ¡°Go and get your sister and Treisha. Oh, and James too. He¡¯ll want to hear this.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea smiled, making her way to their nning area. She waited until she saw James and the others all approaching, before giving a firm nod. ¡°The void generator n has failed. Our existing generators will continue operating within safe parameters for the time being, but we will not be making any more.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Isn¡¯t it too early to give up?¡± James asked hesitantly, not sure why Chelsea was just abandoning the project.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± She repeated what she told Thea. ¡°We have a bigger project now. I want everyone here to work on arge scale mana refinery. Leave the control center to me. But all of you¡­ prioritize output above all else. Efficiency is nice, but if you can squeeze out some more output by sacrificing a bit of efficiency, it¡¯s best to do so.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No¡­ it isn¡¯t right to call them refineries.¡± Chelsea shook her head. ¡°Packaging nt. That¡¯s more like it. Arge scale packaging nt for refined mana. The total output should be greater than what our current void generators can produce. The refined mana has to be safely sealed and made ready for transport.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nora furrowed her brow. ¡°Where are we going to get that much mana to package without the generators? You¡¯re not just wanting to attach these to the generators we have and hope it helps increase the output, are you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, by the time this n isplete, there will no longer be any need for those generators, and we can immediately dmission them.¡± Chelsea said in a firm tone, further surprising the group. A small smile yed on her lips. ¡°Ashley¡¯s team is working on a new feature. Once it¡¯s implemented, we will be able to establish an automated refining process for mana through the Digital Conversion system at no cost.¡±


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">That</i><span style="font-weight:400"> got everyone¡¯s attention, and they immediately knew why Chelsea had said that output was the most important. The actual mana production would be handled by the system itself, so there was no need to worry about anything other than how fast they could move the mana along the assembly line.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ll handle the containers.¡± Treisha said as she quickly moved to her desk. ¡°We¡¯re going to need enough material to keep up with the demand. Automatic inventory production? No, it costs divine coins to expand an inventory, so that would be less cost-effective. And the old devices borrow void space, so they¡¯re unsafe for this type of storage. Do I have toe up with a new storage spell that can be done entirely through mana?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We¡¯ll handle the transport system.¡± Thea and Nora spoke up in unison, ncing at one another. In order for this operation to be carried out sessfully, the refined mana needed to be safely transported from the nt to the recipient. Normal void gates would attract too much interference, and indeed there were even now some void beasts that intercepted packages from the void generators.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I suppose that leaves me with the main structure.¡± James said with a small grin. It had been far too long since he was able to tackle a normal project, and he was looking forward to this.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Soon after Irena finished her exnation on the mysteriousness of the Underworld, I found Ashley messaging me, asking for approval for two new systems. One was a crafting plug-in that they hadpleted, and the other was an admin ount for Digital Conversion? ording to her brief exnation, those with the ount would waive the mana fees of anything that they made.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, I approved of both of these ns. There was no reason not to, really. However, what I was not expecting was to see the results of my agreement so soon. In total, the eleration this timested for thirty years, and I kept the speed slow enough on my end that we spent roughly a day waiting. That meant that for every minute we spent in the Admin Room, a week passed in the mortal world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Still, it took nearly an hour before Dana arrived, having reached what she deemed a satisfactory state with the training. Though, really I think she missed Tsubaki and wanted to rush back. Either way, we spent the rest of the day watching movies and ying games with one another.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When the day had passed, and I received a notification that the world had stopped its eleration, I checked the map once again. Within the void, there were certainly new barriers in ce around each world, though I had little means of estimating their strength, aside from the system¡¯s evaluation that it met my criteria.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I looked at Deckan¡¯s universe, I saw that there was significantly more space travel than before, so it was easy to guess that they had expanded again. It wasn¡¯t until I zoomed in on Ashtanu that I saw the real surprise.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The advertisements of the city had been reced with magical, holographic disys. Transit gates were established across the city likemon bus stops, allowing people to teleport from one to another before walking to their destination. Although electricity had not been entirely reced by mana, the remaining electrical systems were powered by converting mana into electricity.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Ashley? Don¡¯t tell me that you opened the admin ounts to everyone?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley¡¯s reply was immediate. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Of course not. Chelsea helped meplete the code-side, and adapted her generator ns for it. The effective price of mana has plummeted in thest decade, so more facilities are incorporating it into their business. There are still regions that don¡¯t get enough mana for advanced operations, but the majors no longer have that problem.</i>

 Chapter 1015: Duality

    Chapter 1015: Duality


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now that the void defenses were ready, it was just a matter of getting the <i><span style="font-weight:400">people</i><span style="font-weight:400"> ready for the invasion that was toe. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I thought to the elven goddess, calling her. <i><span style="font-weight:400">How are things going on your end?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">We¡¯ve made a lot of progress getting the Fallen God poption increased, dad. Fallen Godhood may not be as essible to normal people as divinity, but arge number of the officials of my church have taken this step.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head. Until there were more methods publicly avable for people to safely be Fallen Gods, this was the best that I could hope for. <i><span style="font-weight:400">And how has the preparation gone, in terms of awareness and willingness to evacuate?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">That¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Leowynn¡¯s voice sounded troubled. <i><span style="font-weight:400">That one has had notably less sess. The people aren¡¯t so willing to just give up on their homes. More than half showed strong resistance, even when the idea came from the churches of the Greater Pantheon. Even if temporary, the thought of abandoning their homes caused a great sense of anxiety.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was¡­ less than ideal. While I could understand the idea of not wanting to give up on their homes, this was quite literally a matter of life and death. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Without knowing the exact strength of the void monsters being sent this time, we can¡¯t know for sure whether or not our defenses are strong enough to protect them.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately, this was the sad truth of the matter. And, it was not feasible to try to move entires to Fyor for protection, even if we were given a century to prepare. <i><span style="font-weight:400">However many are willing to evacuate, just make sure that there is plenty of lodging for them in Fyor.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s already done, dad.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Leowynn reported, a touch happier about that. <i><span style="font-weight:400">The evacuation policies haven¡¯t spread throughout all of the Metongwork, due to the difficulty of such arge-scale transportation, but the primary worlds of each realm have been notified, and lodging has been prepared on the upper floors of Fyor.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Right¡­ speaking of. Bihena? How has the progresse with breaking through the maze floor?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a pause before Bihena replied with a sigh. <i><span style="font-weight:400">At this point, they have basically confirmed that there is a danger on the sixty-first floor. However, they can¡¯t verify whether the danger is rted to theyer¡¯s climate, or if the portal is simply located near the den of some great beast.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">About eight months ago, they set up a new method of exploring the maze. Before entering, everyone would ce a device on the wall of the maze, which would lock the portal open after they passed through. If they went through, and found that there was nothing on the other side, they could simply pass through and deactivate the device.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Sadly, they have yet to have anyone lucky or unlucky enough to open the gate to the sixty-first floor in thest eight months. Once they have another person make it through, they will have a proper understanding of what is on the other side.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was better news, at least. Progress was being made, even if it was slow. The only thing that I could do was hope that all of our defenses would be enough to protect people. At this point, the only thing that more time would give me was additional Fallen Gods. While nice, it wasn¡¯t particrly worth fast forwarding even further at the given time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Looking at the time, we had a total of fifteen days before the invasion. That¡­ wasn¡¯t much time to take care of things. At most, I had a couple of weeks to brush up on my training while making sure that everyone was ready to act.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It looks like the battle isn¡¯t too far off now.¡± Udona said as she hovered in the void, positioned outside an area that had been converted into something akin to a Fallen God¡¯s sanctuary. There was a very thin void barrier surrounding an artificially created, lushndscape. Within this sanctuary, there were dozens, if not hundreds of docile void beasts roaming.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At the center of the sanctuary sat Aznod, focusing on creating the feed necessary for these creatures. Although he was not a Fallen God, he had learned several methods to manipte the void over the years, allowing him to reach his current level. His kitsune ears twitched when he heard Udona¡¯s voice. ¡°Has it been decided?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It seems like.¡± Udona nodded her head. ¡°He doesn¡¯t want to fast forward again, from what I can tell. Whatever progress you¡¯ve made here, it¡¯ll have to be enough. Is it¡­ enough?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod hesitated to answer. His farm here was not for the purpose of raising fighting beasts. Rather, it was an experiment to try to perfect the method of taming void beasts. ¡°That will depend on whates. I¡¯ve made enough feed for a variety of beasts, but I can¡¯t guarantee what will arrive from beyond the Keeper¡¯s realm.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona simply sighed, nodding as well. ¡°Have you tried to prepare them as a dish yet?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Aznod heard that, he paused, but nodded his head. ¡°They can¡¯t be processed directly with my divinity, but my Saint Energy can be used on them. However, a dish made from void beasts can only be consumed by either another void beast or a Fallen God. Otherwise, the void¡¯s influence would be a poison in the body of the consumer.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°At least you know that void beasts <i><span style="font-weight:400">can</i><span style="font-weight:400"> be tamed.¡± She pointed out, Aznod nodding his head. In fact, as he perfected the method of creating the ¡®feed¡¯, he had created a legend that allowed him to break his level limit as a farmer and a monster tamer. Granted, he had long since made a legend as a chef, so this wasn¡¯t his first time getting such an achievement, but it was surprising nheless.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Do you have any preparations you need to make?¡± Aznod asked, turning his head to look at Udona. She thought it over, before letting out a long sigh.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°My main consciousness can¡¯t be present for these invasions, or things may be easier. Thankfully, this body¡¯s true owner has grown ustomed to me, and shares a lot of my thoughts. There shouldn¡¯t be any problems leaving things to her when the need arises. The only sad thing is that we can¡¯t move forward with the evacuation n.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod nodded his head in agreement. He was well aware that the safest ce to be in this invasion would be Fyor, where void monsters were incapable of attacking normally. ¡°Have the protocols been put in ce?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona gave another nod. ¡°That¡¯s right. When the Greater Pantheon announces a ¡®Void Crisis¡¯, everyone willing will go to a designated ry point to teleport to Fyor. At the same time, the world keys will be removed from the fairy rings, and they will all be moved to Fyor as well. This way, nobody from other worlds will be able to ess the rings until Fyor makes first contact.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">This n was created in order to prevent the void beasts from taking control of the local poption and sending them to Fyor or another world as an attack force. If such a case happened, the locals would have nowhere to go now.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod smiled, d that ns were at least in ce to protect as many as they could. At the same time, between working in Olympus and in his new pasture, he had not had much time to keep track of certain news. ¡°I assume that the hypenework has expanded to cover the upied worlds, at least.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. Oh, there are some that we¡¯re having trouble with. The Sylvans can¡¯t always grasp where theirs are in the gxy, assuming that they¡¯re even in the same gxy. There are currently three groves that we haven¡¯t managed to include in thework. Philia talked to them, and they¡¯ll be temporarily evacuating to Fyor with the others when the timees. If something does happen to their trees, other groves have volunteered to take them in.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Within the Ashtanu Research Institute, Nora and Thea sat facing one another, their eyes closed. The twins had always practiced aplex energy, one that required two bodies operating in harmony to perform. Even as twins, they had a near perfect match. If not for their hair colors, they would be indistinguishable for one another.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thea¡¯s ck hair began to shimmer, while Nora¡¯s white hair gave a brilliant glow. Nearby, Chel had a worried look on her face, ncing at James. ¡°You sure this is a good step for them?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James nodded his head, eyes focused on the duo. He was already operating his own energy to peer through fate, watching and making sure that they were not going to have any major failures. ¡°It¡¯s the natural conclusion to their training up to now. If everything goes well, these two will be able to rival any god.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah, it¡¯s the ¡®if¡¯ there that worries me.¡± Chel pointed out, Triesha nodding her head in agreement. In all this time, only the twins had never stepped onto the path of divinity. Instead, they had always walked the path of perfection.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In his free time, James had often spected on an evolution to their shared energy. Destructive Bnce was an energy that he had long been familiar with in his old world, though he had never specifically cultivated it. He did, however, have enough of an understanding after working with these two for so long that he could theorize the evolution.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A white circle began to spread out beneath Nora, a match ck circle beneath Thea. The two circles grew, soon reaching one another. When the circles connected, they remembered the instructions that James had given them beforehand. They did not allow their energies to sh, instead passing by one another in a spiral pattern.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The result was what one could consider an almost hypnotic spiral, only with two exterior circles, one on either side. ¡°Nora, three parts ki. Thea, two parts spirit, one part mana.¡± James called out, the two responding immediately and letting their energies flow into the mix. ¡°Nora, two parts mana. Thea, two parts ki.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Every few seconds, James would call out instructions, the spiral between the twins flowing faster and faster. Soon, James knew that the energy was at its peak point. ¡°Now, both of you rx. Remember, don¡¯t fight this.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two nodded their heads firmly, their bodies seeming to melt into the pools of energy beneath them. The ck and white circles faded away, the spiral spinning faster and faster. As it spun, the spiral began to shrank, a new figure rising up out of it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This new figure appeared identical to either Nora or Thea, the only difference being her hair. The right half of her hair was pure white, the left pure ck. Simrly, her tails reflected this, four white and four ck, the ninth tail a spiral mix of the two.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This figure kept her eyes closed as the spiralpletely merged with her body. Chel waited impatiently, before stepping forward and asking in an urgent tone after she was sure that the process waspleted. ¡°Uhm¡­ so¡­ which one are you?¡± She asked, chewing her bottom lip. This was what she had been most worried about, the possibility that this fusion would result in one of the twins disappearing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a moment of silence from the figure as her eyes opened, pure white. ¡°It¡¯s both of us.¡± She said with a smile, her eyes immediately shifting to ck. ¡°This is weird, but also¡­ it feels right.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James let out a sigh of relief. ¡°White eyes should mean that Nora is talking, and ck is Thea, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thea nodded her head, quickly switching with Nora again. ¡°Our energy has changed. We¡¯ll need to find somewhere to properly test it, I think¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chel brought a hand up to pat her chest. ¡°At least the two of you are fine. You had me worried.¡±

 Chapter 1016: Apocalypse Now

    Chapter 1016: Apocalypse Now


    <span style="font-weight:400">For the next two weeks, I focused heavily on my training, making sure that I would be able to unleash my fullbat power within the void. Although I would not be immediately fighting the enemy in order to get an estimation of their power, I had to be prepared to do so at a moment¡¯s notice when we were ready to attack.


    <span style="font-weight:400">To my pleasant surprise, I found that the summons that I had created had fully mastered their own styles after years of arduous training. ording to Dana, they would be able to fight evenly with her if only three or four of them attacked together, as long as she didn¡¯t tap into her own army. While this meant that Dana was still stronger than any of them individually, that was no surprise. She was, after all, Dana¡­ one of the most terrifying existences I¡¯ve ever seen in a fight.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Finally, when it was one day before the invasion was set to take ce, I had Tubrock teleport Olympus to the fifty-ninth floor of Fyor. We appeared high in the sky, the that Olympus rested on floating above a series of fifty giant flying inds. Each ind was wide enough to support the poption of an entire, at least in the short term.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At the same time, the Greater Pantheon issued the ¡®Void Incursion¡¯ rm. Throughout the various worlds, those who were willing to evacuate would move to teleportation points that would send them to these inds. I could feel the energy erupting below as streams of light sent people en masse to their destination.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For those that chose to remain behind, I could only watch the countdown and hope that our defenses were enough to protect them. Like that, I waited out thest twenty-four hours in solemnity, gathering my weapons and finally closing off all connections between Fyor and the other worlds. Many void monsters spread their influence via information, so we would have to rely on Fallen Gods to scout the way first.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When the notice of the invasion came in, I looked at the number of invaders. This was a targeted invasion, so there were only two possibilities. Either an all-out attack of millions of troops, or a small group of the most elite forces. Personally, I would have preferred the former, as it meant that they were more interested in killing the enemy Keeper than they were in destroying the worlds. Andrge numbers are easier to track.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately¡­ the entire force amounted to no more than fifty. If the numbers were that small, they must all be powerful void beasts. There may even be those that are capable of destroying worlds.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Giles stood atop a great tree in the middle of the ocean, a golden Sylvan standing at his side. As the Fallen God of Unity, he had elected to remain with Spriggan¡¯s grove through this incursion. He believed that his presence would be able to protect the grove, at least to some extent.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°They¡¯re here.¡± He muttered suddenly, causing Spriggan to look up at the sky, though she couldn¡¯t see anything different.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Can you tell how strong they are?¡± She asked in concern, her voice like a soft melody.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, Giles shook his head. ¡°No. There¡¯s too much interference for me to get an idea without entering the void.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Spriggan was just about to speak up, when suddenly a voice entered both of their minds. ¡°Heheheheh, wee, one and all! It¡¯s time for the Extinction Games! The rules of the game are quite simple, quite simple indeed! All you need to do is kill, or be killed! You have five minutes to take a life! If you do not, your own life will be forfeit!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The eerie voice caused their spines to straight, feeling as if thunder had erupted in their hearts. It didn¡¯t take a genius to understand the meaning of these words. ¡°We don¡¯t have to kill a person¡­ just kill?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Spriggan nodded her head at Giles¡¯s words. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ probably because this voice isn¡¯t just targeting the intelligent species.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Giles nodded his head, focusing. ¡°I can¡¯t cut this power off in under five minutes. Have everyone in the grove find a fish or insect to kill.¡± Due to the Void Incursion rm, all forms of business had been halted for the time being, so Giles wasn¡¯t worried that there would be people trapped at work, unable to find something to kill. As long as they didn¡¯t panic, there shouldn¡¯t be a problem.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Spriggan nodded her head, issuing the message throughout the grove. At the same time, she noticed that therger fish seemed to have turned more ferocious, as if they had been triggered by the voice as well.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Merkin and Sylvans alike flew out from the grove, most of them managing toplete a simple kill within five minutes. When that time was up, the eerie voice spoke up again. ¡°And that¡¯s the end of round one! Those of you whopleted your challenge, congrattions! To the others¡­ game over.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Spriggan bit her lips, scanning the area. Several fish, and even a few residents of the grove that had not been able to find something to kill in time, all trembled. Their health bars appeared above their heads, falling to a little less than half.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Spriggan let out a faint sigh of relief at that. ¡°It looks like the effect is weakened, at least.¡± She said, though Giles¡¯s expression wasn¡¯t so good.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s because of all of theyers of defense. If it was a outside of even one of theseyers, such as the hypenework¡­ the poption might be decimated.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh?¡± A voice spoke up, though it was not Spriggan, but rather the eerie announcer of the Extinction Games. ¡°It seems some of you managed to avoid punishment. That won¡¯t do¡­ we¡¯ll have to begin the second round, then! This time, you must take another life! However, the life you took must be stronger than the first round.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing that the ¡®game¡¯ had immediately started again, both Giles and Spriggan turned pale.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mora sat atop a tall cliff in the shape of a sword, her mind and body in a constant state of readiness. There were those of her sect that were unable to leave for various reasons, whether because they were at an important juncture in their cultivation, or they were in the process of digesting some special treasure. For this reason, she had remained behind to act as the guardian of her sect.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Due to the time difference between Lorek and the other worlds, it had been a full twenty days since the rm had been sounded. As time passed, the feeling of impending danger began to increase more and more.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Suddenly, she felt something change in the space behind her, reaching out and shing a hand. An arc of energyshed out, striking a matching attack not far away. She furrowed her brows, standing and turning to face her assant. Although she was a blind woman, she could identify the nature of her enemy. ¡°I must fight myself?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It seems so.¡± The other one spoke, holding a hand out as starlight formed into a de. ¡°To think this void beast would summon a clone of myself for me to defeat. This is troubling.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mora¡¯s thoughts raced when she heard that. Her clone did not seem to believe that she was a clone, nor did she believe herself to be under the control of an exterior influence. She lifted her own de of starlight in a defensive stance. ¡°If you believe yourself true, as do I, perhaps the course of action is to not fight. Perhaps both of us are real, and the death of one will lead to both falling.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The ¡®clone¡¯ hesitated, thinking through Mora¡¯s words. ¡°You believe not fighting is the answer? Am I to trust a creation of the void?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You have no choice, and neither do I. If you appeared before me, and I you, then surely the same will be true of the others. We will know the oue after a simple observation.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The other Mora nodded her head, and the two swept their senses over the mountain that they had previously shed over. The expressions of the ursa immortals twisted when they saw the results. Unfortunately, Mora¡¯s estimation had turned out false. Everyone in the sect did indeed have to fight a copy of themselves, but they were not both ¡®real¡¯ entities that shared life and death. When one died, they would remain dead, making it impossible to tell whether the survivor was the original or the duplicate.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It seems that we must fight, after all.¡± One of the Moras said, though the other shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I disagree.¡± She said simply. ¡°There is nopulsion to fight. Whichever of us is real, we should have both perceived that the attack at the start wasunched by the other party, correct?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± The other one said in affirmation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If that is the case¡­ what happens if we do not continue the fight?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There are two options. Either the void beast obtains the power from the defeated foe, aiming to rece at least a portion of them with his own people as spies, or¡­¡± Both of them turned in unison, striking out as two matching sword beams came from behind them. ¡°Or another round ofbat would appear.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Standing behind each Mora was another duplicate, Mora¡¯s face twisting slightly. ¡°Each copy perfectly matches the original. That means that there is an even chance of victory or defeat. However, that¡¯s only for one round. As more rounds stack up¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The odds that the original remains at the end diminishes more and more.¡± The Mora standing next to her said with a grim nod. ¡°More importantly¡­ these two don¡¯t seem willing tomunicate.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s learning. The answer to ovee this trial should have been teaming up with your copies. Now, that is no longer an option. You¡¯re not getting any sudden violent thoughts, are you?¡± The two Moras stood together, having formed an alliance as theyshed out at their new copies.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod and Udona stood atop the castle of Ashtanu, their hands behind their backs. Aznod seemed fearless, knowing that he would be with Udona in the Admin Room even if he died. Udona, meanwhile, knew that protecting her people was more important than protecting her body, which even the original owner deemed as disposable if necessary.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod was about to say something when Udona lifted her hand to stop him, watching. There was a loud explosion, a house shattering within the city. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Do not say a word.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Udona spoke in Aznod¡¯s mind firmly. Another house shattered, and another, dozens seeming to go with every second.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">You saw something? </i><span style="font-weight:400">Aznod asked, Udona nodding her head.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">This void beast amplifies voices to a disastrous degree. One utterance can destroy everything within twenty meters. Including the person that spoke.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod¡¯s brow furrowed. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Is it only voices, or does it apply to any sound?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, it only seems to be voices. If I¡¯m not mistaken, we were unlucky¡­ the beast attacking this realm should be a world destroyer¡­ originally, any sound should cause massive destruction, but it was reduced to this level after the variousyers of defense. I¡¯ve already transmitted my thoughts to everyone on Deckan to warn them. Unfortunately, there is nothing I can do for the wildlife¡­</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">As soon as she said that, the sound reached them, constant explosions echoing out in the wilderness, every scared animal letting out their own cry that signaled their doom.

 Chapter 1017: First Blood

    Chapter 1017: First Blood


    <span style="font-weight:400">It had been half an hour since the invasion began. Immediately, Dana and Lifre both left to scout and figure out the strength of the enemies, as well as the status of the various worlds. It was a risk to let the two of them out, but they were protected by the Heavenly Gate, so even if they did die, they would simply be stuck in the Admin Room until the invasion ended. Regardless, we needed a way to discover what was going on in the other worlds.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The fact that it was taking them so long was rather worrying, causing me to clench my fists at my sides. I didn¡¯t have any way of knowing if anything had gone wrong. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Another half hour, and I¡¯ll ask Leowynn¡¯s incarnation if she can sense anything¡­</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I thought about that, I sensed a ripple in the nearby energy. I was standing just outside of Olympus to wait for the duo to return, and immediately took a defensive stance when I saw a void gate opening in front of me. Next to me, Tsubaki summoned her nine orbs, clearly ready to fight.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Through the gate, Lifre and Dana rushed in, Dana hastily closing the gate behind her. The two were breathing heavily, showing that they had just escaped from <i><span style="font-weight:400">something.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Dana looked like she was about to speak, but then immediately closed her mouth.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Leowynn!¡± I called out, the silver-haired goddess immediately appearing. Now that Leowynn herself wasn¡¯t upying the body, the original owner seemed more aloof than normal. She swept a level gaze over the two of them that had returned.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There are no lingering influences.¡± She said simply, before turning and walking over to a nearby tree.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing that, Dana let out a soft sigh. ¡°Good. Okay. Sorry, one of those guys does something to voices, so I had to be sure before I spoke.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head, letting my body rx slightly. ¡°Report.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right!¡± Dana and Lifre stood up straight, serious expressions on their faces. Dana was the first to speak. ¡°I checked the elerated worlds, Lorek and Spica. Lorek is facing a powerful cloning monster. Everything in the world has to fight an identical version of itself, the winner having to fight yet again after a certain period, with both sides thinking that they are the original. Thankfully, it seems like the clones have lower maximum energy, so the odds are tilted in favor of the inhabitants, but that isn¡¯t likely tost. Already, as many as ten percent of the inhabitants have fallen.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Spica, meanwhile, is facing a mutation apocalypse. nts and animals are evolving to be more feral and deadly to the inhabitants. While they¡¯ve kept things at bay so far, this apocalypse is likely to only get stronger the longer it is left alone.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Additionally, it seems like some of the enemy have been pacified. Roughly twenty percent of the enemies were seen roaming a green pasture-like sanctuary. For the others, they are only using one monster each to attack every world, with the rest patrolling the void. Lifre and I almost got pulled into a fight on our return trip.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head, looking at Lifre. ¡°I was in charge of the worlds with the normal flow of time. Of the primarys, Deckan is in the worst situation. More than ny percent of its surface has been destroyed. The void monster attacking this world has made it so that any form of ¡®voice¡¯ causes a massive soundwave that destroys the nearby area. This includes the cries of animals, which trigger the cries of other animals, and so on. Because of this, it is expected that all of Deckan¡¯s wildlife has already been destroyed.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Desbar is facing a total shutdown of technology and magic alike. Anything that requires any form of power will not operate, and the temperatureside is rapidly decreasing.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Earth¡¯s apocalypse is in the form of a murder game. Kill or be killed. However, the various defenses has lessened the impact enough that people can participate only in every other round, as long as they receive healing in between.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Kione¡¯s apocalypse is the second worst, after Deckan. The light of the sun is causing uncontrolled mutation in any organic life it touches directly. These mutants retain their original minds, but appear to be in intense pain.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sher Dien is facing a cosmic storm, but the situation is manageable as long as they remain within their bunkers. The impact was lessened enough that it won¡¯t destroy any celestial bodies in the short term.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Finally¡­ the world of the March.¡± Lifre hesitated. This was undoubtedly the world with the most civilized lifeforms. ¡°The dead have begun to walk. In worlds that are protected by the hypenework, it is only the creatures that have died in thest twenty-four hours that rise up. Otherwise, there appears to be a duration as long as a month. These dead do not have souls, but possess various abilities that they likely had in life.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s¡­ impressive that you discovered all of that in half an hour.¡± I praised, the two grinning smugly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We¡¯ve been practicing, and divided the work with multiple avatars.¡± Dana said, Lifre nodding her head quickly. ¡°So, what¡¯s the n, boss?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I closed my eyes, thinking through the reports. Kione¡¯s apocalypse reminded me of the Death Star strategy that I used a while back. However, it was undoubtedly more tame than that, being controlled by a void beast rather than a rampantly mutating void script. ¡°We need to pick our battles. For now, Desbar and Deckan can be treated as low priority.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The most urgent among the apocalypse scenarios will be Lorek, Spica, and then Earth. After that, we need to resolve Kione, the March, and Sher Dien. Finally, Deckan and Desbar.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nced over curiously. ¡°May I ask why you have set Deckan¡¯s priority so low? It seems to be among the most dangerous, does it not?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head, before pausing and shaking it instead. ¡°It is, but the damage to that world has already been done by now. From what Lifre said, the apocalypse that hit Deckan put all its destructive power upfront, so anyone that can survive the first wave has a high chance of survivingter.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°On the other hand¡­ the lowering temperature of Desbar likely means that it is treating the <i><span style="font-weight:400">sun</i><span style="font-weight:400"> as something that is powered. So the world will begin to rapidly cool as the heat is no longer able to make it to the world. This is a slower burn apocalypse, thus one we can put off dealing with.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Lorek and Spica have elerated time, so we have to be urgent with them. Especially Lorek, as they are constantly fighting their clones. By now, half a day will have passed. Spica¡¯s situation might be less urgent, but we still need to hurry. As for Earth¡­ with a ¡®murder game¡¯ like that, the sooner we get there, the more likely we are to be able to salvage the situation.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded her head, manifesting a pair of daggers. ¡°When will we move, then?¡± She asked, though I shook my head again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s too early for us to move personally. We don¡¯t know the strength of the void monsters that are patrolling the void. They might be waiting for us, or perhaps they are trying to find a weakness in the barriers around each world.¡± I nced off to the side. ¡°Leowynn, your troops will be in charge of the first few waves of attack. Try to prioritize eliminating the void beasts from the worlds I mentioned, and get an idea of thebat strength of the others.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn gave a firm nod of her head, closing her eyes. ¡°It will be done.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The worst part of this was the number of units that we would have to deal with. We undoubtedly had more troops than the enemy, but these were all apocalyptic beasts. I had to consider that they were specifically trained to fight in the void. Even if the monsters targeting Lorek, Spica, and Earth were destroyed, there were more than enough void beasts to rece them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Regardless, no matter which world we were discussing at this point, it was unlikely that we would ever find a new, inhabited after this invasion ended. ¡°Sir!¡± Lifre lifted a hand. ¡°I¡¯d like permission to mobilize the Last Gasp! It¡¯s a ship I created while you were all off at your ce, and it¡¯s specifically trained to hunt void beasts!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I thought about it for a moment, nodding my approval. Lifre smiled, closing her eyes and sending the mobilization order.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mora¡¯s breaths were deep and ragged, standing back to back with the copy of herself that had initially appeared. She didn¡¯t know anymore, and frankly it didn¡¯t matter. All around them were the dissolving bodies of people identical in appearance and aura to themselves.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So¡­ it looks like I¡¯m the fake?¡± The clone behind Mora said with a small grunt, arge gash across her chest. It had only taken them a few minutes to identify the key weakness of the copies, that being that they had more limited energy reserves. Although they had all of the original¡¯s techniques, they could not fight as long. This had caused the original Mora to step in and defend her first copy on multiple asions.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After all, even though she was a copy, she was still someone helping her fight. ¡°Looks that way.¡± Mora nodded her head, waiting for the next wave to appear. She infused some of her divine power into her clone through her back. ¡°Take a moment to recover. We don¡¯t know how long this willst.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her clone gave a bitter smile, her clouded eyes facing downwards. ¡°How many of them do you think have made it this far?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I don¡¯t know. Hopefully all of them. We can check their auras after this is done. Or maybe the clones will all disappear with the death of the void beast responsible.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Looking forward to my death already?¡± The clone said with a morbid smile, Mora simply chuckling.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We¡¯ve never feared death. The only thing we should fear is a life that¡¯s not worth living. To prevent that, my de will sever even the sky.¡± Mora said, holding her de of starlight forward.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her clone nodded in agreement, lifting her own de. ¡°Then mine will sever what lies beyond. It was nice fighting alongside another as an equal.¡± She said, Mora turning her head in rm. However, she felt a surge of her divinity leaving her control, flooding towards the clone behind her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡­ why¡­¡± She asked, clouded eyes shaking.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Like you said. The only thing worth fearing is a life that¡¯s not worth living.¡± The clone said with a smile. She took a low stance, channeling the power that she stole from Mora into her starlight de. ¡°You could think of my impending death, then why can¡¯t I? So¡­ I decided to put this time to good use. We always were a genius with the sword.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The clone¡¯s starlight de turned pitch ck as a new constetion seemed to ovep with it, a massive surge of energy flooding in from the surroundings. Mora could sense all of this, confusion rising over her face. This wasn¡¯t an ability that she knew, but she could quickly decipher its intent, as it was built upon her knowledge. Had her clone been working to invent a new sword technique while they were fighting?


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Live well.¡± Her clone said, her face bing increasingly pale as she abruptly lifted her stance, swiping towards the sky. ¡°de of the Universe.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The sword beam vanished into the air, and the clone copsed, breathing heavily from the exertion. There was a scar in the air where the beam had passed, and Mora could hear a shrill scream from beyond. As the scar closed, Mora could feel her clone¡¯s existence rapidly fading. Still, her smile never left her face, knowing that she had aplished something good. She knew that for one moment, the clone had surpassed the original.

 Chapter 1018: War Of The Underdogs

    Chapter 1018: War Of The Underdogs


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lyra led the charge under Leowynn¡¯s orders, taking with her no less than three hundred Fallen Deities. This force was created with three purposes. Their primary mission was to eradicate the void monsters attacking Lorek, Spica, and Earth, before moving to assist the other worlds. Secondly, they were to assess thebat power of the monsters that they were facing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Finally, regardless of the sess or failure of the first two objectives, the members of the vanguard team had been chosen with the thought of being able to retreat if necessary. There were numerous Fallen Deities that had support abilities to help them get away from harm. With their assistance, it should be possible for the majority of them to escape, even in the worst case scenario.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°ording to the reports of the advanced scouts, the realm facing the greatest danger is none other than Lorek!¡± Lyra reported. ¡°Additionally, Lorek¡¯s particr opponent is one that could spread to other worlds, if it is not dealt with promptly. When we enter the void, everyone with me, and we will rush Lorek with everything we have!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Fallen Deities around her nodded their heads firmly. When Lyra cut open a void gate and rushed out, everyone immediately prepared for battle. Their bodies turned into a blur in the void, ignoring the vast majority of the monsters. They flew towards Lorek at their greatest speed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, they quickly found that the distance between themselves and Lorek did not seem to be getting any narrower. If anything, Lorek was bing further away the more that they flew. Lyra signaled for everyone to stop, holding a saber shaped like a crescent moon. As she did, a guttural voice spoke up in their minds, before pausing. When it resumed, it had adopted themonnguage.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is this better?¡± The voice asked, and Lyra would see a faceless man standing only inches away from her. She jumped back in rm, swinging her sword, though only seemed to cut through empty space. ¡°Now, that was rather rude. I believe it is proper to introduce oneself before taking their head off.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lyra grit her teeth, grasping more firmly on the curved de in her hand. ¡°The invaders this time want to talk? I have no desire to give you information that you could use to influence me.¡± Although not as much as the myths of old, names were precious things when dealing with the void. It wouldn¡¯t be strange if the being before them were able to kill someone only by knowing their name.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hmm? Oh! You are mistaken. My skills do not lie in abusing the power of identity. You see, my dear, I am a Void God. Have you heard of those? I suppose not, I have been told that we are quite rare existences.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°To put it simply, I am a being born within the void that has devoured the essence of countless of your fallen deities, absorbing their nature to reach transcendence myself. Thanks to this, I have surpassed the mundane need to abide by intrinsic rules. Instead, I am one who creates my own rules. You may call me Kal¡¯thrall.¡± He said, performing a polite bow. Lyra heard a shocked gasp from the Fallen Deities behind her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lyra turned to look at them, only for her head to tilt, falling off of her neck and into her free hand. Her eyes widened, hastily moving to reattach her head before the void could corrode her severed neck. However, no matter how she tried to control her energies, her head would not stay attached.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I told you, didn¡¯t I?¡± Kal¡¯thrall asked in a confused tone. ¡°One must give their name to take the opponent¡¯s head. Though, I suppose simply taking your head won¡¯t kill you. I know!¡± He pped his wed hands together, before Lyra shouted out.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Everyone, close off your sense of hearing! His power must only work if he tells you his rules!¡± It would make sense if that were the case, functioning like an incredibly powerful memetic script. Thus, she immediately cut off her sense of hearing, deafening herself to what the ¡®void god¡¯ was about to say.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At the same time, dozens of abilities flew past her, whether fire, ice, darkness, or light. After epting Lyra¡¯s prior order, they knew that they wouldn¡¯t hear the order to attack, and had to end the battle before more rules could be established.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately, the abilities of the more than one hundred Fallen Deities were not able to touch this void god. Instead, they curved around him, or disappeared into ck portals. Everyone was left dumbfounded, though their eyes widened in abject horror when they saw Lyra¡¯s body dissolving into the void.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Without hesitation, those Fallen Gods dedicated to escape activated their abilities, sealing the void around their opponent and teleporting the surviving members away. Let alone save Lorek and the other worlds, they had not even managed to approach Lorek before being chased back by a lone invader.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°My, that was quite rude indeed of them.¡± Kal¡¯thrall said to himself, looking at the scattered remains of Lyra. ¡°I did tell her that I make my own rules. Why would I need to have them hear it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Though he muttered to himself, it didn¡¯t particrly matter. His faceless head turned in the direction of thergest world within the void. ¡°So, they are hiding there, then? That seems to be a rather tricky ce to attack.¡± He seemed to be formting a n when a shrill scream stole his attention. On one of therger worlds farther away, a de tore out of the world barrier, slicing apart the six-eyed figure that had been smashing against the shield surrounding the world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The Cloner has been defeated already? No, I should say finally, that world is sped up. Hmm¡­¡± His body turned, addressing one of the beasts that had simply been floating in the void. ¡°Contradiction! Head to the freed world and resume the attack!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The void beast, a towering serpent with dozens of arms, shuddered in fear as it was addressed. It immediately turned, rushing over to therge world. Kal¡¯thrall simply nodded his head in satisfaction before turning his gaze back to the world where they had escaped. ¡°I suppose that¡¯s where their scouts earlier ran off to. I¡¯ll need to track their exact coordinates next time¡­¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn opened her eyes, her expression one of shock. Her aloof appearance crumbled, looking almost panicked. ¡°What happened?¡± I asked in rm, turning to face her. I wasn¡¯t the only one that noticed, either, with Dana and the others turning at the same time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Lyra¡­ is dead. The vanguard troops were forced back, before they could even approach Lorek.¡± She reported, her voice somewhat shaking.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Did the void beasts gather and fight together?¡± Dana asked, her eyes wide. However, Leowynn shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, it was only one. ording to their reports, the being that they fought dered itself a ¡®void god¡¯, a void monster that had consumed the essence of fallen gods and gained the power to create its own rules. It decapitated Lyra in one moment, and destroyed her body in the next, while being immune to the abilities beingunched against it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Doesn¡¯t that mean that we can¡¯t fight it in the void?¡± Lifre asked, gasping. Dana, however, quickly shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, that¡¯s not right. Even if it¡¯s not bound by rules in the same way as other void beasts, there will still be a limit to its power. Its scope of abilities should be simr to that of Leowynn, being able to freely manipte the void and inject new rules. Otherwise, there¡¯s no way that it could be sent by a Rank Four world, because it would freely be able to create new worlds on its own.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head in agreement. ¡°Unfortunately, having powers simr to Leowynn would still make it nearly unbeatable. Leowynn is incredibly powerful in the void, and she hasn¡¯t even done that many fights personally. No offense, of course.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°None taken.¡± Leowynn shook her head, still dazed. ¡°It¡¯s rare for me to need to fight personally. This being, on the other hand, likely has far more experience when ites to wielding its power.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Then I¡¯ll fight him.¡± Dana said simply, causing the rest of us to look at her in shock. ¡°What? If ites to fighting a monster like this, nobody is better suited to it than I am. You can consider his fighting style to be an advanced version of the Absurdity of Fate. He focuses on a rule he wants to implement, and causes the void to respond. If that is the case, the only people that can fight him are those that have either mastered controlling the void to the same degree that he has, or those that can master the Absurdity of Fate. Leowynn¡¯s the only one here that can control the void with the same ease as he can, but she doesn¡¯t have thebat awareness needed to fight someone like that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Let me send the schr with you.¡± I said, but Dana firmly shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°He¡¯d only be a liability. If the other party realized that he was a summon, they could use that connection to attack you. Don¡¯t worry, though.¡± Dana grinned, her shadow spreading out as two identical figures rose from either side of herself. ¡°I won¡¯t be going alone.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right, boss! Leave it to us!¡± ra dered proudly, shing a thumbs up at me. Meanwhile, Sienna only nodded her head, clenching her fist.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana turned, looking at Lifre. ¡°What¡¯s the status of the Last Gasp?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre hesitated, before shaking her head. ¡°It takes time for them to open a void gate from Fyor. They haven¡¯t managed to leave yet.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Good. Call them off until we¡¯re done with this guy. If they enter the battlefield, we won¡¯t be able to focus on what we need to do.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre nodded her head briefly, and I watched Dana and her two clones tear open another void gate, walking through with a confident stride.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Kal¡¯thrall was just thinking about how to draw out more natives from the world where they were hiding when he saw a gate open in the distance. From it, three nearly identical figures emerged. One had purely ck hair, while the other two had either a silver or golden streak. He could tell at a nce that the three were essentially one entity, but they had to be confident to face him alone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°My, hello.¡± He spoke to the trio, teleporting himself over to appear a few feet in front of them. ¡°My name is Kal¡¯thrall. It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you. I don¡¯t suppose you have a moment to chat about the world that you just came from?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The girl in the center smirked, forming a sword in one hand. ¡°ra, battle mode. Sienna¡­ let them all out. The shadows march to war.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">ra grinned, her eyes going ck as two whips appeared in her hands. Sienna, meanwhile, offered a small nod. Her eyes went ck as well, darkness spreading around her body. Kal¡¯thrall paused, watching them, and even thought of entering the shadow to break their morale.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, as the shadow grewrger andrger, countless figures began pouring out of it. Soldiers, spirits, dragons, the endless void suddenly felt so very small. ¡°Sorry, Kal.¡± Dana said as she pointed at him with her sword. ¡°My name is Dana Jafer. I¡¯m not here to fight you, I¡¯m here to destroy you.¡±

 Chapter 1019: Darkness Falls

    Chapter 1019: Darkness Falls


    <span style="font-weight:400">Kal¡¯thrall watched the army closing in around him. For the most part, none of the figures present were able to give him a sense of danger. They felt like little more than insects scurrying around in his sight, and he could destroy them on a whim.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, there were exceptions, those that gave him a faint sense of dread. First and foremost were the three girls that had emerged first. Kal¡¯thrall could feel something almost sinister about the three of them, not to mention the fact that they seemed connected to all of these other monsters that emerged.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Next, there were a few monsters within the dark swarm that gave him pause. Six pitch-ck humanoids carrying long rods, tails whipping behind their backs. Massive dragons that breathed out clouds of darkness. A lone man sitting with his legs crossed atop a flying rock. All of these figures made Kal¡¯thrall feel as if he had to take this fight seriously.


    <span style="font-weight:400">These were the battle instincts instilled within him as a void beast that had wed his way to the top. When the first wave of monsters charged, he did not do anything, simply maintaining the same rule that had allowed him to kill the leader of the previous scouting group. ¡®Any damage directed towards my body will instead be borne by the nearest living thing.¡¯


    <span style="font-weight:400">This one rule allowed him a degree of invulnerability, as the monsters rushing towards him all evaporated under the power of their own attacks. A sh of ck caught his attention, though, causing him to quickly turn to the side. A whip cut through the void where he had been standing, and he turned his attention towards the one that had been called ra. ¡°You did not think that such a simple trick would harm me, did you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It made you move.¡± ra said with a grin. ¡°Besides¡­ just because you dodged, do you think I didn¡¯t hit you?¡± Her words puzzled Kal¡¯thrall, who suddenly felt an intense pain in one of his arms. Looking down, he saw that his right arm had been severed below the elbow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Interesting¡­ you created the effect without executing the cause.¡± As he said that, his arm began to shift, reattaching itself. <i><span style="font-weight:400">New rule. I will return to my peak state within one second after recognizing damage to my body.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Kal¡¯thrall¡¯s power was truly remarkable, allowing him to manipte the void as if it were his own body, creating any form of rule he wanted. However¡­ it was not without limitations. He could only have five rules established at any time. Furthermore, any rule that directly affected another individual needed to have a clear connection to said individual. In the case of his first decapitation rule, it was ¡®Introducing oneself to the enemy allows you to remove their head.¡¯ Thankfully, he had removed that rule after its use, not wanting it used against him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For the damage reflection rule, the connection was more simple, being rted to proximity. <i><span style="font-weight:400">In that case, how did her strike hit me? Is it simply because her ¡®effect¡¯ allowed her to bypass my rule?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ten Thousand Threads, first form. Army of One!¡± The small individual¡¯s voice called out, and Kal¡¯thrall felt her presence shatter into a hundred identical copies. Each copy was wielding two des and charging at him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">These des gave Kal¡¯thrall a sense of crisis. Combined with the previous attack, he wasn¡¯t sure if he would be able to mitigate this attack with his original rule. <i><span style="font-weight:400">New rule. Starting from a radius of fifty meters, the closer any living beinges to my body, the slower they will move.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Simr to his first rule, this was one that could often protect his life.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Even with this, he braced himself. The various clones did not seem to immediately slow down, leading Kal¡¯thrall to believe that they were elerating their own time to counteract his rule. His body contorted in bizarre directions, bending where there shouldn¡¯t be joints, and dodged the vast majority of one of the des that sliced at him. One white de managed to scratch his chest as he flipped backwards, hesitating.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A sense of intense joy welled up inside him. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Even with this many clones of herself, she is forcing her attention to be split! It seemed like she bypassed my rule again, but she wasn¡¯t strong enough to inflict anysting damage.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Kal¡¯thrall watched the various enemies. The hundred clones all discarded their white des, seeming to give up on the increased difficulty of dual wielding to focus purely on a single sword. A smart move in his opinion, but he knew that it wouldn¡¯t be enough.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As he thought that, one of the massive dragons swept down towards him. A low chuckle echoed around Kal¡¯thrall as he charged towards the dragon, pleased to find that it slowed down unwillingly the closer that it got. <i><span style="font-weight:400">So, they can¡¯t all ignore my rules. Only the three girls.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He thought to himself in joy, allowing the dragon to slowly attempt to bite at him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The moment that it did, its own head was crushed. Kal¡¯thrall turned to face the girls again, his ws stretching outwards. ¡°You brought so many reinforcements. However¡­ it seems that they are all useless. Didn¡¯t anybody teach you that numbers aren¡¯t the only thing that matter in a fight?¡±


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">New rule. Living creatures within the battlefield will sustain damage equivalent to one thousand units of ki for every living creature within fifty meters that it recognizes as an ally.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> It was dangerous to use a fourth rule already, as that meant that he only had one free ¡®slot¡¯ left to apply another rule before he had to take one down. However, the effect was immediate.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The vast majority of the army shattered, unable to bear the weight of their alliance. Sienna and ra¡¯s eyes went wide, while the many Danas narrowed their eyes in concentration. ¡°Ten Thousand Threads, second form. Flickering moment!¡± The one hundred copies all vanished, Kal¡¯thrall rushing backwards in rm.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At the spot where he had previously stood, all one hundred clones appeared, swinging their swords in from unpredictable angles. And then, they vanished again, forcing Kal¡¯thrall to maintain his defensive. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I see¡­ because they are all one person, the rule isn¡¯t inflicting the appropriate damage.</i> <i><span style="font-weight:400">Or¡­ are they not considered living beings? That would exin a few things.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Kal¡¯thrall thought that the answer was most likely, the feeling of joy from before returning to him. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I have to do it. New rule! When any beingunches an attack, the core of their existence will be exposed. If this core is struck, they will experience aplete death!</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">This fifth rule was one that he typically reserved for only the most crucial situations. However, given how much pressure this single individual was giving him, he knew that it counted. As he was preparing to dodge again, he saw ra¡¯s whips strike out. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Aiming to utilize your effect with no cause again?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">If he had lips, they would be tugged into a smug grin. The moment her arms moved, a shining core became visible in her abdomen. He could already feel the pain spreading across his chest, her attack hitting him before itpleted, but he didn¡¯t mind.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a thought, he appeared in front of ra, his ws swiping at the glowing core. Her eyes went wide, her body going limp. The whips in her hands fell as she copsed, dissipating into an inky ck substance.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°ra!¡± Sienna shouted with wide eyes. She stretched her hand forward, dark energy erupting. ¡°Kama! ck Wind!¡± des of darkness formed, striking out towards Kal¡¯thrall. However, this time, he didn¡¯t bother to dodge. The earlier wound that he had taken was already in the process of healing, and his first rule kicked in, causing two of the surviving army nearby to be sliced in halves.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately, another glowing orb was revealed in Sienna¡¯s body, which Kal¡¯thrall took full advantage of attacking. Just as he sensed the army of Dana teleporting to his position, he teleported to Sienna, swiping at the orb. Just like ra, Sienna¡¯s body copsed, starting to dissolve into a ck substance.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When he turned around to face Dana, he found that her face was unnaturally calm. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Is she the type that appears calmer the angrier she bes?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He wondered to himself, his body shivering with the joy of battle. He knew that his victory was at hand. All he had to do now was kill the true Dana, and all of the other monsters would disappear.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, he didn¡¯t seem to need to be worried about that. Dana shook her head. ¡°Everyone, retreat.¡± She ordered, the monsters falling back into the darkness and disappearing on their own.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh? Are you going to run away now that I¡¯ve killed your copies?¡± Kal¡¯thrall teased, hoping to keep her in the fight longer. He could tell that Dana was an important asset for the local forces. She came alone, knowing his strength, and challenged him to a frontal confrontation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°My familiars.¡± Dana corrected. ¡°And no. I just don¡¯t want any distractions. Thousand arms¡­ first form, One Strike!¡± The clones all shouted, shing out with the ck des in their hands, each one creating an arc of energy that traveled through the air. Facing a hundred identical attacks, Kal¡¯thrall wasn¡¯t worried. He had dodged such strikes in close quarters before, so why should he worry now?


    <span style="font-weight:400">As his body twisted between the attacks, his senses focused on the various clones of Dana. Each of them had a glowing core within their body, indicating that each of them could be considered ¡®real¡¯ at the moment. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Did she perfectly divide her existence into each of the one hundred copies? Amendable ability, I must admit.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Kal¡¯thrall shed forward, appearing next to one of the clones and shing at the golden core on her body. She let out a gasp and shattered, Kal¡¯thrall himself immediately moving on to the next. He found that their bodies briefly stiffened with the first death, meaning that there must have been some sort of feedback between the clones.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This short moment was all that he needed, killing more than twenty clones before they managed to forcibly recover. Dana grit her teeth, causing the clones to disappear and merge into one again. ¡°Absurdity of Fate.¡± She muttered, reaching a hand out towards him. Kal¡¯thrall felt as if the void itself was closing around him.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Undo the first rule. New rule, prohibit void solidification within five centimeters of my body.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He dered, the hand seeming to melt as it grabbed him. His figure shed,unching forward and appearing in front of Dana. ¡°This is my win.¡± He said, shing once again at the golden core within her body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana¡¯s eyes trembled, falling to her knees as her skin turned ck. Kal¡¯thrall chuckled to himself, wiping his hands off as the joy of battle filled him once again. ¡°It¡¯s a pity.¡± He said, turning and walking away. ¡°Had youe properly prepared, you might have truly defeated me.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯re feeling happy a bit too early, aren¡¯t you?¡± Dana¡¯s voice spoke up from behind him, and a ck de pierced through his back. ¡°But¡­ that¡¯s why I cut you with the Joy sword first.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Intense ripples spread throughout Kal¡¯thrall¡¯s mind together with the pain, joy and sorrow alternating in equal measure. ¡°How¡­ I¡­ I extinguished your very being. I granted you true death!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The ckness in Dana¡¯s skin slowly started to recede as she stood, one arm extended to hold the sword stabbing into Kal¡¯thrall. ¡°The World¡¯s Shadow¡­ so it had this kind of hidden trick?¡± She chuckled to herself, having felt one of her shadow army extinguished the moment ra, Sienna, and herself died. In order to let them recover, each of the others had retreated into the shadow world when they ¡®died¡¯. And that is also why Dana ordered everyone¡¯s retreat, not wishing to let her ¡®spare lives¡¯ be extinguished.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing that Kal¡¯thrall had survived the Twins Swords Retribution, Dana knew that she had to weaken his mind. ¡°Thousand Arms, Ten Thousand Threads, true form. Voidwalk.¡± She said, her body seeming to shimmer as she stepped into, and through Kal¡¯thrall¡¯s body. The moment she did, his mental resistance crumbled, the Twin Swords Retribution directly shattering his essence.

 Chapter 1020: Emergency

    Chapter 1020: Emergency


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mora looked down at the spot where her clone had only just disappeared. She had only had a few minutes to mourn, a show of respect to a warrior worth remembering. Afterwards, she felt something was wrong in the world. The wind began blowing in the opposite direction, and she tried to lift her head to the sky. However, she found her head sinking further down instead.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">One crisis ends, and another immediately begins?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She asked herself in rm, trying to get an understanding on what she was able to do. Trying to take a step forward made her fall backwards. Trying to mobilize her ki instead caused her mana to leave her body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mora spent nearly fifteen minutes adjusting to what she could onlypare to the most sadistic version of ¡®inverted controls¡¯ anyone had ever heard of. The worst part was when she <i><span style="font-weight:400">did</i><span style="font-weight:400"> manage to get her body to move how she wanted it to, and opened her mouth to speak. ¡°This is normal.¡± She said, though that was certainly not what she meant to say.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Even what I say is reversed?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She tried to grumble, but only let out a brief chuckle instead. ¡°This is wonderful.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I crossed my arms behind my back, closing my eyes and counting the seconds after Dana left. I had told myself that if it took her longer than ten minutes to fight this enemy, I would have to send someone else as backup, regardless of Dana¡¯s wishes. This wasn¡¯t an invasion that we could afford to draw out. Every minute that itsted, countless lives were lost.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After roughly six minutes, a void gate opened, and everyone immediately took a defensive stance, preparing for a monster to emerge. Instead, Dana stumbled through, her health bar appearing over her head and almost entirely bottomed out. Tsubaki¡¯s eyes widened, rushing over to support Dana, while I looked at Leowynn.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°She¡¯s clean.¡± Leowynn responded, causing me to sigh faintly in relief before walking over myself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Are you alright, Dana?¡± I asked in a soft tone, to which Dana chuckled, her face pale. It was clear that she was drasticallycking in energy at the moment, barely holding her body together.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You should see the other guy. Don¡¯t worry, the ¡®void god¡¯ won¡¯t be a problem anymore. I think he was the only one like that, too. At least, nobody else like him came to get involved or stop me from leaving.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod at her exnation, my eyes flicking up to her health bar again. ¡°But¡­ are you alright?¡± I asked again, causing Dana to hesitate.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°To be honest¡­ I¡¯ve been better. Hey, did you know that the World¡¯s Shadow has a life protecting ability? If you die, it sacrifices one of your shadows, and gives you their energy¡­ this was a fun way to discover that. Though, wish it would have picked a better sacrifice¡­ I don¡¯t think that I¡¯ll be able to join the fight for the rest of this invasion.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head, having learned about that aspect of the energy thanks to Thelsa¡¯s advancement to the Perfect Self. ¡°ra and Sienna?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°They¡¯re users of the World Shadow like me. When they died, I put them in my shadow world to let them recover. They don¡¯t have anybat power right now, either.¡± Dana exined while shaking her head. ¡°Sorry, boss. You¡¯ll have to handle the rest of this without us.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Don¡¯t be sorry.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°You may have just given us the chance to win this. Tsubaki, can you take Dana to her room?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki hesitated for a moment, before nodding her head and picking up Dana, who promptlyined. ¡°Hey, I can still walk, you know?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki simply smiled down at Dana. ¡°Just rest. Leave the rest of this to us.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once they were gone, I turned to look at Leowynn. ¡°Now that he¡¯s dealt with, we need to immediately arrange for another team to go out.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn had a grave look on her face, clearly agreeing with me. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll lead the team myself this time.¡± She said, turning to leave before I had the chance to argue. With her gone, I simply let out a long sigh, looking at Lifre.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If the Last Gasp is still ready to mobilize, you can have it meet the team in the void. There shouldn¡¯t be any other super powerhouses in the enemy team, aside from some more troublesome void monsters.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Leave it to me, chief!¡± Lifre said, giving a quick salute and running off. I was just about to let out a long sigh when Aurivy, or rather, Aurivy¡¯s incarnation appeared. ¡°Aurivy¡­ I really hope that you¡¯re not here with more bad news¡­ We finally got a win.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy hesitated, before shaking her head. ¡°No, not like that. I wanted to let you know that I think the problem in Lorek has changed. Previously, I had been getting prayers requesting to evacuate, but I had to ignore them because of the quarantine.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I paused, turning to fully face Aurivy. ¡°The prayers¡­ haven¡¯t stopped, have they?¡± In a situation like this, receiving no prayers for salvation would essentially mean the death of the world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, that didn¡¯t seem to be the case. ¡°No, they¡¯ve not stopped.¡± Aurivy said, her face turningplicated. ¡°Rather¡­ they¡¯re now praying to be left alone.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Left alone?¡± My eyes went wide, unsure why anyone would pray to be left alone by a goddess that could get them out of a hopeless situation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Aurivy confirmed again. ¡°Again, I haven¡¯t been answering the prayers to prevent any connections that could be traced. However, right around the time that Dana went out to fight, every prayer I was receiving from Lorek was suddenly reversed.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I hesitated, giving a small nod. ¡°Either their apocalypse has evolved, or it was reced for some reason. Is it possible that the inhabitants of Lorek managed to defeat the void beast attacking their world on their own?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s certainly possible.¡± Aurivy spoke in a serious tone. ¡°Lorek has had twenty times as long as any other world to work on it. If anyone was going to be able toe up with a solution, it would be them or Spica. Unfortunately, there haven¡¯t been any changes in the prayers from Spica¡¯s side.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Got it, thanks.¡± I smiled to Aurivy, before focusing on sending a message to Leowynn. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Lorek¡¯s immediate crisis has been dealt with. You can lower its priority for the time being, and focus on Spica and Earth primarily, and then the others as stated before.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hopefully, that message would ease the pressure on the others slightly, though this was still an urgent situation. At this point, there would have been another round or two of murder games on Earth, so the poption would be starting to fall faster and faster.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Leowynn received the message, it did indeed bring her a small feeling of relief, though she was far more concerned with the worlds that she <i><span style="font-weight:400">did </i><span style="font-weight:400">still need to support. She arrived in front of her temple, where an army of Fallen Gods had gathered. Some of those from the first team still appeared shaken by the death of one of the oldest Fallen Gods in the world, and someone that Leowynn had personally trained.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Everyone.¡± Leowynn spoke up, attention snapping to her. The Fallen Gods tried their best to straighten their backs, showing the utmost respect for the daughter of the Keeper. ¡°Time is short, so I¡¯ll keep this brief. The enemy that defeated my disciple has been in. Now is the time for us to strike, before they are able to strengthen their forces, and before they are able to kill even more of our people.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">No sooner did Leowynn say this before she tore open a portal into the void. ¡°This time, I will personally lead the charge.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying so, she immediately stepped through the portal, the other Fallen Gods rushing to follow behind her. This was a mission led by the Greater Pantheon themselves. Although they had their reservations due to the crushing defeat that they had previously suffered, there was no time to think about that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When they stepped through the gate, Leowynn¡¯s pupils shrank into pinpricks, seeing what she considered to be the worst case scenario. Dana¡¯s earlier report that there was only one void beast per world was now wrong. Without their general guiding them, they were on a blind rampage. There were more than six void beasts attacking Deckan alone, and its defensive barrier was showing signs of cracking.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Change of ns!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She announced, projecting the message to the Keeper as well as every Fallen God in her church. <i><span style="font-weight:400">All forces, prepare for the final battle! I repeat, this is an urgent message! All troops to war!</i>


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki and I looked at one another in rm when we received Leowynn¡¯s message. The two of us had been saving ourselves for the final battle, expecting it to be after the first wave of void beasts had been destroyed, and the others angered into action. We had hoped to whittle away at their numbers first, making the battle more favorable to us.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± I said in a firm tone, Tsubaki nodding her head. If Leowynn was calling for the final battle to begin immediately, the situation had to have changed for the worse. Tsubaki tore open a barrier to the void, and the two of us stepped through.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The moment that we did, I realized why the situation had gotten to the point that it had. Aside from the beasts that were pacified by the pasture within the void, every monster was now targeting a world. Worse yet, even beasts that did note from the invasion were drawn by the chaos, participating in the assaults on the barriers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was regrettable that Dana wasn¡¯t here, so I couldn¡¯t summon the shadow hound. However, my eyes shed as the other ten Beasts of the End appeared. ¡°All of you, enter battle!¡± I called out, pointing at Deckan¡¯s world barrier. Originally, I had considered Deckan to only be medium priority, because the damage to that world hadrgely already been done. However, if the void barrier breaks, the power of that apocalypse would increase several fold. It would not be a surprise if the entire universe was instantly destroyed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The ten Beasts of the End charged forward, the Bodhisattva pping its hands together. ¡°Void Shattering!¡± It announced, ripples radiating through the void and pushing back the void beasts attacking Deckan, forcing them to sustain minor injuries in the process.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Tsubaki, you and I will take care of Earth. Let Leowynn¡¯s troops deal with Spica.¡± I said, though a rift opened up next to us a momentter. Just as I was preparing to strike, I heard a sereneugh spreading through the void.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hahah! The battle¡¯s started without us?! That¡¯s not very hospitable of you lot! All hands to cannons. Hoist the colors, and wake the dragon!¡± A massive ship made of golden wood emerged from the rift, a humanoid woman standing atop it and holding a ck rapier. ¡°No soul shall retreat from this fight, men! This is the day that we were made for! Open the sail, and chart a course to battle!¡±


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Looks like the Last Gasp had their transition prepared since earlier, and were just waiting for Lifre¡¯s signal to execute it.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I thought in relief, d to have another group fighting alongside us. In the current situation, we had no information on the vast majority of the enemies, so we had to hope for the best, and try our hardest to avoid the worst.

 Chapter 1021: Void Chaos

    Chapter 1021: Void Chaos


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod clenched his fists as he looked at the city of Ashtanu, forcing himself not to speak. Every whimper or gasp in the city had turned into casualties, and nearly half the city had been destroyed at this point, even with Udona¡¯s warning. He could only imagine how it was on the rest of the, not daring to spread his senses out.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He looked over at Udona, preparing tofort her, only for her face to suddenly turn pale. <i><span style="font-weight:400">What¡¯s the matter? Did it break through one of the barriers?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona shook her head slowly, looking up. Aznod followed her gaze, but did not immediately see anything. It was still the middle of the day, so the sun was high in the sky. It wasn¡¯t until Udona¡¯s voice entered his mind that he understood the problem. <i><span style="font-weight:400">There is now an additional apocalypse of darkness¡­ We are losing the light from the furthest stars first. In under an hour, it will remove all light.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Also¡­ machinery is changing into humanoid appearances. Thankfully, they are destroying themselves by ¡®talking¡¯ when they are created. I feel the presence of other void beasts outside the barrier, but I can¡¯t tell what they¡¯re doing.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod¡¯s eyes went wide in rm, barely suppressing the gasp that tried to rise from his throat. <i><span style="font-weight:400">They are no longer operating the same as before?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He asked, to which Udona shook her head.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I don¡¯t know what changed, but they are attacking far more rampantly now.</i>


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Immediately, the battle within the void had be intense. Tsubaki and I focused on the four monsters attacking Earth. My summons were engaging the beasts around Deckan. The Last Gasp was busy defending both Lorek and Spica, while Leowynn¡¯s army tried to clear up the other worlds with their numbers. It was no longer a question of ¡®would¡¯ we win, but how long it would take, and how many casualties we would face in the process.


    <span style="font-weight:400">On the side of Tsubaki and myself, the four void beasts were ferocious,unching their attacks while keeping only a strand of their power on the world. There was a clown-like figure that cackled as heunched powerful sts in the void. Going by his strength, I assumed that this was the one that had already been ¡®feeding¡¯ on Earth for a while now.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aside from that, the other three were vaguely humanoid figures, though they seemed far more feral than the one that Dana had defeated. I had neither the time nor inclination to discover what rules they operated on.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I split a portion of my focus on observing Tsubaki and each of the void beasts, as Leowynn had taught me. While dodging to the side of a dark burst of energy, I materialized the guns that I had practiced creating, and took aim at the clown. With a flick of my thumb, both of the pistols were set to their ¡®fire¡¯ element.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As soon as I pulled the trigger, the clown seemed to sense something wrong. It ducked out of the path of my bullets, letting two red lines whiz past its body. It cackled again, as if to taunt me, charging up another st in its hands.


    <span style="font-weight:400">One thing that I had learned by training with Leowynn in the void was that dodging ranged attacks was incredibly easy, so long as you had proper control over your own time. In fact, I was rarely ever able tond a hit on Leowynn in our battles because of this. After an attack left the control of its user, it would no longer be able to elerate to catch its target.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, I elerated myself just long enough to move out of the way of his attack, while continuing to fire my pistols. However, just as I did, the clown kept moving aside to avoid them, even when I increased the speed of my bullets. Every time it did, it cackled, as if enjoying the show. Judging by its sharp ws, it should have been able to engage in meleebat, but preferred to taunt its opponent.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After firing nearly a hundred shots, I lowered my pistols, causing the clown to look at me in what must have been confusion. It shot another, smaller st, as if trying to taunt me into continuing the fight, but a red line pierced the st as it was flying towards me, causing the void beast to look rmed.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Bullet Hell. </i><span style="font-weight:400">This was a technique that I hade up with while practicing with Leowynn. It was only possible to use due to the martial intent that I possessed, focusing on homing bullets. The weakness of ranged attacks in the void was that they could no longer elerate or change direction after leaving the user¡¯s control. However, my bullets never left my control from the start.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After each shot, I slowed the bullets to a stop in the distance, setting up an array that I was prepared to activate at a moment¡¯s notice. Now, I had created a hell of a hundred fire bullets, and it was ready to activate.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The clown seemed to sense the danger, no longer interested in taunting me, and charged forward with elongated ws. However, my expression was cold, more than a dozen red lines curving through the void. He dodged repeatedly, but more and more bullets came, with the ones that missed their targets turning around.


    <span style="font-weight:400">By the time that he had crossed half of the distance, the first bullet pierced his leg, causing him to stagger. In that moment, more than fifty red lines pierced through his body at the same time. Seeing him begin to dissolve, I turned to look at Tsubaki¡¯s battlefield, where she was busy fighting against the three weaker beasts.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unlike myself, Tsubaki did not specialize in ranged attacks. While she was able to use them, her specialty was in melee, where she had a significant advantage in the void. To me, it was no surprise that she had already dealt with two of the monsters, and was quickly working on the third.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Awaken the dragon!¡± The pirate queen called out, one hand pping against the railing of the ship. There was a rumble, the figurehead at the front squirming as it rose from the ship. It was an elongated dragon, its body the same gold as the rest of the ship. The dragon released a howl that resonated through the void, causing the beasts around Lorek and Spica to stiffen.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Lena! It¡¯s your turn! The ship is yours!¡± She announced, a small halfling walking forward with a determined expression.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yes, captain!¡± She shouted firmly, sping her hands together. ¡°May our path to victory never waver¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she muttered these words, her body seemed to melt, spiritual energy surging from her to surround the ship. When it solidified, it took the form of an illusorypass, pointing towards the monsters in the distance.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Soraya, my gun!¡± The captain shouted with a mad grin, a heroc woman charging over. Her body distorted, turning into a ck pistol in the captain¡¯s hands. ¡°All crew, show them our me!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The captain aimed her pistol forward, pulling the trigger. However, no bullet appeared with the sound of the gunshot. Instead, a hole suddenly opened in the forehead of arge, feline beast. Likewise, half the crew had assumed theirbat forms, held in the hands of the other half. Whether it was sword or gun, attacks wereunched almostically into the air as if they were just waving their arms. With every attack, a wound appeared on whichever beast the giantpass pointed towards.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was the ability that Lena had created to assist the crew, one that had made her highly valued by the pirate queen. Using herpass form, she would interfere with space, causing two effects to ur. The first, any attacksunched from within thepass would be directed at the enemy she pointed towards. The second¡­


    <span style="font-weight:400">One of the beasts opened its mouth wide, a green stream of light shooting out. Along the way, it condensed into innumerable vines, reaching out in an attempt to ensnare the Last Gasp. However, the vines seemed to twist around thepass, unable to touch it. This was the second effect, to iste the space around the ship.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Through these two effects, Lena could both protect the ship and aid in its offense. Unless the opponent also had the ability to interfere with space, she was confident that they would not be broken through.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn¡¯s expression was heavy as she led the charge towards the remaining worlds. Her army had thergest task of all, needing to deal with roughly half of the enemy forces by themselves. Yet, this was to be expected, as their army was farrger than the others. They might not be specialists like Tsubaki, the Last Gasp, or the Keeper¡¯s summons. However, even as rank and file soldiers, their numbers were in the hundreds.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This isn¡¯t the time to discuss priority, anymore!¡± Leowynn shouted, waving her hand towards the distant worlds. ¡°Everyone, divide and conquer. Use your powers to the best of your abilities. You outnumber the opponents twenty to one, so use this to your advantage!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her heart sank whenever she thought about all of the people that had refused evacuation, knowing that most of them had probably died at this point. She had to force those thoughts out of her mind, though, knowing that they shouldn¡¯t be so stubborn the next time such an order was given.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As the army charged, Leowynn¡¯s eyes caught sight of a red figure trailing behind, furrowing her brow. ¡°Scarlet, you¡¯re not a Fallen. Why are you here?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet turned to look at Leowynn, a small smile on her lips. ¡°Sister¡­ isn¡¯t it obvious?¡± She asked, her red dress flowing beneath her. Leowynn felt as if it had begun to mix with the fabric of the void. ¡°These beasts are endangering dad¡¯s worlds. They¡¯ve killed so many of his people. They even killed your disciple. I¡¯m¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet¡¯s body seemed to shift, turning blood red as she grew. ¡°I¡¯m rather angry right now. You won¡¯t begrudge me wanting to join this battle myself, will you?¡± She asked, her voice turning into a deep rumble as her body turned more ferocious, a demonic figure with a gaping maw and razor sharp ws.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn bit back her retort, shaking her head. ¡°Go.¡± She said simply, and Scarlet vanished from view.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her snarling voice appeared behind one of the void beasts,tching onto its neck and dragging it away from Kione. ¡°These beasts possess neither ki nor blood¡­ but all things can be dyed red.¡± She asserted, her grip tightening as the monster iled in her grasp, its body slowly changing color.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn had to specifically send a message to the rest of the army, warning them not to attack Scarlet by mistake. In her current form, it would be easy to mistake her for a monster. Furthermore¡­ Leowynn suddenly felt as if the burden that their forces had to face had lessened with such a monster on their side.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With that thought in mind, Leowynn called upon her own divine artifact, a pitch ck sword, and flung herself into the melee.

 Chapter 1022: Damage Assessment

    Chapter 1022: Damage Assessment


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana was left to rest alone in Olympus, Tsubaki having to run out as soon as she delivered Dana to her room. As sheid there, she took a mental count of her casualties. <i><span style="font-weight:400">The shadow dragon¡¯s gone, as are most of the army¡­ thankfully, I had the others leave, or that faceless guy would have been more defensive. If he saw one of them dying when I should have, it would have been over.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana allowed her mind to sink into her shadow world, checking up on ra and Sienna. The two were resting in their own rooms, both barely able to move. For once, Dana was thankful that her familiars were both clone types, as it meant that they would be protected by the same energy that protected her.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Still, the fact that I only got that little energy when I was revived¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Dana knew that she couldn¡¯t rely on the World Shadow to keep reviving her inbat. As long as the opponent kept their guard up, they would be able to continue killing Dana until she had no more shadows left to sacrifice. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Especially someone like that¡­ if he knew about that, he could have made a rule to kill everything linked to my soul at once.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was the very kind of thing that Dana was afraid would happen if she took one of the Keeper¡¯s summons with her. Had she not struck him with the sword of joy first, the thought might have urred to him.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">In other words, I got lucky.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Dana grit her teeth as she thought about that. There were simply too many variables in the previous fight, and it was the hardest one she had ever fought. Worse than any of her days in the Underworld, or any fight she had had since. If things had yed out only slightly differently, she would have perishedpletely.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Getting a bit ahead of yourself with that self-critique, aren¡¯t you?¡± A familiar voice spoke up. When Dana opened her eyes, she saw the red-skinned Ashley sitting at her desk nearby, watching her with her arms crossed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh? Oh, sorry. Can you let me know when your main self is able to return?¡± Dana asked, having not sensed Ashley enter. ¡°I want to make sure I¡¯m kept up to date.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley simply smiled. ¡°This is my main self.¡± She said, causing Dana¡¯s eyes to widen.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Then it¡¯s?¡± She asked, to which the demoness nodded.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s over. However pyrrhic the victory, the enemy was defeated. We were watching the whole thing from above. That fight was incredibly reckless of you, and I was worried you¡¯d be joining us for good. But you won. And your victory gave everyone else the chance to fight.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Dana heard Ashley¡¯s words, she hesitated for a moment, before nodding her head. ¡°Yeah¡­ that guy was a pain. So¡­ the others¡­?¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once thest of the apocalyptic beasts fell, I looked over to Tsubaki. ¡°Go make sure Spica and Kione are safe. I want to assess the damages of the other worlds.¡± I told her, receiving a firm nod before she flew off. My first destination was none other than Deckan, the ce that was undoubtedly hit the hardest out of any world. I didn¡¯t even take the time to look at the rewards for the invasion, dying the message to look atter.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I arrived, I saw Udona descending, looking teary-eyed at the ruined city of Ashtanu. My eyes widened at the scale of the destruction, clouds of smoke rising throughout the destroyed city. My earlier estimates of the damages fell far short, as less than a fifth of the city¡¯s inhabitants had managed to survive to the end.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Spreading my World Sight out to scan the, I felt my mind trembling. Other cities had it even worse, with a roughly ten percent survival rate. As for outside of the cities¡­ there was no more greenery on Deckan. Everyst animal nt and animal had been killed, whether it was in a forest, the desert, or even the ocean. Outside of the cities, there was nothing but endless craters and barren wastes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but look over at Udona. ¡°Are you¡­ going to be able to recover from this?¡± I asked, and she seemed hesitant to answer.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I can¡¯t bring back all of the lives that were lost, no.¡± She answered in a sad tone. ¡°The best that I can do is work together with Tryval to allow the world to regain its greenery. As for others¡­ if I try to focus on all of them like that, there will be no end to the power consumption. Rebuilding¡­ we¡¯ll need help from the other worlds. Anything more advanced than a toaster was destroyed in thest wave.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was the bitter truth that Deckan was now faced with. Aside from those that had evacuated ahead of time, there was only a small percentage of the poption left. I wish that I could say that we wouldn¡¯t be able to survive another attack like this, but the truth is¡­ that would be a lie.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although it is horrible to think about, our strength as a world wasrgely not impacted by this invasion. Instead, what was impacted was our foundation, which we would need to take time to recover. It would be difficult for us to recover, but not impossible.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I offered a small nod, ncing over to look at the city. ¡°If there¡¯s anything that I can do to help, just let me know.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona thought about it for a moment. ¡°Sadly, not even the Digital Conversion system can help here. We¡¯d need to have an unlimited energy reserve of all three remaining energies to be able to repopte a. And even if you bought the modifiers to let Ashley¡¯s team develop those¡­ it would take years to implement. By that time, monsters would have already respawned naturally.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Right¡­ it only takes a year for an uninhabited zone to be designated as imed for monsters to begin spawning. ¡°How long will the respawning take, given that this is already our world?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona furrowed her brow in thought. ¡°I would say¡­ a week before the spawns are sustainable. I need to act fast with Tryval, or else the monsters that spawn here might be influenced by the wastnd and be a disaster of their own. Aznod, I¡¯ll be needing you to help me with this, as well.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course.¡± Aznod smiled at her, the two leaving to get to work. Almost at the same time, Tsubaki returned to report.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ve done a rough check of the various worlds, my Keeper.¡± She reported with a deep bow. ¡°From what I can tell, Lorek has suffered no serious damage to the. There are numerous violent monsters that remain on Spica, but they are within the capabilities for the locals to handle them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Fortunately, those affected in Kione have returned to normal after the defeat of the void monsters. If there is any world that suffered disastrous consequences, aside from Deckan, it would be Sher Dien. The cosmic storm that swept through Sher Dien has caused severe harm to its atmosphere, and scorched arge majority of the.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head, closing my eyes to think. ¡°Was there any damage done to the world that James is using for his mana refinery?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki hesitated, her head dipping down. ¡°There was no hypenework established within that realm. The apocalypse that swept through it¡­ seemed to have destroyed any and all man-made structures.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°They¡¯ll need to rebuild that¡­¡± I muttered bitterly to myself. ¡°We lost our energy source, and both Sher Dien and Deckan are almost uninhabitable. Is there any other majorly bad news that I need to hear right now?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki once again hesitated. ¡°I found the world that the ninjas had inhabited in the void. They had been using some tricks to keep it concealed, but the ¡®void god¡¯ apparently broke through them. That realm¡­ I dare not guess what apocalypse struck it. However, the world shell is filled with cracks, and it is dissolving at a visible speed. I estimate that there will be no survivors, other than those who evacuated to Fyor.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I brought a hand up, pinching at the bridge of my nose. Losing the ninjas wasn¡¯t entirely critical. They had been a big help here and there, but they had just as often gotten in the way when it came to James¡¯s research. ¡°Are you alright?¡± I asked, knowing that Tsubaki herself came from the ninja ns.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, Tsubaki only offered a firm nod. ¡°I have long since cut my ties with them. For more than a thousand years, we have walked a different path. I only regret that you have lost their service.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head slowly, and let out a long sigh. This was the most tempted I had ever been to reset. However, I stopped myself. If I reset, the previous victory would be pointless. I would lose everyone tied to these worlds, and have to start over from scratch. We still hadn¡¯t gotten far enough in Fyor yet to find James¡¯s floor, and I did <i><span style="font-weight:400">not</i><span style="font-weight:400"> want to have to deal with climbing the ranks all over again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In that case, what would help us to recover the most? Turning back the time of a world to before it was destroyed? No, I saw already that time travel like that would simply delete the from this timeline. Udona said that most of the machinery had been destroyed. Advancing the ranks to unlock more powers? No, that wouldn¡¯t do me any good, and would just open me up to more troublester while I was recovering.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In the end, there was one thing that I thought of, but it made me sigh in frustration. Up until now, I had been avoiding the creation of a Fallen Godpanion because I felt that Leowynn filled the role rather well with her Void domain. But now, it was getting to the point where I could not just rely on Leowynn anymore. In doing so, I had forced her to use her energy more than any other deity.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Tsubaki¡­ I need to go meet with Leowynn in the Admin Room. Please ensure that my host returns to Olympus.¡± I said softly, before focusing on ascending.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I ascended, I found some of the others sitting on the couch in the living room. Among them was Leowynn, her eyes red and cheeks puffy. Losing her original disciple must have been a big blow to her, not to mention the damage to the rest of the worlds. ¡°Leowynn, can I have a word in private?¡± I asked. Leowynn blinked, nodding her head and wiping her eyes as she followed me to her room.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What¡­ what is it, dad?¡± She asked, closing the door once we were both inside.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Lyra, can you tell me about her?¡± I started, sitting down at the corner of Leowynn¡¯s bed. Leowynn¡¯s eyes widened slightly, but she moved to sit next to me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°She was¡­ pure. Diligent. She always did her best for everything. She was one of the first ones that I trained to be a Fallen Goddess. Over the years, she started to be morefortable with me, willing to speak her mind. She even objected to some of my decisions to insert her own thoughts when she thought that had made the wrong choice.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Her and Strea were like sisters, both raised together. It¡¯ll¡­ it¡¯ll be harder on her now that Lyra¡¯s gone.¡± Leowynn looked down at her hands when she spoke, and I could tell that it was hard on her, as well. There weren¡¯t many mortals that left that much impact on one of thepanions when they died. Thest time I saw it this severe was when Udona lost Brie.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°With your permission¡­ I want to create her as a Fallen Goddess Companion.¡± I spoke honestly, Leowynn¡¯s eyes snapping up to meet mine. ¡°I¡¯ve had the ability ever since we hit the fourth rank, but I haven¡¯t seen a reason to use it. I always thought that it would be enough with your power over the void, but I was wrong. I can see how much I¡¯ve made you work over the years to keep everything working. No other god or goddess has had to exert half as much of their divinity as you have, unless it was for a private project like Sanctum.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I thought about creating another race or world to have the Fallen Companion rule over, but¡­ honestly, I think we¡¯re getting oversaturated with new worlds as it is. I would rather choose from someone that already exists, and let them ascend like you did, like Scarlet did. Then, I thought about Lyra¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s no exaggeration to say that she gave her life for us in this fight. She was willing to lead the charge against an unknown foe, and paid the ultimate sacrifice.Without her getting us the information that we needed, Dana wouldn¡¯t have been able to go and fight. None of us would have been able to do what we did. With all of that in mind¡­ if you approve, I will have Terra make the profile so that I can create her in the Admin Room.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn¡¯s eyes widened at that. On the one hand, she would be getting her friend back after losing her. However, she knew that the Lyra that they got back would never be able to go back to being the old Lyra, not after being introduced to the greater workings of the world. Still¡­. She nodded her head. ¡°I would¡­ I would very much like that, dad.¡±

 Chapter 1023: New Moon

    Chapter 1023: New Moon


    <span style="font-weight:400">After leaving Leowynn¡¯s room, I found Terra standing outside, a knowing smile on her face. She brought her hands from behind her back, presenting me with a thick book with a ck cover. ¡°I heard the whole thing, naturally. I thought you¡¯d be needing this.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head, a thankful smile on my face as I led Terra towards the living room. ¡°Right¡­ did Tsubaki miss anything in her report, by the way? I know you¡¯ll have a clearer picture of what happened.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra put on a thoughtful expression. ¡°She covered the important points. However, there is one thing that she failed to notice.¡± When Terra saw me looking over at her in caution, she shook her head. ¡°We¡¯ll need to reboot the servers for World Seed, Fragments of Acidia, and Vision Expanse. The apocalypse that struck Desbar manifested as a total shutdown of anything that required any form of energy to function. However, its true nature was a copse of any advancement. All data was wiped from servers hosted in Desbar, including the major games released by Darkme Technologies.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My brow twitched when I heard that. ¡°And that was when it was nerfed by theyers of defense? Dare I ask what it would have been like otherwise?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Stagnation.¡± Terra answered simply. ¡°No form of movement would be allowed in the universe. The longer itsted, the stronger the beast would have be, until it had the power to devour the entire realm.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I sucked in a breath, before nodding my head. ¡°Does that mean that the Virtual worlds are all gone?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Only the ones hosted in Desbar. Your own Virtual self was there, but many were hosted in the Spica servers or the other backups.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right¡­¡± I let out a faint sigh. ¡°We¡¯ll need to set up a universal backup in Fyor going forward. Obviously, those worlds aren¡¯t very protected in Desbar.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying that, I turned to face her again. ¡°So, there¡¯s nothing that we can salvage from those two worlds?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra hesitated for a moment, before shaking her head. ¡°Vivi, Chiho, and Fifi are still alive, because they retreated to Fyor¡¯s servers when the evacuation order went out. Additionally, we still have the files for the games themselves, due to having bought them through the market.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a long sigh of resignation. ¡°For those people that scanned theirst seed with Digital Conversion, will they still be able to take it out to rent their old trees?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra smiled slightly at that. ¡°That¡¯s right. Digital Conversion is a multi-world system. In other words, it is integrated into the void itself, in a way. Unless we choose to remove it, that system won¡¯t be damaged. However¡­ with everyone needing to start fresh characters, they won¡¯t have the ki or mana to create a seed like that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Got it¡­ ask Chiho if there¡¯s anything she can do as a one-time event with her authorization. Otherwise, it¡¯s fine to restart from the beginning.¡± It was disappointing for the survivors of this incident to lose their entire life¡¯s work in the games, but that was just another truth that came with this incident. ¡°And¡­ keep an eye out for public outrage. I¡¯m sure that there will be plenty of people trying to pin the me on us for not giving them a proper warning before this.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra groaned, but nodded in agreement. ¡°We warned them to the best of our abilities, working up to it over decades to try to get them to understand. Still, they¡¯re suffering, so they will look for anyone that they can me to vent. Do you want me to do anything about it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No¡­ just make sure that they don¡¯t get violent with those that evacuated. People shouldn¡¯t be med for taking our advice. There¡¯s going to be chaos for a while, especially in Deckan, but we can work through it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After I said that, we started walking again, soon making our way into the living room. Leowynn seemed to have teleported ahead of us, changing into her ck, star-patterned dress that Ryone made her long ago. She was clearly trying to look professional, clenching her fists in front of her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I smiled towards the silver-haired elf, before closing my eyes. ¡°Did Leowynn tell you all what we¡¯re about to do?¡± I asked, turning to address everyone. They nodded their heads firmly. ¡°There is only one thing that I¡¯d like to ask you all. I¡¯ve been thinking it through. We have the points. If we want to, we could create a rule so that exceptional deities and fallen deities will be preserved after their death in the same way.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If we do this, I n to create more buildings like Ashley¡¯s offices. Everyone we bring up like this will get their own home. I don¡¯t want people to believe that they will be entitled to eternity simply because they sacrificed. Rather, their sacrifice must have significant meaning. Lyra died because she led the charge against an unknown foe of unimaginable power.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If we didn¡¯t have Fyor, I would have been forced to flee to the void as soon as the invasion began, trying to end the fight immediately. If I did so, and encountered that void god, I would have died. I have absolutely no doubts about this. If anyone other than Dana had stepped forward, they would have likely died. Without Lyra¡¯s sacrifice, everything could have been lost. That¡¯s why I am offering this choice. Those who make simr sacrifices in the line of duty, their sacrifices overturning a grim fate for one or more world, can be brought to the Admin Room.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I won¡¯t be giving them the same authority as all of you. They won¡¯t be running their own worlds, or anything like that. Instead, they will be residents of the Admin Room with the right to use the Heavenly Incarnation system.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra and the others all looked at me in surprise, this suggestion no doubt seeming toe out of nowhere. However¡­ it was true. We earned nearly two hundred thousand points by fighting back against this invasion. Coupled with what we already had, this was not only possible, but could be considered an investment. Anyone we brought up would be able to retain their domains, and could then be reborn in the world when their mortal selves died again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Since we would only consider those who performed important sacrifices, we were far less likely to get anyone with a wicked heart. And, if we did, there was always the option of simply rejection them from the start.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I like it.¡± Aurivy said with a grin. ¡°We¡¯ll finally start getting some more faces around here.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">alia had a somewhat weak smile, seeming to still be thinking about the earlier invasion. ¡°However¡­ who is going to be in charge of choosing whose sacrifice was worth honoring?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I looked at alia, who seemed to flinch back. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s not you. I¡¯ve already put enough on your te choosing the domains of those that ascend through the three-step method. Instead¡­ I know the perfect person for this job. In my opinion, it¡¯s the only real choice, as only they could judge whose sacrifice brought meaningful change while preserving the individual¡¯s identity.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After I said that, I turned towards the individual in mind. ¡°Terra¡­ would you be willing to do this task for me? You are not interfering in the functions of the world directly, and your changes would be limited solely to the Admin Room. With this in mind, I do not believe that the system would stop you from doing so.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra¡¯s eyes went wide when she realized that I was talking about her, her ears standing up straight in rm. Because of her restrictions as a System Companion, her interactions with the world had been highly limited from the very beginning. The more we learned how to take care of things ourselves, the less she found herself needing, or even able to do. Most of her time was spent simply lounging while watching the world like the biggest soap opera imaginable.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡­ want me to handle it?¡± She asked, to which I nodded my head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is there any reason for the system to prevent it?¡± I responded, and she seemed to seriously consider the question. ¡°I would allocate you a budget, exclusively for this purpose. When you identify someone you deem worthymitting such a sacrifice, you will use your ability to reproduce their personality as a Companion, and assign them a ce to live in the Admin Room. If they are a god or a fallen, you will provide them with their domains they had in life.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t think so.¡± Terra shook her head, a wide smile forming on her face. ¡°If you¡¯re sure that this is something that you want me to do, I¡¯d be more than happy to.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head, handing Lyra¡¯s profile book back to Terra. ¡°In that case¡­¡± I smiled, stepping aside and mentally assigning her a budget of twenty thousand points while defining the restrictions of using those points within the system. That should be more than enough tost her for quite a while.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra held the book, seeming more nervous than I had seen her in quite a while. After she calmed herself, she focused, the book shattering. As it did, an elven figure took shape in front of her, her silver hair a close match for Leowynn¡¯s. She wore tight leather armor, and had her eyes closed, as if embracing the death that she had previously suffered.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was a full thirty seconds before her eyes slowly opened, looking around. At this point, Leowynn¡¯s shoulders were trembling, and she quickly walked over to wrap her arms around Lyra¡¯s shoulders. ¡°Wee back.¡± She said in a soft tone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Eh?¡± Lyra bllinked. ¡°What happened? Didn¡¯t I die to¡­¡± Her eyes widened, quickly closing her mouth.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± I spoke up, hands behind my back and a smile on my face. ¡°He¡¯s already dead. The battle was won, thanks to your sacrifice.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra nodded her head, clearing her throat and speaking in a more official tone. ¡°Thanks to that very sacrifice, we have taken it upon ourselves to offer you a ce in this eternity. This is the realm where the Greater Pantheon resides, and you are the third mortal to ever reach it. As with others here, you shall have the ability to be reborn in the mortal realm, living a new life and regaining your old powers.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If you reject this, I¡¯m going to be very disappointed.¡± Leowynn said quietly, causing my lips to tug up.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh?¡± Lyra blinked rapidly again. ¡°I¡­ uh¡­ well, I ept? I don¡¯t know what else to say here. What do I say here?!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing her fall into a state of near panic, Leowynn, Aurivy, and the others let out a lightugh, Leowynn wiping her face. ¡°You say that you ept.¡± She said simply. ¡°Now¡­ let¡¯s get you a house. There¡¯s not much to see here yet, but that should be changing over time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lyra nodded slowly, still having clear trouble processing what had happened. Leowynn grabbed her by the hand, turning to lead her out the door. Once they were gone, I turned to look at the others. ¡°Obviously, Lyra will be helping Leowynn with the void as we discussed before. If any of you take an interest in the future residents that Terra brings us, you may recruit them into your individual teams for whatever purpose you feel that they are suitable for.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Several of the gods around the room perked up at that, causing me to chuckle. ¡°If they¡¯re going to be here, and you need people anyways, there is no reason not to ask them for help. Isn¡¯t that right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I won¡¯t say no to extra hands if we get more people with travel-rted domains in the future.¡± Aurivy grinned, nodding her head excitedly.

 Chapter 1024: Slow Recovery

    Chapter 1024: Slow Recovery


    <span style="font-weight:400">The recovery efforts were¡­ by no means simple. The easiest part was, by far, ending the quarantine of Fyor, and allowing everyone that had been evacuated to return to their homes. Those that had homes to return to, at least. In most worlds, the property damage was actually fairly minimal, with the apocalypse beasts targeting the people rather than thes themselves.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In truth, only Deckan and Sher Dien suffered a true cataclysm. Both of them needed the work of multiple gods to put theirs in a state where the citizens would be able to gradually recover. They needed to redevelop their foliage to a state where monsters would be able to spawn in.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In doing so, Tryval and Udona worked together to create ¡®zones¡¯ within their respective worlds. They separated the nt life that they were creating by its level range, encouraging the natural spawns to remain within this range. Although it was not guaranteed to work, the results werergely positive. With a few exceptions that had to be quickly managed, the monsters being spawned were within the levels of the zones that they appeared in.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Construction crews from the Metong swept through, providing temporary shelters to those that needed it while working to repair their damaged homes. With the vast majority of Deckan¡¯s technology destroyed, many people were left without basic needs for weeks.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It took nearly two full months for some small semnce of normalcy to return to these months. By this point, most worlds had managed to recover most of their physical damages, with the loss of life being the most concerning issue.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was simply no better way to say it, other than that this incident had once again reminded the world the horrors of the void. For too long they had grown numb to the beasts that lurked beyond the world. Ever since the first defensive measures were put in ce, void monsters were bing less and less of a threat. Some even considered them jokes, able to only randomize numbers or change a person¡¯s perception of food.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now¡­ the world had seen the full extent of what a void monster could do, and it horrified them. Even with all of their defenses in ce, they had suffered to such a degree that their daily lives had been ruined. ording to reports taken from deep scans, there were entires that had simply disappeared from Deckan¡¯s space, theorists specting that it was the result of the stars starting to go out. These theories could no longer be proven, and nobody dared to try.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Granted, there was criticism cast towards the Greater Pantheon, saying that they had downyed the threat that the people would face. The people were stressed, and needed an outlet for their frustrations. Towards this, the Greater Pantheon silently allowed their criticism, knowing that confrontation would only spark more infighting.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Amidst the post-invasion chaos, however, was a new revtion. The Fallen Goddess, Lyra, had ascended to join the Keeper in his paradise. While it was said that she was not a member of the Greater Pantheon, the fact that she had survived her ¡®death¡¯ had been confirmed, with several churches reporting that others may receive simr treatment only if they perform simrly meritorious deeds. It was the grace of Terra to allow one to ascend in such a way, but she would show no favoritism to any party. Only those who were truly worthy would find their ce.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea let out a sigh as she shut off the news, massaging her forehead. As one might expect, the destruction of the world¡¯s technology had caused the Ashtanu Research Foundation to quite literally copse. Because of this, they had taken the step that they had previously only considered in passing, and created a unique world for themselves to do their research.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It had taken two full months to develop a research facility in this new world, but they already had a mountain of work on their tes, waiting to bepleted. ¡°Okay¡­ I¡¯ll be busy with helping out Ashley with the new code for a while. James, you good to rebuild the mana nt?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James nodded his head, tapping his forehead. ¡°Got all of the ns memorized up here. I¡¯ll get it up and running again in no time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">She nodded, turning to look at Treisha. ¡°In that case, I¡¯ll leave public rtions to you. The research institute left Deckan, but we¡¯re still in business. We need to make sure that everyone knows that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Treisha gave an emphatic nod, before hesitating. ¡°What are we going to call ourselves now? Our old name doesn¡¯t really work¡­ and was never really that official anyways. We weren¡¯t the only research team in the city, but the name still managed to stick.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea thought about it briefly, before shaking her head. ¡°I¡¯ll leave that to you as your first job, dealing with the public. Whatever youe up with, we¡¯ll let you handle it. Also, while we¡¯re not directly hiring more members, we will ept coborations in research. This isn¡¯t a time for anyone to be picky, so if there¡¯s a good project that can help everyone, we need to make sure it goes through.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Treisha nodded her head, Chelsea looking at the final member of the team. Seeing her currently white eyes, she nodded. ¡°Nora. You and Thea should try to reach out to the ninjas. A lot of their businesses are still around, but they lost their major world. Tell them that we have a proposition for them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nora blinked, tilting her head slightly. ¡°What proposition would that be?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We¡¯ll allow the ninjas to make their base on a secondary within this system.¡± She said simply, surprising the others nearby. ¡°Like I said, we¡¯re not hiring. However, the ninjas have been almost constantly conducting their own research. If there¡¯s anyone worth coborating with, it would be them. Additionally, if we keep them close, we will be able to get their help in the future if we need more manpower for anything. Tell them that if they agree, their first job is to help build the void shield around this world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nora nodded her head, her eyes switching to ck for a moment as Thea took over. ¡°Depending on how many of them are left, there shouldn¡¯t be a problem getting their help. Though, I doubt that many from themand structure survived. They might even be in their own internal chaos now, trying to sort out who should lead them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Even better.¡± Chelsea grinned. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then our help will let them be indebted to us. Either way, you¡¯ll be the liaison with that group for the near future. Once we¡¯ve got the mana nt back up and running, James will help everyonee up with more projects to study.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right.¡± Thea nodded her head, before pausing. ¡°What code is it that you are nning to work on this time?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°An expansion of the previous. I made three more worlds to cover the other base energy types. When I was setting up this world, I didn¡¯t include any special materials or functions, all because I n to expand our admin privileges in Digital Conversion. Once that¡¯s done, we¡¯ll have no need to worry about material costs.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thest code took me years to get through, but it should be a lot easier this time, now that I¡¯ve started to get a grasp of the code¡¯s structure. Still, it will probably take a few months to get all four working together in the testing environment. Until I¡¯m done, I can¡¯t have anyone disturbing me, since this project is¡­ rather sensitive, and could be vtile if I¡¯m in the middle of a test.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The others nodded their heads, understanding the importance of what Chelsea wanted to do. Once she was finished with this update, it wouldn¡¯t be a stretch to call the facilitypletely self-sufficient. Rather than saying that they were off the grid, they were the ones creating the grid in the first ce.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I closed my eyes as I sat back on the couch, waiting for the notification from the system. There were too many damages to be dealt with for me to stay in Olympus and wait for them to pass naturally. After we had the proper damage report, I began setting up rms to prepare to fast forward.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although I was guaranteed a pass for one month after being attacked, that didn¡¯t mean that I was willing to let things progress slowly while my world was in such a dire strait. If I did, and found out that our next invasion would be just as harsh, or worse, might even be with the same guy? That wasn¡¯t something that I was willing to gamble with.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The fact that we had defeated his invasion would let him know that we were strong enough to deal with a void god. If he managed to get us as his opponent again, it¡¯s likely that he might send an entire team of them. If that was the case, there wouldn¡¯t be a second victory. Quite simply, we would have to hide in Fyor, unable toe out for fear of the impending <i><span style="font-weight:400">doom</i><span style="font-weight:400">.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Though, that n itself wasn¡¯t really feasible. While the lower levels of Fyor were protected from a void attack, that did not mean that the entirety of Fyor was safe. The world barrier could still be broken, which would cause the inevitable copse of the world. So yeah¡­ another invasion from RagnaRocker was definitely not something that I could deal with in the short term.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Right now, my priority was for my worlds to get back on their feet and put this mess behind them. There would surely be a lot more focus on the void in the future, but that was fine. If it got them to take this more seriously next time, even better.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea had informed me when I was setting my rms that she nned to expand the admin privileges of Digital Conversion to include all four energies, which I approved of. While it wasn¡¯t something that I nned to open to the masses, having the ability to use the system at-will like that would surely be a powerful tool in the future.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As for why I wouldn¡¯t put something so convenient in the hands of everyone, even when it could relieve the current housing or food crises? Quite simple¡­ that also would mean that I would be giving potential viins an unlimited supply of energy with which to do <i><span style="font-weight:400">even more damage</i><span style="font-weight:400">.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That said, maybe there would be a way to tie karma in to the system. Those with higher positive karma would be able to enjoy a discount on the system, which would increase the better their karma. This would allow good samaritan citizens to take care of theirmunities, while simrly preventing those with unsavory habits from making use of the system to do harm.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Though¡­ would it be possible to increase the cost of items through that system based on negative karma?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I couldn¡¯t help but think of that at the same time. If that was the case, it could be seen as a penalty for criminal conduct carried out through the system.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I focused, posing the idea to Ashley, who was rather prompt to respond. Sadly, there was no current way for them to urately gauge karma within and independent system, as that was handled almost entirely by the Underworld. The only benchmarks that existed were the right to enter the golden pce, as well as the punishment of being imprisoned beneath it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Additionally, they did not have a way to <i><span style="font-weight:400">increase</i><span style="font-weight:400"> the mana cost of items based on the user¡¯s data. ording to Ashley, the system is very strict on its requirements for Digital Conversion. An exact amount of energy is needed for any product, with no more or less being epted. With the new plug-in that Chelsea helped develop, the cost was being passed directly to the void, but the cost itself was still there, and was something that we could not circumvent.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Regardless, I kept the idea in mind forter, as it was at least one way to build a lesser punishment into the system for those that had brought negative karma to themselves. I also suggested the possibility that anyone who qualified for the golden pce deserved to have an eighty percent discount on the system, once Chelsea had finished creating the plug-ins for the other energy types. Ashley seemed rather open to this idea, though she said that it would take a while longer to get it implemented.

 Chapter 1025: The Return

    Chapter 1025: The Return


    <span style="font-weight:400">Fifty years. That is how long it took for the world the full recovery from the previous invasion, including restoring enough of Deckan and Sher Dien¡¯s infrastructure to make them self-sufficient again. I was only made aware of this when I checked the time that had passed after the eleration had ended.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">By this point, things should have calmed down, right?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I thought to myself as I stood from the couch, preparing to descend once again. I had told myself before the invasion happened that I would do my best to limit my time skips after it was over, and the world had recovered.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Not far away, Dana and Tsubaki were waiting for me, having arrived near the start of the eleration. I gave them both a small nod, before focusing as blue light wrapped around my body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once I arrived in the body of my host, I found myself sitting in the familiar throne room of Olympus, rolling my shoulders. Even though Tsubaki had chosen to ascend, it seemed like my host had enough aversion to being covered in dust to take very slight action every once in a while. Which I was honestly thankful for, as it meant that I wasn¡¯t smothered with it when I came back.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Udona.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I mentalled called out to the kitsune goddess. <i><span style="font-weight:400">How is everything with Deckan?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">A lot better now, honestly.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Udona spoke with a tone of relief. <i><span style="font-weight:400">We¡¯ve essentially remodeled the with all the new construction. Though, there is one slight issue, but I¡¯m sure it will resolve itself in time.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">What is it?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I asked, unable to help myself from feeling concerned.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">The magic system of Deckan. It takes time for something to adjust to the aura of dimensium to drop cards, so the first batch of monster spawns didn¡¯t drop any. Even now, the drop rate is only a tenth of what it used to be.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Normally, this wouldn¡¯t be a problem, because we had the ability to synthesize any of the cards for the first four tiers of magic, but¡­</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Because all of the world¡¯s technology was destroyed, you lost all of that, right?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I asked with a groan, which Udona confirmed.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">They¡¯re rebuilding the database to get that started up again, but it¡¯s slow going. The Metong aren¡¯t any help, because they use runic magic almost exclusively. On the other hand, the March have been more helpful with this, though they only had the full collections for the first two tiers. Because dimensium isn¡¯t as evenly distributed in their realm, it¡¯s harder to get high tier cards.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Right¡­ is there anything I can do to help?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I asked, though I wasn¡¯t really sure what could be done.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">No, I was just letting you know. This will resolve itself in due time.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Right. By the way, did Chelsea manage to get the admin plugin expanded for Digital Conversion?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona¡¯s voice perked up slightly at that. <i><span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s right. It was partly thanks to that that we were able to get everything done so quickly. I took part in a lot of the process, and could use that admin ount to make things go a lot more smoothly.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I was sure that the people loved that. The God-Queen of Deckan personally taking part in recovery efforts, providing free housing for those who had been rendered homeless. And in truth, it really was a great thing for her to do.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Additionally, by now the different games should have progressed a bit further, people picking up old quests again. I didn¡¯t know if Sun was going to be making the machine empire again or not, but there would be time to get caught up on all of that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I was thinking to myself, I heard the door to the throne room open, with Tsubaki, Gerard, Dana, and Lifre all walking in. It had been quite some time since I saw Gerard, as he never used his ess to the Admin Room, so I gave them all a nod of greeting. ¡°Lifre, Gerard, is there anything that you would like to report?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Nope!¡± Lifre smiled brightly, shaking her head. ¡°Everything¡¯s been pretty normal on my end! Well, by my standards, anyways.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Gerard hesitated, before nodding as he spoke. ¡°Sir, I would like to report that the establishment of fifth-tier magic has had some sess. With the coordinated efforts between myself and the Goddess of Magic, we have created some basic spells utilizing the fifth tier of magic.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod at that, focusing on Gerard. ¡°What can you tell me about this magic, then?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Gerard focused, lifting a hand as a speck of mana appeared above his finger, no bigger than a grain of sand. ¡°As we concluded long ago, the fifth tier of magic relies on miniaturization. Simply by shrinking the spell and updating the parameters to the fifth tier, it is possible to recreate spells of the fourth tier with minimal consumption.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°However, the true benefit of this magic tieres from the ability tobine arge number of these spells into one.¡± As he said that, a cloud of blue specks appeared, swirling around one another. ¡°This is the core of my being, after I updated the spellponents to the fifth tier. With this spell, it is possible to create an individual like myself with no more than five thousand points of mana.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Though that is the case, the difficulty of these spells have increased exponentially. Unless it is a being with some form of ability to instantly recall microscopic details or memorize extremelyplex spell diagrams, I do not believe that they will be capable of wielding this ability in battle.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That makes sense.¡± I said with a faint sigh. ¡°There are very few existences that can even use the fourth tier of magic in battle.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana nodded her head quickly when I said that. ¡°I¡¯ve created tools to help with that before, but yeah. Also, fourth tier spells are really not needed in a normal fight. You can have one to serve as an autonomous battle spell, and then use third tier spells for the others, but there¡¯s no need to have more than that. Anything else can be done more efficiently at the third tier.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Gerard seemed to agree, dismissing the points of light above his hand. ¡°Perhaps. However, the Goddess of Magic has expressed interest in using the fifth tier of magic as the foundation for creating a world. As of now, she has yet to make any breakthrough in her research, but she has used the old spell that your servants used to create energy-based worlds as the foundation.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s fine. We¡¯ll get to that point eventually. Whether it¡¯s Ashley that makes that breakthrough or Ryone, it¡¯s bound to happen.¡± In fact, it would probably end up being abination of Ryone¡¯s magic with Ashley¡¯s code.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh!¡± Lifre suddenly opened her eyes wide. ¡°I just remembered. The Another World Research Group said that they want to meet you whenever you are back in the world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The what now?¡± I blinked, utterly unfamiliar with the name. Given that they were leaving a message with Lifre, they had to be a popr research group, but not one that I had heard of.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s the new name for the group James is in charge of!¡± Lifre smiled brightly. ¡°They came up with that name a few months after V-Day.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">It didn¡¯t take a genius to understand that V-Day likely stood for Void Day, the day that the invasion nearly destroyed numerous worlds. Though, would it be V-Week for Lorek and Spica? ¡°Right¡­ I¡¯ll go see what they want. Tsubaki, Dana?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I looked at the duo, but Dana shook her head. ¡°I¡¯ve got to get back to work. I¡¯ll let Tsuba join you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki hesitated, before nodding her head. ¡°Very well, I shall apany my Keeper.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ll lead the way!¡± Lifre announced. ¡°You don¡¯t know the coordinates for their new base, so it¡¯ll be easier with me along!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a sigh, nodding my agreement as I stood and gestured for her to lead the way. For now, Olympus was still positioned in Fyor, as I had not moved it away after the invasion. After my meeting with James and his group, I would have to start moving it around again like before.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre hummed happily to herself, leading Tsubaki and I out of Olympus. Once outside, she drew a golden dagger, and cut open a gate through the void. I arched a brow at the dagger, to which she smiled. ¡°Something that I had them make me! This thing can bypass the void barriers like a backdoor. Oh, right, those have gotten a lot stronger after the previous attack. You can¡¯t just teleport around easily anymore. Well, Aurivy can, but not normal people like us!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I doubted that any of us could qualify as normal people¡­ Though, the fact that even Lifre needed a tool to help her establish the portal meant that the barriers must have been strengthened considerably.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki seemed to have simr thoughts, staring at the dagger in Lifre¡¯s hand intently. The two of us followed behind her, walking into arge lobby. Immediately, circr ports opened up in various points of the room, turrets deploying and scanning as they aimed at us. Tsubaki¡¯s hair stood on end, manifesting a pair of daggers while Lifre calmly stood in ce.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sure enough, the turrets disappeared after confirming our identities, a digital voice speaking up. ¡°Wee, Keeper, Lifre, Tsubaki. Please proceed to Area 8-B to meet AWR staff.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay!¡± Lifre smiled again. ¡°Can you activate the elevator to get us there quickly?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Affirmative.¡± There was the sound of sliding metal as a door opened along one of the walls, Lifre rushing over to enter. Tsubaki and I looked at one another, following behind. Once the door closed, the elevator slid down, and then rushed off horizontally.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So this is what happens when you give someone like Chelsea an unlimited budget with the Digital Conversion system.¡± I muttered to myself. It took roughly five minutes in the elevator before we arrived at our destination. ¡°Why didn¡¯t she just make a teleporter like Olympus, though? She¡¯s got to know how to do that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Easy.¡± Chelsea¡¯s voice spoke up as the elevator doors opened. ¡°Any magic or technology that allows transportation without crossing the intervening space has at least some reliance on the void. I¡¯m working on a subspace elevator that folds space without using the void, but that¡¯s still in development. This facility relies as little on the void as possible with its daily necessities.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Given that we have the to ourselves, we constructed a sr farm roughly the size of a continent in the northern hemisphere, and get all of the power that we need to operate the facility through that. We¡¯ll use the DC system when ites to acquiring materials we need for work, but we want to make sure that there is no regr connection between this and the outside void that can be used as a channel for void beasts to attack.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea cocked her hips, crossing her arms as she said that with a grin. I could only nod my head, stepping out of the elevator with the others. ¡°That¡¯s impressive. Though¡­ what did you call us here for?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea blinked, quickly entering ¡®business mode¡¯ as she gestured for us to follow. ¡°This way. We¡¯re keeping it in Vault 8.¡± She said, and we all followed behind her, not entirely sure what we were getting ourselves into.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ever since I finished the plug-in for the DC system and fully opened up the admin ounts to free creations, I¡¯ve been working on energybinations. After all, that was mine and James¡¯s specialty when we came to this world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she said that, she led us to arge, ck door, which only opened when Chelsea separated a portion of her divinity to use as the key. ¡°Because of this, I¡¯ve been able to create a few powerful items, capable of drawing a theoretically limitless amount of different energies from the void, like chakra, elemental ki, and so on.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When the vault opened, Chelsea led us through what appeared to be an armory, each item sealed in a clear container. I could see a staff brimming with fiery mana, a bracer radiating a dark energy, and even a bone wand that seemed to chill the air. However, Chelsea passed by all of these, opening another door at the end of the hall.


    <span style="font-weight:400">On the other side of the door was a single case in the middle of a room, containing a golden ring. ¡°Once I got this thing working¡­ I knew that I couldn¡¯t let it get out.¡± She said, and I could immediately tell why, as I sensed the powerful divinity resting within the ring.

 Chapter 1026: One Ring To Doom Them All

    Chapter 1026: One Ring To Doom Them All


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is that what I think it is?¡± I asked hesitantly, looking at the ring within the ss disy. Chelsea let out a long sigh, nodding her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If you think that it¡¯s a ring designed to automatically convert the energy of the void into the four basic types, then undergo theplex fusion process to create raw divinity. In which case, yes. Yes, that is exactly what you think it is.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m feeling that there¡¯s a twist here.¡± I shook my head, looking back at the small kitsune. ¡°If you made something like this and it worked properly, there is no way that you wouldn¡¯t be using it yourself, equip one to Treisha, and send more to Olympus. You had mee here as soon as I descended. So¡­ what¡¯s wrong with it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea¡¯s brow twitched faintly, but she nodded her head. ¡°When I created that ring, I wanted to make an item that would essentially make a god immortal. As you know, divinity is basically a god¡¯s life pool. With a steady stream of it from an item like this, they¡¯d be invincible. No need for any worshippers, no need to worry about taking damage in battle.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Still waiting for the twist.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Getting to that.¡± She spoke up, ncing up at me. ¡°There was¡­ an incident. Are you familiar with the divine that tried to devour Sanctum?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...Vaguely.¡± I nodded, before hesitating. ¡°Did the ring try to eat you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The ring did indeed attempt to devour my divinity.¡± She sighed. ¡°See¡­ this is something that I only discovered <i><span style="font-weight:400">after</i><span style="font-weight:400"> making the item. The process of converting the void into divinity essentially created a divine spark within the ring, giving it the semnce of a soul. However, without any form of consciousness, it attempts to devour all divine energy that ites into contact with.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is there any way to subdue that instinct?¡± I asked, to which Chelsea shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If there was, I wouldn¡¯t have had this sitting in storage for thest three months.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Three¡­ if you had this for three months, and it was such a problem, why not simply destroy it?¡± When I asked that, the response that I received was a long groan.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That was the first thing I tried. However¡­ My n worked. Not the destroying it part, the part involved with creating it. Because it is limitlessly generating its own divinity, it can instantly recover from any form of damage that I inflict on it. I put it in a system null zone, shattered it, dispelled its divinity, and was on my way to dispose of the remains when it fused back together. Good as new, as if I hadn¡¯t done a single thing.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Have you tried throwing it into a giant volcano?¡± When I asked that, Chelsea¡¯s brow twitched and she looked at me with an usatory gaze.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Udona asked me that, too. She then spent the next eight hours showing me what that was referring to. To answer the question, though. No. I am not throwing it into a volcano on the off chance that the divine instinct spreads to the volcano, awakening a volcanic divine monster.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°True, that would be very bad¡­ we¡¯re just recovering from thest round of danger. Likewise, throwing it into space would be just as bad¡­ have you tried getting Ashley to cut off its ess to the Digital Conversion system? Permanently, I mean.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thing is¡­ it¡¯s not actually <i><span style="font-weight:400">using</i><span style="font-weight:400"> the DC system anymore. I incorporated the core mechanics of the system into the ring¡¯s design instead, to prevent having an additional admin ount floating about. Theoretically, the null zone and dispersing its divinity should have done the trick. The fact that it didn¡¯t means that it has gone beyond what I can control.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod, turning my attention back towards the ring. ¡°Those weren¡¯t the rules to convert energy based on our magic system, but from the void itself. Is it possible that creating the ring like that engraved its existence in the void, or something like that?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s an idiotic theory.¡± Chelsea immediately retorted, before letting out a long groan. ¡°Unfortunately, it was the one that I came up with, too. I was hoping you¡¯d have a better answer for me. Literally any answer would be better than that. Trying to overwhelm the ring with raw power to wipe out its instincts and subdue it would be a better answer than that. Before you ask, no, I tried that too.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle, turning back to face her. ¡°Though, if that¡¯s the case, why didn¡¯t your mana refinery repair itself? It was also made to use the DC system, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Exactly, it was made as an interface with the DC system.¡± Chelsea gave a weak smile, her ears drooping. ¡°No matter how advanced the interface, it was just that. This was an item that was designed to replicate the system, endlessly creating divinity until it itself became a divine object. Now, because its existence is constantly creating the very thing that fuels its existence, it has be impossible to destroy by conventional means. At the same time, its instinct to devour divine energy means that I can¡¯t give it to any god.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Have you tried having Jamees go to the void to find where it is ¡®anchored¡¯? It could be a void beast or anything, right?¡± When I asked that, Chelsea nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I tried, but he doesn¡¯t even know what to look for. The mark in the void could be an insignificant speck of void energy for all we know.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right¡­ you¡¯ve concluded that the thing can¡¯t be destroyed. And you clearly don¡¯t want to give it to me, because it would start to drain me dry¡­ why did you call us here?¡± I focused on Chelsea, and she manifested a silver device in one hand.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This is why.¡± She said, pushing the button. I felt a chaotic surge of energy within the disy case, and could almost feel a cry of pain echoing out as the ring shook. rmed, my body instinctively entered battle mode after the recent invasion. Because of that, I was able to catch a small detail, something that I would have missed if I was perceiving time in the ¡®normal flow¡¯.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For the briefest of moments, a health bar appeared above the ring. My eyes went wide when I saw that, and Chelsea nodded her head in satisfaction, lowering the remote.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s alive. Like I said, we gave it a divine spark. For all intents and purposes, this ring is now a living creature. Furthermore, it is recognized by your world¡¯s system. Therefore¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You want me to smite it, right?¡± I asked with a sigh. Chelsea quickly nodded her head in confirmation. Smiting was an option that I <i><span style="font-weight:400">very</i><span style="font-weight:400"> rarely used, but couldpletely destroy the existence of anything registered as one of my assets. However, smiting in this manner was an option avable only to the Keeper themselves.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Leaving this here is just begging for trouble toe knocking at our doorter. It could grow more powerful, or develop awareness. Right now, it is just raw divinity, but if it is tainted by someone¡¯s divinity and not purged fast enough, it might gain powers rted to the person it obtained the energy from. I wouldn¡¯t feel safe storing this even in our most secure vault where we keep the seeds of the slimes.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...I feel like I just heard something dangerous. But, fine, it doesn¡¯t cost me anything to smite. Just give me a minute.¡± I said as I closed my eyes, choosing to ascend. Immediately, I found where my host was, and selected the ring contained in the cage in front of it. With a thought, I selected the option to smite the ring, watching it dissolve into nothing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At the same time, I investigated the other items in the vault. All of them were simr to the ring in design, being items that intrinsically create their own energy type. Looking into some of the deeper vaults¡­ ¡°Wow, she really does have world slime seeds¡­ but why though?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I shook my head, realizing that this wasn¡¯t important. The ring¡¯s existence had been nullified from its core, so it was unable to recover even with its almost paradoxical properties. That said, I descended, finding a relieved looking Chelsea standing in front of a now empty cage. ¡°Thank goodness.¡± She wiped her forehead. ¡°I wasn¡¯t sure how long I¡¯d need to keep this thing in the vault before you stopped elerating the world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right¡­ now what about the other one?¡± I asked, causing Chelsea to blink.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Other what now?¡± She looked over at me in obvious confusion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°When I was going through the vault, there was another item that had the ¡®smite¡¯ option avable. And no, it wasn¡¯t the seeds. Why do you have those, anyways?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea shook her head rapidly. ¡°Not important right now. What item?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I rolled my eyes, ncing towards the sealed vault door that we came from. ¡°Bone wand. Looked fairly necromantic? It registered as a level three thousand entity ording to the system.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Did it now?¡± Chelsea¡¯s eyes narrowed, turning to walk to the other room in the vault. She walked over to the disy case showing the necromantic wand in question, crossing her arms and standing in front of it. ¡°Did you think you were clever, hiding like this?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was no response from the wand, Chelsea¡¯s eyes narrowing further before she called out. ¡°Deliver energy shock to case 8-32. Intensity level five.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Immediately after she said that, there was a surge of energy within the case, and I could feel the energy of the wand trembling. However, it still remained silent. ¡°Intensity eight.¡± Chelsea ordered, and the energy began surging stronger and stronger. Still¡­ ¡°Intensity-¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Fine!¡± The wand suddenly shouted, surprisingly speaking in a normalnguage. ¡°Stop, jeez! What is wrong with you, girl!? Can¡¯t a wand take a nap in peace?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You don¡¯t nap.¡± Chelsea said in a cold tone. ¡°So what¡¯s with the silent treatment? You have been in this vault for two months, three weeks, and five days. You could have spoken at any time before this, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°With how you keep treating that ring? You think I¡¯d want to just volunteer that I can talk? I¡¯m made of death, kid, I don¡¯t <i><span style="font-weight:400">have</i><span style="font-weight:400"> a death wish.¡± The wand retorted, sounding like an angry old man.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And where did you learn that kind ofnguage?¡± She perked her brow as she asked. I was more curious about where it learnednguage, period.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m made of souls. Some stuff just sort of leaked in. What, is it a crime to be alive? Or you going to experiment on me like the ring?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The ring was innately dangerous with its very existence. Are you?¡± Chelsea asked, and I could feel the wand shudder.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, no, I¡¯m perfectly normal. Feel free to pretend that I don¡¯t exist.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea¡¯s lips tugged upwards, unable to keep her serious demeanor. ¡°So, what can you do, then? I¡¯m guessing the tests weren¡¯t the full extent of your abilities?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...You¡¯re not going to leave me alone, are you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No. No, I am not.¡± Chelsea answered the wand, which seemed to let out a trembling groan.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Fine¡­ I can control ghosts like I showed you, or I can create spirits, or draw them out of the Underworld. I can also identify spirits around me. I¡¯m really not all that useful for your research.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ll be the judge of that.¡± Chelsea said, her expression looking like a dark grin.

 Chapter 1027: Have Faith

    Chapter 1027: Have Faith


    <span style="font-weight:400">I shook my head, walking together with Lifre and Tsubaki through the white halls of the research facility. Chelsea had taken the bone wand with her to conduct some additional tests to determine if the wand posed any additional dangers to the facility. Before she left, however, I asked if she would give us tools with which to travel between worlds, simr to Lifre¡¯s dagger.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea didn¡¯t have any problem with that, and immediately produced a pair of golden coins, one for myself and the other for Tsubaki. Apparently, this was the standard form of the world transit token, which was used in the remodeling of the Fairy Rings.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is there anywhere else you want to take us?¡± I asked, looking over at Lifre, who had a thoughtful expression on her face.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hmm¡­ nope!¡± She shook her head quickly. ¡°Nobody else asked to urgently see you when you came back or anything, so it¡¯s fair game now!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The three of us made it back to the elevators, taking a ride to the exit of the facility. Once outside, Tsubaki channeled her powers through the coin that she had been given. Doing so was an unfamiliar process for her, so it took her multiple attempts to establish the void gate. When she did, however, the three of us walked through, finding ourselves hovering in the air high above Ashtanu.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The only reason I knew that we were even in Deckan was the rich aura of dimensium that filled the air. Combining that with seeing the mighty pce rising in the distance gave me enough to guess our location. However¡­ everything else lookedpletely different.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Outside of the city, there were untamed forests that spanned to the horizon, giving way only when the ocean began. For the city itself, the older buildings had entirely been reced with towering spires and sleek designs, flying vehicles zooming along throughout the city. I could still see the holographic advertisements that I saw previously, but they were now far more prevalent.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If there was something sad¡­ it was that despite all of this, the number of people that could be seen in the city felt¡­ almost empty. Whether it was the amount of foot traffic or the flying vehicles, it felt as if there were not nearly enough people for the scale of the city.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I took a deep breath, sealing a portion of my abilities and changing my appearance into that of a ck-haired kitsune. When Tsubaki saw this, she immediately followed suit, her outfit altering into a long, ck dress as her facial features shifted. Only Lifre showed no intention to change her appearance. But, then again¡­ ¡°Since it looks like you two want to explore, I¡¯m gonna go off and take care of some stuff, ¡®kay? There¡¯s adventure just around the bend!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After she said that, she cut open another portal to jump through, leaving the two of us to descend from the sky. As we passed down below the top of the city¡¯s skyline, the view seemed to shift, the buildings beginning to eclipse our view. Even the most extravagant cities from my past life would not have a view like this.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Additionally, I hadn¡¯t been able to tell from above, but I could feel myself and Tsubaki passing through a projected disy that covered the city. When we looked up, we could see what looked to be a news report covering the sky. <i><span style="font-weight:400">A one-way disy for important news?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Well, it was likely used primarily for important news. At the moment, it was reporting the weather, so anyone who looked up would be aware that there was a storm scheduled to start in twenty minutes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once the two of usnded on the city¡¯s streets, we noticed a few people sending nces our way, before moving on along their own paths. There was¡­ I wouldn¡¯t say a depressing aura to the city, or even particrly a gloom. Instead, it simply felt like people were used to the current state of things.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki trailed just behind me as we walked, maintaining her position even when we were in disguise. I closed my eyes, releasing my World Sight to sweep through the city. Given the scarcity of foot traffic, I wasn¡¯t worried that I would run into anyone. However, I quickly found myself puzzled as I understood theyout of the city.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Udona?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I called out, immediately feeling as if my thoughts had reached her. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Why aren¡¯t there any schools in Ashtanu?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">For the Goddess of Education, I could not imagine her giving up on something as simple as schooling for children. Surely she didn¡¯t just put basic knowledge into spheres and send them to kids to have them learn, right? No matter what happened, I couldn¡¯t see her wanting things to evolve in that direction.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Hmm? Oh, that¡¯s actually pretty simple. Because of thest invasion, there was a massive decrease in poption throughout many worlds. To avoid children feeling isted from their peers, most worlds now conduct schooling in the Virtual world. It¡¯s easier for teachers to design a specialized curriculum, and they can reach more students at once.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">While children receive their basic education in the Virtual world, their real selves are undergoing practical training. For example, the children of Ashtanu are currently out in the forest to the east, observing the local flora and fauna under the protection of one of alia¡¯s Huntresses. They will probably have some archery training before returning to the city.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a nod when I heard that. I hadn¡¯t seen any children in the city, aside from those with longer lifespans like the elves. As for those, it was likely that they were old enough that they had alreadypleted their education, and had just not reached physical maturity yet.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I see¡­ when we arrived here, I almost thought that we had entered a city from Fragments of Acidia.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a small chuckle from Udona when I said that. <i><span style="font-weight:400">A lot of the more recent architectural designs in the Metong systems are inspired by them. Because the civilizations in Acidia expand across the stars, they had to adopt a modr design for their buildings, so that they would be better able to build regardless of where they wished to settle. Since they helped us rebuild, it¡¯s only natural that we share the same style.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head once more, thinking it over. <i><span style="font-weight:400">In that case, is there anywhere that you think we should see while we¡¯re here?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I asked, Udona falling silent as she gave it serious consideration.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Go to the very center of the city. Look for the temple, it will have a statue of me praying in front of it, carved from dimensium.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> After Udona said that, I ryed our destination to Tsubaki, the two of us shifting course.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As we weren¡¯t in any particr hurry, it took us more than half an hour before we found the statue that she had spoken of. Unlike most buildings in Ashtanu, this one had a fairly steady flow of foot traffic. I could feel that there were arge number of gods and fallen deities among those entering and leaving the temple.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I stepped inside, I saw that there were statues made from dimensium featuring every god or goddess in the Greater Pantheon, all with their heads lowered in prayer. At the far end of the room, I even saw myself standing, hands behind my back with my eyes closed. Each statue stood at least five meters tall, and that was for the smaller ones like Aurivy and Scarlet. Tryval¡¯s stood more than ten meters, as another example.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Looking around the room, I noticed that there weren¡¯t any elevators or stairs leading to other floors, or even any doors to other rooms. Instead, people simply walked to a statue, bowed their heads, and ced their hands on a pedestal in front of it. As soon as they did so, their bodies vanished. When people wanted to leave, they would appear in the center of the room, where arge space was cleared for their arrival.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hello, there.¡± A voice called out to Tsubaki and myself. I turned, seeing a kitsune with bright red hair walking over, a smile on her face. She wore long, green robes, and had bright green eyes. ¡°Is this your first time visiting the Greater Temple?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± I nodded my head simply. ¡°I¡¯ve been a bit out of touch with the world for a while, and haven¡¯t been out of Fyortely.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No wonder.¡± She nodded her head. ¡°My name is Prisci, a priestess of the church. Would you like me to introduce you to the temple?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That would be appreciated.¡± I smiled back at her, and she turned to lead us away from the door.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°After V-Day struck, many facilities in the world were destroyed, including most of the temples. Rather than rebuild them separately, the surviving leaders of each religion sought an audience with the Greater Pantheon, asking permission to build a unified temple. Here, we can show our solidarity as one people, regardless of our individual faith.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Each of these statues contains a teleportation spell, which allows a person to visit a different floor, where specialized facilities are made for each god or goddess present. There, they can learn the individual doctrines, and even undergo training to be a formal priest or priestess of that deity. If the deity in question shows them particr favor, they may even be selected as a personal disciple. Though, I must warn you that this is a rare urrence.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I see¡­¡± I looked around the room, picturing what each of their floors must look like. However, there was one thing that I couldn¡¯t understand. ¡°What about the Keeper¡¯s floor?¡± Like the others, there was a pedestal in front of my statue, though very few people walked towards itpared to the others. ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of the Keeper publicly epting a priest, aside from those in Olympus.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Prisci blinked in surprise, before nodding her head. ¡°That¡¯s true. Of the Greater Pantheon, it is said that the Keeper is the most silent. Many say that he is mourning the losses after V-Day. Some im that this is normal, and that he has little attention to spare for the mortal world as he performs his duties. Typically, any neer to the temple will visit the Keeper¡¯s statue at least once to try their luck. Otherwise, the only ones that frequent the floor are those who wish to keep it properly maintained.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head, thinking. ¡°In that case¡­ may I ask which deity you are a priestess of? My apologies, I do not wish to assume.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Prisci giggled lightly. ¡°I have taken the trials of priesthood for every deity of the Greater Pantheon. This is standard for those that work in the Greater Temple for a long time like myself. Rather than favoring a single god or goddess, I devote myself to understanding all of them and how they work together.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small smile as I thought about that. ¡°Then¡­ could you introduce all of them to me? It¡¯s been a while since I learned the recent trends with regards to the widespread religion.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Prisci blinked in confusion, but maintained her smile as she nodded her head. Despite how long it would take to discuss each deity, she was happy to do so.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">By the time Prisci had finished describing the primary rules of the final goddess, Scarlet, more than an hour had passed. She had only rarely seen someone so interested that they stayed to hear a lecture for so long without already being a member of any one religion. And she could tell that these two were not formal members, given that they seemed genuinely surprised by some of themonly known facts about the Greater Pantheon.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I believe that I have covered everyone.¡± Prisci folded her hands in front of herself, her smile blooming even wider.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Impressive.¡± The man said with a nod of his head, his gaze roaming across the various statues. ¡°It¡¯s nice to see that there are people like you here to take care of things.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Prisci wasn¡¯t entirely sure what he meant by that, but took it as thepliment it appeared to be. ¡°Thank you. Do you have any particr deity that you would like to offer faith to?¡± She could sense that the two of them were already gods, but it wasmon for even gods to serve a religion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The man among the duo thought about it for a moment. ¡°Maybe next time. Our trip here took longer than I expected, though I am quite satisfied with the results. Hopefully, next time you will have even more to tell.¡± He said with a meaningful smile, confusing Prisci as he turned to leave with his partner.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I believe that I covered everything¡­¡± Prisci said, tapping her chin in thought. As she did, her eyes suddenly widened, a message window appearing in front of her.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">You havepleted the Keeper¡¯s Trial. You have been chosen to receive the position of Priest for the Keeper. Do you ept?


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Prisci let out a shocked gasp, immediately rushing out of the temple and surprising the other attending priests and priestesses. When she arrived outside, she looked around, unable to find the duo that had just left. However, she could feel the fading energy in the air that typically marked a teleportation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Prisci bit her lips gently, thinking it over. Naturally, she chose to ept. When she did so, she felt a rush of information flooding into her mind, knowledge that had been prepared beforehand. The Keeper did not have his own doctrine, he did not have any requirements for his followers. Instead, he offered a simple truth. Due to his nature as the Keeper, there were often long periods of time that he was unable to closely observe the world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After she epted this information, Prisci became aware of the blessing that came from being the Keeper¡¯s priestess. Within her mind was a library, every book containing a different divine domain. As the Keeper¡¯s priestess, she could create one ability for every domain present, which would upy a single page of the domain¡¯s book. Afterwards, she would be able to freely use the abilities that she had created.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Prisci?¡± Another priest of the temple walked out, cing a hand gently on her shoulder. ¡°Is everything okay? It is unlike you to rush out like this.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡­ yes, it¡¯s fine. More than fine.¡± Prisci responded, her face lighting up. ¡°I just¡­ the Keeper chose me.¡± She had to check to make sure that there was nothing in the information that she had been given about keeping this a secret, and only when she had done so did she reveal this truth.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The Keeper chose you? As what?¡± The man asked, eyes wide. There were only a few things these words could mean, given the context, but each was more surprising than thest.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I am the priestess of the Keeper, chosen by him personally.¡± She answered honestly, turning to face her fellow priest. She spoke in no uncertain terms, knowing that he was simrly a priest of Irena, and possessed the power to see through deception. This was a major event, one that she had no doubt would change her life within the temple.

 Chapter 1028: Progress

    Chapter 1028: Progress


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You gave her a blessing, my Keeper?¡± Tsubaki asked in confusion as we appeared near Olympus, having found its position after it teleported to the system.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I offered a small nod of my head, smiling. ¡°I¡¯ve never had a true priestess. While I don¡¯t n to bring her into Olympus or anything like that, I thought that it would be nice to have one in the mortal world. Especially given the recent invasion.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">In truth, I had been impressed by Prisci¡¯s passion andmitment to her duties. Even though it was taking time out of her day for a seemingly meaningless task, she went on for more than an hour at the request of a total stranger to talk about each of the major gods she served. If it was someone like that, I didn¡¯t mind letting them be the one to be my voice outside of Olympus.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While she was exining, I was busypiling both the information that she would need as well as an ability to grant her. The information was easy, I just had to set up conditions for her to contact me, or contact the others to get to me in the case of emergency, and exin why I wasn¡¯t always avable to respond.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For the ability to grant her¡­ I had been creating the books of divine domains within my shadow world for so long, without any real means of actually using them. This seemed like the perfect method. Then, if things with Prisci worked well, I would be able to implement the same strategy for future priests.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki gave a small nod of eptance, seeming to think things over. She had long ago established the Church of Light, but had always kept it rather small. No doubt she understood the benefits of having a church.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona sat on the highest ledge of her pce, her eyes watching the cityscape of Ashtanu. Not far behind her, Aznod appeared, his hands behind his back. ¡°Is anything the matter?¡± He asked gently, causing Udona to shake her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Nothing¡¯s particrly wrong.¡± She said, turning her head to look back. ¡°How is your farm going?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I have not yet reached any sess when ites to preparing the void beasts as a dish suitable for normal consumption. However, I don¡¯t n to give up just yet.¡± He answered with a smile, moving to sit next to Udona. ¡°I received a report that Olympus has been spotted in the system again. Are you nning to go back there?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Before V-Day, Udona had ruled Deckan from Olympus, just as Scarlet did for Bloodhaven. However, during the events of V-Day, Udona chose to leave Olympus to remain with her people. Simrly, she has been with Deckan since then, helping with its recovery efforts, and had not yet returned to Olympus in that time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I may.¡± She nodded her head with a small smile, her gaze lifting to observe the sky. ¡°Things have finally started to stabilize, so there wouldn¡¯t be any harm in returning at this point.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After she said that, her brow twitched, looking off into the distance. ¡®Though, it seems someone else might be busy. They might need your help in Fyor.¡± Aznod¡¯s eyes widened at that, nodding his head as he turned to leave.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">On the sixtieth floor of Fyor, there was a sudden surge of excitement within the Floor Advancement Party. Within this facility, there were thousands of individuals waiting at designated spaces to simply ce their hands on the wall, opening a gate and observing what was on the other end. They each did this nearly a thousand times a day, a simple and almost meaningless job, but well paying.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now, one of the workers let out a cry of surprise, pping the button on his gate stabilizer. Like the other workers, he wore a thick suit designed to protect him from a number of hostile environments. After an unlucky worker died for not properly wearing his protective gear, everyone had been more careful to secure themselves, even if the chances of a ¡®jackpot¡¯ were low.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Just now, he had stuck his head through the gate, seeing a faint red mist that spread as far as he could see. His eyes widened, pausing for a moment as he realized that this was the sixty-first floor of Fyor. It wasn¡¯t until his suit rm sounded, warning him of damage sustained, that he was pulled back to his senses. He quickly pulled his head back and stabilized the portal, preventing it from closing naturally.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When he did so, an rm echoed throughout the building, shocking the other workers. ¡°The sixty-first floor has been found. Repeat, the sixty-first floor has been found.¡± This news was received with¡­ mixed reactions. For many, this was simply an easy job that could provide them with a stable ie. For others, they were excited to see what awaited them beyond this dull floor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Following the rm, the manager of the facility made their way to the worker who made the discovery, seeing that the helmet of his suit had already partially melted. ¡°How long were you inside?¡± He asked in shock.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The worker, stunned, had to think back to it. ¡°I only put my head inside for a few seconds, sir.¡± Following the standard procedure, he produced the environmental details that the suit had been able to collect during the brief exposure.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The manager took the information, nodding his head. He grabbed his radio, his voice echoing out to the rest of the facility. ¡°Everyone, take a thirty minute break while we analyze the data. The advanced party will be formed once the analysis is finished.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After he said that, he immediately left, heading to a control center built into the basement of the facility. Once there, he inserted the chip that contained all of the environmental data, and began the analysis process. Just from looking at the damaged suit, he was sure that they would need to modify the suits slightly to withstand the atmosphere of the next floor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sure enough¡­ as the minutes passed, more and more information was pieced together from the recorded data. With every new revtion, the manager¡¯s face distorted more and more. It was no longer a question of whether or not they would need to modify the suits, but whether the modification would make any difference.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Theposition of the energy filling this floor seemed to dissolve any form of energy or matter that it came into contact with. <i><span style="font-weight:400">We¡¯ll need to find something that can specifically resist this energy pattern, but¡­ how long would it take? Do we need to contact Another World Research for help?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sir.¡± A voice suddenly spoke up over his radio, attracting his attention.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yes? What is it?¡± He responded. ¡°Are the workers upset about the development?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, that¡¯s not it, sir. The King Consort of Deckan has arrived. He said that his Queen asked him toe.¡± The manager¡¯s eyes went wide when he heard this. Although Aznod did not often act publicly, his powers were well known as the God of Cooking, Preparation, and Optimization.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Send him to the lower control room at once.¡± The manager called back, before turning to face the elevator, putting a smile on his face. When the elevator door opened, he stepped forward. ¡°King Aznod. It¡¯s an honor to meet you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod simply smiled, looking at the man. ¡°Mister Drakar. I¡¯ve heard of your facility for quite a while. It appears that you have made some progress?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yes, sir, that¡¯s correct. Just now, one of our workers sessfully made contact with the sixty-first floor. However, the environment there is even harsher than we had anticipated. Only a few seconds of exposure had caused substantial damage to our environment istion suit.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod nodded his head, thinking it over. He briefly looked at the data disyed on the screen. ¡°Take me to the portal. I need to analyze the situation on the other side myself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The manager¡¯s eyes went wide when he heard that, but stillplied. He took Aznod to the elevator, leading him to the stabilized gate. ¡°This is the one.¡± He said, gesturing for Aznod to proceed as he needed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod stepped forward, closing his eyes and putting a hand through the portal, causing the manager to gasp in shock. Having seen what the energy on the other side did to the protective suit, he could imagine what was happening to Aznod¡¯s hand.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sure enough, when Aznod pulled his hand back, the majority of it had long melted, leaving only a stump of a wrist. Aznod¡¯s health bar appeared over his head, though he didn¡¯t pay it any mind. ¡°I see.¡± He allowed his hand to regenerate by redistributing his divinity, before pushing it through the portal again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This time, his action was swift, and he quickly brought his hand back with a clump of soil from the other side. Immediately afterwards, a ck me engulfed this seemingly ordinary clump of soil, and the manager began to understand what he was doing. If the energy truly melted everything on the other side, there should be nond aside from the ck stone. The fact that soil existed meant that it had aposition that resisted the red mist.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After a moment, Aznod nodded his head. ¡°I believe that I have the answer. However, I will need you to modify the designs of your suit, recing it with this material.¡± He pulled his hand from the ck me, showing a silver strip of metal. ¡°This material should be able to resist the corrosion, simr to the material native to that floor.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The manager nodded his head quickly. As the one responsible for the facility, he had the patent for the suits in the Digital Conversion system. Modifying the suits with a new material was simple, though it would require moving to another floor where their energy would not be disrupted and they could properly scan the new material.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He grabbed his radio, sending an order to the workers to meet in Gate¡¯s Rise on the fifty-ninth floor for emergency modifications to their environment gear. Afterwards, he epted the strip of metal from Aznod respectfully. ¡°Thank you, sir. With this, we should be able to finally make progress conquering the floors of Fyor.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod simply smiled. ¡°You would have discovered it sooner orter. All I did was speed up the process.¡± After saying that, he turned and began walking towards the exit, considering his work here to have beenpleted.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s done.¡± Aznod said as he returned to Udona¡¯s side. ¡°They should be able to properly begin their expeditionter this evening.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona smiled at that. ¡°Good. It¡¯s about time we got moving with Fyor again. ¡°We should only be a few floors from finding ¡®his¡¯ hometown. The Maxers of Fyor are finally at a strength that they can contend with them in their base form now, so we should be ready to make our move to connect with them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod nodded his head in agreement. ¡°James said that his people were extremely savage in the past. It would be best if they had moved on beyond that point. However, if they haven¡¯t, it shouldn¡¯t be too hard for our top forces to handle themselves.¡±

 Chapter 1029: Checkup

    Chapter 1029: Checkup


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana quickly arrived within her shadow world, standing opposite the two familiar clones of herself. She closed her eyes, sensing their states, and let out a brief sigh. Unfortunately, they were unable to remain within the world while Dana herself was in the Admin Room. Otherwise, she would have kept them active to recover more. As it stood, neither they nor herself were fully recovered from the big fight against the ¡®void god¡¯.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°At least we¡¯re not going to need to fight urgently, so it should just take a couple days for us to get all patched up.¡± ra said with a faint chuckle, though Sienna tilted her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Digital Conversion, Admin?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Both Dana and ra looked over at Sienna, processing the meaning of her short words. Ever since she had chosen to be the ¡®taciturn¡¯ one, she had kept her words as brief as possible to convey her meaning. ¡°You mean we should try to use the Digital Conversion system¡¯s new admin ounts to supplement our recovery?¡± Dana asked, to which Sienna nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s possible.¡± ra mused. ¡°It would be too hectic to do in a fight, but as long as we don¡¯t rush it, we can recover our ki and mana with that system! As for the damage to our spirits¡­ well, we have our own ways of dealing with that.¡± As she said that, a small grin appeared on her face.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana simply rolled her eyes, nodding. She focused, essing the Digital Conversion system to create arge number of Mage Heart and Blood Heart crystals, which manifested on the ground in between them. ¡°This should be more than enough.¡± She nodded her head. While she didn¡¯t make enough to return all three of them to their peak, she made enough that their natural recovery would do the rest soon.


    <span style="font-weight:400">ra simply chuckled, picking up one of the red gems first and working to absorb it. ¡°So what kind of project do you want to do, now that the big invasion is over?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana thought about that for a long moment. ¡°You still have the file for the replicating drone, right?¡± She asked, to which ra nodded.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Wait, you¡¯re not wanting to make another machine empire in the real world, are you? I don¡¯t think that would work, given that pretty much any alien species was wiped out on V-Day.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When ra said that, Dana shook her head. ¡°No, I don¡¯t want a machine empire. I¡¯ll leave that to the ¡®head of research¡¯. Someone¡¯s going to want to check up on him soon, by the way. I was just thinking that you could apply them more actively to Sirius, now that the admin ounts were in ce.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°While you do that, I want to work on new crafting techniques. Now that Fragments of Acidia was reset, everyone lost the progress that they had in regards to faction quests. We still achieved some advancement from absorbing their technology, but I want to see if I can go beyond what they achieved in the game.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">ra let out a faint whistle. ¡°That¡¯s a tall order. You going to do this solo, or?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m confident in myself, but not <i><span style="font-weight:400">that</i><span style="font-weight:400"> confident. For this one, I nned to visit Tubrock. The two of us together cane up with new crafting ideas. If possible, I would like to advance beyond them when it came to crafting divine armaments, at the very least.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sienna, I¡¯ve got a mission for you as well.¡± Dana said, turning to look at Sienna.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The familiar, meanwhile, simply tilted her head. ¡°Replenish army?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, you can do that passively. I want you to work on a new type of troop. We know from Thelsa that it¡¯s possible to create gods from the World¡¯s Shadow if the user themselves is a god.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Fallen Shadows?¡± Sienna asked suddenly, to which Dana nodded.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. I want you to try to make Fallen God shadows. If we have to face another enemy like the void god guy in the future, I want more forces that are specialized at fighting in the void.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sienna simply nodded her head, epting her mission and clenching her fist in a guts pose. ¡°Leave it to me.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a faint sigh after we returned to Olympus, smiling towards Tsubaki. Now that I had at least done a rough check to get an idea of the situation¡­ and resolved a potentially world-ending threat on another front, I had yet more business to take care of.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ll be returning to the Admin Room briefly. There¡¯s no need to fast-forward, so I¡¯ll be back soon.¡± I promised, to which Tsubaki nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In that case, I shall explore Olympus and see if there are any new facilities that have been added.¡± She said with a respectful bow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head, focusing on returning to the Admin Room. Once I was there, I sat down on the couch, opening up the guild chat. Most of those who had their own defensive battles to worry about wouldn¡¯t be done yet, but it was still best to check in and let them know that I was finished.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sure enough, it¡¯s not very active right now¡­¡±


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    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Anyone around at the moment?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Oh, hey! You made it through your defense already? Weren¡¯t you up against RagnaRocker?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: That¡¯s right. It was an intense battle for my people, but it was thankfully over without too much dy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Right, that¡¯s the guy that loves to throw out the world enders, right? Those guys tend to do all their damage upfront.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Yeah. And he had something that called itself a void god.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: A void god? You mean like a Fallen God?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: I wish it was that simple. No, it imed to be a void monster that had absorbed the essences of Fallen Gods enough that it became able to write its own rules.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: That is¡­ troubling. I¡¯ve never encountered something like that before. If I had to guess, I think that is a rather specialized unit that RagnaRocker is raising, so it should be hard for it to appear naturally.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: That¡¯s good. I almost lost one of my best people because of it, and it dyed the end of the battle long enough for my worlds to be ravaged.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Oh no¡­ are you nning to reset?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: I had enough defenses, so the damage isn¡¯t irreparable. But, I¡¯m definitely not going to be finding any alien races with any of my worlds anymore.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: That¡¯s a shame. Alien civilizations can be a great source of technological and cultural advancement. Still, the important thing is that you¡¯re still safe. Are you nning to sell the information about the Void God to the Gilded Branch?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: I could, but¡­ I don¡¯t think the information would be all that valuable for just a single unit type, would it?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: If it were a normal unit, no. However, this sounds like a trump card. Going by their normal standard, they¡¯d pay roughly fifty thousand points for information on a Rank 4¡¯s trump card.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes widened when I saw that amount. Fifty thousand points may not be <i><span style="font-weight:400">too</i><span style="font-weight:400"> significant of a number at this point in time for me, but it was still a nice bonus. Especially after I had just set Terra up with her new funds.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Right, I¡¯ll talk to them after this. How did your match go?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: I had a pass this month. My next opponent¡¯s an old customer, so I don¡¯t think that I have much to worry about.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Right. By the way, do you have any games or anything to specifically help train people against the void? It¡¯s something of a hot topic in my world for¡­ what I consider as obvious reasons.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Actually, I do! This one¡¯s a bit different from the games that you¡¯ve been getting until now, though.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Oh? How so?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Well, until now you¡¯ve been getting massive online games. This game is meant to be yed by either a single yer or a small group. The genre ranges fromedy to horror, depending on the generated scenario. Basically, it randomly generates a world within a set of parameters that the yer decides. They can set themselves up with whatever type of life that they want, but there¡¯s a twist.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: The world that is generated for them has a simted Void Beast infection. It is up to the yer to find the rules that govern the void beast in their instance. If it has a local banishment method, they are to find that and use it. Otherwise, when they identify the rules of the void beast, they submit it to the system.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: If they get the answer right, they clear the game and can choose to either keep their world to enjoy the life that they designed, or set up a new scenario. The danger and difficulty of the void beast directly corrtes to the scale of the life that they create. For instance, if they choose to create a scenario where they are the king of arge country, the beast may be either incredibly tricky to discover, or incredibly dangerous to fight.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: And if they submit the wrong rules?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Game over. Don¡¯t worry, they won¡¯t die or anything. It just ends the scenario and forces them to start a new one.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Sounds easy enough to understand. Is there anything else I need to know about it?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: The AI functions simrly to Fragments of Acidia, which you purchased before. Meaning that the significant characters in an individual¡¯s life will be pulled from volunteer souls, while others will have their own generic AI temte. Aside from that¡­ the price is a bit steep. In total, it¡¯s a hundred and ten thousand. Most of that goes into the instanced world generation, I had to set up a number of custom systems to let the custom instance worlds get made.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">A hundred and ten thousand <i><span style="font-weight:400">was</i><span style="font-weight:400"> a lot¡­ but I felt like it might be worth it, especially after I get the points from Gilded Branch. That information alone would cover nearly half of the bill. More importantly, this would give enough a significant improvement to our foundation when dealing with void beasts.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Thanks. I¡¯ll talk to my people, but I think that I¡¯ll probably be getting it. It sounds like the kind of thing that I could really use right now.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Happy to help a loyal customer~!


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    <span style="font-weight:400">I chuckled as I ended themunication, focusing on sending a message to Balu next. It was time to let her know about the information. Hopefully, Sarah was right on her estimate.

 Chapter 1030: Chaotic Times

    Chapter 1030: Chaotic Times


    <span style="font-weight:400">It didn¡¯t take long for me to connect with Balu, who revealed that she was on the offensive this time, so she didn¡¯t really have anything to worry about. However, when I told her the reason behind my call, she said that she had to check some things and would get back to me. Whatever she was doing, it took her more than half an hour toplete, before I received another request for amunication.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Starkiller: Sorry! Things get tricky when ites to higher ranked Keepers like RagnaRocker. Personally, I¡¯ve never gotten higher than the introductory level of the Third Rank, so I had to consult to understand what standards to use to measure the value of the information. I should be good now to hear what you want to sell us!


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: It¡¯s fine. ording to my guild master, this will probably count as a trump card for him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Starkiller: Your guild master is EverLasting, right?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: That¡¯s right. The creature that RagnaRocker sent over was a monster that acted as a general for the other void beasts. After he died, they went beserk and started attacking chaotically. As for its power¡­ its nature was that of a void beast, but it called itself a void god instead. It had consumed the essence of multiple fallen gods, and gained the ability to write its own rules. I don¡¯t know how many rules it could have at a time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: What I do know is what my friend encountered while fighting him. He was able to make rules that could redirect the damage dealt to him, destroy hordes of enemies at once, and one rule that it made created a ¡®weakness¡¯ in an opponent the moment that they attacked. Whenever he struck this weakness, they would immediately die.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Starkiller: Right, let me see. A self-customizing void beast with no apparent restrictions for the rules that it could make. Given that RagnaRocker is a Rank 4 Keeper, it¡¯s unlikely that it can make enough rules to create a new world. That means that it probably can¡¯t use more than ten at a time, at the upper limits. Being intelligent and capable of leading troops increases its threat level, as well.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Starkiller: Your guild master was right, this definitely qualifies as a trump card. ording to the chart I was given, information like this should be able to go for exactly 62,500 points. How does that sound?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Really? That¡¯s a bit more than what she said.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Starkiller: ording to the information you gave, Ragnarocker should be at the upper limit of Rank 4. Because of that, the information is worth an extra 25% above normal. If he were a Rank 5 Keeper, the price would increase to 150,000 for a trump card like this.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: That¡­ makes sense, I suppose.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Starkiller: In that case, would you like me to go over now to handle payment? I can pass the information along to my guild to get the points to pay you any time!


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, I agreed, sending her the invite. At the same time, I called the members of the Greater Pantheon together, telling them that there was a new game that I was contemting getting from Sarah, and that I wanted their opinions on it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After a few moments, I saw something shift on the TV. Balu appeared on the screen, walking around and looking lost. ¡°Helloooo?¡± She called out. ¡°Wait, which one is this¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Balu?¡± I called out to her, and she looked towards me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh! I¡¯m trapped in something. Can you call for me again? I need to hear where the exit is here.¡± She said. When I called her name once more, her rabbit ears twitched, and she began walking towards the screen. When she ced her hand on it, the screen rippled like water, allowing her to crawl out. ¡°Not my favorite method of travel, but there are definitely worse¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right¡­¡± There wasn¡¯t much that I could do to that other than nod my head in eptance. I knew fully well how weird the transfer methods of Keepers were. ¡°The others are on their way for a quick discussion. If you want to stick around to hang out, you can, but things are still pretty busy around here.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s fine!¡± Balu smiled, shaking her head and hopping over the table tond in front of me, her furry ears flopping. ¡°I¡¯m just here for points delivery. I¡¯lle back to y with Bihena another time!¡± After saying that, she held a hand out towards me, to which I nodded and grabbed it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a quick prompt, letting me know that she was giving me the points she had promised, to which I obviously epted. Once she had finished, she smiled, hopping back across the table. ¡°See youter, Dave!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s-....Dale.¡± I muttered, cut off by a sudden ck spot appearing beneath her feet, causing her to fall through it before I could finish.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I shook my head, waiting for the others to arrive. It certainly didn¡¯t take long, Aurivy being the first to appear only seconds after Balu left, Tubrock right on her heels. The others began to file into the room one by one, until therge living room felt as crowded as it had ever been. The only one not attending was Leowynn, who said that she wouldn¡¯t be able to make it due to helping Lyra make her new house.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Alright, boss man.¡± alia grinned, leaning against the wall. ¡°You¡¯ve got us all here, so why not tell us what new game you want to acquire?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley nodded her head, clearly interested as well. ¡°In Standard Time, it hasn¡¯t been all that long since World Seed was released, so I¡¯m surprised to see you getting another game already.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah, but it¡¯s been over a century in mortal time.¡± Aurivy pointed out, turning her gaze to me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The game that Sarah told me about is meant to be yed either alone or with a small group, as opposed to the ones we have so far.¡± When I said that, the faces of the others in the room became¡­ rather peculiar.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh?¡± Keliope widened her eyes. ¡°She made an entire universe for a <i><span style="font-weight:400">single-yer</i><span style="font-weight:400"> game? How is that marketable?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I guess that you could call it instanced simtions.¡± I said with a shake of my head. ¡°I¡¯m still wrapping my head around the idea. This came up when I asked about a game that would help train people against void threats. Apparently, you set up a life simtion with custom parameters, and a void beast is randomly generated to go with you. If you can sessfully identify and, if possible, banish the void beast, you clear the game. If you submit the wrong information, you lose.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Winning the simtion allows you to continue the simted scenario without any further void dangers, or you may begin a new scenario. Failing immediately ends the scenario and kicks the yer out.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley furrowed her brow, clearly thinking it through. ¡°So it¡¯s simting entire worlds based on the user¡¯s prompts? Aren¡¯t you worried that this will push us over the edge to the Fifth Rank before we¡¯re ready?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I shook my head, having thought this through as well. ¡°From my understanding, there wouldn¡¯t be any danger of that. Sarah herself just advanced to the Fifth Rank not long ago, so she wouldn¡¯t have had time to make such aplex game since then that would include so many high level concepts. This is most likely something she has had for a while, and set up a number of systems to facilitate world creation without advancing.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right.¡± Ryone hesitated. ¡°But how much does it cost?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was the big question, everyone turning to face me. ¡°It¡¯s a hundred and ten thousand.¡± I admitted the price honestly. ¡°However, Sarah advised me to sell the information about the void god to the Gilded Branch. Balu was just here to deliver the payment, which was just over sixty-thousand. Combined with what we already had, and the winnings from thisst invasion, I believe it¡¯s an expense that we can afford, and one that would help us in the long run.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Aye.¡± Tubrock nodded his head. ¡°This sounds like it¡¯d be a fantasy simtor, once ye got rid of the void beast. ¡®Course, that depends on how customizable the worlds are. Could see it bein¡¯ used as a research base or a workshop.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Bihena, meanwhile, paused and looked around. ¡°Balu was here? She usuallyes by to say hi¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a small chuckle at that. ¡°She said that she was just here to deliver points, and that she¡¯d be by to y another time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Bihena nodded her head, before turning to focus on me again. ¡°As for the game, I feel like it would be good for a number of reasons, outside of simply training against the void. For instance, you can do training exercises for military personnel to get them more ustomed to real worldbat. The same can apply to the police or any emergency service. Depending on the rules for the game worlds, there are a lot of far-reaching applications.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Even Tryval seemed to be in agreement, stroking his chin. ¡°Given our recent plight, I believe that we need a proper method of training people to recognize the dangers that the void presents, without causing them to shun any technology rted to it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right. That would lock out most of our recent advancements, and iste each world.¡± Ashley agreed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In that case¡­ is anyone opposed?¡± I asked, looking around the room. Although Leowynn wasn¡¯t present, it seemed that we had a unanimous ruling.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I would like to ask one thing, dad.¡± Scarlet asked, raising a hand. I looked at her with a smile, signaling for her to continue. ¡°What is the name of the game?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That¡­ caused me to pause, as Sarah hadn¡¯t actually <i><span style="font-weight:400">told</i><span style="font-weight:400"> me the name of the game. I hadn¡¯t thought to ask her about it when we were discussing, focusing more on the content than the title. ¡°Give me one moment.¡± I said, holding a finger up as I messaged Sarah to pass along the question.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Apparently, it is called Codex Chaotic, or C-2 for short.¡± I said, Scarlet letting out a long sigh.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, we¡¯ll be meeting a Cici soon, won¡¯t we?¡± She asked, earning a round of chuckles from the group. I rolled my eyes with a smirk, soon finding the item on the market. Just as Sarah had said, the asking price was a hundred and ten thousand, and the description seemed to match what she told me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing as nobody was against the purchase, I went ahead and spent the points to acquire the new game. As I did, the television flickered, and glowing green eyes stared at us. ¡°Hello. My name is Cici.¡± An innocent voice spoke up. On the screen was a silver-skinned girl with ck hair, wearing a ck and silver dress and with bright green eyes. ¡°Would you like help establishing Codex Chaotic?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I turned to look at the screen, about to refuse out of habit as this was my third game from Sarah. However, given the different nature of this one, I thought it would be best to take her up on the offer. ¡°Of course. Once you¡¯re done, you can find Fifi and Vivi to help you get settled in.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Cici¡¯s eyes widened by a fraction when she learned about the presence of two beings that could be considered her sisters. ¡°I understand. I will be sure to do so once the instation process isplete.¡±

 Chapter 1031: World Sim

    Chapter 1031: World Sim


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Alright, Cici, how exactly does C-2 create so many worlds?¡± I asked, opening my system menu. Ashley had already delivered the software to her incarnation, and was in the process of ¡®installing¡¯ the game. This meant that it had appeared within the void, giving me the chance to see what it was like.


    <span style="font-weight:400">To my surprise, this world was <i><span style="font-weight:400">tiny</i><span style="font-weight:400">. If I had to guess, I would assume that it was a size zero world, which essentially meant thats were the size of onerge building. Obviously, this wasn¡¯t enough to support a poption, but there was no poption to speak of. Instead, the space within the world had been reced by what seemed like endless offices, each one having a standing pod. This pod looked like what one might expect to see used as a full-body virtual reality capsule.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The process is rather simple, sir.¡± Cici exined with a smile. ¡°Whenever it is time to initiate a new world, a version of myself will take the people who are ying that scenario aside to ask about the parameters of what they want. Afterwards, they enter a capsule within Codex Chaotic. Using a highly advanced artificial intelligence program, backed by the systems built into the game, a simted world is established for them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If there are key characters that the individual will face multiple times in their daily life, such as family, lovers, or coworkers, those individuals will be supplemented by souls offered from your respective afterlife system. Other inhabitants of their world will be artificial intelligence programs with more simple cognition.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod when I heard that, before my brows furrowed. ¡°What happens to the souls after the simtion isplete?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Cici blinked, before seeming to understand. ¡°Do not worry, sir. The souls do not immediately pass through whatever cycle you may possess. Rather, souls obtained for Codex Chaotic are equivalent to full-time workers. When they are inserted into a simtion, their memories and personalities are reced with the role that they are chosen for.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°When they are not present in the simtion of another user, they are kept in a collective simtion with their original identities. Likewise, when the simtion that borrows them ends, they are returned to this collective. Souls can either be permanently given to the simtion, or sent to work in shifts, ording to the wishes of yourself and whatever entity may be overseeing your afterlife system.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Will they remember what role they yed in a simtion?¡± I asked, to which Cici shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, sir. Doing so wouldpromise their sense of self and could lead tosting trauma. Instead, the souls are leased to provide a more ¡®living¡¯ aspect to the simtion, but the data that the soul carries is converted into their new identity. Simrly, when they leave, their data is restored to the point they were brought in. This is to ensure a peaceful living environment within the collective simtion, and the potential for souls to rejoin the cycle, should an agreement be reached that would allow them to do so.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I looked over at Irena when I heard that, and she nodded her head. ¡°I can take care of that. Cici, what sort of environment is the collective simtion?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Cici¡¯s smile became brighter when she heard that. ¡°Unlike the simtions created for yers, the collective simtion does not suffer the threat of void monsters. In fact, there are no monsters present within this simtion. It was created with the purpose of being the ¡®ideal utopia¡¯, where any of a person¡¯s needs can be handled with ease. The only apparent downside is that souls chosen for a simtion are randomized, so it will bemon for a soul to go missing for lengths of time while they are being used in a simtion.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I see¡­¡± Irena smiled slightly. ¡°In that case, I¡¯ll set things up so that people have a choice upon entering the afterlife. If they want to enter your simtion, they can do so until such time as their soul reaches the end of its lifespan, or they wish to immediately be reborn.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That is perfectly eptable!¡± Cici nodded her head quickly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, that caused me to look over curiously. ¡°If the collective simtion doesn¡¯t have a void threat, does that mean that you could potentially create worlds that don¡¯t have such a threat from the beginning, to use as other forms of simtions?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Cici tilted her head curiously, a finger on her chin. ¡°While it is possible, it is not a standard application of my systems. Doing so would eliminate the possibility of a ¡®game over¡¯, after all. Unless requested by the Keeper, this option will not be avable to yers of the world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s fine, I just wanted to ask about the possibility. What world systems are avable for your simtion worlds? Can people design new systems to incorporate?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Cici heard my question, she shook her head. ¡°The system database synchronizes with your Administration Room. This is to prevent the Keeper purchasing the game from needing to spend points making different systems avable to the game.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°When someone chooses to create a simtion, they are given a series of choices. They can either choose for their simtion to follow one specific world¡¯s structure, or they can choose to dismiss certain systems.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As an example, I see that you are using Runic Magic for one world, and Familiar Magic for another, as well as systems like Party and Kingdom. When people create a simtion, they can either embrace the full sharedws, or remove certain ones, such as ¡®a world without magic¡¯ or ¡®a world without kingdoms¡¯. They may even go so far as to remove all systems from a world, creating only a fundamentally basic world with the race or races that they choose to inhabit it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head, before hesitating again. ¡°Would it be possible for someone to create a world where they themselves are the Keeper?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Cici hesitated, before shaking her head. ¡°Yes and no. They can establish themselves as the Keeper in the way that the mortal world would perceive you, a being with incredible powers. However, they cannot create a simtion in which they have an Administration Room, and the ability to ess the Keeper systems. This aspect was purposely excluded from the game¡¯s design to prevent certain events that might ur because of them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was, honestly, probably a good thing. ¡°In that case, I only have onest question. How many people can join a single simtion, and are those people all required to be online at the same time for the simtion to function?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There is no limit to the number of people that can be present in a single simtion, sir!¡± Cici reported energetically, arms crossed behind her back. ¡°However, everyone taking part in the simtion must be logged in at the same time for the simtion to progress. This is because the simted world is paused while inactive, and the souls within it are temporarily returned to the collective.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thank you, Cici. I think that is everything that we need to discuss immediately. Though, before you go. I don¡¯t believe this to be the case, but your game doesn¡¯t interact with systems that synchronize your power with the game world, does it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It does not, sir.¡± She shook her head. ¡°Because the yer can create a simtion where their power is drastically different from the real world, this was deemed as infeasible. While knowledge obtained in the simtion can be applied to real life, in the exception of cases where critical systems differ, the experience in terms of the world system will not be affected.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thank you.¡± I nodded, and Cici vanished from the screen, likely going to meet with Fifi and Vivi. Once she was gone, I turned to look at the others. ¡°Any final thoughts or concerns?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">They looked at one another, seeming to think it over. In the end, the one that spoke up was Ashley. ¡°This will mean that certain ideas we had before wouldn¡¯t work out, such as using the simtions to trainrge groups at once. If a single individual wasn¡¯t able to attend, nobody in the group would be able to activate the simtion. However, it should still be able to help for what it was designed for, raising awareness and training against void threats.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The others nodded their heads in agreement, Tubrock grunting. ¡°Unfortunately, the fact that this game creates simtions instead of proper worlds means that the Digital Conversion system won¡¯t be able to save files from the simtions. Still, it should be able to be used within the simtions, unless someone asked for it to be excluded.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing that, I nodded my head as well. Seeing that nobody else had any other concerns, I returned to the mortal world, where I found myself already positioned on my throne. Tsubaki was standing at the base of the stairs in front of me, and I was more surprised by the fact that she wasn¡¯t kneeling than anything else. Though, the fact that she had moved me to the throne may have indicated that she had been busy with other things.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As soon as I arrived, Tsubaki turned to face me with a smile. ¡°Wee back, my Keeper. I was beginning to grow concerned.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded, standing up and stretching lightly. ¡°Sorry, I had to contact some people while I was out. Also, we are getting a new game to help train people against the void.¡± I announced, Tsubaki¡¯s eyes widening slightly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I see. When do you n for it to be released?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ll have Ashley immediately begin the marketing, but the full release should ur within a week. That will give her enough time to upload the game¡¯s server files to the database, and let people be aware of it.¡± After I said that, I began exining the different features of Codex Chaotic, such as its single yer nature.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki listened attentively, waiting until I was finished before speaking up. ¡°I understand, my Keeper. It will be interesting to see what sort of simtions can be created.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Despite her saying that in apletely level tone, I couldn¡¯t help but see her eyes all but sparkling. My brow twitched, and I let out a faint sigh. ¡°You¡¯re going to be ying this game regrly for your new Trials of Blood, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about, my Keeper.¡± She shook her head, but her surface thoughts were emphatically agreeing with me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If this was a game where she could choose to customize her own simted world, including the condition of her character, I could definitely see Tsubaki setting up multiple trials for herself. Though, given that the void beast¡¯s power level was rted to how ¡®positive¡¯ the simted world was, I couldn¡¯t begin to imagine how weak the void beast would be attacking a world that is designed to not even be survivable by a normal person.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m curious though, my Keeper.¡± Tsubaki spoke up, snapping me out of my thoughts. ¡°If youbined this new game with Lifre¡¯s domains in some way, would you be able to create a ¡®rey¡¯ of the game afterwards, letting you know where you went wrong thanks to the narrative?¡± I blinked when Tsubaki presented that idea, nodding my head slightly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That will likely be a significant investment of divinity for Lifre, but something tells me that she would like the idea. And that it would be able to pay off with how many people would use it for various purposes.¡± We would need to tell Lifre about that the next time she came to Olympus. Which¡­ honestly was probably going to be as soon as Ashley announced the new game. She wouldn¡¯t be able to help herself from wanting to learn more about it, after all.

 Chapter 1032: The Simple Things

    Chapter 1032: The Simple Things


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Darkme Technologies announced the release of a new Keeper-sponsored game, the reception was¡­ admittedly rather mixed. There had never been a game sponsored by the Keeper that wasn¡¯t a massive, online game meant to be yed by the entire universe together. Some even braved the void to try to get a sneak peak at the new world, only to find a nonsensical maze of offices.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Without being able to properly see the game¡¯s content, they were kicked out of the game by the entity managing it. They were forced to wait until the official release one week after the game¡¯s announcement.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As the game servers were going live, there was a small girl sitting at her desk, with ck hair and golden eyes. She was curious about the new game, having heard about it frequently in thest week. When she looked outside her window, she saw the seemingly endless sky, distant inds hovering in the air.


    <span style="font-weight:400">During the events of V-Day, Mara was one of the first to volunteer to move to Fyor, having very few personal connections among the other worlds. In doing so, she was given a rather nice house, a standard service given to deities who epted the offer. In fact, the house was even better than the one which she had previously owned on Earth. It was only natural that, after V-Day had passed, she chose to remain on Fyor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Every now and then, Mara would venture out into the other worlds to explore, but she was never an outgoing girl. She had managed to escape from her life of battle, and had no desire to return to such again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Still, there was a difference between a true battle of life and death, and simply ying a game. That was Mara¡¯s belief, and the reason why she often enjoyed ying the online games released both by the Keeper, as well as otherpanies. However, she had a requirement for each such game, and that was that she was able to create a new character, without her standard abilities. Only in doing so would she feel the sense of disconnect that would allow her to enjoy the game properly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The visor on her desk let out a soft ding, notifying her that the new game had been fully installed. With a small smile, she lifted it up, cing it on her head. Unlike most, Mara chose not to have a Virtual avatar of herself, feeling like she had <i><span style="font-weight:400">enough</i><span style="font-weight:400"> of an identity crisis already without any of that. Thus, whenever she yed these games, she would always do so herself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Log me in to Codex Chaotic, please.¡± She said in a soft voice, the helmet recognizing the voicemand. Her vision went pitch ck, and she soon found herself sitting in a small office. There was a blue carpet on the floor, white walls, and a standing, metal capsule positioned just behind her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In front of Mara, sitting across the desk from her was the entity that she had heard about online, the one that would remove anyone that tried to invade this space. She had silver skin, glowing green eyes, and long, ck hair. Mara wasn¡¯t surprised by how young she looked, knowing fully well that her appearance did not mean anything in regards to her actual age.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Wee to Codex Chaotic. My name is Cici, and I¡¯ll be helping you set up your new life.¡± Cici introduced herself with a warm smile. ¡°It¡¯sunch day, so I assume you are not familiar with the procedure here, correct?¡± She asked, to which Mara nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The first thing you¡¯ll want to do is decide what sort of world you want to live in. At the basic level, you can choose to live in any of the known worlds within the Keeper¡¯s domain. If you are an advanced user, you can choose to mix and match systems from different worlds, or remove systems to create a fully customized experience.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara nodded her head, before pausing and asking a question. ¡°Excuse me, but¡­ if I chose Fyor, how would that work? Void beasts can¡¯t attack Fyor, after all¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Cici blinked, before smiling wide. ¡°That is an excellent question. However, there are methods to allow a void beast into Fyor. This can happen in three basic methods. First, the void beast identifies the proper coordinates for an individualyer of Fyor, and teleports there just as you would teleport through the void.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Secondly, the void beast passes through the Fairy Ring or other standard method of inter-world travel. Finally, there is the option of the void beast possessing someone that is traveling, and then spreading its influence. In truth, the ck stone walls of Fyor are not a perfect defense against void beasts. Rather, they only prevent void influences from directly seeping between floors.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara gave a small nod at that, satisfied with the answer. She had only been roughly considering Fyor, but in truth was leaning more towards Deckan. Card magic had always been something that she found interesting, and she wanted to try living as a kitsune for a while. ¡°In that case¡­ can I have my simtion be in Deckan..?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Certainly!¡± Cici epted the request readily. ¡°Is there anything that you would like to change about the world, to prepare for the life you want to live?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara pursed her lips, nodding. ¡°I¡¯d like it to be the only realm, please. And¡­ only have the card magic.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once again, Cici epted the request without issue. ¡°From my records, kitsune are the only race originally native to Deckan. If you choose to keep this modification, that will be the case, unless you want to have more races present?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, that¡¯s fine. I¡¯d like to be a kitsune, too.¡± Mara smiled slightly, dipping her head a bit. ¡°Also, I don¡¯t want to be a god, please. Just a normal kitsune.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Cici appeared to be processing the information, soon following up with additional questions. ¡°Would you like to make any other specifications? For example, any family, friends, an upation?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara¡¯s eyes widened slightly when she heard her options. ¡°Could I¡­ have a family? A mother, father, and older sister. For my age¡­ I don¡¯t want to be in school, so neen and working at the family business selling magic cards.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Cici¡¯s gaze seemed to turn warmer as she listened to Mara¡¯s requests. ¡°Certainly. Is there anything else that you would like to change?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°My name.¡± Mara said quickly, realizing that they were almost done. In order to help remove herself from her game personas, there was an online name that she always liked to use. ¡°Maya. I¡¯d like my name to be Maya Conners.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Very good.¡± Cici nodded, standing up and walking around the desk. ¡°If there is nothing else, I believe that we are ready to begin. Just step into this capsule, and you will immediately be sent into your simted world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Really? There¡¯s nothing else that I need to do, or a wait time?¡± Mara asked in confusion, Cici shaking her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There are no forms you need to fill out, no special systems you need to interact with. Codex Chaotic is designed to be set up based on as vague or specific parameters as the yer wishes.¡± She answered sincerely, Mara standing up and walking over. There was a pneumatic hiss from the capsule as it opened.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara bit her lip gently, walking into the capsule and closing her eyes. The inside was padded, clearly meant for her to rx back against. As she did so, she felt the capsule tilt back, letting hery down.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The next thing she knew, her eyes snapped open, staring up at a wooden ceiling. She could feel a warm nket resting on top of her, and something rubbing along her from behind. Turning back, she lifted the nket to see a ck, bushy tail swishing from side to side. It felt entirely natural, causing a smile to emerge on her face.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Next, she brought her hand up, lightly stroking a finger along one of herrge, fox ears. Doing so sent a shiver down her spine, causing her to shudder. Looking off to the side, she saw the clock saying that it was almost seven in the morning, and her eyes widened. Out of sheer reflex, she jumped out of bed, running over to her dresser to look for a change of clothes before she even realized what she was doing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was only after she had changed that she noticed her actions, pausing and focusing. When she did, it was as if a movie was being yed, memories from her life as Maya Conners. As Mara, she knew that she could ¡®turn off¡¯ those memories if she wanted, and they were specifically kept separate from her memories of the real world, as if there was a force preventing the two from meeting.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she realized this, she let out a deep sigh of relief, allowing the memories to y for a moment. Afterwards, she began to walk out of her room, and down the stairs of her family¡¯s home. In the kitchen, she saw a taller, mature woman wearing an apron over a long-sleeved shirt and tight jeans. ¡°There you are, Maya. You¡¯ve got the day shift at the store today, remember? I¡¯m just about done with breakfast, so sit down and you can get going once you¡¯ve eaten.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Maya¡¯s eyes widened as she heard the gentle voice. The moment she saw the woman, a new set of memories yed, allowing her to ¡®recall¡¯ that this was her mother, ret. ¡°Okay, mom.¡± She said in a somewhat emotional tone, making her way to the dining table.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is everything alright, Maya?¡± ret asked, looking at her daughter in concern. ¡°Are you still drowsy?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah, that¡¯s probably it.¡± Maya nodded her head quickly, lightly pping her cheek to help her ¡®wake up¡¯. Whether in this Keeper¡¯s world or thest, Mara didn¡¯t have any memories of her family. That was why she had asked for one for this simtion. Now, seeing a ¡®mother¡¯ who acted so naturally towards her, she had to fight back to stop her eyes from turning wet.


    <span style="font-weight:400">ret smiled, nodding her head. It didn¡¯t take long to finish the breakfast, two steaming strips of bacon and scrambled eggs with toast. Maya¡¯s stomach practically roared as the dish was presented to her, wasting no time in devouring it. Clearly, her tastes were the same in this game as they were on the outside.


    <span style="font-weight:400">ret lightly chuckled, returning to the kitchen to cook for herself next. ¡°Michelle should be hungry when you get there, so I went ahead and made something for you to give her. It¡¯s on the counter on the way out.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Maya heard that, she quickly nodded her head. As soon as she was done with her breakfast, she hopped up from the table, her tail swishing happily behind her. After getting her shoes, as well as her personal magic deck, she made her way to the door.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Following her mother¡¯s words, Maya saw the card resting on the counter, showing a thick slice of roasted ham, with a side of mashed potatoes covered in brown gravy and steamed carrots. Maya recognized it as their dinner from the night before, when her sister was already gone to work. She grabbed the card and pocketed it, making her way out of the house.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Maya always ran to work, feeling that it was too close to bother taking the transport nodes. Five minutester, she pushed open the door of the Conners Cards storefront, a bell ringing overhead. ¡°Hello, thank you for visiting Conners-- Oh, hey Maya!¡± A familiar voice called out, a slightly taller kitsune woman with ck hair greeting her from behind the counter.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Maya¡¯s smile grew wider and wider as she made her way in. ¡°Hey, Michelle. Mom asked me to bring you something to eat when you get off.¡± She reached into her pocket, retrieving the card containing Michelle¡¯s dinner and handing it over.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Michelle¡¯s eyes widened as she saw the card, her stomach immediately betraying her. ¡°Oh, thanks! I was nning to grab something on the way home, but this is so much better. Do you mind taking over for me a little early¡­?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Maya giggled lightly, nodding her head. ¡°Sure thing.¡± She said, already walking around the counter.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯re the best!¡± Michelle dered as she pulled Maya into a hug, before running towards the break room in the back. Maya was left alone in the store, her tail swinging faster and faster. She knew that there was some void incident in this world that she would need to solve, but for the moment she was simply enjoying herself and her simple, family life.

 Chapter 1033: The Game Is Afoot

    Chapter 1033: The Game Is Afoot


    <span style="font-weight:400">


    <span style="font-weight:400">Maya walked around Ashtanu after having gotten off work when her father came to the store. There was a bright smile on her face, enjoying the new, simple life of living with a genuine family. However¡­ in the back of her mind, Maya knew that there was something else that she had to be doing.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Cici might not have put the void beast in right away. With the settings I asked for, it¡¯s hard to say what level of monster I¡¯d be dealing with. Although I didn¡¯t give myself any extravagant powers, I did put myself partially in charge of a magic shop, which gives me ess to arge variety of spells.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Even though Maya was enjoying this family life, she couldn¡¯t forget why she was in this simtion. Not because she wanted to clear it and leave, but rather just the opposite. As long as the unknown void threat was out there, there was the chance that it would manifest by attacking one of her family members.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Because of this, she had to get ahead of it, look for anything odd in the city that could potentially impact her life, and identify the rules behind the void beast. One wrong guess would mean that her new family would disappear, so she also had to be extremely careful. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Cici, are you listening?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She called out in her mind, not sure if the digital entity would monitor all of the yers, to wait for them to submit their deductions.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s right.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Cici¡¯s response came less than a secondter, surprising Maya. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Do you already have findings to submit?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">N-No, I just wanted to ask you a question. If a yer discovers the appearance of a void beast, and contacts a temple to ask for a fallen god to deal with it, does that count as clearing the simtion?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> This was something that Maya had considered doing as soon as she found the threat, but she needed to confirm the validity of her idea.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">If the void beast is destroyed, you will have one chance to make your submission regarding its rules. If you answer correctly, the simtion is cleared. However, answering incorrectly will result in a game over.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Maya bit her lower lip at that, realizing that her idea was equivalent to cheating on the test. The whole point of the simtion was to discover what void monster was lurking in the world, and how it operated. It made sense that getting outside help to defeat it wouldn¡¯t work.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She thanked Cici for the answer in her mind, turning her attention back to the city around her. Maya strained her ears, listening for any conversation that might hint at a void monster. Someone was talking about how their car suddenly broke down, or how their terminal was on the fritz. Either of those could <i><span style="font-weight:400">potentially</i><span style="font-weight:400"> be the answer, but she wasn¡¯t sure how that would impact her own life.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a sullen sigh, she ended her day by making her way back home, concluding that it was likely that the void monster had not be active yet. There was no point in searching for something that wasn¡¯t there, after all.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she turned the corner to head home, however, she saw a man creating a holographic sign along a nk piece of wall. This was a rathermon act nowadays, whether for advertising, or even graffiti. Because the sign wasn¡¯t permanent, it was easy for the police to remove it. However, this sign didn¡¯t seem big enough for either of those situations, so Maya walked over curiously.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When the man walked away, she saw that it was a missing person¡¯s sign, and her body stiffened. The person missing was a young kitsune with brown hair and blue eyes. Maya immediately turned to the departing figure, rushing to catch up with him. ¡°Sir! Sir?¡± The man turned around, listless eyes watching Maya.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yes?¡± He asked, his voice as somber as his expression.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Can you tell me about her?¡± Maya asked, pointing at the picture. A trace of light entered the man¡¯s eyes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Have you seen my Cinder?¡± He asked, though Maya quickly shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, but I want to help look! The police don¡¯t know the area as well as the people that live in it, right?¡± She asked with the best smile that she could manage. Missing people were, admittedly, oftentimes the result of a normal incident. However, when you know that there is a void beast in the area, there is a high chance that anyone going missing is rted. ¡°Besides, I work at a magic shop, so maybe I can help make a spell to find her if I know more about her!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The light in the man¡¯s eyes dimmed slightly, but he nodded his head. ¡°Thank you for caring. Cinder is my daughter¡­ She went out with some friends a couple of days ago, and hasn¡¯te back. When I asked her friends, they said that she never showed up. Please, if you do find anything, let me know.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Maya¡¯s eyes widened, now certain that this was rted to her void beast problem. A normal monster would have left obvious traces in the city, or at least a body. A kidnapper would have called for a ransom. As for traffickers¡­ well, there was always the slim chance, though she would much rather believe that a void beast was involved. ¡°I¡¯ll do that, mister! Where was she supposed to meet them?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The man hesitated to answer, before apparently deciding that there was nothing to lose. ¡°They were going to the theater, and then nned to head out to get something to eat.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Maya nodded her head, thanking the man again, before turning and running off. However, she only ran far enough to turn the corner, ncing back and watching the man leave. In order to retrace Cinder¡¯s steps, she had to know exactly where she left from. Thankfully, the man didn¡¯t seem to notice her, still going around and posting the missing person signs. He did this for nearly an hour before making his way back to an apartment building three blocks down from where Maya herself lived.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now that she had a lead, Maya sent a message to her mother to let her know that she¡¯d bete getting home. Afterwards, she used her terminal to find the nearest theaters to Cinder¡¯s house. There were three in the area, so it was hard to say exactly which one she went to. After all, people often didn¡¯t n their outings ording to efficiency. Thus, Maya would need to trace each path.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once she had her destinations, Maya searched back through the weather and traffic history to two days ago. If there was an ident on the road, she may have taken a different path, or she may have gone in between buildings if it was raining. While she didn¡¯t find any reports of an ident, the weather report did indicate that it was raining for arge portion of the day.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Maya chewed gently on her lip as she pulled up a map, drawing out the most likely paths that Cinder would have taken. She started to walk along the first path, making sure to keep an eye out for any alleys or awnings that would have offered a dry path through the rain, as well as any suspicious buildings.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Maya was certain that Cinder would have gone straight to her destination, since there would be no need to take a detour for food when they already nned to eat after the movie. Thus, she followed the path, retracing her steps to take any side paths she saw along the way, and then repeated this for the other two theaters.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Maya didn¡¯t see any trace of Cinder, or any indication that she had simply been abducted. With a sigh, she made her way home once again, having spent three hours on this fruitless endeavor. When her mother asked where she had been, she simply answered that she had been taking a walk around the town. That wasn¡¯t really a lie, as she had been doing a <i><span style="font-weight:400">lot</i><span style="font-weight:400"> of walking around town.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While her mother let the matter drop there, her sister teased her that she had been secretly meeting up with a boy, causing Maya¡¯s cheeks to flush red. She wasn¡¯t used to being teased, and so she stammered out a reply before rushing to her room.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The next day, when Maya left to head to work, she saw that there was another missing person¡¯s poster sign up. Now she was <i><span style="font-weight:400">certain</i><span style="font-weight:400"> that it was rted to the void beast, and that she was running out of time. Still, she had to avoid drawing attention from her family, so she went to work after memorizing the number on the sign.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While she was at work, in between customers, she called the number to ask for information as she had done with Cinder. Thankfully, the wife of the person missing was more than willing to help anyone who wanted to look for her husband. Once she was done with the call, Maya thanked her for the information and hung up. Now, she had two paths, and could narrow down the range of the void monster.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, what Maya found rmed her. The paths of both Cinder and the missing husband did ovep in an alley, one that she had previously investigated. More to the point, both incidents happened around noon. <i><span style="font-weight:400">So¡­ the void monster has a limited activity window, as well as range of motion.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The worst part was that this alley could also be used as a shortcut when Maya traveled to and from the shop. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Michelle¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Maya¡¯s eyes widened when she realized that her sister was the first likely target, if Maya didn¡¯t act quickly. Michelle should be home long before noon, but Maya didn¡¯t know how early the void beast¡¯s activity windowsted, only that it was gone by the time she got off work, and didn¡¯t appear when she was on her way in the morning.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As soon as she realized this, her face paled, and she hurried to call her sister. When it didn¡¯t connect by the third ring, Maya was about ready to panic, only for Michelle¡¯s voice to suddenly speak up. ¡°Hey, sis. All good? Didn¡¯t forget your lunch or anything, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°N-No.¡± Maya said, letting out a long sigh of relief. She was d to hear that Michelle was okay. ¡°Hey, would you mind switching shifts with me, starting tonight?¡± Maya asked, knowing that this was the easiest way to keep Michelle safe, while also giving herself time to investigate.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh? You want the graveyard shift? Everything alright?¡± Michelle¡¯s voice had a touch of worry to it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah, it¡¯s fine. I just thought it¡¯d be a nice change, is all.¡± Maya tried to sound as confident as she could, but Michelle¡¯s voice turned more yful.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That so¡­? You know you can¡¯t have boys over with thete shift, right? No matter how empty the store gets.¡± Michelle teased, causing Maya¡¯s face to go bright red.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I-It¡¯s not like that! Really, it¡¯s not!¡± She hesitated for a moment, swallowing thickly before deciding to be honest. ¡°¡®Chelle¡­ I think that there¡¯s a void monster nearby.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°<i><span style="font-weight:400">What?!¡± </i><span style="font-weight:400">Michelle¡¯s voice immediately lost her yful tone, turning deadly serious. ¡°Maya, what are you talking about?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thest few days¡­ two people have gone missing. I did some research, and both of them werest seen on a path that has them use that alley you sometimes cut through on your way home from work, around noon. The posters are practically right outside our house. I¡¯d just like to swap shifts with you, just for some peace of mind, okay?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a long moment of silence from her sister, before Michelle let out a sigh. ¡°Okay, I got it. It might be a coincidence, but we can switch if it makes you feel better. Though, I am going to tell the church about this, okay?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Maya gulped, knowing that it would be suspicious if she asked Michelle not to. There was no reason why Maya wouldn¡¯t want the church to know about a void monster abducting people. ¡°Got it.¡± She nodded, knowing that she was on a timer now. It would take at most two days for a fallen god to be dispatched, after they verified the evidence. Maya only had until then to make sure that she knew all of the rules that she needed toplete the scenario.

 Chapter 1034: Revelations

    Chapter 1034: Revtions


    <span style="font-weight:400">Because of her arrangement with her sister, Maya worked another shift that night, taking over for the time when Michelle would have normally worked. As she had expected, there was another missing person¡¯s poster up on the wall near their house after she had returned home earlier in the day. At this point, Maya was certain that the beast that she had to track down was made more obvious due to the simplicity of her request.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She wasn¡¯t about to look a gift horse in the mouth, though. After Michelle took over for her the next day, Maya cast a simple energizing spell on herself so that she didn¡¯t have to go home to sleep. Afterwards, she walked towards the alley that she had been keeping her eyes on. This would be her only real chance to solve the riddle of this simtion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">To avoid beingbeled as suspicious, she used an invisibility card to hide her figure, staying at the entrance of the alley and waiting. She kept staring into it, watching for any kind of change. There was the chance that the alley had a way of luring other people in, so she had to keep reminding herself not to enter the alley for <i><span style="font-weight:400">any</i><span style="font-weight:400"> reason, even if it seemed important.


    <span style="font-weight:400">One hour passed, and then two¡­ once the time hit eleven in the morning, Maya¡¯s eyes were already drooping. If she were watching paint dry, at least she¡¯d be watching <i><span style="font-weight:400">something</i><span style="font-weight:400"> happening. However, just as she was thinking that, she heard something that sounded like a whisper in the air.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Maya looked around sharply, her eyes widening when she saw the pigment on the wall shifting. A painting of a brown-haired kitsune girl appeared, fully animated as she walked deeper into the alley along the wall. Maya felt the urge to follow her, digging her nails into her palm to resist. Someone that had been walking down the sidewalk, however, was not so aware of the danger.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh?¡± A middle-aged man spoke up when he saw the movement, turning to enter the alley to investigate. Maya wanted to shout out to stop him, but she needed to see what was going to happen.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As the man entered the alley, other kitsune figures began to appear on the wall. Maya could recognize some of them from the posters outside her house, and assumed that the other faces had been simrly abducted. She brought her hand up, covering her mouth to stifle a gasp.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At this point, the man was bewildered, trying to talk to the paintings. However, they just watched him, smiling. The moment he turned, saying that he was going to go get some help, his body vanished, reappearing depicted on the artwork along the wall.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Maya¡¯s eyes trembled, and she gulped, squeezing her eyes shut to focus. When she opened them, she involuntarily took a step back. All of the figures in the artwork were now on her end of the wall, seeming to be staring at her. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Cici, I-I want to submit my findings!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Maya called out, knowing that she only had this one chance. If she tried to leave, she would vanish, just like the man just now.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Go on?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Cici asked in a gentle tone, and Maya took a deep breath to organize her thoughts.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">The void beast has a limited activity window of two hours. While it is active, it manifests images of people it has trapped along the wall it infects.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying this much, Maya had to make a decision. Did the void beast kill its targets, or merely trap them in its artwork? The fact that they were actively luring people in hinted that they did not retain their original minds, at the very least. Biting her lip, Maya decided to risk it. <i><span style="font-weight:400">The images it manifests lure new prey into the infected zone. If the prey makes any attempt to leave, it is instantly consumed and added to the collection. It is¡­ incredibly likely that the prey is killed immediately, fueling the growth of the void beast. At the end of its activity period, all of the manifested images disappear.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a long pause from Cici, and Maya was worried that she had gotten a critical detail wrong. How exact was she supposed to be when determining the rules of the void beast? In most cases, it would be incredibly difficult to determine a beast¡¯s rules without falling victim to it personally. Even then, you may only get a small fraction of the rules governing the beast.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, Cici¡¯s voice spoke up a few momentster. <i><span style="font-weight:400">You are¡­ correct.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She said, the images staring at her from the wall melting away. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Would you like to end the simtion now, or continue?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Maya let out a sigh of relief, shaking her head. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Continue¡­ please.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> There was something that she had to do now that this was over. <i><span style="font-weight:400">And thank you.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯m happy to be of service.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Cici said as Maya turned to walk home. When she arrived, her mother was pacing back and forth in worry, her father sitting down on the chair with his brows knit together. At the sound of the door opening, ret jumped, turning and running to pick up Maya. ¡°You¡¯re home!¡± She said in relief. ¡°Michelle told us that you found a void beast. When you didn¡¯t return home, we were worried sick!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her father, Martin, nodded his head, letting out his own breath of relief. ¡°Don¡¯t worry us like that again, Maya. I don¡¯t want to have to go out there and put up your poster, too¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Maya felt her eyes watering, and quickly shook her head while buried in her mother¡¯s arms. ¡°You¡­ you won¡¯t. I think the temple took care of it. I saw it¡­ but it disappeared, so I think it¡¯s gone now.¡± In fact, she was certain that it was gone, but couldn¡¯t say that just yet.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Still, that was very reckless of you, Maya.¡± ret scolded, finally setting Maya down on the floor. ¡°Promise you won¡¯t do something like that again.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡­ I promise.¡± Maya nodded her head, biting her lower lip. ¡°But¡­ is it okay if we close the store for today? Just for today¡­ there¡¯s something that I want to talk about. But I need everyone here first.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Martin arched his brow for a moment, ret looking confused. After a moment, her father nodded and called Michelle, telling her to close up early, and make sure not to take any shortcutsing home. As a twenty-four/seven shop, it was rare for their business to ever close, aside from special holidays, but Martin seemed to realize how important whatever Maya wanted to talk about was.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While waiting for Michelle to arrive, both of Maya¡¯s parents tried to ask her what kind of thing she wanted to talk about. However, Maya firmly shook her head, refusing to say anything about it until everyone was present.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once Michelle got home, she looked around, seeing everyone in the living room. ¡°Hey, what¡¯s going on?¡± She asked, their parents looking at Maya once again. Maya hesitated, reaching into her card pouch and pulling one out that she had prepared overnight at work.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°D-Dad¡­ can you confirm the effects of this card for everyone?¡± She asked, passing it to him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Martin blinked, taking the card and examining it. ¡°This is¡­ a zone of truth. If anyone in this zone speaks a known falsehood, the light filling the zone will turn red, and they will be subjected to pain matching the severity of their lie.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Maya nodded her head as the others looked confused. ¡°Please¡­ please use that on me. I need to tell you all something, but I need you to know without any doubt that I¡¯m telling you the truth.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, honey, you know we¡¯ll believe you if you just tell us¡­¡± ret said, but Maya shook her head firmly. This was something too unbelievable without proof. However, the only proof she could show was something like this.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Please¡­¡± Maya emphasized again. Martin hesitated, before nodding his head. He flicked the card at Maya, activating it in midair. A bright, green light descended from the ceiling around her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Maya took a deep breath, centering herself. She had decided to be honest with them. She wanted a family life, but that life could not be built on a fundamental lie. ¡°This world¡­ is a game.¡± She said, while the light remained green. Her family watched her uncertainly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What do you mean?¡± ret asked, Maya turning to focus on her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This entire world¡­ it¡¯s a simtion¡­ In my world, it¡¯s a game known as Codex Chaotic. A new game that was just released. My name isn¡¯t Maya, it¡¯s Mara. The point of the game is to create a new life, with people created by the game. Somewhere in that new life, there will be the threat of a void monster. In order to beat the game, you have to find the void monster, and identify the rules that if abides by. If you do, the monster is defeated.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, when you said that the beast disappeared¡­¡± Martin began, Maya nodding her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Y-Yes. I watched to identify its rules. I¡­ I don¡¯t know if the setting of the game has it so that the temple killed it or not, but it is definitely gone now. That¡¯s why I know it won¡¯te back.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Michelle blinked, looking at the green light. ¡°Does that mean that the simtion is over? That you¡¯re going away?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Maya shook her head quickly, almost shouting out. ¡°N-No! I don¡¯t want to go! I¡­ I asked for this simtion¡­ to have a family¡­ because I don¡¯t have any memories of a family in my world. Ie from another world, even outside of this game. In my original world, I had some problems with my memory, so I can¡¯t remember who I was or what sort of family I had. That¡¯s why I wanted to know what having a family really felt like.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°After clearing the simtion, a yer has two options. They can either end the simtion, or keep it going without further threat from the void. I don¡¯t want to lose the family that I just found. But¡­¡± Maya lowered her head. ¡°I¡­ I couldn¡¯t live a lie. I didn¡¯t want to continue this simtion without you knowing anything. So, I made that card. If¡­ if you don¡¯t want me to keep it going, if you don¡¯t want me to stay, I¡¯ll¡­ I¡¯ll understand. But I wanted you to know the truth.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">ret looked like she was about to throw herself at Maya, but Martin put a hand on her shoulder to stop her. ¡°Can you tell us about your life on the outside?¡± He asked, Maya gulping and nodding her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m¡­ a Goddess. Originally, I was in an invasion force sent by another Keeper to attack the world. However, the Keeper I was supposed to kill called out to me, and showed me more kindness than any of my allies ever had. He weed me, and offered me a chance to live in his world. I¡­ I epted, and helped him fight.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right now, I live in a dungeon world known as Fyor, where a lot of different races live. I don¡¯t really have many friends, and I live alone in a big house. I spend most of my time either ying games or just wandering through the streets of different worlds. Whenever I am in a game, I always change my name to Maya. That¡¯s where the name came from for this game. It makes me feel safe, so I don¡¯t lose more of my identity.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Martin nodded his head, doing a far better job of keeping himself calm than either Michelle or ret. ¡°Are you not worried that you¡¯ll lose your identity if you stay here with us?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Maya quickly shook her head. ¡°I-I thought I might. But, after entering the simtion, I realized that wasn¡¯t going to happen. It does a good job of separating my offline identity and memories from what I experience here. Does¡­ does that mean you want me to go?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing Maya lowering her head, Martin let out a sigh, finally releasing his wife. ret lunged forward, sweeping Maya up in her arms again. ¡°No matter what else may be the case, you are still my daughter. I would never ask you to go. Game or not, you can stay for as long as you want.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°R-Really?¡± Maya asked, her eyes watering once again. ¡°It¡¯s fine if I stay?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">ret nodded her head fiercely, Michelle choking back a sob as she nodded as well. Martin simply smiled. ¡°You can stay, naturally. But, make sure that you log out often enough to take care of your health in the real world. If you wither away out there, goddess or not, you¡¯d still disappear on this end, right?¡±

 Chapter 1035: The Thrill Of The Hunt

    Chapter 1035: The Thrill Of The Hunt


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Cici, can you give me a status report on C-2?¡± I asked, sitting in the lounge area of Olympus. It had been a week now since the game had been released. Aside from Balu briefly visiting to spend some time with Bihena, there hadn¡¯t been anything noteworthy. So, I decided to check to see how everyone was adapting to the new game.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course, sir.¡± Cici¡¯s voice spoke out from the speakers in Olympus. ¡°At this point, roughly sixty percent of the poption in the primarys have experienced their first simtion. Of these, more than eighty percent have fallen victim to their simtions, while a further five percent are still in the process of clearing them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head slightly, my brow twitching. ¡°So, only fifteen percent of the people who entered the game have cleared a scenario?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s correct. This is due to many people asking for extravagant conditions in their simtion. Only zero-point-five percent of those that have cleared their scenarios did so with such conditions in ce.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right¡­ does Codex Chaotic have any form of ranking system?¡± When I asked this, there was a brief pause. People were always stimted by a sense ofpetition, even in a single-yer game.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There is a configurable ranking option, yes. How would you like me to assign the rankings?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I thought about that for a moment, before shrugging my shoulders. ¡°Assign the yers points based on the difficulty of the void beast that they faced, as well as the time toplete the simtion. If they lose, subtract that many points from their total score. That should convince more people to slowly adapt instead of biting off more than they can chew.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Understood, sir. Should I subtract points for those that are remaining in the simtion afterpleting it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No.¡± I shook my head firmly. ¡°If they remain in the simtion, they don¡¯t care about rankings in the first ce. Just let that simtion be their reward. However, make sure to set up reminders if they y for too long at a time and start to damage their health.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I will keep that in mind.¡± Cici responded briefly. ¡°Do you have any other instructions?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not right now.¡± I said, standing up. I was somewhat tempted to y the game myself, but I felt that the dangers were too high. I didn¡¯t know if dying in a game world would be enough to destroy everything, but that was not really a risk that I could take. At most, I could send my Virtual self in, since I had gotten a new one after Desbar¡¯s servers were fried. However, my Virtual self was busy training in Fragments of Acidia.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I walked out of the lounge and towards the elevator, I closed my eyes, focusing on my connection to Prisci. She had been rather active since I granted her the title of my priestess. I checked in on her now and then in secret, and she didn¡¯t brag about her now position, but rather simply sought to inform people that she would help them with any of their troubles that she could.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In doing so, she had created hundreds of divine abilities to use in the many divine tomes that I had given her partial ess to. These abilities ranged from altering the weather to curing illness, bestowing blessings, and even offensive techniques to defeat powerful monsters. Although she did channel a small amount of divinity from me whenever she used one of these techniques, she was simultaneously promoting faith in me to those around her, so I¡¯d say that it was a positive.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As far as her pestering me with constant prayers? Thankfully, that wasn¡¯t an issue. At most, she would pray to one of the other gods or goddesses, and have them ry a message to me. She did this once via Aurivy, asking me if it was okay for her to use the powers I had bestowed her so openly. This seemed to be her answer to the information that I wouldn¡¯t always be able to answer responses.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While thinking about that, I blinked, calling out again. ¡°Cici? How is Tsubaki doing?¡± I asked, entering the elevator and heading towards my own pce within Olympus.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I arrived, Cici¡¯s voice followed behind me. ¡°She is still in her initial simtion. Would you like me to show you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You can disy what¡¯s going on in an active simtion?¡± I asked in surprise.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course, sir.. There is the chance that someone will wish to livestream their experience, so such a function is necessary. Additionally, I can provide multiple camera angles adjusted in realtime to provide the best viewing experience.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I paused for a moment, before nodding my head. I turned down the hall, heading for my office. ¡°In that case, please disy Tsubaki¡¯s simtion.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki couldn¡¯t be happier with her simtion. Because the world paused any time she logged out, she was able to still do things such as cook and clean around Olympus regrly before logging back in. However, this Trial of Blood was considerably different from those that she had gotten used to.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Having felt that she became too ustomed to fighting in the wilderness with her previous trials, she set the current one to a more urban setting. Her simtion was akin to a sort of apocalypse. There was a massive monster attack, and one of the monsters infected a portion of the surviving poption, taking control of them and blending in among the survivors. Because of this, Tsubaki had to be constantly wary of not only the monsters, but of the people as well.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Next, she removed all forms of magic or ss levels from the simtion, meaning that she was only able to fight with basic levels of strength. This forced her to rely on salvaging and her own intuition to fight the giant monsters that still inhabited the city.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As for figuring out the void beast guing the world? Tsubaki wasn¡¯t worried about that, nor had she noticed anything strange. In fact, she was doubting whether there was such a void beast at all. Perhaps the conditions that she set for herself were so harsh that the simtion determined that a void beast was unnecessary.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki held a rifle in one hand as she lurked on the top floor of a dpidated building. She wore a skintight wingsuit and goggles, but notably did not wear a parachute. Parachutes were toorge of a target when deployed, so Tsubaki set up an alternatending method in various target buildings.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She knew that she only had two or three shots before her target got close enough that she would have to evacuate, so she was using armor piercing rounds with the most powerful rifle she had managed to salvage. It was loud, and bound to draw the attention of both survivors and monsters, but she considered it worth the risk. After all, her target this time was one of the biggest beasts in the city.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Tsubaki felt the vibrations run through the building, she knew her target was close. Turning her body, she aimed the rifle out the window, peering through the scope. There was a massive centipede, its body more than two hundred meters long, and with the face of a humanoid on its head. It let out screams of pain as it moved, mimicking the sounds of its victims.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki had studied this monster for days, having set it as her first real target for her trial. She steadied her breathing, watching the monster through the scope while lining up her shot. Its movements were too fast for any reliable uracy while it was moving, so she waited until it came to rest, its body wrapped partially around another building.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She held her breath, adjusting her aim to one of the monster¡¯srge eyes. After the first shot, it should rush towards her, making the second shot somewhat easier tond than when it was moving normally. Once her shot was lined up, she pulled the trigger, feeling the recoil of the gun pushing her back slightly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a loud bang, the bullet tearing through the air and piercing through the eye of the humanoid face. The centipede monster let out a shrill screech, its head rearing back and eyes tightly shut. Tsubaki knew that she had sessfully pierced the eye, seeing a trail of green blood leaking down from it, and immediately loaded her second shot.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The centipede opened its remaining good eye, looking around in a frenzy. When it determined which direction the shot hade from, it began running in that direction, causing tremors throughout the area. Tsubaki steadied her breath again, and fired her second shot. However, the centipede monster closed its remaining eye the moment it heard the gunshot, causing the bullet to do only superficial damage.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki clicked her tongue, strapping the rifle to her back as she ran towards the back of the building. As part of her precautions, she had opened every window on the top floor of the building that she was firing from, making it easy for her to run and jump out of that window. When she did, she spread her arms and legs out, the webbing of the wingsuit deploying and letting her glide down the adjacent street.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Though she couldn¡¯t afford to look behind her, she could still hear when the monster crashed into the building that she had just left, pressing a button on a small device in her left hand. Explosions rocked through the air, pushing her further along as she detonated the explosives that she ced throughout the building.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki focused, controlling her path as much as she could. Her destination was in sight, she just had to make sure that she hit it at the right angle. She was flying towards arge, loosely spread out over a hole in the wall of a building¡¯s third floor. When she was just about to hit the, she pulled up on her wingsuit, increasing her angle while also slightly decreasing her velocity. Immediately after, she pulled her limbs in to brace for the impact.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she hit the, it immediately broke off of the wall it was pinned to, unable to withstand the sudden force applied to it. Although it slowed her down, it had only marginally done so, and her body crashed through onto arge mattress she set on a rolling tform. Tsubaki grunted in pain when she hit the mattress, which rushed to the far wall where she had other padding ced.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She could feel that her shoulder had been dislocated from the impact, and grit her teeth as she pushed it back into ce. More importantly, though, the rifle that she had been wearing snapped in half as soon as she hit the mattress. However, Tsubaki herself had survived, though she would need some time to recover.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Did I kill it?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She asked, her message being transmitted to Cici.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I can confirm, the monster was stunned by the explosive sts, but ultimately died under the weight of the rubble falling on its body.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki let out a long sigh of relief, nodding her head. That was one of her trial targets down, and there were only two more to go before she considered this a sess.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">My brow twitched as I watched Tsubaki pulling off a stunt that would be hard toe by even in an action movie. ¡°Really¡­ she always pushes herself too hard.¡± I said with a shake of my head, before bing curious. ¡°By the way, what is the void monster that she has to identify?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Cici cleared her throat, showing Tsubaki¡¯s face. The tinted sses suddenly became transparent, revealing her bright red eyes. ¡°Every day, the eye colors of every creature are randomized.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That would exin why Tsubaki hadn¡¯t been able to identify it, given how simple it was. It wasn¡¯t likely that she paid attention to herself in a reflection that much. ¡°I¡­ see. I was expecting something a bit more¡­ well, more.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Due to the perils already present in the simtion, it was determined appropriate to use the least dangerous void beast options. Realistically speaking, Tsubaki should have died eighteen times already, including this most recent hunt. Any further difficulty would have made sess impossible.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Something that I¡¯ve learned over the years¡­¡± I said while shaking my head. ¡°Never try to tell Tsubaki what is or is not possible.¡±

 Chapter 1036: A Murderous Crow

    Chapter 1036: A Murderous Crow


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once Tsubaki was able to move, she rolled herself off of the now-ruined mattress that she hadnded in, and worked on disentangling herself from the. Although she had been confident in her escape n, this was still her first time properly executing it. Once she had untangled the and freed herself, she held her bad arm steady and turned to look at the broken remains of her gun.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If I had a good forge, I might be able to fix that, but¡­¡± She let her words trail off, seeing the shattered barrel and smashed scope. When she hadnded on the mattress, the strap had been what pulled her shoulder out of its socket. Otherwise, she may have just been able to get away with a few bruises and some dibobtion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, while there was certainly a mechanic shop in the city, and even a cksmith that she found, both of those were taken over by people. Given the settings that Tsubaki asked for in the beginning, there was no way of knowing who among the other residents of the city could be trusted. As time went on, it was actually <i><span style="font-weight:400">more</i><span style="font-weight:400"> likely that anyone she found was possessed by a monster.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki let out a small sigh, kneeling down and resting her bad arm on her knee as she used her free hand to retrieve the remaining ammunition from the rifle. Although she wouldn¡¯t be able to reuse the gun itself, there was no reason for her not to use the bullets.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she was doing this, she was nning out her escape path in the back of her mind. Now that the centipede was dead, it would be attracting some of the other giant monsters to its corpse for a free meal. While Tsubaki was <i><span style="font-weight:400">highly</i><span style="font-weight:400"> uncertain about whether or not its meat was safe for regr consumption, that was naturally not a problem for these monsters.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The sewers were not an option. Tsubaki had tried to navigate her way through them on her first day in the simtion, thinking it might make for a goodwork of passages throughout the city. However¡­ something about seeing corpses strung up on a series of webs and spiders more than six feet long traveling in swarms of dozens convinced her <i><span style="font-weight:400">quite</i><span style="font-weight:400"> swiftly that it was best for her to stay above ground.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was also the reason that she made sure to block <i><span style="font-weight:400">every</i><span style="font-weight:400"> manhole cover that she found. Without magic or any form of special powers, even the weakest of these creatures took careful nning to defeat.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once she had acquired all of the resources that she could carry, Tsubaki grabbed the silenced pistol she stashed in the building ahead of time and made her way down to the street level. Her safehouse was on the other side of the city, and she had to move fast if she wanted to get there before the sun went down.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Along the way, as she duck between alleys and behind cars, Tsubaki caught sight of a group of six residents, three men and three women. The women were armed with shotguns, while each of the men held arge machete. Judging from the states of the des, they had seen recent action, blood and hair sticking to the de.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki briefly froze up when she saw the group, doing her best to remain as still and quiet as possible. In order toplete her trial, she had researched each of the different types of monsters that had attacked the city. In total, there were three unique giant monsters, sixrge beast herds, and what she called the Stalker.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Stalker was the monster that would either possess or disguise itself as a normal person. For the most part, it appeared entirely normal. However, it had heightened strength, durability, reflexes, and senses. Judging by the gore on the machete, either this group wasposed of stalkers, they had just killed one, or they were simply murderers. With two of the three options ones she would rather avoid, she had to do her best to avoid detection.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This led to her hiding at the entrance of an alley for nearly five minutes, until the group had fully left the area. Only then did she continue along her way. Her safehouse was at the heart of the southern suburbs, as far from the identified danger zones as she could manage. As for its identity¡­ really, it was just an old family home that she reinforced with a bit of easy craftsmanship, such as barring the windows and trapping the doors.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, she managed to avoid detection along her route, temporarily disabling her own traps to allow herself inside. When she saw that none of them had been sprung, she was confident that her home was still secure. The first thing that she did was check the time, and then turned on an old radio that she had put together.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Every now and then, Tsubaki had heard broadcasts for help from other survivors, though she firmly ignored them. The reason that she kept listening to the radio wasn¡¯t because she was looking for other survivors, but because she wanted to monitor the government¡¯s response.


    <span style="font-weight:400">On the third day after the attack, she received a broadcast stating that there was a government bunker set up to the west of the city. Out of curiosity, she found a concealed spot more than a kilometer away to overlook the facility and hid within some deep foliage, watching with the scope that had formerly been attached to her rifle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Through the scope, she saw survivors being escorted by those in military suits into what looked like arge barracks. She watched the scene for more than three hours, until she had to hurry back to her safehouse before it got dark. In that entire time, she didn¡¯t see any of the residents emerge from the barracks after entering it. Every now and then, one of the men in military uniforms would walk in, and emerge carryingrge trash bags.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For a survivor camp, this was sending off red gs left and right, to the point where Tsubaki was certain that the base had been overrun by Stalkers. Given how intelligent they were, it was even likely that they had inserted themselves into the highest ranks of the government. Thus, Tsubaki used the radio to listen for any ¡®offers of iing aid¡¯. Because if she heard that, she had to immediately vacate the area. Even if it meant leaving the area surrounding the city.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing nothing but static from her radio, Tsubaki nodded her head, shutting it off again. She wrapped her arm in a simple splint to let it recover, and made her way to the bedroom. Along one wall, she had all of the information that she had gathered about the ten different types of monsters that had attacked the city. Next to the wall of information, she picked up a dagger, and thrust it into the picture of the giant centipede.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For this simtion, Tsubaki had set herself a ¡®simple¡¯ goal. Of the ten types of monsters, it was too much even for her to kill off an entire species that had invaded. Thus, her targets were only the three giant monsters, each of which wererger than most buildings in the city.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The first of these targets was the human-faced centipede, which she had previously killed. The next was a serpent. This one was tricky for Tsubaki to get information on, due to its ability to hide itself. The only picture she had of it was when she had lured it to stick its head out of a hole in a building that it had been hiding in.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This serpent used its thin, flexible body to coil up inside ofrge buildings. If positioned properly, it could upy multiple floors of an office building at once. At the same time, it was able to change the pigmentation of its skin, letting it be unseen at a distance. It was almost impossible to tell what building it was hiding in before entering, at which point it may be toote to leave.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was for this reason that Tsubaki avoided usingrge structures whenever she could, her previous sniping post having been scouted for more than a day before determining that it was safe ¡°The serpent is cold-blooded, too, so I can¡¯t rely on any type of thermal imaging.¡± She muttered to herself, before her eyes turned to the third picture.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The third monster was undoubtedly the one that she would have the most trouble killing, as it was by far the most mystical. This monster was a giant crow, its wingspan more than five hundred meters. It only ever appeared as the sun was setting, and was the reason why Tsubaki refused to remain outside after dark. She wasn¡¯t sure how the ability worked, but simply being gazed at by the crow was enough to cause someone to die.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This ability was not limited to the survivors, as even other beasts would be struck dead the moment its eyes focused on them. A massive rhino had fallen dead one night outside of Tsubaki¡¯s safehouse, the tremor from its fall waking her up. By the time she made it to peer through the curtains, she saw giant ws swooping down and carrying its lifeless body away.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Before I go after that one, I¡¯ll need to find where it roosts during the day.¡± She nodded her head, though she wasn¡¯t even entirely sure that it slept in the city. It was possible it flew from a distant mountain.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she said that, Tsubaki heard a distant caw, and her blood ran cold. Twilight was approaching, so the crow was out. She hastily turned off all of her lights, moving to an inner room without windows.


    <span style="font-weight:400">These were lessons that she had picked up during the week that she had survived in this ruined city. If you want to survive at night, stay quiet, stay in the dark, in an enclosed space, and away from windows. None of the monsters in the city had a special ability to pass through walls, so the only thing she had to worry about were the spiders in the sewers. Thankfully, she had barricaded every manhole within a mile of her safehouse, so that wasn¡¯t as much of a concern.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She simply sat in the dark, closing her eyes to prepare to rest. However, before she could drift off, Cici¡¯s voice spoke up. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki, you previously asked for me to alert you to log out at five ording to local Olympus time.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s brow twitched, but she nodded her head. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Thank you, Cici. Please log me out, then.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a rush of light in her surroundings that made Tsubaki¡¯s body tense up, before she felt herself returning to her normal body. The flowing energy coursing through her bolstered her confidence, and she put a smile on her face as she sat up from her bed. She even flexed her shoulder, relieved that it wasn¡¯t hurting anymore.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With her routine ¡®recalibration¡¯ out of the way, Tsubaki made her way towards themunal kitchen, a bright smile on her face. Along the way, she saw the Keeper standing in the hallway, and blinked, before nodding towards him and offering a small bow. ¡°My Keeper. I was just on my way to prepare dinner. Is there anything that you would like to request for today?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Whatever you want to make is fine.¡± He assured her, looking like he had something on his mind.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is anything the matter, my Keeper?¡± She asked curiously.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Cici showed me the simtion you were in.¡± He answered, and Tsubaki¡¯s ears stood straight up, as if she had been caught red-handed. ¡°It¡¯s fine, I knew you were going to be doing a trial. Still, this one seems intense, even for you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki gave a small nod of agreement. ¡°In all of my past trials, I had the benefit of the system. Even if it wasn¡¯t a system I was familiar with, I was able to gain levels and skills throughout the trial. This is my first time where I was able to shed even that, and test myself with only my natural instincts.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Still¡­ don¡¯t push yourself too hard, alright?¡± He said in a kind tone. ¡°I know you¡¯ll just restart if you fail, but don¡¯t get too focused on it that you lose sight of everything else.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I will keep that in mind.¡± She nodded her head gently, before pursing her lips. ¡°If you have seen my projection, I do have one question that I¡¯d like to ask of you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh?¡± The Keeper seemed genuinely surprised, and even intrigued by her question. ¡°Go on? I¡¯m not used to youing to me for help, especially in a trial.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°My question isn¡¯t strictly rted to my trial, I suppose¡­¡± Tsubaki shook her head. ¡°Within my trial, there is a great bird that can inflict instant death with a gaze. Given that I haven¡¯t seen any other signs of what could be a void beast infestation in the city, I thought perhaps the void beast might be this bird itself. However, if that is the case, killing it will be truly impossible, so I can onlyplete my trial by giving urate information. If it is not the case, then giving that information would result in a failed trial either way.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper nodded his head with a small smile. ¡°I actually asked Cici what the void beast in your simtion was. I can tell you if you want, but I assure you that it is not the crow, and will not impact your trial in any conceivable way, whether you are aware of it or not.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s eyes twitched a bit wider when she heard that. ¡°If that is the case, could you tell me about it? If it truly will not impact my trial, I would like to remove it sooner, to offer myself some peace of mind.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper simply chuckled. ¡°Apparently, your eye color randomly changes every day. That is the extent of the void¡¯s influence on your simtion.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Tsubaki heard the Keeper¡¯s words, her mouth hung open, dumbstruck by such a simple answer. Tsubaki never paid attention to her own eyes in the reflection. She always had other things to be looking for, such as movement behind her or making sure that her gear was properly equipped. She considered observing her own face in a mirror to be a form of vanity, something that she simply wasn¡¯t interested in.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡­ I see. Thank you for your advice, my Keeper. If you had not told me, I don¡¯t know how long it would take for me to realize.¡± She gave a deep bow of thanks, but the Keeper simply waved his hand. At least she knew he was right, the color of her eyes would <i><span style="font-weight:400">truly</i><span style="font-weight:400"> be unable to impact her trial in any way.


    <span style="font-weight:400">More importantly, now that she knew that the crow was not a void beast, she had a better idea of how its power worked.

 Chapter 1037: Nine Tenths Of The Law

    Chapter 1037: Nine Tenths Of The Law


    <span style="font-weight:400">While Tsubaki was working on hertest trial, Dana was hard at work on her own project. Given the events of the most recent invasion, there was a serious need to increase both her own power and that of the world around her. For her own power, that was easy, and she already had her familiars working on that. The hard part was how to increase the overall level of the world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I can¡¯t create a system that will mass produce legends, since every legend has to be unique to its wielder.¡± Dana muttered to herself as she sat in her office, typing at her terminal. Although there was the distinct possibility that many future threats would originate from the void, she couldn¡¯t overlook the fact that monster gods exist, as didmon criminals.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The hardest part of her n was how to increase the world¡¯s power <i><span style="font-weight:400">without</i><span style="font-weight:400"> that power simply being used by viins to oppress people. It was not even remotely possible for her to act like the hammer of justice, and punish viins across the various worlds.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If I make an item that focuses purely on defense, it will be harder for bad guys to use it to attack people¡­ but they could just use it to defend against the police as they run away.¡± Dana grunted, holding her head in her hands. No matter what sort of control mechanism or regtions she thought of, she could always find ways for people to work around them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana took a deep breath, leaning back in her seat. ¡°Okay¡­ let¡¯s look at this from a different angle. I¡¯m not wanting to make the strong stronger. I just want to make a way for people who are weak to defend themselves.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">With that thought in mind, she didn¡¯t need to make a weapon that would be viable against the police, as the police had plenty of their own tools to deal with high-powered individuals. What she needed to do instead was to make something that could be mass produced as easily as a standard spell card from Deckan. Well¡­ as easily as the spell cards before V-Day were produced.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The damage output needs to be the equivalent of a full-power strike from a level¡­ let¡¯s go with a three hundred and fifty mage. High enough that it can do serious damage, but not enough that standardw enforcement won¡¯t be able to ovee it.¡± As Dana muttered to herself, she began drawing up various ns. ¡°And it has to be a focused attack, not something that will cause coteral damage, too.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana thought about designing the weapon in a variety of forms, from a de to a wand or even a firearm. However, none of them evoked the image that she was trying to portray. So, instead, she changed the direction that she was working again. She fashioned the item as an essory, a ck bracelet with a blue gem.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, the gem was a Mage Heart crystal, the power source of the bracelet. ¡°I¡¯ll need it to react to iing dangers as well, and form a protective barrier.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thinking about this, Dana began writing a spell on her terminal. This would be the mostplex spell that she had created since she made Gerard. Each bracelet needed to be a pseudo-sentient spell capable of analyzing the surroundings. Whenever it detected something that would threaten the wielder, it would deploy a preset defensive spell. Likewise, when manually activated by the wielder, it wouldunch a concentrated offense.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana¡¯s n was to limit the mana cost while it was in its ¡®passive¡¯ mode, that way even a child would be able to supply it with the mana necessary. As for its active mode, it would only function with the energy supplied by the Mage Heart to prevent someone from abusing its effect. It was only meant to be used in an emergency, after all.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately, the actual design work for a fourth-tier spell of this magnitude would take¡­ a considerable amount of time to finish.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Here it is.¡± A voice spoke up as a portal opened onto a deste world, its surface covered in a metallicyer. From the portal, a human man in a whiteb coat emerged, carrying a clipboard in one hand. Behind him was a simrly dressed elven woman, her hands at her sides as she surveyed thendscape.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Are you sure that this is the ce?¡± She asked, the man nodding his head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°ording to thetest charts we could recover from before V-Day, this is the that they were using.¡± He said, though his eyes swept the surroundings as well. ¡°It would appear that they had not been spared the cruelty of the event.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That much was obvious before we came. There¡¯s been no word from him in fifty years. Check the area, and see if you can find any traces. I want the results in front of me within an hour.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The man let out a sigh, nodding his head. His figure blurred, turning into blue light that swept into the horizon. Wherever he passed, a faint light scanned over the ground, seeming to be scanning beneath the surface.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The woman waited impatiently, tapping her heel against the metal ground. She knew that it would take time even for a sentient spell to scan through an entire to look for traces of a dead civilization. Thus, she forced herself to wait for an hour.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At the end of the hour, blue light swept back from the horizon again, reforming into the scientist that had left. He held two devices, one in each hand. ¡°These are the only traces that I could find, stored in a safe that was isted from all outside influences. It was truly a remarkable storage device.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The woman looked down at the items. One was a ck cube, the other seeming to be some form of remote. When she saw the remote, however, her brow twitched. She let out a long sigh, looking up at the man before her. ¡°Are you enjoying your new body?¡± She asked in a t tone, causing the man to blink.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Pardon?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You can drop the act. Whether or not you¡¯ve possessed him, it doesn¡¯t matter to me. However, I am familiar enough with his mana wavelength to determine when there is a discrepancy.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The man paused, before letting out a faint grunt, his brown eyes turning red. ¡°In that case¡­ I should ask what brings you here, I suppose? With how long it has been, surely you have not <i><span style="font-weight:400">also</i><span style="font-weight:400">e to threaten me?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The woman perked a brow at that. ¡°You have a brilliant mind. If there was anything left of you, I wanted to bring it back to continue research. I didn¡¯t expect you to leave a backup of your mind that could override the personality matrix for a magical intelligence.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I don¡¯t know what happened while I was sealed, but I can take a guess, looking around.¡± He said with a long sigh. ¡°I suppose it was some form of anti-technology attack?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Quite.¡± The woman confirmed simply. ¡°All forms of technology were destroyed fifty years ago. We lost contact with you when that happened, so everyone has been operating under the assumption that your mechanical parts malfunctioned in the attack.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Perhaps. It was the folly of my old form to hold onto the domains attached to my mechanical body. Had I created an energy form such as this, it would have spared me the trouble. Thankfully, I created this backup with just such a purpose. I had been stuck at the final step, due to the limits of the device I saved myself in. When your¡­ ¡®friend¡¯ found me, I was able to imprint myself upon him.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The scientist gave a brief nod. ¡°As I said, whether or not you have reced him does not bother me. We can restart a fresh version of him when we return.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The spell entity raised his brow, looking at the woman. ¡°I have lost my people, my home, and quite frankly my life. Why are you so confident that I will return with you?¡± While he was still hesitant to attack this woman due to the threats of the ones who had visited him before, there was no reason for him to subject himself to her whims.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The woman gave a small smirk. ¡°You¡¯re free to leave if you want. However, to ensure that the magical intelligence didn¡¯t go out of control, it was created with certain restrictions. First, it is incapable of creating advanced fourth-tier spells, and can only use the ones we have programmed into it. Secondly, it does not possess its own mana core, and requires regr infusions of Mage Heart to maintain itself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The former head of research for the Geer widened his eyes slightly, gritting his teeth. ¡°So, you n to ckmail me to join you back at yourb?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°me yourself for iming the wrong host.¡± The woman said, turning around to walk back to the portal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The man gave an eerie smile. ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± He said, aiming the remote at her. Now that she had said so much, he had established that he was acting in defense of himself. ¡°I should upgrade.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The woman looked back, not seeming to know what he meant. There was a sh as he pressed the button on the remote, the magical intelligence fading away. A metallic clink echoed out as the remote and ck cube fell to the floor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The female scientist hung her shoulders, frozen for several long moments. When she moved, her eyes shed red. A long groan echoed from her mouth as she cracked her neck from side to side. ¡°Ugh¡­ an organic body. I¡¯ll need to take care of the upgrades soon.¡± She said with a grin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The scientist looked at the open portal, closing her eyes and letting her eyes return to their normal brown. With that out of the way, she stepped through the portal, leaving the devices behind.


    <span style="font-weight:400">On the other side, there was a man with swept back ck hair, thin sses on his face. ¡°Did you find him?¡± He asked, without looking up from his terminal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The woman shook her head. ¡°Unfortunately, there was nothing left, other than a few security measures. Jax was destroyed by a null magic turret that activated while we were there.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I see¡­ I¡¯ll have another one initiated in the morning. In that case, you are dismissed.¡± The man said, lightly waving his hand to dismiss her. The woman offered a respectful bow, turning to leave the room.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki let out a deep breath when she opened her eyes, seeing the light peeking in beneath the closed door. She still had two targets to take out, and needed to find a new weapon to use to do it. <i><span style="font-weight:400">The police station would have been looted long ago. Most likely, all of the powerful weapons will be in the hands of survivors and Stalkers¡­</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">With that thought in mind, Tsubaki felt her arm, d that it had regained its mobility, even if it was still sore. She had to go hunting for a different type of prey now, in order to get what she needed to take on muchrger targets.

 Chapter 1038: Night Raid

    Chapter 1038: Night Raid


    <span style="font-weight:400">


    <span style="font-weight:400">For the first few hours of the day, Tsubaki ran around, scouting the area and the nearby survivors. Unfortunately, there was no way to specifically identify the differences between a normal survivor and a Stalker, so she had to treat all of them as if they were Stalkers. She watched parties walking through the cities from distant rooftops, using a pair of binocrs that she looted from an abandoned sporting goods store.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Whenever she found a small group of people, she would begin tracking them. Naturally, a group that emerged at a time like this would either be scavengers or looking for other survivors. Given that, she ended up following the same group for more than three hours before they returned to their base, an old elementary school.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki observed the school cautiously from a rooftop more than a hundred meters away. <i><span style="font-weight:400">The windows are all boarded. Given the size of the building, this could be a group of more than a hundred. However, it¡¯s impossible to know the exact numbers. What is clear is that they have the firepower to defend the school.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was this firepower that Tsubaki needed. Additionally, the school would be a far more defensible area than the house that she was currently using as her base. When she scanned the area, she saw that cars had been flipped over to cover all of the nearby manholes. <i><span style="font-weight:400">They¡¯ve either got at least twenty people, or heavy machinery. There shouldn¡¯t be anything like a forklift in a school, so I should be able to rule that out.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Just to be safe, Tsubaki waited on the rooftop for another three hours, until the sun had started to set. During that time, she saw another group of four survivors returning, one of them carrying what Tsubaki could recognize as a small caliber rifle. Not big enough to hunt her main targets, and not evenparable to the weapons Tsubaki still had back at her safehouse.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing the sun starting to go down, Tsubaki didn¡¯t try to make a mad dash for her ce. Instead, she entered the building she had been spying from, made her way to an interior room, and closed herself in the closet. She didn¡¯t have any difficulties when it came to sleeping in an ufortable position, and so she patiently waited for another night to pass while considering her options.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Because she was nning this as a hunting operation, she had brought her regr assortment of stealth weapons. On her lower back, she had a pair of kukri sheathed, and on each hip she had a pair of throwing daggers. Finally, she had a silenced pistol strapped to her chest, with three magazines of spare ammunition.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Tsubaki awoke, she peered out of the closet, just to make sure any <i><span style="font-weight:400">unwee guests</i><span style="font-weight:400"> didn¡¯t decide to upy her temporary lodging during the night. Once she found that the location was safe, she quickly vacated the building and began to scout the school itself. The purpose of her scouting today was to find security cameras.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A base of this size was bound to have its own generator, so she was confident that the cameras would still be operational. Especially because she hadn¡¯t seen anyone patrolling the rooftops or along the grounds the day before.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In the end, she managed to identify several cameras, and found the blind spot that she would be using to raid the base. While she finalized her n, she let the day slowly pass, briefly returning to her home to grab a bit of extra equipment. Once the sun was just starting to descend to the horizon, she made her move.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Along the rear wall of the school building, one of the cameras had previously been broken, which Tsubaki assumed was the result of either a beast attack or a failed raid. Using that to her advantage, she began to scale the wall, climbing up along pipes and using the windowsills for support. Thankfully, the windows were all blocked to protect those inside from the crow, so she wasn¡¯t afraid of being spotted.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once she made it to the roof, she walked over to the door, testing it briefly. She wasn¡¯t surprised to find that the door was locked, and fished a lockpicking set out of the bag she brought with her. She took a deep breath, focusing on the task at hand. She had given herself ample time to get into the building before the crow appeared, and soon heard the satisfying click of the lock.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Inside, she closed and relocked the door, scanning the hallway to make sure that there weren¡¯t any cameras watching the door itself. Once she had confirmed this, she closed her eyes, listening close to any noises within the building. She could hear a few rattling cans and footsteps, as well as distant voices.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she expected, these noises abruptly stopped once the crow dered its presence in the city. Tsubaki was certain that other survivors, like herself, had grown ustomed to using that sound as an alert that it was time to sleep. At most, there might be one or two people watching the security cameras, but even that was only a slim chance.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Almost as soon as the noise rang out, Tsubaki grabbed the other item from her bag, slipping it over her head. A pair of night vision goggles activated with a soft hum, and the dark passageway was lit up in a green light in her vision.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki wasn¡¯t sure what the sleeping patterns were for Stalkers, but she assumed that they would match humans to a degree. As long as that was the case, she wasn¡¯t concerned.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The first thing that she did after she exited the stairway was to look for a map. It was amon practice for most schools to post maps at regr points along their interiors, so students would be able to find their way if they got lost. When she found one such map, she looked through it to identify the security room, and immediately began to make her way there.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Along the way, Tsubaki noticed a few ¡®traps¡¯ set up in the hall, though they looked more like rms than anything else. Empty cans strung up on lengths of rope, designed to cause loud noises if anyone touched it. Given their cement, Tsubaki assumed that they were set up as an early warning rm against the spiders in the sewers more than other people, as they were not difficult to navigate for someone that knew what they were doing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Tsubaki came across the door to the security room, she found it wide open, the camera disys having been turned off for the night. This didn¡¯t particrly reassure her, as it meant that she had lost the chance to take out some of their forces quietly.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Logically, they should have their armory in a room near the security office. That would make it more convenient for the security to respond if a raid were to ur. If it were me, I would ce it one or two rooms away, along the path to the front of the school.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki already believed that she knew where the bulk of the survivors in the school were sleeping. One of the lines of cans had been tied to a ssroom¡¯s doorknob. Given what she heard while waiting for the sun to set, she was almost certain that was where they had settled in for the night.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, she walked down the hall, checking each door that she passed. <i><span style="font-weight:400">They won¡¯t lock the armory unless every survivor can have their own key. After all, they¡¯re expecting attacks from the outside, not the inside. It¡¯s more efficient to make the weapons as essible as possible in an emergency.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">With that thought in mind, Tsubaki walked half the hallway before one of the doors opened. She opened it just a crack at first, confirming whether or not there were any traps or rms, before quietly opening it the rest of the way. Inside, it was just as Tsubaki had expected, with pistols, shotguns, rifles, even a few pipe bombs set out.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now, Tsubaki had two options. She could take only what she needed and try to leave under the cover of darkness, doing her best to avoid the crow. This was an option that only became avable because she had confirmed that the security cameras were offline and hadn¡¯t alerted anyone yet.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Alternatively¡­ if she wanted to take the school for herself, she would need to kill all of its inhabitants. She believed that she was suitably armed to do so, but this would be no less challenging than the first choice. After all, if there were more than three stalkers among the group, they may be able to overpower her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki took a deep breath, looking around at what they had avable. There were three high-power sniper rifles like the one that she had broken. Among them, one looked like it had received special modifications, so she ignored it. The modifications may have made the rifle more powerful, but she wasn¡¯t going to risk using a weapon altered by someone other than herself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The other two rifles, on the other hand¡­ she grabbed both of them, setting them stock-down in arge backpack. She walked around the room, checking the ammunition, and gathered a small box of bullets to put in that same backpack, together with a few of the pipe bombs.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once she had gathered enough, she zipped up the backpack as tight as it could go to prevent the rifles from shaking around and causing too much noise, and began to make her escape.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Because of the Keeper¡¯s confirmation that the crow had nothing to do with the void, Tsubaki had been able to confirm how its power worked. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It should be a psionic ability.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She thought to herself as she walked down the hall, carefully avoiding any string rms along the way. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯s not constant, or else the snake would have died. I¡¯ve never seen it moving around during the day, so it must change its locations at night, while using its camouge to hide from the crow¡¯s sight.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">That means that the crow can only attack creatures that it identifies in its line of sight. I might even require the target itself to look at the crow.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> As Tsubaki stood in front of the front door of the school, she knew that this was a gamble. One wrong step, and her trial would end here. Still¡­ that was nothing new to her. If she was not always on the verge of death, the trial would have no real meaning.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She took a deep breath, opening the door and sneaking out into the night. She had managed to avoid killing her way through the base, but getting back home would be another problem.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There were no delusions in her mind that she could make the entire trek at night, as the area around her safehouse was far too open to guarantee that she could avoid the crow¡¯s gaze. Instead, her goal was to get one thousand meters from the school itself. If she managed that, she would have enough of a head start in the morning to make it back to her ce without the survivors from the school finding her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The first thing that Tsubaki did outside was to scan the sky. Night had already fallen, so she had to check for the whereabouts of the crow. The fact that she didn¡¯t see it bothforted her and made her nervous. She wasn¡¯t in danger of immediately being seen, but at the same time had no way of knowing when it would appear in this area.


    <span style="font-weight:400">To avoid as much danger as possible, Tsubaki ran to the nearest alley. The bullets and rifles in her backpack jostled together, the noise barely audible within the night. Still, only moments after Tsubaki got to the alley, she heard the fwoosh of air before the crownded on the street. Tsubaki closed her eyes, pressing herself tight up against the wall of the alley and refusing to move.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Only when she heard a brief cry from the crow and its wings taking flight again did she dare to breathe softly. Now, she had to be even more careful, her goggles showing her the city¡¯s streets far more clearly than she could otherwise notice. Clear enough, even, that she saw a massive <i><span style="font-weight:400">thing</i><span style="font-weight:400">ying on the street, its body remaining still for several long moments before slowly slithering along.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Interesting¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Tsubaki thought to herself, moving in the <i><span style="font-weight:400">opposite</i><span style="font-weight:400"> direction from where she saw the snake going. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I might be able to get both of them at once, if I n it right.</i>

 Chapter 1039: Birdwatching

    Chapter 1039: Birdwatching


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki spent the first half of the following day simply finding the materials that she would need to enact her n. What she was looking for could be found in most hardware or sporting good stores, but she was confident that nobody among the survivors would be interested in these niche goods, as they would generally be <i><span style="font-weight:400">counterproductive </i><span style="font-weight:400">to the survival of anyone that owned them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once she had acquired her materials, she went back to her safehouse, checking her maps. She had seen the snake on the road the night before, and used that information to determine its most likely nest for the day. There were only so many buildings in each part of the city that could house it, after all.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After Tsubaki found her possible targets, she hurried to investigate them. If she gave it another day, the snake might move again, and she would need to start her scouting all over again. Thankfully¡­ she had an easy way to tell if it was hiding in a particr building, as long as she avoided the other monsters along the road.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There were a total of three buildingsrge enough to house the snake in the area that Tsubaki had seen it traveling to. When she arrived at them, all she needed to do was use the pipe bombs that she had confiscated from the school group previously. By throwing one deep into a second story window, she would create a shockwave that the snake wouldn¡¯t be able to ignore if it was there.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At the first building, she lit and threw her explosive, ducking behind a nearby street corner. She could hear the explosion, and feel the faint vibration that managed to reach her from it. Then, she counted a total of thirty seconds. If the snake was in there, it would have to respond within that time period.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When thirty seconds passed, and there was no sign of her target, she simply moved on to her next target building. Staying any longer would just invite <i><span style="font-weight:400">unwanted guests</i><span style="font-weight:400"> to find her. Thus, she moved to repeat the process with the second building several blocks away.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In the second building, there was a response almost immediately after the pipe bomb exploded. The ground shook as a massive, ck head emerged from one of the windows, scanning the area. Tsubaki knew that it could see her, even if she just barely peeked out to confirm its presence. However, the serpent didn¡¯t leave its nest.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was how it hunted. It didn¡¯t care if someone was outside of its nest, not unless they inflicted actual pain on it. Only then would it leave its nest. Otherwise, it was happy to devour any monsters or people that recklessly entered.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki smiled when she saw that the serpent pulled its head back in. No doubt it was adjusting itself to be ready for a nice meal if she entered, but she had no intention of doing so. Instead, she entered the adjacent building and began to climb the stairs, getting out of the way of any other monsters that would be drawn by the noise. Let <i><span style="font-weight:400">them</i><span style="font-weight:400"> be the snake¡¯s meal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As for Tsubaki, she climbed to the roof of the building she had entered, scanning through the open windows to look for her target. It didn¡¯t take long to findrge splotches of blurred colors where the snake had camouged its body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a node, she pulled out the equipment that she had brought and took aim. This was a simple paintball gun, with an effective range of a hundred meters, more than enough for her to hit her target. She steadied her aim, and began pulling the trigger, letting small green beads fly out.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was hard to tell if the snake even <i><span style="font-weight:400">felt</i><span style="font-weight:400"> the paintballs hitting its side, the green paint sshing out to cover a small area each time it hit. Tsubaki covered as much of the snake as she could through that open window, before scanning to find another spot she could shoot.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Soon, she felt the ground shaking, and immediately fell to a prone position. On the street, arge rat appeared, its body nearly asrge as a car. It had been attracted by Tsubaki¡¯s previous explosion, drawn out into thinking that it could find some survivors for an easy meal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki reached down, gently lifting the lid of a metal can she had set next to her. She lifted her head just high enough to watch the rat approaching the building. When its nose poked through the door, sniffing for danger, there was a sudden rush of motion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki quickly stood, grabbing the can and throwing it with all her might. At the same time, the serpent¡¯s head emerged like lightning from the open doorway, engulfing half of the rat all at once. There was a brief struggle as the rat tried to fight back, but the snake continued to swallow more of it. Meanwhile, the can crashed into the building above the snake¡¯s head, spilling its contents downwards.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This time, she didn¡¯t wait to test the serpent¡¯s patience. Tsubaki abandoned both her paintball gun and remaining ammunition, turning and running to the fire escape to jump to the opposite building. There was no telling if herst action would trigger the serpent¡¯s ire, so she couldn¡¯t take the risk. Either way, she had achieved her goal for the day.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She made her way back to her safehouse, taking a quick rest to ensure that she was ready for the night¡¯s events. After her rest, she made her way back to the area where she knew the snake to be hiding, and found that the building she had shot from earlier had been demolished. Clicking her tongue, she chose to enter the building that she had already confirmed to be safe earlier in the day.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This building had a good view of both the snake¡¯s current nest and the surrounding area, so Tsubaki made her way to the top floor, finding a spot to wait in between a pair of windows. She closed her eyes, ignoring everything else to just wait for twilight toe.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she heard the crow¡¯s call, she knew that it was time to hunt. A smile surfaced on her face, and she kept waiting. The paint that she had used earlier in the day was bioluminescent. In other words, the snake would be glowing in the dark wherever it moved now, making it the perfect target for the crow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, the paint could simply be washed off, but she was certain that the snake wouldn¡¯t have that level of intelligence. So, she waited, and soon heard a second caw. This was Tsubaki¡¯s signal, the indication that the crow had identified its prey.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She turned her body, leaning into the window and aiming her rifle. The light had not entirely faded, and she could make out enough to target a being asrge as the crow. When she caught sight of her targets, the serpent shuddered, its glowing head pausing for a moment as the crow swept down onto it. <i><span style="font-weight:400">So it has some resistance¡­ good to know, but not enough.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">She had caused the two giant beasts to fight each other. As long as the crow continued its psionic attack, it would surely win. The crow seemed to realize this as well, letting out another caw as soon as it saw the snake coiling up to strike.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s rifle was loaded, aiming at the back of the crow¡¯s head. After its third caw, when the serpent finally fell limp, it moved in to pick it up by its body. She waited for that one moment when the crow¡¯s body would be still, trying to pick up the immense weight of the serpent.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As soon as its head stopped, she pulled the trigger. She didn¡¯t wait for confirmation of the kill, immediately ducking back behind the wall. A bird¡¯s bones were naturally hollow, so the crow¡¯s skull shouldn¡¯t be as hard to pierce as that of other animals. Still, even with armor piercing rounds, she wasn¡¯t confident that she had killed it in one strike.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sure enough, there was a screech of pain, and Tsubaki felt a throbbing heat in her head, causing her to wince and grip her forehead. As soon as it passed, she took a deep breath. She grabbed her rifle and turned, finding the crow staring in her direction from just outside the window.


    <span style="font-weight:400">On pure instinct, she pulled the trigger, the bullet rocking back the bird¡¯s head once again. Its eyes shed, but it had lost sight of its target with the second shot. Worse, its brain had been rattled too much, leaving it dazed. Tsubaki took advantage of this to load a third bullet, aiming for the underside of the creature¡¯s throat.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The third bullet shot out, piercing a hole into the crow¡¯s throat. This time, Tsubaki didn¡¯t try to fire another bullet, and ran to the innermost room of this floor. She knew that she had dealt a lethal blow, and now she needed to make sure that she survived longer than the crow. As long as she achieved that goal, she would have passed her trial.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The building shook along with the gurgled cries of the giant monster outside, its talons tearing into the walls. She could feel the tremors when it shoved its head into the window, but didn¡¯t dare to make herself visible. All she could do was wait, and hope that it wasn¡¯t able to make it far enough into the building to reach her before its injuries got the better of it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She heard the chaotic sounds outside slowly dwindling over the course of the next ten minutes, before a loud crash signaled to her the death of the crow. Only then did Tsubaki poke her head out, gradually moving to investigate. She was certain that the crow was dead, but still needed to confirm that the snake was motionless.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Outside, she found that the crow had actuallynded on the snake¡¯s body, the two of them lying in a heap on the ground. She nodded her head with a smile. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Cici, just to make sure. They are both dead, right?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She asked, grabbing her rifle again in case Cici said an answer she wasn¡¯t expecting.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The crow had torn through almost half of the floor to get to her, but that also made it incredibly easy for her to aim at the targets below. <i><span style="font-weight:400">The crow is, indeed, dead.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Cici said, Tsubaki immediately aiming at the snake¡¯s head. There was no sign of movement, leading her to believe that the snake might be faking it. <i><span style="font-weight:400">As for the snake, it is technically still alive, but was renderedatose by the multiple psionic shocks. If it¡¯s not treated within the next few hours, it will be braindead.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki let out a brief sigh when she heard that. <i><span style="font-weight:400">End the simtion.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> A smile spread across her lips when she sent that message. The world around her went dark, and she felt the familiar visor on her head again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki pulled the visor off of her face, setting it aside and sitting up. She always felt a sense of aplishment when shepleted one of her trials, and this was no different. In fact, this time may have been even more satisfying because of the fact that she had no ability to bring her powers into y, whether she wanted to or not. From the beginning to end, she was only a normal person, relying on what was in her surroundings.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Additionally, this was her first time holding such a trial in an urban setting, which made it all the more challenging for her to adapt in the early stages. Despite all of this, she managed toplete her trial in a single run. In the back of her mind, she began to think of how she could have made the trial more difficult for herself, but shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If she had been in a wilderness setting, she wouldn¡¯t have had ess to the firepower necessary to take down any of the giant monsters, nor the ability to expose them to the crow¡¯s power. If she had added more powerful enemies, conventional firearms wouldn¡¯t have been effective at all.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Perhaps the only way she could have made such a trial more difficult would be if she had made it a conspiracy instead. A trial where the only ¡®monsters¡¯ were the Stalkers, and she had to identify their leader through context clues without being uncovered. That could have been a national event, and it would definitely have been more difficult. However, it would have also taken her months toplete a single run, and it would rely more on her investigative prowess as opposed to her fighting instincts. Because of that, Tsubaki didn¡¯t particrly feel like it was a suitable trial.

 Chapter 1040: A Crazy Adventure

    Chapter 1040: A Crazy Adventure


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod stood at the gate of the sixty-first floor of Fyor, a thick material covering his body simr to a hazmat suit. As he had helped find the material needed to allow them to survive on the sixty-first floor, Aznod had been invited to join an expedition after it had been determined that the initial area around the portal was safe.


    <span style="font-weight:400">To his right was a much smaller hazmat suit, the top of the helmet pushed up by a pair of horns. Petra had been invited as well, due to her history of clearing the floors quickly. ¡°What do you think is the cause for this energy?¡± Petra said as she looked at the pink mist filling the air.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She had tried to expand her World Shadow to im this floor, but found the energy being devoured as soon as it left her protective suit. This was¡­ problematic for her, as Thelsa would no doubt need everyyer of Fyor in order to trulyplete her shadow world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod hesitated for a moment, before taking a guess. ¡°There are two possibilities, though they are rather simr. Either this energy is being released by a special mineral akin to tidestones, or there is a primordial artifact on this floor with the theme of devouring, and it had caused the air to be like this.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If it¡¯s an artifact, why wouldn¡¯t it eat the ground?¡± Petra asked, the two walking further away from the gate. Although they had been invited to the expedition, they were both essentially given the freedom to do as they wished. After all, who would restrain the husband of one member of the Greater Pantheon, or the daughter of another?


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If I had to guess, it would be because the power developed a distaste for the soil.¡± He answered thoughtfully. He knew that he could just ask Udona for the correct answers, but that would spoil the point of discovery. Besides, there could be new ingredients to be found in a world such as this.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Maybe¡­ though, how are we going to fight in these things if there are any monsters around?¡± Petra asked worriedly, looking down at her hazmat suit. In fact , that was an excellent question in Aznod¡¯s eyes as well.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hopefully, that will not be an issue.¡± Aznod said, looking up at the pink mist that blocked out their view. ¡°Petra, do you have any method of locating the next gate in these circumstances?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra simply shook her head. ¡°I¡¯ve got two ways that I normally use, but neither of them will work here. We need to get rid of the energy in the mist, or else we¡¯re moving blind.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh,e on, it¡¯s not that bad!¡± A pale-skinned girl ran over in front of Aznod and Petra, her blue eyes all but shining at them. Unlike the two of them, she wasn¡¯t wearing any form of hazmat suit. Also unlike the two of them, she hadn¡¯t been invited to join, but rather invited herself to join. ¡°Just think of it as an adventure, right?! When¡¯s thest time that you two went on real adventures?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I live a life of almost constant fighting and training. I¡¯d say I get adventure enough.¡± Petra smirked slightly, shaking her head at the energetic Lifre.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Lifre¡­ why do you not need a suit?¡± Aznod asked hesitantly, seeing that Lifre¡¯s body wasn¡¯t being devoured by the mist.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh? Oh! I ate it! Now my skin has the same kind of property as that suit, so I can run around here however I want!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra and Aznod looked to one another when Lifre said that, silently determining that she would be the one to fight if they really had to enterbat. ¡°In that case¡­ do you have a way to find the gate?¡± Petra asked hopefully. ¡°Or, maybe the source of this mist?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre blinked, tapping her chin in thought. ¡°Hmm¡­ let me check.¡± She said, before condensing a thick, golden book from her energy. ¡°No, no, no, not that one, not that one, why did I write about that? Eh, I¡¯ll think about itter. Oh! Here it is!¡± Lifre smiled brightly, cing a hand on the page that she had turned to.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she pulled her hand away, she revealed that she was now holding apass, causing the other two to look at her in confusion. ¡°To what does yourpass point?¡± Aznod asked.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Dunno!¡± She said with that same smile. ¡°This is one of my plot devices. It¡¯s apass that points to wherever I need to go to advance the story.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...You¡¯re a writer, so I guess the fourth wall just doesn¡¯t exist for you, does it?¡± Petra asked hesitantly, causing Lifre tough. ¡°Either way, let¡¯s let the others know that we have a destination. Does yourpass tell you how far away it is?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod nodded his head, turning to head to the expedition leader while Lifre shook her head. ¡°Nope! I could triangte its position if I go about a million kilometers in the wrong direction, but at that point thepass might try to tell me to go somewhere else! I find it¡¯s better to just listen to thepass, for the sake of the story.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right¡­¡± Petra nodded her head helplessly. Personally, she didn¡¯t feel like spending years of her life in a hazmat suit following a slime girl on an endless mist-filled meadow. When Aznod returned, Petra looked at him with hope in her eyes. ¡°Please tell me you have a way for us to quickly travel without needing to walk? Teleportation spells won¡¯t work in this mist.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod smiled slightly, nodding his head. ¡°Udona prepared something for me before I came here.¡± As he said that, he retrieved a magic card from his inventory. To Petra¡¯s surprise, the card didn¡¯t dissolve when it came into contact with the pink mist.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod threw the card forward after activating it, the card shining brightly. Then, a momentter, darkness covered them. The light from above was blocked out by arge aircraft. Internally, Petra thought it looked like a spaceship with its sheer size, but that wasn¡¯t really a surprise. After all, the floors of Fyor this high were so big that you could fit entire sr systems in them. ¡°You know how to fly that, right?¡± She asked, to which Aznod nodded his head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course. Additionally, she told me that the airlock should be able to prevent any of the mist from entering the ship. Though, I would still keep the suits on, just in case of any damage.¡± Petra nodded sullenly when she heard that, though Lifre was already running for the lowered ramp.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The expedition team climbed aboard the craft, Aznod making his way to the front to sit in the pilot¡¯s seat. This was a ship that he had obtained with Udona in Fragments of Acidia, and Udona had recreated it in Deckan, recing the outer coating with the material that Aznod had discovered to be effective against the local energy. Thus, he was confident in being able to fly wherever they needed to go.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Lifre, would you mind providing directions?¡± He asked with a smile. Lifre nodded her head quickly, her body immediately warping to turn into a muchrger version of thepass that she stored at the center of her being. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ not what I had in mind, but it will do, I suppose.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a hum from the engines as the ship lifted off the ground, Aznod taking it higher and higher into the air. ¡°We can only see a few hundred meters in front of us. This ship is rated as F-4 ss in Fragments, but I¡¯d rather not test its inertial dampeners if we were to drive directly into a mountain.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The others widened their eyes, quickly nodding their heads in agreement as Lifre¡¯s chuckle emerged from the giantpass. ¡°Heheheh¡­ st.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yes, Lifre. St indeed.¡± Aznod said with a sigh, activating the sunlight engines and flying to an altitude of more than one billion kilometers. ¡°If there are still any mountains this high, we can only me our bad luck.¡± He said, before driving forward, slowly increasing the speed of the ship.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre continued to diligently point the way forward, the expedition leader leaning in from behind. ¡°I suppose that this is considerably safer than wandering around on foot. What exactly are we looking for, though?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If I knew the answer to that, I assure you that I would inform you of it.¡± Aznod sighed, shaking his head. ¡°Lifre¡¯spass points to our destination. However, that destination is an abstract concept of ¡®where we need to go¡¯. It could be taking us to the source of the mist, the gate to the next level, thisyer¡¯s level sphere, or even just a powerful monster. We won¡¯t know until we arrive.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Those words were certainly not as helpful as what the expedition leader had wanted to hear. He couldn¡¯t even tell how fast the ship was going, because the outside just appeared to be a blur of pink mist. It wasn¡¯t until Lifre let out a loud ding that Aznod decelerated, seeing the needle on thepass now pointed directly behind them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Above or below?¡± Aznod asked, given that they might be looking for something embedded in the ceiling of thisyer. Lifre flipped over onto her side, the arrow of herpass pointing almost straight down.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a nod, Aznod began to descend, finding that the mist had grown thicker and thicker as the ship lowered. ¡°It seems Lifre has brought us to the source of the energy pervading this floor.¡± He said with a sigh, though Petra¡¯s face had be more serious.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Aznod¡­ do you have anything to clear the mist beneath us, even if it¡¯s just for a moment?¡± She asked, clenching her fists in her hazmat suit.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod hesitated to answer, thinking it over. ¡°If I release a condensed energy pulse downwards, it should be able to expel the mist before it is consumed. Though, it will use more than sixty percent of the ship¡¯s energy reserves.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Do it.¡± Petra said without a second thought, staring out the window. ¡°And make sure to activate the cameras below us.¡± Every nerve in her body was screaming of danger, and she couldn¡¯t simply shake that feeling.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod nodded his head, manipting the console in front of himself. ¡°Building the charge in the lower shields. Activatingnding cameras. Expelling charge in three, two, one.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra¡¯s eyes were glued to the screen when the countdown finished, the pink mist dissipating. When the st reached the ground, Petra¡¯s eyes widened, as did the eyes of everyone else in the ship.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a massive, circr pit in the ground where the energy had struck, its edges writhing with jagged teeth that seemed to be formed from mountains. Pink mist shot from the center of the mouth, quickly obscuring view once again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We all just saw that, right?¡± The expedition leader asked, his gaze shaking.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra nodded her head. ¡°So¡­ when the primordial artifact activated¡­ it merged with the ground. <i><span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s</i><span style="font-weight:400"> why the soil contains a material that is safe from being devoured¡­ because it is part of the thing¡¯s body.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Coool!¡± Lifre¡¯s voice spoke up from thepass, which immediately turned back into the pale, petite girl. ¡°I¡¯mma go poke it with a stick!¡± She dered, a golden sword forming in one hand.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is that wise?¡± The expedition leader asked, his nervousness evident even beneath his hazmat suit. ¡°I don¡¯t mean to doubt your ability¡­ but you saw the scale of that thing. Can you take it on by yourself?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre blinked, looking at the man. ¡°I don¡¯t know!¡± She admitted, before a wide smile filled her face. ¡°That¡¯s what makes it fun! Let¡¯s see who eats the other one first, right?¡±

 Chapter 1041: Into The Pit

    Chapter 1041: Into The Pit


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre¡¯s grin widened as she descended into the gaping chasm, plunging her body into the source of the pink mist. She could feel her sword already starting to erode, and so dismissed it to prevent herself from losing her divine artifact. ¡°Just you and me, huh?!¡± She asked with a manicugh, not even trying to stop her descent.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her eyes scanned as much as they could, trying to identify a weak point. Unfortunately, she wasn¡¯t even able to see the edges of the chasm through the mist. She clicked her tongue, deciding to simply fall until she reached the bottom. She had already ensured that she was immune to the mist, after all.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">This thing doesn¡¯t appear to have any real form of attack other than the mist. It doesn¡¯t even move. Hey, does it even know I¡¯m in its mouth?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She had to wonder that, given its sheer size. Comparing this creature to a normal human, she would be about as big as a single atom. <i><span style="font-weight:400">If I kill this thing, that will be the ultimate giant ying!</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">With that, her grin returned, and she waited¡­ and waited¡­ falling through the pink mist as it blew past her figure. If not for the rushing wind and the constant sensation of gravity, she would have begun to wonder if she was being held in ce.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Suddenly, the pink mist parted to reveal glossy stone, mere inches from her face. Lifre¡¯s eyes widened as she collided with the ground at terminal velocity, sshing out as a puddle of goop. Pulling herself together in a literal sense, she let out a sigh. ¡°I have been falling¡­ for thirty minutes!¡± Sheined, looking around.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I think. It was probably longer than that, but I can¡¯t wear a watch in this ce.¡± She muttered. At the very bottom of the chasm, the mist didn¡¯t seem as dense. Additionally, she was able to see where it was being emitted from.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It wasn¡¯t simply some crystal that had fused into the ground like she expected. Rather, there was a smooth, circr gem held in warped and coiled stone, like a staff protruding from the ground. The mist gushed forth from the gem, filling the air and rising upwards.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre¡¯s brow furrowed at the site of the ce where the gem was mounted. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ not a natural formation.¡± She muttered, walking closer. As she did, she sent a message to Terra mentally. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Hey, big bossdy! Can you send a message to the others to let them know that I¡¯m okay, and totally didn¡¯t st face first into the ground?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">You want me to lie to them, then?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Terra asked in an amused tone.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Pretty please? They¡¯ll just worry, otherwise.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She responded, observing the structure that appeared to be some form of altar. She couldn¡¯t make out any markings, though they would have either been eroded by the mist or the passing of countless years.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ how did he say it goes?¡± She muttered, focusing her energy in her eyes. ¡°There we go¡­ wait, it¡¯s not Hunger or anything like that?¡± She asked in surprise. She didn¡¯t often observe the domains of others, finding it more fun to learn by experience. Still, she had been sure that the domain of the primordial relic behind this would be something to do with devouring.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Instead, the domain that she read from the crystal was Nature. <i><span style="font-weight:400">So¡­ whatever this is corrupted the natural energy of this area, turning it into that poisonous mist?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Lifre considered simply destroying the gem, but wasn¡¯t sure that that would solve the main problem. Instead, she needed to look around and find clues.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This should be the very center of the pit, so¡­¡± Lifre picked a random direction and started running, keeping her eyes peeled for any sort of abnormality.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once she reached the far wall, she stretched her arm out, pressing it against the wall. She took a step, and a glowing blue mark was left following her hand. With a grin, she started running parallel to the wall, keeping one hand on it at all times.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As long as I keep going like this, I¡¯ll be able to see where I started if I make a full circle!¡± She shouted aloud, picking up her speed. The entire time, she continued to scan her surroundings, wanting to make sure that she didn¡¯t miss any slight details.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre had no idea how long she ran, simply continuing to move along the outer perimeter of the pit. Her minimap indicated that she had covered just over half of the circle when suddenly she felt her hand leaving the wall. Or rather, the wall crumbled away as soon as she touched it. ¡°Ooh, I found the plot!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">She turned to face the section of wall that had crumbled, breaking down the rest of the nearby wall. What she found was a long hallway made of solid marble, the end of the hall having been cut off by some strange incident and covered with a thinyer of rock.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre skipped over to the door at the other end of the hallway, tapping her chin. This door seemed to be holding back the mist, just like Aznod¡¯s airlock. If she opened the door, the mist would rush in, destroying any traces that could be on the other side.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Gods, I love being a slime.¡± Lifre snickered, dropping into a small, gtinous form. The ground beneath her melted as she consumed it, ¡®eating¡¯ her way into the room beyond. However, after she passed down beneath the surface, she left a thinyer of her body behind to act as a barrier.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Upon reforming on the other side of the hall, Lifre found that the pink mist waspletely absent. She could send her power out and observe as much as she wanted. Though it was dark within these halls, Lifre was able to produce enough light to see that this was far from a primitive construction.


    <span style="font-weight:400">All along the hall, there were thinyers of crystal that reacted as soon as Lifre released a bit of mana, lighting up to illuminate the area. ¡°Oooh, magic civilization. I¡¯m liking this already!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre thought about retrieving herpass, but decided not to. Herpass wasn¡¯t suitable for navigating indoors, as it only pointed out a direct route. Instead, she just had to search manually and see what there was to find.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There were quite arge number of doors, showing that this used to be a vast, undergroundplex, but there was no sign of any remains. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Granted, with how high of a floor we are, anything born here would be an energy being, and likely not leave behind a body when they died¡­ So that¡¯s not too unusual.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Most of the doors were unmarked, and Lifre could only open them to reveal what looked to be old bedrooms, the furniture inside having long rotted away. When she finally came to a door with unfamiliar writing on it, a wide grin appeared on her face. ¡°You think that you can deceive me with a foreignnguage? I am the apostle of the goddess of stories!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Golden light began to shine from Lifre¡¯s eyes, illuminating the sign on the door. Immediately, Lifre blinked, turning and continuing to walk down the hall. ¡°Why¡¯d I have to get so dramatic for the bathroom¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">She continued walking, finding more bedrooms, offices, and closets along the way. Eventually, she managed to find a warehouse, shelves lined with decrepit goods. Of these goods, Lifre immediately noticed one item in particr, a blue crystal sphere. Her eyes widened, immediately recognizing the level sphere. ¡°So that¡¯s where you were hiding¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">She picked up the sphere and shoved it in her inventory, turning around to leave the warehouse, only to pause with wide eyes. ¡°Oh¡­ that¡¯s a thing.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Along the walls around the exit door, markings had been carved into the wall, matching thenguage that Lifre had already gotten used to tranting. Unlike the sophisticated design of the rest of the structure, these carvings were crude and uneven. Still, they told a story¡­ as long as someone ignored the giant ¡®No Escape¡¯ written directly above the door.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre focused, finding the starting point of the text and reading it. ¡°If anyone finds this ce, I am sorry. For all that we have done, for all that might still happen, I am sorry. We wanted to change the world, to unlock the infinite secrets of the arcane.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In the early days of our civilization, we found two mysterious crystals. One, rough and purple, radiating immense power. The other, smooth and spherical, matching the great spire. We wanted to understand these things, and so we studied them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°For generations, our world evolved. We developed magic by essing the heavenly stones. We learned of runes and advanced techniques, but we never mastered these two crystals. All that we learned was that the rougher crystal had the meaning of ¡®Nature¡¯, but were unable to decipher what that meant.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°At times, there were those who wished to absorb the power of the rough crystal. However, this was strictly forbidden. There was only one such crystal, and its loss would set our progress back centuries. Instead, we took shavings from it, allowing these shavings to be absorbed. Those that did so began to harness the power of wind and fire without the need of magic.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Finally, we believed that we had an epiphany. The blue crystal was a guide. In order to fully utilize the power of the rougher gem, we needed to refine it into a simr size and shape. At this point, we had long been shaving pieces of it, reducing its mass, so we believed this to be an eptable test.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We constructed an altar, upon which we inserted the now-refined crystal, and our most powerful mages sought to activate its power. There was an explosion, one that reached all the way to the surface, and the world was flooded with a pink gas.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Everything outside has died. Every person, every animal¡­ every building has melted, every trace of our existence gone. There¡¯s no hope. I¡¯m sorry¡­ There is no escape.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre blinked upon reading the writing on the wall, crossing her arms. ¡°Huh! So¡­ wait!¡± She shook her head, calling out to Terra. <i><span style="font-weight:400">If you shave off arge majority of the primordial relic, it¡­ it would corrupt the power of the relic, right? That¡¯s what happened here?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I wouldn¡¯t say corrupt¡­ more degrade. Maybe you could call it twisting. Judging by what you found, the power of the Nature relic was degraded to the point that it couldn¡¯t properly exert its power anymore. Instead of acting as the primal force of nature, it only had the power to mutate natural energy.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Then¡­ what was with the giant mouth I jumped into?! Is this thing alive, or not?!</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">That was a crater¡­ and I¡¯ve always said that there wasn¡¯t any life on this floor. Even Dale knew that.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Terra responded in an awkward tone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre let out a faint huff. ¡°I wanted a boss battle, though¡­¡± She muttered under her breath, making her way back to the entrance she had found. If this was ab, it was unlikely that she would find any important data, as the research rooms would have been closer to where they conducted the test for the purpose of monitoring. And, given the size of that <i><span style="font-weight:400">crater</i><span style="font-weight:400">, all of such rooms would now be destroyed. It was better to remove the offending object and let the otherse down to help investigate.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once she reached the pit again, she simply walked over to the gem. ¡°Dear gods, this feels so anticlimactic.¡± She said, turning her arm into a giant pickaxe, and simply smashing the gem. ¡°Begone, rock!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When the gem was shattered, it no longer released any pink mist, the altar beneath it crumbling under the force of Lifre¡¯s strike. However, that didn¡¯t mean that the pink mist would immediately dissipate. ¡°I¡¯ll have to call the munchkin over¡­ but, in the safeb, where this isn¡¯t going to be a biohazard zone for her. Maybe she can purify the natural energy here.¡±

 Chapter 1042: Cold Truth

    Chapter 1042: Cold Truth


    <span style="font-weight:400">After Lifre vanquished the mighty beast at the bottom of the pit, definitely how she told that story, she invited Aznod and the others to descend in their ship. The pit was more thanrge enough for the entire ship tond at the bottom. While waiting for them, she worried about how to deal with the issue of an airlock for theb.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As soon as she opened the door to let them all in, some of the pink mist would naturally get inside. Even if she made a second door, and opened them one at a time, the mist that got in when the first door opened would follow through to the second. She didn¡¯t know if this mist could contaminate regr natural energy now that the altar had been destroyed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No other way, huh?¡± She muttered to herself as the groupnded, the boarding hatch opening up. Everyone descended in their hazmat suits, looking around. ¡°More peaceful than I expected.¡± Petra said in surprise.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah, I was bummed out, too.¡± Lifre agreed. ¡°Okay, everyone,e over this way, and let¡¯s explore some ruins!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The others nodded having heard about Lifre¡¯s discovery, and so they walked over to the hallway that she had found. They stood in front of the stone door, looking it over to find a way to open it. At the same time, Lifre split off a clone of herself, which stood at the entrance of the hall.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Omnomnom!¡± She called out, opening her mouth wide and inhaling. The pink mist nearby rushed into her body, or more specifically her mouth. As she absorbed more and more of it, her body went from white to pink, gradually expanding until she wasrge enough to alter her form and be a second door.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre grinned at the sess of her n. ¡°The mist is corrupted natural energy, so I had my clone absorb it like I would natural energy. That should be more than enough to let you all explore inside without those suits.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It really hurts, though!¡± The new doorined. ¡°Is this what it feels like to eat spicy food?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra shook her head with a chuckle, reaching up to take the helmet off of her suit. Seeing as her skin hadn¡¯t started to melt, the others all saw that it was safe. ¡°Now, how do we open this?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Try using mana!¡± Lifre suggested. ¡°The civilization seems to be heavily focused on magic, and there are crystal lights inside that react to mana.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra blinked, nodding her head and stepping forward, cing her hand on the door. There was a small, blue pulse from her hand before the door shook, opening just a crack. ¡°Looks like it¡¯s been eroded too long to properly open.¡± She said, digging her fingers into that crack.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra gave a small grunt, pulling the two halves of the door apart with minimal effort. ¡°Can your avatar hold out until we¡¯re done here?¡± She asked, looking back at Lifre.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yup! If I need to, I can just rece that door, too!¡± She assured with a wide grin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra simply nodded her head, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. Her shadow expanded down the hall, the lights briefly flickering. Without the acidic energy stopping her, she was able to instantly map out the entirety of this underground facility. ¡°I found something.¡± She announced to the others, turning and leading the way.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod and the others followed behind Petra as she navigated her way through multiple corridors, eventually leading them to a single, massive door. ¡°Oooh, I smell quest rewards!¡± Lifre said with shining eyes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra simply shook her head. This door didn¡¯t seem to have any method of directly opening it, so it was likely locked from another location. Holding her hand out, she conjured a giant, ck axe. ¡°Everyone step back.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre¡¯s eyes widened, quickly moving back from the small demoness together with the rest of the expedition team. With three swings, Petra cut out arge section of the door, storing it in her shadow. On the other side, with various devices connected to it, was arge, ck stone wall.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre blinked briefly when she saw that. ¡°Ah! They wanted to keep all their mysteries in oneb?¡± She asked, to which Petra gave a nod.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°A wall that couldn¡¯t be moved. You said the level sphere was here, too, and a relic of immense power.¡± Petra walked forward, cing her hand on the gate. ¡°For the time being, this is a safe zone, so we can bring priests here to register the gate.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m a registered priest of Aurivy.¡± The expedition leader said with a nod. ¡°If we managed to find the gate, it was precisely my job to do this.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra smiled, before looking at the scenery on the other side of the gate, pursing her lips. ¡°The next floor¡­ it¡¯s not going to befortable, but at least it doesn¡¯t look inherently fatal.¡± She could see a denseyer of ice covering the other side of the portal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre rolled her eyes with a grin. ¡°Need me to go nom us up some space?¡± She asked, to which Aznod shook his head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If you devour the ice on the other side, and then retract your body, you will be creating a vacuum. Though we don¡¯t technically need to breathe, it could create problems for us in another way. Let me take care of this one.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As he said that, he ced his own hand through the gate, a ck me erupting from his palm and spreading outwards. His eyes were closed, the scene on the other side of the gate obscured by his mes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°How¡¯s that different from me going in and being all nommy nommy?¡± Lifre asked with a pout, Aznod simply chuckling. When he pulled back his hand, he revealed arge, cavernous space beneath the ice. He had erected a number of metal supports reaching up to the ceiling to brace it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I filled the interior with air, and provided support structures to ensure that the entrance won¡¯t copse on us. I thought that would be bad.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That would be very bad.¡± Petra nodded in response to Aznod¡¯s words, before stepping through. As soon as she did, her shadow surged outwards, seeping through the ice around them. She closed her eyes, taking in the information being fed to her by her shadow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Reminds me of the twenty-sixth floor.¡± Lifre said with a faint pout, following Petra through with the others. ¡°That floor tried to eat me, too.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This is¡­ a bit worse than the crystal maze.¡± Petra responded, a deep frown on her face.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What did you find?¡± Aznod asked, looking over at her. He had a certain understanding of how the World¡¯s Shadow worked, thanks to Udona.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Aside from what look like a few scattered air pockets, this entire floor is frozen, from top to bottom. There don¡¯t look to be any paths to move anywhere, so we¡¯ll need to make our own as we go.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s¡­ inconvenient.¡± Lifre pulled a face, shaking her head. She knew more than most howrge these floors were. ¡°Even if we dig in a straight line, it¡¯ll take ages to reach anywhere. We¡¯re getting to the point now where we¡¯ll need warp engines even within the atmosphere of Fyor.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra nodded her head in agreement. ¡°This is going to be a long term project.¡± She turned her head, looking at the expedition leader. ¡°For now, you can call out some people to make the starter city here. I¡¯ll stay behind, just in case there are some monsters in the ice.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In that case, I¡¯ll go call a friend to see if I can help purify the previous floor!¡± Lifre said with a grin, hopping back through the gate and leaving the others behind.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In order to avoid being interrupted by the others, Lifre ran through the halls to find one of the bedrooms, before clearing her throat and calling out. ¡°Little friend, little friend, I¡¯ve got a favor to ask!¡± She shouted, carving green runes in the air with one finger.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a faint giggle in response, and a brown-haired halfling girl appeared in hiking gear. ¡°Hey, Lifre! It¡¯s been a while.¡± She said, before looking around with a pout.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yup! You can probably already tell what I want to ask, so¡­ can you do it?¡± Lifre asked with wide, blinking eyes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The girl hesitated, thinking it over for a moment. Afterwards, she shook her head. ¡°No¡­ I can¡¯t clear this much natural energy on my own. Not without risking it spreading to the other floors through me.¡± Lifre pouted when she heard that, but the spirit continued. ¡°However¡­ there is an item that could help me.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I sense adventure!¡± Lifre¡¯s face immediately lit up, staring at the girl, who nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In order to get the item, you¡¯ll need to face powerful creatures capable of devouring spirits. I haven¡¯t been there in a long time, but I remember James told me once that their levels were around four thousand to start. There are probably some a lot stronger than that. You¡¯ll need to be incredibly careful--why do you look so excited?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The world spirit of Fyor looked at Lifre in confusion, who was practically bouncing in anticipation. ¡°Adventure, adventure! It¡¯s a real quest! Can I go, please can I go?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The world spirit hesitated, before nodding her head. ¡°I need a gem found in the nests of these creatures. The more you gather, the faster I will be able to purify the natural energy of this floor. However¡­ there isn¡¯t a gate where I¡¯ll be sending you. Once you get to the other side, the only way back will be to call me again, and I will open a path for you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying this, the girl opened a green portal next to herself. Lifre simply shouted ¡°Adventure!¡± onest time before jumping through with a manic grin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once on the other side of the portal, Lifre was able to sense the peculiar traits of this region. It was absolutely <i><span style="font-weight:400">flooded</i><span style="font-weight:400"> with natural energy, to the point where the very ground released a green glow. ¡°This ce is perfect for me!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing a growl behind her, Lifre¡¯s head turned all the way around on her shoulders, seeing a white wolf monster. Her lips parted in a wide grin as she observed its trembling growl and sharp, almost crystalline fangs. ¡°A puppy! Are you here to y with me, puppy?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The wolf lunged forward, jaws snapping tight as it passed by Lifre, biting off one of her arms. She looked down at the stump of her arm, and then at the wolf. ¡°Aww, it wants to y fetch. Okay, boy!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The arm that the wolf had held in its mouth shifted, turning into arge stick. Afterwards, numerous branches emerged, wrapping around the head of the wolf to lock it in ce. ¡°Try to keep a good grip!¡± She said as she walked over, regrowing her arm and grabbing one and of the stick. ¡°Aaaand, fetch!¡± She threw the stick, and the attached wolf, letting them both sail high into the air and off into the distance.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre watched the departing wolf disappear into the horizon, waiting for a moment. ¡°Huh¡­ he¡¯s noting back. Bad boy.¡± She pursed her lips, before the ¡®stick¡¯ attached to the fleeing wolf¡¯s maw began to glow brightly, erupting in a torrent of mes that reached high into the sky. ¡°If you¡¯re going to y fetch, you always have to run back with the stick.¡±

 Chapter 1043: Social Experiments

    Chapter 1043: Social Experiments


    <span style="font-weight:400">I sat at my desk, going over the reports that Sun delivered to me. These weren¡¯t any major emergencies, but rather a summary of recent news that were deemed important for me to know. For instance, the discovery of a new floor of Fyor and its circumstances.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This wasn¡¯t the first floor to have an arctic theme, but it <i><span style="font-weight:400">was</i><span style="font-weight:400"> the first one that had to be entirely dug out from one gate to the other.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Even worse, Petra had no idea where the crystal spire was to use her tracking spell, because the entire thing was covered in ice. Thus, there was no room for a shadow to form when she scouted the terrain.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, there weren¡¯t any other influences in the atmosphere that would prevent tracking. Although Petra couldn¡¯t do it, there were arge number of gods that possessed domains rting to tracking. Once they brought one of those in, it would probably not take too long to locate the gate¡­ though getting to it was still another matter.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Reading through the report, a copy of the message Lifre had uncovered was also included. Apparently, that civilization had ess to the special mana stones of the twenty-eighth floor, though I didn¡¯t see any of them when I scanned through the area. Most likely, they had been dissolved thanks to the mist.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Moving to Codex Chaotic, Cici had helped to prepare a summary of basic statistics. Now that the game had been out for a couple of weeks, and the ranking system had beenunched, people were starting to y the game more¡­ I won¡¯t say logically, since it involved the void, but more carefully.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There were still those that overestimated their own abilities and died due to having too strong of a void beast. At the same time, there were those that put themselves in a grand position of power, only to be assassinated before ever seeing a trace of the void beast.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, most people had begun to take the game as it was meant to be taken, as a training experience. They gave themselves settings that they genuinely wanted to live out, while keeping it within a range that they could handle for the void beast.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Something that I didn¡¯t expect was another report that Sun sent me, rted to the release of Codex Chaotic. Ever since the game was released, there had been a noticeable decline in the use of recreational facilities throughout many worlds. From an analysis conducted not only by the artificial intelligences, but also several behavioral experts in the world, people saw less need to socialize in the real world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It wasn¡¯t like I didn¡¯t understand this. You could create your dream lover in Codex Chaotic. You could make a world where even an introvert could be surrounded by friends. It was easy for someone to get all of their social needs through this game.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The problem was that if this continued, and social activities continued to decline, the nearly utopian society that had been built in manynds would turn into a dystopia instead.<i><span style="font-weight:400"> How do I stop that from happening?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There were a few options, such as limiting the amount of time people were allowed to y Codex Chaotic in a single day. This would force people to take more time to themselves and connect with the real world. However, if I made the time allotted too short, people would easily forget the details that they needed to remember when hunting down the void beast, thus removing the point of the game in the first ce.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I leaned back in my seat as I thought about that, another thoughting to mind. ¡°Hermes, can you please call Cici? I would like to speak with her for a moment.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sure thing, boss!¡± The voice of the messenger rang out before disappearing. After a few more moments, another voice appeared in its ce, this one softer.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is there something that I can help you with, sir?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There might be,¡± I nodded, crossing my arms. ¡°Thanks to the ranking, we have taken a step in solving the issue of people not taking the game seriously. Now, however¡­ are you aware of the negative impact from people ying <i><span style="font-weight:400">too much</i><span style="font-weight:400">?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Cici spoke in a confident tone. ¡°Indeed, this was something that was considered during the creation of the game. However, the specific method of resolving this problem was ultimately left to the Keepers who would purchase the game for themselves. There are too many cultural variations for a n to cover every circumstance.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°When making a foolproof n, never underestimate the ingenuity of fools?¡± I asked with a chuckle, nodding my head. ¡°I have one idea that I would like to propose, and you can give any input on it that you need.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Please go ahead.¡± Her response was swift, so I was sure that she had already considered what I was about to say.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°My proposal is that we require people to pay a certain amount of money to maintain the simtion. This is true for both before and after itspletion. I can imagine this having a number of varied effects, based on the consumer. For those with money to burn, it will be little more than a minor annoyance, and their y habits won¡¯t change much.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°However, for those that would feel the pinch from this charge, they will have to consider whether it is worth the money to get their social experience from the game that they have to pay for, as opposed to meeting their friends in the real world. The main purpose of the game is to train against void beasts, after all, with therapy merely as an added bonus.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a brief pause as Cici considered my words. ¡°I understand. Should I implement a t rate to cover all forms of simtions, or should simtions be ranked based on their difficulty level or other factors?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s¡­ not an easy question to answer. The main issue at the moment is theck of real world socializing. Those using Codex Chaotic to rece their social life would be doing so through low to medium difficulty simtions, rather than high power ones.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Tell me what you think about this. Everyone has to make an initial payment when first creating their simtion. This initial payment will then cover the first seventy-two hours of ytime within the simtion. After that, they are billed weekly based on their hours yed, and can choose to prepay as well. However, the price should be the same no matter what difficulty level the yer requests.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">If I made the subscription monthly, or based on real time, it might have the opposite effect of what I wanted. It would go from being a bother to pay, to instead a case of ¡®I¡¯ve already paid for this month, so I might as well get the most of it¡¯.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I see¡­¡± Cici thought about it for a few moments before replying. ¡°I believe that there will be substantial negative feedback to this change, but that would apply to any change that would incentivize yers to only y in moderation. Additionally, unlike Fragments of Acidia, Vision Expanse, or World Seed, there are no direct ways for people to make money in Codex Chaotic, as it is designed for single yer use.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. Though¡­¡± I thought about it again when she mentioned that. ¡°We could potentially change that, for people that truly want to be experts on targeting void incursions.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...May I ask what you mean by that, sir?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s simple. For yers that exceed their three day limit, they will be charged to continue the simtion. However, if someonepletes their simtion within the three day limit, they can instead be rewarded. You can base their rewards off of their final score, but the minimum reward should be a full refund of the initial simtion cost.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course, this only applies to people taking simtions suitable for their ranking. We don¡¯t want experts repeatedly creating low-level simtions that they can immediately solve just to rake in the reward money.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After I finished my exnation, Cici briefly went silent. ¡°If I am to understand your desires, sir, you wish for casual yers to be incentivized to y more casually while maintaining their real world social life. Meanwhile, hardcore yers will be incentivized to y more seriously in the hopes of being paid for their efforts?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± I nodded my head in confirmation. ¡°The purpose of the game from the start was to train experts that could identify and confront void monsters. If I squash that goal just for the sake of getting the casual yers to socialize more, it would make the entire game lose its value. Thus, for those truly serious yers that can resolve high-level void threats within seventy-two hours of y, I want to make sure that they are rewarded as any expert in a major field.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I believe I understand your intentions, sir.¡± Cici spoke up respectfully. ¡°Is there anything else that I should be aware of, before I implement these changes?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I hesitated for a moment, before nodding. ¡°There are a few people that I would like to exclude from the payment requirements. First, the incarnations of the Greater Pantheon and others who have ess to the Admin Room. I¡¯m sure you know who they all are. These people would typically only y the game for proper training of one sort or another, anyways.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Additionally, there is one other person that I believe should be excluded. It¡¯s a girl that came to my world from an invasion in the past, but decided to stay with me at the cost of betraying her original allegiance. I don¡¯t know exactly what simtion she has created, but I can guess. She lost everything she had the moment that she decided to join me, so I don¡¯t want to charge her for her happiness.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You are referring to the girl named Mara, correct?¡± Cici asked, to which I nodded my head. ¡°I understand. Are there any other VIP exceptions that you would like to register?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I thought about that, shaking my head. ¡°Not at the moment. I may think of others to add in the future, but that should be enough for now.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara had a bright smile on her face as she returned from town, having grabbed herself some much needed groceries. Well¡­ she was a goddess, so her groceries were in the form of energy supplements. She could technically survive by extracting the divinity within divine currency, but proper divine supplements had been created that were far more efficient.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once she was done putting everything away, she ran up to her room to grab her gaming helmet. ¡°Log in to Codex Chaotic!¡± She shouted happily, ready to return to the family that she had created within the game. Now that they had fully understood what was happening, and had epted her, Mara was happy to spend as much time as she reasonably could within the game, only stopping when she needed to urgently do something in the real world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, instead of being thrust into the body of her avatar Maya, Mara instead found herself in Cici¡¯s office, the silver-skinned girl sitting behind her desk with a small smile. Mara¡¯s eyes widened, dozens of panicked thoughts shing before her. ¡°D-did the simtion expire or something? Why didn¡¯t I log straight in?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Cici held up a hand gently. ¡°The simtion is just fine. I pulled you here because I am preparing to make a major announcement. However, before that, there is something that you specifically need to know.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara gulped, nodding her head. When Cici began to exin about the uing change to Codex Chaotic, and the need to regrly pay to maintain a simtion, Mara¡¯s face lost its color. Cici maintained her smile, however, repeatedly insisting that Mara hold off any questions until she was done talking.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara knew that she had a rather generous allowance from the Keeper to help with her daily expenses, but she wasn¡¯t sure if that would be enough to cover the continued usage of the simtion as well as all of her other needs.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, Cici ended it with onest sentence. ¡°The Keeper has also specifically instructed that you will not be required to pay for your simtions.¡± She said, catching Mara off guard. Cici snapped her fingers, and a holographic screen appeared over her desk, showing the scene of the Keeper describing Mara so Cici could identify her, and the reason why he gave her this exception.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara blinked briefly, her cheeks reddening. ¡°W-Why didn¡¯t you just lead with that?¡± She asked, feeling as if she had been taken for a roller coaster.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Cici, meanwhile, simply blinked. ¡°If I told you that you were exempted without letting you know what you were exempted from, you wouldn¡¯t have properly understood the situation. That is why I asked you to reserve anyments until I was done.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara sighed reluctantly, nodding her head. ¡°Then¡­ thanks. And, can you make sure to thank the Keeper for me, as well?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Cici smiled at that. ¡°I will pass your message along. Now, I do not believe that there is anything else you need to concern yourself with, so I will let you log in normally, and wish you a happy experience.¡±

 Chapter 1044: Wild Star

    Chapter 1044: Wild Star


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre hacked away at the dense foliage around her with a machete that seemed to grow out from her arm. Her clothes had changed to a brown jacket over a tan shirt, brown pants, and a wide-brimmed hat. In her left hand, she held a bag that contained a single green gem. ¡°Squirt said that she needed more of these, but where are those dens?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">She had been lucky enough to find one den shortly after her arrival, but her luck had not continued to pan out for her. The natural energy world was far smaller than the floors in the sixties, but it was still incrediblyrge. ¡°Why aren¡¯t the puppiesing to y with me anymore? It¡¯s no fun if there aren¡¯t any challenges along the way!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Though sheined, Lifre had a fairly good idea of why the spirit hunting wolves weren¡¯t tracking her anymore. The first one could be exined as desperately defending its den, but others wouldn¡¯t take the initiative to hunt a creature of a higher level than themselves. If there were one of those stronger variants that the world spirit had mentioned, that might change things, but she hadn¡¯t run into one of those.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well¡­ let¡¯s see what we find.¡± She said, the machete-arm growing exponentially as she swung it, clearing out a wide swath of trees and even cutting into arge hill. Once the clearing had been made, she took flight, aiming to escape the canopy before the natural energy had the ability to regrow the trees she had just cut.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she flew up, the severed trees surged around her, leading to her only just being able to escape. Her eyes widened, seeing a massive ¡®star¡¯ of water hovering in the distance above. Off to one side, a star of stone, and to another, a swirling vortex of wind. She could already guess that thest one would be a true star of fire.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, she did not see a ceiling here, nor did she see any ck stone walls in the distant space. This region did not follow the same structure as the rest of Fyor, causing her to focus. ¡°This should be the ¡®source¡¯, then? I wonder what will happen if I tried to make a lightning or a shadow star here?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">She shook her head, dismissing these thoughts. If this was one of the four pirs of Fyor¡¯s creation, that implication was far more terrifying than just an additionalyer. Now, Lifre understood why she had never seen those spirit hunting monsters before. It wasn¡¯t that they were native to this ce at all.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Instead, it should be because they were native to another within Fyor¡¯s realm. ¡°Wait¡­ does that mean that the other people from James¡¯s race aren¡¯t from the Fyor either?¡± Lifre asked in shock, eyes widening. She had fought one of them in the past, but knew that they had the ability to pass through the minor gaps to enter other nes. That was how James had managed to be known in the first ce, after all..


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre held her head in both hands, though one was still a giant machete, and shook her head quickly. ¡°No, no, don¡¯t think about that. We¡¯re only a few floors from knowing the truth, either way. Right now, I need to get the shinies for the squirt.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre turned her focus back to the world of lush forests, her eyes focusing. She applied World Sight to her gaze, scanning over the forests to look for any sign of the gems that the World Spirit had been seeking. However, after a few minutes of staring, she blinked. ¡°...I may possibly be an idiot.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">She took the shining green gem out of her bag, and ced it into her inventory. Going through the options, she found the button to register the item in her Digital Conversion profile. ¡°I may definitely have been an idiot.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">She puffed her cheeks out, crossing her arms and simply standing there for a moment to sulk, her machete disappearing. Afterwards, she let out a sigh. ¡°Little friend, little friend, it¡¯s time to go home.¡± She said in a tired tone, a green portal opening next to her. When she walked through, she found herself in the same bedroom from which she had departed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There, the World Spirit was waiting for her with wide eyes. ¡°You managed to find them already? I knew I could count on you!¡± She said brightly, not noticing Lifre¡¯s despondent expression.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah, yeah¡­¡± Lifre sighed, pulling the gem out of her inventory. ¡°Is this what you were looking for?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s it!¡± The World Spirit nodded, before blinking and noticing something. ¡°Uhm¡­ how many more do you have?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°How many do you need to get it done quickly?¡± Lifre countered, causing the spirit to blink again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°W-Well, if they are this big¡­ about eight hundred should do?¡± When Lifre heard that number, her eyes widened again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Y-You expected me to find eight <i><span style="font-weight:400">hundred</i><span style="font-weight:400"> of these!?¡± She asked, raising her voice.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The spirit shrank back in surprise. ¡°N-No? I thought that maybe five would be good, but it would take me about ten years to do it without destroying the gems.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay¡­ okay¡­ five is way more reasonable. I¡¯m sorry for shouting.¡± Lifre patted her chest. ¡°So, eight hundred. Right¡­¡± She opened her system menu again, and pressed a button under the curious gaze of the World Spirit.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Suddenly, pure natural energy rushed into the bedroom, condensing into a gem identical to the one that she had retrieved from her inventory. And then another¡­ and another. The World Spirit¡¯s eyes widened, seeing the power of the Digital Conversion system first-hand for the first time. She knew what the system was in theory, but had never had a reason to witness its use before.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°W-Wait, where are you getting that energy from? That system should pull natural energy from the surroundings, but there¡¯s not enough of it unpolluted in thisyer for even one gem!¡± She cried out in shock upon realizing that the tenth gem had already been created.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Perk of being the Keeper¡¯s servant, I have an admin ount.¡± Lifre shrugged as if it was something normal. ¡°The energyes straight from the void. Wish it would go a bit faster, though¡­ but I guess that¡¯s because of how thick the world barrier is. Still, at this rate¡­ I¡¯d say it¡¯ll take a little over an hour for all of them to finish?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The World Spirit looked at Lifre in confusion, with one gem appearing roughly every five seconds. ¡°R-right¡­ I¡¯ll take these to get started.¡± She said as she gathered up the couple dozen gems that had already been made. Afterwards, she walked out of the room, leaving Lifre to sit down on the bed and wait for the gems to all be finished.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Outside, the World Spirit had created a simple vine ne to hang one of the gems around her neck. When she reached the exit of the undergroundb, the slime-door opened for her without hesitation. Pink mist began to flood in, but was pushed back as soon as it approached the World Spirit.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once she had made it outside, the door closed again, a pair of eyes blinking at the top of the door to watch her. The world spirit grabbed one of the gems from the bundle in her arms and threw it into the air. ¡°Come y, little ones.¡± She shouted, and tiny sprites began to rush out of the gem, circling it in the air.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Wherever the sprites passed, the pink mist seemed to be erased. These were lesser World Spirits, those that acted with a swarm mentality. The girl smiled, watching them. ¡°Let¡¯s get rid of all of this nasty mist, okay?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">One of the spirits rushed out to nod at her, before flying back into the swarm, which carried the gem around the pit. In less than a minute, the entire base of the crater was fully revealed, and the gem began to fly upwards. Afterwards, she began throwing the other gems out in groups, more and more swarms of World Spirits appearing and carrying them up into the gradually clearing sky.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So¡­ when you said you needed five of them originally¡­¡± The door spoke, causing the World Spirit to jump in surprise.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Y-Yeah, I¡¯d just have to move more carefully.¡± She admitted. Between the gem¡¯s ability to release pure natural energy and the World Spirits getting rid of the corrupted energy, it was just a matter of keeping up with the flow of power.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The door opened again, spitting one several dozen more gems, which the smaller girl controlled to fly into the air, each one summoning another swarm. By this point, the top of the pit was already visible, and even the sky above it could be seen. ¡°Once you have all eight hundred, how long will it take?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing the door¡¯s question, the World Spirit thought it over. ¡°A week? Thisyer is super big, but that¡¯s not a problem for us. Once the little ones get started, they¡¯ll call more and more over, and they can move far faster than light.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, at least Petra will be happy.¡± Lifre chuckled. ¡°By the way, is there anything you can do about the giant iceberg that is the next floor?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The World Spirit blinked, closing her eyes to investigate. ¡°There isn¡¯t anything inherently stopping me. In theory, I could melt the entire floor, but that would cause everything to be swept up by a flood instead. Also, it would probably freeze again in a few years if I did it like that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh? But why, though?¡± The door asked in confusion, spitting out another pile of gems that was quicklyunched off.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The mana spire on that floor has a strong ice element. Every floor has a different basic elemental attunement that contributes to the ecology of that floor. That¡¯s why you¡¯ll get really hot floors or cold ones, or ones with massive storms. The tamer the attunement, the more ¡®normal¡¯ the floor. This one leans heavily towards cold, so it will naturally release sts of cold during the day when it is in ¡®mana release¡¯ mode.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Somehow, the door managed to pout. ¡°So we just have to deal with it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Unfortunately.¡± The World Spirit confirmed. ¡°I don¡¯t know about the future, but right now there isn¡¯t any method of changing the spire¡¯s attunement. Look at it this way, though, it¡¯s a type of adventure, right?¡± She asked with a smile, causing the door to groan.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Digging a billion kilometer tunnel in the ice is not a fun adventure!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The World Spirit chuckled, before shaking her head. ¡°If it makes you feel better¡­ once the energy here is cleared up, monsters should begin spawning, so you¡¯ll be able to help with that while they get the gates protected?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That seemed to perk Lifre up a bit, her eyes fully opening. ¡°I guess that would be fine. Beats running off to Deckan to fight random monster gods in space.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It does?¡± The World Spirit asked in confusion. ¡°That sounds much more like an adventure¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah, but it takes <i><span style="font-weight:400">ages</i><span style="font-weight:400"> to find them. Plus, after V-Day, pretty much all of the monster gods roaming space had been killed, so all of the ones left are newly born. They won¡¯t have any majorbat experience. Give it another century or two, and it¡¯ll be worth hunting.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right¡­¡± The World Spirit blinked.

 Chapter 1045: Taking Root

    Chapter 1045: Taking Root


    <span style="font-weight:400">The changes to Chaotic Codex were met with mixed reception. For the more casual yers that enjoyed living a fantasy life, free of worldly burdens, they were outraged that their time in the game was not being charged. Even though Ashley¡¯spany released the fact that this was to encourage people to not forget about the real world, few people epted this change. After all, everyone believed that they were managing their own time properly, regardless of how much time they spent in the game.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For those hardcore yers that were in it for the challenge, they were instead happy. Although the simtion cost money to start, the idea that they could get a prize for swiftpletion filled them with hope. Several even nned to make the game their career. Until then, the biggestint about Codex Chaotic was the fact that there was no way to earn money off of it, unlike other games that the Keeper had released.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Some peoplepletely quit the game in outrage, saying that their time was better spent on other games, while others became more deeply invested. Although the poprity of Codex Chaotic plummeted, there was no change to this policy from Darkme Technologies. Rather, it seemed that this was the reaction that they had been hoping for.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The only potential downside was that some people beganining that Darkme would charge a simr payment model for other games, though they had no intention of doing so. After all, people could still socialize with others as much as they wanted in other games. While it wouldn¡¯t bring more business to the offline facilities, it prevented a situation where everyone was lost in a single yer game.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lyra took a deep breath, somewhat nervous. Leowynn had already exined to her the functions and benefits of being a Companion, though Lyra herself still found it hard to believe that she was living among Leowynn and the Keeper now. She was the first of what was being called the Heroic Spirits.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she realized that it had been fifty years since the battle of V-Day, she was shocked. She had just been talking to Leowynn for a short while, and half a century had already passed? Leowynn simply exined that time worked differently for them, and Lyra would get used to it before too long.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The first thing Lyra needed to do was create her mortal incarnation. Although it would take quite some time before that incarnation grew, this would give Lyra more connection with the mortal world. At the moment, she could only descend into the void, borrowing its power to sustain herself. However, Leowynn had assured her that she would have more freedom when her incarnation matured.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lyra¡¯s gaze swept through the world, choosing a pair of expecting elves and closing her eyes. Now that she had made her choice, everything else was a matter of waiting.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Giles stood atop a golden branch, his eyes cast out into the depths of the ck sky beyond him. <i><span style="font-weight:400">How long until we reach the next destination?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He thought, hearing a gentle voice echoing in his mind.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">We should be there within the hour.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The voice was powerful yet sweet, causing Giles to release a small smile.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Is your daughter ready?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He asked, the voice suddenly bing more shy.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">O-Our daughter, please.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The voice corrected, causing Giles to release a silent chuckle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He stood atop the branch of a massive, golden tree, which had attached itself to an asteroid, flying through space at incredible speeds. Even stars shed by before he could fully process them. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Is our daughter ready?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He corrected himself.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">She is. Latia of Wisdom will be ready when wend. I¡¯m sure that she will be able to handle the forest.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Wisdom, huh? </i><span style="font-weight:400">Giles nodded. He and Sprigga had taken it upon themselves to conduct a rather unique mission, repopting habitables that had their poptions eradicated by the events of V-Day. Because Sprigga had be a goddess, she had the ability to turn into a tree and back again at will, and could produce one golden Sylvan every year. Thanks to this, they had created almost fifty new groves on fifty differents.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Let¡¯s take a break after this one.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Giles spoke to her in a gentle tone. <i><span style="font-weight:400">So many cuttings must be taking a toll on you.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He knew his wife better than anyone, and so he knew the pain that she had to go through every time they created a new grove.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After all, they were not merely creating the golden Sylvan. Following the method of growing a tree from a single branch, Sprigga had Giles cut off one of her branches every time theynded on a new world. Doing so hurt immensely, but she was able to regrow her branch during the following year. Still, the repeated cuttings must have had an effect on her.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I-I¡¯m fine.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Sprigga assured him, though he could tell that her voice was weaker than usual.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Sprigga.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He spoke, his voice more firm. <i><span style="font-weight:400">We¡¯re taking a break after this.</i> <i><span style="font-weight:400">Take some time to spend with our daughter, and we¡¯ll treat it as a vacation.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sprigga hesitated, before one of her branches tilted, as if nodding. <i><span style="font-weight:400">We¡¯re almost there.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She said softly, and Giles could feel the tree was slowing down, a blue appearing not far away.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Giles observed the for a long moment, taking in its characteristics. There was very littlend, upying less than a tenth of the¡¯s surface. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Do you want to put her in the water, or one of the inds?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a moment of hesitation. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Let¡¯s put her on thergestndmass. Her wisdom won¡¯t be able to show itself properly if she is in an environment that restrains her options.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Giles nodded his head in agreement. Sprigga uprooted herself from the asteroid that they had been riding on, slowly descending towards the below. Although their descent was controlled, bursts of me arose from her roots, dealing minimal damage to the tree goddess.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sprigga controlled herself to fall towards thergest ind, silently taking root uponnding. Once she was down, Giles jumped up to her highest branch, collecting a golden fruit that was hanging from it. Inside, he could see the curled up figure of a beautiful woman with golden skin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Giles plucked the fruit, jumping down to the bottom of the tree and tearing open the outeryer. Latia of Wisdom gasped as her eyes opened, looking up in confusion for a long moment. One of Sprigga¡¯s branches stretched over, ced over Latia¡¯s hand. In a moment, Latia¡¯s eyes shed, knowledge rushing into her mind.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was the power of the Sylvans, tomunicate and share knowledge with their ancestor trees. In that moment, Sprigga transmitted all of the knowledge that Latia would need to know to survive in this world, whether it was building a shrine of Aurivy, how tomunicate with her sisters, or the use ofmonly found materials.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Latia offered a soft smile, rising to her feet and drying herself of the juice that had filled the fruit. ¡°Thank you for giving birth to me.¡± She bowed, both to Giles and the massive tree behind him. Giles merely chuckled. In truth, he didn¡¯t have a hand in the birth of Sprigga¡¯s daughters. He couldn¡¯t even contribute any of his own energy, because the void and divinity did not mix properly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Despite this, Sprigga insisted that they were as much his daughters as her own. Giles looked up at Sprigga¡¯s tree, choosing a suitablyrge branch. ¡°Bear with it for a moment.¡± He whispered to her, and the entire tree seemed to tense briefly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Giles jumped into the air, using his hand like a knife to cut the branch off at an angle grabbing it before it could fall off. The branch was huge, easily more than a hundred meters long, and Giles had to carefully hold it. While he descended, Latia was already digging a hole big enough to ce the branch, having learned of this message from her mother.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Giles nted the cutting of the tree into the soil, Sprigga¡¯s body began to shine. She controlled the branch, reshaping it slightly to allow it to grow roots, and then cut it off from her own divinity. Like this, the branch still possessed divine might, but no consciousness to control it, leaving it as a normal ancestor tree.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Latia walked forward, cing her hand on the new branch to share the information that Sprigga had given her back to this branch, instilling in it the basic knowledge that they would need in the future. At the same time, Sprigga rapidly shrank, turning into her Sylvan form. One of her fingers was missing, but it quickly grew back under Giles¡¯ worried gaze.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°A week.¡± Sprigga said, looking at Giles with a small pout. ¡°We¡¯ll stay for a week.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Giles sighed, knowing that he wouldn¡¯t be able to change her mind at this point. Rather, he hoped to get her to rx more over the next week, convincing her to extend the time until she had fully recovered her losses from cutting off so many portions of herself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In that case, allow me to offer a residence for the two of you.¡± Latia smiled, natural energy swirling around her. The branches of the new tree extended, the tree itself starting to grow. Nearby, another tree formed from the roots of the first, rising up in a spiral pattern with a small opening at the front that resembled a doorway.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sprigga offered a small smile, nodding her head. It would take a year before the first sylvans were born from the tree, so it didn¡¯t feel like a bad thing to spend some time with Latia before they left. Even with the wealth of knowledge Sprigga imbued her with, she was still young.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What do you n to do now?¡± Giles asked, turning to look at Latia, who thought it over.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°ording to the history you gave me, this world should be without animal life. However, monsters will begin appearing around the time the first children are born. I don¡¯t know what type of monsters there will be, so I should make sure that I understand the terrain of this world and what resources are at my disposal. Additionally¡­ I am curious about the contents of World Seed that you shared. If it is possible to achieve simr mutations with our tree, that would be for the best.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sprigga blinked in surprise. ¡°Did I share anything about that game?¡± She asked, as if questioning herself. She hadn¡¯t intended to, because it would take too long to get the ability to connect to the game from this remote. Not to mention the headset, there was the need toy the foundation for the cables.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Latia merely smiled. ¡°My power of Wisdom lets me see what others would miss. You could say that I reconstructed various memories from the information that you gave me, with World Seed being just one of them. However, I was rather focused on it when I realized that it was rted to our sisters.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sprigga hesitated, before nodding again. She wasn¡¯t expecting the power of Wisdom to be something like that. ¡°If you can really achieve suitable mutations, I don¡¯t think anyone would think poorly of it. Though, don¡¯t push yourself too much, okay?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Latia nodded her head. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I will make sure not to overburden the tree.¡± She said, though Sprigga was more worried about Latia overburdening <i><span style="font-weight:400">herself</i><span style="font-weight:400">.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Giles chuckled from the side, thinking to himself. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Like mother, like daughter.</i>

 Chapter 1046: Must Conduct More Research!

    Chapter 1046: Must Conduct More Research!


    <span style="font-weight:400">Cynthia Hill walked down the street of Deckan, her eyes roaming over the various sleek buildings. She had just finished the upgrade process for the three steps of perfection, and was now far morefortable with her new form. Or rather, the entity that had hijacked her body was. The former head of research for the Geer Empire chuckled faintly, stroking her chin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Given that Geer never had a gender to begin with, it didn¡¯t matter much whether it was possessing a male or a female body. ¡°I¡¯ll need to leave the research team. Or, shall I fake my own death?¡± She wondered to herself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ever since leaving its mechanical frame, the head¡¯s processing power had be far more limited. Unless it was a spell that it had previously constructed, it could no longer freely create fourth tier magic, and would need to spend a few minutes with any spell that it desired to create.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Perhaps I could stage an explosion in her personalb. I will just need to take care of the life mark, but there is no issue with that.¡± This researchb was quite strict with security, as every member was required to leave a sample of their ki in a special device, which would detect their deaths. Additionally, everyone had the rest of the staff on their contacts list in the system.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If not for the fact that she still felt bound by the power of fate, she would simply destroy the entire research base. However, that would no doubt trigger the terrifying power to ensure an unfortunate end for herself. If she wanted to do it that way, she would need to make sure that they first initiate a threat, giving her suitable reason to defend herself, as she did with the body she was currently possessing.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Sadly, there¡¯s no way to do so without me being the one to intentionally provoke them into action.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Cynthia wasn¡¯t sure just how strict the limitations of the power were, as it was beyond even the scope of fourth tier magic. Thus, she had never been able to fully analyze it. With that being the case, it was always best to assume that it was as strict as possible.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now that she had decided how she wanted to break away from her current research group, all that was left was nning what to do after she had left. Would she try to join the Another World Research Group? Maybe she should start her own group?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Despite the great power that the head of research had possessed in the past, it had never been a fighter. That had ultimately been the cause of its first death, with the second being even less avoidable due to interference directly from the void. Now that she had a <i><span style="font-weight:400">third</i><span style="font-weight:400"> chance at life, she had to y it carefully.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">There¡¯s probably not going to be another chance to bring back the Geer</i><span style="font-weight:400">. She thought sadly to herself, having been working on that prior to the events of V-Day. Unfortunately, all of her efforts had gone to waste.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Either way, the first thing that she needed to do was take care of her current identity. Cynthia had a privateb under her house, in which she conducted her personal research projects. She made her way there with a smile on her face, looking like she was going to be getting to work as normal. Even before the head possessed her, Cynthia believed that her boss had installed hidden monitoring devices within herb, so these devices had been easily uncovered by her new mind.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, they were left in ce to avoid suspicion. Having video evidence recording her ¡®death¡¯ would only add further credibility to her ims.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The research project that Cynthia was working on at the moment was a chemical experiment. She had various vials and beakers filled with chemical agents, as well as refined essences of basic energies.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once in the basement, she grabbed herb coat, speaking up for the audio recorder. ¡°Doctor Hill, research log eighty-three twelve. Today, I will be attempting to add liquid Ki Essence to Agent B-37. ording to my calctions, this should result in at least a twenty-percent increase in the agent¡¯s healing properties.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Cynthia smiled as she walked to her research table, grabbing the vial of light green fluid, as well as a smaller beaker of blood red liquid. She had done extensive research on thisbination. In truth, it would likely have the effect that she said, if she added it in the right proportions. However, if the amount was incorrect, it would cause a massive explosion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Terminal, activate the st protection field.¡± She called out ording to standard procedure, theb shrouded in a thin barrier that would prevent any explosions from escaping. Even if there was a catastrophic failure, it was better to lose only one researcher rather than an entire city block. ¡°Administering fifty milliliters of ki essence¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifting the vial of ki, Cynthia carefully measured the amount that she was pouring into the green liquid. Once she saw it starting to bubble up, she showed an expression of excitement, before quickly shifting to one of panic. ¡°No, the bnce was wrong!¡± She cried out in rm, throwing the bottle to the other side of the room.


    <span style="font-weight:400">On the surface, this was an instinctive reaction to get the explosion as far away from her as possible to ensure her survival. However, the ce that the bottle was thrown towards was where the other energy essences had been kept.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As soon as the explosion rang out, Cynthia triggered the spell that she had set in advance. Immediately, a number of events happened all at once. Within theb, Cynthia¡¯s body appeared to be consumed by an eruption of chaotic energies. Within the research offices, her life mark suddenly shattered. And finally, her name disappeared from everyone¡¯s contacts list within the system.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With all of that taken care of, Cynthia appeared in an alley more than a kilometer away from her house, her figure rapidly shifting into that of a teenage elf. Though, even an elf that appeared in her teens was still probably more than eighty years old. Her outfit was only lightly charred, and that was quickly taken care of with just a moment of thought. With a smile on her face, she walked out of the alley, ready to find the next chapter in her life, now free from most constraints.


    <hr>


    Chelsea sat at her desk, pouring over the group¡¯stest project. Due to the fact that they no longer needed to be strictly dedicated to researching void defenses, they had returned to their initial focus of energy research. Everyone in the research group had been given the assignment to try to uncover a new energy type that was not recorded in the Metong¡¯s energy database.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For Chelsea and James, they had personally given themselves a higher goal, which was to each discover a new saint-level energy. ¡°I keep telling you, you can¡¯t mix the ki there.¡± A bone wand spoke up from the side of Chelsea¡¯s desk. ¡°If you just mix that in haphazardly, it will explode.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea rolled her eyes, disregarding the words of the bone wand. After learning that it didn¡¯t have any inherently harmful properties, she had not only allowed its continued existence, but made it an unofficial member of the research team. ¡°And I keep telling <i><span style="font-weight:400">you</i><span style="font-weight:400"> that you are not an expert on this subject. You can barely create the form for spatial ki. Save the hard stuff for people that know what they¡¯re doing.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I may be just a stick, but I can think for myself, thank you.¡± The wand replied indignantly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea simply ignored the talkative wand. Ever since it had been discovered and allowed to join the team, it had opened up more and more. It did its best to learn from everyone, though it wasn¡¯t all that talented when it came to energies, it was trying its best to learn. Sometimes, they just wished that it would try to learn a bit more quietly.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯m just missing a few key pieces¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Chelsea thought to herself, analyzing the energy form that she had created thus far. The energy that Chelsea wanted to create would allow her to create security nodes with a bare minimum amount of energy. Borrowing from the idea of the servant energy, these nodes would possess a sense of awareness, capable of automatically reporting when something happened.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At the same time, they could serve as the keyponent of a lock, only allowing the lock to be undone if Chelsea herself would open it. This was the great security energy that she had always wanted. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Hopefully, it will even be able to integrate with local defenses, but we¡¯ll see how that goes.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">To create this energy, Chelsea had studied both World Sight and the Servant Energy, hoping to create a proper union between them. The energy itself didn¡¯t need direct offensive capabilities, but she would thoroughly test it after its creation to see if there were any surprises in store for her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°How¡¯s it going?¡± Treisha asked, walking over to check on Chelsea. She had been the first to finish her assignment, though she wasn¡¯t particrly happy with her results. She created an energy that could store the magical fluctuations of a spell to use at ater date, but each instance was only usable once, and the energy couldn¡¯t be absorbed into the body while it had a spell stored in it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ve got the necessary energy chains, I¡¯m just finding a way to stabilize their connections without losing the properties that I¡¯m wanting.¡± Chelsea shook her head. Every simtion she ran ended with catastrophic failure. Just to humor him, she had even adjusted the ki position in the form, which made the explosion more than thirty percent more powerful.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Treisha nodded her head, looking at the form. ¡°What about mixing some of the World Spirit form in here?¡± She asked, pointing at a corner of the screen.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea blinked, thinking it over. She began disassembling the form to create World Spirits, finding bits and pieces that could be inserted into her project. With a direction pointed out for her, she was able to fill in the nks herself. Although it was still not a perfect fusion, there was a small chance of sess. This meant that she simply had to make slight adjustments to the overall form in order to create that sess rate.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thanks, Treisha!¡± Chelsea said in a bright tone, grinning towards the elf. ¡°How are the others?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The twins are having a hard time, I think.¡± Treisha shook her head. ¡°Having two minds can create great cooperation, but when they don¡¯t agree on something, it makes it a lot harder for them to reach an understanding.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea nodded her head. Such disagreements wouldn¡¯t get in the way of daily life, but research could be difficult whenever the two didn¡¯t see eye to eye. ¡°I¡¯m sure that they¡¯ll be able to work it out. How about James, though?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I couldn¡¯t say.¡± Treisha shook her head. ¡°I haven¡¯t been to his area yet. But he said that his energy was a bit dangerous, so we weren¡¯t supposed to disturb him while he was working.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea shrugged her shoulders. That was pretty normal for James, who would often get lost in his work and lose weeks of time, if not months before realizing that he hadn¡¯t left hisb. As for the details of his energy, even Chelsea herself didn¡¯t know what he was up to.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Suddenly, there was a faint tremor in the ground, causing Chelsea¡¯s brow to furrow. ¡°Looks like he blew up another one¡­ let¡¯s go see what he has to say this time.¡± She smirked slightly, hopping to her feet and leading the way out of theb.

 Chapter 1047: Stepping Out

    Chapter 1047: Stepping Out


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea and Treisha walked through the halls towards the source of the explosion, where they found a disheveled James sitting on the ground. In front of him was arge hole that had been blown into the floor, with cracks along the walls of theb.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea sported an amused smile, crossing her arms. ¡°Trying to get ahead of yourself?¡± she asked in a teasing tone, to which James chuckled.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I thought that the energy fusion should work. Though¡­ I¡¯ll probably have to take it easy for a little while so that I can recover.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea¡¯s smile disappeared when she heard that, and she all but teleported to his side. ¡°What happened?¡± She asked with a serious expression on her face.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh? Ah.¡± James nodded his head, understanding the question. ¡°My soul is damaged after that experiment. I created a familiar, and was trying to experiment on fusing with it by altering the structure of the familiar into something akin to a saint energy. Everything should have gone well, ording to my calctions, but¡­ there was a strange mana surge out of nowhere, and the familiar detonated.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea thought about that for a moment, before nodding her head. ¡°Got it. I¡¯ll be right back.¡± She said, standing up and walking towards the door.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I rolled my shoulders, walking through the halls of Olympus. Tsubaki was working on her training again, and Dana was still on her secret project. As for Lifre, she had yet to return from Fyor. Thus, I was getting ready to go out alone and walk around.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, before I made it outside, Chelsea walked out of the nearest elevator, calling out to me. ¡°Dale!¡± She said, turning and running over.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m surprised¡­ you don¡¯t usuallye here.¡± I said with a small smile, before noticing the serious look on Chelsea¡¯s face. ¡°Did something happen?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea nodded her head, exining to me how James had been injured while attempting to perform an energy fusion with a summoned familiar. ¡°Do you have any special systems in ce in regards to familiars? This is James we¡¯re talking about. He won¡¯t do a fusion like that if he hasn¡¯t done the proper calctions.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">It took me a moment to realize what she was talking about, my eyes opening wide. ¡°Right. I forgotpletely about that.¡± I nodded my head. ¡°Back in the early days of Kione, I learned that there were people doing fusion experiments at the cost of innocent lives, turning them into abominations.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Because of that, I set up a mana storm to happen if someone did simr research. That way it would be a ¡®forbidden path¡¯, you know?¡± Honestly, I had always nned to release that restriction when the world became advanced enough to handle the process safely. However¡­ that was one of the details that just slipped my mind as time went on.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I see¡­¡± Chelsea nodded her head in understanding. ¡°However, I think it¡¯s safe to remove that disaster setting at this point. With how long it has been, people will still consider this an abandoned path of research. Only our group would be aware that it is safe to do so now.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head in agreement. ¡°I¡¯ll take care of that before heading out, then.¡± I said with a smile, causing Chelsea to blink.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯re heading out?¡± She asked, tilting her head. I felt like I should feel offended¡­ I go out! Usually for training, though. It¡¯s hard to find somewhere that I could unleash my full power.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yes¡­ I thought that I would go out and enjoy the sights for a bit. Unless there¡¯s another catastrophe lingering that I¡¯m not aware of?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, nothing like that. Though, are you not taking Tsubaki with you?¡± She asked, noticing the distinctck of a fox maid behind me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°She¡¯s in the middle of her own training, and I didn¡¯t want to disturb her.¡± When I said that, Chelsea let out a long sigh.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In that case, I¡¯ll be going with you.¡± She said in a firm tone, causing me to blink.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Exactly as I said. I am well aware that you are strong enough to defend yourself, don¡¯t worry.¡± She gave a cheeky grin when she said that. ¡°However, even a warrior king needs his guards. If there is some unforeseen event while you¡¯re out, something that you¡¯re not equipped to deal with, that¡¯s why you have a guard in the first ce. Besides, imagine Tsubaki¡¯s face when she learns that you went out without anyone with you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a faint groan, knowing that Chelsea was right. Besides, she probably knew more about the area now than I did. ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll be back in just a minute.¡± I told her, before ascending to the Admin Room. It only took me a few seconds to find the option to undo the disaster setting, after which I returned to my body in the mortal world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Noticing my return, Chelsea gave a firm nod of her head. ¡°I assume that you are at least nning to change your appearance?¡± She asked.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Naturally.¡± I chuckled, my body shifting into that of a burly ursa man with brown hair and green eyes. At the same time, I employed an illusion to disguise my Keeper abilities, making me appear as just a basic God of Illusions. With howmon gods were bing nowadays, I felt like this was a pretty fitting disguise.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea arched a brow, but nodded her head. Her body shifted, her spine popping slightly as she simrly turned into an ursa woman. ¡°It¡¯ll be more convenient for us to move around if we look like we¡¯re part of the same group.¡± She said in a confident tone. ¡°So, where were you nning to visit?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I thought about that for a long moment. ¡°I went to Deckanst time, so I¡¯d prefer going to one of the other worlds now.¡± In truth, I spent more time at Deckan than almost any other world. It was a rather convenient ce to visit.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea smiled. ¡°In that case, let¡¯s visit Hanbei on Earth. Thanks to the influence of Elisae, the crime rate there is astonishingly low, and there are a great deal of interesting sights to see.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I arched a brow, but nodded. Chelsea turned and walked back to the elevator to wait for me. As I got in, I looked over at her. ¡°How has the process of Hanbei unifying the humannds been going?¡± I asked, to which Chelsea chuckled.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s already a done deal. The Human Empire is centered around Hanbei now, with Elisae as the Empress.¡± I blinked for a moment when she answered. Chelsea, catching my confused expression, went on to exin. ¡°The biggest opponent to the whole affair was King Kross. However, on V-Day, he stayed behind rather than retreating to Fyor. He even made a public statement that he had to defend his homnd no matter what, and that the other nations would surely use his absence to trick away his people.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Then¡­ the murder game¡­¡± I blinked, and Chelsea nodded her head. The first apocalypse to hit Earth was a game in which you had to take the lives of other creatures.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not only the king himself, but all of his knights. Without hesitation, he ordered the sacrifice of civilians in fear of the void threat. It was onlyter that he realized that any life would do, but by that point¡­ the second round required a more powerful life to be taken than the first round. At that point, crushing a bug was no longer an option.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°By the end of the invasion, he had personally killed six of his civilians, and one of his knights. Most of his knights had simr body counts, and the citizens refused to ept it. They fled to the Human Empire after V-Day and informed Elisae about what had happened.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea snickered as we exited the elevator, stepping out into the clearing outside of Olympus. ¡°That was the first time that I had seen Elisae truly angry. In the name of every human under her rule, she made a single wish. She wished retribution upon those who had taken the lives of those under their care without a second thought.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Just like that, gods descended on his castle, putting an end to Raynard Kross and his knight¡¯s order.¡± As Chelsea said that, she retrieved a golden token from her inventory, opening a portal for the two of us to step through.


    <span style="font-weight:400">On the other side of the portal, we appeared just outside of a bustling city. Unlike Ashtanu, this city did not feel ¡®empty¡¯, as if it had grown toorge for its poption. Rather, it was full of life.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two of us walked towards the city casually, Chelsea exining that this was the capital of the empire, none other than Hanbei City. ¡°Is there a festival or something today?¡± I asked, looking at the lively atmosphere.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea simply chuckled. ¡°No, this is pretty normal. Think of Elisae as the ultimate insurance salesman. Everyone devotes their faith to her in case something happens. For most people, they never encounter a problem that would outweigh the amount of faith that they provide. This lets Elisae constantly build her divinity while still answering the wishes of her people.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I slowly nodded. ¡°And the more people believe in her, the less of them actually need her help, because everyone¡¯s already cooperating.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea snickered in agreement. ¡°That¡¯s right. Unfortunately, nobody else has been able to copy her pattern. First of all, it requires incredible luck, which Elisae has by virtue of¡­ well, her virtue. Secondly, they have to devote practically all of their own divinity as a ¡®start-up¡¯ fund. Elisae is basically the child of the karma system, so she is in a unique position to handle cases like this.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As we entered the city, I was able to see people walking down the streets, smiles everywhere. Despite this, though, Chelsea¡¯s eyes were constantly darting about, keeping an eye out for any potential assant. ¡°Hanbei City is the safest ce in any world for most people. However, I would prefer it if you didn¡¯t meet with Elisae yourself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Any¡­ particr reason?¡± I asked in concern, afraid that Elisae had changed after ordering the attack on Raynard Kross.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea chuckled again. ¡°Like I said before, she is blessed by virtue. If her virtue decided that bing the Keeper would improve Elisae¡¯s life, you¡¯d probably need Terra in order to solve your fate. Though, Elisae would never consciously decide that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right¡­¡± I agreed without hesitation. Fortune didn¡¯t always care about what the person gaining said fortune really wanted, after all. As someone literally married to the Goddess of Fate, I knew that from experience. ¡°In that case, where would you suggest we go?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea closed her eyes in thought. ¡°There¡¯s a Mixed Reality Coliseum up ahead. Basically, contestants fight in virtual reality, while their battle is disyed in real time via three-dimensional holograms to give the appearance that they are still in the arena. This lets them fight with their full power, without worrying about civilian casualties.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nodding my head, I simply gestured for Chelsea to lead the way. She knew this area better than I did, so she would make the best tour guide.

 Chapter 1048: Exhibition

    Chapter 1048: Exhibition


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two of us made our way towards the coliseum, where Chel paid for our tickets to let us in, exining with a small smile. ¡°This is amon way for powerfulbatants to try to get the attention of Elisae, hoping to be employed as an imperial knight. Although Elisae herself doesn¡¯t attend the matches, the recordings of promising fighters will be sent to her regrly.¡±


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">So you brought me here because you knew that this was somewhere she wasn¡¯t likely to show up?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I asked myself with a knowing smirk on my face.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea seemed to get what I was thinking, simply chuckling in response. ¡°The empress is too busy dealing with other matters, so it¡¯s only normal that she doesn¡¯t make a personal appearance.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°How do you know so much about this arena?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask. This didn¡¯t seem like the type of thing that would interest Chel, so it felt strange that she was so well informed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She smiled, but did not voice her answer out loud. Instead, she sent it to me mentally. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Because I¡¯m the one that designed the security for this ce, and advised her not to attend personally, under any circumstances. Even for someone with her karmic value, she¡¯s not immune to assassination. In a facility where people are disying their full power over a virtual interface, there are countless ways to target her secretly. As long as someone was willing to bear the burden of killing her, this ce was the biggest security risk in her empire.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Instead, the audience votes on the three best fights every day. The recordings of these fights are then dyed for twenty-four hours to wait for any signs of memetic interference in the crowd. After that period, the recordings will be released to her to review.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">After she has reviewed each fight, she will flip a coin on whether to recruit one of the fighters, and again to decide which one. For most people, coin flips are an even chance. When we¡¯re talking about Elisae, though, they will always be skewed in her favor. You have no idea how frustrating it is to acknowledge that her flipping a coin is better than any background check I could create¡­</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle, turning my attention towards the fight. Currently, there were two human men doing battle. One of them appeared to be a god, though it was hard to tell exactly what his domain was, since I couldn¡¯t appraise him through the holographic interface. However, I could tell that any of the attacks that should have hit him appeared to curve at thest moment. Even attacks such as dropping giant masses from above were left with holes that conveniently allowed him to escape unharmed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As for his opponent, he had the ability to create a multitude of weapons, seemingly out of thin air. Everything from swords, spears, hammers, even entire buildings were thrown out. Moreover, many of these items were enchanted at the same time as their creation, the strongest among them rivaling a low-ss divine weapon.


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes couldn¡¯t help but widen as I saw this, trying to figure out the nature of these powers. Next to me, Chelsea smiled. ¡°Anyone who participates in this arena is bound to have their own unique style. Maybe they have acquired a legend that allows them to use powers beyond the norm, or their domain is so unusual that it is hard to predict its uses.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Let¡¯s take that god, for example. His domain could be Avoidance, Emptiness, uracy, Gap, or any number of things. It could even be a domain focused on technology, one that would only work in such a digital fight. If someone doesn¡¯t register their domain, there¡¯s no way of knowing.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As for the other¡­ there is still the chance that his domain could be focused on the digital realm, being able to so rapidly create equipment. The Digital Conversion system isn¡¯t avable in the simtion, so the other alternative is that he has mastered an advanced technique that allows for instant craftsmanship and enchantment. However¡­ that¡¯s not the most interesting thing about his way of fighting.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod, looking at the holographic disy. ¡°He¡¯s not using any materials. If they weren¡¯t in a digital battlefield, I would think that he hacked the system and gave himself an admin ount, regardless of how unlikely that is.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea agreed, leaning back with her hands behind her head. ¡°That¡¯s right. And his weapons all disappear after he¡¯s done using them. In other words, he¡¯s recycling the materials. If I¡¯m not mistaken, this man should be a craftsman who obtained a legend about instant crafting. Perhaps he was trying to emte the DC system with a mortal¡¯s means. Thus, he crafts a weapon in an instant, attacks with it, and then ¡®crafts¡¯ it back into its baseponents with the same energy that he used to make it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°To disguise the nature of his ability, he keeps everything in his inventory during the process, meaning that he has found a method to connect his own energy with the inventory system.¡± When Chelsea revealed that, I was even more surprised. To think that people had managed to find suchplex legends already. ¡°Or perhaps, his legend might only work if he uses his inventory as the intermediary in the first ce.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head, but couldn¡¯t imagine any way for the craftsman to win this fight. Even when spears pierced towards his foe from all sides, they couldn¡¯t so much as make him take a single step, all of the spears curving around him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After giving enough time for the craftsman to fully disy his abilities, the deity walked forward with calm steps. Everyone knew that he was ready to end the fight, and that included the craftsman. He mmed his hands to the ground, and thick, iron walls rose up all around the battlefield, forming a maze.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, the view offered to the spectators focused on the god, who continued to walk forward with unhurried steps. When he approached the wall, the wall contorted, a hole appearing to allow him through. One wall after another was passed as if they weren¡¯t even there. When he arrived in front of the craftsman, thetter turned and ran to the side, down the passages. This briefly stunned the deity, who continued to follow after him with the same slow pace.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Field.¡± I muttered under my breath, thinking that I had identified the domain that he was using. ¡°There is a field around him that disces anything attempting to enter it, whether it is energy or solid matter. However, such an absolute defense field has to have a high cost, so ites with restrictions to bring the cost down to his natural recovery. His first restriction would be his limited speed. That¡¯s why he¡¯s not ending this quickly.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Couldn¡¯t that be done with a Space domain?¡± Chelsea asked, and I nodded my head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It could, easily. However, if it was simply a God of Space, the battle would have been over immediately.¡± I smiled, feeling as if I had figured the man out.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What¡¯s stopping him from using his domain to change the battle<i><span style="font-weight:400">field</i><span style="font-weight:400"> into a sea of mes?¡± Chelsea challenged.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Respect.¡± I said. ¡°After all¡­ he¡¯s the God of Fields.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea looked like she was about to say something again, before pausing. ¡°You¡¯ve got to be kidding me¡­ it¡¯s a match between a cksmith and a farmer?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I chuckled slightly, having to agree with that assessment. Such an intense battle being fought by two typical nobatants. ¡°Do people normally appear like this?¡± I asked, and Chelsea shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sometimes, there will be one or two that tries to catch Elisae¡¯s attention by showcasing exceptional skills from nonbat professions. However¡­ Well, I can¡¯t speak confidently, given that I don¡¯t usually watch these. I can definitely say that this isn¡¯t normal, though. If I had to guess, the two of them reached an agreement to fight one another before signing up.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Just as Chelsea said that, there was a burst of mes through the projection, signaling the end of the match. As she said, he could have simply turned the entire arena into a field of mes. ¡°How¡¯d you guess the domain?¡± Chelsea asked, nudging me with an elbow. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you cheated, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked, before shaking my head. ¡°I just narrowed the scope of my thoughts. Rather than asking why he was able to resist all attacks, I asked why he wasn¡¯t defeating his enemy. No matter what domain he used to create that field, whether it was Space, Emptiness, uracy, they all had equally fatal methods to attack.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The fact that he didn¡¯tunch any attacks, and just passively defended, meant to me that he was allowing his opponent to showcase his abilities. At the same time, the cksmith knew the god¡¯s abilities, and was attacking in so many different ways to showcase the god¡¯s power.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In the first ce, this wasn¡¯t a battle, but an exhibition. Even when he turned to run away, that was likely something that they had decided beforehand, to show ¡° After saying that, I shrugged. ¡°The only reason for all of this is if they were friends under simr circumstances.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea chuckled, nodding her head in agreement. ¡°I guess that I was focused too much on the overall possibilities. Though¡­ I wouldn¡¯t call his defense absolute.¡± I arched a brow, ncing over at her. ¡°He''s visible¡­ Meaning that light is both entering and exiting his field. Otherwise, his field would appear to be a mass of absolute darkness, which would only further give away his power.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thus, if it was someone like Tsubaki, they would be able to use an attack focused on concentrated photons, or perhaps electromaism. The cksmith didn¡¯t use any lightning abilities, so if the two were working together, that might be his secret weakness.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I hesitated, before conceding that it was definitely a possibility. ¡°Well¡­ I¡¯d like to say that it is unfair to say that Tsubaki would be able to beat someone. I don¡¯t know anyone that she <i><span style="font-weight:400">couldn¡¯t</i><span style="font-weight:400"> defeat, if she really put her mind to it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Even me?¡± Chelsea asked, grinning yfully. ¡°You think that she¡¯d be able to sneak past all my security and get to me?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No¡­ I just think she¡¯d walk right in and dismantle every obstacle in her way.¡± I rolled my eyes, thinking back to her various trials. ¡°If an opponent can¡¯t be defeated with strength, use intelligence. If an opponent can¡¯t be defeated with intelligence, use strength. If the opponent can¡¯t be defeated with either¡­ you¡¯re missing information.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea¡¯s brow twitched, ncing off to the side. ¡°Well¡­ maybe so. To be honest, I¡¯d hate to get on her bad side. I can prepare memetic scripts all day, but if she has taken precautions against them, they would be useless.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head, before turning my attention back to the fighters, who had appeared on stage after their match. ¡°Think Elisae will be hiring either of them?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s¡­ possible.¡± She said, though didn¡¯t seem sure herself. ¡°It depends on their luck. Most likely, only one of them will be epted. The odds of both of them¡­ well, there¡¯s a way¡­ During the second coin toss, the coin has tond perfectly so that it does not fall to either side, such as in a crack. Even with her luck, there¡¯s no guarantee that she¡¯ll be able to get such an unlikely result.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I paused, before agreeing. There were always ways to fool background checks, so we could only trust Elisae¡¯s¡­ unique way of doing things. Of course, that was assuming that both of them were good people in the first ce, because otherwise there would be no chance either way.

 Chapter 1049: Stay Grounded

    Chapter 1049: Stay Grounded


    <span style="font-weight:400">After the battle between the farmer and the cksmith, Chelsea and I remained at the coliseum in order to watch several more matches. With each one, we did our best to analyze thebat styles of each fighter, or how they may have gotten their abilities. Some of them were simpler than others, such as a halfling that used card magic to fight. It wasn¡¯t exactly hard to guess where that came from.


    <span style="font-weight:400">By the time the coliseum closed for the day, I gave a small smile of satisfaction, walking out with Chelsea. ¡°Well, ready to go see more?¡± She asked with a small grin, clearly enjoying her time away from theb as well.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod, and Chelsea pulled out her token. Under the surprised gazes of many onlookers, she tore open a gap in space for the two of us to leave through. When we emerged, we were deep in the vastness of space, and I looked around in confusion, wondering if Chelsea had perhaps used the wrong coordinates when teleporting us.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">We¡¯re almost there.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She transmitted, returning to her original body. I followed suit, figuring that there was little reason to disguise myself when we weren¡¯t even on an upied.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea led the way, flying faster and faster ahead through space, making sure that I was behind her. After a few minutes, our rate of eleration began to climb higher and higher, and I could see a distant staring closer before she began to slow down.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Where exactly are you taking me?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I couldn¡¯t help but question. At first, I thought it might have been Sanctum, but there would have been no need to go through all of this trouble when there was the simple phrase to teleport there.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Instead, the that she led me to was one that was being rapidly developed. The two of us flew down towards thergestndmass, where I saw a rather peculiar sight.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Arge object, simr in style and shape to a crane, seemed to be printing buildings. Red and blue crystals were fed in through the base of the machine, and its arm went down to the top of the building, where blue lights emerged to print arge structure.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°With the new advancements in DC technology,s are being rapidly terraformed and set up for habitation.¡± Chelsea announced proudly. ¡°Some of this technology is even being used in Fyor, though it is harder to do so there. For one, the size of the gate makes the transportation ofrge machinery difficult, while the increasing gravity causes problems for the structural integrity.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°However, when we are using it fors with normal gravity, it can easily print an entire city within only a week. The only thing more efficient would be the drones being used by Dana¡¯s familiars. Sadly, we can¡¯t market those, because they would be too easy to exploit for nefarious purposes.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod when I heard that. Given the fact that those drones were able to self-replicate, just a small amount of tampering, either intentional or not, could turn them into a gue upon the universe. ¡°Is there something special about this in particr?¡± I asked, curious.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea nodded her head, leading me away from the city and towards arge mountain range. Here, we found an alreadypleted city with an assembly line pulling ores from a nearby mountain. ¡°This world has an incredibly high volume of valuable metals like mithral. These materials are not cost-effective to produce with the DC system, so it is more efficient to mine them manually.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Also, there is something strange about the nts that grow here, likely due to this mineral excess and other local factors. A few months back, we were sent samples to analyze. The nts native to this are able to actually <i><span style="font-weight:400">grow</i><span style="font-weight:400"> metal. We passed the samples off to anotherb to continue research, but they are working on crossbreeding to try to get more powerful minerals.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What do you mean by growing the metal?¡± I asked in confusion. Chelsea simply grinned, flying off into the distance. I followed her to arge forest, where shended and walked over to a fruit-bearing tree.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The fruit from the tree looked simr to a cbash with a metallic luster. She hopped up to pluck the cbash, shing the top of it off with her hand. Turning it to me, I saw that the insides were not the typical soft interior of a fruit. Instead, it was hollow, filled with a sweet-smelling juice.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The body of this gourd is roughly sixty percent iron. The seeds are in the part I just chopped off, while the juice is an increasingly popr beverage for the locals.¡± She said with a grin, taking a drink from the gourd. ¡°ording to the preliminary research, these nts will only <i><span style="font-weight:400">normally</i><span style="font-weight:400"> grow in mineral-rich soil. However, if it is normal soil, they will extract all of the minerals before even producing the first fruit.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Normally, you mean¡­¡± I blinked. ¡°They¡¯re being exported to Lorek and Spica?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± She nodded firmly. ¡°The farming system that was set up for those two worlds offers a way to bypass the normal limitations, as the system handles the needs for the soil when cultivating difficult crops.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Furthermore, this type of gourd in particr is extremely fast growing, simr to a vine variant that Terra told me about in your own world. Within three months of nting, the small tree will begin to grow gourds. After a year, it will be able to produce a harvest of gourds every month, as long as the nutrients are avable.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Note¡­ this is when they are grown in the wild. With the farming system¡¯s elerated growth rate, as well as nourishment via natural energy from farmers, it is possible for the tree to grow in a week, and the gourds to be ready to harvest every day.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Each gourd is equivalent to a little more than three pounds of iron, and there is an average of thirty gourds per harvest. In other words, a single tree produces around one hundred pounds of iron per day, after a small refinement process.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a slow nod at that, listening to her exnation. It was true, this could make things incredibly convenient. However¡­ ¡°How is this better than the resource seeds?¡± I asked, recalling that it was already possible to simply turn a nugget of iron into a seed and nt it. In fact, not only normal iron, but the highly condensed iron from the upper levels of Fyor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea grinned slightly at that. ¡°The resource seeds you¡¯re talking about are essentially root nts, like a potato. They¡¯ll grow in the ground, and need to be harvested, broken apart to get more ¡®seeds¡¯, and then rented. They can pay for the auto-harvest add-on, but it¡¯s still only growing one chunk of iron at a time. One tree is equivalent to about twenty of those flowers.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked at that. ¡°Right¡­ so they want to try to engineer the tree to grow other materials. Is there anything else that¡¯s special?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Without exining first, Chelsea used one hand to chop off arge section from the side of the tree to show me the silvery veins running through it. ¡°The wood in these trees simrly has a heavy metal content, rivaling the Ironwood trees of Earth.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right.¡± I nodded again. ¡°Long story short, they¡¯re just an all-around improvement on what currently exists, is that right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Pretty much.¡± Chelsea agreed. ¡°There are also nts on this that produce copper or gold, so it¡¯s a good thing that you¡¯re not using those outdated currencies anymore.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but agreeing at that. Honestly, at this point, there is simply too much that wouldn¡¯t be able to be purchased without a mountain of coins if we were still using the original methods for currency.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Honestly, when I saw you bringing me to a, I thought you were going to show me a new monster or some crazy experiment. Or that the itself was alive.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea let out a lightugh at that. ¡°No, the living we found had been killed thanks to V-Day. Now, it¡¯s justt a normal husk floating in space. It¡¯s¡¯ a real shame, though. As for monsters¡­ for simr reasons, we haven¡¯t had as much luck finding any with new, interesting abilities.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I thought about that for a moment, remembering the bio-engineered monsters that Dana was having her familiars produce. If they weren¡¯t residents of her shadow, I would suggest letting them out to mix things up a bit. However, I had no idea if shadow monsters were capable of reproducing normally, or if they had to return to the shadow after a certain amount of time passed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath, ready to head back to one of the other worlds. While the nts of this were interesting, I would definitely prefer a more social event, even if I did have to hide my identity.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea seemed to catch my look, a small grin forming on her face. ¡°Right. Not so much one for scientific research. In that case¡­¡± She started, before blinking in surprise. I felt energy gathering, and turned around to find Tsubaki standing there, a small pout on her face.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There you are.¡± She said, quickly controlling her expression. ¡°You weren¡¯t around when I logged out of my training for lunch, so I was wondering where you went, my Keeper.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked, having not even realized that it was time to eat. Thinking about it, I couldn¡¯t help but smile. ¡°Why don¡¯t we eat out today?¡± I asked, causing the other two to look confused. ¡°Well, I wanted to just get out of Olympus for a bit. Now that I¡¯m out, I¡¯d like to just try a bit of normalcy. No fancy restaurants or anything like that, just fast food you can get anywhere.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea paused for a moment, before shaking her head. ¡°Now that Tsubaki¡¯s here, I should get back to my work. I¡¯m on the verge of a breakthrough, so I can¡¯t stick around for too long.¡± She said, smiling towards Tsubaki as she pulled her token out and left.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki hesitated, crossing her arms in front of herself. ¡°Street food wouldn¡¯t be bad. Admittedly, I don¡¯t know any good ces to get it in the current world¡­ Why don¡¯t we just head to a city and walk around?¡± She suggested, to which I nodded my head readily.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, this time we did have to change our appearances to disguise our identities. As for where we would go to, I nned to visit Ashtanu. While we were there, I would be able to check up on my new priestess and she how she was doing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki pulled out her own golden token, teleporting the two of us to the Deckan capital, where we changed to a non-descript human male and his kitsune maid. Maids were¡­ not incrediblymon in the current day, from what I could tell, but Tsubaki¡¯s existence seemed to have kept them from falling out of style entirely.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two of us simply walked the streets, taking in the sights and letting our noses guide us. Eventually, we found our way towards a road with a wide sidewalk, where nearly a dozen stalls were set up. Each one had chefs making food such as fried cheese-covered sausages, dumplings, burgers, or even¡­


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Right¡­ Aurivy introduced sloppy joes to this world</i><span style="font-weight:400">. I reminded myself, seeing one of the stalls where someone had made an elongated version of a sloppy joe,thered in cheese sauce with what looked like small fries cooked in. At least I knew what I wanted to try, now.

 Chapter 1050: Back In Black

    Chapter 1050: Back In ck


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Captain, we are approaching the target coordinates.¡± A uniformed man called out from his terminal aboard arge starship. This was an exploration vessel that had beenunched after V-Day, prioritizing speed overbat. After all, the vast majority of monsters had been purged on V-Day, leading to famines across nearly every world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It had been forty years since this ship had firstunched, only returning for regr maintenance at scheduled intervals or to rece crew members as needed. Otherwise, it was a ship that lived among the stars.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Understood.¡± The captain spoke, a human man with short, ck hair. He looked at the various disys in front of himself. ¡°Prepare to activate all system scans. I want readings on any habitables within the hour.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">A momentter, there was a slight jerk of inertia as the ship decelerated, entering the star system. This particr system yed host to a white star, but the captain simply watched the screens, as this was all something that he had seen before. ¡°Report, any hostile entities?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No lifeforms appearing on scanners, sir!¡± Another crew member called out. ¡°There appears to be arge asteroid field roughly five thousand kilometers ahead, however.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The captain gave a small nod. ¡°Conduct a mineral survey, see if there are any valuable materials.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As soon as he said that, the rms on the bridge went off. ¡°Captain!¡± The same crew member cried out in shock. ¡°We have a hull breach!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The captain looked over, surprised at the sudden crisis. ¡°What happened? Get me a visual.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">A screen appeared at the front of the bridge, showing a circr hole near the rear of the ship. Rather than looking as if an explosion had blown the hole out or a piece of debris had somehow gotten through their shields, the hole was clean, as if the metal hull had simply been erased. Atmosphere could be seen briefly venting out of the hole.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Another officer spoke up in surprise. ¡°Sir, we¡¯re receiving reports from crew on multiple levels about a ck figure passing through the walls.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The captain didn¡¯t hesitate before issuing his order. ¡°Activate the emergency return system.¡± All exploration vessels had a single-use system to teleport them to pre-set coordinates in the event of a hostile situation that they could not ovee. ¡°Prepare to send a broadcast for assistance upon arrival.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Blue light crackled over the exterior of the ship, the emergency return activating. The captain¡¯s eyes widened as he looked forward, seeing a ck mass rising from the middle of the bridge. Others nearby seemed unaware of it, and he instinctively reached for his sidearm. The figure had a smoky appearance, but a menacing red grin could be seen where its head should be.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A momentter, the blue light shed, and they were now orbiting Earth¡¯s moon. ¡°Send the signal!¡± The captain shouted, noticing that the ck figure was no longer in the center of the bridge. The damage was still visible in the camera feed on the hull of the ship, but there was now a ck energy that seemed to be attached to the edges of the opening.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Earth Security, this is Gasper Five. Repeat, Gasper Five. We have encountered an unknown, hostile lifeform. Lifeform does not appear on scanners, possesses the ability to bypass shields and both phase through and cut walls. Crew reports detail a ck figure. Requesting immediatebat assistance, suspecting a divine nature.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Understood, Gasper Five.¡± A voice spoke up over themunication channel. ¡°Dispatching a divine squadron to investigate.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The captain let out a sigh of relief when he heard that, gripping the arm of his chair and praying that the backup arrived quickly. At the same time, he nced towards the camera footage again, seeing that the ck mass was no longer visible on the ship¡¯s hull. His eyes widened slightly, before bringing his hand up to rub at his face, worried that he might be starting to see things.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When he pulled his hand away, he saw an inky ck substance staining his palm, causing him to shout in shock. When the other bridge crew heard this shout, they looked over, gasping in rm. The captain¡¯s skin had fallen off of his face, blood seeping down his neck. A ck, mucus-like mask covered his features, his mouth glowing red.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea rolled her shoulders as she returned to theb, ready to finish her energybination. Upon arriving in herb, she saw that there was a red, shing rm on her screen. Her eyes widened, and she rushed over to see.


    <span style="font-weight:400">`Potential Void incursion. Details redacted for safety. Location: Earth Security moon base.` This was all the information provided by the report, but it was enough to make Chelsea shoot up in rm.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Within the Admin Room, she ran towards the living room, finding Aurivy and alia sitting together watching movies. ¡°Sorry, girls, but I need to borrow the TV for a moment.¡± She said in a grave tone, causing the duo to look at her in confusion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What¡¯s going on, Chel? Rare to see you out of your room.¡± Aurivy asked, handing the remote to Chelsea.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We¡¯ve got a potential void outbreak on Earth. I thought that it would be safer to check the situation from here, rather than go with my mortal guise.¡± She said as she used the remote to look at the Earth Security base. The lights visible through the windows were flickering, and there was a circr hole carved into the side of the building.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After she hit another button, the screen changed to show the interior. There, people could be seen walking around, the skin having appeared to have melted off of their bodies. Fresh blood dripped along the floor with every step that they took, their mouths hanging open in agonizing cries.


    <span style="font-weight:400">alia¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°We need to quarantine the base.¡± She said, Aurivy nodding her head in agreement. ¡°Is this a void monster, or a memetic influence?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I don¡¯t know yet.¡± Chelsea grit her teeth, flipping through various different scenes. Everywhere she looked, these figures were present, and she couldn¡¯t find a single uninfected individual in the entire base.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Going through the history of the infection led her to the ship, Gasper Five. There, simr scenes were visible, and a simr hole appeared on the side of the ship. Chelsea rewound the footage to watch for the exact moment when the hole was created.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Back when Gasper Five had just arrived in the new star system, there was a creature moving towards the ship at high speeds, far beyond the speed of light. Its body was made of a peculiar energy, and took the shape of a canine with exposed muscles, not a bit of skin or fur visible on its entire body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When this creature saw the ship, it altered its course and mmed into it, a barrier around the creature creating an almost perfectly circr hole that consumed all matter in its path. The strange thing was that the creature didn¡¯t continue to st through to the other side, but instead hid in what looked like a bedroom, tucking itself under the bed and remaining motionless.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Furrowing her brow, Chelsea looked at the hole again, seeing a ck cloud passing through it. Her eyes widened in realization. ¡°There are two of them. A hunter and its prey.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">She could tell that the ck mass seemed to be chasing the canine, which was in turn trying to hide from it. She even spected that the reason the figures all appeared to be skinned were because it was looking for such an entity.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, it jumped ship to hide in the moon base after they got near Earth?¡± Aurivy nodded her head. ¡°Where¡¯s the hound now?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Returning her focus to the canine creature, she fast forwarded the scene to the present. Her eyes widened, and she almost dropped the remote. The hound was digging a hole in a grassy in, one that was clearly not on the moon. ¡°It made it to Earth already.¡± She said, knowing that the ck figure wouldn¡¯t be far behind.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Immediately, she focused, sending a message to Leowynn. <i><span style="font-weight:400">We¡¯ve got a situation. Two monsters have appeared on or near Earth, at least one of which possesses memetic qualities. I¡¯m sending you the coordinates. This needs to be dealt with, or it could lead to a potential extinction event.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was no response from Leowynn, but Chelsea could see her appearing on the screen near the canine. The moment that she appeared, the canine was startled. The circr barrier formed around itself, and it sped in the opposite direction from Leowynn¡­ which was down. Leowynn paused, blinking as she looked at the five meter-wide hole that appeared in the ground, continuing almost straight down like a perfectly carved tunnel.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Turning her head, she saw the ck cloud swiftly flying in, her brows narrowing. She snapped her fingers, and the cloud paused, beforepressing into a fine point and fading away. At that moment, Chelsea heard Leowynn¡¯s report. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯ve dealt with one of the two monsters. The other one appears to flee at incredible speeds the moment it senses any hostile presence. Additionally, neither entity originated from the void.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea was understandably confused by thest part of Leowynn¡¯s report. <i><span style="font-weight:400">They¡¯re not from the void? If that¡¯s the case, how does it possess such powerful memetic effects?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I can sense that the creatures both have a trace of the void in them, but neither originated there. Both were naturally spawned in this universe.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Leowynn stated firmly. <i><span style="font-weight:400">As for the victims of this creature¡¯s effect, I will try to wipe the power away so that they can be healed naturally.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea nodded her head, sitting down uncertainly. ¡°Naturally born in the universe?¡± She muttered, before her eyes went wide. ¡°Oh, this is bad. This is very, very bad.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Chelsea¡­ no secrets. What is bad?¡± Aurivy asked, reaching over and poking her sides.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea turned to look at Aurivy, her face a touch paler than normal. ¡°The void beasts from V-Day wiped out practically every living creature in every realm, excluding those protected by the Hypene Networks. This required the monster spawning system to create new monsters, taking into ount local variables to determine suitable species.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This is typically why monsters appear in space, because they were spawned with the ability to survive there. However, now the previous habitats of these areas were tainted by the influence of void beasts. Taking this into ount, the monster spawning system will have used elements of the void influence when creating new monsters.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...Summarize, Chel.¡± Aurivy said, her expression bing more and more serious.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Void monsters are spawning locally.¡± She said, looking at the screen. ¡°Simr to the monsters in Fragments of Acidia that exist outside the Hypene Networks, creatures with natural memetic properties will now begin to appear more and more frequently.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Yeah¡­ this is bad.¡± She agreed. Not even Leowynn would be able to remove the void influence throughout a single, entire universe, let alone <i><span style="font-weight:400">all</i><span style="font-weight:400"> of the universes.

 Chapter 1051: Recruitment Notice

    Chapter 1051: Recruitment Notice


    <span style="font-weight:400">To prevent any further tragedies like what had happened to Gasper Five, or even worse, the information that memetic monsters had begun to spawn was released to the higher-ups of every military operating outside of the ¡®protected space¡¯. These weren¡¯t like void monsters that would lose their powers when entering an area protected by the Hypene Network. After all, their powers only imitated the effects of the void, rather than originating there.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Furthermore, there was no irond defense against memetic effects. Anti-memes could themselves be dangerous if used improperly. Thus, new protocols were created. First, all active exploration ships were ordered to halt their progress and immediately enterworked systems. Afterwards, they would cease anymunication with the outside world to prevent possible transfers of existing memetic effects.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While this was ongoing, a new base was being built on a previously uninhabited world, one that would exist to process potentially contaminated groups. Multiple research groups were called in to help with the nning of memetic screening. With most memetic effects, it was incredibly difficult to tell whether or not someone was under the effect before it fully unleashed its power.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I heard about this, I was naturally unsettled. From my perspective, the invasion had only just ended, and we were already having to deal with a resurgence in a void-rted threat? Worse, because these monsters spawned locally, our normal defenses wouldn¡¯t protect us.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Upon my return to Olympus, I sat in my office, thinking of what I could potentially do. I couldn¡¯t look up any detailed information about the monsters in question, as memetic effects were often transferred via information, no matter the format. Although there was only a low risk of infection, that was still substantial when the consequences were considered.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was only one way that I could think of to allow my power to be used to help those potentially afflicted by these effects without personally going there and painting a great big target on my back. I was going to need more priests.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Prisci focused, cing her hand over the body of the young boy that was brought in to the temple. His parents were sobbing as he bled onto the temple¡¯s floor, one of his arms missing. Apparently, he had left the city with some friends, and they had encountered a monster. Though it was a weaker monster, it was more than a match for a group of children. This boy had stayed behind to let the others retreat, and had been badly mangled as a result.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Prisci thought to herself as she examined the injuries. <i><span style="font-weight:400">The Page of Life should be able to let him recover.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She smiled gently, a faint light emerging from her hand as the image of a book appeared within her mind.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Such injuries were not difficult for healers to fix, and it was indeed a little overkill to bring the child to the temple to receive treatment, when there were many healers throughout the city. Regardless, when she heard the story of the young boy, Prisci had immediately volunteered to handle his care personally.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The w marks on the boy¡¯s chest closed up, the bones and muscles of his missing arm starting to grow out to form a fresh limb. When they saw this, the boy¡¯s parents seemed to grasp a glimmer of hope. When he gave a sudden, deep breath, his eyes opening, they rushed over, voicing their thanks to the priestess.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Prisci stood, taking a step back to allow the parents to hold their son. This was why she had wanted to be a priestess when she was a child, the simple joy of being able to help those in need. Nowadays, there were too few roles for priests to y in modern society, aside from being the agents of the gods. If someone wanted a healer, they could visit a doctor, who wasmonly versed in various healing magics. If they wanted advice, they would consult the inte. The mostmon function that remained for a temple was that of an orphanage.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was rare for someone to rush into the temple requiring urgent attention, but while others were taken aback, Prisci stepped forward to offer any aid that she could. Why else had the gods created temples essible to all?


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Prisci¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Her thoughts were interrupted by a voice permeating her mind, her eyes going wide in shock. She was familiar with this voice now, one that she had only rarely heard since epting her newest role.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Yes, sir Keeper?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Prisci asked, before looking at the parents with a smile. ¡°Your son should be fine now. Be sure not to let him venture out like this again.¡± She reminded the duo, who thanked her profusely while taking their son away. Momentster, another priest appeared to clean the mess that had been left on the floor.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I have an important mission for you.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Prisci clenched her fists when she heard this, anticipating what mission the Keeper may have in store. <i><span style="font-weight:400">A great threat has been discovered in deep space. To aid those that will be afflicted by it in the future, I intend to dispatch my priests to the bases being prepared to receive them.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">How may I be of assistance?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">After she voiced her question, Prisci had to wait for a few moments before the Keeper responded. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I need you to help me select additional priests. For this, you will need to travel outside of your home realm, as I require two priests from every realm to ensure that the help arrives where it is needed.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Prisci¡¯s eyes widened once again. If she was being given the authority to recruit priests on behalf of the Keeper, that essentially granted her the highest rank in his church. Still, she was not greedy for rank, more shocked that it had been given so easily. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I understand, sir Keeper. Do you have any requirements on who is chosen?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was another pause, before the Keeper finally answered her. <i><span style="font-weight:400">They must be a devout believer of at least four members of the Greater Pantheon. When you are doing the final screening, you can ask the ones they worship if the person has left any significant impact on them. If they are only pretending to be devout, you can expose their corruption. However, if their devotion is true, and they have performed admirably by the gods they worship, you can grant them the title of my priest.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Prisci gave a firm nod, a wide smile blooming on her face. There were many priests that served multiple gods, though it was hard to say who among them could be called truly devout. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I understand, sir Keeper. I will strive to achieve results that you can be proud of. Do you have any other instructions for me?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Prisci knew that it was rare for the Keeper to personally initiate contact, so she wanted to make sure that she understood everything that was expected of her before the conversation was concluded. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Inform those that you intend to recruit¡­ they will need to establish powers rted to dealing with memetic effects.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Prisci blinked in confusion, having to take a moment to recall what the term meant. When she understood, she let out a soft gasp, startling the priest that was still cleaning the mess on the floor. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Sir Keeper, is there another void threat? Should we inform the people?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Those that need to know have already been informed. This isn¡¯t a recurrence of V-Day. Instead, simr monsters have started to appear in deep space. These monsters could be affecting travelers without them ever being aware, and it is these travelers that I wish to offer aid to.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Prisci gave a small nod of understanding. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I see. In that case, should I assign an additional priest from Deckan? I do not have any powers assigned that would be able to clear memetic effects, and many of the books that would offer such things have been used for other abilities.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper naturally agreed. <i><span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s right. I won¡¯t say that you should remain at the temple after finding those to assign this task. You may go where you wish to help people in your own way. I¡¯ve seen how you used the power that I gave you, and know that the temple may not be the best location for you to assist those in need.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Prisci bit her lips, but ultimately nodded her head. She had known herself that there was little that she could do from the temple, aside from educating those that came to learn. The few times that she ventured out to small viges, she had been able to do far more to help them.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I understand. Once I have chosen the two from Deckan, I will begin my travels to other worlds. To be clear, will I need to acquire priests in the game worlds such as Fragments of Acidia, World Seed, and Vision Expanse?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">This time, the Keeper¡¯s response was almost immediate. <i><span style="font-weight:400">No, those worlds should be spared from these monsters, as they had been forcibly taken down during V-Day.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Prisci gave another nod. Immediately turning on her heels, she ignored the confused look of the priest before her, and walked towards her room. Surprisingly, she didn¡¯t look for any of the priests from this temple. While there were many good seedlings there, they did not quite match up to what Prisci wanted to find for the Keeper¡¯s priests, especially not when told their future missions.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The priests at these temples served as educators and spreaders of the doctrine, but rarely left to handle other matters. Thus, for the priests that would help from Deckan, Prisci nned to visit those remote viges or smaller cities, where the church yed a more active role in helping theirmunities.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper hadn¡¯t given her a specific deadline for the mission, but she wanted to get it done as swiftly as she could. The memetic entities would not be waiting for her to finish before they beganunching their attacks, so there was no reason for her to wait, either.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she was packing her belongings, there was a knock on her door. ¡°Sister Prisci, may Ie in?¡± The familiar voice of the cardinal sounded out. Despite technically being the highest ranked official in the church, the man still needed to address Prisci as his equal, due to the fact that Prisci was the only priestess personally chosen by the Keeper.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course, cardinal.¡± Prisci answered, though she did not stop grabbing clothes and other necessities to ce in her inventory.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is something the matter?¡± The cardinal asked as he entered her quarters, seeing how she seemed to be hurrying to leave.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The Keeper has issued me a mission to find additional priests to serve him in an uing endeavor.¡± Prisci exined simply, the cardinal¡¯s eyes widening slightly. ¡°I am preparing to leave immediately to fulfill this mission.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Why not choose some of our own?¡± The cardinal asked, though Prisci knew what he really meant, wanting to be the one chosen himself. ¡°If this is such an urgent mission, then surely selecting talents closer at hand would be wise?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Prisci turned to look at him with a small smile. ¡°You¡¯re right, it would. Then, would you like to volunteer to go to a remote space colony, tending to those afflicted with memetic blights capable of turning their bodies into writhing horrors, knowing that one wrong move, one wrong thought could lead you to the same fate?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When the cardinal heard this, his eyes went wide, his face drained of color. He reflexively retreated a step. ¡°I-I was obviously not referring to myself, Sister. However, it seems that you already have a target set in mind. I won¡¯t disturb your preparations further.¡± After he said that, he backed out of her room, and she could hear his footsteps retreating down the hall.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Prisci simply chuckled to herself, knowing that someone with so little conviction would not be able toplete the mission set forth by the Keeper.

 Chapter 1052: Security Issue

    Chapter 1052: Security Issue


    <span style="font-weight:400">Because of his involvement with the discovery of the sixty-second floor of Fyor, Aznod had been making frequent trips back and forth between Fyor and the Ashtanu pce. For the most part, he volunteered to cook for those who were excavating the area around the gate, knowing that it would very likely take them a long time to remove enough ice to eventually find the next gate.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After the discovery of the floor itself, and the process of the sixty-first floor being cleansed of its miasma, multiple specialists were brought in to determine the next gate¡¯s location. While they had an approximate direction, nobody was able to grasp the exact range for one reason or another. All that they could say for certain was that it wasn¡¯t anywhere nearby, and that they would need to get a lot closer to find the exact coordinates.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Aznod arrived at the camp, he was greeted by the sight of aser drill boring a hole into the ice wall in the direction that the guides had indicated. Every time theser shed, a tunnel formed in the ice more than a kilometer long and sixty meters wide, and they had to drive the drill forward to continue. Given that the drill was still fairly close to the camp, they had only recently started operating it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ah! Hello, sir!¡± A halfling male ran over to Aznod when he noticed his arrival, a small smile on his face. ¡°Sorry, I didn¡¯t see you arrive.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s fine.¡± Aznod shook his head, looking at the tunneling machine. ¡°I¡¯ve prepared a simple meal for everyone, if you¡¯d like.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The halfling¡¯s eyes went wide, and he couldn¡¯t help but gulp. Whenever Aznod came by, he always made sure to pack some food for everyone in the camp, regardless of how many people there were. Even now, there were just over five thousand workers, between those digging the tunnels and those constructing the base around the gate, but he had no doubts that Aznod truly did cook for everyone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That would be greatly appreciated, sir!¡± He said with a nod. Aznod simply smiled, moving over towards a tent where he often passed out the dinners. The halfling immediately turned around to run and tell everyone that it was time for a short break.


    <span style="font-weight:400">One by one, the workers walked over to the tent, where Aznod retrieved a small, square box that he used to keep the meals packed and warm. Each box was designed for a specific worker, having taken the time to learn their preferences. As for how he stored them all in his inventory¡­ he may have cheated, using his Optimization domain to alter his inventory¡¯s storage space slightly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When each worker arrived, they thanked him, taking the boxed meal and moving off to the side to begin eating. Considering that this was a frozen realm, having a warm meal offeredfort even for those that did not technically need to eat anymore.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As for Aznod himself, he was simply happy to be able to offer this small reprieve from their monotonous lives on this floor. He watched the diminishing line, greeting the halfling again, who was thest to retrieve their own lunch. ¡°Parna, did the others go on vacation?¡± He asked, looking at the sixteen lunches still in his inventory.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The halfling, Parna, blinked. ¡°Others?¡± He asked, looking around. With so many people working in the camp, it was easy not to notice if a few were absent. ¡°I don¡¯t think anyone has left recently. We were nning to rotate out half of the group next month. Who exactly is missing?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod began to list off the names of those who had yet to receive their meals, causing the halfling to purse his lips. ¡°Now that you mention it, I haven¡¯t seen them around today¡­ Give me a minute to ask around.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Without waiting to eat his meal, the halfling rushed off under the curious gaze of Aznod. It was almost half an hour by the time he returned, a concerned look on his face. ¡°Gan and the others were working on a building near the western wall, but nobody has seen themtely.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod¡¯s brows furrowed, and he nodded his head. ¡°You enjoy your food. I¡¯ll go take a look.¡± He said, already starting to leave the tent.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, I should go with you--¡± The halfling began, before Aznod looked back at him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Just eat. If there is anything dangerous, we don¡¯t want to lose more people.¡± He said with a soft smile, pulling a pair of kitchen knives from his inventory. The halfling hesitated, but nodded his head. He wasn¡¯t there as a fighter, just an on-site manager.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod¡¯s senses swept out, scanning the area to the west. It didn¡¯t take him long to find a building near the wall that had only been halfpleted. When he arrived, he saw that sheets of metal and various tools were strewn about, but there did not seem to be any sign of the workers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The disappearances had all happened at roughly the same time and ce, so the odds of them having simply left without notice was extremely low. In that case, it was just a question of how to lure in whatever monster it was that attacked them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Looking at the various tools, he concluded that the most likely cause would have been sound, as there would be a great deal of that. Byparison, it was almost impossible to see too far in the ice, and he could not detect any lingering energies that would draw his attention.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With that in mind, Aznod knelt down, smashing the handle of one of his knives into the ground. Afterwards, he closed his eyes, listening. He could hear something faint, like hissing and cracking.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once he had identified the direction of the noise, he shed his knife in that direction, coating it with a ck me. This me carved through the ice with ease, forming a gash in the ground that extended all the way until a pained scream echoed out. Aznod judged the distance, realizing that the target was less than a hundred meters out.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With the gap caused by his sh, he could tell that it was a massive eel-like monster with icy blue skin. The ice melted in its path, immediately freezing after it had moved by. However, it seemed that the monster was running away now, after having been injured previously.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod¡¯s brow furrowed, and he created a small spark of ck me, when he threw into the crack. The spark shot out like a bullet, colliding with the location where the monster had previously been struck. Immediately, it erupted in a massive, directional st that ate away hundreds of kilometers of ice.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Because this was a ¡®devouring¡¯ energy as opposed to an explosive force, there were no shockwaves to speak of in the camp. The workers present only heard the monster¡¯s scream, and felt a pulse of energy from the western wall.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Meanwhile, Aznod had a contemtive look on his face. He could instinctively understand what had been devoured by his energy, as it was one that was made to help him cook. Thus, he knew that he did not only catch one giant eel. Instead, he caught thirty of them, as well as various smaller monsters.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Still holding his boxed meal, Parna rushed over in distress. ¡°Is everything alright, sir?¡± He asked, having felt the surge of power. Upon arrival, the only hint of what had happened was the giant cut leading deep into the ice.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The immediate problem has been dealt with.¡± Aznod said solemnly, rising to his feet. ¡°However, I would suggest putting in an urgent request for fighters capable of battle in frozen environments. There are numerous monsters swimming within the ice, and some of them are certainly hostile.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Parna¡¯s face went pale at that, and he nodded his head. ¡°Yes, yes, I will do so immediately!¡± He said, before turning and running off.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod crossed his arms over his chest, lost in thought. Now that he had noticed the problem, it would be irresponsible of him to leave before the reinforcements arrived.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a thought, he sent a message to Udona. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Sorry, I might not be able to make it home in time for dinner tonight.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He said, before exining the situation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona, although surprised, swiftly responded back. <i><span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s alright. Just make sure that you take care of yourself, as well. I would be surprised if there aren¡¯t monsters capable of killing gods in floors this high.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod was well aware of this, but he thanked her for the reminder regardless. He walked over towards the drill, noting that it was the most likely ce to incur the wrath of these monsters. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Hopefully, it is equally effective at scaring them as it is getting their attention.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> With that thought in mind, Aznod sat, his knives at the ready.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona let out a sigh of relief as she sat in the pce, having just finished her talk with Aznod. If anything, she was relieved that he was going to be in Fyor for a little while. The reports about memetic entities had arrived shortly before he left, and this would give him a reason to stay away from the danger for a little while as she took care of things.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Granted, the danger was far lesser when it came to the core worlds, but the Goddess of Life was protective. Besides, there wasn¡¯t much that he¡¯d be able to help with specifically when preparing for the new changes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In the back of her mind, Udona was more worried about how she could raise awareness and prepare others to deal with such memetic entities. She had consulted with Cici, and discovered that Codex Chaotic couldn¡¯t be used to simte normal memetic monsters, as that was outside of its parameters. There were only a few differences between memetic monsters and void monsters, but those differences could still save lives.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hmm¡­¡± She pursed her lips, thinking about the problem. She ced her hand on her desk, creating a small book. She was also the Goddess of Education, so perhaps there were some things that she could prepare? Her eyes twitched as an idea came to her, and she abruptly sat up.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Terra. Stories Terra, I mean. And Chelsea! Are the two of you free?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She asked, a growing sense of excitement as her idea grew more and more.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Hmm? Oh, yeah, I¡¯m here!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Terra¡¯s voice responded. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Not often I get a call from you, sis! What¡¯s up?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯m here, too.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Chelsea said, sounding exhausted. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Sorry, I¡¯ve been trying toe up with contingencies, and backups for the contingencies, and it¡¯s just a mess.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Education, Security, and Stories.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Udona sent the two of them, earning only a sense of confusion. <i><span style="font-weight:400">We could make educational guides that adapt to the situation! The Stories domain provides the situation. The Security domain analyzes the variables to determine the safest course of action. And the Education domain helps to quickly impart that knowledge!</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a long pause, before Chelsea spoke up. <i><span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s¡­ not a bad idea. We¡¯d have to do some tinkering, though. In a lot of situations, the safest course of action is to simply run faster than your friends. Let¡¯s try not to promote that type of content. What do we call it, though?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">The Goddess¡¯s Guide to Exploring the Gxy?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Udona suggested, but Chelsea immediately retorted.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I feel like you¡¯re going to get sued if you go with that. Let¡¯s just go with the Security Manual.</i>

 Chapter 1053: Security Checkpoints

    Chapter 1053: Security Checkpoints


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I first heard about the so-called Security Manual, I had¡­ questions, to say the least. For starters, there couldn¡¯t be such a perfect manual that could ount for any conceivable circumstance. Such a thing would bepletely ridiculous, even if the person using it did need to take the time to read through it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, I asked to be provided with one of the manuals upon theirpletion. Udona came to Olympus to personally deliver it to me as a proof of concept, offering a small smile on her face. The manual itself was small, being a booklet with only fifty pages. When I arched a brow, Udona exined. ¡°These are meant to be consumable items. This reduces the divinity cost that I need to pay, and prevents over-reliance.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You need to pay?¡± I blinked, looking up at Udona. ¡°I thought that this was a coborative effort?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The prototype was.¡± Udona said with that same smile. ¡°Afterwards, the three of us agreed that I should be the one holding the patent, because I have the greatest reserve of divinity. Thus, I registered it with the Digital Conversion system, and can now independently print these books.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That certainly made me less eager to immediately try it out. ¡°How does it work, then?¡± I asked, handing the book back to her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s quite simple. Once you focus on activation, the first two pages are reserved for analyzing the situation via the Story domain, looking at the current narrative of the user. Then, the Security domain further delves into the situation, providing a detailed analysis. For this reason, the first five pages are reserved for the ¡®situation breakdown¡¯. From there, the Security and Education domains work to provide a guide on how to ovee the crisis.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I brought a hand up to my head, massaging my forehead. ¡°First of all¡­ can you exin how the Security part works? If it uses the void to gather information, we might just be creating more problems for ourselves.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona shook her head quickly. ¡°No, nothing like that. Chelsea sealed a small part of her consciousness within the domain as she used it, containing her experience and insights into various matters. Sort of like a database to reference. When the manual is activated, that consciousness awakens briefly.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That¡­ would certainly make it easier to cover a wide range of scenarios, as well as ones not nned for. Of course, it also meant that the book could have a new version releasedter if Chelsea received any major enlightenments. ¡°Okay¡­ my only other concern is the concept of needing to read the book, since the time spent reading would cause most emergencies to already be critical.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona beamed a proud smile when I said that. ¡°Nothing to worry about there, either! Once the book has finished activating, a second activation automatically imparts all instructions to the user¡¯s mind. This is an optional feature, so that the manual can be passed around after activation to let other necessary personnel read through the instructions if need be.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right.¡± I nodded. ¡°I assume that this isn¡¯t going to be mass produced? Even your divinity wouldn¡¯t be able to cope with that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona hesitated for a moment, before seeming to agree with me. ¡°While I would like it to be possible, the fact of the matter is that there is no need for this to be a household item. This manual isn¡¯t designed for daily use, and most people would never have need of it throughout their entire lives.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Instead, I n to provide it for free tomanders in military operations, such as ship captains exploring uncharted space. Additionally, I will make it avable to purchase from the adventurer¡¯s guilds of any world, so those who often encounter unknown monsters will have ess to it. The price will be expensive, but I don¡¯t expect to make my full investment back, considering that it will be provided for free to the military. This is just so that I can mitigate the losses slightly.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head, d to see that she had thought it out. ¡°Do you have anything else important to report?¡± I asked curiously, to which Udona hesitated.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There is one other matter. Chelsea is seeking permission to begin world creation experiments in the void, working together with Ashley¡¯s team.¡± I was¡­ admittedly surprised when I heard that, looking at Udona questioningly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°She wants to advance us towards the fifth rank already?¡± I knew that the proper creation of a world without using the market was the benchmark for the fifth rank, so I was surprised to hear that Chelsea was already contemting it so soon after advancing to the fourth.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona gave a small, knowing smile. ¡°She said that it¡¯s a necessary step to prepare for. Right now, the technology doesn¡¯t properly exist to create the world in the first ce. At best, they¡¯ve reverse engineered the ability to make smaller bases. There will need to be several generations of devices in order to build a world at the same level as one from the system.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I paused, before ultimately agreeing to the request. This was something that we would need to do sooner orter. Given the fact that RagnaRocker was nning to fight a Keeper at the peak of Rank Four, and had enough confidence in his victory to be enraged at us stopping him, our sess in defending against that invasion meant that our fullbat power should be on the higher level of the fourth rank.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, there was still a lot that we had to do. While the Digital Conversion system lived up to its worth as a two hundred thousand point system. ¡°You won¡¯t be able to use Beta Reality to do this, but as long as she doesn¡¯t cause any major problems, I don¡¯t see a reason to refuse.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Back in the Another World Research Group¡¯sb, Chelsea let out a soft sigh. She had already finished most of the preparations for her own energy fusion before having to leave to meet Dale, and then deal with the memetic monster¡­ and then help with the creation of the Security Manual.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now that she was finally back to theb, and free of distraction, she was ready to take the final steps. The sess rate in the simtions wasn¡¯t at one hundred percent yet, but she doubted that she would be able to get it to that level without practical experimentation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She printed out the form, jumping up from her seat and leaving the office to head towards her energy conversion chamber. Everyone in theb had one such room, which could be used to assist in the production ofplex energies. This was done in a simr way to how Chelsea created the bone wand, the divine ring, and other such treasures.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Simply put, the formid out the process of the energy fusion, but did not rely on the Digital Conversion system. Instead, it merely mimicked the process of guiding the energy. Of course, there were numerous internal mechanisms that needed to be adjusted, depending on the guidance method.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once she got to her chamber, Chelsea pulled out her multitool, aiming it at the device and adjusting the internalponents ording to the form¡¯s design. Once she was done with that, she fed the form into the device and ced her hands on the input panels. Her eyes closed, and her World Sight examined the fusion process, watching for any abnormalities.


    <span style="font-weight:400">World Sight was unique in that it wouldn¡¯t identally get mixed with other energy types during observation. Unless it was intentionally condensed, other forms of energy treated it as if it simply didn¡¯t exist.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As Chelsea watched her experiment unfold, she could already spot small parts of the process that could be optimized. At these points, the reaction of the energy became more unstable, before having to be forcibly stabilized. Doing this exhausted an excessive amount of energy and caused a dy in the conversion process.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, while smaller parts of the process had to forcibly be stabilized, the operation seemed to be a sess. With a grin, Chelsea moved to a nearby terminal, making the necessary corrections that she had previously noted, and confirming the improved result. Once her energy was finalized, she needed to adjust her internal energy paths to amodate it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This process wasn¡¯t difficult, as she had multiple ¡®spare cores¡¯ from James¡¯s old nine tails project. With a thought, she purged one of the less useful energies from one of her tails, instead channeling this new energy into it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea was far too familiar with the process of connecting an energy core to herwork, and soon her tail was naturally producing the energy that she had just created. However, when she was done, her brows furrowed. She realized that she hadn¡¯t gotten any form of achievement for the creation of this energy.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Is it possible that someone else beat me to it?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She asked, though found it unlikely. These achievements wouldn¡¯t be unique among Keepers, so her only petition¡¯ should have been Dale¡¯s worlds. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Who would be able to create this?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She thought, before blinking. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Maybe I first need to use it?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although she had created the energy core in her tail, she hadn¡¯t properly tested the effects of the energy. Closing her eyes, she sensed its structure, visualizing the energy as long strings of beads.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a thought, she focused on splitting one such bead from the energy sequence, bringing it up to her hand. This singr point of energy was infinitesimally small, simr to a speck of dust floating above her finger. She focused on this point of energy, trying to pass her senses through it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she did, she felt the miniscule bead light up, and she was able to observe the surroundings from that point of space. Even when she moved it to the corner of the room, she could still observe her body from the altered view.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However¡­ if it was like this, she wouldn¡¯t be able to set up the conditions that she wanted for how the energy needed to work. Instead, she brought the energy back to her hand, and retrieved her senses from it. She brought up five more beads, forming a closed string of energy over her finger.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This time, when she passed her senses through, still only one bead lit up. It took a moment for Chelsea to realize that each bead stored a singrmand, with the ¡®strings¡¯ between them serving to pass signals through.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once she noticed that, she grinned, setting up a slightly moreplexwork of interwoven beads. She ced this smallwork at the corner of the room, and snapped her fingers. The moment she did so, she received a mental notification, as well as a shared view of herself from the perspective of thework.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Congrattions! You have earned a new achievement!


    <span style="font-weight:400">You have created a new Saint-Level energy! Please name this energy.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea blinked, realizing that this particrbination was one that didn¡¯t currently exist on the market. With a small grin, she pondered over the name. ¡°I¡¯ll call it¡­ Integrated Security, or IS for short.¡±


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">For creating the Saint-Level energy, Integrated Security, you have obtained the Supernatural Innovator achievement. +5% Wisdom


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea seemed surprised that the reward was a percentage increase, rather than a t increase. Naturally, this made it far more valuable. Still, she needed to experiment more to understand the full scope of her new power.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was at that moment that Udona sent Chelsea a message, saying that the Keeper had approved of her request. She clenched her fist with a grin, retrieving the energy node that she had previously installed. She was going to be busy for a while now¡­

 Chapter 1054: Looking Within

    Chapter 1054: Looking Within


    <span style="font-weight:400">In truth, the concept of creating a universe was nothing new to Dale¡¯s world, though it was often regarded as an extremely unstable ability. As a prime example, Dana and Tsubaki had conducted numerous experiments when they were producing marbles capable of limitlessly generating energy. Those marbles themselves were a form of manufactured universe. Simrly, the mana-generating worlds within the void that were used for the improved energy cores followed a simr vein.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There were two primary differences between these manufactured universes and what was required to achieve the fifth rank as a Keeper. The first and foremost was the pleteness¡¯. All of the universes that had been created thus far had been created with a very limited scope of rules. However, because of this, it was possible to create them purely with mana, rather than needing to use moreplex energies, or even the void itself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The second difference was in stability. Worlds created via such simple means were very easy to destroy, their world barriers unable to take even an average fighter¡¯s strength within the void. On the other hand, a world created by the system was capable of blocking any but the most outrageous assaults.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea may never have created such a world herself, but she had overseen some early research on the matter. And because this research happened within the world, as opposed to knowledge acquired via the system, she was able to retain this information in her current form.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Treisha.¡± Chelsea called out, allowing theb¡¯s AI to transmit her voice to the elven assistant. ¡°Send a notice to the ninja nation. Let them know that we will be needing skilledborers on an uing, long-term project.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You got us a new assignment?¡± Treisha¡¯s voice spoke back in surprise. ¡°Are we dropping the energy research for the time being?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not exactly. Let the twins and James finish their work, and then they can join us. Until then, you and I will handle the technical side of this, and the ninjas can be in charge of the manualbor. Once you¡¯ve sent the message, meet me in Lab Seventeen.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After Chelsea said this, she quickened her pace. There were hundreds of individualbs within the research facility. Most of them went unused, and some were still unfurnished. Everyb, once it waspleted, had a special purpose assigned to it. Lab Seventeen was ab dedicated to crafting within the void. For this reason, it was behind more than tenyers of additional void shielding, simply to prevent any energy or entities from leaking out during experimentation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Chelsea arrived at the entrance to the security zone, she found Treisha already waiting for them. Treisha seemed surprised, but waited for Chelsea to unlock theb¡¯s security. This was one of the fewbs that allowed absolutely no surveince, and nomunication to the rest of the facility. Furthermore, the only ones capable of opening the security from either side were Chelsea and James.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, what¡¯s the project? Creating some new material in the void, like a super metal? Or, something like the ck stone?¡± Treisha asked curiously, though Chel shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Unfortunately, it¡¯s impossible to get a clear enough scan of the ck stone of Fyor to reverse engineer its creation. From what I can tell, it might not even be made of matter, but rather a solidified energy. But no, we¡¯re starting on a bigger project today.¡± She said with a small grin, walking over to the holographic disy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Pulling out her multitool, she used it like a pen to write on the disy panel. ¡°Currently, we have mastered the method of automatically converting the void to each of the four energy types. Furthermore, we know how to do various types of energy fusion purely with the Digital Conversion system.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Treisha arched a brow, before widening her eyes when she saw that Chelsea had written the words ¡®Universe Genesis Project¡¯ on the disy. ¡°You want to achieve a stable genesis? Are we even ready for that?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not even slightly.¡± Chelsea shook her head, confirming Treisha¡¯s concerns. ¡°However, we need to work on it regardless. Theoretically, we have all of the fundamental knowledge at our disposal. All that¡¯s left is to develop the machinery and the precise techniques to implement that knowledge.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Treisha hesitated slightly, finally understanding why Chelsea had chosen thisb. ¡°Where do you want to begin?¡± She asked, Chelsea smiling at the question.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Originally, I knew that worlds could only achieve true stability through the bnce of the four pir energies, being Ki, Mana, Spirit, and Nature. Once these energies were created in the void and fused together through the proper techniques, it should result in the creation of a primitive world. At least, that was the assumption that I used to have.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Treisha blinked in confusion, having read the research reports from Tsubaki and Dana¡¯s old experiments. ¡°Isn¡¯t that the case?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not at all!¡± Chelsea sighed, leaning against a counter. ¡°It wasn¡¯t until I came to this world, and learned about Fyor, that I realized the true form that the pir energies needed to take.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What about Fyor?¡± Treisha felt like her head was buzzing, struggling to keep up with the energetic kitsune.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Within Fyor, each of the primary energies has its own realm. This realm exists outside of the known boundaries of the world, but could also be said to be at its core.¡± Chelsea smiled as she drew four circles on the board, and then arger one around them. ¡°ording to my theory, every universe should have something simr. The only reason we found it on Fyor is because of its unique properties that gave birth to an ore capable of connecting there.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, ording to this theory, we need to create these micro-realms first?¡± Treisha asked, feeling like she was starting to catch up.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Exactly. I call them Miniverse, for simplicity¡¯s sake. These miniverses need to have apletew sequence to be stable, and thesews must bepatible with each other. For instance, thews in Fyor¡¯s mana realm originally only contained runes. Upon the merging ofws with the Earth system, it began to store other information, such as geometric patterns or familiars.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Treisha heard this, she felt like she had run into another major roadblock. ¡°But¡­ if that is the case, how do we create a magic system that exceeds our own understanding?¡± Although the very boundary of the fifth tier of magic had been touched, any magic schr knew that there was far more left to explore within the realms of magic.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea actually hesitated when she heard that, crossing her arms in front of herself. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ a good point. They can¡¯t expect a Keeper at the fourth or fifth rank to be able to replicate thepleteness of a seventh tier magic system.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Muttering to herself, she began pacing back and forth in the room, her hand holding her chin in thought. ¡°There are two primary options that I can think of. The first is that the only thing needed to create the miniverse is the ¡®seed¡¯ of the magic system. For instance, you wouldn¡¯t need to create everything that the magic could do, but only the equivalent of the first or second tier. Then, sealing that into a conceptual seed, it could be used as the foundation for the magicalws. If that is the answer, it¡¯s likely that the void takes that seed and expands upon it to its limit automatically.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What¡¯s the other option?¡± Treisha asked, watching Chelsea pace back and forth, over and over again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The other option is that the miniverse has to be updated for each tier of magic.¡± Chelsea furrowed her brows as she said that. ¡°For instance, it could start with the first tier as the base, but in order for moreplicated magic to be possible within that universe, someone has to edit the magicalws within the miniverse.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The problem is that there is evidence to support both of these ims. The fact thatws can merge between worlds shows that it is possible, at least at a system level, to edit the magicalws. However, the requirement for advancement is to create a world that is equally as stable as the ones created by the system. If an iplete magicalw is used, the stability should decrease ordingly.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Treisha closed her eyes, seeming to think things over. She crossed her arms over her chest, brows furrowing, before suddenly blinking. ¡°It¡¯s the second option. I¡¯d be willing to bet my sry on it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I pay you?¡± Chelsea asked in mock surprise, turning to look at Treisha. ¡°What makes you think it¡¯s the second?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Deckan.¡± She said in a firm tone. ¡°ording to your first theory, the magic system should beplete all the way to the limit from the creation of the world. For Deckan, that would imply that the highest grade magic cards should be avable from the beginning. Instead, only the first tier cards were avable at first, and others became avable incrementally over time. From what you said, this could only happen if thews were being edited to include theter tiers.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea paused, eyes wide. She had to consider the possibility that Fyor was a special world. After all, in other worlds it was possible to achieve a higher level of magic without the Keeper having to buy it. Only Deckan held such a restriction, due to the nature of its magic. Still, this seemed to be an important piece of evidence.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Perhaps the system automatically creates most worlds with aplete magic system. However, because the system in Deckan allows magic to be dropped by killing beasts, it imposed this limit to allow the world to develop as a safety mechanism.¡± She mused.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°However, even if that¡¯s the case, that means that there needs to be some method of essing the miniverse of an already established world by mortal means. Furthermore, these magicalws have to be edited without causing damage to the world itself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">It seemed like something had lit up within Chelsea¡¯s eyes, and she drew an X in one of the circles that she had drawn previously. ¡°I need one of each elemental stone from Fyor, as well as the Ki, Magic, and Spirit stones. Our first step of the project will be to explore the miniverse and understand its fundamental structure.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Treisha nodded her head, making a mental note of the requirements. She walked towards the door of theb, waiting for Chelsea to open the security field and let her out. ¡°The spirit stones may be a challenge, since theye from a rather high floor. However, I should be able to get the others by the end of the day.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s fine!¡± Chelsea beamed, running over and verifying her information to open the security gates. ¡°While you¡¯re gone, I¡¯ll go ahead and get started on some scanning equipment to analyze the samples. It¡­ looks like we might not be ready for Lab Seventeen yet. We¡¯ll move to Lab Twenty-Three when you get back.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Treisha blinked, before nodding her head. While Lab Seventeen was designed to conduct void crafting experiments, having numerousyers of shielding to prevent anything from getting out, Lab Twenty-Three was the opposite. In some ways, it was a bunker, sealed with barriers designed to make ess to the void within it theoretically impossible. Though, these ¡®miniverses¡¯ should exist within the current realm, so it might be for the best.

 Chapter 1055: Aurivy’s Failure

    Chapter 1055: Aurivy¡¯s Failure


    <span style="font-weight:400">The appearance of the memetic monsters was¡­ really quite annoying for me, personally. I sat in the living room of Olympus, thinking where I should go for training now. Typically, I would just go somewhere in deep space where I could release my power without worries. Otherwise, it would be easy for me to destroy whatever I was training on. But¡­ how do I do that when the things I need to worry about now <i><span style="font-weight:400"e </i><span style="font-weight:400">from deep space?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Normal monsters wouldn¡¯t bother me in the slightest. Even if a monster god came along, I could destroy it without much concern. Memetic monsters, though¡­ for all I knew, destroying it could be what causes the memetic monster to unleash its effect.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Currently, my only options to train were¡­ either create an entirely new world for myself, or ept the possibility that my host could be destroyed because of simple bad luck. If my host was destroyed¡­ that meant that Clover Kyr would vanish, the on which Olympus was located would vanish, and I would lose my Illusion domain.


    <span style="font-weight:400">None of these things were something I particrly wanted to get rid of. Sure, it would be possible for me to recover my domain through other methods. However, if the for Olympus was destroyed, that would cause a lot of chaos in the world. Additionally, if Clover died¡­ well, even if I wasn¡¯t in frequent contact with that side of things, I didn¡¯t want to cause something like that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I could do all of my training in the Admin Room, like I used to do a long time ago. However, the reason that I stopped doing that was because of the special ¡®protections¡¯ that the Admin Room had in ce. For instance, my energy never running low. I can¡¯t properly assess how powerful my abilities are if I can¡¯t measure how much of my power they consume.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At the same time, I could obviously not just give up on my training. Even if I didn¡¯t get into many fights, those times when I did were rather crucial to the survival of the worlds. Closing my eyes, I focused, thinking.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I called out mentally, and the silver-haired elf immediately appeared in front of me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You called?¡± She asked with a sweet smile, causing me to blink.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Didn¡¯t expect you toe in person.¡± I chuckled, but smiled and pat the seat next to me for her. ¡°I was just thinking¡­ would you be able to make something for me? I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s possible, but I need an early warning rm when I¡¯m out training, so I can get away from memetic threats. Since memetic powers use the void, I thought that might be your area of expertise.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn moved over to sit next to me, thinking. ¡°While I would like to help¡­ I don¡¯t think that is something that I can cover with my domain.¡± She told me, catching me off-guard. ¡°Although memes typically use the void, these monster don¡¯t <i><span style="font-weight:400"e from</i><span style="font-weight:400"> the void. The best that I would be able to do is make something that tells you when a memetic effect is being used in your vicinity. However, that would only register once something had been hit by the effect, so it would be a bit toote at that point to leave the area.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right¡­¡± I nodded my head, falling silent for a moment, before thinking of an alternative. ¡°What about Tower? He and the slimes made it through V-Day, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn nodded her head. ¡°They are part of the Hypene Network, though travel to that sector isrgely restricted ording to his wishes. He <i><span style="font-weight:400">might</i><span style="font-weight:400"> be able to make you something like that.¡± Given her tone, I could sense that she wasn¡¯t at all confident in her answer.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I sense a pair of boneheads!¡± A voice spoke up from behind us, seeming to startle even Tsubaki, who was standing not far away. Turning, I saw Aurivy standing there with her hands on her hips.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Does that mean that you have an answer?¡± I asked, thinking. Sure, she could make an automatic teleport device or something. I just didn¡¯t know if that would work for memetic beings, or if they would be able to follow it back to the destination.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯re talking about consulting a dungeon for your problem, and you didn¡¯t even consider the Goddess of Dungeons!?¡± It took me a moment to recognize that that was indeed one of her domains. I so often associated Aurivy with Love and Travel that it was easy to forget that. Her dungeons really didn¡¯t make sense together, and I wanted to smack the guy that gave them to her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You want me to train in a dungeon?¡± I asked, brow furrowed. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t a dungeon be destroyed if I used my full power in it? And what¡¯s to stop monsters from getting in?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, duh.¡± Aurivy rolled her eyes, before extending a hand and creating a small, golden sphere. ¡°If you use a normal dungeon, that¡¯s all totally valid.¡± As if to demonstrate, she grinned, causing the sphere to light up.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I felt a small shift in the space around me, but everything seemed to be normal. ¡°...What did you do?¡± I asked, looking around to try to find the inevitable change.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This is something that I¡¯ve had on a shelf for about¡­ two hundred years now?¡± Aurivy said with an uncertain tilt of her head. ¡°It¡¯s an Instance Generator! Basically, it copies the dungeon core¡¯s ability to create independent spaces. I was thinking about converting it into a super storage device, but Ashley¡¯s got the inventory system set up already.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Anyways. Once you activate this, any creatures around the sphere will be sent into an instanced area that mirrors the real world in all regards, aside from having ack of life. Making lifeforms would have made this way too expensive, so I had to give up on that and just nned to install multiple mini-dungeons that would automatically generate. That ended up not going anywhere, so I shelved the project.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°<i><span style="font-weight:400">Regardless</i><span style="font-weight:400">! If you use this, you¡¯ll be in apletely isted space where you can train, just so long as you don¡¯t destroy this core.¡± She said as she tossed the core to me, forcing me to hurry and catch it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right¡­ is there any kind of entrance left behind where you enter? I know dungeons have to have an opening.¡± When I asked that, Aurivy blinked.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, not really? I mean, there is something, but I wouldn¡¯t call it an entrance. There¡¯s a small, golden token left hovering behind at the point where you enter, but that¡¯s just to serve as a ¡®do not disturb¡¯ sign. Technically, you don¡¯t even need toe out of the instance at the same point you enter. Because the instance reflects the universe it¡¯s used in, you cane and go from any location you can physically reach. Travel domain is nice, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes widened when she said that, looking at the golden orb in my hands. ¡°You¡­ you realize that you made the ultimate burry tool, right?¡± I asked, causing Aurivy to giggle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Why do you think I never released it? There are <i><span style="font-weight:400">way</i><span style="font-weight:400"> too many ways to take advantage of something like this. I already have enough trouble keeping tabs on other gods with simr domains that try to abuse their power. Justst week someone tried to break into Traveler using their divine powers, so I had to¡­ educate them.¡±


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Don¡¯t focus on what horrors that poor soul had to go through.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I thought to myself, swiftly changing the subject. ¡°Traveler¡¯s still around? I was worried he would have been destroyed on V-Day.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hmm? Oh, no, Traveler¡¯s fine. The world that got hit hard with tech was Deckan, and he was over in Kione at the time. Kione¡¯s apocalypse didn¡¯t really have anything that could hurt him, so he mostly just ignored the whole thing.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head in satisfaction, focusing on deactivating the core that Aurivy gave me. ¡°Just checking, but¡­ how many of these do you have? And do they all lead to the same instanced space?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy blinked at the question, before shaking her head. ¡°I can make however many I want. But, no, each one leads to its own space. I never managed to crack the persistence feature, so the instance copses when you exit it, removing any foreign entities still inside. That¡¯s another reason that it failed to work as an inventory.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave another nod, sweeping my World Sight over the sphere. There was an incrediblyplex series of interconnected energy pathways within it that I couldn¡¯t decipher. ¡°In that case¡­ myst question would be whether or not it is safe to have it in my inventory while it is active? If I can¡¯t, it might just break from the bursts of power I release during training.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry about that!¡± Aurivy grinned. ¡°It still works just fine. I was feeling especially vindictive at one point, and used a system sphere to give an energy-based monster an inventory, then stuck it and some guy in an instance together. Put the sphere in the monster¡¯s inventory, teleported it to a random in the universe, and told the guy to have fun. Since the instance is still a part of this world, he can¡¯t use void travel to escape without one of Chel¡¯s tokens.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">She seemed proud of herself¡­ but I had the feeling that this was the same guy that tried to break into Traveler. A shiver ran down my spine, trying to imagine how difficult it would be to find a single monster in an entire universe. If he was trying to break into Traveler, he had to have some kind of power rted to transportation, but that was still a lot of ces to check. I¡¯d sooner expect the monster to die by natural causes than be found.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°R-Right. So, what you¡¯re saying ultimately, is that I can just use this to train, and I won¡¯t have to worry about any coteral damage? Nothing done in the instance would reflect back onto the real world?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Exactly!¡± She nodded her head with that same, happy grin. I couldn¡¯t help but reach out and pat her head, and she chuckled. This halfling could be incredibly cruel when someone upset her¡­ but most of the time she was just adorable.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Anything else you need while I¡¯m here?¡± She asked, her hands behind her back.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, that should be good. I¡¯ll let you get back to Julia.¡± I smiled, shaking my head. ¡°Thanks for this, and let her know that I said hi. Also, let her know that I¡¯m thinking about seeing if Ashley or Tubrock can set it up so Olympus enjoys the farming system from Lorek. I¡¯m sure she¡¯d be able to enjoy that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy blinked at that, before nodding her head. ¡°Sure thing. I don¡¯t know if she¡¯ll want toe live here, but I know she¡¯ll appreciate it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After she said that, she vanished in a burst of golden mist. Leowynn and Tsubaki both turned to look at the golden orb in my hands. Leowynn looked rather thoughtful, offering a small smile. ¡°There weren¡¯t any void fluctuations when it activated, so it should be safe to use. Just to be certain, I¡¯d like to go with you when you test it out.¡± She said, and Tsubaki quickly nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, I had expected Tsubaki to want to join me. Going out into space wasn¡¯t safe anymore, even for me, so she would of course apany me. Leowynn asking did surprise me, however. ¡°Sure.¡± I ultimately nodded my head. ¡°In that case, shall we go? I¡¯d like to test this out as soon as I can.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn nodded her head. Her eyes briefly went ck before the three of us vanished from the living room, reappearing on a deste. ¡°This should be a good spot to start.¡± She said with a warm smile, Tsubaki¡¯s senses sweeping over the area before giving a small nod of approval.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Shaking my head, I simply activated the core with my divinity. My eyes widened slightly at how much energy it cost to activate, and I understood why this was one of Aurivy¡¯s failed projects. It wasn¡¯t at all practical for any of the reasons she designed it. Thankfully, I had enough divine ie to handle the energy consumption.

 Chapter 1056: Cutting Ties

    Chapter 1056: Cutting Ties


    <span style="font-weight:400">I spent roughly six hours training within the instance space, going in and out of it multiple times just to confirm that there was no transfer of damage between it and reality. The more I did so, the more Tsubaki seemed to be enamored with the device that Aurivy had given me. It was to the point that I had to mentally message Aurivy to ask her to send one of those to Tsubaki¡¯s room while we were gone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, as I trained my various domains, I had something nagging at the back of my mind. A thought that just wouldn¡¯t go away. After leaving the instance onest time, I sent a message to Terra. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Are you free at the moment?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Always, Dale.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She replied in a yful tone. <i><span style="font-weight:400">What do you need?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">There¡¯s something that I feel like is long overdue, and I want to ask if it is at all possible.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a moment of hesitation before she spoke again. <i><span style="font-weight:400">If this is about permanentlybining my incarnations like Chelsea¡¯s assistants--</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Huh?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I blinked, momentarily taken aback. <i><span style="font-weight:400">No, nothing like that. I figured that that wouldn¡¯t be possible until we found the proper way to create an Origin. I want to ask about fixing Clover.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Clover¡­ the split avatar of yourself that you made way back? What¡¯s wrong with him?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">This time, it was my turn to pause briefly, considering my words. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I want topletely separate him from me. That way, even if this body dies while I¡¯m in the Admin Room, nothing will happen to him. The main tether connecting the two of us is the soul, so I thought that I should be able topletely recreate his soul with my domain, removing the connection.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I see¡­ so that was what you meant.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Terra seemed to be nodding her head, going by the sensation I got from her. <i><span style="font-weight:400">You just want to confirm whether or not it will work?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s right. You know stuff like this the best, so I thought you¡¯d be able to tell. It also doesn¡¯t feel like it would be outside of the realm of knowledge you can give me.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">No, you¡¯re right.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She replied quickly. <i><span style="font-weight:400">This is something easy for me to answer. It¡¯s been centuries since you had the power to do this, after all. There are even other people that do simr things in your world, creating avatars and then using various methods to build them a unique soul.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">The main question for you is whether or not doing so would still list him as part of the Keeper, which is something that wouldn¡¯t apply to others to begin with. I can confidently say that, as long as youpletely remove every trace of his original soul, you will be able to sever the connection between the two of you.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a sigh of relief when I heard that. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Good. The only other thing to worry about if my host body dies would be making sure that Olympus wouldn¡¯t self-destruct. Given that it is my reserve of divine energy in the shape of a.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra responded with an almost annoyed tone. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Is it really necessary to think so much about your body being destroyed?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Yes, yes it is.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I nodded sagely. <i><span style="font-weight:400">With all of the memetic monsters appearing, the threat is greater than ever before. I¡¯m confident that you would pull me to the Admin Room if I was in true danger, but that wouldn¡¯t save my host.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra let out a long sigh. <i><span style="font-weight:400">You don¡¯t have to worry about Olympus. A battery won¡¯t shatter just because the power goes out. It would just wait there as an ownerless mass of divinity. Plenty of time for you to reim it. A bunch of gods make reserve batteries, but many of them are still around, even when the god themselves are killed.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked at that realization. <i><span style="font-weight:400">In that case, I just need to take care of Clover, and move all of my domain books out of my shadow world.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I gave a small smile when I realized that. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy, can I get you to take me somewhere?</i>


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Steam filled the room as Lydia stepped out of the shower, the energy around her body rippling and forming her uniform. Her and Clover had joined the exploratory voyages venturing into deep space. Although neither of them were gods, they possessed exceptionalbat power, and were thus wee to join.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she left the room, she saw Clover sitting at the desk in their shared room, a smile on her lips. She walked over behind him, about to say something when both of them suddenly stiffened, feeling a new presence entering the room.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Turning, the duo saw golden mist spreading in the room, revealing the form of the Keeper. It had been quite a long time since the Keeper had met with the two of them, and he seemed surprised to see them in uniforms. The duo quickly stood upright and facing him, offering a trained salute.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sir.¡± The two of them said in unison, causing the Keeper to wave his hand for them to calm down.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You can be at ease.¡± He said with a smile. ¡°It¡¯s been a long time.¡± He looked at both Lydia and Clover as he said that. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect to find the two of you on a ship like this.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lydia gave a somewhat bitter smile at that. ¡°We might not be, for long. We just arrived at the designated gathering point, and were told that our voyage has been suspended, pending an investigation and improvement in critical infrastructure.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper nodded his head. ¡°Memetic monsters have been discovered in deep space, and it is suspected that they will be increasingly more numerous as time passes. To counter this, we are putting new policies in ce to protect the crew of these voyages. However, that¡¯s not why I¡¯vee here.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two looked at the Keeper in confusion, before he continued to borate. ¡°I¡¯vee to resolve the threat to Clover. This body of mine is no more than a host that I created many, many years ago. If my true body dies, it is equivalent to the death of all worlds. However, if this body dies while I am not upying it, there is no such problem. Instead, only things which are directly linked to this body would perish.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lydia nodded her head, clearly already aware of all of this. ¡°Meaning Clover. He exined what it meant for you to be the Keeper a long time ago. What do you mean that you will resolve the threat, though¡­?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper offered her a small smile. ¡°Right now, it is Clover¡¯s soul that is tied to this body. With my current power, I have the ability topletely sever this connection by forging for him a new soul. It will be identical in every way to how he is now, with the exception that he will no longer be tied to the existence of this body.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Clover¡¯s eyes widened when he heard that, and Lydia looked at him in surprise, before turning to face the Keeper again. ¡°What do you have to do?¡± She asked vigntly, feeling that nothing so good coulde easily.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I have to reforge his soul.¡± The Keeper said in a serious tone. ¡°I can¡¯t guarantee that this won¡¯t hurt, but I will try to make it as simple and painless as I can. Once his soul has been reforged, there will no longer be any direct connection between the two of us.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lydia looked at Clover once again, clearly seeking his opinion. Clover nodded her head, turning to look at the Keeper. ¡°Do you want to do this here, or do we need to go somewhere else?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper shook his head, walking over to Clover. ¡°I don¡¯t think I should need to say this, but just try not to resist.¡± He said as he closed his eyes, cing one hand on Clover¡¯s shoulder.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lydia took a step back, making sure that she wasn¡¯t in the way for what was about to transpire. She saw specks of silver light appear all around Clover, weaving together to form a crystalline sphere. Then, she bit her lips, seeing a faint look of pain on Clover¡¯s face as a matching sphere was extracted from his chest. Connected to it were thin strips of blue and red lights that trailed back into Clover¡¯s body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper moved the orb he had created into the path of these lights, letting themtch onto it instead. While doing so, a look of concentration appeared, both brows furrowing. Not a word was said throughout the entire process, but Lydia could see the faint glow of divinity in the Keeper¡¯s hands.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once thest of the lights transferred from Clover¡¯s original soul to the newly created one, the Keeper let it slowly float back into his body. At that time, Clover no longer looked to be in pain, but rather had an expression of relief.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Meanwhile, the Keeper looked at the soul that had been extracted, and seemed to absorb it back into himself. ¡°Everything should be properly copied now.¡± The Keeper said with a smile. ¡°Just to make sure, I¡¯ll go and wait in the next room over, and the two of you can talk amongst yourselves. Make sure that there aren¡¯t any abnormalities with his personality or memories.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper didn¡¯t wait for the two of them to respond, simply moving to the nearby door and leaving the room. Once he was gone, Lydia turned to look at Clover once again. ¡°Are you¡­ alright?¡± She asked, chewing on her lip in worry.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Clover blinked, turning to face her. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­ who are you?¡± He asked, causing Lydia¡¯s eyes to go wide, mouth hanging open. Just as she was about to run after the Keeper, Clover smirked. ¡°I¡¯m kidding, Lyd. I¡¯m fine. And¡­ probably better than ever. I feel¡­ I feel like I¡¯m just me now.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lydia paused, before lightly bringing her fists down against Clover¡¯s chest. ¡°Idiot! Don¡¯t scare me like that! I thought that he wiped your memories or something!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Clover let out a lightugh, reaching out to pull Lydia in for a tight hug. ¡°Sorry. It¡¯s me.¡± He whispered, and Lydia¡¯s tail began to wag faster and faster behind her, a look of delight on her face.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So¡­ you really don¡¯t have a connection to the Keeper anymore?¡± She asked to confirm, to which Clover shook his head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There¡¯s nothing. I¡¯ve still got my familiar, but there aren¡¯t any other connections in my soul. Though, this does mean I don¡¯t get to freeload off of the Digital Conversion system authority anymore.¡± He teased, to which Lydia chuckled.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You always hated the idea of doing that anyways, so no change there.¡± She said, leaning into his chest. ¡°We should really let him know that it worked.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah¡­ yeah we should.¡± Clover agreed, though it was clear that neither of them had any intention of moving.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Outside of the room, the Keeper had a small smile on his face, sensing what was going on inside. With a thought, he called out to a certain goddess in his mind, golden mist wrapping around his form to carry him away from the ship.

 Chapter 1057: Job Perks

    Chapter 1057: Job Perks


    <span style="font-weight:400">With Clover¡¯s matter taken care of, all that was left now was to remove the domain tomes from my shadow world. Regardless of whether or not Olympus survived the death of my host, I knew that my shadow world would not. After all, it was simply the embodiment of an energy core that was stored within me. Thus, I would need to reim Earth¡¯s shadow again when I created my next host.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This operation couldn¡¯t be simpler, as I only needed to change where new books would appear to a library within my pce of Olympus, and stock its shelves with the existing tomes. In doing so, I had essentially removed everything that shackled me to this host, with the exception of my Illusion domain.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I wasn¡¯t too concerned about that, however, as I could easily retrain the domain. In fact, with my current powers, I might be able to ascend to godhood through Lorek¡¯s system in a single week. In my mind, the only reason not to get rid of the host was to preserve the shadow world, which would be annoying to remake every time I descended.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Still, at least I was prepared in the event that something <i><span style="font-weight:400">did</i><span style="font-weight:400"> happen, regardless of whether I intended to cause it to do so myself.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ah, Prisci, you¡¯ve returned!¡± A young man greeted Prisci as she arrived at the outskirts of a distant vige of Deckan, one that had been constructed after the events of V-Day. ¡°I wish you would have given us more of a notice, we could have prepared a decent meal for you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s fine.¡± Prisci shook her head with a smile. The boy opposite of her had short, ck hair and green eyes. ¡°It¡¯s good to see you again, Simon. I trust that all is well with the vige?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The young man, Simon, nodded his head while beating one fist against his chest. ¡°Thanks to your helpst time, there haven¡¯t been any problems. That¡¯s why I was so surprised to hear that you wereing. There¡¯s not some great monster nearby or something, right?¡± He asked, adopting a nervous tone at the end.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, Prisci shook her head. ¡°Nothing of the sort. I actually came here to speak with you. The Keeper has given me a mission to seek out worthy individuals, and I believe that you would be the perfect person for this task.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Simon¡¯s eyes widened, his body going ramrod straight as he adopted a more respectful tone. The mention of the Keeper had made his demeanor immediately shift from that of talking to an old friend and savior to speaking with someone of an incredibly high office. ¡°What task would you ask of me, priestess?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Prisci simply smiled at the change of demeanor. She didn¡¯t particrly like or dislike such things, and knew that it was only natural, given her standing. ¡°In deep space, there have been monsters born from the lingering essence of the void. These monsters possess memetic abilities, and may be serious threats in the future. As I recall, you mentioned before that you were quite proficient when it came to Codex Chaotic?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Simon nodded his head seriously, before looking somewhat confused. ¡°The Keeper wishes to hire consultants to deal with memetic threats? There is a difference between memes and void entities, but I can¡¯t say that they are unrted.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, Prisci denied this idea. ¡°He does not seek consultants. Hiring a consultant to apany every vessel would spread his efforts too thin. Let those ships hire their own specialists. What he seeks is someone who will help resolve problems that have already urred.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">A look of understanding shed across Simon¡¯s face at that, before he looked faintly troubled. ¡°I¡¯m afraid you may have wasted your trip, priestess. I am confident that I can identify the effects of memes with enough study, but doing so would infect me with them, and I do not possess the skill to construct anti-memes.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That is of no consequence. Such a skill can be trained.¡± Prisci exined, stepping forward and cing a hand on Simon¡¯s shoulder with a gentle look. ¡°My task is not merely to choose capable individuals but also to bestow them the power to act in his name. Those who ept the task shall be as I am, a Priest of the Keeper.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The Keeper asked of me only one condition, and left the rest to my discretion. This condition was that the chosen must be a devout follower of at least four members of the Greater Pantheon. As I recall, you follow Udona, Leowynn, Ryone, Aurivy, and Tryval.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s correct.¡± Simon confirmed, not questioning Prisci¡¯s decision. His mind was racing with the information that had just been revealed. As someone that studied void beasts through Codex Chaotic, he had to be able to handle information rapidly. Still, this was too unexpected, so it took him a moment to catch up.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Prisci seemed rather patient, simply watching him and awaiting his answer. After a moment, Simon let out a deep breath, nodding his head. ¡°What would you have me do, priestess?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Prisci shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s not I, but the Keeper. Once you have this power, you will need to head to one of the space docks currently under construction. The Goddess Aurivy will guide you to your destination. From there, you should begin to create the divine powers that would be most useful to your work. As the Keeper¡¯s chosen priest, you will be able to create one divine ability from every domain that exists in the world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Simon¡¯s eyes widened once again. ¡°The Goddess? I cannot trouble her with such a matter. It is enough for me tomission a ship to take me to my destination.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If she says you can do it, you can do it!¡± A voice spoke up from next to the duo. Simon turned, and almost jumped out of his skin when he saw none other than Aurivy herself standing there, her hands on her hips. ¡°You think you can be the Keeper¡¯s priest when you¡¯re afraid to ask us for help?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m sorry, please forgive my rudeness.¡± Simon said, quickly bowing to the halfling goddess. Nearby, Prisci smiled knowingly, having gone through a simr ordeal herself only recently. It had taken her a few days to get used to having the members of the Greater Pantheon treat her closely, somewhere between friendship and respect. She even thought that she had adjusted remarkably fast.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy puffed out her cheeks, ncing towards Prisci before turning her gaze to Simon again. ¡°So, are you going to ept the job? You¡¯ve probably figured it out by now, but this isn¡¯t an easy assignment. It¡¯s also not safe, and you will have to bear the burden of knowing that everyone¡¯s lives could rest on your actions.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Simon hesitated briefly, turning to look back at the vige, where people were walking around casually and going about their day, unaware of the two very important guests standing just outside. Simon himself had few attachments to this ce, as his family had mostly passed away. Until recently, he had made his living as a farmer, but turned to Codex Chaotic when the ability to earn money from the game was released.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately, spending most of his time in Codex Chaotic only further distanced himself from the vigers, most of whom he hadn¡¯t seen in over a week. Those he did see more regrly were shopkeepers that he had to buy groceries from, and didn¡¯t have a personal rtionship with them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He turned back to face Prisci and Aurivy, bowing deeply. ¡°If my ability can be of help to others, than I should do so with all of my heart.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy smirked at that answer, nodding towards Prisci to show her approval. With that, Prisci ced one hand over her chest. ¡°By the Keeper¡¯s authority, vested within me, I ask of you, Simon Noelle, do you ept the responsibility of this power?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I ept.¡± Simon nodded his head as well. He felt a surge of power within him, his eyes widening at the notification that he had be the Keeper¡¯s priest.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Prisci turned towards Aurivy, offering a small bow. ¡°Would you mind taking him to a Perfection Clinic first? Simon still has a mortal body, so I am afraid that this task will be too difficult for him before he has shed his physical form.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy shrugged her shoulders with a grin. ¡°One extra stop won¡¯t hurt anything. Speaking of which, I can take you to your next destination, too.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Prisci smiled thankfully, but shook her head. ¡°I possess the ability to travel on my own, so that¡¯s not needed. However, if you can arrange for me to receive a token to travel the void, that would make recruiting those of other realms easier.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy thought about it for a moment, before nodding her head. ¡°Sure, that¡¯s no problem. I¡¯ll get the team to set you up with one before you finish recruiting the next guy on your list. Anything else, before I take the new guy to get his upgrade?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Prisci closed her eyes in thought. ¡°If it is possible, could you give me a list of the top one hundred rankers within Codex Chaotic that are devout followers of four or more of you? If you can highlight some exceptional members, that would be wonderful.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy¡¯s smile turned into a full grin. ¡°Now you¡¯re starting to get the idea. We already set the list up, just waiting for you to ask for it. Though, it¡¯s not specific to Codex Chaotic, but anyone who meets the requirements. I¡¯ll have Cici sort them by ranking and send it to your terminal.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Prisci blinked in surprise, discovering that the Greater Pantheon had already taken an interest in her mission, and even prepared to help her in advance. ¡°Thank you very much, then.¡± She said. ¡°I won¡¯t keep you. The sooner I finish, the sooner you can return home. We wouldn¡¯t want Julia to worry.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivyughed, tilting her head back. ¡°Right! I¡¯ll be off, then! Let me know when you¡¯ve got the next one ready, and I¡¯ll grab him, too.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After she said that, she disappeared with a surprised Simon, while Prisci remained near the vige¡¯s gate. She thought to herself, going through her memories to try and decide on a good candidate for the next recruitment. Simon had been an easy choice for her, because he met every condition that the Keeper had set perfectly. However, there were not many people with such qualifications. At least, not many that she knew about.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She turned around, starting to walk away from the vige when her terminal vibrated in her pocket, notifying her of an iing message. Blinking at the speed of the message, she retrieved her terminal and activated its holographic screen, seeing the list of people prepared by the gods. Not only was their Codex Chaotic rank listed, but there were notes about personality and training.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing just how much effort had gone into this list, which epassed every realm, Prisci felt her cheeks turning rosy. It had not been that long since the mission was given, and yet they already had such extensive preparations. This would certainly make her job easier.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Prisci filtered the list to only show those in Deckan, finding more than a dozen names listed. Among them were three high-ranking yers of Codex Chaotic. She was unsurprised to see Simon¡¯s name among the three, looking at the information of the other two.


    <span style="font-weight:400">One of them was only a teenager, who pursued Codex Chaotic for fun, but had a rather high level as both a schr and mage. Ashley left a note on his entry that he would be an ideal candidate, if only he was a few years older. The other was a woman who had lost her family during V-Day, because they had stubbornly refused to evacuate to Fyor. She had been studying anything rted to the void ever since, whether it was the void beasts, memes, or even anti-memes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing the high praise that Leowynn noted for this individual, Prisci made the easy decision to select her as the next candidate.

 Chapter 1058: New Game, Plus?

    Chapter 1058: New Game, Plus?


    <span style="font-weight:400">After the proper measures had been taken to defend against memetic entities, the days began to pass rather calmly. While I did my training in the instanced world core that Aurivy gave me, the others were all working on their own projects. Chelsea was studying the creation of a new world, while Ashley was working on her next game.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The game that she had chosen to produce this time could be called more of a sandbox, akin to the game that Dana had designed a long time ago, or World Seed. In this game, there would be no NPCs, and the development of the world was left entirely to the yers. However, there was one system that Ashley wanted for the game that caught me by surprise.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The game that she was creating used a cultivation system, but one that was integrated into the game¡¯s main level system. The system was called Skill Master, and awarded participants skill points as they leveled up or trained themselves. They could spend these skill points towards a domain of their choice, designing the skills that they wanted so that the system could assign a price ording to thepatibility with the skill tree and itsplexity. Once they had spent a certain number of skills in a single ¡®skill tree¡¯, they would unlock a skill option called ¡®Apotheosis¡¯. Buying this skill would allow them to be a deity with their skill tree as their domain.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Ashley told me about the system, I had habitually looked it up, noticing that its price was a full ten thousand points. Ashley assured me that it was fine, because aside from this system, the only other system that she would be purchasing for the game was a dungeon system to provide yers with ample targets. Moreover, the dungeon system was only one thousand points.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Taking into ount the ¡®packaging fees¡¯, that brought the estimated price game to a total of fifteen thousand. This was vastly cheaper than Fragments of Acidia, which had gone for almost ny thousand points in total. I asked her if she had a good enough crafting system and other supplementary systems to help flesh out the game, and she assured me that she had taken care of that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">By packaging the item files of Digital Conversion as crafting recipes, following the crafting add-on that they had previously installed, they wrote a much weaker version of this system. Like this, they were able to save on the cost of getting a new crafting system from the market. Once they had all of the code put together, the game would be ready to publish. Unlike World Seed, this was a game that held the capacity to produce gods. At least, whenbined with the technology to synchronize the real user with their game ount.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After Ashley exined the concept of the game to me, as well as the systems involved, I briefly returned to the Admin Room and opened up my chat. Sarah and the others had all been a big help when it came to advertising myst game. It was likely thanks to them that a total of thirty Keepers had bought World Seed so far, giving Ashley enough points to begin production of another title.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: How¡¯s it going?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Hey. Did you hear?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Hear what..?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aerial: Corona was defeated in this month¡¯s game.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">When I saw that message, my eyes went wide in surprise. I had never spoken with Corona before, and only knew that she was a female Keeper that had been forced to reset at one point. She was only at the first rank when I joined the guild. But, sure enough, she was no longer listed as a member of the guild.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: I¡¯m sorry, I hadn¡¯t realized. Do you have any ns?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: There¡¯s not much that we can do. Her opponent was a Keeper at the third rank, and we don¡¯t have anyone at that level. The best that I can do is put out a bounty.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: A¡­ bounty? Keepers can do that?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: It¡¯s not something done often, because it costs a lot of points to do so, and it depends on the credibility of the one issuing the bounty. If they¡¯re unknown, nobody would ept the bounty, even if it was posted. But people know me, and they know I can pay. I¡¯ll be issuing a bounty of one million points to whoever can avenge Corona.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes shot wide once again at the size of that bounty. One million points,bined with whatever the Keeper would get from defeating the enemy Keeper, was an incredible sum. I could see many people tempted to act on this bounty. If I had the power to do so, I¡¯d even want to get in on it.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Who was the Keeper that defeated her?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Savage.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Savage? They were my first defense. Assuming that they haven¡¯t changed strategies, their main attack force was a ck slime that could reproduce and infect the body of other creatures to convert them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: That¡¯s good to know. They¡¯ve likely expanded beyond that point, though. That was back in the first rank, in which you don¡¯t have to worry about divine opponents much. However, if they followed the same theme, their slimes should have be divine monsters. Also, there should be other monsters to worry about when initiating an attack.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard: If they started with a slime race, they¡¯re probably aiming for a gctic terror build.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: That¡¯s right. Slimes and insects are the best types to do that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: There¡¯s one other thing that I remember. The slimes that came to my world used a type of verbal magic, which should be runic. Even if the slimes themselves have changed, that fact should have remained the same.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Thanks, I¡¯ll be sure to include that with the bounty information. Since we know the foundation of their magic system, people will be able to more easily specialize against them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Sorry, didn¡¯t mean to hit you with all of this heavy talk. Was there something you wanted to ask about? You don¡¯t hop into chat that much.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: I¡¯ve been spending a lot of time in my world, so it can¡¯t really be helped.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard: Why not get the Keeper Chat system?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Wha?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: It¡¯s a cheap system that some Keepers choose to get when they stay in their world for long periods of time. It lets them ess their chat options while descended. Of course, it is entirely disabled during invasions.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked in surprise, not remembering seeing a system like that. Was it one that required a certain rank to purchase, or had I just overlooked it? Given that there were millions of items on the market, either one was entirely possible. Pulling up the market, I saw that it was only worth five hundred points, so I immediately decided to purchase it. This would let me stay in touch with the guild more often, without needing to return to the Admin Room regrly.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Well, I¡¯ve got that now. But either way, I came because my team is preparing another game, and I wanted everyone¡¯s opinions on one of the systems, if that¡¯s alright?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ariel: Oh? Another one? I¡¯ve got to say that World Seed turned out better than I had expected. It takes a bit of getting used to, but the trees can grow into major powerhouses over time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: For a first game, I¡¯d say it was a good sess. Anyways, what¡¯s this system that you want to ask about?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: It¡¯s called Skill Master, a game-type cultivation system. Has anyone heard of it?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Yes¡­ I¡¯m familiar with it. Are you sure that you want to use this one?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Is there some problem with it?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: I wouldn¡¯t quite call it a problem. However, there is a detail about the system that isn¡¯t inherently obvious. If a yer with it dies, they lose all of their umted skills and have to start over. That is the ¡®tribtion¡¯ of the Skill Master cultivation system, and why it is listed there rather than a normal skill system.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Additionally, monsters in a world with that system will be more powerful as time goes on. Any monster spawned in the world has a chance to have ess to their own skill tree, and if they do, they will have skills created by the yers. So, if a yer makes a wind sh skill, there is a chance that any monsters spawned in the future will possess that skill. The more skills there are avable, the higher the chance that a monster will have one.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: That¡¯s¡­ certainly a risk factor. If someone ascends to godhood with this system, will they still be able to create their own divine abilities normally, or will they be restricted to doing so within the system¡¯s methods?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Once you have godhood, you¡¯re able to transcend the rules of the world to some extent. While you can continue to invest skill points via the system to more easily solidify an ability, it isn¡¯t required. Additionally, if you want to start working on another domain after the first, the price is exponentially higher.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head in understanding when I heard that. Honestly, the fact that working on another domain was possible was surprising already. I made sure to pass this information along to Ashley while asking my main question.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Do you know howpatible the game system is with technology meant to synchronize the avatar and yer?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: There shouldn¡¯t be a problem. Any memorized spells or techniques should be automatically read and added to relevant skill trees. There was one time when a master mage in my world entered the game, and because he had so many mastered spells, he was immediately given the chance to be a God of Magic. With this system, domains like Magic or involving certain weapon types like Sword be far moremon.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: However, I should remind you that any skills gained in the game are still lost upon the death of the avatar. That means that they won¡¯t be able to be taken out to the real world anymore, even if the yer¡¯s main body has already started using them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Because of that, most yers stop ying the game after they gain their first domain, because dying would cause them to lose it, unless they had enough additional skills mastered in that domain to immediately reim it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: That sounds harsh¡­ but I can understand why the system¡¯s price was rtively cheaper if that is the case.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ariel: Anyways! When are you nning to release this game? You¡¯ve gotta let us know, right?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: My team has picked out all of the systems that they want to include, they¡¯re just working on putting everything together. This is going to be a full sandbox, so it shouldn¡¯t take too much longer.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Not experimenting with making NPCs yet?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: I¡¯m not really that confident in doing so. My team is still rtively small at the moment.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: That¡¯s fine. I didn¡¯t make my first NPC until my fifth game, and I ended up scrapping it because the NPC was just a self-insert. When I realized how bad of an idea that was, I got rid of the whole project.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">My brow twitched when I heard that. Certainly, putting yourself as an NPC in the game would be horrifying, because it would give anyone the ability to analyze your skills. In a world where anyone could be out to get you, there was a greater need to ensure secrecy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Still¡­ I was surprised to hear the name Savage again, after so long. And the fact that they had defeated a member of my guild. Though, in doing so, they had incurred the wrath of a rich Keeper with many friends¡­ so I didn¡¯t envy them in the slightest.

 Chapter 1059: Reunion

    Chapter 1059: Reunion


    <span style="font-weight:400">After returning to Olympus, I was able to confirm how useful it was to be able tomunicate with other Keepers, even while descended. Being able tomunicate with the others certainly made things more active, though there wasn¡¯t much for me to do in my world aside from training.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Like that, several more days passed, until I finally received the notice of my next opponent, though the name on the notification surprised me. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Berose?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I thought in astonishment, remembering my recent deal with this Keeper. Additionally, I was on the receiving end yet again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I checked the system, it looked like Berose was fighting another Keeper this month, and so he wouldn¡¯t have learned about my match with him until after that. I considered letting him know in advance, but ultimately decided against it. There was still plenty of time, so I was content just knowing that my next opponent wasn¡¯t going to try to obliterate everything that existed in my world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">On Ashley¡¯s front, she was making great strides with her new game, saying that she was ready to enter the testing phase. Given that most of the game was created from their code, there was the chance of potentially ¡®game breaking¡¯ bugs. And, when the game was an entire universe, such bugs could be apocalyptic.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For that reason, her entire development team was tasked with testing the game, trying every conceivablebination of systems to ensure that there was no sh. Unlike online games in the mortal world, there was no such thing as a patch that would be able to resolve these issues after it was sold. One bug could lead to the entire game being a waste of time and points.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Establishing a resonant field, connecting to the mana core.¡± Treisha called out, sitting before arge console while rapidly flicking switches. ¡°The synchronization rate is at ny-five percent. Shall we open the gate?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she asked that, she turned back to look at Chelsea and James, thetter of which had long sincepleted his energy fusion without the disaster system stopping him. His eyes shined, lifting one hand as he peered through the possible futures. Treisha held her hands over two buttons. If he gave a thumbs-up, she would immediately solidify the portal. If he gave a thumbs-down, she would abort the entire sequence.


    <span style="font-weight:400">His hand clenched, and his thumb was pointed upwards. Right away, Treisha followed suit, hitting the button beneath her right hand. Along the wall was a circr contraption, a dark blue portal forming within it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ryone, having decided to attend this experiment with interest, pushed off of the wall, eyeing the portal. ¡°So, that is the gate to this world¡¯s mana core?¡± She asked in curiosity, to which Chel nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. Once we¡¯re inside, we¡¯d like your help studying its internal structure. We need to know how much outside interference is possible without disrupting thews of magic in the world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ryone blinked at that, before nodding her head. ¡°I see. In that case, I will continue to monitor things after we enter. If I sense any fluctuations, I will let you know.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she said that, she began to walk towards the portal. Chelsea followed behind with James, cing a hand on Treisha¡¯s shoulder. ¡°We¡¯ll take you with us next time. For now¡­ we need you to stay on this side to keep the portal stable. If anything goes wrong, it won¡¯t be easy for us to get back. Well¡­ I¡¯m sure Ryone will have a way to do it, but just in case¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Treisha nodded her head with a firm expression, understanding her task. ¡°Got it.¡± She said, nodding her head to let the group enter. The only ones not present were the twins, who were working to finally stabilize their new energy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ryone¡¯s body passed through the portal, causing it to briefly flicker and shimmer, doing so once again when Chelsea, and finally James passed through. On the other side, Ryone¡¯s eyes widened, standing within an endless, blue mist. Runic symbols and geometric patterns hovered through the air.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was neither a ground nor sky, nor any sign of anything other than the endless stream of magic. When Chelsea entered, she tapped her foot down, noticing that the space below her feet felt solid. Out of curiosity, she lifted her foot and stepped forward, imagining cing it against a wall. Sure enough, she felt physical resistance.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Afterwards, imagining that this ¡®wall¡¯ was the ¡®floor¡¯, she felt as if the orientation of gravity had changed, and she found herself standing horizontalpared to the other two. ¡°As expected from a microverseposed only of mana.¡± She gave a small grin, returning to the same orientation as the others.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifting one hand, sheunched a fireball spell into the distance, keeping her attention on Ryone. However, Ryone shook her head. ¡°No change.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">With that confirmation, Chelsea became emboldened. She stretched her hand out, using the Digital Conversion system to produce a multitool. The item appeared in her grasp, and Ryone once again shook her head. ¡°If even this doesn¡¯t cause any fluctuations¡­ we can begin setting up the equipment.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James nodded his head, and the two of them began to use the Digital Conversion system to create somerge-scale equipment. Given that there was no ground to bolt the equipment to, they even created an entire building to use for convenience. Throughout the entire process, they both kept their attentions on Ryone, waiting for any indication that there actions were causing abnormal fluctuations in the world¡¯s mana.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, Ryone gave no such indication. She was focused entirely on the mana around her. The many geometric patterns seemed toe alive in her gaze, and she felt as if she had stepped into paradise. There were symbols that she had never seen, but she could identify after cross-referencing them with the knowledge that she had. On the other hand, some symbols were far beyond her realm of understanding.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">If I were to conduct my magic research in a ce like this, how much would I be able to elerate my studies?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She thought to herself, before forcing herself to dismiss such thoughts. Such a path would surely lead to irreparable changes to the world¡¯s magic, and may even result in the destruction of an entire universe. After remembering just how much James had suffered from simr scales of destruction, Ryone knew that she couldn¡¯t afford to take any risks like that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Even still, just standing at the epicenter of all the world¡¯s magic was proving beneficial to her, and she absorbed all of the information that she could while the other two worked. All too soon, however, they called out to her, signaling that they were done.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ryone practically deted, realizing that she would need to leave this space now that the work was over. When she walked towards the portal, Chelsea smiled. ¡°Would you be able to ask Scarlet to join us next? We¡¯re going to be opening the portal to the Ki core in about half an hour, and having her there would help to ensure a smooth trip.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ryone sadly nodded her head, before giving it a bit of thought. ¡°But¡­ what are you going to do for the natural energy world? We don¡¯t have anything like a purely Nature deity.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea shook her head. ¡°I was going to ask Bihena, Ashley, alia, Tubrock, and Tryval for help there. Each of them represents one of the core elements that can be found in Fyor¡¯s natural core, so between them and the world spirit, it should be fine.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ryone couldn¡¯t help but blink at that. ¡°But¡­ Dale never made the World Spirit for this area, right?¡± She asked in confusion, causing Chelsea to pause.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...Adding that to the to-do list.¡± Chelsea said with a strained smile, mentally kicking herself for not having already created that spirit. ¡°Regardless, the five of them together should be able to fill the same role as you or Scarlet. As for the spirit core¡­ if I¡¯m not mistaken, that should simply be a passage to the Underworld. We¡¯ll test it to be sure, but Irena will be our guide for that one.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ryone nodded her head in understanding. ¡°Well, if you have to do any more tests in that ce, be sure to let me know!¡± She said in a firm tone, before vanishing. Chelsea merely grinned, realizing how special that location should have been to Ryone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now that Ryone was gone, Chelsea turned to look at Treisha. ¡°It looks like things are going well. Power the portal down to idle mode, so we can maintain the data collection. Afterwards, get ready to activate the next gate.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Treisha nodded her head firmly, carrying out Chelsea¡¯s instructions without dy. It would take time to slowly power up the portals meant to open a gap between thepleted world and its ¡®miniverse¡¯, hence the deadline that Chelsea told Ryone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, it didn¡¯t take long before Scarlet appeared. Chelsea had slightly rxed the defensive measures around theb to essentially create a backdoor for Aurivy to bring people in and out. After all, she was aware that they would be ying host to multiple gods during this event.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet leaned against the wall of theb, curiously eyeing the dim portal that connected to the magic core. As she did, she noticed the red portal starting to light up, signaling a connection to the Ki core.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once the portal was secured, she began to walk forward, feeling as though something was amiss. When she stepped through, the portal rippled as if it were made of liquid, a few dropletsnding on the floor beneath.


    <span style="font-weight:400">On the other side of the portal, it felt as if she had been submerged in an ocean of blood. For a brief moment, she felt almost intoxicated by the intense ki, before a pulse of energy surged out from her. ¡°I see¡­¡± She lifted her head, sending a fierce look to the area above. She had created a dome, holding back the tide of ki.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Chelsea and the others arrived, they were surprised to feel such an ominous power bursting out of Scarlet. The crimson goddess turned to face them, speaking in a strict tone. ¡°From now on, none of you are permitted to enter this ce without me, is that understood?¡± She asked, causing the eyes of the others to widen.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Chelsea asked, taking a step forward.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°My disobedient child seems to be living quite happily here.¡± Scarlet answered, her eyes turning upwards. ¡°Ki is the energy of life. I rushed in first, expecting there to be mindless monsters made of ki attacking everything that entered. However¡­ it seems that he¡¯s already eaten all of them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea followed Scarlet¡¯s gaze, but she couldn¡¯t see anything, aside from the dense red mass above Scarlet¡¯s barrier. A momentter, something seemed to click for her. ¡°Your child¡­ the True Martial Spirit?¡± She asked, and Scarlet nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°When he was created, he was absorbed into the world¡¯s kiws. I thought that just meant that it was a natural effect, but it seems that wasn¡¯t the case. They¡¯ve been living in the ki core all this time.¡± Scarlet¡¯s gaze pierced through the red blood-like substance, seeming to lock onto a malevolent will hiding beyond. She could feel it hunger, but knew that killing it wasn¡¯t an option. As it had be a part of this world¡¯sws, killing it would mean destroying the concept of the Martial Will from this world.

 Chapter 1060: Stare Into The Abyss

    Chapter 1060: Stare Into The Abyss


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Chelsea and the others learned that there was a sentient creature living within the ki core of the world, they were understandably worried. Such a creature would be able to seriously dy their research progress if it realized what they were doing and had any intentions of interfering.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately, getting rid of it wasn¡¯t an option. Thus, they could only agree to Scarlet¡¯s warning that they were forbidden from entering such a zone without her in the future. After all, these things would be living in the ki core of every world, not just this one.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Just as before, they began to set up their equipment within the dome that Scarlet had provided for them, while Scarlet herself kept her focus on the martial spirit lurking within the world¡¯s ki. Unlike when Ryone was monitoring the situation, Scarlet was unable to warn them about slight changes, because the presence of the martial spirit itself was causing constant, subtle changes. Instead, she simply monitored to prevent any attacks from breaking through her barrier.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once their equipment was set up, she guided the others to leave theb, thinking that she would need to return once a week to maintain the barrier. Outside the core, Scarlet¡¯s eyes twitched, seeing that the entire floor had be blood red. With a snap of her fingers, the liquid ki rose up and condensed into a ball, which she absorbed into herself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You should ce a barrier over that portal.¡± Scarlet informed them, noticing that there was a small leakage of ki from the other side. She hadn¡¯t noticed such a thing with the mana portal, so that was likely the doing of the martial spirit.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea furrowed her brows, but ultimately nodded her head. ¡°Thankfully, the other energies don¡¯t have any vicious wills like that to worry about.¡± She said with a small sigh.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That would depend on whether anything has inhabited the spiritual core. Given that there haven¡¯t been any notable instabilities, I don¡¯t think that you have to worry about it too much.¡± As Scarlet said that, she swept her senses over the area, making sure that there wasn¡¯t any lingering ki.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Only when she was sure that the ce was safe did she choose to leave, letting Irena rece her. This time, the research team found another surprise, though it wasn¡¯t in the form of any malevolent entity. Rather, the spiritual core of the world was none other than the Underworld itself rather than a simple passage to it, which Chelsea spected was the spiritual core of every world that used the same afterlife system.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In Chelsea¡¯s mind, this was both good and bad, as it meant that they had less work to do when researching the ¡®spiritual core¡¯ of various worlds. However, it also meant that anything that influenced the Underworld as a whole would feed back to all of the inhabited worlds.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If there was one relief, it was that there were no major surprises when it came to the natural energy core. While it didn¡¯t appear the same as Fyor¡¯s, it was a sprawling t ne filled with marvelous sights. From what Chelsea could tell, this t ne carried on forever in every direction.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once they had set up their monitoring equipment in each of the four cores, all that was left was to wait and review the data as it came in. They had already determined that the gravity within the miniverses was even stronger than a ¡®size zero¡¯ world, meaning that suitablyrge builders could have substantial gravitational pull. Thankfully, the unique characteristics of each core offered ways to get around such things.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">After Scarlet left the researchb, she sat on her throne, seemingly lost in thought. She couldn¡¯t help but think back to the ¡®child¡¯ that was living in the ki core. This was no simple martial spirit with a consciousness and personal desires. Rather, it was a beast that acted solely on instinct. She didn¡¯t know if this was a natural fact of its birth, or because it had integrated with such a massive source of ki that it broke its spiritual consciousness.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Regardless of which was the answer, the same would be true for the ones remaining in the other cores. Scarlet closed her eyes, considering whether or not it was possible to ¡®tame¡¯ these spirits, which seemed to have evolved their powers but not their minds. If she could, would that result in a conscious control over the world¡¯s ki, at a level that even surpassed what she herself was able to do?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Or¡­ would shackling the world¡¯s ki under a conscious mind cause widespread ruin, due to it no longer behaving as it should? These were all possibilities, but Scarlet simply crossed her arms in front of her, pondering the implications.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">While everyone was going over the details of the new ¡®miniverse¡¯ discovery, there was a stir within a long-distance observatory. By utilizing signals transmitted over hyperspace and recording the feedback, they were able to get a real-time scan far beyond the limits of conventional devices.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Looks like there¡¯s some white noise on the long-distance scans.¡± A felyn officer said with a sigh, holding up the printed scan, the outer perimeter of which appeared to be filled with static. ¡°Take a look on the detailed scope in a bit, will you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">She handed the report over to the lycan boy that sat opposite of her, a small smile on his face. He seemed almost shy in front of his coworker, nodding his head in eptance. ¡°Sure thing. I¡¯ll go ahead and take care of that, then.¡± He said while grabbing the paper.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The woman smirked, knowing clearly that he was infatuated with her. She didn¡¯t have any problems pushing off bothersome work like this, since he was ¡®more than happy¡¯ to help her out. ¡°Thanks. Let me know if you find the problem.¡± She stood up, preparing to leave work early now that herst task had been ¡®delegated¡¯ to someone else.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unsurprisingly, the boy did not offer anyints, his face slightly red as he stood as well. He wanted to quickly check the instruments toplete the task given to him. Leaving the break room, he rushed towards an observation station, where everyone else had already left for the day. Precision scanners were only rarely used when determining if an iing object was a potential threat, such as a meteor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ever since V-Day, the use for such things had be increasingly less, and they were now typically reserved for investigating interference in the general scanners. The boy set the paper down beside the device, using it to get the coordinates for the densest cluster of interference that he could see. Without these coordinates, he could look through the machine a million times, and never see the same sight twice.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Up above the observatory, there was a hum as the precision scanner was readjusted. Once he was sure that the coordinates were locked, he looked down and into the periscope-like device on the counter. Immediately, his body went stiff. In the distant sky, far beyond the sr system, he saw writhing masses with crying faces, twisting beasts, and beings of seemingly endless darkness.


    <span style="font-weight:400">These images were reconstructed in real-time by measuring the response of hyperspace signals, so there was hardly any dy. However, this precision scan was more noticeable when used, so a ship being spied on would immediately be notified. The boy, frozen in his terror, was certain that the creatures he saw wouldn¡¯t have the ability to sense his gaze.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That is, until one of them seemed to adjust slightly, its red eyes piercing straight towards the projection. He staggered back from the device, a red glow in his eyes that vanished after a brief moment. Blinking, he wiped the sweat from his face, walking over to his terminal and making a call.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Anne?¡± He called out, the girl that had spoken to him before answering.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yes? What is it? I¡¯ve barely left. Don¡¯t tell me that you already made a mess of things?¡± She asked, seemingly in annoyance.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I just got done checking the disturbance you asked me to look at.¡± He exined, wiping his hands on his shirt to remove the sweat.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh? That was fast! I knew I could count on you. So, was it a ster storm or something?¡± She asked, her tone switching from amusement to indifference.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The boy looked over at the device for a moment before he answered. ¡°Just some space rocks. They probably have a highly radioactive makeup, and that¡¯s why they disrupted the scanners.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Heh, I knew it. Well, keep an eye on the ce for me. Patty should be there in a few hours to relieve you.¡± She said, before hanging up. The boy stood there, frozen for several moments, before his back straightened.


    <span style="font-weight:400">His eyes became lifeless, and he looked around at the nearby cameras. Turning, he left the room, returning to the break area he had been before. Taking another look, he confirmed theck of cameras in the room, and approached a nearby wall.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Clenching his fist, he punched the wall as hard as he could, though the wall was left undamaged. He could feel his bones cracking, and see one poking through his skin. However, he ignored this and punched again, causing some blood to erupt from his hand.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Staring at the wall, he paused, using his remaining hand to begin drawing a pattern in his own blood. The pattern seemed to resemble a giant, red eye, which covered the majority of the wall. Whenever he ran out of blood to use, he mmed his head against the wall, cracking it open and adding yet more blood.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Throughout the entire process, his health bar was plummeting. However, even when it bottomed out, his actions didn¡¯t stop. Even when his skull caved in, his hand kept drawing the red eye. Only when he had added the final stroke of red ¡®paint¡¯ did his body copse, like a puppet that had its strings cut.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A little over half an hourter, the door of the break room opened, a man in a security uniform stepping in. ¡°Alright, Shiro, I know it¡¯s a dull job, but you can¡¯t hang out in the break room all day. Let¡¯s grab a drink, and I¡¯ll¡­¡± He paused, seeing the dead body on the floor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The officer¡¯s body froze, and he quickly began to examine the scene. The first thing that he saw was Shiro¡¯s caved-in skull and broken hand, looking like he had been in a fight with a powerful warrior. However, when he turned, he saw the ¡®painting¡¯ of the eye on the wall. He staggered back, reaching for his radio, when the pupil of the eye turned, looking at him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hey, Jakob.¡± A voice called out to him over the radio. ¡°Did you find him?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jakob reached up to grab at his radio. ¡°Negative. Looks like he went home without clocking out.¡± He said in a calm voice.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Tch. Figures. Nobody wants this job, anyways. Can you at least order us a bite to eat while you¡¯re out there? Like hell I¡¯m sitting around waiting for nothing to happen on an empty stomach.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Will do.¡± Jakob said, his eyes dull. ¡°I found something strange in the break room. Maybe one of them left their papers here when they went home? Come check it out, you might be able to make more sense of it than I can.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Heh, really? You think I¡¯ll understand any of that nonsense?¡± The man asked jokingly, though Jakob only repeated himself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Come check it out. You might find it interesting.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Fine, fine. But the food¡¯s on you.¡± The man on the other end said, cutting off the conversation.

 Chapter 1061: Shining Examples

    Chapter 1061: Shining Examples


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hey, big boss guy!¡± I heard a voice calling out to me as I was walking the halls of Olympus, preparing to head out for another training excursion. Turning my head, I saw the Terra twins standing perfectly straight in the hallway, wearing matching light blue dresses.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I swear if you ask me to go y with you¡­¡± I said with a twitching eye, the two girls tilting their heads to look at me in confusion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The girl upstairs said that we needed to tell you something!¡± The one on the left started, the other nodding her head and continuing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°They¡¯reing.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...That¡¯s not ominous at all. Who¡¯sing? What¡¯sing? When are theying?¡± I couldn¡¯t quite make sense of what the two were talking about, but the twins smiled in unison. Of course, their next few words were certainly nothing to smile about.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The memetic monsters. They¡¯reing. A lot of them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes widened, and I turned to fully face them, a serious look on my face. ¡°Exin.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Big girl upstairs says they¡¯re hungry. And when a predator is hungry, they go to where the food is. It¡¯s not just Earth¡­ any inhabited world, anywhere with civilization, culture, conscious minds¡­ they¡¯reing.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We just came from solving a security breach in Earth¡¯s deep space observatory. One of them cut in line. Infected a researcher doing a deep space scan, and made him bash his head into the wall to draw a blood eye. Once enough people had been infected, it manifested in the base.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I brought my hand up to massage my temples. ¡°How many are there, and how long do we have?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°For Earth?¡± The twins looked at each other. ¡°Eight¡­ nine, right?¡± One asked, the other nodding her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a sigh of relief. ¡°That¡¯s not too bad--¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Million?¡± The other added, making me choke on my words.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°<i><span style="font-weight:400">Excuse</i><span style="font-weight:400"> me?¡± I opened my eyes wide. ¡°Eight or nine <i><span style="font-weight:400">million</i><span style="font-weight:400"> memetic beasts are approaching Earth?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah!¡± One of the twins nodded her head. ¡°They¡¯reing from all over the stars. Only the ones that feed on information are being drawn to Earth, though, so there are a lot more out there that eat other stuff.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The other one smiled. ¡°Oh yeah, it¡¯s enough to really mess with general sensors. As for when they¡¯ll get here¡­ big girl thinks that the Hypene wall should slow them down, but she¡¯s not sure how long. At their current speed, they¡¯ll reach the wall in about two weeks.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I took a deep breath when I heard that, closing my eyes. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Dana¡­ whatever project you are working on, put it on hold. I have something infinitely more urgent that I need you on, immediately.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was only a brief moment before my shadow stretched out, Dana rising up from it. She turned, seeing the Terra twins, and blinked. ¡°And me without a tricycle. So, what¡¯s up, boss?¡± She asked, turning to look at me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Within two weeks, we need unmanned orbital defenses around every inhabited star system, capable of fighting against millions of memetic monsters.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I said that, Dana blinked. She lifted a hand, and then lowered it, opened her mouth, paused, and then just stared at me. ¡°You need a miracle, so you call the <i><span style="font-weight:400">only</i><span style="font-weight:400"> member of your staff that isn¡¯t an actual deity?!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°She¡¯s got a point.¡± The twins chimed in together.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Can you do it?¡± I asked, staring down at Dana. Regardless of her deific status, the only people that I had any confidence in getting this done in time were Dana and Chelsea. Chelsea was immersed in her world creation research, and interrupting that could cause its own level of catastrophe.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana furrowed her brows, pacing back and forth in the hallway. ¡°Every direction?¡± She asked, to which the twins nodded.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, totally!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And, big girl doesn¡¯t even know if this is the only wave, or if they¡¯ll just keeping!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Helpful.¡± She said in a sarcastic tone, pinching the bridge of her nose. ¡°I¡¯ll need the drones. A lot of drones. I don¡¯t know exactly how many drones, but enough to automate this whole thing. Once I¡¯ve got the n set up, I¡¯ll start modifying the Hypene Network. If I can add a damaging effect to the outer barrier, I can weed out some future monsters that try to force their way through.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After she said that, she turned, preparing to leave Olympus. ¡°I¡¯m heading to Lorek! Two weeks out here will give me nearly a year over there. That should give me enough time to make the basic preparations. If anythinges up, I¡¯m leaving Sienna behind, so bring it up with her.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">At the mention of Lorek, I turned to face the twins. ¡°Are those worlds in danger, as well?¡± To my question, the two nodded their heads.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, yeah. It¡¯s not as bad for them, though. Space around Lorek and Spica is <i><span style="font-weight:400">way</i><span style="font-weight:400"> less friendly. Constant energy collisions and massive ster storms make it hard for monsters to travel through space.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a thankful nod at their answer, happy to know that Dana wouldn¡¯t be even more rushed than she already was. The fact that she was being given a full year should help, though I was worried where she would be able to get the ammunition for so many defensive turrets, or a field capable of surrounding an entire sr system. Would the Digital Conversion system be able to handle that much output without putting strain on the world?


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What are the others doing to prepare?¡± I asked, focusing on the twins again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There¡¯s not much that they <i><span style="font-weight:400">can</i><span style="font-weight:400"> do in the time given.¡± One of the sisters said. Thankfully, the expeditions were already called back. Aside from that, there is a ban on any detailed scans beyond the local systems. For offensive tactics¡­ well, if it was something easy to deal with, the big girl wouldn¡¯t have sent us to you in the first ce!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although begrudgingly, I had to admit that they were right. If it was only one or two memetic beasts making their way over, I likely wouldn¡¯t hear about it until after the fact. ¡°How close together are the monsters that areing?¡± I asked, the two tilting their heads.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We didn¡¯t look at the scans ourselves, but the big girl says that some of them are spread out a lot, but others are clustered together.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay, the clustered ones can be considered the safest.¡± I nodded my head. ¡°If they had powerful cognitive effects, they wouldn¡¯t be able to operate in close proximity to one another without influencing them. Those that are the most spread out should be regarded as the most dangerous, because it means that they are likely to have effects that would be fatal simply by having concrete knowledge about the entity¡¯s existence.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I was discussing this, I was inwardly debating whether I should purchase something from the system to help me out. Whether it was a specialized defense against memetic entities, a general space defense tform, or even a system that would provide ¡®safe zones¡¯. Thetter would be more tricky, as the safe zone would be the size of a star system, and might interfere with the production of normal monsters.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ve got to make a call.¡± I said, dismissing the duo and heading into my office. With a thought, I conjured my chat window. Buying tech trees or systems was expensive, but a consultation from a friend was free.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: I¡¯m back. Oldbeard, EverLasting, Aerial, any of you around right now?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard: I¡¯m here, what¡¯s up?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: I was just about to grab lunch, but I can put it on hold.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aerial: Yeah, not much going on on my end.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: All of you should know about void monsters and memetic effects. Thanks to myst invasion, I¡¯ve got swarms of monsters spawning in distant star systems. They¡¯re local monsters, so they¡¯re not from the void itself, but they have memetic properties.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Ohhh, I see where this is going.


    <span style="font-weight:400">OldBeard: You do?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Lemme guess, they¡¯re swarming towards civilization?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: I¡¯m guessing you¡¯ve dealt with this sort of thing before?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Yeah. It was the inspiration behind the Hypene Network that I put in Fragments of Acidia. Of course, to protect my personal security, I drastically reduced the effectiveness of thework in that game.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Which means that you probably don¡¯t have the full thing listed on the market?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Afraid not.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Well, at the current rate things are going, the monsters will be here in about two weeks¡¯ time. I¡¯ve got my best person working on a countermeasure, but I was curious if there was any sort of system or device that would increase the odds.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard: The only one I would think of is Restricted Zones. It¡¯s a basic game system, and when you buy it you can designate zones, and what monsters are allowed within those zones. It works for a more controlled form of monster spawning, too. Unless you¡¯re dealing with a rare monster, others won¡¯t be able to enter a zone they¡¯re not designated for.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Yeah, that¡¯s a good one. Though, it only really works if you use it from the beginning of a world. Otherwise, but the time you set it up, there are so many random monsters running around, all in different level ranges, that it would take you years to get it running, even with help.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aerial: I suppose mass smiting them isn¡¯t an option?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: There¡¯s no guarantee that this is the only wave.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: If it¡¯s like what I had to deal with, then yeah, they¡¯ll just keeping so long as their spawn conditions don¡¯t change. You said that you¡¯ve got two weeks, right?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Local time, so¡­ about twelve Standard days? If my math is right, at least.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Got it. Well, after five Standard days, let me know if you¡¯ve got a working solution. If it doesn¡¯t look like yours will make it in time, I¡¯ll let you bring some of your best researchers over to study the fullwork barrier. That should give them enough time to add the criticalponents by the time you get back.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Thanks, I may need to take you up on that offer.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">After finishing that conversation, I closed my eyes, sending a message to Sienna. <i><span style="font-weight:400">In five Standard Days, let me know if your n can be implemented in time. Otherwise, Sarah has offered to let us study the improved version of the Hypene Network that is built to repel monsters like that. It would be best if we can do it with our own methods, but let me know if that is not an option.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a brief dy as Sienna transferred the message to Dana, and then ryed the reply. <i><span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s fine. There is the chance that the upgrade won¡¯t be easily applied with the difference in magic systems, so she wants to settle this with our own methods, if she can.</i>

 Chapter 1062: Alternative Plans

    Chapter 1062: Alternative ns


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana sat in ab that she had quickly established in Lorek, typing away at a terminal while chewing on her lip. ¡°If I want a turret defense, I¡¯ll need to have a wide array of damage types, so it could work on different types of monsters. That means an ammunition production nt and a massivelyrge-scale transport operation. If I were to use the Digital Conversion system, the amount of energy that is needed¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">She input several calctions, triggering a simtion. Soon,rge red text appeared on the screen, reading ¡®00:09:52.37¡¯. Dana¡¯s brow twitched when she heard that. ¡°Expected irreparable damage to the world¡¯s barrier in under ten minutes of constant firing.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana immediately gave up on the idea of a turret defense n, as the requirements were far too high for her to be able to create results in just one hundred days. If she had five years, she could work something out, but not like this.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In that case, barriers.¡± Dana muttered. ¡°The problem with barriers is their unreliability against memetic effects.¡± She still recalled the report of the monster that simply burst through any form of obstruction in its path. ¡°Sarah told the boss that there¡¯s a way to modify the Hypene Network to repel these creatures. And, she only gave us five days to both study the changes and apply them¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">There were a few things that Dana could infer from this. First, the change was not all thatplicated, but just required the knowledge to achieve it. Secondly, changing one node in thework would impact the entirework. Otherwise, they would need far more time in order to implement the changes on a grand scale.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Going through her files, Dana found the blueprint of the Hypene Network. She had originally been the one to trante this power from Fragments of Acidia to the geometric system, so she was quite familiar with itsyout.


    <span style="font-weight:400">First, she scanned through it, trying to see if there were any areas where it looked like it was iplete, but that was obviously not the case. There might be evidence like that if she observed the original source code of the Hypene Network in the game, but that would require leaving Lorek¡¯s flow of time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Instead, Dana began to think of it along a different train of thought, theorizing what potential add-ons could enhance the barrier¡¯s effect to make it not only restrain memetic monsters, but evenpletely eliminate them.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tower sat within his office, looking at the report that had been sent to him. As one of the leaders of a civilized world, he had been warned of the impending crisis posed by the memetic entities. ¡°This could be troublesome¡­¡± He muttered to himself, ncing over towards the door.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As he expected, the door quickly opened, two humanoid slime creatures entering. The first to speak was Atraxi, who was understandably worried. ¡°This is pretty bad for us, right?¡± He asked, to which Tower nodded his head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Moreso than most. Even your is a living creature, so it is easy for memes to transfer among your kind.¡± Tower admitted calmly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Do you have an answer?¡± Pietra asked, Tower thinking about it for a long moment.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If the Keeper does not make a move, I only have one reliable method that could avert such a disaster. That is, I bring both of our worlds into my dungeon instance to hide until the danger passes.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Would that work?¡± Atraxi asked in confusion. ¡°Don¡¯t you need to maintain a presence in this world, as well?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tower simply nodded his head. ¡°My core must remain in the outside world. However, I can arrange a significant level of defense for it. So long as my core doesn¡¯t fall, the dungeon will maintain integrity. If it does, there is already nothing that can be done.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two slime deities thought about it for a long moment, before Pietra spoke up. ¡°There is something that I would like to try, with your permission.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tower looked over at Pietra, wondering what ideas he had. When the slime god started to exin things, Tower took on a more thoughtful appearance. ¡°As you know, I am the God of Evolution. If I help you to forcibly evolve, would it increase your options?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s possible.¡± Tower admitted. ¡°However, you must know that I am connected to ten thousand dungeons that remain among the other worlds. Evolving me would require evolving all of those dungeons as well. Are you sure that you can do it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°On my own? Absolutely not.¡± Pietra said with a faint chuckle. ¡°However¡­ Mother is also the Goddess of Dungeons. If I borrow that power from her, it may work.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tower hesitated, before offering a nod of his head. Receiving confirmation, Pietra focused, crouching down and cing one hand on the ground. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Mother, I ask of you to lend me the domain of Dungeons, as well as a part of your power.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although there was no direct answer, Pietra could feel ess to the power being granted to him. With what seemed to be a smile on his face, Pietra channeled his divinity. There were two evolutions that he wanted to grant to Tower and all of the dungeons connected with him. The first was to increase the size of each instance that he could create, making it easier to house boths.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The second evolution was the power to store a dungeon core within an instance. As long as this was possible, Tower would be able to hide with the rest of them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The first evolution applied rather easily, and Pietra actually marveled at how simple the matter was. As for the second¡­ this one felt as if there was a great obstruction. The instance was a mere part of the dungeon, so storing the entire body of the dungeon inside of it was impossible, simr to a snake swallowing its own body from the tail.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Pietra changed his approach, trying to make it so the only a small gate remained, the size and location of which could be determined by the core upon entry. This time, although there was difficulty, it did not feel as unachievable as before.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tower, aware of what Pietra was doing, simply focused on rxing to let the changes wash over him. With each change, he couldn¡¯t immediately tell what was different, and so decided to wait for Pietra to finish.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa looked at the report that her shadows had sent to her, pursing her lips. Next to her, Petra seemed confused. ¡°Couldn¡¯t they just perform another evacuation to Fyor? No matter how many monsters try to invade, they won¡¯t get anything here.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s not that easy.¡± Sora shook her head. ¡°First, this time there is not a determined deadline for the monsters to be vanquished. On V-Day, they knew decades in advance, and knew that there would only be a few monsters to destroy in the void.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Now, the monsters seem almost endless, and we don¡¯t even know if this is the only wave. Rather than evacuation, it would need to be a full-scale immigration. Such a thing isn¡¯t really feasible in the long term, especially with Lorek and Spica handling the majority of the food production.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra nodded her head in acknowledgement, albeit reluctantly. ¡°Would we be able to fight them off with our shadows?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡± Thelsa answered. ¡°If it were normal monsters, I would be willing to try. However, memetic monsters are another story. We don¡¯t know what hazards coulde from any of those monsters, and there could even be some that could transmit their effects through the shadows. Even without that possibility, the only safe way to act would be to send suicide soldiers.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Maria grunted, clenching her fists. ¡°You mean that there¡¯s nothing that the shadows can do this time?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I didn¡¯t say that.¡± Thelsa answered. ¡°Let¡¯s wait and see what the Keeperes up with. If all else fails, we can only implement an all-out attack and hope for the best.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">While others were preparing for what the higher-ups of every world were calling the second round of the apocalypse, Ryone sat in her office, mentally reviewing the information that she had collected from the world¡¯s mana core. She felt that she was on the verge of a breakthrough when it came to fifth tier magic.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, she also knew that she couldn¡¯t just go back to that core, as doing so might interfere with the readings from Chelsea¡¯s equipment. Though¡­ there was another alternative.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A smile tugged at Ryone¡¯s lips, and she disappeared, emerging within the depths of Fyor and clutching a blue stone in her hand. This stone had been collected long ago, and she knew it to be capable of connecting with Fyor¡¯s mana core. However, she had ced a seal on such stones shortly after their discovery due to the knowledge that there were special monsters on the other side that were drawn to the minds of those connecting to the stones.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ryone believed it to be a worthwhile risk, especially since she could always get a new incarnation if something happened to this one. It might take a couple of decades to regain her former power, but that was fine.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Closing her eyes, Ryone undid the seal on this stone, using her magic to enter it. As expected, thendscape on the other side appeared much like what she had seen from the world of the research group. However, there were also changes, these changes being in the form of monsters that roamed between the runic patterns, and giant veins of blue rocks that hovered through the air.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ryone knew that these veins of rocks were the ¡®other side¡¯ of the gate that she had used to enter. She did not rashly approach any other such gate, knowing that doing so could lead to disastrous consequences for Dale if she managed to identally enter a floor with a very high level.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Instead, she focused purely on her own training, content to see that the nearby monsters avoided her. Although she was their ideal food source, they could sense the power emanating from her body. <i><span style="font-weight:400">If James was able to survive here, then there is no reason that I can¡¯t</i><span style="font-weight:400">. Ryone thought to herself, knowing that she was currently far more powerful than the James that had appeared at that time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As her mind delved further into the runic patterns, she began to make more and more connections, feeling that her previous theories were all starting toe together. Suddenly, things made sense. She had to restrain herself from attempting to cast a fifth-tier spell, worried that it would cause harm to the area.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ryone focused on memorizing her insights, internalizing them within herself so that she could begin proper experimentation upon her return. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯m sure that Gerard would love to see this ce.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She thought to herself with a small grin.

 Chapter 1063: For The Greater Good

    Chapter 1063: For The Greater Good


    <span style="font-weight:400">As the days passed, I became more and more concerned about the continuing silence from Dana. I knew that this would not by any means be an easy task, but I knew that if anyone would be able to rise to the challenge, it would be her. As of now, the only news that I had received from her was a report stating that she was trying to approach the problem from a new direction.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I wasn¡¯t quite sure what that meant, but decided to put my faith in her. In the meantime, I continued to talk with Sarah and the others in the guild chat, and was able to see what their ¡®normal¡¯ conversations were like for the first time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For the most part, the guild simply let the lower ranking members talk about interesting events going on in their world. For instance, Meatlover mentioned that one of his robotic societies had developed a new form of energy by refining mortal souls. He wasn¡¯t sure whether he should encourage this behavior or not, as it was a highly efficient energy source.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Meanwhile, the more experienced members would chime in. They didn¡¯t attempt to steer the lower ranked members in any conceivable way, but only offer insights on the pros and cons. For the example of Meatlover, they pointed out that such a thing could likely lead to a society where the robots hunted down organic life, treating it as nothing more than nourishment for its war machines. However, if properly controlled with diligent guidance, it could also have a utopic ending where the energy of the afterlife itself became the fuel, cutting out the need for a mortal soul.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Every now and then, one of the higher ranked members brought up a subject, like when Aerial said that she was thinking of making another world to create a brand new species of nt-based humanoids. Rather than seeking the pros and cons, she was looking for opinions on what sort of traits to include in this race.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aerial¡¯s world had always been one where there was an incredibly diverse set of races, something that I had learned at the first meeting that I attended at the Gilded Branch. So, hearing her talking about new races didn¡¯t really surprise me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, there was also Sarah, who chimed in with regr updates on her next set of games. Now that she was programming them entirely from scratch, she had a lot more freedom in what she could make, but at the same time the development period was extended just as drastically. It was easy to just mix and match systems and call it a game, but a lot harder when you were programming those systems from nothing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">On that topic, Ashley informed me that she had done all of the testing that she could for her new game, and would be ready tounch it at any time. Part of me wanted to do so immediately, but I held myself back. Instead, I wanted to wait until the current crisis was resolved. Only then would it be fitting to release the new title.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Though, when I thought about that uing game, I couldn¡¯t help but raise a question to Sarah, who seemed to have some experience with the system. I asked her whether or not it was possible to use adminmands to just level up to the point where you could immediately be a god.


    <span style="font-weight:400">To my surprise, the answer was¡­ yes. Yes, it was entirely possible. However, she suggested taking it more slowly if I wanted to do something like that, and spread it out over the course of a few weeks. That way, the soul of the individual would have time to adjust to the growing power.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Honestly, that was fine by me. Simply knowing that it was possible was more than I expected. For that reason, this game became my backup n in the event that my host died, and I needed to acquire the Illusion domain once again.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana grit her teeth, having spent months on the problem that had been assigned to her. Now, her deadline had arrived, and she couldn¡¯t put her return off any further. With a sigh, she opened a portal, stepping through to the outer perimeter of Olympus, where the Keeper was waiting for her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Did you find anything?¡± He asked, and Dana was forced to let out a sigh.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yes and no. I found three ways to theoretically reinforce the barriers created by the Hypene Network. However, none of them should be what your friend mentioned, as they only reinforce a particr node. Furthermore, the time it would take to reinforce the entirework doesn¡¯t fit the deadline. From what you told me, her method should be faster, easier, and more effective than any of the results that I came up with.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After she said that, she saw the Keeper¡¯s shoulders sag. She knew that he had been counting on her for this, and honestly felt a bit guilty that she wasn¡¯t able to meet his expectations. However, he offered a smile, as if trying to reassure her. ¡°That¡¯s alright. I assume that the drone n is still not feasible?¡±<span style="font-weight:400">


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana shook her head at that. ¡°The energy requirements for both the construction of a massive energy field or ammunition for a turret defense would puncture a hole in the world¡¯s barrier. The only way to make that idea feasible would be if you created a vein of high-purity Mage Heart and Blood Heart at each site, with their respawn timer adjusted to every minute. That would, in theory, create an endless source of power to fuel the defenses, but instead creates other issues.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper nodded his head. ¡°In that case, let¡¯s see what Sarah has to say. Tsubaki volunteered to remain behind and monitor the situation.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is Chelseaing with us?¡± Dana asked, looking around. However, the Keeper shook his head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°When I told Chelsea the full story, she said that it was fine to take you to meet Sarah. She said that you would be more than enough to decipher the changes needed, and she was at a critical moment in her own research.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana felt an even greater weight on her shoulders, hearing such high regard from Chelsea, who had always been the true leading researcher. Even James couldn¡¯tpare to her in some ways. She nodded, focusing on activating the Heavenly Gate. ¡°There¡¯s no time to lose, then.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thirty secondster, the gate formed around her feet, and she was able to leave the mortal world, reappearing within the Admin Room. There, the Keeper was already waiting for her. She waited, having learned long ago of the odd methods used when traveling between Keeper domains.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For a few moments, nothing seemed to be happening, until there was a knock on the door behind Dana. Thinking that someone wasing to visit, she turned her head, only to see a faceless man in a blue suit. He stepped into the room, surprising both Dana and the Keeper, and held out a small box. Hesitantly, Dana took the box, which suddenly opened to reveal a ck abyss.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana felt something pulling at her very being, a gravitational force that dragged her entire body into the box,pressing it down, and then felt another presence shoved in alongside her. No doubt that this was the Keeper himself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two of them felt the box being picked up and jostled around, before being haphazardly thrown to the floor. They had no awareness of their surroundings, only able to feel the confines of the darkness that they were trapped in.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A momentter, there was light, and the two were violently expelled from the box, a feminine cry of surprise echoing out from the room that they were thrown in. Looking around, Dana found that they were in what looked like a futuristic office with advanced consoles lined up in rows. At every console was a figure, many of which had vastly differing appearances.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As for the person who cried out in surprise, it was a surprisingly normal-looking human woman with short blonde hair, wearing a ck t-shirt and jeans. ¡°Okay, I haven¡¯t seen <i><span style="font-weight:400">that</i><span style="font-weight:400"> one before.¡± She said in surprise.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Be d.¡± The Keeper grunted as he stood up, offering a hand to Dana. She took it with a thankful nod, understanding that they were now in Sarah¡¯s Admin Room.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, where do we need to go to study?¡± Dana suddenly asked. The blonde woman, who Dana assumed to be Sarah, smiled and realized the urgency of the situation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ve prepared a space for you. Honestly, the process itself isn¡¯t difficult to exin, and I think you¡¯ll pick up on it fairly quickly, if you are familiar with the weakened version of thework.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sarah guided Dana out of the room, with her own Keeper following behind the duo. After a few turns, they arrived at a ck, open space that looked like a scale model of a sr system, numerouss slowly orbiting a star at the center of the room. At one edge of the room, near where they came in, there was a desk that had a console full of information.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m sure that you¡¯re familiar with the core of the lesser version?¡± Sarah asked as Dana approached the console.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In the game, it¡¯s a material called Void Crystal, which can only be harvested from a few highly dangerous areas.¡± Dana nodded her head. ¡°I had to substitute a simr material from our world that shared its properties.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh?¡± Sarah seemed surprised. ¡°If you¡¯re the one that did it, and managed to find substitutes, you must be skilled indeed. In that case, you should be able to tell the difference.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing that, Dana looked through the information, thankful that it was tranted into anguage she could understand. Reading about the core, she furrowed her brow. ¡°The void density in this is more than fifty times higher than what appears in the game. Did you use a refined crystal with higher purity?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡­ could say that.¡± Sarah nodded her head, a hint of solemness in her voice that made Dana¡¯s eyes widen.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡­ a sacrifice?¡± She asked, catching her own Keeper by surprise. Sarah, however, simply nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. When I encountered a simr situation to what your world is dealing with, I took rather drastic measures. I froze all of my active worlds, and then created a new one devoted exclusively to research, directing my staff to descend there for five thousand years. This form was the result of their research, the most effective method that caused the fewest losses while maintaining the highest sess rate.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana hesitated, before looking at her own Keeper to exin. ¡°The Void Crystal in the lesserwork is what allows the barrier to be created around thework nodes, while also allowing travel within the field to go far beyond the speed of light.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°ording to this design, if a Fallen God¡¯s life core is used to enhance this core material, it strengthens thework further, spreading out to any connecting nodes. Anything with even a touch of void energy won¡¯t be able to enter without an appropriate pass. At least, not without having to sustain considerable damage.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper seemed surprised at this, turning to look at Sarah. ¡°So¡­ every universe that is affected¡­ will require the sacrifice of a Fallen God?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sarah simply nodded her head again. ¡°It¡¯s possible to forcibly kill and refine a Fallen God, but the best result onlyes out if the individual willingly condenses their own life core. Also, I should mention that additional sacrifices won¡¯t increase the power further.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s why you only said we¡¯d need a few days to understand and implement the changes.¡± Dana said, clenching her fists at her sides. She had never looked at the idea of ¡®sacrifices¡¯, because she knew that it was something that her Keeper would vehemently oppose it. As long as Sarah¡¯s method remained, there was no reason for her to look into such a subject.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Meanwhile, her Keeper seemed to be having an internal struggle of his own. ¡°This¡­ is a surprise. I hadn¡¯t expected something like this at all.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sarah gave a wake smile. ¡°Yeah, that was pretty much my thought on the subject when I first heard it. However, nothing else seemed feasible. Some memetic creatures are able to interfere with unmanned technology, so conventional defenses were useless. There are also too many types that can be born, so it¡¯s not feasible to have a normal magical barrier. I bet you must be pretty disappointed to learn that this is how it ends up, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Rather than answer her, the Keeper asked another question. ¡°How many universes do you own? Not counting your games.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sarah thought it over. ¡°Thirty-seven, currently. And yes¡­ all of them have thiswork.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper sighed. ¡°Thirty-seven fallen gods.¡± A weary smile appeared on his face as he seemed to feel the weight of this information. ¡°We¡¯d better start heading back.¡± He said to Dana, who looked at him in surprise.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We might not have that many worlds, but are you really going to go through with this?¡± She couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If there was another solution¡­ probably not. If it were before thisst invasion, I would try to fight with everything I had.¡± He said, his voice sounding more tired than she could remember hearing him. ¡°Now, we have the Heroic Spirits. When we get back, I want you to spread the information via Leowynn. But¡­ don¡¯t tell them that those who volunteer will be selected for the Heroic Spirits.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana paused, realizing what he meant. He didn¡¯t want people to volunteer just because it would be their ticket to an eternal life. Rather, if anyone believed that this was a true death for themselves, and volunteered anyways, he wanted to offer them salvation. Behind them, Sarah smiled slightly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I might not know the context, but I can guess what that Heroic Spirits you mentioned is. That¡¯s along the lines of what I did, too. I hope it goes as well for you as it did for me.¡± The Keeper looked back at her with a brief nod, before a red door appeared before himself and Dana.

 Chapter 1064: Dad Of The Year

    Chapter 1064: Dad Of The Year


    <span style="font-weight:400">After we returned back to my Admin Room, Dana immediately went to begin carrying out the instructions that I had given her while we were still at Sarah¡¯s ce. Meanwhile, I informed the others what the cost of ¡®perfecting¡¯ our Hypene Network would be. Once that information was out there, a somber atmosphere filled the room.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let Terra know that I was nning for this to be a sacrifice worthy of being recorded in the Heroic Spirits, and Terra agreed wholeheartedly. After all, the primary condition was for one to sacrifice themselves for the sake of a or universe, even at the cost of certain death.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, Dana knew who to tell this information to. Rather than putting this information out in front of the public, and having them put pressure on the Fallen Gods to protect them, she contacted them directly. For those she couldn¡¯t personally inform, she sent the message via Leowynn, who was able to reach them with ease.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now, it became a matter of waiting. There was less than one week before the first world would be in true danger, and it was time to see whether or not people stepped forward.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯re thinking about it, aren¡¯t you?¡± Sprigga asked Giles, who stood with her atop the branch of arge tree. When they learned about the iing invasion of memetic monsters, they hurried back to Earth. There was nothing that they could do for their daughters, as they didn¡¯t have the ability to create the Hypene Network on their own.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At the same time, the groves that their daughters established were unlikely to draw the attention of those monsters for now, as their poptions were far too small. The amount of information avable from them would only be a fraction of what most upied worlds could offer. However, Giles knew that would change as soon as these barriers were reinforced. At that point, even if the meal was small, they would be the most appetizing dish in the universe.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If¡­ and I mean if. If I ept this¡­ I would ask that they make establishing thosework nodes a priority.¡± Giles answered, nodding his head towards Sprigga. Neither of them wanted to see their daughtersing to harm, but there was simply no way to transport entire groves to a safe world at this point in time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sprigga reached out, lightly grabbing her husband¡¯s wrist. She wanted to say that they could have more daughters, but she couldn¡¯t. This threat would persist well beyond this incident. If they let their daughters go now, what would they do in the future? They still wouldn¡¯t have the ability to establish thework, so how would they protect any of their future daughters?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Instead of saying anything, she stepped forward, giving him a tight embrace. ¡°If this is your decision¡­ I¡¯ll support you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Giles gave a knowing look towards Sprigga, hugging her in return. ¡°Support me, but don¡¯t join me. Those girls will still need you to guide them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sprigga hesitated, but merely nodded her head against his chest, keeping her eyes closed. Without letting her go, Giles focused on sending a message. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Lady Jafer.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Is that you, Giles?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Dana¡¯s voice spoke back to her. She sounded tired, and Giles could only assume that she was dealing with arge number ofmunications at once.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s correct. If I volunteer for this program¡­ I would like to make one request.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Tell me what it is, first. I can¡¯t make any promises without hearing, but I¡¯ll do my best if it is within reason.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Dana replied, sounding slightly rushed.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Sprigga and I have several daughters that we scattered on habitable worlds. Theses aren¡¯t currently within the Hypene system. If we cut off the food supply of these monsters, they will inevitably turn towards those lesser colonized worlds. That¡¯s why¡­ my request would be to have those worlds brought into thework as soon as possible.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a brief dy when Dana received this message, and her tone softened slightly. <i><span style="font-weight:400">That I can do. No matter what, as long as you give me the coordinates for thes, I¡¯ll make sure that their systems are protected.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Giles nodded his head, a relieved smile on his face. <i><span style="font-weight:400">What do I need to do, then?</i>


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana was swarmed with messages, ever since first sending out the information that the Keeper had given her. There was no sharedwork for them tomunicate with and keep up to date on who had volunteered. Nobody knew if someone else had already stepped forward, and that made them less willing to do so themselves, believing that another would have already. If they came upte, they would feel humiliated.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, there were still many that volunteered, but¡­ under strict terms. For instance, the vast majority of the calls that Dana received said that they would only do it if they were promised that they would be preserved in the Heroic Spirits. Dana knew that these people weren¡¯t thinking of this as a sacrifice, but rather as a way to be promoted in life, and so she rejected all of them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Others took it as a reason to be emboldened, asking for what Dana considered even more ridiculous requests. If they were going to sacrifice themselves, they should have onest memory to enjoy. These people said that they would ept if they were allowed to have onest romantic evening with a member of the Greater Pantheon, or even one of the servants of the Keeper. Some even asked for the Keeper himself.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">These</i><span style="font-weight:400"> individuals were not just rejected, but their names werepiled on a list and given to Tsubaki, who seemed¡­ quite perturbed by the report. Dana knew that Tsubaki wouldn¡¯t stoop to killing these Fallen Gods. However¡­ making their lives an eternal hell was definitely within the scope of what she was willing to do.


    <span style="font-weight:400">So far, not one person hade forward to volunteer without any conditions at all. There was a deadline of forty-eight hours before the first expected attack, and Dana felt as if that deadline was approaching all too rapidly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of those that had conditions, only one was a condition that Dana found eptable. When she heard a knock on her door, she already knew who to expect. ¡°Come in.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The door opened, and a golden sylvan entered. Her eyes were slightly swollen and wet, and she hugged a ck sphere to her chest. Dana knew that this sphere was the life core of Giles, she could sense the pure void energy radiating from it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Can I¡­ stay with him, just a little while longer?¡± Sprigga asked softly, her shoulders trembling.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Dana saw that, she couldn¡¯t hold it in anymore. She couldn¡¯t make a widow suffer, seeing how much she loved her husband, just to make this all seem like a sick joketer. Giles had already made his sacrifice. As far as she was concerned, she was allowed to tell Sprigga.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You can, but¡­ there¡¯s something that I have to tell you.¡± Dana said, pulling up a seat for Sprigga to sit next to her. The sylvan looked at her for only a moment before sitting down, never letting go of the sphere.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Nobody else has volunteered, have they?¡± She asked, causing Dana¡¯s brow to twitch slightly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, they have, but not with eptable terms. But that¡¯s not what I wanted to talk to you about.¡± Sprigga gave her a brief nce again, the only sign Dana was getting to continue. ¡°Many people have volunteered, under the condition that they would be reborn as part of the Heroic Spirits. Hell, some asked to be made part of the <i><span style="font-weight:400">Greater</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Pantheon. But that defeats the entire purpose of the Heroic Spirits in the first ce.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The Heroic Spirits isn¡¯t for those that want to give up on this life to live out a grander tale where they can be above everyone else. It¡¯s for people that give up their lives to protect the world, to protect what¡¯s precious to them. Those are the people that the Keeper wants in his Heroic Spirits.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sprigga¡¯s breath hitched at that. For the first time, her focus was entirely on Dana. ¡°You mean¡­?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana¡¯s smile softened, and she nodded her head. ¡°He didn¡¯t ask to be let in. He didn¡¯t even think about it. All he wanted was for you and your daughters to be safe. For that, he was willing to give up everything. That¡¯s the type of person that the Keeper wants.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sprigga shuddered, hugging the sphere against her chest a big more tightly. ¡°How long¡­ how long will it take before I can see him again?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana paused, thinking that question over. ¡°That depends how long it takes him to adapt. Once he has fully adapted, he will be allowed to create a mortal incarnation. This is done by choosing a new life to designate as his host. Just like everyone else, he¡¯ll start as a newborn, but as long as you are willing to wait for him¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ll wait¡­¡± Sprigga nodded her head, gently stroking the orb against her chest. ¡°Even if the stars die out, I¡¯ll wait for him.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana couldn¡¯t help but chuckle. ¡°I doubt it¡¯ll take <i><span style="font-weight:400">that</i><span style="font-weight:400"> long, but I get the point. Most people I¡¯ve heard about adjust within a few months. After that, he¡¯ll either let you know where he¡¯s being reborn, or he might choose to wait until his incarnation matures toe and surprise you. That is entirely up to him.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sprigga gave another nod. Her eyes were still puffy, but she was no longer fighting back the same, intense grief as she had been before. ¡°But¡­ if nobody else volunteers¡­ what are you going to do?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana let out a huff when she heard that. ¡°I¡¯d <i><span style="font-weight:400">like</i><span style="font-weight:400"> to have more faith in people, to be honest. However¡­ since the beginning, I¡¯ve made ns. In truth, we don¡¯t need one Fallen God for every universe. We just need one Fallen God.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Theworks connect like that?¡± Sprigga asked in surprise, but Dana shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, they don¡¯t. But¡­ if we have one Fallen God¡¯s pure life core, created by willing sacrifice¡­ there¡¯s not an easy way to say this, so I¡¯ll just say it. If we have that¡­¡± Dana pointed at the sphere in Sprigga¡¯s arms. ¡°I can replicate it using the Digital Conversion system. Replicating a single entity¡¯s life core is infinitely easier than any of the other methods I had that could save a universe.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°However¡­ I would prefer to have your consent to do this. I¡¯m not objectifying Giles. The sacrifice that he made was incredibly noble. I do not want to deny this in any way. If other people volunteer without secondary motives, I will allow them to do so. Otherwise¡­ replicating his life core is the only solution to save people.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sprigga hesitated when she heard this. On the one hand, she knew that this was what Giles himself would choose. It cost them nothing, and would be able to save countless lives. The only issue that she had with the n was the fact that it treated him as if he were an item. That felt¡­ wrong on so many levels to her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Regardless, she could understand Dana¡¯s perspective. The stronger a person became, the less they were willing to give up that strength, even if it was for the sake of others. That was why nobody hade forward to volunteer, even among Leowynn¡¯s church which boasted the greatest number of Fallen Gods.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In truth, many of them simply didn¡¯t volunteer because they were certain that someone else from the church had already done so. Even if they were willing to make the sacrifice, they wouldn¡¯t step forward under that belief. Originally, Dana had nned to send out a second wave of notices as the deadline came closer, if nobody stepped forward. If she had to ask again, those people who were under that false assumption would realize that wasn¡¯t the case, and be motivated to volunteer.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, it looked like Dana didn¡¯t have to do that anymore, as she saw Sprigga nod her consent for her n.

 Chapter 1065: Disappointment

    Chapter 1065: Disappointment


    <span style="font-weight:400">The deadline came and went, and no more volunteers emerged. Rather than themunications bing more heated as time passed, they seemed to cool, with everyone under the shared assumption that everything was already taken care of. Realizing this, Dana let out a sigh, and shook her head in indignation. Sprigga had already handed over the life core, with the promise that it would be put to good use.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sprigga knew that she could have asked for the original core back, and only use the copies created through the Digital Conversion system for their n. However, she didn¡¯t do so for two reasons. First, she felt that it would undermine the meaning of Giles¡¯s sacrifice if his life core remained in the end.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Secondly, with the knowledge that he would be returning through the Heroic Spirits, she didn¡¯t want to linger on the loss. She would rather wait for him, so that she could wee him back with open arms, instead of letting him find her mourning over a shadow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With the invasion of monsters fast approaching, Dana flew to the sun, core in hand. Thanks to her brief visit to Sarah¡¯s Admin Room, she already knew how to perform the reinforcement necessary to enhance thework.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As soon as she arrived at the array, which seemed to revolve slowly around the sun, she found the crystal that was used as its core. Dana sent an apologetic look towards the core in her hand, before beginning to dissolve it, letting the pure energy flow into the crystal. As it did so, the array seemed to pulse with newfound energy.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Sorry¡­ </i><span style="font-weight:400">Dana whispered in her mind, because unlike Sprigga, she knew that Giles was still conscious on some level. He couldn¡¯t perceive the outside world, couldn¡¯t tell the passage of time. However¡­ he would be able to feel pain. The pain of having his life core dissolved and imbued into another item was something Dana didn¡¯t want to imagine.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">And I have to do this nearly ten more times.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She muttered to herself in her mind, watching as the processpleted. She¡¯d never had to kill the same person so many times before, even in her long life.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s why, even though she could feel the space solidifying with the enhancement of the seal, there was no mirth to her face. She simply closed her eyes, tearing open a portal to go to the next world and repeat the process.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mixed emotions spread throughout the world when the news came out that the monsters would be repelled. Footage was aired, showing distorted images to censor the memetic effects, but the result was clear. Any memetic entity that forced its way into the barrier was torn apart by a ck and red force.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Normally, this would havee as a great relief to everyone, if not for the fact that Dana Jafer delivered this news personally. She stared into the screen, her eyes remarkably cold for someone delivering news of salvation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m disappointed.¡± She said, and many people could almost feel her gaze piercing them. ¡°For those that do not know, this disaster required the willing sacrifice of a Fallen God. When the world was in crisis, so many of you sought to achieve personal gain instead. I will not list names, nor will I list the desires specified, in order to spare the individuals involved further punishment than will already befall them. Even more remained silent, as if feigning ignorance.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m sure that many of you are wondering who stepped forward, as none of those you expected to be missing are gone from this world. I¡¯ll say this. Only one person came forward with a simple goal. Not some extravagant agenda. All he wanted was for his family to be safe.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°For that reason, I was forced to replicate his life core nearly a dozen times over, dissolving it repeatedly with my own hands. Because only one person was willing to make this sacrifice.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I know that some of you may be thinking, ¡®If someone else stepped forward, why should I?¡¯... and it is that line of logic that makes me disappointed right now. This was a time to show solidarity. Even if the spots were full, and every world had a dedicated sacrifice, the gesture of a selfless offering would have been recorded. Merit would have been given regardless.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The only one to step forward was one that many of you have probably never even heard of, a Fallen God of Unity by the name of Giles. He was a half-merkin, half-elf born in Spica. He moved to Earth as an adult, and fell in love with a golden Sylvan. After the events of V-Day destroyed alien life, the two of them traveled the stars together, nting the seeds of life, in hopes of recovering what was lost.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°When they learned about the memetic monsters, and the sacrifice that was required, his only request was to buildwork nodes on thes that they had seeded with life. He didn¡¯t ask for glory, or anything else. All he wanted was for his daughters to be safe.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Many of you volunteered with the sole intent of being brought into the Heroic Spirits, to be forever honored as one of the select few to stand alongside the Keeper. However, those seeking such glory will never find it. Only true sacrifice, the type of sacrifice that this unknown Fallen God made, will ever be epted. So, I will say this. Giles will return. He has earned his ce in the eyes of both the Keeper and the Greater Pantheon. And if anyone has a problem with this decision, I <i><span style="font-weight:400">wholeheartedly</i><span style="font-weight:400"> invite them to discuss the matter with me <i><span style="font-weight:400">personally.</i><span style="font-weight:400">¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a chill in Dana¡¯s voice as she finished with that sentence, allowing the news to return to its regr broadcast. Even those who were dissatisfied that someone else had been given the chance they sought after knew better than to ept Dana¡¯s offer. There was a very good chance that any who did would likely never be seen again, approaching her when she was already in this sort of mood.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For the general public, those that were previously unaware of what their safety would cost, they looked at those Fallen Gods with renewed understanding. They knew that it was not an easy thing to give up one¡¯s own life, but this was also a case of sacrificing oneself for billions, if not trillions of people.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For those Fallen that knew that they had either earned Dana¡¯s ire, or her disappointment at saying nothing, they remained silent. There was little that they could do, especially when she already addressed the very reasons that they had said nothing in the first ce.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sprigga, meanwhile, was surprised that Dana came forward. She hadn¡¯t expected her to announce what had happened like that. In retrospect, she understood, as there was always some form of announcement that happened whenever anyone was brought into the Heroic Spirits. If anything, she took this as a public guarantee that she would see her beloved again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Soon, Sprigga felt a wave of people wishing to speak with her, dozens of other golden Sylvans all calling to ask how she was doing. However, there was one other connection that she focused on first.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Is my boy reallying back?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> A distressed voice spoke into her mind, sounding like it was on the verge of tears. Sprigga knew right away that this was Giles¡¯s mother. She hadn¡¯t been told about her son¡¯s actions, so this must havee as a shock to her.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">He is. I received the promise myself. I¡¯m sorry that you found out this way¡­ I was nning toe and speak with you in person.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Even with knowing that Giles would return, it felt cruel not letting his mother in on the n. However, there had simply not been the time to go to her and exin everything.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s fine. So¡­ I have grandchildren now?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> It was clear that she was trying to distract herself, putting on an amused tone. Though, in truth, the question made Sprigga stiffen. She and Giles had always traveled alone, so it was only natural that Nimora had never had the chance to meet their daughters.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">You do¡­ they¡¯re lovely youngdies. When this is all over, and they¡¯re safe, would you like me to take you to meet them?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a light chuckle over themunication. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I would like that very much.</i>


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I heard Dana¡¯s announcement, I couldn¡¯t help but be surprised. First, I was surprised that she even made the announcement at all. Secondly, I was surprised that only one person came forward. When I heard that, I immediately thought of Strea, Lyra¡¯s old partner.


    <span style="font-weight:400">To learn that it wasn¡¯t her, but a far lesser known Fallen God came as a shock. Now I understood what Sarah meant when she said she hoped it went well for me. By my understanding of her worlds, she had a <i><span style="font-weight:400">far</i><span style="font-weight:400">rger poption than I did, as her civilization had expanded out into the gxy without facing such apocalyptic horrors. By virtue of sheer numbers, there were likely more people on her end that would have volunteered.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Still, I turned my attention to the report, noting how the modification had been applied to every world. From now on, until they were able to develop the ¡®key¡¯ to allow Fallen Gods through the barrier, they would be barred from joining any exploratory vessels. Otherwise, they may trigger the defense field upon entry.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As for the matter of securing the worlds that Giles and Sprigga had colonized, that was naturally epted. When Dana came to me with that request, I didn¡¯t even need to ponder over it, as it seemed obvious.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Though, now that this matter was resolved, I couldn¡¯t help but think back. Sarah said that she had created Fragments of Acidia primarily because of this field. Part of me wondered if there was something simr in her other games, little easter eggs that could lead to further development.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I could ask her, but I had a feeling that I knew what she would say. Even if such easter eggs existed, they were more fun to find on one¡¯s own, rather than being told exactly where to look.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I did, however, message her to let her know that the enhancement worked. I didn¡¯t go into any detail, because that wasn¡¯t strictly necessary, but she seemed happy to know that the issue was resolved. She even invited me to bring Dana back another time, to give her some better memories of Sarah¡¯s Admin Room than ¡®living sacrifice¡¯.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I took her up on her offer, nning to bring it up with Dana after she had settled down. It didn¡¯t take a genius to know that she was in a bad mood. Though, I had expected Tsubaki to help with that. To my surprise, Tsubaki said that she needed to step away from Olympus a few days before the n was implemented. If not for her regr check-ins, I might think that she was outside of the wall, dealing with those monsters.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was one of the very rare times when she left, without it being a training mission or a Trial. When I thought about that, I shook my head. Regardless of where she had gone, I knew that she would be able to handle herself. There were <i><span style="font-weight:400">very</i><span style="font-weight:400"> few entities in this world that I felt would be able to stop her if she was truly determined to do something.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With that in mind, I focused back on the reports from the institutes that were indirectly monitoring the barriers. The sheer number of monsters that they counted was mind-boggling. It really did remind me of the hordes of monsters that existed outside of the ¡®safe¡¯ space within Fragments of Acidia. And now, that¡¯s what our own space would look like, from this point on.

 Chapter 1066: Test Run

    Chapter 1066: Test Run


    <span style="font-weight:400">Three weeks after the barrier had been reinforced, they were finally able to open the Hypene Network again for normal use. Due to the shift in the barrier¡¯s structure, the previous methods of entering the hypene no longer worked properly, and it had taken them this long to create a drive that could be mass produced and refitted to the various ships held at their stations.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As for Dana¡¯s promise to Giles, she had sent an emergency dispatch fleet by asking Aurivy for help. Once they established the nodes in each of the target systems, they were brought back to await the new model of hyperdrive.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Clover let out a long sigh as he leaned back in his seat, closing his eyes. This job felt different now. Although there was certainly a risk to space travel before, the risk was not quite as certain. It could even bepared to the difference in safety between traveling by foot or flying a ne. If you get into an ident on the ground, there¡¯s a chance that it won¡¯t be severe, but if you get into an ident on a ne, the passengers are very likely to all perish. On the other hand, idents were far less likely for aircraft.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Previously, this was a step beyond that. You could spend a century aboard spacecraft and not run into a serious incident. Most of them were just random monsters that could be taken out with a few well-ced shots. Now¡­ it was akin to flying an airne through a hurricane. If you leave the safety zone, horrible monsters <i><span style="font-weight:400">will</i><span style="font-weight:400">e for you.


    <span style="font-weight:400">More importantly¡­ they were only meant to be advisors. They would give information about situations that the ship encountered, but weren¡¯t expected to enter battle. Unfortunately, their defender was a Fallen God that could no longer apany them, and the suitability of advisors was sharply diminished when the situations would no longer match their experience. As such, they had joined the ship¡¯s defense force.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What are you thinking about?¡± Lydia asked,ing up behind Clover and wrapping her arms around his neck from behind.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, you know, my impending mortality, the fate of existence, the usual.¡± Clover chuckled. ¡°Have we gotten orders?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lydia nodded her head. ¡°The captain said that he wants us on standby. They¡¯ve developed anti-memetic devices that should be able to let people fight the monsters as a backup n, but they¡¯re hoping it doesn¡¯te to that. If a fight does break out when we leave thene, he wants us ready.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Anti-memetic devices?¡± Clover asked with a light scoff. ¡°He thinks there¡¯s a nket anti-meme that can save us?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Apparently, this device was created by the A.W.R.G.¡± Lydia spoke, chuckling. ¡°It uses real-time image and sound generation to rece what we should be seeing and hearing withputer-generated content that has a high degree of simrity. But, since it is only a digital recreation, rather than a true feed, the research group believes that this should be able to protect against any memetic entities that attack through sensory input.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Clover hesitated at that, but had to agree that it sounded like a usible theory. As long as the information wasn¡¯t directly delivered, there was a good chance that the memetic effect would be lost in trantion. At least, that was the hope. ¡°And, I suppose it¡¯s up to us to test it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lydia paused, before lightly shrugging her shoulders. ¡°Us, or whoever draws the short straw. A lot of vessels are leaving today, so we might not even get the chance to fight.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Clover wished that would be true. However, he also knew how likely conflicts would be from now on. Not only were they testing these new anti-memetic devices, but they were also in the first fleet of ships that would be testing the new hyperdrives. There were a million things that could go wrong at any given moment.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hey, Lyd.¡± Clover started, deciding to change the subject. Lydia¡¯s canine ears perked up, staring down at him as he tilted his head up to look at her. ¡°I¡¯m thinking about bing a god.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lydia paused again, blinking as she took a moment to process this. ¡°What brought that on so suddenly?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well¡­¡± Clover shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ve never done it before because I was connected to the Keeper. What would have happened if my bing a god caused the connection of our souls to strengthen, and made ¡®me¡¯ disappear? That¡¯s why I settled for going through the perfection chambers. Now that I don¡¯t have to worry about that anymore, I was thinking¡­ maybe it wouldn¡¯t be a bad idea? If I be divine, I¡¯ll be able to protect us a bit better.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lydia chuckled, about to say something when the ship¡¯s engines fired up. ¡°Let¡¯s go. We need to get suited up before they breach the barrier, just in case.¡± She said, finally releasing her hold on him. Clover reluctantly nodded, and the two left the room to quickly head to the locker room where the new gear was being stored.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The new devices they were meant to wear took the shape of a full helmet with a ckened visor, preventing anyone from seeing in or out. Additionally, there was a pitch ck bodysuit to go with it. Once Clover slipped into his new gear, he found that the inside of the visor was also pitch ck. It took a few moments before a camera clicked on, scanning his eyes to confirm his identity.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once the check wasplete, his vision cleared¡­ for the most part. However, what he saw was no longer the same locker room that he had entered less than a minute ago. Instead, it looked like a cartoon rendition of that locker room. He blinked quickly, turning his gaze from side to side to confirm that this image was updated in real time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When he turned to look at Lydia, he almost couldn¡¯t contain himself. Her body was almostically small, though her head seemed to have grown. ¡°I thought you said this had a high degree of simrity with the real images?¡± He asked, holding back augh.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s supposed to!¡± She retorted, her hands on her hips. Her visor showed a red, angry emoticon for a face. ¡°This is the Controlled Holographic Information Bypass Imaging Visor, developed by A.W.R.G. Even the suit is designed to remove as much information as possible from being transmitted.¡± Lydia¡¯s voice was lighter and more airy than usual, likely a result of the ¡®information bypass¡¯.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Clover simply let out a chuckle. ¡°Well, if this is the degree of image trantion, I¡¯m sure that we don¡¯t have to worry. I just hope that it¡¯s urate enough to use inbat.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right?¡± Lydia asked with a defeated sigh. ¡°Anyways¡­ we should be good now, as long as we¡¯re on standby in case we get called. So¡­ about earlier?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh? Oh, you mean the god thing?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah.¡± Lydia nodded her head in confirmation. ¡°What domain would you be going for, anyways?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Why, thinking of bing a goddess too, and want to make sure we match?¡± There was a yful smile on his face, which he was sure was tranted, given how the ¡®cheeks¡¯ on Lydia¡¯s visor lit up.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You wish!¡± She retorted. ¡°I was just thinking¡­ rather than matching, maybe I get something thatpliments you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Clover blinked for a moment, before shrugging his shoulders. ¡°My n was to go for the Exploration domain. There are a lot of uses for something like that right now.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lydia nodded her head in thought. ¡°Then, I¡¯ll get abat one? So, that way, we can cover each other.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Clover nodded his head, about to speak up when suddenly a red light shed through the locker room. ¡°That¡¯s our cue.¡± He said with gritted teeth, rushing out of the locker room. They knew the drill by now, and immediately headed for the adjacent airlock. ¡°Remember, don¡¯t summon your familiar! We didn¡¯t have a spare suit for him!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lydia nodded her head, and the two of them left the ship, finding that there were three monsters attacking. The first was busy tearing a hole into the hull of the ship itself, while the other two were ripping apart the ship¡¯s defensive turrets.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In Clover¡¯s vision, the monster ripping apart the hull looked like a monkey with four arms, while the other two took the form of birds with golden talons. ¡°I¡¯ll get the monkey, you take the birds!¡± He shouted, rushing for his target. They might have only been advisors before, but they were still strong enough to survive.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lydia confirmed the n, charging at the birds. A pair of ck des materialized from the suit, which she used to cleave through the first monster. At the same time, Clover formed his hands into ck ws, tearing at the ape. His ws cut open gaps in space, which consumed the monster.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When he turned to look, he saw the second bird flying down towards Lydia. Lydia didn¡¯t seem to have noticed it yet, having just finished off the first bird and was making sure it was dead. Taking a martial arts stance with one foot behind him, Clover threw out a punch towards the second bird. Space broke with a cracking sound, a ck sphere engulfing the monster.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lydia turned around, just in time to see the shattered space mending only a few meters behind her. ¡°Sorry! Like you said, I wasn¡¯t sure my first attack really connected, so I had to double check.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± Clover shook his head. ¡°It looks like it¡¯s just these three. Let¡¯s head back inside.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As he said that, a voice spoke up in his visor. He couldn¡¯t quite recognize the voice, due to it being altered by the visor. ¡°Do not, I repeat, do not remove your equipment upon entering the ship. We have confirmation of at least two additional monsters that have entered the ship. One monster appears to be a¡­ I won¡¯t say it for safety¡¯s sake. I want to say it, so that is probably¡­ I¡¯ll stop there.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We have six known fatalities, and sixteen missing people. I have activated the Security Manual. Clover Kyr, approach sector B-7 and engage the monster there. Lydia Kyr, you are in charge of C-3. Under no circumstances are you to remove any part of your suits. You are also not to open any door that does not automatically open in your presence. If anyone asks to know your name, kill without hesitation. Do not respond to any iing transmissions, even from each other, unless they address you by the name of your partner instead of yourself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Those were¡­ certainly confusing instructions. However, both Lydia and Clover hardened their expressions. The number of safeguards provided by the Security Manual highlighted the danger of this event. Clover sent a look at Lydia, nodding his head firmly before rushing back to the airlock.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Inside the ship, Clover rushed towards the elevator, about to press the button to open it when he remembered the instructions. Gritting his teeth, he instead ran for the stairs, which opened automatically to wee him. He made his way through the halls, soon arriving at sector B-7, where he saw a firefight underway. The creature at the far end of the hall looked like a human in a well-tailored suit, dancing as he dodged every shot fired at him. Every now and then, one of the shots seemed to curve as they passed him, firing back at their origin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Good, you¡¯re here!¡± The vice-captain of the ship called out, narrowly dodging a returning shot. ¡°That¡¯s you, Clover Kyr, right?¡± He asked, barely ncing towards Clover before turning to fire again. However, before he could get a shot off, Clover had swiped at his head, ck ws shredding the space and decapitating him. Clover¡¯s instructions had been very clear. If anyone were to ask for his name, immediately kill.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The other soldiers that had been shooting at the monster looked at Clover in shock, before copsing on the ground like puppets with their strings cut. Turning to look at the monster, he saw that it had begun running down the hall, so he quickly chased after it.

 Chapter 1067: Unseen Threats

    Chapter 1067: Unseen Threats


    <span style="font-weight:400">Clover continued to chase after the first monster, and managed to learn a few things from its performance. First, its primary power was to take control of others and force them to fight it. In order to do this, it needed confirmation of their identity. He confirmed this when he came to a scene of an engineer wielding arge wrench and swinging it at the monster, as opposed to running like everyone else. This engineer, most notably, had a name tag visible on his jacket.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Its secondary power allowed it to take control of attacks that would be fatal to the monster itself from affected targets, turning them back towards the wielder. Earlier, this had caused the rifle fire to turn back in midair, and with the engineer it made his wrench slip out of his hands, almost striking his own head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, Clover reacted in time, throwing out a punch of spatial ki with his shattering intent. This was dangerous to use inside, but he was in a hurry. The wrench was sucked into a shattered space and disappeared, while Cloverunched himself forward to the monster, using his ws to tear through its midsection. There was no warning against attacking the monster himself, so he was confident that this would work.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He saw the cartoon figure of the monster fall in two halves, its eyes transformed into x¡¯s, and took a deep breath. <i><span style="font-weight:400">This one doesn¡¯t seem to be able to interfere with doors, so that one should be on Lydia¡¯s end.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> With that thought in mind, it turned to rush towards the area that Lydia had been assigned, but kept in mind to strictly continue to follow themands that had previously been issued.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lydia clicked her tongue within her helmet as she arrived at another door that wouldn¡¯t open. The monster that she was currently hunting took the form of an amorphous ck blob with a single, red eye at its center. She had only managed to see it twice, both times before it passed through another door to escape from her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Any door that the creature passed through would no longer open automatically. Lydia didn¡¯t know what would happen if the door was manually opened, but she knew that it wouldn¡¯t be good. Perhaps it would lead to somewhere else, or cause the person passing through to simply disappear. Going by therge number of missing person reports, these two appeared to be the most likely scenarios.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The problem was that every time the monster took a door, she had to find an alternate route to catch up with it. If the monster wasn¡¯t slow to travel in tight spaces, it could have made it through the entire ship by this point.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I could just cut open my own path, if I need to.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The thought was certainly tempting, a pair of ck des growing out of the arms of her suit. She just didn¡¯t know if that would count as ¡®manually opening a door¡¯ by the monster¡¯s rules.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Gritting her teeth, she turned and ran to the side, knowing that there was another route to the other side of this door only three doors down. Anyone who saw her quickly got out of her way, understanding the urgency of the situation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After passing through two more doors, she found herself face-to-eye with the monster. The pupil of the creature dted as it stared at her, seeming surprised that she had cut it off. Lydia didn¡¯t give it a chance to do anything else, slicing vertically through the only solid mass that appeared in its body, the eye.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing the creature falling to the ground with a light thud, Lydia let out a sigh of relief. Turning her head, she prepared to go meet up with Clover and see how his own fight had progressed, only to see him rushing down the hall towards her. She waved at him, but didn¡¯t speak, and neither did he.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Shall we check out the bridge, Lydia?¡± Lydia asked Clover, remembering the instruction to only eptmunications when using the opposite names. Clover nodded his head, turning to lead the way.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was still chaos within the ship, everyone scrambling to fix any issues that had been caused by the intrusion of the memetic monsters. Thankfully, the ship kept moving throughout the fight, so they weren¡¯t being raided by even more.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When they came to the bridge, they saw a bloody sight unfold. The entirety of the bridge crew was dead, seemingly killed by the captain, before the captain took his own life. Shocked, Clover ran over to the captain, seeing the Security Manual open in his hand. On its exposed page, he saw the same warnings that the captain had previously given Clover and Lydia, followed by a line of bold text.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Your bridge crew is already infected, and beyond saving.¡± Clover read the text out loud. ¡°Set an automatic course to return home after thirty minutes. If any infected members survive the return journey, there is a ny-eight percent chance that at least one of the monsters will be reborn from their memories.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After that, another two paragraphs were written. ¡°This entry is for Clover and Lydia Kyr. Presumably, you will have the chance to read this after the situation appears resolved. Do not be mistaken. There is a third entity. This third entity is invisible to electronic monitoring, so your suit cannot perceive it. Despite this, you must not remove your suit, or you will be infected.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You should have roughly twenty minutes at this point. You must locate the monster by using context clues such as the gazes of others or w marks on the floor or walls. After which, order a Code 9 Quarantine within the ship. This text will be preserved as evidence. Good luck.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Clover looked at Lydia, and she could tell through the disyed emoticon that he was worried. A Code 9 Quarantine meant that everyone on the ship would be detained individually for one week in istion rooms upon their return.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This is so not what we signed up for.¡± Lydia grumbled in discontent. Her des reformed, and she turned to face the door, scanning the walls with her visor. ¡°Any ideas, Lydia?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Clover paused. ¡°I didn¡¯t notice anyone reacting as if there was something invisible around me on my trip here.¡± After he said that, his eyes widened. He walked over to themunication terminal, brushing aside the body leaning against it, and activated a ship-wide message. ¡°All crew, immediately proceed to your quarters. The ship is now on auto-pilot. This is an emergency. Proceed to your quarters, and do not emerge for any reason until we arrive back at our station. Anyone seen wandering the halls after five minutes will be assumed to be controlled by a memetic entity and will be terminated on sight.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After he sent that message, he turned to theputer. Every ship had an unawakened artificial intelligence, smart enough to ept voicemands without being truly aware. ¡°Computer. After the crew has entered their rooms, close and maically lock their doors. Put all other doors in automatic mode. If any crew member dies within the quarters for any reason, report the crew member and location. If any door opens without visible cause, report the location of the door. As of this moment, I am assuming the highest level of authority due to the death of allmand staff.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Understood.¡± Theputer replied in a monotonous voice. Lydia seemed impressed by the idea. This would make it so that they weren¡¯t able to use as many context clues to find the monster¡¯s exact position, but it would make it so that they could more easily find its general location. There were multiple methods to use to attack, once they had that information.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Clover clenched his fists at his sides, waiting for the crew toplete their istion. Soon, theputer spoke up. ¡°All visible crew members are within the quarters. The door to the mess hall has opened without probable cause.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two immediately turned, ready to fight at a moment¡¯s notice as they ran down the hall. ¡°Lydia, how is he using the doors without being detected on the electronic monitors?¡± Lydia asked, to which Clover quickly responded.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There are only three methods for a creature like that to get around. The first is air vents, which are too small for us to do anything about if it was capable of using them. Secondly, there is the possibility of following others through doors. However, as it is only invisible to electronic sensors, people would still see it following them. The third method is that it has either realized how to use the consoles with each door, or has the ability to interfere with electronic locks.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The manual warned us that this is an infectious creature, so it is possible that any crew member could be a new host. The Code 9 Quarantine, in my opinion, is a hint that this thing can be reborn from memories of those infected. Most likely, the captain saw something like this happening, the security teams fighting an invisible threat, and then one of them dying and disappearing while the battle continued.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, the reason you maically sealed all of the doors¡­¡± Lydia began, eyes wide as Clover nodded.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If we kill it, we will likely receive a notification that one of the crew members has died of unknown causes. Since the rooms are maically sealed, it shouldn¡¯t be able to escape before we return.¡± As Clover said that, they received another notification that a hallway door had opened just outside the mess hall.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two were close, only one door away from that hall. ¡°Stay behind me.¡± Clover told Lydia as they ran through the final door. Clover didn¡¯t know which side of the door the monster ended on, whether it had passed through or stayed on the original side. Therefore, he had topletely eliminate both possibilities.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lydia fell back, letting Clover throw out a punch with spatial ki that filled the hallway. The sounds of something shattering and reforming filled their senses. Clover paused, standing and listening, until theputer issued a report. ¡°Agent Freeman has perished within his quarters. Agent Julius has perished within his quarters. Agent Larson has perished within his quarters.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Clover¡¯s eyes shook beneath his helmet, and he saw Lydia looking at him. ¡°Either there were multiple creatures¡­ or it can multiply itself through rebirth. Either way, there could be more of them by now.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">A pneumatic hiss could be heard behind them, followed by theputer¡¯s voice. ¡°Door 2 of Sector A-4 has been opened without visual cause.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Before Clover could say anything, Lydia turned, blindly extending her des into the doorway behind her. Two more reports came in of dead crew members. ¡°I hate this thing.¡± Lydia muttered, finally understanding why the captain hadn¡¯t hesitated to kill every member of themand staff when he heard that they had been infected, including himself. If he had waited, more than a dozen of these creatures would have been born.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately, the creature wasn¡¯t even visible after its death, and Lydia simply heard the dull thud of a body hitting the ground in front of her. She walked backwards, keeping her eyes on the door that repeatedly tried to close, every time crunching against an unseen object. ¡°Door 2 of Sector A-4 will not close.¡± Theputer reported.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Let¡¯s go to another room, Lydia.¡± Lydia herself said, and they made their way to another nearby room, a security office with only one door. Once they were inside, Lydia moved Clover to the far wall, and then shed at the empty space of the room to ensure that they were alone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Now, we just need to wait and see if we hear about any more unwarranted doors opening.¡± Clover muttered. ¡°Computer, begin Code 9 Quarantine protocols.¡± He ordered, wanting to make sure that this was carried out before they returned. ¡°Mark all five previously reported deaths as high-priority containment. Furthermore, record the following instructions. No security personnel should be allowed aboard the ship without the aid of Information Bypass devices. All doors must be monitored when passing through. Any door opening without cause must be immediately fired upon.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You think that they¡¯ll surviveing back through the barrier?¡± Lydia asked, though Clover didn¡¯t answer. Partially because she didn¡¯t follow the protocol to use her own name, but more because he didn¡¯t know himself. The barrier could definitely inflict serious harm on the memetic monsters, enough to deter them from entering, and even kill some of them. However, there was still the risk that a monster brought through via a ship would be able to withstand the damage enough to survive. Thus, these <i><span style="font-weight:400">rather</i><span style="font-weight:400"> extensive precautions were necessary.

 Chapter 1068: Logistical Lament

    Chapter 1068: Logistical Lament


    <span style="font-weight:400">Clover and Lydia waited within the security room, staring intently at the door and ready to attack the moment that it opened. They felt the gentle rush that came from breaking the barrier, and heard multiple alerts that doors were being opened at various points in the ship. ¡°Three? No, five of them.¡± Clover muttered softly, estimating their numbers based on the position of the doors being opened, as well as how long each door remained open.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thanks to this, he was able to map it out in his head. There were three sets of monsters roaming around, and two of them had the doors open for an unusually long amount of time, indicating an additional entity passing through.


    <span style="font-weight:400">They were in a security room, so they could vent the ship, but what would that achieve? These monsters came from the outside in the first ce. All he could do was ce a hand on his helmet, activating the radio. ¡°This is Clover Kyr. Please, make no attempt to respond directly to this transmission. Responses will not be received due to risk of memetic contamination. Instructions should have been broadcast from this ship¡¯sputer.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I will now borate on the situation. Myself and Lydia Kyr are contained within a security office near the ship¡¯s mess hall. Currently, there are an estimated five memetic entities on the loose. These entities are invisible to information bypass equipment, but will infect anyone who observes them without such methods. These entities have begun moving more erratically after passing through the barrier, likely due to a sense of pain or stress caused by the barrier itself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Upon death, the entity will be reborn from any and all infected individuals, leading to an increase in poption. The marked quarantine zones mentioned in the ship¡¯s transmission contain additional entities born from quarantined individuals. It is likely that more such entities will be created when the existing ones are exterminated. This is all of the information that can be provided without risk of infection.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In order to assist the quarantine crew, I will be broadcasting the location of all entities in real time, based on the passages they take in the ship. Again, make no attempt to respond to these transmissions. Until the quarantine crew arrives at our security office, I will assume that all iing transmissions are the result of memetic infection.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Standing at the station, Lavender¡¯s eyes began to glow as she read through a transcript of the message. There was a power covering her eyes, preventing her from absorbing any of the information on her first read, and merely confirming or denying the presence of any supernatural power within the transcript itself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After she finished reading the page, she shook her head, and the glow vanished. ¡°There¡¯s no problem with this one.¡± She said, reading the page again, this time to properly check the contents of the transmission.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After she was done reciting the contents, she set the paper into the first of two stacks of transcripts that had beening in. The first stack were transcripts that were free of memetic influence, while the second was heavily redacted, with all memetic influence censored before allowing others to view it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It had only been an hour since the first ships wereunched, but already over half of them had returned, carrying some sort of memetic threat. Of those that hadn¡¯t returned, there were some that had already dealt with their threats, others that managed to escape safely, and even a few that hadpletely lost contact mere minutes after departure.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lavender was just about to speak when she heard theputer whir into motion again, already printing the next transcript. She let out a solemn sigh, the glow once again returning to her eyes. Almost immediately, she squinted, bringing her finger to the page. She felt the presence of memetic power within the text, and brushed her finger over the offending words. When she did so, the words were erased, reced with a ck line.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Priestess Lavender!¡± One of the quarantine crew captains returned. ¡°We¡¯ve finished clearing the Dauntless, per your instructions. Six monsters were eliminated, and ten crew were recovered safely!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lavender simply nodded her head, gesturing towards the ¡®safe¡¯ pile. ¡°Take the next one from that pile.¡± Although the censored pile had the more dangerous situations, there was little that she could do about that. Many of those would need her or one of the other priests to personally attend the quarantine process. The other two were already out handling other vessels, so only those with rtively safe entities could be dispatched.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The captain nodded his head, grabbing the paper from the top of the pile and reading through it. He gave a small grimace as he read the reports. An enemy that could only be fought in a condition where it was invisible. ¡°Regarding Transcript 34, I would like permission to take a disruptor pulse with us. There is the chance that it might disconnect the monster from its infected targets.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Granted.¡± Lavender nodded, continuing to censor information on the page she was reading. Once she was done, she read through what little remained, letting out a sigh. ¡°Send the order. The Navigator has been lost to a cult-type entity. Thete captain disabled all weapons as per instructions from the Security Manual, but the infected are attempting to reactivate them. This vessel needs to be destroyed.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The captain paused, before giving a solemn nod. He turned to leave, Lavender pinching the bridge of her nose. When Prisci had asked her to take up this post, she hadn¡¯t expected to have so much business in one day. If anything, she thought she might go weeks without a single incident. And, that was almost true¡­ for the weeks where ships were unable to leave.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As part of her preparations for this job, she had established a number of powers for herself, which led to her being the natural choice for the logisticsmander. The first three of these were herbination of the Detection, Defense, and ck domains. The Defense domain covered her eyes, preventing her from obtaining any form of information from what she should have been looking at. The Detection domain detected any supernatural energy within that information. Finally, the ck domain is what allowed her topletely remove the infected information, without risk of further contamination.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thisbination led to where she was now, with aputer that automatically printed out transcripts of all iing transmissions from potentially hazardous targets. Meanwhile, the other two priests at this station were specialized either in fighting memetic monsters or in removing their effects from victims.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Prisci¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Lavender called out softly in her mind. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Please tell me that the other stations are having an easier time?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Would that I could.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Prisci responded in an equally soft tone. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Spica and Lorek have rtively few difficulties, with only three percent of ships having to return due to improper shielding. Most of the worlds are simr to yours, with the exception of Deckan. There, as many as ny-five percent of all ships that left the station were either forced to return or lost contact. In every realm, only ships leaving through thenes themselves have been guaranteed safety.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">We need better shielding against these monsters, at least long enough to break away from their pursuit.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Lavenderined, hearing theputer next to her whirring to life. As before, she activated her abilities to scan through the information.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯m aware, and have already sent the report to the necessary research foundations. However, without more information, they can¡¯t create a suitable shield. The models that they copied from Fragments of Acidia don¡¯t seem to be strong enough for what we need.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she heard that, Lavender paused, remembering her days ying the game. <i><span style="font-weight:400">As I recall, all ships currently have a unified energy source, typically some form of mana reactor?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s right.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Prisci responded, though did so in a questioning tone.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">In Fragments of Acidia, the pilot had to synchronize their energy with the ship, allowing it to pull from them. Furthermore, the only ships that were licensed to explore outside thework were those with Fragment-ss shields. Maybe it takes divine energy to power these shields fully?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Prisci immediately refuted that im. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Fragment refers to both gods and fallen in that game world. They might make a distinction when ites to artifact creation, but not ship designs. I already brought up that possibility with the research teams. The problem we¡¯re facing is that the monsters here are more dangerous than the ones in Fragments of Acidia. Those in the game might share the theme, but their power has been turned down to a rather low level, as far as the void replication abilities are concerned.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lavender let out a long sigh. Confirming that there were no memetic influences in the transcript she was reading, she scanned through the information without obstruction, pausing slightly. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Prisci, you may need to contact the Keeper.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I will do so if there is an emergency. What brought this up?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">An entity aboard the Journeyman¡¯s Hope. It was sessfully captured and detained by the crew. However, in the process of doing so, they discovered its memetic effects, which integrate with the world system itself. Those who remain in the presence of this monster will have their levels depleted at an average of one per minute, leading to widespread memory loss.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Whenever this monster is killed, the killer receives a new ss, with a ss name that seems to have corrupted text. The abilities of this ss are simrly unreadable.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Prisci paused when she heard that. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I thought you said that the monster was detained, not killed?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s where things get strange.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Lavender nodded her head. <i><span style="font-weight:400">The monster appears to be capable of respawning at its point of death, five minutes after its defeat. To avoid the problem of a potentially spreading memetic ss, they have instructed the same individual to repeatedly kill this creature until they were able to safely contain it.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I see¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Prisci hesitated. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯ll make the call to the Greater Pantheon, and inform them of this problem. Each world seems to have some special monsters based on the attributes of the monsters that attacked during V-Day. As I recall, Earth¡¯s original monster was a game-type one, so this is likely the reason.</i>


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley sat in her office, reviewing the code for her new game that was soon tounch. There was a small smile on her face as she confirmed that there did not seem to be any problems with the code that her team had written, before her smile suddenly dropped. She had received a report from Prisci about a monster with an ability to grant an unknown ss.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Without hesitation, she immediately ascended to the Admin Room, rushing towards the office building where her team worked. ¡°Everyone, the tests for Ascension are on hold.¡± She announced, startling the team. ¡°There is a monster contained on a ship in Earth¡¯s system, the vessel known as Journeyman¡¯s Hope. This monster is influencing the world¡¯s system. I want a full report on my desk as soon as possible. Everything that you can find about this creature¡¯s interference in the system, and what path it took to ess it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This is a breach of our system¡¯s security, and we need it fixed immediately.¡± As soon as she gave the order, the programmers were pulling up various screens, investigating both the monster and the world¡¯s system to look for any damages.

 Chapter 1069: Expectations

    Chapter 1069: Expectations


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley¡¯s heel tapped impatiently against the floor as she sat at her desk, waiting for the first report toe in from her team. To her, this was an incredibly serious problem. If a monster were capable of hacking into the system to create a new ss, even if that ss was meaningless, it opened the door to a window of possibilities that she did not want to deal with. For instance, what was to stop a monster from simply deleting a ss from the world?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Soon, a familiar face entered the office, holding a folder in her arms. Her steps were hurried, and she immediately set the folder on Ashley¡¯s desk. Ashley offered a small nod of thanks. ¡°Good work, Jamira. Let me know when there is an update.¡± She said, before opening the folder and reading through the text.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The first topic discussed in the file was what Ashley was most worried about, and caused her to sigh in relief. The world¡¯s system hadn¡¯t been changed. Instead, it was simply the system of the affected individuals that were changed. Simr to the effects of the system stone, but with an altered code. This meant that there was no danger of a bug appearing like this that would cause massive chaos.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The second topic covered was the nature of the ss, ording to what had been dissected from the code. The closest trantion that they could make for the ss was ¡®Void Touched¡¯, and its abilities were based on games, forcing people to y by a set of randomly determined rules.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley arched a brow, reading through that again. She hadn¡¯t read wrongly. The rules were determined at random, with not even the ss holder having a say. The only problem was that there was no set list of rules to choose from, so they could literally be anything. Or, rather, the list itself was corrupted within the code, using an improper variable that led to the list being undefined. The only properly defined ability was the ss holder being able to respawn, seemingly with no limits or restrictions.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Ashley came to the end of the report, she saw a suggested method of dealing with the monster, which was to kill it within a space where the system was nullified. Doing so would remove its respawn ability, and cause it to be truly killed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Without dy, Ashley approved of this n, as well as suggested that they arrange a new system stone for the contaminated individual if their new ss did not dissipate.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley¡¯s order was transferred to Lavender, who was surprised that even something like this did not warrant the direct intervention of the Keeper. Still, the fact that it was able to be dealt with so easily was something that she could be proud of.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She ryed the order to the response team, but they would need to wait for some time for a system stone to arrive. Now that there were no aliens left to be encountered, these items were produced almost entirely either by the Metong or in Fyor, thest ces where they would have value. Since the file for the stone was not in the public domain, they could not simply create one through the Digital Conversion system.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she was waiting for the next report, one of the team captains came in to report. ¡°Priestess! The situation within the Epoch has been dealt with!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lavender paused, recalling which report that was. ¡°How many survivors?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Reporting, a total of thirty-eight crew members, including the two who sent the distress call, have been confirmed. Twelve memetic entities were in under the effects of a pulse suppressor, their bodies disposed of. All surviving crew are being ced in Code 9 Quarantine, as per the rmendation of their Security Manual. For the time being, the Epoch has lost itsmand staff, and will be unable to take further missions.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lavender simply nodded her head. Although she was sure that she would be able to get away with it, issuingmands about the operations of ships after their immediate crisis was cleared was outside the scope of her job. Her primary job was to transcribe any potentially hazardous reportsing in.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If something were to happen to one of the other two, she did have her ownbat powers, but this was where her focus was. ¡°Understood. In that case, you can move onto the next one.¡± She said, gesturing towards the ¡®safe¡¯ pile. Thankfully, the new reports had stoppeding in for a while now. All that was being sent out at this time was updates from the various ships, some maliciously trying to infect other vessels while their broadcasts were intercepted and blocked by the nearby station.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The captain simply nodded his head, taking the report and reading through it. The memetic entity listed didn¡¯t appear to require any special measures, so he saluted and left to begin his work.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I looked down at the summary of the reports from various worlds. To summarize, the first voyage beyond the Hypene Network could be deemed a catastrophic failure. The shields meant to protect against these types of monsters were wholly unsessful. The only ships to escape safely were those that did not face these monsters in the first ce.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Turning to the side, I nodded my head at Tsubaki, who had returned from her outing, as calm and collected as ever. ¡°Let Ashley know that she can begin her marketing for the new game by the end of the week.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki simply nodded in response, though she looked concerned. ¡°Understood, my Keeper. However¡­ is that wise? Codex Chaotic was only just released within thest few months, so the public may not be ready for a new game world to explore.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I leaned back in my seat, thinking it over. ¡°Honestly, I don¡¯t consider Codex Chaotic to be in the same vein as the other games we¡¯ve released, due to its nature as a primarily single yer game. However, I also don¡¯t think that Ascension will receive the same warm response as our other games.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki blinked slightly, not fully aware of the details of the game. ¡°If the game is released by my Keeper, then surely it will be sessful.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I simply gave a low chuckle. ¡°I actually don¡¯t expect it will be, whether we¡¯re discussing amongst our own people or other Keepers. There are other systems built in to supplement, but the core of the game is just the Skill Master system, and there is no story or existing world development. These games should be numerous on the market, with too many people just pping a game together and calling it ready.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki hesitated again, before voicing her main question. ¡°If you don¡¯t think it will seed, why are you allowing Ashley to publish it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nced towards Tsubaki with a small smile. ¡°For experience, and so that she can obtain the necessary code for the new system. After this game, I n to tell Ashley to hold back on any more projects until she is ready to create NPCs for the games she makes.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s eyes widened when she heard that. ¡°Won¡¯t that take quite a long time?¡± She asked, though I honestly didn¡¯t think so.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not if we take what already exists in the world, and modify it just enough to make it work. I n on pointing her towards a temte that was created a while back. Speaking of¡­ do you know how Ana is doing?¡± When I asked that, Tsubaki seemed to understand.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°To my knowledge, Ana has retired from her teaching position, due to being unable to keep pace with the constantly evolving technological and magical developments. Furthermore, as she is not a fully awakened magical intelligence, there is a limit to her capabilities.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod at that. Ana was my original attempt at creating a sentient artificial intelligence, using the card magic of Deckan as a form of object-oriented programming. The result could bepared to an extremely high-functioning chatbot that had its own understanding of human emotions developed through a period of observation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If Ana¡¯s base concept was taken and used as the temte for NPCs, changing their programming just enough so that they had a survival instinctparable to humans, they would be able to create decent NPCs without worrying about souls. I doubted that they would perform as well as the NPCs in Fragments of Acidia, but something like those found in Vision Expanse shouldn¡¯t be difficult to pull off.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was the drawback to making games the ¡®simple¡¯ method through the system, and also why Sarah¡¯s games were so popr. Although she took the time to create them, they had their own concepts and stories behind them, and there was far more for the yers to do than simply y in an open sandbox. At the very least, a sandbox game needed its own unique system, simr to how World Seedbined the trees with the Elemental Seed magic system, as well as monster taming.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°On the other hand¡­ There is a target audience for Ascension in my world. People will likely view it as an emergency measure taken by us to give people an alternate path to strength. The Skill Master system gives a safe way for anyone to obtain a domain, outside of divine forging or the chambers that James and his group made. Theoretically, anyone could put in enough effort and be a god with up to three domains, achieving their own trinity.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The concept of a trinity might be seen as outdated, now that the divine circuits were poprized, but there were still certain benefits to be found in the stability it provided. Furthermore, the surplus of options made it popr for people to seek more than one domain.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡®I understand.¡± Tsubaki nodded her head. ¡°In that case, do you n on having any of us seek domains in this way?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I shook my head at that. ¡°You and Lifre are already goddesses with your own trinities. I don¡¯t even think the game will be decent for your trials,pared to what Codex Chaotic can provide.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After I said that, Tsubaki¡¯s ear flinched slightly, and I had clearly caught onto one of the main reasons that she asked about trying the game. ¡°Honestly¡­ I think that the next game should be made with Lifre¡¯s help.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki blinked in confusion when I said that, tilting her head. ¡°Lifre¡­ making a video game?¡± Tsubaki acted like she couldn¡¯t imagine Lifre typing a line of code, let alone an entire program.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a lightugh, reading her expression. ¡°Not making the game, but the story. If Ashley can incorporate a story written by Lifre into the game¡¯s code, she might be able to set that as the ¡®goal¡¯ for the NPCs of that world to strive towards. Think of it like how Fragments of Acidia has an already established storyline, and yet there is no direct sign of Sarah or anyone else from her team having visited the world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This means that the world evolved towards its current direction in a guided manner, which we can confirm because we have been forced tounch the game twice. It has a history, but none that would directly link to Sarah herself. Otherwise, people with powers rted to time could observe the history of the world from before its purchase to find clues about her. And I¡¯m confident that Sarah wouldn¡¯t make a mistake like that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded her head, seeming to follow my train of thought. ¡°So, you believe that her team contains someone specialized in writing divine stories, simr to Lifre?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It might not be divine. It might be a Fallen God, or someone with an extremely weird Saint Energy. Either way, she definitely has someone writing an extensive world overview every time she makes one of her games.¡±

 Chapter 1070: Genesis

    Chapter 1070: Genesis


    <span style="font-weight:400">Amidst the news of the destruction of so many ships, people couldn¡¯t find much sce in the new game that was announced by Darkme Technologies. Many treated the game as a way to distract the public from the horrible news. Of course, there were a few diehard fans that cared more about the game than others, but they were ultimately the minority.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Around the same time, another piece of news was released to the public. Great progress had been achieved rted to fifth tier magic. A research paper was submitted anonymously to an elven magic college in Gandor, containing countless new patterns to apply to the microscopic fifth tier spell formations.


    <span style="font-weight:400">ording to this research paper, fifth tier geometric spells could be measured as ¡®grains¡¯, with each spell formation equivalent to a grain of sand. A true fifth-tier spell would only be achieved when a minimum of ten grains were cast together. However, whether it was the cost, theplexity, or thepression, fifth tier magic was far beyond the reach of almost all mortals.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Perhaps for that reason, a magic item had been submitted with the research paper as a proof of concept, which was immediately taken by the Queen of Gandor as a national treasure. This magic item was a ss sphere, enchanted with a fifth tier spell that had ten grains. ording to the instructions that apanied the item, this was an intelligent magic item that would activate whenever a hazardous event urred to the area that it was protecting.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once the event was detected to transpire, the item would activate, analyzing the situation and determining the appropriate course of action. Compared to a fourth tier spell, these ten grains of the fifth tier were capable of unleashing countless variations of spells, whether offense, defense, healing, or even directly beseeching the Goddess of Magic.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When the news of this item appeared, people began to specte who had submitted it. Some believed that it may have been the Goddess herself, but others denied this. If it were so, why would she submit an anonymous paper? Instead, with her personality, she would boldly proim her achievements to the world. This led them to believe that it may have been a secret disciple of Ryone that was doing her best to contribute to the world while remaining hidden from the public eye.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Finally, thest piece of news that was revealed within these few weeks. The Another World Research Group announced the beginning of their World Creation experiments. This led to a series of mixed responses. Some were hopeful for the power to create worlds being in the hands of mortals, while others felt as though new universes weren¡¯t anything new. After all, you could step through the Fairy Ring without a key and arrive at a previously unexplored universe.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When it came time for the experiment, arge number of Fallen Gods were mobilized as guardians to allow normal people who wanted to attend to witness the demonstration. They seemed to be taking this very seriously, perhaps to make amends for their previous blunder.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea was the one performing the demonstration, her voice appearing in everyone¡¯s minds. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Today, I have five devices that I am intending to test, each with slightly different settings. Due to these differences in settings, I am only expecting one or two of the devices to work properly. Even that would be considered a great sess.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Fallen Gods, please make sure that no void monsters approach the area, and that the void influence does not erode the bystanders.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> After saying that, she pulled out a small, metal orb with a single red button. <i><span style="font-weight:400">The void is merely a mass of information. Because of this, it does not take a grand machine to create something like a world within the void. Instead, all that is required is a medium that can interface with the void and transform that information.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Saying so, Chelsea pressed the button on the device and threw it forward. Everyone waited, and then suddenly saw how the red and ck energy of the void seemed to converge on the item like a vortex.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea stood at the front of the assembly, arms crossed in front of herself as she watched the event unfold. This was uncharted territory, even for herself. In truth, she would have preferred avoiding making this a public disy, but it couldn¡¯t be helped. There was no way that they couldpletely block off the void from travel, so there were always going to be witnesses.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If that was the case, it was better to have the witnesses in a controlled environment, as opposed to them interfering in the experiment. Still, she kept her attention focused, monitoring the process. The energy was converging into a writhing sphere, bubbling all along its surface. Chelsea shook her head, realizing that this attempt did not have the stability necessary to solidify the world barrier.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a wave of her hand, she erected a giant shield within the void, blocking the view for herself and the spectators behind. The spectators were briefly confused, before the shield trembled from an impact, cracks forming along it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When the shield was lowered, the world that had started to take shape was no more. Even the spherical device that had initiated the process could not be seen. <i><span style="font-weight:400">As I said, failures are normal here.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea¡¯s voice was calm as she dispersed the chaotic energy, letting the void settle before throwing out the second sphere. For the most part, this process went much the same as the first one. Seeing this, the audience naturally believed that this was another failure, as nothing had changed. However, to Chelsea, there was indeed a startling change. The sphere that was created in this attempt was contorting, but it was not bubbling.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea kept herself ready to produce a shield at any moment, but wanted to see this through as much as she could. The worldws that had been designed for this sphere were identical to those found in Earth¡¯s universe, so she was hopeful for a certain degree of stability.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The sphere continued to grow, finallying to a halt after five long minutes. Once done, it seemed pristine, with a swirling neb of energy rotating within it. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It appears that a world has been created. I will send an avatar inside to investigate, and transmit the scene for everyone here to see.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">As Chelsea said that, she produced arge screen above her head, and a clone of herself in front of her. The clone walked over to the sphere, and could see just how thin the world barrier was. If she wasn¡¯t careful, she could identally pierce it by mistake. It was clear that the Digital Conversion system wouldn¡¯t be usable in this universe, for fear of puncturing the barrier.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Carefully, the avatar opened a portal, taking a full thirty seconds to do so while ensuring that her actions were not damaging the world she was infiltrating. After that time, she vanished from view, and the screen lit up to disy what the avatar saw. There was a swirling cloud of multicolored gasses that stretched out through space.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">It would appear that this world was created without any form of time eleration. Because of this, cosmic dust has only just scattered throughout the universe, and we would need a great deal of time to wait for anys to form. Perhaps the world¡¯s barrier would be more solid as the space within stabilizes over time?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea brought her avatar out of the world as she narrated, before addressing the crowd again. <i><span style="font-weight:400">This can be considered a small sess. However, because this world is incapable of producing life without waiting for billions of years, and its barrier is so weak, I will be disposing of it. The alternative is to allow a void beast to do so, and risk them gaining a modifier simr to those that attacked during V-Day.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">At first, the crowd wanted to resist the idea of destroying an entire universe. However, at the mention of V-Day, their protests died down before they could arise. Despite it having transpired decades ago, the effects were still being felt in the present day.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing nobody object to her decision, Chelsea lightly shed out with her hand. A de formed within the void, popping the fragile bubble that was the world. She noted to herself that thews of the world seemed at least somewhat stable, as she hadn¡¯t felt any disturbance in her avatar when it was sent into the world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Like this, the third and fourth tests progressed, each ending in an explosive copse. On the fifth test, however, a result simr to the second appeared. This surprised Chelsea, as the world barrier for this test was firmer than that of the second. It was still a far cry short of a system-created world, but she wasn¡¯t in danger of popping it with just a casual gesture.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">The density of this world barrier can bepared to those that had been created for the improved void generators in the past.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Chelsea noted, sharing her observations with the crowd. <i><span style="font-weight:400">However, this world is simrly in a state of cosmic infancy. Because of this, I will once again terminate the world.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">This time, there was less resistance to her suggestion, as they still clearly remembered her words from earlier. Thankfully, with these worlds being lifeless, there was no risk of karmic bacsh like what James had previously faced.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she shed out, the world first cracked, and then began to dissolve in front of them. Chelsea turned to address the crowd with a firm nod. <i><span style="font-weight:400">As you can see, we have made great strides in our research. In time, we hope to be able to create fully functioning worlds, all with technology reproducible with mortal means. For now, I¡¯d like to ask the Fallen Gods present to escort everyone here back to their universe of origin.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">After she said that, Chelsea took her leave, returning to the research base with the observations that she had gained from this experiment.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sprigga sat on arge tree overlooking a lush forest. There was a mncholic look on her face, which she was doing her best to hide. This tree she was on now was one of her cuttings, havinge here with the vessels that established the Hypene Network in the area. As this was rted to the safety of her daughters, she had to witness the process firsthand. Thankfully, those in charge agreed to her request, and allowed her to remain behind when they left.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now, she was doing her best to hide her loneliness from her daughter, who was managing the grove below. She only allowed her true feelings to show on her face at moments like this, when she knew that she was alone. Or, at least, that¡¯s what she believed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You know, if you go around looking like that, someone might get the wrong idea.¡± A voice spoke up to Sprigga from behind, causing her eyes to shoot wide open. She jumped to her feet, turning around. Standing behind her was a figure that she thought she wouldn¡¯t see again, or at least, not in the same form.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You? But¡­ your incarnation? You haven¡¯t changed.¡± Sprigga noted, causing Giles to chuckle slightly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ve just picked my incarnation.¡± He assured her, stepping forward to caress her cheek. ¡°Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a pair of elven and merkin parents? I couldn¡¯t find a pair that was expecting any time soon, so I¡¯ll be reborn as the child of a pair of elves in Spica. I¡¯ve already made the arrangements.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Than¡­ how are you here?¡± Sprigga asked in confusion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This is just a projection. Because I was a Fallen God, I can project myself from the void. It¡¯s¡­ not easy to do this, admittedly. I guess that goes to show how effective the barriers are. As I am now, I can¡¯t utilize any of my power, and can only project my physical form. I just wanted to let you know¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sprigga nodded her head, a bright smile blooming on her face as she lifted her hand up to grab his. ¡°Spica, right..? I¡¯ll be waiting for you, so hurry up, and don¡¯t keep me waiting any longer.¡±

 Chapter 1071: Word Of The Day

    Chapter 1071: Word Of The Day


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre hummed lightly to herself as she skated along the icy tunnel on the sixty-secondyer of Fyor. Her right arm had changed into the shape of a sword, which she was using to cut down any monsters that tried to intercept her path.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While the other worlds were dealing with their memetic crisis, Fyor was essentially unaffected by this news. Instead, they were still focused on boring a giant tunnel through the ice, wanting to uncover the nextyer¡¯s gate. By this point, they had long since made a secure Gate¡¯s Rest on this floor, with numerousyers of defense against the monsters swimming through the ice.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, it was not as easy to secure the tunnel itself, as it was constantly expanding. For that reason, several gods and high ranking adventurers were tasked with regrly patrolling the tunnel and ying any monsters that emerged. On the bright side, the machine used to create the tunnel had been significantly improved, and the people divining the location of the next gate said that they should reach it any day now.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For Lifre¡¯s part, this was rather boring, and she would have rather been running off on an adventure through the stars. Despite her urge to explore unchartednds and fight spectacr monsters, she was aware of the inherent dangers when it came to fighting against memetic creatures. For that reason, she had chosen not to give in to her intrusive thoughts.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She let out a low yawn as she skated at ever-increasing speeds through the tunnel, her sword arm asionally shing out to strike at an unfortunate monster. She had lost track of how far she had gone in the tunnel, barely noting that the angle of the slope had changed just slightly. <i><span style="font-weight:400">This must have been one of the checkpoints where they confirmed the location of the portal.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thinking that, she leaned forward, speeding up. Far ahead, she could begin to see the machine, as well as numerous people crowding around it. Squinting her eyes, she thought that they might be in a defensive formation, as if a dangerous monster had appeared.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her legs tensed, and she kicked at the ground to elerate even more, turning into a blur that quickly traversed the remaining distance. Soon, she skidded to a stop next to the machine, kicking up a cloud of shaved ice. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± She asked in concern, readying her sword arm to attack.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Lady Lifre!¡± One of the Dovah workers looked at her in surprise. ¡°We found it!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Found it?¡± Lifre blinked, her brain momentarilygging as she left ¡®alert mode¡¯. Once she realized what they meant, her eyes went wide. ¡°We¡¯ve got the gate? We can get out of this frozen tube!?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The workers chuckled when they saw Lifre¡¯s reaction, nodding their heads. They led her off to the side, around the machine, and Lifre saw the ck gate standing tall, covering the way forward. ¡°We were just about to request a transport unit to send us back to base camp, so that we could report the findings.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No need!¡± Lifre shouted excitedly, her sword arm returning to normal as she ran forward. ¡°Everyone,e here!¡± As she said that, she held a hand forward, creating a golden portal. The workers smiled, recognizing this as the work of a Priestess of Aurivy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With thankful nods, they walked forward, leaving Lifre alone within the tunnel. Once the portal closed, Lifre gave a yful grin. Now, she was along with the gate. ¡°Now now, Lifre, you can¡¯t just charge in all willy-nilly. What would you do if there is a memetic effect on the other side, or some kind of super dangerous monster, or some corrosive mist like thest floor?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯re right, Lifre, but! I wanna do it!¡± Lifre talked to herself, going so far as to create a clone to converse with. ¡°Besides, worst case scenario, I get zapped to the boss¡¯s ce, right? It¡¯ll be <i><span style="font-weight:400">fine</i><span style="font-weight:400">.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, bad Lifre!¡± Her clone scolded, clearly ying the role of the ¡®voice of reason¡¯. ¡°You can¡¯t just risk your life like that. You know the boss would say the same thing. That insurance policy is ast resort only. There are procedures to follow! In times like this, you should create an independently functioning clone, sever the mental connection, and send the clone through. Then, after letting the clone operate, allow it to return and write a report about the other side of the gate. Take that report, screen the information for memetic influence, and <i><span style="font-weight:400">then,</i><span style="font-weight:400"> if it is safe, you can enter yourself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre stared at her clone for several long seconds. ¡°You just want me to send you first.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°W-what? No, that¡¯s definitely not true! It¡¯s just standard safety procedures! That¡¯s right!¡± The clone nodded her head rapidly, causing Lifre to let out a small grin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Really? Then, I suppose you won¡¯t mind if I create another clone to handle that job, since it¡¯s such an important and hazardous task? I wouldn¡¯t want to put you in danger.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The clone¡¯s already pale face somehow went even more white. ¡°W-What? But, I mean, if it¡¯s for your sake, I would dly sacrifice myself. There¡¯s no need to go through the trouble of making additional clones.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre simply rolled her eyes. ¡°Alright, this one-slimeedy routine is starting to get old. You¡¯ve got five minutes before I go in after you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The clone¡¯s eyes sparkled, and she jumped through the gate without giving Lifre any time to regret her decision. As the gate opened a portal for her, Lifre briefly saw what looked like a smooth, stone surface on the other side, and shing lights.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Immediately, she began to tap her foot, pacing back and forth in front of the gate. She had to resist the urge to just jump through, as the new protocols had been put in ce for a reason. Even if she was reckless, she wasn¡¯t just going to throw her life away for nothing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Minutes passed, and Lifre looked as if she was about to charge into the gate to ¡®save¡¯ her ¡®unfortunate¡¯ clone. Surely, she must have been in some grave danger to not immediately report back. However, before she could step forward, the gate opened, and the clone stepped back. Only, there was something different about her now.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The clone wore what appeared to be sunsses, and held arge bucket of some glowing snack in one arm. Additionally, she had a ck shirt over her torso instead of Lifre¡¯s usual blue and white armor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...What happened?¡± Lifre asked, and the clone grinned.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡­ was¡­ awesome!¡± She threw her free hand up. ¡°It¡¯s like a whole city over there! You¡¯ve gotta try it out! Oh, also, these little popcorn energy kernels are great! We¡¯ve gotta get the recipe!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre paused, before suddenly raising a hand to say something. However, the clone took one of the snacks from the bucket and threw it into Lifre¡¯s opening mouth, causing her eyes to widen. She let out an unconscious gasp of glee. ¡°Okay, spill! How¡¯d you get this stuff!? There¡¯s no way that you have the local currency for a new culture!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The clone simply snickered. ¡°They use basic energies as a secondary currency. I just had to get the localnguage off of some random passerby, and then I went <i><span style="font-weight:400">shopping!</i><span style="font-weight:400">¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You were only gone for five minutes!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There were nearby shops? The ck gate¡¯s apparently some kind of tourist attraction.¡± The clone snickered.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre let out a long sigh. ¡°Let¡¯s report back to the others. Petra will want to visit herself, and you know the boss definitely wants to hear about this ce.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a small sigh, closing the chat window that had appeared. The new month passed over, and so Berose noticed that I was his next opponent. He sent me a message, greeting me and letting me know that he had a list of trade offers, if I wanted to browse through them. I didn¡¯t see any reason to immediately refuse, so agreed to look it over if he sent the list.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Daaaaale!¡± A familiar voice broke me out of my thoughts, just as I was thinking about looking through the list. Blinking, I looked at the door of my office, which was soon flung open by an energetic slime wearing a pair of sunsses.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Lifre? What¡¯s going on? Please tell me that there hasn¡¯t been another disaster¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh? Oh, no! No disaster, good news! Very good news!¡± Lifre said, and I sat up just a bit straighter to listen. ¡°The sixty-third floor of Fyor is unlocked! Also, it¡¯s an inhabited area, with a great big city surrounding the gate!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I furrowed my brow, looking at Lifre. ¡°You already explored it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh? No, no! I sent a clone in, like you said! She didn¡¯t go far, just spending five minutes, but she got these cool sunsses there. Get this, they regte the level of light you see with mana, so whether it¡¯s super bright or dark out, you see things just as clear.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked, nodding my head. I thought I had heard of something simr in my own world at one point, but it wasn¡¯t exactly an incredibly innovative invention, so I didn¡¯t pay much attention to it. ¡°Well.. what are the local life forms like?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre paused, blinking. ¡°Oh, right!¡± She stretched out an arm, summoning a clone of herself wearing a ck shirt. ¡°I haven¡¯t absorbed her memories yet, just in case, so she can tell you!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The clone nodded her head. ¡°They looked like elves for the most part.¡± She answered with a bright smile. ¡°But¡­ a lot of them had glowing eyes. I wasn¡¯t there long enough to ask what they called themselves, since that would have meant exining that I wasn¡¯t a local.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...How did you get anything from them, then?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask, since five minutes wasn¡¯t long enough to do anything.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I used Terra¡¯s Stories domain to learn a random guy¡¯s life story, including the localnguage! It¡¯s pretty neat, because they talk through a mix of mana and spiritual energy.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod when I heard that. ¡°I¡¯m heading up to check the new map.¡± I said, before ascending to the Admin Room. I fully expected that Lifre would be joining me soon, so I took my time heading to the couch.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What¡¯s up, Dale?¡± alia asked, having been watching a movie when I appeared.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sorry, mind if I hijack the television for a moment? Fyor¡¯s new floor was just unlocked, so I need to check the map.¡± I asked, to which her eyes widened. Nodding her head, she handed over the remote.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Just as I grabbed it, the door opened, and Lifre jumped through. ¡°Don¡¯t forget about me!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I rolled my eyes, aiming the remote at the television and focusing to change the screen to a world map of Fyor¡¯s sixty-third floor. I stared at the screen for a few moments, processing what I was seeing. There was aplete map, filled with ck, white, and silver in organized clusters with rapidly moving lights.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh¡­¡± alia blinked. ¡°It¡¯s an ecumenopolis. I never thought I¡¯d see one this big.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ecume-whatnow?¡± Lifre tilted her head in confusion, staring at the screen. ¡°I just see a really big city!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s it. An Ecumenopolis is a city that covers the entirety of a¡¯s surface. It looks like the race that inhabits thisyer haspletely urbanized their floor.¡± alia pointed out, and I hit another button. ¡°In¡­ three sections?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s right, it wasn¡¯t just a single worldwide city. Rather, there were three citiesyered on top of one another. The city that Lifre¡¯s clone entered would have been the central city. The lower city was built underground, containing vast miningworks that linked together the various districts. Finally, the upperyer was built more than a hundred thousand kilometers above the central city, held in ce by what appeared to be advanced engines that controlled natural energy to maneuver.

 Chapter 1072: Delicate Delegates

    Chapter 1072: Delicate Delegates


    <span style="font-weight:400">For the first time in over twenty floors, Fyor had found a new, civilized race. More than just that, they actually seemed incredibly advanced. When this news was released, people saw it as a warm wee amidst all the unfortunate news that had been released in recent weeks. There were, admittedly, those who were simply waiting for the ¡®other shoe¡¯ to drop, to find out that this race secretly ate babies or that they were a viinous group that would attack outsiders without warning.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Both to investigate this new race and to relieve these tensions, a diplomatic team was organized, consisting of Lifre, Thelsa and her shadow team, and a God of Insight by the name of Jack Dane. When Lifre heard that she was assigned to this group, she was beside herself with joy. Literally, she made a clone of herself just so that she could hug herself and dance.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, the reason for her assignment was simple, as she was the only one that had experience visiting that floor, and had learned theirnguage. More than that, she understood some of theirmon sense due to having learned an individual¡¯s life story. Thus, Lifre was asked to gather with the rest of the diplomatic team in order to tell them what they all needed to keep in mind.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The ce of their meeting was none other than Gate¡¯s Rest on the sixty-second floor. The group sat within a meeting room at the back of the local adventurer¡¯s guild, Thelsa and her shadows sitting around one table with the halfling god that had been assigned to the group. Lifre, meanwhile, began to pace back and forth, searching through her thoughts to determine what information needed to be shared first.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Why not just start with theirnguage?¡± Jack asked. As a God of Insight, he prided himself on being able to pick up any form of information quickly, even deciphering entirenguages with only a few sample words.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hmm? Oh, sure! I guess we can start there.¡± She said with a nod. ¡°Really, there¡¯s nothing tricky about theirnguage, once you get used to it. Simply mix your mana and spiritual energy in a four to one ratio, and apply it like a thin disc, covering your mouth.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jack blinked slightly, doing so. ¡°Is this anguage that operates by observing the movement of energy, or does the energy itself act as thenguage?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The second one! The race on the next floor is big on ¡®intent¡¯. See, with that energy covering your mouth, you just have to talk how you normally would, and the intent behind the words is tranted to the other party. To receive thenguage, you just need the same ration of energy around your ears. Oh, just watch out, because this also means that lies can¡¯t be spoken in thisnguage.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What do you mean?¡± Thelsa asked, curiously.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Put the energy on one of your ears, and I¡¯ll show you!¡± Lifre smiled brightly. She waited until she sensed the thinyer of energy over one ear for everyone in the room. ¡°I hate adventure, I really do. It¡¯s the worst thing in the world. Honestly, it¡¯s pretty boring.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The people around the table twitched slightly when they heard her speak. Through the ear not covered by the energy, they heard her words normally. However, through the ear that the energy did cover, they heard something entirely different. ¡°I love adventure, I really do! It¡¯s the best thing in the world! Honestly, I can¡¯t get enough!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">It felt weird that not only the words, but even the tone that she said them in changed when passing through this energy. Lifre nodded her head once she saw that everyone understood. ¡°It does the same thing when you try to deceive by excluding information or twisting facts. In truth, they don¡¯t have a nguage¡¯. If you don¡¯t use this energy, you¡¯ll only hear garbled voices when they talk, like an infant that doesn¡¯t know how to properly string words together. That¡¯s why, I¡¯d like everyone to practice by keeping this energy up for this entire conversation!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra nodded her head, clearly seeing the value in doing so. ¡°I suppose that will make conversation with them a lot easier.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. And this whole intentnguage has pretty much shaped their culture. The crime rate is <i><span style="font-weight:400">pretty</i><span style="font-weight:400"> low when you can¡¯t lie about the fact that youmitted the crime. They still have a pretty good army, but that¡¯s not specifically for catching criminals. It still does that for when crimes <i><span style="font-weight:400">do</i><span style="font-weight:400"> happen, but there are bigger problems for them to worry about.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Like what?¡± Jack asked in interest, curious what problems such an advanced race would be facing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s actually an old friend of ours. Who here remembers the thought bug from the twenty-eighth floor? It¡¯s a creature that inhabits the mana stones that they mine there. Those same stones are found in the sixty-third floor, and in even greater quantities. I don¡¯t know whether the bugse from this floor, or if they¡¯re just infesting it through the stones, but they are the biggest threat that the locals face.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Just one of these bugs can wipe out a small district, if it manages to infect an individual without being noticed. That¡¯s why they have their standing army, to kill any of these bugs while curing those that have been infected.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jack pursed his lips, nodding his head. ¡°If I recall, the twenty-eighth floor¡¯s Rainbow-Eyes race had a decent magical civilization, due to having studied these stones. Is that the source of the technology you mentioned in your report?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre shrugged her shoulders. ¡°Dunno! That¡¯s not something that your average citizen would really know about in detail. All I know is that their understanding of runes is on par with our own. They even use geometric magic, and have begun to dabble with familiars. Admittedly, familiar magic isn¡¯t all that popr from what I know. Or maybe the guy I grabbed the information from was just biased. Either way, they¡¯ve been studying these ¡®new¡¯ forms of magic for a few hundred years now.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jack nodded his head. ¡°It seems like a fairly utopian culture. Did they not notice that you were different when you were there?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, no! When you get to floors this high, everyone¡¯s an energy being of some variety. The energy that they¡¯re made of is actually a much moreplex mixture of what we¡¯re using tomunicate, I just simplified it to help with the process. Because it relies so heavily on intent, it¡¯s prettymon for people to change into different shapes. Their true forms most closely resemble elves, but it wouldn¡¯t be weird to find a three-headed tentacle monster walking down the street.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The others all just blinked when they heard that. ¡°Okay¡­ is there anything else that we need to know before we enter?¡± Sora asked, Lifre taking a moment to think it over.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°They¡¯ve got great snacks? Also, their own inte. They use portals like we do to make sure that there isn¡¯t any noticeabletency, even when you are talking to someone more than ten billion kilometers away.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah¡­ how are those portals not at risk from the void?¡± Petra suddenly asked. ¡°I don¡¯t use theputer all that much, so I never really thought about that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jack shook his head, briefly exining. ¡°They use shielded cables and secure, point-to-point transmission within the void itself to make sure that the path of the portals are never exposed to void monsters.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Getting back on topic!¡± Lifre suddenly interjected. ¡°Their system of government involves one local representative for every one of the ten million districts, a group of five thousand ministers that oversees the representatives, and a single president that oversees the ministers with selected advisors. All of the major positions are voted in from the lower ranks. So, representativese from normal people, ministerse from representatives, and the presidentes from ministers. All positions onlyst five years before the new votes, as well.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I don¡¯t think we needed to know that part.¡± Maria muttered under her breath.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course we do!¡± Lifre smiled brightly. ¡°We¡¯ll be entering via District Eighty-Seven. After talking to their representative, we¡¯ll need to speak to the minister that oversees them. Once we get their approval, we¡¯ll be able to talk to someone speaking on behalf of the president.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Why not the president themselves?¡± Petra asked in confusion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Just because there¡¯s not <i><span style="font-weight:400">much</i><span style="font-weight:400"> crime doesn¡¯t mean it¡¯s non-existent. Basically, nobody other than his advisors sees the president personally during their term, as a matter of safety.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jack massaged his forehead with his fingers, nodding his head. ¡°Still¡­ hopefully the fact that wee from a lower floor will help to speed the process along. Just to be clear, there aren¡¯t any memetic hazards that we need to be concerned with?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Lifre nodded. ¡°The guy I got the information from doesn¡¯t have any concept of the void. Theirwork portals are all done via folding space. Anyways, that should be all that we need to know.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After she said that, Lifre opened up a portal next to herself. ¡°This will take us to the other gate on this floor, and we can all go through together.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The others stood up, with Jack briefly reporting to the guild¡¯s branch manager that they were leaving. Once they entered the portal, they all proceeded to walk through the gate. On the other side, they were greeted by neon lights and unrecognizable signs, numerous people walking the paved streets.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It didn¡¯t take long for the others to realize what they needed to do, covering their eyes with the same energy as their ears and mouths. When they did so, the signs seemed to shift, the text bing legible.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre, meanwhile, was looking around intently. After a few moments, she smiled wide, running over to a man with pointed ears and glowing, blue eyes. ¡°Hello, officer!¡± She proimed, the man turning to face her with a gentle expression.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hello, there. Is there something you¡¯d like to ask about?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right! Ie from a world much unlike this one! Would it be okay if my friends and I went to speak with the local representative?¡± She asked, keeping that smile on her face as she sped her hands together.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The officer blinked in confusion, pausing. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m afraid that I must have misheard you, could you repeat that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, it¡¯s fine!¡± Lifre nodded as the others walked up. ¡°We came here through that ck gate you guys use as a tourist attraction. Please take us to your leader!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The officer froze, not sure how to respond to this. Lifre simply tilted her head, wondering what was wrong. ¡°I said please¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°R-Right. My apologies.¡± He quickly stood up, bringing a finger to his ear and speaking quietly. Of course, his voice couldn¡¯t escape the keen ear of the trained adventurers. ¡°I need backup at the ck Stone Square. I believe we may have a few infected individuals, iming toe from another world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre pouted her lips when she heard the officer¡¯s words, about to yell that they weren¡¯t infected. Petra brought a hand to her shoulder, shaking her head. ¡°It¡¯s just a formality. Once they realize that we¡¯re not infected, we¡¯ll be able to get back on schedule.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...<i><span style="font-weight:400">Fine¡­ </i><span style="font-weight:400">I would like to file a formalint, though! I said please and everything!¡±

 Chapter 1073: Unexpected Developments

    Chapter 1073: Unexpected Developments


    <span style="font-weight:400">The group did not resist when more than a dozen other officers showed up, all seeming prepared for a fight. They peacefully allowed themselves to be escorted through back passages to avoid excessive contact with other citizens. After about fifteen minutes of walking, they were brought to a secluded bunker and left alone in a ck room. The six of them sat around a single table, waiting.


    <span style="font-weight:400">By the time that anyone else came in, the group had gotten bored and started ying cards. The person that entered was a man in a gray suit, his eyes faintly glowing green. ¡°My apologies for keeping all of you waiting for so long.¡± He said, before noticing the game that they were ying.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Quickly, Petra grabbed the cards, and threw them into her shadow, clearing her throat. ¡°Sorry, we weren¡¯t sure when you would get here. Is there a test that we have to go through now, or something?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The man shook his head. ¡°All of the testing equipment is embedded within the walls of this room. Had any of you been infected, it would have been detected within minutes. My name is Rajul Kor, the minister governing this territory. Once I heard of your ims, I came to personally discuss matters with you all.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, sweet, we get to skip the first representatives!¡± Lifre grinned broadly. ¡°I¡¯m Lifre, Servant of the Keeper.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Jack Dane, God of Insight, and a delegate assigned to this mission.¡± The halfling male said with a nod.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra and the others looked among themselves with a smile, before Thelsa spoke up. ¡°I am Thelsa Whitefallow, and these are my team.¡± She said with a gesture towards the others. She was being careful with her words, so as not to lie, or even appear as though she was withholding information. Without going into extra detail, what she said was urate.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Rajul nodded his head in greeting once more. ¡°Now, I heard that one among you said that you came from anothernd, outside of the City?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right, that was me!¡± Lifre nodded her head quickly, Jack deciding to speak up to borate.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Specifically, we came from beyond the ck gate. I understand that it is a tourist attraction in your city. This world is divided into manyyers, and certain races can travel between them by passing through the gate.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Certain races¡­ does that mean that it is impossible for my kind?¡± Rajul asked pensively, but Jack shook his head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This is left to the will of the Keeper. The Keeper is--¡± He began, but Rajul lifted a hand to stop him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The Keeper is a supreme being that governs allnds and races, the origin of life.¡± He said, the others all staring at him in confusion. ¡°My apologies¡­ did I get that wrong?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, no, it¡¯s correct¡­ but¡­¡± Petra started, unable to finish until Lifre spoke up.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°<i><span style="font-weight:400">How</i><span style="font-weight:400"> did you know that? Nobody has ever known that when we met them for the first time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Rajul simply smiled again. ¡°Quite a long time ago, we began to receive information from the realm of the thought bugs. Knowledge from a distant ce, which introduced foreign terms to us. Among these terms was the concept of the Keeper.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°But you didn¡¯t know about the gates¡­¡± Lifre muttered under her breath.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°To be precise, we know that there is a gate, but we didn¡¯t know its exact form. It is incredibly difficult to decipher the information obtained from that space. If I may ask, how is it that you are able to speak with us? ording to our understanding, people from other ces should have their own method ofmunication.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing this, Lifre beamed. ¡°That was me! I came here earlier and used my power to get a look at themon knowledge of this city. Speaking of¡­ why didn¡¯t I learn that you already knew about the Keeper?¡± She tilted her head as she came to that question, but Rajul simply chuckled.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It is quite simple. In order to prevent unrest within the popce, the existence of certain information is not made public. The existence of the Keeper is only known to a select few researchers, as well as those at the minister rank or above.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s why you came here as soon as you heard about us.¡± Jack said in a tone of realization. ¡°You must have understood that we were connected to confidential information that most people wouldn¡¯t have ess to.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Indeed.¡± Rajul showed no intention to deny it. ¡°Theoretically, the information could havee from the thought bugs, so I made sure to wait until the tests wereplete, but it would appear that wasn¡¯t an issue. So, back to the previous subject, it is up to the whims of the Keeper whether or not my people will be able to traverse the gate?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Lifre nodded her head. ¡°Whenever we meet a new race, the big boss man evaluates them, looking at their abilities and general culture. If he believes that the race is a good fit to integrate with the rest of the races he governs, he will make it so that this little blue orb thing appears somewhere within your city. In order to let your race pass through the gates, this orb has to be taken to the very center of this world, where it is absorbed into the central mana spire.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°From there, you¡¯ll have ess to the full system that the world operates under.¡± Petra added on, Lifre rapidly nodding her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The system¡­¡± Rajul closed his eyes in thought. ¡°I believe you are referring to the concept of levels?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Among other things.¡± Jack spoke with a nod. ¡°It¡¯s helpful that you already know all of this. We haven¡¯t met another civilized race in our exploration for quite a while. I believe thest time, it took a few weeks before this information was so readily epted.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Rajul simply smiled. ¡°If I may ask, why does this Keeper not simply allow all races to travel freely? Must they be restricted to the area where they were born?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh! I can answer this!¡± Lifre said, holding her hand up. ¡°It¡¯s actually really easy! You see, not all races are friendly. For instance, we¡¯ve done some calctions, and the race that appears on the other side of the next gate is extremely powerful. Additionally, thest information that we have received from them is that they are highly aggressive. Imagine a living storm that can sweep across an entire district, and then give it a temper.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Rajul hesitated upon hearing this. ¡°I see¡­ I had not considered that. In that case, may I ask what I can do to help my people gain ess to this system?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jack and the others all looked at Petra, making it clear to Rajul that only she had the answer to his question. ¡°It¡¯s really up to the Keeper. For instance, he¡¯ll look into your race¡¯s past and such. I doubt this is the case, but if you were an aggressively expanding race that devoured allnd in your path to build your city, it might be harder to get approved. On the other hand, everyone I¡¯ve met from your people seem really kind! It shouldn¡¯t be hard for the Keeper to make his decision.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Rajul let out a relieved sigh when he heard this. ¡°There have been monsters in the past, but we have long since taken steps to remove them. We discovered that they will only spawn outside of the city, so we spread our city over time to cover the entire world. After that, the only monsters that we had to deal with were the thought bugs.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is it alright if I ask a question, minister?¡± Jack spoke up, Rajul looking at him and nodding his head. ¡°If you¡¯ve kept the information of the Keeper silent until now, how are you nning to reveal it to the public? If the system appears, it will appear for everyone at once.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No need to worry. We have long since been prepared for the time when we would release this news. Admittedly, it will surely cause confusion for some time, but I believe that this is a preferable situation for all parties involved.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right.¡± Petra nodded her head in agreement. ¡°By the way, what does your race call themselves? If it¡¯s fine for me to ask.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Rajul simply smiled. ¡°The people of the city are the Hajit. Is there anything else that you would like to know?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jack paused briefly, before asking. ¡°How long are you nning to keep us in this room?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ah, not to fear. You are free to go at any time after this meeting. I merely wanted to speak with you personally to understand your intentions. Whether you were interested in setting up diplomatic rtions, or if you were not intending to be here for very long.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ll need to talk to the Keeper when we get back, but you all seem to be really nice!¡± Lifre smiled brightly. Rajul¡¯s eyes turned towards Lifre and Jack nodded his head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The Keeper and his Greater Pantheon are able to see everything that happens. I¡¯d be surprised if some of them aren¡¯t watching this meeting right now.¡± He said, causing Rajul to blink in surprise.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I see. In that case, I do hope for you to put in a good word with us.¡± He said with a smile, turning to walk back towards the door. After he left, he left the door open, a clear sign that they were free to go.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre hopped up from her seat, but Jack put a hand on her shoulder. ¡°Thelsa, can you take us to the gate directly?¡± He suddenly asked, causing the others to look at him in confusion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Thelsa asked, but did create a ck portal next to them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ll exin when we¡¯re gone.¡± He said, without borating. He turned to walk through the portal, the others quickly behind him. Once they passed through Thelsa¡¯s portal, they continued to walk through the ck gate.


    <span style="font-weight:400">On the other side of the gate, Petra turned to look at Jack with a serious expression. ¡°So? What was it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We can¡¯t let them through so easily.¡± Jack spoke in a solemn tone. ¡°From my understanding, the ¡®thought bugs¡¯ have infiltrated the higher echelons of their society. Rajul was nning to pass one to Lifre, before I pointed out that we were being watched.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°How do you know what?¡± Lifre asked, eyes wide. ¡°Aren¡¯t the thought bugs the public enemy of the world? If they had already taken over, why would they still work to cure the infected?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Because they know that they need a public enemy.¡± Jack exined. ¡°The first clue was the fact that they had learned about the Keeper through the bugs¡¯ir. This implies a deep connection through study. Thought bugs can be considered a form of memetic entity formed via mana. If you study them deeply enough, it is safe to say that they are studying you as well.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°When I had this suspicion, I began watching him more closely. When he was asked about his race, he deflected by talking about the ¡®people of the city¡¯. We learned before that omitting facts can be easily revealed by the energy used tomunicate. However, there are still ways around this.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Finally, after he said this, I probed him with my divine power in secret, and discovered that there were three minds within his body. One of them should have been the true Rajul, while another was the thought bug controlling him. Thest one was waiting within his hand. He should have been hoping to infect the one with the highest chance to directly encounter the Keeper.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre let out a low groan. ¡°That¡¯s a shame¡­ he was really nice¡­ does that mean it¡¯s time for a crusade?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not necessarily.¡± Petra shook her head. ¡°They have methods of cleansing the thought bugs. We just need to use those same methods on the infected people.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°First, we should make sure those methods really work, and it¡¯s not just the thought bugs ying along. That shouldn¡¯t be hard to do, at the very least.¡± Jack said with a firm nod of agreement.

 Chapter 1074: Hidden Lights

    Chapter 1074: Hidden Lights


    <span style="font-weight:400">As Jack had expected, there were actually several of us intently watching this first interaction between our people and the Hajit. To be honest, we didn¡¯t immediately take notice of anything unusual. However, when Jack himself started acting strange, as if wanting to cut the conversation short so that they could leave, we began scanning things a bit more closely.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, we came to the same conclusion that Jack had, which led to us checking the rest of the Hajit. We did a wide-area scan for any Hajit that were possessed by these ¡®thought bugs¡¯, andpiled them into a list. There were a little over five thousand in total, with the vast majority being the ministers and president.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aside from them, there were a few random civilians that were hiding from the authorities, and people in the upper echelon of their military. On a grand scale, it would be pretty easy to simply wipe these individuals out. However, doing so delicately so as not to create a diplomatic issue with the Hajit was a different matter.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Watching this with me were Terra, Aurivy, alia, Dana, and Tsubaki. ¡°Why don¡¯t we just abduct them?¡± Aurivy asked, tilting her head. ¡°If nobody knows where they¡¯ve gone, nobody can just me it on us, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">alia shook her head at that. ¡°News will quickly spread that neers just came from another realm. If the leading figures all disappeared immediately after that, everyone would point fingers at us, whether it was true or not.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I could rece them with shadow people, maybe?¡± Dana suggested, though this time it was Terra that denied her n.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The Hajit are an entirely different culture. I don¡¯t doubt your ability to impersonate people, but doing so with an unfamiliar culture would likely be noticed.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head, agreeing with Terra¡¯s words. ¡°Right¡­ there¡¯s really only one thing we can do from our end, if we don¡¯t want this to lead into a major diplomatic dispute. And honestly? With everything that¡¯s been going ontely, I would prefer we go a few weeks without something that could threaten the fabric of reality.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I said that, I turned to look at Tsubaki. ¡°Do you think that you can do it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s ears stood up straight as soon as I turned to address her. ¡°Please speak clearly, my Keeper. What is it that you wish me to aplish?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s simple¡­ I want you to invade the sixty-third floor, hunt down each and every infected individual on our list, and erase the entity invading their mind. Do your best to keep the individuals alive, and have them act as though everything was normal. You¡¯ll need to break into incredibly secure facilities to get some of these targets, and one wrong move will cause an all-out war.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Although the Hajit are isted at the sixty-third floor, the same can¡¯t be said of the creatures possessing them. It¡¯s possible that they could find ways to get to us through other floors, so this mission has both the utmost danger and importance.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Which part of that was simple!?¡± Dana retorted with wide eyes, before noticing that Tsubaki¡¯s tail was wagging rapidly. The more that I emphasized the dangers and potential consequences of failure, the more eager she seemed to take it on.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If my Keeper were to entrust me with this task, I would surely aplish it!¡± Tsubaki dered with a firm nod.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a smile at that. ¡°Let¡¯s descend so that we can get everything taken care of.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Six hours after the initial meeting between the representatives of Fyor and the Hajit, Tsubaki stood before the gate of the sixty-third floor. Her maid uniform was reced with a ck bodysuit, blue lines running along her frame. She focused briefly, altering her body to more closely resemble an elf, removing her tails and causing her eyes to glow white.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I create this covenant with myself, as Servant to the Keeper.¡± Tsubaki spoke under her breath, a silvery light wrapping around her body. ¡°My mission is thus, find the deceivers within the foreign race and weed them out. Until such time, I may not return to my Keeper¡¯s side. I may not spare my attention elsewhere. I will be my Keeper¡¯s hidden de. In payment, I forgo ess to all sses that rte to crafting. I forego all sses that rte to gathering. I forgo the sses of Noble, Leader, and Gambler. May these restrictions hold until my task isplete.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she finished, she felt the covenant settling, boosting all of her capabilities. Once that was done, she cut open a tear in space, walking through. Although she had brought herself to the gate directly, she couldn¡¯t pass through. Being present at the gate was more of a symbolic gesture for her covenant than anything else. After all, she was far too high level for Fyor¡­ and ording to alia¡¯s estimates, she would be until the final floor was achieved and the level limit removed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Tsubaki arrived at the sixty-third floor, she found herself falling through the air, having appeared more than a kilometer above the ground. Such was rather normal, as she had received the coordinates from Lifre as opposed to visiting the ce herself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nheless, she activated her Stealth domain, her figure fading from view. She simply allowed her body to continue falling towards the ground. Once she was mere meters from the surface, she rapidly decelerated, flipping tond on her feet. Closing her eyes, she recalled the list of individuals that she needed to investigate, walking down the street.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Every now and then, she felt a perception sweep across her area, the army on regr patrol, but none of them appeared capable of seeing through her stealth. For now, the problem was that Tsubaki didn¡¯t know where her targets were. This city was an incrediblyrge ce, its circumference more than three light years of densely packed, urban territory. Furthermore, there were threeyers of this city, each roughly asrge as the others.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, she could ask Aurivy to take her directly to her targets. Doing so would be quick and efficient. However, there was also the risk of it getting caught, with how advanced thisyer¡¯s civilization was. There was every chance that they had a way to detect power on that scale. Which is why Tsubaki wanted to appear away from prying eyes.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">alia, may your wind guide my hunt.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She whispered internally, a faint breeze kicking up. If anyone was around that could see her, they would see Tsubaki¡¯s body disappearing into smoke, blown away with the breeze.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Using her Light domain, she followed the breeze to its destination, briefly surprised when she found what looked like arge tube nted in the ground. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Lady alia¡­?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Hey, don¡¯t look at me. Light speed is fast on a small scale, but we¡¯re talking light years here! If you don¡¯t want to use any type of special teleport, you¡¯ve got to go with what¡¯s avable locally. They have billions of these teleport pods scattered all over the city. Just enter it and punch in the eleven digit code for your destination, and it will take you right there.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki clenched her jaw briefly, but nodded. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Very well¡­ in that case, the code for the pod closest to my first target¡­</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, this alien race operated with a base ten numeral system. Tsubaki quickly typed in the number that alia recited, and her vision briefly flickered. Once it had settled, she was already in a new area, the traffic around her pod sprawling.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At thisyer of Fyor, time was¡­ somewhat harder to track. The daylight radiating from the central pir spread out at the speed of light, as did the darkness that followed it. With howrge this floor was, that meant that there were roughly five hundred different regions of theyer that were in ¡®day¡¯ mode, and five hundred that were in ¡®night¡¯ mode, the light moving in an almost rippling pattern. The area that Tsubaki had appeared now was one of the ¡®day¡¯ regions.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Let us try this again¡­ Lady alia, may your wind guide my hunt.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She repeated, once more vanishing with the breeze that appeared. This time, she came to arge building, closing her eyes and scanning through it with her World Sight. It didn¡¯t take her long to find the figure from the list, the same entity that had previously met with Lifre.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At the moment, this man was alone in his office, pacing back and forth. She could sense himmunicating with a small entity resting on the desk in front of him. A simple scan was all it took for her to identify this creature as a thought bug.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s body dissolved into faint light, passing through the windows of the building and appearing behind the man. She never removed her stealth, her energy merged with the surroundings. As she watched, hidden in the corner of the room, she began to decipher themunication between the two entities using her World Sight.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Are you sure that we weren¡¯t being observed?¡± The minister asked the thought bug, speaking in a tone that could be taken as respectful.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°For the tenth time, I sensed no presence observing from outside the room. That is not to say it is impossible, but I have no reason to believe that it was anything more than a bluff. They did not say that someone was surely watching, merely that they would not be surprised if that was the case.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing that, the minister let out a long sigh. ¡°Very well. Should we change our ns, if they are truly capable of watching anything?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Doing so is pointless.¡± The thought bug said in a tone simr to a scoff. ¡°To change our ns to avoid the detection of a potentially omniscient entity, we would need all of our members to retreat to the thought world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That may have been a good idea.¡± Tsubaki¡¯s voice spoke up, her divinity isting this room from the outside world. While they were speaking, Tsubaki had analyzed the structure of the thought worm. Although they had the ability to transmit information over a distance, they were not in constant contact. In fact, Tsubaki believed that such constant contact would make them easier to discover, so it was natural that they only contacted one another as needed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sure enough, as soon as she appeared, she could feel both entities before her trying to send a distress call. She tilted her head slightly, the power she released capturing these distress signals and snuffing them out. She lifted one hand, flicking a finger towards the bug-like entity on the desk. A white energy shed out, erasing the bug as she turned towards the minister.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If there is some semnce of your old self that remains within that body, grit your teeth. This is going to hurt.¡± She said, before shing forward and cing a hand on the man¡¯s face. A bright light surged from her hand, filling the man¡¯s body as she sought out and eradicated every trace of the foreign creature within his body, scorching it with holy light.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The minister¡¯s scream rang out, filling the office. Thankfully, Tsubaki¡¯s power prevented that from leaking out as well.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After roughly five minutes, Tsubaki brought her hand away from the minister¡¯s face, staring down at him. She was certain that she had eradicated every trace of the thought bug that had infected his body. However, she did not know if that was enough. If the creature was able to brainwash its host over a long period of time, he might still try to serve its agenda even after being freed. If that was the case, then Tsubaki would have to take her time re-educating each minister that she freed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The minister seemed to feel a chill as Tsubaki thought about that, looking up to meet her glowing gaze. ¡°Who¡­ who are you?¡± He asked in a shaky tone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not somebody you want to lie to. Now¡­ we¡¯re going to have a talk.¡±

 Chapter 1075: Attack Of The Restless

    Chapter 1075: Attack Of The Restless


    <span style="font-weight:400">As Tsubaki left the office where she had been interrogating the minister, there was a grim expression on her face. As she had feared, there was a mind alteration process involved when it came to the hosts of the thought bugs. Fortunately, it wasn¡¯tplete brainwashing, but it was still a problem.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Lady alia, I presume that you witnessed all of that?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She asked internally. She initially wanted tomunicate with the Keeper directly, but it seemed that her covenant not only forbid her from returning to his side, but also directmunication.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I did¡­ how do you n to take care of it?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> When alia asked that, Tsubaki closed her eyes, letting herself blend in to the surroundings.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although the thought bugs did not brainwash their hosts into being their followers, they altered their memories. Any memory rted to the bugs themselves would shift, leaving them unaware of any involvement on the part of these creatures. When she had purged the bug from the minister, he nearly went into a panic, shouting about who she was and how she had managed to get into his office.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The reason behind this situation, as far as Tsubaki could tell, was because there were a limited number of thought bugs living within the city. Thus, although the hosts might get promoted, the bugs themselves would maintain their previous roles. A minister would always be a minister, and the president would always be the president.


    <span style="font-weight:400">On that note¡­ Tsubaki strongly suspected that the bug that they had wanted to infect the Keeper with was none other than the president, as it would put that bug in the highest seat of power possible. However, there was no method to directly confirm this, as questioning the host was pointless.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯ll target all of the ministers first, and then the president, if he is still infected with his. However, I¡¯ll have to be faster than this. I can¡¯t waste time convincing each minister about what had happened and having them pretend to still be infected.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Five thousand, right?¡± She muttered to herself, before closing her eyes. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Apologize to my Keeper on my behalf, I believe I will need to borrow a portion of his energy in order to execute this mission.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">¡­What are you nning to do?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I have not forgotten my nature, Lady alia. </i><span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki let out a long sigh, opening her eyes and moving into a nearby alley. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I am quite the Restless Fox.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she said that dozens of specks of light began to break off from her body, turning into silver spheres that illuminated the alley. She had to use her divine domain to mask the entrance of the alley, preventing anyone from noticing what was going on within.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">You know¡­ I have a really hard time taking you seriously when you say stuff like that.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> alia responded, her voice cracking up slightly in amusement. Tsubaki¡¯s brow twitched, once again regretting the title that the system had given her legend.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately, there was no helping it. As such, she focused, conjuring more and more of her avatars. It was unreasonable to attempt to carry out all five thousand attacks at once. However¡­ five hundred attacks was another matter.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki could feel the pull on her divinity from creating so many clones of herself, and borrowed power from her connection with the Keeper in order to fulfill her objective. Once one clone was created, it took on a different appearance and walked out of the alley.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s brow knit tightly as she focused, increasing her numbers one by one. Once thest of the five hundred clones were created, she let out a deep sigh, closing her eyes and falling back against the nearby wall. Splitting her energy so many times was taxing, to say the least. If not for all of the training that she had done over the years, it was unlikely that she would have been able to perform such a feat.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra was pacing back and forth within the shadow world, Thelsa watching her with a bemused smile. ¡°They said that they were going to handle this personally, didn¡¯t they?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra nodded her head at Thelsa¡¯s words, but still seemed restless. ¡°I know, but I can¡¯t help it. You remember thest time the Greater Pantheon carried out a direct purge?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa tilted her head, briefly recalling. ¡°If I remember right¡­ it was the trafficking trade that Aurivy mobilized her church for?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right?!¡± Petra nodded quickly. ¡°The Greater Pantheon doesn¡¯t tend to do ¡®quiet¡¯. I¡¯m just worried that they¡¯re going to march an army into the city and stir up a giant storm.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa¡¯s smile turned more and more amused as she listened to Petra¡¯s concerns. ¡°Though, for all we know, they could have been doing quite a lot behind the scenes that we never noticed. For now, I think it¡¯s best if we just see what happens. If there is anything that needs cleaning up afterwards, it won¡¯t be too much for us to handle.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Sora nodded her head from nearby. ¡°In the worst case scenario, we¡¯ll just grab the gate and skip the sixty-third floor. It wouldn¡¯t be the first time that we did something like that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I know¡­¡± Petra sighed, walking over to a chair and copsing against it, her wings wrapping around her shoulders. ¡°But this is a proper, advanced civilization. It might not be on the scale of the Metong, but they are still a massive group. It would be too much of a loss if we weren¡¯t able to make peaceful contact with them. Besides, we¡¯re not going to find civilized alien races outside of Fyor anymore¡­ we need to make this count.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As they were talking, the door of the room opened, the burly form of Maria walking in. Petra¡¯s head shot up to look at her. ¡°Did you discover anything?¡± Petra asked, anxiously.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Maria simply chuckled, moving to sit next to the small demoness. ¡°Yeah. A certain figure was seen on the sixty-second floor, making her way to the gate.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Certain figure¡­ did they send Lifre?¡± Petra asked in confusion, though Maria shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No¡­ they sent the fox.¡± When Maria announced that, not only Petra, but even Sora and Thelsa showed expressions of surprise on their faces.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°They sent <i><span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki?</i><span style="font-weight:400">¡± Petra asked anxiously. ¡°Either this was worse than we thought, or they¡¯re going full scorched earth¡­ I really hope it¡¯s the former.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sora couldn¡¯t help but let out anotherugh. ¡°It¡¯s not <i><span style="font-weight:400">that</i><span style="font-weight:400"> bad. Remember, she was originally a ninja, right? Stealth missions are kind of her forte.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra muttered mutinously under her breath. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s not like she earned the title Ancestor Fox by single-handedly stopping two giant armies from shing, appearing as the first disciple of death¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sora¡¯sugh abruptly halted, and she cleared her throat. ¡°Okay¡­ so she also knows how to be showy. But she¡¯s <i><span style="font-weight:400">still</i><span style="font-weight:400"> a ninja at heart, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra took a deep breath, trying her best to calm herself down. ¡°Maybe¡­ I¡¯m probably just over thinking things. Though, I suppose that it would have blown up a lot more if they sent Lifre. She can¡¯t stay out of trouble if her life depended on it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What if they sent Dana, though?¡± Thelsa asked, amused by the thought of it. ¡°I¡¯d say that Tsubaki was probably the best choice.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra felt a shiver run down her spine at the idea of sending Dana. Dana had far less in the way of public shows of strength since her appointment to the Keeper¡¯s service. However, one of her first true battle records was ying someone on the brink of ascending to godhood. And then there was the Stone Father incident, where she sent an entire army of shadow monsters to intimidate a dwarven race. Or how she had been the one to personally end the invasion of V-Day by ughtering a Void God that others found to be unkible.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay¡­ I see your point. Maybe Tsubaki was the best choice for this. How will we know when it¡¯s done?¡± Petra asked, looking around at the others for any ideas.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I asked Aurivy to keep me up to date.¡± Maria answered with a yful grin. ¡°Said that we¡¯ll be wanting to establish proper rtions once it¡¯s all cleared up. She seemed to like the idea, so I bet we¡¯ll get news before too long.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra let out a relieved sigh when she heard that. Though, in reality, she wasn¡¯t expecting it to be done that fast. Although Tsubaki was known to be incredibly efficient with her work, the size of the sixty-third floor of Fyor was simply toorge, with the possible targets spread out over its entire surface. At an optimistic guess, she thought that it would take at least six months before the job was done.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she was thinking about that, Maria suddenly blinked. ¡°Huh¡­?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra looked over at her in confusion, as did the other two. ¡°Ah, sorry, Aurivy just contacted me. She said that we can start preparing the second diplomatic group.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Already?¡± Petra¡¯s eyes went wide, before she calmed herself down. ¡°Does she mean like, reserve them in advance so that they¡¯re ready to go on short notice?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No¡­ no, she said it will probably be taken care of by the time that everyone is chosen and assembled.¡± Even Maria herself seemed to be confused by the information that she was reporting to the others.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Suddenly, Petra seemed anxious all over again, as if expecting to return to the sixty-third floor and finding a war-tornndscape.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Within her wooden house on Sanctum, Aurivy couldn¡¯t help but snicker to herself. The noise caught the attention of Julia, who was sitting across from her as they yed a game of cards. ¡°I know that look. You¡¯re up to divine mischief, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What? Me?¡± Aurivy asked innocently. ¡°Well, not this time. I¡¯m just enjoying seeing some <i><span style="font-weight:400">proper</i><span style="font-weight:400"> reactions to our favorite restless fox.¡± She said, ying one of the cards in her hand.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia wasn¡¯t aware of Tsubaki¡¯s legend, so she wasn¡¯t sure what Aurivy meant. ¡°Eavesdropping on others, then?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I can¡¯t really help it when they ask me to keep them informed.¡± Aurivy stuck her tongue out yfully. ¡°How has your orchard beening,tely?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia paused, a sly smile on her face as she looked over her own cards. ¡°I¡¯ve been experimenting with a new type of tree, but I don¡¯t want to make many of them yet. I¡¯d rather wait until we¡¯re done moving.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Mov--¡± Aurivy¡¯s eyes went wide in surprise, almost dropping the cards in her hand. ¡°You mean you want to move to Olympus?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia offered a small nod. ¡°Now that you said that they¡¯re setting up a proper garden, there¡¯s no reason not to. It just took me a while to prepare all of my trees. I don¡¯t want them to spread or leech the energy from Sanctum after we leave.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy had a silly grin stered on her face when she heard that. ¡°Obviously! And don¡¯t worry, you¡¯ll still be able toe here any time you want. The incantation is still in ce, after all. Oh, I¡¯ll need to talk to Tubrock about making some adjustments for us.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia couldn¡¯t help but let out a chuckle, assuming that Aurivy¡¯s reaction was quite simr to that of the people that she had been previously watching.

 Chapter 1076: Brand Name

    Chapter 1076: Brand Name


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, five hundred simultaneous attacks weren¡¯t possible, even if Tsubaki sent out that many avatars of herself. After all, each minister would have a different level of defense. Some might be in public, in which case the avatar would need to wait until they were in a secluded location. Some might be in well-defended bunkers, requiring her to navigate their defenses. Many, naturally, would be easy to target, but five hundred simultaneous kills were unreasonable to expect.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, those thatpleted their tasks ahead of the others began to fill in the gaps, while those that were forced tog behind waited patiently for their moment to strike. In situations like this, it was far better to prioritize discretion over speed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Still, it took less than a week for Tsubaki to finish after dividing her workload. By the time that she had gotten through the ministers, the president, and the few research personnel that had been infected, Thelsa had only just finished preparing for the second diplomatic mission. The group this time was much the same as before, but it was decided to leave Lifre out of the mission.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In the first mission, her presence was required due to being the only one that knew about the situation on this floor, but now that information had beenrgely shared with the others. When it came to fighting and adventure, Lifre was a great ally to have on one¡¯s side. However¡­ when it came time to sit at a table and talk, Lifre was prone to running up the walls out of boredom.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Because of this, Lifre was given free reign to roam the city as long as she maintained a disguise. With this, the only members of the party were Jack and Thelsa¡¯s group.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Fortunately, their return to the sixty-third floor was not immediately met with the same level of detainment that they faced the first time. Instead, the officers that they had encountered before recognized them, and they were treated courteously. Sadly, they were not able to quickly meet with any government officials for some time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Inwardly, Petra worried whether this was a sign that Tsubaki had failed in her mission, and that the targets were on high alert. Alternatively, they could be recovering from whatever chaos she left behind, and they would only be able to meet with these officials after that chaos was cleared.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While they were busy waiting for their meetings, Lifre was off on her own little adventure. She had been told that she could have fun, and that they wouldn¡¯t interfere with her ns, so long as she maintained her disguise in the city. Naturally, this led her to want to explore.


    <span style="font-weight:400">What Petra hadn¡¯t expected was that the target of Lifre¡¯s exploration wasn¡¯t the city, but rather the second gate of the sixty-third floor. With the city spanning the entireyer, the other gate was in a location known by many citizens. Having received this information previously, Lifre traveled to the appropriate district, splitting off a clone to investigate the next floor as per the standard protocols.


    <span style="font-weight:400">What her clone reported back did not particrly surprise Lifre. Unlike the sixty-third floor, the sixty-fourth did not have any form of advanced civilization. There were signs of a tribal society near the gate, but all that was left of it was burning ruins. For the brief moments that the clone was present in thatyer, it could feel that it was being watched.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now, normally this news would deter a would-be explorer, as it indicated the presence of a powerful and hostile force, one that had the intelligence to stalk its prey. Such people were¡­ not Lifre. As soon as Lifre realized that this was theyer where James had originated, and that there did not seem to be any memetic effects that she needed to worry about, she all but dove through the gate.


    <span style="font-weight:400">On the other side, Lifre came to a well-lit wastnd, smoke rising up from various directions. Lifre could only assume that this smoke came from the ruins that her avatar had mentioned, and thus began to immediately run towards it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She could already feel the presence watching her, and grinned happily. The only reason that she noticed this sensation was because of her World Sight, as the energy used for detection was otherwise unnoticeable.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Does that make these guys natural Saint Bodies?¡± Lifre asked aloud, though she was obviously not expecting an answer. Even if the presence watching her was inclined to answer, it had no way of understanding her speech.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It took her roughly half an hour of running to reach the ruins that her clone had spotted from the portal. These ruins were crudely constructed stone structures standing dozens of meters tall. Or, at least, the ones that were still standing were. Many of the structures were broken, the entire area surrounded by craters.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre swept her World Sight over the area, feeling the remnant energy in the air. ¡°This was¡­ within thest twenty-four hours, right? The natural energy fluctuations haven¡¯tpletely subsided.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre crossed her arms, thinking about her situation. From what she had experienced, these creatures were masters of manipting natural energy, and even imbuing it with spiritual strength.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I could call the munchkin, but she probably wouldn¡¯t want to run the risk of fighting the people from this floor. Wasn¡¯t she really good friends with James? I wonder if I can just call him here?¡± She asked aloud, before her eyes suddenly widened.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Oh, Dale! Dale! Dale, answer the call!</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a faint groan in response to her call. <i><span style="font-weight:400">What is it? I was just preparing for the release of Ascension.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Huh? Oh, right! That was today? Wait, no, I¡¯ll try itter. Anyways, I¡¯m on the sixty-fourth floor right now!</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper paused for a long moment before replying to Lifre¡¯sment. <i><span style="font-weight:400">You don¡¯t mean the sixty-third, do you?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Nope! I went ahead to check out the next ce while the others were busy having their meetings. Didn¡¯t you say that James would officially be one of your people once someone made it here?!</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s right.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The Keeper answered, though he still seemed shocked by her sudden revtion. <i><span style="font-weight:400">You remember that he said that his race was incrediblybative, right?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Oh, definitely! One of them is actually preparing tounch a giant fire wave at me now. I should probably go deal with that! </i><span style="font-weight:400">As Lifre said that, she could feel an intense wave of heat rapidly approaching from behind herself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her foot stomped at the ground, causing arge wall of stone to erupt behind her and intercept the st. Despite this, she could see the stone turning red and liquifying. At the very least, it gave her time to get out of the way. ¡°That wasn¡¯t a very nice greeting, mister!¡± She shouted, facing a translucent entity that hovered in the air more than three kilometers away.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The entity simply watched her for a long moment, before raising his hands to the sky. Dark clouds began to swirl over Lifre¡¯s head, and she felt static rising in the air. ¡°Now you want to fight me with lightning¡­¡± Despite the figure¡¯s hostility, she could still feel the mysterious presence from before that was watching her, causing her to groan in frustration.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Fine, it¡¯s time for a tactical slime!¡± She shouted, pping her hands together. She knew the fighting style of these creatures since long ago, so it wasn¡¯t difficult for her to adjust. As for this lightning bolt¡­ well, she was quite the proficient druid herself, so she was able to redirect it with ease.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I heard Lifre¡¯s message, I couldn¡¯t help but want to confirm it. Thankfully, I was already in the Admin Room to prepare for the release of Ashley¡¯s new game, so it wasn¡¯t hard for me to find James with the map. As I did so, I saw new options that hadn¡¯t appeared before, including the Smite button. Thanks to this, I was able to truly confirm that James was now one of my people.


    <span style="font-weight:400">More importantly, it should be possible to give him ess to the Heavenly Gate, like Tsubaki and the others. I¡¯m sure that Chelsea would appreciate that, even if James very rarely came to visit.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Rather than assigning this to him right away, I made a mental note to approach him and ask him for his opinion on it. If it wasn¡¯t something that he felt that he¡¯d want, there was no point in spending the ten thousand points to use it on him. If he did want it, however, I would be more than happy to oblige.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And <i><span style="font-weight:400">that</i><span style="font-weight:400"> is why you don¡¯t mess with the tactical slime!¡± Lifre shouted, standing high in the sky above the translucent figure, a spear of light radiating in her hands. The figure that had attacked her before nowy wounded on the ground, its body pale.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If the creature looked as if it was going to attack again, Lifre nned to deliver the finishing blow. However, before she could do so, a muchrger figure appeared near the first, standing between it and Lifre. Finally, Lifre could sense that this figure was the one that had been watching her since her arrival.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The figure stared at Lifre, and she began to wonder if it was trying tomunicate somehow. Part of her was thinking if she should take the figure¡¯s life story to decipher itsnguage, but soon realized that doing so would alert the entity and send it into battle mode.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I can probably take him¡­ but is there a need to fight? </i><span style="font-weight:400">She asked herself reluctantly. If there was not a need for confrontation, she certainly didn¡¯t want to be the cause of it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After a few moments, the tall figure gave off a general feeling of annoyance, but disappeared, taking the smaller one with it. Lifre blinked, staring at the sight of her previously fallen foe. ¡°Wait¡­ <i><span style="font-weight:400">was that just its dad!?</i><span style="font-weight:400">¡± She shouted out, feeling that she had been scolded for ying rough in the yground.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°To be fair, it could have also been the mom. I don¡¯t know their gender characteristics.¡± She muttered, looking around. The buildings in the previous ruins looked like they were more of a fit for the smaller of the two figures, so Lifre thought that this truly might have been little more than a yground for them to ¡®y around¡¯ in, and that these fights were just part of their games.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, on the bright side, it didn¡¯t immediately attack me. Maybe it thinks I¡¯m just a kid, because of my size?¡± She thought, her brow twitching. Although she managed to get out of the situation without conflict, the idea that she had been mistaken for a child irked her. ¡°Okay, so I¡¯m using the body of a child. But still! It¡¯s apletely different race, and I thought that they¡¯d judge more based on strength than appearance!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately for Lifre, there was nobody to answer her spections orints. The only thing that she could do was contemte whether she wanted to change her appearance. Despite her looks, it had been a <i><span style="font-weight:400">long</i><span style="font-weight:400"> time since anyone truly saw her as a kid.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, no, I can¡¯t do that.¡± She shook her head quickly to dismiss those thoughts. ¡°This is my brand! It¡¯s my image! I won¡¯t let them taint that! I¡¯m going to track that old man down, and I¡¯m going to knock some sense into him!¡±

 Chapter 1077: Quick And Easy

    Chapter 1077: Quick And Easy


    <span style="font-weight:400">Phisher¡¯s eyes jolted open, his back covered in a cold sweat. It had been more than a decade since thest time he had actually slept. With how peaceful things were starting to look now, he decided to indulge between training sessions, and drifted off during a brief period of meditation.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">What¡­ was that?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He thought back, trying to decipher what he had seen in the dream. Unlike some of the other prophetic dreams that he had experienced in the past, this was not a particrly long one. Per his recollection, it should have onlysted a month.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Lady Udona, may I have a word?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Phisher asked, his legs still crossed as he sat on the training mat in his room.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Of course, Phisher. What¡¯s the matter?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Udona asked in an almost casual tone.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I had another dream, though I am hesitant to decide whether this dream was a vision of fate.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">When he said this, there was a pause before Udona asked in a more serious tone. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Why? What happened in your dream?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">It felt¡­ too surreal. Everyone was merging together in a single mass, covered in countless mouths. At first, I thought that it was a void monster that managed to break through the defenses, so I rushed out to fight it in the void, but I did not see any monsters that had passed the barriers.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona paused, closing her eyes. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Do you have any other clues to go off of?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Phisher thought back to the dream, trying to remember anything that could prove to be a helpful hint. The few times in the past that he had had dreams of impending doom, the cause of said doom had been rather obvious, so he wasn¡¯t entirely sure what little hints to pick from. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It all started about two weeks after sessful negotiations to set up a trade route with the Hajit¡¯s City.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">You believe that they are the cause?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> There was a hint of doubt in Udona¡¯s words, but Phisher quickly shook his head.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">No, the problem began in Deckan. To my knowledge, none of the other worlds were affected, as a quarantine was put in ce immediately.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">In that case, something that happened as a response to them.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Udona replied in a thoughtful tone. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Is there anything else that you need to report? Whether it is about this matter or anything else?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Phisher leaned back on his mat, recalling the news he had heard. <i><span style="font-weight:400">The next generation of test shields were ready a week before this crisis began, and resulted in another round of failures. Thankfully, they chose to test with unmanned vessels this time. Additionally, the game that the Keeper has just released,.It did not receive as much attention as others he let out in the past.</i> <i><span style="font-weight:400">I believe that is everything.</i>


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Within her room, Udona nodded her head, moving over to her desk to activate her terminal. She wanted to see if there was any new research projects that had been reported in thest few days, especially those made in response to the recent discovery of the Hajit and their civilization.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In truth, there were¡­ too many. Historians that wanted to research how they came to be as advanced as they were without the assistance of the gods or the system, philosophers questioning their ethical values, researchers asking to study their teleportation pods that do not interact with the void¡­


    <span style="font-weight:400">Closing her eyes, Udona let out a sigh, narrowing the search. From Phisher¡¯s report, it seemed like it could be a memetic effect gone wrong. Potentially, there may have been a monster that came back with the second round of shield experiments to properly prate the newly enhanced barriers surrounding the sr system. However, since Phisher reported that those tests were unmanned, it stands to reason that the failures didn¡¯t bring anything back. If they had, that would have been something rather easy to tip him off.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, she looked for anything that could be rted to memetic scripts. And that was when she caught sight of the most likely candidate. Inspired by the news of the energy used by the Hajit formunication, a small group of researchers wanted to create a universalnguage that anyone would be able to understand andmunicate in.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona let out a long sigh when she heard that, nting her face in her hand. ¡°This is why memes need to be regted.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is everything alright?¡± Aznod spoke up, moving behind Udona to look at her screen. ¡°A universalnguage?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Phisher just got back to me.¡± She said, shaking her head. ¡°He had another one of his fate dreams. Apparently, thisnguage is a meme that can mutate and cause all life on the to merge into a giant, amorphous blob.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...That does not sound pleasant.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m saying!¡± Udona eximed, throwing her arms up. ¡°We already have anguage that we all understand. As for meeting new races, we have numerous methods of providing real-time trantion. Why do we need anguage based on a memetic script that can turn our insides into somebody else¡¯s outsides?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod simply gave a chuckle at that. ¡°It should be easy enough for you to shut down their research. On a more pleasant note, are you nning to y that new game, Ascension?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona shrugged her shoulders, leaning back in her seat. ¡°Maybe after they build it up a bit more. Since it¡¯s a total sandbox, there aren¡¯t any cities or anything. It shouldn¡¯t take long for them to build those up, like they did with World Seed. Though, Phisher said that game didn¡¯t seem like it received much in the way of poprity.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod nodded his head, bringing his hands up to grab and massage Udona¡¯s shoulders. ¡°It will probably be more popr among those that have not yet achieved their first divinity.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah, maybe. What have you been up to, though?¡± Udona asked, rxing as she leaned back towards Aznod.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ve been thinking. ording to Lifre¡¯s initial report, the Hajit¡¯s City looks like it has quite the interesting selection of food. She mentioned a street food that resembled fried energy kernels. I thought that it might be a good idea for me to go and investigate, see if I can learn any new recipes.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona gave a small chuckle, nodding her head. ¡°If you want. They aren¡¯t releasing the details of the alliance until tomorrow, though. If you want to go before that, just make sure you change your appearance to match the Hajit.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ll be sure to do that.¡± Aznod said in a reassuring tone. Whenever the topic of new recipes came up, he was always eager to travel and find out exactly how it was produced. If he was able to incorporate it into his own recipes, he may be able to create amazing new vors.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Some timeter, Aznod could be seen walking up to the gate on the sixty-second floor. As he approached, his appearance changed to that of a brown-haired elf with glowing, blue eyes. He stepped through the gate with a smile, immediately teleporting to a nearby alley to avoid drawing any attention.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After he left the alley, the first thing that he did was to walk the streets to look for the stalls that Lifre had mentioned in her report. Thankfully, it didn¡¯t take long for him to find them, and he began sweeping his senses over them. As soon as he did so, he was secretly astonished.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">They use a device that imbues a mix of natural energy and ki as a thin wrapping around refined grains of energy, seasoned with specially modified spiritual energy for additional vor? </i><span style="font-weight:400">Aznod looked at the price of the dish, determining it to be roughly five times the total energy contained within the food itself, though that was normal. After all, this was an item that could be considered a luxury.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Still, he chose to pay for a serving, receiving a small bucket of glowing green energy kernels. When he popped one into his mouth, he was surprised by the rich vor. <i><span style="font-weight:400">This could be a wonderful snack food to market to gods, or those who have achieved perfection.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Walking down the street, he noticed several of such stalls, each having their own, unique vor. Naturally, Aznod sampled each of them, noting how the slight changes in energy mixtures brought about a great change in the taste of the food.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Already, he was thinking about how he could take this information back to Deckan, and how it could cause a revolution in the fast food industry.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre huffed, breathing heavily as she stood atop the chest of a colossal figure with deep, blue skin. She red hard into his eyes. ¡°All the work¡­ to track you down¡­ and you still tried to go easy on me!¡± She was frustrated even more, because the adult entity had only started to turn serious when he realized that he wasn¡¯t Lifre¡¯s match.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Granted, she didn¡¯t n to kill him or anything, just teach him a lesson. During her time hunting him down, she had noticed a few details about thisyer¡¯s ¡®civilization¡¯. First of all, they weren¡¯t <i><span style="font-weight:400">entirely</i><span style="font-weight:400"> barbaric. They greatly encouraged using battles to settle disputes, and even their children would fight one another. However, they had their own rules.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Children fought children, and adults fought adults. Whenever children fought, their parents would always be watching from somewhere, ready to intervene if one of them started to take it too far. As for the adults¡­ well, she had seen three cases of adults fighting to the death during her hunt.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre couldn¡¯t help but shudder, realizing that the James that had firste through to Fyor was actually still just a child by this race¡¯s standards. His first true demonstration of power as an ¡®adult¡¯ was the incident in which he lifted the pce of Deckan into the sky and punished those who tried to harm Chelsea¡¯s family.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The adults in thisyer were all very powerful, and were masterful druids even more skilled than the golden sylvans. Their very being was fused with natural energy, and they could control it with a simple thought.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Still, despite the ¡®order¡¯ that was maintained, Lifre hadn¡¯t seen any signs of proper civilization throughout her chase. No cities, no viges, in fact the only structures that she saw were those created by children.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Listen here.¡± Lifre spoke, sending her voice directly into the mind of the figure via her spiritual energy. ¡°I don¡¯t know yournguage. I don¡¯t know what your people call themselves. I don¡¯t even know if you have the <i><span style="font-weight:400">concept</i><span style="font-weight:400"> ofnguage. Go home, wherever that is. If anyone else tries to pick a fight with me, they¡¯ll get the same treatment. I¡¯m going to go explore for a while.¡± She said, before jumping off of his chest and flying into the air.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Because James had left thisyer prematurely, as well as the other one of this race that they found buried in a mountain, there had to be some form of mineral on this floor that connected elsewhere. Lifre was determined to be the first to find it.

 Chapter 1078: All The World

    Chapter 1078: All The World


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley sat in her office, going over the reports of the most recent game released, Ascension. She let out a small sigh, realizing that the numbers were speaking for themselves. In a persistent world with real-time development, very few yers wanted to enjoy a full sandbox experience. Unless there was some unique mechanic that drastically changed the game itself, she could tell that Ascension would not be a very popr game.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Moreover, within three days of the game¡¯s release, only four Keepers purchased the game, two of those being from Dale¡¯s guild. They still had plenty of leftover funds from when they sold World Seed, but she didn¡¯t see much potential for growth in this game¡¯s sales.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It looks like we¡¯ll need to start working on NPCs, after all.¡± She muttered with a small sigh. There was a fine line between NPCs that did and did not have a soul. Even without a soul, there was the chance for realistic interaction, albeit some ws may appear here and there. However, if the NPCs had their own souls, that would create ethical disputes among some Keepers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was why Ashley had not delved into this topic before, as it was a tricky subject to navigate that she had no experience with. ¡°For now¡­ yeah, that should work.¡± A small smile appeared on Ashley¡¯s face, and she reached for the phone at the corner of her desk. Without having to dial a number, it instantly began ringing on the other side. ¡°Jamira?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right, ma¡¯am! What can I do for you?¡± The team manager of her programmers spoke up from the other end of the line.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We¡¯re going to start the NPC project. The Keeper said that we can use Ana as a base model, so try to create a working temte.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Understood, ma¡¯am! How would you like us to test them out?¡± Jamira asked curiously, a small smile appearing on her face.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°World Seed and Ascension. I want you to gradually begin popting these two games with the NPCs that the team creates. Of course, you can intervene with NPCs that have problems in their core temte. We don¡¯t want to create problems for our yers.¡± Ashley instructed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Filling these two games with the NPCs produced by her team would breathe new life into them. Or at least, that was Ashley¡¯s hope. Jamira seemed to understand the request, but posed another question. ¡°Do you have any roles in mind for these NPCs?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was where Ashley was hung up. None of the games that they made had a ¡®story¡¯, so to speak. They were allplete sandboxes, with the yers able to define their own paths. That wasn¡¯t to say that she wasn¡¯t able toe up with a story if need be, but she wasn¡¯t sure that she could make a captivating one that encapsted an entire game world, down to the NPCs.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she thought about that, a name appeared in the back of her mind, a smile appearing on her face. ¡°I¡¯ll get back to you on that. For now, focus on the core temte of the NPCs. Right now, I need to go and have a meeting.¡± After giving that answer, Ashley hung up the phone, closing her eyes to focus on her mortal incarnation.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley stood in a neatly pressed, ck suit, her wings folded over her shoulders as she walked up to the door and rapped her knuckles against it. Almost immediately, there was the sound of rushing steps. The door opened, and a halfling man appeared inside, smiling pleasantly at Ashley.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Please, please,e in! Thank you for calling ahead, I was nearly shocked out of my soul when I heard that you would being.¡± He said, gesturing for her to enter. They were currently at the halfling¡¯s mansion in Sanctum, so there was quite a lot ofvish decoration.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thank you for agreeing to see me, Ghan.¡± Ashley responded as she entered the mansion, where Ghan pped his hands. Four maids all appeared from nowhere, guiding the duo to arge sitting room.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No matter, no matter at all. Tell me, what brings you here today? I can¡¯t imagine one of the Greater Pantheon was simply visiting me for a house call, after all.¡± Ghan smiled, hopping up onto one of the chairs ced around the room, sitting across from Ashley once she sat down.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Indeed.¡± Ashley nodded her head in agreement. ¡°In truth, I would like to acquire your services, Ghan.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°My services?¡± The halfling blinked in confusion. ¡°I fail to see how one such as I can be useful to the Greater Pantheon.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s quite simple. Are you aware of the game that we have recently released, titled Ascension?¡± She asked, to which Ghan offered a small nod. ¡°Due to ack of any significant story or world development, this game is quitecking in poprity among the people of the world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ghan paused, once more sporting a look of confusion. ¡°You wish for me to write a story for your games?¡± He asked, but immediately followed it up with another question. ¡°I¡¯m not quite sure I understand. Although I may have the skills required, I believe that you have someone much more close at hand that could do the job as well, do you not?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If you¡¯re referring to Lifre¡­ yes and no.¡± Ashley said with a long sigh. ¡°Lifre does indeed possess the skill to do what we want, if we could get her to focus for a long period of time. She is prone to bing distracted, or will alter the story given to her to make it more ¡®exciting¡¯. I¡¯d rather every old man NPC secretly be a hidden sage capable of destroying a country¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley shook her head as she spoke, causing Ghan to chuckle knowingly. ¡°We all have the urge to spice up a story we are given. I can understand thedy¡¯s thoughts. Though, it could be problematic if she goes too far off script, or if she leaves a project waiting to entertain her flights of fancy. That¡¯s why you came to me, I take it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Ashley confirmed with a nod. ¡°You are known for your professionalism, while having a level of story creation not inferior to Lifre¡¯s. Thus, I would like to work closely with you when developing the storylines for current and future games.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ghan gave a small smile. ¡°I don¡¯t think that shall be a problem. Though, I am curious how you expect this cooperation to take ce. Are you nning to hire me under the name of Darkme Technologies?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley closed her eyes, thinking about that. ¡°I could. Honestly, I would like to invite you to live among the Pantheon, that way you could work directly with my team when designing the story and characters. Of course, you would still be able to appear in this world in a simr manner to how I am here now. If you don¡¯t wish for that, it would not be a problem to set up amunication channel between my team and yourself through the mortal world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ghan¡¯s eyes went wide when he heard Ashley¡¯s offer. ¡°You mean to let me be one of your Heroic Spirits? I do not believe that I have earned such a title through any meaningful sacrifice.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley paused, but ultimately shook her head. ¡°This would be different from the Heroic Spirit system, as it would be by my own discretion. Of course, I would still need the Keeper¡¯s approval, but I do not think that that will be a problem. You would function as you currently do, but would also work together with my team among the pantheon to create these stories.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ghan leaned back in his seat, contemting the offer. ¡°My apologies, my dear, but I feel that I must decline this offer. Not the offer of working for you, but rather of joining you among the pantheon. Should I allow myself to be received by the pantheon, it would spark controversy and discord among the popce. Regardless of whether it is a personal recruitment or the joining of Heroic Spirits, there would be many calling that I was unworthy of such an honor.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Before Ashley could speak, Ghan lifted a hand to cut her off. ¡°I am well aware that it is your decision to determine who is and is not worthy, but public opinion is still incredibly important. Should this unrest be left unsettled, then any contribution that I make while under your care will be tainted with this view. I only achieved such results due to the nepotism of the pantheon, and so forth. The interest in your games could see a sharp decline, simply by having my name attached to them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°For all parties involved, I believe that the best course of action moving forward is to have me work as a contractor within the mortal world. I am not hindered in my performance of my duties from here, so there is no downside. If, one day, I meet my permanent demise, at that time my contributions may be weighed against Terra¡¯s scales. Should those contributions prove me worthy of a spot among you and your fellows, I will happily ept, as would the public.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley let out another sigh upon hearing his answer, seeing that he was finished with his exnation. ¡°I see. I may have been too hasty with my offer. In that case, I will work to create a suitable work environment from which you canmunicate with my team. Do you have any questions or requests with regards to this, while I¡¯m here?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ghan closed his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest. ¡°I believe that I can supply most of the production with my divine powers. My primary question would be this, to what extent do you want me to write this story?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">This time, at least, Ashley had an answer that she could give right away. ¡°The NPCs should not be fully developed intelligences possessing their own souls. However, it would be best to have them as close to lifelike as possible. You will be in charge of providing the overall setting information, as well as specific NPC personality temtes. At the same time, if there are any adjustments that we need to make on our end to have the story flow more naturally, you can make such requests.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ghan nodded his head at that. ¡°As I said, most of this can be applied via my divinity. Am I to take games from other Keepers, such as Vision Expanse or Fragments of Acidia to be my guidelines for the level ofplexity?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley¡¯s brow twitched at that, but she knew that there were many people that understood that those games didn¡¯t truly originate from Dale. Furthermore, her presence here all but confirmed that fact. ¡°That¡¯s correct. If you can create a gctic stage on the scale of Fragments of Acidia, I would honestly be amazed.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ghan couldn¡¯t help but snort softly. ¡°Such a stage need not start so massive. Rather, all you need is the basicyout, and the script writes itself. I say that I want to create a setting spanning an entire gxy, and then detail the major forces within that gxy. From there, I list key roles in each major force that shapes how that force functions. With just a little ying around, various other roles begin to appear on their own, going so far down as the merchants you find on the side of the road. This is the essence of my creation, to fill in the smaller details by way of referencing the grand n. The same can apply to history, looking at what exists today and asking how we came to this point.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley listened to Ghan exin, and smiled slightly when he finished. ¡°I think that will work quite well for our needs, then.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ghan let out a light chuckle, hopping to his feet. ¡°I¡¯ll be awaiting your call, in that case. As for payment, I trust that the Greater Pantheon won¡¯t be stingy, and will supply me with a fair price for my service.¡±

 Chapter 1079: Proposed Transfer

    Chapter 1079: Proposed Transfer


    <span style="font-weight:400">I was¡­ surprised when I learned that Ashley had gone to outsource the story of her games to Ghan, rather than Lifre. From the start, I had simply assumed that it would be Lifre filling the role of a writer for her. It was sort of her thing, after all.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, when Ashley mentioned the same argument that she had given the halfling, that being Lifre¡¯s total inability to remain still and focus on the task at hand, I suddenly became more understanding. I mean, sure, she has periods when she can focus on her writing. She has actually written quite a lot of books that have grabbed the public interest. But¡­ those periods are few and far between.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ghan, on the other hand, has few distractions. He was one of the first mortal gods, and has more divine energy than he knows what to do with. Literally, he doesn¡¯t know what to do with his power, which led to him creating testing grounds for various scripts and performances in his own home.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ultimately, I think that Ashley made the right decision, though we¡¯ll have to see how the cooperation works out. It will be pretty hard to actively work together on a project if I have to fast forward the world for any reason in the future. There could be decades where he was simply unable to receive a response back from them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I brought this up with Ashley, and she simply shrugged her shoulders, telling me that it was his decision. Granted, I didn¡¯t really intend to fast forward more than I absolutely needed to at this point. There was a good chance that doing so would cause me to suddenly advance in rank at this point.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Speaking of which¡­ that brought me to my current situation, where I was approaching James¡¯s research facility. I had already sent Chelsea a message to let her incarnation know that I wasing, so I was unsurprised to see her waiting outside of the entrance for me. There was an almost anxious look on her face when I approached, and I could guess what was going through her mind.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is he here?¡± I asked with a smile, and she nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Honestly, he never leaves. Makes it really easy to find him. You¡¯re sure that it was the same race, though? It wasn¡¯t just a different race with simr characteristics, and his true race is on another in Lifre¡¯s universe somewhere?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked at her question, before letting out a light chuckle. ¡°Honestly, I had considered the possibility myself. If such had been the case, it was likely that we wouldn¡¯t have been able to do this until I reached at <i><span style="font-weight:400">least</i><span style="font-weight:400"> the sixth rank. Thankfully, I checked before I came. He has all of the usual options when I highlight him now.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Previously, because James was not considered one of my assets, I was not able to ¡®highlight¡¯ him. I couldn¡¯t select him for anymands, or even directly follow his history. It took quite a bit longer to retrace his steps, as I had to follow the history of the world around him. Which meant, if he teleported, I had to manually figure out where he went. Now, however, there were no such restrictions on him within the system.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea nodded her head, turning and leading me into the elevator. ¡°Section Three, Corridor One.¡± She called out, and the elevator began to descend, before abruptly moving horizontally.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When the door of the elevator opened again, we exited out into the pristine, white halls of the research group. Not far away, I could see where James had his office set up¡­ mostly because Treisha and Nora were waiting there in front of it. ¡°Was everyone told that I wasing today?¡± I asked in exasperation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea nodded her head. ¡°I mentioned that you wanted to talk to James, and they got concerned. I didn¡¯t tell them what it was about, obviously, but still.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod, walking towards the office. ¡°None of you need to worry. What I have to talk to him about isn¡¯t something major. It¡¯s just a topic that I felt needed to be discussed face-to-face.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The other girls seemed to rx slightly at that, Chelsea walking over to usher them away. ¡°Come on, we have the data on thest set of experiments to go over.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I entered the office, I found James sitting behind his desk, typing away at his terminal. He didn¡¯t appear to have heard my entrance, too focused on his own work. It wasn¡¯t until I cleared my throat that he looked up at me, smiling. ¡°Ah! You came. Chel told me that I should be expecting you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I smiled at that, moving to sit across from him. ¡°Did she tell you what I was here for?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">To that, James simply shook his head. ¡°Afraid not. She just said that you would be stopping by.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well¡­ to start things off, we reached the sixty-fourth floor of Fyor. You have officially been recognized by the world system.¡± James seemed surprised at that, meaning that that report had not yet reached his office. That or he simply didn¡¯t pay much attention to the news on Fyor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Additionally, are you familiar with the system known as the Heavenly Gate?¡± When I asked that question, James shook his head again. ¡°It¡¯s a system that can only be activated by reaching the fourth rank as a Keeper without resetting any of your worlds. Because of that, not many people really care about the system.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sounds rather extravagant. So, what does it do, let you turn a mortal into a god?¡± He asked, seeming to guess based on the name.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Close, but not quite. I can pay ten thousand points to give someone ess to the Heavenly Gate. Once they have that ess, they can visit the Admin Room whenever they want. The only restriction is that the transfer process takes thirty seconds. So, it¡¯s not like you¡¯ll be doing it inbat or anything like that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James blinked, seeming to lean back in his seat and ponder that information. ¡°If you¡¯re telling me this, that must mean that you nned to offer me this position?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod of confirmation. ¡°That¡¯s right. I wanted to give you the chance to be able to visit Chelsea in the Admin Room. Additionally, this is a form of life insurance. Should anything happen to you in the mortal world, you will immediately be transferred to the Admin Room as a fullpanion. Personally, I don¡¯t see any downsides to this, aside from the cost, but I didn¡¯t want to just apply it to you withouting and talking to you about it first.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I appreciate that.¡± James said, still mulling it over. ¡°Like you said, there aren¡¯t particrly any downsides. I assume that those with this gate are able to participate in defensive invasions?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a nod at that. ¡°As for offensive ones, I don¡¯t know what would happen if I tried to send them. It might invalidate the gate entirely, or only register you as dead when the invasion ended. Either way, I wasn¡¯t nning to send you on any invasions to begin with.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯d certainly hope not.¡± James snorted, shaking his head. ¡°I¡¯m all too aware just how high the mortality rate is for an invasion. Besides, there¡¯s too much of a risk that somebody would recognize me, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I fell silent when he brought that up, and he looked at me with a knowing smile. ¡°Even if I ept your invitation, it wouldn¡¯t be a good idea for me to go to the regr meetings. I¡¯m in a rather¡­ unique position, from my understanding, and we can¡¯t afford to let other Keepers catch wind of it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± I nodded my agreement. Sure, there may be ways for other Keepers to create a former Keeper as a Companion, but their System Companion would likely be forced to limit what knowledge they kept in the process. For instance, if I created James back when I was only at the second rank, it¡¯s unlikely that he would retain his knowledge from the fourth rank.


    <span style="font-weight:400">By that logic, it was the exposure to James that allowed me to recreate Chelsea in such aplete state. Even if he wasn¡¯t one of my ¡®assets¡¯, the system did acknowledge that I interacted with him in some form.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Personally, it doesn¡¯t matter to me much either way.¡± James admitted, stretching his arms out above his head. ¡°Whether I have ess to the Admin Room or not won¡¯t change anything for me, aside from that life insurance you mentioned. And¡­ let¡¯s be perfectly honest. If anything <i><span style="font-weight:400">did</i><span style="font-weight:400"> happen to me, Chel would travel to the ends of creation to find a way to fix it. We lost each other once, after all.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but give another nod, imagining what would happen. A shiver went down my spine, picturing Chelsea just <i><span style="font-weight:400">appearing</i><span style="font-weight:400"> in my office, demanding I make it better. ¡°Right¡­ still, I think that it would be better to do it than not.¡± I said, nning to apply it the next time I was in the Admin Room. ¡°At the very least, it will be there if we decide that we need it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James simply chuckled, not immediately responding. Looking over at his terminal, I couldn¡¯t help but ask. ¡°How is the world creation researching along?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I asked that, James broke out into a genuine grin, seeming pleased to discuss his findings. ¡°It¡¯s going great, actually! Now that we are beyond the level of development that my world was at in terms of energy control, I am learning so many new things. So far, we¡¯ve still only done the first round of world creation experiments, but just that has already given us so much data to review.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m not sure if you¡¯re aware, but one of the worlds that we created was a potentially viable world. The only problem was that it was created without any form of time eleration inherent, so there was naught but cosmic dust. Chel believes that if we add in enough of a time factor, that world would have been perfectly livable. Unfortunately, such a time factor would require millions, if not billions of years, so we couldn¡¯t exactly wait.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s why, for our next batch, we¡¯re nning to include a time scale like that! As you know, time is rather subjective in the void. With the proper tampering, it wouldn¡¯t be difficult for time to be rapidly elerated for a single world, simr to the Keeper¡¯s controls in the Admin room. If we use that, we could turn a ¡®potentially viable¡¯ world into a new frontier.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After he said that, he let out a long sigh. ¡°Of course, this is still only creating a world with the existing structures. It would be simr to a more advanced version of how Tubrock and Ryone created the universe where the March is, just more independent. If we want to get into the real meat of the research, we¡¯ll need to figure out how to create a world that has its own, custom system.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t stop myself from blinking as he began talking passionately, making sure that I was keeping up with him. ¡°If you can do something like that¡­ doesn¡¯t that mean that it¡¯s possible to rapidly elerate time in any world?¡± I asked, hesitantly. That would be an awful form of attack, elerating a world so much that all life simply dies.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Personally, I¡¯d be more concerned with the opposite happening.¡± James pointed out, lifting one hand. ¡°If the time is elerated inside the world, that means that they literally have all of the time in the world toe up with a solution. They could have Fallen Gods leave the world to fight the enemies.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°However¡­ if it were the other way around, and they instead froze time inside a world, it would be the enemies that had all the time that they needed to destroy that world. Regardless, I¡¯m not sure how one would achieve such a method of time control in either direction, just yet. On an iplete world, it is feasible due to the thin barrier surrounding the world. Once that world barrier bes dense enough, such maniptions are naturally prevented, and the flow of time is stabilized. At that point, it would take a higher order of technology to alter the flow of time, or intervention from the Admin Room.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod at that, d that I wouldn¡¯t need to worry about such attacks. At least, not for a while yet.

 Chapter 1080: Long Distance Relationships

    Chapter 1080: Long Distance Rtionships


    <span style="font-weight:400">After the second round of negotiations with the Hajit, it wasn¡¯t long before the big announcement was sent out through the city, informing everyone of the new alliance with the rest of Fyor. One thing that was nice was the fact that the premade broadcast that the thought bugs created was still perfectly usable now that they were out of the picture. After all, they were still keeping their existence confidential, so they only included what the public would need to hear in the first ce.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Admittedly, there was a bit of unrest within their city for a time, people watching the gate as if it was an exhibit at the zoo while waiting for anyone toe through. When they did go through, these people briefly scattered, as if scared off. Thankfully, the Hajit were strong enough to not let themselves be pushed around by the more forceful adventurers of Fyor, but also peaceful enough that they didn¡¯t try to start any problems themselves.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ultimately, it wasn¡¯t long before an awkward alliance began, with the Hajit incredibly curious about their new allies while the adventurers were simrly curious about the Hajit culture. Meanwhile, Lifre had long since reported back about the next floor, and the rather¡­ violent upants of it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When the guild learned the circumstances of this floor, they considered passing it entirely, once they found the gate to the next one. After all, the fact that the upants were said to be as powerful as James was no joke, with even Lifre needing to get serious to bring one down. This meant that most adventurers would be incapable of surviving on that floor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">On the other hand, Lifre reported back with a far more shocking piece of information, this one kept confidential between herself, the higher ups of the guild, and the pantheon themselves.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­ what is this?¡± I asked, ncing towards the obsidian-like rock that Lifre had deposited on my desk. Although I could identify the rock with my Keeper insight, the information returned was¡­ rather confusing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Like I said, it¡¯s the first step of James¡¯s journey!¡± Lifre smiled proudly, pointing to the rock. ¡°You know how he went all over the ce, before finally settling in the natural energy core of Fyor? From what I can tell, this is what started that journey!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And¡­ where does it lead to?¡± I asked with a hesitant tone, as that information was <i><span style="font-weight:400">not</i><span style="font-weight:400"> provided by the Keeper identification.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No clue!¡± She said with a broad grin. ¡°But wherever it is¡­ the gravity is far less than the sixty-fourth floor.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes widened when I heard that. ¡°Did you explore the area on the other side?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°With a clone! I know the routine. Especially since there was the off chance that this could lead to the outermostyer. The first thing the clone reported back was the lower gravity, and then it went to explore. There were no signs of habitation, and it managed to find the gate within about half a day, but it couldn¡¯t pass through.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">My brow knit together, thinking. ¡°There are a few possibilities. Obviously, this is another in Fyor¡¯s universe. But, if your clone couldn¡¯t pass through, then the system on the Fyor isn¡¯t connected to other systems in some way. Whether they each have their own level restriction or not, it¡¯s hard to say.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre crossed her arms, tilting her head. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that mean that we won¡¯t be able to explore other worlds of Fyor, even if we eventually reach the outside?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± I said with a shake of my head. ¡°I can¡¯t answer that right now. Either the systems will only link up when we reach that outeryer, or we will need to find some mechanism to bypass the ck walls and make it directly to the center and work our way out.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre blinked at that, before her eyes widened. ¡°Oh! The system wouldn¡¯t justpletely lock you out of something you purchased, but it will stick to the guidelines, right? What if there¡¯s a gate at the outermost floor that leads <i><span style="font-weight:400">all</i><span style="font-weight:400"> the way to the center?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eye twitched when I heard that. ¡°I would honestly rather that not be the case, since it means that every we discover within Fyor has to be explored from the inside out. And if the systems aren¡¯t connected, that means that we¡¯ll need to send the weakest of our people to explore the first few floors.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Even childrenmonly had levels ranging from the dozens to over a hundred, meaning that they wouldn¡¯t be able to explore these worlds until the tenth floor of them had been produced. Thankfully, Lifre was able to think of an exnation for that, too. ¡°That¡¯s easy! We just have to get people from Lorek or Spica that have never entered the other world system. As long as we do that, they won¡¯t have any levels in Fyor¡¯s system, but will still have plenty of strength to explore.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small pause, before nodding my head. If that happened, it wouldn¡¯t be so bad. After all, a single cultivator of Lorek would be able to easily reach through the first thirty floors. The hardest part would be finding all of the different orbs on each floor to let others through. If an immortal is sent, they may even be able to reach the limit.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, this was something to worry about in the distant future. For now, there was something far more important. ¡°If this was the first step of his journey, then there should be other materials on the other side that led to the next step.¡± I pointed out.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, Lifre shrugged her shoulders. ¡°I¡¯m not sure. My clone didn¡¯t notice anything, but this might not be the only one of these rocks on that floor. If more than one appeared, he might have taken that one instead. All I know is that this is definitely the type of material that he used to travel.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head at that. From what I could tell, using Lifre¡¯s report and what the system told me, this rock should be made of a simr material as the ck stone walls, only in a much weaker form. Rather than remaining indestructible and blocking all forms of energy from passing through, it simply maintained the ability to connect to a linked stone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It could be assumed that the ck stone walls were either a refined version of this rock, or they were an alloy that used the rocks as a keyponent. Regardless, this warranted further study. ¡°Have you tried getting Aurivy to help you bring the other sample back?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre¡¯s shoulders deted slightly. ¡°I tried, but she said that she couldn¡¯t! Apparently, even her powers can¡¯t bring people in or out of a locked floor like that. Unless we find two sets of rocks that both lead to the same destination, I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll be able to find a matching pair.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was¡­ annoying to say the least. Still, I nodded the head, passing the rock back to Lifre. ¡°This one doesn¡¯t have any properties that block out energies, so see if it can be scanned and replicated. Meanwhile, have your clone continue to explore the other side, just to make sure that this isn¡¯t the same ce that James went to.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre nodded her head, offering a quick salute. ¡°Yes, sir! Though, can¡¯t we just have James go and see if it¡¯s familiar?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">At that, I couldn¡¯t help but shrug my shoulders. ¡°Most likely, he wouldn¡¯t recognize it even if it was the same ce. He wasn¡¯t there for long if it was the right spot, and that was so long ago at this point that it shouldn¡¯t have left enough of an impression.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Heheh¡­ right.¡± Lifre nodded her head. ¡°Anyways, I¡¯ll be right back!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After she said that, Lifre turned and ran out of my office with the stone. She returned a few minutester, now carrying two identical rocks. ¡°It worked!¡± She announced proudly. ¡°But¡­ I should warn you, they both go to the same spot. I tested it after making the copy.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I assumed that would be the case. So, what¡¯s the problem?¡± When I asked that, Lifre set the rocks down, one on each side of the room.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The problem is that the other side is also linked to both of them.¡± She said, sending out a small pulse of mana, likely a signal to the clone that she had waiting on the other side.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A momentter, shreds of blue slime began to spew out of both of the stones in thin ribbons. These ribbons slid along the floor, eventually coalescing into a clone of Lifre, the clone looking <i><span style="font-weight:400">wholly </i><span style="font-weight:400">unamused by the no doubt painful experience.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So¡­ travel is essentially one way now, unless it is someone like yourself that can survive being split like this.¡± I furrowed my brow at the thought. Honestly, any energy being could do something simr, but it was far more natural for her. If a normal god were to undertake that process, they might lose their focus halfway through, and identally disperse their body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Lifre nodded her head. ¡°I was hoping that copying the stone would give me a new set linked to each other¡­ but nope! Just silly string slime!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a long sigh at that, nodding in agreement. ¡°Okay¡­ continue exploring the other side with your clone, and get the World Spirit of Fyor to help you find any other stones that might be on that floor.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre offered another salute, taking the two stones with her as she left the room. Leaning back in my seat, I closed my eyes, mentallymunicating with Terra. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Why does it feel like the time to explore other worlds of Fyor ising increasingly closer? I thought that it wouldn¡¯t be for decades¡­ no, centuries still?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was an amused chuckle from the other side, Terra responding in aforting tone. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It still could be. The only way that this would lead to early exploration would be if one of these stones led to either the very top or the central floor of another world. And, for our sake, I would hope that it wouldn¡¯t be the former.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head in agreement. With how many void monsters regrlytch onto Fyor¡¯s world, even with our patrols, I could only imagine the utter devastation that the top floor had be. Thews of physics might not even be the same anymore, for all I knew. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Agreed. I¡¯d like to steer clear of the outermost floor for as long as possible.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, we would need to confront it eventually, but ¡®eventually¡¯ was supposed to still be a long time away from <i><span style="font-weight:400">now</i><span style="font-weight:400">. That was the continued hope, at least.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Back on the sixty-fourth floor of Fyor, Lifre cleared her throat. ¡°Little friend, little friend, I¡¯ve got a job to do!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The natural energy around Lifre shifted, condensing in a green swirl that took the form of a small, halfling girl wearing a green shirt, brown pants, and a backpack. The World Spirit of Fyor looked around, a look of curiosity on her face. ¡°Why does thisyer feel familiar?¡± She asked curiously.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Uh, yeah¡­ about that. This is theyer that Jameses from. The Keeper asked me to bring you here to help me find something.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When the spirit heard that, her eyes widened in surprise. Lifre quickly held up a hand to stop her. ¡°Before you go running off to meet them¡­ the people on thisyer are <i><span style="font-weight:400">really</i><span style="font-weight:400"> violent. Like, smash your face in because you looked at them wrong violent. James was the smart one and got away when he did.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The small spirit visibly deted when she heard that, though Lifre smiled again. ¡°Thankfully, we¡¯re not here to fight them. What we¡¯re here to do is try to retrace the path that James took in order to get where you originally found him. The first step is finding more of these rocks.¡± She said, producing one of the two ck stones that she had in her possession.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing that they were going to be retracing James¡¯s step, excitement once again returned to the spirit¡¯s features, clearly eager to see what he had gone through to find his way to the natural energy core.

 Chapter 1081: Where There’s A Will

    Chapter 1081: Where There¡¯s A Will


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre ran through the rocky teaus of the sixty-fourth floor, the world spirit floating alongside her. The spirit had already identified another cluster of ck rocks that were embedded in a cave wall far away, so the duo were quickly making their way over.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At first, Lifre had wanted to simply teleport to the cave to begin her exploration of the linked destination, but the spirit asked to take the scenic route. In her opinion, it was still valuable to explore this territory manually, as opposed to simply appearing at their destination. Of course, Lifre understood that what she really wanted was to see more of the ce that James had originallye from.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Still, she indulged in the spirit¡¯s wishes, the two rapidly traveling through the floor. Thanks to Lifre keeping an eye out for any probing World Sight, they were able to avoid the gaze of any other entities from this floor, reaching the cave after approximately an hour. Once there, Lifre swept her senses over the cave, finding it old and abandoned. There did not appear to be any signs that anyone had been there for a long time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, where¡¯s the good stuff?¡± Lifre asked with a yful tone, the world spiritnding on the ground and walking deeper into the cave.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s back here.¡± She responded, creating a small ball of light that illuminated the dark cave. Once the light began to shine out, Lifre was able to recognize a small, ck clump at the furthest wall back. She couldn¡¯t tell if the ck rock had naturally grown there, or if someone nted it thereter, but it was clearly the same type of material as what she had found before.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What do we do now?¡± The spirit asked in excitement, while Lifre walked up to inspect the mineral.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We¡¯ve got a protocol to follow. I¡¯m going to send a clone of myself through this stone, and have it run around for a few minutes. If it survives that long, and does not experience any memetic interference, it will report back. If ites back early, we have to immediately destroy it before it can transmit any possibly hazardous information.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she said that, Lifre began to separate a piece of her slime, allowing it to grow into an identical copy of herself. Watching this, the spirit tilted her head. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be faster if I just went to the other side to investigate?¡± She asked anxiously, Lifre reaching over and chopping the top of her head with a hand. ¡°Hey! What was that for?!¡± She asked indignantly, crouching down and holding her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We can¡¯t risk you getting infected.¡± Lifre said in a firm tone. ¡°Any time there is a memetic threat, all world spirits have to immediately evacuate the area. Not only that, but you are forbidden from exposing any part of your senses to the infected area.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If one of you were to be infected by a hazardous meme, there is no telling what kind of damage that would cause to the natural energy of the entire world. Maybe just infecting you would be worse than if the entire world was infected by that same meme.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing that, the spirit¡¯s eyes went wide, and she slowly nodded her head, understanding the seriousness of the matter. Although they were tracing James¡¯s steps, there were no guarantees that this was the exact rock that he had used to get to the natural energy core.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Now, this clone of myself has entirely severed its mental connection with me. Until it gets back, and we have inspected it for any potentially hazardous contamination, that connection will remain severed.¡± After she said that, Lifre had her clone walk over and pass through the ck stone, crossing her arms and waiting. ¡°Five minutes, starting now.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Despite both of them knowing that the process wouldst a full five minutes, neither of them were incredibly patient individuals. Given their actual ages, this in itself was a wonder. By the end of the five minutes, not only the spirit, but even Lifre was bouncing in anticipation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Right on time, after exactly three hundred seconds had passed, the stone seemed to shimmer, and another Lifre walked out from the wall of the cave. ¡°Well? Did you find anything?¡± The spirit asked, but Lifre¡¯s true body cut her off by erecting a barrier around the clone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Like I said, inspection first.¡± Lifre spoke firmly. She held one hand forward, pushing it into the air and creating a golden ripple. When she pulled her hand back, a set of scales were within her palm. ¡°My method of inspection is an artifact that I crafted with a little help from Terra, the Trial of Fate¡¯s Scales.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It takes a fair amount of divinity to use it, but when I do, I can measure the weight of various actions. For instance, I can see if it is safe to let the clone out of the barrier by cing the two actions of ¡®releasing the clone¡¯ and ¡®destroying the clone¡¯. Whichever action has the more negative consequences will be ¡®heavier¡¯.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As Lifre said that, she created two tokens in the air, cing one on each arm of the scales. Once she infused her divinity into the scales, there was a sharp drop on one side, causing the spirit to look on in worry. ¡°Was that freedom, or destruction?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre looked at the token that had dropped the scales, smiling slightly. ¡°Destruction. Which means that freedom is the ¡®positive¡¯ answer.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After she made that confirmation, Lifre removed the barrier that surrounded her clone, re-establishing the mental link. ¡°So, did you find anything?¡± The spirit asked once again, ncing to Lifre as if waiting to be stopped again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°A bit.¡± The clone nodded her head. ¡°The floor on the other side definitely has a lighter gravity than this one, but not by much. If I were to guess, it would be in thete fifties. Still, it wasn¡¯t the same that we¡¯re on now, because I wasn¡¯t able to ess the system.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Was it dangerous there?¡± The spirit asked in a hesitant tone, though the clone shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It was night-time, and my main body didn¡¯t give me a core for World Sight, so I wasn¡¯t able to properly assess the local lifeforms. However, I could definitely hear movement in the distance.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The original Lifre nodded her head, reviewing the five minutes of memories. ¡°It sounds like a giant. Big, crushing footsteps. It should be safe for the two of us to go over, though. Even if the system isn¡¯t in ce there, I don¡¯t lose my power.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The spirit smiled brightly, and the two of them began to pass through the stone. However, on the other side, Lifre only saw the spirit appear for a brief moment, before she suddenly vanished. Lifre¡¯s eyes went wide, looking around and scanning the area with her energy. ¡°Little friend? Little friend, where are you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">With her World Sight, she could sense that there was only a faint trace of the spirit¡¯s presence left behind, as if it had teleported elsewhere. Clearing her throat, Lifre mobilized the natural energy in the air to call out. ¡°Little friend, little friend,e back and y!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Green light rushed forth in a wave, converging in front of Lifre and immediately dispersing. Blinking in surprise, she rushed back to the sixty-fourth floor of Fyor again, where she found the spirit waiting, a despondent look on her face. ¡°What happened?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I was expelled.¡± She answered in a sulking tone. ¡°As soon as I got to the other side, I felt something pulling me, and was ejected to the natural energy core of Fyor. I rushed back over as soon as I could, and felt you calling me from the other side, but couldn¡¯t go to you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Has this¡­ ever happened to you before?¡± She asked in confusion, and the spirit answered.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not for a long time, but yes. When I was first created in Fyor by the Keeper, I was expelled in the same manner. I thought that having me epted by the system here would have solved my problems, but it would seem that I must be epted by every we visit in Fyor.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre pursed her lips, before an idea urred to her. ¡°So, listen to this. What if, every time I hit a new area, I try to call you? Then, we can test your range of activity, and also get a confirmation on anywhere that I end up. I also want to try to bring back the orbs from the other side, just to see if they would work on our crystal spire.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The world spirit paused, looking at Lifre hesitantly. ¡°If they do¡­ won¡¯t you be robbing that world of one of its precious level spheres?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre shrugged her shoulders carelessly. ¡°And? By the time we¡¯re able to properly explore that area, we¡¯ll have way more options to bypass the level system!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay¡­ but how are you going to find it? Do you have something from the Keeper to help with that?¡± She asked, and that made Lifre pause.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The go-to answer would usually be to have Aurivy find something, and then teleport it to them. However, that wasn¡¯t possible here. As the floor was considered outside of Dale¡¯s territory, Aurivy wouldn¡¯t even be able to observe her there. Lifre paused, starting to walk back and forth while thinking.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After a few minutes of silence, the spirit simply turning her head from side to side to watch her, Lifre lifted a hand. ¡°I¡¯ve got it! Even if Aurivy can¡¯t go there, we¡¯ve got someone else that can!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We do?¡± The spirit asked in confusion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yup! She should be free by now, too.¡± Lifre grinned broadly, closing her eyes. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Petra! Petra! Hey Peeetra! Answer the call already!</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">What?!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Petra¡¯s annoyed voice responded after Lifre¡¯s persistent messaging. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I was trying to have dinner, what¡¯s going on?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Hi! </i><span style="font-weight:400">Lifre responded, causing Petra to pause.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Did you do all of that just to say hi?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Of course not! Wanna help me explore another of Fyor, add two moreyers to your shadow world, possibly increase the level limit of Fyor as a whole, and see amazing new sights?!</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was another long pause. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Lifre¡­ okay, fine. Where am I going?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">District nine-eight-five-seven-three, pod seven! From there, go to the ck gate, and you¡¯ll get the sixty-fourth floor. You should be able to find me once you have that.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Can I finish eating first?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Petra asked with a faint grumble.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">What¡¯s more important, food or adventure?!</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Is that a serious question?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre tilted her head before responding. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It might be! Hurry up and finish. Oh, and the locals here are all basically James on a warpath. Move through your shadow world where you can!</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Now you tell me?!</i>

 Chapter 1082: Network Security

    Chapter 1082: Network Security


    <span style="font-weight:400">I sat in my office, reading through the reports that had been delivered by Lifre. It had now been three weeks since her discovery of the ck stone, so she had taken both Petra and the local World Spirit on an adventure. Throughout the process, they documented six different sets of ck stones, the spirit noting that these appeared to be all of the stones on the floor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of the six stones, none of them led to the same destinations, nor did any of them lead to either a uppermost or innermost floor, meaning that this would not allow for the convenient exploration of others in Fyor. Additionally, none of these stones went to the same as the one that they had been exploring, as all of the stones only connected to lower level floors.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, upon exploring these other floors, they found one that possessed mana stones. ording to Lifre¡¯s spection, as this was the only other floor where they found such a material, it was likely to be the next step of James¡¯s original path, but this couldn¡¯t be confirmed. After all, without the World Spirit able to join them on the other side of each set of stones, they were unable to confirm whether or not there were any other, simr materials in any of the six locations.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Regardless of this, Lifre was happy to conclude her investigation there. I was worried that she might try to trace his path through the mana core, but she didn¡¯t go that far. Even Lifre was wary of the dangers posed by the creatures that resided within this area.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While Lifre was having her adventure, there was little else of note. The second wave of test engines failed, though this time they had the foresight to send unmanned ships. Because of this, there was still no reliable method of exploring outside of the Hypene Network yet.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Additionally, Aznod had worked to poprize a new cooking method, modified from how the Hajit prepare their street food. These new ¡®vored energy¡¯ packs were circting primarily around Deckan, but were starting to make themselves evident in other worlds too. I even tried it for myself, and found that it was exceptional. Tsubaki had begun practicing to make it herself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">On an unrted note, I had received the list of proposed trades from Berose, and had taken the time to review it. For the most part, I didn¡¯t see anything that I thought was important. They had a few interesting inventions, but nothing really that seemed worth paying arge amount of points for. If anything, just the idea of the inventions would be enough for some research teams to create them..


    <span style="font-weight:400">Perhaps the most special item on the list was a memetic monitor. ording to the trade list, this was a refined system that could be uploaded into arge-scalework, and would constantly be on the lookout for any ¡®infected information¡¯. Once such information was found, it would be promptly censored, with an alert sent to relevant authorities.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This reminded me of the divine abilities that Lavender had developed, but on a muchrger scale. After seeing this on the list and realizing what it meant, I sent him a message to ask more about it. Thankfully, he seemed rather inclined to share.


    <span style="font-weight:400">ording to Berose, the memetic monitor was created due to arge-scale void outbreak on his world, which led to numerous void beasts attacking variouss. At the time, his Fallen Gods were unable to mobilize on arge enough scale to deal with the threat, so there was chaos for quite a while. To prevent such an event from happening again, he created this, which he imed was capable of detecting memetic influence from both void beasts and more local sources.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Additionally, it could interact with cameras that were hooked up to the same system as it, hiding any dangerous information from being spread. However, he did include a warning with the detailed description, and that was that the system had to be reced once every year, with its past data wiped and reinstalled.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In truth, the system could maintain normal functions for at least a century before any corruption set in. However, if the load on the system was especially heavy, whether due to an excessivelyrge system or the appearance of numerous entities that had to be censored, this lifespan could shorten drastically. To ensure safety, the one-year timeframe was created. After all, there was no way to properly monitor the corruption rate of the system without risking the person doing the inspection themselves bing infected.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I had to admit that I was quite tempted when I saw this item. I knew that Berose was a Keeper that had ¡®retired¡¯ at the highest point of the Fourth Rank. Because of this, he had ess to a lot of methods rted to the void. Something like a filter to censor out infected information was a wee addition.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Afterwards, I asked if there were any notable downsides of the system, to which he admitted that there were two. Because all infected information is equally censored, it simultaneously prevents the spread of beneficial memes and at the same time allows people tomunicate by infecting the information with harmless memetic influence.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The former case could prevent the ruling power from spreading a calming effect to the popce, or even an anti-meme to counter a widespread infection. In order to do so, the entire system had to be temporarily taken offline. As for thetter case, the most that could be known was that a group of people weremunicating via infected information, but the contents of their conversations would bepletely unknown.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As for the price of this system, he offered it to me for a full one hundred thousand points. This was¡­ arge sum of points. Admittedly, I <i><span style="font-weight:400">had</i><span style="font-weight:400"> the points, but I would need to discuss with the others on whether I wanted to get the system from him, or if Chelsea and the others thought that they would be able to create it on their own.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I told Berose that I would let him know my decision with plenty of time to spare before the deadline, preparing to shift my attention to other matters. There had still been no new purchases for Ashley¡¯stest game, unfortunately, so it seemed like this project had operated at a loss. Thankfully, she was undeterred, and had already set up an office from which she could work together with Ghan in real time. I wasn¡¯t sure at first how she would manage to do this, but the results actually surprised me. Because Ascension had a rather small yerbase, she recruited the artificial intelligence behind the game, known as Mary.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mary, being a unique type of entity that could connect to both the Admin Room and the mortal world without any dy, was capable of real-timemunication. From this office, she could send any requirements from Ghan to the workers in the Admin Room, and vice versa. Moreover, because she was the primary spirit of Ascension, she was uniquely suited to help them create the NPCs in that game.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona had been keeping a careful watch on the reportsing in through her office, wary for anything that might have led to the scenario that Phisher had previously foreseen. From what she could tell, there didn¡¯t seem to be any continuing problems, no sudden interest in memetic research.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She had even checked to make sure that it had nothing to do with the food that Aznod brought back from the Hajit city, confirming multiple times that the food had absolutely no rtion to memetic properties. Everything that she found pointed towards the cause having been the universalnguage that she had squashed when Phisher gave his initial report.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, she couldn¡¯t be certain that was the case. After all, Phisher did not show a guaranteed future, but rather only a possible one. It was possible for the universalnguage to be created without any risk of mutation, but the future that he saw changed that. Either way, his predictions had saved the world more than once, so she was inclined to prepare for the worst. Especially when ¡®the worst¡¯ could very well lead to the extinction of all life on the.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she let out a sigh of relief, Aznod opened the door, making his way into the office. ¡°Is everything alright?¡± He asked curiously, to which Udona nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m fine. Just dealing with the usual stuff. Were you able to get anything interesting on your end?¡± She asked, knowing that Aznod had briefly tried the new Ascension game. He always tried the new games at least once, just to see if there were any unique cooking insights that could be gained from them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod simply shook his head, moving to sit next to Udona. ¡°Unfortunately, not. The world economy within the game is still too new. They¡¯ve only just developed their first few cities, so there isn¡¯t really a food culture or anything there yet. Perhaps in a few more years, or even a decade or two. However, I¡¯m not hopeful when ites to that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona nodded at that, leaning over against his shoulder. ¡°At least there¡¯s still plenty for you to discover in Fragments of Acidia?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod couldn¡¯t help but chuckle when he heard that. As that game was an entire gxy of life, there were many sights there that the two of them had yet to see, even before the game¡¯s forced restart. ¡°I suppose there is. In that case, you¡¯ll need to join me when you get the chance.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona smiled, looking forward to that. Just as she was about to speak up, an alert on her terminal startled her, making her nce over. Part of her was dreading that this could be the rm for the memetic attack that Phisher had mentioned.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Instead, what she saw on the screen was a report from Ashtanu¡¯s local observatory. Because of the new barrier around the systems, their ability to function had been greatly reduced. However, they still had their ability to monitor the system that they were in, and so they busied themselves with doing just that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona arched a brow at the report, opening the message. ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ in the early morning, just before nine o¡¯clock, a significant spike was detected within the¡¯s dimensium energy signatures. Simr spikes were reported from other observatories across their Hypene Network. Cause unknown, effects unknown.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona pursed her lips when she read this. Dimensium was a material unique to Deckan, as well as the golem world that was created as a ¡®twin¡¯ of Deckan. For the most part, this material didn¡¯t give off any powerful fluctuations, the energy it released serving as little more than background radiation that enabled the use of card magic.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Have you noticed any problems with your cards today?¡± Udona asked Aznod, who read over the message himself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod shook his head, but then paused. ¡°To be fair, I haven¡¯t had the chance to really use any today. However, if there was a problem with the cards, you would have been notified of it long ago. If anything, I would suggest checking with the Metong and the March. Perhaps they would have more information about what such a pulse meant.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona let out a small sigh, agreeing that such was the right thing to do. Waving a hand, she sent out amunication request with the High Mother, who answered surprisingly quickly. On the other end of the video call, the liquid metal golem that served as the highest ruling power of the Metong smiled at Udona. ¡°Is there something that I can do for you, Lady Udona?¡± She asked politely.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona didn¡¯t feel like beating around the bush, so she got straight to the point. ¡°Earlier today, our scans detected a wide-scale pulse in the background dimensium energy, all across the Hypene Network. You and the March have done more studies on dimensium than we have, so I wanted to ask if you had any ideas as to what would be the cause.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona was still rather rxed, but she noticed the High Mother¡¯s face falling for a moment, before returning to her normal smile. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ unusual. Normally, dimensium energy doesn¡¯t fluctuate on such arge scale. However, we experienced something simr, both the March and our own race.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Unlike your response, though, the dimensium energy within our world was greatly depleted for roughly ten seconds earlier in the day. This was rather troubling, so I quickly consulted with the March King to confirm that the situation was present on his side as well.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona¡¯s eyes widened slightly, sitting up straighter in her seat to pay more attention to the call. If this was true, she had no idea what it meant. She just couldn¡¯t imagine it leading to anything good.

 Chapter 1083: The Sky Is Falling?

    Chapter 1083: The Sky Is Falling?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona paced back and forth in her office, looking at the various reports that she had on her desk. Over thest three days, there had been increasing spikes in dimensium activity within Deckan. Simultaneously, the dimensium within the realm belonging to the March and Metong were disappearing at the same intervals.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The first time that it happened, the changested for only two seconds. After that, itsted for ten seconds, then a minute. By the fifth time that the spike urred, dimensium activity was altered in both realms for a full ten minutes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Projected on the wall of her office were the images of both the High Mother and the March King. Although the March King was naturally expressionless, his face too rigid to convey emotions, the High Mother looked incredibly worried. ¡°Is there anything that you know about this, as a member of the Greater Pantheon?¡± She asked, though Udona could only shake her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Nothing. We¡¯ve never had anything like this before. Can you think of <i><span style="font-weight:400">anything </i><span style="font-weight:400">that has happened in either of your worlds that could have led to this, most likely within the week prior to the first activity?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When they were asked this, the two each looked at the other¡¯s projection, seeing clear uncertainty in their eyes. ¡°There has been no new research projects regarding dimensium within the March systems.¡± The king said in an electronic tone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°While the Metong are always studying dimensium, nothing that we¡¯ve dely should have any kind of universal impact. At least, none of the logged projects. There¡¯s always the chance that somebody in one of our races is doing a research project without informing the higher ups.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona gave a short nod. It was impossible for anyone to try to monitor every secret project. She closed her eyes, sending out a distress message. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Terra? Can you tell me anything about this?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Normally, Udona didn¡¯t like to rely on Terra for things like this, as she preferred to take care of her own problems. More importantly, it felt like she was taking advantage of her sister¡¯s position as a part of the system.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After a few moments, Terra responded somberly. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I can tell you that this isn¡¯t a response to any mortal projects¡­</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Are you able to tell me what is causing it? Or any kind of solution? If this continues, won¡¯t that realmpletely lose its dimensium?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra fell silent again, before speaking in a soft, almostforting tone. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯s not just the dimensium, Udona¡­</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona¡¯s eyes widened, her ears standing on end. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Don¡¯t tell me¡­</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s right.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Terra confirmed Udona¡¯s inner thoughts. <i><span style="font-weight:400">That realm is copsing. The dimensium is merely the first symptom.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona¡¯s pace back and forth in her office immediately quickened, the two royals watching her as she held a silent conversation with Terra. <i><span style="font-weight:400">But why? Why now, of all times? And what could have caused it?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Have you forgotten how that realm was made?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Terra asked, and Udona had to think back to recall.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The world of the golems was not actually made through the system. In an attempt to cut costs, Ryone had created a cut in the fabric of space, cloning Deckan and attaching the second world to it. That was how the Geer had originally made it to Deckan, by finding regions of destabilized space that they could slip through.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">But¡­ why is it only happening now? That world has been around for so long at this point!</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">This time, Terra couldn¡¯t quickly answer. <i><span style="font-weight:400">All I can say is that it is likely because of V-Day. The disturbance caused by those void monsters was immense, and could have disrupted the bnce between the two worlds. In fact, it¡¯s possible that these instabilities have been urring for quite some time, but they only just got to the point where they became noticeable.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona bit her lip, trying to think. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Can¡­ can you tell me which world is going to fall? Is it theirs, or Deckan?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra let out a long sigh. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Deckan was created by the system, and has the highest stability. The world created by Ryone is merely a soap bubble clinging to the side of it, getting ready to finally pop.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was not the answer that Udona wanted to hear, though it was what she expected. If it was Deckan that was doomed to failure, they would only need to evacuate a few worlds, and there was plenty of space among the other realms. However, even after the events of V-Day, the sheer number of worlds governed by both the March and the Metong was staggering. Maybe only one in every hundreds could have their poption saved, especially now that they couldn¡¯t reliably explore outside of the Hypene Network.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a solemn look on her face, Udona turned to face the two royals. There was no good way to put this. ¡°I just consulted with my sister, and she has identified the cause of the disturbance.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Initially, the High Mother looked as if she wanted to be hopeful, but seeing Udona¡¯s serious expression, her face fell further. ¡°There¡¯s no fixing it, is there?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona shook her head. ¡°ording to what she has discovered, your realm is going to copse. The dimensium is only the first sign. I don¡¯t know how much time your world has left, but it will probably not be long. A year, a month, maybe even only a week.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Numbers could be seen shing through the eyes of the March King before he spoke. ¡°If a mandatory evacuation takes ce, given the current resources, it is estimated that we can preserve zero-point-zero-zero-zero-one percent of our empire¡¯s collective poptions every day, taking into ount the traffic of inter-universal gateways.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The High Mother bit her lip, her silver body tensing. ¡°There¡¯s got to be something. What if we deployed Fallen Gods to help stabilize the world barrier?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona shook her head. ¡°You can dy the problem like that, but I don¡¯t know if there is a way to fix the damage that¡¯s been done. At best, I can suggest getting in contact with the Another World Research Group. They are working on a world creation project, after all. If they are able to get even a temporary realm created for you, there is a chance to save more people.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°But even then, we can¡¯t save <i><span style="font-weight:400">everyone</i><span style="font-weight:400">.¡± The High Mother said in a tone of solemn understanding. ¡°Additionally, if this is due to the copse of the world barrier, then anyrge-scale traffic could elerate the degradation.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">She lowered her head in thought, before looking at the March King. ¡°My good sir, I have a proposal. For now, we mustpletely cease all travel in and out of our universe. Additionally, we need to close all existing portals, including those formunicationworks. This will buy the most time from our end.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°After that, we can have Fallen Gods sent from other worlds to try and slow the progress of the world¡¯s destruction. While this happens, our two empires must try to create a new project for rapid research and development. We need to create a device capable of storing an entire and its inhabitants <i><span style="font-weight:400">safely</i><span style="font-weight:400"> in a space no more than three centimeters cubed. If we do that, and can mass produce this device, we can go to each world to package it, and then move to a new realm created by this research foundation.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There is one more problem.¡± Udona interjected while the March King was deliberating the idea. ¡°The Digital Conversion system may elerate the problem. Any production methods you use for this n have to be carried out conventionally.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The High Mother¡¯s silver face showed reluctance, but she firmly nodded her head. ¡°If that¡¯s the case¡­ it¡¯s unlikely we¡¯ll be able to make enough in time¡­ but we have to try. We need to put thebined power of both of our empires behind this one project. I¡¯m sorry, Udona, but I do not believe that we will be in any position to help with breaching the Hypene Network until this problem is dealt with.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona nodded her head, fully understanding that. Although the March and Metong were the best researchers she knew, due to each of their kind being an advanced supeputer, there was no way that their help could be expected when they couldn¡¯t even help themselves.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I wish you both the best of luck. If you need any help, remember to pray. A prayer to the Greater Pantheon should have no influence on the world barrier in the slightest.¡± The High Mother looked relieved when she heard that, d that there was at least some method ofmunicating with the outside world that could be preserved.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Very well.¡± The March King nodded his eptance of the n. ¡°I will begin enacting the initial stages immediately. Udona, I shall leave it to you and the others to ensure that no traveler attempts to cross into ournd.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona smiled reassuringly. ¡°I¡¯ll make sure that they know your realm is under lockdown.¡± After she said that, she cut the call with the two, immediately changing to call Chelsea.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yo, Udona, what¡¯s with the serious face?¡± Chelsea asked when the call connected, a smudge of grease on her cheek.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°How quickly can you get a stable world generated? It can have a simple copy of another world¡¯sws, and it doesn¡¯t need to be permanent.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing Udona¡¯s tone, Chelsea¡¯s face became serious. ¡°If I get a full scan of the four cores for the world that I¡¯m copying, I can have a module ready in¡­ three weeks? It will take a little time for simtions and testing, why?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The world of Tubrock¡¯s golems is copsing.¡± Chelsea¡¯s eyes widened when she heard that, before narrowing in focus.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Give me two weeks, and I can have a temporary shelter. I¡¯ll say this now, if the world is copsing because of aw instability, I can¡¯t use their current realm as the basis, nor Deckan. I¡¯ll need to use the cores from the A.W.R.G. universe. This means that they won¡¯t have ess to naturally urring dimensium anymore.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s fine.¡± Udona agreed without hesitation. ¡°It¡¯s a far cry better than doing nothing. Do you have any idea how long the shelter willst?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not without testing. However, we don¡¯t have the technology to do a universal time eleration yet. I can make the space, but they¡¯ll need to bring thendmass.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Chelsea said that, Udona gave a firm nod. ¡°They¡¯re researching that right now. They won¡¯t leave behind all of the different races that they are governing.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m sure.¡± Chelsea smiled. ¡°Though¡­ why are you bringing this to me? If you need a new world, couldn¡¯t Dale make aplete copy of Deckan for them?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona¡­ paused. She had been so focused on solving things from a mortal standpoint that she had forgotten about such a simple solution. ¡°Let¡¯s¡­ try our way first. If you can¡¯t get the temporary shelter established in time, we will use the system to create aplete world. Either way, it won¡¯t be possible to move everyone from their empires until they finish their current research, so we have time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea nodded her head, chuckling faintly. ¡°I suppose. For now, I¡¯ll use the scans of our cores to begin constructing a clone universe. Once I have all of the materials I need, and we can construct a void defense around the new world, I¡¯ll let you know.¡±

 Chapter 1084: Productivity

    Chapter 1084: Productivity


    <span style="font-weight:400">While Udona was struggling with ideas on how to forestall the copse of the golem realm, Dana was hard at work within her workshop. With everything else out of the way, she wanted to work on her personal projects some more.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Due to the problems of energy consumption andrge-scale regtions, she had to give up on the idea of a single tool that could act as a mass-produced protection device for the people of the various worlds. It was¡­ regrettable, but there were simply too many problems with such a n once she actually got into the creation process.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Simrly, creating a spell that could identify and punish wrongdoers would be no different from having an incredibly powerfulputer do the same. While it would be possible, the popr was unlikely to ept it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This began to narrow Dana¡¯s list of projects as she realized the various faults that they had, trying to find one that was equally <i><span style="font-weight:400">possible</i><span style="font-weight:400"> and still impressive enough to be something she could be proud of.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This led to her sitting at her workbench, drawing out the n for a bracer with a small port attached to the front. In order to solve the problems that people were presently facing, Dana didn¡¯t need to invent a new technology, only create a way to repurpose what already existed in a more usable form.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For this technology, what Dana was modifying was the cloning technology that Tubrock had created for Olympus. Specifically, what was used in Tsubaki¡¯s training room to allow her to ce herself in a mortal body to handle her trials.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When it came tow enforcement, their mostmon and simultaneously most difficult challenge was dealing with energy bodies. Most criminals that possess significant enough strength to stand against the police or the army would have long shed their mortal forms. This alone makes them far more difficult to confine, as they can simply reshape their body ording to their thoughts.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Up to this point, the mostmon way of handling such threats was to hit them with a powerful sleep spell or simr effect, and then make sure that they did not wake up until they were in a solid room with no openings to escape from. This room was then covered in a system null zone and anti-magic, with the entire facility under specific void shielding to prevent any form of spatial travel.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Such cells were¡­ costly to say the least. Between the raw materials for the prison cell and the energy needed to maintain the various wards, it was hard for the police to be able to keep criminals properly contained. And that was when they didn¡¯t have some unique energy that allowed them to simply invalidate those wards.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, Dana sought a way to resolve this problem. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Sienna, I¡¯m going to need test subjects. Train up six shadow people at various levels ranging from two hundred to one thousand, with a time limit of one month. All of them should be pure energy bodies by the end of the deadline. At least two of them should have gone through the three steps of perfection.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Understood.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Sienna responded immediately, and Dana could feel the fluctuation in her shadow that indicated that this order was being carried out.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana¡¯s n was simple. A person¡¯s entire being was divided into three parts, that being their mana, ki, and spirit. Ki was a reflection of DNA, and could be used to urately identify an individual. Through the right refinement, it was even possible to reproduce true blood by converting their ki.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Meanwhile, mana and spirit were the core of the mind and soul. In Dana¡¯s opinion, the hard part was not creating a mortal body through the target¡¯s ki, but rather forcing the core of their being into that body. This was especially the case for divine beings, or those that had achieved all three steps of perfection.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, Dana was confident that she could make it work, because she had time on her side. The port at the end of the bracer was a carduncher. When activated, it wouldunch a specially designed containment card at the target, trapping them inside. This was only a temporary measure, as most people strong enough to warrant this method would have a way around it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If the upied card was then ced back in the bracelet, it would put the contents inside into a vastly decelerated flow of time, while also collecting the ambient energy from them to produce the necessary clone body. Back at the police station, the body would be printed at level one, and the consciousness within the card would be uploaded.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If everything went ording to Dana¡¯s n, this could take a new form of capital punishment. Rather than killing the individual, it would be their achievements that would be killed. A god could be mortal again, having to start over from nothing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, this wasn¡¯t perfect. Dana knew that a god would not lose their full divine status from something like this. They would most likely be a demigod in their new body, due to the powerful energy permeating their body at the moment of transfer. Simrly, those that had achieved perfection would have an edge over their peers in terms of energy stability.


    <span style="font-weight:400">None of this would matter much, though, as they would still be reduced to level one. At this level, even a normal child would be stronger than them, so the police would have no trouble keeping them in check. They wouldn¡¯t even have the energy to cast an advanced spell, no matter how powerful a mage they had been before.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The clone printer was something that Tubrock had made long ago, so it only needed a few modifications. Simrly, a capture card was not difficult for Dana to produce. The struggle came in the stasis field, andbining everything together into a form that could be made standard-issue forw enforcement.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°She seems to have found something fun to work on.¡± Tsubaki said with a smile as we passed by Dana¡¯s workshop, hearing the sounds of heavy machinery echoing from inside. We had nned toe and see if she wanted to watch a movie together, but changed our minds when we saw how busy she appeared to be.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As long as she is enjoying herself, that¡¯s fine.¡± I nodded my head, hands in my pockets as I walked. Udona had already sent in her report about what was going on with Deckan, so there was nothing more that I could do about that for now.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Even if I wanted to get directly involved as the Keeper, the most that I would be able to do is create the universe for the popce to be moved to. I wasn¡¯t able to mass-produce devices that didn¡¯t exist yet, or move the poption of two gctic empires to a different universe.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As for asking Aurivy to handle it as the Goddess of Travel? I have no doubt that she could if she pushed herself¡­ but doing so would leave her out ofmission for years toe while she recovered her power. If another incident happened that mortals had no way of solving, and we needed her power, there would be nothing that we could do.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I had faith that the Metong and the March could create the device they needed in time. Mass producing it in high enough quantities would be difficult, but they literally lived on-sized forges. There had to be ways for them to get it done.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What do you want to do now?¡± Tsubaki¡¯s voice snapped me out of my thoughts, and I smiled back at her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Something productive¡­ is what I¡¯d like to say. However, there¡¯s not much that I can contribute to the major leading powers at this point. I¡¯m not a super scientist like James, or a brilliant political leader. There¡¯s nothing that needs me to punch it <i><span style="font-weight:400">really</i><span style="font-weight:400"> hard, so I¡¯m not entirely sure what I can do for now.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki blinked, before nodding her head in understanding. ¡°That¡¯s reasonable. After all, there is little that one more set of helping hands could aplish in these circumstances. However, to say that there is nothing that you can do is not exactly urate.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I heard that, I tilted my head curiously at her, wondering what she meant. Thankfully, she continued. ¡°There is one thing that you can do, and only you can do right now, my Keeper. If you are set on acting in a productive manner, and willing to expend some of your resources to do so. I am not talking about points, but rather something else.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m listening.¡± I turned to fully face her, and Tsubaki smiled.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Currently, one of the leading problems facing the world is the inability to escape the Hypene Networks without facing the armies of memetic monsters awaiting outside. By my understanding, you have a way to fix this. Or, at the very least, a way to <i><span style="font-weight:400">discover</i><span style="font-weight:400"> a way to fix it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked in surprise, taking a moment to realize what she meant. ¡°The Sorcerer title?¡± This was a title that I had gained long ago from the system, but I rarely used. The reason for this being that it could only be used once a month, and I was always worried that something else woulde up that I would need it for. Gradually, this had led to me forgetting about it entirely.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded her head, and I began to give it some thought. It was only a matter of time before the mortals of my realm discovered the way to move beyond the Hypene Network. The problem was that they didn¡¯t all have much time right now. Being restricted by thework would no doubt slow down the process of the Metong and March trying to save their worlds.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, with a nod, I agreed, and began to focus. I needed to word this very specifically in order to get the result I desired. At the same time, I began mentally recording everything, ready to project it with my Illusion domain to share the information with Tsubaki.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I need a magical construct that will allow arge transportation vessel to safely pass through the Hypene Network¡¯s barrier and avoid the attack of memetic monsters outside.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> As soon as I finished my request, I felt information flooding into my brain. A dense diagram appeared, and I struggled to replicate it with my domain.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This wasn¡¯t a third-tier spell diagram, or even a fourth, but one of the fifth tier. I saw a dark, silvery ball of metal with over fifty tiny spell formations embedded within. As I reproduced the image for Tsubaki, she was quick to note down the smallest detail.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once I saw the finished product, a rough description entered my mind. ¡°It¡¯s aplete information barrier¡­ This design will prevent any form of memetic infection bypletely blocking out all information from the outside world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The additional nodes on the device are to digitally reproduce ¡®artistic renderings¡¯ of the surroundings that have been censored of any form of contaminated information. The shield is meant to be constantly active, but the energy consumption¡­ I don¡¯t know if this will be viable.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki simply smiled when I said that. ¡°Let them worry about the energy source. For now, they have an answer that is produced by the system itself. This can serve as a direction to guide them, at the very least. Now¡­ if you don¡¯t mind, can you save this illusion in some way? I would like to provide it to the research teams as a prototype blueprint, and I am not confident that I sessfully reproduced the finest details of the fifth-tier spell construction.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head, focusing on creating a mana bead, and storing the image of the spell inside. ¡°Pass your light through this, and it should be able to create a three-dimensional view of the illusion.¡± I said with a small smile, and she epted the bead happily.

 Chapter 1085: Optimization

    Chapter 1085: Optimization


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki understood how the system worked better than most, and knew to take its advice in moderation. As soon as she prompted the Keeper to activate his new title, she knew that the result would not be immediately usable. What the system provided was not the optimal solution to the problem presented, but merely an effective one.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki knew for a fact that an information block like this would be able to eliminate the type of problems that ships had been facing, but it needed to be heavily modified to work with the current limitations of technology. Once she had the mana bead in her hand containing the illusion of the finished product, she bowed and left the Keeper¡¯s side. After returning to her room, she ascended via the Heavenly Gate, and closed her eyes to pray.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">High Mother of the Metong. I have an urgent matter to discuss with you.</i> <i><span style="font-weight:400">Themunication channel that I am using right now will not affect your situation.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki, is it?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The High Mother responded a momentter, though her tone seemed rushed. <i><span style="font-weight:400">If you could, could you keep this brief? I need to focus on managing resources for research here.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">This is part of the matter I wish to discuss. The Keeper has created a schematic for an item capable of reliably traveling beyond the borders of the Hypene Network. However, this item may be too high quality for our current vessels, and requires a great deal of power. I believe that the Metong should be able to quickly refine it into something more usable. If so, you would have a higher chance of saving your people.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a long pause after Tsubaki said this, before the High Mother¡¯s voice became more urgent. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Can this information be transmitted via this channel? Or is itpact enough to prevent any additional damage?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">The information currently exists within a bead of mana, roughly two centimeters in diameter. By passing divinity through it, it will project the finished product, along with my personal notes about its construction.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing Tsubaki¡¯s words, the High Mother appeared relieved. <i><span style="font-weight:400">If that¡¯s the case, I would appreciate the information being sent over as carefully as possible. In turn, I¡¯ll let you know if we are able to meet your expectations.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded her head at that. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I will also be releasing this information to the research groups of Deckan. If they create a working model, I will send the rted materials to you.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">After she said that, Tsubaki returned to the mortal world, and went to create a Digital Conversion file of the bead. One of the beads was sent to the High Mother through a small rift in the void, while another was sent to the researchers of Deckan.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Within Deckan, a small bead suddenly appeared in midair, falling onto the table of a renowned research team that was working on the current problems of memetic shielding for spatial travel. They looked at the bead in confusion, some backing away from the table as if expecting the bead to explode.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A momentter, a paper appeared with the bead, slowly falling down tond next to it. One of the researchers stepped forward to read it, furrowing his brow. ¡°This appears to be an emergency delivery from Olympus, a highly advanced prototype for the memetic shield.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Tubrock has created something to solve our dilemma?¡± One of the other researchers, a female kitsune, spoke up. ¡°Or is it perhaps Ashley?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No¡­ this appears toe directly from the Keeper himself, by way of Tsubaki.¡± When they heard that, silence fell over the room. ¡°ording to the description in the note, it is a full information barrier designed to interact with a ship¡¯s systems.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What does it mean by ¡®information barrier¡¯?¡± Another researcher spoke up. This one was a human male, brows furrowed. ¡°Shutting down scanners certainly won¡¯t be enough.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The man continued to read through the note, slowly shaking his head. ¡°No. This barrier, ording to the notes, blocks all forms of information from entering the barrier through more than a dozenyers, each of which filters the information and alters it slightly to remove any trace of memetic influence. Thus, what appears on the ship¡¯s scans would look simr to what is truly outside, but will not carry any memetic traces.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Will that work for memetic creatures that use physical methods of entry?¡± The female kitsune asked. This time, it was the human male that spoke up.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If it is purely physical power, the shields on the ship should be able to manage. The problems with physical entry methods before was that they had a trace of memetic influence, even if it was only targeting the ship itself. Theoretically, aplete block of information would be able to prevent such creatures from entering.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s correct.¡± The man with the note said, setting it down and picking up the bead. ¡°However¡­ this is only a prototype, and needs to be refined to integrate into our systems, as well as have its power consumption reduced. Does anyone here have divinity?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I do!¡± A halfling boy shouted, running over. ¡°I¡¯m training to be the God of Discovery in Ascension, and should be able to use normal artifacts. What do you need me to do?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The man smiled, holding the bead out for the boy. ¡°Pass some of your divinity through this, and it should project the image, as well as construction notes.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The boy nodded his head, following the instructions. Soon, the image of a dark, silvery sphere emerged above his head, covered in tiny blue specks. Along the side, as if addedter, a number of notes appeared.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This is¡­ an alloy created by mixing mithral, iron from between the fifty-second and sixty-first floor of Fyor, and silver from the neenth floor of Fyor?¡± The female kitsune muttered, reading out the description. Although the Keeper had not said this aloud, the information had been transmitted through to his illusion to be understood by those actively watching.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The materials are easy to acquire. I¡¯m more worried about the magic.¡± The lead researcher spoke up, squinting his eyes to look more closely at the blue specks. ¡°We need an incredibly detailed spell printer, capable of being urate on a microscopic scale.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°By my estimate, it would take us eighteen hours to print all of these nodes, after we have the information in the database. Once we have the prototype built, we can work on refining it. Everyone, get to work!¡± He pped his hands, snapping everyone to attention. As they all left, he put his hand on the halfling boy¡¯s shoulder. ¡°You should get back to Ascension. Although I would personally suggest having your first divinity forged, if you are already on the path, you need to see it through to the end.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The boy¡¯s eyes widened, and he nodded his head. ¡°Yes, sir. But, how are you going to use the bead without me here?¡± He asked in confusion, earning a small chuckle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯re still new here. Don¡¯t worry, we all memorized what we needed just now. If it¡¯s within a week, that image won¡¯t degrade in our minds. Try to advance your divinity by that point, or we¡¯ll need to have you show it to us again.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The halfling boy nodded his head, handing the bead back and turning to leave the researchb quickly. As he did, the lead researcher held his chin. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯s not justyers of barriers¡­ they¡¯re disposableyers. Only the innermost three matter. At the slightest sign of memetic traces prating the first of the three, it and all external barriers are immediately purged without epting any further information. Then, the second of the three re-projects all of the higheryers before purging itself and letting the innermostyer re-construct it.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">This system was designed to allow absolutely no form of memetic trace enter the vessel, but this method of reconstructing and deconstructing the barriers uses too much energy. If, instead, we have three devices that we rotate out when one getspromised to the thirdyer, thepromised device can be disassembled and reced with freshly printed barriers. Doing it this way would remove the need for the most costly two inner barriers, and a substantial drain from the third.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although he couldn¡¯t say that he could urately create a fifth-tier spell on his own, it was a different matter to understand one that was alreadyid out before him. When it came to that, he was confident that he was among the best.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">We might be able to rece the core material, too. There were two nodes that imbued that material with a trace of the void, making it capable of interfacing with and detecting memetic influence. However, that won¡¯t save us as much as simplifying the barriers and handling the system connections in a more direct method.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">He nodded his head as he walked to his desk, beginning to type out his n. From what he saw in the device, there were a lot of areas that could be refined to reduce the burden on a ship¡¯s energy source. However, now that they had a sample, and a direction to work with, he was confident that they would be able to create a viable product before long. ¡°Someone put in a request for the King Consort!¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod was sat in his kitchen, streams of light stretching out between his fingers. He was currently working on replicating popr vors of food from Deckan culture via the energy kernels that he had discovered from the Hajit city. As he was focusing, his terminal suddenly hummed next to him, snapping him out of his thoughts.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Looking at the terminal, he recognized the number as one that Udona had frequent contact with. ¡°Yes?¡± He asked after answering the call, cing his hand over the terminal. ¡°This is Aznod speaking, how may I help you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°King Consort, if you have the time, I would like to invite you to our humble facility, to seek your aid in an important matter.¡± The person on the other end sounded feminine, and spoke with a respectful tone. ¡°As the God of Optimization, we have a task that you are uniquely suitable for. I promise, it won¡¯t use up much of your time, we merely wish to consult with you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod arched a brow when he heard that. It was rare for research groups to reach out for him, even with his domains. From what he knew of the current major projects the various foundations were working on, he could make an educated guess that they had another memetic shield and wanted him to optimize it. ¡°Very well, I¡¯ll see what I can do.¡± He assured them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod was by no means a technological expert, nor was he a master of the void and its memetic properties. He had tamed some void beasts due to his mastery of cooking, but that was the extent of his achievements in that field. If they were calling him, he could only assume that they must be desperate for results. Still, his Optimization domain would be able to provide at least some feedback that they may have overlooked, so he did not feel that it would be a wasted trip. At worst, he would tell them what they already knew ande back without suffering any loss.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯m heading out for a little while.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He thought, sending the message to Udona. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯ll be sure toe back in time to prepare dinner.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">You¡¯d better! You promised me something special tonight!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Udona retorted, causing Aznod to briefly chuckle as he stood, walking towards the kitchen¡¯s door.

 Chapter 1086: Foresight

    Chapter 1086: Foresight


    <span style="font-weight:400">The time of the next invasion wasing closer, and so far, there was no word from Ashley on her being able to replicate the memetic security device that I saw on Berose¡¯s trade list. ording to her, she just didn¡¯t have enough information about the structure of memes to get something that could so urately detect and censor memes without itself risking corruption, or without blockingpletely unrted information like a random tissuemercial. Even Chelsea was interested in the system, because it seemed that the designer had more knowledge on memetic powers than she herself did.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Because of this, I ultimately made the decision to make the trade. A hundred thousand points was a lot, but it would ultimately be worth it if we were to get a way to prevent further contaminated information from spreading in the world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Berose¡¯s visit to the Admin Room was rather short, only showing up long enough to do the trade, with both of us notifying a member of the Gilded Branch as insurance. Naturally, the person I used as a contact was Balu, as she was the one I knew best from the guild.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After he was done with the trade, he thanked me and left, not seeing much sense in staying around any longer. Just from looking at him, you could tell that he was a rather casual old man, having been in this game for far too long at this point.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Still, I was able to make the purchase, and we would be able to get the system in just over two more weeks when the invasion happened.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Within the Temple of Fate of Earth, atop a high tower, Keenan sat with his foot bouncing impatiently against the floor. His eyes were locked on the sky above, as if peering out beyond the clouds.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Behind him, a figure with a wooden staff walked over, smiling slightly. ¡°Still wanting to rush out there?¡± Jace asked in a knowing tone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan let out a long sigh, nodding his head. ¡°That¡¯s right. I¡¯ve already conferred with the Goddess Leowynn, and confirmed that the abilities I set in my domain should render me immune to most memetic influences.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Most, but not all.¡± Jace pointed out, lightly spinning the staff in his hand. Even now, he kept his eyes closed, only opening them when a dire situation struck. On average, it was decades between each instance of his eyes opening, so his luck was always increasing. Furthermore, his high luck had made it easier for him to acquire levels in luck-rted sses like Gambler, or earn simr titles. Even without Terra¡¯s old blessing, he could be considered one of the luckiest people alive.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is that what your instinct is telling you?¡± Keenan asked, showing genuine concern for his oldest friend¡¯s opinion. He learned long ago to trust Jace¡¯s gut, because going against it would inevitably invite disaster.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, justmon sense.¡± Jace chuckled. ¡°I don¡¯t like to gamble with the life of a friend. Besides, even if you did clear out every monster attacking the barrier around this system, more woulde, and there are still infinitely more around every other protected. Your actions would do little beside soothing your anxiety.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Maybe that wouldn¡¯t be so bad¡­¡± Keenan muttered under his breath. ¡°What <i><span style="font-weight:400">does</i><span style="font-weight:400"> your instinct tell you about the situation?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Felyn God of Sight tilted his head with a smile, twirling his staff. ¡°Wait.¡± He said, twirling it again. ¡°Three.¡± And again. ¡°Months.¡± Every time he stopped twirling his staff, his fingernded on one of the many engraved words written along the staff.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Three months¡­ So ,something will happen then?¡± Keenan asked, eyes wide as he was given a timeframe to look forward to.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Jace shrugged his shoulders. ¡°It could be good, it could be bad, it could be nothing. Using luck to predict the future has never been certain.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Says the Fate Seer¡­¡± Keenan muttered under his breath, Jaceughing at the mention of his Gambler legend.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I always wondered why it gave me that title when the whole point is not to <i><span style="font-weight:400">see</i><span style="font-weight:400"> anything. Regardless¡­ if you¡¯re going to fight, wait.¡± Saying that, he sighed, spinning the staff idly in his hand. ¡°There are a great many minds smarter than the two of usbined working on this project. We will do what we can do, and leave the rest to those with the power to create change.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan nodded, sighing to himself and standing up. As he did, Jace grabbed his staff again to prepare to walk with Keenan, only to stiffen, his ears and tail standing straight. ¡°What?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jace¡¯s head turned towards his staff, where his finger hadnded on the word ¡®Danger¡¯. ¡°We need to move.¡± He said urgently, tossing the staff and quickly catching it. ¡°Above. Dangering from above¡­ but it told you to wait three months to fight.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan furrowed his brow, before his eyes went wide. ¡°Is it possible that it is a danger unrted to the memetic monsters?¡± He asked, to which Jace nodded his head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That must be it.¡± Jace closed his eyes, hand folded in prayer. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Lady Terra, I request an audience.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Yes? What is it, Jace?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Terra had always been rather warm towards Jace. He was by far one of her oldest priests at this point, and had truly been the most devout when carrying out a trial personally assigned by him.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">My fortune is speaking to me of imminent danger from beyond the sky, likely unrted to the beasts guing the barrier. This narrows the possible causes down considerably, leading me to believe that there is an asteroid inbound. With all of our long-range monitoring disabled to avoid memetic contamination, we would have no way of discerning that such an event was urring.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Jace¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Terra seemed somewhat exasperated. <i><span style="font-weight:400">You¡¯re a god. A meteor would not count as any form of danger for you. Even if the was destroyed, you would survive rtively unharmed.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jace almost opened his eyes when he heard that, realizing that she was right. <i><span style="font-weight:400">If that¡¯s the case¡­ what danger did my fortune foresee?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">This might have been a false rm, but let me look at your fate.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Terra said, before falling silent. Jace felt as if he was being put under a microscope, knowing that this should be the sensation of having his fate observed by Terra. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Jace, open your eyes, now!</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing Terra¡¯s almost panicked shout, Jace immediately opened his eyes. As he did so, the world around him seemed to go ck, the sky darkening. This was the divine power that he cultivated, which consisted of a simple rule. He could see with his eyes closed, but opening his eyes would deprive the sight of all around him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Jace?¡± Keenan sounded rmed when he saw Jace¡¯s eyes open suddenly, his own vision going ck.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Give me a moment, Keenan.¡± Jace spoke nervously, focusing. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Lady Terra?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">A void monster snuck through the barrier around Earth. Itsw allows it to invert the fortune of others. However, with all of the defenses in ce, it can only invert the fortune of the one with the highest Luck stat.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jace nodded his head, closing his eyes once again. <i><span style="font-weight:400">And I was the one chosen, not Empress Elisae?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Although Jace was incredibly fortunate, he could notpare to the true child of fortune, Empress Elisae. For the most part, her fortune was derived from her karma, but it in turn influenced her luck stat.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Ironically, it¡¯s likely her good karma that made her decide to take a diplomatic journey to Fyor.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Terra said with a self-deprecating tone. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It will take about ten minutes before that monster is able to find the next target.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jace gave another nod, turning his head towards Keenan. ¡°You wanted a fight, right?¡± He asked with a small smirk. ¡°What if I told you that a void monster snuck into the realm barrier, and just tried to assassinate me?¡± That wasn¡¯t the <i><span style="font-weight:400">whole</i><span style="font-weight:400"> truth, but it was essentially what the oue would have been without Terra¡¯s warning.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan¡¯s eyes went wide, a murderous look on his face. A ck spear appeared in his right hand, and he tore open a rift in space. Since he was found in the woods as a child, Jace had been his emotional support, his anchor. Even though he had gotten his Chaos domain under control and wasn¡¯t a threat to those around him, he knew that it was only Jace that had been with him from the beginning.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Tell Sam not to worry.¡± He said, remembering his half-sister, the Goddess of Family, and more recently Jace¡¯s wife. After bing involved with the rest of his family, he felt that there was nobody in the world he could trust with his younger sister than Jace.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jace simply chuckled, nodding his head as Keenan stepped through the rift in space. Almost immediately, an anxious voice spoke into his mind. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Jace? Where did Keenan go? I just sensed something, and he disappeared. Don¡¯t tell me he went outside the barrier?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯s fine, Sammy, don¡¯t worry. </i><span style="font-weight:400">Jace consoled the worried sister. <i><span style="font-weight:400">A void monster snuck through the realm barrier and tried to hurt me, so Keenan is going to take care of it.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯m sorry¡­</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Suddenly, Sam¡¯s voice turned a bit darker. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Something tried to do what now? Earth¡¯s realm barrier, right?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jace¡¯s brow twitched, realizing that the two siblings were more alike than either of them realized. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯ll be fine, Sammy. You¡¯re more oriented for support than frontalbat. Besides, have some faith in your brother.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a small huff from the other end of the connection. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Fine¡­ I expect you to give me the full story when you get backter.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jace sighed, nodding his head. He mentally said a prayer to Terra, thanking her for the timely intervention. At the same time, he could only imagine the horrors being unleashed on the void monster outside of the realm barrier.

 Chapter 1087: The Holy Armor Army

    Chapter 1087: The Holy Armor Army


    <span style="font-weight:400">These days, it felt like there were fewer and fewer ways for me to personally get involved in the development of my world. As Tsubaki had implied before, we were now in an age where one man, no matter how strong or important, was ultimately less valuable than arge, well-trained force. Although my decisions could ultimately change the direction of the world¡¯s development, I did not want to take such overarching control.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Doing so would be no better than depriving my people of their own freedom to choose their paths. Even if the title of Keeper became more a decoration than anything else, that was fine. There were still certain things that only I could do, though the path the system wanted the world to develop seemed to be allowing mortals to acquire more and more of those abilities themselves, including the creation of a world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I doubted that the title of Keeper would ever be wholly irrelevant, but it was certainly bing less significant. For now, I was the equivalent of the highest authority of government, as opposed to the original concept of an absolute deity.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Closing my eyes, I sat back in my office. My mind raced with ideas of what the future could hold, and how my role would adapt to those changes. Depending on what happened, I may need to prepare early on, as new developments could give rise to new threats that I would have to face.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After a few moments, I stood up, ncing back at Tsubaki, or rather the clone that she left with me while she worked on distributing the materials that I had given her previously. ¡°I have a project that I want to work on. Please let your main body know that I¡¯ll be in the dungeon instance that Aurivy gave me.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Understood, my Keeper.¡± Tsubaki¡¯s avatar gave a deep, respectful bow as I pulled the dungeon sphere from my inventory, activating it to enter an isted space.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was something that I had always wanted to try, deep in the back of my mind. I had built up all of the skills necessary to aplish it at this point, all that it required now was taking the final step tobine these skills.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I calmly walked out of the instanced version of Olympus, holding my hand out. Perhaps because this was a big moment for me, and I wanted to get it right, but I didn¡¯t use the divine circuits to handle this skill. Instead, I resorted to the old method, infusing my words with divinity.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Emerge, soldiers both lifeless and formless. Rise to assume your roles as the vanguards of the future.¡± I muttered, my Illusion domain kicking in and creating an array of armor suits, twenty rows of fifty in total. This part was simple, barely consuming any of my divinity. Even the second step was rtively minor for me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I bestow upon you all souls, so that you may carry out mymands.¡± With this, my Soul domain activated, and silver-white eyes emerged in the helmets of each suit of armor. At this point, they were sentient illusions, fully capable of possessing their own thoughts, though their souls were rather simple. I was looking for soldiers, not generals.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now¡­ this was where things started to take a toll on me. Normal soldiers, even ones born of my illusions, would not be powerful enough to stand against future threats. If I were to send one of them out beyond the Hypene Network wall, it would be destroyed in moments. Granted, they may have been created by my divinity, but their thoughts were not connected to my own. This was a safety mechanism to prevent memetic effects from infecting me through them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">My shadow stirred beneath me, stretching out and to the right as a great tower began to emerge. Once it had fully risen, its door opened, spewing out hundreds of books. My hand waved, a gust of wind gathering the books in midair and beginning to distribute them. As each booknded on an armored knight, it began to sink into their bodies, merging with their souls.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I could still feel the presence of the books, and new abilities could likewise be written on their pages. ¡°By my authority, I bind these tomes of divine power to this new form. Should any of you be in, this book shall return, giving birth to a new Holy Knight, mirroring this creation.¡± Once more, I activated both my Souls and Illusion domain, even throwing in the Mirrors domain to create a trinity.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I had to be very careful in the creation of these knights, ensuring that any connection between us only went one direction, which was me supplying power for them. There was no feedback, no mentalmunication that could be used against me. From the depths of their souls, they were created to be loyal to the title of Keeper, possessing enough intelligence to use the powers that had been bestowed upon them. Furthermore, because I set up the method to be recycled, they had little in the way of self-preservation instincts. They would willingly battle to the death to carry out their mission.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You two.¡± I pointed to two of the knights in the front row, who had respectively been given the tomes of Light and Wood. ¡°Fight each other to the best of your abilities.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As soon as I said that, the two stepped forward. The Holy Knight of Light created a de of light in his hand, while the Holy Knight of Wood stretched out his arms, creating a forest to obscure the surroundings. Regardless of this, I scanned the area with World Sight to make sure that I was able to continue monitoring the battle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Or at least¡­ I would have, had the battlested long enough. No sooner had my senses swept over the area before a burst of light cut down the forest, splitting the Holy Knight of Wood in half. To my surprise, a health bar even appeared over its head, showing that these constructs were recognized as lifeforms by the system.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The health bar was quickly diminishing as the Holy Knight of Wood rushed in at literally lightspeed, slicing apart its opponent thousands of times in under a second. Its soul was destroyed, and I felt something stir within my divinity, both the drain of the powers used as well as my previous trinity being activated. A book rose from the shadows, silver light surrounding it and forming a new Holy Knight of Wood.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head as I observed this process. ¡°Excellent. You may stand down.¡± I instructed the Holy Knight of Light, who seemed ready to continue the fight against the new knight.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Next, I traced a finger through the air, drawing the outline of arge mirror. ¡°Upon my call, all of you shall return to my side.¡± In order to make sure that this was not a two-way link that could be traced back to me, I focused on embedding a small mirror in each of their souls, altering the previous trinity to ount for this. This way, they would only be able to establish this connection when I created the matching mirror to summon them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now, there was just one problem left, and that was the individual abilities that each knight possessed. As seen in the previous fight, they were only able to use abilities that were already programmed into their tomes. However, there was a way to deal with this as well. And I knew just the person to rely on.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Prisci was on a pilgrimage, traveling by foot to the various cities and viges of Deckan. After herst mission, the Keeper had fallen silent, so she decided to take the time to inspect thend. With ess to the abilities that he had already given her, she worried not for food or shelter, or for the dangers of the monsters that lurked within the world. At any point she wanted, she could immediately return to the temple.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Prisci.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The Keeper¡¯s voice suddenly spoke to her as she was sitting down, roasting a chunk of meat over a campfire that she made on the side of the road. Prisci¡¯s eyes widened, and she jumped to her feet, extinguishing the fire so as not to distract herself from theing conversation.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I am at your service, Lord Keeper. What would you have me do?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She asked in a devout tone, cing one hand over her heart to show her fealty.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I have another task for you, one that I can only feel safe entrusting to you, among all the mortals of the world.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Prisci¡¯s smile grew as she heard these words, the sign of faith that the Keeper had in her. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I have created a regiment of Holy Knights from my divine power, each of which possess an immature domain. These domains are tied to the same tomes that you and the other priests have ess to.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Prisci¡¯s eyes widened, already anticipating the words that wereing. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I would leave these soldiers under yourmand for training. Their minds are simple, and they can be considered golems. If one dies, it is reborn by my power. Thus, they require apetentmander. Someone familiar enough with how my power works to grant them what they would need in times of crisis.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">As part of this assignment, I am granting you unlimited ess to bestow abilities upon these knights. Are you willing?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">When the Keeper asked that, Prisci immediately nodded her head. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Of course, Lord Keeper.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She thought back fervently. As soon as she sent her confirmation, a glistening mirror appeared before her, widening until it was nearly fifty meters wide. She could hear the sounds of marching as rows of knights emerged from the mirror, all wearing shimmering, silver armor. Despite the sounds that came from their march, the grass was not disturbed by their passage.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Immediately, Prisci was able to discern that the bodies of these creations were mere illusions, as were the sounds produced by their movements. The real substance, the force behind these knights, shoulde from the divine powers that the Keeper had mentioned.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once one thousand knights emerged from the giant mirror, it shattered, and the knights all knelt before her. <i><span style="font-weight:400">These are my Holy Knights. As my Priestess, you should be able to differentiate which one has which domain.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Prisci nodded her head, focusing on her connection with the Keeper, with the books that she had previously written powers in. Following that connection, she was able to sense a single book within each of the knights, and make out which knight possessed which book.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I will do my best to carry out your assignment and live up to your expectations, Lord Keeper.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She responded firmly, already thinking of ways to improve the abilities of the knights. Although she herself could still only use the single power that she inscribed in each tome, she could read the abilities present in all of them. Some were currently not suited forbat, while some were not suited for anything <i><span style="font-weight:400">but</i><span style="font-weight:400">bat.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In order to properly carry out her assignment, Prisci felt the need to bestow each and every knight with abilities that could let it carry out a variety of missions. They would still be specialized, but that did not mean that they had to give up all else in the face of their specialization.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°All of you, rise.¡± Shemanded, and all thousand knights rose to their feet in perfect unison. She walked down the line, moving until she had reached the Holy Knight of Fire. ¡°We¡¯ll start with you.¡± She said, cing a hand on the knight¡¯s chest and focusing. Although her pilgrimage wasn¡¯tpletely over, it would appear that she would need to put it on hold for the moment. At least until she was confident that these knights would not disappoint the Keeper in battle.

 Chapter 1088: An Explosive Friendship

    Chapter 1088: An Explosive Friendship


    <span style="font-weight:400">The development of the Holy Knights was not a matter that could be settled quickly. In fact, Prisci used the power of these knights to create a temporary barracks out in the countryside that she could use to train them, letting them practice and showcase their new skills by hunting local monsters.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This process took several weeks, during which several new innovations took ce. First of all, the temporary realm for the Metong had been established. Though it was little more than an infinite expanse of cosmic dust, it was a stable enough world that it did not appear it would copse easily.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Next, a new creation had appeared, seemingly from nowhere. Like with the information-blocking shield, Tsubaki provided this machine directly to several research teams, ten in total. These were red and ck tforms, each with six blue, cylindrical crystals slotted into them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">ording to the information from Tsubaki, these devices were meant to monitor the entirety of the inte, identifying any memetic traces. At the sign of such traces, they would be immediately censored from public view and the relevant authorities notified.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Their job was simple: study the machine to determine if there were any hidden mechanisms in ce, and then create a port to connect it to the inte. Studying its construction could be considered a long-term project. After all, they could reproduce the machine endlessly with Digital Conversion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The next development was one that most of the public was unaware of, and that was the spatialpression device created by the Metong and March coboration. These devices went into immediate mass-production, capturing not only thes of their subjects, but their entire sr systems.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Throughout all of this, the dimensium fluctuations had only grown stronger and stronger. By the time that they began securing theirs, the dimensium of their world had stopped functioning entirely for hours at a time, the frequency bing faster and faster.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Finally, there was onest invention, this one known to the public. The information barrier had finally been adapted to work in modern vessels, and the first unmanned tests were a sess. For the first time since the sacrifice of Giles, people were able to explore and expand beyond the known systems.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona let out a sigh of relief when she heard that the golems had created the tools necessary to begin the evacuation procedures. It would still take some time before they were able to fully evacuate their entire empires, but they had everything that they needed at this point to get started.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As for the time that they had remaining, Udona wasn¡¯t entirely sure. It was possible that the universe would copse when dimensium became entirely inert, or that it could happen either before or after that point. This was the first time that a universe had copsed slowly rather than from a single, immediate event. They didn¡¯t really have a frame of reference to go by.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The best that she was able to do was to have the Fallen Gods under hermand maintain the realm barrier to the best of their abilities. Everything else was left to fate.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Now <i><span style="font-weight:400">this</i><span style="font-weight:400"> is what I¡¯m talking about!¡± Lifreughed as she sailed through the air, navigating between strange, hovering bubbles of energy that detonated with remarkable force if anything drew near. These bubbles all but filled the sky, and triggering the wrong one could lead to a chain reaction if she wasn¡¯t careful.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Behind her, Petra¡¯s face was pale, doing her best to keep up with the slime. ¡°Why are we doing this?!¡± The demoness asked in a near-panicked tone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Because it¡¯s fun!¡± Afterpleting her mission on the sixty-fourth floor of Fyor, identifying the likely route that James took when traveling to the world¡¯s natural energy core, Lifre moved onto the next floor. This floor appeared at first devoid of life, but this was only at a first nce.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Throughout the sky, bubbles of energy fluttered about, exploding with the force of a sizable bomb if they were provoked. Through careful study involving the pointy bits of her sword and trying to destroy the bubbles before they popped, Lifre discovered that these bubbles were actually a type of lifeform.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It took her some time to learn how these creatures functioned, mostly because of how hard it was to study them without them blowing up in front of her. However, she had a good idea of things now. When they exploded, these monsters weren¡¯t really dying. Instead, it was akin to a puffer fish inting itself, trying to ward off predators and making itself an unappealing target.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After detonating, the energy that created these bubbles gradually reformed, the bubble again appearing in the air where it had originally detonated. Lifre had tried tomunicate with these creatures, but every attempt led to explosive results. Due to this, she had determined that the creatures were very likely non-sentient monsters.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her inner adventurer urged her to tame such a fun monster, keeping one as a pet. However, her inner child disagreed, and had what she argued was a better n. She grabbed Petra, bringing her to this floor, and decided to ¡®explore¡¯ together, flying narrowly between packs of what she was calling Bombubbles. Every time the sky was filled with explosions, Petra¡¯s face went pale.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Even as gods, she knew that they would note out entirely unscathed if they were caught in those sts. ¡°Please tell me that there is a reason for this other than the excitement of being next to a living bomb!¡± She shouted, yelping when the noise triggered another wave of nearby sts.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre paused, thinking to try toe up with some excuse. ¡°Maybe¡­ maybe there is some special energy or artifact that gave birth to these creatures! You know, like on the sixty-first floor!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra¡¯s eyes narrowed at that, her body stiffening. Although she had the distinct feeling that this was not Lifre¡¯s true objective, she couldn¡¯t deny the possibility that such a thing could happen. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you be using yourpass, then?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Nah, no need!¡± Lifre shook her head quickly, as that would only end her fun faster. ¡°We just have to fly to where the biggest Bombubbles are! Ooh, there¡¯s one!¡± Her eyes widened, seeing a massive bubble in the distance, spanning more than a kilometer wide. Given that most of these bubbles were no more than ten meters in diameter, this could easily be seen as a local boss monster.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°W-Wait!¡± Petra¡¯s eyes widened, trying to call back Lifre. ¡°We should detonate it from a safe distance! If the explosive force of these things can be measured by their volume, you could fit hundreds of thousands of the little ones in that!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing Lifre¡¯s eyes sparkling with anticipation, Petra pped her face, deciding to take a different approach. ¡°You can¡¯t appreciate the fireworks if you pop it up close!¡± She said, and Lifre finally stopped moving when she heard that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Mmm¡­ you¡¯re not wrong¡­ dang it!¡± Lifre stomped her foot in midair. With a huff, she pulled out a longbow, a golden string of energy appearing that she pulled back. Golden light flowed through the string, forming a dense arrow that flew into the distance.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra let out a sigh of relief when she saw this, but still braced herself. As soon as the arrow touched the giant bubble, the surface rippled and popped. There was a brief lull, before ck energy erupted. Petra¡¯s eyes widened, realizing that this was different from the previous sts. This energy swept out, seeming to devour the nearby bubbles.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra focused, wrapping both herself and Lifre in shadows to immediately pull them into the shadow world. Only once they were safely within the shadow world did she let out a sigh of relief.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oooh, that was a nice boom.¡± Lifre said with sparkling eyes, which only further stood out in the darkndscape.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That shouldn¡¯t have been the same type of monster.¡± Petra said, furrowing her brows. ¡°It appears that it preys on the other creatures--¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Bombubbles.¡± Lifre interjected, but Petra ignored it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°By having a simr appearance, they lure the other creatures in, so that they can absorb them to grow stronger. That one is likely quite significant, with howrge it is.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oohh, you mean that they could be mixed in with other bombubbles?¡± Lifre asked enthusiastically, to which Petra nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s possible, but they likely wouldn¡¯t be mixed in with groups. If they¡¯re in a group, they would have eaten the others. Any of the predators would be isted.¡± That exined why they hadn¡¯t encountered any thus far, as Lifre had insisted on taking the more¡­ thrilling path.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, if we follow these things to the source, we¡¯ll find something interesting?¡± Lifre asked, as if having not paid attention to the major points of what Petra was saying.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra simply let out a sigh, nodding her head. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± She agreed reluctantly. As much as she was wary of this ce, she knew that this floor would eventually be upied like the others, and needed to see if there was a way to do so safely. ¡°It should be safe to exit now.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Shadows once again wrapped around the two of them, depositing them on the ground some distance away from their previous position. Looking up and into the distance, Petra¡¯s expression was distorted. There was a ck cloud where they had previously been flying, one that looked as if it spanned hundreds of kilometers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Slowly, this cloud was pulling back towards its core. Wherever it passed, none of the previous bubbles remained, having no doubt been absorbed into the ck mass. ¡°We should avoid any of these predators going forward.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre pursed her lips, briefly pouting before nodding her head. Even she had felt a sense of danger when the ck energy had approached. ¡°Fine¡­ but I want my objection to be noted!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s noted.¡± Petra nodded with a low sigh. Finally, she felt as if this ¡®adventure¡¯ might be more bearable.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well¡­ you said that they don¡¯t appear in groups, right?¡± Lifre asked with a sudden grin, and Petra¡¯s face became pale once again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Before she could object, Lifre had grabbed her wrist to pull her through one of the densest groups of bubbles. ¡°This isn¡¯t what I meant?!¡± Petra shouted as explosions once again began to ring out in her ears.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre, meanwhile, was simplyughing as she flew through the explosions. In the distance, she could see other isted bubbles, which she assumed were likely the predators. Some were small, others evenrger than the first that they found. Keeping an eye on them, Lifre navigated her way through the clouds of bombubbles, trying to move towards where she assumed more and more of these predators hade from.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra was too busy trying to drown out the explosions ringing around her to notice exactly where Lifre was taking her. As far as she knew, Lifre was flying around aimlessly, trying to have more and more fun while dragging her along for the ride. And, to be frank, she wasn¡¯t¡¯pletely against it. The fact that Lifre had dragged her into this showed Petra that Lifre thought of her as a friend, which she liked. She just wished that her friend had more normal hobbies than flying through massivendmines.

 Chapter 1089: Not To Burst Your Bubble

    Chapter 1089: Not To Burst Your Bubble


    <span style="font-weight:400">The slime and demoness duo continued further and further through the bubble-filled skies, a chorus of explosions following behind them. At this point, Petra had all but be numb to the sts. Lifre had a talent for skirting the very edge of danger, allowing herself to enjoy the thrill of the scenery without actually cing herself in immediate harm.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, with that said, she was able to notice over time that the groups were bing less and less dense. When this fact became apparent, she took note of all of the isted bubbles floating in the sky. A chill ran down her spine, realizing that Lifre hadn¡¯t given up on her goal of searching for the source of the predator bubbles.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra gulped thickly, ready to pull the two of them into the shadow world again at the slightest indication that something was wrong. With less obstacles in their way, they were able to begin vastly increasing their speed, the surroundings starting to blur around them. Soon, Petra noticed that there were <i><span style="font-weight:400">only</i><span style="font-weight:400"> isted bubbles around them, some of them ranging from mere centimeters to over five kilometers wide.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There were times when they came close enough to cause these isted predators to pop, but their greatly enhanced speed allowed them to actually outrun the explosion of ck energy by simply continuing to travel in a straight line. Of course, that also meant that they were going far too fast for their voices to reach one another, and were forced to rely on mentalmunication.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">There¡¯s something up ahead.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Petra suddenly spoke up, sensing something stir within the shadow world. It was never a good thing to find something that was capable of upsetting the World¡¯s Shadow, so she had to be cautious. Lifre nodded her head, but only increased her pace. Merely a few minutester, they had arrived at their destination.


    <span style="font-weight:400">On the ground before them sat a massive pool of what looked to be tar, spreading out like an ocean as far as the eye could see. Every now and then, a ck bubble would rise from the tar-like substance, before shifting and shedding its ck color, bing translucent like the other bubbles.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I don¡¯t like this.¡± Petra said, clenching her fist. ¡°Lifre, we¡¯re not poking that. There¡¯s something wrong here.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre had already drawn her bow, looking back at Petra with an exasperated expression. ¡°Fiiine, what are we doing, then?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m taking us to the shadow world. There¡¯s something wrong with this location.¡± As she said that, the two vanished, wrapped in darkness and disappearing. Within the shadow world, Petra was immediately able to tell what the problem was, her red face going several shades paler. Meanwhile, Lifre looked around in confusion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What¡¯s wrong, Petra? You took us somewhere else? Was it really that dangerous there?¡± She looked at the giant valley beneath their feet, nearly a million kilometers away, as well as the deep canyons that ran through it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡­ didn¡¯t. This is the same ce.¡± Petra gulped, turning to look around. This valley ran to the ends of the horizon in all directions.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You mean that tar pit wasn¡¯t part of thendscape?¡± Lifre tilted her head. Thanks to the Keeper. Petra, and Dana, Lifre had some understanding of how the World¡¯s Shadow worked. By default, it would copy all natural and manmade structures created at the time of its conception, whether they were mountains, buildings, or even entire oceans. However, it would not by default copy supernatural energy sources or creatures, and the person with the World¡¯s Shadow had to instruct it to do so.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. It¡¯s either a solidified energy construct¡­¡± Petra froze, not wanting to finish that thought. Thankfully, or unfortunately perhaps, Lifre picked up on her intention.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Or it¡¯s a creature. A single bubble that massive? What, are all those predators just its kids or something?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s¡­ possible.¡± Petra couldn¡¯t deny the im, as they was certainly where her mind was going as well. ¡°I¡¯m going to take use back there, and I want you to scan it. I know you¡¯re better at that than I am, so try not to provoke it. We need to determine what we¡¯re dealing with before we decide how to proceed.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">If there was a single creature thatrge, constantly spawning these smaller bubbles that could even endanger older gods, that alone could be reason to abandon colonization of this floor. At least, until such a creature was able to be eliminated.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre nodded her head, crossing her arms and putting away her bow. When the two returned to their former location, she immediately swept her senses over the creature with her World Sight, pursing her lips and furrowing her brow. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ strange.¡± She said, causing Petra to wonder what she had discovered.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This creature, and it <i><span style="font-weight:400">is</i><span style="font-weight:400"> a creature, by the way¡­ its mana content is too high. I¡¯d say that at least ny percent of its makeup is pure mana, and it is using that mana inefficiently to convert into these bubble predators.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra hesitated when she heard that, not sure what to make of it. Following the natural process of evolution, a creature like this should not be both so powerful and so wasteful at the same time. ¡°Have you ever seen anything like this before?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Just once¡­¡± She nodded her head. ¡°I scanned a Lightborn once, curious how they worked. It was a lot like this, made almost entirely of mana that was being used to produce other effects.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra¡¯s eyes widened at that realization. It had been a long time since the Lightborn had yed a major role in the world, but they could still be seen in various ces of Fyor as a minority. However, she was well aware of their origins. ¡°You mean that this thing is a giant mana siphon turned into a creature?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That seems like it would be the most usible answer, yeah.¡± Lifre nodded her head in agreement. ¡°But what would have been able to create such a giant siphon?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What about those other bubbles--¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Bombubbles.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m <i><span style="font-weight:400">not</i><span style="font-weight:400"> calling them that.¡± Petra huffed, shaking her head. ¡°Would it be possible that they were able to create something like this, if they were given enough mana to work with?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre paused, thinking it over. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ possible.¡± She nodded her head. ¡°There¡¯s not a vein here for mana that I¡¯ve seen, but there <i><span style="font-weight:400">is</i><span style="font-weight:400"> one other major source of mana in this area.¡± As she said that, she nced off into the distance. Even with its massive height, the mana pir of this world couldn¡¯t be seen from their current spot. ¡°But for that energy to reach all the way here before forming a siphon¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra wasn¡¯t sure how it was possible, either. If a mana siphon of this scale were to ur, it would be closer to the spire itself. ¡°Well¡­ are the other bubbles--¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Bombubbles.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Still not calling them that.¡± Petra groaned. ¡°Are they also siphons?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre shook her head at that question. ¡°I¡¯ve scanned them a few times. They appear to be normal energy lifeforms.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra could only think of a few possibilities. The first was that there was a civilization that existed here in the past, or at least some form of sapient species. If that were true, their collective thoughts and fears of the bubble creatures could have been enough with a surge of mana to give rise to something like this.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Another possibility was that there was simply no other form of life on thisyer than the bubbles in this area, so the siphon had nothing that it could fuel itself with aside from these creatures and their primitive thoughts.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The third option was¡­ abination of the two, which would imply that the bubbles themselves <i><span style="font-weight:400">were</i><span style="font-weight:400"> a sapient race, and they had just not noticed until now. With those thoughts in mind, Petra began to go over what she could observe. Any structures in the area could have reasonably been blown away long ago due to the repeated sts of these bubbles, leaving nothing to be discerned in the present day.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, the actions of the bubble creatures did not really strike her as those of intelligent beings. They avoided the predators on sheer instinct, but didn¡¯t otherwise act aside from merely blowing up whenever anything other than one of their own came close to them. If anything, the predators showed a higher level of intelligence, able to mix in with their prey and consume them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Maybe there¡¯s another one of these things for the Bombubbles?¡± Lifre suddenly asked. Petra blinked, finding it unlikely, but certainly not impossible. They had already established that the other bubbles weren¡¯t the result of a mana siphon, but if it was a collective consciousness, it might have enough mana fluctuations to trigger a siphon.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra scanned the area with her eyes, looking for other clues that could answer her question. As her eyes shifted, they suddenly widened. ¡°There¡¯s somewhere that we haven¡¯t considered yet.¡± She said, and Lifre looked over in interest.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra¡¯s head tilted back, eyes turning upwards to look at the sky high, high above them. Even as gods, the sky was so far away that simply the atmosphere itself was enough to obscure their vision. If there were traces of civilization on the ceiling, they would never know without heading up there to check.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, that¡¯s right!¡± Lifre¡¯s eyes widened in realization. ¡°These guys are all about floating all over the ce. It would be normal for them to live up at the top.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The slime girl grinned, grabbing Petra¡¯s arm again. Before the demoness had even a moment to realize what Lifre had in mind, the two were sailing into the air. The air pressure shattered against their skin again and again in rapid session.


    <span style="font-weight:400">They ascended so fast that Petra could feel the heat of it, a cone of me appearing ahead of them. When they finally stopped, the air cracked, rushing out in all directions and shattering the remains of several ancient buildings. Petra sighed, nting a hand on her face as she saw all of those piles of rubble falling towards the surface. ¡°Well¡­ we can confirm that the bubbles are sapient now.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Were. And they¡¯re Bombubbles!¡± Lifre crossed her arms, pouting. ¡°But anyways¡­ they <i><span style="font-weight:400">were</i><span style="font-weight:400"> sapient.¡± She scanned the surroundings with her World Sight, able to discern that this area had not seen active use in a very long time. ¡°What happened here?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra wasn¡¯t sure how to answer that question. If they had found a ¡®bubble city¡¯ up here, she had expected that it would be actively upied. However, there was no trace of a single bubble creature, whether predator or normal, anywhere nearby. And not just because they had gotten scared by their arrival, either.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Looking down, Petra noted that she couldn¡¯t see any bubbles anywhere close enough for her to observe. ¡°This is going to take some proper research as to what happened. What I¡¯m worried about is currently something entirely different.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh? Is there something even stranger going on?¡± She asked, and Petra pointed downwards.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°How many of those remains are going to burn up as they fall, and how many will survive to crash into the super bubble?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre blinked, looking down, and blinked again. ¡°On the bright side¡­ that should take <i><span style="font-weight:400">hours</i><span style="font-weight:400"> for them to reach the surface. Maybe days, even! At which point, we will be far, far away!¡±

 Chapter 1090: Sentenced To Life

    Chapter 1090: Sentenced To Life


    <span style="font-weight:400">After retreating from the ruins of what Lifre had started calling Bubblopolis, the duo reported their findings to the adventurer¡¯s guild. They mentioned the estimated level of the ¡®Bombubbles¡¯, which Lifre had managed to get officially named, much to Petra¡¯s dismay, as well as their predators and the information about the ruins.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was a rare chance for the guild to investigate a fallen civilization. Even now, there were still many people looking into the ruined civilization on the sixty-first floor, which had ultimately brought chaos to that entire floor, making it uninhabitable until the World Spirit cleaned the area.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Those capable of surviving on the sixty-fifth floor while possessing the education needed to study such ruins naturally went to investigate first. There was no telling how long it would take to get a definitive answer about what happened, but Lifre had already left to resume her adventures.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a small sigh, sitting at my desk and reading through the reports. Learning about yet another ruined civilization didn¡¯t exactly fill me with much hope for what we would find further on in the higher levels of Fyor. Thankfully, the Hajit proved that there was still a decent chance of finding something good, but¡­ the odds seemed painfully low. If not for them, I would likely believe that there was some influence seeping in from the upper floors that just naturally led to the ruin of civilization.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At the same time, I had a report from Prisci, who gave me a detailed list of every divine power that she gave to each of the one thousand knights. For the most part, I skimmed through this list, as there was no need to memorize each individual option. Especially not when I can just observe the knights directly by focusing my attention on the books embedded within them. My main interest was on whether or not any of them had been given particrly interesting abilities.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I was setting the reports down, I heard a knock from my office door. Turning back, I saw that Tsubaki was there, hands folded over her stomach. ¡°Come in, Tsubaki.¡± I said with a smile, and she nodded her head, entering the office. ¡°Is there something wrong?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yes and no, my Keeper.¡± She said, before beginning to exin. ¡°The device that you received in the recent trade with Berose has been activated and connected to the inte.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That sounds like a rather good event.¡± I pointed out, one eyebrow raised. ¡°So what is the problem?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It would seem that there was already a serious infection of memetic information within the inte.¡± Tsubaki said, my eyes widening a fraction. ¡°Upon investigation, roughly three percent of the information avable for public consumption was infected with some form of memetic trace.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Three percent didn¡¯t sound like a lot, but this was awork that spanned multiple universes, and dozens, if not hundreds of upieds. ¡°How hasn¡¯t there been an outbreak, if it is that widespread?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡®Due to the seriousness of the case, Chelsea was called in as an expert on the subject. Upon review, she noted that the vast majority of the infected information was benign, with very little that had any true effect. For instance, she found a conspiracy theory posted on an unpopr forum that caused others to instinctively believe it, and things of that nature.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Additionally, due to the device connecting to multiple public cameras, sixty-three cases were confirmed of graffiti containing memetic influence across the various worlds. All of these incidents have been reported, the relevant authorities notified and dispatched to remove the potentially hazardous content.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head when I heard that. It was the right call, though some of that graffiti may have been done with benign intent as well, like a marketing team just trying to enhance their product¡¯s sales. Regardless, even Chelsea had learned not to carelessly use memetic scripts, and she was an expert in the field.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Got it. Is there anything else?¡± I asked, to which Tsubaki paused.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There is¡­ a report from Dana. She said that her new device is ready. She¡¯s just ironing out ast-minute kink and can present it to you at any time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°New device?¡± I blinked, knowing that Dana was working on some project, but I had no idea exactly what said project was. ¡°Is it something for Olympus?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It would not appear so.¡± Tsubaki shook her head. ¡°She said that this device was designed to help normalw enforcers battle criminals on the level of gods.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Well, that was certainly interesting. ¡°I see¡­ in that case, let¡¯s go check it out.¡± I said, happy to stop reading over reports and get moving to see a real, interesting demonstration.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki gave a small bow, nodding her head and turning to lead the way. The two of us walked to the gates of Olympus, where she tore open a portal for us to step through. When we arrived, I swept my senses out to the surroundings to try to determine our present location, and found that we were at the Another World Research Group¡¯s home.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Presently, we were standing near the edge of arge cliff, surrounded by a rocky teau. There was arge device set up that looked like a medical pod, filled with translucent, green fluid. Nearby, Dana was adjusting a metal bracer that rested on her arm, smiling as she noticed us. ¡°Hey, boss! Decided toe and see what I made, huh?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. I heard that you made something rather interesting?¡± I asked, directing my attention to the medical pod and the device on her arm. ¡°What exactly do you have prepared for this demonstration?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°d you asked!¡± Dana grinned, lifting her arm to showcase the bracer. ¡°I call this the Reset Protocol. Have you ever had to deal with a criminal too powerful to contain? Someone that¡¯s just another one of those pesky gods or saints? Tired of having to repair broken cells and wards? Worry not, for we have the answer!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Packed inside this little bracer is a card activator and stasis chamber. The card inserted into the bracer is amon capture card already poprized by Deckanw enforcement, and has spread to numerous worlds due to its ease of use. The activator focuses the effect of the card into a beam to fire at the criminal. When they are hit, they will be trapped in the card, which is itself kept within a stasis chamber to prevent the contained criminal from having the time to escape.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not sounding particrly new so far.¡± I said with a small grin, one which Dana immediately returned.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, but wait, there¡¯s more! The capture process is only step one of the Reset Protocol! Allow me to direct your attention to therger device installed next to me. This is your standard cloning vat, with some modifications made by yours truly. These changes allow the device to take the primary energies from the containment card, and uses those to print a new body for the captured criminal.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°¡®But wait, why would you waste all the resources printing a new body, when they¡¯ll just break out again?¡¯, you might be asking! This is a <i><span style="font-weight:400">physical</i><span style="font-weight:400"> body, not an energy one, and it is printed from the captured criminal¡¯s own energies. Furthermore, the device is structured to print the body as apletely mundane mortal that doesn¡¯t even have their first level. Naturally, there will be some overflow, whereas a god will be a demigod, or powerful individuals will retain their talents.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°However! Even a demigod is weaker than a child if they don¡¯t have the levels or energy to supplement that talent. Once their new body is printed, the consciousness of the captured individual is naturally transferred due to their energy being used as the basic temte of this clone. From there, all you need to do is p basic energy nullification restraints on the target, and they will be unable to muster the powers they once possessed to break free.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m sure you all are thinking that this is too good to be true! Turning a god into a mortal to punish them for their sins? Well! Thankfully, I have prepared a demonstration!¡± As she said that, she inserted her arm into a circr hole within the medical vat, one which the bracer perfectly slotted itself into.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°For the purpose of this demonstration, I had to go and hunt down a rather troublesome criminal, a God of Poison that spreads a poisonous gas within smaller viges he passes through, or lures monsters to attack them. All for the sake of harnessing their hatred for him to produce even more deadly poisons.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As Dana exined all of this, the medical vat was suddenly lighting up. Within the green liquid, I could see a body being printed, clearly using the Digital Conversion system rather than regr cloning technology. There must have been someplication that she couldn¡¯t resolve without switching to this system, but that was fine.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So far, his confirmed crimes are as follows. Three thousand, nine hundred, and seventy-six counts of first-degree murder. Thirteen thousand, two hundred and five counts of intentionally luring monsters to attack nobatants. One hundred and eight counts of kidnapping. Six counts of assault. Five counts of evading arrest.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The body that was printed was that of an elf with long, green hair and red eyes. He looked as if he was asleep within the vat when Dana removed her bracer from the device. Focusing my gaze on him, I confirmed that his level was currently zero, though he was also listed as the Demigod of Poison.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°For such serious crimes, the normal punishment would be death.¡± Dana said in a firm voice, clearly annoyed by seeing the man again. I could only imagine how hard tracking him down must have been for her. ¡°However, there are few capable of reliably killing a god, especially without resorting to extreme measures that could negatively impact the surroundings. Someone like him can escape a normal capture card in roughly eighteen seconds, which is why the stasis chamber is necessary.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°These are the individuals for whom the Reset Protocol is designed for, those so drunk on their own power that they cannot be contained by normal methods, and will do as they see fit without concern for others. For this reason, I have decided a more fitting punishment for those that care for power over life. Rather than killing them, their punishment will be the death of the power that they hold so dear. They will be sentenced to a life of imprisonment, with no chance of release, forever left to be as weak as amon child.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I hesitated for a moment when I heard that, thinking. ¡°Isn¡¯t there a chance that they will be able to level up while they¡¯re imprisoned, slowly getting their power back until they can ascend once again?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana smirked when she heard that, looking up at the sky. ¡°You know, I had the same question. To answer this question, I called on a couple of reliable helpers. This is one of the key modifications made to the Reset Protocol¡¯s cloning vat. Every clone produced in this vat has a special title applied to them, ¡®Unforgiven Sinner¡¯. This title was specifically created by Ashley and implemented through the system with only one effect.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After she said that, she turned to look at me. ¡°The bearer of the title is unable to gain experience to level up in any form. The level and ss system ispletely disabled for them. Even if they somehow managed to escape from the prison, even if they used some archaic method of invading someone¡¯s soul to possess them, as long as the system recognizes that they are the same individual possessing this title, they will forever be stuck at level zero.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°To prevent this technology from being stolen and used by criminals, additional measures have been taken, ensuring that the cloning vat can only be activated by someone that possesses a title personally bestowed by Irena, ¡®One Who Carries Out the Sentence¡¯. This title has no effect other than to allow the activation of the cloning vats.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My brow twitched when I heard that. ¡°Irena¡¯s going to be busy handing out that title, isn¡¯t she?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana stuck her tongue out yfully. ¡°I already got confirmation from her. She said that it was a small price to pay to get this working. Furthermore, not every cop will need it, only a small number from each station. She said that she¡¯ll manage it, somehow.¡±

 Chapter 1091: From The Top Down

    Chapter 1091: From The Top Down


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Dana¡¯s Reset Protocol was released tow enforcement, there were mixed responses. Despite this technologying directly from Olympus, there were quite a few people that were against its use. These people, typically those with considerably high levels themselves, imed that it was unjust to remove someone¡¯s entire life of work, or that the technology could be turned against those whose crimes did not warrant such punishments.


    <span style="font-weight:400">To this, Dana released a simple statement. If a powerful criminal refuses to allow themselves to be taken in to atone for their crimes, and uses their power to harm others in the process, then they are utterly undeserving of the power granted to them by the world¡¯s system. In her words, the power granted by the world is essentially the power granted by the Keeper himself, and it should not be used to harm those under the Keeper¡¯s rule.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She wasn¡¯t <i><span style="font-weight:400">entirely</i><span style="font-weight:400"> wrong with how she worded things, but I would have probably chosen to do so differently. Regardless, most of the people objecting to this technology fell silent when she released her statement, apart from some of the more active individuals. Thankfully, Dana did not n to release any additional statements, and the police were free to order the Reset Protocol as needed from Olympus.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As for me, I decided to check in with Ashley¡¯s newest project, the inclusion of NPCs within the various existing games.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ghan grimaced as he looked at the request that appeared on hisputer screen. ¡°You want <i><span style="font-weight:400">what</i><span style="font-weight:400">?¡± He asked, a digital image of the World Spirit, Mary appearing on the screen.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°My apologies for the disturbance, sir Ghan. Is there a problem with the previous request?¡± She asked in a polite tone, to which Ghan gave a firm nod.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Damn right there is! They¡¯re asking for a contradiction! Here, look at this.¡± He pointed to the message that hade in from the Greater Pantheon. ¡°In World Seed, they want to create an alien race that covers six different systems. ording to the backstory that they sent me, this should be a peaceful race with a small standing army, having known only a few wars in its history.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Now, thistest request is asking for a special NPC character to be included in this kingdom. This NPC should be an expert and veteran of war, having fought numerous battles in his career to earn the title of Bloody Iron General. This is a clear contradiction to the nature and history of the empire that they asked for!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mary paused, looking over the request. ¡°I see¡­ I believe that they are just trying to include an NPC to the world¡¯s setting that they feel will drive the plot and yer interaction. Is it entirely impossible to have such a character?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The idea of the character from the start is a contradiction!¡± Ghan eximed, throwing his hands into the air. There were few things that irked him in the world as much as a contradiction in a story. ¡°If you want to have a battle maniac, fine! But don¡¯t go and give him a history that goes against the overall lore of the world he is born into.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mary gave a small nod of agreement. ¡°How would you handle something like this, then?¡± She asked, curiously. ¡°While trying to fulfill the wishes of the client as much as possible.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ghan groaned, before stroking his chin. ¡°First, let¡¯s do the empire. You always want to work from the top down. As long as you do so, you will have the theme of your world history, and can fit characters into it ordingly.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As he said that, the scenery around them changed, his office vanishing to be a series of six stars. ¡°This empire, Noblon, has had a peaceful progression to the ster age. This means that there are no neighboring races that would cause conflict with them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The main ruler of this empire is the Emperor, Shallist Noblon, but the true power behind the throne is his daughter. Born with an incredibly keen political mind, she advised her father from a young age, leading to the settlement of many colonies and overall improvement in the standard of living for the empire.¡± As he spoke, lines began to connect the six shining stars, before zooming in on the brightest, showing a continent, then further to show a pce wrapped around a mighty tree, and finally a beautiful young girl with long, ck hair.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mary gave another nod. ¡°Are you going to say that she is secretly a cruel princess, and hired a bloodthirsty man to cause strife in the kingdom to solidify her rule?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What? No! That cliche is so overused. She is a genuinely kind soul, one who cares for the people in her empire. However¡­ It is her intellect that led her to realize that her empire¡¯s army would stand no chance against a true invading force.¡± When Ghan said this, a troubled look appeared on the girl¡¯s expression, and she rose to her feet, calling out to one of her servants.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°She knew what the army needed, a true warrior. One who held both strength and honor, and was unafraid of war. What would such an individual look like in this empire?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mary watched, blinking curiously as the scene changed. The princess was walking through a dark, stone hallway lit with only a few torches. From within her dress, she produced an iron key, unlocking arge door. Beyond the door was a tangle of roots, wrapping around and digging into the flesh of a man with dark red hair and bright, blue eyes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You are Grendel Salust, correct?¡± The princess spoke, mirroring the words that Ghan mouthed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The princess, huh?¡± The inmate chuckled. ¡°To what do I owe this pleasure? I would bow, but¡­ that¡¯s not really an option.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That is perfectly alright.¡± The princess shook her head. The scene appeared to havee alive, even without Ghan saying anything. ¡°I am here to speak with you. ording to my sources, your crime is beating to death three lesser nobles of the empire, one of whom was your lord.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Grendel grunted, nodding his head. At least he was able to move that much with the roots binding him. ¡°Are you here to give me a heavier sentence?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ignoring him, the princess continued. ¡°The reason for your outburst was because you discovered that the nobles were abducting young men and women from their territories, stealing them from their families, and visiting various atrocities upon them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Grendel¡¯s body stiffened when he heard that, some of the wounds where roots were stabbed into him torn open and bleeding. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about. I acted out of my own will.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The princess merely smiled. ¡°Sir Grendel Solust. The crime for a knight who betrayed his lord is to be fed to the Imperial Tree for three years, at which point the criminal will have long expired. You have been here for six weeks so far. Ie to you with an offer.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Grendel looked up at the princess, she continued. ¡°The empire is in dire need of you. You, who will act against injustice, even if it means viting your oath. You, who are unafraid to sully your hands in the blood of others. With the empire¡¯s recent expansion, we need one of your qualities. In time, we are likely to face a cruel enemy, one who does not share our peaceful beliefs.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If that timees, we will not need a peaceful soul to lead us. Instead, we will need a warrior, one who understands the harshness of the world, and can fight against those who would do us harm.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I have the power to withdraw your sentence. In return, I ask that you be my knight. Train my men to be proper soldiers, able to fight more than merely the roaming monsters of ournds. Furthermore, as my knight, you will have the authority to root out the hidden evil that rests within ournds, and ensure that no more families suffer due to the greed of those in power.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Grendel gave a dull chuckle when he heard that. ¡°Careful, princess. You¡¯re unleashing a rabid dog, you know? If you¡¯re not careful, I might turn against you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The princess¡¯s smile grew wide, and she bent down to remove a dagger strapped to her ankle. This dagger bore a circr pommel, engraved with the image of a great tree. Once the dagger was in hand, the roots quietly removed themselves from Grendel¡¯s body, surprising him. Meanwhile, the princess calmly walked over, cing the dagger in his hand and bringing it to her throat.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°By the name of Olivia Noblon, if one day you find my conduct to be unbing of my station, it is my sincere hope that you see that I am punished.¡± She said with that same, gentle smile.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mary let out a soft gasp as the scene changed again. This time, Grendel could be seen adorned in silver armor, green branch-like patterns engraved into it. ¡°By order of Her Royal Highness, I am here to exact justice upon those who prey upon the weak.¡± He called out, facing a great mansion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Behind Grendel stood fifty soldiers, all of whom had solemn expressions on their faces. However, there was no answer from within the mansion. Thus, Grendel drew his sword, a familiar, circr pommel attached to it. ¡°Your crimes are as follows. Six counts of murder. Three confirmed counts of ordering an assassination. Eighteen confirmed counts of kidnapping. To answer for these crimes, you will be sentenced to the Imperial Tree.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The pommel of his sword began to glow, and the mansion shook as giant roots pierced up and through the entire building. One root pierced through the shoulder of a screaming man, clutching at his shoulder as he was suspended in the air. ¡°You can¡¯t do this! Don¡¯t you know who I am!? You¡¯re just the princess¡¯s bloodhound!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s exactly right.¡± Grendel agreed without anyints. ¡°I came here following the scent of blood, and I am to enact the judgment of the pce upon this ce.¡± As he said that, the roots withdrew, dragging the screaming noble beneath the surface.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The scene shifted once again, Grendel walking into arge office and falling to one knee. ¡°My Lady, your knight has returned.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The princess sat at her desk, smiling. ¡°I am d to see that you are well, Sir Solust. With this, thest of the corrupted nobles should be dealt with. I would like you to start focusing more on training the troops from now on, if you think that you are capable.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As you wish.¡± Grendel nodded his head, eyes lowered.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The scene pulled back, showing the pce, the continent, the, and then the six stars once again. ¡°And like that, you have a true warrior knight within an empire known for its peaceful history.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mary nodded her head, looking impressed. ¡°Why not submit this scene to the design team? Surely they would be able to appreciate it, even if it did not meet their exact standards.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ghan huffed when Mary asked that. ¡°Perhaps. I¡¯ll need to redesign a few characters, but it won¡¯t contradict the overall flow of the story.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mary smiled politely at that, before voicing a question. ¡°Pardon me, but it seemed there as if you stopped narrating for a while. I must admit that I¡¯m not familiar with your process, so I was just curious what happened.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ghan blinked, before shrugging his shoulders. ¡°I¡¯ve said before. When you get the overall scene established, the characters can write themselves. There are actors in every script that are never seen, yet their existence is always implied. The architects that make the buildings, the farmers that grow the wheat to make the bread the heroes eat. Even if a character is never shown, their existence can be inferred due to the traces that they left behind.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°When you start from the top, you can create these characters on arge scale. And once enough information is provided, the world takes on its own life. I have two main jobs when creating any story. The first is to be the one to set the story in ce, determining the key facts that will shape this story and give it such life. The second is to find scenes from different times and ces within this new world to show to the audience.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I could show you a scene of the princess bathing, and many people might enjoy it. But, would it serve to push the plot forward as much as the scene where the princess realized the importance of a true warrior in her empire¡¯s army?¡±

 Chapter 1092: The King’s Gambit

    Chapter 1092: The King¡¯s Gambit


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh¡­ so he was being literal when he said that the story would write itself.¡± I muttered from my office, having deployed my World Sight to watch Ghan. For powers like his or Lifre¡¯s, it might actually be more efficient for them to work backwards from the final result that they wish to achieve, such as what Ghan showed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, that wasn¡¯t to say that there was only one way of doing things. Everyone had their own methods, even if they had simr sets of skills, and I was not going to try to disparage their methods. For instance, I couldn¡¯t see Ghan thrusting himself into his stories the way Lifre plunges into adventure.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As Ghan was finishing up his scene, Tsubaki informed me that the censoring of contaminated information had been finished on the inte. Once again, I was left to marvel at how advanced this device from Berose must have been. We could very likely learn a lot from studying it, but it seemed to be founded on a different method of thinking than what we were used to.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In a way, it was like how we had to adapt to different types of sphere devices when we received the trade from Oldbeard. We were able to create an interface for Berose¡¯s device, but had no way to properly understand it without a considerable time investment.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, what are you going to do now?¡± Aurivy asked Dana with a grin, sitting next to the small elf in themunal room of Olympus. Julia was off tending to the garden, so Aurivy took the time to spend a moment with one of her other friends.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hmm¡­¡± Dana thought to herself, trying to figure out what she <i><span style="font-weight:400">wanted</i><span style="font-weight:400"> to do, now that her Reset Protocol waspleted. There were certainly different options, but she didn¡¯t know exactly what path to take. ¡°I could work on one of my other projects, but I think most of them are pretty outdated by today¡¯s standards.¡± She had a mild tone ofint in her voice.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With everything that had happened with the Hypene Network, all of her spacefaring ns had to be scrapped, because they hadn¡¯t taken into ount the problems that would arise from these new developments.The rest of her projects were either fanciful dreams she didn¡¯t think that she could realize, or just small objects to tinker with as a hobby.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Why don¡¯t you help me with one of mine, then?¡± Aurivy asked yfully, causing Dana to look over at her with a curious expression.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What sort of projects are you working on?¡± Dana knew that Aurivy had always had her own projects. In some ways, she was actually a genius inventor. She had been the one to create Traveler, the instance dungeon core that Dale held, and even the cores that sparked the Dungeon Master battles in history. She was sure that there were still countless more creations of Aurivy¡¯s around the world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, loads of stuff!¡± Aurivy said with a lightugh. ¡°I pick up projects whenever I get inspiration, and set them down whenever I lose it. Right now, what I¡¯m working on is something that I call the Automatic Dungeon Generator. It¡¯s an old project of mine, but I never quite managed to get it working.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Why, what¡¯s wrong with it?¡± Dana asked, her curiosity further piqued by the idea. Dungeons were undeniably Aurivy¡¯s specialty, so for her to be having trouble with something, she wasn¡¯t sure how she would be able to contribute.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What I¡¯m looking for is a publicly essible dungeon that will adjust its difficulty based on the level of the participants. This is sort of what we originally wanted for Fyor, a training ground that anyone could use, regardless of level. However, over time, the look of Fyor changed. Nowadays, only the strongest go there, while the other floors are mostly cleared of any major threats and left as residential zones.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana¡¯s eyes widened slightly when she heard what the project was really about. ¡°Automatically assigning difficulty¡­ did you n to get Ashley involved?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not really. I want this to be something that can be made without getting the system involved. For instance, I want to copy the trick of instanced dungeons to let multiple parties into the dungeon at once, each in their own instance. I have monster and trap generation handled, thanks to the dungeon cores. What I¡¯m missing is exactly that difficulty adjuster.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I need some type of item or spell that will look at the levels of the participants, and construct a suitable challenge for them. At the same time, I¡¯d like to include a safety mechanism in the dungeon, so that people will be ejected from the dungeon after taking a serious injury. It might not be able to save <i><span style="font-weight:400">everyone, </i><span style="font-weight:400">but it would go a long way towards it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana gave a small nod of her head, but pursed her lips. ¡°Why not just make a virtual training program, instead? If you have the user synchronize their virtual and real selves, then any training that they do in the program will carry over to the real world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy stuck her tongue out for a moment. ¡°Because I want something to get people <i><span style="font-weight:400">out</i><span style="font-weight:400"> of the virtual world! There are so many things these days to incentivize people to spend most of their time logged into games, whether it is to have fun, make money, or grow stronger. The more people get into games, the less invested they will be in the outside world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If I can get this dungeon working, it can be a training ground for aspiring adventurers. I¡¯ve just got to get the difficulty setting fixed.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana let out a small sigh, understanding Aurivy¡¯sint. In fact, she and the others had been quite absorbed into Fragments of Acidia for a while, which had led to the formation of an entire machine empire. Sadly, that empire was destroyed when the game had to be reset, and the Keeper hadn¡¯t given any instructions to either recreate it or invest any more personal time in the game since then.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sure¡­ I think I know how I can get it working.¡± Dana nodded her head, starting to piece together a spell in her mind. She had been the one to create the fourth-tier sentient spell known as Gerard, so setting up a difficulty filter like this wasn¡¯t that much of a problem.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yes! I knew I could count on you!¡± Aurivy grinned broadly, but Dana held up a hand.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°First, I¡¯ll need aplete list of every monster or trap that your dungeon is set to be able to generate, including their abilities, estimated level, and generated rewards. After that, I can start working on the spell that will tie all of that into a single system.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy nodded her head quickly, clearly pleased by the results of the conversation. However, a momentter, her expression froze, causing Dana to blink. ¡°Is everything alright?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The March world is copsing.¡± She said in a serious tone. Dana¡¯s eyes shot open wide at that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Have they finished evacuations?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Only about half.¡± Aurivy said with a shake of her head. ¡°It¡¯s copsing inwards, the edge of the observable universe disintegrating, with the copse moving at roughly forty million times the speed of light. Worse, it¡¯s getting faster the more it goes. Fifty million, sixty million¡­ they only have less than an hour.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana knit her brows together. She knew that this estimate was taking into ount the Fallen Gods trying to stabilize the barrier. ¡°Can they get out in time?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy didn¡¯t have an answer to that. At the very least, it was clear that they wouldn¡¯t all make it.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°High Mother, an urgent report from long-range sensors!¡± A Metong soldier ran into the High Mother¡¯s office, a look of shock on his face. However, the High Mother simply nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m aware. It¡¯s time.¡± She said, closing her eyes. She had long since moved her residence aboard one of thergest ships in the entire Metong fleet, ready to abandon this universe at a moment¡¯s notice.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Walking over to the window out of her office, nothing looked different in the dark sky. Of course, it wouldn¡¯t. The copse was happening so fast that it was faster than the light still traveling towards them. Without the support of sensors ced at an extreme distance to prepare for this eventuality, they would have simply been erased without ever knowing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Send a report to all vessels, and ry mymand to the March King. We will attempt to perform a synchronized void jump to the coordinates given by the Another World Research Group. All ships must leave at <i><span style="font-weight:400">exactly</i><span style="font-weight:400"> the same time. An exodus of this scale could shatter the world entirely, and anything that is left behind for even a fraction of a second longer could be erased from existence.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">This fact wasn¡¯t something that they had told the othermanders, and only she and the March King knew about it. If the ship captains knew that such a thing would happen if they were dyed, they may have already left, leading to the downfall of everyone else. Now, she needed to coordinate to perform this synchronized jump.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Understood, High Mother!¡± The soldier reported, saluting the High Mother as he ryed the message.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Link all Metong ship systems directly to the Iron Throne. Only the March King has a chance of performing a jump of this scale.¡± Although she didn¡¯t want to admit it, the March King was a far better choice than herself for this. His domain of Communication meant that he had a better chance of instantlymunicating with the systems of every ship at once, and processing all of that information.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Understood¡­¡± The soldier nodded, this time with a more solemn expression. The lights in the ship flickered as the remote controls were transferred to the authority of the March King. At this point, the High Mother could only close her eyes and hope for the best.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Compensating timing for distance dy and individual ship capabilities. Initiating warp in ten.¡± The March King¡¯s staticky voice spoke out through the ship¡¯s speakers, slowly counting down. As soon as he hit ¡®zero¡¯, the High Mother felt the space twisting around her, the familiar sensation of the ship jumping through the void.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She let out a sigh of relief, d that the jump was sessful. The March King didn¡¯t make an announcement, but that was in line with his style. ¡°Analyze the losses. How many made it?¡± She asked, preparing for the worst.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The soldier closed his eyes, sending out several pings to various ships in the fleet. ¡°Roughly ny-seven percent of all Metong ships are ounted for, High Mother!¡± He announced in a joyous tone, before his silver face seemed to lose its luster.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And the March¡­?¡± She asked, feeling as if she shouldn¡¯t have asked that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ny¡­ ny percent. We have lost contact with ny percent of the March ships, including the Iron Throne.¡± The High Mother staggered when she heard that, eyes going wide in shock. There was no way that the March King would have sacrificed his own people to stay behind.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Did the karma of leaving people to die fall on his shoulders, and cause a chain reaction even before the jump? Or were our ships just slightly more advanced than his calctions, causing his timing to be off?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The High Mother¡¯s lip trembled at such a massive loss of life, including someone that she had regarded as an ally and friend for over a hundred years.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Send out¡­ send out emergency aid to those that remain.¡± She said, once she got her voice working again. ¡°Whether Metong or March, offer shelter to any who need it. We need to get the fleets together to prepare our next move.¡±

 Chapter 1093: Come With Me, And You’ll See

    Chapter 1093: Come With Me, And You¡¯ll See


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although the High Mother was mourning the loss of the March and their king, she was unable to stay still for long. After all, a significant number of their empire¡¯s worlds were still being stored within the new devices that they had created for this exodus. Before she could deal with her personal feelings, she had to first make sure that her people were taken care of.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a mentalmand, she sent an order to the bridge to find a suitable location to begin redeploying the stored sr systems. Chelsea had originally exined, this new universe was naught but scattered cosmic dust. There were no stars, gxies, or even any rocks to be found floating in space. This made it easier to find suitable locations, merely needing to keep in mind the rtive positions of each sr system.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Having lost half of their empire to theck of time, and half of what remained to the evacuation itself, the golems were ready to start recovery. Or¡­ at least the Metong would. As for the March, it was hard to say if they would be able to fully recover from this loss.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I had to admit, when I heard what happened with the golem races, I was surprised. I assumed that they still had more time, that they would be able to save more of their people. However, when it urred, not only had they not saved everyone, but almost all of the March ships had been destroyed.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Are you nning to add the March King to the Heroic Spirits?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I asked Terra mentally. What he did could very well be considered a sacrifice. Although not intentionally, he died for the sake of his people.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Yet, Terra¡¯s response was both surprising and firm. <i><span style="font-weight:400">No, I won¡¯t.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She responded, before her tone softened. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Sorry, but it¡¯s just a bad idea all around. Bad timing had a part to y in it, but there was also a karmic bacsh that helped to cause his death. Keep in mind that their early departure would knowingly cause the deaths of half of their universe¡¯s surviving races.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked, shaking my head in refusal. <i><span style="font-weight:400">They would have only lived for a few minutes more. Is the karmic bacsh really that strong?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra gave a bitter chuckle in response. <i><span style="font-weight:400">If that was all, no murderer would ever suffer from negative karma. Everyone dies eventually. Unless it is a case where the person is in such pain that deathes as a relief, all unnatural deaths are treated as a murder. Whether they had five minutes to live or five hundred years, the weight of karma doesn¡¯t change.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Now, because this karmic bacsh caused the death of the majority of the March, including their king, the Metong are currently spared from any additional bacsh. The karmic debt is considered ¡®paid¡¯, and things havergely returned to bnce.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">However, if I were to bring the king back, the one that pulled the trigger on that exodus, the karma would return with him. It would taint not only him, but also the survivors that fled to the new world. For that reason, I won¡¯t be considering him as a candidate for the Heroic Spirits.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately, I had to nod my head in eptance. If there was such a karmic burden attached to the March King, then bringing him back would be like repeating the incident with James all over. Leaving aside whether or not he would be able to learn the karmic energy that James used to dispel his own negative karma, we can¡¯t simply make disposable worlds every time someone needs to get rid of their ¡®debt¡¯.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Is their new home at least stable enough that they can connect to the other universes again?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> More and more people were beginning to draw attention to the absence of the Metong and March as time went on, and this would only worsen if they were still unable to connect after the world copsed.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, it¡¯s fine for that. The world is still substantially more fragile than one created by the system, but it shouldst more than long enough for Chelsea¡¯s technology to finish developing.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I was relieved to hear that, as it meant that the Metong wouldn¡¯t turn into universal nomads, trapped in colony ships traveling through the void. That would be a cool mental image, though¡­


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Don¡¯t even think about it.</i>


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona slumped in her chair, not sure what to make of what had happened. No matter what she did, she couldn¡¯t find the silver lining. This event did not simply end with the destruction of the Metong¡¯s universe or the almostplete annihtion of the March golems. There were still other effects that were yet to be resolved.


    <span style="font-weight:400">One such effect, one that could be felt all over Deckan, was how Dimensium had been changed. It might sound nice for the energy it released to be more powerful, but the truth was anything but. Dimensium was used in a lot of delicate machinery, which required fine-tuning various energy signatures. Now that the bnce had suddenly been broken, all of these devices were failing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona had no idea if the material would return to normal over time, or if they would simply have to adapt to the new situation. For this reason, she couldn¡¯t give people an answer on what to do with the modified dimensium. For now, all that she could do was advise that people all over Deckan stopped using any delicate machinery that incorporated this material.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aside from that, she wasn¡¯t immediately sure where Aznod had gotten off to¡­


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is this truly necessary?¡± Aznod asked with a resigned sigh as Lifre pulled him along towards the gate of Fyor. ¡°I¡¯ve heard of your Bombubble incident, but I don¡¯t think that I am really fit to assist with that, am I?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°At least you epted the name!¡± Lifre said with a heartyugh. ¡°But no, bombubbles are <i><span style="font-weight:400">so</i><span style="font-weight:400">st week. I¡¯ve found the next floor now! And this one, I think, you¡¯re super super good for!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod¡¯s brow twitched at this, trying to remember how he had gotten here. One minute, he had been looking through some new recipes that he wanted to try out. The next, Lifre had appeared through a portal, grabbed his arm, and quite literally pulled him into Fyor. ¡°How did you even know where to open that portal?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯re always in the kitchen.¡± Lifre pointed out, a broad grin on her face. ¡°Anyways, get this! You¡¯ll love the sixty-sixth floor!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod simply resigned himself to going along with Lifre¡¯s whims for the moment. Had he been aware of the developments with the golem races, he likely would have rushed back to the pce to be with Udona, but he had yet to be informed of that matter.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Very well, let¡¯s get this taken care of.¡± Aznod nodded his head as he followed behind Lifre, trying to imagine just what a floor of Fyor had to be like for Lifre to seek <i><span style="font-weight:400">him</i><span style="font-weight:400"> out, out of all people.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre pulled Aznod through the gate, and his eyes suddenly went wide. There was an unfamiliar energy in the air, but it wasn¡¯t a harmful one like the pink mist. As far as he could tell, the energy had no adverse effects on the body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">What it <i><span style="font-weight:400">did</i><span style="font-weight:400"> do was highly stimte the sense of taste of those caught within it, merging sweet and savory tastes to fill the mouth with every breath. ¡°What is¡­¡± Aznod couldn¡¯t quite find the words to express his curiosity.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I know, right?!¡± Lifre smiled wide, taking a <i><span style="font-weight:400">big</i><span style="font-weight:400"> breath. ¡°It¡¯s like it captures your favorite taste all the time. Oh, and it gets better!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What do you mean, better?¡± Aznod asked, watching as Lifre plucked arge flower next to her feet, bringing it up to her mouth.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she inhaled, the flower seemed to dissolve into a green energy, flowing into her mouth. ¡°Everything on thisyer is made of that energy, and ispletely edible! Not only does it taste <i><span style="font-weight:400">really</i><span style="font-weight:400"> good, but it also replenishes your energy reserves like a high-ss meal. That flower filled me up better than a three-course dinner, and tasted like steak!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod blinked at that, trying to decipher the meaning of what she said. ording to Lifre¡¯s words, the energy here was highly nutritious. However, as an energy lifeform herself, she wasn¡¯t talking simply the vitamins and proteins needed for daily living, but rather how the energy itself replenished her ki, mana and spirit.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Curious, Aznod plucked a flower himself, bringing it to his mouth. As soon as his mouth opened, the flower dissolved, entering his body. He could sense how the energy that made the flower resonated with his own energy cores. Rather than directly replenishing them, this energy soothed the cores to promote the generation of more energy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The strangest part of this, aside from the taste of cheese and caramel in his mouth, was that the energy he sensed within the flower was less than the energy that the flower helped him to recover. This was something typically unheard of when it came to any form of food, as it was simply thew of conservation. If something could produce more energy than it was given, you would have a perpetual motion machine. Thus far, people have only achieved such feats by relying on divinity, the void, or high level magic.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Were you able to find out the cause of this?¡± He asked in a hesitant tone. Part of his mind was ecstatic about this discovery, already thinking of how tobine this with the energy kernels from the Hajit city to form the ultimate food.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, there was another part of him that thought that this might just be a sweet poison. What if there were hidden side-effects, such as addiction, or long-term consequences that hadn¡¯t been discovered yet.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, I was kind of curious, so I asked the one person that I thought would know, Aurivy! A few hours ago, I had her do a scan of this floor to see what was up with all the amazing tastes and high-quality food energy! And¡­ she actually found something!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod watched Lifre, gesturing for her to continue. ¡°There is a primordial relic on this floor. Specifically, the relic containing the domain of Food. The energy from that relic has spread to cover the entireyer of Fyor, making it so that almost anything can be eaten.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I see¡­¡± If this was a consequence of a divine ability, Aznod could somewhat understand it. Especially if the ability had been active since the dawn of the world itself. ¡°What do you mean by <i><span style="font-weight:400">almost</i><span style="font-weight:400"> anything?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh? Oh, that¡¯s an easy one!¡± She pointed behind her, at the gate that they came from. ¡°The gates still disrupt energy like this within a meter. That dirt next to the gate is just in dirt, not some dirt-like super food. Found that one out the hard way.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is it just your instinct to eat everything you can¡­?¡± Aznod asked hesitantly, Lifre turning to raise an amused eyebrow at him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is that slimist, my good sir? I¡¯ll have you know I¡¯m offended! Or would be, if it weren¡¯t mostly true. Anyways, I thought you¡¯d like toe and see this, and maybe you could figure out how to make this energy yourself!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You aren¡¯t able to make it?¡± He asked curiously, knowing that Lifre had mastered World Sight.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, Lifre simply shook her head. ¡°I took a good look at the energy structure, and it¡¯s <i><span style="font-weight:400">so</i><span style="font-weight:400">plicated. I can¡¯t even tell how you¡¯d make most of it, so I don¡¯t know where to begin. I¡¯d have to bring in James or Chelsea for that. Maybe Dana on a good day.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod hesitated for a moment, before nodding. ¡°I¡¯ll see what I can do, then.¡±

 Chapter 1094: The Fallen Forge

    Chapter 1094: The Fallen Forge


    <span style="font-weight:400">A golden pir rose into the sky, a lycan figure sitting in the center rof it with his legs crossed. This was a rathermon sight in the modern world, so much so that the venue was often rented for those seeking to make breakthroughs in their divine ascension. For this reason, it was known as the God-Chasing tform, which consisted of arge, round cushion atop a high pedestal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">What made this location so special was the enchantments done on the pedestal itself. These enchantments isted the energy of the outside world, preventing anything that could cause a disturbance at a critical moment. They had first be popr in Lorek under the name Immortal Ascension Seat, but their names were changed when used by those aspiring to be gods, rather than immortals.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once the pir faded away, the lycan slowly rose to his feet, taking a deep breath. He had short, brown hair and golden eyes, the eyes a result of his recent ascension. It wasmon for new gods to not fully control their divinity, leading to golden eyes for a period of time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nearby, another lycan walked over, this one a female, looking at the first expectantly. ¡°Did it go well?¡± She asked, to which he nodded his head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The male Lycan held out a hand, a golden parchment forming from his divinity. This was a manifestation of his domain. ¡°Exploration, just like I wanted.¡± He said with a grin, the woman throwing herself at him and wrapping her arms around his neck.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I knew that you could get it, Clover!¡± The woman, Lydia, said happily. The two of them had gotten their divinities forged at the same time, but Lydia had managed toplete the process weeks before Clover. This was due mostly to the choices that they picked in their domains, with Clover¡¯s requiring significantly more training before he was satisfied with his chances.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Clover gave a small grin, pleased with himself as well. The two of them left the tform, which locked itself down to begin dispersing the divine energy that he released during his ascension. This was to prepare the tform for its next user.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Does this mean you¡¯re ready to head back to space?¡± Lydia asked in excitement, Clover giving a small nod.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Now that we can safely travel outside of the Hypene Network, and the two of us have ascended, there isn¡¯t anything holding us back. It might do good to take a job to make a name for ourselves. I can¡¯t sense a connection to <i><span style="font-weight:400">him</i><span style="font-weight:400"> anymore, so I am not expecting any surplus of energy toe on its own.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lydia pursed her lips at that, but nodded her head. She was d that Clover was no longer connected to the Keeper, as that meant that he was safer than he had ever been. Originally, they had three ideas for what might have happened if Clover ever ascended to be a god.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The first risk was that the strengthening divinity of his soul would cause him to be automatically re-absorbed into the Keeper again, essentially killing him. This option alone would have made ascending an unappealing prospect. The second option was that he would be locked into the same domains as the Keeper, like how when a mortal incarnation of the Greater Pantheon revealed their divinity. Finally, thest option was that he was able to get a new domain, but it was also forced onto the Keeper, which could have dangerous consequences.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Needless to say, any one of these risks would have entirely prevented Clover from ever attempting to ascend. Thankfully, the Keeper took the initiative to fully sever the ties between the two of them, allowing him to achieve today¡¯s result.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Who should we apply with?¡± Lydia asked excitedly. ¡°I think our old ship got destroyed in the first round of memetic shield testing, so we¡¯ll need to find a new one to join.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Clover nodded, already pulling a terminal out to make a call. From the other end of the connection, a young, feminine voice spoke up. ¡°Oh? Clover, that you? Long time, bud! How you been?!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m good, Ve.¡± Clover chuckled, shaking his head. ¡°You still working at the agency?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yup! As a Priestess of Aurivy, it is my duty to bless those seeking to travel to unknownnds. Does that mean that you¡¯re back in the game? I heard that you¡¯d retired.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Clover hesitated for a moment, before confirming it. ¡°I¡¯m thinking I¡¯m back. Lydia and I are looking for a ship that we can join together. You can update our applications, too. I¡¯ve taken on the role of a God of Exploration, so I can help navigate dangerous terrain. Lydia is the Goddess of Explosions, so she¡¯ll be useful as a more activebatant.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I see, I see! Are you both still wanting to take on a role as advisors, as well?¡± Ve asked, though Clover hesitated again. This time, it was Lydia that spoke up on his behalf.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Unfortunately, Ve, I don¡¯t think we really qualify for that position anymore. The only type of advisor anyone would be wanting nowadays is one that has a high ranking in Codex Chaotic.¡± There was a long sigh from the other end of the call after Lydia said that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯re right. They¡¯ve actually started to issue a form for that. If you want to be an advisor, you have to disclose your highest cleared level of CC. I thought that the two of you might have done some work on that while you were off the rosters, but I guess not?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Clover readily confirmed it. ¡°I¡¯ve spent all of my time going around Deckan, Lorek, and Fyor, so I haven¡¯t had the time. And, as for Lydia¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ve been making everything explode to train myself!¡± Lydia said with a wide grin, causing Ve to chuckle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, got it. Let¡¯s see¡­ a ship that¡¯s looking for both a navigator and abat specialist, willing to pay for at least two more deities added to their roster. There are three that you can choose from. You can join the Arbiter, the Falchion, or the Last Laugh. They¡¯re all exploration vessels, and all nning to leave in between three and six days. Aside from the Last Laugh, all of them have at least one other deity on board, whether fallen or otherwise.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two of them looked at one another, silentlymunicating. Additional deities would mean a higher level of security, and there could even be those that they could ask advice from. ¡°We¡¯ll go with the Arbiter.¡± Clover answered, and they could hear the sound of Ve typing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Got it. The Arbiter is nning to disembark from Earth in four days. Make your way to Orbital Station Two and give them your names. They should be expecting you by the time you arrive. Anything else, while you have me?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s fine. Thanks again, Ve.¡± Clover replied with a smile, closing the connection. He took a deep breath, calming himself down. If they were really doing this now, that meant that they would likely be fighting against more memetic monsters. He could still remember what happened with theirst ship, the bridge full of corpses.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lydia reached over, gently grabbing his hand and giving it a small squeeze. She knew him well enough to know when he was worried about something. ¡°Let¡¯s take the next couple days to brush up on Codex Chaotic?¡± She suggested, earning a nod from Clover.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah, that¡¯s probably a good idea.¡± There was no telling what sort of memetic entities they¡¯d be facing in the future, so learning some more tricks to deal with them would definitely not hurt.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">A deep, nging echo could be heard from deep within Olympus, sounding akin to a giant¡¯s roar. This echo sounded every few seconds, sometimes sending vibrations throughout all of Olympus. In his forge, Tubrock grit his teeth, bringing his hammer down upon the anvil, shaping the reddened metal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">His eyes were bloodshot, the muscles in his arms tensed with every strike, more so than his usual work. He had been among the first to know what happened to the March golems. He was their creator, after all.


    <span style="font-weight:400">First, the Geer turned to tyranny, eventually being removed from the universe. Now, the March had all but met a simr fate. Of the three types of golems he originally created, only the Metong still stood at the height of their power.


    <span style="font-weight:400">His forge shook every time Tubrock smashed his hammer down, divine sparks scattering in every direction. His mind was filled with all of the golems that he had created in the past. Whether they were the Metong, March, the Geer, or his personal projects, they all shed through his mind.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Perhaps he wasn¡¯t in his right mind, feeling the pain of a father that just watched their son pass away. He wasn¡¯t that connected to any one golem, but when there were so many of them¡­


    <span style="font-weight:400">Soon, the metal beneath his hammer ckened, turning gaseous with each strike. Small explosions echoed in the air, but he paid them no mind. His thoughts were focusing, every swing of his hammer shaping the material beneath him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The gas seemed to flicker in and out, and it was almost as if Tubrock was directly striking the anvil itself, which cried at the impact. Its screams became more ckened gas that wrapped around Tubrock¡¯s hammer, until finally, the hammer itself shattered.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tubrock¡¯s cheeks were cut by the shards of his oldest divine artifact crashing into his face, but he still refused to stop. He balled up a fist, and began to m <i><span style="font-weight:400">it</i><span style="font-weight:400"> down onto the anvil, shaping the formless material with nothing but his raw strength and divine authority.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After nearly three hours of nonstop hammering, he stretched his fist out, seeming to grab the intangible mass, which was drawn to his hand. His hand glowed and emitted a hissing sound. When he unclenched his fist, there was a ck burn mark on his palm.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Are ye there?¡± He asked in a gruff tone, the air around him seeming to twist in response to his words. ¡°Ye won¡¯t be dyin¡¯ on me, will ye?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Again, the air distorted, and Tubrock nodded his head. ¡°In that case, go. Eat yer fill, and remember¡­ I¡¯m watchin¡¯. Don¡¯t you go misbehavin¡¯ now.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The air behind Tubrock caved in on itself, a ck portal opening up before immediately closing. An instantter, a silver-haired elf ran into the office with wide eyes. ¡°Tubrock, <i><span style="font-weight:400">what</i><span style="font-weight:400"> did I just sense in here?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°New project. Nothin¡¯ ye need to concern yerself with for now.¡± He said with a grunt.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Tubrock¡­ did you make a <i><span style="font-weight:400">void</i><span style="font-weight:400"> golem?!¡± Leowynn asked, Tubrock shrugging his shoulders and moving to pick up the fallen remains of his artifact hammer.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Gotta do somethin¡¯. The world¡¯s evolvin¡¯, Leo. We gotta either get ahead of it, or it¡¯ll get ahead of us. Don¡¯t worry, this won¡¯t turn out like yer little Guardian project.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Are you <i><span style="font-weight:400">sure</i><span style="font-weight:400"> about that?¡± She asked, and Tubrock gave a firm nod.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Aye, I am. I¡¯ll be keepin¡¯ an eye on him personally. I set up enough defenses in thatd to make Chelsea blush. If he goes wrong, I¡¯ve got twenty different ways to end his existence without a major show.¡± Tubrock had a surprisingly firm tone, and Leowynn¡¯s gaze softened as she walked over, cing a hand on his shoulder.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Let me see your hand.¡± She said in a gentle tone. ¡°I can still sense the trace. If you don¡¯t get that looked at, it will fester in your divinity.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tubrock grunted, holding up his ckened hand, which Leowynn took and began to carefully extract the void energy from. ¡°Just¡­ just tell me that this wasn¡¯t spur of the moment, and that you¡¯ve been thinking about this long enough to know what you are doing.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tubrock let out a long sigh, his shoulders slumping. ¡°Aye,ss. I¡¯ve been thinkin¡¯ about a void golem since V-Day. Golems are simr to the void monsters in that they¡¯re creatures initially established on a hard set of rules. Just been holdin¡¯ off till now because I wanted to make damn sure that I knew how to control what I created and stop it from turnin¡¯ into one of them Void Gods.¡±

 Chapter 1095: The Birds And The Beasts

    Chapter 1095: The Birds And The Beasts


    <span style="font-weight:400">The following day, after being told where to find their ship, Clover and Lydia arrived at the orbital station. The two of them were more than strong enough to escape from Earth¡¯s orbit without any need for a vessel to carry them, especially now that they had both be gods. When they arrived, they were directed to arge ship with a sleek design.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Clover immediately began to analyze the ship,paring it to those that he had been in before. The main body off the ship was longer, but also not as tall. In many ways, it looked like an oversized missile. However, it was stillrge enough to require at least a hundred people to properly crew the ship.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You must be the Kyrs?¡± A man approached them with a smile. Immediately, Clover and Lydia could sense a trace of the void on him, and realized that this man must be a Fallen God. Outwardly, he appeared human, with ck hair and dark eyes, having a lean build.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. I¡¯m Clover, and this is Lydia.¡± Clover spoke up, introducing the two of them, each of them shaking the man¡¯s hand after he extended it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sebastian Powel.¡± The other man said in greeting. ¡°I¡¯m the Fallen God of Command, and I am the captain of the Arbiter. If you need anything, please feel free to ask.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°A Fallen God is the captain of a vessel?¡± Lydia asked, surprised. Captains were usually mortals, or at the most someone that had achieved perfection. It was very rare for a deity to take the role. This was not because they were unsuited to the task, but rather because gods were more of an emergency force or an advisor on most vessels.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sebastian gave a small chuckle. ¡°That¡¯s right, ma¡¯am. Though, I only became one during the recent downtime. From my understanding, the two of you are the same? Exploration and Explosion?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two lycan deities nodded their heads, and Sebastian gestured for them to follow him. ¡°Please,e inside, let me show you around.¡±


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Within the void, a small crack could be felt, a tear opening in the emptiness as a ck mass appeared. Once in the void, it formed a vortex, drawing the essence of the void into itself to give it a proper body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The body that it took was simr to that of a muscr humanoid with pure white skin and ck, empty eyes. With the void as a backdrop, this creature was particrly eye-catching. Once it was done forming its body, it stood motionless, its eyes roaming over the monsters circling around the various barriers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This golem was not like a normal void beast, which only had a limited number of rules. Instead, the golem was closer to a program, more akin to an artificial intelligence than an instinct-driven beast. However, it did not have that final ¡®spark¡¯ that granted it a true soul.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was because the process of awakening an artificial intelligence involved awakening a divine spark within the intelligence, and forming the soul around that. Tubrock had been worried that this step would inevitably sh with the void golem¡¯s core, so he took a different approach.


    <span style="font-weight:400">What Tubrock did was create an artificial intelligence that was just on the edge of awakening, and then thrust it into the void. There, it couldplete itself by absorbing the information of other beasts.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For now, it was simr to a far more advanced version of Ana. Its head slowly lifted, eyes locking onto what looked to be a field suspended in the void, more than a dozen beasts roaming the field and eating the feed provided to them. The golem felt a sense of danger from this area, as if it would never be able to leave if it entered that pasture.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Instead, it turned to face a void beast swimming through the void, looking like a writhing mass of tentacles covered in a ck mist. The golem¡¯s ck eyes shed green as it assessed the information within this beast. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Causes shed body parts to turn into amorphous masses that attack their former hosts.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">It shook its head at that, deeming this to be a rather poor information sample to absorb. Next was a headless man, two faces growing out of his shoulders. One face looked as if it wereughing, the other crying. Once again, it scanned the void beast to analyze its rules.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Causes sentient beings to understand the truth of a subject through verbalmunication, removing any attempts to conceal the truth.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> After analyzing this rule, the golem¡¯s eyes went from green to red. Its vision zoomed in on the creature that it had identified, and suddenly it was standing right before its target.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Theughing face showed an expression of surprise when it caught sight of the golem, turning as if to run. However, the golem was simply faster. Or rather, it moved faster than opponent could hope to match on instinct. In the moment that it appeared before its target, it increased its personal flow of time by more than a thousand fold.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With this elerated flow of time, the movements of its prey couldn¡¯t even be registered. Calmly, the golem stretched its arm out, grabbing one of the humanoid beast¡¯s arms and pulling hard. There was a sickening crunch as the arm was pulled from its body, the other following secondster.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With both arms removed from the humanoid beast, the golem used its fists to crush the two faces, causing the beast to fall still. The golem¡¯s eyes shed green once again, determining that the beast was truly defeated, its rules starting to dissipate. For the first time, it opened its mouth wide, its jaw reaching down to the center of its chest.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The inside of the golem¡¯s mouth looked to be a ck abyss, drawing in the body of the beast that it had just in. The beast disappeared into the gaping maw, first its severed arms and then the mangled corpse that had been left behind.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After the beast disappeared in its entirety, the golem went still once again, its eyes turning blue while it digested the information that it had devoured.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra let out a small sigh within the Admin Room,ying on the bed with her legs draped off the side. Her eyes were closed, focusing her sights on the golem within the void. Her feline ears twitched as the door to the room opened, and Keliope walked in. ¡°Yo, sis! How¡¯s it going?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra gave a small chuckle at Keliope¡¯s intrusion. She often came in to check on Terra, as Terra was the only one not fully capable of descending into her incarnation for prolonged periods. ¡°Hey, Kelly.¡± She said as she sat up. ¡°Just keeping an eye on Tubrock¡¯s newest creation.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh? What¡¯d the madd make this time? Let me guess, it¡¯s some kind of sentient gemstone that can harness the power of emotions.¡± Keliope asked, walking over to drop herself onto the bed next to Terra, whoughed lightly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, though that would be interesting. No, he made a void golem, and released it into the void to hunt void beasts.¡± Keliope¡¯s eyes widened when she heard that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You serious? That crazy dwarf¡­ We¡¯ve got enough to worry about with void beasts already, don¡¯t we?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If things go well, this golem should be able to clear out some of the older ones.¡± Terra said with a small smile, though Keliope looked confused.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s not the older ones I¡¯m worried about, it¡¯s these new ones with all those twisted rules. You know, I heard that someone found a void beast that had a rule to turn people into whatever they ate? It was apparently trying to work its way into Spica when it was found.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra smiled slightly, shaking her head. ¡°Those <i><span style="font-weight:400">are</i><span style="font-weight:400"> the old ones. Remember, Kelly, the void has been around forever. The longer a void beast exists, the more time it has to adapt and add to its rules. New beasts with particrly tricky rules can be dangerous, but the really bad ones are those that have had time to evolve.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keliope hesitated, before nodding her head in agreement. ¡°Where do theye from, anyways? I mean, they don¡¯t exist inside of a system-generated world, so they shouldn¡¯t follow normal monster spawning rules. Andst I checked, Dale never set up rules for spawning in the void.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Monkeys and typewriters.¡± Terra said, causing Keliope to look at her in confusion. Terra let out a long sigh. ¡°It¡¯s a saying from Dale¡¯s old world. Basically, if you put a monkey in a room with a typewriter, eventually it will create coherent sentences, or even write out famous works of literature.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ll take your entire stock of typewriting monkeys.¡± Keliope deadpanned, causing Terra to giggle in amusement.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not like that¡­ it¡¯s not a fast process. This is an ¡®eventually¡¯ theory. Basically, even if you hit random keys on a keyboard, you will eventually make words. Void beasts work in a simr way. Throughout the entire void, the information within it is constantly crashing against itself. Every now and then, this information smashes together just right to form a coherent rule. Once that rule is formed, the leftover information is used to construct the body.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I think I get it¡­¡± Keliope nodded slowly, before blinking. ¡°Does that mean that it¡¯s possible for an entire world to be spontaneously born, in the same way as a void beast?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra blinked, but nodded in agreement. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ theoretically possible. However, the sheer amount of coincidences that would need toe together for that to happen¡­ even if I used my Fate domain to stir up the odds, it could take a billion years. More if you want the world to actually be stable.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right, sorry.¡± Keliope nodded. ¡°So after they¡¯re born, these void beasts are just drawn to other sources of information, like an animal?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Terra confirmed readily. ¡°They¡¯re made from this random information, but they aren¡¯t plete¡¯ entities. They yearn toplete themselves by growing and gathering more information. In the end, they can be like that Void God that they fought in the invasion.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s¡­ a good thing that we¡¯ve never had anyone get that far.¡± Keliope muttered, though Terra shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Actually, we had one that was pretty close at one point.¡± When she said that, Keliope turned to face her with wide eyes. ¡°It was a while back, a void beast that created contracts. This allowed it to fly under the radar for a while, until it decided to turn its focus to a game designer, nning to use his tform to infect the world. When I noticed this, I sent the twins to lead him to Leowynn, so she could deal with it. That was the most intelligent void beast we¡¯ve ever had, and it could have very easily turned into a Void God if it was allowed toplete its plot.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keliope¡¯s brow twitched slightly. ¡°I think I remember hearing about that case. Though, I don¡¯t remember it being described nearly as severe as that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra simply gave a small shrug, grinning. ¡°Rules are rules. Dale didn¡¯t even know what Void Gods were back then, or had any concept like that. The most he knew or had evidence of was just really powerful void beasts. So, given that that was technically not wrong, that is how the contract beast was described.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You cheeky cat.¡± Keliope let out a lightugh, but reached over to hug Terra¡¯s waist. Although Terra yed it off with a yful tone, Keliope knew that she didn¡¯t like to keep information like that from Dale, and only did because of the system forcing her to do so.

 Chapter 1096: Darkest Night

    Chapter 1096: Darkest Night


    <span style="font-weight:400">I was out in the instance dungeon, training my various divine abilities once again, when suddenly I noticed a ping from the system. Half of a month had passed from when Berose sent me the memetic sensor through thest invasion, so it was time to be notified of the next invasion a month and a half away.


    <span style="font-weight:400">My opponent this time was someone known as DarkestNight, and I was once again being invaded. Although it was a rather ominous sounding name, I didn¡¯t particrly pay it much mind. After all, Starkiller was one of my best friends among other Keepers. Instead, I just opened the guild chat to send a message to the others.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Hey, everyone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Oh, hey! Who¡¯d you get this time?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Huh?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Those of us that were on defensest time just got our new matches, so we were going over who we had been assigned. I figured that¡¯s what you were here for, too.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Ah, right. The system told me that my next opponent is called DarkestNight, and I¡¯m on the defense.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">After I sent that message, there was a lull in the chat. I couldn¡¯t tell if nobody had heard of that name, or if everyone had. Eventually, Alice was the one to break the silence.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard: You don¡¯t have the best of luck when ites to opponents, do you?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Is it that bad..?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: You could say that. DarkestNight is in a rather special category of Monster Keepers, and has earned a bit of a reputation because of it. You know by now what it takes to reach the next level as a Keeper, right?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Being able to create aplete world without the system¡¯s help, right?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: That¡¯s right. For Monster Keepers that don¡¯t nurture a civilization, this is actually a major bottleneck. Most Monster Keepers ovee this by spending a lot of points to create a monster race that has the ability to create such a world on their own. Otherwise, they¡¯ll be stuck at the top of the fourth rank.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: ¡­I¡¯m guessing DarkestNight didn¡¯t do that?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Right. This makes him sort of like RagnaRocker, a predator in the fourth rank. Of course, his infamy also means that there is a lot of information known about the types of monsters that he regrly uses.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: If he¡¯s as bad as you¡¯re hinting, I¡¯d appreciate any information you can give me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Right, well¡­ the main thing is that he nurtures what people refer to as ¡®cosmic monsters¡¯. The smallest of his creations can be considered a living moon, while thergest could swallow up entire sr systems. Of course, because he¡¯s in the fourth rank, some of his creations have the power to exit a universe and devour it from the void, as well.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: ¡­Okay, normally I would say that¡¯s terrible. But will they be able to get through the Hypene barrier, and the wall of memetic monsters outside of it?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Quite easily. The sheer size and speed of many of these monsters defies logic. It is very likely that the memetic monsters wouldn¡¯t even register to his creations before they are eaten in passing. As for the barrier, it only targets monsters that have void-like properties, so it will pose almost no resistance to these creatures.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Great¡­ I¡¯m going to need to y space defense again.¡± I muttered to myself, hand on my forehead.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: If all of this information is known, there¡¯s got to be some reliable method to destroy his monsters, right?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard: Ah, I know this one. If you have deities specializing in destructive domains, they are really useful. Otherwise, generally anything that can reduce a to ashes can deal with most of his creations. The bigger ones¡­ yeah, you¡¯re going to want gods for that.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Noted¡­¡± Part of me wondered how these monsters could even be created in the first ce, but my assumption was that he used a reallyrge world, maybe even size ten. If that was the case, it would make sense for the creatures born on it to be of such a cosmic scale.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Anything else I need to be aware of, before I start nning my defenses?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: He¡¯s fairly consistent with his attacks, at least the ones that he loses and we get information from. Obviously, we don¡¯t know if his pattern changes for the matches that he wins. But usually, he will send two thousand smaller monsters able to devour a Size 4, five hundred that are able to devour a Size 5, one hundred that are able to devour a size 6, ten that are able to devour a size 7, and one able to devour a size 8.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Aside from numbers, the abilities of the monsters changes with each invasion, so that¡¯s all the help that we can give.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: So, I should be expecting 2,611 monsters, eleven of which require gods to fight, and the rest just need incredibly powerful ships.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard: Don¡¯t let the lower numbers fool you. Remember that the invasion can ur anywhere in your domain. Some might even appear directly in the void. You¡¯ll have to have the forces to defend against something of that scale spread out all across your various universes, and still have the strength to fight them. Otherwise, you can expect that you¡¯ll lose severals before you can pinpoint their location.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Alice was right. I only saw the lower numbers, and thought that I might be getting off rtively easy. <i><span style="font-weight:400">What would the people of my various worlds think if every world had an artillery satellite capable of reducing the that they lived on to ash?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was certain that there would be bacsh from something like that, and rightly so. A malicious hacker would be able to take the entire hostage, or just outright destroy it before the Greater Pantheon was able to stop them. Granted, destructive gods were all able to release simr levels of power, but there was a difference between a living being wielding that level of power, and an inanimate object that anyone could potentially take control of.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a long sigh, shaking my head and focusing. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Dana, Tsubaki, Lifre, all of you meet me in the Admin Room. Everyone else, get ready for a big meeting. We¡¯ve got news of our next opponent, and we¡¯re defending again.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was my third defense in a row, and I was honestly wishing that I had the chance to attack for once. Especially if it was the chance to attack someone that I could really go all out on. If there was anything that I could consider sce, it was the fact that this was likely to be myst invasion in the fourth tier.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At the rate that Chelsea was developing her world-creation technology, it was entirely possible that she would finish before the next invasion. She might even finish it before <i><span style="font-weight:400">this</i><span style="font-weight:400"> invasion, if I speed up time to help us prepare our defenses, which is something that I typically do when we are fighting a defensive battle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Closing my eyes, I returned to the Admin Room, pleased to find that everyone was already waiting in the meeting room, serious looks on their faces. ¡°So, what¡¯re we fighting this time?¡± Keliope asked, crossing her arms and leaning against the table. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t call all of us here if it was just another pass like before. Or is it a big trade partner?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, it¡¯s a fight.¡± I confirmed, and the atmosphere turned a bit heavier. ¡°Our opponent is called DarkestNight. Thankfully, he is quite infamous, so I was able to get a good deal of information on his patterns from my guild.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, if you¡¯ve got all that, you should already know how we need to fight him, right?¡± Dana asked, a small grin tugging at her face as she tried to lighten the mood.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I know the method, but we¡¯re not prepared.¡± I said, and she let out a long sigh. ¡°DarkestNight fights with cosmic-level monsters. These are creatures capable of devouring entires, sometimes even whole sr systems in their passing. Some of them can exit into the void and eat an entire universe.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°ording to the others, the best way to deal with his monsters is through abination of destructive deities and interster weapons systems that can reduce entires to ash. We have plenty of the first, but not enough to safely cover all of our upieds. As for thetter¡­¡± I looked over at Ashley, who shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If you were just talking about cracking a or making it uninhabitable, most of our exploration ships possess something capable of that. However, if it requires the power to reduce a to <i><span style="font-weight:400">ash</i><span style="font-weight:400">, that is something else entirely. At the moment, the only weapon that we have that is capable of that is Olympus¡¯s main gun.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Olympus has a main gun?¡± I asked, blinking. Tubrock let out a snort, nodding his head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Aye, ¡®course it does! Olympus is constantly building up excess power within its systems, until it reaches a critical point. Once this point is reached, the main gun can fire, and anything as big as Lorek can be destroyed with one, big hit. However¡­ This gun has a lot of charge-up time, since it only uses excess energy and the ambient power of its inhabitants. It takes about three days to reach full charge.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...Noted. Regardless, we can¡¯t mass-produce Olympus. And at the same time, we can¡¯t ce these weapons too close to our upied worlds. It would be entirely unsafe and unwise to do so, because the inhabitants would be constantly living in fear of the deathser that could be aimed down at their.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, where do you want to put it, then?¡± alia asked with a curious tone, leaning back in her seat with her hands behind her head. ¡°If the monsters spawn inside of one of our sr systems, we can¡¯t keep them too far away, or it will be toote by the time they¡¯re calibrated to fire inwards.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right¡­ that¡¯s why we can¡¯t put them on satellites in the first ce.¡± I shook my head, letting out a long sigh. ¡°Satellites would either be too close for public safety, or too far to be any good in an emergency. We have to put them on ships, which means we need to incorporate it with all of the existing systems that could get in the way, including the power requirements¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy couldn¡¯t help but roll her eyes, grinning slightly. ¡°It sounds like it would be better to have these as specialized ships. Destroyer-ss would be a bit¡­ risky as a title, given that they won¡¯t be leaving the Hypene Network. Defender-ss would be a bit more apt. Ships capable of massive damage, but unfit to leave the zones protected by the Hypene Barrier.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Doesn¡¯t that mean that we¡¯ll be giving up on all of thes outside of the barrier?¡± Bihena asked, her brow furrowed in frustration.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There¡¯s not much helping it, unfortunately.¡± Irena shook her head in response. ¡°Even if we had all the time we needed, establishing defense points throughout every universe to offer full coverage simply isn¡¯t feasible. We can only focus on defending the territories that we have upied. And, given that thest invasion already removed all life on the unexplored worlds¡­ all that we are giving up on is emptys. My concern is something else.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Everyone turned their heads to look at Irena when she said that, and she began to exin. ¡°What if one of these monsters appeared in Fyor? Clearly, it would not be able to eat all of Fyor, but¡­ we would be hard-pressed to fight it. If this monster destroyed the mana spire, it could take an entirely unreasonable amount of time to reach it and fight back. And given how much airspace there is in the upper levels of Fyor, I believe that cosmic monsters could very easily appear there.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°She¡¯s right.¡± Udona nodded her head, a grim look on her face. ¡°We¡¯ll needbat gods on every level of Fyor that¡¯srge enough for these monsters to appear, and then more around every we have upied, together with the new ¡®Defender-ss¡¯ ships that Aurivy mentioned.¡±

 Chapter 1097: Project Planning

    Chapter 1097: Project nning


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°How long do we need to get everything ready?¡± I asked, looking around the room. ¡°I¡¯ve been holding back on fast-forwarding for a while, just so that I could let the world develop naturally. However, if there is an imminent threat, and we need more time to take care of it, I¡¯ll naturally give you all the time needed.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tubrock and Ashley looked at one another, before Ashley spoke up. ¡°In terms of weapons research, it could take anywhere up to twenty years to create weapons capable ofary annihtion that we can build on arge scale, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tubrock nodded his head in agreement. ¡°Aye. We don¡¯t wanna just pour in a load of energy like with Olympus. That¡¯ll be too inefficient and takes too much time to charge.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana hesitated for a moment, before speaking up. ¡°If we¡¯re doing another timeskip, I think I¡¯ll remain on-world for a while. I want to finish my Sky Chariot project. From what¡¯s been discussed, I think it could be useful in the uing fight, even if it¡¯s just symbolic.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod at that, remembering the project in question. It was meant to be a warship that would allow me to channel any of my domains through it. However, Dana had neverpleted the design, or had perhaps abandoned it after V-Day.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ten to twenty years, huh?¡± Chelsea asked, crossing her arms in front of her chest. She nced over at James, who was sitting next to her. ¡°Think we can get it done by then?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James thought about it for a long moment. ¡°If it¡¯s just copying an existing world, probably. We¡¯ll need to see how the stability holds up, though. But designing a new one would probably take a bit longer than that. We¡¯ll need to run experiments, and figure out how to implement the changes in different cores to get the results that we want.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nced over at the duo as they discussed that. ¡°Will we hit the next rank from copying an existing world, or does it have to be something new?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Can¡¯t say.¡± Chelsea shrugged her shoulders. ¡°We never hit that level in our past life, so we¡¯re in uncharted territory. Likewise, Terra won¡¯t be able to tell us exactly, because you haven¡¯t hit that goal yet. Your friends from the guild might be able to answer, but I wouldn¡¯t say it¡¯s that important. We¡¯ll find out one way or the other when it happens.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right.¡± I nodded my head in agreement. ¡°Is there anything else to discuss while we¡¯re at it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ll need a little time to prepare, before you hit the button.¡± Ashley spoke up, causing me to look over at her. ¡°There is a limit to how fast my team can act while in the Admin Room. Given that the coborator for my NPC project is still a mortal, it would seem like we cut off contact for twenty years if we did so right away. Instead, I¡¯d like to set up a long-term assignment for him with a twenty-year deadline, that way it can be turned in when the time jump ispleted.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Makes sense. Also, are there any new systems that we should be preparing to install after this period?¡± I asked, to which Ashley had a thoughtful expression.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°My team has been busytely with the NPC project, so they haven¡¯t had much time to work on personal projectstely. I¡¯ll let you know once we have something worth considering for the world again.¡± She answered with a shake of her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Alright. Anyone else?¡± I asked again, looking around. This time, it didn¡¯t seem as if anyone else had any otherments to make. ¡°In that case, Ashley, let me know when you¡¯re ready. Everyone else, take care of whatever preparations you need, and I¡¯ll start the eleration.¡¯


    <span style="font-weight:400">The others in the room all nodded their heads, standing and heading for the door. In the end, only Tsubaki and I were left behind, and I sat down in my seat with a long sigh. ¡°I do not believe you should let this worry you so much, my Keeper.¡± Tsubaki said with a confident smile, standing behind me. ¡°With the knowledge that you have on your enemy, I believe that it will only be a matter of time, of which you have all that you need.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod at that. ¡°I know¡­ my concern is whether or not DarkestNight will just do his usual ¡®casual attack¡¯, or if he is going to decide to send more after us.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What do you mean?¡± Tsubaki asked with a tilt of her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We have two wins under our belts. One of those being from a rather fierce Keeper that earned his own kills. That means that we are actually quite a bit wealthier than a Keeper at our level would be that hadn¡¯t experienced a victory in battle. For an enemy Keeper like DarkestNight, this could make us a prime target, especially given how new we are. Just the right mix between theck of experience and an enticing reward.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I see¡­ so, you are worried that he will attack in greater numbers than what you received in your report?¡± She asked, to which I nodded my head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. Not just the number of monsters, even the scale of them could be beyond what we heard in the report. ording to Sarah, thergest monster should be capable of devouring an entire sr system at once. I have to consider the possibility that DarkestNight reserves hisrgest monsters for battles he intends to take seriously. In the worst case scenario, there could be a creature capable of swallowing an entire gxy.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s eyes widened slightly when she heard that, before holding her chin in her hand. ¡°I see. However, I believe that would be somewhat impractical. Even given the idea that this Keeper specializes inrger andrger monsters, it would be inefficient to nurture those monsters beyond a certain size. Instead, I believe he would simply change the target of devouring, while reducing the size of the monster in question. For instance, the Swallowing Carp.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I arched my brow at that term, Tsubaki exined. ¡°This is a rare monster found in Deckan¡¯s ocean, prominently spawning after V-Day. The Swallowing Carp is a fish of no more than one meter in length, and a third as thick. However, this is one of the most fearsome creatures that can be found at sea, due to its unique ability.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°When the Swallowing Carp opens its mouth, it releases an intense suction force, known for creating whirlpools in an instant. Anything that is drawn towards its mouth shrinks rapidly, bing no bigger than a grain of sand. Once inside its mouth, you will find yourself in what appears to be an independent world, full of everything that the fish has swallowed in recent times, while a potent acid begins to dissolve everything.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of those that encounter this creature, very few are known to survive. The report on its interior actuallyes from an old God of Water that was caught up in its attack while exploring the ocean. He managed to escape before he sustained too much damage, and wrote online about what he experienced.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If this other Keeper follows a simr trend, then their most terrifying monsters won¡¯t be those incredibly massive ones, but rather smaller monsters that are able to freely enter and exit the void, rapidly consuming entire universes. While this would not be as visually impressive as, say, a gigantic dragon with a wingspanrger than a gxy, it would be the more efficient route to take when developing a monster.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I hesitated at Tsubaki¡¯s exnation. While insightful, it didn¡¯t really help me calm down. ¡°I¡­ suppose that we¡¯ll be needing to increase our void defenses, as well.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded her head, before blinking as a thought urred to her. ¡°The truly terrifying concept would be if one of these swallowing beasts was able to store a universe that it had consumed within its stomach, and possessed the intelligence to wait for a good moment to attack. If that was the case, they could simply hide in a forest or uninhabited while we fought the rest of the monsters.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Then, after days or weeks of battle, when we were frantically searching for the remnants of the attack, it appears in the void and releases the universe it previously stored, this universe containing the true attack force. I believe this is what I would do, if I were using a simr build and determined to ensure a victory.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a long pause after Tsubaki said that, and I turned my head to look at her. ¡°I thought you wanted me <i><span style="font-weight:400">not</i><span style="font-weight:400"> to worry?¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ghan sat in his office, looking over the message that had only just arrived with a curious expression. ¡°Dear Ghan, be advised that we are entering into a long-term project. This project is expected to take roughly twenty years to aplish. During this time, there is an assignment for you to perform, due upon the end of this twenty year period.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You are to create a narrative for a living universe, which is built within a universe that functions with the following systems. These should all be taken into ount as intrinsic facts about the world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There is a crafting system, in which yers are able to automate the crafting process after registering a recipe. This happens through the creation of a special crafting facility, which brings up an interface for what to craft. The time needed for each craft, as well as its quality, depend on both the recipe and the level of the facility¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡±Every individual, upon reaching a certain age, gains powers at a divine level. For some, these powers will be in the form of a domain, while others will simply gain an enhancement to their natural abilities that will allow them to fight on the same level as gods.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There is a fast travel system, through which people can visit any city that they have previously visited. This happens by attuning oneself to a special structure located within the city.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There is an inventory, which increases in size in ordance with personal power. This inventory functions simrly to the real world system, with one caveat. Mana can be spent to increase the inventory size, as well as ki and divine energy.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Although there is a level system, there are no sses. The terms ¡®mage¡¯ and ¡®fighter¡¯ merely indicate one¡¯s talents, rather than a ss that is enforced by the system. Levels represent an individual¡¯s total fighting power, with the divine baseline as level one hundred. This is also the level that everyone rises to upon the previously mentioned age.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The magic system in this world is Arcanobinary, the same magic systemmonly found in Fragments of Acidia. For this reason, the world should have a general science-fiction theme, as opposed to more magic in nature.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The final system of note is the Respawn system, which even NPCs will have ess to. All entities, whether yers or NPC, will respawn twenty-four hours after their death at theirst register travel point. However, if they die a second time within seven days of their original death, they will not respawn. This is the case for yers as well, who will have their characters deleted if they repeatedly die in this manner.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We look forward to seeing the world that you create within these guidelines. Aside from what has been stipted above, you have the creative freedom to customize the world as you see fit, with one restriction. There is to be no mention of specific gods or locations from the real world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Lastly, if you create a world with which you are satisfied before the deadline, you are free to use it as the setting of a movie or broadcasted series if you desire. If you do so, and the setting is approved at the end of the deadline, these materials may be considered as promotional material for thepleted product.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">His eyes widened slightly as he read thatst section. It was surprising that he was being given such a long-term project, though he knew to some extent that this would eventually happen, due to his original conversation with Ashley. Additionally, he knew that the ban on using real-world people or ces was because this game, oncepleted, could be sent to other Keepers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">What surprised him the most was the freedom to create promotional movies for the game. To date, none of the Keeper-sponsored games had released official promotional videos prior to their release, aside from short videos to be used as advertisement. A feature-length film was unheard of for these games.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A smile crept over his lips, ideas forming in the back of his mind. ¡°I think I can work with this.¡±

 Chapter 1098: Among Us

    Chapter 1098: Among Us


    <span style="font-weight:400">In the grand scheme of things, twenty years was by far not my longest skip. In fact, it could be considered quite short. However, my truly long skips had typically been back before society reached a significant stage, or when we needed time to recover rather than focus on advancement.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In that case, I knew that this twenty-year skip was going to be quite significant indeed. There were no major disasters left to recover from, and my worlds could focus fully on developing their technology and culture without fear of devastation. Granted, there was still a significant threat from the memetic monsters, but they were now a manageable threat, especially after the sensor was installed on the inte.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">To nobody¡¯s surprise, Lifre had chosen to remain in the mortal world during the twenty year period. She wouldn¡¯t refer to it as a skip, because she wasn¡¯t skipping anything. She was in it for the long haul, and would be around to see every adventure that she could find in that time!


    <span style="font-weight:400">To that end, Lifre was exploring the sixty-sixth floor, seeing if there were any predators that had developed in response to the special power that turned everything within the floor into a delicacy. She could have easily found the door to the next floor, but held off on it for now. What was the point of pushing ahead to a new zone when there was so much left to see of this one?!


    <span style="font-weight:400">Had it not been for the ck Bombubbles, she would have continued to stay on the previous floor. However, she didn¡¯t have a way to safely determine which bubbles were safe to poke, and which ones would eat her fingers. Additionally, there was that whole ancient civilization on the ceiling that she didn¡¯t want to disturb. She did have <i><span style="font-weight:400">some</i><span style="font-weight:400"> respect for history. Somewhere. She usually kept it in a box.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she flew through the air, her eyes scanning the ground, she was honestly surprised that she didn¡¯t see any natural predators. There were beasts, admittedly. However, they were all plump creatures that were happily grazing in the fields. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯ll have to get Aznod to see if they¡¯d make a good meal.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Licking her lips at that thought, Lifre caught sight of another figure. This one wasn¡¯t a beast, but a person, a short girl with white skin and blue eyes, waving up at her. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, <i><span style="font-weight:400">what</i><span style="font-weight:400">?¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a long sigh as I saw that the timeskip had settled. Given that there was no prompt saying that I had advanced to the next rank, it would appear that either James¡¯s research hadn¡¯t progressed as far as she had initially predicted, or else simply copying a world wasn¡¯t enough to trigger the advancement. If that was the case, we would simply need to make our own.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With that in mind, I stood from my seat, Tsubaki following behind me as I left my office. ¡°Let¡¯s head back. Maybe Danapleted her Sky Chariot.¡± I said in a hopeful tone. Tsubaki nodded her head, a smile on her lips at the idea of Dana¡¯s aplishments.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I descended, I saw that Dana and Lifre appeared to be waiting for me. Dana had a spherical gem in one hand, and Lifre was rocking on the heels of her feet, arms behind her back as she smiled.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Or¡­ that¡¯s what I thought at first. ¡°Who are you?¡± I asked towards Lifre, eyes narrowed slightly. I had taken it for granted that I could see people¡¯s information at a nce, so I never really bothered with it. However, when ¡®Lifre¡¯s¡¯ name was empty above her head, just a nk entry and a level, I knew that something was wrong.<span style="font-weight:400">


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana¡¯s eyes twitched, and the room was immediately filled with blue threads as she turned on Lifre, the threads curving through the air to pierce at her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡®Lifre¡¯ simply giggled, skipping through the air with bizarre footwork, adeptly ducking and twisting through the chakra threads. ¡°Aww, you got me!¡± Sheughed. ¡°You¡¯re the only one that¡¯s ever gotten it right in one go!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What did you do to Lifre?¡± Dana asked, her voice dripping with venom as darkness began to spread out along the ground.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Easy, easy, I¡¯m not here to fight!¡± The girlughed,ing to a stop standing on the wall. ¡°Lifre¡¯s hiding in her room, waiting for me to call her! We had a little bet on whether or not you would be able to tell it wasn¡¯t her.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hermes!¡± I shouted, my intention clear. Darkness rose along the wall, forming a circle around the unfamiliar girl. Dana was ready to attack at any moment, this time with a truly omnidirectional assault.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Confirmed. Lifre is residing within her room. She asked me not to mention it unless specifically asked.¡± The artificial intelligence covering themunications system of Olympus responded. ¡°I have sent her a message to appear, and she is on her way now.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Despite this confirmation, Dana did not draw back either her threads or her darkness, eyes narrowed in barely-concealed fury. With a small amount of focus, I could see that Dana was ashamed not to have noticed an impostor of someone she knew so well, as well as anxious whether the oneing was actually the real Lifre.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Soon, the door opened, and a short girl with white skin and hair, and soft blue eyes entered. Dana nced at her, and then to me, only retracting her power when I nodded my head. ¡°Lifre¡­ exin yourself.¡± She said in a firm tone, Lifre giggling as the impostor jumped down next to her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°See? I told you he¡¯d notice right away.¡± Lifre said, the other shrugging her shoulders.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah, but Dana didn¡¯t. That¡¯s like, half a win, right?¡± Though she said that, the real Lifre stuck her tongue out yfully, shaking her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Nope! The bet was for the boss!¡± After Dana cleared her throat to get Lifre¡¯s attention, the two of them turned to face us again. ¡°This is someone I met about¡­ two months after the start of your little ¡®vacation¡¯? Yeah, that sounds about right! She¡¯s totally awesome, too! At first, I thought Rivy had let another slime ascend to godhood or something!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was at this time that Tsubaki arrived in the room, looking at the two Lifres and furrowing her brows. However, Lifre simply continued to exin. ¡°She¡¯s from the ninjas, like Tsubaki!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I can handle it from here.¡± The impostor chuckled, before her body began to morph. Her white skin gained some color, her hair going from white to blonde with violet tips. The blue in her eyes turned to a dark purple before the blonde hair fell over her right eye. Next, fox ears sprouted out of her hair, and a tail behind her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now, she was wearing a shirt that was blue on the bottom half, and white around the chest and shoulders. She had a silver guard on one shoulder, and thick, leather gloves. Two thick pouches were strapped to her hips by tightly fastened belts, and she wore tight, brown leather pants with cloth wraps on her feet. ¡°Yo! This is the real me, don¡¯t worry!¡± She announced proudly, though I still couldn¡¯t see a name over her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And who exactly <i><span style="font-weight:400">are</i><span style="font-weight:400"> you?¡± I asked again, the kitsune shapeshifter giggling as her tail swayed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Anyone I wanna be! That¡¯s my thing! As for names, I don¡¯t have one, not yet! I¡¯m something of a special training project for the ninjas.¡± As she spoke, she spread her arms out, lightly spinning. ¡°Take a young child, make sure she has never been given her own identity, and teach her how to be anyone and everyone.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">She winked back towards Tsubaki after she said that. ¡°No offense, Tsubaki, but the old Servant ways are really outdated now, so that¡¯s not why I don¡¯t have a name or anything. Same with the ¡®super serious maid¡¯ theme. Nowadays, you¡¯d stand out like a sore thumb if you walked down the streets.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯ve gotta keep up with the times, and that¡¯s where Ie in! I can be anyone, and hide in any crowd. I¡¯m totally not as good inbat as you, but when ites to gathering information or hiding from a target, I¡¯d totally say I¡¯ve got you beat there.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s eye twitched slightly, an icy tone entering her voice. ¡°Are you saying that you are here to rece me?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The smaller kitsune jumped, putting a good ten meters of distance between herself and Tsubaki, quickly shaking her head and waving her hands. ¡°No, no, not at all! Peace, sister! I¡¯m not here to steal your job or anything like that. I¡¯m here toplete my final mission for those that trained me. Wait, that made this sound like it was a suicide mission. Don¡¯t get the wrong idea, I¡¯m not here to fight!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a long sigh at that, shaking my head. ¡°Then what <i><span style="font-weight:400">are</i><span style="font-weight:400"> you here for? What is your mission?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The smaller kitsune turned on one heel to face me with a grin. ¡°I am to emte a feat of the greatest ninja in our history.¡± After saying that, she dropped to one knee, her head lowered. ¡°I am to enter the Keeper¡¯s presence, and get him to bestow upon me a name.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki twitched again, though even she couldn¡¯t tell if she was pleased at thepliment, or annoyed at the implication. I brought a hand up to massage the bridge of my nose. ¡°Why do you need me to give you a name? Can¡¯t anyone do that?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Nope!¡± The girl shook her head firmly, but kept it lowered. ¡°I was told that the only name that I can ept is one from you. As someone that can be anyone, the only person that has the right tobel my existence is one who stands above everyone.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">A faint groan escaped my lips. This was not how I imagined my descent would begin. ¡°I don¡¯t sense any divinity from you. How is it that you¡¯re able to change like that?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hmm? Oh! Right, sorry, force of habit.¡± She said, and immediately her divinity filled her body, as if it had always been there. Even my World Sight hadn¡¯t sensed the hidden divinity, and the reason why became clear once I saw her domains.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Transformation, Identity, Alteration, Disguise, Substitution, Stealth, Understanding, Information, and Mimicry? How did you even get nine domains?¡± My eyes widened as I saw what I had only ever theorized, a single person with a true set of nine natural domains.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well¡­¡± The girl began, and I could hear the grin in her tone, even with her head lowered. ¡°The first one was the old fashioned way. Then I trained in Lorek. Had my divinity forged. Commissioned a meal from the King Consort of Deckan. Obtained a Fragment in Fragments of Acidia. Mastered the art of Stealth in Ascension¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s where things actually got hard. My seventh domain came from Ascension, too, but that was really tricky since I almost lost my first one a few times, so I didn¡¯t go for another one there. The eighth was from a golden material harvested from Fyor. And finally, I got myst domain from a ck market relic that the ninjas managed to obtain!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes twitched as she listed off her various methods. It seemed like she used practically every method avable in order to obtain domains. ¡°Weren¡¯t you worried about instability?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Nope!¡± She answered honestly and immediately. ¡°The elders have done a lot of research, and determined that nine is the limit and perfect bnce. Although there was a lot of difort getting to that point, I can easily say that I am satisfied with my progress.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a slow nod at that. ¡°But¡­ this doesn¡¯t make sense. I sensed other domains from you when you were disguised as Lifre. As well as her specific Saint Energies. Right down to her soul, I was looking at Lifre.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yup~!¡± The girl nodded, but kept her head lowered. ¡°As long as I understand my target, I can assume everything about them, from their memories to their specific powers and mannerisms. Even the elders can¡¯t identify me when I have transformed into someone, unless they see it happen.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her tail was wagging happily behind herself as she exined, still eagerly awaiting a name. However, I wasn¡¯t done. ¡°What are you going to do after I give you a name?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Finally, the girl lifted her head, one visible eye sparkling. ¡°I will do whatever work my senior in Olympus asks of me! If there is anything that troubles you, feel free to tell me. I was not trained to be a tool, as were the old Servants, but I am aware of my uses. I would like to enter Tsubaki¡¯s care as her cute junior.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Most people don¡¯t call <i><span style="font-weight:400">themselves</i><span style="font-weight:400"> cute, you know¡­¡± I muttered, and her eye went wide and shaky.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Are you saying I¡¯m not cute?¡± She asked, voice trembling.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Changing the subject, I coughed and shook my head. ¡°Regardless, I would ask for Tsubaki¡¯s opinion on this, before assigning you to her.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">With that, I looked over at Tsubaki, who seemed to be thinking things over. ¡°An information specialist would be helpful. Although the Greater Pantheon can see anything that they wish to see, it is difficult for them to see everything at once.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As if taking that as approval, the new kitsune jumped to her feet and lunged to hug Tsubaki. ¡°I knew that you¡¯d understand! You really are like a big sister to me!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s lip twitched at that, and she sent a pleading nce in my direction. I let out a long sigh, thinking it over. ¡°In that case¡­ you shall be called Lena.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The moment I said that, Lena¡¯s body began to glow, her name appearing over her head. Everyone looked at her strangely, and we could <i><span style="font-weight:400">sense</i><span style="font-weight:400"> the name from her. She turned to face me, lightly sticking her tongue out. ¡°It¡¯s a little divine ability I set up. After receiving a name from the Keeper, those in attendance will always know who I am. No matter what disguise I use or how I try to hide this information, everyone here will be able to identify me. I thought you¡¯d all prefer it to thinking I was walking around, looking like any of you while talking to the others.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was¡­ not a horrible idea, and certainly something that would have likely been worrying for the others. As for me, I could identify her with my abilities as a Keeper, but even Dana had beenpletely blind-sided by Lena¡¯s reveal.

 Chapter 1099: Trial Of Shadows

    Chapter 1099: Trial Of Shadows


    <span style="font-weight:400">With Lena¡¯s introduction and prompt assignment out of the way, it was time to get an idea of what all had transpired during the twenty years that I missed. There were bound to be several new developments. To start¡­ ¡°It looks like you have something for me, Dana?¡± I asked, drawing the shorter elf¡¯s attention to me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right, sorry.¡± She cleared her throat, causing me to smile. ¡°I¡¯ve finished the Sky Chariot, incorporating the new weapon designs created by Ashley, Tubrock, and the Metong. Additionally, I have made auxiliarymand consoles for your Holy Knights to operate, allowing you to have someone else pilot the vessel in your stead with their assistance.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying that, she walked up towards my throne, handing me the spherical crystal that she held in her hand since my arrival. ¡°This is an object used to summon the Sky Chariot. When not in use, it exists in the same travel domain as the Traveler.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Finally, I created a new magical intelligence to assist in the operation of the vessel, known as the Keeper¡¯s Arcane Learning Intelligence. Kali, for short.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...How long did it take you toe up with another acronym name like that?¡± I asked, brow twitching as I smirked slightly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I don¡¯t want to talk about it. Regardless, Kali is currently limited to the Chariot, but can be moved to any other system at your discretion, or she can materialize in a manner simr to Gerard.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head at that. ¡°Is there anything else you want to report, then?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Dana shook her head, I closed my eyes, moving on to the next subject. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea, progress report.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Right, right! It¡¯s that time already, isn¡¯t it? Give me just a minute. Do you want me to meet you in Olympus, or would you rathere to theb?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thinking about it for a moment, I stood up. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯ll head to yourb. You should be able to show me your results more easily from there. Just making sure, but the old token from before should still work, right?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Yeah, there hasn¡¯t been an overhaul to our void defenses yet, so the transport tokens haven¡¯t had a major update.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she said that, I began walking down the stairs, looking at Tsubaki as I passed. ¡°Get a proper assessment of Lena¡¯s abilities, so you can figure out how to utilize her. I¡¯m going to visit Chelsea¡¯sb, and will be backter.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki gave a firm nod of understanding, turning to leave the throne room ahead of me. Lena grinned, happily skipping behind her with her tail wagging happily. I wasn¡¯t sure what type of tests Tsubaki had in mind for Lena, but I trusted her to keep everything in moderation. And, if Lena had ulterior motives, there was nobody that I trusted more to be able to handle her. Admittedly, it was surprising to see someone dodge all of Dana¡¯s attacks so easily, but Dana wasn¡¯t trying to simply kill her.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena sped her hands behind her back as she skipped along behind Tsubaki, her eye focused ahead. ¡°So, what are we doing, senior?¡± She asked in a respectful, yet still yful tone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Tell me, what is the standard test used to evaluate ninjas of your generation? Or do you still use the Trial of Blood?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Nah!¡± Lena shook her head quickly. ¡°The blood trials were cast aside over a century ago. The elders knew that it was more reliable to create a group of ten assassins able to take out a single target together, rather than one assassin able to take out ten alone. The old trials thinned too much of the numbers to focus on a single, strong individual.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course, there were some that advocated for the use of virtual reality to simte the trials, but they were shot down. If the candidates are aware that the trial is not real, it defeats the purpose of making the trial so intense in the first ce. Forbat practice, we train against graduated seniors. However, we do still have a ¡®graduation trial¡¯, the Trial of Shadows.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki arched her brow as she heard that name, ncing back towards Lena while they were walking. ¡°Exin.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Like I said, we¡¯re less focused on creating superpower badasses like you these days. Instead, we need infiltration specialists, people that can blend in anywhere to be the eyes and ears of the ns.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The Trial of Shadows is a trial tailored to each specific individual. The general summary is that they are given a target, and they must retrieve either a specific item or piece of confidential information from them. This target will typically be high profile, either a god or someone holding an important office, with numerousyers of wards and security. We can use any means at our disposal, so long as we get in, take what we need, and get out without our identity ever being revealed.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course, if the objective is to steal something, the item will always be returned by another graduate before the target is aware that they were robbed.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded her head as she listened to the description of the trial. ¡°What was your Trial of Shadows?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena grinned yfully. ¡°Oh, I had to steal your diary--I¡¯m kidding, I¡¯m kidding!¡± She shouted, jumping back and lifting her hands in surrender when Tsubaki suddenly pulled out a pair of daggers. ¡°This is my first time being in Olympus, promise. My trial was to steal a divine relic from the human empress, Elisae.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">This time, it was Tsubaki¡¯s turn to jump back in rm, as if she couldn¡¯t wait to put distance between the two of them. ¡°How are you <i><span style="font-weight:400">alive</i><span style="font-weight:400">?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki knew as well as anyone how severe the karmic impacts were when Elisae was involved. Reasonably speaking, anyone that harmed Elisae in any way, even stealing something mundane from her, would suffer such strong negative karma that they would be doomed to failure in anything that they attempted.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, it was actually pretty easy.¡± Lenaughed, arms going back behind her back. ¡°Everyone just looks at what happens if you hurt Elisae, but there¡¯s actually the flip side too, you know? You can build up a boatload of positive karma by helping her out. I talked with one of her close aides, letting him have a discreet vacation while promising to carry out his duties in his stead.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°After that, I spent a month helping her out however I could with his identity, keeping my identity concealed as I racked up the positive karma. All I needed was enough that it would offset stealing an artifact that she wouldn¡¯t even notice missing. I just turned in my work and let the seniors back home handle returning it to her, while I finished out my stay as her assistant.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Once he got back from his vacation, I gave him a memory transnt so that he¡¯d know everything that happened while he was gone, and she was none the wiser.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing Lena¡¯s story, Tsubaki couldn¡¯t help but look at her in a new light. At first, she thought that Lena was simply yful and reckless like Lifre. However, she was methodical enough to counterbnce her karma when interacting with Elisae.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Tell me¡­¡± She said, staring at Lena. ¡°That personality you put on¡­ is that real, or is that a calction of yours to achieve a goal?¡± Tsubaki¡¯s World Sight spread out to cover Lena, looking for any signs of falsehood, down to the slightest tremor of her soul.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hmm?¡± Lena tilted her head. ¡°This is the real me! I have to act all serious and everything when I¡¯m other people, so it¡¯s great to just let loose when I can be me! You know, I gotta cram all my happiness into the times when I¡¯m myself, so I can think about how other people make themselves happy, something like that!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki studied Lena for a long moment, not finding any evidence that she was lying. ¡°I see¡­ in that case, we can continue.¡± She nodded her head, her daggers dissolving into energy once again. ¡°The first thing that I would like to do is teach you how to utilize World Sight, an advanced Saint-Level energy that should help you in your work in the future.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Nope!¡± Lena surprisingly refused Tsubaki, who nced back with a curious gaze. ¡°Sorry, senior! However, the elders made it very clear that I can never learn a Saint Energy of my own. They put a lot of research into making the ideal circumstances for my divinity. Let¡¯s see¡­ how did they exin it..?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena tilted her head, seemingly lost in thought. ¡°Ah, right! Every time you get a new divinity, it is like something is being added, making your innate energy more dense andplex. This is prettymon knowledge to most people. However¡­ there is a limit on the density of this energy, before it begins to copse in on itself and go critical. Nine domains is that limit.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki gave a nod of her head at that. ¡°I¡¯m aware. The Keeper has known about nine domains being the limit for quite some time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right? But it¡¯s actually not just domains that add that density andplexity!¡± Lena revealed, causing Tsubaki to look at her in surprise. ¡°Any energy on the same level as a divine domain does the same thing. This includes the power of a Fallen God, as well as Saint-Level energies! Meaning that nine is the <i><span style="font-weight:400">total</i><span style="font-weight:400"> limit, not just the divine limit! If I were to train in my own Saint-Level energy, my entire existence would go critical.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡­ is new information.¡± Tsubaki said, contemting on what Lena had told her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yup! There aren¡¯t a lot of people who would need to know something like this! That¡¯s why, when I be someone else, I have topletely alter my energy wavelengths to match theirs, changing everything about me so that I can handle the powers inherent to them. But I lose those powers when I go back to being me!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded to show her understanding. ¡°In that case, you can turn into me, and we can train you to handle World Sight. Even if it is only something that you are able to temporarily activate, it will be of significant aid to you when gathering information.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena nodded her head, her hair fluttering to reveal her right eye, which gave a brief, golden sh. Lena¡¯s body grew taller, her hair growing out as her appearance morphed. Within moments, Tsubaki was standing there looking at an identical copy of herself, one matching her stern expression.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sweeping out her World Sight, she could sense just how urate the copy was, detecting not only the World Sight core within her, but also the Servant Energy that seemed to connect in various directions to different clones. There was also her divinity, which was identical to Tsubaki¡¯s, and held a trace of the Keeper¡¯s own energy in it.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">So, this is what nine domains, all focused around a single theme, can do.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The possibilities worried Tsubaki, in a way. If someone impersonated the Keeper like this, she couldn¡¯t guarantee that she would be able to tell the difference.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m ready to begin.¡± Lena said, her voice matching Tsubaki¡¯s calm,posed tone. If not for the brand she ced on herself when receiving that name, Tsubaki was unsure that she would be able to trust Lena to handle any important tasks.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right.¡± Tsubaki said, letting out a low sigh. ¡°Let¡¯s head to my room, so that we don¡¯t confuse anyone that happens to see us. From there, I will teach you some basic tricks when utilizing World Sight.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena gave a short nod, turning to follow Tsubaki while maintaining a respectful distance, simr to how Tsubaki herself followed the Keeper.

 Chapter 1100: Must Conduct MORE RESEARCH!

    Chapter 1100: Must Conduct MORE RESEARCH!


    <span style="font-weight:400">It didn¡¯t take me long to reach the research institute where Chelsea and her team worked. When I arrived, I was immediately able to notice that quite a few things had changed. For instance, there was now a reception area, and what appeared to be a transit hub outside of the main facility, with signs of frequent foot traffic.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I entered the lobby, a lycan woman in a blue jacket smiled at me. ¡°Greetings, sir Keeper. Chelsea said to tell you that she will be here momentarily.¡± She said, before typing a message at her terminal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A few momentster, the door leading into the facility opened up, and Chelsea emerged with a grin. ¡°There you are. Follow me, and I¡¯ll give you the full update.¡± She gestured for me to follow her, and I did so with a small nod.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯ve expanded your staff?¡± I asked, ncing back towards the reception area.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah. We didn¡¯t have enough people for all of the work that we needed to do, so we started hiring. The service staff like that receptionist are all from the ninjas, but our researchers themselves were handpicked from various different worlds. The senior team is just how you remember it, but now we have subordinates that help out with our projects.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ninjas, huh?¡± That reminded me of the fact that Chelsea had taken in the ninjas and given them a home in this universe. ¡°Did you have anything to do with the kitsune that appeared at Olympus?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea blinked for a moment, having to recall. ¡°Ah, Golden Shadow.¡± She nodded her head. ¡°Well, that was her codename, at least. Does she have a proper name now?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°She¡¯s Lena. I figured you would have been responsible somehow¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea simply chuckled at that. ¡°I thought that you could use a dedicated spymaster. Terra¡¯s more busy with the Heroic Spirit program, so she can¡¯t keep an eye on absolutely everything like she used to. With Lena, you¡¯ll be able to get information in real time from organizations that might be looking to cause trouble.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right¡­ Anyways, back to your report?¡± I asked, and she nodded her head in agreement.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, we have sessfully managed to clone two worlds currently, being Lorek and Deckan. To be safe, we have made a second copy of Deckan, and it is this copy that the Metong¡¯s Network has been moved to.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What¡¯s wrong with the first one?¡± I asked curiously, and Chelsea paused to gather her thoughts.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Nothing wrong, per se. Rather, we are working on a merger experiment. You should be familiar with howw mergers work in the system by now. ording to our research, the mortal realm phenomena that apanies this is that the energy cores of two or more worlds begin to resonate with one another, leading to theirws bleeding over. We are working on an experiment to see what would happen if Lorek and Deckan¡¯sws were merged in this manner.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As we spoke, Chelsea led me down the halls, and asionally we would pass by another researcher, who offered a nod of greeting to us. ¡°You see, your system would normally ensure that the result is controlled, preventing theplete destruction of both worlds during the merger. Our goal with this experiment is to see if there is a way to safely do this without relying on the system¡¯s guidance.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I think I understand. Is it fine to be talking about the Keeper system with an audience, though?¡± I asked, and Chelsea grinned up at me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Everyone here is already in the loop. A big part of the research here is deciphering the Keeper Code, so we needed to inform those working on it about what they would be doing.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Got it. I noticed that we haven¡¯t increased in rank, yet. Are those new worlds properly up to the system standards?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I asked this, Chelsea gave a firm nod. ¡°Our first cloned world had to be scrapped, because we didn¡¯t add a time adjustment feature. Every world, upon first being created, is elerated to the point wheres and gxies have formed, to give a chance for life to take root.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°However, the bigger reason for this eleration is the stabilization of information. Once the information has fully stabilized, the world barrier bes thicker and more solid. ording to all observable data, the worlds that we have cloned are functionally no different from their base world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The reason that we haven¡¯t ranked up should be because of the fact that we are only copy-pasting, rather than creating our own world. You can¡¯t be considered a proper programmer if you are only ever copying someone else¡¯s work, right? Our team is working together to try to engineer a new world, without simply copying the base parameters. This merger experiment will help with that, as it will give us the chance to see the changes to the different cores.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right¡­¡± I nodded my head, before pausing. ¡°However¡­ if you do this, and it fails, aren¡¯t you worried about a karmic bacsh? We saw what happened before when universes were destroyed, and it led to James having to iste himself for years. If something simr happens to your team¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea¡¯s grin grew wider at that. ¡°We¡¯ve already taken this into ount. During all tests, the team will be observing from a Null System zone. This zone is created to not only remove the game system of the world, but all special systems, including primal energies, divinity, and even karma. While in the Null zone, everyone only has the strength of their own bodies and minds to observe the world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now <i><span style="font-weight:400">that</i><span style="font-weight:400"> caused me to pause, remembering the Reset Protocol that Dana had made. ¡°If you have something like that, can¡¯t you use it in prisons to contain powerful inmates?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I mean, theoretically.¡± Chelsea shrugged her shoulders. ¡°However, the cost to create just one of these zones is¡­ frankly ludicrous. Nullifying the game system is easy, we¡¯ve had tech to do that for ages. Nullifying all forms of supernatural phenomena, on the other hand¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°To put it inparison, I had to get Lifre and Lena to hunt down monsters from the void, and work together with Tubrock¡¯s new golem race to get the information strands I needed. After converting that into a memetic script, I had to create an independent, nested world inside of theb where that script could safely be applied as a worldw, and modify the internal structure of that world to create the facilities that we would need to conduct our tests.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Granted, this nested world is still fragile, and it wouldn¡¯te close to meeting the system¡¯s standards. But we didn¡¯t need that much, only enough for our people to enter it and be safe within a null zone. Using nested worlds like that for prisoners is too extravagant, when the Reset Protocol is cheaper and doesn¡¯t carry the same risks.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I suppose.¡± I nodded my head in understanding. ¡°You mentioned the new golem race? How are theying along?¡± I had briefly heard before that Tubrock had created a new race of golems that resided in the void, and I was worried that they might turn out the same way that Leowynn¡¯s Guardian had, going on a violent rampage and even supporting other void beasts.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No problems so far. Though¡­ there was one interesting development among them.¡± Chelsea began to exin. ¡°Tubrock created them with enough awareness and problem-solving capabilities to be able to selectively choose what information to absorb from other void monsters toplete themselves.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°At the same time, they have the understanding that choosing harmful rules will lead to their eradication, either at the hands of Tubrock or someone else. Thus, they only acquire rules that will benefit themselves and others. These rules, and the information that they contain, gradually help to fully awaken a void golem to true sentience, at which point they gain the ability to reproduce, creating more temte golems.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°When these golems gain sentience, there is a null-point-one percent chance of them awakening as what we have identified as a Void God. These golems are able to freely establish their own rules.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes widened at this revtion, remembering just how much trouble the ¡®Void God¡¯ had caused. ¡°That seems¡­ like a rather high chance for something so dangerous, doesn¡¯t it?¡± I asked, but Chelsea surprisingly shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It might seem that way at first, but the reproduction time of the void golems is actually fairly slow. Given that they have to not only awaken themselves, but also gather the information necessary to create the new temte, there have only been three Void Gods that have awakened during thest twenty years.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Currently, Tubrock and Leowynn have reached an agreement to have these golems serve as a defense force in the void, protecting against any particrly nasty enemies.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That sounded good, at least. Chelsea turned a corner, holding her hand up against a panel next to a door, opening it and inviting me inside. ¡°Right now, our biggest concerns are the merger experiment and deciphering more of the Keeper Code.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Beyond the door, I could see a viewing room, overlooking more than fifty researchers sitting at their own terminals. Inside the viewing room was Treisha, who smiled and nodded at me as I entered. ¡°Nothing new to report yet.¡± She said to Chelsea, who shrugged her shoulders.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Just showing him around.¡± She said, before looking at me again. ¡°This is where the main research happens. Here, the researchers are using the uncovered code to try to reverse engineer its meaning. To date, we have realized that the code itself uses a tier system, simr to magic and various other items found within the system.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The mutation of the code doesn¡¯t simply ur randomly when new code is introduced, but rather is a result of the increase inplexity forcing the code to advance from one tier to the next. Before we understood this process, the change looked random, and we weren¡¯t able to predict what would cause it. Unfortunately, the increase in codeplexity can lead to unexpected problems when it interferes with other code, so we have to n even more carefully to take this into ount.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Treisha said with a long sigh. ¡°In other words, we¡¯re having to learn multiple programmingnguages on a universal scale, simply by reverse engineering what already exists. We should have the first tier cracked soon, and at that point we will be able to create a mundane world without any special characteristics. As for anything past that¡­ we¡¯re still trying out best to understand the higher levels.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing the code exined to me like this, I could understand why their progress had been so slow over the course of twenty years. Until now, the only code that Ashley or Chelsea had concerned themselves with were the codes found within the game system aspect of the world. Now, they had to look into codes which essentially represented thews of physics, determining how to apply gravity, or simply defining what light was.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I definitely did not envy them for this work, and realized why they needed to hire so many extra personnel in order to get their work done. ¡°How do you test to see if the code that they reverse-engineer is correct? Surely you can¡¯t do it all at once, because you wouldn¡¯t be able to understand which part of the code was faulty.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea groaned, giving a small nod. ¡°That¡¯s right. We have a lifeless testing world that I got with the allowance you gave me. Whenever a new chunk of code is deciphered, we implement it there with Ashley¡¯s help and measure the results. If the world is destroyed¡­ well, that¡¯s a few points down the drain and the knowledge that the code was wrong. If we get the desired effects, we save it in our database. Speaking of which, I¡¯ll be needing a bit more for research funds before too long. I¡¯m down to myst thousand.¡±

 Chapter 1101: Replacement

    Chapter 1101: Recement


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena hummed softly to herself as she walked out of the elevator to head towards the gate of Olympus. It didn¡¯t take long for her to master the use of World Sight, showing a simr degree of mastery over the energy as Tsubaki herself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Afterwards, the two of them tested the extent of her abilities to make sure that they both understood what she could do. Tsubaki had her turn into herself, Dana, and even members of the Greater Pantheon.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At one point, Tsubaki had asked her to turn into the Keeper as an experiment. ording to Tsubaki, it would be remarkable if Lena could act as a body double for the Keeper. However, Lena firmly refused. It wasn¡¯t an ethical issue that caused her refusal, but rather a practical one. It could even be said that she could die if she became the Keeper.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This is something that the elders had worked out while nning her powers with her. Throughout history, there are numerous examples of the Keeper wielding more than nine domains. Maybe not all at the same time, but the point remains. Through this, they determined that the Keeper has a way to bypass the ¡®critical density¡¯ rule to some extent, possessing more domains than any other living creature could handle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, if Lena were to turn into the Keeper, there was a chance that she might take on more domains than she could handle, and inevitably destroy herself with the attempt. She could turn into the Terra twins, and even to a degree replicate the powers of the Origin of Fate, though that had heavily exhausted her. However, what she could never attempt was to impersonate the Keeper himself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki seemed to understand these concerns, and didn¡¯t press the issue. Aside from that one hup, the tests went remarkably well. As long as Lena had information on someone, she could imitate them. As she exined to Tsubaki, a part of her mimicry relied on synchronizing herself with the memory of the target, as well as others¡¯ perceptions of them. For instance, she could act exactly how Tsubaki would expect Lifre to act, even if that wasn¡¯t exactly how Lifre would really act.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once all of these tests were done, Tsubaki had a simple mission for her. Lena was to identify and infiltrate a more radical anti-Keeper group, ensuring that they didn¡¯t have any dangerous ns towards the Keeper.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena knew about several of these groups, most of them revolving around a theory known as the Original World Theory. ording to this theory, the void itself was the original world, and the first universes emerged from it not by some intelligent design, but as simple odds yed out over an indefinite time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As for the identity of the Keeper himself, this theory suggested that the Keeper was a type of void entity, with his defining rule being that he could unleash greater power the stronger the people of the universe were. The believers of this theory didn¡¯t trust the words of the Greater Pantheon, thinking them to be entities constructed by the Keeper as he grew stronger in order to further his own agenda.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena was all-too familiar with this theory herself, having had to impersonate a member of one of these groups during her training. And, she had to admit, there was at least some merit to what they preached.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Many people worshiped the Keeper as a truly omnipotent, omniscient being. By this logic, he was aware of every hardship that took ce in the world, and wasplicit in every crime or murder that urred. The leading argument for the Original World Theory was heavily based on this logic. If one entity had such awareness and power, why would they let so many disasters ur? Why would V-Day have ever happened if the Keeper had the power to stop it?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena, however, was aware of the fact that the Keeper was neither omniscient nor omnipotent. He was simply a man. A man of great power and responsibility, but a man nheless. He could not be everywhere at one time, nor could he do everything he wished to do.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, instead of turning to the theory that the Keeper was an entity from the void, using his power to manipte the world to grow his own power, Lena believed that the Keeper simply needed helpers. He had shown this in the past, when he once requested that every race send him a representative that would live within the Sky Citadel. This fell out of practice after only a few generations, as few people wished to live in the citadel, cut off from their normal lives. Only Tsubaki remained at his side.


    <span style="font-weight:400">And, from this first interaction that Lena had with Tsubaki, she was certain that Tsubaki would never have any intention to betray the Keeper. After all, she had been inside of Tsubaki¡¯s mind when she turned into her. Several of Tsubaki¡¯s thoughts didn¡¯t make sense, seeming to paint Tsubaki herself as having once been a Keeper, but she showed no desire to betray the man that she served.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s why Lena was more than happy to ept the task that Tsubaki had given her. Tsubaki didn¡¯t actually specify a group that she wanted Lena to infiltrate, but Lena was not surprised there. She already knew that Tsubaki and the Keeper had been in another ce for roughly two decades, so Tsubaki would not have been up to date on what the world had be.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was actually Lena¡¯s suggestion to have her infiltrate this group, knowing that they were the ones responsible for several attacks on distant viges of Fyor. They were not a peace-loving group by any means, seeking to prove their theories by showing that the Keeper won¡¯t stop their acts.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Let¡¯s see¡­¡± Lena muttered to herself, pulling a golden cube out of her inventory. This cube began to break apart and rapidly rearrange itself, turning into a golden mask that she slipped over her face.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena had full confidence in her abilities, but this mask further enhanced them by strengthening her connection to the mind of the person that she wanted to impersonate. After slipping on the mask, her body grew, and she cleared her throat, her voice growing deeper. ¡°Jim Jaeger, was it?¡± Lena muttered, now in the form of a human male with short, ck hair.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She pulled a terminal out of her inventory, making a quick call. On the other end was a ck silhouette, saying nothing until Lena spoke. ¡°This is Golden Shadow. I have begun working for the Keeper, and have received a task. Currently, I am wearing the face of Jim Jaeger, the Fallen God of Gravity. His current location is¡­¡± Lena closed her eyes for a moment. ¡°Deckan, main system. He is in Ashtanu, the office of Charles Wainwright.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Understood, Golden Shadow. We¡¯ll ready the switch. Do you have anything else to report?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena smirked, the expression seeming sinister on her current face. ¡°I have received my name from the Keeper. From now on, I am Lena, and I answer directly to Tsubaki.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The silhouette in the call hesitated at that. This was essentially a deration that Lena would no longer be taking orders from the elders of the ninja ns. Although they were prepared for this, they both knew that the ninjas had hoped to have Lena serve as a bridge to closer connect them to the Keeper, simr to how they now relied on Chelsea.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I understand. I will pass on your message, Lena. And, furthermore¡­ congrattions.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thanks. Let me know the next time they let you out, and we¡¯ll get drinks again. My treat.¡± Lena said with a happy smile, the person on the other end chuckling.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That offer might be more appealing if you weren¡¯t wearing a viin¡¯s face.¡± The voice spoke up again, before the call ended. Once the call ended, Lena reached up to remove her mask, returning to her original appearance. Afterwards, her body seemed to dissolve in smoke, leaving Olympus to move towards her target.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Pleasure doing business with you.¡± A brte kitsune said with a smile, reaching over to shake hands with the human that hade to visit his office. ¡°I¡¯ll have everything sent over by the end of the day.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Looking forward to it.¡± The ck-haired man grunted, before standing and turning to leave. ¡°Let¡¯s hope that this business can continue for a long while.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The kitsune simply chuckled at that, nodding his head as the man left his office. This human, who had introduced himself as Mister Jaeger, walked down the hall while straightening his jacket, his eyes looking coldly ahead.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Upon exiting the building, he looked from side to side before turning and walking towards a nearby alley. Although he was never given a token to enter the void at will, he was a Fallen God. This allowed him to exert some authority even from such a heavily sealed world, enough to bypass the barriers and travel with only a modicum of effort.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, as he was gathering his power to leave Deckan, a blonde kitsune skipped towards him, one purple eye trained on him with a smile. To avoid suspicion, he stopped gathering his power, nning to let the girl pass him by.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ah, Mister Jaeger, there you are!¡± The girl called out to him. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen you in weeks!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Do I know you, girl?¡± Jim asked, feeling uneasy as he looked at the kitsune ahead of him. He had a faint feeling of deja vu, but he couldn¡¯t identify the girl in his memories at all.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, you did, but you forgot. She said,ing to rest a couple steps ahead of him. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, though, you¡¯ll be forgetting this time, too~!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">rm bells rang in Jim¡¯s mind, preparing to immediately unleash his power to crush the girl. However, a faint prick on the back of his neck stopped him, his energy freezing and refusing to respond to hismands. His entire body was paralyzed, a sensation that he hadn¡¯t experienced since bing a Fallen God¡­ but why did it feel strangely familiar?


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll use your face well.¡± Lena said, her body shifting until it perfectly matched that of Jim himself. At the same time, Jim found his own body shrinking, his skin turning hard and glossy. The ground seemed to shift beneath him, forming a solid circle that shrank with his body. Soon, he was no more than three inches tall, unable to move.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena looked down at the miniature Jim, and then off in the distance, grunting. ¡°Still collecting?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">A yful voice echoed back as a golden hand appeared, picking up the miniature figure. ¡°Always, my dear shadow. How long may I keep this one for?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Depends on how the investigation goes.¡± Lena responded in a cold tone. ¡°Might need him back in a day or two, might have to fake his death.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ooh, if you fake his death, then can I¡­?¡± The voice trailed off with a hint of eagerness, and Lena simply nodded.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right, if we do that, you can keep him. Just make sure he doesn¡¯t get out like thest guy.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°My, my, always so cold when you put on a new face. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ve already figured out what went wrong there. We won¡¯t have a repeated Ripper incident. I¡¯ll keep him nice and secure on my shelf with all the others~.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After the voice said that, it faded away, the small figure of Jim vanishing with it. Lena furrowed her brow, before focusing on conjuring the void powers of her target. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Looks like we¡¯re going to Desbar.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She thought to herself, having sensed Jim¡¯s intentions from before she arrived.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A rush of chaotic energy briefly filled the alley as Lena disappeared, pulling herself out and into the void. It was time to get to work.

 Chapter 1102: Black And Gold

    Chapter 1102: ck And Gold


    <span style="font-weight:400">After exiting the void, Jim brushed off his shoulder. He had emerged in one of the less frequented cities of Desbar, meaning that the poption wasrgely demons. Given the time of day, this further meant that many of them were sleeping, as demons were a nocturnal race. This heavily limited the amount of foot traffic that he had to deal with as he walked down the street, towards a nearby office building.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a demoness inside with silver hair, smiling at Jim as he approached. ¡°Wee to Pierceton and Pierceton. How can I help you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jim simply pulled his cor to the side, showing off a pin on the inside of his cor. It looked like an X with a vertical line through it, or two mirrored K¡¯s. The receptionist kept that same smile, nodding her head. ¡°They¡¯re waiting for you in the second basement floor, room two. Have a nice day.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jim simply gave a small grunt of acknowledgement, moving into the elevator and descending two floors. The doors opened to a dimly lit hallway, lined with numerous doors. He walked to the second door, opening it and stepping inside. In the room was a semicircr table, at which five people were seated. Each of these five people were covered by an obfuscation spell, causing them to look like hazy shadows.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Was Mister Wainwright agreeable to our n?¡± The figure on the right asked, their voice sounding like an almost ghastly echo after being modified by the spell.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°He was. Three hundred tons of Dimensium, six thousand units of Mage Heart, and a dmissioned Reset Protocol. Said they¡¯ll be sent over by the end of the day.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Excellent.¡± The figure in the middle nodded with a clear smile in their altered tone. ¡°In that case, we can begin nning the next stage. Is there any news on that regard, Number Four?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The figure second to the right shook their head. ¡°Nothing solid. We recorded a trip to Site One, however. There is confirmed activity.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Twenty years of silence, but he¡¯s acting now? It would seem that karma is smiling on us, after all.¡± The central figure spoke up. ¡°Jaeger. When the materials arrive, send them to the first basement floor for processing. We don¡¯t know when he will make a move, so we¡¯ll need to be ready.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jim gave a deep nod. ¡°Understood. I¡¯ll have everything set on my end.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯re doing good work, Jaeger. Soon, we will be able to topple the false throne.¡± The central figure said, and Jim could tell that they were all choosing their words very carefully. Throughout the time that they worked together, they always avoided mentioning key terms or names that would draw unwanted attention.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Anything else for me, then?¡± He asked, needing to know if he had any other assignments while he waited for the shipment.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, you can wait in the lobby upstairs. We will send word if we need something.¡± At that, Jim nodded, turning and leaving the room. As he did, his eyes swept through the hall, noticing two cameras watching him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When he entered the elevator, he saw that there was still another camera trained on his position, and could faintly sense an energy field surrounding the entire building. <i><span style="font-weight:400">They¡¯ve beefed up security since thest time. </i><span style="font-weight:400">It was impossible to tell what the exact nature of the energy field was, while still wearing the face of Jim Jaeger. At the same time, the constant surveince meant that it was difficult to find time to change to a different face.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Too bad, the idiots are ignorant of something.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Lena thought to herself, stepping out into the lobby and finding a chair to sit in. There was one anti-surveince trick that ninjas were taught, but it was only to be used in critical situations. Communication with the members of the Greater Pantheon could not be monitored.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Hey, Aurivy~! Need you to pass on a message for me~!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> This wasn¡¯t her first time calling Aurivy, and thankfully the halfling goddess had gotten used to checking the history of her callers in such situations.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Golden¡­ wait, you¡¯ve got a name now? Lena, is it?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Aurivy sounded surprised to know that the Golden Shadow now had a proper identity within the system.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Yup! The Keeper named me personally, and I¡¯m on my first mission!</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a long sigh transmitted over themunication. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Alright, what do you want me to send them this time? An evacuation request?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Nope, not this time! I need a body double, and for everyone in basement level two of my current location to disappear.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy paused for a moment, as if to process that request. <i><span style="font-weight:400">You don¡¯t usually have me pass on attack orders. What¡¯s going on?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Oh, nothing much. There are some idiots that want to use the Reset Protocol on the Keeper. Even ordering a metric shit-ton of Dimensium and Mage Heart to make a custom card to hold him!</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy paused again, and this time there was thinly disguised anger in her tone. <i><span style="font-weight:400">And you just¡­ happened to find out about that?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Well, yes and no. I knew this group was up to something because of thest time that I infiltrated them. That was about a month back, now? Back then, they were still brainstorming and theory-crafting, without anything actionable, so they were left alone. But after joining Olympus, I had Tsubaki send me back in to check on them! Turns out, a Reset Protocol in Deckan was recently dmissioned due to an energy surge, so they wanted to grab it before it was recycled.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Right¡­ passing on the message. Are you sure you don¡¯t just want a royal smiting?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Nah, that¡¯s no fun!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Lena giggled in her mind. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Besides, the guys here aren¡¯t at the top of the food chain. You could probably dig into all of them at once if you used your system, but having everyone involved with this n suddenly disappear would be quite the scare tactic~. Besides, this is the ninja way.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">¡­Fine.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Aurivy agreed reluctantly. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯ve passed your message along. I was told to let you know that Faceless and ck Shadow will be at your position shortly.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Oh, wow, they¡¯re sending ck? I asked for one floor to be cleared, not the entire building!</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Lena¡­ please exin before the smiter starts smiting?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Aurivy¡¯s tone was much shorter now, her patience running thin.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Oh, uh¡­ well, ck Shadow is like I was. He¡¯s infiltration, but of a different sort. I take people¡¯s faces, he leaves no witnesses. Specializes in void scripting. Probably responsible for about a tenth of the memetic rms in thest five years?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she was exining, the door opened, and two figures walked in. The first was a felyn male with short, blue hair and¡­ apletely empty face, without eyes or mouth. The second was a lycan male with ck hair and wearing a heavy, ck robe.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jim lowered his head, avoiding eye contact as the receptionist addressed the two. ¡°Wee to Pierceton and Pierceton. How can I help you?¡± She asked, though she seemed to be moving closer to the counter.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Begone.¡± The figure in ck said, lifting his right hand to reveal the back of it. On the back of his hand was the image of an eye, which opened up and stared at the woman. Immediately, her body seemed to fly back, bing a still painting on the wall behind her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You called for a body double?¡± The faceless entity asked, his voice simply appearing in the air around him. When Jim nodded his head, an identical copy of him appeared in the seat next to him, allowing him to stand and roll his shoulders. Jim¡¯s body shrank down, once again returning to Lena¡¯s.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sending ck¡¯s a bit overkill for this, don¡¯t you think?¡± Lena asked with a smirk, keeping her eyes down to avoid looking at any piece of ck¡¯s clothing. ¡°Or are they wanting to get rid of me too, now that I¡¯ve made my position clear?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Though she seemed calm on the surface, Lena had already selected what she believed to be the perfect persona to deal with ck, should ite to a fight. ck, however, simply chuckled, talking in a sarcastic tone. ¡°Nothing like that, Goldie. You work for the top brass, now. So they¡¯ve gotta take your requests <i><span style="font-weight:400">extra</i><span style="font-weight:400"> serious. Think the old term is ¡®scorched earth¡¯.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena clicked her tongue at that, turning to walk towards the door. ¡°Just make sure that this one isn¡¯t contagious. And I have a <i><span style="font-weight:400">name</i><span style="font-weight:400"> now. It¡¯s Lena. Faceless, you shut down the block?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course.¡± Faceless nodded his head, though Lena wasn¡¯t about to turn around to look, as that would put ck in her line of sight. She knew Faceless¡¯s typical way of doing things. Shut down all forms of surveince that could detect his presence, walk in, nt the double, and then walk out. He had trained in a powerful energy that allowed him to mask his appearance from others, so witnesses weren¡¯t a concern.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Then I¡¯ll be going. Keep ck under control.¡± She said, walking out the door to ck¡¯sughter.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, Goldie, you should know by now that that¡¯s not happening.¡± When Lena heard that, her brow twitched. ck was too arrogant, too unbridled. Even the elders didn¡¯t dare to boss him around lightly, because he had killed one during his training. Unlike most agents, he took <i><span style="font-weight:400">pleasure</i><span style="font-weight:400"> in the times he was allowed to go out and kill, always wanting to test a new killing script.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I said¡­¡± Lena growled under her breath, her hair turning ck. ¡°I have a name. Faceless¡­ tell the elders that if they send him to me again, it¡¯ll cost more than his arms.¡± Lena spoke up, now appearing as a young, elven girl with ck hair, holding a sword in one hand. Even then, she never turned to face him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What, you want to fight, <i><span style="font-weight:400">Goldie</i><span style="font-weight:400">?¡± ck called out, before two dense thuds hit the ground. ¡°What¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena smirked to herself as she let her sword dissolve. ¡°Didn¡¯t you know? Dana Jafer is a master of Absurdity of Fate. Why would I need to face you to cut off your arms? I¡¯ve also applied a little trick to stop them from growing back for a week. I¡¯m sure you can carry out your mission here, regardless of that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying that, Lena returned to her normal appearance, her body disappearing. Aurivy¡¯s voice spoke up into her mind again, chuckling. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Okay, that was kind of cool. Are you sure that </i><span style="font-weight:400">he <i><span style="font-weight:400">doesn¡¯t need smiting, though?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Don¡¯t tempt me.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Lena huffed mentally. <i><span style="font-weight:400">That guy never learns unless he takes some damage. Still, this should stop the elders from trying to use him as a demonstration again.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">And if they don¡¯t listen?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Aurivy asked, somewhat interested now.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Then they¡¯re forgetting that I can just as easily turn into him, and be their worst nightmare. He runs a dozen memetic scripts in his mind, and has to apply the anti-memes at regr intervals, all as a precaution against me. But if I turn into him, I get the anti-memes, too. I don¡¯t think any of them realize the utility of nine focused domains.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she appeared again, she was in an alley, hundreds of meters from the office building. She let out a long sigh, closing her eyes and crossing her arms. ¡°You still stalking me, Collector?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course~.¡± The voice from when she impersonated Jim spoke up around her again. ¡°Does this mean that I can keep him?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah, yeah, Jim¡¯s all yours. He won¡¯t be needed anymore, and it¡¯s best he was kept out of sight.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The disembodied voice simply chuckled. ¡°That suits me fine. It¡¯s a shame, though. I thought for sure you would let me add ck, as well.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena¡¯s brow twitched, but she let out a long sigh. ¡°You don¡¯t want that one. His body is covered with memetic powers that would spoil your collection. Now, you¡¯ve got better things to do than stalk me, now that I¡¯m back to normal.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The voice let out a sigh. ¡°Fine, fine. I¡¯ll be seeing you around, Lena.¡±


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">So¡­ what¡¯s the deal with that guy?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Aurivy asked, having never had a reason to keep the conversation open while she was talking with the Collector.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Codename: Collector. He¡¯s a three-domain expert that specializes in making targets disappear for a while. I thought he¡¯d be the one that the top brass sent, though¡­ he¡¯s entric in his own way. He wants to add anyone he can to his collection. The more special they are, the more he wants them. Being the first official nine-domain god¡­ he¡¯s always keeping an eye out for a chance to add me to his collection.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy paused when she heard that. <i><span style="font-weight:400">None of the new generation of ninjas are normal, are they?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Hey! I resemble that remark! </i><span style="font-weight:400">Lena pouted inwardly, Aurivyughing.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Yes. Yes you do.</i>

 Chapter 1103: Information Agency

    Chapter 1103: Information Agency


    <span style="font-weight:400">After leaving the scene, it did not take long for Lena to arrive at Olympus. When she did, she lightly pped her cheeks to help herself cheer up, running inside with a bright smile. ¡°Hermes~! Can you tell me where Tsubaki is?¡± She asked, even as she was running through the halls.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Tsubaki is currently located at the Keeper¡¯s side, within his personal office. Would you like me to deliver a message?¡± The voice of the digital assistant spoke up, but Lena quickly shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, that¡¯s fine! I¡¯ll just head there myself!¡± After saying that, she jumped into one of the elevators, teleporting to the Keeper¡¯s pce, and then ran towards his office. Thanks to the time spent training with Tsubaki, she had already memorized theyout of Olympus, and could easily find her way.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she arrived in the office, she saw the Keeper looking over a series of documents, with Tsubaki standing behind him. She knocked on the doorway to get both of their attentions, smiling wide. ¡°I¡¯vee to make my report, senior!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki turned to face Lena, arching her brow. ¡°Already? It has barely been an hour since you left.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah, well~. The mission was easy to aplish, so I got done early!¡± When Lena said that, Tsubaki¡¯s eyes narrowed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You discovered something, then?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Mhm! They wanted to use a Reset Protocol device on the Keeper, and were preparing materials to customize it for him. I had my friends from the ninjas clean them up before I left, though, so don¡¯t worry!¡± Lena could feel the anger radiating off of Tsubaki when she reported what the group¡¯s n was. However, she didn¡¯t see a reason to directly bring up ck or how she had made her priorities to the Keeper and Tsubaki apparent to the ninjas.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I assume that the method that you used was thorough?¡± Tsubaki asked, and Lena quickly nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh yeah. They won¡¯t be a problem anymore!¡± The Keeper looked over at the two kitsune curiously, before questioning Lena.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You got done awfully fast. Tsubaki reported to me what your mission was, as well as that you asked for it. If you knew that they were nning something, couldn¡¯t you have just told her directly from the start?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Lena heard the Keeper¡¯s question, it even made Tsubaki look at her for an answer. However, Lena simply shook her head quickly. ¡°No no no, it¡¯s nothing like that. I knew that they wanted to n something, because of myst time infiltrating the group. However, at the time, they didn¡¯t have any set ns. That¡¯s why I asked my senior to send me to this group, to see if they had made any real progress. We can¡¯t just hold a massacre because of naughty thoughts, right?¡± She asked with a wide smile, though Tsubaki looked like she disagreed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I suppose.¡± The Keeper nodded. ¡°In that case, are there any other groups that you think might have simr objectives?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena took a moment to think about that. ¡°There are two other anti-Keeper organizations that I have personally infiltrated in the past. One of them was all talk, but were too scared to take any actions that could prove dangerous to themselves or others. Like, they don¡¯t believe the whole ¡®The world will be destroyed if you die¡¯ thing, but part of them is like ¡®But what if it¡¯s true?¡¯ I doubt that group would make a move on their own.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As for the other one¡­ I¡¯d say it¡¯s fifty-fifty? They¡¯re less likely to act than the one I had my senior send me to. But at the same time, they¡¯re not afraid to get their hands dirty if theye up with an idea that won¡¯t easily be traced back to them. Well, some of them. The boss of the group is actually a pretty sweet guy, just trying to fight for mortal independence.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Generally, he dislikes the idea of not only the Keeper, but all forms of gods, whether normal or fallen. He¡¯s not violent about his ideals or anything like that, but some people twist his words around to take it that way. That¡¯s the group that I think would be the next most likely to act.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You sure know a lot about this group in particr.¡± Tsubaki pointed out, Lena chuckling a bit.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, yeah! I infiltrated as his daughter, so I had a front row seat to the show. She¡¯s an adorable little thing, and nobody cared about watching their words around her. It actually made the whole thing pretty easy. You¡¯d be surprised how many of my missions can be solved just by finding that one guy that nobody bothers to keep quiet around.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper nodded his head at that, looking at Tsubaki silently. Tsubaki paused, before directing a nce at Lena. ¡°In that case, your next assignment will be to infiltrate these two groups again, and ensure that they have not made any ns themselves. After this confirmation is done, I have a long-term assignment for you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena¡¯s ears perked up at that, looking at Tsubaki silently. Tsubaki kept her tone neutral as she borated. ¡°You are going to be a wandering agent. First, I must ask you something important. Are you only capable of bing real individuals, or can you also turn into characters of your own creation?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena had to pause at that. ¡°I have some experience bing original characters, but there are some restrictions. Their powers can¡¯t be something I create myself, I have to take from real-world examples. For instance, I can¡¯t turn into a God of Green and Hope, unless I have previously studied someone with those two domains. Likewise, I wouldn¡¯t be able to turn into someone with World Sight unless I had studied you or others with that energy.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Next, I can create the full records needed for this character with the Identity, Information, and Alteration domains, but there will always be ws. For instance, although I can change ss photos to have the character in them from school days, the students won¡¯t remember that character¡¯s existence.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There¡¯s a way around that, though, but it requires me being able to meet everyone in the character¡¯s backstory. That¡¯s not easily doable, obviously, so I just never really bothered with it!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded her head as she listened to Lena¡¯s exnation. ¡°Next question. Is it possible for you to use your domains to create clones, with these clones representing the identities that you give them?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, yeah, totally!¡± Lena smiled wide at that. ¡°They¡¯re not as convenient as your avatars, though. See, although I can create the clones and give them that identity¡­ I am giving them that entire identity, and not leaving my own mind in there. So, let¡¯s take thisst mission as an example! If I created an identity clone of Jim Jaeger, the person I was impersonating, that clone wouldpletely believe itself to be Jim Jaeger.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°He wouldn¡¯t believe himself to be an undercover agent working for me. If I altered his mind so that he <i><span style="font-weight:400">did</i><span style="font-weight:400"> believe that, there is the possibility of revealing that information during social interactions depending on his loyalty. That¡¯s why I always handle the investigations myself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki paused at that. ¡°I see. In that case, you can¡¯t set up your own spywork. Not in that way, at least.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, if you want me to set up a spywork, there¡¯s another way to do it!¡± Lena spoke up, causing both the Keeper and Tsubaki to look at her. ¡°See, what I¡¯d need to do is first create an identity to infiltrate the group. I handle the initial infiltration myself. After I¡¯m done embedding the identity into the target organization, I create an identity clone.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°However, I don¡¯t leave any trace of my own will in this clone. Instead, I use the Information, Understanding, and Stealth domains to leave a hidden divine power in a target. This divine power will transfer all of the clone¡¯s memories at regr intervals, kind of simr to the memory transfer of your Virtual selves.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki seemed relieved when she heard that, but also confused. ¡°Are you able to handle that many memories from multiple identities without losing your sense of self?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, easily!¡± Lena nodded quickly. ¡°I don¡¯t download them directly into my mind or anything. Instead, I use my own divine power made of Understanding, Information, and Identity to create a database inside my divinity to store the memories. Then, whenever I want to, I can load up the profile of any identity, browse through their memories, and learn anything that has happened to them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Good, in that case, it is possible.¡± Tsubaki nodded her head again. ¡°As a wandering agent, it will be your job to infiltrate any organization you feel may be harmful to my Keeper or the world as a whole. After infiltration, you are to leave one of these clones to continue monitoring the organization from within.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena thought about that for a moment, before abruptly raising her hand. ¡°Question, senior!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s brow twitched for a moment, before she gestured for Lena to speak. ¡°In order for me to create these agents that you¡¯re looking for, I would need to create an identity for them that the organization would find useful enough to keep around, with an ideology that would make the people in charge trust them. If I do that, wouldn¡¯t I be creating more trouble for us than I would otherwise be trying to investigate?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki blinked at that, and the Keeper chuckled, looking over at her. ¡°In that case, what would you suggest to achieve simr results?¡± The Keeper asked, looking at Lena.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well¡­ if your goal is to nt a long-term intelligence agent in numerous suspicious organizations, there are problems with any method.¡± Lena admitted freely. ¡°You¡¯re either making the potential problems worse, or leaving yourself open to being traced.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If you want to minimize your impact on the group itself, it would be better to nt something to directly monitor a key member. For instance, if I impersonated the leader of a group for a day, I could find his most relied-upon methods ofmunication or items they always have with them, and nt the monitoring ability I mentioned before for the clones on those. The information would be lessplete, but it would be safer than nting a potentially useful spy.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki thought it over, nodding her head. ¡°I see¡­ that would be more reliable in some ways. I suppose there would be no objection to using this method, then?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°None that I can think of!¡± Lena smiled. ¡°And don¡¯t worry, senior! You weren¡¯t trained for modern espionage tactics. Back in your day, espionage just meant assassinating the enemy leader.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s brow twitched at that. ¡°You¡­ are not wrong. However, if I am to lead you, I must train myself on these methods, so as to properly instruct you for your missions.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper let out a long sigh. ¡°You¡¯re going to start your own Trial of Shadows arc, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki couldn¡¯t help but nce off to the side. ¡°I may. It would help me coordinate with Lena more effectively, you must admit.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I think that you just want an excuse to do more trials.¡± The Keeper said in a teasing tone, Lena clearing her throat.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If I may, senior! I have one request in regards to this mission.¡± Tsubaki looked over at Lena, gesturing for her to continue. ¡°Can I ask Lifre to assist me, if the need arises? If I need a bit of chaos created to either get in or out of a situation, I could ask Lifre to act for me.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded her agreement. ¡°If you believe that Lifre would be useful to you, withoutpromising your mission.¡±


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Yes!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Lena grinned inwardly, happy to have an excuse to get Lifre involved in her future shenanigans.

 Chapter 1104: Background Check

    Chapter 1104: Background Check


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, how has he done?¡± Ashley asked, stepping into her office and looking at the terminal on the wall. Immediately, a silver-skinned woman appeared on it, smiling at Ashley. Ashley had kept her attention off of Ghan during this duration, not wanting to spoil herself on the story that he was creating for their up anding game.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ghan has made great strides to fulfill your request. In these twenty years, he has released sixteen movies, all said to be a part of the same, greater universe. He has named this universe the Night Verse. Each movie seems to focus on an entirely different world and main character, with some movies featuring an interster civilization and othersbound. Additionally, there have been three single-yer games released, focusing on three different movies within this franchise.¡±¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The setting has met all of the criteria that you asked for, and I have monitored the process every step of the way. There should be no problems with turning this into the setting for your next release.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing that caused Ashley to let out a sigh of relief. ¡°Thanks. Have the setting file sent to the Admin Room, so my team can apply the NPC temte to it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Understood, Ashley.¡± The digital spirit nodded her head. ¡°Do you have any other instructions for me to pass to Ghan, in that case?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley thought about it for a moment, before shaking his head. ¡°Let¡¯s see if there are any problems with the setting that he created first, and then we will n our next step.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">In truth, Ashley hadn¡¯t even finished the coding for the new game. Most of the settings involved were things that they had already purchased or developed themselves, but there were some aspects that they needed to purchase from the system, like the respawn settings. Additionally, she wanted to make sure not to get too deep into creating the game until after she had seen Ghan¡¯s work, that way she did not introduce or leave out a system that might contradict the ¡®canon¡¯ story that they were establishing.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">After Lena left Olympus to work on her new, long-term assignment, I turned to face Tsubaki. ¡°What are your thoughts on Lena? Personally, I mean.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki blinked at the question, falling deep into thought. ¡°I believe that she has the potential to be the most powerfulbatant at our disposal, due to her being able to take on the abilities and skill levels of others. As for her abilities as a spy, that was self-evident as even the cautious Dana was tricked by her impersonating Lifre.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I mean, do you think that she can be trusted?¡± I asked, and Tsubaki looked at me in confusion. ¡°Yes, as a Keeper I can see her surface thoughts, just like anyone else¡¯s. However, given her skill level of impersonating others, I have to believe that she would be able to disguise her own surface thoughts. That¡¯s why I want to ask your opinion. The two of you have a simr origin, and you have spent time alone with her. In your opinion, do you believe that she can be trusted?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki paused, needing a bit more time to think for this question. ¡°As she herself has said, the environment that we grew up in was very different from one another. In my day, I was prepared to be an efficient killer and servant to my chosen lord. Any sense of self-worth was cast aside in favor of being the best Servant that I could be. As a result, it was not unusual for a Servant to be willing to kill themselves for the slightest infraction upon their lord. In fact, I almost did so myself on multiple asions, such as when you began to teach me about Perfection.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡­ remember that.¡± I said with a long sigh, with Tsubaki soon continuing her exnation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°On the other hand, Lena has grown up in an environment where the elders have nurtured her. Despite her training to take on the persona of another person, she does not seem to have lost her sense of self-worth. If you ordered her to die, I think that she would refuse you, unless given apelling reason.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In light of this, I believe that hering under your wing is a calcted move on her part, seeking to break away from the ninjas as a whole. She has repeatedly emphasized that I am her senior, and that she wishes to learn from me. It is highly likely that either she felt that she would have a better life in your service, or that she was not safe in her previous upation. Either way, so long as you do not order her to do something suicidal, I believe that she can be trusted.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Given the fact that she would willingly undertake such a difficult, long-term assignment, I am inclined to believe that it is thetter. There may be people within the ninja organization who see her as a threat for what she can do, and were silently trying to eliminate her during missions.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod at that. ¡°Didn¡¯t she say thating to me like this was an assignment from the elders themselves, however? She didn¡¯t appear to be lying when she said that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯re correct, my Keeper.¡± Tsubaki smiled slightly, before shaking her head. ¡°However, this could mean that there are varying opinions on this. Perhaps someone who wanted to keep Lena safe gave her this assignment as a way to protect her from the other elders.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That is a possibility that can¡¯t be overlooked¡­¡± I closed my eyes, thinking it over. ¡°Tsubaki¡­ before you start working on your own Trial of Shadows, I¡¯d like you to do something for me.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s eyes widened, and she immediately knelt down. ¡°Of course, my Keeper. You may ask anything you wish of me.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Go to the Admin Room, and ask for Terra¡¯s help. I want you to look through Lena¡¯s past. First, confirm whether or not Lena can be trusted. After that, look for the ones trying to hurt her, if any. If they were willing to sabotage missions to kill off their golden girl, they may be willing to try to attack her even after she has started working for me. Especially now that she is not in Olympus.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded her head, rising to her feet. ¡°I willplete your order right away. Would it not be faster to simply ask Terra to look into this herself, however?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but give Tsubaki a smile in response. ¡°I could, and she could probably give me the answer within minutes, at most. However, if I have you look into it, you can find inspiration for your new trial. This is as much an investigation into Lena as it is a learning experience for you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki wasn¡¯t aware of this, but I knew that Chelsea had personally vouched for Lena. Chelsea is too cautious of a person, and wouldn¡¯t vouch for someone like that without thoroughly making sure that they were trustworthy. However, at the same time, Chelsea herself was not an elder for the ninjas, and couldn¡¯t have been the one to personally give Lena the assignment toe to me. She could have made a suggestion, but her words were ultimately that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, it was still important to have a final background check. Also, what I said wasn¡¯t wrong. Since Tsubaki already wanted to create her own Trial of Shadows, then this would give her a chance to look at how the trial was conducted currently, and use that for inspiration. Otherwise, it was likely that she would misinterpret the trial and either make its difficulty level all but impossible, or turn it into abat mission rather than a stealth one.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I understand, my Keeper.¡± Tsubaki said with a nod, before turning around and walking out the door in a hurry.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">After leaving the Keeper¡¯s office, Tsubaki kept a firm expression on her face, despite her happily wagging tails. <i><span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper is doing this to help me, so I can¡¯t fail him. </i><span style="font-weight:400">Although she was unaware of Chelsea¡¯s involvement, she knew that the Keeper had alreadyrgely decided to trust Lena. Otherwise, he would never have given her a mission in the first ce.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Therefore, she knew that the main objective behind sending her to the Admin Room right now was to educate her on the current ninja training program. After she left the office, she closed her eyes and focused, having to stand still for thirty seconds in order to travel to the Admin Room.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she arrived, she saw Terra sitting on the couch, an amused smile on her face. ¡°I assume that you are already aware of the reason for my visit?¡± Tsubaki asked, to which Terra nodded her head and patted the couch next to her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Come have a seat. It looks like it¡¯s movie night for us.¡± She said with a lightugh. ¡°It¡¯s been a little while since Dale asked for any immediate help, and I haven¡¯t had anyone else to bring into the new programtely. So this came at just the right time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki smiled, moving over to sit next to the felyn goddess. At first, she was going to keep a respectable distance, but then thought about it again, choosing to sit immediately next to Terra instead. Unlike the others, Terra wasn¡¯t able to fully inhabit her incarnations, and could only have a thin connection with them, or send orders down. She could only exert real control in small doses, so she was bound to be lonely. Putting even a respectful distance in cases like this would likely drive that point home further, so she thought that it was better to sit right next to her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra herself seemed surprised that Tsubaki had made that decision, her smile softening. Indeed, they were close enough that they could easily lean on one another if they wanted. ¡°So, we¡¯re looking into Lena¡¯s past, right? Do you want to start from the immediate timeframe, or from before she joined Olympus?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki hesitated for a brief moment. ¡°Immediate timeframe, please. It would be best to know whether or not she has made contact with anyone else since joining the Keeper¡¯s service, as that could be significant information.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra seemingly understood that result, snapping her fingers as the screen showed a frozen image of Lena walking down the street. ¡°In that case, let¡¯s y it back from here. This is from right before she returned to report to the Keeper and you just now.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki gave a firm nod, watching the scene y in reverse. Her eyes briefly widened when she saw Lena be Dana, using the Absurdity of Fate to cut off a man¡¯s arms. ¡°Can you ce a marker on him, please? After we do our initial check, I want to look into him.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You want to see who it was that asked for him specifically to respond to this call, right?¡± Terra asked, to which Tsubaki returned an affirmative nod. ¡°I¡¯ll ce the marker, and we can watch it together.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The scene continued to rewind, soon showing Lena talking to a contact from the ninjas. Tsubaki could easily tell that Lena was trying to distance herself from this conversation alone, which further supported the idea that there was someone in the organization that Lena was trying to avoid.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When the scene rewound past the Keeper¡¯s return to Olympus, the speed of the video began to increase. ¡°It¡¯s mostly just the same stuff here.¡± Terra assured, and they watched highlights of Lena and Lifre ying together in Fyor, Lena having asionally turned into a second Lifre.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now, Tsubaki understood why Lena had wanted to secure Lifre¡¯s assistance in the mission, as the two appeared to genuinely be friends. Even with the speed elerated and only showing highlights, it took several minutes to get through the scenes of them ying together. When it returned to a normal speed, Tsubaki¡¯s eyes widened.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This appeared to be the scene where Lena, the Golden Shadow, received her final mission. There were two people giving her the mission. Or, more urately, one elder and a guest. The elder was an old ursa with a wrinkled face and a hunched back. The guest was none other than Chelsea.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...Another marker for the elder, please.¡± Tsubaki asked, and Terra nodded her head. The video kept reying scenes, and Tsubaki began to put together a pattern.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Across several of Lena¡¯s missions, there appeared to either be critical details missing, the mission itself was tantamount to suicide, or an outside force ¡®coincidentally¡¯ intervened. A key example of the second was when she was given the trial to steal from Elisae, as no sane person would do such a thing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, there were also missions where she was told to infiltrate a noble¡¯s house to observe them, not being informed that this noble was a deity with connections to the church. Or one where a simple delivery mission would go awry because a battle between local forces just happened to erupt as she was passing through an area in disguise. Each of these situations could have easily turned fatal for her, had she not carefully navigated them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, Lena herself was aware that she was being targeted, but there was not a direct connection as to who. At least, not until a scene where she used her mask, turning into each one of the elders in turn. When she turned into an elderly felyn woman, her face contorted in rage and she stopped her investigation. ¡°Another one on her¡­¡± Tsubaki sighed. It looked like ¡®movie night¡¯ was going tost longer than she thought.

 Chapter 1105: The Mysterious White

    Chapter 1105: The Mysterious White


    <span style="font-weight:400">Vespa sat at her desk, letting out a long sigh as she brought a hand to her aching shoulders. Despite the numerous ways to extend one¡¯s lifespan by shedding the physical form, she had not done so. It was not that she was incapable of it, as there were many resources avable to the ninjas. In fact, more than half of all ninjas had undergone this treatment.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Rather, there was a tradition among their people. No elder was qualified to possess eternal life. If such an elder came to power, they must immediately resign from their position or be removed by force. The reason for this was to prevent a single generation of elders from holding total power over the ns.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Instead, every time an elder passed away or retired, a new elder would be chosen by the various ns in a vote. This was how things had been for generations now, a method of holding back corruption by ensuring that the rulers did not stay in power for too long. At least,pared to their subordinates that could enjoy the perks of eternity.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Vespa herself had only been in this position for sixteen years, and she was feeling the weight of her years catching up to her. When she came into office, she found out about some of the more secretive projects conducted by the council of elders. The biggest of these projects were the Four Shadows.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The four shadow agents were each marked by a color, and carried with them a particr trait. The Red Shadow left a trail of blood through each of his missions, bodiespletely unidentifiable after he passed. The ck Shadow wielded the power of the void to rewrite thews of the world on a small scale, unleashing memetic horrors on his targets. The White Shadow was like a ghost, none ever seeing their face. Even the council had long forgotten anything about the White Shadow¡¯s appearance.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, the one that concerned Vespa the most was the Golden Shadow. As the only shadow agent to be fully focused on divinity, she was given the color gold. Her unique trait was her ability to be anyone, to such a perfect degree that not even the researcher James would notice if she were impersonating Chelsea next to him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Despite the horrors of the Red and ck Shadows, or the mystery of White, it was Gold that made Vespa feel true dread. The power to be anyone, to rece anyone. As long as the Golden Shadow existed, she did not know who she could trust, even among her closest friends. Who among them could the Golden Shadow be impersonating? Who might have been reced by a copy long ago?


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Vespa learned about this project, she tried to immediately have the Golden Shadow removed from the roster. The very concept was too dangerous to be allowed. However, the other fools on the elder council denied her vehement request. ording to them the Golden Shadow had been nurtured from birth to be the perfect subordinate. So long as they did not betray her, she would never betray them.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">No¡­ perhaps some of them were reced long ago?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Vespa thought inwardly, clenching her teeth. When her proposal was rejected, she began to move behind the scenes, doing what she could to quietly increase the danger level of any mission assigned to the Golden Shadow. She even tasked the Red Shadow with causing a monster stampede through what was meant to be a peaceful delivery.


    <span style="font-weight:400">On paper, the Red Shadow¡¯s mission was in order to eliminate a corrupt noble in a neighboring territory, but Vespa had timed everything perfectly. Yet, every time, the Golden Shadow emerged unscathed. She would gloss over the incidents in her report as inconsequential, treating it like nothing more than a minor setback.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Just thinking about her infuriated Vespa. <i><span style="font-weight:400">And now¡­ and now she wants to cut ties and hide in the service of the Keeper? No¡­ what would happen if she actually managed to rece even him? Would she dare to try?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The thought made Vespa¡¯s face go pale. The specifics behind how the Keeper served as the lynchpin for the world were unclear. If the Golden Shadow managed to perfectly rece him, could she even manage to take his ce and maintain the worlds in his stead? Or would the mere attempt end reality as they knew it?


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">The risk is too great.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Vespa thought to herself. She did not believe that someone with the power to be anyone would be satisfied taking orders. Not when they could easily rece those in power.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯ve got to be careful, though¡­ Monda is backing her.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She thought of the elderly ursa man that had been there since the start of the Four Shadows project, perhaps the oldest on the council. If the Golden Shadow had indeed reced anyone, it would most likely be him. After all, he had always encouraged her and stood up for her. Whenever she was in trouble with the rules, he was the one who sought leniency for her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Additionally, it was he who proposed the mission of sending the Golden Shadow to work for the Keeper. Vespa knew that there was some interference from the Another World Research Group, but she had already reced Chelsea once in the past.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The elder looked at their desk, before gritting their teeth and tapping on a hidden panel to bring up a screen. ¡°Connect me to White.¡± She said in a serious tone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Arge, holographic screen appeared, and Vespa had to briefly cover her eyes, due to the bright, white light emitted from it. Afterwards, a voice came over like a whisper, too soft to make out even the gender. ¡°Yes?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I have a mission for you. One of the highest priority.¡± She said, and there was a pause, before the whisper spoke again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯re wanting me to kill Lena.¡± The voice said, as if certain of its deduction. Vespa paused, having to take a moment to remember that Lena was the name that the Golden Shadow had reported receiving from the Keeper.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°She is too dangerous to be allowed near the Keeper.¡± Vespa said, clenching her fists. ¡°She could impersonate anyone, walk past even the most observant and strict targets as their best friends. If she decided to target the Keeper one day, would we even know?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Another pause, before the whisper spoke. ¡°Are you aware of what happened to the ck Shadow?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I heard that he was injured in an altercation with her.¡± Vespa nodded her head, though she hadn¡¯t heard the specifics. She had arranged for the ck Shadow to respond to the request for a cleanup crew, but when he came back, he holed himself up in his room, screaming that he would kill anyone that bothered him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Lena removed both of his arms, using the powers and skills of Dana Jafer, and told him that they would not recover for one week. This was for the act of mocking her, and refusing to use the name that she had been granted by the Keeper.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">It didn¡¯t surprise Vespa that the White Shadow knew about all of this. Since nobody knew where or who the White Shadow was, it was reasonable for them to know anything. ¡°So, she is already mimicking the other servants of the Keeper?¡± Vespa asked, as if this only furthered her suspicions.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A long sigh came from the scream. ¡°My point, Elder Vespa, was that Lena is not an easy target to assassinate. I am aware that you sent ck after her. If another Shadow appears before her, she will take it as a clear act of aggression by the n. Do you want to take that risk?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Vespa clenched her jaw, knowing that White Shadow wasn¡¯t wrong. ¡°Even so¡­ I¡¯ll pay the price if I have to. But letting someone that dangerous be near the Keeper¡­ I have to weigh the risk to myself and the n against the risk to all reality. It was dangerous enough when I thought that she might just be recing my colleagues. She can¡¯t be allowed to rece the Keeper.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is that what you really think?¡± The voice asked, and there seemed to be just a hint of surprise. ¡°Lena has never attempted to rebel against any elder, even knowing that you were targeting her. Her greatest desire, ever since she was a child, was merely to have a name. She was always forced into other identities, but never once was she valued as anything more than what or who she could be.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Vespa knit her brow together as the White Shadow continued to talk. ¡°The reason why she likes Monda so much is because he doesn¡¯t simply treat her as a tool. Although he never gave her a name, he treated her almost as he would his own daughter. And despite how you have treated her, her only act of defiance was to distance herself from you, doing her best to sever the chains of authority you tried to tie her with.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°How do you know all of this?¡± Vespa couldn¡¯t help but ask. It was one thing for the White Shadow to know what physically happened in a ce. However, they were now talking about the Golden Shadow¡¯s innermost thoughts.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I suppose it¡¯s fine to tell you. We¡¯ve already had this conversation twice before.¡± The White Shadow spoke, before sighing. ¡°Four years after Elder Vespa rose to power, she secretly ordered the death of the Golden Shadow, entrusting the most secretive agent she knew of with the task, the White Shadow.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Vespa¡¯s eyes continued to widen as the White Shadow continued to speak. ¡°For one week, there was no response, as she waited for a situation report. After that one week, something happened, and she forgot that the order had been made.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Six yearster, Vespa once again made the same order of the White Shadow after she proved herself capable of impersonating the most high-profile targets that the council could find. This time, there was no dy. Elder Vespa had a long conversation with the White Shadow, and then forgot that she made the order.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Another three years passed, and Elder Vespa once again came to the conclusion that the Golden Shadow was too dangerous, this time after learning that they were spending time with one of the Keeper¡¯s servants, Lifre. Once more, the order was made to White Shadow. And once again, the two had a long conversation, before Elder Vespa forgot the ordeal.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Now, another three years have passed, and Elder Vespa has made the same request.¡± The White Shadow finished its speech, and Vespa trembled.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°When¡­ when did¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The first time you sent her to kill me.¡± The White Shadow¡­ Lena answered, her voice still a whisper. ¡°Every time, I try to reason with you, to assure you that I have no desire to betray my superiors, or to impersonate those in power. All I want is to be who I am. You are too important to the ninja ns, and I have no desire to cause chaos by removing you or any of the other elders. So, I sincerely hope that you don¡¯t make the same request again soon, because <i><span style="font-weight:400">he</i><span style="font-weight:400"> might be watching.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°But how¡­¡± Vespa¡¯s eyes trembled as she stared at the blindingly white screen. ¡°My memories¡­ I¡¯ve never felt any sign of tampering.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course not. That¡¯s what the White Shadow specializes in. Why else would even Monda not know what his adopted daughter looked like, after he raised her for twenty years for the program? He didn¡¯t even know that the White Shadow <i><span style="font-weight:400">was</i><span style="font-weight:400"> his daughter.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°All it takes is a small exertion of her power, even identally, and anyone she is targeting will forget anything she wants them to forget. They will forget her face, her powers, even the fact that she is standing in front of them. All of it washed away with the color white.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Did you know? When I saw her, she looked so sad. Just like I wanted a name, she wanted someone that would love her and remember her. She wanted a friend, but all of you only saw her as a tool to do your dirty work. She was the purest of us, and you tried to stain that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And <i><span style="font-weight:400">you</i><span style="font-weight:400"> killed her.¡± Vespa hissed, but the voice chuckled.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No¡­ I didn¡¯t kill her. I granted her request. I gave her what she always wanted. It might not have been how she nned¡­ but she is now with someone who will look at her every day and love her for who she is, without ever forgetting her. He will never allow any harm toe to her, and will never let anyone take her from him.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Vespa couldn¡¯t help but gasp at that, immediately knowing what she was referring to. ¡°You¡­ you gave her to the Collector?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. Like I said, he will always cherish her. But don¡¯t worry, you¡¯ll be forgetting this conversation again. You see¡­ the White Shadow doesn¡¯t have to be present to use their power. There are two conditions to use their power. First, they must exist in the memory of their target. The White Shadow can¡¯t remove the memory of a person that has never interacted with them in some way.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Secondly, they must show the target their signature white light. The moment the light leaves their view, so too do the memories that the White Shadow wished to extract. She was the most difficult opponent I had ever faced, and I only knew how long our battle hadsted after it was over. To me, it felt like an instant, just one strike and she fell to her knees. And then, I saw that a week had silently passed by, with scars appearing on my body that I couldn¡¯t remember.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Her face was so sad, so lonely¡­ goodbye, Elder Vespa. I hope we don¡¯t meet like this again.¡± The whisper finished, before the screen went nk. Immediately, Vespa blinked, looking around the room and bringing a hand up to her sore shoulders.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I really need a vacation.¡± She said with a sullen sigh.

 Chapter 1106: Easy Mode

    Chapter 1106: Easy Mode


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki let out a small sigh of relief when she finished reviewing the records with Terra. Initially, she had been concerned that the felyn elder, Vespa, would cause problems for the Keeper. However, looking back through, she saw the truth, that the person that Vespa repeatedly asked to eliminate Lena was none other than Lena herself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After she learned that, and discovered Lena¡¯s reasoning and true motivations, she felt more at ease. However, there was still something that bothered her, and that was the other two surviving shadows.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Each Shadow had their own motive for doing things, their own dreams. The White Shadow wished to be remembered and loved, and the Golden Shadow wished to be able to have her own identity. Meanwhile, the ck Shadow wished to explore the depths of the void, mastering it and bringing it under his control.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In her mind, however, the most worrisome of the shadows was the Red Shadow. He saw himself as a shadow disciple of the Crimson Goddess, Scarlet, wanting to dye the world red. By investigating him, even briefly, she discovered he had a literal death wish. When he died, he wanted to be killed by the goddess that he believed that he served.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Should I tell her about this..?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Tsubaki thought for a moment, before shaking her head. With how often the Red Shadow prayed to Scarlet, Tsubaki was sure that she was fully aware of him, and simply choosing to ignore him for now. If he became a true problem, she would step in.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once they were done reviewing the records to prove Lena¡¯s trustworthiness, Tsubaki leaned back in the couch, thinking. ¡°Was it the right move to ask Lena to undertake a long-term mission, after just giving her a name?¡± She asked, looking over at Terra, who smiled calmly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You might consider it long-term, but I¡¯m not so sure that is the case.¡± She said, causing Tsubaki to raise an eyebrow. ¡°Lena was dyed due to her recent call with Vespa, but¡­ I believe she works far faster than you might otherwise anticipate.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki blinked at that. ¡°She has to go undercover as a key figure in each organization, identify the objects to nt her divine power in, and then get out without being noticed. No matter how quickly she works, it would take her a full day to do a single organization.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°More like six.¡± Terra asked, and Tsubaki nodded her head. Six days was indeed more reasonable toplete the task, even for an incredibly skilled spy. After all, many of her targets would be gods, or those that had achieved perfection. ¡°No, you¡¯re mistaken.¡± Terra spoke up, clearly having sensed Tsubaki¡¯s thoughts from her face. ¡°Six organizations a day, not six days.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s eyes briefly widened, looking at Terra incredulously. ¡°That shouldn¡¯t be possible. No matter how good she is, six organizations would be an unrealistic goal. Not to mention the actual infiltration work, she has to find each organization that she wants to target.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And that¡¯s why it¡¯s <i><span style="font-weight:400">only</i><span style="font-weight:400"> six.¡± Terra chuckled, shaking her head. ¡°Given her previous line of work, Lena is incredibly familiar with the criminal underworld, so there are many groups that she is already aware of. I imagine that she will be able to take care of all of these groups today. Starting from tomorrow, she will use her divine abilities to find those more secretive groups.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Given Lena¡¯s eagerness toplete the mission at hand, she will go to a and expand her divine senses across it. Upon learning of a group, she will identify their leaders and use her artifact mask to understand their personality and habits. From there, she only needs a brief moment of interaction to nt her monitoring ability on those that she targets.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki paused, not entirely following along with Terra¡¯s logic. ¡°I understand that she has the Identity and Understanding domains, but identifying every potential criminal leader on a is a bit much, don¡¯t you think? If it were that easy, there would be no crime left in the world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s because you are only looking at those two domains.¡± Terra pointed out. ¡°Although multiple domains do not necessarily increase a god¡¯s power, they do increase theplexity. There is one divine ability that Lena possesses to immediately identify criminals, or rather, force them to identify themselves.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki quickly gestured for Terra to exin, so the felyn goddess smiled. ¡°Using all nine of her domains, she makes a surface-level alteration to the system surrounding a, bypassing Ashley¡¯s firewall. All she has to do is add a single ss, Criminal, and define that ss. Because the Stealth domain is involved in this nine-domain power, she can sneak it into the system and onto a person¡¯s status without it being disyed. Those especially sensitive might sense a subtle shift of energy, but by the time they would have identified it, the process would be over.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Naturally, the Criminal ss does not give any benefits, whether stats, skills, or energy. It is purely there as a marker to track how many crimes a person hasmitted in their past, and the severity of those crimes. Once she has used her divinity to add it to the world¡¯s system, she can use another ability to identify groups of people with this ss that regrly interact with one another. By using these two powers together, she can build a list of all criminal organizations upying a single, and do so in under an hour. Furthermore, this Criminal ss can be used to detect nned crimes, rather than simply those already carried out.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki pursed her lips as she listened to Terra¡¯s exnation. ¡°If she can do all of this¡­ I could understand being able to finish monitoring multiple organizations in a day. However¡­ why would she have asked for Lifre to join her? Surely, she can finish the work more quickly without needing to worry about anyone else.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Why don¡¯t you see for yourself?¡± Terra grinned, snapping her fingers as the screen shifted. ¡°It looks like she¡¯s about to get started.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You sure it¡¯s okay to get me involved in this?¡± Lifre asked, though she was practically vibrating in excitement as she stood on a rooftop with Lena. ¡°I mean, I¡¯m a mimic, but I¡¯m not exactly known for being subtle.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena simply grinned back at her, shaking her head. ¡°That¡¯s fine. I know that you can do it if you try. Besides, stuff like this is more fun if you do it together, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre¡¯s eyes widened, and she quickly nodded her head. ¡°Right! So, what do you need me to do? You¡¯re the expert here.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena pulled a golden mask out of her inventory, putting it on her face as her body began to change, growing into a mature, human woman with long, ck hair and a curvaceous figure. ¡°This is the person I¡¯m going for today.¡± She said in a silky voice, cing a hand on her hip. ¡°She might not be part of an anti-Keeper organization, but she has ties with multiple criminal groups, and works as a distributor for divine artifacts to those groups.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There are three items that this woman keeps on her at all times. One is the hairpin she keeps hidden in the back, here.¡± She turned around, lifting up her hair to show a hidden, silver hairpin. ¡°This is a storage device that she keeps various materials in. Because of how thieves have adapted to the inventory system, she never puts the really important materials in the inventory, but keeps them like this.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The second is a pen, her signature divine artifact.¡± After letting her hair drop, Lena turned to face Lifre again, pulling a pen from the front pocket of her ck jacket. ¡°She uses this to create the initial designs for divine artifacts, and has invested a lot of resources into making it as effective as possible.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Finally¡­¡± Lena brushed a hand in front of her eyes, creating a pair of sleek, ck sses. ¡°These sses. They allow her to see through disguise spells, and disy an individual¡¯s name as it would be shown in their status window. These three items are essential to her business, so she always has them on her person.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right¡­ which one are you going to nt the bug on?¡± Lifre asked, Lena chuckling and covering her mouth with a hand.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Obviously, all three. That¡¯s where youe in. I¡¯ll be counting on you to set the scene for me. I am the hero of this adventure, andpleting it is my trial. Don¡¯t try to directly influence the target, that¡¯s why I haven¡¯t told you her name, so you can¡¯t write it into your narrative. Instead, influence the circumstances to get me alone in a room with her. Think you¡¯re up for the challenge?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre paused, holding her chin as she considered what was being asked of her. She had written stories that influenced the real world before. After all, she was Terra¡¯s apostle. However, this was the first time that she was being asked to do so without knowing the name of the person she was centering this narrative around. ¡°You could totally do this without me, couldn¡¯t you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, definitely.¡± Lena admitted readily. ¡°But, it wouldn¡¯t be as fun.¡± In fact, if she hadn¡¯t been given approval to make use of Lifre, she had nned to disguise herself as the target¡¯s secretary, walking into the office to deliver a mundane report. A little sleight of hand, and she would be able to take the pen, returning it after she had finished nting the divine ability.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Got it.¡± Lifre let out a sigh. ¡°Who are you going to be going in as, then?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Why, myself, of course.¡± Lena chuckled, returning to her normal appearance and removing the golden mask. ¡°If I¡¯m going to be doing all three objects at once, I can¡¯t take the form of someone else. I wouldn¡¯t be able to lift her hairpin off of her with where she has it hidden. Instead, I¡¯m going to sneak in with my own abilities, and let you arrange the narrative so that I end up in a room alone with her. Have fun~!¡± After Lena said that, she jumped back, off the ledge of the building as her body seemed to blur out of sight.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...At least give a girl time to prepare!¡± Lifre shouted, quickly generating a book with her divinity as she pulled out her own pen-shaped artifact.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena closed her eyes as she fell, feeling Lifre¡¯s narrative guiding her. The wind shifted beneath her, and she flipped to quietlynd on her feet, body still hidden with her Stealth domain. The target was in a building three blocks down from where they had been talking, so it was only a short walk. Still, plenty of time for Lifre to beginying the groundwork for the infiltration.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As Lena approached the office building, she could hear the aggravated voices of three security officers standing outside the door,ining to one another. ¡°What¡¯s with this, all of a sudden?¡± They asked, looking at the door itself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Maybe there¡¯s a god in the area, sweeping the city with a domain?¡± Another asked, looking to another nearby building where more security officers were inspecting the doorway. These buildings had rather expensive divinity sensors, which triggered whenever a god passed through. Several businesses used this to alert them to the presence of a VIP, and also as a security precaution against certain domains.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Currently, the sensor was shing erratically, as if in response to a stream of divine energy passing through. ¡°Should we disable it for now, then?¡± The first guard asked in exasperation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unbeknownst to them, Lena was slipping between the three guards, all of which were focused on the sensors. Although the sensor still shed at her passing, the guards didn¡¯t notice, seeing it as just another part of the malfunction.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Inside the building, Lena could barely suppress augh that tried to emerge. <i><span style="font-weight:400">She needs more practice, but her heart¡¯s in the right ce.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Lena could see the security cameras in the lobby, all of which were sweeping from side to side. At the moment Lena entered the building, all of the cameras were coincidentally aimed away from the door, creating a blind spot that would have been there even if she wasn¡¯t hidden with her divinity.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena simply smirked to herself, walking down the hall as a nearby elevator opened, two businessman exiting the elevator as they talked with one another. Taking that as a sign from Lifre¡¯s narrative, Lena slipped into the elevator before it could close, simply closing her eyes and waiting. There was a camera in the elevator, but Lena could tell that it was offline.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After a few minutes, the elevator began to rise up. Lena could feel the narrative reaching its climax, so she jumped up, hiding herself in the upper corner of the elevator. It continued to climb, higher and higher, until arriving at the very top floor. When the elevator opened, a human woman with ck hair and sses stepped onto the elevator, pressing the button for it to descend back to the lobby.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Dear gods, having her help feels like I¡¯m cheating¡­ why can¡¯t all my missions be this easy?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Lena asked herself, stealthily weaving together the monitor ability. From her body, she altered the shape of her energy to create three tendrils, all of which hovered just out of the woman¡¯s view. One was behind the nape of her neck, another beneath her chest, and thest off to the side of her head, still under the effects of her Stealth domain.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The moment the elevator jolted to a stop on the bottom floor, Lena¡¯s tendrils pressed forward and back in an instant, lightly touching the three targets. For the sses and pen, the n went off without a hitch, though the woman did nce backwards at the feeling of her hair shifting slightly. ¡°Hmm?¡± She looked around for a moment, before shaking her head and leaving as the elevator doors opened.

 Chapter 1107: A Crowded Room

    Chapter 1107: A Crowded Room


    <span style="font-weight:400">As Lifre and Lena were off on their misadventures, and Tsubaki was performing perhaps the world¡¯s most thorough background check, Dana was left to her own devices. She had finallypleted her Sky Chariot project, so it was time to move on to her next big thing. Or so she would like to think.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Instead, she found herself pacing back and forth in her workshop, frustrated. She had no idea that Lena had impersonated Lifre, and was furious with herself for not realizing this. After all, if Lena could do it, that meant that there would inevitably be others that gained the power to do so as well, assuming that they hadn¡¯t already.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately, Dana couldn¡¯t think of a proper countermeasure. Lena¡¯s disguise had been wless, from her energy signatures, her acting, straight to her very soul. And Dana prided herself on being an expert when it came to souls.


    <span style="font-weight:400">So, how could she prevent incidents like this in the future? If it were someone with Lena level of skill, then it meant that they would be able to gain the knowledge of their counterpart. Thus, any n she came up with could be learned by someone impersonating her. But, if it wasn¡¯t a n that she knew, how could it be carried out?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sure, she could create a magical intelligence that independently created a security n and regrly performed discrete checks, but would that help? ording to what Lena said, this seemed like a natural result when one had nine focused domains. Her power could even approach the level of an Origin.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Am I going to be unable to fix that security hole until I be an Origin myself?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Dana thought while chewing on her lip. Thanks to the Keeper and Tsubaki, she had long since known the method to be an Origin, and was among those who were the closest to achieving this normally insurmountable goal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Whether or not she could properly carry out that next step, however, would depend on Chelsea¡¯s research. Once they were able to customize worlds, she could devise a way to create the world which would be her catalyst. For now, however, she had to figure out what she could do in the meantime.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°ra. Sienna.¡± She called out, her shadow expanding in two directions. Each shadow rose to be an almost identical copy of Dana. One of them had a silver streak through their hair, a series of tinys orbiting around her body. The other had a golden streak, arge weasel standing behind her, creating a gust of wind that surrounded the duo.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You called, chief?¡± ra asked with a grin, Dana nodding her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Any updates from the two of you?¡± Because Dana had been focused on the Sky Chariot for so long, it had been a few months since herst update with her familiars.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not much to say here.¡± ra shrugged her shoulders. ¡°I¡¯ve been keeping an eye on the void golems, but there hasn¡¯t been anything noteworthy with them. Instead, I¡¯ve been nurturing Sirius here. Our factory has grown to the point where I can handle all of our needs. Even managed to get it hooked up to the inte.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, we can officially move our workshop?¡± Dana asked, to which ra nodded.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ve already made one for you.¡± As she said that, she held up a hand, a silver flying up over her palm. ¡°I¡¯ve converted this into an extremely high-end workshop, using those drones we got before as 3D printers, using our Admin ess to the Digital Conversion system.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right, I was meaning to ask¡­¡± Dana looked between ra and Sienna a few times. ¡°What happened with your familiars? They¡¯ve gone through a rather big shift since thest time you showed them to me.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">ra chuckled at that. ¡°This is the result of the fifth-tier familiar research being conducted on Kione. You know how, for the fourth tier, you fuse a part of your soul with your spirit? The fifth tier has you further the fusion with ki and mana, and then absorb a part of your familiar¡¯s spirit back into you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s a really technical process, but it leads to a qualitative jump in familiars. For instance, with Sirius, I can freely create news, so long as I have the mana to do so. Also, everything built within the range of the sr system bes a part of it, shrinking down when it does. Lastly, I unlocked a new form, one that lets me go beyond the level of a sr system, though it consumes a <i><span style="font-weight:400">massive</i><span style="font-weight:400"> amount of mana. Using it for about ten minutes burned up all of the Mage Heart I had within Sirius, and I had to wait for it to respawn.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°How big is this new form?¡± Dana asked, curiously. ra¡¯s grin only widened further.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Neb. I think the sixth stage for the celestial familiar type should let Sirius turn into a gxy. And then, for the seventh, it should be its own universe.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Illogical.¡± Sienna spoke up coldly when she heard that, the two ncing over at her. ¡°The highest level of magic in the fourth stage, and entry point to the fifth, involves universe creation. For familiars to need to wait until the seventh stage to create a universe is impossible.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, I think I get what she means.¡± Dana shook her head, doing her best not to think about the fact that she was essentially arguing with herself. ¡°ording to her theory, the seventh stage doesn¡¯t let her <i><span style="font-weight:400">create</i><span style="font-weight:400"> a universe, but rather her familiar itself would be a universe in its natural state. The fact that she can¡¯t maintain her neb form means that her familiar shouldn¡¯t have fully crossed the threshold of the fifth stage, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">ra reached a hand up, scratching the back of her head. ¡°I think so? But, I don¡¯t think it has to do entirely with that. Even a sr system requires a lot of energy. In order topensate, I think the final step would be me creating a lot mores. If I make about a thousands, with each one having a sentient race inhabiting it to passively produce mana, I think I will be able to freely enter the neb mode.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right¡­ Sienna, your turn.¡± Dana said, turning towards the more taciturn of her familiars, who nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Army has been replenished. Additionally, focus is now on-busters. Mostly divine monsters, or those that can fight them.¡± Sienna exined, before looking back at her weasel. ¡°Kama has reached the fifth tier. He can now control the wind across an entire, simr to a high level druid, and can create vacuum desrge enough to cleave through a small moon.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay, but how does a vacuum de work <i><span style="font-weight:400">in a vacuum</i><span style="font-weight:400">?¡± ra couldn¡¯t help but ask. ¡°I mean, I get wind des being hyper-condensed air vibrating at a high speed. But a vacuum is literally nothing. You can¡¯tpress nothing into something.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sienna spoke up to exin without so much as blinking. ¡°Natural Energy.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">ra¡¯s brow twitched as she received a response about as descriptive as answering ¡®because it¡¯s magic¡¯. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and tried to work through it herself. ¡°Okay, so she condenses natural energy into the form of a de. Rather than condensing the vacuum, he¡¯s condensing space and using <i><span style="font-weight:400">that</i><span style="font-weight:400"> as the de. Then, why did you call it a <i><span style="font-weight:400">¡®vacuum¡¯ </i><span style="font-weight:400">de?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°To annoy you.¡± Sienna spoke up with a triumphant smile, earning a small chuckle out of Dana.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Alright, you two, settle down. ra, if you were to popte your worlds with Mage Heart instead of sentient races, would you still be able to form your neb?¡± When Dana asked this, ra fell into thought.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Probably, but I¡¯d need to get the Keeper to add the respawn nodes to make it sustainable. Even if thes are made out of Mage Heart, the energy will deplete over time if they don¡¯t respawn.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Mention it to Ryone.¡± Dana shook her head. ¡°She might be able to set up the nodes for you. Right now, you¡¯re in a transition stage, and your familiar hasn¡¯t fully ranked up yet. If you want to catch up with Sienna, you¡¯ll need toplete the process. Honestly, your familiar is probably one of our biggest assets in theing fight.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">ra blinked at that, before grinning slightly. ¡°The enemy can devours, so you want to weaponizes to turn against them?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It would be nice. For that reason, I want you to work on creating spells with Sirius that will allow you to battle. How you do so is up to you, but I want you to make sure that Sirius is battle ready by the time the fight starts, one way or the other.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sure thing.¡± ra nodded, before hesitating. ¡°What about ranking <i><span style="font-weight:400">us</i><span style="font-weight:400"> up?¡± She asked, causing Dana to pause.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ll wait on that until the Keeper purchases fifth-tier knowledge from the system. Although we know the basic process, there are clearly extra steps involved with some familiars. Additionally, if the fifth stage of a clone familiar involves me absorbing the two of you back into my body, it won¡¯t be worth it. The two of you are already just fragments of my soul that have be independent, and you are more valuable to the world as long as you can properly act on your own.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two clones nodded their heads at that, fully in agreement. In a way, they were somewhat lucky with Sirius, as the method ofpleting the evolution was rather clear. It might not be <i><span style="font-weight:400">easy</i><span style="font-weight:400"> to aplish, but the goal was readily presented. As for Kama, Dana didn¡¯t know if Sienna had to undergo any extra trials or not.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Within the Another World Research Center, a voice rang out over the inte. ¡°Everyone, this is the final call. Cease all ongoing projects and report to the Karmic Istion Chamber. Failure to respond will result in immediate dismissal from the research staff, and potential karmic bacsh.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Though the call sounded grave, everyone dropped what they were doing and moved in an orderly pattern down the halls. They had been given enough notice to halt their ongoing projects, and those further away from the istion chamber had already gone ahead.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was a major moment for the entire research group, but also a serious risk. If anyone involved with the research was not within the istion chamber at the moment of the test, and something went wrong, it could potentially destroy their future through the karmic bacsh. This concept had been repeatedly drilled into everyone¡¯s minds, and they even had a real world example of what could happen in the form of James.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Soon, everyone from the facility approached a white door at the end of the hallway, which opened to a ck vortex. Walking through the vortex brought them to anotherb, this one disconnected from all supernaturalws. Upon entering, the minds of the researchers turned foggy, their spirit and mana suddenly unreachable. They couldn¡¯t ess any of the natural traits of their Schr sses, or any system that existed in the world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Theb was filled with dozens of terminals, researchers already sitting and ready to record the process of the experiment. At the front stood the ¡®senior staff¡¯,posed of Chelsea, James, Treisha, and the dual entity known as both Thessa and Nora.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Initiate the merge.¡± Chelsea ordered, the nearest researcher inputting amand on their terminal. It was time to see if they would be able to take the next step in their research, or if they would need to wait for several more months to try again.

 Chapter 1108: Disharmony

    Chapter 1108: Disharmony


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Activating Void Broadcasting units.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Beginning initial merge. Connection seed has been deployed.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Detecting anomalies within two of the four energy cores.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The voices called out one after the other as numerous screens brought up the disy, showing what appeared to be random pieces ofndscape. These were deemed to be the mostmon locations to detect an anomaly that would alter the world,ndscapes where various geographic features ovepped.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For instance, there was a desert at the base of a volcano, a lush forest next to a rolling beach, or a valley that dropped into a chasm. There were even manmade facilities established in order to see what effects the merge would have.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Deep within the energy cores of the cloned Deckan, a series of blue eggs cracked open, releasing a wave of power that opened a void gate to the matching core of the cloned Lorek world. This caused the energies from the two cores to begin to flow freely into one another. At the same time, a series of devices had been installed in each core, monitoring the energy in real time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea stared firmly at the projections before her. In truth, she had no expectations of this working. All of the science pointed to an iing catastrophic failure that would obliterate both universes. That was the theory, at least.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The problem was that they did not have enough data to find a way to prevent such a catastrophic failure on the first attempt. The only way to get that data was to perform this test, and get as much information as they could from the sensors that they had ced throughout the various world cores.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, there was the slim chance that this worked, that her understanding of worldws was shallow. She knew that it was to some degree, but did not believe it enough to make her wrong about the oue of this experiment. That was why she had been so strict as to order every single person involved with the research group to enter this istion chamber.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Even in the off chance that the worlds didn¡¯t copse, there would be irreparable damages done to their worldws, to the point where it might be easier to simply destroy them than to try and salvage what remains. In either event, what was important was the data that was being transferred over to the istion chamber via the research station.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Anomalies have now appeared in three cores! World mutations detected!¡± As soon as this call rang out, everyone began to investigate, looking at the various screens to try to find any signs of the mutation. There was no guarantee that it would be immediately visible, however. For instance, the mutation could be something like ¡®creatures rapidly decay after entering a vacuum¡¯ or other random events simr to void beast influences. Or, it could be something far more visible.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There, Screen Seventeen!¡± James called out, and everyone turned to look at the screen in question, which disyed an oceanic volcano, deep beneath the surface of the cloned Deckan. At first, it was hard to tell exactly what was happening, but the stone that made up the edge of the volcano appeared to be¡­ pulsing? No, perhaps squirming would be a better word. It was as if the rock structure had suddenlye alive.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Camera Three, too!¡± Another researcher called out. In this camera¡¯s view, the change was far more apparent. Clouds seemed to vanish, the sky immediately growing darker. Several nts, which had only recently been blowing in the breeze, briefly lifted upwards, only to freeze in ce. On another screen, water could be seen rising above the surface of the ocean in thick bubbles, unaffected by gravity.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Should I disengage the merger?¡± One of the technicians asked, but Chelsea shook her head immediately.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, we have already passed that critical juncture. These two worlds are no longer in a state that we can safely salvage. Maintain the process, and continue to monitor all data. The experiment ends only when either bother universes are destroyed, or there are no longer any changes in the energy cores.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The researcher hesitated, before nodding his head. There was no telling how long this experiment couldst, and they were prepared for that. Thisb was stocked with enough food tost the entire crew for a decade, if need be. Which was nice, because quite a few of them had to take severe measures in order to simply be here.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For instance, there was the goddess Chelsea herself. Due to this chamber isting and negating all forms of supernatural energy, that <i><span style="font-weight:400">included</i><span style="font-weight:400"> the energies which held together her divine body. On her wrist was a special device that she had created, one which stored her original body in a stasis spell simr to the Reset Protocol, while a cloned body was used to carry out the experiment in her ce.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Everyone in the research team who had shed their mortal form was forced to use a simr device, which had thankfully been tested and shown to function even after being taken in and out of the istion chamber. Otherwise, simply entering the chamber was a death sentence to those individuals.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Cores one and two of Lorek are showing increased activity.¡± One researcher announced. ¡°It appears there is going to be another mutation!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Everyone began to turn their gazes towards Lorek¡¯s set of monitors, waiting to see what would change. Ideally, there would be the same changes as in Deckan, which would at least show that the two systems were merging together.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However¡­ it was difficult to determine if gravity had been disabled as with Deckan¡¯s cameras. This was because all of the cameras on Lorek suddenly went white. ¡°Rewind Camera Thirty-Two, frame by frame!¡± Chelsea shouted. Pointing at one of the outdoor cameras of Lorek. She couldn¡¯t afford to have them all rewound, in case there was something else that wasing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Soon, the camera began to reveal what had happened. Just a few frames before everything went white, the sky seemed to light on fire, a pir of energy descending to the ground. Chelsea grit her teeth in realization. ¡°In Deckan¡¯s system, we saw what looked to be the atmosphere disappearing, for one reason or another. In Lorek, it seems like the atmosphere vanished as well.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And¡­ the atmosphere was holding back the constant cosmic energy storms.¡± Treisha spoke up with a sigh. This was the source of a cultivator¡¯s power, tapping into these energy storms released by every star in order to develop themselves. However, without an atmosphere to shield them, that energy was now scorching the. Even the underwater cameras onlysted a few frames longer, meaning that they were likely all already destroyed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This means that the light from the stars in the cloned Deckan world has likely be hazardous, as well.¡± Chelsea stated. ¡°However, we won¡¯t be able to observe this reaction, due to the energy needing to take several years to umte and reach a distant world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The final core has reacted!¡± One researcher suddenly called out, and both James and Chelsea turned to face them. They knew without asking which core was thest to react, as it was the only one that wasrgely unchanged across every universe, the spirit core.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Has the connection point in the Underworld been evacuated?¡± Chelsea asked urgently, to which James nodded his head. Given the fact that the spiritual energy cores were already almost identical, this one was considered a low risk factor. Still, preparations had to be made, just in case of the worst.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The final core¡­ has copsed.¡± That same researcher spoke up, seeming surprised. Although it was thest core to show any changes, it was the first one to copse. This caused both James and Chelsea to look at one another.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is the spiritual core that unstable?¡± James couldn¡¯t help but ask, though Chelsea shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That shouldn¡¯t be it.¡± She said, walking over to look at the previous researcher¡¯s screen. ¡°Given the nature of the spiritual core, which acts as a bridge to the Underworld, it¡¯s likely a defense mechanism put in ce by the Underworld system itself. Otherwise, if one world experienced a catastrophic failure, there was a risk of damage cascading through the Underworld and affecting every other world. That would make a concentrated attack on the afterlife a simple way to kill any Keeper.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Despite the time it took for Chelsea to exin this, the other three cores had not yet broken down, though Chelsea could see that the energy readings were bing increasingly erratic. They were constantly hitting what Chelsea had assigned as the ¡®mutation threshold¡¯. This meant that the world was now in a spiraling meltdown.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Looking back up, she nced at the Deckan monitors. The squirming volcano had cracked open, seeming to erupt in a red radiance. The surface level cameras did not look very different, with the exception of red glows starting to fill the skies.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With an inaudible pop, all of the cameras on Deckan shut down at once. ary detonation?¡± James asked, looking back at Chelsea, who nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Intense sources of heat and light project either ki, mana, natural, or spiritual energy, ording to Lorek¡¯sw. However, Deckan¡¯s size is considerably smaller than that of Lorek¡¯s, leading to a lower ability to disperse this energy. Given the fact that there is no longer a protective atmosphere¡­ the red-hot magma flowing through the turned it into a bomb.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea spected that the squirming wasn¡¯t a sign of the volcanoing to life, but rather a prelude of this eruption caused by a sudden increase in internal pressure. Once again, she looked at the screens showing the energy readings of the four cores. With how quickly the cores were mutating, it was only a matter of time until the science allowing them to function no longer operated as it should, despite their numerous failsafes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sure enough, it wasn¡¯t long until all of the remaining cores suddenly tlined. In an ideal scenario, that would mean that it was now safe to leave the istion chamber. However, this was not an ideal scenario. ¡°Activate the void monitors! I want visuals and external scans of the target universes.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The dozens of screens at the front of theb all went dark, before the innermost screen showed two ck spheres within the void, their surfaces rolling and bubbling. Cracks were beginning to form, but that wasn¡¯t what cause James¡¯s eyes the most.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The stars are all gone.¡± He said, looking beyond the surface, and into the pitch ck emptiness of the universes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea nodded her head in understanding. ¡°If gravity was negated, that meant that the force holding every star in each universe together disappeared, causing them to simply explode. If Deckan hadn¡¯t detonated when it did, we likely would have seen its surface scorched by the supernova.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James gave a small nod when he heard that, the kitsune twins next to him speaking up. ¡°Thewspletely merged.¡± They said in their ovepping voices. ¡°Although it led to a total reality copse, the purpose of the experiment was achieved.¡± She wore the same bracelet as Chelsea, but the twin personalities upying her mind still managed to present themselves in the form of ovepping speech.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea couldn¡¯t help but nod her head in agreement, watching the two ck spheres rip themselves apart on the screen. ¡°Everyone, we will be remaining in this facility for seven days, to fully ensure that there is no karmic bacsh. During this time, I want everyone to review the data that we received. Anything that you can make sense of now, while it is still fresh in your mind, could save us years of researchter.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">She was certainly not exaggerating when she said that. If they were to simply review the information normally, without having the context fresh in their minds, Chelsea was certain that there was enough data tob through tost the entire team another decade.

 Chapter 1109: Resonance

    Chapter 1109: Resonance


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once Tsubaki returned from her visit to the Admin Room, she immediately went to her room. From the look in her eyes, I could tell that she had found plenty of inspiration for her Trial of Shadows. Though I had no idea how long this particr trial would take her, she still left her Servant avatars working within Olympus to maintain it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, she reported to me earlier that not only was Lena considered safe so long as we didn¡¯t mistreat her, but she had even reced another high-ranking ninja that had previously been sent to eliminate her. With this, I suppose that we had a regr source of information inside the ninjas, at least?


    <span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯d need to ask herter why she kept up that identity, or what she nned to do with it. For now, there was no need to bother her and Lifre in their work. Which left Dana and Gerard. Gerard, ever since I returned from this timeskip, had been working in a researchb on Earth, furthering the world¡¯s understanding of fifth-tier magic. From what I could tell, they had made great strides after studying the information shield that I generated previously.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was still not at a level where people could casually cast even a basic fifth-tier spell, but that was fine. Fifth-tier spells were not meant to be used like that in the first ce. If you want tounch an attack at someone, a third-tier spell will typically suffice. If you want to erase them from existence or create an adaptive shield, you can use a more advanced fourth-tier spell.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When ites tobat, you only want to use spells of the fifth tier if you want to not only kill the target, but also everyone the target has ever known, and their entire bloodline. By my understanding, a fifth tier spell is meant to be created with some semnce of intelligence to manage its own operations. That¡¯s more than overkill when ites to single-usebat spells.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now, Dana¡­ she seemed quite busy with her own thing. I could sense her calling her familiars to her through the World¡¯s Shadow, and then sending them away not long after. A few minutester, she used the World¡¯s Shadow to disappear as well.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Part of me wanted to ask Chelsea how her experiment had gone, but she warned me not to attempt to contact her from outside the Admin Room, as any such attempt could potentially lead to tainting me with the karma that is being aimed at her. Given the importance of my role, I wasn¡¯t about to push my luck like that because I was bored.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Honestly, there were times that I thought about whether the karma system had be more trouble than it was worth. Unfortunately, it wasn¡¯t so easy to get rid of it at this point, from arger perspective. Yes, I could have it disabled through the system, but¡­ that would only cause more chaos than it would solve.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The cases in which karma became troublesome were only the most extreme cases, the outliers. The times when there were so many lives hanging in the bnce that there was no correct, morally eptable answer. Let¡¯s take the recent event with the March King. Yes, his actions caused the premature deaths of possibly trillions of living beings. That was an irrefutable fact, and nobody was arguing that. However, he was also saving the lives of those that he could. Whether he chose tomit to the act or to wait for oblivion, there was simply no correct option as far as karma was concerned.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Simrly, in cases like what Chelsea is dealing with now, there are no good options. It is critical that we obtain information about universal creation and destruction, but that informationes at a heavy cost. Theoretically, Chelsea could try to clone lifeless worlds, and use those for her experiments. However, the point of this was to merge two world systems together, which doesn¡¯t work if the only things copied are two dead universes with no additional systems.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It is fringe cases like this that cause the system to appear wed, but the system is critical in the daily operation of the world. The karma system itself was created to aid Irena in processing the deceased in the Underworld, allowing her more freedom by erasing the need for her to personally judge every soul that crosses over.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Without the karma system in ce, the Underworld would be thrown into chaos. And not just that, but it would have severe ramifications on the living world, where karma is often used as a metric to judge a person¡¯s character.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The primary concept behind the karma system was to reward those who helped others, and punish those who hurt others. This was a simple truth. Unfortunately, it was <i><span style="font-weight:400">too</i><span style="font-weight:400"> simple. The system operates only in ck and white, with no regards for anything other than the simple numbers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Rather than removing the system, it would be my ideal to modify it, to change it in a way where it would judge actions more intelligently. If such a thing were easily done, I would have done so long ago, but there was one major problem. The karma system was not a part of the game system.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ashley had extensive experience modifying the lesser game system that functions on my worlds. I had no doubt that she would be able to create an artificial intelligence through fourth-tier magic or some simr methodology, and attach that to the karma system if it were part of the overall game structure. Unfortunately, because the karma system is outside of the game code, she wouldn¡¯t have had ess to it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was one reason that led to Digital Conversion bing so broken, because it was designed to work with the game system. This made its code avable to people like Ashley to study and reverse-engineer, making modifications until it became one of the most overpowered assets in our collection.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The same could not be said for karma. In fact, the only way that we could identify the karmic system on that level is to conduct these world creation and destruction tests. From there, maybe we will be able to create an entity that intelligently governs karma, without any personal bias towards one party. Until then, the system would have to remain as it was.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seven days passed without incident, and Chelsea¡¯s team was finally freed from their istion chamber. Aside from theint of not having a great variety of food, nobody seemed particrly bothered by their karmic quarantine. They had busied themselves to decipher what they could from the information sent over.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, because this was Chelsea that we were talking about, she didn¡¯t simply let everyone leave. Rather, she wrote her name on one of the more sensitive pieces of machinery, and then rolled it on a cart out the door leading back to the facility, a rope tied to it. If there was still any karmic bacsh waiting for her, she believed that associating this device with her identity would cause it to immediately suffer some form of small malfunction at the very least.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If that was the case, she would have immediately extended the quarantine until such time that there were no longer any signs. Thankfully, the device passed through the istion barrier and came back without any issues.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Only then did Chelsea allow everyone to leave the quarantine and return to their regr work, with an order to report any suspicious luck that they encountered for the next week. With a sigh, she made her way back to her ownb, wanting to review the data herself. She felt like she was on the verge of an epiphany when the quarantine ended, and so wanted to get back to work right away.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That said, she didn¡¯t forget to submit her own report to the Keeper. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Alright! We¡¯re out of quarantine now, and everything seems safe. You still want that update on what happened?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper had refrained from visiting her to learn about the experiment, even in the Admin Room, much to her surprise. When she had her main body send him a message to ask about it, he had said that he would rather wait until the quarantine was over, just in case she was able to put together any additional information to include.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">If you¡¯ve got something to share, I¡¯m all ears.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea simply chuckled at that. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I once saw a race that was all ears. Just a bunch of ears wrapped around a brain, with thin membranes on the ears that they could contract to allow for movement.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I probably didn¡¯t need to know that. So, the report?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a wry grin, Chelsea nodded her head. <i><span style="font-weight:400">As expected, the first test was a failure, for the most part. We did achieve aw fusion, but other basicws were mutated in the process. For instance, the force of gravity was reduced by roughly ten thousand times. This led to thes losing their atmosphere, and stars simply exploding with all of their contained energy. Additionally, a detailed analysis of the footage has led us to believe that magic ceased to function as it should, due to recorded wards being disabled.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">There was little concrete information we could gain after these two observations, because theck of any atmosphere first caused the cloned Lorek to be scorched by the ever-present ster storms. Meanwhile, the cloned Deckan exploded from within due to the difference in world sizebined with the energy now emitting from its molten core.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a brief moment of pause when she gave this information, before Dale reported back to her. <i><span style="font-weight:400">This shouldn¡¯t directly impact your research, but I did receive another piece of information that might interest you.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Oh? What is it?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Chelsea was rather curious to know what Dale was talking about, given that she knew he wasn¡¯t involved directly in any high-level research projects. A decent manager he may be, but a cutting-edge scientist he was not.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">During your quarantine, I received a report that dimensium signals increased in the original Deckan, around the same time that you destroyed the cloned one.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea¡¯s eyes briefly widened, realizing that she may have made a grave error in judgment. She had originally cloned Deckan because it was an iconic world, with its card magic giving it additionalws that they would be able to study. However, the core of this was ultimately dimensium. There wasn¡¯t actually a set ofws in Deckan that allowed for card magic, everything was derived from the background energy emitted by this almost omnipresent material.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Have the drop rates of monsters increased again?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> This was one of the key changes that they had noticed over the years. It wasn¡¯t hard to catch it right away, but over time they had noticed that the drop rates of cards had considerably increased after the destruction of the original Metong universe.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">It would appear that way. Additionally, some cards have started to drop from monsters below their tier. No fifth-tier cards, because those have not yet been purchased still, but first-tier monsters will sometimes drop second-tier cards, and so on.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea nodded her head, somewhat lost in thought. Most likely, the effects weren¡¯t limited to just this, but there hadn¡¯t been enough time to conduct a detailed analysis. She had suspected that dimensium might resonate across the void during the original incident with the Metong homeworld, but had dismissed the theory at the time. This was because, at the time, the Metong homeworld was little more than an attachment to Deckan, without any true void separation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, things were different now. The new world that had been destroyed waspletely disconnected from Deckan, meaning that there shouldn¡¯t have been any change to one caused by the other¡¯s destruction.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If additional Deckans continued to be created and destroyed, and dimensium continued to be empowered each time, it was entirely likely that the mineral could have a catastrophic event on that universe as a whole. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Got it, I¡¯ll stop using Deckan as the subject of my experiments for now.</i>

 Chapter 1110: On The Hunt

    Chapter 1110: On The Hunt


    <span style="font-weight:400">alia bounded from treetop to treetop, leading a group of her huntresses on a training exercise. It was difficult for them to properly stretch their legs in recent years, ever since the world outside of the Hypene Network became too chaotic to regrly travel.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Before, people would ce an order for some exotic creature material, such as the fangs of an Engracian Turtle-Snake, found on a remote in Deckan¡¯s gxy. These fangs were a rather popr ingredient in older healing potions, and so people would regrly ask for them. Afterwards, one of alia¡¯s huntresses would be sent out to hunt the turtle-snake, stripping it of not only the fangs but also any other valuable materials, such as its scales and shell, and list those on the Boundless Caravan.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, because the where this monster appeared was among the many that were outside of the Hypene Network, its surface had been ravaged by memetic monsters. It would likely never be safe to return to that again, even if the turtle-snakes were still spawning. At most, the huntresses would be tasked with hunting more mundane monsters in the local systems, unable to venture out and retrieve anything more exotic.


    <span style="font-weight:400">And so, when alia received a report that a new type of monster had appeared on one of the worlds upied by a daughter of Giles and Sprigga, and that its body was practically a treasure trove¡­ well, of course she called several of her huntresses for an outing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Among her twelve chosen huntresses, only three of them actually used bows, in addition to alia herself. The rest had all either ¡®caught up with the times¡¯ and switched to more modern firearm-style artifacts or had developed abilities to hunt without any need for a physical artifact to use as a weapon.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Personally, alia always preferred the use of a bow, as it was a key facet of how she envisioned hunting. As she thought about this, one of her huntresses spoke up behind her, a halfling woman carrying a pair of long-barreled revolvers. ¡°How far to the target?¡± She asked with a smile, twirling the pistols in her hands as she followed the lycan goddess.


    <span style="font-weight:400">alia simply smiled at that, shaking her head. ¡°We should be there soon. Remember, we¡¯re studying it first. So, everyone hide your presence.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The others nodded at that, quickly pulling in their energies to hide them from the natural senses of most creatures. Until now, they had been hidden by the abundant natural energy filling the Sylvan grove, but that wouldn¡¯tst once they got near the target.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It didn¡¯t take them long to find the target, which was a serpent more than ten meters long with red scales, a series of glowing, red crystals seeming to grow all along its back, head, and tail. Every time it took a step, the nearby ground cracked with the strength of its body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When they reached the area with this lizard, the huntresses all stopped in a nearby tree, observing it in surprise. In order to prevent it from noticing them, they switched to using private messages as opposed to verbalmunication.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Are those crystals¡­ blood heart?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The halfling huntress asked in shock, sensing the powerful ki radiating from the crystals on the beast¡¯s back.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s right.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> alia nodded with a smile, her eyes faintly glowing as she studied the creature. <i><span style="font-weight:400">This beast can naturally produce blood heart due to the excess ki that is constantly building in its body. Outside of Bloodhaven or the sites blessed by Scarlet, it should be the only source of raw blood heart on the market.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">However, Bloodhaven produces enough to satisfy the basic demands of the public. If that was all that was special about this creature, we wouldn¡¯t be here. Due to the powerful ki in its body, every part of it has been modified. Its blood, once refined and distilled, can be a powerful elixir for mortals. Its bones are a prime material for divine artifact creation, and its meat can temporarily increase the natural ki production of anyone that eats it.</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Its eyes are believed to be a powerful alchemicponent, especially when creating a conversion spell. Finally, its heart can continue to beat and produce ki long after it has been removed from the beast¡¯s body.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Several of the huntresses were astounded at the list of uses that a single beast could provide. This wasn¡¯t even talking about the basics, such as using its hide for armor or fashioning weapons out of its ws. Though, one human huntress did speak up as the others were reeling in shock. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Pardon me, but this monster should bergely unknown. How do you already know all of these uses for its materials?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">alia smirked softly, reaching over to pat the trunk of the tree she was standing atop. <i><span style="font-weight:400">This grove belongs to Helena of Understanding. Whenever she identifies a new monster, she uses her demigod providence to simte a disassembly and testing process. There are likely more uses that she has yet to understand, as she can only simte experiments that she is aware of.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The others understood once she said that. There were likely many, equally useful monsters in the other groves and colonys, which simply hadn¡¯t had their special traits identified. <i><span style="font-weight:400">How many of these monsters have been found so far?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> A lycan huntress with red hair asked, looking at alia.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Aside from this one¡­ Helena has reported that she has found ten others that belong to the species.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> alia reported, and the other lycan nodded her head.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s why you brought me on this journey. You want me to increase their numbers?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">That would be great if you could.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> alia responded with a warm smile. This was Kristen Lyris, the Lycan Goddess of Taming, Husbandry, and Life. Any mission that she was specifically called for would often involve an endangered species, one which she needed to use her divine abilities to help increase the poption.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯ll take care of this one first, then.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Kristen said, holstering the pistol at her side as she took a step forward, dropping down from the tree. Despite the height of more than fifty meters, neither she nor any of the observers were concerned for her. Though, the same couldn¡¯t be said for the lizard she was fast approaching.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Kristennded with a gentle breeze, wearing brown leather armors that hugged her frame. As shended, the lizard let out a hiss, its eyes glowing with building ki. However, Kristen was undeterred, lifting her hands in a gentle gesture as she walked forward. ¡°It¡¯s fine. I don¡¯t want to hurt you.¡± She spoke in a soothing tone, only to be met with a beam of condensed, red energy fired from the beast¡¯s eyes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Kristen was forced half a step back, shielding her face to block out the sudden burst of intense light. Once the beam had passed, she resumed walking towards the creature, maintaining a non-threatening stance even as it hissed at her in warning.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Come on, let it out of your system.¡± Kristen said with a smile, the giant lizard retreating a step backwards when it realized that she hadn¡¯t been fazed by its previous attack.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she came closer, her hands began to glow with a faint, golden light. This light entranced the lizard, causing it to stare at her and rx its body. The closer she came, the less vignt the lizard. Until finally, she rested one hand on its lower jaw, and began to slowly stroke the side of its snout. ¡°I shall call you Bryn, the Lifeblood Lizard.¡± She said in that same soft tone, the glow from her hands spreading across Bryn¡¯s body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once the glow hadpletely covered the lizard, the light began to fade. The other huntresses all descended, and this time Bryn did not show any hostility. It stood next to Kristen obediently, who turned to face the others. ¡°Does it have any special requirements?¡± alia asked. One of Kristen¡¯s basic powers from the Husbandry domain was to identify what was required for it to reproduce. There were so many species out there that didn¡¯t just have two genders, and some that didn¡¯t have any gender at all! Before studying the creature, it was hard to tell what was needed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Kristen smiled at that, looking back at Bryn. ¡°This is a non-gender race that reproduces asexually. The crystals on its back aren¡¯t just blood heart gems. Mixed in are a small number of foggy gems, five in the case of Bryn. These gems are deep within the blood heart, which forms a protectiveyer. Once they are ready, the Lifeblood Lizard will shed the crystals surrounding these foggy gems, which act as eggs, draining the energy of the shed crystals to hatch.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">alia let out a relieved sigh when she heard this. This meant that, so long as one of these creatures existed, the species would be able to survive. ¡°Were you able to find out how long it takes to hatch, and propagate new crystals?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Kristen hesitated at that. ¡°The eggs hatch roughly two months after beingid under ideal circumstances, ording to what I understood. However, the parent will not grow any new ones afterying the eggs. Think of it like the ancestor tree of the Sylvans, which is created with a limited number of golden Sylvans that it can nourish. It¡¯s likely that this trait influenced the spawning of this creature.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">alia pursed her lips when she heard this. In other words, although the poption was capable of a somewhat sustained growth, it was harder to domesticate them. If they weren¡¯t careful with their hunting practices, it wouldn¡¯t take long for the species to go extinct entirely. ¡°Can I leave you in charge of these ¡®Lifeblood Lizards¡¯ as you called them? Secure the help of the Sylvans in this grove if you need to.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Kristen nodded her head firmly. It had been a while since there was anything for her to do in her official capacity as a huntress, so this was a wee experience. ¡°I¡¯ll set up a ranch for them, once I¡¯ve figured out their dietary needs and how much space they need. For now, I¡¯d like to keep at least five of the mature members of the species alive that haven¡¯t yetid their eggs. I should be able to produce results with those numbers.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">alia nced back at the others, nodding her head to give them a silent signal. Immediately, they began to disperse, searching the nearby forest for simr creatures. ¡°I¡¯ll see how many we can find. Also¡­ given that this creature¡¯s meat has significant culinary applications, you can expect a visit from <i><span style="font-weight:400">him</i><span style="font-weight:400"> soon.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Kristen blinked, before her eyes went wide at the realization. In the old days, her work often brought her into contact with the King Consort of Deckan, who would go to her to inquire about any new species that she had begun raising. ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind.¡± Kristen nodded her head. At the very least, Aznod would never arrive empty-handed, and would always bring a delicious treat when going to ask someone for a favor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°For now, I¡¯d like to make a request for a medium-scale time eleration ranch. Given the size of Bryn, I can¡¯t imagine its species needs more room than that to move around, and it would let me popte the ranch more quickly.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">alia nodded her head in agreement. For such endangered animals, it had been deemed worth it to invest in the newer developments which would allow for incredibly elerated time in an isted area. ¡°What do you want the poption limit of the ranch to be set as?¡± Once this limit was reached, the time eleration function would be disabled until it dropped back below the threshold.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Kristen thought about that for a brief moment before answering. ¡°Since it¡¯s only a medium-scale ranch, let¡¯s set the limit to one hundred. If the demand for Lifeblood Lizards bes too high, I¡¯ll ask for another ranch, or increase the limit if they can handle it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">alia chuckled at that, understanding what she meant. Although they were called medium-scale, they were roughly a thousand kilometers in diameter. There was alsorge-scale ranches, which had ten times the diameter, and often needed their own dedicatedndmass. Finally, the ultra-scale ranches required an entire moon to be terraformed to function as a ranch.

 Chapter 1111: A Professional At Work

    Chapter 1111: A Professional At Work


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki sat within a sealed pod flying through space, leaning back with her eyes closed as she recounted her mission. She had taken this trial dozens of times already, each time ending in failure.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was the mission that had been set up together with Cici after reviewing the records of the ninja n¡¯s Trial of Shadows. In order toplete it, Tsubaki had to reach her destination, obtain a secured piece of cargo, and get out. However, the mission would immediately be a failure if anyone from the ship identified her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If she took on a disguise, and managed to confuse the crew of the ship into thinking that she was another crew member, then the mission could continue. However, if she was not in a disguise and was caught, the simtion would immediately end. Likewise, if she was recorded on a camera, the mission would end as soon as someone took note of her on that camera footage, meaning that she had to hurry to the security office to disable the cameras.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For this mission, she did not have ess to any of her divine powers, nor her special abilities from the real world. She had her ability to use both ki and mana, and thus create chakra, and she had a selection of tools that a ninja would be given toplete a simr mission.


    <span style="font-weight:400">These tools included a security scrambler with three uses before needing a recharge, a digital master key, and a holographic facemask. Because this was a strictly nobat mission, she was not allowed to have even one weapon, and killing any member of the crew was another condition for failure.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, the pod that she was in had its own cloaking feature, allowing it to pull up next to the airlock of the target vessel without being detected. However¡­ getting from her pod to the airlock would require the use of one charge from the security scrambler. This meant that she only had two uses in reality. Even worse, she might need to use one charge in order to disable the cameras in the security office itself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was practically no room for error in this trial, which she was used to. However, she was used to being able to solve these trials with either patience or violence. Here, patience would lead to a random patrol spotting her, and violence was an instant disqualification.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a humm from the pod as it pulled to a stop, the light jolt of inertia snapping Tsubaki out of her thoughts. She had studied theyout of the ship on the flight over, as itsyout changed every time she began the simtion. With a low sigh, she pressed the button to open the pod, jumping out and into the vacuum of space.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her suit was designed to provide her with ten minutes of breathable atmosphere, even in aplete void, so she had to work fast. Reaching down to one of the pouches on her belt, she pulled out a small rod with a button at the tip and three blinking lights. She brought herself to the airlock door and pressed the button, the lights within the airlock flickering for a few seconds.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With the security of the airlockpromised, she was able to force it to depressurize and allow her entry, granting her ess to the rest of the ship. Once the airlock was pressurized again, she closed her eyes, straining her ears to listen. Tsubaki could hear distant footsteps, but they sounded as if they were heading in the opposite direction from her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a quick hand gesture, she cast a basic invisibility technique on herself with chakra, opening the airlock door and entering the ship. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Step one, I need to find a face to use.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> She thought to herself, carefully walking in the direction of the footsteps that she had heard before.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Theoretically, she could use her invisibility technique to reach the security office. However, if she did so and someone was present, they would notice her working. Ideally, she would find a security officer, and use their face to gain ess to the office, having the other officers present leave as she took over. This was the only method she had found to consistently get into the security office alone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The problem was that she was not provided with intelligence on who had what role. All that she was given was theyout of the ship, and the location of the precious cargo. Part of her was curious to see how Lena would tackle this mission without her divine abilities.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Using the ninja¡¯s basic footwork technique, Tsubaki quickly closed the distance with the redheaded human male that was walking down the hall. Holding her breath, she passed by him, activating the features of her holographic mask to scan his appearance, and then allowed him to walk by.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">That didn¡¯t look like a security uniform, and he wasn¡¯t armed. Should I keep looking?</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Tsubaki thought to herself as she made her way through the halls, ensuring that her stealth power was never deactivated. It seemed as if this ship had a rather small crew, or that it was a resting period, given that she only encountered two other individuals along the way to the security office.


    <span style="font-weight:400">One of these individuals appeared to be a maintenance worker, while the other was a member of themand staff, going by their uniforms. Tsubaki scanned both of their faces, stopping in front of the security office¡¯s door.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a quick look to either side to ensure that there was nobody else in the hallway, she deactivated her invisibility, having already assumed the form and voice of themand officer. She opened the door with her master key, and stepped through while maintaining a stern expression.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Inside, there was a dark-skinned ursa who seemed to be eating a sandwich, watching the monitors. At the sound of the door opening, he looked over, blinking in surprise. ¡°Officer Barnes?¡± He asked, ncing at the monitor again, where Tsubaki could see the owner of her current face still walking down the hallway.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki simply let out a sigh, the world freezing around her. ¡°I believe that is considered a failure.¡± Cici¡¯s voice spoke up, and Tsubaki nodded her head. ¡°Would you like me to reduce the difficulty of the next simtion?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Immediately, Tsubaki refused that question. ¡°No. The difficulty level has already been reduced to the extreme, topensate for myck of recent technique training. To reduce the difficulty any further would negate the purpose of the trial.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Cici hesitated at that, before speaking up again. ¡°I see. I do not mean to belittle your achievements. However, your current strategy relies significantly on luck, whether it is acquiring a proper identity or hoping for favorable circumstances in the offices. If you can¡¯t reliably recreate the process, would you consider that a sessful trial?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki froze at that, stunned by Cici¡¯s reasoning. She had to admit, Cici was right. At the current moment, she was just trying to prove that she couldplete the trial under the proper circumstances. However, would she be satisfied with that, if she just kept trying again and again until the variables just happened to line up for her? Obviously not.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What would you suggest, then?¡± She asked, causing Cici to pause again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°ording to Hermes, Lena has just returned to Olympus. My advice would be to allow her to run this mission, while you oversee it as a spectator. Although you are unfamiliar with the more recently developed techniques of the ninjas, watching Lena in action will give you insight into their operations.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki was surprised again, hearing that Lena had returned. How long had she spent in this trial, for Lena to have alreadypleted her mission? It was easy to believe that she had simply lost track of time, as she often did in these trials. ¡°Very well¡­ call her in and tell her that I have asked her toplete this trial for ¡®training purposes¡¯. However, please keep my presence here a secret. I don¡¯t want Lena to be aware that I am watching her live, as that may alter how she performs.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Very well.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">It didn¡¯t take long for Cici to get in contact with Lena, who happily agreed to go through the test. When she heard about the parameters, she brieflyughed, shaking her head. ¡°Sure, that shouldn¡¯t be a problem. Just give me a few minutes to adjust to the new body.¡± She said with a confident smile.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Cici nodded her head, stepping aside and allowing Lena to enter one of the pods in the room. Per Tsubaki¡¯s request, the pod which contained her was being kept in another room, and Tsubaki would be undetectable to Lena once she entered the simtion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena hummed to herself as she climbed into the pod, soon finding herself in the cramped, ck vessel that Tsubaki had previously experienced. In front of her face, a screen disyed theyout of the target ship, which Lena quickly memorized. She didn¡¯t bother asking for more information, simply flexing her shoulders and joints to limate herself to her physical form.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Soon, the pod pulled up next to the airlock, as it had done for Tsubaki. However, rather than using the security scrambler to get inside, Lena took a deep breath and left all three of her tools in the pod. She climbed out onto the ship, her figure fading from view while she clung to the outer hull.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki watched in confusion, seeing how Lena didn¡¯t go for the airlock, but rather towards arge antenna jutting up from the hull. Lena looked it over, crouching down to the base and using a quick burst of ki to forcibly shift its direction. Immediately afterwards, she pulled herself back up and went to the airlock, her breath still held.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her cloaked pod couldn¡¯t be seen at the moment, and Tsubaki only understood her goal when the airlock opened on its own, a fully suited maintenance worker emerging with a toolkit. Lena slipped by him under the cover of invisibility, entering the airlock and waiting for it to repressurize.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once it had done so, she finally exhaled, rolling her shoulders again and channeling her ki through her body. Her bone structure changed, skin seeming to roll as she grew in height. Tsubaki hadn¡¯t used this form of shapeshifting in her own mission because she knew just how painful the transformation process was, and believed that there had to be more appropriate ways to get what she wanted.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Soon, Lena¡¯s body was a perfect copy of the maintenance worker that she had just passed, though she maintained her invisibility. She used her chakra next to alter her uniform, matching the appearance of the worker¡¯s attire.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once he returned from fixing the damage that she caused to the external dish, she waited at the side of the airlock patiently, stepping out behind him. Tsubaki was confused why she was following him so closely at first, before realizing that her footsteps were perfectly timed with his own, and she had been adjusting her breathing to match his.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena followed him like this for several minutes, waiting until he had returned his equipment before turning to walk off in a different direction. At the same time, Tsubaki caught how her hand slipped through the air next to the worker, a faint flicker of chakraing from her fingertips.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena walked calmly towards the security office now, undoing her invisibility and walking as if it werepletely natural. When another crew member passed, she gave him a polite nod.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once at the office, she held her hand in front of the door, producing an electronic key that she had swiped from the maintenance worker, the door opening immediately. ¡°Yo, Eric.¡± The security officer inside spoke up, eating the same sandwich that Tsubaki had walked in on him eating before. It seemed as if Cici had perfectly matched the circumstances to Tsubaki¡¯sst attempts.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hey.¡± Lena chuckled, mimicking the worker¡¯s voice. ¡°I just wanted to check to make sure that the signal¡¯s okay now? Looks like the antenna got misaligned from a bit of space debris, so I did my best to correct it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That so?¡± The officer asked, turning to operate a nearbyputer. As he did, invisible threads of chakra spread out behind Lena¡¯s back, rapidly typing on the now-abandoned console controlling the cameras. ¡°Ah, yeah. Looks like there was a shield fluctuation just before the captain sent you out. Guess that must have slipped under the radar. Either way, it looks like you did the job.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">By the time that the man turned around again, Lena had finished her work, nodding her head. ¡°Got it. In that case, I better get back. Don¡¯t want to keep you-know-who waiting.¡± She said with a knowing smirk, causing the officer tough.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah, yeah, you get going, man.¡± He said, and Lena turned to walk out of the office. Her next stop was the maintenance locker where the worker had previously deposited his tools, opening the locker and setting his electronic key inside, as if it had simply been misced. Only then did she once again activate her invisibility, returning to her original body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena prowled through the halls as if in the middle of a field trip, her footsteps providing no noise even as she skipped along. Once she made it to the cargo bay, she started counting down in her head, before walking towards the door. Right on time, the door opened, closing secondster.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">She set a timedmand for the cameras and door controls?</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Tsubaki asked herself in amazement. Tsubaki herself wasn¡¯t familiar with themand systems used by modern ships, as she had spent a substantial amount of time in the Admin Room, but Lena operated it as if it were second nature.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯s a bit more than that.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Cici¡¯s voice interrupted her thoughts. <em><span style="font-weight:400">The systems on these ships don¡¯t match those of any current model. I wanted to ensure that this was not a deciding point for her. Rather, it would seem that she understood the controls by looking at the console, and studying how both the security officer and maintenance worker interacted with the machines.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki blinked at that, watching Lena grab a small package from the back corner of the cargo bay, shoving it into her inventory. She walked back out, the door opening and closing again to let her through. Additionally, the airlock opened as soon as she approached it, having timed everything ording to theyout of the ship she had seen on the way over.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once outside the airlock again, she climbed back into her pod, directing it to begin its return journey. <em><span style="font-weight:400">I have¡­ many questions.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Tsubaki thought to both herself and Cici. She knew from experience how tricky it was to get through all of the various stages of the mission, and yet Lena did it as if she were simply running an errand.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In the back of her mind, Tsubaki began to break everything down, step by step. <em><span style="font-weight:400">She abandoned her tools because she saw them as unnecessary, or perhaps an obstacle. In order to get in without leaving any trace, she lured out a maintenance worker. However, wouldn¡¯t it be easiest to get into the security office as one of the security personnel?</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">After she thought up to that point, Tsubaki¡¯s eyes widened slightly. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Maintenance workers are allowed anywhere, because they need to be able to repair anything that breaks. Additionally, they aren¡¯t as closely monitored, because everyone perceives them as having a less prestigious role. As long as she didn¡¯t directly act suspicious, nobody would realize that there was anything wrong.</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">But then, when talking to the officer, how did she know that there was someone waiting for them to return? I don¡¯t think that they mentioned anything like that previously. Or, did she keep it purposely vague in order for her words to apply to any number of possible contexts, allowing the officer to fill in the nks themselves?</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once she started to boil everything down to its baseponents, she could understand how Lena had made her decisions. Out of everything that she had seen, there were only two feats that Tsubaki did not think that she could perfectly replicate. The first of these feats was being able to steal the electronic keycard from the maintenance worker¡¯s inventory without being detected in some way.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki was sure that she could do it with enough practice, but her current standards were not enough to guarantee sess. The other feat was immediately understanding the controls for the security console. This was why Tsubaki had always done her best to ensure that she was in the office alone, because she would need time to adjust to the controls. However, Lena had understood them with a simple nce, and tricked the security officer into showing her more.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although Tsubaki didn¡¯t want to admit it, she had to acknowledge that Lena was indeed a top-notch ninja, far surpassing her when it came to undercover activities. Though¡­ this only sparked apetitive fire within her. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Cici, please let Lena know that the footage from her test will be reviewedter, and start the simtion back up for me.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki had never been one to leave a trial unfinished.

 Chapter 1112: Cloudy With A Chance Of Fun

    Chapter 1112: Cloudy With A Chance Of Fun


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena stretched her arms as she left the gaming chair. She didn¡¯t have her own pce yet in Olympus, so Lifre had offered to let her stay in her room for now. ¡°All done with the test?¡± Lifre asked, sitting on the bed and swinging her legs happily.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yup! Just some basic stuff.¡± Lena nodded her head. ¡°So, what now? Any other work that I need to take care of?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre tilted her head, taking a moment to think. ¡°You can go through some of the recent reports if you want? Usually, Tsubaki and Dale handle that, and Dana chips in at times when she¡¯s not doing something else.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right.¡± Lena said, turning towards the terminal at Lifre¡¯s desk before pausing, and slowly turning back. ¡°So, what do <i><span style="font-weight:400">you</i><span style="font-weight:400"> usually do?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Me?¡± Lifre grinned at the question. ¡°Whatever I want!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena blinked, pausing for several moments. ¡°No, I mean, what are your responsibilities between missions? Do you have any jobs that you have to do around Olympus, any regr errands that you need to run?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Nope!¡± Lifre shook her head quickly. ¡°Tsubaki tried to teach me how to do maid work way back in the day, but stuff always broke when I tried to clean it, so she said I¡¯m not allowed to do that anymore. I did paperwork for a while, but now we have the AI assistants for that! So, unless there¡¯s some big emergency, I just either do my writing, or run off in pursuit of adventure!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena¡­ wasn¡¯t quite sure how to take that. She thought that she remembered a sense of immense freedom when she had channeled Llifre¡¯s identity, but she didn¡¯t look too deeply into it at the time. ¡°They¡­ really let you get away with all of that?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yup! Why, what did you do when you were done with missions?¡± Lifre asked curiously, leaning forward on her bed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena simply shrugged her shoulders. ¡°I had a special cave mansion that I needed to navigate through different traps to get in and out every day. The elders always had someonee and rece the traps with new ones that they were testing out, so I could keep my skills sharp. Once I actually got inside, I was expected to write a detailed report on my most recent mission and be on standby for my next one.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre paused, staring at Lena. ¡°What sorts of traps?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, the usual. Divine mist poison, teleportation traps, memetic agents, and the random patrolling ninja with a godkiller gun.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Are you sure that those were for training, and they weren¡¯t just trying to kill you off?¡± Lifre asked with wide eyes. Lena simply chuckled, shaking her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°They only increased the difficulty of the traps when I got toofortable. Anyways, does that mean I don¡¯t technically have any duties or anything right now?¡± She asked, smiling brightly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre nodded her head, her own smile matching Lena¡¯s. ¡°As long as there wasn¡¯t anything major that you needed to report from yourst mission, you should be good!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena tilted her head, thinking about that. ¡°Well, they had me monitoring any criminal organization I could find¡­ obviously there is a lot that I learned. What exactly should I be reporting?¡± She asked, flicking her finger to bring up a golden window, scrolling through the different conversations that her divinity was now monitoring.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯d say just anything that threatens the existence of a, universe, or someone from Olympus. Otherwise, localw enforcement should be able to handle it. It¡¯s not like you can expect to just eliminate crime in one fell swoop, right? If we did something like that, it would just make them be more dangerous.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right.¡± Lena agreed with that, looking through. ¡°Well, there¡¯s that one terrorist group on the seventh level of Fyor. They¡¯re nning to shatter the mana spire in about a month.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre shook her head. ¡°Just drop a warning to the localw enforcement. As long as it¡¯s just a n for now, that¡¯s not something for us to get involved in. What was it Dale used to say¡­? Ah, right, mortals have to be able to solve their own problems. If they be too reliant on him, it will only lead to disappointment in the long run. It¡¯ll be Olympus¡¯s problem if the scale gets too big, or they target one of us directly.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena nodded her head in understanding. ¡°Got it.¡± She said, before focusing on sending a mental message. ¡°In that case¡­ want to go find something fun to do?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre¡¯s grin widened once again. ¡°I thought you¡¯d never ask! There¡¯s this new dungeon that Aurivy ced in the sixty-sixth floor of Fyor, it¡¯s supposed to be filled with food monsters. She said that there was a burrito snake, a burger turtle, a sloppy joe slime, and even a flying spaghetti monster.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena couldn¡¯t help but chuckle at that. ¡°Well, let¡¯s go out to eat, then.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two hopped to their feet, running side by side and rushing out of Olympus, whereupon Lifre took out her travel token and shed open a void gate. However, on the other side of the gate, they were stunned by what they saw. They had arrived on the right floor of Fyor, but¡­ the weather had taken a turn for the weird.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was raining heavily, a torrential downpour that crashed down like a swarm of bullets. In the upper floors of Fyor, something as simple as rain was an incredibly deadly event, given the increased gravity as well as the density of the water itself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, those able toe this far had their own ways of dealing with the weather of these floors. For instance, Lifre¡¯s skin rippled with every raindrop that hit her, but Lena created a barrier of divine energy above her body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The weird part was that this wasn¡¯t normal rain falling, but rather a red liquid. Lena nced over at Lifre, who absorbed a few of the raindrops. ¡°Is this normal for this floor?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Nope! I¡¯m guessing that Aznod has been experimenting with the local energies. The rain is¡­ spicy! Really, really spicy!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right¡­¡± Lena blinked, not wanting to see what the slime considered as spicy. ¡°Either way, lead the way to the dungeon before meatballets start to fall!¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">It took Tsubaki three more attempts, but she was able to clear the trial that she had set, after which she could reliably clear simr missions. She wasn¡¯t quite able to abandon the tools altogether as Lena had done, but she could reliably clear the ¡®outer space cargo retrieval¡¯ mission.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After that, she had Cici design new mission types for her, that way she had a wider range of scenarios to test herself against. With each of these trials, she had to take a brief adjustment period, after which she could gradually clear each mission.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After she managed to clear five different trials, Tsubaki considered herself ready to stop, thanking Cici and exiting the game. After stretching for a long moment, Tsubaki closed her eyes to synchronize her memories with those of her various clones.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In doing so, she learned of Lena and Lifre¡¯s departure, letting out a small sigh. In truth, she didn¡¯t particrly have any extra assignments for Lena to do at the moment. There wasn¡¯t anything major that required her immediate attention, so long as she had suitablypleted her previous mission.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Besides¡­ it is probably a good idea to let her unwind for a while.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Tsubaki thought back to what she had seen of Lena¡¯s past. Giving her some free time would probably do her good. Though, there were a few things that she needed to take care of before their return. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Lord Tubrock, how long would it take for you to arrange another pce for Olympus?</i>


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Aye, for the new foxss?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Tubrock responded in a gruff tone. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯ve got ¡®bout a dozen spare pces in my forge. Do ye want any customizations to this one?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki thought about it for a long moment, before shaking her head. <i><span style="font-weight:400">No, just something standard. I¡¯ll take care of the extra decorations myself.</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki hadn¡¯t just been training herbat sses with the various clones that she had created, but also various craftsman sses. As such, she decided to put those skills to the test, sending messages to the relevant clones on what she wanted.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After which, she sent out another message. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy¡­ can you bring me Lena¡¯s clone?</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena hadn¡¯t taken a break from her mission to speak with the elder of the ninja n. Nor did she sneak out of her mansion or missions any time the White Shadow was called. Instead, Lena had a dedicated identity clone of herself, one that was always waiting to be called upon as the White Shadow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It took a few moments for Tsubaki¡¯s request to bepleted, but soon golden mist began to spread out in front of her. When the mist dissipated, Lena was standing there. Only¡­ this wasn¡¯t really Lena. Tsubaki could not feel the same identity brand on her that was ced on Lena.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This Lena looked at Tsubaki, tilting her head. ¡°I was called to Olympus?¡± She asked in confusion. Tsubaki could sense that she was¡­ bored. As if she had spent ages just sitting around and doing nothing. ¡°Are you relieving me of duty?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki let out a sigh, moving to sit on a nearby chair. ¡°I¡¯m aware that you are Lena¡¯s backup identity, the one that handles tasks such as impersonating the White Shadow, and keeping an eye on your main body¡¯s informationworks. I¡¯m also aware that you don¡¯t have a constant mental link with your main body, sharing your memories. If I¡¯m correct, you instead have a simr monitoring ability ced on each other as the one you used for thoseworks?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena nodded her head, agreeing to Tsubaki¡¯sments. ¡°That¡¯s right. Now that my main body has been given a name, I suppose I¡¯m not needed anymore?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki felt something tug at her heart when she heard that. She thought back to Lena¡¯s description of her identity clones. In this Lena¡¯s mind, she was no different from the main body. She had her own sense of self, she had her own instincts. ¡°You are still needed.¡± Tsubaki said in a firm tone. ¡°I will not allow any talk of being discarded, so long as you are in the Keeper¡¯s service. Is that clear?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena¡¯s eyes widened slightly, and Tsubaki thought she saw a bit of life returning to them for a moment, so she continued. ¡°Your main body has already exined to me what her identity clones are like. You are not just a pawn to be discarded, and neither is she. The two of you, together, are Lena. Even if she is the ¡®Golden Shadow¡¯, and you are the ¡®White Shadow¡¯, you are both Lena. That is the name that the Keeper gave to you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena hesitated for a moment, before nodding her head. ¡°Then¡­ what do you want me to do, senior? I¡¯ve always lived off on my own, so that I can keep out of my main body¡¯s way and stop everyone from realizing¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki smiled, standing up and walking over to give Lena a soft hug. ¡°I know, Lena. I saw it all. There¡¯s no reason for you to hide who you are anymore. In fact, I would like you to apply the same identity brand to yourself that she has. It would make it much more convenient for you to operate in Olympus.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You want me to stay here, senior..?¡± Lena looked up at Tsubaki, who nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This is your home now. I may not be the best person to say this, but we are all a bunch of misfits here, with nowhere else to go. I¡¯d say that you fit right in. I¡¯ll speak with your main body, and we can arrange something. You can either set up a distinction between the two of you, like Dana has done with her familiars, or you can both ept the identity of Lena. In that case, the two of you could take turns going off to y with Lifre, while the other stays here and helps Dana and I with our work.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena¡¯s eyes widened a bit more at that, nodding her head more energetically. However, Tsubaki wasn¡¯t done yet, a rare, mischievous smile on her lips. ¡°But first¡­ let¡¯s work on a surprise for her. You¡¯re going to help me design the furnishings for your new pce. Since she doesn¡¯t have a constant link with you, that means that she won¡¯t know what to expect.¡±

 Chapter 1113: The Observer

    Chapter 1113: The Observer


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°All passengers, please disembark. We havended on Oranii Seven.¡± Thending pod¡¯s attendant spoke with a smile as she greeted the travelers. Oranii Seven was one of the fringe worlds of the Kione system, one of thest few to be colonized before the Hypene Network had been cut off.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Understandably, there were not many travelers that woulde all the way out here, so flights were few and far between. Most who came this far were simply looking to get away from all of the chaos that came with the primary worlds. These fringe worlds were more secluded, which also meant that they were less likely to be affected by some rogue god who had a score to settle with a local monarch.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Among the passengers leaving thending pod, one was a lycan male with short, ck hair slicked back atop his head. He had blue eyes framed by a square pair of sses, and wore a ck hoodie with faded blue jeans. This man had a smile on his face as he stepped out and down the ramp, all of his luggage safely tucked away in his inventory.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unlike most of the residents of Kione, this man did not have a familiar, which was a typical sign that one was from one of the other realms, likely Earth. Still, he wasn¡¯t against being known as a tourist, and quite enjoyed the life of constant travel. Only a select few knew his name, and few among those ever saw him more than once.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The streets of Oranii Seven were rather calm, as this did not have many established festivals or holidays worth celebrating. Still, he smiled as if he were looking at a bustling street. When he walked, at times he moved as if to walk around obstacles that weren¡¯t there, letting his gaze linger on empty space, but nobody particrly took note of him. Compared to all of the things that people saw nowadays, someone who walked a bit funny was nothing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Suddenly, the man¡¯s gaze flicked over towards a nearby street and he smiled. He saw a girl walking down the sidewalk, selling balloons. She had a canine familiar, one that wagged its tail happily as it walked alongside her. The man walked across the street to her, crouching down to be at eye level. ¡°How much for one of those?¡± He asked curiously, the girl stopping to look up at him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She gave a bright, innocent smile as she answered. ¡°Fifteen copper each, sir.¡± She said, and he happily produced thirty, which she traded for two of her balloons. As he did, arge truck sped down the street, its driver spewing profanities.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thank you very much.¡± The lycan tourist said, holding the two balloons. ¡°Can you tell me where I can find a nice hotel here? I just arrived in the area today.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The girl quickly nodded her head, giving the man directions. After which, he pat her head, rewarding her with a single gold coin for her help. The girl¡¯s eyes widened, almost going wet for a moment before she held herself back and epted the coin. She thanked him profusely, bowing towards the man as he walked away.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As he left, the man thought back to what he had seen. A horrible traffic ident, the body of the young girl shattered by the impact, balloons flying up into the air. A sick younger brother, unable to fend for himself without his older sister. Just one possibility among the many that he had seen in a single moment, but one that could be avoided with just a simple gesture of kindness.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This man held the balloons that he had purchased as he walked along the street, soon finding the hotel that the girl had directed him to. With a smile, he walked up to the register. ¡°I believe I have a reservation here, under the initials PL? Booked for one week.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is that so?¡± The woman manning the desk asked with a smile, checking her terminal. ¡°Ah, here it is. Paid in advance. Your room is two-seventeen.¡± She said, handing over an electronic room key.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The man nodded his head, turning to walk up the stairs to his room. He already knew what hotel the girl would rmend, only needing to keep her attention for a few more moments to set things in motion. That was what he did, creating small ripples to influence the big picture. When he felt like interfering, at least. And, this time, he felt the need to interfere, at least a little.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He walked over to his desk, sitting down and pulling out his notebook. On it was a list of cities, categorized by. Without writing anything, he flipped through the pages, stopping when he found the page for Oranii Seven.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Some of the fates have changed¡­</em><span style="font-weight:400"> He said with a pleased smile. In his vision, he saw hundreds of instances of this one notebook. In most of them, the page remained unchanged, as it was in the present. However, in some, city names had been crossed out. In a select few, the entire page had been scribbled over with ck ink.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">One week¡­ whether it falls to ruin, or pushes through, everything will be determined.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> He closed his notebook at that, turning his head to look out the window.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯rete.¡± A lycan security worker said, standing next to his living armor familiar. The man before him let out a disgruntled sound, stepping out of hisrge truck that began to copse and fold in on itself, bing a shifting tesseract of iron.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Traffic, alright? Anyways, I brought the stuff you asked for. Where do you want it dropped off?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The man arched a brow, ncing from side to side. ¡°Third warehouse on the left.¡± He said, jerking his thumb back behind himself as the living armor stepped aside. ¡°And make sure not to spill the containers, unless you like the idea of bing a lump of flesh, or worse.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah, I got it.¡± He shook his head, walking towards the warehouse that had been indicated. Once he arrived, his tesseract familiar grewrger, ck crates floating out from the center of its mass to gentlynd on the floor. On the face of the crates was apany logo, a grinning figure with a vertical mark going through its left eye.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As the man turned to leave, the eye on the crate slowly began to blink. Once the man had closed the door, there was a faint hiss, the lid of the crates opening up.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Looking out his hotel window, the lycan tourist pursed his lips. He let out a sigh, standing up and putting his hands in his pockets. He turned, leaving the room and the hotel itself, walking down the street as his eyes scanned the surroundings.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Which one is this?</em><span style="font-weight:400"> He asked, his typical smile leaving his face for the first time that day. In parts of his vision, a ck mass had covered the skies, mutating people into various random creatures. There were anthropomorphic rabbits, floating eyeballs, or twisted masses.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The worst part, this wasn¡¯t taking ce within a week, but rather this vision seemed to be only a day away. A moment of thought made him realize what must have happened. <em><span style="font-weight:400">I changed it when I saved that girl.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Though, that said, his notebook should have reflected it. It was more likely that saving the girl had opened the possibility, and now that possibility was starting toe closer and closer to reality.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">In that case¡­ what would it take to fix all of this?</em><span style="font-weight:400"> The man reached up, adjusting his sses. For a moment, time seemed to halt, his eyes rapidly flipping back and forth as he saw numerous possibilities.


    <span style="font-weight:400">First, he needed to identify the source of the problem, and then trace back the possibilities to find where it could be cut off. That was easy, as he projected his senses outside of his body, seeing the city¡¯s street bustling and calming again over the next twenty-four hours.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once he identified the specific future he needed, his smile returned to his face. He reached into his inventory, retrieving a silver coin, and focused. A ck line drew itself across the coin, before fading. Afterwards, he walked to a nearby food stall, and bought a hot dog, tossing the coin towards the man with a smile.


    <hr>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Devour¡­ hunger¡­</em><span style="font-weight:400"> <em><span style="font-weight:400">shift¡­</em><span style="font-weight:400"> The ck mass thought to itself, writhing as it pushed open its box. All it had ever known was a dire hunger, a need to consume, to spread. It could be anything, it <em><span style="font-weight:400">would</em><span style="font-weight:400"> be anything. And it would make others into anything, too.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The special material of the crate that had contained it until now dissolved away, devoured by the ck mass within. Nearby, the other crates all began to pop open and dissolve, all leaking the same ck mass that began to merge together.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The floor of the warehouse changed. At parts, it looked like it was melting, as if acid had been poured on it. In other areas, flowers began to grow and bloom, some turning into red roses while others grew fingers or eyes. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Eat¡­ change¡­ be¡­</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The door of the warehouse was next, but it took far too long to satisfy the ck mass. This warehouse was made to hold <em><span style="font-weight:400">things</em><span style="font-weight:400"> like it, after all. But that just meant that it had to change the door. Change it into something else. Cracks formed along the wall as triangr teeth grew out of the sides of the door, rotating along its edges like a chainsaw.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once the door fell from its hinges, it began to writhe, squirming along the ground like a jagged worm. The ck mass began to spill out onto the parking lot, dissolving under the sun and turning into a gas that rose into the air.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">See¡­ be¡­ me¡­</em><span style="font-weight:400"> The creature rose like smoke, the ground and buildings below warping as soon as its shadow touched them. The more it changed, the more control it had over the changes. However, it did not want a <em><span style="font-weight:400">controlled</em><span style="font-weight:400"> change. It wanted everything to be anything. It allowed the chaos to unfold beneath it, hearing the screams of panicked ants below, before its thoughts paused.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Why¡­ not¡­ change¡­</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Its consciousness turned towards the creatures running within its shadow. Those insignificant, tiny beings. They should change, they should be new, but they didn¡¯t. They were stagnant, they defied his change. Even when he focused on them, they wouldn¡¯t change.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Why¡­ not¡­ change¡­</em>


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The lycan tourist awoke the next day, hearing the panicked cries from the city outside the window. He turned, seeing the mass rising into the sky. This part was just as he had seen before. However, this time, there was no sign of anyone mutating. Buildings, entirendscapes changes, some turning into horrific beasts that lunged for the people, other into bundles of flowers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The shadow was growing, extending towards the hotel where he was staying. An urgent knock rang out on the door. ¡°Mister Lace, you need to evacuate!¡± The woman who had been manning the desk the day before used her master key to open the door, a panicked look on her face. ¡°There is a crisis outside. If you don¡¯t leave now, you¡¯ll be caught up in that! All of the other guests have already fled.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The man blinked in rtive surprise, before smiling. ¡°That¡¯s very kind of you, dear, but don¡¯t worry.¡± He said, throwing her a gold coin. ¡°Since you were kind enough to warn me, I¡¯ll be sure to keep the hotel as it is now as my thanks. I may not be able to do much for the rest of what is happening, but maintaining one building should be fine.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That wasn¡¯t entirely true. If he wanted to, if he <em><span style="font-weight:400">really</em><span style="font-weight:400"> wanted to, he could restore every building and destroy the ck mass causing the damage. However, that was not what Pierce Lace desired. He wished to see people oveing danger on their own. He was not an arbiter of justice, but an observer of time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Golden light spread out from the man¡¯s palm, wrapping around the building. Once the ck shadow crept over the hotel, the receptionist stepped back in fright, only to find that the building did not change as she expected. It did not grow tentacles or teeth, or turn into a shrubbery. It wasn¡¯t walking or crawling or flying. It was just a hotel, as it had always been.

 Chapter 1114: Chaos

    Chapter 1114: Chaos


    <span style="font-weight:400">The receptionist watched in disbelief as the hotel remained unchanged, ncing back towards the door. Pierce could see from her expression that she wanted to go out and tell everyone to seek shelter here, to use it as a refuge against the monster, but he shook his head. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t leave the building, or even open a door or window.¡± He told her. ¡°My power is working its way into the structure of this hotel. If you take away any barriers between yourself and that entity, its shadow will effect you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What?¡± The receptionist seemed confused, barely managing to calm herself down as she walked towards the window. ¡°But¡­ there are so many people out there, and they¡¯re not changing.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Some are.¡± Pierce pointed out. ¡°I sense a foreign power protecting the bodies of many citizens, but it¡¯s not perfect, and can¡¯t save them all. For the record, that power isn¡¯t protecting you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">In order to prepare for theing disaster, Pierce had made the smallest gesture he could, which was to purchase a snack from a street vendor. However, the coin that he used to pay for that snack was one that he embedded with his Alteration domain. As soon as that coin entered someone¡¯s inventory, it would infect their other coins, simr to a meme, and anyone possessing an infected coin would be temporarily immune to effects that would change their physical form.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Anyone who epted change from that street vendor, and anyone that person then went on to payter. For almost a full day, the natural flow of the economy itself had spread his protective influence over arge portion of the city. As it reached this point, Pierce was quite pleased with his arrangements, a smileing over his face.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is there¡­ nothing we can do? You¡¯re a god, right? Surely, you must have something?¡± The receptionist asked, looking at Pierce.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Pierce shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m not one that focuses on fighting. Right now, my divinity is being used to maintain this structure. Besides¡­ it looks like there is someone else that is going to take a stand.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Pierce realized the source of theing threat, and devised his n, there was still one other piece of insurance that he left behind. However, to activate it, he had to use his divinity to alter the present.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tampering with time was a tricky business, and he was all too aware of that. Pierce would not go back into the past to make a direct change, because he knew that would simply remove him from the present. Instead, he did something far more difficult. To achieve the goal he wanted, he saw a possible history in which he had made a change, and then brought that change into the present.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Now, what will you do?¡± He muttered to himself, his gaze sweeping out over the distortedndscape. He had set the scene. The actors were in ce. It was time to watch the show.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">In the fringe worlds, there were many diseases that had yet to bepletely eradicated. Many different methods existed to cure them, but these methods were too costly for the average person to afford. Thus, they were left to struggle with the disease or find some way to pay for a treatment.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Brianna ran through the streets as the buildings on either side of her warped into twisted masses of ice and flesh. Scared cries escaped her lips, running as fast as her little legs could carry her. She had seen so many people changed by this shadow, and was clueless as to why it hadn¡¯t targeted her. Still, she ran, clutching a small bottle to her chest.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Brianna had only just finished buying medicine for her brother when this disaster struck, and was rushing to find him, hoping that he had been protected by this blight as she had. Her brother, Nelson, was inflicted with a disease known as Stone Rot. Those affected by this disease would have their skin harden like stone, their muscles gradually solidifying. If it wasn¡¯t treated in time, the entire body would be a statue, leading to inevitable death.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nelson was in theter stages of the illness, with Brianna having been working on her own to try and get the money for some medicine. Thanks to a stranger that she had met the day before, she finally had enough. ¡°Please be safe¡­¡± She pleaded, tears falling from her eyes.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°How would a monster like this appear here?¡± The receptionist asked, finally managing to calm herself down as she stared out the window with Pierce. ¡°Is it a memetic monster that made it through the barrier?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not quite.¡± Pierce shook his head. ¡°This thing doesn¡¯t appear to be a natural construct. Rather, I believe that it was man-made.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°W-What? Who would make something like this?¡± The receptionist asked in shock, turning to look at Pierce with a shaking gaze.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That I¡¯m not sure of.¡± He answered, and this time he was speaking the truth. The creature¡¯s creation was too far away, so he hadn¡¯t been able to peer that far into its past. ¡°It must be someone quite skilled with engineering memes, as he managed to give one a life of its own.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°From what I can tell, this meme has one simple rule. Anything it touches, or anything touched by its shadow, must change. Looking at what¡¯s happening the creature either has no control over what something changes into, or it has no desire to control it.¡± Just looking at one entity, Pierce could see dozens of futures, each one with that entity bing some new horror. This could only mean that the change was truly random, not controlled by any form of intelligence.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°But¡­¡± He began. ¡°If the change is random, that means that not even that monster can predict what it will create. Out of the infinite possibilities, who¡¯s to say¡­¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Finally, Brianna could see the small home where she lived with her brother. The shadow hadn¡¯t quite reached there yet, though she could see it rapidlying closer. Worse still, her brother was sitting next to the window, where Brianna had ced him to let him see the outside world. His skin looked to be made of cracked stone, his hair having fallen from his head. His eyes were gray and ashen, and it looked like he would fully petrify any day now.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She knew that the medicine wouldn¡¯t take effect immediately, so Brianna was more worried about grabbing her brother and fleeing. Even with her small body, she could pick up a half-petrified man.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was when she felt something wrapping around her ankle. Looking down, a vine had sprung up from a nearby streemp, one which grabbed at her and caused her to begin falling forward. The bottle of medicine left her hands, her eyes widening. She barely registered that she hit the ground, seeing the bottle shatter a few feet away from her.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">No¡­ Nelson¡­</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Her tears began to flow freely. Even if she managed to get her brother out of this crisis¡­ she would never have enough time to make enough money and buy another dose of medicine for him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thorns from the vine began to dig into her skin, pulling her along the pavement. Brianna was helpless, watching the shadow stretch over their small yard, the grass distorting intoughing mouths that seemed to mock her efforts.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Brianna could hear the gnashing of teeth from the streemp behind her, knowing that it was pulling her into a giant maw. However, seeing the shadow falling over her brother, she let out a single, choked cry. ¡°Nelson!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The ground shattered, a warmth wrapping around her leg for a moment as the thorned vine disappeared. The mouth behind Brianna let out a pained shriek, vines iling all around it. ¡°Quiet.¡± A voice spoke up, hoarse fromck of use. Brianna¡¯s gaze shook at that voice, as well as the silence that followed it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Looking back, she saw her brother standing behind her, the stone removed from his skin. His hair had returned, thick and ck, and his clothes had been reced with a long, flowing robe. Not only that, but she could swear that he had grown a few inches taller. ¡°N-Nelson?¡± She asked, and he turned back to look at her with a smile, his brown eyes just as she remembered them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Give me just a second, Bri. There¡¯s something that I need to do.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Pierce¡¯s smile grew slightly wider as he saw a pir of ck energy rise up from within the city. He had tipped the scales as much as he could, ensuring that the dice would roll as he wished. ¡°Out of the infinite possibilities¡­ who¡¯s to say that that thing can¡¯t create something to destroy it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Pierce was witnessing the birth of an unconventional Fallen God, one whose power was directly bestowed by a meme. At this moment, information was flooding into Nelson¡¯s mind, giving him an awareness of what his power was and how he could use it. He had be the Fallen God of Order.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While he was still epting this information, he would have a few moments to truly use his power as he wished. After that, there would be a period where he would need to start properly processing what he had, simr to a rush of adrenaline.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Projecting his vision across the city, Pierce was able to see Nelson lift his small hand up towards the sky. ¡°Disappear.¡± Hemanded, the void rushing to carry out his orders. A thick hole was pierced through the ck cloud, a shrill scream echoing from within it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The shadow condensed, bing a ck form that rushed down towards Nelson and Brianna. However, Nelson was still calm for the moment, narrowing his eyes at the entity that had hurt so many people, and had made his sister cry. ¡°Die.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The void rushed again, and the ck mass froze in midair, its body beginning to slowly dissolve. Unfortunately, the death of this entity did not revert the changes caused by it, so the structures and people that had been altered would need another method of returning to normal, but there would not be any further changes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That said, Nelson turned around, crouching down to his elder sister, and smiled. ¡°It¡¯s okay now, Bri. The monster¡¯s gone.¡± He said, his voice regaining its youthful tone. Brianna choked out a sob, reaching up to grab her brother, as if just to confirm that this really was him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she grabbed him, she felt that his body went ck, and he copsed down against her. She let out another cry, pulling back enough to get a good look. When she saw that he was sleeping peacefully, she hugged him again, holding him tight. At that moment, she couldn¡¯t care less about anything else. Her brother was okay, his disease was gone. That was all that she needed to know. Everything else¡­ everything else couldeter.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is it over¡­?¡± The receptionist asked back in the hotel room, pulling Pierce¡¯s vision away from the siblings. He nodded his head, retracting his divine power.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. There will probably be a bit of a mess from now on, but people should being from the primary worlds soon, when they hear about this. Especially about the birth of a new Fallen God so far out here, and so young at that.¡± There were still hostile creatures upying the city, ones that had been transformed from other buildings or objects, but the people were strong enough to deal with that much.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Pierce let out a sigh as he thought about that. ¡°Though¡­ it looks like this ce isn¡¯t going to be a good ce to take a vacation anymore.¡± He said with a light chuckle. Originally, he thought that he would need to stick around for a full week, but things progressed faster than he had expected. Now, it was time to move on again.

 Chapter 1115: A New Home

    Chapter 1115: A New Home


    <span style="font-weight:400">Back on the where the ninjas had settled, there was a pitch ck house, seemingly wrapped in an omnipresent, shifting fog. Unlike the manor of the Golden Shadow, there were no traps leading to this house. There were no patrols. Nobody dared to approach, for risk of being added to the property¡¯s eeriendscape of oddly shaped hedges.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Inside the house, a figure wrapped in a ck cloak muttered to himself, opening the terminal on his desk. ¡°It should be about time for the news to spread now.¡± He said to himself, a manic look in his eyes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He had recently sent a package to a distant world, one of the less popted outer colonies, after careful arrangements. This package, consisting of four boxes, contained histest experiment, inspired by none other than Tubrock of the Greater Pantheon. ¡°If he can do it, why can¡¯t I?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">His goal had been the creation of a fully sentient memetic entity, which he would then send into the void to be a ¡®void god¡¯. If he managed this, it would prove him to be the foremost expert when it came to harnessing the void¡¯s memetic properties. All he needed was enough ¡®information¡¯ for the monster to devour in order to gain that sentience.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Tubrock performed a simr feat, he sent his golems into the void, letting them feed off of other void monsters to get the information that they werecking. The ck Shadow found this method to be too inefficient. The information on sentience was already present in trillions of lifeforms across the various universes. If one, insignificant had to be used as the fodder to create a more perfect entity, they should have been honored to make that sacrifice.


    <span style="font-weight:400">And so, he set up this memetic entity with the ability to consume and alter information, releasing it onto this unsuspecting world. He opened the news, eagerly looking for any information from the that he had sent it to. And, sure enough, there was a report. An extremely dangerous memetic monster had appeared on Oranii Seven.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A smile tugged at the ck Shadow¡¯s lips, before that smile froze. ¡°It was¡­ defeated? Was there a patrolling deity in the area?¡± He muttered, reading through more of the article.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡®An eight year old boy, named Nelson Kirsche, orphaned together with his older sister Brianna, saved the day when the shadow of the memetic creature fell over him. Because of this, in a miraculous twist of fate, histe-stage Stone Rot was cured, and he immediately awakened as the Fallen God of Order.¡¯


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡®Due to the extraordinary nature of this development, two subordinate deities of Terra, Keenan Criar and Jace Laran, have made the journey to Oranii Seven. These two have made a statement that they wish to resolve any lingering damages guing themunity where this beast emerged. More than that, however, they wish to take in these two orphans, offering them the best treatment that can be afforded by the church.¡¯


    <span style="font-weight:400">The ck Shadow¡¯s fist mmed down against his desk, his eyes dark. ¡°An eight year old boy?¡± He asked with a hiss in his tone. He couldn¡¯t ept the fact that his perfect entity had been bested by a child. Even more ridiculous was that this child¡¯s power came from none other than the entity that he had created.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The odds of this were¡­ all but impossible. His monster could have consumed every creature in existence, but the odds that it created a Fallen God would be next to nothing. The ck Shadow felt as if something was amiss, as if some hidden hand had guided matters, but knew better than to pursue it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If something had truly influenced the random results of his creation¡¯s power, then there were very few options. The most noteworthy among them, and the first that immediately came to mind, was none other than the goddess Terra, whose subordinates reacted immediately in response to this event. If she released her power, it madeplete sense how the random selection could turn out this way.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">I thought I had gone to enough lengths to ensure that it wasn¡¯t noticed that quickly¡­</em><span style="font-weight:400"> He thought to himself, before shaking his head. The limits of the Greater Pantheon had not been fully understood, even until now. It was known that they could not see everything all at once, but the true extent of what they could see, or what drew their attention to certain things, these factors were unknown.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Back on Olympus, Lena¡¯s clone stood together with Tsubaki, the two of them having finished furnishing Lena¡¯s new pce within Olympus. There were paintings and various pieces of furniture, all hand-crafted by Tsubaki herself. One painting showed an image of Lena ying together with Lifre, another of her just standing proudly together with the others of Olympus.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Almost everything in the room, in one way or another, served to confirm Lena¡¯s identity. There were even fox tails carved into the bedposts. Everything was meticulously crafted with Lena¡¯s identity in mind.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Do you think she¡¯ll like this?¡± Tsubaki asked, Lena¡¯s eyes wide as she looked into the room. She had helped design several pieces of the furniture, but seeing it all in person feltpletely different.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Y-Yeah.¡± Lena nodded her head. ¡°Though¡­ isn¡¯t the bed bigger than we agreed?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki arched her brow, ncing down towards Lena. Thetter had been wearing a maid uniform that Tsubaki made for her, to reinforce that she belonged in Olympus. ¡°Why? I think it¡¯s just right for the both of you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">At that point, something seemed to click in Lena¡¯s mind. She wasn¡¯t just helping to design a room for the other Lena, but also for herself. ¡°But¡­ but we don¡¯t even need to sleep, right?¡± She asked, seeming almost shy as she looked away, but Tsubaki could feel the smile tugging at Lena¡¯s lips.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Maybe not, but I¡¯m sure that it will still be appreciated. If I only made what was physically necessary, this ce would bepletely unfurnished. Remember, this isn¡¯t just somewhere for you to stay between missions, but your home.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena offered a small nod at that, before Hermes¡¯s voice spoke up over the inte. ¡°I hope I¡¯m not interrupting. You wanted me to let you know whenever Lifre and Lena returned from their adventures.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Already?¡± Tsubaki blinked, having expected them to be gone for at least a month. ¡°Send her over, please.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Do you want me to hide?¡± Lena asked, looking up at Tsubaki who shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It didn¡¯t take long for the original Lena and Lifre to arrive, the two of themughing together as they walked through the halls. ¡°Yo, senior! You called for me?¡± Lena asked, though¡­ she paused when she saw the figure standing next to Tsubaki, turning somewhat cautious. ¡°You uh¡­ you brought her here?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded her head. ¡°If possible, I would like the two of you to exchange your recent memories.¡± She said, the two Lenas looking at one another at that request. ¡°I think that it would make this conversation much shorter than it would otherwise need to be.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Lena in a maid dress nodded her agreement, though she could be seen fidgeting with her hands. The other Lena let out a sigh, nodding her head. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s do it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre looked on in confusion as the two Lenas locked gazes with one another. Soon, both were trembling. The one who had gone with her to adventure widened her eyes, looking at the door behind Tsubaki and her clone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is the agreement that I made with her eptable?¡± Tsubaki asked with a calm smile. Lena simply gulped, nodding her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Y-Yeah, I think we can work with it. You guys really did all of that?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°All of what?!¡± Lifre iled her arms. ¡°Why am I being left out of the conversation?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">One Lena grabbed Lifre¡¯s right arm, the other walking over to grab her left arm as both pulled her towards the room. Even if the Lena that was usually kept in hiding had never directly met her before, the exchange of memories had helped to form an emotional bond.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, long story short¡­¡± The Lena that had just returned with her began. ¡°There are two of us¡­ and we¡¯ll be taking turns to hang out with you from now on. Just to make things less confusing, and keep one of us here if needed.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she exined that, they came to the door, which had Lena¡¯s name carved into it. Tsubaki simply smiled at the reactions of the smaller kitsune, pleased to see her ept it so readily. Although Lena got along more easily with Lifre, Tsubaki personally saw her as closer to Dana. Both of them had a fragmented sense of self, needing something to pull them together and give them a home. In her eyes, both of them appeared to be lost children in need of a family, whereas Lifre was apletely free spirit.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Lady Tsubaki, a news report has been gged for your attention.¡± Hermes called out, Tsubaki arching her brow. She nodded, turning to leave the three alone as she made her way back to her own pce to review the information.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Every now and then, there would be reports sent to her, typically about disasters striking different areas. Most of the ones meant for her attention were man-made in some way, so she was able to keep up with the more dangerous aspects of society and decide when she needed to interfere.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she reached her office and the report came up, she widened her eyes in surprise. ¡°Someone released such a strong memetic entity in a popted area?¡± She asked, eyes narrowing. Memetic creations were extremely hazardous. One wrong mutation, and it could be something all but impossible to contain.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It was probably ck.¡± Lena¡¯s voice spoke up over Tsubaki¡¯s shoulder, and Tsubaki turned in surprise to see her standing there. Not the maid Lena, but the original. ¡°Sorry, thought I¡¯d give those two some time to get to know each other.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s fine¡­ what makes you sure that this was the ck Shadow?¡± She asked, Lena giving a sad smile.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s just how he operates. He doesn¡¯t care if anyone gets involved. Plus, he¡¯s been setting up shipping routes to the outer colonies for weeks now. I thought that he was creating escape routes for himself if things went wrong, so I kept an eye on them. Oranii Seven was one of the locations that I tracked. Watch, you trace back shipments that arrived in that area within one week of this disaster, and I guarantee you¡¯ll find the path he used. He won¡¯t leave anything <em><span style="font-weight:400">too</em><span style="font-weight:400"> open, but I know thepanies he uses.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded her head slowly at that. ¡°Did his activities evade your detection ability?¡± She questioned, and Lena hesitated slightly before nodding.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The way I did it, I can only identify criminal groups that operate within the same sr system. So, if he had ten or more co-conspirators in one ce, I could identify the group. But ck¡¯s always keeping his contacts spread out, only using one person that he can control in any given area, and making sure that they never talk to each other. Most of them are probably threatened into obedience, or outright controlled via memetic scripts.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying that, Lena looked over at Tsubaki. ¡°Do you want me to deal with him? The two of us already have a history, so¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki paused for a moment, closing her eyes to think. ¡°No. If you get involved, the elders of your council will only see this as an act of rebellion on your part. I¡¯ll ask someone else to get involved.¡±

 Chapter 1116: Loose Ends

    Chapter 1116: Loose Ends


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea leaned back in her seat as she listened to the report from Tsubaki. It wasn¡¯t surprising to her that the ck Shadow had been the one to release the memetic entity. Though this was ultimately an unconfirmed usation from Lena, Lena knew the person more than well enough, and had a fair amount of circumstantial evidence.


    <span style="font-weight:400">All that Chelsea had to do was run a quick check through his records with her main body in the Admin Room. Once she did that, she knew for certain that he was the culprit. Not long after Lena had wounded him, he had gone mad with a need to increase the scale of his research.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although the ck Shadow had indeed gotten citizens caught up in his antics without remorse before, that was typically while he was performing some kind of mission, using the excuse that he was tying up loose ends. This was the first time that he had gone out of his way to use an entire colony as the subject of one of his experiments.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Looks like it¡¯s finally time to bring the Four Shadows n to a close.¡± Chelsea shook her head as she stood, tail waving behind her while she walked for the door of her office. She had been watching the Four Shadows project since shortly after its inception, curious to see how it would y out. Moreover, she had to keep a close eye on the ck Shadow, due to the inherent dangers with memetic effects.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There had been times when she personally tutored him on the dangers of memes, back when he was just starting. At that time, Chelsea thought that he could harness the power of memetic effects to create a better future. However, whether he was corrupted by the prospect of the power he wielded, or the actual power itself, he had be more twisted over time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now, it was time for Chelsea to clean up an old mess that she helped to cause.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The ck Shadow paced back and forth in his room, debating how he wanted to proceed. He couldn¡¯t simply give up on his research at this point, not when he was so close topletion. However, at the same time, the only logical exnation for what had urred on Oranii Seven was someone like Terra stepping in.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If Terra truly had stepped in, then he could take that reaction as a sign that he shouldn¡¯t push his luck. If she hadn¡¯t¡­ the only way to know would be to ask someone close to her, which would reveal to them that it was him to begin with. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Maybe move to smaller settlements¡­ There will be less information to obtain, but as long as I have the entities move slowly, from ce to ce, the end result will be the same.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">As he thought about that, he heard the door to his mansion open, his head snapping to the side. Nobody ever visited him, they knew better. Walking into his mansion was the same as volunteering to be a part of his experiments.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Gritting his teeth at the interruption, the ck Shadow left his office, walking towards the foyer. As he approached, he sensed a familiar divinity spreading out across his home, and narrowed his eyes further. ¡°I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d get a visit from you.¡± He said, turning the corner to see Chelsea waiting for him. ¡°I suppose this means that the Greater Pantheon is stepping in?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although Chelsea herself was not considered a member of the Greater Pantheon by most of the world, the fact that she had extremely close ties with them was something that could not be ignored. However, Chelsea tilted her head slightly, blinking. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, did you say something?¡± She asked in confusion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The ck Shadow¡¯s eye twitched, as if he had been taunted by her words. ¡°Don¡¯t try to y dumb. The fact that you¡¯re here now can only be proof that the Greater Pantheon, maybe even the Keeper himself is sending me a warning.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What?¡± Chelsea blinked again, before seeming to realize something. ¡°Ah, you attached memes to your voice now, haven¡¯t you? Sorry, but memetic properties are filtered through my domain. Whatever you¡¯re saying is just white noise.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Anyways, I¡¯m here to tie up some loose ends. Sorry that this can¡¯t be a proper conversation after so long, but it is what it is.¡± The ck Shadow clenched his teeth as he listened to Chelsea speak.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Honestly speaking, those capable of censoring memetic properties were something of an achilles heel to him. There were still ways around it, sure. Typically, a memetic censor required too much energy to maintain indefinitely, or only protected the user¡¯s sight. That was why he had gotten into the habit of attaching a weakening meme to his voice, making it so that all who heard him would grow weaker and weaker the more he talked.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, Chelsea¡¯s power clearly protected all of her senses. Furthermore, she hade to him, so he couldn¡¯t just choose to wait until her power ran out or she lowered her guard. He had to think fast toe up with some way around her defenses.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As he was thinking of that, he heard a faint click, and light wrapped around his figure. He wasn¡¯t sure what was happening, only that his mind had turned more sluggish, his vision gradually growing dark.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea shrugged her shoulders, walking over and picking up the card that had fallen where the ck Shadow stood. As expected, the card itself had be distorted in her vision, showing that he had been covered with so many memetic properties that they would even infect the stasis card he was kept in.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a reason why Chelsea had never given herself any extra domains, why she had always only been the Goddess of Security. She didn¡¯t want any future domains to taint her power, to limit what she could aplish.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As the Goddess of Security, she could embody the power of any security device, whether it was a camera, a lock, or even a stasis card. For that reason, she had studied the Reset Protocol, ensuring that she would be capable of recreating the effects herself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s probably not safe to let this guy get cloned, is it?¡± She muttered to herself. The fact that the card created by her divinity had already been infected with the ck Shadow¡¯s memetic influence meant that it had tainted the very core of his energies. Even if he was cloned, those memetic effects would remain attached to his body.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Even the Collector wouldn¡¯t want this guy.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> She thought to herself, debating on how to properly dispose of him. There were numerous methods at her disposal, she just had to choose whichever one would be the most efficient and result in the least amount of coteral damage. After all, despite how he behaved, he was an incredibly powerful individual, and would surely fight back as soon as he emerged from the stasis card.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ultimately, the answer wouldn¡¯t be found from her divinity. Not unless she wanted even more of it to be tainted and lost to her. She closed her eyes, altering the energy pathways within her own body, which began to pulsate with dark, red power.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once she was done, she tossed the card into the air, staring up at it with glowing red eyes. ¡°Ruin.¡± She muttered, beams shooting out of her eyes and into the card.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The card began to crack, the power of her attack piercing its confines to attack the ck Shadow directly. Chelsea could hear him scream in pain, and feel years¡¯ worth of her divinity disappearing as a result of this one attack. Still, the scream was silenced only a few momentster, golden specks falling to the ground.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I checked with the Admin Room, and I didn¡¯t see any hidden bases with back-up bodies¡­ but you can never be too sure.¡± She said to herself, focusing and creating a three-dimensional sphere of magic. ¡°Set the timer to one hundred seconds. Range is one hundred meters horizontally, and five kilometers vertically.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After she said that, she calmly turned and walked towards the door of the mansion, leaving the sphere of magic hovering in midair. Ever since she had arrived, her vision had beenrgely a blur. The space itself seemed to contain the power of malicious memes, making it hard for her to determine where she was going. In order to ount for this, she guided her mortal body from the Admin Room, watching what was happening from above.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Almost two minutester, after Chelsea had left this ce and begun to leave the¡¯s atmosphere, the sphere turned bright red. Suddenly, it erupted, a pir of light stretching into the sky. The mansion shattered, shredded by the powerful bursts of energy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nearby ninjas looked on in horror, unsure of what was going on, or if there was anything that they could do to help. They didn¡¯t know if they even <em><span style="font-weight:400">should</em><span style="font-weight:400"> help, given the location of the st. Instead, they quickly averted their gazes, collectively deciding that it was better not to see what was happening. After all, anything to do with the ck Shadow¡¯s mansion was automatically considered a memetic hazard in the eyes of the people. There was no reason for them to think any differently of this pir of light.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea flew through space, leaving the world of ninjas to return to herb once again, where she was weed by the arcane intelligence. After getting to her office, she closed her eyes and sent a mental message. <em><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯s done. ck¡¯s been taken care of. The only shadow left with them now is Red, but I doubt that he¡¯ll be an immediate issue.</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Very well. Thank you for this.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Tsubaki¡¯s voice responded. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Were you able to keep it under wraps, to avoid drawing attention?</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea¡¯s brow twitched at that. <em><span style="font-weight:400">That wasn¡¯t part of the request. Like I said, he¡¯s been taken care of.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki hesitated when she heard that, only responding a few secondster. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Understood. If the ck Shadow¡¯s death is connected to the recent incident at Oranii Seven, it is likely that those who discover it will see this as a form of divine retribution.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea nodded her head in agreement. <em><span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s fine, isn¡¯t it? I know your boss has the whole ¡®let mortals take care of mortal problems¡¯ policy, but he knows how dangerous memes can be. If this sends a message to people to not thoughtlessly study memetic powers, I would call that a win.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, Chelsea knew that that wasn¡¯t entirely true. As with any form of science, it had to be studied to be understood, to be developed into something that could help people. With the right meme, you could cure a deadly disease, restore lost limbs, or even defy death itself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">None of this would be possible if the study of memetic powers were banned outright, and both Chelsea and Tsubaki knew this. Thus, after a pregnant pause, she let out a sigh. <em><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯ll tell the elders not to make a fuss of it.</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Thank you, Lady Chelsea.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Tsubaki responded almost immediately, as if she had been waiting for Chelsea to say that. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Are there any developments worth noting in your research?</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea grunted at that, shaking her head. <em><span style="font-weight:400">We¡¯ve still got a mountain of data to get through yet. Right now, we think we might have something, but it¡¯s just a thread. We¡¯ll need to finish our analysis before we can reallye to any form of conclusion. Most likely, it will be another year or two before we¡¯re ready to conduct our next Law Merge experiment. And I doubt the Keeper wants to fast forward again so quickly.</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">I believe that is the case, as well.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Tsubaki answered in a respectful tone. <em><span style="font-weight:400">My Keeper has shown that he wishes to keep such things for times when they are truly needed.</em>

 Chapter 1117: Presentation

    Chapter 1117: Presentation


    <span style="font-weight:400">With Lena¡¯s introduction to Olympus out of the way, there was little left for me to immediately worry about when it came to the management of Olympus itself. For problems arising in the various worlds, we would receive reports as needed, so that was more efficient than me going down to investigate things myself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That wasn¡¯t to say that I didn¡¯t enjoy entering the mortal world every now and then in order to rx and walk around. However, it wasn¡¯t a critical part of managing the world, and was actually more of a risk for me to do so. Which is why Tsubaki always insisted that she apany me whenever I take such outings. Especially with the increase in memetic activity. Thest thing any of us needed was for me to be hit by a stray, mutated meme.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was one other thing on my mind, but I wasn¡¯t quite sure when I should go about it. And that was bringing Lena into the Admin Room, using the same Heaven¡¯s Gate system that Tsubaki and the others were under. Lena¡¯s loyalty had already been proven, this much was true. However, the fact that she had only just joined Olympus remained, so I wasn¡¯t sure if it was right to do so just yet.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I thought about that, I couldn¡¯t help but think about whether or not I would be taking her to the annual meeting at the end of the month. Given her skills in information gathering, she might be able to do quite a lot for me. With some coaching from Tsubaki and the others, she could drastically increase our earnings for this year.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Shaking my head, I turned my focus back to the guild chat. Ever since I had been told about the system that would let me ess chat from the mortal world, I had been keeping a closer eye on this. I¡¯d even contribute to the conversation now and then, at least when I thought that I would be able to contribute something useful.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For instance, I had consulted with Sarah about the new game that Ashley was working on, and she seemed to think that it would do well. Or at least, better than ourst one. At the very least, we could expect a return on the amount of points we¡¯re putting into the project.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, for the most part, I was learning from the others in the guild. Even those of a lower rank than myself had been Keepers for considerably longer than I had. This was because I had elerated through the ranks more quickly than most, thanks to my refusal to reset and other decisions that I had made.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I was thinking about that, a message came from Tsubaki, snapping me out of my focus. <em><span style="font-weight:400">My Keeper, Dana and Aurivy are waiting for you in the main lobby.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I arched my brow at that, curious what the two of them could want. Still, the fact that they came looking for me together meant that it must be something important, so I got up from my desk and made my way towards the elevator.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once I arrived, I saw Dana with a somewhat pleased smile, and Aurivy with the smug grin she had whenever she wanted to unveil a new project of hers. ¡°The two of you havee up with something?¡± I asked, to which both nodded their heads, Dana considerably more reserved than Aurivy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right! With the help of Dana here, I¡¯ve finally managed toplete two of the projects that I¡¯ve been really struggling with for a while!¡± She said, snapping her fingers to produce a spherical crystal, roughly half a meter in diameter. ¡°This is my prototype for a new type of auxiliary dungeon core. I say auxiliary because this core doesn¡¯t have a mind of its own, and only functions when ced next to an active dungeon¡¯s core.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right¡­ so, what is special about it?¡± I asked, and Aurivy gestured towards Dana to let her exin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°First of all, this core reads a challenger¡¯s party status, making sure that they only enter an instance with their own party. Secondly, the challenge level of each dungeon¡¯s instance is automatically adjusted to match the level of the party challenging it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This is why we had to make it a secondary core, so that the primary core was in charge of creating the individual monsters and traps, with the secondary core in charge of creating and popting the instance. Additionally, the secondary core is able to automatically evacuate anyone from the dungeon who is about to receive an attack that would drop their health into a negative value.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This won¡¯t prevent everything, as damage over time or natural hazards could still cause the death of an adventurer without being regarded as a new attack. However, there is onest mechanism that we managed to work in.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Loot!¡± Aurivy¡¯s grin grew wider when she suddenly shouted that word. ¡°In order to make the dungeons more appealing, we¡¯ve integrated the Digital Conversion system into this secondary core, creating an admin ount for the dungeons themselves.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Originally, we were using this to help them more easily print the monsters to fill the dungeons, since it would be too taxing on the primary cores. However! We realized that we could tie this into their loot rewards. Any item can be fed to the secondary core, which will scan it and create a Digital Conversion blueprint file that is contained within the core itself, and the dungeon in charge can share the file to other dungeons to use for their own loot tables.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Once the file is uploaded, the auxiliary core measures the amount of energy needed to produce the item, and assigns it an appropriate item level. Afterwards, that item will generate into suitably level instances, contained within scattered treasure chests.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod as I listened to this. ¡°How is this going to work with the dungeons that are already partnered with a mortal using the old Dungeon Master pact?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy, surprisingly, shook her head. ¡°Because the core is independent of the main dungeon core, any dungeon master won¡¯t be able to ess or alter its functions. They won¡¯t be able to use the free Digital Conversion system, and any attempts to ess the auxiliary core in this way will cause it to immediately shatter. That and we were going to put it on ownerless dungeons, or new ones. I¡¯ve even already run a test!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I arched my brow, Aurivy quickly exined. ¡°I¡¯ve started cing dungeons in Fyor, and giving them cores like these. Just recently, Lifre and Lena rushed into one of my new experimental dungeons. Just to make sure that everything was working fine, I kept an eye on them, but there were no problems!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a low sigh at that, nodding my head. ¡°Right. As long as they work properly, I am fine with you installing them wherever you see fit. But, you said that you had two projects that you were presenting?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy blinked for a moment, having clearly distracted herself away from what the other project was, before Dana cleared her throat and spoke up. ¡°That¡¯s right, sir. Our second project is something that needs a bit more consideration on your part. We¡¯ve created a new fast travel device, an inter-universal teleporter that doesn¡¯t rely on direct traversal through the void.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay¡­ I¡¯m curious. How did you manage to get that working?¡± I asked, and Aurivy¡¯s eyes lit up in recollection.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, yeah! That one took a little more work. You know that old idea of teleportation, where your body is broken down into its constituentponents, transmitted across a vast distance, and then instantly reassembled? We based this fast travel on that! It¡¯s made so that it won¡¯t consume any of my divinity when someone needs to travel. Instead, the fact that it came from me could cause it to increase the divinity that I gain over time!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°See, what we did is we set up multiple terminals, each linked to the same Digital Conversion ount. When you enter one of the terminals, the terminal scans you to create a temporary file, and then painlessly dissolves you into your base energies. Because all of these terminals share the same ount, that energy is then used at the target terminal, together with the temporary file, to print the traveler at their destination.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Because the Digital Conversion system exists within the void itself, across multiple universes, this eliminates the typical hazards of traveling through the void. Moreover, it won¡¯t interfere with our void defenses, whereas conventional travel methods have to consume far more energy to pierce those defenses.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod at that, before looking back at Dana. ¡°You said that this would require more consideration on my part?¡± So far, I had only seen the benefits, but that statement made me believe that there was more to be seen.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Dana confirmed. ¡°If we implement this technology, you specifically will be incapable of using it. We even added a safeguard in the device that would disable the terminal if it detected your admin ount.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What? Ohh¡­¡± Once she said that, I realized what she meant. ¡°It¡¯s another one of those, huh? Albeit brief, the act of dissolving my body into its base energies would count as a momentary death.¡± This was the same reason that I was unable to achieve the Perfect Self, because it required the user to enter a brief ¡®death¡¯ period.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Dana confirmed again, before Aurivy immediately cut in again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°But that¡¯s fine, isn¡¯t it? Whenever you really need to go somewhere, you typically have me take you anyways. You¡¯d never have a reason to use this device anyways.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod at that, before thinking. ¡°Are there safety mechanisms in ce to prevent a failed transfer? For instance, if someone tries to tamper with a person¡¯s file before it can be printed?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana gave a small smile at that. ¡°For regr mechanical failures, this won¡¯t be a problem. The temporary file is set to be deleted only after it is printed. Until then, it will simply wait in the system¡¯s registry. Should it remain for too long, it will be sent to the destination closest to their original goal.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As for tampering with the file itself¡­ that would require one to have the skills necessary to hack into the system, and ess the files stored within the ount itself. Furthermore, they would have to do this all within the brief period during the transfer, or else the file that they are looking for will already be deleted.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Now, assuming that someone had the skills to hack into this system ount, and also were able to dy the transfer long enough to get ahold of that file¡­ well, that¡¯s just a really inefficient way to murder someone. The amount of skills required to do that would be far more than it would take just to outright kill someone. It¡¯s also considerably easier to track, given how much would need to be done to make it work.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head in agreement. ¡°How many of these terminals do you n to install?¡± At present, there was only the single Fairy Ring located in every universe, meaning that travel had to be conducted at a set schedule, sometimes needing to wait days before you could make a trip you wanted. Or weeks, if you were in Spica or Lorek.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s the best part!¡± Aurivy grinned broadly. ¡°There¡¯s no limit to these. We could set up hundreds of them on every colonized in each universe. Travel would have never been easier.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I heard that, I hesitated. ¡°I think that might not be for the best. If you ced them on every colonized, then you will be heavily impacting space travel. With people able to freely and instantly travel between any, there would be no need for passenger ships to ferry them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Although these ships could be converted to exploration vessels, the demand for exploration beyond the colonized worlds has never been lower than it is now, because of all of the memetic hazards that exist beyond the Hypene Network.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Furthermore, if these passenger ships be defunct, the development of spaceships will be impacted negatively, as there will be even less demand for new innovations there.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy tilted her head, blinking as I continued. ¡°My suggestion would be to have these terminals on each of the base worlds, where the Fairy Rings are currently positioned. Aside from those, the only ones that should be installed are emergency points to allow necessary personnel to quickly travel from ce to ce. For instance, if a high-ranking memetic expert is needed to help solve an outbreak on an outer world, they can take the transit terminal to arrive immediately, rather than needing to go through your church.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Under normal circumstances, I might not have had a problem with shifting the focus away from passenger ships and letting these terminals take over. However, with the uing invasion by DarkestNight as a reference, I knew that we couldn¡¯t afford to let this branch of technologyg behind.

 Chapter 1118: New Home

    Chapter 1118: New Home


    <span style="font-weight:400">Across the various worlds, new dungeons were cropping up left and right, many of them appearing directly outside of cities. At first, this was a cause for rm among the residents, as the dungeons could be seen as a source of danger waiting to unfold. However, the truth about dungeons had long been known to the general public.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After the brief unease, several priests sought advice from Aurivy, the Goddess of Dungeons, and learned the true nature of these new dungeons, and that they were meant to be a training ground for new fighters. Lately, most of the training forbatants took ce in the virtual world, due to the higher degree of safety. In most game worlds, there was no true danger to be found. At worst, you risked losing the progress that you had built up.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In this way, many people considered the virtual world to be the ideal training ground for talented fighters. However¡­ Aurivy had a different opinion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As Aurivy exined it to her priests, a true warrior could not be born in a video game world. This was because there was no true sense of crisis to be found when training there. If someone were to be trainedfortably without experiencing a true danger, they would take their powers for granted, and would cower away from a true fight.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, Aurivy created this new variant of dungeon, known as Challenge Dungeons. These dungeons would automatically scale based on the level of the challenger, selecting appropriate obstacles and monsters to fight based on the target¡¯s level. And, while there were safeguards in ce to lessen the chance of someone being killed, the danger was notpletely eliminated.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This allowed the challenge dungeons to serve the role of tempering true warriors, building their courage in a setting where there was no guarantee of a revival. As for their proximity to major cities, this was to make them more convenient for people to travel to, so that they didn¡¯t have to traverse the wilderness in the hopes of finding a dungeon that, honestly, people would build a city around anyways.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In the wake of this dungeon development, another new technology hit the streets. This one, arguably, caused a muchrger wave across multiple different realms. After all, it allowed people to instantly travel without needing to reserve a timeslot days in advance. Almost overnight, the Fairy Rings were rendered obsolete.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There were even ns being made to have the rings dismantled. While rare, there were still cases where the rings would activate on their own and bring a random traveler over. This traveler could be anything from a mundane slime to an army of warrior goblins.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Between these two developments, people were able to gradually forget about the disaster that took ce on Oranii Seven, and the memetic entity that could have devoured the. Well¡­ most people. There were, of course, those that were unable to forget because of more personal reasons.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nelson¡¯s eyes went wide as he looked at therge room that had been presented to him, his sister standing a few steps behind him. ¡°Wow¡­ is this really all mine?¡± He asked in childlike wonder. No real surprise, given the fact that he was still truly just a child, despite the change to his body making him look years older than he really was.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nearby, Keenan nodded his head with a serious expression. ¡°That¡¯s right. Since you will be with the church from now on, we wanted to make sure that you had a suitable living space. Your sister¡¯s room will be just down the hall from yours, as well.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nelson looked back at Keenan when he heard that. ¡°We¡¯re not sharing a room together?¡± He asked, confused. The new room that he had been given was almost asrge as their old house, and he had always shared a room with his sister. After all, they were still young, and neither of them were toofortable with being alone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jace smiled, standing next to Keenan and crouching down, his eyes remaining closed. ¡°It¡¯s for the best this way, Nelson. You¡¯re a Fallen God now, but you don¡¯t have the training necessary to control your power. If you decide to go to sleep one night, and have a night terror, you could release your power without wanting to. Even if you don¡¯t sleep, simply getting frustrated at something could cause damage to your surroundings.¡± Nelson¡¯s eyes went wide with dread when he heard that, looking at his sister as Jace continued.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°But don¡¯t worry. We aren¡¯t going to iste the two of you from one another. This room is built to handle the energy that you could unconsciously release. Whenever you aren¡¯t studying or training, you¡¯re free to spend time with her whenever you want. Ah, but¡­ even though you don¡¯t need to sleep anymore, she still does, so try not to disturb her when she¡¯s resting, okay?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jace spoke in a kind tone, and Nelson nodded his head slowly. He turned to look at Brianna, who smiled, though she had a clear look of confusion on her face. ¡°So¡­ what do we do now?¡± Nelson asked, looking back at the two deities of the church that had brought them from Oranii Seven.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We¡¯re working on a special education program that will let you better control your new abilities.¡± Keenan told him with a nod. ¡°It might be a little slow going at first, but it shouldn¡¯t take you too long, as long as you are diligent with your work.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Isn¡¯t that great?¡± Brianna asked with a smile. ¡°Plus, we get to live in this really big dorm¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nelson hesitated briefly, before nodding his head. ¡°I¡¯m not¡­ going to be asked to fight for the church or anything, right?¡± He asked, a clear sign of trepidation in his tone. However, Jace shook his head to deny that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Terra¡¯s church doesn¡¯t do things like that. If there is a need for someone to resolve a conflict through force, it is only ever requested, not ordered. Even the two of us have the right to refuse to fight.¡± He gestured to indicate himself and Keenan. ¡°Someone of your age won¡¯t even be asked, so let the grown-ups handle that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nelson gulped, nodding his head. He thought back to the incident that started this all, looking at his sister again. ¡°What¡¯s going to happen with Bri?¡± He asked in a hesitant tone, nad Jace simply chuckled.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°She¡¯ll have normal lessons. If she wants to pursue a path of divinity, we will provide her with the opportunities to do so as she bes strong enough to handle it. Otherwise, living here won¡¯t be any different than living back on Oranii Seven..¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Additionally, the two of you will receive a weekly stipend for any living expenses, so you won¡¯t need to worry about that. Do you have any other questions?¡± Jace asked, the two looking at one another and shaking their heads. ¡°In that case, feel free to get used to your rooms. I¡¯ll send your lessons byter.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After he said that, Jace stood up, turning to walk down the hall with Keenan. Only once they had left the building did the felyn god Jace speak up again. ¡°Has there been any report on who caused the incident?¡± He asked in a quiet voice, Keenan shaking his head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ve conversed directly with Terra over the matter. She wouldn¡¯t tell me who did it, just that the matter had already been taken care of.¡± When Jace heard that, he let out a long sigh of relief.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sending memetic monsters to a remote colony like that¡­ If Nelson hadn¡¯t gotten lucky, the whole would have fallen, maybe even the Hypene node itself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m not sure that it was luck.¡± Keenan spoke up, and Jace turned his head towards him in confusion. ¡°I know, I¡¯ve already spoken with the goddess about this. She said that it wasn¡¯t her doing. However, it¡¯s possible that someone else interfered, and is keeping quiet about it. Otherwise, there is simply no way to exin how it yed out like that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jace simply chuckled when he heard that, shaking his head. ¡°If there is someone pulling the strings like that, I¡¯d like to have him on our side.¡± He said with a smile.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan hesitated at that, before ncing off to the side as Jace¡¯s ears twitched. Nearby, the familiar figure of Samantha could be seen running towards them. ¡°How are the kids?¡± She asked in concern.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Jace walked over and lightly pat her shoulder. ¡°They¡¯re fine. They¡¯re just getting used to their dorms now.¡± As the Goddess of Family, Samantha had volunteered to take care of the two children, despite the fact that she wasn¡¯t part of the church itself. That didn¡¯t change the fact that she was the half-sister of one of Terra¡¯s subordinates, and married to another.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Samantha nodded her head, ncing at the building that the two had just emerged from. ¡°I¡¯ll bring Devin byter, he should be able to get along with the two of them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thinking of his young son, Jace¡¯s expression softened, and he leaned in to kiss Samantha¡¯s forehead. ¡°I¡¯m sure that they would all like that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although the two of them were of different species, that stopped being a problem once Samantha ascended to godhood, allowing them to use the method of merging energies to create an offspring. And thus, Devin, the Demigod of Hope, came to be.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan chuckled, turning and leaving the two alone. He had his own matters to take care of. Specifically, he was the one in charge of fixing the damage that had been done to Oranii Seven. While they were there to retrieve the two siblings, he had taken care of some of the work, but there was still much left to change. He just had to prioritize taking care of a potentially vtile Fallen God rather than fix another crying window.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He pulled a golden ring from his inventory, using it to tear open a hole in the void and return to the colony world. Seeing several buildings still warped and twisted into horrific parodies of what they once were, he let out a long sigh, knowing that his day was only just getting started.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Rather than taking care of the residential district, he moved to the suspected origin point, where citizens had reported seeing the ck figure rising from. This was arge warehouse district, and he could clearly see where everything started. After all, the changes were spread by the creature¡¯s shadow, so all he had to do was find the point where the changes stopped.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Following the path of razorde concrete and jello grass, he soon found a single warehouse with a missing door, that door able to be seen a few dozen meters away wrapped around and chewing on a forklift. With a snap of his fingers, the door went back to being.. .well, a door, and the interior of the warehouse returned to a smooth, concrete floor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about trying to track down the origin, if that¡¯s why you¡¯re here.¡± A voice spoke up behind Keenan, causing him to nce over his shoulder. Upon seeing a familiar, silver-haired elf, he simply nodded his head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Terra said something simr. Does the Greater Pantheon not want people to know?¡± He asked curiously, working on fixing the path that he had walked over to reach the warehouse next.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s not that.¡± Leowynn smiled, shaking her head. ¡°If you have the ability, you are free to look into it. I was just giving you a bit of friendly advice. The person behind this was very good at covering their tracks, and they¡¯ve already been dealt with. I thought that pursuing the information would just be a waste of your time, Keenan.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keenan let out a long sigh. Having lived as long as he had, he had interacted with a few members of the Greater Pantheon over the years. Out of all of them, Leowynn was definitely not one to try to deceive people. Especially when it came to a matter rted to the void. ¡°I¡¯ll take your word for it. However, I just came here because it¡¯s quieter, and it felt like an easier area to start working.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">If he was seen walking around the city, there would be no end to the people running to him, begging for him to prioritize themselves or their homes. If he started from the origin point, he would have an easy excuse to ignore those people and take everything along a set path.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn grinned when she heard his answer. She had dealt with her fair share of people who believed that their problems should be prioritized over everyone else¡¯s, so she understood the deeper meaning. ¡°I¡¯ll let you get back to it, then. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ve already swept the area to make sure that there aren¡¯t any lingering memes.¡±

 Chapter 1119: Avenger

    Chapter 1119: Avenger


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°All personnel, prepare for weapons test.¡± A voice spoke up over the inte, the ship¡¯s atmosphere growing tense. Because this was a test run for a new weapon, they were operating on a skeleton crew, just enough to ensure that they would be able to get to their destination,unch the weapon, and then report back.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At the bridge of the ship, a halfling sat in the captain¡¯s chair, folding his hands in hisp. There was a solemn expression on his face that formed a stark contrast with how halflings were normally perceived. This was Captain Mason Haymes, of the battleship ck Star.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sir, we are ready tounch.¡± A nervous, human woman said from the weapons console, with short red hair and blue eyes. As the one who understood the most about this new weapon that they were testing, she had every reason to be concerned.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In recent decades, there had been an increase in demand for powerful weapons, capable of wiping out entires, stars, even sr systems in the blink of an eye. This demand came from none other than the Greater Pantheon itself, leading to most research departments being unable to refuse the requests.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When questioned about why such weapons were necessary, they were given a startling revtion. A vision of a future that the gods had foreseen, an invasion from beyond the Keeper¡¯s realm like no other. Monsters that possessed a size that defied logic, able to move at speeds surpassing that of light itself. Being able to annihte entires in an instant was just the bare minimum necessary to be able to hurt them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, even more concerning than their size and durability was the speed at which they moved. Most weapons were limited in their speed, unable to catch up with something moving faster than light. Even if they created a weapon capable of destroying a sr system, what good would it do if they missed their target?


    <span style="font-weight:400">This question led to a number of weapons being created over recent years. The most famous was the Void Cannon, which shattered a targeted region of space from a distance. This weapon could also be deployed as a mine, causing it to detonate whenever a monster passed by it. However, its fame was not for its effectiveness, but the damage it caused to the universe when used.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Whenever the Void Cannon fired, it would cause noticeable damage to the outer shell of the universe within the void. Fallen Gods, or even Leowynn herself, would have to be dispatched in an emergency bid to mend the damage before it could spread.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This weapon that they were testing now, however, possessed even more horrific possibilities. ¡°Has everyone made their peace?¡± Mason asked solemnly, fully understanding what could happen if this weapon failed. To test it, they had asked the Another World Research Group to make an entire universe just for them, a copy of Deckan where none of their people resided.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...Yes, sir.¡± The weapons officer nodded, as did the navigation officer. They were both ready for this test, whatever happened.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Understood. Launch the drone at the targeted region, and teleport it back after twenty seconds.¡± Hemanded, the navigation officer sending amand to one of the only two drones waiting in the ck Star¡¯s hangar.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It flew out of the ship, wrapped in blue light, and vanished. The officer counted down in her head, pressing the button to teleport it back after twenty seconds. The unmanned drone appeared in front of the ship in a sh of blue light, simply hovering there.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The ship was currently positioned outside of a sr system, the yellow orb a dim light in the distance. Mason¡¯s body tensed as he gave his nextmand. ¡°Activate Avenger. Set the time limit to twenty-four hours. Fire when ready.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Understood, sir.¡± The weapons officer nodded her head, speaking into the mic. ¡°Attention, all crew, the Avenger is being charged.¡± The warning wouldn¡¯t do any good if there was a malfunction, but she had to warn them, just in case.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Charging at ten percent, twenty¡­¡± She spoke up, staring at the screen. ¡°Time limit locked. Forty percent.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Eventually, the charging bar climbed all the way. ¡°One hundred percent. Activating Avenger.¡± She pressed the button with a shaking finger, and a ball of ck and green energy shot out from the main cannon of the ship. This ball of energy continued to elerate as it traveled, turning into a blurred beam that sped towards the heart of the sr system.


    <span style="font-weight:400">From their position, it would normally take ten hours for the light of the sun to reach them. That meant that, for normal weapons, without the aid of long-distance scanners, they would have no information about the result of the test for at least ten hours. However, that didn¡¯t happen here. After five minutes, when the ball of energy had reached its target coordinates, everything went dark.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The sun, thes, the asteroids, they were all simply gone. Even the drone positioned just a few hundred meters in front of the ship had vanished without a trace. Mason¡¯s body tensed, and he looked around, d to see that the light of other stars were still reaching them, as long as that light came from either side of the ship, and not ahead of it. ¡°...Dispatch the second drone to investigate.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yes, sir.¡± The navigation officer spoke up, more rxed now that the weapon had already been fired.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As the second drone wasunched, the weapons officer spoke into the inte again. ¡°Attention, the Avenger has been sessfullyunched.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mason closed his eyes, sending out a silent prayer. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Goddess Leowynn, is there any damage to the void barrier?</em><span style="font-weight:400"> One of the preparations needed to test this weapon was to have multiple members of the Greater Pantheon on standby. Leowynn and Terra were among these, both positioned outside of the universe where they were testing the weapon.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Negative. Terra and I aren¡¯t seeing any damage to the barrier.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Mason let out a sigh of relief, slumping back in his chair when he heard that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sir, the drone haspleted its return trip. There is no trace of any debris in the target zone.¡± The navigation officer spoke up, the second drone now returning to the hangar.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Understood. Let it be known that the first live test of the Avenger has concluded as a sess. Take us home, please.¡± As he said that, he marveled over the power over the weapon he had just released, and the horror that it represented.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This weapon could only be created with the cooperation of Terra from the Greater Pantheon. Its alternative name was the Causality Cannon, or Fate Erasure. ording to the briefing that he had received, it operated by selecting a targeted region of space, as well as a time period.


    <span style="font-weight:400">From there, the weapon erupted into a st of pure, destructive energy. However, what it destroyed was the Fate system itself on a localized scale. Any energy, any matter that passed through the target region between the selected time period and the time when the weapon wasunched would be erased. Even if something had left the affected st zone, it would be erased by the virtue of fate itself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was why the name was ultimately settled as the ¡®Avenger¡¯. This weapon was not designed to protect anything. It was designed toe in after a monster had swept through an area, and avenge those that had already fallen.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There had been experiments to disce the selected region to a different timeline instead of destroying them, which would have ultimately produced the same result. However, these tests had ended in failure, simply preventing that region of history from being observed by those capable of seeing the past.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The result of twenty years of research, and the full cooperation of the Greater Pantheon, was a weapon capable of annihting not only space, but a selected region of time.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terraid on her stomach on her bed in the Admin Room, humming to herself as she observed things from above as usual. Everyone else typically focused on their incarnations, but she wasn¡¯t able to descend as fully into them, so she watched. When she saw the results of the weapons test, she blinked. ¡°Huh¡­ I actually didn¡¯t think that was going to work.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Really?¡± Chelsea¡¯s voice spoke up, causing Terra to turn to face the doorway, where the kitsune engineer was standing, leaning against the frame. ¡°You took a personal interest in this project, and didn¡¯t think it would work?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra shook her head, rolling over to sit up on the bed. ¡°It was Leowynn¡¯s idea. She wanted to know if it was possible, and I mean¡­ theoretically, it was. However, it would need the cooperation of someone with a domain rted to time, and deep knowledge about timelines. Even then, the odds of sess were pretty low.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, what did you <em><span style="font-weight:400">expect </em><span style="font-weight:400">to happen?¡± Chelsea asked, smirking knowingly as she looked at Terra. As a former System Companion herself, she understood more than others.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I expected a total timeline copse, every possibility in existence disappearing from that universe. Every star, every speck of light and dust disappears, having never existed at all.¡± Terra shook her head as she spoke. ¡°Personally, I still think it¡¯s possible. I won¡¯t really believe that the weapon is safe for use without at least a dozen more tests.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯re worried that it¡¯s causingsting damage to the fate of the universe?¡± Chelsea questioned, and Terra nodded her head. ¡°Can¡¯t you check that to confirm?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not really. The system doesn¡¯t directly monitor other fate branches. We can still observe the true events of history here from the Admin Room, as if the bomb hadn¡¯t gone off until just now. However, since the timeline itself isn¡¯t monitored the same way, I can only observe the damage with my domain. Right now, I can¡¯t sense anything, but that could just mean that the damage is too minor for the moment.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea nodded her understanding. Other timelines, other universes, they were only monitored in the system when they ¡®existed¡¯. And they only existed when being actively observed by someone of the mortal world. That was why nar travel could open up new worlds that had previously not existed, yet already possessed sentient life and civilization.


    <span style="font-weight:400">They were there, but they did not exist in the eyes of the system, because they were inconsequential. Because nobody perceived them, they did not even appear within the void. Back in her original world with James, there had been those that eventually realized this and sought to take advantage of it, using these other universes as blind spots to avoid her gaze.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Some would hide in the other universes, others would manipte those within it remotely to prepare dangerous weapons. However, both methods had rather obvious ws. For the first group, remaining within the universe caused it to no longer be a blind spot. While they were there, it existed in the eyes of the system, and within the void.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Simrly, the constant contact and monitoring of thetter group led to a maintained perception of the universe, which caused that universe to appear both in the void and the system¡¯s monitoring. Theoretically, timelines would work the same way. If someone had a method to consistently view a single timeline, that timeline could possibly appear under the system¡¯s watch. But, as there was no way to do so reliably yet, only one timeline was ever perceived, and that was the ¡®true¡¯ timeline.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, hopefully there won¡¯t be any permanent damage.¡± Chelsea said as she pushed off from the doorframe. ¡°Personally, I like the concept of the Avenger, and I wish we had something like that back in my world. I¡¯ll start arranging for the next test to determine the upper limit of its destructive power. We need to know whether or not it can destroy divine-level threats, too.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, they wouldn¡¯t be using actual gods as target practice, but rather powerful divine cores created as artifacts to represent gods of varying strengths.

 Chapter 1120: Fate’s Banquet

    Chapter 1120: Fate¡¯s Banquet


    <em><span style="font-weight:400"></em><em>


    </em><em>


    </em>


    <em></em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Looks like the experiment was a sess.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> The Fallen Terra looked at her twin, smiling. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Should we go and run our own test?</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Divine Terra gave a firm nod, ncing at the departing Leowynn. There was still one important part of the weapons test that they still needed toplete, and only a few individuals were even aware of what that entailed, even among the Greater Pantheon. It wasn¡¯t that they were purposely trying to hide it, but that it would be more trouble than it was worth toe out and say it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two quickly left, heading to the sanctuary of the Fallen Terra, a vast meadow with a shimmering, blue sky. It was currently positioned near the Deckan universe, among a cluster of other fallen sanctuaries.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As soon as theynded, the two looked at one another, grinning. ¡°Think that it worked?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I hope so. Even big sis couldn¡¯t say for sure, so who knows?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">This had all started when the two of them had asked the main body of Terra how an Origin was supposed to increase their power. At the time, Terra had said that she couldn¡¯t tell them, because of the rules that bound her very existence, so they had to leave it at that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Over time, the two of them began to specte on ideas of their own, bouncing them off of Terra¡¯s main body. Sometimes, she was able to outright say that an idea wouldn¡¯t work, but other times she couldn¡¯t do so.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was a ratherrge problem for the two of them. While the Origin of Fate had short-term output far surpassing that of a normal god or fallen, its sustainability in a fight was horrid. In their minds, an Origin should be the best of both worlds, possessing the sustainability of a fallen that can draw their power from the void, as well as the sheer power output of a stronger god.


    <span style="font-weight:400">They had tried methods of gathering energy for both gods and fallen, whether it was meditating in the void to absorb the raw information present, or spreading their names far and wide to gather faith. Honestly, thatst one shouldn¡¯t even have needed to be mentioned, given that they were the incarnation of one of the most revered members of the Greater Pantheon.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Both methods worked¡­ sort of. They were enough to maintain the Origin form for only a few seconds every month, but other methods had proven wholly ineffective.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Try to understand the essence of Fate to build a connection with the Origin? Well, she got better at seeing the past and future, but the energy consumption was still the same.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Try to make sure that you are present at key points of history, so that you can be at the epicenter of multiple fates? Turns out, even the biggest disasters are microscopic in the grand scheme of things.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was when they came to this most recent attempt. As far as most people were aware, the Avenger weapon was designed to annihte a designated period of time with vast, destructive energies. And, in their defense, that was not entirely a lie! It was actually more true than not! However, there was a key misconception that they never bothered to correct, and it was this misconception that formed the foundation for the weapon¡¯s operation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The designated time was not destroyed by the Avenger weapon, per se. Rather, it was transferred. Not to another timeline, they really did try that first. This had been an idea that they came up with when they were racking their brains to try toe up with a better answer.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Instead, that time period was transferred directly to the Origin of Fate, consumed by it. They were aware of the theory that an Origin was naturally created by producing and absorbing a world made to bepatible with a particr Origin. Because of this, they believed that the power that an Origin possessed did not originate from the infinite, raw energy of the void, but rather the more highly refined energy present within the world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If this was indeed the case, then ¡®sampling¡¯ that information would be enough to prove it. However, they were not the Origin of Fire, capable of devouring a star to consume its ¡®information¡¯. They were the Origin of Fate, and would thus need to find a way to consume fate. A way that would not be seen as¡­ well, as adverse as it could be.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When they pitched this idea to the main body of Terra, she actually didn¡¯t know how to respond. She believed that the theory behind it was sound, but there was no way for her to reliably answer whether or not it would work.


    <span style="font-weight:400">So, they set their n into motion, using the precious few moments that they had saved of their Origin form to imbue the Avenger weapon with the ability to consume fate in a designated area. In total, they had managed to make fifteen of these weapons, but were nning to make more if the idea worked, and gave them more time to ess their Origin form.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Terra twins reached out, cing their palms against one another. They didn¡¯t have to fully transform in order to measure the time that they had left, but did need to maintain physical contact, allowing their energies to connect.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Previously, they had enough Origin energy tost for roughly three seconds, before the first Avenger had been fired. Three seconds wasn¡¯t enough time to do much, and it would be cut far shorter if they actually tried to use their power in that form.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now, the two of them were focusing, the Divine Terra being the first to open her eyes in surprise. ¡°Five minutes?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Fallen Terra nodded her head, looking at their hands. ¡°That one Avenger gave us a year¡¯s worth of meditation? Should webine, and have <em><span style="font-weight:400">her</em><span style="font-weight:400"> analyze it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Divine Terra pulled a face, but nodded her head. ¡°It would probably be for the best. Her connection is deeper than either of ours, so she¡¯ll probably be able to figure out what gave us so much time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">With that said, the two of them began to glow brightly, one gold and the other c, before walking into each other. There was a brief swirl of energy, which quickly calmed to form the image of the Origin of Fate, yet another Terra with pitch ck eyes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If others saw thembine in this way, they would have likely felt cheated, given the ceremony that the two usually put on whenbining. However, that was not strictly needed, as long as they properly harmonized their energies.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Origin of Fate chuckled for a moment, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. She was not truly another consciousness belonging to the incarnation, but rather abination of both the Divine and Fallen Terra¡¯s. Thisbination could lead to a slightly chaotic approach to things, but there was little that she could do about that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I see¡­ so that¡¯s what happened.¡± The Origin muttered, a sly grin forming on her face. The other two couldn¡¯t properly sense the change, but she could. Within her core, there now existed a small strand of essence, slowly being burned away by the sheer fact of her existence. This strand was none other than the twenty-four hour timeframe that the Avenger weapon had consumed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, it was more than that. There were tiny branches near the end of the strand, and she focused her sight in on those branches. They were all focused on one thing, the drone that had been sent in before the test. In some branches, the drone was called back just slightly sooner, and in others it waster. In some branches, they left the drone there until the weapon was fired.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With this information, the Origin was able to piece together quite a lot. For the uing tests, she would only be getting a small amount of time from each firing of the weapon, depending on howrge of a timeframe they set. But, when it came time for the invasion, or if for some reason the weapons were truly needed before then, that would give her a much more significant amount of energy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">What she was feeding on were the <em><span style="font-weight:400">possibilities</em><span style="font-weight:400"> that existed, and were thus being snuffed out by the activation of the Avenger weapon. If the weapon was used against a true threat, then it would have to be set to a time period at least just before the disaster took ce. Which meant that there would still be conscious life within the scope of the consumed fate.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Conscious life meant the ability to make decisions, to alter one¡¯s fate. And with every decision made, a new path would present itself. Add in the millions, maybe even billions of creatures that would be in the st radius, and every branching decision that they could make in the affected time period¡­


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Origin of Fate knew that she should not be looking forward to such a thing, as it meant that a disaster had struck requiring use of such a terrifying weapon. However, if she were able to use that energy to prevent more disasters in the future, that would mean that it was for a good cause, would it not?


    <span style="font-weight:400">After thinking of that, the Origin of Fate divided itself once more, forming the twin incarnations of Terra. These two looked at one another in shock, remembering the revtion that the Origin had made. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ not how I was expecting it to go.¡± The Divine Terra spoke hesitantly, her twin nodding her head in agreement.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right?! But, maybe this means we¡¯ll actually be able to participate in things again soon. We haven¡¯t really had much of an impact since we got to this point. I wonder if Dale would let us use this power on a specially created, dead universe¡­?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Divine Terra shook her head at that. ¡°It probably wouldn¡¯t work. If there aren¡¯t any creatures capable of conscious thought, that means that there wouldn¡¯t be any diverging paths of fate for us to consume. We might actually use more energy trying than we would gain back. And if we used it on a living universe, then think of all the karma bacsh.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I guess. We would need to find a that once had civilization, but that civilization was wiped out in the past, and ensure that we were the first to find it. Also, we¡¯d need to make sure that nobody else had flown through that region of space ever since that civilization disappeared¡­ yeah, that would take a lot of our time, energy, but most of all luck.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Fallen Terra let out a huff, shaking her head. ¡°Either way! Do you think we should at least go tell Dale? He¡¯s the Keeper, so he should know if the most powerful weapon at his disposal just got an upgraded battery life.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Divine Terra thought about it for a moment, before nodding her agreement. ¡°Sure. Besides, it¡¯s not like what we are doing is really bad. We did everything we could to limit the scope of the consumption to the parameters set when the Avenger is fired, so the end result is basically what we reported to the analysts.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two nodded their heads at one another, focusing. A momentter, they disappeared, reappearing just outside of Olympus. The two of them hummed lightly to themselves, holding hands as they walked into the elevator in perfect harmony. ¡°Take us to the Keeper, Hermes, please and thank you!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course, mydies.¡± The AI in charge of transportation responded, a blue light shing in the elevator. A yful grin appeared on the faces of both girls as they walked through the halls, only to pause, seeing a young, blonde, kitsune maid with purple highlights in her hair. ¡°Have we seen her before?¡± The two asked one another. This was a face that they weren¡¯t used to seeing, after all, and very few people ever made it into Olympus.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Maybe Dana decided to look more like Tsubaki?¡± The Divine Terra suggested, only for the Fallen twin to shake her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, no,Dana already has her big girl form. She just doesn¡¯t like to use it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As the two were speaking, the kitsune walked over to them with a smile, giving them a polite bow. ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to meet the two of you. I am Lena, the new information specialist of Olympus, serving under my senior, Tsubaki.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Information specialist?¡± The two sisters looked at one another, blinking. ¡°Were we reced?!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, no, calm down, it shouldn¡¯t be that bad.¡± The Fallen Terra said anxiously. ¡°I¡¯m sure she fills a role we¡¯re not meant for. We¡¯re still the ones that predict attacks meant for the Keeper in the present, and keep an eye out for future dangers.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena looked¡­ rather awkward when she heard that, causing the two to gasp. ¡°Wait, wait.¡± The Divine Terra spoke up again, looking at her sister. ¡°Our ability to look into the past can¡¯t be challenged! We¡¯re still number one when ites to investigation!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Somehow, Lena looked <em><span style="font-weight:400">even more</em><span style="font-weight:400"> awkward. The twins looked almost panicked, trying to think of other roles that they could fill. The Divine Terra opened her eyes wide. ¡°Ah! We can use the Origin power to predict the oue of a n! Surely that¡¯s not something other people can do!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay, you got me there on that one.¡± Lena spoke up, and the twins let out a synchronized sigh of relief.

 Chapter 1121: Darwin Award

    Chapter 1121: Darwin Award


    <span style="font-weight:400">When the twins told me about their discovery rted to the Origin of Fate, I was honestly surprised. To be fair, I hadn¡¯t even been fully aware of the limitations of their power. Whenever we needed them to use their abilities, they always seemed to have enough power to do so. From the looks of things, they just tried to use their Origin form as little as possible, so that they didn¡¯t burn through their energy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Given the cost of replicating the Origin¡¯s power with Lena¡¯s ability, it is safe to say that we won¡¯t have any form of recement for her any time soon. Not that we should really need on, especially once she was able to ess more of her power.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With that said, there was still a fair bit to go before true Origins began to appear. There was still so much that we just didn¡¯t know about them, as proven by this new discovery.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, I gave my blessing for the two of them to continue with the Avenger weapon production. The way I saw it, as long as the weapons weren¡¯t mishandled, the benefits severely outweighed the risks. Granted, I could see some rather obvious ws with how the weapon was set up.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For instance, if someone escaped the area just before a disaster, and the Avenger was used on the area to eliminate the creature that had caused that disaster. In that case, the escaped survivors would be caught up in the effect, even if they had made it to safety.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Because of this, the weapons were truly only for the most dire of threats, where just a few lives couldn¡¯t possiblypare to the billions that would be killed by letting a monster roam free.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That said, the very fact that they can do this makes me believe that there is a more effective way to kill such creatures. However, doing so would require the Origin to actively use her power, which obviously isn¡¯t something that she can do regrly. Otherwise, she could just go to the scene of the disaster, and personally release a more controlled version of the Avenger.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Regardless, that was all something to think about when she was able to y a more active role in the world.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lenaid on her bed, idly kicking her legs in the air above her as she scrolled through the different conversations that she had recorded with her divine power. Currently, it was the turn of the former ¡®White Shadow¡¯ Lena to go and y with Lifre, so she was keeping herself entertained by seeing if there was anything important to be found in this information.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Because of how the technique she used worked, there was a limit to this form of intelligence gathering. She could attach keywords to filter the information, but otherwise she had to choose between scrolling through manually, or downloading several hundred sets of recorded dialogue every day directly into her mind.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Even Lena did not feelfortable doing that on such arge scale. If it were one or two organizations that she had infiltrated, it would be fine. Four or five, she¡¯d start to find annoying to keep track of all of the information flooding into her head, but she could deal with it. But, when it reached more than a hundred criminal organizations?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Yeah, it was filters and manual scrolling for her. Unfortunately, filters were notoriously ineffective when working with monitoring powers like this, precisely because they were so well established. It was amon belief that the Greater Pantheon had filters in ce to look for anyone referencing certain terms like the Keeper, so criminals did their best to bypass that by speaking in a barely concealed code.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As for cracking the code and setting <em><span style="font-weight:400">those</em><span style="font-weight:400"> filters? Every organization had their own, unique way of handling it. Without a unified code, she could only hope for one of them to slip up.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ultimately, this led to her having to spend quite a bit of time scrolling through conversations to look for any interesting topics. Not Cecilia¡¯s bean casserole recipe that she learned from her mother, or Elizabeth¡¯s steamy encounters with her partner. No, she needed actual, actionable content.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sometimes, she would split her consciousness, uses dozens of avatars at once just to give her more eyes to skim through the recordings. For the moment, she wasn¡¯t quite <em><span style="font-weight:400">that</em><span style="font-weight:400"> bored, but she was getting there.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she thought about the possibility of creating avatars, Lena¡¯s brow perked, and she sat up, staring at a line of text on the screen before her. ¡°Okay, yeah, red g detected.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">She took a deep breath, pulling her head back. ¡°Seniooooor! I found an idiot!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena had left her door open, allowing her voice to travel throughout the halls. Now¡­ she could have easily just asked Hermes to send a message for her. However, she knew that there were three different avatars of Tsubaki cleaning her pce at any given time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sure enough, roughly a minuteter, Tsubaki knocked on the frame of her doorway, stepping inside. ¡°I was told that you wanted to see me?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena grinned, rolling over to sit up on her bed. ¡°Yeah! Well, I wish that the situation in which I was required to call you didn¡¯t ur, but yeah! I found a real moron that could <em><span style="font-weight:400">very</em><span style="font-weight:400"> easily be a problem.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki arched her brow when she heard that, gesturing for Lena to continue. ¡°So, there¡¯s this crime family on Earth, the Scarlets. They tend to fly under the radar, never openly performing a violent crime. However, they are weapon smugglers, and have contacts in severalbs.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I just caught wind that they¡¯re wanting to acquire an Avenger, and n to have one of the weapons go missing before it can be sent over to another organization. Typically, I¡¯d just put a pin in that conversation, and alert the authorities. I mean, the Avenger is a totally scary weapon, but the theft is still a mundane enough crime.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What made you change your mind?¡± Tsubaki asked, her eyes narrowing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The group that they¡¯re nning to sell the Avenger to is on one of my watchlists. As in, potentially anti-Keeper watchlist. I figured¡­ if a group like that got ahold of the Avenger, they wouldn¡¯t need to target the boss. All they would need to do is target anywhere that he has ever been, and they can get the job done.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s eyes widened when she heard this, before her pupils shrank and her eyes narrowed dangerously. ¡°Did they happen to give any details, such as when the transfer would be taking ce, or when the weapon would be stolen?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena nodded her head. ¡°Well, the transfer won¡¯t be scheduled until after the weapon has been secured. However, they¡¯re nning to talk to their guy on the inside about sneaking one of the weapons out for themter this week. From the conversation that they had, they¡¯re nning to sneak it out, scan it to remove the patent tag, and then sell the Digital Conversion file. As long as they do that and sneak the weapon back into the warehouse in time, nobody would know that it had been stolen.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki paused, curious about that. ¡°Removing the tag? Is that something that is easy to do?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not really, but you can do it with the right skillset.¡± Lifre nodded her head. ¡°Smugglers use a special DC Hack in order to remove any and all tags from an item, making it so that they can either produce their own weapons based on the schematic file, or they can sell the file itself if the price is right.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki gave a grave nod of her head. ¡°This can certainly not be allowed to stand.¡± Tsubaki realized that she was starting to understand better how the Keeper processed time, as it didn¡¯t feel that long ago when the file patent add-on had been implemented. However, this happened decades ago, giving more than enough time for people to identify a measure around it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Do you want to go for the Scarlets, or the gged organization that they nned to sell to?¡± Lena asked, Tsubaki considering the question.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Personally, I would prefer to remove both parties from the equation. If only one is taken down, the other could find alternative methods to achieve their goals. However, it is fine to let the regr police handle the Scarlets. Although they were involved in this, they were only a middle-man, given what you have described.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The other organization, however, is showing a clear and hostile intention. One that is likely to be directed at none other than my Keeper. Moreover, they are showing a willingness to act by gathering weapons of mass destruction.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Because of that, I will personally pay that group a visit, while you alert the police about the actions of the Scarlet family, under the name of Olympus.¡± If Lena were to tip them off as herself, there was a chance that nobody would believe her. However, if she was acting as the Keeper¡¯s voice, that was another matter.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At that point, their guilt or innocence would be inconsequential. The direct subordinates of the Keeperbeled someone as guilty, and that would be all that they needed to know.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena nodded her head, already pulling out her terminal. ¡°The other organization doesn¡¯t usually meet in person. Typically, they operate using the private messaging system, using online forums as a way to keep and share notes.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°When they do need to meet, they only ever meet two at a time out of paranoia. Takes longer for the information to spread through the group, but it also means that they can¡¯t be ambushed all at once. I infiltrated them once, back in the day, and got the addresses for their roster at the time. New people may have been added, and some may have left, but I¡¯ll text you the list that I have, to see who all is still living in the same ce.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded her head, grateful when she heard that. ¡°It seems like a lot of people are trying unusual situations to try to get out of being cornered.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, you don¡¯t know the <em><span style="font-weight:400">half</em><span style="font-weight:400"> of it.¡± Lena rolled her eyes with a scoff, her fingers rapidly typing on the terminal. ¡°There¡¯s this one group that I found. They¡¯re so scared of being caught by a filter, that they use exclusively animal pet names for important topics. They like to call the boss Pochi, and you¡¯re Kon to them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s eye twitched when she heard those nicknames. <em><span style="font-weight:400">It could be worse.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> She assured herself, though she personally couldn¡¯t figure out <em><span style="font-weight:400">how</em><span style="font-weight:400"> it could be worse at the moment. She received a ping, and pulled her terminal out of her inventory to review the information that Lena had given her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she had expected, she did not recognize the names of anyone on the list. ¡°I¡¯m going to go¡­ introduce myself to them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena chuckled, grinning towards Tsubaki as her senior ninja turned to leave. ¡°As the Keeper¡¯s voice, his de, or the Apostle of Death?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nced back towards Lena, an eerily calm smile on her face. Lena couldn¡¯t help but feel a shiver run down her spine as Tsubaki spoke. ¡°Those three titles are not mutually exclusive.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah¡­ they definitely deserve to be called idiots.¡± Lena let out a long sigh as she said that. ¡°Just make sure to check the uracy of the addresses! The information was from six months back, so there¡¯s the chance that someone might have moved. Don¡¯t want to implicate an innocent family or anything.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki paused when she heard that, but nodded her head in agreement.

 Chapter 1122: The Big Reveal

    Chapter 1122: The Big Reveal


    <span style="font-weight:400">With Lena keeping an eye on therger criminal organizations, making sure that none of them tried to do something <em><span style="font-weight:400">incredibly</em><span style="font-weight:400"> stupid, the days managed to pass rather peacefully. We created as many weapons as we could to prepare for the iing invasion, and spread our defensive forces out across our inhabited worlds. Gods and Fallen Gods alike were stationed at every colonized star system, and even regr citizens could feel the increased tension from the distribution of forces.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, there was one thing left to do before the invasion, and that was the annual meeting. This meeting was going to start in just over an hour, and we would have a week to get as many points or other rewards as we could.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Given Lena¡¯s performance since joining Olympus, I believed that she was trustworthy to apany us to this meeting. But first, I needed to have a talk with her. Thus, I looked up at the ceiling, calling out to the digital intelligence in charge ofmunication. ¡°Hermes, can you let Lena know that I would like to speak with her?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course, Keeper.¡± Hermes responded, before going silent. Roughly a minuteter, there was a knock on my office door.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You wanted to see me, boss?¡± Lena asked, poking her head in. She blinked in surprise at my serious expression, and I gestured for her toe in and take a seat. ¡°My clone and I didn¡¯t mess up anything big, did we?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I shook my head, offering a small smile. ¡°Not that I am aware of. But there are some things that we need to talk about, and not a lot of time to talk. So please, take a seat.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena looked confused, but quickly ran over to sit across from me, nodding her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°How much do you know about Keepers, Lena?¡± I asked, wanting to develop a baseline for the conversation, that way I knew what I needed to fill in or correct.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena thought about that for a moment, and I could tell that she was taking this seriously, which I appreciated. ¡°ording to the information I have ess to, a Keeper is born together with the void, but likely resides within a separate realm for the majority of their existence. Additionally, time within this separate realm does not always move at the same pace as time in the mortal world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Next, the Keeper possesses the ultimate power of creation, but this power must abide by a set of rules. Otherwise, you wouldn¡¯t have anything to worry about, and there would be no need for you to have Chelsea and the others researching world creation on their own. Following this logic, there is a system in ce for Keepers, one that exists above the normal mortal system.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Through this system, you are able to exert your power to execute a vast, yet limited number of options. These options allow you to interact with the world, such as altering the worldws, updating the system we live under, or creating entirely new worlds or gods.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Next, there is a hierarchy among the gods that you have created, with Terra being in a special position. Of all of the members of the Greater Pantheon, she is the only one that can¡¯t directly inhabit her mortal vessel. This can be seen from how they act, showing that it is not a matter of choice on her part. Given that I cannot see you cing those restrictions on her yourself, these restrictions muste from the system, which has deemed her to be in a position where it would disrupt the bnce of the world if she had direct control.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°History has proven that there exist other Keepers, who typically have a hostile rtionship with each other. However, this is not always the case, as proven by the existence of the memetic sensor that was received. That technology was of apletely different field of thought from how we invent, so it is unlikely to havee from this world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°These other Keepers appear to invade randomly, but using the previously gathered information, it can be assumed that there is actually a set schedule for their invasions. However, this set schedule follows the timeline of your separate dimension, so it gives the appearance of being random to the mortal world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Finally, it is within the Keeper¡¯s power to elevate the status of a mortal, allowing them to ess your separate dimension through one of two methods. The first method, as was shown with Leowynn and to a lesser extent Giles, allows you to turn them into a fully fledged deity of the Greater Pantheon or resident of your other dimension. The second method, which you have used on Tsubaki, Lifre, and Dana, allows them to seamlessly travel between dimensions, without elevating their mortal status itself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but blink as I looked at Lena, my eyes widening. I had assumed that she had gathered a fair amount of information, but at this point, there was almost nothing left for me to exin myself. ¡°You came to all of those conclusions on your own?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena gave a broad grin at that. ¡°Some of that stuff is justmon knowledge. There are also a lot of spections, like whether you were born with your knowledge, or if you inherited it from a previous Keeper. Like, you might have gotten your knowledge of how to use your abilities from your system or other Keepers, or because you met the Keeper of a previously destroyed world. This would follow with the im that your death marks the end of creation, because it erases the void itself and causes a new Keeper to be chosen.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As for the stuff with my senior, that was easy to figure out. She is way too harsh on herself with her training, so there is no way that she wouldn¡¯t be up to date with thetest techniques used by various professions. If she was like Leowynn, and could freely interact with the world from the other dimension, then there would be no reason for her not to know all of that stuff. The only logic that works is that she had no time to train while she was gone, and no ability to interact with the world. Also, when I transformed into her, I had the feeling that she had been a Keeper at some point in the past.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You even managed to figure all of that out¡­¡± I let out a low sigh, shaking my head. ¡°Well¡­ this will make a lot of things easier. You are spot-on with almost all of your assumptions. Including the fact that I met the previous Keeper. Well¡­ after a fashion.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena¡¯s eyes widened at that. ¡°You killed him, right? But you totally don¡¯t seem the type. Was he some kind of crazed murderer or something, and you were acting as the hero of justice?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a bitter chuckle, resting my face against my hand. ¡°I was a delivery driver, overworked and underpaid, and he was azy slob that didn¡¯t look both ways when crossing the street.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena paused, blinking slowly. ¡°Wait, really? That¡¯s the big reveal? Don¡¯t you want to embellish the story a bit? If you do, I¡¯ll give you some time toe up with something and try again, I don¡¯t mind.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, that¡¯s really how it went. Thest Keeper was a coward, who was so scared of invasions from other Keepers that he forcibly halted the world¡¯s progress, living a leisurely life without ever once revealing himself to the masses. Any three year old child in my world would be stronger than him.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s¡­ harsh.¡± Lena muttered, before focusing on me again. ¡°So, what is this about? Given the context, you must be considering elevating me like my senior, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded slightly. ¡°That¡¯s right. But first, I wanted to know how much more I needed to exin, so I¡¯ll just fill in the gaps of your understanding. The power that I exert through the system is referred to as points, which can be earned in four ways. The first is passive ie, which I earn by allowing my worlds to develop new technologies and cultural advancement. This is a small, yet constant source of points that can be used to upgrade the world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The second method is through achievements. If either myself or my world create a significant achievement in the eyes of the system, I am awarded a small number of points, as well as potentially an additional reward. One of these rewards is the method to ¡®elevate¡¯ people, as you called it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The third method is through invasions, either defending or attacking. If we seed in a defense, I earn points based on the number of enemies the opponent sends, as well as their strength. If we seed in attacking, and kill the enemy Keeper, I inherit all of their worlds, and can refund them for their point value in the system.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The method of invasions is good for lump sums of points, but naturallyes with the associated dangers. If the enemy kills me, the other Keeper inherits all of my worlds, and may twist them into horrid abominations, or delete them outright.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The final method is good for lump sums, and has much less danger, but is lessmonly avable to me. This is through a regr event hosted by the system, and avable to all Keepers. We call it our annual meeting, because it happens once every year, ording to the system clock. In this meeting, there are various activities for the Keepers to participate in that can award them points, and they are free to bring people from their own worlds.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I offered a small smile, letting out a long breath. ¡°This is where Tsubaki became a Keeper, as you mentioned. She participated in one activity that allowed her to experience life as a Keeper, with Dana as her assistant, equivalent to what Terra is for me.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The next annual meeting is starting in less than an hour now. Given your performance, I believed that you were trustworthy to take with me to the meeting.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena¡¯s eyes widened, clearly having not expected me to ask her to join me. ¡°Wait¡­ wait wait wait. You mean that you revealed all of this to me, and not only are you not expecting me to try to kill you to be the Keeper myself, but you are inviting me to a highly sensitive meeting where I could either help you or be a disruptive force? Are you insane? Like, seriously, is there something wrong with your head?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help butugh at that. ¡°I don¡¯t believe that you would try to take advantage of that. And if you did attack me, Terra is probably watching right now and has the ability to pull me out of the world before a fatal blow isnded. She probably would have pulled me out the instant that you decided to attack.¡±


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Got that right¡­</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Terra¡¯s voice spoke up in the back of my mind.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena hesitated, but nodded her head. ¡°Got it. So, what do you want me to do in this meeting? Am I just helping you collect points, or do you want me to gather information on other Keepers?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I smiled slightly, trying to dispel her serious demeanor. ¡°Your first priority should be collecting points. And¡­ Did I mention that the vast majority of the activities at this event take the form of games? You won¡¯t be able to use your enhanced powers, but your personal judgment and skill will remain.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena¡¯s eyes widened again. ¡°Wait, you want me to go to this meeting to¡­ y games? Am I being pranked right now? Because if so, this is a good one.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m being serious, Lena.¡± I told her, reaching across the desk to lightly flick her forehead, causing her to hold her head with an aggrieved look. ¡°There are also special rewards that can be earned in these games, tickets that allow a Keeper to either force an attack on someone, or cancel an attacking their way. Additionally¡­ as soon as we return from this meeting, the next invasion will begin.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena¡¯s eyes immediately became serious. ¡°I understand, sir. In that case, would you allow me to try to gather information on the forces that the other Keeper is bringing in? I¡¯ll need any identifying information that you can provide me.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The only thing that I know is their title, which is DarkestNight. For reference, mine is EarthForceOne. Gathering information on DarkestNight won¡¯t be easy, since we don¡¯t know what they look like or anything like that. That¡¯s why I said that your first priority is to y those games to earn points.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena slowly nodded her head, but maintained a pensive expression. ¡°I understand, sir. I¡¯ll do my best to help you in this uing meeting.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">With that, I began to exin to Lena how the meeting area worked, and the kinds of things that she could expect to find there.

 Chapter 1123: A Warning

    Chapter 1123: A Warning


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena closed her eyes, focusing on the new power that the Keeper said that he had bestowed on her. She could feel something akin to a gateway in her mind, and so she concentrated on prying it open. To her dismay, the gate opened slowly, almost theatrically, and it refused to go faster no matter how she urged it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Exactly thirty seconds after she began to focus on the gate, it was fully open, and she felt a new power envelop her body. A power beyond herprehension, one that seemed like it was far outside anything that she had sensed before. It sent shivers down her spine, but it was gone just as quickly as it had arrived.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Lena opened her eyes, she was standing within a rather¡­ humble living space. There was a decent couch, as well as a ck screen on one wall. She could see a kitchen attached to the living area, as well as a hallway that led further into the house.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">This is the Keeper¡¯s true pce?</em><span style="font-weight:400"> She asked herself in bewilderment. She had expected avish mansion with silken carpets and lighting made of captured stars. Or perhaps the most advanced technology imaginable, with solid holograms forming the various pieces of furniture that could be configured at the user¡¯smand. But this¡­ this felt like a house that a middle-ss family would live in, at best.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Someone¡¯s thinking rude thoughts.¡± A voice spoke up, and Lena saw Terra smirking at her nearby, standing together with the rest of the Greater Pantheon, along with a few other faces. Most of these faces she recognized, though there was one new to her, at least personally. She had heard of the purple unicorn centaur, hailed as the daughter of Tryval, the eternal princess and first queen of Sher Dien, Alme.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sorry.¡± Lena said, scratching the back of her head. ¡°This just¡­ is this it, really?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper gave a knowing chuckle. ¡°This is the Admin Room that I told you about. Don¡¯t let the appearance fool you, this is just what I set it as to make it morefortable for me. The Admin Room can be altered by the mind of its inhabitants, and shaped into any form they desire. I¡¯ve seen people set up their Admin Rooms like corporate offices, grand pantheons, or even fluffy, bouncing castles. To me¡­ just a home that I can share with my friends is the mostfortable.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena blinked quickly, but nodded her head. ¡°Right. So, how long until this meeting starts?¡± She asked, tilting her head. The Keeper nced off into the empty space, eyes seeming unfocused.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right¡­ about¡­ now.¡± He muttered, and Lena felt something distinctly shift, a trace of the power that she had sensed upon arriving in this space. For a brief moment, she felt as if it had gripped her heart, halting it, before fading away.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Do they feel this every time? </em><span style="font-weight:400">Lena asked uncertainly. She knew that she was particrly sensitive to energies, due to her training in obtaining nine separate domains. While she couldn¡¯tpare to the detailed results of World Sight being actively used, she was confident in her intuition.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper¡¯s brow knit briefly, before turning and looking at a golden door that appeared on the wall behind him. ¡°That door will take us to the meeting space.¡± He said, walking towards it. Lena braced herself for that familiar energy fluctuation as they stepped through the door. However, this time, she truly didn¡¯t feel anything, as if they were passing through a mundane door.


    <span style="font-weight:400">On the other side of that ¡®mundane¡¯ door, however, was a white space that stretched out as far as she could see. Other doors began to appear and open within this space, and soon, buildings began to fade into being, a small cityscape forming. The Keeper turned to look at the group with a smile as Irena, Terra, and Ryone walked towards him. ¡°Alright, everyone, remember, we¡¯ll be here for the full week. Try to get as much as you can, and the invasion will begin as soon as the meeting is over.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After he said that, the Keeper left with his wives, and Lifre ran over to Lena. ¡°I know! Let me show you this awesome adventure maze that I found in a previous meeting. I¡¯m sure that you¡¯ll love it. And this really advanced battle simtor, too.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena chuckled at Lifre¡¯s eagerness, but shook her head. ¡°I¡¯ll catch up with you for all of thatter, promise. For now, there are a few things that I want to experiment with in this space.¡± She could feel that all of her energy sources had truly been cut off. She could not sense mana, ki, or spirit, nor could she call upon her divinity.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre blinked, but nodded her head. ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll be in¡­ there it is, that building there.¡± She turned, pointing at a rather conspicuous building that appeared just in time for her to indicate it. Lena nodded her head, grinning as she turned around to walk in the opposite direction, away from the other Keepers and their subordinates.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ll stop by there before too long, promise!¡± She said again, making sure that there weren¡¯t any other individuals moving in the same direction as her. When she spotted one, she altered her course, turning to put herself as far from anyone else in this realm as physically possible.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper said that this space responds to the desires of those within it. That simply wishing for a feature may be enough to bring it into existence.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> When Lena had first heard that, she wondered if there was a way to take advantage of it in order to gather information.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Deep in her heart, Lena focused as she walked. <em><span style="font-weight:400">I want a ce where I can obtain information on other Keepers, away from the prying eyes of others. I want somewhere that I can gather information helpful to my Keeper.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">She kept this thought in her mind as she walked, thendscape developing around her. What started as a nk, white canvas soon turned into concrete, and then gave way to grass and forest as she continued to walk further away.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She had a feeling that this wouldn¡¯t work, of course. If there was an exploit like this, no Keeper would be safe. However, this was only the first of many experiments that she wanted to try. Whenever anything about her enivornment changed, she scrutinized it closely, trying to find hints of anything that she could interact with to achieve her goal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s not going to work, you know.¡± A familiar voice called out. Lena spun around in surprise, and saw Terra standing behind her with an amused smile. ¡°You¡¯ve got to y by the rules here, Lena.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Terra?¡± Lena asked suspiciously, narrowing her eyes. ¡°You left to have your date with the Keeper. You would have never left his side toe and scold me.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra blinked at that, before letting out a lightugh. ¡°Right, you only pieced most of it together. You can think of me as Terra if you want, but that¡¯s not entirely urate. The being that you know as Terra is one of the thousands of entities integrated into the system.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena¡¯s eyes briefly widened, though her body soon rxed. ¡°So that is her special authority. And you are appearing as her now to¡­ put me at ease?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Quite. It is standard when someone tries to break the established rules of the meeting space to appear as a System Companion from their world, as it would be a familiar face. If I were to appear as a man in a white suit and ck sunsses, you may think that I was the informant that you were looking for.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena gave a bitter grin when she heard that. ¡°So, you can read my mind. Super not fair, by the way. So¡­ before I get more than a p on the wrist, what are these established rules, so I can avoid breaking any others?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra crossed her arms under her chest. ¡°First of all, this is meant to be a source of entertainment for Keepers and their extra guests. The points to be provided are merely a secondary incentive. If the Keepers are trapped in an endless loop of danger, they will be unable to properly manage their worlds, after all.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°While in this space, no harm maye to any Keeper or their guest. This includes harm derived by information experts such as yourself. You cannot use the rules of this space to create any facility that would cause any harm to any individual. You can find and observe them manually, but many facilities provide privacy settings that would prevent you from gathering any useful intel. Simrly, you cannot create a facility that directly alters your Keeper¡¯s point bnce, or gives you items from the system market that you can take back to your world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena¡¯s brow twitched as her ideas were cut off one by one, Terra finishing it off with a warning. ¡°And if you continue to try to break the rules, there will be bigger punishments than a ¡®p on the wrist¡¯. For the first offense, you get a warning. The second offense will have you expelled back to your world. A third offense will have your existence erased entirely. If it is found that you acted with the blessing of your Keeper, he will be heavily penalized, as well. Depending on how many such infractions he had faced, this could result in him being reced.¡± Terra¡¯s eyes narrowed as she issued that warning, and Lena¡¯s body froze.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You really aren¡¯t Terra, if you¡¯re talking like that¡­¡± She said, her eyes wide. Lena knew enough about Terra to know that she would do anything to protect him. The thought of ¡®recing¡¯ the Keeper would never emerge from her lips.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I already told you, this is just a face that I am wearing to appear more familiar to you.¡± Terra, or rather, the entity appearing as Terra said. ¡°This is your first offense, so you are receiving a warning. For your sake, as well as the sake of your Keeper, do not let there be any further offenses.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena swallowed thickly, nodding her head. ¡°Got it¡­ but¡­ can I ask you some questions? Not about any other Keepers or anything.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The entity arched her brow. ¡°This form will abide by the same rules as Terra. If information is permitted to be shared, it will be.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena knew that that was another form of a warning. This being was able to read her mind, after all. If it wasn¡¯t able to answer any of her questions, it would have outright refused. If it was able to answer all of them, then it wouldn¡¯t have said anything.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is nine domains truly the limit?¡± Lena asked, feeling as though this was the safest question to ask.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The entity paused, closing its eyes. ¡°This is not a hard rule that can be answered simply. As with all things, there are measures that can be taken, either through an individual¡¯s own abilities or through the alteration of the world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°How¡­ how does a god with nine domainspare to an origin?¡± She asked, licking her lips. Although she had briefly emted the Origin of Fate, the energy consumption caused her to hesitate to make such aparison.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This time, the entity seemed more amused. ¡°Were you to have the absolute faith of the people,parable to those you call the Greater Pantheon, your power would be no less than a typical Origin. This is due to all nine of your domains synergizing with one another to produce greater effects. If they were scattered, this would not be the case.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena nodded, thinking through her remaining questions. There were some that she assumed to be in the category of ¡®unable to be answered¡¯, and others that she didn¡¯t feel were worth this entity¡¯s time. As she was thinking, another question entered her mind, and she said it without taking the time to consider.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What was the energy that I felt when I entered the Admin Room, or when the meeting began?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The entity¡¯s face froze at that, seeming genuinely surprised. Its surprise further surprised Lena, who had considered the entity to be an all-knowing being that could anticipate anything that she would say or do.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You felt that?¡± The entity pondered, a smile forming on her face. ¡°Interesting, very interesting. All that I will say is that it was the greater system that you felt. Very few individuals are capable of sensing it, unless they employ special abilities at the key moment. The first time, you felt it reconstructing your body to suit the Admin Room. The second, as you said, was when time was frozen.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Now¡­ your ¡®work¡¯ out here is done. You won¡¯t find any of your ¡®secret objectives¡¯ out here, so you should keep your promises.¡± She said, lifting a hand and snapping her fingers. Before Lena could say anything, she had disappeared from the forest, leaving the figure chuckling to herself. ¡°She could sense us, huh? Quite the interesting one¡­ It looks like that Keeper will have his hands full.¡±

 Chapter 1124: To Attack Or Defend

    Chapter 1124: To Attack Or Defend


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, what¡¯s your n for today?¡± Terra asked, leaning against my arm as we walked through the streets of the meeting space. ¡°You don¡¯t have any uing trades to worry about, and you already have the information that you need.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ryone was leaning against my other arm, a yful smile on her lips. Of the three, these two were by far the more physical in their affections, so Irena didn¡¯t seem bothered by letting the two of them ¡®monopolize¡¯ me like this.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I thought about the question for a moment. It was true that we didn¡¯t have any dire business that we needed to take care of in this meeting specifically. Aside from the general goal of earning more points, which was a constant need for any Keeper, this was more of a ¡®calm before the storm¡¯.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Did you all make sure that everything was prepared?¡± I asked, ncing at the three, who nodded their heads.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Everything that can be set up, has been.¡± Irena said in a confident tone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In that case¡­ let¡¯s just enjoy ourselves. Depending on how things go, we might be pretty busy for a while after we get back. Is there anything that any of you would like to do?¡± I looked between the three of them, wanting to make sure that they all had the option to contribute activities.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There is¡­ one thing that I would like to do.¡± Irena said after a moment, a pensive expression on her face. ¡°I believe that Terra would be quite fond of this as well.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh? What about me?¡± Ryone grinned, curious now. ¡°It¡¯s rare for you to take the initiative, so what do you have in mind?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I would¡­ like to go fishing.¡± Irena spoke up, and the rest of us looked at her in surprise. ¡°Some of my incarnations have been quite fond of fishing, but I¡¯ve never taken the chance to assume direct control of them during it, as it was one of their ways of rxing. I did not want to take that from them, just to satisfy my own curiosity. So, if possible, I would like it if the four of us could go fishing together.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra¡¯s eyes practically lit up at that, a bit of drool escaping the corner of her mouth. ¡°Ooh, I like the sound of that! And, I know just the ce to do it! We can even cook the fish that we catch.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle, before turning to look at Ryone. ¡°Well? What are your thoughts on the idea?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ryone gave that same, yful grin. ¡°I don¡¯t have any problems with fishing. Most of my incarnations have lived in coastal viges, so I¡¯ve gone out and fished a few times myself. Granted, I would usually use magic to expedite the process, but manual fishing has its own charms.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head, turning to Terra next. ¡°Alright, then. Lead the way.¡± As soon as I said that, I felt my arm being dragged. Ryone let out a lightugh, running to keep up while Irena followed at a casual pace, never more than a few steps behind us.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra took us out of the city and into the forest, reminding me of when Irena and I had first found the special spring of the meeting area. Perhaps, more natural activities were meant to appear in the forest, as opposed to the games that would appear in the city.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Honestly, I had thought that Terra would lead us to a simtion game, but that didn¡¯t seem to be the case. Instead, we kept moving deeper and deeper into the forest, until the trees gave way to a wide clearing. Within this clearing, I could see a wooden pier, stretching out over a softly flowing river. ¡°This isn¡¯t rted to the spring, is it?¡± I asked curiously, but Terra shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh no, nothing that special. This is just a fishing location! So! Let me exin the rules, before we get started! Everyone is able to choose their own fishing method, and it can be anything you want. You could go spearfishing, cast your rod over the water, use magic or even explosives. Everything you need will be provided for you upon request, right down to the type of bait you want to use.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If you want to, you can summon a boat or other craft to take you deeper over the water, too! Once you have everything you need, the system will create fish based on the chosen fishing methods, and everything will happen naturally. So¡­ how are we doing this?!¡± Clearly, Terra was ecstatic at the prospect of catching fish, even moreso than the one who suggested the activity.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯d like to just take a boat out and use a normal rod.¡± I said, feeling a small weight falling into my hand. Looking down, a metal fishing rod had appeared, my hand naturally wrapped around it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I would like the same.¡± Irena nodded her head, with Terra following suit. Ryone looked at the three of us holding fishing roads, smirking.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, I can¡¯t exactly be the odd one out, can I? Manual fishing it is.¡± When we all decided that, Terra began to walk towards the end of the pier, where a small boat had suddenly appeared. There was more than enough room for the four of us to sitfortably, and store any fish that we happened to catch.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena blinked, suddenly finding herself standing within a crowd of people. The forest that she had been in moments ago vanished, as did the entity that had made itself look like Terra. There were more questions that she wanted to ask, but she felt as if she might have struck a nerve mentioning the energy that she had sensed.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Probably better to not think about it.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> She thought to herself, before hearing someone calling out to her. Looking off to the side, Lena saw Lifre running over with a bright smile.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Did you already finish up your other business?¡± She asked in an excited tone, causing Lena to chuckle and nod.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. It ended a lot faster than I had thought. Sorry for not being able toe join you right away. You said that there were some games that you wanted to show me?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Lena asked that, Lifre¡¯s eyes lit up, before quickly shaking her head. ¡°The maze can wait. I found games that offer the tickets!¡± Lena¡¯s eyes widened slightly as Lifre led her towards a set of stairs, heading downwards.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I wasn¡¯t gone that long¡­ how did you already find these?¡± Lena couldn¡¯t help but ask, Lifre giggling excitedly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I always take a look around, and see what interesting games I can find! That¡¯s the basic rule of having fun here! And I think these games might be right up your alley. They just appeared like a minute or two before I ran into you, too!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena couldn¡¯t help but arch a brow at that. A game suited for her, appearing at this timing with one of the Keeper¡¯s desired tickets? Part of her felt as if this was a message for her from the mysterious entity, or perhaps a test.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre pulled Lena along, until they stopped before a pair of tforms that appeared next to each other. One game had a title banner above it reading ¡®Keeper Defense Protocol¡¯, while the other had the title ¡®Capture the Keeper¡¯. The first game had the defense ticket as its highest prize, while the second had the attack ticket. ¡°Do you know anything about these games?¡± Lena asked cautiously, and Lifre nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah! I saw them thest time I was here, and tried them out. Admittedly, I didn¡¯t get to the higher levels. They¡¯re <em><span style="font-weight:400">really</em><span style="font-weight:400"> hard. Both of these games can be yed either multiyer or solo, but you only get the rewards for solo y! So, in Capture the Keeper, you appear in arge city. You are an ¡®assassin¡¯, whereas everyone else is either a ¡®guard¡¯ or the ¡®Keeper¡¯. You need to get in and tag the Keeper while keeping your own identity concealed. If any of the guards identify you as the assassin, they can eliminate you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I had a bit of luck with this game, since it was all about finding ways past people to get to the target, but the guards be really smart at higher levels.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Keeper Defense Protocol is even harder, though! In that game, you basically have to create a defense n for the Keeper. You are given a set number of assets, and you have to make asprehensive of a defense as you can with these assets. You don¡¯t know how the opponents wille in, or what types of enemies you will face. It¡¯s all about preparing for the unknown. I only made it past the first few levels, before they started throwing weird monsters at me that I didn¡¯t know how to n around with the assets given!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena furrowed her brow at this exnation, but nodded her head. It was easy enough to tell what was happening. For some reason, the entity that she had met was paying special attention to her. She knew that it could read her thoughts, so any kind ofplicated reverse psychology tricks wouldn¡¯t work here. If she went for the defense game to try to trick the entity, it would see right through her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Still, the defense game was what she went for, without hesitation. Lifre seemed surprised, but didn¡¯t try to stop her. Lena wasn¡¯t trying to y anyplicated mind games with the entity. She knew that she would probably have an easier time in the Capture the Keeper game, as it yed to her strengths of infiltration. However, the uing battle was a defensive battle, so Lena wanted to practice as much as she could in that regard.


    <span style="font-weight:400">More importantly, the defense ticket was far more valuable than the attack ticket, at least in her mind. Only this ticket could prevent the Keeper¡¯s death in a dire situation, after all.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena¡¯s body disappeared as soon as she stepped onto the tform, appearing in a dark room. Hovering before her was a screen, prompting her to select whether she wanted to y single yer or in a party. Naturally, she chose to y alone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For the first level, she was given a long list of assets, including units, weapons, and even entire buildings. With each asset, she could customize various rules, such as what conditions would allow the asset toe into y. These conditiions could be as vague or as specific as she wanted, such as using a firearm only on the summer solstice, if a man with blue skin and seven arms ran through the streets singing the national anthem while covered in ice cream toppings.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡­Okay, so Lena deleted that condition after setting it, just testing the limits of her freedom. At the end of this asset list was none other than the Keeper. To Lena¡¯s annoyance, the Keeper did not have any abilities of its own attached to it. This game was about keeping the Keeper out of harm, as opposed to helping him win a battle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Regardless, she began to set up a patrol of armed guards, operating in shifts with an emergency rm. When the guards were leaving their positions, it was their job to check any of the long-range sniper locations that she identified, reporting in whether they found anything out of the ordinary or not.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre had warned her of the unpredictable nature of the attacks, so she tried to base her ns around what the game had given her. There were no energy weapons, so she was expecting a tangible for¡­ and she couldn¡¯t have been more right. She watched from above as an army of thousands of insectoid monsters began to swarm the area.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Following her instructions, the soldiers took up their weapons, mowing down what foes they could. When the outer perimeter was breached, they pulled back into the building, trying to use the terrain to their advantage.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena could see some of the bugs chewing through the materials of the building, but thankfully they were all in before reaching the final bunker where she had ced the Keeper. Though, this ¡®first level¡¯ had shown her just how difficult the game would be going forward. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Honestly, we should get Chelsea in on this game! This is the type of thing she lives for!</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Lena thought to herself, but resolved to try to clear the game herself first.

 Chapter 1125: Get Some Help

    Chapter 1125: Get Some Help


    <span style="font-weight:400">Honestly, Lifre hadn¡¯t expected Lena to go for the defensive game. Although the defense ticket was more valuable in the grand scheme of things, she knew that Lena¡¯s skills were more suitable for infiltration and assassination. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Is this like how Tsubaki does those Trials of Blood all the time?</em><span style="font-weight:400"> She thought to herself, tilting her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">These two games were already starting to get a fair bit of attention from the other people attending the meeting, whether they were Keepers themselves or invited guests. Lifre honestly couldn¡¯t tell the difference between them. All she knew was that people kept walking onto the tforms, either alone or in groups.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Some were drawn by the rather attractive prizes, and these people would go in alone like Lena. Others, those that entered in a group, did so because they simply enjoyed the games themselves.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Personally, neither of these games were all that suited for Lifre herself. She could see the enjoyment of them, but they didn¡¯t match her skill set, or her drive for adventure. She began rocking back and forth on her heels, debating whether or not she should wait for Lena to emerge from the game, when a voice called out from behind her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thinking about giving it a shot?¡± Chelsea asked, and Lifre turned to look at her with wide eyes. She had almost forgotten that Chelsea and James had joined the meeting group this time, though they had done so only after applying a disguise to themselves to ensure that they wouldn¡¯t be recognized by any old Keepers that knew them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For Chelsea, this was rather easy, as she had been a human in her past life. Thus, her typical kitsune form was plenty of a disguise. James had to make a bit more of a drastic change. His skin was covered with dark fur, with nine,shing tails behind his back. He looked almost like a nine-tailed dovah, oddly enough.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hmm?¡± Lifre blinked, remembering the question that Chelsea had asked her. ¡°Oh, no! Lena just went in the defense game, so I was thinking about whether or not I¡¯d wait for her, or go find something to do and meet up with herter.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Defense game, huh?¡± Chelsea asked, eyeing the game. ¡°I¡¯ve never had the chance to y it before¡­ maybe I should.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You haven¡¯t? But-- Ooohhh, right!¡± Lifre quickly nodded her head, remembering that Chelsea¡¯s past life was simr to Terra¡¯s. She wouldn¡¯t have been able to y games like this for profit, as it would have broken the rules set by the system. While she could technically y the game, there was no reward in doing so, so Chelsea must have made better use of her time helping out elsewhere. ¡°Why don¡¯t you give it a go, then?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea stroked her chin for a moment, before nodding her head. She walked over to the tform, disappearing into the Keeper Defense Protocol game. James gave a soft chuckle as he saw that, looking down at Lifre. ¡°Looks like it¡¯s just the two of us. Any idea where you want to head next?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯re not going to wait for Chelsea?¡± Lifre asked in surprise. ¡°If it¡¯s her, won¡¯t she clear the game really fast?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James let out a lightugh, shaking his head. ¡°Oh no, quite the opposite. I¡¯lle and check if she¡¯s out of the game tomorrow, but she might spend two or three days in it. If I remember this game right, at least. She¡¯s the type that will try to n for every contingency, and she will take the time to thoroughly make those ns.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ohhh.¡± Lifre nodded her head in understanding. She was imagining Chelsea looking at a list of assets, drawing out meticulous ns and contingencies, with branching paths depending on exactly what type of situation developed. ¡°Yeah, I can kind of see that. As for me¡­ I dunno! I was just going to run around and see what else I found. You?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Pretty much the same, really. Theyout of these meetings changes every time, and there are new games getting added whenever someonees up with a new idea. You can never really be sure what you will find.¡± James said with a small grin, nodding his head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two of them split off to walk in different directions, Lifre humming lightly to herself as she thought. <em><span style="font-weight:400">New ideas can lead to new games, huh? New games would be kind of exciting, right? A game that not even another Keeper had seen before¡­</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">How would I make a game like that? And how would I present it to other Keepers¡­</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Lifre found her steps carrying her out of the gaming space, and into the streets. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Would I be able to earn a profit like that? Hmm¡­ if only there was someone to talk to!</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">As Lifre thought that, she saw a small kiosk appear a few dozen meters ahead of her. Standing at the kiosk was a woman with short, brown hair and blue eyes, wearing a business suit and having a warm smile on her face. Lifre blinked, walking over. ¡°Is¡­ this an information kiosk?¡± She asked, to which the woman nodded.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. There are often people like yourselves that have questions involving the meeting space. For the sake of convenience, kiosks like this will appear to help guide you to your objective. For now, you may call me Ca. Now, what can I do for you?¡± She asked, Lifre arching a curious brow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Can¡¯t you already read my mind, if you¡¯re part of the system? Why would you ask me to ask what you already know I want to ask? That¡¯s giving me a headache just thinking about that.¡± Lifre said, bringing a hand up to her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, Ca simply chuckled. ¡°You¡¯re overthinking it, Lifre. The truth is, many times, a person¡¯s questions can be resolved by the simple act of asking them. Doing so allows you to organize your own thoughts, and will bring you closer to the conclusion that you are seeking.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre pursed her lips, but nodded her head. ¡°Right¡­ does this kiosk have a privacy setting?¡± She asked, looking around.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. If you wish, I can activate the privacy filter, so any questions here will not be heard by the outside.¡± When Lifre nodded her head at that, Ca lightly tapped the kiosk, a thin veil falling around it. ¡°Go on, then.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay¡­ so, I¡¯ve got this idea that I want to try out. But I don¡¯t really know if it¡¯s a new idea or not. And if it is, there are some things that I¡¯d like to try to do for it in terms of prizes, but I¡¯m not sure if I can do <em><span style="font-weight:400">that.</em><span style="font-weight:400">¡± Lifre began, before taking a deep breath. ¡°I¡¯m sure the concept of live streaming isn¡¯t new to¡­ any Keeper that has made it this far.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯re referring to the act of broadcasting your activities for the entertainment of others, correct?¡± Ca asked, to which Lifre nodded her head. ¡°That¡¯s right. There have been times that people did live streaming in these meetings, as well. However, the trend quickly died down, due to it strengthening thepetition.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Strengthening thepetition?¡± Lifre blinked, Ca smiling and exining.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Remember, your Keeper is ultimately a mortal enemy of many Keepers here. If you were to live stream yourself ying a game, and someone else used that live stream¡¯s content as a guide to earn more points in a game than they otherwise would, you would be directly benefiting your Keeper¡¯s enemies.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡­ hadn¡¯t thought about it like that.¡± Lifre rubbed the back of her head, chuckling. ¡°Oh! But what if the game that is live streamed is one that is created from the imagination of the streamer themselves? That way, other people couldn¡¯t use it as a guide to beat a game that doesn¡¯t exist!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ca thought about that for a moment, before nodding her head. ¡°That would surely be possible. However, if the game is entirely created from the streamer¡¯s mind, then the difficulty level would typically be rather low, leading to a smaller reward.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre hesitated, before an evil grin came over her face. ¡°What if it was interactive? So¡­ the viewers watching could pay a small amount of points, or there were regr periods where viewers could vote for what to happen next, with the streamer themselves unaware of the choices made until it was already happening?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As for the rewards, you could make it so that the game itself doesn¡¯t give any rewards at all. The rewards coulde from abination of viewer donations to trigger events, as well as a rating system, simr to how the performance building already works. So the more people that watch the stream and enjoy it, the more points the streamer gets awarded.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ca crossed her arms beneath her chest, seeming interested. ¡°So, rather than streaming a game, the stream itself would be the game. I won¡¯t say that it is a horrible idea, though there are a few ws that I need to point out, given my role as an information kiosk.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre quickly gestured for her to continue, and Ca smiled. ¡°First of all, the way that you act will offer insights into your Keeper¡¯s world, and give your enemies clues on how to attack your world. If there is a situation that leaves youpletely dumbfounded, as a representative of your world, they will see this and think that it is something your world has never encountered, and doesn¡¯t know how to deal with.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Secondly, your viewers would be limited to those that actively choose to view your stream, rather than having any sort of guaranteed audience. In a worst case scenario, you will go your entire stream without ever hitting more than ten viewers.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre pursed her lips at the first problem, but her eyes quickly lit up at the second. ¡°That¡¯s easy! Just let the streamer have one short segment to advertise their streams in the performance theater. If anyone is interested due to what they saw in that segment, they can continue to watch the stream from there, and word can start to spread. I might not get a lot of viewers this time, but if I do it every meeting¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ca thought about that, before ultimately nodding her head. ¡°Repetition would allow you to grow your audience, though it would diminish your earnings in the meantime. However, you have yet to develop a countermeasure for the other problem that I mentioned.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre stuck her tongue out yfully. ¡°There¡¯s nothing that I can do about that, right? I mean, I kind of hope that they send those kinds of situations at me! It¡¯ll be more fun, and more thrilling for the viewers to watch! You can even call it ¡®Adventure Streaming.¡¯ Starts out procedurally generated, based on a basic input from the streamer, and develops based on the viewer interaction.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, but would it be possible to imnt some system knowledge into the streamer? For instance, let¡¯s say I wanna use a magic system that¡¯s not in my Keeper¡¯s world. Would you be able to give me the skill in that magic system equivalent to my normal magic skill?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That is something that can easily be done, and is in many games.¡± Ca confirmed. ¡°Are there any other features that you¡¯d like to add?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hmm¡­ oh! Just one. Montage mode! For instance, if the streamer activates montage mode, they will enter a different flow of time from the viewers, allowing them to do longer tasks like traveling, grinding monsters, sleeping, or cooking. For the viewers, they will get cinematic shots or a montage reel, and montage mode will either end with one of three conditions. Either the streamer disables the montage, they try to engage with their viewers directly, or an unexpected event begins that starts an exciting new scene! Nobody wants to just see me walk down a road for a few hours, after all.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ca nodded her head in confirmation. ¡°Of course. All of this can be added into the new game. I¡¯ll ce a new streaming building next to the performance theater, to promote more foot traffic.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thanks, Ca! You¡¯re super helpful! If I didn¡¯t think you¡¯d smite me as an avatar of the system I¡¯d definitely jump up and hug you!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ca simply giggled at Lifre¡¯s enthusiasm. ¡°For those seeking to genuinely enjoy themselves and even share this entertainment with others in this space, it is only natural that I do my best to amodate them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Weird that you worded it like that, but I¡¯ll take what I can get!¡±

 Chapter 1126: Slime Time

    Chapter 1126: Slime Time


    <span style="font-weight:400">Within the performance theater, the atmosphere was lively. Seats were filled with Keepers andpanions alike as one performance after another emerged. Some showed movies from their worlds, others sang or danced, and some told stories or jokes. There were even those that performed magical light shows to impress the crowd.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Such was the typical method for the theater, and many were just there to have a good time as they waited for the meeting to pass. These were people that were not too desperate for points, and thus simply sought to rx.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, when this routine was broken, it drew quite a bit of attention from the crowd. After the most recent pair of dancers left the stage, there was no call for the next performers. Murmurs began to erupt, before a screen appeared, projected in the air.


    <span style="font-weight:400">On the screen was a girl with pure white skin and matching hair, her eyes a deep blue. She wore simple, leather armor, and had a shield and sword strapped to her back. Her hands were nted on her hips as she looked at the crowd. ¡°Hiya everyone! My name¡¯s Lifre, but you can call me MinaSan if you want. It¡¯s the name I¡¯ve registered my stream under!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Now, before you start thinking those negative thoughts, this isn¡¯t your typical stream! I¡¯ve worked with the information kioskdy to make a fun, new way for all of us to enjoy things, so keep listening!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ll be hosting this stream for the entirety of the meeting, regardless of what happens. And I n to host it again next time! So, let me go over the key features of the new Adventure Stream, so you all know what this is about!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre grinned, gesturing to the empty grasnds around her. ¡°I am not ying one of the existing games in the meeting room. Instead, I am ying apletely new adventure, one that will be designed not just by the system, but by all of you! That¡¯s right, the biggest feature of this stream is that the viewers can alter events.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If you focus, you¡¯ll be able to pull up a chat room, normal Keeper style. Every now and then, I might look over to see what people are saying, but a lot of the time I will probably be too busy. If you spend a few points to buy a ¡®Sponsored Message¡¯, it will be yed directly into my head, so I won¡¯t be able to ignore it! Additionally, within the chat room, you will find the options for how to modify the adventure.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right now, the only options are to spawn monsters or items, or to submit a suggestion for new options. The prices for all of these submissions are decided by the system itself, so I will have no say in any of that! Not only that, but I won¡¯t even know if anything has been bought until I find it in the stream! Well, not unless a sponsored message tells me, of course.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°For those interested in doing their own streams, all points spent by viewers will go to the streamer, and they will also earn a reward based on how many people enjoy their stream! And don¡¯t worry, you can watch a stream in the back of your mind. So, you can do it even while you¡¯re ying other games, if there is a streamer you really want to watch!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ve already worked out the details with the kioskdy, and a new streaming center has been created next to the performance theater, for anyone that wants to stream as well. If you want to pull up someone¡¯s stream, just focus, and you can pull up the list of active streamers to view.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, that¡¯s all from me! I look forward to whatever adventures you seek to thrust upon me, and wee the challenges with a smile! Until next time, this slime¡¯s gonna keep sliming!¡± She waved, and the screen flickered out, leaving many people confused. Some got up, and walked down the stairs, curious to investigate this new building. Some looked for the stream, wanting to see what it would be like. Others¡­ well, it was natural that she wouldn¡¯t grab everyone¡¯s attention, so there were many that simply ignored the message entirely.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Whew! Alright, now let¡¯s see what happens.¡± Lifre grinned, seeing that the message had been sent. Strictly speaking, she didn¡¯t have to advertise the streaming service itself. If she wanted to, she could have created a climactic battle against a terrifying monster, and directed everyone to her stream at the perfect cliffhanger moment.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, Lifre didn¡¯t want to do that. Such ¡®clickbait¡¯ might work for the initial audience, but it wouldn¡¯t help her to bring in more viewers after that. She needed to carefully exin what these new streams were, and make sure that people were interested in the streaming system itself, not just <em><span style="font-weight:400">her</em><span style="font-weight:400"> stream.


    <span style="font-weight:400">So long as she achieved that goal, the interest would be able to spread more easily. Now, feeling as if she had achieved that goal, she nced towards the viewer count in the corner of her vision, which was sitting at twenty-six at the moment. ¡°Wee in, everyone! Don¡¯t be afraid to chat amongst yourselves. Talking is free, after all! Now¡­ I¡¯m gonna get this adventure started!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Saying that, she pulled the shield and sword off of her back, taking a deep breath. The system would handle the cement of camera angles to capture the best shots, so all she had to worry about was her own performance.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For this adventure, she had set it to <em><span style="font-weight:400">begin</em><span style="font-weight:400"> as a fantasy style story, one where she was a spell-slinging warrior. However, it was important to note that that was only how the adventure would <em><span style="font-weight:400">begin.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Depending on her viewers, it was entirely possible for her to take a journey through a demonic realm, or even find a crashed spaceship to repurpose.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Just so you all know, there¡¯s only one restriction on what sort of things that you can have happen. You can¡¯t do anything that will <em><span style="font-weight:400">directly</em><span style="font-weight:400"> alter the streamer. So, you can¡¯t pay for me to just instantly die or change my mind on something, or get new skills. <em><span style="font-weight:400">However</em><span style="font-weight:400">¡­ you could pay for, say, a meteor to fall on my location, a clue to appear, or for a skill book to spawn with a useful skill. You all can change the world, and I have to live in it!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After she said that, she began walking, her eyes scanning the grasnd, waiting for anything to appear. There were way too many things that she had to prepare for in this chat-driven narrative, and the system was bound to get involved, as well.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Soon, the sky seemed to darken, and Lifre looked up. ¡°Okay, listen, I know I said you <em><span style="font-weight:400">could</em><span style="font-weight:400"> spawn a meteor, but did you have to test that out right away?!¡± She asked, her eyes wide as she saw a massive stone that seemed to fill the sky.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was no way that she could dodge this attack. Even if she ran at top speeds, she¡¯d make it maybe a few kilometers at most, before itnded. ¡°You may have chosen to kill me, but I shall not go down without a fight!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre cast her shield aside, both hands gripping her sword. She had designed a custom magic system for this world, one whichbined the Imagination and Runic systems, throwing in a dash of elemental magic. She called it Free Incantation, a system which allowed the caster to create magical effects through customized incantations.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Awaken, my de. Sing a song of despair, and shatter all that exists within the sky!¡± Lifre shouted, her de wrapped in an ominous, ck me that seemed to screech as it cut through the air.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifting her sword with both hands, she swung it towards the falling meteor, sting out a burst of that same, ck me. A grin emerged on her lips as she saw the me strike squarely on the meteor. With an eruption of energy, a small chunk broke off of the meteor, which continued to fall towards her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre¡¯s smile froze as she saw that her attack had limited effect. Momentster, her body was crushed beneath the ming rock, a cataclysmic event cracking the very that she was standing on. The camera pulled back, showing the mes sweeping through the atmosphere, and the deep fissures that emerged on the surface.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Just as everyone thought that was the end of Lifre¡¯s stream, she cleared her throat. The screen cut to her standing in a forest, hands on her hips again. ¡°And¡­ that was the first Bad End! I¡¯d like to thank whoever generously donated for a <em><span style="font-weight:400">world ending event</em><span style="font-weight:400">. As I said, this stream isn¡¯t stopping, no matter what happens! I can die a hundred, a thousand times, but I¡¯ll persist! Though¡­ maybe next time, at least give me a challenge that is theoretically possible for me to ovee? It¡¯ll be more fun for everyone!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre nced to the chat, seeing that quite a few people wereughing at her failed destruction of the meteor. ¡°Okay, at least I didn¡¯t just lie down and embrace death with open arms, right? Give me some credit for that! I¡¯ve put a game system in this adventure, so I¡¯ll be able to handle meteors like that after I level up a lot. Until then, keep iting! I¡¯ll ept every challenge thrown my way!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once again, she pulled out her sword and shield, looking around. ¡°Now¡­ it looks like the system spawned me in a forest this time. Let¡¯s see where this takes me.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">She began to walk through the forest, with no idea of where civilization was, or if this world even had civilization to begin with. The first monster that appeared this time was a green, six-armed goblin wielding six different wands. Each wand fired off a different element of magic. ¡°Now <em><span style="font-weight:400">that¡¯s</em><span style="font-weight:400"> what I¡¯m talking about. If this is from one of you, thanks!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre ducked behind a tree, jumping up as the roots began to rise up in an attempt to grab her. ¡°Verdant spirits, awaken to my call. Let loose your wrath, and rain death upon my foe.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she said that, she kicked off of the tree, feeling her mana depleting Her sword blocked a ray of darkness that shot from one of the goblin¡¯s six wands. The force of the ray thrust her back into another tree, the goblin snickering as it approached her. Another wand lit up with mes, before something whistled through the air, slicing off the hand holding the ming wand.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The goblin screeched in pain, looking down to see a bloodied leaf stuck into the ground. Looking up, dozens of leaves began to rain down onto its body. Lifre grinned, noticing her experience climbing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Soon, she had reached level two, and jumped in joy. ¡°Alright! Now we¡¯re making progress! Okay, chat, now you have two choices to make! First, monsters in this adventure drop loot, and you get to vote what loot you want me to get. The basic options are what the monster had on it, but like always, new options can be purchased. Since this isn¡¯t a guaranteed thing, and people would still have to vote for it, I imagine the price of making the option is a lot cheaper than normal.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The second thing you get to vote on is what sort of benefit I get for leveling up! Any time I level up, a poll will be held. In this adventure, I can¡¯t see my status screen, so I won¡¯t know what reward I get for leveling up. At most, I¡¯ll know if I get a new ability, but not what it does.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre smiled wide, rocking back and forth on her heels as she waited for the countdown to end for the polls. If she were in a montage, the rewards would be randomly selected based on the basic options, but she wanted chat to be as involved as possible at the start.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once the timers expired, the body of the goblin disappeared, and one of the six wands was left in its ce. Lifre had no idea which wand this was, but her mana had recharged from leveling up, so she flicked her wrist to test it. A bolt of darkness fired out, crashing into a tree. ¡°Sweet! This wille in handyter!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As for the reward she received from leveling up, she wasn¡¯t immediately sure. She did not receive a prompt for a new ability, and didn¡¯t feel particrly stronger. However, she wasn¡¯t going to let that deter her. ¡°Let¡¯s see if we can find a town, guys! Then, we can really start an epic adventure!¡±

 Chapter 1127: Silence Is Golden

    Chapter 1127: Silence Is Golden


    <span style="font-weight:400">The four of us spent what felt like most of a day out on the water, rxing in the boat with our lines cast. Every now and then, one of us would order a drink, which appeared next to us, or our bobber would¡­ well, bob. There were a few moments of excitement when we felt a tug on the line, and we managed to catch a small bucket of fish, which Terra was <em><span style="font-weight:400">more</em><span style="font-weight:400"> than happy to offer to cook for us.


    <span style="font-weight:400">To my surprise, the fish that we caught seemed fairly normal. No tentacle monsters, human-faced fish, or giant sharks that wanted to devour our boat. In fact, I was able to recognize a few of them from my original world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After we all enjoyed a grilled fish dinner, and were on our way back, Ryone nced over towards Terra. ¡°That was still a type of game, wasn¡¯t it?¡± She asked curiously, to which Terra nodded her head. ¡°Then, shouldn¡¯t there have been some way for us to earn points while doing that?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra chuckled, shaking her head slightly. ¡°Remember that points aren¡¯t typically awarded for multiyer experiences, because thepetition can easily be skewed by a bad faith participant. If you were to fish alone, you could earn points based on the difficulty of your catch. Still, fishing doesn¡¯t give very many points for the time that it takes.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ryone pursed her lips, but seemed to ept that answer. As we arrived back in the city of the meeting space, we were able to see just how much the territory had grown. There were several buildings that I didn¡¯t recognize mixed in with the familiar features.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Walking closer, the four of us soon saw Udona, who seemed to be sitting on a bench alone, focused on something in the distance with a smile on her face. ¡°I wasn¡¯t expecting to see you here without Aznod.¡± I said with widened eyes, snapping her to attention and getting her to look over.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hmm? Oh! He went to y at the restaurant. He managed to create a game with the staff there, where he would try a dish that they made, and then attempt to recreate it himself. He seemed to be having fun, so I didn¡¯t want to bother him.¡± She said with a brilliant smile on her face.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What are you doing out here, then?¡± Irena asked curiously, stepping closer as if that would let her see what Udona was looking at.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m watching Lifre¡¯s live stream.¡± Udona said with a giggle, catching the four of us by surprise.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°She¡¯s doing a what now?¡± The words were out of my mouth before I even fully registered what Udona had said. ¡°You can even do that here?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah, it¡¯s actually pretty fun. There are a lot of streamers back home, but they can¡¯t do stuff like this because of¡­ well, thews of physics and whatnot. Just focus on the idea, and a list should pull up. Her stream name is MinaSan, by the way.¡±


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Of course it is¡­</em><span style="font-weight:400"> I let out a sigh, knowing full well what that meant in my old world. Terra even let out a snicker, catching the reference herself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Everyone, huh? Did you tell her about that?¡± She asked yfully, and Udona shrugged.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Maybe? It might have been in some shows that we watched together in the past. I am not really sure. Either way, she looks like she¡¯s having fun.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As Udona said that, I found the option to open her stream, seeing that it currently had sixty-three viewers. At the top, right corner of her screen was a red number, which caused me to perk my brow. ¡°Eighteen? What¡¯s that mean?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s how many ¡®bad ends¡¯ she¡¯s had. She set it up so that chat could pay for anything to happen. She¡¯s been killed by monsters ten times, natural disasters three times, magical traps three times, and giant meteors twice. Honestly, I think people like watching heredically try to fight against an obviously unfair situation as much as seeing her winning.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eye twitched at that, but I let out a sigh. ¡°As long as she¡¯s having fun. Has there been anything interesting?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona tilted her head, thinking. ¡°She¡¯s been live for about three hours now. But she did a montage of her trekking through a forest to find a city. I think that it¡¯s probably been a few days in there for her, since it showed her camping out. That city was destroyed by a surprise volcano, though¡­ the chat seems to have mellowed out by now.¡¯


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°From what I can tell, they¡¯re trying to drive her into some chaotic war that they¡¯re engineering, buying little options here and there to create a narrative. I think that one of them is using this as a test to see just how much freedom the chat has in altering her experience.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but blink again when I heard that. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Lifre is actually subjecting herself to¡­ okay, it¡¯s Lifre, I really should not be surprised at this point.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right¡­ let me know when she¡¯s done streaming, then.¡± I said, getting ready to go find another activity to do with the girls.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, she said that she ns to keep going until thest day of the meeting.¡± Udona spoke up, causing me to nearly stumble in surprise.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Again</em><span style="font-weight:400">, I reminded myself. <em><span style="font-weight:400">This is Lifre that we are talking about.</em>


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena bit her finger as she looked at the asset list provided to her. She had made it through ten levels, but the difficulty was only getting higher and higher. Every time, she created a defense protocol with the mindset of ¡®what would I do to get past this?¡¯, and then trying to correct any exploits that she found.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, the enemies created by the system seemed to be more and more convoluted. After the tenth level, Lena began to see monsters with memetic properties, perhaps even void entities. She didn¡¯t know how to create a defense protocol around the concept that half of the defenses would suddenly turn against the Keeper.


    <span style="font-weight:400">What was worse was the asset list, which seemed to be woefully underprepared for what she was tasked with defending against. Granted, there were advanced weapons and barriers, and entire armies that she could deploy. But¡­ an army wasn¡¯t going to stop a-eating fish. If anything, the more assets she had at her disposal, the more concerned she was about the enemy that she would be facing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena wasn¡¯t sure if this was the intended difficulty level of the game, or if this was the system targeting her because of her attempt to break the rules earlier. When that thought crossed her mind, however, she shook her head. The system only worked as long as it was unbiased. This was¡­ simply a case of her skills not being a good fit for the game.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a resigned sigh, she left the game. She wasn¡¯t surprised to see that Lifre wasn¡¯t there, giving a small smile and inwardly promising to make it up to herter. For the time being, she decided to try out the other game, Capture the Keeper. She was far more confident in her abilities when it came to infiltration and deception.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Closing her eyes, she let the game begin, taking a moment to steady her breathing, before her eyes opened. She was standing on a street corner in what appeared to be a normal city, foot traffic all around her. In the back of her mind, she felt something akin to apass pointing her into the distance.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena walked calmly, easily blending in with the crowd around her. Perhaps because it was to help with the immersion, but the rest of the civilians were kitsune, just like her. Given her appearance, she was able to walk through the streets with a smile, without attracting any unwanted attention.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The closer she came to the target zone, the more the crowds began to thin, and she had to start taking detours in order to not provoke suspicion. Eventually, she noticed the target moving, and found a high building, from which she could observe more of the area.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Avoiding the onlookers, she made her way up the stairs and to a window, narrowing her eyes to follow the mentalpass. In the distance, she saw an unassuming, human man with ck hair walking through a securepound. Lena¡¯s eyes went wide, turning away from the window. ¡°Okay, I <em><span style="font-weight:400">know</em><span style="font-weight:400"> you did this on purpose this time!¡± She shouted towards the sky, stomping a foot on the ground. ¡°I can overlook the defense game being unreasonably hard, I might just not be that good with defense nning.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°But, in the offensive game, where it is implied that you are training operatives to eliminate a hostile Keeper, <em><span style="font-weight:400">why is it him?</em><span style="font-weight:400">¡± She nearly hissed thest few words, pointing towards the window, where she had seen Dale walking through the nearbypound. ¡°Are you trying to test me, and see if I am going to betray my Keeper or something?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was no answer to her question, only silence. ¡°I know that you¡¯re watching me. If this was a standard program, following the obvious logic of the game, the Keeper should have been a kitsune. Making the target Keeper <em><span style="font-weight:400">my</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Keeper is a clear maniption of the game rules.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">A small chuckle emerged from the air around Lena, and the entity that she had met before appeared. Once again, it assumed the face of Terra, an amused smile on its lips. ¡°This isn¡¯t any form of a test. I was just curious to see what you would do. Would you steel your heart and carry out the mission, or would you back out because of the desire to protect your Keeper?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s not a very <em><span style="font-weight:400">unbiased</em><span style="font-weight:400"> method for you to use.¡± Lena said, gritting her teeth. However, the entity kept that same smile.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is it not? You might think that you are receiving a unique treatment, but that isn¡¯t so. Many people get a simr result. The more interesting their skills and personality, the more likely they are to experience this. In fact¡­ there was another from your world that had the same experience, a year ago.¡± The entity recalled. ¡°I believe it was the woman that you call ¡®senior¡¯?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena¡¯s eyes widened at the idea that Tsubaki would be put through this same farce. ¡°What did she do¡­?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The entity couldn¡¯t help but chuckle at the memory. ¡°She snuck into thepound, arrived before the Keeper, and exined that she had been tasked with capturing him. And then, she knelt down and offered him her head. After she failed the level, she never tried to enter the game again.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena¡¯s fists clenched at that. She had to admit, that did sound like Tsubaki. ¡°Listen, can you just make the game normal again? Infiltration is <em><span style="font-weight:400">my thing</em><span style="font-weight:400">. I don¡¯t want my biggest talent to be tainted in this meeting because the system was forcing me to use it to capture my own Keeper. Besides¡­ wouldn¡¯t that go against your own rules? If this experience is actively diminishing the enjoyment of the yers, you¡¯re viting your own code.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The entity thought it over for a moment, before nodding. ¡°Very well. Honestly, most people just leave the game and re-enter it, as a means of ¡®refreshing¡¯ the game, and find that the Keeper has gone back to normal. If it wasn¡¯t for our earlier encounter, I wouldn¡¯t have even answered your call.¡± With that, the entity vanished, and Lena let out a sigh of relief. She turned around, facing the window, only to see a red dot aimed at her through it. Her eye twitched, before she let out a sigh, understanding the situation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...Okay, yeah, I was kind of loud back there.¡± She said, before finding herself back at the game¡¯s starting menu.

 Chapter 1128: Overwhelming

    Chapter 1128: Overwhelming


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy hummed to herself as she walked through the streets of the meeting room space with Julia, thetter smiling down at her. ¡°What would you like to do next?¡± She asked curiously.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy thought about it for a moment, looking around. By now, they had yed most of Aurivy¡¯s favorite games that she wanted to share with Julia, so she wasn¡¯t entirely sure what to do with the rest of the meeting.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she was debating where to go next, a familiar voice called out to her. ¡°Hey, Aurivy!¡± When she turned to look, she saw a petite girl covered in white fur, a pair of floppy, rabbit ears standing atop her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh! Hey, Starkiller!¡± Aurivy grinned, waving towards Balu.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I haven¡¯t seen Bihena around, so I was worried you guys had sat this meeting out.¡± Balu puffed her cheeks out. She had always enjoyed spending time with Bihena, and would try to find her whenever one of these meetings rolled around.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hmm¡­¡± Aurivy pursed her lips in thought. ¡°She¡¯s probably in a dancing game somewhere. I caught her practicing her dancing a few times over thest couple of weeks.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Balu¡¯s eyes went wide at that, imagining the typically stoic Bihena dancing to a fast-paced song. ¡°Really? No wonder I haven¡¯t found her. I kept looking around the simtion games.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy nodded her head with a smile. ¡°Want to go look for her together?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sure!¡± Balu agreed excitedly, before looking at Julia. ¡°I¡¯m Starkiller, another Keeper. You¡¯re one of EarthForceOne¡¯s, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Julia confirmed with a gentle smile, having already been told about the Keeper titles long ago.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Speaking of¡­ Lifre is one of your group too, right? I remember seeing her with all of you before.¡± Balu looked at Aurivy, who blinked in confusion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Lifre? Yeah, she is. Why, did she get into some trouble or something?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Balu giggled, shaking her head. ¡°No, she¡¯s doing a live stream at the moment. Some adventure thing. Her stream name was¡­ ah, I can¡¯t remember it now¡­ but yeah! It seemed really fun, and a few people are still watching her.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy seemed briefly confused at that, but didn¡¯t press further. She knew that Balu¡¯s memory was not the best in the world. She had an entire wall of her Admin Room devoted to notes that she wanted to remember. It was only natural that Lifre¡¯s stream name wouldn¡¯t have made it to that wall, at least not yet. And without her remembering it on her own, there was no point in trying to push for more.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right. I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll find thatter. For now, let¡¯s go find some dancing games.¡± Aurivy grinned, leading Balu and Julia back towards the gaming buildings in the meeting space.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Perhaps the best part of the meeting space, at least in Aurivy¡¯s mind, was how amodating it was to its guests. If a facility didn¡¯t exist, but people wanted it, it would pop into being. If it did exist, and people were looking for it, it would guide them subconsciously to their destination. Naturally, this wouldn¡¯t guide anyone to a specific person, but if they knew where that person was, that was another matter.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With that in mind, it didn¡¯t take long for the trio to find Bihena. She was indeed at a dancing game, her outfit having changed from when she left. Now, she wore a pair of tight, ck pants and a matching shirt, standing on a small tform with her eyes closed as she danced to the music.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Balu¡¯s eyes widened, surprised to see her friend dancing like this. She looked at the score on the machine, which climbed higher by the second, and then at Bihena again. ¡°Wow, she¡¯s actually really good, huh?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy snickered, nodding her head. ¡°Yeah, she doesn¡¯t get many chances to cut loose, so I guess she¡¯s been looking forward to this.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Soon, the song ended, and Bihena smiled, letting out a long breath of relief. Her eyes opened, and she caught sight of the three people watching her. Immediately, her body stiffened, eyes widening. ¡°Uhm¡­ how long were you watching¡­?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Long enough.¡± Aurivy teased, causing Bihena¡¯s face to go bright red.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You were so cool, Bihena!¡± Balu called out, jumping up to stand with Bihena on the tform. ¡°I never knew that you could move like that!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Bihena¡¯s head dipped, stammering. ¡°T-thanks. It¡¯s just a hobby of mine.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea lost track of the time that she spent in the Keeper Defense Protocol game. Every round, she would meticulously n out for every contingency that she could imagine. Until she was confident that she couldn¡¯te up with anything new. This led to many of the rounds taking quite a while to prepare for, but few problems emerged once shemitted.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That wasn¡¯t to say that she always got everything right on her first try. Once the system began throwing memetic threats and void entities into the mix, that was a whole newyer ofplexity that she had to ount for. She needed to devote specialized units to creating anti-memes ahead of time, and create information protocols that would limit their spread.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After fifteen rounds, her assets were not limited to just one¡¯s resources. At first, she was given a second to control, which meant even more micromanaging that she had to do. Then, an entire colonized sr system.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The best part of her meticulous nning began to shine as the scale increased, allowing her to reuse the majority of her earlier ns. If she was missing a key asset, she would alter the ns ordingly, but otherwise she would assign the premade ns to the same organizations, and then create arger, overarching protocol that connected the various facilities ands together.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The more the system scaled her assets, the more her old ns could be put into use. Where most yers would begin to panic, overwhelmed by the units at their disposal, Chelsea handled it with a smile. There were contingencies that she created in the first five levels that weren¡¯t activated until she was past level twenty.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯d be nice if the Keeper had any sort ofbat ability.¡± She muttered to herself, crossing her arms as she looked at the scenario ying out. In this round, a void monster broke through the world barrier with its main body, beginning to devour entire sr systems with every moment. ¡°Honestly, it¡¯s a bit unrealistic for a Keeper at this scale to be unable to fight.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">She had tried, but she couldn¡¯t give the Keeper any abilities, whether through magical training or scientific weaponry. The only thing that she could have the Keeper do wasmunicate with designated people, or move to ces where she had set up her protocols. If any enemy reached the Keeper, the round immediately ended.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea watched as the Apocalypse Protocol that she created kicked in. The residents of hers immediately fled to another universe, while three Fallen Gods emerged in the void with a giant weapon. They aimed it at the damaged universe, where the void monster was still rampaging, and fired a single st that shattered the sphere.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With that, the void monster was destroyed, together with the universe that it had intended to devour from the inside.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea began to wonder what sort of assets she would have to y with in the next round, when a prompt appeared in front of her. Chelsea read over it, her eyes widening slightly. ¡°There¡¯s only one round left? Then¡­¡± She hesitated, thinking what sort of monster the system would throw at her to finish things off.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">It has to be an Origin, right?</em><span style="font-weight:400"> She thought. The problem, however, was determining what sort of Origin would appear. If she failed in the first attempt, the second would likely not be the same type. She had to create ns for as many types of Origins as she could.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Let¡¯s start with the Keeper cement.¡± She muttered, looking at the list of assets. Sure enough, there were devices tagged as being able to create custom worlds. ¡°To prevent the Keeper from being instantly killed by something akin to an Origin of Death, let¡¯s put him inside a total null zone. No, that won¡¯t be enough to stop an Origin¡­ we¡¯ll need toyer it with multiple world barriers. Every other barrier will be a null field to weaken the Origin¡¯s power. And if the universe is destroyed, it should be set to automatically transport to another one.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea¡¯s tongue poked out of the side of her mouth as she began to create a new addition to her protocols, specifically targeting Origins. She didn¡¯t have an Origin of her own in her assets, so she had to find a way to defeat one through other means.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Granted, just because she was confident that the opponent would be an Origin, that did not make her scrap her other contingencies. She wanted to be truly prepared for anything, whether her theory was right or wrong.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Eventually, when Chelsea was confident that she had created an impregnable fortress around the Keeper, and ways to neutralize more than a dozen different types of Origins, she submitted her protocols. She pursed her lips, waiting to see what would happen. Whenever an enemy appeared, there would always be a red ping to draw her attention.


    <span style="font-weight:400">And soon, such a ping appeared. And another¡­ and another. Chelsea¡¯s eyes widened as she saw tens¡­ hundreds of pings appear from all directions. Her opponent wasn¡¯t an Origin, as she had guessed, but it was arguably something worse. The system threw every enemy at her that she had faced in every previous level en masse. Insectoid monsters that originally attacked an isted facility were now gctic threats. Memetic monsters warped the minds and bodies of countless citizens.


    <span style="font-weight:400">One by one, her protocols began to activate, neutralizing the weaker threats first so that they could focus on the bigger foes. However, Chelsea knew exactly what was going to happen. She had created these ns, after all. Even the Apocalypse Protocol wouldn¡¯t be able to handle the monsters attacking multiple dimensions at once.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She closed her eyes, letting out a deep sigh as an isted facility began to assemble a new weapon, per her orders. If all of creation was on the verge of destruction, the Final Protocol would activate.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The time within the simtion was elerated dramatically in ordance with the simtion¡¯s scale. Years passed in minutes, but soon, a Fallen God vanished from the isted facility, appearing within the void. It held a small, ck sphere with a single button, which it pressed with a solemn expression.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Final Protocol activated, the machine letting out a pulse of chaotic information that distorted the void, and then a second pulse, designed to counter the first and create a ripple effect. These pulses would continuously repeat, shaking the very fabric of the void. The first to be destroyed was the Fallen God holding the machine, and then the nearest void beasts. Soon, entire universes began to copse, torn apart by the chaotic ripples.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Eventually, there was nothing left in the void, nothing except for a single, miniscule speck. An artificially created world that kept jumping from ce to ce, reforming its barrier as soon as one was destroyed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The only one that needs to survive an invasion is the Keeper.¡± Chelsea said, crossing her arms. ¡°If the Keeper lives, there is hope for everything to be restored. If the Keeper dies, everything is lost.¡± She knew that it was a cynical thought, but this final level had proven that she wasn¡¯t wrong. Without creating an Origin of their own, through methods that Chelsea did not yet know, the only way that she could imagine dealing with such an overwhelming invasion was through the total destruction of everything other than the Keeper.

 Chapter 1129: Patent Theft

    Chapter 1129: Patent Theft


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea let out a long sigh afterpleting the game, d to see that her strategies had been enough. She was still not confident as to whether or not she had nned well enough to defeat an Origin, but looking back¡­ the game was never going to throw one at her to begin with.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">The game has to be fair for all yers. That means that the difficulty is adjusted based on the world that the yerse from. If a first ranked Keeper were to y this game, let alone Origins, they wouldn¡¯t know how to deal with memetic monsters and Fallen Gods.</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Given how the system bnces these games, the threats should all be things that could theoretically appear in their worlds. That was why I was allowed to use world creation technology only at the end, because it is a cutting edge research that we are just now developing. A lower ranked Keeper might receive their first god at the final level.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although this meant that she had more leeway than she had expected, she wasn¡¯t entirely satisfied with that. After all, it meant that her nning was good enough ¡®for now¡¯, but she stillcked a frame of reference for greater threats. <em><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯ll need toe back and check on this game again next year.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yo.¡± A familiar voice called out to Chelsea, and she turned to see James approaching, a smile on his face. ¡°Finally got out of the game, huh?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah.¡± She nodded with a bright smile, seeing a bag of colorful snack foods in his hand. Without her even saying anything, he passed the snacks over to her. ¡°How long was I in there?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hmm? About two and a half days. I don¡¯t think I need to ask, but, did you win?¡± James asked in a yful tone, and Chelsea nodded her head, causing him to chuckle. ¡°Knew you would. That game was basically made for you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea nodded her head again, before hesitating. ¡°Have you seen any of ¡®them¡¯?¡± Chelsea asked. Although she didn¡¯t borate, James nodded his head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah¡­ real hard not to go up and chat like old times.¡± He answered under his breath, and Chelsea reached up to pat his currently-furred arm. Their situation was both unique and not at the same time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Using the System Companion, it was of course possible to recreate a previous Keeper as a Companion, simr to how Dale created this version of Chelsea. Some Keepers would have surely done this as a way to get advice from an experienced senior, especially if they knew that Keeper in their past life.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The problem here was that this isn¡¯t what had happened with James. He was not a Companion. He was still a mortal, and could theoretically be the Keeper again. <em><span style="font-weight:400">This</em><span style="font-weight:400"> was unheard of in Keeper history, and they couldn¡¯t afford to let it slip in casual conversation. Otherwise, there could be people that used this to their advantage, specifically sending people in an invasion that would try to entice James in one way or another into taking over again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Have you yed any interesting games while I was gone?¡± She asked, changing the subject with a smile. James thought about it for a moment, before shaking his head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not really. Just the usuals. Oh, apparently Lifre started a new live streaming service. She seems to be really enjoying it. So¡­ don¡¯t be surprised if she asks for you to make something simr when we get back.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea¡¯s brow twitched when she heard that, and she let out a long sigh. ¡°Did she, now? Alright, go ahead and tell me what it¡¯s like, and I¡¯ll see if it is something that I can make.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James chuckled, describing the ¡®Adventure Stream¡¯ to Chelsea. The more she listened, the more dumbfounded Chelsea was by the concept. Or rather, by the thought of recreating this game back in the mortal world. ¡°How could¡­ no, wait, maybe with the right divinities and code, but still¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">She lowered her head in thought, before looking up at James. ¡°How long has it been since she started streaming?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James thought back when she asked that. ¡°She started around the same time that you entered Keeper Defense Protocol.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea¡¯s eyes widened, and she grabbed James¡¯s arm to pull him out of the gaming space. ¡°How many people have been watching her stream? And have there been any big spenders?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James blinked as he was dragged along, mentally opening the stream in the corner of his view. ¡°There are eighty-three people watching it right now. And the Bad End counter is at twenty-three. So, there have been twenty-three cases where she¡¯s died, whether through donations or her own idents.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This is Lifre we¡¯re talking about.¡± Chelsea said in an almost urgent tone. ¡°Unless she wanted to die for fun, none of those deaths were her own fault. As silly as she is, she¡¯s an incredibly skilled fighter, capable of learning the skills of others by simply watching them. That¡¯s what it means to be a mimic for her, after all. It¡¯s why she and Lena get along so well. She just doesn¡¯t like to use those skills as freely as Lena does.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So?¡± James asked, not sure where Chelsea was going with this.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, that means that there have been twenty-three instances where other people, most likely Keepers or trusted subordinates that have been given their own allowance, have paid enough points to cause her to die. Even if we assume that some of them were repeat spenders, that¡¯s at least a dozen people with that level of authority watching her stream.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James still didn¡¯t entirely understand, until he noticed where Chelsea was pulling him. It was a building not often used during the meeting, because it held little purpose during the span when time was frozen. This was the Keeper Market, a ce where Keepers could review items on the market and submit their own entries, even during this frozen period. For a small fee, that could even receive counseling from a System Administrator, one of the many entities that ran the meeting space.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This counseling would allow the Keeper to iron out any details of their desired system, preventing any unforeseen problems that could arise. Alternatively, a Keeper could use the counseling to learn aspects of an existing system that didn¡¯t appear in the market description. This counseling was typically the only reason why the market ever appeared in the meeting to begin with. However, now that James saw Chelsea dragging him here, he let out a sigh. ¡°Someone probably beat us to the punch, huh?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Probably, but let¡¯s check.¡± She nodded firmly, making her way into the building. There were a fair few people inside, more than Chelsea would have expected in a normal meeting. Her face fell, before trying to rx.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A worker approached the two of them with a smile. ¡°How may I help you?¡± He asked in a gentle tone, though Chelsea didn¡¯t miss the slight amusement in his gaze.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°How many versions of the Adventure Stream game have been ced on the market?¡± Chelsea asked, shaking her head. She wasn¡¯t going to bother asking <em><span style="font-weight:400">if</em><span style="font-weight:400"> it was there, just how many, and howplete they were.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Currently, there are five versions that have been added since the meeting began.¡± The worker said, gesturing for the duo to follow. They walked towards a private booth, where the worker sat down and looked at them. ¡°The privacy filter is on, so feel free to speak normally. It¡¯s been some time since the two of you werest at a meeting.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea nodded her head, massaging her temple. ¡°Right, sorry about this. I know our existence must be a headache for a lot of you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Mostly his, but yes.¡± The worker agreed with a yful smile. ¡°Now, you were asking about the Adventure Stream?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. What is the mostplete recreation, and how much does it cost?¡± Chelsea asked, James furrowing his brow at the conversation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The mostplete version is recorded as ¡®Interactive Stream¡¯. I believe that you will find that it has recreated the game to a striking level of detail. Its price sits at thirty-thousand points.¡± The worker informed them, smiling wider. ¡°If you wish to inquire for more details about this system, the price will be one thousand points.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea sighed, but nodded her head. She had earned far more than that in the defense game, so she was fine with paying the fee. Once the transaction was settled, the worker ced his hands on the table and spoke. ¡°This system was created to be adaptable to any world system, not requiring the game world feature.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The Keeper that purchases the system may define what currencies may be used, as well as guidelines for the pricing of viewer purchases. Once this is done, mortals may at any time choose to begin streaming, and they will be taken to an independent world. In this world, they may spend their own funds to apply different system settings to their adventure, or load a premade world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Once their stream is live, it will follow the Keeper¡¯s settings. Either it will be viewable in the minds of any in that Keeper¡¯s realm, like it is here, or it may appear on awork location for viewers to find. During the streams, the viewers may submit changes that the system automatically values, and if they are willing to pay, these changes will take ce in the stream world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James pursed his lips as he listened. ¡°What real-world benefit is there to the streamer, aside from the money contributed by viewers? Can they take anything out of the stream itself?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea nced over, surprised at that question. However, the worker offered a wider smile in return. ¡°Not directly, at least not with this version of the system. Though, there are still benefits. For instance, let us say that Chelsea here was conducting a stream to her research staff, where she was focusing on developing a breakthrough in one of her technologies. One of her staff could donate a significant sum for an expert NPC to appear and educate her on the process.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s why it costs so much.¡± James said with a sigh. ¡°Although there is no real-world benefit other than currency, there had to be something else. And let me guess¡­ the Keeper isn¡¯t able to stream, is he?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Quite right, sir. As expected of a veteran.¡± The worker responded in a teasing tone. ¡°Because of the isted world that the stream takes ce in, it would be an unfair advantage to any Keeper if they were allowed to simply hide in a stream world. Though, at the same time, if they did so, their enemies could simply pay for a cataclysmic event. Still, given that the Keeper can adjust the rates at which such things can be purchased, or disallow them entirely, it was deemed to unbnced to allow the Keeper to have ess.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea nodded her head in understanding. ¡°You said that <em><span style="font-weight:400">this</em><span style="font-weight:400"> version didn¡¯t let you take anything out of the stream¡­ does that mean that there is a version that does?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The worker nodded his head again at that. ¡°Of course. The ¡®Treasure Hunter¡¯ system is a new streaming system that functions in many ways simrly to ¡®Interactive Stream¡¯. The key difference is that the streamer may enter the stream with any of their real world belongings, and may exit the stream with anything that they had in their inventory. This system is priced at two hundred and fifty-thousand points. Do you wish to hear additional details about it?¡± The worker asked with a grin, though Chelsea and James both shook their heads.


    <span style="font-weight:400">They could already infer several details from what was said. This system would work simrly to the Digital Conversion system, except that there was no need for a base file. The donor would simply describe the item that they wanted to give the streamer, and that item would be created in the stream. It wasn¡¯t clear if the currency that was used on an item would still go to the streamer or not, but that was a rtively unimportant detail at this point.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea did have onest question, however. ¡°For the Interactive Stream system, where does the money go that the streamer uses to design their stream world? If it vanishes into the ether, then that will create a sinkhole for money that simply leaves the economy.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course, this was taken into ount with the guidance of our administrators.¡± The worker assured her with that same, professional smile. ¡°The Keeper, when establishing the settings, may determine a location for the money to be sent. They may also set a processing fee for any transactions made for a stream. For instance, using your divine currency as an example, your Keeper could choose to send the funds directly to Olympus¡¯s ount, or he could even have the divinity absorbed into himself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea¡¯s brow twitched again at the tant reference to their world, but she nodded her head. It made sense for an entity of the system to know these things, and she <em><span style="font-weight:400">had</em><span style="font-weight:400"> paid for the counseling, after all. Though, it was unfortunate that they missed the chance to get the royalties from this system.

 Chapter 1130: Streamer Plugins

    Chapter 1130: Streamer Plugins


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Chelsea caught up to us, and told us about the new systems that had been created in response to Lifre¡¯s live stream, I was dumbfounded. First of all, I didn¡¯t think that it was possible to create systems while you were still in the meeting space. I had always assumed that there would just be a mad dash to create the system as soon as the meeting ended.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For that reason, I was prepared to spend thest one or two days of the meeting simply detailing the system, nning to submit it as soon as we returned. At least that way, it would essentially be a lottery to determine who submitted the most urate system first, as the matching systems wouldn¡¯t be allowed. Simr ones, sure, but not those close enough to practically be perfect copies.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Still, the price tag of thirty thousand was¡­ honestly, not as much as I was expecting. Granted, there wasn¡¯t all that much benefit to the system itself. Not being able to take anything you acquired out of the stream meant that it was almost purely for entertainment purposes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was when Chelsea told me about the example that the administrator had given her, about how the system could be used for educational purposes. Now that, <em><span style="font-weight:400">that</em><span style="font-weight:400"> surprised me. Going by that information, it meant that characters could be created for the stream that possessed knowledge surpassing the world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was the point that made me seriously consider acquiring this system. Just that one aspect would be revolutionary for many worlds, able topletely change how they developed. Of course, it wouldn¡¯t be good to use that method for every major development, as it would make people stop wanting to discover new technologies for themselves. However, when it came to a roadblock in research, something that the team was unable to ovee through normal methods, it would give them just that little push.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I closed my eyes, trying to focus on the pros and cons of getting the system. The pros, naturally, included the steady development of key technologies, as well as revolutionizing the entertainment industry.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately, there was a major con to this system, as well. This con was the very fact that it could help the world develop more smoothly. Getting this system, I would likely find my rank rising faster than I otherwise would.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If I wanted to bnce this, I would need to carefully adjust the settings for purchasing those NPCs. Not only would they need a high price, but they would not be permanent summons, to avoid having them remain in the stream over months or years. ¡°Chelsea, can you take me to this market building?¡± I asked, before looking at Ryone, Irena, and Terra.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sorry, but would you mind if we resume the date a bitter?¡± When I asked that, the three girls gave knowing smiles, nodding their heads. Terra grabbed the other two by the arm.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll find something to keep ourselves busy until you are done.¡± She said with a chuckle, pulling Ryone and Irena away.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I shook my head, smirking slightly before gesturing to Chelsea. The shorter kitsune nodded her head, her expression serious as she led me through the streets. ¡°Just so you know, you¡¯ll probably need to pay the fee if you¡¯re looking for any answers on the system.¡± Chelsea spoke up, and I nodded.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s fine. If this goes well, I might buy that system. Otherwise, I will be saving myself money by learning about this in advance. Thest thing I want to do is buy a system that¡¯s going to lead to the destruction of the world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James couldn¡¯t help but snort at that. When we arrived, one of the workers seemed to already be waiting for us. Without a word, he guided us towards a private booth, smiling calmly. ¡°I believe that you are here to discuss the ¡®Interactive Stream¡¯ system in greater detail?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± I nodded my head. As expected, the worker asked for a fee of one thousand points, to which I immediately agreed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Very good. Then, please, ask your questions.¡± The worker said, crossing his hands over the table. ¡°I have already erected the privacy screen, so nobody will hear our conversation.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was a relief, but I did my best to focus. ¡°Is there a way to designate a type of NPC donation to be a ¡®Specialist¡¯ NPC, and set custom restrictions on those donations?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The worker tilted his head from side to side, as if briefly considering, before he spoke up. ¡°I¡¯m afraid that I will have to ask you to be more specific. If you wish to define a type of donation with special rules, you¡¯ll need a clear boundary.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Taking a deep breath, I organized my thoughts. ¡°Characters in a stream created for an educational purpose, meant to bestow knowledge on the streamer and their audience that is otherwise unavable in the real world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The worker snapped his fingers, pointing at me. ¡°And that, precisely, is why you need a clearer definition. You just described every expositional character that could appear in a story. They all possess knowledge unavable in the real world, and are created to bestow that knowledge upon the streamer and their audience.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked, realizing that he was correct. I furrowed my brow, trying to reword the definition. ¡°In that case¡­ in a stream whose worldws reflect those of the real world, a character created to help the streamer with some information that their audience is meant to utilize outside of their stream, furthering the development of the real world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The worker¡¯s smile grew wider at this definition. ¡°That is certainly a more urate description of what you are wanting. To answer your question, no, there are not settings in ce that would allow restrictions to be ced on specific categories of characters. If you wanted to restrict character appearances, it would affect all character appearances.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Couldn¡¯t you have just said that from the start?¡± I muttered, before shaking my head. ¡°Is it possible to create an add-on for the system that will allow those modifications?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It certainly is.¡± The worker nodded his head. ¡°After a system is created, it cannot be directly modified in the market. However, add-on systems can be created to pair with it, allowing for modified functionality.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I smiled slightly, before letting out a sigh. ¡°In that case, I would like to create an add-on called ¡®Educational Streams¡¯. This is a category of streaming that will use the worldws of whatever world the streamer was in when starting the stream. The donations avable for educational streams will be limited to providing resources to the streamer, such as materials or specialist characters as defined previously.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The Keeper should have settings avable when buying this add-on. One should be to set restrictions on specialist characters and advanced materials, altering how they are priced and where the money goes. Additionally, it should be possible to set it so that the streamer determines where their stream is viewable from, whether it is a localwork or publicly avable.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was to allow the educational streams to remain private, without being flooded with people that would get in the way. The worker seemed to understand that, nodding his head. ¡°In that case, is there anything else?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I paused, unsure if I had missed anything. To my left, Chelsea cleared her throat. ¡°What would the consultation fee be for assistance?¡± She asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°For this system add-on? Five hundred points.¡± The man responded with a smile, to which I nodded my agreement. ¡°Excellent! It is always nice to have an understanding customer.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a somewhat bitter chuckle, gesturing for the worker to continue.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Now, if you are truly wishing to create ¡®educational¡¯ content like this, and define its rules, then there should be a way for the viewers to ask questions to your specialist. It is possible to have the streamer serve as an intermediary, but in the context that you are preparing this add-on for, your streamer will often be busy working on their experiments.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°For this reason, I believe that it would be wise to have a specialist NPC capable of reading the chat on their own. You could also impose additional restrictions on the use of specialist NPCs, such as requiring the approval of a rted Companion, or the Keeper themselves. In your cases, I believe that both Tubrock, Udona, and alia would be suitable for this supervisory role. Perhaps Ashley or Ryone, as well, depending on the nature of the specialist in question.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked, surprised that Tubrock was suddenly brought up. Thinking back, he <em><span style="font-weight:400">was</em><span style="font-weight:400"> the God of Innovation, so this would actually be perfectly within his jurisdiction. ¡°Is there anything else?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, of course! There is always more that can be added and refined. Let¡¯s see, your current realm is preparing for universe-creation. That means that you will need your educational streams to have ess to the void.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes widened briefly at that. ¡°Are normal streams not able to simte the void?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, no, of course not.¡± The worker said, shaking his head. ¡°This was a safeguard put in ce under the counsel of another administrator. Memetic hazards within the void would be able to leak out and infect the streamer¡¯s entire audience. If a streamer wishes to travel from one universe to another, they must either find a special technique or device capable of such, or a viewer must donate to have them directly sent to the target universe. There is no travel through the void, whether real or simted.¡±


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">That</em><span style="font-weight:400"> made me ask an entirely different question than what I had nned. ¡°Is it possible to donate to create a memetic hazard in a stream?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The worker smiled, clearly anticipating that question. ¡°Yes and no. It is possible, but there are restrictions. The hazard will be censored, unable to affect the viewers. As for the streamer, the effects of the hazard will end either with their on-stream death, or when they exit their stream. However, there is an option avable for streamers to disallow memetic hazards when starting their stream.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This setting was created with the desire to protect confidential information. For instance, if someone was streaming under a false identity, and did not want to be bothered in the real world, they would not appreciate it if a viewer donated to create a memetic hazard that revealed their true identity.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°With your add-on, however, certain advancements would need to be able to properly simte the void. This opens a slight risk of memetic contamination, but as the restrictions are already in ce to prevent such donations, the risk is incredibly small.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head, thinking that it was an <em><span style="font-weight:400">incredibly</em><span style="font-weight:400"> convenient thing to discuss with a system administrator when designing systems like this. ¡°How expensive would this add-on be, so far?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The worker thought about that for a moment. ¡°Given that there are mostly restrictions being added, the price is not that high. Presently, the price would be five thousand points, if you submitted the add-on as it has been defined.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I thought about it for a moment, before nodding my head. ¡°There is one more restriction that I would like to add. The only ones capable of starting an educational stream should be those with a publicly recognized license to teach, or those licensed as researchers. It should not be a system open to the general public.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The worker blinked at that, but nodded his head. ¡°Doing so will increase the cost by fifty percent, because it requires the system to look at the personal credentials of the streamer to determine their ability to conduct the stream. That brings your total to seven thousand, five hundred points.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head again, smiling. ¡°Would it be possible to purchase both the stream and the add-on now?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">At that, the worker shook his head. ¡°Normally, it would be. However, by all technicality, your invasion began the same time as the meeting started. Because of this, you are incapable of buying any systems for your world. You can, however, submit this add-on to the market, and buy both it and the new system when you finish defending your realm.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ll do that, then.¡± I said with a reluctant tone. Chelsea looked over at me with a hopeful gaze, and I nodded my head. ¡°Yes, you can do educational streams, too. I¡¯ll just need to adjust the pricing ns. I don¡¯t want us to advance <em><span style="font-weight:400">too</em><span style="font-weight:400"> fast.¡±

 Chapter 1131: Exceeding Expectations

    Chapter 1131: Exceeding Expectations


    <span style="font-weight:400">The rest of the meeting passed without much fanfare, having managed to secure at least the add-on that we wanted to get, even though we wouldn¡¯t get any royalties from the main system. It¡¯d be nice if we did, given that it was technically Lifre¡¯s creation, but another Keeper had beaten us to the punch.


    <span style="font-weight:400">By the end of the meeting, I was able to get a look at the points that everyone had rued through their various activities. For the most part, there wasn¡¯t anything out of the ordinary. James and Chelsea didn¡¯t y too seriously, and were just rxing, though I was surprised to find that Chelsea had won a defense ticket, while Lena had won the attack ticket.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Almost everyone that I had brought with me was highly skilled in one way or another, so the average earnings per person was around twelve thousand points. That was better than most meetings that I had been in.If there was one thing that surprised me, aside from the tickets, it was that Lifre¡¯s earnings were surprisingly low, only around seven thousand points.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">I guess that¡¯s the downside to starting a new streaming service. Maybe it will be better next time.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> I thought to myself. Despite earning on the lower end of the spectrum, Lifre seemed really happy with her time conducting the live stream.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a deep breath, I prepared myself for my return to my world. The moment I was back in my Admin Room, I was immediately thrown out, ejected into the body of my host. Tsubaki, Lena, Dana, and Lifre all appeared in front of me, with solemn expressions on their faces.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I suppose it has already begun?¡± Tsubaki asked, gripping her fists.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ll take my post in the void, then.¡± Dana nodded her head, a serious expression on her face. As arguably one of our strongest Fallen Gods, she had been ced in charge of watching for any monsters aiming to devour universes from within the void itself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod, looking at the window that appeared with the invasion. ording to the information that I had obtained from Sarah, I would be dealing with a force of just over two and a half thousand monsters, though each one was powerful on a cosmic scale.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, my eyes widened when I saw the number that was presented to me. Seeing my expression, the four in front of me tensed. ¡°I know that look!¡± Lifre said, pointing at my face. ¡°Either things are about to get really fun, or really scary! There is zero in between!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°My Keeper?¡± Tsubaki asked, taking a step forward.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There are¡­ a lot more enemies than we expected.¡± I muttered, and Tsubaki tilted her head. ¡°ording to a friend, this enemy has always been consistent, sending two thousand, six hundred, and eleven monsters. However, the system is showing¡­ three¡­ trillion opponents?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The eyes of the four in front of me widened slightly, with Lena¡¯s brow furrowing a momentter. ¡°Didn¡¯t you tell us that the weakest of these monsters would be able to devour entires whole? If there are trillions of them¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I think that you are looking at it wrong.¡± Dana shook her head. ¡°It is highly unlikely that the enemy Keeper decided to send a billion times more enemies than normal to attack the boss. Regardless of whether or not he had that many troops, consider the alternative.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Go on.¡± I gestured towards Dana, who gave a small smile.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We know that the enemies are at least-sized themselves, going by the information you previously obtained. It is possible that some of these enemies have life-forms growing on their bodies, and these life-forms are being registered as additional enemies by the system.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked at that, considering the possibility. I hadn¡¯t thought of that, if only because Sarah had told me that DarkestNight had never shown evidence of nurturing a civilization, and that was why he was stuck as a Rank Four Keeper.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Maybe he has adopted the civilizations of a Keeper he defeated in the past, or is trying toe up with ways of breaking his bottleneck.¡± I muttered. ¡°Either way, this is going to make things tricky. If your guess is correct, we won¡¯t have an urate way to track the number of true threats anymore. We¡¯ll also need to consider the possibility that the civilizations are aiding the monsters that they live on, and outfitted them with beneficial devices.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If the civilizations are so new that none of the other Keepers knew about them, they couldn¡¯t be that advanced, right?¡± Lifre asked with a tilt of her head, but Lena quickly refuted that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Don¡¯t forget that the Keeper can alter the flow of time. Whether it is adapting a captured civilization or growing a knew one, they could have had hundreds of thousands of years to advance over the course of one or two months.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre¡¯s eyes widened at that, and Dana nodded her head. ¡°I¡¯ll head to the void immediately. If there are more advanced creatures, that makes it even more likely that some of them will emerge within the void.¡± She said, before turning to leave the throne room.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Lena, you go with her.¡± I said, looking towards our newest recruit. ¡°You can replicate Dana¡¯s abilities, so that is the best ce for us to put you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena nodded her head in understanding, turning to follow Dana out side. I let out a long sigh, looking towards Lifre and Tsubaki. ¡°Lifre, do you have any characters that you can bring to life to help us in this situation?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre blinked, before crossing her arms in front of herself. ¡°Hmm¡­ most of my powerhouses are on the viin team, because it¡¯s easier to handle their motives. The heroes are typically set against a specific type of viin. Furthermore, I typically try to avoid making characters with power on that scale. Don¡¯t want one to get angry and blow up a, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Got it¡­¡± I said with a nod, before sighing. ¡°For now, you and Tsubaki will be on standby. I want you two to keep in contact with Gerard and listen for any reports that could indicate the presence of enemy forces.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two of them both bowed briefly, before turning to leave. With that, I closed my eyes, focusing on contacting James


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, James had returned to hisb when the meeting ended, together with Chelsea¡¯s worldly incarnation. Although James was able to participate during the invasion, the same could not be said for those that are trulypanions like Chelsea was.


    <span style="font-weight:400">James was just sitting down for work when the Keeper¡¯s voice spoke into his mind. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Hey, James. Got an update on the invasion that you all should be aware of. The enemy forces that have appeared this time are measured at over three trillion, ording to the system. That¡¯s currently all the confirmed information that we have, though we suspect that the number is inted, due to civilizations residing on the main forces.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">James nodded his head when he heard that. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Got it, I¡¯ll pass the message along to the others.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> He promised, before turning his head and calling out. ¡°Yo, Chel!¡± He shouted, and Chelsea came running over, her hands clenched in front of her chest.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Y-Yes, James?¡± She asked, not quite the confident researcher that she was when Chelsea inhabited her body. She was still brilliant, having learned a lot over the years, but her social experiences with others were limited, given how often the main body was in control.


    <span style="font-weight:400">James reached over, petting her head. ¡°Got an update from the Keeper. He said that we¡¯ve got more enemies to deal with than we expected.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°More?¡± Chelsea¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Uhm¡­ are we talking hundreds extra, or thousands? Or¡­ a lot more?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Boss says in the range of trillions.¡± James said, surprised when Chelsea didn¡¯t seem to react as strongly as he had expected. Her eyes did widen, but instead of entering any kind of a panic, she began to pull books out of her inventory, reading through them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Trillions, trillions¡­ no, this is the wrong one¡­ this is for the millions range¡­ ah! Found it!¡± She smiled, finally retrieving one of the books. ¡°The uh¡­ the other me wrote a few journals with backup ns and additional contingencies, depending on information that we got during the invasion.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea opened the book, flipping through it. ¡°Have there been any immediate reports of monsters appearing in the void, or loss of contact with significant worlds?¡± She asked.


    <span style="font-weight:400">James arched a brow, turning to his terminal and checking for any new reports. ¡°Nothing hase in yet.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea nodded her head quickly. ¡°If no news, reference book T-3-A.¡± She said, setting that book aside and pulling another one out of her inventory. ¡°Can you ask the Keeper if the number has dropped by at least twenty thousand since the start of the invasion?¡± She asked, looking at the time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">James simply blinked, passing the message along. After getting a response, he shook his head. ¡°He said that the decrease is only in the tens, as far as he can tell.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Tens¡­ that is the normal range for natural deaths. Okay! The enemies with the power to sustain life won¡¯t appear in Lorek or Spica. ording to Chelsea¡¯s notes, a monster on a cosmic scale, capable of supporting life, would need to have an immense amount of personal energy. In the aforementioned worlds, this level of energy would create immense heat that would almost immediately begin killing the poption. If the poption was highly resistant to heat, the number could be as low as ten thousand deaths per minute.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There could still be monsters spread out on those worlds that do not fit the aforementioned criteria. However, Chelsea listed two possibilities that we need to be wary of.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The first possibility is that the life-forms living on these monsters is an advanced civilization, one which could potentially match our own inplexity. Given the fact that they live on-devouring creatures, they are either a highly warlike race, or a religious one which reveres the monster that they live on as a deity. If it is thetter, they will have created numerous weapons of war to enhance the ability of the monster in question.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If the civilization is the former, then it has likely inspired the Keeper to activate a faith-based ascension system, allowing these monsters to truly be gods based on the faith of those living on their bodies.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Between these scenarios, the worst-case oue that Chelsea listed would be if all additional life-forms lived on a single monster, the one with the greatest natural size and strength. If this were to ur, then the faith of all of these life-forms would be centered directly on that monster.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James widened his eyes as he listened to that exnation. He knew that Chelsea would have created some additional ns, but he didn¡¯t think it would turn into something like this. ¡°I don¡¯t suppose that she listed any other clues that we could use to narrow things down?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea blinked, and flipped back to the front of the book, where a list of indicators were given. ¡°To determine whether or not we are in the worst-case scenario, with a religious civilization centered on a single monster, either Lena or the Keeper must replicate Ryone¡¯s power, and use the domain of Wealth to find entities with a level of divinity akin to a member of the Greater Pantheon. If such an unknown entity is found, the Avenger system must be immediately deployed to their location. Engaging inbat through the use of deities should be ast resort.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James nodded his head, immediately sending the message to the Keeper, together with the other notes that Chelsea had left in her journals.

 Chapter 1132: Oh Cool, It Gets Worse

    Chapter 1132: Oh Cool, It Gets Worse


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing the report from James and Chelsea, I naturally did as they had suggested, mirroring Ryone¡¯s powers in order to determine if there was someone with the same levels of divine power as a member of the Greater Pantheon. Surely, such individuals would be few and far between.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, after a few moments, I shook my head. There did not appear to be anyone that matched such a description, at least not that I was able to detect. ording to Chelsea¡¯s notes, that meant that they were more likely to be the more violent path that pursued technology.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a sigh, checking the window again to verify the number of enemy forces. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Perhaps they really were in Lorek or Spica, and it was just taking longer for the monsters to perish?</em><span style="font-weight:400"> I thought to myself, figuring that there was no harm in at least looking.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, what I saw nearly made my eyes pop out of my head. The number hadn¡¯t gone down by the tens of thousands, but had instead begun to increase by the <em><span style="font-weight:400">hundreds</em><span style="font-weight:400"> of thousands. Over the course of an hour, over three hundred thousand new enemies had appeared on the disy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Without hesitation, I sent this message to James and Chelsea, hoping that they would have some insights into this. Perhaps Chel had left some note about if this would be the case.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sure enough, James reported back just a few minutester. <em><span style="font-weight:400">There are three possibilities, ording to the journals that Chel wrote in advance. First, this could simply be a coincidence, and they had a surge of new births shortly after arriving. Although hundreds of thousands seems like a lot, that is only approximately one millionth of their total poption. Comparing the poption size, that¡¯s actually less than the average birth rate of a world like Earth or Deckan.</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">The second possibility is that they have activated a dormant army of machines, which were waiting on standby, and only registered in the system after they were activated.</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">The final possibility¡­ </em><span style="font-weight:400">James began, but I had to cut him off.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">In the time that you took to exin that, the increase has exceeded fifty million¡­</em><span style="font-weight:400"> I told him, and he paused. He resumed his message a momentter in a more serious tone.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">The final possibility that she noted is that the excessive numbers are not a sign of civilization at all, but are a monster race that is born through the consumption of matter. If it is this possibility, a was just devoured.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes widened slightly when I heard this. Now this, <em><span style="font-weight:400">this</em><span style="font-weight:400"> had the potential to be a true worst-case scenario. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki. I have reason to believe that a was just destroyed. Run a check of all colonized worlds, and look for any missing responses.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Almost immediately, Tsubaki reported that nothing was unusual, and all colonizeds responded to the ping. While I was relieved that we hadn¡¯t lost any of our colonized worlds, that meant that we also had no information on where the enemies were located.


    <span style="font-weight:400">We didn¡¯t even know whether they needed to devour biological material, or if they could spawn these monsters through devouring inorganic matter. There would still be plenty of organic material on all of those once-popted worlds that had been destroyed by memetic monsters.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At that thought, my eyes widened. <em><span style="font-weight:400">James, thetest worlds that you¡¯ve been creating, they have fully evolved ecosystems, right?</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s right. The progression of time was necessary in order to stabilize the barrier around the world. That¡¯s why we needed that null field before we would even attempt to do the merger experiment.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I took a deep breath, thinking to myself before sending another message. <em><span style="font-weight:400">In other words¡­ there could be thousands of inhabited worlds in the Metong¡¯s new universe, and we have no way of detecting if one of them disappeared.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">James was silent for several moments, likely consulting with Chelsea about what I had said. Afterwards, he responded with a sigh of resignation. <em><span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s right. There are defense stations near every sr system that the Metong¡¯s Network has colonized, but there is no way to say for sure how many other worlds are still out there that have evolved life.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">If we were to go by the assumption than biological material was needed in order to rapidly produce these monsters, then there were two possibilities that I could think of. First, they had found a previously inhabited world, and managed to salvage the nts from that world to create their army. Secondly, they had devoured a colonized world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Given the increase in numbers, I had a hard time believing that they got all of that material just from devouring nts. Of course, there was still the possibility that they were able to produce monsters without any organicponents. In that case, the monsters that they produced would be akin to golems. I wouldn¡¯t be that worried if that was the case, as there were many ways to deal with that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The problems would arise if we were truly dealing with creatures that harvested organic matter. If that was true, they might even be able to produce more-devouring monsters. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Dana. Do you have any updates from the void?</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Yes, sir.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Dana responded almost immediately. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Lena and I caught two monsters leaving Fyor, and dispatched them. We can¡¯t be sure whatyer they came from, though. From their behavior, they were simply trying to travel to another universe, rather than aiming to devour one.</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Understood. Were there any odd growths, or colonies of life-forms on the creatures you killed?</em><span style="font-weight:400"> I asked, and Dana hesitated this time.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">I can¡¯t be sure. To be safe, we destroyed them as soon as we confirmed their existence, without leaving any traces. If there were any creatures living on their bodies, they would have been annihted in the st.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I could hear the apologetic tone in her voice, and so I shook my head. <em><span style="font-weight:400">You did good. Ask Lena to investigate the new Metong homeworld. We have reason to suspect that there is at least one monster there, capable of spawning additional monsters by consumings. If she can provide any information, that would be of great help.</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Got it, I¡¯ll tell her right away.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sir Keeper.¡± Hermes¡¯ voice suddenly spoke up in the throne room. ¡°Alena has arrived in Olympus, and is asking to speak with you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but blink at that. ¡°Let her in.¡± I said with a nod. Alena wasn¡¯t a permanent resident of Olympus like some of the others, but would asionally visit. After all, she was Irena¡¯s incarnation, despite being a felyn.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leaning back in my seat, I waited in the throne room until Alena entered. There was a calm smile on her face as she bowed. ¡°A pleasure as always, sir.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You don¡¯t need to be so formal with me, you know.¡± I said, chuckling slightly. However, Alena shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°On the contrary, it is this formality that makes mefortable. Besides, I am currently here on a business matter, rather than a personal one.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My brow arched at those words, and I leaned forward, my hands folding over myp. ¡°A business matter?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right, sir. I have a proposition for you. There is one among the gods who I suspect may be what you are looking for. Though, I believe that he will be quite difficult to track down if he does not wish to be found.¡± Alena said with that same, calm smile.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Given the timing, is this someone that Irena told you about before? Someone that could potentially help us locate the current threat?¡± I asked, to which Alena tilted her head to the side slightly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yes and no. I believe that this is someone that can help with the crisis at hand. However, it is not the Goddess that informed me of his existence. Rather, I learned of him through my own investigations.¡± Alena rified. ¡°After the events that led to the birth of the Fallen God of Order, I began a personal investigation on the matter. The likelihood of that situation resolving itself like that seemed unnatural, and I felt as if another power was at work there.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In my investigations, I learned of an individual that seemed calm in the face of the crisis, and prevented a single building from being affected by the memetic entity¡¯s effects. After questioning those involved, I learned that this individual had made contact with the sister of the new Fallen God of Order, only a day before the event took ce.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°At this point, I had the suspicion that he was somehow rted to what had happened, so I began to investigate his history, contacting various agencies to find out what little I could. Although the man himself keeps a low profile, he is consistently found near events that either cause significant loss of life, or those that had the potential to do so. In thetter, there is often some strange series of events that leads to another individual or group rising up to ovee the danger.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a slight nod at that. ¡°You believe that this individual has some measure of foresight, then, and travels to the location of future disasters?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That is correct, sir.¡± Alena confirmed. ¡°He has a history of having his divinity forged, though none of his domains are currently known on any public registry. It is my belief that this individual would be able to assist in locating the threats that you are currently wary of.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right¡­ and what is his name?¡± I asked, curious who she was thinking about. If there was someone that had an ability like this, I would certainly like to have them on my side.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°His name is Pierce Lace. I believe that he would be of great help to you.¡± Alena concluded with a smile. ¡°He is a lycan male with brown hair, often seen wearing casual clothing and sses.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Got it. I¡¯ll have Tsubaki begin to look for him right away.¡± I nodded my head, sending the message. Even if he didn¡¯t agree to work with us, just meeting him would be enough to have Lena copy his abilities.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What is this¡­¡± Pierce stared at his notebook, sitting at a desk within the transport ship that he had boarded. He was nning to head to another world, where there was a small likelihood of some form of disaster in the near future.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, there had been a sudden change in his notebook, seemingly out of nowhere. Through the different futures that Pierce observed, names were crossed out in red, scribbled over, or entire pages were torn out. Every future seemed to have a different result, but all of them led to some manner ofary destruction.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was not a result that he had ever seen before. There were always peaceful possibilities. However, here, it seemed that entires would copse, regardless of what he did. Flipping through the pages, he saw a note written in a future timeline. ¡®The Keeper is looking for me¡¯.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was another surprise, as he didn¡¯t think that he had done anything to attract the Keeper¡¯s attentiontely. However, if the Keeper <em><span style="font-weight:400">was</em><span style="font-weight:400"> aware of him, thenbining that knowledge with the sights that he had seen in his notebook¡­ he had a feeling that he should meet the Keeper personally.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He had always done his best to avoid the Keeper¡¯s gaze, knowing that it would inevitably lead to the Keeper wanting to use his powers on a more regr basis. Who wouldn¡¯t want the aid of someone that could see the future? Still, if there were truly so many lives at stake, he wouldn¡¯t be able to resolve this simply by having an innocent conversation with a bystander, or buying a snack at a food stall. Bigger problems required bigger solutions.

 Chapter 1133: The Big Boy

    Chapter 1133: The Big Boy


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, it seemed that finding Pierce wasn¡¯t an incredibly difficult challenge. Especially not once, a few hours after making the decision to find him, I received a report that there was an unexpected guest standing outside of Olympus. Yeah¡­ he came to us. That <em><span style="font-weight:400">really</em><span style="font-weight:400"> helped, given that I had already received a report from Lena that at least two stars had abruptly disappeared from the new Metong universe.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">At least none of our colonized worlds have been eaten, yet.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> I thought to myself, waiting for Pierce to enter the throne room. One of Tsubaki¡¯s clones was next to me, serving as a bodyguard while handling the meeting.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The door opened, and a brte lycan walked into the room, adjusting his sses. ¡°It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, sir Keeper.¡± The man said with a polite nod, which I returned.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ve been told that you have a set of rather useful skills for our current circumstances.¡± I skipped straight to the point, as every moment wasted could lead to entires vanishing from the cosmos. ¡°Is that true?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Pierce took a deep breath, shaking his head. ¡°If you are referring to the ability to identify the location of your enemies, I am not sure how much help I can be. I¡¯ve been doing some work on my own beforeing here, and¡­ well, I¡¯ll spare you the foresight lessons.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The future is currently in an extremely chaotic state. Your enemies do not have any kind of a fixed n, nor are they going for the nearest, convenient targets. Given how chaotic the futures that I¡¯ve seen are, they are wandering around aimlessly, simply destroying anything that theye across.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head, unsurprised by this fact. Still, there were some important pieces of information that he <em><span style="font-weight:400">could</em><span style="font-weight:400"> provide. ¡°Right. If that is the case, then there are two things that you can help me with. With the future being as chaotic as it is, the only information that we can reliably obtain from your power is something that is ¡®constant¡¯, meaning no matter what happens, this is a current fact. Is that urate?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Pierce nodded his head, I let out a small smile. ¡°The first piece of information that you can give me is the realms in which the enemy has appeared. This should be within your capabilities.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Pierce hesitated when he heard this, thinking. ¡°I have my own method for predicting where danger is going to strike. However¡­ what I can say is that, through this method, the only that hasn¡¯t shown signs of being destroyed is Fyor, though individual floors will sometimes be attacked in different timelines.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In other words, we should consider that the enemy is upying every universe, other than Fyor, and will turn to Fyor as the situation changes.¡± I spoke up, to which Pierce nodded his head. ¡°The second piece of information that you can help me with is determining the enemy¡¯s capabilities. In truth, there is another individual that can help me track them in real time, it is just quite¡­ costly to ask for her help. But, finding their strengths and weaknesses is something that you will have an easier time with, if you can tell me what you need for that operation.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once again, Pierce hesitated. ¡°I¡­ need some form of screen or other method of storing text. Then, no matter what happens, there must be someone that is dedicated to writing any uncovered information on that disy. No matter what emergencies arise, they must bepletely dedicated to their task. Any chance that they deviate from this job couldpromise the results.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I paused briefly, considering it, before nodding my head. ¡°Athena, provide a holographic disy for Pierce. If any information is uncovered about the enemies that we are facing, you are to disy it immediately, whether the informationes from an outside or inside source. Even if it is about an enemy that has already been in. The only information that should not be disyed is that whiches from Pierce himself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Understood, sir.¡± A respectful voice echoed throughout the room, and a holographic screen appeared.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is there anything else?¡± I asked, and Pierce let out a sigh.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I need permission to stand here and watch this. If I would be asked to leave at any point, I will no longer be able to see the information that would be disyed. That is why I usually do this on a personal notebook, which I can always view whenever I want. For a disy like this, I need constant ess.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked, but nodded my head. ¡°You have that permission. No matter what happens, you will not be made to leave.¡± That was an easy enough request to fulfill. After all, if something major happened, <em><span style="font-weight:400">I </em><span style="font-weight:400">would be the one leaving the room, not him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Pierce nodded, turning to stare at the screen. He brought a hand up, adjusting his sses, and I could feel his divinity flowing into one of his eyes. ¡°The first entry to appear urs at the earliest in thirteen hours, and twenty-seven minutes. It reads ¡®two confirmed carrier beasts, more suspected¡¯.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Next, two hourster, there is another message. ¡®Spawned monsters identified. Biological in origin, with the capability of independent space travel. Capable of self-mutation through devouring living entities. Note: The devoured entities must be eaten alive to trigger the mutation.¡¯ After that, the messages start to be garbled. My guess is that it¡¯s because the mutations are causing numerous branching timelines.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I furrowed my brow. ¡°I understand. Is there anything else that you can give me?¡± I asked, and Pierce continued to stare at the nk screen, his eye visibly straining.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There is one entity, which has earned the designation of ¡®King¡¯. I¡¯m seeing at least twenty timelines, and more appearing every second, where it kills Dana.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I wasn¡¯t the only one surprised by that, as even Tsubaki¡¯s clone tensed. I gripped the armrests of my throne, my knuckles going white. ¡°How many timelines are there, byparison, where she wins? And how far away is that fight?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The fight is between two and three days away. As for her odds of victory¡­ I have seen three reports of her winning that battle, so they are rather low.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded once again, looking up. ¡°Athena, create a second screen next to the first. On this screen, disy only the information for thergest enemy, designated ¡®King¡¯.¡± I ordered, not wanting to tamper with the futures that Pierce was seeing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sure enough, another screen appeared, and Pierce turned his gaze to that. ¡°ording to a report from Lena in one of the losing battles, the ¡®King¡¯ possesses a weapon capable of destroying isted regions of the void, and used that to y Dana. Most likely, the three victories urred before this monster had the chance to use that weapon.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a sigh, understanding just how powerful such weapons would be. It seemed that the enemy did possess <em><span style="font-weight:400">some</em><span style="font-weight:400"> level of civilization, if Lena used the term weapon. Maybe this ¡®King¡¯ monster was the only civilization-carrying enemy, and the rest were carrying the monsters?


    <span style="font-weight:400">I stood up, gesturing for Tsubaki to stay where she was as I descended the stairs. ¡°I need to make a call. If you discover any more important information, please tell Tsubaki to ry it to me.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Pierce nodded his head, not looking away from the two screens as I left the room. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Where are you two?</em><span style="font-weight:400"> I asked, transmitting my thoughts to the Terra twins.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">We¡¯re in our pce. Big sis told us to wait for you, because you would probably need us for this.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Hearing that, I turned, walking to an elevator and moving to Terra¡¯s pce.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There, I found the twins waiting for me in the hallway, their books already open. ¡°Do you need the two of us, or the ¡®other one¡¯? The divine Terra asked, and I shook my head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right now, I need the two of you. I believe that I have enough information to have you locate a certain enemy. But first¡­ how much Origin power do you have saved up? Is it enough for what we might needter?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The fallen Terra grinned, nodding her head. ¡°Thanks to the tests of the Avenger weapons, we¡¯ve got enough that we can do a fight, albeit a short one. If we¡¯re not fighting, we canst about eight hours, more if another Avenger is used after a monster attack.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right. In that case, the enemy that I need you to locate. We have given it the designation of ¡®King¡¯, because it is the singlergest opponent that we have to fight in this invasion. Additionally, it ys host to an advanced civilization that resides on or within its body. This civilization is powerful enough to create weapons capable of disrupting the void. As for just how big it is¡­ consider that it could devour an entire sr system in Desbar with a single bite.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The eyes of the twins widened, and they looked at each other, before nodding their heads seriously. Both of them began to stare at their books, which would glow either dark purple or gold. ¡°I¡¯ve got him.¡± The fallen twin said, staring at the book. ¡°He¡¯s currently in the realm of Sher Dien.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thank you.¡± I looked at her quickly, before nodding. ¡°Can you give me any information about him, or the civilization he houses?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The fallen goddess flipped the page in her book, reading out what appeared. ¡°The civilization lives¡­ in its skull? Specifically, they live on its brain, which has been altered to provide them a thriving ecosystem. Their collective intelligence is then absorbed into the monster through their mana, and it uses this intelligence along with a forge-like construction in its abdomen to produce any technology that it or theye up with, which it finds beneficial for it. Currently, it is equipped with full-body armor that resists mana, spiritual energy, and ki, and three powerful weapons.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This is the epitome of not fair.¡± The divine sister muttered. ¡°I just found him, too. He¡¯s nning on trying out a new device that his people imagined, the one that you mentioned that can disrupt the void. He¡¯s in the nning stage for it now, and believes that it will take two days to forge. In the meantime, he has to harvest raw materials for its construction¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I bit my lip when I heard that. ording to their information, that meant that Dana was killed in a weapons test. Right now, it was as vulnerable as it would ever be, though that wasn¡¯t saying much. ¡°Would the Origin of Fate be able to kill this beast?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two of them chuckled when they heard that, speaking in unison. ¡°Fate governs all things. If it lives, then its ultimate fate is death.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Afterwards, the divine sister shook her head. ¡°We¡¯d need to get to it first, though. It¡¯s moving outside of the Hypene Network, so we don¡¯t have any clearndmarks to use. We would need to conduct the entire operation as Fate, to ensure that we got there, but that would make us use a lot more of our power.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Normally, we¡¯d have Aurivy send us.¡± The fallen sister spoke up. ¡°However, at times like this, the worldly form of Aurivy has lost her omniscience, and won¡¯t be able to direct us there.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head, thinking. ¡°Could you devour its fate, like you do with the Avenger weapons? Would that allow you to recover the costs of activity?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The twins thought about that for a moment. ¡°Maybe¡­ the fact that there is a civilization living in its brain means that there are countless possibilities. However, there is a risk to doing so.¡± The fallen twin exined. ¡°The Avenger works because it limits the scope of ¡®fate devouring¡¯ to a set area. If we were to use this power ourselves, there is a chance that this could exceed the parameters of what a universe can withstand. Especially one like Sher Dien, where there are so few other civilizations to fuel fate.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In other words.¡± The divine Terra summarized. ¡°We can do it, and it wouldn¡¯t even be that hard. But¡­ there is about a fifty percent chance that doing so would destroy that entire universe in the process. If it was in any other universe, one with more colonized worlds and a greater poption, that risk would be lower, but we got unlucky there.¡±

 Chapter 1134: Cloudy With A Chance Of Doom

    Chapter 1134: Cloudy With A Chance Of Doom


    <span style="font-weight:400">With the Origin of Fate unable to directly deal with the ¡®King¡¯ monster, I had toe up with another way to do it. ¡°Although you can¡¯t directly consume its fate, can you alter its fate to lead it to certain doom?¡± I asked the twins, who looked at each other.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I mean, we can try? It might use up a lot of our energy, though. Is that alright?¡± The divine sister asked, to which I nodded my head. Getting rid of this ¡®King¡¯ would be the biggest challenge of the entire invasion, especially if it was able to kill Dana.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The sisters looked at one another again, before taking a deep breath and walking into each other. Noticeably, they skipped their usual theatrics, as if understanding the seriousness of the situation. Soon, the Origin of Fate was standing before me, ck liquid seeping from her eyes as she smiled. ¡°You never doe to me with easy requests, do you?¡± She asked, and I shook my head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sorry, but this is a pretty big deal. Can you do it?¡± When I asked that, the Origin closed her eyes, contemting the task.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not as things stand now. Unless variables are introduced, there is no fate that exists for that monster to be destroyed before its new weapon ispleted.¡± She spoke up with a shake of her head, surprising me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°None at all? Not even a spontaneous supernova or ck hole?¡± I asked in surprise, and the Origin gave me an amused smile.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You do not seem to realize the true scale of your foe, Dale.¡± She spoke gently. ¡°If the star of your Earth were to go supernova inside of its mouth, it might think that it had eaten some spicy food at most. If you were lucky, you could give its tongue a blister like that, before it disregarded the event and moved on. As for a ck hole¡­ this is a beast that moves hundreds of light years every hour. It could pass through a ck hole, and it might simply get a bruise. You might think that it was so big that its eyes would shine like the sun, but the sun would barely fit in the gaps between its teeth.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, if you want a fate to exist where this creature is in, it will require something present that can cause it real harm. If you were to randomly fire Avengers into that universe, it would give at least some possibility, but the fate would be so remote that I would have to overdraft myself just to force it to ur.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I pursed my lips, about to ask if there was nothing that could be done, before the Origin spoke again. ¡°Set your new shadow upon this world. This king of the enemy is so massive, so fast, that its every movement within the void would cause ripples to be seen. Once that is done, you can dispatch a few Avengers, though whether that will be enough I cannot say.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You don¡¯t think that even the Avenger could do it?¡± I asked in shock, and the Origin simply chuckled.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If the range of the Avenger covers an area where a vital organ passed through, it could cripple the beast. Otherwise, it will be wounded, but it will also be wary, taking the chance to hide and lick its wounds. I will do my part to help your shadow find its trail, but man must y a role for fate to prosper.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head, immediately rying the orders to Lena. ¡°And, if I may, Dale.¡± The Origin spoke up, staring at me. ¡°Do not face these monsters as you would those in the past. If you do, you will surely die.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but blink, looking at the Origin. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Granted, I knew that these were stronger than the monsters I was used to facing, but the way she said that made it seem as if there was more to it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Even the smallest of these foes can traverse beyond the speeds of light. No matter how fast your reactions may be, if you trust your eyes to fight them, you will be dead before you notice their arrival. You will need to sense them with your divinity, and other exceptional means that do not rely on sight. Furthermore, you will need to use the fullest extent of your own speed. Only then will you be able to avoid a lethal strike.¡±


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Starting to sound a lot like I should avoid entering battle altogether.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> I thought to myself. I had never really shied away from a fight when it came to me, but there was a limit to what I could do. ¡°It sounds like I¡¯ll need to keep the Speed domain active throughout this invasion, just in case.¡± I said, to which the Origin agreed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That would indeed be wise.¡± She said, before suddenly pursing her brow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± I asked, and she turned to look off towards the side, her gaze piercing through the void.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°A fate of death is looming over one of your worlds. In under an hour, death will befall Halvar Three, within the Deckan universe. The twin gods stationed there will die first, and all life on that world will cease over the next fifteen minutes.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes widened, before I blinked in confusion. ¡°Fifteen minutes? Why would it take that long for people to die if one of the world eaters arrived?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s not the world eater, but the swarm that spawned from it. That swarm is approaching the now.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a firm nod of my head, focusing on sending a message. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Udona, I just received reliable information that a swarm of monsters is set to arrive at Halvar Three within the hour. If nothing changes, everyone there will die. Additionally, these monsters can consume their victims while they are alive to take on their characteristics and abilities. It¡¯s imperative that we don¡¯t allow them that chance to evolve.</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Halvar Three? Let me look¡­ that has been put under the jurisdiction of Thessa and Theon Grid. They are some of the oldest gods, and are rather powerful. Are you sure that they will fall so easily?</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">This information came directly from the Origin of Fate.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> I told her, to which Udona immediately fell silent.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">I understand. I¡¯ll dispatch additional forces immediately. Do you have anyone that you can send?</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I thought about that for a moment, before nodding. <em><span style="font-weight:400">I do. Prisci has been training an elite unit of my creation. This will be a good trial run for them. I¡¯ll have her immediately report to you.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Given the timing of this attack, I thought back to what Pierce had said previously. He had told me that the first attack confirmed would be in another thirteen hours. Did it take half a day for us to register that the had been destroyed, or was there something else going on?


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Prisci quickly flew towards the Ashtanu pce, with one thousand Holy Knights flying behind her in formation. She arrived to find Udona already waiting, Aurivy standing at her side. ¡°Lady Goddesses, I havee to answer the Keeper¡¯s call.¡± Prisci answered, bowing towards the duo.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Normally, I¡¯d tell you to rx with the formalities, but we¡¯re short on time.¡± Aurivy said, stepping forward. ¡°I¡¯m going to assume that you were briefed on the mission on the way here.¡± She said as golden mist began to surround Prisci and the one thousand Holy Knights.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Prisci nodded her head firmly. She wasn¡¯t a goddess herself, but she was the Priestess of the Keeper. She had several powers that would allow her to fight at a divine level, or in this case,mand such a battle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When the golden mist rose over her body, she found herself standing high in the sky, floating in the air. A pair of halflings were before her, who she immediately recognized as the Grid siblings. Theon looked to have an arrogant expression, though she could detect the anxiety hidden in his gaze, while Thessa looked relieved at the sight of the Holy Knights.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Are you our reinforcements?¡± Thessa asked, looking at Prisci.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I am.¡± Prisci nodded her head. ¡°I am the Priestess of the Keeper, and these are the Holy Knights that I have been training in his name. Each one can be considered a god, though they do not fear death.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thessa nodded her head, staring up at the sky. ¡°I¡¯ve been using my divinity since I heard what wasing. They¡¯ll be here in five minutes. Currently, they are flying on a¡­ the best way to describe it is a giant meatball the size of a small continent, filled with small holes.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Have you tried to snipe them from here, since you have seen the enemy?¡± Prisci asked, and Thessa gave another nod.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I did, but I don¡¯t have any arrows that can eliminate them all in one shot. If the ¡®ship¡¯ isn¡¯t entirely destroyed, it justes back together. I think the ship itself might be made up of the bodies of these creatures, or be a separate monster in its own right.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Prisci simply nodded her head at that, moving to fly into space with the Holy Knights. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Long Ranged Corps, step forward!</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Shemanded mentally, and one hundred Holy Knights broke free of the formation to form a line. Each of these knights had been given abilities that could function at an extreme range.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Targeting Units! Assist the Long Ranged Corps.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> She said next, and three more knights came forward. These were the knights with the domains of Sight, Discovery, and Tracking. Each of them used their own abilities to lock onto the enemy location, and share that information with the other knights, as well as Prisci herself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Prisci was taken aback when she saw the form of the enemy. Thessa wasn¡¯t joking when shepared it to a meatball, as the entire thing looked like a wadded up ball of flesh. Looking closely, she could see winged creatures flying in and out of its many holes. They were¡­ abominations was the only word that came to mind. They hadrge, muscr builds covered in fur, like an ape. Wings like those of a bat stretched out from their back for several meters, but¡­ the most horrifying thing was their mouth, which ran vertically along the entire length of their body. It was covered in ck teeth, and released a sickening, green glow.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Long Ranged Corps¡­ fire at will. Annihte the enemy.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Shemanded, and one hundred abilities wereunched. Space distorted, mes erupted, arrows rained from all directions. Each of these abilities were enough to destroy a country. While she would have liked to have made even more powerful attacks for them, she had nowhere to test such destructive forces safely.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After the attacksnded, there was a moment of stillness as Prisci waited to see the results. Because of the release of divine energy, the Targeting Units had to locate the enemies once again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Soone, Prisci saw the writing mass of what remained of that ¡®meatball¡¯. There were thousands of monsters still visible, throwing themselves on the wounds that had been inflicted upon it, and seeming to explode in green pus. Wherever these monsters exploded, the living vessel would heal itself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Eventually, although it had be smaller, and slower, it had been repaired. Prisci knew that there wasn¡¯t enough time tounch another bombardment, so she issued another order. <em><span style="font-weight:400">All units! Prepare for a defensive battle! Do not allow one enemy to breach our line!</em><span style="font-weight:400"> As she shouted that mentalmand, she held her arms out to either side, retrieving a pair of des that shimmered with a golden luster.

 Chapter 1135: Those Who Learn From History Are Able To Repeat It

    Chapter 1135: Those Who Learn From History Are Able To Repeat It


    <span style="font-weight:400">The mammalian swarm flew through the empty space, breaking into the sr system and rushing towards Prisci. With her eyes closed, she began to activate the divine abilities that she had received from the Keeper.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Observation, Optimization, Speed, Battle, Sword, Performance, Hero, Strength, and Defense.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> With a thought, Prisci activated nine domain powers, the maximum that she was willing to attempt. Even if these weren¡¯t true domains, she wasn¡¯t willing to push her luck by exceeding the natural limit.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With the powers activated, the world seemed to slow down around Prisci. Her eyes remained closed, but she could observe everything happening in real time. The swarm was still moving quickly, but no longer too quickly for her to counter.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Knight of Death, form the Impassable Line!</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Shemanded, and one of the knights flew to the back of the formation, where a white line was carved into space. This line began to spread out, forming a wall that separated Halvar Three from the iing swarm. The only ones behind the line were Thessa and Theon, and Prisci sent them a clear warning.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">If anyone crosses that line before the Knight of Death perishes, they will die.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> She said firmly, before leaning forward and elerating towards the swarm. Her twin des carved a golden line through the air, slicing apart the first two monsters that came towards her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In that brief moment, Prisci realized that the monsters werergely hollow in their torsos, likely due to therge, vertical mouth covering their bodies. Their vital organs all appeared to be located in their lower extremities.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Noting this, she nned to slice the next monster down the middle, only for its vertical mouth to open at thest instant to grab her hand. Her brow knit together in rm, and she discarded that hand without hesitation, together with the sword it was holding.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Before the connection to her hand was lost, she could feel it being swallowed by some form of energy in the creature¡¯s mouth. Thankfully, as one who had transcended her physical body, she was able to immediately regrow her hand, though the sword would not return as easily.


    <span style="font-weight:400">All around her, hundreds of knights had engaged inbat with the monsters, throwing out concentrated attacks to eliminate them in droves. Prisci watched as more than a dozen monsters tackled the Knight of Wood at once, forcing it into one of their mouths. She felt a sense of triumph emerging from the swarm, before that feeling was reced with confusion.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">ording to the Keeper¡¯s information, they can obtain power by devouring living creatures. Since the knights are not truly alive, but act as divine golems, perhaps they can¡¯t be eaten.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> That thought shed through her mind, before she took advantage of the momentary confusion by cleaving through the clustered group of monsters.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately for her, the monsters quickly noticed this problem as well after attempting to devour another of the knights. She could feel the moment when she became the sole focus of the swarm, the only ¡®living¡¯ creature that they were fighting against.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Substitute the Sword domain for the Stars domain. </em><span style="font-weight:400">She thought quickly, before lifting a hand. She snapped her fingers, and a ball of intense heat began to swell above her, swirling in ce. She pointed her finger forward, and that ball shot towards the swarm rushing towards her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In their brief sh, she had learned that these monsters possessed organic bodies, but had unique organs that allowed them to produce a special energy that she couldn¡¯t identify. As long as they were organic, the heat of a star should have been able to annihte them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">And sure enough, the first wave of monsters evaporated as the miniature star approached them, still growing as it traveled. This enraged the swarm, causing them to send hundreds, thousands of their own at the star, smothering it in their sheer mass. Prisci hesitated when she saw this, realizing that the swarm had as little fear of death as her own knights.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At that moment, the Keeper¡¯s voice rang out in her mind. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Prisci! No matter what you do, you cannot allow those monsters to eat you! If they eat a creature, they can be that creature, and share that ability with the rest of their hive!</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Prisci¡¯s body stiffened at that information, realizing that they weren¡¯t just growing from devouring others. That was why they had been so smug after eating one knight, because they believed that every monster in the swarm would soon gain its abilities.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">I understand, my lord.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Prisci said, before taking a step back. Because of the boundary set up by the Knight of Death, there was no way for her to retreat. She could use one of the domain abilities to hide, but that would just cause the battle to return to its former stalemate. With more and more monsters being produced by the hive, that was not a battle that they would win.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Substitute Defense, Strength, Performance, and Battle for Fire, Ice, Gravity, and Darkness.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> She focused, taking a step forward. <em><span style="font-weight:400">All knights shall immediately retreat to the line.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Holy Knights did not question hermand, falling back to the Knight of Death and leaving Prisci alone on the battlefield with the swarm. They seemed surprised that she would offer herself so willingly, but weren¡¯t going to pass up a free meal. As they rushed towards her, Prisci rapidly created the linked ability that she wanted, finishing it in an instant with the power of the Optimization and Speed skill she used.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She snapped her fingers again, creating a series of miniature stars that flew out towards the swarm, just as they had before. Rather than avoid these miniature stars and risk them going for the hive, or detonating behind their lines, they did the same thing that they did before. They threw bodies at the problem to make it go away.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thousands of monsters were sacrificed, flying directly into the stars in an attempt to destroy them, but Prisci simply smiled. This attack would only work so well once, so she needed to make this count.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Soon, the first star showed signs of going critical. However, rather than being snuffed out, it seemed to rippled, copsing in on itself and bing a ck dot of distorted light. This dot then began to suck in the monsters that were still approaching, its reach extending even to those waiting to charge after the stars had been destroyed.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Don¡¯t underestimate someone that has studied the Greater Pantheon as closely as I have.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> She thought to herself, recalling one of the first recorded feats of the Greater Pantheon after the Keeper had revealed himself. The Goddess Ryone had created a controlled ck hole to destroy a giant space monster that was going to destroy the Earth. Now, thousands of yearster, Prisci was recreating this achievement.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Every star that copsed turned into a ck hole, pulling the swarm closer and closer. Worse, they were even acting on each other, pulling the other ck holes together, as well as the stars that had yet to copse. As they merged, the resulting ck hole grew exponentially, and Prisci sent it forward with a flick of a finger.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Prisci was controlling the gravity released by the ck hole, preventing it from reaching back towards her or the she was protecting. She did not want to be the one to destroy the she had been tasked with saving, after all.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The smaller monsters were unable to escape the pull of the ck hole, falling towards it. However, the main body of the hive was another matter. It began to pull back, showing the speed and force which had allowed it to cross light years in a matter of hours.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Oh, no you don¡¯t.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Prisci thought to herself, tapping the Speed domain to elerate the movement of the ck hole. A ck line seemed to carve through space, followed by a wave of distorted light, before the ck hole had entered inside of the hive. Prisci could feel the hive emanating an intense fear and pain as it began to copse in on itself. Soon, the hive was gone, and all that was left was the ck hole.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Substitute Darkness for Light.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> She thought, creating a new power. With onest snap, the ck hole erupted into a blinding light, spewing out all of the matter and energy that it had absorbed in an instant. Thankfully, this eruption happened far away from the, as the hive had been in the midst of its retreat when the ck hole caught it.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">My lord, the swarm has been eliminated.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Prisci reported, though there wasn¡¯t any pride in her tone for having destroyed the enemy. This was just one swarm, which had been created as a byproduct of a wandering monster. There could be tens, even thousands of simr swarms out there.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If just one swarm managed to consume a god, that entire swarm would essentially be gods with that domain. Of course, there was the morbid possibility that feeding ten different domains to a single swarm would lead to annihtion, but that was not an option that Prisci wanted to focus on.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tower sat in his office, his crystalline body in deep contemtion. Due to all of the cosmic threats roaming about, the entire poption of his had been moved into one of his many instances. While this wouldn¡¯t protect them in the event that he was killed, it would stop them from being killed from the mere energy releases such a fight could cause.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After a moment, his gem-like head tilted upwards, sensing a vast monster that was flying towards his location. Its body was¡­ quite simply, enormous, with ws that could pluck stars out of the sky and a glowing, armored hide. Its mouth was open wide, a green light visible from the depths of its throat. Tower could sense countless other monsters along its surface, scurrying about.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">At this rate, it will be here in¡­ five minutes? Wait, no¡­ huh¡­ well then.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> He thought to himself, before lowering his head. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Pietra, Atraxi, a giant monster is on its way to try to eat your.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> He warned, sensing that the path of the monster was just slightly off from his own world. Clearly, it had designated the world quite literally made of living matter to be its meal.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Are you serious?</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Atraxi responded back, almost amused. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Something wants to eat us?</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Indeed.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Tower nodded his head. Given the size of this monster, he had briefly entertained the thought of taking it in as his new final boss. It seemed even more powerful than the Dragon God of the End, which the Keeper had taken from it ages back. However, he had been warned prior to this invasion of monstrouslyrge foes that these enemies were not able to be kept or tamed. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Do you require any assistance?</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">How long until it gets here?</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Atraxi asked curiously, and Tower nced up again.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Four minutes. It is incredibly fast.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> He answered. After that, neither Atraxi nor Pietra asked for any aid, likely taking their own precautions.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Right on cue, the massive creature flew past Tower¡¯s with enough force that it threw the out of its normal orbit. By the time he was able to even register the shift in orbit, it had already swallowed the slime homeworld.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The monster suddenly stopped before it could leave the sr system, as if attempting to digest the meal that it had just consumed. Tower simply shook his head, working to correct the orbit of his as the body of the monster began to bloat, before its skin split open. Blue and green ooze seeped out of its skin, washing over its body to devour the monsters living along its surface.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was a long, and surely painful process, before the ooze hadpletely covered the monster, starting to shrink down and devour its mass. When it was done, the slime homeworld was several times its original size, causing Tower to send another message. <em><span style="font-weight:400">You¡¯ll need to split into multiples now, or you¡¯ll throw off the orbits of every you pass.</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Oh, sorry! How many do you think we¡¯ll need to split into?</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Atraxi asked, as if his entire world hadn¡¯t just been devoured by a giant monster.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">At that size¡­ maybe twenty? Try to spread them out over the sr system, so they don¡¯t get in the way of anything.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Atraxi quickly responded to that. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Thanks. Are there any more of these? They have a pretty interesting ability. Pietra managed to make a new breed of mimic slime out of its essence, before it waspletely consumed.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tower thought about it, before nodding. <em><span style="font-weight:400">There should still be many more. However, it is up to fate if they are toe to us.</em>

 Chapter 1136: Best Worse Case Scenario

    Chapter 1136: Best Worse Case Scenario


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena narrowed her eyes as she stared at the world barrier in front of her. The Keeper had tasked her with finding a monster so massive that its every movement would cause disruptions in space. However, when sr systems appeared smaller than a grain of sand, it was still difficult to find even something sorge.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She had, at the very least, narrowed it down to a single gxy, focusing her attention only on that, but it was still a lot for her to observe at once. Her eyes focused, sweeping over the gxy, until she saw a faint ripple. A speck of light vanished, and her eyes widened. Immediately, she sent the coordinates of the disappearing star to the Keeper, turning back to look at Dana.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana¡¯s brow was furrowed, and she held a pair of swords at her sides, ready to fight as soon as anything appeared. The Keeper had already warned her of the dangers that the ¡®King¡¯ represented to her in the void, so she was waiting for her chance to strike.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The cosmic horror flying through the Sher Dien universe grinned, its wide, toothy maw showing glowing teeth. As it flew past one sr system after another, its wed hands reached out, fists clenching over the sr system to crush them into nothing but fire and dust. Then it brought those materials to its stomach, where arge, glowing hole could be seen, and inserted them inside.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Judging by the size of these sr systems, it estimated that it would need to consume the materials of at least fifty more sr systems in order to make the weapon that it was working on. Thankfully, it could fulfill that goal quickly, as long as it continued moving.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If there was one thing that it enjoyed, it was the fact that there were no predatorsrge enough to threaten its life. It hadn¡¯t seen a single life-form in this entire universerge enough to attract its attention, though there were likely smaller pests that it had killed by flying past them. Such tiny things were unworthy of its notice.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As it flew, looking for its next target, the giant monster let out a sudden roar of pain, its six eyes widening. Its hand, which it had been repeatedly using to scoop up raw materials, was now missing. Nothing but a bloodied stump remained. How did something take its hand without it seeing them?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Additionally, its tail seemed to have arge gash running through it, but it couldn¡¯t figure out how or when it had been injured. Its senses sharpened, sweeping the area around it. Had there been some microscopic being like those residing within its head, one capable of unleashing power beyond its level?


    <span style="font-weight:400">No matter how it searched, it couldn¡¯t find such a creature, at least not one that appeared to have any sort of intelligence. There were numerous monsters floating about, some with unexinable body structures or strange protrusions. Some looked like floating oceans, or tiny eyes, but nothing that showed any identifiable hostility.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The beast growled, turning and fleeing at a high speed. If there was a creature there that could deal such damage to it, he needed to find somewhere to escape to as he healed.


    <hr>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">My Keeper, the Avenger has been fired sessfully.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Tsubaki¡¯s voice spoke up in my mind, and I nodded my head. ¡°It¡¯s done.¡± I said, looking at the Origin of Fate standing before me. She had said that she would arrange for the ¡®worst fate¡¯ she could for the ¡®King¡¯ monster, so now it was time to see how well she did.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It would appear that this beast does not directly eat the stars ands as we had thought.¡± She muttered, before blinking. ¡°Hmm¡­ things have be¡­ infinitely better, and also infinitely worse.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What do you mean?¡± I asked in confusion, and she began to exin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°First of all, the monster you seek to y only lost a single hand, and part of its tail to the Avenger. Naturally, this means that I wasn¡¯t able to consume any significant power of fate. However, due to the shock of this attack, it paid closer attention to its surroundings for a moment before fleeing. It is currently on its way outside of the gxy, to the vast emptiness where it findsfort.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s¡­ going to make it hard to track.¡± I thought aloud, but the Origin of Fate shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Tracking it is no longer a concern. In fact, I would suggest you immediately have Lena abandon her task of tracking this beast, lest she find herself in undue harm.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but blink in confusion at that. ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Origin of Fate smiled softly. ¡°You tasked me with ensuring that this beast suffered the worst fate possible. Unfortunately, it did not consume the sr system directly, or I might have been able to gouge out its heart. However¡­ the fact that it paid close enough attention to its surroundings to observe the monsters which would otherwise have been too small for it to notice¡­ this king of foes now carries with it a ck taint. One by one, its fates are bing sealed, and I no longer need to act personally for it to be in.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I arched my brow, doing my best to decipher her words, before my eyes widened. ¡°You mean, it observed a memetic monster, and got infected?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Origin nodded her head. ¡°That¡¯s correct. Because of this, I dare not observe the beast too closely anymore, and I can only look at the path its fate takes it. I can guarantee you this¡­ it will never leave Sher Dien¡¯s universe.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a sigh of relief, before my breath caught in my throat. ¡°Wait¡­ you said that it became infinitely worse. What do you mean by that?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...It will no longer leave Sher Dien¡¯s universe. However¡­ a beast of this scale, its body will be fodder for a new generation of monsters. When it dies, a new life will spawn from its corpse. This life will seek out the only intelligent life that remains in the universe, and devour it. In one week¡¯s time, the of Sher Dien will fall. In one month, the beast will be so strong that it will destroy the universe from the inside.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes widened at that, and I clenched my fists. ¡°Can¡¯t we use another Avenger on the monster to destroy it before it reaches Sher Dien?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately, the Origin shook her head. ¡°The king of foes is leaving the gxy now. There will no longer be sufficient coordinates to target the Avenger with any degree of uracy. Even if I interfered, we could at most remove another limb or two. However, doing so would require your golden shadow to personally observe its movements, bing infected with the same power.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°At this point, the only way to save the people of Sher Dien is through an evacuation.¡± She said, and I nodded my head solemnly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thank you. Is there anything else that you can help us with, before you split again?¡± I asked, but she shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°My role in this invasion is not yet concluded. However, it is not yet time for me to take the stage as a leading role. Until the time of the divine scourge, you should not have need of me again.¡± She said, closing her eyes and splitting into the identical twins.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help blinking, looking at the duo. ¡°I¡­ really hope that I¡¯m wrong about this, but what did she mean by that?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The fallen twin put a hand to her head, wincing. ¡°Gimme a second. She was looking at a lot of different timelines at once, so we have to piece it together. It looks like¡­ sooner orter, the monster swarms are going to devour a god. If we divert resources to help one, it will weaken the resistance another can put up, and cause that one to fall instead. Once they do¡­ they¡¯re going to feed their divine monsters to other swarms, leading to a disaster¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That defense ticket was starting to look <em><span style="font-weight:400">very</em><span style="font-weight:400"> appealing right now. I was tempted to activate it now, that way I could simply smite the monsters together with the Greater Pantheon. However, I had to save it as ast resort. Though the chances were slim, I couldn¡¯t risk the chance that using it now would leave me vulnerable to an even bigger invasion before the next meeting.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was especially true, given that I was likely to hit the next rank as a Keeper soon. My first battle as a Fifth Ranked Keeper could potentially involve the enemy sending an Origin at me. If that happened, and the only Origin on my side was Terra, who could only be considered a pseudo-Origin at best, I would need to use the ticket immediately.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Lena, immediately withdraw from observing Sher Dien. Under no circumstances are you or anyone else to observe that universe.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> When the Keeper sent that message, Lena immediately backed away from the Sher Dien universe. A message ordering for something <em><span style="font-weight:400">not</em><span style="font-weight:400"> to be observed meant only one thing.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Is everything alright?</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Dana asked, ncing towards Lena before returning her focus to the other universes.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">The big guy apparently got hit with a memetic effect somehow. Boss just ordered us not to observe Sher Dien in any way.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Lena responded, and Dana¡¯s eyes widened briefly, before she nodded her head. The fact that the biggest threat to her life had been dealt with was a relief, though she still had to be wary of the other monsters out there. If one of them could kill her, there was nothing saying that some of the others did not possess their own methods.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Pierce focused on the main screen before him, his eyes straining. At some point, the second screen depicting information about ¡®King¡¯ vanished, so he had less to observe. He hadn¡¯t focused this closely on viewing multiple timelines in a long time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At this point, he had provided the details for three different types of swarm generators, two of which were located in Deckan, and thest was in the new Metong homeworld. The first was, as he had originally identified, a monster race that could clone those that it ate alive, and then graft those powers onto other members of the swarm.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The second type of swarm was one that originated from an inorganic lifeform. The only information that he had uncovered was that it could consume any form of metal, and use that metal to replicate itself. Naturally, this was a major threat, as it did not need any form of life to grow. Already, there were thirteen sr systems confirmed to be lost to this swarm after less than one full day.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The third type was a mutation-type swarm, which absorbed the gic matter of dead nts and animals, using any beneficial qualities that they possessed to strengthen themselves. The bright side was that this meant that they could only grow through eating organic life, and could not take on the power of energy bodies like the first type. However, as this was the race found in the Metong universe, they had far more chances to find such things.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">At least they didn¡¯tnd in Spica.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Pierce thought to himself. Although the cosmic storms would decimate <em><span style="font-weight:400">most</em><span style="font-weight:400"> of the swarms, if even one hivended on any with surviving nt life, they could gain the universal trait prevalent throughout Spica, allowing adaptation to any environment.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In fact, this danger didn¡¯t only exist within Spica¡¯s universe itself, as nts from Spica were amon tool when terraforming a. Additionally, the elves of Spica had spread out and intermarried through various worlds. The only universe where they were actually <em><span style="font-weight:400">not</em><span style="font-weight:400"> likely to encounter any trace of Spica¡¯s adaptation was, in fact, the new Metong universe.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Although they have arger variety of races there to devour, they won¡¯t get the universal adaptation trait. If they were able to copy that, there would be nothing stopping them from evolving ways to consume energy bodies.</em>

 Chapter 1137: The Swarm That Is Approaching

    Chapter 1137: The Swarm That Is Approaching


    On the third day of the invasion, Pierce left Olympus. Although it had been incredibly helpful to utilize his gifts in order to obtain information ahead of time, there were clear limits. The amount of divinity he needed to constantly peer through the lines of fate as he had been doing was too much, and we had begun topensate him with divine coins from Olympus¡¯s vault. Additionally, the amount of information that he had been able to provide was showing a stark decline after the first day.


    The fact that the enemy monsters don¡¯t follow any sort of logical process to decide where they want to attack meant that we were only able to get warnings at thest minute, barely enough time to organize a defense. There had been a simr case even when the Origin of Fate herself was involved, leading to the dispatch of Prisci against the swarm.


    Ultimately, that was what it boiled down to. The enemy wasn¡¯t actively choosing where to attack based on any criteria, and that created far more uncertainty in the future. It was no longer feasible to employ Pierce¡¯s talents in this battle.


    That said, we were able to learn a lot from him before he left. Thanks to his help, we were able to identify numerous monsters with dangerous abilities, and prepare our defenses against them. Thus, before he left, we made sure topensate him heavily for the help that he gave us, as he did not wish for his contributions to be made public knowledge.


    Sadly, there were still more problems left to face. With the knowledge that Pierce gave us, we were able to learn more about the swarms spreading throughout Deckan and the new Metong homeworld. These swarms were differentiated based on how their threat level escted.


    The swarm type that Prisci fought was dangerous, for sure, but only risks bing a universal threat after devouring a god. On the other hand, the swarm invading the Metong homeworld will gradually get stronger over time as they gain new adaptations.


    Neither of these were what I was worried about for the immediate future, because there was still one swarm that posed a very real, immediate threat. The final swarm, which devoured metals to reproduce, would normally be the least threatening of the three. After all, although it can replicate without ughterings or gain the power of gods, the individual strength of such a swarm was usually predetermined.


    The problem here was the fact that this swarm happened to be located in Deckan. This gave them immediate ess to an incredibly powerful metal, Dimensium. At this point in time, it was only reasonable to assume that the swarm had begun devouring entires, and thus gained ess to this material which was native to that universe.


    As soon as I realized this, I racked my brain to try to figure out what abilities the swarm might receive from devouring Dimensium, but Pierce was the one that ultimately answered that question. He warned us of a mass outbreak from Deckan, where billions of metallic creatures flooded into the void all at once, and escaped to other universes.


    Lena and Dana were good, but they had proven unable to stop every member of that swarm before they could reach their destination. Their visions had beenpletely obscured by the cloud of small creatures, but it was believed that some of them had already escaped to every dimension.


    Now, because of the fact that these monsters were formed from Dimensium, Pierce informed us that they had the ability to transport their units between universes, without physically appearing in the void. For the moment, this was limited to just members of that same swarm, as the monsters in this invasion did not appear to hold allegiance to one another.


    Regardless, the fact remained that every universe was now upied by this swarm, making it thergest, most immediate threat. I didn¡¯t know how I was going tobat these monsters, and Chelsea didn¡¯t leave any notes regarding an enemy of this type.


    When I spoke with James, he told me of three possibilities. The first was that each member of the swarm had its own unique mind, but operated ording to a firm loyalty to the hive. This would make it so that there were no tangible connections that could be used to attack the main body of the swarm by capturing an individual member. ording to him, this was the method that he would choose if creating a swarm for an invasion, because of the difficulty in countering it.


    The second possibility was that the swarm was one massive gestalt consciousness. If this was the case, a strong enough mental attack on a part of the swarm would cascade throughout the entire swarm. However, at the same time, the more members of the swarm there were, the stronger the attack required to incapacitate the collective.


    The final possibility was a mix of the two, the ¡®queen bee¡¯ theory. With this theory, there was a chain ofmand among the swarm, with lower ranked individuals receiving orders from higher ranked ones. If this were true, the swarm could be defeated by only eliminating the higher ranked individuals, and there was a possibility that a mental attack could be sent from one lower in the chain ofmand.


    When I brought this information to Pierce, and sent amand to the research team to create a containment field capable of capturing a member of the swarm alive, he was able to tell us that the eventual research revealed that this was a gestalt consciousness. However, he wasn¡¯t able to tell us what level of attack was needed to eliminate the swarm. This was likely because it was dependant on the swarm¡¯s size, which grew exponentially over time, leading to unpredictable results in his foresight.


    Still¡­ this was all of the information that we had been able to receive before Pierce left. Now, James and his team were hard at work developing a device that could attack the swarm. It was just a matter of finding them, and hoping that the device was strong enough to kill them all.


    ¡°My Keeper, there has been a report from Sher Dien.¡± Tsubaki spoke up, snapping me from my thoughts and causing me to look over at her. ¡°The emergency evacuation is underway. With Aurivy¡¯s help, the entire sr system was transferred into a dungeon, which Aurivy is going to be storing for the time being.¡±


    ¡°After the invasion has concluded, she will find a suitable home for the sr system and its inhabitants. Given the likelihood that their home universe will be destroyed in theing days, it was suggested to relocate them to the Metong universe, as that is currently the only universe unaffected by memetic hazards.¡±


    I nodded my head in understanding, silently agreeing to the statement, before my body suddenly froze. Tsubaki looked at me in concern, but even I could tell that my face had gone pale. ¡°My Keeper?¡±


    I held up a hand, signaling her to wait as I contacted James. James, I need to talk to you. We might have an even more pressing problem on our hands.


    What¡¯s the matter, boss? We¡¯re still drawing up the ns for the Swarmkiller. He responded, and I cut straight to the point.


    If one member of a gestalt consciousness were to encounter an infectious meme, what would happen? I asked, and James fell silent.


    Well¡­ funny you should mention that. That was one of the proposed ns for the Swarmkiller, actually. We would infect a metal with a self-destructive memetic hazard, and throw it at the swarm. Once it consumed the metal, it would infect itself, and the infected information would be shared with the gestalt consciousness, causing them to cannibalize themselves.


    As a gestalt consciousness is different from a normal hive, any memetic effects would be immediately transmitted from one member of the gestalt to all others. He answered, before letting out a groan. You¡¯re worried that the swarm wille across a memetic monster, and transmit that meme across every universe, aren¡¯t you?


    That¡¯s right. I nodded my head, but James simply chuckled.


    Honestly, that would be the best case scenario for us. I sincerely hope that happens, and pray that they get infected even one minute sooner.


    ¡­Excuse me? My eyes widened, unable to process why he had made such a statement. However, it clicked when he continued his exnation.


    The Hypene Network barrier can currently not block the swarm because it is not tainted with any void-like properties. However, if the swarm were to be infected by some form of meme, the barrier would be able to harm them as it does any other memetic creature. If this happens, the threat level of the swarm will be instantly dropped to a rtively low value, because the individual members of the swarm aren¡¯t strong enough to break through the barrier. That¡¯s why we gave serious consideration to the memetic Swarmkiller. However, we threw the idea out because of the risk of mutation when infecting so many entities at once. The Swarmkiller is useless if it doesn¡¯t kill the swarm.


    I nodded my head, letting out a sigh of relief. My greatest fear was that the memetic monsters that the swarm encountered in the void would lead to every universe bing even more flooded with memetic hazards. Perhaps because the barrier was destined not to y a pivotal role in this invasion, I hadn¡¯t taken that into consideration.


    What¡¯s your current n for the Swarmkiller, then? I asked.


    Well, its official name is a Concentrated Mana Pulse Generator. It fires an extremely condensed pulse of mana at a target. This mana should overload the gestalt consciousness, and cause it to copse. However, we need a truly astronomical amount of mana to guarantee its effectiveness, so we are already storing energy in aspact of a form as we can manage.


    I nodded again, before looking up at Tsubaki. ¡°My apologies. I needed to urgently contact James.¡± I said, but she shook her head.


    ¡°It is fine, my Keeper. However, shall I now continue the report?¡± She asked, to which I motioned for her to do so. ¡°As of present, we have confirmed the destruction of thirty-eight primary enemies. This does not include the ¡®King¡¯ monster, which is still considered a universe-level threat to Sher Dien. Unconfirmed, we suspect that more than one hundred monsters have been killed by various sources, whether infighting or wandering dangers. The only evidence to support this is traces of massive viscera that have been discovered by those following the trails of these monsters.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± I said, before thinking. ¡°Have any Avengers been deployed to the Metong universe yet?¡±


    Tsubaki blinked, thinking back. ¡°As I recall, there have been twenty-five Avengers deployed thus far, including the failed attempt to kill the ¡®King¡¯. Of those, three have been deployed in the Metong universe, yes.¡±


    ¡°Good¡­ that means that the Origin of Fate has likely been obtaining energy.¡± I nodded my head, before blinking. ¡°If the Avenger killed a monster, severing its fate at the point of detonation, but it hadter gone to eat another world, would that world be brought back, as if nothing had happened to it?¡± I asked. Tsubaki offered a small smile, shaking her head.


    ¡°I had a simr question when I learned the method by which the Avengers operated, and consulted with the twins. ording to them, this would not cause any fates which have already been severed to return. The dead will remain dead, and that which is destroyed will remain destroyed.¡±


    I let out a sullen sigh, nodding my head. ¡°I thought it was too much to hope for. I was thinking, maybe, if we were to discover the origin points where these creatures spawned in, and st those areas with Avengers, we could undo all of the damages that they caused. I suppose that¡¯s not going to happen.¡±

 Chapter 1138: On All Fronts

    Chapter 1138: On All Fronts


    <span style="font-weight:400">Prisci sat within the church at Ashtanu, meditating in her old room. As she had been traveling until the recent crisis, she has not been in the church itself for some time. However, given what was happening, she wanted to be somewhere that would allow her to respond more rapidly if she was called upon.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In the week and a half since the first battle, she had been dispatched to three additionals, fighting back against more and more enemies each time. She could feel the growth of the swarms, and these dispatches were bing more and more frequent.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she meditated, she began to work on more powerful divine abilities for the Holy Knights, some that could affect targets on a muchrger scale than what she had previously bestowed them with. These abilities were meant to counteract therger monsters still traversing the expanse of space.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Only two days ago, there had been a report that such a monster had nearly destroyed Desbar, having been in just outside of its sr system. Its corpse hung in the sky, clearly visible from Desbar itself at night. This creature had appeared just outside of the Hypene barrier, with three gods working together to kill it before it could enter.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Prisci.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Udona¡¯s voice echoed in her mind, and she immediately stood up.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Where am I going?</em><span style="font-weight:400"> She asked, already heading for the door of her room. Time was of the essence, and she couldn¡¯t afford to waste precious moments on formalities, even with someone as great as a member of the Greater Pantheon.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">It¡¯s on its way to Deckan. Reports indicate that it is the metallic swarm. I¡¯ll have Aurivy send you to the interception point.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Udona said, before a golden glow surrounded Prisci, transporting her into the depths of space. Prisci flicked her wrist, summoning the Holy Knights behind her and preparing for battle.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona, alia, Tubrock, and Leowynn sat in a conference room at the Ashtanu Pce. ¡°Have you managed to measure the infestation?¡± Udona asked, her voice sounding incredibly tired after being on full alert for so long. She wasn¡¯t used to dealing with this herself, as her counterpart from the ¡®higher ne¡¯ often handled any crisis.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The other three nodded their heads, Leowynn stepping forward. ¡°We¡¯re still working to track down therger monsters. However, we¡¯ve managed to determine the spread of the three swarms throughout the different universes, after capturing target samples of each one.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn held up a hand, and numerous projections hovered over the table, each depicting a different gxy. ¡°For the time being, it doesn¡¯t look like their influence has spread beyond a single gxy in each universe. This could be because they have yet to exhaust the resources of their current gxies, or because something about their makeup limits their abilities to traverse between gxies.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she said that, a portion of each gxy began to glow green. ¡°These are the regions currently upied by the ¡®Replicating Swarm¡¯. ording to our estimate, they are upying roughly five percent of every gxy, aside from Deckan, Lorek, and Spica. In the former, their upation has reached as high as ten percent, while in thetter two, it is only at half of one percent.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The other two swarms are more contained for the moment, with the Cloning Swarm upying six percent of Deckan¡¯s gxy, and the Mutation Swarm upying eight percent of the new Metong gxy. The Mutation Swarm was especially tricky to narrow down, because it is the swarm that has the greatest gic differences among their members. Still, we believe this number to be urate.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona rubbed her face, feeling the mounting stress with these reported numbers. ¡°And naturally, because they are swarms, they will begin spreading faster and faster therger they grow. Is there anything else to report?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It seems that the swarms are hostile to one another.¡± alia spoke up, causing Udona to look over at her. ¡°I investigated the location where the Replicating Swarm ovepped with the other two, and discovered signs of them fighting against one another. There were also signs that the swarms might be fighting against the other giant enemies.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It would be great if we could get an urate count of how many of those were left.¡± Leowynn said with a bitter smile. ¡°For all we know, they might have all been in by the swarms, or by each other. Or, there could still be over two thousand monsters out there, each capable of consuming entires.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The only way we¡¯ll be getting that information is if we can kill the swarms themselves.¡± Tubrock huffed. ¡°You send this information to the Keeper,ss?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah.¡± Leowynn said with a nod of confirmation. ¡°He was just as enthusiastic about it as Udona is. For now¡­ does anyone know where Scarlet is? I was wanting to modify the tracking ability we used to find the swarms, but I need her Blood domain.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona hesitated for a moment, before letting out another sigh. ¡°She said that she was going ¡®hunting¡¯. And she took Keliope with her.¡± When the other three heard that, their eyes widened.


    <hr>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">You sure this is the spot, Scar?</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Keliope asked, clenching her fists as she looked around at the empty space before them. Scarlet simply nodded her head, her eyes closed.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">It will be here soon. This is thergest surviving creature in any universe outside of Sher Dien. The odds that it isn¡¯t one of our enemies is incredibly low.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Keliope heard that, she grinned. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Got it. You want to take this one, or you want me to?</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet thought about it for a moment, before shaking her head. <em><span style="font-weight:400">You can have this one. Make sure not topletely annihte it, because I need its blood.</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">You got it, kid!</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Keliope said, creating a glowing tform of ki beneath her feet. This tform seemed to distort the light around it, anchoring itself into the very fabric of space.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Suddenly, her fistshed out, a rippling wave of energy sweeping ahead of her. Where previously, nothing had existed, suddenly a wall of flesh appeared as if to catch her punch a thousand kilometers away. This flesh caved in, blood spurting from the impact.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keliope brought her two fists together, channeling ki around them to form an intricate sphere. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Star Shattering!</em><span style="font-weight:400"> She shouted mentally, throwing her hands forward. The sphereunched before the beast could pull away, its astronomical size causing it to be caught off guard by such a tiny obstacle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The sphere crashed into the beast¡¯s hide, before rapidly expanding. The beast, sorge that just its eye could be considered a, was torn apart as the sphere grew to be the size of a sun. Scarlet waved her hand, all of the scattering blood rushing to her. She absorbed this essence, her hair fluttering as if under a powerful wind.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keliope stood back, watching as this small girl absorbed enough blood to cover entires in crimson oceans. As she did, her aura began to escte, her ki growing stronger and denser. Only when thest of the blood had been absorbed did Keliope speak. <em><span style="font-weight:400">You get anything good out of that?</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet hesitated, shaking her head. <em><span style="font-weight:400">It would seem that there is no blood connection between these beasts. Nor did that one have any inborn abilities, aside from its great size. We¡¯ll need to keep hunting.</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Works for me!</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Keliope grinned happily, punching her fists together. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Where¡¯s our next target?</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet focused, before Keliope¡¯s eyes widened. She took a step back from the smaller girl, feeling a powerful, murderous intenting from her. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Kid? Kid, calm down!</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">One of them is on their way to Earth. Or rather, to Olympus.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> She said, waving a hand to tear open a hole in space. Keliope barely had time to rush forward and into the portal before Scarlet stepped through and closed it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As soon as they were through the portal, Keliope saw Scarlet staring into the distance. Her ki was already mobilizing. Clearly, there was no need to ask who would be the one to kill this monster.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keliope could sense the creature approaching. This seemed to be one of the smaller enemies, as its entire body was only asrge as the Earth or Deckan. Still, it wasrge enough to have triggered Scarlet¡¯s ire.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet lifted one hand, pointing in the direction of the oing monster. A dense, red glow appeared from her finger, before disappearing. Keliope sensed a distortion in space, before the energy signature of the enemy simply vanished. <em><span style="font-weight:400">¡­Okay, I know you¡¯re all protective of the Keeper and everything, but how much energy did you just use on that?</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Enough.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Scarlet answered, disregarding the blood of the distant foe. Assuming that there was any blood left to begin with. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Let¡¯s move on to the next one, before the memetic creatures notice us. I don¡¯t want to have to make another mortal body for myself after this is over.</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">¡­Are you not your own person?</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Keliope asked in confusion, and Scarlet simply nced over at her. It seemed a valid question, as the other mortal incarnations all had their own identities, as well as their own minds from birth.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet simply shook her head. <em><span style="font-weight:400">I am Scarlet, and I always have been. I might not be able to connect to the version of myself in the Admin Room, but that changes nothing. This body is just a shell that I created so that I could go live with dad. If it is destroyed, that will be annoying, but I¡¯ll just make a new er.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keliope blinked at that, but Scarlet spoke again before she could say anything. <em><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯ve found our next target. It looks like two of them are together.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">These words snapped Keliope out of her thoughts, forcing her to focus. Scarlet tore open another gap in space, and they stepped through yet again. This time, they appeared within eyesight of two behemoths wing at one another, biting into each other''s flesh. Keliope let out a sigh, shaking her head. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Looks like they really are mutual enemies. Do you want to wait until they kill each other, and take out the winner?</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">No, that will waste too much time. We need to kill them quickly and move on. There are still a lot more that could be out there. </em><span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet said, preparing to act, before Leowynn¡¯s voice spoke into her mind.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Sister, are you free?</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Leowynn asked, and Scarlet¡¯s expression softened somewhat.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Not at the moment. I just encountered the enemy. What¡¯s going on, Wynnie?</em><span style="font-weight:400"> She asked, gesturing for Keliope to take her ce in fighting. Keliope shrugged her shoulders, stepping forward and punching her fists together.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">I was hoping to get your help to set up a divine tracking ability that could locate the monsters we¡¯re facing. Since you went out to hunt them, I assume that you have your own methods of doing so, as well?</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet hesitated, before shaking her head. <em><span style="font-weight:400">It won¡¯t work. I¡¯ve already checked their blood. These creatures share no rtion to one another, and are not even of the same species. I¡¯m hunting them by simply looking for thergest physical creatures in any universe, outside of Sher Dien, and I have a portion of my senses directed at key regions for anyrge threat.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leowynn paused for a moment, before speaking again. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Can we use that criteria to form the search ability? Looking for any creaturerger than the Desbar?</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">I tried that, before taking Keliope out to hunt. There were over ten million creatures of that scale, throughout the various gxies. Most of them should just be randomly created monsters that just barely fit the criteria. I sent an avatar to one, and the only report it sent back before self-destructing was ¡®memetic tentacle¡¯. That¡¯s why I am only focusing on thergest creatures, those too big to be converteds.</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">While Kelly and I deal with these, you all focus on the swarms. We can look for any stragglers after the swarms are dealt with and we have a proper count of the enemy forces.</em>

 Chapter 1139: Stem the Tide

    Chapter 1139: Stem the Tide


    <span style="font-weight:400">Three weeks after the beginning of the invasion, I found myself standing in the empty expanse of space, along the outer perimeter of Earth¡¯s sr system. Lifre stood to my right, and both of us were fully equipped forbat.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At this point in time, the giant monsters were no longer considered major threats to the people of my realm. Or rather, they weren¡¯t the <em><span style="font-weight:400">biggest</em><span style="font-weight:400"> threat. There had been two colonized worlds along the outer reaches of the Hypene Networks that had been destroyed by these monsters, but those responsible had been dealt with.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now, the main threat was purely the swarms. They had spread to such an extent that every was on full alert. For mosts, over a dozen gods were deployed to each, forming abat unit to deal with any potential attacks.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately, our fleets of ships were not suitable for dealing with swarms like this, so thebat truly was left to the gods and fallen gods. As for Earth, the defense was left entirely to myself and Lifre, while even Tsubaki was dispatched to support Desbar.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For more than a week, Scarlet continued her hunt of the enemy monsters, destroying them one by one. ording to her, she believed that all of the monsters that she could track had been killed. Now, thergest monster in any of my universes was a memetic monster in the shape of a giant, which she sacrificed another avatar to discover.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">How long until the swarm arrives, Lifre?</em><span style="font-weight:400"> I asked, red-scaled gauntlets appearing on my hands. Lifre opened a book, flipping through its pages with a pensive expression.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Thirty seconds. The narrative describes it to be an unrelenting swarm, its members blocking out the stars.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> She answered, and I nodded my head, preparing myself. Naturally, this was the Replicating Swarm, which had devoured more and mores ever since being released upon every universe.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Forget finding alien life, it would be difficult to finds capable of supporting it anymore in this region of the gxy. If there was one thing that I was happy about, it was the fact that they attacked in a single wave, rather than surrounding a sr system and closing in from all sides. If that was the case, it would not matter how strong I was, I wouldn¡¯t be able to defend against all sides at once.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sure enough, I soon sensed an undting silver cloud in the distance,posed of countless smaller creatures. These creatures all had a uniform shape, with a brick-like main body, metallic mandibles, and skittering insect-like legs. Individually, even a normal adventurer would be able to take them out without any real problems. But¡­ when they swarmed in the trillions, they could consume an entire in a matter of hours.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I held my hands forward, my spiritual energy stirring as I activated the effects of my draconic gauntlets. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Perish.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Imanded, and a wave of spiritual power pulsed towards the swarm. The wave struck the front of the swarm, causing them to go still, before the units behind them pushed past. Some of them even began to cannibalize the dead units, creating recements for them.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Perish.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> I focused again, and again, each pulse destroying anotheryer of the swarm. There were so many targets that I felt my own spiritual energy take a hit from the constant use, and had to supplement the effect with the Souls domain. Still, it was inevitable that they wouldn¡¯t be able to make it through the waves that I was sending out.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I lost count of how many times I had to activate the gauntlet, but eventually, the area before me was saturated with the corpses of metallic creatures. All of them were simply floating, lifelessly. <em><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯ll need to get ra toe over here. Maybe her drones can repurpose these materials¡­</em>


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara crossed her arms impatiently, her eyes focused into the distance. She had been enjoying her day with her family in Codex Chaotic when an urgent request hade in from Ashtanu, asking for her aid in the defense against these swarms.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She was reluctant to fight, but when she realized just how grave the situation was, she realized that she didn¡¯t really have a choice. If Fyor was the only world left after this destruction, then these monsters would target it next. Moreover, the servers of Codex Chaotic needed to be preserved, or else her new family would perish.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Despite the years that had passed, Mara still resembled a young girl, finding it the mostfortable form for her to take. This was the case both in the real world and in the game, where she had managed to convince her family to undergo the steps of perfection, holding onto her happy life with them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara twirled a golden coin between her fingers, her eyes narrowing. She had promised to protect this sr system alone, stating that anyone else would likely just get in her way when her ¡®other self¡¯ took action.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once she saw the fleshy ¡®ships¡¯ of the swarm approaching through her divinity, she flipped the coin up above her. Immediately, her body changed, the innocent, pouting girl gone. Instead, there was a furious woman with raven-ck hair, wearing a business suit and staring with zing, golden eyes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara¡¯s hand came up, catching the coin in midair and giving it a firm squeeze. She could see that there wasn¡¯t just one swarm body approaching, but five. <em><span style="font-weight:400">You like to eat? Then¡­ feast!</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Shemanded mentally, her divine powers stirring.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The fleshy, spherical vessels of the swarm slowed to a crawl, their members flooding out and into the open space. However, rather than charging at Mara, they began attacking each other. They tried to devour their own allies, shoving them into their hideous, vertical maws. Some of them even went to begin tearing apart the other vessels. Their every action had an eagerness to it, as if they believed that their ultimate evolution was just around the corner.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara could even see individuals appearing from the swarm vessels that were different from the standard creatures. These must have been entities that the vessels had consumed and learned how to grow in the past, and they were now being sent to fight on their behalf.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Mara simply crossed her eyes, still ring at the scene before her. With her domains, it was a simple matter to make the swarms see each other as their enemies. Once they whittled away at their numbers until only one swarm host remained, she could simply turn it against itself.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">You¡¯re getting in the way of my retirement. Hurry up and die.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Shemanded, eyes glowing fiercely.


    <hr>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">How are things going on your end?</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Atraxi asked Tower curiously over their mental channel. Tower let out a long sigh, shaking his head.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">They are currently upying seven hundred and thirty-eight instances. Thankfully, I¡¯ve prevented them from entering the instance where I have stored my poption, and the upied ones are being filled with hazardous traps. It is annoying that they are consuming the walls and floors to increase their numbers, but they should be dealt with soon.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tower was rather crestfallen, knowing that it would be so much easier if he could simply copse the instances that had the Replicating Swarm in them. However, there was nothing that he could do about that. Dungeons could not close an instance that had a living creature inside, unless that living creature was part of the dungeon itself.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">How are things on your end?</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Tower asked, directing his attention to Atraxi and Pietra.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Atraxi shook his head with an amused smile. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Thanks to the warning from Olympus, we don¡¯t have anything to worry about. We told our people not to bother attacking the swarm. They¡¯re just digging around, trying to find resources that they can eat. Ah, wait, it looks like they¡¯re leaving us. I guess that they realized that there weren¡¯t any real metals on ours.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tower gave a slight chuckle at that, nodding his head. <em><span style="font-weight:400">At least they can¡¯t feed on slime.</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s true. Speaking of which, do you want us to send some reinforcements your way? We might be able to clear out your infestation a little sooner.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tower thought about that offer, before shaking his head to refuse it. <em><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯ll be fine. Keep an eye on the outside world for me, and let me know if any new problems start to approach. I¡¯m going to take a more direct approach to this.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying that, Tower began to focus. As the God of Monsters and Construction, his specialty had always been in golems when it came to customized creatures. However, that was not an option here, as the golems would simply be food for these tiny menaces. Instead, he began to construct a creature made entirely out of fire.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Like the swarm it was designed to suppress, it would be able to replicate itself. However, this replication would ur whenever it consumed mana, or anything that contained it. This would allow him to pour mana into these creatures to give them a quick boost in numbers, and then unleash them on the swarm.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">While some worlds were able to easily fend off their threats with the gods at their disposal, this was not the case for all of them. Regardless of which type of swarm they were facing, there weres left ruined in their wake. Poptions were ughtered or consumed, and the gods protecting them were no different.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Tsubaki received the damage report, detailing whichs had been lost, as well as which swarms they had been attacked by, her expression grew grave. <em><span style="font-weight:400">My Keeper, the time that the Origin of Fate warned us about is likely to soon be upon us.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a moment of hesitation, before the Keeper responded. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Which god was consumed?</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">In this recent assault, there were seven gods that have been in by the Cloning Swarm. They were all single-domain gods, with the domains of Wind, Fire, Stealth, Recovery, Communication, Defense, and Lightning. This arrangement was made taking their individual talents into consideration, with the belief that they would be able to fully support one another in battle.</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">And now, we are going to have to deal with armies that can use those domains?</em><span style="font-weight:400"> The Keeper asked in frustration. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Was the where they were stationed destroyed?</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">No, sir.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Tsubaki reported, knowing what he truly wished to know. <em><span style="font-weight:400">The remaining five gods managed to push back the swarm and form ast line of defense. Rather than press the assault, the swarm retreated.</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">In other words, firing the Avenger at that is out of the question.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> He said with a sigh. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Congratte and thank the survivors, and do what we can to support the families of the fallen. I¡¯m going to go have a talk with Terra. If this is the divine swarm that she warned us about, that means that it¡¯s time for her to take action.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded her head, feeling the connection closing. Her eyes narrowed, thinking of all the death that had been thrust upon the realm thanks to these swarms. If she had the power to, she would dly eliminate the entirety of the swarms from every universe. However, her skills were not suitable for fighting numbers thatrge, and she was well aware of that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Instead, she would assist where she could, joining together with other gods and forming defensive lines. This was what she could do for her Keeper, until the weapons capable of ending this battle were produced.

 Chapter 1140: The Only Way

    Chapter 1140: The Only Way


    <span style="font-weight:400">By the time I reached Terra¡¯s pce, the twins had already fused, and the Origin of Fate was standing before me with a small smile. Because their abilities weren¡¯t very suitable for directbat, they weren¡¯t part of the defensive forces that had been ced at various worlds. As I entered the room, she looked up at me with her pitch ck eyes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It looks like the time hase, has it not?¡± She asked with that same smile, to which I nodded my head. ¡°Now, you want to know what it is you need to do next to defeat the enemy?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded again, knowing that there was no point in beating around the bush. Thankfully, the Origin seemed rather forting with her answer. ¡°Quite simply, there is nothing for you to do. Stay here and defend Earth as you have been. I will go out for a while, and set things into motion. Because of what is required, I will not be back to Olympus before I have finished.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right¡­¡± I wasn¡¯t quite sure what she had in mind, but I simply shook my head. ¡°Is there anything else?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Origin thought about it for a moment, before her smile grew. ¡°The five surviving gods of this recent disaster. They must remain on Peria, the that they defended. Because of recent events, their fate is tied to that of Peria. Additionally, they must be removed from the forces defending the world. They used up too much of their fortune guarding Peria, and would bring disaster if they tried to defend another world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°My advice is to have them rest on Peria for now, and let them recover. I¡¯ll arrange for the to be taken care of, myself.¡± She said with a nod. I arched my brow, but did not sense any trace of a lie in her words. ¡°Theing days will seem harsh and unforgiving, but if everything goes as I have predicted, we will pull through. Additionally, I can tell you that the researcher is soon to finish his weapon.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°After the two swarms have been dealt with, we will have more than enough manpower to deal with the ones guing the Metong realm. For now, I must go. I can¡¯t afford to spend my time in leisure.¡± She said with a bow, before turning and walking towards the door. As she did, her body split, turning into the twins once again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">They nced back at me with sad eyes, before entering the elevator. Part of me was worried for a moment that they were going to do something self-destructive, but I immediately pushed that out of my mind. Terra would have never raised them to do something like that. From a purely objective standpoint, having an Origin at our disposal was too valuable, especially when we were likely to be promoted soon. More likely, that gaze was because of the gods that had been lost, or all the worlds that have fallen.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">It took about an hour for the twins to reach Peria, where the residents were celebrating their recent victory against the monster swarm. The two walked along the streets, looking around at the citizens. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we tell him?¡± The fallen sister asked, only for the other to shake her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, he would have definitely stopped us. You know how he is.¡± The divine twin said with a bitter smile. ¡°He¡¯ll probably be really mad when he finds out, but this is something that we have to do.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two looked at each other, before letting out a shared sigh. With the power of Fate, they had foreseen a future where a divine swarm rampaged through the universe, ughtering the inhabitants of Deckan¡¯s worlds. Even Udona, the Goddess of Life, was unable to ovee the endless tide.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Worse, every fallen god only added to the enemy¡¯s forces. When Udona fell, they gained the power to enter the void, spreading death to every world. There was nothing that could stop them, no divine power that could push them back. It was only a matter of time before they reached Olympus.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°He¡¯s going to be <em><span style="font-weight:400">really</em><span style="font-weight:400"> mad, you know.¡± The fallen twin said bitterly. ¡°Like, <em><span style="font-weight:400">really,</em><span style="font-weight:400"> really mad.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah, well, he¡¯ll figure out sooner orter that this was something that we had to do.¡± The divine twin nodded her head. ¡°Now, let¡¯s find a hotel. It¡¯ll be a few days before we take action.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Four days passed, the Replicating Swarm continuing to attack every inhabited world in greater and greater numbers. I found myself constantly flying around the sr system with Lifre¡¯s guidance, fighting back one wave after another. There was barely time to think, and I could only hope that James really did finish his weapon soon.


    <span style="font-weight:400">By now, my gauntlet was running purely on my Souls domain, unleashing waves of death as soon as I spotted my targets. It took anywhere between ten and thirty pulses to destroy an entire wave of monsters, but I had gotten ustomed to this. Thankfully, ording to Tsubaki, the Cloning Swarm hadn¡¯t attacked again after the battle at Peria.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I was feeling the relief from that simple fact, Tsubaki sent me an urgent message. <em><span style="font-weight:400">My Keeper! Divine swarms have appeared near every inhabited world in Deckan¡¯s universe. Udona has taken to the battle with Aurivy, but she is worried about the others.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I grit my teeth, looking around. I could already sense another swarm of small, metallic monstersing my way. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Try to tell her to hold on. Terra said that she was going to do something!</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">I don¡¯t know how long they can--what was that?</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Tsubaki responded, her thoughts bing confused.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">What happened?</em><span style="font-weight:400"> I asked, flying towards the next wave of enemies.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">The divine swarms¡­ they¡¯ve vanished.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Tsubaki answered in disbelief, and I couldn¡¯t me her. How had the divine swarms vanished from every in Deckan?


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I thought about that, my eyes widened. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki, contact Peria immediately!</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">I can¡¯t¡­ they¡¯re gone.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Tsubaki responded a momentter. <em><span style="font-weight:400">There is no response from Peria on anywork.</em>


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Origin of Fate floated along within the empty expanse, her eyes closed. She could feel the fates that she had taken into herself, filling her with energy. When her eyes opened, ck tears flowed from her eyes, though she maintained a small smile.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was only one way avable to them to eliminate the divine swarm at its core. They had to feed it such enticing bait that it called all of its vessels back, sharing that bait among them. In this way, the bait, the seven gods that had been devoured, would be a poison. Once they had be a part of the entire swarm, the Origin of Fate could eliminate them all at once.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Doing so, however, woulde at a cost greater than the Keeper would ever willingly pay. The Origin of Fate had to devour the fate of all of Peria in order to capture the fates of those who had been taken. This, which would have continued to exist and have countless possibilities, was used as a sacrifice to save every other world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was why the Origin advised the Keeper to have the gods remain, as their sudden departure from any other defensive line could have proven disastrous. Of course, this also filled the Origin with more power than she had ever felt before, enough that her body was brimming with energy.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Before he scolds me, let¡¯s take care of those other pests¡­</em><span style="font-weight:400"> She thought to herself, her ck eyes staring into nothingness. With her newfound energy, she could find the fates of those monsters that had all appeared at exactly the same instant, those that had crossed over at the start of the invasion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It wasn¡¯t possible to simply devour their fates like she had done with Peria, not without physically being at their location. Instead, she severed their fates, ensuring that every path led to an inevitable and swift demise. Some of them encountered memetic beasts that destroyed their bodies, others ran into each other and began a territorial battle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The only ones she couldn¡¯t touch were the other two swarms. Their numbers were far toorge for her to directly kill them like this. At least, not without destroying the universes that they inhabited. Still, with the divine swarm vanquished, she could see the lines of fate shifting in their favor.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">What did you do?</em><span style="font-weight:400"> The Keeper¡¯s voice rang in the back of her mind, and the Origin of Fate lowered her head slightly.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">I did what I must. This was the only path that did not result in the end of all things. This is why I kept my words vague, because I knew that you would disapprove. You may hate me if you wish. I have long prepared for such.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a long pause, and the Origin waited. Of all beings, the Keeper¡¯s fate was the hardest to predict because of his nature. In a way, he existed above the system of fate, and the Origin could only see a reflection of what might be, without any certainty. She could see futures in which the Keeper cast her out, or berated her, or even directly fought her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, there were also other futures. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Just¡­ Come home, please.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> The Keeper¡¯s voice spoke up sadly, causing the Origin to briefly widen her eyes. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Did you know that you were going to have to do this from the start?</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">I did.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> The Origin said, opening a rift to the void and beginning to make her way towards Olympus. <em><span style="font-weight:400">It was an inevitable future. If the swarm managed to devour even one god, this was always going to happen. The only variable was what gods were devoured, and what had to be sacrificed.</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">When you decided to stay to defend Earth, I was ted. In the worst case scenario, where someone was taken from a you were defending, I would be left with no other options but to exhaust all of my energies and sacrifice my existence to preserve your fate while devouring the fates of those that had been taken.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she said this, shended on Olympus, seeing the dark clouds gathering in the skies. From this weather, she could feel the Keeper¡¯s mood, and began to walk towards the entrance. <em><span style="font-weight:400">With this, the greatest threats to existence have been dealt with.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Origin took the teleporter to her own pce, finding an avatar of the Keeper waiting there for her. She could sense that his main body was still out fighting. He looked at her with clear sadness in his eyes. ¡°How much energy did you get? How much time?¡± He asked, and the Origin answered honestly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I exerted a great deal of it in order to eliminate the remaining giant beasts. However, because I devoured the fates of Peria, as well as the swarm, I have enough energy to maintain this form for thirteen years.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper nodded his head, before looking at her face more closely. ¡°...Why are you crying?¡± He asked, and the Origin reached a hand up to wipe away the ck tears.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°My body is currently filled with more energy than it is ustomed to. Don¡¯t worry, this is just excess power leaking out.¡± She answered, but the Keeper didn¡¯t seem to believe her. He walked over, cing a hand on her shoulder, and lightly pressed his lips against her forehead.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Origin¡¯s eyes widened, before she squeezed them closed, simply leaning against him. ¡°That¡¯s not fair, Dale.¡± She muttered under her breath. ¡°You¡¯re supposed to be mad at me. You¡¯re supposed to resent me for what I did.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dale let out a long sigh, stroking his hand through her hair. ¡°You¡¯re still Terra. If she were really down here right now, I know that she would have done the same thing. And she would have expected me to hate her, too. I¡¯m more upset that you didn¡¯t tell me what you were going to do. I might have objected, but I would have listened to your reasoning. Is there anything else that you need to tell me?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Origin tilted her head back to look up at him. ¡°No¡­ my part in this invasion is over. Even if I wanted to help further, there is nothing left that I can do with my power.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dale nodded his head. ¡°The next time something like thates up, tell me beforehand. I was worried that devouring Peria¡¯s fate while you were there would have been self-destructive. I¡¯m just d that you¡¯re safe.¡±

 Chapter 1141: Cleaning Up

    Chapter 1141: Cleaning Up


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although the process by which the Cloning Swarm was defeated was¡­ regrettable, there was nothing that we could do about it now. Additionally, the Origin of Fate said that she had already taken care of all of the other cosmic monsters. Now, the only thing that was left should be dealing with the two remaining swarms.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That said, it would still take quite some time to deal with the Mutating Swarm once we were able to focus on it. Unlike the other swarms, we did not have any way of annihting the entire swarm at once, and would have to manually track them all down. Thankfully, we were now able to retrieve Lena and Dana from the void, at least. Without any other giant monsters remaining, it freed them up to help in other areas.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For another two days after the Origin of Fate made her move, I continued to defend Earth¡¯s sr system. At this point, I was no longer able to defend the entire thing by myself, and had to pull back, only defending the few inners and Olympus. As long as I reduced my activity to that area, I could create a barrier using the power of my gauntlet. This was more energy intensive than when I went around to deal with them manually, but it was also the only way that I would be able to take care of all of them before they broke through.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea sat in her control room, operating a screen that seemed to be straight out of a video game. She wasmanding numerous orbital stations and defense tforms to shoot down the swarms as they approached. There were a few gods dealing with this territory as well, but she could use her defense tforms to fill in the gaps where anything leaked through.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea, what¡¯s our status?</em><span style="font-weight:400"> James asked mentally, causing Chelsea to widen her eyes.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">We¡¯re holding on for the moment. Is the Swarmkiller ready?</em><span style="font-weight:400"> She asked, pulling up another screen as she continued firing pulses of energy to disable the units that made it through.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Just linking up the power now. ording to our calctions, we should have more than enough energy for a single burst. I¡¯ve got Ryone here, ready to amplify the output by an order of magnitude, while Ashley and Tubrock are here to make sure it doesn¡¯t fall apart, so there should be no chance of failure. How long before we¡¯re lined up to fire?</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea reached out, tapping on a few controls. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Given the swarm density¡­ as long as we aren¡¯t directly aiming at the surface, any angle is a suitable firing position. It doesn¡¯t matter which one we hit, right?</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Right. They¡¯re a gestalt, so hitting any of them is as good as hitting the leader. Just make sure that you coordinate with the gods outside, so that they don¡¯t identally st a hole where you¡¯re aiming before you hit the trigger. That would be highly unfortunate.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡­Chelsea had to agree there, nodding her head. She contacted the ninja gods that were fighting around the sr system, informing them of her target. Those gods began to pull back from that area, allowing the swarm to flood in through the gap created. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Evacuate the firing chamber.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> She said, moments before hitting the big red button.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Orbiting around the research was arge weapon tform, housing a single-barreled beam weapon. The weapon lifted up, aligning itself towards the approaching swarm, and released a thin beam of blue light. This beam impacted the swarm dead on, piercing through it as the rest of the swarm began to pulse with blue energy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Momentster, their bodies began to twitch, before floating lifelessly through space. Deep within the empty space of Deckan¡¯s universe, a giant monster the size of an entire continent sat within the husk of a deceased beast, its body having been in days before. Long, silver wires stretched out from its body, connecting it to the dead monster¡¯s flesh.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When the pulse of blue light struck this monster, it let out a skittering screech, its legs mming against the flesh beneath it. This resistance continued for only a few seconds, however, before the giant, metal mass slumped to the interior of its fleshy chamber, dead.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Throughout the various universes, the Replicating Swarm pulsed with an intense mana, before simply seeming to shut down. This allowed the defending gods to breathe a sigh of relief. Now, the only ones left to deal with were theparatively weaker Mutating Swarm.


    <span style="font-weight:400">All of those gods that had previously been on the defense were reorganized, divided into units and sent to the Metong universe on a grand hunt. It was finally time to put this invasion to rest.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">As battles raged across countlesss in the Metong universe, I sat on my throne, waiting impatiently for that all-important notification. For the first time since the invasion began, the number of enemies was decreasing at a visible rate, showing no signs of recovery.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The problem was the time needed to weed out thest of the swarm. Already, three weeks had passed since the hunt began, led by alia, Leowynn, and other gods capable of following their traces through the stars. Once encountered, the battles were over almost as soon as they began, but it still took a significant amount of time to find the next targets.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Looking at the number of monsters, which had finally dropped to ¡®merely¡¯ the billions, I sent my gaze towards Tsubaki. ¡°Do we have a damage report for this invasion? It looks like everything should be over soon¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki bowed, nodding her head solemnly. ¡°Our most significant loss in terms of territory is, of course, the Sher Dien universe. We have confirmed the destruction of the universe just two days ago, and it would appear that the memetic entity responsible was also killed in the resulting flood of destructive energies.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Aside from this, we have confirmed that thirteen colonized worlds were destroyed, either by the cosmic monsters or the swarms that they unleashed. As for the number of life-bearing worlds in the Metong universe that have been destroyed, but were not part of thework, we estimate at least several thousand. Likely far more than that¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Finally, for damages not involving the loss of life-bearings, it is estimated that roughly one-third of thes within each universes¡¯ primary gxies have been destroyed. Most of the stars currently visible in the night skies of each primary world will likely disappear over the next century or so.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I clenched my jaw at that, but ultimately nodded my head. Without a doubt, this was the most devastating invasion we had ever faced. Although the void monsters unleashed by RagnaRocker had destroyed all alien life, and ravaged the inhabited worlds, we were able torgely limit the damage to the worlds that were inhabited. That invasion came in at a very close second, and may have been more dangerous if Dana hadn¡¯t killed the Void God, but for now, I believed that this was the worst we had ever faced.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Got it¡­ is there anything else?¡± I asked in a tired tone, and Tsubaki shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°ra has reported that she can have her drones devour the deceased units from the Replicating Swarm, as well as the giant monsters that remain in the vicinity of each sr system. With your permission, she would begin this project, and then wishes to know what you would have her do with the new drones that are being created.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I paused at that, thinking. We couldn¡¯t risk sending the drones out somewhere where they might get infected by a memetic monster, but we also couldn¡¯t just leave them floating freely, either. ¡°...Have any of them that won¡¯t fit in Sirius sent to the Metong. They should appreciate the additional workforce.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki gave another nod, before I nced at the side, letting out a sigh of relief. The number of monsters plummeted again, down to the thousands, and then to nothing. Immediately, the window disappeared, reced by the fanfare and reward screen. My eyes widened, seeing that we were being awarded two hundred thousand points for this invasion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°My Keeper?¡± Tsubaki asked nervously, but I shook my head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s finished. I was just surprised by the reward. Can you let everyone know that they can stand down, and return to normal activity? There are some things that I need to take care of.¡± I told her, to which Tsubaki nodded her head. Meanwhile, I focused, opening up the chat window to send a message to Balu.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: You there, Balu?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Starkiller: Oh, hey! Did you finally finish up with that invasion of yours? I saw that it was still ongoing just a bit ago.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Yeah. My opponent was DarkestNight, and I have some information that I need to report to the guild.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Starkiller: Selling us some intel? Sure, what sort of intel are you looking to give? I think we¡¯ve got him pretty well documented, though.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: He¡¯s breaking his pattern. In addition to the usual numbers that I was told he sends, he also sent three monsters capable of releasing different types of swarms. Next, thergest monster that he sent had an entire civilization living within its body, one with enough advanced technology that it could create a device able to destabilize the void. In my opinion, I believe that DarkestNight is preparing to break through to the fifth rank.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Starkiller: Oh. OH! Yeah, I need to report this right away! Give me just a minute, and I¡¯ll get back to you. I¡¯ll need the guild master to give me an estimate on how much I can give you for that.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">While Balu was taking care of that, I opened another chat window, specifically the guild chat.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard: Oh, looks like Dale¡¯s back!


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Wee back, Dale. It looks like you made it through DarkestNight¡¯s invasion?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Thanks, you two. And yeah. There were some unexpected twists, but I already reported it to the Gilded Branch. Apparently, he¡¯s incorporating swarm tactics into his monsters now, and is working to advance in rank.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EverLasting: Oh¡­ I¡¯ll need to keep an eye out for him, then. Thanks for the warning.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: No problem. Have any of you tried the new streaming system that was made during the meeting? The Interactive Stream system.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard: I got it when I got back from the meeting. I also got that Educational Stream add-on that I saw you made.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Nice. How is it working for you? Any problems, so far?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oldbeard: If there was oneint, it would be that the streams pull people away from other games. A lot of times, streamers ying a game will help influence their viewers to y it as well. However, with these interactive streams, the viewers don¡¯t have the chance to y it themselves. It¡¯s¡­ sort of like watching purely for the streamer, instead of for the game that they¡¯re ying. Not a bad thing, and I¡¯m sure it will bnce out over time. I¡¯ve only had it for a few weeks, after all.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod at that. I hadn¡¯t thought about the fact that this would lessen the poprity of other games, but there was probably a way to fix that. For instance, if the streamer specified that they were streaming within the setting of Fragments of Acidia, and disabled any donation options that would break that setting.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If they did this, then they wouldn¡¯t be interacting with other yers of Fragments of Acidia, but they would be essentially doing a single yer version of the game where their viewers were able to influence the events.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I was thinking about that, Balu got back to me. Due to the importance of the information, she said that she would be to my Admin Room soon, and that she would be giving me eighty thousand points for the information. Not a small sum, by any means, and it was a nice bonus to add onto the reward from the invasion itself.

 Chapter 1142: Live On

    Chapter 1142: Live On


    <span style="font-weight:400">If there was one thing to be thankful for with this invasion, it was the fact that I wouldn¡¯t need to fast forward another fifty years in order to handle the reconstruction efforts like I did against RagnaRocker. His invasion destroyed much of my civilization¡¯s foundation, but this one simply destroyed everything in its path.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I didn¡¯t even have the chance to try to sell Sher Dien, which took the most damage, because it had already been annihted by the time the invasion was over. Simrly, any of thes that had even remotely been affected by the monsters, aside from a very few in the Metong universe, werepletely destroyed. There was technically nothing left for me to fix that I <em><span style="font-weight:400">could</em><span style="font-weight:400"> fix with the passing of time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, I returned to Olympus, the others quickly making their way back as well, once they heard that the battle was over. ¡°So, what do we do now, boss?¡± Lena asked, swaying happily and bouncing on her heels. ¡°Do you have some other assignment for us, or should we take some time off, or?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I rolled my eyes with a smirk, looking around. Lena¡¯s other self was back in her room by now, not wanting to cause any confusion in the conversations by having two of her around. ¡°Now, it¡¯s fine to do your own thing. But first, Lifre.¡± I called out, and the slime girl blinked, stepping forward.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah?¡± She asked with a tilt of her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I n on going back to the Admin Room for a moment to set up the Interactive Stream system.¡± When I said that, Lifre¡¯s eyes lit up, and she was practically vibrating. ¡°It might take a little while to configure all of the options, but I thought that you¡¯ve earned it over the years. This will also be good practice for the next annual meeting.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying that, I looked at the others. ¡°If any of you also want to do your own streams, I won¡¯t stop you, as long as you¡¯re willing to pause the streams when there is work to be done.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The others nodded at that, and I caught a rather curious look in Tsubaki¡¯s eyes, which made me hesitate. ¡°You¡­ it couldn¡¯t be that you¡¯re thinking of doing a Trial of Blood stream, are you?¡± I asked, my brow twitching. Dana and the others turned to look at Tsubaki, who averted her eyes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I was used to Tsubaki trying to turn every new simtion into her trials, but I didn¡¯t think that she¡¯d even do it for this streaming system, which would broadcast her trial to anyone who wanted to watch. Worse yet, they¡¯d be able to adjust the difficulty¡­ ¡°You¡¯re nning to remove any options for the viewers to lower the difficulty for your stream, aren¡¯t you?¡± I asked, and Tsubaki flinched as if caught.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana rolled her eyes with a smirk at that. ¡°You know, Tsuba, if you only leave them options to increase the difficulty, it will be physically impossible for you to seed. Not just <em><span style="font-weight:400">practically</em><span style="font-weight:400"> impossible, butpletely impossible. After all, one random guy can add in a variable that tips things beyond the level you could possibly handle with whatever stats you give yourself, and there won¡¯t be any way for you to have the difficulty adjusted back down to a manageable level.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s ears drooped a bit at that, before Dana continued. ¡°With that in mind, why don¡¯t you set it up as an educational stream? If you do that, you can limit the viewership to the residents of Olympus, and the Greater Pantheon can be the ones to set your difficulty level. Don¡¯t forget that you used to help James with his void research, so you are technically a licensed researcher.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki blinked, looking over at Dana in surprise. ¡°You have put a lot of thought into this.¡± She said, causing Dana to chuckle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°When I heard about the streams, I nned to do an educational stream like that for particrly dangerous experiments. If I have the perfect environment to handle explosive experiments, why would I do them in my workshop?¡± She asked, Tsubaki nodding her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°True¡­ though, educational streams are only meant to provide educational resources or mentors to the streamer, are they not? How could I utilize this for my trial?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Dana heard that, she gave a knowing grin. ¡°There are many types of education. For instance, Lena could do an educational stream about stealth techniques. Lifre could do one about adventure or writing. You can do a battle-themed educational stream, and the materials involved would be enemies for you to fight.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s eyes widened at that prospect, before looking over curiously between Dana and myself. ¡°Would that work?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Honestly, I hadn¡¯t considered that, but Dana nodded her head. ¡°I went and asked after the boss told us about the streams. ording to the person I talked to, he said that licensed teachers or researchers were the only ones allowed to teach, but the <em><span style="font-weight:400">subject</em><span style="font-weight:400"> that they were licensed to teach was not specified, nor was the subject that the stream was focused on.¡±


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">I haven¡¯t even gotten the system yet, and you were already looking for exploits?</em><span style="font-weight:400"> I asked in the back of my mind, shaking my head with a sigh. ¡°Well, there you have it. Is there anything else that any of you would like to ask for while I¡¯m gone?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki and the rest looked at one another, though there didn¡¯t seem to be anything urgently on their minds. With that taken care of, I ascended to the Admin Room to begin working on the new system, and also get Balu toe over to handle the payment for the information that I sent her before. As soon as I appeared in the Admin Room, Terra was all but glued to my side, hugging my waist. I gave a small smile, reaching down to pat her waist while guiding her to the couch.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Because I was busy with the new system, I kept the visit with Balu brief. There were¡­ a surprising number of settings to take into consideration when installing this system. For instance, I could set up a tax on stream transactions, determining where the taxed money went. I could also designate whether I wanted the streams to be over a normalwork connection or through the game system itself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once I selected the inte as the host of the streams, a website was created for me to design, and I passed the design controls for that website over to Ashley while working on other settings. Even then, it took more than an hour to get everything set up.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In the end, the website created by this streaming system was a rather magical system itself. If anyone signed onto the website and chose to stream, there was no need for any virtual reality hardware. Instead, they simply disappeared from their real world location, and were sent into the stream that they wanted to start.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Moreover, there was an irond protection on this website that prevented artificial intelligence or other entities from viewing its code. When Ashley investigated it, she said that it appeared simr in nature to the barriers around universes in the void. So, it was probably <em><span style="font-weight:400">possible</em><span style="font-weight:400"> to break through that ¡®firewall¡¯, but it would be exceptionally difficult.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Finally, before returning to the mortal world, I let Ashley pass off the new system to her programming team, giving them the chance to try to figure out how it worked. If anything, this system would offer a major breakthrough when it came to designing new worlds, given that it was able to alter the rules of the stream as needed.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">For most citizens, the impact of the recent ordeal was so grand in scale that they couldn¡¯tprehend it. On some level, they understood that there was a great danger, but there was nothing that they could do to prepare for it. Thus, they went about their days as normal, only vaguely hearing some reports on the news about the reported progress of the invasion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Only those in the military or the gods were able to feel the true weight of this invasion, as they were the ones that had to go and fight against it. Everyone else continued to live as they always would. They went to their jobs, tended their fields, or hunted monsters as normal. Many even forgot that there was such a crisis going on in the first ce.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Then, one day, amercial yed across practically every public broadcasting channel. It opened with a girl with pale white skin, white hair, and shining blue eyes. ¡°Hello, everyone~! I¡¯m Lifre, everyone¡¯s favorite slime girl and servant to the Keeper, slurp~!¡± She said, before giggling.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, Lifre¡¯s name and face were known far and wide, but few could associate her with the cute persona she was putting on for thismercial. They regarded the servants of the Keeper as untouchable existences, those who carried out the Keeper¡¯s will and stood above all others.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m here today to let you all know about a very special new service, brought to you by Olympus!¡± Lifre said, spinning as she jumped back. She seemed to be standing atop a high mountain, wearing in, white clothes. ¡°This new service, called Dreamer, allows you to enter a fully customizable stream. Imaginebining live streaming with a true sandbox game¡­ only the ones in control of the sandbox are your viewers!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right, your viewers will be able to donate to alter aspects of your stream, and all proceeds go directly to the streamer. Additionally, teachers and researchers will be able to hold educational streams to teach children about subjects that might be too dangerous orplicated to host in the ssroom! Wanna check it out? Head to the website listed below! I¡¯m already live, soe and y with me, okay?¡± She asked, before winking as themercial ended.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The first thing that most people felt when they saw thismercial was, naturally, confusion. They were confused both at the contents of themercial, and the way that the servant of the Keeper had acted during it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Some of these people went to check out the website, finding only a few streams avable at the beginning. Lifre¡¯s stream, for example, was immediately the most popr for those wanting to see what the system was about. Additionally, she had a rather interesting concept.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although it wasn¡¯t something like in the annual meeting, where she promised to be constantly live, there was another gimmick to her stream in the mortal world. Because she had no need for the money of her viewers, as she worked at Olympus, there was instead a special lottery set up. Anyone who donated to change something exciting about her stream that Lifre enjoyed, for better or worse, would be entered into the lottery.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This lottery, which would be drawn every hour and award the winner the full stream earnings for that hour. Apparently, she did this to encourage more and more people to contribute to making her stream an exciting adventure for both herself and the rest of her viewers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, there were other streams that were gradually going live as well. Popr entertainers that found the website were trying it out, and many of their fans took notice. Naturally, a lot of these streams were a little awkward at first, with the entertainers having to adjust to the new format.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy swung her legs off the side of the couch as she watched Lifre¡¯s stream together with Julia. At the moment, Lifre was trekking through a dangerous swamp, carrying an enchanted staff in her hands. ¡°Kinda tempted to start one of these myself.¡± She said with a grin, Julia chuckling lightly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I wouldn¡¯t, if I were you. Being the Goddess of Love, I can only imagine what type of content people would try to thrust upon you.¡± She said in a yful tone, causing Aurivy to flinch.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°H-Hey, I¡¯m also the Goddess of Dungeons, you know?! Dungeons! They could make a super cool dungeon for me to explore! But, this is the inte, after all¡­¡± She said in a despondent tone. ¡°You¡¯re probably right¡­ So¡­ why don¡¯t <em><span style="font-weight:400">you</em><span style="font-weight:400"> do one?!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia blinked at that, slowly pointing at herself. ¡°Me?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah! You were originally a professional game streamer, weren¡¯t you?!¡± Aurivy asked with a wide grin. ¡°I know you retired ages ago, but still! You¡¯ve got the experience. I¡¯m sure that you¡¯d do great!¡± After saying that, she snickered. ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for your streams with your group, the two of us would have never met like this, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia slowly blinked again, before lowering her head in thought. She seemed to be seriously considering the idea.

 Chapter 1143: Shining the Way

    Chapter 1143: Shining the Way


    <span style="font-weight:400">Before long, there were quite a lot of people that began using the streaming system, though the initial surge in poprity was likely due to them believing that there would be some way to take powers or items gained within a stream out into the real world. They tried directly leaving with the item, or even having viewers donate to get them a Digital Conversion scanner. No matter what method they tried, nothing from the stream could be taken out, with the exception of the donations that they earned from the act of streaming itself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Upon realizing that this was not another avenue of power like the various games that had been released by the Keeper, most people began to back out of the tform. Those that remained were the actual content creators that the tform was designed for, as well as the teachers or researchers that could make use of educational streams.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, James was one such researcher, and he would regrly host educational streams for the benefit of his research team. There were a few¡­ ethicalints when the topic came to creating entire universes potentially full of life, just to experiment on merging them and leading to a universe ending event.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea sat at her desk, rapidly typing as the middle-aged NPC that had been purchased for the stream began to write down calctions on a whiteboard. Personally, she didn¡¯t have a problem with her old method of doing experiments, so long as they maintained their null zone properly. Though, it was a bit annoying having to remain in that zone for weeks at a time in order to ensure that there was no lingering karma.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°When creating a game system for a new world, you want to ce the main body of the code within the natural energy core.¡± The man said, answering the question of one of the other researchers as James was hard at work taking notes, just like Chelsea. ¡°This is because the mana core is too prone to contamination from various entities, and the magic system can create conflicts.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thus, the natural energy core, which influences the entirety of the universe, is the ideal choice to house the main framework of your game system. The other cores should primarily contain references to system aspects directly rted to their respective energies. For instance, if you create a specialized enchanting system, you would create links to it within the mana core.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea was surprised when she listened to this, as their custom world experiments had always involved cing the game system within the mana core. Maybe this was why their attempts to create their own worlds had failed, aside from directly copying existing universes? However, on second thought, she realized that this must have been why World Spirits were chosen to be the moderators of various online games, because they had a direct connection to the source of the world¡¯s system.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">I see¡­</em><span style="font-weight:400"> She thought to herself, before typing out a question. <em><span style="font-weight:400">If the framework of the system is integrated with the natural energy core, does that mean that World Spirits have the ability to exploit the system?</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">The researcher paused, seeming to read the question. ¡°NineTailedLocks, the reason that a World Spirit does not have this ability is because they are a surface-level conceptual being. They control the natural energy within the world, but they cannot alter how it functions. Unless there are openings within the game system itself that are left for the spirit to exploit, it will have no way to breach the system.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea nodded her head at that, writing down the notes. They were being careful about how they used this NPC, not wanting to have it directly give them the necessary tools for world creation. Instead, they asked questions about the subject so that they could arrive at the answers themselves, and then check their answers with the NPC.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s new Trial of Blood did not go quite the way she expected, due to the actions of Keliope and Bihena. When these two learned what she was doing with the new educational streams, they made their way back to Olympus to ¡®help¡¯ her with her training.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The first one to influence the stream was Bihena, who donated to the stream to create a tournament. In this tournament, Tsubaki would be pitted against powerful enemies with various abilities in battles to the death.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki was perfectly fine with this method, as it would allow her to encounter strong enemies and test herself against them. She even thanked Bihena for the change. And then¡­ Keliope got involved.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Keliope believed that the only way Tsubaki could truly grow was if she overcame herself, so she donated to make every enemy in the tournament an exact copy of Tsubaki herself. In her opinion, this would allow Tsubaki to break past her limits.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once again, Tsubaki was happy with this idea¡­ at first. On paper, it sounded like an excellent way to see your own fighting style, and then identify and ovee your weaknesses. The problem was that the opponents were <em><span style="font-weight:400">exact</em><span style="font-weight:400"> copies of Tsubaki. This meant that those copies also had the same ability to analyze and ovee when fighting her. With the same mentality, and the same capabilities, it became a game of chance as to whether or not Tsubaki would win a battle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This did not exactly align with Tsubaki¡¯s goal, but she still tried it nheless. However, it soon became clear that this wasn¡¯t what she wanted. She was sure that it was helping her grow stronger, of course, and could feel her oveing her <em><span style="font-weight:400">past</em><span style="font-weight:400"> self. The problem was that the whole point of a Trial of Blood was that she set a goal for herself. When the goal became simple chance, that was no longer the trial that she wanted.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, she asked for those of the Greater Pantheon to step in and assist her. Thankfully, the person to answer her call was alia, whopletely redesigned her trial from the ground up. Instead of a tournament, her trial now took the form of a defensive battle. alia designed waves of progressively harder enemies to send against Tsubaki.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Perhaps due to Keliope pleading with her, she kept the concept of Tsubaki herself as the final boss. However, it was the Tsubaki from the start of the first wave. This gave Tsubaki a clear goal, to grow stronger with each wave, while conserving her energy as much as she could. It was not an easy goal by any means, as the final boss that she had to challenge was her past self at peak strength, but this only made it more enjoyable for Tsubaki.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tryval let out a long sigh as he stepped onto the grassy ins of Sher Dien, his daughter at his side. The sr system had been sessfully moved to the Metong universe. However, this had created new problems for the people of Sher Dien. Problems that they would need to quickly ovee.


    <span style="font-weight:400">First of all, the Fairy Ring would no longer operate on Sher Dien, due to one existing on the Metong homeworld. As Fairy Rings were unique items for each universe, a second one being introduced would be inoperable. This was simply how they were designed from the very beginning, as a way to lessen the number of random activations from unknown worlds.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Secondly, the new Metong universe was a direct copy of the Deckan universe, meaning that every innately had rich veins of dimensium. Enough so that the background energy permeated the entire universe. Sher Dien, however, did not have this material.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This itself did not seem like a major problem at first, until the effects of the background energy began to slowly reveal themselves. Defeated monsters or items would randomly transform into a card as the energy merged with their forms, forcibly adapting them to the new ¡®universal standard¡¯.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I apologize, father.¡± Alme said in a sad tone. ¡°I was not able to prepare our people for the dangers that they faced this time, so they were forced to leave their homes like this¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tryval, however, shook his head. ¡°This cannot be considered a failure on your part, Alme. Had that beast appeared in any other universe, it is likely that they would have suffered the same fate. Such were the words of Terra when I consulted her on this beast¡¯s power.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, that wasn¡¯t entirely true. If the beast had appeared in the new Metong homeworld, there would be no memetic monsters that could have caused its destruction in the first ce. Instead, it would have undoubtedly been able to finish its void weapon and wreak untold havoc. Meanwhile, had it appeared in either Lorek or Spica, the civilization in its brain would have likely been incinerated, leaving the monster as a rampaging beast without its enhanced intellect. Neither of these were particrly good results, and could have led to the destruction of more than just one universe when given enough time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Alme nodded her head, though still kept it lowered. ¡°What are we to do about the issue of transportation?¡± She asked in concern. Centaurs were, unfortunately, highly prone to motion sickness when riding on vessels such as boats or spaceships. And due to their biology, this motion sickness would bring them intense pain.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was why centaurs hadrgely kept to themselves for so long, and developed a more isted society, due to the fact that they had historically been unable to travel as much as the other races. Now that they didn¡¯t have the Fairy Ring to provide an easy method of travel to and from other worlds, this would only further iste them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tryval lowered his head in thought, having considered this question ever since the relocation of Sher Dien was decided. ¡°Our people have long studied methods of traversing universes. It may take some time, but I believe that they will be able to create connections with the other universes again. Until then, they have the Metong to support them with necessary research materials.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Alme nodded slightly at that. She knew that centaurs were a proud race, so they were unlikely to ask for help right away. After governing them for generations, she had always tried to correct this w in their mentality, but it always resurfaced. ¡°We will need to guide them again, won¡¯t we?¡± She asked, to which Tryval agreed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We will. But not as the Eternal Queen this time. We are ourselves, nothing more, and nothing less. We will act as advisors from the Greater Pantheon, but we will not rule them directly. I have no interest in taking Udona¡¯s example and bing the God-King of Sher Dien.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Alme couldn¡¯t help but snicker slightly, having teased him about that title in the past. ¡°Such a shame.¡± She said, a small smile on her lips.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Giles stood with Sprigga, the two staring up into the sky. Sprigga¡¯s eyes were damp, her shoulders trembling. Of the worlds that had been destroyed in this invasion, most of them were inhabited by their children. It was only natural, as thoses had less ability to defend themselves from outside threats.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Greater Pantheon had, of course, devoted deities to the defense of these worlds, but that was clearly not enough to protect them. Giles closed his eyes, his fist clenching as he held Sprigga close. There was nothing that they could do for those that had already passed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Giles, Sprigga, hello.¡± A voice spoke up from behind them, and they turned to see another golden Sylvan, one that they were distinctly familiar with. It was the first Sylvan to reach godhood, Philia.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Now¡¯s not exactly a good time, Philia¡­¡± Giles said in as understanding of a tone as he could manage, and Philia nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Perhaps. However, I have a proposal for the two of you. One that I believe could prevent future catastrophes such as this.¡± When Philia said that, Sprigga looked up at her in confusion. ¡°You might not know this, but I was a consultant for the World Seed game created by the Keeper. I have been an active participant in that game since its conception, hoping to expand my knowledge on what our people were capable of.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What does that have to do with¡­¡± Giles said, before Philia held a small token out to them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This is a seed that I created after numerous generations. You could consider it one of my primary goals in ying the game. However, it is notplete. In order for it to reach its full power, it needs to be activated by one that has a domain capable of connecting others, such as your Unity domain.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Giles took the token from Philia curiously, before looking at her. ¡°What¡­ what is this?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This is a seed to grow a tree capable of surviving on the surface of a star.¡± Philia said, causing the eyes of the two to widen. ¡°Naturally, the Sylvans produced by this tree will all share this ability to survive in such an environment, and I took great pains to ensure that the environment surrounding the tree itself would be inhabitable by normal races, blocking the intense heat and radiation. However, that is only the first stage of the creation process.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°After I created the ¡®sr tree¡¯, I began work on integrating it with the Hypene Network. In its current state, the tree itself acts as thework node, and will cover the surrounding sr system as it grows. Furthermore, if it is blessed with an ability rted to travel or connections, it can create pathways to other nodes through its roots and branches, and more pathways to connects locked in orbit around it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In other words, Giles¡­ if the two of you nt these seeds around various stars, you can create a travelwork that does not rely on any fleets of ships or void portals. If you connect your Unity domain with the existing groves, as well, then even the current groves will be able to connect with this transportationwork, so long as a sr tree is nted in that system¡¯s star.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Giles took a deep breath, looking down at the token in his hand. ¡°How did you test all of this, without already having someone with the proper domain to use it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Philia closed her eyes, letting out a long sigh. ¡°The god that I had hired to help me in this research was among those in in this recent battle. There are still more things I would like to produce within World Seed, but when I heard about what happened to your daughters, I thought it best to present you with this seed.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In order to use it, simply give it to either a golden child preparing to be a mother tree, or a divine sylvan like your wife. If you and the chosen sylvan activate that token together, it should produce the desired results.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying that, Philia offered a polite bow to the two of them, before making her departure. Sprigga and Giles were left to stare at this token, wondering just how this was going to change things.

 Chapter 1144: Thinking Ahead

    Chapter 1144: Thinking Ahead


    <span style="font-weight:400">Giles and Sprigga stared at the seed that they had been given for quite some time before they finally made a decision. This was a major step for not only Sylvans, but the entire world. However, it wasn¡¯t something that they would be able to aplish quickly, at least not on their own.. Every daughter that Sprigga had would take one year before she was ready to be born, which meant that they could only nt these seeds on one star every year if they acted alone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, they resolved to do the first one themselves, just as a test, before getting the other groves involved. If the new trees really did work as well as Philia imed, there was no reason not to share this with the rest of the world.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was almost surreal how quickly the people were able to put behind them the catastrophe that had destroyed numerouss and countless living beings. Considering just how dangerous the event was, nothing seemed to have changed after it was over. There was no societal upheaval, no real panic in the streets.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The biggest upset was when the people saw the carcass of the giant monster, which was visible from Earth with the naked eye. However, even this was quickly forgotten after ra had its body devoured and converted into an army of drones. She did something simr to the other monsters that were located close to the inhabited systems.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As for what she did with these drones? They were used to assemble massive ships, using designs taken from Fragments of Acidia, modified with thetest designs from the Metong. These ships were donated to the primary worlds as an additionalbat force, simply waiting for crew to be assigned to them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Elsewhere, Udona let out a helpless sigh, looking at Aznod. Thetter had an excited look on his face, but she could only shake her head. ¡°You can¡¯t be thinking of harvesting the meat from those giant figures, can you?¡± She asked, and Aznod looked at her with a nod.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course. Think of the exotic vors that coulde from beings of such magnitude. They would be able to feed countless worlds.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°For a day.¡± Udona pointed out. ¡°Moreover, think of how long it will take you to harvest them. Even if you use the DC scanner and only sample small portions, how much of the meat will have rotted by the time you get to it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod hesitated at that. He didn¡¯t know how quickly this meat would rot, especially since it was being ¡®preserved¡¯ in the vacuum of space. Though, with that said, the sheer size of their bodies meant that it would take some time for the cold to truly seep into their bodies. And they had already been left out for days, some of them over a week. It wouldn¡¯t be surprising if most of the usable meat had already gone bad.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I suppose you have a point.¡± He said with a nod. Although it was regretful, it didn¡¯t seem like he would have the chance to add a new ingredient to his collection on this day.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Forget about that for now.¡± Udonaughed, moving over to lean against him. ¡°What about the sixty-sixth floor of Fyor? Have you gotten anything good from there?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod blinked, a wide smile on his face. The sixty-sixth floor of Fyor was one where everything had been ¡®contaminated¡¯ by a relic with the power of the Food domain. Thus, everything on the floor, whether it was the beasts, water, even the ground itself, was an amazing delicacy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There are too many things there for me to have experimented with them all. However, the dungeons that Aurivy created provide a number of fascinating monsters. I¡¯ve used them as a basis to create a snack food simr to what is provided by the Hajit. I¡¯ll be sure to serve you some soon.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona licked her lips at that, nodding her head eagerly. ¡°I¡¯d love to.¡± She said in a wistful tone.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Elsewhere in the universe, Pierce sat in a hotel room, looking through his notebook. He could confirm that the major threats had passed, so he waited. Given his experience, he believed that the Keeper or his people woulde for him soon. Having someone able to predict disasters was too important of an asset.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When he went to meet the Keeper, he had resolved himself to the possibility that he would not be allowed to leave Olympus. Even after he did leave Olympus, he was still sure that he could be called back at any given moment. Without his contribution to the battle, he believed that many mores would have been lost. In fact, he had seen such in his notebook.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In thest page of his notebook, he had written a small section for him to fill in details about how the Keeper would capture him. It was written in such a way that he could immediately mark something down the moment anyone came for him. Thus, he wasn¡¯t worried that he wouldn¡¯t have time to write out what he needed to do when the time came.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, no matter how long he stared at the notebook, or how far into the future he looked, no new writings appeared on that page. He was even suspicious that they confiscated the journal from him or destroyed it, so he wrote out another section, this one to mark various days when they <em><span style="font-weight:400">hadn¡¯t </em><span style="font-weight:400">gone after him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This time, markings appeared, and he recognized his own handwriting. Every few days, he would mark down the date, and this continued for as long as Pierce continued to look into the future. ¡°They¡¯re¡­ noting for me?¡± He asked in surprise. He had expected that they might take a while to get to him, but not that they would simply let him go entirely.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Eventually, he closed his eyes, taking off his sses and massaging his forehead. It was for the best if they didn¡¯te for him. He had just been wanting to prepare himself. After all, even if he tried to evade them, there was no escaping the Greater Pantheon.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">I guess I worried myself for nothing.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> He thought to himself. With a sigh, he closed the journal. He hadn¡¯t foreseen any other disasters lurking around the corner just yet, so he was going to take his time to wander naturally.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, there weren¡¯t many documents that I had to take care of in the days following the invasion and subsequent release of the streaming service. Granted, there were a few people who tried to attack the streaming website online, seeking to hack into it and gain ess to all of the money passing through it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, those efforts were ultimately fruitless, as we didn¡¯t have the technology capable of doing things at the level of removing system restrictions yet. Instead, they were quickly located by localw enforcement, who apprehended them as soon as they were identified.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With the clean-up of the invasion settled, that left¡­ very little that I needed to immediately concern myself with. I was actually surprised, having expected that I would need to make some big speech to calm the masses. As it stood, it actually felt like giving such a speech would only make people more aware of how much danger they had been in, further inciting chaos.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I looked at the report from Chelsea, I widened my eyes in surprise. She had written in a report that she believed it would take her team only a month to have a blueprint set up for the new world that they were working on. However, she also reported that this new world would have its own system for the time being, and that the NPC that they created had told them that it would take a bit longer before they were able to do a system merge safely.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Still, even with the possibility of a system merge further off, it was surprising that they were so confident that they would be able toplete the new world within a month. I had expected it to be elerated, but I thought I would still need to skip over a few years for us to reach the finished product.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As for what world they were nning to create? It seemed as if they were working with Ashley to make this new world with the code that she had prepared for hertest game. This game had its story designed by Ghan, and had been adapted into the series he had named the Night Verse. Thus, the name that Ashley had given the game was Night Code.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I was curious to see how this would turn out. Once Night Code was finished, I was sure that I would be promoted to the Fifth Rank as a Keeper. Thus, I closed my eyes, thinking about the timing. If I was to be invaded in my next match, and the invasion was set up before my promotion, then I would only be invaded by a Fourth Rank Keeper.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, if the match was set up after the promotion, then I would be pitted against a Fifth Rank Keeper. Because of this, I needed to make sure that I didn¡¯t fast forward time at all until the match was set. That would buy me more time to find ways to deal with Origins, or other simrly dangerous threats.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At worst, I would need to use my defense ticket if I ended up on the defense against a dangerous Keeper, allowing me to skip a month. However, even if I was clever about how I used both of the tickets at my disposal, the longest that I would be able to ensure my safety would be until the next annual meeting. And this time, I doubted that the system would be kind enough to make the tickets avable from games that my people were specialized in.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This meant that it was only a matter of time before I had to deal with those powerful threats. Part of me was curious how Sarah was handling it, though¡­ from what I recall, people don¡¯t typically attack her with big threats, due to her poprity. Anyone that seriously tried to take out Sarah would be the enemy of everyone who enjoyed her games.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Because of that, it was unlikely that she had had to deal with any Origins yet. She might not have even learned the trick to making one herself. And, given that she was the highest ranked Keeper in my guild, that severely limited the number of people that I could turn to for advice. Specifically, it limited it to zero, unless I asked the Gilded Branch, which would probably cost arge sum of points.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">For the time being, I¡¯ll try to deal with it on my own. If I run out of time before I am able to create a proper Origin-levelbat force, I¡¯ll consult the Gilded Branch for advice.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">This felt like back when I had cultivated gods for the first time. In reality, this could be seen as a simr jump in power. Abat-oriented Origin should be able to effortlessly destroy an entire universe, if they were at their full power. This could be seen when looking at the Origin of Fate, who had managed to identify and kill every giant monster in every universe once she had obtained enough energy to use her power freely.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, those giant monsters weren¡¯t gods, or even energy beings. They were all physical creatures, the easiest to be targeted. Still, the fact that she managed to identify and target all of them at once was an impressive feat.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If she was actually abat-oriented Origin, she would have probably been able to take care of it even more easily. <em><span style="font-weight:400">For those that have Origins, there probably isn¡¯t any point in sending out abat force that isn¡¯t capable of fighting on that level.</em>

 Chapter 1145: Money Can’t Buy Everything

    Chapter 1145: Money Can¡¯t Buy Everything


    While Lifre was spending most of her time doing live streams with the new system, Lena was watching her and monitoring the donationsing in. For the most part, people seemed to be simply enjoying the stream for what it was, contributing to either mess with Lifre or help her out.


    However, there were a few different cases, most of which weren¡¯t visible to the public. As someone with a moderator ount on Lifre¡¯s stream, she was able to see the attempted submissions that were rejected by the system. These were things that people tried to enter into the stream as donation options, but were automatically rejected for one reason or another.


    For instance, there was one that tried to submit a ¡®legendary weapon that could be taken out of the stream¡¯. Given that objects couldn¡¯t be taken out of the stream at all, this was naturally rejected. Lena assumed that this was someone testing to see if Lifre and other members of the Greater Pantheon were getting preferential treatment with the system.


    On the other hand, there were some that were trying to submit memetic effects, or items that would cause harm to the streamer outside of the stream. These were the people that Lena was specifically on the lookout for, as it meant that they were making a legitimate attempt on the life of one of the Keeper¡¯s servants.


    Whenever one of these people appeared, Lena immediately marked them. Most people believed that the ounts on this streaming website were absolutely anonymous, because not even gods or awakened AI were able to infiltrate it. And, in a way, they were correct. However, with Lena¡¯s domains, she was able to track them down without needing to go through the site itself.


    Instead, she would run a search for anyone using that username in the real world at that moment. This wasn¡¯t something that she would normally consider doing, as spreading her domain to cover an entire universe, even for such a specific search, used a lot of her energy. Since she was still likely the least famous resident of Ollympus, her energy didn¡¯t recharge as fast as the others.


    Thankfully, that was not an issue anymore. The Keeper had given her permission to use the treasury of Olympus if she needed to use her divine abilities for the sake of Olympus itself or its residents. And this treasury was now constantly growing, faster than ever before. This was because the Keeper had ced a ten percent tax on educational streams.


    It might be true that most schools had yet to adopt the concept of educational streams, given that there were still easier and cheaper alternatives, such as level spheres to help children study. However, the same could not be said for higher level fields, such as research teams orbat training schools. These facilities were streaming to their own people practically every day, whether to help their own research or to provide educational examples to their trainees.


    From each of these streams, Olympus was able to rue a small profit. When all of these streams were considered together, this profit became astronomical. It was more than enough for Lena to identify the individuals who were trying to act behind the scenes.


    When she found them, she ced a simple marker on them with her divinity, making sure that she would be able to track any potential criminal activity from them. For the most part¡­ they were just mischievous teenagers fooling around, seeming to know that their submissions wouldn¡¯t go through. It was rather rare for her to find someone that expressed genuine annoyance that their harmful submission was not epted.


    While Lena was doing this, her other self was working on the cleaning and maintenance around Olympus. Unsurprisingly, Tsubaki¡¯s avatars stopped functioning after she began her stream, so it was up to Lena to handle things until Tsubaki finished her improvised trial. Still, she was happy to be useful in a setting where she wasn¡¯t being asked to just go out and assassinate or impersonate people.


    Dana pursed her lips as she sat in arge room, a holographic monitor behind her while her two familiars sat across the table from her. ¡°We need a better weapon for him now.¡± She muttered, the other two needing their heads.


    ¡°Ship¡­ useless at this point.¡± Sienna said in a reluctant tone, ra shrugging her shoulders.


    ¡°I mean, the Chariot was a great idea when we started on it, but with thisst invasion, ships in general just weren¡¯t that useful.¡± She pointed out. ¡°Anyways, we don¡¯t know for sure that that will be true in the future, do we?¡±


    ¡°We have to assume that invasions will only get more difficult as time goes by.¡± Dana spoke in a firm tone. ¡°If there is something that wasn¡¯t strong enough to be useful in a previous invasion, the odds are high that it won¡¯t be usefulter on, either. Furthermore, the Keeper has said that he¡¯s expecting us to reach a new spike in difficulty soon when his rank advances.¡±


    ¡°Well, what sort of weapon are you wanting to give him, since the Chariot is out of the question now?¡± ra couldn¡¯t help but ask, crossing her arms and leaning forward over the table.


    Dana closed her eyes, thinking. ¡°ording to what we know, it should be impossible for the Keeper to wield the power of an Origin directly. This is because an Origin requires a Saint Body, which itself requires all three steps of Perfection. The Keeper is unable to fulfill one of those steps, and is thus cut off from the path of an Origin.¡±


    ¡°Bnce issues.¡± Sienna muttered, and Dana nodded her head in agreement.


    ¡°Right. If a Keeper was able to be an Origin, it is unlikely that there would ever be anything able topletely kill them, especially when youbine all of their other powers. However, we still have to consider the Keeper buff, the fact that he can ess the upper limit of any power within his domain.¡±


    ra furrowed her brow at that, seeming confused. ¡°If he could do that, why has he never used the power of the Origin of Fate?¡±


    Sienna tilted her head slightly. ¡°Forgot?¡±


    However, Dana shook her head to deny that. ¡°No, he¡¯s familiar enough with his powers now that that wouldn¡¯t be the issue. Especially after Leowynn¡¯s second death. If he can¡¯t use the powers of an Origin, there are only three potential reasons.¡±


    ¡°The first reason would be as Sienna said before, a bnce issue. We know that Origins are beings that belong to the upper levels of the Fifth Rank, while Dale is only at the Fourth Rank. It¡¯s possible that he will gain ess to the Origin of Fate¡¯s powers after he ranks up.¡±


    ¡°The second possibility is because the Origin of Fate is only a ¡®pseudo-Origin¡¯. In order to tap into her power, both of the twins have tobine, a result of their special ¡®anomaly¡¯. Dale doesn¡¯t have an anomaly like that, so it¡¯s possible that he simply won¡¯t have ess to that Origin¡¯s powers. And the third is¡­¡±


    ¡°Energy?¡± Sienna asked, to which Dana nodded her head.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. We know that Origins use a higher form of energy than divinity, and even higher than the raw power of the void. Even when converting divinity to Origin power through the use of specialized domains, the exchange rate is abysmal. Dale might be able to mirror the Origin, but the power required to sustain that transformation could quickly deplete his reserves, even as the Keeper.¡±


    ¡°Okay, so what does all of this have to do with creating him a new toy?¡± ra asked with a raised brow.


    ¡°Simple¡­ we need to make him a weapon capable ofbating Origin level threats. Thanks to Terra¡¯s incarnations, we have a rough idea of how Origins work, at least enough to specte what it would take to kill one. Until Chel¡¯s work progresses, we won¡¯t be able to finish this project, but we can at least get the framework started.¡± As Dana said that, she stood up, moving to the holographic board behind her.


    ¡°Originally, we believed that the power source of an Origin was umted over time, like divinity. This was because we saw that Terra¡¯s incarnation had to charge up her energy over a long period of time to use her power. However, this was a false assumption caused by the simple fact that she is not a true Origin.¡±


    ¡°Now that we have seen what effects the Avenger had on her, we canbine this with our previous knowledge, and say that an Origin¡¯s power supply is more akin to a Fallen God. That is to say, they will never run out of energy. It is only their maximum output that has a limit.¡±


    ¡°Their energy itself wille from the world that they fuse with when bing an Origin. This world will always exist within themselves, wherever they are. Furthermore, they are not forced to regrly expend their power to prevent any kind of overflow¡­¡±


    ra¡¯s eyes widened as she saw where this was going. ¡°You want to bring back the Reality Marble concept.¡± She said, to which Dana nodded her head.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Our original Reality Marble was a self-contained world that was able to grow exponentially due to constantly generating its own base energies, and using that to expand. It could be considered the earliest prototype of customized world creation. However, these worlds were wed in many ways. Now that proper world creation research is under way, we can correct those ws.¡±


    ¡°What I want to make isn¡¯t a pseudo-Origin like Terra, but an Origin item. By analyzing the energy makeup of the Origin of Fate, we can determine what it is that allows someone like her to store an entire world within themselves. After that, if we can recreate this type of energy structure within an inanimate item, we should be able to manufacture an artifact with Origin-level power.¡±


    ¡°Potential problems.¡± Sienna spoke up, causing the others to look over at her. ¡°Manufactured Origin¡­ unique?¡±


    Dana took a moment to trante Sienna¡¯s words, before shaking her head. ¡°We don¡¯t know. Terra said that Origins were truly unique in every Keeper¡¯s realm, meaning that there will only ever be one of the same type of Origin. However, we don¡¯t know the mechanics behind this uniqueness. My current theory is that the Origins resonate with the void on some level. If an Origin already exists for a certain domain, and another tries to take that same domain, what would happen?¡±


    ¡°Either one of the two will have priority, or they will fuse in some way. Most likely, it would be the former, but the matter of priority is hard to determine until we see it for ourselves. It could either fall to the first one that obtained the Origin, or the most powerful of the two.¡±


    ¡°Most powerful?¡± ra asked, confused.


    ¡°Right. The Origin¡¯s power could be determined in a number of ways. For instance, it could be thepatibility of their initial domains with the desired Origin domain, thepleteness of their Origin world, or even the number of Origin worlds used.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s take someone with three domains as an example. They also have three Saint energies, and thus require three Origin worlds toplete their promotion into an Origin. Someone like this might have priority over an Origin that was created using only one domain, Saint energy, and Origin world.¡±


    ¡°So, there is still a benefit to bing an Origin with multiple domains?¡± ra asked with wide eyes.


    ¡°Possibly. However, the benefit would be limited to maximum energy output, and priority over keeping your Origin domain if that was how the resonance worked. Again, we won¡¯t know until we see it ourselves.¡±


    Hearing Dana¡¯s remark, Sienna lifted a hand. ¡°Why not buy an Origin expert NPC?¡± She asked with a tilt of her head, and Dana smiled bitterly.


    ¡°Because Dale would get really mad at me if I suddenly put Olympus in debt. I looked at the price of an Origin expert before starting this stream. Even if webined the total divinity from the entire Greater Pantheon, as well as Olympus¡¯s treasury, we¡¯d only be able to have their services for an hour. That should give an idea at just how high level the Origins are.¡±

 Chapter 1146: Miscalculations

    Chapter 1146: Miscalctions


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, the middle of the Standard month came fairly quickly, and I received my next match-up. It looked as if I was being pitted against¡­ Alkahest? It felt almost surreal that I was against him this time, after he was the very first Keeper that I came into contact with.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately, I was in the attacker role, however, so I let out a resigned sigh. Since I was about to be promoted to the next rank, that match would undoubtedly be canceled. Furthermore, it was unlikely that I would be able to hold off the promotion long enough for the rest of the month to pass, given Chelsea¡¯s frequent reports.


    <span style="font-weight:400">ording to her, the world creation project wasing along at an incredible pace. They had all of the calctions done, the codes were set, all that was needed was to build a new device, which they had already tested in their educational streams. It was likely that they would be finished by the end of the week, at which point the promotion would immediately go through.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">While James was overseeing the construction of the New World Generator, Chelsea sat at her desk, furiously typing at her terminal and making detailed ns. She was well aware of the threats that came with an increase in rank, having been a former System Companion herself. Although the more exclusive knowledge that role had given her was lost, her experiences remained.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She knew that there was a need for defenses against threats the likes of which they had never seen, and was doing her best to design those very defenses. The current problem was that she herself was not fully aware of the true scope of an Origin¡¯s power. That was all part of the ¡®lost knowledge¡¯ from when she was James¡¯s System Companion.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">If we were talking about a god, it would be possible to make them self-destruct under certain conditions. However, would that even be possible when the target was an Origin? Rather than being fueled by their belief in their domain, they theoretically be the domain itself.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, there were benefits to this, as it meant that the powers of an Origin would be more narrowly focused. A God of Fire could control ice under the condition that they design their power as ¡®extracting all heat from an area¡¯. They could create fires with different, esoteric effects, too. However, an Origin of Fire would truly govern mes. They should be able to create other types of mes that existed, but not entirely new mes with effects from their imagination.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">If we had more detailed information about the types of powers an Origin had, we could n defenses. However, all that we know right now is that the sheer scale of their power can reach the universal level.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea¡¯s first idea when it came to defenses was to create habitables made of energy, simr to Sanctum. These worlds would be more durable than those made of solid matter, and could even be used to power orbital defenses.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, she quickly shook her head at that idea. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Energys wouldn¡¯t even be enough to deal with RagnaRocker¡¯s monsters, let alone an Origin.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, Chelsea turned her attention to the void. It could be assumed that the powers of an Origin were transmitted through the void, so perhaps the best defense against them would be to block those powers there. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Maybe an energy scrambler? No, if we do something like that, it will cut off our current means ofmunication and travel through the void.</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Theoretically, we could begin working on the technology to convert all of that through the Underworld instead, as that is a shared realm that does not require the void for traversal. That would require a major technological overhaul, however. Additionally, it would leave us more vulnerable to umting void beasts over time, as we wouldn¡¯t be able to easily leave to deal with them, and Fallen Gods would be vastly weakened with the void connections cut.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea bit her lip, trying to think of other potential solutions. She didn¡¯t think that it was a bad idea to start shifting moremon forms of connection to the Underworld instead of the void, but it wasn¡¯t enough to offer any level of defense against an Origin. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Is the only way really to get an Origin of our own?</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was a rather serious problem, as the NPC that they used for their educational streams did not have the knowledge on how to create an Origin¡¯s world. That knowledge was far too expensive for them to be able to afford, even with a nearly limitless budget. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Trial and error? I doubt Dale could afford the cost of that information from the market, even after the recent invasion.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and switching the terminal over to her web browser, loading up the streaming site and starting her own educational stream. However, she didn¡¯t announce this stream to the others, not wanting to disturb their current work. Before the stream began, she made sure that the option was avable for her to purchase her own assets. While streamers still received the majority of the profits for normal donations from viewers, purchasing their own assets in the stream would send the profits entirely to Olympus.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea didn¡¯t mind this, as Olympus was where her budget came from. As the stream began, she immediately purchased arge manufacturing facility that they referred to as the Instant Printer. This was simr to the Digital Conversion System, except that it could print from any blueprint, not just one scanned from a real item. They hadn¡¯t quite mastered the manufacturing method of this facility yet, or their world creation project would have already concluded.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She quickly ran to her office within the stream, working on a new blueprint. <em><span style="font-weight:400">There has to be something fundamentally different about an Origin¡¯s worldpared to normal world creation. It¡¯s not just synchronizing the world with the desired host, it couldn''t be that simple. Most likely, there is a fifth, maybe even a sixth energy core.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea rapidly typed on the keyboard, loading up the foundation for a standard world with no specialws. <em><span style="font-weight:400">An Origin is meant to be the joining of all paths as one. So, someone who was already a god should have to create an energy core that contains the essence of a Fallen God. And someone that is already a Fallen God should have to create an energy core that represents the divine domain that they want.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea was incredibly familiar with void scripts at this point, and was confident that she could make an energy core simr to the domain of a Fallen God. As for a divine domain, that would require use of the divine script, which had alreadyrgely been deciphered. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Is this enough?</em><span style="font-weight:400"> She asked herself, furiously typing away at the keyboard.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lines of code flew past the screen at a blinding pace, but Chelsea didn¡¯t stop. While she had her inspiration, she needed to see it through to the end. <em><span style="font-weight:400">I need to create a void script that replicates the core of a Fallen God, and contain that within an energy core to use as the foundation for the world¡¯s creation.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, when that thought urred to her, her hands froze. <em><span style="font-weight:400">But¡­ how would that power stabilize itself? The four primary energy cores form a perfect bnce, which is what creates the universal barrier that protects that universe from the void.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">She ran through the lessons that the NPC had taught, using the calctions learned there to simte what would happen in her mind. If a world was created in the void with a fifth energy core, she could not imagine a way for the barrier to form. It would either immediately copse, or fundamentally alter how reality worked within its confines.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">How¡­ how can we ovee this?</em><span style="font-weight:400"> She bit her lip once again, closing her eyes and piecing together everything that she had learned about Origins. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Why¡­ why do Origins need to undergo the three steps of perfect, and obtain a Saint body¡­?</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea could understand the qualitative jump in energy when one underwent the steps of perfection. Perhaps that would allow them to absorb the world, and house it within themselves. However¡­ why was the Saint body needed?


    <span style="font-weight:400">A Saint body was created when someone who had undergone the three steps of perfectionpletely fused their body with a saint-level energy. Doing this granted them enhanced control over this energy,parable to a divine domain. But in the context of creating an Origin¡¯s world, this saint-level energy should only be a hindrance, making it <em><span style="font-weight:400">more difficult</em><span style="font-weight:400"> to absorb the world.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">What if¡­ the Origin¡¯s world isn¡¯t created in the void in the first ce?</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Chelsea theorized, looking at the screen nkly as thoughts shed through her mind. <em><span style="font-weight:400">If the Origin¡¯s world is created within their own body, and the final energy core is used as an outeryer rather than part of the foundation, it could harmonize with the saint-level energy and the divine domain possessed by the new Origin. There would be no reason to worry about the world barrier in the void, because the Origin themselves would be that barrier.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, this posed a problem for those that had more than a single domain, such as Tsubaki. If this theory from Chelsea was right, it would mean that either three worlds would need to be created at the same time, or a single world with three additional energy cores. <em><span style="font-weight:400">No, a single world shouldn¡¯t be able to bear that much additional stream¡­</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea felt like she had made a breakthrough in the development of an Origin, but there was a major problem that came with this. This was simr to the creation of the Perfection Chamber, requiring extremely detailed control of the target¡¯s energy in order to create the world within their body. <em><span style="font-weight:400">From a practical standpoint, this is infinitely more difficult than having the person create the world themselves. However, the person doing so would need to have detailed knowledge on world creation, and the ability to simte it with their own energy cores.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There were only two people that Chelsea knew of who had in-depth knowledge of world creation, possessed either a divine or fallen domain, and were extremely skilled at manipting their own energies. Naturally, one of these people was Chelsea herself. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki is good at energy control, but she always struggled when it came to manipting void energies for practical use. But, Dana¡­</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana was part of the duo that performed the very first world creation experiment, known as the reality marbles. She had been keeping up to date with Chelsea¡¯s research, possessed the fallen domain of Darkness, a Saint body with the World¡¯s Shadow, and was phenomenal at controlling her own energies. If Chelsea was the ideal subject to be the first Origin from a standard god, then Dana was the ideal subject to be the first from a Fallen God.


    <span style="font-weight:400">More importantly, Chelsea needed the energy readings from both types of Origin promotion. Only with those detailed readings would she be able to create a simtion to better perfect the process of Origin creation, and eventually a device to automate the process.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a sigh, Chelsea stared at her terminal, and the lines of code that had long halted. It had been her intention to try to create a prototype for an Origin¡¯s world in this stream, using the Instant Printer to make the device necessary to create the world within the void. However, now, that idea itself seemed to have copsed, as the method for bing an Origin that she theorized now required manual transformation rather than technology.


    <span style="font-weight:400">So, instead, Chelsea closed her eyes, leaning back in her seat. She disabled notifications from the chat, pinning ament that said she was trying to practice Origin ascension. As she was a pioneer in this field, she expected to fail numerous times, and didn¡¯t want anyone distracting her in halfway through.

 Chapter 1147: The Fifth Rank

    Chapter 1147: The Fifth Rank


    <span style="font-weight:400">At first, nobody noticed what Chelsea was doing. They were all focused on their own research, or on creating the new device that would help them produce new universes within the void. Additionally, because she didn¡¯t announce her live stream, nobody had a reason to actively look for it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The first to notice that something was off was Treisha, who had stopped by Chelsea¡¯s office in order to ask her a question. She knew that Chelsea was working on some new security system to put in ce for the future, but wascking specific details. When she saw that Chelsea¡¯s office was empty, she hesitated, asking the artificial intelligence monitoring the site where Chelsea had gone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Learning that Chelsea¡¯sst known location <em><span style="font-weight:400">was</em><span style="font-weight:400"> her office, she stayed there to wait for her. After a few minutes, Chelsea simply appeared, sitting at her desk and letting out a sigh. Treisha didn¡¯t feel any void fluctuations, but rather a familiar pulse of mana and natural energy. ¡°You¡¯re live streaming something?¡± She asked, causing Chelsea to look back at her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh? Sorry, yeah. I¡¯m trying to get something sorted out, but I keep blowing up.¡± She said with a shrug, causing Treisha¡¯s eyes to widen.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°<em><span style="font-weight:400">You</em><span style="font-weight:400"> keep blowing up, not your project?¡± She asked to rify, and Chelsea simply chuckled.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well¡­ they¡¯re sort of the same thing now? Anyways, there wasn¡¯t anything left of the area I was working after respawning a few times, so I came out to reset the stream again.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Treisha heard that, her brow twitched slightly. ¡°How many times have you exploded so far?¡± She asked, having a feeling that she wouldn¡¯t like the answer.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hmm? Well, if you include the other times I had to reset¡­ this makes the eighty-third, I think? I haven¡¯t really been tracking, so I might be one or two off.¡± She said as a casual remark, but Treisha¡¯s eyes went wide at the reveal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea was doing some type of experiment in a live stream that had caused her body to detonate, and she had repeated this process eighty-three times. ¡°It¡¯s only been a few hours since Ist talked to you¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah, this is really tricky to get down.¡± Chelsea crossed her arms in front of herself. ¡°I think I¡¯m starting to make progress, though! Another one or two hundred more attempts, and I might get it!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Treisha¡¯s eye twitched when she heard that, but Chelsea turned to look at her directly. ¡°Anyways, were you needing me for something?¡± She asked, snapping the elf out of her thoughts.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right¡­ James wanted me to ask if you had gotten the finalized mana code from Ashley. Theponents are ready to store the code, and we¡¯re just waiting for the final pieces before we can begin the activation.¡± She said, and Chelsea blinked.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sure, let me check.¡± She quickly turned around, flipping through her terminal. ¡°Got it! It should be sent over to you now!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Treisha nodded her head in thanks, but didn¡¯t immediately leave. ¡°Are you going to resume your experiments?¡± She asked hesitantly, to which Chelsea gave a confident nod.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This is an important project, and I can¡¯t think of a better candidate to handle the experiment than myself. I have to see it through to the end, even if it¡¯s just to determine whether or not I am taking the right approach.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Treisha let out a long sigh at that. ¡°Is there anything that I can provide to help the process? Any scanning equipment to help you track what¡¯s going wrong?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Nah.¡± Chelsea shook her head. ¡°The whole gets destroyed after a few failures, so any scanning equipment would just get ruined.¡± She said, before quickly starting up her stream and disappearing again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Treisha¡¯s eye twitched once more, and she brought her hand up to massage her forehead again. ¡°It¡¯s better not to ask¡­ pretend I didn¡¯t hear anything, and just get on with my work.¡± She muttered to herself, turning and walking down the hall.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As for Chelsea, she appeared within her live stream again, and immediately sat down with her legs crossed. To facilitate the experiment that she was doing, she controlled her body to take a rather unconventional shape. Her body melted down, forming a pair of crossed beams, each connecting to two different spheres, for a total of four spheres.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In one sphere, she ced the core of her ki. In another, her spirit, and another her mana. Then, for thest one, she began to draw in natural energy, creating a dense node of it to match the others.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After that, her ¡®body¡¯ lifted up off the ground, forming two more nodes that were each connected to the other four, one above and one below. This caused her to take a diamond shape. In the node above, she concentrated her divinity, making sure that divinity did not spread to any of the other nodes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Finally, in the bottom node, she began to concentrate on writing a void script. ck and red energy rushed into the node, forming a dense sphere. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Okay¡­ that should be all of the nodes needed to create the Origin world. Now, I just need to bnce and refine them to be world pirs.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">She had gone through this process nearly a hundred times already, so it was a simple matter to begin shaping each node, altering its core structure. Perhaps because of having undergone the three steps of perfection, the nodes within her body were able to be ¡®programmed¡¯ to behave differently than normal energy within this universe. She had been prepared to have to do these tests in the void, but was pleasantly surprised to learn that wasn¡¯t the case.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The first four nodes were set quickly, matching the basic temte for a world with no special traits that they had designed. This was where it becameplicated, as they didn¡¯t know exactly what they needed to do with their divinity or the void. That had been the cause of most of Chelsea¡¯s deaths thus far.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea could only experiment, taking what she had observed and using the process of elimination to uncover the truth. She condensed a replica of a Fallen God¡¯s domain, making it the domain of Security to match her divine domain. In her mind, that should have provided the mostpatibility. Then, the two domains were each condensed into dense spheres.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Feeling that she had taken every precaution that she could, Chelsea began the world creation process, bringing the four foundational energies together. Out of all the times that she had detonated, only six of them had been because of this part of the process.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As the energies were mixing together, Chelsea dissolved the spheres containing her divine and fallen domains, carefully wrapping them around the newly forming universe while using her Saint body to monitor and control them. Something that Chelsea had learned early on in her experiments was that she could not have any additional energybinations within her body throughout this process, or they would immediately sh during thebining stage.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea could already sense the instability of the two domains as they began to connect around the world, her diamond-shaped body melting down into a solid sphere. At the same time, her body¡¯s energy tried to pacify the two domains, attempting to bring them into harmony. She could feel that this had some effect, though it was like walking on a tightrope made of razor wire, suspended over a boiling pit filled with acid.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately, Chelsea¡¯s control over this energy slipped just slightly when she noticed something amidst the shes of the divine domains. For just the briefest moment, she sensed that a region of her body had the same energyposition as the void itself, and probing that region gave her a sense of boundless depth.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This realization caused her control topse for only the smallest moments, bringing her to her eighty-fourth explosion. When she respawned, seeing the shatteredndmass that spread in all directions, as far as the eye could see, she couldn¡¯t help but think to herself. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Is the sh of energies supposed to ur around the new universe after it is formed, or before it to create the environment of the void?</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she thought about that, her eyes closed. Now that she thought about it¡­ wasn¡¯t it possible to create an Origin without them having an internal world? The Origin of Fate was a perfect example of that, as she had no internal world. However, this only resulted in a pseudo-Origin, one that needed other means to obtain their powers. Even existing rapidly drains their energy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Following this logic, perhaps the framework of an Origin had to be created prior to the construction of the universe. If that was true, the universe would need to be created very quickly afterwards, before the limited energy ran out. This seemed to make sense when Chelsea thought about it. It wasn¡¯t that you needed to create the internal world to <em><span style="font-weight:400">be</em><span style="font-weight:400"> an Origin, you simply needed it to be able to sustain one.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With that thought in mind, Chelsea began her experiments anew, ready to go through <em><span style="font-weight:400">another</em><span style="font-weight:400"> several hundred deaths if it meant being able toplete this work.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I sat on my throne, my eyes closed and simply observing the distant Deckan with my World Sight as a form of personal training. Tsubaki, having already finished her Trial of Blood, stood at my side with a content smile on her face. As I was observing Ashtanu and its inhabitants, I heard a mental ping in the back of my mind. When I opened my eyes, as expected, the prompt showing that I had been promoted a rank appeared.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Congrattions, EarthForceOne! You have now qualified for a promotion!


    <span style="font-weight:400">Your worlds and your strength have been evaluated at Rank 5. You now have unlimited ess to the previously restricted Rank 5 system, Creator¡¯s Blessing.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Congrattions! You have earned an achievement!


    <span style="font-weight:400">For promoting a world to Rank 5 without resetting, you have earned the Unyielding Lord achievement. +500 points, Heaven¡¯s Fall.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I had already expected the system unlocked at the Fifth Rank, as I asked Sarah about it when I originally was promoted to the Fourth Rank. Creator¡¯s Blessing would allow me to spend points and customize individual mortals with special blessings, ranging from an increased aptitude to unique systems designed just for them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, the second achievement¡¯s reward had me more concerned, my brow furrowing in confusion. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Terra? Mind exining? Heaven¡¯s Fall sounds¡­ ominous.</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Rightly so.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> She agreed. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Heaven¡¯s Fall is essentially the opposite of Heaven¡¯s Gate. Instead of selecting a mortal and spending points to give them qualities like apanion, you are selecting apanion and making thempletely mortal.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but blink at that. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Okay¡­ but why, though? What could possibly be the purpose of doing that? If you don¡¯t like apanion that much, you can get rid of them more easily, can¡¯t you?</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra let out a soft chuckle, her responseing a momentter. <em><span style="font-weight:400">The point is that you can customize the individual that you create as apanion, give them whatever special abilities or domains you want, and then send them to the mortal world. Rather than banishment from the Admin Room, it is more like you are creating a customized hero to send down to the world. It is useful when you need someone that fits a special role, but you don¡¯t have anyone that you can trust for that.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a slow nod at that exnation. If that was the case, it wasn¡¯tpletely useless. It would allow me to bypass the time needed to have apanion train via their incarnation. But, I didn¡¯t think that I would be using this system often, if at all.

 Chapter 1148: Blessings Upon You

    Chapter 1148: Blessings Upon You


    <span style="font-weight:400">As for the Creator¡¯s Blessing ability, I had to return to the Admin Room in order to use it. As expected, Terra was waiting for me in the living room, a small smile on her face when she saw me. ¡°I thought you¡¯d want toe and try it out. Let me guess, you want to boost Tsubaki first?¡± She asked with a small chuckle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, I was actually hoping to ask you some questions first, before I went ahead and made any big deecisions like that.¡± Terra arched a brow, gesturing for me to continue.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°First of all¡­ is there a downside to using the Creator¡¯s Blessing on someone? For instance, is there any way that it would stop their future development, such as preventing Tsubaki from bing an Origin or anything like that?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra tilted her head, thinking about how to answer that. ¡°Yes and no. It depends on what option you select. Some blessings can be designed as curses as well. For example, you could choose to ¡®bless¡¯ someone to lower their abilities, like setting their affinity with divine energy to zero. This would effectively prevent them from ever bing a deity or Origin.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod at that, thinking. ¡°But, if I were to bless someone with a domain, that wouldn¡¯t interfere?¡± I asked to be sure, and Tsubaki shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Blessings are not a part of the individual¡¯s energy makeup. In a way¡­ they are closer to anomalies, like my incarnation. They exist purely within the overarching world system, affecting specific individuals. That¡¯s actually a good way to look at it. You are able to manufacture and customize anomalies.¡± She exined with a smile, causing me to blink.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In other words, if you were to bless someone with the divine domain of life, they would have that domainpletely independent of their normal abilities. They would not technically be a god at that point, but would still have ess to the domain. Of course, if you did not also bless them with a pool of divine energy to pull from, then they would have little chance to use that blessing.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing it exined that way made me nod my head again. ¡°In that case¡­ it wouldn¡¯t be possible to use the blessing to turn someone into an Origin, because they would end up like your incarnation, unable to fully use their abilities.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That and the price would be truly obscene.¡± Terra groaned, shaking her head. ¡°The price of the blessing depends on what you are trying to bestow. So, a small boost to strength might cost points in the single digits. Making someone an Origin, and granting them the necessary energy pool to match¡­ you¡¯re looking at a cost in the millions, maybe even the tens of millions, depending on how you set them up.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...Noted.¡± With that in mind, I turned my attention to Tsubaki, thinking how I would be able to help her and the others with these blessings. ¡°What about systems? Sarah told me that I could give unique systems to people with this blessing.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yup!¡± Terra readily confirmed this information. ¡°You can give anyone a system that you either create manually, or one that exists on the market. Again, the price varies based on the system, but it is typically ten percent of the system¡¯s overall price.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, it¡¯s useful for giving someone a special magic or cultivation system to let them grow as a uique being, or if I want to give those I trust a system that has room for abuse that would prevent me from giving it to the general public.¡± I thought aloud, considering what systems would be good for something like that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was hard to think of anything that Tsubaki was trulycking in. Physically, she was the strongest of all of my supporters, given the fact that she had trained every ss with her avatars. ¡°I don¡¯t think a special system would benefit her as much as simply increasing her affinity with various energies.¡± I muttered, and Terra seemed to agree with me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Personal systems are a bit tricky to choose if you don¡¯t already have something in mind.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right.¡± I pulled up Tsubaki¡¯s profile after focusing on her, and attempted to increase her energy affinities. The four basic energies only required five hundred points each to maximize. However, when I tried to increase her affinity with divinity and the void, I was astonished at the cost. Every percent I purchased for these two energies required five thousand points. This meant that I would need to spend a million points in order to maximize these two.


    <span style="font-weight:400">To rify, this was a t affinity percentage, not an increase. If I did not purchase enough points to match her current affinity, I would actually be <em><span style="font-weight:400">lowering</em><span style="font-weight:400"> her affinity with the chosen energies. Thus, I couldn¡¯t boost her divine or void affinities in this way without an obscene price attached to it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Still, total affinity with the four basic energies was nothing to joke about. Just that alone would drastically increase her potential. ¡°As for Lifre and Dana¡­ I already know what I want for them, but I want your help figuring out how to set them up.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh?¡± Terra tilted her head, smiling slightly as her ears flicked. ¡°I¡¯m all ears, Dale.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°For Lifre, I want to give her the ability to understand all runes on an instinctive level, like my own Keeper buff. Since she likes to write, this would let her incorporate runes into her activities more easily.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Terra heard that, she nodded her head. ¡°That¡¯s rather simple. You already purchased the runic knowledge, so all you have to do is attach it to her as a blessing.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked, having not expected it to be that simple. ¡°I see¡­ the same might be true for Dana, then. With her, I wanted to give her the ability to instantly formte any geometric spell she wanted, just by focusing on the effects that she wanted.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. However, for both of these, you¡¯ll need to have ess to the knowledge. In other words¡­¡± She let her words hang off meaningfully, and I nodded my head in understanding.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If I want them to have ess to the fifth rank of magic, I¡¯ll need to purchase the fifth tier of magic knowledge for them.¡± Honestly, I didn¡¯t think that fifth-tier magic was strictly necessary for either of them. Even world creation could be done with fourth-tier spells.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, I checked how much it would cost. Like with systems, I would need to pay ten percent of the total cost, which amounted to exactly eight hundred points for a fourth-rank magic system. I gave that to each of them, while also maximizing their affinities with mana.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Do you have anything nned for Lena?¡± Terra asked curiously, leaning closer to me. I thought about that, curious what I could give to Lena. I hadn¡¯t known her as long as the others, so my impression of her was a bitckingpared to them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What could I give her that she can¡¯t already do herself?¡± I thought aloud, not wanting to simply copy the blessing that I gave Tsubaki. Everything that immediately came to mind for her was ultimately something that she could already do with her domains. However, then, I considered something. ¡°Is it possible to grant someone a theoretically bottomless reserve of energy?¡± I asked, looking at Terra.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It is.¡± She nodded. ¡°You will need to set a limit for their maximum output, though, and that will determine the price you have to pay.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head, focusing on Lena. Setting her maximum output to be at the level needed to sustain her Origin transformation was unreasonable. Not to mention, unreasonably expensive. However, she was the one among my group that received the least divine energy. Giving her ess to a bottomless reserve would resolve a lot of her problems. Though¡­ I was quickly discovering how expensive this would be with divinity.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What if I limit what she can use it for? A truly bottomless supply would let her just constantly print divine coins, after all. There¡¯s not really a need for that.¡± I looked at Terra, who smiled and nodded her head. She helped me find the options to limit the energy pool further, and limiting it to just domain abilities reduced the price by a <em><span style="font-weight:400">substantial</em><span style="font-weight:400"> margin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Like this, I was able to set a maximum output for her at a much more reasonable level for only five thousand points. ¡°Just to be clear, this won¡¯t prevent her from using bigger abilities, right?¡± I asked, and Terra confirmed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. If the ability that she¡¯s using doesn¡¯t exceed the limit that you set, it will automatically pull from this blessing, rather than her own reserves. This will let her save her reserves for other uses of divinity, whether it is generic powers or those that exceed the limit.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was what I wanted to know. With that in mind, I finalized the blessings for the four of them. Afterwards, I thanked Terra for her help, and descended back to Olympus with a smile on my face. As expected, Tsubaki was waiting for me with a curious expression, but it seemed as though Dana and Lena had also rushed over, and even Lifre had ended her stream to appear.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m going to guess that this means that you all received prompts about your new blessings?¡± I asked, and they nodded their heads.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah! What¡¯s all that about?!¡± Lifre asked, practically bouncing on her heels. ¡°Like, is this something new that you learned how to do with your Keeper stuff?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You could say that.¡± I chuckled slightly. ¡°We were upgraded a rank, and the new ability that I gained allows me to bestow blessings. Given your natural talents, I thought that these blessings would suit each of you well.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying that, I looked at Tsubaki. ¡°You likely have the most extreme change, so I want to make sure that it isn¡¯t causing you any problems.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki hesitated for a moment, thinking. ¡°I do not feel any adverse effects from this blessing, my Keeper. Instead, it feels as though the basic energies under my control simply follow my will, more than ever before. They be more tricky to control afterbining them, however, but no more than they always were.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I hadn¡¯t thought of that. So, each advanced energy would require its own affinity, like with divinity and the void. ¡°Got it. Let me know if there are any problems.¡± I said, before turning to the other three. ¡°What about you all?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre quickly shook her head, as did Lena. ¡°Nothing wrong here. Not sure how my blessing could be a bad thing.¡± Lena asked with augh, while Dana seemed a bit more focused.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is something wrong?¡± I asked, looking at her. Dana looked up at me with a curious expression.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I think that I will be able to be an Origin soon.¡± She said, causing the rest of us to fall silent. ¡°I¡¯ll do a little experimenting in my stream workshop first, but¡­ given how my blessing works, I think that I can create a spell that will cover the necessary steps for me. I just need to properly understand the process of bing an Origin first, so that I can put it into that spell.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I hadn¡¯t thought about that. World creation, again, was the epitome of fourth-tier magic, so it was naturally included in the blessing that I gave Dana. ¡°You should visit Chelsea.¡± I said with a nod, knowing that she was the one most likely to be studying that field. ¡°If anyone has answers to your questions, it will be her. Hopefully, the two of you will be able to figure something out.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana nodded her head, quickly turning to leave. Though, as she did, I couldn¡¯t help but worry. I had been a Fifth Ranked Keeper for only a day, and the blessing that I was able to give as a result of that was already leading to a substantial breakthrough in creating an Origin. I knew that Origins were a high-tier power of this rank, so it made me question how I was able to get to it so fast. Was it simply because I had the foreknowledge to prepare? Was an Origin something that was easy to gain ess to, but hard to master?


    <span style="font-weight:400">If it was thetter, then the odds were even greater that I would be facing off against Origins sooner rather thanter. They might not be incredibly advanced Origins, but they would still be able to casually destroy entire universes.

 Chapter 1149: Researchers Together, Smart

    Chapter 1149: Researchers Together, Smart


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea let out a frustrated sigh as she left her stream once again. She had taken a brief break from her Origin ascension practice in order to witness the birth of the first fully customized world with the rest of the research team. Afterwards, however, she went right back to what she was doing, not wanting to lose the insights she was gaining from each attempt.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Just as she was getting ready to reset the stream after yet again destroying the, she noticed that there was another presence in her office. A pistol appeared in her hand, and she quickly aimed it towards the presence, only to find a calmly smiling Dana watching her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea paused, before lowering the pistol. ¡°Don¡¯t startle me like that.¡± She said, the pistol disappearing. ¡°Your aura feels slightly different than usual, so I didn¡¯t recognize you at first.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana nodded her head in acknowledgement. ¡°The boss just gave me a really big blessing, and said that I shoulde meet with you to put it to proper use.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea arched her brow, looking at Dana. ¡°A blessing?¡± Dale hadn¡¯t mentioned the Creator¡¯s Blessing to Chelsea, and her advancement had halted at the fourth rank previously, so that was among the many things that she had forgotten.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Apparently, it¡¯s something he got from the rank promotion. He can give people customized blessings now. For me¡­ apparently, I can create any type of geometric spell, as long as I think about what I want it to do.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea¡¯s eyes went wide when she heard that, realizing the potential of that blessing. ¡°I see, and he asked you toe to me because¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Because, I think I can use this to create a spell for bing an Origin, as long as I know the individual steps needed.¡± As soon as Dana had said that, there was a rush of movement, Chelsea gripping her hands with her eyes shining brightly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Perfect! This is just what I need!¡± She said excitedly, while Dana blinked, tilting her head. ¡°I think that I have the process figured out, but there are just a couple of steps that I keep messing up with on the practical side of things.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying that, she pulled Dana over towards her terminal, opening up one of the files. ¡°You¡¯ll need to review the information for world creation, and the notes that I¡¯ve been taking. Once you¡¯re done with that, I¡¯ll take you into a coborative stream to practice.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana blinked, but nodded her head. She looked at the screen, threads of her energy stretching out to touch it. Then, she began scrolling through at a blinding speed, fast enough that even Chelsea wasn¡¯t able to read any of the characters flying past.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In the end, it took five minutes for Dana to absorb the information present, and she spent another thirty seconds with her eyes closed, before looking at Chelsea. ¡°It¡­ really does look like you have everything organized already. So, why do you need my help?¡± She asked, curious.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s the timing.¡± Chelsea admitted, shaking her head. She was surprised that Dana had managed to read through all of that so quickly, but decided not to focus on that right now. She probably had her own methods of doing so. ¡°After I convert my body to the Origin state, I only have ten seconds, give or take, to create the internal world. Even if I establish the energy cores in advance, ten seconds is just not enough time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°After the conversion, there is a sense of disorientation, because the energy makeup of my body changes. By the time I can focus on the cores, they don¡¯t have the time to merge and form a new world before my body copses.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana nodded her head when she heard that, seeming to understand. ¡°So, it is theoretically possible to do manually, but it requires an extremely high degree of personal energy to maintain the transformation long enough, mastery over one¡¯s own energy, and proficiency in manual world creation. If any of these three fields arecking, then a manual ascension is impossible, correct?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea let out a reluctant sigh, nodding her head in agreement. ¡°That¡¯s right. I have the energy mastery, I believe, but not enough reserves to sustain the transformation. As for world creation, I¡¯d like to say that I am among the most proficient in the world, but that¡¯s not saying much at this stage.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana smiled at that. ¡°In that case, let¡¯s head in. I¡¯ve got the spell ready for us. Though, I might need more mana in order to sustain it. Let¡¯s see¡­one and a half million units of mana should be enough.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea blinked, but nodded her head. ¡°I can pay for the Mage Heart and a spell projector. Are you sure that you¡¯ll be able to cast the spell in the first ce? Forming the spell is one thing, but the extremelyplex geometric spells should be harder to focus practically, correct?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana, however, shook her head. ¡°Part of the blessing was to give me absolute affinity with mana. If it¡¯s anything like Tsuba said, then it shouldn¡¯t be a problem.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...That blessing really is a cheat for any mage.¡± Chelsea muttered under her breath, setting up the stream and choosing for both herself and Dana to be the streamers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once inside the stream, Chelsea purchased arge device, setting it in the open space outside the facility. This device had a wide, empty tform with pirs rising at all four corners. Attached to the side of the tform was a container filled with solidified mana, and a projector faced away from the tform.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Just project the image of the spell within the tform. Make sure that it doesn¡¯t go above the scanning pirs, or else the top will be cut off.¡± Chelsea said, moving over to the controls of the device.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana gave a quick nod, stretching her hands out. This was her first time actually taking advantage of the blessing that had been given to her, so she wasn¡¯t entirely sure how it would work herself. However, she focused on the spell that she had created in her mind.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With surprisingly little effort, she had projected the image of the spell with her mana, making it hover within the tform. Normally, with a spell of thisplexity, it would need to be hundreds of meters in diameter in order for Dana to properly depict all of the smaller details. If that were the case, then it would have surely not fit within the tform that Chelsea had summoned.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, Dana had managed to create the spell with a diameter of only five meters, easily within the boundaries of the tform. With the spell so densely packed, it looked almost like a solid sphere with scattered, pointed protrusions. Only when one looked extremely closely could they see the tiny lines and patterns drawn through it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, the device that Chelsea purchased was created with the intention of being able to copy even fifth ranked spells, which are shrunken to a microscopic scale. As the scanning pirs lit up, it took only a few minutes topletely copy the spell into its memory. From there, Chelsea had to set a target point, and walked over to that very point.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Just checking.¡± Chelsea called out, making sure that she was standing in the right position. ¡°This spell you made, does it automate the entire process, or just the world creation aspect?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Just the world creation portion.¡± Dana said with a shake of her head. ¡°To handle the rest, I would need to give it specific variables based on each target¡¯s divine or fallen domain. This way, I can use the same spell for both of us, if it works for you. The spell will handle forming your energy cores into the foundations of the world, as well. All you need to do is make sure that they are separated from one another.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea nodded her head at that, smiling. ¡°In that case, as soon as you notice my body changing into a different energyposition, immediately trigger the spell.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">With the two ready, Chelsea immediately began. She had gone through the process of creating a fallen domain for herself so many times that it was practically muscle memory at this point. And then, the merging of the two domains within her body, triggering the energy shift.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Catching the transformation, Dana hit the button to activate the spell projector, and Chelsea could feel her energy leaving her control, forming an inner world within herself far more quickly than she had ever managed to do in her practice. In less than three seconds, the world was created, and she felt herself stabilizing. It felt almost¡­ anticlimactic how steady the process was.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The spell cut off, and Chelsea stood there, looking down at her body in confusion. She could feel the awe-inspiring power welling up inside of her, but she couldn¡¯t release it. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ an Origin now, right?¡± She asked, hesitantly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You should be, why?¡± Dana questioned, moving over to investigate.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°ording to the n, I should have an Origin domain rted to security. However, I am trying to exert my new power to create cameras, or locks, or even barriers, but nothing is happening. The energy won¡¯t leave my body at all.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡­ sounds like a problem.¡± Dana furrowed her brow, looking closely at Chelsea. ¡°What method did you use to set your Origin domain? There wasn¡¯t anything about that in your notes, so I thought it was just a secret.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Method?¡± Chelsea tilted her head. ¡°I assumed that the Origin domain would be something created automatically, based on the domains and saint energies used to create the Origin.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That might be the case, but it might not.¡± Dana pointed out. ¡°Given the fact that you can¡¯t exert the power of an Origin domain at the moment, it¡¯s likely that you need to define exactly what your domain is. Try using a void script and imprinting it on your Origin body to define ¡®security¡¯.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea gave a quick nod, focusing. Although her energy couldn¡¯t leave her body, she could still create void scripts, as her body itself had simr properties to the void. Thus, she created a void script for the word ¡®Security¡¯, and imbued it throughout her body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Immediately, Chelsea felt something shifting inside of her. She stretched out her hand, and a stone wall appeared in front of her. Her brows furrowed, and the wall turned into a waterfall, water sshing against the ground.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m still limited¡­ I can create natural barriers, but not advanced technology rted to security, or magical barriers.¡± She muttered, and Dana thought about it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In that case¡­ it might be an issue with your inner world. Perhaps you can only draw upon the aspects of ¡®Security¡¯ that exist within your inner world?¡± Dana suggested, but Chelsea shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That shouldn¡¯t be an issue. When you look at the Origin of Fate, she is able to exert power rted to Fate even without an inner world at all.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana offered a bitter smile at Chelsea¡¯s reasoning. ¡°Fate itself is something that exists through the void. And, I¡¯m not sure if you¡¯re aware, but she gained an immense power boost after absorbing the fate of a living world. As soon as she did that, she was able to do things that she had never achieved. What we¡¯ve seen until now might only be the most primitive usage of ¡®Fate¡¯.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea blinked at that, but nodded. ¡°I see¡­ do we have to restart the process, and design a world with new ¡®security¡¯ features, then?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Let¡¯s try to keep this how it is for now.¡± Dana said, shaking her head. ¡°If your body is able to replicate the void, then there should be ways to alter your inner world. Think of it like a void beast, how they attach to a universe in the void, and begin changing thews of a world. You need to do the same thing, creating a void script and injecting it into your world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea¡¯s eyes widened, and she nodded her head in agreement. ¡°Right. However¡­ If we do it like that, the barrier of the world will ultimately weaken while the changes are taking ce. If it is weakened too much, the world might copse. In the future, we should try to incorporate these changes into the design of the inner world from the start.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That probably has something to do with the strength of the Origin itself, you¡¯re right.¡± Dana agreed, watching as Chelsea began to focus on crafting her void script.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once Chelsea opened her eyes again, she created a barrier of translucent energy between herself and Dana. ¡°It worked.¡± She announced with a bright smile. ¡°As long as it exists somewhere within my inner world, I can make use of it if it is rted to my Origin domain.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana nodded her head, though had a surprisingly grim look on her face. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Chelsea asked, concerned.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right now, you are an incredibly vulnerable Origin. In fact, if an enemy were to invade right now, you¡¯d be more of a liability than an asset.¡± She said, making Chelsea¡¯s eyes widen.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What do you mean by that?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Your inner world is still connected to the Underworld. The spiritual core that you designed functioned simrly to the others of our realms, forming a bridge to the Underworld. If someone were to take advantage of that connection, and found your inner world, they could detonate a universe-level weapon, and it would immediately kill you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing Dana¡¯s exnation, Chelsea realized another w of their current method. ¡°In other words, we need to create a new spiritual core for Origin worlds. One that doesn¡¯t connect to any other realm.¡±

 Chapter 1150: Origin of Origins

    Chapter 1150: Origin of Origins


    <span style="font-weight:400">I had to admit, there was a clear benefit to creating a game manually, as opposed to creating it through the system. That was the fact that we were able to test it out ourselves and see if it needed to be tweaked at all before publishing it to the market. Of course, there was also the issue of stability. I heard from Ashley¡¯s team over the days following the release of Night Code that there were several bugs that needed to be fixed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">And, when you are talking about a game on a universal scale, these bugs aren¡¯t as simple as a missing texture, or rewards not being properly issued for a quest. Instead, the bugs can be anything from gravity not working properly in a certain area to a spontaneous rift in reality. Whenever a new bug came in, Ashley and her team had to scramble to fix it, and then double and triple check that the fix worked.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This process continued for roughly two weeks after the game¡¯s release, when I received a notification from Dana. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Hey, boss. Minding to watch something with an avatar? I¡¯ll have Sienna bring you over if you want.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but blink at that, curious. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Any particr reason why you specified me using an avatar?</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Well¡­ there is still the slight risk of failure, and failure would almost assuredly mean that everything within a million kilometers will be shattered beyond recognition. So, an avatar! I just thought that you¡¯d like to be there to witness the birth of your world¡¯s first true Origin.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes widened slightly at that. <em><span style="font-weight:400">You managed to crack the process?</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Oh, we cracked the process as soon as you sent me here. Chelsea had basically figured most of it out herself. We¡¯ve just spent thest couple of weeks improving on the base creation. As it stands, we think that we have a fairly decent understanding of what an Origin is and how to make one. At least, for those with only one domain. I¡¯d like to give Tsuba the chance, but we¡¯re still working on that part.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing that report, I gave a nod, closing my eyes and generating an avatar of myself. This avatar quickly left Olympus¡¯s main gate, finding Sienna standing outside with her usual stoic expression on her face. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± She said, tearing open a gate in the void for the two of us.


    <span style="font-weight:400">On the other side of the gate, I found Chelsea, ra, and Dana, as well as arge machine filled with Mage Heart crystals. I could tell that we were in the same universe as the research, but this was clearly not the same area. After all, we were currently in a binary star system, the two suns zing overhead.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hey, boss man!¡± ra grinned, waving at me. ¡°d you could make it to the show. Though, it¡¯s not really all that exciting to watch, if you ask me.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a slight chuckle at that, walking over. ¡°You and Sienna will be fine after the transition, right?¡± I asked, to which she nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Nothing bad has ever happened to the two of us in the streams, as long as we weren¡¯t inside her at the moment when she did her thing.¡± ra shrugged her shoulders. ¡°It <em><span style="font-weight:400">might</em><span style="font-weight:400"> be different in the real world, but part of the whole deal with those educational streams is that they perfectly simte the real world¡¯sws, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head, relieved that they had considered that concern. ¡°Which one of them is going first, then?¡± I looked over, and Chelsea chuckled.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I decided to let Dana go first. Of the two of us, she is the more likely one to enter into battle on a regr basis. If there is any kind of achievement bonus thates from being the first Origin, she would benefit from it more than I would.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked, nodding once again. ¡°That¡¯s a good point. I take it that means that you didn¡¯t get any achievements in the stream?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not a one!¡± raughed. ¡°We figured it was because, no matter how much it¡¯s simting the real world, it was after all a controlled environment. Moreover, it was one where nothing that we did would directly impact the real world. Now, the spell to create the Origin world ising from Dana, and she is also the one undergoing the process. By all rights, she¡¯d better receive that achievement!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but agree with that, looking over at Dana and Chelsea. ¡°We can begin whenever you are ready.¡± I said, and Chelsea smiled, giving a thumbs up at Dana, who began to focus her energies.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While Dana was undergoing the basic transformation, Chelsea began to exin something to me. ¡°We¡¯ve made quite a few discoveries, once we started working together. By default, an Origin is actually pretty weak. They can manifest natural events rted to their domain, but they can¡¯t do anything truly ¡®special¡¯.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This is because what an Origin <em><span style="font-weight:400">really</em><span style="font-weight:400"> does is manifest their domain from within their inner world. That¡¯s why the Origin of Fate was limited to prophecies, or manipting probability. Without an inner world, she could only ess the surface level of fate. But, if she had an inner world that had a special system regarding fate, she would be able to bring that into the real world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Simrly, the world that we designed for Dana is one in which darkness exists in many forms. There ares where darkness devours anything that enters its path, where shadows cane to life, or even entire sr systems made of shadow, fueled by a ck star. Customizing the inner worlds for the two of us is actually what took the most time, as we had to experiment with a few different things.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying that, Chelsea noticed something with Dana¡¯s transformation, and immediately hit the button on the machine before her. The machine red to life, firing a beam of concentrated mana at the small elf. ¡°At the same time, we were able to somewhat confirm the hierarchy of Origins. When two Origins are born with the same domain, the two inner worlds will attempt to merge.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We found this to be extremely odd, as the worlds are not actually within the void. However, as the two Origin bodies are engraved with the same domain, we believe that there is a resonance between them. Once the worlds attempt to merge, there is a very limited time to act. If nothing is done, whichever Origin has the most stable inner world will survive, devouring the inner world of the other.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">At this point, Dana had gone still, hovering in the air with her hair fluttering behind herself. ¡°Naturally, whichever Origin survives this process will be strengthened, but it is still a risk. Furthermore, we don¡¯t know how it will work when an Origin from another Keeper¡¯s realmes over with the same domain. They could either resonate immediately, or it would not kick in until after the invasion was over.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded slightly, my eyes focused on Dana. I didn¡¯t dare to use my World Sight to investigate the changes within her body, worried that the very slight imbnce of energies would cause a catastrophic failure. ¡°ording to your description so far, it doesn¡¯t seem like Origins are all that much stronger than gods, does it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea gave a wide grin when I said that, ncing over at me. ¡°From a versatility standpoint, they¡¯re not. They can¡¯t just make powers on the fly, and have to create instances of them within their inner world. This limits their options. However, as far as scale goes, their power resonates with the void itself. They can manifest their power anywhere they want. Theoretically, an Origin of Death could choose to kill anyone in any universe, so long as they were aware of who they were targeting.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes widened at that, but Chelsea chuckled. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. The Origin of Death wouldn¡¯t actually be that scary. That¡¯s because of what I said before, how an Origin needs to have instances of their domain within their world. While an Origin of Death could create a zone of instant death, they wouldn¡¯t be able to do a targeted ¡®instant death¡¯ ability, because the instance of that ability in their world would have died as soon as they created it. Granted, the zone would still be horrifying, but it¡¯s something that can be defended against.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯ve created Origin countermeasures?¡± I asked in surprise, but Chelsea shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not yet. Dana had some thoughts on that, but there is still a lot of work. What we have confirmed is that an Origin¡¯s powers are weaker when they have to pass through void defenses. If an Origin wants to do something to the world that they are currently in, they can. However, if an Origin in Deckan wanted to use its power on Fyor, it would have to force its way past Fyor¡¯s natural void defenses, as well as any defensive instations in the void. Think of it like the apocalypse invasion. So, an instant death ability zone would still cause a lot of damage, but unless it was cast from within the defenses, it would not bepletely fatal.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That, admittedly, was a relief. I had been considering Origins as truly omnipotent beings within their field. To actually understand their abilities and limitations made me far morefortable with the idea of dealing with them in the future. ¡°So, rather than being more powerful than a god, the Origin has a simr level of strength, but with a vastly wider scope.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s possible for them to be stronger, of course.¡± Chelsea corrected. ¡°Again, it all depends on what they create in their inner world. Take Dana as an example. She could create a shadow monster that can devour divinity. In order to do that, of course, she would need to have a surplus of gods within her inner world, but <em><span style="font-weight:400">if</em><span style="font-weight:400"> she managed that, then she could manifest that monster anywhere she wanted. She could create thousands of them, and ughter gods en masse. However, it <em><span style="font-weight:400">is</em><span style="font-weight:400"> safe to say that they are not truly all-powerful.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana let out a sudden gasp, a burst of ck energy radiating in a ring around her, sweeping in all directions. Seeming prepared, Chelsea activated a barrier around therge machine, blocking the wave of energy from damaging it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At the same time, I received a notification. Due to an Origin being born in my world, I received the ¡®Origin of Origins¡¯ achievement. Unfortunately, there weren¡¯t any special powers that came with this achievement, but I turned my attention back to Dana.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The small elf lookedrgely unchanged. Her eyes were pitch ck, but they quickly returned to normal with a small bit of focus. It seemed that, although that was the standard appearance for an Origin, it was able to be changed. ¡°Looks like it worked.¡± Dana said with a grin. ¡°I just got the achievement, True Origin. Like we thought, ites with a small buff to my inner world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying that, she looked at her familiars. ¡°Are you two ready?¡± She asked, and they nodded their heads. With a wave of her hand, they disappeared into ck vortexes. Before I could question it, Dana turned to me with a smile. ¡°I sent them to my inner world. It¡¯s easier for them to work there, and they won¡¯t be as necessary in a direct fight anymore.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I hesitated for a moment, before nodding my head. ¡°Is there anything else that I should know? Any downsides or anything?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana pursed her lips, thinking. ¡°There is one pretty big downside of bing an Origin. Aside from the Saint energy that you used in your ascension process, you won¡¯t be able to make any others. I can still use the basic energies, don¡¯t worry. However, when we were testing, we learned that an Origin can no longer store aposite energy within their body. So, I can externally make chakra, but I can¡¯t make an energy core for it. Likewise, I can¡¯t use World Sight anymore.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We even tried the tail method created by James. However, because it still relies on internal energy channels, it all broke down as soon as we tried it on an Origin.¡± Chelsea said with a shake of her head. ¡°The only solution that we¡¯ve been able toe up with is having apletely external energy core. As long as it¡¯s storing the energy outside of the Origin body, it still works.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s¡­ certainly arge demerit.¡± I said, my brow furrowed. ¡°Also, when you tell Tsubaki about this, make <em><span style="font-weight:400">sure</em><span style="font-weight:400"> to emphasize that you are still working on the method of promoting those with multiple domains, and that it is only impossible <em><span style="font-weight:400">at the moment.</em><span style="font-weight:400">¡± I said, causing the other two to blink.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After a moment, Dana¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Oh, yeah¡­ if it¡¯s her, she¡¯d totally find a way to shatter two of her domains if she thought that there wasn¡¯t a chance of her bing an Origin due to them. She might even go as far as to get rid of all three, and choose one domain to recultivate.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea¡¯s face went pale, clearly remembering something unpleasant, and she nodded her head repeatedly. ¡°Right, I¡¯ll make sure to stress that point if I see her.¡±

 Chapter 1151: Unexpected Benefits

    Chapter 1151: Unexpected Benefits


    <span style="font-weight:400">After helping Chelsea with her own ascension to be the Origin of Security, Dana left the area via a shadow gate. Unlike before, she did not need the tokens to travel to the void anymore. Although she could still feel some resistance from the void defenses, that resistance was no longer enough to stop her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Momentster, she appeared before the gates of Olympus. However, she did not immediately walk inside. Once she had arrived, she instead sat on the ground and crossed her legs, entering a state of meditation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although the educational stream was able to replicate thews of the world that they had performed the stream in, and even simted the void itself, there were no other universes within that stream other than those that they created themselves as part of the stream.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Because of this, there were certain things that they had only been able to guess, without any true means of verification. Dana focused, expanding her senses as the air around her seemed to briefly ripple. She recalled how the Origin of Fate had been able to find creatures across multiple universes in a matter of moments, with no information about them other than the time of their arrival.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">irvoyance on that scale, tracking multiple targets, shouldn¡¯t have been possible with a normal power.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Dana was well aware of how the scale of an Origin¡¯s power was expanded, as Chelsea had exined to Dale previously. However, that wasn¡¯t simply scale, but precision.


    <span style="font-weight:400">And soon, Dana understood just how the Origin of Fate had achieved this. As she expanded her senses, she could perceive everything that urred within the darkness. Not just nearby, or even on the locals. The further she expanded her senses, the more she could detect. Whether it was distants of Earth¡¯s universe, the Ashtanu pce, she could even see what was happening within Thelsa¡¯s shadow world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Anywhere that she thought of extending her senses, she could perceive the darkness in that area as if it were right before her eyes. She might not have been able to analyze everything at once with perfect rity, but with this, she could choose to filter what she was seeing, reducing the information flooding into her senses.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ll need to be careful with that.¡± She muttered to herself, thinking aloud. ¡°I don¡¯t want to identally look at the shadow of a void monster-¡± Dana paused, thinking, before standing up and disappearing into the shadows once again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she emerged, she was standing in front of Chelsea, who was focusing on her own inner world. Because Chelsea¡¯s Origin domain relied heavily on technology, she had to try to cultivate a civilization, and had borrowed several of the automated drones from Dana to do so. ¡°Chelsea, we have another important test that we need to do.¡± Dana spoke up, interrupting Chelsea¡¯s thoughts and causing her to open her eyes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...Is it really that important?¡± Chelsea asked, her tone somewhat annoyed. Clearly, she had been in the middle of her work.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I need you to write a void script for me.¡± Dana told her with a firm nod, causing Chelsea to blink.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I mean¡­ okay? But, why though? And, what type of script do you need?¡± She asked, brushing her legs off and standing up.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Any type of script. I want you to try to use it on me.¡± Dana spoke in a somewhat excited tone, and Chelsea only now began to understand what Dana was thinking.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You think¡­ because our bodies have the same internal energy structure as the raw void, we might be immune to memetic effects?¡± She asked, eyes going wide. If this was the case, she couldpletely understand why Dana had urgently disrupted her inner world cultivation. Being immune to memetic effects would have <em><span style="font-weight:400">massive </em><span style="font-weight:400">implications.


    <span style="font-weight:400">First of all, that would mean that Dana and Chelsea could freely hunt the memetic monsters outside of the Hypene barriers, and did not have to fear their influence. They could police areas that have been targeted by void beasts and clear them out. Also¡­ it meant that any Origins that came in the future would not be affected by the memetic scripts that had once been created to try to help weed them out.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea focused, tapping into the void and writing out a quick script in the air, which hovered in ce with ck letters. This was a very basic memetic script, one that would not linger in the target after affecting them, and was only designed to--


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You want to make me dance?¡± Dana asked, blinking as she looked at the strange writing. ¡°It¡¯s not¡­ it¡¯s not quite affecting me. It¡¯s more like, when I see it, I know what it is trying to make me do.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was both better and worse than what Chelsea expected, as it gave the Origins an understanding of any void scripts that they would be subjected to. ¡°In other words, the information is being properly absorbed by the void within your body, but it can¡¯t control you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">They had never been able to test this in the streams before, because void scripts couldn¡¯t be created in the streams that would influence another individual. They could only create the scripts within themselves, like how they created their void core. Chelsea hadn¡¯t even thought of trying to test this after the streams ended.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Let me try two more levels of void scripts, just to confirm that it¡¯s safe.¡± She said, focusing. The next script that she used was more advanced, and required half an hour for her to properly create it. The script took the form of a blood red eye that hovered in the air, staring at Dana.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana stared back at the eye, nodding her head. ¡°This one wants me to tell a secret that I¡¯ve never told anybody before.¡± She said, confirming that the script wasn¡¯t influencing her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea bit her lip at that, shattering the eye and working on the next one. She had been hesitant to try this, because thisst one was a body-altering script. These were among the most hazardous of void scripts, because they could change a creature¡¯s very essence.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This script took more than an hour toplete, with Dana waiting at the side with her eyes closed. Only when she was told that Chelsea was done did she open her eyes, seeing an angel with ten wings and six arms staring at her. It looked as if it were peering into her soul, each eye blinking at different intervals.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This one is trying to turn me into a living statue, one that petrifies anything I touch, and infect anyone that looks at me with a simr effect.¡± She said, still staring at it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea let out a relieved sigh, d that even this script had been useless against Dana. ¡°Good. Now, check your inner world. Make sure that none of these scripts caused hidden changes there.¡± She said, erasing thest script.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana nodded her head seriously, closing her eyes and sweeping her senses through her inner world. ¡°I¡¯m not seeing any changes within the inner world. Each of the script effects you wrote seem to be isted to the void around it, and¡­ yeah, I can disperse them if I want.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea was happy to hear that, as it meant that an Origin could choose to take a void script to help their world, or simply get rid of it on a whim. Still, this was an unexpected benefit to Origins.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While Chelsea was thinking about that, Dana was focused on something else. She concentrated, sending her senses into Chelsea¡¯s inner world. When she found that it seeded, her eyes widened. The rity was rather poor, far less than what she could perceive from other worlds, but she was still able to do so.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, she quickly withdrew her senses, clearing her throat. ¡°I¡¯ve made another discovery¡­ This one is rted to the future development andbat against Origins.¡± She said, causing Chelsea¡¯s gaze to abruptly shift to her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What is it?¡± She asked, unsure what Dana could have discovered in that brief moment.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...It is possible to destroy an Origin¡¯s inner world remotely.¡± Dana exined. ¡°I just did a test, and I was able to project my senses into your inner world, observing the darkness within it. This means that any Origin will be able to do simr, and can potentially use that to project their power into that inner world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea froze when she heard that, before lowering her eyes in thought. ¡°I see¡­ so, an Origin¡¯s world should be created with as many variations of their own domain as possible, but the more things they have that an opponent could target, the more vulnerable they are. At the same time, they need to maintain the stability of their world. If we eventually create an Origin with a base element like fire, water, or stone, we can try to create an inner world for them that is entirelyposed of their element.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana nodded her head, having had a simr thought. ¡°That was all that I needed to go over. I¡¯ll let you get back to work.¡± She said, before dissolving into darkness once more.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Back at Olympus, Dana now went through the gates and into the giant pce, making her way to the throne room. Inside, she could see Tsubaki standing next to the Keeper, who had long since opened his eyes. ¡°Congrattions, Dana.¡± He said with a gentle smile, and Dana nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thanks, boss. So¡­ are you able to use Origin power?¡± She asked, looking up at him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper hesitated for a moment, thinking. ¡°I don¡¯t particrly feel anything different. When I try to ess the power of the Origin of Darkness, I feel like it is there, but not at the same time. There is probably a way for me to use Origin power, but I just haven¡¯t discovered it yet.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana nodded her head at that, not pressing the issue. She had suspected that the Keeper might not be able to use the powers of an Origin by default, given that he did not have the necessary resources to do so. ¡°You can still use the divine domain of darkness, though, right?¡± She asked, and Dale nodded his head immediately.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. There are several gods of darkness that I can get the domain from. And, going by my discussion with Chelsea, the powers I use through the domain of darkness shouldn¡¯t necessarily be weaker than those you can use. It is only the scale that is lessened, which I am fine with.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana smiled at that. ¡°Very well. In that case, I will head to my workshop and begin some research. I¡¯ve got a lot that I want to experiment with, still.¡± She said, before turning to leave. However, the Keeper¡¯s voice called out to her before she could leave the throne room.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Are you still able to make avatars of yourself? I was just curious how that would work with the inner world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing the Keeper¡¯s question, Dana turned her head to look at him with a smile. ¡°That was one of the first things we experimented with. I can still create avatars like before. However, only my true body has my inner world. My avatars merely channel the power produced from my true body.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper nodded his head in understanding. ¡°I see. Thanks for humoring my question, Dana. And, again, congrattions on your advancement. I knew that it would only be a matter of time before you became an Origin.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana¡¯s smile grew wider at that, d to hear that he believed in her. Even Tsubaki nodded her head in agreement. ¡°If you put me on the spot like that, now I really have to figure this whole Origin thing out faster, that way I can give you something to actually be impressed by.¡± She said, sticking her tongue out yfully before turning and running out of the throne room.

 Chapter 1152: Bless You

    Chapter 1152: Bless You


    <span style="font-weight:400">After Dana left to return to Olympus, Chelsea spent several hours on the isted within the binary star system where she had risen to her new status as an Origin. These hours were spent rapidly elerating the time within her inner world, allowing for the drones that she acquired from Dana to replicate and build up a small empire of their own.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Or, at least, that was her n when she started. While she was able to somewhat control the flow of time within her inner world, this control was not asplete as she had hoped. Time was a tricky subject at the best of times. While she could elerate or slow it down, she was limited in doing so to a factor of one million times. This meant that every second, eleven days passed in her inner world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When first establishing a new world, the initial time eleration to get the world stabilized can go as high as one hundred billion times. Thus, while one million times eleration sounded like a lot, it was a far cry from what she wanted. In the five hours that she was present, almost six hundred years had passed within her inner world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The drones did indeed have time to spread across dozens of star systems, creating the foundation of an empire. Unfortunately, she didn¡¯t have the opportunity to enlighten a race to fill that empire. That would still take quite a while longer.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Realizing this, Chelsea clicked her tongue, focusing on letting time resume its normal flow. Having the time elerated required a lot of her focus, otherwise there was a chance that she might inadvertently destroy her inner world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea couldn¡¯t help but think back to Dana¡¯s new blessing, realizing the power that it had shown in the previous weeks. In truth, it was because of Dana that they had managed toplete the Origin research as quickly as they did.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For these two weeks, it had been Chelsea¡¯s job toe up with theories or ideas for them to test out. As soon as Chelsea had exined these ideas in enough detail to Dana, she was able to immediately create a spell to carry it out. Just one of those spells, if Chelsea had to design it herself, might have taken weeks to craft.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">That really is a cheat-like power.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> She thought to herself, teleporting back to the research facility. Although she had not found a suitable race to ce in charge of her automated empire, the machines had expanded far enough that she could pull quite a few security-rted powers from them. Thus, it was not a total loss.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yo, how¡¯d it go?¡± James asked with a grin when Chelsea returned, having been waiting for her outside of the main entrance. Visibly, she didn¡¯t look any different. ¡°You manage to get everything sorted out?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Naturally.¡± She responded, her own lips spreading into a wide grin. ¡°It¡¯ll take some time to really understand my power, but yeah¡­ Origins are a thing now.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James nodded his head at that, before looking at her with a more serious expression. ¡°How long do you think it will take before other people start trying to advance?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea paused, thinking it over. ¡°The higher level researchers from our group might have the knowledge necessary to create the proper world, if the specific requirements of that world were made clear to them. However, we don¡¯t have a good candidate among them, since at this time we only have the ability to make Origins from single-domain individuals.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If we are talking about the public, then¡­ I think it would take at least another sixty years before a basic Origin were to appear.¡± She said, before pausing again. ¡°Maybe twenty, if they use the educational streams to learn about world creation. Still, that is only a very basic Origin. To get one that has a properly specialized inner world,patible with their new domain¡­ that will be far more difficult.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">James seemed a bit relieved at that. ¡°I see¡­ are you nning on epting applications for new Origins among trusted individuals?¡± He asked, but Chelsea quickly shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Nope.¡± She answered without hesitation, surprising Chelsea as she led him back into theb. ¡°Couldn¡¯t really do it if I wanted to. At least, not one with a specialized inner world. I¡¯d need Dana back for that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Really?¡± James asked, eyes wide as he followed alongside her. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t be able to make one yourself?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I could possibly design the ¡®code¡¯ for the inner world, and its framework. However, Dana is able to take that and turn it into a spell, one that also gently maneuvers the target¡¯s energy with the lowest risk of bacsh. I looked at the spell she used, and I don¡¯t think I¡¯d be able to customize it with a different world type.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When James heard that, he nodded his head in understanding. ¡°So, the ability to create new Origins rests solely with Dana now?¡± He asked, but Chelsea hesitated, shaking her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not quite. Really, the two of us have to work together. I provide the framework, and she executes it. If they find anyone they want to make an Origin, I¡¯m sure that she¡¯lle to find us again.¡± She said, to which James seemed relieved. ¡°Anyways, how is your working?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">While Chelsea was busy working on her ascension n, James and the rest of the team were divided. Some of them were working on debugging Night Code, while others were trying to further understand the creation of new systems. Naturally, James was leading thetter group personally.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s going pretty well, I think.¡± He said with a grin. ¡°I actually wanted to let you know that we had created a new system that you might want to include in your inner world, if you can still make the modification.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea nced over at him, arching a brow. ¡°It¡¯ll take time, but I should be able to get a new system in. What¡¯s it like?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I call it a Soulbound Lock. Essentially, someone can infuse a small trace of their spirit into any form of container or closed door, and a barrier is created around the target. The user can help other people attune to the barrier, but it can only be passed by those that are attuned in this way.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea blinked, but soon shook her head. ¡°Sounds like a basic locking spell. Why would this be anything special?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It was <em><span style="font-weight:400">based</em><span style="font-weight:400"> on a locking spell.¡± James began. ¡°However, the barrier is reinforced by the system. Its durability is simr to the durability of the universal shell itself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now <em><span style="font-weight:400">that</em><span style="font-weight:400"> got Chelsea interested, making her grin. ¡°Okay, that I can get behind. You can probably pass through the barrier by imitating the spirit of the owner, but if they don¡¯t know to expect that, they won¡¯t understand the method to get through.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s what I was thinking.¡± James agreed, chuckling. ¡°I¡¯ll send the files to youter. Are there any other systems that you¡¯d like my team to try to work on?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, the vast majority of the systems designed by James and his team would never be implemented in the real world system. Ashley had taken great pains to protect the system as a whole from direct tampering, so it wouldn¡¯t be easy for them to do so if they wanted to. Instead, they would be kept as tools for research, or possible ideas to implement in new games or worlds created.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hmm¡­¡± Chelsea thought about that for a moment. ¡°If you can make a safehouse system, that would be great. Basically, a system where someone can create a door leading to an isted area outside of normal space, and the entrance disappears after they enter. Then, they can create an exit from the inside, leading to either the same location or somewhere entirely new.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">There were several reasons why this type of system wouldn¡¯t be advisable to use in the main world, but it was perfect for use as an Origin, as it would let her manifest that effect in the real world. When James heard the request, he stroked his chin. ¡°I¡¯ll pass the request on to my team. No promises on how long it¡¯ll take, but we should be able to scrap something together if we pull code from the inventory system.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">After receiving her own blessing, Lifre dived back into her live streaming. Like Dana, she had been given a total affinity for mana. Her increased aptitude for runic magic could have put her on par with Dana¡¯s geometric buff. However¡­ she did not seem to be showcasing that new talent.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was because her live stream didn¡¯t even <em><span style="font-weight:400">have</em><span style="font-weight:400"> runic magic as a system. As Lifre typically did with her new streams, she created apletely nk world, and invited her viewers to give it the systems that they wanted to see her adventure in.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Still, even without runic magic, her mana affinity yed arge role in her streams. Enough so that she had to actively <em><span style="font-weight:400">avoid</em><span style="font-weight:400"> ying a pure magic character, because she thought it would be less fun. Instead, she went the route of a magic archer.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre walked through the halls of a giant castle, bow in hand. Her eyes were focused, looking for any trace of movement. ncing off to the side, she plucked at the bowstring three times, firing three thin beams of light that struck the wall opposite to her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I bet you all wanna know what that was for, huh?¡± She teased, her voice soft so as not to alert anyone. ¡°But I¡¯m not going to tell you~. I know that if I do, you¡¯ll just donate to get around it.¡± She stuck her tongue out, before quickly ducking into the next door that she came to.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Currently, she was in the castle of an evil necromancer, one that had unleashed armies of the dead upon an entire nation. Her quest, quite simply, was to y the necromancer and bring peace to thend. ¡°I bet you¡¯re all thinking that those arrows were meant to be traps, right? That they¡¯dunch a big attack the next time a patroles through?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Or, maybe I did it to misdirect you? Maybe they don¡¯t do anything?¡± She couldn¡¯t help but grin, actually taking a moment to open the stream¡¯s chat up. There were a lot of people specting about what she was doing, and many were surprised to see that she took the time out of her ¡®mission¡¯ to interact with her viewers. ¡°Do you really want to know? Huh?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she spoke, she walked to the far wall of the room, which seemed to be an armory, and began knocking on the walls. ¡°Well, you see¡­ it wasn¡¯t a trap at all! I see you guys donating to change the patrol route and avoid that hall. I¡¯m onto you. It wasn¡¯t a trap¡­ it was just a bomb~.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she said that, she abruptly turned, firing four more arrows. Two struck the ceiling above her, and two struck the floor beneath her feet, creating a wall of force. Just in time, there was a deafening explosion from just outside the room, debris crashing against her barrier. Large chunks flew past, crashing through the wall behind her, and causing entire sections of the wall to copse.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre waited with a smile on her face, until the debris had finally stoppeding. Then, she ran over to the copsed section of the wall, seeing the scattered skeletons and death knights of the necromancer sprawled out on the ground. The necromancer himself sat on a throne of bones, looking at her in shock before rising to his feet. ¡°How <em><span style="font-weight:400">dare</em><span style="font-weight:400"> you damage my castle! I¡¯ll y the skin from your bones, and add you to my collection!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°See? No need for a trap for any patrols! I memorized the castleyout on the way in.¡± Lifre continued, lifting her bow as the undead minions began to rise from the floor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Who are you speaking to?!¡± The necromancer shouted, looking around as if expecting another ambush.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The audience, duh! Also, I don¡¯t have any bones. Slime perks, and all that. Pretty sure you can¡¯t make a slime undead, though it¡¯d be fun to try!¡± She said, charging up a bright red arrow and jumping to the side. ¡°Now, let¡¯s dance!¡±

 Chapter 1153: Once a Mimic, Always a Mimic

    Chapter 1153: Once a Mimic, Always a Mimic


    <span style="font-weight:400">The necromancer grit his teeth, his skeletal minions rushing at the pale archer. Her fingers released the red arrow, which split into dozens of smaller arrows, each piercing the skulls of the skeletal foes. However, this was not enough to destroy them, as their bodies were still moving even after losing their heads.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Did you really think that my pets were so weak?¡± The necromancerughed coldly, the bottom of his staff tapping the ground. ¡°Shatter their skulls, smash their chests, they will never stop! The dead fear nothing, and feel no pain!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Man, does this guy ever shut up?¡± Lifre asked in a yful tone, flipping over the greatsword of a death knight that shed at her from the side. ¡°I mean, I¡¯m still able to have a conversation with you guys while doing this. Oh! Someone just sent in a big donation. What¡¯s this going to be~?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Suddenly, the necromancer¡¯s face twisted in a rage at Lifre¡¯s dismissal, seeing her arrows sh out and shatter the arms of the death knight facing her in meleebat. ¡°This is enough!¡± He held both hands, focusing. For a moment, his other minions began to stiffen, Lifre jumping back and waiting.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oooh, it looks like he¡¯s about to summon a big one. He knows I could totally just shoot him while he¡¯s in his transition phase, right?¡± She asked, tempted to do just that. However, she thought that it would be more entertaining to see what he was going to do.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Soon, the walls began to shake, the windows cracking under the stress. The floor split open through the room, separating the two of them, and an eerie, red light began to emerge from within. Lifre was practically bouncing with excitement, seeing a massive, bony w rise up and grab the floor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, this is awesome! Definitely add this one to the raffle!¡± She called out to the moderators as the skeletal head of a dragon rose up. ¡°RedSky, thank you for the skeletal dragon!¡± She announced, lifting her bow and taking aim as more and more of the dragon¡¯s body emerged.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The size of the dragon was simply too much, its wings spreading to shatter the walls and ceiling by the time it was halfway out of the ground. The necromancerughed maniacally as the dragon stared down at Lifre. ¡°You fool¡­ the Skeleton Dragon is immune to magical attacks. And, so long as it is summoned, I share this immunity! Your magical arrows are useless now!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre paused, blinking. ¡°Wait, really?!¡± She asked, though she didn¡¯t sound afraid, or even disappointed. Instead, she seemed excited to learn that she wouldn¡¯t be able to simply solve this fight by relying on her magic. The reason that she had taken the time and split her focus to talk to the chat was simply because she felt that things had be too easy with her blessing, and she needed to impose small challenges on herself to keep things exciting for both herself and the viewers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing that her powerful magic was rendered useless, she fired a test arrow at the dragon to confirm that it wasn¡¯t a bluff. Sure enough, the arrow fizzled as soon as it reached the dragon¡¯s skeletal body. With that confirmed, Lifre¡¯s grin turned positively manic, and she set her bow on her back.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Because of the settings for the stream, she wasn¡¯t actually a slime here. Instead, she had a flesh and blood body, no different than that of thehrak girl that she appeared as. She couldn¡¯t turn her arms into swords, or transform into a treasure chest, or anything like that. Of course, such details sometimes slipped her mind, as that was the reality that she had be used to for centuries at this point.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Still, she took a deep breath, pressing her hands together as if in prayer. The necromancer, seeing this, let out a boisterousugh. ¡°What, are you praying to the gods? Are you hoping that they will offer you mercy?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hmm? No, I was just thanking you for the meal~.¡± She said, breaking her stance as fire wrapped around her hands. ¡°How many times will I level up from killing an enhanced skeletal dragon? I¡¯m looking forward to it!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The necromancer grit his teeth, holding his staff forward. ¡°Devour her soul! I wish to use her to create a new death knight!¡± He ordered, the dragon opening its jaws to reveal a ck ball of energy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre could feel something tugging at her soul, but she simply smiled. ¡°Sorry, but I¡¯m actually pretty good at ying around with souls.¡± She said, keeping her spirit firm. ¡°The wind as my de. The earth as my shield.¡± She muttered, stones rising up from the ground to form ayer of armor around her, while the mes on her hand extended into long sabers, fueled by the wind.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What do you expect to do with that?! You already know that we are immune to your pitiful magic!¡± The necromancer scoffed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What magic? I¡¯m not using any mana.¡± She grinned, leaping into the air, her bodyunching towards the dragon¡¯s jaw. A green light began to shine around her body as she held her hands out to either side. ¡°World¡¯s End de.¡± Lifre said, her body twisting as green lines flew out, following the swing of her ming des.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The dragon took the hit to its jaw, forced to close its mouth before its attack was finished. Lifre took advantage of this tond on its snout, her body lowered slightly. The mes on her arms had vanished, reced by an earthen glow. ¡°Mountain Shattering Palm, embody the weight of the world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">With her utterance, her right hand seemed to turn to stone, growingrger. When her palm was more than a meter long, she mmed it down on the stunned dragon¡¯s jaw, driving its body into the stone floor with a crash that shook what was left of the castle. The necromancer stumbled, falling to the floor from the shaking ground. When he saw the cracked skull of the skeletal dragon, he was in disbelief. How could a barehanded strike damage the reinforced bones of a dragon?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre¡¯s body fell towards the dragon, her hand returning to normal. ¡°Here¡¯s one that I¡¯ve always wanted to try! Wrath of mes, embodiment of wind, essence of light!¡± She called out, her arms seeming to dissolve from the elbow down, turning into swirling vortexes of wind.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Within those vortexes, a dense me erupted, condensing within the wind and seeming to be a solid beam of light. ¡°You can¡¯t be serious¡­ you made sma des in you arms?!¡± The necromancerined, but Lifre scoffed,nding once again on the dragon¡¯s head as it began to rise up.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course not. I¡¯m an archer!¡± She said, aiming her arms forward. The beams of light shot out of her arms, firing off into the head of the dragon and piercing a hole through its skull. ¡°I made arrows!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, just as with the lesser skeletons, the dragon was not deterred by the scorched holes in its skull. ¡°Hmm¡­ it seems like it¡¯ll need one really big attack to finish it off.¡± She muttered, her hands returning to normal, though they seemed to be a bit redder than normal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The dragon let out a furious roar, flying up into the sky. As it did, Lifre remained on its skull, as if her feet had been glued into ce. ¡°It¡¯d be great if I could use the Absurdity of Fate here, but this guy is immune to mana. I don¡¯t think my ki is high enough to use any of the bigger shattering hands, too. Or a full-body embodiment, for that matter.¡± She spoke calmly, even as the dragon tried to throw her off its snout by shaking its head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I mean, obviously, I could just shoot the guy¡¯s staff. That¡¯s his focus for this whole thing. He might be immune to magic, but does that extend to the weapon? I don¡¯t think it does, from the mana I could sense. But, that seems really cheap!¡± She brought her hands up, gripping her own hair in frustration as the dragon roared.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Shut up!¡± She shouted, stomping on the dragon¡¯s snout with enough ki to force its mouth closed again. As she did, a thought urred to her, and she blinked. ¡°Oh! Oh, that could work! Alright, guys! I¡¯m going to finish this by only using mana from now on!¡± She announced to her viewers, cutting off the ki holding her to the dragon¡¯s snout. Since she couldn¡¯t keep herself in ce with mana, this naturally meant that she was finally allowed to fall.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At this point, the dragon had flown several kilometers into the air, and Lifre felt the wind in her hair as she fell. ¡°The dragon and the necromancer are both immune to mana, so what better way to finish this, than to only use mana?! Thankfully, that guy brought me so high into the sky, or this wouldn¡¯t be so easy!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">She let out augh at that, her hands reaching out. She made a grabbing motion in the distance, and then flipped over onto her back, her fist clenched. When she was about to hit the ground, her body suddenly slowed, allowing her tond on her feet. Up above, the dragon was charging up another ck breath attack.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hey, necro-dude!¡± Lifre called out with a wide grin. ¡°That breath attack is mana, right? Meaning that you¡¯ll be immune to it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course. Do you think that I would put myself in danger like that?¡± The necromancer scoffed, though he did bring his staff under his robe as if to protect it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, cool! I just wanted to make sure. So¡­ what do you think I have in my hand here?¡± She asked, holding up her clenched fist.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You grabbed at the air. Stop ying your ridiculous games, and ept your fate!¡± The necromancer said, sneering at Lifre.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre, meanwhile, simplyughed. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s the thing. Fate can be really absurd. What¡¯s far away can look so small, like a distant pebble. And, with a bit of effort, you can reach out and grab it. Then, if you hold it back up¡­¡± She lifted her hand up above her, opening it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The necromancer¡¯s eyes widened as a ck dot suddenly appeared in the night sky above the dragon, rapidly growingrger. ¡°What¡­ is that¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, I think they call it the ck Peak.¡± Lifre said, though this only caused the necromancer to freeze again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The <em><span style="font-weight:400">mountain</em><span style="font-weight:400">!?¡± He asked, his voice growing louder. He hurriedly pulled his staff back out, wanting tomand the dragon to redirect its breath attack towards the mountain crashing down above it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yup! That¡¯s the one!¡± Lifre confirmed, walking over and stomping on the necromancer¡¯s foot, causing him to cry out in shock. His focus broken, he wasn¡¯t able to send themand in time, and could only watch the dragon being pressed down by the mountain, which wasing closer and closer to them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°But¡­ you¡¯ll be crushed, too!¡± He said, but Lifre simply blinked at that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh? Why would I be crushed?¡± She tilted her head, pulling out her bow. ¡°I¡¯m going to be long gone by the time itnds.¡± As she said that, she generated a white arrow, firing it into the distance. As soon as the arrownded, her body within the castle vanished. She arrived on a distant hill, just in time to see thatrge mountain crashing into the castle, the peak crumbling under the weight of the impact and causing arge dust cloud to rise in a ring around it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay, so even if the bone dragon somehow survived¡­ the necromancer totally didn¡¯t! Right?¡± She asked, tilting her head and looking at the chat. ¡°Hey, why¡¯d everyone stop talking? Oh no, is my chat broken?!¡± She asked in a panic, only for the chat to resume with a series of expletives, and asking how she managed to do all of that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh? What do you mean? You know all those techniques came from Olympus, right? Of course, I would have had time to study them. Anyone could pick it up after seeing it done a few times, right?¡± She asked, rubbing the bridge of her nose proudly. ¡°I¡¯ve been working onbining the different styles for ages! I call it the Lifre Arts!¡±

 Chapter 1154: One Layer at a Time

    Chapter 1154: One Layer at a Time


    <span style="font-weight:400">Eventually, Lifre ended her stream after collecting the reward for defeating the necromancer. Granted, the kingdom wasn¡¯t too happy about the method that she had chosen to employ, as it had permanently altered their geography. However, they had to choose between epting the results or risk angering the very person that could perform such a nonsensical stunt in the first ce. In the end, their choice was obvious.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Before leaving her stream, she made an announcement that she would return to climbing the floors of Fyor, and would resume her streaming schedule after she had finished that. There were few people as capable at climbing the floors of Fyor as Lifre, but that wasn¡¯t simply because of her strength. The special spell that was used to locate the gates was not widely spread, meaning that it could take decades, maybe even centuries for someone to locate the gate on their own, depending on abination of their luck and whatever searching skills they had at their disposal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, when Lifre closed out of her stream, she immediately ran over to meet Lena, nning to invite her along. Given that Lena was a moderator for Lifre¡¯s stream, she had already heard about the slime girl¡¯s n to advance in Fyor and was waiting for her arrival. However, there was also someone else that was waiting for them, and this one surprised Lifre slightly. ¡°Dana?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing Lifre tilt her head and look at her, Dana smiled slightly. ¡°I need to test out my new abilities in actualbat. Also, given the nature of Fyor¡¯s structure, I need to make sure that whether or not an Origin can use their powers within that world to begin with.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Uhh¡­ sure!¡± She nodded her head, happy to have another member along for the fun.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra stood before the gate on the sixty-sixth floor of Fyor, waiting for the person that she knew wasing. She was a subscriber to Lifre¡¯s stream, and had heard that she was nning to explore Fyor. Given the fact that Petra¡¯s shadow world was Fyor itself, she felt the need to join them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once Petra saw the gate rippling, forming a portal along the solid, ck wall, she took a step back to prepare herself. There was a good chance that Lifre would simply shoot off as soon as she entered, so she wanted to make sure that she was ready to intercept her if that happened.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, fortunately, Lifre walked rather casually through the portal, and Petra discovered why a momentter. When she saw two other figures walking through, Petra was momentarily confused. Though, she was able to recognize Dana immediately, with Lena being less familiar to her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh! Hey, shadow demon girl!¡± Lifre grinned, waving towards Petra. ¡°You waiting for someone?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra cleared her throat, nodding her head at that. ¡°You, actually. I was hoping to be able to join you? If I wouldn¡¯t be in the way or anything?¡± She asked, looking at the two other people apanying Lifre.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Don¡¯t see why you would!¡± Lifre shook her head, sending an invitation to their party. ¡°You might not have much of a chance to shine, though. I¡¯m nning a full blitz until¡­ let¡¯s say floor seventy-four? We¡¯ll only be stopping to pick up the level orbs, unless there¡¯s something super special about the floor.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra blinked at that, but nodded her head. ¡°Why seventy-four?¡± She asked curiously.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s when the level cap will breach six thousand!¡± Lifre announced, and Petra quickly understood. ¡°Have you already checked the location of the gate on this floor?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra nodded her head in confirmation. ¡°That¡¯s right. Though, it¡¯s a long ways away. About three light years in that direction.¡± She said, pointing off to the right.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As soon as she said that, Petra¡¯s eyes went wide, sensing a powerful darkness surging from beneath her. Before she could say anything, she noticed that their location had changed. Previously, they were in a wide meadow, but they now stood at the edge of an overgrown forest.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Guess that means that it works?¡± Lifre grinned, looking over at Dana, who nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah, it doesn¡¯t look like there¡¯s any resistance.¡± She said with a happy smile, having transported the group three light years in the direction Petra indicated. Of course, they weren¡¯t so lucky as for that to be the exact direction and distance, as both were only rough estimates.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena looked over at Dana, curious. ¡°If you can do all of that, can you directly sense the next floor?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">While Dana was contemting that question, Petra was left in shock, staring at her. She had seen Dana¡¯s overbearing darkness before, but what she just felt was nothing like that. Clearly, something had happened to Dana that caused a clear, qualitative leap in her abilities. Where she was once on par with Petra in terms of shadow maniption, it now felt as if Petra was staring at an unshakeable mountain.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sorry, but no.¡± Dana shook her head to deny Lena¡¯s question. ¡°I can sense the lower floors, or at least the one immediately below us. However, even that is only faint. The ck stoneyer between each floor is likely thicker the higher up you go, to prevent monsters from the upper levels from being able to just jump down to a lower floor.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena clicked her tongue at that. ¡°Was worth a shot. So, who wants to lead the way to the nextyer?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Immediately, the three girls turned to look at Petra, who had already confirmed her knowledge of the gate¡¯s location. The young demoness flushed slightly, but nodded her head. ¡°S-Sure. It¡¯s not that far from here.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">By synchronizing with her shadow world, she was able to easily determine her position in rtion to the portal that she had previously marked. With a burst of speed, she shot out, her body bing a blur. Of course, the other three weren¡¯t far behind her, keeping pace without any problem.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It took roughly thirty minutes for the group to reach the gate, Dana smiling slightly. ¡°Let me send an avatar through. If there is some kind of problem on the other side, I¡¯ll be the safest to investigate.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You will? I always thought that was my thing?¡± Lifre asked, confused. However, Dana didn¡¯t borate, simply creating an avatar of herself to step forward and into the nearby wall of ck stone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra carefully watched Dana¡¯s expression, wary of the elven girl being infected by some sort of memetic effect. She had heard that there were powerful memetic entities that were responsible for all of the havoc on the sixty-fifth floor, after all.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sure enough, Dana furrowed her brow a few momentster. ¡°You girls will need to give me a few more minutes. There are memetic traces all over the ce. If I let you go through right now¡­ let¡¯s see¡­ ah. You¡¯ll be turned into a living shrubbery and take root in the ground after three hours.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra¡¯s eyes widened in rm, jumping back a step. ¡°Do you have a way to stop the effect from hurting you?¡± She asked, knowing that the only way that Dana would know about this influence was if her avatar was going through it now. And, if that was the case, the mental link between them would have also transmitted the memetic influence.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, Dana simply smiled, shaking her head. ¡°I¡¯ve recently be immune to things like this. That¡¯s why I said that I should go first, because I am the one with the highest chance of survival in an unfamiliar environment.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I still really thought that was my thing!¡± Lifre called out in confusion once again, before turning to look at Dana. ¡°How long do you need to remove the memetic traces?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m seeing them all over the sixty-seventh floor.¡± Dana exined, her eyes closing. ¡°I¡¯m going to guess that other people have made it here in the past, but were killed after going through the portal. Although there wouldn¡¯t be many that can get to this gate, that¡¯s not to say that there¡¯s nobody that would have been able to. Especially on such a peaceful floor like this.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra thought about that for a moment, before nodding her head. ¡°How are you going to make the area safe, then?¡±¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s the easy part. I just need to spread a shadow over the entire floor, and devour everything that registers as a memetic influence.¡± As she said that, her avatar was doing exactly that, a massive shadow encapsting the entirety of the sixty-seventh floor. ¡°Ah, even the level orb had gotten infected¡­ I¡¯m going to destroy it, so we can grab the next one when it respawns.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After a few more minutes, Dana¡¯s eyes opened, and she walked towards the portal. ¡°Alright, it should be good now.¡± She said, leading the group through the gate.


    <span style="font-weight:400">On the other side, Petra saw a barren wastnd. There was not a single de of grass, no greenery anywhere in sight. It looked as if the topyer of soil had simply been melted away. While Petra spread her own shadow to im thisyer of Fyor, Dana quickly crafted a spell.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Both of the girls finished at roughly the same time, the spell surrounding the group with a vibrant, blue glow and teleporting them into a dark cave. Naturally, Petra recognized the other gate that was resting just ahead of them, and looked at Dana in surprise once again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The magical device containing the spell that she used to find the gates took an absurd amount of mana to activate. So much so that she had to connect it to the floor¡¯s mana spire in order to fuel the device. However, Dana had casually crafted a spell that took them straight to the gate.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana, meanwhile, seemed somewhat surprised herself. She looked down at her hands, causing Lena to question her. ¡°Is everything alright, Dana?¡± She asked, and Dana could only nod.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Y-Yes. Sorry, I just discovered something new about my abilities.¡± She said. ¡°Give me a moment. I need to report this before I can send an avatar to the next floor.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea was reading through the code of the locking system that James had sent her, making sure that she understood it well enough to implement it within her world as a void script. As she did so, she received a sudden message from Dana. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea, I have something new to report.</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Do you need to meet?</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Chelsea suddenly stood up, getting ready to leave theb and go to wherever Dana specified. If Dana was reporting something with this timing, it had to be rted to their new powers as Origins.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">No, that¡¯s not necessary. Just, listen for a moment. I¡¯m on an exploration with some others from Olympus, as well as a friend. After using a high-tier spell, I noticed that my mana didn¡¯t deplete from the spell¡¯s usage.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea¡¯s eyes widened at that, understanding the implications. <em><span style="font-weight:400">In other words¡­ it¡¯s not just your Origin power that is being supplied by your inner world, but all of your basic energies?</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s right. I don¡¯t know if there¡¯s a limit to this, so I wanted to report it to you, just in case.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea quickly nodded, agreeing with Dana¡¯s opinion. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Don¡¯t push your mana beyond what you can normally do. Most likely, your mana is directly tied to the mana core of your inner world. If you use too much at once, you could destabilize your inner world, and perhaps even cause it to copse.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">That said, Chelsea would need to run tests of her own. They had to determine the rate that the output that the inner world was able to sustain, and if there were any damages from prolonged usage. For that reason, Chelsea immediately prepared to set up an educational stream, the only way that she could be sure to perform her tests in a safe environment.

 Chapter 1155: Super Sized

    Chapter 1155: Super Sized


    <span style="font-weight:400">One floor after another, Dana led the way for the rest of her group. With each floor, they would stop long enough to let Petra spread her shadow, grab the local level orb, and then move on. Like this, they were able to clear eight floors, and made their way into the seventy-fifth floor in under two hours. They had decided to add an extra floor to their list, given that they weren¡¯t able to get the level orb that had been infected with the memetic powers of the sixty-seventh floor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, there were downsides that came with how quickly they were advancing. The most notable was the fact that they were unable to confirm any special qualities of these floors for the immediate moment, unless said quality was extremely apparent. For instance, the seventieth floor vaguely resembled the sixtieth in the fact that there were ck stone walls scattered all over the ce.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, unlike the maze of the sixtieth floor, the seventieth floor¡¯s walls were disconnected from one another, more resembling giant tombstones jutting from the ground. Each of these walls led to an isted space, and Dana had to create a new spell specifically to identify which of the many walls would lead to the nextyer.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When they arrived at the seventy-fifth floor, Lifre was practically bouncing on her heels, eager to get some excitement. ¡°Did you do all the tests you wanted, Dana?¡± She asked, looking forward to having a turn to ¡®y¡¯ herself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana nodded her head with a small smile. ¡°I did, thanks. After all of this¡­ I can say that an Origin is both stronger and weaker than we had assumed previously. I¡¯ll be making a full report to the boss after I get back. Do you need me to stay to give you a ride?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, I¡¯m good! I¡¯m still technically a priestess of Aurivy, so I can make a portal to send us back whenever I want.¡± Though, not to mention being a priestess, she was also a subordinate goddess, and could ess Aurivy¡¯s domains for herself if she really wanted.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana nodded her head once again, turning to look at Lena and Petra. ¡°What about the two of you? Do you want me to take you back with me, or are you going to stay here?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra looked around for a moment as she thought. It was currently night-time within the seventy-fifth floor of Fyor, but she could easily make out the towering mountains in the distance. ¡°I think that I will remain, too.¡± She said with a nod, Lena quickly giving the same answer.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a shrug of her shoulders, Dana¡¯s body seemed to dissolve into darkness, leaving the trio alone. ¡°So¡­ what is she?¡± Petra couldn¡¯t help but ask after Dana had left. ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of an Origin before¡­ is that something special to the Keeper¡¯s servants?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not really.¡± Lena answered as Lifre began to lead the way, walking along the barren rock. ¡°It¡¯s a level of power that is supposedly above gods and the fallen. I don¡¯t know the specifics, though. I¡¯m still pretty new. All I know is that the Goddess Terra can temporarily turn into one, and that it consumes an astronomical amount of energy.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre¡¯s head spun around to face Petra as she continued walking, grinning broadly. ¡°I don¡¯t really know, either! Dale¡¯s been really hyped about this ever since Terra awakened the ability, though! Oh, but I do know that you won¡¯t be able to be the Origin of Darkness. Apparently, Origins are actually unique! Even if you¡¯re in another universe, you can¡¯t be the same Origin as somebody else.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra¡¯s eyes widened at that, but she nodded her head. If Origins were truly unique, and Darkness had already been taken, then it was as good as the possibility for her to be one not existing at all. ¡°So, where are we going?¡± She asked curiously, not sure if Lifre had any set destination in mind.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°On an adventure!¡± Lifre¡¯s head spun back to face the front, her fist pumping into the air. ¡°Let¡¯s start by going to that mountain, and see if there are any local bosses for us to beat up!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena gave a bitter smile at that suggestion, looking at the distant mountain. ¡°Given the size of thisyer, and the visible distance of the mountain, that should be about a light month away, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre couldn¡¯t help but blink, letting out augh. ¡°Wow! How crazy is it when we have to measure things within the same world in terms of ¡®light distance¡¯, as if it¡¯s just a casual thing?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, Petra had a different question on her mind. ¡°If that mountain really is so far away, isn¡¯t it weird?¡± She asked, causing the others to turn to face her. ¡°I mean, well, think about it. Even if the atmosphere is thin here, that mountain should bepletely invisible to us at that distance, looking as if it were behind a dense cloud. Also, I don¡¯t see any waves of light in between us and the mountain.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°At that distance, there should be dozens of day cycles before we get there, but I don¡¯t see anything. Isn¡¯t that weird?¡± She asked, and the two looked forward again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Now that you mention it, I guess that¡¯s right. I hadn¡¯t thought about it because I haven¡¯t been here in a while, but that is kinda strange.¡± Lifre said, Lena nodding in agreement.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Want to go take a closer look?¡± She asked, but Petra¡¯s face suddenly went pale. When she didn¡¯t answer, Lena looked back at her in confusion. ¡°Is everything okay?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Uhm¡­ maybe? No, no, definitely not.¡± She shook her head, looking up. The sky was pitch ck, with not a star to be seen. However, she couldn¡¯t help but think about the words that Thelsa had just sent her.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">There¡¯s no mountain in that direction. Also, you are currently in the day cycle, ording to the shadow world.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There had never been an instance where the shadow world and the main world had different day and night cycles. However, there was one thing that would potentially cause this difference. ¡°Okay, so, I need you guys not to panic at what I¡¯m about to say.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You have my attention.¡± Lifre spun around to face Petra, somehow more excited than ever, while Lena looked slightly concerned.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well¡­ that¡¯s not a mountain over there. My guess is¡­ it¡¯s a foot. Or a hoof. Also¡­ it¡¯s not night time here¡­ we¡¯re in a shadow.¡± Creatures did not get copied over the same way as physicalndmarks when Petra spread her shadow, so it was only natural that she didn¡¯t see this right away.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Wait, but that would mean that¡­ whatever it is, its body is¡­ at least a ¡®light month¡¯ long?¡± She pointed out, while Lifre¡¯s grin grew sorge that her lips spread past her face.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I wanna punch it! Oh, please, can I punch it?!¡± She asked, looking at the two of them. If Petra was right, that would make this creature along the same scale as thergest beast from the previous invasion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I don¡¯t think punching it would do anything.¡± Lena pointed out. ¡°How about we teleport up to the ceiling of thisyer, so we can get a good view of it from above?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra nodded her head, and Lifre created a portal with a snap of her fingers. The trio walked through, looking down at the massive, crawling creature. Its body was toorge to fully observe, and it only barely seemed to be moving from their perspective.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This creature had a giant, ck-furred hide, crawling on countless legs. Additionally, it was not alone. Though faint, they could barely make out the silhouette of another creature with a simr body structure walking alongside the first. Lena focused, her eyes pulsing with golden light. ¡°I can sense¡­ there are just under five hundred of these creatures in thisyer. They are all either traveling alone or in very small family groups.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Those things <em><span style="font-weight:400">have</em><span style="font-weight:400"> to be the apex predators of thisyer, right?¡± Lifre asked, beaming with excitement. However, Lena shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Actually, they seem to be herbivores¡­¡± She pointed out, causing Lifre¡¯s jaw to quite literally begin dropping from her face.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What nt could they possibly eat at <em><span style="font-weight:400">that</em><span style="font-weight:400"> size?!¡± She asked, and Lena held a hand out, projecting an image in front of them. The image showed arge tree, as well as the figure of one of these crawling monsters walking up to it and leaning up to eat its leaves. ¡°There¡­ there is a tree that is bigger than them? No, since they¡¯re spread out, there are <em><span style="font-weight:400">multiple</em><span style="font-weight:400"> trees that big? You could fit entire sr systems in those branches, and you¡¯re telling me that they just grow here naturally?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Lena nodded her head. ¡°Also¡­¡± She snapped her fingers, and the projection began to zoom in on the tree, again and again, magnifying closer by the moment. Soon, the other two were able to see a small hole in the side of the tree, two slender figures watching the giant monster enjoy its meal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Are those Sylvans?¡± Petra asked in surprise, noticing the distinctly floral theme of the two individuals, with green skin and foliage clothing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°They look simr, but no.¡± Lena rejected that idea immediately. ¡°ording to my scan, these are purely energy beings. They seem to have more inmon with world spirits than anything else, though they also have faint traces of ki and mana.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre pouted slightly, looking at the projection. ¡°Okay, but if those things aren¡¯t the apex predator, what am I going to punch?! I came all the way here, I wanna punch something!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena gave a knowing chuckle, shaking her head. ¡°I¡¯m not picking up any kind of predator. At least, not one at that scale. There are more insidious creatures that prey on the fruits of the tree, but the giant monsters seem to scare them off with their presence.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So there <em><span style="font-weight:400">is</em><span style="font-weight:400"> something there!¡± Lifre beamed, before diving towards the projection. Lena froze, not sure what she intended to do, before seeing Lifre essentially enter the projection itself, disappearing from the space around them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...What did she just do? And how?¡± Petra asked, and it took a few moments for Lena to process it as well, watching Lifre charging at the nt-like people to try to talk to them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...Absurdity of Fate? If she viewed the projection as a gate, maybe she was able to teleport through it? My brain hurts.¡± As she said that, Lena sighed, opening a new portal for the two of them to enter.


    <span style="font-weight:400">On the other side of the portal, Lifre was happily waving at the surprised guards, her voice resonating with natural energy. ¡°Ie in peace! Show me where the bad monsters are, so I can punch them! Also, I really like your tree!¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia was just getting ready to start her first live stream, following Aurivy¡¯s advice. It had been so long since she had done anything like this, but she was excited to give it a try again. However, as she had finished setting up her streamer ount, she heard Aurivy suddenly burst out inughter from the other room.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Curious, Julia went to investigate, finding Aurivy leaning back on the couch and holding her sides. ¡°You okay, Rivy?¡± She asked, and Aurivy simply keptughing for a moment, before wiping her face.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, yeah, I¡¯m great, Jules. I was just taking a look at what Lifre was up to¡­ Side note, I found the <em><span style="font-weight:400">biggest</em><span style="font-weight:400"> tree ever. Totally going to take you thereter, for inspiration on your divine abilities, by the way. I¡¯m talking <em><span style="font-weight:400">massive</em><span style="font-weight:400">. You could fit the Earth a hundred times over on a single leaf.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia couldn¡¯t help but blink at that. ¡°There¡¯s no way that a tree thatrge would be able to support its own weight, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Aurivy heard that, she simply grinned. ¡°There are stranger things in heaven and earth¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯re using old world references again, Rivy!¡± Julia said with a faint pout.

 Chapter 1156: The Great Wood

    Chapter 1156: The Great Wood


    <span style="font-weight:400">Back in Fyor, Lifre was flying towards the small opening in the tree, still waving her hands. If she were to be far enough back to view the tree in its entirety, this hole would bepletely unnoticeable. As it was now, she didn¡¯t feel like she was looking at a tree, but rather a massive, t wall of bark.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What are you?¡± One of the watching nt-people called out, a green spear forming in her hands as she used the same method of conversing via natural energy. Clearly, she was wary of the little pale girl flying over.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Don¡¯t be afraid of me! I¡¯m not a bad slime!¡± She said, deciding to shift her body into a gtinous white blob to demonstrate, before turning back to normal. ¡°So, where are the things that I can punch!?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two were still stunned, with Lena and Petra appearing behind Lifre a momentter. Lena let out a small sigh, tranting. She spoke in a strangenguage, using her divinity to ensure that Lifre and Petra could understand. ¡°I¡¯m sorry about my friend. She¡¯s looking to take part in a battle against those that gue your wood. I assure you that we mean no harm.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing Lena speak in a familiarnguage, the two guards rxed slightly, speaking more calmly. ¡°Where are you from, strangers? And how do you know our tongue?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena flew closer with the others, smiling. ¡°We hail from and far away, where the woods do not grow as they do here, and the crawlers do not roam. Our party travels in search of adventure, with the loud, pale one as our leader.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Loud? Pale?¡± Lifre asked, aghast at the description of herself, before nodding her head. ¡°Okay, fair.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two guards nodded their heads, one looking at the other before retreating into the hole in the wood. The other guard moved to the center of the hole, as if to block them from entering. ¡°My partner must go and confer with the others.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena nodded her head in understanding, a gentle smile on her face. ¡°Of course. May I take a moment to exin things to my friends? One of my abilities allows me to gain information from my surroundings, which is how I speak yournguage.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The guard perked a brow, but nodded her head as Lena turned to face Lifre and Petra. Perhaps it was to be polite, but she continued to talk in thenguage of the tree spirits. ¡°Right now, we are dealing with the inhabitants of the outer ring. They are the strongest breed of the tree¡¯s inhabitants, as they fight to protect it from the monsters outside.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The one who just left is on her way to speak with an elder in the heartwood, the inner core of the tree. If she were to travel normally, we would be waiting for years for her return. However, the ck walls within the tree allow for quick transportation to other areas of the tree. She should be back in only a few moments. Isn¡¯t that right, my friend?¡± Lena asked, looking at the guard, who nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oooh, so there are ck stone walls in the tree? Wait, did the tree just grow around those in the first ce? Is the gate to the next floor in one of these trees?¡± Lifre asked in excitement, while Petra furrowed her brow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Wait¡­ how can they use the ck walls? Even if they¡¯re not the gate leading to the next floor, only one of the approved races should be able to use them, right?¡± Petra asked in concern, being <em><span style="font-weight:400">far</em><span style="font-weight:400"> more familiar with how things worked in Fyor. Lifre blinked as she realized that the demon girl had a valid point, looking to Lena for an answer.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s because these <em><span style="font-weight:400">aren¡¯t</em><span style="font-weight:400"> the same ck stone walls.The ck walls within the tree are artificially created from materials harvested beneath the roots of the tree. They have techniques to break the connection between the stone and its original partner, and then connect it to a new target. That¡¯s how they created their gates.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The guard seemed impressed by Lena¡¯s exnation. ¡°You truly do know much of our ways, stranger. Could it be that you are from another wood, simr to ours?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena thought about how to exin it for a moment, before smiling. ¡°No, I am not of the wood. The power I hold is simr to the one you call Heart Father. His power is that of Wood, and mine is of another theme.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The guard¡¯s eyes widened, but so did Lifre¡¯s. ¡°Wait, they even have a god here?¡± She asked, and Lena nodded her head in confirmation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. Actually, they have seven, but only one of them is seen as the true central figure of the tree.¡± She exined.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra couldn¡¯t help but blink. ¡°This is the first time that we¡¯ve seen naturally urring gods since the thirty-ninth floor.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Gods¡­ is that the term you use for the Awakened?¡± The guard asked curiously, and Lena nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. We do not live among the woods as you do, but rather on thends below in a ce far away. There, gods are as numerous as the leaves of the great tree. It is even possible for one to ¡®awaken¡¯ multiple times. I myself have reached the limit of such awakenings, having done so nine times. Likewise, both of mypanions have experienced at least one awakening of their own.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The guard¡¯s eyes went wide when she heard this, shock evident on her face. Momentster, when the other guard was seen returning with a more muscr male, wearing brown wooden armor, the first guard pulled them both aside to whisper.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The expressions of the two neers changed drastically as the guard whispered to them, though Lena did not tell either Lifre or Petra what was being said. Instead, they just waited, the male figure floating out of the tree after the guard was done talking. He cupped his hands together and bowed to the trio.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°My apologies for making such esteemed figures wait for my presence. My name is Estyle, Branch Guardian of the great wood. How may I be of service to you?¡± He asked. Lifre was just about to speak up when Lena immediately ced a hand over her mouth.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°My friend herees seeking adventure from a foreignnd. When I spoke of those which ail your tree, she wanted nothing more than tobat them in the hopes of driving them away. We do not wish to cause harm to your wood, nor change your way of life. If you wish, we may establish a friendly connection with one another, and more of our kind may appear in the future, but it is not our goal to harm you in any way.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°More of your kind?¡± Estyle asked curiously. ¡°The awakened as numerous as the great leaves?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre chuckled, her voice muffled by Lena¡¯s hand, while thetter nodded her head. ¡°The gods, yes, but also more. There are those among our kind who possess simr levels of power without being gods themselves. As you have introduced yourself, I shall do the same. My name is Lena, and I am the servant of one we call Keeper, the creator of all. My pale friend here is Lifre, also a servant to the Keeper, and the girl of red skin is named Petra, one we call friend.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Estyle nodded his head at that. ¡°I see. If I may guide you to the canopy, esteemed ones, I would show you the enemy that we face, and see how you would drive them out.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena gestured for him to lead the way, finally removing her hand from Lifre¡¯s mouth. The slime let out an exaggerated breath, rolling her eyes at Lena. ¡°It¡¯s not like everything goes wrong when I speak!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, but you aren¡¯t really delicate when talking to new people.¡± Lena said, sticking her tongue out yfully as Estyle turned, leading them into the hole of the tree. Inside, they saw a t road, lit by glowing veins that ran along the walls.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Just to let you know¡­¡± Estyle said, looking back at Lifre and the others. ¡°The crawler is feeding right now, so the hive beasts are remaining dormant for the time being.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah, about that!¡± Lifre spoke up suddenly. ¡°If the ¡®crawlers¡¯ only eat nt stuff, why are the other monsters so scared of them?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Estyle blinked for a moment, as if he thought the answer was obvious. ¡°If a small creature were to try and disrupt your meal, you would swat it, would you not? It is the same with the crawlers. Should the hive beasts emerge and disturb them as they are eating, the crawler will smash its nest.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ohhh.¡± Lifre nodded in understanding. ¡°And these hive beasts, do they also eat the leaves of the tree, or¡­¡± Her words trailed off, eyes widening when she saw a faint look of pain on Estyle¡¯s face. ¡°No¡­ don¡¯t tell me they eat you guys?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The hive beasts eat as they will. If we do not regrly fight them off, they will break into the wood to find their prey. Thus, it is the work of Branch Guardians like myself to take a stand against them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing Estyle¡¯s exnation, Petra smiled. ¡°You must be really strong, if you have such a heavy responsibility. It¡¯s one thing to be chosen for the job, but being able to survive it shows that you have the strength to deserve it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Estyle seemed to enjoy thepliment, his back going a bit straighter. ¡°Thank you for your kind words, esteemed Petra. However, I am but one of many. Every branch is defended by countless guardians.¡± As he said that, they arrived at a wall of solid, ck stone. Estyle ced his hand against it, energy rippling from his palm.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I will hold the gate open, until the three of you are on the other side. You will be able to see for yourself the branch I defend.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre was the first to walk through, followed by Petra, and finally Lena. On the other side, it looked as if they had entered an entirely new world. The ground stretched as far as they could see, covered in alternating patches of green and brown. ¡°Grass? No, this is moss, right?¡± Lifre asked, to which Lena nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Up above, they could see a densework of branches spreading millions of kilometers above them, as well as massive leaves that nearly blocked out the light above. However, Lifre could also see the ¡®hives¡¯, brown structures the size of giants, hanging from the nearby branches.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The branch trembled as a massive, pink wall rose up beside the branch, wrapping around a leaf and pulling it back down. Lifre¡¯s body froze at the realization that that was just the tongue of the crawler below. ¡°Holy Keeper that puts things in perspective!¡± She uttered, looking at the hive again. After a moment of observation, she could see a few of the hive beasts emerging, and they looked different from what she had imagined.


    <span style="font-weight:400">These were not creatures such as wasps or hos. Rather, they resembled ck squids with hardened bodies, flying through the air by releasing bursts of energy behind them. Each of their tentacles had a thick stinger that glinted in the light. Their entire body was only about ten meters long, and two meters thick. ¡°Wait, is that it?¡± She asked, as if disappointed in the enemy that she hade so far to fight.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Estyle shook his head, following her gaze. ¡°That is one of the hive beasts. However, when they swarm, they form a dense, ck cloud of death. Individually, I could fight them for hours without growing tired. Yet, when I face ten, a hundred, or even a thousand on my own, I can only pray that the wood protects me.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra couldn¡¯t help but gasp at that, looking around. ¡°And every branch faces this plight? How many hives are there?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°None have lived to count them all.¡± Estyle informed her. ¡°Should a hive be destroyed, those from other hives will rebuild it, while their attacks will be more and more dangerous to replenish their numbers.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre grimaced, realizing that this was a more challenging trial than she had expected. Of course, that only made her expression form into a grin a few momentster, excitement building within her.

 Chapter 1157: A New Way to Fight

    Chapter 1157: A New Way to Fight


    <span style="font-weight:400">Estyle watched as the foreign Awakened stood atop the branch, gazing at the distant hives. He was well aware that thebat power of a single Awakened could rival an entire branch army, if properly utilized, but he wasn¡¯t sure if the same held true for these foreigners. This was the first time they had heard of anyone who grew from the grasses, as opposed to the woods.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, Estyle and his kin were aware of the other woods, though there were not many methods of traversing such long distances to meet them. In order to travel from wood to wood, one must ride the crawler when they appear, and wait to see where they journey to next. If unlucky, they may simply return to the same wood from which they left, or they may end up elsewhere. Either way, it would typically take an entire year before they stopped to eat again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This led tomunication between the woods being extremely sparse. Every few decades, there would be travelersing who had left their original woods for one reason or another, but that was all there was to it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hmm¡­¡± The pale foreigner, Lifre, spoke up after analyzing the situation. ¡°I can probably deal with your pest problem, I think! Though, before I do, I gotta ask a super important question!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Estyle blinked at that, unsure what she could be wanting to ask. ¡°Of course, esteemed Lifre. What is it that you would like to know?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It won¡¯t cause any kind of ecological disaster if I kill those tentacle bugs, will it?¡± Lifre asked, tilting her head. Seeing that Estyle wasn¡¯t sure how to respond, Lena stepped in to rify.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What she means is, do the hive beasts contribute in any way to the growth or protection of the wood? If she were to eliminate them in their entirety, would there be any long term problems for all of you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ah, I see.¡± Estyle nodded his head, d that at least one of the foreigners was able to talk like a normal person. ¡°To answer your question, no. The hive beasts are a gue on the branches, and those that live within them. To my knowledge, we have never observed these beasts performing any beneficial service to the woods.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Sweet!¡± Lifre beamed happily. ¡°In that case, give me like an hour to get things ready, and I¡¯ll be back.¡± She began, before pausing. ¡°How long do the big guys below usually feed at a time, by the way? Don¡¯t want to take too long and have them get all active again.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You need not worry. Each crawler only feeds once a year, but will feast for between one and three days at a time. This crawler only arrived this morning, so it will still be here for quite some time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre grinned, nodding her head. She reached her arm out, and seemed to let it sink into empty space, her hand briefly disappearing. When she pulled it back, she was holding a wooden chair, which she set down, and then did the same to produce a table.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Estyle froze, unsure of how she had done this, or what she was nning to do to prepare. He had assumed that she would feast to stock up on energy, or do somest minute training to warm up. However, she then pulled out a book and pen, and began writing in some strangenguage.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The other two that were with her, Petra and Lena, did not seem at all as surprised by Lifre¡¯s actions as Estyle himself. ¡°What is she doing?¡± He couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra looked over, blinking. ¡°Ah, right, you wouldn¡¯t know about runes. You¡¯re familiar with mana, right?¡± She asked, projecting a stream of visible, blue mana above her finger. When Estyle nodded his head, she continued. ¡°There is a mysticalnguage in this world that harnesses mana to create fantastic effects. I¡¯m guessing that she¡¯s writing up a spell now.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena agreed, adding on. ¡°That¡¯s right. She¡¯s recently be a lot better with it. Though, for her to need an hour to finish the spell, I¡¯m going to guess it¡¯s a pretty difficult one.¡± Her words seemed to slow down near the end, as if realizing something.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Is something the matter, esteemed Lena?¡± Estyle asked in concern, and Lena quickly shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, no, I¡¯m just bracing myself. Petra¡­ you¡¯ll probably want to get the others involved here. This is Lifre we¡¯re talking about. That¡¯s not a simple extermination spell.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Petra heard that, her eyes widened a fraction, and she nodded her head. Her eyes quickly closed, her shadow spreading out beneath her. A momentter, three new figures emerged, all with the same ck hair as Petra herself. Estyle could only assume that these were more Awakened from their originalnd.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra quickly turned to face the three, speaking in anguage that Estyle couldn¡¯t understand. At first, they looked confused, ncing between Estyle and Lifre, before their expressions seemed to harden with a nod.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Still unsure of what was going on, Estyle patiently waited for Lifre to finish, watching as she wrote page after page of those strange, mystical characters. Eventually, Lifre closed the book and stood up with a shout. ¡°Done!¡± She said, turning to face everyone. ¡°Huh? Oh! More people! That¡¯ll make this even better!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s what I was afraid of.¡± Lena said with a wry smile. ¡°So, what type of spell did you create?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s a battle game!¡± Lifre began in a proud tone. ¡°Once the spell is activated, people can choose to participate in the battle game, with the range being the entire area beneath the tree! The game¡¯s all about who can kill the most hive beasts, and it will prevent any coteral damage to the tree itself.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, also, if any yer is on the verge of death, they¡¯ll be teleported back to the start of the game with a full heal. They can resume the game, but their score will have to start over if they do.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Their score¡­?¡± Lena arched a brow. ¡°Does that mean that there is a prize for having a higher score?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yup!¡± Lifre seemed all too happy to exin the rules of the game, so Estyle listened attentavely. ¡°I wanted to make this something that the locals could do after we left, in case those things ever came back. See, whenever a hive beast is killed, their basic energies are harvested and added to a growing pool. That pool is then used to reward the top fifty yers! They can get special treasures that boost their physical abilities, new techniques, or even cool weapons based on their scores.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Fifty¡­¡± Estyle looked around for a moment. ¡°Even if you include the three who just arrived, there are only six of you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, duh. I said that this was something that you could do even if we¡¯re not here.¡± Lifre grinned. ¡°If you wanna summon some of your friends to y, feel free! Like I said, this is a pretty safe game, and every branch can participate! Whether it¡¯s the big crawler or the little pests, they won¡¯t be able to kill anyone as long as the game is going.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°How long does the gamest?¡± One of the new foreigners asked curiously.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, I didn¡¯t know how good their mana supply is, so I made this work with ambient mana. In other words, it willst for ten hours! Also, this spell takes a lot of ambient mana, so the mana in the area will take about a week to replenish enough to cast it again, if my math is right.¡± As she said that, she walked over to Estyle, holding the book out for him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You want to give this¡­ to me?¡± He asked in confusion, and she nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah! I made this to work for you guys, after all! Just inject some of your mana into the cover of the book, and the spell will activate. It will broadcast the rules of the game to everyone near the exterior of the tree, and give them the chance to participate.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Honestly, Estyle wasn¡¯t sure what to make of this. Like everything else that had happened since their arrival, he was struggling to wrap his head around what was going on. It was only after he had injected his mana into the book that the thought of this being some secret weapon against his people sprang to his mind.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, that was quickly proven to not be the case. Bursts of blue light radiated from the pages of the book, shooting out to wrap around the tree. As Lifre had exined, the rules of the game began to appear in the minds of Estyle and the others near the exterior. They could choose to join the game by stretching their hand forward and saying the word ¡®participate¡¯.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre was the first to do so, eagerly stretching her hand out. ¡°Participate!¡± She shouted, with Lena and the others following suit. Estyle did not participate in this game, not because he feared it was a trap, but because he still had his duty to monitor these strange Awakened ones.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Five minutes after the spell activated, arge screen appeared near the base of the branch, disying the names of everyone that had chosen to participate in the game. There were hundreds of thousands of names listed, all currently showing a score of zero.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Without waiting any longer, Lifre jumped from the tree, holding her hands above her head. ¡°Wrath of mes!¡± She shouted, and a massive me sparked to life above her hands, looking like an almost solid sphere. ¡°Sever space, connect the world!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The fireball disappeared, and Estyle could sense one of the distant hives erupting. Lifre¡¯s score shot up, immediately reaching over eight billion points. At the same time, Lena and the others took action. Lena smiled, her body growing taller. The purple at the tips of her hair faded to gold, her hair growing longer and eyes turning jade green.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It seems the harvest season is here.¡± She said in a silky voice, stretching her hand out. Estyle couldn¡¯t sense what happened, but Lena¡¯s score abruptly began to skyrocket as well.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Don¡¯t leave us out of this!¡± Petra shouted, suddenly holding a giant axe. However, unlike the previous two, she flew out with her friends, their bodies wrapping in shadows and turning into blurred streaks to head for the nearest hives.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯re not going to get many points if you go the slow poke route!¡± Lifre teased,ughing happily. Her voice seemed to deepen, echoing itself as she spoke in a strange tongue.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nine fireballs, simr to the first, grew in a circle above her head, slowly rotating. As they grew, the heat within began to spread, with even Estyle himself feeling as if he had stepped directly into a roaring fire. Back on the screen, Lifre¡¯s score began to lower, and she looked back with wide eyes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, right! Sorry!¡± She apologized abruptly, and the nine fireballs flickered away, her score shooting up once more. ¡°The power to prevent coteral damage is taken from the pool of energy that the spell umtes, so it lowers the score of the one who would have caused the damage! Heheh, got a little carried away.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Estyle¡¯s eye twitched when he heard that, looking back. At the moment, Lena was in the lead, with Lifre close behind her. The next four were Petra, and who he assumed were Petra¡¯s friends with somewhat more normal scores. Each of them were only in the tens of thousands, after all. Meanwhile, the residents of the wood were only just starting to break past the double digits, having taken some time to actually reach the hives where the beasts were residing.

 Chapter 1158: Rewards and Gifts

    Chapter 1158: Rewards and Gifts


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unlike Lifre, Lena was well aware of why the locals were unable to gain high scores. After all, she had memorized the information of this society already. The first problem was the travel speed, which she had briefly mentioned previously.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The locals, who called themselves Woodborn, were capable of exceeding the speed of light, but only by roughly a hundred times when moving in a straight line. Compared to Lifre, who could use the Absurdity of Fate to transfer her attacks instantly to anything within her sensory range, or Lena who was copying Udona¡¯s power to simply sap the life of the hive beasts, it was only natural that theygged behind. Those that had already managed to obtain a score were likely those whose branch was rtively close to a hive to begin with.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Additionally, theycked anyrge-scale attacks that would be capable of destroying an entire hive in a single move, due to the fact that they had always been forced to take the tree¡¯s safety into consideration. The situation that Lifre created for them with this game might be favorable in the long run, but right now it would be impossible for them to get a high score.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In truth, what Lena was most impressed by wasn¡¯t Lifre¡¯s destructive prowess, but the range of her abilities. Given the astronomical distance between each hive, it would be impossible to use the Absurdity of Fate normally, just through one¡¯s vision. Instead, she had to use a different method of sensing her target over such distances, integrating that into her fighting style.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The only reason that Lena was currently ahead in terms of points was because her power carried no risk of coteral damage to the tree. Lifre¡¯s score was constantly being deducted, even as she detonated one hive after another, simply because her sts reached the branches that the hives were hanging from.


    <span style="font-weight:400">On the other hand, Petra¡¯s fighting style was simr to that of the Woodborn, as she didn¡¯t have suchrge-scale techniques capable of annihting the-sized hives. She and her friends simply teleported themselves into the hive to give themselves a head start, with Lifre and Lena both actively choosing to avoid destroying that particr hive so as to avoid taking them out of the ¡®game¡¯.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Really, Lena herself could simply destroy all of the hives at once with Udona¡¯s power, but she didn¡¯t want to do that. Lifre had taken the time to turn this into a game, and Lena did not wish to ruin her fun in such a way. Instead, she just made sure to always stay a little bit ahead of Lifre in the score¡­ Okay, she might not have wanted to ruin Lifre¡¯s fun, but she was still a <em><span style="font-weight:400">little</em><span style="font-weight:400">petitive.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Like this, she continued her assault at a leisurely pace, listening to Lifre cackling whileunching ming balls of death one after another. This continued on for more than an hour, at which point all of the hives on this section of the tree had beenpletely destroyed. The scores of the Woodborn were still slowly climbing, as were those of Petra and her friends, who had destroyed their second hive.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena, still in the body of Udona, turned to look at Lifre with a small smile. ¡°Shall we leave the rest to them, or go and destroy some of the other hives?¡± She asked.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre tilted her head, thinking about it for a moment. ¡°Hmm¡­ let¡¯s kill some more!¡± She said with a beaming smile. ¡°I mean, that¡¯s what we¡¯re here for, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena chuckled lightly, nodding at that. ¡°I suppose so. I was just worried that you would get bored fighting the same enemies for so long.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, yeah. But, if I didn¡¯t wanna do that, I would have just written a spell to destroy them all at once!¡± Lifre pointed out, and Lena knew that she could have done it. In fact, such a spell would have been far easier to write than the battle game that she had created.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena smiled, her body shifting once again as she changed into Aurivy. ¡°Well, let¡¯s go, then!¡± She said in a chipper tone, golden mist wrapping around their bodies. In a sh, they were standing on another branch, with hundreds of hives that they could sense in the distance.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You really are a cheat¡­ and that¡¯s saying something,ing from me!¡± Lifre said with augh, causing Lena to snort.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, please! I¡¯m just too awesome.¡± She said, changing back to Udona once again as her voice grew calmer. ¡°Now, shall we continue?¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Estyle watched as Lena changed into a smaller, pink-haired female, before suddenly vanishing with Lifre. He looked around in shock, unsure of where they had gone. He had intended to keep an eye on the foreigners to monitor them, but they were now all out of his sight¡­


    <span style="font-weight:400">Not knowing how he could find them quickly, he resolved himself to wait for them at the branch that they had left. He was confident that they would return, if for no other reason than to im the rewards from the end of thepetition.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, he waited. For another eleven hours, he stood with the book in hand. Until finally, a voice echoed through his mind, announcing the end of the game. Blue lights shed, and hundreds of people emerged in front of the entrance to the wood. Estyle recognized his fellow Branch Guardians, nodding to them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He didn¡¯t even have to check the scoreboard behind him to know who would have won the game, as both Lifre and Lena had much too powerful abilities for anyone else to be able to catch up to them. ¡°So, how do the rewards get distributed?¡± Lena asked, changing back into the appearance that Estyle had originally seen from her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Give it a second!¡± Lifre stuck her tongue out in a yful manner. Suddenly, nine beams of light shot out,nding on nine individuals within therge group. Estyle was d to see that three of the top fifty slots had gone to people from his branch, and was curious as to what they would have won.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The first to reveal their prize was Lena, who pulled a face as she looked at a jar in her hand. ¡°Really?¡± She asked, shaking her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What¡¯s the matter? What¡¯d you get?¡± Lifre asked in excitement, still bathed in her own blue light.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°A jar of Divine Awakening Pills. ording to the item description, it can make a hundred gods.¡± Lena said with a shrug, walking over to Estyle. ¡°Do you want this? I can¡¯t use it myself.¡± She said bluntly, holding the jar out for him to take.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What¡­ what is it?¡± He asked, sure that he had misheard her the first time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Still, she repeated herself. ¡°Eat one of the pills, and you will awaken a divine domain. Oh, but each person can only have one, you typically can¡¯t use the same method of ascension multiple times.¡± She said, shoving the jar into his hands.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Estyle was left shocked as he held the jar, holding it as if it were a delicate treasure. At the same time, Lifre¡¯s reward light faded, and she jumped with joy. ¡°Yes! I got my pen upgraded! Now it can write way faster than normal!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">It seemed as if the rewards were distributed in the order of their score. However, as things progressed, there was something that Estyle didn¡¯t understand. Whether it was Lifre¡¯s pen, the shadow weapons of Petra and her group, or even the rewards gained by the other Branch Guardians, they were all something that the individual themselves could use. If that was the case, why was Lena the only one to receive a prize that she considered to be ¡®worthless¡¯?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unable to answer this question himself, he approached Lifre, the one who had constructed the game. At the moment, Lena was off talking with Petra, so he feltfortable approaching the pale girl. ¡°Esteemed Lifre, may I bother you to answer a question about this game that you have created for us?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre blinked, having been twirling her golden pen, and looked up at Estyle. ¡°Hmm? Sure! What¡¯s up?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I was wondering¡­ how are the rewards created? There should be some manner of logic behind the process, but I cannot fully understand.¡± This was the most ¡®delicate¡¯ way that he could put the question, and Lifre hummed in thought.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, it starts from the person that got the highest score, like you saw earlier, and moves down. I could have set it up so that the rewards were all handed out at once, but I set it up like this to make sure that there wasn¡¯t any energy wasted.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, once someone has been chosen for a reward, the spell looks into their mind, and sees what sort of reward they would like. Then, using the energies contained within the reward pool, it either manufactures that reward based on their desires, or enhances something that already exists. Like for me! I wanted my pen to be upgraded, because I didn¡¯t want to sit around waiting for hours every time I make a spell like this.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Then, if there is any energy left from their ¡®reward budget¡¯, it gets added to the reward budget of the next person, and so on. If there is any budget left over after all fifty rewards have been handed out, the leftover energy bes nourishment for the tree itself!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Estyle nodded his head at Lifre¡¯s exnation, but was still confused. ¡°I see¡­ in that case, why would Esteemed Lena have received a reward she couldn¡¯t use?¡± He asked, looking at the jar in his hands.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre giggled yfully. ¡°Lena¡¯s way more diplomatic than I am. She probably didn¡¯t want a reward for herself in the first ce, and instead wanted to receive something that would strengthen your people.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Estyle¡¯s eyes widened at that reveal. ¡°What? I am not sure I understand¡­ why go so far for us?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Far?¡± Lifre tilted her head. ¡°Those pills really are useless to us, you know? Sure, they consume a ton of energy to make, and that¡¯s why there are only a hundred of them. But if we really wanted to make gods of our own people, we could do so by the thousands. To you, this may have seemed like a battle of life and death. To us, this was just another game.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Lena probably asked for those pills knowing how weak your people are. If our civilizations connected right now, and a criminal came through, they could probably destroy an entire tree on their own, given enough time. Those pills will let you nurture some new gods, so that you can defend yourself if things take a turn for the worst.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying that, Lifre skipped off happily, leaving Estyle stunned. Truly, thest twelve hours had seemed like a hectic bloodbath for his people, and there would have been countless casualties without the protections provided by Lifre¡¯s spell.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As Estyle looked down at the book and the jar before him, Lena walked back over, a smile on her face. ¡°Don¡¯t worry so much about it. I did what I thought was best for everyone. Speaking of which¡­¡± She closed her eyes, and stretched out her hand, condensing a golden glow in her palm.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When the glow faded, there was a shining, golden orb. ¡°Take this, too. You guys have a really primitive understanding of divinity, whether how to use it or how to ascend in the first ce. Anyone who puts a bit of their mana into this orb will have the chance to receive a moreprehensive education.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Estyle took the orb with shaking hands, feeling the weight on his shoulders growing more by the second. However, Lena didn¡¯t seem satisfied by that. ¡°Go ahead and use it. Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s not a consumable. You can use it repeatedly.¡± She urged him. Although he wasn¡¯t sure why, he did as she said, injecting a bit of mana into the orb.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Estyle¡¯s mind was suddenly flooded with information, his eyes going wide. He even dropped the three artifacts that he had received that day, though Lena managed to catch them all as if she was expecting that. Once he recovered, she looked at him with a satisfied smile, handing the objects back. ¡°There. Just so you know, I put a safety mechanism within the orb. If someone tries to kill you with the intent of hiding the knowledge contained, there is a single attack from me that is imparted on those who review the knowledge.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It won¡¯t keep you safe from normal attackers, but if the attacker is just after keeping this information from spreading, it¡¯ll trigger the defense. I was worried that someone might want to kill you when youe back with so many new resources.¡± Lena said in a serious tone, and Estyle blinked in confusion, not sure who would target him over something like that.

 Chapter 1159: The Heartwood

    Chapter 1159: The Heartwood


    <span style="font-weight:400">


    After Lifre and the others left the wood, Estyle went back to the entrance of the branch, moving to the transfer wall. His energy resonated with the wall, opening a gate that led deep into the heart wood.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">I need to report this to the Heart Father.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> He thought to himself urgently as he stepped through the gate. On the other side, the wooden walls of the city were golden, with numerous Woodborn walking about with a festive atmosphere. From what he could tell, news of the recent activities from the branches had not reached the heartwood.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Estyle kept his hands on the relics that Lifre and Lena had given to him, unwilling to part with them for even a brief moment until he reached the Heart Father. He made his way into a reception hall, where a woman was sitting behind the counter with a polite smile. This was someone that Estyle knew well, as she was the main receptionist in charge of receiving people from his branch district.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ah, Estyle!¡± She greeted him warmly. ¡°Are you finally back from investigating the strangers?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Estyle nodded his head. Trishe was the one that had asked him to head out in the first ce when the guards at the outer bark made the report. ¡°That¡¯s right. Please, pass a message to the Heart Father for me. I have an urgent need to speak with him.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Trishe blinked in confusion at this request. ¡°Erm¡­ Estyle, you know that it¡¯s not easy to arrange a meeting with the Heart Father. I can¡¯t just take care of it like that¡­ I can try to pass a message to his secretary, but I can¡¯t promise that he wille.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Estyle swallowed thickly, nodding his head. ¡°Please, let him know that the strangers were all foreign awakened. And that, with their help, we have removed roughly ny percent of the hives from the canopy in one day.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Trishe froze when she heard that, staring at Estyle for a moment, as if sure that she had misheard him. However, seeing his serious, even nervous demeanor, she nodded her head. ¡°I¡­ i don¡¯t know what to say. I¡¯ll pass the message along. Please, don¡¯t let this be a joke, Estyle. You know that the Heart Father hates to be deceived.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I understand, Trishe. I am willing to stake my life on this im. Not only were these foreigners awakened, but they were more powerful than anything I had ever seen, and said that more of their kind may visit in the future. With a single move, one of them could destroy an entire hive in seconds, and¡­ they left artifacts.¡± He gestured towards the items in his hands.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Artifacts? That book, jar, and¡­ ball?¡± Trishe tilted her head in confusion, already reaching for amunication stone. These stones were modified versions of the transfer walls, designed to only send messages between different stones that the user knew the wavelength for.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°T-That¡¯s right.¡± Estyle said, not entirely sure how to exin their effects. ¡°The¡­ the book is a device capable of initiating abat trial among the branches, where you can get rewarded for killing hive beasts with no threat to yourself or the canopy. The jar has one hundred pills, each capable of making someone an awakened. And the ball¡­ the crystal contains the foreigner¡¯s advanced knowledge about the powers of the awakened.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Trishe¡¯s eyes widened even further as she listened to these descriptions, actually dropping the rock that had been in her hand. She scrambled to pick it up, staring at Estyle. ¡°Did you use one of those pills yourself to test?¡± She asked, but Estyle frantically shook his head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°O-Of course not. I can¡¯t covet something like this for myself. That¡¯s why I wish to speak to the Heart Father, to inform him of what has happened. Only he can decide what to do with these items.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Trishe nodded her head seriously, setting the stone down. ¡°I¡¯ve sent the message. With the situation being what it is, he will probably be here soon. Do you mind waiting for a while?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Estyle shook his head, moving over to sit on one of the benches. He had expected to wait when he made the decision toe here, after all.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, the wait wasn¡¯t long, and a woman soon appeared at the door of the reception area. She had a stoic demeanor, draped in a dress of autumn leaves. ¡°The Heart Father has requested your presence.¡± She said, looking at Estyle, and then at Trishe. ¡°Both of you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Trishe was surprised when she heard this. ¡°Myself, as well?¡± She asked, but didn¡¯t argue. She stepped out from behind the counter and joined Estyle as they left. The trio journeyed to a transfer wall, and their guide ced their hand on it. The energy that they used on the wall was subtle, impossible to discern its exact frequency, but soon a gate had opened.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Without needing to be told, Trishe and Estyle stepped through the gate, finding themselves in avish mansion at the heart of the city. Standing before them was an iconic figure, his skin golden and eyes glowing. Immediately, Trishe and Estyle dropped to their knees. ¡°We greet the Esteemed Heart Father.¡± They said in unison.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Heart Father smiled, nodding his head. ¡°Yes. Estyle, is it? I¡¯ve been told that you have made a great contribution to the defense of the wood. Not only did you secure the cooperation of foreign awakened, but you even received various relics from them to empower themunity. Is that right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yes, Esteemed Heart Father.¡± Estyle said, holding his hands out to present the three items to him. ¡°These are the items, and they are as I exined to Trishe. I swear that I have not uttered a word of falsehood.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Heart Father arched his brow, gesturing for the woman to collect the items to bring to him. When she did, he looked at the crystal sphere. ¡°ording to your report, this is meant to be a repository of knowledge? How does one receive knowledge from an amber ball?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The ball is not made of amber, but the power of the awakened. The foreigners called it divinity. I have tested it myself, and can ensure that it is safe to use. You need only inject a small amount of mana into the sphere, and the knowledge will enter your mind.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Heart Father blinked slowly, doing just that. His eyes soon widened as a surge of advanced knowledge flooded into his mind, filling him with excitement. Estyle could understand his expression. Compared to those foreigners, themunity was truly primitive when it came to the usage of divine power.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once he was done absorbing the knowledge, the Heart Father cleared his throat. ¡°Yes, this is quite amazing. In fact, I would like to host a celebration in honor of your achievements. Would it be possible to invite these awakened to participate?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Estyle shook his head at that. ¡°No, Esteemed Heart Father. I have no method of contacting them, and they left shortly after fighting the hives. I believe that they only left the hives that they did in order to allow us to grow our own power through the book that they left.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I see¡­ in that case, the celebration must be done with just those who met the foreigners directly. I hear that there were two guards of the outer bark that greeted them on their arrival. Did any others meet with them that we need invite?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Estyle thought back, but shook his head. ¡°There may have been some among the branches that saw them from a distance, but there were none that directly spoke with them to my knowledge.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Heart Father nodded his head at that. ¡°I see. That is unfortunate. Such a celebration should properly glorify those responsible. Were there truly no others?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After Estyle shook his head again, the Heart Father smiled. ¡°In that case, I believe that this will be quite easy. Silencing four people is naturally easier than purging an entire branch.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Estyle shot his head up to look at the Heart Father in confusion, only to hear a gasping noise from next to him. Looking over, Trishe¡¯s body had gone pale, roots growing out from the floor and piercing into her skin. ¡°You should be proud to be nourishment for the great wood.¡± The Heart Father spoke. ¡°I must truly thank you for bringing these artifacts to me. With them, my prestige will grow, as will my strength. I do not need more awakened to share my power with, after all.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°But¡­ Esteemed Heart Father, why would you do this?¡± Estyle asked, his body shaking as he recalled Lena¡¯s words. ¡°Why would you betray the wood?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Heart Father simplyughed at that. ¡°I <em><span style="font-weight:400">am</em><span style="font-weight:400"> the wood! That is all that anyone must know. To have those who would usurp this power¡­ do not worry. I will put this knowledge to use. By the time more foreigners arrive, I will be far stronger. The wood itself will be an extension of my body.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As he spoke, numerous roots rose up from the floor around Estyle, grabbing his ankles to hold him in ce. The Heart Father¡¯s secretary made no move to protest, instead looking at them as if they were already dead.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, Estyle¡¯s body suddenly released a golden glow, startling the Heart Father. Before he could react, the glow materialized as a translucent figure, one that perfectly matched himself. The figure offered a mocking smile, stretching his hands out. Suddenly, the roots binding Estyle dissolved.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Instead, golden roots appeared in the air around the Heart Father, piercing into his skin. He tried to struggle, to use his power to remove those roots, but found that they wouldn¡¯t budge. He summoned roots of his own to pull them away, but they withered as soon as they touched the golden roots. ¡°What is this!?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This is the power that you could have had.¡± The translucent figure spoke in a condescending tone. It snapped its fingers, and more roots appeared around the secretary, who had started to make her way to the transfer wall. ¡°Now, as you said, the two of you can be nourishment.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Heart Father quickly realized that his power was being stripped away, devoured by the golden roots. His eyes widened in panic, and he tried to release his energy as an explosive force to call for guards. However, the energy was absorbed the moment it left his body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Estyle watched in shock, looking at the translucent figure. Lena had said that she left a single attack from her in the orb¡­ so why was it the Heart Father himself that emerged? And why was he so much stronger than the true Heart Father?


    <span style="font-weight:400">As if sensing the gaze, the translucent figure turned to face Estyle, a gentle smile on his face. ¡°That¡¯s right, Estyle. I am the safety mechanism left by Esteemed Lena. This strike that she left was designed to create a copy of your attacker, and imbue them with advanced knowledge on various abilities. Once your attacker has been destroyed, I am to take their ce.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Take their ce¡­?¡± Estyle asked in confusion. ¡°How could you¡­?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It is quite simple, really.¡± The figure said, its body growing more and more solid. ¡°My personality was modified by Esteemed Lena to include a simple temte, one that would prioritize the true well-being of themunity over individual gains. Aside from this, I have all of the knowledge and skills of the Heart Father.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As he said this, he looked at Trishe, frowning slightly. ¡°I am sorry that I was unable to save Trishe, truly. However, the safety mechanism would only activate when you yourself were in danger. In order to maintain peace within themunity, I ask that you not share word of what has happened here.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">While this was going on, the original Heart Father¡¯s body had shriveled up, creaking as thest of his energy was being drained by the roots. ¡°You¡­ won¡¯t¡­ get away¡­ with this¡­ I am¡­ the wood.¡± He spoke in a raspy breath, before his body seemed to dissolve into golden light, which flowed into the roots.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The new Heart Father shook his head at that. ¡°No¡­ you were only a God of Wood. Just a small god unaware of how to use his power.¡±

 Chapter 1160: Collaboration!

    Chapter 1160: Coboration!


    <span style="font-weight:400">The trio of Lena, Lifre, and Petra were walking through a maze of massive walls of green grass, trying to find the level orb of the seventy-fifth floor. They had gone to the spire of this floor, and Petra had activated the magical device that she had been given to scan for the orb. In doing so, they had discovered that it was in this ¡®meadow¡¯, though they had to do at least a little bit of legwork to find it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">By this point, Thelsa and the other shadows had long since returned to what they were doing before, leaving the trio to themselves once again. However, as they pushed their way through the twenty-meter wide des of grass, Lena suddenly paused, blinking. ¡°Huh, that was fast.¡± She muttered to herself, causing the others to look her way.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°All good, Lena?¡± Lifre asked, looking back at her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah, I just got a bit of feedback from one of my projections.¡± She exined, before noticing Lifre¡¯s expression suddenly turn solemn. ¡°No, not one of <em><span style="font-weight:400">those</em><span style="font-weight:400"> projections, don¡¯t worry. Nothing rted to the Keeper.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre let out a long breath of relief when she heard that, but nodded her head. ¡°Sorry, go on?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena nodded, and began to exin about the knowledge crystal that she had left with Estyle, as well as the defense mechanism that she put within it. Lifre had a look of realization, while Petra simply tilted her head. ¡°How¡¯d you know that the Heart Father would turn against him like that, though?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Honestly, I didn¡¯t.¡± Lifre shook her head with a shrug of her shoulders. ¡°There was no public information in what I scanned that would indicate that he would do that. Ah, right, you don¡¯t know. My divine power that I used lets me ess publicly known information, but not personal information. If I were to try to scan personal information of billions of people at a time, even my brain would explode.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Anyways, I just figured that it was likely that someone would make a move. You see it everywhere, right? People who stand above others get scared when something appears that will shake their position. They¡¯ll either try to remove the thing entirely, or take it for themselves.¡± Lena exined, Lifre quickly nodding her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra blinked, ncing between Lifre and Lena. ¡°Is¡­ is the Keeper like that, too?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre simply snorted in response to that. ¡°Oh, gods no! Well, maybe it¡¯s different because his life is <em><span style="font-weight:400">kinda</em><span style="font-weight:400"> connected to the fundamental existence of all reality. But he doesn¡¯t really act like a ruler scrambling to maintain his grip on his power.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena chuckled as well, agreeing. ¡°Honestly, I don¡¯t think he likes being in charge at all, from what I¡¯ve seen. It looks like he¡¯s bored of rulership at this point. I like to think that I¡¯m pretty good at reading people, and the vibe I get from him is just wanting to settle down and live a quiet life somewhere with his friends and family.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Petra heard that, her eyes briefly widened, as if not sure that this was something that an outsider should really be listening to. ¡°I-I see.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Found it!¡± Lifre suddenly shouted out, pointing up towards a nearby de of grass. About eighty meters up, a tiny, crystal sphere could be seen embedded in the green ¡®wall¡¯.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°At least <em><span style="font-weight:400">that</em><span style="font-weight:400"> isn¡¯t supersized like everything else around here.¡± Lena smirked, her body silently teleporting up to the sphere and extracting it. ¡°Alright, girls! Let¡¯s go home. We had our little field trip.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Aww, but I wanna y more!¡± Lifre shouted, though there was a yful smile on her lips. ¡°Eh, it¡¯s fine. You said that there weren¡¯t really any supersized hostile creatures in thisyer, right? If we stuck around, I¡¯d just be tempted to hunt one of those big crawler guys, and they don¡¯t seem all that dangerous. Just <em><span style="font-weight:400">really</em><span style="font-weight:400"> big.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, and this totally gives me a new idea for my next stream!¡± She beamed, and Petra¡¯s ears immediately perked up. ¡°I can tell my viewers about the seventy-fifth floor, and we can set up an adventure focused around traversing a massive environment like this! It¡¯ll be kind of cool, right?!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena couldn¡¯t help but chuckle at Lifre¡¯s enthusiasm. Especially when she noticed Petra sneakily opening her inventory, ncing at her coin bnce.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana had long since returned to Olympus as the others were finishing their adventure, unaware of what shenanigans they had gotten up to after she left them on the seventy-fifth floor. Her only real concern when going to join the group was testing out the abilities of an Origin, and she had done that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although she hadn¡¯t had much chance for directbat, the tests that she had run were able to show her more than enough. ¡°From now on, I should create an avatar of myself when I go out, and leave my main body back at Olympus.¡± She said with a serious expression.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although she was now acutely aware of her own power, she was simrly aware of her vulnerability. Her inner world was her weakness, something that could be used to kill her with minimal effort, if an individual knew about it. Dana herself could easily create a spell to target an Origin¡¯s inner world, so long as she knew the theme of the Origin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, there were limits to such spells. From the feedback of her blessing, she knew that it would not be effective unless it was cast on the main body of the Origin. If it was simply cast to resonate with the void, or through one of the Origin¡¯s avatars, the impact of the spell would significantly weaken.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Closing her eyes, Dana¡¯s body rippled with dark energies. Arge, ck staff emerged from her chest, seemingly made of smooth obsidian. There were no intricate adornments, no engravings or radiating aura of power. It looked simply like a ck staff that one could buy from a market vendor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once the staff was created, Dana moved it to the corner of her room, propping it against the wall. Although the staff appeared inconspicuous, this was Dana¡¯s main body. It held her inner world, the core of her power and soul. However, without something like World Sight, it would be difficult to identify the nature of this staff.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Dana still walking around, meanwhile, was a new avatar that Dana could spend most of her focus controlling. With this, she would have an addedyer of protection against those who would otherwise be capable of harming her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Turning, she left her room, making her way to themunal living space of Olympus. There, she found the Keeper sitting on a couch with Keliope and Scarlet, simply enjoying a movie being projected in front of them while Tsubaki naturally stood at attention behind the couch. ¡°Wee back, Dana.¡± Scarlet said with a bright smile as Dana entered the room, turning to greet her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing that alerted Dale to Dana¡¯s presence, and he paused the movie to greet her. ¡°Wee back. How did your tests go?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Pretty good, boss.¡± Dana grinned in acknowledgement. ¡°I can say with some confidence now that I know how to kill an Origin, as long as certain conditions are met. At the very least, we won¡¯t be needing to scramble in panic if one gets sent through on an invasion.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dale¡¯s eyes widened slightly when he heard that, though Dana could see the relief in his gaze. She knew that this had been a major concern for the Keeper as soon as they had begun to approach the new rank. Undoubtedly, an Origin <em><span style="font-weight:400">would</em><span style="font-weight:400"> be the best attacking force that a Keeper could send, though at the same time they were incredibly expensive in terms of the time and effort it took to nurture one.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, Dana could assume that they would very rarely have to deal with just <em><span style="font-weight:400">one</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Origin. If a Keeper was serious enough about an invasion to send one over, they would want to send an entire team of Origins to ensure that their resources did not end up going to waste. As long as the Origins survived to kill the Keeper, they would be able to return to their original world after the invasion was won.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Do you wanna join us for the rest of the movie, Dana?¡± Scarlet suddenly asked, snapping Dana out of her thoughts.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana considered the offer for a moment, before shaking her head. ¡°Next time. It¡¯s less fun to start watching a movie that¡¯s already half over.¡± She said with a brief chuckle. ¡°Besides, I¡¯ve got to get to work on my next project now.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Lemme guess, now that you¡¯re an Origin, you wanna make some kinda Origin-tier weapon?¡± Keliope grinned from the couch, ncing back at Dana. ¡°You going for another whip like your current artifact?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana blinked, but shook her head. ¡°You¡¯re not that far off, but not quite.¡± She chuckled. ¡°Something that I¡¯ve understood through testing my powers is that an Origin has no need of items like a divine relic weapon. It¡¯s possible for us to casually make them, imbuing the powers we possess into the shape of an item, but those items will only ever have the powers that we ourselves already have.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Typically, a divine relic is made to expand the avable options of the god wielding it, right? Origins can¡¯t do that anymore. If we want to do something, we need it to be something from within our inner world to begin with. Exterior artifacts won¡¯t help us to that level.¡± She exined, causing Keliope to blink in surprise.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I see. Didn¡¯t know that, but good to know! So, what¡¯re you making then, if not a new weapon for yourself?¡± She asked curiously, and Dana looked towards Dale.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The boss needs an item to protect him against Origin powers. I¡¯ve got an idea on how to make one, I just need to go talk with Tubrock. This¡¯ll probably be a joint project between the two of us.¡± She said, before the sound of a hammer dropping startled everyone in the room.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°A joint project, ye say,ss?!¡± The gruff, dwarven voice appeared from the doorway. Tubrock looked at Dana with a wide grin, clearly excited.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana couldn¡¯t help but feel like Tubrock had been waiting to get invited to coborate on an Origin-level project ever since he found out that she and Chelsea had reached this new rank. Still, what was with the sound effect when he entered? She looked back, and saw that he actually <em><span style="font-weight:400">had</em><span style="font-weight:400"> dropped a ratherrge hammer at his feet in his hurry to arrive.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah¡­¡± She gave a wry chuckle, suddenly questioning her decision to work with the entric craftsman god. ¡°You don¡¯t mind working together on a project like this, do you?¡± She asked, before suddenly feeling arge hand mp down on her shoulder.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Without hesitation, she turned to face Dale and the others. ¡°Boss, is it toote to apply for emergency sick leave?¡± She asked, feeling her feet being dragged along the floor towards the door.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dale simply chuckled, shaking his head. Seeing that, Dana resigned herself to her fate of bing the cksmith¡¯s coboration partner until the new artifact wasplete. She just had to make sure not to let herself get drawn into any more projects, or who knew how long it would take for her to get free!?


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, don¡¯t get yerself too worked up,ss!¡± Tubrock huffed, though he <em><span style="font-weight:400">was</em><span style="font-weight:400"> still dragging her out of the room, eagerly taking her towards the nearest elevator. ¡°We¡¯ll have a grand time!¡±

 Chapter 1161: Bad to the Book

    Chapter 1161: Bad to the Book


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Seeyater, Petra!¡± Lifre said as she waved towards the demoness after they made it back to the first floor of Fyor. They needed to drop off all of the level cap spheres now that they were done with their brief adventure.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, Lifre had been hoping for more of an adventure, with weeks of excitement, a gctic chase, or some major viins to fight. Of course, most of these things weren¡¯t what you would expect to find when traversing new floors of Fyor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thanks! I¡¯ll do my best. And good luck with your streams, Lifre!¡± Petra said with a happy smile, before turning to walk into the guild. Once Petra left, Lifre turned back to Lena, about to ask if she was ready to leave. However, she noticed a curious look in Lena¡¯s gaze.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What is it? Do I have something in my face?¡± Lifre asked, poking a finger through her skin as if to search around her head for any random debris.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Huh? Oh, no¡­ I just got another bit of feedback from one of my projections.¡± She said, Lifre blinking in confusion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There was <em><span style="font-weight:400">another</em><span style="font-weight:400"> god or something that wanted to take out Estyle? It¡¯s been less than an hour!¡± Lifre spoke up in exasperation. ¡°I mean, I get it, corruption. New shiny thing, bad. Old shiny thing, good. But that¡¯s gotta get old after a while, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah, uhm¡­ not that projection.¡± Lena said, and Lifre¡¯s expression suddenly hardened.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay, who do I gotta eat?¡± She asked in an entirely too serious tone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena blinked for a moment, before gesturing for Lifre to follow her. ¡°Come on, I¡¯ll exin on the way.¡± She said, turning to head into the gate behind herself. ¡°This <em><span style="font-weight:400">might not</em><span style="font-weight:400"> be a really bad scenario. I¡¯ve just gotta talk to a couple of the goddesses first.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Eh?¡± Lifre tilted her head again. ¡°It¡¯s not something that you can handle on your own.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena simply sighed, not knowing of another way to exin this. ¡°...Someone found an ancient vault of Aurivy¡¯s.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre¡¯s eyes bulged out at that, and she grabbed Lena¡¯s arm. ¡°Talk and walk! Talk and walk, girl!¡± She said, opening a golden portal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena yelped, feeling herself dragged along and into the portal. ¡°W-Well, I just found out about it thanks to the clone I have at Olympus--oh hi Aurivy.¡± She paused, finding that Lifre had walked the two of them straight into Aurivy¡¯s living room with that portal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy looked at the two of them, slowly blinking. ¡°Hello?¡± She returned the greeting. ¡°This is an unexpected surprise. Wait! How did you get through Olympus¡¯s teleportation defenses?¡± Aurivy asked, pointing a finger at Lifre.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Travelwork, you¡¯re a beacon, I essed your domain. Unimportant details! Important details time! Someone apparently found one of your old vaults, and it triggered Lena¡¯s spy clone.¡± Lifre exined, causing Aurivy to freeze up.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Which one?¡± She asked hesitantly, and the two of them looked at Lena together.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯d call it. ording to the information that my avatar pieced together, they recovered a staff, three books, and a key. There were also apparently a lot of other objects behind a shifting, golden maze, but they haven¡¯t managed to crack the maze¡¯s patterns yet.¡± Lena exined, causing Aurivy to hop to her feet and begin pacing the room.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I left so many staves around in vaults, that doesn¡¯t help. Keys¡­ well, I¡¯m the Travel and Dungeon Goddess, so obviously I have made key relics. Books¡­ that narrows it down a bit more. Could have been travel logs, or anything else. Are there any significant details on the items that were retrieved? Markings, or discovered usages?¡± Aurivy asked, seeming a bit urgent.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena closed her eyes, reviewing the information that her avatar had sent her. ¡°The staff has a series of golden lines inscribed along its shaft. The books¡­ they¡¯re locked, so the people that found it don¡¯t really know what they are, but they¡¯re calling in a deity specialized in undoing seals. Thest item, the key, has a bit more detail. It¡¯s a golden skeleton key, but the teeth at the end are shaped like a heart.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy¡¯s eyes went wide as she identified the item Lena had mentioned. ¡°The key to the heart! Oh, wow, that was a <em><span style="font-weight:400">long</em><span style="font-weight:400"> time ago!¡± She said, shaking her head. ¡°I was going through a phase. Anyways! This is bad!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre looked at Aurivy anxiously when she heard that. ¡°How bad? End of the world bad? One key can¡¯t do so much, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy gave a somewhat bitter smile at that. ¡°That wasn¡¯t <em><span style="font-weight:400">just</em><span style="font-weight:400"> my vault. Terra and I gave that vault the codename of Final Destination. The key is nothing special. Sure, it¡¯d be bad if misused, but it¡¯s just a simple love spell that can be reversed with a good smack.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The <em><span style="font-weight:400">problem</em><span style="font-weight:400"> is the books!¡± Aurivy said, iling her arms at her sides. ¡°The only books kept at Final Destination were life stories. Really bad ones, too!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre blinked at that, seeming to calm down. ¡°Oh, is that it? Terra¡¯s ¡®life stories¡¯ are just criminals and whatnot that she had imprisoned in books, right? If it was really that long ago, then surely the criminals won¡¯t pose a threat to us anymore. Isn¡¯t that right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, Lena had a more serious expression on her face. ¡°Aurivy¡­ how many books were kept in this vault?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy couldn¡¯t help but gulp at that. ¡°Uhm¡­ around five hundred or so? I stopped counting, but Terra kept adding more after I stopped visiting the vault. Are we <em><span style="font-weight:400">sure</em><span style="font-weight:400"> that they only got three books?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena shook her head. ¡°That¡¯s just what this group got. I¡¯m having my avatar review the information more closely now. There were four groups that acted together to break into what appeared to be old, divine ruins. I don¡¯t have any information on what the other groups received.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh,e on, guys.¡± Lifre chuckled, though a bit more nervously at this point. ¡°It can¡¯t be that bad, right? Right? Someone exin to me why it¡¯s that bad already!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena turned towards Lifre with a wry smile. ¡°I¡¯ve copied Terra before, so I have a certain understanding of her abilities. Anyone who has been recorded in her life stories, receives a form of immortality, in a way. If someone reads their story, they wille back to life. And they won¡¯t die again until everyone that has read their story dies. Their lives are tied to Terra¡¯s divinity.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So we just burn the books then, right?¡± Lifre asked, as if it were simple. ¡°Even divine books should be mmable. Trust me, I¡¯ve burnt a few myself!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena nodded her head briefly, before shaking it. ¡°We¡¯ll need to call Terra for this. Hopefully, none of the other groups had opened their books yet.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As if on cue, there was a knock on the door. ¡°Given that timing¡­¡± Aurivy gave a chuckle, heading to open the door and allow the redheaded felyn twins to enter. ¡°Terra, Terra. Nice to see you again.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two looked like they wanted to argue their traditional routine, but quickly decided against it. ¡°Big sis upstairs sent us.¡± The divine sister spoke up, hands on her hips.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy nodded her head, looking up at them. ¡°Can you tell us if the stories have spread, yet?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two looked at one another, before addressing Aurivy again. ¡°We can check, but we have to be careful. The <em><span style="font-weight:400"st</em><span style="font-weight:400"> thing we need is for us to identally read a part of the story while looking into them. Big sis told is what type of people these are.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Please, fill me in! I am awaiting necessary information!¡± Lifre interjected, trying to figure out just how bad the situation was.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy simply let out a sigh. ¡°There¡¯s only one type of person that Terra has ever actively gone out of her way to imprison in life stories. People that she doesn¡¯t want to give a quick death to, wanting to let them suffer in eternal darkness.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre blinked at that, her eyes going wide. ¡°Ohhh, they¡¯re people that wanted to kill the boss!¡± She said with a nod, suddenly understanding. ¡°Yeah¡­ a group of five hundred anti-Keeper forces, especially with their brand of immortality, could be really bad!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, you don¡¯t know the half of it.¡± One of the sisters spoke up, staring into her book. ¡°Back when sis was doing those life stories, the world was a much simpler ce. Even if someone got ahold of one of the stories, it¡¯d only take a few well-timed ¡®idents¡¯ to cover it up.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena nodded her head, a grim expression on her face. ¡°But now we have the inte. If someone managed to post a life story on the inte, and it happened to get peoples¡¯ attention¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre blinked again, suddenly understanding why the situation was so bad. ¡°Oh¡­ <em><span style="font-weight:400">oh!</em><span style="font-weight:400">¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Lena, do you have information on those that obtained the books?¡± The twins asked in unison, and Lena nodded.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The group that I got the information on is a ck market trading group. They¡¯re nning to put the items from the vault up for auction after they are all properly identified. The relevant base is in Gandor, operating under the name ¡®Darker Entertainment¡¯.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once they had this information, it seemed that the two of them were more easily able to track their targets. ¡°These three books are safe.¡± The divine sister said with a relieved sigh. ¡°Aurivy, can you grab them? Their ¡®divine locksmith¡¯ will be there this afternoon, so we need to grab them soon.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy nodded her head seriously. ¡°Got it. I¡¯m also using my main body to try to track the other items. It¡¯s just taking a bit because I had to remember <em><span style="font-weight:400">where</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Final Destination was. Like I said, it¡¯s been a while.¡± She said with a sheepish smile.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre suddenly blinked, looking at the twins, and then at Aurivy. ¡°Oh yeah, howe you guys didn¡¯t already know about this? Your divine warning bells should have been going off nonstop if things from your vaults were touched, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy shook her head at that. ¡°It all depends on intent and awareness. Because theycked the awareness that they were taking anything from a vault of Aurivy or Terra, it doesn¡¯t register as easily. Not when I¡¯m constantly getting bombarded with prayers and blessing requests.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yup!¡± The Terra twins spoke up in unison. ¡°The same goes for big sis! Though, with her, she¡¯s been really busy trying to keep an eye on anyone whose sacrifice would be worthy of consideration for the Admin Room. She probably forgot all about this vault until Lena received the news.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre pursed her lips at that, having no choice but to acknowledge that answer. However, before she could ask anything else, the twins abruptly mmed their books shut, looking away at the same time. Lifre and the others blinked at that, aside from Aurivy, whose eyes narrowed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Five books have been opened so far. One of them has been scanned into an inte forum. The appraiser is trying to find information about the contents.¡± She exined, the others tensing up. ¡°Oh, of course, it¡¯s <em><span style="font-weight:400">him</em><span style="font-weight:400">.¡± Aurivy groaned, shaking her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Him who? Do I have to start begging for information again? Be less vague!¡± Lifre pouted, causing Aurivy to look over at her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°He was termed the gue Doctor. Terra locked him up because she found out that he was plotting to infect the Keeper with a disease that increases its lethality the higher the level the target. Basically turns the system¡¯s buffs against you as a weapon.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre couldn¡¯t help but pause at that. ¡°Okay, yeah, that definitely qualifies as bad.¡±

 Chapter 1162: The Plague Doctor

    Chapter 1162: The gue Doctor


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy knew just how bad this situation was. The disease that the gue Doctor specialized in was one that had, at one point, wiped out several cities in a row, bringing a nation to its knees. And this was back when the average total level of civilians was only two hundred! With this disease growing more deadly the higher the level of its host, and the current average level more than twice what it used to be, she could only guess at how horrible it would be now.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, at the same time, this was a tricky opponent to fight. Aside from killing every innocent civilian that read his story, was there another way to cancel the effects of the life story?


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What if I used my domains?¡± Lena asked with a firm expression. ¡°If I create a new divine ability, I should be able to erase or alter a single memory on arge scale.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy shook her head at that. ¡°Absolutely not! The only way that you¡¯d know the exact memory to target is if you read the story yourself. And, if you did, you wouldn¡¯t be able to erase it from your <em><span style="font-weight:400">own</em><span style="font-weight:400"> mind, because you would need to keep it as the targeting variable.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena gave a small smile at that. ¡°There are two of me. You can afford to lose one if the enemy is--¡± She began, before being cut off and stumbling back with wide eyes, a red handprint suddenly appearing on her cheek.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We already had to deal with that kind of talk from Tsubaki in the past!¡± Aurivy narrowed her eyes at Lena. ¡°I don¡¯t care if there¡¯s one of you, two of you, or a hundred of you. Don¡¯t even think about just sacrificing your life because we can ¡®afford¡¯ it. If we have to get to that point, we¡¯ve already lost.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena¡¯s eyes went wide at that, and she nodded dumbly. She wasn¡¯t used to people valuing her life like that. As a ninja, her goal was toplete the mission as efficiently as possible. She simply had to weigh the value of the current mission against the value of other missions that she would take in the future. As such, given that there was still another Lena to ept future missions, that had effectively made one of them expendable.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She lowered her head, though couldn¡¯t help as a small smile crept over her lips. This only reminded her why she chose to serve the Keeper, with no desire to return to her old life. ¡°Got it¡­ sorry.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As long as you understand that.¡± She huffed, before looking around. ¡°Does anyone else have any less self-destructive ideas?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre raised a hand, quickly waving it. ¡°Oh, me! What if we used a memetic script? The writer would need to read the story, but the script would wipe the story from their mind. After that, we just need to make the others that have read the story read the script, and boom! No more guebearer!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy¡¯s eyes sparkled for a moment, before thinking it over. ¡°That¡­ might have worked before. However, the inte is being automatically censored of memetic scripts now. Since it¡¯s a device that we obtained from another Keeper, we still haven¡¯t managed topletely figure out how it works yet. Even if we post the script online to target those same individuals, it would automatically be removed.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre¡¯s body seemed to dete at that. ¡°Oh¡­ thought I did a smart, there.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurrivy offered her a consoling smile, before Lena spoke up again. ¡°I might have an idea.¡± She said, but Aurivy quickly turned to re at her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If you suggest that you are expendable again¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°N-No, no.¡± Lena quickly shook her head, waving her hands in front of herself. ¡°No, it¡¯s something different this time. I promise.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sirens rang through the streets of Gandor as a man with shaggy ck hair chuckled in an alleyway. <em><span style="font-weight:400">This new world is just perfect.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> He thought to himself with a giddy tone. He had no idea how long he had been imprisoned in that eternally dark void, left with nothing but his own thoughts. However, given the state of the world, he could tell that it was a very long time. Centuries, maybe even more.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now, he was acutely aware that he was as frail as a child in the current age, but that suited him fine. The stronger the people of this world were, the better it would be for him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The man, Castor Drake, looked at the exit of the alley, where a ck puddle lingered, bubbling with acrid smoke. Next to the puddle was a set of clothes, the mark of Castor¡¯stest victim. <em><span style="font-weight:400">ording to the speed of decay, the average person of this age should be between level four and five hundred. Additionally, there are arge number of people who seem to no longer possess physical bodies.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Castor had found this out when he infected a young elven woman after first being freed. Rather than dissolving into a puddle like those with flesh bodies, her body turned ck and seemed to break apart into ashes that dissolved in midair. <em><span style="font-weight:400">This disease targets the system, so it appears that energy beings are still affected properly.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, there were those that he needed to be wary of, specifically gods rted to either disease or healing. These individuals would be able to counter his disease rather easily.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The method that Castor used to infect people was actually quite mundane. He himself was a carrier of the level gue, among many other diseases. Ever since his birth, Castor had never once suffered from any disease, though he had no idea as to why at first. It was only after he entered the field of medicine that he realized that the diseases targeted him like everyone else.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It wasn¡¯t that his immune system was so strong as tobat the diseases without symptoms. Rather, there was something strange about the diseases that entered his body. They would immediately fall dormant, incapable of affecting him in the slightest. As soon as the disease left his body, it would immediately be active again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Fascinated by this discovery, Castor had devised a special energy after much research. This energy was one that many would term as moronic or self-destructive, as it enhanced the diseases within his body while also causing them to reproduce while still dormant.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, he became a walking biological weapon. Of course, that wasn¡¯t his original goal. Originally, he wanted to do this in order to create arge amount of the most dangerous diseases in a safe environment. He believed that doing this would give him the chance to study the diseases and find cures.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, anyone that came close to him would die within a week, their bodies rotting from the inside. The publicbeled him as a menace, and many even tried to kill him from afar.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was when a seed of hatred began to form in him. The ignorant fools did not understand the value of his research. Had they left him alone, nobody would have been hurt. It was their fault for treading where they should not have.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As the hatred grew, Castor began to actively spread his gues. The world had condemned him, so he would overturn the world. That thought inevitably led to him remembering the Keeper, the almighty being that governed creation. The twisted researcher within him couldn¡¯t help but question¡­ what would happen if such a powerful being were to be exposed to the level gue?


    <span style="font-weight:400">The urge to experiment swelled up within him, and he began to look for ways to find the Keeper in person. It was difficult to get into the Sky Citadel without being chosen as a representative of a race, and there were only a few moments when the Keeper would leave its protection. Perhaps he could have infected the kitsune maid that served him, and allowed her to take the disease back to her lord?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s travel patterns were a bit easier to predict, though she still didn¡¯t leave very frequently. He was in the midst of nning to intercept her one day when Terra had found him. Her expression had been one of cold fury, her divinity rampaging in the air around her. She exined that she couldn¡¯t descend for long, but there was more than enough time to deal with someone like him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although he tried every disease in his arsenal, nothing worked on her. It was as if she wasn¡¯t part of the world¡¯s system. He could only assume that that was because she was a member of the Greater Pantheon, or maybe something special about Terra herself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Either way, she calmly created a leatherbound book, and began to write in it. As she did, Castor felt his soul tremble. After she had finished the first page, characters began to appear on his skin as ck markings, and his body was sucked into the book.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was thest that Castor knew of the world, before being trapped in an endless void of nothing. He was left to seethe in his hatred, his mind unable to find rest.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now that he was free, he was going to make sure that nothing got in his way again. He had already learned that he couldn¡¯t die when one of the guards decapitated him after he first awoke and infected those nearby. His body simply shed, emerging from the book once again.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">I was reborn because they read the book, and I am reborn from the book when I die. </em><span style="font-weight:400">He thought to himself. There were a few things that this could mean. Most likely, he would never die, so long as people kept reading his book. He didn¡¯t know if they suffered his deaths or not, so he had found the ¡®inte¡¯ where the contents of the book had been uploaded, and began to look for other areas where he could post it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although the inte was a new and unusual thing for him, he was a man of science. It had only taken him a few minutes to understand enough to post the file on multiple forums. After that, he took the book and left.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Castor Drake?¡± A voice called out to him from the other end of the alley. He turned, seeing a young kitsune with short blonde hair that ended in purple tips. She smiled sweetly at him, beginning to approach. Was this the descendant of Tsubaki? His eyes narrowed, increasing the spread of the diseases around himself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Yet, she continued to walk closer, as if the diseases meant nothing to her. Even the strongest gue of the current age, that which could decimate gods, did not phase her in the slightest. This caused Castor to retreat back a step, stepping in the viscous puddle of hisst victim.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Heheh~! I was right, you¡¯re Castor!¡± She said, hopping closer. There was no way that she hadn¡¯t been infected with his diseases at this range. ¡°Sorry, but I¡¯m going to have to lock you up for a little while~.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°How¡­ how are you not dead!?¡± Castor eximed in shock, seeing the girl retrieving a golden box with one hand, and a pale crystal sphere in the other. ¡°Even an avatar of a god would die in the face of these diseases!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena tilted her head with a smile. ¡°The only disease I really have to worry about is the level gue, right? Right now, I don¡¯t have a level at all! Neither do you!¡± She said, and Castor couldn¡¯t understand what she was talking about. ¡°I¡¯ve cut off the system in this area, so that disease won¡¯t work for now~.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she said that, the golden box in her hand began to expand, opening to wrap around Castor¡¯s body. This was the n that she hade up with. She would nullify the level gue with a system null sphere, and then trap Castor. As long as he was carrying the book with him, that would be enough to deal with him while they dealt with clearing the memories of his story from those who read it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, Lena was still infected with the level gue, and would immediately die as soon as the null zone was removed. However, she could cleanse the disease by transforming into Udona, so she wasn¡¯t concerned.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Alright! My part is done! It¡¯s up to you now, Aurivy! Are there any other bad guys that had their stories spread?</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing Lena¡¯s report, Aurivy let out a mental sigh of relief. <em><span style="font-weight:400">There are a few. The gue Doctor was the most dangerous, though. There¡¯s one other group that we¡¯re having problems deciding how to handle, though¡­ they¡¯re not really strong, given the time period they came from, but they figured out the mechanic behind the books too quickly, and found a dangerous loophole.</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Oh? What happened?</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Lena asked curiously.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Seven of them were released together, and once they understood how the books worked, they immediately began reading each other¡¯s stories. Terra thinks that might have formed a chain between them. Unless they all die at the exact same time, they¡¯ll all always have at least one person to anchor them to the world.</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s cheating!</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Lena shouted in her mind.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Yeah¡­ after that, they immediately split up, and shuffled their books amongst each other. So, it has suddenly be a lot harder to kill them all at once.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Aurivy replied with a sigh. It would be great if Dale could just smite them while time was frozen and be done with it, but they weren¡¯t <em><span style="font-weight:400">technically</em><span style="font-weight:400"> living creatures. They were only embodiments of Terra¡¯s divine power, imitating the lives they once had. That would be like wanting to smite a mountain or ake.

 Chapter 1163: The Shadow of the Man He Was

    Chapter 1163: The Shadow of the Man He Was


    <span style="font-weight:400">Back in Olympus, the alternate Lena was monitoring the information of the seven life stories that had been revived, with Tsubaki standing at her side with a serious expression. ¡°Calm down, senior.¡± Lena said with a gentle smile. ¡°I don¡¯t think that you have to worry so much about all of this.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, Tsubaki shook her head firmly. ¡°There are individuals who seek to harm the Keeper, and are dangerous enough that Lady Terra herself sealed them away for eternity. I am only responding appropriately.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°They <em><span style="font-weight:400">were</em><span style="font-weight:400"> dangerous.¡± Lena admitted. ¡°However, in the current age, the level of danger that they pose is considerably reduced. Also, despite the loophole they exploited in Terra¡¯s divine power, those life stories have a serious w.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Tsubaki looked at her curiously, Lena continued. ¡°Once you¡¯ve been recorded in a life story, you are for all intents and purposes, dead. But, it¡¯s not like we¡¯re dealing with their spirits, either. It would actually be more troubling if this were their spirits we were dealing with. I¡¯ve spent some time as Terra myself, so I understand her abilities pretty well, I think!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What we¡¯re dealing with are just shadows of consciousness locked into existence by Terra¡¯s divine power. The life stories were created in such a way that even she herself can¡¯t casually terminate them once their story has been read. That¡¯s because the life stories weren¡¯t made exclusively for viins like this. The original theme of the power was to let her preserve powerful heroes that she could call upon in the future for help.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°However, it was really just a passing fancy for her at the time, I bet. She knew all along that the world would grow beyond any need for old heroes like that. Any hero stored in such a way would be obsolete after only a few generations. If I had to guess, that¡¯s when she decided to use it to torment who she believed to be irredeemable viins.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You were discussing a critical w of the ability, Lena.¡± Tsubaki reminded, causing Lena to blink,ughing to herself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, right! Sorry, I got a little distracted, senior. Anyways, the key w of the ability is that their story is alreadypleted. They have no room for further growth. In other words, while they possess a shadow of the world¡¯s system from their time alive, they are incapable of leveling up any further, and are stuck at the level that they were in life.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s eyes widened slightly when she heard this, lowering her head in thought. ¡°I see¡­ if this is the case, it would indeed be unlikely that we have to be concerned with their directbat prowess. Outside of those possessing special abilities like the gue Doctor, it would prove difficult for them to kill even a normal civilian. However, if that were the case, how did they get free from the ones who found their books in the first ce?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena offered a small smile at that. ¡°Of the seven, one of them has a significantbat ability. The title of his book is ¡®Averick of Gluttony¡¯, and he possesses a unique energy that allows him to consume practically anything, whether matter or energy. Once he has consumed something, he will gain a temporary ability until he has fully ¡®digested¡¯ what he ate. He used this energy to consume the God of Bindings that released the locks on their seven books, then bound the others present in ce while the group¡¯s new leader made arrangements.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s brow furrowed. ¡°I see¡­ that could indeed prove to be a tricky enemy. Are you aware of the limits to his powers?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yup!¡± Lena nodded. ¡°He sounds really scary, but it¡¯s not that bad. He has to consume his special energy to devour something, so there is a limit to the <em><span style="font-weight:400">quantity</em><span style="font-weight:400"> that he can devour. The God he ate was only a young, frence god with few followers, and it took most of his energy to consume him. If he were to try to eat you¡­ he¡¯d probably get as far as half of your little finger?¡± She tilted her head in thought at that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Anyways, that¡¯s really all there is to Averick. He was locked up in his life story because he once desired to make the Keeper his meal. I don¡¯t really think that he was strong enough to carry out that n even back then, but Terra has a <em><span style="font-weight:400">fiery</em><span style="font-weight:400"> temper when she finds out someone wants to hurt her man.¡± Lena said with a grin, and Tsubaki quickly nodded her head in agreement.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Though, after a moment, Tsubaki looked over at Lena curiously. ¡°How are you learning all of this, by the way? Some of this information shouldn¡¯t be avable from observing their current movements. You¡­ didn¡¯t read their stories secretly, did you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena shook her head with augh. ¡°No, of course not. After what Aurivy did to my other self, she would be <em><span style="font-weight:400">furious</em><span style="font-weight:400"> if this me went and read their stories like that. No, once I knew the identities of the seven, I just looked into them normally. Old historical records and things like that. Most of them have made a name for themselves, even if it was only as a footnote in history.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki blinked slowly, but nodded her head in understanding. ¡°Does that mean that there are those that you can¡¯t find information on?¡± She asked, to which Lena readily confirmed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There is one man. His title is ¡®Grey the Shadow¡¯. I can¡¯t find any detailed information on anyone matching his description in the records I¡¯m searching, so I considered asking Terra directly who he is. I was just saving that for if he showed any significant ability that I thought warranted bothering her with this. Right now, all I can say is that he is incredibly intelligent.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Grey was the one that immediately figured out the method to exploit Terra¡¯s life stories, and took charge of the group. He also seemed to know the information about some of the others, and used that to convince them to follow him. Right now, he¡¯s acting as a beggar, getting just a few coins so that he can leave the city.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Grey sat on the sidewalk, leaning against a building with his clothes in tatters. His appearance was disheveled, dirt obscuring his features. Anyone who saw him would think of him as a homeless individual, desperate for anything that could help him survive.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In this day, such individuals were rather umon, but notpletely unheard of. Such beggars would often sell their own mana for the smallest coin, without any useful skills able to get them a job. That little coin might be enough for a simple meal, but only just enough to sustain them. They wouldn¡¯t have a home, or any form of luxury.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While Grey¡¯s eyes appeared as unfocused as one would expect of a man whose mana was regrly depleted, his mind was racing. Unlike Castor, he was well aware of the time that had passed since his imprisonment, and had anticipated the changes to the world to some degree. Granted, while he expected gods to be prevalent, he had not believed that they would be quite somon as to be frence workers.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">The world advanced beyond my predictions. This should be the influence of the Keeper and the Greater Pantheon introducing new systems over time. I¡¯ve understood most of the systems that have appeared now, so it¡¯s just a matter of understanding the current world¡¯s situation.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">As he thought about that, Grey let out a forlorn sigh. <em><span style="font-weight:400">It would be best if I was able to ess the current world¡¯s system myself. Just the inventory would make me feel substantially safer.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">At the moment, Grey clutched the book belonging to Averick beneath his clothes, ensuring that his sitting position didn¡¯t cause his shirt to bulge around the book. <em><span style="font-weight:400">I need to find a way to blend in with this world.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> He nced up at his health bar, which was naturally visible as he was ¡®damaged¡¯. Most people would understand this damage as being malnourished, but Grey had purposely cut himself beneath his clothes to create such an image.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">The fact that I still have a health bar means that I¡¯m alive in some way. Or, at least that I have the appearance of being alive. That constion was enough for some of the others, that they were ¡®alive¡¯, but that can¡¯t be true. If this was truly alive, then Terra would have created a modified version of these books and used them as a way to grant the Keeper eternal life.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">When he thought about that, he looked at the tattered hat flipped over on the ground in front of himself. There were a few coins within it, which Grey understood were the currency of the current age. <em><span style="font-weight:400">No, I¡¯m not alive at all. Right now, I can be considered a phantom fueled by her divinity. If the conditions are met, this image of me will be snuffed out without hesitation.</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">So¡­ how do I ¡®survive¡¯? There¡¯s nowhere in the world that I can go to escape Terra¡¯s gaze if she truly seeks to hunt me down, especially not since I am tied to her very being. In fact¡­ you¡¯re watching me right now, aren¡¯t you?</em><span style="font-weight:400"> He asked inwardly, his eyes turning towards the sky again.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Only just.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Sure enough, Terra¡¯s voice appeared in the back of his mind, causing him to shudder. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Honestly, I don¡¯t consider you worth the time spent observing you. However, I need to make sure that I don¡¯t leave behind any problems.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Grey chuckled bitterly when he heard that. The reason that Terra had trapped him was because he was a maniptor behind the scenes. He was able to predict how events would unfold by understanding both his target and his environment. In the past, he had used this to incite wars between human nations, without evering into direct contact with any form of nobility. He¡¯d appear before farmers and musicians, spreading one rumor or another, and then just sit back and watch things unfold.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He believed himself to be untraceable, as he never interacted with anyone of significance, and never used his true name or face. But, as time went on, his desire to manipte the world grewrger andrger. He had be a druid purely for the purpose of using the weather to his advantage, subtly influencing it to cause unrest among selected poptions.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When his ambitions reached their peak, he even dreamed of orchestrating the death of the Keeper. Such a maniption would have been a tale for the ages. Of course, this was back in the time before the Keeper¡¯s intricate connection to the world was widely epted. Most people simply thought of him as a being of immense power.


    <span style="font-weight:400">One day, Terra appeared before him, making this fact abundantly clear. She had asked him if he truly intended to carry on with his ns, even knowing that it could lead to the end of everything. Grey cursed himself for his foolishness back then. Although he had lied, promising to end his ns, Terra had read his heart, the heart that believed that such arge world couldn¡¯t be tied together by one fragile life.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">You should know that I gave up on those ns a long time ago.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Grey muttered in his mind, unsure if Terra was still listening. Or, if she deemed him worthy of a response. He no longer wished to control the Keeper¡¯s life and death, or even orchestrate a grand war. He wanted to live a quiet life, one where the only thing that he needed to control was himself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It had been so long since he was able to control his own body, the feeling of emptiness gnawing away at his mind for an eternity. However, he knew that it wasn¡¯t that simple. This wasn¡¯t just about <em><span style="font-weight:400">him.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> As far as anyone was concerned, his life was tied to the others that had escaped with him. If theymitted any sins worthy of death, the only way to kill them was if he was eliminated as well. Or, at least, that was what they all believed.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">I never read any of their stories.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> He thought inwardly. When he had suggested that they read each other¡¯s books in order to form a chain of life and death, he had intentionally blurred his own vision to such a degree that he could not make out a single character in any of their books. So, while it looked as if he had ¡®properly¡¯ joined their little chain, he was not an anchor for any of them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This seemed to even surprise Terra, who had obviously not been paying close enough attention to infer those details. As she had said, she was only barely keeping an eye on him. <em><span style="font-weight:400">You would betray your newrades?</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Comrades?</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Grey chuckled sarcastically. <em><span style="font-weight:400">A man who ate his own father, a woman whose poisons drove every man she met to their deaths. An assassin who can¡¯t even sneak up on a child in the current age¡­ These are the people I¡¯m supposed to callrades? I could tell right away that some of them hadn¡¯t given up their hatred, letting it seethe inside of themselves for centuries.</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">I didn¡¯t want to get mixed up in their affairs, so I offered them a convenient survival method. If I¡¯m right, then Averick will emerge from his book again if his physical body is ever killed, correct? That¡¯s why I chose to keep it with me. Of the group, he is the most dangerous, the only one that can really be called a danger to the current world. I thought¡­ if I could offer his book, perhaps that would be enough to earn some leniency. I was just nning to leave the city first, find somewhere quiet where the descent of one of the Greater Pantheon wouldn¡¯t be noticed as easily.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">He knew that there was no point in lying, especially not to Terra. Every word that he spoke was the truth. If they had Averick¡¯s book, they could eliminate the only true threat faced by the group. Among the others, the greatest ¡®threat¡¯ would be if one of them somehow managed to reach a position of influence. This was what Grey himself had used as a lure to get them to listen to his ns. However, he knew better than anyone that the Greater Pantheon would never allow them to reach such a position.

 Chapter 1164: A New End

    Chapter 1164: A New End


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre tilted her head, still sitting in Aurivy¡¯s pce. However, by now, Julia hade to join them after ending her stream. When she heard about what had happened, she was understandably worried, but quickly calmed down. ¡°So¡­ that guy didn¡¯t actually read the stories?¡± Lifre questioned. ¡°What are we supposed to do with him, then?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Normally, I¡¯d like to tie up loose ends, one way or the other.¡± Aurivy muttered, leaning against Julia¡¯s side. ¡°This guy basically received the death penalty from Terra, after all. He¡¯s essentially living on borrowed time right now.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia nodded her head slightly, stroking a hand through Aurivy¡¯s hair. ¡°However, it seems like he has genuinely changed his ways after being isted for so long. Additionally, it doesn¡¯t seem like he is really much of a threat to anyone anymore.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy gave a long sigh at that. ¡°If he really decided to act up again, his current power level wouldn¡¯t be enough to stop him from doing so. After all, he controlled people by just talking, not through force or anything.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia smiled softly, continuing to stroke Aurivy¡¯s hair. ¡°Let¡¯s set Grey aside for the moment. How is Lena doing getting the rest of the books?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The halfling goddess rolled her eyes yfully, chuckling. ¡°It¡¯s <em><span style="font-weight:400">Lena</em><span style="font-weight:400"> we¡¯re talking about. As long as I can direct her to where the escapees are, she can get the books off of them without them even realizing they¡¯ve been robbed. Terra gave her some decoy books to rece them with, so they will think that they still have the same book that they always did.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s probably a good thing, right? I mean, if I were them, I¡¯d be trying to get as many people to read the books as possible.¡± Lifre spoke up. ¡°These are basically memetic effects from before memetic effects were discovered.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yup~.¡± Aurivy confirmed, closing her eyes. ¡°Maybe that¡¯s what she was going for? An introduction to memetic effects, before she had the ability to tell us what they were. Just to make us aware of information hazards. Can¡¯t say at this point.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre simply nodded her head at that. ¡°By the way, can¡¯t she just write their death in the books?¡± She asked, and Aurivy¡¯s body froze.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What¡­ do you mean?¡± She asked, and Lifre tilted her head to the side.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, I mean¡­ the books are just their life stories, right. But, the reason that they are able to live forever outside of the book is because their story didn¡¯t have a proper ending. As the Goddess of Stories and Fate, she should be able to add a few lines to the book to write a death for them. Then, as long as that death is read, it should trigger for the person in the book following the same logic as the stories themselves.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy slowly opened her eyes, turning her head to look at the slime girl sitting on the couch. ¡°Lifre, sometimes I think you might secretly be a genius.¡± She said, and Lifre stuck her tongue out yfully. ¡°And then you do things like that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hey?! What¡¯s that supposed to mean?!¡± Lifre asked, beforeughing. ¡°Anyways, the Fate stuff is under the Origin powers now, so do you think she would still be able to do it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy thought for a moment, unsure of that. ¡°Maybe? From what we¡¯ve seen of Dana, an Origin¡¯s energy signature ispletely different from that of a god or goddess. The books likely won¡¯t recognize the Origin of Fate as being the one who wrote them to easily modify their contents. At the same time, the Origin of Fate can¡¯t ess either of Terra¡¯s other domains while in that form. So really, ites down to whether the Origin is able to modify the books with only the one domain.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about that.¡± Another voice spoke up, causing the girls in the room to nce over at Dana, who was leaning on the wall near the door.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Eh? Dana? Didn¡¯t you get dragged off by Tubrock to work on a new coboration project?¡± Lifre blinked in confusion, and Dana¡¯s brow twitched.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This is another avatar of mine. I had an idea while we were working on the Origin defense. I can make a spell that will temporarily allow the Origin of Fate to exert her full power. Essentially, I make a temporary universe for her to consume, and until the spell fades, she will be able to use power befitting an actual Origin. I was on my way to find her and talk about it when I spotted you all talking about this.¡± As she said that, she lifted her head to look at the others. ¡°Though, if you want, I can just kill all of those escapees for you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy shook her head. ¡°No, I¡¯d like to try Lifre¡¯s idea. If we just go with the massacre route, you would also need to kill all of the people who have read their stories since they were brought back. Lifre¡¯s idea could save us a lot of unnecessary bloodshed.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana thought about it for a moment, before nodding her head. ¡°Sure. Also, this spell for Terra is going to cost a massive amount of mana. ording to Chelsea¡¯s calctions, I won¡¯t be able to cast it directly without destabilizing my inner world. Instead, I¡¯ll be sharing the spell with Ryone, and letting her cast it. We should be ready to go in about an hour.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Without waiting for their response, Dana¡¯s body seemed to melt into the shadows. The others watched, Aurivy chuckling as Dana vanished. ¡°Well, it seems like that will be taken care of? Is there anything else we need to urgently discuss?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We still need to figure out what we¡¯re doing about Grey.¡± Julia reminded her, before suddenly pinching Aurivy¡¯s cheek. ¡°And <em><span style="font-weight:400">you</em><span style="font-weight:400">, Rivy, need to take some responsibility.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°W-What do you mean!?¡± Aurivy retorted, iling her arms at her sides.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This all started because you and Terra didn¡¯t properly secure or dispose of your old vaults. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Tell me,</em><span style="font-weight:400"> how many other vaults do you have lying around?¡± Julia asked with narrowed eyes, causing Aurivy to nce off to the side with a guilty expression.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°T-thirty-seven¡­ That was the only one that I shared with Terra, though!¡± She insisted, though Julia¡¯s eyes narrowed further.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And how many of those thirty-seven other vaults have items that could be disastrous if they emerged and fell into the wrong hands?¡± She asked, and Aurivy gulped.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°W-Well¡­ define disastrous?¡± Aurivy chuckled weakly, but Julia only stared at her harder. ¡°T-Thirty of them¡­ the other seven are too old, so they wouldn¡¯t be able to cause any big disasters, even if they were found now¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So what I¡¯m hearing is that there are thirty time bombs scattered throughout the various worlds. And if anyone finds them, it could lead to a disaster like we almost faced with the gue Doctor?¡± Julia questioned, to which Aurivy nodded her head meekly. ¡°And what are you going to do about that?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°W-Well¡­¡± Aurivy nced off to the side again. ¡°I can¡¯t really bring them to Olympus. Some of the items were stored because they have a particrly sensitive nature, like when I was studying the Nothing.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The <em><span style="font-weight:400">correct</em><span style="font-weight:400"> answer is that you will dispose of them.¡± Julia informed her, pinching her cheeks again. ¡°Isn¡¯t that right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy¡¯s eyes widened at that. ¡°B-But my archives! My museums! My--¡± She started, before looking into Julia¡¯s eyes. ¡°A-Alright, I¡¯ll get rid of them. Can I keep the ones that aren¡¯t particrly dangerous?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing that, Julia¡¯s gaze softened, and she returned to stroking through Aurivy¡¯s hair. ¡°That¡¯s fine. Any of them that aren¡¯t too dangerous to store in Olympus can be brought here. But, we don¡¯t want any future problems because someone found one of your vaults and uncovered an artifact capable of teleporting away the <em><span style="font-weight:400">sun</em><span style="font-weight:400">.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Aurivy flinched hearing that, Julia¡¯s eye twitched. ¡°You didn¡¯t¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I was going through a phase, okay?!¡± She said with a pout. ¡°I just wanted to know what would happen if a sun got teleported away. I never used it on an inhabited system, obviously.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia let out a long sigh at that, shaking her head. ¡°Okay, just make sure to get rid of the actually dangerous stuff like your Nothing experiment, and we can put the rest in a special Olympus vault.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy simply nodded her head at that. She wasn¡¯t keen on the idea of losing so many of her old experiments, but she understood that it was better than letting them fall into the wrong hands. Besides, she never <em><span style="font-weight:400">really</em><span style="font-weight:400"> visited those vaults anymore anyways, so she wasn¡¯t losing much from this. She was just a little bit of a hoarder¡­


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, what¡¯s the n for Grey?¡± Lifre asked, deciding to change the subject. ¡°Do we just leave him alone, or what?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy thought about that again, shrugging her shoulders. ¡°Honestly, he¡¯s not <em><span style="font-weight:400">currently</em><span style="font-weight:400"> a threat to anyone. It¡¯s just a matter of whether or not he stays that way. I¡¯d say to just give him a plot ofnd and let him live as a farmer or something, but he isn¡¯t strong enough to fight off the monsters that would attack the crops, and doesn¡¯t have ess to the newer farming systems.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre paused at that, nodding his head. ¡°What about just a basic office job? That shouldn¡¯t be too much of a problem, as long as he behaves himself, right? Especially if he knows that we can use the book to just write him dead if he starts going crazy or anything.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That could work, potentially.¡± Aurivy began. ¡°However, we¡¯ll need to see if writing someone¡¯s death actually is a viable option. Otherwise¡­ well, we¡¯ll need to take more extreme measures to deal with these guys.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As they were talking, the door opened, and Lena burst through with a groan. ¡°All of the books¡­ I got them.¡± She muttered, falling face-first on a free couch. ¡°Went to all the other bases you mentioned. Should all be taken care of now.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy couldn¡¯t help but chuckle at that, nodding her head. ¡°Thanks. That should stop any more people from getting out. You didn¡¯t read any of them, did you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°N-No.¡± Lena quickly shook her head. ¡°I know better than to do something like that!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy arched a brow at Lena¡¯s initial stutter, causing her to nce off to the side. ¡°It was a close call with one of them. She was walking down the street, reading the book out loud as she did. I don¡¯t know if that would work or not, but the fact it works over the inte was enough to convince me to cut off my hearing as soon as I noticed what she was doing. I don¡¯t think I would have heard enough to be affected, anyways.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy blinked when she heard that. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m not entirely sure on that, either. We¡¯d have to ask Terra. Theoretically, it could be a viable method of spreading the effects of the book around, but at the same time, you need to read a certain portion of the book in order for the power to take hold. The few words that a passerby on the street would overhear shouldn¡¯t be enough for that. Though, whether she knows that or not is another matter entirely.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena quickly nodded her head. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s what I thought, but I didn¡¯t want to take any chances. Thankfully, she didn¡¯t seem to notice when I swapped the book out for the one that Terra prepared. I just had to wait for her to be distracted for a moment. Anyways, I¡¯ve got them all with me now. If we kill their current bodies, they¡¯d all respawn here together, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah.¡± Aurivy answered, before shaking her head. ¡°There¡¯s been a slight change of ns, though. We¡¯re going to try out an idea that Lifre had, and that should be able to save us a lot of future trouble.¡±

 Chapter 1165: An Original Ending

    Chapter 1165: An Original Ending


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, it didn¡¯t take long for Dana to find Ryone, who was currently stationed in her own pce. She was studying fifth-tier magic with Gerard, amon urrence for her in recent times. The two of them stood before a mana miniaturization table, which assisted them in shrinking down the mana that they released to create the microscopic adjustments needed for magic of the fifth tier.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Dana entered, Ryone looked over with a smile. ¡°Oh, hey! Did youe to join the research?¡± She asked, though Dana shook her head at that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, actually. I came to get your help with something. We need Terra¡¯s Origin mode to operate at full power for a short while, so I wanted to get your help. I¡¯ve already made the spell, and can transfer it to you as soon as you agree.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing Dana say that, Ryone chuckled, waving a hand for Gerard to take a break. Afterwards, she turned to look at Dana again. ¡°If you¡¯re needing my help with this, it must have an exorbitant mana cost, right? I know it can¡¯t be theplexity, since your mana affinity is even higher than mine when I don¡¯t use my divinity.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana¡¯s eyes widened at that, having always assumed that Ryone¡¯s affinity was naturally at one hundred percent. ¡°Sorry, I wasn¡¯t aware of that. But, yes, the required mana is roughly twenty million per cast. The Keeper might have the mana reserves to cast it once, but even if he could, it would leave him drained. That¡¯s why I came to you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ryone tilted her head at that, blinking. ¡°Twenty million? What on earth are you trying to do that requires such an astronomical number?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">A spark of yfulness appeared in Dana¡¯s eyes. ¡°In order to get the Origin of Fate to operate at full power, we need to modify the void-like structure of her body to be simr to a normal Origin, before they have created their world. Additionally, we need to create a world with simted living creatures and civilization, that way there is a ¡®fate¡¯ for her to manipte in the real world. At the same time, her original state must be saved to ensure a gentle transfer as the effects of the spell end.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ryone widened her eyes briefly, nodding her head in understanding. ¡°I see. Using mana to manipte a void-like body, and then allowing a gentle return. Not to mention creating a simted world like that¡­ I can understand the cost now. Really, that blessing you got is absurd.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana chuckled slightly, walking over and holding her hand out. A nearly solid blue sphere appeared above her hand, and she looked at Ryone expectantly. ¡°This is the spell I created to share the Origin spell with you. Once you ce your hand in it, it will give you a skill that integrates with your system profile, and that skill will store the spell. That way, you won¡¯t have to worry about itsplexity, and can just cast it as you need to.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ryone blinked, looking down at the spell hovering over Dana¡¯s hand. ¡°I¡¯d say creating a skill-bestowing spell might <em><span style="font-weight:400">almost</em><span style="font-weight:400"> be as spectacr as the Origin spell itself. At the very least, it has more widespread uses.¡± As she said that, she ced her hand within the spell that Dana created. Sure enough, she received a prompt from the system, informing her that she had learned a new skill.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana simply shook her head. ¡°The uses for this are too limited. I can use it to share spells, or energybination methods, but physical skills are far more restrictive. Also, if I¡¯m not careful with the skill, I¡¯ll hit Ashley¡¯s firewall. Otherwise, there would be dozens of people out there that would have made skills to give themselves unlimited experience.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I suppose.¡± Ryone nodded, closing her eyes as she felt the presence of the new skill, and began to study the spell within it. ¡°I see. Are you wanting this spell cast right away?¡± She asked. When Dana agreed, Ryone held out a hand wrapped in her divinity, creating a softly glowing blue marble.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thanks.¡± Dana reached out to take the marble. ¡°By the way, what type of fifth-tier spell are you trying to create?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ryone¡¯s eyes opened, looking at the table where they had been studying. ¡°Honestly, we¡¯re just trying to create something that works, so we can understand more of the patterns necessary.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana pursed her lips, but nodded her head. ¡°Sure. That seems a little wasteful, though. Like downloading a massive program only to have it print out ¡®Hello World¡¯ and shut itself down. Honestly, I¡¯m not even sure what the scope of fifth-tier magic would be, since full intelligence and world creation are the realm of the fourth tier.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ryone gave a small smile at that. ¡°It¡¯s more like using a high level programmingnguage, rather than arge program. We¡¯re just learning the code now. As for what fifth-tier magic can do¡­ if my theory is correct, you could create multiple different intelligences, each with their own specialties. Alternatively, you could create a world with far more detail. For instance, the simted world in the spell you created, a fifth-tier spell could create it for real, creating the world with an already-thriving civilization.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana¡¯s eyes twitched wider, and she nodded again. ¡°Right, that makes sense. Anyways, I need to go find Terra. Good luck with your research.¡± She said, before turning to leave.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, hey Dana!¡± One of the Terra twins said when Dana suddenly appeared within their pce, where the two were ying a video game together. ¡°Did that life story situation get taken care of?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana¡¯s brow twitched when she saw the two ying like this, her lips curving into a small smirk. ¡°Not yet¡­ is this really the time to y games?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Big sis upstairs said that if you needed us again, you¡¯d let us know.¡± The other sister pointed out. ¡°And if you didn¡¯t need us, we were free to do whatever we wanted. So, if it¡¯s not taken care of already, that means you have something you need us to do?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Dana nodded her head. ¡°We need the Origin of Fate in order to resolve the issue. Or, at the very least, that¡¯s what our current n is. Mind pausing the game to help us out?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As soon as she asked that, the twins paused their game and stood up. ¡°Sure!¡± They said in perfect harmony. ¡°So, you want the other one, huh?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After asking that, the two of them began to merge, having long since given up the pretext of needing a fancy ritual to fuse. Within moments, the Origin of Fate stood before Dana, smiling with pitch-ck eyes. ¡°Youe bearing presents?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. And, if you¡¯re saying that, I assume you know whether or not this will work?¡± Dana asked, retrieving the glowing marble.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course. The child blessed by magic would not create a faulty spell. As for writing the end of a story¡­ were I still but a goddess, that may prove tricky. After all, it is a story that is alreadypleted, so altering my own works could have damaged the divinity from which it was produced. With that trinket in your hands, however, I can do far more.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana nodded her head with a smile, tossing the marble towards Terra. She caught it in the air, swallowing it as if it were a pill. Her body convulsed, skin seeming to shake all along her body. From her expression, it was clear that this was not a painless process. Dana had anticipated that, as she was fundamentally altering Terra¡¯s energy structure.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The entire process took roughly five minutes, after which she stood with a long exhale. ¡°That was¡­ unpleasant. And you are hoping that I will go through that for any dangerous invasion in the future?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana couldn¡¯t help but chuckle awkwardly. ¡°Well¡­ it would really help if we had the Origin of Fate when we needed to deal with any universal threats.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra arched a brow at that. ¡°I suppose. It looks like I¡¯ll be stuck in this form for the next day or two, until your spell fades. It¡¯s preventing me from being able to separate back into my two halves.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was something that Dana hadn¡¯t anticipated, but it made sense. ¡°I see¡­ sorry about that. Do you think that you can handle those stories now?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra thought about it for a moment, nodding her head. Seeing that, Dana called over Lena, informing her that they were ready. Lena blinked, but then handed over the six books to Terra. ¡°Here you go, chief!¡± Lena said with a smile, and Terra returned the gesture as she took the books.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thank you.¡± She said, before opening the first book and flipping to the end. ¡°Thankfully, Dana provided me with a world with a proper civilization, where stories are shared among one another. With just a little work, I can bring those stories to live within my inner world, granting me the power to influence the world with the written word.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she spoke, she manifested a pen from her hand, and began to quickly write. ¡°The gluttonous one will meet his end devoured by a hungry beast. The poisoner will fall prey to her own poisons. The assassin, robbed and left to bleed out in an alley. As they lived, so shall they die.¡± Her hand seemed to blur, finishing each book in only a matter of seconds. When she closed each book, the covers shifted from soft, golden leather to pitch ck.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once she was done with all six, she looked at Lena and Dana. ¡°The sentences will be carried out in due time. By the end of the week, these six will have fallen.¡± After saying so, she handed the books back. ¡°Afterwards, the highest Terra wishes for these books to be disposed of.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That was the n!¡± Lena nodded her head enthusiastically. ¡°Also, is she fine with letting thest one stick around as an everyday worker?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra¡¯s lips twitched at that. ¡°Her wrath faded long ago. In some ways, allowing him to live in a world where he has no influence, and is weaker than most children, would be a greater torment than simply killing him. One day, he may wish to die, and find himself incapable of it. Forced to continue an unending, monotonous existence. All the while knowing that if he ever sought to strike out against those who gave him this fate, he will condemn himself to a far worse torment.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena couldn¡¯t help but blink at that. ¡°You know, you said that her wrath faded, but that was pretty dark.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I said that <em><span style="font-weight:400">her</em><span style="font-weight:400"> wrath faded.¡± Terra confirmed with a chuckle. ¡°I am still annoyed, personally. After all, I only learned about all of this recently. Regardless, she has given her consent for him to live a normal life. Is there anything else that you need of me?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana shook her head, a small grin on her face. ¡°No, that should be it. I¡¯d say that you can get back to your game, but it looks like that will have to wait until after the spell wears off.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Quite.¡± Terra nodded her head in agreement. ¡°Though, it does feel nice to experience what it is like to truly be an Origin. I had long since given up on the idea that I would ever feel this way.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana nced up at Terra briefly. ¡°Well, it¡¯s not permanent. And, like we said before, we¡¯ll be counting on you when the next big invasiones.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Though Dana said that, she wasn¡¯t entirely confident that even the Origin of Fate would be able to turn things around for them in such an event. After all, an advanced civilization capable of creating Origins would likely create countermeasures against various types of Origins as well, just like Dana was trying to do with Tubrock. The most necessary countermeasure would be against one with the power to directly control death or fate, so she was fully expecting that future invasions would be wary against them.


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 1166: Too Strong, Please Nerf Me!

    Chapter 1166: Too Strong, Please Nerf Me!


    <span style="font-weight:400">After dealing with the problem of the life stories, Dana hade to report to me about the incident. This was rather important, primarily because she revealed to me that the spell to improve Terra¡¯s origin powers came with a rather serious side-effect. Because of how it temporarily turned her into a true Origin, it also removed the built-up time that she had saved for her pseudo-Origin mode.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In other words, the Origin of Fate was now able to operate at full power for single-day bursts, but would find it difficult to build up enough power to naturally enter her typical mode for any substantial period of time again. While this wasn¡¯t strictly a terrible side-effect, I was d that it was brought to my attention, just in case I decided that I needed the Origin of Fate for anything in the future.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As for what happened to Grey, it seems like they¡¯re just leaving him alone. From what I can tell, nobody even <em><span style="font-weight:400">told</em><span style="font-weight:400"> him that they were leaving him alone¡­ or that the book he was carrying was no longer the same book that he thought it was.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I projected my vision with World Sight to check up on him, he was still sitting on the sidewalk, leaning against the wall and clutching the book hidden in his baggy shirt. He had no idea that the situation had already been resolved, and likely wouldn¡¯t for quite some time, given that he had no desire to open the book to read it.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">After nearly one full day had passed since Terra¡¯s incarnation took the ¡®pill¡¯ provided by Dana, she tilted her head to the side, a small smile forming on her face. ¡°Looks like that¡¯s all the time that I have now.¡± She muttered to herself, feeling that the transformation was ending.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra closed her eyes, her body shing with ck and gold energies, before separating into the twins. The two Terras looked at one another and let out a frustrated sigh. ¡°Of course we got blocked out for an entire day. Why wouldn¡¯t we?¡± The divine sister asked in a self-deprecating tone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Meanwhile, the fallen sister chuckled. ¡°Hey, it¡¯s not all that bad. At least we¡¯ll be able to y a more active role in future events?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">At that, the divine sister rolled her eyes. ¡°You¡¯re just saying that because you were about to lose earlier.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You can¡¯t prove that!¡± The other said, before they both shared augh.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">With the immediate crisis over, Lifre sat in her own room, at her desk. She was debating whether or not she wanted to immediately start her stream again. It had only been a day at this point since she ended her streaming marathon, iming that she was going out on an adventure to Fyor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While, admittedly, she didplete that adventure, it was a rather short one for her tastes. When she made that announcement, she had expected to be gone for up to a full week, exploring dense jungles and battling fierce monsters. Part of her even wanted to go back to Fyor and explore the seventy-fifthyer more fully, just to see what other secrets the floor had to offer.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Gah!¡± She brought her hands up to her head, and then pounded it against the desk. ¡°No! Bad Lifre! You made a promise! There are a lot of people waiting for you. A bunch of them would already know that the level cap of Fyor has increased by a bunch, so the adventure¡¯s already over!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">She banged her head against the desk a few more times, until she lifted her head, her forehead seeming caved in at a weird angle. Thankfully, she was a slime, as well as an energy body, so her forehead immediately returned to normal. ¡°Let¡¯s just set up the next stream to be an even cooler adventure.¡± She muttered to herself, navigating to the streaming site.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As soon as she clicked the button to enter streaming mode, she disappeared from Olympus, appearing in an empty, ck space. In front of her was a blue, holographic window asking her to set up her streaming environment. She had the option to return to the same stream world as the one that she had recently left, or to create a new one.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, Lifre created a new one. ¡°I don¡¯t want to customize too much right off the bat. Let¡¯s leave plenty of room for viewer interaction. Also¡­¡± She looked around, before calling out into the emptiness. ¡°Is there an option to reduce my mana affinity?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Many people hadn¡¯t realized yet, but the streaming system itself was intelligent. Really, this should have been obvious, since it created so many sentient creatures based on the viewer¡¯s donations. Only a few had tried to speak with the system itself when establishing their stream. As the one that created the idea for this system, Lifre was well aware of its potential.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Rather than directly answer Lifre, a new window appeared in front of her, allowing her to adjust her affinity for various energy types. She could adjust everything from the four basic energies, all the way to divinity and the void. Of course, these changes would only persist during the stream, and would return to normal as soon as she returned to the real world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing this, Lifre smiled happily. ¡°Please set all energy affinities to the level I possessed when I started my first stream.¡± It was great to have total mana affinity when a real crisis appeared. However, when she wanted to act as an entertainer, she needed to be able to convey a sense of struggle. Sure, there were plenty of ¡®sandbox streamers¡¯ who made themselves so overpowered that they could handle anything with ease. But, she didn¡¯t find that fun! Lifre wanted her viewers to be able to set the difficulty as they wished, and that was only possible if their choices really mattered.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thank you, system!¡± She called out, seeing her mana affinity dropping from one hundred percent to just under eighty percent. ¡°Next, please set my race to half-elf, half-halfling. No, don¡¯t call it a Quarterling, that joke is way too old. I¡¯d like to keep my pale skin and white hair, though. I just don¡¯t want cheaty slime powers for where this is going.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she spoke, she saw various windows appearing, reflecting the changes that she requested. ¡°Okay¡­ for the starting environment of the stream, I want to be in a crashed escape pod on arge asteroid, drifting in space. Give me a suit that has¡­ an hour and a half of oxygen, and basic construction and self defense tools. Use my preferred ¡®nk te¡¯ system temte, and apply my ¡®space adventure¡¯ temte for donation prices.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre thought about it for a moment longer, tapping her chin. ¡°Oh, and I want to include a default NPC with my stream. Make them a human male named Hank, and he onlymunicates via long-range voice transmissions. Hank will serve as a narrator NPC, announcing the effects of major donations, such as when an asteroid is about to collide with my location, or if another ship is detected approaching me.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Finally, I want to activate the hourly donation lottery, just like before. For a special prize, the first winner of the lottery will be allowed to customize Hank¡¯s appearance, as long as he remains a human male.¡± Once those settings were applied, Lifre began her stream, closing her eyes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When her eyes opened, she found herself in a ck, skintight bodysuit. Simr to the typical style of modern spacesuits, this one did not have a proper helmet. Instead, there was a metallic ring around the neck, which projected a field of energy in a bubble shape around the head. This energy served to both contain the oxygen in the suit as well as normalize the lighting for the wearer, darkening or brightening their vision as needed for the environment.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre turned her head from side to side, seeing the crashed escape pod behind her. When she went to explore it, she found a small backpack of tools, as well as amunicator pin that could be attached to her suit.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The light on the center of the pin was shing, and Lifre heard a voice as soon as she fastened it in ce on her suit. ¡°-read me? I repeat, this is Hank Falcone of the Gctic Rescue Division, Sector Three-Eighteen. Do you read me?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This is Lifre, I read you, Hank.¡± Lifre spoke with a smile, and heard a sigh from the other end of the call.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Good. We haven¡¯t been able to make contact with anyone else from your ship so far. ording to our scanners, you should be located on a drifting asteroid. Can you report your status?¡± He asked, and Lifre nodded her head, operating the suit¡¯s interface to disy its diagnostics on the energy field around her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There are no problems with my suit. I have a basding kit, and ny minutes of oxygen. Sending the live diagnostic now, please confirm.¡± She said, pressing a shing button on her interface.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Confirmed, Lifre. We have your suit data now, and will continue to monitor your condition until you are rescued. Given your current position, we can¡¯t send a ship to reach you in time, so we will be attempting to contact vessels in your area and redirect them to your location. I¡¯ll report back to you as soon as I have an update.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">With that, themunication channel went offline, and Lifre took a deep breath. Suddenly, her lips spread into a wide grin, and she spun around on her heels. ¡°Alright, everyone! This is the start of our new adventure! As you all can tell, the theme of this stream is a more scientific journey through space!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I know a lot of you were disappointed by how powerful I became near the end of myst stream, so I would like to reassure you all. For this stream, I have lowered my natural talents back to what they were when I first began streaming for everyone! While I can still use Absurdity of Fate, it will no longer be with the same ease as previously, and I will not simply be a master magician right off the bat!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°For my returning slimeballs, I have reset my system and character progression. We¡¯re back at a nk te! Feel free to suggest whatever systems you want to have included, and our generous viewers will choose what to put in! Also, given the theme of this stream, events rted to magic and other fantasy elements will be more expensive, while those rted to science will be cheaper than the previous stream.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If you¡¯re just tuning in, feel free to go back and see the opening scene again to understand the current scenario. In the meantime, I¡¯m going to see what I can do to prolong my stay on this unforgiving rock! Enjoy the stream, everyone!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">With that introduction out of the way, Lifre¡¯s expression returned to normal, and she opened hernding kit to see what tools she had avable. There was a simple miningser, a portable refinery, and a construction wand. This construction wand only came with a few built-in blueprints deemed necessary to survive a crashnding, such as an emergency shelter or back-up oxygen tanks.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, in order to build any of that, she first needed the materials. Thus, Lifre turned to thest item on her list, a short-range scanner. Pressing the button, she watched on her suit interface as a ripple spread out around her, mapping the asteroid. ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ It looks like this is a predominantly iron asteroid, with bits of copper. That¡¯ll be good for construction, but I won¡¯t be able to get any extra oxygen out of that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I might be able to salvage an oxygen tank from my escape pod, if the tank is still intact. Otherwise, hopefully I can disassemble it to craft myself a jet pack or something to fly to an ice rock.¡± Naturally, she wasn¡¯t saying all of this for her own benefit, but to give ideas to her viewers. They could either donate to help her ns, or to hinder them. They could even really throw a wrench into her ns by making one of her tools break.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For that reason, she immediately started mining out the ground beneath her, wanting to get enough basic resources before any viewers decided to make this an impossible challenge.

 Chapter 1167: The Value of Money

    Chapter 1167: The Value of Money


    <span style="font-weight:400">Initially, the mining speed for the handheld tool was¡­ painfully slow. It took a full minute just to mine out a cubic meter of material, which led to a few of her viewers deciding to speed things up. First, someone donated to create a simple Miner ss, which enhanced the efficiency of all mining tools. After that, several people kept donating to have the ss improved. Eventually, she was able to mine a cubic meter every three seconds, which made the wait far more bearable to the viewers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Though, that did bring something else to mind for Lifre. ¡°Hmm, I should probably consider an exnation as to why I had no levels when I crashed here.¡± She thought aloud, waiting for her portable refiner to smelt all of the material that she had mined.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh! I know!¡± Lifre beamed. ¡°Let¡¯s say that the system isn¡¯t a personal thing like in the real world. Instead, it¡¯s tied to a device worn by people. So, my system device got scrambled in the crash, forcing me to do aplete reset!¡± She nodded her head firmly at this exnation, and the chat seemed to ept it as well. After all, if she was in a crashed pod, that implied that she had at least enough skills to be on the crew of a spaceship at one point.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, it didn¡¯t take too long for her to get the materials that she needed from the meteor, and she began to dismantle her pod. While this did give her all of the resources necessary to make herself a jetpack, she hadn¡¯t seen any other nearby meteors to actually fly to.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she was contemting her next step, hermunicator activated, and Hank¡¯s voice rang out in her ears. ¡°Lifre, we¡¯ve spotted a ship heading in your direction in response to the broadcasted alert. Be advised, we¡¯re unsure of the ship¡¯s origins, so they may be hostile.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre¡¯s eyes lit up at that. ¡°Pirates?!¡± She asked excitedly, though her voice must have sounded worried over themunicator.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There¡¯s a chance that¡¯s the case. If you can, try to make a weapon to defend yourself, just in case. You may also want to try to build a shelter to hide from them.¡± As Hank was speaking, Lifre was already in the process of using some of her leftover materials to make an iron sword. She didn¡¯t have a reliable energy source to make any kind of energy-based weapon, so a sword was really her best bet.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Got it, Hank! Thanks for the warning. When will they be here?¡± Lifre asked, and Hank paused for a moment.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯ve got five minutes.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Out of curiosity, I had decided to watch Lifre¡¯s stream, pulling it up in my office. Granted, there were still tons of other streamers on the tform. I was sure that some of them were likely using the same type of content as Lifre, though I doubted whether they would do the same lottery system that she did, given that most people that did this would have turned it into a career.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Either way, when I opened her stream, I found her hiding in a cave. ording to the rapidly scrolling chat, there was a pirate ship on their way to her location. Everyone was wondering whether she would try to destroy the ship with nothing but her iron sword, or if she would try to join their ranks.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Given the fact that this was Lifre, I could confidently say that both of those were very viable options. Up at the top of the stream was a countdown for when the pirates would arrive, and it was already down to under a minute. Curious, I decided to try to make a donation as well. I hadn¡¯t tested this system myself, so I wasn¡¯t sure how intense the prices were for it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I selected the option to donate, there was a text field for me to enter what modification I would like to make to the stream. I brought a hand up to stroke my chin in thought, before typing in that I wanted to create an Engineer ss, and began to fill out bonuses, such as increased machine efficiency and efficiency when disassembling.


    <span style="font-weight:400">By the time I was done, I saw that the <em><span style="font-weight:400">minimum</em><span style="font-weight:400"> price of the donation was one gold coin. There was a note that donating beyond the minimum level would increase the effects of the ss. Out of curiosity, I donated a single white gold coin, which was the equivalent of one hundred gold coins.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When given the option to share my identity, I declined, and there was a banner at the top of the chat, announcing my purchase in glowing, white text. At the same time, I heard a voice speaking up over the stream. ¡°Lifre, I¡¯m getting some strange readings from your suit. It looks like some scattered data hase together to create a modified version of the Engineer ss. I can¡¯t make out all the specifics from here, but the amount of data involved is considerable.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Eh, really?¡± Lifre¡¯s eyes lit up, and she smiled wide. ¡°Thanks for the update, Hank! Gotta go radio silent for a bit, I¡¯ve gotpany.¡± As she said that, she looked out of the cave where she was hiding, seeing a ck and red ship appear in the space above her meteor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As the ship appeared, everyone in the chat was wondering who had spent an entire white gold coin on a new ss, and whether that would make Lifre too strong. Honestly, I didn¡¯t consider a white gold to be worth much at all. I had even been considering donating a ck gold coin, which is worth ten thousand normal gold coins. However, it seemed like a good thing that I didn¡¯t, if there was already that much excitement over a white gold donation.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Are the prices just that much cheaper than I thought?</em><span style="font-weight:400"> I couldn¡¯t help but ask myself. Though, at the same time, I hadn¡¯t really been in touch with the economy of the world. I knew that ck gold was the highest form of divine currency that Ashley and Ryone had set, but I didn¡¯t know exactly what you could buy with one.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I sent a brief message to Ryone, curious about what the conversion rate would look likepared to my old world. She told me that a single copper coin was the equivalent of a penny, with a silver coin being one dor. That made a gold coin one hundred dors¡­ and a white gold coin ten thousand. Okay, when I heard it like that, I could start to understand why a white gold donation was a big deal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If I had really donated a ck gold coin, I would have been donating the equivalent of one million dors to the stream, all for the purpose of one ss. Though, I was now curious to see just how strong this white gold ss was.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre took a deep breath, steadying herself as she looked at the ship above. She had already disabled her suit¡¯s beacon andmunication devices. Now, she was waiting for the ship to send a shuttle to her asteroid.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she waited, she opened her suit¡¯s interface, wanting to check out the new ss she had just gotten. The first one she saw was her Miner ss, which had a deep silver color to its name. However, the second ss was white with a thin gold outline. Her eyes widened as she saw that, realizing the value of the donation that had to have gone into it.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Wait wait, if I remember my donation format¡­ a silver ss passively benefits me or my equipment. A gold ss gives stronger benefits, and some active abilities. A white gold sses with its own way of using energy like mana or ki. As for ck gold, they basicallye with their own magic system. But for a white gold engineer¡­ I should be able to control technology with either mana or ki.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">She spotted a shuttle descending from the pirate ship, seeing its somewhat damaged exterior. <em><span style="font-weight:400">If I follow normal conventions, I should be able to use mana to alter the programming of a device, while ki can physically control it. If I manage to control my spiritual energy well enough, I should even be able to give an item sentience.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">These were all guesses, naturally. The exact specifications depended on the request of the one who made the donation. However, it was far more likely that a god was watching her stream, and donated a white gold coin without specifying too deeply.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre¡¯s ns changed when she understood the value of her new ss. As soon as the shuttle touched down, she began making her way towards it, making sure to stay behind any rocky protrusions that she could use to block their vision.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Peeking her head out, she saw three men withser rifles stepping out of the shuttle, locking it behind themselves. Rather than splitting up, they moved as a cohesive group, which would have made it far more difficult for her to ambush them to steal their weapons.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, she didn¡¯t need to do that anymore. Instead, she snuck around them, making her way to the shuttle and cing her hand on the control panel. With a small exertion of mana, she saw a green light sh on the panel, the shuttle door opening. Lifre had a devious smile on her face as she entered, walking over to the control panel and sitting down.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The stream¡¯s camera moved to show the exterior of the shuttle as it took off from the asteroid, making its way back towards the ship. Naturally, when the three on the ground noticed this, they began firing frantically towards their own shuttle, trying to shoot it down and get it back. However, it swerved through space, evading the sts.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Soon, the shuttle began to dock on the pirate ship, with twenty men and women standing outside of it. Their weapons were aimed at the door, ready to shoot whoever emerged. There was a faint hiss as the shuttle door opened, and five of the pirates stepped forward to drag out anyone inside.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, after a brief search, the five emerged from the shuttle, shaking their heads. ¡°It¡¯s empty, sir.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What do you mean, empty?¡± The leader of the group asked with narrowed eyes. ¡°You expect me to believe that it stole <em><span style="font-weight:400">itself</em><span style="font-weight:400">?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Pretty much.¡± A voice came back to answer him, though it wasn¡¯t one from the group. The pirate leader¡¯s eyes went wide as he looked around, the voice speaking again over the ship¡¯s speakers. ¡°Sorry, I just needed a bit of a distraction while Imandeered your systems! Really shoddy work, by the way. Now, let¡¯s see¡­ activating all internal defense turrets, resetting the IFF recognition, and for good measure¡­ opening the hangar bay doors.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As soon as the voice finished speaking, the doors of the hangar began to open, the air being rapidly pulled out. Most of the twenty pirates inside were dragged out by the force of the depressurization, leaving the rest to deal with the turrets that began to emerge from the ceiling.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°...Okay, so to answer my question, a white gold coin can get you quite a lot in a stream.¡± I said, blinking as I watched Lifre almost effortlessly take control of a pirate ship. Already, there were people talking about pooling funds to nerf her new ss, while others were interested to see what Lifre would do with it. Most of the chat was simply looking forward to seeing who would win the lottery at the end of the hour, since that person would be getting quite a hefty sum.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As for me, while I could honestly say that I was tempted to donate a ck gold coin, just to see what would happen, I held myself back. There was no reason to cause unnecessary chaos in her stream.

 Chapter 1168: Hacks

    Chapter 1168: Hacks


    <span style="font-weight:400">


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod sat in his office, focusing his divinity on a pen that he was holding in his right hand. At the same time, his left hand was held up, palm facing upwards. He was experimenting with energybinations, wanting to get a very specific type of new energy. However, this required quite a lot of trial and error, even with his Preparation and Optimization domains.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was difficult enough that he had asked Udona to help him practice World Sight purely so that he could get this new energy. With his right hand, he was fusing very minute amounts of energy, which would asionally crackle and spark if the fusion failed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, no, not like this.¡± He muttered to himself. The energy that he was trying to create was moreplex than any that he had ever seen or heard of to date. However, it was also extremely easy to understand the effects. The problem was that its existence could be considered a cheat in the system.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I need to use mana as the foundation, with spiritual energy reinforcing it. If I can filter some of the ambient energy of the system with natural energy, and fuse that with the mana I¡¯ve gathered¡­¡± He furrowed his brow, writing his calctions with his right hand as his left hand performed the experiments.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Step by step, he talked his way through the process. Filtering the system¡¯s ambient energy was by far the most challenging task, and what had kept him stumped for more than a week. Once he got past that stage, it was a matter of keeping that energy without releasing it into the world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, eventually, Aznod felt a sudden, qualitative shift in the energy that he was experimenting with. He felt as if it had crossed a threshold, bing denser and more stable. Yet, there was no prompt from the system about his aplishment, so he knew that he was not done yet.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He followed the steps that he had nned with his divine domains, fusing more and more energy with his experiment. Until, finally, he knew that it could take no more. At this point, his instincts as well as his divinity was telling him that he had achieved the energy he wanted, so he began to absorb it into himself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A momentter, a system window appeared, informing Aznod that he had created a ¡®Unique Saint-Level Energy¡¯. Aznod wasn¡¯t sure what it meant by Unique, rather than simply calling it new. As the system was waiting for him to name this energy, he sent a message to Udona to inquire.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Udona, can you give me some information? I just created a new energy, but the system is instead referring to it as unique.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> He told her, and it took a moment for Udona to respond.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Give me a second, I¡¯ll check with Terra. If anyone would understand, it¡¯s her.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> The kitsune goddess responded, and then continued a few secondster. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Terra says that it¡¯s because it¡¯s a Saint Energy that is specific to a single set of worldws. If you were to try to use that energy in a world with differentws like Lorek, it wouldn¡¯t function.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod blinked at that, but nodded his head in understanding. That was reasonable, since it was the worldws of Deckan that he had used when creating the energy in the first ce. He¡¯d likely need to repeat the process with Lorek¡¯s worldws, or find a way to integrate thosews with this energy. Either way, he looked at the system window, and named the energy ¡®Soul Stimulus¡¯.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once he had absorbed the new energy, and allowed it to grow within a new energy core, he focused on it. He drew on the power that he had designed, and a silver sphere appeared in his hand. Aznod smiled as he saw this sphere, before setting it down. ¡°Excellent. I¡¯ll need to increase the energy quite a bit more before I can use it in a dish, though.¡± He said to himself, before feeling arms wrapping around his shoulders.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Looking back, he found his head pressing against his wife¡¯s bosom, and chuckled to himself as she spoke. ¡°So, what is this new energy of yours?¡± Udona asked curiously, tail wagging behind her. ¡°You can¡¯t just say that you made a new energy and not tell me what it does!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I had no intentions of such.¡± Aznod assured her, closing his eyes and rxing. ¡°This energy, which I have called Soul Stimulus, is designed to bestow experience onto someone who ingests it. I can¡¯t use it on myself, because the energy will simply return to its natural state. However, if used on someone that does not have the energy themselves¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°First, it begins to dissolve, gently mixing with the target¡¯s energy. It gives them a vivid hallucination of training the ss that was used as the temte for the ingested energy. This simtion is based on their own understanding of themselves, making them feel as if they were truly training the ss. This is opposed to the normal level spheres, which contain the memories of someone else¡¯s training.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona blinked at that, looking down at the silver sphere on the desk. ¡°So, your new energy is an experience cheat?¡± She asked, to which Aznod chuckled again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s one way of saying it. The more energy used in the creation of the ingested sphere, the more experience the target may potentially receive. However, ording to my calctions, the target¡¯spatibility with the ss will y a big role. If someone has no talent for magic, then they would not receive much benefit even if I used arge amount of energy to bestow them with experience.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona nodded her head. ¡°That makes sense. On the other hand, people can keep reusing a level sphere to study its contents. So your new energy is like a more customized version of that, and one that you designed to be an ingredient?¡± She asked, and Aznod quickly confirmed. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, you would be able to help anyone reach up to level five hundred in a ss that they are talented with.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s quite possible. Though, I would assume that level five hundred would take quite a lot of energy to achieve.¡± He said pensively. ¡°If someone were to eat the meals that I produced over a long period of time, and mix in their own training to solidify the experience that they gained from me, it would certainly make it easier for them to reach this level.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona gave a yful giggle, hugging Aznod a bit tighter. ¡°Only you would create what was essentially a system cheat with the express intention of using it as a cooking ingredient.¡± She said in a teasing tone, and Aznod awkwardly cleared his throat.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre hummed to herself as she tinkered with the control systems on the pirate ship. This was the first time that a viewer had invested into giving her a white gold ss all at once in one of her streams. There had been times when arge group had contributed to a single ss, treating it as their shared goal, and eventually elevating it to white gold. That¡¯s what they had done with the archer ss in her previous stream.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, there had never been a time when they had simply donated that much all at once. So, she was curious to test the limits of her abilities. Besides, she had already eliminated the rest of the crew with the help of the ship¡¯s internal defenses. And doing this was a natural way for her to gain ss experience.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After what seemed like hours of training in ¡®montage mode¡¯, Lifre ceased her training and returned the stream to its normal operations. ¡°Hank, I¡¯ve managed to take control of the pirate ship that had been targeting me, thanks to the new ss that appeared. I¡¯m essing their systems now, and will link the associated files. I don¡¯t suppose these guys have any kinds of bounties on their heads?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You took on an entire pirate ship alone?¡± Hank asked in a surprised tone. ¡°That ss must have been more powerful than expected. I¡¯m reviewing the information you¡¯re sending now¡­ From the looks of things, these are mid-level pirates belonging to the ck Space Brigade. Looking at the crew manifest, their total bountyes out to ten thousand, five hundred credits.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ooh, nice. I assume I¡¯ll need to take the bodies back to civilized space to receive the bounty.¡± She said, to which Hank confirmed. ¡°What about the ship? Am I allowed to keep it, or do I need to hand it over?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a pause at that. ¡°Unfortunately, you¡¯ll be asked to turn over the ship, as it is connected to various criminal activities. However, there is an additional reward of fifty thousand credits for doing so, and that bes sixty thousand if the navigation data is intact.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Got it, boss!¡± Lifre nodded her head. Part of her wanted to try to take this ship to the pirate¡¯s main base and raid that, but even a white gold ss wouldn¡¯t be enough to get her out of that situation alive. ¡°Send me the coordinates where I¡¯ll need to hand this over. I don¡¯t suppose seventy thousand credits is enough to get my own ship, while I¡¯m there?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hank hesitated for a moment, before ultimately answering in the negative. ¡°Unfortunately, no. A new ship, even a small one meant to be run by a single person, would need at least half a million credits to purchase.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre let out a whistle at that. ¡°Oh, wow.¡± She spoke aloud, before grinning as she input the destination that Hank sent over. She was already thinking of how she could either make the money to get her own ship, or make the ship itself. ¡°The autopilot has been set to the coordinates you gave. I¡¯ll arrive in six hours to handle the delivery.¡± She spoke up, before closing the connection.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Now, what to do for six hours~?¡± She asked herself with a yful tone, opening up the engineering database of the ship. ¡°I¡¯ll need to upgrade my tools. Hank said I need to hand over the ship, but he said nothing about the ship¡¯s cargo. As long as I use it before I get there¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre began tob through the database of the ship, finding a storeroom that had a more advanced building tool used for maintenance. Once she had acquired it, she made sure to download all of the ship¡¯s blueprints onto the new tool, and even created a backup in her suit.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Then, for the next several hours, she went into yet another montage, knowing that the viewers wouldn¡¯t want to sit through six hours of studying. Lifre was experimenting with the new engineer ss, finding that she could design her own blueprints as long as she hadpatible reference materials. Additionally, she attached a scanner to her suit, which would allow her to scan unregistered items to create new blueprints for them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With all of this, she had managed to level up significantly during her travel, giving her engineer ss ample data storage for all of her needs. She made copies of the ship¡¯s core programs, nning to use them if she made her own ship in the future to save herself some trouble.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Eventually, the montage mode was automatically canceled, an automated announcement ringing out that they were approaching their destination. With a grin, Lifre finished her preparations, having attached a fully armored exoskeleton to her previously skintight suit. This would certainly add some credibility to her im of having taken down the pirates, given that she had wiped the security footage of the entire event. A girl¡¯s got to have her secrets, right?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre felt the ship being docked with arge station, and stood at the airlock. Once the airlock had opened, Lifre was greeted by a blonde, human male with striking red eyes. He wore a white and blue uniform, and offered a salute to Lifre. ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you in person.¡± Spoke the familiar voice of Hank.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You too, boss! Thanks for taking care of me until now.¡± Lifre grinned, returning the salute and stepping out of the ship. ¡°I did my best to collect all the bodies, but some of them may have been vented out too far from the ship. I had to get a little sneaky if I wanted to survive, you know.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hank nodded his head in understanding. ¡°That¡¯s perfectly fine. Our people will handle the processing, and then the funds will be directed to your ount. In the meantime, I have been tasked with continuing to assist you as I have until now.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre smiled at that, nodding her head. Since she had set Hank up to be her narrator for major events, she knew that the system woulde up with some excuse to keep him relevant. ¡°Then I guess I¡¯ll continue to be in your care, boss.¡±

 Chapter 1169: Security Concerns

    Chapter 1169: Security Concerns


    <span style="font-weight:400">


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea sat within her office, contemting how she would advance her power at this point. Now that she was the Origin of Security, she needed as many security-rted features as possible within her world. The soul locking system that James had previously set up was indeed a good start, but that was all it was. She needed far more if she wanted to be useful as an Origin.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">I may have picked a more tricky domain to operate as an Origin¡­</em><span style="font-weight:400"> She thought to herself, before shaking her head. The fact that there were more requirements for her to achieve her power did not truly bother her. Rather, it made her look forward to what she could aplishter on.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Dana can only grow by manipting naturalws within her world to create various zones of effect. She can get away with that because of her newfound magic affinity, but that¡¯s also not something that a normal Origin would be able to consider as ¡®easy¡¯. Meanwhile, in my case, I need a civilization that develops high level security measures.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she was thinking about that, Chelsea¡¯s eyes lit up. <em><span style="font-weight:400">There is a way to do it.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> She had already been forming a foundation for a civilization with the drones that she acquired from Dana. Additionally, she had managed to elevate a single race to the point where they were developing within the territory that she established for them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sooner orter, they would fully limate and be the masters of their territory. However, that wouldn¡¯t be enough. If they were simply developing safely, without any external stimuli, their security achievements would not ount for much.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, she needed to invest in creating the stimtion necessary for the civilization to advance beyond in the direction she required. Thankfully, she had just the way to do that. Exhaling, she halted the time eleration of her inner world, which had be a routine for her whenever she wasn¡¯t busy. ¡°James, I¡¯m going out for a bit!¡± She shouted down the hall, and began to walk towards the door.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Is everything alright?</em><span style="font-weight:400"> James asked mentally. <em><span style="font-weight:400">I thought you were busy trying to promote your inner world.</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s why I¡¯m going out. I need to visit some old friends. I¡¯ll be back in a little bit.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> She assured him, teleporting as soon as she was out of the facility. She didn¡¯t have to travel far, as her destination was within the same sr system.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Soon, she appeared in front of arge, government building. On the sign of the building was an eye with a vertical line drawn through it, and Chelsea walked in casually. There was a lycan woman sitting at the reception desk, and she smiled when she saw Chelsea.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Wee back, Researcher. Who are you looking to visit today?¡± She asked, typing on the terminal at her desk.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I want to speak with Vespa.¡± Chelsea exined calmly. ¡°Tell her that I have an offer for her.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The receptionist blinked at that, but nodded her head, sending the message as requested. ¡°She¡¯ll be waiting for you in the third floor¡¯s conference room.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As soon as Chelsea heard that, she nodded her head, moving to the stairs. Of course, the ¡®stairs¡¯ here were not normal by any means, and were thin poles sticking out of the wall at random intervals. Seeing this, Chelsea rolled her eyes, jumping to the third floor all at once.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Vespa was one of the great elders of the ninja n, which was residing in the same universe as the research institute. They would sometimes loan manpower to the researchers when they required it, as thanks for allowing them to live there.


    <span style="font-weight:400">By the time Chelsea arrived in the conference room, Vespa was already waiting. She was an elderly felyn, her face wrinkled from age. ¡°To what do I owe this honor?¡± She asked, and Chelsea could detect a faint bitterness in her tone. She knew that Vespa didn¡¯t have a great impression of Chelsea, ever since the Four Shadows project started to get out of control.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, Chelsea ignored that bitterness, moving to sit down. ¡°As I told the receptionist, I¡¯m here to make an offer, as well as a request. You see, I am no longer a goddess.¡± She informed the woman, and Vespa seemed briefly surprised.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What do you mean?¡± She asked, given that godhood was not something you could simply retire from.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I am now at a higher stage, something known as an Origin.¡± Chelsea exined calmly. ¡°I¡¯ll spare you the technical details. The important aspect here is that I have an entire universe within my body. In order to maximize my power in this new stage, I require a form of civilization within that universe. To be precise, I need two civilizations in conflict. One of these civilizations, I have already created myself, but--¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You want the ninjas to be the civilization fighting them?¡± Vespa finished, her mind racing as she worked to process this information. ¡°Couldn¡¯t you simply create another civilization as you had done with the first?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Surprisingly, Chelsea shook her head, denying that. ¡°Unfortunately, no. While it would be possible to elevate another civilization, I need to ensure that they will not create a peaceful rtionship between one another. My power grows based on the security measures developed within my inner universe. For that reason, I need them to continue to develop in that direction.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thus, I require the second civilization to be one that meets two key factors. First, they must be powerful enough to pressure the civilization I have elevated as they develop. Secondly, they must be loyal enough to maintain this hostile rtionship, even when hundreds or even thousands of years have gone by.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of all the factions I am aware of, there are only two that fulfill both conditions. The first is the Metong, who can carry out orders over generations due to their slightly more robotic mindsets. The second is the ninjas, who have been carrying out the orders of the four goddesses since the dawn of civilization. Loyalty and tradition is so deeply embedded in your culture that I am confident you would be the perfect choice.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Vespa paused at that, before slowly nodding her head. As much as she disliked her people being described in such a way, she could not deny it. The informationwork that they had built and maintained for thousands of years served as proof of this. ¡°What exactly do you need, then? You said that this is an offer, so I am sure that you aren¡¯t asking for the entire ninja to enter your universe.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Chelsea smiled, leaning forward on the table. ¡°I want ten thousand of each of the four beastkin races. Among those, I want one thousand of each to be trained for battle. However, I do not want any gods or fallen gods to be chosen. All of them must be mortal.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I will prepare a highly advanced for them to settle in, simr to what you would expect from the Metong homeworld. Finally, I would like you to personally lead this troop. You can think of it as a retirement from your current duties, if you want. However, I need a skilled leader that the migrating ninjas would respect as they are settling in.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Vespa narrowed her eyes in thought. ¡°I see¡­ and, to ensure that I am understanding this properly, this will be a one way trip for anyone who epts your offer, is that right?¡± She asked, to which Chelsea nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. I¡¯ll be using some tricks to elerate time. A thousand years could pass in a week, which is why I want enough people to create a stable poption.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing Chelsea¡¯s answer, Vespa nodded as well. ¡°In that case, I would like to ask a few questions to clear things up. First, why is it that you require all migrants to be mortals?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea smiled at that, leaning back in her seat. ¡°For the same reason that only mortals can assume the role of elder. If a god were to enter my world with the migrants, they would ultimately obtain leadership, and cause the civilization to shift from the desired course. It¡¯d be different if it was someone as fiercely loyal as Tsubaki, but people like her aren¡¯t easy toe across.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Additionally, the civilization you will be opposing is only in its budding stage at the moment. It will take more than a hundred years for them to reach the point where they are ready for any form of conflict, even with the assistance I¡¯ve given them. With that being the case, if an immortal were to be included in the migrants, they would be the only surviving member of the first generation at that time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s not to say that you won¡¯t be allowed to develop gods over time. However, that will be several hundred years down the line, when the other civilization has advanced to the point where they can resist gods.¡± Chelsea finished her exnation, waiting for Vespa¡¯s next question.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The felyn elder thought it over for a moment, before letting out a sigh. ¡°Why did you specificallye to me for this matter? Surely, you could have approached one of the elders that you have closer connections with. Or, are you wanting to get me out of the way, so that your control over the ninjas will be even more secured?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea tilted her head curiously. ¡°I¡¯ve never tried to control the ninjas in the first ce. The reason that I chose you was because you were the most suitable for this task. In fact, you could say that your aversion to me as an outsider, despite the benefits I bring, makes you perfect. I need a traditionalist that willy the foundation for the ninjas to continue their mission for thousands of years.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Vespa blinked in surprise, having not expected a response like that. ¡°I see¡­ I will, of course, need to confer with the other elders before I make a decision on what to do with forty thousand of our citizens. Additionally, if I am to ept, I will need to appoint a recement to my role here, as you said that I would never be returning. For all intents and purposes, any that take this deal will be dead to the outside world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea didn¡¯t argue with that. While it wasn¡¯t quite urate to say that, it also wasn¡¯t entirely wrong. ¡°That¡¯s perfectly eptable. While you discuss, I will begin to prepare the starting world for you. If you think of any specific requests for this world, whether they are educational structures or geographdmarks that you think would benefit the cause, I will do my best to include them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Vespa shook her head, still unsure if she would even ept the proposal in the first ce.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was a rather major request from Chelsea, and she wasn¡¯t sure if the other elders would agree to use their manpower in such a way. ¡°If I may ask, what are the powers of an Origin, that you need such preparations to grow?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea smiled, having expected a question like that. She knew that they needed to know what they were fighting for, after all. ¡°You can think of it like another form of deity. I can manifest anything from my inner world that is defined by my domain. I can manifest this power in any location, and on any scale that I choose.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡±For instance, let us say that there is a force field created that disintegrates any matter that passes through it, and this field is used to protect highly ssified weapons or documents. I could choose to create that same type of force field, but make itrge enough to surround an entire sr system. My Origin domain is Security, so I can manifest any effect that falls under that definition, so long as it is within my inner world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Vespa¡¯s eyes widened at that, lowering her head in thought. If that were possible, it would be understandable why she needed two civilizations in conflict with one another. Additionally, this aligned with the core goals of the ninjas, as well. Now that she heard this, she was somewhat confident that the other elders would agree to the request.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I understand.¡± She said with a long sigh. ¡°I¡¯ll inform you of our decision after conferring with the others.¡±

 Chapter 1170: Back to the Future

    Chapter 1170: Back to the Future


    <span style="font-weight:400">Later that day, Vespa held a meeting with the other elders of the ninja ns. Understandably, they were shocked by Vespa¡¯s report, hearing both Chelsea¡¯s new power and her n to relocate tens of thousands of their people to another universe that was cut off from the outside. This was by no means an easy decision to make, even though it did align with their original objectives of helping to secure the Keeper¡¯s realms.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In the end, they epted Chelsea¡¯s requests, but had to carefully select the people that they sent. After listening to what was required, they knew that they shouldn¡¯t focus on sending only strong individuals, as those individuals would likely be dead by the time their mission were to truly begin. Instead, theirbat units were focused more on those with the talent for training others.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At the same time, the nonbat personnel were selected from the younger generation, making sure that they had a suitable selection to kickstart the poption of their new world. Clearly, Vespa herself was the oldest to be sent, as the presence of an elder was still required. While Vespa had reservations about being chosen for this mission, she decided that it would ultimately be the best way to put her remaining lifespan to use for her people.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The entire selection process took ten days, after which Chelsea had returned to the ninja. At this time, there was arge za filled with people, and Chelsea nodded her head in understanding. Closing her eyes, she focused on manifesting the effects of a teleporter, one of the security features that she put in ce in her machine empire through the drones.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A sh of light filled the za, causing Vespa and the others to cover their eyes. When they opened them again, they found themselves standing within a technological metropolis. Aside from the humm of machinery, there were no other sounds in their surroundings, so Vespa took a step forward to calm everyone down.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Everyone, we need to understand our surroundings. Groups three, five, and six, prepare to scout the city.¡± She began, before seeing a spherical drone flying in her direction. It came to a stop before her, speaking in an electronic tone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Greetings! I am Ava, the Artificial Voice Assistant in charge of this. The creator has tasked me with helping you and your people limate to the city.¡± The drone spoke up, and Vespa looked at it curiously.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Despite their advancements in fields such as energy research, the ninjas did not pursue the cutting edge of technology to the same degree as the Metong. Thus, she wasn¡¯t entirely sure what this drone was capable of. ¡°Can you show us a map of the city?¡± She asked probingly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The drone spun with e brief whir, speaking up again. ¡°Of course! You are currently in City One, which is awaiting a proper designation. City One is equipped to host up to five million inhabitants, and has been tailored to the specifications provided by the creator.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As Ava said that, a holographic map appeared in front of it, disying arge city. Several sections of the city had been dyed with different colors. ¡°The green region is the training center, containing obstacle courses that will adjust their difficulty based on the skill of the challenger. The blue region is the education center, fully equipped to advance one¡¯s scientific understanding. The yellow region contains the informationwork, allowing the host to monitor the progress of Species X-7A. Finally, the red region is for livebat training. As per specifications, there are no life-saving features installed in this training center.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Vespa nodded her head in approval. These were the basic amenities that she had asked for from Chelsea, after it was decided that they would ept her proposal. ¡°In that case, can you lead us to a residential area first, so that we can unpack our belongings?¡± She asked, and Ava whirled again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course! The residential area is nearby, so please follow me!¡± It spoke, guiding the group. Although Vespa still had her reservations about everything, there was no turning back now.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea looked at the now-empty za and let out a sigh of relief. Now that this was taken care of, her inner world should be able to advance at a much more eptable pace. Without lingering to speak with anyone else, she teleported back to the entrance of the researchb, and made her way to her office. Now, it was a matter of elerating her world to reap the benefits.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once she was in her office, she entered a meditative state to allow her to focus on increasing the flow of time in her world to the limit. As with before, this limit was still a ¡®mere¡¯ one million times, but that would be plenty now that the ninjas were involved.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Every hour that passed like this, more than a century passed. She kept this meditationsting for five full hours, before gradually returning the flow of time to normal. By the time she was done, nearly six hundred years had passed in her inner world, and so she sent her consciousness into her inner world to investigate.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea smiled as she realized that the two civilizations were now well and truly at war with one another. To be more precise, Species X-7A, a bipedal elephant-like race which had taken to calling themselves the Tuskens, was living in a state of constant danger.


    <span style="font-weight:400">They had never managed to discover the homeworld of their enemies, which they referred to as the Shadowless Stars. As the Tuskens advanced, understanding their world more and more, and even using this understanding to colonize mores, the Shadowless Stars began tounch probing attacks. They would swoop in, destroy a vulnerable facility, and then vanish without a trace.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Very rarely had the Tuskens managed to defeat a raid by their eternal foe, and in doing so learned that their opponents were of a smaller breed that resembled various types of animals. Despite their diminutive staturepared to the Tuskens, their strength and wisdom far outssed therger race. The worst part was that they seemed to be adapting to the Tusken defenses, as they always sent just enough forces to break through without causing excessive damage.


    <span style="font-weight:400">To the Tuskens, they were an ever-present foe that lurked in the shadows behind the stars, waiting for them to show a moment of weakness. This forced them to develop their military defenses, bringing a rapid spike in their technological development.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Over on the side of the ninja ns, the world was far more calm. Chelsea could tell that every citizen had a certain degree of training, but the true elites were those who had undergone strict training in the livebat zone. Thankfully, she didn¡¯t see any signs that a god had emerged recently.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In order to prevent a sudden rise to godhood among the ninjas, she had put several hidden machines within the cities given to a ninja. If divinity ever exceeded a certain level, it would deploy a robotic strike force capable of crushing a newborn god and annihte them during their ascension process. A simr countermeasure had been put into ce against fallen gods, and both would only be lifted when the Tuskens had reached a stage where such troops were deemed appropriate.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That said, even setting aside those two, there were other forms of immortality that began cropping up, such as those who pursued the path of perfection manually, or those that chose to be martial spirits. Chelsea considered these paths eptable, so long as the immortals did not attempt to assume rulership of their race.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, this did not seem to be a problem, and the ninjas were acting as she had expected them to. The first generation had long since passed, so all that they knew of the outside world were the stories and images brought in by the first migrants, passed down over hundreds of years.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a smile, Chelsea withdrew her consciousness from her inner world. ¡°The way things are now, I should be able to get away with meditating for a single minute every day.¡± She mused to herself. Now that things had really picked up, she didn¡¯t want to progress the world too quickly anymore. If she did, she would lose track of what had been invented within her inner world, and wouldn¡¯t be able to properly disy her abilities.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was better to meditate in short bursts, and then use some time to limate with any new technology that she could make use of. Already, she was seeing several devices within the ninja world that interested her after five hundred years of research.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This should be why the fifth rank is such a major barrier.¡± Chelsea thought to herself, eyes widening slightly. ¡°Once any Keeper is capable of creating an Origin, they could simply create an Origin of Technology or Magic, and allow their civilization to advance at a breakneck pace. Then, they can take thepatible discoveries from that Origin¡¯s inner world to apply them to the main universes.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The only real downside was that not every advancement would operate the same way as they would in an inner world. This was especially true when it came to magic. The reason behind this was the change in the world¡¯sws between the main world and the inner world. Most technology could still be exported, but anything that relied on special systems would be useless when brought out.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Though, I suppose another downside would be the fact that an Origin can only have a single inner world.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> She thought to herself. Multiple times during her meditation, she had felt a tremor within her body, which she found to be traces of the ninjas attempting to exit their world and explore the void, or travel to another universe. All of these results inevitably ended in failure, however, as the void-like energy of her body simply consumed anything that left her inner world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now that she had reached this stage, she was ready to consider the possibility of helping to create more Origins in the future.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Within Tubrock¡¯s forge, the sounds of advanced machinery could be heard slowly dying down, together with a soft humm of fluctuating energy. ¡°Did we get it?¡± Dana asked hesitantly, watching from behind a reinforced barrier.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Next to her, Tubrock simply smirked. ¡°Only one way to find out,ss!¡± He insisted, gesturing for her to take the lead.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana let out a small huff, but did indeed lead the way inside. As they entered, they found a pitch-ck ring sitting on a pedestal, looking like it had been carved out of obsidian. When Dana approached, her face twisted slightly. ¡°Yeah, we made it¡­¡± She said, causing Tubrock to look over at her curiously.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Ye can tell that without even touchin¡¯ the item?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana nodded her head, taking a step back. ¡°Yeah, the effects extend out to about here. If I get any closer, I can feel the energy making up this avatar weakening. I can still force my way in, but any powers I cast into the field should be weakened considerably.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tubrock grinned broadly at that. ¡°Excellent! Now, we¡¯ll just have to see what other side effects it has!¡± He said, already preparing to enter the next stage of testing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">During the process of creating this ring, they found that it had a strong effect on stabilizing the information from the void in the vicinity of the user. This meant that Fallen Gods would also be weakened, but had the side effect that void portals could not be established easily around the wearer. ¡°We¡¯ll need to see if it can be stored in the inventory, and whether or not it would still function from within it.¡± Dana spoke up. It would be the best case scenario for it to be cut off when in the inventory, that way Dale could just put it away when he needed to get around its side-effects. However, Dana wasn¡¯t sure if that was possible.

 Chapter 1171: One Ring to Nerf Them All

    Chapter 1171: One Ring to Nerf Them All


    <span style="font-weight:400">As the days passed by, Alkahest had still not contacted me regarding our uing match together. I could somewhat understand what was going on, as I was only just promoted to Rank Five, so he likely did not believe that I had anything valuable to offer as a trade. Either that, or he was still consolidating his growth after he had to reset a few years ago.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was also possible that he was simply too busy. From what I recall, he was the type to get extremely involved in his own worlds, whether it was managing them directly or simply helping out with construction projects. Personally, I wasn¡¯tfortable doing something that would make me such an easy target, especially when there are so many abilities in my world that could apply instant death if a target was out in the open like that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I was sure that his world wouldn¡¯t have had so many such things, if he were willing to stay out in the open like he did. After all, he was a far more experienced Keeper than myself, having been around back when James was in charge of things.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I was thinking that, the door to my office opened. Turning my head, I saw Dana walking in with a small smile. ¡°Did you finish your joint project with Tubrock?¡± I asked, and she let out a low groan.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah, I really didn¡¯t expect him to be so excited about it. Even when we had the item done, he insisted that we go through a long series of detailed tests. Anyways, here it is.¡± She said, opening her inventory and retrieving a jet ck ring.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Looking at the ring curiously, I couldn¡¯t help but question. ¡°So¡­ what does it do?¡± I could see a bit of information, thanks to my abilities as the Keeper, but it was still better to have a moreprehensive exnation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana smiled a bit wider at that. ¡°Simply put, it¡¯s a Void Stability Ring. It has the passive ability to weaken or eliminate void-rted effects in the bearer¡¯s vicinity, depending on the strength. Simply having it on you will make Origins ufortable around you, but it will also protect you to a degree against their abilities, as well as the abilities of Fallen Gods or memetic monsters.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If you infuse your mana into it, you can temporarily strengthen this effect. However, I should note that with the ring on, you won¡¯t be able to ess void gates to travel anymore. Every type of void gate that we¡¯ve tested has immediately closed itself around the ring. Even manifesting an Origin power rted to travel through shadows didn¡¯t work. ording to our theory, it¡¯s because transportation effects are highlyplex, so weakening them like that willpletely unravel the power.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked in surprise, looking down at that ring. ¡°If it makes Origins ufortable, wouldn¡¯t that apply to you, too?¡± I asked, and Dana chuckled slightly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah, but it¡¯s not too bad. It¡¯s not a difort as if I feel like my body is about to break down. More¡­ as if I¡¯m around something with a strong smell. I feel an aversion to it, but as long as I understand the source, I can generally ignore it.¡± She exined, before blinking.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, and I should add a bit more to that exnation from before. The ring can be safely stored in your inventory. However, even if it¡¯s in your inventory, the energy from it will leak out, providing the passive effects. I wanted to try to find a way to seal it off in the inventory, but we couldn¡¯te up with a solution that didn¡¯t involve weakening the ring itself. Additionally, you won¡¯t be able to supply mana to the ring when it¡¯s in your inventory, so it is generally better to wear it when you can.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nodding, I reached out to take the ring, slipping it on my finger. Dana let out a sigh of relief, shaking her hand slightly. ¡°Sorry. Like I said, ufortable. Basically, felt like I was holding sludge. Anyways, do you have any other questions regarding the ring?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I thought about that for a moment, before looking at Dana. ¡°How strong is the protective effect?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana grinned, as if she had been expecting that question. ¡°Follow me, boss.¡± She said, turning to leave the office. With a nod, I stood to follow her. Thankfully, the teleportation elevators of Olympus didn¡¯t use void travel as their means of transportation, so we were able to travel to her territory without any issue.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">I guess I¡¯ll be relying more on Aurivy¡¯s travel powers again in the future.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> I thought to myself, since I was unlikely to be able to get around as I had been up until now.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I was thinking about that, Dana led me to arge testing room, which looked simr to a firing range. At one side of the firing range was an empty pedestal. ¡°Go ahead and put the ring over there.¡± She gestured, and I did so. Thankfully, the pedestal seemed to be far enough away that the effects didn¡¯t seem to bother Dana at that range. Afterwards, I returned to her side to watch the performance.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, let¡¯s focus on basic attacks, since that¡¯s what you really need to be concerned with here.¡± She said, stretching her arms out to her sides. ck droplets of darkness rose from her shadows, congealing into the form of tworge spears. ¡°The more simple the attack, the less the weakening will affect it. Right now, this is one of the simplest methods of attacks I have, but it still involves redefining shadows into a tangible material to craft weapons out of them. Because of that¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">She threw one spear towards the end of the firing range that did not have the ring, and it crashed heavily into the wall, embedding itself more than a foot deep and causing the room to shake. After that, she threw the remaining spear towards the area under the ring¡¯s coverage. The spear still crashed into the wall, but did not pierce through. Instead, it seemed to ssh against it, turning into a liquid before dissolving.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There was still the impact of the attack, but it lost its piercing effect. Now, I¡¯m going to use a much moreplex ability. This time, I will wield a weapon made of sentient darkness, with properties simr to acid.¡± Once again, Dana held her hand out, manifesting another spear. This time, I could see writhing veins along the spear¡¯s length, as well as red eyes that kept opening and closing. ¡°I call it the shadow that melts the flesh.¡± She grinned, before throwing the spear towards the ring.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, this time, the spear seemed to entirely unravel and vanish moments before it struck the ring, as if it had hit some invisible force. ¡°See? The moreplex the power, the easier it is to unravel by weakening its key parts. Because of this, you have more to worry about from something like an Origin of Fire than you would an Origin of Death. The Origin of Death would need a ratherplex ability to wield death itself as an attack, but the Origin of Fire would be able to wield all manners of natural mes with very littleplexity.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head in understanding, my eyes focused on the ring. ¡°I see¡­ though, I doubt that Terra¡¯s Origin side will be able to operate around me when I¡¯m using that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana blinked at that, before nodding. ¡°Yeah¡­ we actually ran a test for that with her help. We tested it through an educational stream, to ensure that it would be safe, but the twins can¡¯tbine around the ring. The fusion process just outright fizzles out. If they¡¯re already fused, the Origin of Fate bes incredibly weak around the ring.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°At least it doesn¡¯t pose an immediate threat to their life.¡± I said with a sigh. ¡°Is there anything else that you need to demonstrate?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah.¡± Dana nodded again. ¡°This next bit isn¡¯t likely to be as relevant to you, but it¡¯s worth pointing out. The ring also has a very slight restraining property on raw mana. Most of the time, you won¡¯t even notice. The only time it will be relevant is when the mana usage is on the level of the Absurdity of Fate. After all, that technique is all about twisting the world with one¡¯s thoughts, and starts to touch the level of information control.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">To demonstrate, Dana shed her arm out, her palm t like a de. Immediately, a thin cut formed along the far wall, though that stopped once the cut neared the pedestal where the ring was. ¡°Like I said, it won¡¯t do anything with normal magic. I tested with the first through fourth tiers, and even asked Gerard to see if it had any effect on him like it did me. All of our tests concluded that the only restraining effect it had on mana was when it was targeted by something like the Absurdity of Fate.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head in satisfaction. Given that this was still the passive protection offered by the ring, I was curious what the mana-empowered protection would be like. However, I knew that Dana wouldn¡¯t want to throw spears at me while I wore the ring to test that. If anything, she¡¯d call Lena or Tsubaki in and ask <em><span style="font-weight:400">them</em><span style="font-weight:400"> to wear the ring for those tests. And personally, I didn¡¯t want to see <em><span style="font-weight:400">them</em><span style="font-weight:400"> getting attacked like that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Walking over to the pedestal, I picked the ring up and put it on again. ¡°At least with this, I¡¯ll have a certain degree of protection. The more esoteric Origins won¡¯t be able to hurt me much, which has been the biggest concern we¡¯ve had since you discovered how to create Origins in the first ce. You did good, Dana.¡± I said, and she smiled at the praise. ¡°How hard is it to make these rings?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana pulled a face when I asked that, and I could already tell that it was not something that could be mass produced. ¡°Ignoring the cost of the tools, or the advanced magic that I had to use, and focusing purely on material costs¡­ Each ring costs about a thousand ck gold coins. And that¡¯s assuming that you¡¯re able to craft it properly on the first try.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My eyes went wide at that. As I had recentlye to understand the value of a ck gold coin, I knew that meant a single ring was equivalent to a billion dors. And since she mentioned her magic, I can only assume that a normal mage wouldn¡¯t be able to craft it as reliably as she had. Suddenly, the ring felt far more heavy on my finger. ¡°What materials could have possibly cost that much¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana chuckled, crossing her arms. ¡°The condensed heart of a neutron star, the blood of a thousand year dragon, and the tears of a perfected World Spirit. Thatst one doesn¡¯t really have a price tag, by the way. If you aren¡¯t close with her, she¡¯s definitely not going to give you her tears, no matter how much you pay.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So¡­ the heart of a neutron star, and blood from a dragon that has lived for a thousand years¡­ okay, I can understand the price tag a bit more now. How did you even find a dragon that old? I thought that they¡¯d all have died during the apocalyptic invasion.¡± I asked, incredulous.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There are a fewpatible draconic races in the new Metong universe.¡± Dana answered with a grin. ¡°The ones that live that long are pretty rare, but we managed to negotiate for a blood sample from one of their elders.¡±


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Honestly, the heart of a star alone could easily be worth a billion dors.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> I thought to myself, nodding my head. ¡°Got it. Any final notes about the ring?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana tilted her head in thought. ¡°Hmm¡­ oh, it will feel like it has gained additional weight whenever ites into contact with an ability it defends against. Not much, but it¡¯s worth noting. Basically, I had to use magic to reduce the weight of the heart of a star, and whenever it starts working, that magic is very slightly impacted.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but pause at that, looking down at the ring. It definitely felt heavier than it did when I first put it on. ¡°Does that include when you¡¯re around?¡± I asked, and she nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah, but I shouldn¡¯t be close enough to activate it right now. I don¡¯t feel the effects of the ring.¡± Dana shrugged her shoulders.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, it seems a Fallen God somewhere is targeting me with something.¡± I pointed out with a wry smile, causing Dana¡¯s face to stiffen up.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Don¡¯t worry.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Terra spoke up mentally with a lightugh. <em><span style="font-weight:400">This isn¡¯t a malicious attack or anything. It¡¯s actually one of your fans. They¡¯re trying to watch you through their fallen domain.</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">¡­I have fans that are bored enough to watch my daily life with void powers?</em><span style="font-weight:400"> I asked, eyes widening slightly.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Oh, definitely. Not many can get past the protections Tubrock put on Olympus, so I keep a close eye on the few that do, just to make sure they don¡¯t do anything they shouldn¡¯t.</em>


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 1172: Change of Plans

    Chapter 1172: Change of ns


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I heard about the migration of the ninjas to Chelsea¡¯s inner world, I had to admit that I was impressed by the idea. Not to mention, she was already suggesting new technologies to her research team based on what she had observed from the inner world¡¯s development. With this, I could imagine another technological boom on the horizon.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I was thinking about that, a message window appeared in front of me, alerting me that Alkahest was trying to contact me. With a small nod, I epted the conversation invitation, and another window appeared before me.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Alkahest: Sorry it took me so long to get in touch. I¡¯ve been busy with some work in my world. It looks like you¡¯ve already caught up to the fifth rank?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Seems that way. And don¡¯t worry, I didn¡¯t think that I had anything you¡¯d be interested in for the trade, either way.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Alkahest: You never know. You¡¯ve almost hit the peak of Keepers already, so you might have something surprisingly useful. Not to mention, I heard that new streaming system came from one of your people?


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: How did you find out about that?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Alkahest: I recognized her, since she¡¯s always walking around with the group thates in with you.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Right¡­ but what do you mean, almost at the peak? There are still two full ranks left to go, so I wouldn¡¯t say I¡¯m even close yet.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Alkahest: Ah, nobody¡¯s exined it to you, then?


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    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked in confusion, wondering what he could have been talking about there. To the best of my knowledge, I still had a long way to go before I could be considered to be at the ¡®peak¡¯ of being a Keeper.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: I¡¯m not sure what should have been exined to me, so I am guessing no?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Alkahest: Well, there are seven ranks for Keepers, but in reality, most people see the sixth as the peak.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: How does that make sense?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Alkahest: To put it simply, there are only ever three Keepers at the seventh rank. This is the minimum number necessary to keep the regr invasion schedule. The only way for someone to get promoted from the sixth to the seventh rank is if one of the three at the top are killed. But, none of the big three are willing to invest enough resources to make that happen and leave themselves vulnerable for the next guy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: So¡­ there are Keepers in the sixth rank that are stronger than those in the seventh?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Alkahest: It¡¯s possible. Since there¡¯s never a sh between them, it¡¯s really hard to say. Either way, unless one of the big three get taken down, the sixth rank is the highest anyone can reach for. I¡¯ve only seen the seventh rank change once in my lifetime, and that was a <em><span style="font-weight:400">long</em><span style="font-weight:400"> time ago.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">This¡­plicated things. Originally, I had assumed that the fifth rank was more of an introduction rank for Keepers to start developing their Origins. Then, after they get a few Origins and the means to kill them, they would be promoted to the sixth rank. After that, maybe getting tens of thousands of Origins would allow someone to enter the seventh rank.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, if the fifth rank was the penultimate rank that a Keeper could hope to achieve, that would mean that there could be Keepers with hundreds, maybe even thousands of Origins sitting at that rank.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Right¡­ while I have you here, can you tell me if you know what the reward is for reaching the sixth rank without resetting? I¡¯ve already gotten the rewards from the fourth and fifth rank.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Alkahest: Hmm? Oh, right, I guess you wouldn¡¯t have reset if you made it this far, this fast. I think everyone that came in at the same time as you has already reset at least once. From what I heard, SentinelSeven was thest to reset after a particrly harsh invasion justst month. She called us up to ask if we had any way to fix her ruined worlds, but there wasn¡¯t anything cost effective that wouldn¡¯t do more harm than good.


    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Really? She hadn¡¯t told me about that. Anyways, do you know what the reward is?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Alkahest: Sorry, but I can¡¯t help you with that. I¡¯ve never heard of anyone that made it all the way to the sixth rank without resetting at least once.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">That was frustrating. Both the fact that there was no information avable, as well as the knowledge that Kathy had been forced to reset. Going by the process of thest two ¡®hardcore¡¯ rewards, I really couldn¡¯t think of what came next. One allowed me to bring people to the Admin Room, and the other allowed me to essentially banish people from it.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">EarthForceOne: Right¡­ I guess I¡¯ll find out eventually, if nothing goes wrong.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Alkahest: That¡¯s the spirit! It takes a lot of good luck to get to your level without needing to reset. I can only imagine what sort of cmities have spread through different invasions. Either way, if you could send me a trade list, that would be appreciated. I¡¯ll look through it when I get the chance.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded, sending a mental message to Ryone to ask her topile the list. She and Ashley were more up to date on what we had in my world than I was, so it was better to let them handle it. After promising that I would send the list to him once I had itpiled, the two of us ended the conversation. I had to speak with Chelsea rather urgently now¡­


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea was sitting at her desk, in the midst of drawing up blueprints for an interster railgun that she found in her inner world. It opened portals to distant targets, before firing a high-velocity iron rod through a number of electromaic elerators. This weapon wasn¡¯t meant to destroy entires, but could decimate cities with pinpoint uracy. It was one of the many weapons that the ninjas had designed to target the Tuskens.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea, we need to talk.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> The Keeper¡¯s voice suddenly spoke up into her mind, causing her to blink and look up from her work.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Is there another problem?</em><span style="font-weight:400"> She asked, and there was a moment of hesitation.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">We might need to elerate our defensive n more than we initially thought. </em><span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper informed her, which confused Chelsea. <em><span style="font-weight:400">ording to what I just heard, the sixth rank is the actual limit for a Keeper, with the seventh being eternally locked at three. Were you aware of that?</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea¡¯s eyes went wide, and she nearly jumped from her desk. <em><span style="font-weight:400">I wasn¡¯t, no¡­ that was information that was never brought up while I was a systempanion, so it wouldn¡¯t have been retained. In other words, we should assume that our opponents would have the strength that was previously estimated to be above the fifth rank?</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s what I believe to be the case.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> The Keeper replied in a somber tone. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Origin invasions have just be far more likely.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea swallowed thickly, ncing towards her terminal. <em><span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s not all. </em><span style="font-weight:400">She responded. <em><span style="font-weight:400">We have to consider Fyor. Previously, we thought that the finalyer of Fyor would only be essible to beings of the seventh rank. However, with this information, that shouldn¡¯t be the case.</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Looking back at when Lifre took Lena and the others up to the seventy-fifth floor, it could be seen that their group was in very little danger. They even made a game out of hunting a swarm-type enemy that terrorized the local residents. I would strongly advise sending Dana and Lena together to continue exploring Fyor.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a moment of hesitation from that, before the Keeper spoke up again. <em><span style="font-weight:400">How far do you think they should explore?</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">As far as they feel they can with their abilities.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Chelsea responded more firmly. <em><span style="font-weight:400">There are only fifteen or so floors left to explore. Given their skills, it might even be possible for them topletely reach the surface of Fyor. However, for the sake of safety, I would advise that only Dana enters the surface, until such time as the conditions there have been confirmed. There is a high chance that memetic monsters would have ravaged the surfaceyer of Fyor.</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Understood. I¡¯ll give them a call now.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> The Keeper spoke up, before closing the connection. With that conversation over, Chelsea bit her lip gently, thinking about what she had just learned.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was an ulterior motive for wanting to unlock the finalyer of Fyor. If the enemy did send a substantial force in the future, there was a chance that it would end up in Fyor¡¯s outeryer. Although thatyer was so vast that it would make discovering them almost impossible, it was also bound to be incredibly dangerous. With any luck, an opponent spawning there would be killed before they could cause any significant damage.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Both Lena and her avatar clone were happily watching Lifre¡¯s stream, taking turns between simply enjoying the content and moderating the chat. Ever since the appearance of the white-gold Engineer ss, Lifre had changed the theme of her content to that of an inventor, the stream following her inventions as other people interacted with them. For instance, the ship that she created and customized to have incredibly powerful shields and weapons that could mow down well-equipped fleets. Or the autonomous drones that she deployed when shended on a hostile world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As they were watching the stream, the two Lenas both nced up at the same time, having received an urgent message from the Keeper. Their brows furrowed, and they looked at one another again. ¡°It¡¯s been a while since Dale gave us a mission.¡± One of them said, causing the other to nod.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You took care of thest one, so I¡¯ll do it this time.¡± She said as she got up, equipping herself with her divine armor. ¡°It sounds like this is going to be a morebat oriented mission, so maybe I should copy one of the others¡­¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The first Lena thought about that for a moment as well. ¡°I¡¯d say probably alia or Keliope. We can¡¯t easily copy an Origin, and those two are the best purebatants of the Greater Pantheon. I¡¯d say to copy Lifre, but she¡¯s a bit too reckless for what you¡¯re going to be doing.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Lena preparing to leave nodded her head in agreement. ¡°Keliope, then.¡± She said, before turning to leave. ¡°I¡¯ll be backter.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After leaving, Lena went to the gate of Olympus, where Dana was waiting for her with a serious expression. Lena tilted her head slightly, seeming to observe Dana for a moment. ¡°This is an avatar, isn¡¯t it?¡± She asked, catching Dana by surprise.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I didn¡¯t think you¡¯d be able to notice.¡± She said, before nodding her head. ¡°That¡¯s right. It¡¯s a precaution I took a while ago. My real body won¡¯t be leaving Olympus, but this avatar has my fullbat power.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Got it.¡± Lena nodded, stepping forward. As she did, her body began to shift, growing taller while her skin darkened. Soon, Lena had turned into a perfect copy of Keliope, who popped her neck from side to side. ¡°Let¡¯s get this Fyor conquest started, then.¡± She said with a grin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana simply chuckled, nodding her head in agreement. A shadow rose to envelop the two of them, quickly taking them to the seventy-fifth floor of Fyor. ¡°Should we bring Petra along, too? This might be her chance to finallyplete her world shadow.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena hesitated, bringing a hand up to her chin thoughtfully, before shaking her head. ¡°We¡¯ll bring her through after we confirm that it¡¯s safe to do so. There are too many memetic effects that we might have to deal with, and we don¡¯t want to taint her world shadow.¡±

 Chapter 1173: What Lies Beyond

    Chapter 1173: What Lies Beyond


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, what¡¯s the n?¡± Lena asked as they arrived on the Seventy-Fifthyer of Fyor, having been teleported there directly via Dana¡¯s shadows. ¡°Gather up the level orbs as we go again, or?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana shook her head, looking around. The giant beast was still looming over the entry portal, but she didn¡¯t let it bother her. ¡°No. We¡¯ll go back and get them when we¡¯re done, if we can¡¯t make it all the way. ording to Aurivy, when she was setting Fyor¡¯s world system up, she made it so that the final floor wouldpletely remove the level cap. I don¡¯t know if that¡¯s something that will automatically happen, or if we¡¯ll need to find an orb on the top floor, but if we can make it that far, the other orbs will be pointless.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena blinked at that, but nodded her head, still in the appearance of Keliope. ¡°In that case, we should get moving.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana nodded her agreement, closing her eyes to briefly focus. ¡°I¡¯m going to take a brief stop on each floor to kill a local monster. If we reach a floor where I struggle to kill anything, that will be evidence that we¡¯ve gone far enough. Also, let me go through each gate first, that way I can wipe out any memetic influences that might be immediately around the gate.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena couldn¡¯t help but chuckle, smirking down at Dana. ¡°Why does it feel like I¡¯m here to be your cheer team, rather than helping you fight?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana rolled her eyes slightly at that, shaking her head. ¡°You¡¯re the only one I know of with nine domains anywhere. If we do get into a situation where I would be in trouble, I¡¯m counting on you for support.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena hesitated for a moment, but nodded her agreement. She wasn¡¯t sure how much support she¡¯d be able to provide, but she would do her best.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once Dana had located the next gate, she teleported the two of them there via her shadow, and immediately sent an avatar into the gate. Her other body remained behind with Lena, lowering her head in thought. ¡°The next floor is another ice one, like the sixty-second floor.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Lena heard that, she almost visibly deted. ¡°Didn¡¯t that one take you guys years to break through? Do we have to turn back already?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, Dana simply smiled. ¡°No, this is fine. I¡¯ll create a timed spell to fuse with the ambient mana, spreading it through the entire floor. That will create a bubble around the other gate, and I can just teleport us there. I¡¯ll make a note to report this back to the otherster.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena blinked, but nodded her head. Once Dana gave the signal, she stepped through the gate, the Dana that was with her staying behind. Seeing that, Lena gave a questioning gaze towards Dana when she arrived on the other side, but the elven origin simply smiled.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m going to leave one of my avatars to explore each floor, that way I can find any significant resources.¡± She exined, and Lena understood.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right. Anyways, have you checked the next floor yet?¡± Lena asked, noticing that she had already been teleported directly to the next gate after arrival.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana smiled, nodding in confirmation. ¡°That¡¯s right. Honestly, the next floor is perfect for me. From what I can tell, there is no day and night cycle. It¡¯s a floor of eternal darkness. However, I¡¯m sensing some memetic effects, so for your safety, I¡¯m going to have you skip that floor.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena blinked at that, but epted. Like this, they continued. Every floor, Dana took a few moments to find out where the next gate was, and then brought Lena over while investigating the next floor¡¯s situation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Because of this, they were able to find three consecutive floors that seemed to have contained ruined civilizations, memetic effects permeating the veryndscape. In these floors, Danapleted her work quickly and had Lena skip them, as there was no telling what would happen if she began absorbing the random memetic properties.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After those three floors, however, were rather normalyers. At least, for a while. The next big change came on the eighty-fifth floor, which actually presented some problems for Dana. Not because of a powerful monster, as she had shown no problems dealing with any monsters thus far. Rather, the problem came from the fact that the entirety of theyer was filled with moltenva burning at an insane temperature, even carrying a faint energy of raw destructive power.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For this floor, Dana had to do the same thing that she did with the ice floor. However, as there were no shadows on this floor for her to take advantage of, it only made her task harder.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As for the eighty-sixth floor¡­ that was troublesome for a different reason, as the entire floor wasposed of superheated sma, as if they were walking through a massive star. Thankfully, both Dana and Lena were capable of withstanding the cataclysmic temperatures with their own bodies, though Lena was certain that the avatar Dana left behind would not befortable.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana let out a sigh of relief when they entered the eighty-seventh floor, which did not immediately seem to have any hazardous environmental effects. When Lena looked up, she briefly thought that they had reached the surface, as she could sees and stars orbiting in the sky above. ¡°Aren¡¯t there¡­ supposed to be two or threeyers left?¡± She asked, and Dana nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right. You can¡¯t easily see it from here, but there¡¯s still a ceiling on this floor, about¡­ maybe fifteen hundred light years away?¡± She mused, and Lena¡¯s eyes went wide.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Fifteen¡­ hundred light years? I know that we¡¯re used to talking in big numbers when ites to Fyor, but that¡¯s¡­ a bit much, just for the ceiling, right?¡± She vaguely remembered that only twelve floors ago, the distance to the ceiling had only been seven light years.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana simply chuckled, shaking her head. ¡°That¡¯s what happens with exponential growth. Back on the first floor, the ceiling is only a hundred meters high. Every floor is approximately fifty-seven and a half percent bigger than the previous floor.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s¡­ very specific.¡± Lena said with a shake of her head. ¡°Anyways, have you found the monster you¡¯re going to hunt on this floor yet?¡± She asked. So far, Dana had been able to effortlessly kill monsters on every floor, as long as there were actually surviving monsters for her to kill.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Space whale.¡± Dana exined. ¡°It¡¯s a long way away, so I didn¡¯t bother saying anything, but it is going around and swallowing up these minis. Pretty tough defenses, but nothing I couldn¡¯t break through with a bit of effort.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena chuckled at that. ¡°Well, at least we¡¯re getting to the point where effort is actually required¡­ what¡¯s the next floor like?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana smirked, ncing up at Lena. ¡°I just found the gate. Give me a moment.¡± She said, her gaze unfocusing. However, a momentter, her entire body shuddered. ¡°Okay, you¡¯re <em><span style="font-weight:400">definitely</em><span style="font-weight:400"> skipping that one!¡± She said with wide eyes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena looked over at Dana in concern. ¡°Is it really that bad?¡± She asked, to which Dana quickly nodded.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Y-Yeah. The entire floor is a twisting, memetic horror. Laughing mountains that will turn you to stone if you hear their cries, trees made of people¡­ There¡¯s <em><span style="font-weight:400">somehow</em><span style="font-weight:400"> a civilization living there, but they must have evolved some natural resistance to memetic effects.¡± Dana said, and Lena widened her eyes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Someone is actually <em><span style="font-weight:400">living</em><span style="font-weight:400"> in a ce like that?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana gave a brief nod of confirmation. ¡°Yeah, some kind of elf-like creature with pitch ck skin and red hair. Anyways, I¡¯m skipping straight past that floor. The next one¡­ well, that¡¯s just not fair.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Why? Is it somehow even worse than Memetic Hell?¡± Lena asked in concern, but Dana shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°N-Not quite. It¡¯s¡­ empty. Completely empty. The eighty-ninth floor has <em><span style="font-weight:400">nothing</em><span style="font-weight:400"> to it, other than the mana spire and level orb¡­¡± Dana had a look of confusion on her face as she exined. ¡°I¡¯m not picking up a single trace of anything, whether it¡¯s a monster, material, or residual energy.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena paused, giving it a bit of thought. ¡°Maybe there was some ancient event, where something happened on that floor that would have erased this universe, but because of Fyor¡¯s special nature, the only things it could erase were on that floor?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana hesitated to answer, but ultimately nodded her head. ¡°I¡­ guess that¡¯s possible. Either way¡­ it means that we can reach the nieth floor now. ording to Aurivy¡¯s calction, that should be thest one, where the ceiling is removed, and the size of the itself isparable to an entire gxy.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena nodded her head, waiting for Dana to teleport her. However, before she did, Dana¡¯s eyes went wide. ¡°Woah¡­¡± She muttered, as if to herself. ¡°I¡¯ve¡­ I¡¯ve cleared out the nearby memetic traces. You¡¯ve got to see this.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">A momentter, darkness wrapped around Lena¡¯s body, and she was transported to the finalyer of Fyor. She looked around, briefly confused by what had Dana so surprised. The entire ground was covered in the same ck material as the gates. However, as she lifted her head, her eyes went wide.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In the distance, she could see the mana spire of the finalyer lifting into the sky. However, this wasn¡¯t like the spires found on every other floor. This spire had branches spreading out in all directions, releasing continuous streams of visible mana. At the end of the spire, she could see the star that Fyor revolved around.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Though, saying that Fyor revolved around it at all felt a bit wrong. The branches of the spire spread out and formed rings circling the star. It looked less like a celestial body, and more like¡­ ¡°Is it just me, or does that look like a <em><span style="font-weight:400">massive</em><span style="font-weight:400"> staff?¡± Lena asked, to which Dana nodded her head in agreement.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°A staff sorge, that if one were to swing it, they would obliterate a gxy in any other universe.¡± Dana said.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After a moment of admiring the giant pir of mana connecting Fyor with its sun, Lena blinked, looking left and right. ¡°I didn¡¯t get a notification about the level limit being removed. Have you found the orb yet?¡± She asked, and Dana shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Aside from the pir, there¡¯s nothing here. It¡¯s just like the floor below.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing that, Lena pursed her lips. ¡°There is the chance that the orb would be lost somewhere in space, but I don¡¯t think the system would be <em><span style="font-weight:400">that</em><span style="font-weight:400"> cruel. Can you take us to the base of the spire?¡± She asked, and Dana gave a brief nod.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a small surge of mana, the two disappeared, reappearing before what appeared to be apletely smooth, crystal wall shining with a faint blue light. ¡°If there is no orb, then¡­ maybe we just need to touch it.¡± She said, walking up and cing her hand against the wall.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana hesitated, watching Lena. ¡°What if it <em><span style="font-weight:400">is</em><span style="font-weight:400"> a staff, plunged into the heart of the world, and activating it will cause it to remove itself? The level limit would be gone because there would no longer be anything stopping people from just flying upwards.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena froze, but her hand was already against the wall. ¡°I-I hope that doesn¡¯t happen? I mean, we won¡¯t know either way until we do something, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she was speaking, a brilliant glow was beginning to appear around her hand, lighting up the entire spire. Now, Lena saw a message appearing in front of herself.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Racial verification in progress¡­


    <span style="font-weight:400">Race confirmed as Ursa.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ursa race is among the approved races.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Racial verification seeded. Unlocking all systems.


    <span style="font-weight:400">All systems unlocked. Opening Mana Path.


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    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena¡¯s eyes were wide as she read through the messages. As she finished, the spire seemed to open up in front of her, allowing her and Dana to enter. The inside of the spire seemed to stretch on forever, though there was a smooth screen next to the entrance, with runic words written on the bottom.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana pursed her lips as she read the runes. ¡°Please select your destination.¡± She said, blinking. ¡°I¡­ think this is an elevator.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Saying that, she walked up to the screen, and wrote the rune for ¡®One¡¯ on it. The rune shed, before turning red, the runes on the bottom changing. ¡°Invalid destination. Activate support menu for a valid list of destinations.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Arching her brow, Dana wrote the same ¡®Support¡¯ rune that was used in the prompt, and the screen erupted with a long list of locations, all written in runes. Lena stumbled back a step at that. ¡°Okay, that looks like more than eighty-nine options.¡± She said with a trembling voice, and Dana stared, her jaw going ck.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There were hundreds, possibly even thousands of locations listed. Eventually, she found one that was marked as their current location, and selected it. Once it was selected, she was given the list of floors to choose between, and selected the first floor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a blinding sh, the entrance to the spire closing and opening again. Outside, Dana could see the spire room of the first floor¡¯s adventurer¡¯s guild building. ¡°I¡­ I think we¡¯ve figured out how Fyor¡¯s universe is going to handle interster travel, and getting to the inneryers of other worlds.¡± Dana said, swallowing thickly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena gave a slow nod of her head, before turning to Dana. ¡°Okay¡­ but <em><span style="font-weight:400">what just happened?</em><span style="font-weight:400">¡± She asked, her eyes wide in shock.


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 1174: Intelligent Design

    Chapter 1174: Intelligent Design


    <span style="font-weight:400">Immediately, Dana activated the transporter once again, finding the option for the seventy-fifth floor in order to leave before they were discovered. She didn¡¯t know if the entrance to the ¡®elevator¡¯ was visible from the outside on all floors now, but was certain that it wouldn¡¯t be long before she found out. Once outside, she pulled Lena¡¯s wrist to drag her out.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We need to go to the boss.¡± She said in an urgent tone. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy, we need two travel tickets to wherever the boss is, immediately. Also, you and Bihena will want to be there, too.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a moment of pause before golden mist wrapped around them, and they were transported directly into the Keeper¡¯s office. Dale looked back at them with a curious expression, seeming surprised by their sudden arrival. ¡°I saw that you managed to reach the end of Fyor. Is everything alright there?¡± He asked, and Dana held up a hand.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hold on. Let¡¯s wait for the other two to arrive.¡± She said, ncing at the door. A few secondster, the door opened, and both Aurivy and Bihena walked in. Both of them had serious expressions on their faces, so the Keeper¡¯s eyes narrowed slightly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± He asked, and Dana took a deep breath.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Okay, so you know how the spires get bigger and bigger the higher up you go in Fyor? Well, turns out that on the top floor, it gets so big that it extends into space and wraps around the sun. Also, when Lena put her hand on the spire on the final floor, it turned into an elevator that could take us to any floor of Fyor, <em><span style="font-weight:400">and</em><span style="font-weight:400"> hundreds or maybe thousands of others. It also has a system screen withnguage written in runic, and epts third-tier runic writing for instructions.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying that all of that, Dana let out her breath, Lena looking between her and the Keeper. Now that they were no longer exploring Fyor, she returned to her normal appearance. ¡°I don¡¯t know how it all came to this, and I am honestly confused.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°No, it actually makes sense.¡± Bihena spoke up, shaking her head. ¡°This fits rather well with how we designed the world originally. The spire was meant to be a way to interface with the system, registering new sses, races, and other system functions. And, you said that it wrapped around the sun?¡± She asked, and Dana nodded her head. Aurivy gave a soft chuckle at that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That exins how nts were able to grow so well in all of the differentyers. When the spire was fully charged, it wasn¡¯t just generating light to fill the floor, it was channeling the sunlight that it captured from the surface. Given the fact that we¡¯ve never run into problems, it must have its own memetic filter to prevent it from transmitting any dangerous information together with the light. That, or we just got really lucky.¡± She said, shrugging her shoulders.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, what does this mean for interster travel? You said that there were others registered as travel locations, right?¡± The Keeper asked, and Dana quickly nodded her head. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, there should be other races that were born at the heart of each of those worlds. How many of them will havee close to conquering their respective dungeonyers?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I don¡¯t think you have to worry about that too much.¡± Bihena spoke up with a small smile. ¡°Fyor had a ratherrge advantage when it came to exploration, because they were in contact with us. Whether it was using Aurivy to locate the orbs or gates, the enchanted device that you helped Petra receive, or more recently Dana¡¯s ascension to an Origin, all of it came from us, and greatly elerated the speed at which people could climb the floors. Not to mention contact with other worlds like Deckan, and easier information about magic.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If I had to guess, the top contenders should only be around floors twenty or thirty, unless they were lucky and had ess to a mana stone early on that helped them learn more advanced magic. Or a divine stone that helped them gain ess to early godhood.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thatst one won¡¯t be a problem.¡± Aurivy said with a firm shake of her head. ¡°The fact that the spire exists in the way that it does suggests an intelligent design by the system. In other words, we should treat the world¡¯s history as if an intelligent entity or civilization established the spires in the earliest days of the universe. Part of this system was to have the power gradually increase over time. Natural godhood wouldn¡¯t be earlier than the thirty-fifth floor at the earliest.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What about the ck stone gates?¡± The Keeper asked curiously. ¡°Your theory implies that this intelligent entity had a way to control the formation of these gates.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy gave a small grin, nodding her head. ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m looking at the spire now from the Admin Room. The total amount of mana contained within it is utterly mind-boggling. Just the spire of Fyor alone has enough mana to create hundreds of universes with Chelsea¡¯s world creation program. Most likely, part of its original function was the creation of those gates,yering void barriers overtop one another and fusing them with a natural mineral. That said, I doubt it has the ability to alter the gates after they were established, merely guide the process of forming them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Also, although the barriers are solid, they do allow a degree of mana to pass through them. Perhaps that¡¯s because it fused with the mana spire during its formation, which is why the sunlight can still be channeled downwards, but gets filtered as it passes through thoseyers.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Keeper sighed, bringing a hand up to massage his forehead. ¡°Okay, what about other worlds, though? We¡¯ve removed the level limit for <em><span style="font-weight:400">our</em><span style="font-weight:400">, right? But, will we be able to send a high level individual to another world, or will they be blocked by that world¡¯s level limit.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy blinked, looking over at the Keeper. ¡°I¡­ hadn¡¯t thought of that. We¡¯d need to test it out to be sure. After all, when you first created the World Spirit of Fyor, it was evicted until the proper orb was found. Dana, can I get you to take the World Spirit with you to one of the others to investigate?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana thought about it, but hesitated. ¡°I could try, but I¡¯m not incredibly fluent with third-tier runes. I know enough to prepare some basic spells, but if we¡¯re talking about using the interface skillfully, I¡¯m not sure that I¡¯d be able to cut it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy bit her lip at that, but nodded her head in understanding. ¡°And we can¡¯t send Dale. Not until we know exactly what method the spire uses for teleportation. If it is any method that even briefly counts as a death, that would be universal suicide.¡± After saying that, she blinked, looking at Lena.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Lena, when you transform into people, you obtain their skills and knowledge, correct? Would that include theirnguage proficiency?¡± She asked, to which Lena nodded.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah, I guess? I¡¯ve said before that I can¡¯t turn into the Keeper, though. The number of domains he has at his disposable could theoretically annihte me if I tried to copy him.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy quickly shook her head. ¡°No, but you can turn into Lifre! Dale gave her full mastery of the runguage, up to the fourth tier. If you can copy that, you should be able to understand the runes as well. If you can¡¯t copy the blessing Dale gave her through the system, you can copy Ryone instead. She might still be finalizing her understanding of fourth tier runes, but I¡¯m sure that she haspletely mastered the third tier.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena blinked, but ultimately nodded her head. ¡°So, you want me to take the World Spirit on this field trip, then?¡± She asked, to which Aurivy quickly agreed. ¡°Alright, but I¡¯ll be counting on you to keep an eye on me. You can use that to make sure I don¡¯t get obliterated along the way, and also see if it¡¯s safe for the boss.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy quickly nodded her head again. ¡°Got it! Also, I want you to take someone else with you. She¡¯ll be the ultimate test of whether or not the level limit has been unlocked.¡± She said, before snapping her fingers. Golden mist spread out near the door, revealing Tsubaki, who was standing there with a serious expression. ¡°You heard everything, right? I caught you listening with an avatar from down the hall.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki cleared her throat, but confirmed Aurivy¡¯s words. ¡°I¡¯ve heard enough to understand the situation. The units being dispatched this time are Lena, myself, and the World Spirit of Fyor, correct?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Right. You¡¯re the senior officer, so you¡¯ll be in charge on this deployment. Make sure that all three of youe back safely.¡± Aurivy said in a more serious tone, and Tsubaki¡¯s back straightened slightly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course.¡± She said, before immediately turning to leave.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy grinned at Lena, gesturing for her to follow. ¡°Tsubaki is by far the highest level individual in any universe. If the system doesn¡¯t reject her during the travel, you¡¯ll know the level limit ispletely removed.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena gave a somewhat weak smile at that, agreeing with Aurivy¡¯s assessment as she turned to follow Tsubaki. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Of course she is. She¡¯s trained all those avatars to bring almost every ss to level five hundred¡­ Her total level should be well over twenty thousand at this point.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Still, she kept silent, following along with Tsubaki. ¡°Do you have a way to call the World Spirit of Fyor?¡± She asked the senior ninja, who thought it over for a moment.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It should not be too difficult.¡± She said simply, looking at Lena. ¡°Can you take us to the elevator you mentioned?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena nodded her head, waiting until they were out of Olympus before opening up a void gate. When they emerged, they were once again on the seventy-fifth floor of Fyor, standing before the massive mana spire. Lena walked up and ced her hand on the surface, which once again parted to allow her entry. ¡°That¡¯s good to know. The gates aren¡¯t just constantly open. Hey, senior, can you check to see if you can open the gate from another part of the spire? We need to know if only those that have been to the top floor can open the elevator.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki arched a brow, walking ten meters to the right and cing a hand on the crystal wall. Sure enough, another door opened up. However, Tsubaki could not see Lena inside this opening, despite it being rather close to where she had originally opened the path. ¡°I see¡­ so each passage is treated as an independent space?¡± She muttered to herself, before walking back to the passage where Lena was waiting. ¡°I am able to open it fine on my own.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I see¡­ that makes sense. I was in disguise when I opened it before, and it even mistook me as an Ursa. I should have figured that when I could open it this time.¡± She chuckled. ¡°Anyways, can you summon the World Spirit now?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded her head, taking a step back. With a deep breath, she held her hand up, a green brand glowing on the back of her hand. ¡°Come.¡± She called, and green energy rushed towards her from all directions, as if a storm had suddenly arisen out of nowhere. ¡°My Keeper asks that you aid us in this task.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I get it, I get it! Calm down with the natural energy suction!¡± A voice shouted from the space around them, a young-looking girl materializing on the ground in front of Tsubaki. ¡°I was already preparing to show up as soon as Lena said you needed me. How could I not notice when <em><span style="font-weight:400">you </em><span style="font-weight:400">entered here?¡± She asked with a huff, her cheeks puffing out.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki blinked, but nodded her head, loosening her grip on the nearby natural energy. ¡°My apologies. This seemed like the most effective method to get your attention. As I said, my Keeper asks you to apany us to another within this universe. There is the chance that doing so will temporarily banish you to the natural energy core of this universe, so I advise you prepare yourself in case that happens.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The World Spirit¡¯s eyes went wide, before suddenly turning serious. ¡°Got it. Sure, I can help out. I saw you lot opening up the ¡®outside¡¯ earlier, so I figured I¡¯d be called for something like this sooner orter. When are we leaving?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Now.¡± Tsubaki answered, walking calmly towards the passage where an exasperated Lena was waiting for the two of them.

 Chapter 1175: Conquering the Dungeon Worlds

    Chapter 1175: Conquering the Dungeon Worlds


    <span style="font-weight:400">Inside the elevator, Lena stared at the screen along the wall. At first, she was only in her base form, trying to see what she could understand on her own. However, her personal skills with runic magic were rathercking to fluently read the screen. Thus, she transformed into Lifre, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes to look at it again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s¡­ better?¡± Lena muttered, before shaking her head. It was clear that she wasn¡¯t able to replicate the effects of the Keeper¡¯s blessing that had been ced on Lifre. Thus, she went with the final n, transforming into the Goddess of Magic herself, Ryone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Despite her association with Olympus, Lena still felt that it was <em><span style="font-weight:400">somewhat</em><span style="font-weight:400"> heretical to imitate a member of the Greater Pantheon. It wasn¡¯t that she <em><span style="font-weight:400">couldn¡¯t</em><span style="font-weight:400">, just that she felt that she <em><span style="font-weight:400">shouldn¡¯t</em><span style="font-weight:400"> do so. Especially not with one of the Keeper¡¯s wives.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Still, this had been part of the n proposed by the Greater Pantheon itself, so she pushed past that small difort and turned into the elven goddess. Once in the form of Ryone, she opened her eyes again, nodding. ¡°Alright, I understand it now.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">With that, she manipted the screen just as Dana had originally done, pulling up the support window to disy the list of all avable worlds. ¡°ording to this, the that we are currently on is listed as Core Seventy Eight. I¡¯ll set our destination as floor fifty of Core One. If it¡¯s the first core, it should have the highest level of progress, right?¡± She reasoned, writing the destination on the screen.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The entrance of the elevator briefly shed, showing a barren desert. Lena and Tsubaki both looked at the World Spirit, who braced herself before walking forwards. With heavy steps, she left the elevator, her body tensed as she expected to be banished from the world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, as the seconds ticked by, nothing happened to her. Opening her eyes, she looked back, confirming that she had left the range of the elevator. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ safe here?¡± She asked in shock.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It would seem so.¡± Tsubaki confirmed. ¡°Can you spread your senses to detect the rest of this?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Give me a minute, and I¡¯ll check!¡± The spirit said in excitement, closing her eyes and focusing. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ fuzzy. That¡¯s the best way I can describe it. I can detect their presence, and I can get more details if I focus hard enough to fully project my consciousness there. However, I can¡¯t detect any others aside from this one and the one that we came from. Okay, that¡¯s not entirely urate. If I spread my senses out far enough, I can detect thes themselves, but I can¡¯t see inside of them no matter how hard I focus.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Interesting.¡± Lena blinked, her mind racing. Perhaps because of the fact that she was imitating Ryone, but some insights seemed to present themselves to her. ¡°Maybe it has something to do with the fact that we linked our system with this when we came here. So, in order for you to be able to sense every world, we would need to visit every world at least once. Assuming, of course, that the connection persists after we return. It might only be a temporary connection thatsts until all members of the foreign¡¯s system have left. We can quickly confirm that much, at least.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The World Spirit nodded her head, staying behind as Lena transported herself to Core Two, briefly leaving the elevator, and then returning once again to Core One. When they returned, the World Spirit focused, her brow tightly knit. However, she ultimately shook her head. ¡°I couldn¡¯t sense anything new. Still just here and our original world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Really?¡± Lena asked in surprise. She had expected that the World Spirit would at least briefly be able to sense the other world. ¡°So, the systems aren¡¯t fully connected. Rather, it¡¯s only based on the individual?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thinking that, she looked at the spirit again. ¡°Can you tell what level the civilization of this has reached? Given the structure of Fyor, even if they weren¡¯t able to climb very far, there shouldn¡¯t have ever been a case where they ran out of resources and went extinct.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The little spirit blinked, nodding her head at that. She focused, sending her perception down through the world, oneyer at a time. This was no easy task, given theyers of barriers blocking each floor. Still, she was eventually able to reach a conclusion. ¡°I can see the same species inhabiting both the twenty-third and twenty-fourth floors. They look like some form of four-armed monkey race.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°They¡¯re that low?¡± Lena asked in surprise. ¡°Is there something on the twenty-fourth or twenty-fifth floor that would obviously impede their progress?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The spirit focused once again, before shaking her head. ¡°Not as far as I can tell. They¡¯ve covered about thirty percent of the twenty-fourth floor in various cities, but the gate on that floor.. It just seems like they haven¡¯t found it yet. I can see it resting in a rather deep cave.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After she said that, Aurivy¡¯s voice spoke up in their minds. <em><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯ve found a unique system orb that just appeared in this world after you guys arrived. However, you¡¯ll need to go to the central region to reach it.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki pursed her lips at that, responding a momentter. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Do you have an idea of what the orb does?</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, it seemed that Aurivy did indeed have that answer. <em><span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s right. One of the locals picked it up, so I was able to see the prompt for it. It isbeled ¡®System Integration Orb 1-78¡¯. They¡¯re trying to fuse it with their own central spire, but it isn¡¯t responding.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In other words, we need to take this orb back to our own, and it will react with our spire. If it¡¯s about integrating our systems¡­ that should either allow us to fully treat this world as if it were our own, or it will forcibly synchronize all of our unlocked orbs. If it¡¯s the former, then we will be able to tell by having Tsubaki go through a gate here. If she can¡¯t, that means that there are some restrictions on our activities here, and we can only operate normally on levels where the elevator drops us off.¡± Lena said, before letting out a sigh.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°And if it¡¯s thetter, it means that we will be unlocking everything for the natives, giving them full ess to the elevator and everything that entails.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It is unlikely that they will have the means of deciphering the interface, however.¡± Tsubaki pointed out, and Lena shrugged her shoulders.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If they can¡¯t read thenguage, they will begin by simply trying to copy the symbols that they see. That will eventually lead them to the support window, and they will be able to copy runes from that list to blindly choose destinations.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°However¡­¡± Lena continued in a more grave tone. ¡°If it is the first option, this is a form of conquest. If we have free reign toe and go from their world, sending in forces that they cannot hope topete against, it will be the equivalent to subjugating them, whether that is our intention or not.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki pursed her lips, ncing between Lena and the World Spirit. ¡°Is there any method of confirming which option is true, before doing it practically?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I mean, theoretically.¡± Lena hesitated, before nodding her head. ¡°It is possible to try it through an educational stream, but it won¡¯t be easy to do. Ultimately, there is practically no downside to us retrieving the orb through either method. In the worst case scenario, we need only strengthen security around the mana spires.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki thought about that, before seeming to agree. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Lady Aurivy, can you guide me to the gate on this floor? We have not yet tested whether I can pass through them.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">As soon as she requested that, golden mist wrapped around the trio, depositing them before a gate of ck stone seemingly lodged into a cliffside. Without hesitation, Tsubaki walked up to the gate and ced her hand against it, waiting.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As Lena had theorized, the gate seemed to reject Tsubaki¡¯s touch, as no portal appeared for them to pass through. ¡°So, it is likely the conquest method you mentioned before?¡± She asked, to which Lena nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There¡¯s still a chance that it is total synchronization, but it is looking more likely that it will simply allow entities from Core Seventy-Eight to act freely in Core One. Given how the World Spirit¡¯s senses were restricted, it is likely that she is counted as a resident of Core Seventy-Eight, despite being a universal entity.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I see.¡± Tsubaki nodded her head firmly. ¡°In that case, we will need to retrieve the integration orbs as soon as we can.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The point of opening up the final floor in the first ce was to be able to give enemies in invasions a higher chance that they would spawn in a hostile environment. However, if they now spawned in an unintegrated core, they would be hidden from even the eyes of Fate. The only solution, then, was to gather the integration orbs for every, ensuring that they would have the ability to see them, no matter where they were.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With that thought in mind, Tsubaki had Aurivy send them back to the spire, and then Lena sent them to the first floor. From the inside, it appeared as though the residents of the first floor didn¡¯t even see the opening, given that they had no reaction to it appearing. Like the World Spirit had reported, they were a race of four-armed monkeys, their torsos bared and covered with short fur.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Rather than spending time to diplomatically engage with this unknown race, Tsubaki¡¯s figure briefly shed. Faster than anyone from this floor could see, she left the spire and grabbed the orb from one of the natives, returning in an instant.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing this, Lena let out a long sigh, cing her forehead in her palm. ¡°I¡¯m going to have to go around and help you get all of those cores, aren¡¯t I, senior?¡± She asked, to which Tsubaki nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I will thank you in advance. Please take us to the first floor of Core Seventy-Eight, so we can integrate this one. That will be the proper test.¡± She said, and Lena simply nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unlike the natives of the first core, those of their homeworld were perfectly capable of seeing the elevator open on the first floor. They jumped back in shock, seeing the passage suddenly appearing before them. ¡°What happened?¡± A young halfling called out, before recognizing the three people in the passage, causing him to gasp once again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Pardon me.¡± Tsubaki gave a polite bow, exiting the elevator and pressing the orb against the side of the spire. ¡°It would appear that the mana spire has be an elevator of sorts. However, I would advise strongly that nobody enters the elevator without someone fluent in third-tier runes.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she reported this calmly, a message shed before the residents of both this and the one that they had just visited. The message informed them that the residents of Core Seventy-Eight were now capable of acting freely within Core One. Tsubaki let out a sigh, ncing into the passage and looking at both Lena and the World Spirit.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The World Spirit blinked, closing her eyes and focusing. ¡°Y-Yeah¡­ I can see everything there a lot more clearly now.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing that, Lena couldn¡¯t help but groan. ¡°In other words, I¡¯m going to be busy for the next few days.¡± She said, looking out of the passage and to the halfling guard. ¡°Issue a report to the residents of this world. Messages such as this will be appearing frequently for the time being.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yes, Goddess Ryone!¡± The halfling responded immediately, causing Lena¡¯s eye to twitch slightly.


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 1176: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

    Chapter 1176: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back


    <span style="font-weight:400">


    <span style="font-weight:400">The next few days were¡­ okay, they were annoying, I have to be honest. About once every minute, I¡¯d get a notification that Fyor¡¯s main had been integrated with another within Fyor¡¯s universe. ording to Aurivy, there were a total of exactly ten thousands that had been established with their own mana spires. While this seemed incredibly small for the number of possibly habitables within an entire gxy, each itself was the size of an entire gxy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In total, it took one week for Tsubaki to finish integrating all ten thousands. That was one week of non-stop system notifications, to the point where I was desperately looking for an option to mute the messages. I could only imagine that I wasn¡¯t alone, and that the residents of Fyor were also likely suffering from this.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, once the messages were done, a long-awaited calm fell over us. I knew as soon as we were able to reach the surface of Fyor that we would be able to im the other worlds without any issue regarding our rank. ording to Aurivy, there <em><span style="font-weight:400">did</em><span style="font-weight:400"> exist some monsters in the cosmos of Fyor that were theoretically capable of ughtering an Origin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For instance, there was one creature, which resembled an utterly massive dragon, one sorge that it would make the King from thest invasion look like an ant inparison. Aurivy named this creature the Chronos Dragon, as she said that it consumed <em><span style="font-weight:400">time</em><span style="font-weight:400">. It swept across numerous worlds, ravaging their surfaces until there was naught but the ck shell protecting the inneryer. Anything unlucky enough to cross its path vanished from this world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If an Origin were to be caught by this creature with their main body, I was certain that there was nothing that could be done to save it. There were other, simrly devastating creatures as well, but only those on such an ¡®apex predator¡¯ level were capable of freely traveling the space of Fyor. Anything weaker would be treated as prey for these super-monsters.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Part of me considered using this Chronos Dragon as an invasion force for when I *really* wanted another Keeper to die. Like, if I were to face off against the Keeper that had forced Kathy to reset. However, doing so woulde with substantial risks. Although this monster was incredibly formidable, and capable of annihting entire gxies in moments, that did not mean that it was unstoppable.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It could kill an Origin, surely, but at the same time, an Origin would probably be able to kill <em><span style="font-weight:400">it.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> And if that happened, and the creature¡¯s corpse were to be left in another Keeper¡¯s domain where it could be studied, its powers replicated¡­ that seemed like too great of a risk for something that had at most a slim chance of sess in the stage that I was on.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I was thinking about all of this, the door to my office opened, and Tsubaki stepped inside. ¡°I have returned, my Keeper.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave Tsubaki a small nod, smiling at her. ¡°You¡¯ve been busy. I¡¯m sure both you and Lena will appreciate some time to rx.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki hesitated at that, and I knew that ¡®rxing¡¯ wasn¡¯t something that came easy to her, even now. ¡°First, I would like to make a report. I have gathered some data during my time integrating the various worlds, and I wish to share it now.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I arched a brow, but nodded my head to signal for her to continue. ¡°First, I have noticed that each ¡®Core¡¯ world has between one and four races that coexist within their centralyer. Presumably, some of these cores would have had one race kill another in a war in their history, but I did not have the time to confirm this with each case.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Additionally, there were no repeating races within the central cores. For instance, there were no other races that seemed to be a match for either humans or halflings. Although there were races that shared simrities, none of them were close enough that I would say that they shared amon origin.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Next, among the ten thousand cores, there were only ten in which the primary race or races did not rely on a physical body. In these cases, the race was either naturally made of energy, had evolved beyond the mortal shell, or in one case¡­ in one case, the residing race appeared to use an external energy core that was shaped into their body. Their physical form served as the internal core of their being, while they projected an energy body to interact with the world around them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked in surprise, nodding my head once again. ¡°Sounds interesting. Is there anything else?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There is.¡± Tsubaki continued. ¡°Among the ten thousand cores, there were two in which the central core was left in ruins. I can only surmise that their races fell to war. Also, while I was gathering the integration orbs, I was having Lady Aurivy check how far each race had gone in their respective world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of the worlds I visited, the highest floor achieved by any race was the forty-second floor. This belonged to one of the energy-based races, and it seems that they have discovered a method to attain godhood. However, with their progress being only in the low forties, it is hard to say that they will reach the surface in the foreseeable future without any outside intervention.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Interesting.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°Did any races seem to notice you acquiring the integration orbs?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki smiled at that, shaking her head. ¡°They did not, my Keeper. I acted with the utmost discretion. Aside from the first race, which was already studying their orb, none of the other races even had time to register the presence of a new orb in their core floor. As things stand now, we are free to conduct diplomatic rtions with any race we deem appropriate, and will be able to introduce ourselves to them in any way we see fit.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was somewhat terrifying,e to think of it. Just like we had approached so many races until now in Fyor, introducing ourselves as travelers of a distantnd, untouched by the natives¡­ Now, the people who had been doing that to various races would be the ones that would be subject to such an introduction themselves.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That being said, I would prefer to handle these introductions in a carefully controlled manner, though I knew that wasn¡¯t a realistic goal. If we put a ban on people using the new teleportation system of Fyor¡¯s spire, there would be criminals who would go out of their way to break that ban, traveling to a new world and taking over before the proper delegation could arrive. That, ormitting crimes to purposely make the residents of that world hate the delegates that woulde in the future.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The only way to prevent something like that would be to have someone like Aurivy or Terra constantly watching over all one hundredyers of Fyor¡¯s mana spire in order to prevent them from being essed. Which honestly went against my general method of handling matters.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I thought of that, an idea popped into my head, and I couldn¡¯t help but smile. ¡°I would like you to assign Thelsa and her shadow legion to be in charge of handling the introduction for these new worlds. She needs to visit the new worlds anyways toplete her shadow, and she has the manpower needed to handle multiple diplomatic teams at the same time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Before Tsubaki could speak up, I continued, leaning back in my seat. ¡°Also, arrange for her to get a device that can cleanse memetic influences in a wide range. If we don¡¯t have one avable, Leowynn should be able to make it as an artifact. Thelsa¡¯s shadow world is connected to mine and Dana¡¯s, so if it is overrun by memetic influences, that indirectly puts me at risk of the same.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki¡¯s eyes widened at that, and quickly nodded her head. ¡°I will see to it immediately, my Keeper. At this time, I would not be surprised if Petra is climbing the floors to integrate the rest of Fyor. ording to Dana¡¯s report, there are some floors infested with memetic powers, so I will have to stop her before she gets there.¡± As soon as she said that, she stood up, looking eager to get moving. ¡°Is there anything else you need of me, my Keeper?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I shook my head, gesturing for her to go and do what needed to be done.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°This is so much easier with an elevator.¡± Petraughed, spreading her shadow out on the seventy-seventh floor of Fyor, which was incredibly easy since light seemed to not exist within this space. ¡°If I knew that this was a thing earlier, I wouldn¡¯t have been so worried about us being the pioneers for every new floor.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Prior toing to the new floors, the shadows had first gone to lower floors that they hadn¡¯t been able to capture in the past for one reason or another, which was why it had taken them so long to get this far.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once the shadow was fully incorporated, Petra turned back to enter the elevator again. However, before they could choose a new destination, golden mist arose behind them, startling both Petra and Thelsa.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When the mist cleared, Tsubaki was standing there with an urgent look on her face. ¡°Thelsa Whitefallow, Petra Carna.¡± She greeted, the two bowing their heads at her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What can we do for the Keeper, Lady Tsubaki?¡± Thelsa asked curiously.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In a way, my Keeper has sent me to protect you from yourselves, as well as assigning a task to you.¡± She answered, confusing the duo. ¡°Thankfully, you have not yet gone too far with your exploration. On the eighty-eighth floor of this world, the entirendscape is a memetic monstrosity. If you were to reach that floor in your current state, your shadow world would be contaminated, and may even leak over into the shadow world of my Keeper.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa and Petra both stiffened at that. They hadn¡¯t considered thendscape itself bing tainted. However, Petra became despondent a momentter. ¡°Does that mean that it¡¯s not possible toplete the shadow world?¡± She asked, but Tsubaki shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It is, but you will need a special device.¡± After saying that, she held out her hand, conjuring a small, golden sphere. ¡°My Keeper tasked Ladies Leowynn and Ryone to jointly create this for the two of you. It is a device fueled by mana. Once activated, it converts the mana and releases a st of divine energy that severs all void ties in the area, cutting off the source of memetic effects. The greater the mana supplied, the wider the range of influence.¡± Tsubaki didn¡¯t feel the need to mention that Ryone had simply been present when she went to talk to Leowynn about this, and had offered to pitch in to help.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa blinked, thinking about these instructions. ¡°In other words, we need to use this whenever we reach a new floor, connecting it with the mana spire, and it will purify the memetic influences?¡± She asked, to which Tsubaki immediately confirmed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That is correct. However, because it will exhaust the mana supply, this means that you will need to wait to leave the affected floor until the mana spire has recovered enough to support the elevator function.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa hesitated. ¡°That will make things difficult. Even if it only took fifteen minutes for enough mana to be restored to do this, there are ten thousands, each with one hundred floors. If we were to use this artifact on every floor as a precaution, it would take decades to finish our shadow world. And that is assuming that we worked constantly, with no breaks for any reason.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing this, Petra¡¯s eyes went wide. She certainly did not want to spend the next several decades on such a monotonous task. However, Tsubaki shook her head. ¡°There should be very fewyers among the various worlds where such things would pose a problem. My advice would be to train a legion of shadows specialized in safely detecting memetic influences over a wide area. With your capabilities, it should not be difficult. Then you need only activate the artifact on the floors in which they report such influence. Which brings me to the task the Keeper has for you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°My Keeper wishes you to put your shadows to work. Currently, you are the only one capable of organizing a massive amount of manpower on very little notice for a cohesive cause within Fyor. My Keeper has asked that you be put in charge of handling diplomatic introductions to the others of Fyor¡¯s domain. You may utilize your shadows for this cause in any manner that you see fit. Doing so will also allow you to more easilyplete your shadow.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa¡¯s eyes went wide as she heard the mission being given to her, before a bitter smile came across her lips. ¡°He really doesn¡¯t assign easy missions, does he?¡± She asked, calcting how many shadows she would need in order to meet with all of the different worlds in a short timeframe, as well as the roles necessary for each meeting.

 Chapter 1177: Casting a Shadow

    Chapter 1177: Casting a Shadow


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now that I had Thelsa and her group working on the n to contact others of Fyor, I could consider that universe well and truly taken care of.. At most, I would need to worry about void monsters once people began to properly inhabit the surface of the variouss. However, I didn¡¯t really think that would be much of an issue.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Honestly, there just wasn¡¯t a reason to go to the surface of Fyor beyond scientific curiosity. If there had ever been soil or an atmosphere, it had long ago been destroyed by various monsters or void beasts targeting Fyor. All that was left on the surface was a massive expanse of ck stone, and the pir of mana that reached up to grasp the sun.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As for expanding to the surface simply to acquire more space? That was even more ridiculous. With the sheer size of Fyor¡¯s individualyers, it might take hundreds of thousands of years just to fully colonize and upy what is already there. Even if the entirety of the Metong Network were to migrate to Fyor, it would barely make a dent in the avable space.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That said, I was certain that Aurivy, Bihena, and several others would be studying the spire for quite a long time. ording to Aurivy, it is a perfectly safe method of transportation. Whenever anyone opens the elevator on the spire, the spire itself creates an independent space, sealed and isted within Fyor¡¯s mana core. The barrier around it is dense enough to prevent any form of mana-based monster from being able to pierce through.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once a destination is selected, the space itself remains unchanged. However, the exit point of the isted space is relocated to the destination, meaning that there is no travel through the void, no risk of death, or anything like that. If someone wanted to disrupt the transportation after a person was already in the elevator, they would have to have enough mana to overpower the spire itself¡­ and even I didn¡¯t have that much mana. Maybe Aurivy could do it, but that was only because she would be able to find people from the Admin Room to use as targets for her divine domain.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Regardless, it was time to divert my focus to one of the other worlds for now. There were only a few more days left until the invasion against Alkahest, after which I¡¯d need to start preparing for the next round. And knowing my luck, I¡¯d be on the defense. It seemed like I kept being put in defensive matchestely, after all.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre let out a sigh as she leaned back, spreading her arms and legs in her chair. She had just finished broadcasting one of her advanced automatons infiltrating a criminal organization by disguising itself as one of their own, nting it as a spy to use as a future plot hook. ¡°What should I make next, guys?! I could make some really cool transforming ship, or maybe I¡¯d be able to make an advanced particle beam cannon!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Looking for ideas from her viewers, she turned her head to look at the chat. It had been a while since she took the time to read through chat, as that was not amon urrence in her stream. A small smile crossed her face as she saw everyone¡¯s suggestions. ¡°Ooh, a warp bomb? That could be really neat! Maybe I should set myself as an overlord of the local sector? I haven¡¯t had a viin arc in so lon--¡± She paused, staring at one message that shed by in her chat.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Suddenly, her smile turned frosty, eyes narrowed. ¡°Hey, slimeballs? I saw a message saying that someone had finished conquering Fyor. That can¡¯t be true, right? They wouldn¡¯t do that without calling me, right?!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her chat froze, causing Lifre¡¯s eyes to begin twitching. ¡°They totally did, didn¡¯t they? They went off and had this really big adventure without me¡­ Okay! That does it! Viin arc time!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lifre put on a helmet that she had on her desk, summoning a virtual disy as she muttered. ¡°Going off and having all kinds of fun without inviting me¡­¡± Her hands rapidly moved along the interface, working on various blueprints as her viewers watched in equal parts awe and terror.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sitting on her bed, Lena couldn¡¯t help but roll her eyes, chuckling to herself. <em><span style="font-weight:400">I did try to send you a message when they got started, but this is fine. </em><span style="font-weight:400">Lena was actually curious to see just how far Lifre would take this viin arc of hers.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If anything, it would be an amusing way to end off her current stream storyline, that way she could start something new without the broken engineer ss. As Lena was thinking about that, there was a knock on her door. Turning her head, she saw the redheaded Scarlet standing in the doorway with a smile.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Surprise, Lena jumped to her feet. ¡°Hello.¡± She greeted with a nod. ¡°Is there something I can do to help you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I would hope so.¡± Scarlet nodded. ¡°May Ie in? This talk may take a while.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course, feel free.¡± Lena nodded, gesturing with her hand to transform her bed into arge, luxurious couch. Scarlet gave a small smile and entered, sitting on the couch. ¡°What can I do for you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s about one of your old colleagues. He seems to be plotting something.¡± Scarlet said, causing Lena to tilt her head, before her eyes suddenly widened.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Red Shadow?¡± She asked, to which the crimson goddess confirmed. ¡°What could he be plotting that is of concern to you? Is he going to go on another massacre or something?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If it were as simple as that, I would not be bothering you about this.¡± Scarlet chuckled. ¡°I have been aware of his existence for¡­ quite some time, unfortunately. His is one of the most annoying prayers that I have to try to ignore on a regr basis. If not for the fact that it was exactly what he wanted, I probably would have personally killed him years ago. I can¡¯t even seal his ki, because he will view it as a simple trial, making him even more devout.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena smirked slightly at that. ¡°Rarely have I ever heard of someone being allowed to live in peace as an act of spite¡­ But go on, what¡¯s going on with Red?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet puffed her cheeks out, crossing her arms for a moment, before her expression became more worried. ¡°Lately, he has been mentioning in his prayers that he would ¡®show his devotion¡¯ in a big way. Whenever he sent those messages, I could sense his bloodlust. I don¡¯t think a regr massacre would evoke that sort of response from him, so I wanted to get your opinion as someone who has been in his head and known him for a while.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena thought about that, ncing over to Scarlet. ¡°Can¡¯t you just use the Admin Room controls to look directly into his mind and see what he¡¯s plotting?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she heard that, Scarlet shuddered. ¡°I am <em><span style="font-weight:400">never</em><span style="font-weight:400"> looking into that man¡¯s mind again. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Absolutely</em><span style="font-weight:400"> not.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena¡¯s eyes widened, and she reached over to instinctively put a hand on the smaller goddess¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Okay, I can see your point there. So, you¡¯re worried that he might be plotting to destroy a, or something worse, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet let out a long sigh, nodding her head in agreement. ¡°In truth, I am more worried that his show of devotion would be something akin to trying to kill my father. I am positive that he would not seed if he tried, but I do not want to risk the chance that he does something unpredictable.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah, I can get that.¡± Lena said, before lowering her head in thought, her eyes closing. ¡°Red¡­ let¡¯s see¡­ The boss is safe, definitely. Red is a psychotic bastard obsessed with blood, but he won¡¯t harm the Keeper. Not because he actually cares about the world or anything, but because the Keeper is connected to you by blood, so that makes him off-limits in Red¡¯s eyes.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet seemed relieved by that, but Lena continued. ¡°If he wanted to make a big show of devotion, he would aim for quality over quantity. So, he¡¯s not going for the Keeper, but rather another unique existence. Has he been doing anythingtely that would tip you off as to his goal?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet hesitated, as if unsure how to answer. ¡°I mean¡­ I¡¯m not sure. He¡¯s been going around and visiting toy shops in various worldstely, but that didn¡¯t really make any sense to me. I just figured that he was crazy, or maybe looking for bait to lure his target out or something? What could he find in a toy shop?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena furrowed her brow, ncing over at Scarlet. ¡°...Can you show me one of the shops he¡¯s visited?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet nodded her head in agreement. ¡°That shouldn¡¯t be a problem.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena smiled slightly, lifting one hand. ¡°With your permission, I¡¯d like to look at your memory. If Red finds out we visited the shop in person, that could cause problems.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet blinked, but closed her eyes and let Lena ce a hand on her forehead. Looking at the memories of someone else without transforming into them was certainly not Lena¡¯s forte, but it was a simple enough use of her divine power, so long as the other person did not resist.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In Scarlet¡¯s memory, she saw a redheaded lycan walking into an antique toy store run by a young ursa craftsman. The lycan walked through the store, ncing over the various dolls on disy, and then simply left without ever saying a word. Lena pulled her hand back, blinking. ¡°Oh¡­ yeah¡­ I think I know who he¡¯s looking for.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You do?¡± Scarlet looked over curiously, eager to find an answer to the problem she had been facing. ¡°Is it safe to say that he won¡¯t be targeting anyone from Olympus, then?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°They won¡¯t be targeted¡­ but they might be implicated if he manages to get who he is after.¡± Lena said with a long sigh. ¡°He¡¯s looking for the Collector. The Collector is a mysterious man from the ninja ns that went off the radar decades back. He enjoys collecting unique and interesting individuals, turning them into dolls that he puts on disy. Before I retired, the Collector was quite interested in acquiring me, but he never had an opening to do so.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Anyways, very few people know what the Collector looks like. What we do know is that whenever he settles down somewhere, he opens up a store to sell toys based on individuals found in his collection. After all, he wants everyone to be able to admire his prized pieces. Red must be looking for familiar faces among the different dolls, and using that to track down the Collector.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet nodded her head in understanding. ¡°I see¡­ and given what you said, it would be bad for us if the Collector were to perish?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena groaned,ying back on the couch. ¡°I don¡¯t know the full extent of his collection, obviously¡­ but I know that there are a few people in it that shouldn¡¯t be left to roam free. The White Shadow, the King in Silence, and the Exception are all individuals I¡¯ve personally helped him acquire.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The White Shadow¡­ she¡¯s not too bad. Really sweet girl, honestly, but she was raised as part of the shadow program, and has the annoying ability to make people forget whatever she wants them to forget. All she¡¯s ever wanted was for someone to remember her for who she actually was, so when she was sent to kill me, I gave her to someone that would always admire her.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The King in Silence is a god from one of my earlier missions. Really powerful, with Silence as his initial domain, and Thought as one that he forged. He made a rule on his divinity, one which forbade him from speaking, but in return, he could bring his thoughts into reality.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The Exception is an anomaly. He can¡¯t be targeted by any system or special ability. I had a <em><span style="font-weight:400">really</em><span style="font-weight:400"> hard time tracking that guy down. In order to add him to his collection, after I had knocked him out, the Collector had to gather up the entirendscape he was in.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Anyways, if the Collector died, all of those he had gathered up until now might be freed. While I do feel a bit bad for White, I honestly think this is the best ending she could get without removing her special ability entirely. And the others¡­ a lot of them are major viins.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet nodded her head in understanding. ¡°I see.¡± She began, before blinking. ¡°A prayer just came from the Red Shadow. He¡¯s saying that he found his sacrifice.¡±


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 1178: Red Dread

    Chapter 1178: Red Dread


    <span style="font-weight:400">In the middle of the elven port city of Cau Bungha, there was an inconspicuous toy shop called ¡®Elf on a Shelf¡¯. This store had been around for quite some time, and dealt in handcrafted dolls for children. Although the store itself was not all that popr, it had never shown any signs of financial trouble. Though, this could easily be attributed to the fact that the storeowner was a god, allowing them to pay with their own divinity.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This god, William Dyson, was a kitsune God of Collections. This wasn¡¯t that umon of a domain, as many people believed that they would be able to gain extra divinity if they gathered a meaningful collection that people acknowledged. For most, these collections took forms like magic cards, artifacts, or monster pets. Whenever anyone asked William what he collected, he said that it was his dolls.


    <span style="font-weight:400">One day, the bell above the door rang to signal a customer, and William lifted his head with his trademark smile. ¡°Greetings! Wee to Elf on a Shelf! Feel free to look around at your leisure!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The customer, a redheaded lycan, gave a big, toothy grin. ¡°That¡¯s fine. I already know what I¡¯m looking for.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">William looked at the customer, a flicker of recognition in his eyes, though he quickly concealed it. ¡°Of course, of course! What would you like, then?¡± Naturally, William recognized the Red Shadow, having observed him in secret in the past. However, he had never revealed his true appearance to the man, and had ensured that nobody alive among the ninjas knew what he looked like in the present day.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, the Red Shadow¡¯s eyes were locked onto him, his grin stretching out as if to split his face in two. Crimson smoke began to drift away from his body, and William felt as if his ki was being seized. ¡°You are going to be the greatest gift to the Lady in Red.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">William clicked his tongue, realizing that there was no point in ying dumb. ¡°Now now, no need for violence.¡± He said, snapping his finger. A white light shed through the room, and he began to casually gather his things after feeling that his ki was no longer being targeted.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Looks like I¡¯ll need to set up somewhere else. Perhaps Hanbei would wee me. Surely the psycho wouldn¡¯t dare touch the territory of Elisae.¡± He muttered to himself, heading out the back door.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Why not?¡± The voice of the Red Shadow spoke again, causing William to freeze. He was certain that the Red Shadow wouldn¡¯t be able to respond for at least a few more moments, so long as he didn¡¯t make any hostile actions. ¡°Did you think you¡¯d be getting away that easily?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I had certainly hoped.¡± The Collector, William said with a long sigh. ¡°Look, buddy, I have no desire to fight with you, and I¡¯m certain you don¡¯t really want me to get serious. Let¡¯s just end things here, and let bygones be bygones.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">In truth, William would indeed like to add the Red Shadow to his collection, but he knew that it was incredibly unlikely to happen. In order for someone to be added to his collection, they needed to be in a state where they couldn¡¯t resist him. If their energy flowed too chaotically, it would break the ability before it fully settled. Meanwhile, the Red Shadow¡¯s energy was in a constant state of activity.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Perhaps that¡¯s why he overcame White¡¯s light, because he is constantly in danger¡­ from himself.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> William thought it over, while his opponent simply cackled.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Quite the opposite. I want your blood, Collector. And, if I have to raze this entire city to the ground, I¡¯ll get it.¡± As he said that, his ki began to spread out, the remaining dolls on the shelves seeming to dissolve. The counters, the ceiling, and even the windows all began to liquify, dripping into viscous puddles.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing this, William¡¯s eyes narrowed. He kept his mouth closed, and suddenly everything in the shop was back to normal, though the Red Shadow was nowhere to be seen. ¡°Let¡¯s see how you like swimming in a star.¡± He muttered, quickly turning to leave the building. He knew that teleporting the Red Shadow into the heart of a star wouldn¡¯t hold him off for long, so he wanted to be long gone by the time he arrived.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Just as he had left his store, and was preparing to use his powers to disappear, there was an explosion from the store behind him. A pir of me rose up into the sky, incinerating everything in the vicinity. Screams echoed out around the town, several citizens caught up in the intense wave of heat. Those with mortal bodies were instantly scorched, leaving ck outlines in their wake.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once the pir faded, the Red Shadow stood there, mes licking off of his skin. ¡°You¡¯re not getting away that easily.¡± He said, though William could hear the sirens approaching. The police would be here in moments, so he had to get away to avoid being caught up in this mess.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I disagree.¡± He said, waving his hand. Immediately, his body faded from view, appearing on a deserted ind. Once there, he let out a long breath of relief. ¡°That madman surely can¡¯t follow the Lost Wanderer.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, a momentter, a blood red portal opened in front of him, and William knew that he had spoken too soon. ¡°I already locked onto your ki.¡± The Red Shadow said in a menacing tone. ¡°No matter where you run to, I will follow. What more do you have to show me, great collector?¡± He asked with a sadistic grin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In truth, William had grown rusty when it came to directbat. He had retired from the life of a career ninja long ago, and now focused on growing and maintaining his collection. That said, he was far from weak. In exchange for the condition that his targets must not resist being added to his collection, he had gained the ability to use the powers of anyone in his collection for himself. His personal favorite was the light of the White Shadow, which had served him well when it came to erasing his tracks. However, it would seem that the Red Shadow hade prepared to counter that power.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">In that case, let¡¯s see how many powers he can counter.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> William thought to himself, before lifting his hand. ¡°Open the Gallery.¡± Golden light descended from above, thousands of tiny figures arranged on dozens of swirling shelves. There were members of every race, and even many monsters were counted among his collection.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Each of these figures was special in one way or another, and many of them were famous. Because of this, William was able to leech off of their fame to increase his own divinity


    <span style="font-weight:400">The figure of a robed human began to glow, and the ocean around the ind rose up, transforming into a many-headed serpent with golden eyes. The Red Shadow let out augh, lunging for the serpent as his ki formed massive, wed hands behind him. These hands reached out to grab the serpent, ripping its heads off while nimbly dodging the creature¡¯s strikes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While William had grown rusty in his retirement, the Red Shadow was in constant battles. He lived to fight, and thus his innatebat prowess was far above that of the Collector. ¡°Is this all you¡¯ve got?! At this rate, you won¡¯t even be a worthy sacrifice! Maybe I¡¯ll offer up your toys instead!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">William grit his teeth, his fists clenched at his sides. Another figure lit up, this one an elven woman. Suddenly, arge, third-tier magic circle appeared to cover the entirety of the ind. ¡°Disappear within the emptiness.¡± Hemanded, and a ck light shot down. This was the signature spell of an elven archmage known as the Key to the Abyss. Once used, this spell trapped a target within a spatial field where all energies were neutralized, left to drift in endless nothingness.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Despite the unlikelihood that the Red Shadow would be able to escape this prison, William activated another figure. This one was a ck-boned skeleton wearing a crown made of finger bones. The ind began to crack beneath William¡¯s feet, hordes of skeletal figures rising out of the ground, green mes burning around them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sure enough, a red portal opened a few momentster, and the Red Shadow stepped out, lookingpletely unphased. Before William could ask how he had escaped the abyss, his answer came in the form of dozens of simr portals opening. From each portal, another Red Shadow emerged.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">I need to identify his real body, or this will never end.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> He thought to himself, sending forth his undead horde while trying to recall if there was anyone in his collection with the skills to help him here. Meanwhile, his undead horde was being quite literally dismantled, reduced to nothing but piles of broken bones.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately, the Collector didn¡¯t have ess to a god that had the Ki domain or anything simr. If he did, it would be a simple matter to defeat the Red Shadow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Without a word, the Collector channeled the power of the King in Silence. This was undoubtedly one of the strongest pieces in his collection. It was also how he had saved his shop and sent the Red Shadow into a star earlier. His eyes shed, and the front line of enemies suddenly turned to stone, only to be broken without a care by those behind them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Furrowing his brow, the next wave dissolved into water, but still more portals emerged. <em><span style="font-weight:400">How many avatars did he create!?</em><span style="font-weight:400"> The Collector thought to himself in desperation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As that thought crossed his mind, he felt his body jerk, a sickening crunching from his chest. Looking down, he saw a hand piercing clean through his body, wrapped in red energy. Divinity leaked from the wound like blood, the Collector¡¯s eyes were wide.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh, great Lady in Red. I have found the promised sacrifice.¡± The man standing behind William spoke in a reverent tone, his ki flooding through William¡¯s body and tearing it apart from the inside. ¡°ept this humble offering, this collector of the unique.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">As the Red Shadow finished his prayer, the skies above shifted, turning blood red. Seeing this, the Red Shadow¡¯s eyes lit up with glee. ¡°She has epted my prayer!¡± He called out,ughing like a madman. ¡°The great goddess has acknowledged my faith!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">William¡¯s eyes shook as he looked at the phenomenon in the sky, before a pir of red light crashed down onto the ind. From within the pir, a small figure in a red dress emerged, her crimson hair flowing behind her. Simrly red eyes locked onto the fighting duo, annoyance evident in her gaze.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I have done my best to ignore you all this time.¡± She said coldly, as one by one, the avatars scattered through the inds began to pop like balloons. ¡°Your wickedness knows no bounds, and your sanity was lost long ago. I have not acknowledged your faith. I¡¯ve been trying to figure out what to do with you for years. For a while, I thought that ignoring you was the best answer. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Maybe</em><span style="font-weight:400"> you¡¯d get the hint. But no, here we are.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">William tried to speak, but his words wouldn¡¯te. He was still channeling the King in Silence, so he was unable to speak. Scarlet red at him, snapping her fingers. William vanished, appearing next to Scarlet, the hole in his chest rapidly closing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Afterwards, she turned to look at the Red Shadow again, who was frozen in ce, his body unable to move. ¡°You disgust me. Any punishment I could ever think to give, I knew you would only see as a blessing or a trial. The one time I looked into your mind, I felt sickened by the thoughts I saw. But now? I don¡¯t care! I don¡¯t care if you like the fact that you¡¯re going to die. But I will <em><span style="font-weight:400">not</em><span style="font-weight:400"> be absorbing your ki. I wouldn¡¯t want your energy even if I was on the verge of death. I will feed you to the most horrific beasts in creation, and let <em><span style="font-weight:400">them</em><span style="font-weight:400"> have your ki. Maybe then you¡¯ll realize just how pathetic you are.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet stretched her hand forward, clenching her fist. Space seemed to ripple around the Red Shadow¡¯s body, Vaguely, ck tendrils covered in triangr teeth could be seen emerging from the ripples in space, before the man¡¯s bodypletely disappeared. After dealing with him, Scarlet turned to look at William, her eyes narrowed. ¡°As for <em><span style="font-weight:400">you.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Don¡¯t think we¡¯re not aware of you. If you don¡¯t want to join him, there are some people that you will be releasing from your collection. Otherwise, they¡¯ll all get released when you die, anyways.¡±


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 1179: White Out

    Chapter 1179: White Out


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet stared down the man that Lena had reported to be the Collector, her divine senses scanning the various smaller figures hovering in the air around them. As she was speaking to the man, she was having alia give her reports on all of their identities.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In truth, she clearly hadn¡¯t known much about the man until just recently, possibly even nothing at all. However, as a member of the Greater Pantheon, this wasn¡¯t something that she could reveal. If she appeared before someone that hadmitted numerous evil deeds, she had to at least pretend that the Greater Pantheon knew about them. Otherwise, it would give people the idea that they could do such things with impunity.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Meanwhile, William gulped thickly, his hands trembling slightly. He was already having trouble with the Red Shadow, but Scarlet had annihted him easily. Not only that, but she had teleported William with no sign of exertion. Had her mastery of ki be so great that she could manipte space that freely?


    <span style="font-weight:400">William raised his hands in surrender, having no intention of fighting against a member of the Greater Pantheon. Even if, against all hope, he did manage to secure a victory, all that awaited for him was to be hunted down by the rest of the Greater Pantheon. Or, what he considered arguably worse, the Keeper¡¯s personal executioner.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course, Your Highness.¡± William said in a cating tone. ¡°I am merely a humble collector. If possible, I like to avoid conflict. If there are members of my collection that you believe were wrongly acquired, I shall naturally release them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was the best that he could do. He felt as if a massive bloodlust was weighing down on his being, something that even the Red Shadow could never hope topare to. If he resisted here, for even just a moment, he felt as if he would be killed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet¡¯s eyes narrowed slightly, before snapping her fingers. Strands of ki spread through the air, wrapping around some of the hovering figures. ¡°The Lost Wanderer. the Lady in Yellow. the White Shadow. Karen Cross. Abel Dowers¡­¡± One by one, Scarlet listed off the identities of those that she wrapped in ki, and their figurines vanished from his shelves, appearing hovering around her. For those that had more famous titles, she would use those, while others she would use their real name.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    <span style="font-weight:400">For the most part, William realized that these people were all the more innocent among those in his collection. Though¡­ ¡°The White Shadow?¡± William looked surprised when that name was called. ¡°Are you certain? I mean no disrespect, but her presence in the world may cause more harm than good. That is why I had collected her in the first ce.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You only believe such because her power is not fully trained. If she could control it properly, there would be no reason to exclude her. And, I find that I can be a very good teacher.¡± She said with an almost menacing smile, one that sent chills down the Collector¡¯s spine. She continued listing off names, one after the other.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Eventually, more than a dozen figures were circling around Scarlet, held gently in ce by her ki. ¡°These are the figures that you will release in exchange for your life.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">William was well aware that losing these figures would severely diminish his power, as many of them were amongst the most famous of his collection. However, he nodded his head. With a flex of his divinity, the figurines began to glow. ¡°May I depart, Your Highness? They have already been released, and will return to normal in a matter of seconds. However, if I am here when they do, I fear another battle may break out.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet simply offered him a nod, retracting her bloodlust. Without hesitation, he took a deep breath, vanishing on the spot with the rest of his collection. Meanwhile, Scarlet stepped back to observe the process of the figures returning to their original appearance.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As William had said, it took less than a minute for all of them to return to their original appearance. Many of them were shell shocked, but this was especially true for a young lycan girl with silver hair. She hugged her arms against herself, releasing a white sh that engulfed the ind. Briefly, the other released individuals were stunned, their gazes vacant, while the silver-haired girl quickly began to run away.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, Scarlet was unfazed by this, her eyes following the girl. Or, more appropriately, the entity behind Scarlet was unfazed by the sh. Her incarnation was briefly stunned as well, but she was still able to maintain control.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, when the girl tore activated a chakra-based teleportation technique, Scarlet appeared on the other side of the technique next to her. This caused her to yelp, stumbling back in shock as another white sh spread out. ¡°H-How?¡± She asked, eyes wide. She knew that she had activated her unique energy, so nobody at the scene should have been able to move, or even remember her after the fact. Even extremely powerful gods focused on information like Lena were unable to resist her power.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You¡¯ll need more than that to get away from me.¡± Scarlet said, though she did send a quite message to alia and Bihena to take care of the ones left on the ind. ¡°Now, White Shadow, shall we talk?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The girl trembled for only a moment longer until she heard her title, and her body seemed to instinctively calm down. As if she was trained to respond to the name. ¡°What¡­ do you want?¡± She asked with a small gulp.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I want to help you control your power, first and foremost. Though, before that¡­ how much do you remember?¡± Scarlet asked, not wanting to specify and further bring up bad memories.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°All of it¡­ we were all conscious. Trapped within those doll-like bodies.¡± The White Shadow crouched down, hugging her knees. ¡°I don¡¯t know how long I was like that¡­ unable to move, to call out to anyone. Just sitting on a shelf with eyes that would never close.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet¡¯s lips pursed, and she leaned in to wrap her thin arms around the White Shadow. The touch caused another bright sh, but that didn¡¯t stop Scarlet. ¡°Do you remember Lena? The¡­ Golden Shadow.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The White Shadow¡¯s eyes flickered at that, and she looked up at Scarlet. ¡°She has a name now?¡± She asked, a shadow of a smile appearing over her face. ¡°I¡¯m really happy for her. She always used to tell me how she wanted a real name for herself. Is she doing well?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That made Scarlet hesitate. Lena had told her about how she was the reason that the White Shadow had been captured by the Collector. And yet, here she was, asking if Lena was alright. ¡°Y-Yeah¡­ Lena¡¯s doing great. Do you not resent her..?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The White Shadow pursed her lips, but shook her head. ¡°N-No¡­ she was my big sis, even if not by blood. I didn¡¯t really want to carry out the order to attack her, but¡­ the elder seemed so certain that she was a danger to everyone. I¡­ I know that she gave me to him. I don¡¯t me her. She could have killed me a hundred times over in our fight, but her strikes always avoided a lethal blow. Almost like she was trying to recognize me, and part of her remembered who I was.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°As for giving me to him¡­ I¡¯m not happy¡­ How could I be happy? But I know she did it with good intentions. She couldn¡¯t have remembered my wish. Not fully. But she knew I wanted to be remembered, right?¡± The White Shadow gave a weak smile as Scarlet stroked her hair.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah¡­ from what she told me, she thought that giving you to the Collector was the best way to carry out your wish. If you don¡¯t mind, can you tell me more about yourself? I won¡¯t forget you.¡± Scarlet promised, and the small girl hesitated.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I am¡­ the daughter of the elder, Monda Grove. My name is Charle Grove. When they were selecting candidates for the Four Shadows program, I was chosen because I was naturally good at concealing my presence.¡± She exined, lowering her eyes to the ground. ¡°Each shadow had a different training regimen. The Golden¡­ sorry, Lena had to undertake various trials to earn as many divinities as she could. The Red Shadow was sent to battlefields and made to devour the ki of his targets. The ck Shadow was locked in an underground library.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Meanwhile, I was injected with an experimental energy core that the ninja ns had been working on. It was supposed to be the ultimate energy for infiltration and assassination. However, it hadn¡¯t been tested yet, so its effects were purely theoretical, assumed from its base structure. That¡¯s why they weren¡¯t able to prepare me for it.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°After I was injected with the energy, I subconsciously activated it in a moment of pain. Everyone in the room was affected. The scientists, the guards¡­ my father. They all forgot about me. Worse, the identities of the Four Shadows had been expunged from all records, so there was no trace of who I was, aside from the program. My father forgot that I was his daughter. However, he never lost a father¡¯s instincts¡­ he always felt like he had a daughter.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Just¡­ there was nobody to help me control my power. Whenever it went off subconsciously, people would forget all about me. So, every time, it was like I was a stranger to him. Meanwhile, Lena was there from the start, and he never forgot her. So, he treated her like she was his adopted daughter. I-It¡¯s not like he ignored me or anything. My father was still always nice to me, too. He just couldn¡¯t remember who I was.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet nodded her head at that, stroking Charle¡¯s back gently. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ I feel like saying unfortunate would be an <em><span style="font-weight:400">unfortunate</em><span style="font-weight:400"> understatement.¡± She muttered softly, though that earned a small chuckle out of Charle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah. So¡­ I focused on my missions. Whenever it came to training, I insisted that transcripts were kept, and everything was written down as much as possible, even if I assumed they¡¯d just burn it allter. Do you have any idea how infuriating it is to have the same conversation with someone five times in a single day? Eventually, I just kind of grew numb to it, I guess?¡± She said with a shrug.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s¡­ kind of funny, really. Vespa thought Lena was such a big threat because she could impersonate anyone. But, I can walk up to someone in a group of people, stab them in the heart, and just walk away. And nobody would ever know that I was there. The only reason Lena got targeted the way she did was because nobody remembered what I could do enough to understand my abilities.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Maybe that was my fault, too¡­ Just like how my father still had his paternal instincts, and epted Lena as his daughter because he kept forgetting me, the higher ups realized that there was a danger in the shadows. But, since they kept forgetting me too, they just assumed that the danger was Lena. I was just a ghost, a title in a file and an emergency contact for missions that needed absolute stealth.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet gave another nod, before tilting her head. ¡°If I can ask, why wouldn¡¯t Lena know your name? She can take on the memories of a person that she turns into, after all. And with Lena¡¯s obsession with names, I can¡¯t imagine her refusing to say yours. Especially since she seemed to respect you a lot.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Charle blinked at that, seeming confused as well. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe it has something to do with the Forgetting sh? That¡¯s the name of the energy. I never had a way to really study it in detail, since everyone I tested it with forgot the details of the test¡­ and the person that they were testing with.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet pursed her lips, but realized there wouldn¡¯t be an easy way to get an answer for this. ¡°Okay, then. Charle, I have two options for you to control your power. First of all, I could send you to a research facility, where they could make a device capable of either extracting your energy core or restraining it so that you don¡¯t activate it subconsciously.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Charle¡¯s shoulders trembled at the mention of a research facility, so Scarlet had the <em><span style="font-weight:400">distinct</em><span style="font-weight:400"> impression that she wouldn¡¯t choose that option. ¡°The second option will be more difficult. I will <em><span style="font-weight:400">personally</em><span style="font-weight:400"> train you. I will force you to learn how to control this power and make it your own. After all, I won¡¯t forget about you during the training.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Charle had a bad feeling about this, but gulped and looked up. ¡°How¡­ would you force me to learn?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">At that, Scarlet¡¯s eyes turned crimson, and the world around them seemed to redden as her smile grew menacing. ¡°Your ns had an old custom dating back to ancient times that I quite liked the name of. It¡¯s very fitting for me, don¡¯t you think? The Trial of Blood.¡±

 Chapter 1180: A Good Day for Rain

    Chapter 1180: A Good Day for Rain


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet¡¯s Trial of Blood was, admittedly, different from the Trial of Blood that the ninja ns once created. At least, to a degree. When Charle agreed to undergo this trial, Scarlet took her to a crimson forest within her kingdom. There, she began to spar with Charle, ordering her to keep a close lid on her power.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, Charle was not that good at first. Any time she was startled, or felt a threat, white light shed through her surroundings. However, this did not stop Scarlet as it had stopped so many people in her past. Instead, every time the light shed, it was reced by an oppressive, red light that caused Charle to feel the shadow of death looming over her. As if to eyes, like red suns, were staring directly into her soul.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was the true significance of the Trial of Blood that Scarlet had created. She would force Charle to learn how to control her ability by triggering her survival instinct. Previously, that instinct had been part of the reason why her white light was triggered, but now it would serve as the very thing to stop it. Even if Charle knew that she was safe, and could still continue the spar, there was no denying the fear that came when Scarlet unleashed her bloodlust.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For a full four days, the two continued this spar, with Scarlet not allowing even a moment of rest. Her goal was to train Charle to the point where she could go for a full hour ofbat without triggering the energy once. To ensure that she did not get too used to the training, she would vary the level ofbat, sometimes making it rather simple, and then suddenly surprising Charle with an attack that seemed impossible for her to ovee.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Every time Charle used her white light, the timer was reset. It took the entire four days before she was able tost an entire hour without using her energy once. After that, Scarlet suddenly stopped attacking, and Charle hesitated, ncing to the side as if expecting red spears to skewer her out of nowhere.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Congrattions, Charle.¡± Scarlet spoke up with a small grin. ¡°You havepleted Stage One of the training.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°S-Stage one?¡± Charle asked in confusion, having thought that there would only <em><span style="font-weight:400">be</em><span style="font-weight:400"> one stage.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Scarlet confirmed, snapping her fingers. Suddenly, a red throne appeared behind her, which she sat down on. ¡°Stage One is designed to prevent idental activations of your power by instilling an instinctive fear into you. Because of this fear that has been drilled into your subconscious, you will currently not activate your sh by ident. However¡­ you may find it difficult to activate it consciously as well.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Charle¡¯s eyes widened, and she focused, trying to activate her white light. She could feel the energy inside of her, but it felt like there was something stopping her from touching it. The same feeling that made you pull back on a punch at thest second when you were aiming at a brick wall, or stopped you from taking a step forward when standing on the edge of a cliff.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeing Charle focusing like this, Scarlet could guess what she was trying to do. ¡°That¡¯s right. Currently, there is a subconscious wall in your mind. It¡¯s blocking you from activating the power, because it has be strongly associated with the fear of death. In order to activate it again, you will need to ovee this barrier. However, as a former ninja assassin, I do not believe that this will be a difficult challenge for you.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Charle bit her lip, but nodded her head. It was true, oveing the fear of death was one of the very first lessons taught to a ninja in their training. A ninja that backed away in the face of death was unwanted. Perhaps that was why it had taken four days for the first stage to bepleted in the first ce. ¡°Out of curiosity, Your Highness¡­ how many stages are there?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet simply grinned, leaning against the side of her throne. ¡°Five. However, they are just iterations of the first and second stages. After you have managed to release your power on demand again, and ovee the mental barrier, we will repeat the activities of the first stage. This way, any additionalpse in control can be taken care of. Then, you will ovee that barrier as well, and we will repeat the first stage onest time. At that point, you should be able to release the energy when and <em><span style="font-weight:400">only</em><span style="font-weight:400"> when you intend to.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Charle¡¯s face went pale as she listened to this. On paper, this sounded like a feasible strategy. However, the amount of mental strain it would cause on the subject was terrifying. Charle would spend several days under a constant feeling of death, and each time had to ovee that feeling through sheer willpower. For a normal person, that could potentially put them in a vegetative state, or cause their psyche to break down. Even for a ninja, that was not something that could be considered normal training.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Part of her was starting to regret agreeing to this form of training. However, the only alternative was to spend the rest of her life relying on an external object, one that could potentially break down at a moment¡¯s notice. Worse, if it did break down, she would have lost all of her vignce against the energy, making it even more rampant.


    <span style="font-weight:400">So, she had to suck it up and endure. Such was essentially the motto of any ninja training in a special program. She focused on her energy, pushing back that mental block. After a few moments, the white light shed again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Instinctively, Charle flinched, as if preparing to feel that overbearing killing intent once again. Yet, it didn¡¯te this time. This allowed her to rx, continuing her training. After the first release, it became easier to utilize her energy, and she felt the mental barrier slowly dropping. Of course, she knew that this would inevitably lead to the energy going out of control again, which was why more training was necessary.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, the first stage of the training was actually the hardest in this case. The most challenging part of the path Scarlet devised was to instill the initial mental barrier, which had to counter all of Charle¡¯s previous training. Once that was done, the rest of it was little more than fine-tuning.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For that reason, it only took two more days of training before Scarlet decided to finish things. At this point, Charle was a bit too skittish to do anything else right now. Though, personally, Scarlet saw that as a victory, as her power was not activating even with how jumpy she was. Had it been just one week prior, her power would trigger with every minor fright.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well!¡± Scarlet smiled, satisfied with her nearly full week of training the girl. ¡°Is there anything you would like to do to rx now?¡± Scarlet asked, though Charle couldn¡¯t help but see her smile as a cruel, twisted grin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She bit back the instinctive remark that would be to run away and find a hole to hide in. ¡°C-can I¡­ meet Lena?¡± She asked in a shaky voice.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet blinked, but ultimately nodded her head. This was a meeting that had to happen sooner orter. She had even been receiving messages from Lena during thest six days while they were training, asking for updates on Charle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Very well.¡± Scarlet said with a solemn sigh. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy, can you bring one of the Lena¡¯s here?</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Yup, sure thing!</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Aurivy responded, a golden sh filling the forest. Charle yelped and jumped, but managed not to activate her own ability.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A momentter, Lena was standing there, looking nervously at Charle. She looked like she was bracing herself for anything, whether Charle decided to punch her, yell at her, or even stab her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, Charle walked over to Lena, looking up at her with those shaky, skittish eyes. She hadn¡¯t aged a day since being trapped by the Collector. ¡°H-Hey Lena. How have you been?¡± She asked, and Lena flinched, as if the gentleness in her tone was perhaps the one thing she couldn¡¯t prepare for.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I-I¡¯m fine, Whit--sorry, Scarlet told me that your name was Charle, right?¡± Lena asked, quickly catching herself from using Charle¡¯s title rather than her name. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ sorry that I--¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Before Lena could finish, Charle leaned forward, wrapping her arms around Lena. ¡°I understand. I¡¯m sorry that I attacked you. Compared to me trying to kill you, what you did was nothing worth staying angry.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After saying that, she pulled back, looking at Lena. ¡°How much of me do you remember, after you turned into me? I heard that you took over as the White Shadow in my absence.¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena huffed, ncing off to the side. ¡°Not nearly as much as I¡¯d like. I could copy your body, your powers, and even your fighting style. However, I couldn¡¯t look into your memories at all. It was like everything you went through before we fought never happened. The only reason I even knew that you were Monda¡¯s kid was because of the family photo you kept in your locket.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Charle¡¯s eyes widened at that, and she quickly looked back up at Lena. ¡°Do you still have that? I-If you do, can I have it back?¡± She asked in a pleading tone. Both Scarlet and Lena knew why she¡¯d want that. It was the only tangible evidence of who she was. Maybe even the only such evidence that existed anywhere.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In truth, she kept it on her as a constant reminder. She was always afraid that one day, her white sh would make her forget who she was herself. If that happened, she wanted something to remind herself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena hesitated for a moment, before nodding. ¡°Sure, give me just a minute. I¡¯ve got it in my room at Olympus.¡± She said, before extending a hand and closing her eyes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A few secondster, there was a golden shimmer in her hand, and the silver locket appeared. It was a rather simple, unadorned locket, but Charle snatched it out of her hands in a motion that bordered on desperation. When she opened the locket, she saw the old picture of herself and her father, standing side by side. On the other side of the locket were the initials, C-G. They looked as if they had been carved roughly, clearly ater addition of the locket.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Charle hugged the locket to herself like the precious memento that it was, and her body finally seemed to rx. ¡°T-Thanks, Lena.¡± She said in a quiet voice.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Don¡¯t mention it.¡± Lena shook her head gently, but then smiled awkwardly. ¡°Anyways, have you decided what you want to do with yourself now? We¡¯re the only surviving shadows now. If you wanted to, I¡¯m sure that I could convince the boss to let you join Olympus.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Charle hesitated, before shaking her head. ¡°Thanks, but I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll do that. I know how dangerous my power is. If, even in the most remote possibility, my power activated in the presence of the Keeper, and I made him forget important information, that could be a disaster. No matter how well I control myself, there is always that faint risk. For that reason, I think it¡¯s safer if I just stay away from him entirely.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although Charle knew that Scarlet was immune to her power, she couldn¡¯t guarantee that the same would be true for the Keeper. After all, it had been proven several times in history that the Keeper was a different form of existence than the Greater Pantheon.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Knowing this, Lena didn¡¯t try to argue, simply epting Charle¡¯s decision. ¡°Sure. In that case, do you have any other ns?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Charle thought about it, lowering her head to look at the ground. ¡°I could¡­ go back to working for my father? Is he still alive?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That old geezer?¡± Lena huffed. ¡°You really think a stubborn fool like him would kick the bucket?¡± When Charle heard that, her lips tugged up into the smallest of smiles. ¡°He might not have all that long left, though. A couple decades, maybe? Still, I guess from a mortal standpoint, that¡¯s plenty of time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Charle nodded her head again. She knew that her father was getting on in years. Even using ki to extend his lifespan, there was a limit to how long he couldst without getting an energy body. And doing so was a taboo for any member of the council of elders. ¡°In that case, yeah, I¡¯d like to go back to him.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet nodded her head, before ncing upwards. ¡°Aurivy? Send the girl home.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Monda let out a long sigh as he sat in his office, stretching after a long day of work. His joints creaked and popped, causing him to briefly grunt. However, he looked back towards the door in surprise, moments before it opened.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Standing outside the door was a female lycan with silver hair. On her face, she wore a white mask with a ck pattern. Although Monda didn¡¯t recognize the girl immediately, he knew the mask. ¡°White Shadow?¡± He asked curiously, his body tensed. Nobody had seen the White Shadow in person. At least, nobody that was alive to remember her. ¡°Are you here to silence me?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The girl flinched at those words, quickly shaking her head. ¡°N-No!¡± She shouted, a bit too hurriedly. ¡°I-I¡­¡± She pulled the mask off, setting it on her waist. Monda looked at the girl behind the mask, feeling the faintest pang of familiarity. ¡°I wanted to see you again.¡± She said in a soft voice, approaching him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Monda blinked at that. He knew that he had helped to raise the White Shadow, just as he did all of the shadows. Yet still, he had no recollection of her face. ¡°Are you about to go on a dangerous mission?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Again, the White Shadow shook her head, stepping closer. She quickly held out her fist, and Monda flinched back, as if thinking she was going to strike him. However, when she partially opened her hand, a silver locket fell from it and opened. Monda looked at the locket, his eyes wide as he saw the picture inside, as well as the engraved initials. ¡°Are you¡­?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The White Shadow bit her lip, nodding her head. ¡°My name is Charle Grove. I-I couldn¡¯t tell you before, because you always forgot me. But I can control it now. So¡­ I¡¯m home, dad¡­¡±

 Chapter 1181: The Ultimate Karma

    Chapter 1181: The Ultimate Karma


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thanks¡­¡± Lena said as she watched Charle leave, looking at Scarlet. She knew that the real reason that Scarlet demanded the Collector to release so many of his collection was purely a smokescreen. The only one she was truly wanting to bring out was Charle, the White Shadow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet shrugged her shoulders, humming to herself as she snapped her fingers. Space around them distorted, and they found themselves back on the Keeper¡¯s, outside Olympus. ¡°I can¡¯t just leave a big regret of yours like that when I¡¯m in the position to take care of it. Besides, no child she be forced apart from a loving father.¡± She said, making her way back towards the gates of Olympus.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena hesitated, but nodded her head. In truth, she had never met her own parents, as she was an orphan. That was why Monda had so readily adopted her when she was selected for the program. ¡°Still, it means a lot that you helped her as much as you did.¡± Granted, from what Lena saw, that help surely left some trauma in Charle, but it was better than her constant mncholy from her energy being out of control.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Scarlet simply hummed to herself, seeming refreshed. ¡°By now, the others should have all made their way back into society. Which means that the Collector is going to be using a new identity soon, in order to avoid several angry gods and heroes from tracking him down.¡± She said in an almost idle tone. ¡°That, or someone will need to make him disappear.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena¡¯s eyes widened as she heard Scarlet¡¯s words. She bowed her head, her eyes closed. ¡°I understand.¡± She said, though Scarlet simply turned back to look at her with a bemused smile.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Understand what? Clearly, I¡¯m just talking to myself.¡± She said, before disappearing into Olympus. ¡°It¡¯s a shame that all of those viins would simply be released if he was killed. Otherwise, it really would have been more efficient to simply kill him. From what alia said, even I would have trouble with some of them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena nodded her head, turning to walk away from Olympus. With her eyes still closed, she tore open a void portal, disappearing from view.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">William Dyson let out a deep breath as he sat in his room. As Scarlet had suggested, the first thing he did when he was allowed to leave was flee to a new location. He was currently residing in a hotel within Hanbei, trusting that nobody would seek to cause chaos in thend governed by the child of karma.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, that was not the extent of his preparations. He had also assumed the appearance of one of the lesser known figures within his collection, and nned to use his identity for the foreseeable future. For that reason, he was going back through his memory, recalling all of the information about this man that he could remember.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    <span style="font-weight:400">As he was thinking to himself, there was a knock on his door. ¡°Room Service!¡± A masculine voice called out, and William snapped out of his thoughts. The first thing that he had remembered about his new identity was also one of the reasons that he had been able to acquire it in his collection in the first ce. Whenever he went somewhere new, he would try out the local delicacies.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In order to blend in as this new identity, he had to keep all of their old habits. If anyone asked why there was a gap in his history, he could say that he was simply exploring uncharted regions. Thus, William rose to his feet and opened the door. Seeing the human male standing outside, pushing a silver tray, William smiled and gestured for him to enter. ¡°Please,e in.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The man nodded his head, pushing the serving tray inside. ¡°I¡¯ll leave this here, and you can call when you are ready for me to retrieve it.¡± He said with a polite service smile. Once he had wheeled the tray to the center of the room, he lifted several lids, revealing various types of seafood and cheese dishes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, as part of his act, William had to pretend to be enamored with the food, nodding idly in the direction of the man. In the corner of his vision, he noticed the man turning to leave, so he turned his attention fully to the food once he heard the door click shut.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, this led to him failing to notice that the man did not exit the room before closing the door. Or how the man¡¯s hair turned silver and his frame shrank, turning from a human male to a lycan girl. When she returned to the room, her footsteps carried no sound, and she had no presence that could be felt.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Only when William turned his head again did he see the figure now standing next to him. ¡°W-What!?¡± He shouted, stumbling backwards. How could he not recognize a figure that had been in his collection for so long. ¡°White Shadow?!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not quite.¡± The White Shadow, or rather, Lena spoke with her voice. ¡°She wouldn¡¯t care enough to track you down and dispose of you. After all, she knows what would happen if you were killed.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">This caused William¡¯s eyes to widen further, his face going pale. ¡°Gold--¡± He began, but a white sh filled the room. William¡¯s body froze, as if he was in a trance, as Lena¡¯s figure changed once again. This time, she turned into none other than William himself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You know I prefer to go by my actual name.¡± Lena said, approaching the entranced William.In order for the Collector to gather his target, their energy must be in a peaceful state, without any active resistance. Simultaneously, the Forgetting sh caused a target to enter a temporary trance, in which their body was unable to put up any active resistance unless it detected danger.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, by using these two powers in sequence, Lena was able to capture William with his own power. Soon, William¡¯s body shrank, turning into a lifelike doll no more than three inches tall. Lena picked this doll up, and put it on a small shelf that materialized in front of herself. After which, she rolled her shoulders, turning back into the waiter from earlier.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a small sigh, Lena pushed the tray of food out of the room, heading downstairs. When the tray was returned to the kitchen, the chef looked over in surprise. ¡°What, another cancelled order?¡± He asked, to which Lena nodded.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Guess so.¡± Lena said with a shrug. ¡°Refused me at the door. I told him it¡¯ll still be added to his bill, don¡¯t worry.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, no use letting it go to waste.¡± The chef said. ¡°Feel free to pass it around.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Lena simply smiled. ¡°Will do, boss. I¡¯ll be right back, though.¡± She said, turning to walk off with a wave. As she left, the chef tilted his head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Come to think of it, have I seen that guy around here before? Wonder if he¡¯s new.¡± He muttered, before shaking his head. He couldn¡¯t be expected to memorize the face of every member of the serving staff for a high ss hotel.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Lena returned to Olympus, she had a refreshed smile on her face, as if she had cleared up all of her old worries. In truth, there had always been a part of her that was on guard against the Collector suddenly appearing. If he had used the samebination against Lena that he just used against her, there was a chance that he would have been able to ¡®collect¡¯ her long ago.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was fortunate for her that the Collector did not fancy himself a fighter, and didn¡¯t spend much time learning the intricacies of the various abilities at his disposal, or how they could bebined. Of course, Lena had some level of protection in the fact that she had nine domains. If he did manage to collect her, he would have never been able to use her power. Though, given how he had collected the Exception, she knew that wouldn¡¯t have stopped him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was also part of why Lena created an additional backup of herself in the form of the White Shadow avatar. If one of her bodies were taken, the other would be able to get them back. However, now that the Collector himself had been collected, none of that was a concern.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When she first entered Olympus, she saw Scarlet sitting in themunal living area with Aurivy and Julia, all three ying a card game together. The redheaded goddess looked at Lena with a knowing smile. ¡°Did you manage to finish up your errand?¡± She asked in a casual tone, causing Lena to chuckle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yup! All taken care of now.¡± Lena responded, a cheerful grin on her face. Aurivy simply blinked, looking between the two.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°You two were scheming something, I just know it.¡± She said, though didn¡¯t seem interested enough to check what they had done through the Admin Room. That, or she was just ying innocent.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯m sure I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about.¡± Scarlet spoke with that same smile. ¡°By the way, how have Julia¡¯s live streams been goingtely?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy¡¯s eyes widened, thoroughly distracted by the new topic. ¡°They¡¯re going really nice! She¡¯s transitioned to a special theme for her content, with purely organic technology. Everything grown from nts, even spaceships! She¡¯s especially popr among the Sylvans and the residents of Spica.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia¡¯s cheeks reddened slightly, but Scarlet simply kept that same smile. ¡°Really? That¡¯s nice. When are you nning to make her the Origin of nts?¡± She asked, and Aurivy suddenly froze, her eyes going wide. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you never thought of it? Given her divine status, and the fact that she only has a single domain, she is a truly perfect candidate, right? I¡¯m sure that my dad would be happy with her using World Sight as the Saint Energy for her Origin foundation.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy bit her lips slightly, looking over at Julia as if seeking her opinion on the matter. Julia seemed just as surprised about the topic as Aurivy herself. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Julia lowered her head in thought. ¡°The ascension process isn¡¯t dangerous, is it?¡± She asked, clearly not wanting to worry Aurivy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, Scarlet shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m sure that Dana would be more than happy to lend a hand designing your inner world. As long as she is the one putting everything together, there would naturally be no danger.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Julia heard that, she gave a small nod, agreeing. If it was Dana, she would do everything she could to make the process safe. And with her blessing, the spells she designed would not fail. ¡°In that case¡­ I¡¯ll speak to her about the subject tomorrow. If I¡¯m going to do it, it would be best to do it sooner to consolidate my power as an Origin, in case anyonees in trying to rece me, right?¡± She asked with a small smile, and Aurivy¡¯s eyes widened.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯d like to meet the brave fool that dared to try to usurp your Origin seat!¡± She said, and Scarlet giggled as she felt the bubbling fury beneath Aurivy¡¯s words.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°On that subject, we should probably make a public registry, once Origins be moremonce.¡± Scarlet suggested. ¡°That way, people would know what domains are free, and which ones are worth trying to aim for. If nobody knows that your Julia is the Origin of nts, then they can¡¯t particrly be med for thinking that it was up for grabs, can they?¡± She asked, to which Aurivy reluctantly huffed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Fine. I¡¯ll throw the idea past Daleter. We¡¯ve got quite a ways to go before we hit that point, anyways. For now¡­ we¡¯ve gotta think about what type of systems and everything we want in Julia¡¯s inner world! Maybe we could have Ashley¡¯s teame up with a biotech converter, which converts mechanical blueprints into nt-based counterparts? No, that probably wouldn¡¯t work¡­¡± She muttered. ¡°Maybe we could get something simr from Chelsea? So, instead of using the DC System, it is a nt that infects machines and converts them through a void script.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh!¡± Her eyes widened as she thought of that. ¡°And we can make all types of really special nts that can make special potions. Like an elixir more potent than her golden apples, or things that permanently enhance stats.¡±

 Chapter 1182: Rematch

    Chapter 1182: Rematch


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana nced over at Aurivy, having been meditating in her bedroom when the halfling goddess arrived. ¡°You want me to help make Julia into an Origin?¡± She asked, to which Aurivy quickly nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana looked pensive at that, as if she wasn¡¯t entirely sure herself. The reason that she had been so confident for turning herself and Chel into Origins was the extensive testing that they did in the educational streams, letting them iron out any problems that would arise due to their specific constitutions. This was especially the case for Dana, since she wasn¡¯t quite your ¡®standard¡¯ entity to begin with.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I¡¯ll need to borrow her for a while.¡± Dana said, still deep in thought. ¡°We don¡¯t have enough data to reliably get the process right every time, yet. Also, I¡¯ll help her get World Sight to a level where she¡¯ll be able to undergo the process. It just may take some time.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°How long?¡± Aurivy asked with a tilt of her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hmm¡­ if I¡¯m doing this myself, maybe about a month? I can cut it down to a week if I get Chelsea to help out, I think. She¡¯s better at making ¡®world code¡¯ than I am by far.¡± Ever since bing an Origin, Dana had been studying the information that makes up a world, as it would be the source of her future growth. However, she had been distracted for quite a while making the Keeper¡¯s ring, so she hadn¡¯t been able to make too much progress.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy bit her lip, but nodded her head after a moment. ¡°Either way, it¡¯ll be after the month cycles over.¡± She said, before ultimately looking Dana in the eyes. ¡°Please, help Julia be an Origin!¡± She pleaded earnestly, and Dana chuckled slightly.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If you ask me like that, how can I say no? Have her meet me at James¡¯s research facility, and we¡¯ll get started. You want her to be the Origin of nts, right? Keep in mind that after she bes an Origin, her future growth will require her to study world creation mechanics.¡± She reminded, her mind already racing to figure out all of the different types of nts or nt-based effects that she could include in Julia¡¯s world.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">As usual, I found myself sitting in my office, leaning over my desk and thinking to myself. Alkahest hadn¡¯t responded to my trade list yet, so it was safe to say that there was likely nothing from it that he particrly wanted. I wasn¡¯t really surprised there, honestly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Instead, I was thinking about my future opponents. In order to properly n for what I would face in the future, I had to get an idea of what sorts of worlds would allow a particr kind of Keeper to advance all the way to the fifth rank. For instance, I had recently learned that pure Monster Keepers have a hard time reaching this stage, due to them typically not creating a civilization.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For a Monster Keeper to reach the fifth stage, they would have to take one of two paths. Either they would have to ultimately nurture a civilization and advance it to world creation, like DarkestNight did, or they would have to create monsters that themselves were able to freely create worlds.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There were pros and cons to each of these paths. Nurturing a civilization would be a foreign concept to most Monster Keepers, so it would be considerably difficult and more time-consuming. This is evident in the fact that DarkestNight had still not achieved this stage after so long. Additionally, they would need to make sure that this civilization was protected in some way from the monsters that they were raising. However, if they managed to reach this stage, they would have a strategic force capable ofplex nning as well as their monstrous armies.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Meanwhile, there was the second method. Creating monsters able to freely make their own worlds within the void would be astronomically expensive. In fact, rather than an entire species, it would be more likely that they used the blessing system to give a select few monsters this ability.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That said, Monster Keepers were likely to be quite wealthy. Although they typically didn¡¯t get points from cultural advancements or market royalties, they received their spoils through battle, and were more likely to kill enemy Keepers. Additionally, they had less expenses, since they only needed to worry about evolving a limited number of monster types, allowing the world to handle the rest.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Taking this into consideration, it wasn¡¯t impossible for a Monster Keeper to be able to create a special breed of monster, one able to generate entirely new worlds within the void. I could even imagine one off the top of my head, a creature that swam through the void like a giant whale, consuming information. After it processed enough information, it would fall into a slumber to digest what it had consumed, entering a dream. Then, this dream would serve as the foundation for the new world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This would be the simplest type of ¡®world creation monster¡¯ that I could think of. However, I was sure that there would be countless others, like monsters that created worlds within their own bodies, or things like that.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">For the most part, a Monster Keeper wouldn¡¯t send troops like that in, unless they were able to create worlds already popted by their monsters.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> I thought to myself. If they were able to do that, they would essentially have an unlimited supply of troops. Victory would rely on killing the world-production monster, and then destroying every universe that they created.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The next type of Keeper to watch out for would be Tyrants. However, their method of advancing to the fifth stage is far more straightforward. Like how a normal Keeper does it, they would simply have their civilization advance, and then conquer every new universe that they created. For this reason, it would be a lot harder to create detailed contingency ns for this type of Keeper.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now, Game Keepers¡­ those are the ones that I really needed to watch out for. I already knew exactly how a pure Game Keeper could handle world creation. In fact, I had been invaded by one before that was already setting themselves up for that, back in my early days.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a deep sigh, remembering my battle against Sanction. He had been a Rank Four Keeper that had reset in order to gather up all of his points for one big system, which cost more than a million points. From what we learned after fighting back his invasion, dungeon worlds were randomly generated for the residents of his world to conquer. Each world had a figure that essentially yed the role of the Keeper, or the ¡®dungeon boss¡¯ of that dungeon world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I didn¡¯t particrly like to think about that fight, given that it was when I watched Leowynn be killed by a Fallen Goddess, but it definitely gave me an insight into what I could expect from simr worlds. I was almost positive that if I looked up his million-point system, I would find add-ons by now that would allow for ¡®customized dungeons¡¯ to be generated. Perhaps they would be purchased by major guilds, or be created by ¡®Game Masters¡¯.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Back then, I didn¡¯t know enough about how the system¡¯s advancements worked to really know the significance of those various systems. Now, I could clearly see that Sanction was preparing himself to tackle the fifth rank barrier. It was even possible that his particr system of advancement was designed to make it easier for one to be an Origin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Likewise, other Game Keepers would have their own methods. Maybe they had a system that allowed them to create their own video game worlds through system programming, or maybe there was a system that turned games itself into unique worlds when yed. Either way, I had the feeling that Game Keepers were by far the most dangerous in the fifth rank.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I thought about that, I quietly watched the timer ticking down. There was no time left for Alkahest to request a trade, and even if he did ask for something, I wouldn¡¯t have the time to prepare it for him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Another hour passed, and I casually selected a low level monster from the loweryers of Fyor, one that was bleeding out and about to be killed by novice adventurers. This would be a good unit to send to simply pass the round. Thus, I received another notification only a few minutester that the invasion had failed, but I simply shrugged my shoulders.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That is, until I saw the announcement for my next opponent, which caused my eyes to widen. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Terra, are you seeing this?</em><span style="font-weight:400"> I asked with a tone of urgency in my thoughts.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">I am. Shall I call everyone to the Admin Room for a meeting?</em><span style="font-weight:400"> She responded a few momentster, but I shook my head.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">No. If I recall, Aurivy¡¯s in the middle of something right now, as are Dana and the researchers. Pass along the necessary information, and get Ashley and Tubrock to work on countermeasures. This is probably going to be a full-scale raid.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> I thought, looking at the name that appeared on the message.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I had expected, my next match was a defensive battle. My opponent was none other than Sanction, the high-level Keeper that I had been concerned about previously. At the very least, I knew the basics of what to expect, though there might have been some new information developed in thest few years. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Tell Ryone to look for any systems on the market that are marked as add-ons for the Comprehensive Skill Tree system. Some of them might be red herrings, but that will give us an idea of what he¡¯s capable of. We might even be able to find a link with the system he uses to make his dungeons.</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Got it.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Terra responded right away. <em><span style="font-weight:400">And yeah, after you sold his informationst time, he¡¯ll probably want to take you out now that he¡¯s got a second chance.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but nod my head. Part of me was debating whether I should go ahead and use one of my tickets to get out of this match. I had managed to get both an attack and defense ticket in thest annual meeting, but there was no guarantee that it would work, unless I was willing to use both of them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If I simply used my attack ticket to change my target to someone else, and Sanction noticed, he might have an attack ticket of his own to change his target back to me. The only real guarantee I could have would be if I waited until after the invasion began and used the defense ticket. Then, I could have the Greater Pantheon smite the invaders once the invasion was cancelled. Even if he had an attack ticket at that point, I¡¯d still have my own to negate it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, I would <em><span style="font-weight:400">prefer</em><span style="font-weight:400"> not to have to y things this way at all. If I used both of my tickets, and then got stuck with a powerful enemy afterwards¡­ I would be left hoping that the next meeting had a ticket that I would be able to easily acquire. It was better to save in case of an emergency.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In my head, I was already imagining a ¡®worst case scenario¡¯, in which Sanction I fought back Sanction this time, but he then gained an attack ticket during the next meeting. Depending on how heavy his grudge is against me, he might be willing to specifically target me every time he gets a ticket. If that did happen, my only recourse would be to try to get an attack ticket of my own and send an all-out invasion force against him. Such a grudge wouldn¡¯t end unless one of us managed to kill the other. And, personally, I wasn¡¯t that keen on dying. Shocking, I know.

 Chapter 1183: Market Research

    Chapter 1183: Market Research


    <span style="font-weight:400">Within the Admin Room, Ryone hummed thoughtfully to herself, reviewing the different systems on the market. It had been a while since she really browsed like this, since there weren¡¯t many things that she could immediately think of to improve either Spica or Earth¡¯s systems. However, since Dale had asked her to search like this, she decided to take it seriously. Especially since she had a <em><span style="font-weight:400">rather</em><span style="font-weight:400"> personal grudge against Sanction¡¯s forces from theirst encounter.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°He said to focus on the Comprehensive Skill Tree system, since that¡¯s the one that we know the name of, but¡­¡± Ryone let out a long sigh, shaking her head. Sanction¡¯s experience as a veteran Keeper was already starting to show.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There were dozens of systems listed as needing that one as a requirement, many of them submitted by Sanction himself. However, Ryone wasn¡¯t foolish enough to believe that Sanction purchased all of them. Many of the system add-ons that she found were contradictory, either countering one another or having effects that ovepped with another add-on.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">He made a bunch of extras as a smokescreen, once he realized that his information had been sold. It¡¯s not a bad move, since it doesn¡¯t cost anything to just submit an item to the market.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> She thought to herself, dragging one window after another off to the side of her vision. <em><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯ll need to review the summary of each system, as well as any other systems listed as add-ons to try and determine which one is the most likely.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Maybe we can test variousbinations out with the Beta Reality system?¡± Ryone thought to herself, before shaking her head. The idea might have been feasible, but she knew that Dale wouldn¡¯t approve of it, since the test wouldn¡¯t work unless they simted real lives and souls, as programmed NPCs wouldn¡¯t be able to provide the same results. And, she knew that Dale would not agree to such a simtion that created and disposed of such lives as if they were meaningless.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she was thinking about that, another entry in the market caught her eye, and she nced over at it. When she saw the listing, her eyes widened slightly. ¡°That¡¯s not a bad strategy, either¡­¡± She muttered to herself.


    <hr>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Dale, I¡¯ve got some results for you to take a look at. Would you minding to the Admin Room?</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Ryone¡¯s voice called out to me as I was reviewing documents in my office. Blinking, I nodded my head and called out to Tsubaki to let her know that I would be back in a little while.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A momentter, I felt myself appearing in the familiar, cozy home that was the Admin Room. A small smile crept over my lips as I enjoyed the more normal appearance of a house, as opposed to therge, technological structure of Olympus. As I was enjoying being back, a voice called out to me. ¡°Wee home~.¡± She said, and I turned to see Ryone and Terra sitting together in the living room.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thanks. I hope I didn¡¯t keep you waiting too much.¡± I said, moving over to sit between them. As soon as I sat down, Terra leaned over, nuzzling up against my shoulder. Without thinking, I brought a hand up to scratch along her feline ears. Given that I didn¡¯t often return to the Admin Room, I didn¡¯t spend as much time with Terra or Irena as I would like. ¡°Where¡¯s Irena, by the way?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I think she¡¯s helping Ashley with testing out a new game mechanic across the street. They¡¯re working on a customized respawn system or something.¡± Ryone answered with a light shrug. ¡°Anyways, I managed to find some systems that I think Sanction is using. Taking into ount his status as a veteran, hostile Keeper that has ascended to the fourth rank at least twice, I took some liberties assuming his budget.¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn


    <span style="font-weight:400">After she said that, she snapped her fingers, causing several system windows to appear in front of the three of us. ¡°Like you said, he made a lot of red herrings to cover his tracks, and it was hard to settle for sure on which ones I thought he would have purchased. However, even if I¡¯m not entirely urate, I don¡¯t think the results would be much different from this. Though, there was one thing that surprised me.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What¡¯s that?¡± I asked, looking through the systems that Ryone had brought up. These were¡­ quite expensive systems, admittedly. Several of them were priced at nearly a million points, even if they were only add-ons. For instance, there was a system that allowed ¡®sub-voids¡¯ to be created, for dungeons with multiple universes in one.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Most of these systems were not submitted by Sanction himself.¡± Ryone said, causing me to look over at her in surprise. ¡°While there were a lot of add-ons for Sanction¡¯s skill tree system that he did submit, I found a few submitted by other Keepers as well. This made me think, what would stop him from contacting his friends, and asking them to submit a system on his behalf?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I couldn¡¯t help but blink at that, thinking it over. ¡°I mean¡­ it¡¯s possible?¡± I mused, looking at the listed systems. ¡°That would mean that his friends would have information that they could use against him, though. So, it would need to be someone from the same guild.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Exactly. Additionally, whoever he asked to submit the system on his behalf would be able to earn a hefty sum from the royalties. In total, he might have ended up paying about a million points more than he would have if he submitted everything himself, but this tactices with an extrayer of security. Even from each of these other Keepers, there were at least five systems submitted that could serve as decoys.¡± Ryone exined, leaning against me and looking at the windows.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I see¡­ that would make sense, though it relies on him having an excessive amount of points to burn.¡± I muttered, but then again, for a veteran Keeper, that wasn¡¯t impossible. Especially one that regrly attacked other Keepers to gain their points. ¡°How confident are you that this list is urate?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°For each system, I¡¯d say there¡¯s about an eighty-percent certainty.¡± Ryone answered with a shrug. ¡°I tried to look at them from the perspective of a Keeper building a powerful world with a game theme. At the same time, I eliminated systems that ovepped too heavily, or contradicted more obvious selections. In the end, I came up with three lists, each with a different dungeon creation system serving as a secondary requirement. When I looked over the three, this was the one that I felt fit Sanction the most.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod of my head, listening to her exnation. In essence, this was still high-level guesswork, but it was the best that we could do at the moment. ¡°We have to assume that the attacking force this time will be substantially greater than what we faced before, even disregarding the rank difference.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Terra nodded her head, letting out a low purr. ¡°From the information we obtained at the time, the guild that attacked us wasn¡¯t particrly powerful within Sanction¡¯s world. However, you got around his information block with your illusions, so he¡¯s probably pretty pissed at you. Especially if he set up so many dummy systems to prevent another information leak.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ryone grimaced, clenching one fist. ¡°In other words, we should expect a high-ss guild this time, maybe multiple guilds. And, if that¡¯s the case¡­¡± She flicked a finger, bringing one of the systems to the forefront. ¡°We¡¯ll need to be prepared for this.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">The system that she highlighted was a Universe Defense Battle. When a universe within the void was attacked, it would not immediately cause damage to the universe barrier. Instead, it would trigger a raid alert to the ¡®owners¡¯ of that universe, and initiate a defensive battle. Powerful entities could be selected to serve asbat forces to defend the universe as ¡®champions¡¯, and the universe would only be destroyed when all champions were either in or defeated.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This one system alone cost three hundred thousand points, and required four other systems in order to buy it. ¡°You mean that he¡¯ll probably send entire universes after us?¡± I asked, my brow raised.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Ryone nodded her head, before pursing her lips thoughtfully. ¡°That makes this difficult for us. Most Keepers wouldn¡¯t care about something like that, but we have the karma system. If we destroy even one universe, our karma will be tainted beyond reasonable repair, due to all of the innocent lives that would be lost in the process.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I closed my eyes, letting out a long sigh and leaning back against the couch. ¡°That¡­ would certainly be bad, yes. So, our top priority for the next month would be toe up with a way to get around the karma system, or get rid of itpletely?¡± I asked, and the two looked at me and nodded their heads.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°In the early days, there were admittedly benefits of the karma system.¡± Terra spoke up, her tail wrapping around my wrist. ¡°It allowed Irena to more easily manage the afterlife while the worlds were still young. However, the system has started to be more of a shackle as time passes.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Let¡¯s take Chelsea¡¯s research team as an example. When they are conducting their world creation and fusion experiments, they have to hide in a specially prepared region where systems such as karma can¡¯t reach them. Then, they have to stay in those regions for at least a week to avoid any lingering bacsh.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°ording to the standard definition of karma, people like Chelsea or James would be the most heinous sinners to ever walk thend. Their very existence would invite disaster wherever they went. This is because karma, while a useful tool, ispletely unbiased. It looks at the results, but not the reasons. Thus, destroying a universe teeming with life is counted as killing every single individual within that universe, regardless of circumstances.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing Terra¡¯s exnation, I let out a small sigh. In truth, karma hasn¡¯t been all that impactful in a positive waytely, unless you were talking about Elisae. As things stood, Elisae¡¯s karma was one of the things that held the entire human empire together. If we were to get rid of the karma system, the human empire might fall into chaos.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Seeming to understand my thoughts, Terra gave me a yful smile. ¡°There¡¯s a way to get the best of both worlds.¡± She said, making me look over at her curiously. ¡°All you need to do is give Elisae a special blessing, like the one that you gave Tsubaki and the others. The primary effect of karma is a background modifier on the Luck and Charm stats. It wouldn¡¯t be hard to create a blessing for Elisae that mirrored her karma.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That could work¡­ My eyes widened slightly as I processed the information. ¡°Alright¡­ let Ashley know about our ns. She¡¯ll need to prepare an announcement. I¡¯ll delete the karma system. Just make sure that Irena has plenty of time to get the Underworld ready. I don¡¯t want this to cause a major problem with their operations. In the meantime, are there any other major systems that we should watch out for?¡± I asked, looking at Ryone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ryone hesitated for a moment, before nodding her head. ¡°There is one. This is an Origin-level system that I found, called the Dungeon Master¡¯s Rule. It doesn¡¯t make it any easier to create an Origin, but it does add an additional power to what Origins are capable of. ording to the system summary, Origins with this system will be able to freely create new ¡®dungeons¡¯ in the form of worlds of Rank Four or below, albeit with a cooldown dependent on the strength of the world. Additionally, Origins can interfere with the worldws of other worlds to activate certain system effects, though the summary isn¡¯t specific enough to say what those effects are.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">My brow twitched when I heard that, and I let out a sigh of resignation. ¡°If he¡¯s buying systems specifically for Origins, we can expect at least one of them to be sent with this invasion.¡± I spected, bringing a hand up to massage my forehead.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯s probably right.¡± Ryone said, before ncing up at me curiously. ¡°Are you sure you want to delete the karma system outright, though? I thought you were trying to avoid things like using your Keeper powers to delete stuff like that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small chuckle at that, shaking my head. ¡°Only when ites to worlds. As for systems, this won¡¯t even be the first system that I¡¯ve gotten rid of. Way back in the early days, I got a broken quest system that turned every verbal agreement into a binding quest. I didn¡¯t hesitate to get rid of that system in favor of the quest system we have now.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ryone blinked, but nodded her head in understanding. ¡°That makes sense. Since you¡¯ve already gotten rid of a system like that once before, there would be no harm in doing so to other systems that be problematic in the future.¡±

 Chapter 1184: Progression

    Chapter 1184: Progression


    <span style="font-weight:400">After a resounding explosion echoed in their ears, three figures appeared within Chelsea¡¯s office, where Aurivy had been watching their live stream. Turning her head, the halfling goddess looked at the trio. ¡°Another failure?¡± She asked in concern, and Chelsea nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I thought we had it, that time.¡± She muttered, stroking her chin. ¡°We¡¯vepensated for any difference in physiology and energy requirements. Is it because she¡¯s your subordinate goddess?¡± Chelsea mused aloud, and Dana pursed her lips.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It¡¯s possible. But, if that¡¯s the case, we¡¯ll need a spell that can cleanse Julia of any influence from Aurivy¡¯s divinity temporarily. Otherwise, we won¡¯t be able to begin the ascension process.¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing the two talk to each other, Julia simply gave a soft smile. ¡°It¡¯s fine. It might just not be possible for a subordinate like myself to be an Origin. If that¡¯s the case, I¡¯m alright with that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, when Dana heard that, her lips curled into a bitter smirk. ¡°<em><span style="font-weight:400">You</em><span style="font-weight:400"> might be. But, what do you think Tsuba would say if she heard that her being the Keeper¡¯s subordinate deity meant that she was unable to obtain greater power to protect him?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">That earned a small chuckle from Aurivy. ¡°She might be fine with it, I don¡¯t know. Either way, it is better to test things out first. This is still a new field for everyone involved, right? No point in giving up after the first hurdle!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Chelsea nodded her head in agreement at that. ¡°She¡¯s right. If anything, this is important data for us. We¡¯ll either learn definitively that it is impossible for a subordinate to be an Origin, or we will learn the method to ovee that obstacle. For now, Dana, can you try to make a spell to temporarily remove the connection between a subordinate deity and their master?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana gave a quick nod, closing her eyes and focusing. With her blessing, it didn¡¯t take long at all for her to create the spell, and they were ready to enter the stream and run the test again.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Irena heard the proposal from Dale to remove the karma system, she was somewhat surprised. After all, that system had been around for so long at that point that it was simply a fact of life, serving to reinforce the moralpass of the general public.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, when she heard the <em><span style="font-weight:400">reason</em><span style="font-weight:400"> that he wanted to remove it, being the return of Sanction, her eyes narrowed. She still remembered watching that final battle against Sanction in thest invasion against him. Realizing that he would likely be sending entire universes at them this time, she immediately understood the need to remove the outdated system of karma.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At first, she thought about whether or not there was anything suitable to rece the system. For instance, if she could think up the details for a proper alignment or morality system to be introduced. However, the more she thought about it, the more she realized that it would just lead to a repeat of the same problems that they were facing now. Any system that they implemented would need to have substantial effects, but those effects would be imposed on whoever took part in theing battle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, she ultimately agreed that it would be better to just remove the system entirely, and trust that the people would be able to adapt in time for the problems that they would face in the future. Thankfully, the Underworld¡¯s management system that she had helped to set up had long moved past simply judging people based on their karma.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aftering to this conclusion, Irena closed her eyes, and sent a message to her incarnation.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Alena had a small smile on her face, walking through the streets of Ashtanu. Despite being Irena¡¯s incarnation, she was a rather inconspicuous figure. Unlike the others that guided their incarnations to represent them in the mortal world, Alena was given the freedom to be who she wanted to be, with very little interference from the goddess behind her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was why the felyn girl was surprised when she heard Irena¡¯s voice speaking into her mind. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Alena. I apologize, but I need you to do something for me, and it is rather urgent.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Alena paused, stepping out of the flow of foot traffic and moving off to the side to lean against the wall of a nearby building. After doing so, she closed her eyes and responded. <em><span style="font-weight:400">This is rare, Lady Irena. What can I do to help you?</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">An ancient enemy is on the move again, a wicked Keeper from before your birth. It is the same one who led to the demise of Leowynn, when she was the Keeper¡¯s spirit. </em><span style="font-weight:400">Irena reported in a somber tone. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Tobat this enemy, I must ask that you take a more active role than you usually do in these battles. It is for this reason that I would have you gather materials for me to create a new artifact for you.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Alena¡¯s brow twitched at that. She had been Irena¡¯s incarnation for a very long time. She had seen generationse and go, watched as human nations rose and copsed. Even the secret society that she had once inherited the legacy of had be apletely forgotten subject. <em><span style="font-weight:400">What materials do you require, Lady Irena? They can¡¯t be anything normal, if you need me to gather them for you.</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">They are not. I will handle the easier to acquire materials on my own. I will need you to acquire the soul gem of the Spectral King, found on the fifty-fourth floor of Fyor. Additionally, the ancient blood of the undead kraken that lurks in the depths of Lorek¡¯s ocean, and the hide of an Adamantoise that has lived for at least three thousand years. Currently, only three exist in all of Lorek that match that age requirement.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Listening to this request, Alena nodded her head slowly, thinking that it wouldn¡¯t be too difficult. At least, until Irena added further conditions. <em><span style="font-weight:400">When these creatures are in, it can¡¯t be through the use of divine power. I need the materials to be in pristine condition, untainted by any divinity.</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">That</em><span style="font-weight:400"> requirement threw a wrench in Alena¡¯s thoughts, and nearly made her copse against the wall behind her, her eyes opening wide. <em><span style="font-weight:400">W-What!? Lady Irena, you know that I¡¯m not a skilled fighter. Without the domain of Death, there is no way that I would be able to kill any of those three targets. Are you asking me to train myself to that level in such a short period of time?</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a small chuckle, but thankfully Irena soon denied that suggestion. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Of course not. You are going to serve as a guide to retrieve the objects, and then you will offer them to me when you have them. As for the one doing the fighting¡­ I will ask Udona if we can borrow her husband. Aznod is a skilled fighter, even if he prefers to put his talents to use in the kitchen. Additionally, he can cleanly harvest the materials we need without the use of divinity.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Alena was skeptical when she heard that, as she did not know Aznod for hisbat prowess. Still, she ultimately epted the words of the goddess. <em><span style="font-weight:400">I understand. I¡¯ll make my way towards Lorek, since two of the materials required are there. If I may ask, what artifact are you wanting to make? Even if I am better equipped, I¡¯m still not a skilled enough fighter to take on hordes of enemies like Tsubaki or Lifre.</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">I am aware.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Irena responded in a gentle tone. <em><span style="font-weight:400">I¡¯m nning three artifacts with the materials I listed. Two of them are what I call Death Substitution Armor, and I will give one each to you and Dale. I¡¯ve been nning this for some time, so this is a good excuse. It will bind to the wearer¡¯s soul, and take on one death for them, shattering in the process.</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Thest artifact is an upgraded version of my old pen. Using the materials I asked for, I should be able to give it new functions. I would not ask you to take to the front lines in this conflict. However, with these artifacts, I believe you will be able to y a far more substantial role than you have in the past.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Alena nodded her head in eptance, pushing away from the wall to begin walking down the street. <em><span style="font-weight:400">I understand. If the threat is as extreme as you say, it is my duty to step forward.</em>


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">For his part, Aznod was quite intrigued by the request thate in from the Greater Pantheon. It had been some time since he had needed to properly fight, especially without using his divinity. However, he also understood that the integrity of the materials needed to be maintained. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Personally, I think Tsubaki would be better for fighting, but she might destroy the materials in the process.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> He thought to himself, smiling as he appeared in Lorek.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aside from Fyor, this was the singlergest world within the Keeper¡¯s domain. Additionally, he felt many of his skills being sealed after entering this world, as it functioned under a different set ofws. Thankfully, his statistics remained unchanged, and he could still use his various energies. It was only the special bonuses granted by his various job sses that had be locked.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Alena, it¡¯s good to see you again.¡± He said with a warm smile at the sight of the felyn waiting for him. ¡°I¡¯ve already heard about the goal of this endeavor. I assume that she has instructed you on where to go?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Alena nodded her head, returning the smile. ¡°She has. The closest target is the kraken, since we¡¯ll need to reach another continent to find the Adamantoise. Are you sure that you will be able to harvest its blood, though?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aznod calmly chuckled at that. ¡°Of course.¡± As he said that, he pulled out his weapon of choice, a butcher¡¯s knife. ¡°Since this is a rare request from Irena, I¡¯ll make sure to satisfy her demands.¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa let out a long sigh, falling back into the chair once she returned home. ¡°Finally¡­¡± She muttered, shaking her head. It had taken a great deal of focus to establish ten thousand diplomatic envoys, each with their own security escort. She had the poption for it, it was just a matter of setting up the training to get them all taken care of.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Despite having finished in barely two weeks, she felt as if years had passed, due to the strain it had put on her consciousness. But, now the teams were all assembled, and they had been sent out to each of the foreign worlds of Fyor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While all of this was happening, another team of shadows had been sent to start iming the unexplored floors in each of these foreign worlds with the device that they had received. Over the course of two weeks, this team had managed to capture all of the unexplored floors of thirty-eights. Which, of course, meant that they were not even half of one percent of the way to their goal.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, we can speed up the capture rate once we finish negotiations.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Thelsa thought to herself. She had already made the preparations with the diplomatic envoys, and had spent a <em><span style="font-weight:400">great</em><span style="font-weight:400"> deal of wealth in order to copy the divine artifact she had been given almost ten thousand times. Once the negotiations were over, each team would begin visiting all ny floors of their respectives.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, there were bound to be a few cases where the natives did not agree to this, or even attempted to incite conflict with the envoys. Even if this happened, the second stage of the n wouldmence. Only, this time it would be as a show of force, demonstrating to the natives that there was nothing that they could do to stop them, even if they disagreed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa wasn¡¯t particrly thrilled about having to take such measures, but she understood why they were needed. Her envoys weren¡¯t going to be the only ones that would visit those ces in the future. It was better to give them a proper understanding of their strength now, that way they might be less inclined to do something ridiculously foolishter down the road.

 Chapter 1185: Home Again

    Chapter 1185: Home Again


    <span style="font-weight:400">A ck-haired kitsune let out a sigh as he wandered the streets of Ashtanu, his eyes looking at the various buildings around him. In the back of his mind, he tried to estimate how long it had been since he hadst been home. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Fifty years? No, maybe it was closer to a century.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> He thought to himself. Even before being captured by the Collector, he was always traveling.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Perhaps that was why Her Highness did not notice my absence.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> He mused, a wry smile on his face. It was not umon for Sinir to go decades at a time without reporting in, despite being one of Udona¡¯s Holy Knights. If Udona had been busy with other matters, it would bepletely understandable if his extended absence didn¡¯t feel unusual to her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Furthermore, he was not able to send her his prayers while he was trapped in that collection. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Admittedly, that Collector must have been extremely bold to capture a personal knight of Udona for his collection.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">He thought back to the time of his capture, when he was wandering a remote world. He had been taking in the sights, shuttling from to with no real destination in mind. At one point, he had passed by a strange doll shop, and his curiosity had been piqued. At the time, there were few such shops in the outer colonies, and he did not have a real destination to begin with, so he entered the store to take a look.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The store owner, who he wouldtere to know was the Collector, seemed nice enough, though Sinir didn¡¯t purchase anything. That night, while he was resting at his inn room, that same man hade and collected him while his guard was down. Ever since then, Sinir had been a silent observer from within the man¡¯s shelves.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As he reached the pce, Sinir was surprised to find a chef casually leaving the premises. Sinir vaguely remembered him as the head chef of the pce, but he had only just been recruited back when Sinirst left. He couldn¡¯t even remember the man¡¯s name.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Given the time of day, perhaps he displeased Her Highness, and was fired? If it was simply a matter of procuring ingredients, there are other people that could be sent out, no?</em><span style="font-weight:400"> He asked himself, before shaking his head. He offered a silent prayer for the man, entering the pce.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Soon after entering, he found Udona sitting upon her throne, and knelt down on one knee. ¡°Your Highness, Sinir Song has returned to your service.¡± He reported, and Udona looked at him with an apologetic smile.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thank you, Sinir. I¡¯m sorry about what happened to you, truly. I only just learned myself that you had been taken like that. I always thought that you had just gotten yourself lost on one of your adventures again.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing that, Sinir gave a somewhat bitter smile. She wasn¡¯t wrong to think that. Sinir¡¯s divine domain made him something simr to a god of travel, but¡­ he could only travel to ces he had never been with his divinity. Every time he used his domain, he could think of the <em><span style="font-weight:400">type</em><span style="font-weight:400"> of ce he wanted to go, but he would always have to spend time after arriving trying to figure out where he had ended up.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    <span style="font-weight:400">In the most extreme situation, he had once tried to overly specify his destination, wanting to arrive at Ashtanu¡¯s pce directly. However, what happened was a sick twist of fate where he appeared in an alternate universe entirely. This alternate universe physically resembled Deckan, but was ravaged by powerful monsters, the city resembling Ashtanu left in ruins.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With no natural way back, Sinir had been forced to ask the Goddess Aurivy for help bringing him home. Since then, he had learned not to try to force his divinity to take him to a familiar location. ¡°That is perfectly understandable, Your Highness.¡± Sinir finally answered, his head lowered.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona hummed thoughtfully, leaning back on her throne. ¡®If you had arrived a few minutes earlier, I would have had you meet my husband before he left.¡± She muttered, and Sinir blinked in confusion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Your¡­ husband?¡± He asked, having never heard anything about Udona getting married. ¡°Oh, did you join your sister in matrimony with the Keeper? That is great news!¡± He smiled brightly, but this time it was Udona¡¯s turn to blink.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°W-What? No! No no, I¡¯m not married to the Keeper.¡± She said with an embarrassedugh, quickly shaking her head. ¡°My husband is Aznod. I don¡¯t remember if you ever had the chance to meet him or not.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Aznod?¡± Sinir tilted his head, searching through his memories to try and ce the name to a face. Eventually, he remembered this as the name of the chef that he had seen leaving the pce on his way in. ¡°The <em><span style="font-weight:400">chef?</em><span style="font-weight:400">¡± Sinir¡¯s eyes widened in astonishment, and Udona chuckled. <em><span style="font-weight:400">I guess the way to a woman¡¯s heart truly is through her stomach¡­</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona¡¯s eye twitched, her smile spreading a bit wider. ¡°I have the feeling you just thought something incredibly rude¡­ You wouldn¡¯t have done that, right Sinir?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°O-of course not.¡± Sinir shook his head, quickly clearing his throat. ¡°Still, I would like to offer my congrattions. Had I known in advance, I would have prepared a suitable gift.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona¡¯s gaze softened, and she shook her head. ¡°Did the news never reach you in your captivity?¡± She asked in a softer tone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sinir could only shrug his shoulders. ¡°The Collector rarely brought me out of containment. Since my capture, I believe I only saw the outside world¡­ three times? And one of those was when the Blood Empress had me freed. If I were to venture a guess, he kept contact with me to a minimum in order to avoid any information making its way to you. Having a direct knight of the Greater Pantheon surely gave him arge amount of divinity, but it was also a major risk if he allowed the fact to be discovered.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Slowly, Udona rose from her throne, walking over to crouch down in front of Sinir, putting the two at eye level. With a far kinder expression on her face, she ced a hand on his shoulder. ¡°I truly am sorry that you had to go through that. Had I known that one of my knights had been captured in such a way, there is no force in this world that would have kept that man from harm.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sinir nodded his head, a smile returning to his face as well. ¡°I have no doubt, Your Highness. Would you like me to organize a team to bring him to justice?¡± He asked. However, to his surprise, Udona shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That won¡¯t be necessary.¡± She said, rising back to her feet. ¡°Someone else has already made a move. There is no longer any need to worry about the Collector anymore.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sinir paused, but ultimately nodded his head. He could only assume that the Blood Empress had decided not to let him off so easily after freeing those that he had captured. ¡°I understand. In that case, do you have any other assignments for me?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona thought about that for a moment, before smiling as she returned to her throne. ¡°You have been gone for quite some time, Sinir Song. The world has changed in your absence. As such, you should take the time to explore the city, and understand the new world that you have found yourself in. However, do try to avoid using your domain for the time being. The space outside the inhabited systems is not as safe as it used to be.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sinir wasn¡¯t quite sure what she meant by that, but did not argue with her words. He rose to his feet and bowed. ¡°I will keep that in mind, Your Highness.¡± He said, before turning to leave the throne room.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona watched Sinir leave, a sad smile on her face. She truly had been busy since his departure. At first, she just thought that he was traveling. However, when he hadn¡¯t reported in again even after the invasion of void beasts that nearly destroyed all of Deckan, she had assumed that he was among the many killed. He would certainly not have been the only god to have fallen in that invasion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She felt somewhat guilty for never having confirmed his death for certain, but with the reconstruction of Deckan, it had simply slipped her mind. Now that she knew that he had been alive all along, and simply captured long before the invasion ever took ce, she couldn¡¯t help the feeling of remorse.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Lena?</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Udona closed her eyes, sending out a mental message.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Yes, L-- Udona?</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Lena replied, barely stopping herself from calling Udona by her formal title. Udona¡¯s lips twitched into a small grin at that.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Please ensure that the Collector is never seen again. His actions have greatly offended me on a personal level. If I were to see him, there is no doubt that I would immediately kill him myself.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Contrary to her expression, her thoughts were cold. If it were not for the fact that she considered the Collector¡¯s current predicament as a more fitting punishment than simple death, Udona would have already snuffed his life out.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">¡­I understand. Don¡¯t worry, I have no intention of freeing him again. You have my word.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Lena responded in a firm tone. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Is there anything else that I can do for you?</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona thought about it for a long moment, before shaking her head. <em><span style="font-weight:400">No, that should be fine. However, I have a special training n that you might be able to benefit from, to prepare for the uing invasion. I heard that there is a good chance that we will be facing entire universes soon.</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">That¡¯s correct. If you have any advice for my training, I would happily ept.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing Lena¡¯s readiness, Udona nodded her head in approval. <em><span style="font-weight:400">You should practice with an educational stream. Use your divinity to understand the process of world creation from Chelsea¡¯s notes, and then practice altering the properties of a world from within the void. With your domains, it should bepletely doable to change a targeted world¡¯s systems, as long as you take the time to understand what you are changing.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">That caused Lena to pause, clearly thinking about what Udona had suggested. This was no easy feat, either practically or ethically. After all, by altering the properties of an entire world, she was essentially asking Lena to ughter a universe of living beings. Like Udona said, this was something that she could do with her domains as they were, but it would still be a heavy burden for her heart. And that was even considering all of her training to be the Golden Shadow.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">I¡­ understand.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> She responded after a few moments. <em><span style="font-weight:400">This is something that needs to be done to save our own people. I¡¯ll start my training right away.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona gave a small nod. Thankfully, everyone in Olympus had been granted the qualifications to teach others in any subject they wished, allowing them to host those educational streams. This was something that Udona personally ensured, as the Goddess of Education.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Try not to worry too much about the moral implications.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Udonamunicated in a gentle tone. <em><span style="font-weight:400">This invasion is different from any others that we have faced before. Although not everyone that arrives will be considered an enemy, searching through them to find those hostile to Dale would take years. There might be a single farmer in a remote vige on a nearly abandoned world that has hostility to the Keeper, and that alone would be able to prevent the invasion from ending.</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">I understand that this is a cruel way to handle the situation, but there are no alternatives. It would be nice if we could simply convince them all to join us peacefully, but we can¡¯t expect that to work. Even if we employ divine powers to brainwash them, there will inevitably those with the power to counter it.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing this, Lena let out a long sigh. <em><span style="font-weight:400">I understand. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll train well.</em>

 Chapter 1186: It’s Simply Di-vine

    Chapter 1186: It¡¯s Simply Di-vine


    <span style="font-weight:400">I sat within my office, back in the mortal world once again. I was looking through the various training systems that my world currently had ess to, trying to find a suitable method for myself and those around me to get stronger. At the moment, we had exceeded the levels of nearly every avenue of growth avable to us.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The easiest method would be training within Fyor. This is the method that most adventurers take when they want to feel a sense of adventure while training their skills. The gradual increase of levels through Fyor makes it the perfect training ground for most people, which was the entire idea behind buying it in the first ce. However, the fighters within Olympus could easily tackle any floor of Fyor, and it no longer served as an effective method to level up.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Next, there were the dungeons that Aurivy had been producing. From my understanding, Aurivy had finished the level adjustment system of dungeons, allowing them to tailor their challenges to the contestants. Yet, that too had a limit. If any of us even remotely exerted ourselves, a normal dungeon could be destroyed from the inside. I couldn¡¯t even train with the dungeon core that Aurivy gave me anymore, because the space began to destabilize if I started testing big techniques.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thest, and most effective system that remained, was the educational streams. A normal stream would be broadcast across every universe, so the only type of streams that we could use for practical training was educational. Theoretically, this was fine for Tsubaki and the others. However, as the Keeper, I was barred from starting a stream, due to the possibility of a Keeper trying to hide in a stream during an invasion.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Is meditation the only option avable to me?</em><span style="font-weight:400"> I asked with a groan. It would have to either be meditation, or I go back to the Admin Room for all of my training with alia¡¯s old simtions, which was certainly an option, but it would require me to constantly need alia¡¯s assistance, preventing her from being able to focus on her own work.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a forlorn sigh, I closed my eyes and leaned back in my seat. There were too many domains avable to me, and I needed to create powerful techniques that could be used in any situation I found myself in. As the Keeper, I couldn¡¯t afford to be caught unprepared, no matter what urred.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a faint, mechanical hum, Chelsea finished the final connections on the modified ¡®Origin Drive¡¯ that she had been working on with Dana. ¡°That should do it!¡± She said, looking at Julia with a smile. ¡°We added in a detection spell that checks to see if there are multiple divine signatures. It should be able to detect both a Subordinate God and a Master God.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°If it registers that the target is either one, it will activate Dana¡¯s new divinity cleansing spell before beginning the Origin Ascension process.¡± She spoke in a proud tone, saying this both for Julia¡¯s benefit, as well as Aurivy¡¯s, as she was well aware that the halfling goddess was still watching them. ¡°We¡¯ll need to run a few more tests with the next person to go through the process, but this <em><span style="font-weight:400">should</em><span style="font-weight:400"> be a stable method of allowing someone to ascend as an Origin. The only customization necessary should be uploading the schematics for the Origin world that they wish to gain.¡±n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, the only one capable of urately designing such a world was still Chelsea, with the exception of maybe a few people on her research team. She had been keeping an eye on the progress of other research groups when it came to world creation, given the potentially catastrophic karmic fallout that could ur in a botched attempt.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia nodded her head, listening to Chelsea¡¯s exnation. She didn¡¯t seem particrly nervous, having experienced failure countless times already. She was fully aware that this was still a stream, and that a failure here would simply mean needing to try again. Of course, she wasn¡¯t <em><span style="font-weight:400">fond</em><span style="font-weight:400"> of feeling her body being torn apart at its core, but the pain was at least brief.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Remember, don¡¯t resist the process.¡± Chelsea urged. ¡°Rx your energy, and let the Origin Drive handle everything.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Julia nodded again, Chelsea hit the switch, causing the tform beneath the elven girl to light up. Immediately, Julia felt something inherently <em><span style="font-weight:400">wrong</em><span style="font-weight:400">. Her connection with Aurivy, which had been present for what felt like all her life at this point, had suddenly vanished. It felt as if she had lost a key part of herself, and she had to force herself to rx, to not reach out and try to grab that connection again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Doing so now would defeat the purpose of what they had been preparing ever since Scarlet suggested this idea. As those thoughts shed by her mind, she felt her divinity moving without her control. At the same time, something dark appeared alongside her divinity, giving her an instinctive sense of danger. She had felt this sensation dozens of times already, and knew that this was the introduction of a Fallen God¡¯s core alongside her divinity.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was the stage where she had failed almost every time before now. Doing her best to rx, she felt the energies merging together, her new World Sight wrapping around them to stabilize the fusion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was a brief moment where her energy erupted, and she felt as if it was about to explode once again. However, instead, this energy copsed in on itself. Immediately, she felt a sense of boundless energy and vitality, her mind seeming to expand. Her senses covered everything around her, even when she wasn¡¯t trying to focus, and she knew that the process had seeded.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately, the connection with Aurivy was still severed. When she opened her eyes, she tried to reach for that familiar connection, but it was nowhere to be found. Her lips pursed in difort, knowing that this was an inevitable part of the ascension process. An Origin could not be subordinate to anyone, as they were the very embodiment of a concept.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Alright!¡± Chelsea grinned, seeing that Julia¡¯s energy had stabilized. ¡°Looks like everything¡¯s golden! Now, let¡¯s reset the stream, and try this¡­ let¡¯s say another ten times, just to be safe?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia¡¯s eyes went wide at that, looking at Chelsea in rm. ¡°Ten times? Is that really necessary?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Julia, if I had it my way, it¡¯d be a hundred times. At a <em><span style="font-weight:400">minimum.</em><span style="font-weight:400">¡± Chelsea said in a firm tone. ¡°The more we test it, the more used to the process you will get, and the more confident I will be in the Origin Drive. Any little variable could potentially throw off the whole process, and risk you going supernova when we try this in the real world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia let out a low groan, but ultimately nodded her head, agreeing with the cautious decision. Thest thing she wanted was to try this for real, only for some hidden w to reveal itself. ¡°Fine, let¡¯s get this over with¡­¡±


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, once they had one confirmed sess, the others were done in barely an hour. Aurivy watched the whole event from Chelsea¡¯s office, pursing her lips. Each time she felt her connection with Julia being severed, it was like a dagger twisting in her chest. She had half a mind to call off the whole n, knowing that once they did this for real, that connection would be lost for good.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The only thing that stopped her from doing so was the knowledge that this would ultimately help Julia greatly. Additionally, even if their divine connection was lost, it wasn¡¯t like Julia was actually dying or anything. It just <em><span style="font-weight:400">felt</em><span style="font-weight:400"> that way in the moment that the connection was severed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Back in the real world, Aurivy watched the process happen the final time, and bid onest farewell to that connection. She watched Julia hover above the tform, her hair swaying behind her. Her energy shifted, bing distorted for several moments, before a switch seemed to be flipped. Her existence as the Goddess of Wood disappeared, and instead, Aurivy felt something entirely different from her. Like Chelsea and Dana, she felt¡­ more.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Evenparing her to a member of the Greater Pantheon didn¡¯t feel apt. Sensing her energy directly, Aurivy felt like she was staring into a boundless abyss. Of course, from a practical point of view, she knew that she would still be able to defeat an Origin, as long as she was given the chance to prepare. Especially so if she was still connected to her main self in the Admin Room.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Julia¡¯s feet touched the tform again, Aurivy rushed over to hug her. ¡°Congrattions, Jules.¡± She muttered, and Julia smiled down to her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Thanks, Rivy. Sorry you had to watch all of that.¡± She whispered, knowing firsthand how it must have felt.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, Aurivy shook her head. ¡°It¡¯d be worse if I felt it and <em><span style="font-weight:400">didn¡¯t</em><span style="font-weight:400"> see what was going on.¡± She said in a firm tone, before looking at Dana and Chelsea. ¡°So, what sorts of systems did you give her? I <em><span style="font-weight:400">assume</em><span style="font-weight:400"> that you wouldn¡¯t have given Jules a run of the mill world?¡± She pressed, causing Dana and Chelsea to grin at one another.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Well, first and foremost, she has the farming system of Lorek and Spica.¡± Chelsea began. ¡°Only, we included admin controls, so she can adjust any of the system values. If she wanted to, she could have any crop immediately grow upon nting.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dana nodded her head quickly. ¡°I also got a modded version of Digital Conversion from Ashley. Apparently, one of her workers had been ying with it as a side project. It doesn¡¯t automatically convert items into nts, but it allows the user tobine attributes from different registered schematics.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That in itself isn¡¯t anything major, but¡­ we also included the World Seed game¡¯s magic and development system. So, she¡¯ll be able tobine those trees with the farming system to immediately create advanced trees, and research various nt-based technologies. Then, using the modded system, she can startbining those together to create new nts for her to grow.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy blinked at that, nodding her head. Thinking back to the full power of the Sylvans that she had seen in a Keeper Sim battle, she had to admit that this was an appealing power. Plus, if she had the Natural Seed magic system-- ¡°Wait, Natural <em><span style="font-weight:400">Seed</em><span style="font-weight:400">. Don¡¯t tell me that you modded my magic system, too?¡± She asked, causing the two Origins to grin at one another.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°We didn¡¯t do much. All we did was add the ¡®nt¡¯ tag to the seeds. So, if a magic seed is nted, it should be able to grow into a special nt, capable of producing simr seeds.¡± Chelsea exined, and Aurivy¡¯s brow twitched. She hade up with the idea for that magic system <em><span style="font-weight:400">ages</em><span style="font-weight:400"> ago.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Meaning, if shebines a magic seed with a nt-based weapon through your modded DC system¡­¡± Aurivy began, before letting out a long sigh. ¡°She could create nt weapons imbued with potent magic. And, as an Origin, she would be able to spawn a theoretically endless number of those weapons.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Or turrets!¡± Chelsea added. ¡°She could also spawn hordes of nt-based turrets, capable of spewing fire, ice, or explosions at their targets.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy¡¯s brow twitched <em><span style="font-weight:400">violently </em><span style="font-weight:400">when she heard that<em><span style="font-weight:400">.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> ¡°It¡¯s almost a shame that our next invasion isn¡¯t against a zombie Keeper¡­¡±

 Chapter 1187: Cultivation

    Chapter 1187: Cultivation


    <span style="font-weight:400">After returning to Olympus, Julia had been advised to study her new inner world, that way she could better understand the finer points of universe construction and management. At the same time, this would let her explore her new powers, as she wasrgely unfamiliar with controlling such powers on a massive scale.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Within her room, Julia got into afortable pose for meditation, and closed her eyes. She directed her senses towards her inner world, and was surprised to discover just how detailed her perception was. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Is this because I have World Sight? </em><span style="font-weight:400">She thought to herself, as she was able to perceive her inner world as if the entire universe had been bathed in her World Sight.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If this was before, the influx of information would have overloaded her mind, causing her to shut down or recoil back. However, at the moment, she felt as if there were no problems with her ability to process everythinging in.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Without even trying to locate them, she noticed millions of different seeds of magic scattered throughout the universe. Some of them were hidden within the caldera of a volcano. Some were in the heart of a ck hole, and some were buried within the brinekes of the deepest oceans. Each seed, she could distinctly feel as though they wereid out before her. At the same time, she felt every tree, every de of grass scattered across every world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her senses focused on one of thergest trees, an ancient Sylvan tree. Clearly, this was taken from the World Seed game system. However, because there was nobody managing it, there had been no research done, and the tree simply existed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a single thought, she was able to ess the tree and begin the basic research. When she did, she was surprised to discover that this research counted as a form of growth for the tree, as she had the option to instantlyplete it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She thought about blitzing through the research, aiming to reach the upper limits of what the game¡¯s system allowed. Yet, with a shake of her head, she put that off for the time being. She would be able to take care of thatter. For now, she was still exploring the possibilities at her disposal.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">I wonder what would happen if I nted an actual Sylvan Mother Tree in my inner world? Would it instantly give birth to all ten golden Sylvans, and be fully grown?</em><span style="font-weight:400"> She couldn¡¯t help but imagine the scene, one where she created a thriving poption of Sylvans within her inner world.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">No, I shouldn¡¯t do that. Doing so would cut them off from the other groves in the real world.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> She thought with another shake of her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her next experiment was to manifest her powers in the real world, something that Chelsea and Dana said was the true nature of an Origin¡¯s power. Opening her eyes, Julia extended a hand in front of herself and focused. Momentster, a glowing seed appeared above her hand, radiating heat and light. Its exterior looked like a jagged rock with glowing lines running through it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was the Earth me seed, amon magical seed found within any active volcano. However, Julia studied it curiously, seeming surprised by its appearance. This was to be expected, as the seed had manifested in the same form as it did within her inner world.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">I expected it to appear in the form of a token, like when we create the seeds with the Digital Conversion system.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> She thought to herself. The fact that the seed itself had appeared in its true form seemed quite significant to her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Closing her eyes again, Julia found one of the ancestor trees and began to speed through its research path, gathering all of the materials needed to form nt-based magical weapons. Afterwards, shebined the Earth me seed with an oaken rod, creating a staff that allowed one to control molten stone. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Interesting¡­</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Julia smiled as she realized the possibilities that came with this sess.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Momentster, her thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice. ¡°Having fun?¡± Aurivy asked, and Julia opened her eyes to look at the halfling goddess, who smiled back at her. ¡°You had the same expression on your face as when you found the secret passage in Dungeon Delver.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Did I?¡± Julia responded with a chuckle. ¡°I¡¯m just doing some experiments. It seems that the two of them gathered some particrly special systems for me, though I¡¯m not sure how effective they would be when facing divine-level threats.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Oh?¡± Aurivy walked over, sitting across from Julia. ¡°Why not? You shouldn¡¯t have any problems with your new upgrade, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Not a problem, per se. I just don¡¯t know if anything I have at my disposal is able to properly threaten a deity.¡± Julia exined slowly. ¡°I think it¡¯s because of my World Sight, but I can perceive everything in my inner world at the same time. And, there is nothing there that is really strong enough to kill a god.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hmm¡­¡± Aurivy crossed her arms, tilting her head. ¡°Maybe you just need to develop? They said that you have the trees from World Seed, so you should be able to create weapons that rival gods if you take that path far enough. Otherwise¡­ just make your own!¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia gave a dry chuckle, knowing what Aurivy meant. ¡°I <em><span style="font-weight:400">might</em><span style="font-weight:400"> be able to do something, if I take advantage of the research system. However, I¡¯m not sure how I could go about creating my own god-killing nt. From what I can tell, I can¡¯t just wish a special type of nt into existence. It has to be created through normal methods.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy quickly nodded her head at that. ¡°Really? In that case, just do that, right?¡± She asked with an innocent smile. ¡°I¡¯m sure you cane up with a way to breed a nt that drains divine energy or something, can¡¯t you?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia hesitated for a moment, before shaking her head. ¡°I don¡¯t think I can. In my entire inner world, there¡¯s not a single source of divine energy. And, without that divine energy, I wouldn¡¯t have the nutrients to create a nt like that.¡± Normally, the mother trees of the Sylvan would have a measure of divinity, but that was only because they were born from the body of a demigod. Because their divine origin was removed from World Seed, the trees at her disposal had no such energy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">What was more pressing was the fact that Julia no longer had her own divine energy to use as the necessary fuel. She wasn¡¯t even able to generate divine currency, because she was no longer a goddess. However, Aurivy wore a bright smile on her face. ¡°If all you¡¯recking is a source of divinity, that¡¯s an easy fix.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia looked up at Aurivy, seeming confused. ¡°It is? I can¡¯t use the nts of Fyor¡¯s thirty-ninth floor, or divine gold from Sanctum, as both of those require divinity to propagate. It would simply be a one-time infusion.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°True, true.¡± Aurivy nodded her head in agreement. ¡°But, there is another stone in Fyor that acts as a divinity generator.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia blinked, not knowing what Aurivy was talking about. ¡°There¡­ is?¡± She asked, and Aurivy quickly nodded her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yup! We just call it the divine stone. If a mortal or a deity touches it, they are able to acquire a domain of their choice. It¡¯s how Lifre got herst domain.¡± Aurivy exined, but Julia looked skeptical.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That doesn¡¯t sound like it generates divinity. It would just be a single-use battery, right? I¡¯d run into the same problem with that as I would with Divine Gold, or simply using divine currency.¡± She said with a sigh, and Aurivy blinked.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hmm, maybe? So, we need something that can passively generate divinity, and then you can turn that into a nt. And you said that none of the magic seeds create any kind of divinity.¡± Aurivy furrowed her brow in thought, before blinking. ¡°Oh! I¡¯ve got it! There is totally a way for you to make divinity with what you have avable!¡± She said with a brilliant smile, confusing Julia.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Third-tier Natural Seed!¡± Aurivy eximed. ¡°I studied loads of this magic once it was purchased, since I was the one toe up with it. For the first and second tier, it¡¯s all about controlling the seed that you acquire naturally. However, in the third tier, you start merging multiple seeds into one, like crossbreeding nts.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°How is that going to help me obtain divinity to use as fuel?¡± Julia asked, but Aurivy simply grinned.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Easy. We just need to find the rightbination of seeds to simte the form for divinity. Then, throw in a few coins as a catalyst, and you should be able to create a divine seed¡± Aurivy said, holding up a ck gold coin. ¡°And, you said that you can perceive your entire world at once, so you should be able to find thatbination easily.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Julia blinked, surprised by this revtion. She hadn¡¯t yed World Seed in quite a while, and had forgotten about the merging of natural seeds. After all, most seeds were simply fed to the trees to use as upgrade materials.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a faint nod, she closed her eyes, focusing. The most important seed she needed was one which contained at least a decent amount of ki. The more ki it had avable, the better.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Throughout her entire inner world, there were only a few seeds which had even the slightest trace of ki in them. However, there was only one type of seed that was predominantlyposed of ki. This was the Blood Heart Seed, an incredibly rare seed that formed within the heart of a giant beast after its death, but only if the body was perfectly preserved over a long period of time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In the entire universe, only twelve such seeds existed at the current moment. She gathered two of them, one to use immediately and the other to nt and nurture more in case she failed, as she had no confidence in seeding on the first try.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After analyzing the exact energy ratio of the Blood Heart Seed, she began to search for another seed that wouldplete the requirements for the divinity form. This was a very specific requirement, so she wasn¡¯t at all surprised when she did not find anything that was an exact match. Next, she had to search forbinations of seeds that wouldplete the form.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Eventually, she settled on what she believed to be the properponents. Aside from the Blood Heart Seed, there were three extremelymon seeds. These were the Flowing Wind Seed, the Clear Water Seed, and the Deep Stone Seed. Additionally, one umon seed, the Endless Shadow Seed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">ording to her calctions, the total energy from these five seeds would perfectly match the ratios needed to create divinity. Now, it was only a matter ofbining them all together, something that she didn¡¯t have any experience with. After nting each of the seeds to make sure that she had spares, she tried to simply cheat, using her modded DC system tobine all five seeds into one.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unsurprisingly, this failed <em><span style="font-weight:400">explosively,</em><span style="font-weight:400"> creating a deep crater where she had made the attempt. With a reluctant sigh, she listened to Aurivy¡¯s exnation on how to <em><span style="font-weight:400">properly</em><span style="font-weight:400">bine the seeds. If this did work, she would be able to create a wide range of nts that could affect even gods.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Which was nice, because right now, the best that she had avable was the power to massacre armies of mortals. Admittedly, she was still stronger than she used to be in terms of scale, but her single-target damage had suffered greatly. This was her chance to correct that.

 Chapter 1188: Exploration of Shadows

    Chapter 1188: Exploration of Shadows


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa¡¯s brow furrowed, looking at the stack of papers in front of her. These were all of the reports that she had to file regarding the various different worlds of Fyor. Thankfully, most of the negotiations went well, though there were a few things that she had noted.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For starters, none of the other worlds had a ¡®true¡¯ understanding of divinity. This was because none of them had reached a floor capable of guiding one on a path of godhood. However, they still had <em><span style="font-weight:400">faith</em><span style="font-weight:400">. The issue was that most of them had faith centered around either the mana spire, the ck gates, or both. These cultures worshipped the natural formations of Fyor due to their special properties.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Whenever Thelsa¡¯s diplomatic envoys appeared in a world where the local culture worshipped the spire, they were immediately treated as messengers of their religion¡¯s deity. Most of the time spent in negotiations with these races was spent to clear up this misunderstanding.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Now, all of the other worlds had been contacted, and the envoys were rapidly gathering the shadow worlds of the higher floors. Given that they could use the crystal spire as an elevator, this would be over very soon.


    <span style="font-weight:400">All that Thelsa personally had to worry about at this point was organizing all of the paperwork to submit it to the guild. So, with a heavy sigh, she sat down, and began to sort the files based on which worlds proved peaceful, which ones showed hostility, which ones disyed useful resources, and things like that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she worked, a notification suddenly appeared in the corner of her vision. She nced over at it, before her eyes suddenly widened, a smile spreading across her face.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Congrattions!


    <span style="font-weight:400">You havepleted the basic World Shadow of Fyor, and have used your shadows to connect with thousands of civilizations. As a reward, your Shadow Saint special title has leveled up. Understanding of World Shadow has improved.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">It had been a long time since her title had leveled up, a <em><span style="font-weight:400">very</em><span style="font-weight:400"> long time. Long enough that she had forgotten that such a thing was possible. However, she wasn¡¯t entirely sure what the reward meant. She didn¡¯t immediately <em><span style="font-weight:400">feel</em><span style="font-weight:400"> any different about her shadow or anything.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa?</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Petra¡¯s voice spoke up in Thelsa¡¯s mind, seeming concerned.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Yes, Petra? Did something happen?</em><span style="font-weight:400"> She responded, worried that this upgrade might have influenced her other shadows.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">You shoulde and see this.</em>


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">My simted training was interrupted by an alert from my nearby terminal. Opening my eyes, I saw that there was a request formunication from Thelsa Whitefallow, using a secure line. Arching a brow, I leaned forward and epted the call. ¡°Thelsa? I would have expected you to arrive in person if you had something to report, or to call one of the others. What¡¯s going on?¡± I asked curiously.


    <span style="font-weight:400">On the other end of the call, Thelsa sounded confused, but also excited. ¡°Sir, I¡¯ve made an important discovery regarding Fyor. I thought that you would need to know immediately, so I decided to go ahead and call.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I blinked in surprise, before quickly shaking my head. ¡°What discovery is that important?¡± I asked. Unless there was a new special material or something, I wasn¡¯t sure what else there was to discover from Fyor at this point.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°There are more than the originally assumed ten thousand ¡®dungeon¡¯s of Fyor.¡± Thelsa reported.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa stood upon ayer of smooth, ck stone, before a towering crystal spire reaching up towards a sun that seemed infinitely far away. Scientifically, she knew that it was approximately a billion light-years between theses and their suns. All of these ¡®dungeon¡¯s were roughly the same distance, and could bepared to the ¡®goldilocks¡¯ zone. Still, a <em><span style="font-weight:400">billion</em><span style="font-weight:400"> light years, just the number felt unreal. Yet, due to the sheer size of the sun, it still appeared simr to the sun of Earth or any other world in scale.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Shaking her head, she looked at the nearby crystal pir. This was not one of the worlds registered as possible destinations when using the pir to travel, which Petra had confirmed by having all ten thousand teams stand on the surfaces of their respectives. In fact, there were hundreds of thousands of suchs that they had identified.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Thelsa arrived through her shadow world, she had ced her hand on the spire, curious if there would be a reaction. As soon as she did, another message appeared in front of her.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Performing Identity Verification¡­


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unregistered user identified¡­


    <span style="font-weight:400">Congrattions! You have located Hidden Dungeon X-392! Surface of X-392 has been unlocked and registered as a personal destination. X-392 Gates have been unlocked for user.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was why Thelsa had urgently called the Keeper. This wasn¡¯t just another dungeon world. This was a <em><span style="font-weight:400">hidden</em><span style="font-weight:400"> dungeon world, one which they had only discovered because of Thelsa¡¯s upgraded title. When Petra investigated the new update, she tried to scan the empty space of the shadow world, and found all of these other ¡®extra¡¯s.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">If I¡¯m right, theses were meant to be discovered gradually, through highly advanced space exploration.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> She mused to herself, ncing to the side when she saw a cloud of golden mist appear.


    <span style="font-weight:400">From within the mist, Aurivy emerged, wearing a set of advanced armor. She had a golden helmet with a thin visor, and nodded towards Thelsa. Without dy, Aurivy ced her own hand on the crystal to register herself, and then teleported the two of them to the ck gate elsewhere on the giant. Only when they stepped through did Aurivy speak, as the surfaceyer of this worldcked any form of atmosphere.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, we have <em><span style="font-weight:400">hidden dungeons</em><span style="font-weight:400"> now?¡± She asked in surprise, and Thelsa nodded her head. Thelsa wasn¡¯t surprised by the fact that Aurivy and the others were unaware of these dungeons. It had long been established to her that even the Keeper himself did not have full knowledge of unexplored regions of Fyor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°It would seem that way.¡± Thelsa answered, looking around. ¡°However, it only gave us the ability to teleport to the surface. Does that mean that we have to manually travel downwards, and register each floor as we go?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°I don¡¯t know, but let¡¯s find out!¡± Aurivy grinned. This floor of X-392 appeared as a barren desert, so she didn¡¯t waste any time. ¡°You go ahead and register your shadows as we go. I¡¯m going to speed run this.¡± She said, golden mist enveloping them again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Momentster, they were standing before this floor¡¯s pir, which they both touched while Thelsa spread her shadow out. Then, Aurivy took the two of them to the next floor¡¯s gate and stepped through.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, as soon as she stepped through the gate, she paused, her brow furrowed. The new destination was a lush forest, but Aurivy did not immediately advance. ¡°Something¡¯s wrong.¡± She said in a concerned tone, causing Thelsa to look over.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°What is it?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°The monsters here are stronger than the ones I saw in thest floor.¡± Aurivy responded, and Thelsa looked confused for a moment. However, she soon realized why that was a problem.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°But, we¡¯re going <em><span style="font-weight:400">down</em><span style="font-weight:400">, not up.¡± She said, and Aurivy nodded her head seriously.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Yeah, we are. ording to the standard rules of Fyor, the lower floors mean lower leveled monsters. However, the average level of the monsters here, ording to what I¡¯m sensing, is roughly one hundred levels higher than the ones above.¡± Aurivy had been confident in speedrunning this hidden dungeon specifically because she was sure that this rule would have applied here as well, thinking that there would be no actual threats to be faced. However, if every floor represented a jump of a hundred levels, she no longer had that confidence. In terms of pure stats, perhaps only Tsubaki could confidently say that she was superior to the monsters that would lurk in the deepest floors of this hidden dungeon.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Let¡¯s stop here for today.¡± Aurivy said, shaking her head and sending the two of them to the crystal spire on this floor. ¡°If the threat level is increasing per floor, we need to reconsider our approach to this world.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thelsa nodded her head in agreement at that. While she was confident that she would personally be able to survive on the current floor, she did not keep that confidence if it came to the deeper floors of this ¡®hidden dungeon¡¯.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Using the crystal spire, Thelsa returned to the original world of Fyor, while Aurivy disappeared with her golden mist. <em><span style="font-weight:400">We probably could have gone quite a ways further, if we purely relied on Lady Aurivy¡¯s teleportation. Especially since theyers would be smaller with every passing floor. However, perhaps going beyond our personal limits would be seen as dangerous, and that was why we stopped early¡­</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she thought about that, she began to wonder what benefits this new ¡®hidden dungeon¡¯ could have. Surely, if there was a level of danger involved, there would be an equal chance for rewards, right? Otherwise, why would whatever system created Fyor as it did have removed those ¡®hidden dungeons¡¯ from the normal list of destinations.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She considered creating a team to explore the two floors of X-392 that they had visited, but quickly changed her mind. It would take too long to train shadows that were capable of fighting monsters with an average level nearing eight thousand.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, although Thelsa was unable to properly explore the new floors of the hidden dungeon, Aurivy faced no such difficulty. Her main bodyy on her bed within the Admin Room, on her back with her hands stretched up into the air. Her fingers flicked from side to side every few moments, observing a map of X-392.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Like I thought¡­ there are rewards.¡± She muttered to herself. However, these rewards were not what she expected them to be. She thought that she would see new, exotic mineral veins that could only be found in these hidden dungeons. Or maybe there would be treasure chests containing loot generated by the system. That would have fit with the theme of a dungeon, as well.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, what she found was a crystal sphere buried in the ground. Examining the sphere identified it as a Reward Sphere, awarding one hundred points, which could be redeemed at the crystal spire.


    <span style="font-weight:400">On the uppermost floor of X-392, she found over ten thousand of these spheres scattered around, all across the massive floor. Most of them were buried, but some were sitting on the surface. On the second floor down, she found anotherrge batch, but these all awarded two hundred points.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Out of curiosity, she sent her incarnation to gather one of these spheres, and take them to the crystal spire of that floor. Thankfully, Aurivy had studied her runes properly, and kept the trantion guide nearby so that she could read the interface.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Upon entering the spire and cing the sphere against the wall, she was informed that she had one hundred reward points, which could be spent to redeem rewards of her choosing. To her surprise, there was nothing like a shop for her to browse through, only a nk screen.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Pursing her lips, she had her incantation draw out the runes to write ¡®Comprehensive understanding of third-tier runes¡¯. This would be a good test, she thought.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Immediately, a line of runes appeared beneath her writing, asking her to confirm the expenditure of fifty-two reward points to im the chosen reward. Shrugging her shoulders, she confirmed the choice. As soon as she did, a jolt of mana pushed her incarnation back, and Aurivy could sense a flood of knowledge entering the incarnation¡¯s mind.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy¡¯s eyes widened as she realized the significance of this reward system. Now, she needed to see just how far this reward system went. Hesitantly, she wrote ¡®An object capable of allowing one to ascend beyond the level of divinity¡¯. Unfortunately, there was no rune for Origin in the third tier, which the interface used as a base.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, Aurivy wasn¡¯t expecting to be given this reward just because she asked for it. After all, she would have nowhere <em><span style="font-weight:400">near</em><span style="font-weight:400"> enough points to im it. She simply wanted to see what would happen if she tried.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Momentster, a line of runes appeared beneath her request. ¡®Reward unknown. Please define the reward more clearly and try again.¡¯


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Makes sense. This interface probably has no concept of what an Origin is to begin with. If it can¡¯t be described in third-tier runes, it probably isn¡¯t possible as a reward. Still, this needs to be experimented with.</em>


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 1189: Jumping the Gun

    Chapter 1189: Jumping the Gun


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy¡¯s experiments with the hidden dungeon took just over an hour toplete, after which she was shocked by the power of this reward system. ¡°So, as long as it can be properly defined under third-tier runic magic, the system is able to generate it?¡± She muttered to herself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She had gathered roughly a tenth of the reward spheres from the uppermost floor of X-392 to use for her experiment. She had created weapons, elixirs, and even the divinity-granting stone. Whether the item was made for a God, a Fallen God, or a mortal, the system was able to immediately put a price on it if it were described in third-tier runes. Even knowledge was avable.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy had tried to ask for aplete and detailed map of X-392, but the required price was a full five million points. Even if she cleared out every orb on the upper two floors, that wouldn¡¯t be enough for that map. <em><span style="font-weight:400">They probably set that extreme price to prevent anyone from choosing an option like this, unless they had already made it to the lower floors.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Additionally, only runic magic knowledge was avable. When Aurivy tried to ask for Geometric magic information, she couldn¡¯t, because there was no proper definition for it. Although the individual runes technically existed, they would not mean the same thing in context when used together. For the same reason, she couldn¡¯t ask for magic cards from Deckan, or cultivation resources from Lorek.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Even so, the freedom of the rewards was somewhat astonishing to her. <em><span style="font-weight:400">This can only be because of how Bihena and I originally worded the system request. The world was meant to represent a training dungeon, and we filled out pages upon pages to specify how it would operate, but we never wrote anything detailed about the others beyond the starter location. The system must have decided to use these extra worlds for high-level training.</em>


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">If that¡¯s the case, will there be hidden dungeons with a starter level of twenty-thousand, or even thirty-thousand? We wouldn¡¯t know unless we searched each one.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Aurivy had tried to ask for information on the ¡®hidden dungeon¡¯ system as one of her rewards, and even found that it was rather cheap. However, the information provided was rather limited.


    <span style="font-weight:400">ording to the information, hidden dungeons are an extra type of dungeon world meant to challenge exceptionally skilledbatants, offering them additional rewards based on their capabilities. Every floor further down a challenger descends, they will face stronger adversaries, and will be given the chance to obtain more points to exchange for various rewards.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There was no specific information about the starter level for each dungeon, or whether there were dungeons of different difficulties to begin with. However, it did say that there were exactly ten thousand reward spheres on every floor, and these spheres would refresh in random locations once every ten years. But, the maximum amount of reward spheres any one individual can receive from any floor was capped at ten thousand. This was probably to prevent a single person from repeatedly monopolizing the rewards over a long period of time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With this information, Aurivy was able to make a few deductions. The most profitable floor would undoubtedly be the centermost floor of any hidden dungeon. However, that was also the most dangerous location. The total surface area of the first floor of Fyor was only fifty square kilometers. That meant roughly two hundred spheres per square kilometer.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, the monsters faced on this floor would have a level of roughly sixteen thousand. Even a casual attack from a creature that strong would be able to decimate an area of that size. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Let¡¯s assume that there is only a single boss monster serving as the final guardian. If Tsubaki and this monster were to get into a serious battle¡­ Tsubaki might be able to win, but the central spire would absolutely be destroyed.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">No matter how Aurivy imagined it, she could not picture an oue that did not result in the central spire of X-392 being destroyed during their battle. This meant that the only way to leave would be for Tsubaki to use her own mana to repair the spire, or sit there and wait for it to repair itself naturally, hoping that the boss did not respawn during this period.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The worst case scenario would be if there <em><span style="font-weight:400">wasn¡¯t</em><span style="font-weight:400"> only a single monster on the first floor. There could be hundreds, even thousands of creatures all at that level of power. If that were the case, even Tsubaki would be quickly overwhelmed. After all, these would not be huge, lumbering beasts like the crawlers of Fyor¡¯s seventy-fifth floor. Because the floors were bing smaller, the enemies would be smaller as well. All of thatbat power would be densely packed into a small frame.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">In that type of battle, Tsubaki would be at a disadvantage. Technically, her level is higher, but it is spread out too evenly among all of the different sses. You can¡¯t expect a level three hundred farmer to fight as hard as a level three hundred warrior.</em><span style="font-weight:400"> Aurivy thought to herself. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Though, if Tsubaki sent one of her avatars to this dungeon, that would serve as extremebat training¡­ we would just have to make her promise to only send her avatars.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Originally, Aurivy had been nning to create her own extremely high level dungeons within Fyor¡¯s universe to use as a method to train powerful warriors. She had created several monster ns and dungeonyouts, simply waiting for people to be at a level where she could implement this strategy. Now, it seemed that this was entirely unnecessary. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Either way, I need to report this to Dale, pronto.</em>


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I heard from Aurivy what she had discovered about the hidden dungeons, I had to admit that even <em><span style="font-weight:400">I</em><span style="font-weight:400"> was tempted to send an avatar to go train there. However, that was not a practical solution for me, because there was always the risk that there would be an enemy capable of killing the main body through the avatar.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Granted, this was still a risk for Tsubaki, but it was a risk she was willing to take¡­ especially since I noticed her splitting an avatar off in the middle of Aurivy¡¯s exnation and having it leave Olympus. As for me¡­ given that me dying would be the end of all creation, even a low possibility like that was something that I had to consider extremely seriously.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°So, what rewards did you ask for in your experiments?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask Aurivy, since I couldn¡¯t imagine her asking for anything useless, even if it was just an experiment.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Hmm? Oh, just a few things I thought would be good tests.¡± Aurivy smiled. ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ there was an enchanted dagger with the ability to petrify enemies with their own mana. A few random resources from Fyor¡­ Oh, the biggest one would be this divine artifact imbued with the Death domain.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">After she said that, she pulled out a golden revolver. ¡°It converts the wielder¡¯s divinity into projectiles to fire, and casts an instant death effect on whatever it hits. Honestly, that¡¯s pretty useless, though.¡± She said with a faint shrug. ¡°At these levels, anything you¡¯ll be fighting is going to be so fast that it¡¯s not going to be hit by a bullet to begin with. Or, it¡¯ll be strong enough to ovee a divine ability like that.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Maybe I was a bit too hopeful? Or, perhaps the truly useful items would have been too expensive for her to redeem. ¡°Still, the possibilities for these rewards are something we should consider. You said that you were able to get aplete set of knowledge for third-tier runic magic. If Tsubaki received that, would it be on the same level as the blessing I gave to Lifre?¡± I asked, but Aurivy quickly shook her head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Definitely not. With her stats, Tsubaki¡¯s memory should be off the charts, and she would be able to memorize thenguage easily. However, it¡¯s different from the blessing you gave. The reward I received from the hidden dungeon taught me thenguage, but the blessing you gave to Lifre made thenguage an intuitive part of her. I¡¯d bet that she practically thinks in runes at this point.¡± Aurivy asserted.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Of course, the dungeon¡¯s rewards are still incredibly useful to normal people. If a random warrior were toe across a hidden dungeon, they could receive weapons or elixirs that they would normally never have ess to. That¡¯s most likely the main point of these dungeons, to strengthen the masses.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod at that, before thinking about something. ¡°Aurivy¡­ did you think of asking for a level or stat boost at any point in your experiments?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy paused at that, blinking. ¡°Well, I uh¡­ I had only been thinking about physical items, and just a bit of magic knowledge. I didn¡¯t really think¡­ would that be possible? I¡¯ve still got about a thousand points left over from my tests, if you want me to pop over to check?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head, and Aurivy quickly disappeared. After she left, I turned my head to look at Tsubaki. ¡°I know that you sent your own avatar out, as well¡­ how are you nning to find the hidden dungeons? Or did you have Aurivy send you?¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    <span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki shook her head. ¡°I asked Lady Aurivy to send my avatar to another hidden dungeon during your conversation. With her assistance, I¡¯m moving through the floors to a level where I feelfortable fighting.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I let out a long sigh, nodding my head. Naturally, Tsubaki isn¡¯t there for the rewards. She just wants a ce to train herself. The only rewards that she¡¯s interested in are the results of that training.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I was thinking that, Aurivy appeared in another sh of golden mist. ¡°Okay! Confirmation has been made. A single level in any normal ss costs one hundred points, whereas a level in an advanced ss costs one thousand points. I don¡¯t know what the limits on purchasing these level upgrades is yet, though. I mean, it¡¯s not like they¡¯d let you just <em><span style="font-weight:400">buy</em><span style="font-weight:400"> ten thousand levels at the same rate, right?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I nodded slightly at that. ¡°It¡¯s probably rted to the actual level of the ss being enhanced. If I were setting this system up, then once someone reached a certain level to fight on that floor with that ss, the price would be raised to match the orbs on the next floor.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, there was always the possibility that this was wrong. There could either be a hard limit, or no price adjustment at all. I was only making an assumption based on the system¡¯s normal methods of operating. Especially since we learned that there is a limit to how many spheres you can redeem per floor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°That¡¯d make sense.¡± Aurivy nodded her head in agreement. ¡°Do you want to announce these hidden dungeons to the public?¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I thought about that, crossing my arms over my chest. ¡°Rather than announce it to the public, give the information to Fyor¡¯s guild, but make it level-restricted. So, people will only be able to obtain that information if their personal level is at least six thousand. Otherwise, we will have people going out and trying to find those dungeons when they don¡¯t have the power to clear even the first floor of them.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy seemed happy with that. ¡°Saves me some trouble. You <em><span style="font-weight:400">know</em><span style="font-weight:400"> people would just be praying to me nonstop to try to send them to these dungeons. As the Goddess of Travel and Dungeons, it would only be natural for them to assume that this would be one of my duties.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">I simply chuckled, grinning towards the relieved goddess. ¡°No, don¡¯t worry about that. Anyone that wants to go to a hidden dungeon can seek them out with their own abilities. The Greater Pantheon will not be responsible for providing a taxi service. This way, people will only go if they are confident that they can survive the vast expanse of Fyor¡¯s space.¡±


    <span style="font-weight:400">With any luck, this would encourage people to explore in groups for greater security, including at least one expert with a travel-rted power. If a lone explorer were to go off on their own without the proper preparations, it was unlikely that they¡¯d even make it <em><span style="font-weight:400">to</em><span style="font-weight:400"> a hidden dungeon, let alone survive long enough to im any of its rewards.

 Chapter 1190: A New Challenger

    Chapter 1190: A New Challenger


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Aurivy told the information about the hidden dungeons to the guild of Fyor, they were at a loss for what to do. The world was still reeling from the shock of the mana spires suddenly turning into elevators capable of taking them to any floor of Fyor, or even to other worlds. With this, the long-standing role of Aurivy¡¯s church in this world had been taken over by a natural force.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, in order to properly use this new elevator, one had to have a certain degree of magical knowledge, which itself was rather umon. Still, as long as one studied the appropriate runes, it would not be difficult for them to reach the destination they wished to visit. No longer would priests of Aurivy need to be on standby to aid travelers in reaching the various floors. Now, all that they needed to do was help people reach the mana spire of whatever floor they were on.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Though, if one considered the requisite runic knowledge to be rare, the number of people that qualified to receive the information on the hidden dungeons was absolutely abysmal. There were less than a thousandbatants registered to Fyor that had surpassed level six thousand, and <em><span style="font-weight:400">all</em><span style="font-weight:400"> of them were visitors from other worlds that had only recently arrived when the level cap had been removed. Of those who were native to Fyor, there was not a single adventurer that had yet to reach that level.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was only natural, since the level cap had been preventing anyone from bing that strong. That was why the guild had created the concept of Maxers in the first ce, those that focused primarily on one or two sses, only training in other sses in order to bnce their physical stats as needed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">But now, Maxers werepletely irrelevant. The system no longer awarded special skills to a particr ss after they surpassed the level five hundred limit, and it was all about individual training. The only reason to pursue further growth in that ss would be because of personal interest or talent.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Still, the adventurers of Fyor, who had previously been the ones to pioneer new territories, had already begun training on the upper floors of Fyor. It would take quite a while before they were qualified to receive the new information that came from Aurivy, but it was inevitable.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Meanwhile, there were numerous adventurers that had gone to visit the various others essible through the crystal spire. Some of them were well received, while others tried to act as local tyrants, and required the assistance of the guild in order to send a subjugation force to bring them back.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As for those few adventurers from abroad that did qualify for the information on ¡®hidden dungeons¡¯, the guild provided it to them in secret. They ensured that the information would not be spread, in order to avoid unrest among the general public.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once they received the information, these adventurers began to gather together. There were no ships within Fyor designed for interster travel. Even ships from the Metong would find it difficult to traverse the ridiculous distances needed to explore within Fyor¡¯s universe. For that reason, they could only rely on exceptionally high level abilities, such as godhood.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With just the most basic understanding of distances, any would-be traveler knew that attempting to explore on their own, regardless of how fast they were, would only result in them spending eons in solitude. Thus, they created groups between three and ten peoplerge, with each group having a specialist in travel-rted abilities. Only then did these several hundred adventurers take to the stars.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Petra heard about this, she couldn¡¯t help but chuckle. <em><span style="font-weight:400">Even if you have someone capable of teleporting you, it will still take you a long time to reach a hidden dungeon. </em><span style="font-weight:400">This was not baseless confidence, but rather something that she came to understand due to her studying Fyor¡¯s universe through her World Shadow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There were only ten thousand ¡®normal¡¯ dungeons within Fyor¡¯s gxy, while there were roughly three hundred thousand ¡®hidden¡¯ dungeons. Still, this meant that there were several hundred thousand stars <em><span style="font-weight:400">per</em><span style="font-weight:400"> dungeon. Unless they took the time to set up a long-term observation and discover the crystal spires of the relevants, they would be flying blindly.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petramented that she herself was not high enough level to properly explore these hidden dungeons, as she had been bound by Fyor¡¯s level cap for too long. Now that the cap had been removed, she and the rest of Thelsa¡¯s main shadow troop were all training diligently, nning to earn the right to visit these dungeons themselves.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Petra had already tried to talk Thelsa into letting them go early, since they <em><span style="font-weight:400">did</em><span style="font-weight:400"> already know the location of every hidden dungeon. Even if they left, who would know? Still, Thelsa wanted to err on the side of caution, and refused to let them leave until they met the proper level requirement.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, Petra and the others had a rather intense training n, so she was confident that they would reach their goal before too long.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Udona couldn¡¯t help but click her tongue when she heard the news of the hidden dungeons. If not for the fact that he had been imprisoned for so long, Sinir would have been the perfect navigator to the dungeons. All that he would need to do is decide that he wanted to visit one of those hidden dungeons, and his divinity would take him there. Granted, it would never take him to the same one twice, but that was besides the point! Once he visited there once, he would be able to use the crystal spire if he ever wanted to return.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately, Sinir¡¯s long absence from the world meant that he was far too weak to be sent to such ces. This was why Udona had sent him out to train after he had returned, as he was by far the weakest of her Holy Knights. There were even those among her serving staff that were stronger than him at the moment. Granted, most of those members of the staff were shadow units produced by Dana, but still.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She let out a forlorn sigh at the missed opportunity. Had he been stronger, she would have sent her nights out for a joint training program. At that thought, Udona tilted her head, a small smile forming on her face. She might not be able to send <em><span style="font-weight:400">her </em><span style="font-weight:400">Holy Knights out on such an expedition, but there was another that would be capable of benefiting from this. And, unlike Sinir, she was more than qualified to do so.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Prisci was enjoying a cup of tea, sitting beneath the shade of arge tree when she received a message from Udona. With wide eyes, she immediately stood at attention, her tea discarded. Even after the battles against the monster swarms, Prisci never ceased training both herself and the knights that had been left in her care.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In the process of her training, she had created multiple legends, allowing her to surpass the limits of such sses as Leader, Cleric, Temr, and Pdin. Taking into ount all of her sses, she was approaching level eight thousand.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, Prisci¡¯s true value was not as an individual, but as themander of the Keeper¡¯s Holy Knights. Thus, Udona informed her about the hidden dungeons as a way to further train both herself and her units.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Prisci, upon hearing this information, immediately thanked Udona and set off for Fyor. Between her <em><span style="font-weight:400">numerous</em><span style="font-weight:400"> knights, there were many that had the powers to traverse incredible distances in the blink of an eye, and others capable of tracking the location of a designated target.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Between these abilities, it took Prisci less than an hour to track down the location of a hidden dungeon. Specifically, ording to the trantion of the runes, she had found X-72. With a surge of determination, she entered the hidden dungeon, finding a vast ocean.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Calling upon the tracking knights, she located countless massive, aquatic beasts roaming within this ocean. Many of them were evenrger than the greatest of monsters that they had witnessed from thest great invasion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Realizing the sheer scale of these creatures, which would not even be fazed if Deckan itself crashed into them, Prisci clenched her fists. Her eyes zed with a burning passion to grow stronger.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Without dy, Prisci began to engage the nearest monster,manding the Knight of Gravity, Knight of Ice, and Knight of Darkness to work together to create a ck hole within the heart of the giant monster. Against such a massive beast, even a ck hole did not pose <em><span style="font-weight:400">too </em><span style="font-weight:400">significant of a threat¡­ unless that ck hole appeared in a vital area near their core.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was what Prisci was counting on, having located the core with the aid of the tracking units. She sensed the monster il about for a moment, before its energy core shattered, and it began to dissolve. In reality, this was just a test run, seeing how much effort it would take to kill one of these monsters.


    <span style="font-weight:400">What Prisci had <em><span style="font-weight:400">not</em><span style="font-weight:400"> expected was for a message to appear in her peripheral vision, informing her that she had received one reward point for killing a monster. Udona had informed her about the reward spheres, but she had not said anything about there being a reward for killing individual beasts.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Granted, a single point was likely not worth much, but Prisci had no intention of stopping there. This battle was only just beginning. ¡°Holy armaments, form!¡± She shouted, and several of the knights around her seemed to dissolve. One of them became a helmet, another a spear, while more formed into her armor, shield, and wings. This was one of Prisci¡¯s legends, which allowed her tobine the power of multiple divine beings under hermand.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a sh, Prisci vanished from her previous location, soon appearing atop a giant mountain. Golden feathers fell from her wings as she perceived thend below through the gap of her helmet. Far below, she could make out ferocious beasts fighting one another, and a smile formed on her lips.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She dismissed her spear and shield, instead granting herself a bow and arrow. The bow was made from the Knight of Archery, while the arrow was made from the Knight of Death. This was the strongest ranged attack that she could create against a single target. ¡°It¡¯s time to hunt.¡± She muttered to herself, nocking the arrow on the golden bowstring.


    <hr>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Like Prisci, Tsubaki was in the midst of her hunt. Her eyes were focused, standing before a hulking fire giant, whose eyes were like zing suns. She had hunted numerous beasts already, and had naturally seen the reward message. However, she hadrgely ignored it, finding it irrelevant to her current objective. After all, she was not there for these reward points. Instead, she was fighting purely to train herself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As such, she had descended five floors into her own hidden dungeon, X-444, and found it to be imed by massive elemental monsters. These creatures did not seem to have any higher intelligence, driven by an intense desire to devour powerful foes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The beast¡¯s fist drove down towards her, looking like a massive meteor descending. Tsubaki let out a deep breath, activating her Stealth domain while pushing her speed to the limits to avoid the attack. This was not her first time facing a monster like this. In fact, her avatars had already been killed twice due to underestimating its speed and destructive power.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This newest avatar, however, had learned from the mistakes of its predecessors, and dodged the seemingly slow attack to the full extent of her ability. She knew that it only <em><span style="font-weight:400">looked</em><span style="font-weight:400"> slow whenparing it to the overall size of the beast¡¯s body. In reality, that ¡®slow¡¯ punch was moving several times faster than the speed of light, and required her to operate her energy senses at their maximum in order to be able to follow its movements.


    <span style="font-weight:400">¡°Cold light.¡± She muttered, one of her nine orbs lighting up. A blue pir of light began to surround the beast, causing it to roar in anguish as its mes struggled against the cold energy contained within that light. Naturally, this was not enough to kill such a monster, but it was enough to distract it, allowing Tsubaki to move towards its nape. She had to endure devastatingly powerful mes in order to make it to her target, but this was another reason why she had released such arge ¡®cold light¡¯. Otherwise, her avatar would have been destroyed just by touching its mes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once she had reached the monster¡¯s neck, she imbued her daggers with her severing will, slicing forward to cut off the ming giant¡¯s massive head. Doing so had released a torrent of molten energy, which flooded past Tsubaki¡¯s avatar, instantly destroying it. Still, she had managed to kill her target, though now she needed to figure out how to kill said target without dying herself. After all, her ranged attacks would not be as effective against a beast that strong¡­


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